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Are you adept with Virtual Network Computing (VNC)? If not, you'll find that learning even a little about this desktop sharing system pays off big in your daily development or system administration responsibilities.

SlashRating© 17 slashdottit! tm SkinnyGuy writes "Virtually all of our phones have little motors that make vibration possible. Now there's a company working on taking the abilities of these mini motors much, much further. Touch-Bak's technology allows for users to send 'virtual punches' and jabs, and can send phones flying from the hands of users if they're unaware of the service. It's all a bit on the extreme side and, to his credit, the PCMag.com author recognizes that, but it's still a fascinating application of the little understood Haptics technology. '"Imagine," Galsworthy continued, "that you know your buddy Kyle is in an important meeting and you know that he keeps his phone in his pocket. You can deliver a digital punch right to his thigh. He jumps out of his seat during the meeting and . . . it's hilarious!" Galsworthy was so tickled by this description of events that he was lost in fits of laughter on the other side of the phone. To me, this service is childish and, well, kind of stupid.'"

Complete with photos, video and a tutorial on how to turn your Apple TV into a full Mac OS X box.

Since filling up at the gas pump is always so much fun, now you can fill your guests up (with liquor) via your own Bar Petrol Pump.

Fill it up with the beverage of your choice, pull the handle and fill a glass up. The pump holds about 30 ounces, so you can just about put that entire quart of malt liquor in there. Although, by the looks of that hose you may not be able to get that glass filled before the liquid gets warm. They have it for £17.99 (about $35) at Drinkstuff.

Handcuffed? Here’s how to escape just like professional escape artists, using only a hairpin. It might come in handy one day!

Many free software advocates make a name for themselves by being involved with a single project. Dave Neary casts a wider net. He is a GNOME Foundation member, community manager of the OpenWengo project, and a former contributor to the GIMP project.

It simply crawls faster and smarter. Post compares how the other ones do

SlashRating© 10 slashdottit! tm ddelmonte writes with a link to a brietbart story on the top ten April Fools Day hoaxes, as determined by the San Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes. Two great British examples: "In 1957, a BBC television show announced that thanks to a mild winter and the virtual elimination of the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. Footage of Swiss farmers pulling strands of spaghetti from trees prompted a barrage of calls from people wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti at home. In 1977, British newspaper The Guardian published a seven-page supplement for the 10th anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semicolon-shaped islands. A series of articles described the geography and culture of the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse."

Embedded Linux development services provider TimeSys is among seven companies chosen for a new Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) attraction designed to showcase innovative startups. The "Disruption Zone" honors startups that significantly "speed electronics design and development, and improve digital signal and memory performance," CMP said.