YouTube Viewing, Uploads Go On Verizon Phones

NEW YORK — YouTube videos will be viewable on cell phones for the first time under a deal with Verizon Wireless, which will also allow users to upload videos shot with their camera phones. The partnership to be announced Tuesday marks the first big distribution deal for YouTube since the young video-sharing Web site was acquired earlier this month by Google Inc. for $1.76 billion.The mobile YouTube service, to be launched in early December, will be offered for no additional fee as part of Verizon’s V Cast service, which costs subscribers $15 per month or $3 per day. The companies declined to provide an exact launch day, saying the technologies being employed are still being tested.

Like the rest of V Cast, but unlike YouTube’s Web site, the mobile service will be ad-free. The companies declined to discuss any financial terms to the partnership except to say that Verizon Wireless will have exclusive U.S. rights to cellular distribution of YouTube videos for an undisclosed period.

Verizon Wireless will feature a YouTube channel in its V Cast application, which is available on 14 of the company’s handset models. The channel will offer categories such as the most viewed or most discussed videos from the YouTube site, said Robin Chan, director for entertainment programming for Verizon Wireless.

To upload a video shot on a Verizon handset to the YouTube Web site, users will use the same function that’s used to share pictures with friends, known as multimedia messaging service or MMS. Users will enter a short numeric code to send the video.

Notably, while YouTube executives stressed the appeal of watching videos on the go, Verizon Wireless sees the uploading feature as a significant draw.

“All things happen in real time in real world, and the mobile phone is a terminal where you can capture that on video, so it is a core device for user-generated content,” said Chan, calling current modes of uploading videos to the Web cumbersome.

YouTube executives said the company will ensure that the clips offered will be screened to include only those that meet with Verizon Wireless content guidelines. Those guidelines forbid Verizon’s partners from transmitting copyrighted material and “adult” content.

That’s a key restriction, as YouTube’s immense success has hinged on a combination of “homemade” user-generated content as well as volumes of copyrighted video.

Although YouTube has promptly removed pirated videos from its site whenever copyright owners complain, questions linger about the site’s vulnerability to a barrage of potential law suits, especially now that it has Google’s deep pockets behind it.

To lessen the risk, YouTube recently forged partnerships with Universal Music Group, CBS Corp., Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group Inc. The truce with Universal was a significant breakthrough because the world’s largest record company had threatened to sue for copyright infringement.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.

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Google Book Search

Google has came out with a new book search. In where by you can search the full text of some books. Each book includes an ‘About this book’ page with basic bibliographic data like title, author, publication date, length and subject. For some books you may also see additional information like key terms and phrases, references to the book from scholarly publications or other books, chapter titles and a list of related books. For every book, you’ll see links directing you to bookstores where you can buy the book and libraries where you can borrow it.

http://books.google.com

Gmail

I have been using Gmail for a while, which is a free e-mail service provided by Google. It has many benfits from the ordianry Hotmail or Yahoo. Gmail has 2786 MB and counting e-mail space. So you will never run out of space unless you recieve massive attachment’s. The thing though for Gmail is you don’t just sign up. You have to be invited by a friend. I have 94 Invites left, so if you would like an e-mail account with Gmail, please put your e-mail address in a comment and I will send one to you.

Bobafind.com

So, a very Good Friend of Mine named Joel, came out with the idea of making a Bubble Tea Shop Location Search Engine.  You may be wondering what Bubble Tea is, Bobafind.com, which is his website described Bubble Tea as

Pronunciation:’bO-b&’
Function: noun
: A sweet, delicious, cool, flavored tea drink, usually containing moderate amounts of tapioca “pearls” (also known as “boba”)
: Tapioca pearls used in Bubble Tea
: Synonyms: Bubble Tea, Pearl Tea, Pearl Milk Tea, QQ’s, Tapioca Pearls, chewies

So go check out Bobafind.com for more Boba Phenomenons and be sure to join the forums to talk with other Bubble Tea drinkers as well as discuss other Misc. related things.

Google Gulp

In their typical style, Google has published yet another April Fool’s joke.

Google Gulp claims to be “a line of “smart drinks” designed to maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty.” You never know. Everyone thought Gmail was a joke, too.

End Of Lines Coming For PlayStation Fans

It appears that when the PlayStation 3 is released in the U.S. Friday, there will be plenty of people waiting to buy the limited supply. And secondhand sales may be hard to come by on eBay, as well.In Fargo, N.D., temperatures Thursday morning were around 25 degrees, which wasn’t cold enough to keep about 50 people from waiting for a chance at the game console.They were lined up outside Fargo’s Best Buy store, which is only expected to have about 24 systems.

But several buyers in front of the lines don’t appear to be gamers. They were people hoping to sell it.

One man in Oregon paid four people $100 each to stand in line at a Best Buy that’s only selling one system per person.Once they have the console, sellers are hoping to get between $2,000 and $3,000.eBay Changes PoliciesBut it may not be easy to sell those units at online auction site eBay.The online marketplace is imposing restrictions on the PS3. Only established eBay vendors with high positive ratings can list the units before Friday. Each vendor can only list only one PS3 per eBay account.The listing must include a photo of the pre-order receipt, and the seller must guarantee shipment within 30 days from the date of purchase.Potential buyers, trying to avoid long lines, rain checks and empty-handed sales clerks on Friday, have already bid up prices to $2,300.

Man Wants 15

A west Georgia man was so determined to buy 15 pieces of the latest video game hardware as Christmas gifts that he hired people to stand in line for him. But the plan fell apart when other customers got wind of it and complained.Murray Newlin, a Columbus, Ga., dentist, was seeking 15 PlayStation 3 consoles as Christmas gifts for grandchildren, nieces and nephews.He was prepared to buy available units from Wal-Mart stores in Columbus and several Alabama cities, using a crew of 60 workers he cycled through in eight-hour shifts, according to one of the temps he hired.He abandoned his plan after other potential customers got wind of it and began complaining to him, to the store managers and to the employment agency he used.Gamers have been standing outside the Airport Thruway Wal-Mart in Columbus since Wednesday.Newlin said he checked with store managers to make sure he wasn’t violating their policy before sending his work force to the stores. But he said, “It’s not worth the brouhaha it’s causing.”

Injuries Reported

In West Bend, Ind., a 19-year-old man had to be taken to the hospital after he was injured racing other customers for a chance to buy the game console.The man was waiting with about 50 others outside Wal-Mart when an assistant manager announced the store would only have 10 units for sale.The assistant manager then placed 10 chairs outside the store. At a signal, the customers could race to the chairs. Whoever got a spot could buy one of the systems.The 19-year-old ran into a pole and struck his head while sprinting for a chair.

It’s amazing what some people will do for the Playstation3. I think I can wait awhile to get my hands on it. Can you wait? Whats your thoughts?

Windows Vista Release Date

Finally the new Windows Vista has a release date. On the Microsoft’s Website it says will be broadly available as a stand-alone product or pre-installed on new PCs on January 30, 2007. That means it won’t be out for the Holiday shopping season, but you can always save the money you get from Christmas to buy it.

Vista Features

User Experience

Windows Vista introduces a breakthrough user experience and is designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience.

The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently

Security

Windows Vista contains a number of new security features that, taken together, are designed to make Windows Vista-based PCs more secure and your online experiences safer. The improvements are designed to help you have:

1. A PC protected from viruses, worms, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software
2. A safer online experience for you and your family
3. An understanding of when your PC is unsafe, and the control and guidance to help improve your security

More features can be found here

Microsoft teams with MetroFi on Portland free wireless plan

By SARAH SKIDMORE Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Microsoft Corp. said it will partner with MetroFi Inc. to build a free wireless Internet service for Oregon’s largest city.

MetroFi announced late Tuesday it will launch the Wi-Fi service in Pioneer Courthouse Square, a popular gathering place in downtown Portland, by the end of the year and expand it to the rest of the city within two years.

Microsoft will provide locally focused MSN content and advertising through its new online platform, adCenter. The platform, designed to compete with Google Inc., allows advertisers to target users based on their browsing habits and data such as gender, age and location.

“It’s a great alliance,” said Chuck Haas, CEO and co-founder of MetroFi. “Having either city or neighborhood-level content…demonstrates the next wave on online advertisement and brings more value to advertisers and subscribers.”

MetroFi operates Wi-Fi networks in several Silicon Valley cities and has agreements with 13 cities across the United States to develop municipal networks.

Portland already has some free Wi-Fi spots available through the Personal TelCo project, a volunteer group in Portland. The city has been eager to provide a municipal Wi-Fi service for the whole metro area, a trend taking place across the country.

The new system will eventually cover 95 percent of the city.

MetroFi will pay to create and maintain the system. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said the service will be maintained through advertising revenue.

Users can opt for advertising-free service for $20 a month.

Sam Klepper, general manager in the MSN Media Network Group at Microsoft, said the company partnered with MetroFi because it has one of the largest municipal Wi-Fi footprints of any provider. But Microsoft may consider working with other wireless providers and cities in the future.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

PHP Download Manager

A tool developed to manage downloads and to prevent bandwidth leeching. A friend of mine wrote this as a result of a freebie creator’s site being attacked by an individual eating up all the bandwidth to shut the site down.

Features:
• You can set the number of downloads allowed in a certain time period. (Default=3)
• The time period is adjustable. And can be set to day, week, month or year. (Default=day)
• Ban lists:
    1. A manual list that you can setup as you choose.
    2. An automatic list that you can turn on that will ban an IP address after a certain number
        of downloads during the limit period. (Default=50)
• It is recommended that you change the name of your downloads folder to something not
    easily guessed to avoid direct linking issues.

You can download it here.

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CCleaner

I just got a new Program called CCleaner. It cleans cookies, fixes broken files and programs. I would reccomend you getting it. It also free’s up a lot of space on your computer, especially if you have a small Hard-Drive.

Download it Here