A few nights ago I started working on this silly idea I had to use a web page as my wallpaper. Not just a web page but a custom designed one that could show extra information in anyway I wanted. What you see here is still a work in progress.
First off on the left near the center is gamertag info from Xbox.com. I grab the code they provide and bitch slap it into the form I want using PHP. Shown is
mine and
Major Nelson's (just used him for testing purposes).
In the center at the very bottom we have a simple uptime and load averages display. Again I used PHP to get this done.
On the right at the bottom we have a javascript clock (it is ticking away in real time on my desktop) and a simple calendar. The clock is all javascript while the calendar is once again done with PHP.
The desktop is a customized version of
Cyrix Wall by
danillooc. The icons are from
here. The theme is the Aluminum Alloy Smog variant.
So far that is all I have coded up but I am planning on adding an iTunes current track display module, a javascript based load meter (if I can figure out a way to do it that is), something to display the status of my friends in iChat (again if I can figure out a way to do it), I might add a status display to the gamercard part as well, and who knows what else.
As I have mentioned PHP and javascript play a part of this as well as a bit of XHTML and some CSS. Also in a staring roll is WebDesktop by
Steven Frank. I checked out every application I could find that let you do this and WebDesktop seemed like the best even though it doesn't feature a full screen mode (I used my second display so that I could drag the WebDesktop window below the Dock). As far as polish and stability goes it is the best I have seen. And lastly this wouldn't be possible without Apache (or some other web server of course). Being able to access a local server instead of remote one is pretty much a must have for this kind of thing IMHO. I love having Apache installed by default on Mac OS X.
Guess in the end it isn't much different that Windows Active Desktop but it sure is a lot better looking IMHO.
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
Just kidding! Looking good. Keep it going.
