SYL Ranch is the parent of two YouTube channels.
SYL Ranch Darkroom
Only the Darkroom channel is active. SYL Ranch and Tales From SYL Ranch content is now only found in the Vaults.
Using Topaz Video, I clean up, upscale, and frame interpolate older films to stunning 4K and 60fps. The results are remarkable.
SYL Ranch
This channel is essentially retired. After more than a 15 years of original takes, the big YouTubers have finally caught up.
With nothing new to say, it started to look like I was chasing big YouTubers rather than quietly leading the pack.
I’ll still drop the occasional standalone video. I’ll continue with the New Year’s Geekin’ Eve live podcast.
Other than that, the channel is more an archive of everything I’ve been saying since forever.
- Timeless Odyssey: Exploring Science Fiction Through the Ages
Focuses on reviews and discussion of science fiction, fantasy, horror, superheroes, and other related genres. - Free Thought Frontier
Focuses largely on politics and current events, from a libertarian perspective. - The Late, Late Stardate
A monthly live stream free-for-all, including viewer call-ins via Skype.
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: Some Final Thoughts 👍 ✅ 🔔
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: Some Final Thoughts 👍 ✅ 🔔
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: Potpourri! 👍 ✅ 🔔
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: New Year's Geekin' Eve 2025! 👍 ✅ 🔔
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: War of the Worlds (1938) 👍 ✅ 🔔
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: Starve the Left! 👍 ✅ 🔔
FREE THOUGHT FRONTIER: Enforce the 2nd Amendment! 👍 ✅ 🔔
FREE THOUGHT FRONTIER: Stop Demonizing Men! 👍 ✅ 🔔
INTERMISSION ... 👍 ✅ 🔔
THE LATE, LATE STARDATE: Artficial Intelligence Is Not Your Friend! 👍 ✅ 🔔
Many, many YouTubers are just actors. They make “outrage videos” because outrage sells.
I don’t make outrage videos. If that means I’m less successful than other commentators, so be it. I’m authentic: what you see is what you get (for better or worse). I’m always the adult in the room.
SYL Ranch can be found on YouTube, with permanent archives on the Internet Archive.
SYL Ranch is family-friendly. I never curses nor swear, though I’ll occasionally substitute science fictional oaths such as “frak” or “gorram” as expletives. In extreme cases, I might swear by “Ghu.”
Despite being family-friendly, SYL Ranch is classified as not intended for children on YouTube.
I have a unique life experience that I bring to the table:
I grew up in a small city in the Upper Great Plains of the United States. I spent summers at my grandparents’ cattle ranch in extremely rural South Dakota.
I had a successful career as an IT professional. This included a three-year stint as an IT instructor at a technical college (known on SYL Ranch as “the place that shall not be named“).
During my career, I lived in Chicagoland for ten years, then a small Des Moines, Iowa suburb (pop. 826) for another decade.
As always, don’t forget to support SYL Ranch!
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