ThosLives asks: "It seems to be the case that most open source projects fall into the software development, business, and desktop realms. I have done a bit of unfruitful searching for good FOSS engineering tools. By this I mean: 3D CAD/CAM, FEA, fluids, and math simulation tools. I have been able to find various 'academic quality' FEA, fluids, and math sim tools; those are, however, not sufficient for even hobby-level production work because they: have a lacking interface; don't have a standard file formats; and are not standalone products (i.e., they require Matlab or some other expensive package). If you were going to set up an engineering shop to design and produce mechanical devices, what FOSS software tools, if any, are available and recommended? Commercial options are out of the question for the hobbyist, when even basic 3D CAD functionality typically costs more than $100 (and typically run over $500), and 'consumer-level' analysis packages are practically nonexistent. If there are no free options, what could be done with a budget of $500 or $1000? As an aside, are there any thoughts on why the engineering applications appear to be so overlooked by the open source community?"

Techmaniac asks: "As a newly minted employee at [insert org name] I have been tasked with creating an RFP to secure a vendor for helpdesk/sysadmin services. Currently, we have a single individual that does all the relevant tasks for a small organization of less than 100 people. My boss has explained that the needs are for onsite helpdesk, backend support, systems admin but that she doesn't know what or how much the current person does on any given day. Having done (using the term loosely) some of this work for a smaller org, it is possible for me to create an RFP for the company. I have been here such a short time that I wouldn't want to miss any of the important tasks, nor would it set my tenure off to a rousing start. Has anyone else been in this situation? Do you have any insight into the mandatory RFP inclusions for a vendor provided sysadmin, helpdesk work? Is it within this document to dictate how many people should be onsite for the task and what can be accomplished remotely?"

trd79 asks: "I am responsible for setting up a system to monitor various parameters on a factory production line (mainly chemical flow rates and temperatures). I am currently using a datalogger from dataTaker and using their software (on a WinXP box) to graph the data in real time and download the data from the logger at the end of a shift. I would like to make the system more robust and reduce the need for user intervention. Does anyone know of open source data acquisition systems which are able to interface to popular datalogger brands? The ability to produce real time plots of the data during logging would be an advantage. Buying a new logger would not be a problem."

arohann asks: "I'm a research assistant in a well-known university in the US. As part of the research work my group is doing, we need access to the logs from a production system of an n-tier web-application. I've been looking around for a while with no result. Most places reply with a flat 'No!'. I was wondering if there anyone who could help/advise with this. Please read about our requirement below and do let me know if you can help?"

hackwrench asks: "There is lots of talk about writing portable programs, but this pursuit has resulted in a lot of processor features going unused. One example is being able to write a program that purposely uses a combination of 16-bit and 32 bit. I know there are arguments that writing solely in one or the other is a performance advantage, but what are the factors involved? Is the slowness of such a combination inherent in its design or is it a result of current hardware. We are beginning to replace systems and programs designed primarily to run in pure 32-bit mode with systems designed to run in pure 64-bit mode, so I ask: Is such purity really worth it?"

marat asks: "This Thursday our HMV store had (what I thought was) some kind of sale of well-know DVD titles starting from $5 a piece, however after I brought about $200 of them home I discovered that Kaffeine (xine frontend) refuses to play them. Closer inspection revealed small 'Please use with DVD video player' notice on each cover. More elaborate piece of paper enclosed -inside- stated that I have to download and install something called 'InterActual Player' if I want to watch this disk on the PC or Mac. The disks have the 'DVD video' symbol on them, and I don't have any other DVD player nor TV set at home, nor place to put it. Besides, I prefer my 19" monitor anyways. I didn't find the solution myself, that's why I'm asking the Slashdot crowd two questions: How can I play this stuff under Linux? What should I do if they refuse to accept opened cases back? (for semi-legal advice, please take into account that I'm in Tokyo)."

aztektum asks: "Like a lot of Slashdot readers, I have setup my own home network. It isn't tricked out with all the fanciest hardware, but I do have a switch, BSD based firewall, I have configured e-mail (again on BSD), NFS and Samba, as well as remote access services like SSH and FTP. Now my line of work isn't networking or computer related at all. This is a personal hobby and a fairly new one for me (relatively speaking compared to others). I'm looking to learn more about managing problems with networks, but have no idea where to start. With such a small setup and only supporting two users (myself and a roommate) this isn't exactly enterprise level with enterprise level ups and downs. What are some ways I can screw up my network to troubleshoot problems and gain some insight? Also, what are some reference materials that you have found to be educational with relation to network administration?"

a_greer2005 wonders: "In the past 5 years, we have seen plenty of virus writers in the United States brought to justice both criminally and when possible financially. In the past couple of weeks it has been discovered that Sony has shipped a rootkit, which is worse than the common spyware or virus, so I ask you, where are the law suits? Is anyone planning criminal/civil action at all? Does Sony frighten the entire legal industry? If nothing is done about this, will we have ANY right to tell a company 'NO' in the future when it comes to DRM worms -- Is this but a sample of things to come?" Update: 11/12 10:20 PM EDT by C :Whoops! Missed the fact that we've already reported on the fact that California has already started a class action suit against Sony (thanks to the posters that caught this). New York may soon follow. However that is only 2 states out of 50. Is there a possibility of more to follow?

Waiting for the Axe to Fall asks: "I work for a larger webhosting company that has plans to consolidate one of its west coast data centers with an east coast location which they already have in place. Forget that this is a bad idea in terms of geographical redundancy--it is going to happen. The company did inform all west coast employees about the move, roughly a year in advance. This was done Im sure to ease the shock and fear of loosing ones job. This affects a small group (8-9) of employees, all of whom are tied up in operations and the data center specifically. If you were in this situation (as one of the employees), what would you require/want/wish for in this retention plan? The benefits of staying with the company, until the end, must out weight the risk of being jobless; or is this not the path you would choose? Would you leave as soon as the announcement was made?"