Newsletter for March 23rd, 2007 - Codename "Dinner and Drinks"

[mouser]

Newsletter for March 23rd, 2007

Codename "Dinner and Drinks"

"If you read nothing else on our site, read our BLOG"

1. Site News and Member Software Updates
Are you going to be near the urbana-champaign area of Illinois this weekend? If so, please join us for dinner and drinks!

• DC-IRLDD: DonationCoder.com Impromptu Real Life Dinner+Drinks, Sat 3/24 Illinois
• For DC Fans: Bring DC Forum to your Desktop for searching/browsing/etc.
• MARCH 2007 SOFTWARE DRAWING RESULTS POSTED
• Tolipo - cross-platform open source todo list for coders
• Dina for Linux/X11 - solved !

2. March Discounts - One week left for your Website Watcher Discount
Supporting Members, you've only got until March 31st to take advantage of this month's discounts!

• Software from http://www.aignes.com, including Website Watcher, Local Website Archive, and AM-Notebook - I have written frequenly about how Website Watcher is one of my all time favorite applications in the world.  See our big review of website change reporting tools here: https://www.donation...bWatchers/index.html
• Important: Discounts also extended for Neosoft (Chameleon Startup) and Nagarsoft (Direct Access) software through March.

3. Mini-Reviews by Members
The mini review section is where members on our forum can post short reviews about programs they like.  It's a great way to spread the news about an underappreciated application, and discover a new program.

• Great List of disc catalogers
• Einstein Puzzle 2.0 by Flowix Games
• SlickRun
• SpellCatcher Plus. Best in Breed
• 3D Topicscape

4. Software Discoveries, Discussions, and Tips
What's new in the world of software? Are you good at finding new software discoveries? Stop by the forum and help us find stuff!  And don't miss our Found Deals and Discounts section where people post great software discounts they find on the web.

• Better update Firefox!
• Super Flexible File Synchronizer Pro says Zaine
• Artweaver: free natural painting tool
• Clients relationship management software?
• Free software to create CD jewel case labels
• VORG Express: A free PIM designed to meet all your information needs
• WMHelp.com :: XMLPad 3
• Choosing between Vista x86 32 bit or x64 64 bit
• Looking for 'Open With...' Editor
• AxCrypt2Go Alpha Preview (open source file encryption)
• MoonEdit - A collaborative text editor
• Gizmo's "46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities List" updated
• Your favorite Registry Viewer + Editor?
• Looking for a "FTP-Size" tool
• UDPixel - repairs Dead Pixel on TFT Screens
• Looking for Outlook Add-On to remove duplicates
• Text xpander that can handle RTF
• Software to compress large pdf files?
• What are your favourite Outlook plugins?
• Use SniffPass (free) to get back your passwords
• Volume Control recommendation
• What's your favorite eBay/auction helping software?
• Neat Net Tricks Software Reviews
• I found a jewel of a program: XMplay
• Strange Windows wallpaper trick
• How to tag files in win XP
• Xara Xtreme Pro / New(ish) Version
• Which software can extract pictures out of pdf ?
• InfraRecorder: Decent Lightweight Burner
• Having trouble finding files? Try CellNet and get a whole lot more.
• Does the software contain virus PECompact?
• Some more editors of mention...

5. Fun Games, Gadgets, and Diversions
Everyone needs a break from work every now and then.. I notice that we haven't been posting as many games lately -- do people want to see more posts about new games found on the web? Let us know.

• OnlyWire: One service for all your social bookmarking needs
• Choosing a keyboard and a mouse
• Yaplet chat on any page
• Flash Circle TD: Flash Game of the Day
• Telling the time is only a small part of what this watch does

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

• Living with Linux Ubuntu (ONLY) for 30 days
• Daylight-Saving Time Bug
• YouPorn: Like YouTube, but with a triple x rating
• New fees are big trouble for Pandora
• Tutorlink.com: Find the perfect tutor for you or someone else
• Hosting: moving away from shared, and into Virtual Private Servers (VPS)?

7. Developer's Corner
The Developer's Corner section of our website isn't just for programmers, it's for people interested in starting their own business, website developers, etc.

• Five important communication activities for teambuilding
• Money or nothing? Trade-offs in FOSS compensation
• Free HTML / CSS / Link Validation page
• Elgg: Open-source social network platform
• UI differences between web and local (installed) apps
• blog post with a list of reference pages / cheat sheets
• WordPress launches plugin directory
• stock.xchng - A pretty good free stock photo site...
• 25 Best Free Quality Fonts
• How to market your web application

8. Website of the Month
Did you know that DonationCoder.com has a list of all of our past best-of-the-web recommendations and a list of recommended websites arranged by category?

• March 2007 Site of the month: http://www.freewaregenius.com/

9. Cody's Internet Citizen's Club Assignments
Cody, our rambunctious little bird mascot, has decided to form his own club and he wants you to join it!  What's it all about? Mainly it's about being good internet citizens and active DC participants, and working as a team.  In each newsletter you'll have a small assignment or two - like finding a freeware author you like and emailing them a thank you, or participating in a forum poll.  As a Cody Club member, we ask that you perform the Cody Club newsletter task (or else invent one of your own if you object to the one we've chosen).  Occasionally you'll get a little treat, like a postcard in the mail, or a Cody Club iron-on.  Only Cody knows for sure.

• Cody's Club Task #1 - Write a mini-review on this forum of some software you like, or post a review on another site of one of your favorite programs
• Cody's Club Task #2 - Rate 3 programs you like on one or more software listing sites (like Betanews.com or snapfiles.com)
• Cody's Club Task #3 - Do the assignments in the last newsletter if you haven't yet!

10. Coding Snacks
Do you know about our coding snacks section?  It's where everyday people can post ideas for small little utilities they would like to see implemented as freeware.  Post your request and see if one of the coders on our site will implement it while you wait.  If you want to see a great example of how magical the Coding Snacks section can be, check out this request and solution from last week:

• A self-scrolling, BPM adjustable html/notepad/text file gizmo for Musicians

[Darwin]

OK, just want clarification on the the second of the Cody Tasks: Cody, do you want us to rate and comment on software or simply to rate it out of 5 stars?! Snapfiles (as far as I can tell) requires written comments when rating software while written comments are optional at  BetaNews... Sorry to be picky, Cody, but it's important to me that I complete your tasks properly!

[mouser]

the task is simply to pick any software download site, and pick any software programs on that site that you know, and rate them as you feel they derserve, and/or leave comments about them.

[Darwin]

Thanks Mouser - I just dropped back in to say that I am using BetaNews as the whole process seems easier (and I've already rated a number of programs, two of which I've left comments on...) so it was rendered a non-issue for me. But it's good to know that I am on the right track. Writing a mini-review is a bit of a daunting task, but Cody's genius shows through: encourage us all to take that tentative step and once we realize how painless and risk free it is we'll be posting mini-reviews as fast as we can churn them out!

[mouser]

We need to put up a Cody Club Task checklist web thing soon so Cody can see whose been keeping up with his club tasks and send them a present.

[mouser]

Is everyone doing their cody tasks?

[Darwin]

Just need to do the mini-review... but what to review? 

[jgpaiva]

Is everyone doing their cody tasks?

-mouser (March 28, 2007, 09:47 AM)

Yep! Although i'm falling behind on following the forum, i'm up-to-date on cody tasks
I only need to do the review now