The buttons were my first hack...
I added the proper LED's to the switches and added a resistor, they still don't behave well with dimming but they look good to me nonetheless.
I drilled out the buttons, stuck scotch tape to the flat side of the button and filled with clear epoxy from the back. Once dried, I peeled off the tape leaving a fine smooth surface... Only ugly part is epoxy has yellowed over the last year or so and there are those pesky bubbles when they first set up.
Yeah the remote thing drove me nuts... I was holding my hand in front of them to get them synced up. But once there they all doing the same thing, it does look kinda cool. I was thinking this would be a neat idea if you needed a four separate music channel "mini rack" system in a building or party house... course, getting them to respond to different remotes would be a needed trick.
I try to take really good of care of them as much as I can... as I wish for them to live as long as me.