YouTube launched in 2005 as a video sharing platform, and was acquired by Google (now Alphabet) in 2006. It has built an entire community of creators that run channels dedicated to topics like gaming, tech reviews, and beauty. It also houses news videos and entertainment such as music videos, movie trailers, and clips from late-night TV shows.
YouTube’s rapid growth has not been without problems. YouTubers typically make money from ads that run in front of their videos, but if they break the platform’s rules, their channels and videos can be demonetized. Executives and moderators have worked to combat harassment, misinformation, terrorist propaganda, hate content, and other abuse.
The Verge runs two YouTube channels, The Verge and Verge Science.
Don’t bother trying to open up your brand-new Apple Watch S9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 — iFixit has done it for you.
The quick jaunt through the watches’ guts will look familiar if you’ve ever seen one of iFixit’s Apple Watch teardowns, but there are some small differences to be found inside, like a higher-capacity, hard-shell battery in both.
NPR reports that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has been on the meme train for years, has released an album called We’re Safety Now Haven’t We.
Its seven tracks remind you to wear a helmet, not to look at your phone while walking, and uh, not to shoot fireworks at other people.
Honestly, they’re kind of bops? Is that what you say? Sorry, I’m 40.
When the scroll wheel on my seven-year-old MX Master got stuck in free-spinning mode, I nearly bought a new mouse. Instead, I found this excellent YouTube video and fixed the dang thing in under fifteen minutes.
This is just today’s example, and today’s appreciation post for the people who upload DIY repair videos. You’re the real MVPs.
The company dropped a new track from Sonic Superstars, the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog sidescroller, on YouTube this week (via BleedingCool).
It’s everything a sonic tune should be — catchy, energetic, jazzy synth filled with earworm riffs. It is, in fact, a bop. Its October 17th release date can’t come fast enough.
My three loves, all in one place. More from me about all of it in this piece!
Are we all saying Rihanna wrong? It’s “Louie” not “Lewis” in Julia Louis-Dreyfus, right?
I’m deeply grateful for this single-purpose YouTube channel, which is filled with hundreds of roughly four-second-long clips of celebrities saying their own names.
You will not be surprised to learn that the channel’s number one video, with 3.9 million views, is a clip of Cillian Murphy saying “Cillian.”
The live lyrics in Apple Music are pretty handy, so it’s nice to see them come to people using YouTube Music. Seems like a big improvement over the previous lyrics feature, too.
Google has made clear it is going to use the open web to inform and create anything it wants, and nothing can get in its way. Except maybe Frank Sinatra.
YouTube is testing a new “skip ads” button that makes it just a bit harder to see that you’re able to skip ahead. A spokesperson confirmed the test to Search Engine Land.
YouTuber Nick Zetta decided to try to power a gaming PC with a miniature V8 engine — which I just found out is something you can buy.
It wasn’t as simple as shoving some wires in. He used pulleys, a pair of golf cart motors, a power regulator, rubber belts, an accelerator pedal, and a DIY motor mount. For his computer.
I have had YouTube watch history off for years now, and the platform’s new attempt to get people to turn it back on by blanking out the homescreen is... well, it’s wonderful. Honestly more platforms should blank out recommendations on the homescreen and just let you search for things. Thanks, YouTube! (We have a how-to if you want to get this enabled for yourself, of course.)
College football conferences: super confusing, ultimately made up, and surprisingly important to the future of entertainment. Oh, and if you haven’t seen The YouTube Effect yet, this podcast will still make total sense, but you should add it to your watch list for sure.
For no reason other than I immediately thought of it when Planet of the Bass landed, I implore you to watch (or re-watch) Elektronik Supersonik by Santo Cilauro (AKA Zlad), a YouTube classic.
But I won’t make you watch the original 17-year-old upload — I mean, you can if you want — instead, I present it here in crispy HD.
Bill Hammack, AKA The Engineer Guy, explains why he calls this Nerf three-dart blaster’s cascading air mechanism “the epitome of good engineering” in this video on TikTok and YouTube.
It’s an old video, but watching his explanation of how the blaster’s series of valves trigger just one barrel at a time — and how to defeat its design to fire more than one dart — is immensely satisfying.
