Drinking The Fluid
Posted on May 20, 2009
Filed Under Twitter Stuff, Web 2.0 Stuff | 1 Comment
“Fluid” is a Mac thing and I am so glad that I’ve recently discovered it. If you’re pretty keen on knowing all things Mac related, then the idea/concept/function of the Fluid app is most likely not hot-off-the-press for you. However, it’s a new discovery to me and I feel compelled to write about it.
Being a devoted Firefox user, I got all excited about the recent news of the new “Prism” add-on. However, my excitement quickly faded over Prism once I discovered “Fluid.” The big difference between these two apps is that Prism is universal (Mac or PC) and Fluid is Mac only. And in my opinion, Fluid is much prettier.
What they are:
- A slick application designed to create Site Specific Browsers (SSBs).
What they do:
- Turns your favorite web pages into a desktop app that can be run completely separately outside of your internet browser.
- When launched it provides a tiny little window for you to enter your favorite web site URL, your preferred icon and then creates the self sustained application. Also known as a SSB.
Why you would want them:
- If you’re obsessively checking your Facebook, constantly uploading images to Flickr, watching Hulu or YouTube on your computer often, or even Twittering several times throughout the day, then Fluid and/or Prism will solve the irritating problem of having to your internet browser and having numerous tabs open all at once just to check these sites.
- It will give you the ability to hide certain things. If you’re an idiot who visits a specific porn site at work each day, then you can “hide” it by giving it a work icon and labeling it “TPS reports.” Not my cup o’ tea, but it was the best reason I could come up with for hiding something.
- Did I mention that the icons for Fluid are pretty and make your Mac dock look all shiny?
Photo Credit: http://www.fluidapp.com/
How do I get started?
- Down load the Prism app or the Fluid app to your machine.
- Follow the instructions from there. The programs are pretty self explanatory.
How do I find the pretty icons to use?
- You will have the option of using the web site’s favicon. You know that little graphic just to the left of the web site URL address at the top of your screen? If you choose this option, you will be at the mercy of the web designer.
- Your other option is to pick your own icon. This is where it gets serious for you designer types. If you’re not a designer fluent in Adobe products, then just Google the term “Fluid App Icons” and you will find all sorts of sites and blogs that have these icons. Some icons are pretty, some are not. One of my favorite icon designers is Chris Ivarson. In my opinion, his icons are well polished and look nice. Or you can search the Flickr Pool of these Fluid icons and download them from there.
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Cool. Now I label my porn sites at work as ‘Springfield Walk’.
(I’m kidding.)
Why aren’t you using ‘Subscribe To Comments’ plugin?