Silas asks: "I've been working for a website development firm in Indiana, but will soon be moving from Indiana to Ohio. From Ohio, I'll continue to work for that Indiana-based firm via phone, e-mail, and the occasional commute. I'm wondering what the implications are for income taxes - namely, am I living and working in Ohio, or am I living in Ohio and working in Indiana, or some weird mutation of those? Any advice from others working in similar 'virtual office' situations?"

An Anonymous Coward asks: "The Seattle Community Technology Alliance is a non profit, federally funded, public/private project that supports community technology centers in the Seattle area. We are interested in moving our public workstations from Win 2000 to Linux. In order to do this, we need good multi-lingual options and the abiltiy to create 'guest accounts' that prevent users from changing settings (to provide a consistent environment for users). What are the best tools for multi-user Linux labs? Should we use KDE? Gnome? How do we keep users from changing settings? We are eager to start experimenting, but would appreciate expert advice on starting points!"

xvrd asks: "I'm Swiss and got an Associates Degree in the US. Now (back in Switzerland) I'm thinking about getting a Bachelor Degree. Going back to the US on a student visa is not an option for several reasons and the programs offered in Switzerland either don't offer the flexibility I want or the classes I'm looking for. After some research I found some online colleges that looked trustworthy and offered interesting programs (Kaplan would even let me transfer all my credits). I've looked into the following colleges: Kaplan Colleges, University of Phoenix Online, and the University of Maryland University College. Before enrolling anywhere I'd like to ask the Slashdot community about their thoughts on Online Education. Any experiences you want to share? How does HR look at Degrees completed entirely online?"

X43B asks: "I don't have a story associated with this but just a question. Does anyone know of any data logging software for the PocketPC? What I'm talking about is something analogous to Hyperterminal for windows. The data logging market for engineering instrumentation, especially with a premium on small size and weight, is relatively sparse. The hardware on PocketPCs seems ideal for this type of application. I'm looking for anything from proprietary software to open source, even perhaps the just a little direction of what to use to do this on my own (all I know is Fortran, C, and Matlab). Thanks!"

A not-s- Anonymous Coward asks: "I've been given the opportunity to pitch a group of investors to open a LAN gaming centre (or centres, depending on how things go). These centres will be opening in an area that has little to no high-speed net access (and will be unlikely to in the future), very cheap equipment and labour, and a good core of 300-400K potential customers (right age groups, well-developed gaming culture, and plenty of disposable income). Anyone have any experience running a gaming centre, or any ideas of potential gotchas? We have written up the proposals and plans including the standard things (PCs, networking equipment, servers, furniture, fixtures, techs, games, etc), but were wondering if the community has anything to contribute? Oh, and there are none of these centres where we are planning on opening them..."

bwt asks: "With all the talk of DRM lately, it occurs to me that the entire concept depends on limiting the choice for computer hardware. OK, so the proper reaction to the copyright industry's attempts at PC market control is to be able to build a PC that they can't control. I know there have been some discussions on open hardware, but most if it was prior to the emergence of DRM as a real threat. In fact, Richard Stallman wrote an editorial in 1999 and said 'Because copying hardware is so hard, the question of whether we're allowed to do it is not vitally important.' DRM has perhaps changed that. Isn't the need for open hardware becoming critical? What is the status of the open hardware efforts?"

Soothh writes "A local radio station here is finally doing streaming audio again on the net so i can listen at work. The catch, they go through Hiwire, which only supports Windows Media Player. Their tech page says that this technology has 'proven difficult to implement on the Unix platform.' Is there any validity to the claim that WMP is the only cost effective way to remove commercials. Anyone know other ways to get streams from real radio stations on a *nix platform?"

jp93023 asks: "I am putting together a mobile computer lab in a converted RV. RVs have a 12v DC system for running most interior lights, built-in appliances, fans and so forth. They have a parallel 120v AC system for providing normal outlets, which is great when you are plugged in. It strikes me that when I am running from battery power (which will be most of the time) I will be expending precious watts converting the 12v from the marine batteries up to 120v, only to convert it right back down to 5, 9, 12, and 20v DC for all the PCs, laptops, etc. The equipment package will include desktops, laptops, digital tape decks, etc., so I'd be planning on bypassing the built-in transformers for everything but the laptops. Have any slashdotters put together a unified low voltage DC power distribution system for such a situation? Would the power savings be worth it? Any pointers to products or plans would be great!"

geekgirl21 asks: "My university's Computer Science Society (a student organization) wants to create a booklet about helping students get through the major's introductory courses (3 semesters of Java). The focus of this booklet is toward the people who work hard but still struggle with the courses. Specifically, we'd would like some advice about where to get the following: clearly written books/articles about the concepts of Java and OOP, how to prepare for tests, how to take notes in class, how to productively complete a coding assignment, and how to write good, documented code. Also, organization is not our group's strong point. So how do you recommend splitting up the work to complete this seemingly intimidating task? Thanks in advance about any advice you can provide."

The Rev asks: "I always thought the next generation of a technology was supposed to be easier to use and have more features than the last one. My experiences with TV oriented technologies is as far from that myth as can be! :-( So are Slashdot's experiences with such technologies. Do you feel things are moving backwards with each new generation instead of forwards?" Read on for Rev's take on how digital cable has gone backwards in his opinion. Have any of you experienced the same with similar or other forms of consumer technology?

netean asks: "Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire, Uk (Birth place and Family Home of Sir Isaac Newton) has an interesting problem that may also be facing many historic buildings around the world. 4 Buildings less than 100 metres/yards apart. All are built from stone or brick and they need to be networked together, somehow. Ideally wireless looks the least disruptive and best option, but it is a Grade 1 listed building and that means no external antennae or high gain aerials are allowed anywhere visible. So will any wireless solution ever work in such situations?"

dazdaz asks: "I have spent the last 12 months applying for IT positions abroad (Europe and Asia) from the UK and out of it, have had 1 offer and 3 free trips! The offer I had unfortunately was not enough to live on and only came through because a friend had recommended me. For the other 3 positions, I had seriously under-estimated the cultural differences along with the tight competition I ended up as choice number 2 several times. Just briefly: my background is web/internet/unix/sysadmin with contract experience. I am looking at permanent work abroad for the stability and long term career path. I speak basic French, and realise that not 'speaking da lingo' does cut down my chances and will start learning a language when I reach my destination. My question is, do I continue to apply from remote, both directly to companies and through Agency's or should I take the big gamble and goto a country. This is a last resort due to the global economic situation and one that scares me in that it may not pay off and with limited financial resources the risk factor is higher."

johnpagenola asks: "My 17 year old son will start traveling this Fall to fencing tournaments, but he needs his gaming fix over the weekend. How best to travel with an LCD screen to protect it from damage? Is there a way to put together a storage device for LCD with speakers, SFF system unit, keyboard and mouse?" Other than "buy a laptop," can anyone suggest some travel-proofing tips for such a set-up?

Deagol asks: "After we registered our daughter for second grade yesterday at public school, I began to ponder (yet again) the question of homeschooling. There's certainly not a lack of sites out there about the topic, but I was surprised at the lack of public domain materials out there. I would think there'd more collections of public domain 'courses' since the K-12 core knowledge base is so stable and well understood. Sure, there are tons of places that will sell you kits of course materials, and quite a few home-schoolers who made their own courses (but only offer them for a fee). I assume there's more than a few homeschoolers out there on Slashdot. Are there any good sources of free home-schooling materials (including software) out there?"

bLanark asks: "I'm in the process of converting one of my clients from IIS/CGI to Apache/mod_perl. I need a (free) web site stress/load test tool to prove that performance will be increased. Using this page as my starting point, I can see that there are quite a few tools to investigate. Has anyone used any of these (or any others) and what are they like. I need HTTP GETS, form POSTing, and clever stuff like simulation of caching of images would be useful too, I guess." The previous story didn't get much of a response, but that was about a year ago, but the submittor has shared a fairly impressive list with us, impressions about any piece of software on it would be greatly appreciated.

TheDarkRogue asks: "Ok, I have a small USB device that I need to position a distance from my computer, more then the cable, at least 30 feet. The thing is that I don't think it can go that far very well. I looked around for a solution and found a few products I could get for a price way out of my price range, so now I'm looking at this as a doit-myselfer. How can I extend the distance using Cat5/6? Does anyone know of any schematics for something or is that in its self more then is needed?" Extending a USB cable to this length (or more) can't be this easy, can it? What's the maximum length of USB cabling one can get in a single stretch?

Crash McBang asks: "Watching CNBC, I notice that shots of the NYSE trading floor show traders scribbling madly on what appear to be wireless tablet PCs. So what kind of hardware is this, and what are they scribbling?" I've been wait for tablet PCs for a long, LONG time. Hopefully they will be hitting the home market soon because they would be much more ideal for portable tasks where even laptops proove bulky and uncomfortble.

Ryfar asks: "I'm a programmer with 3 years of experience in C, C++, and Java. With the current low economic trends in the software sector, the small software company I've been working for since I graduated is going out of business. Since it's so hard to get a job at another software company with so little experience, I'm considering the option of striking out on my own with a friend with similar development experience and creating a small software consulting company. Naturally, until we were profitable to the point that we could hire other people to work with us we would be both the programmers and the marketers/salesmen. The question is, Where should we start looking for business? How do we capture the hearts and confidence of potential customers when we don't have PhD's from MIT? Could those here with applicable experience on this subject share with the rest of us?"

Snafoo asks: "I'm trying to replace an Access-powered communal address book at my office with something cross-platform and (preferably) LDAP-powered. Unfortunately, I can't find a single email client for windows that would allow people to update the LDAP dB from their address-book interface except, the usual suspect, Outlook. I've tried Mozilla, Eudora, and a slew of other 'freebies', but they only allow browsing; at the moment, I'm considering dropping cygwin+XFree on the desktops of the windows clients and giving them access to Evolution on a central server (God bless Ximian!), however, most of the Win32 boxen are used by non-clueful sorts who would be put out by the inconvenience of what amounts to a second desktop. Aside from shelling out $90 a seat for WinAxe, or another rootless X server for Windows, what do you all recommend?" Those interested in X-Servers for Windows may wish to check out this previous article, however if you are using an X11 server not mentioned, please feel free to recommend others, here.

Bakajin asks: "I have always been a passive environmentalist. I think that any intelligent person must have concern about our planet and the future of our species upon it and that the Slashdot crowd has many such people. I have increasingly become more concerned about global warming as more and more signs seem to point to its likely effects. I try to make changes in my personal habits but, like many Slashdotters, don't have much time to try and effect larger changes to policy and science. I do however have money. I want to know what organizations Slashdot members think are most worthy of contribution and will give me the most effect for my money, politically or scientifically. This question fits well within Slashdot because it seems to have many members who think critically about the world and their role within it. There also seems to be a willingness to openly express mistrust of the same large corporations that either ignore environmental issues or outright cause them. Please don't turn this into a debate about whether global warming is an actual threat or how bad other environmental issues actually are, but rather about which organizations are the most effective and trustworthy for me to give my hard earned cash."