Posts Tagged ‘wallpaper’

bing Image Search Makes Wallpaper Hunting a Snap

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Wallpaper FAIL!

Of all the articles I have written and research I have done, no topic seems to be as popular as wallpaper.  Believe it or not, it seems that more people are drawn to dressing up their desktop than making their computer run faster.  I sure can’t blame anyone for pursuing a pleasant scene to stare at for hours a day, I was just surprised when I saw the numbers.  Luckily for you desktop connoisseurs, I recently stumbled onto an article over at digital inspiration (via lifehacker.com) that outlines the benefits of using bing (the search engine) for wallpaper hunting.  You don’t want to miss the details.

The original article on digitalinspiration.com, written by Amit Agarwal, outlines how you can use the bing image search to find wallpaper that fits your screen.  While this may not seem like a difficult task to most, picking the proper image size for a desktop background can be more difficult than you think.  In order to really explain the benefits of the “bing wallpaper search” I want to take a step back and demonstrate the “old” method for hunting down wallpaper and compare the two.

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The Functional Desktop – Organized and Efficient

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Arriving at the desktop of a PC marks the beginning of the day or session for almost every PC user out there.  This desktop, originally meant to emulate the workspace of your actual desk, has not changed much since the early days of the operating system.  Users can change out the wallpaper to view exotic locations, family photos or abstract images and store shortcuts to access documents, programs, web sites, etc.  Other than that, the space is really an untouched area of the computer that is ignored as we jump from task to task throughout our work day or browsing session.  Why is that?  Wouldn’t it be more helpful if this area provided important information to help guide us through our day.  Can we please get a Functional Desktop?

Over the last few days, we have shared information on “skinning” your background to provide entertainment (see links to previous articles below).  Today, we show you how to make that space functional as well.   The Functional Desktop is available to PC users, yet it has never been very mainstream.  There are numerous programs available and each has a very different take on how you, the user, should organize your desktop for efficiency.  These programs also range from basic, easy-to-install applications to fully customizable, “you might as well be an engineer” programs that allow you to completely change the way you use your desktop and your PC.  We’re going to provide you with a few options, covering this range, that you can begin using today.

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Wallpaper Slideshows – You Don’t Have to Choose Just One

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Yesterday, we began our week-long series on desktops and the different ways you can “skin” your background to provide both entertainment and functionality.  Our first article, titled Desktop Departures – Escape With a Wallpaper Change, focused on suggestions for PC users with multiple displays.  Today, we take things in a new direction, with a fresh idea for users of any number of monitors and just about every version of Windows that is still used today….  Wallpaper Slideshows.

Introduced in Windows 7 as a standard feature (for all versions except Windows 7 Starter), the wallpaper slideshow provides users with a utility that automatically changes the background picture at regular intervals, using a select group of images.  Users are no longer forced to stare at the same image for hours, days or even years.  With this application, the desktop can change every 30 minutes, giving you a fresh desktop.  As with many features found in newer operating systems, this type of feature has been recreated (under other names) for use in Windows XP and Vista as well.

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Desktop Departures – Escape With a Wallpaper Change

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

One of the most difficult things about returning to work on a Monday is the realization that you are going to be staring at that monitor for the next 5 days. You had a relaxing weekend with friends, family and fun and now here you are… trapped at a desk for a full week. Or maybe you are just in a bit of a rut and need something to spice up your daily routine.  One of the easiest, and most entertaining ways, to provide yourself with a little “escape” is to change up that old desktop with some fresh new wallpaper.

Back in December, we brought you the article Decorating is Not Over – Time to Spruce Up That Desktop, where we highlighted 5 of the best wallpaper sites on the web.  While the sites listed have some wonderful new images, we thought it was time to return to the art of desktop decorating and bring you some new ways of thinking about your wallpaper.  Over the next few days, we will shed some light on the different ways that you can “skin” your desktop to provide both entertainment and functionality.

Part I: Multiple Displays

Monitor prices have dropped steadily over the last couple of years and many offices are upgrading their workstations to larger monitors or, if you are one the lucky ones, dual monitors.  If you manage to convince your employer to pony-up the funding for that second monitor, don’t let the space go to waste.  You can increase your productivity and take advantage of the added space by finding a dual-monitor wallpaper.  These specially formatted desktop images span the two monitors (or more if you are really, really lucky) to form one, seamless image.

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We’ve Reached our 100th Post! Helping PC Users Everywhere

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Can you remember all the way back to September 2nd, 2009?  That is when it all started.  The JumpstartMyPC.com blog began with the simple concept of helping PC users get the most out of their computer and has been posting new updates almost every weekday since then.  We have provided FREE information on topics ranging from “Decorating Your Desktop” to “Defragging Your Hard Drive” and everything in between.  Today we reach post/article number 100 and we would just like to say THANK YOU to all of our supporters.  We hope that, along the way, you learned something new and truly found a way to get a little more out of your computer.

No single article could truly capture the excitement and pride that I feel right now so, in the spirit of every long-running television show, we would like to provide you with a look back at our most popular posts.

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