Bob Dudley, Chief Executive for BP Response, answers your questions about the oil spill

It’s been 71 days since the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Since then, we’ve used our platforms to make sure that people can watch and participate in real time, access all the latest information on the crisis and response and share concerns through various programs and initiatives.

Now we’re teaming up with PBS NewsHour to take you to BP headquarters in Houston for an exclusive interview with Bob Dudley, President and CEO of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. In a live session moderated by the PBS NewsHour’s Ray Suarez, Mr. Dudley will respond directly to your questions.



Now is your chance to ask BP questions on accountability, the clean-up plan, recovery efforts in the Gulf Region, environmental impact, the status of the relief well drilling, the role of the U.S. government, the future of offshore drilling and of BP as a company.

Using Google Moderator on youtube.com/citizentube, submit your questions and vote the best ones to the top. Then join us for the live interview tomorrow, Thursday, July 1, at 3:30 pm ET/12:30 pm PT on CitizenTube. Portions of the interview will also be aired Thursday evening on the PBS NewsHour and available on YouTube.

Early on, we partnered with NewsHour to bring you a live stream of the oil gushing into the waters of the Gulf. On June 15, we streamed President Obama’s Oval Office address on the oil spill crisis on CitizenTube. After the President’s speech, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answered questions submitted by YouTube users, who cast nearly 200,000 votes to select the top questions from 7,000+ submitted.

We hope that these various opportunities to engage and participate in a current event help you and fellow citizens stay more informed and have your voice heard.

Olivia Ma, YouTube News Manager, and Ginny Hunt, Google Public Sector Manager

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Professional caption services get “YouTube Ready”

Captioning is becoming increasingly important to YouTube and videos all across the web. Captions ensure that many more people can understand what's happening in your video, from deaf and hard of hearing viewers to people who speak a different language from you and choose to auto-translate the captions into their language. Captions also make your video a lot more discoverable. People searching for content on YouTube might encounter your video if your captions contain the words or subjects they're looking for.

You may be able to manage creating captions for your videos on your own, but sometimes you have too many videos or your video has elements that need special care. Today, thanks to support from the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP.org), we're pleased to roll out a new "YouTube Ready" designation for professional caption vendors in the United States. The YouTube Ready logo identifies qualified vendors who can help you caption your YouTube videos.


If you're interested in having your videos captioned, here's DCMP's current list of YouTube Ready vendors who may be able to help. Please keep in mind that participating vendors:

• Have passed a caption quality evaluation administered by the DCMP
• Have a website and a YouTube channel where you can learn more about their services (see playlist below)
• Have agreed to post rates for the range of services that they offer for YouTube content. Typical rates range from $2/minute for a transcript to $10/minute for full professional captions.

The first launch of the program includes 12 qualified vendors, with more to come. We're happy to have them on board, and hope they'll help to provide even more options for captioning your videos. If you're interested in finding a YouTube Ready caption vendor, check out our Help Center or visit DCMP's page.
 


Naomi Bilodeau, Caption Evangelist, recently watched "Deaf Mugger."

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Video game fans pick their E3 fave

YouTube’s video gamers have spoken. First, they were treated to four days of live streaming from the gaming industry’s annual trade show, E3. The coverage elicited over 30,000 comments on the channel, as enthusiasts gave shout-outs to their favorite games, characters and platforms. They were also able to vote on their favorite E3 game trailer, which turned out to be this:



Congratulations to “Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3: The Video Game”! To see the other trailers in the top three, check out the E3 channel, and don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll get notified when we launch our 2011 coverage -- because it’s never too soon to be thinking about where the gaming industry will take thumb-numbing action next.

Mark Day, Gaming Manager, recently watched “Amazing Fire Animation!”

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Rumblefish launches user-friendly music program for YouTube community

Do you ever wonder how to find music you’re allowed to use in your videos? Have you had a video blocked due to unauthorized use of music? Well, we are happy to show our support for a new site called FriendlyMusic. FriendlyMusic gives YouTube users the option of purchasing a lifetime license to edit a song into their video. How does this work? Go to www.friendlymusic.com and browse through their catalog of pre-cleared music for YouTube. You then have the option to purchase an mp3 and download the track. Once you download it, the track is yours and subject to your creativity. Add it to a YouTube video, create a mash-up with, or add it onto the existing audio in your YouTube video. Videos with Friendly Music soundtracks are licensed for unlimited views for the life of the video all over the world.

Since its launch, YouTube has pioneered ways for users to get professional music into their videos while respecting copyright -- and generating revenue and promotion for artists, songwriters, and music companies. Through Content ID and a series of unprecedented deals with music labels and publishers, we’ve turned user-made music videos into a business opportunity as well as a form of expression. With Audioswap, we built a library of songs you can drop right into your existing YouTube uploads. And with countless artists, we’ve hosted DIY music-video contests and film festivals.

To be clear, many of the FriendlyMusic tracks are still available for free in Audioswap. What’s new is that the FriendlyMusic store offers you up-front reassurance that specific songs are pre-cleared for your video -- plus the ability to edit those songs in your own video editing tools, at the point of creation. This marks the first time a music company has offered YouTube users a direct license. We’re excited about it and we hope you are too.

Try it out and let us know what you think.

Ali Sandler, Music Partner Manager, and Glenn Brown, Head of Music Partnerships, recently both watched "Baby Samba Dance!"

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Have a Personalized Logon Wallpaper in Windows XP

Have you always wanted to have your image displayed as a log on banner whenever you start your PC? This article explains the exact procedure required to have your own photo or your pet's photo being displayed as one such banner. With this trick, you can have a personalized wallpaper which would appear before your log in screen each time you start your computer.

To use this trick, you need to have a bmp file. If your image is of any other format, you can save it in bmp format using MS Paint or Irfan View(To download Irfan View, visit 5 Essential Freewares for your PC).

Now that you have the bmp file, follow the steps given below.

1. Click on Start.
2. Click on Run.
3. Type "regedit" in the dialog box without quotes.
4. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop.
5. In the right hand pane, double click on the value Wallpaper.
6. In the Value Data option, enter the full path to your bmp file you created to be your wallpaper. Example: For a file named image.bmp placed in Windows folder, type "C:\WINDOWS\image.bmp" without the quotes.
7. Double click on Wallpaper Style, and change its value to 2 to get a stretched image.
   
   

Close the Registry Editor and Restart the PC to apply the changes.

Once the changes are applied, each time you start your PC , you will see the log on wallpaper. To undo the trick, simply delete the address to your image in Step 5.

P.S: I have my photo as the log on wallpaper.  What is yours?

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Paul McCartney: On YouTube Playing Hyde Park For Born HIV Free

This Sunday (June 27) Paul McCartney takes to the stage to headline Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park and YouTube will be hosting a stream from the event at the BornHIVFree channel.

Starting at 8.30pm in the UK (12.30pm Pacific Time), visitors to the channel can enjoy an exclusive broadcast of McCartney's performance, donated by the former Beatle to The Global Fund’s Born HIV Free campaign, which has another high-profile patron in the form of France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Born HIV Free is urging people pledge their support to The Global Fund’s efforts to eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV by 2015 by adding their names to the organization’s Support Wall. At present, 45% of HIV-Positive pregnant women have access to the drugs they need to block transfer of the virus to their babies, with Global Fund-supported programmes reaching 790,000 to date… 340,000 in 2009 alone. The goal is clear and your voice could make the difference.

So, as you are listening to Paul McCartney work his way through what – with The Beatles, Wings and his solo recordings – must rank as one of the best sets of songs of all time, spare a minute to find out more about Born HIV Free, The Global Fund and maybe even add your support. YouTube will be updating live on Twitter this Sunday via @youtube, and you can add your comments to a planned Twitter stream on the channel using #bornhivfree.

Have fun,

Jamie Dolling, YouTube UK, recently watched "Rehearsal Footage – 19th May 2010".

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5 Essential free Software for Windows PC

Imagine, you have a new high end PC with Windows installed. You switch on the PC in excitement only to ask yourself the question, what should I do now? Even the most high end hardware is useless without the right software. This article deals with such five essential software for your PC that do not put any dent on your pocket. For convenience purposes, each software is provided according to the category of its usage. So lets begin.

All of the freeware software mentioned support all versions of Windows including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

1.  Browsers: It is fair to say that for majority of PC users, surfing the internet is the only major use for their PC. So, it would have been unfair to begin this list with any other category. Although, windows comes with Internet Explorer, it would not be totally wrong to say that IE 8, the latest addition no more than an average web browser. So an alternative web browser is an absolute necessity. Coming to the point, there are two major contenders for inclusion in this category. So, I was unsure which one to choose. So I decided to include them both. (I have intentionally not numbered the browsers)                             

a.  Mozilla Firefox: Mozilla is not totally wrong to say that the Firefox Web browser is the faster, more secure, and fully customizable way to browse the web. Firefox is one of the most complete browsers available. It is considered to be the first browser to shake the Internet Explorer's dominance.One of the good things about Firefox is that it keeps up with the needs of time. Another cool thing about Firefox is that it has an almost perfect score in Acid 3 test. Firefox wins the race with other browsers in terms of available themes, plugins, and security. Overall, Firefox is a must have browser on your PC.

b.  Google Chrome: When Google does something, it is huge and the same is true for Google Chrome. Everything was looking settled in the browser market when Google all of a sudden came up with their new browser with the unique thought of building it almost from scratch. Google's Chrome is currently the fastest browser on the planet with tremendous java script rendering capabilities. Unlike Firefox, Chrome has a perfect score in Acid 3. Themes and plugins also make Chrome a totally customizable browser. Overall, Chrome is fast, safe and customizable. If you have no problem with Google's products, Chrome is a must have browser on your PC.

2.  Media Player: If we check our hard drives, one thing which most of us will find on them is media. To play that media, we need a media player. So a media player is an absolute necessity for most of the PC users. One can say that Windows comes with Windows Media Player, so why is a another media player needed. To them, I say that though Windows has media player but it does not have the ability to play all the media unless you install the necessary codecs. So there is an essential need for another media player which comes with almost all codecs installed. There is one such media player available. It is VideoLAN's free offering, VLC Media Player.

 VLC  Media Player: VLC Media Player is an open source, multi-platform media player that comes with almost all of the codecs required to play all different types of media on your PC. So you do not have to worry about installing codecs to play your files. Moreover, the best part about VLC media player is that being open source, you can install on almost any operating system. Moreover, VLC media player is portable so you can carry it in your flash drive. All this combined with stability, performance and the ability to change skins and take snapshots from videos make VLC Media Player an absolute essential software.

3.  Image Viewer: Well most of us like to take images, and most of us like to edit them as well. This leads to a large amount of images in different formats. The inbuilt image viewer in Windows is not all that bad but the problem arises when we try to open files of different formats. Imagine this situation, you have a great collection of images which are of different formats. Now you invite your friends to show those images. But you have one problem, Windows Image Viewer is not opening the images as they are of unsupported formats. What do you do? Well you install Irfan View with plugins.

Irfan View: Irfan View is developed by Irfan Skiljan, a student at the University of Vienna in 1996. Irfan View is one of the most popular image viewer worldwide. Irfan View gets downloaded over 1 million times each month. One of the major advantages of Irfan View is that it has a light interface, is fast in opening images and can open virtually every type of image image file possible. It can even open Flash files and also serves as a small media player as it can play movie files and mp3 files as well! And that is not all, Irfan View can be used to do minor image editing as well.
Some of its features are:
Slide show, batch conversion , Acquiring from a TWAIN source, Batch acquire or scan,add text to photos, convert to greyscale, enhance colours and even capture screen shots. Honestly, that is not even 5 % of what Irfan View is capable of. All this at a tremendously small size make Irfan View a must have essential.

Irfan View Plugins can add further functionality to this already great software.

4.  Security: This could well be the most important category of this article. Security of a PC is the most important thing in the cyber world now. There was a time when this was not essential but those were the good old days. Now one cannot even think of browsing the web without having an anti virus or anti spyware installed. Big organizations and corporate companies spend millions for securing their network but you don't have to. There are some free tools which do the job equally well without costing you a penny. (To read a full article on securing your PC, visit How to increase your Cyber Security.)

There were many alternatives to include in this category. So I decided to include the most popular one which is presumably AVG Free Edition.

AVG Free Edition: AVG is a popular antivirus with a slick interface having the ability to detect viruses and spywares. It receives updates frequently and is light on resources. Some of its key features are Automatic Update Functionality, Resident Shield, Email Scanner, free lifetime database updates for home users, Anti Spyware, Anti Virus, AVG toolbar and Search Scan. All these premium features are available free of cost in AVG free for home users making AVG a must have free anti virus/spyware for your PC.

 
5.  Office Suite: An office suite has become an absolute necessity these days. We use it to create text documents,create presentations, making tables, graphs recording data, managing schedules,creating spreadsheets and workbooks. A full fledged Office Suite like Microsoft Office will cost you no less than 500 USD (Rs. 25000). That is too high for any user. So what should one do. Well use the Open Office Suite instead.

Open Office Suite: Open Office Suite is an open source, multi lingual, multi platform project developed by Sun Micro systems. Among all the Office Suites available, Open Office is considered to be the only worthy competitor to Microsoft Office. It is fast, available in many languages, works on all computers, stores all data in an international open standard format, read and write files from other common office packages and the best of all, is free of charge for any purpose(commercial or private).

These freeware will definitely help you to make your PC more usable. Although there are many more free software for Windows that are worthwhile, these 5 are an absolute must for a freeware dominated Windows PC.

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Shakira takes your questions on YouTube

She’s a global music star with hypnotic dance moves, a philanthropist and a YouTube phenom (her “Waka Waka” video, made for the 2010 World Cup, has over 32 million views). But now, Shakira is opening herself up to your questions.



Beginning today, you can ask her any question you’d like -- about her music, her work supporting education for all children through the 1Goal campaign and her own Barefoot Foundation, her World Cup stint, or anything else. The top questions will be posed to the Colombian songstress in an interview next week.



Here’s more from the lady herself:







Questions should be submitted in either video (preferable) or text to www.youtube.com/join1goal before midnight PT on Saturday, June 26. The full interview will be posted to the same channel and featured on the YouTube homepage next week.



Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism Manager, recently watched “Queen Rania Invites You to Join 1Goal.”

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Streaming live from the Twilight Eclipse premiere

Whether you’re on Team Edward or Team Jacob (we’re pretty much split 50/50 here at YouTube), tune in tonight to watch red carpet coverage of the Eclipse premiere, live from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. From 5:30 p.m. PT onwards, Twilight’s YouTube channel will give you a front-row seat to the arrivals area where many of the film’s stars, including the buff Taylor Lautner, beloved Robert Pattinson, and belle Kristen Stewart, will be stopping to chat with Access Hollywood reporter Quddus.

The scene from Hollywood may look nothing like Forks, but all of your favorite vampires and werewolves will be there giving live interviews and greeting fans. Many of these Twilight faithful have been waiting for up to three days in order to catch a glimpse of their favorite pale-faced friends.



The red carpet stream will repeat on the Twilight channel immediately after it premieres so if you miss it the first time, you can see it the necks time around.

Thomas Henry, Display Team, recently watched “New Moon Volturi Fight Scene”.....again.

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YouTube wins case against Viacom

Today, the court granted our motion for summary judgment in Viacom’s lawsuit with YouTube. This means that the court has decided that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. The decision follows established judicial consensus that online services like YouTube are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them manage their rights online.

This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other. We’re excited about this decision and look forward to renewing our focus on supporting the incredible variety of ideas and expression that billions of people post and watch on YouTube every day around the world.

UPDATE: This decision also applies to other parties to the lawsuit, including the Premier League.

Posted by Kent Walker, Vice President and General Counsel, Google

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How to Improve Cyber Security

How to make your PC secure from all the threats in the online world and improve cyber security? Not sure? Then read on. Here is a list of things you should know to improve your online cyber security:-

1. Anti-virus : Probably, one of the first thing which comes into one's mind when thinking about security. An anti-virus is an inevitable tool for the security of a PC. One can either choose a paid version of the anti-virus of his choice or opt for the equally effective free antivirus (only for private users). Before choosing the anti-virus, it is necessary to check whether the anti-virus has resident protection or not. Resident Protection automatically detects viruses when they are loaded into the memory and takes the appropriate action. Thus saving a user from sitting hours in front of the PC scanning viruses. It is important to check regularly for updates. Also do a quick scan (scanning Windows folder, registry, documents and recent downloads) at least once a week and a full scan at least once a month, even if your PC appears fine.

2. Anti-spyware: A spyware is a program which collects private information and sends it to its programmer. Spywares are considered more dangerous than viruses as they steal private information like Windows registration number, bank accounts, credit card's information, site logins, which can be used to harm a user in all possible ways. Login Accounts to social networks like Facebook and Orkut seem to be the prime target. Thus, it is necessary to have a good anti-spyware software with resident protection ,registry monitoring and browser monitoring. Again it is the user's choice to either opt for a paid one or for a free one. It is important to enable the automatic update function in the anti-spyware software and to do a quick scan of the PC once a week. It is also necessary do a full scan once every month for best results.



3. Firewall: A firewall prevents unauthorized or malicious applications from reaching a computer. A firewall is basically needed to protect a PC against Trojans, spyware, worms, hackers, hijackers and other known and unknown threats. However a firewall must not be assumed an alternative to the anti-virus or anti-spyware software. Before choosing a firewall, the most important thing to keep in mind is the ease of use and the amount of customization possible. An often overlooked factor upon choosing a firewall is the amount of resources consumed by it. Keeping all these factors in mind, a good firewall software(free or paid) must be chosen. It is important to read the alerts displayed by it carefully, and select an appropriate action to do.

4. Anti-spam: Anti-spam software has become important because of the amount of spams received by internet users frequently. These scams are the most common cause of cyber crime. Installing one and using it is easy. So don't worry about how to use one. But the only difficult thing is to be patient with it. Its performance will improve over time. You can download any of the free anti-spam available over the web or can opt for a paid version.


5. Windows Update: A very important factor for PC security is updating Windows. It is important to enable Automatic Updates in Windows which helps to get all the latest security fixes. Getting these updates will help Windows work better and will make one's working more secure.


6. Backing Up: It is important to back up all your important data to have a copy of it whenever needed in case of a virus attack. A back up comes in handy in such unexpected situations.


For some more tricks and tips to improve your PC's security visit PC Security Tips : Make your Computer Secure.

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WWE lays smackdown on YouTube community with full-length, catch-up episodes

Wrestling fans, have we got a body-slam of an announcement for you. Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that will bring full-length episodes of Friday Night Smackdown, WWE NXT, WWE Superstars and ECW to YouTube users in the U.S. on the WWE YouTube channel. In case that's not enough pile-driving goodness for you, there will be even more clips from Monday Night Raw, footage from classic WWE matches, and videos from WWE Superstars and Divas like John Cena, Chris Jericho and Alicia Fox.



Whether you cut your teeth on old Wrestlemania matches, came of age under the reign of Austin 3:16, or are just a casual observer interested in the world of sports entertainment, the WWE channel on YouTube is your destination for fresh content from WWE Superstars. Remember to subscribe to stay on top of the latest shows, news and announcements.

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing, recently watched “Raw: Big Show & Mark Feuerstein vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil.”

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PC Security Tips : Make Computer Secure

Here are some tips which will enable you to make your PC more secure.

Anti-virus

1. Never, ever turn off the resident protection of your antivirus even if it decreases performance. Upgrade if necessary.

2. Keep your virus definitions up-to-date. Use the automatic update feature of your anti-virus and try not to ignore the "Do you want to update now" message however often it might pop up.

3. Even if you update regularly and you have not seen any suspicious activity on your PC, do a deep scan at least once a month.

4. Always create an emergency boot disk and keep it in a safe place.

5. Run a deep scan in safe mode at least once every two months to kill viruses that would otherwise remain hidden.

Firewalls

1. If you are unsure about the alert displayed by your firewall, try searching it on the internet.

2. A firewall is a powerful tool that requires an understanding of how the program works and exactly what it is doing and whether it is secure or not. Reading the help files is extremely important in successful configuration of your firewall.

3. If you are running a third party firewall,be sure to turn off the Windows Firewall.

4. You can temporarily disable a firewall by right clicking the icon in the tray. This is handy when you know a site is one you can trust but your firewall is blocking it. But remember to re-enable it as soon as possible.

5. Read firewall notices carefully when they pop up so that you don't let a bad thing in or prevent good traffic.


Anti-Spyware

1. You should regularly check for updates. Enable the automatic update feature.

2. Remember to do a scan every now and then, or schedule scans if your program allows it. If you don't want to sit that long for scans to complete, use a single folder for all your downloads, then scan only that folder, Windows installation folder and the Registry. Alternately, you can do a quick scan if your program allows it.


Anti-Spam

1. Be patient with anti-spam software, it will get better over time.

2. Even if it looks that your anti-spam software is working great, periodically check the 'Spam' folder for good mail. None of the anti-spam software is perfect right now.

3. Don't give your anti-spam software too much rules, because it will not learn anything then. It is better if it learns on its own.

For a complete article on securing your PC, visit How to improve Cyber Security.

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Protecting yourself, your subjects and your human rights videos on YouTube

Last week we started a blog series with WITNESS, a human rights video advocacy and training organization, highlighting the role that online video is playing in human rights advocacy. And though activists around the world have shown how powerful YouTube can be as a tool to raise awareness of human rights violations, this kind of work opens up new risks, online and offline. This post is designed to help you maximize the effect of your human rights videos while protecting those you're trying to help -- and ensuring your videos don't get taken down from YouTube.

Before you even start shooting video, it's important to assess the risk, understand your audience, and develop your message. This short animation, part of a series that WITNESS released, will help you think through your preparation:



One of the most important factors in creating human rights video is protecting the people you feature. In the past, videographers could generally control the size and scope of their audience, but nowadays it's safe to assume that if a human rights video is online, it's only a matter of time before the offenders see it. So it's always good practice to get informed consent from the people you film. That means making sure they understand the possible negative consequences of appearing in your video. You can also blur or obscure faces, to mitigate the ability of authorities to reveal someones identity or location. This is important: authorities in Burma, for example, have used online footage of protests to identify and arrest activists. Here's a good example of protecting an interviewee's voice and face, from a human rights organization in Israel:



But you don't need editing software to protect someones identity. You can do it with back-lighting, too, as in this video:



Once you've addressed the ethical and safety issues of your video, it's time to think about distribution. In some cases, it's not important how many people see your video, but who sees it. Activists worldwide use YouTube to post human rights footage and advocacy videos, but in some cases it may not be the best or only choice. You might have better results by keeping your footage private, but threatening to make it public -- or you may not need to put the video online at all and hold a local screening instead.

That said, your potential to reach a large audience online is a big advantage. If you do decide to post your human rights footage to YouTube, you should thoroughly read our Community Guidelines to understand what kind of content is acceptable on the site. Though we don't accept violent or graphic content on YouTube, exceptions are made for content that is educational, scientific or documentary in nature. When reviewing the content that is flagged by our community, our bias is toward free expression -- with necessary limits to ensure the site remains a safe and vibrant platform for the discussion of ideas. Understanding the context surrounding your content, and its original intent, is important for our team. Here are a few things you can do to protect your videos and keep them on the site.

1. Add as much context as possible. Titling and tagging your video correctly is the best way to add context to your videos. When our team is reviewing flagged content, titles or tags with words as simple as “human rights" or "police abuse" will help us understand the context of the footage you're uploading. Try to add some specific information into the description: who is in the video, what is happening, where and when did it happen, and why. You can also add this detail directly onto the video itself, using our annotations tool.
2. Get consent. As we mentioned before, it's important to get the consent of those you're filming. If someone flags your video and complains about appearing in it, we may have it taken down, particularly if they are not a public figure, are in a private place, or make other claims of harassment.
3. Understand local laws. Given the global scope of the YouTube platform, we comply with different sets of laws in the various countries in which we're launched (to see where we're launched, go to the YouTube.com footer and click "Worldwide"). If the content in your video is illegal in one of these countries, we must comply with the local formal legal processes. For instance, that means that in Germany we don't stream videos that are sympathetic to Nazism. Know your local laws before you upload.
4. Understand copyright. It's important to have a good handle on our copyright policies. If someone makes a claim against your video, perhaps because they believe they own the soundtrack or the footage itself, you can file a counter-notice. Though it's not YouTube's role to make fair use judgments on content, here is a helpful guide that WITNESS recommends you consult on fair use issues in online video, and some ethical considerations for when you're re-mixing human rights footage. Many content creators license their videos and audio for re-use with Creative Commons licenses.
5. Be in touch with us. We want to hear from you. If you believe your account has been hacked, for example, visit our Help Center to let us know, and we'll investigate. We also track breaking news videos from citizen sources at CitizenTube, our news and political blog. Send us a link to your video in the comments section or tweet it to @citizentube.

Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics, YouTube, and Sameer Padania for Witness

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Show off your dance moves

OK, YouTube. We know you love to dance. You've been shaking your stuff in front of the camera in your bedrooms, bathrooms and on the streets for years now. And all that practice is about to pay off: we’re joining forces with Jon M. Chu (and Dr Pepper Cherry) for the first-ever YouTube dance contest -- "YouTube Dance Studio.”




If you love dance, you know who Jon Chu is. From the Miley and Mandy ACDC Dance Battle to the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, to directing Step-Up 2 and the upcoming Step-Up 3D, Chu is at the nexus of some of the most energetic, funky dancers you’ve ever seen. Now he wants to find the next generation of extraordinary talents on YouTube.

Here's the deal: pick the style of dance that suits you -- hip-hop, jazz-funk or b-boys & b-girls. Prove you know how to dance by replicating the choreography in the video; then show off your personality in the freestyle section. If your talent and style stand above the rest, you could win a trip for two to Los Angeles, where you'll spend a day with Jon M. Chu at a jam session with some of the best hip-hop dancers around. You'll also have the opportunity to dance in an Ultra Records music video.

So bring it! Download the selected tracks, learn the moves, take out your camera, and show off your style. We know you have a passion for dance, and we want the world to see it, too.

Sadia Harper, HowTo & Style Manager, recently watched “Dance Studio Choreography: Jazz-Funk.”

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Edit video in the cloud with the YouTube Video Editor

Video editing usually requires installing software packages and having a fair amount of technical savvy. But we think video editing should be fun and easy, so we’re introducing a new tool that anyone -- even this guy -- could figure out: it’s an online video editor, now available in TestTube, our ideas incubator.

Without installing any software, it allows you to:

• Combine multiple videos you’ve uploaded to create a new longer video
• Trim the beginning and/or ending of your videos 
• Add soundtracks from our AudioSwap library of tens of thousands of songs
• Create new videos without worrying about file formats and publish them to YouTube with one click -- no upload necessary

Watch this video from powerposter rewboss to get a sense of how it works:



See? Pretty easy. The editor is ideal for merging single, short clips into a longer video. For example, you can transform clips from your vacation into a video travel diary set to music, or create a highlights reel from footage of your last basketball game.

It’s also great for trimming a long video down to the moments you really care about. Say you’ve uploaded a wedding ceremony -- beautiful event, but do you really need to see all the guests shuffle in? The video editor lets you easily remove unwanted footage so you can capture just the moment when they say “I do.”

See what some of our early experimenters have done with (or said about) the tool -- live2tivo even wrote a little ditty for it:

Please play with it and let us know what you think in the comments below and/or check out more info about it in our Help Center. We’re looking forward to adding new features based on your feedback to make the video editor more powerful while still retaining its simplicity.

Rushabh Doshi, Software Engineer, recently created "Gnome Tricks," and Joshua Siegel, Product Manager, recently created “Meet the YouTube Video Editor.”

More about → Edit video in the cloud with the YouTube Video Editor

Art Imitates Life: Re-enacting Prop 8 Trial on YouTube

In its January 13, 2010, ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the public broadcast of the proceedings in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a U.S. District Court case challenging the constitutional validity of California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. Not to be deterred, producers John Ainsworth and John Ireland from MarriageTrial.com took verbatim court transcripts and first-hand accounts from bloggers present at the trial to film complete re-enactments of the proceedings for their YouTube channel. With closing arguments slated for June 16, we caught up with the producers to learn more about the project.

What is the inspiration behind MarriageTrial on YouTube?

We realized on January 13, when the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the broadcast of California’s Proposition 8 trial, that this was really significant. When the American public was actively prevented from accessing these public proceedings on YouTube — precisely because it is so accessible — well, that’s a flat-out dare. We had to fill the void. We both believe that citizens should have access to the judicial process that will likely determine the future of marriage equality for our entire country.

First video in the series:

How has YouTube helped meet the goals of your project?

There is really no better venue for 60+ hours of film. Many blogs and news media websites have embedded our videos. Because of this, our coverage has become an integral part of the media’s reporting on the trial. Ultimately, this serves our primary goal, which is to bring transparency to the court process.

We have followed behind the scenes of the trial, as well. When the Defendant-Intervenors filed Motions to Strike testimony, we were able to “red-line” the proposed strikes, guiding people to the excerpts the motion sought to exclude from the official record. In fact, our re-enactment will remain accessible, regardless of what may be redacted from the official transcript. That is an extraordinary victory for transparency in our judicial process.

YouTube’s “time seek” functionality allows us to link evidence that is introduced in the trial. Most of our viewers are active consumers of the information, many of them reading along with the transcripts and searching for further references to each witness’s testimony. Yet many others just run the videos in the background. One of our subscribers, who cranks up her speakers and cleans the house, told us she considers our channel better than the books on tape.

Has the amount of attention been a surprise?

We were astonished at the press coverage we received, from local and national media. The international press, too, took a great interest in our project. The fact that they could access our video on YouTube made it very easy to cover and most TV and radio outlets broadcast clips directly from our YouTube channel. In a way, our YouTube Channel served as an Electronic Press Kit (EPK), which saved us quite a bit of time and marketing money.

We were featured in the New York Times, then on Bill Moyers Journal on PBS. Other national and international coverage followed. These reports commented on the way we were getting this video out to the masses…that our effort signifies a new type of “citizen journalism,” not only accessible to the world, but faster and cheaper to produce than traditional forms of media broadcast.

Describe the use of captions in your videos.

A few hours after we uploaded our first chapters, automatic captions miraculously appeared! We then formatted the official court transcripts and used YouTube’s auto-alignment tool to produce accurate captions. Our actors followed the transcripts word-for-word and the captions make it clear what a great job they did. It was so easy to provide captions, which, traditionally, can be very expensive (often prohibitively) for filmmakers. The new Interactive Transcript feature is a great way for users quickly jump to specific parts of the video directly from the transcript.

Comprehension and retention of the concepts introduced by witnesses, for example, get a major boost when viewers can read along, without having to pull up the PDF transcript. And of course, the trial re-enactment is immediately available to people with hearing loss, as well as people whose native languages are not English. The auto-translate function makes these captions available in so many languages. We could never have even approached this level of accessibility as independent filmmakers.

If the ruling goes into appeals, will you continue with the re-enactments?

Yes. We plan to follow Perry v. Schwarzenegger to the U.S. Supreme Court. According to most experts, this court’s ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Ninth Circuit, regardless of whether it repeals or confirms California’s Proposition 8. From there, it will inevitably be appealed to the highest court. We expect the first appeal within six months or so, then for it to go to Washington, D.C. by next fall. We are already planning for those re-enactments. It’s a bit early to cast the Supreme Court justices just yet, but we know that is in our future.

Bottom line, this case as a landmark in America’s civil rights history. We are proud to have created this permanent record as a resource for generations to come. Its ultimate impact is tied to YouTube as an integral part in our country’s political and cultural tapestry.

Interview by Obadiah Greenberg, Strategic Partnerships, who recently watched “NASA Team Captures Haybusa Spacecraft Reentry.”

More about → Art Imitates Life: Re-enacting Prop 8 Trial on YouTube

Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

Last night, the 14th Annual Webby Awards Gala in New York City was a celebration of the Web’s greatest achievements of the year. Producers worked through the night to edit and upload video from the event, including highlights, behind-the-scenes footage and five-word acceptance speeches, all now housed at youtube.com/webby.

YouTube staples and sensations had a strong presence at the event, from the Muppets to Google’s own Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the Internet and a curator for our fifth birthday. Buzz Aldrin got an award of behalf of NASA (those guys at College Humor really love him), and The Office’s B.J. Novak hosted (his opening monologue is here). Those who attended the gala said a standout performance was a surprise one, by the PS 22 chorus:

Check out these clips and more at the official Webby Awards YouTube channel, and congratulations to all the winners!

Deeksha Hebbar, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “14th Annual Webby Awards Highlights.”

More about → Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

The White House takes your questions about the oil spill on YouTube

Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, watch President Obama live on the White House YouTube channel as he addresses the nation about the Gulf oil spill. Then 15 minutes later, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will answer your questions. Starting now, you can submit your questions about the disaster using Google Moderator and vote the best ones to the top. Hear more from Mr. Gibbs:

Already, the conversation about the oil spill on the web has been lively. Earlier this month, thousands of you submitted your ideas on YouTube about how to clean up the oil spill, several of which were aired during the PBS NewsHour. And as more Americans search Google to find information about the oil spill and cleanup efforts, we want to help you connect directly with the recovery process.

Now’s your chance to hear the White House’s response to your questions about what many are calling the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, recently watched “U.S. Oil Spill Explained.”

More about → The White House takes your questions about the oil spill on YouTube

The YouTube News Feed: What’s happening now?

Whether it’s an altercation between a Congressman and a student in Washington, D.C., violent attacks against ethnic minorities in Kyrgyzstan, or oil washing up on a beach in the Gulf Coast, videos uploaded to YouTube by both amateur reporters and professional journalists move through the media ecosystem with a sophistication and speed greater than ever before. But with 24 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, how can people more easily find the latest breaking news videos on our site? And how can media organizations better leverage this content to expand the scope of their reporting and keep us all better informed?

To develop answers to these questions, we’re testing something new this summer: the YouTube News Feed. We’ll be working with the University of California at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism to track news as it breaks on YouTube. The news feed will provide a stream of breaking news videos on YouTube, with a focus on strong visuals, non-traditional sources and the very latest uploads: videos like this natural gas well explosion in North Texas, this citizen’s election fraud investigation in New Jersey, this activist’s painful run-in with the sharp end of a fisherman’s hook in the Mediterranean sea, or even this run-away elephant in Zurich, Switzerland.

You’ll find the feed on CitizenTube, our news and politics blog at citizentube.com; you can also follow it via our twitter account, @citizentube. While we’ve occasionally tracked news videos on CitizenTube in the past (around the Iran election protests or the Los Angeles wildfires, for example), this summer you’ll see us increasing our focus significantly. Click here to see more.



You can help: if you’ve uploaded breaking news videos, please tweet them to us (@citizentube), and include as much context as you’re able to give. And we’d love to hear your feedback about this project in the comments sections of CitizenTube. Our goal with this news feed is to learn more about the news ecosystem on YouTube -- and who better to teach us than people like you.

Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics, recently watched “Abuse charges at running of the bulls”

More about → The YouTube News Feed: What’s happening now?

YouTube Play: searching with the Guggenheim for the world’s most creative online video

Do you ever look at a YouTube video and think, "That's a work of art?" Yep, so do we—and now, so does the Guggenheim.

In five years, YouTube has redefined media culture by changing the way the world creates, distributes and watches video. Online video is exploding not just as a medium, but as an art form, and we’re proud of the originality and innovation that YouTube has fostered among our users. Our community has produced some of the most creative and celebrated works on the Internet, videos that have been viewed by millions of people around the world.

We want to celebrate phenomenal video-makers and recognize the creative potential of the medium. So today we’re collaborating with the Guggenheim Museum to discover the most creative video in the world, and showcase exceptional talent working in the ever-expanding realm of digital media: YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video. This global online initiative is presented in collaboration with HP.



We’re looking for animation, motion graphics, narrative, non-narrative, or documentary work, music videos and entirely new art forms—creations that really challenge the world’s perceptions of what’s possible with video. We want to elevate the debate. This presentation, we hope, will garner some of the finest creative work from every corner of the globe—not only to showcase it on one of the biggest stages online, but also in one of the most iconic artistic venues in the world, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and throughout the Guggenheim network of museums in Bilbao, Venice and Berlin.

Participants must submit their videos to YouTube Play to enter. The deadline for submission is July 31, 2010, after which the Guggenheim will assemble a shortlist to be evaluated by an international jury of experts from the worlds of art, design, film and video. Up to 20 videos will be presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York on October 21, with simultaneous presentations at the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao, Venice and Berlin. The presentations will also be viewable to on the YouTube Play brand channel at youtube.com/play.

As we did with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, we hope to build an aspirational place for some of the world’s best artists to showcase their works and talents. For more information about how to enter, go to youtube.com/play.

Ed Sanders, Senior Marketing Manager, recently watched "YouTube Play."

More about → YouTube Play: searching with the Guggenheim for the world’s most creative online video

E3 gaming expo streams live on YouTube

E3 is the video game industry’s annual showcase, and this year we're live streaming all four days of the event, from the Los Angeles Convention Center, courtesy of our gaming partners at IGN.

Tune in to the E3 channel to catch must-see press conferences from the biggest names in gaming, product demos, developer interviews and more:



If you miss any of the action, you can check out playlists of event highlights from IGN, in addition to more hot-from-the-floor E3 reporting from other games-media partners like Machinima. You can make your voice heard, too, with the return of our games trailer challenge, which invites you to vote on some of most-anticipated game trailers unveiled at E3.

The E3 live stream kicks off on Monday at 9:30 10:30 a.m. PT and ends on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT. Check the E3 channel for the latest schedule of events, and don’t forget to check out the game trailer challenge; voting lasts until the 25th of the month.

Mark Day, Games Manager, recently watched "Light Warfare."

More about → E3 gaming expo streams live on YouTube

Neda Soltan and the power of human rights video

A year ago this weekend, Tehran erupted in protest at the disputed results of Iran’s tenth presidential election. In the severe government crackdown that followed, documented on cameras and uploaded by citizens to YouTube, no moment has been seen more than the death of Neda Agha Soltan, a young musician whose brutal killing by a sniper became the rallying cry for Iran’s opposition Green Movement. The anonymous videos of her death even won a prestigious George Polk award for journalism last year.

Today on the YouTube homepage, we're featuring a documentary from director Antony Thomas and HBO, entitled "For Neda". The film highlights how citizen reporting has become so important to human rights that even world leaders are paying attention to it. For example, as you’ll see in “For Neda,” President Obama talks about watching the video of Neda’s death, calling it “heartbreaking” and “unjust.”



We’re also taking this opportunity to begin a series of blog posts in partnership with WITNESS, an international human rights organization that supports people using video to document and expose human rights violations, to explore these issues.

How has video become such an important part of human rights advocacy worldwide? At its heart, human rights video is about making something visible that was not visible before. Seeing human rights abuses with our own eyes is very different than reading about the same abuses in a story or a blog post or a Tweet. In the past, we mainly saw these kinds of images in the nightly news or in documentaries -- and even then only occasionally. But now that camera usage and access to the Internet is much more widespread (including in many developing countries), we encounter human rights images much more directly. For example, Burma, Tibet and Iran are places where it’s difficult for local or international media to report, so when mass protests were met with violent force, it falls on ordinary people to try to get images out.

Human rights video is about more than capturing images of abuse as they happen, however. Direct testimony from victims or local activists can provide powerful and compelling evidence of human rights violations. Testimonies like that of "Mary," a Zimbabwean political activist who was abducted, raped and beaten in a secret torture center after the disputed 2008 presidential elections in Zimbabwe, have unique power to help us see what those who have suffered human rights abuses see, to feel what they feel, and to hear what they want to happen.

Videos alone aren’t usually enough; in order to make an impact, activists organize around the content. Sometimes organization is required simply to ensure the content finds an audience: in Iran, it was a networked web of activists who organized proxy servers and emailed footage to a diaspora outside of the country to ensure the videos got around the government's block of YouTube. Other times, coordinated campaigns ensure that citizens are called to action in courts, public squares or parliaments, as has happened in Brazil, Kenya, India or in the International Criminal Court. This isn't a phenomenon confined to developing countries or repressive regimes; it’s also happening in the U.S. Testimony as part of a campaign against elder abuse across the U.S. has helped expose stories that would otherwise go untold, and to pass legislation that improves the lives of millions of citizens. In our next post, we'll talk more specifically about what you can do to make sure videos you've uploaded or care about can have maximum impact for human rights.

As online spaces become more and more important for sharing and accessing information, we believe that access to the Internet itself is becoming a key factor in human rights in the 21st century. To make that a reality, governments, businesses, activists and citizens need to take a collective stand to ensure that video can shine a light into the darkest corners of human society, providing paths to justice to those who need it most. Both at WITNESS and at YouTube we're committed to helping build a global movement for human rights video that does just that.

Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics, YouTube, and Sameer Padania for WITNESS

More about → Neda Soltan and the power of human rights video

Food Network looking for its next star on YouTube

Calling all video-making chefs! The Food Network is taking to YouTube to find culinary talents to compete for the chance to host their own TV show. Chef Bobby Flay explains:



Your task is to submit a video showcasing your personality and cooking skills to http://www.youtube.com/foodnetwork. The grand prize winner will get a private audition with Food Network execs Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson in New York City.

If you want to start sizing up the competition, try to top yummeo as he concocts fish tacos:



Entries are due July 16, 2010, and “The Next Food Network Star” is brought to you by Samsung.

Good luck!

Sadia Harper, Howto & Style Manager, recently watched “The 90 Second Gourmet - Coq Au Vin.”

More about → Food Network looking for its next star on YouTube

2010 World Cup: All eyes on South Africa

Teams representing 32 nations have gathered in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World CupTM, the quadrennial football (aka soccer) tournament celebrating the world’s most popular game, which begins Friday, June 11, and concludes in a month, with the championship match on Sunday, July 11.

This World Cup has special significance as it will be the first time the event has been held in Africa, where the game has been growing by leaps and bounds – besides host nation South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria will each be competing.

According to FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the sport’s governing body, the World Cup is the most-widely viewed sporting event in the world, with fans everywhere following their teams with rapt attention.

On YouTube, there will be many ways to feel World Cup fever. Here are some channels to subscribe to:

- ESPN will have extensive coverage of the event, including match highlights, and have put together a set of 32 videos profiling each of the national teams:



- Univision will be uploading Spanish-language video around the event, with special coverage of the Mexican national team.

- The U.S. team will face England in one of the Cup’s most-anticipated matches on Saturday, June 12. Get behind-the-scenes footage of each team on their respective channels: U.S.A., England.

- Coca-Cola is celebrating the tradition of the post-goal dance, giving people a chance to submit their original moves to the “Longest Celebration.” Submit here.

- Visa is creating an epic video of fans around the world screaming “GOOOAAALLL!” in the style of the iconic soccer announcer Andrés Cantor. Submit your video here.

- Last but certainly not least, Portugal striker extraordinaire (and international heartthrob) Cristiano Ronaldo has joined the YouTube community, with videos like this:



Olé olé olé!

Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched "My 2010 World Cup Predictions."

More about → 2010 World Cup: All eyes on South Africa

Bringing Bonnaroo to you: live stream event this weekend

The forecast for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this weekend in Manchester, Tenn., is scattered thunderstorms, but you don’t have to worry a stitch about that (unless you’ll actually be frolicking in the 700-acre field where it takes place). That’s because starting this Friday and throughout the weekend, we’ll be live streaming directly from Bonnaroo, in partnership with Superfly Productions and powered by Ford.

The exclusive webcast will include performances from folks like Jay-Z, Tenacious D, Kings of Leon, Weezer, the Dead Weather, LCD Soundsystem, Jimmy Cliff, The Avett Brothers, Spearhead and Dave Matthews Band. YouTube’s own ukulele queen Julia Nunes kicks the whole thing off on Friday, June 11, at 12:15 p.m. (CDT) / 1:15 p.m. (EDT). Hear her talk about her journey to Bonnaroo:

Check the full schedule along with any last minute updates here, the very same place to tune in for the full webcast from Friday, June 11, through Sunday, June 13. Subscribe to the channel (www.youtube.com/bonnaroo) for the latest videos from the festival, stay tuned to our Tweets (http://twitter.com/youtube), and join the live chat via #bonnaroolive during the event.

Enjoy!

Michele Flannery, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Tighten Up.”

More about → Bringing Bonnaroo to you: live stream event this weekend

YouTube answers your questions about partnerships (and next topic announced)

YouTube is a big place, but we’re trying to make it feel a little bit smaller. That’s why in April, we announced a new initiative in which you submit questions on a broad topic and then several employees who work in that area answer the most popular questions on video. It’s an opportunity to ask us anything you like relating to the subject at hand and to get to know many of the faces working at YouTube.

Our first topic was partnerships, and there were 2,017 votes on 96 questions from 223 people. After reviewing your questions, rehearsing, applying a little more makeup than usual, and rehearsing some more (because we’re not naturals at this like you are!), two members of our partnerships team -- Shenaz Zack, Product Manager, and Camille Hearst, Product Marketing Manager -- made this video response:



We hope the video helps to demystify any burning questions you may have had about being a YouTube partner.

Next up, head over to our YouTube channel where we’re using the nifty new Moderator tool to collect questions on the next topic: “YouTube Worldwide.” This is a good opportunity to ask about what goes into localizing the site, how to find cool content in your language, translation features, and lots more. We’ll be taking questions until Sunday, June 13, and then we’ll be back as soon as possible afterward with two new staffers in the hot seat.

Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Community, recently watched “Mike Tyson’s Tea Time.”

More about → YouTube answers your questions about partnerships (and next topic announced)

Create a Shortcut to lock your System

Have you ever left your PC in a hurry? Have you ever felt that it is a pain to lock your system and the simple way is too long for you? I would imagine that you have and then, this trick is for you.This trick enables you to create a shortcut to lock your system instead of doing CTRL+ALT+DEL. Thus, providing you a quick and easy way to lock your system whenever you have to leave your PC in a hurry.

To use this trick, follow the instructions given below:-

Steps

1. Right Click on an empty slot on desktop, point to New, click on Shortcut.
2. In the dialog box that pops up, type the following code without quotes in the Type the location of the item.

rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation

     3.  Click on Next and type a name for the shortcut in the Type a name for this 
          Shortcut textbox.
     4.  Click on Finish.

Now you will be able to lock your Computer by double clicking on the created Shortcut. You can also add this shortcut to Quick Launch toolbar to lock your system with one click.

More about → Create a Shortcut to lock your System

Make your Computer Talk

Have you ever wondered how can you make your computer speak whatever you input to it like in the movies. Would it not be fun? If only it was possible! Rejoice, because now it is possible. Well, if you wish to know how to do this, then you have come to the right place. With this trick, you can create a script in Windows which will make your computer speak whatever you input to it.

Also Recommended Reading : Make your Computer Welcome You!

To create one such talk script, follow the steps given below:-

Steps

1. Open Notepad.
2. Copy and paste the exact code given below.

          Dim Message, Speak
          Message=InputBox("Enter text","Speak")
          Set Speak=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
          Speak.Speak Message

    3. Click on File Menu, Save As, select All Types in Save as Type option, and save the file as Speak.vbs or "*.vbs".

    4.  Double click on the saved file, a window will open like the one in the image. Enter some text in enter text column and click OK.

Now your Computer will speak / talk what you typed in Step 4. Try it yourself.

Windows Compatibility: This VBS file can be executed on all versions of Windows including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Personal Experience: I personally showed this trick to many of my friends and they were literally left awestruck. You too can impress your friends by making your PC talk and be the Computer Wiz.

More about → Make your Computer Talk

Change your Processor's Name

Are you bored with your old processor? Do you want a new processor with a breath-stopping name but are not going to upgrade any time soon? No need to worry. You can still have that new processor's name in your computer. Well not only that, you can also have a better one than the one you are supposing to buy. Just follow this trick.

With this trick, you can change the name of your processor to a personalized one like My Processor or something alien like Decacore Processor 50 GHz .  These are just a few examples. It is up to your creativity to change the name of your Processor to anything you like.

To have one such cool processor, just follow this step by step tutorial.

1. Click on Start.
2. Click on Run.
3. Type "regedit" without quotes.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/HARDWARE/
   
5. From HARDWARE, navigate to DESCRIPTION/System/CentralProcessor/.
6. In the work area, double click on ProcessorNameString, and change its value according to your choice.
7. Click OK

Right Click on Computer icon and select properties.The final outcome would be something like one in the image.


Try it on your PC and show it to your friends to see the fun.

P.S.: Personally, I have recently changed the name of my processor to "iLife Processor 7, Alien Technologies".  Tell me what you changed yours to.

Note: This article changes the processor name temporarily. To permanently change processor name, visit Change Processor Name Permanently.

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Use Keyboard as Mouse [How To]

How to use keyboard as Mouse? Use Laptop Keyboard as Mouse using the Numpad keys of your keyboard to control the mouse pointer if your mouse or touchpad in laptops stops working. Get out of such uneasy situations using a simple trick.

If your mouse is not working and you don't wish to wait till you get a new mouse, you would definitely like to know how you can use your keyboard as your mouse. It is easy to use your mouse as keyboard in Windows using the On Screen Keyboard utility, but it is also possible to do the reverse.

All you need to do is:

Windows XP Users:-

1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Then click on Switch to Classic View.
3. Then Click on Accessibility Options.
4. Then Click on the Mouse Tab.
5. Select Use MouseKeys.
6. Click on OK.
7. Then activate NumberLock (by pressing the NumLk key).
8. You should hear a beep sound.
9. Now you can control the mouse pointer using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad.
   

Windows 7 and Vista Users:

1. Open Ease of Access Center by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Ease of Access, and then clicking Ease of Access Center.
   
2. Click Make the mouse easier to use.
   
3. Under Control the mouse with the keyboard, select the Turn on Mouse Keys check box.
   

You can also increase the acceleration and speed of your mouse movements according to your needs.

You can alternately press the Alt+Shift+Num Lock combination to instantly activate the mouse keys.

For laptops, this will only work if your laptop keyboard has a numeric keypad or alternative keys which you can use with the Number Lock Key or the Function key.

On my laptop, number 6 key of the numeric keypad moves the mouse pointer left, number 4 key moves the mouse pointer right while number 2 key moves it down. Number 8 key moves the mouse pointer up. Number 5 or + keys serve as right click while the number 0 key works as left click.

More about → Use Keyboard as Mouse [How To]