I’ve been a fan of the work of Panic before I even started using a Mac. And while I recently drooled over the Panic Status Board like everyone else, I once again had the feeling that one of my favourite Panic apps is well and truly abandoned. The app in question is Stattoo.
This was one of the first Mac apps I really fell in love with and made the Move from Windows a necessity. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been updated since April 2006 and I assume Cabel, Steve and crew have no plans for it as they may see it as a competitor to the Dashboard in OS X. Much like Audion, it makes sense that they would focus on their other great products and new ideas rather than compete with Apple. And I don’t blame them.
But I still love the idea of a Stattoo-like info panel. And so I decided to make my own — or at least a reasonable facsimile of one.
The Homebrew in Stattoo
[ click for larger version ]
This really isn’t a big deal. It consists of a wallpaper with some container elements with various levels of transparency. The data is delivered via GeekTool. But I’m happy with the end result. It gives me the info I want and most of the time I don’t have to hit a key to see it.
The other option I looked at was using Dashboard widgets fixed to the desktop rather than the Dashboard layer. But there does not appear to be a way to widgets stick to the desktop level rather than on top of all other windows (without purchasing a third party tool).
It’s understandable that some may ask, “Why not just use the Dashboard?” It’s a good question and something I asked myself. In the end I wanted items on the desktop because when working on my ACD, rarely do the windows I work in take up the entire screen. And so by having the items visible, I can see the time and other info from the corner of my eye and do not have to invoke the Dashboard. It’s only one keystroke, but I operate with the mentality that lives can be lost with unnecessary keystrokes.
There were a few items of note that may interest anyone looking to do something similar:
- GeekTool remembers its “geeklets” where you leave them. So moving from a large external display to your laptop screen can cause issues. To get around this, just create some groups of geeklets for each configuration — then simply enable the group that fits your current setup.
In order to get the events of my calendar on the desktop, I used another command line tool: iCalBuddy.
Finding handy GeekTool scripts and commands is as easy as typing a Google search query. But for the convenience of anyone interested, here’s the commands I use for each setting:
- Date, time, weather, battery, and calendar events commands included in this text: http://droplr.com/ChIS
- The iTunes info also requires an additional Applescript file, available here: http://droplr.com/ChO5F
- Lastly, I wanted to have a light and dark theme as I tend to change my wallpapers often.
Credit Where Due
My graphics skills leave much to be desired, so kudos to all the talented people who have made their great work available:
- Token icons: by ~brsev on deviantART
- Clipping Icons in dark version: by Laurent Baumann from ages past
- Phil Coffman: who created the dark wood panelled background
- Method background: sadly, I’ve lost the reference to where this nice wallpaper image came from. If you recognize it, please let me know. Update: Thanks to rtweep, the wallpaper reference is none other than Simple Desktops. This one was created by the curator himself, Tom Watson.
A gorgeous new Dashboard widget for Simplenote. Fits well with the app.
