Newsletter for March 29th, 2011
"MARCH 2011 6th ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER - FINAL DAYS"
1. Newsletter Editorial - 6th ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER: The Final 3 DaysIt's 6am on Tuesday March 29th as I write this. We're down to the final 3 days of our 6th Anniversary Fundraiser at DonationCoder.com. As of today we have raised $11,673 dollars from 488 individuals. A huge thank you to everyone who has donated in the last 28 days (and since we opened the site in 2005!).
With 3 days left to the fundraiser, my mission now is to convince those of you who have been sitting on the fence to take a deep breath and finally jump in and join us with a donation of any amount. It only takes a minute of your time and you can donate using amazon.com or paypal.com or a number of other services. In fact let me challenge those of you who like the idea of our site but who have not yet donated to at least do *something*. If you are not comfortable donating online -- our address is on the website, send in some cash or a check in an envelope -- or just send in a postcard saying you like what we do. But do *something* to let us know you want us to keep going.
We are sooo close to breaking the $12,000 goal line (which is double what we were originally shooting for and which would pay for 2 years of hosting and site administration costs) -- and even within glorious striking distance of breaking our 2009 fundraising achievement of $13,838. If you're reading this now, then it's in your hands. Your donation can put us over the finish line.
And if you need an additional incentive to make a donation -- in 3 days time (April 1 deadline to enter!) we are giving out a large assortment of prizes, including hardware, software, and coding/development time on an idea of your choice, as well as some rare and fun memorabilia staring our mascot, Cody the bird. The giveaway is open to all donators -- you'll find a link to it below.
If you don't follow the DonationCoder.com forum regularly, our newsletters are actually a pretty good way to keep up. And this edition is packed to the brim with useful links. I hope it will also serve as the final piece of the puzzle to convince you to get up and join us with a donation. We've actually been trying to do something new almost every day during the fundraiser -- a software update, a new utility release, or a member-written mini-review, and you can browse those below. A big thanks to everyone on the forum who participated by contributing something.
Oh and if you've donated already -- thank you! And don't forget to post a little cheer in the fundraising celebration thread and join us for the final hours and minutes of the fundraiser countdown.
See you on the forum!
2. Giant Giveaway - Entry Deadline April 1stTo celebrate our 6th Anniversary Fundraiser, we are having a giveaway extravaganza, with lots of different things being given away, including software, hardware, programming time, custom/rare cody/dc memorabilia, and a few random surprises. This is a very big giveaway, but it's only open for a couple of days -- entry closes on April 1st, 2011!
3. DC Software UpdatesSince the last newsletter I've updated many of my larger applications (those that use DC License keys). This might be a good time to have a look at what they do if you're not familiar with them.
4. Coding Snacks and DC Member SoftwareIn addition to DC Coders regularly posting their own software, one of the coolest areas of our forum is the Coding Snacks section. Visitors can request small, customized utilities that are written by talented volunteers and made available free of charge.
5. DC Community Mini-Reviews and GuidesWe love it when readers post new mini-reviews, and there have been quite a few new ones posted since the last newsletter:
6. Website Discoveries, Debates, and DiscussionsWhat's new in cyberspace? What exciting new sites have been discovered by forum members? What's the current hot topic and debate? Read on to find out..
7. Fun, Humour and Amusements on the WebIf you've read the newsletter up to this point, take a break and check out the lighter side of the forum - humour, videos, and games..
8. General Software DiscussionAlmost half the posts on the DC forum take the form of general software discussions, questions, recommendations, etc. These posts wind up in the General Software Discussion section and make it one of the most active sections of the DC forum. This is 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 split the recent content into two sections in the newsletter - general software and specific software discussions.
9. Specific Software DiscussionHere you'll find some of the standout discussions about specific programs that have been started since the last newsletter.
10. Developer's CornerThe title of this section shouldn't scare you off - there is definitely something of interest for everyone here! It's more than just a section for the discussion of software development, it's also where we discuss web design, entrepreneurial ideas, and general productivity issues. It's great to see that the section has been pretty active recently.
11. Hardware HideoutWe tend to focus on websites and software on the forum, but that doesn't mean that DC forum members aren't always on the lookout for cool new gadgets and information on maximizing their computer's performance.
