DesktopX is shaping up much better and I think we'll be able to have that public build today (fingers crossed). Today me and Paul Boyer ( Mormegil ) worked on a bunch of little DesktopX objects. Actually, what happened is that he made a really cool set of objects and then let me use his Corel Draw file (he uses Corel Draw for his art needs -- not 3D Studio as many believe) and I went forward and tweaked them to make individual objects. The kinds of objects I wanted to start with were ones...

Alexa.com is a great site for figuring out (roughly) how popular a website is. It's not perfect, especially on sites that don't get a lot of traffic. But as sites get more popular, it does tend to show a good relative ranking.. . WinCustomize.com is one of the sites I administer on. It gets nearly 2 million unique visitors per month.  Oddly, in the last couple of months it's relative ranking has been dropping (i.e. bad). This has been strange because the sites's raw traffic has increas...

Ever have one of those days when you're extremely busy but you don't seem to get very much done? I got back from my trip and my todo list is huge.  The trip seemed to go well but won't know for a few weeks still but now I'm left with tons of things to do. DesktopX We were supposed to go out with a new public DesktopX build. DesktopX is going to be great...when it gets the bugs out. I ran into so many buglets today that I had to kill today's public beta announcement which is a bummer bec...

Well this weekend we've been taking a beating on the net over Stardock Central. And by we, I mean me as I'm the one who hangs out on the gaming forums. Stardock Central is awesome technology but has the same kind of issues that the early "multi-mission" military aircraft had.  Back in the late 60s, the Air force fell in love with the idea of jet aircraft that could perform multiple roles.  Interceptor, air superiority, tactical bombing, strategy bombing, etc. And for 2 decades, the Air forc...

I'm going on a trip tomorrow and where I go, so goes my laptop. The laptop is a pretty good game machine. Unfortunately, I can't play very many games on it when I travel. That's because most games now use rather obnoxious CD-ROM copy protection. Copy protection on PC games is, in my opinion, not just ineffective, but stupid. I say that as a software developer and publisher of 10 years. And as time has gone one, I've become increasingly convinced that any copy protection that inconvenien...

So tomorrow I'm heading out on a 2 day trip. Blech. I don't know why but I just hate to travel. Well actually, I do know why. I don't like the actual "Travel" portion. If I could just beam to wherever I was going that would be great. Gotta pack up and get ready to go. Over the past several years I've gotten packing down to a science: 2 days: light clothes. No suits. I won't wear a suit when I travel. If a suit is going to make or break a deal, then I don't want to do business with a com...

Lot of cool stuff going on with SkinStudio. The newest internal builds allow you to create your own icons.  Now, I haven't created a serious icon since the OS/2 days. Awhile back I started looking into icon editors and it turns out these icon editors are incredibly expensive. Why? Well because they include a whole load of image editing features. But why? Why try to compete with Photoshop and Corel Draw? If I'm going to create a modern icon, I'm not going to use some icon editor's graphic...

Welcome to the skinning blog group! If you already have a blog on JoeUser and are interested in sharing your thoughts and ideas on the world of skinning, click here to join this blog group. If you don't already have a blog, get one, it's free and fun! Just create an account if you haven't already done so and then in the account tab at the top you can do it there.So today I decided to try out two new DesktopX "ability extensions" (plugins). The first one makes it a snap to get some basic info on...

To me, removing Saddam from the board seems like a pretty clear cut "smart" thing for the US to do for so many different reasons.    But if you try hard enough, you can make any foreign policy decision look foolish.  Why, in June 1944 did the why did the US invade northwest Europe? Hundreds of thousands of Americans died in Europe.  Why? The USSR would have defeated Germany on its own. That was pretty obvious by June 1944 so we don't have the excuse of not k...

In an article asking whether Europe liking the US should be a campaign issue or not , I pointed out some of the questionable international actions of France in the past century.  Admittedly, the article had its share of French bashing. My point wasn't just to bash France though. It was to point out the absurdity of listening to France's advice on foreign policy. I got a lot of email on this as well as comments on it. Here's one that asked specific questions that I'd like to address. 1. W...

There is often a basic problem when trying to debate geo politics. You have one side that seems to be ruled by emotion or at least believes in "spiritual forces". You have the other side that seems to be ruled by logic and believes in direct causes and effects. The two don't mingle too well in debates. And nothing brings that up into sharper contrast than the debate about "root causes" of 9/11. For instance, some try to argue that the United States "provoked" ...

Phew. It's done.  So after 4 months of work we've finished up the expansion pack for Galactic Civilizations. And we're giving it away for free.  I wonder, looking back in a year or two, what the verdict will be on having made this expansion pack for free. I think it's safe to say we could have sold this expansion pack for $15 to $20. But my "ulterior" motive is that with GalCiv we have a real hit on our hands and it is better to sacrifice short term profit for a long term ...

Believe it or not, there is an entire website dedicated to debunking Michael Moore . Even more unbelievable, I am very glad it exists. Michael Moore is the master of plausible falsehoods. When you read one of his books or watch one of his "documentaries", you are left with the impression of "Well, I may not agree with his politics but he makes some good points..." Except he doesn't because he twists, exaggerates or outright fabricates his "facts". There's usua...

Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 16) we're goign to have a live chat at 8pm Eastern Standard Time in the #galciv channel on irc.stardock.com. Here's the way we currently plan on doing it. There will be two channels: #galciv and #galcivQA In #galciv, no one but ops will be able to speak. I will answer questions posted in #galcivQA. From 8:00pm to 8:15pm I will answer questions from #galcivQA in the #galciv channel. Then at 8:16pm we'll open it up so that everyone can talk in #galciv...

The nights are getting cooler. The days shorter. The trees are starting to show some color. Summer is almost over. Lots of people say they like the Fall. They think it's a ball. But not me. In the Fall I just don't feel free. Just another month. Just a little more time. I just want to run a bit more in the sun. Then I would really feel fine. I had wanted to go on a holiday. A trip, a jaunt, some time for fun. Just a little more time to be in the sun. Take me back to May. Summer is al...