Icon & Desktop News: by Dan

In an ongoing effort to make it easier for you to send us your Icons and Desktops, we've designed a new Browser Based Upload Page for the task. Just follow the easy to use instructions, and you'll find submitting your artwork is now a piece of cake!

• And now for something completely different. "Cube X Icons" by Flax Creations blends a little Aqua geometry with Apple's default OSX icons. The set includes 17 of the more commonly used system level icons, a set of 9 different "flavored" Cube X folders and a few bonus icons.
  
  
• You may have to slap yourself a few times to wipe that silly grin off your face once you see this delightful set of 13 Classic sized Cartoon Icons by Thorsten. While they are actually in ResEdit format, you can just copy (get info) paste them to your favorite spot.
  
  
• An unidentified Star Wars fan sent us this poignant "Yoda Different Think" desktop. Featuring the frumpy Jedi Master himself, this one thinks me 1024x resolution comes in.
  
  
• He's Back... Quinn MacDonald scored a production photograph from the upcoming Terminator 3 movie, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as futuristic killing machine with a heart. Comes in 1152x resolution.
  
  
• Paddy by Michael Addison of Macalodeon is another desktop from a new series of 3-D renderings, featuring a highly imaginative prototype Mac/iPod. Michael uses a large variety and range of software to achieve his effects, including Photoshop, Carrara, Bryce, Infini-D, Cinema 4D, Poser, Tree Pro, and Amorphium Pro. This one comes in 1024x resolution.
  
  
• Many of you will enjoy this highly creative desktop by Alexandr Wolf titled "MetaBall". While the subject matter is a bit hard to describe, you definitely will want to get a closer look at it, as it is available in 3 different sizes.
  
  
• "The Choice Is Yours" is the first in a series of 2 Bryce renderings by Bradford J. Wiles, which clearly speak for themselves. Available in 800x and 1024x resolutions.
  
  
• Lord of the Rings fans will certainly enjoy this creepy "Orcs" desktop created by Karuna in 1024x resolution.
  
  
• Shakira makes beautiful music in this recent desktop picture submitted by John Rose. Visit John's great web Sketchbook for more celebrity wallpapers. Download this one here in 1280x resolution.
  
  
• Johnny B. Goode thinks the new Ford Mustang Rocks! So much in fact, that he made this wishful thinking desktop in the hopes that you might like it SO much, that you may want to buy him one! Comes in 3 different resolutions.
  

News From Around the Web:

Widget would like to announce new desktop picture for the week starting 6th May 2002. New pics include 'La Mer' and 'Rainbow Paper'. Be sure to check back every day as new desktop pictures and news updates will feature for the rest of the week!

Just a note to let U know that the Dragon Tongue site is in the process of moving from http://www.geocities.com/dragontonguenz/DragonMaster.html to http://www.dragon-tongue.com/

Macuserx.com has been updated with 5 new desktops and a new Spiderman the Movie Iconset.

Ethereal Creations updates with two new images in the New Releases section, two images in the Guest Art section, a new tutorial for creating streaming lights in Bryce and a new article in The View From Here. The plash page has also been revised and loads much more quickly. Stop on by and have a look!

MacMonkies updates with 8 new desktops and 7 new icon sets. Desktop artists include Melissa of MAJArch Studios, EA Design's Ed Allen and Alan Sherwood, and MacMonkies' real executives - Tigger and Toenails! Icon artists feature Samuel Krueger of Pixel Jerk, Melissa of MAJArch Studios, Rene of Happicon, and DV Graphics' Paul Sahner. Wednesday brings exceptional GUI as well as plenty of News and Fun at MacMonkies.com!

Mando would like to inform you that mandolux.com has just released a new desktop representing a continuation of the Technosis/Anthraxis theme.

Tray's Trove updates with eight new desktop pictures on 5-4-02.

Flax Creations updates it's icon pages with 3 new sets.

Warrior~Poet has added 21 "&Proud" desktops for GLBT people and their allies?

DV Graphics is announcing today the official opening of their Design Services website. They will be offering various design packages for application programmers, website creators and other content managers.

So what's up WWW? Icons? Desktop pictures? News? Inform us! We'll post it!

Support ResExcellence By Visiting Our Sponsors!

Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle

Mothers Day is next Sunday here in the US. This year, I have finally hit upon the perfect gift (not that the lawn edger was a bad idea). I went through the old family photo album and selected half a dozen old tattered pictures that would look great on display if it wasn't for their sorry state of disrepair.

Using Photoshop and my $99 Microtech 4800 scanner, I imported the images at 1200 dpi and began to repair the damage done by years of neglect. Below is a "before-and-after" of an 8x10 photo taken of me when I was five years old.

Wasn't I cute? Click for a larger image.

Using only the standard tools, I cut/paste and rubber stamped grass, siding, and brick to mend the damage around the edges. Then after zooming in, a fine brush and the rubber stamp hid smaller cracks. After 35 years, the colors had faded beyond the point where I could recover the subtleties, but it is a huge improvement over the original and now that it's framed I'm sure I can bump my sister's picture from the TV stand.

Brad Jones had been hoping to get his hands on a Justy Mouse, but when that didn't pan out, he found a site that is listing a new White Crystal Mouse. There is also a new silver version and dozens of other cool looking mice. Brad ordered the white one and "couldn't be more happy with it."

In MacOS X and Linux there is a cool little command line utility called "locate". You type 'locate coyle' and from a database it finds every file on your drive containing 'coyle' in the title. The database is usually updated daily with a cron script.

Now Sebastian Krauss has written a GUI front end for the locate command with his new utility Locator. Why not just use Sherlock (you ask rhetorically)? Because Sherlock can't find items in hidden folders. Do a Sherlock search for the terminal text editor pico and it won't be found. Locator tells you it's in the /usr/bin directory - and will open that hidden folder for you! Get this free utility. It's a must have.

Hey Mac Icon artists, for a small amount of effort, you can make your icons available for the Linux operating system. PNG is the preferred format for icons in Linux and if you use IconBuilder (a Photoshop plugin) all you need to do is save your 128x128 icon as PNG and it's ready for KDE/Linux.

If Iconographer is your editor of choice, select the 128 size and copy the "Icon and Mask" for pasting into Photoshop then save it in PNG format. Transparencies are preserved.

Why would you want to release your icons for use in Linux? It's an OS that is actively supported on Apple hardware. The desktop environments are highly customizable, much more than MacOS X is.

Linux artists are talented, but you can be sure they will appreciate the skills of Macintosh designers. So the next time you send an icon set to Dan Flax here at ResEx, include PNG formatted images for Linux users and I'll let them know over at KDE-Look.

User Contributed Splash Screens. by Michael Coyle

It's easier than ever to contribute using the new Browser Based Upload Page! If you contribute a file to any section of ResExcellence, you could win a PowerMax gift certificate worth $50 ! (How?)

REALbasic News by Erick Tejkowski

Support ResExcellence By Visiting Our Sponsors!

Today's News by Cletus™

St. Clair Software has released version 1.5 of Default Folder X, it's a utility for improving Open and Save dialogs in Mac OS X. Navigation within Mac OS X is so much easier with this program. This release provides support for all Cocoa applications. Default Folder X now enhances the Open and Save dialogs in all Mac OS X-native applications. Version 1.5 also integrates with Bare Bones Software's Super Get Info and an upcoming version of ClairWare Software's Keyboard Maestro, as well as correcting flaws and improving compatibility with BBEdit, PageSpinner, and a number of other Carbon applications.

The PR reads: SNAX 1.2.8 is ready for immediate download! This is by far the best SNAX to date! The speed improvements are amazing and it also uses much less RAM. There are also many other enhancements and a new language— Danish. Many of the enhancements and corrections are based on user input. This is always a positive idea.

• Fixed drawing problems in icon view when set to small icons.
  
• Fixed updating of disks free space.
  
• Fixed problems remembering folder sizes when calculate folder sizes was on.
  
• Fixed memory leaks when secure deleting files.
  
• Fixed the redrawing of the MP3 controller in preview drawer.
  
• Fixed the size of the movie preview. It wasn't taking into account the controller.
  
• Added version information to preview drawer.
  
  

Scotland Software have released two new screensaver for Mac OS X. The one is called: Generic Screensaver and the second is called, appropriately enough, Scotland Software Screen Saver. They also have some really nice palettes for the schematization program OmniGraffle you may want to check out if you use this program.

Pixel Tester has been updated to version 1.4 for Mac OS X LCD panels. If you suspect you have any dead pixels, you will want to run this program.

Xoptimize 1.0 is available for download. Xoptimize prebinds all executables and shared libraries is such a way that applications will load and launch faster. It accomplishes this task by invoking the update_prebinding command provided with Mac OS X. Release 1.00 removes all references to memory usage. It was originally there solely to work around a bug in update_prebinding that was fixed prior to the 10.0.4 release of Mac OS X.

If you are looking for a quick way to change the Startup Disk, you will want to give this AppleScript— Change Startup Disk by NoName Software a try. I have mentioned this script before and it seems to have gained in popularity with each successive update. Now at version 1.08, the changes in this release include: optimization of its coding, much clearer password instructions, and a nice new Icon thanks to Mike Reidel!

POPmonitor 2.0.1 is the newest release of this program to help sort emails prior to downloading. If you tend to get swamped with useless, meaningless (read: Spam) email, then you will want to try this program out. POPmonitor will save you time and bandwidth. Currently it functions only with Mac OS 8.x or higher, however a Mac OS X native version will be available sometime in May. The update includes the following changes.

• Fixed a minor bug with the Configuration Assistant when upgrading from
  
  
• POPmonitor 1.x.
  
  
• Fixed a bug in the SMTP identification procedure.
  
  
• Fixed a bug where certain filters would not properly recognize attachment names.
  
  
• Improved processing of downloaded files.
  
  
• Fixed some minor interface glitches.
  
  

Iconizer Pro 1.7.3 is the latest version of icon tool for generating a set of 32 bit full color icons from any pictures to be a background for your media, such as CD's.

Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!

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Polling Place by Michael Coyle

Based on the comments in the forum, more readers would take public transportation if a decent system existed in their hometown. Fortunately, Chicago has a great system of trains and subways covering a 50 mile radius around the city's loop. A couple of readers mention the great systems in New York and San Francisco, both of which I have ridden. Atlanta, on the other hand, has virtually no public transportation for a major metropolitan area.

All I can say is if it were not for my train commute to work, I would not have enough time to update ResExcellence!

One small benefit of having a wife who is a special education teacher is that I'm often called upon to be a guinea pig for a new testing procedure. Because one of these tests was for intelligence quotient, I happen to know my IQ. Do you know yours? For fun you can take a 13 minute quick test to get a truly rough idea (they email you the results, don't pay for a print out!!). Maybe you peeked at your high school transcript and saw your IQ. Either way, this week's Polling Place question asks, "Do you know your IQ?"

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Icon & Desktop News: by Dan

Icons - Desktops: We've got a great lineup here! How about (8) New Desktops, (2) New Icon Sets, and of course, updated "News From Around the Web". All on display for today's update.

Announcements:

In an ongoing effort to make it easier for you to send us your Icons and Desktops, we've designed a new Browser Based Upload Page for the task. Just follow the easy to use instructions, and you'll find submitting your artwork is now a piece of cake!

• If you're one of those people who find the flashy new icons introduced with OSX more of a distraction than anything else, then "Ghost Icons" by Guiboud Marcel are for you. It appears that Guiboud took 36 of his favorite System level and Application icons, and converted them to a low contrast easy on the eyes grey scale format.
  
  
• During the Middle Ages, knight's armorial bearings were represented on their shields. Decorated shields that were made only for display were often hung on walls in memoriam. In this digital age, Jamie McCanless picks up the craft with "Schelde Icons", a colorful set of 15 of his own personal decorative shields.
  
  
• "Swirl Deform" by Alexandr Wolf is an interesting study in organic shape, light and texture, and is definitely worth the download. This one is available in 3 different resolutions.
  
  
• Gorgeous super model and part time actress Angie Everhart makes a stunning guest appearance on this recent desktop by Nate Penwell. Comes in 1152x resolution.
  
  
• Live Pencil adds some special magic to this cheerful patch of Clover in 1024x resolution.
  
  
• This Desktop Picture sent by Chris Bower is of Jim Porter (his boss) showing off their new colors (paint) while racing their 360ci / 750hp Sprint Car at Ventura Raceway on March 23, 2002. This is his third season crewing for Jim. They won the 2001 VRA Senior Sprint Car Championship last season. This racey desktop comes in 1280x resolution.
  
  
• Many Canadians deeply mourned the passing of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who died on Sept. 28, 2000. Tom Whalen pays homage to the popular politician with a "Think Trudeau" desktop in 1024x resolution.
  
  
• Johnathan Grule submits a raspy looking desktop titled "The Queens Gecko", which comes in 800x and 1024x resolutions.
  
  
• William Curry selected four of Evan Kaufman's EMK desktops, and wove them into an attractive piece titled "EMK Design Collage". Comes in four different resolutions.
  
  
• Take a look at this colorful and hypnotic spiral desktop from Mac 15 titled "More Twirlyness. This electric backdrop comes in 1024x resolution.
  

News From Around the Web:

Mando would like to inform you that mandolux.com has just released 10 new desktops representing a reissue of the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) desktops.

Tray's Trove updates with eight new desktop pictures on 5-4-02.

Flax Creations updates it's icon pages with 3 new sets.

Ethereal Creations updates with five new and guest releases.

Warrior~Poet has added 21 "&Proud" desktops for GLBT people and their allies?

DV Graphics is announcing today the official opening of their Design Services website. They will be offering various design packages for application programmers, website creators and other content managers.

MacMonkies has another all-star Icon and Desktop Edition for your pixel pleasure! Icon artists include Rene of Happicon, Matthew Bice of IHeartNY, Dan Flax of Flax Creations, Patrick O'Kelly of Eye9design, and Scott Chitwood of alligator country! Also available are Desktops from Todd Darland, EA Design, and MacMonkies! Swing by MacMonkies for plenty of "eye" fun!

White Fire Ministries is now operating under a different name. As of April 26, everything at the White Fire site including desktop pictures and OS X Screensaver packs, has been located at donniefischer.com.

A new Why the Mac is so great.com now has a new desktop image available for download, titled Aquatic Wall."

Widget would like to announce a desktop bonanza for the next week. Every day for the next seven days - weekends included - Widget will be releasing a new, cool and stylish desktop picture for your Mac. Head on over and check it out!

So what's up WWW? Icons? Desktop pictures? News? Inform us! We'll post it!

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