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Newsletter for May 6th, 2009 - Codename "Here Comes Summer"

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mouser:
Newsletter for May 6th, 2009Codename "Here Comes Summer"




1. Newsletter Editorial

Greetings all, and welcome to another edition of the DonationCoder.com newsletter.

After the March fundraiser my engine seemed to run low on fuel and I slowed down a bit in terms of working on my DC programs.. But something remarkable has been happening on the forum lately -- a few DC forum regulars have started writing utilities and mini-reviews like crazy and sharing them.  What a treat for all of us!  Be sure to check them out as you go through the newsletter -- and send them a little thank you or a few donation credits to let them know that you appreciate it.

If you are going to be anywhere near Germany at the end of May, you need to find a way to get down to the DC meetup in Berlin on May 31st at c-base, the very cool geek bar/club that dc members housetier and gjehle help run.  It's a very cool place, and most importantly we've sent ahead some very cool and very rare custom DonationCoder Cody Spaceship mugs that will be on hand to be given out to DC members who show up.  These are going to be collector's items one day so don't miss your chance to get one.  See the post below and let them know if you will be attending.


* 2009/May/31 - DC Meetup Berlin, Germany

2. Your Participation Requested

We'd love to have your participation on the forum, no matter what your level of computer knowledge, or how long you've been a DC member.  The links below point to some good places to jump in and make your first post.


* Expanding the DC Programming School
* Hard drive cooler: Do I need one?
* The evil of the horizontal scrollbar - and what we can do about it
* Help for solving a XP home lan mystery

3. DC Site and Software Discussion

One of the fun things about hanging out on the forum is that we're always hearing ideas for new features to make it a better place. We may not have time to implement every idea, but we keep busy trying!


* How to improve DC's usability: the stackOverflow model?
* Mobysaurus Thesaurus on Vista x64 requires an updated dll
* FARR plugin: FARR Windows Search 0.1.0

4. Coding Snacks

The Coding Snacks Section is where people can request small utilities to be coded while they wait - bespoke coding, if you will.  Since the last newsletter, we've had a *LOT* of new requests -- several forum members have been on fire lately!


* New program: ActiveHotkeys
* New program: eStopWatch
* New program: Make your monitor corners look round
* New program: Sort images into folders based on resolution
* New program: Create folder structure or path
* New program: FastShutdown
* New program: Way Simple Folder Cache for Windows
* New program: ReOpen - Folder Cache, only betterer
* New program: Icon save/restore for 32 bit windows
* New program: Tray 2.2 - just opens or closes an optical drive tray

5. Member Mini-reviews

The mini-review section of the forum is where people can post short reviews of programs that they have tried or that they use regularly.  We only require that the reviewers not be associated in any way with the program or company being reviewed.


* MiniReview: Actual Window Manager mini review
* MiniReview: The Best Of text editors

6. Sites, Services, and Articles on the Web

DC members are very generous in sharing their cyber discoveries with us on the forum. See some recent findings below.


* Appnews.net - A new collaboration between some of our favorite software bloggers
* Interesting Article About New Search Program - Wolfram Alpha
* Six Months With a Hackintosh Netbook: It Ain't Pretty
* Newsmap - Tree Map View of Google News
* Opera is 15
* Comodo Software Removed from Softpedia (licensing problems)
* Windows 7 Release candidate available for download

7. Software Giveaway for May 2009

For May we have 10 copies of Total Commander, the famous file explorer, to give away.  We'll probably give a bunch away to mini-review and coding snack authors, but we aren't 100% sure how to pick the winners yet, so drop by the forum often to find out.


* Total Commander 7.x - http://www.ghisler.com/
* Total Commander Mini-review and Giveaway Info

8. Software Discussion

It's probably fair to say that the majority of the discussions on DonationCoder.com are about computer software.  Below are some interesting threads about software posted to DC since the last newsletter.


* Rubber Ducky - a small, fun resource monitor
* Managing file permissions under windows (madness?)
* Agnitum Outpost Free is alive again
* Convert jpeg to printable pdf poster?
* Which idiot came up with Windows Defender * UAC
* What are the options for restricting access to applications?
* Any freeware alternatives to Faststone MaxView?
* JkDefrag further developed as MyDefrag
* Virtual text printer?
* Looking for a text editor that can colorize text
* Is AnyDVD actually necessary for copying DVD's?
* Time Clock Software
* How to setup wireless streaming movies through house?
* Top Greasemonkey userscripts that you use

9. Fun and Games

If 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..


* 30 PC Games to Play Before You Die?
* The Hunt For Gollum - 40 Min. Fan-Made Movie
* ToyVoyagers: Stuffed Animals Travel the Globe with the Help of Strangers
* Flash Game of the Week: DeepLeap
* The Worm Within: Disgusting and You Can't Stop Reading

10. Developer's Corner

The title of this section is "Developer's Corner", not "Non-developers Stay Out!", so don't be put off by the title. There is probably something that will interest you here. 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!


* Easy Small Free Windows Language that does cool GUIs??
* Hotkey nostalgia
* Sorting Algorithm Animations
* Interesting Discovery Involving Rented Servers

11. News You Can Use

DC Member Ehtyar writes wonderful 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 aflutter waiting to find out..


* Tech News Weekly: Edition 17-09
* Tech News Weekly: Edition 18-09
* Start Panicking! ... Websites can grab your web surfing history?

fenixproductions:
Little info about TC keys:
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=18207

P.S. I hope mouser will stick it for next 24 days.

PhilB66:
How does one enter the giveaway prize draw?

fenixproductions:
2PhilB66
I don't know about "mouser's part" but for mine (5 keys): just write some review this month (by starting thread in Reviews section) :)

mouser:
Two things i should have said in the newsletter:
Thank you to fenixproductions for arranging the awesome TC giveaway for us.  :up:
Thank you to Darwin for helping me with the newsletter preparation.  :up:

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