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With more and more people watching movies on their wide-screen Macs and Apple TV, it's no secret the computer is starting to move in on traditional DVD, Blu-ray, and other video player territory. If you have a laptop and the right cords, you can even plug your computer into your big-screen TV and enjoy all the glory of the new standalone Hulu for Mac. But while your Mac is great for watching movies, your Mac's sleep feature to save energy has a nasty way of making your screen go dark right in the middle of the show. To keep this from happening, you can go into the preference pane before starting a movie, select Energy Saver, then slide the dial to Never sleep. I admit this isn't a terribly hard process, but I found a download that makes it even easier.
The settings window, though fairly sparse, offers all the settings you need.
(Credit: CNET)Caffeine is a free download that adds a simple icon on the right side of your menubar. When you click it, Caffeine prevents your Mac from going to sleep while you watch your movie. When your movie is over, simply click it again to return to your normal sleep settings. You also can Command-click the icon to bring up settings to set how long you want Caffeine to keep your Mac awake--anywhere from 5 minutes to indefinitely, but it also has 2-hour and 5-hour options for perfect movie-viewing time.
Easter is alive on your desktop with these seven holiday-themed downloads for all ages. From the sublimely sweet slideshow screensavers of fluffy chicks and gorgeous wildflowers to a clever Easter bunny caper involving a skateboard and Easter egg ammo, this festive collection of applications has something for everyone.
Everything Easter
Everything iconic about Easter resides in this free screensaver slideshow. In one scene, five fluffy chicks sit irresistibly atop eggs in a woven, ribboned basket. In another, a pure white rabbit sniffs an egg while sun-yellow daffodils and deep purple petals fill in the foreground and background. It's no wonder Everything Easter is our top pick for a calming, feel-good screensaver that's perfectly designed to give your heartstrings a gentle, therapeutic tug.
An Eggstremely 3D Easter Screensaver
This eggstremely hilarious free-to-try screensaver follows a day in the life of the Easter Bunny as he delivers eggs in the backyards of a prototypical suburban neighborhood. At first, the emblematic rabbit drops his colorful eggs one by one on grassy lawns, careful not to miss an opportunity to tramp some flowers. As he leaps, somersaults, or crashes over the neighbor's fence, our big-eared holiday hero encounters a hostile pooch, which he subdues with a firm pelting of eggs. Eventually, the Easter Bunny acquires rocket boots and a skateboard to speed up his "egg laying" in this inventive, lighthearted screensaver comedy.
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Though computer monitor technology has long since passed the days when you truly needed to "save your screen," screensavers are still a lot of fun and a great way to personalize your desktop when you're away from the computer. This collection features screensavers that are most popular with our users.
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Free Fire Screensaver sets your icons and windows ablaze. Watch as each item slowly catches fire and begins to smoke on your desktop. Crackling and popping sounds and a musical soundtrack complete the effect. Add your own MP3 to customize your desktop flare-up.
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3D Fish School Screensaver lets you view up to 100 fish swimming peacefully on your desktop. Choose from a saltwater or freshwater virtual aquarium and tweak the settings to allow for more fish and bubbles. Use the settings to display a clock so you can check the time without waking your computer.
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Sim Aquarium reminds us more of a sea floor teaming with aquatic life. Watch your fish swim around a coral reef complete with live clams and swaying sea life. Choose from 41 species of fish.
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The Matrix Screen Saver is a longtime favorite for many users and continues to mesmerize with its now classic falling digital code. Wait a second, I think I just spotted myself typing this in the falling code. Maybe we are part of the Matrix! Somehow, I doubt Keanu can save us.
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Deep Space 3D Screensaver lets you take a trip to a distant galaxy and explore planetary systems and nebulae. As you watch, you may even encounter mysterious items and artifacts floating in the void. Are they manmade? Maybe not. Pleasant music accompanies your journey through space.
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3D World Map lets you gaze upon our planet in full 3D and view detailed information on more than 30,000 cities. Compute the distance between any two points on Earth. Tweak settings to adjust color and saturation to customize your view of the globe. This screensaver comes with a built-in MP3 player so you can view the Earth and listen to your own soundtrack.
With Valentines day just a couple of days away, why not get in to the spirit? We put together a collection of screensavers and Valentine's Day themed downloads to get you in the mood for the most romantic of holidays. Hopefully, it will also act as a reminder to those who might forget. Ahem.
Some of these downloads are paid and others are free, but any one you choose will certainly put you in the spirit of Valentine's Day.
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Cool EasyCard lets you create Valentine's cards (or any type of greeting) with your own photos and the words you want to say. If you're tired of trying to find just the right words in the greeting card aisle, leave nothing up to chance by saying the right thing just the way you want to say it.
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Hearts, Roses, Love is an elegant and simple screensaver to get you in the mood for Valentine's Day with class. The beautifully designed screensaver doesn't offer a lot of bells and whistles, but is just enough to make your desktop come alive with the Valentine's Day spirit.
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Cuddly kitties and canines is exactly what the name would imply: photos of cute kittens and puppies surrounded by Valentine's themed decorations. If you're an animal lover, check out this cute and simple screensaver.
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Free Valentine's Day Screensaver features high-quality images and smooth transitions to make this screensaver the perfect way to enjoy the holiday. If you want a little more than a themed screensaver, or prefer several changing Valentine's day images, this is the download for you.
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Valentine 3D Screensaver lets you view a lovely setting with wine glasses, a Valentine's Day message, and a cuddly teddy bear. Smooth, nice-looking graphics make this screensaver a great choice for those who leave their computers on during this most romantic of dates. Later, you should consider turning off your computer entirely.
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3D Dancing Cupid gets you in the mood for the holiday with a retro screensaver designed to bring out the silliness in everyone. If you're the type who likes a dancing screensaver, Cupid is a little guy who knows how to get down. On the dancefloor--get you're mind out of the gutter.
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3D Love Clock lets you put a personalized, heart-shaped clock on your desktop. You'll never forget your loved ones during this most important of romantic holidays--or what time it is. Customize your clock further by adding a picture of your loved one.
Goodbye, 2008 and hello, 2009!
A new year means new calendars, new personal resolutions, and an end-of-year celebration to ring it in. Our collection of applications for your PC has bartending and DJ downloads for all that party planning, a calendar to keep you up to date, desktop sticky notes to remind yourself of those all-important resolutions, and screensavers to get you into the spirit of the season.
This classic fireworks screensaver lets you get interactive with the spectacular display you shoot onto your desktop. Have fun choosing the number of rockets for a grand finale that sends 2008 off in style.
How much longer until the New Year? You'll always know with this screensaver that counts down the days, hours, and minutes until the ball drops and the streamers pop. A few controls on the Settings menu let you tweak the tint and the types of goodies that fall from the sky.
3D Fireworks Extravaganza demo
If nothing but the most realistic fireworks will do to ring in 2009, this could be the screensaver for you. The colorful blasts look right, and we are sure they are even better in the full version. Like many of its screensaver cousins, the trial download unfortunately obscures the view with a nag screen.
New York and London aren't the only places to celebrate the turning of the years! This jubilant screensaver shoots off rockets from San Francisco Bay that explode over the city's unique nighttime skyline. A deep blue sky punctuated by points of red light complete the mood.
This desktop bartending application may look a little retro, but it's got the goods. Browse cocktail recipes, or search by name, alcohol, ingredients, glass type, or even by season. You'll be able to add, modify, and delete drinks, print recipes, and flag your favorite elixirs.
Mobile mixologists will also have their applications. iPhone and iPod Touch barkeeps should make a beeline to Drinks or Party Pro, while those with Java phones can turn to Drinkipedia. Even Google Android has its own bartending application, called simply, Bartender.
If the New Years Eve party is at your place this year, you have to have a playlist plan; music makes the party. Look no further than Media Monkey, a solid freeware music application whose full features include a customizable interface and device-syncing support that doesn't devour resources. We're talking about top-notch library-management tools, skins, plug-ins, autotagging, track encoding, podcast catching, and more. It even includes a dedicated party mode to lock down your library while allowing song requests through.
Serious DJs who add scratch and mix effects to their 2009 countdowns will want professional software such as Virtual DJ. With beat-matching, looping, sampling, and cues, it brings the business to the party and vinyl sounds to a compact, wholly digital setup. Now all you need are the strobe lights.
Here's a great way to save some cash this holiday season--make your own 2009 calendar as a gift or for yourself. Choose the year 2009 from the ZIP file, and a calendar template opens in Microsoft Excel. One spreadsheet is accessible for each month of the year, and is already peppered with major U.S. holidays. Since the calendar is based on Excel, you'll be able to easily add and delete text and import clip art and photos. It loads instantly, and is good until 2012.
Everyone needs extra help keeping New Year resolutions, especially the tricky ones that involve rigorously tended willpower. The iconic Post-it brand and its updated look can help. You can do a lot with this digital version of the classic sticky note--including setting alarms, making lists, and adding photos.
How do you know that the Christmas season is officially underway? People are more generous, the air is a little lighter, and that evergreen tree is decorated to the hilt with ornaments and lights.
Now, how about your Windows PC? Drop that tiny tinsel and put down that computer-top angel. This flashy collection of Christmas screensavers will put you and your rig into a happier holiday mood as you count down the days to yuletide.
Though days have become short, dark, and cold here in the Northern Hemisphere; winter has a way of casting its own idyllic spell.
If you can't resist appreciating crystalline icicles, endless banks of soft snow, and intricate snowflakes, you're not alone. Celebrate the season by transforming your desktop into a winter wonderland with this collection of snowy screensavers.
American Thanksgiving represents a cornucopia of traditional activities and fare, all centered around the celebration of giving thanks for our bountiful resources. Turkeys, falling leaves, pumpkin pie, NFL football, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and crazy Uncle Joe are all a part of the seasonal festivities. Get in the fall holiday spirit with a collection of seven screensavers designed for the Thanksgiving season.
Turkey Thanksgiving screensaver
What could be cuter than turkeys dressed up like Pilgrims and Native Americans? Well, how about turkeys dressed up like Pilgrims and Native Americans who are celebrating the first Thanksgiving? The first turkey Pilgrims set the table and bring the cranberry sauce, the Native Americans supply maize and bread, and the last Pilgrim group completes the feast with muffins and mashed potatoes.
Astro Gemini Software's Harvest Time Farms is a place that exemplifies the many themes and traditions of the Thanksgiving holiday. At this imaginary, animated farm, plump turkeys waddle around the barn, a collection of fall vegetables and fruits sits in a wheelbarrow, and the entire rural scene resonates with the spirit of the season.
Thanksgiving dinner is dominated by the fruits of the fall harvest, and this free screensaver pays homage to those delicious treats with a slide show of images embellished with Thanksgiving messages. Images include turkey dinner, pumpkin pie, a bowl full of apples, and a bouquet of fall roses.
Thanksgiving Forest screensaver
Summer gives way to fall quickly, as this animated free screensaver can attest. In a cartoon autumn scene, trees turn red and orange, a flock of turkeys pecks around the forest for food, and a trio of cute, little squirrels assemble en masse on a fence, as if to provide us with a Thanksgiving serenade.
There are many ways to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving, and this free screensaver takes a polished, artful approach. As yellow, orange, and red leaves falling from above onto the white screen, the message "Happy Thanksgiving" appears in a variety of fonts and styles.
In this wacky free screensaver, a bevy of cartoon turkeys stages an impromptu protest against eating turkey on Thanksgiving. With their slanted Pilgram hats and funny protest signs with phrases like "Vegans Rule," "Eat Crow," and "Beef! It's What's For Thanksgiving," these fine-feathered friends are likely to charm.
The Dallas Cowboys ScreenServer
The Dallas Cowboys (formerly the Texans) have been playing football on Thanksgiving day for more than 50 years. You might think there's a typo in the title of this desktop app, but you'd be wrong. The "ScreenServer" provides news, events, statistics, trivia, player and cheerleader photos, and video features. If you're a fan of "America's Team," check it out.
All eyes will be on America on Tuesday as unprecedented numbers vote in the 2008 presidential elections and state propositions. How will you keep track throughout the day?
The Election 2008 Political Ticker: Pretty, smooth, partisan.
(Credit: CNET)Your gut may lead you to constantly refresh several news sites for the latest headlines. That'll keep you current, but will also keep you from your daily duties. Obsessing over an RSS reader and notifications is smarter, and less disruptive to your work flow. Feed Demon and RSS Bandit are good choices, but an RSS ticker might be even better at delivering headline news to political news junkies.
GOP supporters should look to the free Election 2008 Political Ticker, an attractive ticker for tracking blog, video, and news feeds. Sources lean mostly Republican, though there are three token sites for Democrats and the ability to subscribe to Google feeds you build by keyword. Unfortunately, the ticker doesn't let you add your own feeds, an omission that inconveniences users from all parties.
The basic, but customizable Titlebar Ticker feeds you news on your active window.
(Credit: CNET)Titlebar Ticker is a homelier, but more open freeware ticker that's coupled with a traditional RSS-reading app. Titlebar Ticker may not be a looker, but its trump card is being able to read news on any active window. You'll also be able to freely add and organize your own RSS feeds, though other customizations are thin and there's no preview window for making changes to the ticker's skin.
This free presidential election desktop widget from Wikio isn't a ticker, but it is another option for pulling down election-specific news if you're running Windows Vista.
Finally, for those who agree that it's never too late to root for your team, here are trial downloads for Obama and McCain screensavers. They may not influence your coworkers at this point, but they will shout out your position with pride.
More CNET election stories:
-Technology Voter Guide-E-voting worries linger
-The formula behind FiveThirtyEight
You don't have to be a werewolf or vampire to get excited about Halloween. What other holiday lets you dress up as a triceratops and snort at passersby or flashback to your grade-school years with a pretty pink ballerina tutu? Your Halloween festivities don't have to stop at the front door. Slap a virtual holiday jack-o-lantern or spooky scenes on your Windows desktop with this collection of Halloween screensavers.
If your idea of magic is a spell that turns a painting of an ugly old crone into a vivacious, attractive, young woman, this screensaver has the trickery that you're looking for. After bursting from the prison painting, the buxom beauty points out her window to a witch performing somersaults, then kisses you a very magical Halloween message. Her winking eye turns into the full moon, and the scenario is repeated.
Cascading Candy Corn screensaver
Some find it delicious; others think it tastes atrocious. Regardless of your personal taste for the colorful confectionary, Halloween is the only time of year when it's acceptable to eat this seasonal treat. Put the high-fructose delight on your desktop en masse with a 3D collection of falling, twirling candy corn pieces.
Haunted House Horrors Screen Saver
I'm not sure that I'd take my trick-or-treating activities toward this creepy domicile. Floating ghosts, bats, and a screeching cat are just a few of the scares that you'll find in and about this classic haunted mansion. Sound effects add an extra spooky dimension, and you'll never know what you'll find around the next corner.
Jack-O-Lantern.com Screen Saver
Using actual pumpkins carved by experts and community members, this free screensaver from Jack-O-Lantern.com offers up a cornucopia of jack-o-lantern delights. The shareware version is free to use and distribute; e-mail registration allows you to disable image-label tags and enable or turn off the music.
A spooky cemetery is the setting for this ghostly scene. Specters and wraiths appear from tombs and mausoleums while creepy music ensues. Various customization options let you change the color of the scene or the number of apparitions.
This young enchantress hasn't tucked herself away in a forest cottage or creepy cave--she's showing off her style in the city as she walks her pet spiders. As the city witch strolls through the urban environment, the city backdrop scrolls behind her. A pesky black cat scares her and her spiders away from the scene in a hurry, but don't worry. She'll be back.
If the City Witch screensaver doesn't tickle your aesthetic bone, you may prefer the calm, quiet, peacefulness--and pure creepiness--of the country. In this spooky pastoral scene, a haunted farmhouse is visited at dusk by bats, jack-o-lanterns, and a black cat. A mysterious white specter appears from time to time, performing a mysterious ritual.
This free animated screensaver from American Greetings shows a variety of cartoon jack-o-lanterns in the process of creation. Eyes, nose, and mouth all pop out, accompanied by seasonal music, to create spooky, goofy, or terrifying pumpkin faces.
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Some cats are known to be skittish, but not this big, black fellow. He'll quickly take over your whole desktop with his furry, dark face, and his yellow, beady eyeballs that seem to follow you whenever you leave the computer. If you're looking for something creepily unique, Mr. Cat In Your Face might do the trick.
Accompanying the All Saints Day and All Souls Day Catholic holy days following Halloween, this primarily Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead in English honors family and friends who have passed away. Believing that communication with the dead is enhanced at this time, participants build shrines, pray, and visit graves. This screensaver uses symbols from ancient Aztec rituals to create a graveyard celebration.
