Dark 3D Dock in Leopard

So I've had Leopard since the night it came out, and I've had some time to really get to know it. Most of it I like, the only parts I currently dislike are parts that are slow because my laptop is old and the resourses are taxed. Quicklook for example, it's a really great feature, but on my machine it's a little sluggish. Anyways, back on point, today I have a nice customided little haxie you can do so your new Leopard dock will be a smooth dark grey that excentuates the mirror effect instead of the standard light grey with arcs in the background.

Get your dock looking like this by going to the Goodies page!

Guest Login

Ever had a friend over and they want to use your computer and you reluctantly say yes knowing they'll probably mess with your settings? Well Leopard comes with a new feature that is JUST for these moments!

Guests can login and are allowed to do only the things you predefine. But instead of restricting your friends, you can pretty much let them do whatever they want because when they log out the account is expunged, and the next time it's logged into it's as if it's a brand new account again. Apple reinstalls the user each time you log into this special guest account, that way no matter what your guests mess with, they'll never do anything to your computer!

Leopard

Just as a note to those of you who live under a rock Apple will be releasing their new operating system OS X 10.5, or Leopard, in just 8 days now. Apple just updated their website with a list of 300 new features they've added since the most recent operating system version, 10.4 Tiger.

Check out some of the recent screenshots taken right from the most recent developer build that showcase some awesome new features and a great new look.

Quicksilver

Quicksilver is a great little app that gives you control over a LOT of features in your computer just by typing anything you want. For instance you can use Quicksilver as a launcher, where you would just type "iTunes" and hit enter and iTunes opens. But say iTunes is already open, then you're given a new set of options if you hit tab instead of enter. You can look through playlists, change the volume, or add the current song to a new playlist. The other great use for Quicksilver is using it as a spotlight that can also control your media and search through bookmarks and web history. Look below, I started typing clutter because I wanted a file inside that folder and this is what came up:

Next we have a screen shot of an add-on to Quicksilver called Constellation Menu, it lets you see things much more graphically for certain applications, such as iTunes, seen below.

Quicksilver has a plug-in for just about any application you use, and the repository works much like a Linux distribution system. You just go into the preferences and check off which plugins you want to be installed and they automatically download and install, no hassles. Hopefully Apple will take notice and add some of this functionality right into spotlight when Leopard arrives... or maybe later on. They do need to have things to upgrade too, they can't start with everything.

New Apple iPhone Apps Page

So you got yourself one of them fancy iPhones but don't know what to do with it... check out the new Apple iPhone/iPod Touch Web Apps page!

Apple's got a great selection of the greatest iPhone and iPod Touch Web Apps for all to check out and bookmark!

No More Dotted Lines!

Now That i just got done praising Firefox for its awesome features, lets talk about another awesome thing... customizability built in! Ever enter in about:config into your address bar? Try it! This is a great big long list of the features that Mozilla will let you edit to your preference. Here's one way you could change your Firefox to work to your liking (Mike Lipson), lets get rid of those annoying dotted line box around links and pictures after you click on them.

Go to about:config and filter down the results and look for browser.display.focus_ring_width, then click on the on the parameter on the right and set the value to 0 (zero). This will get rid of that annoying dotted line and make your browser much nicer on the eye when clicking links!

Grab and Drag

Firefox extensions are what keep me from using Safari. I love the look and feel, not to mention the speed, that Safari has over Firefox on a Mac, but the extensions just get me. Here's what I mean...

Although Safari has wonderful RSS support that Firefox couldn't hold a match to, I just can't have my Facebook bar with buttons for sharing links or getting notifications when someone messages me. I can't have a built in downloader that works like a dream (DownThemAll!). I can't have the weather forecast(ForecastFox Enhanced) in my status bar for me to check at any time. I sure as hell can't use StumbleUpon features, or even my latest addition... Grab and Drag.
This extension lets you physically drag the screen up and down just like how the iPhone uses multi-touch. You can even turn on momentum features so when you drag and let go the screen will keep going and slow down to a stop with a friction that you set. You can alter how and where Grab and Drag works, for instance you can set it up so that whenever you click and drag only where there are no links or text the screen will move with the curser, this way when you highlight text the screen won't move around on you. So if you fancy Firefox, check this out and you'll find yourself trying to scroll with ease in tons of other applications wishing the feature was available there too!

Gateway One

Check out this new Apple iMa... wait a second this is a Gateway... woah...

So I guess Gateway is really stepping up and trying to grab away the market that cares about what their system looks like. The Gateway One priced from $1,299 for the base model and $1,799 for the high end model. It boasts Intel's Core 2 duo processor and a 19" widescreen display. It also has 8 channel (7.1 Dolby Digital) audio, 8x DVD±R/RW, built in 5 in 1 card reader, 802.11n draft wifi, GET THIS... 7 usb ports!!!, 1 firewire port, 1.3Mp camera built into the screen, media remote control, up to a 500GB hard drive and up to 3GB of ram (2GB is standard!).

If you're in the market for a computer and you hate Macs (how could you though?), this would be my #1 choice.

The Fibonacci Sequence In Lateralus

This is an awesome video that shows some amazing imagery from the Hubble telescope while showing the Fibonacci Sequence in modern music...

Further more, check this out... (It's crazy to see how genius some people are.)

"I had doodled a few spirals in the corners of my graph paper, and in doing so made the first important connection to Lateralus. I knew that if the tracks were in fact intended to be heard in a different order, "Parabol" and "Parabola" would have to go together. In drawing my spirals, I had begun with a vertex and 'spiraled' outwards. After writing the numbers 1 through 13 linearly, I could immediately see that Parabol and Parabola would have to be the middle of my spiral (in that 13 / 2 = 6.5). I drew a simple arrow between 6 and 7 and then pondered the next pair. At first, I actually drew a spiral connecting pairs of numbers whose sum equaled 13 (the number of songs on the album). This, however, left the last track in the same position and without anything to connect to. At this time, I had used my copy of Lateralus and Cool Edit Pro to take out the silences between tracks and put the songs in the following order: 6,7,5,8,4,9,3,10,2,11,1,12,13. The transition from Parabola into Schism blew my mind, as the plucks, probably dismissed by listeners as a drawn out rant of an ending, perfectly transition into the beginning of Schism. When you count out beats as the strings are plucked, Schism resumes with the same time signature and tempo - mirroring the progression of notes. The transition from Schism into Ticks & Leeches is equally intriguing. Schism ends with strong double-kick bass and tom smacks, and Ticks & Leeches begins with what many would call a 'tribal' drum beat. The beat at the very start of Ticks & Leeches is slightly different every subsequent time it is repeated - the measures are two beats longer. Yup - you guessed it - those two beats are ACTUALLY the last two beats of Schism."

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