The Floatplane Club - Introduction Letter (Nov 1, 2016)

[Shay12tg]

You are already using CloudFlare... why don't you configure page rules for videos (set cache level to cache everything) and save 80% of the bandwidth and servers needed and let us have 4K.

if you are worried about other people hijacking the stream URL, you can block all requests using CF's firewall rules and allow specific IP addresses using API at login. also with some JS code you can add a failsafe to the web player in case the IP changes while playing.

You can also put a load balancer behind CF and with very few servers you can stream to a lot of people.

There are many options and configurations that could be cheap, reliable and can give us the service we deserve

 

 

[Centurius]

On 11/26/2016 at 9:39 PM, mmk said:

@nicklmg    @LinusTech

 

Why do i have to create a Paypal account??  Trying to sign up for Float Plane Club and it requires a Paypal account.  I have made many purchases online via Paypal with just a credit card and not needing a Paypal account.

Because it's a subscription.

[AJJaxNet]

13 hours ago, Shay12tg said:

You are already using CloudFlare... why don't you configure page rules for videos (set cache level to cache everything) and save 80% of the bandwidth and servers needed and let us have 4K.

if you are worried about other people hijacking the stream URL, you can block all requests using CF's firewall rules and allow specific IP addresses using API at login. also with some JS code you can add a failsafe to the web player in case the IP changes while playing.

You can also put a load balancer behind CF and with very few servers you can stream to a lot of people.

There are many options and configurations that could be cheap, reliable and can give us the service we deserve

 

 

Cloudflare is by no mean a video CDN with their normal packages. Bandwidth is crazy expensive, so do you really think they would let that kind of usage ? https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200169706-Can-I-use-CloudFlare-with-a-streaming-music-or-video-site-
Streaming isn't free, sadly.

The current system will be able to support 4K easily, we just need to gather some data to estimate the cost. 

[mmk]

5 hours ago, Centurius said:

Because it's a subscription.

I guess that makes sense if you do monthly, too bad that they can't have the option for yearly subscriptions which is what I want to do.  Just manually renew once a year.

[MattS296]

Id be down for a survice like the "rooster teeth first members" like $2.50 a month to see videos early and at a higher bit rate

 

[Vipress28]

Okay, i've been trying to join this thing on a yearly membership option since it was announced and made available, but every time i get to check out instead of bringing up a screen to enter my card info its bringing up a log in screen for pay pal which is something i've never needed, don't have, and don't want to ever need or have.  how do i check out just with my card info like on vessel when i signed up for that?  if that isn't workable then can i send you a check in the mail or a secure log in link to my credit union after i set up Linus Media Group as a payee to have them pay you directly?  i really want to join float plane and support you, i was subscribed on Vessel, i'm subscribed on Twitch, the only channel i'm subscribed to on Twitch, but i really don't want to have to make a pay pal account/login for no reason.

Also the manual update email i received because i was signed up on your google form on November 28th, says that i need to sign up for a mailing list here on the forums to receive future updates... but i don't see a mailing list link anywhere here on the forums and typing mailing list into the search feature didn't bring up anything official/relevant.  So how do i sign up for the mailing list?

Also, thank you for putting this together, the streaming platform you announced on the most recent wan show to replace the cobbled together downloading system sounds amazing so far.

[AlTech]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 5:10 PM, alextulu said:

Maybe you can make it so, that the links periodically change.

yeah or that they expire after a certain period of time.

That would be cool to add.

[desertcomputer]

On 11/27/2016 at 6:39 AM, mmk said:

@nicklmg    @LinusTech

 

Why do i have to create a Paypal account??  Trying to sign up for Float Plane Club and it requires a Paypal account.  I have made many purchases online via Paypal with just a credit card and not needing a Paypal account.

Mostly subscription, i think the features only is available with an account. 

[LinusTech]

1 hour ago, Vipress28 said:

Okay, i've been trying to join this thing on a yearly membership option since it was announced and made available, but every time i get to check out instead of bringing up a screen to enter my card info its bringing up a log in screen for pay pal which is something i've never needed, don't have, and don't want to ever need or have.  how do i check out just with my card info like on vessel when i signed up for that?  if that isn't workable then can i send you a check in the mail or a secure log in link to my credit union after i set up Linus Media Group as a payee to have them pay you directly?  i really want to join float plane and support you, i was subscribed on Vessel, i'm subscribed on Twitch, the only channel i'm subscribed to on Twitch, but i really don't want to have to make a pay pal account/login for no reason.

Also the manual update email i received because i was signed up on your google form on November 28th, says that i need to sign up for a mailing list here on the forums to receive future updates... but i don't see a mailing list link anywhere here on the forums and typing mailing list into the search feature didn't bring up anything official/relevant.  So how do i sign up for the mailing list?

Also, thank you for putting this together, the streaming platform you announced on the most recent wan show to replace the cobbled together downloading system sounds amazing so far.

We are working on more payment options. We'd love to be able to accept everything. 

[TrigrH]

2 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

We are working on more payment options. We'd love to be able to accept everything. 

dogecoin being the up-most priority of course.

[Vipress28]

8 hours ago, LinusTech said:

We are working on more payment options. We'd love to be able to accept everything. 

Thank you for the reply, wasn't really expecting post to even be seen much less replied to.  Visa would be nice if possible.  Is there a mailing list here somewhere like the email I received said to sign up for to receive future updates?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh & while I'm here, loved the recent video featuring both you and Brandon about the Cannon Camera, in my view Brandon should be featured more, he came across very likable and quite professional and you could tell he was interested in the content and it made the video very enjoyable to watch even though i'm not a big camera person/fan usually and don't take many pictures.  I also liked the Nerf Cannon video, and your video about the GPD Win Device.  

Though it's extremely annoying that little device could play all those games while my 3 year old Lenovo Ideapad N580 laptop can't even launch Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel something a friend talked me into trying to play, and doesn't even met the specifications for standard simple mmo games like Guild Wars 2 or Cabal 2.  I tried running Cinebench on it a few weeks ago or so and only one of the two tests would even run on it. It just is aggravating that these days tiny devices i consider nothing but toys like that device or a tablet or smart phone are being made with seemingly better specifications then actual laptops and desktops.  

So glad i finally have a decent quality desktop now.  Going to need to upgrade it i'm sure with a graphics card since it only has Intel HD 530 Graphics, but its 16gb of 2133mhz ddr4 ram and 4 core 8 thread i7 6700 cpu is already helping a lot compared to the Pentium B960 2 core 2 thread cpu in the laptop, and the "Intel Integrated Graphics" that don't even have a version number in sysinfo msconfig or device manager.  Hoping to eventually put a GTX 1070 in the desktop if possible.  

It's an HP ENVY 750-437cb tower with HP Motherboard ID:828A.  I went to the HP forums other day and found someone else already asked if the motherboard could handle a graphics card upgrade...all the other users there were able to dig up in response eventually was an internal hp document detailing possible configurations of that tower before the product was finalized and sent to market, and it didn't really answer the question of whether it was up-gradable or not...well except for the fact every configuration only listed a 300 watt power supply, so i'm guessing the power supply would need upgraded as well since every configuration i've put together on pcpartpicker.com with that kind of graphics card seems to need 450-550 watt psus.

Oh, I found the link...  http://partsurfer.hp.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=X6F91AA   it says the motherboard is this: 

"PC Board

862992-601Motherboard - Odense2, Intel Skylake, H170, WIN"

still may as well be in greek for all it helps...when i tried googling it it just tells me its an HP manufactured board and couldn't really find anything else about it

-----------------------
Edit:
just tested desktop on cinebench.... 55.03fps in Open GL test, 809Cinebench Score for Cpu Test...no idea if those are any good, but system requirements lab still says i can't run guildwars 2 because of not meeting the minimum requirements... due to this "Dedicated Video RAM256 MB128.0 MB"  lol...only having half the required "Dedicated Video RAM"    at least its more then the 32mb of that spec my laptop has, lol, not that it helps anything.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Vipress28
added information

[RocketFarmer]

Wow, one whole month of Float Plane is cheaper than one trip to Starbucks.  At that price we're talking couch money. 

 

Will be interesting to see how this pans out.  Just hope it doesn't become a "Floater". 

[cjavad]

On 23/11/2016 at 7:24 PM, kelvinhall05 said:

OMG that's so cheap! Is it available in Canada?

i am also gaming on a i5 4200u and hd 4400

[kelvinhall05]

6 hours ago, javadMicro150 said:

i am also gaming on a i5 4200u and hd 4400

Which laptop, specifically? I'm using an ASUS UX31l.

[Robbajohn]

Was on vessel for a long time and joined the floatplane day one or two. Loving the service and it keeps getting better. Can we get a higher resolution image of the floatplane logo? Wanted to use it as a wallpaper if it wouldnt be too much trouble. I recently bought an Asus vn248h and moving from 1360x768 to 1080 made my previous login page look awfully stretched and skewed. 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler for inappropriate language.

Spoiler

(actually went back and reread the forum guidelines to see if swearing was expressly mentioned. I loved Pulp Fiction and have had this for years as my login screen, sorry)

[LinusTech]

On 11/30/2016 at 8:27 AM, Vipress28 said:

Thank you for the reply, wasn't really expecting post to even be seen much less replied to.  Visa would be nice if possible.  Is there a mailing list here somewhere like the email I received said to sign up for to receive future updates?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh & while I'm here, loved the recent video featuring both you and Brandon about the Cannon Camera, in my view Brandon should be featured more, he came across very likable and quite professional and you could tell he was interested in the content and it made the video very enjoyable to watch even though i'm not a big camera person/fan usually and don't take many pictures.  I also liked the Nerf Cannon video, and your video about the GPD Win Device.  

Though it's extremely annoying that little device could play all those games while my 3 year old Lenovo Ideapad N580 laptop can't even launch Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel something a friend talked me into trying to play, and doesn't even met the specifications for standard simple mmo games like Guild Wars 2 or Cabal 2.  I tried running Cinebench on it a few weeks ago or so and only one of the two tests would even run on it. It just is aggravating that these days tiny devices i consider nothing but toys like that device or a tablet or smart phone are being made with seemingly better specifications then actual laptops and desktops.  

So glad i finally have a decent quality desktop now.  Going to need to upgrade it i'm sure with a graphics card since it only has Intel HD 530 Graphics, but its 16gb of 2133mhz ddr4 ram and 4 core 8 thread i7 6700 cpu is already helping a lot compared to the Pentium B960 2 core 2 thread cpu in the laptop, and the "Intel Integrated Graphics" that don't even have a version number in sysinfo msconfig or device manager.  Hoping to eventually put a GTX 1070 in the desktop if possible.  

It's an HP ENVY 750-437cb tower with HP Motherboard ID:828A.  I went to the HP forums other day and found someone else already asked if the motherboard could handle a graphics card upgrade...all the other users there were able to dig up in response eventually was an internal hp document detailing possible configurations of that tower before the product was finalized and sent to market, and it didn't really answer the question of whether it was up-gradable or not...well except for the fact every configuration only listed a 300 watt power supply, so i'm guessing the power supply would need upgraded as well since every configuration i've put together on pcpartpicker.com with that kind of graphics card seems to need 450-550 watt psus.

Oh, I found the link...  http://partsurfer.hp.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=X6F91AA   it says the motherboard is this: 

"PC Board

862992-601Motherboard - Odense2, Intel Skylake, H170, WIN"

still may as well be in greek for all it helps...when i tried googling it it just tells me its an HP manufactured board and couldn't really find anything else about it

-----------------------
Edit:
just tested desktop on cinebench.... 55.03fps in Open GL test, 809Cinebench Score for Cpu Test...no idea if those are any good, but system requirements lab still says i can't run guildwars 2 because of not meeting the minimum requirements... due to this "Dedicated Video RAM256 MB128.0 MB"  lol...only having half the required "Dedicated Video RAM"    at least its more then the 32mb of that spec my laptop has, lol, not that it helps anything.

We will, but it will take a while. Having a PayPal (just my opinion) is not a huge deal.. It's useful for LOTS of things and their buyer protection is decent. I use it all the time since it means I don't have to enter my CC information or even my shipping information in the cart since that's all tied to the PP account.

 

Anyway, we still get that some people don't want an account, so we'll work to resolve it in the future, but it's a surprisingly difficult long-term project.

On 12/6/2016 at 0:48 AM, Robbajohn said:

Was on vessel for a long time and joined the floatplane day one or two. Loving the service and it keeps getting better. Can we get a higher resolution image of the floatplane logo? Wanted to use it as a wallpaper if it wouldnt be too much trouble. I recently bought an Asus vn248h and moving from 1360x768 to 1080 made my previous login page look awfully stretched and skewed. 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler for inappropriate language.

  Reveal hidden contents

(actually went back and reread the forum guidelines to see if swearing was expressly mentioned. I loved Pulp Fiction and have had this for years as my login screen, sorry)

Sorry I don't think we'd be able to do that since it's just a quick chop of a Shutterstock image we created in like 5 minutes (we were in a hurry). We're licensed to use it, but not to redistribute it

[TrigrH]

On 06/12/2016 at 7:48 PM, Robbajohn said:

Can we get a higher resolution image of the floatplane logo? 

http://i.imgur.com/LXUR5JZ.png

not sure wtf this is but yeah

[Vipress28]

7 hours ago, LinusTech said:

We will, but it will take a while. Having a PayPal (just my opinion) is not a huge deal.. It's useful for LOTS of things and their buyer protection is decent. I use it all the time since it means I don't have to enter my CC information or even my shipping information in the cart since that's all tied to the PP account.

 

Anyway, we still get that some people don't want an account, so we'll work to resolve it in the future, but it's a surprisingly difficult long-term project.

Sorry I don't think we'd be able to do that since it's just a quick chop of a Shutterstock image we created in like 5 minutes (we were in a hurry). We're licensed to use it, but not to redistribute it

Thank you for the update.  i don't really mind typing in my card info, google forms has it saved in chrome so i just start typing the info in and it auto-completes, but even if the browser didn't do that it isnt much longer to actually get the card out of my wallet and type the information in, not something i really mind.

having tons of accounts i mind..  i already have a forum user account i had to register for and a credit union account savings and checking, paypal is just an extra step and account for no real reason.  i can with draw cash and pay cash, i can write checks, and for online stuff i can use the card since its also a visa card, and if none of those options work my credit union has a bill pay service where they can pay the payee directly or cut them a check.  that service can even be set up to where i enter in a payee information say Linus Media Group and the billing address of Linus Media group and how much i want to pay and set it as a one time or recurring payment, and then the service generates a secure link i could send to Linus Media Group and neither side ever sees the other's information the money only flows one direction and i can set it up as a recurring payment or one-time payment either way.

so i really don't have a need for paypal or even know why anyone has one unless they aren't elligible to have a checking account/bank/credit union account or their bank doesnt have credit/debit cards that can be used online and so they have to use paypal as a substitute. 

i don't even mind paypal being used as a payment method or payment processing vendor.. some of the online games i used to play would list paypal as an option to choose or say that paypal was who was actually processing the payments for them even though it said it was going through some other payment vendor ostensibly..  i just don't see the need to have to log into paypal.

and yeah i'm surprised too, didn't think it would be a long term process to set up when everyone advertises card readers for fitness trainers to accept card payments in the park, cell phones or tablet devices equipped with card readers, guardtrax type units for tracking security guard patrols among other uses that sometimes also come with card readers for clients to immediately pay for their guard services without having to invoice and bill and negotiate payment terms and the guard company have to pay the guards now and then wait 30-90 days to receive payment from the client, just swipe and done...  wouldn't think it would end up being difficult to accept payments online...

especially since in the video that just went up today on youtube a sponsor on it is something called braintree that says it helps websites nad businesses accept cards apple pay android pay anything you can think of by the looks of it, lol.

but yeah if i end up having to i will bite the bullet and just register for paypal even though i really don't want to, i even use the windows 10 mail up so that my msn/microsoft account email my original yahoo email and the two newer gmail addresses i use for second life and video game stuff all go to the same place for convenient reading and organization

just would be nicer to be able to pay with a card like i do at amazon or second life or any other website i've came accross really that has had an online store.  LTT is the first one i've ever came across that you can't pay with a credit card and the only option to pay the site is paypal so was just surprised.

thank you again for the update/reply.

maybe someday techquickie could do a video on how websites/web-based businesses typically get paid or something?  all i know is that its some combination of 128 bit encryption, secure sockets layers, https: capable websites, and visa american express or some 3rd party like paypal handling the actual transactions... and that transactions under a certain amount either can't be done or cost too much to be feasible bc the payment processer/vendor deems them "microtransactions" where the cost of processing the transaction is higher then the amount being transacted.

[Robbajohn]

On 12/9/2016 at 9:54 PM, LinusTech said:

Sorry I don't think we'd be able to do that since it's just a quick chop of a Shutterstock image we created in like 5 minutes (we were in a hurry). We're licensed to use it, but not to redistribute it

Thanks for the reply. I understand the whole licensing thing. Glad to see floatplane is going, seemingly, very well. Stream was a bit slowish yesterday but i hear theres some kind of bug or hardware thing with that and its to be expected when building a new platform from the ground up. Thank you for the continuing great content and privilege to see it early.

On 12/10/2016 at 1:16 AM, TrigrH said:

http://i.imgur.com/LXUR5JZ.png

not sure wtf this is but yeah

THANKS! This works perfect. 

[stormense]

RSS-support?

[Tech_Dreamer]

another one.., Why Linus

 

[grandPotatoe]

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick question. How can someone who knows programming (almost got my degree) help this club get bigger and better? For example bringing this to Kodi and other things. @nicklmg @Slick @LinusTech

[Dcourtade]

Now that I have joined where do I go to access the videos?

[gts250gamer101]

On 11/23/2016 at 0:20 PM, LinusTech said:

Here's a video version of what you're about to read:

 

As of November 1, 2016, Vessel.com - the video platform that you've been using to get early access to videos from Linus Media Group and others - is gone.

There were many people who hated Vessel.com and everything it stood for.. so good for them, I guess.. 

BUT there has also been a surprisingly strong negative reaction to the site's acquisition and removal by Verizon Communications Inc with the main complaints being these:

- I'll be stuck with no new LTT content for a week. BOOO!
- I loved the exclusive member-only comments section. Don't make me go back to YouTube comments!
- I HATE ads, but don't mind a monthly subscription fee if it means I can view the content I enjoy without them.

So.. since we've already got a 1 week buffer of content built up.. without further ado, I present to you, the LTT Floatplane Club - so named because even if it doesn't fly, we'd like to think it won't sink.. We.. will probably have to rename it at some point..

Anyway, the goal of the Floatplane Club is pretty straightforward. We want to deliver everything that was great about the Vessel experience and, given the time constraints, we want to do it as quickly and easily as possible.

So here's what we're offering today:

- DRM-Free downloads for members at 360p and 720p
- Ad free service - No pre-roll ads to suck up your bandwidth
- Exclusive member-only comments section through the LinusTechTips.com forum
- Early access - For now it'll be similar to the Vessel experience (1 week), but the window COULD change, and I can almost guarantee there will be more simultaneous releases for time-sensitive projects than before.

Beyond the initial offering, though I can't promise ALL of these will be available at the same membership level (High bitrate 4K video downloads that would CRUSH our current hosting setup come to mind), here are some things we are considering implementing LOVE to implement in the future:

- A streaming video player
- A sexier watch page
- Realtime chat to make it fun to grab a bag of popcorn and chat with other Floatplane Club members while viewing the latest releases
- 1080p and 4k videos

Linus Tech Tips doesn't take advantage of many community funding initiatives like Patreon, so PART of this move is about replacing the Vessel revenue stream that was so abruptly cut off so we can continue to meet our growth goals for the future - including the new writers we want to hire - but a BIGGER part of it is that it will allow us to FINALLY take control of the communication channel to our audience, allowing us to tell our viewers directly when there's a new video instead of publishing to YouTube and simply hoping it'll land in a subscriber box or two..

So how do I join?

Great question! You join the club by buying a subscription for $3 USD per month at the link in the video description, which unlocks an early access sub-forum on linustechtips.com where we'll be posting download links to our videos at various resolutions until we come up with something more elegant.

We realize that this won't work as well for mobile users, and it doesn't have a slick UI like Vessel did.. but we wanted to get something together fast enough that none of our Vessel viewers would miss their daily fix, and this is what we've got for now.. with our promise to continue to improve it!

Thanks for Reading,
LINUS SEBASTIAN & THE LMG TEAM

 

 

I am just waiting for the Floatplane club to take off, then I will TOTALLY buy!!

[Linksys120n]

10 hours ago, gts250gamer101 said:

I am just waiting for the Floatplane club to take off, then I will TOTALLY buy!!

so you want to watch scrapyard wars on youtube a week after I get to watch it because you don't think that it's already a thing??? FPC is already launched and it's amazing... the quality of the videos is compared closer to that of netflix not youtube (in terms of pixels that is) there are no preroll ads or any of youtubes BS and you get videos early!

 

on top of all that its only like 20 bucks a year in the US...