FWMiller asks: "Yea, about 5 years I was skilled at a wonderful network game called Netrek. This game was really a sport, requiring not only arcade skills but strategic thinking and extremely well developed team play. Today I was thinking of trying to play again and to my dismay, the entire sport, which used to encompass hundreds of simultaneous players and games has all but disappeared! Does anyone out there have any idea if we witnessed the extinction of one of my favorite graduate school pastimes?" It seems that the home site of Netrek is alive and well, but the metaserver, which showed current active games, is not. Is anyone still playing? Will the Metaserver be replaced or is there some current or future alternative?

dubious9 asks: "Today I was refactoring a parser of mine to use a better implementation of a string searching algorithm. I went to the internet trying to find a good code repository where I might have a chance to find an implementation of a good algorithm, but a cursory glance turned out no clear winners. SourceForge was the best that I could find. Where is the best online repository/library of common and reusable code snippets?" We've tackled this subject a once or twice over the years, is SourceForge really the best answer or are there other options?

KlaatuVN asks: "My younger siblings are asking for ways to learn to program. If I remember correctly, when I was younger I started programming by writing games like 'Lemonade Stand' in BASIC for the Commodore 64. Short of finding a Commodore 64 emulator and digging up some old BASIC programming books somewhere, what do you think is a good way of teaching children to program? I'm not trying to start a 'language war', but that does enter into it. Should I start with a scripting language? What, O Wise Slashdot Readers, are your opinions?" When I was just starting out in computers, I remember LOGO being a big help in teaching me the logic skills I would eventually use as a programmer. I know LOGO is still around, but it would be interesting to note if there are other similar projects like it. What tools, and programs would you use to teach programming skills to interested youngsters?

HeelToe asks: "A while back I worked with someone who thought the US should simply impose tariffs on imported products to adjust their price to equalize foreign labor rates to the US minimum wage. I was laid off and my position moved to Canada last year. Since then, I've thought a lot about his ideas, as well as one of our topics of conversation a while back: Why doesn't the US tax the import of software? It seems to me like they should. It's not a "tangible" product (same reason used to deny my co-workers and me NAFTA and Trade Act benefits), but when someone outsources to another country with cheap labor for any other industry, there are usually import tariffs. Why is software different, and how would this change the climate of US IT jobs leaving for other parts of the world if we did tax software imports? I've done some looking on the web, but can find nothing in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. I did find this thread from a few months back on informationweek.com's Career Development Forum, but not much else. What does Slashdot think?"

Devil's BSD asks: "My school is planning to add remote desktop access so that people can easily access a school computer from home. However, with the financial situation in our Kentucky being what it is, using Citrix Metaframe for Unix/XP and buying all the software licenses necessary will be extremely hard. And with the state department of education (ironically named KDE) very pro-Microsoft, VNC is out of the question. Is there a free or low cost Citrix-like software suite that can give access to a remote desktop and compress the datastream to be able to work on a 56k modem like Citrix's ICA does?"

atomicretro asks: "Basically I'm on a quest for a silent PC, so I am looking to take my ATX power supply unit, external. I was simply wondering if anyone else had tried this with any success, or any commercial companies sold them. Silence is required as this PC is being used in my dorm room, and it's hard to sleep next to a whining PC. I've got the sound levels pretty much down to a minimum by adding various silent PC parts, but a separate power supply would be pretty cool. Any help or ideas accepted!" There was a similar question that was posted about two years ago, and it would be interesting to note if anyone in the market was listening.

jbuberel asks: "I just got myself a fancy new Canon Powershot S400 camera. One of it's nifty features is it's 'Panoramic Assist' mode that helps you line up a series of images that can later be stitched together to form one larger panoramic image. Of course the software that ships with the camera to do the stitching is Windows-only. After spending some time probing freshmeat.net and google.com, I came across one dead project, and another relatively academic project who's tools are largely undocumented. So are there any up-to-date tools for composing panoramic photos in Unix? With so many digital photo afficianados out there, I was surprised there wasn't an easy-to-use GIMP plugin for this."

enrico_suave asks: "I work for a small-ish Non Profit Organization (less than 20 users) who would like to utilize 'groupware' (calendaring/contacts/etc) sharing software but aren't in a position to spend large amounts of cash on Microsoft Exchange Server. We currently use Outlook 2000's kludgey Net Folders which is often more trouble than it's worth. I've been looking at SuSE Linux's OpenExchange Server as a low cost groupware alternative, and wanted to know if anybody has used this package in a similar setting. A previous Slashdot article was more of an announcement, than a hands on review, and most of the reviews I've seen don't seem very objective or don't delve deep enough into details/practical usage. Has anyone used SuSE's OpenExchange in a primarily Windows shop with Outlook as the desktop mail/groupware client? How is the Outlook integration?"

Prep asks: "I work in the IT shop at a small liberal arts school, which has, for a few years now, offered a calendar solution that lets members of the community keep a personal calendar/task list, as well as view/schedule publicly viewable meetings and tasks for other members of the community, as well as campus resources (rooms, projectors, vehicles, etc). The system works pretty well right now, but it's entirely proprietary. What I'm wondering is why the client independent model used by mail servers hasn't been adopted by a calendaring project. With standards like iCal and vCal floating around, it seems to me that the groundwork has been laid for a backend server which could interact with popular clients like Ximian's Evolution, Mozilla's Calendar, Apple's iCal, and even Microsoft's Outlook, giving users the ability to use whatever platform/client they wish, while still maintaining the ability to interact with their co-workers. If the software were tied to an SQL backend, then you could even offer a web enabled front end, perhaps even with a tie in to projects like IMP. Does anyone know of any projects working toward an open standards based end like this?"

ZeLonewolf asks: "Like I'm sure many slashdot readers, my computer has a number of free 5.25" drive bays free. After the requisite burner, DVD drive, maybe a tape drive, there's invariably a few slots free. Do any slashdot readers have any creative suggestions for filling the gap?"

Rick the Red asks: "This is similar to other stories about game development. I'm a software tester, and I just saw this job posting: 'Jobs just do NOT get any better than this! We have multiple openings at one of the world's most successful software companies for experienced game testers of varying skill levels! Platforms and tools are not important. If you love video games and have at least 6 months experience you CANNOT miss this awesome opportunity!' OK, I'm an experienced software tester, and I have video game experience of varying skill levels, but I have zero professional game tester experience. Damn! So, how does one get experience if the jobs all require experience? I know, it's the age-old question, but are there any game-testing-specific answers?"

chipster asks: "Between my kids' and my own game console setups, I have a hell of a time keeping things organized. Especially when three to four consoles are hooked up to a single TV. I am looking for some feedback on either your game console organization solutions, or ones that you have come across. Creative/homebrew console "rigs" are more than welcome. I am specifically trying to avoid the "toyish" look (see this product for an example). I am looking for more of a durable, and decent-looking organization solution. Any ideas?"

Moses Lawn asks: "With the impending re-release of Spirited Away, I've been wondering about this. There are a lot of movies I love that no one else seems to know about. Some of them disappeared from theaters within a week, some came out years ago and seem to have been forgotten. Here are a few of my favorites: The Hot Rock, The Pope Must Diet (formerly 'The Pope Must Die'), They Might Be Giants, and The Big Hit. Maybe you like these, too. Maybe you think they stink up the joint. So what are your favorite forgotten movies?"

sjwoo asks: "So I was over at a friend's apartment yesterday, in an attempt to fix up her computer (goodbye, buggy Windows ME, hello somewhat less buggy Windows XP). I had most of the updates already on CD, so the only one that caused me grief was a new driver for her HP printer, which was 22MB. Her Internet connectivity was provided by AOL dialup, and because we had to be in class, I had to do what I could to hurry things along. I found an unprotected (i.e., no WEP, no MAC-address protection) WLAN and sucked down that file at over 200Kb/sec. Was I wrong to steal?"

jdrogers asks: "Last year I e-filed for the first time and it was by far the worst tax experience of my life. It was expensive. It was often hard to interpret the meaning of the 'easy questions' designed to determine my tax status and I found that the questions often led me to answer incorrectly. Two of my three state and federal returns were sent back to me due to errors. This year, there are many options for cheap or free e-filing. How have other Slashdot readers fared and which websites offer the best filing experience? What did you love or hate about it? And most importantly, which one should I use this year?"

An anonymous reader asks: "At our company numerous people store MP3s on their local hard drives. Because we don't allow MP3's through email, and peer-to-peer file sharing programs, practically all of the MP3s are ripped from CD in the office. What is the liability for the company if it were to allow employees to place all ripped MP3s in a central location, that any employee could access? There would be practically no way to distribute the MP3s outside of the company, and it seems that this would be a legitimate practice that shouldn't open the company to liability (equivalent to providing the CD to a coworker). I'm wondering because I'd like to use this as a morale-booster at our company. I'm worried about the company being liable in some way as it would be company-supported. Does anyone have any feedback or experience with this?"

Scott McChesney asks: "Where I live seems to be filled with Gamers but there are almost no places that rent console games. This got me thinking about opening one of my own but I have no clue about the licensing of such a thing. X-Box games all say on the back that buying the game does not give you the ability to rent it. I'm wondering what one has to do to be able to legally rent out video games?"

dmorin asks: "Having recently been laid off I find myself with more time to read and less money to spend on books. I stare at the shelves full of books I already have, most of which I won't read again, and wonder if there's an easy way to move them around the universe a bit. Get some new ones. I've thought about eBay, but I'm not sure that time and effort (cataloging, pricing, describing, shipping, etc..) would ever balance out. What I'm looking for is a site where people basically say 'Hey, here are some books I have, if you want one, I'll send it to you.' Note I didn't say 'sell'. This would be more about keeping the books in circulation for the sake of getting fresh stuff to read, not for making a profit. You paid for the book, you got something out of it, now let somebody else share it. And, of course, you're supposed to be asking other people for their books, too. Anything like that out there? Would anybody use such a thing?"

Stackdump asks: "I am a college student (senior seeking CS BS). I work partime at Best Buy selling computers (arg!). To be truthful I don't really sell computers; I sell what we call 'performance service plans' or PSP's for short. This is the somewhat gimmicky name given to Best Buy's extended warranties. To be fair they do actually provide some service in the store, swapping HDs, CDROMs, and so forth, but most of the hardcore repairs are done elsewhere or by the manufacturer. Prices range from $99 on the cheapest tower to $249 on laptops over $1000. Terms of service are pretty simple everything is covered against power surge, dust contamination, whatever... BUT abuse is not covered: so slam a pencil in your laptop and say byebye, but fry your computer because you don't have a surge protector and you can get a new one. As this is the central pre-occupation of my work day I ask the Slashdot community this: do you feel these warranties are really worth the money?"

Silent_E asks: "A student of mine is writing a paper on how Stephenson's _The Diamond Age_ offers a good educational model for distance learning. She has been asked by publishers to justify looking at fiction as a way of talking about 'the real world.' That dialogue made me wonder whether Slashdot folks currently or recently coding or doing hardware design are, or have been, directly inspired by what they've read in Science Fiction?"