13 May 2020
For the past little while, I’ve been working on this network-based performance project that I have named Throttled. It’s a performance by 233 gifs and a very slow network connection. This blog post is a bit about what I learned while making it. I’m writing this somewhat in haste, so the notes are a bit sloppy. This project had me asking some questions that are the opposite of what people usually want to learn about...
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21 Feb 2020
This is the eight and (perhaps) penultimate in a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo”. (And the last until this project is able to be wrapped up after code review, which hasn’t started yet so it could be a while.) Anyway, I suppose this means that this is the last of the weekly post series. This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. MediaInfoInfo: Initialize...
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14 Feb 2020
This is the seventh in a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo” (with weekly associated blog posts). This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. Other posts: MediaInfoInfo: Initialize project MediaInfoInfo: Parameters / making a plan MediaInfoInfo: General streams MediaInfoInfo: Video streams MediaInfoInfo: Audio streams MediaInfoInfo: Image, Menu, Text and Other streams MediaInfoInfo: MediaInfo-specific words MediaInfoInfo: Metadata Tags MediaInfo-specific words Going through parameters and their...
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07 Feb 2020
This is the sixth in a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo”. This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. Other posts: MediaInfoInfo: Initialize project MediaInfoInfo: Parameters / making a plan MediaInfoInfo: General streams MediaInfoInfo: Video streams MediaInfoInfo: Audio streams MediaInfoInfo: Image, Menu, Text and Other streams MediaInfoInfo: MediaInfo-specific words MediaInfoInfo: Metadata Tags I’ve tackled the largest sections – General, Video, and Audio. I was...
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31 Jan 2020
This is the fifth!! in a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo” (with weekly associated blog posts). This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. Other posts: MediaInfoInfo: Initialize project MediaInfoInfo: Parameters / making a plan MediaInfoInfo: General streams MediaInfoInfo: Video streams MediaInfoInfo: Audio streams MediaInfoInfo: Image, Menu, Text and Other streams MediaInfoInfo: MediaInfo-specific words MediaInfoInfo: Metadata Tags Audio! Like the Video streams section, the...
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24 Jan 2020
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo”. This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. Wow, I can’t believe another week has passed and I am due to write another blog post! Other posts: MediaInfoInfo: Initialize project MediaInfoInfo: Parameters / making a plan MediaInfoInfo: General streams MediaInfoInfo: Video streams MediaInfoInfo: Audio streams MediaInfoInfo: Image, Menu, Text and Other streams MediaInfoInfo:...
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17 Jan 2020
This is the third in a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo”. This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. After the initial project idea and initial project plan, this post will focus on work on the first and largest section of parameters: the General stream. Other posts: MediaInfoInfo: Initialize project MediaInfoInfo: Parameters / making a plan MediaInfoInfo: General streams MediaInfoInfo: Video streams MediaInfoInfo: Audio...
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17 Jan 2020
This is the second of what will be a series of blog posts on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo”. This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. Following up on the initial post, it’s time to dig into what some of these parameters are and how they are set up. This post is still a bit more “meta” and talking about taking on the project itself, but don’t worry...
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10 Jan 2020
This is the first of what will be a series of blog posts (probably) on a project I call “MediaInfoInfo”. This project is focused on improving documentation for the ubiquitous media analysis tool MediaInfo. Other posts: MediaInfoInfo: Initialize project MediaInfoInfo: Parameters / making a plan MediaInfoInfo: General streams MediaInfoInfo: Video streams MediaInfoInfo: Audio streams MediaInfoInfo: Image, Menu, Text and Other streams MediaInfoInfo: MediaInfo-specific words MediaInfoInfo: Metadata Tags My initial idea was to have a slow-moving...
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13 Dec 2019
Welcome (back?) to the Ashley Blewer annual report. This is the sixth year running! Here is last year’s. Reading last year’s post, I feel like this is the year I have finally been able to slow down, relax, feel safe in my work and my personal life, and not feel like things are personally on the verge of constant collapse (when they haven’t been!). Which, of course, is in stark contrast to the pain and...
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19 Sep 2019
This is one of those blog posts that are a result of me explaining something more than once. I feel like that’s a good guideline for when it’s time to write something up, so that it can be referenced for future question-askers. Something that keeps coming up in preservation circles is a lament about what sometimes happens when migrating audiovisual files into the ffv1.mkv format (Matroska wrapper for FFV1-encoded video datastream) for preservation purposes. The...
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29 Jun 2019
I spent last weekend making a GUI for rsync (and this past week tidying it up a bit) and I learned a lot about rsync, GUIs, design, power, control, and decisions around verbosity and freedom of choice versus simplicity and guidance/support, packaging, maintenance and support. A long time ago, I put this question out into the ether – Archivists: What is a simple task you do for which you wish there was a GUI? Please...
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17 Jun 2019
Hi! This is a blog post. I am gonna talk about this in a way that assumes no character encoding knowledge. Alternatively, if this isn’t new news to you, I am sure you have plenty of things to add but this is a blog post, not a Masters thesis, so stay mellow! I am trying to keep this concise, but it’s hard. This blog post is, however, written within the context of libraries, archives, and...
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29 Apr 2019
What would this blog be, if not a platform waiting to look extra extra closely at Beyoncé music videos? And now on Netflix is a 2+ hour film ready for consumption! First, here are links to my previous blog posts on this subject, probably my most popular blog posts of all time: Format-ion: Video playback errors in Beyoncé’s latest music video Aspect Ratios in LEMONADE, Pt. 1 Aspect Ratios in LEMONADE, Pt. 2 Again, I...
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20 Apr 2019
Sometime between the time of me writing and this and me posting this, I will be presenting with my colleague Travis L. Wagner at the Bastard Film Encounter, a film symposium rejoicing in media that is “ill-conceived or received; embarrassing or beyond the bounds of acceptability; poor in conception or execution; undesirable to those who should be caring for them; proof of something that should have never happened.” The symposium is primarily based around a...
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