Hacks/Mods | Appleaddiction

Visage for OS X

By Luke On Nov 20, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware | Tips 0 No Comments

Not so long ago I wrote about changing the login screen on OS X. It was a detailed post about navigating through system folders and some copying and pasting and such. But today I bring you a better and more powerful way to customize your login experience. Introducing Visage.

Visage allows you to edit the login panel and the login background. It also brings the ability to enable desktop effects to your finger tips. Just install the Preference pane and you are good to go. Simplicity is always good.

Customizing my mac has always been a good way to make your computer more personal. You’ll know what I am talking about next time you start up your mac and look are newly customized mac.

Hit up keakaj.com/visage for the download link. OS X 10.1+

How to display your tweets using Growl!

By Luke On Nov 15, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods | Tips 0 No Comments

Growl has always been a great app. It simplifies everything I do, and now, it’s becoming even more useful

Richard Stelling of EchoTech put together this deceivingly simply How-To for integrating Twitter with Growl.. It involves some terminal work but please don’t let that scare you away. Its very simply copy and paste stuff.

1. Installing the Modules

You will need only 3 modules Mac::Growl, Net::Twitter and Date::Format, if your lucky Date::Format might even be already installed. Type the following commands into terminal. Read More

Changing your login Window

By Luke On Sep 24, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods | Tips 0 No Comments

Changing your login window is one of the coolest ways to make your Mac stand out. If your running OS X 10.5, it’s fairly simple as well. But we’re not stopping there. Today I am also going to show you how to change the default Apple logo displayed on the login screen. First I’m going to show you how to do this in 10.5. If you’re using 10.4 you can skip down to the 10.4 section

Customizing the Login Screen in OS X 10.5: To change the login background, simply replace the picture file located here: /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg Use a jpg with a resolution equal to or greater then that of your monitor for best results.

If you’re interested in changing the default Apple logo you see at login do as follows: Hit command-shift-G to bring up the “Go to Folder” dialog and paste in the following path exactly: /System/Library/CoreServices/SecurityAgentPlugins/loginwindow.bundle/Contents/Resources In this directory you will find a file called applelogo.tif. Make a backup copy and then delete ‘applelogo.tif’. Rename your custom tif logo file to ‘applelogo.tif’ and move it to this same folder, you will be asked for the administrator password. Make sure the new image is 90×90 and a tif file. Slightly transparent images look best. Read More

My favorite Firefox Themes

By Luke On Sep 11, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware | Tips 0 No Comments

Not only is Firefox one of the more efficient (Now even more efficient: Shiretoko) browsers out there. But it is also one of the, if not the most, customizable browsers out there. So today I am going to go over some of my favorite Firefox themes.

Camifox 1.4: – Elegant, crisp, and colorful. Camifox is a thoughtful, sophisticated re-imagination and realization of a better “default” theme for Firefox 3, in living color on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Ok fine, Windows to, but you really should be using Linux or OS X. Especially if your using open source software like FF.
G-Fox 0.1.1: – This is one of the most colorful and unique Firefox themes around. It is full of design and style. It may not be the most practical theme, seeing as the amount of color kinda distracts you from what your doing. But It’s a little it different and definitely worth a look.
Whitehart 3.4: – Whitehart is the most basic and simplistic theme I commonly use. It maintains form and functionality while still being appealing to the eye. Soft whites blended with simple icons and an easy to read interface make it a very easy theme to get hooked on.

So there you have it. My three favorite Firefox themes. Don’t like my choices? Check out one of the hundreds of other themes over at the Firefox Themes Directory.

I also must say that if your looking for a great alternative to Firefox, I suggest you check out Camino. Its the browser that the first theme is based off of. Camino is a specialized build of Firefox modeled around OS X. Find out more Here: Camino 1.6.3

Mac to the Wii, and back.

By Luke On Aug 16, 2008 Apple | Games | Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware 1 1 Comment

You may remember in the past that I have gone over methods of getting your Mac to communicate with both your XBOX 360 and your Sony PS3. Today I get to complete the circle by introducing you to Wii Transfer from Riverfold software.

Wii Transfer allows you to share movies, music, and pictures from your mac to your Wii using the Wii internet channel. It also includes advanced support that allows you to view iTunes playlists and iPhoto photo albums on your Wii as well. It even includes support for converting your movies into a format the Wii understands as well as management for save games.

It’s not free but the one time fee of $19 is not that bad if your and avid Wii user. You can find more info as well as the download link here: Wii Transfer.

What I wish Apple would adopt from linux.

By Luke On Aug 8, 2008 Hacks/Mods | OS 0 No Comments

When Apple announced that OS X would be based on a UNIX core I was really really excited. However, Since that date, I have felt that Apple has done little with the OS. You might say that I’m just not noticing the changes because they are so small in comparison to the switch from OS 9 to OS X. But when looking at what Linux distros have done in the past 8 years, it makes me wish Apple allowed itself to be a little more open source in order to speed up development. But I do realize that Linux has the ability to speed along where as Apple needs to ensure quality and dependability much more then some Linux distro. But here are the features and quality’s I wish Apple would adopt from Linux.

A variety of display managers for different needs. Such as a lighter one for laptops and lower end computers and a more sophisticated one for high end setups. As an example Linux offers, GNOME,KDE,XFCE,FLUXBOX,LXDE
Better integration support of multiple systems on the same box.
More effort to keep the system lightweight.

I must say that Snow Leapord is a step in the right direction for OS X. It features a smaller footprint as well more performance focused updates. In the end though, I’m just glad OS X isn’t Vista

Solar Power for MacBook Air

By Luke On Jul 11, 2008 Apple | Gadgets | Hacks/Mods 0 No Comments

QuickerTek, the leader in wireless Apple products, announces the Apple Juicz – a new way to power the Apple MacBook Air using solar power. Three models are priced from $500 to $1,000 USD, fold to a convenient 10.5 size and come with a cool Element messenger bag. These solar panels charge the MacBook Air while in use. And since the MacBook Air has a non-removable battery, alternative power options are welcomed by the Mac community.

Google still trying to win over desktop searchers.

By Luke On Jul 6, 2008 Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware | Web 2.0.fuTurE 0 No Comments

I don’t know about you but I am more then happy with Spotlight in OS X. However, Google seems to think it’s missing a little something. Here enters Precipitate. Precipitate brings spotlight the ability to not only search local documents but also the ability to quickly scan and search your online files as well (Such as the ones in your Google Docs folder). The integration is seamless which is actually something nice and unexpected. If you do find yourself storing many documents and files online. Precipitate may actually help you out.

Download and find more info Here

Spicing up your Desktop -Because you can

By Luke On Apr 23, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware 0 No Comments

There is nothing more imprtant then having a cool background right? Ok, well maybe not. But I always try to keep mine fresh and entertaining. I tend to grab most of my stylish backdrops from over at Pixelgirlpresents.com but sometime, you just need a little bit more. Like when your trying to impress friends or family. Thats were Wallsaver comes in. Whats it do? well you guessed it. Wallsaver allows you to set any one of your screen savers as your background. Besides being a total system resources hog, it does have a few cool applications. I use along with RSS visualizer to show live feeds of the digg.com homepage which I personally think is awesome. So why not give it a try, It’s freeware! Wallsaver 2.2.2

Psystar Announces OpenPro

By Luke On Apr 15, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods 0 No Comments

You may have heard some of the news the a company called Psystar is offering a Mac clone called the “Open Mac” “Open Computer”. However. As of, I believe, yesterday they announced a new model. The “Open Pro“, and with a base price of $999 it give the Mac Pro a run for it’s money. Here are the Specs:

Core2Duo@2.6GHz (Core2Quad@2.4GHz +$100)
2GB Ram (4GB + $75)
150GB 10K RPM HDD (1TB + $150)
GeForce GT 8600 512MB (8800GT +150)

So, As you can see, if your willing to take the plunge into the clone market you can snag yourself a pretty good alternative to the Mac Pro. Although it is not nearly as stylish as the aformentioned.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Apr
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Our Category: Hacks/Mods