Getting rid of 'balloons'

[Basil Chupin]

I am getting most annoyed by having balloons come up everytime I put the 
cursor over an icon. I KNOW what the icon is about when I put the cursor 
on it and I don't want the darn balloon not only popping up but also 
obscuring the text or whatever under it. I mean a balloon even comes up 
"telling" me to login as <name> - I know who I am!

Is there any way to switch off these 'balloons'?

(Using Ubuntu Lucid Beta 2.)

BC

-- 
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
                                                                     Galileo Galilei