Articles about YouTube

Windows 10 is a very good operating system, but despite Microsoft initially offering it as a free upgrade, many users were reluctant to switch from Windows 7, and it’s easy to understand why. A lot of Windows 10’s big changes -- the Microsoft Store, bundled third-party apps, live tiles in the Start menu, Cortana, Bing integration, and so on -- simply weren't that appealing to users of previous versions of Windows.

Windows 7 still offers everything that most people would want from an OS, but nearly a decade on from its debut, it now looks and feels quite dated compared to its successor. But if the aging OS had a modern makeover, could it win back many of those people who have moved on to Windows 10? I suspect so. Take a look at Windows 7 -- 2018 Edition and make up your own mind.

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With just days until the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Russia, Google is rolling out a series of tools to help football fans keep track of what's going on.

A range of Google services -- Search, News, Assistant, Trends and more -- have been updated with World Cup-specific bits and pieces to help enhance your enjoyment of the tournament. From match streams and detailed reports to behind-the-scenes footage and tips about where you can watch games, there's something for every fan here.

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As an American man that thinks monarchies are silly, I shouldn't be interested in the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wedding. With that said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about it. I don't know why, but I find myself intrigued by the Royal Wedding. I make no apologies about it!

Unfortunately, the wedding is on a Saturday -- a day when many people are out of their homes running errands and having fun. Thankfully, you can watch the wedding online for free using your web browser or mobile device. In other words, even if you aren't in front of a TV, you can still experience the event live on YouTube.

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YouTube TV is a really great streaming TV service that I recommend very highly. Google's offering works so well, that I was able to cancel my cable TV without any regrets. For $40 a month you get tons of channels, local sports, an unlimited cloud DVR, and multi-platform support. Never did I think I would be passionate about a television provider, but here I am.

I follow @YouTubeTV on Twitter so I can learn about suggested programming, but also, that is where the service announces channel additions. That's probably my favorite aspect of YouTube TV -- it is often gaining new channels without raising the price. Case in point, today, YouTube TV announced on Twitter the addition of two new channels -- The Young Turks and Tastemade. In addition to the tweets, YouTube TV also emailed customers about the news.

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Google has announced a new music streaming service, YouTube Music, as well as YouTube Premium, both of which launch next week. The two services come as a result of Google splitting up YouTube Red.

YouTube Premium will be available for $11.99 per month, while YouTube Music will have free and paid-for versions. The free edition will be ad-supported, but these can be banished for $9.99 per month.

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For 2018, I decided to take stock in my finances to see exactly where my money is going each month. I found many ways to cut costs, such as making my own lunch instead of buying something from a deli each day. In New York, a sandwich, bag of chips, and a Snapple can easily run you $13! Food aside, there was one thing in particular that was really destroying my budget -- cable.

When I say cable, I am referring to the traditional "triple play" service, where you get television, internet, and phone. For this, I was paying over $200 a month! This was without any premium channels -- no HBO, Starz, or Showtime. The most ridiculous part? I was being charged monthly rental fees for the cable boxes and modem. Well, enough was enough. Thanks to YouTube TV, I "cut the cord" and I couldn't be happier.

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YouTube was today hit by hackers, with the attackers managing to deface or delist a number of big name videos. Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankeee -- the most popular video of all time -- was among those that were temporarily inaccessible.

While little is known for certain about the source of the attack, it seems that Vevo was possibly the intended target as the videos that were attacked were in Vevo accounts. The ease with which the attack appears to have been carried out -- and the number of high-profile videos affected -- will be of major concern to YouTube and its users.

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Nasim Aghdam walked into the YouTube headquarters in North California yesterday, shot and wounded three people, and then killed herself. While the precise motive behind the shooting is still under investigation, Aghdam's father has said that she was furious with YouTube for demonetizing her videos.

This is in line with posts made by her on her own website where she complained about YouTube only allowing certain channels to grow, alleging that her own videos were being filtered. In the wake of the shooting, technology executives including Twitter's Jack Dorsey renewed calls for gun control.

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YouTube has stepped further into the debate surrounding gun control by introducing new restrictions on weapon-related videos on its platform.

The move sees Google nailing its political colors to the mast, and it's a move that's likely to anger Republicans and the NRA, and lead to further allegations of a liberal bias. Under the new policies, videos that promote or link to sites selling firearms and accessories are banned, as well as those that show how to make weapons at home.

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YouTube has been embroiled in more than its fair share of controversy recently -- relating to conspiracy videos in particular -- but this is not standing in the way of Google forging ahead with new features.

Next on the horizon is a picture-in-picture mode; something that will be familiar to users of the YouTube mobile apps. Now the same feature is coming to desktop version of the site, giving you the ability to continue browsing through videos while another one plays.

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The very idea of YouTube Kids is to ensure that children are not exposed to content that parents would consider inappropriate for them. This means filtering out videos with an adult theme, with Google -- supposedly -- curating content suitable for younger eyes.

This week, the main YouTube site has been in the news because of its plans to counter conspiracy videos with "information cues" rom Wikipedia. But it seems that YouTube Kids has a similar problem, with children being exposed to conspiracy theory videos from the likes of reptilian-obsessed, Illuminati-loving conspiracist David Icke.

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YouTube's announcement that it plans to display content from Wikipedia next to conspiracy videos in the name of balance and providing the "right information" caught many people by surprise -- none more so than Wikipedia itself.

Wikimedia Foundation -- the organization behind Wikipedia -- has issued a statement saying that "we were not given advance notice of this announcement." While the organization does not object to YouTube's decision, it does seem a little strange that there has been no discussion between the two parties.

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YouTube has faced criticism not only for allowing conspiracy videos to appear on the site, but also how it has dealt with them. The latest move by Google in this area will see information from Wikipedia and other websites displayed alongside such videos in the interests of balance.

Google says that the aim of the new "information cues" is to combat conspiracy theory videos it hosts, as well as trying to combat hoaxes.

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Just over a week ago, YouTube decided to remove an InfoWars video from the Alex Jones' channel for breaching site rules about harassment. In videos, students who had spoken on TV about the Parkland, Florida shooting were described as "crisis actors". Jones described the move as "giant, massive censorship" and went as far as saying his channel was about to be shut down.

Now advertisers are showing how they feel about InfoWars, with a number of large companies -- including Acer, 20th Century Fox, Grammarly, Paramount Network, Alibaba and  Mozilla -- pulling advertising after learning that their ads were appearing on Jones' channel.

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Google is testing a new AI green screen tool for YouTube called Mobile Real-time Video Segmentation. We've become used to every chat tool worth its salt offering AR overlays and masks, but this technology makes it possible to change backgrounds -- in real time.

The technique makes use of neural networks to determine which parts of a scene are foreground to be left alone and which are background to be replaced. No special equipment is needed, and it has the potential to be used for serious videos as well as the more frivolous things masks tend to be used for at the moment.

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