Slashdot Mirror

ThinkGeek writes "ThinkGeek ThinkGeek ThinkgEEk ThinkGeek! ThinkGeek ThinkGeek THINK geek think GeEk thinkgEek. ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong. "

ThinkGeek writes "ThinkGeek ThinkGeek ThinkgEEk ThinkGeek! ThinkGeek ThinkGeek THINK geek think GeEk thinkgEek. ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong. "

Jesus Christ Himself, No Really The One Who Died For Your Sins On a Big Wooden Cross a Couple Thousand Years Ago and is a Little Cranky that You've Only Gone To Church Twice so Far This Decade wrote in to say "Hey you guys should check out the Magic Supersecret Anagram T-Shirt. It'll really blow your mind. It's available from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Jesus Christ Himself, No Really The One Who Died For Your Sins On a Big Wooden Cross a Couple Thousand Years Ago and is a Little Cranky that You've Only Gone To Church Twice so Far This Decade wrote in to say "Hey you guys should check out the Magic Supersecret Anagram T-Shirt. It'll really blow your mind. It's available from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Jesus Christ Himself, No Really The One Who Died For Your Sins On a Big Wooden Cross a Couple Thousand Years Ago and is a Little Cranky that You've Only Gone To Church Twice so Far This Decade wrote in to say "Hey you guys should check out the Magic Supersecret Anagram T-Shirt. It'll really blow your mind. It's available from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Jesus Christ Himself, No Really The One Who Died For Your Sins On a Big Wooden Cross a Couple Thousand Years Ago and is a Little Cranky that You've Only Gone To Church Twice so Far This Decade wrote in to say "Hey you guys should check out the Magic Supersecret Anagram T-Shirt. It'll really blow your mind. It's available from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Joe Schill wrote in to say "Check out the SnoozAlert alarm clock pill available at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong. "

Joe Schill wrote in to say "Check out the SnoozAlert alarm clock pill available at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong. "

Joe Schill wrote in to say "Check out the SnoozAlert alarm clock pill available at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong. "

Joe Schill wrote in to say "Check out the SnoozAlert alarm clock pill available at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong. "

Several anonymous readers found this hysterical USB Fundue Set, which despite the power limitations of USB 2 should make for great snacks. It's from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Several anonymous readers found this hysterical USB Fundue Set, which despite the power limitations of USB 2 should make for great snacks. It's from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Several anonymous readers found this hysterical USB Fundue Set, which despite the power limitations of USB 2 should make for great snacks. It's from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

Several anonymous readers found this hysterical USB Fundue Set, which despite the power limitations of USB 2 should make for great snacks. It's from ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

A random user noted MegaMags , a life size version of the popular MiniMag toys available at ThinkGeek (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

A random user noted MegaMags , a life size version of the popular MiniMag toys available at ThinkGeek (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

A random user noted MegaMags , a life size version of the popular MiniMag toys available at ThinkGeek (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

A random user noted MegaMags , a life size version of the popular MiniMag toys available at ThinkGeek (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

mboverload was one of several readers to note that you can purchase aircraft tracking laser today at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

mboverload was one of several readers to note that you can purchase aircraft tracking laser today at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

mboverload was one of several readers to note that you can purchase aircraft tracking laser today at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

mboverload was one of several readers to note that you can purchase aircraft tracking laser today at ThinkGeek. (TG is owned by OSTG, the parent company of Slashdot, so activate all conspiracy theories now). You can also look into the new iPod accessory iCopulate which allows intimacy between mp3 players never before fantasized. And for the suit that has everything, Executve Pong.

wkytechhead asks: "My father owns a greenhouse operation that covers a few dozen acres. He has a number of greenhouses some up to 1000' plus apart that he would like to network. Currently he is using a HomePNA based network via regular RJ12. He has decided that he would like to go at least partially wireless. Some consideration has been given to using the backbone with fiber convertors, but he would really like to do full wireless. I have checked into homemade and commercial 'Cantennas' but I am not sure if they are worth the money. How would my fellow geeks go about wirelessly networking a large outdoor area for as cheap as possible?"

ZeLonewolf asks: "My parents are remodeling and greatly expanding their kitchen, and my mom would like to add a kitchen internet kiosk that would allow her to look up recipes online and watch TV. Since this is a kitchen, the display and input devices should be appropriate for a kitchen environment, i.e. resistant to dust and moisture. To eliminate the need for a mouse I priced out a touch-screen monitor for $600. The keyboard would need to be sealed, something like ThinkGeek's roll-up keyboard. I haven't been able to find pre-made kiosks for this purpose. Four years ago, the Audrey internet appliance would have been perfect for this sort of thing. Is there anything modern that comes close?"

nazgul000 writes "You thought those green laser pointers sold by ThinkGeek and others were pretty cool, didn't you? Well, think again." It seems obligatory to point out that even laser pointers, and certainly anything more powerful than those, are capable of causing real damage.

The postman brought me a review sample last week of what is without doubt the best thing to hit my keychain in ... well, since keys. It's Canary Wireless's Digital Hotspotter, a Wi-Fi signal finder which, despite a few quirks, is the best (and most sophisticated) of the current crop of cheap hand-held detectors. Read on for my review of the device, which was also mentioned in this detector round-up linked to last month.

First, to clear up a misconception about Wi-Fi detectors in general: though they can be used to find and (usually illegally) hop onto someone else's wireless connection, that's not their only use. It's a pet peeve of mine to see technology vilified because it can be put to nefarious or even semi-nefarious use; in the case of hand-held wireless detectors, there are plenty of "non-infringing uses" to which they can be put. Troubleshooting in a house or office is one (wireless base station manufacturers sometimes claim coverage ranges that can charitably be called optimistic -- and even if their numbers represent a legitimate best guess, it seems that no house outside of Stepford is truly typical); making sure that your signal isn't reaching the general public (or is reaching the general public, depending on your inclinations and your ISP's Terms of Service) is another good use; so is finding which coffee shops have both drinks and wireless access. There's also counter-cracker vigilance -- making sure no one has installed a wireless router on your network without your permission.

On several cross-country trips, I've happily used an earlier-generation Wi-Fi finder -- Smart ID's WFS-1 -- to park intelligently at Flying J truckstops all over the United States; though hundreds of Flying J locations are set up as (subscription-based) wireless hotspots, the signal coverage is often haphazard, and it's more economical of time and battery life to spend a few minutes walking around with a hand-sized device than to keep trying new parking spots and consulting the signal meter on a laptop. Even if you have an 802.11-equipped handheld, offloading the task of signal detection (and, if you can, keeping 802.11 off unless there's a connection available) will save your battery a few percentage points.

My first impressions of the device were positive. It arrived in the hated plastic-clamshell packaging, but -- unlike some products -- didn't require a utility knife or dueling pliers to extract. The instructions are blessedly simple, and all fit on the back of the package insert, about the size of a 3x5 index card. (This insert opens up, and I expected to find inside the usual birdseed barrage of legal flummery and useless warnings, right down to "Don't feed this device to babies" -- all nicely absent. Simple product, simple instructions: magic.) The device is a medium grey, with the display located just below the centerline and its lone button in the lower left-hand corner. The required pair of AAA batteries is supplied in the package. (AAAs are nice -- much nicer than fiddly button cells at least; a single AA would be even better, though.)

Canary's device is the third Wi-Fi detector I've tried; Kensington's first-generation key-fob device was the first, but that one has forfeited its place in my toolkit: compared to the others, it is neither as sensitive nor as discriminating in the signals it picks up (neon lights all seem to set it off) and has a less informative display to boot, just three LEDs. (And it seemed the only way I could get all the LEDs to light strongly was to place the thing directly on top of a wireless router.)

Smart ID's four-LED meter may not seem a huge leap up from that, but compared to Kensington's, the WFS-1 is both more sensitive and more directional in its pickup, so those four LEDs actually convey more than a third more information than the Kensington's three. The WFS's more pronounced directionality (even compared to the Canary unit) and simpler display means it still has an important adjunct role for quickly finding the source of a signal.

One thing to note: Canary's take on the Wi-Fi detector, at 4.5 ounces, is the chunkiest one I've seen; it's solid-feeling (read: "surprisingly hefty") and squat -- about twice as thick as Smart ID's, and much fatter than Kensington's. The back is curved, though, making it comfortable to hold, if not to jam in a jeans pocket, and it's only about two inches tall.

To use the Hotspotter, there are only two things you need to know: 1) Hit the little grey button to scan for local wireless networks; if one is located, the screen will display in sequence four pieces of information: the network name, a signal-strength readout (one to four bars), "Secure" or "Open" to indicate whether the signal is encrypted, and the channel number of the detected signal. 2) To scan for more networks, hit the button again. (So it's really more like one and a half things.) The initial scan takes 8-10 seconds; subsequent ones are much faster.

Canary claims the Hotspotter should work up to about 200 feet (with a clear line of site, outdoors); I can confirm that it works to at least nearly that distance with the router in our house, but sight lines and property lines conspire to prevent me from reaching the full 200 feet.

I'm in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood at the moment, a target-rich environment if ever one was, and I took the Hotspotter along on a walk to Victrola, a very nice wireless-equipped coffee shop down the street, to see what it said about the neighborhood.

The answer is unsurprising, but something to keep in mind if you'd like your own network to be used only by you: of the 33 unique networks I noted in a 6-block stroll, fully 16 of them were shown as "open" by the Hotspotter. (That doesn't necessarily mean they're wide open, though; see below.) 11 of the networks I encountered displayed common default SSIDs (Linksys, Netgear, Apple Net, and the hot-selling "default"), which with a little googling can yield default admin-interface IP addresses and passwords. While some of the nominally open networks might be employing MAC-based security, I think it would be a conservative bet that well over half of them are simply open to all comers. Is yours?

(There may have been more base stations than the ones I could distinguish, because the coverage clouds overlap so much; I discarded some of the discovered networks as probable duplicates. By walking fast, I may also have missed some in the thickest sections.)

I've come up with only a few niggling objections to the device -- just quirks, really, but they're worth laying out:

First quirk: For some reason, on its initial scan (that is, on being powered up from the Off state), the Canary device usually fails to detect the house network, though scanning again immediately has always found it. This is a trivial point, for one big reason: you'll have to hit the scan button again anyhow to scan for multiple networks.

The second quirk is one I hope is fixed on the Mark II version: the absence of a backlight. Unlike the other contenders in this niche, all of which are based on LED displays, the Hotspotter has a 12-character LCD readout, which is what lets it display so much information in the first place. However, the display is difficult to read in anything but bright light, and useless in actual dark. An internal LED with its own button (or an EL backlight like Timex's Indiglo) would be a great improvement.

Lack of a backlight aside, the scrolling display requires more attention than the one-dimensional LED graphs of the competitors -- a fair trade-off for the additional information to be gleaned. However, it doesn't have to be a trade-off at all: I wish the signal strength aspect of the display was displayed on dedicated LEDs either instead of, or in addition to, the scrolling LCD display.

One more quibble, though it's getting close to looking a gift horse in the mouth: this detector will say whether a particular wireless signal is encrypted, but it can't say whether it's protected by other means. If you use MAC-based authentication, for instance (but not WEP), the signal would still show up as "open." It would be more accurate to label such signals "unencrypted" or "no crypto" rather than "open."

In short, the Hotspotter is my new favorite portable Wi-Fi finder, and handily tops the features of the competition: the WFS-1's stronger directionality and bright LEDs can't beat network identification and encryption status, so Canary's device moves up in line. It works well, is useful for multiple purposes, and provides all the functionality it's reasonable to expect from a $50 device the size of a nice piece of fudge. (And of course the great thing about favorites sometimes is waiting for them to be toppled.)

MrAndrews writes "In an article on ZDNet UK, a Gartner says that "Companies should consider banning portable storage devices such as Apple's iPod from corporate networks as they can be used to introduce malware or steal corporate data" I recently came into contact with a similar policy at a consulting firm that was concerned that top-secret information might escape through my USB watch, and made me leave it at the front desk every day. In that case, I know it was absurd overkill ... but is this concern a legitimate concern? No more music on the way into the office?"

leviramsey writes "The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (covering Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island) has ruled that e-mail providers are not violating the law by reading users' e-mail without the user's consent. The decision finds that the Wiretap Act does not cover interception of communications where the communications are being stored, not transmitted. Perhaps OSDN should send the defendant, accused in 2001 of reading users emails in order to find out what they were interested in purchasing from Amazon, a T-shirt from ThinkGeek?"

ResQuad noted that Slashdot's OSDN Sister site ThinkGeek is selling some exciting new products including a PC Case for Hamsters and an EZ Bake Oven that fits in a 5.25 drive bay. They also have a limited run T-Shirt with a s3kr1t message on it. Lots of other fun stuff too.

ResQuad noted that Slashdot's OSDN Sister site ThinkGeek is selling some exciting new products including a PC Case for Hamsters and an EZ Bake Oven that fits in a 5.25 drive bay. They also have a limited run T-Shirt with a s3kr1t message on it. Lots of other fun stuff too.

ResQuad noted that Slashdot's OSDN Sister site ThinkGeek is selling some exciting new products including a PC Case for Hamsters and an EZ Bake Oven that fits in a 5.25 drive bay. They also have a limited run T-Shirt with a s3kr1t message on it. Lots of other fun stuff too.

ResQuad noted that Slashdot's OSDN Sister site ThinkGeek is selling some exciting new products including a PC Case for Hamsters and an EZ Bake Oven that fits in a 5.25 drive bay. They also have a limited run T-Shirt with a s3kr1t message on it. Lots of other fun stuff too.

Kethinov asks: "Following up on the question asked in this story, I have a similar problem as he did except my late night coding (typing) sessions, not my clicking, seem to generating excess noise for the people I'm living with. I, as he did, checked out this possible solution, but to be honest, I can't type on anything but a standard-layout keyboard. Now, I too can search Google, but just looking at a possible solution doesn't help much. Does anyone on Slashdot have experience in this matter, from which I could better narrow my choices?"

BRock97 asks: "There is no better activity which sheds light on 'Geek/Non-Geek' interaction than Christmas shopping. As I try and browse Target's online store looking for the perfect gift, I can't help be gravitate back to ThinkGeek in hopes I will find something that the receiver of the gift will find useful AND also remind them of the person who gave it. I was curious as to what other /.'ers were planning on getting their friends and loved ones (parents/grandparents) who live the 'non-geek' lifestyle." We've already told Santa what we'd like for Christmas, now what about the non-geeks in our lives?

UnrefinedLayman asks: "In the quest for a silent PC, one item that seems to be consistently overlooked is the mouse: it's one of the more noisy computer components if only by virtue of the fact that it is a staccato noise. I don't notice my fans or hard drives very often, given that they are constant background sounds whose levels don't noticeably change. My mouse, on the other hand, makes a very audible *click* each time I use it, and while providing a pleasant tactile feedback, it keeps my girlfriend awake during my late-night work sessions. So I turn to the Ask Slashdot community: have you found a silent mouse for your silent PC? Numerous Google searches have yielded little. It's not as though it's impossible, as touch pads for laptops have been around for quite some time, and the iPod makes great use of the technology. ThinkGeek also sells a force-free keyboard with a "mouse replacement" built into it, but while the keyboard technology looks very promising, I prefer to stick with a mouse (not to mention something a bit cheaper). Mouse manufacturers have long touted optical mice as being superior to their trackball cousins for having no moving, mechanical parts, but it seems like they're overlooking the most obvious and still mechanical function: the buttons themselves! So what say you Slashdot? Are there force-free, truly non-mechanical and silent mice out there to be had?"

It's time to blatantly plug a recent addition to Slashdot's Subscription System: just in time for the holidays, you can now give a subscription to any other user. You have the choice to give your gift anonymously, or take credit for your fabulous selfless generosity. If that isn't enough, we still have assorted Slashdot Merchandise available at ThinkGeek... the more T-Shirts you buy, the less often you need to do laundry.

ThinkGeek has opened up their Slashdot Store, which among other fineries, is selling the all new Slashdot T-Shirts. We also have a surprise: In addition to the 3 winners we announced previously, by popular request, we added a 4th winner to the roster: Dan Sandler's 'Soothing Green Light' design. So go, buy all 4! And a hat! Do it! Also, Scott Lewallen made Icons & Wallpapers based on his Volatile Hyper Linkage design.

martinde writes "The Prismiq Media Player is a networked set top box that can play MP3s, streaming media, browse the web, and do other cool stuff. It runs Debian on the dedicated hardware client, but in the past it has required a Windows server on the backend. It looks like now there is beta support for Linux in the backend. Anyone tried this device, with or without Linux?" This is a device that I've been playing with/testing - our sister (Yes, Virginia, they are owned by OSDN) site Thinkgeek sells them. Pretty cool device - reminds me of a XBox Media Player in terms of function, but with less soldering, and a keyboard. I'll be trying the Linux backend server - that would solve one of my major complaints, which is that the media server currently is Windows-only.

martinde writes "The Prismiq Media Player is a networked set top box that can play MP3s, streaming media, browse the web, and do other cool stuff. It runs Debian on the dedicated hardware client, but in the past it has required a Windows server on the backend. It looks like now there is beta support for Linux in the backend. Anyone tried this device, with or without Linux?" This is a device that I've been playing with/testing - our sister (Yes, Virginia, they are owned by OSDN) site Thinkgeek sells them. Pretty cool device - reminds me of a XBox Media Player in terms of function, but with less soldering, and a keyboard. I'll be trying the Linux backend server - that would solve one of my major complaints, which is that the media server currently is Windows-only.

No, not Arnold Schwarzenegger. We're talking abut Georgy Russell, who studied computer science at UC Berkeley, often wears ThinkGeek clothing, has a blog, reads Slashdot, and knows how to run Linux. Since this California electoral free-for-all has turned into a worldwide spectator sport as bizarre as any other 'Reality TV' show currently airing, Slashdot might as well get in on the media frenzy and interview a candidate, and Georgy is the obvious choice. We'll email Georgy 10 of the highest-moderated questions, and publish her answers (and, yes, the chosen questions in the same post) as soon as she replies.

Daniel Rutter writes "I've just reviewed the Zero Blaster, the smoke ring gun that ThinkGeek (among others) sell. It works. It's fun. It's a vortex ring physics demonstration with two triggers and a see-through mechanism. What more could you want for $20?" Thinkgeek and Slashdot are both owned by VA Software.

We had 331 entries in the Slashdot T-Shirt Design Contest, and at long last, I'm pleased to announce that our winners are Scott Lewallen, Chris Hoover, and Jude Hansen. There were tons of great entries... and we've made the 3 winning designs, as well as 9 of my favorites available for your perusal. Congrats to the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered the contest! The shirts themselves will be made available at ThinkGeek in the next few weeks.

This is your last chance to enter Slashdot's T-Shirt Design Contest that we announced a few weeks ago. The contest officially ends tomorrow. We've had over 200 submissions, and some of them are pretty cool, but I don't think there yet is a Lock for the winner. So if you've got what it takes to design a T-Shirt (we're too cheap/lazy to do it ourselves!) you can win store credit at ThinkGeek plus free shirts with your winning design on them! Here are the Official Rules. Read the original story for submission details.

It's been some time since we had a new shirt design for folks to buy, and it's time to change that. More specific guidelines for the contest follow, but in short, we're taking design submissions starting immediately. Winners will get a $75 credit at ThinkGeek, as well as 3 copies of of their t-shirt design. Winners will be chosen by me. Technical Specs

• Designs should be for Black or White shirts. Or even better, both!
• No larger than 12" wide by 15" high
• No more than 5 colors (Black & White Count as Colors People!)
• Entries must be either 300 DPI Bitmap (JPG, PNG, Tiff etc), or Vector Format (PS, EPS, PDF)

General Recomendations

• I strongly recommend the use of Slashdot's favorite shade of green in any design submission. Slashdot's "Green" is 006666 in hex. 0,102,102 in RGB. Entries will not be excluded for failing to use the green, but I like it, and I'm the judge!
• You can try anything: From witty slogans to fancy design.
• Avoid photographs & shadows since they don't print very well at 5 colors.
• Parody is fine, but I'd rather designs be original.

How to Submit?

• Email tshirts at cmdrtaco.net, and provide a URL to your design(s). If this isn't possible, you may attach your submission to an email.
• Winners will be selected in a few weeks by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda (Me!) based on their creativity and design.
• There may be more than one winner if there are several good entries! I have permission to select as many as 3 winners if there are many good entries!

Prizes!

• The submittor of each winning design will get $75 credit at ThinkGeek
• 3 Copies of your T-Shirt Design
• Bragging rights at LUGs, CompSci Labs, Cubicle Farms, and Tech Tradeshows around the world.

Finally our lawyer demands that you read the Official Rules. Do it!

It's been some time since we had a new shirt design for folks to buy, and it's time to change that. More specific guidelines for the contest follow, but in short, we're taking design submissions starting immediately. Winners will get a $75 credit at ThinkGeek, as well as 3 copies of of their t-shirt design. Winners will be chosen by me. Technical Specs

• Designs should be for Black or White shirts. Or even better, both!
• No larger than 12" wide by 15" high
• No more than 5 colors (Black & White Count as Colors People!)
• Entries must be either 300 DPI Bitmap (JPG, PNG, Tiff etc), or Vector Format (PS, EPS, PDF)

General Recomendations

• I strongly recommend the use of Slashdot's favorite shade of green in any design submission. Slashdot's "Green" is 006666 in hex. 0,102,102 in RGB. Entries will not be excluded for failing to use the green, but I like it, and I'm the judge!
• You can try anything: From witty slogans to fancy design.
• Avoid photographs & shadows since they don't print very well at 5 colors.
• Parody is fine, but I'd rather designs be original.

How to Submit?

• Email tshirts at cmdrtaco.net, and provide a URL to your design(s). If this isn't possible, you may attach your submission to an email.
• Winners will be selected in a few weeks by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda (Me!) based on their creativity and design.
• There may be more than one winner if there are several good entries! I have permission to select as many as 3 winners if there are many good entries!

Prizes!

• The submittor of each winning design will get $75 credit at ThinkGeek
• 3 Copies of your T-Shirt Design
• Bragging rights at LUGs, CompSci Labs, Cubicle Farms, and Tech Tradeshows around the world.

Finally our lawyer demands that you read the Official Rules. Do it!

numbski asks: "We're all geeks here, and I think there is no question how much we love our caffeine. What concerns me is that my fiancee has noticed how much I take in during the morning, and that I even use Diet Pepsi in addition to pain killers as a medication for headaches. So I did my googling about caffeine and addiction. In the minority, you have one report making a scientific claim that there is no such thing as an addiction to caffeine, however many other articles (not to mention marketing propaganda) suggest otherwise. Perhaps not just the sake of having an addiction is what concerns me, but whatever other side effects. I generally take good care of myself, go to the gym, exercise, play hockey, eat right. I hate to have a stroke or heart attack later on in life because of the stuff. I'd be curious to know the thoughts of others who take in large amounts of caffeine, and perhaps what their doctors have said about it. I plan on talking to my own soon, but it seems like this warrants discussion amongst those who consume the most. Would/does this prevent you from grabbing your Bawls and running like hell?"

numbski asks: "We're all geeks here, and I think there is no question how much we love our caffeine. What concerns me is that my fiancee has noticed how much I take in during the morning, and that I even use Diet Pepsi in addition to pain killers as a medication for headaches. So I did my googling about caffeine and addiction. In the minority, you have one report making a scientific claim that there is no such thing as an addiction to caffeine, however many other articles (not to mention marketing propaganda) suggest otherwise. Perhaps not just the sake of having an addiction is what concerns me, but whatever other side effects. I generally take good care of myself, go to the gym, exercise, play hockey, eat right. I hate to have a stroke or heart attack later on in life because of the stuff. I'd be curious to know the thoughts of others who take in large amounts of caffeine, and perhaps what their doctors have said about it. I plan on talking to my own soon, but it seems like this warrants discussion amongst those who consume the most. Would/does this prevent you from grabbing your Bawls and running like hell?"

numbski asks: "We're all geeks here, and I think there is no question how much we love our caffeine. What concerns me is that my fiancee has noticed how much I take in during the morning, and that I even use Diet Pepsi in addition to pain killers as a medication for headaches. So I did my googling about caffeine and addiction. In the minority, you have one report making a scientific claim that there is no such thing as an addiction to caffeine, however many other articles (not to mention marketing propaganda) suggest otherwise. Perhaps not just the sake of having an addiction is what concerns me, but whatever other side effects. I generally take good care of myself, go to the gym, exercise, play hockey, eat right. I hate to have a stroke or heart attack later on in life because of the stuff. I'd be curious to know the thoughts of others who take in large amounts of caffeine, and perhaps what their doctors have said about it. I plan on talking to my own soon, but it seems like this warrants discussion amongst those who consume the most. Would/does this prevent you from grabbing your Bawls and running like hell?"

Slashback tonight with a passel of updates, corrections and tangents related to recent Slashdot postings, including GNU/Linux vs. Windows in Munich, Bunnie Huang's book on Xbox hacking, Mozilla's 5-line crash-test, and (sigh) yet another SCO note, but at least it's one to smile at. Read on for the details.

How to impress users. chjones writes "The bug that crashes Mozilla with simple HTML has been fixed in the latest nightly build. This was previously mentioned in a Slashback in response to a similar bug in Internet Explorer. No nightly build of IE appears to be available."

Quiet but sterile, or silent and deadly? JerryKnight writes "With the wider availability of TouchStream keyboards, such as at ThinkGeek, I wonder if these great devices are used by anyone else besides me. Since the last story over a year ago, Fingerworks has made quite a few improvements, such as many firmware upgrades and the (currently still Beta) Gesture Editor. Does anyone else find the gesture/mouse benefits to outweigh the headache of learning zero-force typing?"

Would you like to play a game? bigattichouse writes "When I read the piece on using gaming to keep your brain moving, it reminded me of several articles on coders needing 'ramp-up' time to get into coding. I put together a small freeware game PortaLogica as a preliminary attempt to create a game that would help stimulate coding-related-thought. The game is played using schematic logic gates, and trying to get inputs to match outputs. I'd love to flesh it out a bit more (like writing a KDE or Gnome version)..."

Offically official. Alexander Schatten writes "Although Steve Ballmer interrupted his holiday to try to change the decision of the Munich politicians, after some weeks of discussion Munich decided today to change all 14.000 PCs, Notebooks to Linux. Servers as well as Clients!

One of the main reasons was to avoid a too close binding to specific vendors. A wise decision, one will confirm, especially as Munich is one of the biggest cities in Germany and might be an example for other cities. For more details see: SuSE or heise.de (both in German)"

Buy it while it's legal. An anonymous reader writes "Remember Bunnie Huang? He's the MIT student who first hacked the Xbox. He wrote a book that was supposed to be published by a well-known publisher, but the publisher chickened out, afraid of Microsoft's wrath. Bunnie isn't so scared, however. He's publishing the book himself. The book, "Hacking the Xbox," can be purchased from his website. I just saw Bunnie on TechTV, and he's offering a 20 percent discount to TechTV viewers (Scroll to bottom of article to see the coupon code)."

The famous Finnish art of the insult. scotch51 writes "I followed the links to the Raelians website on Friday after ./ reported Linus Torvalds comparing the amazing SCO lawsuit to the Raelians claims of amazing (bio)technological achievements. Today, wanting to show a friend the Raelians rather pretty twist on the Star of David for their own logo, I see that all pages I'd visited yesterday report blank. "Reveal codes" on every page I visited yesterday reveals only: html body /body /html. Guess that's one way to deal with being slashdotted, or were they perhaps hacked?"

cubiclist asks: "It has been decreed that our company is moving from private offices to cubicles. We all know that Peopleware has hard data to warn us away from this, but it cannot be helped at this point. Now that we know that we are going into cubes, what can we do to make it suck less? In research on the web, I cannot find any advice on office layouts for developers in cubes. I have found some threads on improving cube interiors from places like ThinkGeek and Ikea, but I am really interested on some best practices for the overall layout of the floor.

"In our office, developers are all intermediate to senior. They have a good knowledge of the software package they are working on as well as the business that they are serving.

In this environment, people can generally work for a day or two without having to ask questions. If questions arise, people don't mind walking over to the right person. The cube vendors' breezy assertion that we'll boost productivity by being able to shriek out questions, and overhear conversations (naturally they'll all be related to what we're working on) doesn't seem to fit our work flows.

My guess is that we're basically going to want to retrofit our existing work patterns into a sub-optimal cube environment. We can design in some workrooms with full walls and doors that shut.

Here's what I'm thinking at the moment: Cubes should be quiet, quiet, quiet! Meetings, pair-programming, collaboration or highly hairy coding should be restricted to workrooms, which would be set up with a CPU to Remote Desktop (WinXP) back to the developer's primary development machine.

But this is just what I've dreamt up on my own. Has anyone experimented with this setup? If so, how often do you need to get out of your cube and shut yourself in a room? Is it useful to have white noise piped in, or is it better to have an oppressive rule of silence imposed on everyone?

Many thanks."