skype on 64bit linux

skype doesn't provide a 64bit version for linux, but the 32bit version works fine on a 64bit linux machine. On ubuntu, force the install:

sudo dpkg --force-architecture -i skype-debian_2.0.0.72-1_i386.deb

tmobile hotspot wifi at borders/star bucks ubuntu linux on dell studio xps

Got a dell studio xps 13 (SX13-163B) and have ubuntu 9.04 running on it. Everything works great bluetooth keyboard/mouse, webcam (tested using skype). Wifi at home works without a problem. However when connecting to a tmobile hotspot at borders/star bucks, the wifi would randomly drop connection every few minutes or so which is very annoying and disruptive to my work. I did some experimentation. I disable the network manager then manually started the dhcp client by running:

% sudo dhclient wlan0

After that I was able to connect without interruption for 3hours now. Hope this info is useful for somebody