GeekSugar

Download of the Day: Ninon Flowers Screensaver

GeekSugar — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:15:37 PDT

I'm always in need of a new screensaver to add some fresh life to my desktop, so when I came across this Ninon Flowers screensaver, I knew it'd be perfect for brightening up my workspace.

Each image on the screensaver is taken from various locations around the US and includes flowers like the onion flower, cactus flower, rose, bell fruit flower, dragon fruit flower and many more. This screensaver download is for Macs only (sorry my PC pals) and is, what else. . . free.

Do you have a cool download like this one to share with geeksugar readers? To learn how to post your favorite sites to the Download of the Day group,

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Download of the Day group
Click "Create and Share!" on the left hand side
Choose "Blog"
Give your photo a Title
Leave the category as "general"
Change the channel to "technology and gadgets"
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Download of the Day")
Click on the "Add Image" link below the "body" box
A popup window will happen - click on "Browse" to find your image on your computer
Once you have the image chosen, click "Submit"
The popup will show you your image, choose size: "normal" - if you want, you can give it a title (which will show up as a caption)
Click "Insert" and the popup will go away
Your "body" box will now have some text in it. Leave it as is. If you want to add some text before the picture telling me why you love the download, do it before the code that has appeared.
Click Submit

So join the Download of the Day group and share information about all your favorite downloads! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

How to Get Your Own Paul Rudd: Download Him!

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:00:00 PDT

I lost my taste for downloading screensavers a while back, and now I get more pumped up about a great new Firefox extension (am I mature, or just boring now?). That all changed when I saw that I could download Paul Rudd, my gorgeous, brainy, vintage-Nintendo-shilling crush - I couldn't click my Mighty Mouse fast enough.

Paul Rudd is one of Funny or Die's Celebrity Screensavers series, and I couldn't commend them more for their excellent taste. Although it's not great for my productivity because I keep finding excuses to walk away from my computer so the screensaver comes on. Oh, hello, Paul!

DropClock: The Most Aesthetically Pleasing Screen Saver I've Laid Eyes On

GeekSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:00:00 PDT

It's been awhile since I've updated my screen saver. I guess I kinda got sick of the default ones which usually show random shapes flying all over your screen - headache much? Needless to say, I need a new one, so when I came across Dropclock, an ingenious and minimalistic screen saver, I knew I had to take it for a test drive. What's neat about DropClock is that it features a motion clock where every minute of real time is numerically expressed with a number dropping into water in slow-motion. Check out the video below to see what I mean. DropClock is available for download for both Mac and Windows operating systems.

Dogs Licking Computer Screens!

PetSugar — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:00:35 PDT

As captivating as paper shadow and nature patterns can be, why not download awwww-inducing screen savers from the movie Must Love Dogs? Yes, I realize it's more than a couple years old and, yes, I also realize that many of you probably never saw it – all the more reason to check these pups out now. Their adorable, slobbery faces make it hard to walk away from your computer when it goes idle, and even harder to start working again. Best yet, they're free for both Mac and PC!

Do Screen Savers Really Save Your Screen?

GeekSugar — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:09:50 PST

The Truth About Screen Savers
I remember when I started in school and how I felt it was essential to have a 'pimped' out laptop. I would spend waay too many hours downloading screensavers and random wallpapers. Remember when the aquarium screensaver came out? Every office in North America was sporting the fish screensaver look for awhile. Screen savers are definitely aesthetically appealing creations in the computer world, but do they actually aid in saving our screens?

To find out the truth about Screen Savers and to learn how to protect your screen,

Years ago, monochrome monitors (on old school computers) were quite susceptible to a phenomenon known as burn-in or phosphor burn. When an image was shown on the monitor for a long time, like your main windows page, it would burn into the screen as a transparent image. Some color monitors still have this problem but only if the image has been on the screen for a super long time, which is something that just doesn't happen in most applications.

How To Protect Your Screen
In order to protect your screen, you should try to use it blank. The standby feature of PCs makes it easy to save your screen and keep your hydro bill down!
Some screen savers won't even help with burn-in because they have graphic elements that never move. If the screen saver doesn't have constantly moving images or graphics, it is just as bad as having a stagnant default screen.

Source

The Secret to Making Your Dollar Last

LearnVest — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:15:57 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Research psychologists have all the best tricks up their sleeves. Maybe it’s because they study humans like guinea pigs to figure out what really makes our complicated selves tick.

Feeling stressed? Reason yourself out of it (studies show this actually works). Rushed all the time? Slow down, and you’ll be a nicer person (a famous study we cite shows that this is true, no matter who you are).

Feeling broke? Or wish you could stretch your dollar more? We’d normally tell you to head straight to My Money Center and Budgeting Tool (you can’t have enough free tools at your fingertips) - but today, we’re going to give you a break. We’re going to let you in on an easy way to stretch your dollar and enhance your happiness, and it’s also totally free. It’s called savoring.

What Is Savoring?

Savoring is the ability to prolong and stretch enjoyment or positive emotional experiences. It’s the difference between wolfing down a meal vs. lingering over every bite. It relates to how much time you spend sitting in front of a sunset (if you even stop at all).

Scientists have consistently found that the ability to savor promotes happiness (see here or here). Which makes sense. The more you can prolong positive emotional experiences, the more positive emotions are filling up your day. In fact, the tendency to savor benefits individuals across the lifespan: studies show it predicts the subjective well-being for grade-school children, adolescents, college students, and the elderly.

Read on for more.

Get a Cheaper, Ad-Supported Kindle For $114

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:15:38 PDT

The Kindle is already one of the best deals on the market (I use mine every day), and things are about to get a little more affordable: the latest version of the WiFi-only Kindle will hit the market on May 3 for just $114, but will be supported by sponsored screen savers and special ad offers.

The good news is there won't be any annoying pop-up ads to interrupt your reading, but there will be some sweet deals and offers to take advantage of, like $10 for $20 Amazon gift cards, $1 albums, and download discounts that will beef up your library. Sure, it's only $25 off the regular WiFi-only price, but hey, you can't pass up a good deal, right?

Plus, if you like our Faceoff games, Amazon is including a game of their own called AdMash, where you can select the best out of two side-by-side ads to help tailor the look of future screen-saver ads.

Amazon Offers Up $164 Kindle With "Special Offers"

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:51:15 PDT

Just after Barnes & Noble announced its newer, smaller, touchscreen Simple Touch Reader yesterday, Amazon introduced its latest offering - a cheaper, ad-supported 3G Kindle. Just like the WiFi-only version it released last month, this third-generation 3G Kindle will be $25 off the regular price, and comes with specialized ads and sponsored screen savers.

Truth be told, it's the same Kindle you know and love, just a bit cheaper. Do you think this will sway ereader shoppers from Barnes & Noble's latest offering?

Helpful Tips on How Not to Become a Retrosexual

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:17:43 PDT

There's a new term on the horizon - retrosexual. This word has nothing to do with your sexual orientation or modern men dressing like Don Draper, but it has everything to do with how often people revert back to flirting or checking up on an ex online after seemingly "moving on." Whether you're in a new relationship or not, it's hard to deny the digital power of having an ex so close to you - Facebook is cited in every one out of five divorces in the US, mostly because people can't break away from an old flame. How can you keep from turning into a retrosexual? I offer up a few tips below.

Edge him out - Start by disabling his special ring tone, the photo screen saver, and hide him in a special group where you don't have to see his Facebook updates.
Don't mess with his digital life - If you've got the passwords to his online profiles (question: why do you have his passwords?), don't fall victim of your own feelings of revenge and hack into his accounts. Not only will this continue the contact between the two of you, but it will create resentment, harming your healthy breakup process.
Don't browse your couple's pics - The good news is, Facebook's "Photo Memories" feature will no longer show pictures of you and someone you've listed as "in a relationship" with, so now you just have to resist that compulsion to click on your "happy times" couple's album.

Get more tips when you read more.

January Jones Makes a Seriously Sexy W Magazine Cover Girl

Lauren Turner — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:44:53 PDT

January Jones got serious in a leather leotard on the cover of W magazine's May issue. She's gearing up for the June release of X-Men: First Class and also talking about her role in Mad Men, the AMC series that just got picked up for a fifth season. The interview isn't quite as controversial as January's feisty words in Marie Claire UK, but the actress opened up about getting along well with boys and being immune to rejection. Check out the full article when January's W debut hits newsstands on April 19. She said:

On getting along with guys: "I'm really like a guy in a lot of ways. My screen saver is a picture of me with Eli and Peyton Manning taken at the Kentucky Derby. The most starstruck I get is around football players."
On moving to NYC to model: "I was excited to be independent, but I was also naïve - I wanted to be rich and famous. I lived in an apartment near the Empire State Building. There were a billion girls in New York City who wanted to be models. After a while, I was immune to rejection, which helped when I went out to LA to become an actress."