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Apple's Fluid Graphical Effects - Dock’s fish-eye Effect

safalra.com — Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is renowned for its fluid graphical effects. One impressive feature is the dock ’s ‘fish-eye’ effect, whereby icons expand and contract as the mouse moves over them. Achieving this effect in JavaScript is difficult, but the MacStyleDock function allows this feature to be implemented easily.

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  • hollywoodphony, on 03/11/2008, -20/+7That's cool. Now if there only something to mimic the way Firefox has to be restarted every ten minutes on my brand new iMac.
    • Trat, on 03/11/2008, -1/+9Just use webkit
    • vault, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4I didn't have that prob with FF2 but try the new FF3b3 beta.
      • Rauby, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4Firefox 3 beta 3 rocks ass! Truly
        • ssttuu, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Try FF3 b5, truely unstable! Although it still renders microsoft.com better than IE8!
      • zongamin, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1Beta 4 is out dickheads
    • NeoRicen, on 03/11/2008, -20/+12What the hell kind of a Mac user uses firefox anyway? Firefox for windows is great but on the mac it's crap.
      • Trat, on 03/11/2008, -10/+9Word. I haven't used FF in ages, since I haven't used a MS crap PC in ages... Running webkit here, never missed FF.
      • rauz, on 03/11/2008, -0/+7Runs great for me, I couldn't live without the extensions and all the functions that Firefox has and Safari hasn't.
        Why do you think it's crap? It's stable for me on 10.5.2 and I run both FF2 and the new FF3 beta.
        • treed, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2A bit buggier than on other platforms. Also hideously slow in many cases.
          • rauz, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Well worth it for me. Also, mileage may vary.
        • zongamin, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1What extensions? Apart just install Safariblock and Inquisitor - most other ff extensions are bloat and waste of time anyway.
          • rauz, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Remove It Permanently to remove things Adblock can't remove, DownThemAll to manage/speed up/simplify massive downloads, Linkification turns text links into clickable links (you'd be amazed how practical that is), PicLens (mostly flash but still cool), Redirect Remover to remove disclaimer pages for every external link I click on some forums I frequent, TabMixPlus for better session saving and a lot of added tab features.
            I'm on a modern computer so it doesn't slow my computer down noticeably, sure some of them might seem unnecessary but they make my life a little bit easier so why shouldn't I use them. Safari just isn't enough once you've gotten used to FF, sorry.
      • ronintetsuro, on 03/11/2008, -1/+8The non-brainwashed kind?
      • SublimeRuin, on 03/11/2008, -1/+6Extensions.....ftw.
        • zongamin, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1You can get plugins for safari F OFF.
    • Rauby, on 03/11/2008, -1/+9Safari + Webkit. Makes your geeky life much happier.
    • FredFredrickson, on 03/11/2008, -11/+3iMacs are junk. I've never used one that didn't have severe problems.
      • roberto_deneero, on 03/11/2008, -1/+7User error.
      • schoate09, on 03/11/2008, -3/+3Same here, with one exception. My tangerine iMac G3 is still going solid. iMac G4 and G5 had logic board problems. First Intel iMacs, never used, but I've heard issues. iMac "aluminum", graphics corruption and freezing, only Apple's underclock fixed it.
  • slimjim5811, on 03/11/2008, -1/+12It's okay. End icons get a little jumpy.
    • caerwyn, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4Author's sorta cheating and just resizing the images without actually properly handling the positioning of them, so the further you get from the center of the "dock" the more wrong the positioning will be compared to how the effect is supposed to work.
  • meshman, on 03/11/2008, -20/+12*sigh* Stardock Object Dock has had this feature for years and then some. But of course, Apple invented this too. I know, how about a flyout weather applet? Apple hasn't invented that yet.
    • ronintetsuro, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Stardock is *definitely* the best bloatware to date to feature this.
      • Monkeywithacold, on 03/12/2008, -1/+2I haven't used stardock long, maybe two or three months...But it doesn't use much ram at all.....5mb right now. Rocketdock would use a consistent 10-12mb for me.

        Either I am missing something, or they updated objectdock from what it used to be.
    • Konstantino, on 03/11/2008, -2/+12I thought Object Dock was create to MIMICK OS X's dock functionality?
    • Laminarcissus, on 03/11/2008, -2/+3anyone have a utility that will let me french kiss my mac without getting electrocuted?
    • smrekar, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2this is about using java, RTFA please
      • migitalwarfare, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1you realize you're at digg.com, right? nobody reads the articles, they just assume they know everything and spout off whatever slightly related info they do know. it's called "being intelligent."
  • dpcamp, on 03/11/2008, -3/+18i would have thought this was cool, back in 2004
    • timusca, on 03/11/2008, -5/+11I never would have thought you were cool... not even in 2004.
      • dshPls, on 03/11/2008, -0/+18This is the same thing that plagued the flash community. No one is ever going to use this for the power of good. Beginners will think its awesome and use it on their dads friends pottery website, and that's it.
        • RedGreen1, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Because pottery websites are purely evil...
  • Ramble, on 03/11/2008, -15/+30I like the way he stole it from Google X and passed it off as his own.
  • dOOBiEx213, on 03/11/2008, -18/+11Why do I want to make my real computer look like that toy?
  • JoshuaLowe, on 03/11/2008, -22/+3You know what's even easier? Buy a Mac. Support Apple's efforts and innovations rather than attempt to awkwardly emulate them.
    • rauz, on 03/11/2008, -1/+11So buying a Mac allows people to implement the dock behavior onto their websites? Cool!
    • Nick22, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1I didnt realize that icons that resize when you mousover was an invention/innovation
    • MattBD, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Why buy a Mac just for that? Kooldock in KDE does exactly the same thing, and you can get a Linux distro for free.
  • deaftly, on 03/11/2008, -6/+16Wow, ***** like this makes it to the front page?
    • DaffyDuck, on 03/11/2008, -5/+1No. Why would you think such a thing?
    • zongamin, on 03/12/2008, -2/+1If people like it they press the digg button - enough people do that and it makes the front page.
  • sintaxi, on 03/11/2008, -10/+4I would like to meet the developer that is willing to add a 2600k javascript file to get this feature.
    • caerwyn, on 03/11/2008, -0/+92600 bytes, not 2600k. Still too much for such an effect, but better than 2.6mb!
  • over900000, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4needs a better resizing algorithm.
    • roberto_deneero, on 03/11/2008, -3/+22So does your penis.
      • schoate09, on 03/11/2008, -9/+1[Insert random internet meme here that is completely irrelevant to the topic (ex. lol, lulz pwned)]
      • plasticgonads, on 03/11/2008, -3/+2LMAO PWNED.
  • samsoffes, on 03/11/2008, -2/+2i like mootools' way of doing this better
  • ronintetsuro, on 03/11/2008, -5/+1"It just works, and then we pile a bunch of unnecessary ***** on top!"
    • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -3/+4You wouldn't happen to work for Microsoft would you?
      • juicebag, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3What's with Mac users and assuming anyone who makes an anti-Mac sentiment is being paid to say it?
      • popfrogs, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1Oh, I misinterpreted his comment. I thought he was referring to Vista.
  • FireXtol, on 03/11/2008, -26/+5I am NOT impressed!

    macs are absolutely ***** retarded

    And I'm USING LEOPARD RIGHT NOW! The world's best operating system... best at being a completely illogical piece of *****!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I have never seen an OS do so much just plain BAD BEHAVIOR!

    I had to correct 20 typos cuz of this pathetic macally keyboard!!!!

    *******
    • naderslim, on 03/11/2008, -4/+0You obviously haven't used windows...lol
      Or is it cause you don't know where 'home row' is ;-)
      The only os that may give OS X a run for its money is ubuntu....but even then....
      • oilcan, on 03/11/2008, -1/+0ubuntu, give a well-developed and reasonably stable OS a run for its money? pfffft...

        (that pfft goes toward windows being better than OSX or windows xp. vista on the other hand...:P)
    • Kyan, on 03/11/2008, -0/+8Dude, you are obviously *****. Go end it already.
    • SublimeRuin, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2huh??
    • catachip, on 03/11/2008, -2/+9Since you're only 13, you'll still have more time to learn how to type properly and avoid all those typing errors.
    • dood, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3What's it doing that's completely illogical?
    • askegg, on 03/11/2008, -1/+13How can you blame the operating system because you can't work a keyboard?
    • DaffyDuck, on 03/11/2008, -0/+7It's obviously Apple's and Leopard's fault that your Macally keyboard is crap.
    • radiopolice, on 03/11/2008, -3/+2this guy sounds like a hater... i don't know guys...maybe he's well you know... gay?
  • roberto_deneero, on 03/11/2008, -5/+1This is an OLD story. Buried.
  • SystemError51, on 03/11/2008, -3/+1Used this dock when I was creating my Mac-like web desktop OS X Mercury (www.se51.net for more info)
    • whitesaint, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Mercury OS X thing is very cool. Still needs more work though.
  • everfresh59, on 03/11/2008, -5/+10Useless effects.......

    As for OSX, it takes a day to get over these effects... After that you don't bother, simply because by this time, you already have Quicksilver installed.
  • mike503, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2already been done for almost a year now, using jquery (the best)

    http://jquery.com/blog/2007/05/09/fisheye-dock-men ...
    http://www.ndesign-studio.com/demo/css-dock-menu/c ...
  • oilcan, on 03/11/2008, -2/+2in other news, apple makes computers.
  • Elias1, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1right-click on one of the images and things get "interesting".

    Not quite smooth enough to be practical, but a decent attempt.
    • drgmdp, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1???
      right-click on image --> context menu

      fascinating...
  • vwremglx, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1can I wrap that inside a blink tag?

    jk.. pretty cool
  • guillebravo6, on 03/11/2008, -7/+2This is a great feature to add to a website. I like it a lot. I may have to put it on San Diego DJ. http://www.precisedjs.com
    • MacTyler, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2yeah, you know, now that were all spamming and stuff, I think I'm gonna have to put it on your sisters.
  • crizo, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2Failed - doesn't degrade without javascript.
  • MrCalifornia, on 03/11/2008, -3/+11Is this not the first thing everyone turns off when they buy a Mac?
    • Phlake, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4Strangely enough, I actually turn it on, but only with very little magnification. Old habits I guess.
  • sexualpredator, on 03/11/2008, -2/+2wow, my mind is absolutely blown by this revolutionary concept. computers have changed forever.

    buried
  • Kerath, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1What's the point of this? It's not more intuitive or easier to use than a simple row of icons.
  • falafelkiosken, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1It's good. I've seen another "Dock" made with flash, it completly sucked. For once it was slow, and I mean, Flash? This is much better with Javascript, and it doesn't use much cpu
  • ORBAT, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1UI elements that move around when you point at them weren't a good idea when Apple implemented them, and they're still not a good idea when John Q. Random implements them.
    • Phlake, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2I agree that moving elements are bad things, however, in Apple's implementation, they're not as bad as they could be. When hovered, the icons actually appear in their original locations, not moved randomly to the side as in this Javascript implementation.
  • Dracusis, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5Awesome, cause I'm always thingking, man websites need more Dock's like OS X.

    Honestly now, how'd this crap make it to the front page? The rock is OS Xs main usability flaw, why on earth would anyone want it on a web page?

    It fails as an application launcher, it'd be criminal to use it for a website menu. Don't get me wrong, I'm a mac fan, but the Dock has always been a slur on what is otherwise a great OS. Oh and I've seen better javascript docks as far back as 2004, as useless as they are, this is is even more useless and poorly coded to boot.
    • MattBD, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1I tried the very similar KoolDock in Kubuntu, and it looked nice but was no use at all, so I quickly uninstalled it. The best application launchers are the ones where you use keyboard shortcuts. My fave is Katapult in KDE, but Google Desktop is pretty good too.
  • android86, on 03/12/2008, -1/+0Congratulations on programming something for the web that was done in Flash 4 or 5 years ago. Javascript will always be behind.
  • ThomasLeeIV, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Runs great on FF3 Beta4. Horrible on IE8 Beta1.
  • shoebappa, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Use cursor: pointer; in the css for the icons... Also there was a fluid image resizing technique on digg that should probably be used to prevent the jaggedness.
  • gegan249, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1wtf?
  • diggingaround, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1....he should use png to make it scale much better...
  • snuggl, on 03/12/2008, -0/+0Cool, but MochiKit have had this over a year in the Animator-class, its also much faster and simpler.

    http://gr.ayre.st/~grayrest/animator/animator.html
  • andreasdaman, on 03/12/2008, -0/+0That is so awesome! Muahahaha (evil laugh), I have a webdesign due on thursday next week.
    Now guess what I'm gonna do?
  • GodjustGod, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1For those who want this under windows and have it done in a real language, www.rocketdock.com

  • MikeDugg, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1or...just get a Mac
  •  

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