pngcrush is a command line tool and can run on Linux, UNIX and Windows

Install pngcrush

To install pngcrush, click this 1-click installer from Packman supported on openSUSE 11.1/11.0/10.3/10.2

NOTE: Click here for a how to on enabling 1-click install in openSUSE 10.2

This should download the YMP file and automatically launch the YaST package manager to add the required Repositories and download and install pngcrush and the  dependencies. Click next on the pngcrush installation screen and Next again on the installation proposal window. This should start adding the required repositories, download and install pngcrush and its required dependencies. Click Finish when the installation completes successfully.

This installs pngcrush under /usr/bin

opensuse11:~ # which pngcrush
/usr/bin/pngcrush

In its simplest form, you run png crush with a source file and a destination file as follows:

opensuse11:~ # pngcrush bluediving1.png out.png

| pngcrush 1.6.13
|    Copyright (C) 1998-2002,2006-2008 Glenn Randers-Pehrson
|    Copyright (C) 2005      Greg Roelofs
| This is a free, open-source program.  Permission is irrevocably
| granted to everyone to use this version of pngcrush without
| payment of any fee.
| Executable name is pngcrush
| It was built with libpng version 1.2.34, and is
| running with  libpng version 1.2.34 – December 18, 2008

|    Copyright (C) 1998-2004,2006-2008 Glenn Randers-Pehrson,
|    Copyright (C) 1996, 1997 Andreas Dilger,
|    Copyright (C) 1995, Guy Eric Schalnat, Group 42 Inc.,
| and zlib version 1.2.3.3, Copyright (C) 1998-2002 (or later),
|    Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.
| It was compiled with gcc version 4.3.2 [gcc-4_3-branch revision 141291].

Recompressing bluediving1.png
Total length of data found in IDAT chunks    =    36377
unknown chunk handling done.
IDAT length with method   1 (fm 0 zl 4 zs 0) =    35211
IDAT length with method   2 (fm 1 zl 4 zs 0) =    38033
IDAT length with method   3 (fm 5 zl 4 zs 1) =    37423
IDAT length with method   4 (fm 0 zl 9 zs 1) =    34954
IDAT length with method   7 (fm 0 zl 9 zs 0) =    33410
Best pngcrush method = 7 (fm 0 zl 9 zs 0) for out.png
(8.16% IDAT reduction)
(8.26% filesize reduction)

CPU time used = 0.160 seconds (decoding 0.040,
encoding 0.120, other 0.000 seconds)

If you want to perform a batch compression then simply specify the files (can use wildcards) and specify extensions (-e) for output files and may be a output directory with -d option. For instance, here I’m optimizing all my PNG files from the current folder to a folder called pics as follows:

opensuse11:~ # pngcrush -d pics -e out.png *.png

In the above command, “-d pics” specifies that the output is directed to the pics directory and “-eout.png” appends out.png to all the output files.

For more advanced options and help, simply run “pngcrush” without any arguements

opensuse11:~ # pngcrush
…
..
.

usage: pngcrush [options] infile.png outfile.png
pngcrush -e ext [other options] files.png …
pngcrush -d dir [other options] files.png …
options:
-already already_crushed_size [e.g., 8192]
-bit_depth depth (bit_depth to use in output file)
-brute (use brute-force: try 126 different methods [11-136])
-c color_type of output file [0, 2, 4, or 6]
-d directory_name (where output files will go)
-double_gamma (used for fixing gamma in PhotoShop 5.0/5.02 files)
-e extension  (used for creating output filename)
-f user_filter [0-5]
-fix (fix otherwise fatal conditions such as bad CRCs)
-force (write a new output file even if larger than input)
-g gamma (float or fixed*100000, e.g., 0.45455 or 45455)
-huffman (use only zlib strategy 2, Huffman-only)
-iccp length “Profile Name” iccp_file
-itxt b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword”
-keep chunk_name
-l zlib_compression_level [0-9]
-loco (“loco crush” truecolor PNGs)
-m method [0 through 200]
-max maximum_IDAT_size [default 8192]
-mng (write a new MNG, do not crush embedded PNGs)
-nofilecheck (do not check for infile.png == outfile.png)
-n (no save; does not do compression or write output PNG)
-plte_len n (truncate PLTE)
-q (quiet)
-reduce (do lossless color-type or bit-depth reduction)
-rem chunkname (or “alla” or “allb”)
-replace_gamma gamma (float or fixed*100000) even if gAMA is present.
-res dpi
-rle (use only zlib strategy 3, RLE-only)
-save (keep all copy-unsafe chunks)
-srgb [0, 1, 2, or 3]
-ster [0 or 1]
-text b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword” “text”
-time_stamp
-trns_array n trns[0] trns[1] .. trns[n-1]
-trns index red green blue gray
-v (display more detailed information)
-version (display the pngcrush version)
-w compression_window_size [32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 512]
-z zlib_strategy [0, 1, 2, or 3]
-zmem zlib_compression_mem_level [1-9, default 9]
-zitxt b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword”
-ztxt b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword” “text”
-h (help and legal notices)
-p (pause)

Click here to visit the project homepage.

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Slideshow and different view modes like Fullscreen, Double page, Manga mode, Fit-to-screen, fit width and fit height modes etc

Zooming, scrolling, Rotatiting, mirroring

Magnifying lens, image enhancements and changeable image scaling quality.

Can read right-to-left to fit manga etc.

Faster page flipping using caching.

Bookmarks support.

Customizable GUI with library support and thumbnail browser

Archive comments and archive convert support

Available in 21 different languages.

Reads most common image formats.

Reads ZIP and tar archives natively, and RAR archives through the unrar program

Install Comix

Click this 1-click installer for Comix from Packman to download the YaST MetaPackage file (YMP) and launch with YaST Package Manager. This 1-click installer supports openSUSE 11.0/10.3/10.2

NOTE: Click here to enable 1-click install in openSUSE 10.2

click Next on the window showing the Comix application description and the Next on the installation proposal window. This should start adding the required dependencies and Comix package itself. Click  Finish when the installation successfully completes.

This should install Comix under “Applications – Graphics – Viewer“. Click Comix to launch the viewer.

You can see the simple but elegant GUI for COMIX nicely built to support comic books. It also supports Comic libraries to hold as many of your Comic books in most of the image and compressed Zip or TAR formats.

Comix is also good enough to view ordinary images as well. In way presents itself a good viewer for your personal pictures with ease of navigation which is important on any Comic book viewer.

Preferences and settings can be edited from Edit – preferences window.

I managed to find a few comics book at esnip.

Click here to visit the project homepage.

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non-destructive image manipulation
easy to extend and customize
flimp is small (currently less than 2500 LOC)
import of raw images via dcraw
support for 16bit color depth
support for external GUI programs to modify parameters

Install Flimp

Click this 1-click installer for Flimp from Packman to download the YaST MetaPackage file (YMP) and launch with YaST Package Manager. This 1-click installer supports openSUSE 11.0/10.3/10.2

NOTE: Click here to enable 1-click install in openSUSE 10.2

Click Next on the window with the Flimp description and Next again on the installation proposal window. This should download and add the required repositories and then install Flimp and the relevant dependencies. Click Finish when successfully installed.

This installs Flimp under “Applications – Graphics – Viewer“. Click Flimp to launch the editor. Click Flimp to launch for the first time.

It should launch a simple console from where one can open the image files and then any edit to the image is created under a new tab leaving the original file untouched. Every tab can then be closed or saved from the Tab menu.

Other menu options include, convert menu to convert the file to a different file format like Jpeg or PNG. Resize, Tansform or rotate image, add effects or add text.

In the bottom of the screen, the GUI window’s equivalent command line is shown, this can be manually edited (if required).

To visit the project homepage, click here

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Currently it supports the following shading languages:

ARB programs
GLSL shaders
CgFX effects

Install QShaderEdit

Click this 1-click installer for QShaderEdit from Packman to download the YaST MetaPackage file (YMP) and launch with YaST Package Manager. This 1-click installer supports openSUSE 11.0/10.3/10.2

NOTE: Click here to enable 1-click install in openSUSE 10.2

Click Next on the window with the QShaderEdit description and Next again on the installation proposal window. This should download and add the required repositories and then install QShaderEdit and the relevant dependencies. Click Finish when successfully installed.

This installs QShaderEdit under “Applications – Graphics“. Click QShaderEdit to launch the editor.

The following are some of the screenshots of QShaderEdit from the project page at Google code.

To visit the project homepage, click here

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Some of the features include,

Object creation

Drawing: pencil tool (freehand drawing with simple paths), pen tool (creating Bezier curves and straight lines), calligraphy tool (freehand drawing using filled paths representing calligraphic strokes)
Shape tools: rectangles (may have rounded corners), ellipses (includes circles, arcs, segments), stars/polygons (can be rounded and/or randomized), spirals
Text tool (multiline text, full on-canvas editing)
Embedded bitmaps (with a command to create and embed bitmaps of selected objects)
Clones (“live” linked copies of objects), including a tool to create patterns and arrangements of clones

Object manipulation

Affine transformations (moving, scaling, rotating, skewing), both interactively and by specifying exact numeric values
Z-order operations
Grouping objects, with a way to “select in group” without ungrouping, or “enter the group” making it a temporary layer
Layers, with a way to lock and/or hide individual layers, rearrange them, etc; layers can form a hierarchical tree
Copying and pasting objects
Alignment and distribution commands

Fill and stroke

Color selector (RGB, HSV, color wheel)
Color picker tool
Copy/paste style
A gradient editor capable of multi-stop gradients
Pattern fills (bitmap/vectors)
Dashed strokes, with many predefined dash patterns
Path markers (e.g. arrowheads)

Operations on paths

Node editing: moving nodes and Bezier handles, node alignment and distribution, etc.
Converting to path (for text objects or shapes), including converting stroke to path
Boolean operations
Path simplification, with variable threshold
Path insetting and outsetting, including dynamic and linked offset objects
Bitmap tracing (both color and b/w)

Text support

Multi-line text
Uses any installed outline fonts, including right-to-left scripts
Kerning, letterspacing, linespacing adjustments
Text on path (both text and path remain editable)
Text in shape (fill shape following stroke)

Rendering

Fully anti-aliased display
Alpha transparency support for display and PNG export
Complete “as you drag” rendering of objects during interactive transformations

Others

Live watching and editing the document tree in the XML editor
PNG and PostScript export
Command line options for export and conversions
Perfectly compliant SVG format file generation and editing

Install Inkscape

To install Inkscape on your openSUSE, click one of the following 1-click installer (YaST MetaPackages) based on your openSUSE version. This will automatically download the YMP file and launch YaST Package handler.

openSUSE 11.0

openSUSE 10.3

openSUSE 10.2

NOTE: Click here to enable 1-click install feature in openSUSE 10.2

Click Next in the window showing Repository selected and then click Next on the window showing Inkscape package selection and click Next again on the installation proposal window. This will start adding the required repositories and install the Inkscape package and the required dependencies. Click Finish when the successfully installed on your openSUSE.

Once installed, you can find Inkscape under “Application – Graphics – Vector Drawing” as “SVG Vector Illustrator”

Click SVG Vector Illustrator to start Inkscape.

Image effects can be found under the effects menu.

If you have opened an image and want to check the properties like the pixel size etc then click Document properties from File Menu.

To edit the settings of Inkscape, click Inscape properties under the File menu.

To visit the homepage of Inkscape, click here

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It is a Command Line utility for Linux/Unix or for Windows (from DOS).

Install PNGCRUSH

To install pngcrush, click this for pngcrush from Packman. This will download the YaST Meta Package file (YMP file) and lauch it with the YaST Package Manager.

NOTE: Click here to enable 1-click feature in openSUSE 10.2

Click Next on the package selection window showing “pngcrush” and next again in the window showing summary of repositories and package selection. This will add the required repositories and download and install pngcrush as well as the required dependencies. Once installed, click Finish.

This will install “pngcrush” under /usr/bin/

opensuse11:~ # which pngcrush
/usr/bin/pngcrush

To simply compress a PNG file syntax is

pngcrush <inputfile> <outputfile>

For example

opensuse11:~ # pngcrush saihari.png saihari2.png

| pngcrush 1.6.10
|    Copyright (C) 1998-2002,2006-2008 Glenn Randers-Pehrson
|    Copyright (C) 2005      Greg Roelofs
| This is a free, open-source program.  Permission is irrevocably
| granted to everyone to use this version of pngcrush without
| payment of any fee.
| Executable name is pngcrush
| It was built with libpng version 1.2.31, and is
| running with  libpng version 1.2.31 – August 21, 2008

|    Copyright (C) 1998-2004,2006-2008 Glenn Randers-Pehrson,
|    Copyright (C) 1996, 1997 Andreas Dilger,
|    Copyright (C) 1995, Guy Eric Schalnat, Group 42 Inc.,
| and zlib version 1.2.3.3, Copyright (C) 1998-2002 (or later),
|    Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.
| It was compiled with gcc version 4.3.1 20080507 (prerelease) [gcc-4_3-branch revision 135036].

Recompressing saihari.png
Total length of data found in IDAT chunks    = 11179794
unknown chunk handling done.
IDAT length with method   1 (fm 0 zl 4 zs 0) = 19493337
IDAT length with method   2 (fm 1 zl 4 zs 0) = 12357096
IDAT length with method   3 (fm 5 zl 4 zs 1) = 11558196
IDAT length with method   9 (fm 5 zl 2 zs 2) = 11560585
IDAT length with method  10 (fm 5 zl 9 zs 1) = 11165952
Best pngcrush method = 10 (fm 5 zl 9 zs 1) for saihari2.png
(0.12% IDAT reduction)
(0.27% filesize reduction)

CPU time used = 35.130 seconds (decoding 2.170,
encoding 32.740, other 0.220 seconds)

opensuse11:/home/saibaba/pics # ls -l saihari*

-rw-r–r– 1 saibaba users 11196272 Jul 26 12:50 saihari.png
-rw-r–r– 1 root    root  11166314 Jul 26 12:50 saihari2.png

For advanced options, simply type “pngcrush” from prompt without any file names.

opensuse11:~ # pngcrush
…
..
.
usage: pngcrush [options] infile.png outfile.png
pngcrush -e ext [other options] files.png …
pngcrush -d dir [other options] files.png …
options:
-already already_crushed_size [e.g., 8192]
-bit_depth depth (bit_depth to use in output file)
-brute (use brute-force: try 126 different methods [11-136])
-c color_type of output file [0, 2, 4, or 6]
-d directory_name (where output files will go)
-double_gamma (used for fixing gamma in PhotoShop 5.0/5.02 files)
-e extension  (used for creating output filename)
-f user_filter [0-5]
-fix (fix otherwise fatal conditions such as bad CRCs)
-force (write a new output file even if larger than input)
-g gamma (float or fixed*100000, e.g., 0.45455 or 45455)
-huffman (use only zlib strategy 2, Huffman-only)
-iccp length “Profile Name” iccp_file
-itxt b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword”
-keep chunk_name
-l zlib_compression_level [0-9]
-loco (“loco crush” truecolor PNGs)
-m method [0 through 200]
-max maximum_IDAT_size [default 8192]
-mng (write a new MNG, do not crush embedded PNGs)
-nofilecheck (do not check for infile.png == outfile.png)
-n (no save; does not do compression or write output PNG)
-plte_len n (truncate PLTE)
-q (quiet)
-reduce (do lossless color-type or bit-depth reduction)
-rem chunkname (or “alla” or “allb”)
-replace_gamma gamma (float or fixed*100000) even if gAMA is present.
-res dpi
-rle (use only zlib strategy 3, RLE-only)
-save (keep all copy-unsafe chunks)
-srgb [0, 1, 2, or 3]
-ster [0 or 1]
-text b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword” “text”
-trns_array n trns[0] trns[1] .. trns[n-1]
-trns index red green blue gray
-v (display more detailed information)
-version (display the pngcrush version)
-w compression_window_size [32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 512]
-z zlib_strategy [0, 1, 2, or 3]
-zmem zlib_compression_mem_level [1-9, default 9]
-zitxt b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword”
-ztxt b[efore_IDAT]|a[fter_IDAT] “keyword” “text”
-h (help and legal notices)
-p (pause)

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Scanning is handled with SANE via scanimage. PDF conversion is done by PDF::API2. TIFF export is handled by libtiff (faster and smaller memory footprint for multipage files).

Install gscan2pdf in openSUSE

While installation is made easy by a 1-click install from openSUSE repositories, getting it to be installed and use turned out to be a challenge. Anyway, I hope this procedure that I’m writing here simplifies it for you. gscan2pdf depends on the following Perl modules and they need to be installed before we proceed to install gscanpdf:

perl(Gtk2::Ex::PodViewer)

which also provides perl(Gtk2::Ex::PodViewer::Parser)

perl(Gtk2::Ex::Simple::List)

which also provides

perl(Gtk2::Ex::Simple::TiedCommon)
perl(Gtk2::Ex::Simple::TiedList)
perl(Gtk2::Ex::Simple::TiedRow)

Failing to install the above can result in the error

#### YaST2 conflicts list – generated 2008-08-25 11:38:56 ####

nothing provides perl(Gtk2::Ex::PodViewer) needed by gscan2pdf-0.9.15-4.5.x86_64

[ ] do not install gscan2pdf-0.9.15-4.5.x86_64

Install perl-Gtk2-Ex-PodViewer

Download the perl-Gtk2-Ex-PodViewer RPMs for you platform (x86_64, i586 etc) for SuSE 10.x from here

Once downloaded, install as follows:

opensuse11:~ # rpm -ivh perl-Gtk2-Ex-PodViewer-0.14-3.guru.suse102.x86_64.rpm

This should install the perl-Gtk2-Ex-PodViewer module on my x86_64 openSUSE 11.0. Use the appropriate platform edition for your system.

Install perl-Gtk2-Ex-Simple-List

Similarly, download the perl-Gtk2-Ex-Simple-List RPMs for you platform (x86_64, i586 etc) for SuSE 10.x from here

Once downloaded, install as follows:

opensuse11:~ # rpm -ivh perl-Gtk2-Ex-Simple-List-0.50-2.guru.suse101.x86_64.rpm

This should install the perl-Gtk2-Ex-Simple-List module on my x86_64 openSUSE 11.0. Use the appropriate platform edition for your system.

Now, launch cpan on your system and run the following commands from cpan prompt (if you are launching cpan for the 1st time, it might run you through a simple setup procedure. If you are unsure as to what to select. Choose the defaults).

cpan[1]> install Gtk2::Ex::PodViewer

Accept any prompts to complete the installation. If it prompts any module to be install copy the module name and install as above (install <modulename>).

Once done, run the following command:

cpan[1]> install Gtk2::Ex::Simple::List

Quit cpan

cpan[1]> quit

Thats it, now things get easy. Click one of the following YaST Metapackage 1-click installers based on your openSUSE version. This will download the YMP file and launch it with YaST Package Manager.

openSUSE 11.0

openSUSE 10.3

openSUSE 10.2

NOTE: Click here to enable 1-click feature in openSUSE 10.2

Click Next in the window showing Repositories selection and Next on the window showing gscan2pdf package selection. Click Next on the final summary window. This should download and add the required repositories and install the required packages and any other dependencies. Click Finish when the software installation completes successfully.

Once installed, gscan2pdf is added to menu under Applications – Graphics – Scanning as “gscan2pdf”

Click on gscan2pdf to start the application. If you have any scanner already added and it should be recognised and click on scan document icon. Also, you can choose to importa images into PDFs, renumber pages etc. gscan2pdf is particularly useful if you have to scan and convert a multipage document or multiple documents into a PDF. Makes life easy!

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Some of the features include

Interface – Revolutionary non-overlapping and non-blocking UI delivers unsurpassed workflow

Modeling – A range of 3D object types including polygon meshes, NURBS surfaces, bezier and B-spline curves, metaballs, vector fonts (TrueType, PostScript, OpenType)

Rigging – Fast skeleton creation mode & Interactive 3D paint for vertex weighting

Rendering – Oversampling, motion blur, post-production effects, fields, non-square pixels

Animation – Armature (skeleton) deformation with forward/inverse kinematics with pole target support

UV Unwrapping – Interactive transform of UV maps by vertex pinning

Shading – Diffuse shaders such as Lambert, Minnaert, Toon, Oren-Nayar, Lambert

Physics and Particles – Particle system can be atached to any mesh object. Control methods include weight painting, textures, curve guides, wind and vortex effects. Particles can be deflected by moving geometry

Imaging and Compositing – MultiLayer OpenEXR files allow to store and reuse raw renderlayer and passes data

Realtime 3D/Game Creation – Graphical logic editor for defining interactive behavior without programming

For more detailed feature list, click here

Install Blender

To install Blender on your openSUSE, click one of the following 1-click installer (YaST MetaPackages) based on your openSUSE version. This will automatically download the YMP file and launch YaST Package Manager.

openSUSE 11.0

openSUSE 10.3

openSUSE 10.2

NOTE: To enable 1-click install feature in openSUSE 10.2, click here

Click Next in the page showing Blender package selected and then click Next on the summary page showing repositories selected and click Next again on the installation summary page. This will start adding the required repositories and start installing the Blender package and the required dependencies.

Once installed, you can find Blender can be found as “3D Modeller/Renderer” under “Applications – Graphics”

Click 3D Modeller/Renderer to start Blender

To demonstrate the stunning performance of Blender, it would only be ideal to send you to the authors demonstration images and videos showing the class that Blender can bring to your creativities.

Click here to view/watch the demo images and videos from the authors website

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AWN requires

1. your system to support Compositing (using AIGLX or XGL). In openSUSE 11.0 AIGLX compositing is enabled by default.

2. X installation has Compositing is enabled. To verify this

opensuse11:~ # grep -i composite /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Option       “Composite” “on”

If missing, under “Section Extensions” add the line

Option       “Composite” “on”

So it looks as follows:

Section “Extensions”
Option “Composite” “on”

3. A Compositing Manager installed. Compiz, Compiz-manager, Beryl, metacity etc

To install Avant Window Navigator,

Click KMenu – Computer – Install Software (in GNOME Computer – Install Software). This will start YaST Package Manager.

In the Search box, enter “avant” and press enter.

Select “avant-window-manager” & “awn-extras-applets” and click Accept. Accept any dependency packages to complete the installation.

This should install Avant Window Manager and the AWN Extras applets on your openSUSE under Utilities.

Alternatively, from the terminal

opensuse11:~ # yast2 -i avant-window-manager awn-extras-applets

Start Avant Window

Befor you start Avant Window manager for the first time, you need to start “Avant Window navigator” from utilities.

To start Avant Window Navigator from terminal

opensuse11:~ # avant-window-navigator &

To start Avant Window Manager from terminal

opensuse11:~ # avant-manager &

Stop Avant Window Manager

To close AWN from terminal

opensuse11:~ # killall avant-window-navigator

To make the Dock more 3D like, from Avant-Manager under General click Bar Appearance. Select “3D look” under Look listbox.

You can also set icon effects from Avant-Manager under General. There is a list box for “Icon Effects”. Select your icon effect. Once selected, click referesh button to update.

You can select from a list of various available applets under Applets. Select the applet and click Activate.

Similarly, third-party plugins and themes can be installed to make AWN look even more cuter.

Plugins can be downloade from here.
Look into the detailed instructions for each of these plugins. once installed, they can be added to the dock from Launcher option.

A whole lot of Themes are available for download here

Once downloaded, install the Theme from the Themes option. From Themes, click Add and browse to the tgz file downloaded. You may have to stop your AWN dock and restart again. As shown earlier.

To make the Dock appear online, add it to the system startup in GNOME click Control Center – System – Sessions. click Add and enter the Description and command as follows:

Some AWN  in action screens

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To install gDesklets,

1. Click Computer – Install Software (in KDE KMenu – Computer – Install Software). Enter the root password if you are not a privileged user.

2. In the search box, enter “gdesklets” and press enter. This should list the gDesklets installation package.

3. Select the box for gDesklets and click Accept. This should install the gDesklets package.

If you want a easy route to install, from the terminal install as follows:

opensuse11:~ # yast2 -i gDesklets

This should start YaST Package Manager and install it for you.

Once installed, gDesklets will be listed under “Utilities” menu. Start gDesklets by clicking on the icon.

To add Desklets, from the selected category, double-click the Desklet. This will move the Desklet to the part of the screen you want. Click on the screen where you want to park it. That is all.

To configure the Desklet, right-click on the Desklet and click configure.

You can get more Desklets from here

To install a new Desklet, from File and select “Install Package”. Alternatively, select “Install Remote Package” and enter the actual URL of the tar.gz file. For instance, to install “SideCandy PopMail” provide this URL

http://www.gdesklets.de/files/desklets/SideCandy%20PopMail/SideCandy%20PopMail-0.3.tar.gz

To bring the gDesklets front (on top of all active windows) press <SHIFT>+F12. Press the same key combination again to send it to the background.

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