Midnight Mars Browser version 2.1 is now available on the Google Code downloads page. I am sort of forced into doing this update since Apple's iDisk is being discontinued toward the end of June, 2012, and Midnight Mars Browser previously downloaded its metadata updates from iDisk. The packaged metadata I put on the web is what allows the MMB Panorama feature to work, amongst other things. To keep getting new metadata, you'll need this new version of the program.
Please note that the Software Update feature built into MMB won't work to download this update; you'll need to download the zip file for version 2.1, unzip it and put it wherever you're keeping the program now. It would be wise to keep your older version of MMB around until you're satisfied that this new version works. Rename your old MMB application folder to "MidnightMarsBrowser_old" or something like that.
Midnight Mars Browser is now over seven years old and written in a language and development environment I no longer use; I mainly write iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch/Mac apps now. I know MMB is not a user-friendly program by modern standards, but since I still use it myself, I keep updating the metadata. Spirit rover has passed away, but Opportunity is still alive and making perhaps her most important discoveries to date. Roll on! And of course, Curiosity is on the way...
Monday, May 28, 2012
Friday, June 18, 2010
Closed
Just a note to inform people that MMB 2.x is no longer a supported project. It's still working at the time of writing, but if Exploratorium goes away, or if someday JPL changes their image posting format, then it will stop working, and it's unlikely that I'll have time to update it. I'm keeping the binaries available because people still get some use out of it, but there will be no further updates to this incarnation of the project. I continue to regularly update the metadata that drives the 2.x panorama feature, which MMB automatically downloads, but that's it. Thank you for your support.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Midnight Mars Browser 2.0.2
Another change to Exploratorium requires an update to Midnight Mars Version 2.0.2, which is now available.
Midnight Mars Browser 2.0.1 Available
A 2.0.1 update is now available through the update software feature. This fixes a new incompatibility with the Exploratorium site which suddenly appeared, which was preventing images from being downloaded.
I've updated Google Code with the 2.0.1 packages as well, but I've run out of space there, so only the Windows version and the Mac on Intel versions are posted; Mac on PowerPC is not. I'll have to either get more space there or (more likely) just start putting the files somewhere else. I don't think many people use the Mac on PowerPC version.
I hope we're good to go now, since Oppy is off to see new sites.
One last thing... Midnight Mars Browser 1.x will no longer work to download images from Exploratorium, and I don't have time to fix it. Please update to 2.0.1, or if you simply cannot for some reason, you will have to use the option to download from the JPL site in 1.x.
I've updated Google Code with the 2.0.1 packages as well, but I've run out of space there, so only the Windows version and the Mac on Intel versions are posted; Mac on PowerPC is not. I'll have to either get more space there or (more likely) just start putting the files somewhere else. I don't think many people use the Mac on PowerPC version.
I hope we're good to go now, since Oppy is off to see new sites.
One last thing... Midnight Mars Browser 1.x will no longer work to download images from Exploratorium, and I don't have time to fix it. Please update to 2.0.1, or if you simply cannot for some reason, you will have to use the option to download from the JPL site in 1.x.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Phoenix!
As everyone already knows, Phoenix has landed and is currently busy kicking ass and taking names (scientifically speaking) on the northern tundra of Mars. I've added some basic image-downloading functionality to MMB2.0, described here.
In other news, I've been very busy trying to launch some other software projects. I may have to start a new blog to promote that work at some point. Space-related work might get absorbed into that new blog at some point. Who can say?
Adding: The new blog will be Midnight Martian. I needed a name, and I'm out of ideas.
In other news, I've been very busy trying to launch some other software projects. I may have to start a new blog to promote that work at some point. Space-related work might get absorbed into that new blog at some point. Who can say?
Adding: The new blog will be Midnight Martian. I needed a name, and I'm out of ideas.
Monday, February 04, 2008
2.0 Dev 14
A little fix: the processor usage was reading high, even when the program should have been idle. Thanks to Doug over at Unmanned Spaceflight for pointing it out. I think the fix even boosts the performance a bit, but it's hard to tell.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Goals
Eagle-eyed readers may notice that there is a new mission statement for the project, over on the right-hand side there. (It's under the heading that says "Mission Statement".) Currently MMB2.0 is a program directed at a small set of fairly hard-core space enthusiasts, who already know quite a bit about the robotic Mars missions. My new goal is turn MMB2.0 into a program that anyone can download and start learning about the Mars Exploration Rover missions immediately. The way I intend to do that, in short, is to bring back the "Browser" in Midnight Mars Browser.
Right now the program could more accurately be called "Midnight Mars Downloader" - it is geared toward downloading images from the missions, and then viewing them. In contrast, a true "Browser" would mean wandering around "areas", and having the images download more-or-less automatically as needed. This is not a trivial excercise with missions as data-rich as the rovers, where there are many gigabytes of image data involved. Managing how much data is stored on a user's computer may be a challenge. But for our new target audience of casual users, especially ones who can't dedicate 10 gigabytes or more of hard drive space to MER image storage, this is the way to go.
A secondary shift here is one from where MMB was a program for following the latest images in the ongoing rover missions, to a mode where it is more a record of the missions gone by. This would be a natural progression to begin now, since the rovers are moving slowly with age these days, having already been successful beyond anyone's dreams. One could eventually view the software as a new "book" about the rovers. The content is data made publicly available by NASA; the program is just a new way to gather and organize it.
That's the plan. The good news is, a lot of the program is already in place. The changes just made with regard to movement in panorama mode (see the previous post) are a step in this direction. But there's a lot of work yet to get to this goal, and as always, it's just a spare-time project. So we'll see how things go. If you can support the project, please consider donating. Even a supportive comment on the blog would be appreciated.
Right now the program could more accurately be called "Midnight Mars Downloader" - it is geared toward downloading images from the missions, and then viewing them. In contrast, a true "Browser" would mean wandering around "areas", and having the images download more-or-less automatically as needed. This is not a trivial excercise with missions as data-rich as the rovers, where there are many gigabytes of image data involved. Managing how much data is stored on a user's computer may be a challenge. But for our new target audience of casual users, especially ones who can't dedicate 10 gigabytes or more of hard drive space to MER image storage, this is the way to go.
A secondary shift here is one from where MMB was a program for following the latest images in the ongoing rover missions, to a mode where it is more a record of the missions gone by. This would be a natural progression to begin now, since the rovers are moving slowly with age these days, having already been successful beyond anyone's dreams. One could eventually view the software as a new "book" about the rovers. The content is data made publicly available by NASA; the program is just a new way to gather and organize it.
That's the plan. The good news is, a lot of the program is already in place. The changes just made with regard to movement in panorama mode (see the previous post) are a step in this direction. But there's a lot of work yet to get to this goal, and as always, it's just a spare-time project. So we'll see how things go. If you can support the project, please consider donating. Even a supportive comment on the blog would be appreciated.
2.0 Dev 13 - Movement by clicking on hotspots
In panorama mode, the rover model now automatically appears in position when you hover the mouse over a 'hotspot' in the rover tracking. And, when you click on the hotspot, the panorama view now shifts to that position. So now you can wander around in the rovers' footsteps just by clicking with the mouse.
As usual, you can download the latest here, or if you already have 2.0, you can use the "Update Software" feature in the Help menu.
As usual, you can download the latest here, or if you already have 2.0, you can use the "Update Software" feature in the Help menu.
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