bsaxon asks: "I am looking for advice on methods that would allow the testing and debugging of different mail server configurations, particularly different ways of handling spam and mail filtering. What are different ways that different mail configurations can be tested? Currently, we have two servers running Linux that check all incoming/outgoing mail for viruses and spam, using software that works with Sendmail. After incoming mail is processed, it is relayed to its final destination, in a mailbox on a MS Exchange server. One server handles the actual processing of mail, and the other server just queues mail when the other server is down or overworked. Basically, I would like to have all mail duplicated, before reaching any filters or virus scanners or blocklists, with one copy continuing its normal route to the production server and the other copy of the message going to the test mail server. Can it be done at the DNS level or through Sendmail or are there other ways that this could be achieved? I am only looking for suggestions that deal with different methods of testing different mail server configurations, not actual suggestions for filtering mail."

ers asks: "Most new programming languages are using garbage collection, rather than programmer-controlled memory management. The advantages are obvious: programmers no longer have to worry about forgetting to delete allocated memory, leading to far fewer memory leaks. The disadvantages are often glossed over by programming language designers - aside from the performance issues, predictable memory management can be used for controlling access to files and similar resources, creating safer thread locking code and even providing better error messages. Some programming languages, which usually predictable memory management, can also be made to behave like they are garbage collected - for example, Boost provides various C++ smart pointer classes. So, given the choice between garbage collection or manual memory management, which would you choose and why? When using a manual memory management language, when do you consider the performance and syntactic overhead of faked garbage collection to be worthwhile?"

Nice2Cats asks: "So after buying another piece of computer hardware, I am stuck with more of those stickers that some silly person in marketing actually thinks I'm going to slap on my computer. The problem is, I'm running out of other places to put then (throwing them away would show a lack of creativity, and is out of the question). I already have one on my drill ('Sound by Hercules') and my table saw is 'Dual BIOS'; I also probably have the world's only vacuum sweeper and lawn mower that claim to be made by Apple. I don't want the stuff on my car, my wife draws the line at our toilet cover -- where have other Slashdot readers put these stickers? Where is the most awesome place you have seen, say, that white Apple?"

dan_polt asks: "I currently use a Linux desktop system, at work. One of the great things about the Linux desktop is that there are lots of ways to save a lot of time from useful widgets and configuration to minimize the pain of repetitive tasks. Most of my work involves web/e-Mail/SSH access, and I have a very high spec'd machine with dual-head 1600x1200 screens. What software or configuration tips might Slashdot have for me to: make better use of my time; make the most of my screen real estate; and make my use of the desktop more effective?"

Duizendstra asks: "I've been asked to explore the digital storage possibilities for a professional photographer. One of the characteristics is the rapid growth of the amount, and size of pictures. At the moment, one photo session produces about 2 GB of raw data. He has an Apple - Power Mac G5, and he currently uses DVD as his storage medium. However, he has lost quite a few photos because of DVDs that can't be read anymore. I would like to know if any Slashdot readers have any experience in creating a solution for such a problem? Any help/idea(s) would be greatly appreciated!"

Milo_Mindbender asks: "At home I've collected too much data to easily backup, so I've been thinking about RAID5 for a little extra data security. I multiboot my computers for both Linux and Windows so I really need a RAID solution that will make the data at least readable by both OS's. I don't think this can be done on a single machine (can it?) so I'm looking to put together a Linux home server with RAID5 serving both SAMBA and NFS. Aside from the usual questions (software/hardware RAID, types of disk to use...etc) because I live by myself in an apartment I have a few tricky requirements I hope the Slashdot crowd can help me with." How would you set up a RAID5 server to perform Samba/NFS sharing duties without it wasting a lot of wattage, while it idles?

David Lang asks: "With the release of MySQL 5.0, PostgreSQL 8.1, and the flap over Oracle purchasing InnoDB, the age old question of performance is coming up again. I've got some boxes that were purchased for a data warehouse project that isn't going to be installed for a month or two, and could probably squeeze some time in to do some benchmarks on the machines. However, the question is: what should be done that's reasonably fair to both MySQL and PostgreSQL? We all know that careful selection of the benchmark can seriously skew the results, and I want to avoid that (in fact I would consider it close to ideal if the results came out that each database won in some tests). I would also not like to spend time generating the benchmarks only to have the losing side accuse me of being unfair. So, for both MySQL and PostgreSQL advocates, what would you like to see in a series of benchmarks?"

Slimy Devil asks: "News.com has recently reported on the FBI seeking veto power over PC software. This makes me wonder: is there a safe, provably secure VOIP-like technology out there? The recent buyout of Skype probably means that the supposed encryption will be of little value, if you are of the opinion that the FBI or other law enforcement agencies shouldn't be able to tap in on demand. So, for my question to the Slashdot community: is there a viable alternative that is free of such concerns?"

lukOh asks: "in the US, 802.11b/g (2.4Ghz) devices use an 83Mhz-wide frequency range; in-use channels spanning 22Mhz and centered on one of 11 5Mhz steps (badly named as "channels"). This means there should be no more that 3 networks in close proximity, 5 'channels' far from each other, to avoid harmful interference. Now, in the middle of the mixed area where I am, the number of usable WLANs (SNR>20dBm) has gone from 10 to an unworkable number of 20, in just one month. Has the community/the market overestimated the practicality of wireless networks? Are we generally relying too much on such a young, IMHO immature technology made on 'startups hope' and broken firmwares? How can this mess possibly be handled in a working environment, especially the moment your boss asks you to give him access to 'the wireless'?"

Grubby Games asks: "I make games for a living, and I want to ensure that my games will run on as many Linux distros as possible. However, since I distribute binary game executables, the programs often fail to run on certain distros because of missing dependencies, and so forth. So, how do the Slashdot Linux gurus handle this situation? I've heard a number of theories on the subject, but have yet to find one that results in 100% cross-distro compatibility. Is it even possible, short of distributing source code?"

initialE wonders: "A friend of mine, working for a bank, mentioned to me that she had just undergone training for the migration of applications from their legacy systems (think DOS-based interface, AS400 powered) to a snazzy new web application. Whereas the younger users were impressed by the bling it provided, the older users were less happy, and the reason provided was that the application lacked shortcut keys to doing their most common tasks. The newer staff were mighty pleased not to have to learn all those arcane commands, of course. This led me to consider a few things. I administer Windows-based systems, and more and more I am choosing to use whatever key-based interface is available - I don't even use the file explorer anymore, preferring to type 'WindowsKey+R', and typing in the file path (Windows helps with auto-complete). It's better for me to keep my hands on the keyboard and not touch the mouse. It's certainly not because my mouse is bad, I just don't want to release the focus on the keyboard. And it works - I get things done a lot faster than anyone else in my department. Have we placed too much emphasis on making GUI-based applications, and left behind what was a perfectly good way of doing things?"

RapterOfParadox asks: "I recently purchased a new laptop and have everything configured except for my e-mail. I've always liked having a single location where I know my e-mail is safe, secure and gets backed up automatically. If I've needed access to new messages then I use webmail, since I close down the email client when I leave the house. I'm currently using Outlook XP for my desktop and was thinking about using the same for my laptop. My only issue is that I'm a little weary about using only my laptop for storing e-mail, since it's a lot more likely to fail. I've been thinking about just synchronizing my Outlook data directories at login, or even using IMAP. Has anyone seen/bought/built an e-mail client that will allow me to have my main e-mail client on my desktop and then update my laptop e-mail client when ever I'm in range, or through a personal IMAP Server?"

spacemonk asks: "I teach at a community college and our enrollment numbers are down in our IT programs. We have found that many have the perception that there are few IT jobs. We feel this is causing many students, who might be interested in IT, to enroll in other programs. There is obviously a lot of conflicting information regarding the impact of off-shoring, and so forth, but much of what we have found indicates that the IT job market is improving, and IT is still a career that can offer job opportunities to students. For example, we have had internship opportunities that we have not been able to send candidates to, simply because we don't have the students. Needless to say, this is very frustrating. How would you honestly describe the IT job market to students considering this major? What can be done to recruit more students into IT programs?"

ATP asks: "It's been a few years since I built my current system by ordering parts from the cheapest vendors I could find. Everything went smoothly with very little research, and my system is still running great today. I'm now looking into building another desktop system, but I've become quickly overwhelmed by how complex components have become. In particular, motherboard/CPU compatibility are confusing (think: single/dual, socket 478/604/754/939/939pciExpress/940/LGA775, OS compatibility, memory types, etc). Is there a guide to the not-so-novice PC guru somewhere that would help me catch up on the developments in the last couple years?"

thethinkingilia asks: "I am studying organic chemistry and I am seeking an intelligent way to organize all the reactions that I am responsible for memorizing. In general, one can think of this as a directed state machine where a functional group can be transformed to another functional group given set conditions. It must be robust enough to allow for tens of states, the possibility of connection between any of said states, and be able to display not only the states, but conditions for transition between these states. This could be accomplished with HTML hyperlinks, but it would be great to have an elegant flow chart-type solution. Please, help me bring some software sanity to the life sciences!"

DaveTheBrave asks: "I'm currently running a home based business on an el cheapo Netgear wireless router off a broadband cable modem connection. I'm looking to upgrade to something better with more flexibility. My in-laws recently sold their home and will be moving into my home temporarily while they are building another. They have a home based business and my mother-in-law is also notorious for attracting viruses, adware and other nasty stuff on her PC (which I have to routinely clean - hence my need for a better network solution). What is the best/easiest solution to segment and keep separate my network from theirs (both wired and wireless) off of one incoming cable modem? I'm looking for something around or less than $500."

marshrew writes "We are a small startup just coming out of a period of R&D with IP and prototype code (containing open source, commercial & freelancer-built custom components) developed/integrated in-house by essentially one guy. We're at the point where we want to build out first commercial implementation which will require a handful of developers for at least six months. We really don't have time or funds to go through a developer recruiting cycle, create a practice, get the team "gelled" etc. What we'd really like to do is find a small pre-existing team which which we could form a relationship to get our product out the door and possibly continue working with. We don't mean a splinter group from a larger dev house, but an agile, self-contained team, who enjoy working together and have an existing practice. Geography is not a problem as we are used to working in a distributed manner." Does such an animal exist? What have other teams done in a situation like this?

munwin99 asks: "I am looking for some software to process a batch of images (scanned forms). We want to use Gallery to view the images, and be able to search them by 3 or 4 attributes. We want to get these attributes from the form (date, name, etc). We want it to check a section of the scanned form, read the info from that section(s), and dump the retrieved info into Gallery (using OCR / ICR). Is there any (preferably) free or open source software that can do this? Supported OSes should include either Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. Even Gallery is optional, if someone has a better suggestion."

jerud wonders: "I assume that most people on Slashdot are forced to, at some point, touch Windows. Further, I assume that many of them are forced to administer Windows boxes. I am in the unfortunate situation of using Windows for about 90% of my tasks, due to the nature of my job. As a firm believer in 'if it isn't broke don't fix it', I've delayed moving to XP for just about as long as possible, holding onto my Windows 2000 installation, while my brother spent a lot of time complaining about the XP issues he dealt with, at work. Finally, I made the transition and, low and behold, it didn't seem to bad. In fact, there were a few things that I really liked. Now, a few years later I have quite a few XP machines and they all share the same problem: over time they have slowed so noticeably that they have made even the most solid configurations run like they were made in 1999. Is there any regular treatment out there that can minimize this kind of system degradation?"

josefresco asks: "I have one goal for HD streaming: archiving. As we all know, the Comcast DVR box doesn't have a whole lot of HD. What can you expect with only a 120 GB hard drive? The thing really should have a 500 gigger or at least a 250. So right now, when the box gets full, in order to avoid the box automatically erasing unwatched shows, I dump the transport streams to my Mac via Firewire. I don't necessarily need to watch the shows on the Mac. At that point, I just want a solution to allow playback of the transport streams from the Mac back to the TV. Enter the Xbox 360. Might this be the answer to my problems? If not, then are there other devices that might be?"