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Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

archagon.net

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Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#11

Post by codefined »

Sidnicious wrote: post #7

Another approach is to create a window at desktop level. It can even display a web page with a system web view — you probably want to opt the window out of receiving mouse events, too, to avoid interfering with drag selection on the Desktop. I do that at home with a local HTML file to randomly generate a desktop background at startup, and I’ve tried dynamic content (like a countdown clock). Code here: https://github.…

I recently looked into doing this for my Windows laptop, but found that it halved the battery life. Is this also a problem with running stuff like this on Macs?

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#12

Post by lalos »

archagon wrote: post #9
Osmium wrote: post #8

Very nice! Request: art gallery-like legends next to the artwork, with title/artist/date (I imagine this would only work with a curated source of art, but if I ever used something like this, I'd like to learn something too).

That was one of my original goals as well, but unfortunately there aren't many (any?) sources of downloadable art tagged with metadata. Hence, just the filename in the pop-up menu.

Maybe Wikipedia? Might need some scripting to filter down all the articles

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#13

Post by stephengillie »

I collect Maps of the World in a Dropbox folder, and tell Windows auto rotate to use this folder. So I see a different perspective or interpretation of "The World" every 10 minutes.

Some are just regions - USA, Europe, China, etc. Most are actual maps - places listed by Google searches or names translated from their native tongue, etc. A few are visualizations of the tallest mountains or longest rivers.

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#14

Post by nullicorn »

I see these kind of projects often, and I’m not sure how I feel about them. Art is more than just something nice to look at. By turning these pieces of art into wallpapers, it feels like the meaning, context, and significance are being stripped away. And you are missing the entire point. I could be entirely wrong as I’m no art expert.

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#15

Post by hedgehog »

codefined wrote: post #11
Sidnicious wrote: post #7

Another approach is to create a window at desktop level. It can even display a web page with a system web view — you probably want to opt the window out of receiving mouse events, too, to avoid interfering with drag selection on the Desktop. I do that at home with a local HTML file to randomly generate a desktop background at startup, and I’ve tried dynamic content (like a countdown clock). Code here: https://github.…

I recently looked into doing this for my Windows laptop, but found that it halved the battery life. Is this also a problem with running stuff like this on Macs?

Negligible energy consumption. I wrote a desktop timelapse wallpaper app for Mac that creates a below-the-desktop window containing a movie player and then plays the movie stretched over 24 hrs. Energy impact was small, something like 0.1 in Activity Monitor.

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#17

Post by archagon »

nullicorn wrote: post #14

I see these kind of projects often, and I’m not sure how I feel about them. Art is more than just something nice to look at. By turning these pieces of art into wallpapers, it feels like the meaning, context, and significance are being stripped away. And you are missing the entire point. I could be entirely wrong as I’m no art expert.

I've recently been entranced by the late works of Wayne Thiebaud[1], to the point of checking out his collections at the library and meticulously scanning them in at home. Reading about the context and inspiration behind some of his pieces was illuminating, sure; but I still get the same feeling looking at his art even with this new information as I did when it first caught my eye at SFMOMA.

To me, the aesthetic and emotional impact of the art comes first, and everything else is just a value-add.

[1]: http://poulwebb.blogspot.com/2010/11/wayne-thiebaud-cityscap...

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#18

Post by archagon »

stephengillie wrote: post #13

I collect Maps of the World in a Dropbox folder, and tell Windows auto rotate to use this folder. So I see a different perspective or interpretation of "The World" every 10 minutes. Some are just regions - USA, Europe, China, etc. Most are actual maps - places listed by Google searches or names translated from their native tongue, etc. A few are visualizations of the tallest mountains or longest rivers.

That reminds me — I need to get my hands on some scans of these older maps! https://www.wired.com/2013/08/prelinger-library-rare-maps/?p...

Re: Show HN: A Native Art Gallery for the Mac

#20

Post by madeofpalk »

codefined wrote: post #11
Sidnicious wrote: post #7

Another approach is to create a window at desktop level. It can even display a web page with a system web view — you probably want to opt the window out of receiving mouse events, too, to avoid interfering with drag selection on the Desktop. I do that at home with a local HTML file to randomly generate a desktop background at startup, and I’ve tried dynamic content (like a countdown clock). Code here: https://github.…

I recently looked into doing this for my Windows laptop, but found that it halved the battery life. Is this also a problem with running stuff like this on Macs?

Heh it's incredible hearing about someone _trying_ to do this one Windows (and Mac) - I have very vivid memories of Active Desktop on Windows 98 that let you set an HTML page as your 'wallpaper'/on your desktop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Desktop
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