Bodizzle Theme Blog

New Website and Theme Updates

2009-07-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

I have finished most of the updates to my themes. I have a couple of them left to update but I will have them uploaded this weekend for everyone who has updated to Firefox 3.5.

After 8 months of being unemployed and looking for something to pay the bills, I have just finished up a contract to partner with Ask.com. What that means for me is I will be able to focus my full attention on creating and maintaining my theme collection and spend the time needed to keep them looking and working their best.

What that means for you is my themes will now be free from this point on. In order to keep the themes free, I will bundle the Ask.com search engine with my themes. When you install one of my themes, the default search engine in the toolbar search window will be reset to Ask.com. By using Ask for your searches, you will help subsidize the cost needed to spend time updating and maintaining my themes and provide the necessary support for any issues that come up.

I understand that not everyone wants to use Ask so it is very easy to switch back to your favorite search engine. However, if you haven't tried Ask out, give it a try. I have been using it exclusively since they contacted me and have found that Google isn't the only search engine out there that gives you great results.

I hope to have my updates uploaded and my new website up by the end of the weekend. I appreciate all of you who have supported me by purchasing my themes over the past year. I believe my decision to partner with Ask will be the best way to make sure I can continue to offer the best possible product.

Update on My Current Situation

2009-03-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

Some of you have commented that you have not received a response to comments.

I have been delayed in updating for a variety. This has been a crazy time in my life in case you did not see my recent post.

I was laid off from my job, we found out my wife was pregnant with our third child a week later and lost our health insurance, my wife's uncle who was very close to our family died in early February, and the job market is really crappy right now so I have been scrambling to try to take care of our situation.

Recently, I have been creating blog layouts and small websites to earn some extra money so I have not been able to focus as much attention on getting the bugs worked out with my themes. I apologize for this and hope you understand.

I am working on a new website and blog along with updates to my themes. I create and manage the site and my themes entirely by myself so there are no other developers besides me.

Right now, my image is not at the top of my list of things to worry about, it is making sure we can stay above water until things turn around. Part of that, however, is to make sure my website and all my themes are working perfectly.

All updates are free so when they are working properly, you will get a notice to download and install the update.

I appreciate your patience as I try to get everything updated and taken care of.

Bouncing Issue

2009-01-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are experiencing a bouncing window with some of the themes for Windows, try disabling extensions, specifically the All In One Sidebar if you are using it, to see if that stops the bouncing.

Remember, my updates are automatic and free and will be available when the cause of the bounce is found. Themes and extensions are created by different developers that do not communicate with each other so it is possible that they changed something in an extension that does not like working with a part of my themes. If this is the case, I can find the problem and adjust as needed but don't uninstall the theme. Simply choose another theme while a fix is found.

Greatness

2009-01-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

I just got back from our Church men's retreat at Skamania Lodge with teachings by Gayle Erwin and it was amazing. There was nothing profound about it, it simply stated the simple message of the Gospels by focusing on the nature of Jesus.

We have cartoonized Jesus, God, Satan, Heaven, and Hell so much that Christianity is often not recognized anymore and the true purpose of why Jesus came is not understood.

Last night we started by talking about what it meas to be great and first. The Disciples are seen fighting often over who was the greatest among them. They would bicker and argue like children but quickly shut their mouths when Jesus would ask what they were talking about. He knew but I guess He figured it would be fun to see how they would respond. After asking, He would break into a little mini sermon on what it meant to be great in the Kingdom of God. He told them if you want to be great then you must become a servant, or a slave, to others. Servants exist to make life better for others. This is the exact opposite of human nature. We are told to have high self-esteem. We are told to take care of ourselves first before we can take care of others but Jesus turned that around. We are to be other-centered and have high others-esteem by putting their needs ahead of ours.

True satisfaction comes in others-centered service to others. We often like to act like we are serving others but our attitudes after that "service" gives away our intentions. Often we are upset about something after we help others out because we are expecting something in return.

Jesus was our perfect example of selfless service. He came down to earth, had no home, had no money, was born as a baby in a dirty barn, he grew up in a region that was considered a hick town. The book of Isaiah tells us there was nothing special about His appearance. He lived a perfect life and died one of the most brutal deaths a person could suffer. If He was God, why did He go through all of this? He didn't have to but He lived as an example for us. He didn't just tell us to serve others, He showed us how to serve others by becoming a servant. He showed us how to love unconditionally by loving us unconditionally. He had his pick of anyone in the world to make His Disciples and He chose a bunch of uneducated losers who never understood what He was talking about, denied knowing Him, argued over who was the best among the group, betrayed Him, and doubted His promises.

Today we talked about humility. Humility is not a strength of people. Even in our humility, we are often prideful. We look at ourselves and say, "look how humble I am." Gayle explained that humility is having an honest and accurate view of ourselves and presenting that view of ourselves in an honest open way to others. When we are truly humble and honest, people are not left guessing the intentions of our actions. They can trust us and the relationship can thrive. There is such a huge problem in America now with the breakdown of relationships because we can't trust anyone.

The entire retreat was narrowed down to one simple thing. If you want to be great, put others ahead of yourselves. Jesus was our perfect example on how to do this.

"Bounce" in Revelation

2009-01-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

This may not be a bug in my theme but a Firefox issue. I found this article.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox-3.0/+bug/242281

and many people reported a bug where the browser window would bounce for various reasons. People have solved the "bounce" using various methods but it is not limited to my theme. This does not happen on every computer and seems to be limited from my experience to Windows users. I have it installed on XP and have tested it and do not get the bounce.

You may try uninstalling Firefox and download/install the latest release.

Extension Building

2009-01-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

I am venturing into the realm of extensions now. I need a very basic extension that adds a button to the toolbar and/or a preloaded bookmark to the bookmark toolbar that links to a specific page.

If anyone has any insight to help me get started on this or can offer any other help I would greatly appreciate it.

Revelation Windows

2009-01-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

**********************UPDATE************************

For those of you who were not able to auto-install the most recent update, I found the issue. There was a small typo in the update.rdf file which has been fixed and should now trigger an update when you go to tools>add-ons and click the "find updates" button.

*******************************************************

I just released a new version update of Revelation for Windows users. There was an issue causing the window to bounce while viewing web pages. This issue should be resolved in this new update but please let me know if you continue to see the bounce.

Through the Storm

2008-12-29T22:31:00.000-08:00

I typically keep this blog about theme related stuff but lately I have had so many other things on my mind.

As I previously wrote, I was laid off from Flock right before Thanksgiving and found out my wife and I were having out third child a week later. Since then, the Portland area had a major snow storm that lasted two weeks and pretty much shut down the city with 22" of snow and ice.

This has been a pretty tough month in our household but I have tried to bear the burden. I am in the no man's land of trying to push hard and turn Virtus Designs into a business or going out and finding a job, all while our savings are running out quickly with tons of bills to pay.

We hadn't been to Church since the storm hit so this past Sunday was our first day back. We had a great message. The topic Mark 4:35-39

35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.
38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

The Disciples had been with Jesus for a while and had seen Him do so many amazing things. They should have known that everything would be ok because Jesus told them that they would cross over to the other side.

Our Pastor gave two points that shouldn't have given them peace.

1. They should have had peace in His promises.

We can always be sure that the Promises of the Lord will come to pass. Jesus told the disciples that they were going to the other side. That meant, they would make it to the other side. Jesus was in the same boat as they were. He was completely at peace, sleeping in the boat.

Their reaction to the storm was completely opposite. They freaked out. They panicked and woke Jesus up to tell Him that they were going to perish and that He did not care.

2. They should have had peace in His presence.

They had been with Jesus during several things and had never seen Him panic. He was always calm and they should have picked up on the fact that He was always in control.

We find ourselves in storms throughout our lives. There are two different types of storms, those that God uses to correct us and those that He uses to direct us. Both of them have the same intent to move us down the path that He has for us.

I find myself in a storm right now but I have learned not to panic. That does not mean I have always been calm in the middle of the storm and it does not mean I have been perfect in this current storm. It is a fitting coincidence that the situational storm in my life coincides with the "Arctic Blast 2008" storm here in Portland. This is on of the worst storms we have had in terms of snowfall. It made life difficult. It was very cold, extremely difficult to move around, and completely unexpected in December.

That storm finally ended and now life is going back to normal. Just like that storm, the storms in our lives come to an end. We don't like them. They are very uncomfortable while we are in their midst but I can say that every storm I have gone through has made me a better and stronger person on the other side.

This stormy season I am going through now will come to an end soon. My hope is that I can make it through knowing in peace that I will make it to the other side. I don't know what is on the other side and I don't know what will be lost in the middle but I know the Lord's ways are good and His promises will be kept. He promises to provide for our needs. Sometimes we mistake our needs with our wants.

With that said, I hope this storm ends soon and the other side comes quickly.

Blog Layouts

2008-12-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

I am venturing into the realm of blog layouts for Blogger and Wordpress as well as Firefox and Flock themes. Apparently there is a huge demand for great layouts for your blog so you can share your thoughts with the world in style.

If anyone has a blog that you would like a customized layout for, I need some practice.

Twitter

2008-12-09T23:06:00.001-08:00

When my buddy (@johnweiss for twitter fans) told me about how great Twitter is, I made fun of him. I still make fun of him but at least on this topic, he was right. Twitter is an amazing way to get connected and let people know you are out there.

I also fought people on Facebook until I was forced to get an account while I worked with Flock in order to test my themes out with their browser interface. Once again, I must say Facebook is quite fun to mess around with and post pictures to and get connected with old friends. I had a friend that I hadn't talked to since 4th grade find me and send me a note.

Sure, a lot of this takes time and requires self-control but it is fun. All of these social networking sites have one thing in common, they are all integrated into Flock's UI so give Flock a try and keep track of all your account activity on the people sidebar while using your browser window for browsing. It will let you know when you need to check your account and with many of the accounts, you can just post/update directly from the sidebar.

Revelation for Firefox Now Available

2008-12-05T00:42:00.000-08:00

You can purchase and download it here or you can go to my website for more screenshots.

Revelation - This is my newest theme creation for Firefox and the first of many in a series themes in this style. It combines glassy crimson buttons on the same shiny black toolbar from Aero Fox. This is the first release of this theme so there are sure to be some minor issues but I tried to be as thorough as possible.

If you like the RedShift V2 for Firefox, you might want to check this one out. It isn't quite as dark as Red Shift but it might just be dark enough.

Both the Mac and Windows versions work with Colorful tabs and I have redone the URL window to work better with the Fission extension for those who like their progress bar embeded in the URL window.

This theme is only available from my site and my blog.

New Themes Coming- 1st Up Black and Red

2008-12-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am working on a new series of themes. The first one out will be a shiny dark theme with glassy crimson buttons as seen above. I will have different color variations to follow but I am going through now to finish up the icon set. I should have the first release of this theme out tonight or tomorrow.

Follow my twitter feed to keep current on updates. This theme will be available exclusively through my site http://www.virtusdesigns.com

Aqua Midnight Released

2008-12-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

I have released the Flock version of Aquatint Black Gloss. It is available at virtusdesigns.com

Aquatint Black Theme for Flock

2008-11-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Midnight Aqua Flock - This is the Flock version of my popular Aquatint Black Gloss for Firefox. It is available for both Windows and Mac

Other themes now available for Flock include Aero Flock, Aero Flock Silver, the Safari style Silver Flock, and black safari style theme Onyx.

All are available now at my site virtusdesigns.com

The Season of Thanks?

2008-11-25T13:45:00.000-08:00

I received an email from a very angry person yesterday that used some expletives to describe me and ended by telling me to burn in Hell. During this Holiday Season as we approach Thanksgiving, it is a sad reminder how much anger there is out there. We saw it during the Presidential election, and still see it in several places around the country, and we come across it in our personal daily lives.

This should be a time where people focus on what is good in their lives. This year is quite different from recent years however, due to the major downturn in our economy and the reality that we are on the verge of a major economic crisis as we hear daily of failing U.S. Banks and an Auto Industry that is ready to collapse.

My family is feeling the effects of this economy like so many others. I was recently laid off from Flock due to major cuts in payroll as several people were let go. We also just found out a week after getting laid off that we are having another baby but will not have health insurance come November 30th. So many things have hit us all at the same time.

I know my family is not the only one going through tough times as so many others could give similar stories. I am sure our situation is nowhere near as devastating as others who are going to even tougher times and painful situations.

That is why, more than ever, we need to look to the source of these Holidays. Thanksgiving was a day that the early inhabitants of this country took to give thanks to God, the giver of our rights and freedoms and the one who can take care of us in times of trials and tribulation. He is our hope and as a nation, we have turned our attention to other things. The name Virtus comes from the Latin word for power. It is used in 1 Corinthians 2:5 which says "[Y]our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

This verse has come to mean a lot to me over the past year as I have seen Him do amazing things for our family. Now, in this time of uncertainty and trouble for my family and the nation as a whole, we need to turn back our attention to Him as the source of our help.

We have leaders in our government that are spending trillions of dollars to bail out failing industries as we teeter on another depression. None of them agree on what we should do, who we should help, how much we should spend, etc. Things might get better but could get a lot worse.

So many people are scared and angry and I am not sure they really know why. While I look for a job, continue creating new themes, and prepare for a new addition to our family, I can have hope and peace knowing that God is in control and He is our help in times of great trouble.

Great New Themes for the Flock Browser

2008-11-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a little video I put together showcasing the Flock themes I have available now with many more to come including a Flock version of Abstract Zune, Aquatint and Aquatint Black.

Updates and New Themes

2008-11-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

I have updated my website www.virtusdesigns.com. There are several new themes available including some themes for the Flock browser and some updates for Mac users.

I will continue working and updating themes. My goal is to get Aero Fox Silver working on Mac as well as Aquatint Black. I also plan on making my new theme, Silver Fox, available for Windows.

Aero Fox Issues on Mac

2008-11-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

Somehow the file I uploaded recently for this theme had some issues and would not load after installation. I have updated the file so there are no longer any issues if you download it now. If you happened to download the theme and it didn't work email me and I will send you the updated file.

I have a much improved update for this theme coming in the next day or two as well as many more Mac versions of my themes so please check them out if you have a Mac. I will also be updating all my themes in the coming days with some needed improvements.

Safari Style Theme

2008-11-20T17:01:00.001-08:00

Check out my latest theme available at my site

Flock Themes Available

2008-11-19T08:18:00.001-08:00

I am working on some themes for Flock that will be available shortly. I am going to convert my Aero and Aero Silver themes, Aquatint themes and some others to give those Flock users out there some options to make the browser look as cool as it operates.

*********Update**********
Several themes are now available for Flock at my website.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Updates Available

2008-10-14T00:47:00.000-07:00

Updates for Aquatint Black, Aero, and Aero Silver are now ready at http://www.virtusdesigns.com

The rest are on their way when I have some time, hopefully this weekend.

Website and Theme Updates

2008-10-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

I am currently updating my website along with my themes. There will be significant changes to my premium themes that I hope you will enjoy.

Some of the things that I am working on or have improved:

The ability to get automatic updates so you will not have to purchase a new version every time.
Improved toolbar usability allowing the height of the toolbar to increase/decrease depending on the mode you decide to use.
more detail such in things like preference windows and skinned buttons.
better functionality with extensions like Tab Mix Plus, Colorful Tabs, and AIOS.
More.

Stay tuned as I get things ready to go.

I have been extremely busy with work so I apologize to those who have emailed me. I will be working on responding to emails in the next couple of days to get caught up.

Aero Fox for Mac is Available

2008-07-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

I have put the link to download Aero Fox for Mac users on my site at http://www.virtusdesigns.com

This is the first to be released specifically for Mac and the rest are on their way.

mac versions this weekend?

2008-07-18T21:42:00.001-07:00

My goal and hope is to have my theme ready to go on Mac this weekend.

********Update*********

I have Aero Fox for Mac 95% complete. I have to go through and make sure everything is looking alright.

As for things that I was able to improve

Scroll Bars look like they should on Mac OS
Main Toolbar is narrower and takes up less space (this will be included in my Windows version update as well)
popup windows will not have invisible text
It should be compatible with Tab Mix Plus (Another included update for Windows version)

Once I get this theme to my complete satisfaction, I will be able to quickly get the rest of my themes updated and working on Mac.

I was hoping to get them all done by the end of tonight but I had more things to fix than I realized. Look for their availability on my main site (http://www.virtusdesigns.com) in the next few days.

Downloading on Torrents

2008-06-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

Just for fun, I searched for Frank Lion's Blue Moonlight Vista theme to see if it was available on torrent sites to download. According Frank, this theme is donationware was available for free if you donate money to him for his projects. He mentioned that the theme was no longer going to be offered because of people who were abusing the system. I figured that meant people were able to download on torrent sites without having to donate to him. I found this theme on several torrent sites and tried to download it to see how easy this was.

I found that some of the sites you had to be a member so I passed. Then on a couple of sites I was welcomed to the site with a bunch of naked women and links to sex sites.

How nice to see what the people who take our themes are doing with their time. That isn't much a of a shocker. These people that are bashing me and telling me that I am contributing to the demise of open source software load my themes and distribute them without my permission are connected to the porn industry. One person tried to justify doing this by saying the GPL allows them to distribute my work. While this may be legally true (I need to read it more carefully) it does not coincide with the intent of the GPL that they so vocally claim to be defenders of. The intent is not to distribute another person's work just to spite them because you don't think their time is worth anything and you feel that you are entitled to take things for nothing.

I received an email from seme European college student who called me names and told me how his professor used me as an example of how people are going to destroy open source. Sorry Mr. European college professor, the people that destroy open source are those who take the hard work of others and attempt to render it useless. It is these people that lead to companies putting such strict and limiting restrictions on their work such as all the major software comanies like Adobe, Microsoft, and the others. Work is worth something. The idea behind open source is that it is just tha, open. It is not free of charge but freely available to look at and use for your own projects.

When people start taking that work and spitting on it because they feel they are entitled to do so, that is when open source will go down. Open source is about the ability to be creative and then do what you want with it. That could mean to charge for it or give it away for free but it is naive to think that open source is about the greater good of all mankind. There is too much money behind the giant open source corporations to be so idealistic.

That does not make them bad. Mozilla and Firefox, Ubuntu, Flock, Red Hat, Suse by Novell and so many others are using open source to give users alternatives in software. However, their goal is still to make a profit and that is good. Capitalism, while considered so evil by many, brings competition and competition leads to better products and better products lead to happier users. Some of it may be free to the users, some may not. That should be the decision of the developer and not for a group of unhappy users who don't like the developer's decision.

With that being said, I am working on updates and should have them available shortly. Major issues addressed are display issues with Mac OS and Tab Mix Plus.

Oh yeah, go see Wall-E. I thought it was pretty funny. I thought it could be Pixar's first bomb but it definitely did not come close to that. You may like other Pixar films better but you will laugh. It is worth seeing.

Mac Version of Aero Fox

2008-06-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have a test version of the Aero Fox basic for Mac. You can download it here.

For any Mac users of Aero Fox, it would help out of you could test this out and let me know if you notice any issues.

Right now this is not the fully skinned version and has the standard Mac scrollbars and gray status bar. The Windows structure and Mac structure of the default themes are very different so I had to rebuild a lot of the theme in order to get it to display correctly on Mac OSX.

I am sure there are some issues but I will take care of those as I hear feedback. I know now that the drop arrow does not display on the back/forward buttons. It does display when icons and text is selected but not with icons only. I think there is an issue with the throbber but I may be wrong.

To those of you who will help out with this and those of you who have purchased my themes this week, thank you very much. I appreciate your help and support.

Side note to those who continue to criticize me and provide links for people to download my premium versions for free. This is why I am offering two versions. The basic version is for people who only care about the main toolbar and nothing else. I have spent 4 days trying to get this to display correctly on Macs since my Windows theme has issues. It is now almost midnight on the 4th day and I am just getting it ready to have people test it out. In a few hours I have to get up and go to my real job. Then, after they test it, I will have to spend many more hours getting it ready to upload to AMO before I start on a fully skinned version that I can call a premium version.

That is just for this theme. Then I have to create a Mac specific version for Aquatint Black, Abstract Black, Abstract Zune, Aquatint, Abstract Classic, Purpletint Black, Greentint Black, Abstract Amethyst, Abstract Emerald, Aero Fox Silver, and others.

So, before you go around accusing me of being greedy and unethical because I have the audacity to think my time and efforts are worth something and start taking my work and distributing it on other sites without my permission, you should take a long look at yourself and question why you are so upset with me and why you are entitled to have my work for free when honest people are paying $0.99 for it.

It is very easy for your to get outraged and steal my themes while I am doing all the work to make sure my themes are high quality and were ready to be used for the release of Firefox 3.

Misidentified Pirate

2008-06-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that Danny was misidentified as the person who uploaded my theme to a software download site for pirated materials. While Danny was thanked as the person who uploaded my themes and shared them for people who feel my time and efforts are not worth anything and don't feel they need to pay, the credit should have gone to armedking.

I apologize to Danny for the misunderstanding because he has purchased a couple of my themes and was not the one responsible for uploading them.

As for armedking, apparently he does not believe in the intent behind free open source software and the general public license as he claims. He, and those who are very critical of me, like to claim that they are the ones who really understand and stand up for the principles of open source software and that is why they are obligated to take my work and distribute it on piracy sites.

Yes armedking, my work is done under the GPL and is open source but that does not entitle you to take my work and distribute it as you are. It is this exact license that allows me to create my work and distribute it as I see fit, not you. The license says that you can use my theme's code and build your own themes off of it without having to pay me license fees or royalties.

You have rationalized that what you are doing is for the common good of the Firefox community at large but you are doing nothing but demonstrating your lack of real ethics and a sense of immature entitlement.

Obviously there is little I can do to prevent people from doing what armedking has done other than hope and rely on the common decency of people who want to do the right thing and use my free version or support me in my efforts by giving $0.99 for my full versions.

Again, to Danny, I am sorry for identifying you as the person who did this.

By the way

2008-06-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Someone commented on my previous editorial that they felt bad for me because of the response I was getting from people who are now telling me how stupid I am and how much they hate me. He went on to mention the fact that, for the past year and a half, I created themes on my own time while working as a high school teacher making no money (over the past five years) while having to deal with "jackasses" all the time. They often felt compelled to tell me how much they hated me and how stupid I am. All this while I had a Master's degree and they didn't know how to add fractions.

Another person commented that they did not know this about me. This is true, and I find it quite funny and ironic. I was teaching for no money and donated my time and ability for free to the Firefox Community for over a year while I created themes for Firefox 2. Now, I am no longer teaching and I am creating themes full time. I decided that, due to the time and energy that goes into creating and maintaining themes, I would offer my free basic version and my $0.99 version. This idea was welcomed by a bunch of people telling me that I should do this for free, telling me how stupid I am and telling me how much they hated me, all while they refuse to look at the actual General Public License for open source software and the actual definition of open source software which I provided in my editorial.

I guess not much has changed, I still have people telling me how stupid I am and how much they hate me while trying to pirate my software by uploading it to other sites. I guess there is one difference, they are demanding that I work for free while they call me names. At least with teaching I could call in sick and have a substitute.

My Editorial on "Free"

2008-06-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

I have just set off a huge debate within the Firefox community with my decision to offer a free (gratis-no cost) version of my themes as well as a $0.99 version of my themes available for download at my new website. This has made a group of Firefox users very upset because they believe that Free (libre) Open Source Software (FOSS) should be free of charge. This is where the misunderstanding of the clumsy English word "free" comes into play.

In terms of software, free (in the case of free open source software) is used in the libre sense of the word. Free is speaking here of the software being open for anyone to view the code, change it without having to pay license fees and redistribute "freely". As Wikipedia puts it:

Free software or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things. In practice, for software to be distributed as free software, the human readable form of the program (the "source code") must be made available to the recipient along with a notice granting the above permissions. Such a notice is a "free software licence", or, in theory, could be a notice saying that the source code is released into the public domain.

Open source software exists for freedom of information, not freedom from having to pay. As the Wikipedia article goes on to discuss, often times open source software is free or very inexpensive but it does not have to be gratis (free of charge).

The free being used here is the same as "free enterprise", "free market", "free speech", "free press" and so on. Free enterprise and free market do not mean they cost nothing but that they allow people to make their own choices on how they want to conduct business. Free speech refers to people's ability to speak without fear of retribution, it does not mean that their speech costs nothing. People are paid quite often to give speeches, does that mean they do not have "free speech". No, because the free is not referring to cost, but to liberty.

In the same way, free software means that the software is available under general public license for others to use and distribute without having to pay a license fee. If you look at the definition of open source you will see that the first thing listed when defining open source is that the license on the open source software may not restrict anyone from selling or redistributing the software and no license fees or royalties may be imposed for anyone selling that software.

By setting up my themes the way I have, in no way have I violated the idea or intent of free open source software. I have put great thought into my decisions on how I want to structure this idea which is why I decided to offer a free (gratis) basic version that will have minimal support and will only contain the major components of the theme such as the toolbar, icons, tabs, and certain menus. Because I enjoy doing themes, I want to create the best themes possible which requires enormous amounts of time and energy. In order to do this, I started charging $0.99 to compensate not only the time needed to create and maintain the theme but to provide support via email and this blog to those who are having troubles.

I have spent the past 3 days answering close to 100 emails on how to download, install, and use the themes. I have also set up a user forum to provide a community support group of users who want to discuss issues relating to Firefox themes as well as provide answers to support questions for those who are having troubles.

While some of you have made your mind up that I have sold out and sought after greedy intentions, the opposite is true. I have taken my theme development to a new level of support to create and offer the best themes available which I believe will help out Firefox in the long run. Some developers may follow suit as some fear but that, in my opinion, will only improve Firefox. If people can earn a little money by offering themes for a small fee, better developers will start making better themes which will lead to a better offering of Firefox.

I may be wrong and the market may reject my idea but that is the beauty of free (libre) markets. I understand that no matter what I say, certain people will always hate what I am doing and do what they can to hurt me. My question is, what is the reason behind those feelings of anger and resentment and what is the purpose behind trying to stop me from what I have decided to do?

Regardless of what you feel or what you decide to do in response to my decision, my intent is to continue to make the best Firefox themes possible and get them to as many people as possible, whether it be my $0.99 version or my free (gratis) basic version available on AMO.

Mac and Linux

2008-06-17T20:39:00.001-07:00

It appears from some email questions that there are some text coloring issues with my darker themes. I will try to get an update put together soon for my 6 dark themes to see if it takes care of the problem. That update will not cost anything for those of you experiencing that problem. My hope is to be able to replace the existing file and then have you be able to re-download the file from the same link before.

Downloads

2008-06-16T15:35:00.001-07:00

I got an email asking about whether people had to pay again if they wanted an updated version of the theme. That got me thinking about the logistics of paying/not paying on updates. For now, I am going to make the download available for 30 days after it is purchased. That way, if you purchase a theme and I update the theme within 30 days, you can get the new version for no charge.

I don't plan on making overly frequent updates so you are not going to have to spend a dollar every few days to get the new version. Unless there is major issue that requires and update, I will probably update every few months and clearly explain what the update is for so you can decide whether or not the new download is necessary.

Twitter will be the best way to stay on top of updates.

Please be patient, this is new and I know a little unpopular with some people. I am trying to make all sides happy which is hard. Remember, you can still get the free version of my theme from AMO.

Issues with Vista?

2008-06-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

Has anyone tried my themes with Vista? I have heard a couple of people say that themes will not work with Vista as their OS?

Firefox 3 Coming June 17th.

2008-06-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

With the release of FF3 coming in a few days, I believe I am ready to upload all my new themes by this weekend. I am also going to launch an improved website showcasing all my themes. I will also keep this blog around to give updates and may create a user forum to go along with it. I am not sure what the purpose of it would be other than to have a user forum. I will put it together and see if there is enough interest in it to keep a forum around.

Stay tuned. I should have it all up and running by Saturday night.

Stay Tuned

2008-06-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new website and some new themes for when Firefox 3 is released.

There are some minor changes to the themes but overall they look and feel the same as before. I hope you will find some of the changes to improve the themes. Due to the change in structure of the themes by the Firefox developers, I decided to redo the way the tabs look and operate. They made it very difficult to change the tabs but I think you will like the way they look. The changes should also prevent any issues related to extensions that add functionality to themes. Most of the changes I made were done to keep my themes more compatible with popular extensions.

On a bigger note, I have joined the team at Flock theme development will now become my profession. After teaching high school for five years, I am excited for something new and what could be better than doing something I love to do and have been doing as a hobby for the past year and a half.

I will announce my new site soon so stay tuned.

Theme Compatibility

2008-05-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

As of now, all of my themes are created on a Windows PC. Since I do not have a Mac, I cannot test my recently updated Firefox 3 themes to see how they operate on OSX. Has anyone tried my updated FF3 themes on a Mac? If so, how do they operate? I have read some things that suggest there may be some problems on Macs using themes built on he default Windows theme and on Windows using themes built on the default Mac theme.

Has anyone noticed any issues?

Aero Fox Silver

2008-04-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

I have put a silver version of my Aero Fox theme together for those of you who like the Aero style buttons but may not like the darker themes.

I have not finished putting a version of this theme together for use with Firefox 3 yet but I will have one available shortly. You can download this from the Firefox Add-ons site under the experimental themes.

Please let me know what you think of this theme.

Aquatint Redone for Firefox 3

2008-04-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

You can download my updated Aquatint Redone theme here.

Abstract Classic for Firefox 3

2008-04-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

I have updated the Abstract Classic file to work with Firefox 3.

You can download it here

All of my Firefox 3 themes need some fine tuning but they should all work pretty well as is. I changed a couple of minor things on this theme while trying to keep the overall look and feel of the original.

Aquatint Black Gloss for Firefox 3

2008-04-19T10:58:00.001-07:00

You can download Aquatint Gloss for Firefox 3 here

I still have to take care of some of the smaller details but it should display nicely without the major issues people are reporting for themes running on Firefox 3 that were designed for Firefox 2.

For those of you who use the All In One Sidebar, I have fixed this so the vertical side toolbar appears correctly.

New Update for Aero Fox III

2008-04-19T01:04:00.000-07:00

I have updated the theme so it is nearing completion. There are still some issues to iron out but it improves on the 3.0.1a release.

You can download 3.0.1b here

For those of you who use the All In One Sidebar, I have fixed this so the vertical side toolbar appears correctly.

Aero Fox For Firefox 3

2008-04-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

I have a test release for Aero Fox built on the new default theme for FF 3. I am still working on some issues but this fixes the problems with the tabs and the search bar. I still have some things to figure out but this makes it a little more functional for those of you who have made the switch.

I would appreciate any feedback to let me know of any issues. I still have some of the details such as the preference windows and so on so they are on the way. Please let me know of any problems that show up or any suggestions to improve on the theme. I will keep working on this and eventually release a final version on the Firefox Add-ons page along with the rest of my updated themes.

You can download and install this version of Aero Fox here

Firefox 3

2008-04-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

Just to update everyone, I have been really busy lately and haven't had as much time to work on updating all my themes for Firefox 3 yet but they are in the works and will be done. I made them available for FF3 in order to see how they worked and I am aware about the issues regarding the search window and the tabs. I was hoping to be able to fix these quickly but it turned out to be trickier than I thought.

I have been working on designing a website for a friend of mine who has a Network/IT support and consulting business so I have spent most of my time on that.

Thanks for all of your feedback and please stay tuned. I will get all of my themes up and running for FF3 as soon as I can.

Thanks to everyone has left donations. I really appreciate your generosity and your kind words for the work that I have done.

Aquabird Black Update and Aero Thunderbird Available

2007-12-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have updated Aquabird Black which you can download here. You can also get my Thunderbird version of my Aero theme here.

Aero Fox Update and Announcements

2007-12-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

You can get the most recent update 1.0.4 by clicking here.

Choose the option to save the file to your desktop. Then open firefox>tools>add-ons and go to the themes tab. Drag and drop the saved .jar file into the window and select install. After it installs, make sure you go back into the list of themes and click the "use theme" before you restart Firefox.

Aero Fox

2007-11-24T09:07:00.001-08:00

I created another dark theme using icons designed after the Windows Aero theme. If you like it, please go to the Sandbox in the Firefox Add-ons and leave me feedback so I can get this, along with my Zune theme, published.

Firefox Zune

2007-11-22T00:57:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted an update on here for a while but my newest theme comes at a request for a black/orange theme to match the newest Windows XP Zune theme. I combined some of the features of Abstract Classic and Aquatint Black to create this theme. It still has a little work but should be functional. If you are interested in it, check it out and please give feedback so I can get it released on the Firefox Add-ons page.

You can download it here and install it manually or get it from the Sandbox at the Firefox themes page.

Aquabird Black is Ready

2007-08-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

You can download my Aquabird Black theme for Thunderbird here and install or get it from the Thunderbird Add-Ons page now. There are a couple minor issues with text color for junk message notification and things like that but overall, the theme is ready. Enjoy.

I also updated my Aquatint Black theme so the text issues with that one should be fixed also.

Tutorial for Creating Your Own Firefox Themes

2007-07-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

For all of you who have expressed an interest in working with Firefox themes, I put together a .pdf file on how to create or customize your own Firefox theme. I am sure there are some things to be added which I will as I get feedback but I believe it covers all of the necessary components in better detail that what I have seen available so far.

You can download the file from the top of my links column on the right.

Creating Your Own Themes

2007-07-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

With the lack of good tutorials on creating your own Firefox Themes, I am thinking of putting a detailed guide together. If you are interested, could you please take a moment to fill out a brief survey to give me some feedback. Click on the link below to go to the survey.

Click Here to take survey

Aquatint Black

2007-07-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

I have made a dark theme using the Aquatint icon set. You can down load it from the previous link or go to the Sandbox area of the fi refox add-ons page. I would really appreciate it if you could leave feedback in the Sandbox in order to help me get it approved for public down load. There are a couple of small issues with this theme right now but overall it works just fine. The problems are mainly text color issues that I need to locate and fine tune. Please leave feedback, especially suggestions on how to improve it.

Bible Fox Updated

2007-06-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

I have updated my Bible Fox, Bible Fox Blue, and my Bible Fox Ubuntu Christian Edition. They are essentially the same theme now. The only difference between the two is the size of the font in the top menu bar. Bible Fox UCE appears better when using Linux while menu bar fonts in Bible Fox are more difficult to read.

I Need Help

2007-06-04T14:05:00.001-07:00

If any of you who visit this site would like to help me out I would greatly appreciate it. I need reviews for my Aquatint and Aquabird themes in the Firefox Sandbox before they will release it to public. I don't know why they are being so difficult with these themes since they are tested and will be well reviewed by those who used Aquatint in the past. This has never been an issue for any of my previous themes.

I need anyone willing to help to go to Firefox and look up my themes in Sandbox for both firefox and thunderbird themes and write "technical" reviews for them. Basically, report that they look nice and work well. To get to the sandbox, log in to your account. When you go to the add-ons page it should say public/sandbox next to the search window near the top of the screen. If it doesn't, click on "my account" next to "log in" to the right of the search box. In that menu you need to make sure that that "make sandbox visible" option is selected then go back to the add-ons page.

Thanks for all of your help.

Aquatint and Aquabird are Back!

2007-05-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have redone Aquatint and Aquabird. It is awaiting approval right now and but I have it available on this site now. While they are waiting on approval, you can download the latest version here. Also, if you would, please go to the Sandbox area of Firefox and Thunderbird Add-Ons and rate my themes. They did not approve it for public download the first time because it was lacking reviews.

The Work Is Never Done

2007-05-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

In the never ending attempt to perfect these themes, Cobalt Thunderbird 3.0.7 is out along with Bible Bird 3.0.5. The quick clear button has been added to the email search, the folder/message highlight has been returned to what it was, and the drop down menu list has been aligned in the preferences window. I am sure there are more problems so bring them on.

I hope you find this update an improvement. Enjoy!

Now I think it is final

2007-05-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have completely overhauled Cobalt Thunderbird and believe that all the major bugs have been fixed. It should be working now without any major issues. There are still a couple of minor things that I have not been able to fix but I will keep working on it.

This theme better move up to number 1 with all the stinking time I have had to put into it! I hope it was worth it and I hope you enjoy it.

Please let me know of any problems you come across.

Cobalt Thunderbird

2007-05-03T17:00:00.001-07:00

I have fixed many of the problems with the last release of Cobalt Thunderbird. You can download the update for 3.0.5.

Bible Blue Thunderbird

2007-04-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

You can now have a Bible T-Bird Blue (2.0.1) for Thunderbird 2.0.

Lightning Should Work Now

2007-04-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

I think I found the problem with my Thunderbird themes and Lightning. Cobalt Thunderbird 3.0.4, Bible Thunderbird 3.0.2, and Bible Thunderbird UCE 2.0.2 should all display Lightning correctly now.

The only issue I have seen with Lightning is in Cobalt T-bird. The rounded buttons do not display correctly. The left rounded cap is not visible but from what I have seen this is common for all themes using rounded buttons. There is a discussion about it on the Noia Thunderbird page.

I Think I Finally Did It!

2007-04-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

I am sure there are still some bugs to report but it Cobalt Thunderbird and Bible Thunderbird should both be working on Thunderbird 2.0 without any major problems. I haven't tested it out on Linux yet (that is next on my list) but the new mail alert is working so that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Please let me know if you find anything with either theme.

Bible Thunderbird UCE

2007-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have updated the Bible Thunderbird Theme to work with TB 2.0. I am not liking Thunderbird 2.0 so far. I think version 1.5 was better but that is just my humble opinion.

Updated Cobalt Thunderbird 3.0.2

2007-04-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

You can download the updated/fixed version. The link is in the right hand column.

Cobalt Thunderbird Updated for TB 2.0

2007-04-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

To check out my latest Cobalt Thunderbird theme which works for the latest version of Thunderbird Email 2.0, download and install Cobalt Thunderbird 3.0.1.

I also made some changes for Thunderbird 1.5 in Cobalt Thunderbird 2.2.1 so let me know what you think.

Bible Thunderbird in Blue

2007-04-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

I have put together a blue version of my Bible Thunderbird Theme. It should be complete now that I found the missing menu background image. Enjoy.

Bible Thunderbird Updated

2007-04-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

I made some changes to my Bible Bird theme to make it a better match with my Bible Fox Brown theme.

Ubuntu Christian Edition

2007-04-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

I just found out that there is an Ubuntu Christian Edition. I am a big fan of Ubuntu so I will give this OS a try. If you have been thinking about messing around with Linux, I highly recommend the Ubuntu distribution. It is a great alternative to Windows and if you want some extra features like internet parental controls and great Bible software, check out Ubuntu CE. Good job on that.

Updated Bible Fox Themes

2007-04-13T00:51:00.000-07:00

I have updated my Bible Fox Brown and Blue themes (versions 2.0.1). This update takes care of the problem with buttons in the preference window. I fixed the scroll bars a little and changed some other minor details. Please let me know if you have any suggestions to make them better. The one thing that I am not totally satisfied with is the roll over effect of the tool bar icons.

A Theme for Arizona Wildcat Fans!

2007-04-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

I had to create and include a theme for my fellow Wildcat Alum. Even though this basketball season didn't go as well as the early season promised, there is always next year and there is always football season coming up. I am smelling a bowl game this year.

GO CATS!!!

Bible Fox Blue

2007-03-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

I put together a blue version of my Bible Firefox if you want to check it out and give me feedback. Just click on the link to the right and save the file. Then, open firefox>tools>add-ons and drop the .jar file into the window. Click install then select use theme.

Site will be up soon

2007-02-19T09:24:00.001-08:00

I will have updates linked soon for my Bible theme, Cobalt themes, and Abstract Classic theme. You will be able to leave comments and download versions of my themes. I will put all past versions and current versions up.

Please stay tuned.