This is mostly a note to my future self, or to some googling Ubuntu user in a similar situation. When I upgraded my Sony Vaio PCG-TR3A laptop recently from Feisty Fawn (7.04) to Hardy Heron (8.04) with a fresh install, most things just worked with no tweaking, but sound did not. After trying some of the suggestions at the Ubuntu wiki's Debugging Sound Problems page, I fixed the sound by installing gnome-alsamixer, launching it, and de-selecting the External Amplifier switch.

My laptop's hard drive is on its last legs. It seemed to be deteriorating ever since last month's Europe jaunt, but at this point I'm just trying to salvage what I can while I wait for the new one I just ordered. (I particularly want it in working order by the time I leave for a conference a week from today.) It's currently got Fedora Core 4 and Windows XP partitions. While FC4 was okay, I think I'll install either Ubuntu or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on the next reincarnation. I've had good experiences recently with Ubuntu on other machines. I haven't used SUSE recently, but one reviewer gushed, “SLED 10 is hands down the most polished desktop Linux distribution I’ve ever used—and that includes Ubuntu.”

The great weather over the past few days has led me to spend more time out in my back yard despite my computer problems. Here you see the first tomato plants I've ever grown. I also spotted a frog hanging out on the edge of the pond, which is great to see, since I've been making an effort to maintain the pond and keep it out of its scummy, frogless state of the past few summers.

Other lazy-weekend activities: reading, sipping iced barley tea, relaxing in a hammock chair, eating out at Dino (vanilla gelato topped with aged balsamic vinegar—who knew?), working on another kobukusa (see earlier entry), and realizing that the much-awaited-by-me A Scanner Darkly isn't yet playing in my area.