Linux School: Today’s Lesson: Getting started with Linux
Source: ITworld
Have you ever been tempted by desktop Linux's security and stability, but you didn't know where to begin? You don't have to be some kind of technical wizard who chants "awk, grep, sed" at a shell command prompt to run Linux these days. Which Linux is right for you and what's the best way to get acquainted? This guide will help.
Hmmm This looks worthy of more study...
Disabling Synaptics Touchpad with Ubuntu 10.04
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:
- Install two packages if they aren’t already installed (
gpointing-device-settingsis the more modern version ofgsynapticsand will uninstall it if it’s installed):sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics gpointing-device-settings- Start
gpointing-device-settingsfrom the command line and select “Touchpad off”, as shown here:- Exit the tool and reboot.
Written by andrewferrier
June 4th, 2010 at 7:22 am
Posted in Uncategorized -->Tagged with 10.04, disable, mouse, synaptic, technology, touchpad, troubleshooting, ubuntu
4 Responses to 'Disabling Synaptics Touchpad with Ubuntu 10.04'
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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
Fair enough. I’d never even noticed that shortcut was there!
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
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.
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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)
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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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?
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.
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