Hey 3.5 readers.
New trailer out for Star Wars: Rogue One.
We learn a bit more, namely, that the heroine’s father is somehow the inventor or some kind of major player in developing the Death Star.
We see a little more of Darth Vader and all in all it is some kind of Star Wars espionage spy thriller movie.
It does look like more effort was put into the plot than past films.
What say you, 3.5 readers?
Hey 3.5 readers.
Happy Saturday.
So there’s been some talk on the ole inter webs this week that “YouTube is Over.”
Specifically, YouTube has set down some rules that affect the “monetization” of YouTube videos, or in other words, cut into the dough that popular YouTubers make via their YouTubery.
Honestly, I have a face for podcasting and a voice for blogging, so YouTubing is something I don’t forsee myself ever getting into. Ergo, I’m not sure how it all works vis a vis the money but I assume YouTubers get a cut of the money their videos make when ads are shown before their videos.)
Admittedly, I could be explaining that all wrong. If you know more, fill me in.
At any rate, YouTube has laid down some new rules that YouTubers must follow in order for their videos to be considered “advertiser friendly” and therefore be deemed worthy of monetization i.e. profit for the YouTuber.
YouTuber Phillip DeFranco posted an extensive video about the situation:
The new rules are thus:
So, as I look above, my gut reaction is “OK, these situations could be problematic…but…what about context?”
So here’s the thing. Sex, violence, bad language and drugs. I get it. These are issues advertisers don’t want to be associated with.
But I could see how there could be a context issue that makes people worry…i.e. YouTubers may be concerned that they might be left in limbo if their videos discuss these issues without necessarily stating that these activities are cool or good or whatever.
And a further concern raised in the Twittosphere has been will there might be selective enforcement. (i.e. if the average schmuck YouTuber isn’t getting any money for his video that mentions sex and drugs then fairness dictates that popular music videos that mention sex and drugs also not get monetized).
But ok. Devil’s advocate. Advertisers of toothpaste, cars, candy, whatever don’t want to be associated with your YouTube video if these rules aren’t followed. OK. No more sex, drugs, violence and bad language in my YouTube videos and problem solved, right?
Well, check out the last rule. While the other ones seem to have an issue with context:
“Controversial or sensitive subjects and events including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is shown.”
Um…it could just be me but this sounds a lot like, “if you post videos about the news, no ka-ching for you!”
And naturally, many political video bloggers or v-loggers are suggesting just that – that this may be a way to crack down on certain political ideas, speech, thoughts, etc.
My two cents – if networks can sell ads during the nightly news, then surely video bloggers who discuss the news, politics, etc should be able to get a few bucks.
Honestly 3.5 readers, I know nothing about any of this and am just regurgitating what I’ve read in the Twitosphere so I could be wrong. Assume I am wrong. Don’t think badly of YouTube or YouTubers based on this post but rather, go do your own research.
I assume this will be a situation that no one will know the impact of until it happens and YouTubers report to the public on whether or not they see a decline in cash flow but at any rate if you’re an indie content producer of any kind, whether it be blogging, social media, video posting or whatever, not putting all your eggs in one basket is key.
Branch out lest new rules come down the pike and blindside you.
If you know more about this and can set me straight or better yet if you’re a YouTuber who knows the 411, discuss in the comments.
Hey 3.5 readers.
I don’t think this guy has a lot of heat on him yet compared to the other YouTubers I’ve been talking about, but he deserves some.
Very short videos that deliver maximum funny punch for the masses with short attention spans, perfect for tweeting out, sharing on Facebook or what have you.
For example, “When You Look Up Your Symptoms Online.”
Yup. I’ve been known to suffer a mild affliction only to look it up online and become convinced I have Ebola too. Good one, QPark.
But what if someone invades your personal space?
Or worse, what if a dude completely violates years of firmly established dude law and uses the urinal directly next to you when there are many other urinals available?
Or how about when someone asks you how your diet is going and you lie and tell them its going great even when you’ve been shoving all kinds of junk food down your pie hole?
It took me a second to figure out what he was doing with the powder and the credit card until I finally realized he was snorting Kool Aid mix as if it were cocaine. Sigh. We’ve all chased that fruity flavored dragon before, haven’t we 3.5 readers?
Plus, the juxtaposition of the song from 2000’s Requiem for a Dream (a Darren Aronofsky directed film about drug addiction) with a scene of QPark injecting himself with chocolate sauce tells me this guy knows his pop culture.
Finally, out of all of QPark’s vids, this last one is the one that left me in tears.
Have you ever pooped in a public toilet, had the water splash your butt, and then have that little alarm go off in your head where you start to worry about all the germs that just touched your butt?
I have. I can’t say that I’ve ever asked a friend to put on goggles and go at my butt with a blowtorch, but public toilet water splashes are still a concern that the media never talks about.
Thanks for raising awareness, QPark.
Keep an eye on this dude, 3.5 readers. He’s going places.
I have to say, since I started this blog in 2014, it has been one of few activities I have participated in where the more I work at it, the more I get out of it.
Every week I get more followers. Those followers stack up over time. I still don’t get as many views and/or visitors as I’d like, though those figures have increased each year though, leaving me hopeful that they’ll actually reach a high point.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
I don’t recall when I first heard of the term “blogging.”
Had to have been somewhere in the mid-2000s.
It just seemed dumb.
I figured that publications that had a large print following would essentially use their money to take over online.
And to an extent they did but I never realized what opportunities there were for writers to go it alone.
Ergo, I often wonder had I got into blogging say, a decade ago, perhaps I’d have 300,500 readers instead of 3.5 readers.
Oh well. “If I could turn back time” as Cher has been known to sing in her leather underpants.
Honestly though, and there are more seasoned experts who can correct me but, I’m not sure any of this really became that viable until social media came about, allowing bloggers to post links to their blogs using hashtags of subjects they are interested in or that their posts pertain to.
I hate to admit it because unfortunately I’m one of those people who feels the need to view myself as having the biggest brain in the room, but I never really imagined that social media was going to turn into anything important when it came out.
“Huh” I thought when I first got onto Facebook. A site that lets everyone discuss their thoughts…and everyone I know has very dumb thoughts…and they all insist on sharing them 24/7.
“I picked my nose!” #nosecandy
“I ate a tuna fish sandwich for lunch!” #straightuptunason
“My political views are ultimately superior to yours, moron!” #politickinglikeamofo
Long story short, I didn’t get into any of this until 2014.
Would that I could take Doc’s DeLorean to say, I dunno, 2006? That’s the year Twitter started. And when YouTube started I believe. Had I been up to this for ten years I like to think I’d actually be somewhere that involves getting paid for blogging but…oh well, then again, I don’t like to think about things I can’t change.
Don’t even get me started on YouTube. Being able to buy everything you need to start your own web show at Best Buy?
Sorry, I dated myself. Being able to buy everything you need to start your own web show on Amazon?
(You whippersnappers still use Amazon, right? )
In summation, budding young artists, creatives, writers, actors, comedians, singers, musicians or what have you literally have no idea, no idea whatsoever how lucky they have it to have all this technology at their fingertips.
Build your audience, 3.5 readers. Because when I was your age, if you wanted to make it in a creative field, you had to walk twenty miles up a hill just to kiss the ass of the guy who knows the guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy whose cousin’s sister’s uncle’s cousin’s neighbor’s boyfriend’s cat trainer’s donkey pharmacist might, just might know a guy who could introduce you to the guy whose ass you need to kiss just to get an interview with the guy who might be able to help you get your foot in the door.
That’s a whole lot of ass kissing. A proud man like me just isn’t down for it.
Enjoy the new world, 3.5. There’s never been a better time to be a creative person.
Except for maybe the Renaissance. If you lived in Europe you were able to paint pictures of chubby chicks…but even then only 3.5 people ever saw those paintings.
Whoa. I’ve come full circle.
This is one of those web shows where I’m surprised that it works, but it really does.
Epic Rap Battles of History combines rap, humor, and as the title suggests, history.
Its the history part that is surprising. The viewer actually learns something as historical figures pick up the mic and diss each other via rap battles.
Some interesting standoffs:
Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson
J.R.R. Tolkien vs. George R.R. Martin
Zeus vs. Thor…
…just to name a few.
Oh, and contemporaries stop by – Ellen vs. Oprah in a battle of daytime talk show hosts.
I tip my hat to Nice Peter and epicLLOYD, the dudes behind the channel. This is an idea that takes a special kind of talented to enjoy.
Speaking of, enjoy this rap battle between Eastern and Western Philosophers:
I’ll admit it, 3.5 readers.
I have a bias against good looking people.
What can I say? I am a proponent of #OscarsSoPretty after all.
Soooo…I realize that’s my bias. And I’m working on it.
But in general, whenever I see a pretty woman, I assume she isn’t funny.
Humor comes from the dark recesses of the soul, pain turned into laughter and really, or to put it more succinctly, funny people develop their sense of humor to compensate for their lack of looks.
But my bias does not always ring true. Jenna Marbles, for example, is a hot YouTube chick who is also very funny.
As a male nerd, I can’t really relate to most of her problems – i.e. best ways to put on makeup and dating dudes and so on, but…
…I do think her “Bounce that Dick” rap video is pretty hilarious.
You can watch it here…but don’t watch it at work…or at church…or around mixed company…or anywhere not by yourself, unless you’re around people who find dick rap videos funny:
I get the joke.
So many rap videos feature a rapper who demands that women shake and/or bounce their asses.
Jenna turns the rap game on its ear by demanding that dudes shake their dicks.
Funny, in theory.
In reality, men and women are very different.
Ask a woman to shake her ass and she’ll slap you.
Ask a man to shake his dick and not only will he be very happy that you asked him but you literally won’t be able to stop him from shaking it ever again.
I don’t care who the man is. Football player. Scientist. Astronaut. Whoever…once given the go ahead, that dude will shake it until the end of time.
At any rate, Jenna is a good example of someone who just started out with a YouTube channel and a low budget and ended up doing some great, funny things.
Thus, she is one of BQB’s Favorite YouTubers.
In case you haven’t seen it, random lady Candace Payne now dubbed “Chewbacca Mom” made a video of herself trying on her brand new Chewbacca mask and laughed so uncontrollably that it became an instant viral video sensation:
Come on. That mask is cool. It is a marvel of modern engineering that we have masks now that can make you sound like Chewbacca.
I watched this video and my naturally skeptic self wondered, “Hmm. Is she really that happy? Did she really find this that funny? Was all that laughing just to up the video’s silliness factor?”
No. Not at all. Clearly she really is that happy and I now envy her as I’m one of those people who can’t find that much joy in the smallest of things.
And she even ended up on the Late Late Show with James Corden and met JJ Abrams:
So here’s to you, Chewbacca Mom.
Your nerdyness inspires us all, and that’s saying a lot, seeing as how this is a blog run by a nerd for 3.5 readers.
Hey 3.5 Readers.
I wish I had the time to read the Game of Thrones books. There’s a lot of back story that explains why the characters do what they do on the show.
For me, the next best thing was Comicbookgirl19’s Game of Thrones’ Epic History Vidoes on YouTube.
She goes through all the pre-show history for the various houses. Here’s one for House Lannister, for example:
Check it out. I’d say you want to be caught up at least on the first couple of season on the show in the case of spoilers, but she really goes into the nitty gritty of how everyone got to be where they are. Helped me to understand the show a lot better.
Also, she’s a funny nerd with pink hair.
Bookshelf Battle 