Environmental Design: The Greenbox

The Greenbox (click for an explanatory video) is, like all things I love, a well-needed redesign. It's environmentally friendly and makes great use of the features of the ordinary pizza box. I think "crotchfire", one of the commenters on YouTube, put it best:

You don't have to use paper plates, or waste water washing dishes. You also don't have to use an extra box to store the pizza. Cardboard that is soiled by food can't be recycled, thus they are making use of something you are going to have to throw away anyways. It is also made of 100% recycled material, so no trees are being chopped down to produce the box.

If you want more information you can check out their website, greenboxny.com. The Greenbox is what this blog is all about: intelligent design. So spread the word!

Desktop: Summer Beach

A recent wallpaper-downloading binge has turned me into a desktop addict. Or maybe a DADD victim (Desktop Attention Deficit Disorder). Either way, I had to try my hand at another setup with this wallpaper, to get me into the right mood for summer.

(click for larger version)'

(download the wallpaper here)

As you can see, I opted for a refreshing change in configs, mostly because I wanted them to fit in with the wallpaper. I am, as usual, running Rainmeter v1.1.

In the top left-hand corner, I’ve got iTunes White, by r3ginald.  While it leaves a little to be desired, it’s handy skin and looks great. For more of my thoughts on it, check out last week’s post. In addition to iTunes White, I’ve got the iTunes toolbar in my taskbar. Just right click the taskbar and navigate over to Toolbars and check “iTunes”, and then whenever you minimize iTunes it’ll show up in your taskbar.

In the middle, I’ve got the HUD.Vision White Clock.Vision skin. It provides a nice compromise between simplicity and futurism, and it fits well into the landscape.

Sandwiching it, I’ve got the Simple Sentence Sun and Weather skins, the latter being modified slightly to fit in between the clouds and the sun. They’ve got a nice, calming quality to them, mostly due to the simple prose and font, and they fit in well with the sunset and beach.

Underneath them, I’ve got the Simple Sentence Date config which seemed the perfect missing piece for the setup.

In the end, I’m quite happy with this setup. It’s nice and calming, and the choice of skins sets new priorities for the summer; less about the tech info, more about the casual stuff. I also like the organization; the time and date are together, the sun rise/set information is near the sun, and the weather skin is near the clouds and sky. It’s subtle, but nice.

Desktop: Cityscape

Once I found this wallpaper I knew I had to make a desktop setup around it; I just love cityscapes, and this is one of the best I’ve seen.

(click for larger version)

(download the wallpaper here)

Before I start, for those of you unfamiliar with the drill, I’m running Rainmeter v1.1.

You’ll notice many of the same elements as last time. In the top left corner, you’ll see my tweaked version of Enigma’s Sidebar Systems skin. All the essential information in one box. Handy.

Below it is Enigma’s Arcs beautifully futuristic yet informative clock, and to the right, I’ve got Cal-Week and Clock. Small but visible, they’re the perfect compliment to Arcs.

To the right of them, I’ve got HUD.Vision’s White Network.upload and Network.download skins, for a quick check up on my connection.

In the top right corner, I’ve got HUD.Vision’s White CPU skin which gives me a quick look at the system information and usage as well as the most-demanding process, so I don’t need to open up Task Manager.

And in the bottom left corner, the iTunes White skin by R3ginald. While it’s style may not be of the highest calibre (there is both a pause and play button; the volume is not controlled by dragging but rather by repeatedly clicking the two speaker icons), it’s extremely handy and fits in well with the background and other skins. It should be noted I tried to install Multi-Plugin v2.1 for iTunes so that I could install a black skin and use the mini player, but my efforts resulted in my having to reinstall iTunes (due to compatibility issues) and both help and updated versions are difficult to find online. I will persist, though.

I also changed the window colour to “Graphite” for a slightly darker look, and changed my Firefox persona to “Dark Cityscape”. That’s all up to you, but I find it’s a nice addition.

Thanks for reading! If you’ve got any questions, please leave a comment. See you next time.

3 Lesser Known Features of Windows Vista

To be clear, these are features present in Vista, but not necessarily new. 1. Folder Toolbars (new) By dragging a folder to the top of your desktop screen, you an create a new toolbar for that folder, which shows some of the files within. It can be made bigger or smaller (to show more or less files) as well as choose between large icons and small icons, showing text or not, showing folder name or not, staying on top, or auto-hide. The toolbar isn't beautiful, but it's passable. It apparently cannot be moved to other sides of the screen, although you can get a four-arrow cursor by dragging on the folder name. Also, the selection is one-click, even though the graphics are the same as in a folder, which is a bit confusing. 2. The Run dialog and it's direct approach in Windows Vista (new and not new) The run dialog has always been one of my favourite features of windows, being a techy guy who likes shortcuts. It allows you to quickly run a program or open a folder (see next item). What I use it most for is the programs that aren't always easy to access, like Paint, Notepad, and Calculator. Instead of going into the start menu and looking for them, I can run them quickly with the Run dialog. Since the default path is C:\WINDOWS\system32\ , you don't even need a path. All I type is "mspaint", "notepad", or "calc" (their respective file names, without the extension). In Vista, you don't even need to click the "Run" button in the start menu. You can just enter everything in the search bar! Make sure it doesn't conflict with search entries, though. 3. System and User Variables (not new) I love this feature. By going into the Control Panel, System and Maintenance, System, Advanced System Settings (on the left) and clicking on "Environment Variables", you can edit the User and System Variables. These are essentially shortcuts to be used in the Run dialog and other rare circumstances. All you have to do is set up the variable (such as "pf") and the Value (such as "C:\Program Files"). If there ever a program or folder you are always running/accessing via the Run dialog, this is perfect for you. I always use it for program files. It makes things very easy.