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BYOBingoTM Help

Thank you for choosing BYOBingoTM, the only productivity tool you'll ever need. Be sure to visit http://www.byobingo.com/ for tips, tricks and updates.

Usage of this program indicates your acceptance of the Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these terms, exit the program immediately and uninstall it.

Please choose from the help topics below:

Introduction
How to Play
Options
Custom Word Lists
Printing
Installing/Uninstalling
Terms of Use
Credits
About the Author

Note: this help file is the same for both the WinCE and Win32 versions. If you're viewing this on your Handheld or Pocket PC, you won't be able to navigate to the websites that this help file links to.

WinCE Advanced Users: if you have Pocket Internet Explorer on your WinCE device, you can open this HTML file (\Windows\BYOBingo.htm) and jump to all links.

Introduction

BYOBingoTM stands for Build Your Own Bingo. Instead of numbers, the bingo board has words or phrases. During a meeting, when someone says one of these words or phrases, you check off the corresponding square on the board. When you get five squares across, down or diagonally, you stand up and yell "Bingo!" or something else.

BYOBingo is highly customizable. You can substitute the default word list for your own. You can change the board color as well as the picture that flashes when you get bingo. You can move the word list around. Whereas similar games target professional settings only, BYOBingo can also be used in other settings, such as long car rides ("license plate from Maryland"). Using the Random Board option, you can play a classical bingo game with numbers.

BYOBingo is available on Win32 (Windows 95/98/NT/2000), Windows CE (2.0 or higher) and Palm OS. All these versions are free, free, free! Visit http://www.byobingo.com/ for details.

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How to Play

How to Play

To play the game, simply select the word or phrase from the list when it occurs. (That is, when someone says it, you see it out of your car window, etc.) If you want to see the word for a square on the board, tap or click on that square. (On the Win32 version, you can also hover your mouse over the square.) You can also select a word by double-clicking its square on the board. You win the game when you get five squares across, down or diagonally - the computer will let you know if you've won.

Once you've mastered the game, you can experiment with options and custom word lists.

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Options
Custom Word Lists

Options

Select Tools > Options to bring up the Options dialog. You see the following elements:

  • Bingo Message: choose between the standard messages and a custom bitmap
  • List Position: indicates whether the list is leftmost and vertical or topmost and horizontal
  • Board Color: the bingo board color
  • Random Board: if unchecked, each new game will have the same square associated with the same word. If checked, each new game assigns a random square to each word. In both cases, the list is alphabetized.
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 Custom Bitmaps

Custom Bitmaps

Advanced users can create custom bitmaps which are displayed instead of the standard ones when you get bingo. You must first create the bitmap image and save it as a file. You then import the file into BYOBingo through the Options dialog (Tools > Options). Custom bitmaps must be exactly 40x40 pixels.

To import the bitmap, select Custom from the Bingo Message droplist. A [Load...] button appears above the [Help] button. Select [Load...] to open a file dialog, navigate to the bitmap to load, then open it. On Palm-Sized PCs, the bitmap file must be in or under \My Documents.

You can create the bitmap file using Paint either on your Win32 or WinCE-based system. On Win32, Paint is a standard Windows program you invoke via Start > Programs > Accessories. Choose File > New, then Image > Attributes and set the image size to 40x40 pixels. Then use the tools to fill in colors or text. Use View > Zoom to work more easily.

For WinCE devices, Paint is available as a free download as part of the PowerToys pack. Last time I looked, this was at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/products/download/list.asp The bitmap creation process is similar to the Win32 version.

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Custom Word Lists

Instead of the default list, you can create and load your own lists! To create such lists, you need to know how to use a text editor.

To load a custom word list, choose File > Load Custom List... Navigate to the list to load and double-click it or press [OK] or [Open].

Creating a custom word list is simply a matter of creating a text file with exactly 25 lines. Each line becomes an entry in the list. You can create this file either on your desktop/laptop (Win32) or on your handheld/palm computer (WinCE).

Win32

Use Notepad. Click the [Start] button on your taskbar; choose Run..., then type notepad and hit [OK]. Enter exactly 25 lines, then save the file using File > Save. Choose a filename for this new file and a destination folder.

WinCE Handhelds

Use Pocket Word. Create a new file in Pocket Word and enter exactly 25 lines. Choose File > Save and in the dialog box, select a name and destination folder and also choose Plain Text Document (*.txt) in the droplist on the lower-righthand corner. (You must save your file as a plain text document!). Press [OK] to save your file.

WinCE Palm PCs

Use Note Taker. Choose File > New > Blank Note. Activate the keyboard or Jot Character Recognizer and enter exactly 25 lines. When finished, choose File > Save As... and choose a filename and location for this file. (You choose a location via the [Create In>>] button.) Next, click on [Options...] and in the Type droplist, select Text only note (*.txt). (You must save your file as a plain text document!). Press [OK] to close the Options dialog, then [OK] to save your file..

WinCE Pocket PCs

Follow the instructions for WinCE Handhelds.

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Printing

If you can't bring your laptop or pocket computer with you, you can print out the board and bring the paper copy. This feature is not available on Windows CE devices.

To see what your printout will look like, choose File > Print Preview or click the toolbar button with the magnifying glass.

To print the board, choose File > Print or click the printer toolbar button.

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Installing/Uninstalling

On Win32 Machines

To install, run the setup program. To uninstall, use Add/Remove Programs from [Start Menu] > Settings > Control Panel.

On WinCE Machines

To install, run the setup program on your Win32 desktop. 

There are two ways to uninstall. We will assume you're using Microsoft ActiveSync 3.x to communicate with your WinCE device. If you have an older version, please upgrade to avoid going insane, especially if you're running Windows NT.

Preferred Method
  • from ActiveSync, choose Tools/Add/Remove Programs...
  • select BYOBingo from the applications list (don't try to uncheck it, just select it)
  • click the [Remove] button
Alternate Method

On your WinCE device, use Remove Programs from [Start Menu] > Settings [> Control Panel]. This will leave a harmless, spurious entry on your desktop applications list.

Note that it is not possible to uninstall, then reinstall the program using the application manager alone. I don't like cluttering your computer with unnecessary files, so you need to rerun the setup program to reinstall BYOBingo. The spurious entry in the applications list is due to a shortcoming in the WinCE Application Manager.

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Terms of Use

BYOBingoTM Copyright © 2000 by Mohan Embar. All Rights Reserved.

BYOBingo is a trademark of Mohan Embar, Inc.

Usage of this program indicates your acceptance of the following license conditions. If you do not agree with these terms, exit the program immediately and uninstall it.

This program comes with no warranties, either express or implied. In no event will the copyright holder be liable from any damages resulting from the use of this software.

This program is PropagandaWare. If you continue using this program seven days after the first use, you agree to visit the following websites:

www.mcspotlight.org
www.peta.org
www.veganvillage.co.uk/vv/vegfam
www.animalsong.org

You are exempt from this agreement if you do not have Internet access.

Permission is granted to any individual or institution to copy or redistribute this software provided that:

  • it is not altered in any way
  • it is not sold for profit
  • this copyright notice is displayed
  • if made available for download on a non-FTP web page, that a link be made to www.thisiscool.com whenever possible

Developed in C++ using the Microsoft® Visual C++ 6.0 Toolkit for Windows CETM.

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Credits

Thanks to:

  • Kelly Holford for suggesting this idea and encouraging me to write a PalmOS version.
  • Todd Zinkgraf, my manager at Northwestern Mutual Life, for putting up with me.
  • Steve Aspenleiter for suggesting the name and concept behind BYOBingo,
  • Mark Gibbs, for pushing me to write a WinCE/Win32 version and bribing me with free publicity,
  • my daughter, Rebecca, for lighting up my life and forcing me to make each precious minute count,
  • ...and my wife, Wanda, for putting up with me.
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About the Author

Mohan Embar is one of those rare finds that has both outstanding technical and communications skills. Both an excellent mentor and developer, he has worked in a wide variety of projects, such as object-oriented billing systems, servlet frameworks and low-level UNIX printer drivers. He has both domestic and international experience with companies such as Nortwestern Mutual Life, Deluxe Data Systems, France Telecom, Société Générale, Cyco Software, and Kraft, Inc. He is fluent in English, French and Dutch and has a working knowledge of German, Spanish and Italian.

Mohan is also bilingual in C++ and Java and loves switching back and forth between the two languages, while making full use of the idioms of both. Visit the Cool Demos section at http://www.thisiscool.com/coolprogs.htm to see more cool programs written in C++, Java and other languages like Delphi and JavaScript.

Mohan Embar singlehandedly wrote this game and its accompanying documentation. Is it well-programmed? Is the documentation nicely written? Check out his other demos, download the source code and scrutinize it. If you like his work, you can try to hire his services if he's available. Click here to contact Mohan. (Contract positions only: no full-time positions, headhunters or consulting firms, please.)

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