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DevelopmentEdit image metadata with ExifToolPhil Harvey's ExifTool utility is a cross-platform Perl-based application that can be used to inspect and modify Exchangeable image file format (Exif) metadata from digital images:
ExifTool is a platform-independent Perl library plus a command-line application for reading, writing and editing meta information in image, audio and video files. ExifTool supports many different types of metadata including EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, JFIF, GeoTIFF, ICC Profile, Photoshop IRB, FlashPix, AFCP and ID3, as well as the maker notes of many digital cameras by Canon, Casio, FujiFilm, HP, JVC/Victor, Kodak, Leaf, Minolta/Konica-Minolta, Nikon, Olympus/Epson, Panasonic/Leica, Pentax/Asahi, Ricoh, Sanyo, Sigma/Foveon and Sony.
Exiftool has a long list of features, these include reading and modifying data from a large number of digital cameras, support for a long list of image filetypes, operation on single files and directory trees of files and much more. A huge number of metadata tag names are supported. Installation of ExifTool on a Ubuntu 7.04 system involved the trivial step of selecting the libimage-exiftool-perl package in the synaptic package management application and selecting "install". The perl-doc package was also added to support the application's online documentation. ExifTool was run on a test image, the example output shows the large amount of image metadata produced by a modern digital camera (Nikon Coolpix S10). Lots of useful information was found, such as the image resolution, creation date/time and camera exposure settings for the particular image. Your author experimented a bit with changing some fields in his test image. Changing a writable field was as simple as typing: exiftool -Comment="new comment" DSCN0432.JPG on the command line, but some difficulty was found with modifying multi-word field names, specifically "User Comment". The documentation was consulted and the command exiftool -listw DSCN0432.JPG was run, showing a long list of writable field names. A discrepancy involving inter-word whitespace was found between the displayed field names and those that need to be entered on the command line. The online manual could be a bit more clear on this point. Still, no luck was had changing the "User Comment" field. The problem was finally resolved by using the -m flag to ignore "minor errors" such as "Bad NikonPreview directory", which showed up when examining images from this particular camera. Running exiftool -m -UserComment="new user comment" DSCN0432.JPG finally produced the desired change to the image metadata. The project's version history notes the recent release of version 6.96, which adds support for a number of camera manufacturers' subfields and fixes some bugs. The software is available for download from the ExifTool project page, or older versions may be installed from your favorite distribution's package repository. ExifTool has been released under the same licensing terms as the Perl language. If you need to examine or modify Exif data from digital images, ExifTool is a powerful tool that can get the job done.
System Applications Database Software Firebird 2.0.3 RC 1 announcedVersion 2.0.3 RC 1 of the Firebird DBMS has been announced. "This sub-release introduces a number of bug fixes done since the v.2.0.1 release in March and a couple of important fixes to the withdrawn v.2.0.2. It does not add any new functionality to the database engine."
PostgreSQL Weekly NewsThe September 9, 2007 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with the latest PostgreSQL DBMS articles and resources.
Interoperability Samba 3.0.26a available for downloadSamba version 3.0.26a has been announced. "This is a bug fix release of the Samba 3.0.26 code base and is the version that servers should be run for for all current Samba 3.0 bug fixes." See the download site for more details.
Networking Tools NagVis 1.1 final released (SourceForge)Version 1.1 final of NagVis has been announced. "NagVis is a visualization addon for the well known network managment system Nagios. NagVis can be used to visualize Nagios Data, e.g. to display IT processes like a mail system or a network infrastructure. There were many, many improvements since NagVis 1.0. We highly recommend to update to version 1.1."
PIKT 1.19.0 releasedVersion 1.19.0 of PIKT, the Problem Informant/Killer Tool, is out with new features, improved documentation and bug fixes. "PIKT is cross-categorical, multi-purpose software for monitoring and configuring computer systems, administering networks, organizing system security, and much more. PIKT is intended primarily for system monitoring, and secondarily for configuration management, but its versatility and extensibility evoke many other wide-ranging uses."
Web Site Development Apache HTTP Server 2.2.6, 2.0.61 and 1.3.39 releasedThree new versions of the Apache web server, 2.2.6, 2.0.61 and 1.3.39, have been announced. The older versions feature bug and security fixes and: "Apache 2.2 offers numerous enhancements, improvements, and performance boosts over the 2.0 codebase."
lighttpd 1.4.18 releasedVersion 1.4.18 of lighttpd, a light weight web server, has been announced. "So here we are again. The previous release is already 12 days old! It already got grey hair. And again we have a small security bug! It seems, if you get the more popular, more people are looking at your code. This time Mattias Bengtsson and Philip Olausson from secweb.se took a look at the code. They found a small bug that could lead to remote code execution in fastcgi applications."
Miscellaneous Zenoss 2.05 is available (SourceForge)Version 2.05 (maintenance release) of Zenoss Core has been announced. "Zenoss Core is an enterprise network and systems management application written in Python/Zope. Zenoss provides an integrated product for monitoring availability, performance, events and configuration across layers and across platforms."
Desktop Applications Audio Applications nova filters as ladspa pluginsTim Blechmann has released several audio filters as LADSPA plugins: "i just releases some filters as ladspa plugins, that i originally wrote for nova, so that they can easily be used from any ladspa-aware application."
Business Applications Librepos 0.0.23 released (SourceForge)Librepos 0.0.23 is out with a number of new capabilities. "Librepos is a point of sale application designed for touch screens, supports ESC/POS ticket printers, customer displays and barcode scanners. It is multiuser and has a great backoffice with a product entry form, reports and charts. A lot of progress has been made since the previous release and there will be more progress the next release. A discussion in the forums explaining in detail the features included this release will start soon."
opentaps 0.9.6 released (SourceForge)Version 0.9.6 of opentaps has been announced, it features bug fixes. "opentaps is a Java open source ERP and CRM suite based on the Apache OFBIZ framework and includes capabilities for ecommerce, product catalog, warehouse management, manufacturing, financial management and accounting, customer relationship management, sales force automation, marketing management, and data integration. It is compatible with all major databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle and can be deployed on Linux or Windows."
CAD Sailcut CAD 1.3.0 announced (SourceForge)Version 1.3.0 of Sailcut CAD has been announced. "Sailcut CAD is a sail design and plotting software. It allows you to design and visualise your own sail and compute the accurate development of all panels in flat sheets. The Sailcut CAD project is pleased to announce release 1.3.0 of its sail plotting package. This release is the result of nearly a year of development and it contains both bug fixes and a number of new features which users requested."
Desktop Environments GNOME 2.19.92 releasedVersion 2.19.92 of the GNOME desktop environment has been announced. "This is our ninth development release and first release candidate for GNOME 2.20.0, which will be released later this month. This release is the last before hard code freeze starts on september 10th. Please test this as much as you can and file bugs in http://bugzilla.gnome.org/ if you want them fixed before the final release."
GARNOME 2.19.92 announcedVersion 2.19.92 of GARNOME, the bleeding edge GNOME distribution, is out. "We are pleased to announce the release of GARNOME 2.19.92 Desktop and Developer Platform. This release includes all of GNOME 2.19.92 plus a bunch of updates that were released after the GNOME freeze date. This is the last release in the unstable cycle, with nothing but fixes added. It is for anyone who wants to get his hands dirty on the development branch, or who'd like to get a peek at future features."
GNOME Software AnnouncementsThe following new GNOME software has been announced this week:
KDE 4.0 Beta 2 releasedThe beta 2 release of version 4.0 of the K Desktop Environment (KDE), codenamed Cartoffel, has been announced. "This release marks the beginning of the feature freeze and the stabilization of the current codebase. Simultaneously the KOffice developers have released their third Alpha release, marking significant improvements in this innovative office suite. Both KDE and KOffice have benefited from the Google Summer of Code, as most resulting code has now been merged. Since the libraries were frozen with the first Beta, KDE developers have been adding features and functionality to their applications. Now it is time to start polishing these features; writing and translating documentation, improving the usability, and completing the artwork."
KDE 4.0.0 release scheduleThe KDE 4.0.0 release schedule has been updated, KDE 4.0.0 should come out on October 30. "We, The Release Team, hereby announce that we are accelerating the KDE 4.0.0 schedule 2 weeks by removing 1 Beta and slightly extending the Release Candidate cycle. Additionally, we are introducing a new "KDE Development Platform" release to occur in late October. These release will contain all the bits and pieces necessary to develop KDE4 applications; meaning it will include kdesupport, kdelibs, kdepimlibs and kdebase/runtime."
KDE Commit-Digest (KDE.News)The September 9, 2007 edition of the KDE Commit-Digest has been announced: "In this week's KDE Commit-Digest: Colour Picker and Welcome applets appear for Plasma. Many bugs fixed, especially through the merge of the Summer of Code project "KRDC Revamp". A KPart created, amongst other improvements in Marble. Support for XESAM UserLanguage queries in Strigi. More work, especially in playlist handling, for Amarok 2.0. Improved search interface in KSystemLog. A return to work on KRecipes. KVocTrain is renamed Parley. Restart of development on a successor to the Eigen math library, Eigen2..."
KDE Software AnnouncementsThe following new KDE software has been announced this week:
X11R7.3 has been releasedRelease 7.3 of the X window system is out. "The X11R7.3 release incorporates the 1.4 version of the X.Org X Server, which is most notable for the addition of input hotplugging support, with device detection managed either through HAL or a dbus-connected manager. Also new in the X Server since X11R7.2 is the 1.2 version of the RandR extension, which allows for runtime configuration of outputs within X Screens and an improved static configuration system for multihead in a RandR 1.2 environment. This release also rolls in a new driver, xf86-video-vermilion, and re-adds the xf86-video-glide driver which had been present in the monolithic releases. The xbacklight command-line tool is also added for configuring backlight properties through RandR 1.2. Other modules have also gone through the usual host of updates and bugfixes as well."
Xorg Software AnnouncementsThe following new Xorg software has been announced this week:
Electronics gEDA/gaf 1.2.0-20070902 releasedStable version 1.2.0-20070902 of gEDA/gaf, a collection of electronic design tools, has been announced. "This release rolls up the changes from the last 2 months of development. Many thanks to everybody involved."
Encryption Software GnuPG 2.0.7 releasedStable version 2.0.7 of the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG), an encryption tool, is out with new features, bug fixes and support for Windows Vista.
Games Robocode 1.4.4 announced (SourceForge)Version 1.4.4 of Robocode is out with bug fixes. "Robocode is a Java programming game, where the goal is to develop a robot battle tank to battle against other tanks. The robot battles are running in real-time and on-screen. The motto of Robocode is: Build the best, destroy the rest!"
Widelands build-11 released (SourceForge)Build 11 of Widelands, a cross-platform game that was inspired by Bluebyte's Settlers II, has been announced. "Build-11 represents a huge leap forward for Widelands, with many new features and a large number of improvements to gameplay. Among the new features are fog of war, autosaves, replays of entire games and a new campaign interface."
GUI Packages wxWidgets 2.8.5 releasedVersion 2.8.5 of wxWidgets has been announced, it feature bug fixes. "wxWidgets is a mature, open source, cross-platform application framework for C++ and other languages."
Office Applications Chandler Desktop 0.7.0.1 releasedVersion 0.7.0.1 of the Chandler Desktop Project has been announced, it features many new capabilities. "Chandler Desktop is an open source, standards-based personal information manager (PIM) built around small group collaboration and a core set of information management workflows modeled on Inbox usage patterns and David Allen's GTD methodology."
Miscellaneous Geotag 0.011 released. (SourceForge)Geotag 0.011 has been announced. Geotag is: "A platform independent program to geotag images (use GPS data to store location information with the image). Uses external maps to fine-tune locations. New in this version: Added support for the following RAW file formats: ARW, DCR, RAF, SR2, SRF, X3F. Exiftool can only read those files, so locations are automatically stored in XMP sidecar files."
KnowledgeTree 3.4.3 is now available (SourceForge)Stable version 3.4.3 of KnowledgeTree has been announced, it features bug fixes. "KnowledgeTree is a powerful Open Source document management system."
Languages and Tools C GCC 4.2.2 status reportThe GCC 4.2.2 status report has been published. "The GCC 4.2.1 release was July 18, so our target for a 4.2.2 release is September 18th. I plan to build RC1 this Sunday, September 9. If all goes well, we'll have 4.2.2 out around the 18th; if not, we'll delay a bit from there. One critical issue: has GCC 4.2.x been fully converted to GPLv3, at this point? If not, we'll have to wait until that is done before we can release, per the FSF's instructions."
GCC 4.3.0 status reportThe GCC 4.3.0 status report has been published. "We are closing in on Stage 3, previously announced for September 10th. At this point, I'm not aware of any reason to delay that date. Are there any Stage 2 patches that people don't think will be submitted by that point? Are there Stage 1 or Stage 2 patches in need of review? I'll do my best to either (a) convince someone to review them, or (b) review them myself."
Interview: GCC as an incremental compile server (Spindazzle.org)Anthony Green interviews Tom Tromey. "Tom Tromey is making some interesting changes to GCC. I interviewed him via email to learn more... green: You recently started a project to turn GCC into an "incremental compiler". What will be "incremental" about it? tromey: When recompiling, GCC won't redo all the work of compiling a file. Instead, it will only recompile the parts that have changed. For this to work well, we'll also eventually need an incremental linker. Luckily there are some new linkers on the horizon which should help. Down the road I'd like to look at exploiting the server code (the incremental compiler runs as a server) to provide "IDE assist" -- indexing and the like."
Caml Caml Weekly NewsThe September 11, 2007 edition of the Caml Weekly News is out with new Caml language articles.
HTML Parsing Microformats (XML.com)Brian Suda discusses HTML microformats on O'Reilly's XML.com. "Microformats are a way to embed specific semantic data into the HTML that we use today. One of the first questions an XML guru might ask is "Why use HTML when XML lets you create the same semantics?" I won't go into all the reasons XML might be a better or worse choice for encoding data or why microformats have chosen to use HTML as their encoding base. This article will focus more on how to extract microformats data from the HTML, how the basic parsing rules work, and how they differ from XML."
Java EJBCA 3.5.0 released (SourceForge)Version 3.5.0 of EJBCA has been announced. "EJBCA is an enterprise class Certificate Authority using J2EE technology. EJBCA builds on the J2EE platform to create a robust, high performance, platform independent, flexible, and component based CA to be used standalone or integrated in any J2EE app. We are proud to announce EJBCA 3.5.0, with enhanced features all over, both enterprise class stuff, and simpler stuff. This is a major release with many new interesting features and framework improvements."
Pascal Free Pascal 2.2.0 releasedFree Pascal 2.2.0, a release over two years in the making, is now available. Improvements include the addition of the PowerPC architecture, better debugging support, implementation of more language features, and more.
Python Python-URL! - weekly Python news and linksThe September 10, 2007 edition of the Python-URL! is online with a new collection of Python article links.
Tcl/Tk Tcl-URL! - weekly Tcl news and linksThe September 5, 2007 edition of the Tcl-URL! is online with new Tcl/Tk articles and resources.
IDEs Anjuta DevStudio 2.2.1 released (GnomeDesktop)Stable version 2.2.1 of Anjuta DevStudio, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for GNOME, has been announced. "Anjuta 2.2.1 is follow up bugfix release to stable 2.2.x (Hurricane) series. It fixes several important crash bugs and improves stability."
Pydev 1.3.9 released (SourceForge)Version 1.3.9 of Pydev is available with new features and bug fixes. Pydev is: a "Python Development Environment (Python IDE plugin for Eclipse). Features editor, code completion, refactoring, outline view, debugger, and other goodies".
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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