Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Earlier this week we announced the iAnnoyance Challenge, a series of challenges in which we give you the weekend to code up a fix to something annoying in OS X. Oh yeah, there's cash involved too. While we initially said we'd give $100 to the winner (plus all donations sent in by others), we decided that, to kick things off, we wanted something special. That means that before donations, the prize money stands at an awesome... $500 And now, introducing the world's first iAnnoyance challenge... (drumroll) Red means Stop, Green means Go How many times have you thought the red "Close" button was going to quit your application when it was actually still running? Ever looked at your dock to find all of your applications still open? How many times have you clicked the green "zoom" button in anxious anticipation, having no idea whether the window would get a little bigger or go full screen? Ever shaken a fist at a developer who didn't read the Human Interface Guidelines? It's happened to us all. But no longer. We're looking for an app we're calling Red means Stop, Green means Go that will allow any Mac user to... - Make the red x always quit an app - Make the red x always hide an app (as in, close all windows but keep the app open) - Make the green Zoom button always go full screen. - Change these setting on a per application basis, so that the features can be disabled or enabled for specific apps. There should also be a universal setting. - Use one or all features There are several obvious benefits that this app presents. First, it'll mean one UI action where there are currently thousands, making the OS easier for children and seniors to understand. Secondly, it will save RAM, processor usage, battery life by closing unused apps in one click. Finally, if you're a stickler for Apple's HIG rules, you can tweak to your heart's delight. You have until Sunday night (Midnight CST, 6 am GMT) to email me (mashugly [at] gmail.com), PM me, or IM me your solution. It should be in good enough shape to release at that point, but if it's still in a beta stage (as in, still has a few bugs) that's fine too. Since we'll be open sourcing this app, the cleaner the code, the better. Best of luck! Rules: 1. All applications must be universal. 2. All applications must have a cool name (we'll stick with ours, unless you have a cooler one). 3. Every application must be easy and fun to use. 4. If a solution is not found within the 3 day challenge, the prize money drops to $300 for the week after the challenge and $400 for the weeks after that. Just a little extra incentive to beat everyone to a solution. Donated funds will stay the same. (Props to DiegoMax for ideas on the prizes) Donation List (Click here to donate) : None so far. To share this contest with the world (which will result in a better pool of applicants), digg it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
other Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I've definietly experienced the "having everything open" illusion though I'm never too sure what the little green button is for A fix for the green button would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 The cool thing about this app is that you can use all or nothing. It's up to you! Also, if you want this thing to do well, digg it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I can't wait to see how this turns out btw, I just dugg it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmanfvrga Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Hot damn. I can't code, but I want the full screen feature. That is one thing OSX annoys me about. I can't wait for the app to come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaberSHO Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 working on it, in the research phases now.....god i hope i have enough time to code this weekend..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtm3dd Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Mash I know you want the app fast an all but GEEEEEZE - more time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 The idea is that if we make it over the weekend, folks will have more time to do it. But also, if the competition ran for months, it would get forgotten (by most people). If no one comes up with a solution this weekend, though, that's ok - the contest continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bond Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 It would be interesting if we could slowly reduce the amount of money you would earn, the longer a person goes past the Sunday deadline. That way, we'd give them an incentive to get it done within the time limits, but still provide a good enough prize if extra time was needed. EDIT: Well....serves me right for not reading the rules completely. Btw Mash, is there a typo in rule #4, when you specify the amounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unstatusthequo Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 We're looking for an app we're calling Red means Stop, Green means Go that will allow any Mac user to... - Make the red x always quit an app - Make the red x always hide an app ... Um do you mean make the yellow button hide an app? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Um do you mean make the yellow button hide an app? Nope, I mean the Red X should just close all the windows but not quit the program. I'll edit it above to make it more clear. MrBond- I think I've got #4 right up there - we want to make sure that people still have incentive to work on it after the deadline if no one gets it working, but at the same time we'd like for it to be done this weekend. If, after all this is done, we realize that more time is needed for these projects, we can make the time longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moksha Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Can you make it stop updating the feed every time you get another digg? It's getting really annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
other Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 What RSS reader are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Ok, it's fixed now. It wasn't doing that when we tested it on our end. Thanks for the notice, moksha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moksha Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Ah, thanks for the fast response. The other thing I noticed was that the emoticon gets displayed as a stolen notice from osx86project.org, as you can see in the screenyshot. Stealing from your own website! How could you, Mash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Lol - it's for hotlinking protection, since a TON of our bandwidth was being sucked by hotlinks. We'll fix it. Thanks for letting us know. Good RSS feeds, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bond Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 4. If a solution is not found within the 3 day challenge, the prize money drops to $300 for the week after the challenge and $400 for the weeks after that. Just a little extra incentive to beat everyone to a solution. Donated funds will stay the same. (Props to DiegoMax for ideas on the prizes) Yeah, I understand Mash. It's just that shouldn't the prize money keep dropping by $100 each week, instead of going to $300 the week after the challenge, and then back up to $400 again? Seems a tad wonky. You'll have people waiting an extra week to complete the challenge, just so they can snag an extra $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Yeah, MrBond I considered that, but if someone got it done and waited the week, they run the risk of having someone else beat them to it. After we've done this contest and see how it goes, we might adjust some of these rules. Also, this is the only $500 contest, since this one is our first and is kinda special. All others will be about $250. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bond Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Okay....good to have that cleared up. That's why you're in charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unstatusthequo Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Hehe is it too late to completely learn Mac programming and try and complete it all in one weekend? Cuz that $500 could go a long way to aid my MeromBook Pro conquest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Start now, unstatusthequo - just stay up all weekend and do your best. You'll get enough sleep when you're dead. Looks like our digg story got buried - apparently Mac Digg users think that OS X is prefect enough to not be tweaked. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selectodude Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Mac Digg users don't want OS X to be Windows. If you want Windows XP, use Windows XP with a Mac skin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Just to throw out helpful hints, but one might want to make this work under the Application Enhancer (APE) framework. Can't remember if their SDK is free or not, but it's worth looking into Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 selectodude- The idea is not for OS X to be Windows, but instead to correct behaviors that developers sometimes make mistakes on. Also, it's a setting that a lot of people want. Edit: Regarding APE (which may be a good route to go) http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/ape/sdk It's $100 but there is a lite version available (meaning, if you bought it, you'd make a net of $400 or more. There's also no licensing cost since it's a free app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezoflip Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 yayayayayay, i hope someone will get this. I hate haveing to go to the top of the page to close it after i hit X in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts