Convince Me Applet

If your browser supports Java, an applet window called Convince Me will soon pop up on your screen, assuming you have a browser that supports Java 1.1 or higher. If you are running Windows XP, you may have to install the Sun Java plugin, which is part of the standard Java Runtime Environment.

Help
Getting started guides are available. Units 1 and 2 provide an introduction to hypotheses, evidence, and reasoning about arguments, and Unit 3 provides an introduction to Convince Me.

Saving
Want to save your argument from the applet? Applets (actually, unsigned applets) like Convince Me are not allowed to save to your hard drive for security reasons. If you want to save your argument, download and install the application version of Convince Me from Sourceforge instead.

Printing
Want to print the applet window? The applet is running in your browser, but browsers don't always print applets the same way as they display them. So take a screenshot of the applet and then print the screenshot. There are built-in screenshot utilties on Windows and Mac:

• On Windows, you can use the print screen key.
• On Mac OS X, you can use the built-in screen capture tool. Command + Shift + 3 keys gives you a total screenshot of your entire desktop and Command + Shift + 4 keys gives crosshairs that you can simply drag over the subset of the area you want a screenshot of.

Depending on your setup, the screenshot will either be saved as a file to your desktop, or be saved to the clipboard so that you can paste it into a document (like Word) and print. There are also a lot of good third-party screenshot tools, like SnapZ Pro on the Mac or SnagIt on Windows.

Learn more about the Convince Me software and how to get the application version or access the source code.