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pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_splash.jpg” align=”left” hspace=”4″ vspace=”2″ width=”494″ height=”200″ style=”display:block;float:none;” /Windows only: SysMetrix gives you a desktop widget you can skin, configure, and tweak to show you the time, your system info, email updates, and other information in a seemingly endless number of configurations. The system monitor comes with a variety of built-in themes, ranging from analog clocks with built-in mini-gauges to screen-length toolbar strips, that you can add your own sliders, histograms, read-outs, and other tools to. The tool supports POP-based email checking, grabs weather from the (U.S.) National Weather Service, and can work with the a href=”http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311″Motherboard Monitor/a tool if you’re looking for temperatures, fan speeds, and the like. SysMetrix is a free download for Windows systems only. Read on for a look at what you can tweak on a SysMetrix clock./p pAfter a href=”http://www.xymantix.com/sysmetrix/”installing SysMetrix/a and loading it up, you’ll see an auto-updating graph in your system tray, along with a clock widget on your desktop. First off, don’t be concernedmdash;it’s a lot more than just a Vista Sidebar clock widget, and you can move it, stick it to a screen side, make it transparent, or have it auto-hide, any way you want, really. Right-click on the clock or the tray icon and choose “SysMetrix Configuration.”/p pThe Theme Browser shows you the built-in themes that come with the tool, but they’re really just starting templates. You can grab more themes at a href=”http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?library=28″WinCustomize/a, a href=”http://www.deviantart.com/browse.php?section=sysmetrix”Deviant Art/a, and a href=”http://www.xymantix.com/sysmetrix/themes.html”other customization sites/a. Pick a basic stylemdash;analog clock, strip, or box widgetmdash;and let’s keep moving./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_themes.jpg” class=”center” width=”456″ height=”218″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pAs noted, you don’t have to give up space to your SysMetrix if you don’t want to. In the Preferences menu’s Positioning section, you’ve got the option to have the app remember where you put your widget, reserve screen space (meaning windows can’t cover it), set up pseudo-transparency by having the widget copy its background, and enable real transparency on Windows XP/2000./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_positioning.jpg” class=”center” width=”638″ height=”434″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pSysMetrix’s configuration gives you a serious number of ways to tweak your gauge’s appearance. It’s worth noting, though, that adding a new gauge or element to a theme starts from scratch. You specify the number of pixels off the center a gauge, graph, or number display starts at, how it moves, what graphic it uses, and so on. The best bet for those without time to Photoshop their own tools is to choose or download a theme with built-in gauges and indicators, then simply change what they monitorsmdash;turning a CPU checker, for instance, into an email monitor, moving from left to right as you get more and more mail./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_gauges.jpg” class=”center” width=”449″ height=”309″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pThose are the basics of SysMetrix. Have a better theme that offers some crazy customizations? Want to share a screenshot of your own SysMetrix setup? Share it all in the comments. emThanks, a href=”http://lifehacker.com/5068294/beautifully-minimalist-conky-setup#c8521504″LazurusSnass/a!/em/p div class=”related”a href=”http://www.xymantix.com/sysmetrix/”SysMetrix/a [Xymantix Online]/div br style=”clear: both;”/
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pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_splash.jpg” align=”left” hspace=”4″ vspace=”2″ width=”494″ height=”200″ style=”display:block;float:none;” /Windows only: SysMetrix gives you a desktop widget you can skin, configure, and tweak to show you the time, your system info, email updates, and other information in a seemingly endless number of configurations. The system monitor comes with a variety of built-in themes, ranging from analog clocks with built-in mini-gauges to screen-length toolbar strips, that you can add your own sliders, histograms, read-outs, and other tools to. The tool supports POP-based email checking, grabs weather from the (U.S.) National Weather Service, and can work with the a href=”http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311″Motherboard Monitor/a tool if you’re looking for temperatures, fan speeds, and the like. SysMetrix is a free download for Windows systems only. Read on for a look at what you can tweak on a SysMetrix clock./p pAfter a href=”http://www.xymantix.com/sysmetrix/”installing SysMetrix/a and loading it up, you’ll see an auto-updating graph in your system tray, along with a clock widget on your desktop. First off, don’t be concernedmdash;it’s a lot more than just a Vista Sidebar clock widget, and you can move it, stick it to a screen side, make it transparent, or have it auto-hide, any way you want, really. Right-click on the clock or the tray icon and choose “SysMetrix Configuration.”/p pThe Theme Browser shows you the built-in themes that come with the tool, but they’re really just starting templates. You can grab more themes at a href=”http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?library=28″WinCustomize/a, a href=”http://www.deviantart.com/browse.php?section=sysmetrix”Deviant Art/a, and a href=”http://www.xymantix.com/sysmetrix/themes.html”other customization sites/a. Pick a basic stylemdash;analog clock, strip, or box widgetmdash;and let’s keep moving./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_themes.jpg” class=”center” width=”456″ height=”218″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pAs noted, you don’t have to give up space to your SysMetrix if you don’t want to. In the Preferences menu’s Positioning section, you’ve got the option to have the app remember where you put your widget, reserve screen space (meaning windows can’t cover it), set up pseudo-transparency by having the widget copy its background, and enable real transparency on Windows XP/2000./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_positioning.jpg” class=”center” width=”638″ height=”434″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pSysMetrix’s configuration gives you a serious number of ways to tweak your gauge’s appearance. It’s worth noting, though, that adding a new gauge or element to a theme starts from scratch. You specify the number of pixels off the center a gauge, graph, or number display starts at, how it moves, what graphic it uses, and so on. The best bet for those without time to Photoshop their own tools is to choose or download a theme with built-in gauges and indicators, then simply change what they monitorsmdash;turning a CPU checker, for instance, into an email monitor, moving from left to right as you get more and more mail./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/sysmetrix_gauges.jpg” class=”center” width=”449″ height=”309″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pThose are the basics of SysMetrix. Have a better theme that offers some crazy customizations? Want to share a screenshot of your own SysMetrix setup? Share it all in the comments. emThanks, a href=”http://lifehacker.com/5068294/beautifully-minimalist-conky-setup#c8521504″LazurusSnass/a!/em/p div class=”related”a href=”http://www.xymantix.com/sysmetrix/”SysMetrix/a [Xymantix Online]/div br style=”clear: both;”/
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pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/beautiful_conky.jpg” height=”165″ width=”230″ align=”right” hspace=”4″ vspace=”2″ align=”right”Topping off our fascination with Linux desktop monitor Conky this week, here’s a remarkable setup on Ubuntu that delivers Gmail counts, Yahoo weather with graphics and system stats, all with an eye for uncluttered text and transparent integration with any wallpaper. Check out a larger look at this Conky setup, and the desktop it came from, below. Want to get started setting up your own ambient monitor? Check out our a href=”http://lifehacker.com/5067341/customize-conky-for-ambient-linux-productivity”guide to customizing Conky/a./p pThese pictures come from a href=”http://www.quicktweaks.com/2008/09/27/gmail-weather-beauty-right-on-your-ubuntu-desktop/”Quick Tweaks’ detailed Conky how-to/a, which explains how to set up Gmail monitoring, Yahoo Weather updates, and statistics from your system temperatures and fans. The author is also rocking Avant Window Navigator, GNOME-DO (running a Launchy-like skin), and an Emerald theme. Check out the post for more details./p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/full_desktop.jpg” class=”center” width=”800″ height=”500″ style=”display:block;float:none;” //p pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/full_conky.jpg” height=”671″ width=”230″ class=”center” align=”center”/p pemThanks for the link, a href=”http://lifehacker.com/5067158/conky-puts-lightweight-ambient-system-stats-on-linux-desktops#c8487642″asge/a!/em/p div class=”related”a href=”http://www.quicktweaks.com/2008/09/27/gmail-weather-beauty-right-on-your-ubuntu-desktop/”GMAIL+WEATHER+BEAUTY RIGHT ON YOUR UBUNTU DESKTOP/a [Quick Tweaks]/div br style=”clear: both;”/
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pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2008/10/drag_drop2.jpg” align=”left” hspace=”4″ vspace=”2″ width=”494″ height=”200″ style=”display:block;float:none;” /Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Drag DropZones is a clever interface tweak that allows you to perform nearly any action or search by dragging any page elementmdash;a link, email address, image, or page itselfmdash;onto a transparent grid you set up. In other words, instead of right clicking an image to save it, you’d simply grab it and drag it onto the “Save Image” box that pops up when you start dragging. Similarly, highlight and drag text to search any of the search bar engines you’ve set up. Drag DropZones’ context offerings go a bit beyond what Firefox offers, and it’s fully customizable in color, size, and transparency. Drag DropZones is a free download, works wherever Firefox does./p div class=”related”a href=”https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5595″Drag and DropZones/a [Mozilla Add-ons via a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10074208-2.html"Webware/a]/div br style=”clear: both;”/
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Linux only: Conky is a free, open-source system monitor that’s been featured in more than one of the Linux desktops we’ve featured, but pegging it as just a CPU/memory/process watcher is a bit unfair. Conky can keep track of your unread IMAP mail, show what music’s playing right now, and pull off more than 250 other data stunts using its built-in variables. It’s not a new app—in fact, it’s pre-packaged for most Linux distros by now—but we’ve (surprisingly) never given Conky a featured post before, and it well deserves one. Conky is a free download for Linux systems only; Windows and Mac users can get similar stats with Samurize and GeekTool, respectively. Got a favorite Conky config trick or script to share? Post it in the comments. Screen cap by LH reader Regac.

Windows only: Free program Task Manager Extension 2.0 adds tons of functionality to the built-in Windows task manager. The extension beefs up the right-click menu with 14 menu entries instead of the default four. If you’ve ever needed more from your task manager than the basic End Process and Set Priority options available, Task Manager Extension 2.0 packs on options like additional process details, viewing dependencies, and finding files in use. Using the Find File/Module tool is extremely useful for ferreting out a file that Windows won’t allow you to delete. A small word of caution when using Task Manager Extension: it allows you to shut down processes that the default Windows task manager would normally restrict you from touching. Shut down a core process and you can crash your machine. For more information about processes and how to tame them, check out Kevin’s excellent guide to mastering the task manager. Task Manager Extension 2.0 is a free download for Windows only.