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Posts with tag youtube

20 Best Moms On the Web

by Terrence O'Brien, posted May 9th 2008 at 6:01PMBreaking News


Mother's Day is upon us, and that means it's time to pay tribute and show love to those that passed us through their birth canals. URLesque has compiled their list of the 20 best moms on the web, pulling piles of wonderful videos from YouTube.

Our favorites include the wheelchair bound granny with a submachine gun (above) and the mom who "breaks" her son's arm (Moms can be bad ass). We also love the completely emasculating video of the mohawked kid getting his thrash on when his mother interrupts to offer him an egg sandwich and give him a kiss. Adorable.

Check the out the rest of the list here. [Source: URLesque]

Conan O'Brien Re-Imagines 'Grand Theft Auto IV' As a PG-13 Game

by Tim Stevens, posted May 5th 2008 at 11:15AMBreaking News


If you've spent any time at all with 'Grand Theft Auto IV' since its release last week, you know that it's not exactly a kind and cuddly game. Conan O'Brien noted the same thing and in response has envisioned what a PG-rated version of the game might look like. See for yourself in the video above. Whether you love or hate the game, you have to agree that this, um, friendlier version isn't particularly appealing, though it is pretty hilarious! [Source: YouTube, via Joystiq and GeekSugar]

NBC Clips Back On YouTube, Courtesy of Hulu

by Terrence O'Brien, posted May 2nd 2008 at 2:33PMBreaking News

Video Site Hulu Launches YouTube Channel
You might remember Hulu, the video streaming service backed by most of the major networks, being touted as the legitimate answer to watching episodes of your favorite shows (in 6 pieces) on YouTube. Now in some sort of delicious, cosmic irony, Hulu has dragged the networks back to YouTube where it has created its own channel and is hosting clips from shows from Fox and NBC that can be seen in full on Hulu.

Right now, we only saw about 70 videos of clips from shows like '30 Rock,' 'Arrested Development,' 'Saturday Night Live,' 'Moment of Truth' and 'Family Guy.' We're still waiting for more, but it's a start in getting NBC clips, at least, back on our favorite online destinations . Next stop for NBC's return? iTunes, we hope. [Source: NewTeeVee]

Scientology's New YouTube Channel Praises Openness, Blocks Comments

by Tim Stevens, posted May 1st 2008 at 10:33AM

The Church of Scientology doesn't have many friends online. It's constantly attacked by hackers, mocked for its silly videos, and has had its secret documents published for all to see. But now it appears to be changing its approach to the Internet. Embracing the Web, The Church is spreading the word by posting its own videos on a custom YouTube channel.

The channel, which features softly lit images and an introductory video with gentle music, hosts a string of videos that explain the religion. After a first watch, we got a vague impression of Scientology's core beliefs and anti-drug stance, but found it curious that they left out many of the religion's more curious details. However, the group has chosen to prevent embedding of the vast majority of the videos, with only its public service announcements (like the one above) open for inclusion in blogs and MySpace pages. Posting of comments on these videos has also been disabled, which might be a good move given the kind of response Wal-Mart got to its own Facebook page. [Source: Wired]

Angry Wife Posts Second Video On YouTube

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 28th 2008 at 11:11AMBreaking News


About two weeks ago, former playwright and actress Tricia Walsh-Smith expressed her frustrations with her current divorce proceedings in (or on) a very public place -- YouTube. Ranting about her husband Philip Smith, Walsh-Smith alternated between pleas for mercy, cries of idiocy, and bouts of petty mud-slinging. Today, she actually heads to divorce court and, in preparation for that, has posted another bonkers video for all to see.

In this new vid, Walsh-Smith pulls much the same act as last time -- clad in a red kimono, she pleads her case (somewhat calmly, for a change) to a constantly growing crew of Internet surfers who had no idea who she was before all this, but now can't look away from the train wreck. Count us in that last group. [Source: AOL Video, via New York Post]

Video of Doctors Removing Aerosol Can From Rectum Reappears Online

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 23rd 2008 at 9:33AMBreaking News

Embarassing Surgery Appears on YouTube

People have done some unfortunate things while drunk; things they'd rather forget. Thankfully, alcohol usually helps with the forgetting part, but in these YouTube-infested days sometimes forgetting isn't enough. This is the case for a man in the Philippines who had a rather -- embarrassing surgery posted online for the world to see.

The surgery was to remove a canister of body spray (complete with cap) from the man's rectum, apparently placed there during a drunken one-night-stand. Last week, a video of the surgery was posted on YouTube. In the video, you can see and hear the doctors and nurses whooping it up with laughter as they extricate the can and proceed to use it to mist the air in the surgery room.

The video was removed from YouTube, but can still be seen on LiveLeak if you're so inclined. As for the doctors, all face reprimand and could possibly lose their licenses to perform medicine. [Source: Live Leak, via BoingBoing]

New Set of Tween Girls Brutally Beat Classmate, Post Video Online

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 21st 2008 at 9:21AMBreaking News

Tween Girls Brutally Beat Classmate, Post Video OnlineThere are some disturbing trends making the rounds on the Internet these days. Some are humorous, such as baby names inspired by text messages. Some are frightening, such as online suicide waves in Wales.

Alas, a new trend is making the rounds that definitely falls into that second category. The trend consists of young girls filming themselves brutally beating others and then posting the action online. The latest, in Clarksville, Indiana, left a 12-year-old in the hospital.

As you can see in the video, a group of 12-14-year-olds ganged up on the other girl, the daughter of a police officer, and pummeled her with fists and stones. They recorded the fight and posted it up on PhotoBucket.

This disturbing scene is very similar to a beating of a 16-year-old girl in Florida that wound up on YouTube earlier this month. However, unlike that other beating, these younger girls here have not been charged with any crimes and, because of their age and because they were not on school grounds, may not suffer any official punishment at all.

We hope that their parents at least take away their iPods as punishment. [Source: CBS/AP]

Teens Almost Die Attempting YouTube Stunt

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 9:39AM

Teens Almost Die Attempting YouTube Stunt
Oh YouTube, is there anything stupid you can't inspire people to do? From getting tasered, to getting smashed with a chair, YouTube features idiots of every stripe causing themselves extreme pain.

In a bid for YouTube fame, two teens from Peoria, Arizona tried to get their Mitsubishi Eclipse airborne by flying through an intersection. Needless to say, the pair failed miserably. They did get airborne, but, upon landing, the car's 16 year-old driver lost control and crashed through several trees and rolled over.

The driver is in critical condition, while the 17-year-old passenger was treated and released from the hospital. Worst of all for the two injured teens, their friends didn't record the incident. Still, due to their complete stupidity, they still managed to achieve Internet fame. [Source: KTAR, Via: Fark]

Colorado Police Turn to YouTube to Catch Criminals

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 4:12PMBreaking News


Investigators in Weld County, Colorado are turning to YouTube in their latest effort to catch criminals. The sheriff's department is posting video, like the one above of a burglary, for citizens to view in hopes that someone will be able to identify the suspects and help track them down.

The particular pair of criminals in this video were caught by a home surveillance system and are suspected of burglarizing at least three other homes in the area. It's nice to see 'America's Most Wanted' updated for the MySpace generation.

Of course, this is hardly the first time we've seen illegal activity make its way on to YouTube. [Source: Boing Boing]

Divorce, YouTube-Style

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 1:28PMBreaking News


Former playwright and actress Tricia Walsh-Smith is taking a lesson from todays you folks, who have repeatedly used YouTube as a tool for revenge and justice. Her husband Philip Smith is the president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway. Philip is currently seeking a divorce from Tricia and is trying to boot her from the couple's New York apartment, and Tricia is fighting back, via YouTube.

Tricia, powerless due to a prenuptial agreement she signed, pleads her case to the camera, swinging widely from self pity, "I am the biggest F'ing idiot in the world," to defiance, "I'm fighting back," to petty mud slinging, "...oh, another thing, we never had sex."

The video is hysterical, sad, and terrifying. As interesting as it is that such a prominent socialite would use YouTube to fire such a blistering salvo in her divorce proceedings, a judge probably isn't going to look too kindly on her desperate, wild eyed ramblings. [Source: CNN]

Google Search Modified to Fight Child Pornography

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 11:05AM

Google Creates Tool To Fight Child MolestersTools originally developed to filter out copyrighted content on YouTube have been adapted by intrepid Google employees to track sexual predators through pattern recognition. Designed to pick out pirated movies, the software can identify complex or modified patterns such as calendars or T-shirt logos in images and videos, which can help authorities locate images and videos that could be considered child pornography.

Based on these patterns, authorities can then begin to track the abused children and, hopefully, bring the criminals to justice.

Google is handing the new program over to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to help them pore through the millions of images and files in its archive. Last year alone, the organization vetted over 5 million images and videos in an effort to identify and save victims of abuse.

"You always hope that your work will eventually be used to do some good in the world, and this was an amazing chance to make that hope real," Google research scientist Shumeet Baluja told the BBC.

From the BBC

In the Race for Online Eyes, Obama Crushing Clinton

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 2:14PM

In the Race for Online Eyes Obama Crushing Clinton
We've discussed the presidential candidates and their different Web strategies, and came to the conclusion that -- at least on the Democratic side of the race -- Barack Obama had a leg up on his opponents. Well, if you questioned our judgment, then here is numerical proof.

Compete, a Web analytics firm, posted an article to its blog today revealing that when it comes to online voter share, Obama is crushing Hillary Clinton. Just look at the chart above: In overall Face Time (a composite measure of online interactions with a candidate, including MySpace page views, visits to campaign sites, YouTube views, etc.), Obama has Clinton beat by a 4:1 margin. Based on the strength of his speech on race relations, Obama's dominance on YouTube was particularly striking, racking up 539,000 hours of viewing time, roughly ten times as much as Hillary's 53,100 hours.

Unfortunately for Obama, votes aren't cast by the Web savvy alone, and, as we've learned, Ms. Clinton doesn't seem to care about things like mathematical impossibilities.

From Machinist

Hands-On With New Flickr Video

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 9:24PM


For those with a photographic bent, Flickr is the place to be. It has evolved into a giant community for would-be and definitely-are quality photographers to share their pictures with peers for critique, while also serving as a place for more casual shooters to simply upload their favorites to share with friends. It has always been just photos, though. That's finally changing with the release of Flickr Video, which enables users to upload video clips along with their stills. We played around with the new feature earlier today and here's what we found.....

For starters, videos live and are categorized and tagged right next to photos, so they're almost indistinguishable from photos (thanks to the clean and simple player interface Flickr has released). There's also a strict 90-second limit on videos, which may seem somewhat constricting, but from what we've seen thus far, tends to result in most being short and artsy vids that are quick to digest but tend to stay with you. That's a stark contrast from the long-winded vlogs that dominate YouTube.

We definitely like the simple interface and of course love the high video quality. We also like the varying aspect ratios offered, whether tall and narrow or more traditionally square. The ability to upload vids directly from a camera is also nice. However, there is a catch: Only "Pro" users have the ability to upload. At $25 per year, turning Pro doesn't exactly break the bank, and you also get unlimited photo uploads out of the deal. Still, with so many free competitors out there, it's unlikely that many casual users will choose to pay up, even if the quality elsewhere doesn't compare.

So, a direct YouTube threat this ain't, but if non-paying users are allowed to join in the fun and upload their videos, Flickr Video could become the go-to place for serious amateur videographers.

From TechCrunch

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Everex Launches Sub-$500, MySpace-Ready MyMiniPC

by Thomas Houston , posted Apr 7th 2008 at 5:01PM



Everex just launched its new sub-$500 mini desktop PC, the MyMiniPC. The computer runs an operating system called gOS, a version of Ubuntu Linux with glossy styling and interface elements similar to Apple's OS X.

The MyMiniPC is built with heavy Web and media use in mind -- Everex is marketing the computer to the millions of users of social networks, specifically MySpace. The MyMiniPC's gOS installation -- essentially a collection of Google-esque application -- comes with a dock loaded with shortcuts to MySpace Apps, popular social Web sites (Facebook, flickr, YouTube) and other sites (TMZ, Pandora, Gmail, last.fm).

With a form factor similar to the Mac Mini, the MyMiniPC comes with a respectable 1.86 gigahertz Pentium T2130, 512 MB RAM, a 120-gigabyte (GB) hard drive, a DVD±RW drive (read and burn DVDs), and loads of media connectivity options including an S-Video port (for outputting video to your TV), a memory card reader (for transferring pictures) and audio in/out ports.

Sure, the MyMiniPC isn't the ideal choice for gamers or heavy video work, but we think it's a promising Linux-based PC for anyone in need of an easy-to-use computer for Web work, browsing and collaboration. The MyMiniPC retails for $499.

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What's "Rick Rolling" and Why Should You Care?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 24th 2008 at 4:15PM


Every so often an Internet inside joke makes a leap from the back channels of YouTube to mainstream popular culture. One that seems to be heading for bigger and better things is the trend of Rick Rolling. Rick Rolling is a take on an old Internet joke called Duck Rolling, where a web site would offer a link to celebrity photos or gaming news, but following the link only led to an odd picture of a duck on wheels.

In Rick Rolling, the image of the duck is replaced with a YouTube clip of the 20 year-old music video for 'Never Gonna Give You Up' from late 80's blue-eyed-soul two-hit-wonder Rick Astley.

Between our culture's rampant 80's fetishism and a newfound appreciation for all thing geeky and web oriented, Rick Rolling has made the jump from an inside joke for web site administrators to live versions that get splayed all over YouTube. Protesters outside of a Scientology building in London broke out into the song. A women's basketball game at Eastern Washington University was interrupted when 'Never Gonna Give You Up' was blasted over the PA and a man in an Astley-like trench coat danced around the gymnasium lip syncing.

It's probably only a matter of time before Trey Parker and Matt Stone base an episode of 'South Park' on it.

From The New York Times

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