MediaSlurper Updates - Ep2 - Introducing a basic GUI + Cute Mascot

Time for another (hopefully) quick + brief writeup following another busy but relatively successful weekend of hacking away on this project. In short: I managed to tick off the biggest todo I had planned for the weekend (along with a few other smaller tasks), and with a few additional bonus points for good measure.

Introducing, the initial MVP UI for "MediaSlurper"

1) MediaSlurper  MVP GUI

Perhaps the biggest achievement this weekend was managing to put together an initial functioning UI for the media-backup scripts I've been working on for the past few weeks (see screenshot above).

Functionally, it's still very very crude (i.e. those buttons just call the existing scripts, but then they just execute in that existing terminal window backing this GUI (instead of in a dedicated GUI-wrapped window, OR via nicer GUI-driven UI's). But, most importantly, it serves the original goal of implementing this GUI in the first place (i.e. allowing me to launch these tools in ~2 clicks from the Start Menu, without needing to keep open a dedicated terminal window with 2 tabs - one for each script - open so that I can run them on the near daily / every-other-day basis that I end up needing these)

PureQml's Python-based QML Compiler - A tempting starting point for Kea's UI-Definition Compiler...

I know I already have too many open / unfinished projects (and a bunch more un-started yet)...

BUT, I was "doing the rounds" again after work today on HTML/CSS alternatives to doing web-deployable apps, and ended up looking at the QML situation again...

(Unfortunately, while I'll try to finish current project using HaxeUI, I'm running into too many weird update bugs + other hard-to-overcome limitations that I'm currently inclined to go back to looking for another solution for the next test project / whatever will be used to implement Parus)

 

TLDR:  Am again getting itchy hands to jump back into building my "Kea" language compiler in Python (possibly either hacking OR deriving significant inspiration from "PureQml"'s Python-based "QML-subset -> HTMl5 / Javascript" compiler), but focussing first on the QML-like UI-definition syntax   (before adapting the wider language later, and for non-web backends for those other parts)...

 

Stocktake of Current Projects in Progress (23 March Edition)

Time for another stocktake of all my various projects currently on the go. I typed this up more for my own benefit than anything.  (Also, considering that my last attempt at such a list from early January ended up being 6 pages in my notebook, this is already the "cut down" version LOL 😅)... 

* 1) Revival of app in HaxeUI for Dad  (Hard Deadline: Mid May) = Stalled. Am facing intractable toolkit related bugs.

* 2) Media Import/Backup from Devices = In progress / partially working. Need another push to complete.   (A blog post was in progress about the state of that from last weekend, but may now hold off until I'm done with it, as finishing it is more important, than ranting about half-progress)

* 3) Picasa Replacement = Not started

* 4) MusicViz = Paused. Haven't had time to start showcqt-hacking phase

* 5) Kea = Paused again. Too many concrete projects to do first. (Had dabbled with the UI language side of things a few months ago, initially starting to work on trying out the 7Guis tasks... that said, satisfying those succinctly may direct things in a bad direction relative to all the "real problems" I encounter in general instead)

* 6) Parus = On hold. Was originally going to use #1 as a testbed for doing it in Haxe + HaxeUI, but I now have to rethink those plans...

* 7) Collagen (i.e. Collage Making Tool) = On hold. Pending Parus being usable in some or other language, so that I can actually build the thing without wasting time doing more plumbing (like I'm doing on #1 currently)!

 

Others (Lower Priority):
* WhioDoc = Spec written. Tooling will have to wait till I have time

* Music Sketch Pad = Comes after Collagen and Maybe After Diagramming Tool (but may need to come first)

* Diagramming Tool = On hold indefinitely, but definitely needed more and more.

 

 

 

 

PhotoTool Project Updates Ep 1 - Initial Steps Towards Scripts to Ease + Automate Import + Backup of Media Data

For the past few weeks, I've been having a blast hacking away at a pair of scripts for automating some steps of my current photo management workflow that have thus-far been very labour-intensive to perform:  Namely, importing/backing up photos and videos from my camera (R5)'s memory card, and doing the same with my phone (Android).

The Last Lunch

Wow, it's been 5 years ago to the day when this photo was taken.

Yum Cha at "Tai Chi" (Spitfire Square, Christchurch) in March 2020

 

It was from our last "dine in" meal at a restaurant before the first COVID lockdown (that we headed out for shortly after Ardern's first 1pm nationwide address).

This photo then went on to be one that I wound up staring at longingly for *months*, desperately craving some Cheng Fun (and being unable to make any ourselves). You could say it got me through the pandemic...

On "Sci-Fi" and "Fantasy"...

TBH, I personally generally dislike most "Sci-Fi" and "Fantasy" stories / media. Among other reasons... they suck! 😜

[MusicViz Project] Part 3 - Breakdown of FFMPEG "showcqt" Experiment

This is the third installment of my ongoing series of posts on one of my long-term projects to develop a new automated technique for visualising music.

To motivate today's discussion, here is the final video clip rendered from the experimental technique being discussed in this post: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTMpzmdI9qQ

 

And here is the command used to render that:

ffmpeg -y -i 20230803-v02.flac -filter_complex "[0:a]showcqt=s=500x1920:axis=0:cscheme=0.6|0.7|0.1|0.1|0.8|0.5,crop=500:1392:0:4000,setsar=1,transpose=2[vcqt]; [0:a]showwaves=mode=cline:s=1920x100[vs]; [vcqt][vs]overlay=y=H-100[v]" -map "[v]" -map "0:a" -c:a aac "mv_20230803.mp4"

 

Let's annotate that to show the different parts more clearly (see the breakdown following this for a rough description of what each part does):

ffmpeg -y -i 20230803-v02.flac -filter_complex "[0:a]showcqt=s=500x1920:axis=0:cscheme=0.6|0.7|0.1|0.1|0.8|0.5,crop=500:1392:0:4000,setsar=1,transpose=2[vcqt]; [0:a]showwaves=mode=cline:s=1920x100[vs]; [vcqt][vs]overlay=y=H-100[v]" -map "[v]" -map "0:a" -c:a aac "mv_20230803.mp4"

Flow - Blender Animated Feature Film

As many in the Blender world will know by know, Flow - a Latvian animated film created by a small team in Blender, and rendered using Eevee just won this year's Oscar for Best Animated Film!

Woah! What a moment! The first Blender animated Best Animated Feature award winner! WOW!  😱🤯😍🥳

A *VERY* big congratulations to all the team who worked on this!!! A very well deserved win!

Introducing... "WhioDoc" (formerly "Quack!" / "QuackDoc")

I guess this weekend can be considered somewhat successful on the projects front (even though I only really got around to 1 of the 3 projects I'd wanted to work on, though it *was* the most important one I wanted to knock off too)

Following a few sessions of toil, I have successfully put up an initial attempt at formalising all the conventions I've been using for writing inline code docs for all my projects over the years!

While there are still a few small loose ends to tack on, at least I can finally point to this thing and say: Here's the spec!

(And eventually: "Here's all the docs-compiler tools + editor plugins everyone asks for these days")

 

https://github.com/Aligorith/quackdoc

https://github.com/Aligorith/whiodoc

 

Reflections on my time working with Lilypond

Recently, I saw a post from a music student mentioning that they were thinking of writing up some stuff on the techniques they'd learned while using GNU Lilypond - i.e. a LaTeX-like "music typesetter" with its own custom input/programming language (doused / polluted with a heavy dose of Guile-Scheme).

This post gathers up some of my own notes on my own journey with these tools, and how this has tied into where I am today. Come to think of it, this year actually marks something like "just over two decades ago" that I was doing this shit (since IIRC, I probably started doing all this back in 2004!) - jeez... time flies and makes you feel old when put like that!

C17 Landing at NZCH - 2025 02 24

Here are bunch of heavily-edited snaps from the C17 (8202) landing at NZCH earlier this week that I quite like.

I really love the combination of dramatic lighting, tyre smoke, and the funny look on the faces of those sheep - especially on that second one!

Had to heavily edit to improve colour + contrast - mainly to just bring out a bit more colour from all the washed-out / desaturated light and dark areas (which were a consequence of shooting into the sun near sunset... granted, the lighting would conventionally be better considered "better" from the other side, but the roads on that side are scary, and you wouldn't get to see the smoke backlit like this either!)

Nike Eskilstuna Drafting Table

Earlier this evening, I came across the following video on Facebook of a 1950's vintage architect's drafting desk - apparently manufactured by "Nike Eskilstuna" from Sweden.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2626640980856219

 

Wow! This is so freaking awesome! TBH, if I had the floorspace, I'd probably get one for my office-space / living room, especially if I got hold of one with wheels for easier moving! 😍