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Newsletter for September 16th, 2010 - "Prepare the Sleds"
mouser:
Newsletter for September 16th, 2010"Prepare the Sleds"
1. Newsletter Editorial
Hello dear readers. Yet another month has gone by, and you know what that means, time for another DC newsletter filled with magical surprises and ghosts from future's past.
The most important thing to talk to you about this month is our NANY 2011 event, whose December 31st deadline is fast approaching. NANY stands for "New Apps for the New Year" and it's where everyone on DC is asked to help celebrate the new year by participating in the release of new free software applications. If you're a coder, we want you to pledge to release a new program as part of our NANY event -- and if you're not a coder, we want you to try to find a way to help out the coders, by volunteering to test beta versions, help think up ideas, and just in general share your talents!
By the time December 31st rolls around you are going to be sick of hearing me talk about NANY so you might as well unsubscribe to the newsletter now if you're getting that feeling already. NANY is one of the funnest things we do in DC, it's our big winter online holiday party, and we love to get in the spirit of it. I hope some of you will be inspired to make your first posts on our forum and say hello and join us in the festivities. Everyone is welcome -- and please help us spread the word to your coder friends.
This year I'm determined to release at least one big new application, and hopefully more than that; I even started a poll (link below) to help me choose which application to write. And if you are a coder, I'm really still hoping to see some new coders stop by and maybe collaborate with me on a project or two so we can really make this year's NANY special. In particular, I've been getting into board games and board game designing recently (you'll see a couple of threads highlighted below that reflect that), and one of the possible projects I'd like to get help working on for NANY is card/board game design utilities, and a possible online library for prototyping new games.
-mouser, champaign IL, USA
2. NANY 2011 Update and Call for Volunteers
The NANY 2011 deadline of December 31st is fast approaching! If you're a coder, start thinking about some new program you can get working on. Or, stop by and look for ideas and collaborators and helpers. If you're not a coder, why not volunteer to help out in other ways. Anyone can get involved with the NANY event by offering their talents to the hard working entrants to help with the ancillary aspects of their entries. Volunteering on NANY projects is a great way for everyone to get involved with the Event, coders and non-coders alike! Full details are available on the Call for Volunteers thread, or you may consider helping with specific requests:
* NANY 2011 Volunteer Thread - Calling All Volunteers and Entrants wanting a hand
* NANY 2011 Poll To Help Decide Mouser's App
* NANY 2011: Graphic Help Wanted for N.A.N.Y. 2011 Project
* NANY 2011: Help wanted (graphics and tester) for browser based game.
* NANY 2011: Icon help wanted
If you're just a keen software user you may like to check out the new NANY Pledges, and the other exciting updates on the NANY 2011 board:
* Main NANY 2011 Board
* NANY 2011 Pledge: Auspex - a Windows Productivity App
* NANY 2011 Pledge: VeggieWorld(?) - Children's Game
* NANY 2011 Pledge: Backup Verification Utility
* NANY 2011 Pledge: UQ Web Service
3. User-to-User: Your Input Requested
We welcome everyone's participation on the forum, regardless of 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.
* Lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?
* Show us the view outside your window!
* How to manage large clipart collections?
* Ready for the TV revolution to hit?
* What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability satisfaction?
* Does Flash or java make websites suck?
4. DC Stuff
New member-written software updates and other writings posted since the last newsletter:
* DcUpdater v1.27.01 - crashing bugfixes and more
* Google Translator Boomerang v1.07.01 - source language options
* Find and Run Robot (FARR) v2.90.01 - major invocation speed improvement
* Screenshot Captor v2.84.01 - minor improvements/bugfixes
* Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competitive Perspective
* Coding Snack: Skinny Paste
* Open Menu Wordpress Plugin
* Timer Screensaver to display elapsed time or idle time
* xkcdDownloader
5. 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..
* OhLife - A new way to journal
* Jonah Lehrer on The Psychology of Power
* Wikipedia Book Creator
* On Wikipedia, Cultural Patrimony, and Historiography
* A Hybrid hard drive gets a glowing recommendation
* Kirk Wants a New Programming Language
6. 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..
* Board Game Review Site Roundup
* What HTML5 can do -- cool site
* Tracking new books by your favourite authors
* 27 Good Reasons to Love Linux
* If historical events had Facebook status updates
* Is Antenna Climbing the Scariest Job Ever?
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 two sections in the newsletter - general software and specific software discussions.
* Scantron alternatives: I need cheaper/creative solutions.
* Ghacks on adding custom items to windows explorer context menu
* What do you use to warn you of disk limits being reached?
* Shut down scheduler
* Raster to Vector imaging software
* wireless (wifi) network connection manager with saved profiles
* It is impossible to remove the network connection icon from the system tray.
* Portable apps suites - is there a good one?
* Extracting info from pdf
* Setup alternatives on blogger and wordpress
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.
* CenvoRox File Monitor
* NirSoft + SysInternal launcher
* Readability - Get rid of the clutter so you can read!
* ComboFix - Great rootkit cleaner?
* Mat: Program to switch mouse speed
* [url=https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=23995] ClipName: Turn Windows path into URL
* [url=https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=24003] IE 9 and Flash 64bit betas
9. September Discounts and Giveaways
* [url=https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=23908] Sep 2010 Giveaway+Discounts: Atrise Golden Section and USB Safely Remove/Zentimo
Thanks to Perry for his help preparing the newsletter.
wraith808:
It's amazing how much you get into this newsletter month-to-month, and categorize it, etc. Thanks! A great one as usual! And thanks to Perry also!
Darwin:
Excellent! Thank you Perry and Mouser :Thmbsup:
mouser:
Since i haven't done so in a long while, may i make a shameless request that if you've never donated to the site, would you please consider doing so today? Every little bit helps!
munyard:
Thank you for another interesting read. For months now, when my Newsletter notification first arrives in my Inbox, I smile and click on the "Online Edition of the Newsletter" which I place on my desktop. I run a clean desktop, so the lonely link reminds me, and for the remainder of that day as and when I get a few moments I read with interest.
I'm a Linux, Mac, Cloud user so more of these would be great. - Thanks.
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