Laptops :: Inspiron 700m

Yeah so I am a complete newb to Linux and I figured DSL was good place to start learning. So I did all the USB drive stuff and got it working. I boot into on my Dell Inspiron 700m and everything works fine so far, except that it apparently doesnt detect my network card and thus I cannot connect to the internet.

What do I need to do to solve this problem, bearing in mind that I am still very new at this.

Also is there any way to get my usb mouse to work under linux so im not forced to use my touchpad for GUI interaction?

Thanks,
NightShift

original here.