How to disable touchpad on ubuntu 9.10/10.04

reference http://www.mariusb.net/blog/2010/03/ubuntu-9-10-disable-touchpad/

If you want to disable your touchpad on Ubuntu 9.10/10.04 then issue the following commnad once:
gconftool-2 --type boolean --set /desktop/gnome/peripherals/mouse/touchpad_enabled false

Then to disable the touchpad issue the following command:
synclient TouchpadOff=1

This command is just active for the session so when you reboot your machine you will have to issue it again.  What I have done is to add it to my Startup Programs.  You will find Startup Programs under System|Preferences|Startup Applications.