In light of my recent article on DonationCoder, no dotTechie has an excuse for not being (at least) remotely familiar with the website =). However, what some of you may or may not know, DoncationCoder holds an annual New Apps for the New Year (N.A.N.Y.) challenge where programmers are encouraged to show off their skills and conjure freeware/donationware programs. While there are more specific rules to read about, in a nut shell, here the basic guild lines of N.A.N.Y 2010:

• You must pledge that you are participating before the year ends; in other words, you must submit an application on or before December 31, 2009.
• You can create any type of application you want. It can be for Windows, Linux, Mac, the internet, iPhone, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Android, a script, a plugin, etc. However, it needs to be a new program that hasn’t been released publicly before November 2009 (updates to existing programs don’t qualify unless they are complete rewrites).
• It must be free (or donationware) for personal use.

For those legal minds worrying about their software, by submitting your software in the N.A.N.Y. challenge, you do not give up any intellectual or otherwise rights to the program. You don’t “give” the program to DoncationCoder.com, its owner, or its affiliates; the program is yours, you own it, and it stays that way.

If you are not sure what program you should create, I have one idea/request for a coder:

• A program that can monitor the computer resource usage (CPU and RAM [Working Set and Private Work Set]) of a user defined program over a user defined period of time, log it, and give an average of the time it was being logged. This would make reviewing software a lot easier =).

You can also drop by DonationCoder’s program idea suggestion thread or coding snacks forum and see if any of the ideas mention there interested you. If you feel like you could use some assistance on your program, feel free to drop by DonationCoder’s “Offers of Assistance” thread and see if any skilled soul there will be a fit for you.

Stephen has written excellent articles on on Python and C++. It is now time for you to put that Python and/or C++ knowledge you gained to good use – go participate in NANY 2010! If enough dotTechies  join, I am sure Mouser wouldn’t mind a “dotTech team” so to speak (if you want that is).

To get started, visit the N.A.N.Y. 2010 pledge thread and make your pledge.