One of the things I'd like to see happen on WinCustomize is better support for multiple wallpaper resolutions.
For instance, I'd like to be able to select 1280x1024 from a combo box, press a button and have just that sized wallpaper.
But how would you imagine the uploading of this kind of thing working so that it's not a pain in the butt for artists?
The cottage isn't done yet but it's getting close. Here's some recent pictures.
From the beech looking back.
From the deck (you can see the lake in the background).
Fancy bathtub. (faucets not on yet)
Stone chimney
You're walking in the woods or a field and there's a damn biting fly buzzing around your head. It keeps trying to land on your head and you know if you let it, you'll feel a painful chomp. Those flies are almost malicious in the way they'll follow you around as you're walking. They're evil.
These flies are known as deer flies. You've seen them before when you occasionally managed to catch one as its biting you.
It turns out, it's not easy to get rid of them. You can't just put on insect repellent and call it a day. No, these nasty bugs work by seeing motion. They see you moving and they go for your head.
Around here, they can get pretty nasty to the point where no one wants to walk around. There's not that many of them, but how many hyper-aggressive biting bugs do you need before you don't want to go somewhere.
While searching the net, I found a product that claims to help. It's basically a sticky pad you put on the top of a baseball cap. You then walk around the area that has a problem and the deer flies get stuck on them when they land to bite. They look ridiculous. But the good news is that if you do it occasionally, you can really cut down on the # of deer flies (there aren't that many of them in a given area).
So what I found was the Deer Fly Defense Patch. And as ridiculous as they looked, they really do work.
After walking around the woods on our property
I just put the patch on my favorite hat. When I'm done, I just remove the patch and toss out the caught flies. I got 10 of them in just a few minutes. After that, I could walk around in relative peace. My kids had a blast with them as well.
Anyone who has ever felt the painful bite of these nasty flies (often mistakenly called horseflies -- that's what I was calling them before I looked it up) can now know the sweet revenge. Flies think they're smart but I can now prove to them that I'm twice as smart as they are!
As the company has grown, I have had to spend more time at the office. I used to work 4 days at the office and then 1 day at home every week. In fact, sometimes I'd work 3 days at the office and 2 days at home if there were particularly important things going on.
Working from home isn't for most people. For many people, working from home results in a loss of productivity because of communication issues, lack of resources, etc. But in my particular case, working from home results in vastly greater output.
My case is a bit unique because I'm what you'd call an executive with a focus on execution. That is, a significant % of the company's raw work product output comes from me in one form or other. My relative percent has decreased over the years as we've brought on more people but my overall output has continued to grow and the value of that output has grown with it since I have tried to stay on things that are more crucial to the company.
At home, I don't have the distractions I get at work. I can just sit in my chair with my various computers (I have 3 computers at home on my desktop that I connect to with Multiplicity Pro). Plus, I have lots of handy snacks near by which are particularly important to the way I work. 
So at home, I can go through web pages in peace and optimize them. I can write up articles which tend to be crucial to our traffic. I can help put together email, magazines, etc. I can play around with our various beta programs in peace for long periods of time without being interupted and put together detailed reports and specifications. And of course, I can write code.
But working from home has a price as well. There's a small morale penalty at the office when I'm not there. That is, I am concerned that people will feel I'm not working hard enough or that I'm just at home relaxing. What they don't know is that the key stuff that I do gets done at home. I basically am at the office to help follow-up with people to make sure projects are staying on track, help play communications traffic cop between departments, and just talk to people to give feedback/kudos/suggestions on what they're doing. These are important things by all means. But the time I'm not spending working on the "key" stuff costs us money.
Now, one might argue that I could keep hiring people to do all the little things I do. But that's not a practical matter. My skillset has been developed, over a period of a decade, specifically for Stardock. So my ability to quickly edit web pages, write up specs, debug code, QA software, create mailers, etc. would require a lot of different people. Moreover, there's just so many little things that would go unnoticed (And do go unnoticed) that it would be incredibly inefficent to have other people do them.
For instance, I'll find a page that hasn't been updated to mention that the program works on Windows Vista. Or I'll find a typo on a product or an unclear description (buying WindowBlinds on CD, for instance, was a convoluted process that was only fixed this morning when I noticed it).
So today and tomorrow I'm working from home. And then all of next week. With any luck, I'll be able to get a lot of work done -- at home.
Stardock DesktopX has long led the way in allowing users to build a better desktop. It was the first program for personal computers that enabled end users to easily create mini-applications on their desktop. DesktopX lets users create objects in just a few simple steps that can be combined together to make widgets or used to build entire desktops. DesktopX Pro was the first program that allowed users to export their creations as stand-alone programs called gadgets.
With the arrival of Windows Vista, gadgets have become much better known. The Windows Sidebar uses a particular format of gadgets (the .gadget file). Stardock is pleased to announce that DesktopX 3.5 can create native Windows sidebar gadgets. How easy is it? Check this out:
DesktopX can be used to create the simplest of desktop objects to sophisticated desktops that use VB Script, JavaScript, or C++ quickly and easily put incredibly cool stuff on the desktop. DesktopX has been used to create media players and weather gadgets for MyColors, to create alternative computer interfaces in movies, all the way to making PC game interfaces. For this demo, we're simply going to create a short-cut gadget.
Step #1: Create the object
From the system tray, users create a new DesktopX object by right-clicking on the DesktopX tray icon
Step #2: Give the object an image
The object (on the left) can have its image changed by clicking on the mouse-away button
Step #3: Assign the short-cut
Users can type in a path or use the built in program finder.
Step #4: Export the object
Right-click on the object and select export.
Step #5: Export as a Sidebar Gadget
Users can export objects as widgets (which require the user to have DesktopX installed but are smaller in size), EXE gadgets (which are stand-alone programs), or as Sidebar gadgets (.gadget files).
Step 6: Give some basic info on the gadget
Fill in some basic info about your gadget and then name it
Floating on the desktop
On the Sidebar
Also, remember, DesktopX supports all kinds of other cool features built-in like animation (so you could make zooming sidebar gadgets easily), rotation, built-in scripting, plugins, colorizing, mouse states and more:
Animation and other effects are built into DesktopX
And DesktopX has integrated support for JavaScript, ActiveX controls, VB Script, Flash, and more. Imagine what can be done by combining the power of DesktopX with Microsoft's Sidebar gadgets.
DesktopX 3.5 is currently in beta. It's only available for users who have Object Desktop (www.objectdesktop.com). Stardock expects the final version of DesktopX 3.5 to be ready before the end of the Summer (2007).
Here's a map of the United States but with state names changed to countries that have a similar GDP (gross domestic product) to that state. Kind of gives a whole new perspective on things.
Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar 1.6 is available for free download by all Dark Avatar players but we're just getting started in our after-release support!
We're already well underway with Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar 1.7 (actually 1.61 will be available shortly which will have some graphics engine tweaks/fixes for some users who had problems with 1.6).
So what will 1.7 have in it? The screenshot on the right shows the new maintenance and leasing summary screen (and leases are getting a revamping to make them more attractive to use by both players and computer AI).
Other features include a new local high score list with a new hall of fame screen, Starbase managers, Starbase modules that raise maximum HP, Constructor rally point management, new mega events (based on player suggestions), Anomalies randomly return, a new type of governor based on rally point destination, updated computer AI, updated diplomacy AI, and more! Stay tuned!
If you don't have Galactic Civilizations II, you can get Galactic Civilizations II: Gold Edition either directly via TotalGaming.net (which supports PayPal and most credit cards) or at your local retailer. If you have Galactic Civilizations II already you can upgrade to Dark Avatar at the purchase page.
Stardock has released Multiplicity Pro 1.2. Multiplicity Pro is a program that allows users to use multiple computers together at their desk as if they were a single computer. The program uses a network connection between machines to establish a universal clipboard and allow a single keyboard and mouse to control them all. Each PC continues to have a monitor attached to it and the setup works similarly as multi-monitor system.
For users, the experience is similar to a multi-monitor setup on a single PC except that with Multiplicity, each monitor is connected to its own computer. This allows users to take advantage of the power and resources of an entirely separate computer with the ease and convenience of a multiple monitor setup.
Multiplicity Pro 1.2 adds support for Windows Vista including the ability to copy and paste files and folders between machines. For users trying to migrate from Windows XP to Windows Vista, these features can drastically ease the transition.
Multiplicity and Multiplicity Pro which adds file copying and support for more than 2 computers are available at https://www.stardock.com/products/multiplicity/. A free trial is available for download.
Sequel to The Political Machine begins development this Fall.