Chris Pirillo » desktop-wallpaper

What’s New in Windows 7: Desktop Wallpaper!

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:16:40 +0000

What’s New in Windows 7: Desktop Wallpaper!

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Traditionally speaking, Windows out of the box has sucked at wallpaper management. You could change the wallpaper, but that was about it. You could have obtained a program to help you manage your wallpapers, but that was a pain at times.

I wanted to show you the way that Windows 7 handles wallpaper. It’s about time Windows gave us a better experience in this area. By right-clicking the desktop and choosing “personalize”, then click on “desktop background”, I have several options that open up. I can choose from images in my library. I didn’t have to save anything, just click the picture. I can choose from several different options, including centering or tiling the image.

I can select more than one wallpaper, and choose to change the picture every ten seconds… or up to once a day. I can choose as many images as I want, shuffle them at a random interval, and wham. My desktop will no longer be boring.

If I get bored with what I’m using during the day, I can right-click on the desktop, and choose “Next Desktop Background Picture”. It will fade oh-so-nicely into the next background picture. You can continue doing that until you’re happy with the choice.

They’ve done a lot to enhance the desktop wallpaper experience within Windows. It’s certainly something that people will be welcoming with open pixels when Windows 7 ships. If you have other Win 7 tips or tricks, feel free to drop me a line so I can check them out.

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What’s New in Windows 7: Desktop Wallpaper!

Wallpaper Spaz

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:44:43 +0000

Wallpaper Spaz

I have dendrites.
They’re not firing anymore.
They found themselves bored,
and so they quit
without giving two weeks notice.

I thought it was rude,
to have body parts
which would cut off my nose
to spite my face
without permission.

We convened on some social network
built for brains,
and decided to be friends.

Wallpaper Spaz

Dual Monitor Desktop Wallpaper

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:30:59 +0000

Dual Monitor Desktop Wallpaper

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Afrothunder – who uses and abuses the chat room – asked how he could get two wallpapers on a dual monitor setup.

Well, the problem is that Windows doesn’t come with the tools to use two wallpapers on two monitors – no surprise there – but there is a way you can get two wallpapers on a dual monitor setup. It’s a bit of a hack, but with any decent image editing program (read as: not MS Paint) you should be able to do it.

First, have the desktop in focus and press the "Print Screen" button (often labeled "PrtScn" and is usually next to the F12 and "Scroll Lock" keys). This copies your entire desktop into the clipboard.
Open your favorite image editor.
Paste the image into your editor.
Play around with the file by adding other images, splicing two wallpapers together, etc …
Once you’re done, save the file and set it as your desktop wallpaper.

If you’re looking for images to use as desktop wallpaper try these great sites:

Do you have any suggestions?

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Dual Monitor Desktop Wallpaper

Flickr Fun

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 18 May 2006 20:38:03 +0000

Flickr Fun

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but I’d like to put my latest Flickr photo thumbnails in the Lockergnome HTML newsletters. Since I use CaRP, I have virtually no configuration options (other than manual hacking or asking Antone). In searching for an easy way to get ‘er done, I found this solution from Fuddland (but it relies on MagpieRSS, which I’d rather not use). The information is already in the feed – it’s getting it out of the feed that’s a bit tricky for people like myself. Why doesn’t Flickr just have a separate feed for thumbnails – letting the user designate the size of the desired output? Yeah, there’s an API for that – but have I not beaten it into the world’s skull that I’m not a developer? In my Flickr travels, I found quite a few useful tools – including one I used this morning for my previous Dell post.

Clipr – Upload Clipboarded Screen Shots
deskFlickr – Create Collages from Flickr Tags
photocastr – Form for Easier Flickr Photocasting
John’s Background Switcher – Change Your Desktop Wallpaper with Flickr Tags

What other amazing Flickr tools am I not aware of?

Flickr Fun