User guide

20 PC Moderator ™ Installation and User Guide

Display Dim

If the time reaches the point where the display is dimmed (if enabled), the display will dim

and remain dimmed for that user until any new login the next the morning. The colors are

not dimmed equally. Blue is dimmed approximately 90% while green and red are dimmed

approximately 50%. The intended purpose of dimming the display is to reduce the effects

of delayed sleep cycles caused by late night computer use. While the primary goal is to

reduce blue light, the other colors are also dimmed to help keep a more balanced color on

the display. Recent research from Japan (Higuchi, Motohashi, Yang, Ahara & Kaneko,

2003) found that youth playing computer games at night with a bright video display had

lower saliva levels of melatonin and did not report being as tired as those that played with

the display dimmed. Melatonin is the natural substance produced by the pineal gland that

helps to regulate the day/night sleep cycles in mammals. An increase in this substance

naturally occurs in the evening in response to lower blue light levels and causes us to feel

sleepy. While parents already know that when teens stay up late on the computer it affects

their ability to wake up in the morning, this research helps explain why they are able to

stay up so late and not get tired. It has even been suggested that there exists significant

developmental and environmental hazards presented by blue light at night-time (Pauly,

2004).

Parent (User F9) Operation

Parent (F9) operation is the same as that for users F1-F8 except there are no time limits,

dimmed display or control/status options except logging out and running the Tutorial. If

you would like to monitor your own computer use, or use the display dim features, setup

one of the users F1-F8 for yourself. The only options for Parent users are to log out and to

run the Tutorial. It is suggested that you run the Tutorial from the parent user to familiarize

users with the operation of the PC Moderator. Although you can run the Tutorial from the

Setup Menu, this is not recommended if you intend to leave a child alone with the

computer.

Press <

Scroll Lock>

twice in 2 seconds

OPTION Prompt (dim purple screen)

T =

Tutorial (must run Text

Editor first).

S = Tutorial (automatic)

<Esc>

= Log out current user and

back To LOGIN Prompt