Today is the fifth anniversary of YouTube's first video upload. On April 23rd, 2005 at 8:27pm (a Saturday night—nerd!) this video of YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim sparked an internet revolution. Fittingly for the site, he's at a zoo.
By GottaLaff
Here it is, all 35 + minutes of it.
Can you imagine Boy Georgie doing this, answering questions from the YouTubes... without pre-screening them?
"Neither the President nor his staff will know which questions will [be] asked ahead of time," blogged Steve Grove, who heads News and Politics on YouTube.
By GottaLaff
I'm waiting for the entire video, but for now:
"I hope we can do this again," Obama said at the end of the interview. "This gives me great access to all of the people out there with your wonderful ideas. "
It also gives all of us great access to those in power. And isn’t that what protecting the open Internet is all about?
During the State of the Union YouTube follow-up interview on Feb. 1, President Obama again expressed his strong commitment to Net Neutrality.
Join the 2 Million for Net Neutrality campaign at www.savetheinternet.com
By GottaLaff
For the past five days, 55,340 people asked 11,695 questions to President Barack Obama on YouTube. Voters then cast 643,507 votes to determine the top questions YouTube will ask Obama Monday at the White House in an unprecedented live interview streamed on YouTube.com/CitizenTube."Neither the President nor his staff will know which questions will [be] asked ahead of time," blogged Steve Grove, who heads News and Politics on YouTube.
The event, which will air at 1:45 p.m. ET.
See, this is the kind of stuff that I like, out of the box thinking and appealing to the younger ones. Remember the campaign that did voter registration at the Batman movie premiere and gas stations when gas was sky high? The BFCE? Need them back big time.
Washington (CNN) – While the Constitution mandates the president deliver a State of the Union it does not mandate whether or not it should be delivered on the radio, television or YouTube.
The State of the Union was delivered first on the radio in 1923 by Calvin Coolidge and Harry Truman came into living rooms live via the television to deliver his address in 1947. And now Barack Obama will make State of the Union history by streaming it live on the new White House iPhone app and encouraging citizens to ask the president questions on YouTube.
YouTube and the White House announced Tuesday morning that it will open up a forum on YouTube.com/CitizenTube during Obama's address for people to submit questions to the president. Questions will also be voted on to determine what the public wants Obama to answer.
Then a week later, Obama will answer questions in a special online event.
By GottaLaff
State Rep. Bill Otto, R-LeRoy, sang his song on a YouTube video. At the end of his song, Otto points to his hand-lettered hat and says, “Opossum, the other dark meat. A little greasy, but hey ...”Nah, that's not racist at all.
A southeast Kansas legislator on Thursday said he wasn’t making a racial reference as he sang an anti-President Obama “Redneck Rap” while wearing a hat that said: “OPOSSUM the other Dark Meat.”
State. Rep. Bill Otto, R-LeRoy, sang his song on a YouTube video.
Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka called him out, and said this was not a one-time thing:
“If Opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?” Hensley asked.
Hmm, thinking... thinking... who on earth could he have been talking about?
Hensley added: “After a nearly three-minute rant about President Obama and his administration, it is only logical to presume that Otto was making reference to the President’s race. It is not only thoughtless, but outrageous for an elected official such as Bill Otto to make this reference to describe any person, let alone the President of the United States."
Okay, now let me know if you've heard this one before. Otto says it's not about race. Honest it isn't! Otto said that he just didn't see how a "reasonable person could think that."
Color me unreasonable.
Here's Otto's own very logic in his own very words:
“Rednecks eat possum. The possums are associated with rednecks,” said Otto.Much more here. Go ahead, pop over to see how not-racist Otto is.
This comment from YouTube sums it up pretty well-
Yawn. More goofy insane commentary from a delusional individual who's possibly undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Get over it Glenn. And seek professional help while you're at it.
By GottaLaff
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) has hired a new-media strategist to help with a vigorous defense launched after heckling the president.Why, he could be the next Sarah the Quitter! Isn't it presh the way they both have ghost writers to spread their dufusness?
David All, who bills his firm as the first conservative Web 2.0 agency, was retained Thursday afternoon amid the media storm surrounding Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst. Since then, All has been busy writing Twitter updates and reaching out to conservative blogs on Wilson's behalf.
The South Carolina Republican’s defense is focused on social media, including a taped YouTube video message to supporters, a flurry of Twitter messages, numerous interviews with bloggers and an ad on the Drudge Report.My post that includes the YouTube is right here.
Enter All, a former communications director for Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and a self-described fan of the late Lee Atwater, the famed strategist who ran President George H.W. Bush’s campaign.He sure needed a lot of help defending himself for someone who felt he behaved badly enough to apologize publicly. Apparently, he doesn't take his own regret seriously.
“I got the call at 2 o’clock yesterday,” All said in an interview with The Hill. “He already knew he wanted to respond, it’s just a matter of having someone help quarterback and toss the ball when needed.”
Two hours later, Wilson’s Twitter feed went into overdrive. Over the next five hours, Wilson posted 15 Tweets, four shy of his total count for the entire month of August.
Among the Tweets, Wilson describes granting interviews to Erick Erickson of RedState.com, Jillian Bandes of Townhall.com and John Hawkins of RightWingNews. He also made a plea for conservative assistance.
All acknowledged that Wilson is not personally writing each of his Tweets. “He is certainly aware of all of the Tweets and understands the substance of all of the Tweets and what’s happening,” All said. “He is not exactly pressing send.”That's a relief! He's conscious! Who could ask for a better qualified Congressperson than that?
By GottaLaff
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
By GottaLaff
This is actually a little too embarrassing for my usual snark infested jabs. No, this one jumped the snark all on its own:
Will Laura Ingraham mock this guy's weight, too?The RNC is hiring, and in their job application form, they have this field:
You may create a clip on YouTube of why you want to work at the RNC and cut/paste the URL in the box provided.
Since it's YouTube, these uploaded videos are very much public. I'm hoping this guy gets a job. Failing that, "Libby Liberal" ("interviewing" him) is pretty awesome too.
By GottaLaff
The first Saturday presidential address on Jan. 24 was made available at the White House as a YouTube file.How cool is Team Obama?But by the next week, on Jan. 31, an administration whose innovative use of YouTube videos had helped propel it into the White House quietly began offering video of President Obama through Vimeo, as well -- and in so doing began a low-key push back at the near-total dominance of Google-owned YouTube in the political video market.
A video-sharing social media site that offers standard and high-definition video options, Vimeo was founded before YouTube, in 2004. But a series of pointed editorial choices has kept the company small while YouTube, founded in 2005, exploded into national consciousness over the next few years. Instead of becoming a cultural byword for online video, Vimeo became a niche favorite among artists and other creative types, particularly in the New York area, where the company is based. [...]
One reason the administration has stuck with YouTube, beyond its incredible popularity and mindshare, is the law. Section 508 of the 1998 Rehabilitation Act requires government entities to make electronic communications accessible to people with disabilities. YouTube files have an easy-to-use closed captioning function, which makes the president's weekly Saturday addresses available to the deaf.
In addition to Vimeo and YouTube, the White House makes the presidential addresses available as mp3 audio files and mp4 video files that can be uploaded into any video player.
By GottaLaff
Paddy posted the original video here.
Now we have a response:Inspired by Eric Cantor, I made my own salute to the House Republicans for not voting for Obama's Stimulus Plan.
Oh, and guess what?
www.thatsrightnate.com
Cantor's clip has been pulled from YouTube after a copyright infringement claim made by Stage Three Music, which owns the rights to "Back in the Saddle."The GOP's use of the tune "was something we, as the publishers, didn't approve and would not have approved without going to the writers," Connie Ashton, director of copyright and licensing at Stage Three, told me. "Aerosmith did not approve of its use and also wanted to have it taken down," she added.
Will these staunch, law-abiding, Amurka-lovin' Republicans never learn?
By GottaLaff
I just had to share this with you. I posted the Henrietta Hughes video on YouTube . Here is a sample of what's going on in Comments there. I'd love to hear your reaction.
HammockTimeNow
We don't owe her jacks***...She alone is responsible for herself! Her son is 40 yrs old....why isn't he working? Why isn't she working? My "ancestors" were NOT here even 100 years ago. BTW-you don't know where her "ancestors" came from anyway! Stop the nonsense alreadyGottaLaffHe was laid off, like most of the workers in this country.Sorry, but there are over 300million people in this country. Counting adults, MOST workers are NOT laid off. No one I know has been laid off
By GottaLaff
I wasn't going to post this (it's such a downer, and it's time to be upbeat about the Big Upcoming Obamaramapalooza), but I'll tell you why I did after this:
Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States.I realize I've posted similar pieces before, but it's important to stay aware of this horrid trend. I've personally become more aware of it in the last six days, since I posted the video of P.E. Obama visiting Ben's Chili Bowl on my YouTube page.So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office.
As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don't expect it to go away.
"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.
There "is concern" about white supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration. [...]And interest in racist ideology was so high right after the election that computer servers for two White supremacist Web sites crashed, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
But the violence and interest soon subsided. Leaders within the white supremacist movement are now seeking to capitalize on Obama's presidency by using his election to help grow their organizations. [...]
Levin noted that it is common knowledge the U.S. Secret Service is taking great measures to protect Obama (who began receiving coverage in May 2007, the earliest point ever for a candidate in a presidential campaign), and emphasized it is a great challenge.
"President-elect Obama is so used to a public presence, and being among people poses some real difficulties for his protection," Levin said.
Remember I posted about the new YouTube channels the House and Senate set up? This is the newest video posted by the Speaker's office. Oh. My. God. I'm hoping it was thunk up by one her young staffers, otherwise I'm worried. h/t Ben.
I'm thinking they saw how well PE Obama did with the YouTube and figured they better get in the game.
WASHINGTON - Tired of YouTube clips of precocious kids, stupid pets or faux superheroes? Try out the videos of House Minority Leader John Boehner, or maybe New York Rep. Charles Rangel, the lawmaker in charge of writing tax bills.
Congress is launching official YouTube channels where members of the House and Senate can create and control videos of floor speeches, hearings or ribbon-cuttings.
Lawmakers frequently use the world's most popular online video service to promote themselves and their causes, but the new channels give viewers a single destination to find out what their representatives are up to and express their own opinions.
(snip)
The lawmaker sites, which can be located on a Google Map interface, are available on http://youtube.com/househub and http://youtube.com/senatehub.
Bloody morons. "Too accessible"?
He used the Internet to break fundraising records and win the White House, and now President-elect Barack Obama is expected to expand his reach via a greatly enhanced Whitehouse.gov website. But before he makes any big moves, former White House press aides to several presidents have a warning: Don't become so Web-accessible that it devalues the president's message making. "There is a real challenge and risk," says Don Baer, a former Clinton-era communications boss and former U.S. News staffer.
The risk: "Cheapen the president's message."
(snip)
Baer, for example, suggested that using blogs, Web chats, and video conferences is a good idea, but he said that the White House has to make sure not to overdo it and thus make the president too accessible.
Former Clinton aide Don Baer, former Ford spokesman Ron Nessen, former newsman Marvin Kalb, Brookings Institution author Stephen Hess, and former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan.Oh now I understand.
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