Today I am Conan O’Brien; yesterday I was a brick of yellow cheese. This is made possible by a Web site called CometCursor.com, located on the Web at http://www.cometcursor.com/. The Web site offers the free download of a program that enables users to change their cursor, the little arrow on the screen that moves and clicks on stuff, to hundreds of different characters.
Some of the different cursor skins include TV shows, such as South Park and Friends, food items like sushi and doughnuts, and popular musical acts like Hanson and Britney Spears. And for the hippie in all of us there are butterflies, peace signs and flowers.
I was introduced to CometCursor.com by Dan DeSanto, volunteer coordinator for AmeriCorps at Portland State, when I complemented him on the saw his cursor was masquerading as that day.
CometCursor.com requires Windows 95/98/2000/ME/NT and Internet Explorer version 4.01 with SP2 or above. The download is quick, easy and it places a hot link on your computer’s toolbar for easy access to hundreds of delightful characters.
It has become a ritual for me to change my cursor skin daily or weekly with my mood. Some days I feel like wielding a cup of coffee, other days a flame or a beatnik. There are even days when I want to brighten up my computer experience with a loveable ladybug.
The opportunity for self-expression on your computer has evolved from the basic marquee or space travel screensavers to personalized backgrounds, and now to a Snoopy cursor. The monotony of navigating through the Internet superhighway with the same boring white arrow is over.