Newsletter for February 16th, 2009
Codename "Forum Valentines"
1. Newsletter EditorialGreetings and welcome to another edition of the newsletter. With only 28 days, February has always seemed like a bit of a rip-off to me compared to the other months. Let's just try to make the best of it by keeping busy. If you're feeling like you need a bit of balance after Valentine's Day, I posted a link to a free mp3 album by one of my very favorite Singer/Songwriters, Edith Frost. And If you have a significant other maybe you can let us know in the forum if you exchanged some special gifts? If not, and you're feeling like you need some cheering up, don't miss the silly humour thread for a few good laughs (see section 3 below).
If you have young kids, you should check out a pair of programs made by dc members recently, designed to let the young ones pound away on the keyboard and amuse themselves. One is called "Crazy Little Fingers", and was coded for our recent NANY programming challenge, and another is called "Teddy" and was coded in the last week or two as a programming experiment. Crazy Little Fingers shows pictures of animals and objects matching the keys pressed; "Teddy" plays different drumkit sounds for each key. Both make it easy for you to customize using your own photos and sounds.
And for forum regulars, I've been hard at work in the last two weeks working on new forum features; see section 3 below for more details.
2. Your Participation RequestedNo matter what your level of computer knowledge, or how long you've been a DC member, we'd love to have you participate on the forum. See the links below for some good places to jump in and make your first post.
3. New Forum FeaturesI've been hard at work in the last two weeks working on new forum features that have been requested for quite some time. You can now mark threads on the forum to ignore and rate topics as well as bookmark them. A new award/badge system makes it fun to see who has participated in different activities. And if you haven't placed your pin on the new member map yet, please do so (and if you are paranoid about big brother finding you just place it where you wished you could go on vacation).
4. General Software DiscussionIt's probably fair to say that the majority of the discussions on DonationCoder.com are about computer software. Below are some noteworthy threads about general software issues posted to DC since the last newsletter.
5. Specific Software DiscussionThe previous section collected recent threads about general software issues. This section collects thread about specific programs posted to the forum since the last newsletter:
6. DC Updates and Member CodingIn each newsletter we highlight some of the software coded by DC members that is available on Donationcoder.
7. Mini-Reviews by MembersWe encourage forum members to post quick mini-reviews of software they discover. Since the last newsletter we've had quite a few new ones.
8. Fun and GamesIf you've read the newsletter up to this point, take a break and check out some of the lighter fare from the forum - humour, videos, and games..
9. Coding Snack Requests?Coding snacks are treats for the software aficionado. If there's some tool that you've been looking for without success, you have nothing to lose by asking... Post a clear description of what you're wanting and one of Donationcoder's resident coding gurus might just take up the challenge. Here are some of the notable requests being discussed currently.
10. Developer's CornerIf you're not a developer, don't be put off by the title of this section. There is likely something of interest to you on the Developer's Corner. It's more than just a forum for the discussion of software development, it's also where we discuss web design, entrepreneurial struggles, and general productivity issues. And it's great to see that the section has been pretty active over the last few months -- keep it up people!
11. News You Can UseDC Member Ehtyar has taken to producing wonderfully weekly summaries of important tech/computer/security news articles that he comes across on the web. A big hit on the forum. How is he able to keep up this pace and when will he collapse from exhaustion? We are all waiting to find out.
