Brad Wardell's Blog


Last day for the WindowBlinds fall contest

Published on Thursday, December 2, 2004 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News

Today is the last day for the WindowBlinds Fall skinning contest. The top 10 entries share 5% of the subscription proceeds we've received during the same period. It's still neck and neck for the #1 spot. We'll know the results tomorrow.

 1. WindowsMAX 2 Steve Grenier 833
 2. GT3 Tiggz 821
 3. TriAX brewman 527
 4. Fabre ^^Gabriel 435
 5. Skies adni18 402
 6. Carillon essorant 402
 7. Jarilo essorant 399
 8. CyberSkin adni18 387
 9. geo-Logic I.R. Brainiac 351
 10. Luster MikeB314 335
 11. M16 Dark Michael Brandt 317
 12. M19 Dark Sun Michael Brandt 316
 13. Project Onyx Skinartistry 314
 14. CP Christmas 4WB pinchecl 307
 15. CP38 4WB pinchecl 301

More Fall 2004 pictures..

Published on Thursday, December 2, 2004 By Brad Wardell In Home & Family

I really love being a dad. Here's some more pictures of me and the boys.

Here are some more pictures from this Fall for friends & family to see...

The boys tackle their dad (me).

Ryan with the ball.

 

Ryan makes faces..

Me and Ryan.

 

And Alex.

 

The boys at Halloween.

Hiding under my desk while Object Desktop 2005 comes

Published on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 By Brad Wardell In Life Journals

I'm tired. I mean really tired. We've hired a half-dozen or so people this past month and a lot of the people we're bringing in are taking over jobs that I used to do. I've always been lazy, but as I get older, I seem to get lazier!

You know you're lazy when you see someone on TV on a feeding tube and you think "and hear I am, chewing my own food like I'm some sort of chump!" Thank goodness for bed pans, that's all I can say.

For those of you using Object Desktop and have been wondering what the heck is going on with ObjectBar and ControlCenter, your ship has come in. We are now directly focused on development of those two things (they're being merged).  The first step in that has been getting RightClick finished.  RightClick is a program that allows you to replace your Windows desktop menu with one of your own creation. Very easy to use, very powerful.

So if you have Object Desktop, check out Stardock Central and you should see it there.

In fact, if you have Object Desktop, you've probably noticed that a lot of programs on it have started getting a lot of updates. That's because we're gearing towards Object Desktop 2005 which is scheduled to be released in the next couple of months. So WindowBlinds 4.5 beta and SkinStudio 4.5 betas showed up already. Theme Manager and WindowFX have been getting updated as well.

And meanwhile, the widget wars that people just love hearing about keeps going on. The next build of DesktopX is due out next week and it has a bunch of new features that should make it easier to use and allow users to customize widgets much easier.

Meanwhile next TUESDAY is the official launch of WinCustoize 2K5.  I won't be here though. I'll be in New York groveling to the various print magazines to cover our lowly stuff.  Somewhere I still have a picture of my mowing Nicholas Petreley's lawn (former editor of Infoworld).  You do what you gotta do.

At the same time I've been trying to grovel to Microsoft to start including us on their community outreach programs. Our 3 million unique visitors per month I hope is a persuasive argument that maybe Microsoft could help participate in events. I'd like to get a big chat event to help launch the new site. When I get back that would be a good thing to arrange. Then I can actively recruit for my World of Warcraft clan. Priorities you know.

12% of people in the poll like the current WinCustomize over the beta of the new site. The current WinCustomize runs at about 34% the speed of the new site, has fewer features, much larger pages, and is uglier. But I suppose it has its charm. Hopefully there won't be too much up an uproar when we move over.

Blog: OD 2005, Chewing food, Nostalgia for slowness

Published on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News

I'm tired. I mean really tired. We've hired a half-dozen or so people this past month and a lot of the people we're bringing in are taking over jobs that I used to do. I've always been lazy, but as I get older, I seem to get lazier!

You know you're lazy when you see someone on TV on a feeding tube and you think "and hear I am, chewing my own food like I'm some sort of chump!" Thank goodness for bed pans, that's all I can say.

For those of you using Object Desktop and have been wondering what the heck is going on with ObjectBar and ControlCenter, your ship has come in. We are now directly focused on development of those two things (they're being merged).  The first step in that has been getting RightClick finished.  RightClick is a program that allows you to replace your Windows desktop menu with one of your own creation. Very easy to use, very powerful.

So if you have Object Desktop, check out Stardock Central and you should see it there.

In fact, if you have Object Desktop, you've probably noticed that a lot of programs on it have started getting a lot of updates. That's because we're gearing towards Object Desktop 2005 which is scheduled to be released in the next couple of months. So WindowBlinds 4.5 beta and SkinStudio 4.5 betas showed up already. Theme Manager and WindowFX have been getting updated as well.

And meanwhile, the widget wars that people just love hearing about keeps going on. The next build of DesktopX is due out next week and it has a bunch of new features that should make it easier to use and allow users to customize widgets much easier.

Meanwhile next TUESDAY is the official launch of WinCustoize 2K5.  I won't be here though. I'll be in New York groveling to the various print magazines to cover our lowly stuff.  Somewhere I still have a picture of my mowing Nicholas Petreley's lawn (former editor of Infoworld).  You do what you gotta do.

At the same time I've been trying to grovel to Microsoft to start including us on their community outreach programs. Our 3 million unique visitors per month I hope is a persuasive argument that maybe Microsoft could help participate in events. I'd like to get a big chat event to help launch the new site. When I get back that would be a good thing to arrange. Then I can actively recruit for my World of Warcraft clan. Priorities you know.

12% of people in the poll like the current WinCustomize over the beta of the new site. The current WinCustomize runs at about 34% the speed of the new site, has fewer features, much larger pages, and is uglier. But I suppose it has its charm. Hopefully there won't be too much up an uproar when we move over.

Blog: Tired right clicking dude

Published on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News

I'm tired. I mean really tired. We've hired a half-dozen or so people this past month and a lot of the people we're bringing in are taking over jobs that I used to do. I've always been lazy, but as I get older, I seem to get lazier!

You know you're lazy when you see someone on TV on a feeding tube and you think "and hear I am, chewing my own food like I'm some sort of chump!" Thank goodness for bed pans, that's all I can say.

For those of you using Object Desktop and have been wondering what the heck is going on with ObjectBar and ControlCenter, your ship has come in. We are now directly focused on development of those two things (they're being merged).  The first step in that has been getting RightClick finished.  RightClick is a program that allows you to replace your Windows desktop menu with one of your own creation. Very easy to use, very powerful.

So if you have Object Desktop, check out Stardock Central and you should see it there.

In fact, if you have Object Desktop, you've probably noticed that a lot of programs on it have started getting a lot of updates. That's because we're gearing towards Object Desktop 2005 which is scheduled to be released in the next couple of months. So WindowBlinds 4.5 beta and SkinStudio 4.5 betas showed up already. Theme Manager and WindowFX have been getting updated as well.

And meanwhile, the widget wars that people just love hearing about keeps going on. The next build of DesktopX is due out next week and it has a bunch of new features that should make it easier to use and allow users to customize widgets much easier.

Meanwhile next TUESDAY is the official launch of WinCustoize 2K5.  I won't be here though. I'll be in New York groveling to the various print magazines to cover our lowly stuff.  Somewhere I still have a picture of my mowing Nicholas Petreley's lawn (former editor of Infoworld).  You do what you gotta do.

At the same time I've been trying to grovel to Microsoft to start including us on their community outreach programs. Our 3 million unique visitors per month I hope is a persuasive argument that maybe Microsoft could help participate in events. I'd like to get a big chat event to help launch the new site. When I get back that would be a good thing to arrange. Then I can actively recruit for my World of Warcraft clan. Priorities you know.

12% of people in the poll like the current WinCustomize over the beta of the new site. The current WinCustomize runs at about 34% the speed of the new site, has fewer features, much larger pages, and is uglier. But I suppose it has its charm. Hopefully there won't be too much up an uproar when we move over.

MLogr available!

Published on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News
A new service called mlogr (media weblogger) allows users to post photos, videos, and audio directly to most blog services like LiveJournal, TypePad, MoveableType, WordPress, B2 and many others from your cellphone, pc, mac, pda, and most wireless devices, is currently in beta stages and is looking for bloggers to try it out, suggest new features; and help get it out of beta stages.

It has your common community-like features such as forums, comments and ratings, but it also has a feature called "friendslist" where your friends are automatically notified when you publish a new blog, photoblog, or videoblog. In addition to blogging media to your website it can also optionally display your photos in gallery's where users can rate and comment on them. All media published to your own blog is hosted on the mlogr.com website, where it can be modified. mlogr is completely free, although future pay accounts may allow additional functionality and additional storage space.

More information:
http://mlogr.com
Create a Free account:
http://mlogr.com/signup

Fall Family Photos

Published on Monday, November 29, 2004 By Brad Wardell In Home & Family

Ah the Fall is here and here is me and my boys for this Winter.

My son Alex. Turns 8 this week!

Playing foot ball with my sons.

Look at that spiral. THAT's MY BOY!

 

Ryan and his cousin Kellan

 

Ryan and Alex in front of our house at Halloween.

WindowBlinds Fall contest nearly over..

Published on Monday, November 29, 2004 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News

Only 3 more days..

The top 10 entries will share 5% of the revenue we received from subscriptions.  Here is the current top 15:

Skin Author Unique Subscriber Downloads
 1. WindowsMAX 2 Steve Grenier 783
 2. GT3 Tiggz 781
 3. TriAX brewman 512
 4. Fabre ^^Gabriel 418
 5. Skies adni18 392
 6. Carillon essorant 391
 7. Jarilo essorant 390
 8. CyberSkin adni18 371
 9. geo-Logic I.R. Brainiac 339
 10. Luster MikeB314 330
 11. M16 Dark Michael Brandt 311
 12. Project Onyx Skinartistry 303
 13. M19 Dark Sun Michael Brandt 301
 14. CP38 4WB pinchecl 294
 15. CP Christmas 4WB pinchecl 285

Battle of desktop enhancements

Published on Monday, November 29, 2004 By Brad Wardell In Business

Here are the top 15 most popular desktop enhancements this week at CNET:

1 3D Fish School popular
Watch a lifelike aquarium on your screen.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free to try
3 1 35,271 107,948
2 Turkey Shoot Screensaver popular
Go hunting for your Thanksgiving dinner in this cartoon screensaver.
OS: Windows 95/98/NT    License: Free
14 1 27,042 88,137
3 WindowBlinds popular
Change the way you look at Windows by completely customizing your desktop.
OS: Windows 2000/XP    License: Free to try
2 260 22,461 7,474,329
4 Nicky and Paris Hilton Sexy Hot Screensaver popular
View both of the Hilton sisters on your desktop.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free
- - 19,076 24,298
5 3D Stairway to Turkey Heaven popular
View 3D turkey angels with halos and harps on your desktop.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free to try
18 1 16,259 20,726
6 BootSkin popular
Customize your bootup screen with your own images.
OS: Windows 2000/XP    License: Free
7 43 14,260 708,458
7 Ripple Screensaver popular
Add a rippling effect to your screen.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free to try
9 11 13,230 813,269
8 ObjectDock popular
Add this stylish and animated launchbar and taskbar to your screen.
OS: Windows XP    License: Free
6 43 13,127 803,814
9 Atomic Clock Sync popular
Update your local PC with the exact current time.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free
8 33 12,800 1,407,742
10 DesktopX popular
Create a unique desktop with this new program from the creators of WindowBlinds.
OS: Windows 2000/XP    License: Free to try
4 207 12,573 2,388,247
11 3D Run Turkey Run popular
Watch as a cartoon turkey runs for his life in this Thanksgiving screensaver.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free to try
12 1 12,191 27,938
12 IconPackager popular
Change your icons by grouping them into themed packages.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free to try
5 260 11,634 2,228,827
13 3D Dancing Holiday Turkey Dinner popular new
View a 3D roasted turkey dancing the boogie-woogie on your screen.
OS: Windows (all)    License: Free to try
16 1 11,589 19,504
14 Konfabulator popular
Create and use small widgets for your desktop.
OS: Windows 2000/XP    License: Free to try
1 2 10,606 48,254
15 Turkey Hunt Screensaver popular
Display on your screen why Thanksgiving is bad for turkeys.
OS: Windows 95/98/NT/XP    License: Free
30 1 10,250 17,996

Last week, Konfabulator was #1. This week it fell to 14.  DesktopX also fell but only to 10th. So in the widget war battle, it appears that Konfabulator won't dominate the Windows market after all. Phew!