10/30/98
Want to use Sherlock as the search engine for Internet Explorer? Tom DiBattista tells how:
Go into the Internet Control Panel to the web tab. In the search field put "file:///YOUR HARD DISK NAME HERE/System%20Folder/Apple%20Menu%20Items/Sherlock" and now when the search button is activated Sherlock will launch.
Flaming Pear, the company that makes great Photoshop filters for textures, has posted a group of 70 unusual icons on their web page.
Matthew Gazzara asks the question:
Is there a way to make your Mac think its a PowerPC?
Or make the Finder think you have a PowerPC?
Yes there is. It patches the Macintosh's gestalt values so you can trick installers. The utility is called "Wish I Were", but the problem is that I can't find a link to it anywhere! If someone has one, please send it my way and I'll post it.
Protect an Extension Manager Set
Marlon Deason from MacGuerrillas submitted this idea to protect your Extension Manger Settings the same way MacOS 8 Base and MacOS ALL are protected in the Setting's Popup Menu.
"I'm the Vampire Lestat. Remember me?"
- from "Queen of the Damned", Anne Rice
10/28/98
Are you using Communicator 4.5? A recent newsgroup post by Netscape's Steve Dagley suggests the following:
You can improve the performance by allocating more memory to the app and setting the disk cache to 0K. I'd suggest 2MB above recommended as a start, more if you can afford it. For reference, I use a 16MB app partition on my PB2400c w/80MB of RAM installed.
Steve also states that the Macintosh Communicator team is working closely with Apple on even faster caching and ColorSync integration for version 5.0.
I had a massive crash of my internal hard disk yesterday. My solution may someday be of help to you.
Unknown to me, while I was cleaning up my hard disk, I threw into the Trash some files that had corrupt resources (or something!). The moment I emptied the trash, the computer froze.
I tried to restart and got as for as the Startup screen before the computer froze again. No matter what I did: start without extensions, zap pram, reset power manager, boot from CD, the computer would always lockup at the point the Finder tried to read from the internal damaged hard disk.
It was as if the drive was damaged, but not enough to trigger an initialization.
To solve the problem, I took a copy of Norton Disk Doctor and renamed it Finder; then used ResEdit to set the type/creator to FNDR/MACS. I used this wolf in sheep's clothing as the Finder in the System of an external hard disk.
When I restarted the computer and booted from the external drive (holding Command-Option-Shift-Delete), Norton Disk Doctor loaded as the Finder.
Finally, I was able to repair the internal hard drive. (BTW, I was double lucky since I had just backed up two days ago!)
 There are some new User Contributions:
Currently, there are over 65 user contributions and more than 100 resource edits. Those are numbers all ResExcellence readers can be proud of since the contributions and edit ideas are submitted by you!
Tidbits has posted part three of MacsBug for the Merely Geeky.
Patrik Montgomery has an interesting way to assign Sherlock to Netscape's Search button!
| 1. |
Download the program "Finder Helper" |
| 2. |
Open the "Internet" control panel and make sure your User Level is Administrator. |
| 3. |
Select the "Advanced" tab and then the "Helpers" icon |
| 4. |
Add a new helper of type:finder and select Finder Helper as the program to handle it. Close the control panel |
| 5. |
Drop Sherlock on the recently downloaded "Finder Helper" |
| 6. |
Open Communicator with ResEdit and select the "TEXT" resource "config". Scroll until you find the search url, it ends with "/tsearch.html". Select this url and hit Paste. The correct string will now be inserted (Finder Helper placed it in the Clipboard) |
| 7. |
Close ResEdit and open the Script Editor. Write a script as follows:
tell application "Netscape Communicator™"
register protocol "FHlp" for protocol "finder:"
end tell
|
| 8. |
Run this script. You might have to restart Communicator to make it
work, but it should work anyway. That's it! |
Great job Patrik!
Add command keys to the Finder in MacOS 8.5
Things have moved around alittle since version 8.1. (Continued...)
"It's as easy as lickin' a stamp."
-Jeff Goldblum on connecting the iMac to the internet.
10/26/98
By a margin of two to one, ResExcellence readers want their Appearance Themes! We've waited for them since Copland - I guess we'll have to wait a little longer...
For the past three MacOS releases, you've had the option to update your drive with the more efficient HFS+ file format. This week's Polling Place asks, "Are your hard disks formatted HFS+ ?".
Michael Munger dropped ReExcellence a line to say that you can easily add or change Start menu name options to GoMac 1.6 by editing the MENU resource ID#-4062
I've received many emails asking for an edit to change the color of the GoMac taskbar, but so far, no luck.
If you've been using Colter Reed's Quickey macros to manage Sherlock, download this updated version.
With her guns blazing, Lara Croft smashes through this Netscape Splash screen whipped up by Trevor Covert. Get it from the User Contributions page.
Fix PPPMenu to open Remote Access under 8.5. Now that Apple has rolled 0T/PPP into Remote Access, PPPMenu is no longer able to open the login control panel. This edit fixes that problem. (Continued...)
10/23/98
The edit to Add Large and Small System Fonts to MacOS 8.5 has been updated to take advantage of Jeremiah Morris' new templates.
In addition, I've also posted instructions for another Finder template that Jeremiah included to change the font style of aliases.
Where are those icons anyway? In MacOS 8 & 8.1, the System icons are stored in the Appearance Extension. Those have now been rolled back into the System suitcase in MacOS 8.5 with the these exceptions:
While all of the older 8 bit icons are in the System suitcase, only two of the new 32 bit icons are there: the Protected System and Protected Applications. All other 32 bit icons are in the new System Resources file. There are no editors currently available for directly editing the 32 bit icons (icns). The only tool right now is clip2icns.
Several readers have emailed to say they changed the icons in the System suitcase, but didn't see the changes reflected after a restart. Unfortunately, that will be the case if your monitor is set above 256 colors - the computer will instead display the 32 bit icons from the System Resources file. What a mess!
Jason Zimmer has submitted several Applescripts that demonstrate how to modify the Appearance Control Panel. For example:
tell application "Appearance"
activate
set appearance to "Apple platinum"
set appearance variant to "Sapphire"
set system font to "Gadget"
set font smoothing to true
set sound track to "SGI Sounds"
end tell
Modify and save this script as an application and double-click your way to a new look!
 Last week's Polling Place question about corrected gammas prompted several readers to ask how to create a custom monitor profile. After installing ColorSync 2.5.1, open the Monitors & Sound control panel. You will notice a new button: Color. Select it to view your installed profiles, or click the Calibrate button to create your own.
"I'm thinking of going as an iMac for Halloween"
"What's so scary about an iMac?"
"I have no floppy drive!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
-FoxTrot Comic Stip by Bill Amend
10/21/98
An icns template
|
This is big! Mihai Parparita of GUI-Central has released clip2icns - an easy to use tool for converting clipboard images to 32 bit icons with transparency masks. Sound complicated? It's not. Use your favorite graphics program to create the large and small icons and masks. Copy it to the clipboard and then run clip2icns to save it as an icns resource with the appropriate name and ID number.
And to prove that clip2icns is easy to use, the "ResExcellence Blue System Folders" have been updated to 32 bits of living color! You can get instructions and download them from the User Contributions page.
40 System icons in the set
 |
What's that you say? You had a little extra money so you bought Resourcerer? Then you should get Anthony Saxton's icns template for Resourcerer 2.2!
Zoom over to the Red Delicious web site and pick up a copy Sonic the Macintosh, a sound set for MacOS 8.5.
Jeremiah Morris from Weedhopper Press has come through for ResEx'ers in a big way! Thanks to him, we now have ResEdit templates for editing the Large and Small Appearance fonts!
Now, not only can you easily add fonts, you can also set the size and style. (Many of you have been asking for this!)
Jeremiah has included documentation, and by Friday, I will have updated the original edit to provide detailed instructions on using the templates for those of you new to ResExcellence.
BTW, Weedhopper Press has some great looking fonts too.
"How much do we need to pay you to screw Netscape?" -Bill Gates to AOL
10/19/98
In case you missed Saturday's update, I've posted a little story about my volunteer day at CompUSA.
If after upgrading to 8.5, your PPP scripts are missing their dialog boxes, read last week's edit: AppleScript and PPP Connections
Things are hoppin' over at Epoch Icons. If you're looking for 32 bit icons for your new OS, they have a set based on StarCraft. They're also branching out into K-Schemes, fonts, and desktop pictures.
Maybe they should rename the site: Epoch Everything. :)
Based on last week's poll, 70% of you are using a corrected gamma. That's great, but it's not enough - everyone should be using Apple's new ColorSync software! It's free and it'll make your screen and your printed color page look better. Currently, it's one of the huge advantages the MacOS has over Windows. ColorSync 2.5.1 not only comes with preconfigured profiles for most monitors, but you can even create your own - adjusting the gamma and RGB color balance for your particular lighting conditions.
Can you tell I'm a fan of ColorSync?
While at CompUSA this past Saturday, I noticed one topic that never came up was "Themes". No one seemed to care that they were not included with this System software release. This week, the Polling Place asks, "Do you care that Appearance Themes were left out of 8.5?".
Add Large and Small System Fonts to MacOS 8.5
Sorry Apple, I still don't like Charcoal. The first edit I performed on 8.5 was adding fonts to the Appearnce Control Panel. (Continued...)
10/17/98 (the rare Saturday Update...)
Just in time for OS 8.5, DragThing 2.6 has been released! Congrats to James Thomson on a job well done.
Michael Artz was having a slow day at the office, so he whipped up a new logo for ResExcellence. But Michael, I just had business cards printed with my old logo!
In appreciation for Michael's hard work, his submission has been deamed "The Logo of the Day".
Several people emailed me this, and I also read it at Macintouch:
If you open Sherlock with Resedit, Open the WIND resource ID 1200, Select "Set WIND Characteristics" from the WIND menu, change the ProcID from 4 to 0, press OK, save and quit ResEdit you will be able to grab the Internet Sites Window in Sherlock and resize it to any size you like. This is great as you add 40 Search Sites to Sherlock.
My Volunteer day at CompUSA. I had a great time, received a free copy of 8.5, and more...
10/16/98
Doh! It seems my wonderful edit to add items to Eudora's Toolbar was all in vain. The program already supports this feature! Command-click on the toolbar to add or remove items. I swear I went through the manual looking for this option, and I ended up finding it under the Help menu. You can stop emailing me now. :)
Colter Reed submitted these Quickey macros with the following comments:
With 8.5 right around the corner, everyone's probably aware of Find File's upgrade to Sherlock. What may be slightly less commonly known is that once Sherlock is open, you can switch between the tabs via command-key shortcuts (Cmd-F for Find File, Cmd-G for Find by Content, and Cmd-H for Search Internet). Very handy.
Unfortunately, the only way to access Sherlock from the Finder is with Cmd-F, which launches Sherlock and brings up the last tab used. There's no built-in way to access any of the tabs directly.
The attached archive is a set of three QuicKeys macros to launch Sherlock directly to the desired tab. Cmd-F overrides the standard Cmd-F to bring up the Find File tab. Cmd-G and Cmd-H will bring up the Find by Content and Search Internet tabs, respectively.
Mac Plaza continues with its series of "Hints & Tips", this time its about getting the most out of DragThing.
With DragThing 2.6 due out within a day or two, James Thomson even pitched in with a trick or two which are not documented in DragThing.
What's more, after reading the article, you can enter the giveaway (which is on the article's sidebar) and maybe win DragThing 2.6.
Tomorrow, (Saturday) I'll be at the CompUSA store in Downers Grove, Illinois helping out with the Apple Demo Days. Watch for a rare Saturday update at the conclusion of the days event.
Starting Monday, ResExcellence will start posting edits for MacOS 8.5, so if an old edit is broken or you want to request a new one, send them in!
AppleScript and PPP Connections. A lot of things will change with the arrival of MacOS 8.5. One them is how AppleScript deals with PPP connections. Here's how to update your old scripts or write new ones. (Continued...)
10/14/98
Tidbits has posted part II of "MacsBug for the Merely Geeky". If you have never experimented with MacsBug, you should learn at least the basic commands - they can really make the difference between recovery and restart!
Elly Gross has noticed a bug in the previous Netscape "Remove the Guide Sub-menu" edit, and suggests this work around:
Remove The "Guide" Menu from Netscape's Bookmarks, version 2: The existing Netscape Guide menu edit will result in duplicating your first bookmark folder once you've made changes in the Bookmarks window. This edit will result in a blank space between the separators, which seems more desirable than seeing duplicate items. I've used it successfully on Comm 4.06 and 4.07.
- Open copy of Netscape in ResEdit
- open MENU resources
- open Bookmarks, highlight "Guide" menu entry
- uncheck "selected item enabled"
- uncheck "has submenu"
- delete the text of the word "Guide" on the right.
- Save.
As long as you don't delete the item "Guide", or either
separator, you'll avoid the problem mentioned above.
If you're looking for another type of application to set the many hidden features in MacOS 8.5, Anthony Saxton recommends "AppSwitcher Control". The guy who wrote the program says he did it in a day using REALBasic. Hmmm... maybe a programing language worth looking into.
Brian Basgen reminded me of an old ResEdit Easter Egg:
Open ResEdit on any Mac, and hold down Shift-Option-Command when you choose "About ResEdit" from the Apple menu. This gives you a new "pig mode" which compacts and purges resources every second when ResEdit does its event loop. This slows ResEdit down, but you do get to hear a cool pig sound, which makes it all worth while.
Add items to Eudora's Toolbar. Dan Beekman is an admittedly lazy man. He wants to add buttons to his toolbar to save him a trip to the menu bar. (Continued...)
10/11/98
Today's update is once again coming to you from Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin. Our group of twenty is enjoying 70oF weather during the day, but mid-thirties during the night! Brrr...
Unlike me, 40% of you prefer to view your Finder windows with small icons in List view. 26% like the good ol' Large Icon view. All the other view options hovered around 8-9%. Since so many of you like to see those icons, it's not surprising there was an uproar when MacOS 8 first come out. The icon caching was so poor that Finder windows took too long to draw!
As the guy who lays out this web page, I want to make sure it looks as good as possible on everyone's computer. The brightness of your monitor is greatly determined by a relatively hidden Gamma setting.
If you open your Monitors & Sound control panel (or the old Monitors C.P.), you can find the Gamma setting. While there maybe several options from which to choose, two of them are probably uncorrected and Standand. If you're running ColrSync 2.5 (and everyone should be!), you may have additional settings.
This week's Polling Place asks the question, "Are you using a corrected gamma?".
Some updates to User Contributions:
An Eddie Vedder MOSS screen...
Powerbook G3 "About this Mac..."
Replacement System Icons...
Chris Gervais has two programs of interest to those who plan to run MacOS 8.5. SwitcherSetter manages the Application Dock that's buit into 8.5, and another utility helps with the creation of Appearance Sound Sets.
A large, well organized collection of MacOS Startup Screens (MOSS) is at the StartUp Screen Galeria.
One of the regular contributors to ResExcellence, Smokey Ardisson, has setup a web page with additional Mac resource enhancments.
10/9/98
Live in the Chicagoland area and looking for something to do on Saturday the 17th? I'll be volunteering for AppleDays at the Downers Grove CompUSA from 10:00 am till 2:00. If you're in the area, stop in and say "Hi".
Jin Wook Choe, artist in residence at The Icon House, has created some great 3D document replacement icons, and folder sets. His creations look great with my Blue Folders.
Cheshirekat has submitted another version of the previously posted Browser AppleScripts. His have the addition advantage of allowing you to adjust the window placement (many of you have asked for this!).
If you stop by the Kat's "Little Tree on the Web", you may find a page with a good selection of AppleScripts.
ResExcellence Special Report: DragThing 2.6 beta
The latest version of this great application/document docking program is about to hit the streets. Find out about its new features - including support for MacOS 8.5.
10/7/98
Readers have suggested some other programs for sound extraction from applications:
Mephit suggests: There is another choice for sound retreval, should one not like SoundExtractor. That is AgentAudio from Clixsounds. Not only can you rip 'em out, you can also replace any sound in any other program or file without mucking around in ReEdit! Very cool!
Michael Askew states: While it won't extract sounds from a programs data fork, SoundApp will extract sounds from the resource fork of any application or file droped on it, and best of all, it's free. Just make sure that "Process sounds from any resource" is checked in SoundApp's preferences and it will convert embedded sounds to any of its supported formats.
Mike Perry has submitting a great looking Netscape Throbber of the new glowing Apple Logo. Stop by his web site, Trick's House of Mac Goodies to checkout his freeware games.
Tidbits has a nice article titled, "MacsBug for the Merely Geeky, Part One" written by Geoff Duncan. It gently takes you through Apple's low level debugger.
While we're on the topic, Stefan Anthony maintains an excellent MacsBug page.
AppleScripts: I have written two AppleScripts that open multiple browser windows - each with a different location.
10/5/98
After last week's poll. I now consider myself lucky not to have contracted the Autostart worm. 20% of those who responded had been infected! It's amazing how fast it propagated worldwide in just a few months. Fortunately, thanks to the same internet that initially spread it, the cures were distributed even faster.
While 32 bit icons may change my opinion, most of my Finder windows are now in list mode with mini-icons - allowing the fastest display of the contents. The Polling Place asks, "What's your preferred way to view Finder windows?".
As you can see, I've been adjusting the page html again. At long last Cyberdog users should now be seeing the same layout as other browser. Plus with the season of fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, I felt the need to brighten the page up by removing the blue from the side bar!
A recent post on the PowerList by Steve Wozniak describes how to install Apple's DVD software on non-US Systems:
1. Copy the System file to the desktop.
2. Open it with Resourcerer (or ResEdit).
3. select the 'vers' resource
4. double click on item 1
5. set the country to US (from the pulldown)
6. close and save item 1
7. do the same for item 2
8. quit and save the System file.
Move the System file (the one still in the System folder) somewhere safe.
Replace it with the new System Folder. RESTART
Now you can install the US DVD software.
After installation you should swap the original System file with the
modified one and Restart.
This little trick may also fool other installers looking for a U.S. only System version.
Over the past several months, several people have asked the same question as Tim Frantz:
I want to know how to pull sounds from games and other sources to make system 7 sounds. For example, I have Command & Conquer and the futuristic female voice would sound great as an email or alert sound sample.
One of the co-authors of IconTools, Alberto Ricci, has written a great utility called SoundExtractor that not only pulls sound files from program resources, but also from the data fork.
Additional comments from readers have been added to the Discussion on Ticks and Patches. Some take me to task for putting too much value on the GetNextEvent test (ouch!), and others comment on the extensions that are adversely effecting their systems. There are also recommendations for some additional utilities for checking system performance.
10/2/98
Following in the long tradition of the Miss America Contest, voting has started at MacPlaza for the best Kaleidoscope Scheme of 1998.
(in the event the winning scheme cannot fulfill its duties, the 1st runner up will assume the crown...)
After moving to a new server, The Macintosh Desktop Picture Collection is once again online. You can also find a new SGI SoundSet for the MacOS 8.5 Theme Manager!
The Font Vault comes highly recommended by Brian Basgen, and I second the motion! In fact, I went there and downloaded Architect - a free TrueType version of Tecton.
Control Commander is a new utility by Bruce Partridge that let's you manage your control panel settings in an interesting way. For example, type Monitor into the Find window, and you're presented with a list of all the control panels options that can influence your monitor: Monitor Sleep Time, Monitor Type, and Monitors & Sound. Clicking on an option opens that control panel.
I've received several letters commenting on "A Discussion on Ticks and Patches". I hope to have them summarized and posted for Monday. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read the article. I've been surprised by the response!
Edit bundle bits to add custom document icons to ClarisWorks. Guillaume Gete submitted this great tip to make ClarisWorks generate different icons for word processing, drawing, speadsheets, and all the other document types. (Continued...)
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