Programming

OSS from Non-Developers for Non-Developers? 45

Posted by Cliff from the open-source-from-all-kinds dept.
chrisatslashdot asks: "By training and title I am a Mechanical Engineer. I have never been involved with any serious software development although I am competent to develop quality code. Because the company that I work for will not purchase a canned software package, I am developing a web based CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System). I GPLed the project and put it on SourceForge hoping to help other people in my situation. The project is attracting much more attention than I anticipated. I have observed the development of many OSS projects but almost all of these have been by developers, targeted to developers. So what advice can you give a novice software developer on managing an open source project? What dangers and pitfalls await me? How does one foster more developer involvement? What resources should I exploit to keep from screwing this project up?"
Education

How Many Readers Speak Esperanto? 219

Posted by Cliff from the tongue-tied-polyglot dept.
lifebouy asks: "I just read a story about a high school that teaches Esperanto. I've noticed the majority of Esperantists I have met are IT professionals, perhaps because it nurtures our need to explore new things. So I was wondering, how many Slashdot readers speak Esperanto? Has anyone else noticed the high rate of IT Esperantists?"
Education

Non-Technological Ways to Combat Cheating? 191

Posted by Cliff from the keeping-'em-honest dept.
blackcoot asks: "I'm currently T.A.ing for a required senior level class in algorithms. Having just graded the latest set of homework, I'm amused / sickened (can't make up my mind on that one) at the level of cheating. Slashdot has covered automated cheating detection in the past here and here, but I'm hoping to find some (necessarily nontech) ways of encouraging students to be a bit more honest (or at least a little less spectacularly stupid in how they cheat). I've been reporting the cheating as I've found it to the relevant profs, but it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect. Any suggestions?"
Handhelds

Good PDA Wi-Fi Signal Strength Locator? 48

Posted by Cliff from the tricorders-of-the-21st-century dept.
Tark asks: "I have been tasked with creating a reliable, portable 802.11b signal strength indicator. I have looked over various PDA's, and have narrowed it down to two: the Sharp's Zaurus 5500 Linux PDA, and the HP iPAQ 2215 Pocket PC. I have chosen these due to the fact they both support cf and sd slots. Which of these 2 PDA's will provide a reliable solution for detecting an 802.11b signal, and which wi-fi card should I use with the PDA? Also, is there a CompactFlash wi-fi card that supports a external antenna connection?"
Printer

Networked Printing on a DI-707P Router? 45

Posted by Cliff from the fixing-the-problem dept.
Feztaa asks: "I've recently purchased a D-Link DI-707P wired router, which comes equipped with a parallel port, so that you can share your printer with all computers on the local network without having to rely on somebody's computer to be on for the printer to work. Unfortunately, the router only ships with print drivers for windows. The D-Link support website basically says 'for Linux printing support, go ask the Open Source community'. I've been googling for the past few days, but most searches that include 'DI-707P' just return sites trying to sell me one. Here's what I know so far: The router's web-based config system provides no configuration for the printer, it just tells me if there's a printer plugged in and turned on or not. I portscanned the router and found that port 515 is open. I know that's LPD, but I don't know how to configure that on my system. I'm using Red Hat 9, and the GUI tools will allow me to configure a networked printer using LPD, but I can't get the thing to actually print (it asks for the IP of the printer and the name queue; I don't know how to find out the name of the queue). The printer I'm using is a BJC-250. I've had absolutely no trouble printing on this printer when it was plugged into my parallel port, so I know the printer works fine. Does anybody have any experience with this router (or similar D-Link routers), and if so, what did you have to do to get your Linux system printing with it?"
Security

Designing a Security Lab? 33

Posted by Cliff from the building-a-hackers-playground dept.
RanmaPlex asks: "I've been asked by a university professor to design a network security lab for use by about 15 students. Designing a course was asked earlier, but little info was discussed on equipment. It needs to be vendor independent if possible. I've got ideas on using virtual machines, patches, IDS, firewalls/vpn and sniffers but would like to know what the Slashdot community can come up with."
The Internet

Writing Good Network Documentation? 41

Posted by Cliff from the technical-writing dept.
_Hellfire_ asks: "As the Senior Technician at a small mobile computing service I have just recently wrapped up a rather large networking job. The network includes a Linux Primary Domain Controller, Cisco router, port redirection for VNC, tape backup solution etc. - all in all fairly complex and not the sort of thing that someone not already familiar could easily take over. I therefore want to write good, comprehensive documentation for other technicians in case I'm not specifically available. How have other Slashdotters tackled this issue? Where do you start? How do you make sure that everything is covered, particularly when you've spent the last three weeks looking at the same set of equipment?"
Toys

Toys for Transport? 97

Posted by Cliff from the handy-ways-to-get-around-town dept.
EvilCabbage asks: "Let's imagine I have a distance to travel to get to my office. Much of this is done on a train line, but there is a distance of around 10klm (aprox 6.2miles) from my home to this train station. A little too far to walk, but not quite far enough to justify use of my car every day. Fortunately, the Segway isn't on my shopping list. I'm wondering what parambulating devices are available to make this journey a little easier, without turning the key in my car. Bicycles are generally too large to carry on the train, and couldn't be left in my office all day. I've seen some scooters that fold to rather small sizes (perfect for lugging to the office and back), but are these things still for kids? What small urban transport devices are fellow Slashdot readers using (assuming we are still going outside)? What can you recommend and what won't cost me an arm and a leg to run?"
Software

Top 10 Software Titles Every Home PC Needs? 936

Posted by Cliff from the stuff-to-talk-about dept.
eabell asks: "I'm buying a new mid-grade laptop computer, which I plan to dual-boot between Windows XP Home and Mandrake 9.x. Before its arrival in a few weeks I'm trying to think of what 'essential' software I'll need to make a usable home system. In general I'd like to spend as little money as possible (free is good). As far as my needs, think 'typical family PC' without an emphasis on gaming. I know I can get something like Open Office for word processing, presentation, etc. needs, but is there such a good thing as a good free virus checker? A good free email client? A handy web browser? What would you consider the top 10 (or so) pieces of software for a new home system, bearing in mind that I need software for both the Windows and Linux side of things?"

MS Patents IM Feature Used Since At Least 1996 524

Posted by timothy from the uspto's-perverse-incentives dept.
splorp! writes "Once again, a company is patenting a feature that another company implemented years before. C|Net's News.com reports that patent no. 6,631,412 grants Microsoft the rights to 'an instant messaging feature that notifies users when the person they are communicating with is typing a message.' Excuse me? Does anyone remember Powwow (now defunct)? I remember using that one back in '96 and it alerted the other people to whom you were chatting that you were typing. Or, alternately, it allowed you to SEE the other people typing in real time. Yeah, Powwow is gone, now, but that doesn't mean those features never existed."
The Internet

How are Your SMTP Timeouts Configured? 61

Posted by Cliff from the your-mileage-may-vary dept.
Asprin asks: "One of the employees at work had a major headache because a very important email was undeliverable for more than 24 hours. Sure, he got an warning from our server about it, but only after an entire day had passed, and the email was no longer timely. Therefore, I shorted the message handling timeouts to send 'delivery delayed' warnings after 30 minutes and to cancel the message as undeliverable after four hours. Now, I don't expect any of the other mail administrators here to bless these timeouts because they're way too short. HOWEVER, the truth is that my users rely on email to be as reliable as telephone messages, and if it can't be delivered immediately, it is better to reject it outright and alert the user so that other communication channels can be exploited such as fax or Fed-Ex. Is anyone else doing this? Are there any non-obvious ramifications lurking? Pros? Cons? Comments? Should we all reduce these timeouts on our SMTP servers?"
Graphics

What is a CAVE Good For? 54

Posted by Cliff from the searching-for-the-killer-app dept.
ynakai asks: "Today, I had the fortune to be allowed to play with demo applications in a CAVE. This technology is stunning, but what is the killer app? A staffer said that despite the potential use as a teaching tool for medical students, the system is rarely used now except by digital artists (who admittedly create some stunning experiences - try the VRML versions of some). Surely Slashdot can think up better ways to make use of a multimillion dollar room of fully immersive 3D interaction, besides FPS games?"
Privacy

Ultimate Caller ID Screeners? 57

Posted by Cliff from the keeping-the-riff-raff-off-of-your-lines dept.
omasse asks: "I'm sick of telemarketing. Really sick. And since I'm in Canada, the new U.S. telemarketing law won't change a thing for me. The only easy solution is a technological one, and it ought to be fully transparent: No phone in my house should ring at all if it's an undesired call, and friends and family should not have to enter a 5-digit code to make them ring. To my knowledge, the only gadget that could do this is a sharp filter based on caller ID that I plug in my main phone drop. But Digitone's Caller ID Screener has been announced some time ago, there are no guarantees they'll meet their fall 2003 deadline, and I would prefer having a few products to chose from. There's been a discussion here once on a DIY home PBX system but that's way, way overkill for me. Could anyone tell me what are the ultimate Caller ID Screeners?"
Hardware

Horizontal or Vertical Server Architecture? 45

Posted by Cliff from the how-do-you-configuring-your-iron dept.
zetes asks: "For a while now I have been a supporter of a horizontal server architecture/environment, where one server does one and only one thing and a business/department would then have numerous servers. This way if a service needs to go down (especially in a Windows Server environment), nothing else is affected. However, due to the rising importance of security in the last couple of years, I have decided that having fewer servers is both easier to manage and update and also provides fewer points of entry for hackers or virus writers. I am not going to a purely vertical architecture, where everything is on one server, but more of a hybrid (down from 10-12 servers to around 5). So what I am asking you all today is what you prefer to support or manage? One or the other, or a hybrid? And does the operating system or particular service(s) dictate this architecture to a certain extent?"
Data Storage

Securing Files in a Hostile Workplace? 88

Posted by Cliff from the for-authorized-eyes-only dept.
lockdown asks: "How do I secure the files used in my department? I work in an engineering department and I've been tasked with securing our electronic files. We are a likely target of pirates, both internal and external. The 'resale' value of our files is very large. Attackers would be interested in selling our files or just posting them publicly for bragging rights. While I trust our engineers, many of whom have been here over 10 years, we do have many short-timers and temps in other departments. Worst of all, our IT department is clueless and even hostile to our efforts. (They are proud that, 'our network is so outdated that it can't be hacked.') How do I came up with a way to secure our files in a hostile environment and still get our work done?"

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