Thoughts on ubuntu absolute beginner talk

I read several posts and none were what I would call absolute beginner. If they are then I am a zygote beginner. What I observed during my perusing was that people responded very quickly and in true web 2.0 fashion are willing to share their knowledge with others. What I found somewhat entertaining were the forum policies - yes I actually read them. These were a couple of my favorite:

"Individual flame-bait may be deleted or edited at the moderators' discretion. Certain users who continue to post flame-bait or engage in other questionable practices (such as trolling) may be subject to more serious sanctions."

"Please refrain from using "leet" speak or slang. These forums are a tool for communication, which will be obfuscated by those types of writing."

"Any replies for help that contain language disrespectful towards the user asking the question, i.e. "STFB" or "RTFM" are unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

I think I can deduce what flame-bait means and I don't know what "leet" speak means but I did figure out what the acronyms stood for :)

Frustrations With Technology

I am feeling very overwhelmed with software downloads and readings that I am having a hard time learning. My first attempt to download the first of two ubuntu files failed and my second attempt isn't going that well either. I currently don't have high-speed Internet at home so I am at my local public library downloading to my laptop but as I shared in the activity section of our course I might need to upgrade my RAM. It's driving me crazy the hours involved to download. Is this normal? I wonder whether my classmates' experience is similar. I hope future activities don't require this amount of time. I suppose I could let these things download overnight while I'm sleeping peacefully but I guess I won't know until I get service which won't be for another week because I am going on vacation starting tomorrow.

I'm not faring well with the readings and assignments. I keep reading and rereading the same things. I have a hard time keeping straight what we post where, etc. But I know I am not alone and I am glad you all are out there because I'm going to need you!