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DevelopmentThe Schrödinger ProjectThe Schrödinger Project, named after Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, is a joint effort between Fluendo and BBC Research & Development with the aim of developing a set of ANSI C libraries that implement the encoding and decoding functions of the Dirac video codec project. "Dirac is a video codec that provides general-purpose video compression and decompression tools comparable with state-of-the-art systems. Dirac is available for distribution under the MPL version 1.1 software license."
The Schrödinger Project is the next step forward. The Dirac codec is a C++ project, while the Schrödinger libraries will be written in ANSI C. The Schrödinger Project's initial announcement states: "The goal of this new implementation is to focus on speed and maintainability." The announcement mentions the planned support for Ogg containers:
As part of this project we will also make sure the Dirac video codec can
be contained in the
Ogg
container format and work with Xiph.org to
ensure that this mapping is acceptable to the Xiph community.
The code is not yet in a working state, but interested people are
suggested to join the mailing list or check out development as it
proceeds in our Subversion repository.
A more formal announcement is forthcoming. This looks like fertile ground for the development of some interesting new video applications. New developers are welcome to join the project.
System Applications Database Software Latest Firebird Relational Database Released (Pre Final)The last release candidate for the Firebird 1.5.3 final database is available. "This sub-release introduces a number of retrospective fixes (backports) to bugs that became apparent and were fixed in the Firebird 2 tree during the alpha and beta phases of the Firebird 2.0 development. This release candidate (RC3) will become the final stable version in about a few days."
MySQL 5.0.18 has been releasedVersion 5.0.18 of the MySQL database has been released. "This is a bugfix version for the current production release family."
PostgreSQL Weekly NewsThe December 25, 2005 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is out with new PostgreSQL database articles and resources.
PostgreSQL Weekly NewsThe January 1, 2006 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is out with new PostgreSQL database articles and resources.
Interoperability Samba 3.0.21a Available for DownloadVersion 3.0.21a of Samba has been announced. "This is the latest stable release of Samba. This is the version that production Samba servers should be running for all current bug-fixes. The major reason for this release is a fix for bugzilla defect #3349 (client hangs due to oplock error)."
Mail Software Mailman 2.1.7 is availableVersion 2.1.7 of Mailman, a mailing list manager, is out. "This release enhances the fixes for CAN-2005-0202 and CVE-2005-3573 which were fixed in mailman release 2.1.6, and reduces the chance of list admin privilege abuse. Because of these and other fixes, it is highly recommended that all sites update to 2.1.7."
Telecom SIPp 1.1rc4 with RTP play available (SourceForge)Version 1.1rc4 of SIPp has been announced. "SIPp 1.1rc4 brings RTP play capabilities. SIPp is a free Open Source test tool / traffic generator for the SIP protocol. The project is very active and is largely used in the SIP community. The new pcap play feature (contributed by Guillaume Teissier) allows to send RTP streams and RFC2833 DTMFs along with the SIP traffic. This greatly widen the scope of SIPp and allows SIP compatible equipment provider to test their implementation better than ever." SIP is the Session Initiation Protocol, a telecom standard. See the Wikipedia definition for details.
Web Site Development phpBB 2.0.19 released (SourceForge)Version 2.0.19 of phpBB, an open-source bulletin board package, has been announced. "This release addresses several bugfixes and some security issues only affecting Internet Explorer. Additionally we introduced a new feature to limit the number of logins. The admin is able to configure this feature on two ways, defining the number of maximum allowed logins and setting a time period after the user is allowed to login again. With this feature we hope to address the recent dictionary attacks happening on some forums to crack user passwords."
Desktop Applications Audio Applications JackMiniMix 0.1 ReleasedVersion 0.1 of JackMiniMix has been announced. "JackMiniMix is a simple console based JACK client that mixes a number of stereo inputs into a single stereo output. The gains of each of the input channels can be queried and controlled by sending it OSC messages."
MuSE 0.9.2 releasedVersion 0.9.2 of MuSE is out with stability and usability improvements. "MuSE is an application for mixing, encoding, and network streaming of sound: it can transmit an audio signal by mixing together sound taken from files or also network, recursively remixing more MuSE streams."
Business Applications Eventum 1.7.0 ReleasedVersion 1.7.0 of Eventum, an issue tracking system, is available with a long list of bug fixes and new features. "Eventum is a user-friendly and flexible issue tracking system that can be used by a support department to track incoming technical support requests, or by a software development team to quickly organize tasks and bugs. Eventum is used by the MySQL AB Technical Support team, and has allowed us to dramatically improve our response times."
Data Visualization GtkDatabox 0.4.0.2 ReleasedVersion 0.4.0.2 of GtkDatabox, a GTK+ data display widget, is out with bug fixes. "GtkDatabox is a widget for the Gtk+-library designed to display large amounts of numerical data fast and easy. One or more data sets of thousands of data points (X and Y coordinate) may be displayed and updated in split seconds. The widget is therfore used in many scientific and private projects that need to show quickly changing data "live". GtkDatabox offers the ability to zoom into and out of the data and to navigate through your data by scrolling."
PyChart 1.39 releasedVersion 1.39 of PyChart has been announced, this release adds limited Unicode capabilities. "PyChart is a Python library for creating high-quality Postscript, PDF, or PNG scientific charts ready for publishing. It supports line charts, bar charts, range-fill charts, and pie charts."
Desktop Environments GNOME 2.13.3 ReleasedVersion 2.13.3 of the GNOME desktop has been announced, numerous bug fixes are included.
GNOME Software AnnouncementsThe following new GNOME software has been announced this week:
KDE Software AnnouncementsThe following new KDE software has been announced this week:
More information on the X11R7.0/X11R6.9 releaseMore details are available from the X.Org Foundation on the X11R7.0/X11R6.9 release that was recently announced. "The first major version release of the X Window System in more than a decade, X11R7.0 is the first release of the complete modularized and autotooled source code base for the X Window System. X11R6.9, its companion release, contains identical features, and uses the exact same source code as X11R7.0, but with the traditional imake build system. These changes in source code management, giving openness and transparency to the source code base and employing current technology, invite a new generation of developers to contribute, building on the long tradition of the X Window System. The new modular format offers focused development, and rapid and independent updates and distribution of tested modular components as they are ready, freed from the biennial maintenance release timetable." Thanks to Jay R. Ashworth.
Electronics Kicad 03-Jan-2006 releasedA new version of Kicad, an electronic CAD suite, was released on January 3, 2006. Changes include support for more distributions, Unicode mode compilation, bug fixes, and more. See the news file for details.
Games Retro Gaming Hacks, Part 2: Add Paddles to Pong (O'ReillyNet)O'Reilly is running part two in a series on hacking Pong. "In part one of this three-part series on hacking Pong, Josh Glover detailed how you can write your own Pong clone, using SDL. So what's next? Adding the paddles. Today Josh walks through how, with the help of sprites, you can create and animate player-controlled paddles for your Pong clone. Tune in the first week of '06 for Josh's conclusion--you'll need to add the ball and scoring next, right?"
Atari800 2.0.0 released (SourceForge)Version 2.0.0 of Atari800, a cross-platform Atari game emulator, is out. "Atari800 is an emulator of Atari 400/600XL/800/800XL/130XE/5200 with various extensions (320kB RAM, stereo sound and more) running on just about every operating system (Unix/Linux, Windows, DOS, TOS, MacOS, OS/2, Workbench, WinCE...)"
Instant Messaging Latest Gaim Beta Arrives (GnomeDesktop)GnomeDesktop.org covers the latest release of the Gaim instant messaging client. "This new beta, Gaim 2.0beta1, now includes support for several IM (instant messaging) protocols, such as the SIP/SIMPLE protocols, Apple Inc.'s Bonjour, the older Zephyr protocol, Novell Inc.'s GroupWise Novell protocol and several more obscure protocols such as the Polish Gadu-Gadu."
Interoperability KDE 3.5 VMware Image Available (KDE.News)An image of KDE for the VMware virtualization solution has been announced. "Stephan Binner has released a VMware Player image of KDE 3.5 with KOffice running on SUSE Linux 10. The image is fully functional and can be upgraded and tweaked as needed. The version of VMware necessary to run it can be downloaded for free."
Wine 0.9.4 releasedVersion 0.9.4 of Wine is available. Changes include: Improvements to the IDL compiler, Some infrastructure work for loadable driver support, The usual assortment of Direct3D improvements, IME support in the edit control, Better support for AVI animations, Debugging support improvements, Relay traces now work on NX platforms and Lots of bug fixes.
Mail Clients Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 Release Candidate 2 Available (MozillaZine)Release candidate 2 of Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 has been announced. "Scott MacGregor writes: "The second release candidate of Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 is now available for download. Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 RC2 is intended to allow testers to ensure that there are no last-minute problems with the Thunderbird 1.5 code. " "RC2 contains several key bug fixes that were identified during the RC1 testing cycle. There are no new features or enchancements from RC1. Users of Thunderbird 1.5 RC1 will be offered RC 2 through the software update system.""
Music Applications gmidimonitor version 2.0 is outVersion 2.0 of gmidimonitor is out with lash support and bug fixes. "gmidimonitor is GTK application that shows MIDI events. Currently MIDI events can be received at an ALSA sequencer port only. Support for other sources like ALSA RawMIDI port may be added in future." Version 2.1 was released a few days later: "This release adds dumping of sysex data and somewhat limited MMC decoding."
Beta 0.19 of MMA - Musical MIDI AccompanimentVersion 0.19 beta of MMA, the Musical MIDI Accompaniment, has been announced. Changes include: "Many bug fixes, major rewrite of volume code, REPEAT count enhancements, Lyric autochord transposition, GOTO recognizes line numbers, MALLET works in all tracks, and lots more!"
Office Suites OpenOffice.org NewsletterThe December, 2005 edition of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter is online with the latest OpenOffice.org news and resources.
Digital Photography Slideshow Creator 0.4.0 releasedVersion 0.4.0 of Slideshow Creator is available. "With Slideshow Creator you can edit jpeg slideshows in a visual and fast way so you can reach a much higher productivity with dvd-slideshow. The final result is a high quality dvd slideshow out of your jpegs!" See the CHANGELOG file for a list of new features.
Web Browsers A new year and a new media for Mozilla LinksThe producers of Mozilla Links have sent out a status update: "As you must have noticed there hasn't been a Mozilla Links release in a long while now due to basically lack of time to setup a whole issue release. So, we are moving to a new delivery media: a blog (web log). We expect this to be a much more agile way to reach you and an opportunity to bring more contributors with more content on board. You may expect the same great content including news, tips, power tips, interviews with Mozilla personalities, polls and product reviews."
Gecko 1.9 Trunk and 1.8 Branch Management Plan Posted (MozillaZine)A new draft plan for Gecko has been announced. "Brendan Eich has posted a draft plan for Gecko 1.9 Trunk and 1.8 Branch Management, including a FAQ at the mozilla wiki. Comments should be directed as followups to the newsgroup post."
Word Processors Command-line AbiWordFor those of you who thought that AbiWord was just a graphical application: AbiWord hacker Martin Sevior has posted a guide to AbiWord's server mode, which includes a command interface. Its main use appears to be scripted document format conversion, but various edition operations are possible as well.
Miscellaneous FileZilla 3 Preview (GnomeDesktop)GnomeDesktop mentions the new FileZilla FTP client. "FileZilla is currently being ported over to Linux from Windows (using wxWidgets) and will arrive in the form of FileZilla 3. At present it is in alpha stage but nightly builds are available to download from the FileZilla development site."
Languages and Tools Caml Caml Weekly NewsThe December 27, 2005 edition of the Caml Weekly News is out with the latest Caml language articles.
Caml Weekly NewsThe January 3, 2006 edition of the Caml Weekly News is available.
Java Joda-Time 1.2 released (SourceForge)Version 1.2 of Joda-Time has been announced. "Joda-Time provides a Java library for date and time handling including the ISO8601 standard. It completely replaces the JDK Date and Calendar classes, while still providing good integration. It is open-source software under the ASF2 license. Version 1.2 has just been released. This release fixes a nnumber of minor bugs in v1.1. There are also some new features".
ONJava: 2005 Year in Review (O'ReillyNet)O'Reilly presents a year in review article on Java developments in 2005. "2005 may not have seen a new version of Java, but it was a year of tremendous activity that saw Java assert its popularity, even while some wondered how well-suited Java is for its second decade. In this article, ONJava editor Chris Adamson wraps up the year in Java by looking back at some of the year's most popular articles."
Lisp SBCL 0.9.8 releasedVersion 0.9.8 of SBCL (Steel Bank Common Lisp) is available. "This is mostly a bug fix release with some performance optimizations."
Python Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!The December 27, 2005 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is online with new Python language article links.
Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!The January 3, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is online with new Python language article links.
python-dev SummaryThe November 16-30, 2005 edition of the python-dev Summary is out with a summary of python-dev mailing list activity.
Ruby Ruby Weekly NewsThe December 25th, 2005 edition of the Ruby Weekly News looks at the latest discussions from the ruby-talk mailing list.
Ruby Weekly NewsThe January 1st, 2006 edition of the Ruby Weekly News looks at the latest discussions from the ruby-talk mailing list.
Tcl/Tk Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!The December 28, 2005 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with new Tcl/Tk article links.
Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!The January 2, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with new Tcl/Tk article links.
Version Control monotone 0.25 releasedVersion 0.25 of monotone, a free distributed version control system, is out. "This is _not_ the roster-enabled release; this is a maintainence release of the old code, containing mostly small bug-fixes since 0.24. Highlights include IPv6 support, 'read' fixed to handle 0.23-and-earlier privkey packets, and the ticker display being fixed on win32."
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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![[Schrödinger]](/images/ns/schrodinger.png)
The Dirac