This LCD is a 2x40 with front lights (instead of a backlight) and a mail notification light. All the components were reclaimed from garbage. The LCD and its flat cable were from an outdated hard drive duplicator. The LEDs , resistors, the transistor and most of the hook-up wire were from a busted AT&T speakerphone. The parallel (data) and USB (power) cables were from a junk drawer at the office that we were cleaning out. The stand used to hold a little desk calendar. The LCD and stand were wired up and thrown together during a slow day at the office, the mail notification and the front lights were recently added. The mail notification is switched by the backlight enable line on the parallel cable, and a simple action in the LCD Smartie config pops it on when I've got mail. (insert requisite crank yankers "I got mail!!!" reference here) The front lights just run directly off of the 5vcd from the USB cable in series with a 33ohm resistor. I wrote all bout the birth of the Dirk-O-Tron here, here and here. Enjoy!
BTW: Sure would be nice if someone could write an analog clock module so people will stop telling me that clock is wrong all the time. "Hey, it's not 1:30!"
That looks cool. I like that you used a led for the mail notification. Could you explain how you hooked up the LED and exactly how you got it to turn on when you have new mail? I think that is really cool.
I adapted the circuit from the LCD Smartie FAQ on wiring the HD44780 with a backlight that is switchable by lcd smartie here(the one labeled "for one you can switch on and off with LCD Smartie...").
The schematic for just the mail LED portion, along with a brief description of how I did it is here. In case the images aren't clear enough, the 33 Ohm resistor color code is Orange-Orange-Black, and the 1K Ohm is Brown-Black-Red.
Also, here's a screen shot of the action I use to turn the light on when I have mail:
Checking my server logs, I noticed that someone from Jaco Electronics was looking at this. You guys carry some very nice displays! If you'd like to donate a couple of those nice 4x40 displays, I'd gladly make a very professional looking one up for you with the Jaco logo on it and all that good jazz, for you to display at your brick and mortar store as a technology demo for walk-in customers.
Is it ugly? Oh h_ll yes. But it works! 
