Why YouTube’s Content Moderators Can’t Work From Home

Published: March 22, 2020 / Updated: March 22, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

YouTube recently announced that their content moderators were being sent home from the office and automated AI systems will handle the removal of inappropriate videos. As most content creators know too well, the AI doesn’t always correctly remove inappropriate videos. The moderators are the ones who correct the mistakes that the AI often makes from a lack of context. With the moderators gone, removed videos will remain offline until someone gets around to reviewing them.

The outcry from content creators was, “Why can’t the moderators work from home?”

Although YouTube released a video explaining this policy change, it didn’t fully address the work from home question. Having worked at Google before and after the Great Recession ten years ago, I can tell you why the moderators can’t work from home. It’s not a technical issue, it’s the business model.

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The Daily Limits Of Grocery Buying In A Pandemic

Published: March 21, 2020 / Updated: March 21, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

Last week it took me five days to buy my regular groceries while everyone else was panic buying at the stores. More items in stock but limit signs were everywhere today. I’ve took pictures to document the craziness for this montage video. Please consider donating CASH to your local food bank to help those struggling to put food on the table for their families. CASH donations will allow the food bank to buy food in bulk quantities at wholesale prices. If you don’t have a local food bank, donate to Feeding America (nationwide) or Second Harvest Food Bank (Silicon Valley).

The “Fridging” of Nancy Drew

Published: March 11, 2020 / Updated: March 17, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

This is year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that allow women the right to vote in the United States in 1920. This year also marks the 90th anniversary of Nancy Drew, the teenage heroine detective created as a counterpoint to the Hardy Boys in 1930. A beloved character still popular with generations of readers and viewers today. Dynamite Comics recently announced a new comic book series called, “Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew.”

That’s right.

Nancy Drew is dead and the Hardy Boys solving her murder. She’s not only killed off but also fridged, invoking two comic book tropes to jump start interest and sales. Only a male writer could have thought of stuffing Nancy Drew’s dead body into a fridge was an exciting way to celebrate her 90th anniversary.

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Replacing UPS Battery After Low Battery Warning

Published: March 6, 2020 / Updated: March 17, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

I’ve gotten email notifications from my FreeNAS file server that my APC ES-725 UPS has a “low battery” condition. The 12-volt battery inside the UPS was no longer outputting a constant 12 volts to provide backup power during an outage. When that happened three years ago, I ignored the emails for several months. One day the UPS stopped working and started whistling loudly. I had no choice but to unplug the UPS to stop the whistling. My choices then was the same as now: replace the battery or the entire UPS. Most of the time, it’s cheaper to replace the battery.

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Dear Healthy People — STOP BUYING Medical Masks

Published: March 1, 2020 / Updated: March 3, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

Last month I posted a video about medical masks being hoarded by healthy people were a bigger health threat than the coronavirus in the United States. A shortage of medical masks at hospitals could cause an outbreak among medical professionals and the general public. A few people told me that the medical mask shortage was just an Internet conspiracy theory.

It wasn’t.

Earlier this week a doctor and two ER staff members who identified a patient with the coronavirus at a Silicon Valley hospital are now under quarantine. A shortage of N95 masks left them exposed to the coronavirus while examining the patient. Yesterday the United States Surgeon General tweeted that healthy people must stop buying medical masks to avoid putting medical personnel at risk from a mask shortage. Medical mask hoarders are putting everyone at risk for an outbreak.

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Big Tech YouTuber Bitwit Discovers Fry’s Electronics Going Out of Business

Published: February 29, 2020 / Updated: March 3, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

Fry’s Electronics used to be where local PC builders scanned the full-page newspaper ads at the entrance and went inside to buy parts. None of the big tech YouTubers that I follow had anything to say about Fry’s going out of business in recent months. That changed when Kyle and Heather of Bitwit drove over to the Fry’s Burbank store to check out what viewers have been telling them for months. They made the shocking discovery that the rumors were all true. Not just at the Burbank store but also the Las Vegas store.

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The Great Train Show 2020 – The Baz Boys Z-Scale Long Train

Published: February 23, 2020 / Updated: February 24, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

One of the longest trains at The Great Train Show (Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose, CA, Sunday, 02/23/2020) was the The Baz Boys 20′ x 25′ Z-scale layout. Being the smallest scale of model trains, each car is about 2″ long. Two engines pulled a mile-long freight train across the landscape and a short passenger train zooms by on the opposite track. Video recorded on an Apple iPhone XR for 3.5 minutes from beginning to end.

SiliCon With Adam Savage Replaces Silicon Valley Comic Con

Published: February 22, 2020 / Updated: February 22, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

When Silicon Valley Comic Con 2019 ended last August, no announcements were made for the 2020 show dates. That was unusual since previous shows had the dates for the next show in advance. The only potential date we had for the last six months was a picture posted on Friends of Comic Cons that listed October 16 to 18, 2020 from inside the 2019 program guide. The official website for Silicon Valley Comic Con updated this past Sunday night with the new dates and more announcements forthcoming. But tickets weren’t on sale yet. As of yesterday afternoon, the old website redirected to the new website.

Silicon Valley Comic Con is dead! Long live SiliCon With Adam Savage!

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Will Apple iPhone 12 Expose You To The Coronavirus?

Published: February 16, 2020 / Updated: February 16, 2020 cdreimer YouTube

NOTE: The video that this blog post is based on has the word “coronavirus” bleeped out and replaced with the emoticons for “beer flu” since the YouTube algorithm is demonetizing and suppressing videos with that particular word.

Last week Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech announced on Twitter that he got a package from China. As far as he was concern, “it was Coronavirus in a box.” He apologized to the unnamed Chinese company for disposing of the unopened package. An irrational overreaction on his part to the coronavirus epidemic in China? If the package came over on a slow boat from China, he clearly overreacted. If the package came over on a fast airplane from China, he may not be overreacting. Speaking of fast airplanes from China, Apple plans to ship millions of new iPhone 12s all over the world later this year.

Will “coronavirus in a box” be coming to an Apple Store near you?

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