Newsletter for December 9th, 2009 - "The NANY Event Begins"

1. Newsletter Editorial

Greetings everyone, and welcome to another edition of the DC newsletter.  It's 19 degrees where I am in Champaign, Illinois, the wind is howling outside, and 2010 is fast approaching.  And once again it's time for everyone's favorite event on DonationCoder: N.A.N.Y. (New Apps for the New Year).

The N.A.N.Y. event is where we invite, cajole, blackmail, bribe and just generally beg all of the programmers who pass through the site to pledge to release some new piece of free software on January 1st.

The idea is simple, and everyone is welcome to participate regardless of their skill level.  There are no winners, but everyone gets a prize -- a very handsome DonationCoder mug commemorating the event.

Last year's NANY event saw over 30 applications submitted (including some really spectacular ones!) and was written up all over the web.  And your favorite characters from last year are back again this year to help make it another success -- especially DC member Perry Mowbray (himself a coder) who has so generously taken on the task of coordinating everything.  Let's make him proud and show him that we appreciate his efforts by creating some cool new software.

If you're a programmer, stop by now and pledge to participate.  Especially if you're a long-time DC regular: We *NEED* you to participate!  But even if you've never posted to our forum before -- we'd love to see some new faces along with the regulars, and this is your perfect excuse to jump in and say hello.

And if you're not a coder, stop by and give some feedback to those who are, as they post teasers about the projects they've chosen to work on.  If you're a blogger or have a website, there are some badge graphics you can put on your web page to let your readers know about the event.  There's also a thread where you can post ideas for coders who are having trouble coming up with a project idea to work on.

You'll find more information about NANY in the threads below, along with photos of the awesome coffee mugs we'll be sending to participants, but let's review the basic guidelines for participants here:

• Pledge that you are participating on our forum well before the New Year -- post a teaser about what you plan to create.
• Release the application on or before 31st December 2009 (we'll be posting a roundup article about all the entries on Dec 31st).
• Any type of application is acceptable: Windows, Linux, Mac, Web, iPhone, Android, Script, Plugin, etc.
• It must be free (or donationware) for personal use.
• It needs to be something that hasn't been released publicly before November 2009 (updates to existing programs don't qualify).
• You keep all the rights to and control of your software, this is just an event to encourage coders to release new free tools.

2. NANY 2010 (New Apps for the New Year)

The NANY event is one of the very best things we do on the site.  If you know any coders, please give them a nudge and ask them to come by and give us a little bit of their time.  We know sometimes it's hard for coders to come up with good ideas, so we started a special thread just for people to post project ideas for others to consider working on; don't be shy posting your ideas.  And if you're a programmer, why not stop by the Pledge thread now and pledge to release something new by December 31.  Help us make it something special -- we promise to make it fun!

• NANY 2010 - Instructions
• NANY 2010 - Pledge to Participate Here
• NANY 2010 - Program Idea Suggestion Thread
• NANY 2010 - Offers of Assistance
• NANY 2010 - Prize Graphics - with a cameo from my favorite web comic!
• NANY 2010 - Web Badges
• NANY 2009 - A Look Back

There's more: