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Nowadays I just use these programs.

JPEG & PNG Stripper - removes metadata, exif data and other "junk data" for pngs & jpegs
Jstrip removes metadata, exif data and other "junk data" for jpegs only
Batchpurifier

BatchPurifier™ is the ideal tool to remove hidden data & metadata from multiple files.

Hidden data stored in many popular file types may contain confidential and private information that when exposed can cause you and your organization embarrassment with possible financial and legal implications.

Powered by Digital Confidence DataDistiller™ Engine, BatchPurifier™ is able to remove more than 60 types of hidden data from 25 file types, including Microsoft Office® documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)*, OpenOffice™ documents, PDF documents, and popular image and media file types such as JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG, SVG, AVI, WAV, AIFF, MP3, MP4, and F4V. BatchPurifier™ can remove hidden data from files even if they are compressed within ZIP files.

Purchase BatchPurifier™ today and free yourself and your organization from the worry of unintentional sensitive data leakage through the hidden data stored in many popular file types.

FileOptimizer - supports compression/data reduction for multiple file types.  See the list here.  Includes over 50 "plugins", third party scripts like some of the ones mentioned by denilsonsa in one program.
Jpegmini - Lossles batch compression for jpegs only - not free.

I think this is my best "Geek Fiction Multiverse" video yet!  To hype up to this week's release of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", I take a look at the ten guest characters and show how they are already connected to Mario and the Nintendo universe - WITHOUT using Super Smash Bros.!

Wonder Boy In Monster Land

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Maxim's Wonder Boy In Monster Land (Master System) maps.

Wonder Land has been taken over by the MEKA Dragon! Having proven his heroics eleven years earlier, when he had saved his girlfriend in the original Wonder Boy game, Wonder Boy is called upon to save Wonder Land which is now referred to as "Monster Land".

Despite being released for the arcade first, this Master System game requires a bit more strategy than a typical quarter-muncher. It's not simply a matter of mindlessly fighting and jumping in a straight path to an end point.  You'll have to find shops, which later become unlabelled and then even hidden - to buy and utilize armor, shields, magic weapons, and other items.

While made up of episodic stages, it's not as strictly linear as the original game but also not an open world like its sequel. However, you will still find Maxim's maps handy, especially for the last stage, which is - and here's a word I use a lot here - labyrinthine!

Similar to how Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood's ending becomes the opening of Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, here we also see the final area of Wonder Boy In Monster Land appearing at the start of the sequel, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (also mapped by Maxim) - which has been remade as Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (without the "III") for Windows, PS4, Switch and Xbox One. Then there is a spiritual successor to the Wonder Boy series, in December 2018's Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom, also for these current platforms, so there's definitely still interest in this kind of platforming gameplay.

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this wonder of a game, Maxim's Wonder Boy In Monster Land (Master System) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for December 2018.

Happy 20th birthday to The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time!  Here's my review of Dark Horse's The Legend Of Zelda Encyclopedia: Deluxe Edition!

Pokémon: Yellow Version

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to KeyBlade999's Pokémon: Yellow Version (GB) maps.

When Pokémon came out on the original Game Boy, Pikachu was not initially considered a "main" Pokémon.  You would start the game with Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle, and their fully evolved forms would be featured on the boxes/labels for Pokémon: Green Version (Japan only), Red Version, and Blue Version, respectively.  Pikachu is numbered #025 in the Pokédex, and though catchable relatively early, is an uncommon Pokémon to encounter, and gameplay or story-wise, wasn't anything special in particular.  But then the merchandising opportunities favoured the "cute" Pokémon such as Pikachu and Clefairy, and it was the animated series that firmly established Pikachu as the series's mascot.

So, not surprisingly, soon came an enhanced version of the original generation of games that was called Pokémon: Yellow Version ("Special Pikachu Edition" on the box), a fitting colour as it is of course the colour of Pikachu and goes well with the other first generation games, which include Red, Green (in Japan) and Blue.  Just like in the anime, Pikachu is the only available starter Pokémon and follows the main character around (as opposed to staying in its Poké Ball).  Also from the anime, the Team Rocket duo of Jessie and James make appearances here.  And as with the different versions of Pokémon, the frequency and availability of Pokémon species is different.  Some graphics are tweaked, and enhanced when playing on the Game Boy Color (except for the Japanese version), so despite an overall structural similarity to the original games, KeyBlade999 felt it was worth mapping.  This is also the first of the enhanced remakes that the next few generations of Pokémon would have, including Crystal (to Gold and Silver), Emerald (to Ruby and Sapphire) and Platinum (to Diamond and Pearl).  And it will be remade yet again, with Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu (and Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee) available for the Nintendo Switch in November 2018.

Though Pikachu is now everywhere with anything that has to do with Pokémon, and a mascot for Nintendo as a whole and even a Japanese pop culture icon, it was this 1999 Game Boy game where Pikachu really started being front and center.

So to recognize the effort put into mapping the first (of very many) games to prominently feature Pikachu, KeyBlade999's Pokémon: Yellow Version (GB) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for November 2018.

A vlog of last month's Edmonton (Comic & Entertainment) Expo.  (I was sick on and off with three different things the past few weeks which set me back a bit, yet this was still published on the same day as I published last year's...  hmmm.)  Here, we get a photo with Amy Jo Johnson, the Pink Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

If you could live your life again knowing what you do now, what would you change?

Who would you most like to sit next to on a 10 hour flight and why?

Do you think the convenience of technology is worth the loss of privacy that comes with it?

Now, Have you played contra game?