All Seasons

Season 2015

  • S2015E01 Bell & The Invention of Artificial Sound

    • September 23, 2015
    • YouTube

    Alexander Graham Bell is famous for his invention of the telephone. In 1876, his device was the first ever to be able to reproduce sound. Before its invention, nothing existed capable of taking sound waves and replicating them. Bell's invention marks the beginning of our journey through time. This series, of which this video is the first, will be taking you step-by-step through the history of sound reproduction. We begin today with the Telephone.

  • S2015E02 Edison's Impression: Laying Sound into a Groove

    • September 30, 2015
    • YouTube

    Bell's invention, the telephone, was the first device capable of reproducing sound. But it couldn't record it. Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph brought us the first device capable of capturing sound to be played back later. How did Edison figure this out? By combining one of his earlier ideas with the ideas in the telephone, Edison was able to bring a revolutionary product to market (well, sort of). This week, we're exploring how Edison thought up his device.

  • S2015E03 Emile Berliner's Fix: Flatten the Cylinder to a Disc

    • October 8, 2015
    • YouTube

    Thomas Edison's cylinder phonograph was fantastic, no doubt. Can you imagine what it would've been like to hear the first artificial sound? But Edison's mind for the accurate doomed his cylinder, because the cylinder as it turns out is a really stupid shape for this sort of a thing. Emile Berliner threw accuracy to the wind with his disc phonograph, assuming people would rather deal with an easier and cheaper phonograph than a more "scientifically correct" one. Boy was he right. We explore Berinler's idea of storing sound in a different way on a different shape in this episode of Technology Connections.

  • S2015E04 The Vacuum Tube and the Invention of Radio

    • October 16, 2015
    • YouTube

    In today's episode of technology connections, we take a look at the vacuum tube. This simple device had tremendous implications for sound reproduction. We explore how vacuum tubes revolutionized radio, and why they were necessary to make radio practical.

Season 2016

  • S2016E01 From Radio Waves to Electric Grooves: Electrical Sound Recording

    • February 1, 2016
    • YouTube

    Once we figured out how to amplify a signal with a vacuum tube, the possibilities became endless for the world of sound recording. In this video, we explore how the invention of radio improved the phonograph record by introducing electric recording technology.

  • S2016E02 Tape Recording: Taking the Electromagnet to a Whole New Level

    • February 13, 2016
    • YouTube

    Rather than use electromagnets to cut a groove, why not use them with other magnets? By using materials that could be magnetized, the electromagnets used in the phonograph cartridge could be adapted into a magnetic recorder. This technology is still very much in use today, but in this episode of Technology Connections, we're exploring the two earliest forms of audio reproduction done with magnets: the wire recorder, and the magnetic tape recorder.

  • S2016E03 The Wind-Powered Car: Electric Vehicles and Wind Turbines

    • March 13, 2016
    • YouTube

    From the Chevy Volt, to the Nissan Leaf, to the Tesla Model S, electric cars seem to be the way of the future. Join me as we explore a typical wind farm and discuss the potential for wind energy and electric cars. While today's electric grid propels these bastions of modern engineering with a fair bit of fossil fuel, it's clear that electric cars are pretty green and will only continue to get greener.

  • S2016E04 What is High Fidelity? How does Stereo work?

    • March 19, 2016
    • YouTube

    We've come along way since the invention of the phonograph. But up to this point, artificial sound was still decidedly artificial sounding. "High fidelity" isn't really one technology, but a collection of technologies that combined to create natural sounding recordings. Similarly, stereo sound, though now completely universal, had to be introduced. This episode explores what makes a good high fidelity recording, and how stereo came to be.

  • S2016E05 Exploring a Reel to Reel Tape Recorder: Sony TC-366

    • April 8, 2016
    • YouTube

    On Technology Connections, we looked at this machine briefly when we explored the invention of magnetic recording technology. Now, in long form, is a more thorough look at this machine and how it works. We start with an overview of operation, then take it apart to get a look at the inside.

  • S2016E06 Transistors: Making sound easier, smaller, and more efficient

    • April 15, 2016
    • YouTube

    The technological advances that we've investigated so far have revolved around the vacuum tube. But the invention of the transistor really sparked a whole new era of sound. The advent of small circuits for sound reproduction meant that things could shrink. Tape went into cartridges. Amplifiers used less energy. And everything became more robust.

  • S2016E07 Electric Vehicle Charging: It's easier than you think

    • April 20, 2016
    • YouTube

    As more and more EV's make it onto our roadways, people start to freak out about how we're going to charge all these things. The thing is, they shouldn't. EV's are so much more efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts that they don't consume all that much electricity, in fact the size of the grid only needs to increase about 4.5% to accommodate an entirely electric commuter fleet. But people still worry about charging them. In this video, I explain why this shouldn't worry you in the slightest.

  • S2016E08 Exploring the good ol' Cassette Tape

    • June 23, 2016
    • YouTube

    If you remember the cassette as sounding awful, I have news for you. They actually sound just fine. The Compact Cassette has a unique history in the world of sound, which we explore along with their attributes in this Tech Explorations video.

  • S2016E09 The Dead Man's Switch: How Anton Yelchin's life could have been saved

    • December 1, 2016
    • YouTube

    It's not hard to make things safer. But sometimes people don't think about the tools they already have. With a simple reprogramming of an engine computer and perhaps with the addition of a sensor or two, the Jeep that killed Anton Yelchin could have saved his life. If cars were able to detect that their driver had exited, accidental rolling of a car could be a thing of the past. If we're lucky, it will quickly become one.

  • S2016E10 Home Automation: A Beginner's Introduction

    • December 17, 2016
    • YouTube

    In the video today we look at current home automation technologies and what's behind them. I illustrate what's involved in adding a new device to a home automation network (it's actually quite easy) as well as demonstrate how they work.

Season 2017

  • S2017E01 The Impossible Feat inside Your VCR

    • January 25, 2017
    • YouTube

    These days a VCR seems more quaint than anything else. But in fact, there's a device inside every VCR that solved what seemed to be an unsolvable problem. The video head drum is a fascinating solution to the complex problem of tape speed, and therefore I think it deserves to be remembered. Plus, the video head drum shares some motor technologies with modern hard disk drives. So there's that.

  • S2017E02 What is Dolby Noise Reduction? Dolby's Humble Beginning

    • February 7, 2017
    • YouTube

    In this video we discuss the Dolby Noise Reduction systems found in consumer cassettes decks and how they work. Though technically very simple, Dolby B noise reduction provides a very effective means of reducing audible tape noise, and was ubiquitous throughout the cassette's life. Dolby noise reduction was such an important part of their legacy that the company still pays homage to it in their logo. The "D"s in the Dolby Double D logo are really the shape of audio tape heads.

  • S2017E03 Furnaces: Why we still burn fuel to heat our homes

    • February 28, 2017
    • YouTube

    Ever wonder why the gas-fired furnace is still so prevalent? Why isn't electric heat the standard? Well, wonder no more as we explore the economic and practical reasons the gas-fired furnace is so ubiquitous in colder climates, and how in the future this is almost certainly going to change.

  • S2017E04 Stupid Design--The Needlessly Useless Webcam Activity Light

    • March 23, 2017
    • YouTube

    We've been told that our laptops can watch us without our knowledge. That little indicator light? Worthless. Hackers can get around that. But why? There's a simple way to make sure this is impossible, which is explored in this, the very first episode, of Stupid Design.

  • S2017E05 Why Sony's Beta Videotape System Failed--and failed hard (Part 1)

    • June 11, 2017
    • YouTube

    The late 1970's and early 1980's were a frightening time to be a video enthusiast. Two formats are duking it out and trying to assert their dominance, and although Sony was first* to market with their Betamax machine, they were caught off guard by JVC's competing VHS system which, rather than focus on pedantic details like cassette design and technical perfection, strived to make a cheap, versatile format that worked.

  • S2017E06 Why Sony's Beta Videotape System Failed--Part 2

    • June 15, 2017
    • YouTube

    This is the continuing exploration of Sony's repeated missteps in the development and marketing of the Beta videotape format.

  • S2017E07 Comparing Beta & VHS on Quality: Was Beta Really Better?

    • June 20, 2017
    • YouTube

    This video has been re-uploaded with the VHS footage captured from the RCA VDT-600, a VCR from 1979. This is a much fairer comparison than using the Panasonic unit as the VHS playback device. Many people believe that Beta was a vastly superior product to VHS, but I think this was mostly marketing prowess on Sony's part. People seemed to think that they were giving up something of quality if the went with VHS over Beta. But as this video will demonstrate, I don't think that was really the case.

  • S2017E08 Lines of Light: How Analog Television Works

    • July 1, 2017
    • YouTube

    Have you ever wondered how old-school television worked? It seems almost impossible for a device to make moving images without a computer being involved. Yet analog television is very, very old. How on Earth did it work? Find out in this video.

  • S2017E09 Mechanical Television: Incredibly simple, yet entirely bonkers

    • August 7, 2017
    • YouTube

    John Logie Baird is often considered to be the inventor of television, but not of television as we know it. His mechanical television is a remarkable invention for its simplicity, but as you'll soon see, it would never have been all that practical.

  • S2017E10 LED bulbs that flicker, and CFLs that almost never did

    • September 12, 2017
    • YouTube

    While the CFL is pretty much done being a thing these days, it was a really great invention for saving energy. But some people claimed they caused them headaches. In this video, I explore the reason that fluorescent light can indeed cause headaches or eyestrain in sensitive people, and I explain why that wasn't an issue with the CFL. Then we explore the modern LED bulb and how it actually is bringing the cause of this flicker back.

  • S2017E11 GE's bizarre early attempt at a CFL

    • September 25, 2017
    • YouTube

    Meet the grandfather of the compact fluorescent light. This device from GE is really interesting and ahead of its time, but far too weird to gain widespread acceptance. GE manufactured these adapters to shoehorn the standard circline tube into more everyday applications, and the result is kinda weird. This video's a quick exploration of this early attempt to bring the energy saving virtues of fluorescent lighting into the domestic arena.

  • S2017E12 Philo Farnsworth and the Invention of Electronic Television

    • October 28, 2017
    • YouTube

    Philo Farnsworth's Image Dissector was the heart of the first television cameras. This video tells the story of the early days of television, and shows how these early video tubes worked.

  • S2017E13 Digital ICE: The High-Tech Dust Removal Found in Film Scanners

    • November 9, 2017
    • YouTube

    In this video we explore Digital ICE, an image processing technique involving infrared light, photographic film, and a dash of algorithmic magic.

  • S2017E14 How Analog Color TV Works: The Beginnings

    • November 18, 2017
    • YouTube

    In this video we explore how we added color to everyone's favorite passive entertainment medium. Modern color broadcasting began in 1954 after years of experimentation, and this video will teach you the early history.

  • S2017E15 The Twinkling Light Set: An increasingly rare but delightful type of decorative lighting

    • December 3, 2017
    • YouTube

    If you're anything like me, the countless light displays you'll find around the average neighborhood during the holiday season are always welcome. But there's a certain type of light set that seems to be disappearing that I certainly hope stays around a little longer. In this video, you'll learn a little bit about how fairy light sets are made, how they work, and how a particular type of light strand pulls this all together to make my far-and-away favorite kind.

  • S2017E16 Compatible Color: The Ultimate Three-For-One Special

    • December 15, 2017
    • YouTube

    RCA's attempt at creating a new color television standard that would be compatible with existing black and white TVs initially faced technical challenges. However, it was an obviously great idea from a backward compatibility standpoint, and the National Television Systems Committee latched onto this idea and helped to propel RCA's idea to the real world. This is that story.

  • S2017E17 Analog Color TV Wrap-Up--Some extra info

    • December 22, 2017
    • YouTube

    In this installment on analog color television, we take a look at some odds-and-ends from the last video. Sit back, relax, and enjoy an eclectic jaunt into the realm of shadow masks, dubious inventions, weird mathematics, and more.

  • S2017E18 Trinitron: Sony's Once Unbeatable Product

    • December 30, 2017
    • YouTube

    Throughout much of the analog television era, Sony was the fairly undisputed king of TVs. Their Trinitron picture tube was a universally well received technology and made a number of important improvements on the standard color picture tube. This is the story of its creation.

Season 2018

  • S2018E01 Roller Coaster Safety - How to Manage Too Many Trains at Once

    • January 8, 2018
    • YouTube

    Roller coasters are pretty neat, I must say. But they rely on passive vehicles holding fragile humans while zooming around at high speeds. That can be a tough thing to manage safely, but it's not impossible. This video shows you a few ways it's done.

  • S2018E02 Laserdisc - An Introduction

    • January 23, 2018
    • YouTube

    Laserdisc seems to get a lot of retro cred these days. It gets featured as a technical oddity, but from today’s perspective, it might seem strange that it didn’t become the de-facto standard. Boasting many of the same features as the modern DVD, you would think it couldn’t possibly have received the cold reception it did. In this series of videos, we’ll find out why.

  • S2018E03 Thrift Store Hi-Fi - Some tips and tricks

    • January 30, 2018
    • YouTube

    These days, it seems everyone wants the latest and greatest equipment for the audio needs. But there's a lot of fantastic hardware you can find in thrift stores and enjoy today. I've found that with a little patience, you can find true high fidelity speakers from the best brands, and though they may need some TLC, I think the results are worth it.

  • S2018E04 Laserdisc's Failure - What Went Wrong

    • February 6, 2018
    • YouTube

    Laserdisc didn't have an easy start. In this video, we take a look at the first few years of Laserdisc's existence. Though many articles or videos talking about Laserdisc will blame the high cost of discs and the inability to record, those problems are only partially to blame.

  • S2018E05 Laserdisc - Features, Follies, & Evolution

    • February 17, 2018
    • YouTube

    While Laserdisc certainly wasn’t the most successful format, it was among the most interesting. This video explores the evolution and features of the format, with a wide variety of sample clips.

  • S2018E06 Chevy Bolt EV - Winter Range and Performance (Chicago winter)

    • February 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    Nothing zaps the range of an EV quite like winter. But how bad is it? Join me on a few trips with a Chevy Bolt EV, and we'll find out.

  • S2018E07 Faking It: The Obviously Dubbed Telephone Ring

    • February 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    If you lived in North America any time in the 20th century, you probably ran across one of these telephones. The Western Electric Model 500 and its subsequent variants were so ubiquitous that you almost couldn't go anywhere without seeing one, especially in the United States where it was standard equipment from the phone company. Even if you're not American, if you've seen any of our movies, you'll have seen this phone, too. A literal fixture of American life, this phone was inescapable. But its ubiquity also caused some filmmakers or TV show producers to get a little lazy. This video tells that story.

  • S2018E08 A Short Project Involving LEDs, a Fish Tank, and some Laziness

    • March 5, 2018
    • YouTube

    Have you ever needed to light your fish tank with Chinese LEDs? No? Well, here's how. I'm sure the information will be incredibly useful. In any case, maybe you'll learn about how to use these new-fangled diodes of light.

  • S2018E09 DVD: The Death Knell of Laserdisc

    • March 18, 2018
    • YouTube

    Well, it had a good run. Although Laserdisc could never really get off the ground, it had a reasonable showing in the high end video market. Intended as a mass market product, Laserdisc would never get there. But DVD... well that's a whole other story. In 7 or 8 years, DVD went from being introduced to being everywhere, and it is still selling pretty well in the face of streaming services such as Netflix. Just how long DVD can cling to life remains to be seen, but you can still stroll on into any big box store and pick up a DVD player and some movies to go with it. This video tells how DVD got started, and why it was able to succeed where Laserdisc failed.

  • S2018E10 Sony's Clever but Flawed PlayStation Copy Protection--And How They Might Have Fixed It

    • March 25, 2018
    • YouTube

    The original PlayStation is a pretty neat thing. Using the CD as a storage medium was a smart move. But, Sony needed to add anti-piracy features to the disc to prevent miscreants from making bootleg copies of Crash Bandicoot. This video tells the story of how that works, why it wasn’t infallible, and also proposes a potentially impervious solution (24 years late, though).

  • S2018E11 The CD Player with a Robot Inside: Pioneer CLD-M301

    • April 3, 2018
    • YouTube

    Sometimes, a company in Japan decides they're gonna give it all they got, and the result is a wacky machine like this. Pioneer, the company that brought you pretty much everything to do with Laserdisc, designed this wonderful series of machines which are both single side Laserdisc players and 5 disc CD changers. Due to the limitations of the Laserdisc format, a rather robotic solution was needed to do the job.

  • S2018E12 These Are Not Pixels: Revisited

    • April 22, 2018
    • YouTube

    When I first made a video on analog color television, the thumbnail I created (and its explanation) caused nearly endless debate. I thought I'd try and clear this up a bit.

  • S2018E13 The Weird Typewriter-Computer Hybrid: Smith Corona PWP-3200

    • May 6, 2018
    • YouTube

    In this very chill and laid back video, we take a look at the Smith Corona PWP-3200, a word processing typewriter from the early 1990's. There were a number of products like this available, and while they are an interesting bit of technological history, they are really strange.

  • S2018E14 The LED Traffic Light and the Danger of "But Sometimes!"

    • May 14, 2018
    • YouTube

    Around the mid-2000’s, the LED traffic light began making its way onto the scene. Recent developments in LED technology meant that energy efficient replacements for the standard incandescent lamp were beginning to appear. Municipalities rejoiced with the energy savings they provided, but in cold climates they weren’t met with quite as warm a welcome. Not producing sufficient heat to melt snow on their lenses, some drivers became confused by ambiguous signals and caused fatal accidents. This video tells the tale of why this newfound “problem” generated harsh criticism to the new technology, and explains why this reaction is entirely dumb and regressive.

  • S2018E15 Macrovision: The Copy Protection in VHS

    • May 22, 2018
    • YouTube

    Did you ever try to copy one VHS tape to another and find that it just, well, didn’t work? Macrovision was the clever creation of what is now TiVo that managed to confuse a VCR without causing too much distress to a TV. In this video, we find out what it is, how to spot it, and how it works (with a healthy dose of speculation).

  • S2018E16 MUSE Hi-Vision Laserdisc: The Blu-ray of 1994

    • May 29, 2018
    • YouTube

    1080i in 1994. Wow. Really, perhaps as early as 1993, but it seems the first player was released in 1994. Anyway, what better way to end the saga on Laserdisc than by talking about MUSE Hi-Vision discs. And some other stuff, too!

  • S2018E17 Chevy Bolt EV Summer Range Test

    • May 31, 2018
    • YouTube

    Come with me as I take the Chevy Bolt EV through 183 miles of summertime driving. It was really hot out and most of the drive was spent at 70 miles per hour, but the car still did pretty well.

  • S2018E18 The High Pressure Sodium Light: Ubiquitous, effective, but good?

    • June 4, 2018
    • YouTube

    Ever wonder why street lights are orange? For such a fast-paced world technology-wise, it seems somewhat odd that we are still using such a strange color of light for outdoor lighting. Well it turns out it is still a pretty good light source, though with limited use and perhaps a not-so-obvious flaw.

  • S2018E19 The LED's Challenge to High Pressure Sodium

    • June 19, 2018
    • YouTube

    Now that we know why street lights are orange, let’s look at whether or not they should still be so. The answer isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Although newer technology seems to surpass HPS in nearly all respects, there are still considerations to be made.

  • S2018E20 The Not-So-Secret Secret Elevators of the Haunted Mansion

    • June 25, 2018
    • YouTube

    Is this haunted room actually stretching? The answer may surprise you! (barf) The stretching rooms at the Haunted Mansion are perhaps my favorite piece of hidden engineering at the Disney Parks. While only the Anaheim and Paris versions function in the fashion described in this video, it is still a neat effect regardless of how it’s done.

  • S2018E21 The Most Common EV Charging Misconception

    • June 27, 2018
    • YouTube

    We need to talk about private home charging more than we do. 99% of our charging infrastructure already exists, and this is something that absolutely needs to be communicated and not enough people are doing. Here is my attempt. In short, no matter if it's a Chevy Volt, Bolt EV, Nissan Leaf, or any of Tesla's cars, you will most likely be charging it at home. It's the cheapest and easiest way to do it--creating your own charging infrastructure.

  • S2018E22 Betamovie: Sony's Terrible (But Ingenious) Camcorder

    • July 3, 2018
    • YouTube

    You can support this channel on Patreon! Link below Oh man, did this not go well for Sony. Sometimes clever engineering can really backfire, as was the case for Betamovie. Let’s learn a bit about it.

  • S2018E23 The Senseless Ambiguity of North American Turn Signals

    • July 14, 2018
    • YouTube

    Studies have demonstrated a tangible safety benefit of amber turn signals. You might want to check them out. Though it might be small, the benefit is demonstrably there. This has always bugged me, and no one talks about it. Our automotive lighting regulations in North America are stupid when it comes to tail lights. This video is about what is stupid, why it’s stupid, and what we could do about it.

  • S2018E24 Sound By Numbers: The Rise of Digital Sound

    • July 25, 2018
    • YouTube

    These days, listening to music on the analog formats of old has seen a massive resurgence. Whether it’s cassettes or vinyl, it seems analog is in and mp3’s are out. But digital sound is pretty freaking neat! This video discusses how it works and is the launching point for this, the final videos on sound reproduction.

  • S2018E25 Nyquist-Shannon; The Backbone of Digital Sound

    • August 10, 2018
    • YouTube

    Let’s talk a bit more about digital sound. Thanks to a mathematical theorem, we know that a bandlimited signal can perfectly be represented by a series of discrete samples that occur at twice the rate of the frequency of the bandlimit. OK, that’s hard to explain in a little descroption blurb, so the video is probably your best bet.

  • S2018E26 The GFCI/RCD: A Simple but Life-Saving Protector

    • August 17, 2018
    • YouTube

    These devices are a common sight in homes and businesses around the US and around the world. But what are they for? Why do we need them? This video explores the life-saving potential of the GFCI (known alias: RCD) and explains how they work.

  • S2018E27 The Compact Disc: An Introduction

    • August 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    The Compact Disc. Just, like, radical man. Lasers making the music? What will the technology wizards think of next? In this video we take a first look at the compact disc and its underlying encoding. Soon we’ll be looking more into CD players and their laser pickup systems, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!

  • S2018E28 Dissecting the CD Player: How to Turn Shiny Plastic into Music

    • September 6, 2018
    • YouTube

    Did you ever want to know a little more about the nuts and bolts inside a CD player? No? Well I’m afraid you’ll have to pick another video because that’s exactly what this one is! In it, I start with a taken-apart Magnavox CDB 260, and we examine what all the parts do, how they fit together, and how they work together to turn pits and lands on a plastic disc into your favorite electrosynthamagnetic musical sounds.

  • S2018E29 LED Printers: The Common Printing Tech You Haven't Heard Of

    • September 19, 2018
    • YouTube

    If you’re among the 85% of people who don’t know what an LED printer is, then prepare to have your mind mildly blown as I tell you about the common printer tech that may in fact by lurking in your home or office, but which you’ve been mistakenly referring to as a laser printer. *gasp*

  • S2018E30 CDs: More to Talk About (Sony vs. Philips)

    • September 28, 2018
    • YouTube

    Well, it’s time to answer that question that’s been burning in your minds.

  • S2018E31 An Oscilloscope Bonus: 20+ Minutes of Poking Around a CD player

    • September 28, 2018
    • YouTube

    This video is a supplement to the latest "real" video from this channel. There was a lot of interesting stuff here that got cut, so if this is the sort of thing you like--sit back and relax as you watch this loosely edited, not-at-all planned video.

  • S2018E32 TC Projects: Lead-Acid Battery Backup

    • October 9, 2018
    • YouTube

    Sometimes life throws curveballs. But rather than just get hit in the face, why not do something about them? This video is a mishmash of a project, some insight on Lead-Acid Battery technology, inverters, and applications. A bit different you might say from TC’s normal stuff, but what’s life without a little variety?

  • S2018E33 CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, Books of Red, Blue, Purple, Beige, Orange, Scarlet...

    • October 19, 2018
    • YouTube

    The time has come. What was once just a replacement for big black frisbees of sprially wavey soundy sounds has matured into a versatile, ubiquitous data storage solution. Would you look at that, progress on a disc! But that wasn’t all; many colors of books were published (neato, wouldn’t ya say?) and the disc went from a-thing-you-buy-with-stuff-on-it to a disc that you can put your VERY OWN stuff on it! Radical! And here’s some of that story.

  • S2018E34 The Ubiquitous Sound That You May Have Never Noticed

    • October 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    Ya know, I just love learning about the everyday things in our world that are meant to make life a little more accessible to those with disabilities. This video is about a small (but nearly universal) thing that elevators do to make life just a bit easier for the blind and visually impaired.

  • S2018E35 LightScribe: HP's Clever Twist on the CD Burner

    • November 10, 2018
    • YouTube

    I remember when LightScribe was first marketed, and let me tell you I thought it was *the* *coolest* *thing* to ever happen. Burning labels with lasers? No way! Well, it worked amazingly well. LightScribe wasn’t without its flaws, though, and in this video we’ll discuss a bit of its history, how it worked, and why it wasn’t a runaway success.

  • S2018E36 LED Experiments: Making Holiday Lights Less Garish

    • November 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    How could I forget about the hmm-hmm light experiments? And/or; holy hard drives it’s already Decemberween? My how the year has passed in a flash. Just like these lights! HA! Yeah, so here’s the thing--I owed you this video. And honestly, the results were great! I have some more work to do (assuming no one listens to my plea toward the end) but now I know that what I want is at least vaguely possible.

  • S2018E37 Closed Captioning: More Ingenious than You Know

    • December 12, 2018
    • YouTube

    Over the years I’ve found that there are plenty of people who use captions, not just those who need them. But did you know that it took until the 1970’s for anyone to think of putting captions on TV? I can sort of understand that, since captions might be annoying if you don’t want them, but closed captioning would save the day and provide access to all, but only when needed.

  • S2018E38 The Superheterodyne Radio: No really, that's its name

    • December 25, 2018
    • YouTube

    The superheterodyne receiver may seem like a radio with a silly name, but in fact it’s a completely logical name that describes the key action these radios take to become excellent radios. The superhet solved a tricky problem in a clever way, and using our friend Algebra (as well as wave phenomena) proved to be the most effective way of tuning in a radio signal.

Season 2019

  • S2019E01 DVD-RAM: The Disc that Behaved like a Flash Drive

    • January 11, 2019
    • YouTube

    DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW ain’t got nothin’ on my man RAM. Oh yes, DVD-RAM, the format of mild obscurity which seems like it should have been friggin huge. Alas, it was but mildly useful.

  • S2019E02 The Odd History of the SD Logo

    • January 21, 2019
    • YouTube

    So, what’s the deal with the D? Why is it all, disclike? Last I checked, SD cards weren’t any sort of disc. What’s going on? In this video, we find out.

  • S2019E03 The Time-Lapse VCR

    • February 4, 2019
    • YouTube

    Analog video and frame-by-frame review don’t usually go nicely together (unless of course you’ve got a CAV Laserdisc onhand). So how did security camera systems stretch the normal recording time of VHS from a couple of hours to upwards of a week? Why, with ingenuity of course! Watch this video and find out the juicy secrets!

  • S2019E04 Space Heater Nonsense

    • February 13, 2019
    • YouTube

    Unless my understanding of the universe is deeply flawed, something about space heaters just doesn’t add up. In this video, I talk about that.

  • S2019E05 The Story of Disney's PeopleMover in Texas

    • February 26, 2019
    • YouTube

    This is the fun, weird, and surprisingly complicated story of Disney’s PeopleMover attraction and how it ended up somewhere unexpected. And maybe even somewhere *really* unexpected!

  • S2019E06 The Electromagnet in Your Toaster

    • March 15, 2019
    • YouTube

    Ya ever wonder about what’s in a toaster? No? Well, too bad ‘cause you’re gonna find out right now!

  • S2019E07 Exploring the World of E-Ink

    • March 30, 2019
    • YouTube

    It’s ink. But better!

  • S2019E08 E-Ink on Android, and other new things!

    • April 9, 2019
    • YouTube

    Big things are coming soon. In some ways, they already have!

  • S2019E09 The Antique Toaster that's Better than Yours

    • April 19, 2019
    • YouTube

    That title isn’t hyperbole or clickbait nonsense. This really is better than your toaster. At least, I think so. Seriously, can we make this the norm, please? If we figured it out in 1948, you’d think we woulda kept going with it. I mean, really.

  • S2019E10 Flexplay: The Disposable DVD that Failed (Thankfully)

    • April 28, 2019
    • YouTube

    Have you ever run across a cool idea that you desperately hope doesn’t catch on? Flexplay is one of those. In this video, we’ll talk about what it is, why it was crazy to think it would go anywhere, and why it’s probably a good thing it didn’t.

  • S2019E11 Thermostats: Cooler than you think!

    • May 10, 2019
    • YouTube

    Boy do I have a COOL topic for you today. We’re gonna turn up the HEAT with this one!

  • S2019E12 Automatic Record Changers: We used to like them

    • June 2, 2019
    • YouTube

    Hmm. What were these things? Why were some record sets made to work with them? When did we decide we hated them? Was that the right call? Will I ask another question? These are the things you’ll learn in this video, where we explore the humble record changer. Seriously. They didn’t suck!

  • S2019E13 Portable Air Conditioners - Why you shouldn't like them

    • June 15, 2019
    • YouTube

    Oh no. It’s a new version of a well-established product that trades efficiency for convenience. But this time, it’s more than just being cool. It’s about cooling. Seriously, either we need to get more awareness of how dumb single-hose portable A/C units are, or we need to just use window units whenever possible. While I know that there are times a portable unit is the only option (remember, I’m in that boat), it seems that only very high capacity, premium machines have the facility to use two hoses. Which is frankly stupid but then again that’s what I’m trying to tell you now.

  • S2019E14 The Best Easy Way to Capture Analog Video (it's a little weird)

    • July 6, 2019
    • YouTube

    After much annoyance dealing with fiddly capturing methods, I thought I’d show you the method I stumbled upon that works amazingly well, is fairly cheap, and awfully easy. I’ve been thrilled with it, and I think you’ll be too.

  • S2019E15 TOSLINK: That one consumer fiber optic standard

    • July 19, 2019
    • YouTube

    Well. Isn’t that strange. Digital data through fiber optics, and in the home no less! Let’s explore this a little, shall we?

  • S2019E16 Fiber vs. Copper; What do we really need?

    • July 29, 2019
    • YouTube

    Fiber optics. A DeLIGHTful technology. Ooh that’s a groaner. Well, why don’t we see them around more often? Let’s find out!

  • S2019E17 Switches are Clicky; Here's Why

    • August 11, 2019
    • YouTube

    Click clack I was taken aback. Wonderin’ ‘bout those switches of light, yeah. Let’s find out what the point is of all that clacking, shall we?

  • S2019E18 The Weird World in RGB

    • August 28, 2019
    • YouTube

    Have you ever wondered why the word looks so weird? Wait. Weird as in, like, all the time? Of course! We live in a weird world! But light, though! What about weird light? Ahhh, that's what this video is all about.

  • S2019E19 The CED: RCA's Very Late, Very Weird Video Gamble (Pt. 1)

    • September 10, 2019
    • YouTube

    Bring the magic home… with RCA! Please? We really want you to buy this. Please. Buy it now. Right now. It’ll be great.

  • S2019E20 The CED: No really, it coulda made sense! (Part 2)

    • September 21, 2019
    • YouTube

    It’s seriously not that crazy of an idea. RCA might have pulled this off in a couple of ways, and in this video we explore those new angles.

  • S2019E21 LCCS: The LCD / CRT Hybrid from JVC

    • September 30, 2019
    • YouTube

    So. Ya want color, eh? But you don’t want any of them dots or stripes? We can do that.

  • S2019E22 The VFD that isn't

    • October 18, 2019
    • YouTube

    Wouldn’t it be nice if VFDs made a resurgence? Just put VFDs on everything, already! Make VFDs the new “blockchain” or “neural networks” or whatever. Priorities, people!

  • S2019E23 RCA's CED failed; their history can tell us why (Pt. 3)

    • October 29, 2019
    • YouTube

    Part three! It’s here! Huzzah! Let’s learn about what happened in the history of RCA that led up to the eventual failure of the CED.

  • S2019E24 The VHS cassette was more clever than Beta

    • November 8, 2019
    • YouTube

    “Oh nooo! Betah!” In this video, we discuss the endlessly discussed rivalry betwixt the Victorious VHS and the Bent-outa-shape Beta, but from an entirely new angle!

  • S2019E25 LED color experiments 2019; Beyond the Sharpie

    • November 17, 2019
    • YouTube

    Yeah, so if you're new here, this is a thing that happens because I'm a curmudgeon about holiday lighting. Let's see what this year brings!

  • S2019E26 Klaxons; What makes them sound like that?

    • November 27, 2019
    • YouTube

    ahOOOOOga! All aboard the HONK HONK express! We're gonna learn a few things about horns and then probably there will be bloopers or something.

  • S2019E27 One more thing: the VHS notch

    • December 18, 2019
    • YouTube

    This is not the same video you watched previously. I promise. It’s a whole new video.

  • S2019E28 Film: the reason some of the past was in HD

    • December 22, 2019
    • YouTube

    ♫ last Christmas, I shot it on film ♫ ♫ but the very next year, I switched it to tape ♫ ♫ this year, to save me from tears ♫ ♫ I’ll just go and shoot in 4K ♫

Season 2020

Season 2021

Season 2022

Season 2023

Season 2024

Additional Specials