memory stick not reconized

Why don't you call Dell and tell them that it's not working?

Are you SURE 100% that the memory slot in the front is for YOUR type of memory stick?
You have MS duo, MS duo pro, SD, SD micro... the list is quite big for different types/versions of memory stick cards :)

You could call Dell and ask them if that memory slot ought to be supported Ubuntu.
From what I see, that laptop ships with Windows:
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~tab=specstab

What you could do is check out if it's working. Run Applications > Accessories > Terminal and execute:

lspci -nn
lsusb

Reply with the output of these two commands

The first thing I did was call Dell. They more or less just gave me the run-around b/c it didnt have windows.

It's a Dell Inspirion 1525-N to be exact, had a hard time finding it too on dell's website. the "N" desigantion=Ubuntu.

The stick I'm trying to use says "SanDisk" / "Memory Stick PRO" / "MagicGate" and on the reverse...."SDMSV-256"

I tried your commands. Hope I entered them correctly... I just typed in exactly as you wrote.... like I said, I'm not very savvy at this stuff. But Here's what I got....

curless@dell-desktop:~$ Ispci -nn
bash: Ispci: command not found
curless@dell-desktop:~$ Isusb
bash: Isusb: command not found
curless@dell-desktop:~$

Did i do those commands correctly???
If not please correct me. (Forgive my ignorance / You'll have to spell out everything for me)
Thanks

It's not capital "i" but lowercase "L". And it's case sensitive :)
Use ALL lowercase letters:

lspci -nn
lsusb

It looks like the device is supported:
http://www.laptopviews.com/dell-laptops/dell-inspiron-1525-laptop/
"...an Internal 8-in-1 media card reader, supports - Secure Digital (SD), SDIO, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick, MemoryStick PRO, xD-Picture Card, Hi Speed-SD and Hi Density-SD..."

But anyway, reply with the output of the commands in the previous comment, maybe there's something wrong.

lspci -nn ..... is
curless@dell-desktop:~$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a03] (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2847] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller [8086:2850] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller [8086:2829] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 02)
02:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05)
02:09.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22)
02:09.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller [1180:0843] (rev 12)
02:09.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 12)
02:09.4 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev ff)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller [11ab:4354] (rev 12)
0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection [8086:4222] (rev 02)
curless@dell-desktop:~$

and
lsusb is
curless@dell-desktop:~$ lsusb
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 0a5c:4503 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0a5c:4502 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 413c:8126 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 046d:c00e Logitech, Inc. M-BJ69 Optical Wheel Mouse
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
curless@dell-desktop:~$

as noted it also doesnt show up under dmesg

The sd controller is detected:
02:09.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22)

That's a bit weird, it should come up in dmesg, almost everything that goes wrong should be documented there.
Otherwise:
1) Maybe you're not placing it in the right slot? Try in some other slot.
2) Remove the card, wait for about 15 seconds.
Execute this in terminal:

dmesg | tail -n 20

(Please be aware that it's a "|", called pipe character.)
Then insert the memory stick again and execute this again:

dmesg | tail -n 20

Post both outputs.
If there is no change, it means that either your memory stick is not detected or not plugged in well or not plugged in the right slot.

the slot is my only slot to accept a memory stick.
it "clicks/locks" into place & "unclicks/unlocks" when pulled out.
unfortunately at this time, its my only memory stick or i'd try another stick.

results from terminal.......
curless@dell-desktop:~$ dmesg | tail -n 20
[ 30.410476] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.8
[ 30.428404] sky2 eth0: enabling interface
[ 30.893208] sky2 eth0: Link is up at 100 Mbps, full duplex, flow control rx
[ 32.866308] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 33.438562] [drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810
[ 33.442161] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 33.442174] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:02.0 to 64
[ 33.442822] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20060119 on minor 0
[ 34.660672] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 34.660908] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
[ 34.661675] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 38.764908] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
[ 44.695587] CPU0 attaching NULL sched-domain.
[ 44.695597] CPU1 attaching NULL sched-domain.
[ 44.705598] CPU0 attaching sched-domain:
[ 44.705606] domain 0: span 03
[ 44.705610] groups: 01 02
[ 44.705616] CPU1 attaching sched-domain:
[ 44.705619] domain 0: span 03
[ 44.705622] groups: 02 01
curless@dell-desktop:~$
curless@dell-desktop:~$
curless@dell-desktop:~$ dmesg | tail -n 20
[ 30.410476] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.8
[ 30.428404] sky2 eth0: enabling interface
[ 30.893208] sky2 eth0: Link is up at 100 Mbps, full duplex, flow control rx
[ 32.866308] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 33.438562] [drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810
[ 33.442161] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 33.442174] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:02.0 to 64
[ 33.442822] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20060119 on minor 0
[ 34.660672] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 34.660908] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
[ 34.661675] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 38.764908] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
[ 44.695587] CPU0 attaching NULL sched-domain.
[ 44.695597] CPU1 attaching NULL sched-domain.
[ 44.705598] CPU0 attaching sched-domain:
[ 44.705606] domain 0: span 03
[ 44.705610] groups: 01 02
[ 44.705616] CPU1 attaching sched-domain:
[ 44.705619] domain 0: span 03
[ 44.705622] groups: 02 01
curless@dell-desktop:~$
curless@dell-desktop:~$
curless@dell-desktop:~$

Results posted above.

Well... I've run out of ideas unfortunately :\
Maybe someone else has an answer

Short answer, it doesn't work, there is no driver for it yet on Ricoh-based card readers. I've summarized the problem in this FAQ:
FAQ #312: “How can I use a Sony Memory Stick in Ubuntu (Ricoh-based controller) ?”.