Recent Posts

1101

Living Room / PLEASE STOP POSTING

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 07:32 PM »

I already have two pages of threads to catch up on and you folks are replying and posting at a 2:1 ratio. My list is growing. Stop It! Let me catch up gosh darn it.

1102

General Software Discussion / Re: Starting a website; need suggestions.

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 07:13 PM »

From a person that doesn't do custom designed websites, my thoughts are you should hire a pro to do it. However, I know that isn't always an option because of the cost. However, I am sure you have many talents and you might be able to barter your way into a website. Veign can probably tell you some forums visited by competent web designers looking for work. Find the appropriate place on those forums to post and offer up your services and see if you can find a match.

1103

Living Room / Re: Google Talks - a Google perk we can all use

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 07:07 PM »

There are also some from Yahoo's campus.

1104

General Software Discussion / Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 07:02 PM »

I use a combination of Picard and Media Monkey Pro.

1105

General Software Discussion / Re: Free virtualization options

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 06:57 PM »

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 is now available.

1106

Developer's Corner / Re: Database Application IDE

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 09:06 AM »

Here it is.  Wapache: Free tool makes a standalone windows application from your web service

1107

Older Newsletters / Re: Newsletter for November 2nd, 2007 - Codename "Challenge Yourself"

« Last post by tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 08:53 AM »

 I have an idea to go along with this months theme. As you have mentioned, there are many people here that are not coders. However, there are many ways for non-coders to participate.

One of the unsung heroes of the open source arena is the technical writer. There is a pile of documentation that is necessary for an open source project to be successful. Everything from a few simple paragraphs describing the project on a web page (that just might determine whether or not somebody decides to try the project) to a good User Manual to the more technical API documentation. All open source projects are always looking for more help in this area.

And then there are those of you among us that are the misunderstood artist types. (I say that with all due respect as I can't even draw stick figures.) Logos, icons, backgrounds, UI components, illustrations, diagrams. I could go on an on about all of the stuff that is required.

There is a saying in the coding world about about how 80% of a software project is the initial coding, and that replacing the ugly "programmer art" with professional graphics and documenting the project is the other 80%.

So my challenge to those of you in our community who consider yourselves to be "non-programmers", is to contact one of the  "coders" here on DonationCoder and offer to help with documentation or graphics on one of their projects. Don't bite off more than you can chew, but take on a large enough of a challenge to get a feeling of what it is like. I bet you will find it very rewarding. And my hope is that taking this small step here amongst your friends will give you the confidence to go out into the wild and join some other open source project and help in a similar way.

I would also like to see somebody amongst you to start a new thread and describe your experience helping out a project in some "non-coding" manner to help inspire others. I'd love to see a hundred replies to that thread from others who decide to try it and a second reply from those same people further down the thread about how much fun they had and how they are going to do it again.

1108

Living Room / Re: Tower Defense games collection

« Last post by tinjaw on November 04, 2007, 05:35 AM »

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

-Renegade (November 03, 2007, 09:52 PM)

So I take it then that the A's are arrow turrets, the R's are rocket turrets, the G's are gun turrets, and the H's are HE grenade turrets. But what are the exclamation marks supposed to be? And what direction are the bad guys going to come from? What is your high score on this level? 

1109

General Software Discussion / Re: How is this Done?

« Last post by tinjaw on November 03, 2007, 09:20 PM »

basics are used to create this video.

-cmpm (November 03, 2007, 08:13 PM)

Your basic mix of psychotropic drugs and alcohol.

1110

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by tinjaw on November 03, 2007, 09:16 PM »

What about "Everyone's Database"?

1111

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: XYplorer File Manager

« Last post by tinjaw on November 03, 2007, 09:12 PM »

Don,

I applaud you for sticking to your guns as a developer. You have a vision of what you want XYplorer to be, and if you try to water it down to be everything to everybody, well, you know what happens.

1112

Living Room / Re: Multiple monitor setup - need some guidance

« Last post by tinjaw on November 02, 2007, 07:12 AM »

You should get a adapter to plug the VGA monitor into the DVI port on your video card. You will see no difference than if you had plugged it into a VGA port. I would say 50% of the computers I use are doing this. You might want to take the time to check the box your video card or computer came in. It may have been included, but you dismissed it at the time and forgot about it.

1113

General Software Discussion / Re: online tutorials - screencasts rule over static pages?

« Last post by tinjaw on November 01, 2007, 09:05 PM »

Also I am sure there must be dedicated video sharing sites for screencasts, some of these might take your quality issues into account.

-justice (November 01, 2007, 05:52 PM)

Good point. I know of ShowMeDo.

1114

General Software Discussion / Re: online tutorials - screencasts rule over static pages?

« Last post by tinjaw on November 01, 2007, 04:04 PM »

I'm just shooting from the hip here, nudone, but maybe shot a nice screencast in highres and plenty of commentary. 1) Edit this to be high quality. Put this up on your site for a small fee. 2) Edit it down in size and length with enough info left in it to be useful to an average user trying to get the basics down of what you are showing them and put that up on YouTube etc. 3) Create a written howto that pretty much follows the video and grab single-frame screenshots from the video. Make that pretty and put that up on the tutorial sites.

This will allow you to leverage your work, create content for all of your potential audiences, and provide a way to recoup some costs from those people who want the high-quality version that will burn up your download quota.

1115

Developer's Corner / Was My Posting To The Adobe Forum Stupid?

« Last post by tinjaw on November 01, 2007, 01:58 PM »

I made a posting to the Adobe Forum two days ago. It didn't get a reply and because of their forums being the way they are, it is now buried many many pages down and probably will never be seen again. I see that very few of the postings to that forum get replies and I think it because of the way their forums work.

Or did I get no replies because my posting was idiotic and not worth of a reply?

My posting is here, in their forums where you can take a look around at their forum software.

If you just want the opportunity to tell me my post was idiotic, I have copy&paste'd it below:

I am completely new to anything Flash. I have never written a single line of Actionscript. I don't know the difference between Flash and Flex. I don't know in what forums Flash developers hang out. I don't even know what kind of coffee they drink, or if they drink tea instead.

However, I have developed games and have been thinking about developing some casual games and have heard rumors that Adobe is "pushing" causal game development with Actionscript 3 and their latest releases. So I went to adobe.com expecting to see a link for something like "learn how to develop games in flash" or some such. I poked around the developer related pages and didn't find anything I thought useful.

What I did find were plenty of stuff for *existing* flash developers. Links to articles and HowTos for specific topics and information about products that cost a minimum of several hundred dollars. I can't learn how to develop games and create a prototype with a 30-day trial, and I am not going to buy a $1000 pro-grade tool when I am an indie developer without a budget or a pre-funded project that would justify such expenditures.

I have seen some open source stuff, but don't know if it can do anything more than build some annoying shaking banner ads.

So let me introduce myself as a possible use-case for Adobe Marketing and the Flash (Game) Developer community.

I am an educated experience software developer who has a day job doing "enterprise" software stuff. I want to *play* in my free time (evenings and weekends) with "Flash Stuff" and learn enough to be able to build a simple game that I can put on my personal website and have my friends download. I am not a student, so I can't get student discounts. The money I have goes toward toys^H^H^H^H tools for my other coding habits^H^H^H^H^H projects. I am not interested in 30-day trials, as I may go 45-days or more between the first and second weekends I get to play with this. I know OOP so I want to start out learning how to do the "advanced" stuff from day one and not have to start with dragging and dropping PNGs w/o any coding and then "relearn" how to do it in code so I can do anything beyond having the image appear and rotate.

I *am* willing to put time into this endeavor, but only after I have a few things spoon-fed to me by "advocates" who's job is to get me "hooked" and willing to invest my time to go beyond Hello World. At the same time I am download and playing with GarageGames, TGE/TGB, Game Maker, Dark Basic, Blitz Basic, etc. and many complete development environments that are full-featured and completely free if I limit myself to releasing only freeware games, or cost me less than $50 for the "professional" version with all the bells and whistles.

I have heard rumors and rumblings about some open source tools being available and Adobe maybe open sourcing some of their previously pay-to-play tools, but also understand that Adobe can probably provide a better "comprehensive" package of tools, documentation, tutorials, and support, *if I can find the right place to ask/start.*

And, most of all, I don't know where to start my search as I have no personal contacts to bug about stuff like this.

So, where can I find the big red button to push and get everything I want handed to me on a silver-platter.

[please understand I have written this with some attempt at self-mocking humor and am not some clueless n00b]

Thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy posting. I hope to find some helpful replies and start down an interesting learning path.

--Chaim

1116

General Software Discussion / Re: A Simple Database Program? (Or is that an Oxymoron itself?!)

« Last post by tinjaw on November 01, 2007, 01:41 PM »

BTW the name will change... any suggestions?

-PPLandry (November 01, 2007, 09:28 AM)

QueryNotes
Data-at-Hand
It'sInThere
It'sInHere

1117

Developer's Corner / Re: Database Application IDE

« Last post by tinjaw on October 31, 2007, 02:01 PM »

There is also a stack that allows you to take a PHP/MySQL app and wrap it as a stand-alone application. I remember seeing an announcement somewhere in the past few days. Somebody will probably beat me to it an post the info here, but if not, I will try to find it for you.

1118

Living Room / Re: Teledildonics — build your dream (virtual) sex machine

« Last post by tinjaw on October 31, 2007, 01:54 PM »

Since Jesse has chimed in, I will speak up. This isn't meant to knock the moderator, but instead to complement EmporerEJ. I read the original post and thought it was a great example of the proper way to add direct input from a vendor. The post was on topic, succinct, and struck a fine balance between informing potential adult customers about a taboo subject on a family-friendly forum. Enough information was provided for an adult to find EmporerEJ's website without posting a graphic image or a direct link. Often "first post"s from a vendor injecting themselves into a thread are a spewing of marketing propaganda several paragraphs long that could have been said in a few sentences and a link.

1119

Living Room / Re: Teledildonics — build your dream (virtual) sex machine

« Last post by tinjaw on October 30, 2007, 11:22 AM »

open-sores software.

-MikeMcLoughlin (October 30, 2007, 09:05 AM)

 

STD = Software Transmitted Disease

1120

Living Room / Re: Teledildonics — build your dream (virtual) sex machine

« Last post by tinjaw on October 30, 2007, 07:49 AM »

Then there will the hundreds of cheap Asian clones. And coming full circle, once again the center of the sex trade will return to Malaysia.

1121

General Software Discussion / Re: Move Drive Letter to Beginning of Drive Names in Windows Explorer

« Last post by tinjaw on October 30, 2007, 07:46 AM »

"ShowDriveLettersFirst"=dword:00000001

-Daleus (October 30, 2007, 06:49 AM)

umm, not quite. That will only do it for remote drives. See my first post in this thread.

1122

Living Room / Re: Need a free survey site

« Last post by tinjaw on October 30, 2007, 07:40 AM »

If you have your own website, you can use Unit Command Climate Assessment and Survey System (UCCASS).

The Unit Command Climate Assessment and Survey System (UCCASS) (pronounced yoo-kas) is a PHP based survey script that allows you to create online surveys. Originally designed for organizations to administer Command Climate Assessments (annual surveys), the program can be used to create any type of online survey or questionnaire.

There have a demo site.

1123

Living Room / Re: Teledildonics — build your dream (virtual) sex machine

« Last post by tinjaw on October 30, 2007, 07:21 AM »

especially if it's sharewear.

-Armando (October 30, 2007, 01:21 AM)

Hah! LOL

The following is rated NC-17. Do not click on this if you are under 18 years of age.

The trial version is good for only three orgasms or thirty days. Whatever cums first.

1124

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Toggle Hidden Files and Folders

« Last post by tinjaw on October 29, 2007, 08:49 PM »

Combine it with Skrommel's Barnacle.

1125

Living Room / Re: Teledildonics — build your dream (virtual) sex machine

« Last post by tinjaw on October 29, 2007, 08:43 PM »

If they sell it as shareware I hope they wash it before they share it.