icons

Browse in classic style with Nautipolis for Firefox

The ancient browser wars have nothing on the current competition for top honors. Firefox has responded to stiff challenges with a variety of changes and upgrades, but here's the thing about changes: Not everyone likes them. While no one's calling for a performance downgrade, those users who prefer a more classic look can indulge their retro (or retrogrouch) impulse with Nautipolis for Firefox. This free theme for Mozilla Firefox uses high-quality icons from art.gnome.org to give the Firefox interface a sleek, retro-inspired look without sacrificing up-to-date rendering and features. Nautipolis also supports a wide range of … Read more

Steve Jobs doll canceled after 'immense pressure'

The maker of a controversial Steve Jobs doll is ceasing production and sales of the 12-inch figure in response to "immense pressure" from Apple and Jobs' family.

"Though we still believe that we have not overstepped any legal boundaries, we have decided to completely stop the offer, production and sale of the Steve Jobs figurine out of our heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family," Tandy Cheung, head of the Hong Kong-based In Icons, said in a statement yesterday announcing the decision. "Regardless of the pressure, I am still Steve's fan, I fully respect Steve, and his family, and it is definitely not my wish or intention that they be upset." … Read more

Make your own icons with this easy-to-use freeware

Junior Icon Editor is a free graphics drawing tool optimized for creating and editing icons to use in Windows. You can create icons in sizes up to 64x64 pixels and 32-bit True Color. It includes a variety of standard drawing tools like paint brushes and text tools, and its tabbed interface lets you create several icons at once. You can set transparency, enlarge or reduce images, and smooth edges, among other functions. Once you've created and saved your custom icons, you can use them to replace other icons in Windows.

Junior Icon Editor is basically a simplified, specialized image … Read more

Add settings icons to your iDevice, no jailbreak required

One of the big draws of jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad is access to SBSettings, a free app that provides quick access to settings like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, screen brightness, and so on.

If you've ever wished for that kind of convenience without the hassles of jailbreaking, this is your lucky day. A hack called IconSettings lets you add up to 40 iOS-settings icons to your iDevice, no jailbreaking required.

This "app" is actually a collection of fancy-icon browser bookmarks with hooks into iOS settings. Thus, when you tap, say, Brightness, you'll see Safari appear and … Read more

Icon resizing controls in Lion

In OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Apple introduced an option to control icon sizes by simply using the pinch-zoom gesture on Macs with multi-touch trackpads. If you pulled your fingers together then the icon sizes in the current window would get smaller, and if you spread your fingers then the icons would get larger.

This feature has been removed in OS X Lion, which has frustrated a number of people who have come to rely on its convenience. While the Finder's preferences file may have an option called "EnableZoomPinch" for some users, this option is likely … Read more

How to customize folder icons in Windows 7

Is your Windows 7 system a sea of bland yellow folders? Custom folder icons can make folders easier to find and they're prettier to look at too. Here's how to customize your Windows 7 folder icons:

Step 1: Right-click on a folder you want to customize and select "Properties."

Step 2: In the "Customize" tab, go to the "Folder icons" section and click the "Change Icon" button.

Step 3: Choose one of the many icons listed in the box then click OK. These icons are located in C:\Windows\system32\… Read more

How to get the Apple logo icon on iOS

If you are on Twitter, you most likely read about the death of Steve Jobs in the numerous tweets that seemed to take over the service for hours. You may have also noticed, or have even taken part in, sending a tweet with nothing more than an Apple logo icon, as a miniature tribute to the greatest visionary of our time.

Read on to find out how to get the Apple logo icon on your iOS device, as well as some other special characters that iOS and Emoji don't provide. … Read more

Icon and window positions shifting in OS X

Periodically, Mac users may find that the system does not seem to recognize icon and window placement settings, and may display items in random orders and positions under certain conditions. Normally when you make a change to a Finder window layout, be it the position of items, the view setting, or the window size and location, these settings are saved; however, it appears in some instances, this may not be happening properly. A number of people who have upgraded to OS X Lion have recently found this to be an issue with their systems.

Whenever Finder window view settings do … Read more

Spruce up your Android with Beautiful Widgets

Beautiful Widgets outfits your Android OS with exactly what its name promises. It gives you the power to customize your Home screen with various-size clocks and weather widgets, plus smaller Toggle widgets that activate Wi-Fi, vibrate, plane mode, brightness, and more. The app also lets you customize appearance settings like widget text color and background transparency.

The free Beautiful Widgets Lite is bare bones. It comes with different clocks and weather widgets, but no Toggle widgets, Battery widget, or Accuweather services. And most importantly, it lacks access to skins, which could be something of a deal breaker, considering the skins … Read more

3D desktop simulator

Real Desktop from Schillergames is a free desktop application that simulates a three-dimensional desktop resembling the top of an actual desk. You can customize everything from the intensity of the colors and lighting to the direction of the shadows; even configure them for a specific time of day. While the effect is interesting, the freeware's limited features limit its usefulness.

Real Desktop's download attempts to install a variety of "extras," such as Facemoods, a search aid, a toolbar, and something called PageShots Pro. Read each screen carefully and deselect the agreements to install these dubious "… Read more