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Mac 101: The Menu Bar
Welcome back to Mac 101, our series of tips for new and novice Mac users. In the Mac operating system, the term "menu bar" refers to the the horizontal bar at the top of the screen that generally has a little picture of an apple on the left end, the time of day on the right and words like "File", "Edit", "Format" and so on in-between. Found it? Good, because understanding how this bar works is essential to getting the best out of your Mac. In this bar, there are two constants: one is the apple, on the far left, and the other is Spotlight on the far right. Clicking the Apple logo on the left gives you access to all the vital functions of your computer, like Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down, as well as the "About This Mac" window and the option to check for software updates. Save for the apple, the left side of this bar will change depending on which application you have selected. For you switchers, it's similar to the bar that is found at the top of each window in Windows, but cuts down on the space each window occupies by having all applications use the same menu bar. The drop down menus perform the same functions as Windows' menus, but like Windows, will be different depending on which application you currently have selected.
Uplay brings 'confluence' to Ubisoft titles
Ubisoft has just revealed a web-based service called Uplay, set to come out by the end of the year, that will enable people playing their games to connect up and share media, make purchases, and download game information, all through a standardized cross-game interface. It will premiere in their games later this year and will hope to accomplish Ubisoft's stated goal of "confluence": connecting developers with players and gamers with each other completely inside of the game menus themselves.We're skeptical, but they haven't pulled back the curtain on what exactly it will offer Ubisoft fans yet. But we'll find out by the holidays, as the first games to support Uplay will be Splinter Cell: Conviction, Avatar, and Assassin's Creed 2.
London restaurant claims fame with touch-sensitive tables, colorful menu projectors
A chic London restaurant and bar called Inamo is making patrons' dining experiences digital by projecting colorful menus and aesthetic patterns onto touch-sensitive tabletops. When browsing, patrons can preview the food as if it were on the plate in front of them -- only flatter, we suppose. They can also order their meals, look up neighborhood services, and select one of seven visual vibes without ever interacting with carbon-based lifeforms. Inamo isn't the first automated establishment we've seen, and this sort of table menu tech isn't new -- but the futuristic panache is hard to beat. Hit the read link for more pics.[Thanks, Nvyseal]
TEC develops 3D Tobidasu table menu, makes your mouth water
Shortly after Teraoka's Deli Touch pen gave a reason to (almost) ignore the wait staff entirely, along comes the 3D Tobidasu table menu to make you order way more food than you likely would otherwise. Developed by TEC, the pop-up menu is designed to be integrated into restaurant tables, and reportedly, it enables patrons to browse the offerings and view individual items in "3D." Granted, the photo above doesn't really capture the effect, but if you look long enough, chances are you'll be salivating in no time.[Via The Raw Feed]
Wii Menu receives an update to 3.2 [update]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Wii_Menu_updates_to_3_2'; Well, for those of you who have their Wii sitting in a dark room, all alone-like, you may have noticed what appeared to be an other-worldly blue glow emanating from the darkness within said room. No, it isn't aliens coming to take you to the future we all dream of, where Donkey Kong is president of the world and we all live on a diet entirely made up of our enemies, ala Kirby. Instead, your Wii has received an update!This latest update, which brings the Wii Menu to version 3.2, now adds a minor feature to the Disc Channel. Once a game disc has been loaded into the console with an update on it, there will be a notification streaming across the Disc Channel, much like how the Wii Shop Channel now streams release information for Virtual Console games.Minor update, we know, but we're more concerned about this possibly putting an end to those "Twilight Hacks" the kids have been going crazy over. Someone want to get on that and check for us?Update: Our very awesome and very attractive (seriously, are you single?) readers have pointed out in the comments that the update does not kill the "Twilight Hack" exploit. Also, some folk at NeoGAF are confirming this to be true. So get back to playing Tetris already![Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Teraoka's Deli Touch pen delays human interaction in restaurants
When talking menus just aren't futuristic enough, we reckon Teraoka's Deli Touch pen -- which strongly reeks of LeapFrog's Tag -- is the next best thing. The system works with barcode-laden menus and enables customers to simply swipe their choices and have them beamed directly to the kitchen. Besides hastening the order process and keeping the interaction between customer and waiter / waitress at a minimum, the device may also give you a solid reason to skimp on the tip -- not that we'd recommend such a thing, of course. Unfortunately, we've no idea if this setup is built to play nice with picky eaters and their laundry list of special requests, so we'd probably recommend steering clear unless you're totally cool with the standard fare.[Via PopGadget]
TUAW Tip: Use Help to select menu items in Leopard
Over at Mac OS X Hints I recently ran into this doozy of a hint that I somehow missed on its first go around. Basically the idea is to capitalize on a great new feature in Leopard's help. You can get to any menu item without your mouse by activating the help menu with the keyboard shortcut ??? + ? (i.e. ??? + shift + /). Then type the name of the menu command you want and scroll down to it with the arrow keys. That command's menu will automatically drop down with the item highlighted, hit enter and you're done! If you're a keyboard maven this is a really easy way to get to your menu items (though you can also activate the menubar from the keyboard with ???F2).Thanks Brandon!
Wii Warm Up: Wii menu music
We were tooling around on the Virtual Console this evening while not really paying attention, and in the midst of the multitasking, the realization hit that everyone in the room was really into the Wii Shop channel music. We're talking bobbing heads, humming softly, the works. It's really catchy for something so unendingly cheerful, but maybe we just hear it a lot around here. It's grown on us. But it inspired us to ask how you felt about the various random tunes that pour out of your Wii. Do you hate the menu music, or do you secretly rock out to it (in a gentle, cheery fashion, of course)?
iPod Classic and Nano get updated to 1.0.2
iTunes has an update for the new iPod Classic and the new Nanos, and while the update doesn't have a description at all, MacRumors sez: Improved CoverFlow Quicker menus And the much awaited video out fix, among a few other interface tweaks Apparently there's a new option that will "Ask" users to output video when a compatible cable is connected. And some people say that the calendar and contacts will synch better as well, although I have the same reservations I have whenever I hear about unlisted feature updates -- if Apple did make it better, why didn't they want to tell us? Wouldn't they want us to know the iPod works better than ever?At any rate, if you think it works better, then more power to you-- enjoy your updated iPod. As always, the update can be grabbed by connecting up your Classic or Nano to iTunes and hitting "Check for Updates."Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
The definitive iPhone user interface gallery
After getting our hands on the iPhone we set ourselves the irresistible task of photographing every conceivable menu option available to us. So here it is: the definitive iPhone user interface gallery, almost 300 images deep. If you're the type to obsessively pore over every possible menu, submenu, setting, and function in a new device, this one goes out to you.%Gallery-4429%
Taylannas' Menus That Talk vocalize what's for dinner
Auditory menus might be an old trick, but it's likely to make Taylannas some serious coin if implemented in any number of eateries. The Florida-based startup has announced plans to dole out "slim electronic tablets about the size and shape of a DVD case" that sport touchscreen displays, speak numerous languages, and can even have its buttons imprinted with Braille to help the blind wade through the interface. As the title implies, the menus will vocalize what's on the docket, as customers can select different segments (drinks, dinner entrees, desserts) to be read aloud. The obvious benefactors are those who are visually impaired, but even customers who are hard of hearing were taken into account as the Menus That Talk devices also have a "detachable hand-held earphone" that reportedly syncs with most modern hearings aids. Still, we have to wonder if restaurants that rely on a quiet, low-key atmosphere won't disable the volume functions or demand a built-in whisper mode in order to maintain sanity during the evening rush.[Thanks, Joe B.]
Mac 101: Remove unwanted menu extras
Sure, those little icon utility menus on the right side of the screen -- displays, sound, Airport, etc. -- are handy, but do I really need the Displays icon there for a desktop screen that never changes size, or the Modem icon when I've got broadband? While you can deactivate most of these through a parent application or System Preferences, there's a quicker way: simply hold down the Command (Apple) key and drag the offender out of the menu bar and onto a blank area of the Desktop. Poof! No more icon.
Ten minute run-through with the Wii interface
Matt must have slept with Perrin or something, because IGN got their grubby mitts on a Wii debugging unit and a few games, to boot. On the latest IGN Weekly, Matt spends around ten minutes going through the Wii interface (mainly, the options menu) in detail. The menu seems to confirm the existence of one Wii code per system, as opposed to per game, which should make matchmaking at least slightly more convenient. He goes through Sound, Screen, Parental Controls, Sensitivity Options, and pretty much everything you'll see come November 19th. It's worth a watch, so check it out.
Colorize your Menu bar
I'm not a huge fan of color in the menu bar, but that probably stems from the fact that I'm not a huge fan of color in the rest of my operating environment (and why I use the graphite visual style). However, it seems that there are a good many people want their OS to look like it was made by Fischer Price, and that's where iColon and MenuPics come in. These two applications both do exactly the same thing; add a dash of color to the otherwise drab utilitarian menu icons sitting in the top-right corner of your screen. The only real differences between the two are universal binary status (iColon is, MenuPics isn't) and how many customization options they give you (iColon only adds color to the normal Bluetooth, Airport, and Battery Meter, while MenuPics gives you the choice to change the icons all together.)
PS3 developers share same XMB as PSP owners
Last E3, we saw how the PS3 would share the same XMB (menu system) as the PSP. You'd be able to look at photos, listen to music, watch videos, surf the internet, and I guess you could play games too. Well, thanks to a video from 1UP, it looks like the final PS3 devkits share the same interface. The menu isn't as fancy as what PS3 players will experience, but I guess it gets the job done.[Via Joystiq]
iTMS browser navigation and history works like Safari
A macosxhints post details how browsing the iTMS (as some might assume) works quite a bit like Safari. The poster discovered that clicking and holding on either the forward or back button in the iTMS will reveal a drop-down history menu. This ought to make browsing a bit easier for the chronic iTMS user (just don't blame us for the bill).I also noticed a little while ago that the standard Safari keyboard shortcuts of cmd + [ or ] will act as a back/forward command in the iTMS as well. Now all we need is bookmarking ability and a del.icio.us-like system for publicly marking and sharing albums for fellow users, and we'll be all set!
Enable a slick Constellation menu in Quicksilver ?49
Macintalk has posted a how-to on enabling a really slick Constellation menu plugin for Quicksilver β49. Granted, this menu is quite a bit of eye candy, but if you follow Macintalk's post all the way through and assign this menu to a hotkey, it then becomes a bit of really handy eye candy.Keep in mind, however, that (as far as I know) you need the latest developer β49 to bring this plugin to fruition, so just like with the last slick Quicksilver Cube eye candy plugin, if you're not interested in the beta side of things, you should probably leave this one alone until it gets ironed out a bit more......but on the other hand: look at how cool that is! The entire thing is clickable, and it's also bigger in 'real life' - on my 1440 x 900 display it's 512 x 512 pixels, so it's much more legible than the 225 x 225 screenshot in this post. The small button just to the right of the iTunes icon in the middle of this menu, for example, displays a popup list of your playlists. Clicking on any of the larger slices, such as the albums or artists, pops up a second, similar menu you can browse through by using the down arrow at the bottom of the inner circle. The whole menu system seems pretty zippy too, once it takes a second to load all your iTunes information. Of course, I'm also using a 2.0 Ghz MacBook Pro with 1.5 GB RAM, so YMMV. Check out Macintalk's how-to if you're done drooling and want to get down to business.
CamiScript 4.0
CamiScript, the script menu plugin for Camino, has been updated to version 4.0. This isn't quite a landmark release that enables Camino to fly around your room or tell you the future (besides, some day, the latter will be Google's job), but this new version does bring one big handy new feature: the ability to disable/enable the Extras menu.CamiScript is free and can be had from nadamac; oddly, PimpMyCamino hasn't updated yet.
Unsanity's ClearDock and Menu Master go Universal
Hot on the heels of brining Universal status to their Application Enhancer, Unsanity has released UB versions of ClearDock (free) and Menu Master ($10). ClearDock, as you might glean from the name, is a one-trick pony that can strip the dock of its transparent background or allow you to adjust the background and the application triangle color to your liking. Menu Master is a slick utility for assigning, removing and rearranging shortcuts for menu items in any Mac OS X application. It also has a Menu Accelerator feature which allows you to "access menu items by name without using the mouse". Both applications have received feature additions and improvements, as well as bug fixes along with their UB updates.ClearDock again is free, while Menu Master has a demo available, and a license will run you $10. Both require the previously mentioned Application Enhancer in order to work their magic on your Mac.
Get a map from any app with MappingService
Like Tim Gaden over at Hawk Wings, I too love Mac OS X's highly underrated Services menu, and Robert Stainsby has released a very handy addition to it: MappingService. This clever service allows you to select an address from any application, say a website, a document or an IM, and simply chose 'Map' from your Services menu to generate a map in any one of three mapping services: Google Maps (of course), ZoomIn Australia or ZoomIn New Zealand.MappingService is known to work on 10.4.6 and might possibly work on earlier versions of Mac OS X. It is open source software released under the BSD license, and Robert is accepting donations for his fine work.
