what do you do to chill out with your computer?

[Frost Sheridan]

while talking with a friend of mine recently, he mentioned that my website's homepage is really good to just zone out to because of its subtle animations. it's not totally static and lifeless, but it's not too wild and overbearing either - it's just the right balance to keep your mind occupied.

this prompted me to think more about the idea of just chilling out and vibing with your computer. when i was younger, my #1 pastime was just doing fun, whimsical stuff on the PC with no particular goal or idea in mind, just exploring what it has to offer. stuff like messing around with kid pix, making animations in powerpoint, swapping out the textures on the Windows 3D Maze screensaver, and rooting around in the windows directory to unearth stuff like onestop.mid. since i've grown up however, that kinda just stopped happening. i'd still use my computer for fun stuff of course - artwork, video games, programming, web browsing - but i was always working towards some kind of goal. the computer became just a tool instead of a magical universe to explore and get lost in in its own right.

since i started getting more interested in older tech over the past few years, i've started to get back into the mindset of computers being their own world to explore, tinker, and have fun with, without necessarily needing to work towards a specific goal. sometimes i'll start up some of the preinstalled sony software on my vaio computers (like Sony PictureGear or VAIO Media) just to explore and interact with their inventive menus and functions, or heck around with kid pix and make something wacky just like i used to when i was younger (it's still fun!).

i've also been thinking about making some cool explorable and interactive menus and environments to add to my website for this purpose too.

so my actual question is - what kind of software/programs/websites/stuff like this do you (or did you) guys use to just chill out/zone out/hang out/vibe with your computer?

[doubleincision]

i love to tinker with customization on my PC! that was largely how i learned to use the computer as a kid; i would mess around with the family PC to make it pretty i never really grew out of that, tbh—i guess i just have an insatiable urge to make my computer look cool. can't work with an ugly desktop!! recently i discovered WindowBlinds and Open-Shell so i've got my computer set up with an XP-inspired look.

i also like to look at old software for fun. i have a particular interest in those old graphics, texture, clipart, and art collection CDs. i found one a few weeks ago that has a huge collection of dragon-themed artwork so i spent like 2 hours looking through all of the art and also looking up the artists to see if they're still around.

[appleAlc]

I like to go down wikipedia & Wiktionary rabbit-holes, Project Gutenberg is also neat : 3
On my school laptop, I like to futz with settings and see just how everything works, how the management of it works, et cetera.

[doubleincision]

oh, i've also literally conditioned my brain to get sleepy while doing crosswords online every night i get in bed and do crosswords on my phone on the Washington Post website or Best Crosswords. i can barely make it through one before i start falling asleep!

[TheFrugalGamer]

I love doing this too! My favorite thing is to go exploring on the internet and find new blogs and unique, creative sites to play with. Sometimes I'll also just play around with the software on my computers, since I've got tons on all of them and sometimes I forget what's on there.

Usually I'll start drawing in whatever paint programs I've got and make some artwork, some good, some not so good. But it doesn't matter, since I'm just having fun.

I think having that sort of "down time" without goals is good for the brain. It lets you relax and process things instead of being hyper-focused all the time.

[Memory]

I make an effort to look at and reply to most new topics on Melonland, then I go check my mails, perhaps continue building my website, or play video games and chat with my friends.

If we had a chatroom, I'd hang out there every day.

[debleb]

as a kid i enjoyed a good round of dragging about the select box on the desktop and seeing if i could line up all the corners with my background but now i realise i’ve not done that in quite a while 

[Frost Sheridan]

i love to tinker with customization on my PC! that was largely how i learned to use the computer as a kid; i would mess around with the family PC to make it pretty i never really grew out of that, tbh—i guess i just have an insatiable urge to make my computer look cool. can't work with an ugly desktop!! recently i discovered WindowBlinds and Open-Shell so i've got my computer set up with an XP-inspired look.

i somewhat recently discovered windowblinds as well and i don't know how i was ever able to use windows without it! i've been using this Alter Ego skin and it makes my computer so much more enjoyable to use.

as a kid i enjoyed a good round of dragging about the select box on the desktop and seeing if i could line up all the corners with my background but now i realise i’ve not done that in quite a while 

i remember that sometimes on my old windows ME computer, the select boxes would get 'stuck' on the desktop and not disappear when i released the mouse button, so i could draw on the desktop with them until i opened a program or did something else to cause the desktop to redraw.

[debleb]

i remember that sometimes on my old windows ME computer, the select boxes would get 'stuck' on the desktop and not disappear when i released the mouse button, so i could draw on the desktop with them until i opened a program or did something else to cause the desktop to redraw.

little me wouldve gone crazy for that  !

[Commodorn]

These activities are more mindless than what I usually do, but there's something about taking my mouse or an image I've selected in MS Paint and pretending it's a little character by making it walk, creep, or jump around. That and holding shift while dragging something around in Paint can entertain me for a while. (If you haven't done that before, it digitally smears what you've selected as you move it around the canvas.)

--When I'm not doing anything like that, logic games like Minesweeper will always be my favorite.

[JackFrost]

I constantly customize my desktop because I want it to look as good as possible! I also just randomly annoy engies on trade servers or try to tauntkill people in tf2. Sometimes i just go on random sites. Idk I do different things every day

[doubleincision]

i somewhat recently discovered windowblinds as well and i don't know how i was ever able to use windows without it! i've been using this Alter Ego skin and it makes my computer so much more enjoyable to use.

woahhh that skin goes hard. i may have to steal your look

[bingus_baby]

Mostly when tinkering I don't screw with programs so much as hardware! Unfortunately that's not in the cards for me so much these days, since I'm mostly away from any of my customizable devices. Namely, my main computers are an all-in-one iMac built like Fort Knox, and a MacBook. (Even my Windows computer is an impenetrable tablet.) But over the summer I was trying to fix my old computer's floppy drive! (Hopefully when I'm next reunited I'll finally fix it!! It's at my parent's house multiple states away, unfortunately.) Only reason I'm separated from these bad boys is moving from here to there it gets hard to lug around those beasts. I've had to sacrifice fun for convenience. But when I do mess around mindlessly with software, I browse forums, my emails, social media. Since I went to the dark side (MacOS) there's less goofy fun to be had and more productivity due to Apple nuking old programs that haven't been updated in a while. While on Windows it's fun to download old programs for fun! There's so much software to be found deep in the web! I've made it my goal to save as many weird programs and utilities as I get my hands on rather than deleting them when I don't need 'em anymore. I'm a file hoarder through and through... Plus, the reliance on websites these days is super lame, even if it is convenient. I know people who could live the rest of their lives with an iPhone and no desktop computer. I can't complain, convenience is key, but doesn't that get boring? Like damn... If I never had to download a dubious .exe to do a highly specific task ever again, I'd probably wither away ;_;

[cheassbabble]

I tend to play games that makes me chill. The games I play to chill constantly change. Sometimes its Half-life 2, Spelunky 2 or Garry's mod but currently I mostly play Momentum mod surf, Ultrakill cybergrind or The binding of Isaac. I can chill to almost any game that I am familiar with except a few like Counter-Strike Global offensive. I suck so much that I always ragequit.
Sometimes I like to browse completely random profiles on steam to look at the games they play and how they customized their profile. On steam I also just look at sales, try to find new games or use the discovery queue.

[SilkSkull]

List time!!

• Explore windows files
• Explore files I forgot I had
• Minesweeper!!!
• This youtube channel called TripleJump
• Ambient Rain sounds
• Messing around with the little goodies that are in windows (Shout out to MSpaint)
• Read visual novels