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Posts with tag theme

Filed under: Fun, Mozilla, Browsers

How to Chrome out your Firefox


When Google's Chrome browser first came out, the first thing everyone commented on was its minimal blue look. Sure, it's got Webkit under the hood, and it was put out by one of the hugest players in the web game, but ... it's blue! If you'd rather have a Gecko-based browser with tons of add-ons, you're probably sticking with Firefox. This doesn't mean you have to compromise: there's a Chrome skin for Firefox that keeps getting better with each update.

It's called Chromifox, and it's available as an experimental add-on. All "experimental" means is that you have to log into the Firefox add-ons site to download the theme, and you install it at your own risk. I've been testing it for about a week now, and I haven't hit any problems. The only thing Chrome can do, UI-wise, that Chromifox can't, is that cute little effect with the transparency and the tabs on top of the window. Unfortunately, your tabs are stuck in the default position in Firefox.

Filed under: Design, Text, Utilities, News

Bullitt: one NetNewsWire style to rule them all

It hasn't been all that long since I wrote about 10 excellent themes for my favorite Mac newsreader, NetNewsWire. In that time, though, I've discovered a new style that I think is the best yet. It's Bullitt, designed by Cameron Hunt of cameron.io. Cameron is also responsible for some of the most popular (and best-designed) Tumblr themes in the universe.

The main selling points of Bullitt all have to do with readability. Column widths are optimised for your viewing pleasure, and images up to 700px should fit comfortably into the layout. Titles are handled with a neat, elegant slab-serif, and each site's favicon is displayed in the heading. The overall look is extremely easy on the eyes; this is definitely my favorite style for reading long articles. Even more attractive, Bullitt uses css ad-blocking (as if it weren't clean enough already!)

I still endorse the 10 styles I covered before, and this sort of thing is definitely a matter of taste. If none of those really struck your fancy, though, give Bullitt a try. After using it for a few weeks, I can't imagine going back to anything else.

Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Utilities, News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Blogging, Web services, Freeware

Wordpress theme generator

wp theme generator
Yvoschaap.com is a simple, easy-as-a-web-form way to generate your own color-coded wordpress theme, complete with standard options for sidebar placement and width, site name, logo URL, body width, color scheme, text scheme, the ability to add a third column to your theme and even insert-able Creative Commons and generic copyright text in the footer.

What used to take a fair bit of time -- tweaking and prodding a Wordpress theme to get everything just right -- now requires much less brain-power. Generated themes are handed to you on a sexy zip-file platter and are WordPress 2.1, WP widget and Yahoo UI compatible, not to mention it should work on any "A-grade" browser, sweet!

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Features, Windows Mobile, Office, BlackBerry, Mobile Minute

Mobile Minute news: Blackberry on Windows Mobile, free ZIP utility and more

In today's mobile Minute, we'll take a look at some of the latest news and software related to Windows Mobile devices.

BlackBerryRIM announces BlackBerry software for Windows Mobile

BlackBerry makers Research in Motion have announced plans to create a program that brings Blackberry software and services to devices running Windows Mobile 6.

The software will include email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, instant messenger, and other applications developed to run on BlackBerries. Since the application will work like any other third-party Windows Mobile program, showing up on your screen as an icon you click to launch the suite, you'll be able to flip back and forth between the Windows Mobile calendar/email etc and the Blackberry suite.

The new program will enable push email on Windows Mobile devices (something you can already get for free through emoze), and allow companies to deploy software that will run either on BlackBerry or Windows Mobile devices. You'll also have a more input methods than on a traditional BlackBerry, with support for QWERTY keyboards, 5-way navigation buttons, or stylus support.

Read more →

Filed under: Design, Developer, Fun, Internet, Utilities, Macintosh, Web services, Apple, Google

Mac OSX Google Reader Theme

google reader theme

Big Apple fan? How about taking that obsession online with you while feed reading. Hicksdesign -- a small new media company -- has developed a new theme to make Google's online feed reader resemble a Mac OSX application. Installation is pretty simple, and should be up and running in a few minutes.

The theme is supported in Firefox, Camino, Safari, Omniweb, and Opera, hows that for compatible. Full instructions can be found on the Hicksdesign website.

[via GoogleSystem]

Filed under: Design, Fun, Games, Internet, Kids, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Mods, Unix

Super Mario Bros 3: Crazy Firefox theme of the day

Super Mario Bros 3 Firefox ThemeWhen it comes to Firefox themes it can be hit or miss, but this one takes the cake. This Super Mario Brothers 3 theme is very detailed, taking a little bit of everything that is familiar from your favorite Mario games.

Normally I don't really like tinkering with my theme, because the colors are such a stark contrast to the web page you are viewing and the buttons are usually some crazy weird new symbol that will take you some getting use to. But this theme has a light color to it, so navigating around the web is easier on the eyes.

This theme has all of the pull-down menus and pop-up menus changed to match the idea behind the Super Mario Brother games. My favorite part about this theme is that all of the slide bars are warp pipes. And then, once you get your theme installed and set, you gotta play the flash Super Mario Brothers game!

[Thanks Joe]

Filed under: Design, Fun, Internet, Windows, Web services, Mozilla

Tinseltown theme for Firefox

Tinseltown
I went out looking for a nice, not too dumb holiday theme for my Firefox, call me old-fashioned, call me sentimental, but hey, I like a nice looking theme to go with the holiday cheer. Most normal people look for gifts, I look for themes for Firefox. Don't dis it, you know you do too. The Tinseltown Firefox theme is a great one, featuring light bulbs for back and forward, Rudolph as the refresh button (I don't know why the thought or smell of a reindeer makes you think of refreshing a page, but...) Santa's hat for stop, a gingerbread house for home (makes sense), a present box's top to add a new tab, history is a stocking, and downloads is a gingerbread man. The scrollbars are a nice shade of candy cane, and the background consists of a snowy blue and white scene. All in all, the theme is nice but not too outlandish. Check it out, then let me know what your favorite is here. I am still on the lookout for a few good themes of the holiday persuasion. What do you suggest?

Filed under: Design, Blogging

Sexy Wordpress theme: Black Minimalism

Black Minimalism
I love WordPress, and I love design, so obviously I'm always keeping an eye on new WordPress themes. But maybe I'm a design snob, 'cause most of the ones I see don't impress me. At all. However, a few weeks back I came across a theme that I think is absolutely gorgeous: Valter Nepomuceno's Black Minimalism. That's a bit of a misnomer, because as you can see the theme isn't especially minimalistic, but it is beautiful. From the gorgeous photo selection (which you can swap out just like in Kubrick, by the way) and the rich background to the subtle depth and transparency, this is one theme I would be proud to display on my own blog. Despite the multiple visual elements, it's not cluttered and is easy on the eyes. Black Minimalism is loosely based on the flexible K2 theme but has just one column, which I'm partial to. It's one of those themes that's just nice to look at it, and if you're looking to set your WordPress blog apart from the thousands of Kubrick clones, I highly recommend it.

Filed under: Fun, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware

Royale Noir: "Lost" XP theme discovered

Royale Noir
Royale Noir may sound like the next Bond film, or maybe a spoof of it (imagine, a spoof of a remake of a spoof), but it's not--it's a quasi-official, but somewhat unfinished, theme for Windows XP. Here's the deal: Last year a theme called Royale surfaced as part of Windows Media Center Edition and was later released on Microsoft New Zealand's web site (you can download it here, if you like). It turns out, though, that there was another version of Royale in the works with a sleek black finish--Royale Noir. Noir was never released, but one dedicated Channel9 member spotted it in a Microsoft commercial and subsequently--though the how is somewhat unclear--dug it up and unleashed it on the world.

Like I said, Royale Noir is somewhat unfinished--it works fine, even with Office 2003, but a few of its edges are a little rough. XP themes are a dime a dozen these days, but if you derive comfort from having a sorta official theme digitally signed by Microsoft, and like the dark look, Royale Noir might be for you. (Insert Royale With Cheese joke here.)

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Web services, Commercial, Social Software

ThemesPress - convert HTML and CSS into WordPress themes "in minutes!"

ThemesPress - convert HTML and CSS into WordPress themes I am certainly no PHP-slinging WordPress guru, but I am pretty impressed at the promise of ThemesPress: converting your plain ol' HTML and CSS layout into a fully-functional WordPress theme. After a simple 4-step process involving uploading your layout's images and code, you're able to preview your final template and make unlimited changes before dropping $10 for the service.

They make it sound simple enough, but with all the ugliness of cross-browser HTML and CSS compatibility, I'm skeptical. If any of you try this out, feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

Filed under: Internet, Macintosh, Apple, Mozilla, Open Source, Browser Tips

Make Firefox a better fit for your Mac

Firefox on your MacA complaint about FIrefox I hear often from Mac users is that it doesn't really "fit" Mac OS X. Its default theme isn't very "Mac-ish," the default form widgets are fugly, and so on. Some Mac users live with it, others use Camino, the Firefox-based Mac-native browser, and some of them just stick with Safari. There are a few things a Firefox-on-Mac user can do to feel more at home, though, and Ronald Heft, Jr. has collected them and written a short tutorial on his blog. Though it's a partial solution at best, Heft does point out that Firefox 3.0 for Mac will be a native Cocoa app and much of this will be but a hazy memory.

Filed under: Internet, Mozilla

A look at the final Firefox 2 theme

Firefox 2 theme

Firefox 2 Beta 1 may be nearly feature-complete, but there's one thing missing still: the theme. Mozilla designers are still working on the theme that will be the default when the final version of Firefox 2.0 is released. Some mock-ups of the theme have been posted to the Mozilla Wiki, and people who like the Firefox 1.0-1.5 theme will be relieved that it stays true to its roots. Most elements look almost exactly like their ancestors, but a keen eye will notice that everything is, well, shinier. On top of a new luster, some elements have been tweaked to make their functionality more apparent. For example, the Go and Search action buttons are now styled to be more strongly associate them with respective input fields, and the feed icon now glows briefly when a feed is found to draw more attention to it.

[Via Digg]

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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