LaTeX woes: when making slides, sometimes one must use slides.

so i'm going to be on this train for the next three hours .. which, at this stage in my life, equates to talk-writing time. [1]

i thought i took care of everything:

while updating the linux version on my netbook, the internet connection in my apartment suddenly seized .. so for a few days, my laptop was kaput.

i was able to save all my data before scrapping for a complete re-install [2]. there was even time, before leaving to see friends for the holiday, to re-install LaTeX (as TeXLive).

the plan was simple:

1. on the way there, finish LaTeXing up a bad first draft of the results [3];
2. start LaTeXing up slides for a talk on tuesday.

so #1 was fine, since i didn't expect to finish the draft anyway;

as for #2, apparently installing the latest version of TeXLive doesn't necessarily mean that it also installs beamer and pstricks.

*sighs*

it just goes to show that you can't predict everything.  so now i'm downloading the packages from the free wifi on the train .. which is going slowly.

*sighs further*

in the meanwhile, i'm fleshing out the talk outline, using old-school slides.

the format is faithful enough to beamer so that the visual output is similar, and it's not like the code is that different: copying-&-pasting a few begin{slide} ... end{slide} commands never hurt anyone, right?

(i probably wouldn't have gotten to working out the diagrams, anyway.)

[1] it's amazing how computer manufacturers have been able to extend battery life on netbooks.  these days, if inclined, i can code over most of a transatlantic flight .. not that i really would .. after all, a boy has to catch up on his hollywood films on small airplane screens, right?  (-:

[2] thank you very much, ubuntu one!  (it's a shame that dropbox gets all the spotlight for offering the same service.)

[3] it's easier for me to edit a bad draft into a good one, rather than to write a good draft from scratch .. that is, as long as the draft isn't that bad.  (just as in wall climbing, sometimes i need to make mistakes before i know exactly how to do it right.)