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kfs27 asks: "In an attempt to help a professor of mine record and duplicate his lectures. I have been asked to put together a CD duplicating box. Commercial products seem to be very expensive and I figured a PC with some SCSI160 Cards (HW or SW Raid maybe), SCSI Burners and a 15K RPM drive (size not an issue) could do the job for cheaper. But the question is, how many CDs can you burn at once of 30 minutes, mono audio. 10 at a time would be excellent I think. More of course better. Cost is not a huge issue, as long as it's less than Commercial Duplicators, it's more of an experiment, but must be stable and easy to operate (I'd be willing to script up a frontend)."

nexex writes: "This story seems brings the patent debate home; specifically, should a company or person be able to 'own' your DNA? Obviously researchers want to profit from their discoveries, thus funding new research. But critics counter they are profitting at the expense of our health, citing restrive screening licenses for things such as breast cancer and Alzheimer's. Citing a figure from a UK activist group, 500,000 gene or gene sequence patents have been applied for worldwide. Another excellent article on this issue from Salon.com was from a couple years ago."

KP writes: "I came across this interview with Google's CEO. A very interesting read." It's interesting in part becase that CEO (Eric Schmidt) claims that for Google's purposes, "it costs less money and it is more efficient to use DRAM as storage as opposed to hard disks." "I still cannot figure out how he says storing data on DRAM is cheaper than storing it on hard-disks. Maybe, if you buy in bulk?"

Figured I'd take a moment now that I've caught up on most of my post-LWCE email buildup to mention a few things that caught my eye at the Javitz Center this year. Hit the link below to get bits on PS/2 Linux, the Sharp Zaurus, and whatever else I remember before I click 'save.'

By far the thing that impressed me the most was Sony's PS/2 Linux booth. I've been the gaming console running Linux several times in the past at other shows (most notably LinuxWorld in Tokyo) and it always struck me as a fascinating thing. And it looks like they may have it as close to right as reasonably possible. They plan on it being just $200... for a 40 gig hard drive, and ethernet. Basically $200 turns your $300 into a full featured Linux Box. The APIs are accessible to the prospective game developer. Ethernet is right there. The thing has USB ports. If you're looking for a way to get a decent PC connected to your TV and Stereo, this is a nifty way to do it. And since the video out will be able to support HDTV res like 720p and perhaps 1080i, it might even be a non-sucky display for certain applications. I'm not saying throw away your desktop, but there is a lot there to love: get a wireless USB compatible keyboard/mouse, and you have a nifty setup. Of course the CPU speeds aren't exactly P3 or P4 speeds, but for web browsing, MP3 playing and so forth, it'll do. Especially when the true nature of the X-Box is revealed.

The Sharp Zaurus PDA also struck my eye. The developer version is relatively inexpensive, and the consumer version is coming soon. The Linux Based Handheld has a lot of stuff that I'm not used to seeing in a handheld including a tiny, but reasonably usable keyboard, a built in compact flash slot (for little hard drives, or wireless network adapters). It's also nice to see that the handheld Linux projects have come so far in the last year or so. These things can interoperate pretty well with Palm and Wince boxes... but they also can have a shell prompt if you so desire. I still think that $550 for a handheld is a tough sell, but it's close.

The Golden Penguin Bowl was fun once again. I actually had time to catch a few speeches for a change since OSDN didn't have a 10x10 cage to keep me in this time, but instead had a sales meeting room - with massages.

It seemed smaller then the last LinuxWorld held in the Javitz, and less crowded. But not as much as I would have expected -- I went in half expecting it to be the size of the earliest of Linux Tradeshows, but most the usual suspects were there and strong. Ximian had actual boxes with Evolution on them. Intel, Compaq, and Sun (update my bad, I said SGI the first time... I meant Sun... those damn 3 letter unix oriented companies that start with S always mess me up) had their typical monstrous booths towering over all. The major distribution vendors mostly had smaller booths then in the past, but they were there, and that gives me some confidence. I really don't know whats going to happen to future LinuxWorlds. Now that the hype has died down, I suspect that these glitzy events will be the first to lose their glitz. But I really hope that the more technical cons are unaffected by the end of the hugest of hypes.

The thing that I came away with is that there are tons of things that are using Linux. It's maturing as an OS, and more platforms are using it. And in the vast majority of these cases, you can get your hands on the source code, which in my eyes means things are going just fine.

In the wake of the dot-com washout, a lot people nearly wrote off cyberspace as a retailing wasteland. But last week, Amazon reported that it had finally turned a profit, something most of us thought we'd never see, and preliminary figures show a sharp upturn in online sales despite the mild recession. Some other interesting post-Christmas tidbits are popping up, too: for the first time, more women than men are buying things online, a landmark barometer of a bright digital retailing future. Beyond that, in case you haven't noticed, online retailers are getting a lot smarter. The arrogant, customer-abusive tech world could learn a lot from these people, who offer steep discounts, stand behind their products, and actually offer real and free customer support.

The final Christmas shopping figures for 2001 are not in, but some industry analysts believe the new savvy and sensitivity of online retailers might have rescued the U.S. Christmas shopping season in the wake of September 11, when a lot of people either stayed home or tightened their belts. "I can't be quoted on this until the figures are finished," a friend and research analyst e-mailed me, "but I believe online shopping really saved retailing last year. The sites and service are getting so much better, and consumer confidence in them -- especially among women -- is skyrocketing. Online retailing is not only on the rise, it's really getting to be fun and easier. More importantly, they grasp customer service, something almost no software or hardware company yet does."

If that's so, and it definitely matches my personal shopping experiences, it's huge news for the Net. Consumers, chronically abused by the software and hardware industries, were initially anxious about buying things online. They worried about hackers, crackers and security; they faced poor customer service and complex downloading and other problems. But those problems -- unlike similar headaches in the larger computer industry -- are being addressed.

Retailers competing online this holiday season were a lot shrewder, says a story on About.com about the online retailing industry.

About.com cited a survey of 63 retailers who found a successful holiday season marked by a surprisingly effective combination of widespread promotions and discounting. Most consumers hate spam, but it doesn't bother them so much if it's about things they want, and if they're getting something for the attention. Both multichannel and Web-based retailers seemed to have learned a lot from past marketing missteps. The Shop.org/Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that more advanced retailers, after carefully studying the economics of each online and offline promotion, are finding ways to offer the minimum discounts necessary for increasing sales volume and ways to deliver targeted promotions to the more than 100 million consumers estimated to have used the Net over the holiday season.

Besides that, sites have radically improved their graphics and visual representations of products. As fears about theft and security have subsided, companies have radically upgraded their customer service. This is in striking contrast to tech industries which sell products that are confusing and difficult to use, and either makes themselves unavailable to confused or outraged customers or charge them extortionate fees for "priority service," which is really just the service they would be entitled to for free in any other business.

If you want to see smart web businesses, I'd cite two in particular -- L.L. Bean and Pet Food Direct. L.L. Bean's site architecture is brilliant -- well organized, easy to navigate. It shows clear pictures of all of its products and allows easy customer access to account information, while still providing security. More interestingly, the site offers customers several ways to get instant help -- phone, instant messaging, nearly instant e-mail response. If you're encountering problems, you can simply e-mail or call and a human will respond promptly. This support is crucial to building consumer confidence. A shopper is much more likely to risk buying something online if they know they can get help with any problems. Tech shoppers are among the most distrustful on the planet after years of confusing products and poor service.

Pet Food Direct also offers a different kind of targeted retailing, e-mailing customers weekly about specials, sales and promotions on the products they have already demonstrated they want and use regularly. This isn't quite like spamming, since it's stuff the buyer needs. And the sharp discounts have a way of offsetting any irritation. The site isn't trying to be funny or cute. Rather than promoting a silly sock puppet, it offers heavily discounted pet food and reminds pet owners when they are apt to need it. It also offers sophisticated graphic renderings of products and instant customer service both online and by telephone. The purchase takes seconds. The discounts are heavy enough to attract shoppers attention, but apparently not so heavy to erode profits. One reason is that the site, like L.L. Bean, gives the consumer a variety of shipping choices, from regular mail to next day air. And the customer pays for shipping, choosing exactly how much of a discount he or she wants. In both cases, the sites don't spam -- they target people who have bought and need their products.

Dozens of other sites have similarly polished their presentation, honed their sense of marketing and discounting and, most importantly, invested in tech support and customer service. Shoppers feel secure not only through repeated use, but through the sense that somebody will speak to them if problems arise.

This is something that, alas, computer and software companies still haven't learned.

AnalogBoy asks: "I figure, with the diverse backgrounds offered here on Slashdot, at least 1(,000) of you would have an astronomy background, in some way, shape, or form. I've always had a passing interest in all things space, in particular, i've always been captivated by whats 'out there'. I was wondering if any of youse guys had suggestions on books, programs (Windows or Unix), and especially GOOD telescopes (Sub-$500-range). I've looked through Google, etc - but I want a community opinion! "

loopkin noted that the dot is running a bit about the KDE 3 Release. Here's the release schedule, and as you can see, the upcoming weeks will be interesting. I guess I should figure out why my truetype fonts all broke on a recent update to debian unstable so that I can actually enjoy the new releases :)

zebadee writes: "Tom's Hardware has the news that AMD have released a 1.3GHz Duron to the "mainstream PC market" that has been optimised for use with WindowsXP. The article also asks 'why haven't AMD gone with the MHz doesn't equal performance as they have done with the new XP/MP chips, as it would be assumed the market for these will be consumers who don't generally look at benchmark figures?' More information can be found at the AMD website."

sgtrock asks: "I was approached this week by a manager of the server support group at my company. He says he and his boss are trying to figure out what should host our file and print services for the company (read, replace Netware). He asked me if I thought if it would be feasible to do on Linux servers. Now, I was more than pleasantly surprised by the question, because as late as last fall I couldn't get this guy to take Linux seriously for companies our size. However, recent stories about Microsoft plus some of their actions here have really soured him on the idea of moving to Win2k services where he doesn't have to. I told him that in theory we could do it: LDAP authentication to our existing NDS on the back end, Samba file service and either LPR/LPD or CUPS based printing. The big open question mark for me is archiving. He then asked me if I knew of anyone already doing it." I'm sure there are shops out there that are using Linux as such. If you are, please raise your hand! Numbers on the size of the network and how well the system has been holding up would be appreciated.

"This is a pretty conservative company. We HATE to be first if we can avoid it. Every time we are we pay in much pain and sweat. So, I'd like to know the following: Does anyone know of or can point to success stories for this kind of application in very large environments? Mind you, I'm talking about tens of thousands of desktops, as we have 60,000 users. University stories will be looked at with skepticism by this management team. I'll read the stories, but they probably won't be given much credence by anyone else. Thanks for your time."

XorNand writes: "Time is reporting that the Dept of Transportation, acting on instructions from Congress, is in the process of linking together states' drivers' license databases. They figure that it'll be cheaper and easier to slip under the radar of civil libertarians and privacy watchdogs. Wonder if Larry is a bit peeved that he's not getting his cut?"

dknight asks: "Ok, a friend of mine recently has his computer die on him. Rather than go out and buy a computer, we thought we'd try converting his DreamCast to fit the bill. We've got the keyboard and mouse, and now have Linux running on it successfully(we're working on getting the network adapter). The problem we're running into, however, is that it's REALLY painfully slow. I'm figuring this is due to the meager 16 Megs of RAM it comes with. My question is: Is it possible to upgrade the RAM on a DreamCast? Has anyone else attempted this feat?" I highly doubt this is possible, but if this can be done, this might breathe new life into those unused DC consoles that are lying around.

An Anonymous Coward asks: "I'm trying to figure out what games are good for LAN parties and especially what games don't require a CD after installation or at least allow multi-player games with only one CD. I'd like to have friends over to play over a LAN without everyone needing to own the same game. Starcraft will let you do this but I couldn't find much info about other games so I thought I'd turn to Slashdot. Which games do you like for LAN parties and why, and especially which games allow a group of people to play if only one owns the CD?"

An Anonymous Coward throws this spanner into the works by asking: "OK, a response to another Slashdot question has made me wonder... Can techies fix cars? I know computers very well, I can fix VCRs, and I can wire home theater systems but I don't know the slightest thing about my car. I am not sure I even want to but I thought some other Slashdoters might want to way in on that. Could it be the whole "getting dirty" thing with cars? What do you think? How well do you know the inner workings of that thing that sits in the driveway?" I used to think I liked taking anything apart, not just computers, but after spending a few frustrating afternoons maintaining my car, I figured such things were best left to the professionals. However, I may be a minority in this, based on the responses from the last auto-related question.

RichMeraz writes "Bruce Eckel has posted his first incarnation of Thinking in Patterns with Python on his website. What a wonderful Christmas present." Make sure to check the list of mirrors before downloading. As Eckel says, "This should whet your appetite to read Design Patterns " (or reread it)... classic book, I figure it can't hurt to refresh my memory once a year, and holidays seem like a good time to think in the abstract...

Colin Winters writes: "The New York Times has an article that is a follow-up to the recent raid by the government on pirates in universities. Some professors believe that "By the time we get them, they already believe it [piracy]'s right." An interesting read. There's also an interesting bit on how business software is now 1/3 pirated, down from 1/2 in 1995. In America, it's only 24%. From the way companies like Microsoft whine about piracy, I'd assumed the figures were increasing, not decreasing."

cybernate asks: "Well the new Replay TV is out, this new box lets you skip commercials and best of all the new box has a Ethernet connection and lets you send video to other Replay TV units. It looks like the new units are running a web server, but so far I have been unable to figure out the directory structure. Before I break out my Radcom traffic analyzer has anyone hacked this box yet? I would like to setup my FreeBSD box to act like a replay unit for video storage." Wow! Looks like ReplayTV is making a play for the PVR King-of-the-Hill title. Alas, if only I could do this with my TiVo...

abolishPenguinPhobia asks: "I am a teacher at a comm. college and was looking to install Linux on a couple machines for students to use. I figured since the students have to learn *nix anyway they might as well have access to some Linux machines. Anyhoo...I was told by the network administrator that the linux machines were not to be connected to the network for fear of viri, DoS attacks, and so on. My question for the /. community: Why do people fear Linux? It seems to me that people are misinformed that Linux is only a 'hackers' OS. How can we change this?" This is only one of the common Linux "myths", and there are several more where these came from. Is there a central clearing house of such myths and intelligent efforts at debunking them somewhere online?

gtaylor writes "An article in the Korea Times says that market research firm Emforce has established that South Korean internet users average about 1600 pieces of spam annually, summing to around 39 billion pieces of spam per year. According to the same story, Americans receive about 2500 pieces of spam per year." I figured that I get somewhere around 30-40,000 pieces of spam annually. Lucky me... I get *this* statistic to be on the other side of the bell curve :)

Tuzanor writes "I've got a buddy moving into a brand new house. Being geeks, we've decided to wire the house with a large home network. While this story took care of wiring the house, we need to figure out how to create a well set up server room. We'll be having both towers and rack mounted computers as well as various switches, UPSes, etc. Also, we figure this room will get warm, even in winter. How may we cool it while still keeping the rest of the house toasty warm on a cold Canadian night (without opening a window)"

An anonymous reader pointed us to The Dirty Dozen which lists the most dangerous toys for children. #1 on the list is Metal Gear Solid 2 (which I finished this weekend and highly recommend) Also making the cut are Gundam and Dragonball Zaction figures (nothing scarier then Bulma on a bad hair day I guess), Super Street Fighter II and Doom. Of course the specific version of doom they classify as one of the most dangerous toys of 2001 is the Game Boy Advanced port, and I gotta agree with them on the GBA thing, those things are dangerous. Play for more then 30 minutes, and you go blind.