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DonationCoder.com Software => Older DC Contests and Challenges => N.A.N.Y. 2010 => Topic started by: mouser on November 18, 2009, 08:31 PM

Title: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on November 18, 2009, 08:31 PM
I know we have lots of coders (of all different skill levels) participating in NANY this year.
Some will no doubt have their own ideas they intend to code.
But I know that others are very interested in hearing ideas for programs they might write as their application.

So I thought we could start a thread where people could suggest ideas, and where coders can request help thinking of ideas in a specific category, etc.

Note that the Coding Snacks Request Section (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=71.0) of the forum is a great place to find program ideas -- hopefully this thread and that section won't step on each other's toes.

So, NANY coders if you want help thinking of an idea -- post what you might be interested in.
And requesters who have a good idea for a program -- post your ideas (or link to them if you've posted already in the Coding Snacks area).

And maybe we might even consider inviting people who would want to offer a reward or bounty for implementing a specific program to post here? Just keep in mind NANY is only for software that will be released as free/donationware to the public, so there is no point posting a request for a private program.  And one would want to make sure multiple coders weren't working on the same project at the same time, etc.  Let's remember that NANY isn't a competition -- there are no winners -- it's just a celebration of creating new software.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: GrowMap on November 25, 2009, 04:17 PM
I always have lots of ideas and have shared a few here. Mine may be too complex sometimes; however, I would be glad to make suggestions directly if anyone is interested. You can also read what I have posted (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=212140;sa=showPosts) in the past.  The one thing I would most like to have is a way to log-in to sites without doing it manually.

I know this is possible because I saw it happen on the PC of a brilliant Engineer I once knew. Even better would be a way to automatically log in to all accounts associated with a particular persona. That would save so much time! I can explain more thoroughly if anyone is interested.

What we really need is for FireFox to allow us to have totally separate FireFox windows so we could be logged into a different set of Yahoo, Google, Twitter or other accounts in each window. The reason we need this is that some of us log into client accounts at Google or Yahoo and when we do we lose our log-in status at sites like Delicious, Flickr and MyBlogLog and what we have automated stops running and our Avatars don't show up for the activity that is related to our primary persona.

For example, my primary identity online is GrowMap and I want that to stay logged in; however, I log into Google AdWords and Analytics accounts and Yahoo Stores for clients and then Google and Yahoo think I am still them even after I log out and until I manually log back in as GrowMap. I have many other online personas like ExecGifts and NoBogies and each of them needs to be logged in separately, ideally from one PC. I hope this is clear. 

I know someone is going to suggest using different browsers. That is not a great solution because many addons that we use regularly only work in FireFox. I have been using Epiphany but Ubuntu recently dropped support for it. I have also tried using Opera. Both of those browsers have behaviors that are truly annoying like refusing to open new tabs instead of new windows. What we really need is many separate FireFox windows with as many tabs open in each as we need.

With or without separate windows, we still need a faster way to get logged in as a particular persona across multiple sites. Perhaps there could be an app that we could configure with the sites for each persona that checks status or logs the current accounts out and then logs the selected persona in. Although it would be great to be able to work in different personas simultaneously, switching between them quickly would be the next best solution.

I have requested that http://www.backlinkreporter.com/ create a version for tracking dofollow blog comments that would be just like their current tool but rename some of the comments for that purpose. If they're not interested would that be the kind of thing someone here might do?
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Paul Keith on November 25, 2009, 05:15 PM
What we really need is for FireFox to allow us to have totally separate FireFox windows so we could be logged into a different set of Yahoo, Google, Twitter or other accounts in each window. The reason we need this is that some of us log into client accounts at Google or Yahoo and when we do we lose our log-in status at sites like Delicious, Flickr and MyBlogLog and what we have automated stops running and our Avatars don't show up for the activity that is related to our primary persona.

Cookie Swap (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3255)

With or without separate windows, we still need a faster way to get logged in as a particular persona across multiple sites. Perhaps there could be an app that we could configure with the sites for each persona that checks status or logs the current accounts out and then logs the selected persona in. Although it would be great to be able to work in different personas simultaneously, switching between them quickly would be the next best solution.

Last Pass (https://lastpass.com/)

Request:

1. Improved Ren'Py-specific WYSIWYM code editor.

2. Experimental Reverse To-Do list (added entries are checked, un-checking = rename entries then re-insert priority + position; preferably multi-level and possessing Tree-List's features)

3. Procrastinator Checker (don't really know what it's called but you know that jail cell wall numbering system where the first 4 numbers are "I" signs and the 5th number is a \ over those 4 signs? Something like that except when you mark the 5th number, the entry gets deleted. Set up how many numbers passed before deleting the entry. Optional: typing p1 right after the entry = automatic 20-50 numbers before deletion. typing p2 = 15, p3 = 10, p4 = 5. Similar to RTFM new syntax way of adding entries)

Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: kwacky1 on November 26, 2009, 06:14 AM
What we really need is for FireFox to allow us to have totally separate FireFox windows so we could be logged into a different set of Yahoo, Google, Twitter or other accounts in each window. The reason we need this is that some of us log into client accounts at Google or Yahoo and when we do we lose our log-in status at sites like Delicious, Flickr and MyBlogLog and what we have automated stops running and our Avatars don't show up for the activity that is related to our primary persona.

Wouldn't Private Browsing Mode also acheive this?

What we really need is for FireFox to allow us to have totally separate FireFox windows so we could be logged into a different set of Yahoo, Google, Twitter or other accounts in each window. The reason we need this is that some of us log into client accounts at Google or Yahoo and when we do we lose our log-in status at sites like Delicious, Flickr and MyBlogLog and what we have automated stops running and our Avatars don't show up for the activity that is related to our primary persona.

Cookie Swap (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3255)

With or without separate windows, we still need a faster way to get logged in as a particular persona across multiple sites. Perhaps there could be an app that we could configure with the sites for each persona that checks status or logs the current accounts out and then logs the selected persona in. Although it would be great to be able to work in different personas simultaneously, switching between them quickly would be the next best solution.

Last Pass (https://lastpass.com/)

Request:

1. Improved Ren'Py-specific WYSIWYM code editor.

2. Experimental Reverse To-Do list (added entries are checked, un-checking = rename entries then re-insert priority + position; preferably multi-level and possessing Tree-List's features)

3. Procrastinator Checker (don't really know what it's called but you know that jail cell wall numbering system where the first 4 numbers are "I" signs and the 5th number is a \ over those 4 signs? Something like that except when you mark the 5th number, the entry gets deleted. Set up how many numbers passed before deleting the entry. Optional: typing p1 right after the entry = automatic 20-50 numbers before deletion. typing p2 = 15, p3 = 10, p4 = 5. Similar to RTFM new syntax way of adding entries)

I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again, I don't understand a single word that you say Paul, I'm sure you're speaking a foreign language or maybe you have a random word generator built into your keyboard.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: app103 on November 26, 2009, 07:24 AM
I sent the info to GrowMap elewhere, but for the benefit of any here that might want to do the same thing, it is possible with using multiple profiles:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/internet/firefox/use-multiple-firefox-profiles-at-the-same-time/
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Paul Keith on November 26, 2009, 11:58 AM
@kwacky1

Which sections did you not understand?
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Paul Keith on November 26, 2009, 06:12 PM
P.S. Probably a good time to make a 4th request:

Cross-OS off-line proofreader:

Features:
*Spell and grammar checker off/not included - hate seeing that red line underneath the texts
*Possible sync with PopUp Wisdom books - have a list of words to avoid/to use/to replace in PopUp Wisdom, don't really like separate imports
*Separate input/edit mode - this could support auto-pop-up menu ala the recent Diigo instead of constant right clicks
*MDI + Session - Ehh... it's not alternative from turning a basic text editor into a wiki. Mostly to compare drafts.

Reference: http://en.support.wordpress.com/proofreading/

Grammar and Style Options

The proofreader applies many of its grammar rules by default. These extra options find patterns of poor writing style:

  • Bias language may offend or alienate different groups of readers.
  • Clichés are overused phrases with little reader impact.
  • Complex phrases are words or phrases with simpler every-day alternatives.
  • Diacritical marks are accents and marks attached to letters in some nouns and words borrowed from other languages. This option helps restore these marks in your writing.
  • A double negative is one negative phrase followed by another. The negatives cancel each other out, making the meaning hard to understand.
  • A hidden verb is a verb made into a noun. These often need extra verbs to make sense.
  • Jargon phrases are foreign words and phrases that only make sense to certain people.
  • Passive voice obscures or omits the sentence subject. Frequent use of passive voice makes your writing hard to understand.
  • Phrases to avoid are wishy-washy or indecisive phrases.
  • Redundant phrases can be shortened by removing an unneeded word.

Ignored Phrases

You may add a phrase to the ignore list by typing it into the text field and clicking Add. Click  to remove a phrase from the ignore list. A phrase is one or more words and the ignore list is case-sensitive.

Title: [IDEA] make Ctrl+Mouse-wheel scroll sideways *in all apps*
Post by: tomos on November 27, 2009, 03:09 AM
[IDEA] an app that would allow Ctrl+Mouse-wheel to scroll sideways in all apps.
My initial idea was simply when an app has focus that it would work - but it could be even better if (like KatMouse (http://ehiti.de/katmouse/)) it worked simply when the mouse is over a window (i.e. window doesnt actually need focus - maybe I should just request it from the KatMouse author..)

[edit] of course that key combo would clash with FF & Acrobat so maybe another would be better. One would probably need exception rules as well for apps that dont work with it [/edit]
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on November 28, 2009, 06:04 AM
Firefox Plugin Idea:
A plugin which shows a panel below the main window which shows all <!-- --> html comments on the current page.

I think it would yield some very interesting discoveries.

A nice bonus feature would scan for curse words in these comments and show a count in red, to aid in finding fun discoveries.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: GrowMap on November 29, 2009, 02:14 PM
Thank you to Paul and April. I'll check out these solutions. April, I replied to your suggestion at FriendFeed. I am not geek enough to figure out how to create additional profiles. I'm hoping you might lend me a hand?

Programmers don't realize how much easier they have it - normal PC users are not adept and command lines or knowing where what is on the hard drive. Oh I wish I had more geek in me so I could do what I need.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: app103 on November 29, 2009, 02:17 PM
Thank you to Paul and April. I'll check out these solutions. April, I replied to your suggestion at FriendFeed. I am not geek enough to figure out how to create additional profiles. I'm hoping you might lend me a hand?

Programmers don't realize how much easier they have it - normal PC users are not adept and command lines or knowing where what is on the hard drive. Oh I wish I had more geek in me so I could do what I need.

I'd be happy to help you if you were using Windows, but as a linux newbie, I am not qualified. You probably know a lot more about how to do things in Ubuntu than I do.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: fenixproductions on November 30, 2009, 03:11 PM
Idea: Zen Coding (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/21/zen-coding-a-new-way-to-write-html-code/#more-16072) plugin for Notepad++.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 02, 2009, 05:08 AM
As Sri posted here (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20462.msg183031#msg183031): something like or better that PS Tray Factory.

I'd love to be able to group my tray icons together in customizable menus, like LaunchBar Commander, except with the Notification Icons & Menus.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: awopbamboo on December 03, 2009, 01:49 AM
Hi all,

I posted this on a different thread.....

Evening all.....

I'm happy to participate... But my brain is a bit empty on ideas.....

If there is anyone out there, who might have a good idea, unique, one that is useful and would be popular...  and would like to form a PARTNERSHIP and we'll create something together?  i.e. you come up with the idea(s) and I'll do the coding... Then I am up for that!

It'll be a partnership effort (assuming thats allowed????)

Probably best to PM me if anyone is interested???


And was (rightly) advised it's probably better on this thread....

That being the case, anyone with a good idea wanna saddle up?

As I said above, I'm open to any kind of suggestion.  I'm happy to write something for Windows, Linux or something cross platform (to a degree, depending what it does!)

Cheers
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Paul Keith on December 03, 2009, 04:28 AM
 I don't have a specific idea for this program but I'm curious at what would come up if you designed an app based on the main Twitter ui look and feel.

I know there are already tons of Adobe Air twitter clients that do this but I haven't encountered a true (not small font, not Adobe Air) program that embraces the ui.

The closest I know is CintaNotes:

(http://cintanotes.com/images/shot.jpg)

What I'm particularly curious with is if it can redefine categories if you treat it like Twitter accounts and redefine Reminders if you treat it like Scheduled Twits. Also I'm wondering if you can improve the GTD Next Action if you replace @mentions with an incoming @inbox.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: doctorfrog on December 04, 2009, 03:18 AM
EXPOSITION
I really envy my friend's Mac for only one thing: the talking clock. It's such a pleasant and slightly wooden voice, piping up every half hour to calmly state the time.

Every now and then, I look around for a Window equivalent. They're all terrible. Or require money. Or are written in MS Basic '95. Or use scratchy samples of annoying sounds.

I'm not sure why, it being nearly 2010, Microsoft doesn't have voice synthesis worth a damn. Apple has more pleasant synth voices emanating from tiny iPods. The last thing I want is a talking clock that makes any use of Microsoft voices.

I guess what that leaves me is a talking clock that intelligently uses wav samples. Fortunately, there is a fairly decent voice synthesis engine available online. It generates wav files which can be used as fodder for this program (see my caveat below, however):

http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

A TALKING CLOCK, YOU SAY
So, what I'm suggesting is:
- a talking clock
- that uses a small assortment of wav files to announce the time
     - example: "It's one p.m."
     - clock seamlessly plays:
          - its.wav, one.wav, pm.wav (three wavs, played one after the other, smoothly to form a single sentence)
- user-configurable announce intervals (:15, :30, :60, never)
- clock is itself extremely small and efficient, using next to no resources
- clock has an icon that can show in the tray, or not show in the tray, depending on what the user wants.
- clock no dependence on external runtimes.

BONUS:
- hotkey/double-click announces current time
- configurable countdown timer
- alarm clock with, say, three alarms

CAVEAT:
- the att voice demo does not allow redistribution of generated files. users will have to create their own from the demo or other sources. The developer of this project will have to supply his/her own wav files with the install package. Still not a bad idea, people could record their kids saying the numbers and have the clock regurgitate them back at them, or some other irritating usage.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: GrowMap on December 04, 2009, 01:43 PM
I don't know if this is the best place but we (serious bloggers and Social Networking users) REALLY need some tools built. I belong to a private group of really sharp power users who will gladly alpha and beta test them and with my persuasion I have no doubt that we would also be interested in promoting the tools developed to the public.

I know this is donationcoder; however, these tools would be highly marketable and we could set up an affiliate program and get power affiliates to sell them for the developer(s). The founder of our group has an affiliate marketing blog and company that is often ranked number one and some of the others are power affiliates.

We need two things:

1) A way to identify specific blogs we want to interact with consistently and track our comments and links in those blogs. Ideally this tool would include Blog Name, hot-linked URL, PR, DF, CL, KL (PageRank, Dofollow, CommentLuv, KeywordLuv). We could add that data manually or a really slick tool would identify and update PR and toggle DF, CL, KL.

2) Blogging Group tool with these features:
    a) Ability for each member to add and update their site URLs and the most important Keyword Phrases and specific page/post to link to each phrase.
    b) Ability for each member to add and update their Social Networks (ideally where they only have to add their user name and NOT the entire link - the tool should know how to format it)
    c) Section for members to share requests to spread only their most important, most recent content. If that section could allow other members to check off that they chose to share that specific item and where (columns for Tw, SU, Fa, Fr, Di, De, Re where those abbreviations stand for Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook, FriendFeed, Digg, Delicious and Reddit) that would make it even more valuable.

What we need is a fast, effective way to be consistently productive. Members need to focus on what is most important and this tool would hone in on that. Every business, corporation, Search Marketer, blogger could really use a tool like this. 
     
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 04, 2009, 04:14 PM
Here's a small one:

What about a program that sits in the system tray and lets you configure 2 colors and a numeric range.  Essentially you are setting two ends of a range, a min and max value, and a color associated with each end of the range.

At any time you could double click to type in a new current numeric value, and it would adjust the desktop background color to a blend between the min and max of the range and between the two colors.

The idea: You could set one color like blue that you really like on your desktop, and one, say Red, that you really dislike.  Then you set the range to indicate for example your weight if you are on a diet, or a min and max # of pages you have to read a book each day.  So when you deviate from your goal, the background will be something you really dislike.. might serve as a nice motivation.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 04, 2009, 04:19 PM
On a related note, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't already have this program requested in coding snacks and implemented, but what about a super simple program that lets you easily configure a list of [ActivityLabel,Color,WallpaperImageFile] items (has to be easy to edit and add these from a nice gui so it's really quick and fun!), and then lives in the tray where you can right click and choose a new Activity Label from the menu, and changes desktop to that.

I think it could just be useful to help you change what project/activity you are working on at any given time, with some nice visual feedback.

Could add other things to it like showing in menu amount of time spent in current activity, etc.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Paul Keith on December 04, 2009, 08:26 PM
Here's a small one:

What about a program that sits in the system tray and lets you configure 2 colors and a numeric range.  Essentially you are setting two ends of a range, a min and max value, and a color associated with each end of the range.

At any time you could double click to type in a new current numeric value, and it would adjust the desktop background color to a blend between the min and max of the range and between the two colors.

The idea: You could set one color like blue that you really like on your desktop, and one, say Red, that you really dislike.  Then you set the range to indicate for example your weight if you are on a diet, or a min and max # of pages you have to read a book each day.  So when you deviate from your goal, the background will be something you really dislike.. might serve as a nice motivation.

This doesn't fit the bill but maybe you guys can contact the people who did this program for help: F.lux (http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/)
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: NinJA999 on December 04, 2009, 11:42 PM
Here's a small one:

What about a program that sits in the system tray and lets you configure 2 colors and a numeric range.  Essentially you are setting two ends of a range, a min and max value, and a color associated with each end of the range.

At any time you could double click to type in a new current numeric value, and it would adjust the desktop background color to a blend between the min and max of the range and between the two colors.

The idea: You could set one color like blue that you really like on your desktop, and one, say Red, that you really dislike.  Then you set the range to indicate for example your weight if you are on a diet, or a min and max # of pages you have to read a book each day.  So when you deviate from your goal, the background will be something you really dislike.. might serve as a nice motivation.

This doesn't fit the bill but maybe you guys can contact the people who did this program for help: F.lux (http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/)

Hmm, that seems a bit overkill?  They went into the video system to change the color temperature of the screen.  I think mouser was suggesting just changing the desktop background?  (Might be easier for a more novice programmer than trying to interface with low level stuff)

(as an aside, I've been using that program daily for over a year and I love it; I've nothing against it!)
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: doctorfrog on December 06, 2009, 07:37 PM
NANY Idea: Automatic Pidgin accounts.xml encryption (for Windows).

Not very sexy, I know. This will require implementation of an encryption library.

PROBLEM:

Pidgin currently saves all your account information in a single accounts.xml file, completely unencrypted. The Pidgin devs have explicitly stated that they will not encrypt this information, citing cross-platform implementation difficulties, and using the poor excuse that IM passwords aren't terribly secure anyway, and that encrypting this information gives a 'false sense of security.'

Bunk, I say. There's still a need for this feature. Any login information is useful to Folks With Bad Intentions, be it a login name or password. There's no reason not to encrypt the entire file if necessary, if only to keep casual snoopers such as kids or coworkers, out of your business.

PROPOSAL:

1. A simple, nearly transparent helper program for Pidgin that launches a user password prompt, encrypts/decrypts the accounts.xml, and launches Pidgin, then closes itself.
2. When run subsequently, the program checks to see if Pidgin is running, and if accounts.xml is in plaintext. If Pidgin is running, the program closes with no action.
3. If Pidgin is not running, and the accounts.xml is in plaintext, the program encrypts the file and closes itself.
4. When run the first time, the program asks for a (relative) path to Pidgin.exe, but accepts any other executable name (pidginportable.exe, for instance), and a password. It then encrypts accounts.xml. Subsequent runs of the program default to the behavior listed above.
5. When accounts.xml is encrypted, it should probably also be renamed, so that Pidgin does not overwrite it, if Pidgin is run 'normally.' Pidgin's behavior will then be to start a new accounts.xml, which this program will overwrite on next run.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- no reliance on external runtimes
- capable of running with relative paths for portable use
- AES 128-bit encryption, or better
- encryption of buddy lists (blist.xml) and pounces (pounce.xml)
- works with Pidgin official build or PortableApps.com version
- program does not run when it is not needed. Shouldn't be a need for this in the tray, for example.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 06, 2009, 10:02 PM
NANY Idea: Automatic Pidgin accounts.xml encryption (for Windows).

Not to put anyone off coding this up, but it could be easily achieved (I just did it in a couple of minutes) with FARR and the AMPL plugin (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20000.0) with the steps:

You'd just need to have FARR installed, as well as AHK. Let me know if I can help any more...
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 07, 2009, 12:10 AM
I'd love to see some games; saw this today, for making browser based (nonflash?) games: http://www.effectgames.com/effect/
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: JavaJones on December 07, 2009, 01:29 AM
Speaking of games, I went to a comedy club tonight and someone had - what I thought was - a terrific, funny idea for a sort of parody game. A game that parodies the very act of playing games if you will. The core gameplay is classic "platformer", side-scrolling most likely, you run around various environments, jump over and avoid bad stuff, collect good stuff (powerups, tokens, etc.).

The thing is, instead of being a commando or whatever, you're basically a slacker gamer, and you're running through a typical "life" scenario (probably different scenes like sidewalk, mall, college campus, whatever - some opportunity for interesting backgrounds/art), and the object is to collect useless powerups and avoid "opportunities" like jobs, college degrees, girlfriends, etc. Jump over them, around them, blow them up with your masterful video game skill powerup, whatever. So you're playing a game where the object is to waste as much of your life as possible. How deliciously ironic!

OK, ok, I know it sounds lame. But I have this picture in my head of it, and I think it could be great. Really... :D Or, if not great, at least popular - a la "Mafia Wars" or the current Facebok favorite "Farmtown".

I should say at this point that I've always had a fascination with taking terrible game ideas in making them into workable games. i.e. figuring out the game mechanics of really awful game concepts, things like "Burgerflip Extreme" where you play a fast food worker and the object is to flip as many burgers as possible in a given time. I know, I'm crazy.  :P

- Oshyan
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 07, 2009, 02:34 PM
As many here know, I'm a big fan of Tower Defense Games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_defense).
Of course I'd love to see someone write from DC write a full tower defense flash game, but that seems a bit outside the scope of the NANY projects, which are supposed to be smaller projects.

So I was thinking it would be fun to see some proof-of-concept games..

I always wondered what a text-based Tower Defense game would look like.. it would be fun to see if someone could come up with something.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Paul Keith on December 07, 2009, 09:39 PM
@NinJA999,

Thanks for the clarification. I don't really know the technical side of the suggestion so I have no idea what's overkill or not.

How about this?

Gnome Theme which changes the titlebar depending on the day (http://www.webupd8.org/2009/11/gnome-theme-which-changes-automatically.html)
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 08, 2009, 11:06 PM
if anyone is feeling ambitious, i'd love to see someone tackle the small template-based cms idea we've discussed here on dc:
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=3825.0
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20015.0
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 09, 2009, 10:36 AM
Couple of related ideas for web page projects:

1) "What's my share?"  Lets you put in a total amount, and then a list of people and their percentages -- it should then calculate how much each person owes.  This one should be pretty simple and there are no doubt existing versions of this on the web. still might be nice to do a new one and then add features to it. -- claimed/pledged by dc member krish (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20920)  :up:

2) "Rank Em All" - Needs to be built on top of a cms like system that lets users create accounts and groups.  Basically users are organized into groups.  Each group has a page of products (any member of group can add a new product).  Each user then can RANK the items in the group to arrange them into some order (nice drag+drop javascript effect would be nice).  Then on the group page you can see each person's ranking as well as the average group ranking.  Would be fun for keeping track of things like board game rankings within a group, etc.  Could also be used for making purchase decisions -- everyone in the house gets to vote for a ranking of which product to buy -- and you buy the one that is the group top choice.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 09, 2009, 11:38 AM
I'd love to see some tools for managing and viewing my Amazon.com wish list and saved items.  It's a huge pain to work with such a large list on the amazon.com website because they are spread out over so many pages.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 09, 2009, 06:56 PM
Ok here's a pretty serious idea for a program, and one that is definitely a lot of work -- but i think it would be useful:
A hand-holding simple XML editor that is restricted to creating xml documents that are compliant with a specified dtd or schema (http://www.xml.com/pub/a/1999/12/dtd/index.html) file.

There are quite a few very elaborate xml editors, some are really complex.  And there are some reasonable free ones too.

But I was thinking there is a need for a really dumbed down simple handholding one, which was designed to guide and help the user create and edit xml files that comply with a specific dtd/schema definition.

The idea is that such a cool could be used as a gui configuration tool for specific applications and web services that provide dtd/schema files -- helping the user to create just the objects and properties supported by such files.  The goal would be to hold the user's hand and make it easy for them to create compliant files.

Just as an example, in a recent project I did (http://www.tfdocs.com), i use an xml format to describe documents -- but it's really hard for people to follow the rules to make these xml documents.  So I made a dtd file (http://tfdocs.com/modules/treeform/help/treeformxml.dtd) that basically defines the rules and hierarchy and properties that make up a value tree form xml document.

Now i could make a custom tool to allow gui creation of these documents, but if there was a super simple xml editor that could take this dtd file and then walk the user through creating a compliant xml file that would be ideal.  I can even imagine having an accessory file (or comments in the dtd file) that would provide more information to the xml editor to help guide the user.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 09, 2009, 07:06 PM
Here's another idea: Image Aligner

I sometimes have a few screenshot images or cropped screenshot images, and i want to combine them into one, usually by aligning them in a vertical row, or horizontal row -- sometimes by aligning into a grid.  And then saving new combined image.

It would be nice to have a gui application that let user drag and drop images and arrange them in this way -- actually the issue of what kind of user interface would be needed is a very tricky one -- but potentially a really useful one.

I guess ideally one would like to be able to specify what to do about size differences -- do we shrink, enlarge, perserve aspect ratios, etc?  What about background color if blank spaces, etc.

Lots of details that could make the program more fancy, but i think you get the main idea.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: zenzai on December 10, 2009, 01:38 AM
  The one thing I would most like to have is a way to log-in to sites without doing it manually.


Have you tried Roboform?

http://www.roboform.com/





Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: zenzai on December 10, 2009, 02:31 AM
Here's another idea: Image Aligner

I sometimes have a few screenshot images or cropped screenshot images, and i want to combine them into one, usually by aligning them in a vertical row, or horizontal row -- sometimes by aligning into a grid.  And then saving new combined image.

Since you're talking about screenshots: SnagIt 9 can do that. You can also drag pictures directly from Explorer into the editor and combine them with screenshots.





Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: olamoree on December 10, 2009, 05:12 AM
Hi Guys,  I am sure I suggested this before, but here goes... I would like to see a tab added to files' PROPERTIES that would allow for the insertion of TEXT to explain and take notes about a particular file WITHOUT having to add a .txt file along with an .exe or such, just keeping it all together in one Tab.  There was a neato proggy many years ago called Anotater that did that but its wheel ran off after WinME.  In Vista, for instance, the Tabs under Properties has General, Details (and anything else you may have added) and NEEDS another tab like Notes or Comments or whatever.  When the above WAS working, it was gr8 for DL date, Install date, the URL of where it was found, ongoing comments about the proggy or file, etc. ..... I REALLY miss that baby!  Any takers?  Thanks.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: superboyac on December 10, 2009, 11:42 AM
I know it's been talked about here before, but it would be really cool to have start menu organizer program.  It would scan all the shortcuts in the different user profile folders (start menu shortcuts) as well as the "all users" shortcuts, and allow you to move them back and forth, to sync them between.

Even though it's something that can be easily done with your file manager, there are a lot of folders involved with long paths and so on.  I'm picturing something like a tree structure.  I've come across a couple of programs on the web that kind of do this, but not all that well.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 10, 2009, 11:49 AM
i think this would also be a great idea -- it's one i've thought about quite a bit.  as superboy says there are some reasonable tools that do this already, but lots of room for improvement.  I actually have some unique and cool ideas for this project, though they are a bit involved. if someone in serious about doing this and has some intermediate-to-advanced programming skills and time, and wants to work on it -- contact me and i'll tell you about some of my ideas.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: C-o-r-E on December 10, 2009, 08:12 PM
[deleted]
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 10, 2009, 08:14 PM
welcome to the site Core, and great to hear you will participate!
(but you should post that you are pledging to release something on this thread: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20533.0)
the current one here is for people to post ideas for others to code.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: vaib on December 11, 2009, 01:43 PM
Firefox Plugin Idea:
A plugin which shows a panel below the main window which shows all <!-- --> html comments on the current page.

I think it would yield some very interesting discoveries.

A nice bonus feature would scan for curse words in these comments and show a count in red, to aid in finding fun discoveries.

I am dying to do some coding but I would need some pointers on making this app since I've never done anything of this sort. Kindly tell me what I need to know for making this and how should I go about it.

Regards
Vaibhav
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 11, 2009, 01:58 PM
Hi Vaibhav, welcome to the site.
I'm not sure a firefox plugin is the easiest way to get started, but we do have a section of tips on it here: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=252.0
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: app103 on December 11, 2009, 08:43 PM
Firefox Plugin Idea:
A plugin which shows a panel below the main window which shows all <!-- --> html comments on the current page.

I think it would yield some very interesting discoveries.

A nice bonus feature would scan for curse words in these comments and show a count in red, to aid in finding fun discoveries.

I am dying to do some coding but I would need some pointers on making this app since I've never done anything of this sort. Kindly tell me what I need to know for making this and how should I go about it.

Regards
Vaibhav

https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Firefox_addons_developer_guide
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Marcel25 on December 15, 2009, 06:12 AM
I am a person that spends a lot of time planning, since I have quite a lot of activities and ideas. Being a coder, I wrote a program for myself called "Much2Do". I found out that a lot of people are looking for a nice ToDo program but were not able to find one that fullfills their needs. For that reason, I decided to publish that ToDo program, on the website http://www.much2do.nl. This is a ToDo program that enables you to keep track of todo's and ideas in a multi-level list, planning both work and private life.

In the past year lots of people have downloaded my program. Although it was not a success, I have learned quite a lot from my efforts. I have learned that although a lot of people want to have a good ToDo application, and although a good list can save you a lot of time (= money) people are not willing to spend any money on it. Because I can make money from creating other software, so I decided to make this Much2Do program freeware. I haven't gotten around to stipping the registration part from the current version and writing a user manual.

After a busy year I have promised to take one or two weeks off in the second half of december 2009, but knowing myself I will not be able to stop coding entirely. So when reading about the NANY 2010 I figured: this might be a good chance to make a totally new version of Much2Do. I am posting this message to ask all of you whether you would like to have a new ToDo program, simular to the old Much2Do program, and what changes you would like to see to the current program. If I get positive feedback, I will create a new version.

At the website http://www.much2do.nl you can see a few screenshots. There are two programs: one for PocketPC and one for PC, both offline Windows applications. I use both and they synchronise well. The main thing that sets it apart from other ToDo applications is that it uses a treeview to present items. If you have a lot of items in your list, this seems the best way to include all items and still retain a good overview. The desktop application also has a listview in which you can plan nodes from any of the treeviews, to specific days.

I am particularly interested in feedback concerning these questions:
- Most ToDo programs have checkboxes, do you really need them in a ToDolist?
  (I feel that if the item is done it should be removed, so why a checkbox)
- How could the planning part of my desktop application be improved?
- Would you like to have the day planning available in the mobile app as well?
- I plan 100% digital but I stil prefer to print the items for Today on paper,
  but being green means you should not print anything. Any suggestions?

PS I am aware that updates of existing programs are not allowed in NANY 2010, but entering the NANY is not my aim. My aim WAS to provide a lowpriced ToDo tool and see what happened. My aim IS NOW to re-cycle my efforts and create a FREE ToDo application and see how many people would like to use it, if it is freeware. My guess is that it may very well turn out to be a newly written program (which could be allowed to the NANY) but I will leave that decision to DonationCoder. But at the very least, the program could become a freeware program.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Marcel25 on December 15, 2009, 06:14 AM
In case the domain URL does not work, this is the underlying URL:
http://www.building.nl/much2do/index.html
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 15, 2009, 06:46 AM
Welcome to the NANY Event Marcel!

You'll find a lot of comment here about note takers and todo lists (take a look around), but to answer your questions...

PS I am aware that updates of existing programs are not allowed in NANY 2010, but entering the NANY is not my aim. My aim WAS to provide a lowpriced ToDo tool and see what happened. My aim IS NOW to re-cycle my efforts and create a FREE ToDo application and see how many people would like to use it, if it is freeware. My guess is that it may very well turn out to be a newly written program (which could be allowed to the NANY) but I will leave that decision to DonationCoder. But at the very least, the program could become a freeware program.

You're right that updates don't qualify, but rewrites do. How much recycling is involved in a rewrite, I think, is not able to be specified. It's probably got more to do with your intention. Certainly when you submit a NANY and our users get hold of it you'll get lots of ideas and requests for the development of your app.

It would be an ambitious undertaking to rewrite your app in a couple of weeks though?  :-\  Personally, I'd be more than happy to have a pledge of the rewrite of Much2Do   :Thmbsup:

Everyone will have their own ideas, which may be better canvassed in a specific thread, but here are mine:
I am particularly interested in feedback concerning these questions:
- Most ToDo programs have checkboxes, do you really need them in a ToDolist?
  (I feel that if the item is done it should be removed, so why a checkbox)

If it's two separate events, sure: it's not efficient; but if a checkbox set's the done date as today, and the done date (maybe not today) set's the check box, they're not entirely separate (The checkbox providing a good visual clue and shortcut).

- How could the planning part of my desktop application be improved?

Not played with it, but again, probably a question for a separate thread

- Would you like to have the day planning available in the mobile app as well?

I don't have a mobile to run the app on...

- I plan 100% digital but I stil prefer to print the items for Today on paper,
  but being green means you should not print anything. Any suggestions?

Some sort of export that can be viewed in various (independent) ways? Desktop, web, etc.

Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Marcel25 on December 15, 2009, 06:58 AM
Maybe I should rephrase/replace my question whether checkboxes are necessary, to the question whether people want to set due dates for items. Persdonally, I do not really use due dates that much. The main reason being that if you work in multi-level lists, you tend to insert items for projects for which a due data exists for a project and not for an item specifically. Assigning due dates for a project or group of items can be done by dragging the node of the treeview to the listview (in the desktop application). That 'assigns' that group of items to that particular day. Hence, I - personally - do not need due dates.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 15, 2009, 07:12 AM
That sounds reasonable Marcel, in effect you're assigning a due date via the project. That would work for me and is more how I'd work in the most part.

You may also like to go over people's GTD experiences here:
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mouser on December 15, 2009, 08:03 AM
I may not be a typical user, but i never use due dates on a todo list -- i use a todo list more for things that i want to get through as soon as possible.
I do like checkboxes though, because it's useful to see what you've done and how much you've accomplished, at least until you are ready to remove it completely after some time.
So i guess for me i like the idea of multiple checklists, where i can check each item off a list until that list is complete, and then file that list away into storage.

It might be nice to start a new thread on ToDo List Ultimate features.. we have a similar one for note taking applications, but todo list applications have their own set of challenges.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: ixxo on December 16, 2009, 05:34 PM
I dont suppose anyone would want to make a quickpar like program thats natively 64bit and not just a GUI for par2cmdline?

Not only is there zero shell integration support with the old QuickPar but its also got a few bugs and its not multithreaded and not 64bit

there are a few GUIs for par2cmdline out there too but just like QuickPar they are all getting old and all seem to be abandoned..and ofcourse NONE are 64bit

I use parfiles a lot safeguard documents before burning for example.. doesnt take much to damage a disc but this is a way to safeguard that and discs arent subject to magnetic interference like harddisks are..

.......... 

ixxo



some infosources...

http://www.par2.net/
http://parchive.sourceforge.net/
http://chuchusoft.com/par2_tbb/
http://www.quickpar.co.uk/
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: JavaJones on December 17, 2009, 03:40 PM
Here's a 2nd vote for an updated, 64bit compatible PAR app!

- Oshyan
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: tomos on December 17, 2009, 04:34 PM
[...] I wrote a program for myself called "Much2Do". [...]

I am particularly interested in feedback concerning these questions:
- Most ToDo programs have checkboxes, do you really need them in a ToDolist?
  (I feel that if the item is done it should be removed, so why a checkbox)
- How could the planning part of my desktop application be improved?
- Would you like to have the day planning available in the mobile app as well?
- I plan 100% digital but I stil prefer to print the items for Today on paper,
  but being green means you should not print anything. Any suggestions?

I'm going to download your app & try it out, thanks!
- could I suggest starting a new thread and maybe link to it from here

So i guess for me i like the idea of multiple checklists, where i can check each item off a list until that list is complete, and then file that list away into storage.

This would fit in with Mark Forster's AutoFocus 'method' which I'm trying (again)
I would like to comment more but want to try the app first and dont want to take over this thread either . .
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 17, 2009, 05:47 PM
I may not be a typical user, but i never use due dates on a todo list -- i use a todo list more for things that i want to get through as soon as possible.
I do like checkboxes though, because it's useful to see what you've done and how much you've accomplished, at least until you are ready to remove it completely after some time.
So i guess for me i like the idea of multiple checklists, where i can check each item off a list until that list is complete, and then file that list away into storage.

Did you see this: http://www.labnol.org/internet/organize-todo-lists-online/11619/ Seems to be the best of both worlds?
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: strayte on December 19, 2009, 04:23 PM

I have a suggestion for a program for the NANYevent. It is for a password program.

I know there are numerous programs that deal with passwords but the ones I’ve seen lack something although I’m not sure how to describe this lack,

From my perspective, we are strung up between two conflicting   approaches to passwords.

The first approach produces highly secure passwords that we don’t “own” any more; we aren’t connected to them, we don’t feel that they are ours,  can’t remember them, and have no control over them. They are as random as can be made and very secure;  but because they are distant from us we avoid them, use them reluctantly if at all.
The second approach is to use a password that we recognize, that makes sense to us uses our name with some numbers or punctuation  fore and aft.. These passwords we feel connected to, give us probably an inappropriate sense of security and are less good that they might be.

Here is a different orientation to password generation.

Can someone come up with a program that would that gave us some sense of connection to the password and some sense of control over its generation. Perhaps pieces of our name and a piece of the site name would be a good start, perhaps a key of some sort that used another familiar name to generate substitutions, or re arrangements.

My feelings about passwords and security are locked up in a childhood memories of decoder rings.  What would be wonderful would be  to have a program that printed out some sort of  device that we could construct with paper and paper clips, maybe a version of  something like a circular slide rule like device, something that would let us actually reproduce our password and vary it. Maybe little sliding slices of paper, something clever and useful that made the process of generating passwords fun again.

strayte
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 20, 2009, 01:04 AM
Nice idea. It's been written about quite a bit obviously.

Personally I use RoboForm and am very disconnected from my passwords (like I don't care) but then again I'd be lost without RF, and hence back it up and put it on USB drives etc...

But having some way to work out (and therefore calculate) the password is a nice idea (especially for absolute disaster recovery  :o ) so I'd probably use it to generate the passwords  :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: insert_nick on December 20, 2009, 07:22 PM
If there is anyone out there, who might have a good idea, unique, one that is useful and would be popular...  and would like to form a PARTNERSHIP and we'll create something together?  i.e. you come up with the idea(s) and I'll do the coding... Then I am up for that!

It'll be a partnership effort (assuming thats allowed????)

Probably best to PM me if anyone is interested???

Someone here does know what happened to user "awopbamboo"? I did PM him for a partnership like he asked in the above post (and he replied ok), then I wrote him a pretty detailed writeup of the software on google docs (which he read) but after about 5 days I'm still not hearing from him anymore... Wondering if you know why he's suddenly disappeared while he declared to be interested in developing my proposed app: PM'ing him does not work for me...
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Perry Mowbray on December 20, 2009, 07:57 PM
His profile indicates:
Last Active:   Today at 03:01:38 AM
:-\

Don't know his email through Google Docs?
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mbrazil on December 21, 2009, 10:27 PM
This idea/request needs a little explanation up front. I've been an Avant browser user for a long time. WildBlue, my satellite ISP, recently worked out an arrangement with Mozilla so that Firefox works a lot faster than IE on WildBlue. Since Avant uses the IE engine, I switched to Orca, which has pretty much the same UI as Avant but uses the Firefox engine. This has worked out well in almost all respects, but there is one problem. RoboForm's toolbar either doesn't show up in Orca, or it shows up empty -- no icons or text. Siber Systems says they don't and won't support Orca, and Avantforce says there's a problem getting the existing RoboForm toolbar to work in Orca. Anyway, the bottom line is that I've done a lot of searching around and can't find a fix for this that works well for me (including the RoboForm Online bookmarklett). However, I was thinking that if I had the appropriate JavaScript code to activate RoboForm's form-filling capacity (RoboForm is running with a tray icon) using a specific RoboForm identity, I could add a toolbar button to another toolbar in Orca to do this. I'm only interested in form-filling for a specific identity. I'm using Orca's built-in AutoFill for passwords, and it's working fine. Unfortunately, the built-in AutoFill doesn't work anywhere near as well for form filling as RoboForm, and the only way to activate it is through the menu structure and requires 3 clicks. I'm looking for a one-click solution, and a button in one of the existing taskbars would work fine. Orca includes the functionality to define a button, assign an icon, and attach JavaScript, so all I need is the JavaScript. I should probably just learn JavaScript, but I don't have time now.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: mbrazil on December 22, 2009, 03:26 PM
Here's another one: A utility to add an adjustable delay for activation of the Windows taskbar and other Windows toolbars created by the user when these are set to AutoHide.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Padlock6 on December 31, 2009, 09:00 PM

I use a wonderful program called WinDirStat (http://windirstat.info/) that gives a clear simple summary of my hard drive.  What I would love to see is the same kind of overview of my RAM.  I have a widget deal that shows size used, and I can watch it grow over time when I don't re-boot for a month... 
But I can't tell what the actual memory hog is.  Maybe I should re-boot firefox more often?  Maybe something else?
Not being as clever as the program writers here, there may already be ways to do this- but how about something for the codelly challenged?

And a happy, prosperous new year to all.
Title: Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread
Post by: Marcel25 on January 02, 2010, 01:39 PM
Hello all,

Just to complete my posting a while ago, about possibly contributing to NANY, doing a complete make-over on my Much2Do program. Because a complete make-over would have left me without any vacation/holiday days... I decided for an update instead. And yes, I know that doesn't qualify for NANY but that wasn't my objective. My objective was to transdform the program into freeware so that is what I did.

So for those of you interested, there is a new version, completely free of nag-screens, no regitration fee or donation required... just take a lool and maybe this tool will help you get organized. The tool does not require you to use a particular GTD philosphy (in fact I don't like GTD all that much), it will enable you to work in a way that you like. I added checkboxes and auto-numbering, so it is a flexible tool that can be used in many ways.

Happy coding in 2010!

http://www.much2do.nl

http://www.building.nl/much2do/index.html