This site has been mentioned in passing a few times on the forum but i think it deserves a post of it's own.  Nice blog-type site which is quite active and has some nice roundups..

On makeuseof we don’t write about any new web applications that comes around but only about ones that are COOL, FREE and USEFUL. It may be a subjective judgement but that’s how it is. We also try to keep it simple and all accessible, so that even newbies who never used such sites like Digg and Delicious or ones who think AJAX is famous washing powder brand can easily find their way around.

http://www.makeuseof.com/

After having lost months of work on various projects(ironically one of them was a backup tool) due to HD crashes and such, I wrote a little Bash shell script that will automatically archive a directory (and all it's sub-folders) and upload it via secure copy (scp) to a remote shell account. I figured I would share this with my dc buddies in case any one can use it.

It reads a simple configuration file in which you can configure a few things, including files to EXCLUDE from the backup. (for example: object files and other garbage files generated while compiling a program).

I will post step-by-step instructions on how to use this, but first, here is the script:

Mozilla is holding an official firefox extension coding contest, and because nothing would make me happier than seeing some DonationCoders enter this contest, we are going to run OUR OWN VERSION OF THIS CONTEST to coincide with the official one.

DC Members who enter the official firefox contest by coding an extension will be considered for a prize from DC, and will get a cool custom rare Cody mug commemorating the contest.

So let's get some DonationCoder presence in this contest!

Extend Firefox² - Contest Details
Will you be the brain behind the next great Web innovation? Do you have the drive to take your Firefox Add-on idea to the masses? Are you ready to affect everyday life for millions of people around the world?

Extend Firefox is a developer contest to encourage development and innovation in Web experience through add-ons to Firefox 2.

This edition of the Extend Firefox contest runs until December 31st, 2007. A panel of judges will award three Grand Prizes and twelve Runner-up Prizes based upon excellence in user experience, innovativeness and use of open standards.

Prizes
Three Grand Prize winners will each receive an Ultimate Firefox Developer Kit, including:

Travel and accomodation to a Mozilla Developer Day of the winner's choice, anywhere in the world
Development gear, including a brand new 15" Macbook Pro with VMware Fusion and ActiveState Komodo
1 Year Unlimited Access subscription to O'Reilly's Safari Library
Firefox Ogio Messenger Bag stuffed with t-shirts, books, stickers, mugs and more
Twelve Runner-Up Prize winners will each receive a Firefox Pack, including:

Firefox Ogio Messenger Bag stuffed with t-shirts, books, stickers, and more
ActiveState Komodo, mug, and t-shirt
A $200 Gift Certificate for O'Reilly Books
All qualified entrants will receive, while supplies last, a Limited Edition Extend Firefox T-Shirt.

http://labs.mozilla....dfirefox/details.php

Cody fans pay attention! Now is  your chance to win some truly astounding prizes - and all of them involving Cody - yes, it is truly amazing!

All you need do is post a picture of Cody to this thread and in a few weeks time Cody will decide upon the winner and runners up. The picture must be an original piece of work, so either a quick sketch or painting will be fine. If you prefer to use a more technological advanced medium then that is also welcome but Cody will judging the images simply by how amusing they are and not on how well crafted - in other words, a quick mess about with Microsoft Paint will be more than enough.

The competition is open to all but it would be nice to see some children's pictures of Cody. Any DC parents wishing to exploit, er, I mean encourage their child's artistic temperament now have a good reason to do so - how else are you likely to win some fabulous Cody prizes?

What are these mind blowing prizes? Look below and gaze in awe...

1. A DonationCoder Cody Mug (unbelievable!)
2. A signed picture of Cody (beautiful!)
3. A deluxe member kit and certificate of Cody Club Special Member (brain meltingly generous!)
4. A special Cody badge in your forum profile to demonstrate you entered the competition (fair!)

And for the overall winner, a signed genuinely unique limited edition of one single print special poster (absolutely insane!! <- look, 2 exclamation marks)


The competition is now open so feel free to submit your picture. Mouser will perhaps mention when the contest will end.

Oh, and Cody says "good luck to all and he can't wait to put the winning entry up on his wall" - yes, he really did just say that, right next to me, just a moment ago.

DC Member Veign wrote up a short summary of 15 different top MySQL management/helper tools on his blog today..

http://www.veign.com...agers-and-tools.html

Would have been nice if he told us which was the best.

ps. I've used the free MySQL Workbench and found it cool but not really usable due to being in unfinished beta stage for too long, with bugs that are insurmountable.

I found this video of 500 years of female portraits so charming.  I hope you like it.

http://miraulam.mult...ly.com/video/item/38