Newsletter for July 11th, 2008
Codename "Revenge of the Mini-Review"
1. Newsletter EditorialGreetings again dear readers. Another hot July evening.. It's 1am here in Illinois (we call it Joto hour in the irc chat channel). 1am is actually a pretty busy time on the chat channel as all the night owls are starting to feel like they better stop fooling around and start working.
The DC server admin (Gothi[C]) has been hunting down an email problem with the new member server and he thinks he's finally got it solved. We shall see. Thanks in part to a very generous donation we've been able to do a big upgrade of the secondary member server where we provide web space to dc users. The new server will allow us to be more generous giving out space and hosting bigger member projects. Actually we have a fun new idea planned for the member server in the next month or so, so stay tuned..
It's been nice for me to get back to coding on DC Software, and I've been adding a lot of new features to my
Find and Run Robot program, mainly working with plugin writers to implement stuff they can build off of. Actually in the last week a new visitor to the site has implemented a plugin that has long been sought after, one that can display Most-recently-used file lists stored by windows when you use other programs. FARR seems to be getting some attention lately but it's never really been on the level of some of my other programs. Doesn't really matter to be, but after I'm done with this round of FARR updates I'll switch over to my other programs like Screenshot Captor and Process Tamer, and do some updates on those. If you have any feature requests, now would be a good time to post them. I also have to figure out what new big DC programming project I want to start on next.
Keeping up a trends from last month, we've got lots of little mini-reviews and editorials from dc members this month. I'm not sure what's causing this increase but it's very welcome -- everyone loves reading a good review.
Oh and don't forget, if you're planning to submit something for the the
programming contest that we are currently running, you better wrap things up. It ends on July 14th. The winner will receive a giant MS Visual Studio bundle prize (includes all Windows OS's and office tools, worth over $10,000).
Lastly, I should say something about the fact that we haven't had any new software discounts lately. After skipping 2007, we are definitely going to have a fundraiser in 2008 to try to raise money for the website and our ever increasing web server costs. And we will need your help. One of the things we will try to do as usual is have bunch of software discounts and giveaways. But I would appreciate any other ideas you might have on things we might do during the fundraiser celebration -- either post ideas on the forum or email me (
[email protected]). We like to do strange things so no crazy idea will be rejected without consideration. And if you enjoy these newsletters and want us to keep doing them, and you've never posted before on the DC forum, don't be shy about posting a reply on the newsletter thread and saying so.
2. Your Participation RequestedA warm welcome to all the new members who have joined over the last month. Here are some good topics on which to make your debut post. Don't be shy, just jump right in, we are always happy to hear from new people. And for our long term members, you know what to do -- join in and make your voice heard.
3. Mini-Reviews and Editorials by DC MembersIt was a big month for mini-reviews on the forum. Mini-reviews are a great resource for people researching software solutions and may be found on the dedicated
Mini-Review Board. Please remember to acknowledge the efforts of the reviewers with a few donationcredits if you find their reviews interesting and/or helpful.
4. DC and DC Member SoftwareSome more new cool plugins for Find and Run Robot (FARR), coming hot on the heals of lots of new FARR features, plus a new autohotkey project by a new member of the forum.
5. Living RoomThe Living Room section of the forum is where we discuss general issues that don't really belong in the other, dedicated sections. It's kind of a catch-all section -- lots of website discoveries and recommendations, etc. This makes it a great place to explore - you never know what you're going to find!
6. General Software DiscussionAlmost half the posts on the forum fall into the category of general software discussions, questions, recommendations, etc. This is one of the most active sections of the DC forum and a great resource if you're trying to solve a software or hardware related problem. We get so much traffic on this board that we've split the recent content into to sections in the newsletter - general software and specific software discussions.
7. Developer's CornerIt's good to see activity in this section of the forum increasing a little recently. Remember that this section isn't just for computer programmers, it's for entrepreneurs of all kinds to discuss the issues involving creating things and running a small business.
8. Company Complaints and ComplimentsThis relatively new section of the forum is a place where people can post their honest personal experiences with companies -- positive or negative.
9. Fun, Games, and HumourOne of the things that makes the forum a nice place to hang out is that there is a good balance between serious expert discussion and just plain silly fun (and everything in between). There are always a few truly sublime discoveries posted by DC members each month, and this month was no exception. There is also a special section on the forum called the DC Gamer's Club, where people talk about multiplayer games and set up servers to play against each other. It's also where I yell and scream and tell people to code their own new games instead of playing other store bought games.
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