Saturday, April 28, 2012

Desktop Uniqueness At Its Finest

This is my desktop, after many hours of half-assed learning in the art of XML coding in Openbox. What isn’t shown are my three right-click menus and my keybard shortcuts:

Right-click the desktop: A standard menu with options for a Terminal, an Applications submenu, a Desktops submenu, the Software Center, Configuration programs, the option to lock my screen and to log out.

Alt+RightClick: Brings up the options to Suspend, Reboot or Shut Down my computer. Requires Admin password.

Ctrl+Shift+RightClick: Brings up a Language menu that lets me switch between English, Russian and Hebrew, along with the option to Toggle ibus, my Japanese input program.

My Common Keyboard Shortcuts:

Shift+Ctrl+M: Minimize

Shift+Ctrl+X: Maximize

Shift+Ctrl+S: Windowshade

Alt+W: Close Window

I’ve also taken the time to creep into my current theme’s (americana) picture files and edit the nice 12x12 px window buttons to become appropriate Japanese Ideographs, rather than the traditional X, Raised Bar, Square and Hyphen.

The Docks: The bottom one is for my favorite programs. I put most of the same ones in my RC-Menu in case the Dock program (cairo-dock) should fail, which it has many times with the RSS feed programs crashing whenever they can’t retrieve info. I’ve also included a little penguin buddy that slides, hovers and drives around my dock. :D

The left one I rarely use, but it’s for quick access to places on my HD.

The right one is used for information related to my system, ranging from RAM usage to Internet speeds to CPU usage to a System Tray, battery life, sound control and quick access to my media player. Even cooler is that all the graphs were hand selected from the individual themes, so each one is different to label it.

The top one is used for all my information about the real world, since I’m no avid TV watcher or visitor to news sites. Unfortunately, upon discovering they were the cause of the docks crashing, I’ve gotten rid of them. :\

That’s all I can share. Most of my XML coding for Openbox was learned through trial and error and my determination to have a non-stock desktop. I encourage all of my fellow brothers in Linux to be original with their desktop design as well. The more you make something for yourself, the easier it will be for you to use it. =]

Friday, April 27, 2012

Blogger, I dare object to the inability to add NewLine characters to your profile, as it makes expressing yourself a little difficult. Perhaps you should add an "Other info about yourself" text box that allows NewLines, so that I don't need to talk about myself in a post?

...Perhaps it may not be that bad. But it's regardless a tad annoying :\


Anyways, as you may have figured out, My name is Eric "E-Rock" Thompson, a semi-stereotypical software geek raised in the Western Charlotte suburbs that's grown with a decent case of social awkwardness. Of course, contrary to a lot of stereotypes and despite the awkwardness, I have my fair share of awesome friends, computer freaks or not.

Anyways, here's my info in list form, with stuff ranging from my spiritual path to my favorite OS. :D


Name - Eric N. “E-Rock” Thompson

Internet Aliases: DarkBallYE, LordRagnarock, ZeroGlaivelen

Age - 19 and rising! (Like everyone else’s age, apparently =] )

Born, Raised and Residing - Charlotte, NC

School - UNC Charlotte

Hobbies/Interests - Linguistics, Philosophy/Religion, Vintage Computing, Linux (Newbie :C), Computing Experiments, Writing Stories, Digital Art.

Religion/Path - Noahide/B’nei Noach, with elements from Eastern philosophy thrown in.

Languages Spoken - U.S. English, Japanese (A bit Elementary, bit it’s decent :D)

Languages Forgotten - Spanish, French

Languages Learning - Japanese, Hebrew (Biblical and Modern), Esperanto

Languages Inventing - Meikar (Behold the Header =] )

Number of Computers owned - Around 10 Notebooks and a Desktop, mostly Classic Macintosh.

Number of computers I use - Five. 17” MacBook Pro (2007), eMachines E520 (2009), Acer Aspire One (2010), PowerBook 1400c (1997), Power Macintosh 7500 (1997). I would have use for a G3 B+W Tower if the HD would boot >_>

Number that run Windows - 1 if you don’t count VMs, 2 if you do.

OS of choice - Linux, Mac OS Classic.

Favorite game - Shadow Wraith (Mac OS Classic)

Myers Briggs Personality Type: INTP. Having taken three tests, however, has revealed that the last three letters are very close to the middle, and thus have given me three different results: INTP, INTJ, INFP.

Political Preference - Libertarian Party, but overall prefers many 3rd Parties.


There you go! Blogger, perhaps you may be able to learn a little something from this annoyance? :P