WinCustomize SkinCast - Episode 2

Spencer and Mike, Thanks very much for the time and effort to give us these pod casts. Too much extra time on your hands eh?   I have a few things that may be of interest (or not). One is the upgraded release of Windows 7 and it's impact on continued Vista sales. Another is Brad's controversial post in Personal Computing: https://forums.wincustomize.com/309309 with perhaps an interview with Brad. Another subject might be geared to new members and how they feel they fit into the community at large. How well they feel accepted, etc.. These could be followed up by discussion posts or polls. Oh well, just some off the wall ideas. Thanks again for your work. Ed

Nice show guys!   I'm really looking forward to hearing any interviews with skinners, moderators and any others willing to put themselves out there.

Woo hoo!!  Leading off with the me (and going on and on) !
Great skincast (even though).

Looking forward to more.

One comment . .  the audio leveling was off a bit.  Island Dog was much louder than Zoomba.

good skincast! wish the easy kabitzing that showed up in last week's cast was there this week. You guys sounded kind of stiff this week... relax enjoy the fun of the cast! I felt last week I was sitting in a corner of the office listening to the banter of coworkers. this week it seemed more like work.
Hope next week you will feel more comfortable and enjoy it like you seemed to last week.

Would have liked to hear more about some of the other questions posted in the thread regarding what we wanted to know. I know there were quite a few questions and suggestions posted yet you centered on one poster, repeatedly, and while those were valid questions, it would have been nice to hear about what the others mentioned too.there are always other skincasts to voice those posts further. It would have been great to hear from say, three to four different posters and your replies to those posters. and wait till next week to hear more.

To be honest, while I enjoy other websites, I listen to your skincast to hear about wincustomize. I would like to hear more about wc and the community within.
but still over all... I did enjoy the cast and will continue to subscribe.

Some weeks will definitely be more "on" than others   

And most of the questions in that thread ended up being about specific Stardock products, which I said was not the focus of the podcast so we wouldn't be answering them.

ahh... should have read further into the thread before sticking foot in mouth.

Wulfin . . I actually had to cull a number of the questions I had beceause they were Stardock specific too.  -sigh-

Cool man - you guys are having a lot of fun with this thing. Got to say it is a good thing too! More next week - hey get a real skinner from Stardock Design in there! SGT  

A show devoted to little known or obscure features in WB would be good for new(and not so new) users. We tend to answer a lot of the same questions over and over...and people just didnt know some things were possible. Silly things like what is vista-ize me?and how do I know its even on?  

+1 for that. ODNT has so many features and options, what are people using , besides Windowblinds? Are all the computers at WC skinned or are some running around undressed? On a technical note: the audio sounded "boomy" off and on for the first 2-8 minutes then cleared up. Last week I could listen to it real-time,today my connection couldn't keep up(249kbs max)so I dl'd the mp3. Will there be an archive of "back issues" available for download? Great job,Thanks.    

oh my.... I see your circuit board!!! better adjust your slip

great stuff, look forward to the next one

Liked broadcast #2. great stuff. Can you tell us for windowblinds what is the moderation process? How does a blind get tested, ect, put through the ringer so to speak? Also what about promotions? is that askable? do all you guys sit around a large round table and throw ideas accross about who should be promoted ect? Can you ask Fuzzy Logic to be on the show and perhaps answer some mod questions? ( i just WANNA hear his voice!!!)      I dont have skype or broadband....so i cant leave questions on the skype site.....sorry guys.

I think the show has potential, maybe on mondays you post a question or 2 for the site, and then use that post to help with the show. I like the idea of getting some background on people on the site, WC is a community, and people love to know all the little dirty secrets of their neighbors. Maybe you could look over the current "HOT" posts and see what people are bitching about or excited about. I also love the idea of some "behind the scenes" things at WC and SD. Whats in the works, whats new and exciting that we may not know about yet. As someone who is not here everyday and doesnt read all the posts (heck i barely read the ones i post). it would be cool to have a recap of some cool things going on in the forums. On the forum subject, when is the plan to get the watchlist and notification emails back? Again, as someone who isnt here everyday i really miss those notifications, they keep me in touch with the site, and help me to keep tabs on posts. Whats on the plate for WC2K8?? Whats coming on for DX4???? Need a DX coder that wants to work from home???

Great show guys!

Just one small note, I noticed in the last show and to a lesser extent in this one, Zoomba, you start over sentences when you stutter. You should just keep going; it keeps it more natural and fluid.

Okay, content/topic suggestions:

-Skinning and DesktopX. (If you could get Roman_DA's or Vad_M's thoughts on this it would be great) Skinning is what the site is majorly about, but how do you define skinning and does everything here fall into that category? Case in point, DesktopX. Is it really skinning? Sure you can 're-skin' clocks, weather widgets, etc, but original DX work is more coding/building than anything else. It's one reason I think DX is stuck in a sort of niche and doesn't flourish as much as the rest of the site's activity, because the site is so skinning oriented and DX, depending on your definition of skinning, is not. Vad_M recently pointed out the decline of DX activity on the site, and I wondered what is your take on it (not just DX but the creation and consumption of widgets, and gadgets in general). How many widgets do you guys use, what are they, and why do you use (or not use) widgets? How big or small is the impact of DX on the site today (do your stats show a decline as well) and what, in your opinion, accounts for its popularity or lack thereof. Finally, does DesktopX 'belong' with the rest of the skinning apps used on WC? If so, in what ways do you think it is integral or complimentary to skinning? If not, why?


- WinCustomize often comes out with alot of new content, the Wiki, WCLive, the WC toolbar, and now the SkinCast. How do you guys come up with this stuff and why do you guys come up with this stuff (what are the goals, what do you hope each endeavor will bring to the community, is it more for fun or out of necessity)? With so much already going on how do you juggle everything, and who on the WC/Stardock team decides/sets the priorities? (P.S. is WCLive officially dead?)

Wonderful!!

We shall see... I've already volunteered, but it depends on who they can get on.

Haven't found a straight man yet though, you know, to go with my comedy act 

Oh, I can answer questions about WB moderation too...

Hope so.......luvs ya vulcan (huggles) like a brother and all that.....  

Have a suggestion for a feature or segment for the WinCustomize SkinCast.

There always seems to be interest in the older skins, mainly WindowBlinds and or Themes. How about something like "Everthing Old is New again.". You could start out picking a WB or Theme from the past and discuss how it was very innovative for it's time. Give a link to it in your show notes. You gould then open it up to the members to suggest a WB or Theme that you would look at and review.

It sort of works with what wulfn1 is doing with her reviews. Maybe she could be convinced to help.   

It gives a chance to highlight past Skinners, some of which may still be around, which would also make a good interview for them to talk about their work that you are reviewing. It could even lead to an update of the reviewed WB or Theme. If the original Skinner is no longer active then the challenge would be for a current Skinner to contact the origianl Skinner for permission to update.

It doesn't have to be with each episode you could do it once a month. It could also turn into a "Where are they now" segment.

Just of thought, and it might have people listening in to see what and who you are reviewing. :NOTSURE: 

Sorry for all that bolding, but it wouldn't let me go in and edit. DOH   

EDIT: Never mind, it's Friday.   

So Zoomba or ID, what kind of numbers do you have with episode 2?   

We need a DX widget for this . .of course it's been done (or somethign similar) before. 

Damn Zubuz, you have a lot of Karma!  

      

It's contagiuos!

And as for the karma . . it's not all good. 

• for tossing a line and hook out to curt1s....
• Test numero dos
• Zubaz is my test monkey.
• I give you 1. Because thats all you deserve.  {wtf?  editor}
• You are always so helpful on the forums. And really great about organizing community projects to get people involved. Thank You.
• Helpful
• Cause I can
• 'cuz he's the ZU!
• excellent spelling
• For the pants
• Becuase Zubaz is Zubaz
• Test message