NetGlance allows you to view pictures from the web outside of the context of a web page and the constraints of a web browser - AND the pictures update themselves automatically!
Any graphic -- weather maps, stock charts, webcams -- can be presented outside the browser as versatile, simple, pictures on your desktop, and you control the size and location of the images and how often they automatically update.
The best part is that all you need to do to get started is "drag and drop".
NetGlance is distributed as "trialware". This means that we allow you to download and try out our software, but you'll have to put up with "nag" messages until NetGlance is purchased and then registered with a valid registration key.
NetGlance is a trademark of Weird Kid Software LLC. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
For Macintosh computers, NetGlance requires Mac OS X, version 10.2.6 or higher.
For computers running any version of Windows, NetGlance requires that Java, version 1.4.1 or higher, be installed. The latest version of Java for your computer is always available as a free download from http://java.com.
If you are not sure which Java version you already have, you can check by typing "java -version" at a command-line in the appropriate terminal application for your operating system. You should see something like this:

For "drag and drop" operation of NetGlance, you'll need standards-compliant web browser that supports the Java URL DataFlavor. Currently, we've tested NetGlance successfully the following browsers on all platforms (except where otherwise noted):
NetGlance for Windows is distributed as an executable that will install itself. All you need to do is start the installer program and answer any questions about where to put NetGlance and its shortcuts. Although, we recommend you just use the default settings of the installer.
NetGlance for Mac OS X is distributed as a disk image (.dmg). To install, double click the disk image file and follow the directions.
Depending on your operating system, you'll double-click the NetGlance icon, select it from your Start menu, or start it at the command line. As NetGlance starts for the first time, you'll be asked to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). It's pretty standard stuff that protects the both of us from lawsuits. If you don't accept the agreement, NetGlance will not run.
When NetGlance starts, you'll normally see the Setup Window:

This window will show you the current state of all your NetGlance URL's in tabular form.
What is a URL? A URL - Uniform Resource Locator - is an address for anything you view on the web. It could be an address to a web page, a file for download, or a picture. NetGlance only works with URLs that point to pictures. For the purposes of discussing NetGlance, we'll use the term URL as the location of pictures from the web.
Here's a description of the columns in the Setup Window:
Each row, or URL, in the Setup Window also has a pop-up menu. To show the pop-up menu for any URL, right-click (or control-click if you have a single button mouse) on the row. The pop-up menu has three options:
When you're done using the Setup Window, you can hide it by clicking the close box at the top of the window. If there are no active URLs when you close the Setup Window, NetGlance will ask you if you want to Quit.
To display a picture, you need to add the picture's URL to the Setup Window. To do this, using your mouse, drag the picture from your web browser to the Setup Window. If the picture has an addressable URL and is a format that NetGlance accepts, the picture will load and display in its own borderless window, and you'll see a new corresponding row in the Setup Window.
If the picture doesn't display, it's likely that the picture you are dragging isn't directly addressable - and this usually is because you're trying to drag a "thumbnail" or "preview" version of the picture. To get to the actual picture, click the thumbnail picture in your browser. Then, try dragging the actual picture to NetGlance's Setup Window.
Each active URL in the Setup Window should have an associated picture window. These windows can be manipulated with mouse actions or a pop-up menu.
Mouse Actions
- To resize a picture window, grab the lower right-hand corner of it with your mouse.
- To minimize a picture window, double click it.
- To access the pop-up menu, right click (or control-click if you have a single button mouse).
Pop-up Menu
- Update Now - update the picture immediately, without affecting the normal update cycle
- Resume - resume updating this picture from the web
- Pause - stop updating this picture from the web
- Minimize - iconify or send the picture to the dock (on Macintosh)
- Original Size - return this picture to its original size
- Close - stop updating this picture and close its window
- Delete - immediate remove this picture/URL from the Setup Window's list
- Show Setup Window - use this to show the Setup Window if you've hidden it.
- Quit - quit NetGlance
NetGlance has some configurable settings that you can modify in the Preferences dialog. The Preferences dialog has a tab for each major category of options:
Here are some common tips that should help with the most common problems that have been reported by users of NetGlance.
Please don't hesitate to contact us to answer any questions or for a quick tip here or there. We love hearing from our customers!
Once you've determined that NetGlance is a product that you want to use, you can purchase a license for the fully-functional version. The details of how to do so are on the Weird Kid Software web site: http://weirdkid.com.
Once you've purchased a NetGlance license, you will be sent a registration key. You will need to enter this key into the "Register NetGlance" dialog to convert your trialware license into a full-use license. Look for "Register NetGlance" in NetGlance's "Help" menu.
IMPORTANT: Keep this key in a safe place! You may need to re-enter it sometime in the future.
Thank you for trying NetGlance!
WKS