Among the different widgets I use on my desktop, there is a small one which tells me my current public IP address. The reason I’m having it is due to the fact that my own ISP uses a NAT for almost all its customers (don’t ask - long story) and so I need to keep tabs on my current IP, because it may have been blacklisted, and so on. Up to now I was using this plasmoid written in Python, but the code had several issues and used its own way of getting the public IP.

As others, bigger members in the KDE community say, “nobody will do it for you, and therefore they will”. The patch from the title comes from such a story. Let’s give some background first: I’m really a heavy activity user, especially when working. My home PC has about five activities, my work one 3, and I managed to compartimentalize the various “topics” that each activity does pretty well. After an update a couple of weeks ago from the latest code from KDE git, I started noticing weird behavior.

Recently in the Plasma mailing list, KDE developers have discussed a new screen-locking implementation that could be added to the upcoming 4.8 release of the KDE Workspaces. The first reason to do so was to solve some security constraints of the existing implementation. As an added bonus, screen locking should be also more aestetically pleasing. There is however a trade-off: such implementation would mean that screensavers that rely on X (also called X screensavers) would not be compatible.

While browsing around kde-look.org, I’ve stumbled upon a nice little Plasma scripted widget, and I’m publishing this to have it get more exposure. A good part of the KDE community knows at least little about Nepomuk, and its ability to attach semantic tags to your files - basically words that describe the file, be it an image, a text document, or anything you’d like. For example, you could tag all the photos from your vacation with the name of the place you’ve been.

A few may know that I more or less maintain the Plasma FAQ page on KDE’s UserBase. Given the rapid advance of Plasma between KDE versions, each time a new version is out a new FAQ needs to be made, as the content rapidly becomes obsolete. For 4.3, unfortunately, I’m not sure I’ll be able to put a new version up in time for the 4.3 release. The reason is mostly practical: it takes a bit of work to collect and add information, and currently my free time is limited due to a rather heavy workload and some other commitments.

I just finished writing a new Python tutorial on KDE’s Techbase. This one deals with writing DataEngines in Python (a complement to Simon Edwards’s own Using DataEngines). Let me know what you think. As it’s a wiki, comments and suggestions are welcome.

As Simon Edwards already noted, thanks to me and him (mostly him, I have to say) starting to work on Plasma tutorials at the same time, now KDE’s Techbase has a nice set of Python Plasma tutorials. They cover creation of applets and connection to DataEngines (see the Plasma page on Techbase for more information). I plan on starting a tutorial on writing Plasma DataEngines on Thursday, if time permits.

It turned out I forgot to add the last screencast produced by the students of Kourse 2, so I’ll fix my mistake right now. Here’s Panel settings, by Kourse student TeaAge: [blip.tv ?posts_id=1653914&dest=-1]

Students from Kourse 2 fengshaun and Primoz have prepared two nice screencasts, dealing with the Zooming User Interface (ZUI) and desktop settings respectively. Without further ado, here they are: Zooming User Interface by fengshaun [blip.tv ?posts_id=1648944&dest=-1] Desktop settings by Primoz [blip.tv ?posts_id=1646835&dest=-1] As usual, both Free and non-Free versions are available. The students are also at work on subtitled versions, without the Notes plasmoid. I’ll be sure to post them once they’re done.

As some people already know,I’m mentoring a group of students on KDE Forum to create Plasma screencasts (from the upcoming KDE 4.2 version). After several adjustments back and forth, the first one (made by kourse student Primoz), showing off the various desktop settings, is complete. This version uses the Notes plasmoid to keep track of annotation, but we’re also evaluating subtitle-based versions. In the mean time, enjoy! (and spread the word).

Today I was adjusting a bit the layouts of the Activities (as defined in Plasma) to better suit my workflows. To do so I was using the brand new Activity Bar which is present in KDE 4.2. It’s very neat, but takes up space on the desktop, and while it’s not a big deal on my main PC (1280x1024 resolution), it is an issue on my recently-resuscitated EeePC (1024x600). It was then that it occured to me that such applets are, in Plasma-speak, PopupApplets, which means they adjust their behavior depending if they are in a panel or “free”.

Today I’m in a posting spree…This clip shows how to resize and move Plasma panels around. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmpv-S5JJI4[/youtube]

Following up on my previous post, here is another screencast showing off how to create a sidebar panel and add a few plasmoids to it. As usual, the version on Youtube has annotations. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPeFSDdt2PY[/youtube]

I’ve put together a small video that shows what you can do with zooming in and out with Plasma’s Zooming User Interface (ZUI). Enjoy. (note: the version on Youtube has also annotations that explain better what is going on) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhODrJkoidA[/youtube] If you can, please spread the link to the video. We need more correct information out there.

Those of you that follow my Linux-related posts know that I work (along with others) on a FAQ trying to explain some magic behind KDE 4.x’s Plasma. Now, especially since on the Internet, there is the need to spread correct information (most of the naysayers are not quite informed). So, if you want to help KDE, please spread the word on the Plasma FAQ! If people have questions on Plasma, just direct them to