World of Xoops (WOX): WOX (World of XOOPS) Newsletter # 17 (February 2009)

Posted by: MambaOn 2009/2/2 2:00:00 22777 reads
WOX - World Of Xoops

W.O.X. - WORLD OF XOOPS #17 (February 2009)

Welcome to the second issue of WOX (World of XOOPS) Newsletter in 2009 (see here previous versions

We hope, everybody came back from Christmas, New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year's Eve vacations relaxed and energized!!!

As first thing in this newsletter we wanted to express our gratitude to all of  who have donated money to XOOPS Foundation! We very much appreciate it, as it helps us to pay for the server and other expenses. BTW - our 2008 Financial Report will be published in the next couple of weeks.

Other highlights of the month:

  • XOOPS Innovation Award - for people who create something very unique and innovative for XOOPS. This time the award goes to  Laurent JEN (DuGris) from XOOPS France for his work on XOOPS Installer to be featured in XOOPS 2.3.3!!
     
  • XOOPSer of the Month Award:  is given to XOOPS members who show extraordinary dedication to XOOPS, and go the extra mile for XOOPS. This month, the XOOPS community recognized Michael Beck (Mamba), the Webmaster of www.xoops.org for his work on the Website and for keeping the WOX Newsletter coming.
     
  • New section on Translations
     
  • Design Contest for XOOPS Giftshop
     
  • Good Press about XOOPS, e.g. in CMSWire about XOOPS
     
  • Work continues on XOOPS 2.3.3, and we hope to have it soon available for testing.

Summary



January was relatively slow, as many people were on vacation! But we still got some very nice themes from our regular wonderful Theme Designers:  Mr. Reda, Mariane, Sinnedesign and Bleekk, as well as from Saboum! Also new Translations in Urdu, Galician, Bosnian, Arabic, and upcoming Croatian, and few module updates.

All of this help XOOPS to move forward, so we always appreciate your contributions!!! Thank you!!!

Check out also updated news from around the world - it's always nice to see activities in local XOOPS Websites. Please keep us posted about new developments, so we can keep the worldwide XOOPS community updated!!!

Remember - XOOPS is powered by YOU!!!!

01. Donations

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Donations

If you like the XOOPS system, and would like to give something in return, you can make a donation to the XOOPS Foundation! Simply use the PayPal payment system to transfer your donation to the Foundation account.

Your donation will be used to promote and advance the use and development of the XOOPS system. The XOOPS Foundation is a registered not-for-profit organization in the USA, dedicated to promote XOOPS! All donators will get the Friend of XOOPS rank here on this website. Thanks to all the Friends of XOOPS for their donations and continued support!

This month we would like to acknowledge following donors:

  • Robert R. Dudley ($15)
  • Clyde Barnett ($10)
  • Anonymous ($15)
  • Competition Management Services, Inc ($25)
  • Tunç Yavuk ($15)
  • Anonymous ($15)
  • Chronolabs ($15)
  • Michael Beck ($5)

Thank you so much for supporting XOOPS!!!!

03. XOOPSers of the Month

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Our "XOOPSer of the Month" Award is given to XOOPS members who show extraordinary dedication to XOOPS, and go the extra mile for XOOPS. Sometimes they do something spectacular, but most of the time they just do something everyday, but by doing it day-in and day-out, they make a BIG DIFFERENCE in life of XOOPS community. And we thank them for that!!!

This month, the XOOPS community recognized Michael Beck (Mamba), the Webmaster of www.xoops.org for his work on the Website and for keeping the WOX Newsletter coming. Many of the answers in this interview below are the same as in a 2003 interview for Project JEDI, since not that much has changed

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

I live currently in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA), but I grew up in old good Europe (I lived in Poland, Austria, UK, Germany, and France).

How long have you been programming?

With breaks in between - for almost 15 years.

What is your expertise?

Mainly Delphi. It was also my first exposure to Open Source (before it was even called "Open Source" ). At that time we just wanted to develop a library of free Delphi components that everybody could use. I'm trying to get better in PHP.

What got you to XOOPS?

I was developing a Website for friends, and somebody from the Project JEDI designed a Website for Project JEDI using XOOPS. After overcoming some first "learning hurdles"  I really liked the system architecture, its modularity, and its community. I believed that XOOPS has so much potential! And yes, the website for my friends was designed using XOOPS

I was lurking here for several years, but end of 2007 I've decided to get more involved to help DJ (phppp) to get XOOPS back on track. I got a little bit experience with Open Source based on my work on Project JEDI, and was always very impressed with DJ and his work (a man of few words, but who delivers tons of great code), so I've decided to get my hands dirty

What do you like the most about XOOPS?

As I said, the system architecture, its modularity, and its community. It's a fantastic piece of software, as everybody can find a module for almost anything, and use XOOPS right away. I was also able to make here a lot of friends from around the world - it's the same what made me so involved in Project JEDI. The opportunity to work with so many different people from all over the world, from different time zones and with different languages - all with the same goal: to make XOOPS the best CSM program in the world- it's an awesome feeling!!! It makes world look so small! And the beauty is that we don't care from what political system are you coming, where you live, and what language you speak - the only desire is to make XOOPS better! 

In what area of XOOPS do you contribute and why?

I'm now maintaining mainly our XOOPS site www.xoops.org, and when time permits, trying to help with documentation and testing, as well as marketing and PR for XOOPS.

What you you major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?

Definitely the JEDI VCL - a library of free component for Delphi.  We had a great team of people, and we put together over 600 components into a one library, that is now used by many Delphi developers around the world. But I hope that in a year I'll say that it's XOOPS, once we take over the world as a best CMS

What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?

It used to be a lot of Taekwondo (I have a Black Belt and two US Taekwondo Championships in open sparring). Nowadays, it's a lot of Salsa dancing   Scuba diving and skiing are also on my list of favorite sport activities.

You favorite dish and drink?

I like Asian food (mostly Thai and Chinese), and to drink Lasse (Indian yogurt drink)

What about movies and music?

There are two movies I really like - "English Patient" by Anthony Minghella and "Red" by Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Reg. music, my taste changed over time. I've been through a Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Yes, and Pink Floyd phase, Jazz Fusion phase (with Chick Corea and Miles Davis), then through Soul and R&B phase, and now I am back to Jazz (incl. Smooth and Brazilian Jazz) - John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stan Getz/Jobim, Sade, Diana Krall, Chris Botti, Anna Maria Jopek. And of course, a lot of Salsa music, my favorite dance music!

If you were given 30 seconds of free television air time, to be broadcast all throughout the earth, and could say anything you wanted, what would it be?

To take better care of our environment - because that's what our children/grandchildren will be living in, and if we really love them then we should feel responsible for what legacy we'll be leaving to them. Interestingly, the same logic applies here as in programming - cost of clean-up is much higher than cost of prevention.

If you could choose a place and time to live, what would it be and why?

Probably in the Renaissance Italy, because of the beauty of art, and logic of science, both merged into one cultural experience.

Who is the person that you would like to meet and why? 

I always wanted to meet President Clinton, who I consider one of the best US Presidents.  Few years ago I finally met him, and it was definitely something to remember.

This year USA elected President Obama who has a real chance to be even better one. I was also lucky to meet him last year, so for the time being, I am done

04. XOOPS Innovation Award

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Our XOOPS Innovation Award is given to people who create something very unique and very innovative for XOOPS! We are clear that XOOPS can only succeed, when we push the limits of our creativity, imagination, and innovation to "infinity and beyond" . And therefore we would like to recognize people who create this "WOW!" effect, when we see what they've done. The XOOPS Innovation Award is not a monthly award, i.e. theoretically, there might be a month where we won't give one, but we certainly hope that this will never happen

Xoops Innovation Award Xoops Innovation Award

This month the award goes to  Laurent JEN (DuGris) from XOOPS France for his work on XOOPS Installer to be featured in XOOPS 2.3.3!! It's a great and innovative piece of software, and we very much appreciate Laurent's contribution!!!

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

I come from France, I live near Paris in Seine-Saint-Denis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seine_Saint_Denis)

How long have you been programming?

For the last 15 years, starting with object oriented SGBDR, currently mainly in PHP/MySQL

What is your expertise?

Consulting in intranet and web solution

What got you to XOOPS?

In 2004, to create a website community

What do you like the most about XOOPS?

That it's Open Source, this corresponds to the xoops slogan "powered by you", but also its modularity, ...

Why did you decide to develop the XOOPS Installer?

Skalpa started working on an installer, but it had never been used, so I decided to adapt to the needs expressed by the French team (www.frxoops.org)

What is your major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?

For XOOPS, the class security image, and today this class is even more relevant, because the functions of creating images used in the Captcha class of XOOPS are based on my work

What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?

I like to read, listen to music, but I try to give as much time as possible to my family. I am also engaged in politics and charity

You favorite dish and drink?

I am French, and you know the reputation of our cooking and our wines but I am also very amateur of beer, wisky

If you would have a chance for a 30 seconds commercial with a message to the world, what would you say?

Stop the war, poverty and misery in the world and think about how to preserve our planet

If you could choose a place and time to live, what would it be and why?

everywhere in the world where you can find women and men of goodwill

Who is the person that you would like to meet and why?

I have no name in particular to give you, but mainly those who fight for peace in the world and for human rights

05. New/Updated Modules

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06. New Hacks

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Xoops Hacks
  • No hacks this month
     

07. Security Issues/Alerts

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07. YAXS, Sites using XOOPS

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08. Tutorials/Add-ons

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Tutorials andAdd-ons
  • None this month

09. New/Updated Themes

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10. New Translations

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11. News from around the World

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12. Local supports

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13. How to contribute

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