5/29/98
Geoff Kaiser pointed out that the "Previous Edit" to remove the italic from the alias font, no longer works under version 8.1. I'm looking into it and if I find a solution, I'll post it.
I tried Help to Icon the other day, and noticed the Balloon Help icon was a little too far over from the Special menu. After some detective work, I discovered the width of the Help menu is determined by its name - even if it is replaced by an icon. The solution was to use a Previous Edit to rename the Help menu to simply H. This way the Icon sits right next to the Special menu.
Alias Menu 2.0 is giving me menu bar problems in several programs. First, the menu bar font changes, then it displays gibberish, lastly I crash! Anyone else?
Thanks to everyone who helped out by suggesting a Mac to Windows icon utility. The best choice for the job was GraphicsConvertor. I'm looking into the feasibility of translating Windows themes to the Mac. To be honest, I don't think the Windows folks "get it". They just can't seem to make a great icon. :)
Put a Submenu up on the Menu Bar. Anders Hagborg set in this great edit for moving a submenu up on the menu bar. It should work in most applications
5/27/98
Alias Menu 2.0 has been released and is now compatible with OS8. Under System 7, it was one of my favorite utilities. Since there were compatibility issues with OS8, I switched over to BeHierarchic to handle my management needs, but with all its new features I'll try Alias Menu again. Who knows, maybe I'll keep both!
Lloyd Wood has more info, in the form of a newsgroup post, on the Scheme-to-Theme convertor that takes Kaleidoscope Schemes and creates Allegro Themes. The author of the program, Jeffrey Schulman, hopes his bosses at Apple let him release it. To be honest, it's irrelevant if Apple releases it. Knowing it can be done will allow an enterprising shareware author to create one. I'm excited that themes are potentially easy to create. Historically, as we ResExers know, getting at the low level color information in the MacOS has proven darn near impossible. The idea of theme creation being approximately as difficult as Kaleidoscope 2 schemes to create makes me tingle all over. Personally, I hope it's Greg Landweber who creates the conversion program!
William Nobile was curious:
I was reading your file on changing the name of the help menu to "Assistance". I use Speed Doubler 8.1, which underlines the first letter of the words in the Menu, like a PC. If I change the name of Help, will there be a problem with the new first letter underlined? Or does Speed Doubler merely underline WHATEVER the 1st letter is?
For some reason, Speed Doubler underlines the i in Assistance, but it does work after the modification. Maybe others can report on the outcome with other name changes.
Update: Mariel Lohninger dropped a note to let us know the 'i' is underlined by Speed Doubler, because the 'A' is already used by the Apple Menu, therefor it has to use a different letter.
Change the Icon of a Desktop Printer. Cameron Zawalykut asked for way to change the Desktop Printer icons. I agree. What's with those ugly black icon borders!
I'm looking for a utility to convert between Mac and Window's icon formats. Know of one? Tell me.
5/25/98
The Polling Place results are in: the web page stays in its current format. This week's poll asks which System version are you running. All of the edits shown at ResExcellence are based on MacOS 8, but occasionally, I get a request to show an edit on version 7.x. So cast your vote to let me know your OS version.
Lee Joramo has a KeyQuencer Macro that toggles the loading of graphics in Internet Explorer. This isn't the Load Images button, but the actual preference setting. View the Macro here.
Info-Mac has posted a good looking set of patterns called Prime Desktop Patterns. The set comes with extra patterns to coordinate with Window Monkey.
Netscape and Explorer Splash screens. How would you like to customize the little splash screens that these browsers put up while loading?
5/22/98
The ResEdit templates are starting to trickle into ResExcellence. I hope to have a page together for them soon.
Lloyd Wood has an interesting transcipt from WWDC describing a Kaleidoscope Scheme to Apple Theme convertor. This may have a huge, and detrimental effect on Kaleidoscope.
Previously, we discussed getting the stand alone version of Navigator to link to a mail program, but what about Communicator? It comes with a built in mail program. To have it use an external program, you need to download this little patch that was submitted by Jon Mircea.
Apple has a pdf document you can get called "ResEdit Reference". Weighing in at 162 pages, it describes most of the resources you'll come across.
Replace the alert sounds in ICQ. The hottest instant messaging program right now is ICQ. Michael Reynolds sent in this tip on how to changing the two annoying alert sounds.
(Thanks to Eric Belsley from the Macintosh Resource Page for forwarding the tip!)
 Don't forget, to get the new StartupScreen from Blue Sky Heart Graphics - here at ResExcellence.
5/20/98
Today starts a new feature in the sidebar of ResExcellence,
The Voting Booth. Periodically, I'll ask a question to gauge the opinions of the higher life-forms that visit this page. This week asks how would you feel if I widened the layout of this page beyond my self-imposed limit of 640 pixels.
Email! No one ever warned me about all the email! ResExcellence is receiving dozens of emails each week. Many of these require research before I can reply, so I'm very backed up. I read every letter and save suggestions for future edits that I believe can be done. So if you drop me a line, I promise I will read it and file it for future reference, but I may not be able to respond immediately.
Scott Brown at GUI-Junky not only has a great interface website, but now a Hotline server. The GUI-Junky Hotline server is great for interface chat, and quick downloads of many helpful utilities. Visit his site for instructions on how to use Hotline.
Add a Quit command to the Finder. You asked for it - We have it! Quiting the Finder when running a demanding game or application (Quake or Virtual PC) can speed things up
5/18/98
ResExcellence is proud to be the exclusive site for the distribution of Blue Sky Heart Graphics first StartupScreen. You must be living in a cave if you've never seen the beautifully jeweled Icons, Kaleidoscope Schemes, and Desktop Pictures created by the talented Layne Karkruff. For the next week, the only place you can view and download this beautiful StartupScreen is here at ResExcellence.
The second installment of "Hints & Tips for Beginners" is now online at MacPlaza. Be sure visit and view the great selection of GUI enhancements.
Change the name of the Help menu. Help! The word stirs up connotations of desperation. Is that what Mac users want to feel when they need a little extra information? Why don't we change the name of the Help menu to Assistance. Doesn't that feel better already? (continued...)
5/15/98
 Custom Folder is a great utility for changing the icons in Kaleidoscope Schemes, or the Appearance Manager. The program uses icon plug-ins to make the changes easily. The System icon pictured above from a set of icons I made based on the open blue folder I found in the Appearance Extension. The Blue Folder icons can now be downloaded as a Custom Folder plug-in.
Several people have suggested pasting ResEdit Templates into the ResEdit Preferences instead of the file you're working on. This way, they are always available when you need them.
ResExcellence would like to start a collection of ResEdit Templates, so if you have links to any, or have some that you know to be freeware, please let me know and I''ll build a page for them.
 |
5/13/98
Peter Milford is one of the many readers who use Netscape Navigator (the stand alone browser) and has requested a way to make Navigator open an email program when a mailto: link is selected. To do this, have Internet Config installed and set the mailto: helper application to your favorite program. Then open Navigator's preferences, and under Identity, tell it to use Internet Config. That's it!
I have many reports of an increased RAM cache speeding up page redraws in Netscape. For version 3, JB supplies these instructions:
I run Netscape Navigator 3.0.4. With ResEdit, I opened the Netscape Preference file and discovered that the default cache is set in the STR# resource ID 2005. The default was set to 8192K, expressed as a multiple of 1024 (8388608). I increased the cache to 12288K (12585912) and increased the application memory partition to 16M. Netscape really flies both in loading new pages and retrieving cached pages.
When I get a chance, I'm going to get a stopwatch and take a few timings on some of the fatter web sites. If others do the same, we can use the scientific method to settle this cache issue once and for all. :)
ResExcellence creates a lot of screen snapshots, so I appreciate this little tip sent in by Yong Yi:
If you have caps lock down, you can use command-shift-4 to take a picture of the foremost window (w/o the background). The cursor will change to a strange bull's-eye looking thing to indicate the mode change. Extra geek points: hold down control as you mouse down, and the contents are dumped into the Clipboard for
easy pasting into a Photoshop doc.
Using a Template to edit Finder Menus. The above picture may look a little silly, but by using a new template that Nicolas Ojeda Bar submitted, it's much easier to modify any aspect of the Finder's Menus. (continued...)
5/11/98
It ain't the Oscars, but it's still an honor to be named a MacOS Zone site of the week! Just like your emails and suggestions, being noticed for the work we do on this site makes it worthwhile.
 Stefan P. Marraccini sent in this stunning replacement for the "About this Computer..." picture. After downloading it, the instructions on how to install it are here.
Jay Wells let me know about a slick ResEdit feature:
If you want to change all of one color in an icon, simply select the foreground color with the dropper tool, then hold command key and click on the forground color box and change the color. When you close the palette window, all of the color you had selected before will change to the color you just selected.
Several readers have written regarding stability after increasing the Finder's memory. Even under MacOS 8.1, Finder out of memory errors are occurring, and increasing the partition has solved the problem.
There is an interesting tip on MacFixIt on how to increase the RAM cache size in Netscape. I did the edit, but haven't felt any difference. I would be interested to hear your stories.
Two new utilities that maybe of interest are SkipPrint, which lets any printer do odd/even, and Help-to-Icon ,which replaces the Help word with the old Balloon help icon. (some people just can't let go...)
Any Sized Font in Date & Time. Did you ever want to use a funky font style in the menu bar clock, but at 18 point, it was still to small to read? Ian Kelleigh set in the steps necessary to crank that font up to add any point size. (continued...)
|
5/8/98
There is a small cosmetic bug when you remove the Guide Menu from Netscape and rearrange the first couple of bookmarks. They appear duplicated in the Bookmark Menu until you relaunch the program. It's harmless, but it may cause a little confusion.
While performing ResEdit hacks is fun for the whole family, sometimes there is a better way. Several readers pointed me to Pattern Manager. A great utility for managing ppat resources. Pattern Manager imports pictures for use as patterns, imports patterns from other applications (Quicken for example!), and lets you set the Desktop and Utility patterns!
Don't you hate when you drag an item onto a tabbed folder, and the folder crawls up like an old Pentium? Matt Gutley has releasePoppet, a small extension that makes that tabbed folder quickly pop all the way open. Thanks Matt.
Disable Printing in Netscape. Ben is involved with the computer lab at the school where he works. It seems the kiddies are using a forest worth of trees printing web pages loaded with Leonardo DiCaprio pictures. How can you stop them? (continued...)
|
5/6/98
Does increasing the Finder's memory speed things up?
Previously, readers asked for ways to increase the RAM partition for the Finder with the belief it would increase stability and speed up System activity. I tested this for myself with two copies of the Finder; one with the normal 950k setting, and one increased to 1500k. I used the following tests repeated three times and averaged:
- copy a folder with 500 items
- perform a find/replace 8500 times in a text document
- delete 1500 items from the Trash
- Open a 500k text document in Word 98
The results were consistent: there was no difference in speed between the two Finders.
Fortunately, my Powerbook is the most stable Mac I've every owned, so I can't comment on how Finder size affects stability, but I encourage fellow ResEx'ers to perform similar tests and send in the results.
So what other programs use the Utility Pattern? Gilles Durupt lets us know that the Scapbook and Key Caps can too.
Geoff Wiley has a web site that has detailed instructions on how to trick web servers into thinking your Mac's Netscape is running on a Wintel machine. His instructions are great, but if you really want to see Disney's Daily Blast site, you should email them to provide support for the Mac!
Remove The "Guide" Menu from Netscape's Bookmarks.
 Netscape 4.x brought with it the Guide sub-menu under Bookmarks. Are you tired of it taking up space?
Then lets remove it!
(continued...)
5/4/98
Lots of changes today at ResExcellence!
We now have our own domain name: www.ResExcellence.com. Don't forget to change your bookmarks. With the new domain and faster server come additional costs, so ResExcellence is proud to introduce Gisela Mosiman as our new Advertising Coordinator. If you or your company are intersted in sponsoring ResExcellence, please drop her a line.
The new logo was designed by Kevin Work of Houston InterWeb Design Inc. Thanks Kevin! Several other artists also submitted great ideas. I have their work on this page. Please stop by and take a look at their work. Thanks to all of them for taking the time to help out.
Jeff Wechter mentioned a problem that I also experienced. After putting the Utility Pattern back in OS 8, the Find File program crashed with an Out of Memory error. Increasing the memory to 400k solved the problem. Besides the Calculator and Find File, are there any other programs that use the Utility Pattern?
Add a Sleep command key to the Finder. Darrell McRae asked if it was possible to add a command key for the Sleep menu item. It doesn't appear in the fmn2 resource, but you can find it here...
|
5/1/98
Douglas Whitmore was wondering if there is a way to configure the system to randomly pick and set a new desktop picture each time the computer is started. Yes Doug, you can! In MacOS 8, all you need to do is open Desktop Pictures and drag your folder full of pictures right on top of it. You can tell you've done it correctly, because the folder name will be listed above the "Position Automaticlly" button. There are also a couple of AppleScripts at info-mac that enhance this feature.
On another topic, you may wonder why I don't simply post the modified resources after doing an edit. I don't for two reasons: one is a concern for the Copyright of the software, and the other (more important one) is because I want everyone to feel that warm fuzzy feeling of accomplishment after the successfully completion of an edit!
Put the Utility Pattern back in OS 8
After Wednesdays edit on putting the background pattern in Netscape, I received many emails wondering how to get the Utility Pattern back in MacOS 8. The pattern shows itself in the Find Command Window and the Calculator (any others?). The feature was lost with the arrival of Desktop Picture, but I've found a way...
Update: Many of you have emailed to say you can still use the old Desktop Patterns to set the Utility Pattern. While this is true, it assumes you have an install disk for System 7.6. MacOS 8 has been available on new Macs since last July, and these new purchasers will not have access to the old Control Panel.
(continued...)
previous news pages... |
