Random Thoughts Thread

[RCBH928]

I learned that Ian Murdock founder of the Debian linux distribution committed suicide in 2015 at the age 42. Sad. Sometimes I think these people are too smart to be able to live in this world. It is to be noted that Debian distribution has the major market share of Linux user base and relied upon by many other distributions. I also like the Debian logo very much which is similar to Dreamcast's logo.

[RCBH928]

Is it me or is Youtube turning boring?
Most of it is clickbait titles, or people following a specific formula in presentation, most topics are the same discussed by 3000 people, exaggerated excitements, and everyone wants you to like, comment, and subscribe. It is turning into an "attention" asylum.

Its still an amazing resource to look up things specifically but if you are just casually browsing...its becoming...meh...

[Ziggy587]

Is it me or is Youtube turning boring?
Most of it is clickbait titles, or people following a specific formula in presentation, most topics are the same discussed by 3000 people, exaggerated excitements, and everyone wants you to like, comment, and subscribe. It is turning into an "attention" asylum.

Its still an amazing resource to look up things specifically but if you are just casually browsing...its becoming...meh...

Yes, there are loads of channels following the formula and chasing algorithms. But this isn't new, it's been t his way for a while. Although, it's been steadily getting worse. I absolutely hate clickbait videos. And clickbait combined with the thumbnail thing sucks even more. The title of the video might be something like "Why Nintendo removed my video" and the thumbnail is the YouTuber with a tear and an arrow pointing to something. But the worst clickbait videos come from junk channels that are just trying to make money and don't actual care about what they're doing. Video titles like, "You never heard of this rare Nintendo thing" and then you watch the video and it's like Stadium Events or some garbage common knowledge thing.

Luckily, the arrow thing in thumbnails seems to be fading away.

YouTube is still a great resource, but lately I've been finding that suggestions are falling short. At least, for me. If you're interested in one thing, like video games, then all of your suggested videos are about video games. But I'm interested in too many things, so I think I finally broke YouTube. Either that, or the algorithm only wants to show people certain videos now. It use to work OK, but for months now it seems to want to push certain videos on me and be very stubborn about it. The top 8 videos will be the SAME every time I go to the homepage, it takes a while for them to change. They usually only change if a channel I frequently watch puts out a new video or if I happen to fall down a rabbit hole of something unique enough. The top few rows use to change frequently for me no matter what. Then scrolling down the home page, I constantly see the same 80-90% of suggested videos popping up for many days. It use to be the reverse, after the top rows something like 80-90% of the videos were all new to me.

[BoneSnapDeez]

De-Mainstream YouTube is a great browser extension that removes propaganda videos.

As for clickbait, it's best to just ignore users who post it.

[RCBH928]

The problem with clickbait is even big channels are doing it like LinusTechTips and Austin Evan. I also can't bear this show format any more. I am sure it has a name. It was cool and new at first but now since everyone is copying it its becoming unbearable and cheesy.

YouTube is still a great resource, but lately I've been finding that suggestions are falling short. At least, for me. If you're interested in one thing, like video games, then all of your suggested videos are about video games. But I'm interested in too many things, so I think I finally broke YouTube. Either that, or the algorithm only wants to show people certain videos now. It use to work OK, but for months now it seems to want to push certain videos on me and be very stubborn about it. The top 8 videos will be the SAME every time I go to the homepage, it takes a while for them to change. They usually only change if a channel I frequently watch puts out a new video or if I happen to fall down a rabbit hole of something unique enough. The top few rows use to change frequently for me no matter what. Then scrolling down the home page, I constantly see the same 80-90% of suggested videos popping up for many days. It use to be the reverse, after the top rows something like 80-90% of the videos were all new to me.

Me too, I am not sure if YouTube is wrapping me in a bubble showing me the same shows over and over again with stuff I have already seen or if that is all there is to it. Sometimes I feel YouTube is reaching the final stages of social media platforms where its a businesses infested, too commercial, and people are slowly withdrawing from it.

[RCBH928]

If Bluray bitrate is 40Mbps , and internet connections are 100Mbps, why can't we have Bluray quality streams? I can see significance difference between Netflix quality and Bluray disc.

[prfsnl_gmr]

If Bluray bitrate is 40Mbps , and internet connections are 100Mbps, why can't we have Bluray quality streams? I can see significance difference between Netflix quality and Bluray disc.

Ummmm...are you sure we don’t have that? I streamed Wonder Woman 1984 in 4K the other day, and it looked glorious.

EDIT: Actually, we don’t! Good observation, RCBH! (You have a much more discerning eye than me, apparently!). Streaming video is more compressed than video on a disc; so, the picture quality isn’t identical.

[marurun]

Streaming video is much more compressed:

1. To save bandwidth costs
2. To attempt to mitigate the impact on bandwidth caps that users may have to contend with
3. To attempt to ensure consistent stream quality in the face of variable internet conditions

[isiolia]

If Bluray bitrate is 40Mbps , and internet connections are 100Mbps, why can't we have Bluray quality streams? I can see significance difference between Netflix quality and Bluray disc.

Technically, Netflix can offer 4k HDR streams, at least for some content, but they do charge a few bucks more a month if you want that option. Others, such as Amazon Prime or Disney+, roll that in at no extra cost. Netflix's original content is native 4k (at least, they said it would be years ago), so it should be able to look good.
Just mentioning, since if you're looking at Netflix in particular, that (or stream settings) may be part of the reason. If that significant difference is more than some noticeable compression artifacts or macroblocking from time to time, then it may be a more general issue with your connection or settings than what Netflix's potential is.

Generally speaking, streaming can get quite good these days, even if it ultimately falls short of playing off a disc. As mentioned, there are a number of reasons that companies opt for compressing content more, underscored by the fact that it generally gets the job done. There are times when it doesn't take a particularly critical eye to find problems in stream quality (Battle of Winterfell, for instance), but the vast majority of the time it's close enough to not care. Either because most people literally don't have the setup or inclination to notice, or because the cost and convenience outweigh it.

[RCBH928]

There is more to picture quality than higher definition something people talk about a lot back when they used to consider the better camera with higher pixels.
I am not sure if my calculations are correct but if BD has 40Mbps and Netflix HD seems to stream at 5.8Mbps, meaning BD picture quality is near 7 times better/higher.

Would be interesting if someone here if they got a BD disc of a specific title and the same on Netflix and see if he can notice a difference.

Ummmm...are you sure we don’t have that? I streamed Wonder Woman 1984 in 4K the other day, and it looked glorious.

EDIT: Actually, we don’t! Good observation, RCBH! (You have a much more discerning eye than me, apparently!). Streaming video is more compressed than video on a disc; so, the picture quality isn’t identical.

So I thought, until one day I switched from watching BD disc to Netflix stream.