HauntedShell » Pimp my PC

Give your gnome menu a minty taste

Kwame — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:15:55 +0000

I like Ubuntu. I like being able to tweak the bits off my desktop environment. However, I also happen to like the MintMenu, the menu applet that is set up as the default for Linux Mint, a linux distro based on Ubuntu. Of course, this being Linux and all, I just had to install it.

First, you need to download it(~99kb).

Double click the .deb file to run the package installer. In my case, all dependencies were satisfied so I just had to click the “Install Package” button.
Right click your panel and “Add to Panel..”.
Scroll down a bit and you should see a ‘MintMenu’ applet.
Drag the applet to your panel and you should be set. Ubuntu with a little dash of mint!

The Quest for the Ultimate Desktop

Kwame — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:08:17 +0000

I’m on a quest for a mythical object; an aesthetically pleasing desktop that is not too distracting and lets me keep track of my tasks. This is the result of my search so far.

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Starting from the top:

I use Rocket Dock to get keep some frequently used apps handy. I’m using the built in WhiteCristal theme with opacity set to 50%. The icons are based on the Serenity Icon package. I had to rustle up some of my own icons. My files are here with PSD template included. Just copy and paste the layer styles.
CD Art Display (formerly Winamp CD Case) is a free desktop program that shows the current song cover in a skinnable display. It has support for AlbumPlayer, Helium Music Manager, iTunes, Winamp, Windows Media Player, MediaMonkey and partially supports qmp, MP3Toys, musikCube and foobar2000 (Winamp API Emulator plugin). The skin I’m using is something I whipped up with some inspiration from the Heaven o.o desktop and the Pure Adium skin. You can get that here
The clock, calendar and todo list are all done using Rainmeter. The todo list uses a font called Hand of Sean. Very nice. The stacks on the left are done using a combination of Rainmeter and StandAlone Stacks. My skin files are here
I’m using the Windows 7 style by giannisgx89 and StartKiller to hide my start button. You might have to patch your system to allow you to use custom themes, though. I used VistaGlazz for that; make sure you read the instructions and are clear about what steps to take!
Last but not least, is Launchy; very useful, especially for a keyboard junkie like me.
Wallpaper from here

That’s it for this episode. My quest to find the Ultimate desktop continues next week on Linux. Also cominig soon: Shortcut Sorcery with AutoHotKey.

Samurize: The Way of the Desktop Warrior

Kwame — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:29:58 +0000

If you are a member of that special group of computer users, the tinkerers, you are going to wonder where Samurize has been all your life. I’d seen it mentioned a few times on Lifehacker but never really paid attention. Well, my mistake. “What is Samurize?”, you ask. Well, Samurize is “an advanced system monitoring and desktop enhancement engine for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista”. Translation: lots of stats and very cool ways to play with and display them.
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The scope of features is just way too big to get into right now but basically you get to select the stats(called meters) you want, where they are displayed and how they are displayed. For example, I’m using Samurize to embedd my CPU usage, Uptime, RAM usage, free space on my C:\ and the contents of a text file containing my to-do list on my desktop.
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The built in meters include disk usage, cpu usage, network traffic, memory usage, uptime, system temperatures, battery levels, POP/IMAP mailboxes….it’s quite a comprehensive list). You can also monitor other computers over a network or publish your stats using the included server. You can even write your own scripts to power these meters if you need some specific information. The built-configuration editor allows you to really get finetune your settings and looks although it can be a bit intimidating for first time users with all the options that are available.
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All in all, Samurize is a great utility, offering comprehensive information and in-depth customization of how that information is presented. I recommend it to anyone who wants to monitor system information or anything else, for that matter.

Make a big Splashy during boot

Kwame — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:38:43 +0000

Anyone who’s ever tried to customize the Usplash theme that comes with Ubuntu knows that it’s a bit of pain. And if you’re trying to create your own theme, things just get a bit more difficult.

Enter Splashy, a boot splash manager with some very flexible features. One of the thing I like about it is that it does require any kernel patching and runs completely in userspace. And it supports 8bit, 16bit and 24bit framebuffers and TrueType fonts. Even better, its ridiculously easy to create themes for Splashy.

This tutorial was written with Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 in mind but with a little tweaking, it can be applied to Fiesty and Gutsy(if you’re using anything older, you really really realy should upgrade).

First, we need to get splashy on your system. Make sure your sources have universe enabled and are up to date. Fire up your favourite terminal and:

apt-get update

Once that’s done, next up is:

apt-get install splashy splashy-themes

This will install Splashy, a few themes and uninstall Usplash!. Once this is done, you need to edit your GRUB configuration file to setup the frame buffer:
sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.list
Scroll down and add vga=791(1024×768 millions colors) or vga=791 (1024×768 thousands colors to your default boot option
title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-5-k7 Default root (hd0,0) kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hde6 ro quiet splash vga=792 initrd /initrd.img savedefault boot
Save and reboot. Voila! You should be looking at your new boot splash. However, the default splash is a bit … bland. If you want to spice this a bit, you can change to one of the themes you installed. First check to see what themes are installed.
kwame@amaterasu:~$ ls /etc/splashy/themes aqua carbonalien default crux debian-cubism kwame@amaterasu:~$
So let’s say I want to use the aqua theme, I used the splashy_config -s to set the theme
kwame@amaterasu:~$ sudo splashy_config -s aqua >Set theme as: aqua [ DONE ]
Next, you’ll have to update your initramfs or it’ll look like the change hasn’t taken effect.
kwame@amaterasu:~$ sudo update-initramfs -u update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
You can then reboot and admire your new theme.

You can get some more info here.

Coming soon..How to make your own Splashy Themes