Quick Ubuntu Update - Scrolling

Yesterday I discovered that my Aspire One's bizarre touch-scrolling technique (start in the upper right corner and make a clockwise circle to scroll down, counter-clockwise to scroll up) doesn't appear to work in Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

Instead, the rightmost part of the trackpad seems to work as a (much more sensible) straightforward scrollbar--go up to scroll up, go down to scroll down. Win.

My Ubuntu Chronicles Thus Far

For Christmas, I got an Acer Aspire One (D250) netbook, and took over most of the hard drive with Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR), leaving just 25 gb to Windows XP in case of Windows-only software or catastrophic Linux failure. This is my first time using Linux, so I was hoping for an easy time of it. I have experienced a few highly annoying problems, yet despite that, I find I prefer it to Windows by a wide margin. Not that it takes much, as I've been primarily a Mac girl since 2007. Unix and I just get along (serious props to Bill Joy).

So. Problems:

• -When I was first attempting to install UNR via Live USB (as this netbook has no optical drive), it absolutely would not work. "Help" and "default" gave me command lines into which I could not type, and no error messages, even when I tried re-downloading the ISO in case it was corrupted. I finally tried hitting tab for more options, since that was about all I hadn't tried, and it brought up a command line into which I could type. The H in "Help" looked highlighted, so I thought I'd try typing that into the command line. Suddenly, it went into boot mode and I was able to install Linux. This should not have worked and makes no sense to me. God smiled upon my computer that day.
• -Then I couldn't get my wireless to work. It worked in XP, so I knew my hardware wasn't broken. I tried different drivers, this and that, using Synaptic Package Manager to update everything imaginable, until eventually, in Hardware Drivers, a new driver mysteriously showed up, which I tried, and it worked. Go figure.
• -Now, UNR works flawlessly, except that it doesn't always feel like booting. If it doesn't boot right away, I get a little blinking hyphen and I can't type anything, so I just reboot or shut down/start again with the power button, and eventually I can get it to boot. I don't have this problem with XP, so it must be Linux-specific. It may be related to whether it's hot or cold. I have no idea. I am willing to take suggestions, by the way--this is UNR Karmic Koala. Judging by the solutions to my last two problems, this one probably will be solved by a ridiculous stroke of random.

Non-problems:

• -Ubuntu Software Center has just put the entire world at my fingertips and most, if not all, of the available programs appear to be free. I haven't installed any yet but I am in love with the possibilities. I can do anything. Thank you, Linux community.
• -The version of Firefox it came with seems to have a European spell-checker. It gets sad when I use "honor" instead of "honour" or "center" instead of "centre." OpenOffice and gedit, however, recognize the American versions and not the British versions. Fascinating.
• -The interface is extremely intuitive. I haven't gotten hopelessly lost yet.
• -I wasn't expecting it to come with as many games as it does. Fantastic time-wasters, those. Fortunately, I think I will be able to avoid them quite well. I am looking forward to trying out the chess program, to see if I like it as much as the Mac one. I'm no chess guru (I'm actually painfully bad at it), but I go through occasional spells where I think I want to get good at it, and those chess programs are great for practicing with something that can't think poorly of me.
• -The battery life on this seems to be absolutely insane. I can't help but wonder if the meter is inaccurate. I haven't yet tried to use it for seven to eight hours straight, you see; that will likely occur during the coming semester, and I will know if it is lying to me.
• -Did I mention Ubuntu Software Center?

That essentially sums up my Ubuntu experience so far. Mercifully, it has been positive, despite many warnings that suggested it would be painful. Here's hoping for all the best, as I continue to use this thing!

Math Project Beginnings

So, having joined a completely optional, extra-curricular math research seminar at my University, with the intention of doing a major research project in the coming Spring semester, I have to come up with a topic. Originally, I was looking at something related to the Collatz conjecture, but I've since decided that if I'm going to spend valuable time on something like this, it should be more worthwhile than number theory. I realize that George Boole's number theory work eventually became fundamentally important to computers, but not everyone is that fortunate.

So, I'm looking for something in one of the following areas:

• -space/space technology (since it could potentially be helpful to my science fiction writings)
• -audio/sound (since I find it absurdly interesting)
• -hoverboards/efficiently powered gravity-defiance (since hello, it's hoverboards)

I have asked the guy who more or less teaches the seminar to help direct me to something interesting. If I remember (and I hope I do), I'll continue to report back here once I've got something going on. Not too many details, though--I don't need Internetters stealing my project!

I have a couple of blog topics floating about in my head, so expect more of my long, thought-out-ahead-of-time writings before the end of the month.

Remember How I Said "Save Blockbuster"?

I don't seriously think all of you suck, regardless of what Ryan says. Saving Blockbuster probably just couldn't be done.

Human-Fought

In fiction, especially in fantasy, we always see the battle between good and evil. In this world, in reality, we see instead battles between desires, with evil and good mixed on both sides. One side may have more evil, one side may have more good, but on this Earth, little is cut-and-dry evil versus good. How could it be? Few humans are purely either one, and are not all our wars human-fought?

Pipe Dreams

Loads of people have pipe dreams. Here of some of mine from over the years, ones that still sound cool to me but would preclude me for doing many of the other things I want to do, generally for reasons related to time and location.

• +Run away to Russia and become a ballerina - Some part of me has always wanted to do ballet, but the really good dancers do nothing but ballet, and I was never interested in it enough to give up my myriad other interests. It is still appealing to me, and I would like to take some ballet classes eventually, but running off to Russia and becoming a lifelong ballerina would be impossible if I want the rest of my life to happen. Why Russia? Obviously because they turn out some of the best ballerinas. And it's a pipe dream, so why not?
  
• +Go to Tokyo and be a video game designer for Square Enix - I love the Final Fantasy series. Each game is a work of art in itself. For a while, my goal was to become a game designer, or write/draw/program for games, and make artful games like the Final Fantasy stuff. At that time, I'm pretty sure my dream was to actually learn Japanese, head to Japan, and persuade the tough businessmen of Tokyo to let me work for them. Unfortunately, like the Russia thing, this would preclude just about any other ideas I had for my life.
  
• +Go to Japan and be a manga-ka - I like writing, I like drawing, I like all kinds of comics, including manga, and I like the idea of Japan. Obviously, moving there and becoming a manga-ka would be a great idea, despite the fact that they probably wouldn't like an American wannabe-Asian (I think "weaboo" is the accepted term) trying to weasel her way into the market in its home country. I could be a manga-ka in America, but I like the idea of living in Japan for a while, which is why it's included in this pipe dream. Again, this one has the international problem, though the hours I worked would likely be much more flexible and allow for other projects. I can still become a manga-ka in America, but that's much less a pipe dream than actually moving to Japan to do it.
  
• +Attend MIT and generally be a smart, MIT-attending person - When I applied for colleges towards the end of high school, I knew that an out-of-state school was probably out of the question, if only for monetary reasons. I also knew that I hadn't really done anything to make me stand out when I was in high school, and so I would probably be rejected from MIT. Now that I'm a junior in college, my only viable option for completing this pipe dream would be to make some money or get a scholarship and somehow get MIT to accept me for grad school. This is actually the least impossible of my pipe dreams, since it could still happen, is not totally insane, and likely would not preclude me from living a life of myriad interests, since I would probably only be there for a few years.
  
• +Join/start a band and become famous through it - This would be a lot more possible if I practiced my bass guitar more often. I could still join a band, and in fact I hope to eventually, but I don't think I have any designs on fame as a musician anymore. It would just be a fun thing to do for a while.
• +Work for Google - Do I even need to explain this one?

Of course, only God knows where life will go.

-

Save Blockbuster!

Knowing that I can just go to Blockbuster if I really want a movie makes me feel very safe. Therefore, the idea that they will be going out of business very soon is rather upsetting to me. I will still have the UCF library, as long as I am a student, but that's only for another year and a half. I doubt the other video rental places will last terribly long, and the public library, at least where I live, just doesn't have a great selection. Will I have to switch to something like NetFlix to get movies when I want them? I will then either have to wait for my movie to come in the mail, which is no good if I only suddenly and unexpectedly acquire the free time to watch a film, or I'll have to depend upon the powers of the Internet to give me a movie and continue to play that movie until its end. I'd rather take my chances with a scratched Blockbuster DVD.

Call me old-fashioned, but I'd like to see Blockbuster stick around for a while, so it doesn't go the way of Pluto's status as a planet.