Senator of the Week: Your Votes Are In

Last week, Senator Cornyn (R-TX) kicked off the YouTube Senator of the Week program with this video in which he asked for your thoughts about the recently-passed economic stimulus package.



You responded through the Senate Hub's Moderator gadget with 112 unique ideas about what Congress could do to better stimulate the American economy, including eliminating the income tax and providing substantial student debt relief for young Americans. Over 2,400 votes were cast on these ideas and the YouTube community's favorites rose to the top.



In this video, Senator Cornyn addresses your top two ideas:







There are many other excellent ideas that deserve your attention and discussion, so we hope that you'll read them over and post your own video response to Cornyn's video to keep the lively debate going on YouTube. And don't forget to visit the youtube.com/senatehub and youtube.com/househub next Tuesday to weigh in on two new issues from our next Senator and Representative of the Week.



Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

More about → Senator of the Week: Your Votes Are In

Francis Ford Coppola Vlogs on YouTube

From Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) solving a Rubik's cube with his nose, to Jason Reitman (Juno) documenting his on-stage film festival experience, to Jon Chu's (Step Up 2: The Streets) dance battle with Miley Cyrus, renowned filmmakers have found many different ways to share their work and stories on YouTube. With this vlog filmed in his Napa Valley home, legendary director Francis Ford Coppola becomes the latest auteur to take to the site. Hear him speak about his lengthy career, the inspiration for his new film and his plans for the future.







Nate Weinstein

YouTube Film

More about → Francis Ford Coppola Vlogs on YouTube

New Video Submission Module in Our Help Center

Well, you've done it. After two Calls for Submission in our Help Center, and hundreds of video entries, you've proven that you want to use your video-making skills to help each other use YouTube. We liked your videos so much that we've decided to make them a standing feature in the Help Center.



Starting today, you can submit videos to accompany all of our Help Center entries. And there is no deadline, so you can keep sending us videos over time. To submit your video, just go into our Help Center and pick from the hundreds of entries. On the right hand side, you'll see a gadget where you can submit videos you've previously uploaded or upload a new one.



Pick the entry you think is funny, incomplete, too short, whatever! You can share tips you've discovered while using YouTube, tell your story through a funny sketch, a song, an animation -- we're sure you can come up with lots more ideas than us! We'll take a look at what you put together and will embed the ones that best accompany each article right there on the Help Center, where millions of YouTube users will see it.



Thank you for helping us help other users -- we can't wait to see your next idea.



Best,

Colin W.

Help Center Guru

The YouTube Help Team

More about → New Video Submission Module in Our Help Center

The Oscars Live on on YouTube

On Sunday evening, the Academy Awards were handed out, and Slumdog
Millionaire swept the field with eight wins, including Best Picture. The world is still reacting to Hollywood's biggest night -- and posting many of those reactions here on YouTube.



For those of you who missed the three-hour plus telecast, CelebTV provides
a great recap of the show in less than two minutes, highlighting some of the night's most memorable moments, including Heath Ledger's posthumous win for Best Supporting Actor. Meanwhile, TV Guide's
YouTube Channel
features videos from both the red carpet, such as this interview with the child actors from Slumdog, as well as reactions from the winners just minutes after their names were called:







But perhaps one of the most touching post-Oscars videos we've seen is
this video from Longinus Fernandes, whom director Danny Boyle mentioned
during his acceptance speech for Best Director. Boyle apologized to
Fernandes, who choreographed the dance sequence at the end of Slumdog
Millionaire, for leaving his name off the credits. Fernandes thanks
Boyle for the mention, saying it was one of the most joyful moments of
his life:







Best,

David McMillan

YouTube Entertainment

More about → The Oscars Live on on YouTube

Today in History: Warhol Dies, A Miracle Happens on Lake Placid

In 1987, artist Andy Warhol dies in New York after gallbladder
surgery. Warhol is best remembered for his distinctive appearance and talent for blurring the boundaries between art and pop culture – both of which are in much evidence in his short experimental film
"Andy Warhol Eating a Hamburger," posted by href="http://www.youtube.com/rocketboom">Rocket Boom:







In 1932, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) is born. Sometimes referred
to as the "Lion of the Senate," Kennedy gave his last publicly
televised speech at last year's Democratic National Convention, just
weeks after having brain surgery. Footage courtesy of href="http://www.youtube.com/politicstv">Politics TV:







And in 1980, the U.S. Men's Hockey Team, led by coach Herb Brooks,
defeats the Soviet Union in the Winter Olympics. Often referred to as
the "Miracle on Lake Placid," it's considered one of the greatest
upsets in Olympic history. This video from href="http://www.youtube.com/wmhtv">wmhtv gives a brief history of
Lake Placid's unique place in Olympic history:







Finally, this concludes our weeklong run of the "Today in History" series -- did you enjoy it? Please leave us your feedback in the comments section below.



Best,

David McMillan

YouTube Entertainment

More about → Today in History: Warhol Dies, A Miracle Happens on Lake Placid

Celebrate the Oscars on YouTube

As you might have heard, the 81st Annual Academy Awards are taking place this Sunday in Los Angeles. To celebrate, we're featuring a mix of funny, nerdy, and emotional videos dedicated to Oscar on the YouTube home page this weekend.



Today, we're spotlighting Oscar-inspired parodies and humorous videos from YouTube users Jimmy Kimmel, Chad Vader (aka blamesocietyfilms), DC Lugi, and the Fine Brothers, who manage to give spoilers for all 80 Best Picture winners in less than five minutes:







On Sunday, the day of the ceremony, the YouTube home page will be devoted to "Oscar's Greatest Moments" and will feature 12 historic clips from the Academy's archives. Remember Halle Berry's emotional acceptance speech for Best Actress? Martin Scorsese's win, after losing for nearly 30 years? Roberto Benigni's freak-out? The streaker? Relive those moments on our home page and/or check out many others on the Academy Awards' official YouTube channel.



Best,

David McMillan

YouTube Entertainment

More about → Celebrate the Oscars on YouTube

Today in History: Malcolm X is Assassinated, Peace Gets a Sign

In 1965, Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York
City by members of the Nation of Islam. Earlier this year, href="http://www.youtube.com/thenewyorktimes">New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott revisited Spike Lee's eponymous
1992 biopic about the controversial leader:







In 1948, NASCAR is incorporated, giving birth to the popular culture of race-car driving. Watch as NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger takes Lenay from href="http://www.youtube.com/user/redbullusa">Red Bull First-Person out on the Hickory Motor Speedway for a driving lesson:







And in 1958, the Peace Symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In 2008,
teenager Trevor Dougherty (aka href="http://www.youtube.com/user/maddogza">maddogza
) organized a gathering of thousands to create a giant human peace
sign as a call for world peace:







Peace,

David McMillan

YouTube Entertainment

More about → Today in History: Malcolm X is Assassinated, Peace Gets a Sign

Introducing Collaborative Annotations

When we launched annotations last June, we had a hunch you'd find creative ways to use them and, sure enough, you put them vigorously to work, pushing the limits of information sharing, interactive games and storytelling.



Today, we are excited to bring a new twist to annotations: the ability to collaborate on them with other YouTube users. Now you can invite anyone you like to create speech bubbles, notes and spotlights on your videos.



Enabling Collaborative Annotations is easy. First, go to your annotations editor (which you can find in My Videos or by going directly to your video's watch page) and retrieve the special annotations link. Then send it out to your friends. Once they click on the link, they will be allowed to add annotations to your video. If you don't like what they write you can always delete their annotations, and you can also disable access to the annotations URL so that no more can be added. Naturally, you can edit or delete anything you write on someone else's video.



So please give it a whirl -- you can start by participating in the first collaborative sitcom, "Kevin N' George Must Die," created by students of the Nissan acting studio -- and let us know what you think. We can't wait to see how you take online collaboration to a whole new level.



Best,

Ryan Junee

Product Manager

The YouTube Team




P.S. Even though we think annotations are really cool and give you yet another reason to start interacting even more deeply with videos on the site, we realize some of you are "old school" and prefer to see just the video and nothing more. For this reason we've added a setting that lets you permanently disable annotations. Check out this Help Center article for more information.

More about → Introducing Collaborative Annotations

Today in History: Kurt Cobain Is Born, John Glenn Orbits the Earth

Kurt Cobain, front man for Nirvana, is born in 1967. Fast Focus TV posted this live performance of Nirvana's "Lithium," filmed at the Reading Festival in England just two years before Cobain's untimely death at the age of 27:







The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York in 1872. In 2008, the Museum opened an exhibit dedicated to art and fashion inspired by comic book characters. Marvel.com sent one of their reporters to cover the exhibit:







And on this date in 1962, John Glenn becomes first American to orbit around the earth. Charlie Rose
sat down for an extensive interview with Glenn to look back on his accomplishments, both here on earth and above:







Till next time...

David McMillan

YouTube Entertainment

More about → Today in History: Kurt Cobain Is Born, John Glenn Orbits the Earth

Pluto is discovered 79 years ago and is then declared not a planet in 2006. Lonelygirl15 ponders this and helps the celestial body "adjust to a new peer group":







Huckleberry Finn is first published in the U.S. in 1885. Tommyandtimmy condense the novel into a four-minute Lego masterpiece – clearly not your father's Mark Twain:







The Church of Scientology becomes incorporated in California in 1954. Hear what Scientologists say about their religion, from the createSummaryAndThumb("summary787122983319858304"); More about → Today in History: Pluto Is Discovered, Huck Finn Goes Rafting

Your Thoughts on the Stimulus? Here's Your Direct Line to Congress

A month ago, we announced that Congress has come to YouTube - you can now find your Senator's and Representative's YouTube channels at the Senate Hub and the House Hub. Now, we're making it even easier for you to engage with your leaders and tell them what you think.



Each week, we'll highlight a video from a member of Congress that solicits questions or input from you about the country's most pressing issues. Using Google's new Moderator tool, you'll be able to not only submit your own responses through text, but also vote on other people's responses -- allowing the best submissions to rise to the top.



Today, we're kicking off with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) who wants to know what you think about the economic stimulus package recently passed by Congress:







Do you think the stimulus package will succeed in creating more jobs for Americans? Was there something missing from the package? Head over to the Senate Hub to make your voice heard, then check back in a week to hear what Senator Cornyn has to say about the top responses.



Finally, this is the first time we've tried using Google Moderator on a YouTube channel, so let us know what you think.



Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

More about → Your Thoughts on the Stimulus? Here's Your Direct Line to Congress

Today in History: The New Yorker and Paris Hilton Enter the World

The New Yorker is founded by Harold Ross and Jane Grant in 1925. The most popular video on their YouTube channel, NewYorkerDotCom,
accompanies a 2008 piece about a man getting caught in an elevator for 41 hours:







Paris Hilton is born in 1981. itn asks her to describe her perfect date:







Madame Butterfly premieres at La Scala in 1904. theindependent interviews soprano Mary Plazas, who reveals what it was like to work with the late Anthony Minghella in his 2007 version:







Yours,

Mia Quagliarello

Senior Community Manager

The YouTube Team

More about → Today in History: The New Yorker and Paris Hilton Enter the World

Today in History: Fidel Comes to Power, LeVar Burton Is Born

It's Presidents' Day in the U.S., and we thought we'd use this historical holiday to test out a new series in this blog: "Today in History." Every day this week, we'll serve you three videos from our partners highlighting something interesting that happened on that day in history. For example, February 16 marked when…



Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959. CBCtv captures him speaking about his ideology:







LeVar Burton was born in 1957, in Germany. The Reading Rainbow/Star Trek: The Next Generation star tells revision3 about his love of technology, specifically Twitter:







The 9th perihelion passage of Halley's Comet was recorded in 374. This 45-minute lecture from uctelevision asks how much we really know, even today, about comets:







Until tomorrow,

Mia Quagliarello

Senior Community Manager

The YouTube Team

More about → Today in History: Fidel Comes to Power, LeVar Burton Is Born

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra: Let the Voting Begin!

You can now cast your votes for your favorite musicians auditioning for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, the world's first collaborative online orchestra and summit. Anyone can vote on the 200 semi-finalists through February 22, 2009.







The YouTube Symphony Orchestra received over 3,000 audition videos from more than 70 countries and territories spanning six continents. Submissions came from Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Eritrea, Venezuela, Vietnam, Russia and the U.S., and included everything from the violin to the toy piano and even an audition on musical saw from GrandmaTF. Here's a playlist of some of the more "unique" performances and related clips about the event.



A panel of musical experts from the London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and other leading orchestras around the world narrowed the field of entries based on such criteria as musicianship, vitality of performance and originality. Now it's time for you to chime in. Who's your favorite flautist, marimba player or harpist? Do you prefer the crash cymbal or contrabassoon? The finalists will go on to Carnegie Hall in April for the collaborative "Internet Symphony" performance and summit gathering of classical musicians from all over the world. But hurry -- voting ends at 9pm PST on Sunday!



Go Vote,

Michele Flannery

YouTube Music

More about → The YouTube Symphony Orchestra: Let the Voting Begin!

The Black List in the YouTube Screening Room

Two weeks ago, we kicked off a month of programming, sponsored by Grey Goose, in the YouTube Screening Room to celebrate Black History Month. Today, we're proud to reveal the next four videos in our lineup: excerpts from the critically acclaimed documentary series "The Black List."



"The Black List" features intimate portraits of some of America's greatest innovators, thinkers and cultural icons, who are also African-Americans. You'll hear from one of the world's greatest living comedians, Chris Rock; renowned entrepreneur and music marketing guru, Steve Stoute; tennis legend and current World No. 1, Serena Williams; and music mogul and founder of Def Jam Records, Russell Simmons.







Didn't get the chance to check out the first round of films? Don't fret -- they're still available in the YouTube Screening Room archive.



Prepare to be inspired,

Sara Pollack

YouTube Film

More about → The Black List in the YouTube Screening Room

HD/HQ and Widescreen Options on Embedded Videos

You now have the option to watch embedded videos in high quality or HD (when those formats are available). The widescreen option is also available when you embed a video. You can use our handy how-to guide on optimizing your uploads to look their absolute best on YouTube.







As always, let us know how you find using this new feature. We'll use your feedback to make improvements as we roll out new features for embeds.



Sincerely,

Nikhil Chandhok

Product Manager

The YouTube Team

More about → HD/HQ and Widescreen Options on Embedded Videos

YouTube Goes Offline

We are always looking for ways to make it easier for you to find, watch, and share videos. Many of you have told us that you wanted to take your favorite videos offline. So we've started working with a few partners who want their videos shared universally and even enjoyed away from an Internet connection.



Many video creators on YouTube want their work to be seen far and wide. They don't mind sharing their work, provided that they get the proper credit. Using Creative Commons licenses, we're giving our partners and community more choices to make that happen. Creative Commons licenses permit people to reuse downloaded content under certain conditions.



We're also testing an option that gives video owners the ability to permit downloading of their videos from YouTube. Partners could choose to offer their video downloads for free or for a small fee paid through Google Checkout. Partners can set prices and decide which license they want to attach to the downloaded video files (for more info on the types of licenses, take a look here).



For example, universities use YouTube to share lectures and research with an ever-expanding audience. In an effort to promote the sharing of information, we are testing free downloads of YouTube videos from Stanford, Duke, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCTV (broadcasting programs from throughout the UC system). YouTube users who are traveling or teachers who want to show these videos in classrooms with limited or no connectivity should find this particularly useful.



A small number of other YouTube partners, including khanacademy, householdhacker and pogobat, are also participating in this test as an additional distribution and revenue-generating tool.



So how do these downloads work? The video watch pages of the participating partners link to the download option below the left-hand corner of the video. To help you keep track of the videos you have previously purchased, we have created a new "My Purchases" tab under "My Videos."



If you are a partner who is interested in participating, you can find out more about the test and enter your information here.



Please do share your feedback with us by joining the discussion here.



Best,

Thai Tran

Product Manager

More about → YouTube Goes Offline

Guru Challenge: Baked with Love

In our latest Guru Challenge, Duff Goldman and his Ace of Cakes crew asked you, the YouTube community of bakers, to show off your best cake creations for Valentine's Day. You baked countless cakes with love and the resulting videos blew us and the Food Network away. You tempted our taste buds with some irresistible recipes, and we're happy to share some of our favorite slices of baking goodness on the homepage today.




You demonstrated that the way to a man's heart is often through his stomach...









You showed us that an organic vegan cake can look just as mouthwatering as its less-healthy counterparts...









You even made a cake for those jilted lovers who might not be celebrating Valentine's Day this year...









Thanks to all who participated and shared your hard work and creativity. You've inspired us this Valentine's Day and confirmed that our community is filled with some of the best baking gurus on the Web.




Happy Valentine's Day,


Sadia Harper


YouTube HowTo & Style

More about → Guru Challenge: Baked with Love

New Music Featured Every Tuesday

Did you know that each Tuesday a new or buzzworthy music video is highlighted in our music section? And this week we've got an extra special treat: THREE exclusive session recordings from New Pornographers band member A.C. Newman's second solo album, Get Guilty. Recorded live in Brooklyn, NY, these new songs showcase the more introspective side of this Canadian singer-songwriter -- complete with some zealous shaking on the tambourine and maracas. See for yourself over here or in the playlist below:







Enjoy,

Michele K-Tel

YouTube Music

More about → New Music Featured Every Tuesday

Last Weekend for Valentine's Day Guru Challenge

Valentine's Day is getting close, but the end of this month's Guru Challenge is getting closer. We teamed up with Duff Goldman and the Ace of Cakes crew to find creative bakers in the YouTube community. We want to see your Valentine's Day-inspired creations and share them with everyone:









Not sure what to make? Take a look at what some of our gurus have submitted so far:









Make a video response with an impressive cake by February 10, and you might see your masterpiece on the YouTube homepage.




Happy Baking,


Sadia H.


YouTube HowTo & Style

More about → Last Weekend for Valentine's Day Guru Challenge

Doritos Wins Top Super Bowl Ad on YouTube

Our annual Ad Blitz program showcasing the best Super Bowl advertisements came to an end yesterday. There were over 2.6 million votes on ads in the program; you chose "Free Doritos!" as the top spot:







The ad was created by Joe and Dave Herbert, two unemployed brothers from Batesville, Indiana, with no prior experience in advertising. They earned the chance to produce the spot through an online contest last year.



Score another one for the Internet,


Andrew B.


YouTube Sports

More about → Doritos Wins Top Super Bowl Ad on YouTube

Ad Blitz: Last Chance to Vote

As part of YouTube's Ad Blitz program, our users have cast over a million votes and counting on the 53 commercials from last Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast. There are a few hours left to view and vote -- head over to the Ad Blitz channel to make your picks.



And check back tomorrow, Thursday, February 5, when the winning ad will be rewarded with a spot on YouTube's homepage.



Thanks!


Andrew B.


YouTube Sports

More about → Ad Blitz: Last Chance to Vote

Underwater Geo Tag for Your Videos

***UPDATED with video tutorial and an invitation to explore the Ocean using Google Earth, narrated by Sylvia Earle, "Explorer in Residence" at National Geographic.



Today, Google Earth 5.0 launched, and one of the most exciting features is Ocean, which you can read all about here. Partners like BBC Worldwide, National Geographic
, Cousteau, Tagging of Pacific Predators, Ocean Conservancy, and Kip Evans Photography have already taken advantage of the new subsurface Ocean in Google Earth to place their YouTube videos below sea level -- and now you can too. Simply go to the altitude field in the "Date and Map" section on your video's information page and select a negative altitude to indicate that your video was shot in an ocean, lake, river, crater, etc. or drag the pointer over a body of water and hit "Set."



We can't wait to see what you've captured beneath the surface (aside from lots of fish!).



Best,

Umang Sharan

Engineer

YouTube




Tutorial:







Explore:

More about → Underwater Geo Tag for Your Videos

Vote on the Top Super Bowl Ads

Anticipation is running high for today's Super Bowl clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are seeking their record sixth NFL Championship, and the upstart Arizona Cardinals, who are looking to continue their unlikely -- some would say destined -- run to the top.



Every year, advertisers pay millions of dollars for time during commercial breaks. Historically, these ads have pulled out all the stops -- think celebrity cameos and extravagant production values that could awe even the Jerry Bruckheimers and Michael Bays of the world.



Are these advertisers getting the most bang for their buck? Who's ad will everyone be chatting about on Monday? Ultimately it will be you who decides: immediately after the Super Bowl ends this Sunday, log on to our Ad Blitz channel to view all of the big ticket ads, and vote for for the most creative, most memorable spots.







Voting is open until Wednesday, February 4th, and the winning commercial will be posted on the homepage on Thursday, February 5th. All the ads will live on the Ad Blitz channel afterwards.



Enjoy!


Andrew B.


YouTube Sports

More about → Vote on the Top Super Bowl Ads