Splendor In the Glass
Written: Feb 08 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Free. Fantastic Graphics. Great Program
Cons: Screensaver takes some resources.
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| happy2000usa's Full Review: Webshots |
I spend a lot of time working on my computer. So much so that my wife has complained to a lawyer friend that I am a bigamist. Her friend gave her sage legal advice that though she was sharing my affections with several computers, this neither constituted polygamy nor bigamy. Not yet. Someday, she suggested, there would be laws to protected neglected spouses from their computer addicted mates, but they had yet to be passed. Had my wife considered "alienation of affection?"
I think the problem is that she is jealous. The rest of my harem changes their look at will. Daily, and sometime more often, the computer screens display a fresh new beauty. The do it entirely with out Vitamin E creams, pluckers, wax, or any of the myriad of products that flood our TV screens and magazines that claim they can help men and women “regain your youth.” How do they do it? A program called “Webshots.”
I bore easily. I tire quickly of computer wallpaper. Although I found that adding Windows Themes amused me, I was never happy with the sound schemes, icons, or screensavers that accompanied the “whole enchilada.” All I needed to do was change my wallpaper to keep myself happy and interested.
I tried making my own. That worked for a while, but I found myself getting bored faster than I could generate a new background. I finally stumbled across a program on CNET that allowed me to download a “sampler pack” and program called Webshots. I got ten backgrounds to start, and they let me add two a day. I was ecstatic, but not so much so that I shelled out any money for “unlimited” daily pictures.
They’ve done away with that program. Now it’s free. I can change backgrounds as many times as I like during the day. I can use one of the three primary “daily” backgrounds, or explore their library of over 2000 pictures to match my mood.
Here’s how it works. Take your browser to the WWW.Webshots.com homepage and download the program. It’s very small and takes no time at all. Once it’s installed, go back to their “daily” page and pick a background. Click twice to enlarge it. If you like it, click twice again. The program downloads it to your computer, installs it, and it’s done. You have a new background. Prepare to be impressed. These are great photographs!
There are other whistles and bells. You can have a small icon flash in your tray to remind you that new fare awaits. Double click and you’re at their site. You can use Webshots as a screensaver, selecting which downloaded pictures you want transitioning on your screen. (Yes, you have a choice of graphic transitions.) You can also set the controls to change your wallpaper at whatever interval you specify. The same control panel lets you organize your pictures, select your favorites, and delete the ones that no longer interest you.
Are there problems? No, though I found that I cannot run the screensaver on my ancient 486 with its meager 16MB of RAM. Do the pictures fill the hard drive? No way! Each picture is downloaded in a *.wbz format. As opposed to your typically huge file size needed for the standard full screen Windows *.bmp format, these files are typically 40k to 80k. These pictures are copyrighted however, and you can’t copy them to your graphics program to reuse them. (Think screen capture.)
Is there more? Yes. Their library organization is tremendous. It’s very easy to pick a category and picture that you want. Webshots provides the tools on their pages that allow you to take any picture and send it as a postcard. They even offer a philosophical thought of the day. And it’s free. What more could you want? I don’t think you should ask my wife or her lawyer friend, but my answer in “nothing!”
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
happy2000usa
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Wayne Arnold
Location: Tracy, California, USA
Reviews written: 97
Trusted by: 171 members
About Me:
Writer, editor, beta tester, pilot, traveler. I'm an easy mark, always evaluating new software.
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