[orca-list] sound and movies in ubuntu

[michael weaver <weavermicha googlemail com>]

i am wanting to use sound and movies in ubuntu but i have a few 
questions.
i am using the hardy heron beta and i thought i might be able to 
sort out the problem of orca tying up my sound card but i can't 
seem to be able to resolve it and the chap who has looked at my 
computer who knows linux better than me as he is one of the 
huddersfield lot couldn't seem to be able to get even the default 
player to play simple music of tracks i had taken from some music 
cds i have let alone do other stu! like movies.
in trying to alter the setting in gnome preferences from default 
we either lost speech or lost the ability to play music.
also when downloading codecs ie g streamer or whatever, how do 
you know you have the rights for using them as you are not told 
in ubuntu.
also how do you get them without using the graphical package 
manager?
also i am downloading a torrent of a movie using i think it is 
called transfer in the hardy beta but it doesn't seem to tell me 
how much progress i have to go when downloading this movie.
all i can do is get the download and upload speeds so i don't 
know how long it is going to take for me to download "thinner" 
and i only managed to get the transfer rates by using something 
like 7 and 9 on the desktop keypad after navigating the menu 
icons with orca.
hope someone can answer my questions.