DC Member Deo posts about a new indie game he discovered:

Space Pirates and Zombies (AKA SPaZ) is a space exploration/conquer game similar to EV Nova, or Starscape. If you like those game, then you need to check out SPaZ. I just played through the demo, which took me just under 2 hours and I think it's really fun! I could have finished the demo faster than that but I was having too much fun doing non-essential stuff.

If the game looks interesting to you you can see more info on the Space Pirates and Zombies website and you can also pre-order it for 25% off now on Impulse.

Space Pirates and Zombies is a mix of the deep old school space adventure genre with modern physics, action and graphics technology.

• 33 ships to research, build, outfit and pilot
• 70 unique components to discover to customize ship performance
• Totally physics based combat system
• Explore a persistent randomly generated galaxy containing hundreds of star systems
• Freedom to explore the galaxy and take on challenges at your own pace
• Aid, flee, or exploit the warring factions in each star system
• Change the balance of power in any system by interacting with its unique event system that responds to player activity
• Carefully spend your hard earned research points on hundreds of upgrades across 15 categories

-http://impulsedriven.com/spacepiratesandzom

I haven't posted the last couple of weeks, so I'm including a bit extra into this one... an analysis of a couple of projects and why they work (or don't) to give ideas for posting your own.

So what do you need for a successful project on Kickstarter?

1. The project goal must make sense

Kickstarter can be a bit like the .com era, and I think that people have that in mind when they look at projects.  You have to have a firm grasp of your project in mind, and how much it costs.  Though a high goal is not unreasonable, there needs to be some justification for it from a product standpoint, or people might get the idea that you're trying to cash in on the kickstarter idea, rather than create an actual product or fulfill some need.

2. Every contribution must be rewarded

This goes along with point 1, but is more geared towards the emotional side of the argument.  With financial times the way that they are, even parting with $20 or $30 is quite a bit to a lot of people.  Why should they contribute?  What will they get for their contribution?  And will it even make a difference?  These very basic questions need to be answered for the potential donator in your description- think of it as a prospectus.

3. Give solid information on your project

Again dovetailing into the two proceeding points, but also complementing them is the distribution of information about the project from a larger perspective.  Presentation is everything, and this is the one chance to get donators fired up about the project.  And not with an over-deluge of information, but with precisely targeted bits.  A concise, well worded description of what the project is, and what is to be accomplished is a definite must.  Pictures help even more towards that.  And video that much more.

Some good projects:

TimeClue is a free, portable and extremely simple time reminder software that fades your desktop into a bluish color at fixed intervals.

At minute 0, 15, 30 and 45 of each hour, the fader gets activated. Fader won't become active unless app has been running for at least 15 minutes.

If you want to know what the fading looks like, just start TimeClue and click the app icon in system tray.

To quit, right click the icon and choose Exit from the shortcut menu.


Download link (99KB, for Windows 2000 or later):
http://www.musetips.com/downloads/TimeClue_Portable.zip

from http://www.thewindow...guide-ebook-now-free

MVP Mike Halsey’s 180 page Windows 7 Power Users Guide is now completely FREE to download and own as an eBook. Mike is the author of Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out, and he has now made this eBook free for all to download!

The book is meant for Windows 7 users of all technical ability from complete novices to IT Pros.

The guide contains 16 chapters on everything from installing and configuring Windows 7 to using it in your home and work life. It also includes guides to all the new features and Step by Step tutorials to help you through a wide range of tasks. The whole book is also in full colour with screen shots and diagrams on every page.

Says Mike:

• A book for people who use Windows 7 at home or at work and know it can do more for them, but who don’t know how. The Windows 7 Power Users Guide contains helpful how-to’s, full colour pictures and quick tips to guide you through everything from using the Start Menu and Taskbar to backing up your documents and identifying and fixing problems.

Download: Windows 7 Power Users Guide eBook.PDF (23.8MB)

1. Newsletter Editorial

Warmer weather and tornadoes seem to signal the beginning of summer in the Midwest, and it's time for another DC newsletter.  Since we last spoke the fundraiser wrapped up, with a whopping $14,239 donated by over 600 individual donors -- a huge success and enough to cover our hosting and administrative fees for the next two years.  Hooray! A giant thank you to everyone who donated, and cheered us on during the fundraiser and especially to those coders and writers on the forum who helped us make the fundraiser month something special.  And if you somehow missed the fundraiser don't forget that we accept donations year round.

Things have been understandably a little less raucous for the last month following the fundraiser -- so this will be a short newsletter.  And it woud be a great time for some of you first posters to introduce yourself on the forum or ask a question:

• OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?
• Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures
• Show us the View Outside Your Window

2. Software Updates

One of the prizes awarded during the fundraiser was some allocated programming hours by me on a project of the winner's choosing.  DC member Cranioscopical won and requested that I finally add image capture support to my clipboard tool (Clipboard Help+Spell).  I must admit I have been having fun adding the feature, and you'll find a new BETA release of CHS available for download with image capturing support working quite well.  You'll also find a link below to the new evolution of my Flipbook Printer program, called Flipbook Printer Suite 2.0 -- with full support for recording video in addition to printing flipbooks.

• Clipboard Help+Spell Screencasts
• Clipboard Help+Spell Beta with Image Support
• Latest Version - FlipSuite (Flipbook Printer Suite) v2.01.01 - March 30, 2011

It's hard for me to imagine a cooler toy to get your child to encourage them to learn how to program.

The Finch is a new robot for computer science education. Its design is the result of a four year study at Carnegie Mellon's CREATE lab. The Finch is made to easily integrate into high school and college CS courses. Institutions piloting the Finch have shown improved retention and year-over-year enrollment growth in their CS1 courses.

The Finch was designed to allow students to write richly interactive programs. On-board features include:

• Light, temperature, and obstacle sensors 
• Accelerometers 
• Motors
• Buzzer 
• Full-color beak LED 
• Pen mount for drawing capability 
• Plugs into USB port - no batteries required 
• The Finch is currently programmable with Java and Python. Additional language support will be released throughout 2011.

http://www.finchrobot.com/