Newsletter for October 14th, 2007
Codename "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK"
"If you read nothing else on our site, read our BLOG"
1. Newsletter Editorial Hello, Donationcoders! Darwin here once again, reporting live from the wilds of British Columbia. It's an exciting time at Donationcoder because this month we're featuring a Cody drawing contest. Get out your crayons (or any other media of choice) and start drawing! Nick (aka nudone) announced the contest moments ago, so head to the
Draw Cody competition - win incredible prizes! thread to find out what you need to do to win. Children's submissions are encouraged!
And Josh created a great new
master list of all the companies/programs from whom we have received discounts, and a list of companies we have requested discounts from but not heard back from. It should be easier now for everyone to suggest new companies we should contact.
It's been a busy couple of weeks with a number of very active new threads. Read on to find out what Donationcoder members have been discussing.
2. We want your help and participation! First, though, a big welcome to the new members who have joined over since the last newsletter went out. If you are one of those new members, we'd love to see more of you around Donationcoder. Every Donationcoder member is encouraged to participate in the various boards on the DC forum, so if you've never posted before, or if it's been a while since your last post, please drop by and leave a comment or two. You can even comment on this newsletter! If that doesn't strike your fancy, here are a few threads that we'd love to have your participation in:
3. Official DonationCoder.com NewsWhat's new at DonationCoder.com?
4. General Software DiscussionOur tour of the forum starts with this excellent suggestion from contributing member tinjaw:
Tell Them You "Learned About It On DonationCoder.com" . Following tinjaw's advice will have a number of positive effects for the donationcoder community, not least of which is raising our profile with software developers and other online service provides. First, it encourages developers to offer discounts to our members (always a good thing!) and second, and perhaps less obviously, it gives us a stronger voice. Over time this could give us real power as a block of dedicated software users in a number of ways - advocating end-user's rights, helping direct software development, and so on. Finally, just to highlight one final posting, if you're a FireFox user be sure to check out tinjaw's post about
TweakGuides.com - Firefox Tweak Guide. Very comprehensive and very interesting. Nice find, tinjaw!
5. Living RoomWe start with this interesting discussion of
how do you represent 'time' in your head? . Not having ever given this much thought, I read the thread with interest. I was sad to finish it with the realization that I simply do not represent time in my head. Rather worrying... Anyway, lots of interesting discussions to take part in here. You can discuss everything from mouser's facial hair in the
DC Unofficial Meeting #5 Took Place - Veign and Mouser meet thread or debate the ramifications of institutional access to private information in the
UK Government wants your crypto keys... by law. thread. See below for more conversation topics.
6. Fun and GamingEveryone needs a break from work now and then..
7. Coding Snacks Want a small application? Can't find it? Post a request on the
Coding Snacks board and some kind hearted soul might just whip something up for you. Be sure to read BrotherS' important
Read This First note before posting.
8. Developer's CornerThe developer's corner is an interesting place, even if you're not a developer. Witness the thread that John2k started on a
Strange Customer that he was dealing with. There are a range of comments and suggestions from coders and non-coders alike. There's also the thread on
Microsoft providing .NET Framework source code that raises some interesting issues and perspectives.
9. Member Site Spotlight In this issue of the newsletter we're highlighting a DC member blog:
Jonathan Plutchok's Tool Bar & Grill.
Jonathan explores "handy little utilities that have won [his] heart". He focuses on "useful free and cheap software tools and Web sites that can save you time, boost your productivity, improve your computing environment, do some vital task you otherwise couldn't easily do — or are just too much fun to ignore." It's a lot of fun, so check it out.
Remember, if you run a website that you think should be featured in the member spotlight, do let us know!
10. Site of the monthEach month we like to highlight a site that offers excellent advice, service, and/or software. This month we're highlighting a site that provides a great area for discussion of security related applications and issues:
Wilders Security Forums.
If you are at all concerned about the security of your data and computer, and in this day and age this should be everyone, head over to Wilders Security Forums to find out what threats are out there, how people are responding to those threats, and what solutions people are using to secure themselves. There are actually quite a few subsections dedicated to specific programs, that are better resources for help and information than the official program websites.
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