Making CAPS-LOCK into a control key in X

Using xmodmap:

$ cat ~/.xmodmap
remove Lock = Caps_Lock
keycode 0x42 = Control_L
add Control = Control_L

$ xmodmap ~/.xmodmap

Accessing Google Calendar from Thunderbird/Lightning (Icedove/Iceowl)

Background Note: On Debian, Mozilla's email client Thunderbird is known as Icedove, and Mozilla's calendar client Lightning is known as Iceowl. This rebranding has something to do with the licensing requirements surrounding the "Mozilla" name. As I understand it, Firefox/Iceweasel, Thunderbird/Icedove and Sunbird/Lightning/Iceowl are identical save for the icons and naming.

Here's how to access Google Calendar using Lightning/Iceowl, whether as a standalone application or as a Thunderbird/Icedove add-on.

1. Install the application:

sudo aptitude install iceowl

Or the add-on (assuming you've already installed Thunderbird/Icedove):

sudo aptitude install iceowl-extension

You can install both, but note that they don't share a configuration so you'll need to set up your calendars in both Lightning/Iceowl and Thunderbird/Icedove.

2. Get the "private URL" for your calendar.

Go to the web-based Google Calendar.

On the left-side navigation bar, notice the My Calendars section (expand that if needed). Hover over one of your calendars and click on the little caret/down-arrow menu that appears. Select Calendar settings from that menu.

On the Calendar settings page, note the section labeled Private Addresses. Copy the URL that is linked to by the orange button labeled XML.

3. Create a new calendar in Lightning/Iceowl.

In the standalone app, that's File > New Calendar. Within Thunderbird/Icedove, that's File > New > Calendar.

Select On the Network (and click Next).

Select Google Calendar and paste the URL you copied in step 2 into the Location field. (Then click Next.)

Enter your Google username/password and tweak the settings as desired.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each calendar you want to integrate.

Cheat Sheet for Linux Run Levels

"Standard" Linux uses the following run levels:

• Run Level 0 is halt (shutdown).
• Run Level 1 is single-user mode.
• Run Level 2 is multi-user mode (without networking)
• Run Level 3 is multi-user mode (with networking). This is the normal "terminal" mode. (I.e., before the display manager is run).
• Run Level 4 is undefined.
• Run Level 5 is multi-usermode with a GUI display manager (X11).
• Run Level 6 is reboot.

In Debian and its derivatives run levels 2 thru 5 are the same: multi-user mode with networking, and with a display manager if available.

• Run Level 0 is halt (shutdown).
• Run Level 1 is single-user mode.
• Run Level 2-5 is multi-user mode with networking and a GUI display manager when available.
• Run Level 6 is reboot.

Debian also adds Run Level S, which is executed when the system first boots.

Also see Wikipedia's article on run levels.

How to disable services in Debian/Linux

The easy way is to install sysv-rc-conf:

aptitude install sysv-rc-conf
sysv-rc-conf

Manually, use update-rc.d and specify the run levels, like so:

update-rc.d SERVICE_NAME stop 0 1 6 3 . start 2 4 5 .

Restore Ctrl+Alt+Backspace as a way to kill X on Linux.

Modern Debian and Ubuntu distributions have this disabled by default.

setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_backspace

Set monitor resolution with xrandr

$ cvt -r -v 1920 1080
# 1920x1080 59.93 Hz (CVT 2.07M9-R) hsync: 66.59 kHz; pclk: 138.50 MHz
Modeline "1920x1080R"  138.50  1920 1968 2000 2080  1080 1083 1088 1111 +hsync -vsync

$ xrandr --newmode "1920x1080R"  138.50  1920 1968 2000 2080  1080 1083 1088 1111 +hsync -vsync

$ xrandr --addmode VGA1 "1920x1080R"

$ xrandr --output VGA1 --mode "1920x1080R"

Also handy:

$ xrandr --output LVDS1 --off --output VGA1 --auto

List Available Fonts

To view a list of available fonts, use fc-list.