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INTRODUCTION
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============
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First, a word about Fahrenheit. The theme, like its namesake, is
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not meant to be the final word in practicality or usability. Think about
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it: why hasn't the US switched to Celcius, a much more practical and
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usable temperature scale? It makes much more sense to base a temperature
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scale around water (since so much of life literally revolves around
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water). Just what is 0<>F and 100<30>F anyways? It makes no sense at all,
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other than the inertia of tradition.
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Fahrenheit the theme is much the same way, except that it lacks
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the temperture scale's inertia, but it also looks (in the author's
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opinion) more visually interesting than the standard square box. Be it
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the lickable OSX or the crayola WinXP, the fact remains that even by
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rounding out the corners, most window decorations are hopelessly mired in
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squareville. Now, there are good reasons for square. Square is usable.
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Square is practical. Square is comforting and familiar, like a teddy
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bear that's gotten the stuffing squeezed out of it. But square is also
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boring, overdone, and, like week-old leftovers, there's only so much you
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can do with it before you get sick of turkey sandwiches and turkey
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tquiche and turkey omlettes and cream of turkey soup.
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To relieve my boredom, there's Fahrenheit. That's right, this is
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about _me_. If you like it, you're more than welcome to use it. If you
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don't, then forget about it. It's not for you. Go back to squaredom. I
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don't care. Yes, this violates Fitt's law in obscene and unthinkable
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ways. The buttons may be too small, but then, I have fine motor control
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and don't find it a problem in the least. I find it usable; therefore,
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it is usable for me. It wastes space with all the funky curves and bars.
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Well, my monitor is 1400x1050, so I've got space to waste.
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COLORS
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======
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There are six color settings that you will want to play with
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in the Control Panel:Appearances & Themes:Colors dialog. These are:
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- Active Title Bar
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- Inactive Title Bar
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- Active Window Frame
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- Inactive Window Frame
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- Active Window Handle
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- Inactive Window Handle
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The title bar and window frame colors should be self-evident.
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Less obviously, however, are the window handle settings. This changes
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the color of the grip lines in the upper-right hand corner of the frame.
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THANKS
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======
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Inspiration: Fahrenheit was inspired by the mock-up screenshots
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of a hypothetical future BeOS window border, GonX. See the screenshots
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at http://cotito.free.fr/projects/.
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David Johnson on the twin mailing list was of great help to me
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while writing this decoration. His Example decoration
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(http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=6332) is also a great
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framework for creating new decorations as well.
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