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Quartz Composer Art / Screensavers
Quartz Composer was one of the coolest new technologies Apple added in Tiger. It allows designers to create some amazingly complex motion graphics with comparatively little work. (Core Animation is likely an analogous advance in Leopard). The Japanese designer Futurismo Zugakousaku has used Quartz Composer to generate some dazzling motion graphics, which can conveniently be used as screen savers in OS X (place the QTZ files in /Library/Screen Savers/). His Quartz Composer Samples page features 33 QTZ files for download, some of which are simply mesmerizing. The site is feeling the Digg effect right now, but I managed to grab several of them as well as watch his sample movie. I was quite impressed by what I saw, particularly considering the fact that he says he made each of them in less than an hour. Zugakousaku says of himself: "I want to make a work like a new surrealist of the new generation." I think he's already achieved a lot.[Via Digg]
XMB-ify your PC screensaver
Pictured above: my Desktop, with Agent Orange's XMB screensaver. It's a pretty nifty concept, inspired by the PSP and PS3's patented Cross Media Bar. This is a must-have for any Sony fanboy and can be found via DCEmu (registration required). For those of you that are hesitant on registration, feel free to download it directly here.
The quest for Autumn: Windows XP's elusive backdrop
It's no secret that people have been fascinated, or at least intrigued, by wallpapers and screensavers since the desktop first graced their eyes, and judging by the sheer multitude of websites and man-hours devoted to perfecting the screen that you so rarely see once you launch that first app, it's also no shock to hear a tale of such obsession. Although Autumn may not be most people's default background in Windows XP, it's still well regarded, and for one Vanity Fair writer, it sparked a worldwide quest to find its origin. Expecting the task to be one of relative ease in the age of email, meta tags, and digital archives, he began by questioning the usual suspects about its humble beginnings, but to his dismay, was turned down time and time again by rights protectors who wouldn't divulge the author nor location of such a highly prized stock photograph. Eventually, his entire team was onboard in a furious (albeit seemingly futile) search to discover precisely where this image was shot, once leading to thoughts of permanent relocation if the locale was finally unearthed. After what seemed like months of running into brick walls, an email to Bill Gates himself resulted in an apparently automated response that belted out nothing more but the snapshot's place of origin, which incited fits of jovial celebration office-wide. To Campbellville, Ontario, Canada they headed, in desperate need to visit the orangey area so burned into their memories, and thanks to the purportedly mysterious workings of a co-worker, they even landed the shooter's name. Eventually, the journey led them to a rarely traveled path in the city of Burlington, where the old Harris Homestead quietly sat behind a vigilant row of bare trees surrounded by glistening white snow. It truly was Winter, at last for the adventurous crew, but it certainly gives us pause when deciding whether or not to seek out the origin of Ascent and Azul in our spare time.
Quick-and-dirty security trick
Reader Jamie offers a quick security tip. If you're the type that's frequently away from your desk, you may want to keep your machine secure while you're gone. As Jamie points out, you can simply turn on your screensaver and set it up to require a password at de-activation. Next, activate a screensaver hot corner and you're all set.Of course, a determined person can simply restart your machine. But knowing most of the people in my office, this simple trick would stop them in their tracks.
Flyz Screensaver 1.1.2
I don't know how I managed to avoid earlier versions of the Flyz Screensaver, but I just came across version 1.1.2 on VersionTracker and I am pleased to see they've "fixed a bug that was causing the flies and maggots to accumulate at the bottom-left corner of Intel Mac screens" and "increased the maximum number of flies to 40." W00t!If you like being grossed out, or like grossing out others, the Flyz Screensaver might be an appropriate download for you. Flyz is "an infestation of ewwey, gooey, flies and maggots, making a mess of your Mac's screen." And if that's not appealing enough, perhaps the price tag (free, although there's an enhanced version for $5) will lure you in.Of course some people already have a similar effect without having to download anything at all!Oh, how I long for the days when Flying Toasters was enough to keep us entertained when our screens were idle...
How to create a screensaver for your iPod
Rocking Linux on your iPod and hacking the firmware to change the on-screen graphics are certainly nifty tweaks to distinguish your otherwise commonplace Apple gizmo, but tossing a screensaver on there definitely ups the ante. While you may have seen video loops running on 5G iPods displayed at your local Apple Store, you probably figured a genius from the service bar rigged it up using a soldering iron or proprietary software, but the simplicity behind the secret is quite refreshing. To fancy up your own 5G (and likely 5.5G) iPod, simply create a folder dubbed "Demo Mode" and rename any video clip "Demo." After 2 minutes of stagnation while on charge, the device will automatically begin looping your recently renamed file, which is (presumably) sure to bring pure geek elation to even the most imperturbable PMP junky.[Via MAKE]
Make your windows fly with Fentres Volantes, a 3D screensaver
For years now, I haven't really been one for screensavers. Ever since I started owning nothing but portable machines with LCDs and I found out that burn-in really doesn't happen anymore, I either opt to let my displays dim and turn themselves off to save power or I simply leave my chat and email apps front and center so I can keep an eye on what's going on. Aside from occasionally turning on Mac OS X's RSS screensaver in a coffee shop to show off a little, I just haven't been that interested in screensavers.Until TUAW reader Mark Rickert sent us a tip for the Fenêtres Volantes screensaver.This screensaver takes your idle windows and gives them something to do - by making them fly around your display in 3D space. The effect is really slick and driven by Quartz Composer, which also means the unfortunate lack of anti-aliasing is a ball in Apple's court, not the developer's. The screensaver is fairly customizable, with controls for how many windows to use, how fast to move, whether a second display is involved, and more. Mac OS X 10.4.6 is required, as is a G4, G5 or Intel CPU at 1 Ghz or faster.Fenêtres Volantes is donationware and available from the author's site at Objective Cocoa.
Fireworks Screensaver for 4th of July
I've always liked screensavers. Flying toasters will always hold a special place in my heart, but I continue to be impressed by Skyrocket, a free screensaver that renders fireworks on your display. Perfect for your 4th of July party, not only is Skyrocket free, it's also a universal binary which runs fantastically on my Intel iMac. Be sure to turn on the smoke option and play around with the zoom level, Moon glow, and sound options.
Hills screensaver updated
Back in April, we wrote about the "Hills" screensaver by Chris Kent. A number of you told us how much you liked it, so today we're pointing out that version 1.1.2 is available. For the unfamiliar, Hills is a screensaver for Mac OS X that lets you glide over rolling, grassy hills on a sunny day. Changes to version 1.1.2 include: Fixed drawing of distant hills A "Default Settings" button has been added to both the screensaver and desktop version A new "Fullscreen Resolution" option More keyboard controls for the camera Hills is free.
Free screensaver: Hills
You may not have noticed, but our posts here at TUAW have had a bit of a theme over the past 24 hours. If you've reached "Boot Camp saturation," then drift away with the "Hills" screensaver. Glide over rolling, grassy hills on a sunny day, and just relax. You can choose from photo-realistic hills or a wireframe version, and determine the speed at which you "travel." It looks very nice on my 20" iMac. The download includes a desktop version and source code.There, now don't you feel better?[Via The Iconfactory]
Soundstream screen saver for parties
It's not explicitly for parties, but it'd be fun if you're putting something goofy on the screen (instead of those old Duran Duran videos you've been hoarding). Soundstream looks a little like Flurry, the very popular OS X screensaver with gorgeous sweeping colors. But Soundstream monitors the audio input on your Mac, and pulses the flying, colorful, blurry particles accordingly. It handles volume and pitch response, and provides decent control over the appearance of the flying particles.
Newbie Tip: Create a customized topical screensaver
Hello to all our new-to-OS X readers! I have a quick tip for those of you that are tired of the stock screensavers in OS X. Simply compile a group of photos into a folder. I like to grab stuff from flickr; one can find rather amazing topical compilations of hi-res photos there. Once you have your folder of photos, you can put it where you like, but I like putting the resulting folder in my Pictures directory.Next open up System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver and select "Choose Folder..." on the left. Navigate to the folder you just created with the images inside. You can click on the "Options" button to change the zooming / crossfading / centering of each image. That's it! Have fun watching all those great collections from flickr (or your favorite photo blog of choice) float by on your screen.If you're a little more advanced, you might want to check out a few more screensaver posts here on TUAW.[pictured in my example above is one shot from a stellar collection of photos from the Wooster Collective]
Multiple Feeds Combined in RSS Visualizer: An Answer for Laurie
Several weeks ago, Laurie asked "What if I want more than one RSS feed in my Tiger screensaver?"
