Well, this is turning out to be a lot more complicated than I expected...
I found a
php script that would do the job (create the thumbnails) but it needs that GD thing installed, which makes this hack a pain - if not impossible - to install for many people out there.
On the other hand, I did run into a free
perl script that would generate the thumbnails without having to install anything extra on the server. I included the code as an attatchment.
Any ideas on how to proceed? or should I just forget about this and move on with my life?