I'm not an expert so probably can't help but... I think you have enough speed you shouldn't even need to let it buffer, but know how to do so, so it's probably not Internet speed. Your system seems fine specification-wise. To me anyway. I don't think or know much about video cards but I wouldn't think it would be the physical card, but I don't really know. My wild guess would be the driver. :) This is what mine shows when I go to "System settings"--->"Additional Drivers": If it were me, I'd try a different driver if there's any listed there. Maybe you already have? Other than that, I don't have a clue. I'm running 12.04 and youtube's and other videos play fine for me. If someone else here doesn't have the answer, there's always the Ubuntu forum. Just a thought. Edit: Just out of curiosity, does the snow in my "My Page" fall smoothly or does it stop and go as it falls? This post was edited by chuggerguy on Thu, Jan 3, 13 at 20:40

Why would someone turn off the furnace in their house for the winter??!! I live in a resort area. and i lot of my customers go south for a couple of months in the winter. They have there homes set up to drain down so the can turn off the heat for a time. It is a very common thing in my area. I live on a very large lake so we have very few basements and a lot of slabs floors. That is why we do a lot of over head heating system. A lot of the existing homes were built for cabins around here, they been added on to a few times and there is no place to put a furnace except in the attic. I do a lot more existing homes then i do new homes. I have never had a furnace freeze up in a attic. In my area it can get down to 20 below.

I believe that comment was directed at me so I am going to respond to KKNY here since doodle's thread is pretty long. Yes, I came to GW and posted a thread asking should I throw in the towel? I was frustrated. That's why most of us come here in the first place. We get frustrated. We need to vent or get support or ideas on how to deal with frustrating situations. For the most part, I think most people that come here want things to get better, just like I do. I think that's one of the GREAT things about a forum like this. It was never my idea to send SD back to her mom. It certainly isn't my decision to make. Being with her mother is something that SD wants. Unfortunately, her mother has not stepped up and shown that she wants to be a parent and my husband feels it's best for SD to be in a stable home with him. SM's don't get to decide if it's best for us. I know it's best for her to stay here, even if I get dragged through the mud from time to time. If I thought it would be best for her to be with her mom, I'd be there to support her in that, even if I had to convince my husband otherwise. But, I do support my husband because he's right, SD is better off with us right now. Sure, I'll admit that it would be easier for me if she went back to her mom. It would probably be less expensive to write out a child support check than what it costs me now, with school clothes, lunches, field trips, sports (& uniforms), scouts (activities & uniforms), haircuts, doctor visits, time off from work when she needs me, etc. It would be better for me, not better for her. That decision needs to be made by her parents and so far, her mom has done nothing to make it happen. She hasn't even tried to discuss it with my husband. The only indication she's given that she wants SD to live with her is written in a court paper she filed in response to his child support petition. She may now take steps to get custody because she doesn't want to pay child support but it's likely that if DH told her she didn't have to pay, she would not bother with trying for custody. She doesn't want the bother of being responsible for her children. She was annoyed constantly with SD over the summer and let her do anything she wants just to keep her out of BM's hair. When BM couldn't hack it anymore, she took SD to her BF's parents house, she didn't call DH and ask if he wants SD for a while so she can calm down. From the time I met her, BM would have bouts where she can't handle SD and send her to DH back when they were doing week on/week off. So, I'd agree that when she gave DH custody, she did the right thing for SD. Only SD doesn't understand and BM constantly gets her hopes up that she can be with her and then it doesn't happen, SD gets upset with me... she thinks it's my fault. That's what her mom tells her & I get to take the brunt of SD's anger over the situation, when in reality, I have no control. Yeah, it makes MY life harder, but maybe that's BM's objective. I'd hate to think she puts her kid on an emotional roller coaster for any other reason than to punish me. I hang onto the belief that she is ignorant of the pain she inflicts on her daughter by trying to piss me off or make my life hell. It would really be sad if she knew her daughter's pain and disregarded it because she doesn't like me. So, yeah I came here and vented and sought support because I was feeling like I couldn't take it anymore. I love this child and I feel her pain when her mom hurts her and for it, I get crapped on. I am very grateful to those that told me to hang in there and things have actually gotten much better in the last couple of weeks. I just needed someone to tell me it's gonna get better. My love for her is unconditional. I love my children unconditional but I don't allow them to treat me like crap, why would I allow my SD to? Teaching a child to treat others the way they want to be treated is a life lesson given out of love. If you don't teach children how to behave in life, the children are the ones that pay the price for that later on. If you allow them to become self centered, uncaring or mean spirited adults that never take responsibility for what they do, then their lives might be more difficult as not everyone in the world is going to love them unconditionally and forgive their rudeness or selfishness.

"One of the worst things that you could do in a house is install leaky ductwork in a vented attic." - Joe Lstiburek Vented crawlspaces can be even worse with humidity and soil gas issues. Worst case: In the OP's case which is "unfortunately typical" you get this: With that improvement, according to Lstiburek, you can still expect 30% higher heating and cooling costs compared to best example: Notice insulation at attic floor, not roofline. Taken from Joe's BSC resource: Are you doing something stupid? Many designs call for insulation at roofline, just make sure it meets minimum code prescriptions. The biggest problem with roofline sprayfoam is the allowance of ridiculously lower than code R-value minimums. The home as a system is big and complex. It's easy to break out any one component and argue that it's not a big deal to compromise on efficiency. The more one applies that philosophy, the more performance will suffer. It's not just energy use, indoor air quality and uncontrolled moisture movement are also influenced by these decisions. Not accusing anyone but HVAC contractors are notorious for selling oversize systems that increase profits with bigger equipment markups. I can also imagine contractors used to installing attic ductwork might frown on the better practice of conditioned space ductwork as it may create more headaches coordinating with construction teams not used to doing it. Slabs, increased window area and typical construction are not good excuses to continue poor building practices. I'm all for balance but significant ductwork in vented attics or crawlspaces is tough to justify for new construction.