Gratitude Day 11: Lossy Compression Algorithms
For the next couple days, I'm going to take a look at lossy compression algorithms, what makes them so amazing, and how they enable the internet experience that we all know and love today.
Especially when dealing with video formats, we would be extremely limited if not for lossy compression. Even assuming a dedicated, pure gigabit connection for every single device on the internet, the most we would be able to enjoy at 60fps would be a resolution of 1110*624 without compression, maybe 720p using lossless compression, if you're lucky. And lossy compression gives us 4k (nearly 12x as many pixels) for one twenty-fifth of the bandwidth.
Breakfast at Der Waffle Haus
Disclaimer 1: A heavy "[sic]" is implied on all intentional butchering of the German language in the references (and URLs) in this post
Disclaimer 2: This post deals with issues of grieving, but in a lighthearted manner
Disclaimer 3: This post may be best enjoyed while listening to this track …
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Re-thinking Sci-Fi Space Battles
I don't watch a lot of YouTube anymore, and I'm trying to bring my TV watching down by a lot and read more.
But one of my guilty pleasures is Retro Badger Gaming. This guy uses variants of the Bridge Commander series of games/mods to put together intriguing, insane …
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Examining The Ethics of Media Consumption and Sharing
One of my new fedifriends, Terminal Tilt recently posted:
We should not call sharing "piracy."
Piracy involves the physical theft of property where the original owner no
longer has it. Sharing is an act of duplication, not subtraction.
Language matters. Using the industry's preferred labels only helps reinforce
their control …
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Some Thoughts on Star Trek: Picard
Warning: (obviously) spoilers abound!
I just finished watching Star Trek: Picard last night, and while this won't be a thorough analysis (I'd probably have to watch it five times to accomplish that), I did want to briefly write down my thoughts on it.
Like many older Trek fans, I'm not …
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The Scenes that Made Me: The Good Place (2016)
Professor Chidi Anagonye stirring a pot of Marshmallow-Peeps-and-M&Ms chili in class as he rants
Note: Spoilers of Seasons 1-3 of The Good Place follow. Also, a minor discussion of religion.
Anyone who follows me on the Fediverse will know that I have been more than slightly obsessed with the …
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Songs to Improve Your Mental Health
Background
I'd be fooling myself to think that I could be the first person on the earth to note music's incredible ability to heal and salve the tormented human soul. My own journey with music is, well, unsurprisingly, about as old as I am. Most everyone on one side of …
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I Miss RC
I was on a Signal video chat with my siblings today, and when I mentioned something about RC flight as an analogy for a person's health (being "three mistakes high"), my brother looked confused and then amused when I explained what I was talking about.
Oh, quick explainer, I'm not …
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Blog Questions Challenge: TV Shows Edition
I keep finding more of these blog challenge questions, and I totally love them.
This one comes courtesy of Andreas' blog.
Like Andreas, I'm not a big TV watcher. I think I formally quit watching TV in 2003. I did watch a few things on Netflix and Amazon Prime over …
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Loops is... interesting
I, like many, have taken an interest in Daniel Supernault's new Loops video service.
Unlike many, I'm not so much interested in a FOSS, Federated clone of TikTok, YT Shorts, or Vine. I honestly don't care for that kind of media. I don't object to the format (other than …
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