technologyconnections

Going a bit retro TC today - a "quick" video on the stereo sound of vinyl records

UPDATE: Video was re-uploaded to give on-screen thanks to your fellow patron Paul (who provided footage of the record cutting process). Any comments you left on the old version are going to go poof in about an hour. Also, captions are live!

Hello there! Knowing who you all are, there's a pretty good chance you already know this. Especially if you've been following TC since the earliest of early days! But I've been meaning to make a video specifically about this for a long time, and deci...

I tested out my car's vehicle-to-load system and it's pretty awesome

Hi! So I've been meaning to do this test for a while, and as this is part of the "how to manage a power outage" conversation in the upcoming Home Electrification 2: Some Kinda Boogalo, now's the time to do it to have raw numbers for the script.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO5fJ8z66Z8

This is a very casual video made entirely on my phone, and I won't be waiting for the second video to be ready t...

A follow-up, and my thoughts on rooftop solar

Hello again!

https://youtu.be/C4cNnVK412U

Here's a Connextras video I just cranked out. It'll go out with the main video, which will probably be tomorrow. I have a few odds and ends to sort with that, still.

Home Electrification - Part 1!

Hello all! It's been a while. Too while.

That's... that's not a phrase. Oh well!

https://youtu.be/CVLLNjSLJTQ

So, hi! I didn't mean to disappear for so long but I ended up coming down with a dreadful cold or something right as I neared the completion of the script. This is the first time I've really been sick since the y'know and it was quite odd - I basically only *felt* sick for two days but my voice was ...

The Simple Genius of a Water Heater

Oof. That thumbnail face.

https://youtu.be/Bm7L-2J52GU

I discovered recently while embarking on an experiment I explain at the end that electric water heaters, despite being about as basic a thing as you can get, have a genius operating scheme designed to make the most out of a limited power supply. So I made this video!

It's a bit rough-and-ready as it's an interim video (I was hoping to have a much broade...

A Connextras video about electric stoves - they're not slow!

Yep. I'm doing it! But only on Connextras.

https://youtu.be/eUywI8YGy0Y

So, this is mostly a "food for thought" type deal. I hope I made that clear in the video, and I'm sure there will be an endless stream of folks who a puzzled I didn't choose to get an induction stove - although I give my reasons.

I'm gonna be releasing this as soon as I get a thumbnail and chapter markers in place. So - pretty soon

A simple video about a simple thing

For real this time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnJZSk4JHFM

As you may have guessed I've taken a bit of a rest over the holidays, but I'm back! And there's plenty o' stuff happening. But that stuff will take a lot of effort, so in the meantime here's a simple "let's look at a thing" video. Hope you enjoy it!

This is hot off the presses, so there's work to be done, of course. Captions comi...

It's time to discuss Sound On Film

Merry Christmas, all! Well, Christmas eve. And barely. In this time zone, anyway.

I've brought you a gift! It's this video.

https://youtu.be/tg--L9TKL0I

I've been staying up waiting for this to finish uploading and, well, I'm headed to bed. The script is pasted in so rough captions should show up soon.

But, well OK I can't just leave things there - I'm not entirely sure yet if this will or won't be th...

Critical Program Reading: A 16mm Film Transfer Test

Hello! I'm pretty far along the next video and have been doing some test transfers. I picked up a Lumix GH5-II, a camera upgrade I've been eyeing for quite a while, once I confirmed how the synchro-scan function works. And I'm happy to report that it makes flicker-free footage of the projector!

It's not perfect - I don't have a very fast lens at a focal length long enough (the projector I have has a terribly long throw) so frames periodically get blended. If I could set the shutter spee...

OK, OK, a sort-of Christmas light video

Can you tell this was rushed? It was a bit rushed. Two of the NEN topics I told you about in the update video got pushed back because one of them is actually definitely a lot of effort and the other one... well I couldn't figure out a way to do what I wanted to. I'll get there eventually, though!

For now, this:
https://youtu.be/nyYjnV99wfM

A surprisingly hard to pin down topic, by the way! But I won't spoil t...

A Connextras video on coating a glass lampshade to turn it into milk glass

I have these two lamps that I thought would look better with a milk glass appearance so I, on a whim, tried something which... worked! Way better than expected!

https://youtu.be/ed8QTKtLxKs

Longevity is of course to be determined but for now this is just about perfect.

In Defense of the Switched Outlet

In this very silly and rather over-the-top video, I'm explaining and defending a very common thing in US home design. My spidey-senses have registered that a lot of folks just... don't understand this? And it's a feature I really, really like so I figured I'd yell at the internet about it.

https://youtu.be/2DGqVbTHX-k

Auto-captions are in place already, and I'll be adding better ones over the next couple of hours...

So I started my snow blower...

This is just a simple connextras video ostensibly on whether fuel stabilizers do anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQFkbg7he-4

A video on DX Encoding (digital info on 35mm film)

Amazingly, I met my deadline! And with nearly two whole hours to spare! The second installment of No Effort November is here, and it's on DX Encoding.

https://youtu.be/imMBwUGjXHs

With luck, I'll have two more NEN topics cranked out. Might only be one (probably the ceiling fan test so long as I can rig that up in a sensible way) but there's a silly video on switched outlets I could make quite quickly.

Anywh...

A New Sights and Sounds video

Hello, all!

https://youtu.be/ChtJ8gUuQWY

I said I'd have this done last week. I'm a bit late - I really needed to plan this out more than I did, but I think the end result is interesting.

An actual No Effort November video is coming, I hope, very soon. Like, with luck, Saturday.

'kay bye

The TV Guardian

Howdy, folks!

It's here. The first video of No Effort November! We're taking a look at the TV guardian, generously sent to me by your fellow patron, Colin! This (to me) hilarious device watches closed captioning data for profamity and protects your kids' little ears. It's delightfully weird! But also clever in its own way.

I envisioned this being a 10 minute video... but by now, you'd think I'd know that's just never gonna happen.

2022-11-08 22:21:41 +0000 UTC View Post

An update for y'all (and a thing I can now show you!)

This video isn't of the spooky variety, but it is of the rambly variety! Isn't Halloween all about rambleys? Right? That's it?

Uh, anyway, link:

https://youtu.be/3iNOJ12nHXM

So yeah, October didn't end like I wanted it to and it's been a fairly frustrating week. But stuff like that happens! For now, I hope you enjoy this update and the special thing in it

A video on sealed beam headlights

I imagine to folks not much older than me this might feel like a "well, duh" kind of a topic, but I think there's a case to be made that this old idea wasn't terrible!

https://youtu.be/c2J91UG6Fn8

This was supposed to be one of my trademark "quick" videos and you know how those go for me.

Gonna be a while before captions are polished, I'm afraid, but there should be rough ones there soon!

The Olympus Pen and its light-powered exposure control

Somehow, 11 months have passed between when I first took this camera apart to fix it and this video getting made! I honestly have no idea how as I've been wanting to make it for a long, long time. This camera is fascinating!

https://youtu.be/bwm_Dya0PFQ

I will likely release this Tuesday; rough captions are up and I'll work on refining them in the interim.

And a programming note: I realize it's been all too...

The Connextras Follow-up on Multi-family, on-street, shared etc. EV charging

This juuuuuuust finished uploading so resolutions are rough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WuJtcgExa8

It's a much more casual conversation, but definitely worth having.

A Complete Beginner's Guide to Electric Vehicles

It's done!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyp_X3mwE1w

Thanks everyone for your feedback - I changed more than a few things, including adding an "in a nutshell" to the beginning that definitely should have been there from the start. I also condensed the Level 1 section into a voiceover since it went on too long.

Captions for this are going to take me a while since it's so long. I also need to...

EV Charging Guide: The Rough Draft

And boy is it rough! This is literally the result of first edit pass run through where I look for bloopers and toss out bad takes, then spat out as a video. A number of the cuts need adjustment (plenty of false starts you're gonna see) and there's one where I got through half the line and then started over. I catch those sorts of things when adding B-roll, which isn't here yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Status report

Hello all you lovely people,

It's been a while since I've checked in with you. The quick turnaround of the coffee maker video made me hopeful that I could get the next video out by the end of August, but that video turned out to be a monster.

This will be by far the longest single video I've done for the main channel, and I don't want to split it up. I'm finally following up the DC fast charging video with that I had originally termed an "EV Charging Glossary," bu...

The taste tests

Yep. Here's a Patreon exclusive for you - the full taste tests!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2RKY4mpJQM

This just barely finished processing so all resolutions might not be there yet.

For those who rely on captioning, since this is so long it's going to take quite a while for YouTube to publish the auto-captions. They may not even be up in the next day, and I'm sorry about that!

And now... coffee makers!

Specifically, the cheap kind.

You may notice that this video is pretty long for a video on coffee makers. Well. Lemma tell you a story. You see, one day, I was poking around on the Interwebs when I came acro-

OK, I suppose it's best to just watch it!

https://youtu.be/Sp9H0MO-qS8

Coming your way soonish will be the entire taste test segment. I will slap that together with minimal editing and make it ex...

I learned something which surprised me about typewriters, so I made a video about it

I learned this when I was like 15, and since it's been in my brain that long it didn't occur to me that this might be an interesting topic. The intro to this is genuine, by the way. Was looking around for something to cover while I waited for a thing to arrive in the mail (it's here! gonna start work on that video very very soon) I saw a box of correction tape and realized "huh. this might make good content!"

2022-07-31 20:39:42 +0000 UTC View Post

A super long-overdue video about my writing process (and loads of other stuff)

Yep! I took forever getting this to you and it's, as usual, off the cuff and way more rambly than I intended. But there's a lot in it! I've finally found a better system... or I guess A system... which is helping me get scripts done faster. At least, I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iITYv6w-ORM

A video on the two types of smoke alarms and why one isn't that great

Time for something a little more "classic TC" and also important. I've not exactly felt as if my last couple of videos have been my best work, and while I guess I need to do one on the American drip coffee maker (and a script is already in the works on that front) didn't want yet another barely-technical topic to come up next. So here's this!

https://youtu.be/DuAeaIcAXtg

I *might* release this tomorrow for everyb...

A love letter to Warm Glow - because it might be on its way out?

I have a light topic for you today.

https://youtu.be/tbvVnOxb1AI

Yep. So... I don't really have any proof that Philips might be moving to discontinue these but what I see worries me. More than one of you has actually reached out to tell me about these - although I've been in the loop for a long time! Regrettably, that time may be ending.

It might be longer than I'd like until the next video. I've been spinn...

A kettle follow-up

Hi there!

https://youtu.be/RpoXFk-ixZc

So... I shot this the day before I published the first video, and I intended this to be an immediate follow-up for the main channel. Welp. The shoot didn't go to plan, and also I wasn't thrilled with the end-result.

I looked at it, started the edit, then really got demotivated from finishing it up in time to release it quickly... and then I wound up working on a bunch ...