I tried installing libusb-dev on mafalda in order to try getting the usb frame grabber to work on it, but could not as it could not download the package.

I then tried to do a sudo apt-get update, which failed completely, as the repository seems to have ceased existing.  Basically I had all 404 Not Found errors.

Turns out Mafalda is still running Ubuntu 7.04, whose support ended late 2008.  So there's a couple things that can be done:

1) Ignore it, and simply not update Mafalda anymore.  This also means some newer software and hardware simply won't work with it (like the usb frame grabber)

2) Try to find another, unofficial repository which still has all of the Ubuntu 7.04 packages.

3) Upgrade to a newer, still supported Ubuntu, such as 7.10, 8.04, or 8.10.

I'd personally lean towards the 3rd option, and go to the 8.04 long term support version.  If people agree with it, I could do the upgrade sometime Monday or Tuesday.