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83 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+35This looks like a concept for an impressive toy, but it'll end up eating your hardware resources while being blocked by all the windows of your running applications.
Besides, this is nothing more than a virtual simulator of looking out the window. Have we really become that lazy? - mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Before I enter this site, I need to scold you for using one of the 'Digg Words of Shame' in your title.
- OwenX, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19You should use the reply function. Just for further reference..
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Very similar? Well, maybe in the same way that TextEdit is similar to Pages... All Desktopia does is change wallpapers based on time. Has very little to do with your actual real environment.
- brbubba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Impressive if someone could actually pull it off the way it was envisioned. However, I have to say out of all the choices this definitely falls into the useless applications pile. Are you really going to pick an app thats just a fancy way of telling you the weather outside or something that has a true utilitarian function. Oh and sorry, but my mac screen is hardly a substitute for looking out the window.
- timdorr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13I've seen them developing this same concept in research over here at Georgia Tech in our "Aware Home": http://www.awarehome.gatech.edu/index.html
Instead of software, it's a digital picture frame that you can put anywhere in the house. To anyone who visits, it looks just like a photograph and blends into the background. But to you, it can show time, stock results, weather, traffic, etc.
In fact, here's a link: http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/fce/ecl/projects/dfp/index.html - optimo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10It's called modulation and quantization. You don't use any of the actuall recorded sounds, you just interpret the exact pitch and timbre and change this into a midi note. It's pretty easy to do with a fourier transform, you could base it on a much-used pro tools plugin that `fixes` the out of pitch voices of many popular pop singers.
But if you would check out the abstract, you would realize this app would work for humming or moaning or bad singing. Also useful for beatboxing apparently, and tapping on your desk to gain backbeats.
You layer this all together in a midified format and you've got simple sequencing. I happen to have a knack for modulating my wind pipes, so whistling is my best tool. Maybe that is a rare feat. - iWasHere, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I would love this feature. It would look great on a nice monitor. I love the rainy/stormy views.
It could be written well enough to not be running in the background when you are doing other things. - RyanZ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Some of those weather conditions images look like modifications of this image (great wallpaper btw):
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/33087656/?qo=36&q=daydream&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5
And no, that's not me spamming my own work. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I want this. I need this. If it weren't for the sound of rain on my air conditioner I would never know what it is like outside. Its a great idea for near shut-ins like myself.
- thelastknowngod, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8i like this a lot. honestly though... if i didnt have a large apple display where i had to maximize windows all the time i probably wouldnt use it. it is a hell of a lot better than just another old widget.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Easy buddy, Its not designed to change the world of computing. It is fun and pretty. Like um... a Mac. Oh and I use a Mac and see my desktop all the time. Finally in regards to your fancy "window" as you call it. I have a guitar, but I don't throw away my MP3s. There's room for both.
- optimo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I gotta go with Whistler, hope that gets made. What's `on` ones desktop is really a waste of time anyway. But, an app that lets you whistle a simple tune, to have it interpreted an turned into a complex piece of music; Very usefull.
Still digged the link, good luck.
and like my Dad always says, if you want the weather report: `just look out the friggin window` - ramsinks.com, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Just look outside.
- MajikalMan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Uhh, I don't know about you but F11 seems to work fine for me.
- rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Hmmmm. A new digg user with no diggs and just one post. Must be a shill for Cameron Westland. This seems a bit unfair to all of the other participants. Unless all of the contestants have a Digg article, I suggest digg.com takes this down immediately so as not to sway any votes by the judges who probably read digg.com all day.
- angelp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I rarely view my desktop, whether it's a Mac or a PC. That's why I'm not a big fan of Atmosphere or Desktop Wars.
- atmclipse, on 10/12/2007, -9/+13Seems very similar to desktopia. I do like the weather conditions idea though.
link for desktopia: http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/22565 - TheGuy20, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Read the title. It says "concept". That means it isn't made yet but it could be made.
- liveinabin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The basic idea is nice. However, two things that bother me:
That grassy landscape looks more like Windows XP than anything else :)
I live in UK, it rains often, and it's grey skies even more often. With this app, my desktop screen would look really quite depressing most of the time. - arachnist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Animated backgrounds make me think of Enlightenment-0.17...I'm just not sure if changing the background according to some info on a webpage is possible.
Cool stuff, dugg. - Portside, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I'd hardly call this 'revolutionary'. It's a calender and some RSS feed reeders tied into a wallpaper changer.
- optimo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Whistler.
- ConceptJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Am I the only one who was totally turned off when he saw stars where the dark part of the moon should have been.
This is 2006, people, what's so exciting about wallpaper? I want something NEAT. - chrisprang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3all good points and general reception to this is that its lame.
so lame it. - domr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Looks like a desktop wallpaper version of http://weatherpixie.com/
Very pretty, but I'm not sure how useful it is. At least you can put Weatherpixies on your site to show the rest of the world what the weather's like where you are. - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The hardest part about this application would be the artwork. The rest could be implemented literally in a day, but the artwork could take weeks to develop in full.
And for that, I've gotta go with one of the other ideas. - chrisprang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4this is a joke, hardly revolutionary. check xearth for linux. pictures of the earth with sun in back ground moving REALTIME with overlays of clouds from nasa, even satilites spinnings the earth, moon rotating etc.
- blake213, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ever heard of melodyne?
http://www.celemony.com/cms/index.php?id=358
(it's mostly for pitch shifting, time stretching, and time correction, but you can export a MIDI file of the notes detected) - atezun, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"However, this app might be nice if it measured other stuff, such as productivity"
Sounds like someone's rooting for blossom ;)
I'd much rather see Ground Control move on over this app though.
http://groundcontrol.heistuman.com/ - fyngyrz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Hmmm. Could you implement a hyper-realistic, real-time, local-environment sensitive, internet accessible, security enabled version of this incredible application concept by...
...pointing a webcam out a window? - shadownight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2However good the idea may be, it's a little sad to see these MDA ideas promoted on Digg. It's pretty unfair for other contestants.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Go look at a webcam or something.
If you're at work in your office, what is your desktop doing up on the screen?
The only time you see your desktop is when you're not using any programs. - ReqX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Except David Lanham's on the team. The artwork would be impressive indeed.
- EochaidRiata, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Since it is "AMAZING!!!11one1!" it must need to be on the front page.
- ryansac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't know if I want some of those images on my OS X desktop. The blue sky pics resemble Microsoft a little too much.
- rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All of the ideas stay with their perspective owners after the contest. If he doesn't win, chances are the app will still be developed. But putting this up on digg.com is unfair to all the other contestants.
Hijack and Ground Control are both better than this app in a real world environment. I would hate to see a "fluff" app win a serious competition. - Mannon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Love this idea :)
- launchpadtt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The Linux desktop environment EnlightmentDR17 already does this
- Xyber411, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2OMG!!! I WANT IT!!!... ok, so i'm not a osx user, but this program could very well "switch" me. is there a program for windows or linux that does this same thing? i've searched around and haven't found anything, but if anyone knows of one, please reply :).
- hurfydurfur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's pretty cool but not revolutionary imho. Good implementation, others have been kinda weak. If this could replace the reason why people surf to weather.com then it could be a killer app.
- Kypt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The difference is that its not just a static image. They would be completely dynamic so combinations can be endless and would also have animated weather effects. Now, if eye-candy is not for you then do not vote for it :P, because at the end of the day, this is just eye-candy.
- mikeycav, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I work in a basement. I have no windows. I would appreciate this application.
I am not lazy. - tasmarshall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmmm, this app looks OK, but I agree that we really should just look out the window, I'm a big fan of nature you see. Oh, and this is part of a competition and people should really look at the other apps there as well as this one, some things like "Cookbook" in my opinion look way better, more sensible and are something I would actually pay money for.
The competition is at http://mydreamapp.com - cthellis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4F11 clears the screen. You are under no prerogative to hit it again to bring everything back. Notice if you open a few new things and hit F11 again, you'll clear the rest off too. F11 will bring them ALL back at that point. You clutter up the screen edges somewhat this way, though it does give you a visual representation to touch to bring back just the one thing if you want.
Or hey, just hit Option-Command-M: "Minimize All Windows"
Lots of commands out there. ^_^ http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459 - Rinkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's really neat and such but I wouldn't call it revolutionary.
- KevInTx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2To all those who said, "just look out a window". What about people who are in offices or cubes where they do not have access to a window?
IMHO, I think it is a neat idea, that if properly implemented, could work. My $0.02 worth ;) - marcammann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i somehow already hear alex albrecht say "***** the weather"
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3cthellis -
You did a great job looking up a list of commands for OS X to try and find something like Windows-D. Having used OS X since it came out, I hadn't tried Option-Cmd-M, so I tried it right now, when I read your comment.
It did nothing. Maybe 'cause I'm using Firefox? Tried it again in Safari. Then TextEdit. Nothing. Nothing. Just because something is documented on a web page doesn't mean it's necessarily correct.
And you, really, really failed to get my point. I think you are deliberately ignoring what I said. F11 might let you see the desktop, and no, you don't have to hit it again. But come on, be ***** honest. Nobody works like that.
"La de dah, all done typing my Word document, guess I'll hit F11 so I can look at my pretty desktop pattern. I'll leave it like that until I'm ready to work again..."
Face it, your desktop is irrelevant in 2006. It's there because we're used to having it, not because anyone actually looks at it. It was a metaphor that made sense in 1984, when your computer had maybe six programs on it, and you opened them one at a time.
The desktop is an obsolete concept. - Bega, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Noted.
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