keeping the community informed…

Ever thought that something needs changing at DaniWeb, and you know exactly what it is but are not sure if anyone will be interested and if they are who the right person to mention it to might be? Good news, my friend, there is a forum just waiting for your input and it is called Community Feedback.

This is the place to come and let us know what you think of DaniWeb either from a technical or community perspective. If you have been having trouble getting to grips with any aspect of DaniWeb, mention it here and all will become clear in next to no time. If you have an idea to improve DaniWeb, post it here and The Powers That Be will read it. The Community Feedback forum does pretty much what it says on the tin, and gives you a chance to get anything that is system related off your chest in a friendly environment.

If you want to get even more involved in the development of DaniWeb, keeping your finger right on the pulse of what's happening next, the direction that we might be taking, the upgrades that are being considered and the implementations about to come on line, then you need to get access into Area 51.

Area 51 is restricted to those members who have made a donation to the running costs of DaniWeb, which can cost as little as $7.50 per month but help us to offset the costs involved with running such a high volume operation as this. As well as access to Area 51 sponsoring us this way also brings the following benefits:

• Increased PM space to 500 messages
• 10 member distribution per PM
• Bigger avatars
• Animated avatars
• Custom user title
• Disabling of graphical adverts
• Larger quick reply box

You can find out more, and start sponsoring DaniWeb, here.

welcome our new moderators…

We are sure you will join us in welcoming some old faces from the DaniWeb community into their new roles as part of the management team. Firstly, we have a new Super Moderator tasked with leading the moderators that do such a fine job in keeping the community running smoothly: Narue

And keeping the warm welcomes coming, let's hear it for our newly promoted moderators:

peter_budo
MattEvans
joeprogrammer
jbennet

helping us to help you…

You might have noticed that for every message posted on DaniWeb there is a small link above it which says 'Flag Bad Post' and you might have wondered what this is for exactly. Well all can be revealed by saying that it is to enable you to help us to help you make DaniWeb a better place. If any posting breaks the rules, be that because it is offensive or rude, contains illegal content such as stuff that points to pirated software for example, or is simply just spam then hit that link and report the post to us. Leave a brief message explaining why you have flagged it, and the report will be sent to a special forum where the system administrators and moderators will see it.

Because the DaniWeb management team is based all around the world, someone can usually take action very quickly indeed. Where our rules have been violated the offending message will either be edited or deleted accordingly and the original poster warned or given infraction points (which could lead to a ban if they do not mend their ways) as dictated by the rules.

every month one member makes the DaniWeb hall of fame…

Please welcome our newest member of the DaniWeb hall of fame, Tamar who has only been with the community here for a short while but in those months has made quite an impression. You will find her more often than not providing insights into topics such as Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click Advertising, Promotion and Marketing Plans and Growing an Online Community.

In fact, given her her insight and writing ability, we asked Tamar to join us and become a staff writer within the DaniWeb blogging system and you can catch up with what she has to say in the Ramblings of a Tech Geek blog. So without further ado, let's find out a little more about the latest recipient of the DaniWeb Featured Poster badge of honor, Tamar:

Where are you from?

I currently live in New York City, but I grew up in Hollywood, Florida.

What is your occupation?

That's a good question. You can say Internet Marketing and blogging. I love social media which is one of the newer forms of marketing online. It's strange since I'm not so much of a "marketer" per se, but after seeing how you can turn "marketing" into something really fun, I've been diving in and learning. It's been an eye-opening experience and I find not just a job: it's my hobby.

You mention not to get you started on your six computers in your profile here, but go on - get started: which do you use most, which is your favourite, any really old ones you cannot bear to let go?

I use a laptop primarily. It's a Dell XPS M1710 gaming laptop. No, I don't game, but I like laptops that are strong enough (and cool-enough-looking) to be desktops. I also have two main machines: a Linux box that acts as a server and a Windows "media center" that stores all my files. And I also have a travel laptop which I take on trips and business conferences. There's an old laptop in that bunch too. The sixth computer is a soon-to-be Macbook, but as you may have seen by my blog posts, I'm still waiting on that one. Maybe Dani will buy it for me. There's only one of the computers among this bunch that I don't mind giving up, and that's the old laptop. Everything else plays an important role in my life. I'm usually remotely connected to two or three at any given time.

What first brought you to DaniWeb?

Dani did, actually. I met her at a conference a few months ago in NYC. She's awesome.

What were your initial impressions of DaniWeb, and have they changed during the time you have been with us?

I think Dani's development skills are awesome. The fact that she singlehandedly put this website together speaks volumes about the kind of skills she possesses. As someone who wishes she could learn this stuff but would never have the patience to do so, my eyes just keep opening wider and wider and I'm awestruck.

What makes you stay here?

If I stay here, Dani will buy me brownies. However, that also contributes to my weight gain. So maybe I'll ask her to get me something for weight loss next time around.

The social side of the Web seems very important to you, why is this?

I just love how people connect online. I enjoy seeing how people learn from each other. Online networking is so important, and it's gotten me job opportunities and speaking engagements across the globe--all within the past year. My focus initially started in the search marketing industry, and I've learned a lot through blogs. In social media, I have become an "industry expert"--a title that I have to say I don't think I deserve. But I'm won't deny that I'm passionate about it in every sense of the word.

What are your interests outside of IT and outside of DaniWeb?

There's life outside DaniWeb? Well, if you insist: I blog at my personal blog, Techipedia. It covers social networks and Internet Marketing. I also write for Lifehackerwhich is a blog about technology and productivity. And finally, I also blog every morning at Search Engine Roundtable which covers search-related stories. I'm ALWAYS working and I'm also always dreaming of gadgets. On a personal note, I've been married for nearly 3 years, and my husband, Brian, is an inspiration to me. While all this stuff I do goes over his head, I have to say that without him, I don't think I'd ever be here.

Name the best thing about DaniWeb, and one thing you would change if it were in your power?

If it were in my power, I would become Dani.

You are our newest staff blogger here at DaniWeb, what made you want to write for us and are you finding it to be an enjoyable experience so far?

I love writing. I also love rambling. DaniWeb makes it easy to combine the two, and I can finally talk about things that don't quite fit in my other blog. It's a great place.

by Brian.oco

If you've been following this blog, you know I'm no nay-sayer on the economy. A realist, yes, but I won't wave pom-poms for a recession like so many others in the media.

That said, I don't think there's any doubt that 2008 will be short of a robust year for technology. And that's okay. Economies have cycles -- always have, always will.

After six years of sustained growth, we're in a dip, no question about that. But it's not a recession yet and, technically, may not be a recession at all. The classic definition of a recession is two straight quarters of negative economic growth. And that hasn't happened yet.

Still, as former General Electric CEO Jack Welch said on TV this week, "we won't have a recession, but it will sure feel like one."

One technology area that could hit a speed bump is the mobile phone sector. In anticipation of a soft year sales-wise, the analytical firm In-Stat says that revenue for mobile business applications will continue to be robust, but perhaps not robust enough to meet the optimistic forecasts of many mobile industry experts.

Noting that mobile business application growth was near the 50% mark between 2006 and 2007, the market research firm said its surveys reveal that the growth will likely slow to 44% from 2007 to 2008.

The discrepancy between the hoped-for growth number and the actual growth figures is explained by decision-makers expecting more business than what they can actually implement, In-Stat suggested.

"As business users approach saturation for horizontal mobile data applications, most of the growth potential remains for vertical market applications," said In-Stat analyst Bill Hughes in a statement. "These require more planning and time to implement. The result is that many within the wireless industry may have overoptimistic forecasts."

In-Stat's research also found that mobile data application penetration among companies increased to 94% from 75% in 2007 while smartphone use increased 34% between 2006 and 2007. That's good news - there is plenty of room for higher sales when companies exhale and start spending big money again (technically, they really haven't stopped, but I'm betting they will)

In-Stat also said that horizontal applications including e-mail, wireless Internet access, wireless instant messaging and persona information management (PIM) represent the highest penetration among business users because they are easy to implement.
Says the firm "While the mobile enterprise market is expected to undergo strong growth in the next few years, its growth rates will still lag those of mobile business data growth."

So if the mobile industry winds up taking a breather this year, and sales do tail off, look for it to resume its upward spike when the economy regains its vibrancy -- likely during the 2nd half of this year.