Re: [PATCH] nm-applet for MBM (Show technology)

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 15:50 +0000, Karl Lattimer wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 11:15 -0400, Dan Williams wrote:
> > On Mon, 2008-10-27 at 16:35 -0400, Dan Williams wrote:
> > > On Mon, 2008-10-27 at 10:14 -0700, bjornrun wrote:
> > > > Hello NetworkManager List!
> > > > 
> > > > Here are some patches to networkmanager applet for MBM so technology used in
> > > > connection is shown in applet.
> > > > Note this uses the earlier patch in Modem-Manager.
> > > 
> > > Hang on for a bit with these patches, we'll be switching over to
> > > ModemManager imminently and then we can start doing this sort of thing.
> > > 
> > > But, for the icons, don't create completely new ones.  Just create small
> > > badges (the same size as nm-vpn-active-lock.png) and then we'll just
> > > composite them on top of the existing icon in another layer.  There's
> > > already a VPN layer, so we'll just add another for mobile broadband
> > > speeds.
> > 
> > BTW, are there "standard" decals/icons for the speeds?  I know most
> > phones use a G or an E for GPRS/EDGE, and a "3G" for UMTS/HSPA, maybe we
> > can do a bit better and have some more color :)  As long as people will
> > recognize it of course.
> 
> I was going to mention this also, there is actually an icon for
> GPRS/GSM, a stylised E is used for Edge, and 3G for UMTS and 3.5G for
> HSDPA I believe (these are used on nokia phones and possibly others). It
> would of course be nice to get better metaphors for each of these, in
> the same way as the GPRS/GSM icon is descriptive of what it is even if
> it isn't descriptive of which it is.
> 
> Further problems are abound though, for instance if we choose dark
> colours for the glyphs then they won't work on dark themes, and we will
> have some difficulty with tango styling as they'll be so small. 1px line
> width... 
> 
> Probably a good idea to speak with Garret/Jimmac about this as they'll
> probably have some good ideas as to how we can deal with the problem at
> this small size. Also Tango forbits the use of text in icons, I think
> this also refers to numbers and letters, they might not cross
> localisation boundaries very well. 
> 
> Attached is a drawing of the gsm/gprs icon.

Ugh...  changing the tower design itself is a non-starter, because I
just don't think that works.  I think decals or colors are really the
only way to go here.  The tower will also eventually have to have signal
strength so it may have to shift to the left with the signal bars
marching left -> right.

For CDMA in the Americas, 2.5G == 1xRTT (between GPRS and EDGE in speed)
and the icon is usually just "1X".  3G == EVDO (> 3Mbps, comparable to
HSDPA 3.6) usually gets an "EV" icon.  I've never seen purely graphical
icons for these.

Dan