Set nautilus default view to list

I have no idea how to open this 'Edit > Preferences' window in the gnome flashback, but the dconf editor version worked for me:

1. Open dconf Editor
2. Navigate to org.gnome.nautilus.preferences
1. Set the 'default-folder-viewer' to 'list_view'
3. Optionally: Navigate to org.gnome.nautilus.list-view
1. Set the 'default-zoom-level' to 'smaller'
2. Set the 'use-tree-view' to true

How to make .sh files run on double click?

In Ubuntu 16.04 LTS unlike in previous LTSs executable shell script files when double clicked open automatically for editing instead of seeing a popup asking what to do with them.

To restore the confirmation popup do as it is said in this askubuntu post: make sure your file manager supports executing files:

$ gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences executable-text-activation ask

Alternatively:

1. Open dconf Editor
2. Navigate to org.gnome.nautilus.preferences
1. Set the 'executable-text-activation' to 'ask'

Gnome Classic tweaks on Ubuntu 12.04.5 Precise Pangolin compared to 14.04.1 Trusty Thar

In this post I'm going to configure Ubuntu 12.04.5. LTS to my taste. Since I configured a 14.04.1 LTS just a couple of weeks ago the exact same way, I will compare the how-to of these settings.

What do I need from Ubuntu?
- this post has the list of features I'm going to test against Precise Pangolin.

Desktop Environment Choices
- I chose Gnome Flashback Services again, but in 12.04 it is called Gnome Classic (with or without effects) and can be installed by installing the package gnome-session-fallback instead of gnome-session-flashback.
- Synaptic package manager is not installed by default on 12.04, just like on 14.04, so it has to be installed from terminal with the sudo apt-get install synaptic command (or probably from Ubuntu Software Center, which I prefer to not use)

All the following notes are based on using Gnome Classic without Effects.

Setting up everything

Gnome Classic is somewhat different from Gnome Session Flashback.
Some useful tips can be found in this ubuntu forum thread.

Otherwise, compared to Ubuntu 14.04:

• HP Compaq TC4400 native features:
• pen features: the same
• screen rotation: the same
• on-screen buttons: the same
• Terminal: the same
• Workspaces: the same
• Panels: the same
• Synaptic: the same
• File manager: Nautilus still can do all I want, so I'll stick with it.
• Scripts: the same
• Open in Terminal: the same (install nautilus-open-terminal package to get right click option "Open Terminal") 

Tablet input usage in multi-screen environment compared to Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx:

• xinput has a new version, and it enables to map the tablet input device to the tablet screen by using xinput --map-to-crtc device crtc
• where device is the device ID of the stylus or the eraser taken from xinput --list
• and the crtc is the name of the tablet monitor taken from xrandr

Changing the Date and Time format in the indicator applet
- on Precise there is no configuration editor pre-installed.
- DConf Editor can be installed by installing dconf-tools - then it will be available as dconf-editor of from the Applications menu > System Tools > DConf Editor
- after installing it, setting custom date and time format can be done as in Trusty, described in the post linked above.

Indicator Applet
- Gnome Classic installs indicator-applet-complete, but there are more then one indicator applet that can be downloaded with synaptic. The difference between them is this:

• indicator-applet-complete is: messaging applications, power settings, bluetooth settings, network settings, sound settings, date and time settings, user accounts, session management
• indicator-applet is: messaging applications, power settings, bluetooth settings, network settings, sound settings
• indicator-applet-session is: user accounts, session management
• indicator-applet-appmenu is: your active application's menu header

Some modifications can be made to the features shown in the indicator applet with DConf editor - as described above. 

Remove messaging envelope from indicator applet
This AskUbuntu post holds the solution: to remove just the envelope icon from the indicator applet indicator-messages package has to be removed with sudo apt-get remove indicator-messages and then gnome-panel restarted with sudo pkill gnome-panel

Running Java Applets on websites
- icedtea-7-plugin solves this on Ubuntu 12.04.5, just like it does on 14.04.1.

Reserving space for the top panel between monitors
the same, except for the panel height. It is still 24 pixels, but when set with _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 1024,0,0,0,1024,1048,0,0,0,0,0,0 a single pixel space remains under it, so it has to be set with _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 1024,0,0,0,1024,1047,0,0,0,0,0,0

Enable Compositing for Gnome Classic without effects
In Trusty Thar Metacity Compositing can be enabled by opening dconf-editor and navigating to > org > gnome > metacity > compositing-manager > mark checked.
In Precise Pangolin there is no such option in dconf-editor. Instead you'll have to install gconf-editor and set it there. Once installed, you can find it in the Applications menu > System Tools > Configuration Editor. Inside it navigate to apps > metacity > general and set a checkmark next to "compositing_manager"
This will enable real window transparency (i.e. terminal window), window shadow, Alt+Tab window selector shows screenshot of the window; and it is said to support AWN, and Gnome Do, but I did not try these.

Aero Snap for Gnome Classic (no effects)
the same, except for the key combinations: in Ubuntu 12.04 instead of Mod4 + Super_L + Left combination it is only Mod4 + Left

Repository download checklist:

• synaptic
• gnome-session-fallback
• nautilus-open-terminal
• wmctrl
• xbindkeys
• dconf-tools
• gconf-editor
• gimp (GUI image manipulation tool)
• inkscape (GUI vector-based drawing program)
• imagemagick (convert, mogrify, identify)
• pdftk
• pdfjam (pdfjoin)
• djvulibre-bin (ddjvu, djvused, cjb2, djvm, c44)
• potrace (mkbitmap)
• unpaper
• keepass2
• keepassX
• nautilus-dropbox (Dropbox) fails to complete installation.

Web download checklist:
to install deb packages run sudo dpkg --install [packagename.deb]
to install packages with dependencies, install gdebi first from synaptic, then run sudo gdebi [packagename.deb] - gdebi is like Ubuntu Software Center ("USC") in the Command Line Interface ("CLI")

• Dropbox: does not show system tray indicator in notification area (see description below)
• Skype: looks all right.
• Rescuetime: looks all right.
• Plex Media Server: looks all right.
• Google Chrome: looks all right.

Dropbox installation troubles:
- when installing nautilus-dropbox the process failed to move forward after downloading 100% of the dropbox installer. After killing this process somehow, I could not install anything, but got the message: "E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'sudo dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem." So I did as was asked, and then nautilus-dropbox configuration continued with downloading the installer and stopping after 100% again. I could get out of this infinite loop by following the instructions in this post. I edited the /var/lib/dpkg/info/nautilus-dropbox.postinst file and inserted a "exit 0" line as the second line right after the "#!" line. Then dpkg could finish the process by quitting without really configuring dropbox, so after this I removed the whole thing with sudo apt-get remove nautilus-dropbox and intalled the deb package downloaded from dropbox site.
- the deb package installed all right, but the dropbox tray icon is missing from the notification area. I searched for a solution, and some places suggest removing dropbox and installing nautilus-dropbox instead, but this obviously will not work for me. Another post is suggesting more ways to get the icon working, and I tried all of it (notification area, unity-panel whitelist, autostart y), but none of them worked.
- I added the dropbox gpg key to the repositiry, did an apt-get update, and than tried to install nautilus-dropbox, but got the message: "Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable distribution that some required packages have not yet been created or been moved out of Incoming. The following information may help to resolve the situation: The following packages have unmet dependencies:  nautilus-dropbox : Depends: dropbox but it is not going to be installed E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages." So I searched, and found, and did an apt-get upgrade, which upgraded dropbox only, because this was the broken package, and then after restarting dropbox, nautilus and gnome-panel, there was this 1x1 pixel white dot in the notification area, which on mouse-over shows a label "Dropbox 3.0.5 Up to date" and can be right-clicked to reach dropbox menu. Nautilus-dropbox is still not installed as a package.
- when I copied the dropbox icons to the icon fallback directory, the dropbox icon showed up on the panel.
Dropbox icons are stored in the /home/[user]/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-[version]/images/hicolor/16x16/status/
Icon fallback directory for them is /usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/
However, after restarting the panel it was only the 1x1 pixel dot again, and restarting dropbox didn't help. Icons are still there in the fallback directory.
A note: Skype puts it's icon next to the Dropbox pixel, and it works perfectly, so the problem is definitely with Dropbox.

Aero Snap for extended display on different screen resolutions - a workaround

In this AskUbuntu post, a solution is described to have the Aero snap to left and right in Metacity Ubuntu. I covered the content of the post previously based on the post, and added a snap up and snap down function too.

This AskUbuntu post, from the same user, is aiming to develop the solution further for multiple monitors. Based on this post I'll do my own workaround.

I have two displays. One is 1024x768, the other is 1280x1024 in resolution.
I either put them beside or on top of each other.
I already worked out the usage of the tablet screen as a tablet in similar settings.

I will call displays beside each other "Sided", and displays on top of each other "Topped".

Sided screen is 2304x1024, Topped is 1280x1792 in resolution.

The script as is, puts the active window according to this table:

Snap	Sided display	Topped display
left	left screen	bigger screen left
right	right screen	bigger screen right
up	bigger screen up	upper screen
down	bigger screen down	lower screen

There are problems with the resized window's sizes, caused by the different screen sizes and the expanded edge panels (top and bottom panel). This is what I would like to fix.

Defining screens
the tool for dynamic screen manipulation is xrandr.

Normal/Default (with only one screen and the expanded edge panels (top+bottom) in place)
Small display maximized window is 1024x692 in position 0:80
Big display maximized window is 1280x948 in position 0:80


Topped Displays
Small display (with panels) maximized window is 1024x716 in position 0:1080
Small display maximized window is 1024x740 in position 0:1080
Big display (with panels) maximized window is 1280x972 in position 0:80
Big display maximized window is 1280x996 in position 0:56

As is visible from the altering numbers, either the top or the bottom of the windows are hidden under the edge panels in the Topped view.
This is a problem experienced by different users in AskUbuntu and elsewhere.
It is caused because "panels in between monitors are not supported, and this is a limitation in the freedesktop specification for reserving space for things like panels."

# What is my Desktop Manager? ("dm")
~$ env | grep XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
Mine is GNOME.

# What is my Window Manager? ("wm")
~$ wmctrl -m
Mine is Metacity. It's configuration tool is gconftool-2.
It can be set to be a compositing window manager (like compiz but simpler) by opening dconf-editor and navigating to > org > gnome > metacity > compositing-manager > mark checked. It has these features: real window transparency (i.e. terminal window), window shadow, Alt+Tab window selector shows screenshot of the window; it is said to support AWN, and Gnome Do.


#What is EWMH?
EWMH is a standard for window management. For more info visit this site.

# What is the full size of the display?
that is given by ~$ wmctrl -G -l | grep Desktop
or by ~$ xwininfo -root | grep Height and ~$ xwininfo -root | grep Width
or by ~$ xwininfo -root | egrep '(Height|Depth)' displayed in two rows.

# Is the view topped or sided?
if width>height it is the sided view, else it is the topped view.

# What are the single display sizes?
they are given by xrandr -q | grep '*' displayed in two rows.

#What are the names of the displays?
they are given in ~$ xrandr -q
my displays are LVDS1 and VGA1 indicating the connection port they use.

# How many displays do I have?
~$ xrandr -q | grep -c -w connected

# What are the positions (coordinates) of the displays?
they are given in ~$ xrandr -q in the form of XxY+W+H where the W and H are the x and y positions

# Which display has the edge panels?
the primary display has them. that is given by ~$ xrandr -q | grep -w primary

#What do I need?

• I need the edge panes handled so they would not hide any portion of the maximized windows. --> partially done.
• I need new scripts for moving a windows to either one of the displays.
• I need the snap-to-sides scripts to work within the screen where the window actually is.
• A next step would be if this whole thing would work by dragging the windows to the side of the screen, like on Microsoft Windows.

#References

• this article shows how a bash script can grab monitor properties
• some coding hints with wmctrl
• some more hints for using wmctrl
• an article on virtual screens generally
• a stackoverflow post on partial struts on multiple displays

#Tools (manpages)

• xrandr
• wmctrl
• xwininfo
• grep
• awk
• bash
• xprop for displaying and setting x-server properties (shows ewmh stuff too)

How to reserve space for panel between monitors

I have two monitors set up above each other.
The primary monitor is the lower one, and has the two edge panels on the top and bottom of the display.
The setting looks something like this:

+---------------+
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|-----------+---+
|'''''''''''|
|           |
|,,,,,,,,,,,|
+-----------+

However, when I maximize a window on the screen with the panels, the panel between the two screens gets ignored, and the window maximizes partially behind it, hiding the top of the window (where the controls are). The same thing happens with the bottom panel, if I switch the panels to the upper monitor.

I ran into this problem while trying to configure a snap-to script for a two monitor environment. Obviously, I had to sort this out before moving forward with the script.

The heart of the problem is the thing called "strut" which is basically a reserved space on the screen for a window.

Long story short, a strut for a window can be set with xprop.

You can find more information about the things I describe below on the xprop manpage, the ewmh reference page, and on the manpages of xwininfo, xrandr and grep.

Let's get started!

First you'll need some information about your screen setup to know what you're doing is right.

Get the size of your virtual screen (you can skip this):

xprop -root | egrep '^(_NET_WORKAREA)'

I got this (I have 4 workspaces, this is why the numbers appear four times in a row):
_NET_WORKAREA(CARDINAL) = 0, 0, 1280, 1792, 0, 0, 1280, 1792, 0, 0, 1280, 1792, 0, 0, 1280, 1792
So my screen is 1280x1792 pixels, and it's one big virtual screen alltogether.
I know that my upper screen is 1280x1024 in resolution, and the lower one is 1024x768. If I needed to check this with a command, I would use xrandr -q | grep '*'

Get the ID of the relevant panel (you'll have to click on the panel after you run this):

xwininfo | grep -w id

I got this:
xwininfo: Window id: 0x1600007 "Top Expanded Edge Panel"
Now I know the ID of the top panel is 0x1600007. I'll need this later.

Get an idea about the strut currently set for your panels (you can skip this):

xprop -id 0x1600007 | egrep '^(_NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL)'

I got this:
_NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL(CARDINAL) = 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1023, 0, 0

For a comparison, this is the same output for the bottom panel - notice the "24" in the fourth place:
_NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL(CARDINAL) = 0, 0, 0, 24, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1023

Now, plan your setting!
How to use ewmh _net_wm_strut_partial property?

The property you want to set is somewhat complicated. The lot of zeros and non-zeros you see above mean the following:

_NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL, left, right, top, bottom, left_start_y, left_end_y, right_start_y, right_end_y, top_start_x, top_end_x, bottom_start_x, bottom_end_x,CARDINAL[12]/32

This is still very confusig. I could sort out these settings for myself thanks to this stackoverflow post.

The values are not independent of each other: they are groups. They have to be used together like this:

left & left_start_y & left_end_y
right & right_start_y & right_end_y
top & top_start_x & top_end_x
bottom & bottom_start_x & bottom_end_x

The trick is that you use only one group of values for one window setting. Choosing the one depends on the position you want the window to take.

I will show how to do this on my settings.
My screen dimensions are 1280x1792. The upper screen is 1280x1024, the lower is 1024x768 big.
If I want to reserve space on the bottom of this area, I will relate to this area with the "bottom" value group. So for a panel 1024x24 big, I'll use bottom = 24, bottom_start_x = 0, bottom_end_x = 1024. (because this is on my smaller screen).
Likewise, if I want to reserve space on the top of the two screen big area, I will relate to this area with the "top" value group. So for a panel 1024x24 big, I'll use top = 24, top_start_x = 0, top_end_x = 1280. (because this is on my bigger screen).
However, if I want to put the panel to the top of the lower, smaller screen, I will have to relate to the "left" group, because the left screen sides are the ones lined together (creating a dead area besides the right side of the lower screen).
Relating to the "left" group looks like this: left = 1024 (this is the width of my panel),  left_start_y = 1024 (this is the height of the upper screen), left_end_y= 1048 (this is left_start_y plus the height of my panel (24)).
Reserving space on the upper screen for the bottom panel could be done with the "left" group, but I will demonstrate it with the "right" group. It will be: right = 1280 (with of panel), right_start_y = 1000 (which is the height of the upper screen minus the height of the panel (24)), right_end_y = 1024 (height of upper screen).

Generally, you define left, right, top and bottom relative to the left, right, top and bottom edge of the whole virtual screen, and you define the rest of the values in the regular coordinate system, the top left corner of the whole screen being x=0, y=0, and the bottom right corner being x= full width, y= full height.

Now I have all the values I want to set, and all the information to set them.

I will use xprop -set to set them.

xprop -id 0x1600007 -f _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 32c -set _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 1024,0,0,0,1024,1048,0,0,0,0,0,0

The meaning of options are:

-id 0x1600007 (this is the window ID I got from xwininfo)
-f _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 32c (this is the format of the property I am about to set. for more info check out the manpage)
-set _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 1024,0,0,0,1024,1048,0,0,0,0,0,0 (this is the property and the values I am setting)

A future plan is to make the system automatically set this option for any kind of multi-monitor setup.

UPDATE: 
I wrote a script to calculate the position of the floating panel and set the strut for me (still manually):

#!/bin/bash
# (re)set panel struts on (different sized) dual monitor screen
#************************************************************
# what this script needs to do?
#############################################################
# PART 1
#************************************************************
# check if screen settings has been modified since the last time this script set the strut
## if yes: the panel position has to be recalculated
### check last modification date of /home/user/.config/monitors.xml
# check if panel strut has been removed anyhow (even when the screen setting has not changed)
## if yes: the strut has to be reset (to the previously used setting)
### comment: since strut gets removed by clicking the menu on the panel, how will it react it it is set back instantly
#############################################################
# PART 2
#************************************************************
# check for panel positions -- done
# set strut for panels -- done
#############################################################
# CONDITIONAL RUNNIG OF THE SCRIPT
# This script should work only if the full screen width < height, because this is the only case when the panel does not have a proper strut.
# Should this script run at all?
#read -a screen_geo < <(xwininfo -root | grep geometry | cut -f4 -s -d" " | awk 'BEGIN { FS="[x+]" } { print $1,$2 }')
#if [ "${screen_geo[0]}" -gt "${screen_geo[1]}" ]; then
#echo "this thingy should quit now, of stand by until screen settings are modified"
#else ### the program should modify the settings.
### however not this does nothing and the settings are modified anyway.
#fi
#############################################################
# PART 2
#************************************************************
# It should be decided which one is the floating panel, and the script should run editing only this panel.
# An array for all the panels (id numbers get in it)
read -a panels_id < <(wmctrl -l | grep "Panel" | awk '{ print $1 }' | tr '\n' ' ' | awk '{ print $1,$2}')
# Which panel is floating?
# A panel is floating if the first 4 values in the testpanel array are all 0.
for i in "${panels_id[@]}"; do
counter=0
read -a testpanel < <(xprop -id $i | egrep '^(_NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL)' | cut -f3- -d" " | awk 'BEGIN { FS="," } { print $1,$2,$3,$4,$5,$6,$7,$8,$9,$10,$11,$12 }') # 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1023 0 0
#echo ${testpanel[*]}
 for j in "${testpanel[@]:0:4}"; do
  if [ "$j" -gt "0" ]; then
  let "counter = $counter + 1"
  fi
 done
 if [ $counter -lt "1" ]; then
 fl_id=$i
 fi
done
#echo $fl_id
# Get important values for the floating panel to work with: 
# geometry of the floating panel
read -a fl_geo < <(xwininfo -id $fl_id | grep geometry | cut -f4 -s -d" " | awk 'BEGIN { FS="[x+-]" } { print $1,$2,$3,$4 }') # 1024 24 0 1024
#echo ${fl_geo[*]}

# strut values of the floating panel
read -a fl_strut < <(xprop -id $fl_id | egrep '^(_NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL)' | cut -f3- -d" " | awk 'BEGIN { FS="," } { print $1,$2,$3,$4,$5,$6,$7,$8,$9,$10,$11,$12 }') # 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1023 0 0
#echo ${fl_strut[*]}

# Calculate correct strut position
# Should it be on the Left or on the Right? 
# The panel is on the left side if there is less than two value in the strut array greater than 0.
counter=0
for i in "${fl_strut[@]}"; do
 if [ "$i" -gt "0" ]; then
 let "counter = $counter + 1"
 fi
done
if [ $counter -lt "2" ]; then
side="left"
else
side="right"
fi
#echo $side
# Calculate the values for the strut position
# Usage: _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL, left, right, top, bottom, left_start_y, left_end_y, right_start_y, right_end_y, top_start_x, top_end_x, bottom_start_x, bottom_end_x,CARDINAL[12]/32
left=0; right=0; top=0; bottom=0; left_start_y=0; left_end_y=0; right_start_y=0; right_end_y=0; top_start_x=0; top_end_x=0; bottom_start_x=0; bottom_end_x=0
# ${fl_geo[0]} width
# ${fl_geo[1]} height
# ${fl_geo[2]} x
# ${fl_geo[3]} y
if [ "$side" = "left" ]; then
left=${fl_geo[0]}
left_start_y=${fl_geo[3]}
left_end_y=$((${fl_geo[3]}+${fl_geo[1]}))
elif [ "$side" = "right" ]; then
right=${fl_geo[0]}
right_start_y=${fl_geo[3]}
right_end_y=$((${fl_geo[3]}+${fl_geo[1]}))
fi
# set correct strut for floating panel
# echo "xprop -id $fl_id -f _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 32c -set _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL $left,$right,$top,$bottom,$left_start_y,$left_end_y,$right_start_y,$right_end_y,$top_start_x,$top_end_x,$bottom_start_x,$bottom_end_x"

xprop -id $fl_id -f _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL 32c -set _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL $left,$right,$top,$bottom,$left_start_y,$left_end_y,$right_start_y,$right_end_y,$top_start_x,$top_end_x,$bottom_start_x,$bottom_end_x

# set -x #activate debugging in normal run from here
# set +x #stop debugging in normal run from here
exit 0

Aero snap for Ubuntu 14.04 Flashback with Metacity

In this AskUbuntu post, a solution is described to have the Aero snap to left and right in Metacity Ubuntu. This AskUbuntu post, from the same user, is aiming to develop the solution further. I'll just cover the info from the first post here:

EDIT: I changed the code a little bit to fit my screen better.

You'll need to install two packages for this thing to work:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl xbindkeys

Than you'll need to create two scripts: one for snap left and one for snap right:
Create the files in terminal and give them right to execute by:

sudo touch /bin/snapleft.sh
sudo chmod ugoa+rx /bin/snapleft.sh
sudo touch /bin/snapright.sh
sudo chmod ugoa+rx /bin/snapright.sh 

Open the snapleft.sh by

sudo gedit /bin/snapleft.sh

Copy this text into it:

#!/bin/bash
sleep 0.1 && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,0,0,`xwininfo -root | grep Width | awk '{ print (($2/2)-2)}'`,`xwininfo -root | grep Height | awk '{ print $2 }'`

than save and close it.
Open the snapright.sh by

sudo gedit /bin/snapright.sh

Copy this text into it:

#!/bin/bash
sleep 0.1 && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,`xwininfo -root | grep Width | awk '{ print (($2/2))}'`,0,`xwininfo -root | grep Width | awk '{ print (($2/2))}'`,`xwininfo -root | grep Height | awk '{ print $2 }'`

than save and close it.

Now set the keyboard shortcuts with xbinkeys (to the left-side "super"/windows key and the left and right arrow keys) by

printf '"bash /bin/snapleft.sh"\n Mod4 + Super_L + Left\n' > ~/.xbindkeysrc 
printf '"bash /bin/snapright.sh"\n Mod4 + Super_L + Right\n' >> ~/.xbindkeysrc

You can check the name of a key (if something is amiss) with

xbindkeys -k

NEW STUFF:

To have a snap up and snap down function use the above guide with the following changes:

script name: snapup.sh
script content:

#!/bin/bash
sleep 0.1 && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,0,0,`xwininfo -root | grep Width | awk '{ print $2 }'`,`xwininfo -root | grep Height | awk '{ print (($2/2)-40)}'`

binding key: Mod4 + Super_L + Up

script name: snapdown.sh
script content:

#!/bin/bash
sleep 0.1 && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,0,`xwininfo -root | grep Height | awk '{ print (($2/2))}'`,`xwininfo -root | grep Width | awk '{ print $2 }'`,`xwininfo -root | grep Height | awk '{ print (($2/2)-40)}'`

binding key: Mod4 + Super_L + Down

Login screen - restore to default from ugly gray version

After my laptop shut down from suspended mode due to empty battery I experienced upon next login an ugly gray login-screen (fully functional) instead of the beautiful default unity login screen.

In trying to restore the default login screen, I learned that LightDM is responsible for running the display manager which starts the X servers, user sessions and greeter (which is the login screen). The one I'm missing is the Unity Greeter, which is default in Ubuntu 14.04.

Some forums suggested to reconfigure LightDM with

~$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

and set lightdm to be the default DM.
I did this and did a logout, but it changed nothing.
Then I logged in again, and tried out the following (user configure LightDM), but then I rebooted the machine, and the the unity login screen was back, and then I reversed the changes I made in the LightDM myconfig, and rebooted again, and the unity login screen was still there, so apparently the LightDM reconfigure solved the problem for me.

As I learned from LightDM Ubuntu Wiki page, LightDM configuration can be overridden with user configuration.

To open the example file showing all the possible configuration:

~$ gedit /usr/share/doc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.gz

To create the user conf file:

~$ sudo mkdir /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d

~$ sudo touch /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-myconfig.conf

To edit the user conf file:

~$ sudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-myconfig.conf

I just copied the example file content in gedit my config file and edited the relevant section.
To edit the greeter, you'll have to edit the "greeter-session" in "[SeatDefaults]" section.

in [SeatDefaults] section, there is a line

#greeter-session=example-gtk-gnome

uncomment this line by removing the #, and change "example-gtk-gnome" to one of the greeters available to you.
You can check available greeters by

~$ ls /usr/share/xgreeters/

greeters have an extension .desktop, their name is the one before the extension.
To use unity-greeter, you'll need the line

greeter-session=unity-greeter

to be in your user config file.

Restart your computer to try it out, if logging out does not show any changes.

How to change the date/time format

To customize the format of time and date displayed on the top panel indicator, and set a different format than any other locale format, you'll have to edit manually from dconf Editor.

Open dconf Editor:
~$ dconf-editor

Navigate to com > canonical > indicator > datetime

1. Set "time-format" to "custom"
2. Set "custom-time-format" to the format you want.
3. Make sure that "show-clock" is check-marked.

To check out available formatting options, see the manpage of strftime.
~$ man strftime

My setting is %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S
Which looks like this: 2015-01-09 09:04:51

My other favorite setting is %Y.%m.%d. %a. %H:%M:%S
Which looks like this: 2015.07.02. cs. 09:04:51 (where cs. is the local abbreviation of Thursday)

With the custom date-time format you can still use the options for the calendar (show-calendar, etc.), but the options for the clock will make no change on the displayed custom time-date format.