diff --git a/bin/cpu-freq b/bin/cpu-freq
index 9efd465a..01c36ba9 100755
--- a/bin/cpu-freq
+++ b/bin/cpu-freq
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ mhz=`grep -m 1 "^cpu MHz" /proc/cpuinfo | awk -F"[:.]" '{print $2}'` || mhz=`gre
 
 if [ $mhz -ge 1000 ]; then
 	ghz=$(echo $mhz | awk '{ printf "%.2f", $1 / 1000 }')
-	echo $ghz"GHz"
+	printf "\005{=b cW}%sGHz\005{-} " $ghz
 else
-	echo $mhz"MHz"
+	printf "\005{=b cW}%sMHz\005{-} " $mhz
 fi
diff --git a/bin/ec2-cost b/bin/ec2-cost
index 772a2436..186aa100 100755
--- a/bin/ec2-cost
+++ b/bin/ec2-cost
@@ -95,4 +95,4 @@ if [ "$DETAIL" = "1" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-echo $total_cost
+printf "\005{= Wg}%s\005{-} " $total_cost
diff --git a/bin/hostname b/bin/hostname
index ebe3ec88..11855b87 100755
--- a/bin/hostname
+++ b/bin/hostname
@@ -20,5 +20,7 @@
 # Default is "off"
 p="hostname"
 grep -qs "^$p=1$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" || exit 0
+at=
+grep -qs "^whoami=1$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && at="@"
 
-echo "@"`hostname -s`
+printf "\005{=b }%s%s\005{-}" "$at" $(hostname -s)
diff --git a/bin/load-average b/bin/load-average
index 08cfa8a1..fb9176b7 100755
--- a/bin/load-average
+++ b/bin/load-average
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@
 p="load-average"
 grep -qs "^$p=0$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && exit 0
 
-cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d " " -f -1
+printf "\005{= Yk}%s\005{-} " $(cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d " " -f -1)
diff --git a/bin/mem-available b/bin/mem-available
index 46fb3d6d..294c616f 100755
--- a/bin/mem-available
+++ b/bin/mem-available
@@ -20,14 +20,16 @@
 # Default is on
 p="mem-available"
 grep -qs "^$p=0$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && exit 0
+comma=
+whitespace=
+grep -qs "^mem-used=1$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && comma="," || whitespace=" "
 
 mem=`free | grep -m 1 "^Mem:" | awk '{print $2}'`
 if [ $mem -ge 1048576 ]; then
-	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.1f", $1 / 1048576 }')
-	echo "$mem""GB"
+	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.1fGB", $1 / 1048576 }')
 elif [ $mem -ge 1024 ]; then
-	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.0f", $1 / 1024 }')
-	echo "$mem""MB"
+	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.0fMB", $1 / 1024 }')
 else
-	echo "$mem""KB"
+	mem="$mem""KB"
 fi
+printf "\005{=b gW}%s\005{-}%s" "$mem$comma" "$whitespace"
diff --git a/bin/mem-used b/bin/mem-used
index 05779809..f8c9d1f1 100755
--- a/bin/mem-used
+++ b/bin/mem-used
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@
 p="mem-used"
 grep -qs "^$p=0$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && exit 0
 
-free | awk '/buffers\/cache:/ {printf ",%.0f%%\n", 100*$3/($3 + $4)}'
+free | awk '/buffers\/cache:/ {printf "\005{=b gW}%.0f%%\005{-} ", 100*$3/($3 + $4)}'
diff --git a/bin/menu b/bin/menu
index c5bb494e..9af5f173 100755
--- a/bin/menu
+++ b/bin/menu
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@
 p="menu"
 grep -qs "^$p=0$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && exit 0
 
-echo `gettext "Menu:<F9>"`
+printf " \005{= kw}%s" `gettext "Menu:<F9>"`
diff --git a/bin/reboot-required b/bin/reboot-required
index 8a32b345..2a9909e7 100755
--- a/bin/reboot-required
+++ b/bin/reboot-required
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@
 p="reboot-required"
 grep -qs "^$p=0$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" && exit 0
 
-[ -e /var/run/reboot-required ] && echo "(@)"
+[ -e /var/run/reboot-required ] && printf "\005{=b bW}(@)\005{-} "
diff --git a/bin/release b/bin/release
index de47ccff..826306ce 100755
--- a/bin/release
+++ b/bin/release
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ if which lsb_release >/dev/null; then
 	else
 		# But for other distros the description
 		# is too long, so build from -i and -r
-		echo $(lsb_release -s -i) $(lsb_release -s -r)
+		printf "\005{=b }%s %s\005{-} " $(lsb_release -s -i) $(lsb_release -s -r)
 	fi
 elif [ -r "/etc/issue" ]; then
 	# Otherwise, grab part of /etc/issue
-	head -n1 /etc/issue | awk '{print $1}'
+	printf "\005{=b ..}%s\005{-} " $(head -n1 /etc/issue | awk '{print $1}')
 else
 	echo "Unknown"
 fi
diff --git a/bin/updates-available b/bin/updates-available
index fcedcd1e..97b1075e 100755
--- a/bin/updates-available
+++ b/bin/updates-available
@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ print_updates() {
 	s=$2
 	if [ -n "$u" ]; then
 		if [ "$u" -gt 0 ]; then
-			echo -n "$u"
+			printf "\005{=b rW}%d" "$u"
 			if [ -n "$s" ]; then
 				if [ "$s" -gt 0 ]; then
-					echo -n "!"
+					printf "!"
 				fi
 			fi
-			echo
+			printf "\005{-} "
 		fi
 	fi
 	exit 0
diff --git a/bin/uptime b/bin/uptime
index 58dcb77d..b0bf4b79 100755
--- a/bin/uptime
+++ b/bin/uptime
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ grep -qs "^$p=1$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" || exit 0
 
 u=$(sed "s/\..*$//" /proc/uptime)
 if [ "$u" -gt 86400 ]; then
-	printf "%dd" `echo "$u" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 / 86400 }'`
+	printf "%dd " `echo "$u" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 / 86400 }'`
 elif [ "$u" -gt 3600 ]; then
-	printf "%dh" `echo "$u" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 / 3600 }'`
+	printf "%dh " `echo "$u" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 / 3600 }'`
 elif [ "$u" -gt 60 ]; then
-	printf "%dm" `echo "$u" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 / 60 }'`
+	printf "%dm " `echo "$u" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 / 60 }'`
 else
-	printf "%ds" "$u"
+	printf "%ds " "$u"
 fi
diff --git a/bin/users b/bin/users
index a43bf141..233bd5fe 100755
--- a/bin/users
+++ b/bin/users
@@ -24,4 +24,4 @@
 p="users"
 grep -qs "^$p=1$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" || exit 0
 
-printf "#%d\005{-} " `who | wc -l`
+printf "#%d " `who | wc -l`
diff --git a/bin/whoami b/bin/whoami
index c002ae21..9356d2ab 100755
--- a/bin/whoami
+++ b/bin/whoami
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@
 p="whoami"
 grep -qs "^$p=1$" "$HOME/.screen-profiles/status" || exit 0
 
-whoami
+printf "\005{=b }%s\005{-}" $(whoami)
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index cd86b1a9..95b40b3a 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,14 +1,18 @@
 screen-profiles (1.43) unreleased; urgency=low
 
-  * UNRELEASED
+  [ Dustin Kirkland ]
   * bin/logo: allow users to define their own logo
+  * bin/*, profiles/profile.skel: make all status scripts handle their
+    own colors and trailing whitespace;  this should help alleviate the
+    16-color-change limitation on un-patched screens;  it also simplifies
+    the hardstatus string significantly
 
   [ Raphaël Pinson and Dustin Kirkland ]
   * bin/battery, bin/users, bin/uptime, profiles/common, screen-profiles:
     added new status items for battery state, number of users, and system
     uptime
 
- -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:45:36 -0500
+ -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:06:45 -0500
 
 screen-profiles (1.42-0ubuntu1) jaunty; urgency=low
 
diff --git a/po/es.po b/po/es.po
index d6b4d64e..45261b97 100644
--- a/po/es.po
+++ b/po/es.po
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: 1.0\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2009-04-03 11:01-0500\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2009-04-03 12:03-0500\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: 2008-12-22 01:01-0500\n"
 "Last-Translator: Nicolas Valcarcel <nvalcarcel@ubuntu.com>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
diff --git a/po/fr.po b/po/fr.po
index 6895dfd9..37a9d347 100644
--- a/po/fr.po
+++ b/po/fr.po
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: 1.0\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2009-04-03 11:01-0500\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2009-04-03 12:03-0500\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: 2008-12-17 23:42+0100\n"
 "Last-Translator: Nicolas Barcet <nicolas.barcet@ubuntu.com>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
diff --git a/po/screen-profiles.pot b/po/screen-profiles.pot
index f0b19a23..c4854258 100644
--- a/po/screen-profiles.pot
+++ b/po/screen-profiles.pot
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: PACKAGE VERSION\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2009-04-03 11:01-0500\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2009-04-03 12:03-0500\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
diff --git a/profiles/profile.skel b/profiles/profile.skel
index 5a24ff5a..e738484b 100644
--- a/profiles/profile.skel
+++ b/profiles/profile.skel
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@
 source /usr/share/screen-profiles/profiles/common
 
 # Window tabs, second to last line
-caption always "%{kW}%?%-Lw%?%{bw}%n*%f %t%?(%u)%?%{kW}%?%+Lw%? %= %{=b Wk}%110`%109` %{= kw}%111`"
+caption always "%{kW}%?%-Lw%?%{bw}%n*%f %t%?(%u)%?%{kW}%?%+Lw%? %= %{= Wk}%110`%109`%111`"
 
 # Status string, last line
-hardstatus string '%99`%{=b Wk} %100` %{= Wk}%112` %= %113`%{=b Wk}%114`%{=b Wk}%115`%{=b Wk} %{=b bW}%102`%{= Wk} %{=b rW}%101`%{= Wk} %{= Wg}%108`%{= Wk} %{= Yk}%106`%{= Wk} %{= Wk}%104`%{=b cW}%103`%{= Wk} %{=b gW}%105`%107`%{= Wk} %Y-%m-%d %0c:%s'
+hardstatus string '%{= Wk}%99`%{= Wk} %100`%112`%= %115`%114`%108`%113`%102`%101`%106`%104`%103`%105`%107`%Y-%m-%d %0c:%s'
 
 # NOTE: Older version of screen have an arbitrary limit of only being able
 # to change colors 16 times in this 'hardstatus string'.