Hi, I've finally implemented a scheme which will quietly keep my son from playing games late into the night, shutting down the Mac at bedtime. Since it took a lot of work, and a lot of help, to figure it out, I've published a description of how it works and a step-by-step how-to: http://dearjerry.home.mindspring.com/DownTimer/DownTimer.htm Jerry Krinock San Jose, CA USA