Post-PATRIOT Magnetic Motto Maker README ========================================= v 2.0, August 2003 DIRECTIONS: There's no installer, just doubleclick the program file to run. Move the magnets around the refrigerator to form phrases. When you have a phrase you like, drape the flag over it and doubleclick in the flag to Google it. (The flag can be both moved and resized.) You can generate interesting web filtering combinations this way... For best results, Google with reasonably short phrases (Google ignores everything over the 10th word anyway.) Clicking the "Make Motto" button will save your slogan to disk and/or print it, depending on the export options you select in the "Options" menu. Output to disk is always in JPEG format. By default, PPMMM will export the image of whatever the flag is draped over (frig and magnets.) You may also choose to output your entire refrigerator. The flag itself will not appear in the output unless you select "Include Flag in Image" (probably of most interest in combination with "Output Entire Refrigerator.") The "Make Motto" button is never output. As an alternative to outputting the magnets on the frig, you may wish to choose "Just give me plain text.." mode. This will proudly print out your slogan in big letters, in an exciting choice of colors and styles. You might prefer this mode if you are shy about wearing a t-shirt full of magnets, or if you just like big words. You may also wish to consider the menu options for exporting your motto to the Pentagon or State Department. From time to time, you may find that magnets you are not using start to get in your way. You may conveniently clear these out of your way with our trademark "MagniVac" system. Simply hold down the Shift key, move the mouse pointer over the magnets you want to clear away, and let MagniVac work its magic. It's also a good idea to do this from time to time anyway just because MagniVac is lots of fun to play with. VERY IMPORTANT TIPS N TRICKS: ----------------------------- * A couple of "verbalizers" are included in the kit: namely "ify", and "ize." These may be used to create government-grade doublespeak that generates a verb from a non-verb or simply softens the blow of an existing verb. For example, it might seem to be a bit harsh to suggest that we "disappear" somebody. Perhaps it would seem a bit gentler if instead we "disappearify" them? * If you are making a T-shirt, you might need to select the "Flip Image" option. This will save or print the image horizontally flipped, which is how they must be printed on many T-shirt iron-on transfers. (Note - some iron-on transfers require that the image *not* be flipped. Consult the directions for the transfers you are using.) T-shirt iron-on transfers for use with personal computer printers can be purchased at many computer and office supply stores. NEW IN VERSION 2.0: ------------------- * PPMMM can now correctly interpret separate rows of magnets. * Can now export as a plain text file as well as an image. Useful if you happen to write a long essay with your magnets and want to import it into another application. KNOWN BUGS, LIMITATIONS, and OTHER EMBARRASSMENTS ------------------------------------------------- * The flag sometimes gets wonky, in particular just after it's been resized very large. If it won't move, try resizing it back down to its normal size or smaller. If that doesn't work, then you may need to quit and restart. * For the Google functionality, as well as the Pentagon, etc. export options, you need to be connected to the Internet. However, the saving and printing stuff will work offline. * The printing option currently supports only standard (letter or A4) paper size, which is useful for T-shirts as well as some other things. However, if you wish to output at a smaller size for stickers, etc., you will probably find it easier to output to disk and then use other image processing or even word processing software to scale the resulting JPEG image to the desired size. There's also no print preview option, although on the Mac, this seems to be available anyway from the printer dialog box. * You can't quit the program with the close-box or ALT-Funtion keys (Windows), and there are probably similar limitations on Mac. Please use the menu "Quit" option or Control/(Command) key combinations to exit. * The Mac version is a little clunky, especially under OSX. contact: mmaker "at" deprogramming.us