fub | Recent favourites from our YouTube history

We tend to watch some videos on YouTube late at night, as a way to “wind down” at the end of the day. I select videos from the many channels we are subscribed to, and we get a bit of an eclectic mix in a single viewing. Here are some videos I would recommend that we have seen recently:

Process X – the making of a fountain pen. Process X goes into Japanese factories and shows the process through which they produce their wares, with focus on the specialised equipment used. This video shows how a fountain pen is made, and the expertise that is needed for it. Lovely insight in how those things are made. Don’t forget to turn on the subtitles!

Answer in Progress – the entire history of the youtube algorithm, i guess. Answer in Progress is a trio who ask themselves interesting questions and show how they find the answers they seek. This video is about the YouTube algorithm — everybody is always talking about “the algorithm”, but how does it work? It is a really thoughtful and thorough view on how YouTube used to be (I remember all of these!), but also gives a good idea of how neural networks are trained and recommender systems in particular, through a really amusing game show analogy. I thought I knew most of this stuff, but I learned something new as well.

Strange Parts – Why These Old Japanese Vending Machines Are Genius. We don’t subscribe to this channel, but I think it was recommended to us because it’s set in Japan and talks about food. We have seen this spot a few times before, where it was mostly people filming their experience buying the food from the vending machines and eating it. This is the first time a mechanics nerd visits, and it seemed to resonate with the owner because we get a look into some of these old, old vending machines. I would have never thought of putting a consumer-grade microwave machine inside a vending machine, but apparently that’s what they did some decades ago!

Process X – a Japanese factory that uses a 40 year old computer to design clothing. Weaving is an interest of Klik, and I appreciate the mechanics of it — looms were the first machines to be programmed! What struck me is that the punching machine to make the cards is a lot older than 40 years, and it used to be hand-operated. Then someone mechanised it by hooking it up to a computer, and now that setup itself is old! As with every Process X video: don’t forget to turn on the subtitles!

The Verge – Lisa: Steve Jobs’ sabotage and Apple’s secret burial. Steve Jobs was a horrible manager and not a good product manager. And the history of the Lisa shows that. Also a really interesting look back at a time when there was no computer monoculture, and people built and used whatever got the job done for them.

Itsuka Japan – Kintetsu Ikoma Cable Cars. A 100 year old theme park on top of a mountain in Japan… One of the few ‘retro’ theme parks that still survive. Also one of the few ways that the depopulating countryside can attract visitors to keep jobs going — the whole countryside is turning into a theme park for weekend visitors from the big cities. Turn on subtitles!

British Museum – Dave Bull Carves Hokusai’s Picture Book of Everything. An American is keeping the art of Japanese woodblock printing alive with his studio. (We own one of his prints, when he did a series for Ukiyo-e Heroes: https://shop.ukiyoeheroes.com/products/the-hero-rests-woodblock-print .) When an unpublished book of drawings by ukiyo-e grandmaster illustrator Hokusai was discovered, it made a big stir — and now David Bull is making woodblocks from these drawings! (Also, I love his voice when he explains the process.)

Crossposted from my blog. Comment here or at the original post.