FadeTop

Spending too much time in front of a screen can be hazardous for your eyes. There are many afflictions which may result from working or playing a computer game for hours, without taking regular breaks. The purpose of FadeTop is not only to remind you to rest your eyes, arms or neck muscles, but to make you turn this into a habit. The idea behind this application is very simple, but effective. It will remind you to pause what you are doing, at regular intervals, by fading your screen and displaying a clock.

You can not put a price on your health, which is why FadeTop is freeware. It can be downloaded very fast, with any type of Internet connection and installed on most Windows platforms. The setup file is only 452 Kb large and you can find a portable version as well, which takes up even less disk space.

FadeTop works in the background and you will not have to interact with an interface, unless you want to make a few basic configurations. While the application is running, a solid color will fade in on the entire screen, at regular intervals. A large clock will appear on the center of the screen as well. The screen may also fade on demand if you click the application's system tray icon.

You can access the general settings menu to specify the fade interval, its duration and maximum opacity level. It is also possible to select different overlay and text colors and adjust the size of the clock. FadeTop's aim is to remind the user, not to force him. When the screen starts to fade, the application will not block your controls. You can perform any action on your computer while the screen is fading, provided the maximum opacity level is low enough so you can actually see what you are doing. If the screen starts to fade, you can stop the process at any time, just by clicking the system tray icon. Furthermore, you can even tick an option, in the general settings menu, to block this feature when a full screen application is running.