Today's News by Cletus™
Time remains for entering our great Personal Organizer Giveaway. Personal Organizer seamlessly combines a calendar, address book and word processor. Plus it synchronizes with your PalmPilot and Visor connected organizers. Chronos is offering three free registrations for the contest. Now is the time to stop over and submit an entry.
Carson Baker dropped me a note about his official release of Switcheroo through Holy Mac! Switcheroo looks like the traditional task bar, a proven interface for toggling applications quickly. It does away with large unnamed Dock icons and cluttered screens by showing the applications name and offering the option of a "Hide Others On Switch" feature. Stop over to their web site and check out this nifty program
weRclean2 (click link for downloading) is an alternative to MacJanitor for initiating the running of the "daily," "weekly" and "monthly" scripts built into Mac OS X, but scheduled to run at an inconvenient time unless your Mac is left on all the time. Now to me, the fact that we need these programs to run these scripts, should indicate to Apple that they are scheduled to run at inconvenient times.
A Better Finder Creators & Types X allows you to quickly and easily change file-to-application associations by setting the creator and type attributes of a single or multiple files. This complete re-write now uses the native Cocoa framework and complies to the OS X programming model and user experience.
Ted Pearson writes: I wanted to let the readers of ResExcellence know about my new application, Toolbar Icon Changer 2.0. It is a utility to make changing Finder toolbar icons much easier! I really think this should go on ResEx because it has to do with customizing your Mac and it is much easier than the normal terminal or root way. Besides, the app is free! I agree with Ted. It is definitely an application for ResExcellence and now is listed in our Archive!.
Kind of a quick update! I am sure you will understand as Fran and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary! Something tells me she doesn't want me at the computer all night..... 
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Snapshots by Jeremy Hoesly
Gentlemen, seize your snapshots:
- This screenshot from an anonymous contributor touts a desktop picture of crashing waves. Glass bug icons adorn the right edge.
- This SuSE Linux snapshot from Dragan Bajs features the Mac OS running in an X-window thanks to Mac-on-Linux. Hexley hangs out on top of the active window via AMOR.
- Derek Gordon sends this dual-monitor snapshot sporting a jaguar spots theme. Very wild indeed.
- World of Midgard’s “Hugin & Munin” desktop picture and Max Rudberg’s Smooth Stripes 2 Theme debut in this submission from Olle Strandman. IP address and disk usage stats as well as Internet search capability are brought to the desktop by ShadowIP, ShadowGoogle, and ShadowDisk.
See just how easy it is to contribute to ResExcellence! Give our browser-based submission upload page a whirl.
Internet Cleanup
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?)
- Rock me baby!! For Classic Mac, Sporslow sent a MOSS and ATM combo of the band "Puddle of Mud!
- Yo Scotts! JolinWarren went to “All Things Scottish” and with their permission assembled a MacOS X Boot Panel.
- Holy Boot Panel! The Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, Batman is flying through this submission by dubplate mahn. The download package includes items to make over the Login screen too.
- An apple a day, you're the apple of my eye, one bad apple, and Mom's apple pie. Add to this list Conrad's Apple MOSS.
- John Rose sent a Boot Panel that I believe is a pencil sketch of his featuring a young lady.
StuffIt - The Complete Compression Solution
Today's News by Cletus™ I dislike those Dell commercials and I do not want a cow talking to me either!
Entries are pouring in for our Personal Organizer Giveaway. Chronos has been kind enough to offer three free registrations as the prize. Remember that I mentioned how simple it is to enter this contest? If you have not done so, stop by the contest page and enter. Anyone can do it!
I've mentioned SharePoints before and I continue to enjoy using this program between my iBook and desktop network. The update removes dependency on nireport which gets installed only with the developer tools. It also adds Internet Version Checking and has information on Michaels new website < http://www.hornware.com >.
My friend Gideon Greenspan left me know that he has updated his award winning Classic Menu program. Classic Menu brings the classic Mac OS apple menu back to Mac OS X, replacing the systems built-in apple menu, but keeping it within easy reach. Version 2.6 adds many new features, including visual compatibility with themes, control over file icon display, adding items directly by drag-and-drop and an option to show the system apple menu by default.
Snapz Pro X has been updated by Ambrosia Software. Primarily a bug fix, this excellent screen capture utility is the way to go if you are looking at saving screen images in a variety of formats including: .bmp, .pict, .gif, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .pdf, or Photoshop files. Another nice feature is the ability to record the action as a QuickTime movie. Cool!
Invisible Finder allows you to either search your hard drives or just click a button to find all your invisible files. Once you have found your invisible files you can perform various tasks on them such as toggle their visibility, get info for them, delete them or edit them in ResEdit. So goes the description from Rage Software. Version 2.0 is a full re-write and provides compatibility with Mac OS X.
The keyboard is the only way to navigate for some users. Those that use this method will want to get HotApp. Using this program you can assign hot keys to any application, file, url, or system action. Nice program! Besides a couple of bug fixes and language localizations, it adds system actions: Show/Hide Dock and a Force Quit. Several screenshots can be found on their site and further information is also available there. Give it a try!
The pop-up hierarchical file navigation and launcher application piPop has been updated fixing scrolling and a "nil object exception" as well as improving functionality under Mac OS 8-9.
You will of noticed above that Michael Horn dropped me a note about his switch from .Mac to a different server for SharePoints. Three others have also left me know of new addresses that are pending or changed already. Keep me posted— Thanks.
Cletus needs a favor...
Please help me head off any problems with the Software Archives links by dropping me a note when a link for the software changes. If you are a software developer and are changing your host site from .Mac to a new server, please drop me a note so I can update the Software Archive links. I have a bottle of aspirin (Bass actually) standing by already for all this.
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Tools of the Trade by Michael Coyle
What do random chance, a desktop picture, and $50 have in common? All three were astrologically aligned this month for Jeffrey Mumford, the ResExcellence winner of a $50 gift certificate from PowerMax! Jeffery contributed a desktop picture to ResExcellence and that made him eligible for the random drawing. Congratulations to him and good luck to you for next month!
A recent bug report at Mozilla.org commented that the Open Source browser might benefit from a more, um, corporate splash screen. This spawned dozens of creations that have been catalogued here, here, and even here. While many of these are down-right ugly, there are a few gems tucked away.
The 10 Minute Review: Mandrake Linux 8.2
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The downside of running Linux/PPC on a Powerbook is that hardware support lags behind the desktop machines. For example, of all the distributions I have tried, none have properly supported the PCMCIA card slot, and setting up Airport was always a trick. At last weekend's Linux Installfest, I was trying to get some of these problems solved and I repeatedly heard the same mantra, "You should try Mandrake.... You should try Mandrake...".
Since the Installfest was held at the local college and I had access to the OC-3 campus internet connection, I took a 30 minute break and downloaded the two iso disk images needed to install Mandrake/PPC 8.2.
The bootable install CD offered a list of options depending on the computer video card. For the Powerbook, I selected the Radeon option. The next big surprise was that the installed immediately recognized my SlimSCSI PCMCIA card and offered to install the correct drivers! My heart be still, would I finally have a working card slot?
Mandrake is by far the friendliest Linux installer I have ever seen. Every screen offers a help section so you can make an informed decision on the presented options. The PCMCIA slot, Airport, and my Network HP printer were all correctly configured by the installer.
After the install, the computer booted into Linux and I ran the Mandrake Control Panel. From here I could continue to tweak and perform a MacOS X-like software update of new packages. Another great feature of the Control Panel is the ability to have multiple stored TCP/IP configurations. It's now trivial to have one Airport config at home, another at work, and a DHCP configuration for when I travel. (See the screenshot).
Pros: Excellent installer, free download of ISO-disk images (burn as RAW using Toast),
Cons: Mandrake 8.2 comes with KDE 2.2, not 3.0. For any Linux install you need to partition the hard disk.
Theme News
Laine Lee updated Pillowtalk-Sky (MacOS X) with customized Finder toolbar buttons for Back and View.
The Quicktime styled Brush Theme series for MacOS X has been updated by Max Rudberg. There are three variations of this theme and anyone of them is a winner.
Still using Classic MacOS? (Ya know, Steve says it's dead!)
Lucent and AquaMarine are two soft looking themes for MacOS 9 by Seblon.
Want to try your hand at theme creation? Take a look at ThemePark by Jason Harris. The newest version 1.0b6 makes themes easier to edit by adding a customizable toolbar, the ability to filter and sort resource listings, and new contextual menus. This update also includes numerous stability enhancements and interface tweaks.
Anyone know what happened to XThemination? Let me know.
Like milk and pizza, some things are not meant to be, that's why it's with great trepidation that I mention the newest cool service from DV Graphics: "Iconize Me!" For $15, the artists at DV Graphics will create a caricatured icon of your likeness. Look at the examples to see what a great job they do.
While this service is fine-and-dandy for the all you beautiful people on the planet, what about the rest of us! Should my coworkers be exposed to the added suffering of viewing my face from a bouncing MacOS X dock? I think not.
Custom Splash Installer (CSI) has been updated to 1.2.0 with support for Acrobat Reader, Chimera, and Netscape 7 PR1. (MacOS X only).
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?)
- Hang on for today's contributions. It's loaded up with Boot Panels! The first is "Boats" by Jim Pereira.
- This Matrix Boot Panel from Mosley also includes makeover items for the Login screen.
- The pinky toe put together another set of Boot Panels from Invader Zim!
- Like anime? Take a look at this boot panel from red rocket.
- The two newest boot panels from John Rose feature Sidney (an anime lady) and a woman in a spa!
- And for Classic MacOS users, let's sneak in one MOSS screen. A freaky little monkey is the star of this submission by Jeff Stephenson.
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Today's News by Cletus™
ResExcellence are teaming up once again with Chronos for another terrific giveaway contest. This time Chronos are offering 3 free registrations for their premier Personal Organizer software. Personal Organizer seamlessly combines a calendar, address book and word processor. Let's make this contest entry a very simple one! To see how simple we made it, stop by the contest page and take a look. Please be sure to provide the information requested in the entry. Good Luck!
DP Autochanger allows you to automatically set up intervals for when your Desktop Picture will change. You can pick the folder of images that are used, or URL files that point to pictures on the web can also be displayed. Very nice program.
Three free screensavers. Yep— UselessSoft is offering three useful screensavers all for free. They are called Coral, Helios, and Pedal. They range in design from a Geometric type, to a " Coral-like" design to a Mesmerizing OpenGL screensaver. These should provide you with a decent selection to choose from.
Monolingual 1.1.1 is the newest release of this language deleting program. I always use this program after system updates. Even though I select installation for English only, it always seems that the installer adds resources for languages I will never need. This program efficiently removes those resources and savers a lot of otherwise wasted disk space. Changes include:
- Adds Swedish localization by Joel Arvidsson and Polish localization by Mariusz Ostrowski.
- GUI fixes, including automatically detecting the current language from Software Preferences.
John MacDonnell dropped me a note about his update to DockFun! DockFun! is a tool to run an infinite number of Mac OS X's Dock configurations. For example you'll be able to set up a Dock for Internet applications and a Dock for graphic purpose which you'll turn on, easily, with just a click! Plus a version will be ready to go for Jaguar by the time it is released. New in this version:
- Improved the new cool interface developed by Italian designer
- Infinite docks available from the eye menu
- New dock Inspector with more features and stability
- Overall programming architecture improved (compiled with gcc3)
YazSoft continues to improve upon an already great program with the release of Speed Download 1.8.7. One big improvement is that Speed Download shouldn't launch classic versions of apps when there is an OS X version. Additionally there is improved compatibility with CarbonLib 1.6 among several other changes. If you are not sure just how good the program is, check out Jeremy's recent review of the program.
Cletus needs a favor...
Please help me head off any problems with the Software Archives links by dropping me a note when a link for the software changes. If you are a software developer and are changing your host site from .Mac to a new server, please drop me a note so I can update the Software Archive links. I have a bottle of aspirin (Bass actually) standing by already for all this.
Have a Press Release? Software or General News? Submit it here: Suggestions!
Polling Place by Michael Coyle 
The forum comments did not mirror the polling results. While most of the comments took Apple to task, the voting clearly show more than 75% of readers are satisfied with Apple computer.
Last night I had a beautiful dream. It was early morning, just before sunrise and the remaining night was foggy. As the sun rose, starting at the horizon, the fog instantly turned to rain which showered down in an ever expanding radius.
When I woke I not only remembered the dream, but the colors of the sunrise. Which leads to this week's Polling Place question, "Do you dream in color?"
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