After about two hours of prep and download time, I've got Ubuntu 11.10
up and running on my old TravelMate 2420; now triple booting
Oneiric, Fedora 15, and Windows XP.
After the headaches that 11.04 gave me, I've been a bit
hesitant to install the newest version of the distro that introduced me
to Linux. The 2420 is not a performance computer, even with the memory maxed out. Onboard graphics and a Celeron M processor really limit this to being a work machine. That said, it will run Office 2010 and Visual C++ Express Edition; and according to MS, has enough oomph to run Windows 7 without the Aero interface.
Installation
I didn't have any blank CDs or USB drives handy, which is another reason I've put off installing. I was eventually able to find instructions for using the contents of the Network Install disc to install from the hard drive, and it was right there in Canonical's online documentation. Not recommended for first-time installers, though; but if you've used Debian's Expert Mode install, you'll feel right at home. The only snag I hit was on the task select screen. Apparently, sometime between the installer being finalized and now, the task for installing extra fonts has gone bye-bye from the US Mirror.
Since this install method was based on the netinstall CD; I'm gonna warn off anyone with data caps or dial-up. Besides, you'll get a much quicker install from the Live CD; since you don't have to download the system on the fly.
Running
This is where I saw the biggest improvement. The early Ubuntu
One integration really slowed down my computer while syncing; whether
because of better load handling, better network drivers, or something
else, it's not nearly as noticeable in 11.10. I haven't had a chance to test the Atheros wireless drivers; which were a big fail for me with 11.04. The combination of issues really crippled my laptop. Since the issues with the wireless driver were fixed with a kernel update, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that it will work, unless it just doesn't.
Aesthetic
Ubuntu has really taken to a darker default color palette in recent releases. It's not a bad thing; but it is noticeable especially coming from the blues of XP and the silvers of GNOME-3 on Fedora.
For me, the launcher/dash/dock on the left doesn't really impress me, but it's not a distraction either. The auto-hide feature is nice, and relieves my biggest concern: screen space. The other thing you'll probably notice right off is the lack of menu bars on your Windows. Mac OS 9 (if I remember correctly) did the same "single menu bar" thing across the top of the page. This will probably take more getting used to just because it isn't used much.
There's also a load of icons and menus in the top right corner; which have some interesting integration: Banshee (the default Music Player) can be accessed through the volume control; Chat and Mail applications tie into the messaging control; and pretty much all of your system settings can be grabbed from the gear in the corner. Also on that gear are options for Suspend, Shutdown, and Hibernate; which are noticeably hidden in GNOME-3.
I do keep coming back to GNOME-3, don't I? It's for a good reason: Unity really split the Gnome community and garnered a lot of hate when it first debuted. Not unfairly, either. As big a change from previous versions as GNOME-3 was; Unity split off and went in a similar, but distinct direction. Personally, I haven't decided which I like more, if either. I have been leaning to GNOME-3, but again, it stems from my problems with the cloud service less than Unity.
Overall Impressions
About the only thing that really bothers me about Oneiric is the "Apps Available for Download". Other than the fact that most are full-fledged programs, I'm not sure why we need to have them on non-admin accounts -- the ones that can't install software through the base interface anyway.
Otherwise, I found it to be user-friendly and usable. The things that your basic user is going to look for are already in the launcher, save for the email client (Thunderbird) which is stuck in a envelope on the top bar. The log-in takes longer than I'd really like, but that may be a function of my older hardware rather than Ubuntu.
Recommendation
If you've got some time, and any interest in Linux or computers in general; there's no reason not to burn a copy of the Live CD and try out Ubuntu.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Lessons from Dad, or thoughts on school prayer and the Pledge
My dad wasn't around a whole lot when I was young. As a kid, it was just the way things were. Dad would wake us up for school as he headed out the door; and was usually home for dinnertime. As I got older, it was less noticeable...and if he wasn't home in the evenings, he either got hung up on a service call or because there was a fire or ambulance run he had to go on. And even if the service calls were annoying, the other was okay, because he was helping people.
That was always a source of pride for me. Not only was my dad a fireman, he was an EMT, too. Yeah, he was a mechanic -- and a damn good one, judging by the customers that followed him the few times he changed companies -- and he would eventually let his EMT certification slip for reasons that were his own, but there's still a set of bunker gear in the back of his truck, in case his pager goes off.
A lot of who I am, I owe to my father. Not just the opportunities his hard work afforded me, and not just the things he tried to teach me.There are mannerisms that I've picked up over the years, from giving long-winded explanations to never answering an obvious question without trying to get the person to work it out for themselves. Dropping his voice when he was frustrated instead of raising it. Trying to find the causes for a problem instead of treating the symptoms.
And then there are the things I picked up from watching how he acted. The times he would give people second chances, and the reasons when he wouldn't. The way he never seemed to get angry -- upset and frustrated, yes; but very rarely angry -- unless someone was going to hurt another person. The importance of keeping promises, even implicit ones.
I think that last one is something that gets me in trouble some days; or at least keeps my mouth shut. So, if you really want to know...
Prayer in Schools
I'm all for prayer in schools. But I'm also dead set against the faculty and staff deciding which god (or, if you rather, which version of God) to pray to. And while that's a good part of my reasoning behind it (would you be for prayer in school if you knew that on Wednesdays, your kid would be praying to Hermes at the start of the Public Speaking class?), it really comes down to the basic "give you the answer" vs. "give you the tools to figure it out" debate. That said, as long as there's a belief that it will give them some sort of edge, there will always be prayer in school. Private prayer, between the child and their god; as it should be.
Pledge of Allegiance
When all is said and done; two of the few things it is truly fair to judge someone by are the promises they've made, and the promises they've kept.
Without even getting into the history of the flag salute, or the McCarthy-era changes to it; the Pledge of Allegiance always bothered me growing up. It never felt patriotic, just vaguely disturbing; and that was before we learned what the words actually meant. Why "pledge", and not "give my", "swear", or just plain "promise"? And why "allegiance"? Why swear to the flag first, instead of the nation; and why to the nation instead of the people, or even the ideals? These questions bothered me. And maybe I thought about it too hard; maybe I should have just stood and said the words like everybody else. But the thought of doing that bothered me to; that was making a promise that I didn't really mean. Not that I wouldn't keep it, but without really understanding what you were saying -- and really, what K-4th grader really understands what allegiance is? -- it's just rote memorization. Which is good for multiplication tables, not so much for ideology.
It's the kind of thing that makes me cringe/laugh when I hear the phrase "liberal indoctrination" used in relation to schools; in a "pot, meet kettle" sort of way.
I guess my point is that it's not about trying not to offend other people. But it's not about going out of your way to try to offend them, either. A little consideration is all that you really need, the realization that not everyone thinks or believes the same things that you do.
That was always a source of pride for me. Not only was my dad a fireman, he was an EMT, too. Yeah, he was a mechanic -- and a damn good one, judging by the customers that followed him the few times he changed companies -- and he would eventually let his EMT certification slip for reasons that were his own, but there's still a set of bunker gear in the back of his truck, in case his pager goes off.
A lot of who I am, I owe to my father. Not just the opportunities his hard work afforded me, and not just the things he tried to teach me.There are mannerisms that I've picked up over the years, from giving long-winded explanations to never answering an obvious question without trying to get the person to work it out for themselves. Dropping his voice when he was frustrated instead of raising it. Trying to find the causes for a problem instead of treating the symptoms.
And then there are the things I picked up from watching how he acted. The times he would give people second chances, and the reasons when he wouldn't. The way he never seemed to get angry -- upset and frustrated, yes; but very rarely angry -- unless someone was going to hurt another person. The importance of keeping promises, even implicit ones.
I think that last one is something that gets me in trouble some days; or at least keeps my mouth shut. So, if you really want to know...
Prayer in Schools
I'm all for prayer in schools. But I'm also dead set against the faculty and staff deciding which god (or, if you rather, which version of God) to pray to. And while that's a good part of my reasoning behind it (would you be for prayer in school if you knew that on Wednesdays, your kid would be praying to Hermes at the start of the Public Speaking class?), it really comes down to the basic "give you the answer" vs. "give you the tools to figure it out" debate. That said, as long as there's a belief that it will give them some sort of edge, there will always be prayer in school. Private prayer, between the child and their god; as it should be.
Pledge of Allegiance
When all is said and done; two of the few things it is truly fair to judge someone by are the promises they've made, and the promises they've kept.
Without even getting into the history of the flag salute, or the McCarthy-era changes to it; the Pledge of Allegiance always bothered me growing up. It never felt patriotic, just vaguely disturbing; and that was before we learned what the words actually meant. Why "pledge", and not "give my", "swear", or just plain "promise"? And why "allegiance"? Why swear to the flag first, instead of the nation; and why to the nation instead of the people, or even the ideals? These questions bothered me. And maybe I thought about it too hard; maybe I should have just stood and said the words like everybody else. But the thought of doing that bothered me to; that was making a promise that I didn't really mean. Not that I wouldn't keep it, but without really understanding what you were saying -- and really, what K-4th grader really understands what allegiance is? -- it's just rote memorization. Which is good for multiplication tables, not so much for ideology.
It's the kind of thing that makes me cringe/laugh when I hear the phrase "liberal indoctrination" used in relation to schools; in a "pot, meet kettle" sort of way.
I guess my point is that it's not about trying not to offend other people. But it's not about going out of your way to try to offend them, either. A little consideration is all that you really need, the realization that not everyone thinks or believes the same things that you do.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Super Mario 3D Land
There are very few things that can make me ragequit so hard I don't want get back in and replay the game. Insane difficulty isn't that big of a deal; awkward controls can be overcome; bad camera angles can be compensated for. But I've noticed one thing that sets me off.
Collection quests, or rather, unexpectedly needing to complete a collection quest. Now, I'm not talking about the old MMORPG grind where you've got to get so many of that odd drop from a hard-to-get-to enemy; that's something different. Let me explain.
I haven't played a Mario platformer in quite a while, I'll admit. Although I do like the genre, it's not my favorite, and if I have the time to play, I'll probably pop in a JRPG instead. But since I haven't had the chance to try out many of the new games for the 3DS, I thought I'd move Super Mario 3D Land up to the top of my rental list. Now, part of this may have been the fact that you don't get the booklet with a rental; but I really didn't feel the need to search out every Star Coin on every level. And yes, I did notice that on the course select screens some of the levels required you have a certain number of the Star Coins to play them. The majority of those, however, could be skipped. I didn't, because I always had enough.
Until the end of World 5. What had been optional became mandatory, and to enter the castle -- and keep playing the game -- I would have had to go back and find 50 of the damn Star Coins. What I thought was a side quest was now the main mission; with no foreshadowing. If you would have had to collect 10 coins in each world to proceed, I wouldn't have minded. It would have even made sense in what little story there was. But to show up as a condition to continue halfway through the game was a bit more than I was willing to take.
That said, getting to most of the Star Coins is fun and challenging; though experienced platform gamers shouldn't have a problem with it. Heck, I don't play platformers that often and other than the 3D perspective being a bit tricky in places (tip: watch the shadows), I wasn't having that much difficulty with the game. But that one design choice just ticked me off to no end.
Graphics are bright and cheerful, exactly what you'd expect from a Mario game, and the classic enemy designs still translate well to 3D models. All in all, it's probably a game I would mark as a keeper, and from the Black Friday numbers, a lot of people are thinking it is a console-seller. I can't disagree: it makes use of the hardware. The 3D effects are well done but not cheesy; and there are sequences that make use of moving the 3DS to get a better view of the stage, which I assume uses the front-facing camera to track location. It's a solid title, and I think a good addition to the Mario library of games.
Collection quests, or rather, unexpectedly needing to complete a collection quest. Now, I'm not talking about the old MMORPG grind where you've got to get so many of that odd drop from a hard-to-get-to enemy; that's something different. Let me explain.
I haven't played a Mario platformer in quite a while, I'll admit. Although I do like the genre, it's not my favorite, and if I have the time to play, I'll probably pop in a JRPG instead. But since I haven't had the chance to try out many of the new games for the 3DS, I thought I'd move Super Mario 3D Land up to the top of my rental list. Now, part of this may have been the fact that you don't get the booklet with a rental; but I really didn't feel the need to search out every Star Coin on every level. And yes, I did notice that on the course select screens some of the levels required you have a certain number of the Star Coins to play them. The majority of those, however, could be skipped. I didn't, because I always had enough.
Until the end of World 5. What had been optional became mandatory, and to enter the castle -- and keep playing the game -- I would have had to go back and find 50 of the damn Star Coins. What I thought was a side quest was now the main mission; with no foreshadowing. If you would have had to collect 10 coins in each world to proceed, I wouldn't have minded. It would have even made sense in what little story there was. But to show up as a condition to continue halfway through the game was a bit more than I was willing to take.
That said, getting to most of the Star Coins is fun and challenging; though experienced platform gamers shouldn't have a problem with it. Heck, I don't play platformers that often and other than the 3D perspective being a bit tricky in places (tip: watch the shadows), I wasn't having that much difficulty with the game. But that one design choice just ticked me off to no end.
Graphics are bright and cheerful, exactly what you'd expect from a Mario game, and the classic enemy designs still translate well to 3D models. All in all, it's probably a game I would mark as a keeper, and from the Black Friday numbers, a lot of people are thinking it is a console-seller. I can't disagree: it makes use of the hardware. The 3D effects are well done but not cheesy; and there are sequences that make use of moving the 3DS to get a better view of the stage, which I assume uses the front-facing camera to track location. It's a solid title, and I think a good addition to the Mario library of games.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Feeling My Age
Every day I look in the mirror. Thanks to a combination of time, a high-stress job, and said teenage daughter; there's a little less black on top of my head and a little less brown in my beard. And no matter how many times I change the lights above the bathroom mirror, there's a little more gray there every day. The lines around my mouth and eyes are a little more pronounced. There's a little more of my grandfather in the mirror when I look, too. Not my dad; instead of turning his hair gray, apparently us kids just made him tear it out. But every time I look it's the same story.
I look old.
Tomorrow afternoon, my daughter will (hopefully) play in her first junior high basketball game. She's an 8th grader; 13 years old this year. In 9 months, she'll be a high school Freshman.
I feel old.
I regret that I'm not going to be able to make it to all of her ball games. Between my working nights and my wife working a few towns over (which requires taking our one vehicle), it's a bit tricky to get me to any of the out of town matches. But every home game, I'll be there in the stands. I will say that it helps that she's on the JV team, which means she'll play at 4:00 most days instead of "maybe around 6, depending on if the early games run late, or finish early."
I don't know if she'll get to play. I don't even know if she's any good; at a small school like ours, every warm body that tries out for the team gets on -- playing time is a different story, but everybody makes the team. But I don't care. I will be there, in the stands; every chance I get.
And I will try not to be *that* dad. You know the one I mean. The dad who, even at a Junior High Junior Varsity game is riding the refs and the coach like he's at an NBA game. The dad who jockeys for more playing time for his kid, regardless of how good the kid actually is. The dad who "encourages" by doing the coach's job for them; who berates his kid for every missed shot and errant pass instead of asking "Did Coach tell you what you need to do to get better?" and "You gonna do it?" then leaving it at that.
My daughter could practice her jump shot from now until she graduates, and she still probably won't be the next Jackie Stiles (the former WNBA All-Star who played basketball in our league when I was in high school). And as far as I'm concerned, that's fine. She doesn't need to be. As long as she's having fun, keeping her grades up, and doing the best she can every time she steps on the court, there will be a proud old man sitting up in the stands.
I look old.
Tomorrow afternoon, my daughter will (hopefully) play in her first junior high basketball game. She's an 8th grader; 13 years old this year. In 9 months, she'll be a high school Freshman.
I feel old.
I regret that I'm not going to be able to make it to all of her ball games. Between my working nights and my wife working a few towns over (which requires taking our one vehicle), it's a bit tricky to get me to any of the out of town matches. But every home game, I'll be there in the stands. I will say that it helps that she's on the JV team, which means she'll play at 4:00 most days instead of "maybe around 6, depending on if the early games run late, or finish early."
I don't know if she'll get to play. I don't even know if she's any good; at a small school like ours, every warm body that tries out for the team gets on -- playing time is a different story, but everybody makes the team. But I don't care. I will be there, in the stands; every chance I get.
And I will try not to be *that* dad. You know the one I mean. The dad who, even at a Junior High Junior Varsity game is riding the refs and the coach like he's at an NBA game. The dad who jockeys for more playing time for his kid, regardless of how good the kid actually is. The dad who "encourages" by doing the coach's job for them; who berates his kid for every missed shot and errant pass instead of asking "Did Coach tell you what you need to do to get better?" and "You gonna do it?" then leaving it at that.
My daughter could practice her jump shot from now until she graduates, and she still probably won't be the next Jackie Stiles (the former WNBA All-Star who played basketball in our league when I was in high school). And as far as I'm concerned, that's fine. She doesn't need to be. As long as she's having fun, keeping her grades up, and doing the best she can every time she steps on the court, there will be a proud old man sitting up in the stands.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Making a Change
It took working with 11.04 to finally make me jump off the Ubuntu bandwagon and onto Fedora.
I don't have much bad to say about Ubuntu, don't get me wrong. They are innovative in all of the right ways: personal cloud storage that's accessible through Windows; pushing the limits of UI design; keeping timely software updates coming.
There were, however, two hurdles for me. The first I can't complain too vigorously about: WiFi. Due to differences in the wireless chipsets, 802.11 has always been a bit of a boogeyman for Linux. In my case, it was a regression with the Atheros 5000-series kernel driver... my wireless stopped working outside of 15 feet from the router, sometimes less.
The other, and quite frankly the dealbreaker for me, was a performance hit. I have an older laptop, a TravelMate 2420 that I've maxed the memory on. I don't know if it was the Unity desktop or the CouchDB backend they used for their UbuntuOne cloud service, but as soon as I installed 11.04, I began experiencing periodic stalling, CPU spikes and network traffic (which is why I point to the UbuntuOne).
As for the much debated Unity desktop; I was pretty indifferent to it. For the most part, it did its job. My biggest problem with it is probably its biggest feature. I'm not the biggest fan of "quick-launch bars" in general, and by default Unity puts a great big one down the side of the screen unless you have a window maximized. I've said before, this is a great idea for touchscreen interfaces where menu navigation could be a little tricky, but for my preferred method of keyboard and mouse, it feels redundant. It works, but I wasn't a fan.
I chose Fedora because of Gnome 3. The Gnome 3 desktop is similar to Unity in quite a few ways; not surprising, since Unity is built on many of the same libraries. I chose Fedora over OpenSUSE (the other major distro offering the Gnome 3 as a default) because of familiarity: one of my first Intro to Linux books dealt with Red Hat Linux; so I at was a little familiar with the RPM system. When you boil it down, the difference between the majority of Linux distributions is how software is delivered, and what software is easily available. Most up-to-date Linux distros share the same kernel.
Wait, you say. Hold up. Didn't you say that a kernel bug was screwing with your WiFi? If everybody is using the same kernel, wouldn't the bug be present on all of them?
Yes, I did. And yes, it was; which was why I said I couldn't complain about it too much. The biggest difference was where I was trying to install it. When I tried to install Ubuntu, I was at home; where I had wireless access and -- because the Debian/Ubuntu installer has wireless support built-in -- I was going to use it during setup. Except 11.04 shipped with a kernel version that had the bug. Which meant the install failed where I was until I fished out an ethernet cable. When I installed Fedora, I didn't have access to a wireless network, so I didn't notice it right off. And I was able to update to a kernel release that worked with my wireless -- before I got home and back to my network. Serendipitous, yes; but it is one of those things that is offputting.
And when I say that they share the same kernel, I'm generalizing a bit. Not every distro is going to release every point release (i.e. one distro might not release 2.8.24.36, choosing to wait and test 2.8.24.37 instead, or simply patching and releasing a custom 2.8.24.36_custom): it's the end of July and there have been nearly a dozen since April: they will be doing some testing before releasing it into the wild.
But, I've made my choice, at least until... October. Both Fedora and Ubuntu are on a 6-month (April/October) release schedule. And really, outside of disk space, there's nothing stopping me from installing both (after a thorough backup, of course). This laptop is a testing rig, for all intents and purposes. Besides, this is Linux. It's not about brand loyalty, it's not about being afraid to change. It's about figuring out what works best for you and improving the experience for everybody.
Now, since I've grabbed a copy of NetBeans; I think I'll try and teach myself some JAVA.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Gnome 3 Wallpaper Switcher
Every once in a while, I don't feel like looking at the same thing over and over again. Call it a geek version of wanderlust; but I like to have my desktop wallpaper change frequently. And I like it better when I don't have to choose, but a new background pops at random.
And with Gnome 2, the default window manager for a good number of Linux distributions, that wasn't hard to do. There were daemons (small background programs) that you could install, or you could create XML files that told GNOME's settings manage exactly which background you wanted for exactly how long.
Gnome 3 featured a major rewrite of the underlying controls. And while this created a great number of improvements -- visibly and performance-wise -- a few features were removed. As of 3.0.2, one of those was the ability to set those wallpaper slideshows as a background.
My google-fu is strong, though; and I soon found that it wasn't the ability to use the slideshow files that had been removed, it was the ability to select the file. The underlying mechanics were the same, as was the syntax of the XML file. It was simply a matter of "You can't get there from here." You could, however, get there from the command line; and that's where my python-fu came into play. Hopefully, Google Docs doesn't mess with my code too much here....
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Gnome 3 Thoughts
After about 2 weeks of testing it out; I've come to some conclusions about GNOME3 on Debian.
1) The Installation is a Pain. Actually, this is probably the least of my complaints, but it comes first because it was encountered first. Debian prides itself on being stable, almost to a fault. In fact, the default "stable" installation (6.0.2 Squeeze at this writing) gets security updates and that's about it. It's designed to just work. Not surprisingly, GNOME3 isn't available on Squeeze (not enough time to test it before the last release). It's not in the "testing" (Wheezy) set, either. It's in "experimental"; along with all the other stuff that Debian maintainers don't figure is stable enough for Testing. That said, it is in experimental, and you can get it if you are careful and know what you're doing.
2) Things are Locked Down. Again, I can see the upsides and the downsides to this. On the upside, locking down things like title bars and panel guarantees a consistent experience. On the other hand, if the user doesn't like the design -- and is used to being able to change it -- it can lead to frustration. That said, there was a semi-official UI/system tweaking tool available, but as it isn't built-in to the command center where you'd expect it to be, it doesn't get full marks.
3) The "Desktop" is more like a work area. This is where we run into one of those "paradigm shifts", I think. Since Windows XP (likely since Windows NT, but since it didn't have as wide a release as the 98/XP line, we'll say XP), users have come to use the desktop as part storage space, part launcher. Not in GNOME 3, though. Unless you use the tweak tool to "allow [Nautilus] to manage Desktop", the only thing you can do with the desktop is look at it. There's no left-click, no middle-click, no context menu on the right click that lets you set the desktop background. If you click on the desktop, you've exercised your clicking finger, but that's about it. Again, it's not a bad thing or a good thing; it's just different than what you're probably used to.
So, what do I think about it?
1) I'm not blind, guys I don't need the huge title bars and menu icons that come with the default (and unchangeable via GUI) interface. I can see where they might be useful for touchscreen interfaces, giving users a bit more leeway on where they tap, but on a laptop, it seems like wasted space.
2) What will it take to convince people hot corners are a bad idea? If your mouse wanders into the top left of the screen, the activities pane takes over. While that sounds like a good idea, it's also a bit distracting if you accidentally bump your mouse, or if you like to shuffle your pointer into a corner out of the way.
3) The Activity Pane is a good idea. Two things about how they implemented the Activity Pane/Menu. First, dynamically spawning work areas are a great idea. If you want a clean "surface" to work on, you open the activity pane and either click on a blank work space or drag an open window to a new surface. Once you clean up the surface, it disappears until you need a new one. Second, the search as you type function. If you pop the activity pane and start typing, you'll get a shrinking list of programs and recent documents that match your search. And though I haven't double-checked, it appeared to be pulling additional info about the programs from somewhere (probably .desktop files) so you didn't have to search by name alone.
4) Network Manager didn't like me. I don't know if it was something I did while setting it up; but network-manager-gnome did not like my wifi setup, rejecting saved passphrases, and not even displaying the BSSID for my home network until I was right on top of the router. Which was odd, because after reinstalling GNOME2, I automatically connected (after entering the passphrases) from halfway across the house (around 45-50 feet).
I've switched back to GNOME2 for now; at least until 3 drops into testing instead of experimental. It shows a lot of promise, and feels like something I'm willing to use; but I'd rather have the guys more experienced than me go over it a little longer before I jump in head first.
Links
Update:
The Network Manager deal isn't a Gnome3 thing. From everything I've read, it appears to be a kernel issue -- which makes sense: when I upgraded to Gnome3, the new kernel came along with it. However, the same change in frequency/connection ability happened with Ubuntu 10.10 vs 11.04 as well. Smarter people than I seem to have narrowed it down to a kernel patch for Acer hardware. I didn't go diving that directly.
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