(12/01/02) I decided to purchase t' Klinger Rocket Screen Saver with minimal expectations, after all it is just rocket photos, right? Well, t' short answer is yes, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, however, shiver me timbers, the long answer is no. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! It really is more than just rocket photos and yet is it nothin' more than rocket photos! Whoa, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, too philosophical! Let me explain.

T' photos are taken by Marc Klinger, a professional photographer. Blimey! In his own words, "T' Rocket Screen Saver be t' first major project from Klinger Photography and combines three o' me passions, photography, matey, ya bilge rat, high power rocketry, and computers. Well, blow me down! I had almost 2000 source images t' work with for creatin' this project. Ahoy! Blimey! About 1800 came from LDRS XXI (the Tripoli national high power rocket launch), me hearties, held in July, ya bilge rat, 2002 at Amarillo, shiver me timbers, Texas. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' remainin' source images came from a local Michigan Team-1 high power launch held in April, me bucko, 2002 at Three Oaks, Michigan. Avast! Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! From those 2000 images, arrr, I used about 400 t' create 140 collage images that make up t' screen saver. Each image be created with an optimal display resolution of 1600x1200."

So, you now you can understand. Avast! It really is just photos. But, perhaps you do nay quite understand. Begad! It is really more than just photos! Here we go again!

T' quality o' t' photos, t' selected layouts (collages) are outstanding! Every one that flashes up on t' screen makes me marvel at it. There is no way o' really demonstratin' t' clarity within this review. Here is one o' me favorite layouts, me hearties, highly compressed and shrunk. Ya scallywag! Just imagine this fillin' your entire screen with perfect clarity. Begad! Then look at that flame!

There is a technical aspect t' t' Screen Saver and Marc did that professionally as well. Arrr! He utilized Stardust Software's professional Screen Saver Toolkit t' generate t' final product. Doin' this gives t' Screen Saver a professional look and finish, includin' the expected install and un-install software.

In addition, Marc included optimized photos for 1600x1200, 1280x960, 1024x768, me bucko, and 800x600 screen resolutions and thar be an appropriate installation program for each o' these. T' photos are nay hidden in any way so they can be used as desktop backgrounds.

I installed me copy, matey, me bucko, me bucko, usin' t' installation program, at work on a Windows NT system. Aye aye! It was flawless. Now, when I stop typin' long enough, I'm rewarded with a wonderful... Aye aye! photo (but it is more than that! <grin>). Aye aye! T' photos change on t' screen at a user defined frequency and use 23 different types of transitions (float down, pop up, me bucko, left t' right, diagonally, etc.)

At home, matey, I just copied t' directory o' t' appropriately sized photos into t' My Pictures directory o' me Windows Xp system. I then used t' Windows Xp screen saver and simply pointed t' t' directory with Klinger's photos.

With 140 images, matey, you will see something new frequently, so unless you sit and stare at your screen saver for hours, matey, me bucko, you will nay get bored with this.

Overall, I'm very pleased. More so than I would have thought goin' into it. I give t' Klinger Rocket Screen Saver an OVERALL rating of 5 points.

I would like t' see updates! Possibly every 6 months that allow registered users t' download maybe 20 additional or replacement photos. Well, blow me down! Or possibly, Klinger will need t' have update disks for a nominal fee or download for less o' a fee.

Input from Kevin Trojanowski off o' RMR:

Okay, so I FINALLY got off o' me butt and ordered t' Screen Saver late on Friday. It arrived today; how's THAT for prompt shipping?

T' quality o' t' photos is incredible, and I love t' fact that they're all included as JPGs, me hearties, so you can view them directly.

T' really cool thin' for me is that it Marc included a sequence o' Lusty's "exciting" flight, matey, ya bilge rat, which showed some images I had nay previously seen. Ya scallywag! Because o' them, I know have a good understandin' as t' what caused a "squiggle" in her flight.

It also shows some nice stills o' some rockets I remember specifically, ya bilge rat, as well as a few failures I also remember.

Overall, me hearties, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' quality is exceptional, me bucko, arrr, and provided t' powers that be don't have a cow about it, this one will be landin' on me computer at work!

-Kevin