Productivity is dead, the internet is going to explode. According to ComScore’s August 2008 search engine rankings, YouTube is now the number two search engine in the world, surpassing Yahoo. YouTube fetched over 2.6 billion search queries that month, trumping Yahoo’s 2.4 billion—though Google itself still reigns supreme with 7.6 billion queries (together, Google and YouTube field 10.2 billion). That’s a hell of a lot of video, just on YouTube. And I don’t even wanna know how many of those were looking for Rick Astley’s magnum opus.
This catchy music video stars a library, a librarian (right, played by Esse L. Maple), a fluffy library cat, a bunch of dancing kids, and a bunch of dancing Smittens. “Gumdrops” is from The Smittens’ third album, The Coolest Thing about Love. Scenes were shot in the Lawrence Barnes Elementary School library, Burlington, Vermont. The Smittens performed the soundtrack for the YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium video.
Out of the blue, Google announced a new feature or rather a new tool for its Book Search Index, which would allow book retailers, publishers and practically anyone with a web site or blog to embed non-copyrighted books from the said index. Yup, you read it right folks, just like YouTube videos, we can now feature the full electronic format of books on our websites, for readers/visitors to flip through the pages of them books. For books which are still under copyright, Google has partnered with some booksellers to have a preview functionality enabled in some of their book inventory. By clicking on the “Google Preview” link next to a particular book title, we can browse through that particular books to check whether it looks promising and a worth our reading time.
Errol Pierre-Louis writes: “Whether you’re looking to create the next YouTube sensation or just a good-looking video, you need to do some editing or your clips won’t have the shine and polish they deserve. But not everyone needs (or can afford) a high-end video editor. You can actually save money and skip the hassle of learning complicated software by using one of these three free but surprisingly capable video-editing solutions.”
Erstwhile YouTube alternative Metacafe launches a new Wikipedia-like tool called Wikicafe, which lets users make video search more effective through open metadata tagging. Users can go in and edit information about the videos and add links and other content. The tool typifies Web 2.0 messaging and collaboration. Short-form video site Metacafe, one of a handful of sites looking to offer users a video experience that is not a carbon copy of Google’s YouTube video-sharing site, has opened its metadata for community contributions and editing. This means not only can Metacafe’s 30 million monthly viewers upload videos to the site, but they can edit video titles, tags, descriptions or any relevant notes about the videos. Called Wikicafe, the feature is designed to eliminate so-called tag abuse, where inaccurate or incomplete metadata thwarts users who are trying to find what they want through video search.
YouTube may be getting itself into new hot water with recent deals to send its videos directly to TVs, argues attorney Nancy Prager in her Reasonable Balance blog. Vast troves of copyrighted material available on YouTube have drawn the ire of studios, networks, and other creators. The Google-owned site already faces a $1 billion suit led by Viacom that claims YouTube encourages illegal content. A recent deal with TiVo, through which YouTube will stream videos to home TVs, will make it easier for consumers to find and enjoy YouTube’s copyrighted content. It may also stir new legal challenges, including from broadcast regulators, Prager writes.
Kids across the United States in Grades 1–6 are invited to participate in a national contest. They can make a two-minute video about their favorite book, upload it to YouTube, go to the StoryTubes website, and submit a link to the uploaded video using the contest entry form before April 20. The four winners in each genre category will win $500 in books and select a school, library, or educational association to receive $1,000 in books
Captain Kirk wishes he had decided to become a librarian (0:27) in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “Bem,” which aired September 14, 1974, on NBC-TV. Spock, as always, responds by speaking the truth. (Of course, some patrons might actually be reptilian humanoids.)
Singer/songwriter Joe Uveges of Colorado Springs has fun with “The Librarian Song” (4:45) in which he praises the reference interview and user instruction. Joe performed the song, which he wrote for the Colorado Association of Libraries (“a partying lot”) in 2006, at a November 7 concert in Colorado Springs to promote his When Freedom Calls CD. “In a world of wikis and blogs / She keeps a running dialogue.”
Academy Award-winning actress and honorary chair of National Library Week Julie Andrews discusses the value of libraries in a new video available on YouTube. The clip can be posted on libraries’ Web sites or blogs to promote National Library Week (April 13-19, 2008).”Libraries for me were a place of peace, quiet and joy,” says Andrews, recalling her library visits as a child. “Such a new world of adventure opened up for me when I took a book out of my local library.”
Bloggers and other website managers have long been able to embed videos hosted by the online video site YouTube in their own pages. But on Wednesday, YouTube announced that it would give computer programmers access to some of the technology that underlies its site. The company’s goal was to involve itself in other methods of distributing Web video–not just YouTube.com, but websites and services that include TiVo, video games, and Webcam software.
All those hours spent watching videos about cats with 1000 faces have obviously paid off, with YouTube now the most popular social networking site in Britain, knocking Wikipedia off the prestigious perch. During the month of January, YouTube had a 56% increase in traffic compared to January 2007, with 10.4 million unique users from the UK, and Wikipedia managing to attract a paltry 9.6 million. Nielsen Online claims that Facebook had 8.5 million from the UK, as well.
From http://www.ImprovEverywhere.com, over 200 people freeze in place on cue in Grand Central Station in New York. This is one of over 70 different missions Improv Everywhere has executed over the past six years in New York City. Others include the No Pants Subway Ride, the Best Buy uniform prank, and the famous U2 Rooftop Hoax, to name a few.
The term “convergence” may sound retro, a notion tossed around in the 1990s that never really came to pass. But don’t be fooled. Today, the bulk of video consumed online is snackable video—bite-sized entertainment—rather than a complete meal of full TV episodes or full-length movies. The most popular online video content, watched by 40% or more of the US online video audience, consists of short pieces of five minutes or less: news clips, jokes, movie trailers, music videos, clips from TV shows and entertainment news.
Millions of YouTube fans around the globe lost access to the video sharing site that has come to define new media. But the blame could not be laid at the feet of the site’s rivals; instead, Sunday’s outage was blamed on the Pakistani government, which attempted to block the site because of offensive content. According to a Washington Post report, YouTube, which was only to be shut down in Pakistan, became a worldwide casualty when a local telecom company charged with muzzling the site inadvertently identified itself as the fastest route to YouTube. The result was that all traffic — as opposed to just Pakistani traffic — was sent to a “black hole.”
Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA has expanded its educational outreach with the creation of an ODU YouTube channel. The channel hosts videos featuring various aspects of the university, including academics and faculty, campus life, distance learning, and athletics. Among the current videos featured are faculty spotlights, an ONFilm Festival promo, virtual tours of forthcoming athletic facilities, and a helicopter tour of the campus.
Lee LeFever of Common Craft has created a short video (2:50) that demonstrates the usefulness of saving and sharing your digital photos online: “Thankfully, online photo sharing services make it easy to back up your photos and share them with the world. If you want to encourage your friends or family to start sharing photos online, point them here.”
Eric Griffith writes: “What kind of equipment should you use to film with and edit your footage? Where do you upload the completed work? How do you compress it so it plays back smoothly and clearly? How do you get the masses to watch it? We didn’t know either. So we asked the pros making near–TV-quality video blogs and online programs getting hundreds of thousands of plays.”…
China has decided to restrict the broadcasting of Internet videos — including those posted on video-sharing Web sites — to sites run by state-controlled companies and require providers to report questionable content to the government. It wasn’t immediately clear how the new rules would affect YouTube and other providers of Internet video that host Web sites available in China but are based in other countries.
From smooth grooving robots to revolutionary desktop fabricators, from prosthetic flippers to liquids with a life of their own, 2007 has thrown up more eye-popping tech videos than ever before. And so, to give you a flavour of the clips that have drawn in the most visitors during the year, here’s a list of the 10 most popular, in reverse order.
How hard is it to find a chair or something to sit on in the library? Usually they are taken up by people who spend all day reading the papers and stuff. The Dutch designer Jelte van Geest found an amazing solution for it. You get your own seat the moment you enter the library. And it stays with you the entire time. Sounds weird? Click the video below to see it in action!
The National Library of Australia has an annual Christmas party in its public foyer where the unexpected talents of librarians, archivists, stacks staff, communication experts, digital specialists, and IT boffins are displayed. Enjoy the video (2:19) of the “Surfing NLA” team, which won first prize at the December 14 party after they waxed down their bookcarts.
According to the latest comScore Video Metrix report, in September Americans viewed more than 9 billion videos online, with Google ranking as the top U.S. video property with 2.6 billion videos viewed (28.3 percent share of videos), 2.5 billion of which occurred at YouTube.com (27.6 percent). Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 387 million (4.2 percent), followed by Yahoo! sites with 381 million (4.1 percent) and Viacom Digital with 304 million (3.3 percent).In total, nearly 136 million Americans, or approximately three in four U.S Internet users, viewed online video in September.
By any reckoning, China should be an important new territory for YouTube. The country is the world’s second-largest Internet market, after the U.S., it’s rapidly beefing up its broadband infrastructure, and it’s home to millions of Net-savvy youths who love posting videos online. The Backdorm Boys, a Chinese-student singing duo, was one of the first breakout hits from online video, with their lip-synching clips recorded in their dormitory room winning fans worldwide. Moreover, YouTube owner Google (GOOG) is making a big push in the mainland, poaching top Microsoft (MSFT) executive Kai-Fu Lee two years ago to spearhead the search engine’s drive into China. In October, YouTube made its first moves in Greater China, launching Chinese versions in Hong Kong and Taiwan in October. But in China, YouTube is conspicuous by its official absence. It hasn’t launched a mainland service yet and Chinese who log onto the company’s U.S. site from China often complain that the site is inaccessible.
Video sharing website YouTube is refusing to filter out threatening material, despite calls for more restrictions in the wake of the school shooting in Finland. Pekka-Eric Auvinen, 18, used YouTube to publicise his plans to attack his high school in Tuusula, hours before he killed eight people then shot himself. But Peter Fleischer, privacy counsel at Google, which bought YouTube last year, said the website was not considering passing more information to the police to avert such events. “Logistically we couldn’t do pre-screening,” he said. “We don’t want to become censors of the web.”
YouTube.com is the most popular video sharing website on the internet. You can upload your own videos, share and comment on others. Listed in this article is the collection of various tools and resources that can enhance your Youtube experience and help you in Video integration on your Blog or website. Also listed are some of the websites where you can fine the most sought after YouTube videos.
YouTube held a special event at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel recently to trumpet the launch of their localized Canadian portal.
“We’re very excited to bring a local version of YouTube to Canada, and are committed to continuing to improve the YouTube experience for our Canadian users,” said YouTube chief executive and co-founder Chad Hurley in a statement. “Our goal is to satisfy the unique needs of the local users and to further strengthen Canada’s vibrant YouTube community.”
After Apple fanatic Nick Haley posted his homemade iPod Touch commercial to YouTube last month, a few ad execs at the Cupertino based company saw it. But rather than send him a cease-and-desist letter, they bought his ad, flew him out to Los Angeles to reshoot it in high def, and will be broadcasting it during the World Series.
This video explores the changes in the way we find, store, create, critique, and share information. This video was created as a conversation starter, and works especially well when brainstorming with people about the near future and the skills needed in order to harness, evaluate, and create information effectively.
US search engine giant Google is bringing the world of online video and map-making closer together by letting users of Google Earth software to watch and hear YouTube videos mapped to specific locations and time zones. Google is offering a new YouTube video overlay on top of its Google Earth three-dimensional visualization software, which combines satellite images, maps, terrain and buildings of the world. By letting in YouTube creators to geographically locate their videos on a map of the world, Google lets Internet users zoom in on locations around the planet and watch YouTube tied to that place.
Move over “Leave Britney Alone Guy.” And all those cute kitten videos, too. The University of California, Berkeley, is posting course lectures and other campus happenings on YouTube. “To a teacher who has a passion for teaching, this is enormously exciting,” said physics professor Richard A. Muller, whose “Physics for Future Presidents,” is among courses available online. “My students are everywhere and I don’t have to give them exams.”
Technophiles are tapping into a movement known as “steampunk,” where computers, keyboards and other gadgets are re-imagined as if built during the Victorian era. WSJ.com’s Andy Jordan reports.
Thailand is seeking to block clips on video-sharing Web site YouTube that accuse the chief royal adviser of masterminding last year’s bloodless coup, a top Justice Ministry official said on Friday. The government, which lifted a five-month ban on YouTube in August after it agreed to block clips deemed offensive to revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was seeking a court order to block two video clips posted recently on www.youtube.com.
A Second Life Machinima by Robbie Dingo. This is a video response to Vincent (Starry Starry Night) - Don McLean. From the creator - “Ever looked at your favorite painting and wished you could wander inside, to look at it from different perspectives? Spend a single day in one of mine, from early sunrise on a new day, to dusk when lights come on in cosy homes; through a peaceful night, till morning. Shot on location in Second Life then post-produced, this was an idea I had a while ago. The Sim in this work was on temporary loan so it’s all been swept away now, leaving only the film behind. It was always intended however that the video would be the end product, not the build.”
Conceived by Brian Eno as “visual music”, his latest artwork, 77 Million Paintings is a constantly evolving sound and imagescape which continues his exploration into light as an artist’s medium and the aesthetic possibilities of “generative software”.
What do you get when you cross online classified ads with web-based video? Realpeoplerealstuff.com is equal parts Craigslist and YouTube—a whole new way for customers to reach out to one another to sell their used appliances, automobiles, collectibles, concert tickets and countless other goods and services. “Realpeoplerealstuff.com combines the hottest internet trends in one, easy-to-use site: e-commerce, snarky writing, funny videos, everyone’s desire to be a star and video sharing.”
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