Socks. Socks!
Helloooo!
It is with great pleasure that I can unveil the Technology Connections collaboration with the Awesome Socks Club and Good Store. For those not familiar, Good Store is a project of Hank and John Green where goods are sold to raise money for charity. I have never really wanted to sell merch, but I know lots of people are asking for some and a collab with the Socks Club felt like a really cool way to do it - and it's done!
The product pages are live and orders are now able to be taken! This is a pre-order which is only going to be open for two weeks.
https://good.store/products/technology-connections-6-months-of-socks https://good.store/products/technology-connections-12-months-of-socks
Attached to this post is the final version of the video which contains my "ad read" for this project. It starts around 3:57. Other than a few tweaks here and there, the video itself hasn't changed much at all. So if you watched the original version, don't feel like you need to re-watch it. But I do have some B-roll of some of the socks!
Now, if you'll indulge some sentimentality, you all are so kind for supporting my work in the way that you already do. I am so grateful for it, and the freedom to do this work without pressure is something that I cherish. And in that spirit, I have no financial stake in this merch project and that's just how I want it to be. Its success benefits Partners in Health and the Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone.
And one last note - I apologize but there won't be a livestream for September. There's a second video already in the works as a "last chance" promo for the socks and it as well as this video has zapped all of my energy. I'm tentatively planning the next one for mid-October. Will post a link to it at least a couple days early.
Comments (37)
Which scan tool did you use? I’ve been looking to upgrade mine to something with a bit more oomph and a tablet that can do graphs seems very useful for helping me understand the data.
just curious, how does the tax system work? I thought it was a state tax based and it depends on which state you are in if you get taxed.. but as an international customer I still got taxed ~£20.. is this related to the tariff madness nowadays? Not complaining, just curious..
At least for the EU, they seem to implement IOSS. I was billed around the same amount. Looks like the UK implement a mirror system, the HMRC. Basically, it allows foreign companies to preregister taxes and import costs, and pay them upfront, such that the EU citizen does not have to handle it at import time. I've found it to work very well in the past so far! 20 GBP on ~120 GBP works out at about 17%, so it may as well be the VAT for you.
Thanks Alec, I found this really interesting and you explained a few things I never knew about. Many years ago, I was a bit of a boy racer and my friends and I did all we could to make cars look better and go faster. One thing that was popular at the time was re-mapping (known as chipping then) and removing catalytic converters (required on all UK cars after 1993) and fitting free flowing exhaust to increase flow. I recall at the time I had a Honda CRX which although had a Catalyst, it only had a pre Cat sensor so removing it wasn't a problem. However, a few of my friends had cars that had pre and post cat sensors (like your cube) so removing the Cat caused the engine managemnet light to illuminate. However, one of the lads found a 'chip' that could be plugged into the post Cat sensor which fooled the ECU into thinking the Cat was still there. I'd be interested to know what that did and how it worked?
Lets talk about socks, baby!
Thank you for explaining this! I sort of understood how it all fit together, but now have a much better understanding. Funny story: my 25 year old BMW stopped set the upstream O2 sensor as ready when doing an emissions check. It must have been on its way out, but not enough to trigger a code. Replacing it was the solution.
Great ep, excited to see where the series goes! Congrats on the collab! I would like to recommend dovetailing this episode with the hand warmer series by way of lighter fuel hand warmers, which ALSO operate on a catalytic platinum reaction!
Watching this tells me that we have got to get Alec an early Prius to tear down! I would love a TC video on how the Toyota eCVT works. Plus all the other hybrid-y bits besides...
What a fascinating, well researched and highly informative that was, thanks Alec. Incidentally, do you plan on doing another Christmas Lights episode this year? I ask because Vintaglo have apparently updated their lights to a new version, there's also other similar mini lights coming onto the market, such as some from RetroGlo. Also, as an aside, and not related to LED, but have you seen dual filament incandescent mini lights? They are pretty interesting in their own right, because with a bit of two tone colored glass, you can have two colors from one bulb. The same could presumably be done with LEDs ........ There's a recent thread about these on the ChristmasLights subreddit.
Just FYI to everyone, the "25% off your first subscription" promotion that pops up when you go to the page apparently does not apply to the TC socks.
I never seem to get it right when buying a sock, but through the magic of buying two of them...
Awesome video, will be great to see you breaking down other vehicle systems, I always find it fascinating as I work on my own cars and being a technical person myself. After, you can get a diesel truck? Ha. And start talking about the SCR/DPF system which I've also been learning myself with a recent truck purchase.
Two (edit: or if we count the brothers individually, three) of my wife's and mine favorite, wholesome creators collaborating. This brings us great joy. Thank you for continuing to be a beacon of goodness in these Interesting Times.
Not sure if others pointed out that you installed the new cat without the heat shield. Maybe those socks will insulate your feet from getting too toasty!
You are the first to mention this, but the reason I didn't swap it from the old to the new one was that the product listing for the cat I installed implied it has its own heat shield somehow. Honestly I don't know how it could, but the installation instructions never mentioned the need for one.
Done! Great cause, great collab.
I would love a single pair of socks, I wish that was an option.
I dunno about socks (I'm extremely utilitarian in "fashion" - plain white socks are all I want), but... DISHWASHER POWDER? https://good.store/products/dishwasher-powder - Why is this not shouted from the rooftops? I will buy ALL of it, thankyouthankyou (it has become SO hard and frustrating to find dishwasher powder, lol)
Oh! Well, I haven't said anything about that yet since it's not quite ready for a full-on launch. I didn't think that page would be live yet. I'll have more details about it later but it's a very good formulation which we've had tested in a lab and, well, let's just say I'm feeling very vindicated on my opinions!
Love the turn signal usage before entering the garage.
Captions: "See, I won't be making a scent from the sale of these socks." I see what you did there and passes the smell test 😅
Ok hold on. Are you going to crack open the bad cat and let us see the damage?! Pleeeeeease?
I wish you could offer them for more than two weeks though. It isn't in the cards for me right now.
Completely understandable and I wish we could, but please take care of yourself first!
so you've picked a side on the vlog bros v knitting community huh! https://www.vulture.com/article/hank-green-knitting-drama.html (jk, I find the Green brothers performative & annoying but my wife will love these socks)
The timing of that is very funny for this collab
Heads up, there's an error in the Subscription section of the 6 month pack. It still says 12 pairs.
Thank you! I'll pass that along.
Maybe it’s just that time in my life, but I really shouldn’t be this excited about buying socks! But those designs, that it allows me to help a creator help others, how could I say no! Also, I now have pinefresh soap and something minty…
A fcking "subscription".. because shipping 6 pairs of socks in one package would have been too easy, right? I'd have loved to buy some TC merch, but this is just stupid waste of resources.
The socks are not actually getting manufactured until the total number of orders has been established, and while I understand why you'd feel it's a waste of resources, this is the only reasonable way to have so many designs. Textile manufacturing is hard, and a contract for 12 different designs right now is a lot more difficult than a contract with 12 different runs over a year. Plus, they're packaged in such a way that the socks can be processed through the mail like envelopes. I'm saying this so you know there's actually quite a lot of thought that went into this! It's not a subscription just to be a subscription.
I wondered what a "Technology Connections sock" would look like, and let's just say that I was not disappointed when I saw the first designs.
I don't know if I'll be able to handle the excitement of the magic of buying two of them every month for the next year. I'll have to, but it's gonna be tough.
Heck yeah socks! They are good socks. Bought!
I was literally about to joke are the socks open before reading the description. Fantastic!!
NO ALEC NOO!! You and I both know normal socks make no sense. Toe socks is where its at !!!! Injinji or bust, you’ll never go back
🐐🧦