The beta 4 series will be the last set of betas prior to release.  Users who want to pre-order and beta test the stand-alone game (as opposed to Drengin.net) will only be able to do so for a short amount of time. After we go into release candidates you will have to wait until the game ships to get it.

Stardock is about to sign a publishing deal with a major retail publisher which will affect the release date.  We expect to go gold near the end of this month but general availability will likely be mid July or early August due to retail manufacturing/marketing/distribution set up.

So which visual style keeps to a specific theme the best? Let us know your thoughts! Judging on that begins TOMORROW!

http://www.innergeek.us/geek.html

The Geek test has been updated.

Sadly, my score is..well bad.

62.13018% - Extreme Geek

Just for the record - stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons were never the principle reason for the coalition to remove Saddam from power.

But the lack of these stockpiles is something those who have opposed the war have, in my view, cynically jumped onto to argue that the war was unjustified (as if those who were in favor of removing Saddam were losing sleep over mustard gas).

Anyway, they are apparently starting to find some of this stuff. For whatever it's worth.

One website I regulraly visit that would be of interest to people who are into customizing their machines is Teknidermy. It's a journal that covers the day to day news of skinning in all its forms. Check it out.

A video demo of the winners from Week 1 are out.

Sometimes, a screenshot just can't do it justice, you need a video.

Watch them now:

GUI Olympics Week 1 (large) 67M

GUI Olympics Week 1 (small) 17M

A video demo of the winners from Week 1 are out.

Sometimes, a screenshot just can't do it justice, you need a video. See the winning entries in action!

Watch them now:

GUI Olympics Week 1 (large) 67M

GUI Olympics Week 1 (small) 17M

A video demo of the winners from Week 1 are out.

Sometimes, a screenshot just can't do it justice, you need a video.

Watch them now:

GUI Olympics Week 1 (large) 67M

GUI Olympics Week 1 (small) 17M

The judges are currerently working judging several events now. The next one up is the most usable Winamp skin.

That is, at the end of the day, which Winamp skin do you think you would actually end up using?

A lot of people don't realize what exactly DesktopX does and what it can do.

And in fact, that's not surprising because it does so many things. In a nutshell, DesktopX is like a whole new sub-system for Windows that gives Windows a whole new set of abilities and features.  You can build desktops, create widgets, put objects on the desktop, enhance your desktop icons, and a bunch of other things.

DesktopX is ultimately powered by something called DirectGUI.  Apple's MacOS has something called Quartz. But Windows doesn't have Quartz so Stardock had to write their own and that is what DirectGUI is designed to do.

It is powerful and fast and easy to use. If you want to see how easy it is to do things with DesktopX, check out this video below. You don't have to be a software developer to be able to create neat things with DesktopX.

Video file: Large, Small. Need Windows Media Player 9? Get it here.