Newsletter for December 1st, 2008
Codename "Winter Wondercode"
1. Newsletter Editorial - NANY 2009Greetings and welcome to winter! It sure is getting cold out there, so why not bundle up and stay indoors and catch up on the DC forum discussions?
There is one major thing I want to tell you about in this newsletter's editorial, and that is our yearly N.A.N.Y. ("New Apps for the New Year") software celebration.
The NANY 2009 event looks like it will have more participants than ever before.. Let's review the basic ground rules:
We encourage all programmers, of any skill level (many are just beginners), to write a new, small, free program to be released on or around December 31st. You'll find that some submissions are silly, some are horrific, some are quite useful. It's a really fun event for the coders and the non-coders alike, and there are always some interesting surprises.
As with all of our previous NANY events, this isn't a contest to see who can write the best program. It's mostly a celebration of creating something new. So, in that spirit, we don't really award prizes, but we will be sending out a special commemorative DonationCoder.com coffee mug featuring our cute bird/duck mascot Cody to all participating programmers. If you know a programmer who you think would get a kick out of participating, please let them know!
2. Official DC Software UpdatesOK, a few minor updates to DC software has come out over the past month:
3. Your Participation RequestedNo matter what your level of computer knowledge, or how long you've been a DC member, we'd love your input! See the links below for some good places to jump in and make your first post.
Let me also point you to a
revived thread on the forum about suggested changes to the DonationCoder.com approach to raising money. We haven't had a fundraiser in a few years and depend entirely on donations from users to keep this site running. With the worldwide economic crisis, things feel a little scary.. so we need to make sure that we continue to provide a service to the community that people feel is worth supporting, and provide a mechanism for them to do so that they don't find alienating.
4. Help and Advice from Member to MemberIf you need get some input on tech related issues and decisions, the DC community is a great place to turn. Read on for some recent discussions and feel free to join in the conversation or post an issue of your own.
5. Fun and GamesIf you've read the newsletter up to this point, take a break and check out some of the lighter fare from the forum - humour, videos, and games..
6. News You Can UseDC Member Ehtyar has taken to producing wonderfully weekly summaries of important tech/computer/security news articles that he comes across on the web. A big hit on the forum.
7. The Weird Wide WebHere are some recent items from around the web that Donationcoder forum participants thought were noteworthy. As always, your input is encouraged, so if you come across something interesting while you're surfing the web, feel free to post a link to it on the forum.
8. General Software DiscussionBelow are some threads of interest about categories of software posted to DC since the last newsletter:
9. Specific Software DiscussionHere are some threads of interest about specific applications posted to DC over the past month:
10. Member Contributions and Coding SnacksEach newsletter we highlight some of the quality software coded by DC members that is available on Donationcoder. Read below for some recent announcements about new applications or updates to applications. Pay special attention to our Coding Snacks section. Coding snacks are lite treats for the software afficiando. If there is some tool that you've been looking for, without success, you have nothing to lose by asking... Post a clear description of what you're looking for and one of Donationcoder's resident coding gurus might just take up the challenge.
11. Developer's CornerIf you're not a developer, don't be put off by the title. There is likely something of interest to you on the Developer's Corner. It's more than just a forum for the discussion of software development, it's also a place in which entrepreneurial issues, how the current direction of hardware and software development will impact on end-users, how current DRM models affect developer and consumer alike, and much more are discussed. Looks like after a period of slowdown, discussions have picked up again in this section.
