Connection Issues

My connection to the Internet had been dropping out sporadically over the last few weeks. Usually, unplugging the power and plugging it in again usually restored it. However, this morning it kept reinitializing.  It was obviously on its last legs so I headed out to the nearest electronics superstore to obtain a replacement. They didn’t have a DSL modem per say but they did have a LinkSys X2000 DSL modem/router combination so I bought it, figuring that I could use my older router as a switch and Wireless Access Point at the other end of the house where the signal strength had been lacking.

I guess I should have run the software on the CD first as it probably would have saved me some time. I set it up manually and had everything inside my LAN working fine but I couldn’t connect to the Internet. After reconnecting all my Ethernet cables, I fired up a PC and ran the software. It finally “fixed” the problem and had me connected to the outside world.

Then I took the LinkSys WRT54G back to my room at the other end of the house and set it up to be a switch and Wireless Access Point. Now I have excellent signal strength on my laptop and my Roku box. Life is good.

Related: How to Convert Linksys WRT54G to Be an Access Point

Bluefish pissing me off

I just did a distro upgrade form Ubuntu 10.04 to 12.04 and I must say that the changes to the look and feel of the desktop and the functioning of the applications I use has left much less than impressed. I’m learning to tolerate the desktop a little more but what is happening with the Bluefish editor since the upgrade is extremely frustrating. I can’t figure out how to make it stop highlighting HTML markup tags. I love having the tags and the attributes in a different color but whenever the cursor is adjacent to a tag, both the opening and closing tags are highlighted in red. I don’t want them highlighted at all. I already know where my cursor is and what line I’m on. Is there any way to disable this feature?
The Bluefish documentation for version 2.2.2. (which I’m currently using) is nearly non-existent and a Google search doesn’t return anything that’s useful to me. Most of it seems to be aimed at proficient programmers. I am not a code geek. I just want simple, straight-forward answers. If I can’t find a solution, I will be forced to find an editor I can use and customize to my preferences and needs. I loved this editor until the upgrade.

Suggestions for alternative editors are welcome.

Ubuntu Upgrades

Last night I upgraded my main computer from 10.04 to 12.04. I should have waited until the weekend as it took all evening. Once it was completed and I rebooted, I went to bed. I spent quite a bit of time this morning tweaking the desktop and figuring out the changes to how my applications now work, particularly their look and feel. So far I’m not exactly thrilled with the changes and the upgrade has not enhanced my user experience and I’m sure I’ll find more “features and enhancements” as I go forward.

I’ve got three more Linux installations to upgrade but I will wait until the weekend. I’ve got a laptop that dual boots with Ubuntu 10.04 and Windows XP and a desktop running Mint and XP. The DNS server shouldn’t be too bad since it’s a command-line interface.