New to version 1.05:
-Bug fix: GUI forgets settings file during auto update check
The GUI Settings tab would sometimes show mangaigui.properties instead of mangai.properties.
It took me a while to track down this bug since it occurs during automatic update checking which is only once a week :P
This has been fixed.
-AI improvements to MPM and MSM interpretation
MSM is better able to detect chapter spans.
Various logic tweaks.
-Added ereader .properties settings profile for iPad 3
All of the currently existing iPad’s use the same settings anyway, but I like having the user to be able to pick out their exact device from the list.
And yes, I know the latest iPad is not named iPad 3, but simply calling it iPad could make it be confused with the 1st gen.
-GUI improvements
Added links in the Contents panel for the MangAI FAQ, Manga Intelligence Model, and Contact web pages.
-Various fixes and improvements
Memory optimizations for image reads.
Search for ImageMagick directory at runtime if .properties file value is missing or invalid.
Miscellaneous little things that I can’t remember.
Download the latest version from the MangAI project page.
What’s a weekend? Since my health keeps me indoors at all times, I don’t have much concept of Wednesday vs. Saturday. Fortunately that means I’m working every day. Here’s what I’ve been working on:
First iOS app is coming along slowly but nicely. It’s starting to actually look like an app. The more into it I get, the more functionality I want, so my initial time estimate was way off. Still several months away from release.
MangAI has been stable for a while now. I’ve only received a few problem reports and those have either been solved or I never heard back from the user (where do you guys go after I’ve replied, lol). I’m pretty good about replying to email within 24hrs (usually less), so if you guys have any questions or problems feel free to contact me. If you don’t hear back from me within a day or two, please leave a comment in the blog just in case I didn’t get the email.
I recently started working on a new MangAI AI feature. I’m trying to see if MSM interpretation can be used to improve MPM, while up till now it has only been MPM helping MSM (if you have no idea what MPM and MSM are, check out the Manga Intelligence Model). The basic idea is if you have a volume folder without chapter info (Foo_v3), but the scans within the folder contains chapter info (v3_c10_p1.jpg, v3_c10_p2.jpg, … v3_c15_p200.jpg), then the program may be able to infer the missing chapter info for the volume folder (Foo_v3_c10-15). This new data propagates to the output archive/pdf/epub files as well. Initial tests make this seem doable, but since this is such a big logic change, it will require a lot of testing. I also have a few things I’ve wanted to improve so I’ll work on those as well.
Recently the download link for MangAI broke, leading to a 404 page. I have fixed the problem. Sorry for any inconvenience.
I was thinking of releasing an update to include an iPad 3 profile, but since all iPad generations use the same conversion settings, it seems like a waste of an update. Next time an important code change is made, I’ll also include an iPad 3 profile. For now, if you have an iPad 3, just specify your device as iPad or iPad 2 (doesn’t matter which one because, again, they all use the same settings).
Speaking of iPad 3, my parents got me one on launch (yes I know, I got very lucky in getting awesome parents). After two exchanges though, I ended up returning it. The screens on these new iPads seem to be defective. Of the three I tested, they all lacked color uniformity, with some areas of the screen appearing warmer (yellow) than other areas. The last one I tried had a dim area along the right side of the screen, kind of like a constant shadow, which made reading black on white text within that area difficult. As I read a lot of digital manga and tech docs, this was a big problem for me. I will try another iPad 3 in a few months when they’ve hopefully ironed out these production problems.
After a few months of studying Cocoa Touch and Objective-C, I’ve started programming my first iOS app. It’s too early to talk about it, but I can say this: it will be fun, a bit educational, and is in no way related to MangAI or anything otaku.
Thought I should share the current goings on at bitcake.
MangAI seems to be in a good state. Haven’t received any bug reports since the v1.04 release. Hopefully I can leave MangAI alone for a while and focus on other things.
Currently learning iOS programming. Reading my way through Beginning iOS 5 Development. It’s a long book and I read super slow, but it does a great job of providing a foundation for iOS programming. I already know the app I want to write first but will wait until I’m at least finished with this book before starting. Pretty tempting to just go for it though ;]
Let’s see, what else is going on… Considering posting some of the research I did in grad school. I could add an “Articles” section to the site for this purpose. May also write about my current health condition for anyone that may have something similar (or for those of you that are interested in crazy medical stuff you would usually only find on House). It doesn’t even have a name yet since no one else seems to have it… I think I’ll call it “Earth Axis Syndrome”.
