"Brian J. Beesley" wrote:
>
> On 4 Feb 2001, at 0:27, Alexander Kruppa wrote:
>
> Well, you could bump NTprime's priority to 4; that would let NTprime
> steal CPU cycles off the screensaver, without being too obvious to
> the user :) Don't go any higher, as you would risk seriously
> impacting the performance of foreground tasks.
One big point you can use to convince coworkers/managers etc is that
Prime95 only uses cpu time that no other process wants. Most everyone I
asked wanted explicit confirmation that Prime95 does not take cpu time
while other processes are running. I can just see them frowning at me
when I say that Prime95 will now steal only such a little amount of cpu
time..
No, I think Prime95 really should run at idle priority.
> > With the selection
> > Microsoft offers right now, that means "Blank Screen" or "Marquee" -
> > neither is extremely exciting to watch. Before long, most of them went
> > back to the old screen savers and NTprime slowed down to a halt.
>
> Does that mean that the primary purpose of the computers used by your
> coworkers is to provide a colourful distraction?
Putting a picture on a wall in an office is not the primary purpose of
an office either, yet most everyone I know does it. Everyone can set up
his workplace the way he wants it.
I can't go and tell them what to do with their computers, I was happy
enough when they agreed to let me install a strange piece of software.
If they like colorful displays then why shouldn't they have them? The
solution would be to write a screen saver that is pleasing to look at
(and not just for tech dweebs) and yet leaves enough cpu time for an
idle-priority background process.
> I suppose you could try fibbing that something interesting happens
> occasionally in the blank screen (like the teapot in the 3D pipes
> saver), and see how long you can make them stare at it ;->
>
> Regards
> Brian Beesley
How about a cute kitten that sleeps for hours, wakes up, stretches,
walks to another corner of the screen and sleeps some more? 99% static
graphics, has the "oh sweet!!" bonus and people will try to leave the
computer alone as not to disturb the kitten while Prime95 happily
crunshes away :)
Ciao,
Alex.
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