Friday, April 3, 2009

Widget Watch: hiddenfiles

Widget Watch: hiddenfiles

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Ever wonder what files your Mac is hiding from you? Maybe not, but once in a while there's a need to peek at the stuff OS X keeps you from viewing. Finder does a nice job of hiding the "guts" of some folders, you see, but there are occasions (troubleshooting, setting up a web server, looking for some folders, etc.) when you'll need to view and/or edit these files or folders. Enter hiddenfiles, a simple and unobtrusive widget that'll show those hidden files and folders.

Sure, you can use Onyx or Terminal and do some command line work. But it's much easier to drop into Dashboard, hit "Show" on the blue button and have Finder relaunch, showing all invisible files. I had to click on Finder in the Dock to actually launch it again, but when I did there were those lovely .DS_Store files, staring me down. I use this to remove the hidden _files off my daughter's PC-friendly MP3 player. That way she doesn't have to scroll through resource-fork versions of her songs.

The widget is free and available from developer Matthew Hansen's page.

TUAWWidget Watch: hiddenfiles originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Send mock-threatening messages from iPhone with ease

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I thought I'd seen pretty much everything, but as more and more iPhone apps come out, there are an increasing number that lean toward the bizarre.

A good example is Corbeau, [App Store link] a U.S. $1.99 application that lets you create ransom notes or threatening emails with little effort. Of course, it's all in fun, but one wonders about the mind behind some of these apps.

With Corbeau (French for crow, which is slang for someone who sends anonymous notes) you simply use the keyboard on your iPhone/ iPod touch, and type your brief note. If you are sending to a Mac or another iPhone they get the note as you created it. If you are sending to another device, you can save your note as an image to your photo roll, then forward it as an email attachment. The current iPhone software does not allow 3rd party apps to send attachments, although that is fixed in iPhone OS 3.0.

You can change the size of the letters, and drag and drop the letters to change their position before you save your work. You can also choose a photo that's on your iPhone to use as a background. You can shake the iPhone to clear the screen, or you can tap the trash icon.

I don't know how much use people will get out of this app, but I would think it might be handy to send notes to people or companies you are unhappy with.

One final note. Although the app is called 'Corbeau', when you save it to your iPhone from the U.S. App Store it is called 'Blackmail'. An appropriate name, if ever there was one.

TUAWSend mock-threatening messages from iPhone with ease originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Widget Watch: hiddenfiles

Filed under:

Ever wonder what files your Mac is hiding from you? Maybe not, but once in a while there's a need to peek at the stuff OS X keeps you from viewing. Finder does a nice job of hiding the "guts" of some folders, you see, but there are occasions (troubleshooting, setting up a web server, looking for some folders, etc.) when you'll need to view and/or edit these files or folders. Enter hiddenfiles, a simple and unobtrusive widget that'll show those hidden files and folders.

Sure, you can use Onyx or Terminal and do some command line work. But it's much easier to drop into Dashboard, hit "Show" on the blue button and have Finder relaunch, showing all invisible files. I had to click on Finder in the Dock to actually launch it again, but when I did there were those lovely .DS_Store files, staring me down. I use this to remove the hidden _files off my daughter's PC-friendly MP3 player. That way she doesn't have to scroll through resource-fork versions of her songs.

The widget is free and available from developer Matthew Hansen's page.

TUAWWidget Watch: hiddenfiles originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Send mock-threatening messages from iPhone with ease

Filed under: , ,

I thought I'd seen pretty much everything, but as more and more iPhone apps come out, there are an increasing number that lean toward the bizarre.

A good example is Corbeau, [App Store link] a U.S. $1.99 application that lets you create ransom notes or threatening emails with little effort. Of course, it's all in fun, but one wonders about the mind behind some of these apps.

With Corbeau (French for crow, which is slang for someone who sends anonymous notes) you simply use the keyboard on your iPhone/ iPod touch, and type your brief note. If you are sending to a Mac or another iPhone they get the note as you created it. If you are sending to another device, you can save your note as an image to your photo roll, then forward it as an email attachment. The current iPhone software does not allow 3rd party apps to send attachments, although that is fixed in iPhone OS 3.0.

You can change the size of the letters, and drag and drop the letters to change their position before you save your work. You can also choose a photo that's on your iPhone to use as a background. You can shake the iPhone to clear the screen, or you can tap the trash icon.

I don't know how much use people will get out of this app, but I would think it might be handy to send notes to people or companies you are unhappy with.

One final note. Although the app is called 'Corbeau', when you save it to your iPhone from the U.S. App Store it is called 'Blackmail'. An appropriate name, if ever there was one.

TUAWSend mock-threatening messages from iPhone with ease originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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