RAD Studio 2010, the latest version of of the well-known Delphi programming language/ide/suite for MS Windows, which also includes C++ Builder, has been released.  The tool, previously released by the company known as Borland and then CodeGear, is now being managed by a company called Embarcadero.

I've used C++ Builder (which is basically the full C++ language with extra support for the Delphi visual class components) to develop most of my larger applications -- the 3rd party visual component support for it (for Delphi) is extremely impressive, which makes it possible t create very poweful GUI interfaces rather quickly.  As a true "rapid application development" tool -- it's hard to beat it in terms of being able to quickly test user interface ideas.

http://www.embarcade.../products/rad-studio

Another good find from Free Download A Day:

ManicTime automatically collects data on your computer usage. It records active and away time, as well as which applications you used and for how long you used them.

The data ManicTime collects is stored in a local database on your computer. Collected data is not transmitted anywhere or shared with anyone. Only you have access to it, which means no privacy concerns.

http://www.manictime.com/

We've talked about previous JayIsGames.com competitions to design flash games.  It regularly produces some of the best flash games you'll find anywhere -- it's a very high caliber of talent that participates.

This year they are opening up the challenge to any web-compatible technology, not just flash (Silverlight, etc.) - though I expect that the overwhelming majority of games will be done in Flash.

The theme this year, Explore -- is wonderful.  I think this will make for some really interesting entries.

I'd love to see some DC members participate and submit a game of their own design.  If there's anything we can do to help or encourage you, let me know.  I'll reserve some special DC games division mugs for anyone who enters.

Design a game that incorporates our theme (see below). It doesn't have to be complex nor large in scope. Since you will have just 6 weeks to complete your design, simple ideas are probably the best way to go. You may use any browser-based technology platform you are comfortable with (Flash, Unity, Shockwave, Javascript, etc.). If we can embed your finished game file on our competition page, you may use that platform to design and develop your game.

For the 6th Casual Gameplay Design Competition, we are asking for entries designed to incorporate this theme: EXPLORE.
...
The deadline for entries is Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 11:59PM (GMT-5:00).
...
1st place:  $1,000
Audience award: $500

http://jayisgames.co...gn_competition_6.php

I've posted before about Tom Vassel's Dice Tower board game reviews.  He is now going to do his top 100 board games series for 2009, which is a great tour of board games in a way that is a great way to learn about the variety of good board games out there.

He always has one of his young daughters in the videos helping him out, which is very cute -- but this time one of his daughters is going to talk about *her* top 100 board games -- and this could be a really fun thing to watch if you have a young daughter, to discover board games you might like to play as a family.

MELODY is doing her top 100 this year!  I think her list will be much more interesting than mine.  I gave her complete freedom when putting her list together, so it should be interesting to see how our lists compare.  We have 11 of the same games, so maybe you should take special note of them.

http://www.thediceto...er/index.php/top_100

Table of Contents for this week's edition:

• 1. Tech Giants Unite Against Google
• 2. Finn Fined Just €3,000 for Sharing 768MB of Music
• 3. Scientists Make Bendable, Transparent LEDs - Without Organics
• 4. Symantec Identifies 'Dirtiest Web Sites of Summer'
• 5. Bungling Cybercops' R00t-y0u.org Sting Backfires
• 6. Besieged by Attacks, AT&T Dumps Celebrity Hacker
• 7. Oracle Gets Go-ahead to Buy Sun
• 8. Internet Slowly Wakes Up to PayPal's Quiet Fee Hike
• 9. Theft of 130 Million Credit Cards Tied to Miami Man
• 10. Roommates Video (humour)

This doesn't necessarily seem like a bad thing to me, but it has caused some confusion, and it's definitely something to be aware of if you are sending money to friends and family:

In June, PayPal made a number of changes to its User Agreement and posted an update to the PayPal Blog. At that time, director of product marketing Heinz Waelchli wrote that PayPal had now begun allowing those with business and premium accounts to make personal transfers to friends and family for free. This, in itself, is a welcome update—I use my PayPal account to receive payments for items I sell on Etsy, but now I can send money to my brother from the same account without either of us having to give PayPal a cut.

What PayPal failed to do was inform users of the fact that any transfer having to do with goods or services will be charged the 3¢ + 2.9 percent fee no matter who or where it's coming from. This includes payments sent from personal accounts as well as payments made after someone has sent you a request for payment (even if that request has nothing to do with goods or services).
...
For example, a personal account sending another personal account money for a one-time payment for, say, mowing your lawn was not previously charged any fees on either side, but is now charged the usual transaction fee (the sender gets to decide who pays). The only way to avoid this is by selecting "gift" when making the transfer —something you can't do if you're following through on a purchase or invoice from someone.

http://arstechnica.c...massive-fee-hike.ars