You can access the Community Help Forums through the Community Tab, our Help Center or by clicking the Community Help Forums link displayed at the bottom of most pages on the site. In addition to related articles, forum posts are now included within search results in the Help Center. Although YouTube staff may jump in periodically to post updates on bugs, upcoming features or make general announcements, the purpose of this board is for experts from our community (like you) to have a centralized place to post commonly asked questions and provide answers about site usage. You must be logged into your YouTube and Google account to post a question or reply, but anyone can read messages on the Community Help Forums. You will need to click on "Join this group" upon your first visit to the forums, then you can post as often as you like while still logged in.
Our ultimate goal is to make Community Help Forums the easiest and fastest way to get help on YouTube - but we can't do it without you. We encourage everyone to stay active, post often and help us make this discussion board the main destination for users to seek help from community experts.
Radiohead's "House of Cards" Laser Premiere @ 16-07-2008 19:00 Leave it to the pioneering British band Radiohead to make a video without a camera or lights. Witness the data+laser magic of "House of Cards" on our home page today or right here:
So how did they do it? With the help of 3D image capturing created by two technology companies: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Their scanning systems produce structured light to capture up-close 3D images, while another system uses multiple lasers to capture large, landscape-type environments. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes. Here's a video that may give you a better idea of all the machinery involved:
You can also find this data-centric bit of creativity on Google's code website, which contains additional pieces of data available for incorporation into your own visualizations. Upload such videos to Radiohead's YouTube group if you'd like to share them with the band and the YouTube community. Thanks to a Creative Commons license, all the data used to produce this music video is being made available to share with you.
Trendspotting Tuesdays: Language Lessons @ 15-07-2008 11:00 We've received a lot of vibrant feedback about our Trendspotting Tuesday features, and the idea for this week's takeover comes from SammieTV, who noted that there's no shortage of users teaching others their native tongues or wanting to practice their language skills.
In fact, whittling down the list to just 12 videos was not an easy task, as it seems like there's someone on YouTube teaching just about every language ever known to human kind. We've got Greek, Swahili, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, Thai, German and more covered on our playlist, while LeylaRandomness teaches French to English and Japanese speakers and latinguy2009 expertly ushers a dead language into the 21st century. Check out the full playlist:
So as you prepare to do a little summer travel these next few months (if it is indeed summer where you live), don't forget to seek out some language assistance from YouTube's global community of multilingual gurus. They've got a lot to share with you.
The Law and Your Privacy: An Update @ 15-07-2008 05:00 As we let you know on July 4, YouTube received a court order to produce viewing history data. We are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories and we will not be providing that information. (Read the official legalese here.)
In addition, Viacom and the plaintiffs had originally demanded access to users' private videos, our search technology, and our video identification technology. Our lawyers strongly opposed each of those demands and the court sided with us.
We'll keep you informed of any important developments in this lawsuit. We remain committed to protecting your privacy and we'll continue to fight for your right to share and broadcast your work on YouTube.
Sincerely, The YouTube Team
Living Legends Presents Rap Pioneers @ 12-07-2008 15:00 The latest installment of YouTube's Living Legends series is a double dose, featuring two of the greatest rappers of all time. These reigning members of hip-hop royalty represent both East and West coast styles and are two very different voices in the genre's past, present and future. So, get ready for Public Enemy guiding force Chuck D. and the one and only Cardozar Calvin Broadus Jr., better known to the world as Snoop Dogg. They're eager for your questions:
You'll be in good company as you quiz Chuck and Snoop: we've already got videos from a veritable posse of hip-hoppers and other notables who took time out to share their thoughts on how these two influenced their lives in music or politics. The Living Legends channel contains moving testimonials from Black Thought of the Roots, Afrika Bambaataa, Boots Riley from the Coup, as well as political activists like Fred Hampton Jr. and congresswoman Maxine Waters from L.A. There are also insider tales from David Aaron, Snoop's engineer, and Darryl Brooks, a concert promoter who booked Public Enemy on their very first tour. Take a peek:
So, at long last, it's time to "Bring the Noise" AND "Drop It Like It's Hot" – all in the same spot. Upload your question(s) for Chuck and Snoop here and/or share your own inspirational story about how these two (or hip-hop in general) touched your life by uploading a video response to the testimonial you like most.
