Member Mini-Reviews
We're just getting started with this section, so there are only a few screencast movies here so far. The idea is to provide a place where users can share demonstration videos of their favorite programs, to help others learn about new tools.
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Member Written Mini-Reviews
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Google Reader - Mini-Review
Basic Info
Intro and Overview: I thought it might be helpful/useful to post this review, as it could potentially save people a lot of time (if they were not already using a feed-reader). There are some discussions in the DC Forum that refer to Google Reader, and these two seem most relevant: If you don't want to have to spend time wading through the often confusing mass or clutter on a website in order to read something of interest, then you can subscribe to posts on the website, or comments in a forum (e.g., including the DC Forum) without having to post something and requesting email notification of responses - as you normally would have to do. To do this, you have to subscribe for yourself rather than expect the website to do it for you. For example, I have been doing this for several forums and blog sites for years, including the DC Forum. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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SysExporter - (Screen-scraping) Export data from Windows controls - Mini-Review
Basic Info
Intro and Overview: There is a general problem in Windows OSes - one that has been a continuing source of frustration to me and probably many others - that many System and application displays often contain really useful data that is effectively "protected" from being copied/used. I had been looking for a way to capture the data from the Windows update history display (this is on a laptop with Win7-64), to put into a database, so that I could analyse the history for failed updates. Looking through the display manually was becoming a tedious experience due to its functional limitations, and I wanted to automate/filter the analysis as much as possible. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 - Mini-ReviewBasic Info
Intro and Overview: This review follows on from the DCF thread started on 2010-10-20 by @mouser: Glowing web review of Logitech G930 wireless headset I did at first start to update that thread, but then realised that it was a bit old, so I have done this Mini-Review instead. Becoming fed up with the leads into my laptop being yanked about whenever I stood up wearing my noise-cancelling headphones whilst forgetting that they were plugged in to my laptop, I decided that I really needed a decent wireless Hi-Fi headset - one that included a mic - and so I ended up deciding to trial and buy the G930 (at a reduced price). My decision was largely based on this PC Mag review: Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930. (Review dated September 26, 2011.) Quote Short story: (follow the hyperlink for the full review) Pros Long range. High-quality audio output. Handy controls on the headset. Can be used while charging. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Rarma Radio (Raimersoft) - Mini-ReviewBasic Info
Introduction/Overview: Quote A very nice Internet streamed radio/TV manager, and set up for easy find, capture and play. A simple GUI belying its relatively extensive functionality and a comprehensive set of tools. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Hard Disk Sentinel PRO - Mini-ReviewBasic Info
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Harvest: Massive Encounter - A unique, moddable, indie Tower Defense game.Somebody gifted me a copy of Harvest: Massive Encounter back in July and I was so busy I forgot all about it. I just found it in my Steam Library a couple days ago and after looking into the details and remembering it was a Tower Defense game I decided to try it out for the first time. Made by Oxeye Game Studio (with a programmer who also works with Mojang on Minecraft), Harvest: Massive Encounter is different from other TD games I've played... Here's how the game is different from other TD games I've played before: First of all, aliens don't travel along a pre-defined path; they attack from all sides and can destroy any building. This changes the strategy compared to typical TDs where the only strategy is only building placement (to block off paths or create bottlenecks) or when/what to upgrade next. In fact, the more I think about it, I suppose that Harvest is more similar to a simplified RTS. You don't get money just from killing aliens. You need to build harvesters to grab the minerals sitting around on the surface of the planet. Also, there's another resource besides money you have to worry about: Power. Every building you build requires not only money to buy, but power to build and in most cases power needs to be regularly replenished (e.g. your harvester will power down after mining a few times and needs a recharge before it can harvest anymore). Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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King of Tokyo: A Board Game Mini-ReviewMy review today is for King of Tokyo: I learned about King of Tokyo from the Cracked LCD Review of it by Michael Barnes and the review on Drake's Flame, which I recommend you go check out. When Michael said it was a simple game with lots of theme, that was one of the best board games of 2011 -- I just had to try it. And I'm glad I did -- It's exactly what I'm looking for in a game -- a fast fun experience that is easy to learn and a pure pleasure to play. It's a great game. It was designed by the same guy who created Magic the Gathering (Richard Garfield). The artwork is out of this world, cartoon monster styled -- and the components are really fun to look at and read and use. It's got a big stack of cards that are phenomenal. I won't go into the rules, you can read them on the Board Game Geek site or the Cracked LCD review I linked to above. Basically each player controls a monster and they fight to stay alive and gain victory points. Gameplay is fast and furious and there is a lot of luck involved. But always tricky choices to make and tension and surprise around every corner. We had a huge amount of fun talking during the game and enjoying watching the process unfold. This game really worked for me in an area where games often fail for me -- and that is with the rule-changing cards. King of Tokyo comes with a large deck of (beautifully illustrated) cards that give players special powers and change the (simple) base ruleset. In many games that use this idea of rule-changing cards, the rules on the cards are long and complicated and are hard to absorb and incorporate. But King of Tokyo does it so well -- with just minor changes, and perfect themeing -- it just works. Final rating: 10 out of 10 if you are interested in a quick fun game with people who are learning for the first time. Click here to read more Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competetive Perspective
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Re: Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competetive Perspective: Spot ItIt's been too long since I posted a new board/card game mini-review, so here's a quickie. This is my mini-review of a card game for young kids called "Spot It". I learned about Spot It from my favorite board game review video series by Tom Vassel: Tom's daughter Melody is a real gamer and she and tom both liked the game. I thought it might be perfect for my niece during a family visit I took last week, and it was. Turns out everyone in the family enjoyed it, even my parents. It's a light game where you are trying to quickly match symbols on the cards. There are actually several variations you can play, which adds some variety. We invented a couple of additional variations, including one that used the cards to play go-fish which i think worked quite well. I'd give this one a 9 out of 10 in the category of quick family games for playing with young children under 10. Someone mentioned a similar game called "Set", which has won many awards. Set is definitely in the same vein of identifying similar cards.. and has some more sophisticated elements to it. I tried Set a while ago but found it completely unfun to play and too taxing on my brain. Side note: This game can actually be fascinating for the mathematicians in the family and some of us found ourselves deep in thought about the algorithm used to create the cards. You see the cards are such that: Each card has 8 symbols on it, from a collection of over 50 symbols. There are 55 cards. Each card has one and only one match with every other card. It's not at all trivial to come up with an algorithm that achieves that, or to answer questions such as how many cards can you make given N unique symbols with M symbols on each card..
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Subjot - My New Twitter but It may Not be for YouBasic Info http://www.subjot.com Subjot is a Topic based Twitter except it's not. It's part Quora, part forum, part Plurk (comments, not interface) and part Friendfeed (cross-posts to Twitter/FB only) What's in it for Twitter users: It doesn't have an external application that I know of but your homepage design is all Twitter with the extra options not really getting in your way. Cons: No retweet No hashtag (although it has a better list system in-site but that doesn't get imported when posting to Twitter) No notification of when someone mentions your username (although it has the same notification Quora uses which is much more powerful for when people you know replies back to you) No saved searches No auto-url shortening What's in it for Facebook users: The service still relies on inviting your friends into using it but you don't have to follow their every status updates. Just the ones you want to know about them. Cons: No privacy. Right now all posts are public. What's in it for Plurk users: Same micro-blogging goodness that includes a comment system. Cons: It definitely has no similarity to Plurk's interface. What's in it for those who have avoided social networks? Currently it has a nice community. Even the developer is all over the place talking to users publicly in the comments. Initially the interface may seem scary but it has the feel of a forum. In some parts superior, in some parts inferior. The limited character count for example is adapted from Twitter but unlike Twitter it has a higher character count. It may also not allow for titles but subjects are like turning Titles into Twitter streams. Say... you write a mini-review. You can create a mini-review subject and every post you write under mini-review will go there. It is also your own exclusive forum category. Others may make the same title but both of your contents don't cross-post unless people follow both of you. There's also no direct image hosting or formatting but the textbox is smart. Direct image links show images. Youtube links embed videos. Click here to read the full mini-review and add your comments..
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 Quick Review: Ghostery - Best blocker I've used since JunkBusterI have been interested in maintaining my web privacy for years, wishing to defend myself from the continuing and increasing assault on that privacy, from the advertisers and the Google and other ad-click giants. So, yesterday out of interest, I downloaded the Ghostery add-on that works in:
I was so impressed with the initial results after installing it that I posted a review and gave it a 5-star vote: Quote Best blocker I've used since JunkBuster - Rated 5 out of 5 stars. Great add-on! Since 1997 I had used JunkBuster to keep the junk out of my browsing and minimise bandwidth utilisation. It worked very well, up until the time when the JunkBuster project was abandoned. I later moved to Ad-Block Plus, then added NoScript, but they were never quite enough, and I have long missed having the fine degree of control over my web browsing that JunkBuster was able to provide me with. However, with the addition of Ghostery, I think I have nearly got back to the degree of control I had in 1997 - 15 years ago. Sadly, that is *NOT* a measure of progress. :-( Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Review of VistaDBVistaDb Review Basic Info:
Introduction VistaDB is an embedded, single assembly SQL-based database engine for .NET. VistaDB is highly compatible with SQL Server, down to the ability to execute T-SQL against the database, and utilize native data types and stored procedures. It has full compatibility with Visual Studio 2008/2010, and allows utilization of CLR procs and triggers, utilizing a fully managed and typesafe c# architecture. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Not-so-mini review of CrashPlan backup softwareCrashPlan is yet another entry in the increasingly crowded online backup marketplace. Pricing is competitive, they offer unlimited online backup storage space, and they have a "family plan" that allows up to 10 computers for a single account. Seen as simply another cloud backup option they are appealing enough, but there are some important additional features that may make CrashPlan more appealing to the power user and/or those particularly concerned about data redundancy. In particular CrashPlan distinguishes itself by providing both local and off-site backup, supporting a large number of platforms, and having a free version that supports unlimited backup size to local devices.. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Android apps micro reviewsLast December I switched from a Windows Mobile to an Android phone. This opened up the exciting and vast world of apps and widgets to me. In the past three months I've looked at many apps and widgets, tried some, read about others, tried to find the best ones fitting my needs. Here I present a selection of apps which I find most useful describing them with a few words only. All the apps presented here are either free or quite cheap. If you're using an app other than the ones I present here that cover the same or similar functionality or if you'd like to have more information on any of these apps please let me know.
Click here to read the Android App Mini-Reviews now..
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Micro-Reviews: Android widgetsIntroduction Last December I switched from a Windows Mobile to an Android phone. This opened up the exciting and vast world of apps and widgets to me. In the past three months I've looked at many apps and widgets, tried some, read about others, tried to find the best ones fitting my needs. Here I present a selection of widgets which I find most useful describing them with a few words only. All of the widgets presented here are either free or very cheap. If you're using widgets other than the ones I present here that cover the same or similar functionality or if you'd like to have more information on any of these widgets please let me know. Click here to read the full thing and discuss..
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Bringing the computer into PnP RPGaming - A Roundup of SoftwareIntroduction Recently, I found out that a lot of my friends at work like to game- and not just video games! I hadn't played in several years, though I've still collected the books for 'some day'. The concensus was to play Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. That wouldn't have been my first choice, but I found that I liked it after playing- gave the standard RPG some tactical options that hadn't been available before, and made 1st level characters something akin to a protagonist from a fantasy novel rather than just a target awaiting an unlucky critical before he ever had a chance to develop. Anyone who's played a first level wizard with d4 hit points knows what I mean. After a bit, the DM started getting a bit tired of running his campaign and wanted to play, so I stepped in and said I would DM the Dark Sun campaign which being remade for 4th edition. But I knew that I didn't want to go through the standard preparations that I formerly took- I just didn't have the time since I was older, with more responsibilities. So I looked to a computerized way to run my game... Click here to read the full thing and add your comments..
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Mini-Review: Lipsum text generator
Intro: Virtually any designer who works much with text will be familiar with Lorem ipsum which is filler text frequently used in page layouts. Lipsum expands on this and generates meaningless filler text that a designer can use to populate layouts for typographical work, web pages, etc. This dummy content gives a good view of how the layout will look, regardless of subject matter. Who is this app designed for: Anyone working with layouts that will ultimately be filled with meaningful text. In this circumstance, it is useful to deploy text that has no particular meaning, the purpose being to see whether the layout itself will be pleasing to the eye, properly balanced and so forth. The Good Lipsum will use text already on the clipboard if so desired. More importantly it also comes pre-populated with a variety of texts (including Lorem ipsum). Thanks to a very simple, relatively unobtrusive interface, with a few large buttons, one can choose quickly whether to use text from the clipboard or any one of the preset texts. Further, one can choose the number of paragraphs to generate as well as the length of those paragraphs. Another useful benefit is the ability to generate texts in a variety of languages. The chosen text is then sent to the clipboard for easy pasting into the layout under construction. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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MiniReview: "Fileminimizer Pictures" compression toolBasic Info
Intro: Compression tool for JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG and EMF images Who is this app designed for: Those who have large collections of images and who want to reduce storage requirements. Those who move images, or versions of images, across the web in some manner (posting to collections, email, etc.) The Good Simple interface:
Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review: Clock-on-Desktop from Positbolt SoftwareBasic Info
Intro: Clock-on-Desktop is a pretty good name for this product really, since that's exactly what this software does: it provides you with any number of very elegant-looking clocks that sit right on your desktop. The software comes bundled with over 50 skins which means you'll probably find several that are to your personal taste. I chose it since I'm always on the lookout for ways to make my desktop 'just so' and I am a fussy old stoat. The clocks are skinnable, scalable and support any timezone. I have ended up with a fairly plain, very clear skin that complements my rainmeter theme nicely. This in itself is quite surprising since I am a terrible one for fiddling with the desktop. Anyway, initial impressions are good: the interface is very nicely designed, with smooth-looking icons and a reasonably intuitive GUI for setting up the basics. The guys clearly have a pretty talented artist working with them, and it's this that makes the software quite appealing. It's verging on the slightly-chubby, soft, Mac-like look and feel. Luckily we stay just on the safe side of twee. Click to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review: Realtime Landscaping
Intro: Realtime Landscaping is a software program for helping you design and visualize landscaping ideas. It's used mainly to plan walkways, fences, flower beds, and other outdoor structures. While it has some support for 3d building model constructions, it's not meant to do interior modeling, and cannot support the kinds of detailing building architectures that the serious building modeling tools can (like Chief Architect). However it does excel at letting you super rapidly sketch and render quite complex outdoor landscaping plans, and the 3d walkthrough rendering is quite pleasing. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review: Centerbase CRMI've been trying to get a CRM in place at my company for years. We're a small software business, specializing in logistics, and in the past we have not had a very coherent strategy for tracking leads, scheduling appointments, tracking customer requests or bug reports. Each of us used different approaches. To be fair, for the most part we got away with it. But as customer base grows, you suddenly reach that "tipping point" where there's just too much to track using an ad hoc approach. This year I finally sat down and really focused on trying to get something that would fix it. After trialling quite a few low-end and mid-end systems, I settled on Centerbase. Please read this review for why. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Bookmark Docs - MiniReviewI found out about Bookmark Docs through a thread here. From the site: Quote Bookmark Docs lets you precisely "bookmark" any places in various documents and then quickly return to them whenever you need, and do all that in a unified manner. Add bookmarks and hyperlinks to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, CHM, and MSDN documents, and to Web pages. I've seen many bookmark managers over the years (and have bought more than a few), and haven't found anything that really satisfied my needs, so the idea was interesting to me. The installation was professional and seamless, though you will want to pay attention to the options at the end; Bookmark Docs by default does not put an icon on the desktop, but does want to run at startup, so set your options accordingly. ... I foresee that this will become one of those applications that I come to rely on heavily. Though there are a few niggling areas that could be enhanced, it does what it sets out to do, and really is a timesaver. I give it my recommendation. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review: First look at the Scrivener Text Outliner BetaScrivener is a tool for writers. It's basically an rich text outliner with a very nice gui, and the ability to show/edit summaries of a folder's content (the corkboard), and of course the ability to export/compile all those entries as one document (images not supported) It is still in beta. Initial impressions are good, but I have been able to crash it by importing an image (I have yet to see can I reproduce that), and I have found a bunch of minor bugs. In general it seems well behaved though and very usable. Click here to read the full mini-review and view links and videos..
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StartSSL.com Certificate Provider: Mini-ReviewI want talk a little bit about about StartSSL.com, a company that provides SSL Certificates. They actually do a lot of things under the umbrella of StartCom, but I'm only going to talk about SSL services here, and in particular, SSL Certificates for web sites. Preface: An Introduction to SSL Certificates SSL Certificates are a source of much frustration for small companies and indie website operators. The idea of SSL Certificates is a good one. They offer a way for users who connect to your website to have some assurance that you are who you say you are -- that the person running the website they are connecting to is really the person in charge of the organization they say they are, and that they aren't being tricked by someone who has intercepted their connection to the web (man-in-the-middle style attacks). But web browsers (firefox, internet explorer, chrome, opera, safari, etc.) have decided to combine this idea of verifying the identity of the company running a website with the mechanism for establishing a secure connection protocol from your browser to the website (https). Secure connections can be very important in preventing neighbors and snoops from discovering your login passwords, etc. as you browse the web. Unfortunately, the way that web browser makers have combined these features has results in a real dilemma for small developers and indie website administrators. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Stylizer 5.1 - a sophisticated CSS editor
Intro: Stylizer is probably the most advanced CSS editor I have ever stumbled upon. As it lacks a way to edit local CSS files, it follows a completely different approach than Rapid CSS, CSSEdit and all those "alternatives". Basically, you take a website and do some WYSIWYG modifications without having to type everything into a boring text editor window. After startup, you only have some kind of a browser window with (modifiable) toolbar buttons and (not modifiable) menus. Enter a website or a local HTML page there to make Stylizer parse the included style sheets and the Stylizer controls appear. See the screenshot above to get a clue how it actually looks. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Wibiya: Website Toolbar Utility (Web Review)Wibiya is a great, free toolbar utility, that you can add to any website, blog, or forum, quickly and easily. The toolbar itself, is not like the one's you will be thinking about (The one's that fill up the top of Internet Explorer). Instead, it is one, that sits at the bottom of your website (The pages you choose to put it on) and can be minimized by the user. With handy utilities like the 'Facebook Like' button, Google Translate, Games, Share and Chat (And much more), that do not take the user off your website, your visitors will have even more reason to come back, day after day. Click here to read more and discuss..
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Board Game Review Site RoundupAs some of you know I've caught the board game bug. More than playing them I enjoy reading about them and thinking about the different mechanics and game design ideas. I'd like to start a thread collecting various sites and blogs that review board games. Here's a few to start us of -- fellow board game fans please add more. I'll link directly to the sites or to DC threads about them:
Click here to read more and discuss..
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Review: "Scanning - VueScan and Associates" Pt.I: Intro & BookscanningDC member brahman has posted a giant review on scanning using the software program VueScan: "Since scanning became a minor hobby, I followed the development of VueScan for about 10 years -- occasionally (every couple of years) downloading the trial. This application has now reached a degree of maturity that I decided to do a deeper review for the DonationCoder community. Since VueScan in its expert mode can be quite daunting, some tutorial elements and walk throughs are included so that the reader can feel more at home even with some of the more obscure settings and get a very rich scanning experience out of VueScan. The more I worked on it the more I felt that the review should become even more holistic by also discussing selected software (like scanner utilities, e-book post processing, and sharpening) and hardware (color calibration targets and monitor calibration devices) that I found over the years which really help a lot to produce great scans in the most effortless way. Then my review grew bigger and bigger - as is the nature of life - until I finally decided to split it in several parts, the first installment you will get to enjoy now." Part I of the review tutorial deals with an introduction to VueScan, its features, document- and book scanning. Part II to be published soon will discuss VueScan's color management, profiling, and raw scanning abilities plus more hints and tips and more great software that complements VueScan. Click here to continue reading the full review now..
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Mini-Review: Atrise Golden SectionIntroduction: Atrise Golden section is a design grid for web, graphic, logo and user-interface design. This program is designed as a tool to help artists, designers, programmers, photographers and others. It allows the user to design something by applying those proportions defined as the golden section or golden ratio. Various aspects of the golden section can be overlaid visually on whatever design software you are using in Windows. See also the Wikipedia article on the golden ratio here. For whom this app is designed: Atrise Golden Section has potential for anyone designing a web site, or a user interface, constructing a newsletter, or indulging in digital photography, or a whole lot more. In use, it positions an overlay grid that 'floats' above your work. Aligning elements to that grid is a quick and efficient way to ensure a layout that the human eye/brain combination will find appealing, often at a level below conscious thought. Without having to know a great deal about æsthetics, it is possible to make very worthwhile improvements to the layout of material at which we ourselves and others will be looking. http://www.atrise.com/golden-section Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review: Your Next Read - Book Discovery Search Engine
Type in a book you've read and get related books whether it be books of the same author as your book or just related searches. As you can see from the screenshot, it also has a reading list. The search is very powerful for one. I threw a rare book in it and it still discovered it (only it had no related books). The interface is smart. Just the right clutter and options and the Amazon.com link is exactly where you want it, the Goodreads link is exactly where you want it... this is a testament of a site that may not be doing anything special with their lay-out but they understand where big buttons need to be, where the search size needs to be...it's all good. I can't verify if it's the best suggested book searching engine but it's crazy good. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review of JungleDisk and ZumoDriveBasic Info
For a variety of reasons, I’m looking for a Cloud Storage Service. At one time I was sure I would need two to satisfy my needs, as I need a service that syncs a local folder (preferably several) across machines. I also need a online storage space for offsite backups- the ability to access it by WebDav is also a nice to have feature, so I can use my own backup software if I want. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Quora - Facebook meets Yahoo Answers meets Wikipedia meets TwitterSimply put. Quora is just a Q&A site like Ask MetaFilter and Yahoo Answers. It's addictive and well designed user interface is what's getting people excited. http://www.quora.com Unfortunately, Quora sounds less interesting compared to actually using it. The initial interface is like Twitter, your later reaction will think Facebook but eventually you'll realize it's like WikiAnswers. However because of the design of the user interface it works surprisingly clear. You'll be surprised how fast you are jumping from question to question. Who is this app designed for: LinkedIn users who want to better represent their expertise. Quora basically is very reputation based and this is a major part of how it separates itself from other Q&A service. It also has some active Silicon Valley members already that provide some very insightful answers and really there's so little unhelpful answers as of now that it doesn't feel like a public service at all. Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini Review of SugarSync and DropBoxThis review is a comparative look at two cloud synchronizers - SugarSync and DropBox. With so many things moving to the cloud, and so many having more than one digital device, it becomes an issue to keep everything in sync, and to have access to everything when you need it. Trying to satisfy these requirements are several cloud-based continuous backup services. I became aware of Dropbox back when it was in beta, and was able to score an invite. From the moment I did, I was hooked. It became very much a part of my computing experience, and I was always looking for new ways to use it. But for all of that, I never saw a reason to pay for it, figuring that I could keep the documents that I needed within the 2GB limit. This became a bit harder when I purchased my iPhone, using DropBox as a way to supplement my storage on the device through their iPhone app. One day I was listening to the AppSlappy podcast, and they reviewed SugarSync as an alternative to MobleMe. I was intrigued, especially since SugarSync also had a free version. So I tried it. During my trial of SugarSync, I began to see DropBox in a new light. SugarSync had many more features. But when I started to really implement it, I began to see that it was give and take, so decided to write this comparative review... Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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DC Member Mini-Review: Bluebeam CAD Pdf toolI'm sure you guys have heard me rave about Bluebeam. It's my favorite pdf utility. I've just put up my review for it on my website: http://aram.dcmembers.com...eering/bluebeam-pdf-revu/
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Monkey Dash mini reviewMonkeyDash is a 2 player strategy board game. A match takes about 15 minutes. It is made by DC member Ampa, who also play tested the game here on DC: http://www.donationcoder....m/index.php?topic=12523.0 I won't follow the minireview template and will only post my own impressions and scattered thoughts from playing the game. For game overview and game details, check out the video and these two resources: Great video tutorial from the game site: http://monkeydash.co.uk/tutorial.html Information and other reviews: http://www.boardgamegeek....ardgame/33605/monkey-dash Click here to read the full mini-review now..
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DJ Legend - The Super DJ Software Review ThreadThis thread contains mini-reviews of several DJ tools including:
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KidsMenu - a shell replacement for kidsAs any parent would agree, introducing computers to young children can be quite frustrating. Since most of the systems are not designed with kids on their mind, it's not wise to leave the kids unattended. There are several useful utilities here at Donationcoder that can attest to this fact, such as Skrommel's ToddlerTrap and CrazyLittleFingers by Kwacky. This is where alternate shells come into the picture. They let the children to explore and launch programs while allowing the parent to retain certain amount of control. One such program that recently caught my eye is KidsMenu by Byron Jones and as it turned out Byron wrote this program for his kids to use and I feel that is an important criteria. As he explains on the KidsMenu website. Quote from: website kidsmenu avoids some of the complexity and danger introduced by the standard windows shell (explorer) when put in front of young children. for example, as there's no start menu, hitting the windows key accidently while playing a game won't show the start menu. (note this functionality currently requires kidsmenu to be running as the replacement shell). Clcik here to read the full mini-review now..
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Mini-Review: Digital Game StoresI've really gotten on board with the Digital Game Distribution concept (though the flap at GOG shook my confidence a bit), and figured that I'd post a review of the sites that I've used. I'll post them a little at a time, and if someone has something to add, feel free to add to the thread, and I'll update this 'table of contents' post with a link to the review.
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 Program Whose Time Has Come: virtual folders, collections, file baskets...What would be the one program you would like to have most that is already possible but doesn't quite seem to exist yet? A Program Whose Time Has Come? For me, it would be a powerful sidekick to file managers: a program to manage virtual folders, a.k.a file collections, a.k.a file baskets/organizers... Hope someone comes up with a catchier name! The time when the simple folder hierarchy ceased to suffice is long gone, isn't it? I've seen plenty of requests for such functionality on various forums, but strangely no real takers yet. I'll describe my experience with the existing solutions, pretty immature all, but first, here's what the program would do: A virtual folder is a folder that doesn't exist physically on disk. It is merely a name for a collection of files selected by the user for whatever purpose or gathered automatically according to some criteria. The "whatever" is pretty darn big - I come up with new potential uses for such a program every day. Here are the three main uses of file collections I can see. (Please add others if my three don't exhaust the range of possibilities). Each of these uses requires slightly different behaviors, but it seems possible to accommodate them all in a single application.
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