Hi again!
I tried every tack in the book... No dice! I can't bring my laptop to acknowledge there IS an ADSL modem connected on one of my USB ports... I tried on a friend's computer (she uses a SpeedTouch modem while I've got a BeWan): no dice again... So, to summarize, booting from Knoppix on CD is well and fine, but if I'm confined to working local, what good is it?!
Somebody help me, pulleeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!