Here's the Day 14 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive . Subscriptions: 451 (22.55% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $1,455.79 (29.12% of total) At current daily rates, we will end up with 1417 subscriptions and $4575.35 raised for Childs Play. Featured Charity Master Skin Several of our Master Skinners accepted our invitation to participate in the Charity/Subscription drive and volunteered to donate a portion of the sale of selected Master Skins. ...

Last week I posted a mini-contest to create a skin mockup for the WC Charity/Subscription Drive .  There were a few requirements on what had to be included in the mockup, but on the whole it was a pretty simple contest.  Something any skinner could do with a little bit of free time. Yesterday it wrapped up, and now I'm pleased to announce the winner of the contest and the owner of a nice, shiny new WC Subscription: Josephs The winning mockup: As soon as I saw the mockup...

Here's the Day 13 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive . Subscriptions: 433 (21.65% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $1397.00 (27.94% of total) At current daily rates, we will end up with 1465 subscriptions and $4728.32 raised for Childs Play. With just 31 days left, we have 1,567 subscriptions and $3,603 to raise!

If you haven't browsed the Dream gallery lately, you've missed out on some really great animated wallpapers for your Windows Vista Ultimate machine.  In the past week or so we've had 6 brand new Dreams from some of our best Dream artists. Hay in the Wind Hay in the Wind is a calm nature Dream that gently sways on your desktop.  Done at a high resolution, this is a great Dream for folks with big monitors Good Night Earth Good Nig...

Here's the Day 12 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive . Subscriptions: 397 (19.85% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $1286.60 (25.73% of total) At current daily rates, we will end up with 1455 subscriptions and $4717.53 raised for Childs Play. Reminder: Today is the last day to get in a Charity Skin Mockup to possibly win a donated WinCustomize Subscription.  The deadline is 5pm EST today.  So far we just have one mockup posted, so get cracking...

Last Friday, I made the first scheduled attempt at a live video chat with the community.  It was largely a test to see if it would work, and what kind of interest there might be in it.  The first show went off largely without a hitch, and a lot of folks showed up to chat and join in on the fun.  I've learned a good bit about what to do and what not to do next time, but now I'm looking for you to evaluate the fledgling effort. So go ahead, rate the show (1-5, 5 being "Superb!")...

Last week's poll asked if you had yet participated in our Charity/Subscription drive.  And if you hadn't, did you plan to?  Around 72% of you said you either already had or definitely planned to, with the remaining quarter either being unsure or definitely set against the idea.  As always, here's the visual break-down:

Welcome back to Monday.  After a relaxing few days off it's back to the weekly grind.  To start your week off on the right foot, how about some great skins?  These are a few of my favorite submissions from the weekend.     

Here's the Day 9 - 11 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive. Subscriptions: 371 (18.55% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $1206.57 (24.13% of total) At current daily rates, we will end up with 1484 subscriptions and $4826.26 raised for Childs Play. The weekend was a mix of good and bad news.  The good news is that we crossed the $1,000 barrier and are now almost a quarter of the way to our goal.  The bad news is that our daily rates continue to slip...

We have a few more donated subscriptions to give away, and Zubaz had a great idea for a quick and easy contest that a lot of you could participate in. Here's the deal.  I have a subscription (maybe more, if others donate more) to give to whoever can make the best looking mockup for a WinCustomize Charity Drive themed skin. You have until Tuesday, November 12th, 5pm EST to enter.  All you have to do is whip together a skin mockup and post the image to the comment thread be...

The first live broadcast of WinCustomize Live finished up a little bit ago.  If you weren't able to participate, be sure to check out the recorded video.  It clocks in at around 64min and I spend most of it fielding questions from the chat channel. http://ustream.tv/PowerUserTV/videos/d9eaAipkXAIeVaoVnJTWlIzqTgbjKgF  (Direct link) Remember, this is the first major attempt we've made at this, so be kind.  In the future we're looking to integrate Skype so we can do live...

Excellent Dreams can sometimes be hard to come by, but every now and then a really fantastic one comes up that you just have to take a look at.  Today, our first Master Dream maker, TheMasterBaron, released Good Night Earth, a video DeskScape of the Earth slowly rotating below you.  It's roughly a quarter view of the planet as the globe slowly rotates.  The preview to the right accurately shows what the Dream looks like, and there's a motion preview on the skin page if yo...

Another week comes to an end, so Island "The Beast" Dog has rounded up his picks for the best skins submitted to WinCustomize in the past week.  This weeks list includes a DesktopX Theme, Dream animated wallpaper (pictured below), a great ObjectDock theme, a hilarious SoundPackage and a wallpaper.

Yesterday, veteran skinner BoXXi updated one of his classic skins, Peppermint.   It's a cool skin that uses a color combination you don't frequently see in a skin.  One user accurately described it as having a very Art Deco look to it.  If you're looking for something a little bit different from the typical blue or gray skin, definitely give this one a try.

Here's the Day 8 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive. Subscriptions: 288 (14.40% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $941.46 (18.83% of total) At current daily rates, we will end up with 1584 subscriptions and $5,178.01 raised for Childs Play. With 36 days left to cover, we will have to pick up the pace.  To hit the charity goal, we'll have to raise at least $120 a day every day until the end.  Yesterday was just $51.22 to give you an idea of how qu...