A guy tries to find the origins of a Windows desktop image

http://www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/features/2007/02/autumn200702?printable=true&currentPage=all

by marketer • 18 years ago

129 15 18 years ago

vanityfair.com

andreyf2• 18 years ago

This goes to prove that good writing can make just about anything seem griping.

mixmax• 18 years ago

And that dedication can get you to the end of the rainbow.

begemot• 18 years ago

Well, I struggled to finish the piece as the author piled on the smilies and adjectives on this already heavily taxed internet camels rustic back or so I was told...

omouse• 18 years ago

I stopped after a few paragraphs. He's trying to be gonzo, Hunter S Thompson, you know, but he can't quite do it...something's missing. Or maybe not at all, I just read an essay by the guy so that could be influencing my thoughts on writing at the moment.

revorad• 18 years ago

'gripping' you mean, i take it? in which case, yes indeed!

DanielBMarkham• 18 years ago

I stopped after 4 paragraphs and then went to the bottom of the article.

I guess good writing is in the eye of the beholder? There wasn't anything wrong with it, just I've read many articles with this same pattern and unless the details of the chase interest me, I'd just as soon cut to the end.

EDIT: And don't you mean "gripping" instead of "griping" The first, I believe is to grip something, whereas the second is to complain. I hate to be Mr. Spelling Bee Person, but it was bugging me.

andreyf2• 18 years ago

I hate to be Mr. Spelling Bee Person...

I really appreciate the correction. Spelling is important.

wayne• 18 years ago

Whenever Windows desktop images are mentioned, I'm reminded of the Flickr guys who Microsoft commissioned to shoot a few images to use for Vista's desktop images. This guy made his entire shoot free for download on Flickr and many of the images are amazing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwishh/sets/72157594510047657...

jacobolus• 18 years ago

They're a pretty set of images, but most are over-saturated and over-sharpened, for my taste. (That is, they distort color relationships within the scene to an extent that I find excessive. Note: tastes vary.)

delackner• 18 years ago

If you liked this, I highly recommend the New York Trilogy by Paul Auster.

ojbyrne2• 18 years ago

This has inspired a minor quest of my own (though it probably isn't going to be as epic as his). Who said "Nobody with a decent map needs rainbows."?

Google returns 3 hits, all of which are that article.

noonespecial• 18 years ago

As one far wiser than I once must have said, Nobody with a decent map needs rainbows.

Once must have said? Sounds to me like he just made it up, included it because he thought it sounded cool, and then tried to give it a little legitimacy by couching it in that "wise old saying" meme.

Ostensibly, one concludes that you don't need the rainbow because the map shows you where the gold is... that's actually kind of dumb when you think about it. Opposite of most wise old sayings.

ojbyrne2• 18 years ago

Damn, you solved my quest. I completely misread "must" :-)

13ren• 18 years ago

http://www.peterkburian.com/-/peterkburian/gallery.asp?cat=1...

tjmc• 18 years ago

I have a theory that the default XP theme 'Bliss' is a still from The Phantom Menace, with the yellow clone troop carriers just cresting the hill at the right.

It would be easy enough to test this theory, but it involves watching the wretched thing again...

A guy tries to find the origins of a Windows desktop image

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