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In general, my desktop pictures are ones that have caught my eye, ones that are striking in some way (yes, including the obvious striking female way)... and I change pictures once I can look at my desktop without thinking "wow." This can take anywhere from a week to three months. I'll take you through a brief tour with some highlights.
I have about a million desktop pictures in my desktop pictures folder, and the vast majority of them haven't been used yet. Most of these are "pending;" when I want a new desktop picture the first place I look is in this folder. I flick through the "pending" desktop pictures and choose the one that best fits my mood or the direction I'd like my computer to help my mood to move (if that makes any sense). I've been saving desktop pictures ever since I got my first computer of my own four and a half years ago.
I used to get a lot of desktops from Digital Blasphemy, and was really into CG landscapes and starscapes for a while. Some of the Digital Blasphemy stuff really impressive. It even inspired me to tinker with Bryce for a while, but I never quite managed to get what I was looking for. I subsequently got into more abstract CG for a little while, and toyed with the short-lived free edition of Strata 3D, but was unable to produce anything of consequence. The learning curve was much too steep and I had no source of proper tutoring. In fact, the best 3D render I ever created was a simple extruded translucent word that serves as the header for my personal website.
Then I went through a "women" phase. I stumbled across a fantastic picture of Helena Bonham Carter looking very much like she did in Fight Club (and I confess to having had a bit of a crush on the character of Marla Singer), and it found its way to my desktop on two separate occasions, each for more than a month at a time. I can't stand cigarette smoke, but I also can't deny the allure of it in this shot (which also shows my old iMac's desktop). A few months later I found something more blatantly sexual: a marvellous shot of Kylie Minogue, oriented so that she appeared to be lying on the Dock (the Mac OS X equivalent of Windows' Taskbar) and looking diagonally across the screen at my hard drive partitions (don't worry, it isn't a naughty picture). I had a crush on Kylie, too; in a coincidental twist of fate, the term that I had both of these pictures on my desktop I just so happened to date a woman nine years my senior for a while.
I got away from 3D images and portraits for a little while after that, switching to something abstract and flat. This one actually stayed on my desktop for quite a while. This shot not only shows my desktop, it also shows a running program displaying my system specs and monitoring statistics (physical and virtual memory usage, network usage, hard disk usage) for those who are interested in what I run.
Then it was back to my roots when a friend pointed me to Deviant Art, which I found more than a little snooty and very much hit-and-miss... but I happened to stumble across a heartbreakingly beautiful CG landscape that occupied my desktop for easily two and a half months.
Eventually, the time came when I could look on that landscape without awe -- seeing it every day for hours at a time, especially during those months, which were among the most stressful of my life, probably didn't help maintain that sense of majestic sadness I felt when I first looked at it. It was time for something new. Conventiently, I had just had a brief a flirtation with DVD screencaps, so my desktop for the next week was the warning at the beginning of the Fight Club DVD. That was a fun one, especially since I've wanted to capture that shot ever since I bought the DVD four years ago.
That was, in point of fact, my desktop up until about half an hour ago. It is now time to choose another one -- the warning is only funny for so many dozen reads, and it also doesn't have quite the same impact when partially obscured by a clutter of files on the desktop.
I have two options, and I've taken screencaps of them both. First is one I've been saving for a while now, for summertime when its cool, bright aura will cheer me up while cooling my brain down. It's hard to describe; let's call it #1. Second is one I've only been saving for a couple of months, much darker but also cooler in a The Matrix meets the Borg sort of way. We'll call this one #2.
I'm using #1 right now, because I think the coolness (temperature-wise, that is) is a great contrast with the summer warmth I'm experiencing here in Toronto; I plan to use #2 when I move back to my parents' place in Nova Scotia near the end of the month, because their house is very bright and painted in light colours, and I think the darker style of #2 will be a suitable contrast there as well.
Finally, just in case you were wondering what my desktop is like when I'm actually doing things, here's one from the flat and abstract era. It also shows my system's specs in a less obscure fashion than the monitoring tool I mentioned earlier, for those who care but aren't geeky enough to know about pageins and pageouts.
Now, on to the purpose of this thread. I want to know how you handle desktop pictures. If you're an archivist like me, post some of your desktop history like I've done! I'm always interested in seeing other people's desktops (file clutter, full system trays, specs, and all -- or clean and crisp, or even just the picture itself). Do you change your desktop every couple of days, or every couple of months? Somewhere in between? Do you have your OS or another program automagically change desktop pictures periodically for you? Why? Isn't it jarring?
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The only pictures used on my computer's desktop, with a couple of rare exceptions, are pictures I take. Yeah, I've seen some nice CG desktop photos. I guess I just prefer to use my own photos. *thinks* I guess it's just a little tradition of mine.
I have a myriad of lightning photos, a couple of tornado pictures, and some good miscellaneous cloud/lightning photos. Ha, I've got a picture from all the seasons. For a change of pace, I even have cat photos. Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I frequently change mine. I usually have stuff that I hope will make other people think I'm cool when they see my wallpaper (like Home Movies junk, or a big Bill the Cat). Just as frequently, my desktop features really hot men.
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I've taken lots of photographs, and many of them are the right resolution for desktop placement (until recently, anyway, when I got a bigger monitor)... but for some reason I've never felt like putting any of my own photography on my desktop. I'm not sure why.
Weird, huh?
Edit:
Ralphie dear, I have a marvellous picture of Monica Belluci (and a nice one of Elizabeth Hurley, too) stored in preparation for my next "women on the desktop" phase.
But I don't have that one. *saves it*
Edit 2:
I'm not much for centred pics, though. I like them to take up the whole screen -- preferably without being resized, which means finding crisp photos at 1280x1024 to go with my supremely sexy monitor and tower.
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I really like that first picture. Feels like snow and ice. Lovely. Currently I am liking Johnny Depp a lot... So he, as Jack Sparrow is spiffying up my desktop. If I can convince my friend one day to send me these pictures, perhaps I could use these GORGEOUS CLOSE UPS of him next. He makes me blush and giggle like a school girl. It is embarrassing! Before it was Dir en grey pictures, then it was A picture from Hibane Renmei This picture Isn't it beautiful?Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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No, she's all mine, but we might be persuaded to indulge in some sort of three-or-moresome or swapping... with the right temptations...
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Mine follows my interests. Currently it's this shot from Firefly. Before that it was the new poster from "Spider-man." And before that it was the cheesecake picture of Marge Simpson from Maxim.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Where did you get that shot of Serenity? I can take screen caps from the DVD, but obviously they're nowhere near that crisp...
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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This is the only girl that has ever graced my screen. Not that I don't enjoy women, mind you. Quite contrary. I just have yet to find one I'd like to look at every day.
But my final answer to your question is this: I change it whenever someone points out that I haven't changed it in a long, long time. So I'm now changing it to some beach landscape to torture myself. Thanks a lot.
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I have two large monitors and it's not enough. Every square inch taken up by a "desktop pic" could be holding an actually useful application. So I'm not opposed to having a picture behind there -- RAM is cheap -- but I can't imagine when I'd ever see it.
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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I started out with Second Nature wallpaper and screen savers. I still have them - on diskette. They offer 2 collections for free on their website.
I have used Microsoft Plus themes, but gave up on them quite awhile ago.
I went with Webshots before they asked for money ... now you can only download 5 pictures daily unless you pay.
Currently, I change my wallpaper every month and use one from here that has a calendar on it. Right now I have these lovely flowers.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Um...the only thing behind my icons is the standard Windows image "Vortec Space"...I've never used a picture.
Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004
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*snrk* ah then, Frisco, you must also be single
As you can see from my cluttered desktop pic, I'm not one to maximize windows, so part of the desktop pic always shows to remind me it's there. Also, I have a tendency to hide apps that I don't immediately need (email client, Folding@home, web browser if I've got my foum and news fix), in which case the desktop pic is much more likely to show. Also, before shutting down or putting my machine to sleep I typically hide everything, so the desktop pic is invariably the first thing I see when I begin using my computer.
I guess if I were more strictly utilitarian I wouldn't need a picture, but it doesn't incur a performance hit and it makes me happy, so I suppose I'll keep using one
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I'm boring. I have a picture of Stonehenge on my desktop that was one of the desktop image options that came with my computer. I happen to like Stonehenge.
I wanted to put Jamie's picture of me in the fancy blue dress (from Wenchcon) on my desktop, but JaneX thought it was tacky to put a picture of myself on my desktop. So it's still Stonehenge.
I put a picture of me and my husband on his laptop, when he wasn't looking, to surprise him (it's posted at foobonics, but I can't seem to get there at the moment). And I put a picture of my husband on his PC desktop, as a joke - Bob took the picture at Epcot and labelled it "Ela's hubby, Tyrolean version ."
Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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I like to use random photos I've taken of things like produce, bookselves, and my kitchen. I have to change it a lot so it works with my mood, as Twinky said. Currently, it's a photo of the french bookshelf at my favorite used book store, with a big red copy of La Fontaine's fables sticking out further than the rest. I had my laptop up at work the other day and was dressed nicely with my hair pinned up with a pencil and the accountant walked by and laughed, saying I looked just like a professor there in front of my virtual bookshelf. See, that's what I go for.
Right now on my home pc, I have a screenshot of a poster I designed for a contest. I find it gets really great comments, especially on this huge screen when people walk by.
Alright, I guess the conclusion I come to, then, is that I'm a shameless attention whore. Wow, that was deep.
Posts: 99 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I have been putting up pictures of my kids, because I think they're cute and I like getting comments from people who walk by.
Currently, I'm using one of the Mac OS X default pics because I haven't had the time to throw anything else together.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I like to use the pictures from the National Geographic website. Currently I have Jane Goodall with a chimp reaching out to touch her. I usually change mine every few months or so.
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I used to change my desktop quite often. At least once a week. I'd rotate between movie posters and pictures. I had a collection of Star Wars backgrounds to rival most anyone. That was back on my old monitor, a 1280x1024 beauty.
Then I got my laptop with it's massive 1900x1200 display. It's difficult to find anything to grace my background now, so I'm using a picture I took at the British Museum in the center with a mundane (and yet complimentary) brownish-maroon backdrop. Hasn't changed for... two months now. And I love it. It is, after all, of my favourite sculpture ever (the Discobolos).
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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My first desktop that I picked out with a lot of consideration was a screenshot from 2001 (with the moonlith reaching up towards the sun in a monstorisiously low angle shot). I really liked it, but I had to abonden it when I realizied that now when I watched the movie the picture became associated with ym desktop and took me out of the movie. I still use screenshots from time to time but I always limit how long I have htem on to make sure the picture is still associated with the movie instead of my desktop.
I use a lot of tigers on my desktop, and pictures of Annie and myself smiling.
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I used to have a Digital Blasphemy piece as my desktop pic that looked very much like that. Very cool.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Right now mine is Patrick Bateman crouched over the corpse of Paul Allen, spattered in blood and smoking a cigar. Actually, not anymore, I just changed it to the above mentioned "heartbreakingly beautiful cg landscape." Before that it was a panel from The Killing Joke that showed the Joker seated on a throne of baby doll heads, surrounded by torches and saying, "You're going MAD." Searching through My Pictures I've also found the hilarious picture of a terrified orangutan baby in pyjamas and a school bus doing a wheelie, both of which I've used as backgrounds.
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there is no discernable (at least as far as my powers of discernment go)pattern to my desktops. my desktop is always void of icons, and if i don't have a fullscreen image i have a black background.
i've used artwork from the sandman by neil gaiman, the marshmallows from homestarrunner, some really neato pictures from national geographic's website, photoshopped pictures of my family, and really freaky full screen pictures of myself. pictures of david bowie as ziggy stardust brushing his hair, a neato painting of a half tree/half woman from behind reaching out into a desolate landscape, conceptual art by brian froud for labyrinth and the dark crystal, and last but not least, andre3000 as cupid valentino complete with pink pistol.
sadly this is not my harddrive, so i cannot give examples. YET.
Posts: 3936 | Registered: Jul 2000
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[promotion]I've posted a lot of these in another thread, but I'm too lazy to go find it, so I'll just post to my sister's web page where she has all of the awesome awesome desktops that she's made. (Toward the bottom). Go look at them, they're pretty good, and highly indicative of her hobbies and fandoms.
There's even a Monica Belucci in there for you Ralphie. [/promotion]
Oh, and to answer the questions in the thread title, I have trouble choosing a desktop actually. I want one that I'm in the mood for, it usually has to do with a fandom of some sort (movie, person, etc.) or a really cool painting. And I forget that it's there, so I leave it on forever and ever. I end up changing it when my sister finally gets sick of MINE and makes me a new one. She did that with my most recent "That Thing You Do" desktop. (Come to think of it I've had that one up for a LONG time.)
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I mostly use pictures I've taken myself or pictures from macdesktops.com for my desktop. The one that was on my desktop when I started typing this was this picture. It's a picture of water in a cave that I manipulated in Photoshop to become completely blue.
Most of the pictures that have been on my desktop stay on there for less than a day, but a few have stayed on it for weeks or sometimes months. Two of the pictures are of the beach. One is a picture I took of Hunting Island, SC. The other is a close up of shells. I have a thing for the beach.
The other two pictures that have stayed on my desktop for a while are sort of random. The first is of the Earth from space. I thought it was rather beautiful. The second is of oranges. Don't ask. I found it interesting.
All of the pictures that I didn't take are from macdesktops.com and can be found there if you search enough.
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I just found this image, which I am now setting as a clever desktop image - in a punny sort of pathetic way.
Posts: 99 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I'm finally trying out Konfabulator.... look ma, no buddy list window! And I like the Word of the Day widget on my desktop.
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I currently have THIS set as my wallpaper background here at work.
This is not a photo-shopped image -- there was a rainbow at the same time as the tornado -- lots of people got photos of it -- but this guy captured an angle that had the tornado and rainbow meeting at the same place. I thought it was so unique I had to save it.
(This storm happened about two weeks ago just south of Wichita here)