Technology Connections

From Radio Waves to Electric Grooves: Electrical Sound Recording

Once we figured out how to amplify a signal with a vacuum tube, the possibilities became endless for the world of sound

Tape Recording: Taking the Electromagnet to a Whole New Level

Rather than use electromagnets to cut a groove, why not use them with other magnets? By using materials that could be m

The Wind-Powered Car: Electric Vehicles and Wind Turbines

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

What is High Fidelity? How does Stereo work?

We've come along way since the invention of the phonograph. But up to this point, artificial sound was still decidedly

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

On Technology Connections, we looked at this machine briefly when we explored the invention of magnetic recording techno

Transistors: Making sound easier, smaller, and more efficient

The technological advances that we've investigated so far have revolved around the vacuum tube. But the invention of th

Electric Vehicle Charging: It's easier than you think

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 thi

Exploring the good ol' Cassette Tape

If you remember the cassette as sounding awful, I have news for you. They actually sound just fine. The Compact Casset

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

It's not hard to make things safer. But sometimes people don't think about the tools they already have. With a simple

Home Automation: A Beginner's Introduction

In the video today we look at current home automation technologies and what's behind them. I illustrate what's involved

The Impossible Feat inside Your VCR

These days a VCR seems more quaint than anything else. But in fact, there's a device inside every VCR that solved what

What is Dolby Noise Reduction? Dolby's Humble Beginning

In this video we discuss the Dolby Noise Reduction systems found in consumer cassettes decks and how they work. Though

Furnaces: Why we still burn fuel to heat our homes

Ever wonder why the gas-fired furnace is still so prevalent? Why isn't electric heat the standard? Well, wonder no mor

Stupid Design--The Needlessly Useless Webcam Activity Light

We've been told that our laptops can watch us without our knowledge. That little indicator light? Worthless. Hackers

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

The late 1970's and early 1980's were a frightening time to be a video enthusiast. Two formats are duking it out and tr

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

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

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

This is a much fairer comparison than using the Panasonic unit as the VHS playback device. Many people believe that Bet

Lines of Light: How Analog Television Works

Have you ever wondered how old-school television worked? It seems almost impossible for a device to make moving images

Mechanical Television: Incredibly simple, yet entirely bonkers

John Logie Baird is often considered to be the inventor of television, but not of television as we know it. His mechani

LED bulbs that flicker, and CFLs that almost never did

While the CFL is pretty much done being a thing these days, it was a really great invention for saving energy. But some

GE's bizarre early attempt at a CFL

Meet the grandfather of the compact fluorescent light. This device from GE is really interesting and ahead of its time,

Philo Farnsworth and the Invention of Electronic Television

Philo Farnsworth's Image Dissector was the heart of the first television cameras. This video tells the story of the ear

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

In this video we explore Digital ICE, an image processing technique involving infrared light, photographic film, and a d

How Analog Color TV Works: The Beginnings

In this video we explore how we added color to everyone's favorite passive entertainment medium. Modern color broadcast

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

If you're anything like me, the countless light displays you'll find around the average neighborhood during the holiday

Compatible Color: The Ultimate Three-For-One Special

RCA's attempt at creating a new color television standard that would be compatible with existing black and white TVs ini

Analog Color TV Wrap-Up--Some extra info

In this installment on analog color television, we take a look at some odds-and-ends from the last video. Sit back, rel

Trinitron: Sony's Once Unbeatable Product

Throughout much of the analog television era, Sony was the fairly undisputed king of TVs. Their Trinitron picture tube

Roller Coaster Safety: How to Manage Too Many Trains at Once

Roller coasters are pretty neat, I must say. But they rely on passive vehicles holding fragile humans while zooming aro

Laserdisc: An Introduction

Laserdisc seems to get a lot of retro cred these days. It gets featured as a technical oddity, but from today’s persp

Thrift Store Hi-Fi: Some tips and tricks

These days, it seems everyone wants the latest and greatest equipment for the audio needs. But there's a lot of fantast

Laserdisc's Failure: What Went Wrong

Laserdisc didn't have an easy start. In this video, we take a look at the first few years of Laserdisc's existence. Th

Chevy Bolt EV: Winter Range and Performance (Chicago winter)

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

Laserdisc: Features, Follies, & Evolution

While Laserdisc certainly wasn’t the most successful format, it was among the most interesting. This video explores t

Faking It: The Obviously Dubbed Telephone Ring

If you lived in North America any time in the 20th century, you probably ran across one of these telephones. The Wester

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

Have you ever needed to light your fish tank with Chinese LEDs? No? Well, here's how. I'm sure the information will b

DVD: The Death Knell of Laserdisc

Well, it had a good run. Although Laserdisc could never really get off the ground, it had a reasonable showing in the h

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

The original PlayStation is a pretty neat thing. Using the CD as a storage medium was a smart move. But, Sony needed t

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

Sometimes, a company in Japan decides they're gonna give it all they got, and the result is a wacky machine like this.

These Are Not Pixels: Revisited

When I first made a video on analog color television, the thumbnail I created (and its explanation) caused nearly endles

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

In this very chill and laid back video, we take a look at the Smith Corona PWP-3200, a word processing typewriter from t

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

Around the mid-2000’s, the LED traffic light began making its way onto the scene. Recent developments in LED technolo

Macrovision: The Copy Protection in VHS

Did you ever try to copy one VHS tape to another and find that it just, well, didn’t work? Macrovision was the clever

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

1080i in 1994. Wow. Really, perhaps as early as 1993, but it seems the first player was released in 1994. Anyway, wha

Chevy Bolt EV Summer Range Test

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

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

Ever wonder why street lights are orange? For such a fast-paced world technology-wise, it seems somewhat odd that we ar

The LED's Challenge to High Pressure Sodium

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

Is this haunted room actually stretching? The answer may surprise you! (barf) The stretching rooms at the Haunted Man

The Most Common EV Charging Misconception

We need to talk about private home charging more than we do. 99% of our charging infrastructure already exists, and thi

Betamovie: Sony's Terrible (But Ingenious) Camcorder

Oh man, did this not go well for Sony. Sometimes clever engineering can really backfire, as was the case for Betamovie.

The Senseless Ambiguity of North American Turn Signals

There are studies linked below that demonstrate a tangible safety benefit of amber turn signals. You might want to chec

Sound By Numbers: The Rise of Digital Sound

These days, listening to music on the analog formats of old has seen a massive resurgence. Whether it’s cassettes or

Nyquist-Shannon; The Backbone of Digital Sound

Let’s talk a bit more about digital sound. Thanks to a mathematical theorem, we know that a bandlimited signal can pe

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

These devices are a common sight in homes and businesses around the US and around the world. But what are they for? Wh

The Compact Disc: An Introduction

The Compact Disc. Just, like, radical man. Lasers making the music? What will the technology wizards think of next?

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

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 ha

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

If you’re among the 85%* of people who don’t know what an LED printer is, then prepare to have your mind mildly blow

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

This video is a supplement to the latest "real" video from this channel. There was a lot of interesting stuff here that

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

Well, it’s time to answer that question that’s been burning in your minds. There’s lots of good stuff down here,

TC Projects: Lead-Acid Battery Backup

Sometimes life throws curveballs. But rather than just get hit in the face, why not do something about them? This video

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

The time has come. What was once just a replacement for big black frisbees of sprially wavey soundy sounds has matured i

The Ubiquitous Sound That You May Have Never Noticed

Ya know, I just love learning about the everyday things in our world that are meant to make life a little more accessibl

LightScribe: HP's Clever Twist on the CD Burner

I remember when LightScribe was first marketed, and let me tell you I thought it was *the* *coolest* *thing* to ever hap

LED Experiments: Making Holiday Lights Less Garish

How could I forget about the hmm-hmm light experiments? And/or; holy hard drives it’s already Decemberween? My how the

Closed Captioning: More Ingenious than You Know

Over the years I’ve found that there are plenty of people who use captions, not just those who need them. But did you

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

The superheterodyne receiver may seem like a radio with a silly name, but in fact it’s a completely logical name that

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

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 whic

The Odd History of the SD Logo

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

The Time-Lapse VCR

Analog video and frame-by-frame review don’t usually go nicely together (unless of course you’ve got a CAV Laserdisc

Space Heater Nonsense

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

The Story of Disney's PeopleMover in Texas

This is the fun, weird, and surprisingly complicated story of Disney’s PeopleMover attraction and how it ended up some

The Electromagnet in Your Toaster

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

Exploring the World of E-Ink

It’s ink. But better!

E-Ink on Android, and other new things!

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

The Antique Toaster that's Better than Yours

That title isn’t hyperbole or clickbait nonsense. This really is better than your toaster. At least, I think so. Serio

Flexplay: The Disposable DVD that Failed (Thankfully)

Have you ever run across a cool idea that you desperately hope doesn’t catch on? Flexplay is one of those. In this vid

Thermostats: Cooler than you think!

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

Automatic Record Changers: We used to like them

Hmm. What were these things? Why were some record sets made to work with them? When did we decide we hated them? Was tha

Portable Air Conditioners - Why you shouldn't like them

Oh no. It’s a new version of a well-established product that trades efficiency for convenience. But this time, it’s

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

After much annoyance dealing with fiddly capturing methods, I thought I’d show you the method I stumbled upon that wor

TOSLINK: That one consumer fiber optic standard

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

Fiber vs. Copper; What do we really need?

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

Switches are Clicky; Here's Why

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

The Weird World in RGB

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

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

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

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

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 exp

LCCS: The LCD / CRT Hybrid from JVC

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

The VFD that isn't

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

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

The VHS cassette was more clever than Beta

“Oh nooo! Betah!” In this video, we discuss the endlessly discussed rivalry betwixt the Victorious VHS and the Bent

LED color experiments 2019; Beyond the Sharpie

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

Klaxons; What makes them sound like that?

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

One more thing: the VHS notch

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

Film: the reason some of the past was in HD

♫ last Christmas, I shot it on film ♫ ♫ but the very next year, I switched it to tape ♫ ♫ this year, to save

Holograms, Lasers & Boredom; the CED's march towards eventual invention (CED Part 4)

Alright, here it comes! The fourth part.

Old-fashioned rice cookers are extremely clever

Bet you didn't think a rice cooker was so interesting, did ya?

Race to the finish; RCA's final gamble (CED Part 5)

The end is near. The death knell approaches. What will become of RCA’s invention? And is this really the end? Would yo

Brown; color is weird

This video discusses the color brown. Seriously.

Teleprompters are clever, simple, and also pretty neat

Yep. Teleprompters. That's what this video's about.

The Computer-free Automation of a Jukebox (Electromechanics)

Ever wonder how we made all these crazy machines do all their crazy machine things before computers came along? Wonder n

The Selection Accumulator; a Jukebox's Brain

Today, we take a look at the selection accumulator; how it works, what it does, and how that relates to the rest of the

Chest Freezers; What they tell us about designing for X

This video is super cool. We're talking about refrigeration, and how the design of a refrigerator affects its energy con

Coffee Percolators: An Explanation and Roast

Do you like your coffee to have a little kick? Then try a percolator! It's like tasting a shoe! Seriously. Why are thes

DVD+R and DVD-R; What was that about?

We're really looking at the plusses and minuses of this whole ordeal...

Fans; High is next to Off on purpose

This video is absolutely fantastic. Ever wonder why it goes Off-High-Medium-Low? Well, it has to do with motors and the

Pulse Oximeters; An Amazing Use of Light

You might have been seeing a lot about these little devices lately. Have you ever wondered how they work? Well, let's fi

How to design an actually good toaster with lessons from the 1940's

I love this toaster so dang much.

The US electrical system is not 120V

It's more than 120V. It's even more than the other 120V! It is the sum of the two (and sometimes a different two!) that

Laptop Docks! They're pretty neat!

I know, my use of a laptop (and worse, that I like it!) makes me a truly terrible person.

Cassette adapters are remarkably simple

It's a real lost opportunity that we didn't call these Cassettepters. It's not-at-all difficult to say! OK, maybe Cassep

Personal "air conditioners" aren't what they seem

You know, it's one thing when a product has a limited scope and application. It's another when it's passed off as someth

The Impact Sprinkler - more clever than it seems!

It's that time again! Time to take a deep dive into the mundane to see what we can learn. Join me as we look at this spr

A record player that can play CDs: The Fisher DAC-145

Well now, what do we have here? It's a CD player... but also a turntable? Hmm... very interesting. But why? How? And is

Retroreflectors; they're everywhere, and they cheat physics (sort of)

Road signage and other markings may be something you take for granted, but have you ever wondered how they can appear so

The touch lamp; a neat idea, and older than you'd think!

I think we really oughta make this fashionable again, don't you?

Electric car chargers aren't chargers at all – EVSE Explained

Catchy title! But it's mostly true! There's a pinned comment you might want to read, as well. But there's some links dow

Forced-air Furnaces: The What, Why, and How

Let's not get too heated, this is after an inflammable subject. Frankly it's exhausting, but we gotta do it. We gotta ex

Camera Tech from 1971: Match-needle exposure meter

Ever wonder how pro cameras from the 1970's worked? Learn about their single most important tool for the photographer (a

The Antique Microwave Oven that's Better than Yours

Seriously. How is this so old and yet so advanced?

What exactly is the goop inside a lava lamp?

Yep! Gonna get questionably gloopy!

Bubble Lights: The Weirdest Christmas Light?

Yes indeed, these are silly! Very silly! But, mesmerizing.

Detergent packs are kinda wishy-washy (Dishwashers Explained)

Ever wonder how dishwashers work? Are you ever bummed by the performance of yours? Well, this video can answer your ques

The clever feature that makes cheap heaters safe — and why they're actually dangerous

Algorithms are breaking how we think

Power is not energy: why the difference matters

Dehumidifiers are confusing. Here's why.

Closed captions on DVDs are getting left behind

The "standard" car charger is usually overkill—but your electrician might not know that

Induction lamps: fluorescent lighting's final form

VHS-C: when a lazy idea stumbles towards perfection

Desiccant dehumidifiers are fascinating... but not for everyone

Catalytic converters are simple, but getting them to work is not

Video projectors used to be ridiculously cool

I was right about dishwasher pods, and now I can prove it

This cassette player is built into an 8-track cartridge

My car charger can boil water really fast

It's the Christmas light video again - 2025 edition

I made my whole-home humidifier slightly less terrifying

You are being misled about renewable energy technology.

Let's learn and grow. New things are cool!

Oil pressure is the only thing keeping an engine alive

What really grinds my gears is a lack of sufficient lubrication.

The disappearing and unappreciated art of audible alerts

A proverbial one, anyway.

Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars

It's a really good idea and everyone hating on it probably doesn't understand it.