Gixie Clock - Take 2 (Redemption)
I've been sent a new and updated Gixie clock. This one works as its supposed to. Here’s the (overlong) video.
In other news I’ve had a few people mention to me an advert that’s doing the rounds on Facebook which has misappropriated a section of a video I made in 2017 about a Pandora arcade joystick.
I’ve never had a Facebook account so I can neither see it nor report it. Someone told me they reported it and it was removed very quickly. But since then I've had another three emails about it from various concerned citizens, so clearly it reappeared just as quickly.
This is a very common tale with Facebook it’s like whack-a-mole trying to shut these things down. It’s not a big deal - hopefully it will burn itself out eventually.
This is what Facebook was built on though, it’s a dishonest cesspool, a wretched hive of scum and villainy.
The only reason I mention this - is to say if you’re unfortunate enough to have a Facebook account - I do know about the advert, but there’s really not much I can do.
Comments (38)
After this video, I also ordered one, today it arrived, it's really cool :-D
I’m so glad it’s worked out (in the end).
Matt, I'm not sure using a fast charger would do it any harm. Fast USB chargers either provide a higher current at the standard 5 Volts or a higher voltage. Unless it's faulty, a device will only draw as much current as it needs, some will increase the load progressively to see what the charger can provide before the voltage starts to dip. A (theoretical) charger capable of providing infinite current would only provide what the device needs. Before feeding a higher voltage (up to 20V, which *would* blow many devices), the device must communicate with the charger and negotiate what that voltage will be. The point is that it always starts at a 5V which, afaik, is safe for any USB device.. Great vid btw, almost tempted to get one of those myself. I wonder if they have an Android SDK available..
They specifically state that it will in the instructions. I was just passing on what I read just in case it’s accurate to prevent people destroying their clocks.
Thanks for posting the update. Glad they worked out the implementation and QC kinks, as it is an interesting design. May consider getting one to add to my growing digital clocks collection.
"They would have to be *stupid* to send me one out that doesn't work." As somebody who's worked a lot of QA and the odd bit of customer support, the depths of my soul were screaming this since reading the title of the video. I derived no small amount of joy from hearing it said out loud. :)
Although they have since written to assure me that the box I received was assembled on the 15th October and untouched since them - so they must have some confidence in it - despite sending me a spare.
Now that they've got the kinks worked out, they should get a sponsor and make more of them. I'm sure they'd sell. And maybe be featured in a movie down the road.
Should send the broken one to Clive, or even Mike's electric stuff. I'd love to see how they did the tubes with only three pins. I have an idea what chips they might have used for that. It's nice to see a Kickstarter that came good after the usual disappointment. Seems like the made something genuinely pretty good now.
They're just neopixels (WS8211) - they just need power, ground, and data lines. And they're prone to freezing or permanently dying if the power or data signal is glitched at all. I'm more interested in how they made them work reliably in the new one...
That looks a whole lot better - certainly more robust than the one I have. I think I'll drop them an e-mail and see if they'll send me an updated one too - worth asking! Great video as always, Mat!
You might want to wait until I put the video out before emailing them so there’s some context - I’ll release it later today.
Much better. I'm considering 1 myself now.
"This video is rated 'CS' for 'Cheese Sandwich'". On a more serious note, it's good to see the the Gixie Clock people have revisited their quality control. Seems like quite a neat clock when it's working.
Thanks for this update. I really like this clock and I'm happy to see that the issues have all been resolved. I appreciate all of the detail that you went into.
Great video. Not my thing but I enjoyed watching it. Thinking of coming off WhatsApp due to it being owned by Facebook
Fortunately I’ve never tried that either (I never really understood what it did - some kind of messaging thing?) but don’t let me influence your choices. What’s not suitable for me and my situation might be very important to someone else. We’re all different.
No problems on the length of this video here. Always enjoyable!
A very sympathetic and true point in 15:02 :)
Glad they made good on it. Not my style, but appreciate the project.
The video is good, but the intro is a little bit too long? Just a thought.
Yes it is - but I'm not going to change it because everything in there is something I wanted to say.
Came off Facebook in 2006 and again in 2009 when I realised they hadn't deleted my account. As a Brit I like to think I have real friends and family who I can communicate with without giving my life to an American corporation. Unfortunately a lot of folk think American culture is the best thing since sliced bread. Mostly Americans.
Way fewer (Americans) today than was true 20 years ago. I'm on Facebeast, but I rarely add new "friends" and when I do, they are usually relatives. It's good for that -- keeping up with nieces and nephews and cousins -- and not much else.
No facebook here ! :-)
I understand why some people have to use it - if that's how everyone else they know communicates. The only experiences I've had with it though are when someone set up a page on there pretending to be me so that they could extract free samples from companies - and then this where there's someone showing my face and that of my nephew without our permission to sell their own products. You can see why it's not one of my favourite operations.
Love the Cheese sandwiches! Great to see that the student team took the observations from the first video onboard and came good in the end. Creditable!
Yeah so I'm glad I could catch one of your videos so soon after release. I'm a little concerned with your mention of "students" making the product. I can't exactly tell if that refers to the assembly (most likely) or the Indie Gogo campaign. Much attention has been called to iPhones (as an example and surely not the only case) being assembled by students effectively forced to participate in labour for a required credit. I mean your old box says it was manufactured at the Beijing Forestry University..... they probably don't have a lot of business assembling this sort of thing... and I certainly hope it wouldn't have been coerced labour either... I'm not sure the best way to address this detail, but I figured I would note my perception of your description as what was written in the letter that lent itself to your takeaway "happy ending" type message which might not necessarily be the case
They just told me in their email that they were students - and it's mentioned on their Indiegogo page.. In my school I made a magazine holder that my brother's rabbit ate, so they've done better than I did. I didn't think of anything sinister when they told me they were students - Facebook was made by American students and no one assumes they were coerced into doing it. Then again Facebook is an international crime, so perhaps not the best example.
Yeah that does look good now and as you say, so many kickstarters or similar take the money and run, so fair play to them.
I do have a facebook account, but I've yet to see a single advert ;) The gixie clock is a pretty decent product now, I may even be tempted.
I've never seen an ad on my computer or phone, and that's about a 20 year record, since those vile ads were first started, now if we could just kill the ads on live sports on TV! - PS: Adblocking on Android no longer requires a rooted phone!
"This is what Facebook was built on though, it’s a dishonest cesspool, a wretched hive of scum and villainy." - Once again, we are in 100% agreement! Good call.
I am relieved that the new unit works fine. I enjoyed both reviews! With the first one, I laughed out loud, that was funny, at least for me. And the second one was pure suspense, especially when you were racing against the clock to set the alarm, that was a thriller. ;-) Well done!
Very nice video, as are all the "quick" sandwich videos you put out. You should never feel bad uploading a "low-effort" video because (a) you deserve the break, and (b) your storytelling is so pleasant that makes any video you make enjoyable, interesting and entertaining. As for the device - now you just need them to make it show number of Youtube subscribers, and you're set (until you reach 1m but never mind).
Good to see they came good in the end
I *love* the quick cheese sandwich icon at the start of the video! 🤣
Good to see that they fixed it, now it looks really cool!