Have you ever wondered what it feels like to hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer? Or to go one-on-one with LeBron James? Or catch a no-look pass from Steve Nash? Raja Bell of the Phoenix Suns knows each of those experiences intimately well. In fact, those experiences are all part of his day-to-day job.

Hoop fans, if you're curious about the day-to-day life of a pro ballplayer, here's your chance to get an answer or two:



Use the Video Response function to post a video with your question. Raja will be taking your questions throughout the season, so check back to the Phoenix Suns YouTube Channel regularly.

Keep balling,
Andrew B. aka playactionpass
YouTube Sports

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Recognizing YouTube users for their creativity and their role in building YouTube is of the utmost importance to our team. That's why earlier this year we launched a pilot of the YouTube Partner Program, our way of enabling some of the most popular and prolific original content creators within the YouTube community to earn money from their videos. These partners decide which of their videos they would like to generate revenue on YouTube, and in turn, they receive a portion of the revenue generated from ads that run next to those videos. Even in this limited release, the program has been an amazing success – already, millions of video views each week are earning revenue for our partners.

But we're just getting warmed up. Today we're announcing that we are expanding the YouTube Partner Program. Now, anyone living in the United States or Canada can apply to become a partner at www.youtube.com/partners. (We're looking forward to rolling out the program to additional international markets soon.)

We feel it's important to reward our most dedicated community members: those who are regularly uploading original content to YouTube. In evaluating applications, we will focus on the users who have built a significant audience on YouTube (as measured by video views, subscribers, etc.) and who consistently comply with the YouTube Terms of Use.

We previewed this new application process to a select group of users who previously expressed interest in becoming partners -- over 100 of these users have already been added to the program, such as tayzonday, hotforwords, apauledtv, and peteandbrian.



As always, our goal is to provide a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe. We hope that by expanding the YouTube Partner Program, more content creators will reap rewards from their work and be able to produce even more of the original videos that have made YouTube so successful.

The YouTube Team

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If you're a fan of anything handmade, you probably know and love design expert Todd Oldham. Now the Texas native wants to see what kind of innovation you're capable of. In the spirit of the holidays, he's asking you to upload video responses to this video, which challenges you to show him your best gift-making and home decoration skills.



Think of inventive uses for ordinary materials, something cool from unlikely objects, or crafts projects that can be given as gifts. Explore every verb in the DIY vocabulary: sew, drill, hammer, tape, recycle, plaster, paint, collage – and videotape it all. Todd will pick his favorite of your videos and fast-track them to us for featuring on the home page.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!
Sadia H. (aka sublinx) & Todd
YouTube HowTo & Style

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There are a lot of ways to say Happy Holidays: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Krismasi Njema (that's Swahili)…

No matter how you say it, a unique "video card" is the perfect way to spread some holiday cheer to friends, loved ones, chat buddies and even to your fellow 'Tubers. All you have to do is go here and upload a video or insert the URL of the YouTube video you'd like to send (or even select from our list of "holiday classics" created by other users). You'll also find a "Holiday Video Card" button on our watch pages, beneath the video description field. Once you know which video you'd like to dedicate to someone, pick a festive frame for it, write a personal message, enter email addresses and off it goes to in-boxes everywhere.

So go forth and spread holiday video joy!

Boas Festas (that's Portuguese),
The YuleTube Team

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Over the past week, many of you viewed and voted on the 20 films that Jason Reitman, the award-winning director of Thank You For Smoking and Juno, and a panel of industry experts selected as finalists in YouTube Project Direct.

Your votes have been counted and it’s time to announce the winners…



While we want to congratulate the talented filmmakers behind Lacos (Ties) , Gone in a Flash and My Name is Lisa on their achievement, we also want to congratulate and thank all of you who entered Project Direct and made YouTube’s inaugural short film competition such a success.

Be sure to check out the top 20 (and many more of the excellent contest submissions shortly!) in the dedicated Project Direct gallery!

Impressed and appreciative,

Sara P. aka TheStoryBoard
YouTube Film

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Ready...set...shop! Now that Thanksgiving is over, the pressure is on to find the perfect gifts for your family and friends. For the folks on your list who love to create and watch videos, consider these cool products that are compatible with YouTube. Heck, why not buy one of these for yourself while you're at it?

Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone brings YouTube to your cellphone with a built-in player that launches from the home screen. You can easily share videos with your friends using the email option which automatically includes the link to the same videos you watch on your iPhone.

Apple TV

Apple TV brings YouTube right to your widescreen TV or home theater system. A new feature allows you to download free software which enables the same video browsing capabilities you're familiar with on YouTube. Just log in to your YouTube account on Apple TV to play and save music, movies, TV shows, podcasts and photos from a PC or Mac.

Casio EX-S880 and EX-Z77 Digital Cameras

Casio has introduced two new digital cameras which include YouTube Capture Mode. This technology makes the process of sharing those captured moments even smoother, without compromising the quality of your photos one bit. Both the EX-S880 and EX-Z77 include high resolution, a blur reduction feature and ideal compression settings for recording, storing and uploading high-quality videos. This device also allows you to upload multiple videos at once for a truly optimal photo sharing experience.

Flip Video Camcorder

The new Flip Video line of digital camcorders (from Pure Digital Technologies) is the first of its kind to enable direct video uploads to online video sharing sites like YouTube. This pocket-sized gadget plugs directly into your computer, making instant video sharing with family and friends that much easier. Flip Video is also the only camcorder that you can bring to a local photo lab for one-hour DVD processing.

LG Mobile

LG has made YouTube more conveniently accessible by providing a new user interface on your LG mobile phone. You can record, view and transfer videos from this LG cellphone, so you won't have to be at your home computer to get the full YouTube experience you're used to.

Logitech QuickCam Software

QuickCam software allows you to quickly upload videos directly to your YouTube account from your Logitech webcam. The QuickCapture function features a new one-touch YouTube button which pops up a separate screen for adding the title, a brief description, video category and search tags for your video clip before instantly uploading to your YouTube channel. After your video is uploaded, QuickCam sends you the web link to your clip so you can immediately start sharing your content with the world. Visit this page to download the new Logitech QuickCam (software version 11.5).

Nokia N95 Mobile

To surf and watch YouTube videos, just connect to the Internet and go to the "video center" option. You can also create and send high quality videos directly to YouTube from the Nokia N95.

Sony Net Sharing Cam

When using Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duo media card, you can store up to five hours and 2GB worth of footage, video stills and photos on this compact device. A special 'Sharemark' button using PMP software lets you customize settings on Net Sharing Cam to tag your files for automatic uploading via pre-programmed presets to sites like YouTube or personal blogs.

Ho, Ho, Ho!
The YuleTube Team

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It's not often that one of the week's most subscribed channels on YouTube belongs to a labor union, but that's what's happened this week for the WGA America.

As the writers strike marches on, the guild, many of its members and some of Hollywood's best-known faces have been turning to YouTube and other sites to express their opinions, find public support, make people laugh and, well, just plain do something with all their newfound free time.

In this playlist of simultaneously funny and serious videos, writers from primetime, actors like Demi Moore and Martin Sheen, and well-known YouTubers like AskANinja and Zanzibar19 all weigh in on the situation:


So where do you stand?
Let us know,
Sara P. aka TheStoryboard
YouTube Film

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Did you see it? Last night's CNN/YouTube Debate was easily the most exciting debate of the presidential primary season. With your questions driving the debate, and with the presidential primaries just weeks away, the Republican candidates sparred on important issues like the economy, Iraq and immigration. It was a lively discussion and you can see all the clips here.

We also had some stellar YouTube users in attendance who provided a great behind-the-scenes look at what took place. Check out some of their videos in this playlist.



But you didn't have to be at the debate in order to offer your opinions on what happened. Upload your post-debate thoughts, ideas, analyses or rants to our special post debate page and tell the candidates how you think they did!

Yours,

Steve aka Citizentube
YouTube News & Politics

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Tonight is the night of the much-anticipated CNN/YouTube Republican Debate. At 8 PM ET, live on CNN, the eight Republican candidates on our You Choose '08 platform will stand on a stage at the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida, peer up at an enormous video screen hanging from the ceiling, and watch video questions that you've submitted right here on YouTube.

Take a quick peek at what the debate set looks like:



You submitted almost 5,000 questions for the candidates (um, 4,927 to be exact), which is almost 2,000 more than for our first CNN/YouTube debate with the Democratic candidates. Make sure to tune in tonight to see how the candidates handle your questions, and then log on to YouTube and go to our You Choose '08 platform to let the candidates know how you think they did.

Tell your friends and enjoy the show!

Steve aka Citizentube
YouTube News and Politics

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If you're one of the millions of fans out there with a fantasy football team, the next few weeks are crucial: every point, every yard, every tackle can make all the difference in the final rankings. It's time to get your lineups ready: who are you going to start and who are you going to sit? Ultimately, it's up to you, but there's no shortage of fantasy sports experts on our site with timely tips and advice. Here's a few armchair experts:

* Not sure how to construct your roster in these final weeks? The crew behind the Fantasy Football Show pride themselves on personally answering email questions:



* Fantasy Fanatics Rob Shaw and Rob Nucatola from SHPORTSTALK offer an overview of the NFL and key insight into who's performing and who's not, week in and week out.

* David from ABTFantasyFootball scours the waiver wire so you don't have to.

* Whom to pick up and whom to dump? The Fantasy Sports Girls have indispensable advice as you're making the playoff push.

* Reporting live from his kitchen, Geno from statbeastsports weighs in with his picks and analysis.

* With the stated goal of dropping kick-ass fantasy football insight in an entertaining and creative way, the fellas at Testosterone Sports bring the noise every week.

* Last but certainly not least, CBS Sports has weekly tips for fantasy owners from Amber Wilson and Jamey Eisenberg.

If your team is hopelessly out of the running, you can still play spoiler with some shrewd moves. And, hey, there's plenty of time to put together a team for fantasy basketball and hockey.

Good luck,
Andrew B. aka playactionpass
YouTube Sports

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