Updates and clarifications in tonight's Slashback include word on the extra-theatrical availability of Revolution OS, consideration of Free software in Oregon. availability of HP's new streaming-audio toy (which does not play Ogg Vorbis), and more. Read on for the details.

chowbok asks: "My grandmother recently had a stroke, which left her with the inability to speak or move the right half of her body. It also seriously impaired her motor skills on the half she can move, so she can't write. She does understand what is said to her, but she has no way to communicate. I'd like to set something up for her so that she can write notes. What I have in mind is a keyboard with rather large keys (perhaps 2" square) and a screen or monitor of some sort. I'm sure they make such stuff specifically for stroke victims, but anything labeled 'medical' will undoubtedly be astronomically expensive, even if it is a rather simple device like what I have in mind. I thought it would be easier to build one or find something similar (perhaps a toy or some such). I thought Slashdot readers might have some good suggestions along these lines. I'm not totally against doing it with a computer with a modified keyboard, but that seems like overkill when all I want is really a 'video typewriter'. Has anyone seen anything that might work for my purposes, or might serve as a good starting point?"

geo writes "I created this site to describe my latest toy: a digital audio multicast receiver. LANPipe receives 16-bit, 44.1 kHz audio multicast from a PC based server. The server uses a Winamp plug-in, so LANPipe can play almost any source format (mp3, ogg, uncompressed). It even has a digital audio output. The receiver uses a custom CPU written in VHDL and implemented on a Xilinx FPGA. This was a fun project that is best appreciated by fellow hardware geeks."

Odaeus writes "Happening now (1630 GMT) is the US FIRST Robotics Competition kick-off programme. Every year teams across the US, Canada, and other countries such as the UK (where my team started last year) composed of high school/college students and adult mentors have six weeks to design and build a robot that will compete in a friendly competition. One of the founders is everyone's favourite inventer of a over-hyped toy, Dean Kamen [Dekaresearch.com]. This is not Robot Wars."

An anonymous reader writes "There is a review of a programmable Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD). It is used to monitor computer related stats e.g. temperture, voltages, uptime etc. The article can be found here. Looks like an interesting toy!"

Rick Zeman writes "The Washington Post is reporting that the latest toy craze, miniature radio-controlled cars, is actually fueled by spam, and that spammers are actually helping brick and mortar retailers. Dunno about you guys, but I get a couple of those a day...and I've resisted the 'temptation.'" The Washington Post wants to know your age, ZIP code and sex, and even provides you with hints on the first two. ...or read the same story on MSNBC.

You ask, Bill Shatner answers. (It seems just about everyone calls him Bill, so we might as well too.) A nice series of glimpses at the man behind the TV and movie face.

swsnyder writes "A new toy to play with: new Intel compiler (v7.0) available for download at Intel's site. The Windows version is a time limited eval version, but the Linux version is free for non-commercial use. This version is claimed to be even more GCC-compatible that the last version, though I haven't verified this yet."

HaveNoMouth writes "What happens when the founder of Xircom and his brother bolt a DV Camcorder to the side of a 200 lb. model rocket and press the red button? The incredible movies (with sound!) at Gates Bros. Rocketry tell the tale. The quality of these movies is by far the best I've seen from the "strap a camera to a flying toy" community. They have a nice gallery of still photos too. If only everyone named Gates did stuff this cool."

Ninja Master Gara writes "The much-hyped "IT", Dean Kamen's Segway Human Transporter, started selling Monday with a no-refund deposit of $495 on the $4,950 people mover for deliveries starting March 2003 on first come first serve basis. "The Segway Human Transporter is one of the most famous and anticipated product introductions of all time," Jeff Bezos, chief executive and founder of Amazon.com, said in heralding the availability of the vehicles on the online retailer's site." It's also the most overhyped and overpriced toy ever, and I'm kicking myself for posting it since that just contributes to the problem.

NETHED writes "Circuit Cellar has an blurb about a guy who obviously got sick of waiting for a cheap solution to the BlueTooth cellphone headset. So in true geek tradition, he rolled his own. Here is the description of the toy (which looks bulky as-is, but could be fixed w/ some refining). It actually didn't win any prizes in the PSoC contest, but you have to admit, its pretty cool. There are other honorable mentions like a poor man's O-scope to something that seems to attach to a moth and check its muscle movements. Neat and nerdy stuff for the circuit etching crowd."

Dave21212 writes "My wife emailed me today with a link (yes Geeks can get married) to this interesting little retro-toy. It's a self-contained Atari game unit. The joystick *is* the console, battery operated with 10 preprogrammed titles and RCA out to your television. Includes Adventure, Real Sports Volleyball, Gravitar, Video Olympics, Circus Atari, Yar's Revenge, Asteroids, Centipede, Breakout, and Missile Command. She found it here on Avon and after a bit of Googling for this, I turned up no other sellers. The silly season is just around the corner, what a cool stocking stuffer! (Batteries not included)." Looks pretty authentic to the original... We mentioned this earlier but hadn't seen it for sale anywhere.

securitas writes "Many Bluetooth devices have (deservedly) received dismal reviews and we were prepared for the phaser-like Bluetooth Logitech Cordless Presenter to be another toy headed for the trash-heap of history. Instead we were surprised (some might say stunned :) ) at how well it performed. The Presenter combines a laser pointer, an electronic presentation remote control and a wireless optical mouse in one elegantly designed package."

I'm nothing if not a toy junky, and when Danger sent me at long last, a review unit of their excellent little HoTop PDA/Cellphone, now known as the T-Mobile Sidekick. I jumped at the chance to get into the thing and get my opinions out there.

Are Flagan writes with the review below of Hacker Culture. Flagan says this book "truly marks the entry of the 'hacker' into the realm of academia" -- a point which has both good and bad consequences. Read on to see if you might enjoy Hacker Culture as much as Flagan did.

gwizah writes: "A company by the name of Vialta is peddling a new product all you future loving geek's can enjoy, A VideoPhone! Yes, Im sure you can all remember the many attempts to bring video-phonecall technology into the home or office, but unlike the flying car, you can pick up a pair at Fry's today! According to some reviews at USA Today and the WSJ, the product works as advertised. A new way to call Grandma? Or just another silly little toy to collect dust in that hall closet."

ShaunC writes "CNet is reporting that Network Associates has just purchased a software company called Traxess, whose main product - DragNet - supposedly makes Carnivore look like a toy. DragNet is capable of monitoring everything from email to web, FTP sessions to IMs, even print jobs and VOIP conversations; sorting the protocols and logging it all to disk at gigabit speeds. One NAI exec envisions "the government using it to investigate employees and hackers." NAI has also issued a press release about DragNet."

Here are 10+ plus answers to Slashdot questions from motion picture digital effects expert Thad Beier. He chose the additional questions himself. (Yes, he's on Slashdot almost every day; we asked him to do the interview after reading many intelligent comments he's posted.) Anyway, there's some fine insight into the intersection of moviemaking, graphic arts, and computer science here, brought to you by an award-winning member of the film industry who just happens to be a fellow Slashdot reader.

This is part 2 of the interview with Dr. Richard Wallace. You might want to start with part 1.

rtphokie asks: "The story about the TiVo get-together along with some recent trials and tribulations rolling out a knowledge base along with the time I've spent recently helping my 80 year old grandfather with this VCR and TV has gotten me thinking about user interfaces and the elusive "user-friendly" label. When someone who thinks of themselves as 'non computer savvy' works with a gadget like TiVo and compains that it's 'too complicated', how should we react? Why are users immediately forgiven for not even taking the least amount of effort to look for a solution to their confusion in the manual. The tendency has always been to blame the interface and ultimately the engineers who designed it but isn't there a point where users have got to share some of the blame? Why do today's software and consumer electronics users expect to be able to fire up their new toy and magically have a complete understanding of how to use it?"