I am pleased to announce that The Beavertown News now has its own domain and website: www.beavertownnews.com. Each issue is presented as a podcast, including the complete PDF version of the paper. The Pennsylvania German lessons and History Corner columns are entered in their entirety, and linked to each issue. A fully functional search will also allow you to quickly find any topic you are looking for in the headlines, PA German lessons, or History Corner. A link is also provided to the local Beavertown Weather Station for current conditions and forecast. Take a look HERE. Enjoy!

The January issue of the Beavertown News is now available. We wish everyone a very happy New Year!

MetaX 2.4.6 is now ready for download. Here is the changelog:

• Fixed chapter track handling to be compatible with HandBrake 0.9.3 as well as earlier versions.
• Added progress indicator for metadata searches.
• Added preference/prompt for video kind. This is used to narrow tagChimp search results.
• Stability improvements.

MetaX will no longer eat your chapter track when using HandBrake 0.9.3. The code has been modified to work with the new HandBrake files as well as previous ones. MetaX will now allow you to set a preference for the type of file that you are tagging (Movie, TV Show, Music Video). This information is used to narrow the search results from tagChimp. The default behavior of this feature is to prompt the user for the video kind. Modify this to suit your needs in the “File” section of the preferences. All files with previously set video kinds are honored. As always, send me your feedback, and enjoy! Get it HERE!

I’m also pleased to announce the availability of MetaX for Windows! Go on over to Dan Hinsley’s site and take a look. Now we can all have beautifully tagged videos. Thanks Dan!

The last issue of the Beavertown News for 2008 is now available. Take a look at the December issue HERE.

Hunting season 2008 was another great year for the “Hill Gang”. We enjoyed great food, fellowship, and an outstanding hunt. Take a look at the album HERE.

The November issue of the Beavertown News is now available for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

The September and October issues of the Beavertown News are now available. Enjoy!

The August issue of the Beavertown News is here! Read and enjoy...

The July issue of the Beavertown News is now available. I seem to have missed the June issue. I’ll see what I can do about that!

The May issue of the Beavertown News marks the fifteenth year in publication. Read it HERE!

MetaX 2.4.5 features several improvements:

• Asynchronous searching
• Search can be cancelled
• Image cropping no longer creates a white border
• Added a "Share" button for the toolbar -- customize to add it.
• Tag quality filtering and related warnings
• Artist and Actor/Show field linking is now an option in the preferences
• Added a button in the preferences to reset all warning messages
• Added ability to change the search domain for Amazon in the preferences
• Added an alert to warn the user if the tagChimp ID is blank in the preference
• The preferences window should no longer become detached from the main window in Spaces
• Support for sending music video data to tagChimp
• Numerous "under the hood" improvements to tagChimp data uploading

The new asynchronous searching means that you don't have to sit and look at a spinner, waiting for your search results to show up. They will populate as they come in. The search can also be cancelled via the search field. As requested, the "Share" button is now available for the toolbar. This will allow you to send your data to tagChimp without writing any tags. Just load up the queue, and click "Share"!

"Under the hood" improvements have been made to the data upload process, ensuring optimum efficiency and minimum use of bandwidth. Keep the suggestions and bug reports coming. Get it HERE!

MetaX 2.4.4 is a bugfix release:

• Fixed chapter writing. Audio issues should be gone.
• Improved search results interface.
• Improved automatic title creation.

MetaX will no longer edit the audio track within your mp4 file when editing the chapter track. Any issues caused by this, such as audio losing sync, should now be gone. One side effect of this improvement is that chapter writing is now much faster.

The user interface has received a bit of a facelift in this version as well. The search results are now presented in a table, displaying the source that they came from. I welcome feedback on this new look.

As always, keep the bug reports and suggestions coming. Get it HERE and enjoy!

The April issue of the Beavertown News is now available. Enjoy!

I am very pleased to announce the availability of MetaX 2.4.0. This is a major release with many new features and bug fixes:

• Added tagChimp.com as a data source
• Added ability to share tag data with tagChimp.com
• Improved the preset system
• Presets are now stored in a separate file, so deleting your preferences will not remove your presets
• New fully searchable help system
• Added image cropping capability
• Added new preference to create titles from CamelCaseFileNames
• Improved chapter editing
• Chapter list and queue list now support reordering by drag and drop
• Chapters can now be deleted or split
• Added a timer feature to the MetaX menu which times tagging operations
• Improved UI
• Improved stability

The most exciting of the new features is the integration with tagChimp. This feature is completely opt-in. No personal data is sent to the tagChimp servers, only the tag data. When enabled, your searches will produce results from tagChimp. Your data will be shared when writing your new tags. tagChimp data includes all of the important tags as well as chapter titles!!

To edit your cover art, open the cover art editor by clicking the button below the cover art on the main window. You can crop proportionally in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

The preset system now has an apply button that is used to apply the preset. Chapters will no longer be added to a preset unless the check box is selected on the Chapters tab. Editing of the chapter names has also been improved. Just press enter to start editing the next chapter. You can now delete individual chapters from your file as well as split chapters to create new ones. This will allow you to touch up any errant chapters that were created during the encoding process. The chapter check box will now be selected and de-selected with the toggle button, and must be selected for chapters to be written.

You'll notice many other small improvements throughout MetaX. A lot has changed under the hood since the last release. This should lead to much improved stability and a bit of a speed boost. The overall "feel" should be much smoother. As always, keep the suggestions and bug reports coming. Almost all of the improvements made to MetaX were ideas sent in by users. Get it HERE. Enjoy!

*EDIT* --> MetaX 2.4.2 is now available. This is a maintenance release with improved tagChimp data handling and some minor UI tweaks.

What's going on with MetaX? Well, I'm working hard on some new features and improvements. I've also fixed some of the bugs reported by users. You should see a new version in the near future. Believe me, it will be worth the wait!

Well, it seems that every time that I fix two bugs, I create a new one. MetaX 2.3.7.2 fixes the bugs introduced in 2.3.7:

• Fixed bug in description tag writing
• Fixed broken iTunes plugin
• Fixed bug in setting artwork on multiple files
• Improved German localization

Many thanks to all of the users who reported these bugs, and a special "Thank you" to Norbert Rittel for all of his contributions. Get it HERE!

UPDATE: 2.3.7.4 fixes tag writing problems for PPC users.

MetaX 2.3.7 brings many improvements to the underlying architecture and the following:

• Queue now retains failed files for rewriting
• Queue is now sortable
• Many fixes to queue underlying architecture
• New preference to copy EyeTV comments to the description tag
• Added support for separate short and long descriptions
• Presets now store chapters and long descriptions
• Archive now stores long descriptions
• Improved UI
• Improved German localization

The entire inner-workings of the queue have been rewritten to be more efficient and stable. Those of you who have had problems in this area should find the bugs are now fixed. This version also splits out the short and long descriptions. The short description is limited to 256 characters, and the long description is unlimited. The long description will give the "i" menu in iTunes.

The archive and preset systems have been updated to support the new long and short descriptions as well as chapter names. Many other tweaks have also been made, take a look at the preferences to see a few. As always, keep the bug reports and feedback coming. Get it HERE!

MetaX 2.3.6 brings several improvements:

• Fixed loss of AC3 audio when writing chapters
• Improved UI
• Fixed long description support (large file support must be enabled)
• Chapters are now added to archive
• Updated QuickLook plugin

MetaX will no longer attempt to alter the AC3 audio track on dual audio track rips. This will prevent the loss of the track seen when writing chapters. The long description is now written correctly. Large file support must be enabled for this to function properly. You will also notice that large file support is no longer experimental. Due to all of the positive reports, I have deemed it stable.

Chapter data is now collected and saved in your tag data archive. The new QuickLook plugin will allow you to read this new data inside your export files. When initially starting MetaX, it will convert your old archive data to the new format. Be patient, it shouldn't take too long.

As always, keep the feedback coming. Get it HERE!

The March issue of the Beavertown News is now available. Enjoy!

As you can probably tell, I have been patching bugs the past couple of days. Here is the summary:

• 2.3.5.6 - Fixed a bug where some temporary files weren't cleaned up after writing
• 2.3.5.8 - Fixed a critical bug where data would be lost if no tags were selected or the chapter name was "being edited" when the write was commenced
• 2.3.5.9 - Fixed bug where the anamorphic tag was removed from anamorphic videos when writing chapter names

I know, that's a bunch of updates. I released each when I discovered and fixed them. I hate to leave an important bug that I know about in the wild. Enjoy!

MetaX 2.3.5.4 brings chapter renaming and bug fixes:

• Added chapter renaming support
• Fixed file name tagging mode bug (broken since 2.3.0)
• Fixed finish sound preference
• Improved German localization

The chapter renaming is pretty much self-explanatory. When you open your file, MetaX will look for chapters and list them in the chapter tab. To make changes to the chapter names, just edit the name in place. This feature works on both mp4 and mov files.

The file name tagging mode bug has been present since 2.3.0 and I believe that it has been the root of many users' problems. If you were having troubles with a previous version, give this one a try. The problem may just be fixed now.

Finally, a few minor bug fixes and improved German localization found its way into this release. I am still eagerly awaiting feedback on the large file support. If you are using this feature please send me an email. As always, keep sending your suggestions and bug reports. Get it HERE!

MetaX 2.3.5 is available with new 64 bit support and more:

• Added support for files > 4GB. (Experimental)
• Improved preferences system
• Improved video type and encoding tool tag locking mechanisms
• Preset names are now editable

The large file (64 bit) support can be enabled in the preferences. I am calling it experimental at this time because it hasn't had as much testing as the old version. Back up your files before using it! After you enable this option, MetaX will tag a file of any size that you might have. I am distributing this with full 64 bit support. If you have a 64 bit processor (Core 2 Duo, G5), AtomicParsley will run in 64 bit mode. This lets you take advantage of the 64 bit speed boost on your tag writes. Please backup your files before using this feature. If you use the 64 bit large file support, please provide feedback to me on its performance.

The preference system has been revamped to be a bit more user friendly. The locking mechanisms for the video type tag and the encoding tool tag are now activated with a small lock symbol. This should make the feature more obvious to most users. Finally, the preset names can now be edited right in the preset window.

*EDIT* If you installed the initial 2.3.5 release, you probably noticed that it crashed when you tried to write tags without the large file support. This has been fixed and a new release issued. Sorry for the silly bug.

As always, be sure to send me your feedback and bug reports. Get it HERE!

I just finished the conversion to full 64 bit operation today. MetaX will now read and write files as large as you can imagine them I want to do some testing before release to ensure the safety of the files tagged by MetaX. If you would be interested in testing the operation on large files > 4GB, send me an email. The release should be out before long!

Today I added a new demo video showing the archive data features of MetaX. This should help you to understand how to use these features and get the most from MetaX. Also new in the support category is a MetaX FAQ. These are some of the more popular questions that come from users. Enjoy!

Well, I pulled my head out of my @$$ and fixed the poor excuse for QuickTime tagging that I had in the previous version of MetaX. MetaX 2.3.4.8 is now available with this new capability. Most of the tags available for mp4 files are also available for QuickTime .mov files. Please provide any feedback that you may have on this new feature. If you tagged any mov files with the previous version, remember that you can remove the tracks added by MetaX using QuickTime. Get it HERE. Enjoy!

I'm putting a call out to anybody who is interested in donating a new icon to MetaX. Yes, I am succumbing to the pressure of all of those who call the cow "ugly". So, if you have skills in this area and are willing to donate some time and an icon, you will earn everlasting fame in the form of the MetaX "About" box. Just drop me an email if you are interested.

As you can no doubt tell, I have been working quite a bit on MetaX the past few days. Thanks to all of the beta testers users for pointing out the bugs to me. So, to get caught up here are some of the changes:

• Fixed a critical bug in the rating tag
• Improved the German localization
• Fixed several bugs in the German and Danish localizations, including the toolbar and poster browser
• MetaX will now start iTunes before sending files if it isn't running. This should kill the perceived bug that the "Send to iTunes" feature wasn't working
• The Amazon search will now auto-cancel when opening or selecting a new file. You will no longer be held hostage by the spinning progress bar
• The "Send originals to trash" option works again. Yes, I broke it in 2.3.4 :P

So there you go. We are now up to 2.3.4.6. Keep the feedback and bug reports coming. The next order of business for MetaX is 64 bit support. We gotta tag those big shiny new 5.1 files from HandBrake! Enjoy!

Get it HERE!

MetaX 2.3.4 is now available. This is mainly a bug-fix release. Many reported bugs have been fixed: XML export works again, the "flakiness" of opening files should be gone, and several others.

This release also has the initial support for tagging QuickTime movie files (.mov). When a mov is selected, the tag fields for incompatible tags are grayed out. Currently, only a few tags are supported, but more will come in the future. Cover art is fully supported in two fashions. MetaX sets the album art tag, similar to music files. This is great, except that iTunes doesn't seem to display these tags for movie files. It displays the poster image only. To support this, MetaX will make a new track inside the .mov containing the cover art, and select it as the poster frame. This artwork is placed at the very end of the movie, and should not be a bother for most users. You can easily remove this track from within QuickTime if you desire. The original video and audio remain unchanged. Some other tags, such as description, don't seem to show up in iTunes either, at least for now I look forward to feedback on the QuickTime tagging.

As always, be sure to send me your suggestions and bug reports. Thank you very much to all who have sent donations. Enjoy!

Get it HERE!

MetaX 2.3.2.4 is a bug fix release of MetaX:

• Fixed a hole in the error checking code that would allow a zero byte file to be created
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• Fixed IMDb browser crash
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• Fixed frame grabber and browser not updating properly
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• Toolbar is now customizable
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Leopard got me with some of these, and some were just overlooked before release :P Please let me know if you have any suggestions or problems. Enjoy!

The February issue of the Beavertown News is here. Send me an email via my contact page if you are a regular Beavertown News reader here at Kerstetter.net. I'm taking a bit of a census. Enjoy!