╔═══════════════════╗
║README for SSOK.ZIP║
╚═══════════════════╝
10-Mar-95
┌────────┐
│Contents│
└────────┘
File List
Revision History
General Remarks
Installation
The Modules
EXTERNAL.SSM
STICKS.SSM
TV.SSM
HOPOK.SSM
RAUPE.SSM
Disclaimer
Distribution
Support
Credits
Copyrights
┌─────────┐
│File List│
└─────────┘
SSOK.ZIP vs. 1.3a contains - EXTERNAL.SSM (the 'EXTERNAL' module)
STICKS .SSM (the 'Sticks' module)
TV .SSM (the 'TV' module)
HOPOK .SSM (the 'Hop-Pointer' module)
RAUPE .SSM (the 'raupe' module)
SSOK .DOC (this file)
┌────────────────┐
│Revision History│
└────────────────┘
1.0 *** 06-Aug-94 *** Initial version of SSOK.ZIP
1.1 *** 16-Aug-94 *** Two modules added: TV.SSM, HOPOK.SSM
Improved SSOK.DOC
1.2 *** 03-Sep-94 *** One new module: RAUPE.SSM, utilizing a poem
by Ernst Jandl
Changed SSOK.DOC
1.3 *** 21-Sep-94 *** Bug fixed: Some module configuration screens didn't fit
into a standard VGA desktop
1.3a *** 10-Mar-95 *** New compile with EMX, eliminating use of SSOKDLL.DLL
Minor code changes
(Thanks to Siegfried Hanisch for 'EMXing' SSOK!)
Changed SSOK.DOC
┌───────────────┐
│General Remarks│
└───────────────┘
A. ScreenSaver
──────────────
SSOK.ZIP contains modules for "ScreenSaver", a shareware screen saver written
by Siegfried Hanisch. You can get "ScreenSaver" from:
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/os2/2_x/graphics
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/32bit/graphics
Check also the appropriate incoming directories for new versions. "Screen-
Saver" is usually obtainable from CIS, OS2USER.
Siegfried Hanisch's e-mail internet addresses are:
siggih@ibm.net
ssaver@ibm.net
hanisch@ci.tuwien.ac.at
His mail address is
Dipl.-Ing. Siegfried Hanisch
Einsiedlergasse 6/16
A-1050 Vienna
Austria
Tel: +43-1-5520514
B. Blanker
──────────
Another Austria based author, Peter Wansch, offers another screensaver,
called "Blanker". "Blanker" is capable of utilizing "ScreenSaver" modules.
You can get "Blanker" from:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/32bit/graphics
and usually from CIS, OS2USER or OS2BVEN.
Peter Wansch's e-mail internet address is:
p.wansch@ieee.org
His mail address is
Dipl.-Ing. Peter Wansch
Hagenbachgasse 37
A-3423 St. Andrä-Wördern
Austria
Tel: +43-2242-32124
Fax: +43-2242-31113
C. ScreenSaver/Blanker & SSOK
─────────────────────────────
From March 1995 all five mnodules of SSOK are bundled with both screensavers.
The included modules are distributed free of charge.
┌────────────┐
│Installation│
└────────────┘
You can substitute most references to "ScreenSaver" with "Blanker" if that is
your saver.
- IF THE MODULES DIDN'T COME WITH YOUR FAVOURITE SCREENSAVER:
Unzip the SSOK.ZIP package into the SSAVER directory. Be sure to overwrite
files if you already have a previous version of SSOK.ZIP.
- Start ScreenSaver, mark any of my modules in the right listbox,
and click once on "Configure module" to see and change the individual
settings. Please refer to the module specific explanation below.
- You'll find a special profile file, SSAVEROK.INI, in the "ScreenSaver"
directory. I use it instead of OS2.INI to store the parameters for all
my modules.
┌───────────┐
│The Modules│
└───────────┘
EXTERNAL.SSM
────────────
A. Purpose and Configuration
EXTERNAL.SSM is aimed at those people who want to start external programs
as screen saver modules. Imagine you have a DOS- or OS/2-fullscreen
graphics program which you would like to use as a blanker.
Use "Configure module" to fill in
- the full path of the program you want to use as external module
- any useful parameters your program might expect
- and click on the appropriate box to mark the program as a DOS or
VIO-OS/2 or WIN-OS/2 or PM application.
B. Special considerations
Be sure to run ScreenSaver always with "mouse sensing" enabled. EXTERNAL
is a somewhat dirty module that posts a mouse movement before shelling out
to the external program so that ScreenSaver minimizes itself upon exiting
the external program. Please keep in memory that there was no such thing
planned by the author of ScreenSaver and so he couldn't provide any means
of communication between the external program and the ScreenSaver itself.
The communication between the module and ScreenSaver itself wasn't
designed for that purpose either.
You will encounter the following phenomenon: After testing the external
module, that is: after exiting the called external program in testing
mode, ScreenSaver will minimize itself as if the EXTERNAL module and the
external program would have been invoked by ScreenSaver during normal
operation after the usual timeout.
C. Revision History EXTERNAL.SSM
1.0 *** 04-Aug-94 *** initial release
STICKS.SSM
──────────
A. Purpose and Configuration
STICKS.SSM is just another screen saver module. It eats up your screen
from behind. You can play with the self-explanatory parameters by using
the "Configure module" dialog. The different shapes of the sticks
"black hole" are quite interesting (IMHO <g>).
B. Revision History STICKS.SSM
1.0 *** 06-Aug-94 *** initial release
1.1 *** 21-Sep-94 *** module configuration screen fixed for VGA desktops
TV.SSM
──────
A. Purpose and Configuration
TV.SSM is just another screen saver module. It draws black and white
circles on the screen. Just take it as a somewhat primitive imitation of
the TV snow you can see when your box gets no signal. There are no
parameters you can play with.
B. Revision History TV.SSM
1.0 *** 11-Aug-94 *** initial release
1.1 *** 21-Sep-94 *** module configuration screen fixed for VGA desktops
HOPOK.SSM
─────────
A. Purpose and Configuration
HOPOK.SSM is NOT just another screen saver module. It's called
"Hop-Pointer", because it should make you aware of "HOP", a fractal image
generator utilizing the so-called "Hopalong" algorithms. HOP is written by
Michael Peters and located on CompuServe, forum GRAPHDEV, lib 4,
'Fractal Sources' (HOPZIP.EXE), and on the Internet. Please check HOP if
you're interested in fractal images. HOP itself includes a screensaver
for DOS and Windows and you can use it as OS/2 screensaver along with my
EXTERNAL module.
HOP contains way more features than this very small module.
Here is a quote from Michael's documentation to give us an impression what
HOP is:
"
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WHAT DOES "HOP" MEAN ANYWAY ? │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Barry Martin from Aston University (Birmingham/England) discovered a
new fractal in the mid-80's. A. K. Dewdney presented Martin's first
images and the algorithm in his 'Computer Recreations' column in
Scientific American (Sept.1986). He called the new fractal HOPALONG,
referring to the unique way it grows on the screen. Unlike the famous
Mandelbrot fractals, here the pixels 'hop from one point to another'.
The fractal doesn't grow line by line, but rather emerges from the
whole of the screen.
The character of the resulting images is quite different from what most
people associate with 'fractals'. Many Hopalongs have some mysterious
similarity to some biological forms such as diatoms, radiolarians, or
other unicellular microorganisms. (I strongly recommend to take a look
at Ernst Haeckel's famous 'Art Forms in Nature' drawings.) If you find
that the complexity and symmetry of such things fascinates you, you
will also like HOP's creations. Maybe they will even make you wonder
what the real connection is between nature, fractals, mind, and beauty.
Hopalong fractals lack the deep complexity of the M-Set - it isn't
possible to infinitely zoom into the images without losing some of
their complexity. On the other hand, the way they are created is far
more interesting to watch in real-time than the (usually boring)
line-by-line growth of Mandelbrot fractals which results in utterly
amazing, but static images (unless your computer is extremely fast).
Appendix C contains a short Pascal program which shows how the
Hopalong algorithm works.
────────────────────────
HOP is based on HOPALONG algorithms, but it introduces a lot of new
and unusual features:
Martin's formula is accompanied by more than two dozen newly developed
formulas, all similar in structure, but different in detail. The result
is a wide variety of new fractals.
Several new mathematical 'special effects' modify the shapes of the
'pure' fractals and introduce movement and 'Fractals in Motion'.
A wide variety of graphic effects is available to manipulate the
images. Some of these effects are standard (VGA color scrolling is
done by most graphic programs), but many others are unique and were
designed for HOP.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE BASIC CONCEPT │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
HOP runs like an slideshow. While some of the images in the show are
more or less static, others contain wild or gentle movements and
animations, depending on dozens of interacting parameters all of which
you can control. Each of the slides runs endlessly or for a
predetermined number of pixels. The slides are either 'composed',
stored in a file, and can be exactly reproduced, or they are designed
on-the-fly (improvised) by HOP's random algorithms or by you, or both.
When you run the demo, HOP plays back a parameter file containing a
series of 'composed' images and animations. (If you like HOP and learn
how to use it, you will very soon also come up with interesting
'compositions' which you can exchange with other HOP users or run
with the screensaver.)
If HOP doesn't playback a file, it runs in an 'improvising' mode. Each
of the images will run for a certain number of pixels, then a new image
will come up, and so on. You have full control over all parameters, but
unless you want to explore a specific image, you don't have to enter
any numbers - everything will happen by itself! (Actually I started
writing HOP because I'm so lazy.)
While some of the images might blow your mind, others might be boring.
The program juggles many variables, producing images that are based on
controlled randomness - unfortunately, the program can't watch the images
and decide if they are beautiful or not. The algorithms are blind.
(Maybe this will be different in a future version of HOP). It is as if
you took a snapshot of a random area of the Mandelbrot set - the chance
to get a boring image is quite high even if the M-set contains loads of
incredible sights.
You have control over the decisions the program makes to some extent
though - this happens on the 'Tune' page of the user interface.
Take the randomly generated images as suggestions. Throw them away, or
modify a nice image until you really like it. Then store it in your
'favorites' collection, and please exchange it with others.
When you play with HOP's suggestions and learn to master all the
different parameters, you will find that there are a number of effects
that are almost never used in HOP's improvisations. They have to be
used like the special effects in a movie or in rock music: Overusing
them won't do any good, but using them thoughtfully can add spice and
interesting variations. Also, some of the effects slow down performance
or could easily make a boring picture if applied by a blind random
algorithm.
Another thing you should be aware of is that when running in random
mode, HOP will try to automatically center and size the fractals. The
reason this is done is that without this automatic optimization (just
taking the naked random numbers and formulas and generating the images
as they come), many fractal images would be too small, or you would be
shown less interesting details, or the screen would be mostly blank
because the fractal would develop right outside of it.
The positive effect of this optimizing is that most images will be more
or less interesting. You can sit and watch HOP design a neverending
series of fractals, like the shells you find whilst walking along an
ocean beach. But this is only one way of looking at them! Anyone
interested in shells would stop from time to time and pick one up to
look at its microstructure which - as we have learned from fractal
theory - is just as complex as the view from above. HOP cannot do this
for you automatically. It doesn't know where interesting details are
located. The incredible microstructure of HOP fractals has to be
studied manually. Try zooming in to interesting details and playing
with the many program features and parameters to manipulate your view.
HOP will reward you with an infinite world of complexity and beauty.
"
There are several settings you can play with, manipulating the size and
shape of the drawn pels, the size and shape of the fractal image and so
on. They are easy to understand by learning-by-doing.
B. Revision History HOPOK.SSM
1.0 *** 16-Aug-94 *** initial release
1.1 *** 21-Sep-94 *** module configuration screen fixed for VGA desktops
RAUPE.SSM
─────────
A. Purpose and Configuration
RAUPE.SSM is a very special screen saver module. The German word 'raupe'
('caterpillar') moves across the screen and blanks it subsequently.
Be aware that "raupe" is a poem by the famous Austrian writer Ernst
Jandl. Please check the copyright section of this file below!
B. Revision History RAUPE.SSM
1.0 *** 03-Sep-94 *** initial release
1.1 *** 21-Sep-94 *** module configuration screen fixed for VGA desktops
┌──────────┐
│Disclaimer│
└──────────┘
The authors assume no responsibility for any damage or loss caused by
the use of this program. THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
┌────────────┐
│Distribution│
└────────────┘
As the sole copyright holders of these modules, Olaf Koch and Michael Peters,
reserve all rights to the program. However, this freeware version may be
freely distributed by commercial vendors, user groups, BBS operators,
or individuals, with the following restrictions:
- SSOK.ZIP must be distributed in unmodified form in its entirety,
including all files that are listed in the 'File List' chapter of this
documentation. No other programs or files may be included. The
files may be distributed in a compressed or library format.
- SSOK.ZIP may not be included in combination with any other software
or hardware product as an enticement or for any other reason,
without special permission from the authors.
[Permission granted to Siegfried Hanisch (ScreenSaver), Peter Wansch
(Blanker).]
- No fee or payment may be charged or accepted for SSOK.ZIP, other than
a small disk distribution fee. This is especially true for the module
RAUPE.SSM which is based on a copyrighted poem. It is a contractual
obligation to publish the poem 'raupe' without charging.
- SSOK.ZIP cannot be rented or leased.
- SSOK.ZIP may not be packaged or distributed with any of its supporting
documentation pre-printed for the end-user.
┌───────┐
│Support│
└───────┘
If you have any suggestions or questions please drop me a mail:
100010.2732@compuserve.com
olafk@ibm.net
Anyway, I provide the ScreenSaver modules "as is" and just for fun, so
there's no "guaranteed support". I'll answer mail and may look into bugs.
But that it is.
┌───────┐
│Credits│
└───────┘
Siegfried Hanisch - for giving us "ScreenSaver", "porting" my
modules to EMX, and distributing them.
Michael Peters - for giving us "Hop".
Luchterhand Literaturverlag - for allowing me to use Ernst Jandl's poem
'raupe'. (At least it's not quite usual that
publishers allow someone to place commercial
and copyrighted material in the net!)
Peter Wansch - for distributing my modules.
┌──────────┐
│Copyrights│
└──────────┘
All modules except HOPOK.SSM are Copyright (C) by Olaf Koch. All rights
reserved.
*
HOPOK.SSM is Copyright (C) by Michael Peters and Olaf Koch. All rights
reserved.
*
The poem 'raupe' on which the module RAUPE.SSM is based is Copyright (C)
1985, 1990 by Luchterhand Literaturverlag. All rights reserved.
Quelle: Ernst Jandl "raupe" aus: ders. "der künstliche baum" in: "Gesammelte
Werke in 3 Bänden" Bd. 1 (hrsg. von Klaus Siblewski)
Source: Ernst Jandl "raupe" ('caterpillar') from: the same
"der kuenstliche baum" ('the artficial tree') in:
"Gesammelte Werke in 3 Bänden" ('Complete Works') Bd. 1
(hrsg. von/edited by Klaus Siblewski)
RAUPE.SSM as a software module it still copyrighted by Olaf Koch.
