vand writes "Do you have, or know anybody who has, any IBM 1401 "system" software? We're looking for Autocoder, Cobol, Fortran, RPG, ... tapes. Sort 7 would be nice to have, too. We'd much rather have the tapes' or decks' contents than have them physically."

dybvandal writes "Multi monitoring support for laptops is far is from perfect in the windows world even though it enhances productivty considerably and letting that laptop TFT go to waste while using an external monitor is also a shame. I found no support in Win2K and only limited support under WinXP (laptop tft is forced to be primary). Win9x actually does multi monitoring perfectly but it can hardly be considered a productive environment. But since my company is making the switch to Linux soon I was hoping that this episode would soon end. But according to the xfree page multi monitor support is still fairly limited in general and with no comments on laptops. There seem to be commercial alternatives (xig, metro-X) but I would like to hear about some first hand success stories before spending the cash on such a solution."

$ynergy writes "I have been seeing more and more job listings for SQL programmers so, naturally, my interest as been sparked. I have picked up a few materials but, soon realized that it would be easier to apply if I had experience using database software. Would everyone agree? So I am looking for resources, online or in print, that would give a beginner a real in depth look at using database SW." There are at least two issues here: a) learning standard SQL (pick a standard, any standard :) and b) learning all the idiosyncracies of a particular database system. Probably learning basic SQL is the way to start.

ewhac writes "Recently, on a whim, I bought one of those tiny little battery-powered vacuums, pitched as effective in cleaning the schmutz out of your keyboard. After trying it out, I found out that it sucks. Or rather, it doesn't suck. Er... It fails to remove the aforementioned schmutz. This came as little surprise to me, since there's obviously an upper limit to the volume of air you can move with a pair of AA batteries. But I suddenly became curious as to whether an effective "keyboard vac" exists at all. So I thought I'd ask here: Has anyone encountered an effective, small hand-held vacuum that doesn't suck? ...er, does suck? Sucks well? Whatever..."

Dr. Zowie writes "My ISP places an opaque (intended to be transparent) web proxy between me and the rest of the world. It is causing me problems due to misconfiguration or misdesign. My question is twofold. On the micro level, what can I do in the short term to work around the broken routing (in the long term, I switch ISPs if it's not fixed)? On the macro level, what can we as a community do to prevent breakage of the net on a global scale by poorly designed routing hacks?"

Joel Parker Henderson writes "To improve security, my company is switching servers from Microsoft to RedHat, and from FTP to SFTP. The new RedHat has SFTP-- secure FTP with SSH and host fingerprints-- and I want to upgrade our people to use it. What are good SFTP clients? Priorities: an easy user interface, point-and-click renaming of remote files and folders, recursive directory transfers. Useful: drag-and-drop, resume broken transfers, synchronization of local and remote directories, written in Java, shareware or freeware. Thanks in advance for advice!"

An Anonymous Coward writes "I've been using fvwm2 for quite some time now as I don't need to use the mouse much. I don't have time to try every window manager under the sun, but are there newer window managers out there that have better 'usability' characteristics when it comes to avoiding the mouse? I still have a mouse handy for browsing, etc. so I don't need to do away with it altogether.). Thanks."

Mario Valente writes "Using my glass topped desk it should probably be possible to build your own digital playing desk, commonly referred in VR circles as a projection-table. I guess I'd need at least an LCD projector for rear-projection onto the desk and a mouse/finger tracker. Has anyone had experience building this type of stuff ? Are there any non-highend commercial systems available? -- Mario Valente"

provell writes "An ad for the U of Phoenix online education program caught my eye the other day. I know the concept of online education isn't a new one but it seems to be growing more prevalent with each passing year. As an IT consultant at the age of 18, I didn't give myself much chance for college and I don't get much time in town to take part time courses. With the burst of the E-Bubble, I'm starting to notice an increase in hiring standards. Is a BS a necessary bargaining chip for the IT industry and are online undergrad programs widely accepted/adequate? Any thoughts/experiences would be much appreciated."

frenchgates writes "It became clear to me (when my main machine had to be sent away for repairs for a week) that it's high time to finally divorce myself from any particular computer by using data and software accessible from any internet connected computer as much as possible. I'm talking Visual IDEs, productivity apps, powerful, easy to use email client, etc, all presented to me consistently from computer to computer on my remote virtual desktop. Is anyone seriously trying this? What are the best practices and best applications? What are the biggest shortcomings? What if I limit my demand to "accessible from any internet connected Windows machine with Java installed?" Are there good web sites devoted to this noble goal?"

Anonymous Coward writes "Our SB Office runs a small 2 Server network with 4 workstations in the LAN, each connected to a dedicated APC Surge protector. The building has a backup power generator thus we didn't see the need for a UPS. For some odd reason all our monitors flicker a lot. We've tried everything from changing resolutions/refresh rates/video cards/monitors and spacing the monitors farther apart from each other - all to no avail. Could this be a building power supply problem? Some have suggested there may be some magnetic interference but visually inspecting the surroundings doesn't leave us with a culprit for the cause. Could this be fixed by the simple addition of a good UPS? Any help, tip or information would be gladly appreciated. Thank you."

Marcus Vollmer writes "I am looking for packet generation tools, or suggestions on how to go about writing one. I need to be able to generate ip packets with specific characteristics and send them to a network appliance, in order to simulate possible scenarios. For example, one appliance we want to test performs layer 7 operations, we want to be able to test splitting requests and responses up across multiple frames, force retransmits, and send different responses back. (eg. if the first request was split over 3 frames, we might want to send a reset and have the client retransmit using only 2 frames). I doubt there are any existing tools to do this, but we were thinking of writing a series of tools using netfilter, and placing a linux box between the client and the appliance running these filters to alter the packets. If there are existing tools to do this thats great, if not, any pointers and resources would be great. There is a good article in the Linux Journal (Feb and March issues), along with the information at netfilter.org, but we would be interested in hearing any ideas and suggestions from the slashdot community."

Dee Arsmith writes "Computer literate kids entering our local high school (form 4 = grade 8) are bored out of their trees by the introductory IT classes they are given. Can Slashdot readers point us to a computer based programme that would allow us to evaluate student skills at the beginning of the year so that the experienced users can be identified and channeled into more advanced courses? Currently the school uses old P100 boxes with W95. (Cybermoles are currently fighting the Forces of Darkness to introduce Linux into the school - but that is another story!) Grateful for any guidance"

An Anonymous Coward asks: "I'm looking to purchase an external Ethernet print server with an USB printer interface. I've only found two such beasts HP JetDirect 175x and Sercomm PS5800). Do I have any other hardware options? Do USB print servers work with any USB printer, or are there driver issues?" Comments, anyone? Information about running such a box under free operating systems would also be nice.

Chacham writes "Anyone here have success with Speed Reading? I've seen complaints about less comprehension, that it is uncomfortable, and that it's just plain hard to do. I've also seen people say it is invaluable. What are your experiences? I am particularly interested about reading technical resources, but I am curious overall as well." We've actually asked this before, but it's been three years, might as well take a second look at it.

LA Kings Fan writes "I have this current gig of a job which requires me to make numerous copies of CDRs (in the thousands). Since it would be ludicrous to sit in front of my computer to remove a burned CD and put a fresh one in everytime, I've looked around for better, more sensible solutions. There are two alternatives: CD Duplication Towers and Automated Duplicators. They both have their advantages but are very costly. The cool thing about the automated duplicators is that the burning process is automated by the use of a robotic arm which replaces the burned CD with a fresh one. This is neat, so I was wondering if anyone has attempted to take this concept a step further by essentially building their own robotic arm for their burner on their personal computer. Is this feasible? Can a robotic arm like this be created from off the shelf parts? I'm clueless when it comes to this engineering stuff, so any help would be appreciated."

mirthe_v writes "Hi, I'm working for a small webcompany (about 20 people), with ColdFusion programmers and designing staff. We all work on a bunch of projects (Internet, intranet, cd-roms, etc.) on the same time, with different people and different or no methodologies. There is an ever growing need for documentation, but we have no idea where to start."

mach-5 writes "I recently had an Iomega Jaz disk fragged by the drive (the data is corrupt from simply using the disk in another drive). I know that I can easily get a free (beer) replacement from Iomega, but what I really want is my data back, which is far from free. This is a little unfair considering their drive corrupted my disk. Has anyone had any success in having their data recovered by a drive company. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this particular company?"

djmcmath asks: "Does anyone have any experience with Open Source Software and/or GPL'd software in military applications? I'm only asking because I'm involved in work on the combat systems for a new submarine, and had considered an Open Source solution. (I apologize, I must be intentionally vague for obvious reasons.) So ignore the obvious questions (Is it really suitable? Are closed-source proprietary options better? Does MS have a good solution?) and skip to the good stuff. What about the fact that my code would be classified Secret under US Code Umptifratz? I cannot distribute my code (and it's changes) without being tried for treason. What happens to the rest of the combat system code when I submit my GPL'd module?" Open Source and the Military: it's a tricky combination of keeping what can be open, open and keeping your secrets...well, secrets! However, open source in the military need not be as high profile as weapons systems. One of the only major OS projects that I'm aware of that had any form of military involvement was GRASS, the open-source GIS system. I'm sure there may be a few others out there. Does anyone know of other OS projects with military association? If there are any projects out there that interface with classified bits, how did you deal with those issues?

As a follow-up question to last year's query about distance learning tools, denny_d asks: "I've been looking around for awhile for an OS e-learning tool. Been using Viewlets for awhile and recently tested Claroline which looks very promising. Are there any other OS apps I should know about for creating learning/training environments on the web?" Have there been any new technologies or projects that have made a big splash in the Distance Learning scene in the last year? What can teachers looking to implement such courses look forward to, and what issues might they have to watch out for?