Tag: youtube

Categories
advice and tips Chinese articles video

A list of Chinese YouTubers

Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Chinese I meant Mandarin Chinese. First, please note in this list I am not going to comment on those 键政 (literally translation: keyboard politicking, or discuss politics via keyboard, link here is from Wikipedia). Not a complete list. Will be updated from time to time. There are a few special topics such as finance and cooking, and I may add below or create separate post.

Good

(Update 05-25-2025) 行者东谈西说。Here he talked about when/how/why he started the YouTube channel (自媒体). My impression is he is based in SH, and he is very much grounded re: his content. He has background in media and design, and he wanted to create good documentaries.

Jeff科技视角: he talks a lot on technology, and sometimes he touches stocks too: such as this recent one on NVDA, and PDD. I believe Jeff is a Chinese guy who lives in Canada, and he has direct experience in the IT industry. In fact IT is probably still his day job. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he said: such as this one on AAPL (Apple Inc). He touches some interesting topic such as this one – 【第284期】从内地“奋斗逼”整顿香港职场说起

Teacher Mike 麦克老师: I noticed him during pandemic (the lockdown). He is American, and he married a girl from Shanghai, they lived in Shanghai then. They came back to the USA in year 2023. He is a YouTuber and he talks English to ESL learners. His mandarin is also very good.

This is his most recent video – I decided to go back to Shanghai – he has a nice tip on the Saily app (a cheap/economy international data roaming app by NordVPN, available on App store).

刘伟元的旅行: he is actually from my hometown (Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China). He is a travel vlogger (video blogger). This is his self intro: 大家好，我是刘伟元（旅行频道）单人单车骑行中国，自己拍摄视频，自己手机剪辑视频
无团队，无签约，希望大家能够喜欢，不要忘记订阅我喔每天中午更新旅行日常（我们视频中见哦）. He has strong Ningbo accent in his mandarin – which reminds me of my old friends in Ningbo. His recent 冬季騎行川藏中線 trip is extremely difficult. Personally, I’ve never been to Tibet. I have been to Jiuzaigou (Si’Chuan province) once about 20 years ago. This is one video – 冬季騎行川藏中線，道路結冰天黑被困雪山山頂，半夜被狼聲嚇醒 – YouTube

Since I am on the travel, I recall seeing videos from 阿軻在路上AKe on the road and this one left me impressions – 古巴最后的华人，曾经10万华人为何只剩下不到100人，发生了什么？【Last Chinese in Cuba. And I haven’t watched a lot of new videos from his channel since then though. I could watched his video on a south America country (not very well developed) but could not find the video though.

北美天馬行: a Chinese couple, who are a few years older than me, retired and are traveling full time now. They also make some money from YouTube.

TheDerekShow: I like Derek. Derek is from Tian’jin, and he talked about common topics among Asian/Chinese Americans. Sometimes he will share stories from the audience (with permission and privacy). Here is one – 作为亚裔美国人，怎么看待DEI 多元化？平权行动会变成少数人的特权吗

20岁了还没去过星巴克: I used to watch his YT videos quite a bit, especially during pandemic. I watched less recently. Don’t know why. Here is one taken in Australia.

Okay

罗小曼在西安One day in Xi’an: this is actually one of the first China YouTubers I watched (also during pandemic), but I got tired of them for two things: 1) They talked a lot about going aboard, but they never did (not even for a visit), it seems to me they are just talking about it; 2) They started to monetize via selling product in the video. The products are somewhat like “snake oil”.

Bad

Mike是麦克 : initially I found out he has some decent knowledge on China car industry (he used to be a technical od engineer in the Internal Combustion Engine powered car industry. It seems his original business is in the investors immigration arena. I understand there are many rich Chinese people want to get the US green card: demand is not an issue. The main thing here is not actually providing best service (this is similar to the financial service, or financial advisory sector), but on sales and marketing, in other words persuade potential customers so that they would believe his company (or himself) is most experienced or qualified to providing immigration consulting.

The main reason I realized his YouTube channel is bad: it seems to me he has no moral ground when he pumps cryptos (this video) and/or betting on Nvidia earnings.

If you know me in person, or if you are in my WeChat stock group chat, you may know both are big no-no for me.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance advice and tips

Avoid the traps aka the financial fraud

Reading Time: 3 minutes

(Update 02-16-2026) Scam on rye: The inside story of a $100 million deli fraud – I recall this saga.

(Update 12-30-2025) Reuters – Trump’s funding cuts put America’s consumer watchdog on the brink of collapse. Quote a bit here (below):

Warren said that as a law professor studying bankruptcy she saw that consumer protections were weak and fragmented, and that America needed a single federal agency dedicated to protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive and abusive practices.
“I was stunned by the number of people in financial trouble who had lost a job or got sick but who had also been cheated by one or more of their creditors,” she told Reuters. “For no agency was consumer protection a first priority, it was somewhere between fifth and tenth, which meant there was just no cop on the beat. If the CFPB is not there, people have nowhere to turn when they get cheated.”

Personally, I feel the lack of personal finance knowledge, as well as bad math, are contributing factors for people getting into financial trouble.

(Update 11-08-2025) Couple loses $180,000 from retirement savings after accounts hacked. I suggest avoiding the TastyTrade company mentioned in the article. That’s also one reason I am a bit skeptical of upstart like Robinhood App. It appears though Robinhood has decent security measures in their app.

(Update Dec-16-2024) The fintech company that collapsed and took $90 million of people’s life savings with it: The collapse and bankruptcy of fintech middleman Synapse in May has left more than 100,000 Americans locked out of a collective $90 million of their own money, prompting a class action lawsuit. (I don’t know how much money can be recovered for the victims though).

(Original) One downside of the free speech in this country, is one can hear or see all kinds of shenanigans or “God damned lies” on TV (both network and cables), on radio, and the latest and greatest the social medias.

Examples of financial frauds in America I read today 11-22-2024 Friday:

CNBC: ‘I have no money’: Thousands of Americans see their savings vanish in Synapse fintech crisis : this one has impact to thousands of people. Here is a YouTube video that explains the situation – Yotta Bank & The Problem with Fintech! It’s somewhat to see Joe Rogan and Marc Andreessen talking about this. Note the Synapse was backed by the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. This is confirmed at their website too. Fat cats usually get away in this country, btw. Talk about Marc Andreessen, personally I felt he is full fledge MAGA now (google is marc andreessen maga).

Synapse is a Andreeseen Horowitz company

Google search “treasury department warning on yotta”.

WSJ: ‘I Don’t Know Where to Turn or What to Do.’ His $763,094 Retirement Fund Is in Limbo. subtitle: Richard Whitacre transferred his entire 401(k) into an account offering a ‘guaranteed’ 15.25% return. Will he ever see his money again?

(This probably is rare, but I suggest to avoid it) An investor says he put 98% of his retirement funds in Trump Media stock and won’t bail because Trump has a ‘secret’ plan. Since the Enron and WorldCom debacle, many companies started to remove company stock as an investment choice in 401k plans. Personally I think it’s a wise choice. In fact, I noticed the company I used to work for, Siemens, did divest my Siemens stocks (not a lot), and put it in a target date portfolio. Not all companies are doing that though: e.g., I know Arch Coal (now Arch Resources after the emergence post bankruptcy), used to offer the company stock in its 401k plan – note that stock became useless when it went through bankruptcy about 10 years ago. GE had similar issues: it didn’t go through bankruptcy, but at one time its stock went down a lot before its eventually company split (the original company was split into 3 companies).

中国企业家3千万美元搭上川普 获邀任顾问 : don’t just walk, run away from this guy and World Liberty Financial if you could. I remember Warren Buffett famously said he won’t pay $25 for all of the bitcoins. But he was duped by this 孙宇晨（Justin Sun）guy – when Warren was just trying to raise money for charity.

Major’s Rule Number 1

If something is too good to be true: IT IS A LIE e.g.: ‘guaranteed’ 15.25% return (annually?) – Run not just walk, when you hear this kind of guaranteed return.

Major’s Rule Number 2

Refer to rule number 1

PS: my YT podcast on the same topic, in Mandarin Chinese.

Categories
DIY gadgets Life Tips

DIY via Amazon and YouTube

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I am trying to fix small things myself these days, this is probably true for many other people too.

Replace the cell battery for the car keys

For example, recently I found out the new Car key (new to me anyway, it’s a used 2020 Toyota Camry key, so a few years old in reality), may have some issues, as sometimes although I put it in my pocket or in the car seat, the dashboard will say something like “key not found“. Note this is an electronic key now, basically as long as I have the key in my pocket or nearby, it should do its thing: meaning, I can open the front doors, and when I step on the break, and push the ignition button, the car should start. And if I don’t step on the break and just push the ignition button, the accessories should start (audio, etc). When the battery is low, some of those functions will stop working too. For example, on Mother’s Day evening, it started to rain, in the parking lot, I tried to open the car door via remote, but no luck at first. I tried to open the trunk first, then I was able to open the 1st front door. After I came home, I googled and followed this YouTube video to replace the battery in the remote. For the battery itself, I have some in stock, Amazon Basics 10-Pack CR2032 Lithium Coin Cell Battery, 3 Volt, Long Lasting Power, Mercury-Free*. Before this, I did similar replacements myself for my 2012 Camry and Sienna remote in the past too. The main difference is for newer car keys, we need to use them to start the car indirectly. But It’s done via pressing the button, in other words, if the remote is truly out of battery, we may not be able to start the car (which is a bit like a strand situation, and it’s ideal – update 11-20-2024, I found on YT there is a manual way to do this too).

Headlight in Toyota Sienna

PHILIPS – 12362B2 H11 Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack || Youtube: How to change #Headlight #bulbs in #Toyota #Sienna (btw, always keep your car in top condition that you can afford, this includes the battery, tires and other misc things) || (Update 11-20-2024) I may need to rewrite this part as it’s on Twitter/X, and I no longer actively update on X. Also, the search functionality on X is horrendous.

MacBook Pro right arrow key

Recently I also bought a MacBook right arrow key* and my 13 year old daughter was able to follow along a YouTube video and replace it. She broke the original key first though. She was bored.

Garage Door sensor

Last year or so, I was able to buy the Genie GSTB-R STB-BL Replacement Safety Beams, Black, 2 Pack, Black, one size (GSTB-R)*, and replaced one broken safety beam. I think I got idea from the YouTube as well. This is relatively straightforward for me. I did hire a professional garage door person install the system for me originally, as it was above my head and hands.

GE Refrigerator Ice Maker not working

Ongoing (05-18-2023): the issue was something like this as described in this GE article. I think I am going to replace the ice maker on the fridge. Ordered the aftermarket part* from amazon just now, $55 before tax, it got high ratings and good reviews at Amazon. And here is the YouTube video by “DIY Repairs Now“. I watched it a few times, and I bought the replacement part using the author’s Amazon Associates (update 02-24-2024, all links to normal links now, Amazon invalided my Associates account because I didn’t bring in enough leads in a given duration. They are pretty ruthless, if I may) link as well. The author posted the OEM part in the description for the video too. I compared the price, delivery date and the reviews, and decided to go with the cheaper aftermarket part.

This is a GE 25.6 cu ft refrigerator made in 2007 (model number – PSS26MSWASS). The replacement (a Samsung 27.4 cu ft side by side) starts at about $1,149 at Costco. (Update 05-20-2023) I replaced the old ice maker with the new after market one that I bought from Amazon, and it worked (my wife is happy). The most difficult part is trying to unplug and plug in the electronic cable. I got some ideas from the YouTube video above, at about 1 min 10 seconds (unplug, use a tool, use hand solely was really hard) and 4 minutes 40 seconds mark (plug in). I realized those cables’ ends (6 pins, some are round, some are semi rounds) are not identical, which means we can only plugin via proper directions. Other useful resources: REFRIGERATOR – ICEMAKER DOES NOT FILL WITH WATER (GE again). Please note, I unplugged the electricity during the repair. I did not turn off water as I didn’t know how to do it for the refrigerator.

Note I do have one remaining task, that is to fix the ice dispenser. For that I found a video here: Refrigerator Won’t Dispense Ice – Top 6 Reasons & Fixes – Kenmore, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, GE & more. This is not as straightforward as I need to troubleshoot and determine which part is broken.

*The Amazon links are my own Amazon Associates links. I may earn a small fee but your price at Amazon should be the same regardless you use this link or go directly to Amazon.

(Update 11-26-2023) It seems the GE fridge is giving up today (it gave up probably 2 or 3 days ago, but we realized it today). And we decided to get a new one.

Ironically, I recall Amazon the company has its humble beginning including makes its own desk “How to build your own Amazon door desk“; From Scrappy DIY Desk to Amazon Icon | Amazon News – YouTube.

(Update 02-24-2024) How to replace the battery on a Dyson D8 (YouTube Video). New battery bought on Last purchased Jun 14, 2020 (Amazon). And on Nov 28, 2023 again Amazon. I just put this on thanks to the YT video. I don’t recall last time (around June 2020) how I replaced it, which video I watched etc.

Categories
Fun

Crocs 2.0

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe following is a promotional video for Crocs @ YouTube (the video is family and office friendly).

Categories
Fun

Heelys and Web 2.0

Reading Time: < 1 minuteI did a little “Heelys” search on couple web 2.0 sites. First the flickr, it has 70 pictures; interestly, I searched “Crocs shoes” and it has about 670 photos. I noticed Crocs are everywhere in the stores and malls these days.

(Update 09Feb07) Flickr has 119 pictures as of today.

MySpace, the popular teen blogging site, has a team heelys page. I think this is sponsored by the market dept of the company. The user can join the demo team if he/she is real good. The page has 873 “friends”. This is my first visit to MySpace by the way.

(Update Jan23, 2007) Team Heelys Friend has 1021 friends.

(Update Feb27, 2007) 1104 friends.

YouTube, which generated lots of noise couple months ago when being bought out by Google, has this cool video to demonstrate what you can do with Heelys.

I also saw some knockoff products on eBay. Here is one. Note it titled “heelys style”. It seems to me easier to copy Heelys than Crocs because Crocs uses a special material, while people can copy Heelys mechanism just by analyzing it.

More about knockoff, I read an interesting comment at Zappos, a parent said”my kid worn off the heelys very quickly when learning to heel, should have bought a knockoff one for practice before buying the real stuff”. The real one is at least $59.99. I had to admit I have not bought sports shoes at/above that price…