With dual monitors, one becomes a window into another world. I live in a forest, and even tho I have actual windows looking out to where the deer graze (literally), I spend a lot of time away from them on my computer.
They're Samsung SyncMaster 204Bs, next to each other like this.
Sometimes, I have Second Life open on a monitor and my web browser and other apps filling the other, just watching what happens. Sometimes I sit in on my tester alt, observing Second Lives being lived, going by…
I've played with HUD frames before and discovered some kewl ones which add neat effects to the edges. I've seen letterbox, vintage photo decorum, but not one with a windowsill and flowerpot at the bottom. That might be nice, now I realize I've always wanted one of those since I grew up watching Sesame Street.
I want to turn both my monitors into the panels looking outwards from a rushing train. I have this spectacular fantasy, of cruising down the countryside with a conductor hat and overalls (it's been a long time since I've worn those). Rail Simulator calls my heart.
I started taking microshowers to stave off nap drowsiness. Often, I regret taking naps, the ones where I fall into a deep sleep for ~1 hour and clunk out of bed afterwards. It's awkward and kills my flow. If I nap lightly, I can behave competently, but if I can't, that's where microshowers in: I hop in the water for about 5 minutes and it's a nice, soothing wakeup. Soap, yes. Shampoo, no.
I infrequently — but often enough to notice — have "waking visions" which feel even more real to me than lucid dreams, which I've had also. Earlier today, I fell out of bed seeing myself in a watery bulkhead not unlike the RMS Titanic sinking. The last time, I was in an insectoid battleship: that's a common theme, thinking of alien captains proficient in their piloting skills because of their disciplined, multiple limbs.
I have a fertile imagination which is impregnated on a daily basis.
Torley, speaking of deer grazing in the forest, have you heard of The Endless Forest? I have an account on there but it ran so pitifully slow on my machine I had to stop using it…now that I've offloaded some functions to my laptop, I might try again tonight.
In short, you are a stag. So is everyone else. There is no talking, there are no names (but there are mystic-looking symbols for those that want to be identified)… you communicate through body language and stag sounds. You and everyone else exist in a peaceful forest, where magic can sometimes happen (hint, sleep in the faerie rings). Sometimes the twin gods (aka the admins) come and perform a dazzling show of creation and wonder. It's art: the MMO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_Tycoon
I used to play, and actually still own (somewhere) the original Railroad Tycoon from 1990. Was quite an interesting game, although, it was very time consuming and slow, as you'd wait for the trains to travel the long stretch slowly between the stations.
Admittedly, I had a 386 computer back then, so anything including the calculator used to run slow on it.
I might have a scratch around now, I never quite managed to get the french TGV (which was THE flagship train to have at the time). I used to get banished from town by the shareholders nearly everytime, for mismanagement of the company funds, not paying loans back, and not meeting the supply and demand. =(
And now I work in a managerial role in finance - gawd help us all! =P
What you could do, is set 2 alts up and have them sit in a linden train. Have each one looking out each side of the windows. Set your SL client on each computer as full screen and hit CTRL+ALT+1 and SHIFT+ALT+H. Wammo! Instant cross screen view of a train ride virtually in real-time. You could even have something setup where one avi sits on an attachment that the other is wearing, and then with camera control, script them to walk around and such. The ideas are endless when it comes to double-vision.
Dedric: That's a CRAZY IDEA! But I like it. There's definitely a lot to be done with observer/observed. I don't personally have the resources to carry some of these out, but… I'm hoping, wishful someone else does. As is often the case when I go off on an idea journey.
Nanaki: I remember running Broderbund's Print Shop on an old PC. My, the memories. Never tried Railroad Tycoon, but I have seen some funny ones from Rollercoaster Tycoon involving a lotta death.
Elix: I've heard of that, have come close to playing it several times, haven't because of (1) time constraints and not enough interest and (2) those deer faces freakin' scare me. Hot diggity dang re: "magic", well there's an idea… more Lindens should put on sorcery shows!
Well, the magic is doing things like giving another deer (not you) a new mask, or a new set of antlers, or flowery antlers, or a new coat… or turn them into something else altogether! I logged in last night for a test now that I've lightened the load on my PC, and I encountered a sleeping deer in very neat colours with a big crazy rack, and a frog sitting beside him. Both had name glyphs on their heads.
It's not something that would hold your attention for hours upon hours for years on end, but it's VEERY pretty and a nice relaxing diversion for short periods.
Oh, and in-game, you don't have such an up-close and personal look at their faces, unlike the website, which has a BLOODY GREAT MAN-DEER HEAD front and center. The faces are a little off-putting at first, but it's veeeery beautiful in the game. Too bad I average 4-5fps and 7fps at best.
Having two monitors DOES seem to have a more immersing impact on your computer time experience.
It makes me a bit more frantic, while taking more in at one time (SL on left & messengers, homework, and translator on right [I work with all hispanics on SL but speak zero spanish]) I regret getting my second monitor but now I can't live without it, my alt+tab keys thank me.
I need to get a third already which means a new graphics card as well, so I can put my browser on the left so I can feel even more productive.
I guess my dual monitor experience is a bit less calming than Torley's
One thing that does grab me about The Endless Forest is that it reminds me of some of my fave After Dark screensavers. Gosh, I miss that thing — that was a golden age of eyecandy distractions which sometimes didn't have to serve any necessary purpose, but as you put it, Elix, "a nice relaxing diversion".
Yumil, I relate on the franticness front sometimes! At work, sometimes I get pinged left and right. It can be so distracting. I, too, am yearning for a third monitor, but don't think that's realistic because I'm outta desk space. Aside from replacing my older PC's CRT with an LCD and maybe dualizing that… but I don't really use it a lot.
Aren't these great Torley; I have the same setup w/ an ATI xt1900, and it is a joy to play Second Life at 3200×1200 resolution! ("Cept for the crashing
@Tommy: You have SL spanned across both monitors? Do you notice that slows performance significantly? I usually just have SL on my whole 2nd monitor.