November 16, 2005

By Walt Zwirko / WFAA-TV

Computer Corner is a weekly video report examining the latest trends in technology. Helpful links are listed. Walt Zwirko reports from WFAA-TV in Dallas.

If you've ever wanted to be on TV around the world, your instantaneous ticket to international stardom is as close as your computer.

All you need is a video camera and a connection to YouTube.com, a free repository for a wide range of (mostly) homemade video.

There's a certain narcissistic quality about much of what you'll find on the YouTube. Let's put it this way: if you enjoy watching video clips of regular people lip-synching and dancing to popular music in their bedrooms and living rooms, you won't be disappointed.

The content is all indexed and categorized into 21 channels, ranging from Arts & Animation to Videoblogging, and you'll find almost everything here, from crazy dogs to kooky, singing Korean girls.

No nudity is allowed; submissions are required to be appropriate for all audiences.

But, as the infomercial announcer always intones — wait, there's more!

Dig a little deeper in YouTube's 21 channels and you will find fascinating science experiments. I learned what happens when you mix cornstarch and water, thanks to some lab footage from the University of Texas at Austin.

Regrettably, that kind of content appears to be the exception. What can you say about a lineup that includes 618 clips attached to the keyword, "drunk"?

YouTube's simple but engaging interface helps one clip flow into the next. Before you know it, you'll be hooked.

But the greatest part of all this is that you can be a part of it quite easily. YouTube accepts submissions in many video formats, and the uploading procedure is the slickest I've ever encountered.

I sent in a copy of a story that aired on Channel 8 over the weekend. Within minutes, it was online and available for the world to see.

As I was looking through the offerings on YouTube, I was somehow reminded of my first exposure to cable TV. There were so many channels! So much to watch!

Now, of course, cable TV is no longer a novelty and hardly anybody marvels at the ever-expanding number of available channels.

The novelty of YouTube.com and similar services will also diminish with time, but they may well emerge as fresh outlets for creative talent to blossom in a world dominated by giant media conglomerates.

Google hosts your searchable content for free

Google, best known for being a great place to search for stuff on the Internet, also stands ready to help you spread your thoughts and ideas to the masses.

This week, the company introduced Google Base, a free service that lets you upload and share just about anything that might be of interest to others, from recipes to job postings; from schedules to articles.

The interface is straightforward: Tell Google Base what kind of information you want to post, then add keywords describing the content so online users can find it fast.

I found Google Base to be a little touchy in this beta incarnation. When I tried to link last week's Computer Corner article, it rejected "WFAA" and my name as being misspelled. But I was eventually able to create a detailed link to last week's Computer Corner article, and now it is linked in Google Base.

Download movie clips from AOL

You can watch a high-resolution preview from the new King Kong movie, and it's delivered by AOL's new Hi-Q video service.

The free service uses a file-sharing system to download the large clips via a broadband connection while you do other things.

Then it stores them until you're ready to watch.

Even on my relatively slow home computer, the trailer was extremely sharp and crisp.

Something like this could eventually be the death knell for traditional video rentals.