PhillRyu is at it again, with MacHeist. Promises to be more fun than My Dream App. Currently invitation only.
Passive smokin’
With all the fuss over Disco and it’s smoke effect, Jonathan Wight decided to take a deeper look. The result of his labor - anyone can integrate smoking windows into their apps. Stick around and let me show you how.
If you’re like me, one of the first things you do when you see a cool app is dig straight into the resources folder. Well, right-clicking on Disco.app and hitting “Show package contents” is pretty revealing. Charge straight into the Contents folder, and you’ll see a nice little folder bearing the name “Frameworks”. Need I say any more? Just like all you need for Core Graphics is contained within my Core Graphics Framework, so the smoking windows code is contained in this little folder. It’s a simple matter of doing a class-dump to build some headers (or if you got in early, the headers are already there), and you have access to all the smoke you need. So, are you interested? Download the Disco beta and drag it to your applications folder. Then, you may proceed to grab a copy of my (modified) version of the smoking windows project and play around with it at your leisure! I quote from Toxic Software:
If your hardware is capable enough you should be able to see the smoke effect rising from the top of the window. (It might take 10 to 20 seconds for the smoke to appear). You can change the smoke parameters by using the smoke settings window (dialog? pane? view?) within Disco. Then just copy Disco’s prefs (com.discoapp.Disco.plist) to SecondHandSmoke’s prefs (com.example.SecondHandSmoke.plist).
Obviously, this way of setting preferences isn’t very flash, so you can just set the specific preference keys from within your code, and it’ll still run fine. Don’t expect that done from me, though, I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on. Then again, if someone wants to make their window smoke and can’t get their head around the preferences, I can always take a little break and help you out.
Have fun, and try not to get addicted to smoking.
Update: This smoke no longer works with the version 1.0 release of Disco. Updated smoking instructions here.
Inquisitor 3 for Safari is free
Dave Watanabe’s Inquisitor “live search” plugin for the Safari web browser has just hit version 3. The most significant upgrade is the price tag; Inquisitor is now completely free.
The new version of the plugin boasts an updated interface, and a more integrated, slicker feel. This one adds a pane to Safari’s own preferences, where Dave admits, it should have been in the first place. You can set Inquisitor to autocomplete entire phrases, or the first word, and it also gives you the option of offering search suggestions. Add to that the subtle fade in and out effects he’s just added, and you’ve got yourself a handy little plugin.
Well, what are you waiting for? There price tag has been removed, so go check out Inquisitor - Spotlight for the web.
Not using Safari? No problem. Search the web with style using the Inquisitor online live search. Looking for torrents? He’s really thought of everything - try Bitquisitor.
CGS Framework now Universal! Tremendous power…
The fabled Core Graphics Framework is now released!
All the PPC / Intel specific bugs have been found, caught, and eradicated. The framework should now be ready for developer consumption for use in commercial apps, or for experimentation and utter bewilderment. Be amazed. Be very amazed, and download the framework straight from here or read and download it from the original post.
The ultimate Core Graphics resource
Liberate your application
Now works on all architectures, and without hiccups!
Can’t get enough of window transitions? Love a little eye candy? Well, you’re in luck. The Core Graphics Framework and Xcode Project Template make adding the fantastic Core Graphics function to your app a breeze. In fact, it’s even more complete than the tutorial, and already has more features in it before you write a single line of code! It doesn’t stop there, however. This framework powerful enough to use the genie effect. That’s right. That awesome Mac OS X transform you can get when you minimize an application. Core Graphics contains a wealth of resources. You really have to check it out.
Core Graphics, meet Core Image
Following on from the Core Graphics tutorial, this download-able demo app presents an easy way to look at the various effects available both through documented and undocumented code.
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