Sunday, February 11, 2024

Dealing with electric fans with ball bearings...

Pretty sure if majority of electric fans (mainly for ceiling fans) do have ball bearings on each of their own motors, right? Well, there are two obvious answers for this, "yes" for ceiling fans and "no" for certain fans besides ceiling fans. The word "yes", it's clearly because almost every single ceiling fans always came equipped with ball bearings on them no matter what. On the other hand though, the word "no" also literally means not all of the portable fans do equip with ball bearings on their own motor though, with some exception of those industrial fans (which they usually equipped with ball bearings on each of them). Unfortunately though, I made a blunder on one of my portable fans that I own recently in my current house, and it was the only one that came equipped with ball bearing inside it's own motor, instead of the run-of-the-mill bushing ones. So, without further ado, let me explain about how come if I made the aforementioned mistake that I did to it.

my KDK box fan

There's not much else that I could particularly say about how come if I made the said blunder itself, it's because I was once cleaned the aforementioned fan itself (for this case, my KDK box fan). Everything about it was silly when it comes to how I cleaned it in general, albeit it was somewhat trickier than my previous fan of the exact same type that I used to own just before. Until I decided to lubricate it with a lubrication oil (instead of grease like what my fellow fan enthusiasts would strongly advise to me, just because), then I decided to test it by rotating the shaft itself with my bare fingers, it eventually made the bearing noise from it's own motor every single time. It also made the matters worse upon I powered it up, the noise from the bearing itself suddenly went louder, even if I put it's own blades on it. Simple as that, after that exact blunder that I made particularly with it, it's still makes it's own bearing noise until today, although it still runs smooth though (unlike my previous fan of the exact same type [except for different brand], which it had damaged bushings and shaft that caused it ran so stiff). Yes, it originally had bit of bearing noise since I newly acquired it from more than a year ago, except it was much less louder compared to how it sounds nowadays.

As for how one of my fellow fan enthusiasts commented on that YouTube Shorts video that I made specifically about it, here's how he briefly explained particularly about the problem itself:

"yep, bearings cannot lubricated with oil, they only can be lubricated with grease. the only way to fix it is replace both bearings to the new ones. because the grease inside must be turned liquid already due to the oil, and therefore a friction occurs to the balls. so they couldn't be fixed anymore (although you trying to add more grease to the bearings)."-immafacts

Well then, pay attention when it comes to how you treat your own electric fans with ball bearings on them, especially when you lubricate them. Lesson learned: never lubricate them with any lubrication matters besides grease, because there is no absolute way to reduce the noise itself apart from the fact you must replace it with the brand new ones for sure (results may vary per each types of the electric fans)... If you have your own experience when it comes to treating your own electric fans with ball bearings equipped on their own motors, let me know particularly about it in the comments section if you're able to. That's it for what I could specifically say to this, and as always, thanks for reading this article.





Sunday, January 21, 2024

Dealing with digital TV... around my area (ID) πŸ“Ί

Are you still watching TV nowadays? If so, it's because I'm not only the one who constantly watch any kinds of TV programs after all these years since my childhood, even if you definitely have a better option to watch anything deeper than just TV like I do these days... However, I'm not talking about any kinds of TV programs from various TV stations that I usually watch since my childhood though. Instead, I'm gonna tell you about how come if our country's whole government finally decided to shut down the analog TV stations, then they decided to switch over into digital TV terrestrials, including around my area where I live. Without further ado, it's time to share my own story about my final days with analog TVs, until all the way to how our country's government finally decided to shut them down forever. πŸ“Ί

A. Final times with analog TV...πŸ“Ί

Back in those good old days since my childhood, I obviously watched all kinds of TV programs from those TV channels casually using the analog TV from any of my old CRT TVs that I ever owned, even if I ever watched them briefly using those of cheapo Chinese modular feature phones with built-in antenna, which those weren't mine anyway. This was the only way to watch them, because that was the only reliable source to do so for roughly 2 decades since then. Even though it obviously didn't have a good picture, sound, and signal qualities, otherwise it would sometimes ended up in just "snowy" pictures (or even a plain blue screen), it didn't matter for me though to watch them without any kinds of problems, and this particular trait also applied to the analog FM radio with their respective radio stations around my hometown too.πŸ“Ί

Source : Pixabay

Those were the good old times of me watching all kinds of TV programs from various TV stations in general. Until somewhere in 2022, all TV stations around our country literally warned us in order to switch over from that old analog TV to digital TV terrestrials, including me. Even though the analog TV still existed back then, I just decided to buy one of those run-of-the-mill set top boxes from an electronic store, then I hooked it to my old small CRT TV by connecting the AV cable into it.πŸ“Ί

B. Dealing with it using my set top box and my old CRT TV...πŸ“Ί

Even if I already own that set top box, I actually used to have another set top box that used to exist roughly in 2017-2018, except it was provided by one of those famous internet service providers that also existed in my hometown. I ever experienced with it, and the result of it was mildly okay, depending on which TV stations that I watched. Yes, that set top box did have an option to connect it into my old house's Wi-Fi access point yet it had plenty of video streaming apps too, including YouTube. Sure, I would love to login both of my Google accounts on it, due to the fact it was connected to my old CRT TV, it was painfully difficult to read all of those texts, thus I just didn't bother to do it anyway... As for the main feature itself (which was the digital TV that came with it), it did work just okay, and it had it's own common problems where most of the TV stations just stuttered every certain amount of seconds or minutes, or on the worst cases, it led into "no signal" screen, despite it was clearly connected to one of my Wi-Fi access point's Ethernet ports (not coaxial cable). After I had some enjoyment with it, unfortunately I had to stop using it by returning it back to the provider themselves due to severe financial issues that occurred back in the day (along with the Wi-Fi access point that came with it), which means I had to watch all kinds of TV shows back using the old analog TV for next 4 years, and so for how I replaced that good access point with more s***** one later on.πŸ“Ί

Now, back to my run-of-the-mill set top box that I owned there, connected to my old small CRT TV. Yes, it worked just okay, but it also had the same problem where most of the TV stations just stuttered every certain amount of seconds or minutes, or on the worst cases, it led into "no signal" screen too. No matter if I ever tried to fix it by re-scanning the available TV stations that are broadcasting 24/7 around my area, or fixing the coaxial cable connection and the connector that connects into the unit itself, or even tweaking certain options in order to make it less occurring, those common problems are sometimes come back, which caused me to switch between digital TV terrestrials using it or just the classic analog TV. Unfortunately though, even if I also owned the loop-over connector that connects between my set top box and my old CRT TV, the analog TV was finally got shut down in the last year around my area exactly in the meantime I tested it, so that means no more of me watching them using analog TV forever indeed.πŸ“Ί

C. Dealing with it using my smart TV...πŸ“Ί

Box of my current flat screen smart TV that I own...

FYI, I recently purchased my own flat screen smart TV in order to install it in my current compact house, it's because that old small CRT TV would occupy some space and it would also draw more power that might trip my whole house's MCB. Instead of using both of it's own "legs" that came with it, I decided to install it on the wall using the bracket, in order to avoid all kinds of accidents of me using it in general. Yes, it does have roughly similar features just like that set top box, with an exception about how it has much more content compared to that. For example, it obviously have a built-in Wi-Fi adapter, yet it also has bunch of apps that comes with it, including certain online video streaming apps (YouTube, Prime Video, Vidio, WeTV, etc.). Watching all kinds of videos on YouTube on this is pretty much exactly as what I expected for, and I even logged in both of my own Google accounts on it just alright, as long as it still connects to my house's Wi-Fi access point 24/7.πŸ“Ί

Now, how about the main feature itself though? Well, the results when it comes to me watching digital TV from various TV stations are exactly in similar fashion to how I watched them before using my old CRT TV, equipped with that set top box. Yes, it still has it's own common problems where where most of the TV stations just stuttered every certain amount of seconds or minutes, or on the worst cases, it led into "no signal" or "invalid service" messages, even if I tried to fix it by re-scanning the available TV stations that are broadcasting 24/7 around my area. Unfortunately though, there is no specific option in order to make it way less occurring, apart from all of those basic options of the whole smart TV's settings itself. FYI, it also has 5 different sources to watch anything on it though, such as 2 different versions of digital TVs (both DVB-T2 and DVB-C [which the latter one still didn't have any at the moment]), analog TV (which obviously no longer existed anymore), AV, and 2 HDMI ports.πŸ“Ί

D. The common problems...πŸ“Ί

As what I clearly stated there, you probably think if watching any digital TVs will work flawlessly as you expect? Well (specifically around my area), no. It's because I have to deal with those of the common problems that usually occur every single time I watch them. When this particular problems gets worse, I have to fix it's own coaxial cable that connects between the TV and the outdoor antenna itself by fixing it's own connector in order to make it less occurring, which still doesn't even fix it most of the time (unless I will get the indoor antenna booster to rectify it though). As for the common problems on the digital TVs that I was talking about, here are the signs about them:

  1. It occasionally producing bit of squeaking or popping sounds, followed by how the picture also occasionally stutters, pauses, or glitches by itself for a rapid moment. This is easily by far the most common problem that always present to encounter it every single time I watch them through all of the TV stations that are available on it (results may vary per each of the TV stations).
  2. It also suddenly stops the TV broadcasts by itself from certain TV stations that I watch, then it immediately leads into "no signal" or "invalid service" screen.

Those common problems do occur probably due to these reasons below:

  1. The connection between both my TV and the outdoor antenna are might be loose (most commonly occurs on it's own connector that connects directly to the TV, especially when it heats up after certain amount of time),
  2. My old outdoor antenna probably doesn't receive any signals from nearest TV station transmitters very well, even if I already mounted it using that long a** pole for really that up high (unless if I already have my better one or improve it using an indoor antenna booster to rectify it for a bit, but I still didn't upgrade it nor acquiring the booster itself yet),
  3. Any forms of technical difficulties that might occur on each of the nearest TV station's transmitters (specifically about how they sometimes change their TV channel index numbers and their respective frequencies), but that might not be the case for the nearest TV stations in my hometown (which I guarantee if they will work fairly flawlessly).
  4. Any condition of the weather around my area that definitely cause all of those common problems usually occur (for instance: my outdoor antenna wobbles due to the strong wind, there are some lightning outside, etc.).

Well, there you have it for my experience about how I deal with digital TV terrestrials, particularly from anything around my area. If you have your experience from your own specifically about it and the common problems that usually occurs on it, feel free to ask anything particularly about them in the comments section if you're able to. That's it for what I could particularly say about this article, and pay attention when it comes to dealing those problems that usually occurs on them............ otherwise you would end up raging.



Tuesday, January 2, 2024

New year's eve in your hometown❓ πŸŽ†πŸŽ‡πŸŽ‰πŸŽŠπŸŽΊ

This time, I'll tell you about something different, which is sharing about my own story about how I watched any kinds of new year's eve in my own hometown, ranging from basic firework show that were usually held near certain buildings or places by certain small communities, until the way to how my own hometown's whole government celebrated it back in the day per each of the year in those locations that they chose for. I know if there's not much else that I could particularly say about it since the last one that I watched from the very beginning of the dreadful 2020 (oh yeah, f*** that year of pain). Without further ado, it's time for me to share my own short stories about how I watched it back in the day per each of the year, right away. πŸŽ‰πŸŽ†

Since I was born until few years later, I simply didn't watch it due to the fact I obviously didn't have a clue specifically about what was the actual purpose of how everybody set their own fireworks together (most commonly were the roman candle sticks) in their own places every single of the aforementioned eve itself every beginning of the year. Until somewhere in the very beginning of 2009 (I guess), I was able to watch the said eve itself due to I suddenly heard all of that firework explosions on the sky which caused me to wake up from my sleep, and then I decided to go out from my childhood house and visited one of the nearest places that had one of those simple firework shows (no matter if I was yawning severely or not), for this case it was the bank nearest from my childhood house. Everything particularly about it was really basic when it comes to how some people set those roman candle sticks casually like so in there in particular, and this was occurred repeatedly 4 times per each of the year (2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012).πŸŽ‰πŸŽ†πŸŽΊ

Example of the new year's eve in my hometown, held directly by my whole hometown's government (judging by that concert stage at the back)... This was taken in very late of 2017 (or new year's eve 2018), right before they set all of those fireworks on the top of that sports hall there...

In 2013 and all the way to 2020 (except 2015*), I decided to watch the said eve itself in completely different locations, yet it was held directly by my whole hometown's local government, instead of just watching certain small communities with their own basic eve parties like I used to. Sure, I decided to do so because the firework show that they usually provided with them were way much superior compared to what I watched it per each of the year in prior, thanks to how they usually rented certain "pyro" enthusiasts and experts in order to set many of those roman candle boxes in one (yes, those boxes, not the usual stick ones), resulting in much greater show of themselves instead of the casual ones like everybody would usually do every new year's eve... There were 3 locations specifically about how they celebrated them, which those places were:

  1. Town center of my own hometown,
  2. In front of my whole hometown's main government office, and
  3. In front of the sports hall of my hometown (which they built the place itself back in 2016)

The first two following years, I watched the event itself specifically in the town center of my own hometown (2013 and 2014). The next two following years, I watched the event itself specifically in front of my whole hometown's main government office (2015 and 2016). Meanwhile for the last 4 following years, I watched the event itself specifically in front of the sports hall of my hometown (2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020)... These were definitely my best moments when it comes to how I celebrated the new year's eve by watching the said eve itself per each of the year, even I was able to record all of that amazing fireworks show with my old generic digital camera and my own phones, although I only uploaded few of them somewhere in part of my own social medias that I own. Of course, unlike how I celebrated it back in 2012 or prior in that particular location, I must dealt with the situation of the place around themselves, especially about how I literally dealt with massive amount of crowd who watched both music concert and firework shows respectively, otherwise I would pass out if I wouldn't strong and careful enough against this exact situation (especially when the firework show itself was over, and so for leaving the location itself). That particular crowd problems aside, it was really fun experience of me watching it in general per each of the year........... until the dreadful pandemic began after the last one that they celebrated.

* means I had a total health problem, but I couldn't tell you about the aforementioned health problem itself...

After the last one that I watched, there were no official announcement directly from themselves due to the pandemic that was occurred for roughly 2 years (including the car free night near them), even if the pandemic itself was over. For now, there is no aforementioned event from themselves anymore, which means I simply don't bother to watch it in person, no matter if I do bother to check it or not (even if I also check it on the certain social media account admins of my whole hometown as well)... Even I ever checked the place where they used to celebrate it before, and it turned out if there were no actual event itself from themselves. So, that was basically it, no more for those of the said events directly from themselves in general (AFAIK), apart from many of those basic eve parties that certain small communities with their own amount of budget usually do in certain locations outside those ones that our whole hometown's local government used to celebrate it specifically like so back in those days per each of the year. Even if both of my parents literally warned me in order not to watch it because it's so pointless to check it anyway (considering if I recently live in much further location between both my current house and those locations where they used to do so), they both also told me if I'd recklessly doing so no matter what, I would ended up in any of those unexpected technical difficulties specifically on the streets every single night.

Well, there you have it for my own short story particularly about the new year's eve in my own hometown in general, ranging from the basic ones that were usually held by certain small communities in their own locations, until all the way to how my whole hometown's government used to celebrate it specifically like so in those locations that they chose. If you have your own story particularly about this from your own hometown (or even your place where you currently settling in), feel free to share your own short story in your comments section if you're able to. That's it for what I could particularly say about this, and as always, thanks for reading this special article...πŸŽ‰πŸŽ†πŸŽ‡πŸŽŠπŸŽΊ

Location of my hometown (in case you've wondering): Tulungagung, East Java, Indonesia



Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Experience with free Windows 10 video editor, but...

After I made my article that literally explained about how's my overall experience with that good old Windows Movie Maker that I recently installed it in my current πŸ’» that I'm using right now, it's time to retrospect it for a bit by explaining about my overall experience of (supposed to be) it's "successor", which used to be available for pure free since I acquired my own πŸ’» with Windows 10 installed. Without further ado, let me particularly explain about my about my experience with this particular video editor, right away.

Again, just like that old Windows Movie Maker (even if it looked so different compared to that classic version that everybody would know and enjoyed), there's nothing else that I could say to this particular video editor, apart from the fact this used to be available for free from the Photos app, yet according to some random sources online, it was also known as "Microsoft Story Remix". Yes, it also had limited features just like it's own predecessor that I was talking about, but it had several differences between this and that aforementioned video editor, such as:

  1. Unlike that old Movie Maker which would you to save any of the edited footages into a project file (.wlmp), this one simply saved the edited footages immediately after you close the project itself. Except, any of the selected media files that I included them into it also copied them into certain folders too (for instance, Libraries > Pictures > Video Projects for both picture and video files for some reason, and Libraries > Music > Video Projects for audio files, respectively). πŸ“
  2. In order to trim or split video footages, it always introduced me to do one of the said ways in it's own separate editing window to do so per each of them both. ✂🎞
  3. In order to add either stock music tracks or any of my own music or sound tracks to certain parts of the edited footage (including how I trimmed certain parts of the music or sound tracks itself), it also introduced me to do it in it's own separate editing window to do so. ✂🎡🎢🎼
  4. In order to add any of stock title cards (or stock captions) that came with it, it also introduced me to do it in it's own separate editing window to select which one that I'd want among all of those ones that were available in there (including that Comic Sans one, ugh).
  5. It had an option to remove black bars on any of my own pictures with (mostly) 4:3 aspect ratio, unlike that old Movie Maker, which didn't have any. πŸ–Ό
  6. It also had a feature to add certain 3D objects and certain visual effects that came particularly with it, which most of them had their own unique sound effects too.

Even though it did work just fairly decent as what I expected since I initially discovered it, of course there were some flaws that it specifically had during I tried to edit my own videos on it, such as:

  1. NO option for adding transitions between two pictures of videos at all... Simple as that.
  2. Most of the stock music tracks that came with it were copyrighted. This was occurred in few of my videos that I edited using it with most of those music tracks that I literally added on them. Then, I uploaded them on YouTube, and after few moments later, they were detected if most of those music tracks that I put on them were copyrighted indeed. Not only just that, it also didn't have a feature to trim the music tracks that came with it into specific position of the edited video footage itself, unlike any of my own music tracks that I put on it, which they simply did. ©πŸŽ΅⚠
  3. The edited video footages sometimes stuttered for a little bit during I tried to play the edited footages through it's own preview pane, and it also even led into a black screen for a brief moment.
  4. Even if it had cool selection of title cards (or captions), there were no options to customize those texts anyway.
  5. No option for adding both fade in and fade out audio transitions for the videos, unlike how it literally had that particular feature for any of my own music or sound tracks that I added them on it.
  6. The exporting process sometimes stuck, especially during I tried to export my edited video footages that had certain amount of length and quality that I'd export it to (which I usually set it to 1080p).

After I used it particularly as a simple video editor for roughly 2 years, it eventually omitted for real since the Photos app itself literally updated to it's latest version. Even if the Video Editor app is still present until today, it literally redirects me into the newer Photos app itself without the said video editor itself. Instead, it offered me to install Microsoft Clipchamp, which I already experienced it for a little bit in one of my articles that literally explained about video editors that I ever used on my own current πŸ’» in general. However, I found out the way to revisit it back by downloading it's own separate legacy version of the Photos itself, but I don't think if I'm able to do so for editing even more of my own videos specifically using it for now... Well, if you also have an experience when it comes to editing your own video footages using one of these, feel free to say your experience with it in the comments section if you still recognize it anyway, albeit it's obviously less memorable than that old Movie Maker. That's it for what I could specifically say to it, and as always, thanks for reading this particular article.

Sunday, November 12, 2023

My thoughts about YouTube vs. any ad blockers...⚠

Recently, I received this exact serious warning during I tried to watch all kinds of YouTube videos, specifically on the web version of it with an ad blocker extension that I literally installed in each of my πŸ’»'s browsers since several years ago. However, instead of me watching them like it normally should be without all of those video ads, I immediately got greeted with that aforementioned warning where I MUST disable the ad blocker extension itself, otherwise I would ended up violating their own terms of service if I would recklessly doing so... Well, before I explain about this particular situation, I already explained it somehow in one of my older articles that partially explained about dealing with any kinds of random video ads that I ever seen them on YouTube in general (both πŸ’» and πŸ“± versions), particularly about any kinds of video ads that I ever encountered on them every single time I watch any YouTube contents.

Before I explain about the current situation about it shortly, let me explain them again particularly about what kinds of video ads that usually appears these days from my perspective (specifically right after I disabled the ad blocker, and so for specifically from our country [ID]), even though I also encountered them in both πŸ“± and πŸ“Ί versions of them too. Ranging from not-so-annoying ones, until all the way to the most annoying ones, so here are my lists of themselves, right away:

a. Not-so-annoying πŸ‘Œ

  • Skippable ads from any sort of community centers around our country (such as Qur'an learning centers, certain donations from certain communities, etc.),
  • Skippable ads from certain ads that are somewhat relevant to my own content (for this case, air conditioner ads, albeit if they're extremely hard to come by since the last one that I encountered back from few years ago, even if I didn't log in to my own account),
  • Skippable ads from certain movie trailers (for this case, movie trailers from Netflix and Prime Video, if I guessed the latter one right),
  • Skippable music video ads from random music band performers out there, either from our country or foreign ones, albeit they're somewhat hard to come by from my own perspective (even if I recently listening to certain music videos that I enjoy though), and
  • Some random unrecognizable skippable video ads from certain foreign sources, even if they are somewhat uncommon to encounter them randomly.

b. Mid πŸ™

  • Skippable ads of any modern day video games and certain popular mobile apps (most commonly are the online marketplaces, trading apps, online taxi apps, etc.),
  • Skippable ads of any random products that they sell on certain online marketplace (which most of them are usually appears casually on the TVC), and
  • Skippable ads of any gadgets (most commonly flagship devices from any popular brands)

c. Annoying 🀬

The answer of it is truly obvious, ANY of the dreaded UNSKIPPABLE video ads. 

Now, "How's your thoughts exclusively about when it comes to this particular current situation where YouTube recently decided to do this indeed, exclusively in the web version of them with their own ad blocker extensions installed on every single users out there?"... Well, there's nothing else that I could particularly say apart from the fact I must deal with them anyway no matter what, apart from the fact it somehow helps each of the YouTuber's revenue for a bit (especially for majority of not-so-popular YouTubers with extremely low income of the said revenue itself per each of the channels around the entire world, including my own channel with ~6K of subscribers). Well, that's one of my assumptions about it then, because there's no absolute difference between those days before they deliberately did this and these days right after they did this on purpose indeed, it's due to the fact my own YouTube's channel revenue keeps dropping down the amount of it's own passive income since roughly last 2 years, thanks to how the overall amount of views on my own entire YouTube channel also severely decreased as well, unlike several of my own videos that I uploaded from more than approximately 3 years ago. Yes, you can watch those of my older YouTube videos that I published from then, but again, that doesn't help by how both of the said revenue and the said views are drastically lowered overtime like so, or on the worst cases, it sometimes eventually doing so all the way down to almost 0, TBH.

Watching an air conditioner ad before I watch my own YouTube videos... (Note: Indonesian languages and this was taken from few years ago, even if I didn't log in to my own Google account though)

As for the ways about how I watch all kinds of YouTube videos from either πŸ’», πŸ“±, and πŸ“Ί platforms these days, there's nothing difference apart from the fact I must deal with all of the ads that are mad commonly appears in there (including many of the unskippable ones, because they do), especially in the beginning or the endpoint of any YouTube videos that I watch (or even those of the mid-rolls, specifically for any of the aforementioned videos that has approximately 8 minutes of length or more). However, I found the way about how come if I can watch majority of them without getting annoyed by all of those ads, except I only did it exclusively in the πŸ“± version (specifically for Android versions). I couldn't tell you about what kinds of those third-party apps where you can watch YouTube videos without all of those video ads, but most of the apps are literally available out there, and you can even able to log in your own Google account on any of them without any issues (unless if most of the apps just log out once you close the whole app itself though, so be careful for using one of those third-party apps anyway). Even if you can watch YouTube videos without any of those annoying video ads, you definitely somehow deal with plethora of banner ads that are commonly appear in there instead...... or even those of the independent video ads or interactive ads that might appear every single time when you open each of the apps, which most of them are indeed unskippable (you have to wait it for n seconds until the said ads themselves ends, then you can close it either way).

Well, there you have it for the latest update about how's going on with the πŸ’» version of the YouTube in general, particularly when it comes to dealing with ANY of the ad blockers that are installed in everyone's browsers, including me. I don't know if this might be somewhat helpful for majority of not-so-popular creators or not, because that's definitely the sole reason about how come my own YouTube channel with ~6K subscribers recently has both views and revenue are drastically decreased in past 2 years. If you have some sort of your own "unskippable video ad problems" when it comes to watching any of YouTube videos from your own perspective as an audience, feel free to share your own thoughts particularly about it in the comments section if you're able to. That's it for what I could particularly say about this recent situation exclusively about YouTube, and hope you can pay full attention when it comes to dealing them, otherwise you would ended up violating their own terms of service if you keep recklessly doing so no matter what.



Sunday, October 29, 2023

Experience with old Windows Movie Maker...🎞🎬

Note: You must be extremely careful when it comes to searching and downloading this particular old video editing software from various random sites out there. I'm not guarantee if most of them might offer some sort of fake file installers of themselves that contains any kinds of malware that may harm your computer's or laptop's entire operating system instead.

This ain't my filler article that explains about my previous article that explains about the update of the video editing software that I ever used on my current laptop that I'm using these days in general. However, I recently tried yet another video editing software that is pure free (but not trial), and it is literally the previous iteration of that particular free Windows 10 video editor that is now gone, thanks to how they decided to get rid of it in the latest version of the Photos app, unless I'd love to use the Microsoft Clipchamp instead, which I also clearly stated it briefly in the same update article of those video editors that I ever used in my current laptop... Okay, of course you probably mentioned this particular iteration of the said Windows's official free video editor before, the old Windows Movie Maker. Even though I recently use it for a bit for basic video editing (which basically just it), but I already found some of my short results when it comes to how I'm recently using it. So, without further ado, let me explain particularly about my experience with this particular old Windows video editor, right away. 🎞

There's nothing else that I could particularly say to it though, apart from the fact how Microsoft no longer supporting this particular video editing software back in January of 2017. Well, that doesn't stop it by how I was able to search it online by simply downloading the software itself until I found the installer file itself in particular, called "Windows Essentials 2012" (wlsetup.exe). With the old .NET Framework 3.5 that was already installed on my current laptop's Windows 10 operating system by default since I acquired from then (or I did it somehow by downloading and installing it particularly from one of those monthly updates from Windows Update, oh boy), it's not really a big deal for installing it either way (unless if it wouldn't present yet, I must download and install it anyway, otherwise it wouldn't work at all)... There were certain options for installing certain programs that was bundled with the "Windows Essentials 2012", such as Messenger, Mail, Writer, and most importantly, Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. Of course I obviously just chose Photo Gallery and Movie Maker only, because why not. 🎞

Upon I successfully installed and decided to open it, there's nothing else that I could particularly say to it as it works just fairly okay, until I decided to have some fun by importing some of my own photo and video files on the project file. While it literally has limited features unlike majority of the other kinds of video editors that I mentioned in those two of my article that explained about my experience of me using them, it does it's basic job as what I expected for (ranging from all kinds of basic editing that I can deliver on it, until how I'm able to export my edited video footages from it just fine), albeit the UI of it looks so different compared to the beloved classic version that used to exist in everybody's computers or laptops with Windows XP/Vista installed back in those days. Even then, this particular video editor is somewhat better compared to that free Windows 10 video editor that used to exist, thanks to how it obviously has certain features that didn't present in that free Windows 10 video editor, being one of them is the transitions between two photos or videos (albeit you can only set it between from 0.5 seconds to 2 seconds though)... Again, it does it's own basic job when it comes to editing my own videos in general, but it does have certain flaws while I'm editing any of my own video footages on it. Those are:

  1. It takes a while to import certain video files with higher resolution and larger file sizes.
  2. The edited video footage sometimes drop some frame rates while I'm tried to play it through the preview pane, unless I have to "fix" it specifically using two options from the settings of this whole video editor (can you guess about what are those two options that I'm talking about, although if I somehow "fix" it through both of those said options, it eventually leads into another problem where the whole software itself just performs partially unstable).
  3. While I put some music tracks or sound effects on the project, it's so awkward while I tried to move those bars around it no matter what.
  4. No option for adding shadow effects on the texts.
  5. No "Picture-in-Picture" option, and so for how it doesn't have an option to remove black bars on the pictures that I added them on the project.
  6. No option for turning the main editing pane from both storyboard and timeline modes, which used to exist in the classic Windows XP/Vista versions of it.
  7. While I'm applying certain hefty stuffs to the project that consists of (mostly) certain edited video footages, it sometimes causing the whole program itself to freeze and crash. It also makes the matters worse once it crashed, it sometimes refused to open until I must restart my whole laptop's operating system in order to make it work.

Well, there you have it for my experience of me using this old Windows Movie Maker in general. After that actual riddance of that free Windows 10 video editor, I don't think if I'm able to find yet another free (but not trial) video editing software that may work just decently on my current laptop with it's own modern day πŸ₯” specifications, just clearly stated as what I already explained in my previous articles about themselves... If you have plenty of good memories when it comes to editing your own video footages using one of these, feel free to say your experience with it in the comments section if your memory still serves them right in your own mind. That's it for what I could say to this, and as always, thanks for reading this particular article. 🎞




Sunday, October 1, 2023

SquirrelStampede: The Man Behind His Plants vs. Zombies Toys...🐿

Pretty sure you probably mentioned this particular YouTuber in few of my articles that explains about my own Plants vs. Zombies stuffs, ranging from my main series of my aforementioned collection of themselves (which it only lasted about 4 parts, and that was it), until all the way to how I briefly mentioned this particular legend in few of them. Well, of course I watched almost all of his review videos of themselves since his first review video of them that he published back in 2014, and I obviously fascinated by how he reviewed certain of his toy or figure sets that I always wanted. Without further ado, let me particularly explain about my whole story about how I discovered this particular YouTuber who is well-known for reviewing any sort of Plants vs. Zombies stuffs.

a. First time discovering him...🐿

Courtesy: his YouTube channel

Before I discovered him and his first legendary Plants vs. Zombies toy review that he ever uploaded and published on YouTube in 2014, I casually watched any kinds of Plants vs. Zombies stuffs, ranging from the usual gameplay videos that I encountered from then (which majority of them that I watched were obviously from the original TD game, followed by the earliest days of it's sequel), until all the way to certain IRL collectible stuffs from themselves (which were hard to come by in it's days, unlike how I particularly encountered them since post-2014 and onwards). Everything particularly about how I watched them on YouTube were all that simple, until I found that one upcoming slideshow video from somebody else who featured some of my wanted Plants vs. Zombies mini figures. After that particular video that I watched, I eventually watched the actual review video of the aforementioned set of themselves, and believe or not, it was reviewed by the legend himself, SquirrelStampede! Even though I also discovered certain YouTubers who reviewed them in their hands specifically after he published his own review of them, I had to admit if his review of themselves were the best ones among all of the ones that I ever watched on YouTube, followed by certain other YouTubers who reviewed them in it's days too (for this case, The Review Spot, FGeeTV, Pixel Dan, and etc.). This also made me fascinated by how he acquired even more of Plants vs. Zombies collectible stuffs after his first one that he reviewed it just earlier, and so for his series of "Plants vs. Zombies Toy Play" too.

As for his own channel itself, he also reviewed any collectible stuffs besides Plants vs. Zombies. Those were Super Mario, Pac-Man, Minecraft, some random official Lego sets, and many more. You probably wondering about how come his channel is nicknamed like so, it's because he's literally a squirrel enthusiast (if I'm not mistaken), judging by how he briefly featured certain of his squirrel mini figures and certain toys as his usual cameo in majority of his review videos, including most of his Plants vs. Zombies review videos that I ever watched. 🐿

b. The Plants vs. Zombies sets that he reviewed...🐿

Courtesy: his YouTube channel

Since his first one that he reviewed them back in 2014, there were even more sets that he acquired since then until few years later. Excluding certain of the cheapo Chinese alternative sets or bootleg sets that he got, here are the lists about the official Plants vs. Zombies sets that he acquired for his collection:

  1. K'NEX Series 1-5 blind bags (all 8 figures per each of the series [4 plants and 4 zombies, respectively], which the last 2 series were based off from Garden Warfare 2),
  2. Various Jazwares sets (both from original TD game and it's sequel),
  3. Certain Diamond Select Toys sets (both from original Garden Warfare and it's sequel),
  4. Certain K'NEX building sets (Football Mech, Cone Mech, Pirate Seas Plank Walk, Crazy Targets [Garden Warfare 2], Boat Blast [Garden Warfare 2], etc.), and
  5. 2015 Burger King toys of the whole franchise itself (limited edition set, and it even included that one mini LCD handheld game among all of them)

c. My interaction with him, and eventually...🐿

Courtesy: his YouTube channel

Believe or not, I actually had plenty of my great moments when it comes to how I enjoying his Plants vs. Zombies reviews particularly since then. Of course I started by commenting on most of his review videos, especially for those of his K'NEX blind bag opening codes. Even though it was all that normal at first, until I somehow "overwhelmed" by all of those replies with either jumbled letters or words (which I realized if most of the people commented like so were done by their infants instead of casually from themselves), or even offense replies specifically for no reason whatsoever (especially in one of his aforementioned review of themselves, and for this case, it was K'NEX Plants vs. Zombies Series 3 blind bag opening codes, because I commented it right after he published that particular video)... Despite all of those messes that they made to me through plenty of them, that didn't stop me to get my own K'NEX Plants vs. Zombies figures on my own collection too, particularly for most of the plant figures that I always wanted the most.

Even though there were plenty of Plants vs. Zombies enthusiasts like I do in his comment section of majority of his reviews of themselves (including that one particular geek that I already mentioned for a bit in one of my older articles that I made it from a long time ago, I think), that also didn't stop me for getting famous in his review videos, and he eventually did it specifically in that one review of two K'NEX Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 building sets that he did so in 2017. However, I didn't watch it particularly right after he published it due to I always bothered by all of those messes on that one aforementioned review of one of those K'NEX Plants vs. Zombies blind bag opening codes that I mentioned just earlier. So, I decided to watch it approximately after more than a year since he published it, and I was surprised by how he literally featured that one picture that I made on one of my Instagram accounts that I own (which obviously consist plethora of my Plants vs. Zombies collectible stuffs), which was this one!

Yep, thanks to the fact I'm also an electric fan enthusiast, he clearly did it because according to himself, it was one of the greatest fan shot that he ever seen so far, although I actually took that particular picture using my old 2010 Nokia feature phone (don't ask me particularly about why I took it using that particular old πŸ₯”). Not only just that, he also liked and commented bunch of my pictures that I posted on the aforementioned Instagram account as well... Now, as for how I decided to take a conversation through direct message chat with him particularly on Instagram, I casually said "Hello" to him, without my own intention of me asking about anything about his legendary Plants vs. Zombies collection in the first place. Well, you probably recognize this exact moment as what I clearly stated in one of my older articles about how I casually met him just like what I stated just earlier, until how I actually got most of my favorite Plants vs. Zombies mini figure that I always wanted straight from him for free, but not all of them though.

πŸ†—, back to where I initially met him through the Instagram's direct chat between myself and himself. After I said "Hello" word casually like what I clearly stated earlier, he immediately offered me to do some free giveaway of his Plants vs. Zombies figure sets exclusively to me, and I obviously requested most of the K'NEX plant figures that I wanted the most, albeit not all of them though (specifically for the ones that I still missed since then until today). It took a while for my conversation between myself and the legend himself, and he eventually sent me several of K'NEX Plants vs. Zombies blind bags for free, in addition of one of my most wanted plant figure that was packed in a transparent zipped bag, and even the appreciation note straight from himself. As for the figures themselves per each of the bags that he sent it to me, I already listed them in the same original article about how I specifically did this to him as well.

Courtesy: his YouTube channel

Well then, there you have it for my greatest moments when it comes to how I discovered this particular legend who is well-known for reviewing certain Plants vs. Zombies collectible stuffs that I always wanted since his debut review of themselves until the last one that he reviewed, unless if certain of his Chinese alternative sets or bootleg sets of them would count, because I simply don't care with those of the said sets that he reviewed them anyway (because I still literally can find them much easier until this day, even with completely different sets that they sell nowadays). In conclusion, his reviews of Plants vs. Zombies sets are the greatest among all of the ones that I ever watched on YouTube, especially for certain ones that I always wanted. It also made it unexpectedly better on me, specifically about how he featured myself in one of his Plants vs. Zombies building set reviews, and followed by how he exclusively offered me by sending some of his Plants vs. Zombies mini figure sets to me for free... To wrap up this particular article, if you also have some good memories when it comes to watching his own contents, specifically about his Plants vs. Zombies reviews, feel free to let me know particularly about it in the comments section if you remembered it though. As always, thanks for reading this particular article, and cheers!