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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.
When I am at work I get lots of actual work done. I am so efficient that I eat my lunch at my desk so I don't miss any calls or e-mails. But in reality, I'm online reading your blogs. Shhhh. Don't tell! In the event of an approaching boss or nosy cubicle neighbor I click on that little Show Desktop icon to shrink my non-business related windows in a jiffy. People must think I enjoy staring at my desktop a lot! Which I do actually. My desktop background is a terrific photo of my adorable nieces and nephews.
I like looking at what people select for their desktop image and screen savers. I think it tells a lot about them. My boss for example has the plain old default that came with his computer. This shows the world that he has zero technological ability. It could also be taken as someone who is no-nonsense, all work and no play. Except all of the old fashioned printed photos adorning his actual desk point to the contrary.
For his screensaver, Andy uses a rotating display of the various photos we have taken and stored throughout the years. He gets annoyed when it shows the same ones over and over instead of surprising him with some long forgotten memories. Which makes me think he spends more time watching his screen saver than he does doing work.
I think sometimes working parents feel obligated to use an image of their children as their desktop. Even though they'd really rather have a drool worthy photo of Johnny Depp or some such hunk-a-licious babe. I personally use my nieces & nephews photo to offset all the other snapshots pinned up of my various pets over the years or Red Sox related paraphernalia. It is funny because quite often, a client passing by to say hello will see that desktop shot and ask me if those are all my kids! Considering they are all so close in age I would have been out of work getting knocked up or giving birth more often than Mrs. Duggar.
Some people have bizarre cartoons or graphics that are hilarious only to them - an inside joke that makes them smile whenever their computer is on hiatus. But it is a lot better than the companies who require their logo to be displayed or nothing at all so as to not disrupt the effectiveness of the operating system. Fuddy duddies.
The next time you pass someone's computer or laptop take a look at their desktop background or screensaver selection. This decor has almost taken the place of the old personal knick knacks on desks. These days lots of people don't even have desks - they just have desktops. So the images they choose to display set the tone of who they are all about. What does yours say about you?
What's your desktop background? Your screensaver? How often do you change it? How did you come to select it? Of course it has a certain meaning to you. What do you think it says about you to others?
16 comments:
When I switched jobs, I deleted all of the stored pictures on my CPU so they weren't there for the next person. But then I ended up taking that same CPU--but I can't get to Facebook any more to pull pictures off and I keep forgetting to send some to my email. Thanks for the reminder!
I have the required company logo on my desktop at work. I don't really care as I don't personalize my desk too much--I like that I can pick up my personal effects in one fell swoop should I get fired or I quit. Not that I'm going to or anything--I just like that feeling of a hasty exit should I need it.
At home, I have a photo of author Jon Katz's farm. It reminds me to live the life I want to live.
I have a fab photo from one of my latest trips. It reminds me where I've been and inspires me to get going on my next trip.
P.S. Welcome from one Uptake Editor to another. You'll see I have several restaurant posts in draft form that need photos. I need to catch up.
I also use photos of trips taken. I change them out about once a month.
I love looking at what people have on their laptops. Now that I'm not in an office anymore I have to do it at internet cafes. It adds so much to my favorite hobby of people-watching. It's actually a game with me. I think I have someone figured out from observing them for a while and then I guess what their images might be. Then I have to snoop a bit to see if I'm right. Lots of fun. I'm right about 75% of the time.
At work, I've got something dull and standard and Windowsy; on the laptop I use during the week, I've got a photo of my girlfriend; on the laptop I use at the weekend I've got a weird green character I don't know the name of from Ben 10 (because my nephew loves changing desktop backgrounds; thanks to him my mum's got a picture from the Sam and Max games as her background).
My daughter has commandeered the desktop computer and changes the screensavers with the changing of her mood. When she is swooning over a vampire, I get vampire diaries. When she is mad at me, I get Pennywise the clown. When she is peaceful, I get a sunset.
It says I love my family . . . which you already knew. I rotate pictures of my family. But occassionally if I happen to get a good picture of the local scenery I'll put that up too. We do live in a beautiful part of the world so I like to bring the outside in.
My wallpaper changes often depending on my moods and what pictures I have taken lately. There are times that it is graphic art that I pick up here and there with inspirational messages, like "You are beautiful" or "This just may be the best day of our lives". Then there may be days when I have taken a cute shot of the dog or the neighbor's goats.
Right now, there is a goat that I have named Stubby. She is short and very swollen with pregnancy. I can't wait to see her kids!
Because I have a new great niece (born in May) I'm constantly revolving pictures of her lovely face on my desktop. We don't live close, but this makes me feel not so far away. I ALWAYS keep my icons and file folders neat and tidy on the side.
My desktop is the complete opposite to my real life.
I am going to start paying attention to the desktops of my work colleagues now. My desktop photo is a tropical beach scene. I haven't changed it in awhile so I guess I am stuck in the mode of wanting to think about vacation all the time!
My background used to be my favorite picture of Mary. The current one is a picture of a Phillies hat and my baseball glove. And yes, Mary did comment about me replacing her. LOL I might change it once or twice a year. One says I adore my wife. The other that I adore baseball.
The screen saver is a random play of the pictures in our photo program. The down side to it is that it won't allow me to play only certain folders or to exclude certain folders. So, you wind up seeing pictures of a tree, a cloud, some useless thing I thought would be interesting, etc. If you know how to include or exclude pictures, I'd love to know.
As for Johnny Depp, the teenagers here love him. Of course, I always make fun of how he runs like a girl, which ticks off my teenage step-daughter who thinks he's a dreamboat.
Funny, I never thought about it. I hardly ever see my desktop behind all the open windows, so I just use one of the choices provided by MS --not the default, but nothing exciting. I like to see my icons, and a fancy desktop photo makes them difficult to see. I also use one of the built-in choices for my screen saver. I'm soooooo boring.
First:
I love this topic!!!
I always raise an eyebrow when I see people with just the default background...I would be too bored with this!!
Second: I am locked out of everything at work. I can't even change my background or screensaver any more :( I was very, very bummed when they finally took my computer over for that reason. I like my desk and space to be personalized with stuff I like..and if a giant desktop of Jim Adkins puts a smile on my face for the work day then dammnit...let me do it!! GAH.
What's your desktop background? So, prior to the change my desktop is/has always been JIM. I would change the pic about once a month but always Jim. Same at home. I borrow a computer in the mornings to check my emails and this gal has a giant spider as her desktop. Turns out she is quite fond of creepy crawlies. Sometimes I change her background to something random...a llama...a picture of a spoon...just to confuse her.
Your screensaver? Screensaver at home and prior to the change at work is a slideshow of all of the Jim concerts I have been to. I take a lot of pics.
How often do you change it? I have not changed my screensaver for ten years. Even when I get a new computer I back up those photo files and transfer them and put the old Jim slideshow on :) Desktop-I change it once a month, but it's always Jim.
How did you come to select it? I have Jim fever. It selects me really :)
What do you think it says about you to others? Honestly, I don't know!! What is your opinion? I always wonder what people think...I have Jew tatt's, pictures of myself and the band on my desk, a bulletin board with memoribilia on it and my comp was all Jim. Never really seen anyone else like this :)
I have never chosen a screensaver. Never taken the time to change it. Jason changes it about every six months. He just changed it to a pic of Gage last week. I have no idea what that says about me. That I'm lazy?
Currently I have a picture of my son taken at the river this summer, but I change my background every few months with whatever tickles my fancy. Many times it is a photo of P!nk.
In my previous office there were three of us on one computer. When my on co-worker would forget to log out I would change her background to a photo of a butt crack by googling butt crack images. We used to laugh so hard. Now we are all on different computers with different passwords so the random changing of people's backgrounds doesnt happen so much. I don't have a set screen saver, but I should.
First, Hello! Nice to meet you. :) I have the same lunch-time process you do. I kind of feel guilty when my boss praises me for my dedication after I just finished reading a book review at Smart Bitches.
My work background is the same as my avatar, which is an anime drawing of Kaylee from the television show Firefly. I'm not much like Kaylee, but I wish I were! She's so smart and generally cheerful and open. I like those qualities in people.
As for my at home background, it's a photograph of my dog, Baxter, who sadly died about a year ago. I miss him tremendously!! But photos are good for remembering the happy!
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