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Newsletter for February 9th, 2010 - "Valentine Computing"

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mouser:
Newsletter for February 9th, 2010"Valentine Computing"



1. Newsletter Editorial

Greetings everyone, and happy upcoming valentine's day.  If you have a carbon-based loved one in your life, might I suggest that you turn off the computer for the day and spend it with them.  Or else set up a lan network in your house so the two of you can chat via instant messenger.  If you don't have a human loved one in your life, don't stress it -- plenty of posts in this newsletter to excite your neurons.

And now let's get down to brass tacks.  If you haven't yet heard about and checked out the software creations unveiled on January 1st as part of our NANY (New Apps for the New Year) event, that's the first thing you should go check out -- several of the entries have continued to flourish and are worth your attention.

And if those applications aren't enough for you.. I'm excited to be able to highlight another wonderful surprise to emerge from the Coding Snacks section of our forum.  The Coding Snacks area is a place where anyone can come and post an idea or request for a new freeware utility -- and where coders hang out and implement these requests.  Recently someone posted a very clever idea to combine standby/hibernate modes with a computer restart operation, and it resulted in a very cool utility called Boot Snooze which you can read about below.

Let's see what else.. Well I put lots of posts in the "Your input requested" section of this newsletter (section 2), so if you've never posted on the forum before, why not pick one of those threads and add your thoughts.


* Boot Snooze: Faster boots combining hibernate and restart
* A summary of the NANY (New Apps for the New Year) 2010 Entries  

2. User-to-User: Your Input Requested

We 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.


* Anyone playing Mass Effect 2 game yet?
* Are my EBook Reader dreams going to be answered in 2010? A full size reader?
* How can we *share* Donationcoder.com better in 2010?
* Best Trackball?
* Must-have Windows Programs?
* Should we experiment with google ads on the site for 1 month?
* NANY 2010 - Post Your Mug Photos Here
* Why I won't be getting an iPad anytime soon
* I hate Valentine's Day!
* A simple "Start Page" ?
* Idea for new page on the site/forum -- random thread page?

3. DonationCoder Software Updates

In addition to the larger programs on DonationCoder, we are seeing more and more software released and shared by DC members.  We always love to hear what DC members are up to, projects related to software or otherwise.  The real buzz lately has been about Boot Snooze -- a unique and cool idea first suggested on the Coding Snacks forum and then implemented by resident hot shot coder Skwire.  We've also been blown away by the activity and interest around CircleDock, which just got an important new update release.


* Boot Snooze: Faster boots combining hibernate and restart
* CircleDock 1.5 is now available for download!
* Screenshot Captor v2.78.01
* LaunchBar Commander 1.110.01
* MiniCap 1.17.01
* 2010 Farr Wishlist
* A couple small modifications to TrayScreenSaver
* Warning - Older Circle Dock Version Problem
* FARR plugin FarrWebMetaSearch - Lots of new searches
* Twigatelle Game - Lots of new levels

4. Website Discoveries, Debates, and Discussions

What's new on the world wide web? What fun new sites have forum members discovered?  What's the current hot topic and debate? Let's find out..


* Has SEO ruined the web?
* BetaNews on Google: Simply brilliant business, but is it evil?
* Red Hat launches OpenSource.com
* Nice Essay:From Cinepak to H.265: a brief history of video compression
* "God Mode" in Win7? (All Tasks)
* How Success Killed Duke Nukem - A heartbreaking story of developer failure

5. Fun, Games and Amusements on the Web

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..


* RoboKill 2 - A sequel to one of the best flash arcade-style games ever made
* A list of things to know when time-traveling to the past
* The Diagram of Geek Culture
* Neat Indie Graphic Novel about Phone Phreaking/Hacking, etc.
* Book: Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do)
* Tale of a Would-Be Spy, Buried Treasure, and Uncrackable Code
* Worldometers -- real time stats around the world
* Make a silly flash web game using your own images

6. Hardware Help

While we talk a lot more about software than hardware on the DC forum -- that doesn't mean we don't have some pretty serious discussions about computer hardware and building custom computers.  The last month has seen a bit more of this than usual, maybe because people are getting that new-year itch to build a new computer..


* MakeUseOf.com: 5 Computer Hardware Review Sites for the PC Enthusiast
* Itching to put together your own pc from parts, but need help choosing parts?
* Seagate's Replica: Highly praised foolproof backup drive and software
* Ready Boost?
* Monitors - Resources - Recommendations
* Win 7 XP Mode is Hardware-Dependent

7. General Software Discussion

Almost 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.


* Some nifty tools: Rizone
* CNet: Utilities Starter Kit - Software Roundup
* Good google toolbar (for Firefox) alternative?
* Looking for list of read-only editors
* Batch photo filter software?
* What's a good wardrobe management software?
* "Renaming" a list of names (not files)
* Jigsaw Puzzle Software / Website?
* Strategies for using user-data folders in Windows 7?
* Software for adding subtitles to an AVI, FLV or DVD movies?
* Software for n-up photo printing?
* Simple app/method to store contacts & create invoices for same?

8. Specific Software Discussion

This section of the newsletter draws attention to some of the standout discussions about specific programs that have been started since the last newsletter.


* Cache My Work: reopen your Apps after reboot
* How to manage Firefox Smart Location Bar?
* The 10 best new Firefox add-ons of 2009
* Make Firefox startup faster.
* Thunderbird 3 Extensions: Your favorite or most useful
* ToolTipFixer 2.0 for Windows < Vista
* JumpTo v1.1
* New video editor from the makers of VLC - Coming Soon
* AVAST! 5 released
* Mini-Review: SAM Audio Broadcaster 3.3.2

9. Developer's Corner

If you're not a programmer, don't let the title of this section scare you away - there is likely something of interest to 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.  It's great to see that the section has been pretty active recently.


* Generic Card/Board Game Prototyping and Playtesting Tools
* Developers cheatsheets
* Web Article: Searching for gold: how to fund your indie video game
* Soon you can code and sell applications for Amazon's Kindle eBook
* Automation via *Screenshots*
* Python Language Annoyances
* What's your favorite programming language and why ?
* All AutoHotkey (AHK) coders read: No more upx packing of compiled ahk utils
* How to run a script after every win-unlock?
* Like gitHub, but better?
* Resources for learning git?
* Generic form designer?
* Resources for Women in Open Source
* Micropayments - how are the filesharing people making it work?

10. News You Can Use

DC 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 were wondering how he keeps up the pace and when he would collapse from exhaustion, but it seems it's finally happened, so he's taking a break for a few weeks.  Hopefully we'll have a volunteer to fill in during his absence.


* Tech News Weekly: Edition 5-10
* Tech News Weekly: Edition 4-10
* Tech News Weekly: Edition 3-10
* Stephen's Tech News Roundup

housetier:
whoa this feels like a massive newsletter! Thanks for all the work.

I cannot imagine how much work it is though. I have been only following the first few links and already spent over an hour!

I think this is another thing that makes DC so special: the newsletter are always one of a kind; even though the are formatted the same (introduction, feature, headings, list of links) they certainly do not feel repetitious. So I want to thank all the newsletter editors for their efforts and want to assure them at least *I* appreciate each and every single issue.

justice:
Thanks this always keeps me connected to the DC universe at times when I can't post too much.

zhorsweb:
Happy Upcoming Valentine's Day! Thank you for all your hard work on an impressive Newsletter. As a new member this gives me a quick glance what is happening.

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