去電視廣告的服務又來了...

看到「Plex’s DVR now lets you skip the commercials… by removing them for you」這篇文章,介紹 Plex 要推出去電視廣告的服務...

維基百科上的介紹比較清楚:「Plex (software)」,主要有兩個元件組成,media server 與 player:

  • The Plex Media Server desktop application runs on Windows, macOS and Linux-compatibles including some types of NAS devices. The 'server' desktop application organizes video, audio and photos from your collections and from online services, enabling the players to access and stream the contents.
  • The media players. There are official clients available for mobile devices, smart TVs, and streaming boxes, a web app and Plex Home Theater (no longer maintained), as well as many third-party alternatives.

然後這次要推出的功能是直接在錄影的時候把廣告拿掉:

Plex confirmed it’s rolling out a new feature that will allow cord cutters to skip the commercials in the TV programs recorded using its software, making the company’s lower-cost solution to streaming live TV more compelling. Unlike other commercial-skip options, Plex’s option will remove commercials from recordings automatically.

這讓我有些印像... 當年 TiVo 也有類似的功能,不過文章裡有提到 TiVo 是提供 skip 而非直接拿掉:

The new feature works by locating the commercials in your recorded media. It then actually removes them before the media is stored in your library. That sounds like it could be even better than TiVo’s commercial skipping option, for example, because you don’t have to press a button to skip the ads — they’re being pulled out for you, proactively.

不過主要是認識了 Plex 這個軟體... 如果是電視兒童的話應該用的到 XD 台灣目前的電視節目好像看的比較少...

AWS Media Services 推出一卡車與影音相關的服務...

AWS 推出了一連串 AWS Elemental MediaOOXX 一連串影音相關的服務:「AWS Media Services – Process, Store, and Monetize Cloud-Based Video」。

但不是所有的服務都是相同的區域... 公告分別在:

不過這邊還是引用 Jeff Barr 文章裡的說明,可以看到從很源頭的 transencoding 到 DRM,以及 Live 格式,到後續的檔案儲存及後製 (像是上廣告) 都有:

AWS Elemental MediaConvert – File-based transcoding for OTT, broadcast, or archiving, with support for a long list of formats and codecs. Features include multi-channel audio, graphic overlays, closed captioning, and several DRM options.

AWS Elemental MediaLive – Live encoding to deliver video streams in real time to both televisions and multiscreen devices. Allows you to deploy highly reliable live channels in minutes, with full control over encoding parameters. It supports ad insertion, multi-channel audio, graphic overlays, and closed captioning.

AWS Elemental MediaPackage – Video origination and just-in-time packaging. Starting from a single input, produces output for multiple devices representing a long list of current and legacy formats. Supports multiple monetization models, time-shifted live streaming, ad insertion, DRM, and blackout management.

AWS Elemental MediaStore – Media-optimized storage that enables high performance and low latency applications such as live streaming, while taking advantage of the scale and durability of Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).

AWS Elemental MediaTailor – Monetization service that supports ad serving and server-side ad insertion, a broad range of devices, transcoding, and accurate reporting of server-side and client-side ad insertion.

引個前同事的 tweet,先不說 Amazon SWF 的情況 (畢竟 Amazon SWF 還可以找到其他用途),倒是 Amazon Elastic Transcoder 很明顯要被淘汰掉了:

這種整個大包的東西是 AWS re:Invent 才有的能量,平常比較少看到...

為什麼我還繼續用 RSS (Feed)

最近在一些地方冒出兩篇文章 (應該是 NuzzelHacker News,放在 tab 上好幾天,不是那麼確定來源...),一篇是最近發的「The Case for RSS」,另外一篇是五月的文章「RSS: there's nothing better」。這邊講的 RSS 比較廣義,不侷限於 RSS {0.91,1.0,2.0},而是包括了各式的 feed,像是後來標準化的 Atom

消息的來源大致分成兩種:

  • 已知的來源:這些人只要有新的文章你就會想看。
  • 未知的來源:你可能也會有興趣的文章。

前者你不會想要漏掉 (你就是想看才會訂啊)。而後者在早期有 Zite 這類用演算法推薦的產品,後來在 Zite 併入 Flipboard 整個爛掉後我就跳去用 Nuzzel (透過好友機制推薦,演算法相對單純)。

Facebook 將這兩者混在一起,讓「已知的來源」未必會出現,而是用演算法包起來並且用 PR 手段混淆:美其名稱為「個人化推薦」,實際上是想辦法讓內容提供者掏錢出來。這點在 Instagram 上也可以看到一樣的作法:把 timeline 打散,用演算法包裝起來,再美其名為「個人化推薦」。

而 RSS reader 可以避免「已知的來源」這塊漏掉。

另外也因為 RSS reader 因為設計的目標就是「有效率的閱讀」而不是「賺錢」,所以大多數都會有「已讀」與「未讀」的功能,這讓你同樣的資訊你不需要讀很多次。

而 RSS reader 容易分群閱讀 (有些 RSS reader 會提供 folder 或是 tag 的功能) 也讓你可以帶著不同的 mindset 看不同群的文章,像是科技類的文章與心靈雞湯文就可以分開。

不打開書直接掃描內容

MIT Media Lab 弄出個好玩的東西,可以不打開書直接掃描書的內容:「Can computers read through a book page by page without opening it?」,主標題是「Terahertz time-gated spectral imaging for content extraction through layered structures」。

用 100Ghz 到 3Thz 的電磁波掃描:

In our new study we explore a range of frequencies from 100 Gigahertz to 3 Terahertz (THz) which can penetrate through paper and many other materials.

先前也有類似的方法,用 X-ray 或是超音波,但效果都不好:

Can’t X-ray or ultrasound do this? It may seem that X-ray or ultrasound can also image through a book; however, such techniques lack the contrast of our THz approach for submicron pen or pencil layers compared next to blank paper. These methods have additional drawbacks like cost and ionizing radiation. So while you might be able to hardly detect pages of a closed book if you use a CT scan, you will not be able to see the text. Ultrasound does not have the resolution to detect 20 micron gaps in between the pages of a closed book -distinguishing the ink layers from the blank paper is out of the question for ultrasound. Based on the paper absorption spectrum, we believe that far infrared time resolved systems and THz time domain systems might be the only suitable candidates for investigating paper stacks page by page.

不知道可以進展做到什麼程度,目前只是「能看懂」的程度,品質看起來還是不太夠:

估算五毛黨所發表的評論數量

Bloomberg 上看到「China Fakes 488 Million Social Media Posts a Year: Study」這篇在討論中國五毛黨在網路上洗言論的數字。原始論文在「How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, not Engaged Argument」這邊。

這篇論文估算大約有 200 萬人產生了 4.88 億的評論:

The Chinese government has long been suspected of hiring as many as 2,000,000 people to surreptitiously insert huge numbers of pseudonymous and other deceptivewritings into the stream of real social media posts,

We estimate that the government fabricates and posts about 488 million social media comments a year.

這個估算頗有趣的... XD

Email 發明人過世

Email 發明人 Ray Tomlinson 過世:「Inventor of email and savior of the @ sign, Ray Tomlinson, is dead at 74」。

第一封 Email 出自 1971 年 (45 年前),在「RIP: Largest Social Media Network Founder」這邊提到,把 Email 描述成全世界最大的 social media network 也不為過:

The world’s largest social media network is Email with;

  • 4.6 billion email accounts globally,
  • shared between 2.6 billion users,
  • that’s 1.7 accounts per user

GitLab 與 DigitalOcean 的合作案?

因為 Twitter 上這兩個帳號都有跟,所以就看到這兩個帳號的公開喊話記錄:

還蠻有趣的 XD

Xiph 講數位訊號...

Xiph 是個網路多媒體相關的 open source 組織,前陣子放了教學影片,介紹多媒體的理論:「Xiph.org: Video」,目前每一集都大約半小時,可以下載下來或是直接在網站上看。

第一課「Episode 1: A Digital Media Primer for Geeks」從數位訊號開始講,包括影像與聲音。第二課「Episode 2: Digital Show & Tell」則是介紹聲音的部份 (包括數位與類比)。

有興趣可以去看看 :p

Ubuntu 10.10 amd64 版

把桌機換成 Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop amd64 版,比以以前有一堆東西要自己設定,裝好到現在還沒遇到問題,本來預期的問題也都隨著時間而解決了:

  • Linux amd64 下 rmvb 的支援,不論是內建的 Totem 還是 smplayer 都沒問題,而且 smplayer 還可以加速播放 (聲音頻率不會跑掉),跟之前在 Windows 下用 KMPlayer 的模式一樣...
  • Linux amd64 下 Flash Player 的支援也已經 okay 了,目前版本也已經是 10.2,該有的都有了...

繼續研究...