Youtubers post petition on Change.org to return old commenting system.

YouTubeDo you like Youtube’s new comment system? Were you able to navigate the merger of YT and Google Plus?

As we reported on yesterday, Google has slapped the two together, much to the chagrin of a large number of Youtubers. Now I like G+ and I post videos on YT, so you’d think this would be Peanut Butter Jelly Time! Unfortunately, this transition has been handled fairly clumsily, so badly in fact it’s rather easy to accidentally make all of your videos disappear. My personal beef comes from the fact that the accounts populate information in one direction.

See I have a YT account with a user image and full of all of my info. Creating a G+ account to tie it to, Google does not pull my info from YT to populate my new G+ account, it instead pulls the info from G+ to populate your new-ish Youtube account.

“But Juan, you don’t have any info in that new G+ account.”

Exactly. My established YT account gets replaced by an empty G+ account. I’ve since cut and paste and re-populated all that mess, because I have to to keep this blog running, but it was a pain.

If you’re unhappy with the switch to the new commenting system, a mysterious user named John Doe has posted a petition to Change.org. Appropriate as Google made some of these changes to quell the douchbaggery fueled by the anonymity afforded users on YT. You’ll get to feel like you’re actually doing something with your internet rage, and Google will probably completely ignore it. Hey, it’s not like we’re all running off to some other video sharing service right?

Google: Change the Youtube comment section back to its original form

Win an XBox 360 courtesy of Boored at Work and SomeGadgetGuy!

xbox 360 giveaway contest booredatwork somegadgetguyWe’re sending off the last generation of consoles with a Youtube giveaway!

We’re giving away an XBox 360, and entering is easy!

  1. Subscribe to Boored at Work on Youtube.
  2. Subscribe to Some Gadget Guy on Youtube.
  3. Leave a comment on THIS video explaining why we should give you the XBox.

You have to do all three, which means you also have to figure out the whole Google Plus comments thing. Sorry. Thems the breaks.

plantronics backbeat go contest giveaway booredatwork somegadgetguyTo sweeten the deal, we’re giving away a pair of Plantronics Backbeat Go 2 Bluetooth headphones to a runner up courtesy of AT&T in Southern California! They’ve been stocking some killer accessories lately, and are sharing some goodies to give to you! We’re all feeling generous. We’re cool like that.

We’ll accept entries until Thursday November 14 at 8pm Eastern, when we’ll go live on Youtube to announce a winner and a runner up, so get subscribing, and get commenting!

AT&T teases Lumia 1520 features on video.

nokia lumia 1520 hands on video youtubeWe’re getting really excited for Nokia’s first phablet, and now AT&T is getting in on the act teasing us with this video.

Spend a good 90 seconds with this quick look at the Lumia 1520. Quick run down on the specs, and a good look at the hardware. The screen looks great on camera too.

If you want a more in depth look at the 1520, we went hands on at a Nokia event in New York!

The 1520 should be in stores by the end of the month. Will you be shopping one this holiday season? Leave us a comment below!

New YouTube options for channel owners, merging comments with Google Plus.

YouTubeIt looks like YouTube will be rolling out some new useful features for its channel owners in hopes to curb the trolls when comments are made on a channel.  There is nothing like going to see what new content your favorite YouTube channel has posted and seeing rude or degrading comments that may discourage the channel owner and friends of that YouTube channel. After all it is the internet and trolling is inevitable. Could this be the end of the Wild West like trolling? Possibly.

YouTube will be giving channel owners more options to moderate and block comments while a new sorting system will move the most relevant discussions to the top making for a better engagement with your subscribers. The new options can be customized for each YouTube viewer. Each YouTube user will be able to start a new conversation which will only be seen by their friends on Google+,their subscribers and an option to follow a particular thread by Gmail.

With these new options in place you will have the ability to block certain words to help keep a family friendly environment on your YouTube channel with another option of auto approving comments from your favorite subscribers and friends on Google+. I believe these new options will make for a better YouTube experience.

Official YouTube Blog

Some Gadget Guy YouTube Channel Continue reading “New YouTube options for channel owners, merging comments with Google Plus.”

Ask Juan: Why is Google Text-to-Speech a separate app now?

Screenshot_2013-11-07-10-38-28Starting today you’ll start seeing an app to update you’ve probably never seen before: Google Text-to-Speech.

This is Google’s software engine which drives all of the speech capabilities on your phone. Every time your phone talks to you, it’s using some kind of software library to translate text into that helpful robotic voice which gives you turn by turn directions in Google Maps or answers your questions in Google Now.

This is a service which until now was built into Android and only updated whenever an update for the OS was pushed to phones and tablets. Like the  Google Keyboard, now this service lives on its own in the Google Play app store.

Google has had issues with device and feature fragmentation, and other companies often install their own TTS engines, which is why Samsung and LG phones have a slightly different “personality” than their Nexus counterparts.

Let’s take a look at the what the service does, and what it sounds like!

Can Smartphones REALLY compete with Point & Shoot and DSLR cameras?

phone camera vs DSLR vs point and shoot test review somegadgetguyEach generation of smartphone ushers in improvements to the cameras on the backs of our handsets, and now they’re starting to rival what we can do with traditional point and shoot cameras.

I’ve even seen some claim that our phones now compete with SLRs, so I felt it was time to take a look at one important aspect of photo and video performance: depth of field.

For this shootout we’ll be comparing the video output from the iPhone 5S, Galaxy S4, HTC One, Optimus G Pro, Lumia 1020 and comparing it to a Samsung Galaxy Camera P&S and a Canon 7D DSLR.

Friday Fun: The New York Subway Signs Experiment – Playing With Subway Conductors

new york subway driver pointI love things like this, subtly warping reality for a person in a fun way. Acknowledging something specific about what they do, which other folks might not be aware of, and using that thing to get a laugh or a smile.

Apparently New York Subway Conductors have to point at special signs at every stop they make. So how might they respond if you added something funny to those sign?

A MONSTER Video Review of the iPhone 5S from a Windows Phone/Android User

apple iphone 5s gold camera lens sensor dual LED flash review somegadgetguyIt’s time folks. I was there for the iPhone 5S launch day. I’ve played with the phone for a while now.

It’s time to talk iPhone.

I have not used an iPhone since the 3G. I’ve recently become a fan of Windows Phone, and I still use Android as my daily driver. iOS7 has brought some pretty significant changes to the Apple ecosystem, and now we have the first generation of iPhone purpose built for this new software.

Let’s see how it holds up to the expectations and ramblings of an angry smartphone geek.

Related:
Our comprehensive iPhone 5S camera and speaker tests!