It does seem like a volume-control applet would be useful, and easier to do that Den's original request. I'd actually like to look into writing this applet as a learning project. Can someone point me to some docs? I've seen some info on SDKs. Is there a "hello world" applet, or source code of existing applets, available somewhere that I could use as a starting point?

Thanks --

A few of the open-source ones:
https://garage.maemo.org/projects/adv-backlight/ (statusbar applet)
https://garage.maemo.org/projects/personal-launch/ (home applet)
https://garage.maemo.org/projects/personal-menu/ (navigator applet)

There's also hello-world applets for all 3, but I think I've heard they're somewhat lacking, so starting with completed example might be more helpful.