I’m pleased to share with you my side project, OTube.co. It’s a random video-sharing site that’s been gaining some good organic traction from Google and Bing lately. It’s noticeably standing out in comparison to my portfolio of other websites.
The idea behind OTube is simple: to share random videos that I come across during my time browsing YouTube, as well as some old-school stuff, music, gaming, and whatever else comes to mind. I love diving deep into my memory of the golden age of the internet and sharing those gems with others.
One of the fun features of OTube is the affiliate (Amazon) store for random products. It’s not something I’m heavily promoting, but it’s a fun addition to the site. All products of course relate in some way to the published content.
While I’m not running ads on OTube at the moment, that’s the plan for the future. For now, I’m content to update the site on the side and see where organic traffic takes it. I’m excited to earn my first £1 from the site!
Now, I want to take a moment to mention a Google update that happened in the second half of 2022 regarding video content. The update focused on improving the quality of video content in search results, specifically targeting low-quality videos and spammy content. This update is great news for sites like Otub that focus on providing high-quality, random videos to users.
Overall, OTube is a fun side project that I’m passionate about. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes in the future and sharing more random videos & products on there. As well as updating here on how the traffic grows over these next months.
I asked ChatGPT to write about Peter Whyte, and to my surprise, I actually got a great summary that is pretty accurate. It only includes one fib, that I am a frequent speaker at various SQL events. Maybe one day I’ll fill that gap!
Maybe this was generated based on a generic SQL Server DBA guy, but it’s still decent, and I feel happy that ChatGPT at least pretended to know who I am.
When I first asked ChatGPT who Peter Whyte was, the AI responded by telling me about a Canadian artist named Peter Whyte, who is known for his landscape paintings of the Canadian Rockies. However, when I asked specifically about Peter Whyte, the SQL Server DBA, the AI provided me with a detailed response about my expertise in managing and optimizing SQL Server databases.
So here it is, my description from ChatGPT!
Write about Peter Whyte (SQL Server DBA)
Peter Whyte is a SQL Server DBA (Database Administrator) who is known for his expertise in managing and optimizing SQL Server databases. As a DBA, his primary responsibility is to ensure that the SQL Server database systems are running efficiently and effectively, minimizing downtime and ensuring data integrity and security.
Peter Whyte has several years of experience in the IT industry, specifically in the area of SQL Server database administration. He has a deep understanding of the SQL Server database engine, including its architecture, configuration, and performance tuning.
In his role as a SQL Server DBA, Peter Whyte is responsible for a range of tasks, including database backup and recovery, database performance tuning, security management, and database design and implementation. He is also proficient in SQL Server clustering and high-availability solutions.
Peter Whyte is an active member of the SQL Server community and is a frequent speaker at various SQL Server events and conferences. He shares his knowledge and experience by writing technical articles and blog posts on SQL Server topics.
Overall, Peter Whyte is a well-respected and knowledgeable SQL Server DBA, with a proven track record of successfully managing and optimizing SQL Server databases for various organizations.
I thought I’d do a bit of a high-level Tax review for a UK PAYE employee like myself. I live in Scotland so this is scoped this end of town.
Here is an example of a table of income tax, National Insurance, and VAT for a PAYE employee in Scotland:
Taxable Income
Tax Rate
National Insurance
VAT (Spending)
Total Tax
Up to £12,500
0%
12%
20%
32%
£12,501 – £14,585
19%
12%
20%
51%
£14,586 – £25,158
20%
12%
20%
52%
£25,159 – £43,430
21%
12%
20%
53%
£43,431 – £150,000
41%
12%
20%
73%
£150,001 and over
46%
12%
20%
78%
In this example, the table shows the different tax rates and the corresponding tax due for different ranges of taxable income, including National Insurance and VAT on spending. Keep in mind that this is just an example, and the actual tax rates and amounts may vary depending on your specific circumstances.
England Tax Compared to Scotland
This example is of income tax, National Insurance, and VAT for a PAYE employee in England:
Taxable Income
Tax Rate
National Insurance
VAT on Spending
Total Tax
Up to £12,570
0%
12%
20%
32%
£12,571 – £50,270
20%
12%
20%
52%
£50,271 – £150,000
40%
12%
20%
72%
£150,001 and over
45%
12%
20%
77%
UK VAT Rules
In the United Kingdom, VAT (Value Added Tax) is a tax that is applied to most goods and services that are purchased and sold within the country. The standard VAT rate in the UK is 20%, although some goods and services are subject to reduced or zero-rated VAT.
Goods and services that are subject to the standard VAT rate include:
Most goods and services sold by businesses, including goods imported from other countries
Most goods and services purchased by consumers, including those purchased online or by mail order
Goods and services that are subject to reduced or zero-rated VAT include:
Some essential goods and services, such as food and children’s clothing
Some exported goods and services, including those sold to customers in other EU countries or to customers outside the EU
Some services provided by charities, including fundraising events and educational services
It is important to note that the VAT rules and rates can change over time, so it is best to consult with a tax professional or refer to the relevant tax laws and regulations to determine the correct VAT rate for specific goods or services.
Income & Inheritance Taxes
In addition to income tax, National Insurance, and VAT, there are several other taxes that are applicable in the United Kingdom. Some of these taxes include:
Corporation tax: This tax is applied to the profits of businesses and corporations operating in the UK. The corporation tax rate is 19% for most businesses, although some businesses may be eligible for a lower rate.
Capital gains tax: This tax is applied to the profit or gain that is realized when an individual or business sells an asset, such as a property or investment, for more than the purchase price. The capital gains tax rate varies depending on the individual’s income tax bracket and the type of asset being sold.
Inheritance tax: This tax is applied to the value of an individual’s estate when they pass away. The inheritance tax rate is 40% for estates valued at more than £325,000, although some exemptions and reliefs may apply.
Stamp duty: This tax is applied to certain types of property transactions, such as the purchase of a property or the transfer of land or property. The stamp duty rate varies depending on the value of the property and the type of transaction.
Keep in mind, some of the above info is about to undergo changes.
UK Council Tax
Council tax is a tax that is applied to households in the United Kingdom. The tax is used to fund local government services, such as waste collection, road maintenance, and police and fire services. The council tax rate varies depending on the value of the property and the location of the property.
Each property is assigned to a council tax band, ranging from A to H, with A being the lowest band and H being the highest. The council tax rate for each band is set by the local council, and the rate is typically based on the value of the property relative to other properties in the area. The council tax is typically paid by the property owner, although tenants may be required to pay a portion of the tax if they are renting from a landlord.
I am slowly gaining a series of various AI-related blog posts. This time I’m blogging about the newly released OpenAI ChatGPT web app, which was released in the last weeks (November 2022).
ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that you can ask it anything, and it’ll output mostly correct answers with very detailed info (if you ask it to). It will ask you for more context/info and reiterate to generate a more informed response.
This AI is super intelligent, compared to current competitors. There’s a lot of hype. But, instead of all my descriptions on it, I’m going to ask Open ChatGPT to write a blog post on the benefits of using it. The output of that is below my bit.
The AI Art feature image for this post was created on NightCafe Studio using the DALL·E 2 model, using the “robot typing on a keyboard, colourful“. I have more, better images which I want to upload more of in future.
Benefits of ChatGPT by ChatGPT
OpenAI ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art natural language processing (NLP) model that can generate human-like responses to text input. It was developed by OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research institute, and has the ability to understand and generate a wide range of human languages, including English, Spanish, French, and Chinese.
There are several benefits to using OpenAI ChatGPT in a variety of applications, including:
Improved conversation modeling: OpenAI ChatGPT has the ability to understand the context of a conversation and generate appropriate responses, making it a valuable tool for creating chatbots and other conversational AI applications.
Enhanced language understanding: OpenAI ChatGPT is trained on a large amount of text data, which allows it to understand and generate a wide range of human languages and dialects. This can be useful for applications that require language translation or natural language processing.
Increased efficiency: Because OpenAI ChatGPT can generate responses quickly and accurately, it can help improve the efficiency of processes that rely on natural language processing, such as customer service or data analysis.
Reduced costs: Using OpenAI ChatGPT can reduce the need for human labor in certain applications, which can save money and resources.
Overall, OpenAI ChatGPT is a powerful natural language processing tool that can improve the accuracy and efficiency of a wide range of applications. Whether you’re building a chatbot, developing a language translation system, or conducting data analysis, OpenAI ChatGPT can be a valuable resource.
It’s here, the post everyone has been waiting for. It’s Lettuce Art, by Artificial Intelligence. Assisted by Peter Whyte (Human).
This is really just another one of my random posts, but this can also introduce my AI Art Gallary area on my portfolio site here.
The AI Art generated below is created using Nightcafe AI Art Studio. To create an image we consume credits. You get 5 free credits per day and you will be rewarded with credits for using their platform – for example, publishing your own art & liking, following, or commenting on other people’s work.
AI Art, please create “Lettuce on a Table”. Seconds later, I have 4 images available. Some outputs can be very random/odd. It takes time to understand the best keywords and parameters.
At least the lettuce is in a bowl and more presentable in the first image.
Hmmm, delicious. Here are some large lettuce balls…
AI Anime Art images generated by AI can be very crisp and clean. I’m really enjoying creating images with this theme template, although I don’t actually watch or know many anime shows.
Welcome to my AI Art Gallary. The theme of this post is my artistic Sports Car creations, maybe some of them will even be good for printing a canvas for hanging up in a room.
I do particularly like very colourful art. Neon-themed AI Art is turning out great and I’m exploring more in this area, by way of trying new keyword combinations when clicking to create the AI Art image.
Artistic Car-Themed Art
As ever, here are my creations based on the theme of this post (Cars/Underground).
Highlights (positive & negative) this month are: – Site 2: Overall Traffic Increased by 10% – Site 3: Got first 11 Clicks from Google – Site 5 & 6: Gained their first Google Search Impressions
Screenshots provided on traffic within this blog post are for the full month of September 2022. The next web traffic blog post will be published during the first week of November 2022.
There is no aim to monetise my portfolio site here. It’s a personal space to post whatever is on my mind, and the content that doesn’t fit anywhere else.
Content – Active Since: January 2022 Post Count: 11 (+3) Page Count: 8 (+0)
Traffic – Pageviews: 272 (+150) Users: 13 (+0) Avg. Time on Page: 00:03:46 (+00:01:15) Google Impressions: 42 (+4) Google Clicks: 2 (-1)
My personal tech blog, peter-whyte.com Technical guides and posts containing information on software including SQL Server, PowerShell, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) & more.
Content – Active Since: October 2018 Post Count: 154 (+16) Page Count: 19 (+0)
Traffic – Pageviews: 21,032 (+2,160) Users: 7,853 (+1,005) Avg. Time on Page: 00:00:34 (-00:00:07) Google Impressions: 227,000 (-10,000) Google Clicks: 5,140 (-410)
I gained a good amount of users and views this month. This was from a marginal increase in traffic from Bing, as I lost a bit from Google.
A video content website – essentially a place for me to categorise and post random videos anonymously on a site. I generate AI Art for each blog post featured image, trying my best to get the image to look as relevant as possible. This is my fun site.
Content – Active Since: September 2022 Post Count: 29 Page Count: 5
Traffic – Pageviews: 128 Users: 10 Avg. Time on Page: 00:04:20 Google Impressions: 37 Google Clicks: 0
The above traffic is mostly my own. The good thing here is seeing Google Search impressions so quickly.
Welcome to my AI Art Gallary. The theme of this post is Dragon Ball (DBZ) Art.
I’ve always loved the Dragon Ball series and have been testing various combinations in the AI. There are a few things I notice the AI does not recognise (yet). In this case with the Dragon Ball theme, it does not know who Piccolo is!
I created 2 new websites recently as marked above. There is not much information to share on those yet.
All screenshots provided in this post are for the full month of August 2022, and my next post to share updates in this space will be during the first week of September 2022.
There is no aim to monetise my portfolio site here. It’s a personal space to post whatever is on my mind, and the content that doesn’t fit anywhere else.
Content – Active Since: January 2022 Post Count: 10 Page Count: 8
Traffic – Pageviews: 122 Users: 13 Avg. Time on Page: 00:02:29 Google Impressions: 46 Google Clicks: 3
My personal tech blog, peter-whyte.com Technical guides and posts containing information on software including SQL Server, PowerShell, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) & more.
Content – Active Since: October 2018 Post Count: 138 Page Count: 19
Traffic – Pageviews: 18,872 Users: 6,848 Avg. Time on Page: 00:00:41 Google Impressions: 237,000 Google Clicks: 5,530
