Usually I don't mention technical stuff on this blog, mostly because such things cause my brain to freeze. Seriously, I can barely operate a manual can opener without crying.

Anyway, our pals over at the Unofficial Apple Weblog and Endgadget have been covering the All Things Digital conference, and one of their reports caught my eye: the new Apple TV will include an option to watch YouTube video right on your TV screen.

I don't watch game shows, except for Jeopardy. I actually consider Jeopardy more of a quiz show because it requires some actual intelligence in order to win. That's not to say guessing the price of a bag of sponges or calling out one of the letters of the alphabet doesn't require a certain level of intelligence. I'm sure Wheel of Fortune has to weed out a lot of unqualified candidates:

M.C.: Okay, Steve, pick a letter.

Steve: Abraham Lincoln!

Viacom was just the beginning. Sure, the parent company of MTV and Comedy Central sued the bejesus out of YouTube for $1 billion in copyright infringement. But did you really think other entities would stay out of the action?

The Football Association Premier League is threatening legal action, as is the country of Thailand.

The Premiere League is ticked off at YouTube for the usual copyright infringing stuff. They say the video-sharing site is violating the league's distribution rights of soccer matches, and have set up a website to encourage other copyright holders to join their suit against YouTube's parent company Google.

As for Thailand, they're upset about video clips that made fun of the country's king. Thailand banned access to YouTube, and the site eventually agreed to block pages with the offensive videos from Thai users. While it seemed like that would be the end of the story, a Thai official now says the country plans to file a suit against Google.

Maybe this wasn't the best time for Google to start paying independent video producers. They might need to save the money.

The Boston Phoenix makes an interesting suggestion on one of their blogs: maybe NBC should give the Late Night slot to Demetri Martin in 2009 when Conan O'Brien takes over for Jay Leno. Hmmm...

In this Daily Show clip, Martin explains the whole copyright controversy involving Viacom, Google, and YouTube. It's a great clip, with Martin asking at one point if viewers are watching him right now on YouTube (yes, it's a YouTube clip). He even freezes his body and says "buffering." Funny stuff. Both videos after the jump (YouTube version and Comedy Central's, just in case...)

Remember how Viacom asked YouTube to remove 100,000 videos? Then after Google takes down as many videos as it can, Viacom sues the company for $1 billion, saying Google is profiting from Viacom content including clips from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report?

Right, so now, about a week later, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has turned around and sued Viacom, claiming that one of the videos in question was actually a parody of The Colbert Report, and protected under fair use. The video, produced by MoveOn parodies both Stephen Colbert's schtick, and MoveOn's strategy of using online petitions to effect social change.

I'd embed the video, but as I've pointed out, it's no longer up on YouTube. You can, however, still check it out at Falsiness.org.

We all knew Viacom wasn't too happy with Google and YouTube. Last month the media company asked Google to remove 100-thousand videos, and Google took efforts to do.

Now Viacom is seeking $1 billion from Google for unauthorized use of Viacom content. Viacom claims that nearly 160,000 of its copyrighted cliips have been uploaded to YouTube and viewed over 1.5 billion times.

In a press release, Viacom says the decision to sue Google follows a series of "unproductive negotiation." Viacom also accuses YouTube of building "a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works."

1 in 3 people who say they frequently watch YouTube videos say that they watch less TV because of their online video habit. That's according to a recent poll by Harris Interactive.

Two thirds of frequent YouTube viewers say they're sacrificing some other activity to watch videos, which shouldn't be surprising because it's hard to watch a video while you're reading a book. The number one activity folks say they give up to spend time on YouTube is visiting other websites, with television ranking second on the sacrificed activity list.

I suppose my penchant for thrift store t-shirts with odd logos puts me out of the Izod target market. Maybe that's why I got all the way through this commercial having no idea what it was advertising. I actually thought it was going to be a Nike ad, what with the golfer, and the Tiger-esque red.

It was a pretty slick ad with some gorgeous photography, but suffers from only working for people already familiar with the brand. Some kind of a tag line at the end. "Izod, sportswear for men" or some such, would have gone a long way. You can't expect everyone watching to go google your company to find out what it is you do.

Remember all the ads you saw at last year's Super Bowl? No? Well, me neither, until I found Google's massive archive of them that is. They have what looks like every ad from Super Bowl XL, The Bud Light Secret Fridge, Bud On The Roof, Bud Save Yourself (with the Bear), Hummer Monsters, Mission Impossible III, Nationwide Gondola, Jessica Simpson's Pizza Hut commercial, Taco Bell's Good to Go, Sprint's Locker Room commercial, my favorite, (the one where the golfer claims his phone has crime deterrent, then throws it at the other guy's head to prove it) and many others. If you want a Super Bowl themed trip down commercial memory lane, you got your wish.

I don't know how long this has been going on, but Mark Evanier points out that episodes of The Charlie Rose Show are now available for free on Google Video. The episodes had been available for some time, but at a cost. You can check out the episodes here. Skimming through the list, I found episodes with Donald Rumsfeld and Noam Chomsky, so there's something for both heartless war-loving conservatives and elitist liberal hippie bastards. Yeah, I know, what many of you are thinking: what about handicapped Whig Party members? Am I so bent on using this blog to tout my political views I won't even give them equal time? You're damn right. Screw those limping, Zachary Taylor-lovin' bastards.

According to this morning's edition of The Hollywood Reporter, YouTube will announce a deal today to put viral videos on Verizon mobile phones. YouTube will become one of the channels on Verizon's VCast service, which costs subscribers $15/month. But that's not all. The deal also allows Verizon cell phone users to send videos from their phones directly to YouTube.

In addition, VCast will also have mini-episodes of the telenovela featured on Ugly Betty, called Vidas de Fuego.

I think I know why Liza Minnelli and David Gest got divorced: She's way out of his league. I came to that conclusion after watching the unaired pilot for their VH1 Celebreality show, which all came to a crashing halt when they split.

Despite the caliber of the stars, there really isn't anything shocking or too weird in the pilot, but I did delight in watching the Liza scenes. She seems to be a genuine sweetheart-- crossing the street to sign autographs, snuggling a stranger's dog in her car, and talking her godson into doing his impression of her. I found Liza to be surprisingly unaffected by her fame and, quite frankly, I adored her. She's very old Hollywood. Plus, she shares some great moments with the late Luther Vandross and Ray Charles.

Then there's David Gest... who is weird in a Howard Hughes sort-of way. He lives in Liza's shadow. This line pretty much sums him up, while shopping at a furniture store, he says, "I just bought the elephant man's bones from Michael Jackson and I need an incubator."

Was it good? Not really. But it is worth watching, just to get a glimpse of Liza.

The pilot is in three parts on YouTube and Google Video.

Rumors have been swirling around for a couple of months that Google was going to buy the out-of-nowhere video sharing sensation YouTube, even though Google had their own video sharing site. Well, those rumors have become a reality, as the search engine company has bought the video company for $1.65 billion of Google stock. The YouTube brand will remain intact, as will the company's entire staff of 67, including founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. You know what that means... high corporate positions and heftly salaries on top of the Google stock. Not a bad haul for a company that has yet to turn a profit.

The interesting aspect of this deal is that Google Video, while not at the level of YouTube, was still a widely-used product. Is this going to get tossed in favor of YT, or will both embedded video systems continue on parallel tracks? The article doesn't say. Either way, Google seems to be following the Microsoft model of competition: if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

The new Ray Liotta, shoot 'em up series pilot is available for a preview on Google Video. Smith is about a guy who runs a gang of thieves, but is trying to get out of the business for the sake of his wife and kids. It's one of the few pilots that I haven't had a chance to see, but fellow TV Squadder Bob really enjoyed it (I did get a TiVo season pass though). Smith premieres on CBS on Tuesday, September 19th so you're getting it online almost one week before it airs.

Other CBS series currently available for viewing on Google Video are The Class, The New Adventures of Old Christine, NCIS and all sorts of CSI.

[Via TV Guide.com]