On Sat, 2015-04-18 at 20:16 -0700, David Lopez wrote:

at any rate, on my ubuntu box, if i press the window key for a couple of seconds, a new wiindow pops up with a handy key shortcuts. but now on rev. 1410, it also overlays a small icon over the left hand icons starting from the second icon to the 12th icon. the overlay is simply a number '1' to '9' followed by a zero, then 'd'. anybody know why?

Yes, those are hot keys. So the first icon on your panel can be accessed with Super+1. If it's not running it'll get launched, if running focus will switch to it (changing desktops as appropriate). For things like a browser, if you want a new instance you can do Super+Shift and the number.

Ted