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Texium
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Yeah, Nurd is borderline at this point too. At least he actually knows the
chemistry.
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MrHomeScientist
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Here's his current channel description:
| Quote: | I’m Grant Thompson - “The King of Random” and I make videos dedicated to exploring life through all kinds of life hacks, experiments, and random
weekend projects.
Imagine a cross between MacGyver, James Bond, and the Myth-busters. A world of Sciencey Guy Stuff! ..where girls can play too.
“Don’t try this at home” is something we hear all the time. The King of Random asks why not? What exactly are the risks?? Then figures out
ways to approach these risks safely and in a controlled environment, conducting experiments to verify exactly what happens. There is excitement found
in discovering the unknown, and living to tell about it.
You’ve got busy hands and so do I, so join me on YouTube and and let’s start building something together.
FTC Disclaimer: I earn a % of sales made through Amazon Affiliate links |
He mentions science a bit but I suppose he doesn't really bill himself as a science channel, so there's that to consider.
On a side note, I've seen it mentioned a few times that monetizing videos is part of the video production process. Is that just for users that do more
than regular YouTube ads? I.e. that "multi-channel network" partnership nonsense? I mean, for me monetizing is just clicking a checkbox. And I don't
even do that anymore because it's part of my default settings!
On a side note to the side note, what the hell is a multi-channel network anyway? I've gotten countless offers to join those things, but when I ask
for details all I get is business-speak nonsense or a request to call me to talk about it. If you can't summarize in an email I'm not interested. They
make these claims like nothing at all changes for me yet somehow I make more money? Sounds shady. Reminds me of the talent agency episode of South
Park: "You just do all the singing, all the performing, and all the entertaining .And leave the rest to us."
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Texium
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Location: Salt Lake City
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Mood: PhD candidate!
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Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist  | | On a side note to the side note, what the hell is a multi-channel network anyway? I've gotten countless offers to join those things, but when I ask
for details all I get is business-speak nonsense or a request to call me to talk about it. If you can't summarize in an email I'm not interested. They
make these claims like nothing at all changes for me yet somehow I make more money? Sounds shady. Reminds me of the talent agency episode of South
Park: "You just do all the singing, all the performing, and all the entertaining .And leave the rest to us." |
My best guess would be that it partners channels in such a way that when a viewer finishes watching a video from one channel, it
will autoplay a video from another channel in the "network," and then maybe the smaller channels in the network can get more exposure that way, while
the bigger channels get a monetary incentive whenever the videos of the smaller channels are viewed by their viewers?
For instance, if your channel was in a network with NurdRage, and someone watching a Nurd video was directed to a video on your channel from there,
both of you would get some credit for the view in some way. I dunno, pure speculation. If that IS how it works, it does sound pyramid-schemey.
Edit: Never mind, my best guess was 100% wrong. After I posted, I did what I should've done to begin with, and Googled multi-channel
network. Looks like it's actually where you sign the rights of your channel over to a company that will take care of the production, promotion, and
advertisements for your videos, and coordinate product placements and BS like that. So your videos will undoubtably become more "professional" looking
and you won't have to spend as much time on editing, etc, but you lose almost all control over your channel. Sounds terrible.
[Edited on 1-22-2018 by Texium (zts16)]
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Vomaturge
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| Quote: Originally posted by Radium212 | | I despise him. He makes constant scientific errors (repeating the sulphuric acid has an incredibly high pH), offers little to no scientific
explanation of his "experiments", and appeals only to edgy twelve-year-olds that think chemistry is exclusively about explosions. The fact that he has
the nerve to call himself a chemist repulses me. What he does is idiocy, not amateur chemistry. He gives us all a bad name, and deserves what will
happen to him. |
I think of his channel as giving "recipes", popular entertainment, and maybe some science when you're lucky. I do think that it's irresponsible to mix
"how to" and "don't try this at home!" Videos, with pretty explicit but not-quite-safe instructions for both. It's also bad that he doesn't always
know what he's doing; the "incredibly high pH" thing would be funny, if not for the fact that he's using (and encouraging others to use) a material
that can cause permanent injury or death, without even knowing how it works! Along with not knowing chemistry, he doesn't know safety precautions. I
don't think everyone needs to be a scientist. I think the basic concept of "random weekend projects" is fine. I approve fully of people making all of
this, and scientific ideas in general, appealing to the children and novices. But don't try to explain things you don't understand, or expose yourself
to dangers you can't control. The worst, in my opinion, was an experiment he did with a pop bottle of butane. He put a torch to it it burst
immediately, putting out the flame. He was about 1 m away. Later he had one which didn't put out the torch, but took a few seconds to burst. It would
have completely engulfed him in fire for several more seconds if he had not had time to escape. Some of the firearms/ammunition handloading videos
were also pretty sketchy. He throws antics like this, or the "Don't Mix These (calcium hypochlorite and brake fluid) Chemicals!"in with projects like
"make your own cookie cutter" or "casting HOLLOW (candy) Pokeballs" I thought it was a fun channel, so long as you can pick projects wisely, and not
rely on the explanations given. For instance you could google "BLEVE","rocket candy", or "CO2 latent heat of fusion",learn how it works, how to do it
safely (or stay safe by *not* doing it) then watch The King of Random demonstrate it. I don't think of TKOR as a horrible channel, but here are things
I don't like about it. Not a scientist. More a commercial source of entertainment.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by Vomaturge]
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Vomaturge
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Regardless of whether Thompson is a good backyard engineer, or whether we like watching his videos, or even whether those videos have any value to
them, this incident brings up some great talking points. For one, it makes us wonder what other youtube channel could be effected similarly. Nilered,
Nurdrage, Chemplayer, and so many other chemistry related channels have at least one explosive or pyrotechnic material video, although they actually
understand chemistry and safety precautions, and are not so focused on this branch of chemistry and it's view attracting "cool factor". Cody Reeder
(at Cody'slab) seems to have a good understanding of chemistry, certainly better than mine or Grant Thompson's. Sometimes he seems a bit wreckless
when it comes to safety, but that's just my impression. Cody'slab does experiment with all kinds of explosives, on a regular basis, and I hope he's
following local law. I hope none of these people get jailed, or even have there accounts shut down. None are trying to do harm, and they all are
adding knowledge to the youtube community.
This is a great reminder that we all are responsible for knowing and obeying all the national and local laws that apply to us, whether they seem
reasonable to us or not.
On a side note, regarding the "powder from a firework" they said he "assumed" it was from a firework, meaning it could be anything really. Also, I
(and probably a lot of other people on here) can imagine circumstances where materials from firework(s) could plausibly burn "mildly" as a small test
burn but blow with a boom if ignited in a big heap. But I'm not trying to repeat this incident, just understand it. Also, Grant, and his lawyer, would
rather be vague than admit to trying to cause a violent explosion intentionally. I'm not sure of anything here, as I have no evidence and this is all
speculation at this point.
One "good" outcome of this whole case might be people becoming LESS paranoid about home experimenters. They can see that even a reckless guy setting
off explosives in his back yard is not necessarily a terrorist or illegal drug manufacturer. Yeah, maybe I'm dreaming to think that seeing someone go
to prison will boost everybody's faith in amateur scientists. But a quick look at The King Of Random's YouTube channel would be enough to show that
he's at best a fun YouTuber and at worst a well meaning idiot.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by Vomaturge]
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jamit
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I feel bad for Mr Thompson. Too many people in this forum/channel are too happy to see him fall. Wow! People are such asses! Yes, he is not
"scientifically" accurate in his explanation of the science behind his experiments and stunts. But tell me if you haven't made a mistake and done
something in "chemistry" that you regret. Sorry but I never like hearing about any science enthusiast getting in trouble with the law. I hope things
works out for him and his family. I hope the prosecutor and judge will take into account that he just made a foolish mistake and will give him
another chance.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by jamit]
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Radium212
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| Quote: Originally posted by jamit | I feel bad for Mr Thompson. Too many people in this forum/channel are too happy to see him fall. Wow! People are such asses! Yes, he is not
"scientifically" accurate in his explanation of the science behind his experiments and stunts. But tell me if you haven't made a mistake and done
something in "chemistry" that you regret. Sorry but I never like hearing about any science enthusiast getting in trouble with the law. I hope things
works out for him and his family. I hope the prosecutor and judge will take into account that he just made a foolish mistake and will give him
another chance.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by jamit] |
But he passes it off as true science, making a generation believe that igniting dangerous quantities of blackpowder, under totally unrigorous
conditions is a science experiment.
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JJay
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Registered: 15-10-2015
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I am not really happy to see him charged with a crime.
I *am* glad that his neighbor won't have to put up with unwanted explosions next door. The King of Random may not have a duty to be scientifically
rigorous, but he does have a duty to avoid creating a public nuisance. And we would prefer more scientific rigor in his videos.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by JJay]
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wg48
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| Quote: Originally posted by JJay | I am not really happy to see him charged with a crime.
I *am* glad that his neighbor won't have to put up with unwanted explosions next door. The King of Random may not have a duty to be scientifically
rigorous, but he does have a duty to avoid creating a public nuisance. And we would prefer more scientific rigor in his videos.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by JJay] |
Well put JJ.
Its irrelevant if we like his videos or not or how much science he puts in them. He is providing entertainment to perhaps millions just as films do.
Of cause Yes he should comply with the law and preferably not be a public nuisance. Hopefully he will convince the court he was an applicable
business. But what ever happens it will cost him at least a high speed camera’s worth of legal fees. Perhaps he will get it all back from publicity
that will drive more clicks to his videos.
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jamit
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As I contemplate what might happen to Mr Thompson, I'm sadly thinking of one of our own "brothers", Blogfast25. He too got himself into trouble
selling oxidizers and I doubt he'll ever join us in this forum again. So sad! We'll all miss him and wish him the best. I think we all know just
how careful we must all be if we want to pursue this hobby. As Magpie once said, he doesn't share his hobby with just anyone. I too have followed
his example. One thing we can learn from all this is "don't piss off" your neighbor and don't scale up any energetic experiment.
We have excellent members on Youtube, such as Nile Red, Doug's Lab, Chemplayer, and Nurdrage and I hope none of them make the same mistake that Mr
Thompson or Blogfast25 made. Keep to the science and don't scale up any energetic experiments. Happy and safe experimenting everyone.
[Edited on 24-1-2018 by jamit]
[Edited on 24-1-2018 by jamit]
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The jersey rebel
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Hey, I’m back. So, I am wondering what the verdict is as I can’t seem to find it. As for my opinion on the situation, as long as it doesn’t make
a precedent, then oh well good bye Grant. However, I have been watching his videos when he had under 10K subscribers. He used to do such amazing
things that I have put to use in my own lab, allbeit with some mods. Now it’s just LCD, kewel, and edge lord fodder that with few exceptions is
essentially a hybrid of a pseudoscientific howtobasic and a Far west Benja but with an attitude even more reckless than the backyard scientist. He
seems to have thrown the entire concept of the original channel out the window because of the amount of subs it gave him. Greed is what destroyed him.
Unfortunately most of his original fanbase left him as a result. I for sometime was unsubbed for the same reason. I saw it was no longer science, but
generic kewel bullshit. I do believe he’s currently in jail and Nate has taken over as a direct result. I doubt his ‘business’ would’ve kept
him out of it. Unfortunately, this does have a potentially fatal side effect for YouTube. Because this is about lawful business operations, if
convicted, that would logically make YT an invalid business and thus lead to potentially shutting it down. this is something that also concerns me as
well. People will look at this with scorn for people like us. I’ve known a pair of amateur chemists who were shot and killed by a botched swatting
as a result of a disgruntled neighbor. These neighbor-neighbor problems are rarely settled this cleanly. The unfortunate truth is that even I was
nearly swatted by a neighbor as well. In fact, if I finished 10 minutes later one day, I most likely would have been arrested or worse. Amateur
chemistry is unfortunately a clandestine art where I am, but because of a burning passion mixed with failing health, I still do this regardless. To
me, life is only worthwhile if I can do as I wish. I have unfortunately been bared from doing chemistry as a result of moving to a different county
here in jersey where I can’t burn wood let alone do experiments in. I’ve just been scraping out old electronics and stockpiling the materials I
get for gold recovery between going in and out of psychiatric and medical evaluations to figure out wtf is going on with me and if there’s anything
they can do to extend my lifespan enough to allow me to contribute something meaningful to society. Then I just ship the ‘ore’ off to a family
member in LBI for storage. Frankly I’m doing this knowing that I may never see a return on my investment as I might not survive long enough to do
much after grad work due to genetic disease and severe, progressive mental illness. I’m stockpiling material and saving the concentrates of my old
recovery, knowing that although the return will be massive, I may not be the one who will see the end goal because at 19, I’m choosing where
everything will go when my health takes a turn for the worst. I simply wish more people would be able to at least do the stuff I had been able to get
away with in South Jersey, without the excessive paranoia that comes along with knowingly risking your life and liberty just to delay inevitable
madness. I’ve always told my parents that a lab accident was the least of my concerns because the law will punish me far more than whatever mistake
I made, which I made many indeed. Some of which mimicked my abnormally dangerous knack for attracting the grim reaper himself as I stare death in the
face quite frequently as I am extremely accident prone. I am so accident prone that my parents barely trust me with driving, let alone my future
career as the proneness is clinical in origin. I have something known as propioceptive dysfunction where I have no depth perception and lack hand eye
coordination. It’s so severe that there was a time I was considered legally handicapped because I kept and do still keep running into walls and was
also completely psychotic as a child. Between shrapnel severing a major after in my hand, explosions that were so powerful they should have killed me
outright, or accidental poisonings, it really does mimic my life outside of the lab where a bike ride lead to a compound open fracture in the forearm
and a fractured skull in the middle of the woods mind you, while wearing a helmet. It went septic and I almost died. I probably had severe brain
damage as a kid due to similar accidents, which caused part of my failing health. The issue however is just more sophisticated than meds can fix
assuming it could be fixed at all
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j_sum1
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Um... yeah.
How is anyone supposed to respond meaningfully to an unparagraphed divergent rant like that?
I don't know if anyone knows the outcome of GT. Legal mechanisms typically move at their own glacial pace.
As for your personal issues. It does not look at face value like you have a good sense of perspective. But this is not the correct space or manner
for addressing such things.
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The jersey rebel
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| Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1 |
Um... yeah.
How is anyone supposed to respond meaningfully to an unparagraphed divergent rant like that?
I don't know if anyone knows the outcome of GT. Legal mechanisms typically move at their own glacial pace.
As for your personal issues. It does not look at face value like you have a good sense of perspective. But this is not the correct space or manner
for addressing such things. |
i apologize for the divergence. I have a sort of tendency to relate stuff back
to myself as a sort of attempt at showing sympathy. Perspective, sure I’m not great at it. I was wondering what happened as the court appearance was
supposed to be on the 22nd or something like that of last month and I was merely wondering what exactly happened in there while stating the overal
conclusion I can come up with as to what is most likely to happen.
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The jersey rebel
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| Quote: Originally posted by wg48 | | Quote: Originally posted by JJay | I am not really happy to see him charged with a crime.
I *am* glad that his neighbor won't have to put up with unwanted explosions next door. The King of Random may not have a duty to be scientifically
rigorous, but he does have a duty to avoid creating a public nuisance. And we would prefer more scientific rigor in his videos.
[Edited on 23-1-2018 by JJay] |
Well put JJ.
Its irrelevant if we like his videos or not or how much science he puts in them. He is providing entertainment to perhaps millions just as films do.
Of cause Yes he should comply with the law and preferably not be a public nuisance. Hopefully he will convince the court he was an applicable
business. But what ever happens it will cost him at least a high speed camera’s worth of legal fees. Perhaps he will get it all back from publicity
that will drive more clicks to his videos.
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well said. Unfortunately, TKOR wasn’t doing what he liked, he clearly did what his audience wanted which
costed him his freedom. To me, it’s better to do your own thing and have several hundred subscribers instead of doing what they want while getting
several million. It’s not work if you do what you love. Unfortunately greed caused his fall as he necessarily had to appeal to the LCD to reach high
status. It’s the price of being a follower instead of a leader. You’re subject to their whim. I wholeheartedly believe this is the case because of
the radical shift in content, just like the backyard scientist has done, from badass experiments to everything only a full blown kewel, occasionally
an amateur like me, assuming he comes up with something that’s actually useful to me like the flowerpot foundery design, or sometimes a soccer mom
who’s seeking healthy gummies are going to be entertained by.
Unfortunately, that’s the majority of entertainment and society. Sure I like occasionally blowing something up but at least I have the common sense
to be in a sound proof room as to not disturb anyone else and use small scale tests of high explosives. I’ve done much larger scale demonstrations
but usually it’s a one time fling on a holiday.
I’ve made ANFO, NH4NO3-CH3NO2 based, a gallon of HHO like TKOR did in the good old days, but at 400psi on the 4th of July, KNO3-Mg flashpowder, and
some large Tesla coil and Other insane HV demonstrations. Unlike him, I have obtained permits and used these substances responsibly keeping it under
the regulated limit.
He broke a huge amount of laws while showing his face. It’s a miracle he wasn’t charged sooner. I’m not some angel either but he’s just
reckless, even by my standards! Remember ReactionFactory? After that NI3 video, I haven’t heard from them again. If anyone knows what happened to
them, I would like to know.
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UC235
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Reactionfactory went to college and the team of two moved to different parts of the US.
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Vomaturge
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A new video was just uploaded which had Grant in it. He was just there promoting his "YouTube creator training event SelfMADE. "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkrlBdtEIWY
It was still Nate who did the experiment, and risked a molten metal explosion by burning thermite on dry ice. It seems like most of the "projects"
TKOR does now are not especially science related, like all of the candy molds, etc. Still fun, I suppose. The experiments answer specific questions
like "can liquid nitrogen freeze antifreeze?" but they are all about certain scenarios. They don't demonstrate any scientific principle, or property
of a substance, etc. Most are more for entertainment value. I would say that a lot of these "experiments" do not involve explosions or fire, as in,
that is not all they do. Nonetheless, this most recent video (and a several others) is definately "kewl." Anyhow, I just wanted to say that I don't
think Grant Thompson is in prison, at least not yet. That, or they recorded Grant's promotional video a while ago and just posted it today.
[Edited on 18-3-2018 by Vomaturge]
[Edited on 18-3-2018 by Vomaturge]
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NEMO-Chemistry
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funny if you put someone in the stocks, there is never a shortage of people to throw the rocks.
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metalresearcher
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I liked KOR channel as well, but the level is decreasing. Colored paint experiments or dry ice in a furnace / with thermite is not so interesting
anymore.
And safety is also an issue. His video on throwing snowballs with gasoline in a bunker is done without any safety equipment. At least wearing a face shield is a requirement and the
gasoline close to him catched fire. As others say, these are more clickbaits.
But I learned at least one thing from KOR: making a vacuum channel from a weck jar and a sheet of plexiglass which works awesome.
And about Cody's Lab (or does he have a new channel Cody's Reeder ?): I like it very much. He works more with safety equiment and had more knowledge
of chemistry than KOR. But he is more than once censored out by YT: he could not upload videos. THat is YT's stricter policy, even simple fireworks
videos are banned or put als 'adult' videos while not containing any nude girls.
And Backyard Scientist from Florida: what happened to him ? Also banned by YT ??
He has nice videos of real scientific value and uses safety equipment.
And then there is Periodic Videos. That is a professional university lab of Nottingham, UK and I like the professor Martyn Poliakoff and the other
characters such as Neil and Brady.
Best way is avoiding YT because of their somewhat random censorship. If you want to monetize, use Patreon, what Cody does. Chemistry is a niche market
for YT/Google and don't make much money from it. Music and entertainment is the mainstream of YT.
[Edited on 2018-3-18 by metalresearcher]
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roXefeller
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Totally. I don't think they were rigorous but they were demonstrative. My son loved his early videos, probably because they were kewl and pop. But
for his age, it's eye opening to see what John Q Public can do and make in the backyard. They are told overtly and covertly that it isn't possible or
allowed. Not true, and it's a window into past industry. While many people on this page are looking for videos most substantial for the mind, kids
still need kewl to motivate them to take the red pill and start living with their own agency.
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