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"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, we would like to recognize Rodney Fulk (redheadedrod) from USA, for his work on MySQLi Connectors for Xoops 2.5.6 and 2.6 and continues support of our users on the XOOPS Forums..
Where are you from, and where do you live now?
I live in Grand Rapids, MI, USA. I was born here and have live pretty much within 50 miles of Grand Rapids since then.
How long have you been programming?
I started programming back in the 1980's in BASIC on my Atari 800xl. Before I had games I wrote my own and had to type them back in because it would take a half hour to load the games in using the Audio Cassette players we had back then. I have since programmed at least a hello program in just about every language in existence.
What is your expertise?
I don't necessarily have an expertise but I am very interested in computer security and making things do things they wouldn't normally do. Using Atari 8bit computers and Basic I spent the late 80's automating a laboratory with robotic samplers and equipment that had never been automated before. The companies didn't automate the equipment until 10 years after we did.
What got you to XOOPS?
A co worker turned me onto Post-Nuke back in the early 2000's and I ended up finding XOOPS through that connection. I have been hanging around Xoops since probably prior to 2005 but haven't gotten involved until much more recently.
What do you like most about XOOPS?
The ability to add modules to the main program to make whatever you want with XOOPS.
In what area of XOOPS do you contribute and why?
My biggest contributions to date have been making a few suggestions that made it into 2.6 and my ongoing contribution to the Database related code in 2.6.
You've done a great job with your MySQLi Connectors, and now helping Richard with Doctrine. What was your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge right now is staying focused on Xoops while I work a full time job 40 hours a week, attend school towards my Bachelors and being a Single Parent. Going through the code of 2.6 some of the different programming styles by the different authors has been a little interesting as well. Some of the code is done really nice and some not so nice. Trying to figure out what some of the code does can be a challenge.
What are you working on now?
As much as I can I am helping Richard update the 2.6 code base to work with Doctrine and some bug fixes along the way. When finished Xoops core should be able to run with any Doctrine supported database. At some point I may also be updating the Install script to run smoother than the one we have now and make it support Doctrine as well.
If you could add one feature to XOOPS, what would it be?
I have really 3 big features I want to add to Xoops over the next year or two.
- Remote installation of Modules - this will allow you to download and install modules directly from the admin menu.
- Update to the Groups/Permission system. There are some features I want to add that should make Groups/Permissions more powerful but still compatible with what currently is in place. Things such as an ACL, group based themes, and time based group memberships.
- Rewrite of Profile. I want to make this much more flexible and based on a plug in system to allow easy improvements not requiring rewriting of the core code to add new functionality.
What is your major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?
The programs I wrote back in the 1980's that were a decade ahead of their time. The main program was mentioned in a chemical industry magazine and my boss put it in for a contest where it won 2nd place for program of the year in the same Chemical industry magazine. All written in Basic on an Atari 8 bit computer at the time.
What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?
I enjoy playing video games with my teen aged Daughter on our PS3. I also do all sorts of cycling in my area. I have a mountain bike and have road tires too so I can go wherever I want both on and off road, on and off trail. I also weight lift and when I have the spare time I have played Semi-pro football and Rugby. I am 6'3" and just over 300 lbs so when I play football I play as a lineman, in Rugby I play #1 or #3 and Tight Prop.
You favorite dish and drink?
I would have to say standard Beef and potatoes would be my favorite thing to eat. I may drink some pop but otherwise I am not much of a drinker of much outside of water.
What about movies and music?
I tend to like stupid humor movies or anything that makes me laugh without having to think too much. Music wise as long as it is not country I will likely listen to it.
05. XOOPS Innovation Award
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 
This month, we would like to recognize Charly Cobben (chco2) from Netherlands for his work on the QRCode and CuErPa modules.
Where are you from, and where do you live now?
I live in the south of The Netherlands ( not Holland as it only part of a province here :) ) in a city called Oosterhout.
How long have you been programming?
Web programming started about ten years ago. Starting with Perl and then PHP. Programming in general dates back to machine language on my Commodore 64 :)
What is your expertise?
I answered that in detail in the WOX newsletter from April 2011. What has become part of my core business is 3D (modeling mostly) together with video editing. This takes about 50% of my work. the other 50% is Web development and Desktop Publishing (magazines, company brands, etc..)
What got you to XOOPS?
Let's turn that question into "What keeps you with XOOPS"
All the things I answered in the WOW newsletter of April 2012 are still very valid and what amazed me is the fact that XOOPS is so versatile and rock-solid that some websites I made have over 300 pages of content and a news archive dating from 2007 and XOOPS still flies. Without a glitch. Also some websites got a complete cosmetic overhaul that most people think it has been built again from scratch, while all I've done is create a new theme. This is what makes me keep using XOOPS. Just marked my 70th XOOPS website just yesterday
In what area of XOOPS do you contribute and why?
Mostly module development and some Theme development. If I get a customer that wants a custom module or theme I always try to get them to have the result over to the community. This is how the QRCode module came to be (Wuth the start of the Xurl module) and also the Responsive theme.
You've done a great job with your new responsive theme. What was your biggest challenge?
Thank you!
Well it was done for a customer and creating the theme for XOOPS was not even challenging, it was straight forward and went very smoothly. The only challenging is to get the modules to behave the way I wanted them within the Theme. Luckily most can be fixed with just changing CSS rules. The Smarty variables allow to check what blocks are used and allow for physical change to the Theme. Very handy!
If you could add one feature to XOOPS, what would it be?
For the future: Great development manual. And only one manual that covers it all with tutorials. Allowing developers and semi-developers (like me ;)) to get into XOOPS development with only one download!
What is your major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?
In regards to XOOPS it would still be the Xurl module. As it was my learning curve for XOOPS module development and it spawned the QRCode module and many more.
What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?
Still my kids. Gaming is still hot on my list (old skool ;)) and cooking!
You favorite dish and drink?
Nothing changed there from April 2012 :) Still too much whiskey though 
What about movies and music?
Also the same, although I did add Hugh Laurie to my musical collection with his two new Blues albums. Great stuff!
If you would have a chance for a 30 seconds commercial with a message to the world, what would you say?
Gonna quote my previous one as I still stand by it : "That only takes 5 seconds: "Make religion your guide, not your goal or prophecy. Do not be a fanatic about it and appreciate others in their way of thinking." Many of the world's problems relate to religion, it should not control your life and especially give you control over somebody else's life!"
If you could choose a place and time to live, what would it be and why?
Also still the 20's. But I'm loving this time and place very much as well!
Who is the person that you would like to meet and why?
Still go with William Shatner
Congratulations to all of our Winners. Starting last year, all Winners will receive a free book of their choice from O'Reilly. Also a free copy of PHP Storm from JetBrain.
07. New/Updated Modules
08. New Hacks
09. Security Issues/Alerts
10. YAXS, Sites using XOOPS
11. Tutorials/Add-ons/Documentation
12. New/Updated Themes
13. New Translations
XOOPS 2.5.6:
Earlier versions:
We are still looking for more translations!!! Can you help? See the list here
14. News from around the World
15. Local support sites
16. How to contribute
