Friends and viewers have asked me to check out Unraid, a home server operating system, for quite awhile now, and in my latest video we take it out for a spin!
Unraid allows users to flexibly combine different types and sizes of storage drives into a single system while protecting data with a parity drive, making it resilient to drive failures. Unraid supports Docker containers and virtual machines, enabling users to host applications, media servers, and other services on their system. It runs on just about any x64 based system like the Healuck NAS I reviewed a few weeks ago. After spending a few hours with Unraid, I’m beginning to appreciate its flexibility.
Setting up Unraid requires a reliable USB drive to serve as the boot device, as the external drive is primary boot drive and will also store your configuration. While this might feel like an unusual approach, it offers a form of physical failover—if your computer hardware dies, you can simply transfer your hard drives to another PC and boot from the USB to get yourself back up and running.
Unraid operates differently than a traditional RAID array. Instead of mirroring data across multiple drives, it uses a parity drive to protect against data loss. I found it relatively simple to configure; the array allows you to add drives (and capacity) gradually without the need to rebuild everything from scratch each time. As long as your parity drive is as large or larger than your largest data drive, you’re covered for potential drive failures.
Like other network attached storage solutions, the system also provides the option to create shares that can be accessed over a network. These shares can be configured with the usual security settings, such as read-only access for guests or hidden shares for more privacy. If you want to speed up access, Unraid supports setting up a cache drive to handle faster writes before moving the data to slower protected volumes.
For those looking to run self-hosted applications, Unraid’s support for Docker containers along with their “Community Applications” plugin make it a very easy solution for deploying docker-based server apps.
During my testing, I installed FreshRSS, an open-source RSS reader, and had it up and running quickly. Unraid’s ability to update Docker containers with a single click was a pleasant surprise, saving me the hassle of manual updates.
While my experience with Unraid is still in its early stages, it’s already clear how powerful and versatile the platform can be, especially for self-hosted solutions. There’s much more to explore, including using Unraid for media servers like Plex, which I plan to dive into soon. This first impression, though, leaves me optimistic that Unraid might become a staple in my home server setup.
Disclosure : The Healuck NAS was provided to the channel free of charge but they did not review or approve this content before it was uploaded.
Plex just released a beta version of its standalone Photos app, which is a notable shift in how they plan to organize media on their platform. Previously, photos were accessible through the main Plex app alongside other media types like movies, TV shows, and music. You can see it in action in my latest video.
Now, Plex is pushing toward a new strategy where music and now photos has its own dedicated app. This approach mirrors their earlier release of Plexamp for music. Eventually both music and photos will be removed from the mainline Plex app.
The app is still in its early stages, but users can already download it on iOS or Android and connect it to their existing photo library on a Plex Media Server. Upon setup, the app brings up a minimalistic interface that offers basic features like viewing recently added photos, favoriting images, and accessing media from specific time periods. Videos can also be integrated into the photo library, making it easier to access all media types stored in the same place.
One key aspect of this app is the file structure on the server. The user can set up folders and subfolders that reflect directly within the app. Each folder in the file system shows up as an album with the ability to nest folders underneath. There’s also some options to filter images based on exif data stored in the image.
The app currently lacks an upload feature, so users can’t yet add new photos directly from their mobile devices, nor can they modify photo metadata, such as dates. However, they can add photos to their favorites list, which syncs back to the server.
The community’s feedback is actively being sought through this forum post that is being monitored by Plex developers.
It’s clear this initial release is more of a groundwork for future development, and Plex is positioning itself to make ongoing improvements. They’re also discussing adding an API layer to the Plex Media Server, which would allow external developers to create client applications for specific media types like audiobooks, offering more specialized experiences without needing the official app to support everything directly. You can read more about that here.
Disclosure: This is post was a paid sponsorship from Plex, but they did not review or approve this post or my video before it was uploaded.
After reviewing the latest update on the ZapperBox, an over the air TV tuning device, it’s clear that there have been significant improvements in its functionality. This includes the ability to record and play back DRM encrypted ATSC 3.0 channels. You can check out the changes in my latest video.
The ZapperBox, which retails for $275 for the dual tuner unit, requires a $30 annual subscription for a channel guide that’s essential for its DVR capabilities.
The biggest change is the addition of the DVR functionality – which makes full use of the dual tuners built into the Zapperbox. Unfortunately playing live or recorded ATSC 3.0 encrypted content requires an internet connection for accessing encrypted channels. This seems counterintuitive especially as the TV signals themselves are delivered via an over the air antenna.
DVR recording includes a requirement for a minimum of a 128 GB SD card or USB hard drive to utilize the DVR functionality. Viewers can pause live TV, record, and access previously recorded content with relative ease, though the system does experience delays in playback due to encryption checks.
Recording setup is user-friendly, allowing for both scheduled and manual recordings. The ZapperBox supports simultaneous recording of two shows, or watching one live while the other records. Additionally content can be played back while both tuners are recording. An intriguing upcoming feature is the ability for multiple ZapperBoxes to recognize each other on a network, enabling combined recording capabilities across devices.
Despite its advancements, the ZapperBox still faces limitations, especially in distributing content across different devices in a household. This issue stems largely from ATSC 3.0 content protection restrictions rather than technological shortcomings. Upcoming updates promise to address some existing bugs and introduce new features, such as the ability to view encrypted content offline and enhancements to the multi-room DVR functionality.
ZapperBox has a detailed feature roadmap on their website and are to be commended for being transparent and largely meeting their development goals on time.
Nevertheless, the product’s feature set and development are hindered by the ATSC 3.0 content protection. None of the features on the roadmap are all that innovative – in fact ATSC 1.0 gateway devices have been able to do them for over a decade. We need to keep the pressure on the FCC to deny broadcasters the ability to encrypt their signals.
Android gaming devices are getting the attention of major manufacturers again. We recently looked at the Logitech G which I liked quite a bit. It wasn’t very powerful but it was powerful enough for a good amount of retro emulation, casual Android gaming, and game streaming.
In my latest video we look at another Android gaming handheld from Razer called the Edge. It’s more expensive than the Logitech G but also more powerful. Unlike the G the Edge’s controller detaches from the small tablet portion. Razer picked their existing controller, the Kishi V2, as opposed to building something new for this platform. The Kishi is available for smartphones too.
The Edge incorporates a Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 processor – a definite step up from the Logitech G and many other Android tablets for that matter. Razer is actively cooling the chip with a fan to keep its performance consistent. All of this would be great if there was a better game library on the Google Play store. But its emulation performance is outstanding, running PS2 and Gamecube emulation in my testing flawlessly.
They also went with a great display, a 2000×1080 AMOLED running at 144hz. Few games will push the limits of what this display has to offer but it does have some potential with the GEForce Now streaming service which supports 120hz framerates. The display is super wide though – so most games you’ll be streaming will have large black bars on the left and right hand side. It’s even more pronounced when playing a 4:3 retro game.
So while the specs are decent I couldn’t help but thinking what the purpose is here. Razer markets this as the ultimate gaming handheld but doesn’t suggest any games that would take advantage of its hardware. And it sells for the same price as the entry level Steam Deck which is considerably more powerful and has an extensive library of AAA PC games.
If it cost less it might have some appeal. But I’d have a hard time recommending somebody drop $399 on this vs. a Steam Deck or Switch.
Because I’m generally attending these trips by myself I have to optimize my workflow and the gear I take in order to quickly turn around my content. The bag the stuff goes in has been the same since I started these trips in 2015 but the gear is always changing!
In my latest video I take you “inside the bag” to show you all of the tech that I use for my dispatch reports. This includes cameras, audio gear, my laptop and more. Check it out!
I was livestreaming this on Amazon while I recorded it. If you’d like to see how the proverbial sausage gets made you can watch that here!
Last week I attended the Pepcom holiday preview event in NYC. I really look forward to these events as there are usually several dozen tech companies exhibiting in one room which is a great opportunity for networking but also dispatch videos!
This show had 48 exhibitors with a nice mix of established brands and startups. We saw the new Roku branded Wyze smart home products, the new Lenovo gaming Chromebook, a smart watch that has no display (or hands) and a whole bunch of other tech gear.
The next big event like this will be at CES in Las Vegas where there are several hundred companies in a huge ballroom. Our flights and hotel are booked so look for that in early January!
I’m back from a crazy travel period (for now) and getting back to a more normal routine. That means it’s also back to the usual cadence of Weekly Wrapup channel update and topic videos! Check out my latest one here.
This week in addition to talking about an upcoming giveaway and other housekeeping items I did a brief analysis on the potential for YouTube to require a premium subscription for 4k videos.
This topic originated from a Reddit post where a user encountered an “upgrade to premium” next to the 4k resolution option on his smartphone:
It’s likely this is one of Youtube’s “experiments” where they select a small sample of users and see how they react to a particular option or feature. My guess is that they’re looking to see how many people who get this message upgrade to Premium to determine whether or not this is a direction they should pursue.
I polled my subscribers to see what resolution they watch at, only about a quarter lock their YouTube clients in at 4k. Most opt for the automatic setting or select 1080p. So this likely won’t impact a vast majority users:
Unfortunately YouTube doesn’t include resolution in their analytics so it’s hard to say exactly what my viewership looks like. What I do know is that switching from a 1080p to 4k production workflow did not result in any change to my viewership one way or the other.
With the economy slowing down YouTube will no doubt be looking for new ways to find new sources of steady revenue. They’ll likely be experimenting with a lot of new features/restrictions centered around their subscription-based Premium tier over the next couple of months.
Personally I think YouTube Premium is a great value for users and creators. YouTube just works better without ads (it feels so much faster) and you also get access to the great YouTube Music app with its huge library of music. And YouTube shares a good portion of the subscription revenue their receive with creators.
What surprises me is that YouTube has never put together an affiliate marketing program for YouTube influencers to promote Premium subscriptions. It seems like a no brainer that a platform full of influencers would have something to promote subscriber growth.
Perhaps YouTube makes more on the advertising side of the business and did not want to heavily promote a product that could reduce those revenues. But now that advertising revenue is expected to drop off, perhaps that calculus is changing….
Here’s a great video from John Rettinger on how he was blacklisted from Apple PR when he reported his experiences from one of their products. Apple was unhappy and called him up to lambast him and demand the video be taken down. After that he was never invited to another event again.
This was a topic was something I covered last year in one of my Weekly Wrapup videos in regards to the practice of “early access journalism” where companies hold the prospect of access to early products and information over the heads of outlets reporting on that information. Piss them off and you lose that access.
It also looks like there’s some tiering to the pecking order too – Rettinger was invited to Apple events but hadn’t yet made it to the upper tier where he’d actually get early loaner product as some YouTubers and journalists do.
This is exactly how Apple picks winners and losers. Those they hand pick get early devices and lots of traffic and revenue as a result. And because these reviews are early and devoured by millions of people they tend to be the first video YouTube and other algorithms recommend for future viewers looking for review videos. Rettinger also insinuates that Apple controls some of the narrative of these early reviews and restricts what can and can’t be covered.
There’s tremendous value in having a phone review packaged up and ready to go two weeks before anyone can buy one. Losing that access costs outlets real money as it likely equals millions of eyeballs. Few outlets disclose that Apple gave them this early access. It makes you wonder how many of them coordinate their content with Apple to prevent getting blacklisted like Rettinger did.
Tonight is one of those nights when I saved a video in post. I explained a feature incorrectly which I noticed when I started editing. I did a new VO and then stitched things together pretty nicely if I do say so myself.
I could have saved myself a lot of work if I used a jump cut but I had a professor in college who failed people for jump cuts. Can’t do it.
Plex updated their logo today! Looks a bit more rounded than the old one. You can read about the change here. Plex is currently hiring with over 20 positions available in a bunch of different departments. They are a fully remote company. See the openings here and see all of my Plex content here. We’re up to 89 videos! Disclosure: Plex is a sponsor on the channel.
So lots of people ask why I’m now making these super long disclosures on the videos I make. The reason can be best summed up by watching this video:
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The tl:dr is that I feel as though influencer marketing is broken. Too many reviewers on YouTube are not disclosing the fact that their videos were sometimes bought and paid for by ad agencies or brands. It’s ok to take advertising and endorse a product, but it’s not ok to hide the fact that compensation and/or free product was sent in exchange for the review. In the interest of making things more concise I have created this FAQ to better answer exactly what I’m going to do moving forward.
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Why do you take so long to disclose things?
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US law requires that I make these disclosures in the video itself, not the video description or anywhere else. If your favorite YouTuber is not making disclosures in their videos they should be.
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I’m a subscriber and I’m tired of your disclaimers, can you stop or just run a ticker on screen?
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No I can’t. I need to properly disclose things to be in compliance with the law. 85–90{9b3f03aa8663be41a10744a8d211f0911dd01c348dbc078d652ec54ea3f13c6a} of my monthly viewership does not come from subscribers so it’s important for people who have never seen one of my videos to know where I’m coming from and hear from me directly on it. Given how bad things have become in the industry I think an on-air read is more important to do vs. just running disclaimer text on screen. Other YouTubers should be doing the same.
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Do you pay for everything you review on the channel?
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While I purchase many of the products you see reviewed, some come in directly from brands or indirectly from a brand through the Amazon Vine program (see more on that below). My preference when accepting products from a brand is to have the product come in as a loaner that I can send back to the company when I am done with my review. Often, however, a company doesn’t want the product back. In those instances I will either integrate the product into my workflow on the channel, sell the product to help offset my production expenses, host a giveaway for viewers, or donate it to a local school. It will vary based on the item. When a company doesn’t want a product back I will tell you that in the video disclaimer.
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Do you ever get products in to review ahead of their official release date?
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Occasionally I do, yes. And when I review a product ahead of its release I will tell you that the company reached out to me to review it ahead of its official release. This is important to disclose because there are sometimes economic advantages to the channel when we’re given an opportunity to review a product early.
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Are you paid for reviews?
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No, I will not take money for a review. But I do produce sponsored posts for brands from time to time and I may appear on a brand’s channel or website talking about products I feel comfortable endorsing.
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Tell me more about sponsored content!
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I will disclose what posts are sponsored in the video itself and in its description. My YouTube thumbnail will also be dark green to separate it out from the yellow thumbnails that indicate the video is a review. Sponsorships usually involve a brand or agency paying and/or sending me product free of charge for the production of the video. You can see an example of a sponsored post here.
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What is your criteria for accepting sponsorships?
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It must be a product I feel comfortable recommending to others. If I am not comfortable with a product or think it stinks I won’t take their money. I’ve turned down many of these offers in the past and will continue to do so.
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If you get something for free will you still call it a review?
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I have thought a lot about this question. The answer is yes, it will be called a review so long as the brand is not directing input into my editorial process. If a brand asks for certain things to be in the video or requires a video be looked at prior to posting it’s no longer a review and will be labeled a sponsored post. When the yellow band is on the thumbnail and the video title is a review it means that nobody (except me of course) has provided editorial guidance.
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Do you participate in affiliate marketing programs?
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Yes. Affiliate marketing programs provide the channel compensation for sales driven by affiliate links that you will see in our video descriptions and sometimes in the video itself. If you click an affiliate link and purchase a product we receive a portion of the sale. These links will be labeled “affiliate link” or “compensated affiliate link.”
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What is the Amazon Vine program?
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Amazon Vine is how I got my start doing this! You can read more about the program here, but this is how it works: Amazon receives items that a brand wishes to be reviewed on the Amazon sales platform. Amazon offers it to reviewers who are members of the Vine program based on an algorithm.
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When I was an Amazon Vine member I reviewed the product on Amazon’s site and also uploaded the video to my YouTube channel. There is no direct communication between the brand and me, and Amazon is the one doing the matchmaking. Amazon and the brand have no editorial control over what I post in the review.
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**Did you get to keep items from the Vine program?n**
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Yes every item received through Vine is a keeper. I was required to hold onto the item for at least six months and then I was free to do what I want with it. It’s important to note that every item received through Vine is reported to the Internal Revenue Service in the United States and I was required to pay taxes on the value of the items. So there was a cost to participating in the program if I didn’t donate the item to a charity (which is what I often did).
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How do I join the Vine program?
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Nobody knows how they got into the Vine program, myself included. Amazon says they look at your reviewer ranking and how engaged and helpful you’re being with other Amazon customers. So try that :).
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Why should I believe you?
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I can’t make you believe me. But I am making a very strong effort here to be up-front with viewers as to the nature of my business relationships. One of the challenges new media creates is that there is no longer a “firewall” between sales and editorial. I am the CEO, host, video editor, technical director, business manager, sales manager, and probably a few other things too. So I have established these guidelines for myself to follow until such time the channel is large enough for a sales department :).
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Changes to this document since publication:
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4/27/2022 – Moved the document to my own server (away from Medium) and also updated the Amazon Vine language to indicate that I am no longer a member.
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12/14/2020 — Added language about affiliate links & pre-release access to products for review. I also swapped out the old video embedded at the top with a more recent and relevant one.
While I would love to help everyone who is experiencing technical problems I don’t have the bandwidth to help walk you through a technical issue.
The best place to get technical help is through our Discord and Facebook Group. I am in them frequently and we have some great regular viewers who can help too.
If you are having trouble with Plex definitely check out the Plex forums.
