Newsletter for February 9th, 2010
"Valentine Computing"
1. Newsletter EditorialGreetings everyone, and happy upcoming valentine's day. If you have a carbon-based loved one in your life, might I suggest that you turn off the computer for the day and spend it with them. Or else set up a lan network in your house so the two of you can chat via instant messenger. If you don't have a human loved one in your life, don't stress it -- plenty of posts in this newsletter to excite your neurons.
And now let's get down to brass tacks. If you haven't yet heard about and checked out the software creations unveiled on January 1st as part of our NANY (New Apps for the New Year) event, that's the first thing you should go check out -- several of the entries have continued to flourish and are worth your attention.
And if those applications aren't enough for you.. I'm excited to be able to highlight another wonderful surprise to emerge from the Coding Snacks section of our forum. The Coding Snacks area is a place where anyone can come and post an idea or request for a new freeware utility -- and where coders hang out and implement these requests. Recently someone posted a very clever idea to combine standby/hibernate modes with a computer restart operation, and it resulted in a very cool utility called Boot Snooze which you can read about below.
Let's see what else.. Well I put lots of posts in the "Your input requested" section of this newsletter (section 2), so if you've never posted on the forum before, why not pick one of those threads and add your thoughts.
2. User-to-User: Your Input RequestedWe welcome everyone's participation on the forum, no matter what your level of computer knowledge or how long you've been a DC member. If you're still waiting to make your first post, see the links below for some good places to jump in.
3. DonationCoder Software UpdatesIn addition to the larger programs on DonationCoder, we are seeing more and more software released and shared by DC members. We always love to hear what DC members are up to, projects related to software or otherwise. The real buzz lately has been about Boot Snooze -- a unique and cool idea first suggested on the Coding Snacks forum and then implemented by resident hot shot coder Skwire. We've also been blown away by the activity and interest around CircleDock, which just got an important new update release.
4. Website Discoveries, Debates, and DiscussionsWhat's new on the world wide web? What fun new sites have forum members discovered? What's the current hot topic and debate? Let's find out..
5. Fun, Games and Amusements on the WebIf 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. Hardware HelpWhile we talk a lot more about software than hardware on the DC forum -- that doesn't mean we don't have some pretty serious discussions about computer hardware and building custom computers. The last month has seen a bit more of this than usual, maybe because people are getting that new-year itch to build a new computer..
7. General Software DiscussionAlmost 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.
8. Specific Software DiscussionThis section of the newsletter draws attention to some of the standout discussions about specific programs that have been started since the last newsletter.
9. Developer's CornerIf you're not a programmer, don't let the title of this section scare you away - there is likely something of interest to you here! It's more than just a forum for the discussion of software development, it's also where we discuss web design, entrepreneurial struggles, and general productivity issues. It's great to see that the section has been pretty active recently.
10. News You Can UseDC Member Ehtyar produces wonderful weekly summaries of important tech/computer/security news articles that he comes across on the web. A big hit on the forum. We were wondering how he keeps up the pace and when he would collapse from exhaustion, but it seems it's finally happened, so he's taking a break for a few weeks. Hopefully we'll have a volunteer to fill in during his absence.
