2009 Desktop Thread

[Darth Wong]

Since people have been doing this lately, I thought I'd post my desktops for Jan 2009.





Both of them are just Blu-Ray screenshots I took from the movie "Alexander", which is uneven (to say the least) but has great visuals. The picture of Babylon at night is a nice dark background with plenty of sky space for icon placement, and the picture of the phalanx has a nice open area of sky to the left side which is also good for icon placement.

Title edited to suit thread. -S

[TempestSong]

I did some quick photoshopping of Babylon (which I actually plan to use since I've been looking for a new wallpaper anyway, thanks ). Cropped off some excess so that I didn't squish the horizontal image, but there's a little pixelation/artifacts due to the JPEG compression. Anyway, here's the result:



Didn't know what to do with the Phalanx though.

[Raesene]

One of Fractalsponge's pictures from Something Big in AMP.

[SCRawl]

Here's the one I'm currently using. It sucks for icon placement, but I get a kick out of looking at it.

In case it isn't obvious, they're my daughters.

[Darth Wong]

They're adorable!

[Darth Wong]

I did some quick photoshopping of Babylon (which I actually plan to use since I've been looking for a new wallpaper anyway, thanks ). Cropped off some excess so that I didn't squish the horizontal image, but there's a little pixelation/artifacts due to the JPEG compression. Anyway, here's the result:



Didn't know what to do with the Phalanx though.

If you don't like the JPG compression, you can use the PNG version. I didn't post that before because I figured nobody wanted to download a >1MB file from my crappy home server.

http://bbs2.stardestroyer.net/tmp/Babylon-4.png

You can actually view the entire directory at http://bbs2.stardestroyer.net/tmp/ if you want.

[Vympel]

I've been meaning to ask re: Blu-Ray screenshots, it is actually possible to take them? I thought it might not be.

(I don't have a Blu-Ray drive for my PC, I only watch them on the PS3 with my HDTV)

[Darth Wong]

I've been meaning to ask re: Blu-Ray screenshots, it is actually possible to take them? I thought it might not be.

(I don't have a Blu-Ray drive for my PC, I only watch them on the PS3 with my HDTV)

It's obviously possible, since I just posted a link to a bunch of screenshots that I took myself. However, while such activity is protected by the Fair Use provisions of copyright law, it is (ahem) not possible within the constraints of software that is legal to use in the United States.

[Ghost Rider]

Been using this one for the longest time. Elegant and simple .

[Vympel]

I've been meaning to ask re: Blu-Ray screenshots, it is actually possible to take them? I thought it might not be.

(I don't have a Blu-Ray drive for my PC, I only watch them on the PS3 with my HDTV)

It's obviously possible, since I just posted a link to a bunch of screenshots that I took myself. However, while such activity is protected by the Fair Use provisions of copyright law, it is (ahem) not possible within the constraints of software that is legal to use in the United States.

You have the meaning of my question ... exact.

(Not to drag the thread off-topic, but I assume the BRD you have of Alexander is in fact Alexander Revisited - what did you think of it in comparison to the previous version(s)? I quite liked it, even though it's still ... uneven as you say).

[hongi]

This one.

[Darth Wong]

You have the meaning of my question ... exact.

Heh heh ...

Well, (hypothetically speaking for our US members) what you want to do is get AnyDVD HD, which is made by SlySoft in Aruba and which evades US copyright law via geography. It's also useful for watching Blu-Ray movies on a computer that lacks an HDCP connection (without it, PowerDVD balks and refuses to play Blu-Ray movies on my computer because the LCD monitor is old and does not appear to support HDCP).

Anyway, if you have AnyDVD HD, you can either rip the Blu-Ray to HD or use a UDF2.5 driver (if you can get your hands on one and it doesn't harm your system) to access the files on the disc. Once you access them, look for the huge .m2ts file; that will be the movie. Then install AVISynth and create a .avs file (let's just call it "bluray.avs") which looks like this:

Code: Select all

DirectShowSource("<filename>")

Where <filename> is the filename of the huge .m2ts file. Now you can use VirtualDub to open up the bluray.avs file and scan through it looking for screenshots.

I know, it's a really unwieldy process, especially compared to simply clicking on the screenshot button in PowerDVD. What can I say; the Blu-Ray people did not want people to be able to take screenshots at all.

(Not to drag the thread off-topic, but I assume the BRD you have of Alexander is in fact Alexander Revisited - what did you think of it in comparison to the previous version(s)? I quite liked it, even though it's still ... uneven as you say).

I thought his radical re-ordering of the film improved it significantly, although he still seems too reluctant to cut excess material. There are a lot of periods where the movie really starts to drag because he thinks more is better. And of course, there are those long heart-felt talks between Alexander and Hephaiston; the less said about them, the better.

[Edi]

My current desktop

That's from the June 2008 trip to Sicily, an island called Isola Bella right off the Taormina beach. It's a museum these days, but used to be a villa that belonged to some English aristocrat. The picture was taken from the stairway path to the beach (which is 200 meters below the level of the town).

[Alyeska]

Current laptop wallpaper.



Not sure on the source. Found on Wikipedia, edited and cropped to fit widescreen format on 1440x900 resolution.

[Solauren]

Hudson Lieck/Callisto of Xena fame, hurling fire from her finger with an evil expression.

What? I have a think for blondes....

Moreso if they are a little, um, 'touched'.

[TimothyC]

I've been using this one for a while now.



Desktop is from deviantArt

Theme is Royal DX2

[Fleet Admiral JD]

The original image was a photograph I took of 111 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA. My favorite building in the world

[Phantasee]

Been using this one for the longest time. Elegant and simple .

Haha, I use that on my cellular phone sometimes. It's nice to use in darker rooms or at night, not as much bright white on it (mine is cropped a bit on the right to get rid of a big patch of white).

[Feil]

This week's installment in Teach Myself Stuff By Desktop Image.

[Minischoles]

Here's mine, same one i've been using for a while since whenever I change it I always end up changing it back within a few hours.

[Vampiress_Miyu]

Here's mine, Not very safe for work. Especially since it's the lovely Bettie Page...

They Ain't No Gentlemen

[Adrian Laguna]

I've been using this. It's a bit difficult to explain why, but I like it. Though the depiction of the explosion is a bit inaccurate, the shock wave should be a lot further out.

[aerius]

Still using this one, I took the picture at the Toronto air show a couple years ago. I've been meaning to replace it with the pictures I took at last year's air show, but I never got around to doing a good quality edit on them.

[Agent Fisher]

[Vampiress_Miyu]

<snip>

That's Amazing!! Where'd you get that picture?