Information On Screensaver Artilces and News

Sailor Moon Screensaver

2007-11-16T03:24:00.000-08:00

This Sailor Moon Screensaver is centered around a highly talented schoolgirl who fights against evil. This pretty defender of the Earth is waiting for you to bring a little magic to your desktop. Enjoy romantic Sailor Moon pictures.

Features :

* Beautiful images
* Variety of exciting scenes
* Thrilling transition effects
* Enjoy romantic Sailor Moon pictures!

System Requirements :

* Windows 9x/2k/Me/XP
* Pentium II or higher
* 16 Mb Video Memory

http://www.freewarezoom.com/archives/sailor-moon-screensaver

Vista screensaver inspired WMP visualizations, “Psychedelia Visualization Pack”

2007-11-16T03:22:00.000-08:00

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s been at least two Windows releases since any new or updated Windows Media Player visualizations. Sure, what comes in the box are still visualizations by definition, but I couldn’t consider any of them eye-candy. Recently, a new visualization pack made by two Microsoft employees in their spare time is worth checking out.

Stephen Coy, the designer of the Windows Vista screensavers and Tim Cowley, a software engineer on the Office team have come together to release a visualizations pack for Windows Media Player called “Psychedelia” two years in the making. But don’t worry, no LSD drugs involved.

As a requirement to run these visualizations, you will need a graphics card that supports at least shader model 2.0 (most DirectX 9 graphics cards will), which might seem like a high requirement for visualizers, but how else are you suppose to create visual magic right?

Included in the single package are 7 visualizations with over 40 variations in total, including

* Album Art 3D - 3D cubes with the album art of the song you’re currently playing
* Bubbles - inspired by the Bubbles Vista screensavers also featuring the album art
* Distortion - distorts the album art in a 3D waveform
* Hypnobloom - hypnotic checkered purple rings
* Ribbons - inspired by the Mystify and Ribbons Vista screensavers (as seen above)
* Gigertron 3D - 3D layered visualizer bars
* up cuber - a pigment arrangement of 3D hexagon cubes

I’ve never been a big fan of visualizers before but I’m hooked onto “Ribbons”. If you’re looking for some awesome WMP visualizers or something to match your Vista screensavers, then give Psychedelia a try. It’s a reasonably light download at 5MB but best of all it’s free!

http://www.windowsvistaplace.com/vista-screensaver-inspired-wmp-visualizations-%E2%80%9Cpsychedelia-visualization-pack%E2%80%9D/windows

Axialis Professional Screensaver Producer

2007-11-16T03:20:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of programs out there for creating screensavers, but this has to be one of the most comprehensive. You can create a multitude of different types - sprite, Flash, video or FLI/FLC (a common 3D animation format) based, or slideshow style screensavers.

The program is very easy to use, although it does appear rather daunting at first, what with its huge array of buttons. Overcome this, though, and you'll soon be whizzing through the creation process.

The program's interface will be familiar to most, closely mimicking Windows Explorer. You view, create, edit and compile your screensavers in separate windows within this Explorer-type interface.

As you would expect, all the images, graphics, animations and other content you wish to use in your screensavers have to be designed elsewhere, and Axialis is simply used to piece everything together. Should you wish to, you can make use of the various media provided with the program.

Screensavers can be compiled either as a plain screensaver file (.scr) for placing in the Windows system folder, or as a self-executable file for distribution. The latter option installs itself in the same manner as a normal program, and is ideal for distributing your screensaver or offering as a download.

Although not for the beginner, this is great for those with some experience. If you want something truly simple, try Fandango 2.

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2127892/axialis-professional-screensaver-producer

Create Icons to Start the Screensaver on Windows Vista

2007-11-16T03:18:00.000-08:00

Reader Jeffrey wrote in asking how to create an icon to start up the screensaver in Windows Vista. This question is so common that I figured I'd write up the answer for everybody, as well as provide a downloadable set of shortcuts to all the default screensavers.

You can read how to actually do this, or skip down and just download the set of shortcuts and choose the ones you want.

Create Screensaver Icon

Right-click on the desktop and choose New \ Shortcut from the menu.

In order to launch the screensaver, you'll need to enter the full path to the screensaver file, followed by "/s"

You would want to substitute the name of the screensaver where you see "Bubbles.scr" above. Also note that I used %systemroot% instead of C:\windows because not every install uses the C: drive.

If you don't know the filename, you can browse down to your system32 folder and then search for ".scr" using the search box:

You should see all of the names of all the screensavers installed on your system, which you can use in the location field.

Download Shortcut Icons

If you've prefer, I made shortcuts for all the default screensavers and zipped them up. You can just download and extract the file, and then use whichever ones you want.

Note: I'm fairly certain I didn't miss any default screensavers in the list, but it's certainly possible since it's 6am and I'm still awake.

Download Start Screensaver Icons

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-icons-to-start-the-screensaver-on-windows-vista/

Inspirational Screensaver

2007-11-16T03:13:00.000-08:00

Last spring I made a screensaver, or rather a series of images that you can turn into one. The images contain quotes from very ingenious people. And all quotes have an inspirational message - to do better, to change the way you think or to make you smile.

As a free Christmas extra, I offer this screensaver to you - maybe you can enjoy the quotes as much I have.
Installation Instructions

Since it essentially is just a series of images, there is no setup file.

1. Simply place all the images into an empty folder.
2. Open your screensaver control panel (display control panel on XP)
3. Choose the standard screensaver that turns a bunch of images into a slideshow. This is called "My Pictures Slideshow" in Windows XP - I cannot recall what it is called in Mac OS X, but it is available.
4. Sit back and enjoy :)

Download

* Screensaver 1024x768 (Compressed file (ZIP) - 223kb)
* Screensaver 1600x1200 (Compressed file (ZIP) - 375kb)

http://www.baekdal.com/articles/Fantastic-World/screensaver/

Customizing your screensaver in GNOME

2007-11-16T03:01:00.000-08:00

One popular screensaver in Ubuntu is “Floating Ubuntu”, which displays a number of Ubuntu logos floating around the screen. This screensaver exists in many different flavours; for example in Ubuntu you can also find “Floating Feet”, that has the GNOME logo instead of Ubuntu’s; or, on Debian you have Debian’s “swirls” floating around. I thought that it would probably be easy to customize it and have an image of my choice floating around instead. Unfortunately, screensavers in Ubuntu are not configurable using the GUI so I had to hack the screensaver myself. Here’s how I did it.

When the company I work for gave me a personal laptop for the on-call service, I christened it “tyrrell”, naming it after the Formula 1 team that was was bought by British-American Tobacco and raced its last season in 1998. If the name of this team doesn’t ring a bell, then you may remember the Tyrrell P34 car, known as “six-wheeler”: the one and only six-wheeled Formula 1 car to race in the World Championship. If you still don’t know what I am talking about, don’t worry! It’s not that important as far as this article is concerned.

Anyway, I decided that I wanted a Floating Tyrrell screensaver, with the team’s logo floating around on the screen. Doing some research on Google, I found that what I needed was a file in the /usr/share/applications/screensavers directory, and that Floating Ubuntu’s configuration file was ubuntu_theme.desktop. Now if you look into the file you’d easily guess what you need to do to customize the screensaver with an image of your choice:

You just need to change the Name, Comment, and the image path in the Exec line. Since you need administrative rights to do that, you’d better open a terminal (in menu Applications→Accessories→Terminal), type the command sudo -s and insert your administrative password. After doing this successfully, you’ll have a root shell, so behave!.

Once you have a root shell, you need to create a new file for your screensaver. I suggest to do it this way:

Now we have a new tyrrell-floaters.desktop file that you can customize at will. Type gedit tyrrell-floaters.desktop to open the file in the text editor. My tyrrell-floaters.desktop file is below:

Now go in the System→Preferences→Screensaver menu, and find the “Floating Tyrrell” item in the “Screensaver theme” column. Click on it and you’ll get a preview of your customized screensaver. Yes, you’ve finished already!

One small note at the end: I used a raster, JPEG image. You’ll get better results if you use vector images, e.g. images in the SVG format (Scalable Vector Graphics) that scale without deteriorating in quality. For example, the image used in the Floating Ubuntu screensaver is an SVG: you can size it up or down without losing any definition.

Disclaimer: the Tyrrell images I used in this article were found on the internet; I believe they are public and it’s legal to use them. In case I went wrong, please just contact me with full ownership credentials and I’ll promptly remove them.

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/customizing_your_screensaver

Microsoft sues creator of spyware screensaver

2007-11-15T01:51:00.000-08:00

Microsoft today said that it has filed suit against the creators of a "notorious spyware program" which recently also had been the targeted by the Federal Trade Commission. Microsoft said that "Timothy P. Taylor and others" used celebrity screen savers and "other seemingly benign programs" as trojan horses to secretly install unwanted software on computers of Internet users.

According to a press release, Microsoft seeks damages from the spyware distributors based on the rules set by the Washington Computer Spyware Act and the Washington Consumer Protection Act.

Microsoft said that Taylor's screensavers showed pictures of well-known celebrities such as Jessica Simpson. Once installed, the software "called home" and downloaded numerous other programs that "bombard users with unwanted pop-up advertisements, track users' Internet activity, redirect their Internet browsers to unwanted pages, add icons to the Windows desktop, and change the users' Windows Registry settings."

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/29746/118/

2007 screensaver

2007-11-15T01:49:00.000-08:00

Download and save the file to your hard-drive by clicking on the link above. Remember where you save it - you'll need to find it in a bit.

Wait for the program to download - it will take about 20 minutes on a dial-up modem. If you are on broadband, it should only take a few seconds.

When it has downloaded, Windows will say 'Download complete'.

Find where you saved it on your computer, double-click the executable file. The screensaver will then install itself.

The screensaver's controls are accessible through the Screensaver tab of your computer's Display Properties control panel. Find this in the Settings | Control Panels sub menu of your Start Menu, or by right-clicking on your desktop and choosing Properties from the pop-up menu.

Once installed, you can interrupt the screensaver by pressing any key or moving the mouse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2007/01/30/apon_screensaver_feature.shtml

5 great movies and a screen saver!

2007-11-15T01:48:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

Welcome to my article about great entertainment images on the Web. In these articles, I try to point you all toward great sites that have lots of entertainment images.

Wow, my first article for the year 2000! I have some cool stuff to tell you about too. First of all, if you're a movie fan you won't want to miss the newest page of my site's movie section! As my visitors have come to expect it has great pictures, the best links, trailers, downloads and more for every movie! Some of my pictures even link to very cool desktop wallpapers! Here are the movies that I've just added:

The Big Lebowski
A great movie about a laid back stoner played excellently by Jeff Bridges! One of my favorites!

Stir of Echoes
A great ghost story starring Kevin Bacon as a man obsessed by ghostly visions.

End of Days
A fantastic action movie pitting Arnold Schwarzenegger against the Devil!!!

Half Baked
The crazy antics of a group of loveable stoners. Very funny!

Nightmare on Elm St.
A great movie series featuring everyone's favorite sadistic killer, Freddy Krueger!

You have to love at least one of those great movies!

I also have something else that I want to tell you about. In the past, I've made movie screensavers based on Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Stephen King's It and the great sci-fi movie Cube. They've been very popular, and now I've finished another one! It's for the great Michael J. Fox movie The Frighteners! It features great pictures and music (Don't Fear the Reaper) from the movie! Go to my Frighteners Image Gallery to download it, and if you do, drop me a line and tell me what you think of it. Well, that's it for now. I haven't had a chance to pick up any new magazines lately, but hopefully I'll get the chance to pick some up before my next article.

I hope I pointed the way to some great image sources! If you'd like to suggest a cool site, or comments or questions about this article, or anything else, feel free to drop me a line at Creed@bigfoot.com, or if you're a member of Suite 101, post your ideas in the discussion area.

Have a good one!
Creed Stonegate World's Fastest Procrastinator!

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/image_sources/31849

What to Do if You Fall in Love With More Than One Screensaver

2007-11-15T01:46:00.000-08:00

If you don't know where one screensaver goes when you install another one then this article is for you. Learn about the standard way of switching between installed screensavers and get prepared to a much more convenient one.

It was a great surprise for me to get dozens of emails complaining about what I myself would have never thought of. Many people installed my Rainy Screensaver ( http://www.elasticsystems.com/rainy/ ) and found it quite entertaining. But then they got upset because their previous screensaver was very fun too and now it wouldn't come up anymore.

What has happened to their old screensaver after the installation of another one? Today we will deal with this question.

Probably, many of you will find this information rather obvious. I am really sorry for not being very helpful to this part of my readers this time. But I receive too many emails of described nature. This leaves me with the hope that some people will learn something new in their quests for becoming Screensaver Gurus.

Here we go. The root of the problem is that screensaver installation hides many steps happening behind the scene. This is very convenient but it's what makes the answer to our question not so obvious for many people.

I hope you were following my articles. In Windows Screensavers Explained I told you about the place where screensavers live in your system. But don't worry if you missed that article. Here's the information you need.

Your operating system (and we are talking about Microsoft Windows here) expects to find available screensavers in two folders on your hard drive. These folders are C:\Windows and C:\Windows\System if you use Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me. If you have Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP then these folders are C:\WINNT and C:\WINNT\System32. Note that I suppose you system is installed on your hard drive C. If your system is on drive D, you should look into D:\Windows. The same goes for other drives.

When you install a screensaver it gets into one of these folders. The screensaver simply copies itself over there. Some screensavers have more than one file. Usually they copy other files into a separate folder under your Program Files. But it makes no difference for the purpose of our discussion.

The main idea behind all this is that your previous screensaver doesn't disappear. A new screensaver copies itself into one of the mentioned folders. But copying is not removing. The previous screensaver is not removed unless you uninstall it manually. That is, if you install two or more screensavers, you can still enjoy all of them.

What exactly should you do to admire all screensavers installed on your system? The answer is simple and you could easily find it yourself by an accident. Try the following. Right click anywhere on the empty desktop and choose Properties. You will see Display Properties dialog. This dialog has many pages but you need the one named Screen Saver. Activate it by clicking on its title. You should see a preview window with the last installed screensaver. Now look below that window. There's a drop down list with the name of that screensaver. This drop down list is the answer to our question. You can select any screensaver installed on your system by clicking on the list. After that Windows will launch only the screensaver you have selected.

The described solution is perfect if you have two or three favorite screensavers and would like to change between them once in a week. But what if you have five or ten favorite screensavers and want to see them on a day-by-day basis? We will beat this problem next time by introducing a few quite useful tools. They can make switching between screensavers a lot easier and more entertaining. Stay tuned...

About the Author

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work.

Free Screensavers - Fun For Your Computer

2007-11-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

Since you're an individual with specific tastes, you might not be all that fond of the screensavers your computer came with. But you need not sacrifice your sense of style simply because your computer doesn't have the kind of screensaver that you really want. Fortunately, you can actually go online and look around for free screensavers. They are, quite literally, everywhere. And there are so many available that you'll be able to pick and choose to your heart's content.

Screensavers are popular these days, and the makers of these applications are putting more time and effort into making them. So if you look around enough, you'll find screensavers that you'll be proud to download onto your computer hard drive. Screensavers, as you well know, are important for your screen; but that doesn't mean that you have to use any old screensaver.

All you have to do is to pick a certain theme and then go out and look for it. There are websites that provide free screensavers, so your selection will be great.

Free screensavers are just what you need if you want to find something that is a little bit different. That way, you'll be able to protect your computer screen in fine style. You could, of course, stick with the screensavers your computer came with, or you could go out and buy screensavers, but you could also download some free screensavers. If you want something with personality and uniqueness, then you'll want to look through the extensive collection of free screensavers. They're readily available, simple to install and easy on the eyes. All you need to do is go out and get them.

http://freebiefanatic.com/screen-savers/free-screensavers-fun-for-your-computer.html

Screensavers more secure than network passwords

2007-11-15T01:42:00.000-08:00

Activating a password-protected screensaver on users' desktops can provide more protection from unauthorised access than strong network login passwords, according to security firm TruSecure.

The company claims organisations are wasting money on expensive security measures and procedures that can actually increase vulnerability to attackers instead of reducing it.

Jay Heiser, chief analyst at TruSecure, told ZDNet UK that most unauthorised access occurs inside an organisation because users leave their desktops unattended and unprotected.

"When someone sits down at a logged-in terminal they are able to rifle through that user's files and send or read their email. Screen-locking - activating a password-protected screensaver - is one of the most effective things you can do internally," he said.

Heiser said that when users are given long and complicated passwords, they are more likely to write them down. "They are going to write them down on Post-it notes next to their monitor or stick them under the keyboard," he said.

Research has found that companies are hit hard in the pocket when their employees forget their passwords and call the corporate helpdesk. Earlier this year, analyst group Meta calculated that each of these calls costs the company approximately $25.

According to Heiser, regardless of whether passwords are complex or simple, there are lots of tools available on the web that can crack them. A better policy is to use a hardware device, such as a token or smartcard to reinforce access rights.

He said: "You always know if your hardware has been stolen but you don't know if your password has been stolen."

Heiser also dismissed the practice of updating anti-virus signatures every day because it is a reactive action rather than a proactive one.

"There is not a huge difference in updating anti-virus signatures on a daily basis and on a monthly basis. Antivirus software is a band-aid - it isn't worth spending large amounts of time and effort optimising it because there are other ways to reduce risk for a lower cost," he said.

http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,10006260,00.htm

Memorial Day Screensavers - The Spirit Of Patriotism

2007-11-15T01:41:00.000-08:00

Memorial Day is a national holiday in the United States. This day all Americans remember the brave soldiers who gave their life for their country. Memorial Day screensavers can bring a great sense of gratitude and patriotism. Let us see how we can use them. Please look for the following in selecting Memorial Day Screensavers.

Design - Avoid downloading three-dimensional screensavers. Download screensavers with video because video shots look great. Watch for use of colors that symbolize the nation. The design should evoke the feeling of patriotism and remind the users of the sacrifice of life by the brave soldiers. The main object of downloading these screensavers is to remember about the lives that were given by the brave, and the Memorial Day Screensavers must do that. The text on the screensavers must match the occasion. Look at the text carefully and make sure that the colors and fonts are visible and not lost in design. Download screensavers that come with music. Don't download screensavers without music. Adjust the volume of the music after you download the screensaver.

The other factors that come into play of selection are adware or spyware in the file. These are bad for your system and should be avoided. Don't download from any website that does not promise screensavers without adware and spyware. In case of doubt, run your anti virus program on the file and remove if any adware is found. Select websites that offer easy installation. Lengthy procedure will be troublesome. Take these small cares and you will be able to feel the mood of the Memorial Day on your desktop with Memorial Day Screensavers.

CDMohatta writes content for memorial day screensavers, free screensavers and memorial day ecards.
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_52214_11.html

http://www.articlealley.com/article_52214_11.html

PacketFountain: Network Sniffing Screensaver

2007-11-15T01:40:00.000-08:00

screensaver in VB 6.0 that uses a WinPcap wrapper (http://www.lorenzocerulli.tk/) and bounces packets around the screen. The code is fugly, uncommented and spaghetti like, but I'm hoping someone else does something cool with it. It does support multiple screens (one main, one on left, one on right) but you have to use the screensaver's setting to configure them. I’m not sure how to find out how many monitors someone has, and how they are oriented, once I have that it’s no problem. Anyway, the source is included, along with the binary.

Steps to install:

1. copy ./bin/PacketFountain.scr to windows directory (c:\windows\).
2. copy ./bin/VBPCAP.DLL to windows\system32 directory (c:\windows\system32).
3. Install Winpcap from http://winpcap.polito.it/ .
4. Go to Display Properties->Screen Saver and choose PacketFountain.
5. Click the settings button and choose your network card, number of packets, active monitors and speed.

Most of the networking code came from the Yana, I just made a screensaver with it. That should do it, enjoy.

Download PacketFountain.zip

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/packetfountain

Get the New SaverBeans Screensaver Pack

2007-11-15T01:39:00.000-08:00

Desktop Java technology is unleashing many new and exciting projects that developers should know about and will probably want to get involved with. The first is a new, early access Java screensaver Software Development Kit (SDK) called the SaverBeans Screensaver SDK that was recently developed and released on java.net. Using the tools in the SDK, one can produce screensavers for the Windows, Solaris, and Linux platforms by writing a set of Java classes along with an XML description of the screensaver settings. The resulting screensavers behave just like native screensavers, with preview capabilities and the ability to control settings. The SaverBeans SDK is a part of a larger java.net project called the JDesktop Integration Components (JDIC) project.

http://whitepapers.silicon.com/0,39024759,60259945p,00.htm

Why Would I Want a Fish Tank Screensaver?

2007-11-15T01:36:00.000-08:00

Are you looking to update your screensaver collection to include realistic fish tanks or aquariums? Are you the recent owner of a new home fish tank or aquarium and looking for a screensaver that resembles your actual tank? There are virtually dozens out there that will assist you in your search.

Since the introduction of the first Windows software, people have enjoyed the fish tank screensaver. However, most people are now looking to find more realistic looking fish screensavers for their computer. There are dozens of sites offering free downloads of these more realistic ones. Many of these are 3-d and offer a realistic feel of both the fish and the water. The fish almost seem to be able to come right out of the computer screen into your lap. These are some big upgrades to the original ones and should make the user feel confident in their reality factor.

If you have recently spent the time and money to create the perfect home fish tank or aquarium, you may want to try to find a realistic fish tank screensaver that represents the product of all of your hard work. With the amount of available products out there, you should be able to find one that looks very similar to the content of your own. This will allow you to enjoy your fish tank anywhere, including the office. This brings the joy your personal fish tank gives you at home, to the work place.

The addition of a newer, more realistic fish tank screensaver to your collection serves many purposes. They can add the added benefit of giving the feel you are at home staring at your own personal fish tank while you are stuck at work. Your long work days will seem a little shorter if you find a screensaver that reminds you of your fish tank or aquarium.

For more information about Fish Tank Screensavers, feel free to visit us at: http://www.fish-tanks-land.com/article-3-Fish-Tank-Screensavers.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Arturo_Ronzon

http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Would-I-Want-a-Fish-Tank-Screensaver?&id=794680

Graphics Converter Pro

2007-11-14T02:59:00.001-08:00

Graphics Converter Pro is a powerful batch graphics converter and picture viewer. Graphics Converter Pro can import more than 500 graphic file formats, including BMP; DIB; EMF; GIF; ICB; ICO; JPG; JPEG; PBM; PCD; PCX; PGM; PNG; PPM; PSD; PSP; RLE; SGI; TGA; TIF; TIFF; VDA; VST; WBMP; WMF; VST; CEL; PIC; PDD and more. Graphics Converter Pro can export about 100 formats, including BMP; GIF; JPG; PNG; TGA; TIF; WMF; EMF; WBMP; RGB; BM; RPPM; RPGM; PCC; DCX; RPBM; PIX; BPX; VDA; ICB; VST; WBM; WAP; JIF; RL4; TIM and more.

Graphics Converter Pro has 50 image filters, including Blurring, Sharpening, Embossing, Diffusing, Color Balance... and 12 image effects, including Flip, Wave, Noise, Arbitrary Rotation...

Graphics Converter Pro also supports slide show, desktop capture, file association and live update.

http://www.hotlib.com/download.php?id=1507&t=Graphics_Converter_Pro

7art Ocean Life ScreenSaver

2007-11-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

7art Ocean Life ScreenSaver brings you 25 amazing underwater photos.

29 original transition effects between true color images make the slideshow outstandable.

Feel yourself like an aquanaut diving into the Ocean.

7art Ocean Life ScreenSaver was developed by 7art-screensavers company. We specialize in screensavers developing.

7art-screensavers shine out the most beautiful images to extend the
boundaries of your virtual world and enrich your visual experience with much more pleasurable things in comparison with endless letters and figures you have to read and write everyday at your PC screen.

Life is the great thing and we should not forget about that!
7art-screensavers will remind you about some wonders of the world we are
living in everytime they start.

We do hope 7art-screensavers will help you to be somewhat more happy. If it is true, we will be more happy too.

http://www.hotlib.com/download.php?id=7305&t=7art_Ocean_Life_ScreenSaver

The 2005 ScubaBoard ScreenSaver -- Download it Now!

2007-11-14T02:53:00.000-08:00

Underwater Photo ScreenSaver

After some delay ScubaBoard is pleased to announce the release of our 2005 underwater photo screensaver. The ScubaBoard screensaver is a free product that combines images from over a dozen of our top underwater photographers. This screensaver includes photos of various underwater creatures and scenes taken from around the world and combines them into a single, easy to use program. Install it on your home computer, send it to a friend or put it on the office network � everyone is welcome to enjoy these great photos! The ScubaBoard screensaver is a great addition to your any computer and is offered absolutely free to the community.

To get started simply download the screensaver by clicking here. Once the program is downloaded, double click the icon and our installer will walk you through the simple configuration process. The ScubaBoard screensaver is compatible with virtually all versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 98, ME, XP and 2000. Should you encounter any problems or have questions, please seek assistance in the Site Support forum.

**** Download The ScreenSaver Now -- Free ****

Finally, I would like to personally thank all of the photographers who donated their images to be used in this screensaver. Please remember the images contained in this package have been graciously given to us for use in this screensaver only; other use of these images either privately or commercially is strictly prohibited. Respect those who made this possible by seeking permission before using photos. I hope you enjoy the screensaver as much as I do!

http://www.scubaboard.com/cms/article77.html

The Ultimate Windows Vista Screensaver

2007-11-14T02:51:00.000-08:00

A top notch Windows Vista screensaver is coming to your desktop, not from Microsoft's Ultimate Extras website, but courtesy of the design firm Jackson Fish Market.

You have been able to read recently of a new Microsoft search project and experiment dubbed Tafiti. Essentially, Tafiti is a marriage between Live Search and Silverlight and an interesting approach all the way. In terms of an alternative perspective over search, Tafiti offers users the Tree View. A fully animated tree environment with orbiting search results. And believe it or not, this is the best that Microsoft has to offer in terms of screensavers for Windows Vista since the launch of the operating system. Because the Live Search/Silverlight Tree View is designed to act as a dynamic desktop screensaver.

"In the simplest terms, the Tafiti tree view is a screensaver. We haven’t done the work (yet?) to wire it into the machines actual screensaver mechanism, but we think about it as a passive way to browse more deeply into search results. (...) As the tree spins, the leaves start to turn fall-like. And as each leaf turns from orange to red it finally reaches an end point, turns green again, and the next web result shows up. In this fashion you can leave the tree running for some time as it browses very deep into the search query specified. The longer you let the tree run, the deeper you are browsing into the result set," revealed Hillel Cooperman, one of the founders of Jackson Fish Market.

You might have noticed that I keep referring to Microsoft although the tree view is in fact the work of the Jackson Fish Market. Well, first off, Tafiti is a Live Search and Silverlight combination, and in this context its connection to Microsoft cannot be denied. And second, the Jackson Fish Market reeks of Microsoft. Hillel Cooperman for example is a former Microsoft design director. And the design firm also features Tjeerd Hoek, former Design Director of Windows User Experience (UX) at Microsoft and Jenny Lam User Experience Designer both of them heavyweights during the Windows Vista development.

"If you have two monitors you could set up the Tafiti tree to run on the second monitor while you do your main work on your first. After several minutes you’ll be deeper into the result set than 99.99% of users ever go. And of course, when you get to something interesting you can check it out. I know this is kind of an esoteric feature, but we think there’s something interesting there in terms of browsing the Live Search index in a deeper way than most users ever do. It was also cool that Microsoft was willing to let us experiment with a feature that’s a little different than what people might expect. Anyway, that’s the intention of the Tafiti tree view," Hillel concluded.

http://keznews.com/3350_The_Ultimate_Windows_Vista_Screensaver

Free evangelistic screensaver

2007-11-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

There are many overtly Christian screen savers, but some may be too blatant in approach to be wisely evangelistic. We suggest that in most cultures and work environments, it is best not to use ‘in-your-face’ preachy slogans/Bible verses. A lower-key style which tries to ‘intrigue the lost’ and create conversation may have much more real potential. This screen saver is designed for Christians to use in their secular workplaces, where other workers may notice it from time to time.

The screen saver is free for personal use, and has been generously made available for IE Day by Churchsavers.com. You may share it with your church members – for instance by adding it on a CD along with other IE Day resources such as music, book downloads, etc., if this is done on a non-profit basis.

It also displays an URL for interested people to check out a top outreach site. It can also be customized for churches and other ministries to distribute to their members by ChurchSavers.com (also available in Hungarian at that site, which needs help to translate it into more languages).

• Download Free Personal Version (1.573 Mb)

Estimated download times:
28.8 Kb 7 minutes, 38 seconds
33.3 Kb 6 minutes, 32 seconds
56.6 Kb 3 minutes, 53 seconds
ISDN (128 Kb) 1 minutes, 43 seconds
DSL (512 Kb) 25 seconds
Cable (1.5 Mb) 8 seconds

Installation instructions
To install the screen saver, follow these steps:

* Click on the Start button in the lower left of your Windows desktop.

* Move your cursor up to the “Run...” item and click on it.

* This will open a dialog box appropriately named “Run.”

* Click on the “Browse” button.

* This will open a dialog box appropriately named “Browse” which contains the directory structure of your computer in its main window.

* Find the screen saver executable file - churchsaver_sample.exe for the sample screen saver or churchsaver.exe. Note that the folder or directory in which you placed the executable file during the download process must appear in the “Look in:” field at the top of the “Browse” dialog box. If it is not there, click on the arrow at the right of the “Look in:” field - this will allow you to choose another folder or directory. If you don’t remember where you placed the executable file during the download process, see the answer to the first Frequently Asked Question on the ChurchSavers Support page to find the executable file.

* Once you have found the screen saver executable file, double-click on it. This will return you to the “Run” dialog box, and you will notice that the path to the screen saver executable file now appears in the “Open” field.

* Click the “OK” button and the screen saver installation routine will begin. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of your screen saver.

System Requirements
The screen saver requires the following:

* Windows 95/98/ME/XP/2000/NT 4.0
* 5 mb free hard disk space
* 8 mb of RAM
* 256 or more color display

http://ied.gospelcom.net/screensaver.php

Screensaver Factory 3 Pro 3.2

2007-11-14T02:47:00.000-08:00

With Screensaver Factory 3 you can create screensavers for yourself or unlimited royalty-free distribution. You can make screensavers from any combination of images, video and flash animation, adding background music and over 100 smooth picture transition effects. Screensaver Factory is very easy to use and it generates standalone screensaver file or self-installing screensaver for easy distribution. You can make screensavers for sale using special features for shareware authors - registration keys (single and per-customer), functionality limitations (image count, trial period), customizable nag-screen, readme information file and license agreement. With Screensaver Factory you can start your very own screensaver business right now. Screensaver Factory 3 features include: * Very smooth graphics processing and image resizing * Support for all popular image and video formats * Over 100 smooth, customizable image transition effects * Various background options - solid, gradient or textured * Support for WAV, MIDI, MP3 and WMA sound files * Customizable screensaver configuration and about dialog boxes * Compression for large image and sound files

http://www.softgrab.com/Desktop/Screen_Savers_Other/Screensaver_Factory_3_Pro-download_2370.html

Sailor Moon Screensaver

2007-11-14T02:44:00.000-08:00

Axialis Professional Screensaver Producer

2007-11-14T02:41:00.000-08:00

Creating Your Own Screensaver

2007-11-14T02:39:00.000-08:00

Screensaver design motto: if you can dream it, there is a program to help you create it. This really would’ve been a farfetched idea not too long ago when all screensavers had the same title, “The Black Hole.”

As in other realms of technology, screensaver design has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past decade or so. For many years, creating screensavers was left up to the professionals, but now, with new screensaver design programs, you can create a custom screensaver in just minutes.
Why Create a Screensaver?

People create screensavers for a variety of different reasons—for gifts, for business purposes, to sell or just for fun. Imagine seeing pictures of your children, pets, spouse or even your latest vacation gliding across your monitor to your favorite tune. Or put a 3-D image you’ve designed into motion. The options are endless and only require your creativity and the right program. The right program can be bought—creativity, that’s something you’ll have to discover in yourself.

Seven Ideas to Enhance Screensaver Creativity

Although today’s computer monitors are built with technology preventing the possibility of burn-in, we still use screensavers for a variety of reasons, here are just a few:

1. Listen to Music- Let the music you love inspire your screensaver creation.
2. Brain Storm- Take three minutes and write down any and all ideas that come to mind. One of those ideas could lead you to your next screensaver masterpiece.
3. Carry a Notebook- Bring a notebook with you wherever you go to write down out-of-the-blue screensaver design inspirations.
4. Take the Random Approach- When you come up with a screensaver idea, randomly choose a word from a dictionary. Incorporate this word into your idea. Contrary to popular belief, restrictions spawn creativity and imagination.
5. Let it Rest- If you hit the screensaver design big brick wall, put your project on the backburner and do something else for a while.
6. Don't Watch Television- Too much TV may cause your brain cells to slow and sluggish brain cells can’t create ingenious screensavers.
7. Read- Reading enhances brain activity. With more brain activity comes more creativity for producing ingenious screensavers.

Screensaver Designing Programs

There are countless screensaver design programs varying from free trial downloads, to $699 professional versions. The right screensaver program will make the creation process trouble free; maybe even enjoyable. Some questions to consider when choosing a screensaver design program are:

* How much money do I want to spend?Many companies offer only one screensaver program, but will provide more features for the program if you’re willing spend more money.
* What features do I want the program to have?Look for programs that offer a large library of images, templates, and sound effects. Technical support is also an important factor to consider when buying software. In addition you’ll want to make sure the program works with the formats you want to use (i.e. MPEG, MOOV, AVI, Macromedia Flash, JPEG, BMP and more).
* What do I want to accomplish with the program?Are you creating screensavers for personal use, for friends and family or are you creating them for commercial use or to sell? Many professional versions give you the ability to make screen savers that display your customized licensee name, as well as the authority to sell your screen savers or promote a business royalty free.
* You’ll also want to keep in mind different programs offer different templates, graphics, sounds, animations, and icons.What kind of hardware do I have?Take into consideration if you are going to use a PC, a Mac or both when designing screensavers. Some companies offer programs that are both PC and Mac compatible.

Media for Screensavers

There are two ways to acquire media for your screensavers. Make it yourself, or get it from somebody else. You can always use your own photographs, voiceovers and sound effects to make your screensaver more personal. There are also tons of websites that offer pictures, sounds, animations, and icons above and beyond those that come with your screensaver design program. One example is Freefoto.com, which offers a variety of professional grade photographs for download.

http://screensaver-review.toptenreviews.com/creating-your-own-screensaver.html

Mac: Change Your Screensaver

2007-11-13T02:05:00.000-08:00

You desktop image represents your personality. Likewise, your screen saver is also a customizable item that is fun to change to represent you when you're not there. Similar to the screen saver, you have the option to use the default screen saver, a slideshow, or your own personal screen saver.

To switch your current screen saver for another one, follow the instructions below:

1. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences
2. Select the Desktop and Screen Saver button
3. Click the Screen Saver tab to view preferences
4. All preexisting screen savers appear in the left pane. The pane on the right includes a preview of the screen saver.
5. Click the screen saver of your choice from the left pane to select it for use
6. You have the option to test your screen saver before selecting it. To do this, click Test.

To create a slideshow to use for your screen saver, follow the instructions below:

1. From the Screen Saver preferences box, choose Library or one of the two choices below it to turn your iPhoto images into a slideshow screen saver.
2. From the Screen Saver preferences box, choose the Pictures Folder to display the images. Select Choose Folder, and select the folder that includes images in the resulting dialog box. Click Choose to automatically put it in use.

To add a screen saver from a third-party, follow the instructions below:

1. If the screen saver you select does not have a chosen installer to place the file in the correct folder, navigate to the .saver file in the package.
2. Click and drag the file into the Screen Saver folder, which is located in the Library folder at the root of your hard disk ~/Library/Scrren Savers.
4. Follow the instructions in the "To switch your current screen saver for another one" above, to select the third-party screen saver.

After you have chosen the screen saver that best fits your personailty, you have more options to further customize its settings. Below are some options from the Screen Saver preferences window:

1. Select options to view the screen saver's user-configurable display settings. The settings will be different from screen saver to screen saver. You can adjust the settings according to your preferences.
2. Move the "Start Screen Saver" slider to the left or right to change the time (minutes) at which the screen saver begins to run.
3. If you want your computer to automatically select a screen saver when it goes into screen saver mode, select "Use random screen saver."
4. If you want to be able to start your screen saver manually, select Hot Corners. In the dialog box that appears, select Start Screen Saver, and click OK. The screen saver will begin when you move your arrow to the chosen screen corner.

http://grok.lsu.edu/Article.aspx?articleId=3726

Animated 3D Screensaver - Ideal Solution for Holidays and Special Events

2007-11-13T02:04:00.000-08:00

Everyone has faced the problem of gift hunting, especially when here are only a couple of days left and you have no idea what to get. You go to the nearest shopping center for the fifth time hoping to see something extraordinary but cannot find anything special.

However, today there is a simple, yet very ingenious solution – an animated 3D screensaver. Surfing the Internet you would run across dozens of sites offering cool screensavers. There are even huge screensaver portals like http://www.screensavers.com/ or http://www.astrogemini.com/ where you can find a rich inventory of high-quality animated 3D screensavers on a wide variety of subjects which makes picking the right one much easier.

Just for $19.95 you can make an amazing gift for your friend or a sweetheart that will always remind them of you and that special day. It can be a present for Christmas, Halloween or Easter, or just a heart-warming gift to raise the spirits of your loved ones or express your own feelings to them. In fact, with a fascinating 3D screensaver decorating the screen every day will be a holiday!

Tanya Zimina is a business development manager at Astro Gemini Software- Leader in 3D screensaver development! Feel free to send Tanya an email

http://www.amazines.com/Relationships/article_detail.cfm/216873?articleid=216873

Have Fun with the Custom Screensavers Library

2007-11-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Screensavers should be fun to watch. Unlike most rather boring screensavers, the 4Balls screensaver in Jeff Friesen's new article is anything but dull. You learn how to draw bitmaps using masks and bitwise operations, how to animate these bitmaps using simple physics, how to render colorful backgrounds with gradient paints, and how to play multiple wave sounds simultaneously.

Tired of the same old screensavers and don’t want to create your own? In a previous article, I introduced you to my own custom screensavers library. In addition to revealing the library’s internals, the article revealed source code to an example screensaver whose object code integrates with that library. Unfortunately, the article’s substantial length made it impossible to reveal additional (and more interesting) screensavers.

This article makes up for that shortcoming by introducing you to an entertaining 4Balls screensaver. As you read the article, you will discover how this screensaver’s four balls are drawn and animated, how its colorful background is created, and how it can play multiple wave sounds at the same time.

NOTE

I built and tested this article’s 4Balls screensaver on a Windows 98 SE platform, and I also tested this screensaver on a Windows ME platform. You can download the code here.
4Balls Screensaver

My former article’s sldemo screensaver wasn’t very entertaining, but it served its purpose in showing you how to construct a screensaver that integrates with my custom screensavers library. In contrast, this article’s 4Balls screensaver is more entertaining: it animates blue, green, magenta, and orange balls on a background that transitions from blue (top) to gold (bottom). Each ball moves with a certain velocity; when it reaches a screensaver window border, a sound is heard, the ball bounces off the border, and the ball moves in a new direction and at a new velocity. Figure 1 shows this screensaver in the Windows 98 SE Display Properties dialog box’s preview window.
Figure 01

Figure 1 Display Properties reveals 4Balls as the current screensaver.

The 4Balls screensaver was created from source code spread out across files 4Balls.c, 4Balls.rc, wave.c, and wave.h. Furthermore, its resources are located in 4Balls.ico, ballblu.bmp (blue ball bitmap), ballgrn.bmp (green ball bitmap), ballmag.bmp (magenta ball bitmap), ballora.bmp (orange ball bitmap), mask.bmp (ball mask bitmap), and richo.wav (richochet wave sound). Apart from 4Balls.ico, these resources load in response to the WM_CREATE message that is sent to 4Balls.c’s ScreenSaverProc() function at screensaver startup:

case WM_CREATE:
// Create an animation timer that results in a WM_TIMER message
// approximately every TIMER_TIMEOUT milliseconds.

if ((uTimerID = SetTimer (hwnd, 1, TIMER_TIMEOUT, NULL)) == NULL)
{
MessageBox (hwnd, "No available timer!", "4balls", MB_OK);
return -1;
}

// Attempt to open the ball sound effect. If successful, clear the
// global sound mute flag to FALSE -- do not mute sound.

if ((g_iSndID = OpenWave ("ballsound")) >= 0)
g_bMuted = FALSE;

// Load the ball image mask, which is a solid black ball image on a
// white background.

g_hbmMask = LoadBitmap (GetModuleHandle (NULL), "mask");

// Ensure that program doesn’t always start with the same random
// number sequence.

randomize ();

// Initialize all ball information structures.

for (i = 0; i < MAXBALLS; i++)
{
// Zero out each ball’s information structure.

ZeroMemory (&g_ballInfo [i], sizeof(g_ballInfo [i]));

// Select the ball’s bitmap resource name.

switch (i)
{
case 0 : szWaveName = "ballblu"; break;
case 1 : szWaveName = "ballgrn"; break;
case 2 : szWaveName = "ballmag"; break;
default: szWaveName = "ballora";
}

// Load the ball’s bitmap resource. This resource defines the
// ball’s image on a black background.

g_ballInfo [i].g_hbmBall = LoadBitmap (GetModuleHandle (NULL),
szWaveName);

// Obtain ball image’s width and height.

GetObject (g_ballInfo [i].g_hbmBall, sizeof(bm), &bm);

// Save width and height for use in DrawBalls() and
// UpdateBalls().

g_ballInfo [i].width = bm.bmWidth;
g_ballInfo [i].height = bm.bmHeight;

// Initialize ball’s acceleration and velocity.

g_ballInfo [i].acceleration = i*MAXBALLS+rand ()%MAXBALLS+1;
g_ballInfo [i].dx = g_ballInfo [i].acceleration;
g_ballInfo [i].dy = g_ballInfo [i].acceleration;
}

// Read configuration data from Windows registry.

ReadConfig ();
return 0;

The WM_CREATE message handler indirectly loads the richochet wave sound resource via a call to the OpenWave() function (in wave.c) and directly loads all needed bitmap resources via calls to the LoadBitmap() Windows API function. Furthermore, this message handler corrects an oversight in the sldemo screensaver’s message handler: SetTimer()’s return value is examined for NULL; if NULL is detected, the screensaver exits with a -1 return code, which terminates the screensaver program. It is a good idea to check this return value, even if there is a low probability that SetTimer() will return NULL.

Besides creating the timer and loading resources, the WM_CREATE message handler initializes an array of ball information structures—one structure per ball. Each structure records the width and height of a ball’s image, the current x and y positions of the ball image’s upper-left corner, the ball’s current horizontal and vertical velocities, a handle to the ball image’s bitmap, and an acceleration value that governs how much the ball speeds up or slows down when it bounces away from a screensaver window border. Acceleration is calculated so that a ball’s velocities don’t overlap with another ball’s velocities. If overlap occurs, ball images can hide other ball images, and you might only see one ball.

ScreenSaverProc() also processes the WM_DESTROY and WM_TIMER messages: WM_DESTROY handles screensaver cleanup; WM_TIMER handles ball drawing and animation.
Drawing and Animating the Balls

Each time Windows sends a WM_TIMER message to ScreenSaverProc(), its message handler responds by performing three tasks: updating the balls’ positions (to handle animation), drawing all balls (and the colorful background) in the screensaver window (either the preview window or the window that covers the entire screen), and advancing the acceleration counter:

case WM_TIMER:
{
RECT rcClient;
HDC hdc = GetDC (hwnd);

// Get screensaver window dimensions.

GetClientRect (hwnd, &rcClient);

// Update ball positions.

UpdateBalls (&rcClient);

// Draw balls in the screensaver window.

DrawBalls (hdc, &rcClient);

ReleaseDC (hwnd, hdc);

// Update the acceleration counter. Prevent negative numbers by
// resetting the counter when it reaches a positive limit. You can
// choose any positive number you want by modifying COUNTER_LIMIT.

g_iCounter++;
if (g_iCounter > COUNTER_LIMIT)
g_iCounter = 0;

return 0;
}

Before I discuss ball animation and how the acceleration counter is used in that context, I want to focus on how the balls are drawn. The following drawing technique relies on a mask bitmap, along with bitwise AND and bitwise OR operations. (Although you might have encountered this technique in the past, a refresher never hurts.) That mask bitmap and one of the ball bitmaps are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 02

Figure 2 The ball mask bitmap is on the left, and the magenta ball bitmap is on the right.

Suppose I invoked the BitBlt() Windows API function with the SRCCOPY operator to copy the magenta ball bitmap (on the right of Figure 2) directly to the screensaver window. Rather than observing colored balls moving across the window, the user would see rectangles, containing colored balls surrounded by black pixels, transiting the window. (This is not desirable from the user’s perspective.)

The user wants to see a round ball—not a rectangle—moving across the window. To satisfy the user, suppose I invoked BitBlt() with the SRCPAINT operator to bitwise OR the magenta ball bitmap’s pixels with the screensaver window’s pixels. This time, the user would see the magenta ball without the surrounding black pixels. However, the ball would be partially transparent: background pixels shine through.

Transparency occurs because SRCPAINT, which sets an output bit to one when either or both input bits are one, merges the bits of the magenta ball with those nonzero bits behind the magenta ball. This does not happen with the black pixels surrounding the ball because black is represented with zero bits, and bitwise ORing these zero bits with the bits of equivalent window pixels results in unchanged window pixels.

The transparency effect can be eliminated if those window pixels under the magenta ball are cleared to black prior to performing the bitwise OR. That way, ORing black pixels with the magenta ball’s pixels will result in only the magenta ball’s pixels appearing—no background pixels will partially appear. This clearing task can be accomplished by invoking BitBlt() with the SRCAND operator and the mask bitmap.

The SRCAND operator sets an output bit to one when both input bits are one. Applying that operator (via BitBlt()) to the mask bitmap and the screensaver window results in the mask’s black pixels clearing equivalent screensaver window pixels to black and the mask’s white pixels leaving screensaver window pixels untouched.

After SRCAND creates an appropriate "black hole" in the screensaver window, SRCPAINT fills that "hole" with the magenta (or other colored) ball. The following excerpt from 4Balls.c’s DrawBalls() function calls BitBlt() with each operator to properly draw the balls. These operators work with a background buffer, rather than the screensaver window, to avoid screen flicker:

// Draw the balls.

for (i = 0; i < MAXBALLS; i++)
{
// Preserve window background surrounding the ball image. SRCAND ands
// the mask’s white background, whose bits are ones, with whatever
// bits constitute the window background surrounding the ball image.
// This preserves that background.

// Remove background under the ball image. SRCAND ands the mask’s
// black ball image, whose bits are zeroes, with whatever bits
// constitute the background under the window’s ball image. This
// results in a black round hole in the window.

// The SRCAND operation is necessary to prevent a transparency effect.
// If this operation was absent, the ball images would appear in the
// window, but the window’s background would show through the ball
// images. Furthermore, if one of the ball images passed over another
// ball image, the underlying ball image would show through.

SelectObject (hdcMem, g_hbmMask);
BitBlt (hdcBuffer, g_ballInfo [i].x, g_ballInfo [i].y,
g_ballInfo [i].width, g_ballInfo [i].height, hdcMem, 0, 0,
SRCAND);

// Preserve window background surrounding the ball image. SRCPAINT ors
// the ball image’s black background, whose bits are zeroes, with
// whatever bits constitute the window background surrounding the ball
// image. This preserves that background.

// Merge ball image with window’s black round hole. SRCPAINT ors the
// ball image’s bits with the zero bits constituting the black round
// hole, resulting in a solid ball image with no transparency effect.

SelectObject (hdcMem, g_ballInfo [i].g_hbmBall);
BitBlt (hdcBuffer, g_ballInfo [i].x, g_ballInfo [i].y,
g_ballInfo [i].width, g_ballInfo [i].height, hdcMem, 0, 0,
SRCPAINT);

SelectObject (hdcMem, g_hbmMask);
}

// Update screensaver window with background buffer.

BitBlt (hdc, 0, 0, prc->right, prc->bottom, hdcBuffer, 0, 0, SRCCOPY);

Before the screensaver window is updated, each ball’s position must be calculated. This task is performed in 4Balls.c’s UpdateBalls() function. For each ball, that function first checks to see whether a global counter (incremented in the WM_TIMER message handler) has reached a certain value. If so, the ball’s acceleration is advanced, or reset so the ball doesn’t move too fast (and be hard to watch).

Moving on, UpdateBalls() adds the ball’s current velocities to its current position. If the new position reaches or exceeds a border, the position is reset, the ball’s direction is reversed, and the ball’s velocity is set to its current acceleration. Hence, the ball either speeds up or slows down. These activities can be seen in the following UpdateBalls() excerpt:

int i;
for (i = 0; i < MAXBALLS; i++)
{
// Modify the acceleration every COUNTER_ITERS iterations. When the
// ball’s acceleration exceeds ACCEL_LIMIT, reset the acceleration to
// 1 so that balls don’t constantly accelerate.

if (g_iCounter % COUNTER_ITERS == 0)
{
g_ballInfo [i].acceleration++;
if (g_ballInfo [i].acceleration > ACCEL_LIMIT)
g_ballInfo [i].acceleration = 1;
}

// Move the ball to a new position based on its velocity.

g_ballInfo [i].x += g_ballInfo [i].dx;
g_ballInfo [i].y += g_ballInfo [i].dy;

// When the ball reaches the left or right edges of the screensaver
// window, reverse the ball’s direction, accelerate/decelerate the
// ball, and play a sound (if sound isn’t muted) to indicate a bounce.

if (g_ballInfo [i].x < 0)
{
g_ballInfo [i].x = 0;
g_ballInfo [i].dx = g_ballInfo [i].acceleration;

if (!g_bMuted)
PlayWave (g_iSndID);
}
else
if (g_ballInfo [i].x + g_ballInfo [i].width > prc->right)
{
g_ballInfo [i].x = prc->right - g_ballInfo [i].width;
g_ballInfo [i].dx = -g_ballInfo [i].acceleration;

if (!g_bMuted)
PlayWave (g_iSndID);
}

// When the ball reaches the top or bottom edges of the screensaver
// window, reverse the ball’s direction, accelerate/decelerate the
// ball, and play a sound (if sound isn’t muted) to indicate a bounce.

if (g_ballInfo [i].y < 0)
{
g_ballInfo [i].y = 0;
g_ballInfo [i].dy = g_ballInfo [i].acceleration;

if (!g_bMuted)
PlayWave (g_iSndID);
}
else
if (g_ballInfo [i].y + g_ballInfo [i].height > prc->bottom)
{
g_ballInfo [i].y = prc->bottom - g_ballInfo [i].height;
g_ballInfo [i].dy = -g_ballInfo [i].acceleration;

if (!g_bMuted)
PlayWave (g_iSndID);
}
}

I’ll discuss the PlayWave() function later. For now, let’s learn how the DrawBalls() function renders the screensaver window’s colorful background.
Creating a Colorful Background

Figure 1 revealed a background that transitions from blue (top) to gold (bottom). This smooth blending of one color into another color is known as a gradient, and the painting technique that creates a gradient is known as gradient painting. Because gradient painting renders more colorful (and interesting, in my opinion) backgrounds than single-color backgrounds, it’s worth learning how to create gradients.

There are many kinds of gradients, including top-to-bottom, left-to-right, and circular. To keep things simple, let’s focus only on a top-to-bottom gradient. An algorithm for creating this gradient begins by defining the red, green, and blue color components for the top and bottom colors; and by defining the number of rows to be painted by this gradient—each row is painted in one of the gradient’s colors.

For each row, the algorithm calculates an intermediate color, starting with the top color and ending near the bottom color. Each of the intermediate colors’ red, green, and blue color components is calculated as the starting color’s red, green, or blue color component (respectively), plus a fraction of the difference between the end and start color components. The DrawBalls() excerpt below demonstrates:

// Paint background buffer using a blue/gold vertical gradient.

int r1 = 5, g1 = 35, b1 = 145;
int r2 = 167, g2 = 167, b2 = 76;

int i;
for (i = 0; i <>bottom-prc->top+1; i++)
{
HBRUSH hbr;
int r, g, b;
RECT rectTemp;

r = r1+(i*(r2-r1)/(prc->bottom-prc->top+1));
g = g1+(i*(g2-g1)/(prc->bottom-prc->top+1));
b = b1+(i*(b2-b1)/(prc->bottom-prc->top+1));

rectTemp.left = prc->left;
rectTemp.right = prc->right+1;
rectTemp.top = prc->top+i;
rectTemp.bottom = prc->top+i+1;

hbr = CreateSolidBrush (RGB (r, g, b));

FillRect (hdcBuffer, &rectTemp, hbr);

DeleteObject (hbr);
}

An example will clarify how intermediate colors range from the start color to almost the end color. The example deals with the red color components only, assumes that prc->top is 0, and assumes that prc->bottom is 100. Also, r1 contains 5, prc->bottom-prc->top+1 evaluates to 101, and r2-r1 evaluates to 162. Given these values, examine the table below:

i r
--- ---
0 5
1 6
2 8
3 9
4 11
5 13
6 14
7 16
8 17
9 19
10 21

... ...

90 149
91 150
92 152
93 154
94 155
95 157
96 158
97 160
98 162
99 163
100 165

The table shows that the final row (100) is not painted with a color whose red component equals 167 (the bottom color’s red component). If i were set to 101, the red component would equal 167, but what would row 101 mean? Using the above algorithm, you’ll never reach the bottom color’s components, but this doesn’t matter. The aesthetics of the gradient paint are more important; users won’t notice the difference.

Although users won’t notice whether or not the bottom row is painted with the bottom color, they will notice if two or more balls hit the borders simultaneously and only one richochet wave sound is heard.
Simultaneous Wave Play

Playing a sound at the moment a ball bounces off a border makes 4Balls more interesting. When I first introduced wave-based sound into this screensaver, I naively depended on the PlaySound() Windows API function. It didn’t take me long to find the problem with that function: if two or more balls hit borders at the same time, only one sound is heard. It is better to play multiple wave sounds simultaneously.

To achieve simultaneous wave play, I ended up working with the MMIO and Wave APIs, which are the basis of my own higher-level API for playing multiple wave sounds at the same time. This API consists of functions OpenWave(), PlayWave(), and CloseWave(). Furthermore, several constants have been defined to describe various errors that might occur when you work with my API.

The OpenWave() function takes a string argument that identifies a wave resource in the resource file. If this function successfully opens the wave resource by loading its sound and other details into memory, a positive integer ID returns. That ID is passed to PlayWave() to play the wave and CloseWave() to close the wave. If unsuccessful, a negative error code returns.

Although 4Balls.c calls OpenWave() only once, to load a single wave resource, you could modify this source code to invoke OpenWave() multiple times, passing a different string argument in each function call. That way, you could assign a different wave sound to each ball. If you decide to do this, it is probably best to store the IDs in the ball information structures.

The PlayWave() function takes the ID previously returned by OpenWave() as its sole argument and immediately returns with the wave sound starting to play and a zero return value, or with a negative error code. Call this function multiple times with the same ID to hear simultaneous occurrences of the same sound, or call this function multiple times with different IDs to hear different sounds at the same time.

The CloseWave() function complements OpenWave() by releasing memory allocated to hold the wave sound. As with PlayWave(), CloseWave() takes an ID as its sole argument. Unlike PlayWave(), CloseWave() does not return an error code or success indicator. You must pass a valid ID to CloseWave() because this function doesn’t validate that ID.

Now that you know how to use my API, let’s look behind the scenes at how its functions interact with the MMIO and Wave APIs to accomplish simultaneous wave play. Our examination begins with an array of structures that each record information on a wave’s format, the address of a buffer containing the wave’s bytes, the number of bytes in the buffer, and a flag indicating whether or not the structure is in use:

#define MAXWAVES 4

struct
{
LPWAVEFORMATEX lpWaveFormatEx;
LPSTR lpData;
DWORD dwBufferLength;
BOOL inUse;
}
g_waves [MAXWAVES];

The OpenWave() function begins by searching g_waves for an available structure; that is, a structure whose inUse field is set to FALSE. An error code returns if there is no available structure. Otherwise, OpenWave() loads the wave resource identified by its szWaveResName argument, and obtains the size of and a pointer to the loaded wave’s buffer:

hrsrc = FindResource (GetModuleHandle (NULL), szWaveResName, "WAVE");
if (hrsrc == NULL)
return ERR_CANNOT_FIND_RES;

hglob = LoadResource (GetModuleHandle (NULL), hrsrc);
if (hglob == NULL)
return ERR_CANNOT_LOAD_RES;

dwSize = SizeofResource (GetModuleHandle (NULL), hrsrc);
if (dwSize == NULL)
return ERR_CANNOT_SIZE_RES;

lpWave = LockResource (hglob);
if (lpWave == NULL)
return ERR_CANNOT_LOCK_RES;

Continuing, OpenWave() initializes an MMIOINFO structure with the wave buffer’s size (dwSize) and address (lpWave). It next invokes mmioOpen() with this structure to open the wave sound from its memory buffer. If the wave sound was to be loaded from a file, this structure would not be needed. Instead, the wave file’s name would be passed to mmioOpen():

ZeroMemory (&mmioinfo, sizeof(MMIOINFO));
mmioinfo.fccIOProc = FOURCC_MEM;
mmioinfo.pchBuffer = lpWave;
mmioinfo.cchBuffer = dwSize;

if ((hmmio = mmioOpen (NULL, &mmioinfo, MMIO_READ)) == NULL)
return ERR_CANNOT_OPEN_RES;

Because a wave file is an example of the resource interchange file format, its contents are organized into chunks. MMIO provides the mmioDescend() and mmioAscend() functions for locating chunks and skipping to the end of a chunk, respectively. OpenWave() uses mmioDescend() to locate the fmt chunk within the WAVE chunk:

mmckinfoParentChk.fccType = mmioFOURCC(’W’, ’A’, ’V’, ’E’);
if (mmioDescend (hmmio, (LPMMCKINFO) &mmckinfoParentChk, 0, MMIO_FINDRIFF))
{
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_WAVE_EXPECTED;
}

mmckinfoChildChk.ckid = mmioFOURCC(’f’, ’m’, ’t’, ’ ’);
if (mmioDescend (hmmio, &mmckinfoChildChk, &mmckinfoParentChk,
MMIO_FINDCHUNK))
{
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_FMT_EXPECTED;
}

The fmt chunk describes a wave sound’s format in terms of a tag that indicates a waveform format type (pulse code modulation is typical), the number of channels in the waveform data (1 for monaural; 2 for stereo), the sample rate (number of samples per second), and so on. OpenWave() stores this format information in a dynamically allocated structure by invoking MMIO’s mmioRead() function:

if ((lpWaveFormatEx = (LPWAVEFORMATEX) calloc (mmckinfoChildChk.cksize, 1))
== NULL)
{
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_INSUF_MEMORY;
}

if (mmioRead (hmmio, (HPSTR) lpWaveFormatEx, mmckinfoChildChk.cksize) !=
(LRESULT) mmckinfoChildChk.cksize)
{
free (lpWaveFormatEx);
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_BAD_FMT;
}

OpenWave() next obtains the wave sound by calling mmioAscend() to skip to the end of the fmt chunk, by calling mmioDescend() to find the data chunk (the wave sound), and by calling mmioRead() to read that chunk into a dynamically allocated buffer. The buffer’s address and other details store in a g_waves structure, whose index returns as the ID:

mmioAscend (hmmio, &mmckinfoChildChk, 0);

mmckinfoChildChk.ckid = mmioFOURCC(’d’, ’a’, ’t’, ’a’);
if (mmioDescend (hmmio, &mmckinfoChildChk, &mmckinfoParentChk,
MMIO_FINDCHUNK))
{
free (lpWaveFormatEx);
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_BAD_DATA;
}

if ((lpData = (char *) malloc (mmckinfoChildChk.cksize)) == NULL)
{
free (lpWaveFormatEx);
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_INSUF_MEMORY;
}

if (mmioRead(hmmio, (HPSTR) lpData, mmckinfoChildChk.cksize) !=
(long) mmckinfoChildChk.cksize)
{
free (lpData);
free (lpWaveFormatEx);
mmioClose (hmmio, 0);
return ERR_CANNOT_READ;
}

mmioClose (hmmio, 0);

g_waves [i].lpWaveFormatEx = lpWaveFormatEx;

g_waves [i].lpData = lpData;

g_waves [i].dwBufferLength = mmckinfoChildChk.cksize;

g_waves [i].inUse = TRUE;

return i;

Now that OpenWave() and the MMIO API have been discussed, consider PlayWave() and the Wave API. PlayWave() begins by dynamically allocating a WAVEHDR structure for identifying the wave sound’s buffer and more. This structure and the previously allocated wave format structure are passed to the Wave API’s waveOutOpen() function to open a waveform output device for playback:

HWAVEOUT hwo;
LPWAVEHDR lpWaveHdr;

if ((lpWaveHdr = (LPWAVEHDR) malloc (sizeof(WAVEHDR))) == NULL)
return ERR_INSUF_MEMORY;

ZeroMemory (lpWaveHdr, sizeof(WAVEHDR));
lpWaveHdr->dwBufferLength = g_waves [iWaveID].dwBufferLength;
lpWaveHdr->lpData = g_waves [iWaveID].lpData;

if (waveOutOpen (&hwo, WAVE_MAPPER, g_waves [iWaveID].lpWaveFormatEx,
(DWORD) WaveOutProc, NULL, CALLBACK_FUNCTION) != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
{
free (lpWaveHdr);
return ERR_CANNOT_OPEN_WAVE;
}

The hwo argument receives the output device’s handle: It will be passed to subsequent Wave API functions. The WAVE_MAPPER argument tells waveOutOpen() to select a waveform output device capable of playing the specified format, and WaveOutProc() is a callback function that I will discuss later.

Before a wave sound can be written to the waveform output device, its data must be prepared for playback. The Wave API’s waveOutPrepareHeader() function accomplishes this task. If the function is successful, waveOutWrite() is then called to write the sound data to the device, and you hear that sound on your speakers:

if (waveOutPrepareHeader (hwo, lpWaveHdr, sizeof(WAVEHDR)) !=
MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
{
free (lpWaveHdr);
waveOutClose (hwo);
return ERR_CANNOT_PREPARE;
}

if (waveOutWrite (hwo, lpWaveHdr, sizeof(WAVEHDR)) != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
{
free (lpWaveHdr);
waveOutClose (hwo);
return ERR_CANNOT_WRITE;
}

After waveOutWrite() returns, the wave sound starts playing and PlayWave() returns to its caller. At some point, the wave sound will stop playing, the sound data will have to be unprepared, and the waveform output device closed. Because PlaySound() has already returned, some other means is needed to take care of these cleanup tasks. One means is the WaveOutProc() callback function:

static void CALLBACK WaveOutProc (HWAVEOUT hwo, UINT uMsg, DWORD dwInstance,
DWORD dwParam1, DWORD dwParam2)
{
LPWAVEHDR lpWaveHdr;

switch (uMsg)
{
case WOM_DONE:
lpWaveHdr = (LPWAVEHDR) dwParam1;

waveOutUnprepareHeader (hwo, lpWaveHdr, sizeof(WAVEHDR));
waveOutClose (hwo);

free (lpWaveHdr);
}
}

Because WaveOutProc()’s address was passed to WaveOutOpen(), this callback function is called with messages that indicate the progress of playback: WOM_OPEN is sent when the waveform output device is opened, WOM_CLOSE is sent when the waveform output device is closed, and WOM_DONE is called when the wave sound stops playing. Only WOM_DONE is of interest.

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=454387&rl=1

Why Would I Want a Fish Tank Screensaver?

2007-11-12T03:19:00.001-08:00

Flip Clock & Tetris Style Lego Screensaver for OS X

2007-11-12T03:17:00.000-08:00

The cool kids over at 9031.com in Japan have come up wIth a couple of really awesome Screensavers.

FliqLo - The Flip Clock Screensaver

The first is a super simple, but very effective flip clock style screensaver that dislays the system time in full view on a black background. As each minute rolls by the numbers flick. The perfect little app for any of us who happen to keep a computer in the bedroom. Tie this in with some alarm clock software and iTunes that operates in the background and you have an award winning formula.

That being said, enjoy typing in the password to your laptop having just scrambled out of bed to shut the damned thing up!Lego Pieces in Red

Briblo - The Lego & Tetris Screensaver

The second of two screensavers is a combination of lego and tetris that sees the pieces drop from above onto a flat green lego sheet. Each and every instance of the screensaver is different, and of course the possibilities are just plain endless! Hours of fun for you and the kids in OS X!

Installing A 9031.com Screensaver

Though the read me is in Japanese it doesn't take a modicum of sense to figure out how to install the screensaver and even to read the requirements and will run on a G3 running 10.1 or greater, and seems to work fine on my Intel based 17" MacBook Pro. To install just download the DMG and when mounted, double click the screensaver file and follow the OSX instructions in English.
Other Things ...

The 9031.com site is full of so many treats it is worth just scooting around to find out what it is rammed chock full of, including 80's arcade style freeware fonts for OSX and Windows, as well as wall paper, photos and more!

To find out more, visit the screensavers page or the 9031.com home page. Enjoy!

http://www.delamainit.com/articles_how-tos/review/flip-clock-lego-tetris-screensaver.html

Download Better Than Free Video Screen Saver

2007-11-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

TwoSailors.net offer a better than free video screen saver download. Screensavers seamlessly loop and make waterfall or beach scenes appear to continuously run without any kind of jerk.
Now there is a whole different class of screensaver that uses real video. Available from TwoSailers.net, the one common thread throughout their entire library of video screensavers is that they all loop endlessly.

So what's he big deal? Well, looping is easy for artificially created animations but incredibly difficult when looking at a video of something natural, say a waterfall or a beach scene. Making something in nature appear to continuously run without any kind of "jerk" as it begins the process over again is almost impossible. Yet the folks at TwoSailors.net did it and according to the company, it only took them two years to figure out how to do it.

Back in the "old days" when cathode ray tubes reigned supreme and flat screens were either nonexistent or so expensive that their existence didn't really matter, the screensaver was born. The screensaver back then actually did what its name said it did, namely save screens. It saved them from the destruction that would occur when any static image was displayed on the screen for too long a time. If that happened, the electron beam that created the image would literally etch the delicate phosphor coating on the inside of the screen's glass and leave a ghostly burned-in shadow that would remain there forever, even with the power turned completely off. Basically if that happened, your screen was toast. It may be interesting to note that one of the most famous of screensavers depicted little flying toasters and pieces of winged toast moving across the screen. Be that as it may, the screensaver was born out of necessity.

All a screensaver did at first was to detect when your computer wasn't being used, and then blank out whatever you were currently working on with a dark screen. The problem there was that one was never sure if the computer was actually turned off or just running the screensaver. Too many times the former was assumed and computers everywhere were being left on all night which caused even more damage due to the unintentional extended computer usage. To make sure that didn't happen, the next generation of screensavers displayed some kind of animated graphic image. It had to be animated otherwise the screensaver itself would cause burn-in which was self-defeating to say the least.
For complete story please go to:http://www.computeramerica.com/content/columns/craig/2006/2006-02-20.htm

Craig Crossman is a Knight-Ridder newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network™ and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network™, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. In South Florida, you can hear a rebroadcast of a selected Computer America show each Sunday evening at 8PM on WJNO 1290AM.

http://whatsay.com/articles/article.detail.php?id=7885

Free Fire Screensaver

2007-11-12T03:14:00.000-08:00

Watching fire is both exciting and dangerous. People love it! There is some pre-historic magic in fire. Free Fire Screensaver delivers the excitement of a real-life fire experience direct to your computer desktop. Discover beautiful flames to relax by, with the crackling sound of a real fire and the melody of your favorite song. Our Free Fire Screensaver sets a relaxing and romantic mood any time of the year, especially during cold winter nights.

Just rest your mouse for a while, sit back and relax. The desktop dims out and starts to glow ardent orange, creating a glorious effect with flames that seem alive. The flames are curling up and dancing on the desktop icons and open windows as if they were wooden logs in the fireplace.

The screensaver offers crackling and popping sounds. This adds greatly to the realism of the fire scene. You can also listen to music when the screensaver is engaged. Select a music track from the music set that comes with the screensaver or choose your own file for playback.

Using the 'ENTER' key, you can even capture a picture of your burning desktop.

We think this screensaver is worth downloading for the novelty value alone, just to hear your friends say: Oh, your desktop is BURNING!

Article Source: http://www.myarticlemall.com

Alexander is the owner of Laconic Software and a developer of Free Fire Screensaver. You can find more information at www.LaconicSoftware.com.

http://www.myarticlemall.com/Article/Free-Fire-Screensaver/38909

Add a Screensaver

2007-11-12T03:13:00.000-08:00

Introduction

Want to add a screensaver to your computer?

This How-To Article shows you how to add a screensaver to your computer.

Add a Screensaver

1. First, download your screensaver from your source.

Tip: It is recommended that you run a virus scan on any files that you download from the Internet.

2. Navigate through the My Computer icon on your Desktop until you find where you saved your screensaver.

Note: Many screensavers are downloaded as ZIP files (*.zip). You will need to open the zipped file, save the screensaver which is in the ZIP file, and then follow these directions.

3. Right-click the icon of the screensaver file and select "Copy" from the menu that appears.

4. Now, navigate to the C:\WINDOWS\System folder.

5. Right-click a blank spot in this folder and select "Paste" from the menu that appears.

6. Your screensaver is now ready to be used and set up.

Tip: If you are trying to save disk space, you can delete the original file that you downloaded (the ZIP file or the actual screensaver file). Just be sure not to delete the file that you pasted in the C:\WINDOWS\System directory.

http://www.computertim.com/howto/article.php?topic=windows&idn=54

Anthrax screensaver finds promising new drugs

2007-11-12T03:11:00.000-08:00

A screensaver designed to find promising new drugs for treating anthrax has hit paydirt in just four weeks.

The Oxford University team behind the program say the 1.35 million personal computer users who have been running their screensaver finished crunching through 3.5 billion possible anthrax-treating compounds on 16 February.

The result is a relatively small pile of 300,000 possible new drugs. These compounds will now take relatively little time to examine in greater detail on a supercomputer - accelerating the time to availability of a new treatment for the bioweapon.

"We managed to search the complete dataset in just four weeks instead of years," says Karl Harrison, an IT expert in Oxford's department of chemistry. "Having that big set to start with means we've come up with drug compounds that the pharmaceutical companies would never have thought of," he says.
Major coup

Oxford chemists knew how the anthrax protein infects cells. But they did not know which kind of compound could block that action.

So, working with Intel and distributed processing pioneer United Devices in the US, they developed software that would repeatedly try out one chemical after another to find a molecule would bind to the lethal anthrax toxin and prevent it from entering cells.

Currently, the only way to treat anthrax is to use antibiotics to kill the bacteria. However this is only effective if an infection is identified quickly, before high levels of toxins have been released. In addition, bacteria could become resistant to the antibiotics used.

Oxford's result is a major coup for the new field of distributed processing, in which PC users donate their computer downtime to crunch data on a high profile project, like running the SETI alien signal hunting program.

Writing on the university's website, head of computational chemistry Graham Richards described the anthrax result as unprecedented. "The realm of life sciences is in for a radical shift in its approach to drug discovery," he predicts.
Downloaders' anger

But despite the near euphoria on the project, not everyone in the screensaver user community is happy. That is because 1.2 million of the 1.35 million people who ran the screensaver actually downloaded a program that seeks useful drugs for treating cancer.

Some downloaders have been offended by the way their PC was harnessed for use in a project that they did not sanction. Some, who have written to New Scientist expressing their anger, say cancer is a far bigger killer than anthrax, and they wanted their software to continue working on cancer.

They were particularly upset that they were not told of the switch over four weeks ago from crunching cancer data to anthrax.

But Harrison says a menu in the licence provided when they installed the screensaver says United Devices can change the software that runs at any time - and asks the user to tick a box if they want e-mail notification of a change.

Only those who ticked that box were given notification of the change, and a choice of which screensaver to run.

"We've had a lot of people complaining, but by the end of today they'll all be back to running the cancer screensaver," he says.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1953.html

Runext.inf and Clear Screen Saver

2007-11-08T01:36:00.000-08:00

This month, I have another duo of resource kit gems for you. Runext.inf makes running command-line routines that need parameters a snap from the GUI, and Clear Screen Saver lets you keep a server's desktop visible without leaving the server insecure.

Some of the best utilities are the simplest. Runext.inf is a great example of that. Here's the scenario: You're using Windows Explorer to browse a directory in My Computer, and you want to start up an executable file in that directory. You can double-click the file to start it. That ability is convenient if you don't have a prebuilt icon for a program or can't remember its exact name.

But now consider how inconvenient the start-the-program-from-the-GUI approach is when you need to feed the program a parameter or two. For example, perhaps you're going to start up WordPad (\winnt\system32\write.exe) and want to specify a document that it should open. From a command line, you could type

C:\winnt\system32\write.exe
C:\data\myfile.txt

But that's quite a bit of typing. Instead, with runext.inf, you can just right-click the write.exe file and choose Run. A dialog box then appears with a text field that already contains the C:\winnt\system32\write.exe path. You need only fill in the additional parameters—C:\data\myfile.txt, for example—and click OK to run the command. . . .

Want to Read More of This Article?
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http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/ArticleID/25340/25340.html

Build Screensavers with a Custom Screensavers Library in Borland C++

2007-11-08T01:35:00.000-08:00

Tired of those same stale Windows screensavers? Hesitant to create your own? Jeff Friesen has an idea: use his screensavers library. He shows you how to obtain a free copy of Borland C++ 5.5.1 and presents a short product tutorial. Then he takes you on a tour of his screensavers library and shows how to build this library with Borland C++, along with an example screensaver and code you can download.

The Internet provides lots of Websites that advertise screensavers for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Perhaps you want to join this community by creating your own screensavers. The usual way to build Windows screensavers is to work with Microsoft’s Visual C++ product and its scrnsave.lib library. However, you might prefer to use my own screensavers library, for two important reasons:

* The library’s C source code is accessible. Along with providing educational value, this source code can be modified (if necessary) to deal with unusual kinds of screensavers (although I cannot think of a screensaver requiring a modified library, the possibility exists). In contrast, source code isn’t accessible (at least I couldn’t find any source code) for scrnsave.lib.
* You can link your screensavers with the library. You should be able to compile library source code (after possibly making some source code changes) and place the resulting object code into a .lib file using your own C/C++ tools. You can then link your screensaver object code with the .lib file. In contrast, I couldn’t link my Borland/Inprise screensaver object code with scrnsave.lib.

This article introduces you to my screensavers library. Because I created that library using Borland C++ 5.5.1, the article first shows you how to obtain a free copy of this product and presents a short product tutorial. The article next takes you on a tour of the screensavers library; you learn how to build this library with Borland C++. A presentation of an example screensaver that you can build with the library wraps up this article.

NOTE

I built and tested all code for this article on a Windows 98 SE platform. Furthermore, I tested the article’s demonstration screensaver on several other Windows platforms (including Windows XP). You can download the code here.
Get Acquainted with Borland C++ 5.5.1

If you like programming in C and C++, you’ll appreciate a good compiler. A few years ago, Borland (also known as Inprise) made its latest (at that time) C/C++ compiler technology and associated command-line tools freely available for download as the Borland C++ 5.5.1 product.

Borland C++ 5.5.1’s compiler technology produces very fast compiles, optimizes code, and targets Win32 Portable Executable (PE) programs. It includes ANSI/ISO C++ language support—including the Standard Template Library (STL) framework and support for C++ templates. It also includes Borland’s entire Runtime Library (RTL).

Although Borland C++ 5.5.1 dates back to 2000, this product is still useful; I have used this product to create various Win32 projects, including the screensavers library. If you’ve never worked with Borland C++ 5.5.1, this section will get you started.
Download, Install, and Configure Borland C++ 5.5.1

Point your Web browser at Borland’s Website and select the 8.7 Mb Compiler entry in the Downloads table on the resulting Web page. You will be prompted to enter your login information (your name or email address, and a password) and click the Login button to log into Borland’s Website. Because you probably will be a new user, click the New User button to set up a free account, and then log in. After successful login, follow the Website’s instructions to download the Borland C++ 5.5.1 installer program.

Assuming a successful download, start running the installer and follow its directions. Although the installer defaults to installing Borland C++ 5.5.1 into the c:\borland\BCC55 directory, you can choose a different directory if desired.

The installation directory contains Bin, Examples, Help, Include, and Lib directories. The Bin directory contains compiler and other command-line tools; Examples contains examples that illustrate different portions of the STL; Help contains a single help file that offers help on the various command-line tools; Include contains header files for the RTL, STL, and Windows SDK; and Lib contains all static and import library files—and the startup code modules.

After the installer completes, add Bin to your PATH environment variable, so that you can run the command-line tools from anywhere on your hard drive. For example, assuming that Borland C++ 5.5.1 has been installed into its default installation directory, set path=c:\borland\bcc55\bin;%path% makes those tools widely available. Case is not significant.
Command-Line Environment

Borland C++ 5.5.1’s tools are executed at the command line. Figure 1 reveals bcc32.exe (which contains the compiler technology) being executed, along with that tool’s output.
Figure 1

Figure 1 Borland C++ 5.5.1 command-line syntax and options

The output presents a variety of command-line options that control the operation of bcc32.exe. For example, the -P option forces C++ compilation.

The presence of -P suggests two compilation choices: C or C++. By default, a source file’s extension determines the compilation. C compilation occurs if the extension is .c. But if the extension is .cpp, C++ compilation takes place. Use the -P option to guarantee that C++ compilation occurs, no matter the extension.

When it comes to creating screensavers, you probably won’t use the -P option. Rather, you’ll use -I and -L to choose the directories to include in the compilation (these are the directories that contain the header files), and to choose the directories that contain those libraries and object files necessary for linking.
A First EXE

It’s easy to create programs with bcc32.exe. For example, let’s create a simple program that outputs the current time and date, adjusted for local time zone and daylight savings time. Listing 1 presents this program’s C source code.
Listing 1 now.c

// now.c

#include
#include

void main (void)
{
time_t seconds;
struct tm *tstruct;

// Return the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 GMT,
// January 1, 1970.

seconds = time (NULL);

// Convert from seconds to a structure. Correct for time zone and daylight
// savings time.

tstruct = localtime (&seconds);

// Output the structure’s contents in human-readable format.

printf ("Local time is: %s", asctime (tstruct));
}

Invoke the following command line (where the current directory will be assumed to be c:\borland\BCC55) to compile now.c and create a now.exe program:

bcc32 -Iinclude -Llib now.c

The -I option specifies include as the directory that contains the stdio.h and time.h header files. The -L option specifies lib as the directory that contains library and startup code module files.

Assuming that there are no error messages, you should find a now.exe file in the current directory. (You will also notice now.obj and now.tds files—ignore them.) Run now.exe, and you should observe the current time and date based on your time zone and daylight savings time.
From Console Mode to GUI Mode

The bcc32.exe tool created now.exe as a console-mode PE program. This format is appropriate for programs that have a main() function, obtain their input from the standard input device, and send their output to the standard output device. It is not appropriate for programs (including the screensavers library) that have a WinMain() function, create windows, and contain message loops. Instead, you must create such as program as a GUI-mode PE program. For example, let’s create a simple GUI-mode program that outputs a message in a message box. Listing 2 presents this program’s C source code.
Listing 2 hellowin.c

// hellowin.c

// Hello, from Windows.

#include

// ==========================================================================
// int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hinstance, HINSTANCE hinstancePrev,
// LPSTR lpszCmdLine, int iCmdShow)
//
// Program entry point.
//
// Arguments:
//
// hinstance - program’s instance handle (which uniquely identifies the
// program when running under Windows)
//
// hinstancePrev - obsolete (leftover from Windows 3.1)
//
// lpszCmdLine - address of \0-terminated string that contains command-line
// parameters (not used in this program)
//
// iCmdShow - number that indicates how the window is to be initially
// displayed (not used in this program)
//
// Return - WM_QUIT message’s wParam value (0, in this simple program)
// ==========================================================================

#pragma argsused
int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hinstance, HINSTANCE hinstancePrev,
LPSTR lpszCmdLine, int iCmdShow)
{
MessageBox (HWND_DESKTOP, "Welcome to Windows!", "HelloWin",
MB_ICONINFORMATION | MB_OK);

return 0;
}

Invoke the following command line to compile hellowin.c and build hellowin.exe:

bcc32 -tW -Iinclude -Llib hellowin.c

The -tW option indicates that the source code contains a WinMain() function and that a GUI-mode program is to be created.

If all goes well, you should find a hellowin.exe file in the current directory. Run that program. A message box appears with a welcome message.

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=445673&rl=1

Gods' love like a screensaver - communication - Brief Article

2007-11-08T01:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove Fr. Augustine to the eye doctor. He had laser surgery a few weeks back. He is as kind a man as they come and was the abbot here for many years. He has aged so beautifully -- I very much admire his spirit. He takes what comes with genuine humor and an ever-ready smile.

His hearing is not very good, and he speaks very softly, so softly that he almost whispers. While driving down the highway he mentioned that he was having visitors come soon from New York. He knows how much I like Manhattan and was telling me that his friends love that city, too. I listened as he spoke, not wanting to interrupt him when there was a word or phrase that I could not quite get. He said something about the Hudson. I knew he was talking of a long-ago event and I turned to him and said that I remember Hudson cars. No, he said. Not cars. So I took the next thing that came to my mind. And so I mentioned that I liked the Hudson River and drove over it many times. He smiled and continued talking about the Hudson. He mentioned the street it was on and then I realized that he was talking about the Hudson Hotel, but I do not know of such a place. My mind was still on the waters of the Hudson, and his was on the hotel.

We finally found a common ground and laughed because we knew it had taken a while to cut through the thicket of the various meanings of Hudson. And so we continued on our way, talking about New York hotels and some other niceties of that great city.

We arrived at the eye clinic, and I helped him out of the car and into his wheelchair. We went to the doctor's office, and everything was fine. The doctor assured Gus that his eyes are coming along and that soon he will be able to operate on the other eye. And that was that. After writing on a piece of paper a medication adjustment, the doctor wished us a good day, and off we went to the receptionist to make another appointment.

I wheeled Gus back to the receptionist and on the way there spotted through an open office door a computer screen with a fancy screensaver -- a sort of building block thing that constantly moved colored blocks into motion and then positioned them one on top of the other. I leaned down and mentioned it to Gus, and he said something about a few blocks away to the monastery. I said OK and continued wheeling him to the receptionist who gave me a card with the new appointment.

Going off to sleep that night, I thought about the day and that screensaver. It sort of mesmerized me. The slow motion of the blocks, moving and slipping with ease to the right place and then the emergence of more blocks and the whole screen shifting in color and shape as more blocks arrived and found places to fit.

How much like a day, and all the words and the hearing of them and speaking them, words that come from the depths of the mind and heart, looking for places to fit, and how constant they are, and how things do shift when they find where they belong.

Sometimes I do not get the words right. I do not say the right words nor do I hear just what is being said. But I think that is OK.

On the way back to the monastery, a song came on the radio -- "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones. I turned it up a bit. I told Gus who was singing it, and he smiled. His hands moved a bit to the beat.

"But it's allll right, you know it's all right -- in fact it's a gas ... Jumping Jack Flash is just a gaaaasssssss."

Come to think of it, I do not know after all these years if I have those words right, either. But I think you know what I mean. They are, uh, close.

I like to think that love is God's screensaver of life. Love moves us, moves through us. We look for words as the love builds and cannot always find them but speak as best we can. I love Gus and feel I do so little for him to show that. Men do not usually talk of such things.

How much God has moved through Gus over all these years! Living blocks upon blocks of words and love, tenderly moving, finding their place in his heart and in his days.

I laugh at the myriad meanings of yesterday's Hudsons: rivers, cars, hotels. But Gus and I did OK. We got to where we were going and poked our way through words, giving some form to the love we needed to say as we rode and shifted words and gears.

It's all right, yes, it is all right. In fact, it is a gas.

I think you know what I mean, what I am trying to say.

Trappist Fr. James Stephen Behrens lives at Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers, Ga. His e-mail address is james@trappist.net

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_16_37/ai_71250727

Life isn't beautiful - spammed out screensaver installs rootkits and Trojan horse

2007-11-08T01:31:00.000-08:00

Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned of a widespread email spam campaign that poses as a screensaver, but is really designed to install a Trojan horses and rootkits on infected Windows PCs.

The emails, which are being seen in inboxes worldwide, claim that the recipient has been sent a screensaver by a friend and tells the user to open the attachment (called bsaver.zip).

The emails used in the malicious spam campaign contain phrasing such as "Good morning/evening, man! Realy cool screensaver in your attachment!" and use a variety of subject lines including:

Life is beautiful
Life will be better
Good summer
help you

Clicking on the file contained inside the ZIP attachment infects users with the Troj/Agent-FZB Trojan horse, which drops two rootkits to try and hide from security software.

"If you receive an unsolicited email with an encouragement to run the 'cool screensaver' attached then alarm bells should instantly be ringing in your head," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "Hackers are using a mixture of social engineering and stealth-mode rootkits to try and take advantage of Windows users who forget to think before they click."

Sophos anti-virus products detect the rootkits used in the malicious spam campaign as Troj/NTRootK-BY and Troj/Agent-FVT. Customers have been defended against the attack since 01:20 GMT on 27 July 2007.

"Rootkits are software frequently used by third parties - usually a hacker - to hide other software and processes using advanced stealth techniques. Malicious code, such as spyware and keyloggers, can be invisibly cloaked from detection by conventional security products or the operating system making them hard to detect," explained Cluley. "Hackers use rootkit technology to maintain access to a compromised computer without the user's knowledge, so it's important to be properly defended from these sort of threats."

Sophos Anti-Rootkit identifies known and unknown rootkits, and is available to download - free of charge - for non-Sophos users, as well as existing customers.

* Read more about the threat on the SophosLabs blog
* Free download of Sophos Anti-Rootkit
* Download a Sophos podcast: "Rootkits: What you need to know"

Sophos recommends companies automatically update their corporate virus protection, and run a consolidated solution to defend against malware, spyware, hackers and spam.

http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/07/bsaver.html

HOW-TO: Make a customized RSS screensaver in Tiger

2007-11-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

Allright, we all know a bunch of you OS X users got Tiger and went "Yipee!" over the RSS screensavers. Well they are pretty cool, but Apple news gets boring...so why not make your own for your obviously favorite website? With Tiger's Quartz Composer, you can make both standalone RSS applications and Screensavers which ends up being really useful or at least handy if you're an RSS junkie. Let's get going already. All you need are 2 things: A mac running Tiger (decently fast of course) and Xcode developer tools installed.

We�ll go through the process of making a screensaver first. Go into your Developer folder and open Quartz Composer. Yes, it�s very pretty. That�s what it�s good for, making pretty things. Choose �New Project� from the menu and choose Mac OS X RSS screensaver (see below)
vince2
What this serves as is the starting point for our RSS screen saver. It does the dirty math work for us basically. And when you click it and choose a name to save it as, you�ll see a pretty scrolling Apple RSS screen saver. You will also see the underlying heart of Quartz. It looks like a bunch of squares and cubes hooked together with yellowish hoses. Apple has made it very easy for things to interconnect. You can just drag a hose to an appropriate spot to connect it (it will even light up).

So we don�t want this screen saver right? We want to customize it. Make it our very own creation that you can brag about. There�s 4 main parts when it comes to changing this:
vince3
#1 is our starting point. This is the RSS feed location. You�ll want to click on the dot next to URL and a text box should pop up with Apple�s RSS location in there. Let�s enter something like http://www.engadget.com/rss.xml shall we? Good. You�re done step one. Wait a few seconds and sure enough, Engadget�s RSS feeds start popping up instead of Apple�s!

Technically, if you�re really keen on the glowing background and everything, you could just save it and be done with it right now. But that�s no fun. Let�s keep customizing.

#2 is the background. Double click the box and you�ll go further into the composition and you�ll see an all new set of boxes and hoses. If you want to make the background a static color combo, you can remove the hoses from the pink box that says Gradient. Choose your colors with the color wheel and it will remain the same. But what if you want to make the colors/direction/blending change? Easy. Look at that list to the right of all the functions/objects/interpreters etc. Find the one that says LFO. This is going to spit out a ton of random numbers for us thus giving us a dynamic variable (read: always-changing) background. Clicking �Type� allows you to mess around with what kind of mathematics it will use, but what you want to do is click on the dot next to Result. Drag your hose over to a variable on the Gradient. Say, Direction. Voila. Direction now will be a constantly changing thing. Or why not do a color? You can randomly bust out the hot colors like it�s nobody�s business. When done, look at the hierarchy tree above and go back to the root. You�ll be back at our numbered chart section again.

#3 is the article title. The one we see in the middle. Double click the box and you�ll be inside the guts of that. In the words of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, �Whoa dudes!� theres a lot inside here! Don�t worry. Interpolation is the same as LFO, it busts out a slew of mathematical functions which means randomization. Grab another LFO from the side menu and throw it somewhere. Double click on where it says Repeat Mode and choose �Mirrored Loop�. This will make a nice back and forth transition with whatever we�re doing instead of it going all nuts like a normal loop would. It�s kind of like a seesaw. With this you can really have some fun. Drag the hose over to either of the Billboard boxes and hook it up to Rotation. Ooh! Look! It�s moving back and forth and floating! Mess around with all kinda of variables and what not. Just remember, if you hook it up to something like X-Position, know the following:

What you�re looking at is an X/Y graph. Thus, X-Position that�s negative goes to the left, positive to the right. With Y-Position, negative is down, positive goes up. Remember math class from middle school? Good. You�re putting it to good use now. Quartz is really scaled so use decimals, not whole numbers. Ex: 0.8339 or -0.52252 instead of 4.5 or 8.5.

#4 applies just the same to #3 except it deals with the floating article content in the background. You can just delete the box entirely if you don�t like it, or you can mess around with it, make it fade in and out and what not. You should have the hang of it by now.

When you�re done your creation, it�s time to save. Save it and quit, open your screen saver preferences and choose the one you just made in Quartz. Tada! Go you.

Now if you wanted to take it a step further (read: people/developers familiar with Xcode, Cocoa, and Interface Builder), you can start a new Cocoa Application in Xcode, edit MainMenu.nib, import the Quartz Preference Pane into IB, load your composition in, add a button or two, edit the menus, save it, and build it, you�d have a standalone RSS application that�s pretty! Also useful if you spend a lot of time waiting for RSS to update! Now get out there and start messing around with Quartz! There�s much more to be created�iTunes plug-ins anyone?

http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/17/how-to-make-a-customized-rss-screensaver-in-tiger/

Where To Look For A Fish Tank Screensaver

2007-11-08T01:27:00.000-08:00

Does your computer need to be spruced up a little bit? When your screensaver comes on, are you greeted by a plain black screen or the windows icon that came with your computer? Doesn't this get to be boring?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then it is time for you to change your screensaver. One of the most popular screensavers available is the fish tank screensaver. The fish tank screensaver is downloaded a thousand times a day. People are looking for a way to spruce up their day. And if you are a fish lover, what better way to do that than by bringing your aquarium to your computer screen.

There are a couple of places that you can find a fish tank screensaver. First off, do not overlook the obvious. A lot of computers nowadays come with tons of screensaver options. Your computer may already have a fish tank screensaver available. If this is the case, all you need to do is go in and change your settings. This process takes all of about 20 seconds.

If your computer does not come equipped with a fish tank screensaver, you should be able to find one available for download. Go to your favorite search engine and type in 'fish tank screensaver'. This will bring hundreds of fish tank screensavers to your computer. All you need to do then is find the one you like best and download it. Most downloads are free, but sometimes you may be charged. Most of the sites that charge for downloads offer the best in screensavers. If you are looking for the top of the line fish tank screensaver, you may want to look into purchasing one.

A fish tank screensaver is a great way to spruce up your computer. Get yours today, and bring your aquarium to your computer.

http://www.fish--tank.com/Articles/Where_To_Look_For_A_Fish_Tank_Screensaver.php

World News Screensaver

2007-11-07T02:50:00.000-08:00

File description provided by the developer:

World News Screensaver fetches the top news stories from the Internet and displays them on an Earth globe, showing you where the news is taking place. You can navigate among news articles, and press a key to launch the full story. Made by 3D Wonders.

World News Screensaver fetches the top news stories from the Internet and displays them on a beautiful 3D Earth globe, showing you where the news is taking place. You will quickly become more informed and educated about World events and World geography. You can navigate among news articles, and press a key to launch your browser to the full story. World News Screensaver is fully customizable. You may alter many aspects of the visual display to suit your taste. You can also select your own RSS news sources - entertainment, sports, or whatever takes your fancy. You can even specify news search keywords that interest you. In addition to continually bringing you the latest World News, this product can also play your favorite music whenever it is running. World News Screensaver requires an Internet connection. Made by 3D Wonders.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,45187-page,1-c,audio/description.html

HID Non-User Input Data Filter: screensaver fix doesn't fix

2007-11-07T02:49:00.000-08:00

HID Non-User Input Data Filter: screensaver fix doesn't fix

I have read all the posted discussions about the screensavers not working
after installing a wireless optical mouse and keyboard. I installed the
above "fix" from the Microsoft web site and nothing has changed. I am
hesitant to use the "workarounds" because I don't understand what I'm really
changing and wonder what the effect will be when I go to do something else
and then have no idea how to fix that--the never ending loops I seem to get
into. Has anyone else had success using this fix or is the only real fix to
use one of the workarounds? And if the latter is the case, which one is the
least likely to affect common usage of the pc? Thanks.

http://www.developerfood.com/hid-non-user-input-data-filter-screensaver-fix-doesn-t-fix/microsoft-public-windowsxp-hardware/245401cb-ef92-477b-a2e1-8c434515c565/article.aspx

Confessions of a Screensaver Thousandaire

2007-11-07T02:46:00.000-08:00

There is a little item which is treated with scorn by many marketing “gurus,” yet which has proven to be popular with the “masses” year after year, after year.

Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let’s get real here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?

Wrongo!

The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages, screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.

Don’t believe me?

I dare you to type in the word “screensaver” into Google, and take a look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them. Now write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular those little programs are. They’ll tell you that they’re one of the most downloaded items on the ‘net.

Need further proof?

Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and observe the phenomenon. The great thing about download.com is that at a glance you can determine what date the saver was first listed, how many downloads it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users
thing of it.

Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.

Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the second most downloaded software application on the Internet.

Yahoo reports the word “screensaver” has appeared in their “Top 100 Searches” list every week since 1995. The term “screensaver” is searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to statistics provided by WordTracker.

So, we’ve established that there is a genuine craze for these desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?

I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being offered at all the hundreds of download sites…are free.

Didn’t your mother tell you that there is no such thing as “free” in this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct. Well then, how can people make money who are giving away screensavers for free?

In order to answer your question, I’ll unfortunately have to use a dirty word. It’s a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh…

Spyware.

That’s right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading their software.

You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into your computer system.

Once there, they call home to the “mother ship” with explicit details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other personal details.

My advice…stay away from free screensavers. Now don’t get me wrong - of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.

Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in some way. In the software industry this is known as “crippled-ware.”

After getting a taste of the free limited version, hopefully you’ll be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the “Pro” version which has lots more features.

Sharware as you know enables you to try out the screensaver for a specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-buy marketing.

In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers to specific markets…niche marketing, if you will.

Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.

In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a need, and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then sell to it.

Let’s use one of my screensaver projects as an example.

I happen to be a vegan. This means that I’m one of those growing number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face…or who ever had a mother :) So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.

Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and connect with other vegans on the ‘net, but try to find info which feeds (sorry about the pun) my passion.

How do you think I’ll react if someone offered me a screensaver of vegetarian recipes? Especially if those recipes feature beautiful color photos that show step-by-step how to prepare those recipes, or better yet, teach me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?

Don’t you think I’ll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver products.

See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate income.

In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.

I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based on the specific demands of that specific market.

Here?s a cool little flash presentation of this article.
http://www.marktse.com/recommend/screensaver-business/video.html

God loves you.
brent whinfield

*****************************************
The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course “Ten Eye-Candy Videos That Propel You Into Cash…Within 36 Hours!
http://www.marktse.com/recommend/screensaver-business/

The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course consists of ten videos which points you among other things, to a certain place on the ‘net where you’ll find hundreds of niche groups waiting for your products.

The course also shows you how to create savers in a matter of minutes, even if you’re a techno-klutz like me.
*****************************************

http://www.marktse.com/blog/index.php/277/confessions-of-a-screensaver-thousandaire

Top 10 of the best April Fool’s jokes

2007-11-07T02:45:00.000-08:00

Today is one of the most light hearted days of the year, because today is April Fool’s Day, or also called as the All Fool’s Day. How much to you know about April Fool’s Day, apart from playing practical jokes or pranks on your friends?

The origin of April Fool’s Day are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the changes in the calendar. At one time, the New Year celebration began on March 25 and ended on April 1. However, in 1582, King Charles IX of France adopted the Gregorian calendar and accepted the beginning of the new year as January 1. Those who refused to acknowledge the new date or simply forgot, received foolish gifts and invitations to nonexistent parties.

April Fool's

Here are 10 of the best April Fool’s pranks of all time that have been ranked by the San Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes, based on notoriety, absurdity and the number of people fooled.

1. The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
Panorama, a respected BBC News show announced in 1957 that a mild winter and the eradication of the destructive spaghetti weevil had led to a bumper spaghetti crop for Swiss farmers. Video showed peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. The BBC was deluged by calls from viewers wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti trees. The BBC actually gave out instructions: “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

2. Sidd Finch
In 1985, Sports Illustrated magazine published a story that a rookie baseball pitcher who could reportedly throw a ball at 270 kilometers per hour (168 miles per hour) was set to join the New York Mets. Finch was said to have mastered his skill — pitching significantly faster than anyone else has ever managed — in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans everywhere celebrated at their teams’s amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the writer of the article, George Plimpton.

3. Instant Color TV
Sweden in 1962 had only one television channel, which broadcast in black and white. The station’s technical expert appeared on the news to announce that thanks to a newly developed technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to receive color pictures by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen. Reportedly, hundreds of thousands of people, out of the population of seven million, were taken in. Actual color tv transmission only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

4. The Taco Liberty Bell
In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell announced that it had bought Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, a historic symbol of American independence, from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called up the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell is housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed that it was all a practical joke a few hours later. Then-White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale and said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had also been sold and was to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial after the automotive giant.

5. San Serriffe
The Guardian, a British newspaper, published a seven-page special section in 1977 to honor the tenth anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles described the geography and culture of the obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader General Pica. The Guardian’s phones rang off their hooks as callers tried to find out more about what sounded like an ideal vacation spot, not recognizing that everything about San Serriffe involved printer’s terminology. This successful hoax is believed to have led to a long history of other journalism-based April Fool’s jokes in the British tabloid press.

6. Nixon for President
In 1992, US National Public Radio announced that Richard Nixon was running for president again. His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” They even had clips of Nixon announcing his candidacy. Listeners flooded the show with calls expressing their outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon’s voice was actually impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

7. Alabama Changes the Value of Pi
A newsletter published in 1998 by the New Mexicans for Science and Reason claimed that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the ‘Biblical value’ of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the Internet, and was forwarded by email around the world. The Alabama legislature received hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

8. The Left-Handed Whopper
Burger King, my favorite burger store; published a full page advertisement in USA Today in 1998 announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a “Left-Handed Whopper” specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. The sandwich reportedly included the same ingredients as the original Whopper but the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The chain said it received thousands of requests for the new burger, as well as orders for the original “right-handed” version.

9. Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a wildlife biologist named Dr. Aprile Pazzo (Italian for April Fool) had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this characteristic to hunt penguins by melting the ice beneath them and causing them to sink into slush where they were trapped. Dr. Pazza theorized the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. “To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin,” the article quoted her saying. Discover received more mails in response to this article than they had received for any other articles in their history.

10. Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on the radio in 1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event, in which Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, would cause a gravitational alignment that would reduce the earth’s gravity. Moore told listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment of the planetary alignment, they would experience a floating sensation. Just after 9:47, hundreds of callers claimed to have felt the sensation. One woman even said she and eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room!

There you are the top 10 April Fool’s Day hoaxes. Of the top 10, my favorite would be the Color TV joke… how can you turn a black-and-white TV into a color TV by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen? Haha… the most is that you can see how colorful is your stocking… :)

If you want you can share with us the best April Fool’s Day hoax or joke you have every played on someone, or that you have received.

http://www.hot-screensaver.com/2007/04/01/top-10-of-the-best-april-fools-jokes/

iProtect offers laptop screensaver

2007-11-07T02:41:00.000-08:00

MaxUpgrades has announced the availability of the iProtect Micro Screen Saver for PowerBooks (17-inch, 15-inch and 12-inch models) and iBooks (14-inch and 12-inch models).

iProtect Micro Screen Savers provides protection against dust, scratches, grease and oil that gradually get deposited on the laptop keyboard and palm rest area by everyday use. It also provides protection for laptop LCD screens from keyboard and trackpad indentation caused by the keyboard keys touching the display when the laptop is closed. .

iProtect Micro Screen Savers have two different surfaces designed to clean and protect laptop LCD screens. The soft vanquished surface (front surface) is designed for fine particle removal and dust cleaning. The rough and interlacing strands of the knitted surface (reverse side) is designed to clean fingerprints, grease and marks. The iProtect Micro Screen Savers features a fringe wave design that won’t scrape the LCD panel. Costs is US$9-$12, depending on your laptop model.

http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/iprotect_offers_laptop_screensaver

Confessions of a Screensaver Thousandaire

2007-11-07T02:38:00.000-08:00

There is a little item which is treated with scorn by many marketing
"gurus," yet which has proven to be popular with the "masses" year
after year, after year.

Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let's get real
here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back
in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World
Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?

Wrongo!

The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages,
screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.

Don't believe me?

I dare you to type in the word "screensaver" into Google, and take a
look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them.

Go ahead, write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular
those little programs are. They'll tell you that they're one of the most
downloaded items on the 'net.

Need further proof?

Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and
observe the phenomenon up close and personal.

The great thing about download.com is that at a glance you can
determine what date the saver was first listed, how many downloads
it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users thing of it.

Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are
free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.

Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the
second most downloaded software application on the Internet.

Yahoo reports the word "screensaver" has appeared in their "Top 100
Searches" list every week since 1995. The term "screensaver" is
searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to
statistics provided by WordTracker.

So, we've established that there is a genuine craze for these
desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?

I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being
offered at all the hundreds of download sites are...free.

Didn't your mother tell you that there is no such thing as "free" in
this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct.
Well then, how can people make money who are giving away
screensavers for free?

In order to answer your question, I'll unfortunately have to use a
dirty word. It's a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to
Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh...

Spyware.

That's right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why
many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading
their software.

You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising
and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded
that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into
your computer system.

Once there, they call home to the "mother ship" with explicit
details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other
personal details.

My advice...stay away from free screensavers. Now don't get me wrong
- of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will
not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general
rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.

Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their
screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in
some way. In the software industry this is known as "cripple-ware."

After getting a taste of the free limited version,

hopefully you'll
be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the "Pro" version which has
lots more features.

Sharware as you know, enables you to try out the screensaver for a
specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-
buy marketing.

In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how
it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers
to specific markets...niche marketing, if you will.

Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it
makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion
would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.

In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a
need and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then
sell to it.

Let's use one of my screensaver projects as an example.

I happen to be a vegetarian. This means that I'm one of those growing
number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face...or who
ever had a mother :) So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.

Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and
connect with other vegetarians on the 'net, but also to try and find info
which feeds (sorry about the pun), my passion.

How do you think I'll react if someone offered me a screensaver of
vegetarian recipes?

Especially if those recipes feature beautiful color photos that show
step-by-step how to prepare healthy meals, or better yet, teach
me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?

Don't you think I'll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I
will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver
products.

See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a
specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate
income.

Updateable content? Yes Virginia, it is now possible for you to
place fresh content onto your customers screensaver using a certain
secret device.

You'll do so without the customer even being aware of it. He'll wake
up one morning to new images, music, and Flash videos in his saver.
He'll love you for that. No more boring, stale screensavers!

How many of those can you sell all day long?

In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing
screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.

I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I
encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based
on the specific demands of that specific market.

Here’s a cool little flash presentation of this article:
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/stvc.html

God loves you.
Brent Whinfield
brent@see-it-on-video.com

**********************************************************
The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course "Ten Eye-Candy Videos That
Propel You Into Cash...Within 36 Hours!
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/thousandaire.html

The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course consists of Ten Videos
which point you among other things, to a certain place on the 'net
where you'll find hundreds of niche groups waiting for your
products.

The course also shows you how to create savers in a matter of
minutes, even if you're a techno-klutz like me.
********************************************************** Brent Whinfield is a Success Coach who helps individuals earn money on the Internet. On the 'net since 1999, Brent has a wealth of experience which he willing shares. The Brent Whinfield Video Letter highlights profit-producing ideas. http://www.see-it-on-video.com/bwvl.html

http://www.advancingwomen.com/computers/confessions_of_a_screensaver_thousandaire.php

Windows XP Display Setting Headaches: The My Pictures screen saver does not work right.

2007-11-07T02:36:00.000-08:00

Cause Windows XP has a cool feature that allows you to easily create a screen saver from your digital pictures. This is a great way to have your family members, cat, dog, or whatever on your screen saver. My Pictures is easy to use—just access the Screen Saver tab of Display Properties and choose the My Pictures Slideshow from the drop-down menu. Windows XP will look in your My Pictures folder (found in the My Documents folder) for pictures to use, so you should put any pictures you want displayed there. After that, you can use the Settings button to configure how the pictures should be displayed.

The Pain Killer To make the My Pictures Slideshow work the way you want, follow these steps:

1. Click Start | Control Panel.
2. Double-click Display, and then click the Screen Saver tab.
3. On the Screen Saver tab, make sure the My Pictures Slideshow is selected in the drop-down menu and make sure you have the pictures you want to use in the My Pictures folder.
4. Click the Settings button on the Screen Saver tab. This opens the My Pictures Screen Saver Options window, shown in the illustration. Make any adjustments in this window as needed. You can change how often pictures should be displayed and how they should appear in the screen. You can also choose to use different transitions between pictures, which is sort of cool. When you select a transition, the effect is used to change pictures. Common examples are blend, slide left/right, cover, and so forth. Once you are done, click OK and test your screen saver again.

http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/windows-xp-display-setting-headaches-the-my-pictures-screen-saver-does-not-work-right-/3061

Windows screensaver won't work

2007-11-06T02:27:00.000-08:00

QUESTION: My screen saver won't work. It is just one of the standard windows screensavers. When I set it to come on after say three minutes it does not come on. Can you please help me?

Thanks,

Ashley

ANSWER: Try to preview the screen saver and others. If it doesn't work it's a software issue and you might be able to fix it with the system file checker (depending on which version of windows you are running).

If the preview works then your problem may be a program that is running in the background making windows think the keyboard and/or mouse are not sitting idle for three minutes. This could be a virus or adware/spyware or it may be something that has been installed. If removing adware/spyware and scanning for viruses doesn't fix the problem click start->run, type msconfig and click OK. Click the startup tab and make a note of all the items with a checkmark in the box. Clear all the checkmarks and click OK. It will prompt you to reboot. After the reboot, if the screensaver works then it's one of those items that is causing your problem. You probably have more running on startup than what you need anyway. Go back into msconfig and gradually add checkmarks until you either have everything you need running (antivirus, maybe a printer monitor, maybe something else) or until you find the one that is interfering with the screensaver.

Nerds On Site Support Team and Globetechnology.com

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060407.gtss4apr7/BNStory/Technology/Troubleshooter

Install and use the Pictures Screensaver tool

2007-11-06T02:26:00.000-08:00

Before you can use your pictures as a screensaver you will need to install the screensaver tool as follows:

1. While viewing your album, select an image.
2. Click the Actions icon, then click Save to Screensaver.
3. Review the End User License Agreement, then click the Start Installation button.
4. Click the Yes button.
5. Click the Next button.

Once installed, you can manage your pictures at any time by accessing the Screensaver Manager as follows:

Right-click the AOL Pictures icon on the end of the Windows taskbar (on the bottom right corner of your screen, next to your PC's clock), then click Screensaver Manager.

http://help.aol.co.uk/install-and-use-the-pictures-screensaver/article/20060802091909990024?n=collection&p=About%20Pictures%20help_portal&c=help_portal

How to create your own picture screensaver with windows XP

2007-11-06T02:24:00.000-08:00

Windows always has so many features, there is no way to know about them all, but of course I try to find them. Here is one that can personalise the whole feel of your computer.

When you leave your computer unattended a screensaver usually pops up. Not only does this save your screen from dying, but it stops other people from viewing what you had on the screen at the time. I will show you how to change your screen saver, but with a twist.

If you already store your pictures in the My Picture folder on your computer, it will be easy to create a screensaver slideshow. Slideshow screensaver

To enable the Windows slideshow screensaver

1. Right click on the empty screen which is the desktop. This will open the Display Properties box.
2. Choose the Screensaver Tab from the top menu
3. In the drop down menu, choose My Picture Slideshow
4. Click on Preview to see what it is going to look like.. If there are pictures that you do not like move them out
5. Press Apply, then OK

There is a downside to this slideshow. It shows any picture randomly that is in the My Pictures folder. I had to move my Ebay pictures out of this folder to stop them from showing, even though they were in their own sub-folder.

About the Author

Milica (Mitz) Pantic wrote this article and others at her website http://www.computerhowto.info Browse Computer How To for more articles that are written in an easy to understand interface and FREE computer help.

You can also visit her Australian Ebay store Fantastic Bits 24_7.

Rotate your ads with a screensaver slideshow

2007-11-06T02:23:00.000-08:00

Our brains respond very powerfully to pictures because our relationship to visual imagery is much more ancient than our ability to read text, or even to language itself. Our survival as a species depended on accurately scanning our environment for visual cues until very recently. In some places, it still does.

We are wired to notice when the visual landscape changes, in particular, since that shift may be providing information about something that is coming to eat us. In the natural world, change often equals danger. Once we have determined that everything is OK, we no longer need to pay as much attention to our surroundings until something changes again.

We receive thousands of messages from our senses all the time. At any given moment it is necessary to ignore most of that input so we can pay attention to the few things that are important to our survival. Otherwise we would be overwhelmed, and possibly miss those very important survival cues. The trick is figuring out which is which. Advertisers know that. They speak of needing to break through the “clutter” of all the other messages you see, and use tricks to make you think their messages are related to your survival.

The necessity to disregard much of the input we receive creates a potential problem for static ads, such as pictures on the refrigerator, Post-It notes, computer backgrounds or collages. While they are quite effective at first, I’ve noticed that I code these images as “known” pretty quickly and then they have less impact.

Fortunately personal technology comes to the rescue by enabling us to display a rotating slideshow on our computers. This is one of my favorite methods for advertising to myself, because it is both easy and effective. I put digital pictures in a folder on my computer (or a remote location), and then use a variety of different methods to show them to myself for a few minutes at a time. Each time the picture changes, it captures my attention for a moment until my brain registers what it is.

As I mentioned in Refrigerator makeover update and How to download and print pictures, I think it is effective to mix your ads in with other pictures - especially ones that you have very positive responses to.

There are many great methods for showing yourself a slideshow, and I will be covering several of them in depth. We’ll start with two very easy and universally available methods – one for the PC and one for the Mac.

Note: On a Windows computer most software that rotates photos looks in the folder called “My Pictures” to find your photos. For now, move any picture files you want to use for ads into that folder.
How to set up a slideshow in Windows

1. Press Start

2. Choose Control Panel

3. Open Display

4. Click the Screen Saver tab

5. Choose My Pictures Slideshow from the drop-down list under Screen saver.

6. Click Settings.

There are several choices to make on the “My Pictures Screen Saver Options” dialogue box:

* How often should pictures change? You can adjust the timing from 6 seconds to 3 minutes. Mine is set on 30 seconds right now.
* How big should pictures be? You can set the size from 25% to 100% of the screen. The default setting of 90% works well.
* Use pictures in this folder:
The default setting is C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Pictures. Use that for now. Later we’ll set up a special folder for your ads.
* Stretch small pictures. Experiment with this setting - it depends on your pictures.
* Show file names. No.
* Use transition effects between pictures. Yes. It emphasizes the change, and that gets your attention.
* Allow scrolling through pictures with the keyboard. Either way is OK.

When you have finished with all of these settings click OK to close the “My Pictures Screen Saver Options” dialogue box.

7. Enter a Wait value. This is how long a period of inactivity (no keystrokes or mouse movements) until the screensaver kicks in. Experiment with this value. I set it a little lower than I normally would if I am using the screensaver to display ads. Mine is currently set at 5 minutes.

8. Check or uncheck On resume, password protect. This setting depends on the security needs in your environment. I don’t enable it unless I have to, as adding that additional step to unlock my screensaver feels annoying.

9. Click OK.

How to set up a slideshow on a Mac

1. Open System Preferences (usually from the Dock, depending on your Mac OS version).

2. Under Personal, choose Desktop & Screen Saver

3. Choose Screen Saver.

4. Select the folder where you’ve stored your ads.

http://www.takebackyourbrain.com/2007/rotate-your-ads-with-a-screensaver-slideshow/

Screensavers: fun for your desktop!

2007-11-06T02:21:00.000-08:00

It can get awfully boring to sit in the office and work. Sometimes you're at your computer, and sometimes you're working on paperwork beside it. Still, your computer is always on. The least you can do is have an interesting screensaver to watch. Screensavers offer you nearly everything from lovely graphics to comical animations, even to games you can just click away if your boss shows up behind you.

Here are just a few of the many inexpensive shareware screensavers you can get to keep yourself entertained on those boring days in the office:

Alluring Waterfalls - Available from Always Great Software for the registration fee of $14.95, this screensaver brings breathtaking images of waterfalls to your screen. The shareware version is a seven day trial.

Attack of the Y2K Bug - Rhode Island Software Systems brings you Attack of the Y2K Bug. This comical screensaver features a Y2K bug coming out dressed as several different famous celebrities, readying itself to wreak havoc on your computer in many different fun ways. The registered version for $9.95 brings additional characters.

Chess Ballet - This screensaver is hilarious! Different play pieces from a chessboard dance across your screen in tutus! :-D The shareware version is a 30-day trial; the full version costs $20.

Dancing Baby Boogie - Personally, I hate the dancing baby. However, if you don't agree, maybe this screensaver is for you. The baby dances across the screen with characters such as Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and the program even allows you to program in your own sound as well as use a default music. From PJ Software, the registered version costs $15.

Dr. Feelwood - A new concept, this is a screensaver coming in chapters. The star is Dr. Feelwood, a 3d wooden stick figure. This trial version includes the first chapter, which is Dr. Feelwood attempting to break-dance and failing humorously. The full version is only $8!

Photo Mishmash - This one could be a great stress reliever. You can use this screensaver to take JPEG images and photographs and let you swirl and mash them up beyond recognition, often making an interesting piece of abstract artwork. If your boss's photo is displayed on your company website, the program even lets you surf the web and mash up JPEGs off the net. This is a 14-day trial version, and registration costs $17.95.

The Gotmail Screensaver - Ever wanted a screensaver that would let you know if you've got any important messages waiting? This program, available for $10 from GoTime Software, bounces the number of your unread messages around the screen, letting you know at a glance if you should sit down and log on.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/shareware/22962

What to Do if You Fall in Love With More Than One Screensaver

2007-11-06T02:19:00.000-08:00

About the Author

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work.

Links Related to the My Pictures Slideshow Screensaver

2007-11-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

Below are other sites on the Internet that are related to Knowzy's My Pictures Slideshow Screensaver topic.

First, we present other free slideshow screensaver software. The My Pictures screen saver doesn't fit everyone's needs. Other slideshows have better features and picture transitions. My Pictures is not compatible with older versions of Windows. Only one folder tree of photos is selectable at once. If the My Pictures slideshow leaves something to be desired, check out some of the other packages.

Next, we list other tutorials on the My Pictures slideshow screensaver. If you would like another perspective on the setting up the My Pictures slideshow, these sites are for you. The Kodak tutorial, for example, has screenshots of the Windows ME screens. Unfortunately, none of them talk about the power settings, which is crucial keeping your screensaver on display.

Finally, we list sites with tips and tricks on using the My Pictures screensaver. Microsoft has an article on creating a shortcut on your desktop to launch your slideshow any time.

If you have a link suggestion for this topic, send us feedback.

http://knowzy.com/Computers/Software/Screensavers/How_to_Create_a_My_Pictures_Screensaver_Slideshow-Links.htm

Screensaver harnesses computer power for cancer research

2007-11-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

Researchers looking for new anticancer drugs are hoping to harness the unused capacity of personal computers through the launch last week of software linked to a screensaver that uses free computer capacity to assess the anticancer activity of millions of molecules.

The project is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and United Devices, a US technology company. Under the scheme, users download a free screensaver and software that uses spare capacity on the computer. The system, which uses what is known as peer to peer technology, creates a "virtual supercomputer" and makes enormous quantities of processing power available.

Each computer joining the scheme will be sent over the internet an initial package of models of 100 molecules together with a drug design software application called Think, which was developed at the university of Oxford, and a model of a protein implicated in cancer. The target molecules being tested initially include superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that protects against damage from free radicals; a Ras protein; and vascular endothelial growth factor.

Think will create three dimensional models of the trial molecules and test their interactions with the target protein. If a molecule interacts successfully, it will be sent back to the central server for further investigation. The intellectual property associated with any drug discovery resulting from the scheme will belong to the University of Oxford and the licence will be held by their research sponsor, the National Foundation for Cancer Research, a US cancer charity.

Professor Graham Richards, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Oxford, said: "This project will provide a massive increase in computer power. We hope that at least one million people will sign up. This would give computer power that dwarfs the largest supercomputers currently available."

The response so far has been good. Three people were signing up to the scheme every second in the first few days after its launch. Professor Richards pointed out that the creation of a very large computer would greatly speed the search through the 250 million small molecules that the university has in its database of potential anticancer agents.

Intel Devices, which developed the software, said that downloading and running the program cost nothing and has no noticeable impact on a computer's performance because the program takes advantage of the processing power not being used. The system poses no risk for spreading computer viruses.

The screensaver can be found at www.ud.com or www.intel.com/cure

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7291/882/a

Use of Interactive Screensavers and Internet-based Learning Modules to Train Hospital-based Clinicians, Especially Emergency Physicians, to Recognize

2007-11-06T02:14:00.000-08:00

ABSTRACT

Recent use of anthrax in a biological attack against the United States validates recent growing concern that biological agents might be used as weapons. We sought to increase clinician awareness of the possibility of bioterrorism and to educate hospital-based clinicians, especially emergency physicians, about the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that result from bioterrorism. For this pilot program, we developed an interactive screensaver using high-quality clinical photos of patients, radiographs, and microbiological specimens representative of rare diseases that could be used as biological weapons. The screensaver, when directed by user, connects to internet-based learning modules that present photographs as well as diagnostic and treatment information on these bioagents. Part of the learning module consists of multiple-choice questions, tailored to the specialty of the user. These questions provide online remediation with "pop-up" images and text, providing immediate feedback to the learner. Online specialty specific continuing medical education credit is available through completion of these learning modules. At present, we have included specialty-specific information for emergency physicians, pathologists, radiologists, and infection control nursing personnel. Our hope is to further improve and expand this project to include educational materials on other potential bioterrorist agents as well as other rare naturally occurring infectious diseases. This dual-use educational modality would allow efficient delivery of current information regarding epidemiology and diagnostic and treatment recommendations not only in the event of a bioterrosist attack but also for naturally occurring outbreaks of infectious disease.

http://www.aemj.org/cgi/content/abstract/9/10/1052-b

Falling in Love With More Than One Screensaver: The Fun Part

2007-11-06T02:13:00.000-08:00

Having from five to ten and more favorite screensavers is cool. But how do you enjoy them all in a straightforward and convenient way? Draw the power you need from the little yet useful tools discussed in this article!

As you remember, earlier in my article What to Do if You Fall in Love With More Than One Screensaver we discussed the standard way of switching between multiple screensavers. Having that possibility is a pleasure indeed. Just imagine that your operating system doesn't let you easily vary screensavers to suit your mood. You'd be forced to uninstall the installed screensaver, and then install a new one. Avoiding this effort would lead you to a fabulous triumph of utter boredom! Thankfully, it's not the case. Furthermore, as you will see, there are tools that make switching between your favorite screensavers a breeze.

As strange as it may sound, computers were created to make our lives easier. Really, they are very good at automating repeating and boring tasks. And now is the very moment to remind them of that.

Imagine your innermost dream. You just sit doing nothing and your computer, your dutiful servant, takes care of your problem without your slightest intervention. All what is left to you is to enjoy the fruits of its labor. Nice, huh? Ta-da! Enter Random Screensaver!

If you have never heard about Random Screensaver, fear not! "Random" here has nothing to do with a random and unpredictable mess on your screen. It's the first little tool that will help you drive away the boredom of manually switching between your favorite screensavers.

The idea behind the tool is simple yet very useful. Random Screensaver is not a screensaver in the first place. It wears this disguise to take control each time the operating system says it's a perfect moment to start the screensaver. Once in control, the tool looks at the list of available screensavers and asks a random performer from the list to start its show.

That's it! If you install Random Screensaver, you will never have to switch your savers manually. Each time a different screensaver will start. All your favorites will get a regular outing!

Oh! I've forgotten to tell you the most important thing. Random Screensaver is completely free, and you can download it from this page:

http://www.clearnight.com.au/random.htm

There you will find two different versions: "Quick download" and "Full installation." The first one is a bare screensaver file and is very small. The second is a self-extracting installation package that will do all the installation work for you, but it's much bigger. If you don't want to waste your time downloading the bigger package, it's time to recall my previous article What You Should Know About Installing Screensavers. There you can get the knowledge needed to install the bare screensaver file.

Now that we have solved our primary problem, I can hear some of my readers start grumbling. If you are one of them, I know what's bothering you. Remember in the beginning of this article I said how bad it would be if you could not match your mood with running screensavers? But Random Screensaver knows nothing about your feelings. It simply runs a random screensaver. Well, there still is a cure for those of you who can't stand this disease.

The second tool I would like to tell you about is AllSaver! Although not free, it's a perfect cure for the second problem. It works much like Random Screensaver, but in addition to running a random show, it lets you tell exactly which screensavers you would like to see. So, if you feel today is a good day for just five of your favorite savers, and other twenty of them should rest, you can have it this way! Simply add those five to the list, and it's done!

But wait, there's even more to please you! AllSaver! has one unique feature. It makes it possible to run two or four of your favorites at the same time! You select how many screensavers to run, and AllSaver! splits the screen as needed, providing the space for all running screensavers.

If you can't wait to see it in action, you can download this amazing tool using this link:

http://www.e-motional.com/AllSaver.htm

Use these tools, and say "no" to the boredom of seeing one and only screensaver! Variety is a good thing. Have fun!

About The Author

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work. webmaster@elasticsystems.com

Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum 4.0.74.0419

2007-11-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum is easy and fast DVD Ripper software with powerful and integrative functions. It can help you ripping DVD to all popular video and audio formats with easy. It includes features of both DVD Ripper and DVD Audio Ripper. With it, you can easily rip your DVD to all popular video formats such as AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, RM, MOV, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, Xvid, ASF, etc., and convert DVD to audio formats including MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, AC3, M4A, MP2, OGG, etc. with the fastest speed. There has been never such DVD ripper software supporting so comprehensive video and audio formats. And compare with other DVD Ripper, Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum has more features attracting your eyes: 1. It can support many personal multimedia devices such as PSP, iPod, PDA and MP4 player etc. 2. It is available to auto-detects your CPU, so the ripping will be done at the best ripping speed. 3. With Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum, you can find many options to set or just keep default settings. 4. It supports ripping DVD by custom file size. 5. It can auto-split output file into several files to fit CD-R or other device. 6. It allows you to select target subtitle and audio track. 7. Output file size is adjustable, so you can compress movies to any size you like. 8. It supports batch conversion, you can select all files you want to copy and it will automatically copy them one by one. 9. It supports preview. You can see the ripping progress in preview window etc. What a powerful and attractive application. It will provide you with a new experience in DVD ripping with its high ripping speed, wonderful output quality, full functionality and multiple options. And with our prompt and effectual support service, you can be unhesitating to let us know if you have any questions about us and our products. Just download and enjoy this excellent software right now.

http://www.softgrab.com/Audio_and_Multimedia/Rippers_and_Converters/Xilisoft_DVD_Ripper_Platinum-download_468.html

Confessions of a Screensaver Thousandaire

2007-11-05T03:46:00.000-08:00

There is a little item which is treated with scorn by many marketing
"gurus," yet which has proven to be popular with the "masses" year
after year, after year.

Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let's get real
here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back
in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World
Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?

Wrongo!

The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages,
screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.

Don't believe me?

I dare you to type in the word "screensaver" into Google, and take a
look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them. Now
write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular those little
programs are. They'll tell you that they're one of the most
downloaded items on the 'net.

Need further proof?

Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and
observe the phenomenon. The great thing about download.com is that
at a glance you can determine what date the saver was first listed,
how many downloads it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users
thing of it.

Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are
free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.

Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the
second most downloaded software application on the Internet.

Yahoo reports the word "screensaver" has appeared in their "Top 100
Searches" list every week since 1995. The term "screensaver" is
searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to
statistics provided by WordTracker.

So, we've established that there is a genuine craze for these
desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?

I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being
offered at all the hundreds of download sites...are free.

Didn't your mother tell you that there is no such thing as "free" in
this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct.
Well then, how can people make money who are giving away
screensavers for free?

In order to answer your question, I'll unfortunately have to use a
dirty word. It's a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to
Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh...

Spyware.

That's right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why
many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading
their software.

You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising
and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded
that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into
your computer system.

Once there, they call home to the "mother ship" with explicit
details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other
personal details.

My advice...stay away from free screensavers. Now don't get me wrong
- of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will
not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general
rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.

Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their
screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in
some way. In the software industry this is known as "crippled-ware."

After getting a taste of the free limited version, hopefully you'll
be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the "Pro" version which has
lots more features.

Sharware as you know enables you to try out the screensaver for a
specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-
buy marketing.

In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how
it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers
to specific markets...niche marketing, if you will.

Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it
makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion
would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.

In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a
need, and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then
sell to it.

Let's use one of my screensaver projects as an example.

I happen to be a vegan. This means that I'm one of those growing
number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face...or who
ever had a mother :) So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.

Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and
connect with other vegans on the 'net, but try to find info which
feeds (sorry about the pun) my passion.

How do you think I'll react if someone offered me a screensaver of
vegetarian recipes? Especially if those recipes feature beautiful
color photos that show step-by-step how to prepare those recipes, or
better yet, teach me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?

Don't you think I'll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I
will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver
products.

See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a
specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate
income.

In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing
screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.

I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I
encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based
on the specific demands of that specific market.

Here’s a cool little flash presentation of this article.
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/stvc.html

http://www.businessfastlane.com/article.php?varset=s:2-pm:p-se:9-e:10-a:7030&SessId=

Download of the Day: RSS Screensaver

2007-11-05T03:15:00.000-08:00

The RSS Screensaver displays the latest headlines and news articles from your favorite sites with a photo background while you're away from your computer.

Add any RSS feed (like Lifehacker's) and while your computer's not in use, RSS Screensaver displays a list of headlines on the left and the body of the selected article on the right. The functional problem with RSS Screensaver is that you can't go to an article, as moving the mouse turns off the 'saver, but it's still pretty neat. Free download, Windows only, the free .NET framework required to run.

Update: Note to self - RTFM. A reader says, "In todays news about the RSS Screensaver you state that you cannot go to the articles because moving the mouse stops the screensaver. I have installed the program and you can. From their page: When the screensaver is active; use the left/right arrow keys to navigate between feeds, use the up/down arrow keys to navigate between feed items, use the spacebar to open a browser window with the current feed item." Silly me. Thanks, Mike!

http://lifehacker.com/software/rss/download-of-the-day-rss-screensaver-112964.php

Classic After Dark Screensaver Gets New Module

2007-11-05T03:12:00.000-08:00

Infinisys, Ltd. has released an update for the After Dark series of screensavers. The After Dark series of screensavers feature the classic themes made popular in the early nineties including Space Toasters. The update adds new modules including Kaleidoscope and custom audio support. According to Infinisys, Ltd:

Infinisys, Ltd. today released an update to the classic screensaver. "After Dark + Fish" for Macintosh OS X.

The updated version includes a new module called "Kaleidoscope" which displays moving patterns on the screen. The user can choose from seven patterns provided or select their own graphic files or photographs. Using the sound play function, music from a CD or sound files (MP3 etc) can be played to go along with the visual display.

After Dark is the best-selling screensaver that has delighted Macintosh users worldwide since 1989. "After Dark X + Fish" adds the popular "Fish", "Mowing Man" and "Mandelbrot" modules to the existing "Space Toasters", "Starry Night" and other user favorites contained in the previous version "After Dark X".

You can find more information about the After Dark update at the Infinisys, Ltd. Web site. Updates are free for registered users, while the full version is available for US$10.00.

http://www.macobserver.com/article/2004/06/09.9.shtml

10.4: Combine feeds for RSS screensaver

2007-11-05T03:11:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with Tiger's RSS Screensaver as soon as I saw it, but the fact that it couldn't use more than one feed at once annoyed me - why could I not get the latest headlines from the BBC and MacOSXHints, for example, on the same saver?

So, not one to give up easily, I wrote a script in PHP called FEEDcombine that automatically combines RSS feeds into one 'metafeed.' You just select the feeds you want from the predefined options (or enter your own as an alternative), choose how many entries from each feed you want, and click "Generate." Finally, bookmark the page which comes up in Safari. And there you go -- multiple feeds in the one screensaver.

Remember, the screensaver will only show up to 10 items -- so if you've got multiple feeds, don't set the number of entries from each feed too high, or entries from the later feeds won't come up.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050516081636903

How do I stop Windows XP screensaver asking for my password?

2007-11-05T03:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have one - I want to know if there's a way to change the time for the login screens to show up in Windows XP Pro? When I walk away from my computer, I come back to find out that I have to log in again. I really don't need my machine to time out like that because I am the only one that is using it. I do have a screen saver set up to go on after about 15 minutes but it's annoying to have to log in each time I come back to the computer.

What you're seeing is the screensaver password protect feature of Windows XP. To disable this, you need to get into the Display Properties screen. There are (at least) two ways to get there. Right click on an open area of your desktop and click Properties, or go into Control Panel and double click Display.

Go to the Screen Saver tab, and uncheck the "On resume, password protect" box (you'll see it circled in the screenshot below). To leave the password protection but extend the time before a password is required, increase the minutes in the "Wait" box on that tab and leave the password protect box checked.
windows xp screensaver configuration

Before disabling it, be mindful of the potential consequences. Under certain circumstances the security provided by this inconvenience should be considered benefit enough to cope with it. This prevents anyone from walking up to your computer and having access to all of your data. If this is a home PC, that might not be of any concern. In small business environments where data is shared amongst everyone anyway, it's also probably not of much concern other than for certain staff that have access to data like payroll that is confidential.

Another thing to keep in mind is if this is a computer in a business with a server, chances are pretty good it's in a Microsoft Active Directory domain. At a very basic level, Active Directory puts all computers at a business within an organizational structure that centralizes resources and authentication (verifying your username and password), affording greater security, flexibility and control. One feature of Active Directory is the use of Group Policies which allow
administrators to define what users can and cannot do with their machines, including mandatory configuration settings.

It's possible to configure Group Policies so users cannot modify screen saver settings, including the time to wait before activating the screensaver and if users can disable password protection. Under these circumstances, even if you can disable the password protection it may get enabled again, and there isn't anything you can do about it (unless you're the server administrator). Also in a business environment, be mindful of any company policies that require password protected screen savers, even if it's not mandated through Group
Policy or similar technical controls.

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_stop_windows_xp_screensaver_asking_for_my_password.html

World News Screensaver

2007-11-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

World News Screensaver fetches the top news stories from the Internet and displays them on a beautiful 3D Earth globe, showing you where the news is taking place. You will quickly become more informed and educated about World events and World geography. You can navigate among news articles, and press a key to launch your browser to the full story.

World News Screensaver is fully customizable. You may alter many aspects of the visual display to suit your taste. You can also select your own RSS news sources - entertainment, sports, or whatever takes your fancy. You can even specify news search keywords that interest you.

In addition to continually bringing you the latest World News, this product can also play your favorite music whenever it is running. World News Screensaver requires an Internet connection. Made by 3D Wonders.

World News Screensaver keywords: screensaver, screensavers, screen saver, rss, news, world, world news, syndication, internet, online, 3d, opengl, desktop, enhancement, enhancements

http://www.softpile.com/Desktop/Screen_Savers/Review_37184_index.html

Free evangelistic screensaver

2007-11-05T03:05:00.000-08:00

Animated 3D Screensaver - Ideal Solution for Holidays and Special Events

2007-11-03T03:23:00.000-07:00

AOL Radio for Mac adds screen saver module

2007-11-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

America Online as released a new beta edition of AOL Radio for Mac that includes a newly devised screen saver module that displays various song information while music is streaming. The application allows AOL members to listen to AOL Radio streams, including stations from XM Satellite Radio, and offers integration with iChat and a desktop overlay for song changes. The new "Radio Help" feature is a a screen saver module that displays album art, better display of artist album, and song information and other changes. AOL Radio requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later and an AOL membership.

This AOL Radio refresh joins AOL Pictures for Mac, which lets users manage online photo albums and directly export photos from iPhoto to the AOL You've Got Pictures Service. AOL Pictures also requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 and an AOL membership.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/06/14/aol.radio.for.mac/

Lycos Pulls Anti-Spam Screensaver

2007-11-03T03:17:00.000-07:00

Following what the company says is unexpected demand for its screensaver that targets spam servers with bandwidth-clogging requests, Lycos Europe has pulled "Make love not spam" offline.

The software utilizes processing power from an idle PC to make repeated connections to known spam URLs in an attempt to raise bandwidth fees and make the practice too expensive for spammers. However, questions were raised after two targeted servers were apparently flooded offline by the screensaver despite claims the software has built-in measures to prevent such an event.

Analysts say Lycos Europe is treading a thin line, and its software's actions could be seen as illegal denial of service attacks - even if the victim is a disliked spammer. Leading anti-spam companies have also blasted the "Make love not spam" campaign as a bad approach to fighting the problem.

Nonetheless, the screensaver's popularity suggests users are welcoming the guerilla tactic. Lycos Europe says over 100,000 downloads of the screensaver have been logged, and promises the site will return once administration and hosting issues

http://www.betanews.com/article/Lycos_Pulls_AntiSpam_Screensaver/1102100112

Falling in Love With More Than One Screensaver: The Fun Part

2007-11-03T03:15:00.000-07:00

Having from five to ten and more favorite screensavers is cool. But how do you enjoy them all in a straightforward and convenient way? Draw the power you need from the little yet useful tools discussed in this article!

As you remember, earlier in my article "What to Do if You Fall in Love With More Than One Screensaver" we discussed the standard way of switching between multiple screensavers. Having that possibility is a pleasure indeed. Just imagine that your operating system doesn't let you easily vary screensavers to suit your mood. You'd be forced to uninstall the installed screensaver, and then install a new one. Avoiding this effort would lead you to a fabulous triumph of utter boredom! Thankfully, it's not the case. Furthermore, as you will see, there are tools that make switching between your favorite screensavers a breeze.

As strange as it may sound, computers were created to make our lives easier. Really, they are very good at automating repeating and boring tasks. And now is the very moment to remind them of that.

Imagine your innermost dream. You just sit doing nothing and your computer, your dutiful servant, takes care of your problem without your slightest intervention. All what is left to you is to enjoy the fruits of its labor. Nice, huh? Ta-da! Enter Random Screensaver!

If you have never heard about Random Screensaver, fear not! "Random" here has nothing to do with a random and unpredictable mess on your screen. It's the first little tool that will help you drive away the boredom of manually switching between your favorite screensavers.

The idea behind the tool is simple yet very useful. Random Screensaver is not a screensaver in the first place. It wears this disguise to take control each time the operating system says it's a perfect moment to start the screensaver. Once in control the tool looks at the list of available screensavers and asks a random performer from the list to start its show.

That's it! If you install Random Screensaver, you will never have to switch your savers manually. Each time a different screensaver will start. All your favorites will get a regular outing!

Oh! I've forgotten to tell you the most important thing. Random Screensaver is completely free, and you can download it from this page:

http://www.clearnight.com.au/random.htm

There you will find two different versions: "Quick download" and "Full installation." The first one is a bare screensaver file and is very small. The second is a self-extracting installation package that will do all the installation work for you, but it's much bigger. If you don't want to waste your time downloading the bigger package, it's time to recall my previous article "What You Should Know About Installing Screensavers". There you can get the knowledge needed to install the bare screensaver file.

Now that we have solved our primary problem, I can hear some of my readers start grumbling. If you are one of them, I know what's bothering you. Remember in the beginning of this article I said how bad it would be if you could not match your mood with running screensavers? But Random Screensaver knows nothing about your feelings. It simply runs a random screensaver. Well, there still is a cure for those of you who can't stand this disease.

The second tool I would like to tell you about is AllSaver! Although not free, it's a perfect cure for the second problem. It works much like Random Screensaver, but in addition to running a random show, it lets you tell exactly which screensavers you would like to see. So if you feel today is a good day for just five of your favorite savers, and other twenty of them should rest, you can have it this way! Simply add those five to the list, and it's done!

But wait, there's even more to please you! AllSaver! has one unique feature. It makes it possible to run two or four of your favorites at the same time! You select how many screensavers to run, and AllSaver! splits the screen as needed, providing the space for all running screensavers.

If you can't wait to see it in action, you can download this amazing tool using this link:

http://www.e-motional.com/AllSaver.htm

Use these tools, and say "no" to the boredom of seeing one and only screensaver! Variety is a good thing. Have fun!

About the author.

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at www.elasticsystems.com to find out more about screensavers and his work.

Ask the ZMan: A Holiday Screen Saver with DirectX

2007-11-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

The Coding4Fun team asked "Can we have some holiday-themed Coding4Fun articles?"

Of course it's important to answer questions from the readers too, so over the next few articles I will build a project that answers some questions and keeps the Coding4Fun "powers that be" happy. Here are some of the questions I will cover:

1. How can I build a screen saver using Managed DirectX?
2. Can you explain how the MatrixStack functions work?
3. Can I store my graphics in a resource file?

The project will be a holiday-themed screen saver that I imaginatively called DirectXmas (not because I want to recognize any particular holiday celebration over another, but purely because I get to use the X in DirectX twice). I will use the texturing techniques that I explained in the previous articles to animate a series of Christmas trees and other holiday decorations.

Creating the Screen Saver

As luck would have it, C# and VB.Net Express Editions both ship with a screen saver starter kit (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Screen Saver Starter Kit project type in C#.

Reuse is just as important in tutorials as in code, so for instructions on how to create the project in the starter kit head over to Andrew Coates' weekend warriors column, also on Coding4Fun. You don't need to follow the entire article (unless you want to, of course). Just go as far as creating the project and running it.

The project will be using the DirectX sample framework code and code from previous articles so add references to Microsoft.DirectX, .Direct3D and .Direct3DX. Browse to the sample framework source (usually C:\Program Files\Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK (October 2005)\Samples\Managed\Common) and add the files that match dx*.cs (avoid the files beginning with w; they are beta files for a future DirectX SDK). Finally, add the Media folder and the three source files from the last texturing article. Solution explorer should look like Figure 2.

Figure 2. The project start point.

If you try to compile at this point, you will get two errors. The first one complains about unsafe code. The DirectX Framework has some unsafe code in it for performance reasons. You enable this in the project properties as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Enabling unsafe code for this project.

The second error says that there are two entry points—which makes sense, because at the moment there are two projects merged together. Since the screen saver sample has some useful code in it, you should leave that as the main entry point and rename the one in Texture.cs:

static int Main()

becomes

public static int DirectXmas()

Everything should now compile and run and you should still see the default screen saver from the sample.

Making the Screen Saver use DirectX

Take a look in the program.cs source file, specifically at the Main() function. Screen savers are just normal .EXEs which have been renamed to .SCR. When they are run, a command-line parameter is passed to tell them if they are supposed to run as normal, show the options dialog or show in the preview window. The screen saver runs when the command line is /s or when there are no parameters. The code is in the ShowScreenSaver() function. To call the old entry point and run our DirectX code, replace the 2 lines of code in that routine with:

AskZman.Textures.DirectXmas();

Run the program now and you will see the textured earth from the last tutorial. But wait, that's really not how screen savers are supposed to look. Firstly, it's in a window, and secondly, it doesn't close when you move the mouse or press a key.

The sample framework makes it very easy to create a full screen application. Find the line that creates the DirectX device:

sampleFramework.CreateDevice( 0, true, Framework.DefaultSizeWidth,
Framework.DefaultSizeHeight, sample);

then change the "true" to "false". The second parameter controls whether the device is created in a window. You probably notice that it's running at a low resolution, since the default height and width are 640x480. This is something that could be a setting in the screen saver settings screen, but for now using the current screen resolution is acceptable. Change the code to read:

sampleFramework.CreateDevice(0, false,
System.Windows.Forms.Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width,
System.Windows.Forms.Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height,
sample);

The program now runs full screen; however, you can only get out by pressing ESC.

Open the source code for the sample screen saver ScreenSaverForm.cs to see how they check for the mouse and keyboard. The KeyDown and MouseDown events just close the form and quit the program. The MouseMove event is a little more complex. The first time it is called, the code stores the position of the mouse. On subsequent calls it checks the mouse to see if it has moved significantly from the stored point. In this case significantly means more than 10 pixels in any direction. I'm not 100% sure why the code is like this, but I suspect it just stops desk tremors and minor earthquakes from cancelling the screen saver (vital on the West coast of the USA).

If you have looked at any of the DirectX samples in any detail, you will know that although you see a form, the code does not in fact inherit from a Windows form, so that code cannot be used unchanged. Fortunately, the sample framework provides similar functionality.

If you are still looking at the CreateDevice() call above, then look just one line higher to where the application hooks the KeyDown event.

sampleFramework.Window.KeyDown +=
new System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventHandler(sample.OnKeyEvent);

You should add two more event handlers for the MouseMove and the MouseDown events:

sampleFramework.Window.MouseMove +=
new System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler(sample.OnMouseMove);
sampleFramework.Window.MouseDown +=
new System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler(sample.OnMouseDown);

The new OnMouseDown() function looks like this:

private void OnMouseDown(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e)
{
GraphicsWindow window = (GraphicsWindow)sender;
window.Close();
}

And you should replace the OnKeyEvent() code with the same two lines.

Using the screen saver sample as an example, the OnMouseMove() function becomes:

private bool isActive = false;
private Point mouseLocation;
private void OnMouseMove(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e)
{
// Set IsActive and MouseLocation only the first time this event is called.
if(!isActive)
{
mouseLocation = e.Location;
isActive = true;
}
else
{
// If the mouse has moved significantly since first call, close.
if ((Math.Abs(e.Location.X - mouseLocation.X) > 10) ||
(Math.Abs(e.Location.Y - mouseLocation.Y) > 10))
{
GraphicsWindow window = (GraphicsWindow)sender;
window.Close();
}
}
}

Running the program now gives the desired effect.

If you have been following along building the code from the last tutorial there is a little "bug" to fix from last time. The code has a hard coded path to the earth texture which won't work when the screen saver is in the system32 directory where screen savers live. You can use the sample framework Utility.FindMediaFile() function to help with locating this. If you look at the source for that function it searches a set of "likely" paths until it finds the named file. In texture.cs, OnResetDevice() replace the code that loads the earth texture with the following:

//Load the textures
sphericalTexture = TextureLoader.FromFile(e.Device, Utility.FindMediaFile("earth2k.jpg"));

To make the program work as a screen saver there are a few manual steps to follow:

1. Browse to the debug directory and find DirectXmas.exe and rename it to DirectXmas.scr
2. Copy the file to c:\windows\system32.
3. Browse to the Media directory and locate the earth2k.jpg and the UI folder
4. Copy them to c:\windows\system32. Be sure to copy the whole UI folder and its contents

Now right-click on your desktop and choose Properties, then select the Screen Saver tab (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Choosing the DirectXmas screen saver.

Select DirectXmas and press preview to see the result of your work. There's no screen shot because the screen looks exactly like it did at the end of the last tutorial; it just works as a screen saver.

The code is a long way from being finished:

* The "Settings" dialog is for the old sample;
* It only runs on one of my two monitors;
* and worst of all, it really didn't put me in the holiday mood yet!

Stay tuned and if you have suggestions please let me know.

Homework for this time (though I've never had anyone send me an answer yet!):

* Remove the UI code and special rendering, like the shape selection and transparency, from the sample, because it's really no use now that the mouse and keyboard have no function other than cancelling the screen saver.
* Change the camera/view matrix code so that the screen saver shows rotation around the world—and for special credit, make the world point in the right direction!

The code in this article uses C# 2005 Express Edition and the October 2005 DirectX SDK.

The ZMan is here to solve your Managed DirectX programming problems. If you have a question for the Zman then send it to zman@thezbuffer.com.

Credits:

Thanks to

* Carlos Aguilar for the code colorizer
* Fridger Schrempp for the earth texture from the Celestia MotherLode

http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2006/11/01/918695.aspx

Reviews: 2Flyer Screensaver Builder Pro (v5.0.0)

2007-11-03T03:11:00.000-07:00

Introduction

In order to create the screensaver that is currently available as a free download to all PhotographyBLOG members, I evaluated several popular screensaver programs, and eventually bought one of them. This review briefly outlines the programs that I considered, then looks in detail at the program that I purchased, 2Flyer Screensaver Builder Pro.

Before I start, you may have already noted that I purchased a screensaver program. There's usually a free alternative to everything on the Web, but when it comes to screensaver builders it seems that there's a price to pay. If anyone knows of a free program then let me know and I'll take a look.
Products Evaluated

I visited Cnet.com and downloaded the trial versions of 5 screensaver builder programs that looked promising. Which I guess is pretty similar to what most people would do. I installed each product and took them for a test drive. Price was as critical a factor to me as features, so I was basically looking for that winning combination of low price and high-perfomance.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_2flyer_screensaver.php

The Shattering Screen Saver

2007-11-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

A screen saver that will make the screen break apart and fall to the bottom of the screen.
The ZMan
Zman's Diary

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time Required: 3-6 hours
Cost: Free
Software: Visual Basic or Visual C# Express Editions, February 2006 DirectX SDK
Hardware:
Download:

* Download Code
* Download Code

Last time not only was it the holidays, but I left you with a question about why the screen saver slowed down so much when you increased the tree density. If you look at the specification for modern graphics cards, you'll see that they can draw hundreds of thousands of triangles, and yet the small scene we were drawing has nowhere near that many triangles. The reason for the slowdown is that DirectX interacts with the graphics card. It turns out that, while the graphics card can draw a lot of triangles, you need to send them in large batches. Each time you call the Mesh.Draw method, it counts as a batch. Each tree you drew had four calls for the tree and 24 calls for the decorations. At 28 batches per tree, you soon push DirectX beyond the optimum amount (this number depends on many things about your hardware setup).

Which leads to this column's question: If it's not advisable to send multiple batches, how can you do animation of multiple objects like you see in popular games?

One way of doing this is actually to modify the mesh yourself. Rather than relying on the graphics card to move the vertices, you change them during the render loop. This technique is often used for particle effects and point sprites, but for this column I am going to build a prank screen saver in honor of the Coding4Fun April Fools' page. The screen saver will take a snapshot of the screen before it runs and then draw it back as a texture on the screen so that it looks like there is no screen saver at all. When the unsuspecting user moves their mouse or presses a key, the triangles that are actually making up the screen will break apart and fall to the bottom of the screen.

The first thing to do is to remove all of the DirectXmas code from the screen saver, or download CrashSaver_start from the links at the top of the article. This is the basic empty screen saver that we started with at the beginning of the last series.

Before DirectX initializes the screen, you need to get a capture of the screen.

In CrashSaver.cs add a method called Initialize and put the following code in it:

//Get a current snapshot of the screen before we draw on it!
//Code from http://tommycarlier.blogspot.com/2006/02/screen-capture-tool.html. Thanks Tommy.
Rectangle region = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds;
screenBitmap = new Bitmap(region.Width, region.Height,
PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);
using (Graphics bitmapGraphics = raphics.FromImage(screenBitmap))
{
bitmapGraphics.CopyFromScreen(region.Left, region.Top, 0,
0, region.Size);
}

Add a call to Initialize in the constructor for CrashSaver and create the texture in OnResteDevice:

snapshot = Texture.FromBitmap(e.Device, screenBitmap, Usage.None,
Pool.Managed);

Note Due to an issue with the way .NET 2.0 interop works when run in the Visual Studio Debugger, and the fact that Managed DirectX relies on this issue for Texture.FromBitmap, you will find that this line of code can take many minutes to complete if you just hit "Run" or press F5. Until this issue is resolved, run this program without the debugger by pressing CTRL+F5. This performance issue does not occur when you run the final executable.

The next thing to do is to create the mesh that will eventually have all of the triangles animated. To keep it simple, imagine the screen split into a grid of squares and each square being split in half to make up two triangles. Because the animation is only going to be in two dimensions, you do not need to store all three dimensions. Instead you will use a vertex format that maps directly to the screen coordinates — more on that later. Constructing the mesh is simply a matter of walking through each cell and adding the six coordinates (three for each triangle) into a vertex buffer.

for (float x = 0; x < xResolution; x++)
{
for (float y = yResolution-1; y >=0; y--)
{
verts[vertIndex].X = cellWidth * x - .5f;
verts[vertIndex].Y = cellHeight * y - .5f;
vertIndex++;

verts[vertIndex].X = cellWidth + cellWidth * x -.5f;
verts[vertIndex].Y = verts[vertIndex - 1].Y;

.... etc....

Because some of the vertices are common between the triangles, just copy the values rather than recalculate them. You will also notice that I have subtracted 0.5 from each coordinate: When DirectX looks into the texture maps to decide what color to output, it looks in the center of the pixel. The coordinates we are using have 0,0 at the top left corner and we want DirectX to look up pixel 0,0 for that pixel. So if we subtract 0.5 from each coordinate, DirectX will correctly look in the center of all the pixels. Try removing all of the -0.5s and see what happens.

In addition to setting the vertex position you need to set the texture coordinates. Remember that texture coordinates go from 0.0 to 1.0, so we have to divide that range across the whole screen.

float texWidth = 1f / (float)xResolution;
float texHeight = 1f / (float)yResolution;

verts[vertIndex].Tu = texWidth * x;
verts[vertIndex].Tv = texHeight * y;

... etc ...

Since this is repeated six times, I am not going to list all of the formula here; you can look in the final version of the code to see them all.

The final thing to set up is the actual vertex buffer. Up till now you have always used a mesh object. A vertex buffer is just the part of the mesh object that stores the vertices. You saw it before in the texture articles where you modified the texture coordinates inside the vertex buffer. In this case, there is no need to use a mesh — you can just use the vertex buffer itself.

//Copy to vertexbuffer
vb = new VertexBuffer(typeof(CustomVertex.TransformedTextured),
bufferSize, e.Device, Usage.Dynamic,
CustomVertex.TransformedTextured.Format, Pool.Default);
vb.SetData(verts, 0, LockFlags.None);

Notice that I am using a vertex format called TransformedTextured. Textured you already know about, but transformed is new to you. This tells the graphics card that it does not have to do any transforming for you. In other words, you are providing the final screen coordinates. So the world, view, and projection matrices do nothing when this vertex buffer is rendered.

Rendering a vertex buffer is only slightly more complex than rendering a mesh (in fact, this is what Mesh.Render does for you when you call it).

device.VertexFormat = CustomVertex.TransformedTextured.Format;
device.SetTexture(0, snapshot);
device.SetStreamSource(0, vb, 0);
device.DrawPrimitives(PrimitiveType.TriangleList, 0, bufferSize / 3);

Before you can run the code, there are few changes to make to the framework files. First, you need to ensure that the DirectX window is created at the same size as the screen and without a border. In dxmut.cs, in method CreateWindow(), comment out the following:

//renderWindow.ClientSize = windowSize;

In method AdjustWindowStyle() comment out the following:

//window.FormBorderStyle =
//System.Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle.Sizable;

In dxmutdata.cs, in the constructor for GraphicsWindow add the following:

this.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None;
this.Width = System.Windows.Forms.Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width;
this.Height =
System.Windows.Forms.Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height;

Now run the program (using CTRL+F5, remember) and you should see — nothing. What we are doing right now is just drawing a copy of the screen on the screen. If you hit a key the screen saver will exit and bring you back to Visual Studio.

To enable animation of the triangles, you need to create an embedded class inside CrashSaver that will store the data for each triangle's position and movement:

private class TriangleMovement { public Vector2 offset; public
Vector2 velocity; public double delay; }

And then initialize this with some default values inside method Initialize().

for (int x = 0; x < xResolution; x++)
{
for (int y = 0; y < yResolution; y++)
{
for (int t = 0; t < 2; t++)
{
TriangleMovement move = new TriangleMovement();
move.offset = Vector2.Empty;
move.velocity = new

Vector2(0f, 0f);
move.delay = random.NextDouble() * 4.0;
moves[x, y, t] = move;
}
}
}

This code sets the offset position (which is how far down the screen the triangle will fall on the next frame and the current velocity of each triangle). There is also a random delay so that the triangles all fall at different times.

If you followed the original texture articles you will remember that to modify a vertex buffer you have to lock it before you can access the vertices. In exactly the same way that you modified texture coordinates, you will modify the y coordinate of the triangle to make them fall down the screen. Since you have seen this before I will not go into the code in detail. The interesting new part is how to calculate the velocity and offset.

//Move the offset by the velocity
move.offset += move.velocity * elapsedTime;
move.velocity.Y += (float)(9.8 * elapsedTime);

//3 vertices per triangle
for (int v = 0; v < 3; v++)
{
verts[vertIndex].X += move.offset.X;
verts[vertIndex].Y += move.offset.Y;
vertIndex++;
}

Because you want to stay frame-rate independent, remember that the offset from the last frame is the current velocity multiplied by how long it has been since the last frame.

You also want the piece to accelerate toward the bottom of the screen, which means you need to also increase the velocity. Once again, this is done as a function of the time since the last frame. If you want the triangles to accelerate faster, then make the constant bigger.

Now the screen saver should run. The final code can be downloaded from the link at the top of the article.

The code in this article uses Visual C# 2005 Express Edition and the February 2006 DirectX SDK.

The ZMan is here to solve your Managed DirectX programming problems. If you have a question for the ZMan then send it to zman@thezbuffer.com.

Credits:

Thanks to

* Carlos Aguilar for the code colorizer.
* TommyCarlier for the screen capture code.

http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2006/11/01/918703.aspx

Mac: Change Your Screensaver

2007-11-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

2005 iKiteboarding.com Screensaver

2007-11-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

iKiteboarding.com is proud to announce our second screensaver, following in the footsteps of the first one which was highly popular.

This screensaver is a lifestyle screensaver, and showcases 21 pictures featuring the latest tricks in kiteboarding, some insane wave riding action, and some breathtaking scenery.

Download the iKiteboarding.com screensaver - it is virus free and comes with a self extractable installer.

Download the screensaver here

We hope you enjoy our screensaver for 2005
the iKiteboarding.com team

Article Comments: (Add Comments)

Your screen saver is corrupt and won't open.
Dave

Nothing wrong with is it worked 100% on my PC, You need to install it after down load. Try again look where you save it when down loading and go there in "explore" open up and follow process. Hope it work.
Thanks for the screen saver !!!
MRC

Works fine, but just on Windows based Machines..
What about an Linux one?? :)
And a question: is it possible to add more pics into the saver?
If yes, tell me how! ;-)

Best regards, Rick from germany

http://www.ikiteboarding.com/kiteboarding/articles/2005-ikiteboardingcom-screensaver.aspx

Have Fun with the Custom Screensavers Library

2007-11-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

SoftSkies Screen Saver

2007-11-02T04:24:00.000-07:00

SoftSkies is a software program that runs on the music player of your choice (a full list can be found at www.soundspectrum.com) and is a visual emulator. There is also a screensaver, and both applications can run on either Windows or Mac. Basically, SoftSkies is a really cool, advanced sky and cloud generator that reacts to what song is playing on iTunes, and is actually quite relaxing. What’s also cool is being able to hook up your computer to your TV via an s-video, DVI-, etc., cable, and listening to some good music while these emulations “dance around” on your television.

Gold vs. Platinum Editions

Before I get to how the software works, there are two choices to purchase, and both offer a year of service and support. Gold ($20) offers the skies, customization, V-Bar, Living Images, and more. The screensaver costs $5, however, at the point of sale, or $10 if you bought the Gold edition previously.

The Platinum ($30) edition comes with “Multi-Player Support,” which allows you to use SoftSkies on multiple MP3 software players, like iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. You can also get results using a microphone, CDs/DVDs, and more. My recommendation would be to go with the Platinum edition.

How it works

According to SoundSpectrum, creator of SoftSkies, this program was created on C+ software. Their goal, according to their “motto,” is to converge art and music. As the song plays, the sky will change colors, clouds will form and “move” to the beat, and essentially give a nice performance, if you will.

I downloaded a copy and put it to use; after installing on my Mac, I opened iTunes, went to View, Visualizer, and selected SoftSkies. I then put on a song by the French, mellow electronica band Air. I then went back to View and selected Turn on Visualizer. The clouds started right away, the sky blue, as most of iTunes became SoftSkies.
As the song played out, the sky’s color changed to pink, gold, etc., and at the top of the screen, it indicated the sky color.

What’s also cool is that the artist name, song and album, along with album artwork, pop up as the next tune comes up. Keep in mind, if you’re going to be working, iTunes won’t be seen, but after a stressful day (or part of the day), this is something to relax to.

It wasn’t long before I decided to put heavy metal band Pantera on, selecting a particularly nasty, fast song. The clouds really had quite a workout, and I was soon wondering if I helping to form a hurricane. I just kept playing around with it and different songs from different bands. Which is something you’ll find yourself doing.
This is, as I said above, something to relax to either for a moment or after a long day.

I decided to see what other visuals I could pull up, so I hit pause on iTunes and a menu popped up. You can choose anything to coincide with the clouds and sky, such as “Living Images,” including scenic castles; other “sky” displays like sunsets or a storm; and many others.

You can even create your own sky, by selecting colors, cloud shading colors, etc., then letting it go at it. Also look for the option to change the sky’s color to those of fruit, or just really “vivid” arrays. You can save a design in “My Skies” and pull it up easily by selecting a number at the top of the menu.

V-Bar and the Standalone player

If you aren’t pausing in your work, there’s a way to enjoy SoftSkies while doing just that, and it’s through the “V-Bar.” Found in the SoftSkies folder in applications, once you open it and set up the preferences, a small bar with SoftSkies will appear. The company says you can adjust the “audio input settings” on the V-Bar (http://www.soundspectrum.com/softskies/faq.html#vbarsens). However, once the V-Bar is up, it’ll cover a side of your computer and you won’t be able to see the desktop or any open apps.

The Standalone player, like the V-Bar, can be found in the applications area, in the SoftSkies folder. Click on the app and check out, as the title implies, a stand-alone version of SoftSkies. Note that any application that’s opened will hide the Standalone player. You use the Standalone when using a microphone, etc.

If you have two monitors hooked up to your computer, you can use the Standalone by dragging it to the other monitor you’re not using, and stretch it to fill the screen. Not a bad way to use it while working!

Other uses

SoundSpectrum also says you can plug a microphone into the computer and maybe import a karoke CD into iTunes and have fun with that. Even without the music, SoundSpectrum promises some cool things will happen when you sing, talk, etc.

Earlier, I mentioned hooking up your computer to your TV, especially a nice widescreen SDTV or HDTV, and turning on the Visualizer and chilling out with SoftSkies on your television. I’m sure the pundits would agree this won’t “rot” the brain.

On the company’s site, there’s a question of using it for commercial use, like a concert. You can work out a licensing agreement to do this, as SoftSkies is strictly for private use. But one can’t help but wonder what a concert with bands like Radiohead or Pink Floyd using it with their amazing live shows. An indie band can also add some cool effects to their show with a large enough screen, a solid projector, a computer, and a license from SoundSpectrum.

Screensaver

The screensaver works similarly, and when it kicks on, it moves on its own. On the website’s FAQ (http://www.soundspectrum.com/softskies/faq.html#screensaver), there are instructions on how to get the screensaver to move with any music that might be playing. Otherwise, it won’t move to whichever beat is playing on your iTunes.

Conclusion

SoftSkies is a neat little application that can do many things, but to me anyway, it’s something that can help you relax. With its many uses, like plugging it in to your television, using the Platinum edition with a microphone, even licensing it for concerts and such, it’s a powerful little software app.

SoftSkies is a software program that runs on the music player of your choice (a full list can be found at www.soundspectrum.com) and is a visual emulator. There is also a screensaver, and both applications can run on either Windows or Mac. Basically, SoftSkies is a really cool, advanced sky and cloud generator that reacts to what song is playing on iTunes, and is actually quite relaxing. What’s also cool is being able to hook up your computer to your TV via an s-video, DVI-, etc., cable, and listening to some good music while these emulations “dance around” on your television.

Gold vs. Platinum Editions

Before I get to how the software works, there are two choices to purchase, and both offer a year of service and support. Gold ($20) offers the skies, customization, V-Bar, Living Images, and more. The screensaver costs $5, however, at the point of sale, or $10 if you bought the Gold edition previously.

The Platinum ($30) edition comes with “Multi-Player Support,” which allows you to use SoftSkies on multiple MP3 software players, like iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. You can also get results using a microphone, CDs/DVDs, and more. My recommendation would be to go with the Platinum edition.

How it works

According to SoundSpectrum, creator of SoftSkies, this program was created on C+ software. Their goal, according to their “motto,” is to converge art and music. As the song plays, the sky will change colors, clouds will form and “move” to the beat, and essentially give a nice performance, if you will.

I downloaded a copy and put it to use; after installing on my Mac, I opened iTunes, went to View, Visualizer, and selected SoftSkies. I then put on a song by the French, mellow electronica band Air. I then went back to View and selected Turn on Visualizer. The clouds started right away, the sky blue, as most of iTunes became SoftSkies.
As the song played out, the sky’s color changed to pink, gold, etc., and at the top of the screen, it indicated the sky color.

What’s also cool is that the artist name, song and album, along with album artwork, pop up as the next tune comes up. Keep in mind, if you’re going to be working, iTunes won’t be seen, but after a stressful day (or part of the day), this is something to relax to.

It wasn’t long before I decided to put heavy metal band Pantera on, selecting a particularly nasty, fast song. The clouds really had quite a workout, and I was soon wondering if I helping to form a hurricane. I just kept playing around with it and different songs from different bands. Which is something you’ll find yourself doing.
This is, as I said above, something to relax to either for a moment or after a long day.

I decided to see what other visuals I could pull up, so I hit pause on iTunes and a menu popped up. You can choose anything to coincide with the clouds and sky, such as “Living Images,” including scenic castles; other “sky” displays like sunsets or a storm; and many others.

You can even create your own sky, by selecting colors, cloud shading colors, etc., then letting it go at it. Also look for the option to change the sky’s color to those of fruit, or just really “vivid” arrays. You can save a design in “My Skies” and pull it up easily by selecting a number at the top of the menu.

V-Bar and the Standalone player

If you aren’t pausing in your work, there’s a way to enjoy SoftSkies while doing just that, and it’s through the “V-Bar.” Found in the SoftSkies folder in applications, once you open it and set up the preferences, a small bar with SoftSkies will appear. The company says you can adjust the “audio input settings” on the V-Bar (http://www.soundspectrum.com/softskies/faq.html#vbarsens). However, once the V-Bar is up, it’ll cover a side of your computer and you won’t be able to see the desktop or any open apps.

The Standalone player, like the V-Bar, can be found in the applications area, in the SoftSkies folder. Click on the app and check out, as the title implies, a stand-alone version of SoftSkies. Note that any application that’s opened will hide the Standalone player. You use the Standalone when using a microphone, etc.

If you have two monitors hooked up to your computer, you can use the Standalone by dragging it to the other monitor you’re not using, and stretch it to fill the screen. Not a bad way to use it while working!

Other uses

SoundSpectrum also says you can plug a microphone into the computer and maybe import a karoke CD into iTunes and have fun with that. Even without the music, SoundSpectrum promises some cool things will happen when you sing, talk, etc.

Earlier, I mentioned hooking up your computer to your TV, especially a nice widescreen SDTV or HDTV, and turning on the Visualizer and chilling out with SoftSkies on your television. I’m sure the pundits would agree this won’t “rot” the brain.

On the company’s site, there’s a question of using it for commercial use, like a concert. You can work out a licensing agreement to do this, as SoftSkies is strictly for private use. But one can’t help but wonder what a concert with bands like Radiohead or Pink Floyd using it with their amazing live shows. An indie band can also add some cool effects to their show with a large enough screen, a solid projector, a computer, and a license from SoundSpectrum.

Screensaver

The screensaver works similarly, and when it kicks on, it moves on its own. On the website’s FAQ (http://www.soundspectrum.com/softskies/faq.html#screensaver), there are instructions on how to get the screensaver to move with any music that might be playing. Otherwise, it won’t move to whichever beat is playing on your iTunes.

Conclusion

SoftSkies is a neat little application that can do many things, but to me anyway, it’s something that can help you relax. With its many uses, like plugging it in to your television, using the Platinum edition with a microphone, even licensing it for concerts and such, it’s a powerful little software app.

http://audiovideo.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=102447

Confessions of a Screensaver Thousandaire

2007-11-02T04:21:00.000-07:00

There is a little item which is treated with scorn by many marketing
"gurus," yet which has proven to be popular with the "masses" year
after year, after year.

Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let's get real
here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back
in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World
Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?

Wrongo!

The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages,
screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.

Don't believe me?

I dare you to type in the word "screensaver" into Google, and take a
look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them. Now
write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular those little
programs are. They'll tell you that they're one of the most
downloaded items on the 'net.

Need further proof?

Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and
observe the phenomenon. The great thing about download.com is that
at a glance you can determine what date the saver was first listed,
how many downloads it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users
thing of it.

Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are
free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.

Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the
second most downloaded software application on the Internet.

Yahoo reports the word "screensaver" has appeared in their "Top 100
Searches" list every week since 1995. The term "screensaver" is
searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to
statistics provided by WordTracker.

So, we've established that there is a genuine craze for these
desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?

I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being
offered at all the hundreds of download sites...are free.

Didn't your mother tell you that there is no such thing as "free" in
this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct.
Well then, how can people make money who are giving away
screensavers for free?

In order to answer your question, I'll unfortunately have to use a
dirty word. It's a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to
Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh...

Spyware.

That's right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why
many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading
their software.

You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising
and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded
that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into
your computer system.

Once there, they call home to the "mother ship" with explicit
details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other
personal details.

My advice...stay away from free screensavers. Now don't get me wrong
- of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will
not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general
rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.

Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their
screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in
some way. In the software industry this is known as "crippled-ware."

After getting a taste of the free limited version, hopefully you'll
be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the "Pro" version which has
lots more features.

Sharware as you know enables you to try out the screensaver for a
specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-
buy marketing.

In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how
it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers
to specific markets...niche marketing, if you will.

Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it
makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion
would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.

In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a
need, and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then
sell to it.

Let's use one of my screensaver projects as an example.

I happen to be a vegan. This means that I'm one of those growing
number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face...or who
ever had a mother :) So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.

Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and
connect with other vegans on the 'net, but try to find info which
feeds (sorry about the pun) my passion.

How do you think I'll react if someone offered me a screensaver of
vegetarian recipes? Especially if those recipes feature beautiful
color photos that show step-by-step how to prepare those recipes, or
better yet, teach me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?

Don't you think I'll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I
will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver
products.

See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a
specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate
income.

In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing
screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.

I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I
encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based
on the specific demands of that specific market.

Here’s a cool little flash presentation of this article.
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/stvc.html

God loves you.
Brent Whinfield

*****************************************
The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course "Ten Eye-Candy Videos That
Propel You Into Cash...Within 36 Hours!
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/thousandaire.html

The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course consists of ten videos
which points you among other things, to a certain place on the 'net
where you'll find hundreds of niche groups waiting for your
products.

The course also shows you how to create savers in a matter of
minutes, even if you're a techno-klutz like me.

http://www.businessfastlane.com/article.php?varset=s:2-pm:p-se:9-e:13-a:7030&SessId=

Trojan program poses as anti-spam screensaver

2007-11-02T04:20:00.000-07:00

A program that spies on keystrokes and mouse clicks to capture passwords and other personal information from computer users has begun circulating disguised as a screensaver purporting to attack spam-related websites.

This “Trojan horse” program is the latest twist in a controversial saga that began with the release of an anti-spam screensaver by Lycos Europe on 30 November. The www.makelovenotspam.com screensaver aimed to clog up the bandwidth of spam sites by barraging them with fake data.

Experts believe the new trojan program may have been developed in retaliation to the Lycos screensaver, perhaps to deter users from downloading the it in the first place. The program arrives in an email with the subject line "Be the first to fight spam with Lycos screen", and is compressed in an attachment entitled "Lycos screensaver to fight spam".

Upon installation, a program known as "Mdropper-IT" sends a message to an Indonesian email address to confirm its status. It then keeps a secret record of a user's keystrokes to gather bank account details, passwords and other valuable information.

Turning a profit

"It was obviously made by spammers," says Mikko Hypponen of Finnish anti-virus company F-Secure. "They want to get back at Lycos and while they're making them look bad, they want to profit from it."

Hypponen says those behind the trojan program may be hoping to gather email addresses as well as other sensitive information to fuel their spamming activities. He says it was sent out in a "large spamming run" on Sunday, but adds that it is unclear how many computers may have been infected because spam filters may have caught many of the messages.

Lycos’s original anti-spam scheme was severely criticised by many internet experts who saw the approach as network abuse. However, Lycos maintained the service was legal because it was designed to use up 95% of a spam site's bandwidth - making the site more expensive to operate - rather than close it down completely. Even so, Lycos shut its service down on 3 December. About 100,000 people are thought to have downloaded the screensaver.

"In principle it's a great idea, but the method is somewhat immature," Hypponnen says. "It's making the problem worse."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6774.html

Screensaver slideshow

2007-11-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

Create your own custom screensaver slideshow for a few minutes! This is easy with PicturesToExe slideshow creator! Do you want to use your own slideshow as a screensaver? Read this article to know hot to. Also please read “Create slideshow” article if you want to introduce with PicturesToExe basic features.
What screensaver is?

Screensaver slideshowWhen you keep your computer in quiet for a few minutes Windows will turn on screensaver mode. In this case you will see special image or animation on your PC screen. You can customize this feature by using screensavers. Probably you can see some screensavers later but don’t know how to create screensaver slideshow. With PicturesToExe you can create such screensavers simple.

Saving your slideshow as screensaver

After your slideshow has been created you can save it as screensaver. Simply press Create button and select .scr file extension instead of default .exe. After that go to Windows Desktop settings and select created file as a screensaver. That is all! As you can see screensaver slideshow creation it’s pretty easy.

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/screensaver-slideshow.html

Detroit Tigers Fan Pictures Screensaver

2007-11-02T04:17:00.000-07:00

This is my 3rd Google Screensaver project. I collected these photos from Google and added them to my Picassa account. Just so everyone is clear these are not my images. With that said feel free to enjoy this free Detroit Tigers Screensaver. As always I’ll continue to polish and add images to this screensaver as I find them.

Detroit Tigers Fan Pictures Screensaver
Here We Go >>

1. First you’re going to have to have Google Photos Screensaver installed on your machine. Download Google Photos Screensaver here.

2. Once you have Google Photo Screensaver installed open your display properties.

3. Click on the settings button and select the RSS photo feeds at the bottom. Click on the configure then copy and paste this feed. This is an rss feed of Comerica Park and Detroit Tigers fan pictures I’ve uploaded to my Picassa account.
Other Free Screensavers

* Andy Warhol Artwork Screensaver
* Thomas Laupstad’s Photos From Norway

tags: comerica park, detroit detroit tigers
Like that post? Try these...

Live Bait Vending Machine by n8 on January 16th, 2007

Electromagnetic Pulse EMP by n8 on January 6th, 2007

Watch Adam Carolla Try Out For The Oakland Raiders by n8 on September 10th, 2007

http://www.zimbio.com/Detroit+Tigers/articles/2/Detroit+Tigers+Fan+Pictures+Screensaver

Tiger Tip #3: Using Tiger's RSS Screen Saver

2007-11-02T04:16:00.001-07:00

One of the coolest features of Mac OS X Tiger is its RSS Screen Saver. When your screen saver goes into action, news feeds from the site you select are displayed onscreen, along with a brief intro to the article.

To change Tiger’s default screen saver to use the RSS feed, follow these steps:

* Open System Preferences
* Select the Desktop & Screen Saver’s preference panel
* Click the Screen Saver tab
* In the list of available Screen Savers to the left, select “RSS Visualizer”
* After selecting RSS Visualizer, you’ll see a demo of the RSS screen saver in the display to the right

By default, Tiger’s RSS screen saver calls up news items from Apple’s Hot News RSS feed. If you want to select a different screen saver:

* Click the Options button
* A sheet slides out, displaying a list of other “pre-ordained” RSS sites which you can choose from
* Select a feed (for example, the “O’Reilly Network” feed)
* Click the Done button
* To see what the screen saver looks like, click the Test button

Now when the screen saver jumps into action, you’ll see news items fed to you from the O’Reilly Network of sites, including the Mac DevCenter.

Note: Your computer must have a Quartz Extreme-compatible graphics card for the RSS Visualizer to even appear in the list. If you don’t see this item in the list of available Screen Savers, your Mac won’t be able to use this feature.

http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2005/04/tiger_tip_3_using_tigers_rss_s.html

Install and customise the AOL Browser RSS feeds screensaver

2007-11-02T04:14:00.000-07:00

This article provides instructions for installing and customising the RSS screensaver feature available with AOL Browser.

You may wish to print or save a copy of these instructions as this page may not remain visible as you go through the suggested steps.

About RSS feeds and the RSS screensaver feature

RSS (also called Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, or Real-time Simple Syndication) is a type of web feed format used for distribution or syndication from an online publisher to web users. RSS feeds deliver web content or summaries of web content as Extensible Markup Language (XML) files called RSS feeds. Widely used by websites that want to publish some of their content, such as news headlines, stories, or multimedia files, RSS feeds are available from many major news organisations to distribute news headlines and other information, as well as from weblogs (blogs) and podcasters.

The RSS screensaver feature available with AOL Browser displays up to 9 RSS feed headlines at a time. In the background are dynamic images that 'float' across the screen, based on the actual news articles listed. Each headline in the screensaver will have a number next to it.

To view the article corresponding to one of the RSS headlines, type the number next to a headline. The article corresponding to the number you typed will be displayed in your default browser.

For more information about RSS feeds, see RSS Feeds for AOL Browser.

Install the RSS feeds screen saver available with AOL Browser

To use the AOL Browser RSS screen saver feature you will need to install it; it is not installed automatically.

To install the RSS feeds screen saver:

1. Click the Feeds button to open the Feeds side panel in your browser window.
2. Click the Install Screensaver button.
3. Click the Yes button.

Notes:

* If you currently do not have any screensaver set on your computer, you may need to restart your computer before the AOL Feeds screen saver is activated.
* The RSS feeds screen saver can be uninstalled by uninstalling AOL Browser.

Customise the RSS feeds listed in the RSS feeds screen saver

The RSS screen saver feature displays up to 9 RSS feed headlines at a time. The RSS feeds shown are based on the list of feeds that you have in your AOL Browser Feeds side panel.

To update the RSS feeds displayed in the screen saver, add or remove feeds from your Feeds side panel.

For more information about customising the Feeds side panel, see RSS Feeds for AOL Browser.

The time-delay and password settings for the RSS Screen Saver feature are handled by the display properties settings of the Windows operating system.

To adjust the screen saver settings:

1. On your Windows desktop, right-click to display the options menu, then click Properties.
2. Click the Screen Saver tab.
3. Ensure AOL Feeds Screensaver is listed in the Screen Saver drop-down list, then adjust the time-delay and password settings as you would for any other screen saver.
4. Click the OK button to close the Display Properties window.

http://help.aol.co.uk/install-and-customise-the-aol-browser/article/20060831070109990002?n=collection&p=AOL%20Browser%20products_portal&c=help_portal

Free Sports Car Screensaver

2007-11-02T04:12:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Sports Car screensaver with outstanding slide show and fancy high quality Sports car graphics. You can change the setting of this screensaver yourself, Including position of screensavers graphics size and slide show effects, sound and behavior. Download this screensaver and have fun today.

Features :

* High quality Sports Car images
* Fancy animation
* Adorable Slide Show
* Add your own Sound/Music/Play list in the background
* Control of effects of transition
* Control exit condition
* Full install/uninstall support

System Requirements :

* Windows 9x/NT4/2K/Me/XP
* 3.12 MB of free disk space
* 16-bit (high) color or greater recommend
* Pentium II or higher
* 16 MB Video Memory
* 32 MB of RAM
* Resolution of 800×600 or higher
* Sound card recommend

http://www.freewarezoom.com/archives/free-sports-car-screensaver

Anthrax screensaver finds promising new drugs

2007-11-02T04:10:00.000-07:00

AOL Radio for Mac adds screen saver module

2007-11-01T03:32:00.000-07:00

How can I add a shortcut to launch a screensaver on the desktop?

2007-11-01T03:31:00.000-07:00

A. Screensavers are just programs with a .scr extension. To create a shortcut of a screensaver perform the following:

1. Start Explorer (Win+E, or Start - Programs - NT Explorer)
2. Move to the %systemroot%\system32 directory (e.g. d:\winnt\system32)
3. Find the .scr file of the screen saver (you could perform a search, Tools - Find - Folders of Files, enter a name of *.scr and unselect "Include subfolders", click Find Now)
4. Right click on one of them, drag it to the desktop, release the right mouse button and select "Create shortcut here"
5. Next right click on the new shortcut and select properties
6. In the target box add to the end "-s", e.g.
C:\WINNT\system32\sspipes.scr -s
7. Click OK

This screensaver would not be password protected.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/ArticleID/13609/13609.html

Doomlaser | Kernal Panic Screensaver

2007-11-01T03:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the folks at Doomlaser, you can now add a prank Kernal Panic screensaver to your collection of screensavers. If you've been fortunate enough never to have witnessed a Kernal Panic personally - a Kernal Panic is, if you like, the Mac equivalent of a Windows Blue Screen of Death and usually occurs when there's a serious hardware/software failure on your Mac.

Now you can simulate it by downloading and installing KPSaver from Doomlaser.

Note, that because KPSaver constantly displays a still image, it may not serve as a good permanent screensaver to use on your Mac as you might suffer an LCD burn-in effect over extended periods of use. As a suggestion to circumvent this, you can maybe time your screen sleep to occur shortly after your KPSaver takes effect.

http://www.macriot.com/article.php/20070416040017918

Add a Screensaver

2007-11-01T03:26:00.000-07:00

Flip Clock & Tetris Style Lego Screensaver for OS X

2007-11-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

The cool kids over at 9031.com in Japan have come up wIth a couple of really awesome Screensavers.

FliqLo - The Flip Clock Screensaver

The first is a super simple, but very effective flip clock style screensaver that dislays the system time in full view on a black background. As each minute rolls by the numbers flick. The perfect little app for any of us who happen to keep a computer in the bedroom. Tie this in with some alarm clock software and iTunes that operates in the background and you have an award winning formula.

That being said, enjoy typing in the password to your laptop having just scrambled out of bed to shut the damned thing up!Lego Pieces in Red

Briblo - The Lego & Tetris Screensaver

The second of two screensavers is a combination of lego and tetris that sees the pieces drop from above onto a flat green lego sheet. Each and every instance of the screensaver is different, and of course the possibilities are just plain endless! Hours of fun for you and the kids in OS X!

Installing A 9031.com Screensaver

Though the read me is in Japanese it doesn't take a modicum of sense to figure out how to install the screensaver and even to read the requirements and will run on a G3 running 10.1 or greater, and seems to work fine on my Intel based 17" MacBook Pro. To install just download the DMG and when mounted, double click the screensaver file and follow the OSX instructions in English.

Other Things ...

The 9031.com site is full of so many treats it is worth just scooting around to find out what it is rammed chock full of, including 80's arcade style freeware fonts for OSX and Windows, as well as wall paper, photos and more!

To find out more, visit the screensavers page or the 9031.com home page. Enjoy!

http://www.delamainit.com/articles_how-tos/review/flip-clock-lego-tetris-screensaver.html

Free Fire Screensaver

2007-11-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

Reviews: 2Flyer Screensaver Builder Pro (v5.0.0)

2007-11-01T03:21:00.000-07:00

Introduction

In order to create the screensaver that is currently available as a free download to all PhotographyBLOG members, I evaluated several popular screensaver programs, and eventually bought one of them. This review briefly outlines the programs that I considered, then looks in detail at the program that I purchased, 2Flyer Screensaver Builder Pro.

Before I start, you may have already noted that I purchased a screensaver program. There's usually a free alternative to everything on the Web, but when it comes to screensaver builders it seems that there's a price to pay. If anyone knows of a free program then let me know and I'll take a look.

Products Evaluated

I visited Cnet.com and downloaded the trial versions of 5 screensaver builder programs that looked promising. Which I guess is pretty similar to what most people would do. I installed each product and took them for a test drive. Price was as critical a factor to me as features, so I was basically looking for that winning combination of low price and high-perfomance.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_2flyer_screensaver.php

Life isn't beautiful - spammed out screensaver installs rootkits and Trojan horse

2007-10-31T02:50:00.000-07:00

Registry hacks for the Windows Vista screensavers

2007-10-31T02:48:00.000-07:00

The sad fact is Windows Vista will be shipping with screensavers without the options to be configured, however they were originally designed to be customizable. Stephen Coy, the designer of these screensavers, tells me this feature might be available after Vista ships, perhaps in the form of a powertoy or service pack? But if you can’t wait, then you can follow the steps below to customize the screensavers through the registry.

The registry keys that control the screensavers are located under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Screensavers\

To apply these registry hacks, you should right click the links and “Save as…” the registry files onto your computer. Then double click on them to apply the changes.

Ribbons screensaver
ribbons.jpgThis is the default look of the Ribbons screensaver. ribbons1.jpgThis version of Ribbons has a greater number of ribbons, which are thinner.
Download the registry file for this style.
ribbons2.jpgThis version of Ribbons has thicker and greater number of ribbons.
Download the registry file for this style. ribbons3.jpgThis version of Ribbons has extremely thick but only few number of ribbons.
Download the registry file for this style.

The Ribbons screensaver has two options.

1. NumRibbons defines the maximum number of ribbons that can appear on the screen at any one time. This is a described as a simple integer count. The maximum number of ribbons is 256. An integer higher than this will have no effect. The minimum number of ribbons is 1.
2. RibbonWidth defines the maximum width of the ribbons. This is a described as a floating point integer value.

Mystify screensaver
mystify.jpgThis is the default look of the Mystify screensaver. mystify1.jpgThis version of Mystify has a greater number of lines.
Download the registry file for this style.
mystify2.jpgThis version of Mystify has a few lines.
Download the registry file for this style.

The Mystify screensaver has one option.

1. NumLines defines the maximum number of lines that can appear on the screen at any one time. This is a described as a simple integer count. The minimum number of lines is 1.

Bubbles screensaver
bubbles.jpgThis is the default look of the Bubbles screensaver. bubbles2.jpgThis version of Bubbles has a fewer number of large non-transparent bubbles. The background is the desktop.
Download the registry file for this style.
bubbles1.jpgThis version of Bubbles has a greater number of smaller non-transparent bubbles. The background is black. Please note: This version of Bubbles has been known to cause problems after extended period of times. Please do not use this in a work environment as it may cause instabilities.
Download the registry file for this style.

The Bubbles screensaver has four options.

1. MaterialGlass defines if the bubbles are of a glass material or not. This is a described as a boolean value. A value of 1 will turn the bubbles into glass-like transparent bubbles. A value of 0 will turn the bubbles into metallic non-transparent bubbles.
2. Radius defines the radius size of the bubbles. This is described as a floating point integer. The larger the radius, the less number of bubbles will appear on the screen, and vice versa.
3. ShowShadows defines if the bubbles have a shadow or not. This is described as a boolean value. A value of 1 will enable shadows below the bubbles. A value of 0 will disable shadows under the bubbles.
4. ShowBubbles defines if the bubbles are displayed on the desktop or not. This is described as a boolean value. A value of 1 will render the bubbles on the desktop. A value of 0 will render the bubbles against a solid black background.

Restore to default

clearscreensaver.JPGTo return the screensavers to their original state, you would simply delete the registry values under the key related to the screensaver.

For example, if you were to restore the Bubbles screensaver to the default options, you would navigate to ...\CurrentVersion\Screensavers\Bubbles\ and delete all the associated values (Material Glass, Radius, ShowBubbles, ShowShadows).

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20060909/registry-vista-screensavers/

HOW-TO: Make a customized RSS screensaver in Tiger

2007-10-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

Linux screensaver for Windows

2007-10-31T02:45:00.000-07:00

Construct and package a Linux® LiveCD so that it will install using the standard Microsoft® Windows® install process and will operate as a standard Windows screensaver. Answering the most common concern about open source software, this article shows that, yes, Linux will run under Windows.

So why should you read this article? Why, indeed, should I write it? My motive is to help remove two obstacles to the wider adoption of free and open source software. Those obstacles are:

* The perceived difficulty and disruptive effects of installing Linux
* The uncertainty of hardware support for Linux

Most computer users are familiar with a Microsoft Windows environment and with the variety of screensavers available to prevent unauthorized access to the data on the computer when unattended.

There is sufficient free and open source software available nowadays to enable Linux to install and run as a Windows screensaver. This article shows you how to construct an appropriate CD or DVD, and in doing so, demonstrates that the "free" and "non-free" sides of the software Grand Canyon are not so far apart after all.

The examples in this article correspond to three current IBM objectives:

* Concluding the OS/2 business
* Reinventing education
* Encouraging people to learn science

Successor to OS/2

OS/2 is finally being withdrawn on December 23, 2005. According to the IBM Web site on OS/2 Warp migration (see Resources), there is no replacement product from IBM. IBM suggests that OS/2 customers consider Linux.

But which Linux? Without knowing what a client intends to do, it would be irresponsible to make a blanket recommendation. However, on December 25, 2005, the demand for GamesKnoppix St. Nicholas' Day will be large, and the delivery capability will be sufficient. And if you configure it as a screensaver, even the possibility of pressing the wrong key to start it is eliminated.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-scrnsave/

Windows Screensavers Explained

2007-10-31T02:44:00.000-07:00

In this article you will find some background information about screensavers and their history. You will also learn how Windows screensavers differ from other programs and how you can use it to your own advantage. Also there are some tips for users owning laptops, notebooks or CD-burning devices.

Have you ever asked yourself a question like "What is a screensaver actually?" I did. And now I will gladly share the results of my investigation. As you can see easily, splitting the word "screensaver" into two words will give us the phrase "screen saver". This isn't a rocket science and it's clear that the phrase suggests our subject somehow saving the screen. So the word "screensaver" can be applied to some sort of good things that save the screen of our so much beloved baby-computer. But what does it mean exactly? Who is going to harm our computer screen? Who could be such a bad person? The answer lies in the exact definition of screensavers.

If you are a meticulous person then you can search the Internet and come up with some of the existing definitions. But don't hurry. I will list some of the most often found. Here they are:

* A moving picture or pattern that appears on your screen when you have not moved the mouse or pressed a key on the computer for a specified period of time. Screensavers prevent screen damage that is caused when the same areas of light and dark are displayed for long periods of time.

* A program that "wakes up" after a certain amount of time has elapsed with no keyboard or mouse activity and blanks the screen or displays various moving objects across the screen; these are used to prevent your screen from getting "burn in".

* An animated picture or graphic that can be programmed through the Display control panel to come on the computer screen after so much inactivity time has elapsed. The main reason for a screensaver is to reduce wear and tear on the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) inside the monitor that can burn out or become etched if the same window is left on for extended periods of time.

The picture is getting clearer, isn't it? Let's make it plain. The "burn in" or "damage" used in these definitions refer us to the time before 90-ies. At that time many cathode ray tubes in TVs, computer monitors or elsewhere were prone to be damaged if the same pattern (e.g., the WordPerfect status line; the Pong score readout; or a TV channel-number display) was shown at the same position on the screen for very long periods of time. The phosphor on the screen would "fatigue" and that part of the screen would seem grayed out, even when the CRT was off.

TIP: Be careful when using a screensaver on a computer with an LCD screen (most laptops and notebooks). A pixel on an LCD screen is on when it's dark; therefore, blacking the screen as some screensavers do would cause more damage.

Eventually CRTs which were resistant to burn-in (and which sometimes went into sleep mode after a period of inactivity) were developed. But in the meantime, solution was found: home video game systems of the era (e.g., Atari 2600s) would, when not being played, change the screen every few seconds, to avoid burn-in; and computer screensaver programs were developed.

The first screensavers were simple screen blankers - they just set the screen to all black, but, in the best case of creeping featurism ever recorded, these tiny (often under 1K long) programs grew without regard to efficiency or even basic usefulness. At first, small, innocuous display hacks (generally on an almost-black screen) were added. Later, more complex effects appeared, including animations (often with sound effects!) of arbitrary length and complexity.

And now we live in the world full of fun and entertaining screensavers. Many of them produce amazing and very attractive effects. You can find a screensaver on any theme you like, download it, install and enjoy.

This means that a typical screensaver is a program. And it really is. But isn't there something different? Is there something that distinguishes a program running as screensaver from other typical programs? You're right, there is a bit of mystery. In order to demystify it we should plunge deeper into screensaver mechanics. But don't be afraid. It isn't complicated at all.

First, as you already know, screensavers are launched automatically by the operating system.

TIP: Be careful if you use CD-Burning devices regularly and your system is configured to launch screensaver after some period of inactivity. Some screensavers produce very sophisticated effects but for the price of intensive CPU load. If you leave your computer while CD-Burning software is working, screensaver will be launched. This can sometimes lead to the CD-R/RW disks burned improperly.

During their installation process screensavers are copied to the system directory (years ago users had even to copy screensavers by themselves). Once they are there, Windows finds them and puts in the list of available screensavers. You can see this list in the Display Properties dialog. But how does the system know that the program in its system directory is a screensaver? The answer is simple. Any screensaver program has a name ending with ".SCR" extension, while a typical program has the ".EXE" extension at the end. This is the first difference.

Second, almost every screensaver has a bunch of settings allowing you to change its appearance in many ways. This isn't a much difference because many typical programs have options and settings too. The difference lies in the way the user invokes configuration dialogs. Windows provides the only way to do it. It's the Display Properties dialog mentioned above. Other programs usually have their own buttons or menus to do that. Why are we talking about it? It's simple. The whole process means that the system has a way to communicate with screensavers: to launch them, preview and configure on your demand while other typical programs don't have it. Usually they are simply launched and that's all. This is the second difference.

So what? How can we use it to our own advantage? Imagine yourself downloading a new screensaver, running it and finding it rather amazing. The screensaver can be so amazing and entertaining, that you would like to show it running on your screen to the friend of yours. But wait. How do you do that? What if your system is configured to launch the screensaver after 5 minutes of inactivity only? Or after 10 minutes or even more? Will you wait for this eternity? You can say that there is always a way to launch the screensaver from the Dialog Properties. But in order to do that you should launch the dialog, find the Screen Savers tab and click the Preview button. Quite a lot of things to do. And if you are willing to demonstrate two or even more screensavers the things get complicated even more. And what if the screensaver you've found looks best when the whole desktop wallpaper is seen on the screen? The Display Properties dialog will simply destroy this unique beauty you were willing to share.

Now imagine that double-clicking an icon on your desktop could do all this. Simple action, no unnecessary dialogs. Sure, some preparation steps are needed. But they are done once. After that you can enjoy launching screensavers using icons as many times as you wish. Is it worth doing? Try it, the result can be very effective. Once you manage the process, you can proudly call yourself a "Professional Screensaver User". If you like the idea then there's the way to achieve it:

1. Use Windows explorer to navigate to your system directory. Usually it is C:Windows or C:WindowsSystem if you use Windows 95/98/Me. If you use Windows NT/2000/XP, then you should look in C:WINNT or C:WINNTSystem32

2. Look through the list of programs there. It can be quite large, but you can easily find the name of the screensaver you are looking for. Alternatively you can use the "Find Files or Folders" facility.

3. Once you've found it, use the right mouse button to drag the file onto the desktop. After releasing the mouse select "Create Shortcut Here" from the popup menu. The icon for the screensaver should appear on your desktop.

Now you can launch the screensaver at any time. Simply double-click the created icon. Enjoy! I will be glad if you feel a bit more control over the system.

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work.

webmaster@elasticsystems.com

http://www.skinz.org/screensavers-articles/Windows-Screensavers-Explained.html

What You Should Know About Installing Screensavers

2007-10-31T02:42:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that frustrating feeling when you find an interesting screensaver and can't install it on your computer? This article will help you to never have it again.

Back to when Windows 95 started to find its home on many computers there was just half a dozen of screensavers preinstalled with the system. All you could do was selecting one of these. It was as simple as boring.

Luckily those times are left behind. Now we have hundreds of screensavers developed throughout the years and available for download. Finding a nice screensaver matching your taste and style can be a hard task. How much disappointing is it when you are unable to install the discovery on your computer then? I bet you know.

Often you come across a screensaver with an intriguing description and no screenshots. You are curios to see it in action. But: SLAP! You can't figure out the way to make it work on your system and you will never know what you have missed. What a pity! I know.

Well... Enough! Enough of this! There should be a way to make us, screensaver hunters, luckier. Keep reading. There's something that can open a whole new world of screensavers to you.

First, in order to fight this evil, we should find its roots. Why is it so that we have the problem? Mainly it's because there are several ways to distribute screensavers:

1. As self-extracting installation packages

2. As ZIPped installation packages

3. As individual .SCR files

The self-extracting packages are the easiest to install. You just download the screensaver and double click it. Then the installation program starts and performs all the steps necessary to install the screensaver. That is, you have it ready for use just with a few mouse clicks.

You can recognize the ZIPped installation packages by their names. They have ".zip" at the end. Double clicking such files will probably get you nowhere unless you are well prepared.

The third category is represented by files with names ending with ".scr". Activating such file usually launches the screensaver. That's not bad. At least you can see what it's all about. But this way it won't appear in the list of available screensavers that the operating system starts if your computer goes to rest. That is, you have to use a little trick if you like the screensaver.

Now that the reason of our problems is a bit more obvious, I almost hear your question. Once the self-extracting packages are the easiest to install, why just not to stick with them? Okay, you are right. It makes a perfect sense. But you forget one important thing. Screensavers are created by programmers.

And programmers differ from other computer users in that they see everything from their very specific and technical point of view. It's not a problem for them to extract files from ZIPped packages as they work with them very often. It is rather natural for them to copy files into secret system folders that 80% of users didn't hear about and don't have to.

That's why they create screensavers and put them on download sites in the form that is hard to install for you. But don't hurry to blame them. They mostly do it unintentionally, not because they hate people who can't handle ZIP archives or bare screensaver files.

I know it because I am one of them. In fact (my face goes red here) my Rainy Screensaver ( http://www.elasticsystems.com/rainy/ ) was distributed as a ZIPped package until version 1.7. Thanks to the people who provided me with their feedback. I really don't see any reason to hurt those who use their computers as tools or source of entertainment. These people don't have to know all technical aspects.

I hope more and more screensaver writers will understand this and will make their screensavers easier for you to install. Meanwhile you yourself can get the knowledge needed to handle not so friendly installations without a problem. So let's get back to installing ZIPped packages and bare screensaver files.

* ZIPped installation packages

These ".zip" files are known as archives. It is very popular way to spread software and information over the net. They let you to "pack" many files into one that is much easier to download. They also use special methods known as compression to reduce the final size of the packed files and thus save your time and money spent downloading them.

In order to unpack (extract) files from a ZIPped package you should use a special program. Probably the most popular and easy to use is WinZip. You can download it from http://www.winzip.com. Windows XP has a built-in support for ".zip" files so, if you use Windows XP, there's no need for additional software.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that a ".zip" package usually contains a collection of files that should be extracted somewhere before you can use them. It doesn't matter what program you use to extract the files. Just follow its instructions to do it and put extracted files in the place of your choice. It's better to create a special folder for such cases. Alternatively you can use temporary folder provided by Windows.

Once the files are extracted you should examine them. If you see one named "Install.exe" or "Setup.exe" among them then you can double click it to complete the installation process. Even though archives are very convenient when used on a bunch of files, they can be used to pack a single file to reduce its size. So if you have extracted a single file with its name ending with ".scr" then you should keep reading.

* Bare screensaver files

As I have said before, these files have their name ending with ".scr". They are screensavers themselves. That is, they are the programs that create all these amazing effects when started. You can find some details about them in my article "Windows Screensavers Explained" at http://www.elasticsystems.com/articles.html .

The easiest known way to install ".scr" files is to right click on them and then choose "Install" from available menu options. Once you do this, Windows will set the screensaver as default and open Display Properties dialog where you can adjust screensaver's settings if you wish.

This way has some disadvantages though. First, you should be careful with where you keep the screensaver file. If you have put it in the temporary folder and it is likely to be deleted or moved somewhere else later, then the system won't find the screensaver anymore. So you'd better create a special folder for screensavers that you choose to install this way. Second, if you select another screensaver from the list in Display Properties dialog then Windows will forget any screensaver installed using the described method. That is, you will have to right click it and choose "Install" once and again.

Nevertheless, this way is very convenient if you just want to take a look at the screensaver, play with its settings and delete it. If you really like the screensaver and want it to brighten boring cloudy days then you'd better find a cozier place to keep it.

How do you find such place? It's easy. What you need is to drag the screensaver into your Windows folder. If you use Windows 95/98 or Windows Me then chances are this folder is on your drive C: and has a name of "Windows". If you use Windows NT/2000 or Windows XP then it's probably on your drive C: and is called "WINNT". Once you put the screensaver in this folder it will be available in the list of installed screensavers in Display Properties dialog. Now you can select it whenever you wish. Furthermore, you should worry no more about reinstalling it every time you change your mind and select another screensaver.

TIP: Sometimes you download a ZIPped installation package for screensaver, extract its contents to some folder and find there both "Setup.exe" (or "Install.exe") and ".scr" files. In this case double clicking "Install" or "Setup" is the preferred way. That's because the installation program will perform all the steps needed to install the screensaver like copying necessary files, updating system registry, providing uninstaller and so on. Simply copying the ".scr" file to Windows folder apparently won't do it.

Now that you have a few more useful tricks under your belt, you can install much more screensavers. Add here acquired confidence that those screensavers you like are ready to please you whenever you wish and there's a good reason to become a bit happier.

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work.

webmaster@elasticsystems.com

http://www.skinz.org/screensavers-articles/What-You-Should-Know-About-Installing-Screensavers.html

Windows XP Display Setting Headaches: The My Pictures screen saver does not work right.

2007-10-30T04:42:00.000-07:00

Free evangelistic screensaver

2007-10-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

There are many overtly Christian screen savers, but some may be too blatant in approach to be wisely evangelistic. We suggest that in most cultures and work environments, it is best not to use ‘in-your-face’ preachy slogans/Bible verses. A lower-key style which tries to ‘intrigue the lost’ and create conversation may have much more real potential. This screen saver is designed for Christians to use in their secular workplaces, where other workers may notice it from time to time.

Pace of animation is faster
than actual screensaver

The screen saver is free for personal use, and has been generously made available for IE Day by Churchsavers.com. You may share it with your church members – for instance by adding it on a CD along with other IE Day resources such as music, book downloads, etc., if this is done on a non-profit basis.

It also displays an URL for interested people to check out a top outreach site. It can also be customized for churches and other ministries to distribute to their members by ChurchSavers.com (also available in Hungarian at that site, which needs help to translate it into more languages).

• Download Free Personal Version (1.573 Mb)

Estimated download times:
28.8 Kb 7 minutes, 38 seconds
33.3 Kb 6 minutes, 32 seconds
56.6 Kb 3 minutes, 53 seconds
ISDN (128 Kb) 1 minutes, 43 seconds
DSL (512 Kb) 25 seconds
Cable (1.5 Mb) 8 seconds

Installation instructions
To install the screen saver, follow these steps:

* Click on the Start button in the lower left of your Windows desktop.

* Move your cursor up to the “Run...” item and click on it.

* This will open a dialog box appropriately named “Run.”

* Click on the “Browse” button.

* This will open a dialog box appropriately named “Browse” which contains the directory structure of your computer in its main window.

* Find the screen saver executable file - churchsaver_sample.exe for the sample screen saver or churchsaver.exe. Note that the folder or directory in which you placed the executable file during the download process must appear in the “Look in:” field at the top of the “Browse” dialog box. If it is not there, click on the arrow at the right of the “Look in:” field - this will allow you to choose another folder or directory. If you don’t remember where you placed the executable file during the download process, see the answer to the first Frequently Asked Question on the ChurchSavers Support page to find the executable file.

* Once you have found the screen saver executable file, double-click on it. This will return you to the “Run” dialog box, and you will notice that the path to the screen saver executable file now appears in the “Open” field.

* Click the “OK” button and the screen saver installation routine will begin. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of your screen saver.

System Requirements
The screen saver requires the following:

* Windows 95/98/ME/XP/2000/NT 4.0
* 5 mb free hard disk space
* 8 mb of RAM
* 256 or more color display

http://ied.gospelcom.net/screensaver.php

Danger: Screensavers Come with Strings Attached

2007-10-30T04:39:00.000-07:00

What could be more innocuous than downloading a screensaver to dress up your PC? "Well, the reality is that screensavers are some of the riskiest pieces of software that you can download to your computer," says Shane Keats of McAfee, Inc., makers of a variety of PC protection software.

Keats says that while serious techies know they shouldn't download screensavers from the web, there are 15 million screensaver web searches each month. Those who end their search with a download are likely to find adware, spyware or worse tagging along for the ride.

McAfee found the most dangerous screensaver this summer was Miami Vice and that sites offering baseball or World Cup soccer downloads also were high on the risk list.

Sadly, some of the biggest targets for screensaver foul play are cartoon characters. McAfee looked at 318 kids' TV programs to see how risky it was for kids to download their corresponding screensavers. We're talking Rugrats, Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob, and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers here.

After doing a Google search with the character name and the word "screensaver" (precisely the way most families would look for a screensaver, says Keats), McAfee determined that at least 50 percent of the sites listed on the first page of all of these search results were risky sites to visit. Topping the list as worst offender? Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, where 80 percent of the search returns included links to risky sites. The complete results are documented on the SiteAdvisor blog.

This doesn't mean the Power Rangers have done anything wrong. It just means that unscrupulous web sites have chosen to enact bad practices using the characters' names.

Here's an in-depth example to show you how it works.

A search for "Power Rangers screensaver" leads to all sorts of different web sites, including Starpulse.com (a celebrity web site that uses Screensavers.com as a part of its service). Every time a Starpulse user installs a program from Screensavers.com, Starpulse earns an "affiliate" commission. At the same time, Screensavers.com bundles an adware program called Starwave and a tracking program called Relevant Knowledge, all unbeknownst to you. Your data is now being compromised, and you're being barraged with pop-up ads, too.

To play it safe? Don't download screensavers. If you feel you have to, don't download them from anywhere but the biggest, most reputable sources. For the kids, if Nickelodeon or Disney or another well-regarded brand doesn't make the screensaver available, then stay away.

McAfee's research stems from its work with SiteAdvisor, a program that uses simple color coding to tell you whether a site is safe or risky. To create the rating, the company has robots that search the entire web, logging on to sites, filling out registrations, downloading software, and more. They then monitor what happens to the robots as they use the site. Do they get junk mail? Viruses? Pop-ups? Is it a perfect science? Probably not, but by offering this tool as a free download (or as part of McAfee Suites) and by making data like the screensavers report available, they're certainly helping make the web a cleaner place.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/raskin/1515?comment_start=67&comment_count=20