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  • A SUBtember to Remember!

    Whippersnappers!

    I know, it has been a LONG time since I have written anything on this blog. For a man with so many words and thoughts to shares, opinions for days, I just haven’t been keeping with this thing. So, I am going to try.

    This entry has a point however; SUBtember on Twitch!

    For the past several years, Twitch has held a SUBtember event every year in September. This year is no different (link to their blog here). Starting at 1pm Pacific Time on September first and running through September 30th, Twitch users can take advantage of a discount on new subscriptions to your favorite streamers (of course me)! The Twitch blog states “When you purchase a new subscription to any tier, you will receive: 20% off the first month of new recurring 1-month subscription, 25% off the first 3 months of new recurring 3-month subscription, and 30% off the first 6 months of new recurring 6-month subscription.” In the fine print, Twitch clarified that “Discounts only apply to the first term of new, recurring paid subscriptions or conversion of existing Prime or gift subscriptions to paid subscriptions.” It has to be new. They went on to say that this is “Not applicable to existing recurring subscriptions; to Prime or gift subscriptions that are not being converted to paid; or to new single gift, community gift, team, or custom subscriptions.” They also clarified that these discounts are not available on Twitch mobile apps.

    That out of the way, I would like to take advantage of SUBtember this year and see what we can accomplish. I would like to set a goal of 50 subscribers by 11:59pm Pacific Time on September 30th, 2020. If we are able to achieve this goal, I will conduct a giveaway of multiple items.

    Because I have mainly been streaming Elite:Dangerous, the prizes will be themed as such. The top prize will be a HOTAS system. I have not yet decided on which one but I am trying to either get a hold of a new Logitech X56 or X52 Pro. These systems have become very hard to get a hold of so that may or may not happen. If I am not able to obtain one of these, I will select another, quality, HOTAS for the giveaway. Secondly, I will give away 2 copies of Elite:Dangerous Horizons on Steam to 2 lucky viewers.

    Those of you that have been around the community a while know how giveaways work. For those that don’t know, we base our giveaways on points earned through watching the stream. In order to enter the drawing, you will need to purchase tickets. Each ticket will cost 5,000 channel points. You can purchase up to 20 tickets. To earn points, you must be in chat when the stream is live. You will earn 2 points for every 5 minutes when the stream is live. For a bonus, you will receive a 5x multiplier if your are active in chat within 60 minutes. This means you could earn up to 10 points every 5 minutes if you are active in chat within 60 minutes or 120 points an hour. In addition, a random amount of points between 500 and 1500 are given to everyone in the chat 5 minutes after the stream starts and at the very end of the stream.

    I plan on streaming daily (except Fridays) through September for at least 3 hours Monday through Thursday and for at least 6 hours Saturdays and Sundays (NOTE, I have to teach a Ham Radio license upgrade class the 14th through the 18th so there will be no streams during that time). IF you were to be present for each stream at this rate, and were active in chat once every 60 minutes, you could possibly earn 31,680 points. The start and end giveaways are too hard to guess but that would be counted as well. Additionally, I may (from time to time) give away random points to everyone in chat during the stream.

    To qualify, the following must be met:

    • Channel must be at 50 subscribers or more by 11:59pm Pacific Time Sept 30th, 2020
    • You must be following the channel
    • You must purchase at least 1 ticket to the giveaway with channel points.
    • You must be 18 years or older and reside in the United States or Canada.

    The points on the bot will be reset prior to the first stream on September 1st, 2020 to give everyone the same fair shot.

    I look forward to this giveaway and hope that we can make it. In the case that we do not hit our 50 subscriber goal, we will carry on for another month with the same goal. We will continue to roll this over through December 31st, 2020.

    Hope to see you at the streams!

    Laters,

    g33z3r_hd

  • @Gogo is horrible and @Delta doesn’t care…

    As many of you know, I travel a LOT for work. While in flight, I have work to do including emails and research. I don’t have time to waste just sitting on the plane or sleeping (yes, I do sleep now and again).

    So, I pay nearly 50 dollars a month to Gogo to have internet while I am in flight. It is expensive and the service is horrible.

    Recently, on a flight from Phoenix to Atlanta, I was working and trying to communicate with the world. All of a sudden, my emails stopped sending and I couldn’t surf the internet. After a couple of minutes of messing around, I got a web page saying that Gogo was unavailable with a few reasons why it could be not working.

    Gogo

    Obviously, this made me upset. So, I looked at some things.

    Was I within the coverage area?

    GoGo-Coverage

    Yup.

    Flight Location

    Were we above 10,000 feet?

    Flight Data

    Yuppers!

    So what was the problem? Who knows. I have gotten the feeling that Gogo doesn’t actually care about the quality of service that they provide. The only thing they seem to care about is the over priced, low quality service that they “provide.”

    So, what does Delta have to say? I didn’t talk to anyone about this particular issue but, in the past, I have gotten the response from Delta that they don’t have any control over the internet and that Gogo has complete control over it.

    Now, I understand that in flight internet service is something special and might cost a bit more than home or business internet access. That said, our home and business internet service at least provides speeds that are capable of doing more than simply sending emails.

    There have been many times that I have not been able to load Twitter because of the images that are include. This is sad. We left the age of dial-up speed internet quite a while ago.

    In researching this issue, I have found that Gogo holds a monopoly when it comes to in flight internet. Yes, there are other providers but Gogo has tied the major air carriers into long contracts with no way to get out of them to provide better quality service to their customers.

    American Airlines filed a lawsuit against Gogo in 2016 but subsequently dropped the suit because Gogo was working working with them. I haven’t flown on American Airlines in years so I can’t comment as to service provided on that carrier but if it is anything like Delta, it is unacceptable.

    So, what is the solutiion? Gogo needs to step up and provide high quality internet services to passengers or step aside and let the airlines move to a provider that actually does provide the quality service that the passengers demand and deserve…especially at such high prices.

    laters

    g33z3r

    Don’t forget to follow me on twitter: @g33z3r_hd and on Beam.pro: beam.pro/g33z3r_hd

  • The Whippersnappers have moved to @Beam!

    If you have been away for a while, you probably don’t know – g33z3r_hd has moved his community from Twitch to Beam.

    While this started as an experiment, it quickly became clear that this was the new home.

    Our community has been welcomed with open arms by the Beam community! The FTL (Faster Than Light) technology that Beam uses makes interaction between g33z3r_hd and chat instant and amazing!

    While we are still trying to figure things out, we have made our corner on Beam a little bit more personalized and “ours” as we once did on Twitch.

    This move comes as the Twitch stream was starting to become stagnant. Growth was slow if existent at all on the overcrowded platform. We hold no animosity towards Twitch as a company, Twitch streamers, or Twitch viewers; on the contrary, we hold them in high regard. Without Twitch, the Whippersnapper community would have never grown and become what it is today. Without Twitch, we would not have had the opportunity to meet some VERY amazing people and have some VERY amazing experiences.

    So, if you haven’t done so already, head over to beam.pro/g33z3r_hd and hit that follow button! We are working on making the Whippersnapper community the BEST community on all of Beam!

    I will see you there Whippersnappers! g33Heart

  • Update – Where you been?

    g33z3r, where have you been?

    I am getting asked this a lot lately, and, to be honest, I just haven’t been here.

    With the decline in the channel, I decided to put streaming on the back burner and not stress myself out worrying about it.  Honestly, even though I haven’t been streaming much, I have been thinking about it a LOT and what I can do to provide unique and entertaining content.  I want each and every viewer to have fun in our community and I want that for myself as well.  I know that, if I am not having fun…nobody is!  So, that is where my mind is at.

    On top of the declining stream numbers, I have just had a lot going on in my life.  I am trying really hard to get myself straightened away and get myself to a point where I am happy…it is a VERY hard task.  I have been focusing on spending more time with friends IRL and just trying to get out of the house more often (Pokemon GO has helped a lot but I am starting to get tired of it tbh).  I plan to focus more on my health (I have actually been taking my bp medication again) as well.  That is almost as hard for me…shit, I just realized I forgot to take my pills this morning o.O

    Anyhow, I am going to make a full return at some point…when the time is right.  In the meantime, I will stream occasionally when I get the overwhelming urge to do so.  If you have ideas for a unique and entertaining stream, I would love to hear them!  Please let me know!

    I will be live TONIGHT starting around 7pm Eastern time.  See you there! twitch.tv/g33z3r_hd

    Laters!

    g33z3r

  • #vaping – PopDeez by Steep Vapors

    Do you like popcorn?  If you do, ermehger!

    So, today, I was out doing work type things and ended up dropping my Snow Wolf 200W with my Kanger Subtank Plus on the ground…freshly filled with succulent Jazzy Boba.  That SUCKED!  So, I headed off to my local vape shop to get another tank…because I was all together too impatient and #lazy to wait until I got home to just replace the glass.  SO after taking care of the not having a vape in a while, we started talking juice…as I am sure EVERY visit to the vape shop ends up on for everyone that vapes.

    After talking about what I was looking for and what I was tired of, I decided to give PopDeez by Steep Vapor a taste.

    What they Say:

    Our Pop Deez reminded us so much of the past, we had to do a parody with the packaging.  Inside each box, you will find a 30ml bottle of our awesome caramel popcorn flavor ejuice.  Along with it, you will also find a vape surprise, ranging anywhere from drip tips, tanks, drippers, mods, a Vegas trip and more!  So, #whatsinyourbox?

    I couldn’t find any information on the PG/VG content for Pop Deez

    What I Say

    When I first tried this juice, I fully expected to taste Cracker Jacks (the flavor they are eluding to in the description without saying…and based on their packaging), I didn’t.  What I DID get was awesome non-the-less.  The popcorn along with a light buttery flavor was immense!  I could actually imagine myself having a mouthful of tasty popcorn in my mouth…minus the texture of course!  There is a VERY slight caramel flavor but it is very light, to the point of almost not being there…but that didn’t bother me at all.  It was very pleasant.

    Overall

    If you like popcorn, I would VERY MUCH recommend you give Pop Deez by Steep Vapors a shot, I think you will enjoy it.  Oh yeah, and the answer to #whatsinyourbox for me?  I got a Steep Vapors sticker that quickly got plastered on the front of my Snow Wolf!

     

    Laters!

    g33z3r_hd

  • #Vaping – New Juice!

    Alright, so I am going to start doing this here.  I am going to start reviewing the vape related things that I pick up or use from time to time.

    Today, I picked up two new flavors of juice; Dream by Charlie’s Chalk Dust and Goon Drips by #Vapegoons.  These are my thoughts…

     

    Charlie’s Chalk Dust – Dream

    Alright, this juice is something else.  It comes in a black dripper bottle (like all Charlie’s Chalk Dust liquids) and is very well marked.  The bottle label is minimalist but artistically well done.  Being that I am VERY partial to the color black, they score high marks with me on this front.  But, packaging is one thing, how does it taste?

    What THEY Say
    The description of the juice from Charlie’s Chalk Dust is this: A rich vanilla cream with hints of fudge and notes of cinnamon.  It has a 60 VG 40 PG ratio.

    What I Say
    As I sit here and write this, I am vaping on this flavor.  I am using my Joytech Evic VT60 in temp control mode with a Nickel coil at .2 Ohms.  I am firing at 550 degrees Fahrenheit.  With each inhale, I get a light vanilla flavor.  On exhale, the flavors of vanilla and fudge are much more pronounced and the aroma is that of fudge.  Personally, I don’t detect any cinnamon flavor or aroma at any point in the vape.  Upping the temperature to 600 degrees, I can tell that I have gone too high.  At 500 degrees, the vape is MUCH cooler and the flavor is even more pronounced than at 550 degrees.  I still don’t get any cinnamon flavors however.

    Overall
    The name dream is very fitting for this juice.  The flavor is very subtle and the vape is very smooth, almost like one would think of a dream.  That said, the flavor is a bit muted for my taste and could use a bit of a boost, especially in the cinnamon department.  When I picked up this juice, I was looking for a cinnamon flavor; this juice does not fit that bill.  Regardless, it is a nice flavor.

     

    #Vapegoons – Goon Drip

    As I said, when I was looking for new flavors today, I was looking for cinnamon.  The guys at my favorite local vape shop recommended that I give Goon Drip a shot.  It comes in a glass dripper bottle with straight forward labeling.  The bottle is clear with a black label with Goon Drip in red, drippy lettering.

    What THEY Say
    The description of the juice from #Vapegoons is this: Take a big scoop of this delicious Golden Graham Cereal.  Perfect for your morning vape.  I couldn’t find any information on the PG/VG content.

    What I Say
    For this juice, I have it in my Kanger Subtank Mini with a .5 Ohm coil.  I have found that I enjoy vaping this juice in power mode at around 50 watts, again on my Joytech Evic VT60.  The first time I vaped this juice, I couldn’t help but smile.  The thought of Golden Graham Cereal was honestly what entered my mind.  On inhale, the flavor is very subtle.  The cinnamon is there but it isn’t overwhelming.  On exhale, that is when the magic happens for me!  Between the flavor and the aroma, I am sucked into the world of Golden Graham Cereal to the point that I want to go and get a big bowl and chow down.  The cinnamon flavor is well defined but not too strong and I can almost taste the crunch of the cereal.

    Overall
    I absolutely LOVE this juice.  Until now, I have been a juice junkie…going from flavor to flavor with a new favorite every day; that ends with this juice as I have a new daily vape.  Don’t change a thing, it is amazing…GIVE ME MORE!

     

    So there ya have it.  Goon Drip is the winner in my mind for today!  Coming soon, I should be getting a new mod, the Snow Wolf 200 Watt, and I will give my opinion of that once I have used it for a bit.

    If there is a juice that you would like me to give a shot, let me know or send me a bottle.  I vape at 10mg of nicotine so that is where all my juices are.

     

    Later…

    g33z3r_hd