Linuxthess asks: "I work in a small company with only 20 or so employees. Being the most tech-savvy of them I find myself doing less work as a salesman, and more as their non-paid tech support. I was asked for a solution to create a domain for login authentication, a DHCP server, a webserver, file & printer services, and e-mail. I found three such companies with an inexpensive, yet solid products aimed at what we need: one is Celestix with their Aries and Taurus products; there is a company in Chicago called Dartek which sell a custom-built box called iMass which comes in three flavors; and lastly a company in Canada named Net Integration Technologies Inc who has a box named Net Integrator that is available in various flavors. Does anyone have experience in regard to these solutions? I think we will go along with the Taurus, but I want to hear a little more regarding the quality of doing this job inexpensively (these things start from $800 and go until $3000). I spoke with a tech-support guy, and he told me customers buy a couple of these since they're so cheap for redundancy, and clustering."

Baloo Ursidae writes "In the spirit of the case window kit and the clear PC case, there are people who have made hard drive windows, and apparently they're not alone." That ladies and gentlemen, takes balls.

EconolineCrush writes: "NVIDIA has finally revealed its GeForce4 Titanium and MX graphics processors. Tom's Hardware has a some benchmarks comparing the new offerings to current products, and the results are pretty interesting. Meanwhile, The Tech Report does an excellent job cutting through the hype with an examination of each new chip's features. Both articles are well worth reading to get the full story on the latest from NVIDIA."

cybercyst asks: "I've been having a problem with this for quite some time, and thought it was just me -- until two good friends of mine experienced the same problem. What we are experiencing is best described as a time-skew: our system time is apparently jumping forward an hour, and then returning to normal. It repeats this multiple times, and as far as I can tell only a reboot is any sort of remedy for this, albeit a temporary one. As you can imagine this causes all sorts of problems (under windows managers xscreensaver is always popping up -- in fact as I wrote this, the screensaver has come on over 10 times, negative fps in OpenGL programs, extremely large ping times, and so forth)."

An Anonymous Coward writes: "Remember when dot.com's were profitable and webpads were these cool little toys that were going to explode? Well that never happened but it seems like at least one company has actually come out with a Midori Linux webpad...called the Aquapad - looks kind of cool but only uses flash memory, so no storage :( I don't know if it would really be worth getting, but it looks like fun."

Propane sent in an excerpt from Palm's Palm OS 5.0 Preview "Palm OS 5, the latest version of the world's leading mobile platform, redefines market expectations and creates new opportunities for licensees, for developers, and for end users. In addition to supporting ARM®-compliant processors from industry leaders Intel, Motorola, and Texas Instruments, Palm OS 5 also enhances multimedia capabilities, incorporates a suite of robust security options, and expands support for wireless connections. In providing these new capabilities, Palm OS 5 builds a foundation for the future of mobile computing while also maintaining compatibility with existing software. "

zilym writes "Think about a class of portable devices that include storage space, wireless networking (ala 802.11b), and user loadable Software. For these devices, why not implement a protocol for adhoc, wireless data sharing (Pocket P2P)? This is what I'm imagining... Lots of people carry around Pocket P2P devices hidden in their car, backpack, purse, pocket, handglider, whatever. Normally these devices stay half dormant, listening to see if another Pocket P2P device is in range. When one or more Pocket P2P's get within range of each other, they automatically trade their data store with each other." This is a keen glance at the future with enormous consequences -- unless copyright law is drastically extended, a clever hardware hack a decade from now could be the Model A to Napster's Model T. Are we living in the ten-year bubble before the collapse of entertainment media copy prevention?

Red Rocket asks: "There's no shortage of information on building special-purpose PCs. Water-cooled PCs, refrigerated PCs, overclocked monsters, quiet PCs, tiny PCs... it's all there. But there seems to be little info about building a PC that sips the minimum juice from the power grid. So I'd like to throw it out to the Slashdot throng to see what you've done." It would seem like a PC with a low power consumption would be an interesting selling point, especially for those people who are more concerned with something other than high clock speeds. Is there someone marketing a low-powered PC solution (CPU and monitor), if not how difficult and at what expense would it cost to build one?

razzer writes: "The PsiLinux.org team have worked magic with getting Linux to squeeze into its new home of portable computers. Thanks to the falling prices in hardware the PSION 5mx is the most powerful, cheapest and smallest way to carry your best friend Tux in your pocket. Something no geek should leave home without. But now its gone one step further, check out http://thomas.de-ruiter.cx/projects/psion which is Tader's site. You really need to see these PicoGUI ( http://www.picogui.org/ ) screenshots. The best one has got to be this one which shows the oustandingly attractive aqua theme."

timothy asks: "Since I like to visit friends and family, yet still be able to access the internet without hurting -their- access, I have purchased an all-in-one Linksys NAT box which combines firewall, NAT, 4-port switch, and 802.11b access in one cute little box. That's great when staying with people who have an ethernet network, but doesn't work for dialup. More and more people have DSL or cable, but Motel6 is still POTS! ;)"

Emous Pratt writes: "There is a neat article up on iMacLinux.net which talks you through separating the monitor and computer parts of the iMac. It is very detailed, with lots of cool screenshots including this one of the completed machine, and this one showing the machine is still working. This is useful if you want to run Linux and not run the monitor, or if your monitor is broken." Update: 02/03 19:37 GMT by T : Note for the curious: this is about the old iMac (CRT equipped), not the new lampish G4 variety.

twilightzero writes: "I was at the Rochester Area Builders' Home Show (Rochester, MN) today and ran across what looks to be first actually useful and practical computer appliance I've ever seen. Called the iCEBOX, it mounts under your cupboard or sits on your countertop, but I found the under the cupboard model much more attractive. It includes an LCD display on a tilt/swivel mount that locks up out of the way to protect the screen, a DVD drive and with DVD software so you can watch movies or listen to cd's while cooking, cable ready 125 channel tv receiver, and the ability to act as a remote monitor for a camera (as in a baby's room or the front door), useful for all you X-10 owners. But the best touch, IMHO, is the spillproof, shockproof, greaseproof, and washable wireless keyboard that comes with it, an absolute necessity for the kitchen. It also includes a modem and NIC and says it's compatible with any dialup or broadband service that doesn't require the downloading of software (i.e. prodigy yes, AOL no). There's no mention on the website about the hardware or software that it's running but with its name I might assume it's running Windows CE or Pocket PC...not sure though, since it also says it's not compatible with MSN. I'm thinking about redoing my kitchen sometime soon, I might have to put one of these on the list for installation ..."

Anonymous Coward writes "I just started working for a startup that is developing a new product, which is going to have software bundled with hardware. Our company outsourced the hardware and firmware development. I reviewed the hardware product requirements and I noticed that the hardware will not support firmware upgrades from the PC. I am concerned that once we ship the product, bugs or interoperability issues will appear in the field and we won't have anyway to fix the problem short of a product recall. I have some of the management team convinced we need to change this requirement but not the person who has the authority to make the change. I'm looking for examples of past companies that got bit by a similar mistake and any other items that will help me convince the decision maker." Nobody is perfect, so why do we assume that we can design hardware that is? If it's one thing that our current experiences with software have shown it's that sometimes, an applications may take more than one version before it is perfect. Before, our ability to change hardware coding made getting perfect products out the door important, because recalls were expensive. Today, we have smarter hardware, which can be relatively simple to update. The cost of recalls, however, have not changed. So for what reason would a hardware company balk at making the need for a recall a thing of the past?

FreeBSD-RockS writes: "Panasonic released a desktop PC called Panacom LC/W with two 15-inch (1024x768) LCD monitors arranged side by side. The LCD screens can be arranged so that they can be used either in a portrait or a landscape form. The new model will be put on sale on March 8 and the retail price through direct marketing is around $2000 USD."

securitas writes: "The NY Times has a feature on using microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) in cell phones to replace bulky passive components like the filters, resonators and duplexers that make up most of the size of today's phones. In theory, they say, you could have a cell phone in a ring on your finger. Besides making everyone seem like James Bond, a ring-phone would give new meaning to the phrase 'Talk to the hand.'"

BigJim.fr writes: "Mobile operators envision the handset as the ultimate closed platform providing an opportunity to regain end to end control over content distribution. Right to replay from Total Telecom provides insight into how they imagine user-hostile digital right management systems in the near future." Excellent article.

An anonymous reader writes: "Running out of space on your local disk? How about a Terabyte array for only a few thousand dollars. This article at KCGeek.com shows how to put together 1000 Gigs of hard drive space for the cost of a few desktop computers." I could rip my entire anime collection for instant access! Rip all my CDs and still have .9 Terabytes left! Maybe Mirror Usenet! I guess the simple truth is that now that 100 gig drives are a couple hundred bucks, we now have the ability to store anything we reasonably could need (unless you define "Reasonable" as "I need to store DNA Sequences").

d_m_i_t_r_i asks: "As a laptop-toting college student, I'm very interested in just how much abuse my laptop can stand up to. Just how many pounds of books can I stack on it? How hard can I bang the corner, before it will cave in? Things like that. Does anyone review the cases of laptops for their structural integrity? Are there any sort of statistics out there of things like strength tests, dropping from a height, etc?"

StandardDeviant asks: "What would be good resources for a programmer looking to start a hobby in hardware hacking? By that I mean circuits, microcontrollers, computer controlled hacks, and such...sort of like a hobby-level EE education. It's just this itch I've had recently to dig down to the other extreme of the 'tower of abstraction' they bleat about so much in CS, also I find it ironic that I know more about the math (Maxwell's laws, and so on) behind electric widgets than I do about using them to build things. I'd be interested in pointers to good websites, books, magazines, parts sources, you name it! As an example: I've been looking recently at the microcontroller/circuit stuff from Iguana Labs, and of course browsing through Radio Shack. Thanks!"

oolon asks: "I am in the market for a KVM switch, as my desk at home is really cluttered. Having never bought one before its hard to know which brands are best. Until recently it seems that most KVM switches didn't support 'large' resolutions, however there are new models that now claim such support: Belkin claims they support up to 2048x1536@85Hz @ 400MHz bandwidth on their SOHO range, for example. I only require output to one monitor, and a 4 host switch. The hosts under control will be a mix of PS2 and USB. Thought I don't require the hosts to share USB peripherals other than the keyboard and mouse. Naturally I want a switch that works with my 3 button Logitect mouse under Linux/XFree86, however most importantly I want the switch to support high resolutions, without ghosting, at a minimal resolution of 1600x1280 32bpp @ 85Hz. I am also interested in what cables I should use, brands etc, each host will need a run of 6 feet (preferably 10 feet is that possible at high resolutions?). The switch to monitor needs a minimal 3 feet run. As to price, I don't really want to spend more than 500UKP (750USD). Ideally I would prefer to a price all in of 2/3 that amount."