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Revolutionary new Desktop app concept for OS X (AMAZING screens!)

mydreamapp.com — An amazing idea by Cameron Westland at MDA: Realistic seasons, weather conditions, daytime or night, moon phases etc. make your desktop resemble your real life environments. Fully customizable. Check out the beautiful concept artwork!

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anchorboi 2 years 2 days ago, made popular 2 years 2 days ago

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anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -22/+8That guy definitely has my vote. Most of the other apps are disappointing...

Hijack has some decent mockups, though.
- 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
- ilyag, 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- anonymonk, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5I agree with those who say that if you need to know the weather, just look out the window.
  
  However, this app might be nice if it measured other stuff, such as productivity, for example. Been digging all day? Rainy day for you... Coding all morning? Sunny beach scene...
  
  Pavlov was right...
- 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?
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Artistically, it's a great concept. My only concern is support for non-US citizens. It would have to connect to a weather service and too often the weather for other countries is less than accurate.
  And to make things worse, the weather (where I live, in particular) is incredibly unpredictable.
- mikeycav, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I work in a basement. I have no windows. I would appreciate this application.
  
  I am not lazy.
- popularme, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1typical mac *****. all eye candy, no real functions.
  
  reported as Lame.
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
- rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -36/+4digg this comment down for linking to a download page instead of the company's product page. It makes it look like you work for Pierre Chatel or MacUpdate.
- lofiboy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6Digg you down for being a dick.
  
  A lot of people use MacUpdate, and sometimes the original host is down and guess what you're left with. Stop making a big deal out of everything, digg.
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.
- OwenX, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19You should use the reply function. Just for further reference..
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`
- bjtitus, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3I don't see how whistling a tune could EVER work. Do you think it could actually be done? First you'd have to catalog all of the songs and their tunes, and then you'd have to some how clean up the audio from the mic and adjust it to best fit reasonable audio quality (since most people don't really have great pitch whistling anyway).
- 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.
- texpundit, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I love this...but my vote is for Whistler. That would make my switching back to a Mac even sweeter!
- 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)
smeinzer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I have always thought this concept would be more cool based on changes over time, then the still picture. Imagine hitting a hot key and the weather seamlessly transitions to tomorrow. This could also work pretty well as a screen saver vs. a desktop picture (or maybe in "window" on your desktop, and you could have different windows for different places you are interested in).
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.
felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -17/+4If you're on a Mac, you pretty much never see the desktop anyway.

There's no keyboard shortcut like Windows-D to hide every window (as far as I know), and if you go to the Finder and "Hide Others" you still see the Finder windows.

Yes, there's Exposé, but that's just for a quick peek, you're not staying on the desktop that way.

It's a neat idea, but aside from the novelty aspect of showing it to your friends, I can't imagine ever using it. Besides, my computer is right next to the window anyway. I can see much more beautiful views if I just turn my head a few degrees to the right.
- greedonever, 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.
- MajikalMan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Uhh, I don't know about you but F11 seems to work fine for me.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4First, the "Its not designed to change the world of computing" comment. Read the title of this article. "Revolutionary" "AMAZING" - those are the words I was reacting to.
  
  Second, F11. All that does is expose the desktop for a moment, then you are back to the apps you were working on. I certainly don't hit F11 and leave it there. Nothing wrong with that, Exposé is great, but that's not my point.
  
  I seriously would like to know who ever sees their desktop when they're on a Mac.
  
  As for Shift-Cmd-H, that just hides the app you're looking at. Although the actual shortcut is Cmd-H. Which I can easily verify, since I'm typing this on a Mac right now.
  
  I love my Mac, love OS X, but the desktop is just not something that you ever see if you're in the habit of running more than one program at a time.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
Foshi, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5***** AMAZING!!!!!! THIS IS A MUST SEE!!!!!
- Foshi, on 10/12/2007, -15/+3Note the sarcasm.
- Bega, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Noted.
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.
- ReqX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Except David Lanham's on the team. The artwork would be impressive indeed.
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.
greedonever, 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.
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.
- 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.
steeel, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2My monitor is too expensive to burn the bulbs showing some nice background all the time. ***** I am in a bad mood and I don't know what I am saying right now.

Please make me disappear!
mikm, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Very slick.
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.
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.
starmanjones, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1im going to have to go check this place out. just haven't had time. i read the comments and his answer to criticisms and not sure.

i have joined a few writers groups where judging was going on. they always turn out to be assholes... i been writing and been an editor and i'm pretty immune but the brutality of critiques are uncalled for. judges are looking for somewhere to exercise their assholeness. i always wanted one where the only things said were positive. yes that can be done. you can even address short comings in a positive way. putting your stuff out is tough on the ego. its your baby. don't know. seems a little like that. i'm going back to check out the place. i hope that this doesn't digress into something like that. i see the potential.

anyway... weather is one of the big draws. i have at least one weather app on every computer i use. on this one i have 5. i have weather for the town a girl friend lives. i have radar. the 5 day forecast... i don't know. i think the criticisms are wrong. i think most people have at least one weather app. none of them are feature complete. looked good to me.
ramsinks.com, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Just look outside.
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.
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I'm not affiliated with the developer, if that's what you are implying. I'm posting this because I love this app and want to see it come true, just like the other day when Hijack had a video mockup posted here... hardly "unfair" by any means, anyone could have some spotlight here. If you disagree, fine, don't digg this, don't vote for this app or post an article on your favorite contestant.
  
  871 people so far seem to agree that Atmosphere is something worth looking into, though. Just a hint.
- 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.
barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1e17 does this stuff too its pretty cool
Elric1977, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2no download? What's the point of posting it if it doesn't exist?
LAME
- TheGuy20, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Read the title. It says "concept". That means it isn't made yet but it could be made.
Erkan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Since these effects will use a bit more CPU power, a computer which is idle will draw more watt. I would hate to see my computer use 10-20 watt extra when I am in the kitchen for an hour. But I guess at work where electricity is free I would run it.
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"I would hate to see my computer use 10-20 watt extra when I am in the kitchen for an hour."
  So don't look at the power usage, problem solved. You won't see it :P
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Check the latest update on his blog, by the way the modular desktop composition works it will use little cpu power except during the update cycle.
jhshukla, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Nice demonstration of idea but it would be one of the last things i want on my desktop as background. when i am at a computer, i do not want things flying/trickling/flashing to interfere with my thinking process. to me it is equivalent of animated flash ads the difference being i have the power to turn it off if i want and that it is in background. would make an excellent screensaver though.

I have a better idea: feed in local weather reports (or backyard weather monitor) to generate ambient sound effects. change tint gradually & subtly for sunny vs overcast skies.
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Seems to have an optional screensaver mode, according to the forums posts.
optimo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Whistler.
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.
EochaidRiata, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Since it is "AMAZING!!!11one1!" it must need to be on the front page.
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.
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Well, since it's customizable, you could create and post a Hawaaii theme... would love to see that. :)
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.
Swampthing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I've stuck with Webshots on the desktop for years due to the wide variety of high quality photographs... and the ability to have them change randomly at regular intervals. Much better than some of the static stuff that gets boring after awhile.
marcammann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i somehow already hear alex albrecht say "***** the weather"
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.
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 ;)
- 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.
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Yeah, since webcams and widgets are so pleasant to look at....... not.
  
  I love the timeline and random location features... Users could create custom themes for each location and you can switch between a starry nocturnal Paris and sunny tropical beaches... I see lots of potential there!
Altotus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'll look around, but I had written a script that did this under Linux (specifically KDE, but I'm sure youcould make it desktop-agnostic). Tthe desktop backgrounds were being pulled from from a webcam pointed out into my backyard...
Rinkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's really neat and such but I wouldn't call it revolutionary.
022A, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm pretty I've seen everything there done before but not in a consolidated package. Cool enough, I'm sure someone will get a big kick out of it.

Personally, I used to spend a lot of time choosing themes, wallpaper, application skins and whatnot.

I haven't done it in years though.

I've come to believe that the best environment for productivity *and* creativity is a minimal one.
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.
sariduvar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Definitely a cool idea, but for Vienna you can simply put a wallpaper of a dark and rainy day. :)
- anchorboi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Same here, feel with you. :) I'd like to set my location to Tahiti and see at least some sunshine on my Mac.
Mannon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Love this idea :)
launchpadtt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The Linux desktop environment EnlightmentDR17 already does this
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.
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.
mrsspearing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hi all - I am old enough to remember when there was a computer in the office! Can you imagine it? I really like the idea of this weather screen - kind of like a window for MAC isn't it? Sometimes I just get so frazzled I need a break to look out the window (that I don't have). For me if I don't like the weather - rainy or snowy could I change my view to a sandy beach or a sunny field? Also as a new blogger I don't always understand all the idioms you use but it sounds like more of you want to complain than encourage. I am so excited at all the talent I see in these designers as I have no talent. I am often "on hold" with the telephone in my job and that's when I would use this application.
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 :).
P5ycHo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1So, where can I get it then?
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
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Revolutionary new Desktop app concept for OS X (AMAZING screens!)

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