Tech Talk: Liven up your desktop

Editor’s note

This is the first installment in a regular column from local tech expert Ernie Dambach, to highlight our newest page — a weekly technology page that will publish on Wednesdays.

Dear Ernie,

Like many people, I spend countless hours staring into the electronic abyss of my glowing computer screen. Is there a way to banish my boring desktop?

Absolutely! There’s no reason to settle for boring when there are a bevy of beautiful backgrounds available with just a few clicks of the mouse. Here are four ways to improve your PCs desktop.

Background Boogie: To battle boredom, try out this great Microsoft application which lets you cycle between wallpapers automatically. Imagine how much fun you’ll have selecting between the 100 high-resolution wallpapers! http://wallpapers.msn.com.

Apple Appearance/PC Presence: Like the look of the Apple side of the PC spectrum? There are plenty of ways to recreate this look on your PC. Here are two good sites to motivate your makeover: www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/ or http://circledock.wikidot.com/

Movie Magic: Windows Vista Ultimate users can take advantage of an amazing selection of looping movie backgrounds called DreamScenes. Download these and your screen will never be never be static again. Don’t have Windows Vista Ultimate? Moving desktops are available to download at www.stardock.com.

Wallpaper Wonders: Wanna kick it up a notch and sport wallpaper that is not anything like your neighbor’s screen in the next cubical? There are many awesome ones available for free on the Internet. Try these: www.vladstudio.com or www.hamaddarwish.com.

Tip of the week

Iconic Icons: Yeah, we all depend on desktop icons to simplify our screens, but the accompanying text is mostly unnecessary. Here’s an easy way to streamline. Right click on an icon and click on Rename. Then using the number pad on the right-hand side of the keyboard, hold down the ALT key and type in 255 and press enter. For the next icon type 255 twice, and carry on until your desktop is gloriously text-free.

iPhone application

Here’s a cool free iPhone download that will serve you well next time you are stuck in a DMV line or anytime you’ve got time to burn. Lux Touch is billed as the closest thing to Risk that is currently available for the iPhone. Touch the area of the map that you want to attack and the game responds accordingly with a random result of win/loss. Although human vs. human play is missing, there is great sound and hey it’s free! Play on.

Kings Beach resident Ernie Dambach is a self-admitted computer geek who likes helping others find their way through the vast and varied computer highway. His computer and networking company Tahoe Tech Group serves small and medium businesses, as well as the home computer users throughout the Tahoe Truckee region.Log onto www.tahoetechgroup.com or call (530) 550-0999.