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Church of Scientology launches YouTube Channel

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scientology.pngTom Cruise’s Church of Scientology announced the launch of its official channel on YouTube to expand its Internet presence and share the truth about its beliefs with the general public.

The move to share Scientology videos with the YouTube community is also a logical expansion of the Church’s initiative to make available much of the video content previously accessible to the general public in Church exhibitions around the world and at Scientology.org.

The Church has initiated the expansion of its online video presence on YouTube in response to the global demand for video content and accurate information about its beliefs, practices and its humanitarian programs addressing drug abuse, illiteracy, human rights and disaster relief.

Originally posted on April 29, 2008 @ 1:28 pm

Winners announced for YouTube’s second annual awards

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YouTube is turning on the spotlights to celebrate the announcement of the 2007 YouTube Video Awards winners. The awards recognize the achievements of the YouTube community and encourage the creation of outstanding online videos.

The winner is the Adorable Laughing Baby where nine-month-old Ethan falls over laughing – apparently ripping magazines is hilarious – and just can’t stop, igniting a laughing fit in his dad, too. It’s infectiously cute and earned Ethan a spot in an insurance commercial, allowing millions of people beyond YouTube to chuckle along with this adorable munchkin.

Comedy: Potter Puppet Pals in “The Mysterious Ticking Noise”
Commentary: LonelyGirl15 is Dead!
Creative: Human Tetris
Eyewitness: Battle at Kruger
Inspirational: Blind Painter
Instructional: How to solve a Rubik’s Cube (Part One)
Music: Chocolate Rain
Politics: Stop the Clash of Civilizations
Series: The Guild
Short Film: My Name is Lisa
Sports: Balloon Bowl

Editor’s note: What happened to my favorite?

Originally posted on March 21, 2008 @ 9:55 am

YouTube opens API

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To rival Hulu’s opening to the public, YouTube today opened up its API to developers allowing other web sites to be… like YouTube. Web sites can now allow their users to be on YouTube without leaving their sites. Other features of the opened APIs include: Upload videos and video responses to YouTube; Add/Edit user and video metadata (titles, descriptions, ratings, comments, favorites, contacts, etc); Fetch localized standard feeds (most viewed, top rated, etc.) for 18 international locales; Perform custom queries optimized for 18 international locales; and Customize player UI and control video playback (pause, play, stop, etc.) through software.

Originally posted on March 12, 2008 @ 3:21 pm

HBO launches official YouTube Channel

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HBO and YouTube agreed to offer selected promotional content on HBO’s new branded YouTube channel. Videos from HBO shows including “Flight of the Conchords,” “The Wire,” “Def Comedy Jam,” “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Real Sports,” “Extras,” Stand Up Comedy, “Habla y Habla,” and “Entourage,” will be included in HBO’s channel on YouTube. Full length episodes of HBO’s original series “In Treatment” will also be available on the channel, as well as promotional content from HBO Films and HBO Documentary Films.

The HBO YouTube Channel will be populated with content from the company’s most popular shows as well as special YouTube-only features in the near future.

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Originally posted on February 25, 2008 @ 9:34 pm

Pakistan responsible for global YouTube blockout

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pakistan.gifForget the Great Firewall of China for a while and give way to the star of the moment – Pakistan. According to BBC News, the near global blackout experienced by YouTube yesterday was traced to Pakistan Telecom and ISP PCCW.

It turned out the government of Pakistan wants to restrict YouTube access country-wide because of numerous contents deemed offensive to Islam. Some say it was triggered by videos of Danish cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad while others blamed the offensive-to-Islam trailer from a film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders provoked the government.

To implement the ban, Pakistan Telecom “hijacked” the web server address of YouTube but this was accidentally leaked out to other Internet service providers around the globe thereby causing that annoying two-hour blackout. To be specific, the official cause is “erroneous internet protocols.”

According to YouTube, its engineers are currently working with different Internet communities to prevent such blackout from happening again.

Originally posted on February 25, 2008 @ 8:58 am