Wednesday 21 January 2009

Dynamic Clock Background

This is a very cool feature that I have on my Ubuntu. A background that automatically updates according to what time of day it is. Want to see what I mean? Then have a look at the image below:


Dynamic Background

As you can see at the moment, the background image is displaying 19:12, 21st January. After a minute, yeah, it will automatically update to 19:13.

So, how do you do this then? First thing is first, you will need to install the Screenlets package:
sudo apt-get install screenlets

Great, now to install some other little things so that everything will update fine:
sudo apt-get install python-imaging-tk

So now that all the applications that we need have been installed, it is time to download the Wallpaper-Clock add-on for the Screenlets application: http://gnome-look.org/CONTENT/content-files/66717-WallpaperClock.tar.bz2 [Right Click - Save As] or:
wget http://gnome-look.org/CONTENT/content-files/66717-WallpaperClock.tar.bz2

Once downloaded, open up the Screenlets application from System -> Preferences. Once loaded up, you will need to install the Wallpaper-Clock screenlet. There is no need to unzip the file! just click install within the window, and browse the the zip file. Once installed, you can launch the Wallpaper-Clock screenlet. Notice the little clock that now appears on your desktop?
You can either keep the little widget that appears, or you can download a background to go with it. I have found the following website to be the best for the backgrounds that are suitable to use: http://vladstudio.com/wallpaperclock. Once you have downloaded the WCZ file of your chosen background, you will then need to install it by right clicking on the clock widget, and choosing the option 'Install Wallpaper Clock'. It will soon install, and then will be displayed when you right click on the widget again, and choose 'Change Wallpaper Clock'. There you have it!

Please do share your new sexy desktop with us!

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