Many people have taken the time to tell me my Beatnik resources suck and I should stop wasting my time. A few have raved maniacally and offered give me cash and fabulous prizes if I made more Beat stuff. Most of you just won't get it. That's okay. It just means you're not on the lunatic fringe. Lots of people have lived conventional lives like yours and have been moderately content.
Credit where credit is due:
Narciso Lobo created two exceptional icons for the last release of this set which can be found in the "Lobo's Stuff" folder. He lives in Chicago. Between teaching snotty kids theater, social work in the inner city high schools, and gigs with his rock and roll band, "Hometown Motorcar," he is a supreme Macaholic. He can be reached at BellJar46@AOL.com.
Stephania Friel created a set of Beat icons based on the original Beatnik Desktop resources for Aaron. The set is called Icons from Colored Beats and is reproduced here in its entirety. Her old email address is kaput. I don't know how to reach her.
Since my original Beatnik Desktop was an Aaron paste-in, I used the Apple Grayscale scheme as a starting point. All resources, aside from those listed above, are my intellectual property. If you attempt to copy them for illicit purposes, such as plagarism for your college mid-term or starting nuclear wars, I will sic my pet dragon on you.
Instructions for use:
First open the Serving Suggestion PICT. Double-clicking will open it automatically with SimpleText. This is only a suggestion, but it may give you some ideas of how these resources may be used. (If the PICT preview won't open, install Quicktime and reboot.)
Installing Icons:
Select an icon resource you'd like to use by single-clicking. Select GetInfo from the File menu, or use the shortcut 'command-I.' Now single click on the icon in the Info box. It should have a black box around it now. Select Copy from the Edit menu or use 'command-C.' Do not use the Cut command or 'command-X,' as this will delete your original icon resource. Close the info box and select your 'target' with a single click. Your target can be a hard drive, document, or application. Select Get Info for your target. Click on target's icon in the Info box. Install your new icon by selecting Paste from the Edit menu, or 'command-V.' WOW! What a cool icon. That was a good choice.
Using Clippings:
Double-clicking on a clipping will show you the contents. To install clippings for use as desktop backgrounds, open the Desktop Patterns Control Panel. Drag the picture clippings you want to use to the Panel's preview window. You should now see the new Desktop Pattern. If you don't, make sure you are using System 7.5 or greater. You may need to reinstall System 7.5 if the Clippings Extension was not installed the first time.
FIM resources:
Consult the Readme files that came with Folder Icon Maker.
StartupScreen:
The StartupScreen resource needs to be placed in the System folder. Do not rename the StartupScreen. That's it. No, there are no more instructions.
More instructions for use of StartupScreen:
I lied. For System 7.5 users with ResEdit experience and a 640x480 or larger monitor resolution try this:
Open the StartupScreen in ResEdit. Double click on the PICT resources icon. Single click on PICT ID#0 to select it. Now GetInfo from the file menu. You will be presented with a large info box that shows the attributes on PICT ID#0. Change the PICT ID from 0 to PICT ID#-16506 and close the info box. Copy PICT ID #-16506. Now open a copy of System 7.5 Update. (It can be version 1.0 or 2.0, or the beta of 2.0.) Paste PICT ID#-16506 into System 7.5 Update. ResEdit will ask if you really do wish to replace the old PICT ID#-16506. Click "Yes."
This should also work with System 7.6, but I don't have 7.6 and I really couldn't say for sure that it will work, only that it should work so don't sue me-- sue Apple. (I don't earn in a year what they lose each day.)
I am not responsible for any damage you may do to your computer system using ResEdit or these resources. Altering software can have devastating results. Always work with expendable copies of any file you open with ResEdit. Think of ResEdit like Voodoo, or handguns, or poisonous snakes, or Diet Pepsi that is one day past the freshness date on the bottom of the can, or plutonium rods, or arsenic laced cookies, or carton cutters, or something else that is really scary when not handled properly. And never point ResEdit at anyone.
The 16 color and black and white resources are not complete. They probably never will be. I'm not promising another version, and I am not available for help with ResEdit. But this stuff is free, so what do you expect?
The Readme and open folder icons were originally created for Poetry Ink Magazine. Download an issue from this website:
Send comments, suggestions, samples of your poetry, and no requests for help with ResEdit to beatnik@localbar.com
A Postscript: Just before the release of this cheezy look at 50's hipster-beatnik culture, the world lost one of the fathers of the Beat movement, Allen Ginsberg. This scheme is dedicated to the memory of Allen Ginsberg, not because he would have liked it, but because Joseph McCarthy would not.
