1. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
petelomax at blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
> 2) It is exclusive, Rob wants to encourage newcomers, not those he has
> already sold his product to. (Quite right too)
On a tangent another idea might be yearly awards
(not prizes - just for fame!)
there could be different categories:
* Best Euphoria source contribution
* Best contribution from a new user
* Best game
* Best utility
* Best library
* Best demo
... these are just examples, maybe more, maybe fewer, maybe just
forget I mentioned it! :)
Ray Smith
http://rays-web.com
2. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Just before the contest was announced I had posted "The Euphoria Award".
The award for the contests would be not be monetary, but instead the
winner would have a trophy(general contest winner) icon, or
spotlight(recommended and useful) icon beside their entry, on the
contributions page.
The main goal of the award would be to recognize quality applications
and libraries.
The contests could be used to put the spotlight on already contributed
apps and libraries as well.
The outcome of the contests would be that people get better recognition
for good programs.
Others would be able to browse the contributions and see the various
programs that have earned trophies.
There could be different awarded icons, depending on the contest
criteria. For example, one contest might be the best oop library.
Existing and new entries can be submitted. This would be a spotlight
contest. (Instead of getting a trophy icon, it would get a spotlight
icon, meaning it is a recommended and useful download, where a trophy
just means that it was good enough to win a contest)
I have plenty more ideas on the subject, but I'll stop now :P
In any case, I agree that RDS should support some sort of contest. It
can do nothing but attract people to EU.
Chris
Ray Smith wrote:
>
> petelomax at blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
> > 2) It is exclusive, Rob wants to encourage newcomers, not those he has
> > already sold his product to. (Quite right too)
>
> On a tangent another idea might be yearly awards
> (not prizes - just for fame!)
>
> there could be different categories:
>
> * Best Euphoria source contribution
> * Best contribution from a new user
> * Best game
> * Best utility
> * Best library
> * Best demo
>
> ... these are just examples, maybe more, maybe fewer, maybe just
> forget I mentioned it! :)
>
> Ray Smith
> http://rays-web.com
>
>
>
3. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Chris Bensler wrote:
[snip]
> In any case, I agree that RDS should support some sort of contest. It
> can do nothing but attract people to EU.
Possibly (probably) some of these ideas we are having "fame only"
contests, awards etc should be organised and run by someone other
than Rob?
The problem is who???
Anyone that has created even a simple web site (that should be
almost everyone!!!) knows how much effort is required.
Just imagine how much effort is required to set up a contest,
answer questions, test entries and keep everyone up to date.
For the "awards" based ideas it almost has to be user vote based
as "best" is very subjective.
I think "somehow" we should be looking at ideas of creating a
Euphoria "community" that isn't based around the mailing list.
The mailing list scares to many people away by the shear amount of
emails and in depth discussions. I have no idea what or how but it
seems like a nice idea!!!
As a side note:
I had a bit of a look around the Euphoria Web ring and found lots of
dead links or web pages that have no mention of Euphoria anymore.
Someone mentioned this a month or two ago ... should the "web ring"
owner be given to some individual other than Rob???
I guess my "thoughts" are how can be build more interest in Euphoria
while leaving Rob alone to work on the core Euphoria language.
Ideas anyone?
Ray Smith
http://rays-web.com
4. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Chris Bensler wrote:
> Just before the contest was announced I had posted "The Euphoria Award".
[snip]
> Ray Smith wrote:
> > On a tangent another idea might be yearly awards
> > (not prizes - just for fame!)
Damn it's hard to come up with a new idea! :)
Ray Smith
http://rays-web.com
5. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
The driving idea of "The Euphoria Award" was to provide a way for the
community to influence how an what is considered to be good programs. It
was conceived as a way to promote EU without requiring RDS to be
involved.
It does still require RDS to supply the new icons and updating the
Contributions page, but otherwise it is solely a community based effort.
I had thought about who should be in control, and resolved that the best
way would be to have an awards council. The council would take care of
providing, maintaining and judging each contest.
If you read my post "The Euphoria Award", it's described in pretty good
detail.
On a side note:
I think the BEST thing that RDS could do to improve the EU community,
would be to support an IRC channel, so people can chat live. I for one
would be forever grateful for such a thing.
I agree that alot of people are intimidated by the mailing list.
I for one, would be much happier to have a live chat area where I could
ask questions and get answers directly. Also, I for one, often have a
hard time explaining what I mean through a single email, and people
often misinterperet what is meant. Live chat would be much more suitable
for me.
I know myself, as most of you know :), I love to debate. The mailing
list is not suited for debating. In fact, it's ill suited for debates,
because people often get annoyed with seeing offtopic, or faintly
related discussions.
My learning curve would be ten fold if I were able to discuss and ask
questions in realtime. I often have seemingly silly, or insignificant
questions, where it's not practical to use the list to find the answer,
because it just takes too long to wait for a response, possibly not
getting one.
It's been tried before by the community to set it up, but without
direct support from RDS(java chat client on the RDS website, and
instructions for connecting using other clients), it has been a failure
everytime.
Maintaining and moderating the channel could be done by trusted EU
members, alleviating RDS from that task.
Chris
Ray Smith wrote:
>
> Chris Bensler wrote:
> [snip]
>
> > In any case, I agree that RDS should support some sort of contest. It
> > can do nothing but attract people to EU.
>
> Possibly (probably) some of these ideas we are having "fame only"
> contests, awards etc should be organised and run by someone other
> than Rob?
> The problem is who???
> Anyone that has created even a simple web site (that should be
> almost everyone!!!) knows how much effort is required.
> Just imagine how much effort is required to set up a contest,
> answer questions, test entries and keep everyone up to date.
> For the "awards" based ideas it almost has to be user vote based
> as "best" is very subjective.
>
> I think "somehow" we should be looking at ideas of creating a
> Euphoria "community" that isn't based around the mailing list.
> The mailing list scares to many people away by the shear amount of
> emails and in depth discussions. I have no idea what or how but it
> seems like a nice idea!!!
>
> As a side note:
> I had a bit of a look around the Euphoria Web ring and found lots of
> dead links or web pages that have no mention of Euphoria anymore.
> Someone mentioned this a month or two ago ... should the "web ring"
> owner be given to some individual other than Rob???
>
> I guess my "thoughts" are how can be build more interest in Euphoria
> while leaving Rob alone to work on the core Euphoria language.
>
> Ideas anyone?
>
> Ray Smith
> http://rays-web.com
>
>
>
6. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Chris Bensler wrote:
[snip]
> If you read my post "The Euphoria Award", it's described in pretty good
> detail.
Sorry ... I don't read all posts :( but I agree with your concepts :)
> On a side note:
> I think the BEST thing that RDS could do to improve the EU community,
> would be to support an IRC channel, so people can chat live. I for one
> would be forever grateful for such a thing.
Two issues with IRC chatting (or any chatting) ...
1. Time differences.
2. Some people don't know how to use IRC prog's or don't have access
to them.
IRC is not my preferred method but if a number of people are
interested just choose an IRC network and channel name.
My last few emails are about us as Euphoria users making more noise
about Euphoria. The more Euphoria users about can only benefit
everyone.
> Also, I for one, often have a
> hard time explaining what I mean through a single email
Emails are so fast these days that alot of mail list emails are
answered within 10-20 minutes anyway. This is better service than
almost all commercial suppliers of software!
(tongue in check) and almost as fast as some of the slow IRC servers!
Ray Smith
http://rays-web.com
7. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Ray Smith wrote:
<SNIP>
> Two issues with IRC chatting (or any chatting) ...
>
> 1. Time differences.
I don't see the relevance of that. We manage fine with the mailing list,
and it's influenced by the same factor.
> 2. Some people don't know how to use IRC prog's or don't have access
> to them.
Hence the reason for supplying a java chat client on the RDS site.
A java chat client requires no knowledge of online chatting, just enter
a nickname to use, and start typing away.
Instructions would be provided for more experienced user to access the
chat channel using their client of choice.
> IRC is not my preferred method but if a number of people are
> interested just choose an IRC network and channel name.
> My last few emails are about us as Euphoria users making more noise
> about Euphoria. The more Euphoria users about can only benefit
> everyone.
We have tried setting up a chat channel for EU, on a number of
occasions.
It was never supported by RDS though, so the only people who knew of the
chat channel were those who were already a part of the mailing list. Of
those people, only some knew how to connect to a chat channel. That made
for a pretty small attendance in the chatroom.
The only way that an EU chatroom is going to work is if RDS supports it.
> > Also, I for one, often have a
> > hard time explaining what I mean through a single email
>
> Emails are so fast these days that alot of mail list emails are
> answered within 10-20 minutes anyway. This is better service than
> almost all commercial suppliers of software!
Can you guarantee that I will get an answer for my question that I post
on the list? How long should I wait for a response to my question before
I give up and dig for the answer on my own? I may wait weeks before
someone responds, or maybe noone ever will.
On a chat channel, I can ask my question, and within a few minutes, I'll
know if anyone can help me. If I don't get an answer, THEN I could go
and post to the mailing list, and persue the answer on my own in the
meantime.
A chatline would also allow for easier conferencing and collaboration
for larger projects. People could discuss and share source code in
realtime.
It may take a week or longer to exchange 3 emails with somone using the
mailing list, or email in general. Depending on how often the parties
check their mail.
The same exchange would take a matter of an hour in a chat room. Code
can be shared, modified and sent back, pretty much instantaneously.
Chris
8. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Ray Smith wrote:
>
> Chris Bensler wrote:
>
What does all this have to do with my orginal post ???
I was talking about Euphoria Contests for the
EX EXU and EXW .Source Code
Bernie
9. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
On 3 Apr 2002, at 21:09, Chris Bensler wrote:
>
> Ray Smith wrote:
> <SNIP>
> > Two issues with IRC chatting (or any chatting) ...
> >
> > 1. Time differences.
>
> I don't see the relevance of that. We manage fine with the mailing list,
> and it's influenced by the same factor.
>
>
> > 2. Some people don't know how to use IRC prog's or don't have access
> > to them.
>
> Hence the reason for supplying a java chat client on the RDS site.
> A java chat client requires no knowledge of online chatting, just enter
> a nickname to use, and start typing away.
I really dispise java chat programs, they always lack a host of user features
that everyone wants eventually. Get mirc, pirch, etc,, look at
http://www.valinor.sorcery.net/clients/ for a list of irc clients for all OSs.
As for the net to put an irc channel on, i recommend Sorcerynet, since i am
an ircop there. It's smallish, more stable than any other net i've been on,
significantly less lag, and an available friendly oper base.
Kat
10. RE: Euphoria Contests for Source Code
Kat wrote:
> On 3 Apr 2002, at 21:09, Chris Bensler wrote:
>
> >
> > Ray Smith wrote:
> > <SNIP>
> > > Two issues with IRC chatting (or any chatting) ...
> > >
> > > 1. Time differences.
> >
> > I don't see the relevance of that. We manage fine with the mailing list,
> >
> > and it's influenced by the same factor.
> >
> >
> > > 2. Some people don't know how to use IRC prog's or don't have access
> > > to them.
> >
> > Hence the reason for supplying a java chat client on the RDS site.
> > A java chat client requires no knowledge of online chatting, just enter
> > a nickname to use, and start typing away.
>
> I really dispise java chat programs, they always lack a host of user
> features
> that everyone wants eventually. Get mirc, pirch, etc,, look at
> http://www.valinor.sorcery.net/clients/ for a list of irc clients for
> all OSs.
I strongly agree, but the java client is the quickest and easiest way
for people unfamiliar with IRC to get connected. Eventually, anyone who
uses IRC regularly, will migrate to a more suitable client.
I don't like the java clients either, but without one, I would never
have ended up on a chatline in the first place, to find out that I
should get a better client.
It should be provided as a gateway to IRC chatting. Not an IRC chat
client solution.
Requiring that people download an application, just to find out if they
are interested in the chat line, is not a good plan. Especially when it
tends to be somewhat difficult to get up and running, even using mIRC.
(I know it's easy, but you would be amazed at how much time I have
spent, and how many people I guided through setting up mIRC for a
specific IRC network)
Also, alot of people aren't interested in downloading programs to be
able to use a service. I've spent plenty of time trying to convince
people that java chat SUCKS, and they should get mIRC. They simply
aren't interested, and would rather struggle with the java chat.
Especially when they are exploring IRC for the first time.
> As for the net to put an irc channel on, i recommend Sorcerynet, since i
> am
> an ircop there. It's smallish, more stable than any other net i've been
> on,
> significantly less lag, and an available friendly oper base.
>
> Kat
