Today we bring you a guest post from the mother of a 10 year-old autistic YouTube partner, whose life changed dramatically when he took his passion for science online.
I want to introduce you all to my son Jordan, known as Doctor Mad Science to his legion of YouTube fans.
When he was 18 months old, Jordan was diagnosed as severely autistic. He exhibited behaviors like head banging, flapping and fits. It wasn't until he turned five that he started to speak, using just one or two words. At the time I wondered if he would ever be able to have a conversation, go to school, or make a friend. As a mom, these are the kinds of thoughts that keep you up at night.
But, through it all, one things was clear: Jordan LOVED science. Especially the kind of science that involved raiding the cupboards and turning our kitchen counter into a DIY laboratory! About a year ago, he started posting these household experiments on YouTube. And that’s when something changed. Jordan’s confidence grew, his speech started to improve and kids at school wanted to be a part of his videos. While building his online persona, Jordan was suddenly making friends in the real world.
Autism will always challenge Jordan, but I’ve learned it doesn’t have to define him. Today, he’s a ten year-old chatterbox, and (when he’s not getting into trouble with his friends) he continues to explore the world of science on YouTube to share with all of you. As for me? I’m sleeping better these days with my very own Doctor Mad Science in the house.
Stacey Hilkowitz, Jordan’s mom, recently watched “Ivory Soap + Microwave = Snow.”
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Face blurring: when footage requires anonymity
As citizens continue to play a critical role in supplying news and human rights footage from around the world, YouTube is committed to creating even better tools to help them. According to the international human rights organization WITNESS’ Cameras Everywhere report, “No video-sharing site or hardware manufacturer currently offers users the option to blur faces or protect identity.”
YouTube is excited to be among the first.
Today we're launching face blurring - a new tool that allows you to obscure faces within videos with the click of a button.
Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old’s basketball game without broadcasting the children’s faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube.
Blurring faces on YouTube is simple. Once you’ve chosen the video that you’d like to edit within our Video Enhancements tool, go to Additional Features and click the “Apply” button below Blur All Faces. Before you publish, you will see a preview of what your video will look like with faces blurred. When you save the changes to your video, a new copy is created with the blurred faces. You will then be given the option to delete the original video.
This is emerging technology, which means it sometimes has difficulty detecting faces depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions and video quality. It’s possible that certain faces or frames will not be blurred. If you are not satisfied with the accuracy of the blurring as you see it in the preview, you may wish to keep your video private.
Visual anonymity in video allows people to share personal footage more widely and to speak out when they otherwise may not.
Because human rights footage, in particular, opens up new risks to the people posting videos and to those filmed, it’s important to keep in mind other ways to protect yourself and the people in your videos.
YouTube is proud to be a destination where people worldwide come to share their stories, including activists. Along with efforts like the Human Rights Channel and Citizentube that curate these voices, we hope that the new technologies we’re rolling out will facilitate the sharing of even more stories on our platform.
Amanda Conway, YouTube policy associate, recently watched "Russian court refuses to free anti-Putin punks."
YouTube is excited to be among the first.
Today we're launching face blurring - a new tool that allows you to obscure faces within videos with the click of a button.
Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old’s basketball game without broadcasting the children’s faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube.
Blurring faces on YouTube is simple. Once you’ve chosen the video that you’d like to edit within our Video Enhancements tool, go to Additional Features and click the “Apply” button below Blur All Faces. Before you publish, you will see a preview of what your video will look like with faces blurred. When you save the changes to your video, a new copy is created with the blurred faces. You will then be given the option to delete the original video.
This is emerging technology, which means it sometimes has difficulty detecting faces depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions and video quality. It’s possible that certain faces or frames will not be blurred. If you are not satisfied with the accuracy of the blurring as you see it in the preview, you may wish to keep your video private.
Visual anonymity in video allows people to share personal footage more widely and to speak out when they otherwise may not.
Because human rights footage, in particular, opens up new risks to the people posting videos and to those filmed, it’s important to keep in mind other ways to protect yourself and the people in your videos.
YouTube is proud to be a destination where people worldwide come to share their stories, including activists. Along with efforts like the Human Rights Channel and Citizentube that curate these voices, we hope that the new technologies we’re rolling out will facilitate the sharing of even more stories on our platform.
Amanda Conway, YouTube policy associate, recently watched "Russian court refuses to free anti-Putin punks."
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Music Tuesday: Nas, Beirut and more
The music keeps on coming! Over the weekend Pitchfork streamed their music festival on YouTube -- head to their channel to see some live clips from the show. We also featured some fun videos -- one of a guy playing a bicycle handlebar (cool), one about a daydream that comes true, and Jack White’s surprising new video, which was directed by none other than Hype Williams. We’ve got lots coming this week, but we’re most excited by far to welcome Matisyahu to YouTube Presents on Friday. Got a question for him? Now’s the time to ask it. Wonder who else is going to appear? Subscribe to the channel.
Nas’ “Life is Good” playlist
In 1994, a young rapper named Nasir Jones almost single-handedly resuscitated hip-hop lyricism with his debut album Illmatic. Here was a rapper who told stories. Nas has never strayed far from his reputation as hip-hop’s lyricist, and his 10th studio album, Life Is Good, is being universally hailed as a mature masterpiece which keeps the immediacy of his ghetto imagery and leavens it with a decent dose of wisdom. (“Daughters” finds the rapper worrying about his daughter’s dating life.) It’s a hopeful record, which is why the man himself joins us today with a “Life is Good” playlist.
Incoming: MS MR
This indie band is still developing, but for a young band, MS MR have a seriously strong video aesthetic, as their own work demonstrates. Today they unload an epic playlist of their inspirations, and it’s a doozy -- every video is worth your undivided attention, if you can give it.
Beirut: Santa Fe
In the past few weeks, Beirut has been quietly (okay, not SO quietly) releasing a trove of music videos for their latest album The Rip Tide. To date, two of them have been directed by Sunset Television, a directors collective based in, of course, Williamsburg in Brooklyn. While what they do looks like found footage (think found footage pioneers like Everything Is Terrible), it’s actually not: these folks make their own videos and do their best to make them seem like garage-sale VHS finds. It’s a fascinating project, and it’s led to a regular comedy series with Pitchfork. Now, we had a hard time picking our favorite, but “Santa Fe,” with its Italian cinema mouth-feel, came out on top.
Sarah Bardeen, music community manager, recently watched “'Paz y Guerra' by Bayonics.”
Nas’ “Life is Good” playlist
In 1994, a young rapper named Nasir Jones almost single-handedly resuscitated hip-hop lyricism with his debut album Illmatic. Here was a rapper who told stories. Nas has never strayed far from his reputation as hip-hop’s lyricist, and his 10th studio album, Life Is Good, is being universally hailed as a mature masterpiece which keeps the immediacy of his ghetto imagery and leavens it with a decent dose of wisdom. (“Daughters” finds the rapper worrying about his daughter’s dating life.) It’s a hopeful record, which is why the man himself joins us today with a “Life is Good” playlist.
Incoming: MS MR
This indie band is still developing, but for a young band, MS MR have a seriously strong video aesthetic, as their own work demonstrates. Today they unload an epic playlist of their inspirations, and it’s a doozy -- every video is worth your undivided attention, if you can give it.
Beirut: Santa Fe
In the past few weeks, Beirut has been quietly (okay, not SO quietly) releasing a trove of music videos for their latest album The Rip Tide. To date, two of them have been directed by Sunset Television, a directors collective based in, of course, Williamsburg in Brooklyn. While what they do looks like found footage (think found footage pioneers like Everything Is Terrible), it’s actually not: these folks make their own videos and do their best to make them seem like garage-sale VHS finds. It’s a fascinating project, and it’s led to a regular comedy series with Pitchfork. Now, we had a hard time picking our favorite, but “Santa Fe,” with its Italian cinema mouth-feel, came out on top.
Sarah Bardeen, music community manager, recently watched “'Paz y Guerra' by Bayonics.”
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Check out the “On The Rise” Nominees for July!
Each month, we identify four YouTube partners whose channels have recently experienced significant growth but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber count for our On The Rise program. Our featured partners this month are almost halfway to that mark, and we’re excited about how they’re sharing their passions on YouTube through tutorial- and demonstration-based videos. This July we’re excited to present to you four artists whose YouTube channels center on videos about makeup and style, the art of crochet, and spray paint.
We hope you enjoy the content these partners produce, and they’re looking to you to help them grow their YouTube presence, starting with the opportunity for one of these partners to be featured on the YouTube homepage. Check out their videos below and vote for your favorite in the top right corner of this blog. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner will be featured on the homepage, Google+, Facebook and Twitter at the end of the month.
In past months past on the rise nominees, partners like jakatak69 and worldfoodprogram have gained many subscribers thanks to your support. The poll will be open until July 19th at 5pm PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see who secured the homepage feature on July 30th.
MasqueradeMakeup
Ever wanted to re-create Katy Perry’s look from her newest music video? Aria’s YouTube channel has makeup tutorials on a variety of celebrity looks ranging from Lady Gaga to Lana del Ray.
mikeyssmail
Crochet isn’t an easy skill to learn, but Michael Sellick’s simple, learner’s-paced tutorials can teach anyone to pick up a hook. The Crochet Crowd channel features a wide span of projects, including flowers, scarves, and baby clothes.
spacepainter
Brandon was inspired to start painting with spray paint during a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico in 1999. Since then he’s been developing and his honing his talent. Check out his channel to watch him create spray paint paintings of spacescapes and nature.
AModelRecommends
It’s easy to admire how a fashion model looks, but not quite so simple to emulate her style. British fashion model Ruth Crilly sets out on her channel to give you her informed suggestions about beauty, style, and even healthy recipe ideas!
If you’re interested in checking out more rising YouTube Partners, visit our On The Rise Channel, which features nominees, trending partners and monthly blog winners.
Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “A Conversation with my 12 Year Old Self: 20th Anniversary Edition.”
We hope you enjoy the content these partners produce, and they’re looking to you to help them grow their YouTube presence, starting with the opportunity for one of these partners to be featured on the YouTube homepage. Check out their videos below and vote for your favorite in the top right corner of this blog. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner will be featured on the homepage, Google+, Facebook and Twitter at the end of the month.
In past months past on the rise nominees, partners like jakatak69 and worldfoodprogram have gained many subscribers thanks to your support. The poll will be open until July 19th at 5pm PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see who secured the homepage feature on July 30th.
MasqueradeMakeup
Ever wanted to re-create Katy Perry’s look from her newest music video? Aria’s YouTube channel has makeup tutorials on a variety of celebrity looks ranging from Lady Gaga to Lana del Ray.
mikeyssmail
Crochet isn’t an easy skill to learn, but Michael Sellick’s simple, learner’s-paced tutorials can teach anyone to pick up a hook. The Crochet Crowd channel features a wide span of projects, including flowers, scarves, and baby clothes.
spacepainter
Brandon was inspired to start painting with spray paint during a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico in 1999. Since then he’s been developing and his honing his talent. Check out his channel to watch him create spray paint paintings of spacescapes and nature.
AModelRecommends
It’s easy to admire how a fashion model looks, but not quite so simple to emulate her style. British fashion model Ruth Crilly sets out on her channel to give you her informed suggestions about beauty, style, and even healthy recipe ideas!
If you’re interested in checking out more rising YouTube Partners, visit our On The Rise Channel, which features nominees, trending partners and monthly blog winners.
Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “A Conversation with my 12 Year Old Self: 20th Anniversary Edition.”
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
The YouTube Fan Lounge at San Diego Comic-Con
Each year, more than 130,000 avid fans attend Comic-Con International in San Diego to meet their favorite celebs and be the first to find out about what’s new in the world of comics and pop culture. For the first time, YouTube will be present, hosting a Fan Lounge in downtown San Diego to connect fans with some of the newest channels on YouTube, featuring many Comic-Con veterans.
On Friday, July 13 and Saturday, July 14 from 11am to 9pm, the YouTube Fan Lounge – located at 315 7th Avenue at K in downtown San Diego – will be open and free to the public, with live programming, exclusive premieres, celebrity Q&A’s and, of course, free schwag! Check out some of the channels and talent you’ll see:
Minjae Ormes, Movies & TV Marketing Manager, recently watched "Comic-Con Now & Then - Cocktails with Stan."
On Friday, July 13 and Saturday, July 14 from 11am to 9pm, the YouTube Fan Lounge – located at 315 7th Avenue at K in downtown San Diego – will be open and free to the public, with live programming, exclusive premieres, celebrity Q&A’s and, of course, free schwag! Check out some of the channels and talent you’ll see:
- Blackbox TV featuring Tony E. Valenzuela (creator of Blackbox TV), actor Brea Grant & Zane Grant, and more.
- Geek & Sundry featuring Felicia Day, Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt.
- Nerdist featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Tournament of Nerds with Justin Donaldson and Hal Rudnick.
- Machinima Prime featuring Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia), Tom Green (Dance Academy), Daniel Cudmore (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Twilight Saga) and more.
- Stan Lee’s World of Heroes featuring Stan Lee himself, Jace Hall (The Jace Hall Show), Bonnie Burton (Author, Star Wars Craft Book), Adrianne Curry (America’s Next Top Model) and more.
- Warner Brothers debuts H+ The Digital Series – a riveting, futuristic series from producer Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects / X-Men: First Class) – followed by a Q&A with Alexis Denisof (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), David Clayton Rogers (Jane by Design), Sean Gunn (Gilmore Girls), and more.
- Plus other exciting programming from Shut Up! Cartoons, Mondo, MyDamnChannel, and LOUD.
Minjae Ormes, Movies & TV Marketing Manager, recently watched "Comic-Con Now & Then - Cocktails with Stan."
Music Tuesday: Serj Tankian, Aesop Rock and more
After a long holiday week punctuated by two playlists of summertime music from the Zac Brown Band and rising country star JT Hodges, we’re getting back to work -- and our job is finding ways to distract you with fantastic music offerings. Go forth and be distracted!
Serj Tankian’s Eclectic Brain
You might think the lead singer of System of a Down would be all about the METAL. And of course he is. But Serj Tankian has carved out a persona beyond that of lead singer: his ambitious 2010 album Imperfect Harmonies saw him playing with multiple genres and time signatures and breaking out of any hard rock ghetto he might have been in. Today he releases his new album Harakiri, and we discover that if you give the man a chance to share his favorite music videos, you’ll quickly lose all preconceptions about him. Would you have thought he dug jazz fusion, Tom Waits and Cape Verdean morna? Neither did we.
Aesop Rock: “Skelethon” Full Album Stream
It’s been five years since Aesop Rock’s last album. The emcee known for his off-kilter flow and surreal lyrics has seen a lot of life changes in the intervening years, so it’s not surprising his new album Skelethon is a dark affair. It’s also one of his best. Entirely self-produced and suffused with angular, muddy beats, Skelethon drips with head-spinning lyricism that as enjoyable to listen to as it is to decipher. It’s perfectly complemented by a high-speed video shot at a go-kart track. That’s right: we have Aesop Rock’s new album in it entirety today, with a video. Peep it.
Donatan Rownonoc: Nie Lubimy Robic
Yes, it’s a mouthful. But before you get totally intimidated by the name, keep reading! This video was one of the most-liked music videos in the world yesterday, so naturally we had to watch it. We can tell you this: the band hails from Poland, they seem to think accordions and hip-hop belong together (bless them), and they made a hilarious and weirdly beautiful video which partly involves them spoofing what passes for video games in rural Poland. (Hint: chickens are involved.) You may not speak the language, but you’ll get the message: this is fun stuff.
Sarah Bardeen, music community manager, recently watched “I Hope You Find Awkward People Adorable (original).”
Serj Tankian’s Eclectic Brain
You might think the lead singer of System of a Down would be all about the METAL. And of course he is. But Serj Tankian has carved out a persona beyond that of lead singer: his ambitious 2010 album Imperfect Harmonies saw him playing with multiple genres and time signatures and breaking out of any hard rock ghetto he might have been in. Today he releases his new album Harakiri, and we discover that if you give the man a chance to share his favorite music videos, you’ll quickly lose all preconceptions about him. Would you have thought he dug jazz fusion, Tom Waits and Cape Verdean morna? Neither did we.
Aesop Rock: “Skelethon” Full Album Stream
It’s been five years since Aesop Rock’s last album. The emcee known for his off-kilter flow and surreal lyrics has seen a lot of life changes in the intervening years, so it’s not surprising his new album Skelethon is a dark affair. It’s also one of his best. Entirely self-produced and suffused with angular, muddy beats, Skelethon drips with head-spinning lyricism that as enjoyable to listen to as it is to decipher. It’s perfectly complemented by a high-speed video shot at a go-kart track. That’s right: we have Aesop Rock’s new album in it entirety today, with a video. Peep it.
Donatan Rownonoc: Nie Lubimy Robic
Yes, it’s a mouthful. But before you get totally intimidated by the name, keep reading! This video was one of the most-liked music videos in the world yesterday, so naturally we had to watch it. We can tell you this: the band hails from Poland, they seem to think accordions and hip-hop belong together (bless them), and they made a hilarious and weirdly beautiful video which partly involves them spoofing what passes for video games in rural Poland. (Hint: chickens are involved.) You may not speak the language, but you’ll get the message: this is fun stuff.
Sarah Bardeen, music community manager, recently watched “I Hope You Find Awkward People Adorable (original).”
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Google Video content moving to YouTube
Later this summer, all remaining hosted video on Google Video will be moved to YouTube. Google Video stopped taking uploads in May 2009 and now we’re moving the remaining hosted content to YouTube as private videos. Google Video users can rest assured that you won’t be losing any of your content as it will be fully available on YouTube, and you can choose to make those videos public on YouTube if you’d like.
If you would prefer to migrate, delete or download your content yourself, you can do so by visiting the Google Video status page prior to August 20, 2012. After the videos have been moved, you can access all of your videos by visiting the YouTube Video Manager. By default they’ll all be set to private, and you can publish them publicly to your channel at any time. If you haven’t published on YouTube in a while, check out our latest channel designs and more in the YouTube Creator Playbook.
As we said nearly three years ago, the Google Video team is now focused on tackling the challenge of video search. We want to thank the millions of people around the world who have taken the time to create and share videos on Google Video, and we hope that you will continue to share your videos on YouTube.
The YouTube and Google Video Teams
If you would prefer to migrate, delete or download your content yourself, you can do so by visiting the Google Video status page prior to August 20, 2012. After the videos have been moved, you can access all of your videos by visiting the YouTube Video Manager. By default they’ll all be set to private, and you can publish them publicly to your channel at any time. If you haven’t published on YouTube in a while, check out our latest channel designs and more in the YouTube Creator Playbook.
As we said nearly three years ago, the Google Video team is now focused on tackling the challenge of video search. We want to thank the millions of people around the world who have taken the time to create and share videos on Google Video, and we hope that you will continue to share your videos on YouTube.
The YouTube and Google Video Teams
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