Robotron2084 writes "Just goes to show that the best animated tv show around has some of the savviest producers around. Futurama producer/co-writer David X. Cohen posted this message on alt.tv.futurama recently. Interesting tidbits for futurama addicts to munch on while we await the season premiere on Dec. 9th. David talks about the prestigious awards they've received, upcoming guest appearances, and the banned christmas episode. I guess the fox executives were a bit scared of 'kwanzabot' at first, but they'll finally be airing a double-Xmas dose on Dec. 23rd!!"

occam writes "Nagging question in gaming console industry seems to be whether MS will make its Xbox launch in fall (as promised). Knowing MS, it seems unlikely, especially since an unstable console isn't nearly as useful as an unstable office PC (with an army of IT heads running around to support it). Plus, despite the heavy-hitting nVidia hardware in the Xbox, every month is ground lost to the PS2 and potentially also the Nintendo Cube. Daily radar has a good piece on the hurdles (even) MS faces with its Xbox launch, and why they'll try like heck to make their fall date. The 7 reasons why Microsoft cannot afford to push back the launch of the Xbox. Ironically, release in time for Christmas is not mentioned! So, there's an 8th reason MS needs to release on time."

reptyle asks: "Over Xmas dinner, a friend of the family told us she was considering launching a partnership between her employer FNMA (colloquially known as Fannie Mae; they are a semi-private company that guarantees mortgages) and Microsoft to provide training and eventually, surplus hardware to private individuals and non-profit outfits. I lamented this choice and she suggested that I e-mail her names and URLs of companies as alternative recommendations. So far I have come up with: Debian, Red Hat (distributions), VA Linux, Penguin (hardware companies), and maybe a few non-profit advocacy groups, but I think the list is still a bit too short. I can't think of any other entities that might be appropriate so I figured I'd ask Slashdot readers for help in providing other organizations that I may have missed. I don't care whether the organization uses Linux or BSD, just as long as it's not a proprietary model."

cvbear0 writes: "You didn't get the laptop you wanted for Christmas, did you? Well, surf on over to the Linux Laptop SuperGuide. The guys from the Linux Hardware Database and ZDNet have build a list of Linux-friendly laptops. Users can also post their comments about their experiences with certain model. Send back those 15 sweaters you received, and find the Linux laptop of your dreams!" My wish is that power management under Linux would be fully supported. Getting four hours battery life under Windows and two hours under Linux is disappointing.

Gaming cheats like "Up, Up, Down, Down..." are techno-folklore, a universal introduction to people of the gaming era. Other generations told war stories or bragged about their sexual exploits. Gamers trade techniques and other lore -- early experiences, confrontations, conflicts, great exploits, cheats, tricks, myths, and legends. Gaming is moving so quickly that it's time to start building some gaming archives. What, for example, is the most addictive game, now or ever: Asheron's Call? Quake? Final Fantasy 8? Red Alert2? You can testify, brag, reminisce, and otherwise post your own gaming stories and experiences here. (And more below about some surprising new stats on Xmas game sales figures, and gender and gaming)

rubbadubdub writes: "OK, so the cat's outta the bag with the PS2 but SEGames is continuing their coverage and for those of you that were able to actually get a Playstation2, they've done a complete round-up of all the current games, which might be worth an Xmas list placement or not. It seems as though the launch titles, bar a couple of exceptions, aren't all that."

donpardo writes "The Furby has been successfully hacked and the money has been paid. (Here is the original /. story.) By Xmas a modified Furby should be on the way to the autistic child who inspired this. Kits are on the way."

Monday a whole bunch of people had questions for Mandrake, one of the heavies behind Enlightenment. Slashdot Moderators picked the best ones. We forwarded them, unedited, to Mandrake on Tuesday. His (excellent) answers appear below.

Xmas writes "Early breaking news? British officials report the seizing of a "military" satellite and a subsequent demand for money. At least the British government can admit to being cracked... and blackmailed...even if it took them two weeks to release the story. " The news story has no comment from the British Ministry of Defense, while Police refused to comment because of the sensitivty at this stage of the game. What is known is that the Brits have 4 such satellites, and the crackers reportedly "altered its course". I'll be watching to see if anything more develops with this-like more then an anonymous cow...er-source is cited.

Fear and greed -- technology's historical buddies -- are stalking the Net. Analysts are still reeling from all the cash raked in by online Xmas retailers. And technology stocks have reached surreal, almost frighteningly unrealistic levels. In response, new phobias about the Internet and work, taxes and the value of property itself are popping up all over business and in the press. Once again, technology seems to be scaring the hell out of everybody. Will we all get rich or crash and burn together? The experts sure have no idea. This might be time to control your own technology.

A nonymous Coward writes "Now why didn't I think of this? "

Sven Neumann writes "A first release of the developers-series 1.1.x has appeared on ftp.gimp.org and should soon be available on a mirror near you. What a nice xmas present. " Just a reminder that the Gimp has adopted a version naming convention similiar to the Linux Kernel, so since this is an odd numbered release, it is for developers and risk takers, and not graphic designers with deadlines. And FWIW I'm not planning on announcing devel gimp releases unless they have significant changes in them in the future. There are other sites that already do a fantastic job announcing software.

abond asks "I haven't played Video Games for quite a while, but my daughter is now old enough to start. What are the Pro's and Con's of each system, they seem to cost about the same ~US$130. Merry Christmas."

When I put out my call for Geek Christmas Gift ideas, I had no idea what I was in for. But after the storm of email that followed was washed away, I was left with a list of toys that any geek would be excited to give or get this year for whatever holiday it is you celebrate this time of year. Hit the link below and read the list if you're curious.

Masem writes "The first single off the South Park album, due out before Xmas, is available from Comedy Central's web site This is about a 30 sec clip of the Master P rap "Kenny's Dead" for downloading, but the download server seems slow (gee, wonder why), while the RA sites are working fine. "

Rise is hoping to deliver its mP6 socket 7, PII-level clones by Christmas. Given that their first silicon worked (not usual) they may be well on track. In related news, Cyrix and IBM will no longer work together. There will be no more Cyrix chips manufactured by IBM. Instead IBM will use ST's Metaflow design. ST (previously SGS Thomson) is another ex-Cyrix licensee.