Newsletter for November 19th, 2007
Codename "Postcard Club"
"If you read nothing else on our site, read our BLOG"
1. Newsletter Editorial It's Darwin here, welcoming you to another edition of the Donationcoder newsletter. I'm going to keep my initial comments brief, so that you can get right to the meat of the newsletter, but would like to take this opportunity to say a big welcome to everyone who has joined over the past two weeks and to encourage everyone to participate on the forum if you haven't already.
We'll soon be having our 3rd annual
fundraiser, and we're asking for your help in deciding how to celebrate and how we should approach the delicate issue of asking for financial support from the public. Let us know how we can make the site more useful for you!
2. Official AnnouncementsCalling all programmers -- we need your participation! Throughout November and December we are running some fun programming contests. To help celebrate our
Getting Organized Experiment 2007, November's programming contest is to pick some small productivity-related utility you can code in a few days and enter it in the
Getting Organized Programming Challenge. You only have until December 1st to submit something, but everyone who enters will be recognized. Now's your chance to participate on the site and create something others will find useful.
Josh has arranged another excellent discount and giveaway for this month. If you don't already have a HIPS solution on your machine, you should check out
Defense Wall HIPS, which is offered to all supporting members at a 30% discount and is available as a prize in the
November Giveaway.
3. Your Input is RequestedDonationcoder is first and foremost a community and thrives because of member activity and participation. Not sure where to jump in? Here are some good threads to get you started:
4. Living RoomJoTo is a frequent poster and prominent member of DonationCoder. He's recovering from a serious health scare and we'd like your help to cheer him up! Please visit mouser's post about this (
"DonationCoder Postcard Club Activate!"), and send him a postcard in the hospital.
Mouser, inevitably, ran afoul of a mouse a couple of weeks ago and posted about it in a thread called
"Pet Peeve: I will never buy a rechargeable mouse again for as long as i live". Not only did he find that he is not alone, but he also found that DC'ers have strong opinions, and are divided, on the subject of wireless mice.
Finally, it is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Using this logic, plagiarism is high praise indeed. Our own
zridling (Zaine) maintains an excellent resource called
The Great Software List that someone liked so much they copied the entire homepage and pasted it into a blog. Read about it in this thread:
"Blog steals Zaine's Great Software List" and post your thoughts.
5. General Software DiscussionHere are a couple of threads that come from completely different perspectives but that should give you pause for thought. In the first,
"What’s Your Backup Strategy?" , jammo sparks a conversation about sensible backup strategies and how best to implement them. In the other, urlwolf points us to a thought provoking piece on the demise of a music sharing service and the politics of DRM. Look for it at
"oink is dead: what is next?" .
6. Software Solutions RequestedDonationcoders constantly seek ways to increase their productivity while they are on their computers and often post requesting suggestions about how to do this. Frequently, this is posted as a request for software options. Below are a sampling of some recent requests. Alternatives are always welcome, so please, post away.
7. Specific Software DiscussionWreckedcarzz posted about his experiences with iTunes and what finally "drove him over the edge". He posted about it in a piece called
"A rant about how I finally ditched iTunes" .
8. Fun and GamesWork, work, work. Yawn. Reinvigorate yourself with some downtime - play a game or have a laugh. Here are some suggestions posted over the past two weeks.
9. Developer's CornerDonationcoder is a community of software enthusiasts, but it is more than that. It's also a place where you can discuss and learn about software developement. You can start learning about software development in the
Programming School on the
Developer's Corner board. For some of the recent discussions on the Developer's Corner, read on:
10. Coding SnacksLooking for a simple application to make life easier? Can't find it? Post a request to have one of Donationcoder's able coders write one for you in the
Post New Requests Here section of the
Coding Snacks board. Below are a few recent requests.
11. Site of the MonthOur site of the month for November is one of my daily reads:
MakeUseOf.com. Though perhaps relying a little much on the "top 10 tools" genre, MakeUseOf does a great job of summarizing the top tools or tips in an area, while adding enough of a personal informed recommendation to make their frequent blogs very enjoyable and educational reads. Combined with an occasional longer instructional post, MakeUseOf is a terrific addition to the software blogging field, and well worth your attention. ps. They accept donations as well.
Recent Posts
big ticket giveaways for December to encourage people to donate to become eligible (I'd limit it to big ticket software and avoid hardware, though). For people who have already donated, convincing them to make another contribution shouldn't be a hardsell - we've already given and know what we're getting for our money. I'll put up more money to make sure that it continues. If every member donated $1 you'd be close to my $100,000 target. That's my challenge to every donationcoder member: make a donation, however small, in next month's fundraiser, whether you've already donated or not! With luck this will average out to a significant sum.