YouTube

Roku shutting down VideoBuzz channel for streaming YouTube on the sly

One of the biggest shortcomings of the otherwise excellent Roku 3 is its lack of an official YouTube channel, although savvy users can get around that limitation with a variety of workarounds, including the "private" VideoBuzz channel. Or at least used to be able to.

VideoBuzz reported on its Facebook page yesterday that it "received a notice from Roku management asking us to close down the channel as we don't own the content which is being streamed by VideoBuzz channel." The channel is set to go offline April 17; VideoBuzz says it's looking into … Read more

YouTube honors birthday of video recorder with VHS-style videos

Anyone who misses the fuzzy quality of old VHS tapes can take a nostalgic tour courtesy of YouTube.

Celebrating the birth of the first commercial videotape recorder 57 years ago, YouTube has added an option to certain videos to let you view them in old VHS mode. Instead of sporting today's cleaner digital look, the videos appear in a scratchy, static-filled screen.

One such video to get the VHS treatment is a clip from the Pixar film "Ratatouille." Just click on the Enable Tape Mode icon to travel back in time and watch the video in all … Read more

Great Gangnams, Batman! Psy to debut new single on YouTube!

I have no wish to excite you excessively.

I feel I can succeed in that with this post. For I just wanted to suggest something you might want to do, should you be awake at 2:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday.

Entertainment options are not necessarily legion at that time. So you might want to turn to your laptop, turn away from your usual 2:30 a.m. Web sites, and wallow in the glory of YouTube.

For there you will find Psy, the cheery performer who made you so much more attractive with his "Gangnam Style" overture, debuting his new single. … Read more

LookAway works, but that's about it

LookAway Player mimics the Smart Pause feature that will (as of this writing) soon be coming to the Galaxy S4, automatically pausing a video when you look away from your iPhone.

The app functions on YouTube only, so you will only be able to use LookAway Player's features on YouTube videos. In my testing it worked pretty much as advertised. Simply play a YouTube video, and when you turn your head to look away, facial-recognition software automatically pauses the video. When you turn back toward your iPhone, the video starts up again. It also worked when I looked down, … Read more

Mega Video Converter Review

The field of Internet video converters is not short on contenders, some good at what they do and others, not so much. Mega Video Converter (MVC) from Clip Extractor is a new challenger in a very competitive market. Thankfully, it is one of the good guys.

We like Mega Video Converter for being fast, simple, and intuitive. Installation is quick and compact, only taking up about 20MB on your hard disk. However, you do need MS .NET Framework 4 before you can proceed and MVC will alert you if you don't already have it.

Upon launching Mega Video Converter … Read more

Spotify takes over YouTube for a day with new ad campaign

Spotify is trying something new to promote its service to would-be users.

The company today has overtaken YouTube with a large documentary ad at the top of the video site's page. The ad encourages YouTube visitors to "follow" the band Phoenix throughout the day to see what a typical day is like for the members. This morning, only a portion of the 18-minute documentary is available, but as the day goes on, users can come back and watch more. By the end of the day, all 18 minutes will be viewable.

Spotify's ad takes up the … Read more

All six 'Star Wars' flicks in one window: The ultimate geek-out

For you, perhaps the geekiest diversion you can imagine is playing Pong on the side of this huge building. Or maybe it's this Harry Potter-themed marriage proposal, complete with Quidditch set. How about a beep-blooping R2-D2 bra? Yes, please.

All top contenders for the ultimate nerdgasm, but for my money, it doesn't get more deliciously dweebish than this epic YouTube video that jams all six "Star Wars" movies into one screen. Now when Jar Jar Binks comes on the screen, you don't have to fast-forward or leave the room -- just direct your attention to a different corner.… Read more

Did this geek spend 11 months filming a stop-motion arcade tribute?

It's good to have hobbies. Some people just have more unusual hobbies than others. Michael Birken says he spent 11 months playing with Post-it notes. He wasn't writing memos or reminders, he was sticking them on the wall to create an elaborate stop-motion video tribute to his favorite classic games. He calls it Post-it Note Arcade.

The video includes footage of both Ms. Pac-Man and Mario. Birken says he recorded actual gameplay footage and then printed the images out, one frame at a time, to replicate on the walls around his office. He spent holidays and weekends posting the little pieces of paper up and filming the results. It's probably just as well his co-workers didn't have to witness this madness.… Read more

YouTube founder uses April Fools' prank to show off video service

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley used a YouTube prank to promote a new video-sharing service today, sparking speculation over whether or not he's taking us all for fools.

"Since @YouTube is ending, we're launching a new video site... Welcome to http://MixBit.com! @MixBitApp This time it's not a contest!" he tweeted today.

Since @youtube is ending, we're launching a new video site... Welcome to MixBit.com! @mixbitapp This time it's not a contest!

— Chad Hurley (@Chad_Hurley) April 1, 2013

The tweet plays off YouTube's prank for April Fools' Day. The company declared … Read more