From time to time, members of our community get together and build something for Galactic Civilizations II that really impresses us.  Sometimes it's a really cool graphics mod for the game's planetary textures, or maybe it's a pack of really well-done ship designs, but whatever it is, if it wows us, we figure it'll wow you folks too. Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on the new Alternative Metaverse Project, AltMeta.  As the name implies, the project and site is an alternative to...

This week we're installing the server that will host the upcoming WinCustomize Wiki, so soon I will be able to open up access to select users as we begin the process of populating it with good information, and working to decide the best format to layout and present it to users.  To do this though, I am in need of a handful of members from the community that are willing to donate some of their time and a fair bit of their expertise to get the project off the ground. I am looking for peop...

Web 2.0, The Social Web, Crowd Intelligence, there are dozens of terms and catch-phrases to describe this latest technology craze that has faint hints of the Dot Com era in the late 1990s.  In the past few years, many sites have embraced the concept of sites whose content is provided and controlled by the crowd, who focus more on providing a social context than any real substance.  It started with sites like MySpace which let you build a social network of friends and strangers online,...

Today we have a short tutorial on how to use Stardock's DreamMaker software to create a .Dream animated desktop for Windows Vista Ultimate.  It's a great guide to get you up and running with DreamMaker as quickly as possible.  Currently the tool allows users to convert pre-rendered videos into Dream animated wallpapers, as well as for setting up multi-video triggered dreams that can be set to change based on time of day. Definitely worth checking out.

Grass sways lazily in the breeze in these three beautifully rendered animated desktops for Stardock DeskScapes. Blissful Dream is an updated package of animated wallpapers from Stardock Design. This is the second of our triggered dreams, where your wallpaper changes automatically based on the time of day. Included in the package are: Blissful Sunrise/Sunset - The animated wallpaper shown off by Microsoft at various press events leading up to the release of Windows Vista, and is the fi...

After several years of testing, Microsoft has declared victory and brought to an end the beta for the new Hotmail service.  Rebranded "Windows Live Hotmail" the service will begin migrating its more than 20 million accounts starting this coming Monday.  The switch however won't be forced at first, users will be presented with an option of which of the two they would like.  Are you afraid of change and want to stick with the "old school" service?  That's fine, for now.  H...

Starting with the 2004 US Presidential election, blogging really took hold, demanding the attention of serious traditional media and the public as a whole.  While it's mostly hype about Web 2.0 and the power of the masses, blogging continues to show some staying power, with a handful of blogs attaining semi-respected status in their respective fields.  However, with all that exposure, and with bloggers attempting to venture into areas traditionally serviced by journalists, things are s...

Just a few weeks ago, popular social networking site MySpace blocked all videos hosted by digital media storehouse Photobucket.  Evidently the vast majority of all of Photobucket's traffic comes through in the form of MySpace referrals, though neither company will comment on the matter.  With this recent bout of fighting between the two companies, the last thing anyone expected was a merger.  Well, that's what just happened.  News Corp, the parent company of MySpace, shelled ...

Last week's poll sure fired up a good discussion:  What would make you want to subscribe to WinCustomize?  While some of the feedback wasn't in the realm of the possible, like "Make all Master Skins free to subscribers" (We don't own them so we can't do that), a lot of it was both interesting and helpful and will help me when the time comes to draw up subscriber features and benefits for WinCustomize 2008.  There will almost definitely be more public discussion on the issue in th...

Last month, WebGizmos came to me wanting to sponsor an ObjectDock contest, to try and drum up more interest and awareness of OD skinning.  We came up with what I think is a pretty cool contest, and from what WebGizmos told me, one that most anyone with a graphics editor and a little bit of effort could easily participate in.  Well, as of today, there is only a week left to submit your work to the contest.  So far, we have a handful of entries, but I'm hoping for more! Remember...

It used to be that computers and monitors were so insanely expensive that the idea of owning more than one seemed like 100% excess and luxury.  Plus, how many PCs and screens could a single person actually need at any given time?  Well, costs have dropped, and the complexity of what people do with their computers is continually increasing, so people have started moving to multi-computer and multi-monitor setups.  For us geeks, it's sort of a competition to have the coolest PC/moni...

Every month, Island Dog goes out and tries to find the best .Dream animated wallpapers submitted to Dream.WinCustomize.com, looking for great examples of what you can do with Stardock Deskcapes and Microsoft DreamScene on Windows Vista Ultimate.  And instead of just giving you a bunch of links with a few screenshots, he takes video clips from his monthly picks and cuts them together into a single preview video.  It's a great way to show off to people what the community is doing with t...

So you want to know how to build a WindowBlinds skin, or make a DesktopX gadget huh?  Well, this week there have been a number of great articles written up by the community designed to help teach aspiring skinners and gadget makers learn the tools of the trade.  These articles are a great example of what makes this such an outstanding community to be a part of.  These folks are exactly the sort we should be holding up as prime examples of what makes WinCustomize one of the best s...

Yesterday, search giant Google made a little update to its personalized homepage system.  Previously called 'Google Personalized Homepage"  it has been rebranded as "iGoogle", a name slightly sexier than the old one.  The name change comes with one technical improvement, the ability for end-users to make basic iGoogle page gadgets that they can then share with their friends.  The wizards currently are limited to things like to-do lists, photo boxes, a gadget to include your ...

Over in the articles section, there's a post seeking feedback and ideas on what you think would make an ideal user upload system for WinCustomize 2008.  Your input is going to help shape the final product, and is essential to aiding us in delivering exactly the sort of site you want to use. So head over, toss in your two cents!