turns out that upgrading to the newest version of ubuntu was not a good idea. not because of the visual effects, not because of the tracker, (probably) not because of ubuntu itself, but because of a very strange and annoying bug which is really killing my productivity: at random points, in particular if i’m using firefox, it “forgets” that i released a key, like the short cut for closing a tab or for switching to the next tab. and there’s basically no way to stop it except killing firefox. the problem also appeared in other applications, though almost never. i’d guess that it is connected to how much the program keeps the cpu busy, and firefox is pretty good at doing that… so, what to do? i don’t know… a first few google searches haven’t helped me a bit… probably i have to spend even more time digging out information on this… i really hate wasting time like this.

just upgraded to newest ubuntu. upgrading went pretty smooth, smoother than i expected after last time’s experience. i tried the new visual effects (seeing this screenshot, i’m wondering why i didn’t had this custom choice), and disabled them after a few minutes. for me, most of them are too annoying (i’m switching between windows and desktops all the time). well. the user interface feels slower than before (even after deactivating the visual effects), but it’s still ok. the tracker is annoying, eating up system performance and it’s ignoring the preferences (which say: don’t run), but after deinstalling it, everything’s fine. for now.
now i have to find out how to install a local version of apache with php, and of mysql, to make working on my project a bit easier…

yesterday, i watched the movie snakes on a plane (imdb). well. i think enough has been said and written about this one. it gives the viewer exactly what it promises: snakes on a plane. and it still manages to fill 100 minutes of movie without getting boring. filled with lots of action, lots of clichés, lots of horror elements, lots of things to laugh about (even if some of them are not exactly funny for the persons involved) and, well, lots of snakes. lots of gore. some sex. a few guns, though mostly outside the plane. well, also crime. and there’s no need to think while watching this one (which makes it especially good if you’re suffering from a headache…).
well. simply don’t show this one to kids. and don’t watch it if you can’t stand the things listed above.