technologyconnections

Update: it's brown and it needs a name

This is undoubtedly the most time effort that has ever gone into a visual gag. Should I have spent three (and a half) entire workdays on this? Debatable. But it happened.

And rather than simply leave it like this, I want to get decals made where we'll give it a fake brand. I say "we" because I want your suggestions!

In the comments below, please give me your best fake brand name for this ridiculous thing. Not looking for a logo - just a name. It could be ...

What I've been... up to.

Here's a video in which I give you an update on the upcoming car videos and reveal a secret I've been keeping from y'all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnTYnn3nmeE

Induction lamps

Howdy!

It's been a minute, huh? I had really hoped to get this video done before June ran out, but I ran into a research snag which turned into a nasty form of writer's block. The snag ended up being very stupid which I am embarrassed by but hey - it's done!

https://youtu.be/SaKKzZRrPIg

This video's frustrating progress is also why I didn't do a livestream last month. I will definitely be doing one in July ...

I finally bought a car - and here's what I got

It's taken me too long to get this process rolling, but with some very generous help I've finally gotten... in gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4_pYhzi7t4

And now... my attempt at restoring a very old TV

Fresh off the upload, here's the work-in-progress on that TV I showed y'all in the last livestream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2RSKswWG1c

I do plan on making this public at some point, but there's more to do and I may split this up. But if you like slow, chill watches I think you'll like it.

Another video on EV charging - because small charging circuits should be more commonly known

Yeah so I'll be honest up front: this is something between a remake and a rerun.

I've been meaning to get this video out there for a while as something I keep seeing over and over again is the insistence that electric cars "need" 50A charging circuits which just isn't true. Long-time viewers of the channel already know all this, so in many ways this video isn't intended for my typical audience. But, especially since my older charging guides could use updating anyway, a stand-alone vide...

The world is forgetting about closed captions on DVDs

Hello all!

I would have had this for you last night, but I had to re-render this video due to everybody's all-time favorite: ~copyright flags~

https://youtu.be/OSCOQ6vnLwU

Honestly I'm surprised by what was caught and why. I figured having the TV running on the desk like it is wouldn't take up a large enough area of the screen to matter but apparently not! So a little post-production got done to hide what's...

Live stream link

Barring any technical difficulties this link should get you to the livestream.

https://youtube.com/live/qKOEnRKm_Ow

If I press the wrong buttons I'll get you a new link. See you in an hour!

Livestream on May 24

Hello!

So I'm in the middle of the classic "this will be a simple video - ha ha nope" moments but I'm nearing the end of production on it. I may very well not have it done by the weekend but I'm blocking off Saturday at 3:00 PM Central for the next livestream (that's 8:00 PM UTC).

I'll send out a link closer to that time. And hopefully I do it a little better this go 'round :)

Sights and Sounds: Aztec

It's done!

https://youtu.be/IrZCYj2ZHj8

Having had absolutely no training on descriptive audio, this can only be described as "best effort" but I hope it's useful! There will be a second Sights and Sounds video focused on the mechanics coming later.

Also stay tuned for an announcement for the next live stream. Likely going to be this coming week unless things fall apart.

Setting up a new thing which will become a video eventually

Hello!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp07iQ7YNtM

So... I got a thing. And I unboxed it. And I faffed around with it for quite a while. And I recorded the process. And I uploaded that. And now I'm writing these words.

May is shaping up to be a Connextras-heavy month. In addition to Aztec Sights and Sounds (part one is coming very soonly! will be the next public video) I have a restoration pr...

It's time to tackle dehumidifiers

They're simple machines with some surprising side-effects!

https://youtu.be/j_QfX0SYCE8

You'll notice that this video is a bit long. It was going to be longer! But the reason I ultimately shelved this until now was that the original version of this script was trying to tackle too much at the same time. And it took a while to re-work it into something which flowed reasonably well. I'm still not completely satisfie...

Slightly secret Patreon test livestream

I guess the thing is embedded? But here's a link if not.

https://youtube.com/live/yM6TzPKyNdU?feature=share

Connextras video on the way

This one will get released very shortly.

https://youtu.be/Y2qSaD1v4cQ

Also, the trip report to Milwaukee is getting a small edit. I just want to make the terrible battery preconditioning software situation more clear.

A Connextras Trip Report to Milwaukee

The day before I finished the latest video, I met some folks in Milwaukee. Since a lot of... really strange ideas about what using electric cars must be like have been floating around on Bluesky I decided to film the experience.

https://youtu.be/81FMAt7pbOM

This is very quick-and-dirty and I will likely publish it tomorrow shortly after the main channel video goes up.

Power vs. Energy: the video

Hello! I’m still here and kicking, despite all the everything. And though it took me much longer than I wanted for various reasons, I have a new video today.

https://youtu.be/OOK5xkFijPc

For those who have been following my work for a while, I doubt much of the information in here is new. But I have noticed an increasing number of folks getting very worried about their energy use… while also not really unders...

Algorithmic Complacency: the finished version

Thank you so much for your feedback, everyone. I made several changes to the video and removed some of the pieces that were admittedly a little too self-indulgent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJpZjg8GuA

As a programming note, I played with moving the Google Maps story up to the beginning as several of you suggested but I realized that wouldn't work. The video has a flow which roughly goes
r...

A rough draft of a rough video. But I feel like I need to make it.

Yup. I explain in the opening what my intent is here, but I'll add a couple of things. First, there's mild profanity. If that bothers you, be warned (and I kind of want to test how YouTube treats that and whether I need to censor it, which also means it's monetized which I usually don't do with Patreon-exclusive stuff. please aggressively ignore all ads).

https://youtu.be/zblsASsPEBs

Y'all are also not really the...

Cheap space heaters are even safer than I realized

OK - I know what you're thinking. Another video about an electric heater?

Yep!

https://youtu.be/HnMuNCl7tZ8

But this time, the message is a little more educational and hopefully relieves some fears. I love it when there's a video that I start working on thinking "I have a simple thing to demonstrate" and then I learn it's even cleverer than I thought!

I have evening plans so I can't promise timing on ...

Receipts (kinda blurry)

Most of them - because I already had recurring donations set up for the People's Resource Center and Elmhurst-Yorkfield Food Pantry, I didn't get receipts that I've changed my monthly payment amount. I'll provide them in a later update.

And to be clear - this is something I genuinely want to do!

The purpose of formally making it a policy and doing this out in the open is both to keep me accountable and so you can know the ways you're helping my local community (and the broader Int...

Let's talk about money

Thanks to the amazing support that I’ve received from everyone on Patreon, I have been a full-time YouTuber for over six years. It’s astonishing and I’m so grateful to have the stability your support provides - I have not worried about money since I quit my “real job” and that’s definitely not a thing most people can say.

But I’ve never talked about money. I’ve brought you along for the bigger changes that have happened with this channel like the new studio - ho...

A toast to the new year

Hello, everyone!

Apparently 2024 is on its way out - which doesn’t seem possible! But unless my calendar is lying to me, that is in fact the case. I’ve never been one to do year-in-review type posts or anything like that, and boy has this been... a year - but it has genuinely been one of the most impactful for me, both professionally and personally. So what the hell, getting a little sappy I guess.

The new office/production facility/warehouse/studio (still haven’t r...

Behind the scenes! Shop heater build

Wanna watch the whole* EV shop heater build? Well, have I got the link for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zn6Vg95fYk

*ok a lot of dead space was cut out

The EV-charger-powered shop heater

It's a Christmas miracle!

https://youtu.be/kTctVqjhDEw

Or rather, I could get a standard J1772 inlet quickly enough and decided I would just reshoot the talking head with the necessary script modifications. In the end I think this was the better route to go anyway - I am able to explain in a little more detail why the charging station thinks it's connected to a car.

The last couple of years I've released ne...

A quick update regarding some not-so-quick shipping

Yeah, once again I'm stuck waiting on a thing.

https://youtu.be/ENtoQ-z6qDY

Contains spoilers for the (hopefully) next video and also - sorry for the less-than-great audio!

Xmas lights 2024 - there's wonderful news!

Huzzah! At last, someone understood the assignment!

https://youtu.be/qSFNufruSKw

This might be the last year I make this video - that is, of course, unless this doesn't pick up steam in the way I hope it will. If any of you out there are interested in ordering some of these lights, better make it quick. I don't have any idea what sort of inventory they may have left and when this is released tomorrow, it's likely...

How much thrust does a ceiling fan produce?

Hello! It's time for another video made with minimal effort on my part and with much more from my friend Dan.

https://youtu.be/6Ea6jf-9Czo

Some of you may remember I floated this idea several years ago. Well, only now has it come to fruition. This is a really silly video which has barely a point at all but, I mean, it is November.

Captions are gonna happen soonly, and I'll be releasing this tomorrow.

...

Balafire: the strangest light bulb

Have a really cool one for you today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHskIsOYZ8s

I read about this a long, long time ago and a few weeks ago it popped into my head again for a reason I cannot fathom. Luckily it did, though, and a couple of eBay searches later - here it is!

In a lot of ways, this video was surprising. There were many... connections that I had no idea were there, both...

Air fryers

Alright. Time for this I guess.

https://youtu.be/6h9JhW-m35o

I, uh, well... yeah. I think you get what I mean. No Effort November got off to a bit of a slow start. But there's more coming, and fairly quickly.

Captions for this one should be finished by tonight. I'm gonna release it publicly tomorrow.

I love and appreciate you all.

The Freeze Dryer Video

Just barely sneaking it in before November! I've been working since I got up this morning, committed to finishing this edit. And, well, it's done!

https://youtu.be/Namf-Ddo_Xo

So. This will be a really quick turnaround. I'll be pasting the script in soon but fine tweaking of the captions will wait until tomorrow morning/afternoon. And as soon as that's done, the video's going pubic. Barely made it before November...