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Christmas up your icons
The Iconfactory does great work, and no self respecting icon enthusiast can disagree with that. Just in time for the holidays they have gathered up a number of their past holiday icons (and other things) for you.Head on over there and deck the virtual halls of your Mac. 'Tis the season, after all.
Flickr Find: Icon Words
It would seem that the good folks at the Iconfactory have discovered Flickr, and you know what that means: Icon Words!They have started a Flickr group featuring all sorts of words that one can spell using only the icons in your Dock. To the right we see a little Zune love, and if you check out this stream you can see a few more examples.What a great way to spend a Monday afternoon.
Apple Matters interviews David Lanham
I have long been a fan of David Lanham's work, whether it be icons from Iconfactory, or drawings of mice in space suits. Apple Matters had a chance to ask David a few questions about his process, what kind of Mac he uses, and how he got started with art. Head on over and read about this up and coming artist and icon crafter.
Arcade Daze from the Iconfactory
I usually don't write about new icons, but when they are so... iconic I feel it is my duty to share them with the good readers of TUAW (I am too kind, I know). Arcade Daze from the Iconfactory revisits those halcyon days of yore when one could fritter away the afternoon, and a roll of quarters, in the local arcade.Mario, Pac Man, and several others make appearances in this free (for personal use) icon set. Get it while the getting is good.
Iconfactory relaunched
The Iconfactory.com overhaul is done. I wrote about this redesign last week but now the sheet has been pulled back and everyone can see the new design. It is pretty slick, but I will miss the animated Iconfactory logo. Check out the full details here.They also have launched a new Widget called 'Dine-O-Matic' which helps you decide where to go when you want to eat out. Just enter in some local restaurants, click the plate and the widget randomly picks one of the restaurants.
Iconfactory relaunching
The Iconfactory is one of my favorite Mac sites on the web. Their sense of humor and talent really makes it something special. It looks like the iconic look (get it?) of the Iconfactory is in for an update. At the moment the Iconfactory homepage features a small vignette (the first in a series of 6 it would seem. Possibly to be spread out over 6 days?) entitled 'Workers at Iconfactory on Rails with Ruby.'My best guess is that the entire site will be redone with Ruby on Rails (shocking, I know) and will be buzzword compliant. I can hardly wait, and I know I'll be checking in over the next few days to see how the story develops.Thanks, Mathew.
Candybar 2.6 is available
Earlier today, The Iconfactory and Panic made Candybar version 2.6 available for download. I just love this app. With Candybar, you can easily (and safely) change your Mac's system icons, but it doesn't end there. Just drag any application onto the "App Extras" well and alter any of its associated icons. Put the icons you want in Mail's toolbar or iPhoto's edit window for example. Backups of your original icons are made, and restoring them is easy if things go wrong. Changes to version 2.6 include: Added built-in support for up to Mac OS X 10.4.6 Application icons can now be changed in the App Extras tab Applications tab now supports type-ahead for finding applications quicker Fixed problem with iPods not appearing in the Volumes tab Universal binary There's much more, of course, and you can get the full run-down here. This is a free upgrade for registered users, and a single license will cost you $12.95US. Candybar requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later.
The Iconfactory updates xScope
xScope by The Iconfactory and ARTIS software has been updated to version 1.5. It's a great utility that I'm sure many of you will find useful. It actually contains six different tools, including an on-screen ruler (aside: I actually saw a person holding a wooden ruler against a computer screen once. I immediately directed her towards xScope), a live preview of your content in various screen sizes, a magnifying glass (that I use all the time to get color values), on-screen horizontal and vertical guides, frame markers and a cross hair. Changes to version 1.5 include: Frames can now be linked and moved simultaneously Horizontal and vertical guides can now be linked and moved simultaneously When the Loupe is locked, the arrow keys can be used to nudge its position on-screen (yay!) Added calipers to the Ruler making it easier to perform certain measurements Plus, version 1.5 is universal. There's more, of course, including a laundry list of improvements and bug fixes (get the full run-down here). xScope costs $16.95US and requires Mac OS 10.3 or higher.
The Iconfactory releases new iPulse jackets
What fun are your utilities if you can't dress them up, right? The Iconfactory has released four new skins (or "jackets") for iPulse, their system monitoring tool (I personally like Scarab). With iPulse, you can monitor disk usage, CPU usage, system load, motherboard temperature and a lot more. Plus, it just looks cool.iPulse requires Mac OS 10.3 or better, is universal and costs $12.95US for a single license.
Pixadex goes universal
One of my all-time favorite pieces of shareware, The Iconfactory's Pixadex, has gone universal with the release of version 2.0.2. Pixadex lets your store, sort and search your desktop icon collection with ease. Create smart collections, export to a variety of file formats and more. Check out our review of Pixadex 2.0 from last October for more info.A single license costs $18.95US ($9.95US for registered users of Pixadex 1.0). Pixadex requires Mac OS 10.2 or greater (10.4 or greater for Spotlight integration). Version 2.0.2 is free for registered users.
Iconfactory releases Iconbuilder 8.0.1
It seems like it was only last Monday when The Iconfactory released Iconbuilder 8.0. Today they've followed up that release with version 8.0.1. From the website: "This latest release squashes a bug relating to Japanese systems and another with Photoshop palette problems. It also adds small features regarding marquee creation and duplicate resource checking. This update is recommended and is free to registered users of IconBuilder 8."IconBuilder 8 requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later, Adobe Photoshop 7.0+ or Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004, and will run you $79.00 for a single license. Upgrades for those who purchased IconBuilder Pro prior to 4/1/2005 are available $30.00. You can find full pricing details here.
