Topics

376

Living Room / Idea: DoCo Research Collaboration (DoCollaborate)

« on: February 17, 2012, 12:27 PM »

I am thinking of doing some research...the only problem is...I don't know what I should do it about!

It's a dilemma I know...however, it did give me an idea...

How about, we all, as a community, focus a small amount of time on one thing to do a whole bunch of research and development on, then publish our findings in the name of DonationCoder.

The project could be about anything, and seeing as I suggest we do it as a community, it would be great to see what everybody thinks it should be based on!

I honestly think, that as a big team, we could generate a whole lot of data and findings for our chosen topic.

My opinion is, that the research should be based around some sort of unsolved problem, that way, we can gain data, and adjust until the problem is solved.

I think this would be an awesome project and would certainly generate some pretty decent publicity for DonationCoder if we manage to solve the problem...even if we don't fully solve it, we might find something that other people have missed...and be able to work from there!

It's not something that needs everybody's full attention...more of, find a bit of information in your spare time, and submit it for those who are working on it and have more time to spare.

Lemme know if you think I am crazy or not! 

377

Living Room / MIT launches online learning initiative

« on: February 15, 2012, 08:25 PM »

'MITx' will offer courses online and make online learning tools freely available

MIT today announced the launch of an online learning initiative internally called “MITx.” MITx will offer a portfolio of MIT courses through an online interactive learning platform that will:
organize and present course material to enable students to learn at their own pace
feature interactivity, online laboratories and student-to-student communication
allow for the individual assessment of any student’s work and allow students who demonstrate their mastery of subjects to earn a certificate of completion awarded by MITx
operate on an open-source, scalable software infrastructure in order to make it continuously improving and readily available to other educational institutions.
 MIT expects that this learning platform will enhance the educational experience of its on-campus students, offering them online tools that supplement and enrich their classroom and laboratory experiences. MIT also expects that MITx will eventually host a virtual community of millions of learners around the world.

MIT will couple online learning with research on learning

MIT’s online learning initiative is led by MIT Provost L. Rafael Reif, and its development will be coupled with an MIT-wide research initiative on online teaching and learning under his leadership.

“Students worldwide are increasingly supplementing their classroom education with a variety of online tools,” Reif said. “Many members of the MIT faculty have been experimenting with integrating online tools into the campus education. We will facilitate those efforts, many of which will lead to novel learning technologies that offer the best possible online educational experience to non-residential learners. Both parts of this new initiative are extremely important to the future of high-quality, affordable, accessible education.”

Offering interactive MIT courses online to learners around the world builds upon MIT’s OpenCourseWare, a free online publication of nearly all of MIT’s undergraduate and graduate course materials. Now in its 10th year, OpenCourseWare includes nearly 2,100 MIT courses and has been used by more than 100 million people.

MIT President Susan Hockfield said, “MIT has long believed that anyone in the world with the motivation and ability to engage MIT coursework should have the opportunity to attain the best MIT-based educational experience that Internet technology enables. OpenCourseWare’s great success signals high demand for MIT’s course content and propels us to advance beyond making content available. MIT now aspires to develop new approaches to online teaching.”

OCW will continue to share course materials from across the MIT curriculum, free of charge.

MITx online learning tools to be freely available

MIT will make the MITx open learning software available free of cost, so that others — whether other universities or different educational institutions, such as K-12 school systems — can leverage the same software for their online education offerings.

“Creating an open learning infrastructure will enable other communities of developers to contribute to it, thereby making it self-sustaining,” said Anant Agarwal, an MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science and director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). “An open infrastructure will facilitate research on learning technologies and also enable learning content to be easily portable to other educational platforms that will develop. In this way the infrastructure will improve continuously as it is used and adapted.” Agarwal is leading the development of the open platform.

President Hockfield called this “a transformative initiative for MIT and for online learning worldwide. On our residential campus, the heart of MIT, students and faculty are already integrating on-campus and online learning, but the MITx initiative will greatly accelerate that effort. It will also bring new energy to our longstanding effort to educate millions of able learners across the United States and around the world. And in offering an open-source technological platform to other educational institutions everywhere, we hope that teachers and students the world over will together create learning opportunities that break barriers to education everywhere.”

http://web.mit.edu/n...initiative-1219.html

378

Found Deals and Discounts / 7 Days of Free Downloads from VideoBlocks.com

« on: February 07, 2012, 11:01 AM »

https://www.videoblocks.com/freeclips/



DOWNLOAD FROM 50,000+ CLIPS OF VIDEO, MOTION BACKGROUNDS,
SOUND EFFECTS, PRODUCTION MUSIC, and MORE!

*Limit 20 Downloads per day (140 Downloads over the 7 days)*

379

Living Room / I came to a conclusion this morning...

« on: January 22, 2012, 11:31 AM »

380

Living Room / Sorry, This Post Has Been Censored

« on: January 12, 2012, 06:03 PM »

CENSORED
Show your support!

Is this how what you want to see on your most visited websites?

Well...If SOPA is passed, more than 80% of your favorites list...INCLUDING DONATIONCODER...could be forced to take themselves offline! - Nobody is safe from SOPA, even the biggest sites such as Google, Facebook and even Microsoft's Search Engine 'Bing' could face the chop!

Stop American Censorship

Congress is about to pass internet censorship, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity.

Go To a Town Hall

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the internet censorship bill on Tuesday, January 24th, and unless we can find 41 senators to block the vote, it is going to pass. Will you meet with your senators during the January recess and ask them to vote it down?

“Censor” Your Website In Protest

Put a black bar with the words “Stop censorship” over your site’s logo or header
 
Show your support!

Copy this code below and paste it into your site

Code: HTML [Select]

1. <a style="width:400px;height:100px;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;background-color:#000;position:absolute;z-index:5555;top:50px;left:50px;background-image:url(http://americancensorship.org/images/stop-censorship-small.png);background-position:center center;background-repeat:no-repeat;" href="http://americancensorship.org"></a>

381

Living Room / I Finally Got A New PC!

« on: January 06, 2012, 02:47 AM »

Just thought I would share my new system specs since, for the first time ever...I am proud of my PC haha!

AMD Athlon II X4 645 3.10Ghz CPU
6GB DDR3 RAM (Dunno why but I only have 5.74 Usable...?) (Got another 8GB en route!)
Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
ATI Radeon HD GFX (On board 256MB Memory...need a new one, but the case is tiny and I need to find a small enough GFX card)
2TB SATA HDD
24" HD Monitor (1920x1080 Resolution) - (Not used to screens this size...everything feels huge!)

382

Living Room / Season's Greetings December 2011

« on: December 24, 2011, 05:50 PM »

383

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / [Withdrawn] NANY 2012: EasyNotes (Beta)

« on: December 13, 2011, 05:20 PM »

[WITHDRAWN] NANY 2012 Entry Information

Application Name	EasyNotes (Beta)
Version	1.0.73
Short Description	Simple Clean Notepad Application With No Distractions
Supported OSes	Any system with .NET 4.0
Web Page	This is it!
Download Link	Download Coming Soon
System Requirements	Windows XP or Above .NET 4.0
Author	Stephen66515

Description
Clean notepad application with no border and no menubar.  All Notepad functions are contained within a right click context menu, with pre-defined shortcuts for each options.

Users can also quickly swap between themes by selecting one in the menu (Black text on white background, or, White Text on Black Background.) or they can manually choose a colour from the Menu Option.

EasyNotes supports fullscreen viewing, and normal maximize settings.

Features

• Show/Hide Form Border
  
• Fullscreen View
  
• Visual Themes
  
• Select All & Copy In 1 Click!
  
• Clean Interface
  
• Auto-Backup
  
• Auto-Save
  
• Password Protected Workspace Lock (Which also hides the text window)
  
• Remembers Your Settings!
  
• E-Mail Backup On Exit (Optional)
  
• E-Mail Backup of Your Notes Instantly

Planned Features
Possibly going to add code highlighting and spell checker.

Screenshots (From v1.0.50)


Usage
Installation
Just double click the EXE.

Using the Application
Just click and run! - Right click within the window for menu options!

Uninstallation
Delete the EXE

Known Issues
No known issues in current version - Please post them if you find them



Will not have time to finish this in time sorry

384

Living Room / LHC Finds HBP? Or at least...they think they did...Awesome if confirmed!

« on: December 12, 2011, 06:34 PM »

http://www.dailymail...e-expected-CERN.html

The ‘God particle’, hailed as the holy grail of physics, may have been glimpsed for the first time.

Excited scientists at the Large Hadron Collider – the world’s biggest atom smasher – are expected to announce today that they have spotted the Higgs boson particle.

While they will not claim definitive proof, they are tipped to reveal tantalising evidence of the particle’s existence.

385

Living Room / The right stuff for road warriors: essential kit for mobile pros

« on: December 09, 2011, 06:02 PM »

Our ever-improving technology means that what seemed impossible yesterday is ordinary today. Mobile working is a classic example: even a few years ago, the idea of carrying a fully-fledged mobile workstation in a laptop bag or getting broadband speeds from a mobile modem was hopelessly futuristic. Now, though, technology enables us to work from anywhere – but while it solves many problems it also introduces new challenges. So what kit, add-ons and apps will make you a happy traveller? Let’s find out.

The right laptop

There’s never been a wider choice of laptops for travelling, from ultra-portable netbooks and tablets to fully-featured, ultra-thin notebooks and desktop-class mobile workstations.

The choice of mobile machine depends on two things: the kind of work you’ll be doing, and where you’re likely to be doing it. Netbooks are great for writing in cramped conditions such as aeroplane seats, but you wouldn’t want to try rendering 3D on one; tablets are great for sketching and reading but horrible to type on for long periods without external keyboards; and mobile workstations deliver extraordinary power but aren’t particularly well suited for Ryanair flights.

http://www.dellcreat...kit-for-mobile-pros/

386

Living Room / Google Currents app takes on Flipboard

« on: December 09, 2011, 06:00 PM »

Google has lifted the lid on its long-rumoured, personalised magazine app for Android and iOS.

Google Currents will go head-to-head with the popular Flipboard app for iPhone and iPad by bringing in feeds from your favourite online news sources and Google+ feed.

Just like Flipboard, the free app, which is US-only release at present, will reformat articles and present the entire package in a neat-looking digital magazine.

The app had been rumoured for some time now, with the original name for the project thought to be Google Propeller.

http://www.techradar...on-flipboard-1046666

387

Living Room / Pretty cool idea for next halloween...

« on: December 06, 2011, 08:49 PM »

Source: www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2011/10/reverse-trick-or-treating.html

388

Living Room / NSFW: To all website developers who feel the need to have popup ad's on websites

« on: December 06, 2011, 08:43 PM »

Go die in a fire.

Alternatively

Go get anally abused by an elephant.

That is all.

389

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / NANY 2012 Release: Treat Yourself Nicely (TYSON)

« on: December 06, 2011, 06:02 PM »

NANY 2012 Entry Information

Application Name	Treat Yourself Nicely (Heavily Revamped)
Version	v3.00.01.6
Short Description	Starting a diet? This software may help you cut down on snacking habits!
Supported OSes	Windows 7 (Untested on anything below)
.NET Version	You MUST have .NET 4 or above to run this software.
Web Page	You're on it!
Download Link (v3.00.01.5)
Download Update (v3.00.01.6)	Download (Requires Full Download Above)

Description
This software is designed to be used in conjunction with a healthy diet.

Using this software will give your computer control over when you are able to have a snack!

Features
Simply enter your name, and timer options in the settings menu and your good to go!

New: Ability to read some fun quotes (Inspirational, Movies, and even some from DonationCoder itself!)
New: Minigame! - Silly little 'Guess the number game' - Lemme know what you think of this

Planned Features

• Workout routines (Possible if people want it!)

I am open to other ideas.

This software was released during the last NANY event but was nowhere near as robust as it is this time around...That coupled with this release having actual User Settings makes it a much more effective tool!

Screenshots
Heres part of 1 of the screens you will see!



Usage
Installation
Simply double click the EXE and go through the install steps.  The software will run directly after install and can be located by your system clock.

Using the Application
When you load this application, you will notice the applications icon in the bottom right corner of your screen (with all those icons next to the clock!).

Simply right click this icon and select "Settings" and choose your options.  Once you are ready for a snack then click the "Is It Snack Time?" Button.  On first run, it will always allow you to have a snack, because the timer doesn't start until you have pressed this button at least once!

Uninstallation
Uninstall from Add/Remove Programs found in your Control Panel


Known Issues
Warning!  Use of this software may greatly reduce your weight.



Disclaimer

This software is to be used exactly as directed...for SNACKS only...Do NOT use this to decide if you should eat a normal, healthy meal!

390

Adventures of Baby Cody / I found Baby Cody's Family!

« on: November 20, 2011, 02:39 AM »

(Found on www.lolhappens.com)

391

Mini-Reviews by Members / [Short Review] - Screenshot Captor v2.103.01

« on: November 19, 2011, 12:13 AM »

Basic Info

App Name	Screenshot Captor
App URL	https://www.donation...hotcaptor/index.html
App Version Reviewed	v2.103.01
Test System Specs	2.5GB Usable RAM 3.2Ghz Dual Core CPU 2GB GFX Card
Supported OSes	Win9x/2k/XP/VISTA/Win7
Support Methods	Forum, E-Mail, IRC (Live Chat)
Upgrade Policy	Just upgrade at your leisure.
Trial Version Available?	No Trial Available, only full, free version.
Pricing Scheme	Donation's (NOT Required)
Author Donation Link	Donate to mouser, the Software Author
Reviewer Donation Link	Donate to Stephen66515, the Review Author
Screencast Video URL	https://www.donation...r.com/screencasts/sc
Relationship btwn. Reviewer and Product	There is no financial relationship between the Review Author and the Software Creator.

Intro:

Screenshot Captor is a program for taking screenshots on your computer.

-Downloads Page

Screenshot Captor is a Heavywieght Contender in its category.  With countless features to choose from, its hard to find anything missing.  However, so many features comes with a cost.  That cost is: it can be a little confusing to setup.  An overwhelming amount of options are to be found in the 'Preferences' Menu, and all of its sub-menus.  It even has a built in mailer system, so you can grab and send screenshots, directly from within it's interface.

For someone with very little knowledge of computing, this software could be described as "daunting".  However, this doesn't mean that it isn't easy to use...once you get the hang of it that is!

Plugins like zUploader mean that within a few clicks, you can grab a screenshot, and upload it to imageshack.us and receive all the links you would want, that will allow you to share the photo directly, link it on a website using <img src=""> or using BBCode such as [img][/img]

In addition to all this, Screenshot Captor comes with a multitude of ways to actually grab a screenshot, and allows you to setup custom keys to do so.

By default it sets some hotkeys to take screenshots for you, these take screenshots from your current screen, a slected region of your monitor, the entire workspace, specific regions, and fixed regions.  Many more can be added from within the options menu.

For those who want an option of File Format, SSC will allow you to select, from yet another menu, one of 5 different file types.  These are JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF and BMP.  Now, obviously, if your a graphics designer, you may want a lot more options than that, but chances are, you will know how to convert the image to a different type anyway, so that is not really a massive deal.  General users will almost always use either PNG or JPG.

As a further expansion into its File Types menu, you can also set the compression level, and even its Default Depth and DPI.  You can also set background transparancy if you really wanted to!

As with most software created by mouser at DonationCoder, SSC will also allow you to setup how it uses memory while inactive.  This is really helpful for those on lower spec machines, who want to keep it running, but don't want it to hog those vital system resources.

File Naming can be quite interesting from within SSC as you have to use Command Style tags to choose how you want to name each file.  Everything is well documented however, so is quite easy to setup if you are willing to learn.  Its default naming structure would be fine for most people.

SSC also allows for special effects to be added to each screenshot, such as shadows, borders and pixelation.  There are several other options, but where is the fun in telling you everything about every possible menu!

One thing I feel I should point out, is that SSC allows you to edit a Screenshot as soon as you have taken it, from within its own editor.  This is included in the default download, so no plugin will need to be installed to get this feature to work. This allows you to quickly add special effects like bluuring and pixelation and such.

Plugins are few and far between for SSC, but those worth noting are zUploader, and ColorCop Color Picker.  These can be found from within the software interface, for quick and easy download and installation.

Who is this app designed for:

I would say this software is designer for a more advanced computer user.  However, with a little bit of learning, it is very usefull for literally anybody who wants a nice, clean, feature intensive ScreenShot program.


The Good


Lots of features from within the software, and it is updated on a regular basis and is constantly getting more and more fun things added to its feature-set.

The support system is hugely powerful.  Being able to login to the forum, ask your question, and receive an answer very quickly, especially when you don't even have to pay for the privilage, is an amazing thing in itself.


The needs improvement section


It is my personal opinion, that the Preferences (Setup) menu, should be made a little easier to navigate, as even for experienced users, and people who are used to the software, things can be a little difficult to find.

I also think the software should include a few features such as "Facebook" and "Flickr" uploading.  This is a must-have in this day and age.


Why I think you should use this product


If you are looking for a Free solution to grabbing Screenshots, and are sick to death of using 'PrtScn' + MSPaint, then SSC is certainly something you should download, and take for a test-drive.


How does it compare to similar apps

Put simply, if SSC includes a few basic features such as Facebook and Flickr uploading, and also makes its menu a little easier to navigate and setup, then I think it will be in a class of its own.  As for now though, it's certainly in the Number 1 slot for me.


Conclusions

I would like to conclude this short review of SSC by mentioning, that even though this software is DonationWare, it is by no means compulsory to actually Donate, to get full use of the software.

392

Living Room / Windows Lifecycle Factsheet (And Downgrade Info)

« on: November 18, 2011, 08:10 PM »

Found the info below last night while discussing support terms for M$ OS's  - Figured some other people here may find it helpful/interesting

Every Windows product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported or sold. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software. Here are the rights and limits of the Windows lifecycle.
End of sales

End of sales refers to the date when a particular version of Windows is no longer shipped to retailers or Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Examples of OEMS are Dell and Toshiba—PC manufacturers who often preinstall Windows software. When a version of Windows reaches its end of sales date, it's a good time to think about upgrading...

Windows Downgrade Rights

 To use prior versions of Windows software on PCs installed with newer versions, it is possible for consumers to obtain a license for Downgrade Rights. The following table compares Volume Licensing Downgrade Rights with those provided under OEM and FPP licenses...

Source: http://windows.micro...s/products/lifecycle

393

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / [Android OS] - DC Forum App (FREE)

« on: November 14, 2011, 03:25 PM »

Hey guys,

for those of you who want quick and easy access to the DonationCoder forums from your Android Device, It's nothing special but I have made a quick App which gives you full access to the forum, and its features!

This app will also allow you direct access to the Mibbit Chat Applet to connect directly to the DonatrionCoder Live Chat Room!

It is also 100% free to download!

How To Download:

Step 1. Scan QR Code (Or click if you are using your device)



You must scan this QR code with a Barcode Scanner.

 No QR code reader on your Android device? Have a look at the free Barcode Scanner from ZXing.

Step 2. Download Android App

Once the QR code has scanned, you can click on the link to download the .apk file straight to your device.

Step 3. Install Android App

After the .apk file has downloaded to your Android device you can install it by simply clicking on it and navigating through the installation pages.


Follow the instructions that are shown on your Android device to finish the instalation.

If you have not already done so, then you may need to allow access to none-android-market apps, installation rights on your device.

Once your install has finished you will find the following icon on your main menu/apps section of your device:

394

Living Room / Increasing a Cell Phones INTERNAL Memory: Is it possible?

« on: November 11, 2011, 01:05 AM »

I put this question to my fellow DC members:

Is it POSSIBLE (albeit goddamn hard work) to increase the INTERNAL memory of a cell phone?

Im not talking about upgrading from an 8GB to a 16GB micro-sd card, I'm talking, its literal internal memory.

If you know its possible, would anybody be willing to share with me how to do it?

It would make for an interesting hardware project  

11/11/11

Lest We Forget


They shall grow not old

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

From Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, written in September 1914

395

Living Room / RIP Sir Jimmy :(

« on: October 29, 2011, 12:36 PM »

Sir Jimmy Savile was a legend in his own right.  He passed away today.

Savile, who was one of the most famous names on British TV and radio in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, died Today.

Police said they were called to his home in Leeds, but that there was nothing suspicious about his death.

His family programme, Jim'll Fix It, drew in huge audiences and the programme received 20,000 letters a week at the height of its popularity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...inment-arts-15507374

396

Living Room / Any PHP/CSS Editing Software?

« on: October 24, 2011, 05:28 AM »

Anybody know of any PHP/CSS Editing Software (Not Notepad++, but similar and maybe more powerful)???

Would be nice if its freeware, but shareware and payware would be OK (Price depending lol)

Also, only reccomend stuff you use personally, dont wanna sift through 30000 different products people just googled haha)

**Edit**

SMF Y U NO LET ME HAZ TITLE?!

TY Mousey for fixing it

397

Living Room / Moved: DC Gamer Zone

« on: October 18, 2011, 02:05 PM »

DC Gamer Zone is now being featured in a more prominent position as a child board of "General Software Discussion"

https://www.donation...ndex.php?board=231.0

Lets all give 3 great big cheers to mouser for accomodating its move to this, less hidden position!

398

Mini-Reviews by Members / (By Deozaan) - Harvest: Massive Encounter - A unique, moddable, indie Tower Def

« on: October 18, 2011, 01:49 PM »

Somebody gifted me a copy of Harvest: Massive Encounter back in July and I was so busy I forgot all about it. I just found it in my Steam Library a couple days ago and after looking into the details and remembering it was a Tower Defense game I decided to try it out for the first time.

-Deozaan (October 18, 2011, 01:34 PM)

Read the full review here:

https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=28398

399

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / NANY 2012 Idea Suggestion: Change Monitor

« on: October 09, 2011, 09:12 PM »

Ill expand on this in the morning, just wanted to get the basic idea down before I forget!

Monitor, Track, and Document ALL Folder and file moves across all HDD's.

EG: 

If I move a folder named "Photos" which contains 3 other folders with X files in, and the folder has X files in, the software will track exactly where that folder and all its contents has been moved to, and store them in a log listed by date and time.

So basically, if I move a file on the 12th October, and forget where I put it, but know roughly when it was moved (even if its only a "It was last month I think", you can search for any file and folder changes in that month.

Should have a powerful search option, should also have a folder content listing, so you can see what files where in said folders.

This should track EVERY MOVEMENT of EVERY FILE AND FOLDER

Anyway, like I said, ill explain more tomorrow.  If I didn't write this now, I would have totally forgotten!

400

Developer's Corner / Video Tutorial: Creating Your First C# Application

« on: October 01, 2011, 04:40 PM »

Watch in full screen to see whats happening

Download Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express Edition: http://www.microsoft...isual-csharp-express