The GUI Olympics!
Monday, January 14, 2002 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Stardock doesn't exist really in a physical community (I doubt the citizens of Canton Michigan or Livonia Michigan even know we exist). But it does exist in a virtual community that goes by many names and has many definitions based on who you talk to.
WindowBlinds 3 has been a success. A huge success. But its success and Stardock's in general is supported by a great deal of websites that usually run by volutneers who give freely to others with no thought to themselves. So how can a company that exists in such a community give something back and do so in a fun yet productive way?
The 2002 GUI Olympics.
It's not your typical contest. Instead, we created a brand new website called www.guiolympics.com. A neutral site. Then we got together with most of the major skin sites (and I did contact every major one) to have a combined WindowBlinds contest.
In this contest, Stardock is going to give out potentially over $10,000 in cash and prizes. Users who submit skins also choose a website they want to represent. The cash is split between the user and the website they represent. There's enough cash to pay for a lot of bandwidth for the coming year. And enough cash to go on a pretty nice vacation for the author too depending on how well they do (or at the very least, get a few nice things).
Anyone can join and you can represent any site that you don't own EXCEPT for WinCustomize and Stardock since we're involved in running it. Volunteers from WinCustomize (our VOLUNTEER moderators like Alexandrie, Treetog, etc.) are free to enter and represent whatever sites they choose. I don't know who they'll represent but it should be interesting.
Since there are so many awards involved, anyone who enters in a decent skin standsa a pretty good chance of winning SOMETHING. And they stand to help the website in question out.
Good luck and I hope to see as many WinCustomize users participate (representing other sites of course) as possible.
If you have any questions, post them here.
Reply #2 Monday, January 14, 2002 7:16 PM
Reply #4 Monday, January 14, 2002 7:31 PM
So if you make 10 skins, you could represent 10 sites.
Reply #5 Monday, January 14, 2002 8:57 PM

Reply #6 Monday, January 14, 2002 10:36 PM
Reply #7 Monday, January 14, 2002 10:51 PM
Reply #8 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 8:50 AM
Obviously another attempt by Stardock to dominate and ruin the skinning scene with overt commercialism.
Sarcasm off.
It was gonna be said anyway...
I just thought I'd beat the naysayers to it. 
Honestly, I think this is an excellent idea and should generate some terrific skins. This is a much better implementation than the older eFront manages WB contests. Congrats to Stardock for such a novel approach and a great way to support ALL the community.

Now all I gotta do is figure out how to eliminate Treetog from this... Hmmm, I wonder what Tonya Harding is doing these days?

Reply #9 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 9:40 AM
There will be no maming of skin authors! Please leave your billy clubs at home. There will be security guards at every entrance so don't even try!
Reply #10 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 10:55 AM
Reply #11 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:05 AM
I'm gonna give it a whirl

Reply #12 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:21 AM
I'm really looking forward to the results.

I only hope that the different sites don't get all bent about themselves fighting over which skinners are going to represent which site. I've already noticed a bit of scrambling for the more well known WB skinners...
(I'd find it quite fulfilling to see some "dark horses" come out on top.)

Reply #13 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 1:24 PM
This should be really interesting! Damn, I wish I knew how to skin WBlinds!!

Reply #15 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 1:36 PM

Reply #16 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 3:02 PM
This looks like so much fun I'm gonna make one too... if I can find out how to do all that new stuff in Notepad...

Reply #17 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 3:36 PM
Yeah, I've already gotten GUIOlympics related spam, from a site I never even heard of. I imagine the more well-known skinners are getting even more. After all, there's real money involved . . .
Reply #18 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 4:06 PM

Reply #20 Tuesday, January 15, 2002 6:19 PM
a) not be able to see author's names
during the judging? This may already have been planned, but if not, it's the only way the judging can be truly fair. One of my biggest gripes about wallpaper moderation is that I can see the author's names... You can try to ignore it, but all it takes is seeing a familiar name out of the corner of your eye to color your decision...
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Reply #1 Monday, January 14, 2002 7:13 PM
this will be really fun!
Kudos to Stardock!
now, first question: Can a skinners represent more then one site?