Pat-Ex: Mid-to-late February random update.

I understand entirely. I thought of it as a way to get through stuff you might not wish to make a full video of. You're just too damn professional, Mat. You need to get some of my slackness and ineptitude in your life.

Also, remember that between 05% and 1.0% of any population are bona fide, need-to-be-locked-up psychopaths. Based on your current subscriber number, that's 4035 people. Anyone who puts content on the internet needs to always remember that, and take open comments with due skepticism.

I'm late to them, but I love these chats. I suspect that people who worry about 'negativity' may from a North American culture, and need their beer weakened a bit. I'm a 50 year-old Glaswegian; negativity is what gets me up in the morning.

Mat, I'm sure I'm not the only Patron that prefers your "uncensored" videos. It doesn't bother me if you lay down some truth from time to time. Your previous unedited Pat-Ex video was hysterical. I felt your pain! :)

When the youtube business is all said and done, would you ever consider making an autobiography?

A great and unexpected video. Thanks mate! I think one thing you could do is actually do one of these where you actually ARE being negative and complaining so folk can see the difference between that and your normal discussions. Might temper their whining. :) Call it Techmean.

I just saw this device and thought of you... knowing our dislike of things OLED, I did like this implementation of having your own local Bus & Train ‘home’ departure screen. Not cheap, but the desktop one ticks all my ‘curiosity’ boxes. You can view it here! <a href="http://ukdepartureboards.co.uk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://ukdepartureboards.co.uk</a>

Did this just notify you? :D

Now I finally know why youtube keeps recommending videos I've already watched. As a Patron I usually see the first version of your videos and apparently any followup video count as a new one. You should know that because of this people might click on "I'm not interested" (to avoid having already watched videos in recommendations and related videos) which might have an adverse effect on your channel's reach (meaning youtube could draw the conclusion that your videos are not interesting to your subscribers)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw</a>

I agree with the others here, don’t worry about complaining or even being miserable. The idea that you have to pretend to be cheerful all the time is unhealthy. We’re here to hear from you, whatever your mood or opinions.

"You don't have a countdown timer." LOL! Priceles. Cheers! Thanks for the video.Always nice to hear from you.

I think the end-of-the-month wrap-up is a good place to vent. Why not? You're never nasty or cruel, and complaining in an Englishman's god-given right! I'm happy as long as you don't start these videos with "Hey guys!!! Wasss upppp?" like 99% of presenters on youtube. (Although imagining Curious Droid doing so is amusing!)

As for your appearance, I think you come off quite well. You look to me like a young James Burke! In a way, you are actually showing us "connections" through technology, such as when you crack open an old unit of some sort and we can see how the bits and pieces evolved with each iteration of a technology.

I've been a fan for awhile and this is my first viewing of a monthly "wrap up." I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. You digress in a seamless manner that adds a nice conversational tone without the usual blather that I hear from some other hosts.

I quite enjoy The Dark Side of Techmoan.

You must have some TV presenter blood in you. You managed to time exactly 20:00 minutes without a timer. Coincidence? No, profession :)

I can definitely confirm that thing about exposure lasting for a very short time on Youtube. 8-Bit Guy did a mailbox video last year where one of the items was my kit that I sent him. I got something like 5 orders on the same day and 3 orders the day after, whereas I got one, maybe two orders a week before that. And a while after the video came out, it died down to almost zero: it turns out someone in Japan built the kit for less money than I was asking. That's okay, the kit is open source and everyone can build their own without buying it from me. But in that respect, the extra exposure had a positive short-term effect but a negative long-term effect. Oh well.

What's the name of the countdown timer product you use so I don't buy one? ;-)

I love these - thanks for doing them. Don't self-edit the "negative" stuff on my account. I don't find you overly negative and hell, if something annoys or your rubs you the wrong way, you are allowed to be negative! Thanks. Hope your visit goes well.

I watched the NHK video and found the narration not quite as stuffy as you exaggerated, but still on the level as a show here "How it's made" which voice overs factory production lines to highlight common products manufacturing processes. I think that video strikes that balance between new and old viewers, but I'll agree with you on it being too light in content. Bonus points to seeing a Calgary Flames jersey (my local hockey team) in the video. I don't know how much I stuck out when I visited Japan ten years ago being 6'3". Thanks for the playlist too. I'll be sure to go back through ones I missed since I like the format

I noticed that you haven't posted a new blog post on <a href="http://techmoan.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://techmoan.com/</a> in a while. Are you still planning on updating it?

I've just started my own YouTube channel (Big Car), and got it terminated a few days ago by YouTube for unknown reasons (no three strikes rule). It took me a day to get it back up. I still don't know why, but they sited spamming or reuploading others content. YouTube's policies seem to be fairly random. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq15gUisOlhITXJf-RZUlwQ" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq15gUisOlhITXJf-RZUlwQ</a>

Had a similar experience recently to your "cassette tape hack" discovering, one that was an eye-opener in how the mainstream views retro computer and vintage technology in general. "Man Discovers 30 Year Old Apple Computer Still in Working Order" <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/17/tech/30-year-old-apple-computer-work-trnd/index.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/17/tech/30-year-old-apple-computer-work-trnd/index.html</a> I received hundreds of tweets, comments, and emails about it. And all I could do was think "how is a 30 year old computer functioning news?!" Yet that one guy's computer was RT'd hundreds of thousands of times and the article made the national syndicated news rounds, appeared on local TV news everywhere, made it into newspapers. I mean, a slow news day is one thing, but this just cracked me up in how much coverage it got. In a way it helped me realize that to some folks, ANY old tech that still works is newsworthy and exciting. Makes me reconsider certain video topics that I might fight mundane personally, because you never know what'll pick up traction it seems. Heck my most popular video is about installing games on a TI calculator, which I did all the time back in the day but I guess it's pretty novel now.

When You mentioned today MiniDisc i have checked allegro (polish equivalnet of ebay) and there was no potable MD player available! When I first checked this when Your video about first new MD release was posted to Patreon there were dozen or so of them available. So Techmoan Effect works even in Poland :D

Hi Mat, thanks again for the open-hearted video! And I'm sorry to hear that my remark about PAL and NTSC caused so many troubles... Hope you're not mad. By the way, I liked the canal walk, always good to see some green. Cheers from Switzerland.

Have you tried sending formal DMCA complaints instead of Content ID claims? This way, each video taken down counts toward the "copyright strike" system, and three strikes mean that the channel is terminated, and a single strike will place a number of restrictions on the channel. Also, if you do overflow your time, you could just cheat: speed it up when you upload it.

I had to do an actual "cassette hack" the other day. Bought a double cassette from a charity shop called "The No.1 Sci-fi Album". Noticed it was recorded on chrome tape so thought it was worth picking up for a quid even if the music is rubbish as I could use them for recording. When I got home and listened to it I noticed it sounded terrible. Took a closer look at it and realised it was actually in a ferric cassette without the additional chrome holes in the top. So I had to cut additional holes in it using a hot Stanley blade. Now it works perfectly. It made me wonder how often this happens? Tapes sold in the wrong cassette and everyone who buys it just thinking it sounds crap. Have you ever had any tapes like this?

Always enjoy these chats. You're in Australia, right? I mean, if you're outside walking by a canal in January and the water is liquid, the sky is sunny and the grass is green you must be in the southern hemisphere. Sorry, just envious here in frozen, snow-covered Minnesota, USA of the lovely weather in the vicinity of L'pool--which is actually at a farther north latitude than I am here. Oh well, at least there are more Techmoan videos to look forward to.

Is your Dear Alexa countdown timer expecting a yank accent? Seriously ... I wonder how programmers of these devices accommodate the vast range of accents and inflection patterns in our diverse populations.

Excuse my bad manners. Thanks for the links. I am a HAM or Amateur Radio operator and enjoy listening to public broadcasts from overseas. You get different countries on different frequencies at certiain times of the day. I am looking forward to the Shortwave radio video.

Thanks for the video Mat. I like my tea to brew for a full 5 minutes. I tried new fangled ways of timing after my clockwork timer wore out. I got a really basic electronic timer for £4 on Amazon in the UK. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BMZGV4Z" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BMZGV4Z</a> Have you thought about placing a mirror behind your camera to see when the LCD display has gone blank? Best wishes.

Haha, yeah that MiniDisc review was pure gold! I can’t thank you enough already! I had to up the backorder to 200 and have sold 145 of them already. Albeit the first 48 hours were reflecting your response on Youtube video releases, it did sell steady for a week, now it’s just a little drip here and there. I do have assembled versions of Retro Grooves Vol 1 and 2 plus Planet X3 Soundtrack on MiniDisc as well, but I’m only opting for 50 of each and see how that’ll turn out. :D But it was fun to see how much of a stir that little short featurette caused.

Good to hear from you as always, Mat! I suspect your audience demographic is mainly middle-aged men who like to think they know a thing or two about gadgets, hi-fi and photography but who enjoy being pleasantly surprised when you show (yet another) format of which they were previously unaware. I include myself in that category, of course! We have an Alexa-enabled tv - it's a Sony; had no idea when we bought it, but you can get Alexa to interact with it via the home wi-fi network, without using any special mains adapters or anything else. So, we can ask Alexa to turn the tv on or off easily enough, but getting her to do anything else requires quite tortuous syntax specific commands which none of us in the house can remember, and to get her to change station you need to know which channel number that station is tuned to - unfortunately, you can't say 'Alex turn tv to BBC4' - won't work. So near, and yet so far.... Have a great weekend, Mat!

Had a hard laugh at "Good things, aren't they"! =D

Well, that explains one of my pet peeves with YouTube. I've added videos to my Watch Later list, only to have them disappear without explanation a day or week later. Frustrating. Now I can see how it might be some channel re-uploading someone else's material. Less frustrating.

Regarding the Musicassette 'hack' - the fact that millennials may never have come across it before is no reason to 'dumb down'. I can recall the days when anyone not knowing the basics what held up to ridicule - as it helped speed up the learning process. Of course, it could all be clickbait for those that have a limited understanding, but I like to think your contributions are for the discerning viewer - I'm pretty well clued up, but I still learn new things from your videos - but I wouldn't thank you for going down-market to such a degree that took a 'Tomorrow's World' approach that was light on substance and pandered to the idiot fringe! Have a safe journey - and take it easy!

A Smart on the driveway again? Did you get your hands on another Roadster? Regarding the Wena I think the textured cover on the screen is diffusing the light and making it too dark, maybe something they will improve over time.

You need to get a Google Home and replace that Alexa unit :)

Hello, I admit it up front I’m just being nosey. You said you have a Smart and a Mini, but I thought you’d got rid of the Smart?

Think of releasing the video as a butterfly leaving its cocoon. It may fly for a long time. It may get eaten by a bird straight away. But it’s time for it to enter the world come what may.

Great update as always, Mat. Thanks for the NHK link, that was interesting, even if the did call the Walkman the Stowaway first (as we have previously said) sorry, am I getting boring now? :) I am looking forward to seeing the Sony Shortwave. I used to be a shortwave fan, but frankly, Internet radio has taken over for me. I do still listen to NHK news from Tokyo most evenings though.

I don't think it's fair to say that the video is dead after 24 hours. I think that the boost you observe in the first days of a video, is your subscribers watching the video. After that it's more like bait to get new subscribers. What I've noticed about pretty much all youtube recommendations (even from channels I'm subscribed to) is that they are generally pretty old videos. Never really new ones.

I’ve never seen an Echo device work so poorly! I have two and though I’m aware I don’t always use them to their full capabilities, for simple tasks like countdown timers and alarms I’ve had next to no refusals from Alexa!

Always love these Pat-Ex videos! Thanks for doing them. I've spotted a nice EL3302 in the background, can't wait to see your take on that (probably part of the Mission Impossible series). Having a EL3301 myself, i like these early Philips cassette recorders. As for Alexa, i have a nice anecdote. I was playing with an Echo at a friend's house, i jokingly said "Alexa, fai cose", which is Italian for "do things". The Echo weirdly started replying with a bunch of numbers. We figured out it was understanding "fai cos(e)", "do cos(e)", as in calculate the cosine of e (Napier's constant). 😂

Haha, that’s pretty much my experience with those talking cylinders.

Please go back to complaining at will on these Update vids.

I find an argument with Alexa makes a good start to the day. Funny the TV adverts never feature her going "Hmmm, I don't know how to do that" or "I can't find a device called buggeroffyouuselesspileof junk"

Alexa: Set a 10 minute timer. Alexa: How long left? works almost every time for me...

Did the timer go off after 30 minutes?

I admire the refreshing honesty in your chats; it's much more compelling compared to youtubers who give a sanitized version of events. I hope you don't feel limited in what range of things you can say. Thumbs up

That was me! Thanks Mat! I did try to make one myself, but of course, I couldn't directly link it to your channel. Thanks again!