Today's News by Cletus™
The contest is now officially over. Please stop back monday to see if you are one of the lucky winners.
As we head into the weekend, I want to mention two big items at ResExcellence. First is a great software review by Jeremy. (see below) Second, is that you have until Saturday to enter the StickyBrain contest. This only applies to the one or two who have not entered yet. :) So you still have some time left to participate!
Software Review:
Speed Download— Maximize Your Bandwidth by Jeremy Hoesly
A couple weeks back we hosted a giveaway for Speed Download. It was a big success and struck a chord with us, that Jeremy decided then he would like to evaluate this download manager a little more in depth.
Data sharing has been a key benefit of the Internet since its inception. Files of any type and size can be transferred from one computer to another across a network. However, the rate at which data can be transferred, also known as bandwidth, has always been a limiting factor. continued...
A Better Finder Rename 4.7 is now available for both Mac OS 9 and X. It functions as a CMM plugin for the Macintosh Finder, which allows users to quickly rename multiple files. Because it handles batch renaming of files, it takes the tedium out of such tasks. It is a really useful program. Check it out.
Quit It 2.5 allows a system extension to handle quitting of an application when the last window of that program is closed. This can be very useful when novice users are working on a computer, for instance who often close a window by clicking on the close box of a document window, thinking the application is quit they explain.
Bliss Saver is a screen saver program and includes over 130 interactive screen saver animations. Animations can be triggered with the keyboard, MIDI or sound input. Dazzling forms and colors are generated by Bliss Saver's sophisticated image and color synthesizers.
POPmonitor X 2.0.1 was released yesterday. This program allows you to Delete unwanted email without downloading it first. A great way to delete SPAM before it even reaches your machine. Check below for a full list of changes:
- Entourage, Eudora and Magellan Pro are now supported.
- A Font menu was added to the Preferences window.
- Improved support for foreign languages.
- Three bug fixes: first is where some SMTP servers suddenly stopped accepting bounce messages, another where sending multiple bounce messages failed, and finally some minor interface glitches are fixed.
Oh Well— congratulations to Mike and the White Soxs on taking the series over the Phillies: 2 games to 1.
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Icon & Desktop News: by Dan
Icons - Desktops: We have an excellent line up for you to end the week, starting with (8) New Desktops, (2) New Icon Sets, and of course, updated "News From Around the Web". All on display for today's update.
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 a snap!
- Joerie Mortelmans submits a new set of 12 Mozilla icons he made to replace the default blue M design. All icons were made in Photoshop 7 with the IconBuilder Pro plug-in. The folder icons were made with Can Combine Icons 2.1.0. These icons were designed for Mac OS X only and may not look as good in OS 9.
- Prolific Iconist David Schloss of the Iconyard submits another set of OSX icons to dress up your desktop This one is titled Electronics Icons, and features 8 different T.V's, modeled on the Sony Trinitron and flat screen models
- Enjoy the view of the natural world through the lenses of avid photographer Andy Lee. This verdant set of four Forest photographs comes in 1024x resolution each.
- Ancient Thousand Lights by Kevin Kee is his second abstract-theme desktop set. This image reflects the inside of a cave, where water, carbon, light and all the magic are sparkling. This desktop is available in three different resolutions.
- Progress, by Will Ernst is a little number he built as a window into Apple's history. It starts with the the original Apple logo, progresses to OS9, and finally onto OSX and it's yet released code named sibling, Jaguar. Comes in 1024x resolution
- Rack and Roll! Apple continues to push the boundaries of computing with a new style of OSX server. "Serve Different" sent by Alan Gacia, gives us a closer look at this bad boy, and comes in 1024x resolution.
- The Ipnos FM Crew begins a new series of desktops called "Has a Mac". Several pop culture figures get in on the action, and all are available in 1024x resolution.
- Frank Shoplifter sends a two desktop tribute to his favorite band Tocotroic. "Toco" Desktops are available in 1024x resolutions.
- Tdehring submits a fluid looking backdrop titled "Waters". This bright and shiny desktop come in 1024x and 800x resolutions.
- From the vivid imagination of Marc Kuder comes a new desktop titled "XTC". This strange for OSX creation might make you laugh, cry, or even think you ate something odd. However it hits you, this one is available in 1024x resolution.
News From Around the Web:
Zensmile.com has released a set of icons, free, for download. The icons were designed in Bryce 5 and then fashioned for OS X (only). There are 7 icons in the set.
Grab your Flash plugin and head over to the newly redesigned CricketBow Design for a bunch of new desktops and other stuff.
Just a shout out to let you all know that http://mac.axonz.com is back up and sporting a new face, after being down for almost a week!!!
IconsTree updates every day this week.
Subjecttochange.org has launched with it's first icon set and it's first interview featuring Michael Coyle! HEY, we know that guy!
Ethereal Creations is pleased to announce a number of site updates and changes. In addition to seven new images for your viewing enjoyment, our Downloads and Screensavers sections are also open. Also, our artists now have their own individual galleries and we even found some time to add another artist profile to the mix. Drop in and make yourselves at home!
Live Pencil updates with new wall papers, animations, and loads of other fun!
MacMonkies rolls out another barrel of GUI goodies. Icons include outstanding material from EMK Design, DV Graphics, Pixel Jerk, and MacMonkies' latest contributor, Hein Mevissen of miX the piX!
Mando would like to inform you that there are 10 new desktops at mandolux.com. , featuring the SR-71 Blackbird (aerospace), 3 Giants & Dual Monitor (nature/landscape), 1 Technosis/Anthraxis (abstract), and 1 Vector-based desktop.
Tray's Trove updated 6-16-02 with eight new desktop designs.
John's Sketchpad has been updated with nine more Desktops, several sketches and a new portfolio page.
DV Graphics closes the week with a new icon set called "Signs".
So what's up WWW? Icons? Desktop pictures? News? Inform us! We'll post it!
Click here to learn more about Toast 6 Titanium
Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle
Twice in the past I have purchased a few shares of Apple stock. I'd like to say the purchase was a magnanimous show of support for my favorite computer company, but the cold hard truth is that I expected to make money.
And I did.
A little anyway, just enough to buy a new printer and digital camera. I just don't have much skill at trading stocks, so I leave the work to others.
Some folks at Apple are much better at trading that I could ever hope to be. Over the past few days, Apple's stock price has taken a beating after the company announced it would not meet Wallstreet's expectations, but a few Apple executives were lucky enough to unload millions of shares before the announcement of bad news.
In fact, they were lucky enough to have done it twice over the past two years!
The chart above is based on data from Yahoo and shows the two year history of Apple's average monthly share price, and the number of times Apple executives have sold shares of the company stock. In August of 2000, Apple's stock had just split and was hovering at $61. Three fortunate executives sold over one million shares of stock, making millions, just before the price fell to $26 per share the following month.
Two years later, after hovering for more than a year in the twenty dollar range, the price of Apple's stock rose this April of 2002 to over $24 per share. The same three lucky executives were able to sell millions of dollars in company stock shortly before the price plummeted to its recent close of $17 per share.
Which Cupertino executives are so fortunate? Senior Vice President, Sina Tammadon, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Nancy R. Heinen, and Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Avie Tevanian.
A few weeks ago, their impeccable sense of timing was matched by Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations, Tim Cook, Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer , Fred Anderson, and Senior Vice President of Finance, Peter Oppenheimer.
Before the price of Apple's stock fell almost 30% from it's recent high, these luck few sold millions of shares in company stock. I wish I had their foresight. All I could muster was an injet printer and a digital camera. (Comments...)
Theme News!
Theme artists in Japan have been very busy! Four new designs were added to the ResEx archive. Because the web sites are in Japanese, and Babel renders them only marginally readable, I may have made mistakes with the names of the themes and their creators. If I have and you can read Japanese, please let me know.
- Seven harkens back to the good old days of System 7 (Ha!)
- The Pastel theme looks as if scraps of colored construction paper were laid out in a random fashion on a MacOS X window.
- AJ is a bold blue theme. What the preview doesn't show is the colorful pattern behind all the system menus.
- And the final new theme is a based on the old Copland mockup called HiTech. I have always loved the neon glow of HiTech and this MacOS X version titled Tequa is beautiful.
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?)
- Snow sent a Mozilla splash made from an image of the forest fire in Colorado. While the fire is tragic, Snow tries to lighten the mood by saying the Mozilla dragon may have thought IE was in the forest.
- This latest Boot Panel from Dean Loros has a nice layout and aqua colors.
- This is a cool MOSS from Conrad from a photo in his collection. At first glance, it's tough to tell what you're looking at.
- The King lives in this Elvis Boot panel from an anonymous contributor.
HTML IMG Tag Machine by Erick Tejkowski
If you still code your HTML by hand like I sometimes do, then this week's tutorial is for you! This time we'll build a simple little utility for generating HTML IMG tags. Just drag your images into the window and our project takes care of the rest.
(Continued...)
Complete Cable Management For The Home & Office.
Today's News by Cletus™
Entries are flooding in for the StickyBrain contest. You have entered right? You know, the more I play around with this program, the more I like it. What could be more useful than a repository for all the little notes you jot down throughout the day? The organizational abilities of this program are simply phenomenal. Plus, it has just been update to version 2.0.1 fixing numerous little bugs and oddities. If you tried the program before and encountered any of these bugs, rest assured they are now fixed.
Can Combine Icons goes fully to version 3.0. With this program, you can create custom icons for virtually anything you want from other icons. The PR summarizes the update: "A lot of cool new things such as drop shadow and many new icons have been added. There is now a category of icons called "Templates" which contains icons that can easily be used to create standard-looking icons of different sorts. Another cool thing is that there are new patterns that use OpenGL to create icons with cool 3D effects! "
Majed Itani has released a major update to Dock Switcher— 1.5. This Dock manager allows for the use of multiple Docks under Mac OS X 10.1.3 or higher. Under this update, the program is integrated into a system preference pane. All the features of dock switcher and dock switcher delta are combined into a System Wide Menu, Dock Menu, and System Preference Pane now making it much more convenient.
TinkerTool 2.2 by Marcel Bresink was released yesterday. Is there anyone running Mac OS X not using this? Perhaps one or two out there. Download it, install it and then use it! That is my advice. Changes to this version include:
- A new installer to find and replace older versions automatically.
- Better icon display at smaller sizes.
- Better language usage under Mac OS X when English is not main one.
- Due to a bug, Icelandic support has now been removed completely from TinkerTool. this is providing a temporary fix only and will be fixed in a future update.
- Updated FAQ.
A really nice screensaver makes its debut on ResExcellence called TimeCycler. They describe it as a very stylish, yet configurable analog clock. This update adds a few bug fixes and a slider for the overall clock size during operation.
Another screensaver by Diego is available for download now called OpenSourceSaver. It is a screen saver that displays its own source. What? Pretty original idea I think. The main update to this release is that you can adjust the screen saver to display source code (or anything out want) from any directory. You just choose a directory and it recursively goes through the directory and displays the files.
For the very first time ever the Chicago White Soxs come to Philadelphia to play the Phillies. Readers will know that this
presents a sort of ResExcellence rivalry among two of us. Mike and myself! Considering the start that both teams are off to, it may not be as exciting as if they played last year. In any case, Mike is the Pale hose fan and I am the Phils phan!
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Support ResExcellence By Visiting Our Sponsors!
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Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle Those of you who like a dark-themed MacOS X desktop like Dark Aqua or DSK, will like this newest Mozilla skin.
Negative Mozilla by RJ is a well designed dark theme. Featured is a snapshot of Mozilla on my KDE 3 desktop.
Maybe wireless network security is not as pathetic as I had first thought. Using MacStumbler I spot checked several popular plazas in the Chicago Loop. I didn't see a single network access point! My dream of sitting at the foot of the Picasso while checking my email will not soon be realized. I wonder if I would have any luck convincing the city to erect a public Wi-Fi access point. Time to call city hall!
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Generally, xdm is looked upon as the ugly duckling of Linux login managers, but the XDM Theme Project is trying to change that! Image a login window that resembles an LCARS station from Star Trek. In addition to prompting for a user name and password, the screen also displays the time and CPU load. (Heck, you don't have to image it. Click the image on the side!)
If you want to give it a try, visit XDM Theme and download my LCARS theme. Be sure to backup any text files you alter!
Did you hear? Internet Explorer has been updated to version 5.2! In honor of this release, I have chosen to once again make my Powerbook 100% Microsoft free. :-)
My choice to replace Explorer as my browser is Mozilla 1.0, but other options are Netscape 6, iCab, Chimera, OmniWeb, and Opera.
If you say you must have Microsoft Office, I say you need Thinkfree Office 2.0. I just received my CD and was pleased to see it contained installers for MacOS X, Classic, and Windows 95-XP. The company for which I work bought my copy of MS Office, but I'm so confident in Thinkfree's abilty to handle any documents my clients send me, that removing MS Office was a no brainer. The only major feature missing from Thinkfree Office is the ability to run Visual Basic scripts. Since most internet viruses are spread with VB, I don't consider this a limitation. Thinkfree Office 2.0 is $46 from Small Dog.
With the move to MacOS X, I got lazy and accepted MS on my drive. I accepted products from a company that would rather see the MacOS dead and buried, a company whose felony convicting on predatory monopolistic behavior has been upheld on appeal. Time to wake up! Don't be lazy!
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?)
- If you're looking to skin a wild iTunes, BloodFly makes it easier with a full set of PNG files that correspond to the PNGf resources in iTunes. For more information, you may want to see this previous edit.
- A new MacOS X Boot Panel has been sent by Dean Loros. This one is title "Fountain" and features a zooming Mac logo.
- Returning after a small hiatus, Conrad sent a patriot American flag tucked into a MOSS.
- Usually the Mozilla mascot blows fire, but in this splash screen from Hard Crocodile, the dinosaur is cold as ice.
Snapshots by Jeremy Hoesly
Tuesday’s wave of snapshots just rolled in:
- A custom “Hot White” desktop picture and Wagpage’s AquaX Graphite+Be K-Scheme debut in this submission from an anonymous contributor. Mac Axonz’ TriTanium icons are displayed in their full 128x128 pixel glory within DragThing.
- This snapshot from Zach Kowalczyk touts the Chimera browser configured with custom window widgets for a more Aqua-like look and feel. Cee Pee You displays the processor load in the menubar.
- This two-part contribution from Moof features a “Silent Hunter” desktop picture. Internet Explorer showcases a website for playing your own personal music collection from any Internet-connected computer.
- Tøm Whalen sends this snapshot sporting iTunes equipped with the Techno skin. Very chic.
See just how easy it is to contribute to ResExcellence! Give our browser-based submission upload page a whirl.
REALbasic News by Erick Tejkowski
This week in REALbasic news: | - Three New Plug-ins
- Relevance, QuickTime, and the Weasel that Made Them
- PaletteCanvas
- Electric Butterfly
- Need a Project Idea?
- KRAM it!
- Check Your Links
- High Precision Plugin
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(Continued...)
Support ResExcellence By Visiting Our Sponsors!
Today's News by Cletus™
ResExcellence and Chronos are teaming up for another terrific "StickyBrain Giveaway". StickyBrain is a personal productivity application that incorporates a "sticky note" interface. It is really unique and just plain cool. If you have never tried this program before, you will want to check it out. Use the included CMM to quickly grab any text from any program, use it to jot down notes, and to store all sorts of information.
MoonMenu was updated to version 2.0. It places the phases of the moon in the menubar. If there is or was anything you ever wanted to know about moon phases, this is the program for you.
If you used uControl to remap the Caps Lock key to the Control key and updated to Mac OS X 10.1.5, you will have probably had kernel panic attacks. Version 1.0.6 is the update that fixes this problem. It also includes a preference pane now so you can configure exactly what keys you want remapped to what. Fixes the function keys bug, and partially fixes the power button issue.
CharView 2.0b1 was recently released according to several readers. CharView is the popular program that shows all printing characters of a selected font. This program will run on both Mac OS 8.6 through Mac OS X 10.0 or higher.
- System-wide utility window. This window auto-minimized to small window with icon in it if user moves mouse pointer out of window's bounds.
- Selected character inserted to front most window's focused editable area.
- Unicode support.
SpeedMeUp Pro mentioned last week as a program that performs pre-binding on Mac OS X, was found to have a bug. Available immediately is a fix. The log now saves correctly and without the annoying blank spaces between the letters. Plus they are pretty certain that it will fix an issue when the startup disk is an external drive. However one know issue remains and that is when a users password contains characters other than letters and/or numbers, the authentication process fails. They are working on a fix for this.
Folder Icon X was also updated over the weekend. This program allows one to take a folder and customize it with an image. Change in this version is to allow you to export the "Composite Icons" as pictures by using "Export As Picture" command of File menu.
Dozing Cat Software have posted Overseer 1.3.2. Their program to monitor processes, system load, connected users and your disk usage. This release provides two fixes, a memory leak that occurred if a window was left open for a long time and improved the behavior of column sorting.
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Polling Place by Michael Coyle 
I'm surprised to see that 70% of ResEx readers own a scanner. It's one of those computer items that I had always thought of as a luxury, but most of you are willing to open your wallet for one.
While many print drivers have been updated for MacOS X, the same cannot be said for scanners. This is the biggest complaint in this forum thread. It seems some companies (UMAX) do not provide drivers for download. You must purchase a CD for $15. "Buyer beware" seems to be the best way to proceed. Booting into Classic MacOS may not be too much of a hassle to use a scanner, but the lack of an updated driver shows a lack of support for the Mac OS X platform, and your money may be better spent elsewhere.
Before MacOS X, Windows users were always slamming Classic MacOS as a toy. They would sarcastically proclaim, "It doesn't even have a command line!"
Thanks to the Terminal.app Mac users can finally experience the joy of chown -R coyle Documents. But do we? This week's Polling Place asks, "How often do you use the Terminal command line?"
Icon & Desktop News: by Dan
Icons - Desktops: We have an excellent line up for you this week with, starting with (8) New Desktops, (3) New Icon Sets, and of course, updated "News From Around the Web". All on display for today's update.
Editors Note* This section will not be updated on Wednesday 6/19, as I will be out of town. Check back for more great GUI goodies on Friday. Thanks!
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 a snap!
- "Things and Stuff" by S. Chambone is a nicely done set of 13 OSX icons, featuring a cool assortment of desktop items. Some of these were drawn, while others are from pictures found on the internet. S. Chambone notes that while all of these were designed for OSX, the Drive icons can be used in OS 9 as well.
- Aquaoids by Flax Creations is a grouping of 36 different Aqua based icons designed for OSX. The design for these was inspired by Apple's popular Gel button, and includes a number of application, system level and folder icons, as well as some unique experimental shapes.
- David Schloss and Wil Chase of the Iconyard present their first collection of 40k Icons for OSX. These originate from Warhammer 40,000, an exciting science fiction war game produced by Games Workshop. The set includes 9 different icons.
- While sorting through Conrad's extensive graphics collection, he came across a small assortment of Pink Floyd related photographs and decided to combine into great desktop collage of the band. This one comes in 1024x resolution, and includes two variations on the theme.
- 1950's pinup girl Bettie Page graces this saucy new desktop from John Rose's Sketchpad. Betty has been described as having a sexy innocence that is both contemporary and provocative, as well as nostalgic. Looking for more of John's work? Don't neglect a visit to his website, where you will be sure to find more delightful decorations.
- Anime fans will certainly want to add this stylish Masamune Shirow wallpaper to their collections. This one was sent by TM-ANIME, and is available in 1024x resolution.
- Will Ernst created A Pair of Apples, because he felt we needed a little better look at our favorite corporate image. He wishes Apple Computer would bring the original rainbow color design, as it's so pretty when it's dolled up a little. Enjoy this pair of delicious Apples, one cold and one crispy, both in 1024x resolution.
- Yes indeed, Alexander Wolf is back in a creative state of mind, and brings us several more his of great desktop creations to delight your senses. "Space and Time" is the third up in the que, and comes in 1024x resolution.
- Dantes Inferno is the fifth of many new desktops to be displayed here by Alan Sherwood of EADesign. This one is described by Alan as a piece designed to portray one of the 27 (if he remembers correctly) rings of hell where the sinners are kept eternally in a sea of ice and only their heads remain above the surface. Comes in 800x and 1024x resolutions.
- Blue Chrome Interfaces , designed by Bob Osiin, features two elegant desktops sporting raised docking areas over an Aqua background. The blue chrome effect was gleaned from Adobe's Action Exchange, and both desktops come in 800x and 1024x resolutions.
- Hold onto your hat Dorthy... If you are anything like me, you're counting the months till the release of the new Matrix movie sequel titled "Reloaded". Using some of the promotional graphics found out on the net and a bit of Photoshop magic, Kent Salas cobbled together a handsome looking desktop announcing the 2003 movie release. Comes in 1024x resolution.
News From Around the Web:
Widget has got a new icon set called 'Aqualicious Drives' ready for download, as well as FUH-our new desktop pictures AND an updated Graphics
Tray's Trove updated 6-16-02 with eight new desktop designs.
Mando would like to inform you that there are new desktops at mandolux.com. , continuing the Giant/Dual Monitor theme.
John's Sketchpad has been updated with nine more Desktops, several sketches and a new portfolio page.
Live Pencil updates with new icons, animations, clip art, and loads of other fun!
DV Graphics closes the week with a new icon set called "Signs".
EA Design announces double whammy for you, as originally promised, just on time, we apologize for the delay but give you all we have got. 6 new 3D EACH! And, 6 new 2D EACH! Enough for you, probably not but we try our best.
The Crew over at Ethereal Creations have been busy with the hammers and chisels re-designing the site from the ground up in addition to prepping three beautiful desktops for the New Releases section. Put on your jogging shoes, pay us a visit and go "squish in our very Aqua interface. New sections include Downloads and Screensavers which will begin filling up shortly. Mind the sawdust and come on in!
Pixelcentric Design posts a longish tutorial/primer thing on understanding and creating proper Aqua icons for tool bars and the Finder up on the newly re-launched Pixelcentric Studios website.
The Iconfactory is proud to announce our latest free ware icon collection, Tribal Masks for OS X. Iconfactory Foreman, Gedeon Maheux has taken inspiration from tribal cultures from around the globe to create this new set of colorful, and bold icons for the Macintosh desktop.
MacMonkies serves up 6 new Icon sets and 9 new Desktops! The desktop lineup comes from Bob Spence, Neil Roberts, EA Design, MacMonkies, and EMK Design. New icons are on display from DV Graphics, IHeartNY, Flax Creations, and EMK Design. All this and more are available this week at MacMonkies.com!
So what's up WWW? Icons? Desktop pictures? News? Inform us! We'll post it!
