Midnight Mars Browser, Midnight Mars Browser discussion Options

[mhoward]

Version 1.1.1 is now posted. Here are the new features:

- Select which cameras' images to update in Advanced Update Images.

- The new "Fast Update (new images only)" option in Advanced Update Images downloads only images that aren't present locally, so the update doesn't have to check if the image on the server is newer than the local version. This can result in a speedy update, at the cost of missing any existing images that need to be updated to a newer version.

- New image selection options in the Edit menu allow you to select individual images within the image criteria to display within a Slideshow. This will be used to support some functionality later (specifically, adjusting the anaglyph settings on a selection of images). "Limit to Selected Images" in the Navigate menu causes the Slideshow to display only the selected images within the image criteria. "Show All Images Matching Criteria" causes the Slideshow to display all images within the image criteria; selected images are indicated in the title bar with "[selected]".

Version 1.1.2 will be posted in the next few days, with any luck, and will have image import, export, and delete features.

http://midnightmarsbrowser.blogspot.com

[mhoward]

Oh, and I added a network timeout setting in Preferences for version 1.1.1, so Charlie you could try increasing that to say 120 seconds from 60, and see if that helps.

[jamescanvin]

Looks like a packaging error on my part. Rather than repackage it I'm posting version 1.1.1, which is better anyway. I'll make sure the Mac version works...

Thanks, working well now. Love the sol info window, great work.

James

[Charlie]

That link that I mentioned above has started working now. It seems to be a pattern that an image will be bad for a day or so and then suddenly start working.

Thanks for all of the updates in the new version. I think I will be able to find a work around with the new features.

Wish list thing: I prefer looking at the stereo pair images using the cross-eyed method. I can never find my red/blue glasses when I need them and they feel so goofy. Any chance you could build in a cross-eyed viewer. I have been using the "3D Viewer for Mars Images" by Robert Clemenzi. It works great, but it was designed exclusively for the JPL site. It is a bit of a hassle cutting and pasting URLs from MMB to that utility (Thanks however for providing the "Copy local file location to clipboard" feature).

Thanks again,

Charlie

[dvandorn]

Wish list thing: I prefer looking at the stereo pair images using the cross-eyed method. I can never find my red/blue glasses when I need them and they feel so goofy. Any chance you could build in a cross-eyed viewer.

I would vote for this, too. I always have a lot better luck with the cross-eyed technique, and I currently don't even own a pair of red/blue glasses. (And they don't work very well when you *also* wear real, corrective glasses.) In general, the anaglyphs don't work well for me at all.

-the other Doug

[mhoward]

I would vote for this, too.

I'll take a look at doing this. I've got a few other things to finish first, but it shouldn't be too hard, maybe. The reason I haven't done it 'till now is because I've never been able to make the cross-eyed stereo pairs work for me, but viewing stereo is obviously a very individual thing.

[Nix]

Looking at stereo parallell or cross-eyed is less forgiving for differences in rotation though than anaglyphs. You can correct this by nudging your head slightly to the left or right but for big differences this don't work either. I think a great deal of images would be 'unviewable' if one would auto-generate stereo images. Maybe a control point detection interface as autopano to match the left and right images and rotate accordingly?
Great new version Howard. Thanks.
Nico

[mhoward]

I have been using the "3D Viewer for Mars Images" by Robert Clemenzi. It works great, but it was designed exclusively for the JPL site. It is a bit of a hassle cutting and pasting URLs from MMB to that utility (Thanks however for providing the "Copy local file location to clipboard" feature).

On second thought, looking at the "3D Viewer for Mars Images" by Robert Clemenzi for the first time today, it would be difficult for me to reproduce all of that functionality anytime soon. A better approach might be for you to contact the author and ask him to add a feature where it will figure out the opposite camera image when you paste in the local file location for the first image. Figuring out the opposite image is almost trivial for navcam and hazcam images, and it's not too difficult to make a good guess even for pancam images (although it's a bit more involved there, as you can see from the times when MMB guesses wrong). Anyway, that's what I'd do. It looks like a nice little application, I wish I could use it. (I still can't do that cross-eye thing... plus I usually use a Mac.

[Trader]

Charlie,

I'm having the same problems you cited -- Java exception msgs with termination and application hangups. I haven't found a solution yet either just wait hours or days and try again until it works -- switching sources (to JPL) sometimes seems to work. I've passed a copy of my msgs to mhoward by email.

When MMB works, it's great! The download problems can be anoyinging but I'm still optimistic that the "MMB Master" will make them go away.

I'm using Win98SE (with all updates) on a Pentium III 733mhz 256MB ram and a cable moden downloading at 4.5 Mb.

[alan]

This is odd, everytime I close and reopen MMB version 1.1.0 it resets the number of color images generated to the defaults.

[mhoward]

alan: Whoops, that's a straightforward bug. I've fixed it for the next version.

Trader: Are you getting the same errors as before? I thought I'd fixed the indefinite hangs in 1.0.8. Maybe you could send another email with whatever errors you're getting.

[Charlie]

Trader,

I wonder if we are sticking on the same image? It worked fine for me today, but if it sticks on an image again, I'll post the link here so we can compare. My theory is that it is a bad image file on the server and somewhere someone eventually fixes it or it gets updated.

I haven't been able to fully try it yet, but my guess is that I should be able to create a dummy file with today’s date to replace the bad one locally and that should allow MMB to continue.

It's a drag when it happens, because sometimes I spot a file in the middle of a download that I want to look at more closely, but then when MMB sticks, the images-downloaded-slideshow is locked and when I force quit the program then the slideshow is lost. If I didn't see what sol and camera the image was from then it can be a task trying to find it again.

But I'm not complaining! MMB is still way better than than having to download each image one-by-one like I used to.

Charlie

[Trader]

Michael: I just sent you an Email with an attched copy of the update "crash msgs" I get frequently on updates. I love the product and it just keeps getting better with each new version; but, this glitch is still hanging in there (at least on my system). I don't speak java but it looks like the program is pulling an "ET" and pleading for help from its home: "at sun.net.www....".

Charlie: Completely agree with "MMB is still lots better...". We can compare notes but think we should wait and see if Michael is able to make any sense of my msg log. It's very possible that we just have "odd ball" systems.

[mhoward]

Version 1.1.2 is now up... adds new Image Import, Export and Delete options and attempts to fix the issue that Trader is encountering (we'll see if it works). http://midnightmarsbrowser.blogspot.com

[CosmicRocker]

Being a dedicated dialup user who downloads images to a memory chip at work, where I have a high-speed connection, I truly appreciate this version. I imported a couple of GBs in 23,000 images tonight from 6 different directories without a hitch. This is the version I have been waiting for.

Thanks, Mike!

P.S. I promise not to ask for anything else.