Compiz Fusion help needed.

[Paul Rumelhart]

Steven Vollom wrote:
>
> Dear Paul,
>
> You got me laughing, I am so happy.  I have eight now.  Are you actually 
> seeing an octagon?  I just seem to be rotating the desktop as a whole.  
> This isn't just fun, it is totally useful.  I am always working with 
> several pages on the desktop.  Now I can separate projects.  What a 
> wonderful tool.  This is just great.
>
> I have never played with Compiz yet.  I have been too busy learning 
> things that are a priority.  It will be fun when I can take the time.  
> Do you use any other features of Compiz that are so useful?
>
> Cudos, Cheers!, Ciao Bello, and Cordially,
>
> Steven
>   
Steven,

I have it set so that I can press both the left and right mouse buttons 
when my cursor is over the desktop, and it shows me an eight-sided 
"cube" with one desktop on each side.  Technically, I guess it's 
ten-sided because you have the two end caps.  I think you can also press 
Ctrl and Alt and the left mouse button to do this.  I remember I had to 
set the zoom value to get the desktop "cube" to fall back from the 
screen so I could see it better.  Under Advanced Desktop Effects 
Settings > Rotate Cube > General I have my zoom set at 0.5068.  I 
remember playing with the values until everything spun at the speed I 
wanted it to.   I also have Cube Reflection on (in the Effects area), 
which shows the cube over a reflective floor.  I think it's a 
great-looking effect.

I also have it setup so that if I hold down the Alt key and use the 
wheel on the mouse, it will make the window the mouse is over more 
transparent.  That way, if my window is blocking another window and I 
need to see what's on it, I can make the window slightly transparent so 
I can continue to work in it but also see what's behind it.  I don't 
remember if I had to change it to do that or if it's default behavior.

I also recommend using the Window Previews (in Advanced Desktop Effects 
Settings in the Extras area).  If this is enabled you should see a small 
preview window whenever you mouse over a window icon in the start bar.  
This is useful when I have a few of the same window types open, and I'm 
not sure which one is the one I want.  Mousing over them will show me a 
snapshot of what they actually look like at that second.  If you have a 
video open, it will actually show the video as it's progressing in the 
preview window.

I've also played around with animations, which are nice but don't 
actually help me be more productive.  I also like having Wobbly Windows 
enabled, although it does nothing to really help me either.  It just 
looks nice.

Paul