Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

div · Apr 29, 2004, 01:36 PM

Has anyone seen this yet:

http://www.panic.com/stattoo/

If you're in a hurry, you can check out this screenshot.

It looks--from a functionality point of view--very, very similar to Konfabulator. I happen to be a big Panic fan, so I can't wait to give this a try and see how it stacks up against Konfab.
One of the things that makes Konfabulator great is that peeps can write (or mod) their own widgets. I can't seem to find any info on Panic's site that states whether or not their "capsules" can be authored by third parties. The name "capsules" suggests that you can add and remove them from Stattoo, but--IMO--whether or not other people can author their own is the more interesting question.

codywalton · Apr 29, 2004, 01:54 PM

looks nice... but all of this can allready be done (cooler) with konfabulator. And I use Synergy for my music feedback.

Nice... but nothing really new. What panic needs to do is re-work Audion to be a skinnable remote for iTunes, one that can use all of the existing Audion skins. I'd use that.

div · 02:01 PM

Hmm...after playing around with it for awhile, it seems like it has a big, gaping hole where user configuration should be. AFAIK, you can't change the font face or the font size that the capsules use. To make matters "worse", you also can't change the size of the capsules that are displayed on the desktop and are given very limited control over where they can be placed. The capsules all line up left-to-right, and the only control you have is where they're placed--vertically--on your desktop. So where Konfab allows you to move widgets anywhere on your screen, Stattoo seems to give very limited control as to how each capsule is displayed.

All in all, it's an interesting first version, but I still think there's quite a lot of room for improvement if they want to compete with Konfabulator...if that is their goal.

[edit: fixed misspelling :) ]

Fonzie · Apr 29, 2004, 02:38 PM

I tried it. And talk about customization !!! Woah, this app lets you change everything. NOT!!!! I took it off after about 2minutes. It's like ....hmmm blah !? it should be a $5 app or even free. I love the icon though. quite nice. If I find a serial I might consider using it LOL - not by a longshot.

olorin15 · Apr 29, 2004, 02:39 PM

If this develops into a Konfab competitor, I'll be happy. The pricetag on this one is 1/3 of that of Konfab at this point, and Konfab's price is the only thing stopping me from using it.

brutal · Apr 29, 2004, 02:56 PM

Originally posted by codywalton:
looks nice... but all of this can allready be done (cooler) with konfabulator

an iCal event-viewer hasn't been made for Konfabulator yet (atleast not one that looks decent). It's the only Stattoo-capsule worth using though... for now.

fireside · Apr 29, 2004, 02:59 PM

i like it. i just wish i could change the text size.

codywalton · Apr 29, 2004, 03:17 PM

Originally posted by brutal:
an iCal event-viewer hasn't been made for Konfabulator yet (atleast not one that looks decent). It's the only Stattoo-capsule worth using though... for now.

here's 3. I think they look decent.

http://www.widgetgallery.com/view.php?widget=35716
http://www.widgetgallery.com/view.php?widget=25887
http://www.widgetgallery.com/view.php?widget=25732

SomeToast · Apr 29, 2004, 06:18 PM

Originally posted by olorin15:
The pricetag on this one is 1/3 of that of Konfab at this point, and Konfab's price is the only thing stopping me from using it.

Stattoo = $12.95, Konfabulator = $25.00. That's over half the cost. For the slim functionality offered, it's pretty nutty.

JoE950 · Apr 29, 2004, 06:47 PM

it looks like hell.. i dont see the use in either konfab or this.. its just more clutter..

jerseyfreeze · Apr 29, 2004, 07:10 PM

My $0.02 ...

I like it. It's nice and simple with elegant capsules that match.

Despite the emphasis we put on customization, sometimes I think it's best to offer limited options.

-Jason

mac15 · Apr 29, 2004, 07:13 PM

Out of the box is pretty cool, but theres a few things well alot of thins I'm not a fan of. First off the dock icon is showing, thats something I can't stand! Specially for an app like this and the mail checker needs to have some built in way of checking email without having mail open. I'd rather look down at my dock icon than check this...

codywalton · Apr 29, 2004, 07:51 PM

Originally posted by mac15:
the mail checker needs to have some built in way of checking email without having mail open.

Hallelujah! Preach on brotha!

Holigen · Apr 29, 2004, 07:53 PM

I dont generally use Konfab or this new thing. I dont like clutter on my desktop that much...

justinp · Apr 29, 2004, 08:49 PM

It's a nice application on it's own. In the shadow of Konfabulator, however, it is nothing short of unimpressive.

NetworkShadow · Apr 29, 2004, 09:00 PM

Just a limited konfabulator... I'd pick Konfab over that anyday.

olorin15 · Apr 29, 2004, 09:17 PM

Originally posted by JoE950:
it looks like hell.. i dont see the use in either konfab or this.. its just more clutter..

Tastes vary Joe ...

In general, I like the fact that this is limited - konfab's multitude of widgets makes my head spin ... As for the price tag - anything above $20 makes me uncomfortable, as i'm sure it does many other people. So this fills the void nicely for some of us. I'm still not sure if I'll pay for it and keep using it, but so far I like it. Now if I could get konfab for say $15 with limited capabilities, maybe I'd go for that. I dunno ... So far this seems to work for me - we'll see what I'll think about it after a couple days though.

Dace · Apr 29, 2004, 09:42 PM

At least it doesn't hide when you reveal the desktop...Konfab does. I prefer this app, it's neater than Konfab. No Widget folder to worry about. The calender should give you an option to view the whole month. I'll stick with my menubar apps

bluevertical · Apr 29, 2004, 10:02 PM

i have it up and i'm enjoying it. i'm a paid user of konfab but i like the simplicity of this app too.... not sure if i'll buy it(?) i don't think i would use it if it wasn't for the fact i have a 23 so the scale isn't too dominant.
i'm sure this will be like ipulse or something in that the v2 will have a lot of advancements...
it's nice to have options.
peace.
bv.

Sage · Apr 29, 2004, 11:26 PM

The fact that the widgets have to always be above the Dock is so lame that I quit it, trashed it, and emptied the trash in a manner of seconds. I like the idea of the app itself, but I want to use the empty space around my Dock so that I can see it at all times, not just so it can be covered up by windows. Stupid, stupid.

Anyway, a combination of Apple's menu extras and MenuMeters seems to be working well enough, so I'll just leave it at that.

kwyjiboy · Apr 29, 2004, 11:44 PM

Things I wish it would do:

Canadian weather, not ust USA.
Dockable to Left/Right
Adjustable height.
Adjustable delay before capsules fade after dock icon is clicked.

brutal · Apr 30, 2004, 02:55 AM

Originally posted by kwyjiboy:
Things I wish it would do:

Canadian weather, not ust USA.

Well, I got it to show the local weather here in Norway, so I'm pretty sure it shows Canadian weather aswell.
Get your ICAO-code HERE.

Dace · Apr 30, 2004, 07:16 AM

Originally posted by brutal:
Well, I got it to show the local weather here in Norway, so I'm pretty sure it shows Canadian weather aswell.
Get your ICAO-code HERE.

I got it to show Montreal, Quebec...but I don't see any settings for displaying celsius instead of farenheit

Mac Guru · Apr 30, 2004, 08:05 AM

From the support Page:

Can I get the temperature in Celsius?

Yes! Open System Preferences, click International, click Formats, then choose Metric from the Measurement Units pop-up. Now, relaunch Stattoo. Bingo! With any luck, Celsius!

If it's already set to Metric, try setting it to U.S., then back to Metric. Don't ask us why, but for some reason, this works.

Mac Guru

kwyjiboy · Apr 30, 2004, 10:01 AM

Originally posted by brutal:
Well, I got it to show the local weather here in Norway, so I'm pretty sure it shows Canadian weather aswell.
Get your ICAO-code HERE.

I feel dumb, now.

iNeusch · Apr 30, 2004, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by brutal:
an iCal event-viewer hasn't been made for Konfabulator yet (atleast not one that looks decent). It's the only Stattoo-capsule worth using though... for now.

That's true !!!
I would even pay for a working iCal Konfab widget...

iNeusch · Apr 30, 2004, 10:51 AM

Originally posted by codywalton:
here's 3. I think they look decent.

http://www.widgetgallery.com/view.php?widget=35716
http://www.widgetgallery.com/view.php?widget=25887
http://www.widgetgallery.com/view.php?widget=25732

These are bad compared to the one in Stattoo...
Too bad because I'll stick with Konfab

Maybe one day someone make a complete working iCal widget for Konfab

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Apr 30, 2004, 11:40 AM

Originally posted by mac15:
the mail checker needs to have some built in way of checking email without having mail open.

Why? If you want a widget that shows your messages, then you're going to want to launch Mail anyway to read them. What's the big deal about keeping mail running and hidden? This is OS X after all...

brutal · May 1, 2004, 07:03 AM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
This is OS X after all...

and..?

Silky Voice of The Gorn · May 1, 2004, 01:09 PM

Originally posted by brutal:
and..?

I thought this was self evident. There's no reason not to keep apps (particularly ones like Mail) running 24/7.

Adam Betts · May 1, 2004, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
I thought this was self evident. There's no reason not to keep apps (particularly ones like Mail) running 24/7.

Yeah, OS X's memory management is very decent so we shouldn't worry about quitting apps unless that app use an ancient way of borrowing memory (ie: Photoshop)

Frisbee · May 1, 2004, 01:35 PM

Someone beat this app with a stick. The lack of customization is painful to my eyes. In fact, this should be moved out of the customization forum, into the software forum.

codywalton · May 1, 2004, 01:45 PM

Originally posted by Frisbee:
Someone beat this app with a stick. The lack of customization is painful to my eyes. In fact, this should be moved out of the customization forum, into the software forum.

agreed. An app that has absolutely no customization should not be in the "customization" forum.

olorin15 · May 1, 2004, 10:14 PM

Originally posted by Frisbee:
Someone beat this app with a stick. The lack of customization is painful to my eyes. In fact, this should be moved out of the customization forum, into the software forum.

Someone beat Frisbee with a stick. People put a lot of time and effort into making this app. What gives you the right (other than being a teenager

) to bash it like that? If you do not like it, fine, don't use it. No need to be an ass about it.
Other than that, you are right - it does not belong in this forum ...

bluevertical · May 2, 2004, 12:14 AM

Originally posted by olorin15:
Someone beat Frisbee with a stick. People put a lot of time and effort into making this app. What gives you the right (other than being a teenager ) to bash it like that? If you do not like it, fine, don't use it. No need to be an ass about it.
Other than that, you are right - it does not belong in this forum ...

amen!

moonmonkey · May 2, 2004, 03:12 AM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
Why? If you want a widget that shows your messages, then you're going to want to launch Mail anyway to read them. What's the big deal about keeping mail running and hidden? This is OS X after all...

I would like to see how many unread messages I have without launching mail.
I would also like to see how many apps are running and how many unread messages I have on the login screen.

Frisbee · May 2, 2004, 09:39 AM

I'm sorry, I was a bit harsh. Just a bit. The coding in the app is great, and I'm aware that a lot of work most likely went into it. However, there are just some obvious features that were left out. I don't know if it's just that I'm using the unregistered version, but you can't position the capsules along either side of the screen, and the capsules are automatically centered. I, for one, like to have my smaller apps in the corners. While I don't use konfabulator, in the past when I've demoed it, all the widgets were in the corners. Not only that, but any old joe could learn to make one. This is what made konfabulator as good as it is, and this is what stattoo needs to work on.

olorin15 · May 2, 2004, 03:56 PM

Originally posted by Frisbee:
I'm sorry, I was a bit harsh. Just a bit. The coding in the app is great, and I'm aware that a lot of work most likely went into it. However, there are just some obvious features that were left out. I don't know if it's just that I'm using the unregistered version, but you can't position the capsules along either side of the screen, and the capsules are automatically centered. I, for one, like to have my smaller apps in the corners. While I don't use konfabulator, in the past when I've demoed it, all the widgets were in the corners. Not only that, but any old joe could learn to make one. This is what made konfabulator as good as it is, and this is what stattoo needs to work on.

Well, I think Statoo has a different philosophy from konfab. It's not intended for separate widgets. It's more of a widget bar. Being able to put it on the side on the screen would be a great option though. And I think their website says they are woking on the "all widgets do not fit on the screen" bug as well. I'm sure it'll evolve and become more usable. It's a great start as far as i'm concerned. Konfab is overkill both in the number of options and in price

Silky Voice of The Gorn · May 2, 2004, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by moonmonkey:
I would like to see how many unread messages I have without launching mail.

I still don't get why someone wouldn't just have Mail running in the background.

I would also like to see how many apps are running and how many unread messages I have on the login screen.

I don't follow; you want to see how many apps are running...at the OS X login screen? That makes no sense.

ambush · May 2, 2004, 08:32 PM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
I still don't get why someone wouldn't just have Mail running in the background.

I don't follow; you want to see how many apps are running...at the OS X login screen? That makes no sense.

It does. It's cool too. WinXP has this feature.

Silky Voice of The Gorn · May 2, 2004, 09:05 PM

Originally posted by ambush:
It does. It's cool too. WinXP has this feature.

But...no user apps are actually running at the login process. Unless you mean from fast user switching?

JLL · May 3, 2004, 03:39 AM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
Unless you mean from fast user switching?

Bingo!

Millennium · May 3, 2004, 09:46 AM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
Why? If you want a widget that shows your messages, then you're going to want to launch Mail anyway to read them. What's the big deal about keeping mail running and hidden? This is OS X after all...

That's not the problem. The problem is that there are quite a few people who don't use Mail at all, but still need a solution like this.

There is no reason to not leave Mail open and hidden, if that's what you use to read your e-mail. If you don't use Mail to read your messages, however, then it becomes more of a problem.