idiot newbie needs help

[Kevin]

On Sat, 2005-11-19 at 21:59 -0800, Richard Villa wrote:
> i could connect to some sights,
> linux-noob, ubuntu, ubuntu forums, but couldn't get
> through to yahoo or google or iwon.com.

Hi Rich,
Can you ping those sites?  Can you resolve those names to ip addresses
with something like `dig yahoo.com`? Can you post the contents
of /etc/resolv.conf for us?

> my isp says
> it's a firewall problem and i know i'm running a
> firewall because ubuntu installation asked if i wanted
> to enable it and i clicked yes.

Hmm, stock Ubuntu installs without a firewall at all.
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/support/documentation/faq/firewall

I didn't realize it was even an option in the installer.  Well, if you
have one it's probably iptables-based so check for firewall rules with
`iptables -L`.  Also, can you show us the output from `ls
-al /etc/init.d`?  That will help us ferret out any firewalls.

> ps...i'm coming to the west side meeting tues and am
> bringing my box to the install fest.  woo hoo!!!!  i
> want to learn everything.

Welcome aboard.  It will be a fun ride!  BTW, the fact that you are
learning linux proves you are NOT an "idiot newbie", you are a "smart
newbie".

...Kevin