diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 6dc4199c..dcb1c249 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ byobu (4.40) unreleased; urgency=low
   * usr/bin/byobu-janitor, usr/share/byobu/profiles/tmux:
     - use screen keys by default (should probably make this configurable)
     - allow local overrides in local tmux.conf
+  * usr/lib/byobu/battery, usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq, usr/lib/byobu/disk,
+    usr/lib/byobu/memory, usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1:
+    - save a few characters on the status line
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:05:32 -0400
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/battery b/usr/lib/byobu/battery
index 138c1747..ac38725a 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/battery
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/battery
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ __battery() {
 			charged) sign="="; percent="" ;;
 			*) sign="$state" ;;
 		esac
-		color $bcolor; printf "%s" "$percent"; color -; color $color; printf "|%s|" "$sign"; color --
+		color $bcolor; printf "%s" "$percent"; color -; color $color; printf "%s" "$sign"; color --
 		break
 	done
 }
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq
index c6bc237b..90ea1672 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ __cpu_freq() {
 			freq=$(echo "$freq" "$count" | awk '{printf "%.1f\n", $1/$2/1000}')
 		fi
 	fi
-	color b c W; printf "%s" "$freq"; color -; color c W; printf "%s" "GHz"; color --
+	color b c W; printf "%s" "$freq"; color -; color c W; printf "%s" "Gz"; color --
 }
 
 # vi: syntax=sh ts=4 noexpandtab
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/disk b/usr/lib/byobu/disk
index 0e31e10c..44fdfcb7 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/disk
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/disk
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ __disk() {
 	size=${size%?}; # take the unit off
 	pct=${pct%?}; # take off the '%'
 	_UNIT=${unit}; _SIZE=${size}; _PCT=${pct};
-	color b M W; echo -n "$_SIZE"; color -; color M W; echo -n "${_UNIT}B,"; color -;
+	color b M W; echo -n "$_SIZE"; color -; color M W; echo -n "${_UNIT},"; color -;
 	color b M W; echo -n "$_PCT";  color -; color M W; echo -n "$PCT"        ; color --;
 }
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/memory b/usr/lib/byobu/memory
index f831563c..fc57d7c4 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/memory
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/memory
@@ -45,13 +45,13 @@ __memory() {
 	if [ $total -ge 1048576 ]; then
 		fpdiv "$total" 1048567 1
 		total=${_RET}
-		unit="GB"
+		unit="G"
 	elif [ $total -ge 1024 ]; then
 		fpdiv "$total" 1024 0
 		total=${_RET}
-		unit="MB"
+		unit="M"
 	else
-		unit="KB"
+		unit="K"
 	fi
 	color b g W; printf "%s" "$total"; color -; color g W; printf "%s," "$unit"; color -; color b g W; printf "%s" "$f"; color -; color g W; printf "%s" "$PCT"; color --
 }
diff --git a/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1 b/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
index d0e44b50..609912c2 100644
--- a/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
+++ b/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ Note that BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR=\fI$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu\fP if defined, and \fI$HOME
 
 \fBarch\fP \- system architecture; displayed on the lower bar toward the left, in the default text color on the default background color
 
-\fBbattery\fP \- battery information; display on the lower bar toward the right; |\-| indicates discharging, |+| indicates charging, |=| indicates fully charged;  when charging or discharging, the current battery capacity as a percentage is displayed;  the colours green, yellow, and red are used to give further indication of the battery's charge state; you may override the detected battery by setting BATTERY=/proc/acpi/battery/BAT0 in \fI$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/statusrc\fP
+\fBbattery\fP \- battery information; display on the lower bar toward the right; \- indicates discharging, + indicates charging, = indicates fully charged;  when charging or discharging, the current battery capacity as a percentage is displayed;  the colours green, yellow, and red are used to give further indication of the battery's charge state; you may override the detected battery by setting BATTERY=/proc/acpi/battery/BAT0 in \fI$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/statusrc\fP
 
 \fBcpu_count\fP \- the number of cpu's or cores on the system; displayed in the lower bar toward the right in the default text color on the default background, followed by a trailing 'x'