YouTube users are now uploading 100 hours worth of video to the content viewing platform every single minute.

Launched eight years ago the social video platform now claims four days worth of video uploaded every minute and 144 billion minutes of playable video uploaded every single day.

In a blog post celebrating the new milestone YouTube writes:

Over the years, you’ve continued to surprise and delight us. And the past year was no exception. Who would have guessed that a tux-rocking K-pop star would shatter records left and right or that Sesame Street would go global with 1 billion views? That’s one of our favorite things about our global audience: you’re as unpredictable as you are creative and irreverent.

To put the networks meteoric rise into perspective, in 2011 YouTube users were adding 48 hours of video per minute.

YouTube is now attempting to lure in even more users with the creation of paid content channels that focus on premium content. One such program is the YouTube Channels program which pays premium content providers to create YouTube channel content over the period of one-year.  While channels began in the United States they have continued expanded into new markets that now include Japan, Germany, France, and the UK.

The Google-owned YouTube platform has risen meteorically and continues to showcase new technologies that draw in users.

Even as other social networks are struggling to attract a younger user base YouTube continues to improve, recently reaching over 1 billion monthly users.

With YouTube attracting such a massive amount of content  and users we will likely see deeper Google+ integration and other Google platform options show up on the platform at Google Hangouts and other technologies work to link Google users through all of their accounts.

Do you think YouTube will eventually level off or continue to witness massively improving video upload numbers?

YouTube Users Now Uploading 100 Hours Of Video Per Minute is a post from: The Inquisitr

A few weeks ago, Nicole Muxo took to YouTube in the hopes that she could convince NBA all-star Dwayne Wade to show up at her prom.

Muxo hadn’t heard anything from Wade, so she went ahead and accepted another invitation.

Last night, the Miami Heat star accepted Muxo’s offer, showing up at her prom night celebration.

Muxo and her fellow classmates at Archbishop Carroll High School were treated to a media circus when Wade showed up at the last minute.

Apparently, Dwayne Wade was impressed with Muxo’s decision to simply ask him for a date. On his Twitter page, Wade wrote, “Never be 2 scared to ask.”

Muxo’s “real date” Laurent Chaumin seems fine with the appearance of Dwayne, calling him “Rico Suave” and joking, “At least we both know how to dress.” Perhaps Chaumin was speaking about Wade’s decision to wear bright red shoes to the special occasion.

Possibly to everyone’s surprise, Dwayne Wade was allowed to enter the celebration. Many schools these days have specific rules about non-students joining their prom events. In this case, camera crews were allowed to enter and students were treated to a special surprise.

Here’s a new video report that shows Dwayne Wade as he entered the prom celebration and surprises Muxo and her classmates:

The following tweet was sent out after the big event ended:

Nicole and her wish! twitter.com/ACCHS_Bulldogs…

— ACCHS (@ACCHS_Bulldogs) May 18, 2013

And here is the full tweet Dwayne Wade sent out to his prom date:

I had a blast at Prom w @nicole_muxo… Never be 2 scared to ask.. They might just say… instagram.com/p/Zb8M-jlCPd/

— Way of WADE (@DwyaneWade) May 18, 2013

Do you think stars will continue to show up at events when invited on YouTube and through other social networks, or is the online invite practice starting to feel a little bit dated?

Dwayne Wade Surprises Fan, Shows Up At Her Prom is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube user Smooth McGroove quit his day job to make A Capella video game music videos full-time. He was recently interviewed about the transition to viral sensation.

Smooth McGroove is a long-time gamer whose real name is Max Gleason, and he was once a music teacher. He began on YouTube with only about a few dozen followers until his videos gained thousands of views daily from nostalgic gamers around the world. He is an extremely talented singer who does the same thing that made MysteryGuitarMan famous, except he uses his voice instead of a guitar. That and he has a beard that puts wheezywaiter and shaycarl to shame.

GamesBeat sat down with Max Gleeson to ask him about the transition from music teacher to internet phenomenon. The YouTube star started with, “[My videos have] rapidly become a full-time job. I recently quit giving private music lessons to pursue recording more seriously.”

Not many people can say their hobby has turned into their primary source of income and allowed them to simply give up their day job.

Max Gleason added:

“Since my videos [had] gone from reaching only a few dozen people to reaching an audience of tens of thousands, I wanted to start taking the process more seriously by spending more time on the creation of the videos. I still have tons of fun recording the arrangements, but I have become more of a perfectionist when it comes to the final product.”

As you can see in the video below where he literally sings Street Fighter II‘s “Guile’s Theme,” Smooth McGroove puts no shortage of effort into making his videos as entertaining as possible.

Max Gleeson says his break came when Nintendo took notice of his take on The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time‘s “Song of Storms.” Fans everywhere suddenly swarmed in as the Official Legend of Zelda Facebook page posted the video for their thousands of fans.  His channel went viral overnight.

YouTube user Smooth McGroove describes the process of recording:

“First, I load the song into Cubase to find the tempo. I then begin picking the song apart by ear into individual tracks. Once I get the scratch tracks — [a rough version of each part] — recorded and separated, I start to do serious takes until the song sounds like I want it to. After I finish recording I mix, equalize, and add space to the tracks if they need it.”

He makes it all sound easier than it probably is.

What do you think of YouTube sensation Smooth McGroove?

YouTube User Smooth McGroove Talks Quitting His Day Job is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nintendo is laying claim to YouTube videos.

In a new effort to cash in wherever they can, Nintendo is claiming the copyrights on all YouTube videos containing their intellectual property. This means that all of those “Let’s Play” videos featuring their games will redirect the revenue to Nintendo instead of the channel owners.

YouTube channel owner Zack Scott says that Nintendo has already laid claim to several of his “Let’s Play” videos, but, instead of blocking them like most copyright owners do, Nintendo is collecting the revenue for themselves. Zack Scott is outraged by this move, as he believes that gamers watch his videos to see how he plays the games and to hear the commentary, not because it’s Nintendo property. He is a long-time Nintendo fan, but he says that, if Nintendo doesn’t set things right soon, he is planning to stop making videos featuring their games if he’s not earning the revenue from it.

No doubt other YouTube channel owners feel the same way, that Nintendo is jeopardizing their status as YouTube partners by copyright claiming their videos. And how far will they push this new claim policy? Will Smosh and others with live action parodies on their games eventually have those claimed as well?

Apparently Nintendo is just that hard up for money, and they have created a YouTube channel and become a partner just so they can claim copyrights on all videos using their content.

Nintendo has made the following statement concerning this new move:

“As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database. For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.”

So basically, they’re saying, “We’re here for our money, be thankful we didn’t just block you.” Alongside the report by The Inquisitr that Nintendo banned gay marriage in their games, this isn’t looking so good for Nintendo’s public image.

What do you think of Nintendo’s move to claim ownership on YouTube videos?

Nintendo Claims Ownership On YouTube Videos is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube paid subscriptions have started, but this might not go over so well in the long run.

This past week, YouTube debuted their paid subscription channels, and while this may be profitable for YouTube, it could also spell the end of the casual viewer. As YouTube has revealed in the past, they obviously care more about making money than they do about their roots. I have gone on to call the site “ThemTube” because it stopped being about the viewer content and began focusing more on Partner channels.

You’ve noticed by now that newcomers on YouTube hardly even get noticed any more unless they’re already a major video company or advertiser. Smaller channels, the ones that YouTube was built on, have gotten thrown in the “bargain bin” so to speak while channels that are already guaranteed to be a success are given the front page. Hence why I took to calling it “ThemTube.”

Paid channels are supposedly going to offer viewers 14 days to see their videos for free before they have to pony up the dough and reinforce the money vacuum that YouTube is becoming. Apparently any channel that is doing well enough will be offered this option. This may very well be the end of YouTube and the final nail in the coffin of casual viewership. All of those channels on the front page could start charging you by the month.

Remember the music videos that you enjoyed watching from the beginning? Now imagine having to pay each artist’s channel to see the same videos. You see where this is going, don’t you?

Monthly charges could go as high as $9.99 a month, and a lot of the YouTube channels you’re already subscribed to could just cut you off because you won’t pay to watch them any more.

I don’t know about anybody else, but personally I’m not going to pay to watch a video that I’ll probably forget in a week, never mind a channel. It’s just not worth it.

How do you feel about YouTube’s paid subscriptions?

YouTube Paid Subscriptions: This Could Go So Wrong [Op-Ed] is a post from: The Inquisitr

We’re big fans of Kid President here at The Inquisitr and how could we not be. The kid knows how to deliver heartfelt messages that bring us some joy, laughs, and hope for the future. On Mother’s Day 2013 Kid President once again shows why he’s a viral YouTube sensation.

Kid President sends out the new viral video “on behalf of all the kids in the world.” Robbie Novak (the Prez’s real name) uses this special day to talk about the ten things moms need to know.

Kid President tells mom she doesn’t need to clean up because ”Our house isn’t messy, it’s awesome. It’s awesome because we live in it.”

Robbie then adds, “It’s just hard to grow up. Sometimes we just need moms … to tell us everything is OK.”

In a touching moment he adds:

“Thanks for believing in us, putting up with us, and straight-up loving us.”

We love that Kid President is so full of exuberance when wishing mom’s a happy mother’s day on this special occasion.

Check out the Kid President Mother’s Day video and let us know what you think in our comment section:

In the meantime, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there who have worked tirelessly to raise their children.

‘Kid President’ Celebrates Mother’s Day With A Shoutout To Moms is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you love yoga? Do you love cats? Then we have the video for you.

Uploaded to YouTube by Sho Ko on May 8, the “yoga with cats” video is pretty irresistible for yoga and cat fans alike. Shorty and Kodi gracefully run through a number of common yoga poses with their master, and seem to possess an almost zen-like chemistry as they work out together.

“Become one with the breath and the purr through this yoga sequence for you and your cats!” the video description reads.

The video starts with a laugh, as Kodi is lifted into “Lion King pose,” which is exactly what it sounds like. There’s another pose called “Cuddlecatasana,” which, again, is exactly what it sounds like.

Various “warrior” poses have been re-branded “purrior.” Cute. Also, Kodi shows a specific distaste for the upward and downward dog poses.

Shorty and Kodi actually have a pretty vibrant online presence, as well. The yoga-doing duo have a Facebook fan page with over 7,000 “likes” (which you can check out here) though their Twitter account could use a bit more love with only 300 followers and change.

Though Shorty and Kodi are minted viral stars, there’s quite a bit of love for their human in the comments as well. One user commented “i need to marry this guy! ” with another agreeing: “Thumbs up if u wanna marry him!!”

The video has almost 1,500 “thumbs up,” so it seems like he’ll have no problem securing a mate. Whether Shorty and Kodi will allow it is another story.

Check out the “yoga with cats” video below and let us know what you think!

Yoga With Cats: Instructional Video Is Purr-fectly Adorable [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you choose to be gay, or are you born that way? That question is at the heart of the debate between gay and traditional culture, and prompted Travis Nuckolls and Chris Baker to turn it on straight folk, asking “when did you choose to be straight?”

The video, shot in Colorado Springs, has Nuckolls interviewing bystanders about their sexuality. He leads with questioning whether being gay is a choice, or if homosexuals are simply born that way, as they say.

Most respondents are pretty level-headed, choosing the “happy medium” of “it’s probably a little of both,” suggesting that environmental factors may play a role in how one’s sexuality comes to be. At the least, they give the benefit of the doubt to the “born that way” argument, but leaving room for development to play a part.

Nuckolls then asks “when did you choose to be straight?”

Remarkably, most respondents take the point immediately. They laugh at the question and concede that Nuckolls brings up a “good point,” or respond that they’ve “never thought about it that way.”

The lady at the end is the most clear “they choose to be gay” advocate, but even when she is asked when she chose to be straight, she laughs and confesses that gay people “maybe” don’t make a choice at all.

The video has gotten over three million views since it was published in 2008, and over 8,000 people have “liked” it.

So what inspired the creators to make the video? Simply to “prove that asking the right question can be more important than anything you can tell someone.”

Check out the video below and leave us your thoughts. Do people choose to be straight?

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/QJtjqLUHYoY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Image via: Anchiy, Shutterstock]

Did You Choose To Be Straight? Viral Video Brings Up A ‘Good Point’ [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

By now, you’ve probably seen the “student lectures teacher” viral video, in which a student named Jeff Bliss is excused from a class, but not before he criticizes his teacher’s pedagogy and tells her she needs to inspire her students for the sake of our country’s future.

Since the viral video, Jeff Bliss has given his first TV interview and, surprise, he’s not backing down.

In the original clip, a frustrated Bliss was kicked out of his class, and despite his teacher’s repeated “byes” and “get outs,” he argued for the value of good education and called his teacher out for not caring about the academic success of her class.

“When you come in here like you did last time and make a statement about ‘oh this is my paycheck,’ indeed it is. But this is my country’s future and my education,” Bliss said.

Since the video went viral, Bliss was interviewed by a local TV station about his passionate speech, and said that he doesn’t regret what he said.

“I want to see a teacher stand up and interact with the students, get involved, discuss, talk, question,” the 18-year-old explained.

For Bliss, whose own mother is a teacher, education has always been a tough road. He dropped out of school for a year, but says that he returned when he realized the true value of his education.

Due to the video, he is set to meet with a school principal this week. We’re not sure what to expect, but if you’re an official at Jeff Bliss’ school, do us a solid, whip out your iPhone, and record it.

Jeff Bliss, Student Who Lectured Teacher, Gives An Interview [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones seems to be calling on the true believers overthrow the system with the most powerful weapon we have at our disposal: Facebook.

While we’re not entirely sure what Jones was trying to say on his May 7 show, we can attest that he opens his mouth and sounds do indeed come out (there’s video below to prove it).

But whatever you think of Alex Jones, be he an uncompromising truth machine or an out-and-out wing-nut, you have to admit, his comments about Facebook, YouTube, and the like were difficult to parse.

MofoPolitics posted video of Jones in the midst of a melodramatic rant about Google, Facebook, and YouTube, alleging that they’re basically “front operations” for the Central Intelligence Agency.

While discussing yelling about social media in general, Jones dropped this little marble that was picked up by Mediaite:

“Use it like a toilet! Use Facebook to jack their system! And jack ‘em hard! But hate ‘em, and spit on ‘em while you do it. Same thing with YouTube. And all of it. Jack the enemy conduits. Jack it hard and hate ‘em! And spit on ‘em while you do it.”

Then Jones slipped into some more familiar territory:

“This is a war! They’re killing kids everywhere with GMO and vaccines knowingly. This morning they had jets out spraying chemtrails everywhere. It’s a public G.O. engineering program — partially declassified and the public doesn’t even know about it! You think you’re in Kansas? You’re not in Kansas anymore!”

Jones also accused Google of blocking traffic to his website (InfoWars) as well as to the Drudge Report. It’s not really a secret that Google is headed up by some pretty liberal folks, so, naturally, they’re going to use their power to make sure that no one can reach sites containing content they personally disagree with.

“Google is the one jacking and breaking through your pass codes. And spying. And [Google CEO Eric] Schmidt says, ‘You shouldn’t visit anything you don’t want me to see.’ On a power trip. What a joke! By the way he only sold 10,000 of his book. What a joke you are, scumbag. Just because you can run a CIA criminal front, doesn’t mean you actually ever did anything, little man! Hope you’re cozy under the black wings of the New World Order!”

For journalistic purposes, I just attempted to access InfoWars and Drudge and can report no problems on my end.

Check out the video below, and let us know what you think of Alex Jones. Oh, and if you watch the video, here’s the Mark Zuckerberg article he shows at the end. Make sure to read the last paragraph.

Alex Jones Wants Us To Use Social Media To Overthrow … Something [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ever wondered what a “Harlem Shake gone wrong” video might entail?

As of this posting, May 9, 2013, the viral phenomenon known as the “Harlem Shake” seems to have peaked and died down some. But there are still entertaining videos coming out all the time, and it seems like some folks are willing to tempt fate itself for a shot at viral fame.

To wit, while we had a case of a “Harlem Shake” participant nearly burning himself to death in front of a giant bonfire in Germany, we now have a case where a group of performers almost blowing themselves up and burning their house down … for art.

The video, posted by RxJano to YouTube, shows three young folk in a packed garage surrounding a car with a red gasoline canister on the hood. Like all “Harlem Shake” videos, only one of the video’s stars are dancing at first as the music builds. The other two are standing nearby looking bored, while a woman inexplicably cackles in the background.

Then the beat drops, and everyone starts dancing as some kind of firecracker burns on the hood of the car. The flame spouts, causing someone behind the camera to scream, and two of the background dancers to vacate.

The guy in the front sort of takes off, but then decides “Wait, I must finish this … ” and continues performing as the car hood bursts into flames. Then he turns to face the hood as flames behind to die down, and …

… BOOM!

The firecracker explodes, engulfing the hood and the gas can, and the final performer is down. You hear screaming and shrieking, and everyone is yelling at each other trying to put out the flames but alas, they only make it worse.

Of course it’s staged, but look at the bright side. That means you can laugh!

Watch the “Harlem Shake gone wrong” video below:

Harlem Shake Gone Wrong Almost Kills Participants, Goes Viral [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube paid subscriptions have begun.

It seems paid video feed has gone a step further today. Movie and TV hosting is nothing new to the internet, with Netflix and Amazon Video, and now YouTube has taken a leap into seeing how it can make more money off its services.

YouTube won’t be taking on the bigger video hosting subscription sites just yet, but it may just be planning on it eventually. Starting with only a few channels for now, Jim Henson Family TV and Ultimate Fighting Championship among them, it is unclear just how far they eventually plan to push the paid subscriptions. If they keep it moderate, we may be able to watch regular or original TV shows for a monthly fee in the future.

This could also go very wrong as well, as they start charging you for the subscriptions you already have. Such would be worrisome, as if you have an Android account, they can easily just prompt you to pay and it’s already set up. We can only hope they don’t start charging for all of those channels that we’ve been enjoying for free.

This is an interesting new addition to YouTube’s already profitable video hosting site, as it already makes plenty of money on Partner channels such as sxephil and ShaneDawsonTV via advertisement clicks. YouTube has also already had pay-per-view deals and the option to watch full movies for a fee as well.

Who knows where this new plan will go? YouTube regulars could just stop watching completely and move on to Blip.tv or Vimeo if the mass video hosting site goes too far.

Let’s just hope YouTube plays nice and keeps letting us watch its current Partner channels for free, or gives us the option to pay monthly to remove the ads. Giving the option to pay per month for TV could be an interesting step if they decide to go that route.

What do you think of YouTube‘s new paid subscription system?

YouTube Paid Subscriptions Begin is a post from: The Inquisitr

A YouTube subscription fee is being put in place by the company, owned by Google, for viewers who would like to have access to upwards of 50 specialty channels. The paid subscription service is set to be introduced later this week.

The site is currently free for anyone and has become a video-sharing powerhouse since it’s creation in February of 2005. The revolutionary website allows users to create, share, and comment on videos along with multiple other features.

YouTube has right around a billion users currently signed up to the site while millions without an account regularly visit the page to listen to music or watch the world’s most popular videos.

The company has yet to confirm the subscription changes, but a spokesperson from Google made a statement about the upcoming fees and said, “We’re looking into creating a subscription platform that could bring even more great content to YouTube for our users to enjoy and provide our creators with another vehicle to generate revenue from their content, beyond the rental and ad-supported models we offer.”

The comments raise questions about the new features that will go along with the new YouTube subscription fee and advertisements may be the first to go. According to the Daily Mail, the new paid subscription may remove the ads completely as you watch videos.

YouTube began hosting specialty channels in October of 2012 and have received positive feedback on their newest addition to the website. The channels feature specialized content from major sources like BBC and now viewers will have to pay $1.99 a month to check them out.

The specialty channels also include TV shows, short films, and exclusive videos. According to the Daily Caller, YouTube receives 45 percent of the revenue from advertisements while the producers of the content bring in 55 percent.

The new deal is not expected to change the revenue weight though multiple payment models have been discussed. The income generated by the new fee’s will help produce new films and TV shows and also make the site more convenient for it’s users.

Will you pay the monthly YouTube subscription fee once it’s put in place later this week?

YouTube Subscription Fee: Viewers Will Now Have To Pay For Specialty Channels is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube‘s “How Fighters Eat Their Food” video spoofs “How Animals Eat Their Food”.

A recent YouTube video showing how animals eat their food has gone viral, spawning some clever parodies, including “How Animals Eat Their Food (Pokemon Version)”. The Pokemon version has a guy with long hair pulling parlor tricks to show how various Pokemon like Charmander and Blastoise might eat. The premise is so ridiculous it’s hilarious.

The video on how Street Fighter characters eat their food begins with two Orientals eating at a table with brown trimmed white walls, bottles of something yellow waiting as a beverage. One of them has a mustache and glasses, while the other wears what appear to be biking or combat gloves.

The camera pulls a closeup of the guy with the gloves as he says, “You wanna see how animals eat their food?” The other guy just keeps eating.

The guy with the gloves suddenly takes a drink of his beverage and slams it on the table, “Watch closely.”

He stands up quickly, knocking the legs out from under his side of the table, and then throws his fists into his food, yelling, “Hadouken! Hadouken!” Then he grabs a leaf of lettuce and munches on it.

The words appear on screen in the YouTube video, “How Animals Eat Their Food.”

He sits down again, grabs a piece of food, and then stands up with his arms straight out to his sides, fists clenched, spins a few times, and then falls, like Zangief from Street Fighter.

Next after he sits, he suddenly does a spinning uppercut, tossing everything on the table past the other guy, yelling, “Shoryouken!”

Next he falls backward, kicking his feet up through the table before grabbing something and munching down. Then he waves his fists from his sides, crossing them in front of him like Guile from Street Fighter.

Next he leaves the table, goes offscreen, and grabs a leaf of lettuce from there saying, “Yoga.”

The rest of the video is above.

What do you think of the YouTube spoof “How Fighters Eat Their Food” featuring Street Fighter moves?

YouTube Video ‘How Fighters Eat Their Food’ Spoofs Animal Version [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Matrix was recently remade by a guy on YouTube who animated it according to what his mom remembered.

The Matrix was originally about Neo, the anomaly who is born to counter Agent Smith and free the world from a virtual reality simulation. However, YouTube user PixelsPerSecond asked his mom what the film was about, and he made an animated version of what she remembered.

The retelling starts out with him saying, “Mom, how was The Matrix?”

His mom says, “I don’t know if I could say I liked it. I did have to close my eyes.”

He asks, “Can you tell me the story from beginning to end?”

His mom replies, “The movie starts with a young woman who has superpowers.”

We see Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) entering a phone booth and changing from a plain-clothes woman to her leather outfit and sunglasses.

“Has excellent Judo skills, jumping skills, flying skills.”

We see Trinity wrestling someone on a dojo mat, and then jumping in front of a cop and then taking off straight up.

“She ends up at a bar, and at this bar is Neo.”

We see Trinity landing on the set of Cheers and walking up to Keanu Reeves sitting on a stool in plain clothes, completely unshaven.

“He is the one who can beat out the Matrix. He followed her, it gets a little tangled. He meets up with one of the humans who are left on the computer.”

Trinity flies off out of the bar and then we see Keanu Reeves’s face with sunglasses on the box art for Tangled, with a bit of a Mister Fantastic thing going on. Then they both show up in their sunglasses and outfits and meet Lawrence Fishburne, who stands on a desktop computer next to his chair.

He asks, “Who’s that?”

She says, “Moshimo, and Moshimo offers him a blue pill or a red pill.”

The rest of the video is above.

What do you think of the YouTube retelling of The Matrix by PixelsPerSecond‘s mom?

‘The Matrix’ Animated According A Mom On YouTube [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

You have permission to go Google Tila Tequila right now, but after you figure out who she is, come right back here for a pretty bizarre video.

Tila Tequila, a 31-year-old model and television personality known for her MTV reality show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, has superpowers. Honest-to-goodness superpowers. Specifically,  she can create balls of energy and electricity out of thin air.

This is according to her seven-minute video posted to YouTube titled “Super Human Abilities: Tila Tequila Creating Energy Balls & Electricity Out of Thin Air!”

To be fair to Ms. Tequila, she has been in and out of headlines quite a bit lately for other strange-to-bizarre-to-tragic antics, and frankly, she has us a little worried about her health and safety.

She has been in and out of rehab over the past couple of years, and is reportedly battling drug abuse and an eating disorder. She also recently attempted suicide and live-tweeted her own miscarriage. If you can believe it, that’s just the greatest hits.

In any case, to the superpowers video. In it, you can’t really even tell it’s her because she’s out of frame (she just woke up). Instead, the video shows her hands shifting back and forth playing with invisible Dragon Ball chi for about seven minutes.

She talks about purple and green lights, swirling smoke and lasers, but for some reason her webcam isn’t picking any of that up.

But Tila is adamant about her abilities, insisting there is not movie magic.

“It’s all me, baby. It’s all me,” she says proudly. “I made a wormhole last night, I melted the wall. So crazy.”

Watch Tila Tequila’s superpowers video below:

[Image via: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]

Tila Tequila Has Superpowers, Y’all [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube is looking to make a name for itself in the comedy sector in a very big way in May. The first ever “Comedy Week” will feature a variety of different big time comedians all showing their wares on the social video networking site.

Google’s video service has been looking to get more eyes on the site over the last few weeks with a host of cool little features. Most recently the site was highlighting the birthday of the video tape by actually allowing people to watch videos using that less than top notch quality of picture.

YouTube’s foray into this Comedy Week endeavor is an entirely different experience in terms of effort and span. The seven-day bonanza of comedy will be featuring plenty of some of the funniest men and women out there.

There will be a whole host of different ways in which people will be able to access the event. Some of the offerings will be live video, while others will be taped and uploaded to the site.

There will also be a nice mishmash of people who will be featured during the week. There will be plenty of well known actors and actresses, all from the comedy side of the business. Rainn Wilson is just one of the names that is expected to appear.

Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman,  Michael Cera, Reggie Watts and the comedy duo Tim & Eric are also some of the big names that are taking part with this particular endeavor. There will also apparently be plenty of home grown comedic talent featured during the week.

The Gregory Brothers and the guys who are behind the Epic Rap Battles of History will also be showing off what they can do when they are given a larger stage.

The YouTube Comedy Week will run from May 19 to May 25.

YouTube Announces First Ever ‘Comedy Week’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Harvey Weinstein took off the gloves and blasted Google for “stealing content” at a Creativity Conference in Washington, The Wrap reported on Friday.

According to the website, Weinstein warned that the failure to compensate performers and content providers for YouTube videos would result in a community of “starving artists.”

“Look at Chicago. If you go to YouTube, you can download nine songs. There are 13 songs in the entire movie, pretty much 70 or 80 minutes of it. Nobody is getting paid for that. Neither Rob Marshall who directed, me, nor the studio. Nothing,” Weinstein said.

(According to The Richest, Weinstein is currently starving to the tune of a $150 million net worth.)

“It’s a very creative business plan: Use somebody else’s content for free. Deliver it. Don’t pay them for anything. And build a $500 billion Silicon Valley company and be very, very rich,” Weinstein said. “And then have these slogans like, ‘We just want to help the world.’”

(Google’s slogan is “do no evil.”)

Weinstein was also angry about the state of new media, adding, “As we see magazines erode, as we see journalism destroyed, as we see newspapers destroyed, we see their houses get bigger, their planes get bigger and bigger and bigger.”

And here, Harvey Weinstein wasn’t talking about just Google: “They are all like this. They are all not paying for content … They are all stealing it under the guise of, ‘We are all hippies,’ but hippies don’t have $22 billion valuations.”

Weinstein’s comments forged a different path than HBO programming president Michael Lombardo, who earlier this month told Entertainment Weekly that Game of Thrones, the most illegally downloaded program of 2012, did not experience a negative impact in DVD sales as a result of tormenting.

Lombardo even told EW it was “a compliment of sorts.”

For more on YouTube piracy claims, check here:

No one asked Weinstein about the common practice of “Hollywood accounting” that essentially turns films as profitable as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix into $167 million losers. The Potter film earned $938 million in revenue on a budget of $150 million, yet Warner Brothers tried to project it at a loss.

Essentially under “Hollywood accounting,” cast, crew, marketing, and anyone else associated with the production outside of the studio itself is screwed out of money even when a film rakes in record profits, no doubt resulting in more than a few “starving artists.” Studios usually set up a corporation for each film and then slap the company with a hefty fee (to be paid to the studio), resulting in a loss.

In other words, they’re paying themselves and then saying they lost money to avoid paying back-end royalties.

(To learn how Warner Brothers went about it, check the full info at TechDirt.)

Meanwhile, a recent study found that piracy can actually help independent films gain exposure.

What do you think? Does Harvey Weinstein have a point, or should artists and studios be more worried about obscurity than the possibility of someone “stealing content”?

[Image via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]

Harvey Weinstein Blasts Google For ‘Stealing Content’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Colonel Meow is back, and in a new YouTube campaign, he is set to conquer the internet.

Colonel Meow made his debut appearance on The Inquisitr back in October 2012, a cat with excessive fur due to an extra fur gene, making him look like he’s always angry. In that video he was seen calling a dog with sunglasses a “f***ing hipster” on Facebook.

Colonel Meow may not be as popular as Tardar Sauce, the grumpy cat, but we imagine only time will tell if the two of them will ever have an anger-off. A video published on YouTube April 18 shows us Colonel Meow in all his supreme fluffiness, even staring at a painting with his fur made up in a fashion like Wolverine from the Marvel comics and wearing a military suit.

The video begins with the painting and the words, “Who is Colonel Meow?”

We see him standing atop a large box with one paw as the narrator, emulating the old time movie style, gives us his take. “Colonel Meow is the paw in the dark. He is the gathering storm.”

We see him zoomed out with a red symbol of angry eyes on the box as he looks down at the camera. We then see the red eyes symbol panning over white before an extreme closeup of Colonel Meow’s eyes as the narrator continues with an accent, “He is the chaos that sets you free. He is the hairball in your carpet. And now he is on his way directly to your internet, to shape it in his own illustrious vision.” We see Colonel Meow looking up at the painting of him.

“Colonel Meow will lead you fearlessly. He will weed out the weak among you, and give strength and sustenance to those who remain. Do you have in your possession any extra cat food Colonel Meow can have? Because he is hungry. No, not the cheap stuff. Now you have disappointed him. Now he is pissed.”

The rest of the YouTube video is above.

Are you ready for Colonel Meow’s invasion of the internet?

Colonel Meow YouTube Campaign Takes Internet By Storm is a post from: The Inquisitr

A video from Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s wrestling days has been posted online by friends who are still struggling to understand what drove a seemingly normal 19-year-old college student to terrorism.

It’s still hard for many to imagine Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as a normal kid, but friends of the 19-year-old are having a harder time imagining him as we’ve come to know him: As a domestic terrorist partially responsible for the deaths of four people and the injuries of over 170 spectators and participants at the Boston Marathon.

Yushun Tsou, who was on the wrestling team at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School with Tsarnaev, posted a video of “the Jahar I knew,” which shows him participating in a playful wrestling session in a basement during their high school years.

Tsou, who calls Dzhokhar ”my friend and teammate,” is one of many struggling to reconcile the idea of their well-liked friend and classmate was America’s most wanted man on Friday.

In an interview with TODAY, the Tsarnaev brothers’ uncle Ruslan Tsarni pegged 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev as the architect of the Boston Marathon bombing. Suggesting that Tamerlan had become “radicalized” by currently-unknown mentors, Tsarni believes that Dzhokhar was merely following his big brother’s lead.

One of Dzhokhar’s former teammates agreed, saying that his interest in wrestling stemmed from his brother’s boxing aspirations. “He really loves his brother, looks up to him,” he said.

Tamerlan was killed in a firefight with police late Thursday/early Friday, and Dzhokhar led authorities on a city-wide manhunt until he was cornered and arrested Friday night. He is currently in serious condition at a Boston hospital, with everyone in the nation waiting to hear what he has to say for himself.

Those who knew him personally are at the front of that line.

You can watch Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s wrestling video below. Let us know what you think. What made this kid go bad?

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Wrestling Video Shows ‘The Jahar I Knew’ [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Amy Poehler dropped her funny-woman persona for a Thursday video published on her “Smart Girls Channel” YouTube profile. Sounding off on media coverage of the Boston bombing, the Parks and Recreation star wondered “if we could give our eyes a break.”

Poehler conceded that it’s important to stay informed in the event of an ongoing national tragedy like the Boston Marathon bombings, but posed an interesting dichotomy: How do we keep our finger on the pulse of a developing story without being subjected to the graphic images arbitrarily and liberally shared everywhere from social media to to cable news?

As we’re all well aware, the Boston Marathon bombing story has seen a huge amount of incredibly graphic and gory imagery, even on the front pages of major publications. These images may seem better suited to an R-rated film, but there’s an argument there that the public needs to see the consequences of terrorism and extreme violence.

Filmmaker Michael Moore even argues that we should see the shocking images of the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Only by seeing images of 20 dead children lining the hallways of an elementary school will we be galvanized into action.

However, an opposing and equally persuasive argument exists: That seeing such images will only desensitize the public, making them ultimately complacent to graphic violence.

Poehler, for her part, seems to be in the latter camp. In her somber and serious video, she admits to being exhausted with the constant deluge of violent imagery in the media:

“Doesn’t it just feel like we’re just bombarded with stuff now? Everywhere we go there’s just one picture that’s worse than the one before.” she said. “I wonder if we could soften our hearts and minds and our eyes. I wonder if we could give our eyes a break.”

She suggested a thoughtful way to stay engaged:

“Maybe try to see things in a different way –- try to see things by reading about them or talking about them or listening. I kind of feel like my eyes need a break,” she admits. “It’s OK to not be looking at what everyone else is looking at all of the time.

“Be OK with letting some things rest in peace,” she concluded.

What do you think? Are we over-exposed to violent and graphic imagery? You can watch Amy Poehler’s video below:

[Image via: Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com]

Amy Poehler On Boston Media Coverage: ‘Can We Give Our Eyes A Break?’ [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

PSY’s new video “Gentleman” is breaking all kinds of records on YouTube even though his home country of South Korea refuses to air it.

According to the Associated Press, one South Korean broadcasting network has banned the pop sensation’s new video from all of its channels due to one controversial scene in the opening sequence.

In the scene, PSY kicks over a state-owned parking cone.

Seems like a silly reason, but that’s destruction of property, and the state-funded KBS said on Thursday that its hands are tied. They must remove “Gentleman” from their channels because it falls short of the standard set for public broadcast.

This amounts to mostly a personal inconvenience for PSY, whose “Gentleman” has already pushed past 150 million views and over 1.3 million likes since debut just under a week ago. We say personal inconvenience because South Korea is his home, after all.

Additionally, he expressed hope in the recent past that his music could be used to unite the people of North and South Korea together in light of quickly rising tensions between the two.

Last week, he said that the division of North and South Korea amounted to a “tragedy,” continuing, “Hopefully my `Gangnam Style,’ my `Gentleman,’ my music videos and my choreography … they might enjoy them too,” of the North’s citizenry.

PSY’s “Gangnam Style” brought the 35-year-old international fame last year, becoming YouTube’s most watched video with 1.5 billion views thus far.

The new single, “Gentleman,” follows in its predecessor’s footsteps, complete with a catchy riff and new, bizarre choreography.

Check out the video for PSY’s “Gentleman” below. The “controversial” scene that caused the video to be pulled in South Korea is right at the front, around the 0:05 mark. What do you think of PSY’s new song?

[Image via: Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]

PSY’s ‘Gentleman’ Banned In South Korea Over Controversial Scene is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube has been fighting lawsuits almost since in launched in 2005. This is the second time Viacom has sued YouTube for copyright infringement and lost in court.

Last April, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals set the case back in motion after a previous YouTube win in district court. The Appeals Court was concerned that YouTube employees knew that 75 to 80 percent of all YouTube videos contained copyrighted content.

“These approximations suggest that the defendants were conscious that significant quantities of material on the YouTube website were infringing,” according to the Appeals justices’ opinion.

Judge Louis Stanton back at the district level ruled that YouTube is in compliance with it’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act obligations.

Judge Stanton:

“The burden of showing that YouTube knew or was aware of the specific infringements of the works in suit cannot be shifted to YouTube to disprove.”

Another question in the case was whether or not YouTube turned a blind eye to content they knew to be infringing activity.

Judge Stanton:

“The examples proffered by plaintiffs (to which they claim YouTube was willfully blind) give at most information that infringements were occurring with particular works, and occasional indications of promising areas to locate and remove them. The specific locations of infringements are not supplied: at most, an area of search is identified, and YouTube is left to find the infringing clip.”

A third question was whether or not YouTube knowingly kept infringing content on the site, waiting for notification of infringement so YouTube could profit from it until they received a take down notice.

Again Judge Stanton:

“YouTube’s decisions to restrict its monitoring efforts to certain groups of infringing clips… do not exclude it from the safe harbor, regardless of their motivation. Plaintiffs’ remaining evidence of control goes no further than the normal functioning of any service provider, and shows neither participation in, nor coercion of, user infringement activity.”

On The Official YouTube Blog, Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Google Ket Walker wrote, “In enacting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Congress effectively balanced the public interest in free expression with the rights of copyright holders”

Viacom Loses Another Lawsuit Against YouTube is a post from: The Inquisitr

Psy’s new music video “Gentlemen” has proven that the South Korean singer is no one-hit wonder. Released on April 13, the new video has already surpassed 145 million pageviews.

Not only has ”Gentlemen” had the same type of massive immediate success as “Gangnam Style,” it has become the fastest YouTube video to ever reach 100 million views after its release.

The only video to receive 100 million views in the same three day time period was footage of the Russian meteor that was posted on the site back in February.

Psy’s “Gentlemen” was investigated by researchers at Visible Measures, which writes:

“The speed with which the Russian Meteor video acquired views was quite astonishing at the time. But it made sense because the news story relied on user-uploaded videos of the meteor. The speed with which Gentleman is garnering views has less to do with its newsworthiness than with viewer’s curiosity to see how PSY would follow the success of “Gangnam Style,” the most viewed video of all time.”

If you are one of the few people who have yet to experience the Psy “Gentlemen” music video, here it is:

Psy has said he will eventually release an English language single for American fans, although he has not yet revealed when that new offering will arrive.

In the meantime, the South Korean singer appears to have found a formula that works on YouTube, and, with millions of dollars being raised through his viral success, we highly doubt he’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

What do you think of the new Psy “Gentlemen” viral video?

Psy’s ‘Gentlemen’ Music Video Is The Quickest To Reach 100 Million Views On YouTube is a post from: The Inquisitr

Self-proclaimed “freestyle footballer” Murilo Pitol might not play for the Arsenal or Manchester United, but he sure can control a soccer ball.

Pitol posts soccer trick videos under the YouTube username Murilo Pitol, and his video from April 14, 2013 has become a huge success. Titled Freestyle with Giant Tennis Ball, the video has racked up more than 200,000 views in just a few short days.

Viewers have been impressed with Pitol’s handling of a soccer ball, and, if you watch the video, you will understand why.

Amazing Soccer Tricks By Murilo Pitol [Viral Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Any thought that South Korean pop star PSY would be a one-hit wonder was quickly dismissed after his “Gangnam Style” follow-up “Gentleman” became a record-breaking sensation all its own.

PSY has broken yet another Justin Bieber record on YouTube in just a few short days after releasing “Gentleman.” The “Gangnam Style” star mopped up with 18.9 million views for “Gentleman” Saturday between the 5am release of the video and midnight. This topples Bieber’s first-day record of 8 million views for “Beauty and the Beat.”

YouTube only measures daily usage, so it’s currently unknown how many views “Gentleman” earned in its first 24 hours. “KONY 2012,” a political documentary by Invisible Children, currently holds the record for views in a single day with 30 million.

PSY’s “Gangnam Style” beat Bieber’s “Baby” in overall views late last year after surpassing 1 billion views. That video has been watched more than 1.5 billion times as of Monday, which is double the amount of Bieber’s “Baby,” which has 848 million.

PSY has also recently earned a unique spot in the limelight over the rising tensions between North and South Korea. After calling the division of the two countries a “tragedy,” he expressed hope that people living in North Korea can enjoy his music just as much as anyone living anywhere else in the world.

“Hopefully my `Gangnam Style,’ my `Gentleman,’ my music videos and my choreography … they might enjoy them too,” PSY said.

The success of “Gentleman” came as a surprise to PSY himself, as well. He tweeted Monday:

51million views in 40hours!! My God~!!! PSY – GENTLEMAN M/V: youtu.be/ASO_zypdnsQ @youtube 에서

— PSY (@psy_oppa) April 15, 2013

You can check out the video for PSY’s “Gentleman” below:

[Image via: Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]

PSY Is No One-Hit Wonder: ‘Gentleman’ Breaks Justin Bieber Record is a post from: The Inquisitr

This would also be fantastic on Facebook!

A New Feature On Youtube [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube superstar Psy has hit 22 million hits in 24 hours with his new music video “Gentleman”.

Psy was launched into YouTube superstardom when his dance-heavy music video for “Gangnam Style” hit the internet. The music video spawned parodies like one promoting NASA (“NASA Johnson Style”), which featured actual astronauts and scenes from aboard an actual space station.

Psy’s fame has even extended into other parts of the internet, including a crossover meme featuring Kim Jong Un and the guy from the Snickers commercial. On the Korean situation that’s happening right now, Psy has gone on record as saying it’s a tragedy.

Anyway, hard news out of the way, Psy recently released a music video for his latest release, “Gentlemen”. The video features the YouTube superstar pulling pranks on a number of women, until Brown Eyed Girls member Ga-In turns the tables on him. Psy’s “Gentleman” also includes the return of “Gangnam Style” co-horts Yoo Jae Suk (the comedian in the yellow suit) and Nol Hong Chul (the elevator dancer).

At a gig in Seoul, Psy said of his new single “Gentleman“, ”I’ve been doing this for 12 years. Would it be fair to call me a one-hit wonder just because my next song falls flat? I gained international fame almost by accident but that does not mean that I will make desperate efforts to maintain that global popularity. I will just continue to do what I have been doing for all these years. If it satisfies people’s appetite it will. If not, it won’t.”

It’s true that only having one popular song doesn’t make you a one-hit wonder. After all, Tay Zonday is still among the elite YouTube personalities after “Chocolate Rain”, and Justin Bieber got his start on YouTube. Now Justin Bieber is just as big a pop star as others who broke out with radio singles.

At 22 million hits on YouTube in 24 hours, Psy has nothing to worry about with “Gentleman”.

What do you think of Psy’s latest YouTube music video for “Gentleman”?

YouTube Superstar Psy’s ‘Gentleman’ Reaches 22 Million Hits In One Day is a post from: The Inquisitr

The XCOM based first person shooter game that has been often delayed might be moving closer to officially canceled if we can read much into 2K’s actions today. It is also possible that the game is getting the redesign and reboot that many people had speculated it might earn.

Because the company isn’t actually talking about why the site is down and the videos that are on their YouTube channel are suddenly set to private, we are left guessing about what is going on. 2K actually went out of its way not to comment, when they were reached by the media a representative said that they had “no comment about the sites being down today.”

XCOM‘s first person shooter certainly seems dead if the company isn’t even willing to talk about what could have been dismissed as some sort of glitch or simply some house cleaning. Obviously what happened today wasn’t a mistake on someone’s part but rather completely intentional actions.

What you do see now when you go to the official site is simply a 404 error message. The YouTube video are only viewable if you are given special permission by 2K’s administrators on the site.

If there is a re-branding and a rebooting, it appears that the game will be moving from first person shooter to third person, as rumors have been whispering about for a couple of years. The game was originally announced in 2010 and has been delayed a handful of times.

The latest time frame had the game being released in the 2014 fiscal year. The re-branding rumors were further fueled by 2K purchasing domain names like thebureau-game.com and whathappenedin62.com. The new game was or is expected to be called The Bureau.

What do you think of the official XCOM website going offline the same time the trailers are set to private?

‘XCOM’ Official Site Taken Down, Trailers Taken Offline is a post from: The Inquisitr

Emilia Clarke and Henry Cavill have inspired a slew of fan-made trailers on YouTube. The subject of those trailers: to express support for the pair as leads in a Fifty Shades of Grey movie.

The movie, slated for 2014 but currently marked as “in development” at IMDb and thus limited on cast-and-crew details, is definitely going to happen.

Many of us think it already did with 2002′s Secretary, a film starring James Spader as a man named Mr. Grey, who begins a torrid sadomasochistic love affair with his much younger secretary.

(No similarities there, huh? Whatever.)

The book’s theme is certainly nothing new. Vladimir Nabokov was writing about this sort of thing with Lolita long before E.L. James’ bestselling novel broke into the mainstream last year.

Likewise, Emilia Clarke’s name for Anastasia Steele has been commonly repeated by fans and even turned up as the frontrunner in a recent rumor rundown from Digital Spy.

Cavill was in that same grouping, though he was a little further down the list, joining names like Chris Pine, Alexander Skarsgard, and Ryan Gosling for the part of [a different] Mr. Grey.

Not sure how any of this is bold casting really. All the actors and actresses mentioned for the film have a slightly noticeable age difference, but not by much. Why no John C. Reilly, Gary Busey, or Ron Perlman? What’s wrong with you people?

Anyway, the fan trailer performing the best is a 73-second spot that features Cavill doing a slow-motion action movie walk to his helicopter while the wind from the propeller blades blows his hair around in salvos of black-and-white dreaminess.

Cut back to 25-year-old Emilia Clarke reminding The Inquisitr guys we’re still menfolk at the 15-second mark, throw in some shadowy naughtiness, and you’ve got a winner. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s a look:

Hopefully, that was enough to tide you over because as of late February, James admitted there wasn’t even a filmmaker attached to the project, so casting could still be several months away.

If you’re not the type of fan that goes in for rabid fan-base behaviors, then this report may not be for you. But at least fan-made trailers take some skill and talent when done well.

That’s more than we can say for #RIHANNAING, the latest craze reported by NewNowNext that involves tweeting pictures of yourself in a shirt and no pants. Guess who inspired that one.

What do you think about Emilia Clarke and Henry Cavill for the Fifty Shades of Grey movie — just right or uninspired?

[Image via Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]

Emilia Clarke, Henry Cavill Get Social Media Support For ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Movie is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’m pretty sure youtube user DotAEct Mock is trying to tell us something, but I’m not quite sure what it is.

Justin Bieber – Pray – YouTube Comment Theater [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

No girlfriend? No problem! Soon, you might be able to buy a coat that simulates the touch of a woman (specifically, the feeling of being hugged from behind). Just zip up and feel the loving squeeze.

No seriously, a couple of Japanese designers have created it, it’s a real thing. It’s called the Riajyuu Coat (which non-creepily translates into ”fulfillment coat”), and it works like this: You put on the coat, which is fitted with a belt that tightens around your waist, simulating a hug from behind.

“Big deal,” you say, “how does this simulate a girlfriend hug and not a giant scary bully man hug?” Good question! There are headphones attacked to the jacket which play recordings of a female voice whispering girlfriend-y stuff in your ear. For instance, your girlfriend coat might say “Sorry I’m late” or “guess who?”

The coat simulates the sound of footsteps running up behind you, as well.

“If I have a girlfriend I think it is a good situation that she suddenly hugs me when I wait for her at the station,” developer Maito Omari totally assures us in the Youtube video about the girlfriend coat.

“The concept of this device is everyone can get the feeling of having a girlfriend,” hardware engineer Hikaru Sugira said of the project.

“It looks like a normal coat at first sight. Users wear this coat, fasten the belt and wear the headphones,” said software engineer Kota Shinbayashi. ”In the waist, the system of the winding belt is attached.”

“This makes the feeling that is like girlfriend hugs,” Shinbayashi added.

Does the girlfriend coat sound neat, like maybe you kind of want it now? Too bad, they’re not commercially available, and we really don’t know if they ever will be.

Still, you can watch this video of the girlfriend coat in action, and think about what could have been.

‘Girlfriend Coat’ Simulates The Touch Of A Real Woman [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s April Fools’ Day, the internet’s biggest and most celebrated holiday, and a YouTube shutdown prank has joined the fray of tech companies pulling gags on users and visitors.

The stunts seem to start earlier each year, and, in a blog post yesterday, the YouTube shutdown prank was announced by the video service.

YouTube played the shutdown prank straight on their blog where the site writes about the inception of YouTube as a giant version of America’s Funniest Home Videos essentially.

In a clip featuring Antoine Dodson, iJustine, and other YouTube personalities, the “contest” to find the best video is announced, as YouTube explains it is shutting down for 10 years to select a winner.

The blog post begins:

“When we started out in 2005, we focused on rapidly increasing user engagement. We wanted an inventive way to draw people in and catalyze their creativity. The result? A contest for the best video on our site.”

YouTube continues:

“Nearly eight years later, with 72 hours of video being uploaded every minute, we finally have enough content to close the competition. We’ve started the process to select a winner and as of tomorrow at midnight, we will be closing the site to submissions.”

Finally, the shutdown prank is announced by YouTube:

“Watch the video below to hear from our leadership, the minds behind some of our most famous entries, and the panel of judges who will select our nominees, and ultimately, the winner for ‘Best Video.’ ”

Despite the prevalence of pranks like the YouTube shutdown video, users seem to be falling for it in relatively big numbers — comments coming in on the clip above seem to indicate that people are quite concerned about YouTubers’ jobs after the shutdown prank.

YouTube Shutdown Prank Features Site’s Big Stars is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube is planning to shut down for April Fools.

After eight years of hosting a user-generated video site, YouTube is saying so long … and thanks for all the videos. The site is posting a video announcing a search the “winner” of the “eight year contest,” and says it’s planning to start the next contest in 2023.

Don’t panic, it’s just a prank. YouTube is planning to act like it’s shutting down on April 1, 2013.

The video shows footage of YouTube’s offices where several thousand employees are reviewing every video ever made on the site, including interviews with YouTube stars iJustine, and the subjects of “David after the Dentist”, and “Charlie Bit My Finger.” The video’s host, Tim Liston, says it will take ten years to review everything and determine a winner. The winner will be said to be given the prize of an MP3 player that can be strapped to their sleeves, and an extra $500 toward the continuation of their creative efforts.

YouTube is going all out this time.

Previous YouTube pranks included the infamous “Rick Roll,” in which every video posted on the home page was redirected to the music video for Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” and turning everything upside down, including the videos and text.

Of course, if YouTube really did shut down, the consequences would be a biblical disaster; Human sacrifice, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria. Okay, that was from Ghostbusters.

However, without YouTube, we would lose all of those tutorial videos on video- and photo-editing, knitting, and cooking, such comedic hilarity as Smosh, Shane Dawson, and Wheezy Waiter, and all of those music videos that MTV never plays any more.

We are happy to report that YouTube is doing quite well and has no reason to shut down, now with over (imagine Dr. Evil from Austin Powers with his pinky to his mouth) one billion active users.

What do you think of YouTube’s video announcing the April Fools prank?

YouTube Plans April Fools ‘Shut Down’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube‘s Player vs Pain is a new show that tortures gamers.

With the absence of G4 and Attack of the Show, what’s Kevin Pereria to do? He went to Machinima and co-produced a new show for YouTube that hurts gamers as they play videogames. The audience gets to see people in pain as they play games like Mario Kart? Absolutely.

A while back, YouTube had the Angry Nintendo Nerd. He played terrible games for the amusement of gamers who had been there before, or just wanted to see someone suffer for attempting to enjoy a bad videogame. He inevitably had to change his tag to Angry Video Game Nerd to expand his horizons to other systems. His rival at the time was the Irate Gamer, and eventually, both of them were rocketed to internet stardom.

However, it’s been years, and YouTube‘s gamer community has been craving something new. Even the “Let’s Play” fad has gotten commonplace enough that we need something new, something different. After countless Slender videos, almost nothing seems interesting any more.

The YouTube series Player vs Pain is attempting to change that by bringing back the pain and giving the viewer a gamer whose misery we can enjoy. Player vs Pain gives us something like American Gladiators, except with controllers and torture devices.

Michelle Nunes hosts the show as “a woman whose tolerance for watching other people’s pain is legendary.” She starts the first show saying, “Oh, yes, that familiar scent! Blood, urine, and just a hint of three-day-old Axe body spray.” She spreads her arms dramatically, “It’s the pain factory and I’m your official tour guide. So strap in!”

The gamers are introduced, with their stories of training and a dose of humiliation, before they each have their round of trash talk. Sounds like your typical hip new game show, right? Something like that, but with a bit more pain. The first episode is below.

What do you think of the new YouTube series Player vs Pain?

‘Player Vs Pain’ YouTube Show Tortures Gamers is a post from: The Inquisitr

A video featuring a woman collapsing after taking part in a brain freeze competition has suddenly gone viral.

It would appear that she was involved in an event where contestants had to consume a large iced-drink as quickly as possible through a straw. The video has become hugely popular over the last few days even though it was originally put online in 2010, and it has now amassed over 200,000 views.

The competition look like it was held in a water park and begins with an announcer stating, “We call it a brain freeze competition because it will mess with your brain.”

In order to win the startling prize, which the promoter announces is an “express pass which is worth $50,” the four contestants are told that they must down their drink through a straw the fastest.

It is clear from the start that the woman who ultimately collapses is confident, as she drums her fingers on the table and then shoots her other three competitors a perilous glance.

As the event starts, she takes a commanding lead and starts to eye up her competitors near the end of the contest as it becomes clear that she is vying for victory with a challenger.

But then she suddenly stops and decides to back away from the table, probably because she couldn’t handle the consumption of the liquid. The woman proceeds to shake her hands, begins to veer to the right before falling into the table and placing her hand over her mouth in preparation for vomit.

The announcer then proclaims, “Come on girl are you all right?” But the situation soon becomes grave as she looks to balance herself on the table, even attempting to grab the arm of the girl next to her, who simply backs away.

This forces her to fall chin first onto the table, and, with the blue drink dripping out of her mouth, she then crashes to the floor.

The announcer then shouts, “Can we get paramedics to the DJ booth, please.” She is thought to have made a full recovery.

Viral Video: Woman Collapses Due To Brain Freeze [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Michael Jackson’s hit song Thriller is not an easy song to sing, just don’t tell that to YouTube user Inhyeok Yeo. The young man not only performs the song as its lead vocalist, he also plays all of the musical instruments — with his mouth!

To accomplish his musical acrobatics Inhyeok recorded each part of the song separately. You can hear the a capella performer play the guitar, crash a symbol, master the drums and lay down a bass track among other instruments. All the while he takes on the lead vocals on what is arguably one of the toughest singers to emulate.

While the vocals might not be spot on he more than makes up for it with his crazy musical talents.

Since uploading the Thriller a capella video to YouTube on January 13, 2013 it has racked up 250,000 views.

Feedback has been overwhelmingly, so much so that his February 27 upload of Stevie Wonder’s I Wish has inched towards 500,000 views!

If you pay close attention to the music videos he has created you’ll even notice that each of his instrumental performances pop in and out of the grid display as they are used. For example, if the guitar fades out of the song so does the image of Yeo performing that instruments part.

Here is the performer singing and playing all of the instruments for Michael Jackson’s Thriller:

And here is Inhyeok Yeo performing Stevie Wonder’s hit I Wish in all of its a capella wonderfulness:

One-Man A Capella Band Performs Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ And Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Officials were hoping that “gallon smashing” wouldn’t go viral, but now that it has, they’re not being shy about catching people in the act and pressing hard charges against them.

A couple of Virginia teens are currently facing criminal charges for “gallon smashing,” a viral prank made popular by teenagers on the Internet. Participants in the prank go into a grocery or convenience store and throw gallons of milk into the air, pretending to hurt themselves while falling to the ground and acting injured.

Two brothers and their cousin of Fall Church are being brought up on misdemeanor charges for destruction of property and disorderly conduct. Police say they’ve been investigating the “gallon smashing” prank phenomenon for over a month, and have continued even after the original prank video was taken down from YouTube.

In a lot of the “gallon smashing” videos, other customers or staff come to the aid of the pranking teens after they “fall” to the ground, and teens play along by struggling to get up, faking injuries, and pretending that they can’t stand up straight.

The original video caused a viral firestorm in February when it was picked up on YouTube. The video was titled “Gallon Smashing Prank,” and inspired dozens of teens to go out and record themselves replicating the act.

The Virginia teens aren’t the first to face charges related to “gallon smashing.” Authorities in other communities have been keeping a close watch on the phenomenon.

The original video got over three million views in just three days. The teens charged say that they never meant to hurt anyone, and are genuinely sorry for what they did.

Here’s a clip round-up of “gallon smashing.” You’ll get the idea.

‘Gallon Smashing’ Teens Face Criminal Charges For Viral Prank [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Scoot over, Sweet Brown. You too, Antoine Dodson. There’s a new viral news report catching steam online.

Michelle Clark was the star of a local news program and later, the Internet, for her unique take on a hail storm that blew through her neighborhood this week. Clark, of Houston, was interviewed by a KPRC reporter after a storm ripped through a mobile home park and dropped massive hailstones on its inhabitants.

“Man, them jokers was big!” Clark enthusiastically declares between dry local news reporting. The part that really made this video go viral was Clark’s description of what a giant hailstone dropping on a mobile home sounds like. And that sound is “KAPOOYA! KAPOOYA!”

Clark escaped personal injury, saying “I ran to my restroom and then called my mama,” during the storm.

The “KAPOOYA lady” is the latest viral sensation to come from an otherwise mundane local news report. First, there was Antoine Dodson. You might not recognize the name, but if I said “Hide yo kids, hide yo wife,” you’ll immediately recall the auto-tuned remix of the hilarious report that you purchased on iTunes.

Then there was Sweet Brown, who is still enjoying her 15 minutes of fame in both viral video and meme form. You’ll recall she woke up to get a “cold pop,” to find that her residence was on fire. She explained humorously that she suffers from Bronchitis and was able to escape the blaze, reasoning “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

Now the “KAPOOYA lady” has emerged, and she’ll likely shuffle Sweet Brown out of her coveted top spot (though she’ll likely still live on in meme form for some time). Clark’s video is still going viral on YouTube, and I’m not sure if anyone has auto-tuned it yet, but what I’d really like to see is a super-cut auto-tune remix featuring all three of our local news heroes. Get to it, Internet!

Until then, here’s Michelle Clark’s accurate description of a hail storm. KAPOOYA!

KAPOOYA! Michelle Clark Is The New Sweet Brown [Viral Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube is now the home of one billion monthly visitors. Funny videos, tutorials, highly touted documentaries, music videos — pretty much every type of video a user could want — can be found on the social video website.

The networks incredible growth is thanks in no small part to its availability on a myriad of devices from mobile devices and tablets to computers and smart TVs.

YouTube has also benefited from the meteoric rise of superstar internet personalities who got their start by posting silly, retrospective, and various other types of videos on the network.

YouTube posted the following message about its milestone:

“In the last eight years you’ve come to YouTube to watch, share and fall in love with videos from all over the world. Tens of thousands of partners have created channels that have found and built businesses for passionate, engaged audiences. Advertisers have taken notice: all of the Ad Age Top 100 brands are now running campaigns on YouTube. And today, we’re announcing a new milestone: YouTube now has more than a billion unique users every single month.”

The video network also took the time to break down what 1 billion monthly visitors looks like:

- Nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits YouTube.
- Our monthly viewership is the equivalent of roughly ten Super Bowl audiences.
- If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.
- PSY and Madonna would have to repeat their Madison Square Garden performance in front of a packed house 200,000 more times. That’s a lot of Gangnam Style!

When Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion, the young social video platform was still attempting to find its footing and turn a profit. Google’s big acquisition spend is no longer questioned by analysts and has largely been hailed as one of silicon valley’s most heralded acquisitions.

It’s still hard to believe that the first YouTube video was uploaded at 8:27 pm on Saturday April 23rd, 2005 by Yakov Lapitsky after his trip to the San Diego Zoo.

This simple 0:18 second clip helped launch a multi-billion dollar business:

YouTube Now Serves One Billion Visitors Per Month is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube is expanding its horizons, including places you might watch it.

Back in 2005, YouTube revolutionized how we see videos on the internet. It was simple, it allowed viewers to upload videos to their own channel, and at the time, even the average user could get popular. Since then, video quality has been improved, YouTube channels have been given the gift of monetization if they could rack up enough views, and YouTube began changing the system around to cater to big business.

Now, YouTube is the TV you customize yourself, and most users watch its content on their smartphones and tablets, or in some cases, connect their laptop to their HDTV via HMDI cable and watch it in high-definition like a regular TV show.

With the interconnection now available via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media websites, it’s easier than ever to make a new video a phenomenon. Having more friends on any of them, or even getting referred by former Star Trek actor and internet superstar George Takei can lead to a video “going viral” overnight.

YouTube Director of Product Management Shiva Rajaraman says the company’s vision has it growing easier to find and watch a video, on every video-capable gadget you’ve got. And with technology advancing as it is, it may not be too long before you’re watching Wheezy Waiter on your microwave while you heat up a Hot Pocket, or some coffee.

YouTube’s hope is that when you arrive via Facebook or even a Google search, you’ll stick around and see some of their partner content, because YouTube partners always have ads at the beginning of their videos. Perhaps they might even start incorporating the technique used by Blip.tv, forwarding you to the next video automatically based on what you just watched, although some viewers find it intrusive for a video to get pushed on them just because they didn’t stop the one they were on before it ended.

What do you think about the future of YouTube?

YouTube May Be Heading To Your Microwave is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you have ever wanted to know what really happened after the credits rolled and your favorite Disney princesses lived happily ever after, Jon Cozart’s “After Ever After” viral YouTube video has all the answers.

Not to give any spoilers, but life is not so fun for mermaids following the BP oil spill, and Belle may be rethinking her not-exactly-legal relationship with the Beast. Pocahontas has a new favorite color to paint with after discovering that her new European buddies are not so nice after all, and it rhymes with dead.

Cozart, aka “Paint,” posted his latest video just two days ago, and it has already amassed over 1.3 million views. He has a distinctive musical style that involves multiple instances of himself singing on-screen at the same time. While his earlier hits generally experimented with two instances at once, “After Ever After” raises the number to four — one for each princess.

Cozart’s interests are not limited to Disney. A Harry Potter spoof he created a year ago has gathered nearly 13 million views. His Lord of the Rings spoof is approaching 2 million. His Tumblr page reflects an interest in many more movies and books, possibly hinting at what he will spoof next.

In an interview conducted with the Huffington Post, Cozart asserts that Disney is ridiculous, cliched, and presents a portrayal of life that no one ever experiences. He gave the princesses all negative endings because he felt this would make for a more interesting story. “Hilarity ensues” when Disney princesses are placed in “our dark, terrible, sad world.”

Cozart describes his latest video as the most difficult yet. It took him a month to record the audio. He then lip synced the entire song, and with four copies of him singing at once, he had to nail four takes exactly right. It took him a week to get four takes that were usable.

“It was impossible,” he said jokingly.

Without further ado, check out Cozart’s latest video below:

If you enjoy Cozart’s “After Ever After” Disney princess parody, you can check out more of his work on his YouTube page.

‘After Ever After’ Viral Video Reveals Truths About Disney Princesses is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s pretty obvious that the Fox News anchor lineup is primarily dominated by grumpy middle-aged men and beautiful (mostly) blonde women. Singer Austin Cunningham has noticed, and wrote “The Girls Of Fox News,” a country tribute to the Fox bombshells that has gone viral on YouTube.

In the song, Cunningham admits that he “used to be a Democrat,” but changed his mind after watching too much Fox News.

“Well I used to be a Democrat, Liberal no doubt. I didn’t think Conservatives knew what life’s about. Then I started leaving the Fox News channel on. If that’s the face of the right, I’ll tell the left so long,” his tribute begins.

Though the song is sure to send a shiver down the spine of many a “Faux News” hater, the catchy-ness of the tune is pretty undeniable. Particularly, the chorus:

“Oh, I want a girl like the girls on Fox News. Everyone is beautiful, anyone you choose. Whoever does the hiring knows how to light my fuse. I want a girl like the girls on Fox News.”

Cunningham gave an interview about his inspiration for his song to the conservative website WorldNetDaily. He tells them:

“The idea for the song came from a phone conversation I was havin’ with a buddy and I said something like, ‘Have you noticed how good-looking the gals are on Fox News?”

“The Girls Of Fox News” was uploaded to YouTube a month ago, but has only recently gone viral after being passed around among conservative circles and country music sites. The video is inching toward one million views, and the song is available on iTunes.

So who is Cunninham’s favorite Fox News girl?

“If I absolutely HAD to choose one Fox anchor/contributor, I suppose it would have to be Megyn Kelly. She is like the new ‘America’s Sweetheart.’ She, and seriously all these gals, seem to be what our elders used to describe as ‘lovely.’ Meaning looks certainly, but also with qualities like elegance, grace, intelligence, wit and kindness.”

Here’s Austin Cunningham’s “The Girls Of Fox News.” Yeah, it’s a little sexist and it might inspire your liberal gag reflex, but it’s a catchy tune, and even a little sweet.

Country Singer Wants A ‘Fox News Girl’ In YouTube Video is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley told an audience at SXSW he’ll be announcing a new video product that, “gives flexibility for people to work together and create content.”

Digg founder Kevin Rose, who now works for Google, was moderating the talk and asked Hurley if the new product will compete with YouTube. He said, “We’re not setting up to kill it now. There’s always going to be a place for YouTube.”

Hurley founded YouTube with fellow PayPal employees, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim in 2005 with an initial investment of $3.5 million from Sequoia Capital. It was purchased by Google the following year for $1.65 billion in stock. The founders were under fire with threats of copyright-infringement lawsuits. Chad continued to work at YouTube until 2010.

After leaving Google, Hurley company AVOS launched Zeen. It’s a way to make beautifully designed digital magazines or miniature digital books that can be shared online the same way YouTube videos are shared. A Zeen can be posted to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or a blog.

The Zeen creation tool allows users to easily add videos, words, articles, and maps and may shed light on what Hurley is working on with his new video site. Since it is designed for collaborative video creation, it makes sense that the new tool will do for video what Zeen does for publication.

Interviewed by The Next Web, Hurley said to expect a lot more opportunities in the online video space:

“We’re playing with the idea of creating a sandbox that gives us the ability to think of an idea, get it up and running quickly and not have to deal with the frustration of starting again from zero. That’s going to give us the ability to not only innovate and work on Delicious but to continue to use the same learnings and technology to build more services.”

If Hurley’s new video venture empowers users to create more professional and beautiful Web video, it is more likely to complement YouTube than compete with it.

YouTube Co-founder To Launch Possible YouTube Rival is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sarah Silverman kicked off JASH Comedy Network, a joint venture with Google, YouTube, and a host of other comedians including Michael Cera at SXSW, Deadline reported on Sunday, March 10.

Silverman and Cera were joined by Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Reggie Watts, in introducing the first video with a second on the way April 8, according to the group’s YouTube channel.

Sarah Silverman and crew hosted a barbecue brunch at SXSW to make the announcement, which pulled back the curtain on plans for the venture moving forward.

JASH Comedy Network is one of 60 YouTube networks announced in October 2012, Deadline noted, that will provide financing for comedians and artists. The new networks will also have production resources available to them as well as editing facilities and creative control. Artists will also share in revenues for each video.

The production team behind the effort consists of Daniel Kellison (The Man Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!), Mickey Meyer, Doug DeLuca, and Fullscreen Inc.

In the “Epic Intro Video” (see below), Silverman, Michael Cera, and the gang, are joined by an alleged Google executive — “alleged,” because we found no mention of him on the Google Senior Leadership Page — who announces that “there are too many videos” on the web.

JASH will replace all Internet videos, including “Charley Bit My Finger” and other viral favorites, with a new breed of comedy vignettes.

(Not really.)

Silverman is seen pitching a very ugly baby into a crib during the video, a detail that probably won’t be well-received with a certain Rabbi, who recently criticized the comedian and actress for her lifestyle choices.

“You said you wouldn’t get married until gay people can. Now they can,” a Rabbi Rosenblatt wrote in a letter to Silverman. “And you still haven’t married. I think, Sarah, that marriage and childrearing are not in the cards for you because you can’t focus on building life when you spend your days and nights tearing it down.”

The comment prompted Silverman’s father to tell the Rabbi he could “shove god up your judgmental ass.”

Silverman has also drawn ire from Pro-Life groups for a tweet claiming she “Got a quickie aborsh in case R v W gets overturned” in April 2012.

Do you find the Sarah Silverman brand of humor funny, and will you be watching JASH Comedy Network in April?

[Image via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]

Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera Kick Off JASH Comedy Network [SXSW] is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube is about to start music streaming on mobile.

Google has begun plans to turn YouTube into a music streaming service on mobile to compete with Spotify and Pandora. If you know a teenager, you probably know how important YouTube already is to the music business. YouTube was how Rebecca Black and Justin Bieber got their start, and the latter of the two is now a major celebrity, sharing the news spotlight with Lindsay Lohan.

Three major record labels (Warner, Sony, and Universal) are in talks with YouTube to bring their music to the plate. The negotiations are only part of the bigger picture concerning Google unleashing two services, Android’s Google Play and YouTube, as major music streaming options.

Much like Pandora, YouTube music streaming for mobile would offer free and subscription-based plans, though what the product would ultimately look like is still unknown. Free users would only get limited access to the available music, and the record labels are deciding what will be included in free use. If YouTube can get free access available to mobile users, it could open up sales similar to what Apple is already experiencing with iTunes.

The advantage of free music streaming on mobile is that if you hear a song you really like, you’ll be more apt to look into it and buy it for download, or in lesser cases, on CD. That is mostly what Pandora was missing. Pandora gives us the option to listen without ads if we upgrade to their paid subscription, but it doesn’t offer the ability to purchase the song and download it for offline enjoyment.

Google has the advantage over Pandora, however, seeing as it doesn’t depend on music sales or unlimited streaming to stay profitable. Between Android and YouTube ads, Google is rather well off and can afford to say no to independent labels who try to push Google’s generosity. Add this to the fact that teenagers tend to prefer YouTube anyway, and Google could be making out like a bandit with mobile music streaming.

What are your thoughts on YouTube entering the mobile music streaming fray?

How YouTube could make streaming music a hit cnet.co/168LXLr

— CNET (@CNET) March 10, 2013

YouTube To Start Mobile Music Streaming is a post from: The Inquisitr

Best two and a half minutes you’ll spend doing anything all day. The folks at BadLipReading have provided literally the best re-dub ever, courtesy of The Amazing Spider-Man. There’s really nothing left to say other than “watch it below”:

Ruffles and Mr. Peaches?!

The Amazing Spider-Man Offers Best Bad Lip Reading Yet [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Russell Crowe captured what appears to be a UFO on his camera. The actor later uploaded the clip to YouTube.

Crowe had reportedly set up a time-lapse camera to capture “capture fruit bats rising from Botanic Gardens.” However, the actor found something else entirely when he reviewed the video.

According to the Telegraph, Russell Crowe captured the UFO footage outside of his office in the suburb of Woolloomooloo in Sydney, Australia. The Gladiator star said he the appearance of the alleged spacecraft was a huge surprise.

Russell Crowe quickly uploaded the clip to YouTube for all to enjoy. In order to spread the word about his find, he shared the discovery with his fans and followers on YouTube.

The Independent reports that not everyone is as excited about the UFO footage as Russell Crowe. Since the clip is only 23-seconds long and more than a little blurry, not everyone is convinced the actor captured something legitimate.

One YouTube user wrote:

“I don’t understand, if this was time lapse photography then that could just be a plane? What am I missing here?”

Other folks weren’t nearly as kind, going as far as to claim Russell Crowe was drunk when he was reviewing the footage. Since he is adamant about the find, Crowe took to Twitter to defend his UFO video.

The actor wrote:

“Canon 5D, No Flash, can’t be a lense flare because it moves, camera is fixed.”

According to Sky News, not everyone was out to burst Crowe’s bubble. Some folks came to the Les Miserables star’s defense on YouTube.

One individual commented:

“Without imagination mankind would not have evolved. If it makes Russell happy, let him believe it is a UFO and not some light interference. Be kind people, be kind.”

You can find footage of the alleged UFO in the skies above Sydney, Australia below.

When the the actor isn’t capturing footage of unidentified flying objects, he often finds time to appear in movies. Next up for Crowe is Zack Synder’s Man of Steel and director Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic Noah.

What do you think about the UFO footage Russell Crowe uploaded to YouTube?

Russell Crowe Uploads UFO Clip To YouTube [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Michael Jordan’s alleged son begged his mother to sue.

Pamela Smith had originally never intended to file a paternity suit against Michael Jordan. Her son had apparently begged her to make the NBA superstar own up and claim responsibility for him.

Michael Jordan’s baby mama Pamela Smith is suing him for paternity and child support, claiming the NBA Jam star got her pregnant back in 1995. At that time, Michael Jordan was still married to Juanita Vanoy.

According to TMZ, sources close to Pamela Smith said she doesn’t need the money to support herself and her son. Smith has always had a good relationship with Michael Jordan, though this paternity suit could change that.

Pamela Smith’s son “Taj”, or legally Grant Reynolds, begged his mom to force Michael Jordan to publicly acknowledge him as his son. Otherwise she never would have filed the legal documents. Smith never wanted to call him out, but Grant Reynolds, 16, insisted.

Michael Jordan and Grant Reynolds have met several times in the past, and the NBA star gave the family gifts and money. However, Grant was told to keep it a secret.

Grant Reynolds posted a YouTube video (below) explaining the situation. In the video, Grant is sitting on a couch as he says:

“[The] reason I’m making this video is because I have some exclusive … information I feel like everybody should know. … [If] you’ve been hearing any rumors about I’m Michael Jordan’s son on Twitter, Instagram, MediaTakeOut, Worldstar, any of that, it’s true. And the reason I’m making this video is because I want, I feel like y’all should know, and I feel like he should be more in my life about it, too. Because if I was somebody’s dad, I would want to be in my kid’s life, feel me? So the reason I’m making this video is for everybody to know, for him to come out of the dark and stop being secretive about it because he knows I’m his son. I’ve met him, all that stuff, we talked, had [a] conversation. I dunno, I just want him to be more in my life about the situation and all that so … that’s basically it…”

How do you feel about Michael Jordan’s alleged son begging his mother to file the paternity suit?

#thafactzoflife NBA: Michael Jordan’s Alleged Son Begged His Mom To Sue! goo.gl/fb/Bni0L

— Oh, Really!!! (@ThaFactzOfLife) March 2, 2013

Michael Jordan: Son Begged Mom To Sue [video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ever wondered what it would be like to be slapped awake for 15 days straight?

YouTube user zachcurd wondered just that and asked his wife to participate in what appears to be a viral version of the psychology concept of “classical conditioning.”

In case you’re a bit foggy on your Psych 101, “classical conditioning” is a form of learning in which the conditioned stimulus comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus.

The most famous example of classical conditioning was performed by Ivan Pavlov, who rang a bell just before presenting a dog with food. After a while, he would ring the bell and not present food, but the dog would salivate anyway, because it associated a bell ringing with being fed.

Back to the “Slapped Awake” video:

“I told my wife to wake me up every morning with a sharp slap about the face. These are the results,” zachcurd wrote.

The first few days are simple. Zach is slapped in the face, and he wakes up. Then, at roughly the halfway point of the experiment, he starts becoming more and more paranoid, and his wife tries different things to make him vulnerable to slapage.

Day 9 particularly stands out as our “classical conditioning” example, because his wife merely says “Hey, Zach?” to wake him up. He immediately jolts awake and covers his face, expecting to be slapped.

Posted on September 14, 2011, the video has been slow to viral success with just over 500,000 views, but it’s definitely worth the 1:45 it takes to watch it.

Here’s “Slapped Awake” for your viewing pleasure:

Man Is Slapped Awake For 15 Straight Days [Viral Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr