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Phoenix1701 · Sep 23, 2002, 11:41 PM

Beachball is an application designed to replace your system wait cursor (also affectionately known as the Spinning Beachball of Death) with one of several alternatives. It is designed to be a safer and more user-friendly alternative to Blobber, the only other application which can currently do this. While Blobber was ground-breaking, there are some interface and extensibility issues which I didn't feel like waiting to be ironed out... and anyway, competition is a good thing, right?

Here are some screen shots:

The main window with authentication dialog:

The setup assistant:

Some of Beachball's features include:

Full Blobber compatibility (can automatically import Blobber CoreGraphics backups)
Inline cursor animation
Full compliance with the Mac OS X Human Interface Guidelines, including use of the Authentication Manager
Extensible plug-in architecture with cursor import feature (the cursor plug-ins are simply folders, so you don't need any special tools to create them)
Advanced setup assistant, which allows you to fine-tune which CoreGraphics file on your machine you wish to use as a backup
Resizable window interface

Beachball is currently in beta, and will be released to everyone once I can afford a registered version of REALbasic 4.5 (yes, it's a REALbasic app -- couldn't tell, could you?) For now, if you don't mind the annoying five-minute time limit, you can download a time-limited version of Beachball beta 1 here. Please read the ReadMe before installing, as there are some minor known cosmetic issues.

Beachball also includes all ten icons included with Blobber, which is one of the main reasons I'm posting this before I release it publicly. If your cursor is included in Beachball, and you don't want it there, please email me (phoenix1701 at mac dot com) and I will take it out immediately. Additionally, if you're dwishbone and you take issue with my including the icons you worked to collect, please email me and we can talk. My intention here is not to step on toes.

Anyone with questions, comments, feature requests, or anything else of the sort, please feel free to email me or post here, and I'll reply as soon as possible.

swiz · 12:44 AM

Actually to obtain a backup copy of CoreGraphics from the OSX install CD just navigate via the Finder to
Mac OS X Install Disc 1/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Versions/A/Resources/CoreGraphics

The app worked fine for me. I made sure to copy my backed up CoreGraphics file to its original location manually and restart before running the app though.

Phoenix1701 · 02:10 AM

Can't hurt to be too careful...

But in the process of testing, I did some absolutely dumb things to see if Beachball would be able to handle it, and it did... in one case I told it that the CoreGraphics file in /System/blah/blah/etc was unmodified, when it really wasn't, and then tried patching it again... Beachball caught the error that patch spit out, and aborted the patch (it does all the magic in /tmp, and then if everything went well it copies the patched file to where it needs to be). It even threw a semi-decent error message (that is, decent, but a little long). The only way I was able to actually mess up my system using Beachball was to have a manual patch from the Terminal going at exactly the same instant as the other patch was happening (and that takes some skill, lemme tell you)... but even that mysteriously went back to normal after a second restart, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. lol.

I'm relieved to hear that it worked... it's always nice to know that I haven't accidentally coded in any assumptions I shouldn't have about what sort of system a user will be running. Thanks for the heads-up about the CoreGraphics location on the CD, too... I think I'll leave the Setup Assistant's advice the way it is, simply because it's not entirely implausible that Apple will ship future CDs with outdated/incomplete CoreGraphics files, and the ones in the packages are guaranteed to be correct. I might use that trick myself though.

[edit: fixed an absolutely embarrassing grammar error]

Ibson · Sep 24, 2002, 01:08 AM

It looks like a very well written application. The REALBasic poster-child

.

eno · Sep 24, 2002, 03:52 AM

Originally posted by Ibson:
It looks like a very well written application. The REALBasic poster-child .

I hate REALBasic.

I don't want no NilObjectException-throwing piece of absolute sh1t messing with my CoreGraphics.

Go home and learn a REAL programming language, you loser.

eno · Sep 24, 2002, 03:54 AM

BTW, that was pretty damn low of you thieving the icons from Blobber. You are an a$$hole and there's no doubt about it.

Ibson · Sep 24, 2002, 04:06 AM

Originally posted by eno:

I hate REALBasic.

I don't want no NilObjectException-throwing piece of absolute sh1t messing with my CoreGraphics.

Go home and learn a REAL programming language, you loser.

A real programmer shouldn't care what language an application is written in, nor should an end-user.

Phoenix1701 · Sep 24, 2002, 04:47 AM

Good luck finding a NilObjectException in Beachball. Oh, wait, you haven't downloaded it. I suppose that'd involve too much effort, right?

By the way, just for clarification... When I said I didn't want to step on toes, I meant primarily those with a brain attached. I had heard your particular variety of troll existed, but I'd never actually met one until now. It's real simple: if you can do better, do better. Otherwise, shut up and be happy it's free. Kay?

P.S.: Did I mention I'm fluent in C++, Java, Scheme, and Prolog? Sorta makes you feel inadequate when you insult someone who knows more than you do, doesn't it? You might want to quit while you're ahead.

invisibleX · Sep 24, 2002, 07:07 AM

This software is very redundant. Then again, it shut up eno so its an awesome product

cube_450 · Sep 24, 2002, 07:25 AM

Another Capitalist...

cUBe
(only supporting Blobbber and not time bombed beta apps intending to squeeze money stolen from other ideas)

godzookie2k · Sep 24, 2002, 07:39 AM

Originally posted by eno:
BTW, that was pretty damn low of you thieving the icons from Blobber. You are an a$$hole and there's no doubt about it.

eno do you need a hug or something?

dwishbone · Sep 24, 2002, 08:36 AM

i wont put any bad comments in here. i am above that. but check out the Blobber thread. there is a message for you there Phoenix.
Email me about this.

I also agree. Eno needs some professional therapy. I wonder if he is the Wincent guy that flames my (and everyone else's) RB products over at versiontracker.
[email protected]

Phoenix1701 · Sep 24, 2002, 11:10 AM

[bah, double-post]

Phoenix1701 · Sep 24, 2002, 11:11 AM

Originally posted by cube_450:
Another Capitalist...

cUBe
(only supporting Blobbber and not time bombed beta apps intending to squeeze money stolen from other ideas)

Err... it's free... How can one attempt to squeeze money from something that's free? I think I see what dwishbone means about people not reading the readme... the time-bombing isn't put there by me, and I intend to get rid of it before release. Assuming there even is a release, as the fact that it's made with REALbasic seems to be more important to people than the fact that I made it at all.

bOOzo · 11:32 AM

Originally posted by Phoenix1701:

The main window with authentication dialog:

How about giving credits to the people who made the blobs that you are using? (me, among others) And I think you should have asked each of them before you used the blobs since it's their work and it was originally contributed to Blobber.

Doh!
I just saw what you also posted:
"If your cursor is included in Beachball, and you don't want it there, please email me (phoenix1701 at mac dot com) and I will take it out immediately."
Sure include them, but I want my name and homepage listed somewhere (Max Rudberg, homepage.mac.com/max_08/

Phoenix1701 · Sep 24, 2002, 11:48 AM

b00zo: When the user mouses over a cursor, a by-line is displayed with your name... I'll happily add the homepage to the by-line for your cursors though. Thank you!

gorickey · Sep 24, 2002, 12:09 PM

Phoenix:

Job well done, I like this program alot and feel absolutely no worry in using it. Simple, clean, elegant, and it works....not alot more I could ask for.

Thanks alot.

LightWaver-67 · Sep 24, 2002, 12:55 PM

"Some" of you need to lighten-up...

You act as if this guy stole food off the other guys dinner table from his children.

This is a UI hack! It's not registered or liscensed material. The guy decided to make his OWN version of the same thing... made some improvements based on Blobber and released it for you to try. Where do you have the problem...?

I think they both had great ideas... both did a good job... and they are not upset with each-other... so why the hell should any of YOU be...? Cripes! If anything.. it gives you CHOICES and inspires each-other to keep making theirs better.

Stop creating issuea where they don't exist... I really LIKE the way BeachBall has all the failsafes implemented. It suits the way I would want it to work. It still takes nothing-away from all the hard work that went into Blobber.

Enjoy the fact that there are options... I'd love to see 2 or 3 more versions... by THAT time... it may be a rock-solid little app that would not/could not corrupt your system under ANY circumstances.

Peace...

dwishbone · Sep 24, 2002, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:

You act as if this guy stole food off the other guys dinner table from his children.

well, he sort of did in a way. BCS is a side business I run. I do make enough to live on with my day job, but I was hoping to make a little extra money with the donations for Blobber and other software.
Blobber has been my best shot so far...noone had anything like it.
I have put countless hours of work into it and put up with countless emails for both praises and complaints.
ive listened to every suggestion and tried to implement as much as possible. I am hard at work on the next version that will be even better. But, since this exists...I dont even know why I should bother.

diskobolos · Sep 24, 2002, 01:44 PM

Some feedback on beachball.

The previews seem to run way too fast for some reason. At least 2 or 3 times the speed of the ones in blobber.

I like blobber's image wells and cursor info interface better. I like beachball's lock, text and switch button better.

I didn't see anywhere telling me I had to move the cursors folder to any specific location.

The setup launch thing is confusing, "yes, I have, or I'm not sure whether I have or have not." Then it pops up 5 more options, and then paragraphs of text, asks me to find things, it's like the SATs or something, I don't want to think that hard about my wait cursor. I'm sure it could be simpler.

Ibson · Sep 24, 2002, 01:49 PM

Just my 2�-- I prefer Beachball's cursor selection interface; it seems more elegant to me. I agree that the previews seem to run at hyperdrive speed. I also agree that the assistant at the beginning could be somewhat simplified.

Dace · Sep 24, 2002, 01:55 PM

Why don't Beacball and Blobber unite? Both projects are still young...with two people working on it.....the project would go much faster. The world would be a better place if everyone just worked together

Anyways that seems to me to be the most logic thing to do

LightWaver-67 · Sep 24, 2002, 01:59 PM

So... are you saying that no one else should write a program like Blobber because you did it first and you need the money...?

(just clarifying)

For every utility or hack that shows-up on VT... there are always about a half-dozen to follow... some-times they are far superior to the first person's implementation... some-times they're not.

Either way... It's what makes these little things evolve into greater apps/utilities. Did you honestly think, in your "business" mind... that no one else would jump on this... or even be able to do it better...? It happens every day... dare I say HOUR on the internet. If you truly wanted to make-it-your-own... you could have wasted time, money and effort with getting legal ownership of certain behaviors or whatnot (not sure if that's true)... but in reality... it's just a system hack with a UI on-top... there are probably DOZENS or more ways to "code" it and there's ALWAYS someone that can do it better than the next guy.

I just have a hard-time believing that you didn't think that others would or could do it better or make the attempt any-time soon to leapfrog your idea. It happens constantly. Why would you expect to generate income on an idea that is primarily a Beta (if not really an Alpha) and whereas it is something that you do not own any rights to nor had you perfected the process.

By the way... I'm not trying to insult you... I think Blobber is a great little app. I think you did some decent work there. Having said that... BeachBall looks like it's more thought-out in how the user interacts with it... it is also more intuitive to jump-in and use without a READ ME.txt file. So far... at first (and second) glance... it is a better product.

Regardless of who coded it... I like BeachBall better... just like I like Acquisition over Limewire, Adium over Fire, Chimera over OmniWeb... CHOICES!

eh... what do I know...?

All I can say is... I do not mean to insult you or offend you... but I am surprised that you think it's an invasion of your income for someone else to create the same hack.

Peace...

dwishbone · Sep 24, 2002, 02:27 PM

no, i knew someone would compe up with another utility like it.
I am hard at work on the next version. It will hopefully be much better.
i was not basing my very existence on this. i was just commenting on your statement. i never planned to get rich. hell, i have made $1 on this. I am not programming this for the money or the fame. I just wanted Mac users to have a great app.

LightWaver-67 · Sep 24, 2002, 02:31 PM

Originally posted by dwishbone:
no, i knew someone would compe up with another utility like it.
I am hard at work on the next version. It will hopefully be much better.
i was not basing my very existence on this. i was just commenting on your statement. i never planned to get rich. hell, i have made $1 on this. I am not programming this for the money or the fame. I just wanted Mac users to have a great app.

That's cool... I was just trying to understand your motivation.

It is as I had originally perceived it. For some reason... I read-into your response to me incorrectly as if you truly thought there was something wrong with the development of BeachBall.

My bad. So much can be mis-interpreted on the web.

Phoenix1701 · Sep 24, 2002, 02:49 PM

I just want to take a second to remind everyone that this product hasn't been released yet... nothing's set in stone. I posted here and in the Blobber thread specifically to give everyone a chance to talk about it before I actually went ahead and released it... can you imagine Microsoft driving out to Cupertino and showing Apple their newest OS with 128 pixel icons and built-in FTP and saying "so, um, we know this is kinda similar to your Mac OS X thing, and we wanted to make sure you were okay with it..."?

I'm really not a horrible person, and my motivation for creating Beachball was because I saw a way to improve upon a piece of software that was out there and I thought I and the rest of the Mac community might like that. I didn't think in terms of taking away donations from Blobber (actually I didn't know Blobber was taking donations until just now), but at least I knew there were things I wasn't taking into consideration. If I find out that there are good reasons not to release it, or to release it in a changed form, or to collaborate with dwishbone on it, or anything else of that nature, that's what I'll do. Ironically, those annoying demoware notices mean that in 29 days, all existing copies of Beachball will become completely inoperable... so if I decide not to release it, Blobber will never have to worry about black market copies of it showing up. There's no need to get upset or nervous about it.

Oh, and thank you for the input! I must admit I agree with you about the setup assistant... maybe I should tone it down a bit.

swiz · Sep 24, 2002, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:
"Some" of you need to lighten-up...

NO KIDDING!!!
The bitching around here is absolutely out of hand.

ambush · Sep 24, 2002, 07:36 PM

I say RB is kind of "okay" for these types of app (Open click quit). I say RB sucks when it comes to big apps that go like this (Open [work for 2 hours with that app] crash).

my 2 cents...

Boys this app's almost a SCRIPT.. So chill even if it's made in RB.

King Bob On The Cob · Sep 24, 2002, 07:56 PM

I put a mouse over a wait cursor (so I can click to it and change it) NilObjectException.
Beachball allows me to change it therefore, I like Beachball better

This just proves, competition is good.

plot twist · Sep 24, 2002, 11:04 PM

no offense to dwishbone, but beachball is far superior to blobber. anyway, i made a wait cursor to better fit the simpleAqua theme i'm using. and without further ado, simpleBlob:

the preview is a bit misleading about how bright it is. anyway, i'll upload the diff and etc later when i have some more time. oh, and i have no idea as to how to make a gif, so could someone point me in the right direction? (i've got imageready, but have yet to ever use it)

IamBob · Sep 25, 2002, 12:16 AM

plot, that looks cool. It reminded me of something too...

Can someone make a throbbing power button cursor? asleepAtTheWheel...?

I would use that.

plot twist · Sep 25, 2002, 12:51 AM

procrastination is my worst trait. i whipped up this sketch power button in a couple minutes:

this what you're after? what color should it throb? i was thinking yellowish orange, as thats how it is in real life. anyway, i really should go back to all the work i need to do...

Phoenix1701 · Sep 25, 2002, 01:15 AM

Hey, those are pretty nifty! To create an animated GIF in ImageReady, you'll want to create each frame as its own layer in Photoshop, then import it into ImageReady (File > Switch To > ImageReady in Photoshop, I think)... there'll be an animation palette. Just click on the one frame in that palette, hide all the layers but the first one, then click the duplicate button in the animation palette, hide all layers but the second, etc. After you're done, File > Save for Web will generate your GIF file. Oh, and if dwishbone doesn't have any preferences for the background color of the image, may I suggest 95% gray? (That's 243,243,243 on the RGB scale.) That's the color of an image well, which means both the animated gif in Beachball and the static one in Blobber will look better.

Assuming you want it included in one or both, that is.

dwishbone · Sep 25, 2002, 09:04 AM

Originally posted by King Bob On The Cob:
I put a mouse over a wait cursor (so I can click to it and change it) NilObjectException.
Beachball allows me to change it therefore, I like Beachball better
This just proves, competition is good.

its because you didnt install the support files where i said. read the read me.
you shouldnt have that problem at all in Blobber 2.0. It is much better than the previous versions which,works fine for most people.
but judging from the attitude of this forum...who the hell cares if i release another version or not.

mogura · Sep 25, 2002, 09:15 AM

Ah, I still like Blobber. Beachball asks too many questions (yes i know this has been dealt with) and the app won't last much longer as it is. Blobber works if you set it up properly.

eno · Sep 25, 2002, 11:30 AM

Originally posted by Phoenix1701:
Good luck finding a NilObjectException in Beachball. Oh, wait, you haven't downloaded it. I suppose that'd involve too much effort, right?

No, not too much effort; but it would involve a break with my policy of never touching REALBasic crap with a 20-foot barge pole. But you're correct: I haven't downloaded it, and I won't either.

It's real simple: if you can do better, do better. Otherwise, shut up and be happy it's free. Kay?

I don't know where you got the idea that I think I can do better, or that I'd ever WANT to do better. This sort of software just doesn't interest me at all.

I only made the comments because I have a vendetta against REALBasic apps, and especially so in this case, where you've so blatantly ripped off the work of the Blobber guy without so much as asking his permission to rip out all his icons.

Did it ever occur to you that it would be best to ask him in private, over email, if he minded if you used the icons he'd made and collected? I just can't believe you thought it was allright to make a public release of your copy and retrospectively notify the poor guy (via a note in a forum!) that if he didn't like you using the icons he could contact you! It's just unbelievable.

P.S.: Did I mention I'm fluent in C++, Java, Scheme, and Prolog? Sorta makes you feel inadequate when you insult someone who knows more than you do, doesn't it? You might want to quit while you're ahead.

If you're such a programming legend, I'd love you to point me out some of your other wares. Who knows, I might just want to borrow some icons from them!

You really are a fool, going off half-coct like that. I levelled my insults at you based on the indisputable and public fact that you programmed your little clone in REALBasic. You use REALBasic -- I hate REALBasic -- I therefore deride your use of it. All of this is perfectly logical on my part.

But what do you do in response? You list of four other languages that you are "fluent" in and then make the outrageous claim that you know more than me. LOL!

What do you know about me? What do you know about which programming languages I know, or don't know? What do you know -- for certain -- about our relative levels of intelligence?

Perhaps you are the one who should quit, because if you continue you will only make yourself look even more the fool.

But because I am a nice guy I will give you some information to replace the baseless speculation about me and programming languages that you are currently using as a foundation for your arguments.

If you truly are expert in C++ and Java, then good for you. I consider them useful languages. Like I said though, I'd like to see some of your wares. I've never heard of "Scheme" and I couldn't give a rat's ass about Prolog, and do you think I care at all about that fact?

I can't help but wonder though why you're using REALBasic. Is it the rapid and easy application development?

I would've thought that a programmer with such a vast store of experience like you would have built up a bit of a code library by now in C++ and, being the methodical little perfectionist that you are, there is no doubt that a lot of it will be in a modular and ready to roll-out format. And with Apple's Interface Builder you could've thrown together a UI in no time at all and produced this app in roughly the same time that it took you to do it in REALBasic, but with the benefit that the executable would be smaller, the UI more responsive, and it wouldn't turn off the sizeable segment of Mac users that simply hates all things REALBasic (there are a lot of us).

Perhaps you'd like to explain.

eno · Sep 25, 2002, 11:42 AM

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:
All I can say is... I do not mean to insult you or offend you... but I am surprised that you think it's an invasion of your income for someone else to create the same hack.

No. As you correctly point out, this kind of rivalry happens all the time and it's a productive kind of competition.

But in this case the problem is the theft of the icons.

It's not enough to just steal them and post a note on an out-of-the-way forum telling people to email if they object to the fact that their icons have been stolen without their prior permission and incorporated into a product (that just happens to be a total rip-off of another product... but that really is a side issue).

These people should have been contacted privately and individually via email and their agreement obtained BEFORE any announcement or release was made (preview/beta or not, it's still a release).

Very low. Not impressed.

IamBob · Sep 25, 2002, 12:02 PM

procrastination....

Don't put off 'til tomorrow what can be done today. For there may be a law against that by then. (or something like that

)

I was thinking a realistic yellowy-orange throb too. Looks pretty good!

unfaded · Sep 25, 2002, 12:03 PM

Originally posted by eno:

No. As you correctly point out, this kind of rivalry happens all the time and it's a productive kind of competition.

But in this case the problem is the theft of the icons.

It's not enough to just steal them and post a note on an out-of-the-way forum telling people to email if they object to the fact that their icons have been stolen without their prior permission and incorporated into a product (that just happens to be a total rip-off of another product... but that really is a side issue).

These people should have been contacted privately and individually via email and their agreement obtained BEFORE any announcement or release was made (preview/beta or not, it's still a release).

Very low. Not impressed.

As I said in the Blobber thread...

You're ugly. Go away.

mahrz · Sep 25, 2002, 12:10 PM

Originally posted by eno:

I don't know where you got the idea that I think I can do better, or that I'd ever WANT to do better. This sort of software just doesn't interest me at all.

I only made the comments because I have a vendetta against REALBasic apps, and especially so in this case, where you've so blatantly ripped off the work of the Blobber guy without so much as asking his permission to rip out all his icons.

You really are a fool, going off half-coct like that. I levelled my insults at you based on the indisputable and public fact that you programmed your little clone in REALBasic. You use REALBasic -- I hate REALBasic -- I therefore deride your use of it. All of this is perfectly logical on my part.

I can't help but wonder though why you're using REALBasic. Is it the rapid and easy application development?

I would've thought that a programmer with such a vast store of experience like you would have built up a bit of a code library by now in C++ and, being the methodical little perfectionist that you are, there is no doubt that a lot of it will be in a modular and ready to roll-out format. And with Apple's Interface Builder you could've thrown together a UI in no time at all and produced this app in roughly the same time that it took you to do it in REALBasic, but with the benefit that the executable would be smaller, the UI more responsive, and it wouldn't turn off the sizeable segment of Mac users that simply hates all things REALBasic (there are a lot of us).

Perhaps you'd like to explain.

If you don't like his app then don't use it. I agree with you in the point that it would have been better if he asked him before to use those cursors (or the authors). But I think it's foolish, ignorant and intolerant to deprecate every RB app just because it's an RB app ! Yes there are many bad applications out there because many people don't know how to develop a good app and RB makes it so easy ... On the other side there are many useful utilities written in RB (even by c/java programmers). I'm happy that these apps have been written in RB because nobody would have made such app in C for free because it would have cost to much effort ! (RB is the right tool for starting to code or to create little utilities, nobody thought of creating an office clone using RB !). Besides, nobody should care about the language a program is written in while it does its job.

Malte

PS: If you think a program is too big, not intuitive etc.. don't blame the author if you didn't pay for it. Just write your own app get rich and everyone will be grateful...

Scheme is a sub/super set or at least related to Lisp. (I'm not sure but I think so)....

Phoenix1701 · Sep 26, 2002, 12:58 AM

I'm actually somewhat surprised at the amount of trollishness of your reply, eno... it was rather less than I'd have expected. So I'll say this: you're correct in that I used REALbasic because it's fast and easy, and the application is simple enough that I didn't see a point to using C (I'm sure my reasons for not using Java are self-explanatory). :) As for the "icons", I should point out that I didn't steal any icons from Blobber. I did use the same cursors as Blobber, which were not created by the author, but rather by independent people who made them for Blobber. If I had readily available the contact information for all of the people who submitted cursors, I would have contacted them individually, but I figured it would be much easier for all involved if I asked permission for all of them simultaneously, in a thread linked to one I know they're reading.
As for my releasing a (semi)-public version of the software with their cursors installed, you have a valid point there... I confess, my main reason for including those cursors is because I didn't feel like making enough cursors on my own to fill the bill (nor do I think they'd be nearly as good as the ones others have come up with), and obviously a cursor switching application with no cursors is sort of useless. :) If I've upset anyone who made those cursors by including them in a running application before making sure I had their permission, I apologize. And, of course, if I haven't received permission from someone before I'm ready to take Beachball public, I'll remove those cursors before release. I can't try to claim that I know everything there is to know about how not to piss people off, but I can claim that it's not my intention to do so, and I'll take every reasonable step I see to avoid it. But I'm rehashing now, so...
You seem quite open about your vendetta of all things REALbasic... that seems strange to me, sort of like hating all people who are black, or Jewish, simply because they're black or Jewish... but obviously it's a considered point of view, so despite the fact that I disagree strongly with it I won't waste time trying to talk you out of it.
Oh, by the way, about Scheme... mahrz is correct. It's a variant of Lisp, which is a functional programming language (in that you can pass functions, and code in general, around as data). It's cool, though I wouldn't use it for something like Beachball. I do believe it was used to write the Gimp, however. :)

P.S.: I definitely intend to make the setup assistant less imposing in the future. :)

cube_450 · Sep 26, 2002, 07:50 AM

My way I see your posting:

Words and only words.

I ask myself: How could someone use stuff from people without asking for their permission in beta releases?! Realy strange that you confess this and appolozize at a point where several people feel upset about your behavior. I guess you already have read License Agreements... ;-)

So why don't you two cooperate with each other? Is earning money worth all of this discussion and loosing acception?

cUBe

dfiler · Sep 26, 2002, 09:23 AM

Originally posted by dwishbone:

its because you didnt install the support files where i said. read the read me.
you shouldnt have that problem at all in Blobber 2.0. It is much better than the previous versions which,works fine for most people.
but judging from the attitude of this forum...who the hell cares if i release another version or not.

Blobber is an excelent idea and you deserve much praise for the work you've done. You will be a much better developer from the experience you've gained in coding, testing, user feedback, and industry interaction. The last two of these are often the hardest to gain as they aren't explicitly taught in CS classes but are aquired through years of experience. On this I have a couple comments.

Software this simple shouldn't require support files or a readme. Also, 'Work[ing] fine for most people' isn't a very good criteria for measuring software quality. 'Work[ing] fine for most people' sounds like a line used by pragmatic windows administrators, not a mac developer

While Blobber is definately easy enough to 'work fine for most people', the same functionality can be provided in a much simpler manner. This attention to detail is what Mac fanatics crave and what spur the development of shareware apps like Beachball.

I understand just how disheartening software development can be when your work is suddenly made less significant or even trivial by another product. Don't loose faith though, there is room for even niche utilities to to share the same task-domain. Competition is good! Also, I feel that Beachball's author was quite considerate in how he approached you and and the graphics designers already involved.

Prior to the first public previews of 10.2, I had been developing a cocoa framework tentatively named eyeToons. It offered the ability to skin existing apps by simply changing window classes and by adding two lines of code prior to a recompile. Any picture, not just brushed-metal, could be used as a window background. 3D bevels were translucently overlaid around the window borders and controls. It was absolutely beautiful. I spent hundreds of hours working on getting hardware accelerated window dragging to work with windows containing transparent areas (rounded corners etc). Active window resizing was quicker than in any apple iApp. Next thing I know, apple announces that the brushed metal look would be available via a checkbox in project builder... bummer.

I feel your pain but resist the urge to feed the trolls

kmkkid · Sep 26, 2002, 12:53 PM

As far as I can remember, "copying" a GUI isnt a crime. MS won against Apple, and Apple "won" against watson. And it certainly isnt a crime to make a program that acts as others do. We all like to have options, if one is better than the other then use the best one... sounds fair to me

Oh and if that doesnt work, you could always offer to hire dwishbone phoenix

then you guys could split the donations.

In all honesty beachball looks more visually appealing, and seems to be well thought out.

Not that blobber wasnt well thought out, beachball just looks better, may be that cool icon

But I like it!
Oh and I always liked the idea of the password as a separate sheet, just seems more logical than to have it mixed in with the actual main interface. I wish all progs would do this.

Chris

LightWaver-67 · Sep 26, 2002, 01:18 PM

Oooops... I'm sorry... I thought this was MacNN... apparently I've stumbled into MacWhiners.com

What is it with some of you...? CHRIST! If I was a developer... after seeing some of you bitch, cry and whine about the stupidest things... I'D never develop and release any frickin' software on this forum.

Way to stifle someones creativity... the guy was just trying to build-out his own version of the hack. LET IT FRICKIN' GO, will ya...?

mrtew · Sep 26, 2002, 01:20 PM

I'm still puzzled about people fighting over customers for FREE programs! I think it has something to do with SteveJobs and BillGates being our idols or something. Stop it! I just wish that there had been this many people offering to help us switch wait cursors back in the 10.0 - 10.1 days when we had the really ugly beachball and long amounts of time spent looking at it. I have a really really cool wait cursor now, and never even get to see it! We need to have an application that will switch the arrow cursor, not the wait cursor.

LightWaver-67 · Sep 26, 2002, 01:26 PM

Originally posted by mrtew:
I'm still puzzled about people fighting over customers for FREE programs! I think it has something to do with SteveJobs and BillGates being our idols or something. Stop it! I just wish that there had been this many people offering to help us switch wait cursors back in the 10.0 - 10.1 days when we had the really ugly beachball and long amounts of time spent looking at it. I have a really really cool wait cursor now, and never even get to see it! We need to have an application that will switch the arrow cursor, not the wait cursor.

That's the thing.. it's not the two developers that are here bitching back-and-forth... it's the people that get this stuff for FREE and who have no vested interest in the success of either one.

Arguing just for the sake of arguing.

yukon · Sep 27, 2002, 05:05 PM

sorry guys, but all i'm getting is "nil object exception - application must shutdown" when i open the program. both 10.2 and 10.2.1. oh well.

swiz · Sep 27, 2002, 05:17 PM

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:

That's the thing.. it's not the two developers that are here bitching back-and-forth... it's the people that get this stuff for FREE and who have no vested interest in the success of either one.

Arguing just for the sake of arguing.

LightWaver-67, your posts make me shimmer with pride

. You say exactly what I would and therefore save my time; but alas, I still waste time posting... but only to pat you on the back. I think both apps are pretty good and the authors appear to be sharing some ideas so, its all good.

Spirit_VW · 08:31 PM

Don't know what gets into some people's heads�