New Default Theme

[EmeraldRose]

I just got a new iMac with a 24" flat screen, and this theme looks fantabulous!    I love it! On my old iMac with a 15" screen, I couldn't see the cool background.  What a wonderfully spectacular surprise I got when I first came here on my new computer! Kudos for the great background! I'm glad I got this computer so I could fully appreciate this message board. It looks really bright now, too, so it's easy to read.  The only thing I have to get used to is typing on this new keyboard. 

----- Sally -----

[Taeylor Collins]

I love it that I am no the only person who says FANTABALOUS.  I love combining words!;)  And I would love to have one of those computers. I hear they rock!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This theme now has a new background in honor of the Leviathans storyline:

At 1680X1050:

Click for larger image: 1680-3.jpg

[Mark Rainey]

Is very nice.

[Philippe Cordier]

Very nice, but then blue is my favorite color. It seems fairly easy on my eyes, too, i.e. not too great a contrast with too dark a background and too bright lettering.

I'm glad I went through this thread, though, because I wasn't aware of the Leviathan theme. My new laptop is a widescreen (HP Pavilion), yet the edges are cut off and the background is a bit blurred, so that on the right side I see half of a blurred snake, and on the left side half of the statue of a girl (?) in the antique store window. I didn't realize what this was the antique store window until I saw your screen capture in one of the posts above.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The Leviathans background can only really be appreciated on a widescreen monitor at resolutions higher than 1280X720.  

[Philippe Cordier]

The Leviathans background can only really be appreciated on a widescreen monitor at resolutions higher than 1280X720.  

Hmm, I checked in my control panel, and the screen resolution is shown as: 1366 x 768. But I don't see the full borders, only as I mentioned above.

The only thing I have to get used to is typing on this new keyboard.

I wonder if Emerald Rose's problem with her keyboard last April was the same one I'm having - the keys are slippery. I still can't get used to it. My finger also slip on the touchpad, and after an hour or so I start getting cramps in my forearm all the way to the elbow.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Ah - so you're seeing something similar to this:

Click for larger image: 1366-3.jpg

If you go back to the first post in this topic, you'll see that as the resolution gets wider with this theme, more of the background image shows. The background is designed so that all of it isn't seen unless someone is using a resolution of 1680X945. That's a bit too big for me - even on my big screen TV - but some people do like it. And if anyone goes with an even wider resolution, the background image will even begin to repeat, though it will remain centered. Here's an example at 1920X1080:

Click for larger image: 1920-3.jpg

One thing to remember with a widescreen monitor, though, is that certain resolutions actually distort their display somewhat. A widescreen monitor is designed for aspect ratios of 16:9, which is decimally represented as 1.7777777. 1366X768 is very close to that (1.7786758) - but resolutions of, say, 1152X648, 1280X720, 1680X945 or 1920X1080 are exact. It all depends on personal preference and whether someone tolerates distortion. For example, a 4:3 aspect ratio (1.3333333), which is designed for a normal monitor and/or TV, is not at all good on a widescreen monitor/TV. Here's an example of 1280X960:

Click for larger image: 1280-3w.jpg

YUK - images and text are stretched out! The correct display (at 1280X720) looks like this:

Click for larger image: 1280-3.jpg

[EmeraldRose]

I wonder if Emerald Rose's problem with her keyboard last April was the same one I'm having - the keys are slippery. I still can't get used to it. My finger also slip on the touchpad, and after an hour or so I start getting cramps in my forearm all the way to the elbow.

The problems with this "new" keyboard arose from the fact that it is smaller and flatter, without the numbers on the right side (just on second row). I can't use the standard hand rest anymore, so my wrists and hands get more sore than they did before. I've gotten used to it by now, though.

I love it that I am no the only person who says FANTABALOUS.  I love combining words!;)  And I would love to have one of those computers. I hear they rock!!

Yes, Taeylor, this computer really rocks! It's nice to know that you like combining words, too.

----- Sally -----

[Philippe Cordier]

Ah - so you're seeing something similar to this:

Exactly! Thanks for the additional explanations and screen shots, MB. I didn't really understand it before.

It was a little disappointing to learn that my screen resolution isn't quite a perfect match for the widescreen format, although as you show, it's pretty close. I think information like this should be explained somewhere when you purchase a computer.

I don't feel so bad now that I'm far from the only one not getting the full view of the Antique Shop window ... but if there are more of us who can't see the whole thing than those viewing on jumbo TV screens who can see it all, is there any possibility that you might consider letting more people see more of the background?

The problems with this "new" keyboard arose from the fact that it is smaller and flatter, without the numbers on the right side (just on second row). I can't use the standard hand rest anymore, so my wrists and hands get more sore than they did before. I've gotten used to it by now, though.

Thanks for sharing that, E.R. My new keyboard does have a number pad on the right side, but I originally learned typing on a manual typewriter where the numbers were in a row above the letters, and that's what my last computer had. I've used both, but don't really have a strong preference either way.

I'm hoping I don't end up with carpal tunnel syndrome. I didn't have a problem with my old laptop.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As you might have surmised, I change the background every time the storyline changes for the Watching Project. The backgrounds for 1968/1969 and 1897 showed a good amount of the images I'd used regardless of the widescreen resolution people might have been using. It was a harder task to come up with images that said Leviathans - and probably the lowest widescreen resolution that really does them justice is 1680X945 (and that one isn't even available for all monitors). But the background will be changing for 1970PT before too long - and what I have planned will work out better for the lower widescreen resolutions.  

[Philippe Cordier]

the background will be changing for 1970PT before too long - and what I have planned will work out better for the lower widescreen resolutions.

Will look forward to see what you have planned! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This theme now has a new background in honor of PT Angelique retaking her place at Collinwood:

At 1680X1050:

Click for larger image: 1680-4.jpg

[Mysterious Benefactor]

You may have noticed that due to the switch of the WP's storyline to the Summer of '70, this theme now has a new background:

At 1680X1050:

Click for larger image: 1680-5.jpg

If your browser isn't showing this new background, then you need to clear your browser's cache.  

[Mysterious Benefactor]

With the switch of the WP's storyline to 1840 comes the first new 1840/41 background (a classic scene between Gerard and Julia):

At 1680X1050:

Click for larger image: 1680-6.jpg

If your browser isn't showing this new background, then you need to clear your browser's cache.