An anonymous reader sent a link to a site that has lots of nifty bits on how to build a water cooler to keep your CPU nice and cool while you clock the hell out of it. Nice intro page to the subject too.

KoNfUzEd writes "EETimes has this artcile about how 2 artists have possibly solved, cheaply, how to display 3D images without glasses and with almost no additional cost to existing LCD screens. " I'm pretty sure we mentioned this before, but this is a nice followup piece. I think this would be great. But I think I have a 3d fettish.

Kris_J writes "Bilbo Innovations produce a set of pedals that plug in between your keyboard and PC. They are used to emulate keystrokes - the default is CTRL, ALT & SHIFT, but they'll do lots more than that. " Maybe its just my aching wrists, but I'm beginning to wonder more and more about things like this. Are pedals a good idea for ergonomics? Anyone tried it? Will it work under Linux?

cowboy_6th writes "It's far from anything the impressionists did, but their paintings didn't make a whirling noise or violate FCC regulations... check out eMonet . " Nice. Looks like most of my old sculpture projects.

hal-j writes "check out this link for pictures of the new Palm V. They seem to be legit, as they jive with most of what I've heard about this unit (both officially and unofficially). Some interesting features include an enhanced screen, and 2 stylus silos. " My old Palm Pro keeps looking more and more old fashioned. Darn technology.

Several folks wrote in to tell us that 3dfx has announced the Voodoo3 boards. The 2D/3D combo card can do 8 million triangles per second but has no 32-bit rendering. To bad 3d support under Linux still sucks. Quake would be smooth. I figure between Mesa and xig that should change this year. Standard 3d will make modern games much easier on Linux. I think Diablo 2 is coming soon... that would be a swell port.

sumC writes "Those ORB drives are finaly shipping according to their manufacturer " This distributor's website appears to have them. I tried to phone them, but they're closed for lunch...

One of the big stories of 1998 was the impact of ultracheap computers. The marketshare of computers which had stayed firmly stuck around 40% of US-households increased to 50%. Similarly Intel's market share collapsed in the mail-order and retail PC market: 75% of overall unit sales in the 1997 fourth quarter to about 49.5% in the most recent period. The cheapest computers reveal a trend of making money off services rather than hardware, with an associated lack of choice (don't expect to run Linux on these things): $300 PCs are shipping in France but you must use a specific ISP, zero-cost PCs are available if you agree to being bombarded by adverts even if you are not online (remember 1984: the TV things were always on), and finally zero-cost iMacs are available if you pledge to spend 3600 dollars over 3 years at some online mall. Moreover, the cost has already hit the industry: AMD is hurting while system development of Tier 1 manufacturers is leaving the US, being done instead by contract manufacturers in countries where electronics labour costs are less than a buck an hour. More people on the internet may be good, but at what cost?

bradburn asks: "I'm in the market for buying a new computer and I want a machine with Linux and have it properly configured. I'm thinking about buying a computer from either Penguin Computing or VAresearch but I've not seen any reviews on them. Has anybody had problems with them? How easy are they to deal with? Are there other companies which preload linux I should consider looking into?" Whoa! A whole barrel full of questions? Anyone care to answer?

GPS Pilot tracked down some info on PPC Motherboards. "An article on eeNN describes some motherboards that Motorola recently released. They'll fit in a standard PC case thanks to the ATX form factor. They are CHRP- and PReP-compliant. The MTX604-070 has dual 333 MHz processors, dual 100 base-T ethernet, and fast&wide SCSI. More info can be found here. They can be purchased from Avnet Electronics Marketing, (800) 332-8638 (specify "Motorola Computer" as the manufacturer, not just "Motorola"). Or buy direct from Motorola here." Who needs Apple?

An anonymous reader submitted a stream of obscenities, but amidst them was a link to this page which is a sweet heat sink- in fact, it actually was able to accumulate a quarter inch of frost. Could be useful with Intel's track record of releasing chips that can double as microwave ovens.

Dr. Damage writes "Ars Technica has just published an article entitled Clocking and locking the Pentium II. The article looks at exactly how PCs generate and control CPU clock speeds and how Intel locked the bus multiplier in the PII. It's also got some tech explanations and speculation about the possibilities for bus locking the PII/PIII architecture to prevent overclocking. "

Christopher Neufeld writes "New Scientist maganize reports this week on a company designing a 3D vision system which uses a modified LCD flatscreen. The two images are interlaced on the screen, and a holographic lens directs the light from alternating rows to different eyes. "

Arto Stimms sent us a rather nice compilation of facts and tidbits about the G4 processor, aka Max. Main features: Altivec, MERSI SMP, 2Mb L2, and a 128 bit data path running at 100Mhz. At 1.8 Volts, a 400Mhz G4 will only consume 8 Watts.

Rick Crain writes "I've seen a lot of articles on /. about alternate and custom case designs. People who like that sort of thing should check out Luddite Industries. " This page also wins my newly instantiated award for "Most Obnoxious use of Layers". I wish they had better pictures, but a mahogany case might be kinda cool.

An anonymous reader sent us a good review of those SGI Visual Workstations that we all want to reformat and stick Linux on. The review is that its a solid, and even superior NT machine. Wonder what sort of Linux box it'll make. I volunteer to test it! (Along with I bet just about anyone else who reads this page)

Jim sends in this intriguing question: "I have a Dell notebook with a docking station. Does Linux need to know that I use a docking station? If not, do I configure Xwindows for my LCD screen or for the monitor on the docking station? Or does Xwindows support multiple hardware configurations?"

Bruce Linley sent in this rather interesting question: "Whether it's an MP3 player or a GPS navigation system, what hardware is best suited for use in an automobile based PC? Hard drives must be tolerant of excessive vibration; the CPU must operate locked in a trunk where temperatures can reach 100C or -50C and where there is poor ventilation. The 12V power in the car may be somewhat dirty and variable. I/O cables may be subject to noise in long runs...and so on. Help me pick the components for the most rugged and reliable automotive PC!" Man! I would love to do something like this also! Comments, folks?

Wirehead writes "VeloTrend BikeBrain is a new class of bicycle computer that incorporates graphical displays, route directions, dynamic logging and smart features such as automatic wheel size calibration into a multi-use, hand-held and handlebar mounted computer. It is designed for use with 3Com's Palm series of personal organizers. " Cute. Although I suppose you have to go outside to use it.

mindedc writes "ITU makes a small module that takes text from an RS-232 serial connection and displays it on NTSC. It can also overlay an existing video signal... It would make a nice menu for a dedicated stereo rack MP3 Player! They also have a cool Caller ID > RS-232 widget.. Just need a WM dock APP to recieve caller id now." Interesting toy. Especially dig the BASIC example code.