Club Linux Coffs Harbour

Help! Help! I have purchased a HPC5280 printer and cannot get the following. A Scan program for scan to computer, a Disc Labeler Program. I asked at the retail outlet and was assured that it would work with Linux, and it does as a printer but that is all.

I just moved from Vista to Ubuntu (Hardy) and, among other things, have been trying to install a shared Epson printer attached to a WinXP computer.

I found the System > Admin > Printing thing,and although it finds the shared printer, when trying to find the driver, it doesn't list the exact model I have (Epson Stylus CX3900).

I also found this website:  http://www.avasys.jp/lx-bin2/linux_e/spc/DL1.do, but don't know how to install the downloaded file...

BTW, I don't know how to use the Terminal, so would much prefer instructions for the GUI.

Someone's done a really nice home usability test on Ubuntu 8.04, using his girlfriend as the experiment. Apart from the good old-fashioned flame-bait value of this, I'm finding usability studies increasingly fascinating. From my own experience, it's remarkably common to find features that seem an obvious good idea from one point of view can be intimidatingly bewildering from another (and often I'm the bewildered one).

For example, I have one website that allows anonymous users to post content, although for obvious reasons each post has to be approved by an administrator. When content is submitted, the user is redirected to the site's front page, and gets a message in a little box with a different background colour to the rest of the page, telling them that their post is awaiting approval. Clear enough, you may think. However I got some feedback today from a user saying that the site is broken, because every time they try to post anything, all they get is an error message. You might say that the user should at least stop to read the message, but on the other hand something is wrong from a usability point of view if a message telling the user that everything is working perfectly fine looks at first glance like an error message. Usability is hard.

It is happening more and more. When I switch on the computer it makes the right sounds, and all the right "OKs" but ten the screen comes up blank.

 

There is not even the Unbuntu colour background, just a white light background.

 

I then go through the process of ctrl+alt+backspace and get Destop Open. Click on that and get ???Password...As I did not load Ubuntu I do not know the password and cannot find out, so I then go backspace again and get Options, I press restart and wait until the computer shuts down and loads again.

 

You Got ME Matthew, I don't how long I spent trying to close that window!!!!!!

I've been looking around the new features in Gutsy, and was interested in what's new with the "restricted drivers manager", the gadget that looks after any non-free software required to make unfriendly hardware work. Tried to launch it and was told:

Could these be the eight sweetest words in the English language?

This development makes me think of all those years reading HOWTOs and editing modelines and want to weep tears of joy:

 

Yes, That quick!  My previous backyard ISP, a local unit of odd fellows that had no idea what service meant, shut me down on the 6 july.  I rang Optus and fiddled around with them until they finally stuffed everythig up causing me to cancel my request.

 

Optus sent me a letter which I recieved on 27 July, it was post marked 26 July and the letter was dated the 24 July The letter stated, amongst other things, that if there were any changes to my request for boradband to contact them prior to the 24 July.  Hmmmm! 

 

A friend of a friend offered to pay me to set up broadband internet on his old computer. Money shmoney, I foolishly thought, I'll do it for free. So I bought a $30 modem off ebay and set it all up with a reputable ISP, the computer was running Windows 98 but I didn't have to use it so that's fine. An hour to set it all up and provide a quick lesson in how to use the net and I'm done.

A bit of free help randomly thrown out into the world, leaving behind a warm fuzzy glow.

Well... hey, after that last meeting I got all fired up and upgraded from Dapper to Edgy and installed Beryl. So for the past week or so I've been whizzing round my 3d cuboid desktop thingy, writing my Uni assignments - I'm not sick on eye candy quite yet. It is kinda fun to laugh at all the 'early adopter's using Vista and seeing how they have to struggle to get similar affects with a brand new machine and graphics card whilst my crummy 3 1/2 year old lappy runs rings round them.

Stuff nerds to for fun hey...

I've always liked the idea of having multiple desktops but have never really gotten into them. When I'm in the Zone I tend to just do my thing until I run out of steam or can't find that 34th window I opened earlier. With the 3d cubey thing I just seem to keep going for longer and it feels much more tactile. Does that sound pervy?