Care in the Community
Read on for the latest news, features and happenings for ZDNet.co.uk members from your very own community editor.
Wednesday 13 February 2008, 5:59 PM
MacBook winner investigates wartime enigma
A few months ago, we ran a competition for a matching black MacBook and USB modem, courtesy of mobile broadband provider Vodafone. Congratulations are due to the winner John Harris, who sent us this photo.
The picture shows John putting the MacBook to interesting use. Here's what he told me in his message:
"It shows me with MacBook and Modem, looking at a scanned photo from 1943 of an action by the German Navy against a Royal Navy Miniature submarine know as an X craft in Kaafjord, North Norway. The story of the X craft exploits appears in 'Above Us the Waves' film and book and many other films, books and documentaries have been made on this subject.
"I have been involved since 1973/4 and have both dived in the fjord and visited many times (and expect to go back again) as there is an enigma surrounding the fate of one of these X craft is still unknown and we believe the photo (taken by a German Officer) I am viewing is the last taken of her. On the table is a manufacturing drawing of the submarine and I am trying to ascertain the nature and extent of damage caused by German shells which eyewitness reports say hit her.
"I communicate regularly with a fellow researcher presently based in Perth Aus., and others in UK, Norway and Germany and although not online in the picture, will be sending my calculations to him."
Fascinating stuff, and all done mainly by people who are doing it because they're passionate about it! So if anyone knows of a sponsor who might be interested in getting involved, drop me a line and I'll put them in touch with the researchers.
Wednesday 6 February 2008, 5:29 PM
£100 giveaway to keep Homebrew Blog cooking
The first thing people told us about our recent Homebrew Challenge was that it was great to hear from other enthusiasts about their home tech projects. The second thing was that they really appreciated being able to pick up tips, especially money-saving ones, what with the cost of components and all. At ZDNet Towers, we are good listeners. So we're putting up £100 to grease the wheels of domestic techery.
It's all centred on the Homebrew Blog. Over the course of February, we'll follow the entries posted there, and the comments on them. The group blog, for those who haven't been there yet, is the place to show off their home-built tech projects. If your contribution catches our eye, and if you're a UK resident, you'll get a £100 gift voucher for the online component seller of your choice.
It isn't just a question of volume--you might just put up one post and win, if it's a cracker. There are all sorts of ways to go about it, what with video, photos, and making nifty suggestions via comments.
And if you're reading the group blog and want to argue for a member to win, just post a comment. We are, as ever, keen to get your feedback. So if you think this giveaway is a good idea, and if you think we should make it a monthly event, let us know that too. We're listening.
Wednesday 2 January 2008, 4:36 PM
Still time to enter ZDNet UK's Christmas giveaway
Though the long, slow trek back to the desk no doubt looms, the festive season isn't over yet — at least while there is still time to enter our annual Christmas contest-fest.
The first competition in our 12 Days of Christmas series closes tomorrow, so if you fancy winning a Hazro widescreen monitor, get over there now. All you have to do is answer a multiple-choice question. There are 11 other prizes to be given away, so enter soon--the last competition ends on 19 January. Here's what you can win:
Day 2: Motorola Razr2 V8 Day 3: Navman S70 sat-nav Day 4: Brother colour laser printer Day 5: Netgear 1TB ReadyNAS Day 6: HTC Touch Day 7: 2GB Crucial memory kit Day 8: Google Mini Search Appliance Day 9: Orange SPV E650 phone Day 10: Toshiba e-Studio200s printer Day 11: Intel quad-core kit Day 12: Lenovo laptop with Centrino Pro
Good luck, and a happy New Year from ZDNet Towers.
Wednesday 14 November 2007, 12:55 PM
Blogs are now YouTube-ready
Sometimes the only way to get your point across, or to really describe what's going on, is to show a video. You might want to show off your latest tech project, do a video review of your latest gadget, take us onto a trade show floor with you or give us a tour of your company's server room.
In recognition of this, we've added a feature that will let ZDNet members embed a YouTube video in their blog postings.
All you have to do is grab the URL generated by YouTube. If it's a video you've uploaded, you can find it here:
Or you can grab the link for any YouTube video in the address bar above:
Just paste this URL into the body of your blog entry where you want it to show up. It's best not to put it near the start of the post, as it might interfere with its showing up on the Community page listings--and anyway, a few words of introduction are a good idea.
If you've got any feedback on this, or have questions, just leave a comment or send me an internal message. Until then, I'll watch out for the loltechs...
Thursday 8 November 2007, 7:02 PM
How to post images to your blog
We know that ZDNet members, especially those who've entered the Homebrew Challenge competition, want to share images in their postings. Good news — we've made changes to let you do this.
While you can't upload images, you can embed pictures hosted elsewhere--on Flickr, for example. To do this, use the usual standards-compliant code:
<img src="URL" width="NUMBER OF PIXELS" height="NUMBER OF PIXELS" alt="WHAT THE PICTURE SHOWS" />
The maximum width of your image should be 400px. It will break if it is any larger than this.
Hope that helps! Post a comment if you have any questions or feedback.
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