Keystone Nyan Cat

Fake phones and how to spot them. Fake S23 Ultras and iPhones are being sold through buying-selling platforms like Offerup, FB marketplace, and Craigslist. These are complete with replica sealed boxes and almost 1:1 physically matching phones and software. (photo of a fake vs. real S23 Ultra; the only noticeable physical difference is the uncentered S-Pen placement) 

 
I've linked two videos below that show what to look out for, but unless you're buying a black light to shine on these boxes; it's impossible to tell a fake vs. real iPhone without opening up the box and inspecting things like the camera.  
 
Figured this could make a potentially interesting expose; exploring where they come from, as well as serve as a PSA to raise awareness of these scams.

Fake S23 Ultra:

Fake iPhone 15 Pro Max:
 
Backdrop- Samsung Unpacked is happening in ~2 weeks and I figured there'd be some great deals as folks are looking to upgrade their S23s for S24s (wanted to replace my trusty 6 year old phone). I came across deals that were too good to be true, and after a bit of research, they were. 

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

This is the first LTT video I'm reporting, and I'd encourage others to do the same. The thumbnail is blatantly misrepresentative of what the video actually is- the Steam Deck isn't shown at any point throughout the video, nor is them torrenting a game on it. I thought the video would showcase them emulating games on the deck- and wouldn't have clicked on the video in its current state where it's showing how to rip games and saves off NES catridges.

Request- can the video they are reacting to be linked in the description on YouTube please? I know it's easy to look up, but having something easily clickable would be nice.

Request- can the video they are reacting to be linked in the description on YouTube please? I know it's easy to look up, but having something easily clickable would be nice.

Request- can the video they are reacting to be linked in the description on YouTube please? I know it's easy to look up, but having something easily clickable would be nice.

Request- can the video they are reacting to be linked in the description on YouTube please? I know it's easy to look up, but having something easily clickable would be nice.

Request- can the video they are reacting to be linked in the description on YouTube please? I know it's easy to look up, but having something easily clickable would be nice.

The Meshify 2 Compact and Define 7 Compact are 210mm wide, 0.45 mm over 8.25".
 
Silverstone Fara R1 and B1 are 207mm wide. Not great cable management.

Oh, and heres another one- My friend has one of those Retina display macs and I tell him that my computer has a 670 and it can play BF3 and stuff. He tell me this-
 
I have a Retina display. I too can play BF3 on ultra.
 
*facepalm*

If you are wondering what happens when the WAN show raids someone, and how that channel is impacted long term, I wrote an article discussing just that!
https://blog.gamesight.io/analyzing-twitch-raid-impact-on-viewership/
 
The key takeaway is while most raids may not change a channel's momentum, the LTT raid quite the positive impact on PlantyTime's momentum. Her ACV went from ~5 to ~60 after the raid, which is actually high enough to quality joining the Twitch Partner program. 

 
I work as a data engineer for a videogame marketing analytics startup in Seattle. One Friday evening, as I was microwaving some dinner while watching the WAN show, I noticed Luke and Linus had us raid PlantyTime's stream. A few weeks later- I found myself writing a series of articles around different metrics used in the field of marketing to assess which influencer to work with. When it came time to write about how these metrics behave when there's a large, albeit temporary influx of viewership from a Twitch raid- it felt only right to write about that raid since I was a part of it, and well- I was curious. The article (well, series of articles within that link) breakdown measures like the three different kinds of viewership on Twitch, viewer-hours, average concurrent viewership, and more.
 
Aside, but I cannot thank LinusTechTips enough- I've been following them for a better part of a decade at this point. I built my first computer in high school thanks to them, which prompted me to fly halfway across the world to study computer science for my undergraduate degree. I graduated last year, and found myself working here; none of this would be possible if I hadn't come across your videos back in the day on building computers/ unboxings (remember those?), and content around technology which lit a fire within me. I'm unsure if this goes against any community ToS; if it does- my apologies. I just wanted to share an article I wrote which I thought may be interesting to share over here. 
 
 
 
 
 

If you are wondering what happens when the WAN show raids someone, and how that channel is impacted long term, I wrote an article discussing just that!
https://blog.gamesight.io/analyzing-twitch-raid-impact-on-viewership/
 
The key takeaway is while most raids may not change a channel's momentum, the LTT raid quite the positive impact on PlantyTime's momentum. Her ACV went from ~5 to ~60 after the raid, which is actually high enough to quality joining the Twitch Partner program. 

 
I work as a data engineer for a videogame marketing analytics startup in Seattle. One Friday evening, as I was microwaving some dinner while watching the WAN show, I noticed Luke and Linus had us raid PlantyTime's stream. A few weeks later- I found myself writing a series of articles around different metrics used in the field of marketing to assess which influencer to work with. When it came time to write about how these metrics behave when there's a large, albeit temporary influx of viewership from a Twitch raid- it felt only right to write about that raid since I was a part of it, and well- I was curious. The article (well, series of articles within that link) breakdown measures like the three different kinds of viewership on Twitch, viewer-hours, average concurrent viewership, and more.
 
Aside, but I cannot thank LinusTechTips enough- I've been following them for a better part of a decade at this point. I built my first computer in high school thanks to them, which prompted me to fly halfway across the world to study computer science for my undergraduate degree. I graduated last year, and found myself working here; none of this would be possible if I hadn't come across your videos back in the day on building computers/ unboxings (remember those?), and content around technology which lit a fire within me. I'm unsure if this goes against any community ToS; if it does- my apologies. I just wanted to share an article I wrote which I thought may be interesting to share over here. 
 
 
 
 
 

If you are wondering what happens when the WAN show raids someone, and how that channel is impacted long term, I wrote an article discussing just that!
https://blog.gamesight.io/analyzing-twitch-raid-impact-on-viewership/
 
The key takeaway is while most raids may not change a channel's momentum, the LTT raid quite the positive impact on PlantyTime's momentum. Her ACV went from ~5 to ~60 after the raid, which is actually high enough to quality joining the Twitch Partner program. 

 
I work as a data engineer for a videogame marketing analytics startup in Seattle. One Friday evening, as I was microwaving some dinner while watching the WAN show, I noticed Luke and Linus had us raid PlantyTime's stream. A few weeks later- I found myself writing a series of articles around different metrics used in the field of marketing to assess which influencer to work with. When it came time to write about how these metrics behave when there's a large, albeit temporary influx of viewership from a Twitch raid- it felt only right to write about that raid since I was a part of it, and well- I was curious. The article (well, series of articles within that link) breakdown measures like the three different kinds of viewership on Twitch, viewer-hours, average concurrent viewership, and more.
 
Aside, but I cannot thank LinusTechTips enough- I've been following them for a better part of a decade at this point. I built my first computer in high school thanks to them, which prompted me to fly halfway across the world to study computer science for my undergraduate degree. I graduated last year, and found myself working here; none of this would be possible if I hadn't come across your videos back in the day on building computers/ unboxings (remember those?), and content around technology which lit a fire within me. I'm unsure if this goes against any community ToS; if it does- my apologies. I just wanted to share an article I wrote which I thought may be interesting to share over here. 
 
 
 
 
 

If you are wondering what happens when the WAN show raids someone, and how that channel is impacted long term, I wrote an article discussing just that!
https://blog.gamesight.io/analyzing-twitch-raid-impact-on-viewership/
 
The key takeaway is while most raids may not change a channel's momentum, the LTT raid quite the positive impact on PlantyTime's momentum. Her ACV went from ~5 to ~60 after the raid, which is actually high enough to quality joining the Twitch Partner program. 

 
I work as a data engineer for a videogame marketing analytics startup in Seattle. One Friday evening, as I was microwaving some dinner while watching the WAN show, I noticed Luke and Linus had us raid PlantyTime's stream. A few weeks later- I found myself writing a series of articles around different metrics used in the field of marketing to assess which influencer to work with. When it came time to write about how these metrics behave when there's a large, albeit temporary influx of viewership from a Twitch raid- it felt only right to write about that raid since I was a part of it, and well- I was curious. The article (well, series of articles within that link) breakdown measures like the three different kinds of viewership on Twitch, viewer-hours, average concurrent viewership, and more.
 
Aside, but I cannot thank LinusTechTips enough- I've been following them for a better part of a decade at this point. I built my first computer in high school thanks to them, which prompted me to fly halfway across the world to study computer science for my undergraduate degree. I graduated last year, and found myself working here; none of this would be possible if I hadn't come across your videos back in the day on building computers/ unboxings (remember those?), and content around technology which lit a fire within me. I'm unsure if this goes against any community ToS; if it does- my apologies. I just wanted to share an article I wrote which I thought may be interesting to share over here. 
 
 
 
 
 

TL;DR- Friendly, quick-to reply customer service coupled with timely updates, shipping and communication for orders- FastTech has been an uneventful shopping experience- just how it should be for shopping for computers and gets my endorsement.
 
Order History (time in PST): (I cannot confirm nor deny any actions, conversations, or correspondences that may or may not have happened below for obvious reasons):
18th July, 12:06PM: Created FastTech account
19th July, 11:52AM: Placed Order for Xiaomi Notebook Pro w/ DHL Express Shipping, gift-wrapping, and hardbox packaging 
22nd July, 8:15PM: Contacted by FastTech to whether I wanted to change the declared value on the package; their message (email and ticket on their site) said if I didn't reply back in 24 hours, the package would be shipped with its true vale.
23rd July, 7:45AM: Replied back asking the declared value of the package to $400 (value of Xiaomi's cheapest notebook)
23rd July, 7:16PM: Followed up with FastTech's live chat about an update about changing the packages declared value since I hadn't heard back from their support yet, and was nervous about it shipping with a declared value of over $1,000. Was told that their colleague would look into it as soon as possible.
23rd July, 8:34PM: Received confirmation that the order would be shipped with my asked value.
24th July, 5:53AM: Received order shipping confirmation (tracking number not working though; website asked waiting for 2 days for it to activate though)
25th July, 6:46PM: Received updated tracking number via email and support ticket; my orders page was updated with a picture of the package and tracking number.
27th July, 10:10AM: Received by me.
 
Pictures of Packaging: https://imgur.com/a/kAxDqI7
Proof of Purchase: https://imgur.com/a/qe4pD6l
 
Notes on packaging: 
When initially opening the package- I wished there was more bubble wrap around the inside box, but given the laptop box itself was enclosed in soft packaging foam- it wouldn't have helped a lot anyways in hindsight and would only serve to increase the already expensive shipping costs. There was a minor dent in the exterior packaging, but but the innermost box for the notebook itself was undamaged. The notebook box itself still had it's original shrink wrap on and security stickers- it was brand new There was some odor when opening the box, but the actual package enclosed in shrink wrap was odor free. For $1.50, the hard box and gift wrapping was well worth it; moreso since if opened by customs- gifts are usually not dutied at all. The above is as objective and factual as I can get it to be, that all said, if you want to hear more about my experience as I delve into the subjective, read on!
 
Why did I not want to choose FastTech
Little to no customer reviews nor shopping experiences on high end electronics purchases. Website looked outdated/ sketchy with unmatched fonts and styles Missing as a recommended seller under the r/Xiaomi wiki  
Why did I choose FastTech?
Some subreddits (mostly those around ecigs and vaping of all places, with some scattered posts on tech ones) held their customer service among the best in the industry for imports from China- both in responsiveness and professionalism. This was the biggest reason atleast for me for going through with them- I wanted someone to have my back incase something went wrong and not have to deal bad customer service with weeks in CS replies for shipping delays, damaged goods, etc.; and atleast from what I read- that wouldn't be the case with them, which was a huge relief over others like GearBest whom were plagued with horror stories around delays and non-responsiveness. Their return policies were far better than GearBest, BangGood, Aliexpress and I could pay through PayPal- if something went wrong and if they refused to cooperate- I could go through PayPal. I mean, to quote their website- "FastTech reimburses return shipping charges. Contact us for a RMA, within 5 days of delivery, and ship products back via the least expensive method."; aka- they cover back a 100% of shipping fees during that 5 day return window.  Comparable price to GearBest, BangGood, and Aliexpress (not really a shopping factor for me; $25-50 here or there is a bit trivial when you're paying $1,000+ for a laptop), I'd rather pay more for better CS. They may or may not offer changing the value of packages that they ship as well as gift wrapping them, which means paying little to nothing at all in customs duty. I read horror stories of people being charged over $200 for duties which would be crazy expensive for a laptop, so this, if true, would also have been a strong reason for me going through with them. Their policies said they would work as a middleman between the customer and Xiaomi itself if anything goes wrong after 6 months and up until a year after the order date to fix the device.  
Other notes:
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my experience- it was uneventful and required minimal input from me after placing my order- just like how anything that was ordered online should be. Atleast from my experience with them- I feel confident recommending them to others and they're definitely going to be my go-to for ordering products in the future if the need to do so arises again. From staff that replied in quite literally hours in legible/ clear English to actually adding a photo of the box as it shipped- buying from them has been a really stress-free experience.

I'm staying relatively closeby; I'd love to meet up too!

Source- https://store.steampowered.com/valveindex
 

 
Steam has a landing page up for their new VR headset and controller package, dubbed the "Valve Index". Pre-orders go live on May 1st, 2019 (tomorrow)
 
FEATURES
The headset features (price $499)-
Dual Front cameras with pass-through (Valve says computer vision possibilities) 1440x1600 RGB LCD (not OLED) screens  120Hz refresh rates, with an experimental 144Hz mode low persistence with reduced illumination period of 0.330ms to 0.530ms  20° more FOV than the HTC Vive Canted optics- The headset’s displays cant outward by 5 degrees- improving the outer FOV. Built in no-ear-contact headset Quick-swap antimicrobian face pads  
The controller features-
87 sensors to track hand position, finger position, motion, and pressure Squeeze-ability- The controller body is a grip input, with built-in force sensors Trackpad- The oval button on the face has force and capacitive sensors 7+ hour battery life (batteries don't appear user replaceable) Note- listed compatibility only for Vive, Vive Pro, and Valve Index headset The base station features-
Laser tracking at 100hz 7m range at 160º x 115º FOV Note- listed compatibility only for Vive Pro and Valve Index, NOT base Vive/Rift.  
PRICING
There are 5 brackets/packages-
$999- Entire Package (2x base station, controller, headset) $749- Headset + controller (backwards compatible with Vive/Vive Pro base stations) $499- Headset $279- Controller $149- Base Station  
My take-This is competitive with the Vive Pro- but doesn't seem to "stand out" in a meaningful way. At over the twice the price of gen-1 VR headsets (Vive, Rift), and about $200 more expensive than the Vive Pro- I'm concerned about how well it will perform; this device is probably best intended for people already with VR headsets and disposable income to upgrade to try something with higher specs. It's also unknown if the controllers will work with the Rift at the moment. They're only listed as having support for the Vive and Index at the moment. Also, given the higher resolution + higher refresh rate- I'll be surprised if the minimum of a 970 will be able to drive this. I'll update this with more articles and content as I find it- I remember reading that Oculus said there's a reason why they're not going to "gen 2", and I think that'd be an interesting read to go along with this story.
 
Here's the article (RoadToVR)- on why Oculus says there isn't a Rift 2 or Pro yet- TL;DR is every VR user wants something different- higher resolution screens, full body tracking, wireless, etc.- these add costs, complicate things, or aren't cross-compatible (higher resolution + wireless); and when everything's included- the device will cost ~$3k. Oculus' goal is to bring as many people into VR with the Rift S as opposed to a Rift 2 that would make some people happy, but fragment development and consumers. They will launch a Rift 2 when they can bring costs down and when enough people have adopted VR and there are enough people ready to move onto a Gen 2.

Source- https://store.steampowered.com/valveindex
 

 
Steam has a landing page up for their new VR headset and controller package, dubbed the "Valve Index". Pre-orders go live on May 1st, 2019 (tomorrow)
 
FEATURES
The headset features (price $499)-
Dual Front cameras with pass-through (Valve says computer vision possibilities) 1440x1600 RGB LCD (not OLED) screens  120Hz refresh rates, with an experimental 144Hz mode low persistence with reduced illumination period of 0.330ms to 0.530ms  20° more FOV than the HTC Vive Canted optics- The headset’s displays cant outward by 5 degrees- improving the outer FOV. Built in no-ear-contact headset Quick-swap antimicrobian face pads  
The controller features-
87 sensors to track hand position, finger position, motion, and pressure Squeeze-ability- The controller body is a grip input, with built-in force sensors Trackpad- The oval button on the face has force and capacitive sensors 7+ hour battery life (batteries don't appear user replaceable) Note- listed compatibility only for Vive, Vive Pro, and Valve Index headset The base station features-
Laser tracking at 100hz 7m range at 160º x 115º FOV Note- listed compatibility only for Vive Pro and Valve Index, NOT base Vive/Rift.  
PRICING
There are 5 brackets/packages-
$999- Entire Package (2x base station, controller, headset) $749- Headset + controller (backwards compatible with Vive/Vive Pro base stations) $499- Headset $279- Controller $149- Base Station  
My take-This is competitive with the Vive Pro- but doesn't seem to "stand out" in a meaningful way. At over the twice the price of gen-1 VR headsets (Vive, Rift), and about $200 more expensive than the Vive Pro- I'm concerned about how well it will perform; this device is probably best intended for people already with VR headsets and disposable income to upgrade to try something with higher specs. It's also unknown if the controllers will work with the Rift at the moment. They're only listed as having support for the Vive and Index at the moment. Also, given the higher resolution + higher refresh rate- I'll be surprised if the minimum of a 970 will be able to drive this. I'll update this with more articles and content as I find it- I remember reading that Oculus said there's a reason why they're not going to "gen 2", and I think that'd be an interesting read to go along with this story.
 
Here's the article (RoadToVR)- on why Oculus says there isn't a Rift 2 or Pro yet- TL;DR is every VR user wants something different- higher resolution screens, full body tracking, wireless, etc.- these add costs, complicate things, or aren't cross-compatible (higher resolution + wireless); and when everything's included- the device will cost ~$3k. Oculus' goal is to bring as many people into VR with the Rift S as opposed to a Rift 2 that would make some people happy, but fragment development and consumers. They will launch a Rift 2 when they can bring costs down and when enough people have adopted VR and there are enough people ready to move onto a Gen 2.

In an earlier WAN/live show, Linus spoke about a thread on the LTT forum where people were taking a dump on something someone already bought and making them feel bad- in effect- buyers remorse. I can't seem to find it, can anyone link it if they can find it please?
 
PS- special request- there was a really old WAN/live show where Linus spoke about how his old Sony camera was a free pass into skipping lines and stuff because of how big it was which meant companies thought they were a new/ publication agency. Can't find that one either.

Nice! When the page initially loaded at 12:00, they only showed the 4:00 and 4:45 slots; I imagine the groups going to be running on Madrinas at that point :3