Global Stability Index
This software can be used either as a global "Sun Clock" or as a map of Global Stability Index. When you start the program it is working as the Sun Clock world map:
The screen shows a world map with a shaded area indicating the parts of the world where the sun is below the horizon - where it is night time. Within the shaded area, a second slightly lighter area indicates the places where it is night but the moon is above the horizon.
A number of cities are selected around the world where a panel displays the city name along with the current local time. In cities where the time is before midday the panel is white, while in the afternoon it is yellow. At the top of the map there is a strip which displays the date in different regions of the world. In the bottom right hand corner of the map there is a dial which can be turned by clicking and dragging. Turning the dial advances the time so that you can see what the time will be at different localities around the world in several hours from now. If you double click on the dial it returns the advance time to zero.
If you move the cursor over the map a small floating label indicates the name of the country or time zone under the cursor and shows the current local time.
Below the map, on the left-hand side, is an analogue clock showing the current local time in your selected location. The central part of this clock shows the current phase of the moon. On the right-hand side, beneath the map, is an image of the earth as a globe centred on your selected location. As with the main map it indicates the areas of night and day. Two yellow line radiating from your location indicate the direction and time of sunrise and sunset. When the sun and/or the moon are above the horizon their direction as viewed from your location are shown on the circular angle measure around the globe.
If you click on the Pilgrims logo beneath the map you will be taken to the Pilgrims web site.
Below the map are two "buttons", one labelled "Sun Clock", the other "Global Stability Index". In the illustration above the "Sun Clock" button is selected meaning that the program is operating in Sun Clock mode. Click on the "Global Stability Index" button to initiate the "Global Stability Index" map:
The "Global Stability Index" button is now highlighted. To start with the only change is that a menu of stability index themes appears on the left-hand side of the map. If you click on one of the items in this menu, after a short pause, the map will be coloured up according to data related to that theme. For instance, click on "Crime":
Now a key has appeared below the menu indicating areas of different levels of stability. The map is coloured up accordingly (note that in the illustration above random data is being used and so nothing about stability should be read from this illustration). As you move the cursor over the map the name of the country and the current time is still shown but in addition the values for the stability themes for that country are displayed.
If you place the cursor over one of the four stability levels in the key then a fuller explanation of the risk level for that theme is given in a pop up:
Settings
In the bottom left hand corner of the screen there is a small button labelled with an "i". Click on this to get more information about the program and to set various user options. A dialogue box appears:
By default the times displayed on the selected cities is shown using 12 hour times with a.m. and p.m. Alternatively, you can opt to tick the box "24 hour digital clock format".
As the shadow of night moves across the map the lights of the worlds cities and towns are displayed. By de-selecting the "With night lights" option these will be removed.
Muslim users of the program may be interested in the direction from their current location to Mecca. If the "With Kiblah" option is selected then the compass bearing is indicated on the globe image beneath the world map.
When using the Risk Map the colour of the risk for each country is displayed so as to be translucent so that the satellite imagery of the world map comes through. The colours of the imagery mix with the risk colour and change it, so the more of the imagery that is visible the paler is the risk colour. The mix between risk colour and imagery is a matter both of personal preference and the quality of the screen being used. By using the "Stability map intensity" slider you can control this mix. When the slider is at the extreme right end then the stability colour are solid with no imagery colour coming through.
Similarly the "Shadow intensity" and "Brightness" sliders can be used to control how dark the night areas are and generally how bright the base map is. These again are matters of preference and screen quality.
The "Font" and "Font size" controls determine which font is used to display the information on cities and countries.Choosing locations
The right hand side of the dialogue box deals with which city locations are displayed on the map. The city shown in the "Current location" drop down box is that which is used as the current location on the world map - i.e. the globe will be centred on this location and the analogue clock will display the time for this location. The "Locations displayed" list shows the current selection of cities. The cities in this list which are highlighted are those which will be displayed on the map. You can highlight all the cities in the list by clicking on "Select all locations" or un-highlight them with "De-select all locations". You can add to this list by either:
Clicking on the "New location" button (top right) and then manually entering the Name, Latitude, Longitude, Time zone, and (optionally) the Label location.
Clicking on the "Add or delete locations" displays another dialogue box with a database of over 2,700 cities:
If you wanted to add Cali to the selected cities then click on it in the right-hand list, then click on the "Copy" button to add it to the left-hand list. To remove an item from the left- hand list, click on it to select it then click on the "Remove" button.
Updating the Stability Index data
Clearly the data on stability around the world is changing constantly. To keep your Global Stability Index map up to date do the following:
Close the Global Stability Index program
Log into your account and follow the instructions to download the update file, "pilgrims.dbf". When you download the file a dialogue box will ask you where you want to save the data. You should save it to "C:\Program Files\Map Maker\Stability Map\Pilgrims\Pilgrims.dbf" - this assumes that you installed the program in the default installation directory "C:\Program Files\Map Maker\Stability Map", if you did not then you should save the data file in the "Pilgrims" sub-directory of whatever location you installed the program in.
Restart the Global Stability Index program and the new data will automatically be displayed.
