1. Set up your custom login screen using Visage Login.
2. Download the screenshot.sh script and save it to your Desktop.
3. Make sure the screenshot.sh script is executable.  To make the script executable, open the Terminal application (located on your hard disk at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app), copy and paste the following command, then hit the return key:

   chmod 755 ~/Desktop/screenshot.sh

4. Next, copy and paste this command into the Terminal window and hit return:

   sudo nohup bash -c ~/Desktop/screenshot.sh > ~/Desktop/nohup.out

5. At the password prompt in the Terminal window, enter the admin password for your account and hit return. The Terminal will not display your password as you type. That’s ok… just type your password correctly and hit return.
6. Select “Log Out” from the Apple menu and log out of your computer within 60 seconds.  The Terminal app will ask you if you are sure you want to close the window.  Click the “Close” button to quit the Terminal app and continue to log out.
7. If you have your volume turned up, you should hear the shutter sound when the screenshot is taken 60 seconds after you ran the script.  Log back in, and the login.png screenshot will be on your Desktop.

Here’s an example login screen screenshot (click the thumbnail to view the full-sized image):

New in Visage Login 1.3:

+ Tested with Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard.

+ No longer shows Mac OS 10.6 users a warning that Mac OS 10.4 or 10.5 is needed.

Visage Login allows you to easily and safely customize your Mac OS X login screen. Visage Login keeps track of Apple’s default settings for every customization, so you can easily switch back to the original settings at any time. Check out the amazing screenshots!

Visage Login requires Mac OS 10.4 or newer. If you are using an older version of Mac OS X, you can download the appropriate version of the Visage System Preferences pane instead.

My newest application, Path Tracker, is now available on the iTunes App Store!  Path Tracker is an iPhone 3G application that displays your path on a map as you move.  Save your paths to the web, view your paths in Google Maps, and export your paths as KML or GPX.  Check it out:

http://pathtracks.com/

The price for all this path tracking awesomeness?  Less than a buck.

Version 1.2.1 fixes an issue that prevented a small number of users from setting their login screen background image.

Visage Login allows you to easily and safely customize your Mac OS X login screen. Visage Login keeps track of Apple’s default settings for every customization, so you can easily switch back to the original settings at any time. Check out the amazing screenshots!

Visage Login requires Mac OS 10.4+. If you are using an older version of Mac OS X, you can download the appropriate version of the Visage System Preferences pane instead.

Visage Login now lets you change the host information displayed on the login window. The host information can display the current date and time, Directory Services status (network accounts), IP address, system version, host name, and more.

Visage Login allows you to easily and safely customize your Mac OS X login screen. Visage Login keeps track of Apple’s default settings for every customization, so you can easily switch back to the original settings at any time. Check out the amazing screenshots!

Visage Login requires Mac OS 10.4+. If you are using an older version of Mac OS X, you can download the appropriate version of the Visage System Preferences pane instead.

WindowFinder lets you instantly access any open window from your menubar. Select a window from the menu and it will become the frontmost window. WindowFinder is easier and faster than Exposé, which leaves you mousing over dozens of miniaturized windows that all look alike.

PowerController is an iTunes alarm clock that is simple to use and packed with amazing features. PowerController wakes your computer from sleep and plays any iTunes playlist while fading in the volume.

The login background feature now works in Leopard, so you can add a custom background image to your login window. Registration now works on Intel Macs with Leopard, and your serial number from previous versions is still valid.

Visage Login allows you to easily and safely customize your Mac OS X login screen. Visage Login keeps track of Apple’s default settings for every customization, so you can easily switch back to the original settings at any time. You can add custom images to the login window, add a text message, or add an Acceptable Use Policy.

The Visage System Preferences pane has all the features of Visage Login, and it offers even more customization options such as the ability to run screen savers as your desktop background and personalize system alerts.

Here’s what’s new in version 2.1.2:
PowerController automatically recognizes when you change your time zone in System Preferences and reschedules your alarms. You no longer need to log out and log back in after changing your time zone.

This update is ONLY for OS 10.4 (Tiger). If you are using another version of OS X, please download the appropriate version of PowerController from http://keakaj.com/powercontroller.htm.

PowerController is an iTunes alarm clock that is simple to use and packed with amazing features:

• Wakes your computer from sleep
• Integrated with iTunes
• Plays any iTunes playlist
• The initial system volume and iTunes volume are customizable
• iTunes alarms can have a gradually increasing volume for a soothing wake experience
• PowerController can shut off your alarm if you don’t dismiss it after a designated time period (so that your neighbors don’t call the police when you go away for a long weekend!)
• iTunes alarms and wake events can launch an application, open a file, or run a script
• Set a different wake time and playlist for every day of the week!
• You may schedule an unlimited number of events
• PowerController runs in the background — there is no app hogging Dock space
• Configurable via System Preferences
• Admin password is NOT needed to set an alarm that wakes computer from sleep
• Snooze feature
• A status item may be kept in your menu bar for easy access to info about scheduled events
• Free, unrestricted 30 day trial

PowerController can also be used to schedule times for your computer to go to sleep or wake up (with or without an iTunes alarm).

The SMS widget for Apple’s Dashboard ranked high in Apple’s top 50 widget downloads for 9 months straight. Macworld chose it as one of the top 10 Tiger widgets. It was even featured in an Apple email campaign promoting Mac OS X Tiger.

For the next wave of enhancements, I’m handing the controls over to CallWave. As an innovative leader in communication applications, CallWave is in a great position to add cool new features and release more widgets designed to take tasks that are difficult on the phone and make them easier to perform on the desktop.

CallWave has already created new versions of each of the SMS applications:

• Apple Dashboard widget
• Google gadget
• Yahoo! widget

If you have any questions about the transition, feel free to contact me.

Here’s what’s new in version 2.1:
All of the sub-components of PowerController are now built as Universal Binaries, providing better performance on Intel Macs. Previously, one of the sub-components was not Universal and thus ran under Rosetta on Intel Macs.

This update is ONLY for OS 10.4 (Tiger). If you are using another version of OS X, please download the appropriate version of PowerController from http://keakaj.com/powercontroller.htm.

PowerController is an iTunes alarm clock that is simple to use and packed with amazing features:

• Wakes your computer from sleep
• Integrated with iTunes
• Plays any iTunes playlist
• The initial system volume and iTunes volume are customizable
• iTunes alarms can have a gradually increasing volume for a soothing wake experience
• PowerController can shut off your alarm if you don’t dismiss it after a designated time period (so that your neighbors don’t call the police when you go away for a long weekend!)
• iTunes alarms and wake events can launch an application, open a file, or run a script
• Set a different wake time and playlist for every day of the week!
• You may schedule an unlimited number of events
• PowerController runs in the background — there is no app hogging Dock space
• Configurable via System Preferences
• Admin password is NOT needed to set an alarm that wakes computer from sleep
• Snooze feature
• A status item may be kept in your menu bar for easy access to info about scheduled events
• Free, unrestricted 30 day trial

PowerController can also be used to schedule times for your computer to go to sleep or wake up (with or without an iTunes alarm).

We’ve added 2 new free carriers to our SMS widget for your Apple Dashboard.

Now you can send free text messages to Unicel and SaskTel Mobility, in addition to the free carriers already supported. The SMS widget now supports sending free SMS messages to 29 carriers in the USA and Canada.

The SMS widget lets you send free SMS text messages to phones in the USA and Canada, and cheap messages worldwide!

The free SMS carriers now include:

• ACS Alaska, Alltel, Arch Wireless Pager, AT&T, Boost, Cellular South, Cingular, Cricket, Dobson, Metro PCS, Metrocall Pager, Midwest Wireless, Nextel, Sprint, SunCom, T-Mobile, Unicel, Verizon, Verizon Pager, Virgin Mobile, Qwest, and “Beats me!” in the USA.
• Bell Mobility, Fido, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel Mobility, TELUS, Virgin Mobile, and “Beats me!” in Canada.

Now you can send free text messages to Dobson Cellular, Metrocall Pager, Unicel, and Virgin Mobile Canada, in addition to the free carriers already supported. The SMS Google module now supports sending free SMS messages to 28 carriers in the USA and Canada.

The free SMS carriers now include:

• ACS Alaska, Alltel, Arch Wireless Pager, AT&T, Boost, Cellular South, Cingular, Cricket, Dobson, Metro PCS, Metrocall Pager, Midwest Wireless, Nextel, Sprint, SunCom, T-Mobile, Unicel, Verizon, Verizon Pager, Virgin Mobile, Qwest, and “Beats me!” in the USA.
• Bell Mobility, Fido, MTS, Rogers, TELUS, Virgin Mobile, and “Beats me!” in Canada.

We’ve also added an SMS address book feature, so you can quickly select your contacts and send them free SMS messages.

The SMS Google module also lets you send cheap SMS messages worldwide, with reliable SMS delivery to over 180 countries. In Worldwide SMS mode, you can specify your Sender ID, receive SMS delivery acknowledgments, and view your SMS history online.

• Added option to receive delivery acknowledgments by email. You’ve always been able to see your message status on your history page, and now you can get notified by email as soon as your message arrives on the recipient’s phone.
• Added option to always use a delivery route that supports delivery acknowledgment.
• Added option to always use a delivery route that supports Sender IDs.

All of these new features can be enabled by checking the appropriate checkbox on your account page. Do you need an account? It’s cheap and easy… get started now!

Features of worldwide SMS:

• Type messages using a full sized keyboard instead of a tiny phone keypad.
• Quickly send messages from your Dashboard using the SMS widget. The widget integrates with your Mac OS X address book.
• Send messages from any web browser.
• Reliable delivery to over 180 countries.
• View your message history online.
• Specify a Sender ID. In most cases, this allows the recipient to see who messages are from and reply to them.
• Supports all of the ’special’ characters! For example: € £ ¥ è é ñ ç ß ä å ¡
• In the rare case a message can’t be delivered, you will be notified by email.
• It’s cheap! Just 9 cents or less (€0,09) to send a message to most countries.

For a list of supported countries and the number of credits for each country, check our coverage table.