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Today's News by Cletus™ Here is a plug! The Doghouse is gone, but long live InstoSoft! HUH? Everyone remembers the Doghouse right? Repository for some of the better theme work available out there. Along with the themes that you have grown accustom to, you will now also find software to help life become a little easier. Right now there are three new themes available for you to try out. Plus you will want to check out Theme Checker, as well as Theme Viewer and SkinViewer. Stop over and check out the great new site.
iCan in its final form is now available. The author David Lloyd reports that version 1.0 is ready to go. iCan 1.0 is a customizable Trashcan for Mac OS X desktops for those who still miss the one in OS 9. You can customize the look of your trash via several included iCan Themes - use the standard OS X trash style, or choose from a dozen others. There are also options to size the trash from 32 to 128 pixels, play sounds, and edit the trash's "Trash" label.
 Steven Canfield is reporting that SafariSkin, which is a free alternative to Safari Masks, is now out. SafariSkin allows you to customize the Safari web browser buttons as well and change the color of the Location bar.
Ittec 1.6.1 is a contextual menu plugin that lists the contents of folders and Finder window. Ittec puts you just a click away from everything on your computer. No more cluttered desktop and dock, no more moving windows so you can open your hard drive, no more switching to the Finder to find a file.
Lioness a theme editor for Safari from Markus Magnuson. It can install themes with just a couple of clicks, and it allows you to toggle the brushed metal interface on and off.
The next beta of DockExtender is available at version 3.0B7. If you tried Beta 4 through Beta 6 and the PreferencePane would not load for you, please try Beta 7. The bug that was causing this problem has now been solved. They also want mentioned the following: "If you have not already done so, you will have to register for the Beta registration program and obtain a new BETA-ONLY registration code, even if you have registered a previous version of DockExtender! "
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Snapshots by Jeremy Hoesly Finish out the week with a helping of snapshots: - Cody contributes this screenshot sporting a vibrant “Graffiti” desktop picture from Mandolux. Icons from Xicons and Icon Factory abound.
- A “Tone-Def Productions” desktop picture and Max Rudberg’s Brushed Theme are showcased in this contribution from Tony Hartt. Playalong, running in the lower left, displays album cover art for the song currently playing in iTunes, while DesktopCalendar keeps track of the passing days in the lower right.
- This snapshot from Steve Sisler features a custom desktop picture of his wife and Laine Lee’s Pillowtalk-Sky Theme. DragThing supplies the translucent blue dock hugging the top edge, while Drop Drawers provides the tabbed drawers along the right edge.
- A Protocol Four Designs desktop picture and the Simpleton’s Ghost K-Scheme debut in this submission from Tetris25. Audion, retro-fitted with the Reintegration face, is dishing out tunes in the upper left. Title Free’s contextual menu is shown in action in the center.
See just how easy it is to contribute to ResExcellence! Give our browser-based submission upload page a whirl.
Icon & Desktop News: by Dan
 Icons - Desktops: Yo! We've got another great selection of icons and desktops to feed your need for desktop decoration. Starting off with (6) New Desktops, (3) New Icon Sets, and of course, updated "News From Around the Web", take your time going, and hurry back!
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 piece of cake!
- Discovery Channel watchers will really groove on these. Pedro Hernández, the creator of Skulls Icons took great care in creating a very interesting set of seventy eight different animal skull icons for your OSX desktop.
- Now that all the gardens have long been put to bed for the season, Tim Fehr took the time to create a delightful set of twenty Daylily Icons, sourced from the numerous photographs he has taken of this flower and submitted to ResExcellence over the past two years.
- Thomas Russo sends us a small set of icons made in honor of his favorite team, the Buffalo Sabres.
- Popular actress Thora Birch makes another star studded appearance in this second OSX dedicated desktop made by Paul Probert. This one comes in three different resolutions.
- You really never know what sort of artwork iBobunot will come up with next. "Boing Boing" is a surreal looking desktop that certainly put a smile on my face. This one is available in 1152x resolution.
- The kind folks over at Digikitten keep on sending us loads of fine desktop submissions to share with ResExcellence readers. By way of introduction, one of Digikitten's missions has been to provide a free place for digital artists to display their work without having to pony up for a server. Sex Kill by Peejay is the next desktop we have the good fortune to post from this ongoing display and is available in 1024x resolution.
- Enter the lilliputian world of Stove & W & Jack by Marc Roman Bravo. This is one of Marc's photographic compositing experiments featuring his stove, his girl, and his borp (What the heck is a Borp Marc?). Comes in 1024x resolution.
- Adam Jensen saw the original of this desktop on ResExcellence, and has a few things to say about it. "It said "Think Different," but this is Blink-182 we're talking about. The leaders of the pop-punk rut we've gotten ourselves into. There's nothing different between Blink-182 or Sum 41 and their many fans. Except Blink-182 gets paid to look like dorks, but their fans volunteer. When you follow Blink-182, you're not 'thinking different,' you're thinking just like the infinite number of pop-punkers out there. Thinking like everyone else." Whatever your take on the band, this desktop is available in 1280x resolution
- How about another fine desktop permutation of Apple's Think Different slogan by Trc3. Comes in 1024x and 1600x resolutions.
News From Around the Web: Ye Ole Rampant Shack has re posted five 3d desktops, some were rerendered in Bryce and all were tweaked somewhat in Photoshop to get them just right (or not, I could change my mind at any time...) I'm not sure if this really qualifies for a news release but those of you in the RM Fan Club deserve to know! NonsuchWorks.com has 12 new desktops available for download, 8 of which are inspired by the upcoming Daredevil motion picture. EA Design just went back online with a fresh lick of paint and new artwork. New desktops to be downloaded and galleries to be view. So check it out. Today DV Graphics is proud to release a new set of icons that have come to serve as replacements for all of the new Apple applications released at Macworld. Included in the set are icons for such applications as Final Cut Express, iTunes 3, iMovie 3, Keynote, iPhoto2, iDVD3 and Safari. Mando would like to inform you that http://www.mandolux.com has issued a new Vector-based Graffiti desktop titled Chaotic KRON. MacMonkies keeps the good GUI goodies going with 4 new Icon sets in their Friday Icon Update. This week's featured artists include works from miX the piX, DV Graphics, AGRAPHA Icons, and Billy James. Take your time, grab a vine, and swing over to MacMonkies for all this and more! Live Pencil updates with new live animals, new emoticons, animations, and much more to make you smile. So many different languages in the world, and a smile speaks them all. SMILES OF THE WORLD: Check out Live Pencil's new project!!! Send them a picture of your smile please!!!
IHeartNY and MacMonkies are pleased to announce the addition of the DeskTalk Forums to the MacMonkies lineup. This collaborative effort from IHeartNY and MacMonkies is your Macintosh Customization Community "town hall" for all things Mac GUI. So what's up WWW? Icons? Desktop Pictures? News? Inform us! We'll post it!
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Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle Things are moving fast in the theme world! Watercolor has been updated with a new color variation: Olive! Laine Lee updated Pillowtalk-Sky after a few tweaks.
Alex dropped me a line recommending a great freeware tool for viewing installed icons and icon sets.- Take a look at Asticones. Yan Feng really pays attention when his Mac is installing software! He noticed the background image on the installer has changed with iCal and iSync. Then he launched a search and didn't give up until he found it!
I took the plunge. After reading about NeonTrim on Slashdot, I ordered a conversion kit for $50 that should let me add "underglow" to my Powerbook keyboard. While I expect the light tubes to fit, I may have to scrap the project because the power inverter might not hide away underneath. I'll keep you posted! Has anyone done this with on a Mac? 
A PC Keyboard with NeonTrim
GAC (The Graphite Aqua Complete system conversion) has been updated to v. 3.9.5. This makeover provides Aqua skins for a dozen applications, and recent additions are: Drive 10 (10.1.3) and Game Ranger (3.1.1)
Three new Audion skins are available from Cody Walton. They are XP, Gameboy, and One Ring. I spent some time chatting with the gang from Panic at Macworld. They're a great group of guys; they even gave my daughter (an Audion user) a cool t-shirt!
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?) - The Eiffel Tower stands tall in this Boot Image from Josh Gibbs.
- From the PlayStation game, Sonic tears across a pair of Boot Panels created by Sonic84.
- A reader named 'zapz' sent two more color changes for the Safari progressbar. These are light blue and green.
- He didn't say in his READ ME what they are, but Patrick Roanhouse sent two Boot Images based on Lain Cyberia.
- I swear, if it wasn't for Elias Sandoval, we wouldn't have any MOSS contributions! Today the section has two more of his Latin creations.
Using Sheets in REALbasic by Erick Tejkowski For some time now, REALbasic programmers have been on the sidelines with the Carbon developers when it comes to the new interface elements of Mac OS X. While Cocoa geeks impressed their friends with native sheet and drawer support, REALbasic users had to resort to tricks, workarounds, or third party solutions to work with sheets. Drawers and that metallic look were completely off limits for REAlbasic users. The forthcoming release of REALbasic 5.0 aims to change all of that. New in version 5.0 is support for sheets, drawers, and those nifty metallic windows. This week, we'll look at how easy to implement some of these new features. (Continued...)
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Today's News by Cletus™ Continuing in the same vein as Michael, there is a lot of items being released that deal with the Safari GUI and navigating/working with Safari in general. Below are some of the software items I have been notified about.
 Safari Task Bar 1.0 is a utility to aid in displaying opened Safari windows and easily navigate among them. Among its many features, it displays the list of all opened Safari windows. It works in a global floating window to be always accessible in the foreground. The site also has one posted for Internet Explorer.
Safari Aquafier 1.0 will allow you to easily change Safari's brushed metal interface into an Aqua interface. The process is as simple as running the installer. Personally I like the brushed metal look. If you want the plain 'ole Aqua appearance back, use this program.
As you may or may not have noticed, the big fad at the moment seems to be sites adding an icon that shows in the address bar. While ResExcellence has always had this in place, other sites are finally hopping on the band wagon. That said, one of the problems is that if you visit a site and there isn't a custom icon, the default one gets loaded into the cache. If you visit the site again and they have subsequently added a custom icon, you may not see it. Safari Icon Manager 0.5.1 allows you to empty the cache, so new icons will be downloaded on the next visit to the site.
The newest version of A-Dock X is now out at version 0.8.3. A-Dock is an application switcher utility on steroids. It behaves like a drawer, supports drag & drop, lets you quit or hide applications via contextual menus. Several bug fixes grace this release.
freeLauncher 1.1 is described as a "Mini dock for quick access to everything else." Changes include a position change to the left side and the addition of a desktop accessories: Alarm, Calendar and CharFinder.
Gramotki was always a favorite of mine in Mac OS, and it continues in Mac OS X with version 2.0b5. The PR reads thus: "Gramotki 2.0b5 is preview release of Gramotki for Mac OS X. Some features aren't working yet, some do not work as expected. Main purpose of this release is to allow one to open and edit Gramotki Notes Storages on Mac OS X without loading Classic environment. This version doesn't replace Gramotki 1.5.11 for classic Mac OS."
Meteorologist is what i use for getting weather information. It has just been updated adding several nice features. Here they are: Added multiple, simultaneous city support, multiple city cycling, version checking and server error checking on launch, and multiple, simultaneous server support.
Dancing Bits have released a new utility that handles your desktop pictures and screen savers on the Mac called Sexy Desktops. They described it as this: "The program connects to our servers and downloads from over a 1000 sexy desktop pictures (non-nude). It features automatic changing of the desktop picture at specified intervals, downloading on demand or specified desktop changes." It also comes with the following features of auto launch at login and auto version checks. A one year license costs $14.95. Everyone is provided with a free 15 day trial. The program comes with 10 sexy desktop pictures to get started.
I mentioned previously in the forum about odd things I like to collect. When Maury McCown sent the PR for the release of Wednesday's List, I debated posting it since it doesn't really come under my normal type of news. But after reading the postings in the forum, I thought I would give it a one time mention as there are many people who collect Comic books. I know several myself. If you collect, this may be a very useful application for you to try. Wednesday's List is a powerful program designed to help comic book collectors view, manage, print, and save customized new and upcoming comic book release pull lists. Wednesday's List can also export your custom lists to Apple's iCal program, which enables you to sync your data to iSync-compatible PDAs. Basically, Wednesday's List is a comic book pull list creator and manager on steroids.
This is a really good band that Mike and I saw in SF. Actually I am having trouble finding Stella too! :D
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Calendar & Appointment Scheduler for Mac OS X
Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle Max Rudberg has been busy once again! He has updated his popular Rhapsodized theme and the five associated color variations. Mac OS XP 2.0 is a major update that introduces the new light green Harvest color. And finally, Max tweaked a few small bugs out of his Brushed series. Mike Wallace has added a new variation to his dark gray Safety First theme. This time he has added a few more gray highlights. Today's new addition to the theme archive comes from Kevin Husted. He says, "I have completed SS ChosenOS for OSX. It includes two versions, the first is a 100% port of the ChosenOS with dark black strokes and the other, which is by far the favorite of most users, is a version I did which doesn't use any black lines". Both are in a single download you can grab in the archive. Ready for a new section at ResExcellence? Safari Stuff opens with three items for Apple's new web browser. Also for Safari is a toolbar button utility called Safari Masks by Waterfall Software. The $10 shareware contains several sets of toolbar button sets from which to choose. The Iconfactory has posted the official rules and submission guidelines for this year's Pixelpalooza contest! The official start of the contest is still a ways off, but you can start dusting off your pixel brushes and start whipping up that winning set!
ResEx contributor Stevos wants you to know he and a few buddies have opened Aquasition.net. It's mostly a Mac OS gaming site, but the forums will cover many topics. Give a look and wish him luck.
The IETR (Internet Explorer Toolbar Replacement) site has posted a huge update. Two new toolbar themes were added, XP and IE4.5. And customizing the toolbar is now easier. All the files needed in each theme are packed into one archive. Plus, three patches for IE 5.1.6 (Classic) can be downloaded to change the stripes of the toolbar with solid white, grey or XP's style colors.
Mark Thalman let me know, "The Safari rendering engine code is available online. From there you can download JavaScriptCore, which is required to be built and installed on your system before you can build WebCore. You can download and build the code much faster than you can download Netscape's Mozilla code." (Whoosh, way over my head). Ok Mark. Whatever you say. I'll get back to you on that one.
Robert Lewis is mad at me because I forgot to mention the release of the most recent issue of "About This Particular Mac". Weighing in at over 100 pdf pages of Mac stompin' fun, everyone at ResEx should race over their and download a copy RIGHT NOW. (Ok Robert, can I have my dog back now?)
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?) - This time Dumbo has gone too far!! A Boot Image of Vanilla Ice! What's next Anna Nicole??? (Please forget I ever said that).
- This warrior is loaded and ready to fire in this Boot Panel from Sonic84.
- Doh! Homer says Windows can kiss his... Um... better look at this Boot Panel from Jason King for yourself.
- Two Latin flavored MOSS were sent by Elias Sandoval.
REALbasic News by Erick Tejkowski  | This week in REALbasic news: - REALbasic 4.5 wins 4 stars
- REALbasic 5.0 Announced
- CGIs for Mac OS X
- Simple Video Splicer
- ResizeWidget
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Complete Cable Management For The Home & Office.
Today's News by Cletus™ Well, we made it back from MacWorld. The show over all seemed much smaller to us. But it was very enjoyable to walk around and see all the items available in person.
Trash It! 2.5.1 is a really sweet program that allows a force empty of the Trash. It is an AppleScript. It helps when you run into the following problems. Manually emptying the trash fails. Trying to move items to the Trash fails or you have a very large amount of items to empty. Changes include: - You can now select overwrite 3x or delete normally (default) when you enter your admin password.
- Last dialog box explains that the dock trash icon will appear as empty if you click on it.
- Last dialog box will quit Trash It! after about 3 seconds of no activity.
 John MacDonnell has left us know of an update to his multiple (actually infinite) number of Docks program for Mac OS X. The name of course is DockFun! You must give this a try.
- Memory management much improved.
- It's faster rendering new dock stripes!.
- Application icons are showed in the status bar menu too!
- Few minor core improvements.
The excellent CMM, Move Items X has been updated again. This update adds a lot of user preferences making it an even nicer and useful CMM then it already was.
SafariNoBrush 1.0 removes the brushed metal appearance from the new version of the Safari browser from Apple. Personally, I like the look, but if you do not like that look, then here is the program you want to remove it.
At the Netter's dinner they asked people about their favorite launcher programs. One of the most popular was LaunchBar. Ironically, 3.2.7 was released while we were out there. LaunchBar provides lightning fast access to thousands of files, web-bookmarks, email-addresses and applications just by entering short abbreviations. The list of changes is long. Check out the homepage for more details.
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Polling Place by Michael Coyle  Just about 40% of ResEx readers hide the MacOS X Dock. I find this interesting since historically, Mac users have always had icons on their desktop, so why since we now have the option do so many of us desire a clean desktop? In the forum thread, the most often cited reason was more desktop space. The problem with the Dock is that it's always on top, effectively eliminating those pixels from available window space. Perhaps if the Dock had an option to not always be "on top" fewer people would hide it.
Cletus and I had a great time talking with attendees at Macworld, but I suspect the days of Macworld, and most trade shows, are limited. While they are great new product announcements, I can't see how they generate the return is new sales that companies need to justify the cost. Who do the dealers at Macworld want to reach? They want to make deals with companies like Small Dog Electronics and PowerMax, not Joe End-user. Very few companies control the distribution of all Apple products, so a manufacturer may do better with one-on-one meetings rather than trying to make a connection at a trade show. What do you think? This week's Polling Place asks, "Do you think this was the last Macworld Expo?"
Icon & Desktop News: by Dan
 Icons - Desktops: Yo! We've got another great selection of icons and desktops to feed your need for desktop decoration. Starting off with (6) New Desktops, (3) New Icon Sets, and of course, updated "News From Around the Web", take your time going, and hurry back!
*Thanks to all those who sent in Icons and Desktops for re posting after our infamous Christmas techno disaster. Those submissions are now back where they belong, and are ready for downloading. 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 piece of cake!
- Final Fantasy VIII Icons were created from Operator's terrific image collection, though the original artwork and credits go to Tetsuya Nomura for his wonderful and amazing talent. Check out this set of nine characters from the series.
- I'm always pleasantly surprised by the icons sent to us by Stefanie Koerner. City Magazine Icons are another highly creative and imaginative set by the author, using images found in the weekly event-magazine published in her home town.
- Cannine fanciers will appreciate this small set of Dog Icons for OSX. The download features eleven of the more popular and interesting breeds.
- Popular actress Thora Birch makes a star studded appearance in this stylish looking desktop made by Paul Probert. Comes in three different resolutions.
- You never know what iBobunot will come up with next. "Don-Quixote" is an odd looking desktop collage that certainly will put a smile on your face. This one is available in 1152x resolution.
- The kind folks over at Digikitten have sent us another batch of their fine desktop submissions to share with ResExcellence readers. By way of introduction, one of Digikitten's missions has been to provide a free place for digital artists to display their work without having to pony up for a server. Tight Genes by Ihcra will be twenty first desktop we have the good fortune to post from this ongoing display. This one is available in 1024x resolution.
- Rainy Day, dream all day..... If you live in a soggy part of the world like I do, you might enjoy this cheerful little desktop created by Bob Ossin. Comes in 800x resolution.
- "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper". Blood Tribe by Ed Shields comes in 1280x resolution.
- Anime Character Danger Girl Abbey (orignial artwork by J. Scott Campbell) appears in this saucy little number by Trc3. Comes in 1024x and 1600x resolutions.
News From Around the Web: Live Pencil updates with new live animals, new emoticons, animations, and much more to make you smile. Mando would like to inform you that http://www.mandolux.com is pleased to announce a new set of Giants/Dual Monitor desktops. The set is part of his Clouds & Skies Theme and it is titled of 'Gov. Ryan/Haven.' So many different languages in the world, and a smile speaks them all. SMILES OF THE WORLD: Check out Live Pencil's new project!!! Send them a picture of your smile please!!!
MacMonkies updates with 2 New Icon Sets for your downloading enjoyment. This weeks awesome selections come from WatiWorks' Wati Larke and from Alex Rabino. Click on over to MacMonkies and grab a look at these great new sets! IHeartNY and MacMonkies are pleased to announce the addition of the DeskTalk Forums to the MacMonkies lineup. This collaborative effort from IHeartNY and MacMonkies is your Macintosh Customization Community "town hall" for all things Mac GUI. Whythemacissogreat.com updates with New Icon Set: "Themed Folders II. Macuserx has been updated with 6 new desktops! Marmalade Moon releases a couple of new icons at the Marmalade Moon, "Celebration". Break out the party hats! The Rampant Ranch is alive and kicking with all main galleries back online plus new gui goodies to boot! Meramec at Onondaga is a personal photo taken on a camping trip over April Fool's Day weekend 2002, Dogwood is a stock image heavily modified in Photoshop, both Rivendell III and Think Stooge are updated desktops based on earlier art. The Museum of Modern Grosett has added a new gallery entitled "Snowfall." Timeoutofmind.com updates his Desktops page with two new pictures. A new gallery has been added to Hoeslyvista with eight pictures from Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. So what's up WWW? Icons? Desktop Pictures? News? Inform us! We'll post it!
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