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32476
Living Room / mini article on google's upcoming payment service with some links
« Last post by mouser on March 18, 2006, 04:40 AM »
http://www.internetm...hants.info/gbuy.html

Touted as competition to PayPal, Google is rumored to be making move to enter online payment system, GBuy, since last fall. GBuy would have easy functionality. Just after clicking "Buy" button, credit card information would be entered and payment would be made to sellers.
...
GBuy may not be as smooth start as GMail. Even GMail had initial problems and is still in beta despite more than a year. Here money is involved. PayPal, may have a large dissatisfied customers, still is the industry leader with about 25% market share in online payments and customer base of 96 million accounts.
32477
This post is about phplist, an open source mailing list software that we started using this week to handle the newsletters.

website: http://tincan.co.uk/phplist
license: open source - accepts donations (we have made a donation on behalf of donationcoder.com)
feature list: http://tincan.co.uk/?lid=453
forum: http://www.phplist.com/forums/

Screenshot - 001 , 04_16_AM , Mar 18 2006.png

PHPlist is a double opt-in newsletter manager. It is written in PHP and uses an SQL database for storing the information. PHPlist is software that runs on a server.
PHPlist is designed to assist you to stay in touch with your audience, without flooding them with information they don't want. PHPlist is an essential tool for anyone who is serious about creating, capturing and maintaining an offline audience, and will help you increase traffic to your website.

in case you haven't been following the issue, we have been going through hell sending out the newsletters.  basically our server (which is a dedicated dual pentium server which should be able to handle this stuff with ease) has its cpu load go through the roof and become unusable when sending out lots of email at once.  it really *shouldn't* be so hard to send out 20,000 emails over the course of a day when we send out the newsletter, but no one at the server hosting company can figure out how to do it. exim, the mailer daemon used on the server is inexcusably bad at handling lots of emails.

ps. managing a server has been pure hell - if there are some good experienced linux server admins who want to help out donationcoder.com, send me an email.  i would give my right arm for someone who knows how to optimize apahche, mysql, dns stuff, mailing program, etc.
-mouser

anyway, after trying a wide variety of solutions, i decided to give phplist a try.  getting the program installed and setup was quite smooth.
and it is able to import a large list of email addresses that the forum can produce, and add them to a mailing list, which is absolutely essential for using it for this purpose (excellent feature!).

the newsletter can then be sent out to this list at a specified rate, slow enough (1 every 3 seconds currently) so as not to overload the server.  it's slow but it seems to be finally working.  and phplist has a nice queue system so that even if the web browser closes or server crashes, we can continue where we left off with ease.  very nice.

it's not a perfect program - the options could be better explained and organized perhaps (the batch/queue size options are bit strange, seeming to combine send rate with pause-between batch sending rate), and the program could use some better feedback while it is actually working.  and my biggest gripe is that it needs a better mechanism for handling mailings that are in the progress of being sent out (like being able to get a list of people it's been sent to thus far, putting mailing on hold, etc. otherwise it's nearly impossible to correct a problem and resend to just the remaining users).

BUT, on the other hand, it does seem to have mostly solved our cpu load problem, so it gets a big thumbs up for that.  It also has some nice features that let people sign up manually to the list, or subscribe themselves by following a link in their email, which is easier for some people than having to go to the forum profile page if they've forgotten their login info.

so in all, if you need a complete mailing list solution for your website, or if you have a forum which needs to send out thousands of emails and kills your server when it uses its built in mailing routines, i would definitely advise taking a look at phplist (and of course send them a donation if you do so that they can keep improving it).


you can always find a link to all of the software we currently use on the site here: https://www.donation...com/Links/index.html
32478
Skrommel's Software / pad files for skrommel apps?
« Last post by mouser on March 18, 2006, 03:57 AM »
the main ways that software programs get listed on software listing sites, where they can be found by people searching for things, is because authors submit "pad files": http://www.asp-share...re.org/pad/index.asp

that page really makes it seem harder than it is; it's really just an xml file that describes the program, and has links to web page and picture.

i think it would be a really good idea for skrommel to have pad files for his programs, and to submit them to software listing sites.  there are a couple of places you can submit to and the rest generally will pick them up from there.

there are a ton of skrommel programs to make pad files for, but 90% of the contents will be the same. skrommel maybe you could make one or two and then post them and ask for some help from us in making the others based on that one?

here is an example pad file from the fsekrit program:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>
<XML_DIZ_INFO>
  <MASTER_PAD_VERSION_INFO>
    <MASTER_PAD_VERSION>1.01</MASTER_PAD_VERSION>
    <MASTER_PAD_INFO>Portable Application Description, or PAD for short, is a data set that is used by shareware authors to disseminate information to anyone interested in their software products. To find out more go to http://www.asp-shareware.org/pad</MASTER_PAD_INFO>
    <MASTER_PAD_EDITOR>Manual</MASTER_PAD_EDITOR>
  </MASTER_PAD_VERSION_INFO>
  <Company_Info>
    <Company_Name>DonationCoder</Company_Name>
    <Address_1>DonationCoder.com M.Hinn</Address_1>
    <Address_2>401 Ginger Bend Drive, #212</Address_2>
    <City_Town>Champaign</City_Town>
    <State_Province>IL</State_Province>
    <Zip_Postal_Code>61820</Zip_Postal_Code>
    <Country>USA</Country>
    <Company_WebSite_URL>https://www.donationcoder.com</Company_WebSite_URL>
    <Contact_Info>
      <Author_First_Name>f0dder</Author_First_Name>
      <Author_Last_Name>f0dder</Author_Last_Name>
      <Author_Email>[email protected]</Author_Email>
      <Contact_First_Name>f0dder</Contact_First_Name>
      <Contact_Last_Name>mouser</Contact_Last_Name>
      <Contact_Email>[email protected]</Contact_Email>
    </Contact_Info>
    <Support_Info>
      <Sales_Email>[email protected]</Sales_Email>
      <Support_Email>[email protected]</Support_Email>
      <General_Email>[email protected]</General_Email>
      <Sales_Phone></Sales_Phone>
      <Support_Phone></Support_Phone>
      <General_Phone></General_Phone>
      <Fax_Phone></Fax_Phone>
    </Support_Info>
  </Company_Info>
  <Program_Info>
    <Program_Name>fSekrit</Program_Name>
    <Program_Version>1.0</Program_Version>
    <Program_Release_Month>01</Program_Release_Month>
    <Program_Release_Day>31</Program_Release_Day>
    <Program_Release_Year>2006</Program_Release_Year>
    <Program_Cost_Dollars />
    <Program_Cost_Other_Code />
    <Program_Cost_Other />
    <Program_Type>Freeware</Program_Type>
    <Program_Release_Status>New Release</Program_Release_Status>
    <Program_Install_Support>Install and Uninstall</Program_Install_Support>
    <Program_OS_Support>Win98,WinME,WinNT 3.x,WinXP,Windows2000,Windows2003</Program_OS_Support>
    <Program_Language>English</Program_Language>
    <Program_Change_Info />
    <Program_Specific_Category>Utilities</Program_Specific_Category>
    <Program_Categories>security</Program_Categories>
    <Program_System_Requirements />
    <Includes_JAVA_VM>N</Includes_JAVA_VM>
    <Includes_VB_Runtime>N</Includes_VB_Runtime>
    <Includes_DirectX>N</Includes_DirectX>
    <Program_Category_Class>System Utilities::Other</Program_Category_Class>
    <File_Info>
      <Filename_Versioned>FSEKRIT1.zip</Filename_Versioned>
      <Filename_Previous>FSEKRIT2.zip</Filename_Previous>
      <Filename_Generic>FSEKRIT1.zip</Filename_Generic>
      <Filename_Long>fSekrit.zip</Filename_Long>
      <File_Size_Bytes>43000</File_Size_Bytes>
      <File_Size_K>43</File_Size_K>
      <File_Size_MB>0.05</File_Size_MB>
    </File_Info>
    <Expire_Info>
      <Has_Expire_Info>N</Has_Expire_Info>
      <Expire_Count />
      <Expire_Based_On>Days</Expire_Based_On>
      <Expire_Other_Info />
      <Expire_Month />
      <Expire_Day />
      <Expire_Year />
    </Expire_Info>
  </Program_Info>
  <Program_Descriptions>
    <English>
      <Keywords>encryption,crypto,cryptography,safe,notes,notepad,text,editor,secure</Keywords>
      <Char_Desc_45>encrypted portable notes in an exe</Char_Desc_45>
      <Char_Desc_80>easily read and edit encrypted notes in their own portable executables</Char_Desc_80>
      <Char_Desc_250>fSekrit allows you to read and edit encrypted notes using self-contained tiny program files; completely portable - run from usb thumbdrives, etc.  no need to install anything.</Char_Desc_250>
      <Char_Desc_450>fSekrit allows you to read and edit encrypted notes using self-contained tiny program files; completely portable - run from usb thumbdrives, etc.  no need to install anything. Another advantage of using fSekrit is that your un-encrypted data is never stored on your harddisk like with other similar tools.</Char_Desc_450>
      <Char_Desc_2000>fSekrit is a small application for keeping encrypted notes. The real advantage of fSekrit is that notes are truly self-contained; the editor program and your note are merged together into a tiny self-contained program file, removing the need to install a special application to view your data. This makes fSekrit ideal for keeping encrypted notes on, for example, USB flash drives. Another advantage of using fSekrit is that your un-encrypted data is never stored on your harddisk. With a traditional encryption utility you would have to decrypt your file to disk, view or edit it, and then re-encrypt it, and unless you use secure file wiping tools, it would be a trivial matter for someone to to retrieve your un-encrypted data, even though you have deleted it. This can't be done with fSekrit, though, since it never stores your un-encrypted data on disk. fSekrit uses very strong encryption (256-bit AES/Rijndael in CBC mode) to ensure that your data is never at risk.  Self contained fSekrit notefiles are tiny! Only 40k plus the size of your text.</Char_Desc_2000>
    </English>
  </Program_Descriptions>
  <Web_Info>
    <Application_URLs>
      <Application_Info_URL>http://fsekrit.donationcoder.com</Application_Info_URL>
      <Application_Order_URL>http://fsekrit.donationcoder.com</Application_Order_URL>
      <Application_Screenshot_URL>https://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/fSekrit/screenshots/screenshot.jpg</Application_Screenshot_URL>
      <Application_Icon_URL>https://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/fSekrit/pad/icon.gif</Application_Icon_URL>
      <Application_XML_File_URL>https://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/fSekrit/pad/pad_file.xml</Application_XML_File_URL>
    </Application_URLs>
    <Download_URLs>
      <Primary_Download_URL>https://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/fSekrit/downloads/fsekrit.zip</Primary_Download_URL>
      <Secondary_Download_URL />
      <Additional_Download_URL_1 />
      <Additional_Download_URL_2 />
    </Download_URLs>
  </Web_Info>
  <Permissions>
    <Distribution_Permissions />
    <EULA />
  </Permissions>
</XML_DIZ_INFO>
32479
i wonder if with all this discussion around this thread, we might see if any of these companies might be willing to offer a nice generous discount to our members in april or may?
(and if anyone wants to do some little mini reviews..)
32480
Find And Run Robot / Re: Feature request: automatic shortcut generator
« Last post by mouser on March 18, 2006, 03:34 AM »
this is an interesting idea..
as has been discussed elsewhere, farr is getting an indexing/caching feature that should solve this problem more efficiently than creating a directory of shortcuts, so as a helper for farr, an indexing thing would be better.

but it does sound like an interesting idea - maybe there are other uses for it..
32481
LaunchBar Commander / Re: testers post your first impressions here
« Last post by mouser on March 18, 2006, 03:30 AM »
the autohide is definitely buggy, it's on my todo list.
32482
Developer's Corner / math for programmers - nice big blog entry
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 11:23 PM »
http://steve-yegge.b...for-programmers.html

Math is a lot easier to pick up after you know how to program. In fact, if you're a halfway decent programmer, you'll find it's almost a snap.

They teach math all wrong in school. Way, WAY wrong. If you teach yourself math the right way, you'll learn faster, remember it longer, and it'll be much more valuable to you as a programmer.

Knowing even a little of the right kinds of math can enable you do write some pretty interesting programs that would otherwise be too hard. In other words, math is something you can pick up a little at a time, whenever you have free time.

Nobody knows all of math, not even the best mathematicians. The field is constantly expanding, as people invent new formalisms to solve their own problems. And with any given math problem, just like in programming, there's more than one way to do it. You can pick the one you like best.

Math is... ummm, please don't tell anyone I said this; I'll never get invited to another party as long as I live. But math, well... I'd better whisper this, so listen up: (it's actually kinda fun.)
...



[link from osnews.com]
32483
Developer's Corner / 30 AJAX tutorials
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 10:54 PM »
Asynchronous JavaScript And XML, or its acronym Ajax, is a Web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire Web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the Web page's interactivity, speed, and usability.

http://www.maxkiesle...f_30_ajax_tutorials/


link from furl.com

wikipedia entry on ajax: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX
32485
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: PageSpy - A swiss army knife for web-developers
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 09:23 PM »
am i the only one having problems seeing the images?  they are hosted on imageshack so it could be a local problem.

in the future when you add pictures to a post, use the attachment feature (click additional options at the bottom of your post) to add pictures from local file directly to your post.  you can place attached pictures anywhere you want after you attach them by using:
[attach=1][/attach]
where 1 is the # of the attachment you want to place.
32486
i forgot where we left the titlebar thing - yes that is planned.
as far as hiding the help+options icon, you can do this - just grab the right hand side of the edit box and drag it rightward on top of the icons.
32487
LaunchBar Commander / Re: testers post your first impressions here
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 02:42 PM »
dock to icon - interesting idea i hadn't thought of..
32488
Living Room / interesting post on possible manipulation of digg.com
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 02:38 PM »
interesting post on possible manipulation of digg.com

http://www.siliconva...digg_is_used_fo.html

Scoop: Digg is used for Sun stock manipulation
Something extremely weird is going on over on Digg.com. Today for the third time in a short period, a story got promoted to the front page where a blogger raises a baseless rumour about Google buying Sun. And as is explained further down, it appears that this is the result of a coordinated effort to fool Digg into promoting the story.
The blog author has no sources, zero credibility and most importantly his reasoning is completely erratic.
...
I can only guess about the motives of this group. Hopefully they are just trying to prove that Digg is easy to manipulate – in the worst case, they are speculating against Sun's stock price for financial gain.

this is an inherent problem in any group-dynamics system - being open to manipulation for marketing and publicity.
32489
slashdot reader review of "micro-isv" (indie software vendor)

When you read a news item about a company buyout or a two-person research project hitting big, how many times have you thought "I wonder if I could run a software company." Apparently, quite a few of software developers are discovering the entrepreneur within, which explains the ever-increasing number of threads on the Business of Software, Software CEO and other similar forums. However, most of the software entrepreneurs are coders, and not business majors. For them the business side of running a company constitutes that grey area that people with suits, expensive glasses and knowledge of word "synergy" learn in business schools. What will be the market for your product? What should you charge for a software app? Should you go freeware, ad-ware, shareware, trialware or open source? How will you accept payments?

http://books.slashdo.../03/17/1448208.shtml
32490
Living Room / fun kid friendly puzzle game - guide the cows home
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 02:07 PM »
fun kid friendly puzzle game - guide the cows home

(it's not in english but you'll figure it out, rules are simple just drag and drop)



from http://flash.plasticthinking.org/
32491
Developer's Corner / tutorial on using the google maps api
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 01:41 PM »
from digg.com comes this nice long tutorial on using the google maps api:
http://www.econym.de...googlemaps/index.htm
32492
from digg.com, a page listing security extensions for firefox: http://www.cerias.pu...t-practices/post-22/
32493
Living Room / American Inventor - Live blog, full recap from Makezine
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 01:32 PM »
American Inventor - Live blog, full recap
This is a new show in the United States where people compete to have their inventions judged.



from http://www.makezine.com
32494
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: PageSpy - A swiss army knife for web-developers
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 01:19 PM »
it also pays to mention that firefox has a number of very good addons to do this kind of thing.
not sure how they compare to pagespy.
32495
Find And Run Robot / Re: use cache to improve FARR start
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 01:17 PM »
i'll talk a little bit more about my fun idea for how to do the index/cache in a smart way that i think people will like.  and of course it will be optional for those who dont want it.
32496
Find And Run Robot / Re: FARR acts a little bit slow if a CD is in the CD-Drive
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 12:50 PM »
go to your path search options, and UNCHECK recent folders from the search list, or move it to bottom - it's the cause of this slowdown probably. i need to add code to avoid checking removable media and network lan locations.

actually if it's at startup:
check your launch history and delete any items from the cd, which would cause it to verify their existence on startup.
32497
Find And Run Robot / Re: use cache to improve FARR start
« Last post by mouser on March 17, 2006, 12:48 PM »
this is coming - i've already decided to implement it, and do it in an interesting way.
just be patient everyone, and all your farr dreams will come true :)
32498
here's a graph of millions of pageviews per day (according to them, but im not sure how accurate their stats are for pageviews):

dcpageviews.png
32499
yeah it's weird, i think it means that of the million people they track, 60 of them visited us.  though im not entirely sure.
i will post more traditional stats again soon, we are definitely growing well and getting a large amount of traffic.
the only way to make real sense of it is to check out some other sites and see how well other sites do.
60 out of a million might not seem too good, but it's not bad at all compared to many sites.
32500
something like this might be nice - though maybe the color would be distracting.  what about just a column of results which showed frequency or score as a color bar?
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