Jun 28, 2010

Disabling Synaptics Touchpad with Ubuntu 10.04 at Andrew Ferrier

Disabling Synaptics Touchpad with Ubuntu 10.04

with 4 comments

I recently installed Ubuntu 10.04 on my Thinkpad T61 and set about disabling the touchpad, which I always find irritating. There seemed to be lots of guides to this, including this one, but none of them seemed to work for me. Eventually I figured some fairly simple steps which did work:

  1. Install two packages if they aren’t already installed (gpointing-device-settings is the more modern version of gsynaptics and will uninstall it if it’s installed):
    sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics gpointing-device-settings
  2. Start gpointing-device-settings from the command line and select “Touchpad off”, as shown here:
  3. Exit the tool and reboot.

Written by andrewferrier

June 4th, 2010 at 7:22 am

4 Responses to 'Disabling Synaptics Touchpad with Ubuntu 10.04'

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  1. I simply use Fn+F8 after startup to disable the trackpad – Sometimes I like to enable it for other people using it, and thats easy with Fn+F8

    Of course I have to do this for every reboot, but thats only about twice a month :)

    Anton Piatek

    4 Jun 10 at 08:06:22

  2. Fair enough. I’d never even noticed that shortcut was there!

    andrewferrier

    4 Jun 10 at 08:06:02

  3. Actually it wasn’t on my T43p, but is on my W500, so it was new at some point though I have no idea when

    Anton Piatek

    5 Jun 10 at 16:06:14

  4. Actually, I found that I didn’t have to even reboot, and it worked well. Thanks!

    Also, on my Toshiba A-135, I tried to use an extented fn key combo, and couldn’t find one. :(

    Randy Noseworthy

    28 Jun 10 at 21:06:07

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I'm going to have to add this to my list of things to do to Linux Mint 9 (or Ubuntu 10.04)

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Jun 27, 2010

Replies to: #RSSTQ No. 14: What's more manly a bath-wash fragrance? Tangerine, Peach, or Lavender?

Thanks to all that joined in this weeks RSSTQ, I'll try to get these out in a more timely manner... 

From Identia.ca

@lostnbronx ......so, well...i hate to winge, but it's the man who makes the manliness, not the scent.

@mrsxoke  Lavender has a more musky scent of the three. I would go that way....

From FaceBook 

Lonnie Carbaugh  No other choices? I guess I'll go with the Tangerine.

Claudio Miranda  That's a tough one Randy. I'll go with lavender because it takes a REAL man to pull off a soft smell and still be manly. :-p

Chad Nelson Prefer gl5 [Editor's note: Gear Oil?] myself.

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Jun 25, 2010

Roger L. Simon » Al Gore jumps twenty-five sharks

Al Gore jumps twenty-five sharks

June 25, 2010 - by Roger L Simon

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Is it “Cap and Trade” or “Cap and Rough Trade”?

Will Al Gore now be the butt of more jokes than anyone who ever lived?

Well, not quite, but it was always easy enough to make fun of Al — that blowhard who claimed to invent the Internet and that his marriage inspired Love Story. But no one could have anticipated his never-to-be-forgotten June of 2010, a month that would give even the strongest of us a migraine for life. And everything seemed to be going so well for him in May with the announcement of his purchase of a nine-million dollar ocean front home in Montecito.

Well, that place may have had a carbon footprint the size of Indiana, but we’re used to the hypocrisy of the supposedly green-minded. It comes with the territory.

But then came June. First the end of the “Love Story-ed” marriage with Tipper, then the putative affair with Laurie David and now this — sexual assault allegations. (That last appeared in the National Enquirer — as we know, a newspaper with one of the greatest track records for accuracy of any publication in our country. I’m serious. If not for them, John Edwards might be vice-president right now. Think about that. And, NE is backed up by police reports, etc.)

Whoa … Forget the migraines. Think seppuku.

But what does this all mean in the real world? Al Gore has already made a mockery of the Academy Awards and the Nobel Peace Prize, not that these organizations’ voters didn’t make a mockery of themselves and not that the latter wasn’t already a self-parody of monumental Orwellian proportions.

But all this emerges at the very moment that our “progressive” (talk about Orwellian constructs!) administration is about to proffer another round of energy legislation predicated on the anthropogenic global warming concepts promulgated by one Al Gore. This legislation will be voted on by several hundred people, few of whom — other than a handful of doctors — have any scientific training whatsoever.

You would think, though, that since so many of them are lawyers, they would be aware of that hoariest of Roman legal principles — Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (You lie about one thing, you lie about all). That might give them pause that they have relied on propagandistic drivel like An Inconvenient Truth (how ironic that title now!) as a source of scientific knowledge. This is a film — already discredited in a British court — now revealed to have been produced by a man who is just a general all around creep or worse.

Would any honest person trust him? Isn’t it time to go to different, more credible, sources? Why not, say, invite MIT’s Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science, Richard Lindzen, to testify on the subject — a real scientist, also one who is not currently employed by a government or UN program and therefore not deriving his income from the Global Warming Machine. (As a convenience, they can find plenty of Dr. Lindzen on PJTV.)

I know. Our representatives will have to pay attention. This is difficult stuff. And their lack of background, maybe even inability to understand what Lindzen is saying, may show. But that’s a risk they’ll have to take if they’re the slightest bit interested in the truth (not the supposedly “inconvenient” kind).

This would all be one of the greatest black comedies, surpassing even Dr. Strangelove. Only it’s for real. Some people — notably many in authority — still do think AGW is “settled science” and they do so, largely, because they were inspired by Al Gore.

Well, until now.

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Courage -- Hazelden | How Do I Cope with Losing My Job?

 
How Do I Cope with Losing My Job?

Someone said, "When you fall down, look around. You may discover something you couldn't see when you were standing up."

Indeed, crisis can create opportunity. If we can avoid negative thinking, we may find opportunities when we're jobless that we wouldn't have found otherwise. A positive attitude and commitment can bring unexpected results.

What is commitment? David McNally said, "It is the serious promise to press on, to get up, no matter how many times you are knocked down." In Late Bloomers, Brendan Gill lists numerous examples of people who started and developed lucrative careers after age sixty-five.

Many people have been successful when the odds were against them. I think of the philanthropist who helped me through medical school. He sweated bullets whenever he had to sign a check, which was a laborious task for him. When this man had emigrated from Russia in 1920, he sought employment and applied for a job as caretaker of a small synagogue. He was turned down because he could not sign his name, and this would be necessary if he were to receive deliveries.

So he found work with a man who collected scrap metal and rags, and eventually was able to get his own horse and wagon. A clever businessman, he was soon able to buy a few properties.  He survived the Great Depression and made some very successful investments. When I met him in 1950, he was a very wealthy philanthropist.

This man helped pay my medical school tuition. His secretary would write the check, and with great effort, he would sign it. He smiled and said, "Good thing I don't know how to write. If I could have signed my name, I would have become a caretaker of a synagogue and could not help you with your medical school."

Sometimes we may miss an opportunity because our minds are set on doing things a certain way and we resist change. In fact, there is scientific evidence showing that when a person is forced to change a fundamental belief or opinion, the brain undergoes a series of nervous sensations equivalent to torture. It has been said, 'The toughest thing to change is our approach to change. Expect change; it is inevitable. Your decision is to decide whether it is to be by consent or coercion.' Do you have some valuable ideas, but lack the confidence to try them? Don't be afraid. Remember, a baseball player who has a .300 average makes millions, but he hits safely only three times out of ten!

Excerpted from Without a Job, Who Am I? by Abraham J. Twerski, M.D.

Without A Job Who Am I?


Without a Job, Who Am I? 
Rebuilding Your Self When You've Lost Your Job, Home, or Life Savings
Softcover, 156 pp.

Whether you are out of work or money, or are afraid of ending up there, Without a Job, Who Am I? offers a system of support to help you stay motivated and persevere, as well as develop and sustain lasting values and a solid sense of identity no matter what your material circumstances happen to be.

List Price: $14.95
Online Price: $13.45
 

 

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Jun 24, 2010

What's up with Cat food? Why Tuna, Beef, and Turkey?... Cat Food Question. #RSSTQ #Humor

Seriously. What's up with Tuna Cat food, or even Swordfish? Heck, any sea food for that matter.  It's not like my cat's going to go out and attach a great albacore tuna, and bring it home. Nor is she going to get the better of a Cow.  It's not like you've ever seen a heard of cats gang up and attach a bull is it?  Imagine a dozen or more cats stalking a bull cow, and then they all jump on it's back, swiping their extended little kitten claws at the mammoth.  Maybe one might get lucky and hit the jugular. It might take a week for that cow to drain but even two or three little pin sized holes won't slow that beast down. So then, why Beef flavored cat food? It's can you imagine the

Where's the Rat, Cockatoo, Goldfish, Mouse, Squirrel, and Finch flavored cat foods? 

Just some food for thought... 

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#RSSTQ No. 14: What's more manly a bath-wash fragrance? Tangerine, Peach, or Lavender?

So, Tell me, what do you think is a more manly fragrance? :P 

Posted via email from RSSTQ Home

Edith Shain, Nurse in Iconic WWII Times Square Kiss Photo, Dies at Age 91

I don't know about you, but I certainly recall seeing this picture when it came to VJ day. I think back that it's been 65 years since the end of World War II. I look at the hope and the vitality that followed. And wish we had that hope and vitality today as a nation.

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Jun 23, 2010

Giving Gwibber another shot, It's multiple choice for multiple streams and it's IMAGE stream are...

not matched by anything else. - Choqok is great also, but it added quite a few more KDE elements to my GNOME desktop that didn't need to be there.  PINO is nice, but single stream, and only one Instance. TwitTux is ok, but hasn't been updated since sometime in 2009. 

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Jun 20, 2010

Happy with my Ubuntu...

Happy with my Ubuntu..


Well I don't know but my computer won't load right
I got the feeling that something ain't right
It's so bloated with crap I don't think that it's fair
and I'm wondering how I'll get it up the stairs
PC Clones to the left of me,
Mac Jokers to the right, here I am
Happy as a clam with my Ubuntu.

Yes, I'm happy with my Linux Ubuntu
And I'm wondering what what it can do?
Its so hard to keep this smile from my face,
No virus's sneaking into my geek space
PC Clones to the left of me,
Apple Jokers to the right, here I am
Happy as a clam with my Ubuntu.

The Registry started out as nothing
But bloated with their plans
And the programs they all were a crawlin,
Blue screens of death make you say,
Please.... Please....

FLOSS can make some sense of it all,
DRM makes no sense at all,
When your programs crash to the floor,
'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore
Clones to the left of me, Jokers to the right,
Here I am, happy with my Ubuntu.

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Jun 16, 2010

I guess my Netflix disk isn't getting here today. As the mail man dropped this off..

As the mail man dropped this off..  - Hmm... ok, the front of an evelope, I guess it's better then wondering what happened to it.  Rest In Peace, Transformers DVD. (yea, I think someone snagged it)... 


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Jun 14, 2010

The Bizarre Cathedral - 73


Latest from the Bizarre Cathedral.

This work is covered by a Creative commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence.

Other languages

Thanks to the hard work of others, The Bizarre Cathedral is now also available in the following languages (links below go to external sites):

  • Greek — thanks to Eleftherios Kosmas
  • Czech — thanks to Kainashi
  • Italian — thanks to GL-Como (Gruppo Linux Como).

you may have to wait for the latest strip to be translated. If you are translating the strips into other languages and would like a link here, please get in touch as below.

Got an idea for the Bizarre Cathedral? Send it to the following e-mail addresss:
tbc then at then freesoftwaremagazine then dot then com

<< Previous strip

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Jun 10, 2010

#vftv @tachoblog - Views from Wed the 9th, Headed down to Medina, OH

A Bit foggy, and drizzly on the way there...

Exit 222 off of I-71


Medina, OH is also the Home of ROOT Candles, here I am going past their factory.
Sometimes you can smell the fragrances as they make them.

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Jun 4, 2010

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF AMERICA'S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 235 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all but the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislation's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O'Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.

O'neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetos it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

This article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/woes.htm

 

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Jun 1, 2010

Richard Querin Demanded a Pic of hash brown casserole, Linc caught Red (hat) handed

Ahh, I see, it would seem that Linc from the Linux Link Tech Show is trying to get himself some hasbrown casserole...

That man has good taste!

I tried to post this via an Email to Ping, and I've not seen it post, so.. There might be a dupe of this... 

Ok, just in case someone was wondering what it was that I used?  

2 bags of hasbrowns,  I don't know what size they were, I just snagged them, one didn't look like it would be enough
I bag (14 oz, I think) of Mexican Style shredded cheese, Cheddar might have been better
2 cans of Cream of chicken Soup.  
A few Dashes of milk, maybe 2/3 rds of of an empty soup can's worth.
I'd suggest some onion, and some butter with this mess, and or a different flavor of cream of- soup, Cream of Celery sounds like another good choice. 

mixed all of this stuff up in the dish.. Baked for 30 mins covered,  10 mins uncovered with a handful of topping cheese on it.

If you want a recipe that's looks a little better then mine....  Try this one..  I'm going to give it a little more 

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/print?id=15242

Now that Richard has encouraged me to stay up latter then I needed to be... LOL... ok ok, that's not fair. He didn't hold my hands to the keyboard.. 

 

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