Very cool Gmail How-to

Zymic Formum contributor, Jack, has posted a Gmail how-to on using Gmail as your domain's mail reader instead of reading it from PINE, like I've been doing, or using a regular POP3 mail client to read it.

The main advantage for using the Gmail interface, for me, is accesibility.
If I'm away from my regular desktop and can still get on the internet, I can count on being able to still get my mail, unlike my normal method which requires I log into the mail server directly with PuTTY SSH and PINE.

It's really an excellent how-to, and very simple to put everything into effect.

System building on a budget

ARSTechnica has a series of Ars System Guides up on building the best machine for your needs based on budget.
It features 3 different systems spec'd on performance vs cost and provides explicit parts recommendations.

The Budget Box
The Hot Rod
The God Box

Take a look at http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200601.ars/2

There's also a new article on The Ultimate Budget Box http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200602.ars


Some good reading in all the above. Enjoy.

Heh!

I'm quite sure this is an Urban Legend, I'll have to check Snopes later, but I've always gotten a kick out of this one.


For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
   
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
   
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
   
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
   
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive -- but would run on only five percent of the roads.
   
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
   
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.
   
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
   
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
   
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
    
    

Songbird

Songbird is a new open source media player built by some of the same folks that created WinAMP. No more proprietary lockin BS. Songbird will connect to all of the major music stores, and has P2P functions built in for those who prefer to get thier music, and videos, that way.

From the release notes:
"Songbird is a media browser and Web player built from Firefox's browser engine. Songbird is open source, will run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux and supports user contributed, cross-platform extensions."
Sounds good to me. ;-)

The official songbird site is getting hammered at the moment, but they still have a download link in place. Check it out here -> http://www.songbirdnest.com/


Fullpost text ...

Oh...wow...look at the size of that rabbit maaaan.

LSD Tested on British Troops

Effing Bastards.
Don't get me wrong, I can fully understand the military need for research, and to try to determine how different situations can affect the combat readiness of the troops. I can't agree with mass irradiation of troops and some of the other experiments that have been done but, damn. All I ever got from the Army was a full round of overseas deployment shots. LSD would have been kewl. Even some good old fashioned Nebraska ditchweed would have been alright by me.