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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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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01 Apr 2018
Wild Wild Country is a six-part documentary series from Netflix about the Rajneesh Movement and especially their attempt to build a utopian city in rural Oregon in the 1980s. To tell this story, the documentary relies very heavily on archival regional television footage and “home movie” footage. And, as countless people have noted, mostly look terrible. This is largely just the state of the tapes (your home movies also probably look terrible), but I did...
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28 Dec 2017
Thanks to Peter Oleksik for sending me this “tip” last week: “The aspect ratios in Wormwood are BANANAS” I was curious and have some free time, as I was spared from family events this holiday season and don’t want to leave my apartment because it’s freezing outside, so I took a look. They are, indeed, BANANAS. For context into aspect ratios, you might want to read or re-read the duo blog posts Peter and I...
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22 Dec 2017
Hello! I think a proper introduction is in order. Audiovisual Preservation Training ✨ First, a backstory. I was homeschooled. Well, at least that’s what I tell people, because it’s easier to say things in three words than it is in three sentences. Actually, I spent high school doing correspondence courses via a combination of physical mail and the internet. I don’t know which was the cause and which was the result, but I’m pretty driven...
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20 Sep 2017
Okay, so this is the follow-up post to this (or, rather, that was the aperitif post to this one). I was at the Joint Meeting of New York City & Mid-Atlantic Archive-It partner groups at METRO a little while ago, and a question came up about how to best guide creators towards good practices in the website development stage, to better support future preservation efforts. There are some guides in place for this (jump to...
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20 Sep 2017
“If you wish to make apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” If you wish to explain how web archiving works from a technical standpoint, you must first understand the ecosystem. I was anticipating (jk - it’s live now, here!!) writing a blog post about website archivability from a development perspective (“How can I make my website more archivable?”) but realized I needed to provide an overview of web archiving in general...
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09 Aug 2017
Crowd-sourcing a list of digital repository options. Here is the spreadsheet! Hey hey. It seems like every couple of months, I get asked for advice on picking a Collection Management System (or maybe referred to as a digital repository, or something else) for use in an archive, special collection library, museum, or another small “GLAMorous” institution. The acronym is CMS, which is not to be confused with Content Management System (which is for your blog)....
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13 May 2017
I’ve explained this to so many people and thought about this so much that I had to check and make sure I definitely have not written about this on my blog before, but it turns out that I have not. First, what is this going to be about? This is a guide to setting up a lo-fi but totally acceptable livestreaming and conference video recording situation using affordable equipment, much of which can be found...
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