# Recommend some good, safe screensaver sites **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 27, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880 "2005-11-27T04:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/1 "2005-11-27T04:41:22Z")
When i moved, I ditched the TV and set up a computer in my living room as the same “focal point” a TV would have. It’s been years since I gave a rat’s ass about screensavers (“blank” or “starfield” were good enough for me) but now I think it’d be cool to have some good screen savers for when my “TV” isn’t on. But screensavers you can find free online make me very nervous. They’re executeables. I’ve seen some nasty things done by screensavers that make me not want to take a chance on downloading just any old thing. So, tell me about some SAFE screensavers you have and where you got them. I’m interested in: Ones with ambient sound (like a fishtank) Seasonal ones Picture slideshows Bands Way cool TV shows or movies But remember - ONLY ones you know are safe! I am willing to spend a coupla bucks on a worthwhile download. After all, it is “home decor” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/2 "2005-11-28T20:06:54Z")
Bumping this so I can ask a mod to move to IMHO ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/3 "2005-11-28T20:15:49Z")
If you have a lot of your own pictures, and you’re running XP, you should have an image slideshow screensaver option built into Windows. That’s what my machine is set to; it’s kind of cool seeing a random assortment of my pictures. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/4 "2005-11-29T13:59:25Z")
Moved to IMHO from Cafe Society, as requested by **ZipperJJ**. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/5 "2005-11-29T16:22:03Z")
Screen savers were once necessary to keep from burning an image into your monitor screen. They’re no longer necessary, except for entertainment. I use a photo of my dog or some St. Louis Cardinals player as my desktop background, and after 20 minutes of inactivity, the monitor goes blank. I knew one guy who had a screensaver with a tinky-tink soundtrack that would kick in twenty minutes after he left the office. Most of the folks in that office would work 30 minutes in the office in the morning, then spend the rest of the day in the plant. The one woman who had to stay there all day was just about ready to take a sledgehammer to the one computer with the tacky soundtrack. I showed her how to shut the music off. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/6 "2005-11-29T16:29:38Z")
I think if I wanted to drive a co-worker mad, I’d find a way to play **Badger,badger, badger** all day.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/7 "2005-11-29T17:52:13Z")
I downloaded the Demotivators screensaver from [despair.com](http://despair.com). Paid about $15 as I recall, but I think there is also a demo version with fewer pics or something like that. Some friends also gave me a nice aquarium screensaver for my birthday. It’s called Marine Aquarium 2. I miss After Dark, even if we technically don’t need it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![VegaBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ee7513/32.png) [@VegaBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegaBean)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/8 "2005-11-29T18:02:33Z")
\*\*AskNott \*\* - I had a similar thing- I once turned off the screen saver of a co-worker. She’d always leave early for lunch and it would soon start with ducks swooping and quacking. When she found out I’d turned it off she was livid, really ranting. And she complained to the supervisor. Who told her not to annoy the other workers and turn her machine off before going to lunch. When she said that was impractical he laughed, telling her he knew she left the screen on so he wouldn’t know if she’d ducked out early. So after that, not only did she have to turn off the noise, but she had to wait until noon to leave. She never forgave me, but I thought it was funny, poetic justice. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/9 "2005-11-29T19:33:06Z")
At [Telus Mobility](http://www.telusmobility.com/coolstuff/ss_home.shtml) there is a screensaver featuring cute little animals! And it is trustworthy - Telus is one of the major telephone companies in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/10 "2005-11-29T19:50:22Z")
We do what **Ethilrist** does–watch a slide show of our pictures. Here are free screensavers of lovely photographs of the natural beauty of Kentucky. Very reliable, offered by Kentucky Educational Television, our state’s public television network. [http://www.ket.org/screensaver/](http://www.ket.org/screensaver/) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/11 "2005-11-29T19:55:38Z")
We do what **Ethilrist** does–watch a slide show of our pictures. Here are free screensavers of lovely photographs of the natural beauty of Kentucky. Very reliable, offered by Kentucky Educational Television, our state’s public television network. [http://www.ket.org/screensaver/](http://www.ket.org/screensaver/) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/12 "2005-11-29T20:24:12Z")
My two favorite geeky non-slideshown (done to death) screensavers: [System47.](http://www.mewho.com/system47/) Turn your screen into a gen-u-ine _Star Trek_ ICARS display. [Strat Wars.](http://stratwars.crazythought.net/StratWars.html) Wage 3-D poloygonal space battles on your computer. Build your own scenarios! (“Dude, it’d be so cool if _Star Wars_ fought _Battlestar Galactica_!”) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-safe-screensaver-sites/332880/13 "2005-11-29T21:00:34Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Ones with ambient sound (like a fishtank) You can get a Gold Fish tank [here.](http://www.lifeglobe.com/?ref=SereneScreen) They also make marine aquariums and I think they have a koi pond now.