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OXM UK: Old Dash themes 'butchered' by NXE
When it was first announced, one of the most-asked questions re: the New Xbox Experience was, "Will my old themes work with it?" Microsoft's answer was "yes." The UK' Official Xbox Magazine's answer is, "Er ... not really."The magazine's staff has – along with creating a frighteningly accurate Avatar of Amy Winehouse – rounded up some of the themes that "work" especially poorly with the NXE. Its choices are strong, but have you found any more egregious examples? Or, conversely, which ones work especially well? Of course, there are always Themes 2.0. Curious about the New Xbox Experience? Check out our ridiculously informative nine-video feature, covering everything from Avatar creation, Netflix integration, and the 8-player party system to installing games to the hard drive, the new Marketplace, the Blade-like "Guide" interface, and more!
G1 themes help Sidekick users cope with feelings of inadequacy
Look, we know how it goes. Rent before new phone. 18 months left on your contract. Your mom kicked you out. They're all very valid reasons to keep on keepin' on with your current Sidekick, but that still doesn't alleviate the pain felt by wanting a T-Mobile G1 with every fiber of your being, now does it? Enter CubanitaStylezz, a theme designer who has taken the time to craft a few new ones for your Sidekick LX / Sidekick Slide / etc. that will make you feel just like the proud new owner of a G1. Almost. At any rate, tap the links below to get your poser on -- and remember, there's no shame in that game.[Via Hiptop3]Read - G1 themes for Sidekick IRead - G1 themes for Sidekick II
Terminal Tips: Personalize Terminal.app
Tired of the bland, black and white look of Terminal.app (/Application/Utilities)? By tweaking the preferences in Terminal, you can easily change the theme, and look of your Terminal windows. Open Terminal and click Terminal > Preferences (or press command + ,). Clicking on Settings will allow you to see the available themes. Terminal ships with several nice themes including basic, grass, homebrew, novel, ocean, pro, and red sands. In addition to using these, you can create your own by clicking the "+" button at the bottom. You can tweak a theme by clicking the theme and using the options in either the "Text" or "Window" tabs. You can change the font style/size, text color, type of cursor, color of cursor, etc. When you are ready to make the these your default, just click the default button at the bottom of the theme list. Now all of your Terminal windows will load with the settings you specified. Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 and Terminal Tips sections.
Download the Secret Agent Clank fan pack
PSU members had a chance to show off their artistic side by crafting some posters for the PSP-exclusive Secret Agent Clank. The developers at High Impact and Sony took a look at their creations, and chose their favorite ones. The best entries were bundled into a Fan Pack, which includes all sorts of avatars, PSP themes and wallpapers for fans to enjoy. Secret Agent Clank fan packDownload (2.74MB)
New Keynote Motion Themes from iPresentee
If you're bored silly with the typical theme backgrounds in Keynote, pop on over to iPresentee's website and check out Keynote Motion Themes 2.0. These themes, which were released today (7/7/08), add five more motion themes to iPresentee's product line.All of these themes provide moving backgrounds to catch the eyes of your audience. The five themes -- Money, Curtain, Rain, Story, and Exercise Book -- include 14 or more master slide layouts each.Motion Themes 2.0 is available online for $25, or you can purchase individual motion themes for $10 each. And by the way, the free Keynote Objects icons are still available on the iPresentee site.[via prMac]
Play Infinite Loop on your computer
Want to give the upcoming PSP game, Infinite Loop, a try? Well, you can on your computer through a brand new Flash demo. Watch out! The game is primarily a text adventure game ... in Japanese. Unlike you're proficient in nihongo, you probably won't get much benefit from the demo. Give it a try here. (Note: There is no load screen. You will simply wait a very long time for the demo to download.)For something everyone can enjoy, you can also download the new Infinite Loop theme for your PSP. It features cute anime girls and ... well, bread. Download it here and install it on your PSP in the folder PSP/THEME.
SCEA releases official PSP theme tutorial
Have you thought about making a custom PSP theme? But, maybe you don't know where to start. Or perhaps you're scared by all the work that goes into it. Sony's official PSP theme guide won't make it any less work to create a theme, but it will give you all the tools necessary to make your own PSP themes. The images necessary require precise specifications, so make sure you follow all the instructions.The theme program offered is available here (Windows only).
Sony's official PS3 theme creation how-to
A few days ago, the PlayStation.blog posted an official how-to, going meticulously step-by-step through the process of making original PS3 themes. It shouldn't be surprising, but there quite a number of icons used by the PS3, meaning a total XMB overhaul will take quite a bit of effort. If you're willing to take the jump, download the files you need here.Unfortunately for Mac users, Sony's official theme program requires Windows. Considering how only 11% of you use Apple OS (according to our stats), it seems like Sony's neglect of the operating system will continue.
Sony makes official PS3 theme creation walkthrough
For those with the time and ambition, the PlayStation Blog has posted a how-to guide on making themes for the PS3 XMB. Written by Noel Silvia, a graphic artist on the PSN team, the guide explains everything that users need. The required software for the task is an image editing application and extracting the files from HowToMakePS3Themes.zip.We've yet to try making a custom theme ourselves, but we'd certainly like to know how people make out. For those considerably less ambitious, themes are also available by checking the PSN Store.
RWThemeMiner 2.0.5
Did you just upgrade to the latest version of Realmac Software's RapidWeaver? Then you might notice RWThemeMiner, which lets you edit your RW themes, is no longer working. Fret not because RWThemeMiner was just updated to version 2.0.5 which works with RapidWeaver 4.RWThemeMiner is available for $15 (US) and you can download a free 20 day trial version from the developer's website.
iPhone theme sullies Vista's good name
For those with identity crises, great senses of humor, or serious cases of Vista Fever, Spec-Works' VistaPerfection theme for the iPhone brings all the splendors of Windows Vista -- well, the important visual aspects, anyway -- to your pocket in a way that we can safely say Microsoft never intended. If the wow hadn't already started, ladies and gentlemen, it certainly has now.[Via IntoMobile]
The Dr. offers free Pepper XBLM downloads
Available on the Xbox Live Marketplace (only for U.S. Live subscribers) is a plethora of free gamer picture and theme downloads to enjoy and love, if not for the sole reason of being free. The Dr. himself is offering up a free Dr. Pepper picture pack and theme to those who are willing to admit that the cola's twenty-three flavors make up your carbonated beverage of choice. Other free XBLM downloads include a few Toyota Matrix downloads and a few Brett Favre inspired Madden NFL 09 gamer picture and theme downloads as well. Go ahead and begin your free XBLM content search ... NOW!
Free Stallone Rambo downloads on the XBLM
To help advertise the brand new Rambo movie and to put a few extra dollars in Stallone's pocket (which he'll spend on Botox injections anyway), Lions Gate just released a free Rambo theme and gamer picture set to the XBLM. Which, as with all US movie content, we expect to be only available to US Xbox Live subscribers.The free Rambo theme is mediocre with different backgrounds for each blade, but absolutely no attention was paid to skinning the guide. And that makes us sad. But the gamer pictures are rather nifty, but only if one enjoys Rambo's face. A noticeably less Botulinum'ized face. Grab the free downloads if you can and support the Rambo movie which will be in theaters January 25th. That is if you want to. If not, we won't tell.
TextMate themes collection
I love playing with TextMate themes. I tend to get bored easily, and besides a proclivity for dark backgrounds that impair readability, I'm always up for variety. That's why I'm pleased to see TM Themes, developed by Garrett Bjerkhoel, hit the TextMate theme scene. The site is starting out with a small collection of themes, but features a simple interface with rollover and full previews, a rating system, comment option and theme uploader. Hopefully it will become a good source for coders to find means of expressing their individual creativity, a trait which many don't realize is innate to the coding species. The TextMate wiki offers a large collection of user-contributed themes, and there are other collections as well. For the most part, though, the themes are found individually across the web. It's fun to see collections coming together and TextMate fans providing services like this for other users.
Celebrate Star Ocean's debut with new themes
Square Enix is offering two new themes for your PSP, in celebration of today's release of the PSP-exclusive remake: Star Ocean: The First Departure. Not only is the game available today, but a new limited edition version of the system. Will the Japanese gaming populace flock to it just as they did the Crisis Core bundle? We'll wait and see.To download the themes, click the following links:Star Ocean First Departure official theme 1 Star Ocean First Departure official theme 2Save it to PSP/THEME on your Memory Stick. Then, go to Settings -> Theme Settings to change your system's theme.[Via PSPHyper]
The official Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida theme
We love this brand new official theme created for the anti-hero RPG, Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. The retro pixelated look for the icons are great, and a lot of character to the standard PSP XMB. A wallpaper is also included with the theme, but we wanted to focus on the great pixel design.To download the theme, click here. To install it to your PSP, connect your PSP via USB. Then, go to the PSP folder. Create a THEME sub-folder and copy the file there.[Via PSPHyper]
Get your yummy Halo 3 theme at a kiosk near you
After doing some Xbox.com surfing we came across a news piece talking about a Halo 3 dashboard theme. News that's not all that exciting by itself except for the fact that this theme is only available off of an Xbox 360 retail kiosk, is 100% free and is yummy delicious. Just take a look at each blade background, it's like Halo 3 theme heaven wrapped in bacon, stuffed with gold dollars and sprinkled with magical fairy dust. It's killer! Especially that media blade background ... raWr!Actually, after taking a deep breathe and looking over this blog, we're realizing that we just expressed an unnatural amount of excitement for a dashboard theme. Maybe we should take it down a notch. But the fact that, in order to get this (super yummy) Halo 3 theme, we have to find a 360 kiosk, stick in our memory card and download makes its appeal so great. Screw it! That's our goal for today. We're finding and downloading that elusive Halo 3 kiosk theme and nobody is stopping us! We want it and we want it now ... status update incoming.
Nokia copies self, crafts S60 Touch theme for 3rd Edition phones
Realistically we're still a good half year (at least) before we see any S60 Touch-based devices from Nokia or its software partners on store shelves, but in the meantime, Nokia's made it just a little easier for us all to fool ourselves into believing we're living on the bleeding edge of Espoo tech. Their Touch-inspired theme for S60 3rd Edition handsets is now freely available -- and while we wouldn't count on it magically adding a touchscreen to your N81 or N95, you can blur your eyes just a little bit here and play make-believe while you wait for the real thing. Actually doesn't look half bad, if we do say so ourselves.
Official theme creator released
Sony has released a tiny application that allows you to create your own themes. Although the instructions provided on the page are in Japanese, the program actually runs in English. It's not a very intuitive GUI, but it'll allow theme artists-to-be the tools they need to get started. Granted, it's a lot of work -- there are a surprising number of buttons on an XMB menu.Get to work on your theme -- we'll love to see your creations. Who knows? Maybe we'll give away a prize for the best one ...[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!][Update: A great tutorial has been made by reader Jay Lee. Check it out!]
Keynoteuser releases Galleria theme for Keynote '08
Brian, who also told us about that Keynote hack when '08 was first dropped, sends a note about Galleria, a theme he's selling for Keynote that's designed specifically to show off photos. The theme takes advantage of the new "media placeholder" function in Keynote '08 that lets you place photos exactly how you want them, and then replace them with just a click. And any photos you put in can then be resized or cropped right there on the slide.Galleria also has lots of samples to use, layout choices, and extras like shapes and buttons and picture frames. It might be a little more than you need unless you're putting together a Keynote project that shows off lots of photos, or if you regularly show off photos in Keynote presentations (it's $19.95 for the whole package). But if it fits your bill, Brian definitely knows what he's doing with Keynote-- using his theme could save a lot of time in getting things set up yourself.
