Timekeeper Version 2.0

"The TimeSpeaker with an Attitude"
"The Hourglass with Lips"



Timekeeper Applications:

Keep Staff Meetings on Schedule
Enter your meeting agenda beforehand and let TimeKeeper keep you on schedule.  Choose your own text-to-speech phrases or use WAV files for appropriate sound effects.

Combat Procrastination
Don't lose track of time because of procrastination. Enter your goals for the day and let TimeKeeper remind you of milestones needed to meet those goals.  Text to speech phrases will keep you on track.
 
Time Board Games
Throw away those obsolete hourglasses and replace them with "The Hourglass with Lips".  Enter text to speech phrases for whatever alert times you want.  Or play the Jeopardy song or the William Tell Overture.  Easy to restart the timer with the Enter key.  The "Big Time" feature lets everyone see.
 
Play Practical Jokes on Your Friends
Watch the expressions on their faces when your computer starts making demands.  Have your Candid Camera ready. 



Installation:

Run the setup.exe program in the zip file to install Timekeeper v2.0.

You will also need the following on your machine to be able to run Timekeeper:
1. Microsoft Text-to-Speech Engine (msttsL.exe)
2. Microsoft Speech API 4.0 (spchapi.exe)
3. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Run-Time Files (vbrun60sp4.exe)
These files are available for download at http://www.danspears.com/timekeeper



Timekeeper Usage:

Reset Button:  Used to reset the timer.  Click on this button or simply press the return key when the reset button has focus.

Help Button:  Displays the readme.txt file (this screen).

Voice Selector:  Used to select voice of speaker.  Default is "Mary".

Timer Mode:  Used to choose whether timer value indicated elapsed time ("Up") or remaining time ("Down").

Timer Start: Used to enter the initial timer value in the format "HH:MM:SS". 

Display Mode: Used to select display mode as follows:

  1.  Small Time Button:  Returns Timekeeper to original "Small Time" display.
  2.  Big Time Button: Shows time and timer in large fonts to be visible across a room.
  3.  Show Phrases:  Shows the times and phrases that Timekeeper will speak.

Lips:  Just for show.

Timer:  Displays the timer value in Hours:Minutes:Seconds.  In Countup mode, this represents elapsed time (including the timer start value).  In Countdown mode, this value represents remaining time.

Time:  Displays the actual time in Hours:Minutes:Seconds.


In the Show Phrases Display Mode:

Mode Column:  Enter "E" in the first column to select "Elapsed" time (i.e. the phrase is spoken when the timer display equals this value).  Enter "A" in the first column to select "Actual" time (i.e., the phrase is spoken when the time display equals this value).

Timer/Time Column:  Enter the time in HH:MM:SS format (24 hour clock) when the phrase is to be spoken.  This represents the Timer value if "E" is in the first column and the Time value if "A" is in the first column. Place the characters "- " (minus followed by space) before the time to represent a negative timer value (e.g., "- 00:01:00" to indicate a time one minute after the timer reaches zero). Note:  The value "00:00:00" does not result in any speech, so use either "00:00:01" or "- 00:00:01" to cause a phrase to be spoken when the remaining timer equals zero.

Phrase Column:  Enter the phrase that is to be spoken at the designated time.  If the second character of the text is ":" as in "c:\Windows\Media\Chimes.wav", the string will be treated as the file location of a wav file.

Say This Now Button:  Click this button to immediately say the phrase in the text box to the right.  This is useful for immediately hearing how phrases will sound in order to adjust spellings (e.g. "buttun" instead of "button") to get a better synthesis of the word.

Clear Phrases Button:  Click this button to clear all the phrases.  This does not clear the "Go" that is spoken when the reset button is pressed.  This also does not clear the trial message spoken after 1 minute in the trial version.



About the Developer:

Timekeeper was developed on weekends by Dan Spears (http://www.danspears.com) as a tool for keeping our project review meetings and performance review meetings on schedule.  Enhancements have been added to integrate text-to-speech and the ability to play WAV files.  Timekeeper can be used in "Small Time" mode to be unobtrusive or in "Big Time" mode to be visible to everyone in the room.  At our recent performance review meeting, it kept us on schedule, while humorous phrases were chosen as a stress-reliever. 

As new features were added, new applications came to mind, and I began to realize that this tool would be useful for others as well. So, here it is.  Try the free trial version, which can be downloaded from http://www.danspears.com/timekeeper.  It is identical to the registered version, except that a trial message is spoken one minute after starting.

To receive the registered version, please send a check for $20 to the following address (be sure to include your email address), and I will email instructions for downloading the registered version, which removes the annoying trial phrases.

Dan Spears
Timekeeper
3422 Weymouth Ct.
Marietta, GA 30062

Please send any suggestions for enhancements and new applications to me at dspears@bellsouth.net.


Like art?  Visit my main web site at http://www.danspears.com.


 

