Alpha Testers
Instructions:
I will email you a download link. But gmail or other mail service might think it’s SPAM, so check in your spam folder to find it. And then it might warn you about clicking a link that downloads a zip file. Don’t be scared. I promise that it’s safe. It’s just unfamiliar to Microsoft and to email services.
Download the Zip file, from the confidential URL. ( Not shown here, received by email.)
Don’t Open the zip file yet. Don’t use this dropdown menu on the bottom of your browser.
Instead, when downloading is finished, go to where-ever you downloaded it to. Possibly the Downloads folder, possibly the Desktop. Find the zip file called Moose.
Right-click on the Zip file called “Moose” and choose Properties.
Check the “Unblock” checkbox.
If you skip the Unblock, and just Extract, you will get this error when you run the Moose.
If you get this error, just delete your Extracted Moose folder, and begin again to Unblock the Zip, before extracting again.
Explanation: Microsoft automatically distrusts any executable file downloaded from the internet. The Moose.exe file and its DLLs are distrusted at first, until enough users use it that Microsoft changes to automatically trust it. But in the Alpha testing stage, that hasn’t happened yet. So you have to manually unblock it.
UPDATE: Today April 27th, 2019, I learned that some people don’t get the Unblock option in their properties. That’s something else I need to figure out why.
UPDATE: Later today, April 27, 2019. Someone had this problem and solved it by doing this:
I turned off the “Read-Only” box, Applied that change, Closed and re-opened the Properties and the Unblock box was there.
UPDATE: April 28, 2019. The “Read-Only” turned off, didn’t work for someone, but this did: Click on the windows taskbar START symbol, and type “powershell”. Run PowerShell. Prepare this command, but replace Halls with your own windows username. Type the edited command into Powershell.
Unblock-File -Path C:\Users\Halls\Desktop\Moose.zip
(This assumes you downloaded the Moose.zip file onto your Desktop.)
Right-Click on the Moose zip file, and choose Extract All…
Extract it into a folder called Moose on your desktop. ( Warning, if you just go to the desktop without a \Moose folder, the files will get scattered all over the desktop, so use a \Moose folder.
( my name is Halls, your name will be different. )
Don’t use WinRAR. Don’t use Total Commander. etc.
Please follow the instructions above, using default windows 10. There have been problems reported when people use other ways to Unblock or Unzip.
Now is a good time to run an AntiVirus scan on the Moose folder, if you like. It’s optional, but why not feel assured that you’ve received clean code, straight from the source.
You should now have a Moose folder, open it and run the Moose application (not the CONFIG file)
Known bug.
Some people were getting a bug when they Run the Moose application. It first shows “Error code 1012”. Then it showed other errors.
If this happens to you, you’re temporarily not able to run the Moose. We think it’s been found and fixed and in the latest Moose version.
May 5th. We think this bug is identified and fixed in the new build. Looking forward to feedback on it. May 8th: No further instances of this error. Looking good. I’ll delete this section in a few more days.
Turn stuff off.
Once you get the Moose running, once you see a 3D talking moose speaking to you, please let Dr. Halls know that you succeeded. Send a message.
Then, as you figure out the various menus on the Home page, please turn off a few checkboxes. The “Sentence Maker” will talk about “getting a puppy”. Turn that off. It’s in the Fun menu dropdown. It was accidentally left on when the zip was created.
Also turn off News and Feeds. They are in the Web dropdown menu. You can turn off other things too, if you wish, to make things simpler and less Chatty at the beginning.
Duty of Testers
So you want to download the Moose. Thank-you! At the moment, the download link is given to Alpha Testers only. So the question is: Are you wanting to be a Alpha Tester? You possibly can. Here’s what I’m looking for.
1. Only people who genuinely want to help the Moose succeed, should ask to Alpha test. If you are neutral and curious, that’s not positive enough.
2. If you want to write a review, please don’t become an Alpha Tester. I want to be given a chance to have users discover any problems, and give me time to fix them, before any reviews are written, good or bad.
3. If you want to Alpha Test and write positive comments online about what you found, that’s OK, but negative comments should not be made online in public. Negative comments should only go directly to Dr. Halls, so they can be fixed.
4. Alpha testing involves “testing”, which is work. Only people willing to explore and test things, should do it. Must be willing to write down and email anything useful, back to Dr. Halls. If you’re supporting the Moose, looking forward to it, but not willing to let it run and work your way through it all, testing how things work, reading the instructions to see if they make sense, and taking notes. If you are shy about emailing your impressions and test findings, please don’t become a Alpha Tester. I really need people who will email back their test results.
5. The Alpha Test Moose version, is incomplete. Certain features weren’t ready. Things you may have read about, or seen on Facebook videos, might not be working in the Beta Test version.
6. The Alpha Test Moose, is not to be shared, not given to others. Even though there are sentences in the software telling you it’s OK to share it, even though the Moose speaks about sharing it, please don’t do it. Just you get it, as a Alpha Tester. Not your friends.
7. The Alpha Test Moose version, will possibly self-destruct. We have built-in some self-destruct code, and if there is some reason why getting rid of the Beta version is vital, we will send the signal. Then, you would have to download a new version and start fresh.
8. During the Alpha Test period, certain features use the Cloud, and Cloud use is being paid-for by Dr. Halls. But once Beta Testing is over, The Cloud features that cost money, will be turned off, until users arrange payment. Stated differently, people who signed up as Waiting for Moose, will get the Moose for free, AND, get the next version for Free after Beta testing ends, but the cloud services won’t be free anymore. Cloud services are things like Weather, Translate into Spanish, Webhooks, Twitter client, PrivateChat, Chatbot, etc.
9. The Alpha / Beta test will run for a specific defined period of time. A Start date and an End date. The download link will only be available during that period of time. If you see the notice on Facebook, or by email, that Beta testing is starting, you should begin doing it. If you delay getting started, that link will disappear, and the Moose won’t be available for download anymore, not until the problems are fixed and official launch is started.
10. First impressions are important. Write down anything you “feel”, happy, confused, frustrated, etc, and tell me the circumstances, and send it as an email, right away, as a first impression about something.
11. Final comments are important. If you decide to turn the Moose off, and are feeling reluctant to start it again, write me an email and tell me what it was that caused the decision to turn the Moose off.
12. There is a chance the Moose won’t work on your PC. Finding out details about your computer brand, graphics card, etc, will be very valuable information to learn about. If this happens to you, email [email protected] and we’ll show you a place to find your system configuration information, to send back to us.
To Become an Alpha Tester, email Dr. Halls at [email protected] and request it, and give some assurance you will do the things above. Dr. Halls will email back the private download link.
Don’t be afraid. Some people have problems, some people send comments, some people send encouragement, like this:
https://talkingmoose.ca/3d-testimonials
