We turned our gaming community into a nonprofit!

The latest news from HeatherJustPlay is out and it’s great to see this community grow. This brings back memories of the community feel that was there when YouTube first started. Check out the latest video and show your support.

HeatherJustPlay is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering personal growth, meaningful connection, and a sense of belonging through video games, collaborative play, and digital creativity.

For the people who join, HJP is more than just an online gaming space. It is a community where people from all walks of life come together to feel empowered, supported, and inspired. Through member-driven events and immersive experiences, they discover their potential and level up both in game and in real life.

At the heart of everything we do is a belief in personal growth through play. When people are free to explore, create, and connect in playful environments, they build confidence, deepen relationships, and unlock new possibilities for themselves and their everyday lives.

YouTube launches pilot program for paid subscriptions, channels start at $0.99 per month

We've had a pretty clear indication that it was coming, and YouTube has now gotten official with one of the biggest changes to the way it does business to date. It's today kicking off a pilot program for paid subscriptions, which initially consists of a small group of partners offering channels that start at $0.99 per month. Those will include channels ranging from Sesame Street to the UFC (just over 50 in all at the moment), each of which include a 14-day free trial, and some of which come at a discounted rate if you pay by the year instead of per-month.

YouTube's promising to roll things out more broadly in the coming weeks, with qualifying partners able to take advantage of the option as a self-service feature and others invited to sign up if they're interested in going the paid route. Naturally, you'll be able to view channels on the usual range of devices once you subscribe, but you will have to do the actual subscribing on a computer for now (subscribing on others devices is promised to be coming soon). The company's also quick to point out that it's still early days for the service, noting that it'll have more to say as it gets feedback from users and content partners.

Source: Engadget

YouTube lets you relive the old-school look of VHS -- in HD

Sure, watching YouTube videos in HD is great when you want clarity, but maybe you've been yearning for that grainy, tape-recorded look. Marking what's apparently the 57th anniversary of cassette-based video recording, the YouTube team has snuck a VHS tape-shaped button on select videos. Clicking it will the throw a filter over the content, providing a highly distorted and nostalgic feast for the eyes. There's no official list of compatible content, but the option seems to be available on most of the videos on YouTube's native channel. We have a feeling at least one VCR enthusiast will be quite pleased.

[Source: Engadget]

Google's 2013 April Fools' gags start with the shutdown of YouTube

Gotta hand it to Google -- the boys and girls in Mountain View can have some serious fun for April Fools' Day. Each year we get a handful of awesomely funny announcements and videos, including such gems as Google Translate for animals or Google Racing.

Google's getting started a day early this year. This morning it posted a video to YouTube announcing that it's received enough entries to finally pick the best video, and that YouTube will shut down at midnight tonight until 2023, at which time the winner will be announced.

Thanks for all your great entries.
YouTube finally has enough videos to begin selecting a winner.
What do you think is the #bestvideo on YouTube?

We've been thrilled with all of the diverse, creative entries we've seen so far, and we can't wait to begin the process of selecting the best video. We'll be announcing the winner in 10 years. 

The cameos are worth watching as well. Antoine Dodson as a judge? Of course. Taking a shot at unboxings? Love it. iJustine, Rafi Fine. David from "David after Dentist" fame. Awesomesauce.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Harlem Shake easter egg shows up on YouTube, shakes vids

Doesn't look like this Harlem Shake craze is going away any time soon. Always one to piggyback off the zeitgeist, Google has dropped its own Harlem Shake easter egg into YouTube -- head there, search for "Do The Harlem Shake" and listen to that infamous song start up.

Nothing much will happen right away, apart from the YouTube logo in the top left corner will start to shimmy. But as soon as the song gets going, the action begins…

All the screengrabs and corresponding text get shaken up as the key part of the song kicks in. And in true Harlem Shake style, they all do their own thing, with some throbbing, some shaking side to side, and the sidebar leaping up and down like an excited Jack Russell.

It worked perfectly in Chrome -- which is Google's own browser, so is hardly surprising -- but when I tried it in Safari I got only a taste of the full experience. The videos shook once, then stayed still until the end of the song. Which isn't much of a Harlem Shake. It could be something to do with Apple blocking older versions of Flash from Safari.

Google is fond of the odd easter egg. As well as its Google doodles, which regularly adorn its search engine home page, it occasionally drops in nuggets like this to its services like YouTube. "Do a barrel roll" is one that springs to mind -- type it into Google, and see what happens. (Fans of Star Fox 64 will know what I'm on about.) And then there was "Let it snow" a couple of Christmases ago, which did just that, sprinkling flakes down the screen like on a crisp winter's morn.

[Source: CNET]

Top 5 YouTube Alternatives

When I think Internet video, I think of YouTube. And to be honest, I'm more than confident that you do too.

Below, I have listed my top 5 YouTube alternatives.

1. Vimeo

Vimeo is a great video sharing website. Personally, I find that the videos that are uploaded to Vimeo are of a higher quality than the videos on YouTube. The creators aim for a higher quality, and normally more creative too.

2. Blip.tv

Blip.tv is more tailored towards web series. Blip.tv offers you access to a wide variety of comedies, dramas, comedies, arts, sports and other shows.

3. Veoh

Veoh is an Internet television company that allows users to find and watch major studio video content. It's not very well known. But it does let you upload substantial sized videos.

4. Viddler

Viddler is focused on the business side of video rather than the adverage customer. It's main aim is to build your company brand. It has a great analytics tool and you can customize your video player. Because Viddler is made for businesses, it does have a few payment plans.

5. yfrog

yfrog is famous for being a photo sharing website for Twitter. However, did you know that is also allows you to upload short videos too? yfrog is great for taking a short video, then sharing it to your Twitter followers.

What do you think about this top 5? What's your favourite video sharing website? Let us know in the comments below.

[Image Credit]

YouTube channel coming to on demand Freesat party in March

Google's signed a deal to bring YouTube to Freesat, liberating users of the subscription-less service from the tyranny of needing an additional device. The BBC / ITV joint venture already has 60-odd channels and has now sold over 3 million boxes to 1.7 million viewers, who will be able to access the official YouTube addition through the main programming guide by the end of March. While details are scant, it'll presumably join ITV's player and the BBC iPlayer in the on-demand channel list, which require a compatible Freesat box (see coverage link below) and an internet connection. We're not sure how it'll look in the final guide, but the fanciful image above shows our best guess.

[Source: Engadget]

Will Viewers Pay Subscriptions to Watch YouTubers?

Rumours have it that later this year, YouTube will start charging for paid subscriptions. Sources say that YouTube is already meeting with some big channels to gather ideas, such as Machinima and Fullscreen. If all of the rumours are valid, then YouTube will probably launch their new product sometime during Spring or Summer 2013.

YouTube would initially probably only launch twenty five paid channels. A Google spokesperson said

"We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models. The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform. There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we are looking at that.”

How much will it cost to pay for a subscription? Just like all rumors, we can't confirm anything. However, the general hypothesis is that each channel would cost $1.00 - $5.00 for you to watch. If you convert that into GBP, we're looking at something around £0.60 - £3.50 per paid subscription.

If YouTube does introduce paid subscriptions, I would like to see some additional features such as the ability to download for offline viewing.

Will you pay to watch YouTuber videos? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Psy’s Gangnam Style YouTube Earnings Top $8 Million

Psy’s hit pop song Gangnam Style has reportedly made more than $8 million from YouTube alone. The clip is already the most watched video on the service; it earned that title back in November when the song topped a hit from Justin Bieber. The news was made official by Google’s chief business officer Nikesh Arora following Google’s fourth quarter 2012 earnings, which were published after the markets closed on Tuesday evening.

The video currently sits with more than 1.23 billion views. To clarify a bit, Psy himself doesn’t keep the entire lot of cash. Instead, Psy and his recording partners probably took home about $4 million, Quartz said, while Google pulled in the remaining $4 million. Still, the math suggests that Psy and Google pull in a combined $0.65 per view at this point, Quartz noted.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

YouTube launches Capture iOS app for smartphone shooting straight to the web

You might want to file this under the "why didn't we have this in 2010" category, but Google just announced a new app that'll let you fire off that smartphone camcorder and boot your videos straight to the YouTubes Curiously, the appropriately named YouTube Capture app is only available for iPhone and iPod touch at the moment -- an Android version is set to launch "in the future" -- and it should be hitting the App Store sometime today. You can shoot video directly from within the new tool, then add a caption, select to send links to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, and hit Share to upload it directly to YouTube. You can also select from private, unlisted or public sharing options, depending on your intended audience. That's about it -- a very straightforward addition to Google's app portfolio.

[Source: Engadget]

YouTube pushes new UI for tablets via its mobile website, Android app

As we should all understand by now, YouTube is constantly changing its look. The latest versions of Google's video streaming juggernaut to be refreshed are its experiences for tablets. The Android app has a brand new UI for 10-inch slates, and if you prefer the mobile website to its apps, you'll see the fresh look popping up there as well. Just like the changes to its site layout pushed to all a few days ago it brings the guide feature, promising easy access to subscribed channels. As YouTube continues to pick up higher profile content to show subscribers, it's no surprise the new changes are intended to funnel viewers there. Check out the new updates and let us know if you think they're for the better.

[Source: Engadget]

YouTube takes to the skies with Virgin America content deal

Admittedly, we're more likely to hit up YouTube for its hilarious and bizarre amateur content than to pop in on one of those well-funded Original Channels, but that won't necessarily be the case going forward. Several of the site's original programming venues will soon be available through Virgin America's in-flight entertainment system -- "H+ The Digital Series," "Blue," "Written by a Kid," "Crash Course" and "The Key of Awesome" are expected to hit aircraft beginning December 15th, according to Variety.

[Source: Engadget]