Movie: Click here to see a QuickTime movie of Unstoppable Progress in action! (4.2 MB)

What is this?
Unstoppable Progress is a hack we created for the MacHax Best Hack Contest, part of the MacHack Conference in Detroit, Michigan. The contest is really very simple. You program a hack, present it, and vote for it as many times as you can. The ballots are tallied and the winners receive prizes during the banquet on the last day of the conference. We won first place this year with Unstoppable Progress.

So what exactly is a hack? Well, we're not talking about hacking into other people's computers or stealing corporate information. If this hack destroys anyone's computer, it will be yours. Hacks for the MacHax contest can be anything, so long as they meet the following two criteria: a) the hack must be completely useless and b) it must be extremely funny - or at least, well presented.

In keeping with the "Unstoppable" theme of this year's MacHack conference, Unstoppable Progress causes progress bars to become "unstoppable". What would a progress bar do if it never stopped? Overflow into the window, of course. Install it and see it for yourself, or at least watch the movie above to see the effect.

The source to Unstoppable Progress is included as part of the download available above. It's a Project Builder project, and requires the Unsanity Application Enhancer SDK. It's pretty messy, but we commented it as best we could. Poke around and have fun!

Requirements
In order to use Unstoppable Progress, your system must be able to meet the following list of requirements:

• OS X (1.2.6 is best, the hack has not been tested under other versions)
• "Oodles of memory"
• At least one Carbon application with a progress bar (The Finder, Photoshop, Stuffit, Classic Startup
• The Application Enhancer from Unsanity <http://www.unsanity.com>. The easiest way to get this is just to install one of Unsanity's products - Mighty Mouse, WindowShade X, etc...

For those of you who attended MacHack and saw this hack presented, rejoice! This is not the same version that was on the MacHack CD. This is version 2.0, revised and um.. no longer crashing. We strongly recommend using this version.

Installation Information:
To install Unstoppable Progress on your computer, do the following:

1. Confirm that it meets the requirements outlined above.
2. Download it via the download link at the top of this page.
3. Drag the Unstoppable Progress.ape file to Home > Library > Application Enhancers (if there is no folder by that name, you still need to get the Unsanity Application Enhancer. See the Requirements section for details).
4. Log out and log back in.
5. Run a Carbon Application and make it show a progress bar. (i.e. empty the Trash, unstuff a file, start a lengthy Photoshop filter). Ta da! Sit back and watch the waves. The water will disappear after a while, and you can continue using the application. If you get impatient, you can use the Escape key to end the water effects early.

I'm Seasick!
To uninstall Unstoppable Progress, do the following:

1. Open the Home > Library > Application Enhancers folder and remove the Unstoppable Progress.ape file. You can move it to anywhere you want.
2. Log out and log back in for the removal to take effect.

Version History:

• 2.0 = Actually works. Water is now translucent and control of the event loop is returned to the application after the displaying is done.
  
• 1.0 = This was the original version presented at MacHack. It was mean, it was messy, but it worked in three applications.

- Ben Gotow
unstoppable@stclairsoft.com
http://www.stclairsoft.com/