November 2024 VIDEO Oddcast

People talks about coming to terms with your own mortality. I believe is putting your own life in perspective. Yet, don't die yet, you got plenty of powder

Dear Mat, do you know this kind of laugh an audience does when someone says something really crass? I do watch a lot of stuff that is supposed to be funny (SNL, for example). Sometimes I chuckle a bit. But I have not laughed that loud and in 'that way' in 10 or 15 years - until you dropped that line with the Taiwan factory out of nowhere and I could not stop laughing. You have so much gold in your hands (mind).

I loved seeing your YouTube counter in the background

I've been watching Matt for years, since the early days of Techmoan and i've learnt so much fascinating stuff from him, he makes everything he covers interesting, he even makes eating his lunch interesting to watch 😄. Please don't loose heart or give up Matt, we may be a bunch of strangers to you, but your a massive friend to us and were so grateful for all your hard work.

Here you are Mat, someone has broken the geo-restrictions on using Airpods as hearing aids, all you need is a faraday cage, microwave, a bit of luck and lots of patience :-D https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/wearable-tech/airpods-pro-hacked-using-faraday-cage-and-microwave-as-a-jammer-to-fool-geofencing-enthusiast-activates-hearing-aids-feature-in-airpods-pro-in-geoblocked-india

This might sound selfish but if you dropped dead tomorrow it might be okay with you but it would hurt deeply to lose you. I think I said before I watched you when I had no one in my life and was happy to come home and watch you talk about old tech... It felt like having a friend. Things are better now but just know... At least I would miss the hell out of you.

Its probably the least important part of the video, but as an American, I feel compelled to say that we would probably call it scotch tape -after the brand - in much the same way kleenex generically refers to tissues.

AI isn’t “Artificial Intelligence”. It’s a huge database with fast search routines and a natural language interface. It only knows what it’s told (no matter how wrong). I looked at the M4 Mac and realised that my M1 does everything I need. I’ve never maxed it out (apart from the early days with the memory leak”. I’m older than you, Mat, and I think we’ve just seen too much stuff to get dragged in to all the hype. I use an OWC external dock for my external discs. Seems to be fine with iMovie.

Hello you. I LOVE YOUR CONTENT!! Just saying. As for your father, well you and I have spoken about this subject. As son, it is fucking brutal. It really does suck the life out of you, and feels like nothing will ever be the same again. I’m not gonna sprout advice or owt, just that I know first hand that it is tough. You dying… well I got to say this. When you do die, I need you (yes NEED) to let me know! As it’ll ruin my coffee mornings!!! You hear? You hear me?!? 😂🤣😂 I would want to come to your funeral and maybe speak some words. I’m not boring, I promise. But I would have to say things that you don’t like… compliments. Sorry, but I’d be full of joyous compliments. And how you LOVE going to McDonald’s etc 😂 Right then Matt, gonna listen to the rest of this video, it’s getting me through a very boring motorway drive, only stopped to comment!! All the best Lee

Unfortunately I too, suffer from narrow Eustachion tubes where I lose my high frequency hearing for days at a time. A device named Earpopper has certainly helped speed up the 'unclogging process'. Not cheap, and possibly not avail in the UK but worth looking into. https://www.earpopper.com/

I often pay extra attention , when I'm around Liverpool City Centre - for the bloke in a a cap taking sneaky photos :) Haven't spotted you yet, and likley won't. But live in hope :) PS - did you share the link for those grippy stickers for your phone case?

Disappointed the mighty UFO noodle didn't make an appearance; the only noodles that don't send me rushing for the loo (I have IBS). I don't know why this might be, but it is true. I enjoyed the speaker video too!

Mat, I feel your pain. A while back, you had an Oddcast where you mentioned that someone you had been in contact on some issue had taken their life and you suggested we reach out to each other if we felt that way. I know that is not what you are saying about yourself, more that you are realistic about your life. I get that as I am realistic about my life as well. I am a bit older, not quite as ill (but catching up if that is a thing) and trying to find the sun on endless cloudy days. I will say what many people have said in this comment chain, "I value what you do!". And I really do like the OddCasts. As a professional software developer (technically an IT Architect) I understand the challenges of constantly coming up with something new. I am AMAZED that you maintain the output you do. I have been a freelance writer as well and lived the life of "No Output = No Pay". I have no suggestion for finding your muse, but you could load up ChatGPT with a list of all the "stuff" in your storage locker and some verbs and adverbs and let it create video titles. It is just monkeys typing at a typewriter but it might spark some ideas. As for the videos, I really liked the 4 Track and I thought the speaker one was fine. I agree the Pong machine (and yes I got the wording) was trash. That being said, I serious considered the larger pinball machine your reviewed. Anyway, I hope some metaphorical sun shines on you and brightens your day.

Enjoyed the kanto Syd video think it a good video and might get some intetest. funny after 50 years just got into star trek currently working my way through original series. Btw have you tried the new christmas dinner pot noodle (we got it from Tesco) it's interesting

Thanks for London hustle tip enjoying his videos

Enjoyed the update, add me to the list of people that would be happy for you to do your Patreon updates wearing a cap to save your eyes! Know what you mean about feeling "off", I've often struggled with that - the sort of "hmm, something is definitely different, is this the new normal or should I be trying to monitor / solve it?". I get told that stress impacts health and wellbeing a lot but if that is true then some inner part of me experiences stress differently to my concious mind because it never really matches up to me! I'd be interested in watching the food vids but unfortunately I'm not able to as I (intentionally) don't have a Google account and as you've made them 18+ it requires a sign-in. I just prefer not to to have a Google account which is one of the reasons I like being able to support via Patreon instead! Not expecting you to change that or anything though :-) Oh and I also loved the 4-track video, thank you for making it!

Isn't that fidelipac version of Sgt. Peppers technically the second version you've owned? Seem to remember you had an abridged version on PlayTape!

What UK supermarket noodles do you recommend Matt? I'm going off the normal Nissin one in Sainsburys - I need to add in some chili to enjoy them! I have similar polyp issues as yourself and my sense of taste comes and goes depending on the day...

Ah, yes, my favorite video of the month again. Don't know why, always is. I don't really understand the talking while driving thing. Lots of people play on their phones while driving. And if you don't mind dying that much anyway (I do get why), why not right? I did really like the puppets to be honest.. 😄 Oh, and isn't Muntz really just an arse? 😅

1) Why have I binged 18 videos about noodles when I will never eat noodles in my life? 2) There’s nowt wrong with the speaker video. 3) Please wear a cap for the Oddcasts.

Couldn't quite make out the "cassette guy" thing at 05:55 (I initially thought it was an Elcaset, and the cassette guy was something else completely) - for anyone else slightly baffled, here it is: https://jellycat.com/amuseables-cassette-tape/

I love your food reviews. It's nice to see someone from the UK having a whinge and a rant about food they dislike. All the other food reviewers mark things too high here and are far too nicey-nicey. You should make a dedicated channel for those videos as you obviously like to make them. Sorta like LGR Foods and you could also add food gadgets. Just a thought.

My favourite word for such common sentiment is: ennui. Keep up the good work - the 4 track was an interesting vid. I am constantly impressed at the roll of creative content.

⦁ "Well, that's annoying." Hoo-boy, here we go. 😆 ⦁ Smart speakers are a far more niche thing than you'd think. It's prohibitively expensive, especially for what it does and I don't think people outside of tech enthusiast circles really see it as a necessity compared to a game console or a phone. ⦁ I get your feelings about your mortality, but you do need to get over the fact that we will all be heartbroken whenever you leave this world, whether you like or not. 🙂 I mean it; we'll be very crushed and grief-stricken by it, as anyone who has enriched our lives as you have could, and you won't be able to do anything about it. ⦁ Mat, please remember that we're always here for you if you ever want to chat. It seems you're seriously struggling with things. We love you and support you, so we'll probably agree with you on everything you say. 😀 ⦁ Your research on Muntz was very solid work. It's a shame, given such a colorful, flamboyant man, that he isn't talked about more. If you ever consider doing more on him, you can count on at least one person watching it. ⦁ I've only ever heard the word "pang" used as someone having pangs of jealousy. I'd assumed the title was a reference. ⦁ I wonder if that promotion feature is supposed to be more about getting exposure to more people and that more views would lead to more shares and so on? It might be more for newer creators who don't have a foothold, but even then, the maths are not mathing, as it were. ⦁ It does seem a large portion of people want more of the old-school YouTube style of just point-and-shoot. COVID and the rise of short-form content were probably a huge factor, but there's definitely been a major shift in viewership to creators being more free-form and loose than before. That's all to say that I believe now is a good time as any to switch up things and get weird. ⦁ Speaking of old school YouTube, here's a suggestion about the tasting videos: Bundle them up into one video and put it on the main channel with zero context and explanation, for April Fool's day. Edit out the talking and just leave the eating. Add an ".mp4" to the title for good measure.

I'll just chime in with a few things. I think the "stupid" comment stuff comes from the fact that people who get why you beep google etc think it's obvious and only those who can't think comment on it. Applies to other stuff too. The health thing I get, obvious for me but wanted to mention. I think the people who don't are in good health and can't imagine having all kinds of issues. So if you drop tomorrow, I'll say rest in peace and thanks for the videos. The driving and talking to a camera thing might be a nice warning. It doesn't seem obvious but it can be dangerous. I admit many people do even more dangerous stuff while driving but what can you do. They should not. I think you are smart enough not to try and take this the wrong way but I do recommend wathing the video Tom Scott made about it where he was pondering the subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-aDHxoblr4 As for AI and other stuff. I'm younger than you but still feel about the same about most things these days. So I don't think it's just your age. I mean if AI is so good then why can't Facebook use some of it to make translations work. They took away the ability to make multilingual posts and now all people get are rubbish translations. And I mean rubbish. A bit of a long one but it happens. Take care.

Irrelevant? You're not becoming "irrelevant" but you've had the years of experience to know what's good and what's not, but mostly to know what it is that you want and need and what you don't. You basically said the same thing yourself in this video. I'd call that maturity, not irrelevance. Anyway, great stuff as always and I'm sure we'd all like to see more videos as good as the 4-track video, but not if you have to go through what you did with that one. Cheers Mat!

Regarding region locked DVDs I have a Sony BDP-S370 which i've region unlocked which I use for DVD playback. I bought a little gadget off ebay to unlock it. It was the cheapest of easiest option with HDMI output and HD upscaling that I could find on ebay. A lot of more modern blu-ray players can'd have the DVD playback region unlocked and while earlier DVD players are relatively easy to unlock they have analogue outputs and, obviously, no upscaling. The era of easy to unlock players and HDMI output is quite narrow but there are still quite a few models out there.

In Japan there were absolutely crazy do-everything smartphones in the early 2000s, way ahead of the rest of the world. Also one of the few places were TV broadcasts direct to phones caught on.

We shall not forget the train or park bench you once said you wanted dedicated in your name. Also - I wish I had a poppy for Remembrance Day. We have Veterans Day tomorrow.

I believe the Americans call it scotch tape (probably late to the party on that one). I obviously can’t comment for anyone else but if there’s a Techmoan video I’ll watch it (probably a lot more than once)

The comparison between a visit to IKEA and a game of Pac-Man had me laughing. It's perhaps more like a reverse Pac-Man, where you’re one of the ghosts chasing down that elusive shop assistant who’s always darting away. This 'frame thing' reminds me of a hobby project I worked on a few years back [1]. I mentioned it in a comment on the Tuneshine video, but since I’m not trying to sell anything, I hope it’s fine to bring it up again here. I actually built green and orange variants of it, too. The firmware was a collaborative effort with some friends. You can see some of the animations here as a GIF [2]. I think we did pretty well 🙂 The issue with people getting upset about everything seems to be baked into how social media works these days. Everyone’s fighting tooth and nail for attention, but only a few actually have something meaningful to share. So, how does someone build an audience without noteworthy accomplishments of their own? The easiest route is to stir up drama - pointing fingers at those who do have a following, hoping to gain attention at their expense. It doesn’t really matter what you say or do. The moment someone spots an opportunity to rack up likes by flinging sh*t at you, they’ll take it. That’s just how it is now. The 4-track video you made is a stellar piece of work - it’s clear you poured a lot of effort into it. Don’t let low view counts overshadow that. Part of the issue might be that attention spans are shorter than ever. That said, your Pong video fits perfectly into that quick-hit niche. The product itself might be underwhelming, but your video about it certainly isn’t. [1] https://t.ctdo.de/yabqt/CIMG1994.JPG [2] https://github.com/das-labor/borgware-2d/blob/master/doc/img/borg_anim.gif

Did you know Koka noodles do a noodle advent calendar?!

If people get upset about someone recording themselves talking while driving, it's probably best they don't watch Hubnut (or Furious Driving etc)

There's nothing wrong with your Kanto review, except that it's a bit niche because it's hard to buy one outside the USA. I suspect you have enough American subscribers for that not to matter. I too have been annoyed by the premature Mac Mini non-reviews but I have a little sympathy with the makers who must feel compelled to churn out the content before others beat them to it. I don't know why I care; my original poverty-spec M1 is still going strong. I think the new version would annoy me with its lack of full-sized USB ports. I still use a DVD drive, a keyboard/mouse dongle and various external drives on mine.

Good stuff, Mat. Dare I admit to quite liking your Kanto speaker video? I use a pair of YU-6 as both my computer speakers and for listening to a turntable in my home office. I think they are very good, and agree about the nice remote control. I hate to tell you this, but the 'volume up' button on the edge of the iPhone 14 pro could already be used to take photos (My kids showed me!) - so no need to upgrade to the 16 just to get the extra button! Marques Brownlee is a reviewer I watch on YT - he DOES have a M4 Mac Mini to review and has some interesting thoughts on the Apple 'upgrade ladder' . Keep up the good work, Mat - you are a true stalwart of You Tube. (I am not entirely sure what a stalwart is, but it sounds like something very good.)

That 1 hour and 10 minutes just flew by!

Keep doing what you're doing, and don't worry about offending some people. I am convinced there are those out there who want to be offended at this point. There are so many issues in the world, if you or a characteristic you have is a butt of a joke, you should be able to still enjoy the joke, rather than getting upset. People really focus their energy on the wrong things. (Also, it's a minor thing but as you mentioned it in a few videos and it is a common misunderstanding, Mexico is in North America)

I like the idea of the friction grips but am I missing something - I thought the iPhone has always done shutter release using the volume buttons?

I thought "The Pong" was quite funny.

Just keep on making the video's like you want! No cook has ever been found who can cook for all mouths.

I find that if I yell "Hey A-word', it generates rude responses from all sorts, -many of which don't seem to be very automated. ;-)

Your comments about death mirror my mother in law's. She had a bad health scare recently and everyone was afraid she might die but she was totally fine with it

Matt, I'm sorry, but $5 a month doesn't give anyone the right to snark a truly decent guy by telling him bloodworms are killing the freakin' hedgehogs! You were the first YouTube channel, (along with Big Clive), that I enjoyed watching. I loved the puppets, but totally get why you don't include them. Your tech is my tech, but through the different prism of being 'across the. pond'. Your videos are always the highest quality. And that 4track video that you put so much into brought back so much appreciation of the times I had as a young kid going with my parents to Bill Lear's house and the Lear Jet plant in Wichita. You keep putting out those videos and this old man in Ohio will continue to watch them and enjoy them. But, if you decide that it's time to 'take down the shingle', and call it quits, that's fine, too. Frankly, you've done this for longer than many people that I know have worked at one place. I mean, where in the world could I see a guy hold a copy of a 4track of the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's"? Hope Bees-knees is doing well and not fighting the alley cats. Cheers.

I'm glad to see the hexagon survived the rearrangement/cull. I wish my Lametric lived long to go sticky. Mine died not long after the warranty ran out and they weren't interested so I binned it and I refuse to buy another one for the price. When you do snuff it, does the wife know how to access the YouTube channel to upload and let us know? Maybe create an "oh shit, I'm dead self obituary telling people to cancel their Patreon payment" video that she can make go live when the clogs are popped. Maybe creating a SnackMoan channel for the food reviews? I think hedgehogs will eat slugs unless there's something better, like mealworm. Same way people will eat a kebab because nothing else is open when they leave the pub. I agree with watching sport live. Not a chance, especially Formula 1. NEOOOWWWW, wait 90 seconds, NEEOOOOW. Boring. At least on TV you can see everything whilst being warm, comfortable, not in public and not being ripped off. I haven't created a video for a while. The weather is just depressing. Hard when I have to work in a cold garage to create any content. Worse thing is I can't even monetise it yet due to low watch hours. I either need to go viral or be recommended by YouTube (which is unlikely due to my niche family unfriendly content).

• William Shatner's Star Trek Voyager audiobook reading 😄 • Holy mackerel, an enormous food playlist 😍 • Your casual attire in the food videos is very comfy. • "Mass brain virus" yes, that is an epidemic here in the US. 51% of us, at least. • I'd rather use British English. But when I spelt 'favourite' I would get a strict reprimand. It's sort of like kids who spoke Gaelic in Scotland used to be reprimanded. • Can I please write your biography before you drop dead? 😿 • Your missus would surely mourn you if you passed? • Your viewers worry about your well-being... seriously. I know I do. • I hope they didn't have excessive turbulence on that dining airplane. 😏 • Facts: I have lost my interest in life and have very little left to carry on with. Really. No kids, no partner, no job. Living on a planet that's gone out of its mind. 46, and I don't foresee my quality of life improving any time soon. Hmm. • Regarding analog things - there's an interesting (to me) video about 35mm and 16mm film that was shot on 35mm and 16mm - https://youtu.be/QYUE696k6GY • AI is only fun for its creativity potential - because I can make a Techmoan Santa Claus Christmas card: https://ibb.co/4SdZYKD. Or freaky landscapes: https://ibb.co/PcBmjCd https://ibb.co/sbMPL5G And bizarre sci-fi film ideas: https://ibb.co/4m7Zhcx Thanks for the all of the videos. A literal smorgasbord of viewing. Take care 🤍

I really do miss the puppets. Especially when I found part of myself has been like the idiot in the distant past. Makes it extra funny to me.

In a former life, I was a blogger who had a blog about the beer and pub industry. Being a generally facetious individual, I made fun of a lot of things I found ridiculous or stupid. Most organisations and individuals involved either took it in good heart or let pass by uncommented. But there were several who took it very badly. And, not trying to stereotype anyone here, but they were all under 35 and VERY online. Once, I even got dogpiled on Twitter by dozens of friends and associates of one particular person. I found this out when I discovered my phone flat due to the amount of alerts I'd got. Some were even threatening me with legal action. Too much stuff is being seen by too many people and it gets out of hand.

9:40: That reminds me of Robbie Williams "Feel" lyrics : "I don't wanna die, but I am not keen on living either..."

I appreciate the mention, Mat! I also understand the feeling you described, since when the trees first crushed my house I felt an unexpected but legit sense of relief… like “ahh, finally I can let it all go.” Then I saw that most of it survived and felt almost disappointed. I still haven’t come to grips with what that means yet and I don’t think I’m ready to move on from YouTube, but I can’t ignore the feeling either. This whole experience has shown me that I need a change or two.

Any chance you could mark those food reviews as not being over 18 content? I can’t watch them because Google wants me to log in to prove I’m over 18.. and that’s not an option for me. (No worries if it’s any trouble). Thanks for the update - and no, you’re not alone with the feeling left behind by tech these days. Hope you feel better soon! And give Bee’s Knees a good scratch from me! :)

What treshold value have you set to trigger the high glucose alert.

Let’s hope you have many more years in good health and will have some interesting things to fill your life with. Let’s hope it never comes to that. I’d miss you for one (an internet random, I bet that’s changed your whole outlook on life!) There are very few Northern English gentlemen who I can identify with. It’s mainly “hey hey guys - entertainment” by younger American or American-adjacent people (is there anything sadder than non-Americans acting American?). It all ends sometime - doesn’t it? “It’s what he wanted”. (Much love to all my American friends - nothing says I love you like the world trying to emulate you).

I thought the Muntz video was as good as anything you’ve ever made, which is a compliment indeed. Great stuff. Hopefully you can find some way of making these in depth pieces without driving yourself completely batty. Right, off to watch 18 food reviews in a row…

The world is now such where if you don't want to upset anyone, you don't do anything.