Fun Friday: Non-Hacker YouTube Channels for Hackers
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash
Recently there was a story in the news about how the Earth’s core has stopped spinning, and even started spinning backwards. If you read the entire article, things are clarified as the article eventually states that the inner core is only spinning slightly slower than it was, and that there is nothing disastrous occurring. But other news sites picked things up based upon the attention-grabbing headlines. I found out about it via SMS from a concerned friend who sent me the link, and after reading it I said “no, read all of the article” and they replied “I did”. Later that week I pointed them at a YouTube video for more perspective. After watching the video, they are hooked on that YouTube channel and said “Wow! What other interesting YouTube channels do you follow?”
As a hacker/tech/nerd/Infosec person, I follow the usual computer and hacker-related channels, but I do have a few slightly different channels I follow that my fellow hackers might like. I’ll skip specific genres that are pure hobbyist areas (woodworking, djent bands, and so on) and touch on the ones that somehow still seem related to that hacker mindset.
Note that some of the hosts of these channels might be annoying to you (not to me), or make stupid jokes that are not that funny (funny to me though), but I enjoy the content. All of these channels have large subscriber bases and the videos are extremely well produced. Here are a few categories I’ve selected with a few links for each.
Home Repair
I am a homeowner, and I have learned over the course of many years how to do a lot of my own repairs and upgrades, and I find it rather enjoyable. In some cases I save money, in other cases I learn something. These videos help.
Everyday Home Repairs - Scott owns several rental properties and Airbnb locations, and does a lot of his own repairs to save money. Very thorough, and an extremely good resource.
Fix This House - Jay has a practical channel with many great videos that have been a great resource.
Gadgets
I love learning about new gadgets, including reviews. Excluding the techno hacker computer channels, here are a couple that are pretty neat.
Jon Gadget - Jon used to be shop owner that sold gadgets, now he reviews them. I’ve discovered a lot of interesting things to carry on my person or in a laptop bag thanks to this channel.
Smart Home Solver - Reed breaks my list by not being bald. Lots of nerdy smart home gadgets are tested, reviewed, and implemented.
Art Related
Here are a couple of channels I follow that are technical in their own way, but much more artistic.
Dami Lee - Dami breaks my list by not being male. The channel is mainly about Dami’s work as an architect, she covers some advanced topics at times, and the content is fascinating.
Nerdforge - Martina and Hansi have a great channel, although it is mainly Martina’s creativity we see at work, as she is hella skilled and rather entertaining.
Solar Energy and Related Areas
If you’ve followed me at all, you know I’m really into renewable energy topics. Here are a couple of channels I enjoy along those lines.
Undecided - Matt brings us back to baldness. He covers renewables, and doesn’t just talk the talk but walks the walk. One of my favorites on this list.
Ben Sullins - Ben does a lot of reviews, from electric vehicles to his renewable resources at his house. Again, he walks the walk. A great resource.
Science and Engineering
I love science and learning about science, and YouTube has some great resources for getting scientific and engineering knowledge that is both fun and engaging.
Physics Girl - Although Dianna hasn’t put out a video in a while (she’s currently suffering from long Covid) there is a great catalog here. Many advanced concepts are explained in ways that an average person can grasp and understand.
Practical Engineering - Grady is our last bald male on the list. He’s a civil engineer who covers a lot of science related to engineering for construction, and it is especially interesting when he covers engineering failures that have happened. Like most of the others on this list, there is a lot of explanations for normals that is fascinating.
Sabine Hossenfelder - Sabine’s channel covers science news on a weekly basis, and does detailed videos on various topics related to science. Remember me saying earlier it was me sharing a video that explained the whole Earth core thing that started this list? It was one of Sabine’s videos.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my list and that I’ve given you something halfway decent to watch to help you learn as well as keep you entertained!
