[How To] Make your Windows XP Look Like MacOSX

Are you sick of your Window’s desktop? Envy the coolness of Mac? How about transform your XP desktop (and everything about Windows) into MacOSX style? Forget Window blinds, and the pitiful Window skins. Look into going to FlyakiteOSX.com. They have this free program that will literally transform your OS into MacOSX style. Plus, there is a system restore made as part of the install, so if you get sick of it, you can always go back to Windows!

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Automator (Mac)

With Leopard on the way in a few days, its many new shiny applications may have you dazzled. Rewind a bit back to the release of Tiger, and you may remember this little guy above. Some of you may have gathered his usefulness from the start, and if so, congratulations. If you were like me, however, you probably checked him out because the logo was cool, then got confused and perhaps scared by the application and quit it, never to use it again.

Well, if you’re still in that situation, let me fill you in on a few things.

Automator is simply an application builder. You won’t be able to build complicated things like Safari (as far as I know), but, for example, things such as ‘Jpegify’ (which I made in a few minutes), which turns any image file into a jpeg just through click and drag. It runs on a simple flow of commands, along the lines of ‘Get file’ -> ‘Change file to jpeg’ -> ‘Delete old file’. By dragging my large png file onto the program icon on my dock, it becomes a jpeg in a few seconds, saving me the trouble of opening Fireworks and manually saving it as a different file.

Anyway, I’ll go into that another time.

There are many things you can do with many programs, and once you get the hang of it you can make quite a few interesting things. It will rarely be something revolutionary, but it will definitely save time and effort. My mate made an application that ran Quicktime in full screen WITHOUT Quicktime Pro, which was nice. Here’s a very brief tutorial; I will expand on it later with pictures and whatnot in a later post about pictures.

1) Open Automator
2) Select the relevant application
3) Select the relevant command and drag it into the workflow
4) Adjust the command to your liking
5) Rinse and repeat
6) Save as either a workflow or an application. Perhaps give it a nice icon.

There are bound to be better tutorials out there, so google it. If you’ve ever found yourself repeating the same long-winded actions over and over again, you won’t regret automating it.

How To Get Free Games, Game Consoles, iPods, and Other Things!

Alright, This is Voltaire once again with a “how to get free stuff” report. Those of you that have read my previous get a free iPhone article know what sticklers we are for free things. Well, I have found a really good site. Yes, it has iPods, iTunes cards, Wii games and extra Wii parts, xbox 360’s, HALO 3 (YES FOR FREE), xbox parts, xbox live cards, PS3’s with games and parts, music, DS’s with games, PSP’s with games, and much, much more!

And heres the deal: you dont need a credit card! Most of the offers available do NOT need a credit card. All you have to do is complete a little survey or sign up an account but you wont need a credit card. of course, for those of you that are willing to spend a few bucks, there are credit card and cell phone offers to be completed.

So, how do you get points? complete offers! or tell you friends to help you out.

Want to sign up? well, i didnt mention a link or a set yet.

So there it is! Click above to sign up and start getting free things!

(They have the Touch, so you better hurry!!!)

The site is reliable, and credits add up instantaneously. You will not have any problems!

Safari 3 Beta

Safari, the default Mac browser, is currently in the process of being updated for the new Mac OS: Leopard. The last update saw the introduction of RSS feeds among other features and improvements. The upcoming version promises even more, claiming to be 1.6 times faster than Firefox and 2 times faster than Explorer.

The public beta does not have all of the promised features, but it does boast improved scrolling on most pages, except those with lots of moving images. It’s also disappointing that the way the browser handles animated gifs hasn’t been improved. Nonetheless, you should try out the beta and form your own opinion, now that Safari is available on both Mac and XP/Vista. Click here for more.

Also, for more on Leopard, read here.

Build Your Own Server – Tutorial Guide

Hey all. I found this great article that teaches you how to setup your own server.

Here is an excerpt:

“If you’re anything like me (even before I got really involved with bit-tech.net), you’ve got spare parts everywhere. You know what I mean – systems that you have put aside as you’ve upgraded over the years, like Northwood P4s and Athlon XP boards that have gone the way of the dodo. They aren’t your top gaming rig – they don’t even need 200W to run, much less have 200W for the graphics card.

In my goal of helping you find new and useful ways to use that old crap, it dawned on me – everyone I know complains about files on this computer or that computer, or not being able to get the things they need or want while they’re out or away from their home desk. They needed a file server – a REAL file server, with web interface and bit-torrent and the capacity to not tie up your precious screens and keyboards, which are (at least in my house) in less supply than motherboards and hard drives.

It needs to be fast, extensible, flexible, run on old spare parts, and be completely headless after about two hours. It needs to be Linux. And apparently I need to be our resident Linux expert, Ken “Glider” Gypen…

“GLIIIIDDEEERRR!!!” ”

Check out the rest of it at bit-tech.net
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Great Website – Disposable Email

I found this today, it is called spaml.

This is how it works according to their website:

“What is Spaml ?

Spaml is an automatic disposable email solution where you don’t have to click. When you visit this site the above generated email address is automatically saved to your clipboard.

All you have to do is “Paste” in where ever an email address is requested (forms, forums etc) and when you get the email it will show up here instantly in this box.”

Check it out here at the source.

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Lifehacker’s Top 10 Mac Utilities

I don’t have a Mac, but I trust lifehacker, its a great tech site.

If you have a Mac, then definitely check out this list.

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Mac Switcher – 3 Ways to take screenshots on the MAC

So you got a Mac? There is an easier way to do screenshots on the Mac, and you can use this program called Mac Switcher.

Read the article and find out more.

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Startup sound Preference (Mac)

Let’s face it, sometimes the startup sound can get really annoying, or can just be too loud. You can mute your computer before you turn it off, but it’s easy to forget. So here’s a more permanent solution.

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/StartupSound/index.en.html

This allows you to permanently alter the volume of the startup sound, and even mute it. Very nice!

Adium: The Ultimate OSX Chat Program

Those lucky Windows users have the neat Trillian program, as shown here with a nice description of its features. So what do Mac users have?

Adium, found here, is the OSX version of Trillian for all intents and purposes. It allows you to simultaneously use IM services such as MSN, AIM, Gmail and ICQ, and allows you to download plug-ins and extras through the program itself. For example, I’m currently using MSN, Jabber and Xfire, with a nice downloaded interface and a cookie program icon 🙂

Of course, some of the services lack features. You can’t join servers through xfire, or see handwritten messages in MSN chats. But I for one can survive without these, and it comes with a bunch of its own features. Current song in iTunes as status message, anyone?

For more, visit them at www.adiumx.com