Great JPEGCrops Photo Cropping Utility

I've really been enjoying the new Sony DSC-V1 digital camera. One thing I found was that it really, really wants to save in JPEG format (it can save to TIFF but literally freezes for a long time while processing). So, I started looking around for a simple Windows utility that would let me crop my 4:3 pics for printing -- which for a 4"x6" print is 2:3 -- without further reducing the quality of the JPEG files.

Enter JPEGCrops, a great, completely free utility developed by Danish programmer Toke Eskildsen. It does just what I need: rotate and crop JPEGs losslessly. Very easy to use and includes lots of little conveniences. For example, when cropping you can toggle a set of "Rule of Thirds" guidelines.

You know, The Linux community is very vocal about the abundance of quality free software available for that platform. I think Windows programmers who do similar work often don't receive the recognition they deserve because there's so much Microsoft-bashing going on. There are fabulous freeware, donationware, and shareware out there that solve problems big and small. I think users do themselves a disservice not to investigate what's out there, and programmers like Toke deserve a round of praise for their efforts and generosity. Glaedelig Jul!

A wish for the holidays...

That you have a safe and happy holiday and start the new year off on a great note!

Oh, and while we're at it, how about that the Beagle 2 lands safely on Mars Christmas Day...

Among other things, the Beagle 2 will be looking for signs of life in the Martian impact basin, Isidis Planitia. There's a great site if you want to know more.

If it not only completed its six-month journey successfully, but also found definitive signs of ancient life on Mars -- what a Christmas present that would be!

British bookmakers have the odds at 25-1. The real odds are probably a LOT higher, but I'm still pulling for them!

12/31/03 Update: No joy so far. Beagle 2 is down but incommunicado. The Mars Express orbiter is moving to a new polar orbit that will have it going right over the Beagle's landing area, so there's some hope that it may pick up the signal.