diff --git a/plugins/bgnotify/bgnotify.plugin.zsh b/plugins/bgnotify/bgnotify.plugin.zsh
index b70b42f98..f6dd3886c 100755
--- a/plugins/bgnotify/bgnotify.plugin.zsh
+++ b/plugins/bgnotify/bgnotify.plugin.zsh
@@ -11,31 +11,38 @@ autoload -Uz add-zsh-hook || { print "can't add zsh hook!"; return }
 
 ## definitions ##
 
-if ! (type bgnotify_formatted | grep -q 'function'); then
-  function bgnotify_formatted {
-    ## exit_status, command, elapsed_time
-    [ $1 -eq 0 ] && title="#win (took $3 s)" || title="#fail (took $3 s)"
-    bgnotify "$title" "$2"
+if ! (type bgnotify_formatted | grep -q 'function'); then ## allow custom function override
+  function bgnotify_formatted { ## args: (exit_status, command, elapsed_seconds)
+    elapsed="$(( $3 % 60 ))s"
+    (( $3 >= 60 )) && elapsed="$((( $3 % 3600) / 60 ))m $elapsed"
+    (( $3 >= 3600 )) && elapsed="$(( $3 / 3600 ))h $elapsed"
+    [ $1 -eq 0 ] && bgnotify "#win (took $elapsed)" "$2" || bgnotify "#fail (took $elapsed)" "$2"
   }
 fi
 
 currentWindowId () {
   if hash osascript 2>/dev/null; then #osx
     osascript -e 'tell application (path to frontmost application as text) to id of front window' 2&> /dev/null || echo "0"
-  elif hash notify-send 2>/dev/null; then #ubuntu!
-    xprop -root | awk '/NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW/ { print $5; exit }'
+  elif (hash notify-send 2>/dev/null || hash kdialog 2>/dev/null); then #ubuntu!
+    xprop -root 2> /dev/null | awk '/NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW/{print $5;exit} END{exit !$5}' || echo "0"
   else
     echo $EPOCHSECONDS #fallback for windows
   fi
 }
 
-bgnotify () {
+bgnotify () { ## args: (title, subtitle)
   if hash terminal-notifier 2>/dev/null; then #osx
-    terminal-notifier -message "$2" -title "$1"
+    [[ "$TERM_PROGRAM" == 'iTerm.app' ]] && term_id='com.googlecode.iterm2' ||
+    [[ "$TERM_PROGRAM" == 'Apple_Terminal' ]] && term_id='com.apple.terminal';
+    ## now call terminal-notifier, (hopefully with $term_id!)
+    [ -z "$term_id" ] && terminal-notifier -message "$2" -title "$1" >/dev/null ||
+    terminal-notifier -message "$2" -title "$1" -activate "$term_id" -sender "$term_id" >/dev/null
   elif hash growlnotify 2>/dev/null; then #osx growl
     growlnotify -m "$1" "$2"
-  elif hash notify-send 2>/dev/null; then #ubuntu!
+  elif hash notify-send 2>/dev/null; then #ubuntu gnome!
     notify-send "$1" "$2"
+  elif hash kdialog 2>/dev/null; then #ubuntu kde!
+    kdialog  -title "$1" --passivepopup  "$2" 5
   elif hash notifu 2>/dev/null; then #cygwyn support!
     notifu /m "$2" /p "$1"
   fi
@@ -46,7 +53,7 @@ bgnotify () {
 
 bgnotify_begin() {
   bgnotify_timestamp=$EPOCHSECONDS
-  bgnotify_lastcmd=$1
+  bgnotify_lastcmd="$1"
   bgnotify_windowid=$(currentWindowId)
 }
 
@@ -63,5 +70,8 @@ bgnotify_end() {
   bgnotify_timestamp=0 #reset it to 0!
 }
 
-add-zsh-hook preexec bgnotify_begin
-add-zsh-hook precmd bgnotify_end
+## only enable if a local (non-ssh) connection
+if [ -z "$SSH_CLIENT" ] && [ -z "$SSH_TTY" ]; then
+  add-zsh-hook preexec bgnotify_begin
+  add-zsh-hook precmd bgnotify_end
+fi