Live earth wallpaper

[jakupl]

I made a script that automatically configures your desktop wallpaper to be a live earth background that updates every ½ hour.
just run the following command in the terminal


wget bit.ly/liveew && bash liveew && rm liveew

The script installs a deamon that updates the background every half hour, it changes the background altso, so you can literally just run the command, log out and in again, and there it is. as long as you have a working internet connection of course.

I have attached a screenshot of the background.

[K.Mandla]

Moved to Desktop Environments.

[s.m.knipe]

I made a script that automatically configures your desktop wallpaper to be a live earth background that updates every ½ hour.
just run the following command in the terminal


wget bit.ly/liveew && bash setupwallpaper.sh && rm setupwallpaper.sh

The script installs a deamon that updates the background every half hour, it changes the background altso, so you can literally just run the command, log out and in again, and there it is. as long as you have a working internet connection of course.

I have attached a screenshot of the background.

This is so awesome, Thank you!

EDIT: actually, bash can't find the script, any ideas?... But this is an awesome idea and would love to see it implemented, great job for what you have done on it!

[jakupl]

This is so awesome, Thank you!

EDIT: actually, bash can't find the script, any ideas?... But this is an awesome idea and would love to see it implemented, great job for what you have done on it!

close the terminal and open up new one and try again.
Your terminal needs to be in the home directory for it to work.

[Brandel Valico]

Love the idea also. But have the same problem as the other poster. Tried logging out and reopening a new terminal and still no go

[jakupl]

What if you manually download the file bit.ly/liveew. Go to terminal and do
sh /path/to/file
EDIT: remember to log out and log in again after each try.

[lukeiamyourfather]

Pretty nifty! I haven't downloaded the script yet but was wondering where you are getting the Earth images from? I'll give it a shot when I reboot into Ubuntu.

[jakupl]

Pretty nifty! I haven't downloaded the script yet but was wondering where you are getting the Earth images from? I'll give it a shot when I reboot into Ubuntu.

it's from opentopia.com
The full link to the picture is http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
That picture is periodically updated on the website.

[jakupl]

AH. I see the problem. Wget names the file liveew because that's what the bit.ly name is. so the new, updated and awesome script is -
wget bit.ly/liveew && bash liveew && rm liveew

[Baldrick_NZ]

This is brilliant! Kudos Jakupl.

Does it also update the weather (cloud formations) as well?

Cheers.

[jakupl]

This is brilliant! Kudos Jakupl.

Does it also update the weather (cloud formations) as well?

Cheers.
yes it does.

[Brandel Valico]

This is great and the new script works like a dream.

[wojox]

Sweet, good job man. This is really cool.

[jtarin]

Great idea!!!! I can watch my wife but she can't see me.):P

[Cpierce]

Very nice. Thank you

[jtarin]

how can i use this code plz suggest me.If you will read the entire thread you wil see that the wget command downloads and installs a daemon that runs in the background and also places a script in your /home/username folder. Open a terminal and run the script then log out and then log back in.

[Baldrick_NZ]

I love the fact that this will also help keep an eye on current weather conditions too, in (almost) real-time. This is particularly handy right now as NZ (where I live) is bracing itself for "One of the largest storms on the planet.." (according to local news media) over the next few days.

Really does look ominous!

(Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but it is sort of on-topic as well) :)

[paparozoumis]

Great idea and wonderful implementation !!!!
I really love it and can't wait to show off to my friends :lol

[Baldrick_NZ]

Has anyone noticed this hasn't updated since yesterday?
I've removed the last generated pic from appearances>backgrounds, then re-installed the script a few times, but it seems as if NZ has been in 'night' for the past 24 hours...

Any help to kick start this would be much appreciated!

[jtarin]

Running fine here.....notice my lat and long.

[sikander3786]

Running fine here.....notice my lat and long.
.jpg? Well try out this (http://www.google.com.pk/images?as_q=girls&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=923&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_st=y&tbs=isch:1,ift:gif) one LOL.

To the OP:

Running fine here. Thanks for all the goods...

[jtarin]

.jpg? Well try out this (http://www.google.com.pk/images?as_q=girls&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=923&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_st=y&tbs=isch:1,ift:gif) one LOL.

:popcorn::p

[jtarin]

yeah i should have read the whole thread.i am thankful to you answering me.i'll read first and if i would have any prob,i'll take your help hoping u would help me.thanks a lot.
Anytime I can help just ask.:D

[jpkotta]

You all may be interested in XPlanet. http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/. You can install it with the xplanet package.

[Dex73]

This is the best back-ground ever! And, I got to work with a single command copied and pasted. Brilliant!

[paparozoumis]

Can anyone explain why the wallpaper looks like that and the bottom half lacks the clouds and it's whitened?
even the picture in opentopia.com
http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
is the same as of right now...
This makes me think it's not my graphic card's problem and I hope it's going to get fixed....

[jtarin]

Can anyone explain why the wallpaper looks like that and the bottom half lacks the clouds and it's whitened?
even the picture in opentopia.com
http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
is the same as of right now...
This makes me think it's not my graphic card's problem and I hope it's going to get fixed....


I've sent an email to the webmaster about this just now.Post when your viewing a correct image.

[paparozoumis]

I've sent an email to the webmaster about this just now.Post when your viewing a correct image.

Thanks!
What address did you use to email them?
Perhaps a couple more emails should wake them up a bit? :)

[jtarin]

Thanks!
What address did you use to email them?
Perhaps a couple more emails should wake them up a bit? :)webmaster@opentopia.com

[paparozoumis]

webmaster@opentopia.com

I sent them an email too but in the meantime, it looks like they fixed it..

:guitar::guitar:

Thanks for your time and idea of emailing to them :guitar:):P

[jtarin]

I sent them an email too but in the meantime, it looks like they fixed it..

:guitar::guitar:

Thanks for your time and idea of emailing to them :guitar:):PIt seems someone is on the job.:p
Now I think I will follow up with a Thank You.

[norseman-has-a-laptop]

dude this is pretty cool.

[paparozoumis]

Love the idea also. But have the same problem as the other poster. Tried logging out and reopening a new terminal and still no go



What poster and what problem?
I just run this command in a terminal

wget bit.ly/liveew && bash liveew && rm liveew

and everything was fine... (except from the distorted image which is already fixed but this has nothing to do with the command itself or the script it creates)

[ellalan]

This is good, working fine and Thanks.

[haidoura]

This is how I made the change.sh file looks like,
- I created a new cron schedule that runs every 40mins
- I changed the .sh file into this,




#!/bin/bash

cd ~/.gnome2/
wget -r -N --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.0.3) Gecko/2008092416 Firefox/3.0.3" -O world.jpg http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg && notify-send 'New image from Satellite!!'
rm world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
mv world.jpg world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg



This would download the image and will tell opentopia that iam a browser and not a command, some websites blocks wget from visiting their site, I was also think of porting the output to image scaler like ImageMagic and making a thumbnail out of it so I can display it in the ubuntu notify message.

[GoldNugget]

My Live Earth wallpaper stopped updating about two weeks ago. The source page on the web was down so I waited to see if it would come back up. Well, it appears they moved it, so if yours has quit updating lately, try this:

You need to edit the script to reflect the new image location.
Save a backup copy of the script before you begin.

Find the section which says:
"wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg"

And change it to(without the quotes):
"wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg"

Save it. Go to properties and make sure the permissions are set to "Allow executing file as a program"

Mine seems to be working fine now.

[paparozoumis]

My Live Earth wallpaper stopped updating about two weeks ago. The source page on the web was down so I waited to see if it would come back up. Well, it appears they moved it, so if yours has quit updating lately, try this:

You need to edit the script to reflect the new image location.
Save a backup copy of the script before you begin.

Find the section which says:
"wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg"

And change it to(without the quotes):
"wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg"

Save it. Go to properties and make sure the permissions are set to "Allow executing file as a program"

Mine seems to be working fine now.

You're right.. It's not working.
I did what you said.
Still no going...

This is the script of the "changer.sh" file in the .earthwallpaper folder




#!/bin/bash

cd ~/.gnome2/
while [ 1 ]; do
COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 30 ]; do
wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
temp=$(stat -c%s world.jpg)
if [[ $temp > 1000 ]]
then rm world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
mv world.jpg world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
break
fi
sleep 5
let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
done
sleep 1800
done


Can you see anything to fix it? :O

[GoldNugget]

The script looks ok to me. You will need to login again, or even try restarting your computer if you haven't already. Make sure its listed in your startup applications and double check that the permissions are set to executing the file as a program.

Here is a copy of my changer.sh script.

#!/bin/bash

cd ~/.gnome2/
while [ 1 ]; do
COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 60 ]; do
wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg -O world.jpg
temp=$(stat -c%s world.jpg)
if [[ $temp > 1000 ]]
then rm world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
mv world.jpg world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
break
fi
sleep 5
let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
done
sleep 3600
done

[Animal X]

this is no longer working...i think it needs a new location, the old leads to a 404 error? my desktop just shows pitch black nothing, but i think it would work if it were pointing correctly? Maybe someone who knows better could shed some light?


...nvm , still had more to read...sorry


ok i found it - there is a difference in the two scripts (aside from the url), that little '-0 world.jpg' at the end of the wget statement made mine work (the original file didn't have that), but also i had to make '.config/autostart/earthwallpaper.desktop' executable, works great now


so there was 3 relevant parts for me.

[GoldNugget]

You are right. They changed the location of the page. See my post above.

Heres the relevant part:

You need to edit the script to reflect the new image location.
Save a backup copy of the script before you begin.

Find the section which says:
"wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg"

And change it to (without the quotes):
"wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg"

Save it. Go to properties and make sure the permissions are set to "Allow executing file as a program"

Mine seems to be working fine now.

[Animal X]

o ya, which value shortens the intervals between updates, plz and ty in advance

[GoldNugget]

The 'sleep' command (2nd line from the bottom) shows how long to wait before running the script again. 1800 is 1/2 hour. 3600 is 1 hr.

I believe the source website updates hourly.

[paparozoumis]

ok i found it - there is a difference in the two scripts (aside from the url), that little '-0 world.jpg' at the end of the wget statement made mine work (the original file didn't have that), but also i had to make '.config/autostart/earthwallpaper.desktop' executable, works great now


so there was 3 relevant parts for me.

Confirming what Animal said here... :guitar:

I followed his directions and it made it work again.

1) First I changed the '.config/autostart/earthwallpaper.desktop' to executable. It didn't work

2) Then, I added the '-0 world.jpg' to the end of the wget command and..... voila... It worked.


I am not sure if both changes are required but this is how it was done in my case.

So, my "changer.sh" looks like the following for those who might need it.




#!/bin/bash

cd ~/.gnome2/
while [ 1 ]; do
COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 30 ]; do
wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg -O world.jpg
temp=$(stat -c%s world.jpg)
if [[ $temp > 1000 ]]
then rm world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
mv world.jpg world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
break
fi
sleep 5
let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
done
sleep 1800
done

[Animal X]

Confirming what Animal said here... :guitar:

I followed his directions and it made it work again.

1) First I changed the '.config/autostart/earthwallpaper.desktop' to executable. It didn't work

2) Then, I added the '-0 world.jpg' to the end of the wget command and..... voila... It worked.


I am not sure if both changes are required but this is how it was done in my case.



sweet!

[ravalox]

How do you remove this once you get it going? I'm using Kubuntu and it's flashing up all over the screen when I'm using mythtv or watching movies; it's really annoying.

[paparozoumis]

How do you remove this once you get it going? I'm using Kubuntu and it's flashing up all over the screen when I'm using mythtv or watching movies; it's really annoying.

You can just choose another wallpaper....
As simple as that :)

[lolligelol]

love this one! works perfectly!

[jakupl]

updated http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
in .changer.sh.
Sorry it took so long.

[layr]

paparozoumis, does your scrip still work? Saved it to .config and added to startup apps, yet nothing.

[paparozoumis]

paparozoumis, does your scrip still work? Saved it to .config and added to startup apps, yet nothing.

Yeap...
still working perfectly and I enjoy it so much that I have installed it on all my machines :)


This is how it's done on my machines..

1. Create a directory with the name .earthwallpaper in /home/"user"/
(/home/"user"/.earthwallpaper/)

2. In there, make a file with the name changer.sh including the following script



#!/bin/bash

cd ~/.gnome2/
while [ 1 ]; do
COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 30 ]; do
wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg -O world.jpg
temp=$(stat -c%s world.jpg)
if [[ $temp > 1000 ]]
then rm world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
mv world.jpg world_sunlight_Wallpaper.jpg
break
fi
sleep 5
let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
done
sleep 1800
done



3. In the startup apps, give the following command



/home/"user"/.earthwallpaper/changer.sh


Log out and log in and let us know :)

[layr]

Does the picture have to be selected as background pic in different manner than usual? The script fetches data nicely, but the desktop doesn't change with the file.

[paparozoumis]

Does the picture have to be selected as background pic in different manner than usual? The script fetches data nicely, but the desktop doesn't change with the file.

Nothing special on how to choose the background picture.

As for the changes, it is quite slow and sometimes you can't even notice them.
The only dramatic change is when I turn my computer on and just a few seconds before it gets connected to my home wireless network, I see the previous stored image and then it smoothly changes to the current state.

I am not sure what's your case, .....maybe it is correct but you haven't notice the changes, yet?????

Do you want to post a picture of your desktop right now and show us what's there already????

[layr]

Hehe, just checked again - now it has updated. Nope, i compared my desktop to the file in .gnome2 folder. It had updated in the folder, but it took some time 'til it got to my desktop.

(btw, are those updates at opentopia.com really that slow - latest 22:00 UTC?!)
Thanks for your help anyways:)

[MichaelGld]

This is not working for me. I feel that I have probably overlooked something pretty simple. When I execute the script, here is what happens.

michael@michael-desktop:~/.earthwallpaper$ sh changer.sh
--2011-05-06 17:47:12-- http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
Resolving www.opentopia.com... 64.191.18.213
Connecting to www.opentopia.com|64.191.18.213|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 154788 (151K) [image/jpeg]
Saving to: `world.jpg'

100%[======================================>] 154,788 208K/s in 0.7s

2011-05-06 17:47:13 (208 KB/s) - `world.jpg' saved [154788/154788]

changer.sh: 18: [[: not found
changer.sh: 18: let: not found
--2011-05-06 17:47:18-- http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
Resolving www.opentopia.com... 64.191.18.213
Connecting to www.opentopia.com|64.191.18.213|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 154788 (151K) [image/jpeg]
Saving to: `world.jpg'

100%[======================================>] 154,788 197K/s in 0.8s

2011-05-06 17:47:19 (197 KB/s) - `world.jpg' saved [154788/154788]

changer.sh: 18: [[: not found
changer.sh: 18: let: not found
--2011-05-06 17:47:24-- http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
Resolving www.opentopia.com... 64.191.18.213
Connecting to www.opentopia.com|64.191.18.213|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 154788 (151K) [image/jpeg]
Saving to: `world.jpg'

100%[======================================>] 154,788 206K/s in 0.7s

2011-05-06 17:47:25 (206 KB/s) - `world.jpg' saved [154788/154788]

changer.sh: 18: [[: not found
^C
michael@michael-desktop:~/.earthwallpaper$ ^C
michael@michael-desktop:~/.earthwallpaper$


Any ideas?

[layr]

The updates are realllly rare at http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg

Someone more familiar with scripting should change the source to
http://static.die.net/earth/mercator/1600.jpg (if that's possible that is:D)
Edit: can't be done, filename changes in abovementioned source.

[gdjartov]

Thanks! Works great!

[layr]

This is not working for me. I feel that I have probably overlooked something pretty simple. When I execute the script, here is what happens.

michael@michael-desktop:~/.earthwallpaper$ sh changer.sh
--2011-05-06 17:47:12-- http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
Resolving www.opentopia.com... 64.191.18.213
Connecting to www.opentopia.com|64.191.18.213|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 154788 (151K) [image/jpeg]
Saving to: `world.jpg'

100%[======================================>] 154,788 208K/s in 0.7s

2011-05-06 17:47:13 (208 KB/s) - `world.jpg' saved [154788/154788]

changer.sh: 18: [[: not found
changer.sh: 18: let: not found
--2011-05-06 17:47:18-- http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
Resolving www.opentopia.com... 64.191.18.213
Connecting to www.opentopia.com|64.191.18.213|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 154788 (151K) [image/jpeg]
Saving to: `world.jpg'

100%[======================================>] 154,788 197K/s in 0.8s

2011-05-06 17:47:19 (197 KB/s) - `world.jpg' saved [154788/154788]

changer.sh: 18: [[: not found
changer.sh: 18: let: not found
--2011-05-06 17:47:24-- http://www.opentopia.com/images/data/sunlight/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg
Resolving www.opentopia.com... 64.191.18.213
Connecting to www.opentopia.com|64.191.18.213|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 154788 (151K) [image/jpeg]
Saving to: `world.jpg'

100%[======================================>] 154,788 206K/s in 0.7s

2011-05-06 17:47:25 (206 KB/s) - `world.jpg' saved [154788/154788]

changer.sh: 18: [[: not found
^C
michael@michael-desktop:~/.earthwallpaper$ ^C
michael@michael-desktop:~/.earthwallpaper$


Any ideas?
Don't know why, but now i started getting the same error when the script was ran automatically at startup; when i run it myself, it works fine.
Script itself:

#!/bin/bash
ip=google.com
sleep 60
cd ~/Pictures/wallpapers/
while [ 1 ]; do
COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 60 ]; do
# Start of internet connection checking script
until ping -c 1 $ip #
do
echo "Internet connection down, waiting for 30s..."
sleep 30;
done
echo "Internet connection established, running the script..."
# End of internet connection checking script
wget http://www.opentopia.com/images/cams/world_sunlight_map_rectangular.jpg -O world_scriptfile_2.jpg
temp=$(stat -c%s world_scriptfile_2.jpg)
if [[ $temp > 1000 ]]
then rm world_sunlight_map_Wallpaper.jpg
mv world_scriptfile_2.jpg world_sunlight_map_Wallpaper.jpg
break
fi
sleep 5
let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
done
sleep 1800
done

Edit: removing 'sh' from the beginning of script's startup command resolved the problem.

[gdjartov]

Updated to 11.10 and the best desktop is gone :(

Any ideas how can I get it back :confused:

[CMXILies]

Must say, very nice ;) though the question for me now is: How do I shut it off? Reboot?

[CMXILies]

well, logging out didn't work and neither did changing my wallpaper (it just came back on when it updated), then I changed my wallpaper before I logged out and phew. Though, I don't feel very smart about it, hah.