In these tough times, everyone is using the internet to watch videos online since there is often nothing better to do. However, if you do not need to watch a video in the highest resolution available, try to tolerate a slightly lower clarity in order to save some bandwidth for others. Videos like podcast discussions, news shows, and vlogs can arguably be viewed just fine in 480p or 720p.
Jon complains that U2 will start playing when he puts down his phone and gets into the car. It's very annoying. Leo suspects that it's the free U2 album that Apple gave to everyone a few years ago. It's called Songs of Innocence and it's probably in iCloud. Apple created a special tool to delete it, he can get it here. But the larger issue is that when he gets rid of it, his Bluetooth audio in his car will just play something else.
Alex wants to start a YouTube channel. Leo says that if he has a smartphone he can hit the ground running. As for video editing, Leo recommends Adobe Premiere Elements. It's under $100. But your phone may also be able to edit the video you shoot. Don't go overboard with gear: start small, and then upgrade your gear as you need to. Lights are important though.
Barry bought a QNap NAS recently and he's a bit frustrated that there isn't a lot of documentation with it for the hardware or software. Leo says that's a common problem as they assume you're an expert if you're looking to use a NAS for a backup. Leo says that YouTube is a great place to learn how to run QNap. There's a QNapTV Channel there.
Ivan's granddaughter would like to capture the screen of an iPad and add visual commentary. Leo says she wants to be a youtube star! Leo says the iPad can't do both. It does have a built-in screen recorder. Then you can record her with a camera and then edit the two together on a computer with a picture in picture option. Another option is an open source program called OBS Studio that can do it in real time on a computer. It's mostly used in making screencasts.
Al says he's been watching Smarter Every Day on YouTube and he has learned about click farms that are designed to create bogus views and clicks on YouTube to not only earn ad revenue but to skew the recommendation engine to drive videos that wouldn't normally be recommended. Leo says that YouTube really needs to address this by 1) getting rid of comments, and 2) getting rid of the recommendation engine.
The latest news about YouTube is that the federal government is investigating the streaming video portal for violation of provisions of the Child Online Privacy Act. The problems are in the recommendation engine, which veers to strange videos, even in the YouTube Kids channel. Numerous complaints to the Federal Trade Commission questions if YouTube is collecting data on kids under 13.
Google is out on the Eastern Seaboard and the West Coast. NEST, Gmail and YouTube users are reporting that their devices are knocked out as well. Leo wonders what life would be like if Google didn't come back for a month or more.
Mike watches YouTube off his laptop and he keeps getting popups requiring him to log into his Google account to watch videos. What gives? Leo says that Google is starting to get restrictive on some content, and it may be that you have to log into YouTube in order to view sensitive or explicit videos. That doesn't mean anything other than topics that aren't advertiser-friendly. Leo also says it enables Google to collect data on you, so they can monetize it. Get ready, that's the future.
Ron is having issues with YouTube when he's using uBlock Origin ad blocker. Leo says that uBlock is the best AdBlocker out there, but it's possible that it may be set to block youtube. Look in the settings, it's highly configurable, so if you don't want to blanket unlock the entire site.
