Results tagged “youtube” from Birmingham Mail - Technobabble

A DRIVER who took his sports car into a West Midlands garage was shocked when he found out mechanics had taken it on a 125 mph joy ride - and has posted a video of it on Youtube.

The man took his £30,000 Vauxhall Monaro to a garage behind the Hallmark Motor Sales car dealership on Portway, just off the A435 near Redditch where it was due to have a radiator leak fixed.

When he returned to pick up the car he discovered footage on his in-car "black-box style" recorder which showed the mechanics taking the car on a high-speed burn along a nearby road.

The recorder had activated automatically when it sensed the car being put under unusual g-forces, caused by the reckless speed of the drivers.

The car's owner said: "It was supposed to be in my local friendly garage having a radiator leak fixed. In fact the boys in the garage were out having fun."

When he confronted the mechanics was told that they hadn't realised how fast they were going, before apologising."

He said the police are now involved in the incident.

The car - which was once described by television's Jeremy Clarkson as "truly wonderful" - is reportedly capable of speeds of up to 180 mph.

The footage was captured on a Roadhawk recording device. The camera starts recording whenever it senses anything unusual so that footage can be used in court to settle disputes in case of an accident.

It is thought to be available in shops for as little as £300.

Video captured during the joy ride shows the mechanic taking the car on to the A435 and accelerating up to 125mph before turning on to country roads where he continues to flout the speed limits.

Music videos are to return for YouTube viewers in Britain after the website struck a royalties deal to end a six-month dispute.

YouTube blocked thousands of videos to UK users in March after its parent Google failed to agree a fee with songwriters' association PRS for Music.

But the video-sharing website has agreed to pay an undisclosed lump sum to PRS in a deal will last until 2012. It is reportedly worth tens of millions of pounds.

YouTube is expected to take around a week to reinstate the thousands of deleted music videos back on the site.

So is Facebook acting as a Trojan horse for all manner of strange things - including some which want to rob you blind?

I recently blogged on a problem I was having signing out of my Hotmail account - and the error message (https://ssl.facebook.com/accept_token.php) seemed to suggest that the well known social networking site might be behind the problem.

I contacted the Hotmail Live team and in a reasonably short time they came back with potential fixes - one of which was asking if I had added the Facebook module to Windows Live Hotmail (I hadn't - or at least I hadn't personally done so.)

A father explained today how watching video clips on YouTube helped him deliver his baby son.

Marc Stephens said he had to act quickly when his wife Jo went into labour three weeks early as she had a history of fast births with her previous three children.

The 28-year-old Royal Navy air engineer searched "how to deliver a baby" on the internet and after viewing a few clips said he was ready to help.

Below: The Stephens family (children from left to right) Jasmine, Zoe, Sophie and Gabriel with Marc and Jo Stephens from Redruth, Cornwall.

Alistair Campbell has decided to wade into the debate over heartwarming Britain's Got Talent and now Youtube 'sensation' Susan Boyle.

The former spin doctor, responsible for intimidating hacks, writing saucy stories for Penthouse, swearing even more than Roy 'Chubby' Brown and, er, pulling the wool over our eyes in the run up to the Iraq war is impressed at her success.

For those not in the know, Ms Boyle, (pictured left) the 47-year-old spinster from Scotland, has won a legion of fans around the world, with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream from the musical Les Miserables on the ITV show.

The number of viewings of her clips on Youtube has hit 25 million and is rising rapidly.

Campbell, on his blog, basically praised high waisted trouser wearer Simon Cowell for managing to once again tug on the public's heart strings and create a popular phenomenon.

His take on the success was that because Ms Boyle was 'authentic' the public warmed to her, and suggested Gordon Brown and co could learn something from that.

Mr Campbell knows all about 'authenticity'. After all, who could forget the infamous 'dodgy dossier' which was presented by the government in the run up to the Iraq war.

It had loads of helpful information about weapons of mass destruction in it, and suggested Saddam was getting a nuclear capability.

Later it transpired that it had been knocked up by the Number 10 press office, cutting and pasting anything they could find on the internet, and had not even been looked at by the intelligence services before it was published.

Campbell and Cowell - now there's an Axis of Evil.

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The rather tedious wrangle over Youtube music videos (see posts below) has thrown a few interesting facts and arguments into the mix.

For one, it shows how badly the music industry is doing - because of the internet.

With everything available for free, sales have plummeted and they are frantically trying to claw back revenue through digital use of their products.
Unfortunately there is a huge gap between what they used to earn and what they can screw out of the internet, meaning the whole business is teetering on the edge.

But it is also fair to say that music itself is still massively popular.

In the coverage of the issue, it came to light that Leona Lewis, (pictured left) the former X Factor winner had music videos on Youtube which had garnered an incredible 84 MILLION hits.

News through today via PA looks like the Youtube music video ban might be resolved soon.

Also interesting as Oldham Athletic Football Club has entered the fray...:

Google today said it was hoping to resolve a licensing dispute which has prompted it to block the viewing of professional music videos on YouTube.

The internet giant announced last night that it had started a process to block videos although music fans could still watch videos by Lady GaGa, Britney Spears, Take That and U2 on YouTube today.

Google took the action after its negotiations for a new licence to show music videos faltered.

PRS for Music which issues licences and collects royalties on behalf of copyright holders, said Google wanted to pay "significantly less than at present to the writers of the music".
Google said the deal it had been offered would result in it losing money every time a video was played.

Music fans are today no longer be able to watch their favourite videos on YouTube after Google blocked viewings during a dispute over licensing.

Google started to block UK viewers from watching "premium music videos" from last night (Mon) but said it will take several days until all professional music videos are covered by the restriction.

The internet giant described it as a "painful decision" which it knew would cause "significant disappointment".

PRS for Music licenses Google to make music videos available to UK users on YouTube but the firms are currently negotiating a new licensing deal.

PRS for Music said it was shocked by Google's "drastic action" which it said would "punish" music lovers and songwriters.

The collection society which issues licences and collects royalties on behalf of copyright holders, said Google wants to pay "significantly less than at present to the writers of the music" while Google said the deal it had been offered would result in it losing money every time a video was played.

You've probably seen this but it's quite a laugh and probably one of the best 'spoof' photoshopped vids I've ever seen:

For my money McCain shades it, in dancing terms at least - but the thing which really amused are, as ever, the comments from youtubers - including some operating under the illusion that it is, in fact, real.

brento1138 said "COOL! I didn't know they had this dance off! Wow! Amazing!"

Whereas oop1127 felt there must be some doubt in peoples' minds and felt obliged to set the record straight, saying "It's not real... they put their hands on some other dancers body's it's really obvious." Thanks for clearing that up, oop1127.

yahuj believes the medium of dance could boost the Republicans, earnestly saying: "Palin would be so much more popular and successful if she danced, or posed for magazines. It doesn't need to be vulgar, it can be in good taste."

A more measured opinion comes forth from AndrewKlilly: "Stop Whining About Mcain & Obama, They both suck. Vote for republican so the Nazi's don't take over. THIS VIDEO IS BETTER THAN THE CRACK YOU ARE SMOKIN IF UR VOTIN FOR THE NAZI PARTY!! FOR REAL!" I think your caps lock got stuck towards the end there Andy!

Finally, and tastelessly, albeit amusingly iamthinbone says: "HEY! I thought McCain can't lift his arms over his head due to torture in Vietnam. Well look at 1:40."

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This video proves scientists aren't nerdy no-hopers with no idea of popular culture.

After all what could be better than a 'science rap'? I think the Anfield Rap, Joe Pesci's efforts and Vanilla Ice's 'Ninja Rap' have finally been surpassed.

This comes from scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Cern who are currently trying to restart the big bang, and as a side product, end all life (what better thing to make a cod-rap light hearted jingle about?).

After all with lyrics like: "Twenty seven kilometers, a tunnel underground, designed with a mind to send protons around.

"A circle that crosses through Switzerland and France, sixty nations contribute to scientific advance," how could it fail?

Edit - OK OK by popular demand I'll embed The Ice - Go Ninja, Go Ninja GO!!!!!!