(As always, click on the image above to get the full-sized wallpaper image.)

As far as I can tell, that’s it for this “series.” I haven’t been able to find any more in this style beyond the ones I’ve already posted.

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 83 Another classically drawn wallpaper based off of the manga "The...
2. Desktop Madness Vol. 3 This week's desktop madness is brought to you by poise...
3. Desktop Madness Vol. 80 The 80th installment of Desktop Madness features a whole host...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Apparently it turns out that there is a series of these wallpapers for various characters, and I seem to have some of them already posted: here’s one for Mikuru, and here’s one for Yuki.

In the spirit of “gotta collect them all,” I will keep my eyes open for any others in this series and post them here on Desktop Madness as I get them!

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 84 Yet another manga-style wallpaper from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya."...
2. Desktop Madness Vol. 29 These are some very... interesting wallpapers. Or perhaps "odd" would...
3. Desktop Madness Vol. 75 The 75th installment of Desktop Madness celebrates that wacky anime...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Azumanga Daioh is, in general, about a small group of high-school girls, telling the stories of their daily lives throughout high school. While that might sound a bit boring at first (and, arguably, it is) the beauty of this series is in its execution.

If this series was about “normal” girls, it would be pretty boring – thankfully, the characters in this series are anything but “normal.”

From Chio-chan the child genius to Osaka the… ummm… Osakan “idiot,” the cast of Azumanga Daioh is as colorful as the series itself.  Each character has their own unique quirks, and the combination of them all is likely to leave you in stitches from laughing so hard.

Some of the humor comes from over-the-top exaggeration, while other bits come from subtle non-sequiturs that may have you doing double-takes. From wacky dream sequences to a teacher who is a little too honest about why he became a high-school teacher, Azumanga Daioh is a series that is full of fun little stories that almost anyone can enjoy.

Because of the nature of the story (high school) the series is naturally limited – once the characters graduate high school, the story is basically over. So it’s not one of those super-long winded series that just goes on and on and on without any sort of end in sight. Another advantage of this shorter run (just 24 episodes) is that you can get the entire series in just 1 DVD box set (reasonably priced) and can even pick up the entire 4-volume manga set in one single large omnibus volume (although I recommend the individual books, since the omnibus version, by its very nature, shrinks the page art a little bit).

Overall, I highly recommend this series – as well as the manga on which it is based.

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 61 I’ve really been getting into this lately. I somehow found...
2. Desktop Madness, Vol. 62 What can I say? This series just makes me laugh!...
3. Fun with Music I love making mix CDs. They're so much fun to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Previously, I’d only played around with Windows 7 through the betas and release candidates in a virtual machine – which, by its very nature, lacked the power to really let Windows 7 shine.

My new computer, on the other hand, has enough “oomph” to let me turn on all the bells & whistles so I can see how they work and which ones I like. This has allowed me to really get a “feel” for Windows 7 – arguably in an even better way than I did with Vista on my old computer.

So far, I have to say that I am very pleased.

If you’ve read any other Windows 7 reviews, you’ve probably read a lot of praise on how Windows 7 is a great leap forward, it’s so nice, etc.

Well, those people weren’t lying.

Windows 7 is incredibly polished. I’m sort of a details person, so these little details, the “fit & finish” of Windows 7 really impress me.

In any case, let’s get down to the details – in a nice, convenient list format:

• Multitasking: you need a true multi-core CPU to get the benefits of this, but Windows 7 does a superb job of running lots and lots of programs all at once without any sort of trouble between them. And if one program goes down, you can just kill it and keep on truckin’ – no reboot required.
• Stability: Windows 7  has so far been incredibly stable for me – and I tend to push my computers hard, so I’m one to know. Of course, part of this is due to the fact that I’m running the 64-bit version, and the 64-bit versions of Windows don’t allow “unsigned” drivers. And since device drivers are often the biggest contributor to instability in Windows, the fact that only “signed” drivers are allowed means that (overall) the quality of drivers is much higher – which means, in turn, that Windows is more stable.
• UAC: My biggest gripe in Windows Vista was the UAC prompts that would pop up in various places – most annoying to me, personally, was when I tried to drag & drop to re-arrange folders in my start menu (I like to have my start menu nice & neat). If the folder or icon I was dragging & dropping was in the “All users” branch of the start menu, I’d get a UAC prompt when moving it. It was just incredibly annoying. In Windows 7 these prompts come up less often, which makes me very happy!
• New Task bar: This is one place where I found myself unhappy with the default Windows 7 behavior, which is to show programs in the task bar by icon only (even when the program is open). I like being able to read the title of a window at a glance, without having to mouse over it, so I turned that functionality off. Plus, having the task bar buttons be full-sized with titles helps visually distinguish (even more) between running programs and programs that are just “pinned” to the task bar.
• Glass Effects: speaking of the task bar, if you hover your mouse over open programs, you’ll see that the sort of glowing colored highlight follows your mouse pointer – as if your mouse pointer were a light shining on the button. On top of that, the color of the highlight is based on the color of the program’s icon… Niiiiiice. It’s little details like this that really impress me.
• Aero Peek: Though I think the name is a bit pretentious, it is a handy feature. Basically the evolution of the “show desktop” button in that you can just hover over it, and it will make all open Windows 100% transparent so you can see your desktop (any windows that are not full-screen will show a faint outline so you know where they are). Other than that, the button acts just like the old “show desktop” button – click it once to show the desktop, click it again to restore all windows. Simple and easy, but it’s nice to have it permanently attached to the task bar, so you don’t lose it.
• Libraries: I’m not exaggerating here – I love libraries. I’d been wishing for some sort of functionality like this for years, without even realizing it – or even being able to describe what I wanted. But libraries deliver. Got a folder with some pictures in it, in some strange location on your computer? Just add it to your “Pictures” library and now it’ll show up as if you had copied it into your “My Pictures” folder – but without actually having to copy it there! And since things like Windows Media Center and so on use libraries (rather than specific folders), it makes managing a music & movie collection so much easier!
• Windows Media Center: The new UI for Windows Media Center is nice, but I didn’t really mind the UI in Vista either, so this doesn’t really impress me that much. It’s nicer, sure, but not enough for me to sing its praises.
• Windows Media Center Extender Support: OK, so maybe I will sing the praises of the new Media Center UI – at least, as it applies to Windows Media Center Extenders. Because the new UI applies to these little, under-appreciated, under-powered devices. My Media Center Extender (MCE) hasn’t gotten any faster, but it looks nicer and it works more smoothly than it did when it was connected to a Vista computer. So there’s a bonus there.
• Media Sharing & “Play To”: In addition to having a Media Center Extender, my new TV also supports the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standard, which means it can connect to my computer and stream media (pictures, videos, music) from my computer. Under Vista, the only way to get this media was to browse for it from the TV – and the UI was a bit clunky and sometimes crashed! With Windows 7 however, the game has changed. Although the UI for browsing media directly from the TV is still clunky and slow, it is much more stable. And if that’s not your cup of tea, you can play media directly from the PC to the TV by right-clicking a file and choosing “Play To” and then selecting the TV (Windows detects any DLNA devices on the network automatically – though they do have to be turned on first!). There is just something deeply, geekily cool about selecting a video on your computer and then hearing it start to play in the other room!
• Videos link on the Start Menu: It’s a little thing, but it was always very annoying to me that in Vista there was no “Videos” link option on the Start Menu. You had links to Documents, Pictures, and Music – but no Videos! Thankfully, this little oversight has been corrected in Windows 7. Again, it’s the little things that really add up and make Windows 7 such a pleasure to use.
• Drag and Drop re-arrange of Task bar buttons: I’m not talking about pinned items, but actual task bar buttons for open programs – you can now drag & drop to re-arrange them as you see fit. Previously, you needed a 3rd party program to enable this feature. It’s not a big deal, but it’s nice if you’ve got a lot of windows open and you want them arranged in a certain order.
• Volume control for multiple audio devices: Although Windows Vista handled volume control pretty well (you could adjust volume on a per-program basis), Windows 7 takes this even further. Now, most people will only ever have 1 audio device – their main sound card – in their computer, but increasingly you find people with secondary sound cards – maybe a USB headset, like I have (for Skype, etc.). When you click the “Volume” icon in the taskbar, it shows the “main” volume control, same as always. But, if you are using a secondary audio device (like, say, you have Skype open and are using your headset), when you click the “Volume” icon you get two volume sliders – one for the main volume, and one for the secondary device. Nice! You can control the volume for each individually – very handy!

So those are the big new things I’m very happy about with Windows 7. Suffice it to say, if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend you upgrade. Believe me – it is well worth it!

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 18 Yes, it's the long-awaited (you have been waiting, haven't you?)...
2. Windows Media Center Extender Follow-Up It's been over a month since I brought a Linksys-branded...
3. Trying out a Windows Media Center Extender I found a good deal on a Linksys DMA2200 Media...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I had wanted one of these for a while – I always feel like my indoor photos don’t quite capture the “scope” of some of the places I’ve been.

So, when the opportunity arose, I picked one up. If you do a little searching, you’ll find that these adapters aren’t cheap – they range from $150-$175, depending on where you go. And that price shows in the packaging – the lens comes in its own protective bag, with a cover for both the front and back of the lens. It’s also quite heavy – but then again, there is quite a bit of glass in this little lens!

This fun little device screws onto the front of the Canon LA-DC58E Conversion Lens Adapter, which itself snaps onto the accessory ring around the front of the Canon Powershot S2, S3, and possibly other S-series models’ main lens. And I have to say, it looks quite impressive there!

Though, the weight of the lens makes me worried, since the conversion tube is plastic after all… but I think as long as you’re not unnecessarily rough with it, it’ll be fine.

Of course, the most important aspect of the lens is not how it looks, but how it performs! So, I had to try it out.

Fortunately, I have a very useful test subject right here – my home office. My office is quite small & narrow, so it’s a perfect place to try out some wide-angle action.

Here’s a reference shot of my office, standing in the doorway to the rest of the house:

With just the stock lens, you can’t really see much of my office at all – the view is just too narrow.

Now, here’s a picture from the exact same position, but using my new wide-angle lens adapter:

As you can see, you can… well, see a lot more of my office (except for the floor, which is dark, because the light in my office is terrible).

In the first picture, you can only just see the very edge of my computer’s monitor, while in the wide-angle shot, you can see the whole monitor (and a little bit beyond). Also, you can see the bookcase on the left-hand side, which really helps show how narrow/cramped/small my office is – something that’s lacking from the first picture (where you might think the office is much bigger, and you’re just seeing a corner of it).

There is a very slight amount of distortion around the edges of the photo, but I had to look for it, because I didn’t see it at first.

All-in-all, I’m quite pleased with the results – and I can’t wait to give it it a try someplace more exciting than my home office!

Related posts:

1. New (Camera) Toys Some new toys have begun to trickle into my hands…...
2. Mastering Wide-Angle A most interesting discussion on wide-angle photography. Not that my...
3. Latest Camera Gear Addition The latest addition to my camera gear collection has finally...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 75 The 75th installment of Desktop Madness celebrates that wacky anime...
2. Desktop Madness Vol. 36 The 36th installment of Desktop Madness features a bright, colorful...
3. Valentine’s Day I post this poem every year, because I'm a geek....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

And of course, still others just get pissed off because they don’t have a significant other, and the whole day and everything associated with it seems to be just rubbing that fact in their face, making them very bitter and cranky.

Around here, I sort of have a tradition of mocking Valentine’s Day in the strongest way possible. And this year is no different. (There’s a bit of strong language on this image, so you’ll have to click on that link to see it.)

Enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Bitter, Cranky Keithius Valentine's day always makes me bitter & cranky; probably because...
2. Valentine’s Day I post this poem every year, because I'm a geek....
3. Valentine’s Day Oh for heaven’s sake. If you MUST have something to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 80 The 80th installment of Desktop Madness features a whole host...
2. Desktop Madness Vol. 43 In the spirit of “Talk like a Pirate Day,” here...
3. Desktop Madness Vol. 22 A whole bunch of new desktop wallpapers in today's installment...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s hard to explain why this keeps happening. There hasn’t been a successful terror attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. The terrorists who were tried in criminal proceedings since 9/11 are rotting in jail. The Christmas Day terror attack was both amateurish and unsuccessful. The Christmas bomber is evidently cooperating with intelligence officials without the need to resort to thumbscrews. In a rational universe, one might conclude that all this is actually good news. But in the Republican crazy-place, there is no good news. There’s only good luck. Tick tock. And the longer they are lucky, the more terrified Americans have become.

Some of this can be explained as simple one-upmanship; when your political platform is “fighting terrorism,” each time you run for re-election you kind of have to vow to “do more” than you did last time (or more than your opponent did), which leads to “more security” and “tougher stances” and so forth.

The problem is that the American public is going along with this. That’s what really worries me. It’s like the whole country is infected with some sort of “fear disease:”

We’re terrified when a terror attack happens, and we’re also terrified when it’s thwarted. We’re terrified when we give terrorists trials, and we’re terrified when we warehouse them at Guantanamo without trials. If a terrorist cooperates without being tortured we complain about how much more he would have cooperated if he hadn’t been read his rights. No matter how tough we’ve been on terror, we will never feel safe enough to ask for fewer safeguards.

You may agree or disagree with his policies, but you can’t argue with the truth in what Franklin D. Roosevelt said during his inaugural speech: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

I think it’s time and past time we all remembered that.

Related posts:

1. Never Fear Fear. Fear has been used throughout our history to justify...
2. Movie-Plot Threats "They're good for scaring people, but it's just silly to...
3. Over-reacting Once again, let me quote a recent Bruce Schneier blog...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

In celebration of this milestone (and of my new computer, which shares a name with today’s wallpaper theme), here’s a whole bunch of Yotsuba themed wallpapers, inspired by that awesome manga series Yotsuba&!

As always, just click on any of the thumbnails above to see (and download) the full-sized image for your desktop enjoyment.

Enjoy everything!

Related posts:

1. Desktop Madness Vol. 81 A special Valentine's Day themed installment of Desktop Madness....
2. Desktop Madness Vol. 22 A whole bunch of new desktop wallpapers in today's installment...
3. Desktop Madness Vol. 43 In the spirit of “Talk like a Pirate Day,” here...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.