[tdavis]

One of the many things I love about using next to no GUI programs and a minimalist window manager is the lack of notifications.

The only time I get a notification is when I receive an email (assuming I have a terminal running mutt for that address) or a PM/IM (assuming I have a terminal running irssi). And the notification? The color of a 30x10 pixel block changes from black to red.

I can turn off this notification on a service-by-service basis with a simple hotkey that disables the visual bell in my terminal.

That's it! No growl-like service telling me when anything happens anywhere in the world. No badged icons reminding me I still have 17 unread items. If I want to be distracted, I switch desktops to see what alerted me; if I don't, I can ignore that one for hours.