I never used screensavers very much, none of them really kept me interested for more than a day or two. But for some reason today I suddenly decided to see what's out there.
Right now I'm looking at what ScreensPro has to offer. Not all their savers have the resolution necessary for my 30-inch screen (they tell me current computers don't have the power for so high resolution animation), but some do. So far I like Electric Jellyfish.
And I bought Something Fishy from uselesscreations.com. I like it. See video.
I also like the CafeWall one. (The download is only 16k!)
Update: Comments so far point out that I save the screen and power much more by using sleep instead of a screensaver, which is non-functional with an LCD screen, and is only eye candy. Which is true. I'll only use them when I'm zipping back and forth to the computer all the time.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Light-heartedness
From comments on an earlier post:
ttl said...
“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair–the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.” — Stephen King, On Writing
Eolake said...
Huh.
(Reminds me I never finished that book.)
Actually I'm not sure I agree. Some people (Heinlein for example) were very successful because they were light-hearted about writing.
And many others never can finish what they write because they take it too seriously.
TTL added:
I'm not sure I agree either. Light/heavy-heartedness may not be the axis that matters.
Here's another quote:
“The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it.” — Mike Oldfield (1980)
I come back to authenticity. Maybe what Stephen King really meant was: whatever you fill that empty page with, mean it!
Ah, yes, in that case I agree wholeheartedly.
Just yesterday I was thinking about that the reason a writer writes a lesser book (as in William Gibson's latest) may be because he is not interested in what he is writing at that time.
ttl said...
“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair–the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.” — Stephen King, On Writing
Eolake said...
Huh.
(Reminds me I never finished that book.)
Actually I'm not sure I agree. Some people (Heinlein for example) were very successful because they were light-hearted about writing.
And many others never can finish what they write because they take it too seriously.
TTL added:
I'm not sure I agree either. Light/heavy-heartedness may not be the axis that matters.
Here's another quote:
“The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it.” — Mike Oldfield (1980)
I come back to authenticity. Maybe what Stephen King really meant was: whatever you fill that empty page with, mean it!
Ah, yes, in that case I agree wholeheartedly.
Just yesterday I was thinking about that the reason a writer writes a lesser book (as in William Gibson's latest) may be because he is not interested in what he is writing at that time.
Arthur C. Clarke is dead, alas
Way back in the eighties, Arthur C. Clarke said that he fully intended to live long enough to see what actually happened in 2001. Well, he managed that, and then some.
Have a nice trip up the space elevator, dude. Watch out for any black monoliths.
Have a nice trip up the space elevator, dude. Watch out for any black monoliths.
Hot-spot detecting tee-shirt
[Thanks to Ian.]
If you're afraid that the world is not always aware of how big a geek you are, you can wear this tee-shirt which actively displays the strength of nearby wi-fi hot-spots.
I think that in a few years, we can buy clothes like this were the tech and battery is so flat and resistant that it can actually be built into the clothes themselves and not have to be removed for washing.
Admittedly, apart from unsubtle decoration, I don't imagine what good uses this will have. But then there are many good uses and technologies which I did not imagine before they arrived. In fact, that's most of them.
If you're afraid that the world is not always aware of how big a geek you are, you can wear this tee-shirt which actively displays the strength of nearby wi-fi hot-spots.
I think that in a few years, we can buy clothes like this were the tech and battery is so flat and resistant that it can actually be built into the clothes themselves and not have to be removed for washing.
Admittedly, apart from unsubtle decoration, I don't imagine what good uses this will have. But then there are many good uses and technologies which I did not imagine before they arrived. In fact, that's most of them.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer article.
"The tawdry nature of his current troubles — to be caught on tape arranging a hotel-room liaison with a high-priced call girl, according to law enforcement officials — shocked even his harshest critics..."
Using a call girl? This "tawdry" beyond everybody's imagination? Wow.
I never fail to be amazed at what the American public will forgive, and what they won't. They will forgive war profiteering and massive fraud, but if they found out you've slept with somebody outside marriage: bang, down you go.
Spitzer said:
"I cannot allow for my private failings to disrupt the people's work," Spitzer said at a news conference in New York City. "Over the course of my public life, I have insisted — I believe correctly — that people take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."
... I notice, though, that he only did so after being found out...
"The tawdry nature of his current troubles — to be caught on tape arranging a hotel-room liaison with a high-priced call girl, according to law enforcement officials — shocked even his harshest critics..."
Using a call girl? This "tawdry" beyond everybody's imagination? Wow.
I never fail to be amazed at what the American public will forgive, and what they won't. They will forgive war profiteering and massive fraud, but if they found out you've slept with somebody outside marriage: bang, down you go.
Spitzer said:
"I cannot allow for my private failings to disrupt the people's work," Spitzer said at a news conference in New York City. "Over the course of my public life, I have insisted — I believe correctly — that people take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."
... I notice, though, that he only did so after being found out...
Nikon D60 video review
Nikon D60 video review at cameralabs.com. It's a really nice camera, particularly for the price.
It seems that Nikon, like Canon, has markedly improved their budget kit lens (standard zoom gotten cheap with the camera). Not only including image stabilization, but also improving sharpness markedly:
"By far the best new feature of the D60 though is the option to buy it with an affordable stabilised kit lens. The new Nikkor DX 18-55mm VR is a superb budget option, delivering great quality images that are sharp across the frame, along with quick and quiet focusing and optical stabilisation which allows you to handhold shots three times slower than normal. It’s one of the classiest kit lenses around and buyers of the D60 should definitely go for it over slightly cheaper bundles with the older non-VR model."
Of course this lens can be acquired for other Nikon cameras too.
Projecting
It's funny to me how investors usually insist on "projections" from somebody starting a new business. The fact is, seems to me, that there's no way in hell you can "project" levels of income for the future. You simple can't predict all the factors, or even just most of them. If you could, most businesses would not fail in the first two years. Investors should know this.
Tell me why you're filming here
Another installment in my ongoing coverage of the idiotic oppression of photographers in the UK (and probably other countries).
(Man, the Bobby in this video is really acting like an a-hole.)
By the way, there's misinformation in the video re photographing in train stations. Police informs:
"Taking photographs on stations is permitted providing it is for personal use."
(Man, the Bobby in this video is really acting like an a-hole.)
By the way, there's misinformation in the video re photographing in train stations. Police informs:
"Taking photographs on stations is permitted providing it is for personal use."
Doggie in the window
I just walked into our communal stairwell, and by the backdoor was this little doggie waiting to be let out.
At least that's what I thought for a split second, but then I realized it was:
(You gotta love digicams and the Internet. You can share the stories of your life with the world in minutes, no matter how trivial they are...)
At least that's what I thought for a split second, but then I realized it was:
(You gotta love digicams and the Internet. You can share the stories of your life with the world in minutes, no matter how trivial they are...)
Muscle lady
No flippin' way that's a human being.
(It is not a montage, though, see the nails and the remnants of breasts.)
(I got a complaint about taking too much about art and philosophy, so I thought I'd better change tacks.)
(It is not a montage, though, see the nails and the remnants of breasts.)
(I got a complaint about taking too much about art and philosophy, so I thought I'd better change tacks.)
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