Announcing the CNN/YouTube Debates

What do YOU want to ask the presidential candidates? For the past few months, you've had the opportunity to connect with the candidates on our You Choose '08 platform. Today we're announcing two exciting events that will bring that dialogue to national television: two presidential primary debates on CNN in which you ask the candidates questions through YouTube.







First up is the Democratic debate, which will be on July 23. Start submitting your questions today at www.youtube.com/debates.



So what makes a good question? Make sure to read the guidelines on the debate page; CNN will choose questions that are personal, short, and relevant. When possible, make sure to give context to your question – the power of video is that you can show us where you're coming from instead of just telling us.



Want some inspiration before you get started? Check out these sample questions, and then get out your camera and start rolling!







And stay tuned - you'll get to face the Republican candidates this fall during the second CNN/YouTube debate, on September 17 in Florida.



Yours,

Steve of Citizentube

YouTube News & Politics

Aye YouTube on iGoogle

Interested in being able to watch YouTube videos from your iGoogle homepage? How about the ability to search YouTube from this very same gadget? If you don't yet have an iGoogle homepage it's easy to get started. Our friends at Google have this nifty thing called iGoogle, which essentially lets you personalize your home page with all kinds of gadgets, RSS feeds, search boxes, and more. You can even change the look with different themes. Get started today and install the new YouTube iGoogle Gadget!



Cheers,

Igor

YouTube Engineer

Update on New Embedded Player

Thanks for all the feedback - please keep posting your constructive comments here, as this is a huge help for us in gauging community needs. The designers are continuing to evolve the embedded player to address some of the concerns raised here while still providing new ways for people to discover videos. You may have already noticed the following changes: related videos only show when the menu button is pressed, mouseover function is no more, and the menu for related videos now displays at the end of the video you've just watched.



You'll see more changes coming up which will allow deeper customization of the embedded player -- whether you want the "classic" single video playback or some great new ways to display a variety of videos on your website, profile page or blog. Bottom line: we want this new feature on embeds to work for you.



If you'd like to turn off the option to see related videos through your embedded player, simply add "&rel=0" after the video ID number in the embed code. Here's an example of what your embed code should look like if you'd like to turn off this feature:



<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie"
value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xxxxxx&rel=0"
></param><param name="wmode"
value="transparent"></param><embed src="
http://www.youtube.com/v/xxxxxx&rel=0"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425"
height="350"></embed></object>



Cheers,

YouTube Team

Presenting Four Eyed Monsters

When artists Arin Crumley and Susan Buice first met, they agreed they would only communicate through visuals. What followed were scribbled notes, drawings, vlogs, etc., that chronicled the start of their relationship and would eventually become their first feature film, Four Eyed Monsters.



The film was accepted to festivals, won awards and was praised by critics. That could have been the end of the road, but Crumley and Buice did something unique: they created podcasts about the making of the film and their struggle to get it released. The videos went on to garner over 1 million views and built such a large and loyal online audience that they were able to self-distribute their film to six major markets.



Crumley and Buice are a great example of a new era of artists using the Internet to take the distribution of their work into their own hands. And as you can see from fan interviews, the two aren't interested in using new technologies only for themselves – they want to see all artists empowered.



Now, as YouTube partners, Four Eyed Monsters are able to share their full-length, forward-thinking creative vision with you. Check it out.







Yours,

Sara

YouTube Film/The Storyboard

You Choose '08 Spotlight: Tom Tancredo

Currently reaching out to voters in the You Choose '08 Spotlight is Tom Tancredo, the Colorado Congressman who's nationally known for his tough stance on illegal immigration. Tancredo's Spotlight video asks you to weigh in on the immigration issue by telling your personal stories about how illegal immigration has affected you.







Governor Mike Huckabee got back to the YouTube community last week with this reply video to his question, "Do you want to see the IRS disappear?" Click below to hear Huckabee talk more about his plan to institute the Fair Tax.







The Spotlight is your chance to speak directly to the candidates about the issues you care most about. We'll be announcing a similar opportunity very soon, when we release the details of two live presidential debates that YouTube is producing with CNN.



Keep your eyes and ears peeled,

Steve of Citizentube

YouTube News & Politics

New! Related Videos Appearing on Embeds

Does watching a YouTube video on another site leave you hungering for more like it? We just turned on a new embedded player with a scroll-through feature that shows related videos to your embeds. It's fun to play with and lets you discover new, related videos without leaving your site. Just hover over the video after pressing "play" and watch the magic unfold...







If for any reason you don't want this option turned on, you can modify the video URL by attaching a rel=0 parameter to the video. i.e. http://www.youtube.com/v/&rel=0



Here is an example of code with the parameter in place:










Enjoy!

YouTube Team

Staff Picks of the Week

Startin' the week off right...





TheStoryboard:


Much of YouTube's glory lies in our collective ability to comment and respond to one another's videos. As we all know, YouTube is much more than just a video-sharing site. We're a creative community. One of my favorite video responses on the site, which I think is a shining example of our creative dialogue, is pappirus' “This ‘n’ That Animation,” a response to nicepaul's over four million view count video, "This 'n' That – You Can Learn it at WTFmagic.com." When magicians and animators are collaborating, you know you’re a part of something special!











MicheleKtel:


I love good shoes, but not the ones you keep in the closet or hurt your feet. These Good Shoes are from London and play upbeat British-accented power pop (in the spirit of the Buzzcocks and the Futureheads). Their new CD is called Think Before You Speak and already includes so many great videos that it's hard to pick between the one featuring the giant spinning record player flinging off band members, the comfortable-looking cardigans, or the captured-on-Polaroid-guitar-jumping. All those things are nice, but who can resist the one with the multicolored flock of animated birds set to an apologetic love song?










BigJoeSmith:



About a month ago in Amsterdam, a 400-pound gorilla named Bokito escaped from a zoo. In order to get out of his enclosure, Bokito had to climb a very high wall and then get across a moat. (Keep in mind that gorillas can't swim!) Well, after getting out, he ended up injuring four people, including a woman he captured caveman-style. We have a video of Bokito prior to this King Kong-ish event taking place - his innocent days.












Bye now,

YouTube Programming Team