phpBB Weekly

Hello everyone,

As we have mentioned over and over and over again, we will be launching a brand new website, new album artwork, and some other new features for the podcast this week, coinciding with the retirement of phpBB2. While the website and new features are being kept under wraps (after all, we like to keep secrets as much as the teams do), here’s what the new artwork will look like, if you haven’t seen it yet:

However, because I’m just a little bit behind on finishing up my college applications (don’t ask), I will be postponing both the release of our phpBB Weekly “Best of 2008″ clip show episode and the new website by a day. Therefore, the clip show episode will be released this Thursday, January 1st (instead of Wednesday, December 31st as originally announced).

That said, phpBBWeekly.net will be taken offline beginning at 1:00 PM EST (1800 UTC) on Friday, January 2nd, which is the day that we will launch our new website. During this time the files and database for the new site will move in and we will also do some last minute revisions and bug checking on the new site–this will hopefully only take an hour or two depending on whether the technology gods will be willing to cooperate. You will still be able to access our episodes during this period on our TalkShoe page.

Thanks for your cooperation. I’m sure you’ll love our new website as much as I do! Until then, have a very happy new year.

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Download MP3 Episode (64.9 MB)

Episode Duration: 1:53:23
On This Episode: Douglas Bell (Fountain of Apples) and David Lewis (Highway of Life)

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Well, we have come to the end of another year and just about closed out our second season of phpBB Weekly, and on this episode, we take a look back at how the phpBB project, teams, and community have evolved in the past year. We discuss all of the major announcements of the year and their lasting impact, as well as mention some of the best times we’ve had on this podcast over the past year, make some predictions for 2009, and we discuss what we think the accomplishments of this year have meant for phpBB overall. All of the announcements mentioned can be found in the phpBB.com Announcements forum.

David did also give us the scoop on the announcement that AutoMOD 1.0.0 beta 1 was released. We discussed how AutoMOD actually works and how to use it (which I don’t think we’ve actually covered before), and Douglas compares AutoMOD to EasyMOD for phpBB2 to look at their similarities and differences.

Additional AutoMOD Links Mentioned in this Episode:
AutoMOD
AutoMOD Support Forum
Installing AutoMOD
Installing MODs with AutoMOD
Known Issues with AutoMOD 1.0.0 beta1

Finally, Douglas closes out the show by thanking everyone who contributed to phpBB Weekly in the past year and helped make this show possible. Be sure to check back here on Wednesday, December 31st, when we will release a phpBB Weekly’s Best of 2008 clipshow episode featuring our best moments from this past year. Then, check back on Thursday, January 1st, when we will launch our brand new (and totally gorgeous) website and album artwork! You won’t want to miss it.

The MOD of the Week is Skype Mod by RMcGirr83 and the Style of the Week is Maxthon by Culprit.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!

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Download MP3 Episode (42.7 MB)

Episode Duration: 1:14:35
On This Episode: Douglas Bell (Fountain of Apples) and David Lewis (Highway of Life)

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David had snow on the brain during this pre-Christmas/holiday episode of phpBB Weekly, though with the ridiculous amount of snow that eastern Washington state has been receiving (as evidenced on David’s webcam), who could blame him. And with free snow giveaways being advertised on the SCOFF News Report, which we couldn’t help but replay during this episode, it’s easy to imagine yourself in the midst of the insanity of the Northwestern Winter Wonderland. Throw in the fact that Douglas has figured out David’s sound effects method and you’re in for one crazy holiday fun-fest.

But this episode wasn’t all fun-and-games. We did review the list of phpBBHacks.com Awards winners and noted their accomplishments. Congrats to all of the winners. Plus, David tells us about UMIL (the Unified MOD Installation Library) which was recently previewed by the MOD Team as a way for MOD authors and MOD installers to automate the process of installing modules and performing other functions necessary to the initial installation of a MOD. David describes what UMIL can do, how it works, and its current and possible future relationship with AutoMOD (the new official name for Blinky).

The MOD of the Week is Guess Timezone 2 by TerraFrost, and the Style of the Week is DirtyBoard2.0 by abble. Additionally, the opening music is Flu Ride – Bob Rivers and the closing music is Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer – Elmo & Patsy.

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays for all of us at phpBB Weekly. Thank you so much for continuing to listen to our show and making this a worthwhile venture for us. Peace & blessings to your and your family during this season and through the new year.

phpBB Weekly is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. Check them out for other great technology podcasts.

Todd Cochrane, the CEO of RawVoice, the parent company of the Tech Podcast Network (which phpBB Weekly, of course, is a part of) will once again be doing his 24 Hour Podcast event this weekend. He will be broadcasting continuously for 24 hours, starting with a pre-show at 10:30 AM EST tomorrow (Saturday), and ending at 11 AM EST on Sunday. During his 24-hour broadcast, he will be interviewing numerous other tech podcast hosts, running the monthly Tech Podcast Network Roundtable, and recording one of his own podcasts. This event will also be raising money to support disabled veterans, with a goal of $3000, and donors will be entered in a giveaway drawing that will take place at the conclusion of the 24 hour podcast.

The 24 Hour Podcast will take place on TalkShoe, so you can join the fun there the same way that you join the fun on phpBB Weekly (their Call ID is 10832). Todd will also be streaming video live on UStream.

So don’t miss out on this exciting event and its worthy cause! We also hope to see you on phpBB Weekly tomorrow, live as always!

But I don’t want to spoil it, so head on over there to check out the winners! I will say that I’m quite satisfied with the results…