Owen Williams

Tiny House

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Sat, 29 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

For the record, I was into Tiny Houses way before they were cool. I’d known about them for a while, and then in 2013 my partner gifted me with a Tiny House seminar and a set of construction plans so I could make my dreams real. “It’ll take at least a summer,” they said. Three years later it was done! We documented the process on my blog, up to and including the part where I burned out and got a contractor to finish the interior.

Mixxx

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 19:47:32 +0000

Since 2009 I’ve been a contributor to the Mixxx open source DJ application. Mixxx allows performers to play music using a virtualized instrument setup of playback decks and a mixer, similar to the classic setup of multiple turntables in a club booth. With millions of downloads, Mixxx is one of the most popular end-user open source applications in existence. My major contributions include: An early rewrite of the vinyl-style sound-stretching algorithm that improved the sound quality of Mixxx enormously.

Nevermore

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

“Nevermore and Other Works” is a sound installation that has appeared at Firefly (not the music festival) and other public events. Nevermore uses an array of independent computer-driven speakers to generate immersive soundscapes from randomly triggered collections of loops and samples. Participants are invited to (gently) press a button on the provided controller and hear, for example, a simulation of an outdoor scene featuring field recordings of several now-extinct species of birds collected by the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Gary's Bench

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

My father passed away in 2015, and after a family friend recounted a story of my dad’s fondness for bicycling down a particular stretch of road, I thought it would be a fitting tribute to install a bench at the site in his memory. He and I would take rides, and he always knew where there was a convenient bench to take a rest and have a granola bar. My family worked together with the town of Lincoln, MA to initiate the project.

A Friend In Need

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 17:49:30 -0500

stomp squealer capital G ruining my fucking shirt design smdh — DJ ACCIDENT REPORT (@eric_shorey) February 16, 2019 slightly better, still not good pic.twitter.com/WTm7xAvlOT — DJ ACCIDENT REPORT (@eric_shorey) February 16, 2019 pic.twitter.com/hQKg8SAEwk — Owen (@ywwg) February 17, 2019 Yes close but the G still looks like a C! — DJ ACCIDENT REPORT (@eric_shorey) February 17, 2019 lemme see what I can do with that — Owen (@ywwg) February 17, 2019 pic.

amibienough.com

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 13:37:46 -0400

I was commissioned by the Bisexual Resource Center to create a mini site for their “Am I Bi Enough?” domain. The scope was intentionally small – to create a simple landing page that says “yes!” and links to the main BRC website. The bisexual community is often plagued with feelings (and accusations) of not being “queer enough” so the site is intended to be straightforward and reassuring. I’ve had some exposure to modern CSS techniques through my Firefly Art Grants work and wanted to hone those skills more.

Packingdb

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 14:52:17 -0500

The #1 Enterprise solution for making sure you remember all your shit. Packingdb is web scale. packingdb is a small Go program I wrote to manage my packing lists. I have tried hard-copy lists, and briefly spreadsheets, but there are too many variables to account for when deciding what to bring on a trip: How long is the trip? Some items will vary in count (socks), but others won’t.

Short Rib Ragu

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 11:59:29 -0500

Recipe: Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu This recipe is forked (hehe!) from Helen Hou-Sandí’s delicious creation. It’s one of the first Instant Pot recipes I tried and it’s my favorite. The main changes are that I remove some of the sources of thickening, but the result is still plenty rich! Ingredients 2 tbs olive oil 1.5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs 1/2 pound diced pancetta (or bacon in a pinch) 1 large onion, chopped 1 large carrot, chopped 1 large stalks celery, chopped 4 medium cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, chopped 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped, divided in halves 1.

Personal Site Launch

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 14:36:40 -0500

I am hereby launching a personal site as a place to gather records of the stuff I create, because there’s a lot of it and it’s spread all over the place.

DJing

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Sat, 29 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

I have been DJing since 2009, not coincidentally when I first started working on Mixxx. I mostly spin techno, house, and pretty much anything in the 120-135bpm range, but I’ve also done ambient, jazz, and even a drum and bass set. I’ve played plenty of house parties, Burner events, a number of [REDACTED], and even a Real Club Night, Make It New at the Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge, including one around New Year’s Eve 2013 opening up for Perc.

Firefly Art Grant Portal

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

Since 2015 I have been going to regional Burn event – something like Burning Man but smaller and not in a desert – called Firefly. (This is not to be confused with the popular music festival of the same name.) As part of my participation in the event, I’m co-lead of the Art Grant Core, which is the group of volunteers tasked with giving money to artists for creating and bringing new works to show at the event.

Modular Synthesis

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

My interest in music creation steadily progressed from DJing to producing, and I’ve found that modular synthesis truly speaks to the way I like to experiment and play. It sometimes seems that it’s the solemn duty of well-employed tech geeks to buy a modular synth, and I embrace the cliché with no regrets. I’ve created a number of ambient pieces that I’ve uploaded to youtube, as well as performed live improvisational techno sets at various events.

Odds and Ends

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 14:47:32 -0500

This is a collection of small code projects that others might find useful. Cerulean, a cool blue theme for Microsoft Visual Studio Code. A plugin for GNOME 3 to disable the animation when switching workspaces. Tonic Alert, a Twitter bot that notifies you when you should buy gin and tonic and limes because the weather will be hot. RED ALERT: Heatwave predicted! Make emergency G&T preparations https://t.co/432guIe96f — Gin N.

Online Editor / Colorist

owilliams@mixxx.org (Owen Williams) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 19:47:32 +0000

Before I wrote code for a living, I went to school for and then worked in film and television post production. After joining a local company I worked up to the position of Online Editor and Colorist, a role that combines visual artistry with deep technical skill. The Online Editor receives the final edited cut of a project from the producer in a low-quality image format and must make every frame look as good as it can.