WebDesktop - 2.5

You can use the command line 'open' command to force WebDesktop to open and load a specific local page. For example:

open -a /Applications/WebDesktop.app ~/layout3.html

Causes WebDesktop to open and load the layout3.html file in your home directory. I use this in my user login script to load a page containing information updated by cron scripts to provide a personal 'information portal.' Works very well as the background on my second monitor.

Cow Tip and Cowmentary

Use one of these locations:

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/GIFS/WCI8.JPG (west coast)
and/or
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/GIFS/ECI8.JPG (east coast)

Now set the refresh rate to every 15 minutes and slowly observe weather as it heads toward you while you work. I have this NOAA image on my second monitor at about 50% opacity and it's very interesting to slowly observe the weather move in real time at this scale and distance. If you only have one monitor, just try to fit a part of the image in an area you don't use too much throughout the day.

After working on the computer all day, you start to realize the speed in which these systems move across the earth with an almost God-like perception. You begin to know where and when the weather is going to hit better than the forecasts. It's hard to explain, so just try it and you might see. Pretty fricken' cool.

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This software may well be the beginning of some very revolutionary applications. Apps where your computer will begin sending customized graphical data where you want it and how you want it right through your desktop with advanced custom interactivity and A.I. support. I can't wait to see what comes of this particular app via RSS feeds... or maybe in the future it could empower keyword, motion, color, object, and/or facial feature detection... and interactivity with them all.

For instance, you may be able to have various webcams and live graphical data all humming in the background on a second or third monitor that you can passively observe while you work. When important info is detected through one of the channels (for instance, a baby starts crying) the baby cam window can smoothly enlarge/expand and "move" forward (similar to Apple's exposé). At the same time it can sound an alert and vibrate your cell phone, mouse and/or whatever you choose. While it's at it, it can send an image to your cell phone.

If two or more alerts arrive at the same time you can set levels of importance via different sounds, sizes, colors, behavior, location, movement. etc. Highly important alerts could smoothly move the window from the extra monitor to your main monitor and expand it front and center. False alarm? Click a button in the window and it flies back where it came from (and learns).

All of this, of course, could apply to many applications (all at once) including system/network monitors, security (online and meatspace), financial info, TV news alerts... For example, live TV closed captioning (CC) sentries could pull forward a specific TV channel when a keyword you've set is detected in the closed captioning text. You could have 4 or 5 news stations playing at once silently together and with reduced opacity until one hits a CC keyword and its window expands, opacity increases and the sound turns on depending on the level of importance you've set for that keyword, channel, etc. All the while, your computer records the clip and you can choose to trash, save and/or shoot it out via email, across the network or however you'd like. Why? Here's just one example of thousands I could think of... Let's say you are assisting a political organization to get someone elected and you want to monitor the news media in real-time for coverage of their candidate. Use this TV tool on your secondary monitor while you comb through news on the internet for your client, all the while, keeping tabs for any other data you can think of for some other consulting you are doing at the same time... Too much clutter? Nope, all organized and interactive by priority and sharing space with Apple's exposé style window management.

Anyway... for now, I'm already working on a customized webpage with a bunch of realtime data streaming to it make as my "homepage" for WebDesktop. That way I can shrink stuff like the NOAA images and make room for other stuff until the shareware version of WebDesktop comes out and hopefully adds options like multiple windows, sites, zooming, etc. (see requests below)

I could go on forever noting vital applications for this type stuff, so I'll stop here. I'm glad to see a healthy start in this direction on the best operating system on the planet... OS X. I have a hunch Macs will be there (see all above) before the Wintel crowd when you have innovative dev's like Panic making revolutionary apps like this almost nonchalantly and in good spirit/humor.

I liken this to the space race between the Soviets (bad guys, Microsoft) and the United States (good guys, Apple). When the USA put a man on the moon, it said something to the world about the can-do spirit of the American people and the world grew towards the U.S. If Apple and it's bad ass inside and outside devs can pull this kind of stuff off before the Wintel crowd does... I think the marketshare of the good guys could finally reach levels that make Microsoft actually begin focusing more on better products instead of pumping corrupt political organizations (Dem and Reps) with money to thwart innovation. They'll have to deliver more than a buggy rip off of the Apple operating system to compete... they may be finally forced to innovate, if they are even capable of it.... I don't know, hahaha...

I'll go by the Smithsonian Museum this weekend in Washington, D.C. and rub the moon rock there for good luck. (Yes, you really can rub the moon rock there... no such luck in Russia, though.)

Feature requests for paid version: (without stating the obvious like navigation, bookmarks, etc.)

Motion/Color/Shape/Keyword-detection (with customization) with optional sound or visual alert to let you know the image has changed. Of these requests, the priority is motion detection so you can receive a custom sound and/or visual alert when images update if you choose.

Disappearing URL field

Zoom in and out (and memorization of zoom position for each window)

Support for multiple windows with individual homepages w/ various refresh rates for each and the ability to remember all of these window's URLs, refresh rates, size, zoom and position.

Ability to hide scrollbars from view when inactive

Auto-fit the border to images with one click

Functions with windows similiar to Unsanity's Windowshade X Minimize-in-Place. i.e., where shrinking windows would allow for the custom ability to expand the windows and contract as you pass over them, etc.

cool app, esp considering it's freeware! Now i want it to enlarge to screen size automatically and go to my favourite url upon launch and maybe the option to zoom out or something similar.. Awesome potential in this program!! :)

Very usefull specialized app, Thanks!!!

Though this is a "Fully functional web browser" I don't thing it was the developers intention to have folks throw away Safari/IE and start surfing the web on their desktops. Perhaps it is a ploy for a terrorist neat freak to get all Mac users to clean up their desktops..hmmm...just a theory.
Though I do agree that shortcuts for open and back would be nice, I would hate to see this turned into a "fully functional web browser". Right now it is simple, clean. and does not take up too much space or memory cycles. Let's not turn this into bloatware. If you want to see the weather, monitor your stocks, or even keep an eye on the latest VT updates, this is perfect and I don't think it should be any more than that. </2¢>