Albert Schueller asks: "This fall I'll teach introductory programming for the third time. The class is generally populated by students from a wide range of backgrounds and interests-liberal arts and science types. While we use C++, the language isn't really the issue. Rather, the goal is to introduce basic programming ideas like loops, logic, modular programming etc. What are some of your favorite programming assignments that would be appropriate for students at this level?"

An Anonymous Coward asks: "I was happily working away at a low-paying but otherwise good job I'd had for several months, after taking a huge pay cut when the dot.bomb bubble burst. Then a recruiter contacted me with a very nice potential position - I interviewed and received an offer with a 50% increase in pay, everything else nearly the same. When I received the offer and decided I was interested, I broke the news to my current employer - to my surprise they extended a counter-offer with a matching salary, thereby eliminating my only reason for considering the other job. However, I talked to some friends and checked the web for ideas and realized that there are a *lot* of ppl out there who believe you should never accept a counter-offer. They make some good points, and there are a lot of those pages - but on the web popularity breeds increased popularity, in a self-feeding cycle, so I'm wondering if the numbers are skewed unrealistically. Is it really that rare to do well by accepting a counter-offer? Do Slashdot readers have experience with counter-offers from present employers, positive or negative?"

dotcomian asks: "The idea of hooking our iPod to our car's audio system so far is our best shot for musics on the go in cars, however, it requires a double investment to the head unit. I'm wondering if someone has a better way to replace cd-changers with MP3 jukeboxes, the head units would be the controller and/or a CD player. I've found several websites from google's search result, but nothing is close to what I have in mind. Any ideas?"

jensend asks: "Two years ago, Ask Slashdot posted a question about 'simulator sickness'. Since then, games have become much more realistic, causing (in many cases, my own included) more severe nausea. any updated tips on avoiding this problem?"

spacechicken asks: "I am studying at a major university in Australia. As is the case with (almost) all educational facilities there are never enough computers available for students. So I (with some friends) are thinking about setting up a computer co-op at (or near) the university. In exchange for membership, members will get a small amount of storage and reduced usage and printing rates. The hope is to not only provide word processing/web surfing (using Linux, Staroffice6.0 and Netscape) but also access to various apps needed for serious academic work (eg CATIA, ProEngineer). We are planning to run standard PCs, with higher end machines if needed. My question is, does anyone have any experience with this type of facility? Any advice?"

Lux Interior asks: "Help! I am the ad-hoc computer guy in a small satellite office of a larger company. We have no CIO, no IT department, and no policies whatsoever as regards data retention or backup. Therefore, a lot of company property exists one place-- on individual hard drives. The office is made of almost entirely of rudimentary users, on WIN98 and 2000 machines, who never, ever, back up any company information. Has anyone out there had experiences in a small-office setting with: changing users' behavior in regards to managing their data; setting up best practices for backing up information properly; and making sure that the most computer-apathetic users comply with what you've put in place?" Sometimes the best way to make users conform to policy is to not give them a choice in the first place. Automated backup systems on each workstation can go a long way in helping this. Which software packages have such functionality (the more unobtrusive, the better)?

mstyne asks: "With Father's Day coming up this weekend, it's been put to me to determine what we should get dear old Dad. Pants and ties are boring and old hat. What do you get for the tech-savvy pop that loves new toys?"

DrydenMaker asks: "I am the 'computer guy' for a local paper. We are looking into a revamp of our site, and, being a /. observer for many years, I see the slashdot format as useful for active, up-to-date local content as well. With the word getting arround about the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and USC's Annenberg School for Communication offering blogging classes I have some justification. I was looking for input on examples and justification. Do you, as Slashdot users, think a local Slashdot style newspaper would be successfull?"

slakdrgn writes "I'm looking into building my own set-top box using Linux. Unfortunately I've only been able to find Windows programs for this, for certian reasons (cost mainly, I like to stay legal ;), I can't go to windows for this. My current setup is a Duron 700 with 512MB ram and a TNT2 w/TV Out, how would you go about building your own set-top box? I've searched all around, would like to build something using a simple UI with a nice remote control. I've tried adapting some car audio programs with no luck." We've dealt with cases for set-tops, now what about stuff to put into it (hardware) and the code that will run on it (software). For those of you who have done this, what suggestions would you like to give for those who will follow in your footsteps?

scubacuda asks: "DVD mail rentals are hot right now. Netflix, perhaps the most popular one, costs only $19/month (with free shipping). Since then, a whole new batch of similar DVD rental services have cropped up. What do Slashdot readers look for? Which ones are most reliable, have the best selections, provide free shipping and makes the best movie suggestions?"

Robert Hart writes "With people such as Microsoft and ADTI suggesting incorrectly that if you use GPL software in house (without distributing it to third parties) you must make your code publicly available, actual examples of people using GPL software internally would seem to be the best response (pragmatic examples to back up the 'theory'). I am interested in hearing about examples of corporations and government agencies, from around the world, using GPL software as part of an inhouse development effort. As there is also a potential for time/money saving by doing this, there is a possibility that this may lead to some research to put numbers behind this."

wizman asks: "I am getting a new car tonight and will be upgrading the audio system. Now that satellite radio is available in most markets and becoming more affordable, I am definitely planning to take the plunge. Unfortunately, the 2 providers -- XM and Sirius -- both seem to have just as many strengths as weaknesses. There is a three dollar price difference, which is really not a concern for me."

Quixote asks: "Well, summer is upon us, and I'm wondering: what does Slashdot read? I'm thinking of non-geeky, non-SciFi books. Anything out there that has caught your fancy? Would you like to share your reading list (stuff that you've read and/or plan to read)."

cpfeifer asks: "I'm joining a small startup that needs a knowledge management solution. I know that 'knowledge management' is seen an empty buzzword, but after working at a company where the communication is very poor, I see the value of allowing folks to post their own news instead of having it filtered through some sort of corporate newsletter. I've seen the commercial portals (Plumtree & others), but after seeing a couple of OSS publication systems (phpNuke, Slash), I think these would fit the bill quite nicely." Aside from some of the basic features found in weblogs (posting, archival, sorting and searching), what else is necessary for the proper maintenance and use of such a system? How hard would it be to adapt existing weblog-ware to this task?

greasyHacker asks: "Back in the old days when every computer under the sun had a parallel port, it was quite easy to whip up a simply parallel port device of some sort, and pretty easy to write software for it.. Now that USB is here and standard, I'd like to make use of the 'power of USB' and roll my own devices. Specifically I'd like to start with a simply interface box that allows me to control a number of simply on/off out/input channels - much like this. (Then maybe fulfilling some other ideas later).. Can anyone suggest where to get information on such a project, both the hardware and the driver side of things?"

Rational asks: "I've heard of Everquest accounts sold for upwards of a thousand dollars... Considering that what is actually for sale is just an username and password, which generally comes up to less than 20 bytes in total, this amounts to over $50 per byte. What are the most expensive pieces of information that you have heard of, in dollars per byte? Perhaps satellite pictures? The Human genome?"

ttyp0 asks: "The team of upper management at my company, including myself want to take a week long cruise vacation together. Unfortunately, being away from the office and unable access the Internet is terrifying in the case of an emergency. Are there any cruise lines that provide internet access in the cabins (ethernet jack)? If you've been on a cruise recently, who do you recommend?" Those boats are big enough, you figure at least one of the larger cruise lines have thrown a modest satellite and a small Internet cafe on one by now.

geekindustries asks: "Looking around auction sites I have seen a fair amount of old pen-based computers for really cheap. These machines usually run a pen-based version of DOS, Windows 3.1, or Windows 95a. However, I feel that these machines would be much better off running Linux as opposed to a bulky Microsoft OS. Has anyone heard of pen-based Linux solutions and how to get them working on old hardware?" Larger than a PDA, but smaller than a laptop, these resemble webpads or Star Trek like PADDs. They've been around for a while, but hasn't quite broken into the consumer market, yet. Which pen-based platforms, old and new, work best with Linux?

Edward Almos asks: "I live with my girlfriend in a small apartment (about 65 sq yards) and over the last six months I've installed a significant amount of computer and network gear. The count at the moment stands at two servers, a firewall, two workstations, an ADSL line and an apartment-wide network with at least two CAT5 points in every room. There's also two laptops and a load of HiFi gear. Last night she finally cracked when I installed a network point in the bathroom and told me that either the connection went or she did. After a romantic evening for two everything is patched up and all is OK but this got me wondering. I can't be the only Slashdotter living with a significant other so how do the rest of you pursuade them that all the cables, cupboards full of servers and sky-high comms costs are really essential to the geek lifestyle. This also ties in nicely with the latest poll, ain't love grand!!"

RichiP asks: "My memory is so poor I forget friends' birthdays and appointments I made a day ago. I sometimes have an idea I want to jot down but that I end up forgetting when I finally come upon pen & paper. To help myself, I was thinking of purchasing one of those integrated PDA and cellphone devices (first the Handspring Treo then another by Samsung), but I've always felt that these devices were still far from ideal. I was wondering if the Slashdot community would share their wishlist of features for what they believe would be the ideal Personal Digital Assistant. Features for input, processing and output are all welcome. Perhaps the device I want may be years from becoming commercial. Given the right ideas from input from others, I might be able to come up with my own device or start an open project geared towards it." Even if you do feel that PDAs have a limited lifespan, if you had a chance to add a feature to a PDA (especially if you felt it would increase the lifespan of the PDA), what would it be?