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Dvorak Desktop Keyboard non-Mod
Our previous post about a MacBook Dvorak keyboard mod generated a number of comments, including hearty suggestions from several our readers to try the Dvorak keyboard layout. Now desktop users of the Apple Keyboard (both wired and wireless) have an even easier option for testing the Dvorak layout. zCover is releasing a preprinted Dvorak layout skin that fits the Apple Keyboard and doesn't require any popping off and rearranging of your keys. It has the additional advantage of glowing in the dark and, of course, protecting the keyboard.Incidentally, for those who didn't know, OS X has built-in support for the Dvorak layout in the Input Menu of the International tab of your System Preferences.[Via Macworld]
Fancy Wii skins
We like the white. It's classy, Apple-like, and pleasing to the eyes. Still, many fans were quite perturbed at the lack of color options at launch, and without varying color schemes for at least the Wiimotes, it can become difficult to differentiate consoles and controllers if you ever get some friends over with their own controllers.We know you cheated by reading the headline, so yes, there are fancy skins available for your Wii! (For the portably minded, they also have quite a few DS Lite skins.) There are currently 99 designs available, made of a thin material designed to cover as much of the console as possible. Moreover, for a few extra bucks (the console skin itself costs $14.99), you can get matching skins for your Wiimotes and nunchucks. Awesome? We think so. Also, after contacting the company, we've learned that they plan to open up the floor to custom designs sometime in December. So you can, you know, put a picture of your hot girlfriend on the Wii, or something. Whatever.
Get your skins on: Wii, PS3, Zune, Xbox 360, PSP
Cookie cutter gadget? Passe. It's all about skins, even the kind that may or may not ruin the shiny new finish on your valued consumer electronics. Submitted for your approval: tons of skins for your rare and lustworthy devices. Ok, so the 360 isn't much of a skin, but we find the literal use of the term rather amusing, and when was the last time you saw a fake-fur faceplate?P.S. -Big ups on the Xbox 360 and Eames-inspired PS3 and Wii skins above.[Via Joystiq, thanks Craig]Read - PS3 skinsRead - Wii skinsRead - Zune skinsRead - PSP, Xbox, etc. "skins"
Soft Skin English School Little Sexy Girl
It's late at night, so the more risque Fanboy stuff starts getting posted. This amazing video shows you footage from Soft Skin English School Little Sexy Girl, a program that teaches you English. Or tries to. By showing you near-naked girls. There's a hilarious mini-game, where you play rock paper scissors, and every time you win, the girl takes an article of clothing off. You won't see naughty bits, but this is absolutely not safe for work. So, the video is after the cut.*Picture completely unrelated. Well, it shows you yet another inappropriate English program for a portable device.
Unsanity releases beta of Universal ShapeShifter
In a post aptly titled 'At Long Last!', Unsanity announced a beta of a Universal version of ShapeShifter, their UI haxie for skinning Mac OS X. As the post states, your Intel Mac can finally "get its spank on" (what on Earth are those guys at Unsanity selling??). Obviously, as their post states, this is a beta so things could very well go wrong with it. On the upside this Universal version should work just fine with any guiKit (skin) that you throw at it.This ShapeShifter 2.4 beta version is a free upgrade for registered 2.x owners and is available from this Unsanity blog post.
PSA: read your MacBook user manual
Given all the recent MacBook Pro drama of late, what with overheating issues and all, it might be a good idea to peruse your MacBook/MacBookPro owner's manual one of these days to make sure you've covered the basics, even if most of Apple's care recommendations are obvious these days. Gearlog found a couple of interesting snippets in a MacBook Pro owner's manual that, again, might be obvious to some, but are still good for a refresher. The first is a warning about the use of magnets in the MagSafe power adapter. Apple warns that the end of the MagSafe power adapter and the port on the MacBook could be powerful enough to erase information from magnetic media such as credit cards and iPods, so it would be a good idea to keep these things away from each other.The second blurb from the owner's manual warns against using a MacBook Pro directly on any part of your uncovered body; these things can get pretty hot (obviously), but this is the first time I've heard of a laptop owner's manual directly warning: "Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn". I wonder if there are any other obvious or possibly interesting snippets in these manuals that most of us have been passing over.This concludes the end of this public service announcement, thank you for your time.
VLC 0.8.5 released with Intel Mac, Growl support, many improvements
The most excellent jack-of-many-formats VLC media player has just reached version 0.8.5, and boy does it pack a whallop - just check out the release notes. The biggest new additions to write home about are Universal Binary support, Growl notifications, a statistics system, new skin support including skins from Winamp 2 (for those who just can't let go), new video filters, support for downloading updates (possibly due to Sparkle?) and a whole lot more.VLC is a feature-packed media player with support for a boatload of media formats, and is available free for many OSs from VideoLAN.
Lair off-screen trailer looked good at GDC
Stills and screenshots can only do so much to convey how good a game looks. Here's an off-screen video presentation of Lair recorded from GDC, showing off the Factor 5 game in action (or, should we say, motion).You might recognize some of the animation from videos seen elsewhere, but it was nice to catch the newer footage of a dragon wireframe model meticulously rendered with layers of musculature and skin, too.If that's not enough for ya, you can always just listen in to the audio, which features a young lady from Washington asking questions of a developer with the hope of getting hired. Consider this a lesson in networking.[Via GameBrink]
Skin Thunderbird with a Mail look
Apparently someone by the name of "Riz" has a love-hate relationship with Apple's Mail, for Riz has gone and created a pretty darn accurate Mail theme for Mozilla's Thunderbird. While I don't have a copy of Thunderbird to test this, it seems the look, feel and most of the icons are all present, offering a bit of a home away from home if you prefer Thunderbird's functionality, yet miss Mail's good looks.[via Hawk Wings]
