TechnoCloud
video
Rebecca Black Friday meme breaks records
Rebecca Black’s infamously bad ‘Friday’ song and accompanying video is surely the highest traffic meme on YouTube. Take a look at the stats at the time at writing: 128 million, yes million, views 351k likes, but a whopping 2.5 million dislikes, the most dislikes of any YouTube video (beating Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’) 2.81 million comments. … Continue reading
YouTube tests skippable pre-rolls
YouTube’s text overlay ads have long been ‘skippable’ with the ‘x’ button top right allowing you to minimise the ad and view the content. Pre-roll ads, however, have not been. YouTube is now testing expanding the concept to pre-roll videos. On certain pre-rolls, in certain regions, including the UK, users will be presented with a … Continue reading
Why is YouTube 1911?
Visitors to YouTube today may notice the logo has been amended to YouTube 1911 and be wondering why. The answer of course is to check your calendar and you’ll quickly realise that it is April fool’s day. And the fun doesn’t stop there with a spotlight on ’1911 viral videos’, embedded below, remixes of classic … Continue reading
Google puts the Lady back in Gaga
Watching Lady Gaga blanking Jonathan Ross on his chat show was one of the most toe-curling pieces of TV on record, as she played the moody teenager dismissing his attempts at repartie. She was, however, in more respectful mood when visiting that other internet giant, Google, as part of their Musicians@Google series. Of course having … Continue reading
Thru-you we become something much more
Internet meme veterans will remember the enchanting labour of love and skill that was the funky mashup ‘Mother of all funk chords’ by kutiman. This took video and audio samples from amateur musicians on YouTube and remixed them into more than the sum of their parts (see below). After a number of additional … Continue reading
U2 Tube
YouTube’s latest experiment at live broadcasting, the decidedly A-list U2 concert from the Rose Bowl attracted a broadcast size audience of 10m. Given its premium content, it’s too early to say whether this is a tipping point for internet video or indeed YouTube’s live broadcasting ambitions, but nonetheless it’s an impressive figure. The concert was … Continue reading
BBC News rollout video embedding
An old post noting the BBC’s trialing of video embeds remains one of the most popular on this site, even though the story is out of date. Thankfully I can update the story after a post on the BBC blog announcing that the trial is going to be rolled out using the embedded media player, … Continue reading
Esquire gives e-inkling of the future
To celebrate its 75th anniversary edition, Esquire magazine wanted a truly standout cover. As you’ll see from the embedded video below, they certainly achieved that despite the limitations of the animation, which resembles one of the earliest animated gif banners. The limited edition cover came at a cost. Although the official figures have not been … Continue reading
Google will see you now
Buried in a post on search quality on the Google blog was an interesting titbit: we now offer an early form of face recognition on advanced search Frustratingly that was all there was – it would be interesting to hear if this is technology they had developed themselves or if they are using a third … Continue reading
Bob Dylan goes viral
Like Elvis, Bob Dylan seems to have no limit to the number of Greatest Hits variations he can release. I can remember as a child listening to my parent’s Dylan compilation in the car some 20+ years ago and the old master is at it again with a single CD or ‘deluxe’ version with 3 … Continue reading
