LED daytime running lights

My Mitsubishi Eclipse was imported by the previous owner from the US, and was modified to have daytime running lights, but that job was done very badly - a modification was on the high beam circuit and something caused a fuse to melt. I just removed the fuse, as the high beam lamps were still working without it, but I lost DRL.

So to comply with the law and add some cool feature to the car I decided to put LED lights into the fog lamp placeholders - there were no fog lights anyway.

I bought a couple of LED strips on eBay (just $1 a piece):

Cut-off some extra LEDs to make proper sized rings, put them into the sockets, and used zip-ties to keep them in place:

Connected a power wire to the accessories electrical circuit, which turns on with ignition, and here we go:

 Cool, isn't it? :)

Ubuntu 12.04 tweaking

I wrote about experiencing a lot of issues with upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04. I survived that, but had to do a bunch of tweaking to make the system usable, and it's still not ideal yet. :(

Below is a brief list of my tweaks and some useful links.

First, a very helpful article about configuring Unity:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/29553/how-can-i-configure-unity

My Launcher changes:
- Run CompizConfig Settings Manager
- Reduce the Launcher icon size
- Backlight Mode -> Backlight Toggles

Customize workspace layout:
- Run CompizConfig Settings Manager
- Open General -> General Options -> Desktop Size
- Modify Horizontal & Vertical Virtual Size
or
- Run gconf-editor
- Open apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options
- Change hsize/vsize

Disable workspace switcher animation:
- Run CompizConfig Settings Manager.
- Desktop -> Desktop Wall -> Viewport Switching: set Wall Sliding Duration to 0

Add task bar:
Solution 1: Use tint2
- http://linuxandfriends.com/2011/10/29/how-to-add-a-taskbar-in-ubuntu-11-10/
- The problem with tint2 is it does not work properly with workspaces - it shows all running applications on the task bar

Solution 2: Use GNOME panel
- Run gnome-panel - it will display normal GNOME top and bottom panels
- Use Super+Alt+Right-Click on the top panel, select "Delete This Panel"
- The bottom panel seem to work fine as a task bar
- Customization: http://askubuntu.com/questions/69576/how-to-customize-the-gnome-classic-panel
- cp /usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-3.0/apps/gnome-panel.css ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css

Pidgin icon is hidden:
It is under the Envelope icon
http://askubuntu.com/questions/67312/how-do-i-enable-the-pidgin-system-tray-icon

Configure time:
http://blog.mattrudge.net/2012/02/11/custom-date-time-format-in-the-unity-tray/

Grub: Save the last selected system for the next boot:
- Open /etc/default/grub:
- Change "GRUB_DEFAULT=0" to "GRUB_DEFAULT=saved"
- Add "GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true"


More links:
http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/things-to-tweak-after-installing-ubuntu.html
http://castrojo.tumblr.com/post/4795149014/the-power-users-guide-to-unity
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/ubuntu-tips-and-tricks.htm
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Top-10-Ubuntu-11-04-Unity-Panel-Applets-208034.shtml

Quick and easy notepad/memopad for Android: New apMemo

New version of apMemo notepad for Android is released!

apMemo 2.0 New Features:

• New! Graphic and text notes together on one page;
• New! Background can be changed without clearing the note;
• New! Textured backgrounds;
• New! Resizable widgets;
• New! Support for Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android versions 3 and 4);
• New! Long-press actions for the toolbar buttons;
• New! Other improvements and stability fixes;

Existing features have been improved as well:

• Easy visual selection of pen size, color, and background;
• Quick and simple reminder time selection;
• Note thumbnails view;
• Share notes via Facebook, Twitter, GMail, Dropbox and other supporting applications;
• Export note to a file.

apMemo is the simplest and fastest way to create quick handwritten or text notes with reminders!