Release Notes: Community-designed Doodle, global Halloween films, easier bug reporting, virtual keyboard...

With it being Halloween season and all, we've got an especially spoooooky edition of Release Notes for you.

First-ever user-designed Doodle: You may have noticed that once in a while, we change our homepage logo to match a special occasion -- for example, we've done it for Earth Day, the finale of YouTube Play, and yesterday's one billionth subscription milestone. But this Halloween we're especially jazzed because the Doodle you'll see on the homepage was designed by xperpetualmotion, a YouTube community member and Rhode Island School of Design student. Here's how she came up with the icon you see below: "I tried out a lot of different Halloween imagery before deciding on the classic 'holes cut out of a white sheet' ghost. It makes me smile every time, because what else could this kid possibly have under there that makes him that shape? I wanted the logo to be something fun and clever, and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do!" We certainly do! Thank you, Karen.

YouTube's first user-designed Doodle, by xperpetualmotion

Global Halloween films: If you're in the U.S., U.K., Canada or Australia, we've got some exciting news to add to your seasonal mirth: our friends at Crackle made sure their Halloween offerings could be viewed by horror fans around the world, marking the first time a studio's made several full-length movies simultaneously available in multiple territories on YouTube. Click here for regional viewing dates for Underworld: Evolution, Idle Hands, Mary Reilly, The Blob and The Bride.

Report a bug: No, we don't mean the creepy crawly kind, but the kind that may indicate something's broken. If you come across a problem on the site, scroll down to the new "report a bug" link at the bottom of any YouTube page. Clicking it will allow you to take an easy screenshot of the page and add further details in the pop-up box:

New "Send feedback" form

African language launches: YouTube's now available in Amharic and Swahili. Click on the language link at the bottom of the page to change your language settings.

Type non-English text with the virtual keyboard: We've made it easy for people to find videos in non-Latin script-based languages; the on-screen keyboard is available in 26 languages (Amharic, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Swahili, Swedish, Vietnamese, Slovenian, Romanian, Ukrainian). To use the virtual keyboard, switch the language of the site to one of the supported languages and click on the keyboard icon in the search box.

Here's where you can turn on the virtual keyboard

More efficient 3D player: Our new player for 3D videos is much faster than the previous player, especially for HD resolution. Try enjoying your favorite 3D clips in high resolution and full screen with no lag.

The BooooooTube Team

UPDATE (8pm PT):  We just received this video from Karen, to go along with her Doodle:

Slamming the boring, old tech demo

Tech demos. They’ve been around as long as... well, technology. They’re helpful. They’re useful. They’re also a little boring. That’s why tech demos often go overlooked by so many people. Unfortunately, it’s generally the people who could benefit most from them that never even see them.

So we figured, what tech demos need is a fresh start. A few creative minds willing to take a shot at making them worth watching and sharing. And maybe, just maybe, make tech demos so cool, that they’ll inspire others to make their own.

That’s why we created Demo Slam. It’s a platform that allows you to put a new twist on sharing tech goodness. Demo Slam rests on the belief that the world’s creativity is all it takes to turn boring, old tech demos into entertaining, exciting awesomeness. For example, watch Zach Miller do a 20-foot search:



The YouTube community has shown the world time and time again, just how incredibly far a little imagination can go. We’d love to see that same YouTube magic become a part of Demo Slam. If you triumph, you’ll be featured in the Demo Slam Hall of Champs. That also means you’ll get exposure elsewhere online, courtesy of Google. Best of all, it’s a way to help a lot of people discover something cool.

There’s just too much great tech out there for everyone to go on not knowing it exists. And now, with the help of people like you, the whole world will have a place where they can find out about it. So be different, be crazy, be unique, and submit a demo. All it takes is one to teach millions something new.

Let the slamming begin!

Robert Wong, Creative Director, Creative Lab, recently watched "Demo Slam: 20ft Search."

Should quality matter in web video?

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, is writing weekly guest posts for the YouTube blog on filmmaking in the digital age. You can catch up on previous posts here.

Since I started working in web video, the most common misconception I face is, web video equals low quality video. This week we asked “What do you think the differences are between making videos for the web versus other venues like film festivals or TV?” on YouTube's Facebook fan page. Though there were a lot of positive voices talking about the immediacy, democracy and audience engagement of web video, some of the comments unsurprisingly echoed this idea.

Quality, quality and um.... quality!

Quality, length, content, plot.

The web accepts anything.

Sure, one of the most exciting things about the web is that anyone can upload. Of course, that means that not all the videos we see are going to reflect even our most basic standards for quality video -- a steady camera, clean images, good lighting, clear sound. On the other hand, right alongside the cat videos (which I admit, I do get a kick out of), works of video art can happily coexist.

We've spent the first "section" of our “Modern 101 for Emerging Digital Filmmakers" providing an overview of web video -- talking to filmmakers about why they make web video, sharing websites every filmmaker should know, and offering tips on taking your first digital steps as a filmmaker. We're about to move into our production section where we'll interview filmmakers on the equipment they use, go behind the scenes to hear how they make their videos, and demystify uploading, codecs and metadata.

Before we enter this nuts and bolts section of the series, I wanted to tackle this last misconception regarding quality. Quality concerns are some of the most common reasons I hear filmmakers saying they aren’t interested in uploading their work, and there are a couple counterpoints I’d like to offer:

• Player, length and file sizes are increasing because viewers actually want to watch high resolution, great-looking video on their computers and even TV, as devices like Google TV come on the market.
• Filmmakers, like the Neistat Brothers who recently landed an HBO series, but also like our very own filmmakers who use their Howcast spots to woo clients, are getting jobs based on the videos they upload to the web. Make sure every spot you upload is one you’re proud to put your name on because web videos = calling cards.
• 60% of internet users watch videos online and that number is up 33% in 2.5 years. In other words, the audience is here and growing. And as more and more television viewers migrate to the web or simply plug their televisions into their computers, they will come to expect and want higher and higher quality video from the web.

Click around. Don’t just watch the videos that appear in your Facebook feed. Sure, I got that video with those poor fainting kittens emailed to me yesterday too, but I also spent 15 minutes watching this beautiful, quiet short, “Mei Ling,” which I discovered on the Futureshorts channel.

I asked Luke Neumann, a filmmaker who constantly impresses us with his stellar Howcast videos, why he puts so much effort into his web videos and he said, “Because you never know who could stumble across them." When you watch his videos, I think you can see he’s driven by much more than that -- for this spot alone he rented a crane and “moved” a building in After Effects:



Still, access to potential fans, funders and future employees is at least one simple, solid argument for filmmakers who are skeptical about quality work having a place on the web.

Next Friday, we’ll learn Neumann’s tricks for making great video like this on a budget while he walks us through how he shot “Zombie Attack.”

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, recently watched “Mei Ling.”

1 billion subscriptions and counting

Early on (we're talking '06 here, people!), the yellow subscribe button made its debut so the latest videos from your favorite channels could make a beeline to your YouTube homepage/eager eyes. Today, the button that’s been immortalized as a throw cushion hits an important landmark: it’s been clicked over one billion times. And who was the lucky channel to get that billionth hit? It was MachinimaSports, who are, not coincidentally, on our homepage on Friday.

In fact, there is so much subscription activity that over a billion subscription updates are sent to our users' homepages every week, and 15 YouTube channels have crossed the one million subscriber mark: fred, nigahiga, kassemg, shanedawsonTV, shanedawsonTV2, smosh, universalmusicgroup, machinima, sxephil, mysteryguitarman, davedays, kevjumba, realannoyingorange, raywilliamjohnson, collegehumor and failblog.

So what’s next for subscriptions? Turns out, we’ve got a spankin’ new widget that any video-maker can embed on his/her website or blog. It lets people subscribe to your YouTube channel with a single click, without having to leave your site to log into YouTube or to confirm their subscription. The entire process happens in the widget.

Give it a try! All you need to do is embed the code below into the source code of your website or blog, in the same way you embed a YouTube video:

<iframe id="fr" src="http://www.youtube.com/subscribe_widget?p=add YouTube Username here" style="overflow: hidden; height: 105px; width: 300px; border: 0;" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

For example, here it is for the YouTube channel:


And if all this is new to you, let us suggest you check out this video, in which dear Cuddles tells you all you need to know about subscriptions:



Georges Haddad, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “Annoying Orange: The Exploding Orange.”

Future Shorts - Future Creative People

Futureshorts is one of the largest short film aggregators in the world. In this guest blog post, founder and creative director Fabien Riggal talks about curating shorts on YouTube, including a selection from their new live event series, Future Shorts ONE.

We passionately believe in the medium of short film and its creativity, giving filmmakers the opportunity to experiment, learn and come up with innovative ideas. Our company was set up to create the most important audience and community around short film, creating a culture of experiencing a showcase of films in a social thinking environment. The Internet brings people together in communal spaces to watch films and create a dialogue around them. This is what filmmakers want. This is what audiences want.

Today, we're curating the YouTube homepage with films from Future Shorts ONE, a new global event launching on Saturday, November 6. In the video below, we talk about why we chose these films to represent ONE, along with some information on the event:

ONE takes place in 12 countries and 50 cities every month, with live simultaneous events that connect thousands of people around the world. Each location showcases the same selection of the world's boldest short films, many of them on YouTube on our channel, alongside the best in local live music, performance and design. To find out if ONE will be near you, click here.

Fabien Riggall, Founder and Creative director, Future Shorts, just watched "The Lost Tribes of New York City"

Promoted Videos hit half a billion views

Update: As of December 1st, 2011, you will start to see Promoted Videos referred to as TrueView in-search and TrueView in-display.

When we announced our first performance-based video ad format, Promoted Videos, nearly two years ago, the first campaign was “Penny Pranks” by Office Max.

Since that time, thousands and thousands of advertisers have taken advantage of this ad format to entice likely customers with videos about everything from smoked brisket recipes to magnetic jewelry to sneakers. Politicians and political activists have used Promoted Videos to argue for a proposition or against an issue. And large companies have reached wide audiences with movie trailers, recipes, and ideas for Halloween.

This month we served the 500,000,000th Promoted Video view. Promoted Videos average approximately three minutes in duration -- it would take a single viewer 2,853 years to watch them all. In the past year, we’ve seen a more than six-fold increase in the number of times viewers have clicked to watch a Promoted Video. And more and more, advertisers are making ads for TV and YouTube that delight and entertain. In fact, many video ads reach over 1 million video views, offering everything from solutions for bad breath to candy bars and cars – some of which have achieved increased viewership using Promoted Videos.

We’ve made several recent product improvements to help more advertisers easily set up and manage campaigns with Promoted Videos. First, we’ve expanded the ability to set up video ad campaigns on ads.youtube.com beyond the US to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. For anyone outside the U.S., the campaign will be tied to your Google AdWords account. Secondly, we’ve added Promoted Videos into our Video Targeting tool so you can select specific videos for advertising against in addition to appearing against search results and related content on YouTube. Finally, with our Promoted Video API in AdWords in beta, agencies can now use Promoted Videos to manage campaigns across multiple clients.

We’re excited about this momentum and look forward to building on viewer choice when it comes to advertising. We talked at length this week with the guys at ReelSEO about Promoted Videos, so read on if you'd like to know more about our plans.

Jay Akkad, Product Manager, recently watched “The NeoCube 01”

Joy Comes in the Morning

Dear Darlene,

Thank you for such an inspirational blog! I read some beautiful things that I really needed to read because of all the loneliness and sadness I have been experiencing. It's so easy to get caught up in the emotions and lose focus on the "big picture," which is God drawing us close to Himself. It is so uplifting to see the good work He is accomplishing through people like you. Best wishes in all your endeavors through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

God Bless you!

Ellen

Dear Ellen,

Thank you for your encouragement. I appreciate it.

Some days I wonder how my words can reach anyone with 133 million blogs out there. How is it even possible that someone can find me and read my blog? And why would they want to, when there are so many better blogs out there? It's like finding one small fish in a sea of many.

But then I get a letter like yours and I sense that I am writing for a purpose. I see that God can use one little fish to minister to the hurt of another.

Yes, God is drawing us closer to Him, and he also cares enough about our loneliness to lead us to water when we need it most.

I'm sure that there are many other women who are experiencing that feeling of loneliness and sadness too. When we do, it's nice to know we're not alone.

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. ~ Psalm 30:5b, (NIV)

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

On the Rise: Pick which YouTube upstart goes on the homepage

More and more of our YouTube partners are hitting subscriber numbers in the 100,000s and even in the 1,000,000s. We want to help more of you to get to those kind of subscriber numbers, which is why we’re starting a new monthly feature called “On the Rise.”

Here’s how it works: every month, we’ll pull together a list of partner channels whose subscriber rate has quickly accelerated in the last 30 days but who still have less than 100,000 subscribers. We’ll winnow that list down to a handful of channels, and then we’ll ask the community to vote on one channel to be featured on the YouTube homepage and get promoted through our social media channels on Twitter and Facebook.

So, here are the four channels vying for the inaugural spotlight, in alphabetical order:

emilynoel83 is Emily Eddington, a 26-year-old morning news anchor whose channel is devoted to all things beauty, particularly fun ideas for TV news makeup.



golf says it all: this channel consists of golf videos, tips and lessons, aggregated from Tour Links Putting Greens, BunkerShot.com, NationalSchoolForms.com and Show Me the Golf.



kalebnation, a 22-year-old vlogger who says he enjoys “wild rumpuses.”



optibotimus is “just a simple guy” that does toy reviews. “I typically stick to what I grew up loving,” he writes on his channel. “Transformers, mostly.”



You’ve got one week, until the end of the day on November 2, to vote for your favorite in the top right corner of this blog. We plan to showcase the winner on our homepage on November 6. You can also nominate yourself or your friends for next month’s feature in the comments section of this blog post (though please note: comments are moderated due to spam).

Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “The Giants Win The Pennant!”

Who Wants to Look Young?

Since the dawn of advertising, women have been promised youth in a jar. Women are still hoping for that today, and because marketers have gotten all the more clever about how they present their products many women believe that it's possible.

Women are spending up to $100 to get the same results a $15 jar of moisturizer can give. It's a lucrative industry that's packaged to entice women, like me, who are in their forties and fifties uncertain, and at times fearful of what the near future will bring. I know this because I recently worked in the cosmetic industry selling these high-priced creams. I was targeting wrinkles nearly every day for six months using the best brands, and witnessed zero improvement.

I love makeup, fashion, beauty and youth as much as the next woman, but as much as I want to fight against the reality that I’m growing old, I have to ask myself the question, “Do I really want to hold on so tightly to something that’s only skin deep?”

It’s during this time of reflection that I begin to see that God has a different plan for my life—one that reflects the inner beauty I have.

Scripture after scripture tells me that I am precious in His sight—the spotless bride of a bridegroom who is wooing me daily to come to Him. When I open my eyes to the spiritual things in life, I see something new. I see a woman who is growing more beautiful every day, preparing for the return of her groom. The things around us will perish, but when we focus on Him, we discover the folly in the things of this perishing world, and we discover our beauty in the eyes of the Father.

I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, so the master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations. ~ Isaiah 61:10, The Message

When I see the endearing love that God has for this child of His, I am reminded of a day long ago when I sat in the front seat of my father’s car. The sun shone on my freckled face, my orange hair was lifeless, and my grin revealed a toothless smile that only a father could love. And he did love me then as he does now.

Dad held on to the steering wheel of the old Chevelle, while the words of his song rang out, “...I’ll ne’er leave the girl with the strawberry curl, and the band played on...”

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

Now Tell Me Life Doesn't Start at Conception

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

Trip Report: Google and YouTube in Iraq

Earlier this month, a small team from Google and YouTube spent a week in Iraq on a trip arranged by the Department of Defense’s Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO). Our goals were to explore opportunities for Google in Iraq, to understand the landscape of Internet access and connectivity in the country during this critical transition period, and to bring top-voted questions from YouTube to Iraqi leaders in a series of interviews. We met with students, private sector companies, NGOs and Iraqi leadership in the Kurdish city of Erbil in the north, and in Baghdad.


Pictures taken by the Google/YouTube team in Iraq: Harry Wingo (Policy), Carrie Farrell (Google.org), Debu Purkayastha (Corp Dev), Olivia Ma (YouTube), Mary Himinkool (Business Development), and Steve Grove (YouTube).

Regardless of your feelings about the Iraq War, it’s immediately evident upon arrival just how completely the country missed the Internet boom during Saddam Hussein’s regime. Internet penetration rates in Iraq are among the lowest in the Middle East—somewhere between one and eight percent. Only 15 percent of Iraqis say they use the web, and the largest percentage of them live in Baghdad. There are no commercial data centers in Iraq and much more fiber connectivity is needed to meet consumer needs. Most connections are via satellite, and those who do have connections pay dearly for it—we heard estimates of up to $150 U.S. dollars per month for a 512kb connection. To incentivize and enable private companies to lay more fiber in Iraq, a complex set of roadblocks must be addressed—from security concerns to regulatory frameworks to licensing structures. As the country is still struggling to form a government more than seven months after its last election, much of this progress has been stalled.

There are signs of progress, however. Mobile penetration has skyrocketed in Iraq in the past seven years, from effectively zero percent in 2003 to over 70% today. And the Iraqi people are highly educated. We met with dozens of computer science students at Salahaddin University in Erbil and at Baghdad University, and though they lack equipment and resources, they’re highly motivated to innovate and believe the web is a critical component of their economy’s future.

Many young people in Iraq and around the world submitted questions in Arabic and English for three interviews we conducted in partnership with Middle Eastern news agency Al Arabiya. Google Translate enabled anyone to vote on their favorite questions regardless of language, and we brought the top five questions to current Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil, Dr. Barham Salih, and Iraqi politician and once the interim Prime Minister of Iraq, Ayad Allawi. Here is the television special that Al Arabiya produced showcasing their answers:



The Iraqis we met consistently expressed their desire for increased access to the web and for more access to content and tools in both Kurdish and Arabic. We believe access to information and high-speed connectivity to the cloud will be key to the future of the country. The power of the web to change people’s lives grows the further one gets from Silicon Valley, and we look forward to continuing our work with companies, governments and citizens in Iraq and other countries in transition.

Mary Himinkool, New Business Development, and Olivia Ma, YouTube News & Politics, recently watched "Voices: Conversation Between Iraqi and American Students."

AFI Fest 2010

The American Film Institute's AFI Fest, featuring a world class selection of short and feature films, is only a week away. In this guest blog post, AFI's Bob Jennings and Lane Kneedler discuss the festival and the treasure trove of short films they find online.

Any festival can tell you programming short films is very hard. At AFI Fest, we only have space for about 30 shorts and over 3,000 submissions to choose from. However, this year we didn’t limit ourselves to just submissions. We also travelled to other festivals and looked increasingly to the web as a source for content to curate and showcase.

It’s an incredible experience to find short films and show them in a theater with an audience. Hearing a group of strangers laughing and crying together in the dark is an almost spiritual experience. We are also delighted to showcase as many films from our Official Selections on YouTube as possible. We want to help short filmmakers find audiences in any way we can. YouTube has proven that there are huge audiences out there for this content and it’s our pleasure to help highlight as much as we can, which is why we're happy to be the guest editors of today's homepage.

AFI is also proud to be a YouTube Partner. Our channel has nearly 700 videos that include never-before-seen interviews with Master Filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, clips from our annual AFI Life Achievement Award and more. Recently, we started posting a new video every Monday through Friday and the response has been astounding as we’re approaching nearly 2 million views per month.

While AFI is proud to host a prestigious film festival and continues to build a robust YouTube Channel, we are a non-profit organization that relies on a national membership program to help us preserve the history of film, educate the next generation of filmmakers and honor the artists. If you're interested in joining, check out AFI.com/members.

AFI FEST 2010 presented by Audi takes place November 4-11 in Hollywood, California. For more info visit www.afi.com/afifest.

Bob Jennings, Manager, AFI Social Media & Lane Kneedler, Associate Director of Programming, AFI Fest just watched Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Tricking and treating with Disney this Halloween

We’d like to welcome today’s guest blogger, Annjanette Isorda, Senior Manager of New Media Business Development at the Walt Disney Company. Annjanette works with Disney Consumer Products, a division that extends the Disney brand to merchandise ranging from apparel and toys to books, magazines and even food. Today, she shares her experiences on how they use their Disney Living YouTube Channel to engage fans and communicate about holiday promotions.

The Disney Living channel was born in March 2009 when we realized that YouTube could provide a great way to answer the growing demand for entertainment and information on Disney products – everything from bridal fashion shows featuring gowns inspired by our Disney Princesses to sneak peeks of our latest toys and tech gadgets. We’ve found that YouTube has broad appeal and, unlike virtually any other channel, YouTube videos allow us to tell stories that we couldn’t convey in print or other online media. We create original content that you can’t see anywhere else for YouTube fans and the active blogger community.

As we go into the holidays, YouTube has emerged as one of the best ways for us to engage directly with a wide audience. For example, Halloween is an especially fun holiday for us at Disney. To make this year’s festivities unique, we created fun activities for the family on YouTube. We produced a "Disney Store 30 Costumes in 30 Seconds" YouTube Halloween Sweepstakes and have also set up a Halloween Dress Rehearsal Party for families to show off outfits in person (and receive free prizes!). The Disney Living channel helps us easily bridge the online and offline worlds.

Additionally, Disney Living is tricking and treating YouTubers to three scary movie spoofs, inspired by the flicks The Shining, The Ring, & The Sixth Sense. These Ghoulish Greetings are short e-greetings made to delight and surprise our audience. We hope fans will have a laugh and be inspired to share them with family and friends and participate in our Halloween contest with a video response of your own. We’ll choose five lucky winners after Halloween to win a $100 gift card to the Disney Store. We will continue to produce content like this for our YouTube channel because it is a powerful platform that allows us to create value for our subscribers and audience.



Finally, our last advice to anyone else considering building a presence on YouTube: connect it to your other social marketing efforts. We always connect our content to our Facebook fan page and share it in our tweets from Twitter. We’ve promoted the videos to the YouTube community as well to help connect more people to some of our most popular content. We have found using a mix of social media and paid advertising helps us reach both core Disney fans and newcomers.

We’re genuinely excited about engaging with our fans on YouTube and carrying on the Disney tradition of inspirational storytelling. Stay tuned — there will be more YouTube fun as we move into this year’s holiday season!

Jacques Hebert, Google AdWords Account Manager, recently watched “Disney Halloween Spoof: Ghoulish Greeting #3.”

Take Every Thought Captive

Dear Darlene,

I am a reader of Courtney over at Women Living Well, and I noticed she mentioned you one day, so since that day have been a reader of your blog as well!

First, I wanted to say thank you for your Home Maintenance Schedule! Being a new wife (been married to my wonderful husband for 19 months), and young mom, (my adorable, sweet boy is 6 months old), I'm still working on figuring out the best way to take care of the house, AND take care of my son, AND get everything else I need to done in a day! I trust that if I'm faithful to practice my house-keeping routine now and get a good handle on it, then, Lord willing, when we have more children, juggling all of my responsibilities will be easier.

I've been following your schedule--with a switch in a day or two--for about three weeks, and it's working out great! I really appreciate all of the tips and the way that you have incorporated daily tasks, weekly tasks and even de-junking! It's been helpful to have it as a guide and goal for each day. Again, thank you for sharing it!

I also wanted to say a big thank you for standing up for the truth of God's Word, and for encouraging us readers to be faithful to God's design for us as women, wives and mothers. As I previously mentioned, I'm a new wife so I'm still learning submission and how to take judgmental or even angry thoughts captive and instead love my husband regardless of his words, attitudes or actions.

I really didn't ever think that I'd have a problem with any of this, but man, does marriage show me just how sinful I am! I praise the Lord that He is sanctifying me in this area in the beginning of our marriage, and I thank Him for using some of your posts (particularly "Regaining Sight of His Character") to help point my mind toward right thinking.

Keep up the good work, Sister, and thank you for your words of wisdom. You are an encouragement and example to me.

Blessings,

Sophia

Dear Sophia,

Thank you so much for your letter. I'm humbled and blessed by your kind words. I'm glad that you have made use of the house-keeping chart, and that the system is working for you. My hope is that I'll continually find things to add to the "Home Maintenance Schedule" so that it will be a complete guide to keeping our homes.

Thank you also for your thoughts on marriage. I was inspired when you said, "take judgmental or even angry thoughts captive, and instead love my husband regardless of his words, attitudes, or actions." I think that's a lesson that we should all practice, BEFORE angry words are spoken or negative action is taken.

Our bodies are animated by our thoughts. Words and actions spring forth from our heart so that in essence we become what we think.

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. ~ Luke 6:43-45, (NIV)

If we’re not patient women, then we’re not going to somehow pull patience out of a hat in the heat of an argument. In the same way, if we don’t love our husband from the core of our heart we’ll be walking on thin ice when the going gets tough. Therefore it’s important that we are continually taking these thoughts captive and bringing them into obedience (2 Cor. 10:5).

There's a popular saying that goes, "If you want to wear a different pair of pants, you have to live differently." The same principle applies to our marriage. If we want a good marriage, we have to do the leg work it takes in making it happen.

I’m excited to see women like you who are taking steps to building a strong marriage. As I’ve said in a previous post, so much thought and effort is given to planning a wedding, but sadly most of us aren’t willing to put the same effort toward planning our marriage.

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

Individual Video Program, one year later...

What if Michelangelo had sculpted the David and that was his one and only masterpiece? What if Francis Ford Coppola had shot one scene of The Godfather, then called it quits on a film career? What if Jim Henson had only given the world Kermit the Frog, and then decided to become a plumber? Would you still want to see these hallmarks of creativity? Chances are, you would.

It’s been well over a year now since the launch of the Individual Video Program (IVP), which celebrates the very nature of rewarding the one-hit creative spark or remarkable moments caught on video. Some of the most well known videos run the gamut through rough-cut home video (“Jessica’s Daily Affirmation”), wonders of the natural world (“Praying Mantis Attacks Hummingbird”), or good old fashioned comedy clips (“Laughing Baby,” with 33M views). Here's one of our recent favorites:

What’s even more powerful than sharing these moments through video? Hearing how the lives of the people who have uploaded them have been changed. For instance, in one of the most heart-warming videos featuring a U.S. solider reunited with his dog after returning from Afghanistan, the earnings made from the video went to the local animal shelter where their pet was rescued.

Online video is evolving, and we believe there should be a place on the web where all forms of content are celebrated and brought to the masses. In fact, did you know that...

• YouTube has now enabled hundreds of thousands of videos to earn money?
• We’ve enabled international users from 11 markets to earn revenue from their videos?
• IVP helped thousands of YouTube users to become official YouTube Partners?

We’re proud to have our Individual Videos share in our business success, and plan to find more ways to encourage a diversity of video on the site.


Lin Shi, Software Engineer, recently watched “Cows, Cows, Cows.”

Digital bootcamp with Ingrid Kopp

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, is writing weekly guest posts for the YouTube blog on filmmaking in the digital age. You can catch up on previous posts here.
Today being a filmmaker is more and more about using tools other than cameras and editing software – social media, mobile platforms, websites, and even augmented reality technology – to bolster the work, attract and engage audiences, and make money. Many filmmakers are being dragged into this new world kicking and screaming or simply overwhelmed by the options.

Enter Ingrid Kopp, Director, U.S. Office at Shooting People, and her Digital Bootcamp, which I got a chance to attend at DCTV in New York on Monday night. "The technology should serve you and your creative practices" -- that was one of the first things Ingrid said to the audience of about 20 filmmakers. She went on to explain that all these new technologies are like a painter's palette. If you choose all of them, you'll end up with gray. They are there for you to pick and choose what works for you and your film.

This is excellent advice but questions still remain: Which one should I use? How do I use it? And do I really have to? As filmmakers raised their hands to ask questions it became clear that tailoring a web, mobile or other technology campaign for a film is a very personal decision and should be informed by the project and the filmmaker's goals. Are they happy simply with people seeing their work? Do they need to recoup some investment? Are they trying to invoke social change? Ingrid talked about a new production title, coined by John Reese, Producer of Marketing and Distribution (PMD), which a filmmaker could hire to create and execute a digital campaign, taking all this into consideration. She compared this to hiring a cinematographer. You could opt to shoot yourself, but if you have the money, why not hire someone with experience and skill.

That said, you don't need to hire a PMD. You don't even need to build a website, post your trailer on Facebook, or send even one tweet. But, if you're ready to dive in, Ingrid offered up fantastic insights and tips, some of which I'm going to share right here:

• If you do one thing, create a home for your film online -- a website, a blog, a Facebook fan page, or a YouTube channel (of course) -- so that audiences know where to go to get information about you and your project. All your other online presences should link back to this main place.
• Collect email addresses and zip codes from your audience. Remember that Facebook and Twitter could shut down your profile any time. In order to retain contact with your audience, ask for their email addresses. And, while you're at it, their zip codes too. Want to plan a screening? You'll know where to start based on where your audiences live.
• Put your trailer online and allow people to embed the video. Embed and spread!
• Much of the really creative stuff happening on the web is being launched by brands. Filmmakers can learn a lot from their unique uses of new technologies. Here are two excellent examples Ingrid screened: The Last Exorcism Chatroulette campaign and the choose-your-own-adventure campaign on YouTube for Tipp-Ex.
• If you’re going to start a fundraising campaign on a site like Kickstarter, create ancillary content around the campaign to promote it and get people excited to pitch in. Be creative with your rewards to really entice donors. Embed a video on the campaign page too -- campaigns with videos earn more.
• Think about creating video clips other than your trailer that you can release strategically throughout the entire production process.
• Don't do anything halfway. If you start a Twitter account for your film and only send one tweet, your project will look "dusty" as Ingrid put it -- a perfect adjective.
• It's never too early to start building an audience with any kind of digital campaign. You can leverage your audience to solve problems with your film (anyone know a shooter in Dallas?), share their own footage, help with fundraising, write about your project, coordinate screenings, buy DVDs, and tell all their friends how great your film was.

In her brief but jam-packed session, Ingrid shared numerous sites, best practices, recommend reading, and noteworthy examples. Rather than link to them all here, here's a link to her Digital Bootcamp wiki where you can view the full presentation and check out tons of other resources. Ingrid called herself a bit of a "technological Utopian" and you can see that in her Creative Commons wiki where readers are also free to edit and share their own ideas.

I’m pretty sure I’m in that camp too, but I had to play devil's advocate and ask: “What do you say to filmmakers whose response to all this is, ‘I don't want to. I care about making films and not all this other superfluous, unrelated media?’ “ Ingrid simply said, “Then you don't have to. If this other stuff is distracting from your film or what’s in the frame then you shouldn’t be doing this. This should never compromise your film. My hope is that filmmakers will see these tools as another creative outlet. If we’re not embracing this technology, we, as filmmakers, could be left out of something amazing.”

I couldn't agree more. Thank you, Ingrid, for a great evening and all the information you share through your wiki, Twitter feed and Shooting People.

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, recently watched “The Rent Is Too Damn High Party's Jimmy McMillan at the NY Governor Debate.” Come back next Friday for another session of our “Modern 101 for Emerging Digital Filmmakers."

Jury selection for YouTube Play revealed at last

Today we announce the jury selection for YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video with the Guggenheim.

It was our goal to reach the widest possible audience, inviting individuals from around the world to submit a video for consideration. While our original goal had been to select 20, the jury was so moved by the quality of work submitted that we decided to honor a final list of 25. We believe the end result is 25 of the most unique and innovative video work to be created and distributed online during the past two years.

Tonight we will be celebrating this announcement with a live streamed event: YouTube Play. Live from the Guggenheim. Head to youtube.com/play for the live stream and for highlights after the event.

1. Auspice
Bryce Kretschmann, b. 1974 in California, USA, lives in Newark, NJ, USA.



2. Bear untitled - D.O. Edit
Christen Bach, b. 1978 in Kolding, Denmark, lives in Berlin, Germany.



3. Bathtub IV
Keith Loutit, b. 1973 in Melbourne, Australia, lives in Coogee, Australia.



4. Birds on the Wires
Jarbas Agnelli, b. 1963 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he still lives.



5. Birdy Nam Nam ‘The Parachute Ending’
Steve Scott (Director), b. 1970 in Plymouth, UK, lives in London, UK. Will Sweeney (Art Director and Illustration) b.1973 in London, UK, where he still lives.



6. deuce
Monica Cook, b. 1974 in Dalton, Georgia, USA, lives in Brooklyn, NY, USA.



7. Die Antwoord – Zef Side
Sean Metelerkamp, b. 1984 in Knysna, South Africa, lives in Cape Town, South Africa.



8. Gardyn
Pogo (Nick Bertke), b. 1988 in Capetown, South Africa, lives in Perth, Australia.



9. I Met the Walrus
Josh Raskin (Director and Animator), b. 1980 in Toronto, Canada, where he still lives. James Braithwaite (Drawings), b. 1978 in Edmonton, Canada, lives in Montreal, Canada. Alex Kurina (Computer illustration), b. 1981 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, lives in Toronto, Canada. Jerry Levitan (story and voice), b. 1954 in Toronto, Canada, where he still lives.



10. Ladybirds' Requiem (digest version)
Akino Kondoh, b. 1980 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, lives in New York, USA.



11. Le Syndrome du Timide
Pierre-Axel Vuillaume-Prézeau, b. 1986 in Nalliers (Vendée), France, lives in Paris, France.



12. Luis
Joaquín Cociña, b. 1980 in Concepción, Chile, lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cristóbal León, b. 1980 in Santiago, Chile, lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Niles Atallah, b. 1978 in Sacramento, California, USA, lives in Santiago, Chile.



13. Man with a Movie Camera: The Global Remake
Perry Bard, b. 1944 in Quebec City, Canada, lives in New York, USA.



14. Moonwalk
Martin Kohout, b. 1984 in Prague, Czech Republic, lives in Berlin, Germany.



15. Noteboek
Evelien Lohbeck, b. 1983 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, lives in Tilburg, The Netherlands.



16. Post Newtonianism (War Footage/Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare Footage)
Josh Bricker, b. 1980 in Torrance, CA, USA, lives in New York, USA.



17. Scenic Jogging
Jillian Mayer, b. 1984 in Florida, USA, where she still lives.



18. Seaweed 
Remi Weekes and Luke White, both b. 1987 in London, UK, where they still live.



19. Strindberg and Helium at the Beach
Eun-Ha Paek (Director, Animator and Artist), b. 1974 in Seoul, South Korea, lives in New York, USA. Erin Perkins (Writer and Voice of Helium), b. 1977 in Duluth, MN, USA, lives in Oakland, CA, USA. James Bewley (Voice of Strindberg), b. 1975 in West Chester, PA, USA, lives in New York, USA.



20. Synesthesia
Terri Timely (Corey Creasey and Ian Kibbey). Corey Creasey: b. 1979 in Long Beach, CA, USA, lives in Oakland, USA. Ian Kibbey: b. 1980 in Berkeley CA, USA, lives in Oakland, USA.



21. Taxi III Stand Up and Cry Like a Man
Lisa Byrne, b. 1973 in Town – Newry, Northern Ireland, lives in London, England.



22. The Huber Experiments
Erik Huber, b. 1984 in Atlanta, USA, where he still lives. Matthew Huber, b. 1973 in Atlanta, USA, lives in New York, USA.



23. This Aborted Earth: The Quest Begins
Michael Banowetz, b. 1955 in Wichita, KS, USA, lives in Denver, CO, USA. Noah Sodano, b. 1981 in Denver, CO, USA, lives in Denver, CO, USA.






24. Wonderland Mafia
Lindsay Scoggins, b. 1985 in Gainesville Florida, USA, lives in Tampa, USA.



25. WORDS
Everynone (Will Hoffman, Daniel Mercadante, and Julius Metoyer III) Will Hoffman: b. 1985 on Staten Island, New York, USA, lives in New York, USA. Daniel Mercadante: b. 1984 in Farmington, Connecticut, USA, lives in New York, USA. Julius Metoyer III: b. 1985 in Los Angeles, USA, where he still lives.



The YouTube Play Team

Tips for partners: LockerGnome reveals how he built his brand and audience

In our Tips for Partners series over the last month, we have certainly covered a lot! Beyond our suggestions, our partners have given their own tips on these topics as well. Specifically,

• Bettyskitchen discussed metadata
• ZackScott talked about annotations and playlists
• LinusTechTips gave tips on how to find your niche

Hold on to your seats. For our last post in this series about engaging with your audience, we’re bringing you (drum roll please...) LockerGnome (a.k.a Chris Pirillo) who’s well versed in how to make a hit channel, get more subscribers, and interact with his audience through social media.

Chris publishes a personal blog and lifecast and joined the partner program in 2007. Technology enthusiast and self proclaimed geek extraordinaire, you can’t help but be impressed when Chris gives tips on how to make a good PowerPoint or discusses USB Hub problems. Also, in case you are in need of some pet costume ideas for Halloween, Chris can help you out.



You can also check this video out on his Watch Page. Let us know in the comments section of Chris’ video if you have great tips to share on how to build your brand and audience or if you have feedback for Chris. We’d also love to hear how your videos have been impacted once you have used some of these tips to better engage with your audience.

This post concludes our Tips for Partners series. We have covered many important topics to help you leverage and build your own hit channel and encourage you to utilize all of YouTube’s tools and features to build the best channel possible.

We enjoyed hearing from our partners to find out their optimization tips, so we will be moving this initiative to the Partner Communications Hub and posting a Partner Education Spotlight on a regular basis. If you have a great optimization tip you want to share, let us know and we would love to spotlight your video as well as your channel!

Thanks for tuning in and providing great feedback. Here on the YouTube Partnerships team, our goal is to support and educate our partners on how to use various tools to better create and share content. That, in turn, gives you the power to do what you do best: creating videos that represent the Zeitgeist of our world. So if that means funny cat videos or how to make your house more energy efficient, go forth and prosper!


Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Wedding Thriller”.

Live 24-hour webcast from Conan O’Brien HQ: Dancing tacos! 80's aerobics! Intern Twister!

As Conan O'Brien's crew plans for their 24-hour marathon live stream on YouTube, in what promises to be a kooky peek into life at Team Coco HQ, we thought it was best for them to tell you about it themselves. Here's Aaron Bleyaert, the blogger for the new CONAN show on TBS.

People constantly ask me questions like, "Hey, Aaron, what's it like to work at such an awesome show?" Or, "Hey, Aaron, what do you guys do all day in your offices?" Or even, "Aaron, you are incredibly handsome -- how can one man have such stunning good looks?" The answer to that last one is simple: I moisturize.

For the answer to the first two, I invite you to tune in to the massive online comedy event we're calling "The Live Coco Cam." As the word "live" implies, it will be live. And as the word "Coco" implies, it will be TOTALLY AWESOME. Starting today at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, we invite you to take a look inside the wonderfully weird offices of the brand new CONAN show as we prepare for our November 8 debut on TBS. We're shoving a camera in the second floor stairwell of our offices and will be broadcasting all of the behind-the-scenes comedy madness live for 24 hours. Here's a taste of the crazy:



Who's gonna show up? What's gonna happen? As our Live Coco Cam event unfolds, all the weird, funny and tender (yes, tender) moments will be captured and uploaded to Team Coco's official YouTube channel so you don't miss a second of the action. In addition, we'll be tweeting about the events through the day and night from our Team Coco Twitter account and will be recapping all the events after they happen (as well as after the event ends) over on our show blog at TeamCoco.com... That is, if I survive the next 24 hours. ;)

So tune in at youtube.com/teamcoco and enjoy 24 hours of Live Coco Cam antics...whatever they may be!

Aaron Bleyaert, Team Coco, recently watched "Conan O'Brien's Favorite YouTube Videos."

Tips for partners: Ask and you shall receive

Over the last few weeks in our 'Tips for partners" series, we’ve shown you tips on:

• metadata 
• annotations and playlists 
• finding your niche and using Insights

Our partners have given their own tips on these topics: Bettyskitchen discussed metadata, ZackScott talked about annotations and playlists, and LinusTechTips gave tips on how to find your niche. Now that you are ready for fame and fortune, for our last topic in this series, we want to focus on the YouTube community and how to build your brand and audience.

Help Them Help You

Think of YouTube as your big, extended family; a large community who wants to engage with you, share their opinion, and help you be successful. So help them help you. Use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Google Buzz to engage with your audience and let them know how to keep track of your different YouTube channels, social media outlets, and ways to contact you.

Use your referral headers to see what specific sites are your top referrals. You can see your referral headers through our Insight tool by going to ‘My Videos’ and clicking on ‘Insight’ under one video. Next, click on “Discovery” and then “External Links”, and set the date range. You can only see a breakdown of external links on an individual video, so make sure to review your top videos to see if your referrals are consistent or different.

An example of referrals for a video:

Customize your interaction with your audience based on your top referrals. If your top referrals are Facebook, Twitter, or Buzz, make sure to let your audience know via those mediums when your next video is live. If your top referrals are YouTube subscribers, post a bulletin to your subscribers letting them know you’d love for them to share your video with one new person.

To Do:

• Don’t be shy, push your content out there. Engage with your audience through YouTube, Twitter, Buzz, Facebook, MySpace and other social media through links to your channel and videos.
• Widen your reach. A huge amount of view counts come from embedded playbacks so take advantage of this and embed your videos. Share your video with blogs/sites aimed at your audience. They may embed your video because it reaches their target audience.
• Ask for subscribers! Subscribers can be the best marketers to push your content to different blogs and social media. Ask for subscribers on your channel, through your videos, or through annotations, and then ask them to share your video.
• It’s free to ask for feedback (just keep a thick skin). Make a video where you ask your viewers what they liked or didn’t like or what types of videos they would like to see.
• Look at your comments, see what your viewers are saying and feel free to respond. Also, through ‘Insight’ you can see the words most commonly used in comments of your videos. 
• Run Promoted Videos to get more eyeballs on your videos and drive community engagement. 
• Add your YouTube Channel to your email signature so your contacts are aware of your ongoing online presence and can easily access your channel.
• Two minds really are better than one. Collaborate and network with other YouTubers and amaze us with what you can create together.

Now is a great time to log into your account and check out your top referrals and make sure viewers know how to connect with you through social media. Tune in this Thursday (our last post in this series) to hear from one of our partners who’ll discuss first-hand how he engages with his YouTube audience and uses social media to increase his audience and build loyalty.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched "Dude Perfect™ (Amazing Basketball Shots) - HD."

Musicians Wanted: Now Worldwide

Today, the YouTube Partner Program for Musicians, aka Musicians Wanted, extends beyond the U.S., meaning that musicians in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, the U.K., Sweden, the Czech Republic, Argentina and New Zealand now have the opportunity to make money from their videos. Here’s more about the program from two longtime partners, Pomplamoose’s Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn:

So, if you’re a musician based in any of the territories listed above – or if you’re based in the U.S. and haven’t gotten around to it yet – head over to this sign-up page and register today. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose and potentially a whole lot to gain!

Jamie Dolling, Product Marketing Manager, UK, recently watched “Professor Green: The Next 48 Hours.”

God's Wisdom is Greater Than Ours

(Letter from a reader. I appreciate your thoughts)

Dear Darlene,

I was randomly directed to your site today and read your post on the gender gap. While I appreciate the different mind set that you represent, from my own, I couldn't leave for class today without sending you an email.

I was a psychology major in my undergraduate studies and have continued on that path in graduate school. The John/Joan case was something I studied in personality psychology. It is truly devastating. However, I don't think that anyone in modern medicine or psychology views this as a medical "triumph."

Children altered at birth are much different than adolescents and young adults that genuinely feel they have been placed in the wrong body. I don't think you'll find anyone in a modern field that would advocate for the gender reassignment of an infant. This case unfortunately happened before both fields had a greater understanding of what compromises and forms our gender identity.

Recent suicides of youth in our country provoked by anti-gay / homophobic bullying highlight the need for sensitivity and greater exploration of what constitutes gender and sexual orientation. Further discussing gender reassignment in the way it was discussed in your blog seems harmful in my opinion.

I am not saying that you should be silenced. I really do value all points of view and think that differences can only foster dialogue and greater understanding of our fellow human beings. That being said, I would encourage you to further explore the issue of gender reassignment from a scientific and psychological standpoint.

Again, no one in these fields today would recommend gender reassignment of an infant. Further, the process to become fully transgendered is long, laborous and involves LOTS of counseling and actually a full year of living as the other gender, just without the actual genital reassignment. This may not be something that you agree with, but like I said, I would encourage further research and education on the topic.

Andrea



Dear Andrea,

I'm afraid that I haven't studied psychology as extensively as you have, but I'm not afraid to say that the wisdom of God trumps the wisdom of man on any given day.

God's word clearly states that man was created first then the woman, and when the two are brought together they have distinct roles they must fill. I don't see how a Biblical viewpoint on the God-given gender of man, can be considered as insensitive or homophobic.

Dr. Money [David's doctor] was a professor of pediatrics and medical psychology at Johns Hopkins University from 1951 until his death in 2006. While there, Money was involved with the Sexual Behaviors Unit, which ran studies on sex reassignment surgery. He received the Magnus Hirschfeld Medal in 2002 from the "German Society for Social-Scientific Sexuality Research." (Wikipedia) So I agree with David Reimer himself as well as those who say it was deemed "a medical triumph."

Modern society has played its role in confusing the genders, with pregnant men on TV claiming that it’s their right to have kids. Surgical and hormonal treatments do not make you a man no matter which way you slice it.

If I am to understand who I am in the sight of God, it is essential that I embrace the fact that men and women are created differently, and that each has a role of their own. Women were born with a purpose, and men were born with one too.

The New York Times published an article written by Gina Kolata, in which she explains how a new study shows definitive evidence that men and women use their brain differently. She quotes Dr. Sally E. Shaywitz, a behavioral scientist at the Yale University School of Medicine saying, "the brain is a lot more complicated than people envisioned." But it does not say that women's brains are better at this task than men's or vice versa. Although the men and women used their brains differently, she added, the fact that they sounded out words equally well means that "the brain has a lot of different ways to get to the same result." (February 16, 1995).

Do we really need science to tell us that? With people like Dr. Money teaching courses on psychology, I say that modern psychology has a long way to go. A simple web search of "gender reassignment in infants" will show you that this practice of Dr. Money's continued until recent years.

Either way, as heart-wrenching as it is, the point of my article isn't whether infants are receiving gender reassignment or adults. The issue is that God has created women and men in each their own way and that His wisdom exceeds ours.

I value your point as well, but encourage you to further explore the issue of gender reassignment from a Biblical standpoint.

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." ~ 1 Corinthians 1:25, (NIV)

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

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YouTube Leanback officially launches -- on Google TV

Back in July, we announced the launch of YouTube Leanback in beta. If you didn’t get a chance to check it out, Leanback is a new way to experience YouTube on a big screen. We named it “Leanback” so you could do just that: kick back and, with as little effort as possible, enjoy hours upon hours of YouTube videos. When you go to www.youtube.com/leanback, you’ll note that videos start playing immediately, are always presented in full screen and HD (when available), and you can easily browse using just the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Today, YouTube Leanback moves forward into a new role at the center of the YouTube experience on Google TV, which you’ll start seeing in U.S. stores this week. When you view Leanback on Google TV (or online), videos based on your subscriptions and viewing history will begin playing immediately. If those don’t pique your interest, Leanback offers 10 channels, updated daily, featuring popular and interesting videos in genres like Comedy, Entertainment, News, Science & Technology, How To & Style, and more. You can also watch full-length movies and TV shows rented from youtube.com in the highest quality.

Learn more about YouTube Leanback or visit www.youtube.com/leanback to try it out.

Camille Hearst, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched the “Best of YouTube” channel at www.youtube.com/leanback.

Use your video-making skills to make sanitation sexy

Eyeglasses, the bicycle, the latex condom...What everyday products or services have changed the world as we know it and solved some of the world’s biggest problems?

For the past month, this question has been posed through a website called Search for the Obvious. From the Internet to the ironing board, users from around the world have flocked to Search for the Obvious to add the products and services that are their ideal of elegant, problem-solving design. A panel of judges from media and design has been evaluating the contributions, and a few of their favorites have been featured on the site. Search for the Obvious is run by Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture fund investing in entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty.

Today, Search for the Obvious launched a challenge that dares videographers, designers and creatives of all kinds to come up with the craftiest campaign to promote one of the judges’ favorite picks: sewers. Succinctly put: “Sanitation is sexy: make it obvious” – through a video, advertisement, catchy tagline or other form of media, participants are being asked to demonstrate why sanitation is the most important issue currently facing the developing world. (For some inspiration on creative video campaigns, view this video for "The Girl Effect"). Submissions are due by Sunday, November 21, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

The winning video(s) will be featured on our homepage in early December. Winners will also be featured through major media sources, such as Design Observer, and will be recognized by Acumen Fund as champion marketers of the world’s problems and most useful solutions.

So, do you have what it takes to search for the obvious? Challenge yourself and find out.

Taylor Ray, Business Development Fellow at Acumen Fund, recently watched “Baby Stucke behind couch!”

Watch country duo Sugarland LIVE from New York City!

Tonight the award-winning country act Sugarland performs in Times Square, marking one of the final stops in their 2010 tour. The show will be live streamed at 9 p.m. (ET) at www.youtube.com/sugarlandvevo and will be directed by Kenny Ortega, whose notable work includes High School Musical, This Is It, and Dirty Dancing.

Lead singer Jennifer Nettles and guitarist/vocalist Kristian Bush extend a personal invitation to you:

Expect to hear all their platinum hits, as well as a sneak peek from new release The Incredible Machine which comes out later this week. Also keep an eye out for special guest appearances from Ronnie Dunn (of Brooks and Dunn) and country vocal quartet Little Big Town.

Sugarland spent some time with director Kenny Ortega this week in preparation for the live stream. The man who directed Michael Jackson (This Is It) also offered up some suggestions for Jennifer and Kristian’s choreography:

This is the third installment of the “Unstaged” series brought to you by YouTube, American Express and Vevo. The online experience kicks off with a pre-show that includes a special interview during which the band answers questions that were tweeted earlier this week. At showtime, fans can also participate by picking from three camera angles (including a new “Front Row” cam) or by voting on what song the duo should play as an encore.

If you miss the stream this evening, tune in for highlights from the show on Sugarland’s channel shortly thereafter.

Dana Vetter, Music Manager, Marketing Programs, recently watched "Stuck Like Glue"

Politically INcorrect If We Must

We were created by an almighty God who fashioned us to uniquely fit the desires of man. Because of that master design, we shouldn't let anyone say that your role as a wife is demeaning, undignified, or degrading. It’s an honor to be sculpted by the Maker according to plan.

Where men lack we abound and vice versa. My husband is tall, I’m short, he’s strong, I’m weak, his voice is deep, mine is high, he’s mechanical, I’m artsy, I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants girl, he’s a grounded and detailed guy, and the list goes on... No one can fill the role of a help-meet like a woman can. You can never put two identical pieces of a puzzle together, but when you find one piece that fills the space that another one lacks, you start to see a bigger picture come to life.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one.” ~ Mark 10:7-8.

I’ll say it again, and I’ll say it often on this site: Men and women are two very different beings. But in order to be politically correct, more people are accepting that the line of difference between a male and a female are blurred.

Not only are the differences blurred, pop culture encourages us to experiment with our sexuality, while discouraging us from speaking out.


Ladies, it’s time to speak out against this modern mindset and to reclaim who we were created to be, after all we are the ones raising the next generation. Men and women are different, and each were created with a purpose:

• Men love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it
• Wives submit to your husbands as unto the Lord

If the lines are blurred, draw new ones. Be politically INcorrect if you must, but count it an honor to be created a woman according to the perfect wisdom of God.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” ~ Genesis 1:27

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, join in the discussion on facebook.