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Newsletter for October 8th, 2006 - Codename 'Fall Fun'

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mouser:
Newsletter for October 8th, 2006"Fall Fun"

"If you read nothing else on our site, get glasses!"

A Brief Word from the Site Admin
I want to express my deepest heartfelt thanks to everyone who decided to make a donation during our September Fundraiser - it was a big success.  As you know, we rely on your donations to run the site.  In addition to the substantial server hosting costs, which run about $300 a month, managing the site is an almost full time job, and your donations make it possible for us to devote the time to it that it deserves.  Thank you!

Many of you also asked us to put up a page describing the philosophy of the website and plans for the future. We're happy to unveil it here.

- Jesse Reichler (mouser)

1. Software Updates
We've got a whole bunch of updates available in the last few weeks.

* Find and Run Robot v1.13.01 - much faster wakeup
* Popup Wisdom v1.01.02 - cool new features
* Process Tamer v2.08.01 - improved termination/reporting
* Screenshot Captor v2.25.03 - more features
* Clipboard Help+Spell v1.11.01 - much faster pasting
* Random Mix Tape Maker v1.06.60 - save+load profiles
* Mobysaurus Thesaurus v1.0.27 - received long Editor's Review (5/5) from Softpedia!
* fSekrit v1.3beta - for early testers

2. October Discounts and Giveaway
October brings another amazing month of discounts for members, including some that we all know and love, like Beyond Compare (an incredible file/folder comparison tool that we recommended in a past review) and Offline Explorer from MetaProducts which has won high praise from several members of our forum..

* Beyond Compare (30% discount)
* MetaProducts Offline Explorer (std or pro) (30% discount)
* MetaProducts Startup Organizer (30% discount), MetaProducts Inquiry (std or pro) (30% discount), MetaProducts AutoDialogs (30% discount), MetaProducts DeskTool (30% discount), MetaProducts Disk Watchman (30% discount), MetaProducts Flash+Media Capture (30% discount), MetaProducts LightPad (30% discount), MetaProducts Links Organizer (30% discount), MetaProducts Web Studio (30% discount), MetaProducts Net Activity Diagram (30% discount), MetaProducts TrayIcon Pro (30% discount)
* Agenda At Once (30% discount), MicroOlap Programming Components+Libraries (incl. network sniffing lib) (30% discount)
* Web Log Storming (30% discount) <-- NOTE: I consider this one of the best log analysis tools -mouser
* EmEditor (50% discount)
>>> **IMPORTANT** - The software giveaway this month will end on October 15th! <<<
So make sure you submit your entry to win before then!  (the discounts will continue to run throughout all of October).


3. Software Discussion
Tons of great software discussion in the last couple of weeks.

* Few Mouse and Keyboard freeware
* Utility to search XP registry using keywords?
* What's wrong with XP's built-in firewall?
* Anyone know a good mov (Quicktime) to Mpeg converter
* Use your PC and Webcam as a motion-detecting and recording security camera
* Motherboard Monitor, or Something Else?
* Best jukebox that is NOT iTunes?
* FileBox Extender 1.91.02 - Now FREE!
* More personal mp3 web servers.. Jinzora, Songbird, and more
* My favorite software! What's yours?
* Foobar...honestly...WTF?! WTF?!
* What IRC client do you use?
* How to add/delete files of an installer?
* Veign's software goes freeware
* Screensaver Maker Recommendations?
* Read which Linux distro users think is best and why ...
* MojoPac - Potentially Great Software with Serious Flaws
* What Labeler / Cover Printing Software Do you Recommend?
* FairUse4WM : Strippingng DRM (digital rights management) from windows media
* Nomad Personal Information Manager

4. Website Discoveries and Discussions
There are always new website services popping up every day, and lots of debate about the future direction of the web.

* Article: The Social Bookmarking Faceoff
* Nice blog essays on Fixing Peer Reviews and Collaborative Research
* Farecast - Know When to Buy Your Airplane Ticket
* Tom's Hardware 10th Anniversary, pc giveaway worth $10,000
* Mind Performance Hacks Book
* 'Hactivism' Group Launches Anonymous Browser
* Omgili - Google Like Search But Limited to Forums
* Oh, don't forget... (FREE txt reminders)
* WikiHow: The How-To Manual That Anyone Can Write or Edit
* Remember the Milk: A task-management website to help you remember ...
* Blog Article - Social Networking: Time For A Silver Bullet
* Chicago Journal of Theoretical Computer Science Now Accepting Submissions
* OpenDNS - safer, faster and smarter DNS?
* Advantages and disadvantages of NNTP Newsreaders
* Things We Could Do Without: Software Patents
* What are Trackback/Pings?
* Secret Shopper Scams: How to tell real from fake offers?

5. Flash Games of the Day
KenR on our forum has been busy posting us a new (usually) great flash game every day, to help relieve some stress during work.  Take a look at some of these great new discoveries:

* Hungy Space: today's flash game - Super Addictive!!
* Gateway - Control a Robot - clever click puzzler adventure
* Starship Eleven - A Modern Lunar Lander
* Play: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
* Artificial Lifeform Intended for Assassination and Sabotage
* Overkill Apache: Well Done Old School Helicopter Shooter
* Funny Farm
* Curveball
* HeliAttack
* Puki, The Sci-Fi Baby Shooter

6. Fun Stuff on the Web
We like to mix work with some laughs, and in today's newsletter you'll find plenty to make you giggle.

* What's Your Favorite Gadget? Here's mine with a Discount - A Seltzer Maker
* Amazing VR setup for R/C airplane
* Save the web! Hillarious video
* Incredible fast shutter liquid photography
* The Onion isn't the Only Funny Fake News Site
* MegaPenny Project 'shows' large numbers ...
* Men's room etiquette
* ATM Hacking - Too easy?
* A pentop computer to help with homework...
* Cool Poster of How the Domain Name System Works (and other posters)
* Lectures from Professor Who is Out of It - HA!
* The Women Of Star Trek - Feminists!
* Just HOW do you tie a *censor* tie?
* Flashforward Conference and Film Festival Winners Announced

7. Hardware and Security
What's new in hardware and security? Not too much this month.

* Buying a New PC? Suggestions
* Patch for new Internet Explorer Exploit - updated 9/27/06
* Here's an extremely cool development: a solid state 32GB laptop hard drive
* Warner Bros. come up with a single Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and DVD compatible format
* WiFi woes and a big WOW from Netgear's new product lines

8. DonationCoder.com Site Features
What's new on the website?

* Latest Podcast: "Getting Things Done - An Interview With David Allen, Parts 1+2"
* DonationCoder.com wallpapers (set 01)
* DonationCoder.com wallpapers (set 02)
* DonationCoder.com wallpapers (set 03)
* Show us your (physical) desktop
* DonationCoder forum search plugin
* Upgrading forum software on server to rc1.3

9. Reviews, Mini-Reviews, and How-to Guides
Members share their views with each other.

* Ultra CPU Monitor
* TextMate - Mac OS X Coding Heaven
* Recording phone conversations from a PC (skype, voip). What I have tried
* A Quick Look at EverNote

10. Coding snacks
Skrommel's on vacation, but there's still activity on the Coding Snacks section of the forum.

* Hotkey Toggle Screen Resolution
* Why do unzip apps have to be so complicated?
* Automatic shutdown/restart/standby/hybernate/lock program
* Touch for windows by jgpaiva

11. Developer's Corner
Some interesting reading for coders in the last few weeks, and some new contests.  And if you're interested in the flash game contest, check out our self-teaching programming school for some inspiration.

* Bad Design is Harder than Good Design
* Blog Essay: Important Questions Startup Co-Founders Should Ask Each Other
* 5 Easy Ways to be a Better Developer
* Blog Essay: Open Source vs. Closed - Another Look
* Wotsit's Format: The Programmers File Format Collection
* Game Engines and Apps
* Nice blog on rapid game prototyping
* What Is An "Unconference" And How Do You Run One?
* Is Click Flipping The Next Internet Business Craze?
* Good Agile, Bad Agile, and What It's Like to Work for Google
* Netflix contest: $1M to developer of best movie recommendation engine
* Let's Make us some Games!
* F*cks per source package and license
* Big Flash Game Development Contest

12. The Great GOE (Getting Organized Experiment) of 2006 (GTD)
We are now on week 6 of the Getting Organized Experiment (GOE), and everyone seems to be learning a lot.  If you haven't started yet, make a mad dash to the section and catch up as soon as you can.  For those of you hard core members, drop by for your latest assignment.

* GETTING ORGANIZED EXPERIMENT - WEEK FOUR
* GETTING ORGANIZED EXPERIMENT - WEEK FIVE
* "Getting Things Done - An Interview With David Allen, 2"
* Frugal life, PC Fasting: Do not install any new applications in 30 days
* PhinisheD - Site on Finishing Your Dissertation
* Matt's Personal Development Podcast (3rd episode - Oct 06)
* Martin Ternouth's System of Workspace/Projects/Paper
* What Needs to Get Done (WNTGD)
* Time Management Video 1 / Time Management Video 2

13. Website of the Month

* Our website of the month in October is Read/WriteWeb, a very well-written technology blog that has posted some lengthy essays comparing web2.0 sites, as well as some excellent opinionated commentary on the businesses end of these websites. A reliably informative and professional site which still manages to be fun to read.

thanks to jgpaiva for help preparing this newsletter

app103:
Once again...another great newsletter.  :Thmbsup:

JeffK:
When I read your first few sentences above I thought you were saying that you only raised $300 during September.  I was beginning to think I was a major contributor % wise.

Great newsletter, shows how much is going on in the site.  Just think 40,000 members in 18 months.  Amazing.

Jeff

mouser:
The fundraiser raised a few thousand dollars.

From the new About Us page:

Since its founding in 2005, the site has grown steadily and as of October 2006 has over 39,000 registered members from around the world. Of course it's free to sign up at our site, and only a small fraction of these people (about 1,800) have gone the extra mile and made a donation. Becoming a donating member has lots of additional benefits so we hope you'll consider becoming one of our supporters.
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