This weeks Appleviews flickr pool desktop is by something1138. It is titled Earth wallpaper with GeekTool. The only information he left about the screenshot is that he used GeekTool and where he got the icons. From what I can tell, he used GeekTool for the time, date, uptime, load averages, temperature, memory usage, and GT usage. He may have used GeekTool for iTunes information but I am not sure. For his dock icons, he got them from Nick Caron on Flickr (I went on the link but it was invalid). I chose this desktop because it has a unique look to it. Great job something1138! If anybody wants share feedback on the tools that you think were used on this desktop, feel free to comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers!

I recently downloaded an app that has become an addiction. This app is called Skee-Ball from the iTunes App Store for $0.99. It reminds me of the good old days when I would go to the arcade and spend almost all my money tossing the heavy ball to gather a bunch of tickets to redeem for useless prizes. But it wasn’t the prizes that caused my addiction; it was winning as many tickets as I could. The more tickets I earned meant better prizes to choose from. This game simulates that experience.

Once you open the app, your addiction begins. On the main screen, you will see a ticker like bar displaying the number of tickets you currently have, All Time high scores, Redeem (where you redeem your tickets for items), and Loot (your items you have redeemed tickets for). To start playing, you click on ‘Play’ to start a new game. The game opens with a ramp, which leads to seven numbered holes (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 in the middle and two 100 point holes on the sides). On the top of the screen, you will see your score (as you make points), Balls (displaying how many balls are left), and Bonus (basically the level you are playing). The goal is to try to make your ball into the highest numbered holes to obtain higher points. You do this by either flicking your finger up the ramp (screen) aiming towards the direction you want the ball to go. Once it is rolling, you can move your iPhone to try to get the ball to go in your desired hole. You can also hold your thumb on the device and give it a flick with your wrist, tilting it to give the ball a spin (this method is too hard for me). Occasionally, you will see one of the holes light up. When you see this, you want to try to make the ball in that hole for extra points, which in turn, earns you extra tickets. The higher your score, the more tickets you receive.  When you finish a round, the screen will display Skill Star Bonus at the top, your All-Time High Score, Your Score for the current game, Tickets obtained in the current game, Total Tickets you have. Then, at the bottom, you can click on either ‘Done’ to return to the main screen or ‘More’ to play another round.  Once you are back on the main screen, you can redeem your tickets by clicking on ‘Redeem.’ You can choose from things like different styled balls (which can be used in the game), or things like a Peruvian Flute band CD, the Eternity Code, pinktoe tarantula, fake mustache, oversized cowboy hat, and many other useless items that you can brag to a friend about via email. All you have to do to obtain these items is have the required amount of tickets to exchange for the item you want. When you click on the ‘Loot’ button, you will see all of the items you have in a bookshelf setting displaying Custom Balls, Epic Prizes, Rare Prizes, and Common Prizes. I currently have many Epic, Rare and Common Prizes along with over 20 Custom Balls. That is how I became addicted to the game. I wanted different balls and would keep playing until I had enough tickets to redeem for the different balls. My favorite ball out of all the balls they offer is the Brewster Ball. It seems to be more accurate, but maybe it is all in my head.

To download this app, click on the iTunes App Store button to be directed to the location for this app in the iTunes Store. If anybody has played this game and has tips or tricks, or want to list their favorite prizes, feel free to leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers.

This weeks desktop from the Appleviews Group Pool on Flickr is by cain novocain titled NaNoWriMo ’09.  He is using Snow Leopard and everything on the dock is clear except for a few changes that he made. He is also using iStat Menus to help remind him of his goals. He states that if you are using Leopard, you may be able to find a tool called Mirage to make the dock clear, (I tried to find a download site for Mirage but am unable to find anything). The folders being used are the Opacity Folder Set from Thvg at DeviantArt (http://thvg.deviantart.com/art/Opacity-Folders-Set-83395313). For Adium, he is using HUD Minimalistic (http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=6968) modified to his liking. I like the wallpaper that he is using with the calendar….and at the same time, it is minimalistic.

The other day, I was looking for new tips and tricks for Mac OS that my readers can use. I was excited when I ran into a few articles as to the different things you can do with Mac OS Preview. Preview seems to only be used to view pictures or PDF files. I am one of them. I use Preview more than other programs on my Mac because it loads fast.  So, I am going to share the information I found with you. I have included videos of how to do a few of the functions, but you may want to view the video full screen to have a better view of the functions.
Did you know that you could resize photos, adjust a photos color settings, make PDF annotations, and more? Well, I knew about resizing photos for a few weeks but I didn’t know what else you could do with Preview.

ANNOTATE IMAGES

Go to View>Customize Toolbar in the menu bar and you will see a number of buttons that can be added to the toolbar. Clicking on the Annotate button and dragging it to the Preview toolbar will enable the feature for images (along with PDFs) to be annotated.

MERGE AND REARRANGE PDFs

You can merge and rearrange pages in PDFS by doing the following:
To merge two or more PDF files together, just open them in Preview, make sure the sidebar is enabled (View>Sidebar) for both windows and just select the page you want to merge wherever needed in the sidebar of the other’s sidebar. Basically, drag and drop. (See Video Below)

PRINT MULTIPLE IMAGES ON A SINGLE PAGE

Lets say you want to print several images but don’t want to waste paper. This will save paper! I used to use my HP Program to do this task, but I just tried it, and it was quick and easy! First, locate the images you want to print on a single page. Then, you can either drag them all in the sidebar of the page your going to print, or you can use File>Open menu and select the pictures you want to use (⌘A) to select all or just use the Command key and click on the pictures you want to use. You will then see in the sidebar of Preview all of the pictures. You can click File>Print or use (⌘P) to print and select how many pictures you want to print and Preview will squeeze them on a single sheet of paper. (See video below)

REMOVING A BACKGROUND FROM AN IMAGE

Even though it isn’t always perfect the first time, Preview has a decent background removal tool that you can experiment with. What you do is File>Open menu and select the picture you want to remove a background from. Then, click on the Select button in the toolbar and choose either Extract Shape or Instant Alpha. I like the Extract Shape as it seems a little easier for me to use. Extract Shape allows you to draw a path around the image to remove everything around it. Instant Alpha lets you pick certain areas of an image and Preview matches the color values to determine what else to remove. These tools take a bit of getting used to. Just fiddle with it and work with it to get the results you want. You can always (⌘Z) to reverse your mistakes. (See videos below)

GRABBING ICONS FROM APPLICATIONS

When you find yourself needing an icon for an application that you can’t find off the Internet, you can use Preview to grab the icon for you. First, go to Finder and open your Applications folder and select the program you need. Press ⌘C to copy and then open Preview. From the Preview menu bar, select File>New From Clipboard. The entire icon set for the application you chose will open in a variety of sizes and you can save the icon in almost any format.

ADJUSTING IMAGE COLORS

If you just need to adjust the image a little bit, you can do this in Preview also. All you do is click on Tools>Adjust Color and Preview brings up a window with tools you can use to adjust your image. You can adjust things like exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, and much more. If you don’t like something, you can hit Reset at the bottom of the window.

PREVIEW KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

FROM FILE MENU

New From Clipboard (⌘N)

Open (⌘O)

Close (⌘W)

Save (⌘S)

Print (⌘P)

FROM EDIT MENU

Undo (⌘Z)

Copy (⌘C)

Paste (⌘V)

Select All (⌘A)

Special Characters (⌥⌘T)

FROM VIEW MENU

Sidebar (Shift⌘D)

Automatically Resize (Shift⌘R)

Actual Size (⌘O)

Zoom In (⌘+)

Zoom Out (⌘-)

Hide Toolbar (⌘B)

Slideshow (ñ⌘F)

FROM GO MENU

Next (⌘RightArrow)

Previous (⌘LeftArrow)

FROM TOOLS MENU

Inspector (⌘I)

Show Colors (Shift⌘C)

Show Fonts (⌘T)

Adjust Color (⌥⌘C)

Move Tool (⌘1)

Select Tool (⌘3)

Rotate Left (⌘L)

Rotate Right (⌘R)

FROM BOOKMARKS MENU

Add Bookmark (⌘D)

I hope that these little known functions help those who just want to make minor adjustments to images or combine PDF files. I use these options more often now since I have found them. If anybody has any other Preview tricks that aren’t listed, feel free to leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers.

This weeks custom desktop goes to…..drum roll please…..cain novocain’s Black & Smoke GUI. Yay cain novicain!
He has an interesting background wallpaper that is simple. On his Flickr account for this design, he was inspired by Chabi69’s Windows desktop and he accented it with the HUD Installer along with the Magnifique skin Mistikon Dark theme. He also has aLunch and Adium in the menubar. For the calendar, he used DateLine and for the RSS reader, he used Snackr (which is shown closed in the upper left hand corner). This is a really nice setup cain novocain! If you want to see more of his work, click his favicon at the top.

I am constantly changing my desktop layout. I use tools like GeekTool, Magnifique, SuperDocker, Yahoo Widgets and a few other tweaks.  I usually change my desktop to match my mood. Today, I’m going to go over the Yahoo Widgets that I use the most. I narrowed my list down to the top 15 of my favorite widgets from Yahoo along with a description on the customization allowed for each widget.

BarCalendarClock
When you open this widget, it displays the date and time and an arrow (either to the left or right – you set this up in the preferences by right clicking on the widget). When you click the arrow, it displays the full month to whatever side you have chosen. I use this widget when I’m designing a background that is simple and minimalistic. I feel like it has a modern feel to it.

Widget Preferences:
Choose to have the widget open or closed when the widget is shown, direction the month expands (left or right) when arrow is clicked, font, text size, colors of the clock and date, calendar background color, today background color, weekday color, Sunday/holiday color, background color and opacity.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/barcalendarclock

Due
This widget helps you keep track of things that are due. You can use it for other items though. I use this widget mainly to track things that are due, like bills, library books, movies, etc.
Widget Preferences:
You can change how the date is displayed, due item width, and the background opacity under the ‘general tab.’
You can change the colors for normal, warning and overdue items under the ‘colors tab.’
You can change the font, color and size of font under the ‘font tab.’
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/due

Flip Clock
This is another clock that looks like a ‘flip’ clock. I use this widget when creating a retro background.
Widget Preferences:
You can choose to show the current month or seconds and also display a 24-hour clock.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/flip-clock

Flip Count
This widget counts down to or up from a specified time. The numbers flip as they change. I currently have mine set for a countdown to Thanksgiving in a retro background.
Widget Preferences:
You can change the title of your countdown, label color, custom label color, date, and time. You can choose to use a countdown or a count up display.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/flipcount

Glow Ball (system)
This widget displays glowing balls to display your CPU load, free memory, wireless signal strength, battery capacity and network latency (ping). This is a cool widget I use with a background that is circular. I like that you can change the colors of the balls to match the background.
Widget Preferences:
You can decide what each ball is for and choose which items to display. You can change the colors, sizes, and settings for each ball. There are many other options for each type of ball you want to display and options for each function.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/glow-ball-system-edition

Gorgy Clock
This widget is a clock based on the Gorgy Clock design. I used this background on the MacSpotlight desktop.
Widget Preferences:
You can choose to sync with an Atomic Clock and how often to sync. You can then choose the clock background type, show the clock background, or show the edge. Finally, you can choose the time/date format and what you want to be displayed under the main time digits. You can also change the LED color, face color, and edge color. Then, you have the option to choose how many alarms to show in the list and delete expired alarms.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/gorgy-clock

mini CPU
This is a small widget that displays CPU status. I use this widget with the other ‘mini’ widgets. Usually they are blended into a background, but serve their purpose.
Widget Preferences:
You can change the update frequency from 1 – 10 seconds and choose a theme for the widget.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/mini-cpu

Mini iTunesRemote
This widget displays a small round remote for iTunes. It allows you to play, rewind, fast forward, view track information, rate and adjust volume. Again, I use this widget with a simple theme. I like the way that it looks as if it were embedded in the background.
Widget Preferences:
You can choose to show current track in iChat and choose whether or not you want to display the volume slider.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/mini-itunes-remote

mini Weather
This is a small widget that displays the weather information. This widget doesn’t take up a lot of space on a background.
Widget Preferences:
Here is where you enter your location and choose if you want to use metric units and if you want to show tooltips for detailed weather information when hovered on.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/mini-weather

Moon Phase II
This widget displays the moon’s current position, phase, age, distance, etc. It also displays the angle of the cusps and the moons axis. I have used this widget on a few of my customized desktops.
Widget Preferences:
You can select your language, enter your latitude/longitude details, choose to use the computer clock, choose if you want to use double clicks to show data and change the positional data. Then, you can change the moon size with the slider bar, rotate the image, change the shadow density, show mouse-over info and show rise/set times in UTC.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/moon-phase-ii

RSS Ticker Tape
This widget displays a customizable ticker tape style newsreader. It continuously scrolls the most recent content from your combination of RSS feeds. You can change feed configuration by right clicking the widget and choosing feed configuration. Here you can add, import, export, and remove channels. I use this widget along with a radar widget for a news-like background.

Widget Preferences:
You can change channel colors, scroll channel information, scroll channel position, scroll channel logo and the scroll channel title in the ‘layout tab.’ Then, change the tossed article color, mark articles as tossed, and change padding. In the general tab, you can change the width, font, font size, preview color, background, preview panel color, ticker background and color, glass texture and glass opacity. In the ‘behavior tab,’ you can choose if you want the panel to automatically popout, animate (toss) circle, animate (skip) article, set the ticker refresh rate, set the ticker scrolling speed.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/rss-ticker-tape

Sun
This widget simulates the motion of the sun and moon across your desktop. I just love the way this widget works and how it moves on my screen.
Widget Preferences:
Here is where you enter your latitude/longitude information, check to use AM/PM, choose screen setting (wide, tall or full), change the sun and moon image, position moon as anti-sun and the phase of moon along with size and meridian pointer and if you want to enable tooltip popups.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/sun

System Dashboard – CPU Meter
This widget tracks your total, user and system CPU usage percentages. This widget looks really cool. I used this widget with a car dashboard background along with other customization tools.
Widget Preferences:
You can change the readout style, dashboard style and color, custom color, widget size and if you want to use an aqua shadow. Then you can choose the refresh rate with the slider.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/systemdashboard-cpu-meter

WidescapeTimeSerializer
This widget displays the current date and time in a barcode format. I use this widget with a shopping background.
Widget Preferences:
You can choose to change the display date/time, seconds, if you want to display century or use 24-hour clock. You can also choose what theme to display, the widget size and you can change the text color/opacity, strip color/opacity, and space color/opacity.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/widescapetimeserializer

Widescape Weather
This widget displays the current weather and when you click the ‘-‘ button, the five day forecast. I use this widget with minimalistic backgrounds.
Widget Preferences:
You can enter your location and display name, the location and time, choose if you want to use metric units, the time format, which way the forecast tray opens, and the widget size. In the color tab, you can change the icon and text color, background color/opacity, and border color/opacity.
Download widget here http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/widescapeweather

I chose these widgets as my favorites because of their functionality and design. I don’t use them all at once. I’ll use one or a couple in a design, depending on what my design calls for.  If anyone has used these widgets and wants to share their experiences, feel free to leave a comment. Also, if anybody wants to list other cool Yahoo Widgets that I may have missed, feel free to share it here. Share the wealth with our fellow readers!

I really like trying out new apps when I read about them. Most of the time, I try apps that offer free trials or the ones that are completely free. I LOVE FREE. Anyways, I started seeing more articles about apps that use Adobe AIR. There are many AIR applications to choose from through the Adobe AIR Marketplace. And you can find many articles on the web about AIR apps. So, I decided to show you what AIR apps are currently my favorite and that I have on my Mac. Trust me, I have a lot more, but these are my favorite AIR apps that I use most often. The AIR apps that I have are all FREE. (To be directed to the AIR app website, simply click on its icon next to the title. To view the screenshot larger, click on the thumbnail on the right of the descriptions.) So let’s get going….

ADOBE SHORTCUT
I find Adobe Shortcut to be a really useful app for those times when you’re in, let’s say… PhotoShop and you’re tired of manually clicking in the menu bar for tools or actions when you can use shortcuts. But, what are the shortcuts? How can one remember every shortcut available? No need to do that when you have this app. Just open it up and look for what you need and Voila! there’s a shortcut for practically everything! What’s even cooler is you can save the ones you most frequently use in the ‘My Favorites’ tab for quicker access! Yay! This app literally saves time and energy.

clDESKTOP
I love shopping. I especially love shopping when I can save moolah! So, that’s where CraigsList comes in. Of course you can always use CraigsList on the web, but the clDesktop has a much nicer interface. All you do is type in your location (which can be saved), select a category (I normally check For Sale), then whatever your interest is (i.e. furniture, music instruments, housewares, etc….you get the drift) and it displays a list. Sort of like the web site…cleaner and with better pictures. You can even have the option to save certain types of searches. I have Music Instruments as one of my saved searches.

EBAY DESKTOP
As mentioned above, I love getting deals whenever I shop. Just like CraigsList, I also like checking out eBay for great deals. When I check out eBay, I use the eBay Desktop. This app has a nice user interface and I usually do searches and check my eBay account. I like how simple it is to use. Just type in a search and it displays the results and you can click on little radial buttons to narrow the search. It’s really quick and gives the same information as if you were on the eBay web site. There are many other functions, but you’ll have to check it out for yourself.

FACEDESK
I like using Facebook, but I don’t always like how the site works. This app is quick and it also saves your login information so you don’t always have to login. You can do all the pokes, updates, etc. as you do on the web site in this app also. It’s really nice when you don’t want to open your browser.

FLICKROOM
Lately, I’ve been using Flickr a lot. I’ve been posting new desktops, checking out new entries in the Appleviews pool, and checking out designs that aren’t in the pool. What I love about Flickroom is the nice interface. It is super clean and easy to use. It has the same functions as Flickr and offers other useful features like the ability to tweet about an image, upload multiple images by dragging them from your desktop, chat with other Flickroom users, view recent uploads of your contacts, etc.

READEFINE
I read Google Reader everyday. But, I read it in Readefine, which is an AIR app which uses Flex 4, creating a really nice, clean layout for your RSS feeds, text or HTML content. It displays multiple columns for easier reading and you can adjust the text size, line height, column width, etc. to your liking.
This app uses Flex 4 and creates a nice layout for your RSS feeds, Text and HTML content by displaying multiple columns for easier reading. It can read content from the web, a file on your computer (by copying and pasting), or Google Reader content. It also allows you to tweak settings like the justification, column width to your liking.

SHIFD
I used to bookmark EVERYTHING that I’d find on the Internet in my bookmarks (wish lists, sites to read later, reviews, etc.), only to forget where I bookmarked it, what the bookmark is, etc. Then, I found Shifd.  Now I just add a description and copy and paste the web site URL and add a tag as to what the information is for. I have a WISHLIST tag and a READ tag at the moment. Now I can find what I need in my bookmarks. Yay! There are many other ways to use this app, but you’d have to decide for yourself if this is an app that you’d like.

SNACKR
Sometimes, I don’t have a lot of time to read my RSS feeds in Google. When I don’t read them, they pile up and then I end up having hundreds to read. This app displays your RSS feeds in a ticker like style either on the top, bottom, left or right side. If you see an article that catches your eye, you can click on it and it brings out a little window with a snippet of information and you can read the full article by clicking on the ‘View Post’ button on the bottom right corner, which opens the web site where the article resides.

TWEETDECK
I use TweetDeck to check out what’s going on with all my friends on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. All in one app! You can adjust what you want to see. You can update your Twitter, Facebook or MySpace – all from within TweetDeck. I am currently tracking All Friends in 2 of my Twitter accounts, Full News Feed in my Facebook account and Friends Activities on MySpace. I love the idea that I can check everything in one place!

I only listed the top 9 AIR apps that I use more than any other. I have many more; but, again, this is just a small list. Anyways, if anybody uses AIR apps and has a suggestion or an app they’d like to suggest, feel free to leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers!

Here is another Cool Appleviews’ wallpaper for your Apple desktop. Mod it out and Submit it to our Flickr Pool. Need help using some of the mod tools, there are plenty of posts Here to help you use the tools most used by desktop moders. If you can’t find what your looking for, Just ask. We will get it for you.

1,900 x 1,200

We decided to start offering some simple desktop wallpaper’s for those that like moding out their desktop; but, still need a simple design element for spice. Use an appleviews wallpaper and mod it out with your favorite tools and post it in our Flickr pool so we can show it off to our growing Appleviews community.

1,900 x 1,200

This weeks Desktop Screenshot from the Appleviews Flickr Pool is by Ferdifand. The tools she used on her desktop are GeekTool, DragThing and Bowtie.
The items in her menubar are Last.fm, Adium, DragThing, QuickSilver, Bowtie, iAntiVirus, Mozy, Growl, Caffeine, and iStat.
Finally, she obtained the desktop background from DeviantArt:
http://xanthousis.deviantart.com/art/Yellow-submarine-111709318
Congratulations, Ferdifand for a great customized desktop!

To enter your customized desktop in the Appleviews Flickr Pool, go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/appleviews/pool/ and enter your desktop. It’s that easy!

When I create a customized desktop, I have several tools to choose from. One of the tools that doesn’t get noticed too often is DateLine. It is a simple app that displays a linear calendar on your desktop. What’s cool about DateLine is that it allows you to change the way it is displayed on your desktop by right clicking and opening the Preferences. When you open Preferences, you see a window with 3 tabs. General which allow you to choose what calendar to open when a day is clicked. Your options are iCal or Daylite 3.
The next tab is Appearance which allow you to change Day color, Today marked color, and the DateLine line color. (That’s a tongue twister!)Then, you can change the width of the line by dragging the slider to however long or short you want it. You can also change the overall Font, Today Font, Mark Shape (diamond or square), and Window Level (Desktop, Desktop Icons, Normal Windows, or Floating Windows). Then, you can check the box to show Two Letter Day and Month Title.
And the last tab is the Updates tab where you can check the box to Install Automatically. I love how easy this app is to use and its simple functions. Best of all, the app is FREE. To download DateLine, click on the icon at the end of the article.
If you have used this app or have suggestions of cool customization tools, feel free to comment below and share the wealth with our fellow readers!