--- a/dotemacs.el
+++ b/dotemacs.el
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@
  '(diff-refine-change ((((class color) (min-colors 88) (background dark)) (:background "#004090"))))
  '(diff-removed ((t (:foreground "red"))))
  '(ecb-tag-header-face ((((class color) (background dark)) (:background "DarkGreen"))))
- '(show-ws-tab ((t (:background "Black")))))
+ '(show-ws-tab ((t (:background "Black"))))
+ '(stripes-face ((t (:background "#444")))))
 
 (add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/plugins/")
 

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/stripes.el
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+;;; stripes.el --- alternate the background color of lines
+
+;; Copyright (C) 2003 Michael Schierl
+
+;; Author: Michael Schierl <schierlm-public@gmx.de>
+;; Created: 02 October 2003
+;; Keywords: list alternation color
+;; Version: 0.2
+
+(defconst stripes-version "0.2"
+  "Version of color alternation mode.")
+
+;; This file is not part of GNU Emacs.
+
+;; This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+;; modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+;; published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at
+;; your option) any later version.
+
+;; This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+;; WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+;; General Public License for more details.
+
+;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+;; along with GNU Emacs; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
+;; Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+;; Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+;;; Commentary:
+
+;; highlights every even line with an alternative background
+;; color. Useful for buffers that display lists of any kind - as a
+;; guide for your eyes to follow these lines.
+
+;; when invoked with a numeric prefix arg, color that many lines
+;; instead of every other line.
+
+;; Put this file into your load path,
+;; (require 'stripes) and do a (turn-on-stripes-mode)
+;;  whenever you need this (e.g. in hooks).
+
+;; Changelog
+
+; --- Version 0.2 (2003-11-01)
+
+;; - added autoload cookies
+;; - added turn-on method (for hooks)
+;; - prefix arg specifies how many lines to treat as one line
+;; - renamed the file from stripes-mode.el to stripes.el to
+;;   make the name fit into the Emacs file naming conventions
+;; - widen all restrictions when refreshing
+
+; --- Version 0.1 (2003-10-02)
+
+;;; Code:
+(defvar stripes-mode nil)
+(make-variable-buffer-local 'stripes-mode)
+
+(defvar stripes-lcount 1)
+(make-variable-buffer-local 'stripes-lcount)
+
+(or (assq 'stripes-mode minor-mode-alist)
+              (setq minor-mode-alist
+                    (cons '(stripes-mode " ==")
+     minor-mode-alist)))
+
+(defface stripes-face
+  `((t (:background "#f4f4f4")))
+  "Face for alternate lines."
+  :group 'stripes)
+
+;;;###autoload
+(defun stripes-mode (arg)
+  "Toggle Color alternation mode.
+With prefix ARG, enable Color alternation mode iff arg is nonzero.  In
+that case the numeric arg (unless it is made by (multiple)
+`\\[universal-argument]'s) specifies the number of subsequent lines
+that should
+be in one color (without alternation)."
+  (interactive "P")
+  (setq stripes-mode
+        (if (null arg)
+            (not stripes-mode)
+          (> (prefix-numeric-value arg) 0)))
+  (setq stripes-lcount
+ (if (numberp arg)
+     arg
+   1))
+  (force-mode-line-update)
+  (if stripes-mode
+      (stripes-create)
+    (stripes-remove))
+  (if (interactive-p)
+      (if stripes-mode
+   (if (= stripes-lcount 1)
+       (message "Color alternation mode enabled")
+     (message "Color alternation mode (%i lines) enabled"
+       stripes-lcount))
+        (message "Color alternation mode disabled"))))
+
+;;;###autoload
+(defun turn-on-stripes-mode ()
+  "Turn on color alternation mode.
+Useful for adding to a major mode hook variable.
+Example:
+    (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-stripes-mode)
+to automatically turn on color alternation when viewing the Gnus
+article buffer."
+  (interactive)
+  (stripes-mode 1))
+
+(defun stripes-remove ()
+  "Remove all alternation colors."
+   (let ((oli (overlays-in (point-min) (point-max))) ol)
+    (while oli
+      (setq ol (car oli)
+     oli (cdr oli))
+      (when (eq (overlay-get ol 'face) 'stripes-face)
+ (delete-overlay ol)))))
+
+(defun stripes-create ()
+  "Colors lines in current buffer alternatively.
+This will not monitor changes of the buffer."
+  (save-excursion
+    (save-restriction
+      (widen)
+      (stripes-remove)
+      (goto-char (point-min))
+      (while (not (eobp))
+ (forward-line stripes-lcount)
+ (let ((ppp (point))
+       ovl)
+   (unless (eobp)
+     (forward-line stripes-lcount)
+     (setq ovl (make-overlay ppp (point)))
+     (overlay-put ovl 'face 'stripes-face)))))))
+   
+(defun stripes-after-change-function (beg end length)
+  "After change function for color alternation mode.
+Refreshes all the highlighting.  This is slow, but as mostly lists are
+not changed that often, it should be acceptable.  Arguments BEG END
+and LENGTH are not used."
+  (if stripes-mode
+      (stripes-create)))
+
+(add-hook 'after-change-functions
+   'stripes-after-change-function)
+
+;; legacy provide (if you have installed an old version as well)
+(provide 'stripes-mode)
+
+(provide 'stripes)
+
+;;; stripes.el ends here