(More generally, a clock always comes in handy.) It’s not about ‘push,’ it’s about prediction.Īs to screen hacks that take advantage of the network in one way or another, there’s always that Electric Sheep thing, and || is something of a cute idea. The iOpener actually did this smartly leave the display on at little power wastage, and you’ve got the time, weather, number of mails waiting staring you in the face when you come back. never learned), it’s about shit being there when you get back. It’s not about shit happening while you’re not there (something Pointcast etc. Okay, uh, as to the importance of screen-savers they get more important as screens *don’t* need saving. Being able to put a ‘secure’ volume control and stuff like note-leaving apps ‘on top’ of the screenlocker would be rather cool.)
I only know this because I was bored and flipping through the documentation… Ironically, being able to have a (secondary, screenlocker-specific) dock on top of the locker is Something I Would Dearly Like to Have, since my box has an internal speaker with no physical volume control and I tend to walk away and have it autolock with music blaring. (Desktop-morphing hacks can’t grab the desktop because Apple’s X server doesn’t implement what would be some rather complicated Quartz -> X business X apps aren’t allowed to take over the display so the dock still runs and makes it useless as a screenlocker. Xscreensaver has some minor issues under OS X. (Yes, I know screensavers were/are designed to prevent monitor burn, but you can accomplish much the same thing by shutting off your monitor or having it go into standby.) I might have to look into this further… The idea of using a slideshow screensaver for presentation purposes is quite interesting to me, though, in that it’s giving an actual function to something I’ve often found functionless. (the annoyance factor kicking in if you foolishly and stupidly choose a screensaver that utlizes sound effects) the first few times you use it, it’s “WOW THE TOASTERS ARE FLYING AWESOME MAN,” yet after a while it quickly becomes boring, if not annoying. Besides, screensavers suffer from “acute novelty factor syndrome,” i.e. If I’m going to tax my system, I at least want it to be with something I’ll actually get a chance to look at, if not interact with. I don’t need my computer to jump through hoops to render something that’ll only show up when I’m not around, as it doesn’t make sense. Personally, all I do is set my monitor to go into standby after 20 minutes of inactivity. Second, make the planet a better place to be is not the responsibility of my screen saver. The Marine Aquarium from SereneScreen is another.
#Xscreensaver on kde checkered image mac os x#
The built-in Flurry screen saver in Mac OS X is a good example. I really don’t care if the processor time involved in rendering 3D fish is wear and tear on my system. I have two meager requirements for my screen saver:įirst and foremost, it must take advantage of my hardware. Tuck in there a variety of other visually entertaining modules, a couple of reasonably entertaining games whose name I’ve forgotten, and you’ve got a niche market which must have made some money for Berkeley Systems… well enough that they had some breathing room to create the You Don’t Know Jack series, sell off to Sierra On-line and just plain vanish. As I think back, what they really demonstrated was the evolution of graphics moving from blocky pixels to photo realistic toasters with wings. Like most kids of the 80s, After Dark was the shit with the Flying Toasters module leading the charge. There is a fundamental contradiction in paying for something which assumes your absence. Screen savers were, and are, a tool which is intended to do something while YOU AREN’T THERE.
#Xscreensaver on kde checkered image full#
It doesn’t take two cups of coffee on Sunday morning to figure out why the screen saver market never bloomed into a full blown industry.
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