Well it's been a while since I posted anything here, so I thought I would give whoever wanders in an update.

GLNLinear is coming along in fits and starts. I am commiting changes at least once a week but my grand plan of a release every week has fallen over. I decided not to build my own rendering engine just yet as my skills with C/C++ still really suck. I have decided to use the libavcodec libraries to do the grunt work until I am confident enough to tackle the rendering.

GUI design is something else I am having trouble with, but I suppose this along with everything else will come with experience.

SCO: Sucks, I think that pretty much sums up my opinion of both the Company and the OS.

What else, oh yeah, I've been promoted,sort of, now I am not only doing development but because of cost cutting measures I am also helping out on the help desk, yay. Mind you it is nice to be able to deal with problems that you can fix without getting caught up in the political shit that goes on.

Stupid People: I am really having a major problem with this guy who works in another office. He is a developer/engineer sort of guy, basically he works for engineering but has weasled his way into doing development work. Apart from the fact that he is condescending, arrogant and generally a shit to deal with, we have discovered him putting copyright notices in our internal software for his sons company. Now keep in mind that this guy is a full time employee.

Ah well thats life up until now.

Okay lets see now, GLNLinear is the new project name for what was LinNonLinear, I am really crap at thinking up names so it'll probably change again before the first release is made. The new location of the project is at sourceforge.ne/projects/glnlinear

I am making slow progress through the project management section of the app. Trying to marry wxWindows and libXML is harder than I thought and while I am making headway its going to take longer than I thought.

I have found a cool little piece of software called mpgtx which basically splits an mpeg file into its component video and audio files. I am planning on using this as the basis for my Import function as I am planning to have every file imported into GLNLinear converted into its component video and audio files. This will allow for greater flexibility when working with the files and also means that every file worked with by the application will start from the same basic format. Essentially I don't want to have to piss around at render time with half a dozen different files based on half a dozen different codecs and then try and marry them up for output.

Now plugins, I've been thinking about this and I am going to have to come up with a plugin architechture for GLNLinear, something that people can use to write 3rd party libraries and access them through GLNLinear, Im probably jumping the gun here a bit, I mean god I haven't even figured out the timeline/storyboard widget yet but I suppose I have to be prepared in the miniscule chance that anybody is going to actually use this damn thing.

Lets see what else, oh yeah if anyone has any spare hardware(DV capture cards etc etc) any donations would be gratefully recieved. Email me at cranos23@yahoo.co.uk.

I suppose I should also see if there is anyone interested in joining me on this project. Its small at the moment and Im still feeling my way through it but hey if you've got any ideas or suggestions then feel free to email me.

Okay I've re-started LinNonLinear and Im now using the wxGTK bindings instead of KDE/QT. At the moment Im just feeling my way around libXML and the GUI of the system, however soon Im going to have to start tackling the guts of the system - the renderer.

I'm trying to decide which way I should build it, should it be hard coded into the application or should I leave it as a seperate library that can be ported to other apps.

Also if anyone knows of any good docos for v4l or lib-xine that would be handy as Im planning on using both of those for a) DV Capture and decoding of files.

Okay, I now have a project hosted on Sourceforge its based at http://sourceforge.net/projects/w40k and yes there is source is available through CVS although it really does suck the big one. Im in the middle of putting together a Dev road map which I will post when I update the Sourceforge site.

If anyone has access to any good tuts on V4L programming could you post them in the comments field, thanks,

What the hell is so special about holding a gun? Is it the knowledge that you hold in your hand the means to take someone elses life? This is what I don't understand about the great American "Right to bear Arms". Why would you want to in the first place? Why would you need to?

A gun by design is meant for one thing only, shooting something or someone. Its not a multi-purpose tool that can be used to say open a tin or dig a hole. No its express purpose is to lob a chunk of metal at extrememly high speeds through the nearest target.

I wonder how those advocating the spread of gun use and easing of any restricitions would feel if they were the victims of a gun attack, feeling their guts shredded by constitutional armour piercing rounds.

The red coats stopped coming a long time ago people, give it up.

I've had another brain wave, what if I could open source the entire operation here at where I work. What if I could replace all of the proprietry software used from editing to broadcasting with Open Source alternatives, now that would be something to see.

This time Im looking for responses, so if you are reading this, drop me a line and tell me what you think.

Okay im going to go out on a limb here and ask a question. Why the need for the Gay Games?

I mean when you think about it doesn't the very idea of the Gay Games actually work against what the gay community has been working towards for the last thirty to forty years? Acceptance amongst general society? Now before anybody starts accusing me of being anti-gay - though I doubt anyone is going to read this any way - I have worked, and lived with both gay and lesbian people before and my sister is a lesbian. Just establishing my credentials as a non homophobe.

But really when you think about it, the biggest cry of the gay and lesbian community especially around Sydney and Melbourne has been "give us the same rights as other monogomouse couples","give us access to the family court". Now I am all for that but they are not going to win over the general community by developing unecessarliy divisiv events such as the gay games. As far as I know there is no rule that says a gay or lesbian person may not compete in any world event. There may be rules about post-op trans-gendered people competing in womens events but that is another topic altogether.

Anyway thats my rant for today

Okay its Friday, and I've got a spare ten minutes to put something down.

Well I am still going to go ahead with WINVID despite finding KDENLIVE a nice looking project on Sourceforge.net. It looks good but at the moment it lacks support for nearly all the major Audio and Video codecs and frankly the GUI could use some work. But hey its an open source project, meaning it gets picked up and put down depending on what the owners doing right.

I am still fighting the good fight in regards to getting Linux into my office. It looks like we're going to be installing at least 15 Linux boxes in our outlying offices, for File Sharing purposes so its a start. Some how I don't think the MCSE we have here is too happy about it though, would have preferred we went with .NET servers. I can't see the need for it myself beyond giving him a boost to his resume.

Lets see what else to write... well I finally got approval to turn our ailing web site into something beyond the floating crap that it is at the moment. No Im not going to release the url yet, because it still sucks the big one.

Apart from that everything is fine. Oh and one other thing, I want to set up a Linux consultancy in Australia, anybody else out there done it and survived?

Ok I've just seen the article about OASIS approving a new XML based authentication system for use with web services.

I am still trying to understand what is go great about the whole web services deal. I mean basically what it means is that your Web App will now become dependant on someone elses web app to execute critical parts of the process, leaving you open to major fuck-upage if that other app goes down for any reason. Also you become dependant on whatever bloated xml-based spec your partner requires and god knows xml is not small.

Anyway thats my whinge for today, if you want to say anything about this or any of my other rants just drop a line.

I would like to take this opporunity to announce the launch of the WINVID Non-Linear Editing Suite. The aim of this project is to produce an Enterprise level Non-Linear editing package for Linux and other *nix based systems, allowing Linux to compete on yet another front against the dreaded lurgy.

I want comments and suggestions, so if anybody is reading this, drop me a line and tell me what you think.

One of my hobbies has always been Video and Audio editing and while that other platform has a plethora of editing suites to choose from, I have seen little OSS packages that could come close to matching the power and features of say Adobe Premier.

I've tried a couple of packages like Cinelerra for video editing and I hate to say this but they really do suck the big one in terms of GUI design and compatibility with various formats. On the other hand there is still yet hope for Audio in Audacity, a nice clean little package that has all the hall marks of a future killer app if it is taken in the right direction.

I think Im going to have to start brushing up on my coding skills and start looking at building a decent OSS Non-Linear Editing System, one that I can get the Producers here at work interested in using.

Well thats my whine for the day.

Okay so I don't have a brain the size of a planet but you get the picture, I am geek.

I am the Software Dev guy for a regional television station in Australia and I am slowly attempting to woo them over from the dark side.

Right now I am working on the only Linux workstation in the entire organisation but if my plans work soon I will rule the world. Naarf

Seriously though, I am a Linux guy stuck in a world full of Windoze users, I am planning on starting a Linux consultancy in my area soon, but first I have to figure out how Im going to get the money.