Windows DreamScene

Windows DreamScene is a utility that allows videos and .gif and other optimized animations to be used as desktop wallpapers. It is one of the Windows Ultimate Extras. Prior to its official announcement, DreamScene was rumored to be in creation under the names Motion Desktop and Borealis. After several months of testing, the final version was released on September 25, 2007.

Rendered content included with DreamScene (such as an animated realization of the Windows Aurora background) was produced by Stardock, while photographic content was provided by the Discovery Channel. Third-party video content in MPEG or WMV format may also be used. In addition, AVI files can be played by altering the file extension.

One of the purported advantages of DreamScene over previous methods of desktop animation is that it makes use of the GPU for display instead of the CPU, leaving the latter free to perform user tasks. To what extent this is achieved is not specified. When a full-screen program is run, such as a game or any window that is maximized, the video will automatically stop since the video will not be seen; this means it uses less GPU and CPU. The video can also be stopped manually. Content encoders need to strive for a balance between compression and file size; decompression requires the CPU, but larger files take up more memory and may cause the disk to be accessed more frequently.

Dream (musical)

Dream is a musical revue based on the songs of Johnny Mercer. The book is by Jack Wrangler and co-producer Louise Westergaard. The show ran on Broadway in 1997.

Production

The revue opened on Broadway on April 3, 1997 at the Royale Theatre after twenty-four previews. Directed and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, the costumes are by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting by Ken Billington and sets by David Mitchell. The cast featured Lesley Ann Warren, John Pizzarelli, Margaret Whiting, Jessica Molaskey and Brooks Ashmanskas.

It closed on July 6, 1997 after 109 performances.

Songs

All lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Dream (TV series)

Dream (Hangul: 드림) is a 2009 South Korean television series that follows the lives of a sports agent and K-1 fighters. Starring Joo Jin-mo, Kim Bum and Son Dam-bi (in her acting debut), it aired on SBS from July 27 to September 29, 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.

Plot

Nam Jae-il is a successful sports agent with some famous clients, but when one of his baseball stars gets involved in a drug case, he loses everything. But when the miserable Nam befriends former pickpocket and aspiring K-1 fighter Lee Jang-seok, and tomboyish taebo instructor Park So-yeon, he decides to regain his glory by making Lee a star.

Cast

Fantastic (magazine)

Fantastic was an American digest-size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff-Davis as a fantasy companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff-Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, and to cease publication of their other science fiction pulp, Fantastic Adventures. Within a few years sales fell, and Howard Browne, the editor, was forced to switch the focus to science fiction rather than fantasy. Browne lost interest in the magazine as a result and the magazine generally ran poor quality fiction in the mid-1950s, under Browne and his successor, Paul W. Fairman.

At the end of the 1950s Cele Goldsmith took over as editor of both Fantastic and Amazing, and quickly invigorated the magazines, bringing in many new writers and making them, in the words of one science fiction historian, the "best-looking and brightest" magazines in the field. She helped to nurture the early careers of writers such as Roger Zelazny and Ursula K. Le Guin, but was unable to increase circulation, and in 1965 the magazines were sold to Sol Cohen, who hired Joseph Wrzos as editor and switched to a reprint-only policy. This was financially successful, but brought Cohen into conflict with the newly formed Science Fiction Writers of America. After a turbulent period at the end of the 1960s, Ted White became editor and the reprints were phased out.

Alphabeat

Alphabeat are a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders SG and signed to Polydor Records. Their single "Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007 and a significant hit in the United Kingdom in 2008. Follow-up single "10.000 Nights of Thunder" (or just "10,000 Nights" in the UK) saw equal acclaim, and their eponymous debut album reached number two in Denmark and number ten in the UK. It has sold over 100,000 copies and their three top twenty singles have sold of 400,000 altogether in the region.

History

2006–07: Formation and early career

Alphabeat was made up of six members: Anders SG, Stine Bramsen, Anders B, Rasmus Nagel, Anders Reinholdt and Troels Hansen. Their sound is mainly retro 1980s melodic pop, taking inspiration from British bands Deacon Blue and Prefab Sprout, amongst others, with distinctive overlays of male and female harmonies. The band was previously named Sodastar, but this was changed to avoid confusion with a German band.