technologyconnections

Help on a topic--Don't read this if you want to avoid spoilers

Hey hey everybody!

I'm working on a video right now that was a viewer suggestion. Torrance sent me an email and wanted to know about time-lapse VCRs used in analog security camera equipment, and I thought that this would be right up the channel's alley.

I've got one (which you helped buy!) and have been poking around with it for a while, and the most remarkable thing about it is how perfectly it can make a still-frame. It is absolutely pe...

A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Posting Day

I've been meaning to make this for a long while now, and I finally had a good opportunity to do it. And it worked out to be a very good day! Not only has the video done well, but there was an interesting... interruption.

And (context for this will come in the first two minutes) the video was taking forever to process so I ended up working on the desk. I just got the new leg on and it's working, so there's a good thing! I'll show you its new location a little later on, because it's going...

DRYWALL

Wouldn't ya know it, things are progressing! And quickly!

It's looking more and more like the end of February will see the first video filmed at HQ. Nearly there!

The Story of the Disc in the SD Logo

The silliness got dialed up a bit for this one. Just a bit. You may recall that I mentioned this before in my video on DVD and how it pretty much ended Laserdisc, and now, here it is!

This is more of a "trivia" video, and I'm testing the waters on this sort of thing a bit. I keep saying I need to make some simpler videos, and now that Headquarters is nearing completion, that's extra true as I work through the move.

Speaking of Headquarters, I have another update video for you comi...

Disney parks related videos--ideas? Desires?

In the not-too-distant future I'll once again find myself in the depths of the Mouse Kingdom. This trip was way less planned than most, and I have my impulsive brother to thank for spurring this along.

Anyway, I'm putting this out to you in case there is anything you'd like me to look into or cover regarding technology at Walt Disney World. I like to turn these trips into opportunities (particularly as they help finance them ;) and I already have one idea in mind.

Even if it's jus...

Birty durners

I'm a sucker for spoonerisms.

For those that watched the latest HQ update, I thought I'd update the update with an update on the furnace situation. Given how a few of you were in agreement as to what the problem was, I thought I'd brave the task of removing the burners and cleaning them. And I did!

And it worked!

It's obvious that this made for a big difference in its operation, as now the flames propagate a bit more slowly but deliberately from burner to burner. It hasn't f...

Second channel video

It's gonna be live in like a half-hour, but here it is in your inboxes in case it gets lost in the weeds or something...

An embarrassing thing

Yeah. It's dumb and bad.

So ever since I started this page, I'd occasionally get emails from Patreon telling me "New post by _username_". Now I could read these posts in the emails, and I did! But I never figured out what exactly they were. I only just now discovered the "community" tab here on Patreon, and lo and behold, there are all those things!

My apologies to anyone who's posted anything there. I can assure you I did read it when you sent it. There ...

DVD-RAM

I somehow kept putting this video off, when it's been one I've wanted to make for a long time. DVD-RAM is a mysteriously underutilized format, mixing the storage capacity of an optical disc with the usability of a floppy or flash drive. I wanted to see if I could figure out why it was never widespread, and I think I sort of did.

I was hoping to get this done earlier in the day, so you'll only /really/ have early access to this for one day. I'll be putting it live Friday morning (and I'l...

A Headquarters Update

This might be news to some of you--and if this is your first "Patreon update" video experience, be prepared for a lot of rambliness. I'm generally bad at this sort of thing. It may be best enjoyed as an audio experience. There is one interesting thing shown relating to a furnace though. Flames and all.

But! I don't think I formally announced this here, and I'm excited to tell you that I'm done with school! I've graduated and have put that mess behind me. I've spent the last 10 or so day...

The Superheterodyne Radio

Here's a little Christmas present for you! I've just wrapped this up (PUNS!) and it's ready for your enjoyment. Go on. Open it!

I worked to get this done for public release Christmas Morning, so you'll not have a ton of early viewing time. My apologies there. But I hope you like it! This is such a cool concept to me, and I think it deserves some more attention.

I made a little TC2 video

Good morning!

I made this thing. It's a thing about how I film CRTs. I put it on the second channel because it's kind of a mix between behind-the-scenes and a how-to, and since it's a very low-effort affair, I just made it public right away.

Closed Captioning: An Overview

Good afternoon everyone!

It's been a long time coming, with an eBay order, a bunch of capturing, and lots and lots of B-roll to sift through, but it's finally here!

Captions are coming soon (HA HA) so for now, the auto-generated ones that I made fun of will have to do. But a fully-fledged series of captions is on the way!

The story of how my mind works

So you know how there are usually two options? That's patently false there are lot's more than two. Pretend there's just two 'cause that's the situation I'm in.

Option one: Write a script, shoot the talking head, be done with it.

Option two: Put my face on a CRT again and work through all that entails.

I can't help but keep picking option two.

Your patience is appreciated as we work through this.

Behind the Scenes! The Making of the "Festive" intro

Were you wondering how the beginning on the last video happened? Well have I got news for you! You can find all the juicy details in this here video!

https://youtu.be/5IfgIqjWM3s

LED Holiday Light Experiments (for color)

Remember that video I never made but then said I was gonna make after the next one but then said I was gonna make before the next one? Well, I made it! And you can watch it! You can watch it right now!

Results were pleasantly surprising, and now I have a bit of work cut out for me (that thing I said I was gonna do--I haven't done it quite yet. Shh--don't tell anyone).

Also! There's a *behind the scenes* video having to do with this that will be coming for select patrons soon! And I'm wor...

Slight change in plans ( plus PO Box! )

OK, an announcement with some history etc.

Last year as the holidays approached, I made a dumb video about my favorite kind of decorative holiday lights. In that video I complained about how most multi-colored LED sets use monochromatic LEDs and because of that I really don't like them. If only some company would make warm-white LED sets with tinted glass just like the good old days, I mused. Then I said I would do some experiments and report back with another video, which I never did. Well, I...

#ThankYouPatrons

Today, Patreon has asked many of us to come together in a show of thanks to our supporters around the world and across the platform. As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches (in the US at least) I've been thinking a lot about all of you. This year I have much to be thankful for, and most of all I'm thankful for the change you've made in my life, and for believing in what I do.

Thank you

A thing for you to read

Wow, lots of new patrons since the last video! Welcome, and thank you! From time to time I post little text updates about what's happening, and what better time than when I'm stuck between classes and have nothing to do...  Thursdays are awful. Four more weeks...

Since it's been a long long time since I actually put this to paper (or in this case, digital paper), and since many of you are new to the whole Patreon thing, I'll reiterate that my current goal for video production is to have t...

Requesting your input--is this idea good or crazy?

I've had this idea for a while now and I'm torn on whether to pursue it. First, THE THING I DIDN'T SAY HERE was that the shuttle wasn't working at O'Hare and that's why the test filming didn't work. I am so bad off-script.

Anyway, thoughts would be appreciated. I'm no expert in this field but my gut tells me we are perhaps doing things a bit illogically.

LightScribe: remember that?

It's here! This got a little more involved because I was originally planning not to show the disc being burned. I was hesitant to destroy my slim drive but realized it would be a shame if I couldn't show the burning process. So I did it anyway, and I'm real glad that I did!

I tried something a little different in the endscreen which... didn't work... so hopefully you don't notice. You'll know what it is if you do.

(and I do have a second LightScribe drive but it's a rare bird, literally ...

BTS Photo--my filming organization

Consider this slightly spoilery perhaps, but then again if you watched the latest Patron only video you know this is coming...

I'm about ready to start shooting B-roll for the LightScribe video, and I thought I'd share my weird process for organizing that endeavor.

It may surprise you that when I write the scripts, I don't have anything but a sort of ethereal plan in my head for what visuals will accompany them. Once I've written the video and shot the talking head, I do a rough edit to ...

So, uh, this happened

This is slowly becoming a meme and I'm not really helping to stop it...

Updates, stories, HQ, blabber, plans, and more

Yeah, so you can think of this largely as an update video. Apologies for not filming any of this at HQ, but I didn't bring my camera this time and I was busy pretty much nonstop. Lots of things were accomplished, and now it's ready for construction.

This is best enjoyed mainly as an audio experience. It's pretty much 40+ minutes to camera, with very little visual interest. But if you enjoy watching me talk, that's an option!

The Ubiquitous Sound That You May Have Never Noticed

I'll admit I'm a little apprehensive about this video. It may come off simply as a bit of trivia (though I hope I sprinkled in some other interesting tidbits). But I'll tell you, it was fun to make! I was visiting some old haunts to get the various clips.

Captions are being a real pain in the butt today. My apologies if you rely on them, I'll have them up soon.

Out-of-Context Sneak Peek

This is a rough edit of a sequence that's appearing in my upcoming video. It will probably be only about 6 minutes long, but that means it will be out pretty soon! In fact, depending on how the evening goes, I might even have it done tonight. Certainly by tomorrow for public release Friday.

If you know what this is about, you probably follow me on Twitter. If you don't, see if you can guess!

CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, and all the rest

This might be wrapping the CD up? There are other things to talk about in the realm of optical discs, but I think I've said all there is to say (or at least most of it) on the compact disc itself.

The next two videos will be much simpler in scope. And the second of the two will kinda-sorta be related to optical discs, as you'll see.

I'm in a bit of a time crunch so almost nothing is done aside from the video itself. This thumbnail will surely be replaced, and the description, ...

Patreon Exclusive! First project at HQ

Hi everyone!

I spent some of the weekend on this addition at HQ. The lights in the basement have been replaced with some much brighter fixtures, and this video shows the process. It's kinda long, but I hope you enjoy!

BTS: How I Hurt My Hand (and other stories)

Looking for a long, relaxed video? Have I got the video for you!

The first half of this video is footage that I didn't use for my Intro to Headquarters. It's a little more personal and talks about why I decided to go this route, and although I had planned to use it in the intro video, it was becoming quite long. So I figured I'd include it here.

The second half tells the story of how I hurt my hand. That's a fun one.

Simple battery backup solution

Wednesday, huh? That was optimistic!

As usual, what I envisioned as a simple video about a simple thing turned into a longer video going into more detail than I had planned. But, I suppose that's the channel's brand.

Part of the delay came from the fact that I was not planning on doing any work at HQ, and yet a scheduling conflict changed those plans. Right after I post this, I'm headed over there to do some quick work--which I'll be posting for everyone soon (ish).

Also, good news...