Roger Cox asks: "You've probably seen them in the 'cheap cd' section at your local store. They are all over the place anymore. Box Sets. CDs/DVDs in a nicely designed 'box'. I happen to work for a music group overseas who has out 5 full length albums out in the US. With the band's permission I was given the ok to put the 5 releases in a box set format. Despite how readily available box sets appear to be at stores, where does one go online to get pricing for such a box. Almost an entire week of researching this with search engines has turned up nothing but junk. The problem is 'box' appears to be widely associated with cardboard shipping boxes, which also are available to be 'custom printed'. I figure if I can buy a 2 DVD box set of the Little Rascals at Walmart for $5.88, it should not be this hard to find a source to do the packaging. Any pointers?"

sennomo asks: "Years ago, I was told that I needed a degree to get a programming job anymore. So, I went to college. A couple of years and thousands of dollars later, there was still no job for me, in spite of my all-powerful B.A. in C.S. The most common explanation I get is that jobs are being exported out of the country. So, I've decided to export myself. Moving to higher ground, so to speak. I have heard a few others discuss this, but how many are actually trying it? And how is it going for them? Are there any hotspots for American expatriate programmers?"

vonFinkelstien asks: "I have written an adolescent novel and am having trouble getting it published. I have recently started looking at self-publishing, print-on-demand firms like Trafford or the many listed at pdfcreator. Trafford looks legitimate and offers a discount for those who do the layout themselves (I would use LaTeX). But the 'Bestseller Package' (which offers some promotional support) still costs $1399 when you create the layout yourself. Are such services worth the high initial cost ($500-$2000)? If any of you could give your experiences with or advice about these companies, I and other aspiring authors would be grateful."

Bombcar asks: "I'm going to be installing an EPIA mainboard in my car, using a DC-DC power supply. It is mainly for playing music, but it has the potential for so much more. I know I can get LCD displays, and I know that various sensors are made for automobiles, but I want to combine both these with the computer. Most car sensors are analog, so does anyone know of an easy way to interface with analog (and perhaps some digital) sensors? Anything used would have to be able to stand up to the rigors of automobile use. The EPIA board has 4 serial ports, a parallel port, and some USB ports, along with a PCI slot. I plan to use this for display purposes only (not control any important vehicle functions), but am also leaning towards some 'fun' improvements, such as playing certain songs when the pedal is floored."

peoria kid asks: "Does anybody know how to compare the firewall effectiveness between the different providers of 802.11g networking solutions? I am considering purchasing a base station for my parents and I do not know if the Apple Airport base station or others such as Lynksys, or Lucent have better encryption and firewall protection."

Rylor asks: "A couple of years ago I bought the Samsung 300NP cell phone, which has a GPS feature that I can turn on or off. The primary purpose is to meet the Emergency 911 calling requirements laid out by the FCC. I've checked the manual several times and it only says that I can use the GPS feature for anything service I want, but that's it. Sprint doesn't offer anything else about it. So my question to Slashdot: if you have a cellphone with this feature, what cool ways are you using it?"

yeremein asks: "After yet another black ink cartridge has fizzled out, I've decided that it's time to stop giving money to a known DMCA abuser and buy a new printer. Since I'm fed up with the clogged jets and drifting print head misalignment, not to mention the exorbitant cost of ink cartridges, I'd like to go with a laser printer this time around. It doesn't have to be a high duty cycle one, since it's for home use and I only print maybe 100 pages per month. And black only is fine. Any suggestions for an inexpensive laser that is Linux friendly, and does not employ any 'smart chip' technology that would prevent the toner cartridge from being refilled or cause it to 'expire' and stop working at a certain date regardless of the toner level?"

rhetoric asks: "I work in valet parking, and I got an iRiver unit for Christmas. This is great because I can listen to music in one ear while parking cars or in both ears while idle, and with the right headphones, no one can tell I'm wearing them underneath my coat and hat. The problem is that the iRiver headphone cord is horribly short and poorly proportioned, and the headphones are rather uncomfortable. Could anyone recommend some comfortable yet small headphones that wrap around the back of the head, so that the cord can go down the back of one's neck?"

scorp1us asks: "Every year on the 1st of January, I start a new set of folders for storing my bills. Generally, I keep everything divided up by account. But this seems to take too long. I wait 3-6 months and get a big pile nad have to go about sorting it. I have been considering a per-month scheme - all bills go to one folder, each month. With all the CS people out there studying sorting algorithms, has anyone found a better approach?"

niko9 asks: "I am a Linux user who lives in an all Linux household. I build all my Linux boxes from components that I know will play nice with Linux. I was recently contemplating building a box with a Tyan Tiger K8W dual-Opteron motherboard, as the original BIOS did not provide support for the built-in Intel Gigabit NIC. Tyan has since released a BIOS revision, but the instructions for flashing the BIOS explicitly state that you need a Windows 95/98 boot disk. As someone who doesn't know anyone who runs Windows 98, nor do I own any copies of any Microsoft operating system, how does someone complete the delicate task of a BIOS upgrade? Wasn't Windows 98 recently retired? An email to Tyan's tech support has so far not yielded any response. When will motherboard manufacturers realize that upgrading your BIOS is better off being a neutral OS event? Does anyone know of any motherboard maker that doesn't require a specific OS to flash a BIOS?" A simple solution is to not fight the requirement. Windows and DOS bootdisks are readily available on the Internet, and all you need to do is grab a floppy, write the image to it, and put it in a safe place for such occasions. The gist of the question is still valid, however: what will it take to get BIOS manufacturers to make an OS neutral BIOS upgrade path?

gsperling asks: "As Windows licensing costs are gradually increasing, and options for those licenses are decreasing, I am forced to investigate Windows alternatives. I am trying to begin rolling out Linux as an alternative desktop solution to my enterprise. I am an IT Manager for a company of approximately 65 users. We are incorporating a second company into ours in the next six months, and that 65 number will grow to well over 150. This is a solution that I need to start working on TODAY. We currently have a Windows 2000 Server. It is primarily used as a file and printer sharing server, along with maintaining all of the user accounts domain-wide. I would like to know how it is possible to get a Linux Workstation to authenticate against the user database in our Windows 2000 Server. I have exhaustively Google'd, read thousands of mailing list archives, and have still come up short. After I receive my results, I plan on publishing a whitepaper on how this is done, of course giving credit where credit is due." For those of you using Linux in the Enterprise, how have you managed to get Windows to play nice with any Linux boxen in your domain?

erikharrison asks: "LormaLinux is one of several emerging desktop oriented Linux distros. It comes prepackaged with the Flash Plugin, Real Player, and Yahoo IM. Is this legal? The Flash EUL agreement does allow free redistribution, but only of the Mac and Windows version, I can't seem to find a EULA for Linux version of Real Player, and can't even find the Linux version of YIM to check for licence issues. Do these distros know something I don't? And if not, am I only going to cause grief if I go to the software OEM and ask for a redistributable licence for my own project?"