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More inspiration: Fab.com

If Apple can turn the editor of Windows Magazine into a fanboy, no one is safe. - more

I just want you to read this despite the fact I’ve shared it several times.

For the nine months that I lived in Brussels, I didn’t have a car, and I didn’t drive. But I didn’t miss it, and even if I had been given the opportunity, I rarely would I have chosen to take a car. - Car-free in Brussels

If you live in Jakarta. Consider reading this. Traffic actually taught me to start paying attention to the place I live in.

As an Twitter active user, I noticed a slight difference in usage pattern between using Twitter on desktop and mobile.

Checking out Twitter on mobile is most likely done when you’re waiting for bus, bored with a conversation, or when you’re getting ready to sleep. Most of time, you’re not doing important tasks. So, checking out timeline is one form of entertainment.

This is a whole different story when you’re checking out Twitter on your desktop. Most likely, you’re working. The timeline become a hindrance instead of entertainment.

Wren for Mac is an app crafted by Andrew Ramos and Kevin Smith with one purpose. It’s an app to help people working on Mac to focus, clearing all Twitter distraction.

The first time you launch Wren, you’ll be asked to enter your login information. There is no multiple account support yet, I think the team hasn’t found a better way to implement multiple account support without drifting away from the real purpose.

Wren for Mac uses a beautiful designed yellow feather icon to show that it’s a Twitter client. At the same time, the feather can also mean quill used for writing, representing itself as a writing tool for Twitter.

Contradicting to color choice in most Twitter client, Wren for Mac uses warm yellow color in the app. The overall feel makes you want to write when you launch the app. The notebook metaphor matches the OS X interface without showing a sign of forced realism.

Wren’s window is fixed, thus you won’t be able to resize it. The small window displays these three informations:

• Tweet box.
• Saved drafts.
• Your last tweet.

The tweet box has 140 letters limit without compromise. You’ll be able to shorten the url by clicking the shortening button there or by using shortcut. The drafts are displayed non-obtrusively on the right side. You can also see your previous tweet with timestamp included in a well balanced manner.

The whole layout works together to assist you in crafting quality tweets. Last tweet helps to keep track of your last tweet and relevancy, while the drafts can preview your tweets before published.

Wren has stripped all unnecessary shortcuts and commands in menu bar. As the result, figuring out and mastering all the available shortcuts doesn’t take much time.

Surprisingly, Wren’s preferences is so simple with almost nothing for you to configure. First, you can configure global shortcut to access Wren. In this case, I use option+w for it. Second, you can choose which URL shortening services you want to use. I think it’s one of the app with the most choices including bit.ly, CloudApp, goo.gl, is.gd, j.mp, and TinyURL.

However, it seems that CloudApp doesn’t work on Wren at the present.

What if there is someone mention you in their tweets? What if there is someone send you a direct message?

To solve these problems, I turn on notifications for replies and DM. I can do it since the number of replies and mentions are still relatively low.

I believe Wren for Mac is an app that doesn’t require much polishing and update anymore because it’s perfect already.

Wren for Mac is for you who want to occasionally tweet without having to check out timeline. If you love to pour your thought and don’t want to be distracted, then you should get this app.

Remember that Wren for Mac is not crafted to work as full featured client. Instead, it’s an app with one purpose. Let you share your thought and keep creating.

Purchase: Wren for Mac

With the Lion approaching in just a few days, it’s no wonder everyone will prepare their Snow Leopard for an upgrade. But, not in my case because I haven’t found any value in upgrading to Lion.

One of the reason is my MacBook doesn’t have multitouch support. I’ve tried Lion GM on my friend’s MacBook Pro and conclude several things.

• My workflow doesn’t change even with gesture support.
• I only use Expose, so Mission Control and Launchpad doesn’t increase my workflow.
• I don’t like sidebar icons and the overall feel of Lion.

Basically, I feel that there are many things I won’t use later in Lion.

Of course, Lion is worth an upgrade, especially with the Mail 5 and many system enhancements. But, if there is one reason for me upgrading to Lion is the GUI because I’ve never liked Aqua style.

So, I’ve been searching and waiting patiently for someone to create a proper mod for Snow Leopard. A theme that fits perfectly with Snow Leopard and yet doesn’t overshadow default theme. Introducing…

If there is one thing I want to emphasize about using mod for your desktop is knowing who craft all these mods. Always telling them how you love the mod they made if you can.

Snow Lion is a theme crafted by lukeedee to get similar button and progress bar in Lion. I can’t even believe that I’m on Snow Leopard after installing this theme. The button and progress bar alone add subtle difference to the whole OS.

Download: Official | Alternative

While the theme is very well made, I can’t deny that it doesn’t entirely convince me to use every elements in the theme. There some elements that I want to replace with other mods.

First, the menubar background. I hate glossy effect on menubar, it puts too much attention on menubar, causing distraction when I’m working with my desktop.

Second, while the title bar controls are very well made, I’m used to a minimalist version of traffic lights. And once again, it doesn’t distract me with those colorful buttons.

Last, since I’ve used a minimal mod for my iTunes. I also hope the scrollbar is consistent across whole system.

I can’t install them one by one because it’ll overlap each time you install a new theme. So I combined them all under one theme.

I know some of you might want the similar theme of mine. But I won’t be able to share it to you right now because I need permission from each respective mod owner in order to combine them. Once I have their permission, I’ll post the download link here.

So here are the sneak preview of my combined theme.

When was the last time you really immerse yourself into a conversation? A conversation that is simply for fun. A conversation where you’re being yourself. A conversation where you use your mouth instead of fingers to express yourself.

A conversation is more than just typing a message and send it to your friends. It’s more than just BUZZing your friends. It’s more than just giving a phone call to your family. It’s more than just a simple LIKE button.

A conversation, I think, should incorporate expression, emotion, and interaction. It’s something expressive, just like writing, to convey your thought and opinion. The only difference is you’re given less time to think. You have to be spontaneous.

I’ve been having a lot of conversation with my family recently. We talked about why I haven’t found a job. I discussed with my sister-in-law about disciplining my niece. My sister and I would argue about her diet. I would complain the way my mum cook.

The conversations I mentioned are fun and exciting. I love how my sister sulks her face when I mention about her diet. I also enjoy the my mum’s laughter when she manages to tease me. I like the way my 2 years old nephew throwing tantrum when I don’t give him the food he wants.

So, when you hang out with your family or friends next time. Put down your gadget and have a conversation. This time, with your eyes on them, not on the non-living gadget.

The sudden blackout cuts out the internet connection and I’m left with this MacBook as my only source of light. Approximately, I have around 3 hours left to write.

Surrounded by a complete darkness and silence makes me realize what a noisy world we’ve been living all this time. Using this short moment, I think, can help to clear this mind from all the accumulated noises.

What I’m doing is pretty easy and simple. Find a comfort position. Listen to the silence. Don’t think about anything, just enjoy everything while I can.

Breathe. Pay attention to my breathe. Stay aware of each breathe.

It’s a very short moment. It’s only 20 minutes. But, this 20 minutes is what each of us need everyday.

Stop questioning “Is this computer fast enough?”.

Does Windows Experience Index matter? Is getting a powerful machine the number one priority? Do you think achieving maximum score in Windows Experience Index improve your computing experience?

If we slow down and try to understand our needs, it’s not how fast our machine can handle the tasks we’re doing. What we need is to get things done, so what we need is a computer that can perform the commands we give well.

And what is the layer bridging us to the machine? It’s the operating system. A well made operating system can increase your productivity dramatically. Each interaction and experience helps you getting things done. It doesn’t confuse or annoy you with unnecessary message.

Remember. It only need to complete one thing. It is to help you getting things done, faster.

Of course, you can get yourself a powerful computer. But before considering buying a powerful and faster computer, shouldn’t you learn how to use it?

“Everybody’s got problems.” said the Buddha. “In fact, we’ve all got 83 problems. Each one of us. Eightythree problems and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you work really hard on one of them, maybe you can fix it— but if you do, another one will pop right into it’s place. For example, you’re going to lose your loved ones eventually. And you’re going to die someday. Now there’s a problem, and there’s nothing you or I, or anyone else, can do about it.” - 83 Problems

It doesn’t mean you stop taking care of your health. It doesn’t mean you stop teaching your children how to behave. It doesn’t mean you stop working hard in your life. Just because you’ll die one day, it doesn’t mean you need to stop trying.

What you need is to stop creating problems and the problems shall cease.

Graduating from one of the self-claimed renowned university in Indonesia marks the end of one chapter in my life. I was like everyone else, beginning my journey to hunt the job I desire, or maybe a job with high income. I had a small plan, a plan to work as an iOS programmer, or maybe not.

But do I really want to work as a programmer? I couldn’t find the answer if I didn’t try to be one. So, I submitted my resume to several companies and started to read books about iOS development and Objective-C.

While waiting for the replies, I also participated a job expo held by the university I graduated from. I didn’t really know why I participated. Maybe I was hoping it would bring some change in my life.

It was the month where I tried to explore every possibilities. It was the month where I constantly asking myself “What career should I choose?”, “Am I capable of doing this?”.

Entering second month without job, I can feel the desperation grows stronger. My family would ask me why I hadn’t found a job. My answer was very simple, “I’ve submitted my resume, but no replies”.

I actually considered working as a teacher at school or as a guy sitting in the office from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. Of course, if you’re not sure about your decision, it’s difficult for others to be sure in hiring you.

End of month, there were no replies. I didn’t manage to find a job.

I decided to stop looking for job. I decided to stop leaning towards the path as programmer. I decided that I want to start a tutoring business.

I didn’t choose this path because I had no choice. Deep inside my heart, I despise existing curriculum and some tutoring center teaching methods. I want to build a tutoring center where I shape children as an independent learner so they can pursue their dreams by themselves when they grow up. A group of children being true to themselves, living the life they love.

Starting business doesn’t require large sum of capital. I believe in bootstrapped business model. I can start from small and build my way slowly. But I guess not everyone believe in bootstrapped business.

Of course, it dramatically changed my daily activities.

My daily activities were consisted of reading, writing, and tutoring. Reading the daily updates from my feeds subscription, writing for this blog, and tutoring as my business. There were more time left to watch the soap opera with my mum and play with my nephew. While the income barely covered my monthly expense, it was very fun and enjoyable.

There was a call from the place where my friend working as a programmer. The owner told to come for an interview. The interview process was very simple. I told him that I didn’t have any specific skills in particular area. I knew a little about programming, UI design, web design, and UX design. I wasn’t really hoping much from him, based on previous interview experience.

Surprisingly, he offered me a job working as a part timer at his place. Nothing particular, I was offered to help with the chores over there while learning on job. He said I could learn UX design, UI design, or programming. Basically, it’s my choice.

I couldn’t believe it. I was very delighted. Not because I found a job, but because I managed to find my desired job. A job where I don’t care much for the income. A job where I can explore each area of expertise. More over, I can still maintain my tutoring business.

I learned one thing about myself. I’m going to be true to myself, following the voice of my heart and live the life I choose.

I realized the thing I love actually can be found in the belief I hold. Things like how I despise existing curriculum, enjoy connecting with others, love great UI/UX design, and demand best customer services.

I might not be rich. I might be labeled as a failure. But, I don’t care about these things anymore. As long I’m not harming others in the process, I want to pursue the path I choose.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be happy living other people life. After all, why bother living if you’re lying to yourself.

It seems the upcoming Lion comes with many hidden gems. One of them is the option to run Safari Browser Only Mode which is very similar to the Chrome OS made by Google. No more worrying about privacy when you friends borrow your Mac.

Lion will arrive this July, meaning that you won’t be able to get this feature unless you upgrade to Lion. Some of you might upgrade, some of you might wait. There is minimum requirements for this upgrade, so you need to confirm your Mac specifications.

Now, let’s talk about Snow Leopard. Soon, it’ll be history, or maybe not. Snow Leopard is awesome in its own term. Easy to use, carrying on the legacy from its previous ancestor. Looking at the Mufasa clouds, iCloud and Lion, reminds me of one of the scene in Lion King. Well, that’s unrelated. But we can have this Safari Mode in Snow Leopard easily. The screenshot below shows what you get.

It’s not difficult, a few short explanation should give you the picture how I do it. Basically, you setup a guest account with parental control, enabling simple finder mode, and only allow Safari to be executed. Here are the detailed instructions.

Enable Guest Account to grant access for your family, your friends, and thief. I wrote about keeping your MacBook safe recently which required guest account. We’re going to tell the thief directly “Hey, you can use this MacBook to browse!”. You can do this by accessing System Preferences: Accounts.

Configure Parental Controls to limit guest access to your apps and documents. There are several options available, but you should use the settings below and only allow your chosen browser. See other options for web access and time limits if you have children at home.

Once you’ve done configuring, try the guest account yourself and experience this mode. Guest can only run your chosen browser and with Simple Finder, everything is made simpler and easier. I think my niece can even use this mode without my assistance. And, it can also help you to recover your stolen MacBook.

Existing Twitter clients are build based on past Twitter user experience. Past Twitter is the service where real people tweet their activities. There were less companies, brands, and idols using it as one of the marketing tool. People used it merely to express themselves and engage with their friends.

Twitter has entered a phase where it’s no longer only about self expression and social engagement. Following is no longer for the people you find interesting. It can also serve as an aggregator. It can also serve as a bookmarking services. It can take many forms thus developers can build many types of Twitter client from different approach.

The way I’m using Twitter client is no longer similar to how I used Twitter one year ago. In the past, I followed everything. Blogs, people, friends, all of them are under one huge list known as the people I follow. It was a mess. I was very selective in choosing the people I follow, but of course the huge timeline was still a problem.

With the list feature, I can unfollow everyone and list everyone under several categories. Want to know what your fellow designers have been doing? Make a list. Want to know the latest Apple news? Make a list. Want to know what your friends been up to? Make a list. So there are many promotion from your favorite companies? Make a list.

Unless you need the direct message service, you can choose not to follow anyone. We’re no longer need to add everyone into the list known as “People I follow” just to get their updates.

But, there is no Twitter client that make use of the list well. Be it on desktop or mobile device, the existing apps still follow the same old user experience. We’re stuck with the timeline. The timeline and list are separated.

I need a Twitter client that can leverage list feature into the timeline.

I’ve been trying to come up with my own personal Twitter client. A Twitter client I think will satisfy my needs. I’ve even tried to write my own Twitter client two weeks ago which doesn’t yield any result yet. But I hope this post will let developers know what I want personally.

• Timeline is made up from list. The people I follow are under one abstract list. This timeline can let you toggle the list you follow and display all of them in the timeline. If I follow 10 lists, I can choose which list will appear in my timeline. The reason why I think this approach works is because I only want 2 out of 10 list I follow to appear in my timeline.
• Bundle List to let me bundle several lists together. You can call it categories, or groups. But the main point of this feature is to let you bundle lists together and display them under the similar form to the main timeline where you can toggle lists.
• Bundle Search is using the same concept. You save the keywords and you can view them under one timeline. If you save two keywords such as Apple and Microsoft. Turning them on will display a timeline with related keywords in it. In another word, you combine Apple search result with Microsoft search result into one timeline.

Can all the features above be done? While I can’t say for sure how developers will handle the duplicate tweets. The features can be implemented. It doesn’t break the existing Twitter client user experience, but instead adding another layer, I think, is very useful to Twitter power user.

This is just a concept I have by considering my habit using Twitter from the standpoint of regular user.

I like QuickTime Player, but I don’t like third-party plug-ins. Neither Flip4Mac or Perian is installed on my machine. I’d like to keep the system default as much as possible.

I prefer to have a standalone app that can play all the file types rather than having several plugins installed. This is the simplest approach because when you decide not to use the app, you can simply remove the app.

Several open source multimedia player can handle most of the file types without problem. VLC is one of them. I still love to use VLC on my Windows machine, but for Mac, I use Mplayerx.

Mplayerx is an open source multimedia player crafted by Zongyao Qu by considering the simplicity, aesthetic beauty, and the core features. By simplicity, it’s very similar to QuickTime Player in term of interface and user experience.

I haven’t done any benchmarking, but Mplayerx seems more responsive compared to VLC. Whenever I launch video with VLC, there is a very short time lapse before the actual video appear. With Mplayerx, the video is opened right after the click.

Another reason why I love Mplayerx is the simple configuration panel. I can understand the whole available settings easily without problem.

Give Mplayerx a try, and you might also love it simplicity.

One of my friends lost his MacBook Pro recently. There was no way to track his stolen MacBook because there was no tracking app installed. Somehow I blame myself for not spreading the news on how to keep their MacBook safe.

If you own a MacBook or similar devices, there are several ways to keep your Mac safe. I hope these simple tips can increase the chance to get back your stolen devices or even preventing it from getting stolen.

• Install tracking app so you can track your stolen device. The app will send you several information like location, screenshot, and photo periodically where you can use them to track the thief. Personally, I use Prey for this.

• Enable guest account because the tracking app requires internet connection. Letting the thief login using guest account can let you fetch the information quickly without risking the modification of your existing files. You can also enable parental control for the guest account to prevent the thief accessing certain apps.

• Setup firmware password to ensure the thief can’t modify your installed OS by booting using another OS installation disc. Setting up firmware password can be done by booting using your OS installation disc and choose setup firmware password from the utility in menu bar. Apple provides documentation on how to enable firmware protection.

• Stay alert when you bring your device around. Remember that the thief only take the chance given to him. By staying alert the whole time can prevent your device from getting stolen.

• Don’t bring it along. Wouldn’t it better to leave your device at home and enjoy your adventure out there without having to worry about it?

I hope this post can serve as a reminder for my readers and visitors. If you’ve done everything you can to prevent your devices from getting stolen, then now it’s your responsibility to educate your close one to secure their devices.

I was working out on the gym and someone let the weights fall to the floor. It made a sound that reminded me of small arms fire and I dived to the ground. I don’t know why but I did. Sometimes it happens.

The guy began laughing and when I told him to please stop it, that it wasn’t funny, he asked why. I explained. He then said: You all soldiers are fucking crazy. Get a life! - Minimal

There is a reason why I tell my sister not to judge. We don’t know the story behind each person behavior. They don’t know our story, and we don’t know their story. That’s why we need to develop patience and compassion towards each other.

The Buddhist notion of diligence is to delight in positive deeds. Its opposite, called le lo in Tibetan, has three aspects. Le lo is usually translated as “laziness,” though only its first aspect refers to laziness as we usually understand it.

The first aspect is not doing something because of indolence, even though we know that it is good and ought to be done.

The second aspect is faintheartedness. This comes about when we underestimate our qualities and abilities, thinking, “I’m so incompetent and weak. It would be good to do that, but I could never accomplish it.” Not having the confidence of thinking, “I can do it,” we end up doing nothing.

The third aspect refers to being very busy and seeming diligent, but wasting time and energy on meaningless activities that will not accomplish anything in the long run. When we do many things for no real purpose, we fail to focus on what is truly worthwhile and our path has no clear direction.

When we refrain from these three aspects of laziness, we are diligent.

Source: Dharma Flower - Self Confidence

“Just be yourself” is one of the most used phrase to comfort myself. Not just me, but most of my friends will use this phrase to comfort anyone facing hesitation, trouble, and insecurity.

The problem is that we never want to be ourselves. We want to be someone else. We want to be that man who can travel around the world. We want to be that charming girl who is passionate with her life.

In the end, what we really want is to make meaning with our life. We’re afraid that we can’t achieve anything in this lifetime. We’re too scared to admit that we’ve been wasting our life.

I also want to live a life full of meaning. But what is the meaning I’ve been searching for all this time? Is it the money? Is it the passion? Is it the love?

Life is not an exam where you need put answer on the paper. Life is the stream of river where you follow along and make adjustment along the way. You can’t stop the flow, but you can choose how you flow. Stop chasing who is in front of you. Instead, focus in making yourself a better person.

I’m just a normal person who sometimes feel insecure with myself. By realizing this, I know that I can’t change myself instantly in few days. It requires process with small changes over time. Instead of becoming myself, I try to bring out my best self. This self we’re talking about will grow over time, and might stop growing.

The choice is yours.

Will you become your best self? Someone that no longer feel insecure with what you have and feel satisfied with everything you’ve done within your ability? Or will you become someone who constantly feel insecure and dissatisfied with himself while searching for the meaning of life endlessly?

I’m no longer searching for the meaning of life. I flow along the river, begin to pay attention to the scenery around me. When there are opportunities to try something I love, I’ll go for it. When the situation doesn’t allow, I’ll follow along and keep looking around until there is a chance for me to do so.

I’ve done everything within my ability to bring out my best current self. The only thing I can do right now is to enjoy the present.

Windows has become one of the my favorite company sitting alongside with Apple. They still build Windows and sell their office suites, but there are many things they have changed.

They don’t have Windows Home, Windows Home Premium, and those “WTF” type of Windows anymore. Instead, they build a new lineup of Windows by assigning flower name to them. Most notable for their Windows Cherry Blossom, Windows Lily,and Windows Rose. I don’t know if it’s related to the fact that Leopard and Tiger don’t eat flowers. But it sounds good.

You might wonder how the name will affect product category. All of them are same in term of features, but the names are made to help users differentiate the PC specification. PC Manufacturers need to follow some rules set by Microsoft if they intend to use Windows in their PC.

Windows Lily can only be installed for a notebook that has the 13” wide screen, minimum 7 hours battery lifetime, and the maximum weight of 5.0 pounds, height of 1.1 inches, and width of 13 inches. Aside from model design, Microsoft also requires it to have minimum memory, processor, and graphic cards that change every years. So every manufacturers must fulfill the requirements in order to use Windows Lily for their notebooks.

There are also other versions of Windows such as Windows Cherry Blossom or Windows Ixora specifically for other type of PC/notebooks. But I think you get the idea how Microsoft categorize their Windows OS.

At first, some manufacturers switch to Linux and uBuntu. But the others stick with Microsoft because of its market share and come up with more beautiful design for their notebook to match the specifications set by Microsoft. It seems that Microsoft also offer shared profit to enforce this practice.

Another rules that the manufactures must agree is not to install any softwares or configure the Windows without user’s permission. Manufactures must include their drivers files in the thumbdrive or users can install it the first time they launch Windows.

The Windows itself is revamped from zero, now every software installed match the Windows UI itself. Microsoft also published the interface guideline on how to design with Metro concept. If you think the OS allows you to install the software from its predecessor, Windows 8, then you’re wrong. It still allows you to open the some documents supported in Windows 8, but now you can simply install new app by choosing “Add to Application List”.

Every software has the “Storage” in their option where you can view your stored content. This is where your app store all the files, caches, and configurations. By default, it only show you the content you’ve saved, excluding caches. You can still open and edit the traditional file types such as jpg, bmp here.

If you try to remove a software, it’ll offer an option for to save your settings and files. It also list all the user’s storage tied to the app so you can remove all things at once if there are several users in one computer.

You can still install Windows on your custom configured PC if you can build a compatible PC. But the overall experience is much better compared to your times.

- Man From The Future

For desire a remedy of general application is the meditation on impermanence, which knocks away the underlying prop of clinging, the implicit assumption that the objects clung to are stable and durable.

For desire in the specific form of sensual lust the most potent antidote is the contemplation of the unattractive nature of the body, to be dealt with at greater length in the next chapter.

Ill will meets its proper remedy in the meditation on lovingkindness (metta), which banishes all traces of hatred and anger through the methodical radiation of the altruistic wish that all beings be well and happy.

The dispelling of dullness and drowsiness calls for a special effort to arouse energy, for which several methods are suggested: the visualization of a brilliant ball of light, getting up and doing a period of brisk walking meditation, reflection on death, or simply making a firm determination to continue striving.

Restlessness and worry are most effectively countered by turning the mind to a simple object that tends to calm it down; the method usually recommended is mindfulness of breathing, attention to the in-and-out flow of the breath.

In the case of doubt the special remedy is investigation: to make inquiries, ask questions, and study the teachings until the obscure points become clear

Source: Right Effort

Adium has always been my favorite IM client because of its support to many IM services and the ability to customize theme. I’ve shared my personalized theme using modifications crafted by several authors at DeviantArt and it remains one of the popular posts in this blog.

I’ve been browsing for Adium theme recently and discover some beautiful themes. This is one of the best textured based Adium theme I’ve seen so far. In this post, I’m going to share all the mods I’ve applied for this theme.

I’ve never seen any Adium dock icon that is beautiful while still maintaining the original Adium mascot. Birdie is the dock icon crafted by arrioch featuring a cute little green bird. The reason why I love this icon is the cute animation and how it resembles the Adium original dock icon. That is also the reason why I don’t like the idea of using iChat icon as the replacement for Adium icon.¹

This is where I contradict with my previous statement. There are many contact list styles for Adium. But I find that the most suitable theme for this whole package of modification goes to iDium contact list style. Originally made by Pritthish and now maintained by gnome, they try to bring iChat user interface to Adium.

You can achieve the iChat UI by downloading iDium Beta mod. But in this case, we’re not going to use all the mod provided, instead we’ll only use the contact list style, and the plugin that modifies the input message style.

One of the best textured based message style. Also crafted by Pritthish, Taz uses the color combination found in Twitterrific with many details refined. Enable the header by navigate to Preferences: Messages: Show header. There is only one word to describe Taz, beautiful.

It’s not part of the mod, but if you find the existing Adium toolbar icons outdated and wish to replace with something new and shiny. Consider the mod made by Bogdan which is much much better than the existing one. I especially like the Appearance icon included inside the package. Download the mod if you’re interested.

I’ve included all the links to all the mods I’ve used in this customization in each paragraph. If you prefer an easier way to customize theme without having to visit each site separately, I’ve included a package that contains all the files required to change your Adium theme, except the toolbar icons.

Download

You can always ask me question if you encounter any problems.

1. Using iChat icon as the replacement for Adium only add confusion instead of aesthetic beauty. ↩