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Follow-up to my post about using Maildirs with Ubuntu’s messaging menu. Brad, the original author, has indicated that he considered his code to be essentially WTFPL. I feel the same about my bits, and have added a COPYING file specifically indicating this license instead of the previous GPL3 license. I have made some other changes since that last version: The configuration values (frequency, directories) are now loaded from separate files. Default values are in /etc/maildir-indicator.conf, user-specific in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/maildir-indicator.conf (or more likely, $HOME/.config/maildir-indicator.conf). This allows it to be installed system-wide and have users configure their own notifications. The .desktop file has been cleaned up, and is now advertising “Maildir Indicator” instead of mutt. This is what will be read in the menu as well (though of course, clicking it runs whatever mail agent you want). Cleaned up some debug messages to make the output a little easier to read Changed ‘path’ to no longer have a trailing slash. I’m not sure what happens if you have a trailing slash on your paths, I didn’t test it. The program can still be used by grabbing the source from the Maildir-Indicator repository on Gitorious and running ./maildir-indicator in the directory you get. However, it also supports being installed system-wide, which can be done easily by installing it from the maildir-indicator PPA. Installing from the PPA will also set it to run automatically at login. ...

I’ve created a Firefox addon collection. This is mostly for my own use (Since firefox can’t sync addons, a single list of addons I use helps bring up machines), but I thought I’d throw it out there if anybody else was curious. [Chris’ Addons](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/chrisirwin/chris-a/ Chris’ Addons collection at addons.mozilla.org)

I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only mutt user who missed having mail notifications in the indicator area. From a quick google search, it turns out I was in good company. Even better, a fellow by the name of Brad Mont actually wrote a basic python script to create an appindicator that would monitor a maildir. It was about 90% of what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I didn’t want another icon crowding the panel, so I adapted his script to use the messaging menu, so it shows up with chat (and any other communications programs). I made a few other changes along the way (notifications). Thanks to the folks who wrote gm-notify for being such an easy to read example of both notification and the messaging menu. ...

Assuming you’re doing a Google Image Search for a specific unicomp keyboard. ZOMG!

I’ve recently purchased a Unicomp Customizer 104. It is essentially a modern version of the old IBM Model M mechanical keyboards. I do a fair amount of typing, so I thought it would be worthwhile to invest in a better keyboard. I’ve decided not to post photos since there seems to be no shortage of those on teh interwebs already. The feel is very nice. It reminds me of the Model M I used to have, but unfortunately, that model is long gone and I can’t do a direct comparison. The keys are very loud, which was expected from this type of mechanism (Buckling Spring). I expected the actual mechanism to buckle roughly 50-75% of the way down so that an experienced typist can stop their finger motion before they hit the backplate. It appears that these keys require almost 95% motion, at least by my rough estimate. I consider it impossible to type without moving the key completely down. Unfortunate, but no worse than any other keyboard. ...

Okay, so the ipad is just a big ipod touch, and filling the “device too large to always have on you but too limited to do lots with” between a handy with-you smartphone and a real computer. If it was an accessory to a computer, THEN it would be interesting. Put it on the dock and it acts like a second screen. If you’re reading a PDF or web page, you can send it to the ipad for display, grab the ipad and continue having your reference material up. How about an example: ...

I’ve linked my blog to [Twitter](http://twitter.com Twitter), [Identi.ca](http://identi.ca identi.ca), and [Facebook](http://facebook.com Facebook) via [ping.fm](http://ping.fm ping dot fm) via [CR Post2Pingfm](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cr-post2pingfm/ CR Post to Ping fm) [Twitterfeed](http://twitterfeed.com/ Twitter Feed dot com). Whew. Hopefully this means that I will update my blog more often as there is a slight, remote chance that somebody might actually see it. I’ve got two LUG presentations coming up: DIY debian packaging for [LOLUG](http://groups.google.ca/group/lolug London Ontario Linux Users Group) and KVM+libvirt for [KWLUG](http://kwlug.org/ Kitchener-Waterloo Linux Users Group). I’ll post slides when I present. ...

I’ve created a new project called imagecompare. The purpose is to detect and merge duplicate images, particularly where EXIF information may differ. There is more information on the project page

I’ve recently switched over to using git for revision control for my personal projects. This has made doing packaging and development substantially easier. I also decided to use git for my resume. I’ve redone my resume in LyX (a LaTeX front end)

I have a [PPA on Launchpad.net](https://edge.launchpad.net/~chrisirwin/+archive/ppa Chris Irwin’s PPA) now. I’ve found it substantially easier than managing my own repository. Apparently some other folks use it, so I will be posting here when I do notable updates and additions. Here is a breakdown of what is on there now: cwi-meta and the cwi-* packages it builds. These are packages that provide PPA repository information and package dependencies for me setting up new (virtual) machines. One apt-get and I have my expected environment. libvirt, virt-manager, and associated packages. I’m keeping these up to date for Intrepid as I am using them with kvm/qemu. cwi-vm-builder. A wrapper around ubuntu-vm-builder. When compined with an apt proxy/cache, it can bootstrap a VM in about 2 minutes. This is my standard vm template so I can build a new VM in a single command. task & yagtd. Two unrelated gtd-style task managers. I reccommend trying them out. If you use my PPA, feel free to contact me with suggestions and issues. I can’t fix anything I don’t know about. Also, launchpad does not give any statistics on PPA useage, or download history. It would be nice to get a rough count of the number of users using my packages. ...