Stoopid Compooters!

My desktop computer is now comatose (i'm writing this on my laptop). It's not a hard drive failure, but instead, a power supply problem. It's not the power cord -- i've tried three different ones -- the machine is simply getting no juice. Now, i really hate to have to open up the case and mess about in the innards. I'm no good at it, for one thing. Back in the days of Windows 95 and 56k internal modems, i needed to replace a modem and shorted out two before i successfully, er, succeeded.

Plus i looked in my old PC repair textbook and the section on power supply and it all went whooooosh! way over my head.

So, until i can afford to take the desktop into the shop (next week) i'm now forced to do everything on the laptop, which has presented another set of prebloms.  Problems too.

As my regular reader will know, i bought the laptop in February, with the express intention of formatting the hard drive to remove everything Microsofty, and installing Linux. (I have an installation CD from Ubuntu.)


Linux appealed to my inner geek and i thought it would be fun to learn about.

Unfortunately, one thing and another, you know how it goes, i never really applied myself to learning this totally foreign operating system.  But now that i'm dependent upon it i feel like someone who is being taught to swim by being flung into the deep end.  I'm floundering.

For example, it took me four days (four!) to figure out how to listen to my online radio station (www.therock.fm).  For another, i download Linux software and then don't know how to run it.  For a third, i've downloaded zipped files that won't unzip (even though i have an un-zipper).

I'd like to rip some music to the laptop.  The Linux audio extracting program is called Soundjuicer.  Can i get it to work? No.  And clicking on Soundjuicer Help opens up ... nothing.

On the bright side, though, at least i now have a decent radio station to listen to as i give myself eyestrain peering at the laptop's comparatively small screen....