Talika

This is a really cool app which will help you manage your open windows with the help of icons.

Here's a screenshot of the panel. Notice the small icons indicating open windows.

How to install

To install download the .deb file: www.sourceforge.net/projects/talika

Now simply open the file and install it.

To activate Talika, you need to add it to the panel. Right click on your panel (top or bottom one, whichever may be your preference), and simply search for and add Talika.

Thats it. Its a pretty nifty thing, and frankly, very smart way to manage a large number of open windows. However its currently available only for 32 bit versions.

Install Bisigi themes

The themes of the Bisigi project are generally rated as some of the best Ubuntu themes available. There are quite a few themes from the project available for installation.

To install these themes, you need to add the following repositories.

First up type the following in the Terminal (Accessories > Terminal) :

gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371 --recv-key 881574DE && gpg -a --export 881574DE | sudo apt-key add -

Now type the following in the Terminal :

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

In the window which opens, add the following lines:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/bisigi/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/bisigi/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

Now save the file and type the following in the Terminal:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install bisigi-themes

Thats it. After the installation process go to the Appearance option (System > Preferences > Appearance) and check out the new themes. The following themes will be installed - AquaDreams, Ubuntu Sunrise, Bamboo-Zen, Step into Freedom, Tropical, Exotic, Balanzan, Wild Shine, Infinity, Showtime, Orange, Ellanna, AirLines.

Hide/Add desktop icons

The default Ubuntu installation might add a few icons on your desktop. If you're a proponent of the "clean desktop" look (like me!) or if you want to add some extra stuff to your desktop, then you need to do some tiny tweaks to change the look. Here's how:

You need to access gconf-editor. There are two ways of doing this.

1. Type gconf-editor in the Terminal and hit Enter



OR

2. Press Alt + F2 from the keyboard and type gconf-editor and hit Enter



Now a new window will be visible which should look something like this:



You now need to navigate to :

apps > nautilus > desktop

Well its pretty simple now, select/unselect the items of your choice:

'Real-time' earth wallpaper

These are steps to install a 'real-time earth wallpaper which looks like this:



As you can see, this really cool wallpaper will show you the entire map of the world alongwith real-time (yes! real time!) data on which parts of the planet are having sunlight/daylight etc.

I'm currently using it, and personally this is one of my fav wallpapers. I would suggest you to give this a try.

How to install:


Download the file from here: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1115768/changer.sh

Next, right click on the file which you have just downloaded, go to Properties and the Permissions. Now select the Allow executing file as program option.



Now simply double click on it and select the open in terminal option.

To select the wallpaper go to System > Preference > Appearance and select the Background tab. Now the location of the wallpaper is at /home/username/.gnome2/world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg (username being your own username). The .gnome2 folder is a hidden one. To view it, select Ctrl + H keys while browsing for the wallpaper.

To make sure that the 'real-time' mechanism works 24x7, you need to add it as a startup app. To do that, go to System > Preference > Startup Applications. Click on Add and then type in/browse the location of the file that you had downloaded (not the wallpaper mind you, the downloaded file).

Thats it.

(Source - http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/search/label/quirkywallpaper)

Edit your AWN theme to get the perfect dock

I admit, people have varied tastes and choices. But I guess this is a setting which most users will like.

I had recently come across this thread on Ubuntuforums, and it featured a really beautiful dock designed by Tipped OuT. The thing which I loved about the dock was it had the perfect colour combination. It was grey-ish without being too grey or white-ish without being too white. Hence, even if you have a completely white/very bright coloured wallpaper, the dock will still stay, lets say 'in focus'.

But the problem with the dock is that it has sharp edges to it, which I'm not really a fan of. I like the classy rounded edges to a dock. Take a look at how the theme looks on my desktop.



And this is how the default AWN theme looks (with the 3D effect):



If you look closely, you'll find that the second image has a better polish to the dock, but the colour isnt exactly what I'd call breathtaking.

Since I cant force the developer into producing a theme of my choice, what I did was replicate the exact colours and effects to resemble this new dock theme which is near-perfect, the default AWN theme.

(Of course you'll need AWN installed. If you dont have it installed, you should click here for a guided installation procedure for AWN)

I have for your benefit, made an AWN theme package (with a few tweaks of course) which resembles this dock but has rounded edges.

The modified AWN theme can be downloaded from here :

Modified_Theme.tgz

After downloading the file, open the AWN Manager and install the theme (click on Add and simply locate the file you have just downloaded and Apply the theme):



After applying the theme, it should look like this:



Do let me know how you like it.



(Wallpaper used is from www.hdwallpapers.net)