What Does YouTube’s New Live Streaming Mean for You?

Guest author Ken Myers, takes us on a tour of YouTube’s live streaming service.

Since its creation, YouTube has generated a great deal of interest worldwide from the online community. It has been a place to promote music, acting styles, news broadcasts and more. Throughout 2013, the media powerhouse worked on implementing the ability to live stream events from a user’s account. But what does this mean for you and the YouTube community?

Further Promotional Tactics – There are many YouTube celebrities that relish in having more than half of a million subscribers watching their material. Although editing techniques are what add life and visual appeal at times, live streaming special events could drive the traffic to a channel exponentially. After all, live feeds have always been an attraction for various mediums, including traditional television.In the past, several events have been streamed live across the social media hub and were successful at engaging various viewers. Could this tactic help you promote your own business through the website?

Bloopers Galore – Some actors have a difficult time maintaining their focus on camera. It’s not often that a show can be performed live and not have a great deal of mistakes. Watching these events live could provide you with greater entertainment, though, especially if your favorite celebrities are struggling to keep it together. On the other hand, this is also how a family movie can turn into an R-rated episode. If you plan on capitalizing on the live feed, you need to bring your A-game.

Questionable Materials – Thanks to efforts by Google, you’re less likely to be able to produce material that is morally questionable without feeling some kind of repercussion. Although some people may try to take advantage of the live stream, it’s unlikely they’ll succeed at promoting this content. In order to provide a video for a live event, you need to have more than 1000 subscribers. This rule was implemented to ensure that you are serious about developing quality material for your viewers, making you less likely to take advantage of a live broadcast. If you can prove that you belong to a non-profit organization, you could begin streaming immediately.

Compared to Other Streaming Services – Many live streaming services on the Internet have been developed to allow virtually anyone with a webcam to promote themselves. Unlike YouTube, these services often don’t have any requirements past the basic illegal and adult contracts you must agree to before using the service. Without having a single follower or subscriber, anyone is able to get on these systems and talk about anything. If you’ve ever been to one of these websites, you understand how the quality of the material is lacking. YouTube live streams, on the other hand, require you to have a sense of professionalism and to provide quality material.

Engaging Your Subscribers – In order to grow a subscriber base, your material has to engaging. However, you have to begin producing videos to find out if people will find your content worthy of watching. To keep and increase your subscribers, you can further interact with them by developing a live stream and responding to questions on your Twitter account. This can increase both your viewership and your Twitter activity in a profound way. Of course, it helps to have a level of popularity before committing to a live broadcast of your show.

Future Content – Although some YouTube celebrities may see the value in live streaming their broadcasts, many may still opt out of using those services. For instance, if you produce material that is effects driven, it’s far more difficult to provide the same level of entertainment value. Talk shows and gaming channels are more likely to take advantage of providing a live feed because of the nature of their content. Many popular YouTube shows are unedited as it is, so little would change in the way of creating a live stream or a regular upload for these people.

For many, live streaming content may be nothing more than a pipe-dream. It takes a serious minded individual to develop content that is entertaining enough to draw in the necessary number of subscribers needed. For the rest of us, though, it may be an entertaining way to see our favorite YouTube celebrities sans the editing.

Ken Myers is a father, husband, and entrepreneur. He has combined his passion for helping families find in-home care with his experience to build a business. Learn more about him by visiting @KenneyMyers on Twitter.

TuneTune – YouTube To MP3 Converter Browser Add-on

St. Patrick’s Day is over for another year – and, thank goodness for that. Along with New Years Eve, St. Paddy’s Day, it seems to me, brings out the worst in the non-drinking drinkers who load-up well past their capacity to handle the juice of the barley. As an Irishman (of some renown   ), I do celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – but, in comfort – at home – with good friends – and, a boatload of Guinness.

Traditional Irish music, along with good craic (conversation), plays an essential role in properly celebrating Ireland’s patron saint. So, this year, as in previous years, I turned to YouTube audio ripping to augment my collection of  traditional Irish music (no, not Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, or the like).

Ripping music from YouTube videos is a quarrelsome question. There are those who consider anything downloaded for personal use to be legal. There are those who consider downloading anything that is copyrighted to be illegal – under any circumstances.

The YouTube audio ripping situation presents a different set of legal issues though, it seems to me. I’m not sure I see the difference between saving a YouTube video to disk (which loads of people do), for later playback – and, simply ripping the audio portion for later playback.

There are any number of ways to extract audio from YouTube videos, but many are cumbersome and time consuming. There is a solution thought, that’s neither cumbersome, or  time consuming – TuneTune, a freeware YouTube to MP3 converter. Once this browser add-on is configured, it’s one click simple – more or less.

Following installation, the add-on will append an icon to the toolbar or status bar. This icon will go from gray to color (as shown in the following screen captures), when you’re visiting a YouTube page.

Non YouTube page:

YouTube page:

Clicking on the icon will convert the video from YouTube, to MP3, in one click.

Additional choices are available in the options menu – as shown below.

Here’s a quick walkthrough which will illustrate how quick and convenient this browser add-0n is.

First up – a visit to a YouTube page hosting the Neil Diamond tune – “Hello Again.”

Since I obviously have the add-on installed, you’ll notice the TuneTune icon displayed (in the screen capture above), directly on the YouTube page. A simple click on the icon begins the conversion process – as shown below. BTW, pasting the YouTube link is not necessary.

Following the file conversion, users have the opportunity to customize the converted file, in a limited way – as shown below.

The following screen shot shows the converted file in the directory which I created specifically for this test.

Elapsed time (clicking on the icon to file download completion) – under 15 seconds. That’s fast!

Supported browsers:

TuneTune is available in multiple languages. The current language is changeable by clicking on your language of choice in the footer.

Visit the author’s site – here (TuneTune.net).

Billions Set To Watch The Royal Wedding On TV & Online

Guest writer David Samuel, who’s close to the action in the UK, gives us his take on the big day.

While most people in the UK are simply thankful for an extra bank holiday and extra beer drinking time, the rest of the world have embraced the royal fever and the Royal Family have certainly embraced social media.

No monarchy is as popular, and as well liked, as the Windsors right now. With a TV & Online audience set to topple the 2 billion mark, the question on everybody’s lips is – where will you be watching it?

Online & Social Media

Wise to the royal frenzy, Google have recently announced that the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, on April 29, will be streamed live on YouTube. The live stream is set to start at 0900 GMT with millions expected to login and watch it live. The music performed at the wedding ceremony will immediately be made available for download.

Viewers will also be able to follow all the action on Twitter, as well as download Royal apps leading up to the big event.

Television

Unless you switch your TV off on the day of the royal wedding, you’ll have a very hard time escaping it. To say the royal wedding will be a huge media event is a colossal understatement.

Every news organization worldwide, will be contending for position to broadcast the royal wedding live. Many electrical retailers have reported increased sales in TVs and projectors – with many splashing out on a new HD TV to watch the couple looking their royal best.

Street Party

The Brits certainly know how to party, and with the Prime Minister urging the nation to “get on and have fun” on the day of the royal wedding, most will gladly oblige. Over 4,000 applications for street parties have been requested in England and Wales on the day of the royal wedding. With 2 million expected to celebrate on the streets, so no excuses grab your Union Jack attire and join the fun.

Live

The famous Regent Street in London is now cloaked in Union Jack flags in preparation for the royal wedding. An extra 600,000 tourists, from home and overseas, are expected to congregate along the procession to get a glimpse of the royal couple.

3D TV

While many broadcasters were salivating at the thought of the first 3D royal wedding, it was soon ruled out by Buckingham Palace. Google once again, not missing a trick, expanded its Google Earth 3D imagery to include the entire route of wedding procession. Google declared that “With this new 3D data covering the royal procession route, you can indulge yourself in a “royals’-eye”.

The social media coverage of the royal wedding is unprecedented and, is “in line with the couple’s wishes to make the wedding as accessible as possible for as many people as want to participate,” stated Buckingham Palace.

The role of social media in the royal wedding highlights just how far media communication has developed. The wedding between Prince Charles and Dianna, 30 years ago, was only available on TV, with viewers now likely to be watching the event on television, or YouTube, while liaising with theirs on social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter.

It really is a digital revolution and all that is left to do is wish the happy couple a happy future.

Biography:

David Samuel is an electronic media consultant, with over 13 years’ involvement with some of the leading electronic retailers. David’s awareness and market intelligence make him one of the best equipped experts around. While specialising in LCD TVs David’s knowledge covers a wider spectrum of consumer electronics.

Extract Audio From YouTube Videos With Free YouTube to MP3 Converter

There are any number of ways to extract audio from YouTube videos, but many are cumbersome and time consuming. There is a solution thought that’s neither cumbersome, or  time consuming – Free YouTube to MP3 Converter. Once the application is configured, it’s one click simple – more or less.

The interface is definitely bare bones, but self explanatory.

Getting started:

The default setup requires you to paste a YouTube URL into the application….

but, by selecting “auto-paste from clipboard” in the options menu, you can save yourself from this copy and paste process.

As well, I suggest that you choose the “accelerated download” method, which in testing, cut the download time by more than half. For example, I found that the average download time was reduced from approximately 2 minutes, to well under a minute.

Once you have pasted the YouTube URL, or it has been entered automatically, simply click “download” to start the process.

Note: You may want to specify a particular output (save) folder, rather than accept the default location – the application’s folder in My Documents.

By default, the output file name is the same as the YouTube video title. You do however, have an option to change this.

You should be aware that every time you close the application, you will be presented with the following invitation to install the search bar.

I’m certainly not an audiophile, but I found the sound quality to be quite good at the default (standard quality) setting. Optionally, you have a number of quality choices ranging from “economy” to “insane”, and beyond – WAV (lossless audio).

Fast facts – YouTube mp3 converter downloads mp3 from:

A single YouTube video;

Complete YouTube playlists and show lists;

All video from YouTube charts;

All video responses to a YouTube video;

All videos of a selected YouTube user or a channel;

All video from the user favorites.

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7

Download at: Download.com

Note: My onboard AV applications (including Microsoft Security Essentials), did not “see” the audio download as a “download”, and consequently, did not check for malware. If your AV operates similarly, then be sure to check each download manually.

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Hallmark Card Studio 2011 – Greeting Card Software On Steroids

The history behind greeting cards is fascinating. Did you know for example, that greeting cards may well go back as far as the ancient Egyptians? Or, that there is evidence that in ancient Chinese culture, greeting cards were used to convey New Year’s  “best wishes”?

Stepping into the modern age, greeting cards are now exchanged on virtually every occasion, from Births to Deaths, Marriage, Divorce, Anniversaries ………….. and on special days: Birthdays, Valentines, Thanksgiving ……… and of course, Christmas. By some accounts, more than two Billion Christmas cards are exchanged annually, just within the United States!

There’s no doubt that the greeting card business is BIG BUSINESS. We’re all pretty familiar with the extensive display areas often set aside in retail outlets –  displays that can be captivating, and designed to influence our purchasing preferences.

Personally, I find that buying a premade greeting card can be, more often than not, a daunting experience. It takes me forever to decide whether the card should be funny or serious, traditional or new age, sentimental and sappy, or …………

But, technology has come to my rescue, in a sense. Using the right computer software, I’ve found that I can construct my own greeting cards that are just as attractive as a premade store-bought card. And better yet, my self made cards seem to be more meaningful to those on my mailing list.

Recently, I tested the new Hallmark Card Studio 2011 application, which now includes – not only the tools to construct spectacular greeting cards, but integration with YouTube, Facebook, and other social networks; exclusive Hallmark fonts; and graphics for designing custom calendars, photo cards, note cards, matching stationery and envelope sets, as well as invitations and scrapbooks.

As a bonus, Hallmark Card Studio 2011 provides the user with an Event Planner which includes an address book and mailing list. Event Planner takes the worry out of trying to remember birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events.

Fast facts:

New! User Interface – Easier than ever before with popular design tools now at your fingertips.

New! Integration with Facebook and other social networks.

Enhanced! Hallmark Graphics Collection with even more images.

Photo Cards, Calendars, 3D Cards & 3D Projects.

Hallmark Note Writing Guide.

Easy to Use! A tutorial gets you started fast.

6,700+ Hallmark Greeting Cards and customizable projects.

1,000+ Spectacular Graphics to complement your designs.

Search projects easily by design theme or occasion.

Event Planner can help you keep track of your schedule and contact information (including birthdays and anniversaries) for all the special people in your life.

Hallmark sentiment library with 5,400+ sentiments.

Installation, from the DVD, is the usual click – click – click, and you’re done – straightforward and simple.

The user interface has been designed, it seems to me, to appeal to the hobbyist and is a bit retro.

But, once past the opening screen, the interface reverts to a more familiar classical layout – as illustrated in the following screen capture.

The following screen shots represent a walkthrough in choosing, and then emailing a personalized Christmas card. Clicking on any graphic will expand it to it’s original size. Since these shots were captured on a 22 inch screen, they are very large.

I’ve chosen a rather sentimental card – but aren’t all technologists sentimental?  You’ll notice that there are an abundance of tools and selections available so that you can customize to your hearts content.

Rather than having to stay with an old familiar message, you’re sure to find just what you’re looking for with the extensive “greetings” menu.

Adding sounds, and music to your card is a snap, and adds that “just so” finish.

Emailing your creation, or sharing it on Facebook and YouTube, couldn’t be easier. Simply select, and go for it!

I’ve been using this type of application for years, but Hallmark Card Studio 2011 is a major step up from what I’m use to. The choices and customization possibilities seem endless – very impressive.

Despite the fact that I’ve been using this application for only a few days, and I have yet to really dig below the surface, I have no hesitation in recommending Hallmark Card Studio 2011 to those who enjoy that special feeling that comes from construction their own greeting cards.

The application is available at $29.99 at the the publishers website here.

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7.

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“Officer Bubbles” Blows Threats At YouTube

I’m very supportive of the police (in most circumstances), and I’m well aware that they do courageous work. But, that support stops when unlawful petty tyranny is used to intimidate those who are engaged in exercising their right to protest against public policy.

The freedom to express an opinion, on public issues, is one of the most important foundation blocks of western democracy. That includes the right to protest against policies that some might consider pro-corporate policies of their government.

While Canadian Forces are fighting in Afghanistan, in defense of the right of the people of Afghanistan to choose democracy as their representative form of government, Canadians were recently exposed to their own government’s hypocrisy, writ large.

During the G20 summit held in Toronto in late June of this year, democracy took a beating – leading to the arrest of more than 1,100 protestors (including members of the media), who were then held in cages, open to the weather, for periods ranging from hours to days. All those held in these conditions, were denied access to legal counsel.

Common complaints by those who were held included – being left cold, hungry, without water, and without proper toilet facilities. A number of female protestors subsequently revealed, they had been sexually threatened by the police, strip searched, and taunted with threats of rape.

Virtually all of the caged protesters were released without charge, after having spent as much as several days in these conditions. Of those left facing charges, 6 have pleaded guilty to minor infractions, leaving 17 individuals still to be dealt with by the courts.

There are now a slew of ongoing lawsuits (totaling in excess of 200 Million dollars), claiming assault and battery, unlawful arrest and detention, malicious prosecution, and violations of constitutional rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As well, police conduct is now being investigated by no fewer than three separate government inquiries.

A reasonable person could conclude that the Toronto police overreacted, and engaged in the wholesale suppression of democratic rights during the G20 summit. A powerful representation of this overreaction was illustrated by the now infamous “Officer Bubbles” incident, in which a Toronto policeman threatened to, and then subsequently arrested, a young woman for blowing bubbles.

The cell phone video of this incident “Officer Bubbles”- From Bubbles to Bookings, has proven to be a big hit on YouTube.

 

As well, this incident has led to the creation of some rather pointed cartoons, staring Officer Bubbles, which are widely available on the Internet.

Taking things from the sublime to the ridiculous, Officer Bubbles – Adam Josephs – has now launched a Million dollar defamation lawsuit against YouTube, in an attempt to force YouTube to divulge the identities of those who made a series of negative online comments. According to the lawsuit, there are 24 identities being sought.

In a show of resistance to this patently absurd situation, scores of new comments (including the one below), have been posted – many of which challenge Josephs to add their names as defendants to the lawsuit.

Hey officer bubbles.

It’s James Piper. Kitchener, Ontario.

Free speech reigns.

I suspect that this lawsuit will never make it into court, and should it do so, it will be dismissed. Hopefully, Officer Bubbles will be reminded by the courts, that attempting to suppress an online community through bully tactics, is a non starter.

I can’t imagine, that in a democracy, the right to comment on public issues would be infringed. But then again, that’s where this article started.

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