Did you know you can include an image of the album covers of your (ripped) music cds within the ID3 tag of an mp3 file?
It started two years ago, when I was given this 30GB mp3 player - only to quickly realize that around 3/4 of all my mp3 files did not have proper ID3 tags and thus only appeared under the “unknown artist” category on my mp3 player. This of course depends on the player, and while some are capable of reading this basic information from the file name, others rely on the ID3 tag of each music file to identify the artist, album name, title, track and so on.
I’ve been using Mp3tag, a small program to automatically edit metadata (~rename filenames, ID3 tags, etc.) - and just realized that they also offer the integration of album covers via Amazon.com. Nice!

Maybe I am a bit old-fashioned - but which player & music software are YOU using to listen to your music collection on your computer?
That is, I dont like iTunes and even Winamp has started to suck. These progs take ages to load and sometimes even mess up my mp3 collection. I’ve been using foobar2000 for some time now and am quite happy with it. A fast & slim player that instantly loads on this WinXP machine. Oh, and it also scrobbles my tracks to last.fm, so what else could I ask for? Album art isn’t shown on foobar2000, ok, but beautifully displays on my mobile phone’s player.
Reason for mentioning this: I like it how the mp3 format has so many options for saving meta data. I wish the same usabililty, with which ID3 tags are supported by various players & displays, could also be used for implementing metadata into image files. There’s this utility I tested the other day which writes tags right into an image file (*.jpeg, *.gif, etc.), but it wasn’t that stable (there’s a much more stable build available now). Pandorado also seems to be an interesting alternative I’ll still have to test.
There are (at least) 3 completely different approaches for storing image metadata:
- Using a Database. This is what Picasa (and others) do. The problem with this approach is that only the database program is aware of the context between metadata and images. Thus, metadata can get lost when files are copied or transfered.
- Using ADS (”Alternate Data Streams”): This is a feature of the Windows NTFS file system. ADS data is stored in hidden files which are attached to the visible image file - as long as this file stays on the NTFS file system. ADS data will get lost when, for example, you copy the file to a CD-ROM or a memory stick or when you transfer it over the Internet. You typically access ADS data by the Windows Explorer “File Properties/File Info” option.
- Using IPTC and EXIF: Metadata conforming to one of these open standards can be stored within the image file itself. If such a file is copied or moved to another location, the metadata stays with the image; there are no redundancy problems which typically arise with database or ADS storage.
These 3 approaches are not compatible with each other. (src)
I wonder why this approach to implement metadata via IPTC isn’t pushed any further? I mean, even iPods only store any metadata within an extra file and not within the music or image files. Metadata needs to be stored within a file - and not in an extra file. Imagine an online photo management site like flickr which automatically sets up titles and descriptions based on metadata directly from an image file. Hmmm….so who’s already using this?

Hey,
How cool is this picture, I wish I had the Australian equivalent

As I pass the half way mark of my first ever series on the Displaced African, I thought I would give you heads up on what the next series would be about. (more…)
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Hey,
First up, you may notice that the site is being upgraded at the moment. Most of the website is working at optimum level so don’t be scared; feel free to browse around and we will be done upgrading the site sooner rather than later
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Recently I decided that I would stop blogging about the post election violence for a couple of reasons:

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One small hand shake for two guys, one moving moment for a nation.

It was a big gesture, but by now nothing more is achieved. Raila Odinga has ruled out taking a new post of prime minister in President Kibaki’s Government. Odinga said the only three acceptable options would be Kibaki’s resignation, a vote re-run, or power-sharing leading to constitutional reform then a new election. The ODM leader said he was offended by Kibaki’s comments afterwards that he was Kenya’s “duly-elected” president. “Those remarks were unfortunate, calling himself duly-elected and sworn-in president. That is the bone of contention. We want negotiations with integrity,” he said. (Nation)
Every step towards peace is a right step, but the question is not Kibaki or Odinga or Kibaki and Odinga. The question is whether they agree on a constituion reform to limit the missuse of power.
Power sharing

Not even willing to share their umbrellas: Museveni and Gaddafi
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Libya counterpart Muammar Gaddafi have proposed that President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga should share power. Two experts of power sharing have spoken: Gaddafi is in his 39th year of non-power sharing, while Museveni only achieved 21 years. Both are known for their love for democratic elections. Opposition politicians from Lybia are sharing their place on the Amnesty International report, while Uganda’s oppostion leader Dr Besigye shares the court bench for treason (more on this in the last Part of our article Eyes on the International Community concerning elections in Africa)
Violence in Nakuru
The killing continues and spread towards Nakuru, where houses have been torched. Kenya Army soldiers have been called out to beef up security in Nakuru town after rival militia blocked key roads and destroyed property in fresh escalation of violence.
Screaming and wailing rent the air at Kisima and Kaptembwa Estates in the western part of Nakuru Town all night on Thursday as armed gangs torched houses.
There are reports about the use of army forces and Mungiki involvment.
Kenneth Marende, social injustice and a fair salary
R. from the African woman blog quoted freshly elected parliamentary speaker Kenneth Marende, decried the income inequality that saw one man taking home a paltry 5000 Ksh every month (71.5 US dollars), while another took home 1,000,000 Ksh (over 14,000 US dollars) saying this inequality must be corrected if stability is to be achieved. In the same interview just a little later he defended the exorbitant pay that our legislators receive, a minimum of 800,000 Ksh (approximately 11,500 US dollars) on the basis that the house was constituted of a good number of professionals who earned hefty salaries in their previous jobs and that their hefty salaries freed them to concentrate on house business.
We just published our second last part of the article Eyes on the International Community concerning elections in Africa, about Congo. The last part about Uganda will be posted soon.
Part 3 of the article takes a closer look at “success” of the 2005 elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The 2006 “democratic” elections in the DRC were celebrated by the international community as a great success. There was little choice, it had to be a success, because it prooved that you can perform free and fair elections in a country torn apart by a civil war. The UN peacekeeping force (MONUC), which includes 17,000 troops at a cost of roughly $1 billion a year, was the world’s largest and most expensive peacekeeping operation.

The election itself was supported with $460 million by the International Community.
The German army, which is only allowed to operate in foreign territory since the 1990s celebrated their biggest image success back home by offering security during the election in the capitol Kinshasa. The peacekeeping mission was used to quiet down critiques on German military missions, missions which have since then increased in number and intensity.
There is a question of success in the literal meaning of the word. The Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) led by Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba boycotted the election after they had claimed that their members and supporters were not given a fair opportunity to register for the vote. Étienne Tshisekedi a former Prime minister, who had been a political prisoner under Mobutu and Laurent Kabila had gained popularity enough to challenge Kabila and Bemba. He was also the only candidate with a serious chance, not having been involved in the civil war. The UDPS defined as their main goal- a non-violent change to democratic rule, a goal which they knew had minimal chances of success in this election. Even Catholic leaders in Congo called for a boycott.
The people of Congo therefore had a chance to democratically elect their warlord.
Monitors expressed concern about the election process, including ones from the Carter Center. MONUC reported that on August 3, on the third day of “chaotic poll-counting, a suspicious fire at a major Kinshasa election center deepened concerns over the transparency of the results.” According to MONUC, while the election itself may have met requirements, “the process of collecting results from 50,000 polling stations had become chaotic.”
On August 5, thousands in eastern DRC were fleeing clashes between the DRC army and forces affiliated with General Laurent Nkunda. According to the The Independent, Nkunda, who is “widely believed to be in third place in the race for the DRC’s presidency,” stated that he will respect the results, but along with over 30 other candidates, expressed “determination to resist results which are perceived to be unfair.”

After celebrating their success, the International Community withdraw their election troops and with it the international attention. Bemba fled into exile. The daily mass killings and rapes in Eastern Congo have continued, but have vanished from the headlines of international media. Since the election was termed a success there seems to be little interest in following up the aftermath and consequences.
Part 3 will deal with the elections in Uganda and will summarize conclusions.
