Filed under: Hacks
A dynamic screensaver, DIY style
Glenn Franxman at HackerMojo just put up a Python script that makes pictures pulled from MetroPulse into a screensaver. It's a mere 17 lines of code (which you can easily modify without knowing Python) that run as a cron job, downloading the images into the directory that you specify for the "Choose Folder..." screensaver.
It's a simple, fun way to keep your screensaver interesting using a minimum of tools. There have been similar applications for services like Flickr, such as FlickrSavr or the screensaver that comes with 1001, but the simplicity of just updating the pictures in the screensaver folder is appealing. And a screensaver seems like a perfect application for my previous ideas involving mdfind and sips. By using the simple method Glenn applies in his Python script, and making a few modifications to the "Spotlight Gallery" Perl script, you could make your screen display the last 20 or so images added to your own system. That could truly be a practical use for the idea, depending, of course, on where the most recent images on your system come from. Yes, my mind just went there.
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