Recent Posts

30501

General Software Discussion / Re: "Donationware 2.0" or something like that - opinions wanted

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 02:28 PM »

i think nudone captured the spirit of what i meant by mandatory donation or an "opt-out", and in relation to josh's point:

"Option 2, I dont like this idea. Requiring a user state "I do not want to donate" is like forcing them to say "I am too cheap to donate". While this may not be the case in all instances, alot of users never have any intent on donating and requiring them to post to this effect can alienate them because they might not want to post and appear "cheap".

i would be against making anyone post publicly that they wouldn't donate.

but the consistent idea is: you want to ask the user to do some affirmitive action, whether donating or stating that they can't/won't donate, to overcome the motivational issue i discussed in the article.

so i kind of tend towards nudone's summary:

users must either:
1) make a donation (of any amount)
2) submit some email or private form saying why they can't or won't, as an exception to this rule.

the idea is simple:
keep the software free for those who can't donate or refuse to donate, but try to make it as easy to donate as to not donate, and let them choose the amount if they choose to donate.


as for making the person come back to get another license - i'm leaning towards eliminating that from our site.. it may be pushing the envelope of being annoying, in addition to being confusing.  the only real benefit it has is in getting people to visit the site at least once more after 6 months of using the program in hopes they will decide to donate, and in serving as a small incentive to donate to avoid this.

30502

General Software Discussion / "Donationware 2.0" or something like that - opinions wanted

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 01:48 PM »

The confusion surrounding the concept of donationware and freeware has come up a few times before, and it got me wondering if it might be nice to discuss the idea of formulating a new term with a more precise definition.

Im not wedded to the name, but maybe "Donationware 2.0" is a good working title until we find something better.

So here is what i was thinking by way of a definition, but please do jump in and modify.  I'm basically starting off with the things we do here, but that doesn't mean they are the right way, i'm just trying to start us off on the path of coming up with something reasonable.


Donationware 2.0:

• Software or media that puts a strong emphasis on asking the user to make a donation to support the author, while still remaining free of charge should the user choose not to donate (or cannot donate).
• Such software may require a minimum amount of effort on the users part to encourage donating, but this work should not be "prohibitive or overly annoying".

In an attempt to be more specific about this term, the following activities would be considered overly annoying and prohibitive:
1) showing a nag which is removed only on donating.
2) requiring a donation to unlock certain features.
3) showing ads inside the software which are removed only on donating.

However, such software may reasonably do the following:
1) Require the person to sign up to receive the full version, or a license key or download (no email collected may be used for spamming purposes!)
2) Require the person to declare that they have considered donating and decided not to.
3) Require the person to return to download a new version or license key occasionally (no more frequently than once every 6 months)

Summarizing: The software model puts an emphasis on requiring the user to actually consider the act of donating, and perform some action to avoid donating (though not monetary, and not anything that would take more than a few minutes per year).  Read my article (https://www.donation...icles/One/index.html) for longer discussion about the motivation and philosophy behind these decisions.


Other issues worth considering:

Should donationware2.0 specify that an author should make all of their software available as a bundle when a user donates?
Should it say that the author can charge for commercial/non-personal/home use? (i would favor this i think)
Should it be able to say that a donation is mandatory, but user can choose the amount, or else indicate that they cannot donate for some real reason?


 

30503

Living Room / Re: Digg, the wisdom of crowds, the hive mind, netscape, and competitors

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 12:48 PM »

i keep flip flip flopping on this a bit.. but im glad to see these issues being discussed.

for me, the fundamental issue is simple: fairness.

those who build content for a site and help it to grow and do well and make it what it is need to receive a fair (proportionate in some way) share of the rewards of the site.

i do believe this is an issue that "web2.0" business people are trying to avoid; they hope to be able to get rich of the work of others.  and i think this is wrong.

i do think things become a bit more complicated when there is risk involved for some people and not others, and when it comes down to judging the contributions of different people.

the only issue that causes me real concern is the point made by kevin rose (or someone defending digg, can't remember which), which was essentially that if you build a model focused on paying people for their contribution, you will get a site populated mainly by people clamouring for their share of the money.

i think the nice middle ground is a place where people are not motivated chiefly by money, but feel confident that when there is money or other rewards, they will be recognized and the rewards shared appropriately.

30504

Living Room / Re: Digg, the wisdom of crowds, the hive mind, netscape, and competitors

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 12:40 PM »

more, this time from http://technovia.typepad.com/technovia/

Dear Kevin Rose: Get a grip
Link: my blog: Calacanis.

Ya see users like Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit and Flickr because they are contributing to true, free, democratic social platforms devoid of monetary motivations.

Hmm. What's this I see on Digg.com? Why, it's advertising! No monetary motivation there then. And on Flickr? Why, it's paid-for services! No monetary motivation there, then.

What Kevin means, of course, is that there's no monetary motivation for the people who actually contribute to the site and make it valuable. For the middle-man - Kevin - there's a fair amount of monetary motivation. (And whatever happened to disintermediation, anyway?)

If Kevin really means it, he'll turn Digg into a not-for-profit company that uses advertising solely for paying for its bandwidth, the salaries of the essential staff, and investment in infrastructure and the like.

But he won't do this, of course, because he wants to sell the company at some point and make a sack load of money from it. That, folks, is the hypocracy of the Web 2.0 generation. Information wants to be free - as long as it's YOU that's giving THEM the information, and THEY can make money off it.

30505

Developer's Corner / MSDN Documentation Library (huge) now free for the first time

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 12:30 PM »

For the first time, we're making the MSDN Library freely available for download from Microsoft Downloads. Previously, the Library was only available for download to MSDN subscribers. The current download is the May 2006 Edition and future editions will also be available when we release them.
...
MSDN Library provides access to essential programming information, including technical white papers, software development kits and code samples necessary to develop web services and applications. This is an updated version of the MSDN Library for Visual Studio® 2005.

Blog entry: http://blogs.msdn.co...06/07/26/678897.aspx

Download page: http://www.microsoft...1&displaylang=en

30506

Developer's Corner / Presentation Zen Blog

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 12:19 PM »

Interesting blog on presentation (like giving a talk) isssues and presenters.

http://presentationz...com/presentationzen/

30507

Living Room / Re: The Long Tail and it's Doubters

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 12:10 PM »

more:
http://www.roughtype.../lee_gomes_respo.php

30508

LaunchBar Commander / Re: v1.54.02 - minimize config dialog problem

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 11:23 AM »

hamradio found this bug as well - i dont know how you people find these crazy bugs.. who ever imagined you would minimize config dialog, not me   but i will fix.  it's nice to have people testing it and reporting issues.

30509

Living Room / Re: The Long Tail and it's Doubters

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 10:45 AM »

some follow ups well worth reading:

http://avc.blogs.com...arguing_about_t.html
http://www.longtail....factchecking_my.html

30510

LaunchBar Commander / Re: v1.54.02 - Auto hide and auto slide didn't works probertly

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 09:20 AM »

autoslide and autohide dont work right it's true.
i need to disable these options until i fix.

30511

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: How to compile a program to not need any external dll and bpl files

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 02:52 AM »

great link c++speaker! i'm going to blog it in fact.

screenshot:

Dependency Walker is a free utility that scans any 32-bit or 64-bit Windows module (exe, dll, ocx, sys, etc.) and builds a hierarchical tree diagram of all dependent modules. For each module found, it lists all the functions that are exported by that module, and which of those functions are actually being called by other modules. Another view displays the minimum set of required files, along with detailed information about each file including a full path to the file, base address, version numbers, machine type, debug information, and more.

Dependency Walker is also very useful for troubleshooting system errors related to loading and executing modules. Dependency Walker detects many common application problems such as missing modules, invalid modules, import/export mismatches, circular dependency errors, mismatched machine types of modules, and module initialization failures.

Dependency Walker runs on Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. It can process any 32-bit or 64-bit Windows module, including ones designed for Windows CE. It can be run as graphical application or as a console application. Dependency Walker handles all types of module dependencies, including implicit, explicit (dynamic / runtime), forwarded, delay-loaded, and injected. A detailed help is included.

30512

Official Announcements / Re: JULY SOFTWARE DRAWING RESULTS - POSTED!

« Last post by mouser on July 27, 2006, 01:18 AM »

WINNERS OF THE JULY 2006 FREE SOFTWARE DRAWING

As always, you can find current discounts and urls for all of these programs on our specials page: https://www.donationcoder.com/Specials


Winners of 'UltraISO' (5):

• dev/null
• jared1999
• mukestar
• tmock
• tomicjr

Winners of 'SmartPC' (2):

• emerald222
• TheOmen

Winners of 'MyPrivacy' (1):

• dmd

Winners of 'TraceRemover' (1):

• redeye562

Winners of 'ACDSee' (3):

• Rick_S
• taichimaster
• tslim

Winners of 'Comprexx' (5):

• CoderMan
• CyberDemon
• kerux
• nrenfree
• siouxdax

Winners of 'AI RoboForm' (5):

• cranioscopical
• ohfine
• Throstle
• till.staetter
• udaman57

Winners of 'TrueLaunchBar' (5):

• blauand
• ijunk
• Mongoplus
• Rich R
• Winnie

Winners of 'CodyMug' (2):

• rno2
• stansrailpix

All winners have now been notified by email to their forum email address.

If you haven't received an email but your name is listed above, check spam filters and forum email address, and then mail [email protected] and let us know you never got any mail.

It can take a few days to send you your serial number; if a few days pass and you haven't received it - sends a reminder to the company email as noted in your winning notification email, or to us by replying to the email you received or to [email protected]



IMPORTANT NOTE:
An extra special thanks is due to Ampa who handled virtually everything related to the discounts and donated software and drawing this month.  It's a hell of a lot more work than you might think.  Three cheers for Ampa!!! 

30513

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Steema TeeChart added new prizes

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 07:51 PM »

Steema has agreed to donate 3 copies of their excellent chart component TeeChart Pro VCL to give away as part of prizes:
http://www.steema.co...rt/vcl/overview.html

related note:
remember you can submit improvements to your previously submitted entries up until Aug 14.

30514

Living Room / The Long Tail and it's Doubters

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 06:51 PM »

The Long Tail is a provactive book (based on an article by a Wired magazine editor), that talks about the new abilities for sellers to focus on (and make profit on) the items farther away from majority appeal.

See:
http://www.wired.com...hive/12.10/tail.html
http://longtail.type...d.com/the_long_tail/
http://www.amazon.co...p/product/1401302378

From a review of the book:

The long tail is the colloquial name for a long-known feature of statistical distributions that is also known as "heavy tails", "power-law tails" or "Pareto tails". In these distributions a high-frequency or high-amplitude population is followed by a low-frequency or low-amplitude population which gradually "tails off". In many cases the infrequent or low-amplitude events--the long tail--can cumulatively outnumber or outweigh the initial portion of the graph, such that in aggregate they comprise the majority. In this book the author explains how due to changing technology it is now not only feasible but desirable in business to cater to the "long tail" of this curve.

The author explains how in traditional retail, you have the 80/20 rule, with 20 percent of the products accounting for 80 percent of the revenue. Online, instead, he sees the "98 percent rule." Where 98 percent of all the possible choices get chosen by someone, and where the 90 percent that is only available online accounts for half the revenue and two-thirds of the profits. He also explains how filters and recommender systems that help people find what they are really looking for are crucial ingredients. Thus, in a nutshell, Anderson's theory is that mass culture is fading, and being replaced by a series of niches. Thus the subtitle of his book, "Why The Future of Business Is Selling Less of More."

Today the wall street journal posted an interesting rebuttal opinion piece:
http://online.wsj.co...387606762117314.html

Both the original article and rebuttal are well worth a read.

30515

Living Room / Re: GOLDEN Mermaid Found DEAD on Lonely Florida Beach

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 06:39 PM »

id say anyone who thinks this has even the slightest miniscule chance of being real should go for counseling from a Reality Therapist immediately.

30516

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: TPCube - test your 3D imagination!

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 06:37 PM »

contest authors, see:
https://www.donation...index.php?topic=4525

30517

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: CG32.DLL

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 06:34 PM »

see this for info on building for distribution:
https://www.donation...index.php?topic=4525

30518

Borland C++ Builder Contest / How to compile a program to not need any external dll and bpl files

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 06:32 PM »

How to compile a BCB program to not need any external dll and bpl files:

When you compile a program in BCB or Delphi that you intend to share or distribute, you either want to include a bunch of required bpl and dll runtime library files, or indicate that the program should compile these into the main program.

Compiling these in will result in a bigger but more portable executable.

There are 2 things you need to set in your project.

• First, go to the project properties dialog, click on the Linker tab, and UNCHECK the "Use dynamic RTL" checkbox.
• Second, click on the Packages tab, and UNCHECK the "Build with runtime packages" checkbox at the bottom.

It may also be important to:

• Third, click on the CodeGuard tab, and UNCHECK the "CodeGruard Validation" checkbox.

30519

Living Room / Re: Digg, the wisdom of crowds, the hive mind, netscape, and competitors

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 01:01 PM »

netscape payment vs digg against payment is heating up and getting interesting.

http://www.pbs.org/m...hould_community.html

a nice long piece with comments from some top digg bloggers, like this one:

I love Digg. I believe Digg has the potential to change the way all media is aggregated. Through Digg I have met a large number of kind, bright people. I can’t put a price on those contacts. That being said, after taking a day to let it sink in, I am at the point where I am considering pursuing the offer. I really appreciate that someone is recognizing the value we Diggers, Flickrers and Redditers add to the online world. And that potential for more networking opportunities is very appealing to me.

I must admit, until now I haven’t given that much credit to myself for what I am doing on Digg. I give all credit to the authors of the content I link to. Obviously whatever value I have added to the online world would be nothing without them.

I have been aware for a while that sites like Digg and Flickr  are making millions off of users like me, so I have been considering possible ways to share that wealth among contributors. I think of all the ways you could go (pay per post, ad revenue share, etc.), Jason may have the best idea with the monthly flat rate. If he is convinced that he will get a return on that investment, then it is a win-win.

30520

Living Room / Re: The unfeasible adventures of Beaver and Steve - web comic

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 12:48 PM »

note: after reading some more older ones from the archive i was compelled to make a donation.  really nice.

30521

Living Room / The unfeasible adventures of Beaver and Steve - web comic

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 12:35 PM »

The unfeasible adventures of Beaver and Steve.
great comic - i love today's.

Funny and clever DONATION-SPONSORED web comic.

http://www.beaverandsteve.com/

from http://blog.wired.com

30522

Living Room / Diigo - social bookmarking and annotation

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 12:19 PM »

Diigo, known for its social annotation, finally went public yesterday. The service aims to turn the web writable allowing users to privately or publicly annotate any website they visit, in turn making a “participatory and interactive media” for its users. I must say that even though I have had an account for Diigo’s private beta since I last reviewed it late December, I have been anticipating its launch. So much has changed since my last review including social bookmarking enhancements, new annotation tools, tools built for bloggers, and more.

http://www.solutionw...an-just-bookmarking/

diigo website: http://www.diigo.com/

30523

LaunchBar Commander / Re: Modify displayed filename with regex

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 12:03 PM »

yes, i will add - i was thinking the same myself.

30524

LaunchBar Commander / Re: LATEST LaunchBar Commander VERSION INFO THREAD - v1.54.02 - July 26, 2006

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 12:02 PM »

some notes on focus:

LaunchBar Commander has a slightly different focus than some other launch bar tools:

• It's designed for power users who value efficiency over eye candy - although you can choose some nice appearance skins for the program, if you are looking for a super fancy animated mac-style dock with dancing icons, LaunchBar Commander is not the tool for you.
• It's designed to store docking bar configurations in self-contained files - so you can back them up easily, move them to other computers, switch between configurations, etc.
• It emphasizes the use of highly configurable Menus rather than just buttons - you can build hierarchical menus of any depth and varying types.
• It has a very powerful tree configuration tool which supports copy and paste, drag and drop, easy temporary disabling.
• Multiple dock support - a single instance of the program can support multiple docks and tray menus.
• Robust support for virtual file menus - confgure menu items to give you access into specific folders, with many options.
• Drag and drop runtime support - drop files onto buttons to open them with the specific program, or add them to the launch bar.
• Smart tree building - extracts icons and descriptions from files and pictures.
• Special menu building blocks for Start Menu, MyDocuments, etc.
• Special support for using it on portable drives, with smart resolution of changed drive letters.

30525

Developer's Corner / Re: The SCRUM development method

« Last post by mouser on July 26, 2006, 11:48 AM »

I don't tend to follow any of these textbook strategies like scrumm and extreme or agile programming, BUT i think you can learn a lot by trying to formulate such approaches, and reading comprehensive strategy outlines like this, and trying to understand why they work and when they fail.