Every two years the GUI Champs makes its appearance, and we see artists and skinners from around the world converge on this one event to showcase their works and compete for thousands of dollars in prizes. The ‘06 GUI Champs were a huge success and we had categories for Wallpapers, Icon Packs, and WindowBlinds skins. Hundreds of entries were received and the quality of those entries are nothing less than stunning, and many of these skins are still used today.
Well the time has finally come for us to start planning the GUI Champs 2008 which will come sometime later this year. So with that being said a bit of a “teaser” was posted today about some of the changes coming to this years event, and first up will be a new website.
One thing people probably don’t realize is how much planning has to go into even a relatively simple site like the GUIC one. It’s not as simple as throwing together an upload page, news page, gallery page and skin page and call it done. For the 2008 GUIC Site, we have to design and implement over a dozen completely unique pages, each with very different tech requirements.
Here are a few of the big improvements that are currently being talked about. Keep in mind we’re still in the design phase of this, so it’s all subject to change. But I wanted to tease everyone a bit with this to get some interest going in the competition, and to get some feedback on what you’d like to see in the site.
People often ask how we create articles and guides on some of the various sites like WinCustomize.com, JoeUser.com, etc., so they can also help out by writing something they specialize in. Several of us here use a variety of tools, some more complex than others, but most people who would like to write some articles don’t need some of the more high-end tools.
One of the more complex and expensive applications is Expression Web from Microsoft. While it’s pretty good at what it does, the casual user will not likely use many of it’s features. Live Writer, which we have spoken about before, is one of the tools I highly recommend for writing blog posts and things of that sort.
I was recently referred to another piece of software called KompoZer. It’s built off the former NVU web authoring application that is no longer developed. KompoZer is a simple WYSIWYG html editor with an easy to use interface. You can create and layout some really nice articles or posts using images, links, tables, etc.
Two other good points is that it’s free, and it’s cross platform so if you run a PC or Mac you are all set.
I have talked about Jing before, and it’s one of my favorite free apps for capturing screenshots and video of your desktop. TechSmith released an updated version for Windows users yesterday.
Object Desktop 2008 was just released, so I created a screencast which walks you through what is included with both Object Desktop 2008, and Object Desktop 2008 Ultimate. Each application gets a brief overview, along with a look at Impulse. This is great for anyone who might not be too familiar with the popular applications that are included.
As I’m sure many of you can relate, I spend hours and hours behind multiple PC’s just about on a daily basis. One of the applications that is open pretty much all of the time is Microsoft Outlook 2007. Everything is organized through there. My e-mail, contacts, calendars, tasks, the list goes on and on. Along with my two Vista PC’s, I also have a Mac that I do a lot of work on. The other “tool” I have been using regularly is Google Calendar. One reason is simply the ease of sharing multiple calendars with multiple people.
So with all these different ways of accessing my calendar events, a big problem arises. How to keep all my information synced between multiple PC’s? It appeared I wasn’t the only one with this problem, and with the recommendation from a friend and co-worker, I went and checked out SyncMyCal from Synchronization Technologies. The folks there were kind enough to provide me with a copy to review, and I have spent much time with it over the past month.
The idea is simple…two-way syncing between Outlook and Google Calendar….but many solutions I have tried are just plain worthless. I didn’t set my expectations too high, but after just a day of use, I was pleased that SyncMyCal seemed to have gotten it right. It allows you to sync multiple Outlook calendars and your Google Calendar together, and lets you sync that data in a variety of customizable options.
Installation was straightforward, and SyncMyCal installs a small toolbar inside Outlook which gives you quick access to it’s options, menu items, and synchronization button.
Once installed, all you need to do is enter your Google info, and then create your sync jobs in the settings menu.
The menu (shown in the screenshot above) shows you sync jobs, and gives you the option to add, edit, and delete them. Clicking “Add” brings up the settings configuration where you can configure you sync jobs with the variety of options SyncMyCal has. It works with multiple Google Calendars on your account, and you can specify which calendars to sync and how. You can choose options like “Download only”, “Upload only”, and “Synchronize” with either Outlook or Google precedence.
Another really cool feature is Category Sync. It allows you to filter categories when syncing so you can be selective by including or excluding specified categories. The configuration menu can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but the online help is pretty clear in it’s explanations, and it shouldn’t take long for you to get to know all the related functions.
I tried quite a few different configurations such as 2-way syncing, just uploading, or just downloading calendars, and for the most part it worked flawlessly. The only complaint I have is when doing a 2-way sync I would get some duplicate entries, and it would be nice if these duplicates could be filtered out beforehand. Other than that there were no other issues to speak of. SyncMyCal was stable, and syncing only takes a few seconds depending on your configuration.
SyncMyCal comes in two versions, the Lite version (free) which does not include auto-syncing and has a limited sync date range. The Pro version allows unlimited date ranges and a highly configurable auto-sync function. The Pro version is $25, and giving this a rating of 4 out of 5, it’s worth the small investment. Download the Lite version and give it a try, I’m sure you will find the upgrade well worth it.
This weeks GFW podcast features Stardock CEO Brad Wardell as a guest, where among many things, they discuss the state of PC gaming. It’s a great episode to be sure to download it and check it out.
I was going through some of my MyColors themes today and came across the one for the L.A. Lakers. I didn’t realize how detailed it was before, and I think I can say it’s an almost perfect basketball/NBA related theme. I know someone who is a big Lakers fan, and I think this could make a fantastic gift.
This is a beautiful landscape based animated wallpaper (.dream). This was created by brenopoubel and be downloaded from the link below. Windows Vista and Stardock DeskScapes are required to use this.
If you would like to try out the Impulse beta, now is the time. Please note this is still a beta and things will be changed and overhauled, this is just a preview to get more feedback on bugs.
What is Impulse? Impulse is Stardock’s successor to Stardock Central. It is designed to merge all of Stardock’s various digital networks into a single platform (TotalGaming.net, WinCustomize.com, and Object Desktop.net). With it, users can buy, download and update a wide variety of software.
Will Impulse replace Stardock Central? Eventually. But we expect to keep both going for a long time so that fans of Stardock Central don’t feel pushed to get Impulse.
What will be on Impulse? Eventually, everything. Right now, it’s mostly Stardock titles and a handful of indie games. With Impulse, we are opening it up to all publishers of all venues - games, utilities, applications. On the games side, we expect parity with Steam and Direct2Drive by the end of 2008. On the non-game side, we hope to have most major utilities and a number of major applications available on it.
Does Impulse have DRM? Impulse does not use DRM as it’s traditionally thought of. It uses a technology called SSD (Secure Software Delivery) which ensures that the content is transferred to the user in secure form. Users are able to install their games onto multiple machines using their accounts within reason (the system does evaluate geographic locations of multiple installs and a number of other metrics to flag possible "warez" accounts). Stardock is also working on a new technology tentatively called Secure Virtual Machines (SVM). More information on SVMs will be released later. Overall, Impulse is largely invisible to users. They do not need an Internet connection to play games, they can re-download the full retail game from it even if they purchased it elsewhere, and there is no "phoning home" during the launch of games.
Today Stardock has announced plans for The Political Machine 2008!
Today Stardock Entertainment announced The Political Machine 2008, a new PC game that puts players in control of the 2008 presidential campaign. Play as the campaign manager for a host of candidates including Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, historical candidates or design one from scratch. Players then choose their campaign battlegrounds and are off on the campaign trail to face a host of challenges including fundraising, talk show appearances, hiring spin doctors and winning endorsements. The game is won on Election Day by the player who gets the necessary electoral votes to become President.
The Political Machine 2008 is developed and published by Stardock Entertainment. The game uses a brand-new 3D engine designed to give the candidates a unique look (all candidates are presented as "bobble heads").
The Political Machine is both a single and a multiplayer game - players can either compete against the computer or against others online on www.politicalmachine.com. The website also provides an ideologically neutral location for users to discuss the current election.
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