Steve Lookner of the Lookner channel on YouTube has created a live stream video entitled “Best Toothpastes - LIVE Review!":

The video features Steve in the bathroom of his apartment. It’s a slightly awkward place to live stream from, as in order to view viewer live chat comments or see where he is in the video frame, he has to use his iPad.

He talks about the toothpaste he used to use, Aim. He says he used it while growing up, and liked the taste, but eventually stopped using it. He also says he used Colgate Total for a while.

Steve moves on to talking about what is the best toothpaste, in his opinion. About five years ago he went to the dentist, and get a trial tube of Arm & Hammer CompleteCare toothpaste. He liked it, and has continued to use it since. Steve doesn’t know if his mouth is actually cleaner after using it, but he thinks it is. He mentions the toothpaste feels kind of grainy.

Steve shows that he has several different Arm & Hammer toothpastes, and states that he likes Arm & Hammer CompleteCare and AdvanceWhite the most. He points out that there’s no rule that says you can only have one toothpaste at a time. He currently has four different ones that he switches between, and he also points out that you can multiple flavors of mouthwash, too.

One thing he likes about baking soda toothpaste is the grainy feeling, and that it’s not as “sweet” as some other toothpastes may taste.

Since it’s a review live stream, he decides to show the toothpaste in action. He uses his electric toothbrush, and starts with the Arm & Hammer CompleteCare toothpaste. He shows himself brushing his teeth, up close to the camera, for about 30 seconds, and then rises his mouth. Steve shows his teeth, so the viewers can judge the result for themselves.

Steve shows the tree Arm & Hammer toothpastes he has, and describes the different specializations according to the product packaging. He’s not sure if they actually do anything differently, and he says that the active ingredient listed for all is the same. Maybe only the taste is different.

To keep the review fair and realistic, he decides to eat some bread between trials to make his mouth dirty again.

Next he proceeds to demonstrating the Arm & Hammer AdvanceWhite toothpaste. Again, he puts some on his electric toothbrush, brushes for about 30 seconds close to the camera, rinses, and shows the audience so they can see the result.

Those two are his favorites. He says he uses CompleteCare at night, and AdvanceWhite during the day. He doesn’t like the taste of DentalCare as much, as despite buying some on sale, he doesn’t plan on buying any more once what he has has been used up. Steve also points out that it’s the winterfresh flavor of AdvanceWhite that he likes, and suggests that it may be hard to find.

He also talks briefly about Crest Complete, with Scope. He would sometimes use it while on the go. It can be used if you want to change things up.

Steve proceeds to catch up on viewer comments that have accumulated in the live chat, reading some out loud. One viewer suggests to investigate the colored stripe on the toothpaste tube and what it means. Steve looks it up, and the marking appears to be related to the packaging machinery and where to cut the tubes.

He talks about some other topics such as how he has to return some bad celery to the grocery store, and how to film in his apartment’s bathroom he’s using the 32-foot long USB cable that he normally uses with his webcam when he’s filming in his apartment’s kitchen area. Steve also checks if live captions are enabled for the live streams, but they don’t appear to be, even though the other videos have captions.

Steve wraps up by thanking various viewers. At around 40 minutes long, this live stream ended up being shorter than some of his other streams, which can exceed two hours!

I think that this was a fun and silly stream. If you don’t like to see somebody brush their teeth up-close, then this probably isn’t the video for you! That said, I also think that this video shows Steve’s creativity with creating content.

• Karl

The Lookner channel on YouTube features a new live stream video entitled “Got Haircut AND Returned Microphone! (Live Breaking Lookner News)":

The video starts with Steve wearing a winter hat to hide his hair, presumably because he’s gotten a haircut, like he had been talking about needing in other videos, and will reveal it later in the video. He shows how he figured out how to use YouTube cards to add links to other videos, and demonstrates this by playing one of his earlier views that now has a card.

Steve mentions that one time after college, he died his hair blond, and might do a stream about it. He says that if he got enough financial support, he’ll consider dying his hair again. He also mentions that he’s planning Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve live streams on his other Agenda-Free TV YouTube channel.

The background of the video alternates between two short videos of Atlanta filmed by Steve on his phone while running errands. One shows the haircutting establishment where he got his hair cut, and the other shows the Amazon store where he returned the microphone he unboxed earlier but noticed some problems with.

Steve talks about feeling productive after getting the two errands done. His sleep schedule is unusual due to news sometimes happening at night, which can make running errands during the day more difficult.

While running errands, he also stopped to check his PO box. He got a yellow notification card, but the reason for getting it isn’t checked off on the card! The post office was too busy for him to deal with it at the time, so he might do another video when he goes to figure out what the card is about.

He gives some references to other videos to watch to understand what’s being talked about in this video.

Steve starts talking about how his haircut went. He used one of the prepaid discount cards he’d bought earlier. One of the viewers asks in the live chat about the hat that he’s wearing to temporarily hide his hair. He finds it on Amazon, and adds a link to the video’s description. He also talks about how he’s made $48.80 in Amazon referrals, showing the report screen.

While on the topic of Amazon referrals, he also looks at the list of items that people purchased that he received referral money for. These items include a key organizer, butter powder, a gold jewelry tree stand, a vintage pickup truck with Christmas tree shaped cookie cutter, and a pair of crossword puzzle books! He also indicates that he’s received the new microphone he ordered, and will unbox it later.

He gets back on the topic of his haircut. He thinks that there may be high staff turnover at the haircutting places he goes to, as he never gets the same haircutter. While getting his hair cut, he started talking to the haircutter about a trip that the haircutter is planning on taking. There were other customers in the store waiting, and Steve thought maybe he was annoying them by talking to the haircutter. He also notes that it’s too soon to tell if it’s a good haircut, as he’ll have to wait about a week and then see what it’s like.

Steve asks viewers in the live chat if they like videos about the mundane errands and other stuff he does. There are differing views, where some like such content, and others say they don’t. He also talks about notifications on YouTube and Discord. In addition, he set up a Twitter account that he’ll use to tweet when he’s coming on the air with a live stream. The Discord notifications are tied to tweets. He indicates that he won’t use this Twitter account for other content; it will just be for notifications.

As seems to be the case with his videos, it takes a while to get the main event. Steve finally starts the haircut reveal, but drags it out. He takes off the hat he had been wearing, and his hair is messy. He has to fix it as best he can. In the end, it looks like a typical haircut.

He briefly talks about baldness, and how he thinks that once there’s a cure of baldness, then pictures of bald people will look unusual in the future, like old photos of people riding pennyfarthing bicycles. He thinks it’ll be the same for driving using a steering wheel when self-driving cars become widely used.

While talking about haircuts, he mentions he once got a haircut in Los Angeles, at a place where celebrities got their hair cut. It was expensive, but he didn’t notice any difference with cheaper haircuts.

Steve discusses how he has a weird schedule due to the news coverage he does for his Agenda-Free TV YouTube channel, and this can make it hard to run errands. He talks of wanting to move somewhere where there are 24-hour grocery and other stores nearby, so he can go whenever he wants. When living in Los Angeles, he says he got used to going to a 24-hour grocery store at night, and lost patience for checkout lineups during the day.

He moves on to talking about his visit to the Amazon store, to return the microphone he had bought earlier but didn’t like for a variety of reasons. He said it’s a busy location, but he found it easy to return the package. It’s the kind of errand he says that wealthy people would have their assistants do. Steve says that this gives the wealthy people a lot of extra time and productivity, and thinks it’s a disadvantage for poorer people who don’t have assistants.

Near the end of the stream there is some breaking news: he gets an email saying his Amazon refund has been issued, and that the return is complete!

He wraps up by thanking donors and various viewers.

• Karl

I’ve just watched the “Crushing Crunchy & Soft Things by Car! Experiment: Car vs Sweet Ball” video from the Experiment with Everythings YouTube channel:

This video features a car tire driving over various items and objects. As far as I can see, the items include things like toys, plastic containers, plates, various foods, a toy tambourine, plastic containers, slices of bread, melon slices, and various other things.

I found this to be an entertaining video. I wouldn’t try it myself due to the safety risks and the mess it can make, especially when driving over food, however.

• Karl

Steve Lookner has created another live stream video for his Lookner channel on YouTube, entitled “Blue Yeti Microphone Unboxing from THIRD PARTY SELLER?! (Live Existential Crisis)".

Steve talks about the colored lights he got recently. Some of the viewers say that the sound quality is bad, so in response Steve sarcastically pretends to use the microphone that’s still in the shipping box to see if it helps at all! He talks about how he wants to make small improvements over time.

He moves on to talking about the unboxing. He explains that he wanted to do the unboxing, but realized that he had accidentally purchased the microphone from a third-party seller! He usually doesn’t do this, except for small items, because he doesn’t always trust items from third-party sellers. So he explains how he had set up a return right away, and even printed out the return label, but then decided to do a stream anyway.

Steve shows the microphone’s product page on Amazon’s website. He wanted the black colored microphone, but it’s hard to find from other vendors.

Even if the microphone he was sent sounds great, Steve says he thinks in his mind he just won’t trust it, and won’t like it. Despite his many doubts about its type, state, origin, and so forth, he decides he will unbox it and try it instead of the webcam microphone he has been using so far.

He mentions that he still has the $149 chair he bought for his kitchen. He was ready to return it, but decided to wait and is still using it. He says that a younger Lookner would have returned it!

Steve talks briefly about doing his master’s degree in Boston, and about his time in a PhD program at UCLA. He recounts how he had moved to Westwood, but was concerned because he thought he was living too far from the area where restaurants and a grocery store were. He thought it was too far to walk to, so he obsessed about getting a bike. He eventually bought one, but realized he didn’t actually need it. The store he bought it from took it back, but not the helmet he had also bought!

He explains how he was anxious in the past, and would return items he didn’t like. He says he once got a computer that was legitimately broken, and rushed to the UPS store to return the computer. But he accidentally left the dongle for his trackball in the returned computer, and so he couldn’t use his trackball! He says that he’s trying to be more patient. Steve briefly adds that he didn’t get a PhD from UCLA, as he was a year or two away from finishing, but did get another master’s degree.

Steve ends up checking for the microphone he wants on BestBuy’s website, and discovers that he could order from there instead. He asks the audience if they think he should do that. He decides to check the rating of the third-party seller he got the microphone from. The reviews were 95% positive over the last year, but some reviews indicated that a wrong model had been sent. This causes Steve some doubt.

He decides it’s time to finally open the shipping box. At least the box inside says “Yeti”, and it’s wrapped in plastic, but the plastic looks loose. Steve is unsure about this, suspecting that maybe the box had been resealed. There’s a sticker at the bottom that he thinks was put on by Amazon, who might have wrapped it.

Steve opens the plastic, but starts talking about other stuff like inserting YouTube cards into the videos, the Marvel movies, and the road plates. Regarding the road plates, he says he sent a video to city authorities, the building manager, and the rental office. He shows the video he made of the plates, but there is no sound for some reason! He gets the sound working, and demonstrates the noise the vehicles make as they drive over the metal plates covering some construction holes in the road. Steve says that his city councillor says that public works will be contacted about it.

He moves back to the topic of the microphone unboxing. He opens the plastic wrapper, and takes it off of the product box. Steve sees some little indentations and imperfections on the box, which causes him some doubt. The lack of tape on the box tab causes him even more doubt. He does note that there’s no bad smell, at least!

Steve opens the outer product box, and the inside box does seem to be packed well, at least. And the inner product box does have some tape on it. Inside the inner box he does find the cord, registration card, instruction booklet, two other instruction, styrofoam, so it’s looking fine so far. As an aside, Steve mentions that he was up late due to news, so he slept late, hasn’t eaten lunch, and everything nearby is closed!

He shows off the bottom of the microphone, which is itself wrapped in plastic. There appears to be rubber on the bottom of the microphone, presumably to give it some grip, but Steve sees some marks on it. This causes him more doubt and concern, and pushes him toward returning it.

Steve removes the plastic bag from the microphone, and it did at least have a dessicant package. He indicates that he’s going to try it, but will likely return it, suspecting that it may have been used. He plans to do a reboxing, and then order a new one from another vendor during the live stream. To emphasize the uncertainty of the testing, he changes the background lights all to red.

To try the microphone, he starts by hooking up the cable to the microphone, and then to his computer. He finds that the microphone is too loose within its base. He tries tightening the adjustment knobs, but the microphone loosens again and tips.

Steve tries out the microphone’s sound quality by switching from the webcam mic he had been using. The new microphone does sound different than the webcam’s microphone. There seems to be less echo, and his voice is somewhat higher pitched. He tests out the mute, which seems to work. Then he plays the video so he can hear what it sounds like for himself. He has some minor audio difficulties while doing this.

After listening to the replay, Steve indicates that he likes the sound of it. He thinks it “makes a big difference”. Despite liking the quality of the sound, he decides to switch back to the webcam microphone because he’ll be returning the other microphone and needs to box it up again. He unplugs the microphone from his computer and starts reboxing. He mentions that he might do a live stream about him figuring out how to use YouTube Cards and how to add them to his microphone video.

Steve starts putting the microphone back in the box, but he forgot to put the microphone in the bag, and has to take it out and bag it. He puts in the other stuff that came with it, and closes up the box. At this point he realizes that he forgot to put in the dessicant package! So he opens up the box again and puts the dessicant package into the bag with the microphone. He notes that he doesn’t even want the boxed microphone sitting there overnight; he just wants it out of his apartment! He put the plastic wrapper on the wrong box, so he has to take it of, then the box opens and some stuff falls out! He packages it up again.

He puts the product box in the shipping box, puts in the return slip, and does a thorough job of taping up the shipping box. He affixes the return label to the box, too, and thinks he’ll feel better once finally returning it. There is some concern from the viewers that Steve didn’t put the cable back in the box after the stuff fell out, so he replays the video to prove that he did in fact put the cable back in. Now that the microphone testing is over, he goes back to the blue and purple background lights.

Since he still needs a new microphone, Steve starts to order one from BestBuy’s website, and he should receive it the following Tuesday. He doesn’t want to show his personal info, so he just describes what he’s doing. He says he uses a virtual one-time-use credit card number. The total for the new microphone is $118.69, including tax. He eventually submits the order, and is told it should arrive by December 17th.

Steve mentions that he can still hear banging from the plates on the road. He also talks about how he has made $32.57 in Amazon referrer fees, and shows some items that others have bought. He talks briefly about Amazon affiliate links for non-US buyers, too.

As the unboxing, and subsequent reboxing, are complete, Steve starts to wrap up the video. He talks briefly about the haircut video and the road plate video, and reads some viewer comments from the live chat. He says he needs to eat a very late lunch, and then he plans to go work out. At the end he misses the transition to the “THANKS FOR WATCHING!” screen, so he has to retry it.

I think that this video stream was a real adventure! There was so much uncertainty surrounding the condition of the new microphone he had purchased. It’s too bad that it didn’t seem to be in the condition that he had expected, and that it seemed to have some problem with staying in the proper position. At least he’s able to return it, and should have a better microphone on the way. I’m looking forward to seeing the unboxing of this new microphone once he gets it!

• Karl

A new live stream video (warning: parts of it contain flashing lights!), entitled “LIVE: New Colored Lights Unboxing & Tryout!", is now on Steve Lookner’s Lookner channel on YouTube:

This video starts with Steve showing the audience the shipping box that a pair of color-changing MELPO LED lights that he had ordered came in. He proceeds to unbox them, and begins setting them up in the living room area he’s filming the live stream in. He tries placing them in a few different places, to try to find a good way of getting them to illuminate the wall behind him.

Once finding positions for the two lights that appear to work well enough, Steve then starts to figure out how the lights work. He tries a variety of different color combinations and settings, asking the viewing audience for feedback about what they’re seeing and what they like in the live chat. One color combination he attempts is green and red, inspired by Christmas. Steve also adjusts his webcam’s settings, and he eventually seems to prefer a shade of purple on one side of the background behind him, and a shade of blue on the other side.

He also interacts with the viewers on a variety of topics, including trying to provide Amazon.com referral links to other products he owns that he has mentioned in other videos.

I think that these new color-changing lights should help make Steve’s videos more interesting. The plain wall behind him was boring, and these lights do seem like an easy and non-destructive way of improving the otherwise blank wall during live video streams from his desk area. I wonder what kind of color combinations he’ll use. Near the end of the video he shows that the lights have a mode where they can slowly and steadily change colors, so maybe instead of using specific colors he’ll use that mode and have a background that changes throughout the videos.

• Karl