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Newsletter for July 11th, 2008 - Codename "Revenge of the Mini-Review"
mouser:
Newsletter for July 11th, 2008Codename "Revenge of the Mini-Review"
"If you read nothing else on our site, read our BLOG"
(new rss feed with images)
1. Newsletter Editorial
Greetings again dear readers. Another hot July evening.. It's 1am here in Illinois (we call it Joto hour in the irc chat channel). 1am is actually a pretty busy time on the chat channel as all the night owls are starting to feel like they better stop fooling around and start working.
The DC server admin (Gothi[C]) has been hunting down an email problem with the new member server and he thinks he's finally got it solved. We shall see. Thanks in part to a very generous donation we've been able to do a big upgrade of the secondary member server where we provide web space to dc users. The new server will allow us to be more generous giving out space and hosting bigger member projects. Actually we have a fun new idea planned for the member server in the next month or so, so stay tuned..
It's been nice for me to get back to coding on DC Software, and I've been adding a lot of new features to my Find and Run Robot program, mainly working with plugin writers to implement stuff they can build off of. Actually in the last week a new visitor to the site has implemented a plugin that has long been sought after, one that can display Most-recently-used file lists stored by windows when you use other programs. FARR seems to be getting some attention lately but it's never really been on the level of some of my other programs. Doesn't really matter to be, but after I'm done with this round of FARR updates I'll switch over to my other programs like Screenshot Captor and Process Tamer, and do some updates on those. If you have any feature requests, now would be a good time to post them. I also have to figure out what new big DC programming project I want to start on next.
Keeping up a trends from last month, we've got lots of little mini-reviews and editorials from dc members this month. I'm not sure what's causing this increase but it's very welcome -- everyone loves reading a good review.
Oh and don't forget, if you're planning to submit something for the the programming contest that we are currently running, you better wrap things up. It ends on July 14th. The winner will receive a giant MS Visual Studio bundle prize (includes all Windows OS's and office tools, worth over $10,000).
Lastly, I should say something about the fact that we haven't had any new software discounts lately. After skipping 2007, we are definitely going to have a fundraiser in 2008 to try to raise money for the website and our ever increasing web server costs. And we will need your help. One of the things we will try to do as usual is have bunch of software discounts and giveaways. But I would appreciate any other ideas you might have on things we might do during the fundraiser celebration -- either post ideas on the forum or email me ([email protected]). We like to do strange things so no crazy idea will be rejected without consideration. And if you enjoy these newsletters and want us to keep doing them, and you've never posted before on the DC forum, don't be shy about posting a reply on the newsletter thread and saying so.
2. Your Participation Requested
A warm welcome to all the new members who have joined over the last month. Here are some good topics on which to make your debut post. Don't be shy, just jump right in, we are always happy to hear from new people. And for our long term members, you know what to do -- join in and make your voice heard.
* DC Forum Members -- Tell Us About Your Website
* How Interesting is Your IP Address?
* What are your favorite gadgets and gizmos?
* Show us your (physical) desktop
3. Mini-Reviews and Editorials by DC Members
It was a big month for mini-reviews on the forum. Mini-reviews are a great resource for people researching software solutions and may be found on the dedicated Mini-Review Board. Please remember to acknowledge the efforts of the reviewers with a few donationcredits if you find their reviews interesting and/or helpful.
* Woot.com Bag of Crap post - a must read!
* Jungle Disk Mini-Review: offsite data storage
* Mini-Review-John's Background Switcher
* Mini-Review: Obulis (game)
* MyLife Organized (updated review for v2)
* TodoPaper
* Mini Review: Espresso
* An Analysis of CamSpace as a Webcam Mouse and Gaming Controller
* "The browser is the new OS" ...(really?)
* Direcscape: don't get lost in your project
4. DC and DC Member Software
Some more new cool plugins for Find and Run Robot (FARR), coming hot on the heals of lots of new FARR features, plus a new autohotkey project by a new member of the forum.
* FARR Plugin: MultiMonitor (and center) 0.2.0
* FARR Plugin: MostRecentlyUsed 0.4.0
* FARR Plugin: AlbumDisplayer (BETA)
* FARR Plugin Display Mode: UserWindowMode
* FARR Alias update: TiddlyWiki
* Clipboard Help+Spell: Adding ALL CAPS to quick modification menu?
* Skrommel's DragKing 1.3
* NEW: WinKey Enhancement Project (WEP)
5. Living Room
The Living Room section of the forum is where we discuss general issues that don't really belong in the other, dedicated sections. It's kind of a catch-all section -- lots of website discoveries and recommendations, etc. This makes it a great place to explore - you never know what you're going to find!
* Gizmo's Tech Support Alert Newsletter Merges with Windows Secrets
* Short but interesting comparison of internet shopping websites
* The HowToGeek.com Website - Computer Help From your Friendly How-To Geek
* Looking for help identifying hidden domain owner...
* Finally: Converting Units Sensibly
* McAfee SiteAdvisor Complaints
* Is More Memory Better? - a bit-tech.net article
* WOT: Web Of Trust -- Interesting Community-driven Security Rating Website
* YourFonts - Generate a font based on your handwriting (from dcmember erwin)
6. General Software Discussion
Almost half the posts on the forum fall into the category of general software discussions, questions, recommendations, etc. This is one of the most active sections of the DC forum and a great resource if you're trying to solve a software or hardware related problem. We get so much traffic on this board that we've split the recent content into to sections in the newsletter - general software and specific software discussions.
* The LiveCD List
* Tiny Windows apps from Blue Yonder
* Let go of your bookmarks!
* How do incremental backup programs work?
* Monitoring internet usage
* Anyone know an Antivirus Bootable CD or Floppy with NTFS support
* In need of a "system startup manager"
* Edit Middle 2: Firefox Addon for the AwesomeBar
* I need a frame by frame dvd video player software.
* Does it make sense to disable the windows swap file?
* Queueing downloads in firefox
* TrueCrypt 6.0 released
* Where to suggest / request Firefox Addons?
7. Developer's Corner
It's good to see activity in this section of the forum increasing a little recently. Remember that this section isn't just for computer programmers, it's for entrepreneurs of all kinds to discuss the issues involving creating things and running a small business.
* Career Advice : Masters Degree?
* Great Roundup: 15 Tools to Help You Develop Faster Web Pages
* Visual Web Developer 2008 - newbie questions and help requests
* Better Printing of Web Pages
* Digital Signature to verify Publisher...
* Programatically determining your IP Address...
* A plugin based information bar in Windows
* For you Indie Game Coders: 2009 Independent Games Festival
* Features are a one way street: Short but Sweet Blog Post
8. Company Complaints and Compliments
This relatively new section of the forum is a place where people can post their honest personal experiences with companies -- positive or negative.
* NewEgg
* Nero - Why?
* Stardock doesn't treat you like a criminal!
9. Fun, Games, and Humour
One of the things that makes the forum a nice place to hang out is that there is a good balance between serious expert discussion and just plain silly fun (and everything in between). There are always a few truly sublime discoveries posted by DC members each month, and this month was no exception. There is also a special section on the forum called the DC Gamer's Club, where people talk about multiplayer games and set up servers to play against each other. It's also where I yell and scream and tell people to code their own new games instead of playing other store bought games.
* Bill Gates email rant
* Spore Creature Creator Released - Make Cody Creature Contest!
* Flash Game of the Week: Totem Destroyer
* TrackMania Nations Forever - Free, fun, and totally awesome!
* Diablo 3 announced!
* Will someone in this section please start creating a massive MMORPG
* Battlefield Heroes
housetier:
the newsletters are among the best of donationcoder. thank you mouser! :-*
lanux128:
agreed. they are byte-size version of the ongoing discussions on the forums. 8)
Darwin:
I love the newsletters and just want to say that I think that this is the best one yet. GREAT work, mouser :Thmbsup:
wizard43:
Definitely keep the newsletter coming. If I read all the forums that interest me, nothing else would get done.
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