Yesterday, Chris Boulton (the project leader of MyBB) posted the first part of a “Complete Overview” series of blogs on the new ACP. It is very detailed, and contains a load of screenshots of the new features.
Check it out at the Official MyBB Blog
Popularity: 6% [?]
Well, this is my last blog post for 2007, and it has been a really great year for me. I’ve completed my first term at university, converted to Ubuntu Linux, and played Portal, BioShock, and Halo 3 for hours on end. However, instead of commenting on the year that has past, I thought I’d comment on my hopes for 2008, in reference to things that will affect me.
For a student, facebook is a very important tool. It’s a linking point between everyone you know, whether they are at university or not. You can plan events, share photos, send messages (either publicly on the wall or privately), and do hundreds of other things thanks to the growing number of applications. However, there are still drastic improvements to be made:
On a final note for facebook, thanks for removing the “is” from statuses. It gave me quite a few laughs over the next few days when I saw people who hadn’t realised it had gone. Stuff like “John going to the cinema” and “Jane tired” were great for a grammar Nazi like myself.
Linux
Not much I can say about Linux, seeing as it is already a fantastic operating system. I look forward to Ubuntu 8.04 in April, which has an awesome new default theme, and better compiz support. One thing I would like to see on it is the BBC iPlayer, which they have been forced to make available to Linux and Mac thanks to a nice lawsuit. I’m also be trying out Linux Mint in the new year, because apparently it is better than Ubuntu.
MyBB
Hopefully we will see the release of 1.4 in 2008, as well as a complete release of the MyBB Merge system. There are a lot of other plans for MyBB, both official and unofficial, but for obvious reasons they cannot be revealed just yet.
Atheism
After creating a group on facebook for “Atheists at Royal Holloway”, I’ve got a few more members for a possible Atheist Union / Society at Royal Holloway. Nothing is official yet, but we are definitely on our way. We’ve been invited to a debate by the Christian Union in February on the subject of belief, which should be fun.
I’m gonna end it there, I’m sure there will be far more to look forward to in 2008, but I must get things ready for the New Year party tonight!
So, farewell 2007, roll on 2008!
Popularity: 6% [?]
The MyBB IRC channel (#mybb) is prone to a lot of idle banter between it’s members when we are not helping people solve their MyBB problems.
Today was one such day. It all started with a simple argument between MiNT, georgia_tech_swagger, Snake, and myself against Matt. Matt is a Windows Vista user who is basically Microsoft in annoying boy form. He thinks Microsoft is invincible and the best thing since sliced bread. He has little experience with Linux, and the one time he did use it he complained non stop about not being able to use it properly.
So the argument was essentially a load of Linux users (with the exception of Snake, however he does know a lot about it) trying to put the point across that Linux was a better system, and that Microsoft were evil. At one point Matt tried to convince us that the Zune was invincible and that Linux couldn’t be installed on it, but a few quick searches found that to be false as well.
Eventually, he left, and Snake posed an interesting challenge:
(17:31:45) Snake: we should make a list of why linux is better then windows
…and so it began.
1) Linux is free.
2) Linux is faster (another IRC user, tmhai, was astounded earlier today at how his laptop booted in under 30 seconds with Ubuntu, compared to the 30 minutes it took Windows to boot on it).
3) Linux is Open Source (which means bugs and security holes are found and fixed quicker).
4) With Linux, you own your Operating System. With Microsoft Windows, you don’t actually “own” the Operating System, you simply have a license that says you can use it. Every installation of Windows is owned by Microsoft.
5) Linux has better support. This is debatable, but there are a lot of community forums out there, and usually errors in Linux are much more readable than Windows errors, which leads to quicker solutions.
6) Most Linux distros come with some form of package manager, a utility that installs safe and secure programs, and then updates them automatically.
7) Most Linux distros release daily updates of core files, as well as updates for programs.
8) Most Linux distros release their next version every 6 months without fail. So instead of waiting an uncertain amount of time for the next Windows release, you know exactly when the next version of your OS will be out.
9) Linux has a better command line interface. Using the command line can be a bit daunting if coming from a Windows environment, but you will soon learn how to use it, and about the advantages of this way of doing things.
10) Linux has a better interface. It doesn’t matter if you are using Gnome, KDE, or some other desktop environment, it is way better than what Windows has to offer.
11) Linux has programs that can access practically every file type ever invented.
12) With a bit of configuring, it can run programs made intended for Windows. Today I managed to get Max Payne 2 running in wine after I earlier managed to get Direct X running).
13) The only viruses / spyware you get are by installing them yourself.
The only things we came up with that Windows has over Linux is the Driver support, and the support for third party applications.
Hopefully though, these will improve for Linux as it takes a more active role in today’s computing.
Popularity: 17% [?]
A while back I purchased the domain name atheistforums.org and set up a MyBB forum on it aimed towards discussion of atheism by atheists and other religious groups. I showcased it in the MyBB Community Forum and through that action, labrocca found it and posted a reply that he had been planning to make such a forum with the domain atheistforum.com:
“Interesting. I actually own atheistforum.com and plan to launch it eventually but goodluck on your site. Atheism is surely a topic you can discuss and gain members with.”
I contacted him via PM and proposed that instead of creating two competing sites of the same nature, we should combine the sites and create one large Atheist discussion board. Now, labrocca and I have not got on well in the past, which is mainly my fault and has led to certain jests and “pokes” at one another. At the end of it all, I apologised and we sorted things out between us. He decided to take me up on my offer, and even host the forum on his server.
Now it is slowly growing and we hope that once the site is discovered by people, we can start debating and discussing everything related to Atheism. If you are Atheist or Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish, you can join and debate for your religion, or discuss Atheism with the people that support it.
Hopefully this will end up a large and popular community for Atheist discussion!
Popularity: 12% [?]
For those who use my community website (DrPoodle.com) and especially the forums, you will know that I have been using MyBB as a free forum software for just less than a year. After a few months with phpBB, we decided to make the switch because of everything MyBB offered. Over the years I have become part of the MyBB Community, learning about the software and writing plugins to help put new features into it.
A few weeks ago, Chris Boulton, the head developer of MyBB wrote about Support and Development positions that were opening up at MyBB. It was a chance to join the MyBB Team and help support and/or develop one of the upcoming and promising Bulletin Boards in the world, and it was an offer I couldn’t ignore.
So I wrote a PM to Chris and stated my intentions of applying to become a Support Rep, based on my years of “experience” with MyBB and how devoted I was to the MyBB Project. As soon as I had sent it I signed into the MyBB IRC channel and started talking about the application with everyone in there. It seemed like everyone wanted a shot at becoming a support rep (the promise of MyBB 1.4 access was very enticing) and all we could do was wait…
So today, after many weeks of waiting, Chris finally reveals 4 new members of the MyBB Team…and it just so happens that one of them was me! I was instantly on a high…with everyone congratulating me, my new super mod status, and access to the Staff Forum. It took a few days for me just to calm down and get things in perspective.
So now I am a member of the MyBB Team, supporting people around the community and helping out wherever I can…not to mention having my name and links plastered around the net. I hope to become a developer one day when my php is up to the standards of the MyBB project…so watch this space!
Popularity: 2% [?]
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