Well, it’s April, and the countdown is on. I haven’t posted in a while, so here is a progress report on my final projects for IT 521.

My PC, which continues to run Ubuntu splendidly, is still not wireless. Unfortunately, I have had to shift my attention away from it to work on other assignments and projects for IT 521. In hopes of solving the wireless issue, I did try installing the 7.04 beta mode upgrade available off the front page of the Ubuntu website. The download and install went smoothly, but there is still no Internet access without a network cable. Overall, I am pleased with the speed and ease of the Ubuntu OS but would very much like to solve the wireless problem.

My focus this past week has been on Inspiration and open-source concept mapping software (CMap and FreeMind). This IT 521 assignment really held my attention because I was able to use these tools to complete other course work as well as help a friend plan a vacation. For example, I mapped the effects of NCLB legislation using CMap. I also created an interactive outline of barbecue restaurants and live music venues in Austin, Texas. Not too shabby!

Now, I am focused on Webliograpaher. I have set up two Webliographer pages as part of my semester project in IT 521. Here are the links:

Publish Me! Webliographer
Fulton High School Webliographer

On Tuesday, April 3, I will conduct a brief, after-school inservice for Fulton High School faculty members who want to participate in the Fulton Webliographer. I hope to help at least a few teachers register a user account and start adding their own URLs. I am especially interested in selling the simplicity and efficiency of web-based bookmarking, a concept I didn’t know about until this semester. There is tremendous value here for the classroom teacher who wishes to seamlessly integrate Internet resources into instruction.

Tonight I installed a virus scanner using the add/remove menu on the applications toolbar of Ubuntu. There is a search tool you can use to locate different open source applications offered by the Ubuntu community. Installing the scanner was easy, but Ron says it is not the same as virus protection. I’ll keep looking for open source virus protection.

Re-installing my HP 1315 all-in-one printer was also pretty easy. Under the system toolbar I selected “administration” and then “printing.” From there I clicked on “printer” and then “add printer.” Ubuntu walks you through a three-step process to add a printer.

I don’t have a clue about how to reconfigure my wireless connection. I am still connecting to the Internet using a network cable. If anyone out there is reading this and has an idea, please tell me!

So, the answer to my March 19 post is, “Yes, I screwed up something with my keyboard when installing Ubuntu!” Luckily, the problem was easily remedied. I had accidentally selected the “English International” keyboard layout. I found this out when I went to the system menu, selected “preferences” and then “keyboard” and then “layouts.” You can add or remove layouts, so I added the U.S. English layout and removed the international one. Easy enough.

So, itś not all love and warm-fuzzies in Ubuntu land.

If you have been reading my latest posts, I wonder if you have noticed something unusual about the apostrophes? They render oddly in the ¨compose¨ mode, the ¨preview¨ mode, and the final ¨view blog¨ window. And I experience the same problem when typing a document in OpenOffice Writer.

In fact, the apostrophe/quotation mark key has been giving me fits all night. I really have to tap it hard to get either punctuation mark to show up on screen.

Could I have messed something up during the installation?

Success at last!

Today Ron had a brainstorm. Why not try one of the other install options offered on the Ubuntu boot-up menu? We kept the computer plugged into the modem with the network cable, fired up the computer with the Ubuntu 6.10 CD still in the drive, and waited for the menu to show up. Rather than select the first option, we tried ¨install text only,” which is the second or third option down the list.

The installation took less than one hour. We still received the error message about the ¨wireless applet,” which we chose to delete and reconfigure later based on Ronś friendś advice. When all was said and done, the entire operating system was installed on my laptop with graphics and everything!

I am now creating this post using the Firefox browser on my brand-new Ubuntu desktop. My computer runs like a dream! It used to take several minutes to start up; now I can start up and be online in less than two minutes.

The only tasks left to deal with are making my computer wireless again and installing some virus protection. I feel confident about the latter, but I don´t have a clue about the former! Oh, and according to Ubuntu, I already have 134 software updates! This I have come to expect after reading some of Jasonś posts.