[00:36] <Guest94531> Hi all. Im a newbee to linux. I have ubuntu running on my desktop and wish to connect to windows vista on my work laptop using terminal services.  When I enter the ip address of my windows machine in ts and click connect TS dissappears off of the screen. I am able to ping my windows pc from the terminal? Any suggestions
[09:48] <ogra> ace_suares, that wiring page is utterly wrong
[09:48] <ogra> ace_suares, (the text and links are, the pics are fine)
[19:24] <Doranwen> I have kind of an unusual request, and I'm not sure if this is where I should go, but someone recommended that I ask here, because maybe someone in the Edubuntu world would have an idea where I should go for help and ideas
[19:25] <Doranwen> I'm starting to work on a set of elementary school curriculum--textbooks, workbooks, related materials, and suchlike--that I want to release eventually under some sort of copyleft-ish license
[19:26] <Doranwen> I've noticed there is NOTHING of that sort anywhere that I can find
[19:26] <Doranwen> everything free as in freedom is at least high school level if not college, and all the elementary curriculum materials out there are very much copyrighted, even the "free" stuff that people host on their sites
[19:27] <Doranwen> it's not truly free, and people charge exorbitant rates for the materials, which really handicaps small schools, ones with smaller budgets, etc.
[19:27] <Doranwen> so I'm hoping eventually to change some of that--in the future my fiancé, who's got one year left of college and is big into networking, wants to help me start a site for collaboration of that sort
[19:28] <Doranwen> but right now I'm just trying to put together some things for the very beginning of school
[19:28] <Doranwen> and ran into a snag
[19:28] <Doranwen> handwriting is one of the essential subjects (it is of great importance in a method of reading instruction I just learned about that's effective for all children)
[19:29] <Doranwen> to teach children handwriting, there has to be examples they can copy, even trace as they begin to learn
[19:29] <Doranwen> for the very beginners, they need to have just curves and lines, to practice grip
[19:29] <Doranwen> and all of that requires fonts
[19:29] <Doranwen> fonts that would be free to use in a project like this
[19:29] <Doranwen> but I can't find ANY
[19:30] <Doranwen> and someone suggested that maybe someone in this project might know who to go to to talk, collaborate, whatever on this?
[19:30] <Doranwen> I feel like I'm over my head here, because this thing is just too big for me to really do on my own, and I don't know how to start letting people know about it, or asking for help to work on it
[19:30] <Doranwen> but it's so needed
[19:30] <HedgeMage> Doranwen: I'm coming in in the middle of the conversation, so pardon me if I missed anything important, but WRT handwriting practice, a font is only sufficient for typeset letterforms, and for printing -- NOT for a cursive style appropriate to handwriting.
[19:31] <Doranwen> true, there are both forms of handwriting
[19:31]  * HedgeMage == handwriting geek and daughter of an elementary school teacher.
[19:31] <Doranwen> and to really teach cursive, one would have to do some rather interesting things
[19:31] <Doranwen> I saw one site that advertised a program to buy that had multiple fonts, some that showed individual letter forms, and some that were designed to make letters match up as much as possible
[19:31] <Doranwen> I don't know how it all worked, 'cause I didn't buy the program
[19:31] <HedgeMage> It wouldn't be *that* hard... we'd need to write an app that can handle different joins correctly
[19:32] <Doranwen> lol, that would definitely have to go to someone besides me
[19:32] <Doranwen> I don't program
[19:32] <HedgeMage> You can learn :)
[19:32] <Doranwen> hehe
[19:32] <Doranwen> my fiancé's not too bad at it
[19:32] <Doranwen> I'm mostly best at curriculum stuff
[19:33] <Doranwen> but he's really better at networking, and programming too long gives him a headache
[19:33] <HedgeMage> It's interesting to me, but my free time is *very* limited right now.  I do have some ideas.  Hold on a sec, I'll brb
[19:33] <Doranwen> k
[19:34] <Doranwen> ah, here's the site that was advertising stuff:  http://www.schoolfonts.com/
[19:34] <HedgeMage> They teach Zaner-Bloser -- that's BAD stuff.
[19:35] <Doranwen> they've also got D'Nealian
[19:35] <Doranwen> for parents to pick
[19:35] <Doranwen> I've had virtually no handwriting instruction at ALL in the sense of how to teach it or the styles or anything at my university
[19:35] <Doranwen> and can't find much online that really discusses the differences or why different styles
[19:36] <HedgeMage> Zaner-Bloser is a modernized form of the Palmer method, which is based on a looped cursive that was designed to work well with movable type printing presses.  While ZB is the most common form taught in the US, it is part of the reason Americans have such terrible handwriting.  Looped cursive is *very* hard to learn, and it is slow to write and encourages RSI (repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel)
[19:36] <HedgeMage> It's nasty stuff
[19:37] <HedgeMage> If I were to work on such a project, I'd want to teach a form of italic print and cursive italic that are designed for *writing*, not printing presses.
[19:37] <Doranwen> ahh, I see
[19:37] <Doranwen> right
[19:37] <Doranwen> I write straight upright print, and do that faster than cursive, so I never really write cursive, lol
[19:37] <Doranwen> but that explains a lot
[19:39] <Doranwen> aha:  http://www.drawyourworld.com/dnealian.html
[19:39] <Doranwen> there's the one I wanted to see
[19:39] <Doranwen> shows all the different handwriting styles
[19:40] <HedgeMage> Doranwen: Try a book called Write Now by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay -- it's for adults, not kids, but it's a quick way to learn proper italic print and cursive italic.  Paired with a good (read: good fountain) pen, I drastically improved my writing in a few weeks.
[19:40] <Doranwen> I probably learned Zaner-Bloser, now that I think of it
[19:40] <Doranwen> oh, Getty-Dubay
[19:41] <Doranwen> have heard of that one
[19:41] <Doranwen> odd, it's not on this page
[19:41] <Doranwen> anyway, I HAVE created one font in my life--but I don't think I did that great a job at it
[19:42] <HedgeMage> I have the tools to do it here -- a Wacom Intuos tablet and a copy of fontforge -- but I really think that until the joins can be addressed in software, that a font alone will only get us printing.
[19:42]  * Doranwen nods
[19:42] <Doranwen> they have to start with printing anyway
[19:43] <Doranwen> I've been learning all I can about synthetic phonics
[19:43] <Doranwen> which is a method of reading instruction that works for every child, because it teaches the alphabet code
[19:43] <Doranwen> and they use handwriting first thing
[19:43] <Doranwen> printing
[19:43]  * HedgeMage nods
[19:43] <Doranwen> because it cements the shape of the letter in the mind
[19:43] <Doranwen> visual and kinesthetic both, in that sense
[19:44] <HedgeMage> Italic print is different from stick-and-ball print (the kind you likely learned) in a few subtle ways, those changes exist primarily to increase the ease and speed of writing, and to make the transition to cursive italic easier.
[19:45]  * Doranwen nods
[19:45] <Doranwen> that makes sense
[19:45] <Doranwen> I'm not sure if that's the best way in this case, because the children won't be reading italic letters first off
[19:46] <Doranwen> and that's half the point of the method is to have them write it, see it, and remember that it stands for a certain sound
[19:46] <Doranwen> so when they go to read, they recognize it instantly
[19:46] <Doranwen> do you think that would work with italic letters?
[19:47] <Doranwen> hmm, actually, the Getty-Dubay version is pretty similiar
[19:47] <Doranwen> I spotted it on the page
[19:47] <Doranwen> not that slanted
[19:47] <Doranwen> so it should work
[19:47] <Doranwen> it's only slightly slanted
[19:48] <Doranwen> sounds like Getty-Dubay would be better, because it's the one italic version I see that does NOT have looped cursive writing
[19:48] <HedgeMage> Right, 5 degree slant
[19:48] <Doranwen> barring some of the Australian versions
[19:49] <Doranwen> so now I just need to find a font for the printed version
[19:49] <HedgeMage> Would you mind if I pm you, Doranwen ?
[19:49] <Doranwen> sure
[19:55] <HedgeMage> there are people there -- let me check what server it's on (I'm on 5 so it's hard to keep track)
[19:56] <HedgeMage> oops, I mis-typed -- it is on Freenode, but it is ##penfiends (two ##)
[20:10] <nubae> hi there
[20:19] <HedgeMage> Hi, nubae
[20:21] <nubae> greetings HedgeMage, quiet in here
[20:24] <HedgeMage> There yep
[20:24] <HedgeMage> oops, -There