paRcat asks: "My company isn't huge, and up until now has done well enough hosting all of our websites/email/etc. We've done all of this over one T1, but recently added another circuit for that rare instance of a fibercut. So since then I have been researching different options for configuring the existing Linux firewall (debian+iptables) to allow using the second circuit for load-balancing and failover. The issues I'm running into mostly have to do with recompiling the kernel using certain patches and creating semi-elaborate routes. Faced with these options, I'm wondering if there are any open source firewall projects out there that will behave happily with the above scenario. Do any free projects actually give this level of connectivity without being overly difficult in the configuration? I've gone the compile-your-own kernel route in the past, but now I'd just like to drop in a premade solution. A configurable live-CD would be perfect."

andphi asks: "How has volunteer F/OSS experience helped or hindered Slashdot readers in finding paid programming jobs? I have been involved with a F/OSS game engine development project (Adonthell) for a few years now. I've become the primary story and plot developer for the project. I hardly even look at the code, though I do try to follow the traffic on the developer's list. I've learned C++, VB6, Perl, IA32 Assembler, and exposed myself to a great many other languages (JavaScript, HTML, XML, SQL, C, awk, sed, bash, etc.). But I wonder, what can I do to sell myself using my post-graduate project involvement?"

discHead asks: "Presently I work for a transcription company. We received an interesting medium that we're having trouble identifying. It looks like a 3.5-inch floppy, but just the magnetic disc itself--no plastic shell, not even a metal hub in the center. It's punched with a small center hole and an additional wedge-shaped hole nearby (but in a different position and smaller than the rectangular hole in a standard floppy's metal hub). It's foil-stamped with a 3M logo and a serial number, but 3M referred us to Imation and Imation is stumped. Our only other clues: we're told it's an analog(!) audio recording and that it dates back to about 1985. Our Google research has yet to turn up anything. Anyone know what in tarnation this thing is and what we can do with it?"

armondf asks: "I live in South Africa and we are currently laboring under one of the most draconian Telecoms companies in the world (Telkom). Most South African geeks hate this company more than Microsoft. Here, basic ADSL services from our Telecoms provider are charged R270 - R480 - roughly $US40 - $US72 (and that's just for the *line rental*) - that excludes our ISP costs (at least another R200 or $US30) and there is a 3 Gig cap. Our Telecoms provider simply threatens to stop the service if our regulators impose stricter regulations. How do developing countries (like South Africa) become competitive with provision of Internet Services - such as ADSL as compared to Developed countries Telcos? Are there any other developing countries failing to implement affordable broadband solutions to the masses? Did developing countries go through the same teething problems?"

K'thardin asks: "Recently I've been chafing under the limitations of mini-DV tapes, as I attend various conventions throughout the year and record certain events and information panels. These limitations include dropped frames, gummed up tape heads (especially prevalent when you spend more than fifteen minutes at a time on pause), and most importantly, time constraints as the largest mini-DV tapes can only hold 83 minutes on SP (a little over 2 hours on EP, with a loss in quality and larger possibility of dropped frames). Several events I attend can run for 4 hours or more, so the time constraint is one of the worst, as it requires me to change tapes several times, thus loosing vital footage." Are there video acquisition devices out there that can record to high density media as well as (or instead of) DV Tapes? If not, how difficult would it be to build a portable one?

An Anonymous Coward asks: "The company I work for is looking to invest in some security/surveillance technology. We are currently using an out-of-the-box, purpose built solution, but for the price it's pretty unreliable and leaves a lot to be desired. The specific need is for cameras to monitor areas of a site, with motion detection, the ability to integrate with other systems via simple boolean conditional switches, and a video web server. Naturally I would prefer to use a PC, as the reliability/price would be much better and the system would be more configurable. Zoneminder looks quite good, it's a Linux based OSS solution, but I'm not sure it's ready for a commercial implementation. Are there any good DIYish solutions around or are expensive consultants and esoteric hardware the only way to go?"

An anonymous reader wonders: "SC Magazine are running an article on the growth of so called Dark Mail Attacks. Whitedust Security appear to have identified this as a potential problem way back in December 2004. Since that time, a marked increase in attacks of this nature, including the recent attacks on the UK Government infrastructure, have been recorded. Are these types of attack a new large scale threat or just a passing fad?"

thetan asks: "F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that 'The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.' However, for many outsiders, it's hard to understand how cliques reconcile seemingly contrarian views. For example, many US Republicans are against abortion but in favour of the death penalty (no doubt they have their reasons). Amongst the Slashdot commentariat, one often hears that information wants to be free, almost as a catchcry of the open source, copyfight and related info-libertarian movements. OTOH, these same Slashdot readers stridently guard their privacy, so presumably information about their shopping preferences or websurfing does not 'want to be free'. How does the intelligent and functional Slashdot crowd reconcile the liberty of other people's information with the privacy of their own?"

JohnnyConatus asks: "Does anyone know of a service that offers corporate email archiving and also provides a read-only interface for accessing the archived emails programmatically? Ideally this would be in the form of an database connection or a web service. My current employer is required by the SEC to archive all email communication with clients and we would like to incorporate the archived emails into our internal applications. I have called just about every email archive service I could find via Google, and while most offer a web application to search the emails, none so far have a solution for doing so programmatically. For various reasons, archiving the emails ourselves is considered the last resort. If we had to implement archiving locally, a program that archived by acting as a mail gateway would be the ideal since we'll be supporting a wide-range of mail servers."

David asks: "Many small software developers would love to get their software up and running on Linux, but where can competent Linux porters be found? I ask because, a while ago, I released a shareware game called Lugaru. I developed it for Mac OS with the intention of porting it to Windows and Linux. I was able to easily find several developers willing to port it to Windows at a reasonable cost (a fair portion of the sales) but I am clueless about how to find people with the Linux expertise. It is frustrating because I get many emails and forum queries asking me about a Linux version. I really want it to happen and am willing to pay - the problem simply is that I don't know how to go about finding Linux developers. So, I ask Slashdot."

An anonymous reader asks: "I've been running Linux for a little while and usually hardware problems have shown up quite easily - kernel panic, no module, no networking, etc. - but recently I've encountered some problems with network disk access causing very high load, which I think might be hardware related. Under Windows I'd fire up SANDRA or the like and run a full system scan. I did a quick search and nothing really stood out. I was wondering if any Linux gurus out there would like to share their expertise on Linux diagnostics?"

Mike1024 asks: "Pete Klammer reported in RISKS 23.95 about spam filtering software filtering political e-mails - including Postini blocking certain anti-Schwarzenegger URLs and Comcast blocking e-mails mentioning afterdowningstreet.org. This could be caused by malicious action, misreporting of spam, 'joe jobs', or actual spamming. With many people using their ISP's default settings, and manual spam filtering being impractical for many users, what can be done to avoid giving ISPs and anti-spam companies extensive, fully automated censorship abilities?"

A not-so Anonymous Anonymous Coward asks: "The New York Times has a story describing how newspapers are looking for new ways to hide the identities of anonymous sources from prosecutors. This seems like a something the Slashdot crowd might know something about. How can a newspaper setup an IT system that completely hides every trace (including emails, phone calls notes, logs and so forth) of an anonymous source's identity?"

sconeu asks: "The company I work for is going through some growing pains. This is a -good- thing, but due to the growth, some changes are necessary. I'm the guy who does IT and IT policy, however I'm actually a developer by job description -- I was doing IT on the side. Anyways, we're going through growth, and one of the things we are trying to address is security. Currently, our policy is wide-open (for internal machines). The owner has expressed some reservations about the increasing use of flash drives, in an overall security setting. Everyone involved here realizes that there's not much we can do against a malicious employee, but we're looking to avoid accidental data loss from USB sticks, and other solid-state storage media. Has anyone on Slashdot dealt with this issue? What policies and protections did you end up putting in place, if any?"

calvinandhobbes asks: "There are about 200 people working on different projects and most of them do programming without having an idea of what they actually do. they have little understanding of OS internals and primitive hacking skills. I want to enthuse them by providing some challenges by which they touch upon complex computing concepts, while solving the problem. Does anyone know of a set of C-based hacks or puzzles with which I can enthuse these budding programmers and testers?"

dvdsmith asks: "Say are dealing with a Windows network that for internet access must pass through a firewall that you have no control over. Said firewall apparently blocks the known time protocols (NTP,daytime,etc) and you know from experience that those who control it will not allow any exceptions. If one sets up an internal NTP server (Windows XP or 2000 workstation) for all others to sync from, is there another reliable method for updating time on the server, like pulling from a Java website? See the time.gov website as an example. Any ideas?"

anyon wonders: "PHP is the most popular language for the web. eBay uses ISAPI (C), Google uses C/C++ (search), Java (gmail), and Python. Microsoft uses ASP (what else?). For small web site, it really doesn't matter. What's your take on language choice for large-scale web applications? Maybe language choice is irrelevant, only good people (developers) matter? If you can get the same good quality people, then what language you would chose? Considering the following factors: performance, scalability, extendibility, cost of development (man-month), availability of libraries, cost of libraries, development tools? Has there been a comprehensive comparison done?"

bartle asks: "I run my own personal domain that serves all of my email needs of myself and a few friends. In general this has worked out pretty well but there's a fairly significant limitation: if I send an email to a Hotmail or Yahoo account that I've never contacted before it tends to get filed as spam. This means that if I'm writing someone out of the blue I need to send an email from a free service which kind of defeats the purpose of running ones own email server. My domain has a SPF record, the IP resolves, and it doesn't appear to be on any blacklists. I can not find any documentation on what hoops I need to jump through before Hotmail and Yahoo will consider my mail legitimate. I understand that there's a general paranoia about publishing information that could assist spammers but this attitude seems to be leaving do-it-yourselfers out in the cold. Does anybody have any ideas? Are there guidelines or protocols I can follow to make my email non-spam?"

gehel asks: "In September I will be going to Rwanda, working for a year in a developement project as a Computer Science guy. I'm leaving with an association that doesn't have much experience in sending CS guys over there, but I'm sure some Slashdot readers have some experience in that field. For all those who know Rwanda or Africa better than me, or for those who have been working in developement projects: What should I be prepared for? What would you bring with you to go there? How do you think we can bring Computer Science to a developement project in Africa, without creating too much dependencies on the North? What are the typical failures of such projects?"

lgreco writes "Recently I was trying to convince a business man who is about to open an Internet Cafe, to provide WiFi at no charge. I argued about increased business and royalty and proposed that the infrastructure cost these days is reasonable and the recurring cost, along with the amortized payoff of the initial investment, can be recovered by adding a few cents to each beverage, etc. In spite of the numerous discussions on the merits of free WiFi v. paid at coffee shops, restaurants, etc, I was interested in hearing what do you think about the issue and if there are solid examples of successful businesses that offered free WiFi." If you were going to argue for or against this issue, what arguments would you use?