August update

The previous post talked about the upcoming 0.99g version of the Mesmerizer.  This release has grown somewhat, both in response to feature requests from users, as well as some bugs that surfaced from a new project, which I'll preview below.  As well as the two items discussed in the previous post - supporting multiple results from #RLV folder searches (which required the ability to handle list variables), and subliminals - 0.99g will now also include these new features:

• A variant of the text command that allows you to specify how many seconds the text should stay visible.  Specifying 0 makes the text remain visible until replaced or explicitly cleared.  This can be useful during trance, to avoid "blanks" between phrases.
• A fix for color handling and newline processing within in-trance text.  Previously, these options were honored by on-screen text when not in-trance, but broken when a spiral was displayed.
• A fix for the image distortion that crept in unnoticed (by me at least) in an earlier update.
• A fix to make negative setspiral numbers work properly.  Now they mean the same as the corresponding positive spiral number, except the spiral will rotate in the opposite direction.  I will also be documenting how to add your own custom spirals.
• A new feature where, when in trance, the up-arrow and down-arrow keys can be used to supply yes/no responses.  This is discussed in more detail below.
• A change to allow commands to be issued by a device worn by an owner.  This is needed to support the new Owner HUD.

The new 'feedback' feature was a user request, and is intended to allow a subject to respond easily to yes/no questions when in trance.  Subjects who are touch-typists typically have no problem in using the keyboard to type complex responses, even in trance.  But many people have to look down at the keyboard when typing, which immediately pulls their focus away from the trance.  I often ask new subjects to position their hands over the keyboard so that they can easily type Y or N without looking down, but that still requires two keystrokes (Y or N, plus the Enter key), and the keys are far enough away from one another that they usually need to use both hands.  So 0.99g provides a feature where, when in trance, the up-arrow and down-arrow generate "yes" or "no" responses in local chat.  There's visual feedback on the screen, in the form of a green "thumbs-up" icon, or a red "thumbs-down" icon.  And if you press the arrow keys multiple times within a short interval (half a second), you can indicate stronger agreement or disagreement (indicated by the somewhat Orwellian "+yes" or "++yes" and "-no" or "--no").

I will likely also make the change in permissions I've been talking about, making the Mesmerizer copy/mod/no-transfer.  Currently, it's no-copy/mod/transfer, the intent being that this allows a dom(me) to buy a Mesmerizer and configure it before transferring it to a sub.  This ability for the dom(me) to configure the device is valuable, but I intend to address this requirement with a separate tool, to allow just the transfer of configuration information (which will also serve as a configuration backup).  More on this in a future post.  When I do switch from transferable to copiable, I won't be able to send out the initial copiable version of the Mesmerizer automatically, since if anyone has transferred their Mesmerizer, the current owner should receive the update, and not the original purchaser.  So I'll be reaching out to current purchasers, asking them to let me know who should get future updates for the Mesmerizers they've purchased.  I'll be making a similar change in permissions to the Hubs in their next update, and again will be reaching out to prior purchasers first.

Other than the Mesmerizer itself, the other big news is that I've been working on an Owner HUD.  This will let you issue the most common Mesmerizer commands at the push of a button.  It also makes using the on-screen text command much easier than the command line, especially if you like to create multi-line messages.  With the HUD, you just type them as multiple lines - no need for messing around with "\n" character sequences.  The HUD also echoes the text and the commands that it sends, so that they appear in your local chat log, but are not visible to anyone else.  It similarly echoes Mesmerizer commands you manually type on channel 99, giving you a record of those too.  The Owner HUD works seamlessly with a CHAOS Communicator, allowing it to control remote Mesmerizers.

I expect the Mesmerizer 0.99g update to be ready for release very soon, with probably a preview version of the Owner HUD to follow soon after.