Lubuntu 11.04

Here is a screenshot of my newer desktop, this machine currently runs Lubuntu 11.04 on it. You can tell the difference in speed compared to Xubuntu, which has become rather bloated these days. Nice and lightweight...no fuss or other fancy eye-candy to hog your memory, although I did get some of the Compiz effects working the other week just to play around with.

Here is my .conkyrc file in case you liked what you saw:

# UBUNTU-CONKY

# A comprehensive conky script, configured for use on

# Ubuntu / Debian Gnome, without the need for any external scripts.

#

# Based on conky-jc and the default .conkyrc.

# INCLUDES:

# - tail of /var/log/messages 

# - netstat connections to your computer

#

# -- Pengo (conky@pengo.us)

#



# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)

own_window yes

own_window_hints undecorated,below,skip_taskbar

background no



# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)

double_buffer yes



# fiddle with window

use_spacer yes

use_xft yes



# Update interval in seconds

update_interval 3.0



# Minimum size of text area

minimum_size 400 5



# Draw shades?

draw_shades yes



# Text stuff

draw_outline no # amplifies text if yes

draw_borders no



uppercase no # set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase



# Stippled borders?

stippled_borders 8



# border margins

border_margin 4



# border width

border_width 1



# Default colors and also border colors, grey90 == #e5e5e5

default_color white

default_shade_color black

default_outline_color white



own_window_colour brown

own_window_transparent yes



# Text alignment, other possible values are commented

#alignment top_left

alignment top_right

#alignment bottom_left

#alignment bottom_right



# Gap between borders of screen and text

gap_x 10

gap_y 10



# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen



override_utf8_locale no

xftfont Terminus:size=8

xftalpha 0.8



TEXT



${offset 240}${color slate grey}${time %a, } ${color }${time %e %B %G}

${offset 240}${color slate grey}${time %Z,    }${color }${time %H:%M:%S}

${offset 240}${color slate grey}UpTime: ${color }$uptime

${offset 240}${color slate grey}Kern:${color }$kernel

${offset 240}${color slate grey}CPU:${color } $cpu% ${acpitemp}C

${offset 240}${cpugraph 20,130 000000 ffffff}

${offset 240}${color slate grey}Load: ${color }$loadavg

${offset 240}${color slate grey}Processes: ${color }$processes  

${offset 240}${color slate grey}Running:   ${color }$running_processes



${offset 240}${color slate grey}Highest CPU:

${offset 240}${color #ddaa00} ${top name 1}${top_mem cpu 1}

${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top name 2}${top cpu 2}

${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top name 3}${top cpu 3}

${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top name 4}${top cpu 4}



${offset 240}${color slate grey}Highest MEM:

${offset 240}${color #ddaa00} ${top_mem name 1}${top_mem mem 1}

${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 2}${top_mem mem 2}

${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 3}${top_mem mem 3}

${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 4}${top_mem mem 4}



${offset 240}${color slate grey}MEM:  ${color } $memperc% $mem/$memmax

${offset 240}${membar 3,100}

${offset 240}${color slate grey}SWAP: ${color }$swapperc% $swap/$swapmax

${offset 240}${swapbar 3,100}



${offset 240}${color slate grey}ROOT:    ${color }${fs_free /}/${fs_size /}

${offset 240}${fs_bar 3,100 /}

${offset 240}${color slate grey}HOME:  ${color }${fs_free /home}/${fs_size /home}

${offset 240}${fs_bar 3,100 /home}

${offset 240}${color slate grey}SLACK:  ${color }${fs_free /mnt/slack}/${fs_size /mnt/slack}

${offset 240}${fs_bar 3,100 /mnt/slack}

Recycled Laptop!

Xubuntu 10.10 is now installed on an old laptop that belonged to my brother. I have kept 8.10 on my main desktop, since it is a nice & stable release and I have all of my music production software set up the way I want it on there.

I have been playing around with 10.10 and love it so far!

Conky

Here is my .conkyrc file:

# set to yes if you want Conky to be forked in the background
background no

cpu_avg_samples 2
net_avg_samples 2

out_to_console no

# X font when Xft is disabled, you can pick one with program xfontsel
#font 7x12
#font 6x10
#font 7x13
#font 8x13
#font 7x12
#font *mintsmild.se*
#font -*-*-*-*-*-*-34-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
#font -artwiz-snap-normal-r-normal-*-*-100-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1

# Use Xft?
use_xft yes

# Xft font when Xft is enabled
xftfont Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:size=8

own_window_transparent no
#own_window_colour hotpink
# Text alpha when using Xft
xftalpha 0.8

on_bottom yes

# mail spool
mail_spool $MAIL

# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 1
# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window yes
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,skip_taskbar
own_window_type override

# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes

# Minimum size of text area
minimum_size 260 5
maximum_width 260

# Draw shades?
draw_shades no

# Draw outlines?
draw_outline no

# Draw borders around text
draw_borders no

# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders no

# border margins
border_margin 4

# border width
border_width 1

# Default colors and also border colors
default_color white
default_shade_color white
default_outline_color white

# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
#minimum_size 10 10
gap_x 15
gap_y 70
alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right

# Gap between borders of screen and text

# Add spaces to keep things from moving about?  This only affects certain objects.
use_spacer no

# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?
no_buffers yes

# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
uppercase no

# none, xmms, bmp, audacious, infopipe (default is none)
xmms_player bmp

# boinc (seti) dir
# seti_dir /opt/seti

# Possible variables to be used:
#
#      Variable         Arguments                  Description                
#  acpiacadapter                     ACPI ac adapter state.                   
#  acpifan                           ACPI fan state                           
#  acpitemp                          ACPI temperature.                        
#  adt746xcpu                        CPU temperature from therm_adt746x       
#  adt746xfan                        Fan speed from therm_adt746x             
#  battery           (num)           Remaining capasity in ACPI or APM        
#                                    battery. ACPI battery number can be      
#                                    given as argument (default is BAT0).     
#  buffers                           Amount of memory buffered                
#  cached                            Amount of memory cached                  
#  color             (color)         Change drawing color to color            
#  cpu                               CPU usage in percents                    
#  cpubar            (height)        Bar that shows CPU usage, height is      
#                                    bar's height in pixels                   
#  downspeed         net             Download speed in kilobytes              
#  downspeedf        net             Download speed in kilobytes with one     
#                                    decimal                                  
#  exec              shell command   Executes a shell command and displays    
#                                    the output in torsmo. warning: this      
#                                    takes a lot more resources than other    
#                                    variables. I'd recommend coding wanted   
#                                    behaviour in C and posting a patch :-).  
#  execi             interval, shell Same as exec but with specific interval. 
#                    command         Interval can't be less than              
#                                    update_interval in configuration.        
#  fs_bar            (height), (fs)  Bar that shows how much space is used on 
#                                    a file system. height is the height in   
#                                    pixels. fs is any file on that file      
#                                    system.                                  
#  fs_free           (fs)            Free space on a file system available    
#                                    for users.                               
#  fs_free_perc      (fs)            Free percentage of space on a file       
#                                    system available for users.              
#  fs_size           (fs)            File system size                         
#  fs_used           (fs)            File system used space                   
#  hr                (height)        Horizontal line, height is the height in 
#                                    pixels                                   
#  i2c               (dev), type, n  I2C sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). dev   
#                                    may be omitted if you have only one I2C  
#                                    device. type is either in (or vol)       
#                                    meaning voltage, fan meaning fan or temp 
#                                    meaning temperature. n is number of the  
#                                    sensor. See /sys/bus/i2c/devices/ on     
#                                    your local computer.                     
#  kernel                            Kernel version                           
#  loadavg           (1), (2), (3)   System load average, 1 is for past 1     
#                                    minute, 2 for past 5 minutes and 3 for   
#                                    past 15 minutes.                         
#  machine                           Machine, i686 for example                
#  mails                             Mail count in mail spool. You can use    
#                                    program like fetchmail to get mails from 
#                                    some server using your favourite         
#                                    protocol. See also new_mails.            
#  mem                               Amount of memory in use                  
#  membar            (height)        Bar that shows amount of memory in use   
#  memmax                            Total amount of memory                   
#  memperc                           Percentage of memory in use              
#  new_mails                         Unread mail count in mail spool.         
#  nodename                          Hostname                                 
#  outlinecolor      (color)         Change outline color                     
#  pre_exec          shell command   Executes a shell command one time before 
#                                    torsmo displays anything and puts output 
#                                    as text.                                 
#  processes                         Total processes (sleeping and running)   
#  running_processes                 Running processes (not sleeping),        
#                                    requires Linux 2.6                       
#  shadecolor        (color)         Change shading color                     
#  stippled_hr       (space),        Stippled (dashed) horizontal line        
#                    (height)        
#  swapbar           (height)        Bar that shows amount of swap in use     
#  swap                              Amount of swap in use                    
#  swapmax                           Total amount of swap                     
#  swapperc                          Percentage of swap in use                
#  sysname                           System name, Linux for example           
#  time              (format)        Local time, see man strftime to get more 
#                                    information about format                 
#  totaldown         net             Total download, overflows at 4 GB on     
#                                    Linux with 32-bit arch and there doesn't 
#                                    seem to be a way to know how many times  
#                                    it has already done that before torsmo   
#                                    has started.                             
#  totalup           net             Total upload, this one too, may overflow 
#  updates                           Number of updates (for debugging)        
#  upspeed           net             Upload speed in kilobytes                
#  upspeedf          net             Upload speed in kilobytes with one       
#                                    decimal                                  
#  uptime                            Uptime                                   
#  uptime_short                      Uptime in a shorter format               
#
#  seti_prog                         Seti@home current progress
#  seti_progbar      (height)        Seti@home current progress bar
#  seti_credit                       Seti@hoome total user credit


# variable is given either in format $variable or in ${variable}. Latter
# allows characters right after the variable and must be used in network
# stuff because of an argument
#${font Dungeon:style=Bold:pixelsize=10}I can change the font as well
#${font Verdana:size=10}as many times as I choose
#${font Perry:size=10}Including UTF-8,
# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen
#${font Grunge:size=12}${time %a  %b  %d}${alignr -25}${time %k:%M}

TEXT
${color #0077ff}$sysname $kernel $machine - $nodename 

${color #0077ff}Uptime:${color lightgrey} $uptime ${color #0077ff} Load:${color lightgrey} $loadavg

${color #0077ff}${execi 1000 cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'model name' | sed -e 's/model name.*: //'} ${color lightgrey}${freq_dyn}Mhz
${color #0077ff}Usage:${color #0077ff} ${color lightgrey}${cpu}% ${color #0077ff}${cpubar}
${color #0077ff}${cpugraph 000000 0077ff}
${color #0077ff}Proces:${color lightgrey} $processes  ${color #0077ff}Run:${color lightgrey} $running_processes ${color #0077ff}CPU:${color lightgrey} ${i2c temp 2}C${color lightgrey} ${color #0077ff}MB:${color lightgrey} ${i2c temp 1}C

${color #0077ff}RAM:${color lightgrey} $mem/$memmax - $memperc% ${alignr}${color #0077ff}${membar 5,110}
${color #0077ff}SWP:${color lightgrey} $swap/$swapmax - $swapperc% ${alignr}${color #0077ff}${swapbar 5,110}

${color #0077ff}HD IO: ${color lightgrey}${diskio} ${alignr}${color #0077ff}Temperature: ${color lightgrey}${execi 10 /home/admin/.bin/hddconky}C
${color #0077ff}${diskiograph 000000 0077ff}

${color #0077ff}Hard Disks:
${color #0077ff} Root ${color lightgrey}${fs_used /}/${fs_size /}${alignr}${color #0077ff}${fs_bar 5,120 /}
${color #0077ff} Home ${color lightgrey}${fs_used /home}/${fs_size /home}${alignr}${color #0077ff}${fs_bar 5,120 /home}
${color #0077ff} Data ${color lightgrey}${fs_used /media/data}/${fs_size /media/data}${alignr}${color #0077ff}${fs_bar 5,120 /media/data}

${color #0077ff}CPU Usage         PID     CPU%   MEM%
${color lightgrey} ${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1}
${color #0077ff} ${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2}
${color #0077ff} ${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3}
${color #0077ff}Mem Usage
${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 1} ${top_mem pid 1} ${top_mem cpu 1} ${top_mem mem 1}
${color #0077ff} ${top_mem name 2} ${top_mem pid 2} ${top_mem cpu 2} ${top_mem mem 2}
${color #0077ff} ${top_mem name 3} ${top_mem pid 3} ${top_mem cpu 3} ${top_mem mem 3}

Aliens versus Predator MUD

Back in high school I used to pass my evenings (and school days, when I could) playing on various online MUD games, since they were a free form of entertainment, required low-bandwidth and were a hell of a lot of fun. I stuck with the Aliens versus Predator MUD, since I'm a big fan of both franchises and the crossover comics.

You can choose to be one of four species: alien, predator, marine or synthetic. Once you join, you should do some training, get some weapons, join a clan and pretty soon you won't have a life in the real world...on most days I am logged into AvP in one of my terminals, it's a nice way to pass away your lunch break or entertain yourself whilst you are burning off a DVD and haven't got enough memory to play some uber-fast FPS game.
Link: telnet://avpmud.com:4000