keeping the community informed

Welcome to the latest community newsletter for DaniWeb members. We would like to take this opportunity to point out, for members new and old, that we now have a brand new welcome guide in the form of a helpful video guide. This professionally produced resource will introduce you to everything from the infraction system through to our blogs. We are really proud of our animated guide, take a look and let us know what you think!

helping us to help you…

The moderator team here at DaniWeb do a great job, helping to ensure that the forums run smoothly and any potential problems get ironed out as efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, much of their time is taken up dealing with the small minority of people who join simply in order to promote their own services or products. Forum and blog spammers are a fact of life; every successful online site has to deal with them. Dani herself has implemented a number of strategies behind the scenes which filter out the vast majority of spam attempts, but inevitably some do get through. We thank our community for continuing to use the bad post reporting tool to inform us of any that they spot so that a duty moderator can deal with it pretty much any time day or night.

However, you can also help even more by reading the rules especially the Keep it Spam-Free one. Before you post to DaniWeb in the forums or the blogs, remember that advertising or promoting your website is not allowed. We encourage open and unbiased discussion which means that referring to sites you own or are affiliated with is prohibited outside of certain specific forums: Hardware Swap, Post your Resume, Project Partners Wanted, Show Off your Projects, and Website Reviews forums, as well as all forums contained within the Webmaster Marketplace. We have had some members who hide their affiliation with a site or service and then recommend it in response to another members questioning. We will, be assured, take action where such duplicity is uncovered.

There is, though, one way to promote your own site without incurring the wrath of the DaniWeb moderators and administrators: by using the signature facility. Here you can use self-promotion links as long as they do not contradict any other rules such as those regarding inappropriate language or content. to edit that signature all you have to do is go to your Control Panel and look for the Settings and Options menu on the left of the screen, select Edit Signature and the rest is very straightforward.

every month one member makes the DaniWeb hall of fame…

Please welcome our newest member of the DaniWeb hall of fame, khess who has been part of the DaniWeb blogging team for a few months. One of the small army of Staff Writers who bring you all the IT news that matters, Ken specialises in everything Linux. His Linux Blog has covered everything from his regular 'Crystal Ball Sunday' news round-ups to in-depth coverage of distro issues. Ken also finds time to pop up in the PHP as well as Windows and Desktop Managers forums. Here's what we discovered about our latest proud recipient of the Featured Blogger badge when we decided to probe that little bit deeper…

Where are you from originally, and where do you live now?

I was born, and grew up, in Ranger, Texas--a very small town with few amenities. Many people, including my brother, are still connecting to the Internet via dialup. Currently, I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain.

How old are you?

I'm 46--which is ancient in Internet years but I'm well-preserved and pretty spry.

What is your current occupation, ever done anything unusual in the past?

I am a Consulting Engineer for EDS and I get to work from home, which is a huge bonus for me, since I am also a technical writer. It affords me the time and flexibility I need to write instead of commute. That two hours per day is well spent. Before entering the computer/technology field, I was a Chemist -- but not in the sense of a Pharmacist -- I was a laboratory Chemist who worked on Gas Chromatographs (GC) and Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometers (GC/MS). I loved working with the GC/MS; it made me feel like a real scientist which I always aspired to be.

What is your favorite computer and why?

I love Linux. I live and breathe it. I write two monthly columns about it and I blog here on DaniWeb about it. I fell in love with Linux because I had worked on large Unix systems but to have a PC-based Unix that I could basically carry around with me was awesome. I was hooked from my very first login. I was so into it, in fact, that I started the local Linux Users Group, here in Tulsa in 1996. It was frustrating at first because few knew about Linux but the group is still going and growing today.

What first brought you to DaniWeb?

DaniWeb offered me the opportunity to be a real technology journalist, not just a columnist. Here I can inform, entertain, and help others learn about the joys of Linux. I have always been jealous of journalist bloggers and now I am one.

What makes you stay here?

DaniWeb has a unique position in the Internet community. I studied it very carefully before joining. It has a large and diverse global audience that seems to be forward-thinking and friendly. I like it. DaniWeb also has some of the best technology writers in the business as Staff Writers. I am honored to be among them.

What is your favorite forum and why?

My favorite forums are the Linux and Unix-oriented ones of course! I love helping members learn and discover the power of Linux. I purposely troll the forums and look for the posts that have the fewest responses so that I can assist. I am as excited about Linux now as I was 13 years ago when I first discovered it. I hope that excitement shows in my posts and my forum responses.

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

I have varied interests outside of DaniWeb that include cooking, fiction writing, and art. I love to draw, paint, and do block printing. I carve my own blocks from linoleum and use them to print simple pictures and designs. I am also working on the Great American Novel: Murder on Mustang Island. I hope it is finished in late 2008 and published in 2009.

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

The best thing about DaniWeb is the member community -- without you, there would be no DaniWeb and no me to bring you news and comment. The Staff Writers are awesome--some of the best folks to work with ever. Dani, herself, is very cool too! Since the popup menu listing thing has been removed, I don't think I would change a thing. DaniWeb works. I enjoy the features, feedback, and the forums. I am not sure I would change anything. Sorry, that isn't very helpful but when I'm happy, I don't complain.

Any fascinating facts about yourself that you would like to share with the DaniWeb
community?

I am the Open Source columnist for Systems Management News and the "On the Desktop" columnist for Linux Magazine. I am also the lead author on a new book titled "Practical Virtualization Solutions" that should be out in September or October. I have written a book on SQL, an Access 2007 book, and was a contributing author on a Linux Solutions book. My website is at kenhess.com.

by Techwriter10

Though nothing will
Drive them away
We can beat them
Just for one day
~David Bowie, Heroes.

That collective sigh of relief you hear this morning is probably the millions of YouTube users who are relieved that Google and Viacom have reached an agreement to protect their privacy. All I can say is thank goodness that common sense prevailed for once.

I am sure I was not alone in my anger and outrage when word got out earlier this month that a federal judge had ruled in a copyright infringement case against Google involving its YouTube property, that the plaintiff Viacom had the right to see YouTube logs to see which copyrighted material was used, but also included a free pass to access user names and IP addresses. In my view, if Viacom wanted proof of the perceived misuse of its content, then a list of its copyrighted content itself should have sufficed without seeing the viewing habits of each and every YouTube user. The judge, by the way, did see fit to protect YouTube’s source code from Viacom’s prying eyes, but thought nothing of trashing user's privacy.

Interestingly enough, according to this article in PC Pro, the agreement does not cover Google employees. Seems Viacom wants proof that Google explicitly knew about the copyright violations because individual employees were among those watching. Leaving aside, how that proves corporate knowledge, I can’t help but thinking if Google is responsible for masking user identifying information, how is the employee information going to be kept separate? I guess that just more billable hours for the attorneys involved to hash this all out.

Another interesting aspect to this is that Google in protecting its users from this information grab comes out looking like the good guy in the eyes of millions of users. Google, like Apple (as I reported on Monday in Consumers Should be Mad as Hell Over iPhone 3G Phone Launch Debacle (But Aren’t)), is a Teflon company. Unlike Microsoft which forced to suffer all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Google comes out unscathed looking like the hero to us all.

I have to admit, I’m pleased that Google stood up for its users. The lawyers could have simply thrown up their hands and said that a judge’s order is a judge’s order and there is little they can do, but they didn’t. They sat down with Viacom’s legal team (stacked up a bushel of billable hours) and found a way to protect our privacy. For that, we really should be grateful, and truth be told I don’t recall Apple or Microsoft ever taking a similar step in the name of its users.

Whatever Google's motivation on this one, I’m just glad that common sense prevailed, and for that Google is a hero, at least for one day.