Programming

Converting from CVS to Subversion? 62

Bob Bobbinson asks: "I'm currently looking to convert my workplace's CVS repository over to Subversion. The main issue I'm having at the moment before I can commence a roll-out is how we are currently using tags, and sticky tags. The project is a website and we have two tags which are used to put changes from the main trunk live (internally, and externally). All development is committed to the main branch, and when we want a change to go live we move the two 'live' tags to that current version. The live servers are both sticky tagged to these tags, so when we run an update on these servers they will only update to the version that the 'live' tags refer to. Currently I haven't found a satisfactory way to replicate this in Subversion, as moving tags, and updating on separate servers seems to be quite kludgy i.e. need to remove current tagged version from tag, then copy from the main branch over to the tag, then update this on the live server. So I'm trying to look for an alternative way to implement this staggered releasing of code live, and maintaining the ability to see what versions of files constitute what is live. Any ideas?"
Music

Is All SPDIF Audio Output the Same? 97

CyberSpaZtiK asks: "I am going to build a Linux audio appliance to hold my music collection in various formats and for output to my stereo system. Because of a probable lack of Linux availability or support for audio cards with high quality D/A converters and low-noise electronics (or am I mistaken?), I want to keep the output path completelely digital by using a card with SPDIF output. However, it occurs to me that I actually know very little about SPDIF - are all SPDIF outputs made equal? Can I expect every SPDIF interface to emit the exact PCM data of the source audio, or are there over/under-sampling/aliasing, etc. issues that you sometimes get with digital signal processing? What do I need to understand about SPDIF and/or other digital output interfaces to make an informed decision?"

Review: Star Wars Episode III 1265

erikharrison writes "I just watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. And it is good. There are lots of things I would like to say about it that I won't, as Slashdot isn't the place. Slashdot is the place to ask two questions, however. 1) How are the special effects and 2)What has Lucas done to the possibly tattered remains of my childhood?" Read on for Harrison's answers to those questions, and for Jamie's quite different impression of the sixth (and final?) Star Wars feature film.

Social Bookmarking Services Revisited 102

pchere writes "Social bookmarking allows you share bookmarks publicly instead of restricting them to the browser favourites. Del.icio.us is such a fast growing community and its users have created a large number of del.icio.us tools to further enhance the service. Organization by tags allows for quick retrieval of sites by topics and bookmarks are available as RSS feeds. An article in D-Lib Magazine reviews the Social Bookmarking Tools to "remind you of hyperlinks in all their glory, sell you on the idea of bookmarking hyperlinks, point you at other folks who are doing the same, and tell you why this is a good thing.""

Cellphedia, a SMS Social Network Service 88

Roland Piquepaille writes "Based on ideas taken from Wikipedia and dodgeball, Cellphedia allows its members to broadcast questions to its community and receive answers, using SMS text messaging on cell phones. Here is how it works, according to "Cellphedia Melds Facts with Mobile Smart Mobs" from E-Commerce Times. First, you register for free on the site and you indicate your subjects of interest. If you want to ask a question, it is sent to all the members who expressed interest in this particular subject. Finally, the first answer received by Cellphedia is sent back to you. This means that later answers, which could have been more accurate, are discarded. But this service is still very young and its creator is working hard to improve it. Read more for some examples of questions and answers stored on the Cellphedia central server."
Hardware Hacking

Linux Clustering Hardware? 201

Kanagawa asks: "The last few years have seen a slew of new Linux clustering and blade-server hardware solutions; they're being offered by the likes of HP, IBM, and smaller companies like Penguin Computing. We've been using the HP gear for awhile with mixed results and have decided to re-evaluate other solutions. We can't help but notice that the Google gear in our co-lo appears to be off-the-shelf motherboards screwed to aluminum shelves. So, it's making us curious. What have Slashdot's famed readers found to be reliable and cost effective for clustering? Do you prefer blade server forms, white-box rack mount units, or high-end multi-CPU servers? And, most importantly, what do you look for when making a choice?"
Communications

Handling the General e-Mail in an Organization? 31

cheezycrust asks: "I'm part of a small organisation (four staff members, seven board members), and we get a lot of mail on our info@... email-address. Some of the questions are complex, and require input from several staff and/or board members. I'm looking for a way to track and handle these messages. It seems to be a combination of a bug tracking and a groupware system. It should be very simple to use, be platform-friendly (Windows, Mac, Pocket PC), and work on- and off-line (if I want to handle 50 messages on a train ride, this should be possible). I have a preference for free software, but the administration of the software itself should not take too much time. What solutions have you used in your organisation?"
Communications

Cellular Phone Programming Guides? 25

cainpitt asks: "I work for a small telecommunications company that activates the three major types of cellphones, CDMA, TDMA and GSM as a reseller for the major carriers. We activate old phones and we sometimes need to check them for compatibility and programming instructions. We've been using an application named Cellurom from Bishop and Associates for a few years now. This application had information from almost every manufacturer and every phone sold in the U.S. However, we just found out they will no longer be updating Cellurom with new phones. Does the Slashdot community know of subscription-based software that can provide programming and operating instructions for cell phones?"
The Courts

Using Wikis to Catch Outdated and Bad Laws? 137

Mick Ohrberg asks: "While listening to NPR this morning, I heard about the ridiculous law, passed in 1675, that orders the arrest of all American Indians entering Boston, and just now, 330 years later, is ready to be repealed. There are a LOT of really outdated and/or inappropriate laws out there; would an 'open' Wiki-style approach to law-making (with appropriate supervision, of course) be able to catch more of these 'bad' laws? Should the law-makers be able to keep track of all these laws, or are the number of laws simply too large for that relatively small group of people to keep track of? The more and more outdated copyright laws also come to mind as an area that could stand some more scrutiny."
Emulation (Games)

Your DIY Arcade Machine? 67

astro_ripper asks: "I'm looking into building my own MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), and for the most part the equipment and know-how to build one can be found via our good friend Google. However, the number of webpages dedicated to showing off complete machines or other gaming hardware hacks (turning an XBox into a full MAME, for example) are a little lacking. My guess is that if any group is going to have a decent amount of gaming hardware hackers, it's going to be Slashdot, so I ask you all: What type of custom gaming rigs have you built?"
Networking

Search Engines for Your Intranet or Small Business? 29

coreboarder asks: "Google recently revamped their nifty little Google Mini. It now does 100,000 documents of 220 different formats, makes your bed, and pours your beer. Where I work we have a reasonably large amount of technical data files (~80,000) of varying formats stored on a number of Windows 2000 and 2003 servers. File access is handled by permissions on the containing folder(s). Over time duplication has crept in because people cannot find what they need where they expect it to be. The $3,000 price point on the Google Mini is very attractive but is their a better way of making files and their content easily findable on a 1000 node network while still retaining their security? We also use ht://dig but it cannot handle all the file formats that would be involved here."
Education

How Valuable is a Minor in Computer Science? 93

DenmaFat asks: "I'm an IT person finally finishing my BA (in Psych) at a big state U. For a few dollars (and about a semester) more, I can also minor in CS. I'll probably do it anyway, because I love the subject matter, but I'm wondering what the value of a CS minor is in the job market. Are there any CS minor holders who can speak from experience on this one?"
Biotech

Burnout and Depression Among IT Workers? 216

Cultural Sublimation asks: "All of us working in IT seem to be especially prone to problems like burnout and depression. Could part of the reason be directly related to our professions? Recently, there have been a number of interesting features on Kuro5hin which have focused precisely on this issue. From people claiming that " The Internet Is Driving Me Crazy", to an in-depth two-part series trying to demystify depression, the message is that too much information might be making us sick. What are the experiences of fellow Slashdot readers on this topic?"
Software

An Open Source Alternative to Blackboard? 84

mandrake*rpgdx asks: "The college I work for is looking into creating an all in one online system for teachers and students to be able to take tests, give online courses and do other daily tasks. They are currently looking into the Blackboard system. Is there an FOSS alternative that I could suggest using at their next meeting?"
X

Figuring Out the Font System on Linux Desktops? 51

koreth asks: "Last year I switched to Debian sarge on my office desktop machine. For the most part it's been great, but I can't seem to wrap my brain around fonts. For example, my favorite programming font is Sheldon Narrow. After running it through a few conversion tools and copying it to various font directories, I was able to start using it in xterm. But no sign of it in Konsole, despite running it through KDE's font installer tool. A few times I've installed new fonts that appear in the font lists of GNOME apps but not KDE apps or vice versa, and it's unclear to me how either environment's fonts interact with what I see when I run 'xlsfonts'. I have yet to find any documentation describing how either GNOME or KDE decides which fonts it likes. And then there's Debian's 'defoma', which seems to interact with everything somehow. Are there any good resources out there for learning what's going on under the hood of a modern Linux desktop environment's font subsystem?"

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