So demoing MVC the way I teach it for sa: requires an X3D viewer, POV-Ray, and VPython, all for visualizations of the same core model, implemented using stickworks components: vertex-vectors + connect-the-dots edges. Faces get added at a more outer layer, in one of the "toyz" modules (I don't use them at all in the VPython version, in some ways the most primitive). Faces are, however, core to the basic data structure, whether or not they are shown (typical of geometry formats, OFF in particular). http://shape.cs.princeton.edu/benchmark/ Fortunately, Ubuntu's Synaptic Package Manager makes it really easy to search and install packages over the Internet, including FreeWRL 1.19.5 (it does X3D in addition to VRML so my demo is working). http://freewrl.sourceforge.net/ When I first opened the box, I ran the update manager, which seems to appear periodically on the top horizontal bar (the period is a user setting). A massive upgrade ensued (which used to result in a crash on reboot when these puppies first shipped -- problem fixed), including a download/install of Python 2.5, abetting the two earlier Pythons already housed. But it's a minimal install. Using Synaptic, I added IDLE with Tk, which automatically added itself to the main Applications Menu under Programming (little trowel icon, Python's double snake for IDLE itself, which by default does *not* launch a subprocess (something to change)). VPython likewise came through Synaptic (version 3.2.1-4build1). There's a site-packages at /usr/local/python2.5/site-packages, but by default it belongs to root and staff (a group). I don't find the staff group when I go to administer users and groups. As a lowly user, I'm feeling /home/kirby is where I'm encouraged to keep my .py files. Do .pth files work in Linux like in Windows? Speaking of Windows, I noticed my connectingthedots.pdf looked kinda crummy on Ubuntu, like the fonts weren't right. Sure enough, Microsoft's weirdo brands of Arial needed to go in the suitcase along with the rest of the graphics, increasing the file size but improving the view. The ppt (not available at my ftp site) opened almost flawlessly in OpenOffice impress. I just needed to tweak a few of the slides a little, and resave. But that means it'll be hard to just swap the file back and forth between platforms -- which adds to my sense that it's frozen, at least for now. Hypertoons also work great (see my Youtube examples). I'll be able to show VPython randomly drawing transforming polyhedra with two play heads (two threads), while rotating the Beryl cube. One of my geek friends came by for lunch today and I was able to do that thing Miguel de Icaza demoed at OSCON like two years ago: a DVD (in my case 'Idiocracy') playing in a window that folds around the edge of the rotating cube, half a window in each of two desktops. Meaningless eye candy I realize. Very iPhone. Miguel shows off many more recent xgl type effects in his blog: http://tirania.org/blog/ xgl: http://images.google.com/images?q=xgl&hl=en&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title Kirby