In order to help encourage some coders who hang out at DC to write some new freeware productivity software, we had a little coding challenge in November as part of our "Getting Organized Experiment."

The results are now online for anyone to download and use for free: http://goe2007.donationcoder.com

The challenge was:

• Write a computer program (or web service) which helps people be more productive with their time.
• Highest honors go to creativity and uniqueness.
• This must be program that was not released before Nov. 1st, 2007

We received almost a dozen fun entries, including some really interesting and useful ones.  Check them out and please send a thanks to the authors if you like what they've done.

It's time for the results of our annual programming challenge. The coders on our site were asked to:

• Release a new freeware/donationware program of any kind, by Jan 1, 2008
• It must not have been released prior to Dec 1, 2007

Some of the programs are rather specialized and whimsical, some are just a little silly, and substantial and serious.  But you'll probably find something that you find useful.

Do you have an mp3 collection? Use "WTF!? Music Info" to generate charts showing the statistics of your collection.  Do you need help staying motivated to keep to your new year's resolutions? Try "Point Motivator", an innovative motivational tool and tracking diary.

Browse and download these brand new freeware programs and over a dozen more.

Congratulations to all the programmers who participated.  As always, if you find a program you like please consider making a small donation to the author.

One of the things that members of the DonationCoder forum do a lot is write "mini-reviews."  These are short reviews of specific programs, and they often prompt some heated discussion about alternative tools and which ones are the best.

We've created a special page where all mini-reviews, past and future can be found:

http://minireviews.donationcoder.com

The "Coding Snacks" section of the DonationCoder.com forum is one of the most unique and populars areas on our site.

Normal users post (often unusual) requests for small utilities, and coders who hang out at the forum try to implement them as freeware programs for the public.

We've created a special page where all released coding snacks, past and future can be found:

http://codingsnacks.donationcoder.com

I'd like to officially announce that Mobysaurus Thesaurus now has its official home on our site at:

http://moby.donationcoders.com

Really a wonderful addition to DonationCoder.com.

We're thrilled to announce that at long last the results of the Accessibility Game Programming Contest are now Online!

http://agamecontest.donationcoder.com

A huge congratulations to everyone who participated - we got some really fun and creative entries, and it was great to be able to bring some light to the issue of accessible gaming.