Development

Haystack: the universal information client

The Haystack project has come to our attention: "Haystack is a tool designed to let every individual manage all of their information in the way that makes the most sense to them. By removing the arbitrary barriers created by applications only handling certain information "types", and recording only a fixed set of relationships defined by the developer, we aim to let users define whichever arrangements of, connections between, and views of information they find most effective. Such personalization of information management will dramatically improve each individual's ability to find what they need when they need it."

Haystack is a cross-platform project, it is designed to run on Linux and several versions of Windows. The system is dependent on the Java 2 Development Kit (JDK) version 1.4 or later. It is recommended that users have a 2 Ghz Pentium 4 processor, at least 512 MB of RAM, and 1GB of disk space.

A summary of Haystack's characteristics include:

• Haystack aims to put all information in one place.
• All types of information can be accessed by right-clicking on them.
• The system has an information centered view instead of the traditional application centered view.
• All information can be dragged and dropped into other information.
• Haystack integrates email and instant messaging (IM).
• A personal digital library is included for organizing information.

The project overview has detailed documentation with examples of how someone would use all of these capabilities.

A preliminary release of Haystack is available for download, it is still in development, so expect bugs. The download page says that Haystack runs slowly under Linux and the embedded web browser is not yet functional. The system has been released as open-source under a Copyright from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Alsa 0.9.4 Released

Version 0.9.4 of the Alsa Sound Driver has been released. Change information is in the source code.

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Ogg Traffic

The June 3, 2003 edition of Ogg Traffic is out with the latest Ogg Vorbis audio compression software news. "This Ogg Traffic should really have appeared last week, but I was too busy with various real life issues. A lot has happened in the meantime, and consequently, today's Ogg Traffic features status updates from a whopping 14 Xiph.org team members."

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Planet CCRMA changes

A number of new audio applications have been added to the Planet CCRMA audio package site. See the change log for details.

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MICO 2.3.10 released

Version 2.3.10 of MICO (MICO Is CORBA) has been released. Change information is in the source code.

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Firebird 1.5 Release Candidate 3

Version 1.5 Release Candidate 3 of the Firebird database is available "The development of Firebird 1.5 release is in final development stage ! The Release Candidate means that we're "almost there", and we turned our focus to remaining known issues and rough edges, final testing and bug squashing. We made a lot of progress with it thanks to your feedback."

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PostgreSQL Weekly News - May 28th 2003

Here's the PostgreSQL Weekly News, with a look at the 7.3.3 release, and what to expect in 7.4. Also, PostgreSQL In the News and Upcoming Events.

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libgda, libgnomedb, Mergeant 0.12 released (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop reports that there are new versions of libgda/libgnomedb and Mergeant, all are part of a database framework for GNOME. "This release is the next in a series that will result in 1.0, which is what GNOME-DB developers are working hard at. For this reason, we need users and developers to use it and report any problems/suggestions."

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phpMyAdmin 2.5.1 released (SourceForge)

SourceForge has the announcement for phpMyAdmin version 2.5.1. "The development team is pleased to present you version 2.5.1, which aims to stabilize the 2.5.x series. phpMyAdmin is a tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the http://www."

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flP5 - the fast light Parallel Port Production PIC Programmer 1.0.0

For those of you who are working with PIC microcontrollers, flp5, the fast light Parallel Port Production PIC Programmer version 1.0.0 has been released. Flp5 is based on FLTK, the Fast, Light ToolKit. For more information, see the flp5 home page.

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Sussen GUI for Nessus security scanner

Sussen is a GUI client for the Nessus security scanner. Version 0.1 has been released, the code is available under the GPL.

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HP Inkjet Linux Driver 1.4.1 release (SourceForge)

SourceForge has an announcement for a new version of the HP inkjet printer driver. "The Hewlett-Packard Co. Linux Inkjet Driver Project is a add-on to the GNU Ghostscript application. This driver is based on the Hewlett Packard Appliance APDK for deskjet printers. This release includes bug fixes."

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AFPL Ghostscript 8.10 release

Version 8.10 of AFPL Ghostscript has been released. "It contains some fairly substantial reworking of important modules, most notably in the font rendering. Because of the extent of the changes, we're labelling this as a beta release. It should be quite usable, but it hasn't been as thoroughly wrung out as our production releases. The major new feature is improved font rendering by Igor Melichev."

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Moodle 1.0.9 released (SourceForge)

Version 1.0.9 of Moodle is available. "Moodle 1.0.9 was released recently, and contains a very long list of new features, performance improvements and fixes. Moodle is PHP software that aims to make quality online courses (eg distance education) easy to develop and conduct. Learning and development are guided using a social constructionist philosophy. Implemented on thousands of sites and in 30 languages."

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phpWebSite 0.9.2 Stable released (SourceForge)

Version 0.92 of phpWebSite has been released. "Includes many bug fixes, new control panel, categorized pages, and more. Developed by the Web Technology Group at Appalachian State University, phpWebSite provides a complete web site content management system. All client output is XHTML 1.0 and meets the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative requirements."

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Plone 1.0.2 released! (ZopeMembers)

Plone version 1.0.2 has been released. "The Plone Team today released Plone 1.0.2, a maintenance release for Plone 1.0. Plone is an open source information management system available in 25 languages, and has a large and active community supporting it."

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Zope 2.6.2 Beta 2 Released (ZopeMembers)

ZOPE 2.6.2 Beta 2 has been announced. "Users of the Zope source release should note that Python 2.1.3 is now the required platform. Python 2.1.3 includes a fix to an issue that could cause crashes in Zope." Numerous bugs have been fixed in this release.

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Zope Group Calendar 0.2 released (ZopeMembers)

Version 0.2 of Zope Group Calendar has been released. "Recent changes include the views week and year, as well as some bugfixes and refactored code."

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ZWiki 0.19.0 released (ZopeMembers)

ZopeMembersNews mentions the release of Zwiki version 0.19.0, a wiki package for Zope. "Summary: Preliminary reStructured Text support, page types cleanup, skin bugfixes, customizable issue colours."

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Web services globalization model

Xiao Hui Zhu writes about globalization issues for web services on IBM's developerWorks. "This article starts from the base elements of a globalization architecture and then applies them to the Web services architecture. To strengthen the ideas, some examples are raised in the paper, together with some references for further information."

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Ecamegapedal 0.4.2 released

Version 0.4.2 of Ecamegapedal, a realtime audio processor that works with Ecasound, has been released. Change information is in the source code.

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Horgand v0.90 available

The first release of Horgund, a real-time organ synthesizer, is available.

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Marlin 0.1 Released (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop reports on the release of Marlin 0.1, an audio sample editor. "Its only 0.1 so it doesn't have a whole host of features, but its usable I think for small editing jobs, and really, after a year I think its time for people to see it."

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swh-plugins 0.4.2 available

Version 0.4.2 of swh-plugins, a real-time audio effect utility, has been released. This version adds new filter plugins, bug fixes, and more.

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Tkeca 1.8.0 Released

Version 1.8.0 of Tkeca, a GUI interface to the Ecasound audio utility, is available with a number of new features.

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tuneroid 0.9.3 released

Version 0.9.3 of tuneroid, a musical instrument tuning application, has been released.

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Release Team's Almost-Final New Modules List for GNOME 2.4 (GnomeDesktop)

The GNOME team has compiled a list of new modules for GNOME 2.4. "This list will become the official new modules list for GNOME 2.3.x on June 2, enshrined forever in GEP 11, unless we hear loud wailing and gnashing of teeth at any of our judgements before then. That means you have just under a week to bring up any doubts or queries you have about this list." If you can't get to GnomeDesktop try the mailing list archives instead.

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KDE Traffic #53

Issue #53 of KDE Traffic has been published. The KDE 3.2 release cycle is looked at.

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Gnome Games 2.3.3 = New Games ! (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop.org mentions the 2.3.3 release of Gnome Games. "Gnome 2.0 Anonymous George writes "When gnome-games was last heard of there were horrible rumours of death and dismemberment. Not all of them were true. XBill is still gone, but Gnibbles and Gnobots are back. There have even been some new additions." Perhaps someone should write a game called X-SCO to replace XBill.

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Gimp-Print 4.3.15 (development) (SourceForge)

Version 4.3.15 of Gimp-Print has been released. Many changes have been included.

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New wxWindows Releases

New software for the wxWindows GUI framework includes wxOTL 0.3, a wxWindows database programming library, and wxCRP 1.2, a template wizard.

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Wine Traffic #172

Issue #172 of Wine Traffic is available. Topics include: Frank's Corner Milestone, Updated To-do List, Building a CHM Viewer, Update CVS Utilities for Compression, and Using Ventrilo.

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AbiWord Weekly News

Issue #146 of the AbiWord Weekly News is out. "I hope you like screenshots....I hope you like a *LOT* of screenshots. I hope your religion requires screenshots, because there's a lot of them, especially thanks to Christian Neumair, a.k.a. Manny. Additionally, a new Win32 binary sneaks its way in; you can get caught up on the development of MacOS X's port, and 1.0.6 is no longer a running gag. That's right...its out there...somewhere! Lucky Mac OS X users...."

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GNUe Traffic #83

Issue #83 of GNUe Traffic is out with the latest Gnu Enterprise news. Topics include: Native Microsoft Windows UI driver for Forms, Default RPC type for Application Server, Updates and inserts on multiple lists in AppServer, XSLT and GNUe Reports, and GNUe Schema Defintion files and W3 Standards.

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Graphing in Gnumeric (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop.org reports on graphing with Gnumeric. "Its been a grind to get charting back in Gnumeric but at long last there is a framework in place. Its still a touch rough around the edges, with some tuning necessary in the libart backend, and lots of unfinished bells and whistles. However, it is quite modular, easy to understand, and has a decent interface to Gnumeric."

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Mozilla 1.4 Release Candidate 1 Now Available (MozillaZine)

Mozilla 1.4 RC 1 has been released. "Mozilla 1.4 Release Candidate 1 began shipping today. mozilla.org is making release candidates of 1.4 available to ensure a high quality product that can replace the Mozilla 1.0 branch as the stable development path."

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Independent Status Reports (MozillaZine)

The latest Mozilla Independent Status Reports are available. "The latest set of status reports includes updates from LinkVisitor, Jazilla, Negotiateauth, Uzilla, ForceContentType, IEStreamConv, Documoz and SmoothWheel."

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Minutes of the mozilla.org Staff Meeting (MozillaZine)

The minutes from the May 19, 2003 Mozilla.org staff meeting are online. See the pointer on MozillaZine for feedback. "Issue[s] discussed include 1.4, Mozilla Firebird 0.6 feedback, cooperation with ports maintainers, security fixes for the 1.0 branch and disabling dead CVS accounts."

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Lynx 2.8.5 dev 16 available

Version 2.8.5 dev 16 of the Lynx text-mode web browser is available for download. Change information is in the source code.

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Gaim 0.64 released

Version 0.64 of Gaim, an internet messaging client, has been released. "As you can tell from the ChangeLog, Gaim 0.64 has bugfixes, buddy list sorting, and a bunch of internal changes only nerds like us care about."

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Vim 6.2 Released

Version 6.2 of the Vim editor has been released. "Since Vim 6.1 hundreds of reported problems have been fixed. Also included are new and updated syntax files, translated menus and messages."

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Caml Weekly News

The June 2, 2003 Caml Weekly News is out with the latest Caml language news.

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A Concise Introduction to Objective Caml

David Matuszek has put together a document entitled A Concise Introduction to Objective Caml. " Caml is a dialect of ML, developed primarily in France. This paper describes Objective Caml version 3.01, or OCaml (pronounced "oh-camel") for short; it does not go into the object-oriented features of OCaml, however. Another dialect, Caml Lite 0.74, has almost identical syntax, but the modules and many of the functions in the modules differ to a greater or lesser extent."

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The First Erlang Newsletter

A new publication known as the Erlang Newsletter has hit the virtual street. Take a look for the latest developent news from the Open Source Erlang project.

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G95 developments

Development continues on the G95 project, an open-source FORTRAN compiler. "G95 is in a pupal state. It can compile simple programs, though all language features are not yet available."

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Glasgow Haskell Compiler version 6.0

A major new release of the Glasgow Haskell Compiler is available. This version adds Template Haskell, a metaprogramming extension. Thanks to Jens Petersen.

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Aspect-Oriented Programming and JBoss (O'Reilly)

Bill Burke and Adrian Brock take a look at JBoss and aspect-oriented programming on O'Reilly. "Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is an exciting new paradigm that should have the same effect on software development that object-oriented programming (OOP) had 15-20 years ago. AOP and OOP are not competing technologies, but actually complement each other quite nicely."

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Parsing, indexing, and searching XML with Digester and Lucene (IBM developerWorks)

Otis Gospodnetic writes about XML parsing under Java with Digester and Lucene. "Java developers can use the SAX interface to parse XML documents, but this process is rather complex. Digester and Lucene, two open source projects from the Apache Foundation, cut down your development time for projects in which you manipulate XML. Lucene developer Otis Gospodnetic shows you how it's done, with example code that you can compile and run."

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This Week on perl5-porters (use Perl)

The May 26 - June 1, 2003 edition of This Week on perl5-porters is out. "As usual, the weekly summary will try to present a useful or entertaining cross-section of the perl 5 porters' activity. The various topics include C-level I/O, scoping, installation layouts, and some amount of bugs and patches."

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This week on Perl 6 (O'Reilly)

The May 25, 2003 edition of This week on Perl 6 is online with the latest Perl 6 language news.

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Hidden Treasures of the Perl Core (O'Reilly)

Casey West examines some Perl Core modules on O'Reilly. "The Perl Core comes with a lot of little modules to help you get thejob done. Many of these modules are not well-known. Even some of the well-known modules have some nice features that are often overlooked. In this article, we'll dive into many of these hidden treasures of the Perl Core."

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PHP 4.3.2 released with security fixes

PHP 4.3.2 is out; it includes fixes for "several potentially hazardous integer and buffer overflows." The PHP team is strongly recommending that users upgrade; that might be a hint that is worth taking.

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PHP Weekly Summary

The June 2, 2003 PHP Weekly Summary is online. Contents include: "PHP 4.3.2 now officially shipping, DOMXML for 64 bit, fd patch, exec in cli and mod_php, property access in PHP 5, PHP, Netware, phpMyAdmin."

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Python 2.2.3 (final) Released

Version 2.2.3 (final) of Python is now available. "This is a bug fix release for the stable Python 2.2 code line. It contains more than 40 bug fixes and memory leak patches since Python 2.2.2, and all Python 2.2 users are encouraged to upgrade."

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Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!

The Dr. Dobb's Python-URL for June 2, 2003 is out. This week's discussions include how to make a switch-case work-alike by abusing exceptions and an introspective technique for "declaring" local variables. Also there's the Python 2.2.3 announcment and a reminder that voting for the 2003 Active Awards for open-source programmers starts June 3.

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The Daily Python-URL

The Daily Python-URL has dozens of new links to Python language articles and projects.

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The Ruby Garden

The Ruby Garden has a number of new articles on Ruby this week. For more Ruby news, see the June 3, 2003 edition of the Ruby Weekly News.

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Scheme Weekly News

The June 2, 2003 Scheme Weekly News is out. Take a look for the latest on Scheme language development news.

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Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!

The June 3, 2003 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is out with the week's roundup of Tcl/Tk development news.

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XML Power Job Hunting (O'Reilly)

John E. Simpson explores the XML Résumé Library on O'Reilly. "If you've spent much time job-hunting, you know one of the basic frustrations: how to avoid handcrafting a different résumé for each different job you're considering. Wouldn't it be better, or at least easier, if you could create a single résumé but instruct your résumé-generating tool to include this skill and exclude that one or to name this referee but not the other?"

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Advanced OOP: Multimethods (O'ReillyNet)

David Mertz covers multimethods on O'Reilly. "Most popular object oriented languages take their method dispatch styles from Smalltalk's message passing style, dispatching based on the invocant. Another approach is multiple dispatch or multimethods, which considers multiple invocants for dispatch. Why is this important? David Mertz explains how multimethods improve polymorphism and often provide a better alternative to inheritance."

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