My snapshot picks for the month of December have just been released! Swing on by and take a gander.
Saddle up folks! We’re rounding up Friday’s snapshots:

• The custom “EyeEarth” desktop picture and Black Sun K-Scheme debut in this snapshot from Kevin Adams. Very cool!
  
  
• This snapshot from Hnz displays some web authoring and PHP development in progress. SoundJam is handling the background music along the top.
  
  
• Sure, anyone can chat on one screename, but John has shown us in this snapshot that he can chat on three AIM screenames at once: AIM for Classic, Fire for OS X, and AIM Express for Java! A custom desktop picture of a wood fire is in the background and Akio’s Graphite Theme takes care of the interface.
  
  
• William Bart’s BBX Platinum K-Scheme is showcased in this submission from Pablo Mingo. Audion is dishing out tunes in the upper right. Icons from Xicons and Icon Factory abound.
  
  
• This contribution from Rene demonstrates the multiple avenues users can take to access their drives under Mac OS X. His PhotoReal icons are prominently displayed throughout.
  
  
• Sara Romini is back with another screenshot this time bearing her custom “BubbleSnow” desktop picture along with Albie Wong’s Echelon K-Scheme. Audion, overhauled with Matt Chaput’s Glass face, is kicking out songs in the lower right.

Captivated with the thought of sending your own snapshot? Read our submission guidelines and then hop to it!

Calendar & Appointment Scheduler for Mac OS X

User Contributed Splash Screens: by Michael Coyle

• The Phoneman sent a set of six textures you can use to spice up iTunes (or the Quicktime Player). These will replace the grey brushed metal texture. Instructions included.
  
  
• Whoa! Steve Sobek took the of us in front of Apple's headquarters and turned it into an Outlook Express splash! Steve, my own Mother doesn't love me that much!
  
  
• A cool looking splash for Explorer was created by Laurent Peraldi. It's a graphite spin on the standard logo.
  
  
• Callum Mcleod sent a full featured Interarchy Interface called Modern.
  
  
• We can always count on Frank for a humorous MOSS submission. This one features a European children's cartoon.
  
  
• ReNe from Happicon released a very funny series of contributions: Office Splash set, MOSS, and About this Mac replacement.
  
  
  

Snapshots by Jeremy Hoesly

Icon & Desktop News by Dan

Icons - Desktops: We've got three more cool Icon Sets; two of them Pixelpalooza contest entries, and 6 great Desktops. All on display for today's update.

• Sergio Gutierrez has a wonderful way of looking at things, and his set of "animals" icons is no exception. This ultra cute set of 10 is a must have for serious icon collectors. Visit Live Pencil as well for more of Sergio's great work.
  
  
• The IPNOS FM CREW has gone all out with their "Fist Of The North Star" icons. Included with this set of 14 fantasy characters is a bonus desktop and a set of sounds to match.
  
  
• Ramon Gonzalez, also of Live Pencil submits a humorous take on the world with his "People" icons. Enjoy this wacky set of 10 hand drawn people, and don't forget to visit their website for even more fun.
  
  
• ReNe announces a brand new desktop titled "Blue91" over at Happicon. Visit his website for the download, and check out all the other goodies there.
  
  
• Not only is 14 year old Fred Stidson a talented icon maker, but his desktop-making prowess is nothing to sneeze at. "Stidcons desktop" was created to match his latest set of "Stidcons" icons, which now reside in our System Icon Archive. This one comes in 1024x resolution.
  
  
• "Choke" by J.Parker is an original composition, inspired by 'Exit Music (for a film)' off Radiohead's "The Bends". Nice track, not a bad background in 1280x resolution.
  
  
• Scott Chitwood of RampantMac struts some of his 3-D desktop wizardry with "PhatMac 210". Visit the website for the download, and check out his latest additions.
  
  
• We've got another flashy retro desktop from Mr. Garrett Walbridge. "Super Sta'" comes in 800x, 1024x and 1280x resolutions.
  
  
• Jan van Es's "Think Different desktop" is dedicated to those who might have an older Mac with the rainbow Apple logo, or just don't care too much for the new Apple colors. This elegant desktop comes in 1280x resolution.
  

News From Around the Web:

News flash from the Iconfactory: The deadline for submissions to the Macintosh community's largest icon design contest - Pixlpalooza, is Noon, e.s.t, Thursday, February 1st, 2001.

Rampant Mac has several new desktop creations ready for download.

Mandolux updates with 13 new desktops available in multiple resolutions.

Yoshihiro Kondo of Chillyday has started making icons again, and are now available on the site.

The Icon Plaza announces the release icon set number ten.

Shroomgfx updates with some new icons : "glass eye - illegal adobe" is what they're called. Sinister, but pretty.

The new DV Graphics has just opened. Offering desktops, icons and other stuff.

The Devil's Desktop has been updated with 5 new desktops, 1 new icon set and 1 new pdf download.

Colheres updates with 2 new desktop pictures: "my desktop" (by Rosa) anda "casa da bruxa" (by Luísa).

Brycetopia has been updated with six new awesome desktop pictures and a new section about the authors.

Akio updates with a new Desktop that features the lovely Konoko from Oni.

Tray's Trove updates with 8 new desktops.

This is a bulletin to let you know that new work is being shown at MAJArch Studios!

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

Click here to learn more about Toast 6 Titanium

1/23/01

Snapshots by Jeremy Hoesly

Not going anywhere for a while? Grab Tuesday’s snapshots:

• This snapshot from Jason Bidwell sports a custom “John Randle” desktop picture in conjunction with a slightly modified version of Toren Valimir’s I/OS X K-Scheme. Audion is pumping out soundwaves along the bottom. Icons from Gort’s and Icon Factory along with a few custom creations are scattered throughout the shot.
  
  
• This contribution from Ted Doronila sports Ben Mackin’s Liquid Theme. Audion, overhauled with the AquaX face, is tickling the eardrums in the lower right. Selections from all three of icons.cx’s Spiffy Apps collections inhabit the desktop.
  
  
• Josselin Guédes contributed this screenshot showcasing the custom “Graphite” desktop picture combined with Akio’s Sharp Graphite K-Scheme. Audion, retooled with the Tight Skin face, is cranking out songs in the lower left-hand corner. Perfect Yosemite’s Fish n’ CHyPs X icons are shown off along the right edge.
  
  
• So Christmas is behind us as we forge ahead into a new year, right? Think again… at least in the Snapshot Archive. I’ve been posting some yuletide submissions, like this one from Steve Moody, in a slightly belated fashion. Steve’s shot touts a custom “Oni” desktop picture. The creatively named Snow application provides the wintery precipitation.
  
  
• A desktop picture from MacAkio and Peter Harte’s Aqua X K-Scheme debut in this snapshot from Scott Mullins. Audion, equipped with Akio’s SlickCorner Graphite face, is sitting in as digital DJ in the lower left-hand corner.
  
  
• This submission from Vijay Venkatesh features Perfect Yosemite’s “Metal” desktop picture. Audion, retro-fitted with Albie Wong’s BlackHot & Blue face, is taking music requests in the lower left-hand corner. Icon selections from Perfect Yosemite are situated in the upper right.

Captivated with the thought of sending your own snapshot? Read our submission guidelines and then hop to it!

Applescript/Scripting by Michael

Twist from TwistedTech has written what has become for me the definitive Applescript for managing the Application Switcher. You can select any attribute individually, or scroll through the entire set.

It's only limitation is that it doesn't work with MacOS 9.1, but Twist is downloading the massive upgrade, so watch for an update soon.

Visit the Mac Experts!

Today's News by Cletus™

It is time for another giveaway. This week, the contest is sponsored by MacZ Software. The prize will be two free registrations for FolderGuard:

“FolderGuard is a multi-user; password-protected shareware utility designed to keep your folders private from prying eyes. FolderGuard supports multiple user accounts, which can all have private folder lists.”

I think for this giveaway we will try something different. Instead of the old enter to win format, let's try a more creative approach. Michael Coyle is always saying how creative the ResExcellence readers are, so why not use that creativity to win a prize! Read the instructions on this page for guidelines on how to enter.

Iconizer Pro 1.3.5 is now out. This version works with Finder 9.1, provides markedly improved speed, allows you to work properly under the classic environment while in Mac OS X and fixes some other minor bugs.

mile23 Development and Consulting has released a new product called "Wowser." Wowser is described as being useful for people who have more than one web browser installed on their Macintosh. This could prove to be a great idea. I often find myself using more than one web browser throughout the day. Wouldn't it be nice to not have the default one opening with every click!

When the system tells the default web browser to open an URL, Wowser intercepts that command and looks to see whether the default browser is already running. If it isn't, and some other web browser is, then the command is sent to that other one instead.

OtherMenu has gone to version 2.0.4. OtherMenu creates a system-wide hierarchical menu somewhat like the Apple menu. Besides opening applications and documents, it runs 28 little utilities called externals. This version provides a few fixes:

• Fixed a crash when using "Instant Info" within a Carbon application.
  
  
• Packages (folders masquerading as files) now show the proper icon and don't show a submenu.
  
  
• Fixed a bug in Find..., where folder names were sometimes displayed in italics.
  
  
• There is no longer a warning when you update to a newer version of the Mac OS.
  
  
• This version of OtherMenu includes version 2.0.1 of the Date/Time external, which fixed a Y2K bug

Themes and Schemes:

Theme Checker is still up for grabs! In order to qualify for a free registration, go to DogHouse and click on the "Upcoming" page and give the "Unnamed" theme a decent name! Use this e-mail address to enter.

Maury McCowan made a promise last week and today he keeps it with the release of AquaX III. If you have been running the beta releases of Mac OS X, you can tell Maury has put in a lot of hard work on this K-Scheme to make it realistic. If you want to get use to the Aqua appearance and can't wait for the March 24th release, now is your chance to experience it! In addition to the AquaX III release, Maury is also releasing a companion desktop pic tomorrow, called "AquaStripe." Check out the desktops section at RAILhead for this picture.

SharpTang is Akio’s newest release for Kaleidoscope. Does any one remember Tang? It is an orange powder drink mix. What am I talking about? Well, the scheme is orange colored. It is not an overbearing orange however and is very well done. The scheme also comes with some bonus icons in MacOS and IconDropper Format.

Akio has also updated Sharp Indigo and Graphite to tie in with the newest release of Kaleidoscope. Stop over and pick the newest version of these two very nice schemes.

Submit Software and General News Suggestions!

New Section at ResExcellence: During the recent reader survey at ResEx, a common request was for a links page to other GUI sites. While a great idea, it takes a lot of time to do a great link page and we didn't want one if it couldn't be the best! We have found a way...

Melissa Coyle, daughter of webmaster Michael Coyle, is the new Links Editor at ResExcellence. The Links Section will be updated every Monday and provides a form for readers to suggest a site for the page.

A common problem with a links page is that after a short time, the number of dead sites can exceed the good ones! Since Melissa's time will be spent only on links, you can be confident you'll never get a 404! So stop by the section and send her the link to your second favorite GUI site (since ResExcellence is your first!).

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Complete Cable Management For The Home & Office.

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Polling Place

While several readers emailed to say they use both: patterns with a transparent picture on top, most ResEx readers just use a desktop picture. It's too bad the desktop picture doesn't load at the very beginning of the boot process. You may think this is impossible, but it's standard in Linux, where a desktop picture is present behind the log in window.

After my comments last week that the new Titanium Powerbook looked a little "PC" in its design, I received several emails both pro and con. So this week, the Polling Place asks all of you, "Do you like the design of the Titanium?"

Speaking of Linux, tomorrow ResExcellence will post streaming audio of an interview/discussion I had with Jeff Carr, president of LinuxPPC. At 4:30 minutes long, the discussion is not only interesting, but a test of streaming audio at ResEx. Stop back tomorrow to give it a listen. If it works out well, we'll do more in the future.

Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle

One of the most popular ResEx edits of all time is the one to Modify Apple's CD/DVD drivers to mount third party drives. The creator of the edit, Anthony Saxton, wrote to say that the edit still works under MacOS 9.1. "It looks like Apple has no intention or need to update the SCSI driver anymore. Version i.4.3 will work with the same edit as 1.3.1/1.3.5".

Joe Block has posted a package that allows Airport cards to work under MacOS X.

X-Tips

A little bluebird landed on my shoulder and sang about this site which has posted snapshots of Apple's latest inhouse build of MacOS X. This is the same build they were showing at Macworld. What I like to call the "Look but Don't Touch" build.

Jason Sears asked a very interesting question regarding MacOS X and long file names. How are they supported? There is no information yet on Apple's site, but this is what I discovered with a little experimentation.

MacOS X supports long file names. Very long - up to 255 characters, but only the first 150 are visible on the desktop when an icon text box is selected. If you use the File Inspector (Get Info), you can scroll with the arrows to see an entire name.

When an icon is not selected, only the first 18 characters of a name are visible.

But what happens if you view that filename under MacOS 9? Only 31 characters are displayed and the truncated characters from MacOS X are converted to some form that eludes me.

I imagine that after the release of MacOS X, Apple will post a TIL outlining these changes.

Updated: Extract Fonts from an Application for use System-wide

Here I thought I was so clever with my edit to extract fonts from an application. Maybe readers emailed me an easier way. Skel was the first:

There is an easier way to extract fonts from an app. Simply change the type and creator of the application to FFIL and DMOV (be sure to writing down the original type and creator!) . It will now have a font suitcase icon. Open it, and your font(s) will be inside. Option drag them to the desktop (thus copying and not moving them). Change the type and creator of your application back to the original. Now you have the fonts.

It doesn't get much easier than that! Thanks to everyone who replied.

User Contributed Splash Screens: by Michael Coyle

• Frank sent a funny MOSS of a brainy guy at his Mac.
  
  
• A new Interarchy Interface was created by Paul Star.
  
  
• Paul Sahner tweaked the AIM Splash to get just the look he wanted.
  
  
• Do you have an original Bondi iMac like the Coyle Family? Then Andre Crespo created an "About this Mac" replacement for you!
  
  
  

Snapshots by Jeremy Hoesly

Due to the hoards of snapshot submissions accumulating in my backlog, I have decided to extend the daily yield of snapshots to six to help whittle down the pile. So hold on to your hats folks because the Snapshot Section is kicking into overdrive:

• Bigfat from Bigfat Software submitted this contribution touting the custom “Merry Bawkmas” desktop picture. Some custom Clan Lord icons along with icons from Icon Factory are on display.
  
  
• The “Binary” desktop picture and Kei Kinoshita’s Grafito K-Scheme debut in this submission from Erik Hope. Audion is providing the music in the upper left.
  
  
• This OS X-style snapshot from Doug Hoxworth is actually a Windows machine in disguise! DesktopX handles much of the interface transformation from the dock to the clock. CoolPlayer, configured with an Apple Music Player-style skin, is dishing out tunes in the lower left.
  
  
• Customize.org’s “Gravity Well” desktop picture is featured in this screenshot from Jerry James along with the Aqua II K-Scheme. Audion, outfitted with the Reintegration face, is tickling the eardrums in the upper left-hand corner. Icons were provided by Xicons and icons.cx in addition to a few homegrown ones.
  
  
• Mike V. submits this dual monitor snapshot featuring an Azul Dark desktop in conjunction with the Aqua II K-Scheme. Audion, overhauled with the XPlayer face, and SoundJam, equipped with the Aqua X skin, are playing side by side near the left edge of the first screen.
  
  
• This contribution from Sergio Recabarren showcasing the latest OS update is featuring a custom desktop pattern. Macast is serving up the music at lower left. A smorgesbord of icons from icons.cx, Icon Factory, and Xicons inhabits the desktop.

Captivated with the thought of sending your own snapshot? Read our submission guidelines and then hop to it!

Icon & Desktop News by Dan

The forces that govern the universal flow of creativity must be in high gear this week. We've got lots of great icons and desktops to show off. Please be patient if you don't see your submission put up right away, they're waiting in the wings. Enjoy!

Icons - Desktops: We've got even more cool Icon Sets; two Pixelpalooza contest entries, a Charge Bars and Battery 'use-o-meter' CSM makeover and 6 great Desktops. All on display for today's update.

• "Locotos Icons" by Xavier Sarabia is an original set of 29 system replacement icons with a strawberry flavor. System 8.5 or above required to use these 32 bit beauties.
  
  
• Seb super charges the Control Strip Battery Module included in most Powerbooks with his creative ResEdit required set of icon modifications.
  
  
• Chibi Gabriel Chan submits "Ghostcons" for your approval. This set of 10 ghoulishly transparent icons was specially made for Pixelpalooza, and show off best on a dark background. System 8.5 or above required.
  
  
• "Apple Blue" and "Apple Gray" by Tray' of Tray's Trove is an elegant set of 'Think Different' desktops sporting right handed docks. Both come in 1024x resolutions.
  
  
• Aaron Scott sends us this stylish two picture set of backdrops titled "Brushed Sandstone". Both come in 1024x resolution.
  
  
• Movie fan Owen Anderson creates a desktop based on the hit movie "AntiTrust". Comes in 800x600 resolution only.
  
  
• Shout it, scream it, tell the world about the latest generation of Power Macs with the "Mondo G4" desktop by Gigi. Comes in 800x and 1024x resolutions.
  
  
• I've chosen another desktop by the ever creative Josh Bishop to grace your desktop today. "Mammatus" is a most unusual and stormy looking backdrop which comes in 1152x resolution.
  
  
• One more selection for you from the series of desktops sent by Raool, of Ra's page fame. "Eye" comes in 1152x resolution.
  

News From Around the Web:

Brycetopia has been updated with six new awesome desktop pictures and a new section about the authors.

Akio updates with a new Desktop that features the lovely Konoko from Oni.

Tray's Trove updates with 8 new desktops.

Appleholics-Annonymous announces the beginning of the Scott J Gray Memorial Desktop Contest this last week. It's official! This contest is to commemorate the late, great Scott J Gray who passed away December 9th, 2000.

This is a bulletin to let you know that new work is being shown at MAJArch Studios!

Mandolux has just posted 77 new desktops. The title of these desktops is "Waterfall/Panorama."

Iconfactory releases a sneak peak of a new icon set based on the cult TV hit from Japan "Iron Chef".

Announcing the anticipated release of Iconverge 2 : poetry in pixels. Nearly 100 unique icons make up this amazing collaboration! Iconverge has assembled a most talented group of icon designers to converge on a single theme.

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

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Visit the Mac Experts!

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