beautiful program!

numbr007 · 08-21-2004, 12:00 AM

This is the greatest program I've ever seen. I have it running as my desktop background using XBack, and it is simply gorgeous. Windows users are so jealous that I have it as my wallpaper! These fish are incredible... I love Marine Aquarium, but these cute little goldfish are so realistic it's amazing. I can't believe that this software costs only $15. I could watch my desktop for hours. Plus, chicks LOVE it. You wouldn't believe the reactions I've gotten from casual vistors to my home. It's like walking a cute little puppy down the street in front of a shoe store. Thanks, Serene Screen!

One thing... I would love for there to be a "slow bottom-dweller" like the starfish in Marine Aquarium. My suggestion: an aquatic hermit crab (yes, there are species that live under water). Hermit crabs are my favorite and they're popular pets... should be relatively easy to animate. They sleep all day, anyway!

JimO'Connor · 08-21-2004, 12:35 AM

Thanks numbr007. We appreciate the kind words.

We'll work on Eric Daniels (the artist and modeller) about an invert of some sort. He likes a challenge.

Tiny Turtle · 08-21-2004, 02:54 AM

Originally posted by numbr007
. . . You wouldn't believe the reactions I've gotten from casual vistors to my home. . .

Oh but we do. We all have that very same puppy at home, y'know...

/Tiny Puppy

AKcrab · 08-21-2004, 03:19 AM

Originally posted by Tiny Turtle
Oh but we do. We all have that very same puppy at home, y'know...

Your puppy runs on your desktop as "animated wallpaper"?

Tiny Turtle · 08-21-2004, 04:57 AM

Nope, but the oh-so-gullible Swedes I have met seem to fancy the puppy without 86 icons in it's soft fur too.

The way I figure it is when I work I have multiple program open each in a window covering the whole screen which mean I pretty much don't see the desktop at all. When I don't work (lunch break or whatever) the screensaver kicks in and people passing will think it's a "cute puppy".

Do you see your desktop when you work?

/Think Tiny

JimO'Connor · 08-21-2004, 11:06 AM

[I must confess that a lot of the time I enjoy a real aquarium is time other than when I'm looking straight at it. Having it catch the corner of my eye is also enjoyable. It isn't the artistically pure experience of being completely drawn into the aquatic environment, but it can still be pleasant.

Sometimes I want to be engulfed by thundering crescendo of the Apollo 13 soundtrack where the rocket leaves the pad. Sometimes I want Liszt's Les Preludes simmering in the background and providing gentle movement to my day, and sometimes I want my son's Irish/Cajun/Russian/Jewish fiddle practice somewhere in between (He is good, but it definitely isn't gentle!).

johnblommers · 08-21-2004, 03:17 PM

So I found Backlight 2 to work well for me, and it's free as well. Get if from here:

http://freshsqueeze.com/products/freeware/

Backlight 2 allows us to put Goldfish Aquarium on the desktop as wallpaper. I get a respectable 67 fps on my 1600x1024 display displaying a lush tank with five fish.

So I set up backlight 2 and run GA as wallpaper routinely now. I setup the GA preferences to limit the frame rate to 20, which keeps CPU usage nice and low and does not beat up the graphics card so badly. Just on the main monitor.

I must be crazy, but GA is so engrossing. My hat is off to the person who developed the code that animates these fish.

numbr007 · 08-21-2004, 03:37 PM

xBack is also free... I prefer it to Backlight, but to each his own.

johnblommers · 08-21-2004, 05:42 PM

I just looked at xbackup and it's shareware now, with a seven day evaluation period. It looks to have a richer feature set than Backlight 2

numbr007 · 08-21-2004, 05:50 PM

You're right, it is shareware now. I stand corrected.

Schnaaps · 08-25-2004, 04:27 PM

Hello All,

I am Jim and work for Prolific Publishing as a producer, and just wanted to introduce myself to the Mac Fans. Do not confuse me with JimO or JimS, who must be considered at the very least talent.

I personnally just got my first Apple ever about 2 months ago, and must confess after almost 15 years of PC Use (Linux and Windoze), I smile every time I open up that new little computer. I installed backlight and it is just a cute little utility. In time, I will probably turn it off but for now... very cool.

Thanks for the support, and feedback.

05-26-2005, 11:12 PM

Hi, i have a both PC and Mac, is there a program like 'backlight' for Windows?
o, and i also love the goldfish aquarium. beautiful work.
-Andrew

johnblommers · 05-27-2005, 12:08 AM

So do you get this guy telling you "He's dead Jim" or "Jim, this man is dead" all the time too? It happened to Jim Kirk a lot!

Welcome aboard Jim!

Tarkus · 05-28-2005, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by Andyroo:

Hi, i have a both PC and Mac, is there a program like 'backlight' for Windows?

I don't know how it compares to the Mac programs mentioned, but 3d Animated Wallpaper might do the trick.

08-21-2004, 12:00 AM	#1
numbr007 Registered Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7	beautiful program! This is the greatest program I've ever seen. I have it running as my desktop background using XBack, and it is simply gorgeous. Windows users are so jealous that I have it as my wallpaper! These fish are incredible... I love Marine Aquarium, but these cute little goldfish are so realistic it's amazing. I can't believe that this software costs only $15. I could watch my desktop for hours. Plus, chicks LOVE it. You wouldn't believe the reactions I've gotten from casual vistors to my home. It's like walking a cute little puppy down the street in front of a shoe store. Thanks, Serene Screen! One thing... I would love for there to be a "slow bottom-dweller" like the starfish in Marine Aquarium. My suggestion: an aquatic hermit crab (yes, there are species that live under water). Hermit crabs are my favorite and they're popular pets... should be relatively easy to animate. They sleep all day, anyway!

08-21-2004, 12:35 AM	#2
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	Thanks numbr007. We appreciate the kind words. We'll work on Eric Daniels (the artist and modeller) about an invert of some sort. He likes a challenge. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

08-21-2004, 02:54 AM	#3
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Re: beautiful program! Originally posted by numbr007 . . . You wouldn't believe the reactions I've gotten from casual vistors to my home. . . Oh but we do. We all have that very same puppy at home, y'know... /Tiny Puppy Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

08-21-2004, 03:19 AM	#4
AKcrab Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 233	Re: Re: beautiful program! Originally posted by Tiny Turtle Oh but we do. We all have that very same puppy at home, y'know... Your puppy runs on your desktop as "animated wallpaper"?

08-21-2004, 04:57 AM	#5
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Nope, but the oh-so-gullible Swedes I have met seem to fancy the puppy without 86 icons in it's soft fur too. The way I figure it is when I work I have multiple program open each in a window covering the whole screen which mean I pretty much don't see the desktop at all. When I don't work (lunch break or whatever) the screensaver kicks in and people passing will think it's a "cute puppy". Do you see your desktop when you work? /Think Tiny Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

08-21-2004, 11:06 AM	#6
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	Purity of the experience [I must confess that a lot of the time I enjoy a real aquarium is time other than when I'm looking straight at it. Having it catch the corner of my eye is also enjoyable. It isn't the artistically pure experience of being completely drawn into the aquatic environment, but it can still be pleasant. Sometimes I want to be engulfed by thundering crescendo of the Apollo 13 soundtrack where the rocket leaves the pad. Sometimes I want Liszt's Les Preludes simmering in the background and providing gentle movement to my day, and sometimes I want my son's Irish/Cajun/Russian/Jewish fiddle practice somewhere in between (He is good, but it definitely isn't gentle!). Jim O'Connor Order N Development

08-21-2004, 03:17 PM	#7
johnblommers The Architect Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 756	Goldfish Aquarium as live wallpaper So I found Backlight 2 to work well for me, and it's free as well. Get if from here: http://freshsqueeze.com/products/freeware/ Backlight 2 allows us to put Goldfish Aquarium on the desktop as wallpaper. I get a respectable 67 fps on my 1600x1024 display displaying a lush tank with five fish. So I set up backlight 2 and run GA as wallpaper routinely now. I setup the GA preferences to limit the frame rate to 20, which keeps CPU usage nice and low and does not beat up the graphics card so badly. Just on the main monitor. I must be crazy, but GA is so engrossing. My hat is off to the person who developed the code that animates these fish. Reasons people don't watch Star Trek: 60% - It’s for nerds. 39% - The show’s stupid. 01% - My parents were killed by Klingons and it's still too painful. Last edited by johnblommers; 08-22-2004 at 10:32 PM.

08-21-2004, 03:37 PM	#8
numbr007 Registered Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7	xBack is also free... I prefer it to Backlight, but to each his own.

08-21-2004, 05:42 PM	#9
johnblommers The Architect Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 756	xbackup is shareware now I just looked at xbackup and it's shareware now, with a seven day evaluation period. It looks to have a richer feature set than Backlight 2 Reasons people don't watch Star Trek: 60% - It’s for nerds. 39% - The show’s stupid. 01% - My parents were killed by Klingons and it's still too painful.

08-21-2004, 05:50 PM	#10
numbr007 Registered Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7	You're right, it is shareware now. I stand corrected.

08-25-2004, 04:27 PM	#11
Schnaaps prolificus penguinus Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Prolific Posts: 204	Hello All, I am Jim and work for Prolific Publishing as a producer, and just wanted to introduce myself to the Mac Fans. Do not confuse me with JimO or JimS, who must be considered at the very least talent. I personnally just got my first Apple ever about 2 months ago, and must confess after almost 15 years of PC Use (Linux and Windoze), I smile every time I open up that new little computer. I installed backlight and it is just a cute little utility. In time, I will probably turn it off but for now... very cool. Thanks for the support, and feedback. "Jim, no not THAT Jim but another of the same name" JamesRathbun.com

05-26-2005, 11:12 PM	#12
Andyroo Guest Posts: n/a	backlight for windows? Hi, i have a both PC and Mac, is there a program like 'backlight' for Windows? o, and i also love the goldfish aquarium. beautiful work. -Andrew

05-27-2005, 12:08 AM	#13
johnblommers The Architect Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 756	So do you get this guy telling you "He's dead Jim" or "Jim, this man is dead" all the time too? It happened to Jim Kirk a lot! Welcome aboard Jim! Reasons people don't watch Star Trek: 60% - It’s for nerds. 39% - The show’s stupid. 01% - My parents were killed by Klingons and it's still too painful.

05-28-2005, 01:39 PM	#14
Tarkus Shark Bytes Join Date: May 2005 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 158	Originally posted by Andyroo: Hi, i have a both PC and Mac, is there a program like 'backlight' for Windows? I don't know how it compares to the Mac programs mentioned, but 3d Animated Wallpaper might do the trick.