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32151

Official Announcements / Be Part of the First DonationCoder.com Team Podcast Radio Show Contest!

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 12:51 PM »

Ok this is going to be fun 

I want to organize the first (of many!) DonationCoder.com podcast audio radio show.
And I want you guys to be the radio personalities!

Here's how we will do it:

The full show will last about 20 minutes.


The full show will be assembled from segments, each lasting from 2-7 minutes each i think (a little longer or shorter is fine).
We will edit it and add in some connective stuff between segments.

So we need some of you guys and gals to think up some software or computer related subjects and record 4-6 minutes worth of a story and submit it.

I will post a follow up with some resources, and i encourage you to plan our and practice your segment to get it good.

Audio format doesn't really matter - we will edit it and assemble it all here, and then make it available for all.


This is your chance to be part of history - be part of the first of many DonationCoder.com radio show podcasts.

Be creative, be funny, be entertaining, be different.  Try to capture the DonationCoder.com spirit.

Do a software review, or rant and rave about technology, or do a fictional play about cody, etc. or maybe do an interview will bill gates.  or just pick a freeware/donationware author you are interested in (not me!), send them an email and do a phone interview.

make us laugh, make us cry, just keep it interesting.

ideally we will find some monthly regular personalities, but for now i invite everyone to enter a segment.


Prizes:
ok we have to have some prizes for this, but i'm not sure what they would be.  maybe some custom DonationCoder.com mugs or some audio software or microphone hardware if you become a regular on the podcast.

32152

Living Room / Re: QuickTime VR of objects - anyone know how to do this cheaply?

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 12:05 PM »

cool, works great.

32153

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Entering SMIRF 8x8 + 10x8 Chess Program

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 12:03 PM »

can you tell us a little bit about the program smirf?

as i understand it, it is a program that does a coupld of things - it can play a game of chess human vs computer but not just standard chess boards - but a whole bunch of test problems that involve different sized boards and starting positions.

it can also playback games and stuff.

can you give us some more background and other information that might be useful to know?

i know some chess experts, i'll ask them to come by and check it out.

32154

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Entering SMIRF 8x8 + 10x8 Chess Program

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 11:52 AM »

looks beautiful by the way!

32155

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Entering SMIRF 8x8 + 10x8 Chess Program

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 11:52 AM »

ive changed the attachment size to 8mb so you should be ok to upload it as one file which will make it easier for people.

32156

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bits du Jour - One Software Title Each Day At A Big Discount

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 10:18 AM »

thanks patteo, ill update the discount link.

i don't know about the v3 upgrade policy other than when i cited it.. maybe pays to ask..

32157

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 10:16 AM »

just post it on a new thread in this section.
(you can attach a .zip or .exe to a post)

32158

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bits du Jour - One Software Title Each Day At A Big Discount

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 09:47 AM »

50% off - grab it, one of the best programs out there.  thanks for the heads up Cavalcader!

32159

Living Room / Happy birthday Carol H.

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 09:46 AM »

i was perusing the profiles and i noticed it's carol's birthday today.

Hope she's not too embarassed if we wish her happy birdthday 

ps. should i turn on the birthday listing feature of the forum?

32160

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 06:22 AM »

i encourage entrants to make their binary versions available to users on this forum for beta testing and feedback before making a final submission.  you don't have to submit source code - users here can decide whether they feel comfortable testing your program or not on their own.

i will modify the official contest rules to state what we have talked about there - there is no problem signing a statement as you have asked.

32161

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 05:48 AM »

the only purpose of requiring people to submit source code is so that we don't end up running a program with viruses and trojans in it, and/or distributing a program widely that has viruses and trojans.

as much as it would be nice to believe no one would submit such a thing, in this day and age one has to be careful.

there may be other ways to be sure that this doesn't happen, perhaps with a phone call to author, or if the author is known in some other capacity (established author, etc.).

i'm happy to sign any non-disclosure contract you might want signed sayng that only one person will have access to the source, and for the sole purpose of compiling it for evaluation.

Maybe I have got the wrong impression from some postings, that the contest seems to be interested more in sources than in resulting programs.

i tried to make clear this this is not the case at all - we will not be judging programs based on source code.

32162

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 05:09 AM »

what i meant about sandbox is that we might accept entries without sourcecode, and do testing within a sandbox, with the understanding that before we sanctioned official winners we'd have to be able to compile it ourselves or otherwise satisfy ourselves that the code was safe.

32163

Official Announcements / Re: Contest - Make a new Banner for Website

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 03:42 AM »

slave - i think your latest, while beautiful, puts a bit too much emphasis on the mighty dollar sign for my comfort.
it's a bit like using the catchphrase "It's all about the money" 

32164

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Automate Maintenance Tasks with ScreenSaver

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 01:16 AM »

another nice page of freeware there! http://www.xcat-indu...ries.nl/software.php

its certainly true that you can design a program to run on idle in a variety of ways - there might be some advantages to using a screensaver proxy:
1) it would only run when screensaver is running, so there'd never be any mistaken running when you werent noticing it.
2) minimal cpu usage since it would use windows screensaver trigger.

32165

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Automate Maintenance Tasks with ScreenSaver

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 12:52 AM »

first, some nice freeware at http://www.bartdart.com/, nice find!

now to your request - i really like this idea alot.

here's what i'd like to suggest for the program, which might be named something like Screensaver Proxy.

it should be a .scr screensaver which would let you specify the real screensaver to run when it is triggered, and then a list of additional programs to run, after some optional additional delay.

and when interrupted, if the additional programs are still running it should ask you if you want them closed or not.

so an example:

i configure ScreensaverProxy as my screensaver, and from its options i set DimSaver as the real screensaver to trigger.
then i specify that after 60 seconds it should run "backup.exe -myscript".

the idea being that when the screensaver triggers and stays active for 60 seconds, thats the go ahead to run the script.

one nice extra feature would be if you could set some flag that said "don't run this more than once every x hours", so that you could limit the exampl above to running the backup at most once every 24 hours or so.

neat idea.

32166

Official Announcements / Re: Contest - Make a new Banner for Website

« Last post by mouser on April 10, 2006, 12:04 AM »

it's a bit of a chance using "connoisseurs", but it's a very neat word and given its roots i wonder if it isnt more understood than one might think.

as for spelling, i can't disagree with you there - its impossible to spell.  but then who has to spell it?

32167

Google Boomerang / Re: Is it still functional?

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 11:43 PM »

google may have changed the url codes for translation that might be breaking it.. i'll look into it and release an update if so.

32168

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

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 11:16 PM »

sorry, i cleaned up the discount page since it was getting too big

amipic is here: http://www.altomsoft.com/index.html

of course another place to find info on the programs we have discounts on is the members only section which has links to and pictures of and codes for all discounts, past and present: https://www.donation...index.php?board=18.0

32169

Find And Run Robot / Re: Mayk or Find And Run Robot?

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 10:30 PM »

neat.

this might be considered a datapoint for integrating launchbar commander with farr.

32170

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: abbreviations importer

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 10:25 PM »

i've been trying to get jgpaiva to set up a little page of his growing list of apps

32171

Post New Requests Here / Re: DONE: a better PowerDimmer screensaver alternative?

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 10:00 PM »

report on 1.3:
multimon works (well done)
dimsaver uses 89% of the cpu while its running - OUCH! if it uses this much even after screen is dimmed completely then this would be a show stopper for me since i don't want to have my cpu hitting 90% cpu overnight for no reason.
the dimming seems MUCH MUCH slower, even at fastest speed, than before.
it seems to Undim (and exit) after it finishes dimming! (ie 60 seconds) - i dont think this is intended

32172

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 03:06 PM »

i don't think this is going to help your decision but it may affect others, and i will clarify it in the contest: i think it should be acceptable for someone to say that their program is freeware/donationware for non-commercial use, but requires a payment (shareware) for commercial use.  that is in keeping with the spirit of the site and contest.

32173

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 02:50 PM »

So I should trust in an unnamed person, which is not trusting in an identified me?

in the case of a big competition like this, i'm afraid we have to be a little more cautious when it comes to proclaiming a winning program and officially sanctioning it.

My question was meant to learn about all targeted programmers. I am not sure, who is included.

basically i'm saying that if you have a program which is not in english, there are people who will help to make an english version.  the contest is open to people from any region of the world, and if you don't know english we can help you find someone who can make an english translation for your program, so that shouldn't be an obstacle to entering (for judging purposes we need to be able to have an english version to evaluate).

just a personal observation, I would have thought that a programming comptetion shouldn't be just about the final product but also how the quality solution is implemented. The style of code writing and the ability to maintain and develop the project in the future (even if it is not made open source) should (IMHO) be part of the judging process and this can only be done if the source code is made available to the judges at the start.

-carolh

in this case, the competition is not based on coding style.  as important as good programming practices are, this is not a competition to test coding skill per se, but rather an evaluation of how good the finished program is from a usability/usefulness factor.


more thoughts:
the hope is that the contest will result in some useful programs that the authors want help getting some attention and donations from, and that the public will benefit from.  so by all means i encourage entrants to interact with users on the forum for help beta testing, translating, thinking up ideas, etc., during the course of the contest period, for those authors who don't feel like they want to keep their submissions secret until the end.

32174

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 02:34 PM »

hi smirf!

ok good questions.. let's take them in turn.  philkc had it about right.

a) source code - you do not have to make your source code available to the public.  the reason we require submission of source code is that the winning programs are going to be made available to the public and we need to be able to compile these programs to ensure that no one submits a malicious program (trojan/virus). we could do all testing in a sandbox and so not require source until and if a program is chosen as a winner, if that makes people more comfortable, thought it would make testing more difficult.

but i will repeat what the contest page says - you do not have to open source or reveal source of your program to the public; it's just a security question to make sure we don't officially distribute malware.  perhaps there are alternative ways of assuring ourselves of this if this is a huge issue for someone.

b) freeware/donationware vs. shareware.  our site is about donationware - and so is the contest.  we are not against shareware, but a fun part about this contest is that we are gonig to try hard to help the authors of winning programs get some notice and attention and donations for their freeware/donaitonware program.  if you do not want your program to be donationware then this is not the contest for you

c) english only - this is trickier.  certainly support of additional languages beyond english would be viewed as a positive thing.  but as some of the judges are english language only, it might be hard for us to evaluate programs that have no enlish version.  so it's more of a practical matter.  i'll bet that you would find someone on this forum happy to make an english translation for anyone who needed help with it.

32175

Living Room / Re: TyperA - test your typing skills

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 03:48 AM »

i like your ideas carol.
somehow i get the feeling that these speedy typers would be just as fast, relatively speaking, at this task, but the changes would make the test more realistic.