Got the USB HD case and a new USB Wifi Modem with antenna.

I was able to repartition a small IDE hard drive using Gparted from the USB but
it still won't let me write a file on the drive even from the Kdenlive USB that
I used to repartition. It says I don't have permission to write the file. Any
ideas?

I was able to boot Linux from a previously setup Ubuntu HD over the USB case
line. That was cool. Now with the Kdenlive USB, the IDE HD and the USB HD I can
boot three different systems. Had to chuck the aluminum case though because the
drive got very hot.

The USB HD is erratic though. Last few timse it wouldn't boot.

Also, my wifi reception was definitely boosted by the new modem and antenna
enough but I keep getting knocked offline immediately. So, I'm pretty sure now
it is either an authorization issue or a denial of service attack. NSA maybe?

I don't know why I would be able to access google and then get bumped if it was
just an authorization issue. NYCWireless is a public access system so there is
no authorization needed normally, unless they have changed that since I was last
on a year or so ago.