Wednesday Grab Bag of Goodies
In no particular order, here are a few items of interest I've come across lately that others might be interested in.
- SideTrack -- For whatever reason, Apple has never taken full advantage of their laptop trackpads, unlike Windows laptops where users can scroll documents, double-tap, and perform other actions without having to move their cursor all over the screen. SideTrack helps fill the void for OS X users with a System Preferences plug-in that is easy to configure and install. Currently a public beta, but in my testing seems pretty solid (and very addictive).
- Slim Battery Monitor -- If you use a 12" PowerBook or iBook, and love menu bar widgets like I do, then chances are you're running out of room. Help alleviate the congestion by swapping OS X's default battery meter with Slim Battery Monitor, which is much smaller, and has the power to automatically appear & disappear when needed (I have mine set to only appear when a charge is less than 100%). Also a beta, but works great.
- Isometric pixel brush set -- If you like creating old-school pixel-based designs, here is a nice set of free Photoshop brushes to speed your workflow. The objects are rather unnecessary, but the basic shape brushes come in handy.
- Creating hybrid CDs for Macromedia Flash -- This tutorial is a little dated, but there is a serious lack of information on how to burn professional-looking hybrid CDs for Flash applications. I know, because I had to figure it out myself about a year ago, and one of these days hope to draft my own PDF on how to do it. Until then though, the PDF linked above is a good solution.
- Chopper -- The glory days of Choplifter are reborn in this free, OpenGL version of the classic game. Same side-scrolling action, same tasks, but with 48 levels and far better graphics.
Comments
Great links, the lot of them. I was just starting to wonder about my menu bar on my iBook, and I'm certain that Sidetrack will come in handy. (Although, it is possible to enable tapping on the trackpad as clicking in the system preferences. It's just not the default setting, iirc.)
Posted by: Ste Grainer at February 11, 2004 10:12 AM
We have some additional information on creating cross-platform CD-ROMs in our Developer Zone.
Posted by: Craig Hockenberry at February 11, 2004 11:14 AM
I like uControl's trackpad modification -- hold down fn or another modifier key and the trackpad turns into a scrollwheel (vertically as well as horizontally). Interestingly, the SideTrack folks note that you can use both products at the same time for full-on trackpaddy goodness.
Posted by: brian w at February 11, 2004 4:46 PM
the isometric pixel brush set is very handy. much easier than whipping out the pencil tool and going to town. thanks for the link.
Posted by: patrick at February 11, 2004 4:56 PM
Here's another vote for uControl's fn+trackpad scrolling. I love it. It's easier than a mouse wheel and you can scroll left/right as well.
Posted by: finn at February 11, 2004 5:23 PM
100% or 10%?
Posted by: Alexander at February 13, 2004 1:33 AM
I would guess 100% - you only care about your battery if you don't have it plugged in.
Posted by: Adam at February 13, 2004 2:19 AM
Adam answered it. Instead of looking all day at a static "100%" in the menu bar when my Powerbook is plugged in, SBM automatically removes the meter, and then reappears when you unplug.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at February 13, 2004 6:41 AM
Those brushes look really great, thanks for the link. Can't wait to try them.
Posted by: Jayvant at February 17, 2004 1:23 AM
