I was happy to see so many people found the first edition of Impulse ‘Tips and Tricks’ so helpful, so I was anxious to be able to write the next one.  In the first article we covered the 'Blue Orb’, and some of it’s basic functions like pre-release versions, log-in’s, etc.  I wanted to expand more on the Orb as it holds much more than what we first discussed.

Download Impulse from www.impulsedriven.com.

The Orb….continued

As mentioned, we will continue on with our journey with the ‘Orb’ in the upper left-hand corner of Impulse.

Reset Data

Clicking the ‘Preferences’ text will open a new settings Window that holds more settings, including some advanced ones.  Lets start with the ‘Reset Data’ button as seen in the screenshot below.

Pushing this button will redownload the XML data, and can be used when you are encountering some problems.  Those would include having trouble updating or installing applications or games. 

Folders

Choosing the ‘Folders’ link under the advanced settings option, will give you access to install, archive, and temporary files locations.

This area is pretty self-explanatory, and if you need to change the location of any of these directories, then just click the ‘change’ button and select the new location.

That covers a majority of the settings found in the Orb, and should be enough information for most users to know their way around preferences now.  Next up, we’ll talk about organizing and customizing Impulse to your liking.

We are just about at the mid-point of the month, and one of the biggest things going on right now is the work on WinCustomize 2009.  I would give more details, but not today. 

Good skins coming in, and not much else going on this week, so here are this weeks picks!

	River of Dreams by DEVJIT A new version of BootSkin Vista was released this week, and this bootskin just looks great.
	Winter by BoXXi This was made to match the Winter skin, but even though it’s getting warmer, it’s still a great cursor theme.
	Whoville 5025 by TheMasterBaron This is just an incredible .dream.  Just download it.
	Drive Mastery by AHiLdesigns Hard to describe this wallpaper, but it’s a beautiful design, and that’s good enough for me.
	wicked. by Skinhit This is his first “sci-fi” wallpaper, and I say keep them coming!

The weekend is approaching and this weeks Impulse Weekend Buys are now up!  If you don’t have Impulse installed, no worries, just head over to www.impulsedriven.com and get your free download.

There are some great games on sale this week, starting at $4.95.  You can grab them early and have all weekend to play!

Safecracker	$9.99	$19.99
Dungeon Lords: CE	$9.99	$19.99
Genesis Rising	$9.99	$19.99
MotoGP 08	$29.99	$39.99
Cellblock Squadrons	$4.95	$9.95

Don’t forget that Object Desktop is also on sale for just $39.95!

We are in the process of updating IconDeveloper, and we wanted to take this opportunity to ask the community for feedback. 

https://www.stardock.com/products/icondeveloper/

Basically, what you like to see to make IconDeveloper really shine?  We would also be interested to hear if you use IconDeveloper, and reasons why or why not.

We are looking for feature suggestions, but if you have bugs you want to bring to our attention, please tag it with #bug in your comment so we can sort through them.

Thank for your help!

Over the past couple of months WinCustomize has had a huge influx of ports, with the majority going to the BootSkin and LogonStudio libraries.  In case you are not familiar with what a port is, it’s basically a skin, image, etc. which was created by one person, and uploaded by another user.  For example, a wallpaper artist might give permission for someone to use their wallpapers as logons, bootskins, etc.

This has been a long standing “controversial” issue, and I’m not about to open that specific discussion again, but there are things people need to keep in mind.

1. Permissions are needed.  Skins uploaded without permission from the person who created the skin or image are considered rips.  People have been contacting me upset because their skin was rejected because permissions were not included.  There is no exception to this rule, and it applies to everyone.  Permissions also need to be clear and just a link to a site is not accepted. 
   
   
2. Stock images need verification too.  If you are using “stock” images that are free to use, then you need to at least link to the page that explicitly states this. 
   
   
3. Credits need to be given.  Since the skin is based off someone else’s work, they need to be credited in the skin description.
   
   
4. Quality, not quantity.  We have had upwards of 50+ ports uploaded to each of the galleries a day.  Because of this, we have had to put up an un-written rule of a 5 port limit per day.  This many ports delays other skins from being moderated, especially when we have to verify permissions for each.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please direct them to this thread.

Seems like just the other day TWiS was posted, but hey, it’s a new month so lets start it off right.  I have to say the Desktop galleries have really been taking off lately.  With sViz’s new feature and the new DX gadget gallery, maybe DX is making a big comeback!

I have also been grabbing some really sweet wallpapers from the gallery as well.  All these new skins are just making it difficult to get a new desktop together, just too many choices!

Now for this weeks picks!

	Intoxica by Vampothika Oh the animations, oh the design, just do me a favor and check it out.
	Fools Gold by CarGuy1 I really liked the wallpaper, and the animations that CarGuy1 put to this was fantastic.
	Copper Carbon Fibre by bk13GarbageMan Carbon Fibre is an awesome DX theme, and so is this matching RightClick skin.
	StealthOS (TM Suite) by Philly0381 StealthOS is one of my all time favorite skins, so I was glad to see a complete Theme Manager suite for it.
	Red Box bird by ahabkaba I can always expect some creative wallpapers from ahabkaba, and this one is right on.

If you have been waiting anxiously for the next Weekend Impulse Buy, then wait no further as it’s time!  We once again have a great roundup of games starting at $3.99.  Check below for the full list!

This is the latest weekend sale, but there is much more content available on Impulse.  Head over to www.impulsedriven.com for more, and while you are there be sure to grab your download of the Impulse client.

A new WinCustomize is coming and it’s a reunion of much of the original 2001 WinCustomize team with Johanne (Alexandrie) leading the UI design and Pat (T-Man) re-architecting the backend.  This time, we have a crack team led by Matt (Orcnbeans) helping create a new way for the site to function that should make it lighting fast.

Much of the site will be XML based which also means that the site will be able to be displayed in lots of different ways (which obviously makes it skinnable).

One of the areas we’re going to increase WinCustomize’s focus on is that it we’re going to expand beyond just talking about how to customize the aesthetics of Windows but also the functionality of it.  As Windows has evolved since 2001, so has customization. 

Moreover, web technology has evolved substantially since 2001. In the age of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, we want to begin to let users make use of those technologies in interesting ways. We’ll talk more about that as we get further alone.

The new site design is a lot cleaner with an emphasis on fewer page loads.

The galleries are much more straight forward and focused on that gallery. This way, we can add features that are specific to a given gallery. A wallpaper gallery, for instance, will eventually support specific wallpaper sizes, color searches, etc.

The rating system, as previously mentioned, is gone, replaced by the Love/Like system to let people know which skins people love/like the most and letting us filter skins based on that metric.

Navigating galleries will be done through a drop down menu with each section being explained to users.

The Community features will get a  major bump and more software will be made available to make it ever easier to interact with other users, find what you’re looking for, and more.

Stay tuned. We hope to launch the new WinCustomize.com later this month (fingers crossed).

If you’ve been following Impulse (or Stardock for that matter) for any length of time, you know one of the things that sets us apart and makes us unique is how accessible we are, and how easy it is to get in contact with us, be it via the forums, IRC, e-mail or instant messenger.  We know that a lot of our success comes from our outstanding community of gamers, and we are always looking for new ways to get news out there, and talk talk directly to gamers.

Now, some of you may already know this, but over the last few months we’ve started posting to Twitter.

Twitter, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, is a micro-blogging service….

Here’s the official description:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.  People write short updates, often called "tweets"  of 140 characters or fewer.  These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.

It’s free, and doesn’t require any special software (though there are some excellent twitter apps out there.  I use TweetDeck myself).  It’s also incredibly easy to use.

We use our various Twitter accounts to announce releases, interesting news bits, and even a few giveaways.  Not to mention we just like chatting with other users on the service.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow us and keep up on what’s happening with Impulse:

• @Stardock – The Official Stardock Twitter Feed
• @ImpulseDriven – The Official Impulse Twitter Feed
• @IslandDog – Spencer Scott, Stardock’s Technology Evangelist
• @mittense – Trent Polack , Game Developer
• @Zoomba – My Feed!  Mike Crassweller, the guy who brings you weekly updates and more

Follow us and keep up to date on what’s happening.

If you’re on Twitter already, post your Twitter name in the comments below.  I’ll check on this thread every now and then and update this post with a directory of all of the Impulse community members and their Twitter links.

Impulse Twitter Directory…

I suck at introductions. Let's get on with the show!

Outstanding General Info

Daybreak Widget Pack by Fairyy~

It’s a widget pack from Fairyy~. Need I say more? She has a knack for creating stylish, usable widgets that just look good on the desktop. I really like the soothing color combination on this one and the very simple layout. And they’re not huge, which is always a plus for me.

The widget pack includes 3 weather widgets, 2 calendar widgets, and a clock widget, each in different styles so you can pick which color style suits you or, like me, you can mix and match.

With the official start of spring just 20 days away (woot!), these really put me in a cheerful mood.

Most Creative/Original

Lightning Ball Version 2 by zigboom

Behold! Harness the power of nature on your desktop! This one just tickled my fancy, and isn’t that what being creative is all about?

Yes, it’s eye candy. Eye candy is good. I love eye candy. Everyone needs a little eye candy in their desktop diet.

I’m really glad zigboom made a second version because the first was a little big (and y’all know how I prize my desktop real estate.) This second version also changes color, which looks really nice. Works best with dark walls.

I’ve never seen a lightning ball before, so it definitely qualifies as creative and original.

Most Innovative/Resourceful

Standalone Animator Script Component by Littleboy

This one’s for DX Builders and is a really cool object to have. It will, in essence, allow you to add neat fading, moving, rotating, resizing and frame animation effects to whatever you’re building.

And when I say neat effects I mean REALLY neat effects, like elastic moving where the object slides, overshoots, and yo-yos until settling into position. I’ve always wondered how that was done. Now I can just add this component to my object, make a few script adjustments and voila! I now have professional effects.

If you’re not used to scripting it won’t be quite as easy as I make it sound. But included in the zip is an example widget, the script component, and instructions. Using those, and after about an hour or so, I finally put the right pieces of code together. Overall, the relevant code was only some 26 lines at maximum, and it worked great!

What would’ve really taken the cake? If the sample widget actually generated the necessary script to paste in your object, much like Skarn’s DX Form Generator. As it is, though, it’s most definitely innovative. So, big thanks to Littleboy for kindly sharing this!

(Note: Do read & observe the copyright rules if you’re going to use this in your skin. And if you need a little help getting it to work, just ask.)

DX Theme of the Month

MRX V Black by Murex

Murex had created MRX V, the original, and I absolutely loved it. Then, he made one in black. *drools*

All the standard features are included: clock, startmenu, shortcuts, weather, media, calendar, system info, cursor—the works.

And all of that can be completely hidden. In-depth information slides in and out, and the menus themselves can be toggled on or off.

What I like most about the theme is the unique design; it’s intricately detailed, but on the whole it remains very lightweight. There’s a lot of artwork to look at and admire, but it’s not at all busy.

There are subtle animations sprinkled throughout the theme (the color/opacity fade on the startmenu text, the flashing gizmo on the center menu), which add to the overall feel that the author spent a good amount of time and energy getting it right, pondering what would make this theme original.

It is amazingly well-balanced between function and design, pizzazz and usability. This is no small feat. My hats off to the author.

Go download this theme!

Renaming a Shortcut Label

(or whatever your text object is supposed to be)

Got a request for this during the month and thought I’d share it here.

What the script does:

- Allows end-user to rename/edit text without having to switch to DXBuilder

- Truncates text to a specified length

- Shows full text in tool tip

This can be useful for many things, not just the aforementioned shortcut label.

First we need to set up two objects.

1. “parent”

2. “shortcut1”, text object, parent = “parent”, child = “yes”

You should have this:

Next, open the properties of the “parent” object. Create a new script. Copy and paste this script into the “parent” object.

'==============================

' INSTRUCTIONS

'

' This script goes in the parent object of the shortcuts

'--Add more cases for more shortcuts

'--Change maxW variable to your maximum allowed width

'==============================

'Called when L-click on object or its children

Function Object_OnLButtonUpEx(obj, x, y, dragged)

            If dragged Then Exit Function

            Select Case obj.name

                        Case "shortcut1" '---replace with the name of shortcut

                                    iBox(obj.name)

                        Case "shortcut2"

                                    iBox(obj.name)

                        'Add more cases for more shortcuts

                        'Case "another shortcut"

                                    'iBox(obj.name)

            End Select      

End Function

'--- Input Box ---

Function iBox(obj)

            Dim Input

            Input = InputBox("Enter Text", "Change Shortcut Text",DesktopX.Object(obj).tooltiptext)

            If strCheck(Input) = "t" Then

                        DesktopX.Object(obj).text = Input

                        DesktopX.Object(obj).tooltiptext = Input

                        truncateTxt(obj)

            End If

End Function

'--Check if input is not blank (or spaces) ---

Function strCheck(strg)

            Dim abet, nums

            abet = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"

            nums = "0123456789"

            chk = "f"

            strg2 = LCase(strg)

            For x = 1 To len(abet)

                        g = Mid(abet,x,1)

                        If  Instr(strg2,g) > 0 Then       chk = "t"

            Next

            If chk = "f" Then

                        For y = 1 To len(nums)

                                    g =Mid(nums,y,1)

                                    If Instr(strg2,g) > 0 Then chk = "t"

                        Next

            End If

            strCheck = chk

End Function

'--- Truncate Text to a minimum length--

Function truncateTxt(obj)

            maxW = 200 '--change the value to max allowed width

            If DesktopX.Object(obj).width > maxW Then

                        While DesktopX.Object(obj).width > maxW

                                    DesktopX.Object(obj).text = Mid(desktopX.Object(obj).text,1,len(DesktopX.Object(obj).text) - 4) & "..."

                        Wend

            End If

End Function

The script works in four parts:

-OnLButtonUpEx, we check which shortcut has been clicked and then open the input box. (This could just as well be OnRButtonUpEx, by the way.)

-Function iBox, we display the input box, get user input, and call the other function to check if the input contains actual text. If everything checks out, it sets the new tooltip, text, and calls the function to truncate the object.

-Function strCheck, we check the user’s input for letters or numbers. If none are found, the input is blank and is not accepted.

-Function truncateTxt, we run a loop that continuously shortens the length of the text until it reaches the maximum allowed width. Then, we add ellipses to show there is more text than what appears.

That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!

Resources:

DX Scripting - DesktopX User's Guide

VBScript Functions - W3Schools.com

Goings-on in the Community

Over the last month, I’ve seen more people checking out RomanDA’s step-by-step tutorials. I’ve seen more posts asking for help in figuring out one DX issue or the other. I’ve seen more activity in the DX themes gallery. I’ve seen more activity in the DX object gallery. And I’ve gotten a noticeable amount of emails/PMs asking for specific DX help.

I could very well be imagining things, but, is DesktopX making a comeback? I’ve always believed that DesktopX has great potential waiting to be transformed into kinetic creativity.

Case in point:

This is OCCAM, a WIP DesktopX theme by PoSmedley. You may have read his post about it here.

It's a brilliant concept and I think it’ll be a smash hit once completed. It’s been interesting to read Po's progress on the theme as well.

It’s this kind of visible activity that sparks interest about the program, feeds creativity, fuels excitement, and cultivates can-do-too-ness. I’d like to see more of it.

So, if you’ve got a DX work in progress, or even a concept in progress, tell us about it below. (Don't leave me hangin' people!)

Huh? What? What have I been up to?

Well, I’ve spent the entire last month collaborating on a gadget with a friend for a gaming website. We’ve disagreed, agreed, butt heads, put our heads together, and the thing is almost ready for beta testing (I wonder if there are any Street Fighter Online players on WC.)

I’m pretty much a loner when it comes to creating widgets/gadgets so this was a new experience for me. He really helped push me to strive for excellence. Sure, I’d wince, groan, dread the amount of time and coding it would take, and pull my hair out over stupid errors, but when all was said and done I’d be pretty darn proud of what we accomplished. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve improved a lot. Such is the joy of DXing!

So, fellow DXers, what’ve you been up to? Share your pics or concepts below.

Huh? What? Where’s my pic? Okay, here: LINK