The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

While still editing my latest episode (filmed in my shop in Germany), I find myself far from home once again: I'm trying to lend a hand at the Radius Master factory that was recently bought by my friend Corin of Niroc Tools. He also invited two local legends over that wanted to meet me: Rowan (Youtube: Not An Engineer)and Alex (Youtube: I did a thing). We'll meet again tomorrow treasure hunting at a surplus store. In case you you want to meet me in NSW or Queensland in December or January, just send a quick e-mail at gerokeber@gmail.com

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1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 938

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

Hey guys. We live in dystopian times. Youtube is a 'Pay to Play'-Platform. I got a message from them today, asking me to pay money to promote my content. These features might have ben around for a while, but why message me about this now, if they're not trying to turn up that dial? 

I will elaborate on this development a little more in this post. However, I also wanted you to know that I started talking to NEBULA (as an alternative to Youtube) about a year ago. I was invited by them, because some major channels on their platform are fans of my content. After a year of preparation, my videos are now also on Nebula!
go.nebula.tv/postapocalypticinventor

It took me so long to actually upload my videos on their platform, because I didn't know what additional service a second video platform would offer to my viewers. However, there is actually tons of reasons to diversify and they grow all the time: 

1.) Even after 11 years on Youtube I have zero leverage to re-instate my channel if it would ever be highjacked by scammers, or disable by YouTube's 'AI' controlled censorship mechanism. Nebula has a strong network for powerful creators and a direct link to people who actually work at Google. They could help me get my channel back. 

2.) Youtube creators get bombarded with scam-emails and supposed collaboration requests from scammers of all stripes who pose a legitimate companies only to steel my identity and highjack the channel. Nebula will act as a buffer between me and the scammers. 

3.) Youtube has embraced a culture of quantity over quanlity which is now exaggerated by the AI-Slop Tsunami. Quality content is buried under piles of garbage. Nebula curates its content. There is no AI-Slop on that platform either. 

4.) While Youtube is flooded with ads, nebula is ad-free and sponsorship messages must be cut out of the videos before uploading. 

5.) Youtube started as a platform where you got rewarded for content that people wanted to see. They rewarded people like me to 'catch' them and bind them to YouTube as a platform. This worked well for a number of years until they started to encourage third-party sponsorships. I fact I was personally invited to a google business event in 2017, where they encourage me and other up and coming creators to seek out sponsorships ourselves, rather than relying on Youtube's built-in Ad-Sense system. Back then I wondered why, and was too naive to read the message clearly. Youtube knew 8 years ago, that they wouldn't be able to pay full-time creators enough money to keep them around, so they spent money to make us look for alternative income streams ourselves, without ever speaking the truth about it. For some time now they have reversed the logic and people have been paying money to promote their content on the platform and get an upper hand over other creators who don't. This is 'Pay to Play'. They have now baked it directly into the creator-tools used for uploading videos and messaged me about that today. Other creators might have had that feature for a long time. These features are always 'rolled out' gradually. Probably to soften the blow/ outrage. This might sound like a conspiracy theory: But while Youtube got big PAYING people, the future is that they will be instead CHARGING people to act as a distributor for their content. This has always been the case, since Youtube has taken 45 percent of all ad-earnigs that I ever made in these 11 (or so) years. But it is not enough. They want me to put my cut back into their machine to promote my content over other channels. Like many others I will stay here on Youtube, because this is where I built this channel in the first place. It cannot be replaced. But I still believe that we have to give alternative platforms a chance and Nebula is a real alternative, ESPECIALLY because it takes a 'Quality over Quantity' approach.

go.nebula.tv/postapocalypticinventor

PS: A few years ago nobody at Google/Youtube would ever have known about negative posts like these, because they don't employ enough people to even care about creators like me. In the great future we live in now, 'AI' tools could read and flag stuff like this in a heartbeat. After all, I'm using Youtube to send people to another platform. Some might laugh at this, as I would have some years ago. But I think it's only a matter of time until it won't be possible anymore to even advertise other platforms here, without getting into problems.

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3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 832

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

The World, (both the real and the virtual one) has lost a great man and a fantastic contributor to this corner of the Internet. I got to know Robert Murray-Smith when I prepared my last trip to the UK back in 2022. We talked now and then and just last year he re-invited me to visit him in his home in England. 'You are welcome any time' he said. But sadly I have missed that opportunity. Here on Youtube, he started at the same time I did, worked on simmilar things and his channel also had the same size as mine. He had a great personality, was a joy to talk to and his videos showed that he truly enjoyed sharing ideas, concepts and inventions with the World. Unfortunately, just a few days ago he uploaded a 'last video' to his channel where he declared the end of his video-making days. Now his brother has published a video on that same channel, telling the World that Robert has taken his own life. I wish I had known him better, because I know for certain that we would have been great friends. He leaves behind a Youtube channel with far more than 2000 videos on it, full of ideas and great lessons...May he rest in peace.
youtube.com/@thinkingandtinkering?si=1ge4PgmKrspPL…

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,128

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

Just in case, you didn't notice, I uploaded a new episode last Friday.
https://youtu.be/URk3MUVEfYo?si=f-c35...
Since thumbnails can't really show what is going on in a 35 minute long episode like that, here are some impressions of the things going on in that latest scrapyard episode. In case, you have already seen it, sorry to bother you with this and I wish you a nice weekend!

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 599

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

I'm currently in Austria and on my way to Northern-Italy. A few days ago, I made a stop at the Walchensee Hydro-Electric Power Plant, built in 1924. The generator sets are inspected for maintenance work every 4 years. Other than that a lot of the original equipment, like the huge rivitted steel tubes that connect the two lakes (Walchensee, and Kochelsee lakes) have been in continuous operation for 101 years.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 756

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

Check out my latest video, if you haven't seen it yet. (Uploaded on Saturday). After publishing the video I embarked on a trip down south to Matrei in Tirol, Austria. On my way I already made several stops and filmed a lot of really cool content. A lot of it will end up in future episode. What you see here are some impressions of the long-since defunct iron- and steelworks in Völklingen, Saarland. I can only recommend to visit this place if you have the chance. It's a huge place with lots of incredible things to see.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 546

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

Working on some creative ideas that I have had for a while. It's a Sunday afternoon and this helps while I'm getting back on my feet.

4 months ago | [YT] | 990

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

Hey Guys! Sending my best regards from my hospital bed! All clear though! I'm fine, but will have to refrain from hard physical labor for the next three weeks. So what happened: A couple of months ago, I hauled a huge pile of fire wood to the workshop all by myself. The wood was stored in huge cardboard boxes and for no other reason than being an Idiot, I decided to lift and handle those boxes all by myself. (Even though help had been offered and would have been available If I had simply waited one more day to pick it up). A day later I realized a strange bulge above the right side of my groin. After some weeks of denial, I realized I had indeed developed a groin hernia. The fire wood action might only have been the proverbial straw that broke the camels back, but it was a reminder to accept help when offered and plan stuff like that a few days in advance, rather than just 'do whatever it takes' to get stuff done asap. A sickness of our time. Long story short, I needed surgery and have been operated on earlier today. I'm currently at the hospital but can walk home soon. Work in the shop will slow down, but fortunately I have enough material filmed to just do video editing for the next weeks. So If all goes well, there will actually be a new episode for the coming weekend. I Just wanted to let you know about the real state of things and to think twice before doing everything yourself, simply because you think you CAN! See you soon, guys

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5 months ago | [YT] | 2,496

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

It was a great honour to meet these living legends of Australia's blacksmithing scene at the unreal Eveleigh Railyard Workshop in Sydney. Can't wait to come back in the future. Places like this need to be protected at all cost!

8 months ago | [YT] | 884

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor

My final day in Australia ends with a BANG! rather than a whimper: Forging on the 350kg Massey power hammer at the Eveleigh Railyard Workshop in Sydney, Australia. Many thanks to Matt who runs the shop, for taking the time to let me work with him! I'm sad that I have to leave already and I wished that I could stay at this workshop and be a helping-hand for at least a week or two. But who knows, I might return before too long. I'm returning to Germany with tons of fantastic footage for amazing videos. I Spent a month, helping out at different workshops up and down the East-Coast! See you soon!

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8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 547