Category Archives: Videos

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Adding a Smart Panel to the Teranex Mini (No Mic on Purpose)

  By Scott • 2020-02-26
Adding a Smart Panel to the Teranex Mini - Screen Grab

This is a quickie, wherein I swap the cosmetic faceplate on a Blackmagic Design Teranex mini converter for a smart panel. I thought it might be useful if someone wanted to check out the process before buying one. But I’ll spoil it by saying that it’s just a matter of removing the 4 screws holding on the faceplate, and then pushing the smart panel onto an edge connector that protrudes from the Teranex device.

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Building a Rig to Test AAA Batteries (Live)

  By Scott • 2020-02-13 , ,
Building a AAA Battery Test Rig (Live Stream) - Cover Image

I’ve been working on two things lately (well, more than two, but whatever): Live streaming and testing AAA batteries. The former is going somewhat OK, but I’m still trying to get the hang of it. The latter is coming together nicely. This video is me assembling a rig to test 15 different brands/types of AAA batteries: Duracell Optimum, Anker, Allmax, EBL, Fuji, Duracell Procell, Rayovac Industrial, Duracell Quantum, Rayovac Fusion, Rayovac, Eveready Gold, Energizer Max, Energizer Industrial, Maxell, and Amazon Basics. The idea being that I’ll shoot that test rig with a time lapse camera, observing how the voltages of the batteries decrease over time. There are light bulbs both to provide a visualization and as a load to deplete … Continue reading

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240V is the Standard U.S. Household Voltage (Kinda.)

  By Scott • 2019-09-09 ,
240V US Electrical System

OK, So I’m Being a Bit Facetious Obviously I and most everyone else knows that the vast majority of American household stuff is powered at 120V. Almost all receptacles and (nearly) all lights in a home are indeed supplied at 120V. But! It’s not as simple as that. So maybe the video title is a tiny bit of clickbait, but it’s also more or less true. Most Americans do indeed have 240V supplied to their home, and that is the line-to-line voltage. The transformer is rated for 240 Volts with a center tap that happens to be referenced to ground/earth, and it just so happens that the potential difference between the center tap (ground) and either of the two lines … Continue reading

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Amazon Echo Look – Teardown

  By Scott • 2017-11-04 ,
Amazon Look - Teardown - All Parts - Top - YouTube Cover - Attempt 01 - 1080p

The Echo Look I’m working on a full review-type-thing of the Look, but who really cares about that? I’m sure people will want to see the insides of it, though. The most interesting two things on it are an Intel RealSense SR300 module (minus its visible light camera), and what’s basically a full Intel PC motherboard. In fact, here are the main specs: Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (SR2KT) @ 1.44Ghz (1.91Ghz burst) 8GB Samsung eMMC Flash NAND Storage 8GB Elpida LPDDR3 RAM Broadcom 802.11ac + 802.11b/g/a/n + Bluetooth (Not sure of the version) The hardware is fantastically made and well put together, and overall is very clever considering they stuffed all of it into a diminutive cylinder! The Reassembly I did … Continue reading

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Like Bees, the Yellow Jacket Power Strip (by Coleman Cable) is Terrible

Video

  By Scott • 2017-09-28 , ,

Another sh*tty power strip

Welp, they’ve done it again. Any by “they”, I mean people that make poor quality electrical devices. Specifically Yellow Jacket, which is a Woods brand, which is a Coleman Cable brand, which is probably somehow owned by either Warren Buffet or the Koch Brothers.

I got this for $16.22 during an Amazon lighting deal, and even though that’s not a terrible price, the poor quality construction and the basic lie about the materials is what really angers me.

Join me as I disassemble and then curse at this poor excuse for a power strip, in my newest installment of first world problems.

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Enterprise Network Switches for the Home: Ramble feat HP Procurve 5406ZL

Video

  By Scott • 2017-09-25 , , ,

The HP Procurve 5406ZL and…

…a whole lot of other crap, vis a vis my opinions on used enterprise-grade networking hardware for the home (or small-ish business).

I purchased an HP Procurve 5406ZL on eBay mainly because I “need” 10GbE on my home network, which is almost recursive because it’s for editing 4K video, which I need for editing this video.

The bottom line for me is that you can’t beat the feature/price ratio when it comes to equipment like this. That is, if you can afford the resultant power bill.

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The Keurig HOT 2.0 K575 Plus is a Disappointment

  By Scott • 2017-07-31 ,
YouTube Cover 01 - Screengrab - 1080p

First World Problems I gotta start off by saying that I know that this is an extravagant waste of time and resources. I didn’t make this video because the K575 was slightly annoying, but rather because it baffles me that they became worse at designing coffee machines than before. It’s doubly confounding because Keurig has based their marketing on the K575 being a “2.0” brewer. As in a (supposedly) new-and-improved follow-up to their original line. Yes, it has a couple of advantages over the older B70 Platinum that I used for comparison. However, it seems that they increased the features without increasing the cost. That says to me that they designed these new brewers on a budget. A schizophrenic software … Continue reading

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Cadiz – Rental Car Rally 2017: Los Angeles to Lake Havasu

Video

  By Scott • 2017-07-26

Rental Car Rally 2017: Los Angeles to Lake Havasu

You may ask, “What in the shit is this?”

This is a chronicle of my experiences at the Rental Car Rally.

It’s both easy to explain: It’s a costume-party-road-trip-photo-hunt-food-fight.

And it’s rather hard to explain: You form a team, rent a car, buy some eggs, decorate the car, decorate yourselves, and then follow vague clues through random parts of the southwest for 12 to 18 hours. I guess it’s not hard to explain. But it’s hard to put into words why it’s such a damn good idea.

One thing is for certain: It’s nothing like real life.

Anyone can do this. The more people, the more fun it becomes. Sign up now (unless you’re an asshole). If “YOLO” could ever be used for a substantial purpose, it’s this.

(And no, I’m not getting paid to say anything here.)

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Power Strips Whatever Something Something: Furman SS-6B vs. Belkin Surge Protector [G9S12FG9]

Video

  By Scott • 2017-06-16 ,

Oshkoshbegosh!? Another long ramble about power distribution thingies for the home and/or office?!

Well it’s true. Hopefully my next video will not be about this subject.

This compares the relatively-generically-branded Belkin Advanced Surge Protector (which actually bears the handy model number of BE112230-08, like it came out of some kind of dystopian nightmare) to the easily-spoken Furman SS-6B (which itself sounds shockingly dystopian anyway).