Newsletter for August 20th, 2009
Codename "Screencast Summer"
1. Newsletter EditorialIt's the dog days of summer here in the US Midwest, and it's time for another DC newsletter. In the last newsletter I announced that I would finally be recording and posting some screencasts showing how to use various features of my larger applications. I started with a series of about 15 videos demonstrating different features of my Screenshot Captor program, and am now about 20% of the way through a series of about 50 videos on my Find and Run Robot program (yikes!).
So if you've ever wondered what these programs are about, now's the time to stop by the DonationCoder.com blog and have a look -- each video is only a few minutes long and none of them are as painful to watch as the movie Transformers 2. Furthermore, I'm happy to announce here that I am extending the summer of screencasts for another month, and will be posting a new screencast every day all the way through September. And I reiterate my plea that other coders on the forum take the opportunity to post some videos of their own software.
Next up, some more donationcoder gatherings to tell you about. Let's be honest, these aren't exactly assembly hall conventions, and it's usually just one or two people getting together. But anyone within driving distance of my house on August 29th is welcome to stop by to have some dinner and play board games -- the dc server admin (john) and his wife (traci) are moving to my neighborhood and are staying with me for a bit and so I figured the more the merrier. And in germany there will be another gathering at the famous c-base geek club (i wish we had one of those here). Check the threads below for details and to rsvp.
Lastly.. Baby Cody, the stuffed animal version of the DonationCoder site mascot, has begun his travels around the world visiting donationcoder forum members; you can check out some pictures of him in England in the links below.
Oh, and if you have some web design and user interface skills, please do see the link in section 2 below -- one of your fellow dc members wrote a very fun experimental interactive fiction text "game" and he really needs some help polishing up the user interface.
2. Your Participation RequestedWe welcome everyone's participation on the forum, no matter what your level of computer knowledge or how long you've been a DC member. If you're still waiting to make your first post, see the links below for some good places to jump in. DC member Carl Thorpe has come out of retirement to once again try to organize some more discounts - so don't miss the link to the thread discussing what programs you would like him to try to arrange discounts on.
3. Giveaways and Discounts ending this month - only a few days leftBecause of the lateness of this newsletter, you have only a few more days to take advantage of August's discounts and enter the August giveaway drawing.
4. Coding Snacks and DC Member StuffThe Coding Snacks Section is where people can request small utilities to be coded while they wait. Since the last newsletter we've had a *LOT* of new requests that have been filled -- several forum members are on fire lately! We've also got a few new member mini-reviews this month:
5. Website DiscoveriesRecent discoveries shared by forum members:
6. General Software DiscussionAlmost half the posts on the forum fall into the category of general software discussions, questions, recommendations, etc. This is one of the most active sections of the DC forum and a great resource if you're trying to solve a software or hardware related problem. We get so much traffic on this board that we've split the recent content into to sections in the newsletter - general software and specific software discussions.
7. Specific Software DiscussionThis section of the newsletter draws attention to some of the standout discussions about specific programs that have been started since the last newsletter.
8. Fun, Games and Amusements on the WebIf 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. News You Can UseDC Member Ehtyar produces wonderful weekly summaries of important tech/computer/security news articles that he comes across on the web. A big hit on the forum. We're still wondering how he keeps up the pace and when will he collapse from exhaustion?
