F

Here is where the computer is not just a "stupid machine"
Scroll Up
start.. image1
 
image2
 
image3
 
image4
 
image5
 
image6
 
image7
 
image8
 
image9
 
image10
 
end.
Scroll Down

// this tells jquery to run the function below once the DOM is ready $(document).ready(function() { // choose text for the show/hide link var showText="Show the hidden text"; var hideText="Hide the text"; // create the toggle link $("#hide_this").before("

"+showText+""); // hide the content $('#hide_this').hide(); // capture clicks on the newly created link $('a#toggle_link').click(function() { // change the link text if ($('a#toggle_link').text()==showText) { $('a#toggle_link').text(hideText); } else { $('a#toggle_link').text(showText); } // toggle the display $('#hide_this').toggle('slow'); // return false so any link destination is not followed return false; }); });

Showing posts with label Web:Sosial Networking. Show all posts

How Blogs Work  

0 comments

How Blogs Work

by Marshall Brain
Browse the article How Blogs Work
Introduction to How Blogs Work
Marshall Brain's Blog
Be sure to check out Marshall Brain's blog BrainStuff and subscribe to his daily podcast for your HowStuffWorks fix.
Blogs appear on the news pretty often these days. For example, a reporter is tipped to a story by a blog, or a blog reports another angle on a story. Blogs show up in magazines a lot, too.
But there is a good chance you have never seen a blog (also known as aweblog) or experienced the blogosphere. What are blogs? There are now millions of them -- where did they all come from?
screenshot of marshall brain's blog
In this article, you will have a chance to enter the world of blogging. You will even learn how to create your own blog and publish it to the world.
What is  a Blog?
One of the things that is so amazing about blogs is their simplicity.
Think about a "normal Web site." It usually has a home page, with links to lots of sub-pages that have more detail. HowStuffWorks is like this, with thousands of information pages all organized under a home page. A small business site follows the same format -- it might have a home page and five or 10 sub-pages. Most traditional Web sites follow this format. If the site is small, it is sort of like an online brochure. If it is large, it is like an electronic encyclopedia.
screenshot of cnn's blog
A typical Web site has a home page that links to sub-pages within the site. CNN.com, pictured above, is typical of this genre. The CNN site contains thousands of articles all organized into big categories. The categories and all the latest stories are accessed from the home page.
A blog is much simpler:
  • A blog is normally a single page of entries. There may be archives of older entries, but the "main page" of a blog is all anyone really cares about.
  • A blog is organized in reverse-chronological order, from most recent entry to least recent.
  • A blog is normally public -- the whole world can see it.
  • The entries in a blog usually come from a single author.
  • The entries in a blog are usually stream-of-consciousness. There is no particular order to them. For example, if I see a good link, I can throw it in my blog. The tools that most bloggers use make it incredibly easy to add entries to a blog any time they feel like it.
screenshot of techdirt, a typical blog

Blog Basics
A typical blog has a main page and nothing else. On the main page, there is a set of entries. Each entry is a little text blurb that may contain embedded links out to other sites, news stories, etc. When the author adds a new entry, it goes at the top, pushing all the older entries down. This blog also has a right sidebar that contains additional permanent links to other sites and stories. The author might update the sidebar weekly or monthly.
Basically, a blog is a lot like an online journal or diary. The author can talk about anything and everything. Many blogs are full of interesting links that the author has found. Blogs often contain stories or little snippets of information that are interesting to the author.
screenshot of marshall brain's blog
Even though blogs can be completely free-form, many blogs have a focus. For example, if a blogger is interested in technology, the blogger might go to the Consumer Electronics Show and post entries of the things he/she sees there. If a blogger is interested in a certain disease, he/she might post every news article and every piece of research he/she finds on the disease. If a blogger is interested in economic issues, he/she might post links to articles that discuss the economy and then offer commentary on them.
There are people who use their blogs simply as a scrapbook -- a form of online memory. Whenever the author finds a link or a snippet of information that he/she wants to remember, it gets posted in the blog. Even if no one else ever looks at it, it is still useful to the author because the blog is a searchable electronic medium that the author can access with a Web browser anywhere in the world.
screenshot of techdirt, a typical blog

In other words, a blog can be anything the author wants it to be. The thing that all blogs have in common is the reverse-chronological ordering of entries.
The Blogosphere and Creating Your Own Blog
Best Blogs
If you would like to get a taste of blogging and look at some of the best blogs out there, the easiest way is to find a "best of the blogs" list and surf around to a few real blogs. Here are several "best of" lists to get you started:
  • Forbes.com: Blogs That Matter

  • Guardian Unlimited: The Weblog Guide

  • Globe of Blogs


  • Webby Awards: Best Blog & Nominees

    • One thing about blogs that is so fascinating is the interlinking. There are millions of people keeping active blogs, and bloggers often tend to look at other people's blogs. When they see something they like in their favorite blogs, bloggers will often link to and comment on it.
    All of this tight interlinking has created a phenomenon known as the blogosphere. The blogosphere consists of all the cross-linked blogs. Once you arrive at one blog in the blogosphere, it will often have links that connect you to many of the other sites in the blogosphere. You can bounce around in the blogosphere for years if you like that sort of thing.
    Many blog readers enter the blogosphere and find one (or a few) bloggers they really like. For example, you might have a blog you use to keep up to date on the latest technology, and another to keep up to date on the latest news. The blogger is acting a lot like a DJ on a radio show, choosing stories, links and/or snippets just like the DJ chooses songs. People who like what the blogger focuses on each day come back and read that blogger every day or so. Celebrities have also gotten into the act, creating blogs as a way to interact with their fans.
    Creating Your Own Blog 
    Open Source Code
    LiveJournal is built on open source software. This means that most of the software used to create and maintain LiveJournal is available for anyone to modify and use. There are several blog toolsets that use LiveJournal's source code, includingGreatestJournal andDeadJournal.
    Creating your own blog is now easy because there are Web-based toolsets that make the management of your blog incredibly simple -- Blogger, Xanga, TypePad, andLiveJournal are just a few of the services available. You can create basic blogs for free, and most of these toolsets have additional features available for a price. There is also software (such as Movable Type) to help you create and self-publish your blog with even more customization.
    I created Marshall Brain's Blog using Blogger. Creating a simple blog is free and only takes about five minutes. You enter your name, e-mail address and a few other pieces of information. You select "the look" (template) for your blog from a set of standard templates. Click a few buttons and you're done.
    Now you can add new entries to your blog. Basically, all you do is type in the entry and push the "post" button to post it. You can edit the entry as much as you like by clicking the "edit" button. When you are happy with the new entry, you push the "publish" button to make your new entry visible on your public blog.
    One of the best Web sites I have found recently is called ExploreMarsNow.com. I added a short entry about it to my blog in about 10 seconds. The entry says simply:
    That's it. A blog entry can be that simple. Or it can be an entire story. It's all up to you.
    With Blogger, you have two options for where your blog can live:
    • Your blog can live on the Blogger.com blog site, called Blogspot.com. You create a custom URL for your blog and Blogspot.com does all the work of hosting your blog. For example, Marshall Brain's Blog can be found at http://MarshallBrain.Blogspot.com.
    • You can host your blog yourself on another Web site. Every time you "publish" your blog, Blogger uses FTP to send the latest HTML code for your blog to the chosen location.
    The incredible simplicity of blogging is one of the things that makes blogging so popular. But if text isn't enough for you, many blogging toolsets also allow you to post photos, video, and audio files. You can even post via your cell phone.

    How Facebook Works  

    0 comments

    How Facebook Works

    by Jonathan Strickland
    Browse the article How Facebook Works
    Introduction to How Facebook Works
    In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, three Harvard University students, launched a Web site designed to put students in touch with one another, share their photos and meet new people. They called it thefacebook.com, and before long the site became extremely popular on the Harvard campus. A month after the site launched, the creators expanded it to include students from Stanford, Columbia and Yale. By 2005, students in 800 college networks across the United States could join the network, and its membership grew to more than 5 million active users. In August of that year, the site's name changed to Facebook.
    Facebook's logo
    Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
    The logo of social networking Web site Facebook
    is becoming more recognizable as the number
    of active members increases.

    Facebook was originally intended for college students, but today anyone can join the network. Although the site's scope has expanded to include more than just students, its purpose remains the same -- giving people a way to share information in an easy and entertaining way. Like MySpace, Facebook is a social networking site.
    To explore Facebook, you must create a free account on the site. Facebook's terms of use state that members must be at least 13 years old, and any member between the ages of 13 and 18 must be enrolled in school. Facebook requires new members to provide a valid e-mail address before completing registration. Once you've created an account and answered a few questions about where you work, where you went to school and where you live, Facebook will generate a profile for you.
    What's with all the Questions?
    Why does Facebook ask so many questions about your personal life? Facebook assumes that many of the people with whom you'll want to connect work for the same company, went to the same school or live in the same town as you. To make it easier to find friends both old and new, Facebook gathers information about you and everyone else to create a dense network of contacts. The upside is that you'll be able to see old classmates or coworkers who have Facebook accounts; the downside is that everyone else in that network will be able to find you. You can choose not to answer questions or to adjust privacy settings so that others can't find you, but that tends to defeat the purpose of a social networking site.

    Facebook provides several ways to find friends:
    • You can browse and join networks, which are organized into four categories: regions (networks that are linked to specific cities or countries),colleges, workplaces and high schools. Once you join a network, you can browse through the list of members and search for people you know. You can sort people by age, sex, relationship status, political views and other criteria.
    • You can let Facebook pull contacts from a Web-based e-mail account. To do this, you have to give Facebook your e-mail address and password. Facebook uses a program that searches through your e-mail contacts and compares the list against its membership database. Whenever Facebook discovers a match, it gives you the option to add that person as a friend.
    • You can use Facebook's search engine to look for a specific person. Type the person's name into the search field, and Facebook will display any profiles that match the name.
    In this article, we'll learn about Facebook profiles, applications and how you can access the site using mobile devices like cell phones. See the next page for a closer look at Facebook profiles.

    Facebook Profiles
    Your Facebook profile is the Web page other members will see if they look you up. It gives people an idea about who you are and what your interests include.
    Facebook profile
    Image courtesy Facebook
    The upper section of a member profile contains the profile picture and an application sidebark.
    Your unmodified profile has:
    • A space where you can upload a profile picture.
    • A friends section, which displays pictures of Facebook members you've befriended.
    • A section that shows the personal information you've decided to share with other members. This can include your birthday, work history, education and interests.
    • A mini-feed section, which informs visitors about what you've been up to. If you change your profile picture or add a friend, the mini-feed will display a message about it.
    • A comments section called the wall, where other members can leave messages for you.
    The Infamous Poke
    One option that's gotten a lot of attention is poke. When you poke someone, Facebook sends a message to the other member that says he or she has been poked by you. What does this mean? Many members use the feature as a flirting technique, but according to Facebook, it doesn't mean anything at all -- it was included to give Facebook members a fun way to interact with one another. In short, a poke is whatever you want it to be.

    If you visited another member's unmodified profile, you'd see the same fields and sections, but under his or her profile picture you'd have a few more options, including:
    • Instant message, which opens up a Facebook application IM client
    • Sending the person a message, a function similar to e-mail
    • An option to add the person as a friend, if he or she is not already your friend -- the next time the other member logs into Facebook, he or she will see the friend request and can accept, reject or ignore it.
    When you log into your account, you arrive at your personal Facebook homepage. The basic homepage layout includes a news feed that keeps you updated about what your friends and networks are up to. There's also a status update section, which contains notices about messages you've received, invitations to events, notices about applications your friends would like you to try and a place where you can tell people how you're feeling or what you're up to. There's also a link that lets you invite friends to join Facebook.
    Business owners, artists, bands and public figures can make special Facebook profiles. Instead of becoming friends with the owners of these accounts, you can become a fan. If you work for a company that doesn't have a presence of Facebook, it's a good idea to discuss a strategy with others before creating an account -- most human resources departments don't care for surprises.
    Dynamic Profiles
    Facebook designed profiles using dynamic hypertext markup language (DHTML). This means that you can change the layout of your profile simply by clicking on sections, such as your information box, and dragging them to another part of your profile.

    You can customize your Facebook profile using Facebook applications, some of which were developed by members just like yourself. In the next section, we'll learn about the rich world of Facebook applications.
    Facebook Applications
    Facebook's applications set it apart from other social networking sites. Facebook's first-party applications include photos, videos, groups, events, marketplace, posted items, notes and gifts. These are applications developed by Facebook and available to all members. Here's a quick breakdown on what each application does:
    • The photos application allows you to upload as many images as you like. If you have a picture of another Facebook member, you can tag the photo with that member's name. After tagging the photo, it'll appear both in your photo album and on your friend's profile.
    • Facebook's video application is similar in many ways to YouTube. Members can upload videos in almost every format, but Facebook requests that all files remain below 100 megabytes and that videos be shorter than two minutes. Facebook converts videos into the flash (.flv) format.
    • With the groups application, you can join other members' interest groups or you can create one of your own.
    • The events application allows you to invite other Facebook members to a real-life gathering.
    • Facebook's marketplace is a lot like craigslist -- it lets members connect with other people who want to buy or sell stuff. All transactions occur directly between members -- Facebook only hosts the exchange; it doesn't get involved in sales.
    • The posted items application can be used to post videos, songs or anything else on a Web page to your profile. All you have to do is enter the Web page's URL into the post field on Facebook. The application generates a thumbnail of the target page that acts as a hyperlink. Your friends can click on the thumbnail to visit Web sites that you think are cool and interesting.
    • With the gifts application, you can send another member a virtual gift in the form of a small icon. There are dozens of gifts to choose from, all designed by Susan Kare, who created the icons for the original Macintosh computer system. The first gift is free, but all subsequent gifts cost $1 and require a credit card -- Facebook doesn't accept PayPal. Facebook donates proceeds from gift giving to charitable organizations. Gifts can be private or public, and you can include a message with your gift.
    Facebook profile and wall
    Image courtesy Facebook
    This section of the profile contains the member's wall, a space where other members can leave comments and messages. The wall is just one of many Facebook applications.

    Facebook is always working on developing new applications for members. If you're familiar with Facebook, you know there are hundreds of other applications available on the site. Facebook didn't develop these applications -- other Facebook members did.
    Many sites give users limited access to an application programming interface (API), which lets users develop applications using the host site as a platform. But for most of these sites, user applications aren't featured on the site prominently. Third-party Facebook applications can dramatically change your experience on the site, including a massive overhaul to your profile page. Your simple profile can transform into an exciting page that includes videos, product reviews, games and virtual pets. But there's also the potential for chaos -- if you activate too many applications on your profile, it will become a sprawling Web page that other members might find difficult to navigate.
    In the next section, we'll take a closer look at how Facebook members can create their own applications.
    Third-Party Facebook Applications
    To create applications in Facebook, you first must add the Facebook developer application to your profile. You also must have access to a Web serverwhere you can store your application -- Facebook does not host third-party programs. Applications can be Web-based, desktop-based or mobile-device-based. In other words, you can create applications that take advantage of the Facebook platform but aren't incorporated into member profiles. For example, it's possible to program an application that creates a window on your desktop that is linked to your profile's news feed.
    Facebook profile and third-party application
    Image courtesy Facebook
    Facebook members can choose to use third-party applications like this map feature to enhance their profiles. 

    Facebook says that its application programming interface (API) is based on a Representational State Transfer (REST) interface, a term coined by Roy Fielding in his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of California, Irvine. In a REST network, form follows function. Fielding's ultimate REST network was an idealized version of the World Wide Web that had independent components that worked together to maximize the efficiency of data transfers [Source:Fielding].
    In terms of Facebook's API, a REST-interface means that applications interfacing with Facebook send method calls using Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) GET or POST requests. HTTP is the communications protocol used by the World Wide Web -- the GET request retrieves information and the POST request adds information to an existing Web page. This means that Facebook applications can retrieve information from member profiles, post messages to profiles or do both.
    Developers can also use the Facebook Query Language (FQL), which is similar to Structured Query Language (SQL). Query languages are programming languages designed to retrieve information from databases. With FQL, a developer can obtain information about any user who downloads his or her application. In a way, that's really what Facebook applications are all about -- gathering information about users. Developers could use this information as a way to create target audiences for advertising or build a consumer base for a particular product. Facebook has been criticized by people who believe the site allows application developers to gather data from members, including personal information and Web surfing habits.
    For those developers who want to create applications that deeply integrate themselves into Facebook's platform, there's the Facebook Markup Language(FBML). Facebook derived the language from HTML and added some site-specific tags. Using this language, developers can create applications that become a more integral part of the user's Facebook experience, affecting profile appearance and function.
    Applying Yourself
    In September 2007, Facebook announced a new initiative called thefbFund, which is a grant program meant to encourage third-party application development. Developers who have not received any other formal funding for their applications may apply for a grant ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 to build their companies on the Facebook platform [source: Facebook press release].

    Every application has a space on Facebook called a canvas page, which developers can use however they wish. When a user clicks on an application icon, his or her web browser goes to that application's canvas page. Developers can include Web advertising on canvas pages, sell products using a Facebook-designed interface or simply share information with the user.
    In the next section, we'll look at how you can access Facebook through a mobile device like a cell phone.
    Facebook Mobile
    You can access Facebook features using a mobile device like a cell phone in three ways: mobile text messages, mobile uploads and mobile Web browsing. Let's take a look at each of these in turn.
    Text messages use a standardized mobile text transfer method called Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). SMS allows you to send and receive text messages to services like Web sites, voice-mail systems and e-mail servers. An SMS message can only be up to 160 characters long. The MMS standard is an improvement on SMS, with no size limit to messages (though very large messages require an advanced 3G phone network to transfer through the system). Not all phones have SMS or MMS capabilities.
    SMS Madness
    Facebook isn't the only social networking service that takes advantage of SMS text transfers. Twitter, a micro-blogging service, uses SMS to let members send messages called Tweets to a network of friends at the same time. Several people have developed applications that integrate SMS with services like LiveJournal,Blogger and MySpace, among others.

    When you send a text message from your phone to Facebook, the message transmits to a mobile switching center (MSC), which sends the signal to asignal transfer point (STP). From there, the message goes to a short message service center (SMSC), which then sends the text to Facebook. When Facebook sends a message to your phone, the process is reversed. Using text messages, you can look up basic member profile information, send messages (including pokes and wall posts), add friends to your network and interact with some Facebook applications.
    Mobile uploads work in a similar way to text messages, but must use MMS. MMS allows you to send not only text, but also sound files, video and images. The transfer method is similar to SMS, but it requires a handheld device compatible with the MMS standard. Because some devices aren't MMS compatible, service providers sometimes build in a feature that alerts a user when he or she has received a multimedia message. The message usually tells the user to visit a Web page link to view the message.
    With MMS messages sent from your phone, you can upload photos to your profile -- they'll appear in a special uploaded photos section. You can also upload notes or videos from your phone to your profile. In either case, you must create your multimedia message first, then send it to the appropriate e-mail address.
    Facebook
    Chris Jackson/Getty Images
    Facebook has become the second most visited social networking site on the Internet and the sixth most visited site in the United States. Users can access the popular site from the comfort of home and from their mobile devices. 
    Your phone must have Web browsing capabilities in order for you to visit Facebook from it. You'll need to direct your phone's browser to m.facebook.com, Facebook's site designed specifically for mobile browsing. To upload notes to Facebook, you send the message to notes@facebook.com. For photos or videos, you send the message to mobile@facebook.com.
    Unlike typical Facebook pages, the mobile counterpart's code is in Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML). XHTML is a more restricted language than standard HTML. One of the reasons for this is that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international organization that develops interoperable technologies for the Web, recognized the need for a Web language that mobile devices could easily interpret. Computers have more resources than mobile devices, and can interpret much more complex Web pages than a cell phone or similar gadget. XHTML helps to level the playing field.
    In the next section, we'll look at some of Facebook's impressive statistics.
    Facebook Facts and Figures
    While the company began as the pet project for a group of Harvard students, today it calls Palo Alto, Calif., home (the company also has an office in New York). Facebook has more than 350 employees, and the benefits package sounds pretty sweet. It includes:
    • Medical, dental and vision health plans with no premiums
    • 401(k) plan
    • Four weeks vacation and eight company holidays
    • Free catered breakfast, lunch and dinner every day
    • Dry cleaning and laundry services
    • An IBM Thinkpad or Apple MacBook Pro -- employee's choice
    Facebook's popularity continues to grow day by day. The company claims that it has more than 57 million active members -- users who have logged onto Facebook over the last 30 day period -- on the site. Since January 2007, the average number of new registrations per day is 250,000. Facebook says that the number of active users doubles every six months. Members from the United States account for most of Facebook's population, followed by members inCanada and the United Kingdom.
    Facebook also claims to be the No. 1 image-sharing service on the Internet, drawing more traffic than the second-, third- and fourth- place sites combined. In terms of image numbers, this means that Facebook receives more than 14 million uploaded images every day. Because there's no limit on how many images a member can upload and new members arrive at Facebook every day, this number will likely continue to rise exponentially.
    Since June 2007, when Facebook first allowed third-party developers to create applications, developers have debuted more than 7,000 programs on the Facebook platform. Every day, developers introduce another 100 applications to the site. Facebook estimates that more than 80 percent of all members have used at least one third-party application.
    Mark Zuckerburg
    Image courtesy Facebook
    Mark Zuckerburg, founder of Facebook, explains the concept of Facebook's social network. The site has grown from Zuckerburg's vision of connecting the Harvard campus to connecting users across the Internet. 

    Because it is so popular and heavily trafficked, Facebook requires massive amounts of storage space, both in a digital and physical sense. According to one Facebook employee, the company relies on around 200 memcached servers for production (day-to-day operation of the site) and a few more for developmental purposes [source: Grimm]. "Memcached" stands for memory caching, a method of temporarily storing data. A memcached server temporarily stores information in the server's memory, reducing the need to search a database for information. This decreases the amount of time it takes between a request for information and the delivery of that data.
    Facebook also uses custom-built servers for back-end operations and a monitoring system to keep track of all the servers. Servers take up space, so Facebook leases facilities from vendors for server storage. In 2007, Facebook signed an agreement with DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT) to lease 10,000 square feet of space in an Ashburn, Va., storage center [source: Data Center Knowledge].
    So how does Facebook make enough money to cover its expenses? It generates some revenue by selling web advertising space, but the majority of its funding comes from private investors. According to Facebook, it has received more than $40 million in funding since it launched in 2004.

    How YouTube Works  

    0 comments

    How YouTube Works

    by Jonathan Strickland
    Browse the article How YouTube Works
    Introduction to How YouTube Works
    In February 2005, three PayPal employees launched the beta test version of a Web site called YouTube. They designed the site to let people share videos with the rest of the world. In November 2005, Sequoia Capital invested more than $3 million in the site, and a month later YouTube emerged as a full-fledged Web destination. It didn't take long for the site to become popular, and in November 2006, Internet search engine goliath Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion.
    CNN/YouTube Presidential debate
    Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
    In 2007, CNN and YouTube partnered to let average Americans ask debate questions to presidential hopefuls. Here, the Republican candidates answer YouTubers' questions.
    As the company has grown, so has the scope of the videos on the site. In the early days of YouTube, you could find videos showing interesting locations, crazy stunts and hilarious pranks. You can still find that sort of content today, but you'll also see political debates, musical performances, instructional videos and unfiltered war footage. In 2007, YouTube even provided members with a way to interact with potential United States presidential candidates. YouTube members submitted video questions, and CNN featured some of them in Democratic and Republican candidate debates.
    YouTube has also become the center of several controversies. One of the most publicized controversies involves copyright infringement. YouTube doesn't prescreen videos before they appear on the site -- members upload thousands of videos every day. Sometimes, YouTube members will upload television shows or clips from movies to share with other people. If the YouTube member doesn't own the copyright to that material, there could be trouble.
    Drama, Drama, Drama!
    Some YouTube members are very passionate about their online community, and they aren't shy about communicating their thoughts. A search on the word "rant" brings up more than 35,000 video results. Some of YouTube's most viewed contributors are the subject of many of these rants as other members accuse them of "cheating" in order to gain and maintain their popularity.
    Another controversy is currently brewing in the YouTube community itself -- the battle between the online community and corporations. YouTube has formed partnerships with major television studios like CBS, NBC and the BBC and with organizations like Universal Music, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. Notable celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Paris Hilton have also joined YouTube. Some YouTube members feel that these wealthy organizations and individuals are squeezing out the average contributor. They argue that average user videos are competing with people and organizations that have huge budgets and extensive resources, and some members suggest that these groups and celebrities are using underhanded methods to ensure their videos rise to the top of YouTube's various video lists.
    What is this loyal YouTube community? In this article, we'll explore YouTube channels and communities and learn some neat YouTube tricks. We'll also examine the YouTube video player, tour YouTube's main pages  and discover the difference between the different types of YouTube accounts  And we'll even take a look at YouTube's rules and guidelines as well as at the company behind the videos.
    Video Gallery: Presidential Debates
    In 2007, CNN and YouTube hosted Democratic and Republican presidential debates in which candidates answered questions from videos posted on YouTube. Learn how this unique debate worked in this news video from Reuters.
    Before we delve into all things YouTube, it's a good idea to look at what the site is all about -- videos. In the next section, we'll learn about YouTube's video player, the video formats YouTube accepts and how members can help viewers find their work.
    YouTube Videos
    YouTube videos are all in Adobe Flash Video format, which has the file extension designation of .flv. You've probably encountered several different video formats on the Internet, each with its own dedicated video player. These include:
    • QuickTime, from Apple, plays files that end in .mov
    • RealNetworks RealMedia plays .rm files
    • Microsoft Windows Media can play a few streaming file types: Windows Media Audio (.wma), Windows Media Video (.wmv) and Advanced Streaming Format (.asf)
    • Adobe Flash player plays .flv files and .swf animation files
    Flash Video has two big advantages over other formats. First, it has high compression ratios, which means .flv files tend to be smaller than other formats. Second, Flash Video requires a flash player applet rather than a stand-alone video player.
    Applets to Oranges
    An applet is not a stand-alone program -- it's a simple program that works within a larger application. Most applets use only a small amount of memory, have limited features and can work on mostoperating systems. Flash applets use Web browsers to create a user interface through which a viewer can decode and play Flash files.
    Creating a Flash applet is a fairly simple coding task -- there are several Web pages that can guide you through the entire process. YouTube's Flash player has the standard bells and whistles, including volume control, play, rewind and a couple of buttons that allow the viewer to minimize or maximize the viewing screen.
    In order to view YouTube videos, users must have Macromedia Flash Player 7.0 or higher installed on their computers. Since the player is free, there's no cost to the user to get his or her computer up to speed. YouTube's player only works with .flv files, but fortunately users don't have to create or convert files into that format before sending them in.
    YouTube accepts video files in Quicktime (.mov), Windows Media Video (.wmv), Audio Visual Interleave (.avi) and Moving Pictures Expert Group (.mgp) formats. Users upload video files in one of these formats and YouTube converts them into .flv. YouTube calls the period between uploading a file and the completion of conversion processing time, which varies depending on the size and format of the original file. YouTube says that processing time might only take a few minutes or could require several hours. If a video takes longer than eight hours to upload, YouTube suggests that the video's creator remove the video and try uploading it again.
    Flash, King of the Impossible
    How does Flash compress video so effectively? Imagine a video as a series of still images played in sequence. We perceive the succession of images as motion. Flash Video designates certain images, called frames, as key frames. Key frames are establishing images, and all the information in that image is stored in the .flv file. For subsequent images, Flash only records any changes from the previous key frame. This means if the video shows a fairly stationary object, the file size will be small because only the changes from one frame to the next are stored in the file. If there are lots of changes, a new key frame is needed for every major change. Storing only the changes reduces file size, but it also reduces the quality of the video image. This technique is calledlossy compression. For more information about compression, read "How File Compression Works."
    In the next section, we'll take a look at YouTube's layout.
    YouTube Layout
    First-time visitors to YouTube might feel a little overwhelmed when they arrive at the main Web page. The page shows thumbnails of videos currently being watched by other users, a list of promoted videos, a larger video window on the right featuring a sponsored video and a list of featured videos farther down the page. There's also a search field that visitors can use to look for videos about a particular person or subject.
    YouTube member's page
    This screen greets new YouTube users when
    they log onto the site. 
    The main page has tabbed links to four other important YouTube sections: videos, categories, channels and community. Each tab lets you search for videos in different ways. Let's take each tab individually:
    • The videos tab takes you to a page where you can browse videos based on various statistics, including the most recently uploaded videos, the most viewed videos, videos with the highest member ratings and videos that many members have picked as favorites.
    • The categories tab arranges videos into broad subject categories, like autos and vehicles or entertainment. YouTube doesn't decide where videos should go -- the video's creator designates the appropriate category when he or she uploads the video.
    • The channels tab divides videos into sections based on the type of member who uploaded the videos. In other words, you can search for videos uploaded by comedians, directors, gurus, musicians, nonprofits, partners and sponsors. Videos within each category are not grouped by subject matter.
    • The communities tab divides videos into two sections: groups and contests. Groups are organizations formed by YouTube members focused on a particular subject or theme. Contests are competitions and games sponsored by YouTube members -- each contest has different rules and prizes.
    Cheating the System
    There are a few ways unscrupulous YouTube members can boost their videos' statistics in order to get bumped up to one of the main pages like most viewed or most discussed. Videos on these pages become highly visible, particularly to new users who might browse these categories under the assumption that anything that's gathered a lot of views has to be a good video. There are Web sites that offer short programs that continually refresh page views on YouTube videos, artificially driving up the statistics for that video. Another common tactic is for a cheater to create fake YouTube accounts and leave comments on his or her own video, increasing the chance to land on the most discussed page. YouTube members look down on these tactics and aren't shy about voicing their disdain.
    In the next section, we'll learn more about the different member accounts offered by YouTube.
    YouTube Accounts
    You don't need an account to watch videos on YouTube. If you want access to some of YouTube's other applications, you'll need to sign up for a membership. Most YouTube memberships are free, and you can change your account designation at any time.
    A new YouTube account.
    A new YouTube account contains several empty fields for future videos that the member will download.
    Account types include:
    • The basic YouTube account, called the YouTuber, allows members to upload videos, comment on other videos, rate videos with a one- to five-star rating system, designate videos as favorites, create a personal channel (YouTube's version of a member page), subscribe to other members' videos, share videos and befriend other YouTube users.
    • Originally, members with director accounts could upload larger video files than average YouTubers. Eventually, YouTube allowed all members to upload larger files. Today, directors can personalize their own member channels with performer information and logos, and their videos appear on the directors channel on the main YouTube channels page.
    • Comedian accounts are for people who upload videos that are intentionally funny and promote their careers. Members with a comedian account can include a schedule of performance dates on their personal member channels.
    • Musician accounts are for members who want to promote their musical talents. Like comedian accounts, members with musician accounts can include a schedule of performances on their personal channels.
    • Guru accounts are for people who have a high level of expertise in one or more subjects. Their videos are designed to teach people how to do something, how something works or generally educate the viewer. Gurus have a special section for personal information in their personal channels.
    • Nonprofit accounts are for nonprofit organizations to promote philanthropic causes and gather donations. YouTube allows nonprofit organizations to include a donation application from Google checkout on the organization's channel page.
    • Partners are people or organizations that have formed a partnership with YouTube. Partners provide content to the site and share in revenue generated from advertising. Account holders can include huge corporations like major television studios or individual YouTubers who have achieved a high level of visibility and popularity.
    • The last category of memberships is sponsors. YouTube sponsors pay to have content featured prominently on YouTube's homepage.
    In the next section, we'll learn about YouTubers' personal channels.
    YouTube Channels
    When you become a YouTube member, YouTube assigns a personal channel to you. The channel has divisions designed to display a short personal description, thumbnails of videos you've uploaded, members to whom you've subscribed, videos from other members you've picked as favorites, lists of members who are your friends and subscribers and a section where other people can comment on your channel.
    Subscriptions
    When you subscribe to another user, you'll be able to view new videos from that user on your personal channel. The subscription section displays thumbnails of the most recent videos from the users to whom you've subscribed. As they upload new videos, your subscription section updates to show the new screenshot, similar to an RSS feed.
    You can visit another member's personal channel by clicking on his or her user name. Here, you can view all of the YouTuber's videos as well as all the videos he or she picked as favorites. You can even see the other members to whom the YouTuber has subscribed. Personal channels let you explore YouTube as asocial network rather than as a simple video database -- you can find users who like the same kinds of videos you do and find out what they are watching.
    When you first create an account, your personal channel is a digital wasteland -- all the sections are empty. Fortunately, YouTube makes it easy to turn your personal channel into an attractive virtual destination. After filling in your profile information, you can adjust your personal channel's color scheme. You can pick one of YouTube's suggested color schemes or create your own using hexadecimal color values.
    YouTube channel page
    Channel pages, like this HowStuffWorks one, include information about the channel's owner and all of his or her uploaded videos. 
    Using a simple menu, you can change the layout of your personal channel. You can choose to display or hide sections, and you can choose whether they appear on the left or right side of the Web page. These options let you make your channel unique.
    Once you've set up your channel, it's time to fill those empty fields. Explore the site and look for videos you really enjoy. You can watch videos and click on the favorite link to add the video into your personal channel's "favorites" section. You can subscribe to the person who uploaded the video to keep up with his or her uploads -- a screenshot of the member's latest video will appear in your personal channel's "subscriptions" section. When you upload a video of your own, it will appear in the top right section of your channel (unless you've changed the layout options). As you upload more videos, you'll fill the "videos" section in your personal channel, and the latest clip will feature in the upper right side of your profile.
    YouTube is all about sharing. In the next section, we'll look a little closer at the YouTube community, the people who post and their videos.
    YouTube Community
    There are many ways YouTube members can interact with one another. You can send private messages or make a comment for everyone to see through a user's personal channel. You can also comment on individual videos unless the video's creator has turned off that feature.
    Some YouTubers prefer to turn off the comment feature in an effort to avoid trolls -- members who leave insulting comments. Another annoying comment byproduct is spam. Some YouTube accounts seem to exist only so that the user can leave comments advertising a particular Web site or YouTube video in as many comment sections as possible. Fortunately, YouTube has provided users with an option to block specific accounts from commenting on videos.
    YouTube's community page
    YouTube's community page shows featured selections of popular groups and contests.
    Some YouTubers want to keep every comment, even negative ones. That's because each comment on a video contributes to the clip becoming one of YouTube's "most discussed" videos. When a video lands on the most discussed list, it's featured on YouTube's videos section, which can result in a dramatic increase in viewers. On YouTube, it really is true that there's no such thing as bad publicity.
    YouTubers can even leave video responses to another video. The member wishing to comment films himself or herself and uploads it to YouTube as a comment. It's possible for two or more members to engage in a video conversation or debate by uploading video replies to one another. YouTube has a Quick Capture tool that allows members to record a video using a Webcam and upload it to the site using a single application, which works great for video responses.
    Vlogs
    A vlog is a video web log, sometimes called a video blog. Vlogs can be about any subject but usually feature a YouTuber's personal perspective on issues.
    Another way users can interact is to rate one another's videos. Under each video is a rating mechanism that ranges from one to five stars. YouTube members can rate videos (non-members can only watch and enjoy). YouTube automatically tallies user ratings and features the highest rated videos on the videos page.
    Many YouTubers use their accounts to express admiration or condemnation for other YouTubers. Behind every prominent YouTuber is a small army of supporters and detractors. There are many passionate and sometimes fiery videos on YouTube focused on other members.
    Not all community interaction is between YouTube members -- YouTube also has an official blog where members can read up on new developments on the site. YouTube staff members write the blog entries and use the space to announce new events, contests and interesting YouTube applications.
    In the next section, we'll look at the rules and regulations that YouTube community members are expected to follow.
    The Rules of YouTube
    A quick sample of some of the videos on YouTube might lead you to believe that anything goes. In reality, YouTube has a strict set of rules that all members must follow. Specifically, it's against YouTube's policies to post videos that:
    • Are pornographic or sexually explicit
    • Contain frontal nudity (though bare behinds abound on YouTube)
    • Feature graphic violence
    • Include disturbing or disgusting video footage
    • Violate copyright laws
    • Contain hate speech, including verbal attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, disability or nationality
    • Reveal other users' personal information
    While YouTube employees often browse user videos, there are too many uploads -- more than 65,000 per day -- for staff members to view every one to make sure it meets community guidelines.
    YouTube relies heavily on community members policing the site. Every video has a link under it titled flag. Clicking on this link will alert YouTube staffers that someone believes the video content violates YouTube's terms of use. Staffers review every flagged video, and if they agree that the video violates YouTube policies, they'll remove the clip from the site and send a warning to the video's creator. If the violation is really extreme, YouTube might also delete the creator's account.
    Copyrights and Filters
    Although YouTube's policy expressly forbids unauthorized posting of copyrighted material, in reality there's nothing stopping a YouTuber from uploading videos that belong to someone else. What's more, unless a video attracts a lot of attention or a member flags it, it can stay up on the site indefinitely. This worries some media companies -- intellectual property is a valuable asset.
    Viacom, a large media corporation, has filed a $1 billion lawsuitagainst Google, the parent company of YouTube. Viacom claims that YouTube hosted more than 150,000 unauthorized clips that members had viewed more than 1.5 billion times [source: FindLaw]. Google developed a filter system that uses content recognitionsoftware to identify video and audio, but there's a catch -- Google has to have copies of the original material to compare it against the videos on YouTube. Some media companies aren't eager to hand over thousands of hours of programming to another corporation [source: Forbes].
    Some content has landed YouTube in hot water with national governments. In April 2007, Thailand officials ordered a countrywide ban on YouTube when the Thai government identified a clip as offensive to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. YouTube removed the video and agreed to ban any other videos that contained material offensive to the people of Thailand. In August 2007, Thailand lifted the ban on YouTube [source: afterdawn.com].
    Members who use YouTube responsibly know that there's no shortage of cool features. In the next section, we'll learn about the tricks YouTube provides to make Web pages and videos more exciting.
    YouTube Tricks
    YouTube would probably be a popular Internet destination even if it were only a video database, but the site is much more than that. YouTube constantly develops and shares new features and applications that make the user experience more enjoyable. YouTube strives to make every task user-friendly, from viewing a video to creating one of your own.
    One of the great things about YouTube is that you don't have to be a member to take advantage of one of its best features: embedding videos. Every video page on YouTube has a field containing the code you need to embed the video on another Web page. Anyone browsing YouTube can copy the code, go to another site and paste it into the site's HTML code. So, if you write a blog about car maintenance and you find a great video on YouTube about engine repair, you can embed a YouTube player in your blog and your viewers will be able to watch it from your Web site.
    What About the Bandwidth?
    Hosting your own videos on your site requires a lot of bandwidth. Fortunately, when you embed YouTube videos into your own pages, the bandwidth burden is on YouTube. That's because the videos are hosted remotely on YouTube's servers, which syndicate the videos to other Web pages -- your page is simply acting as a pathway to YouTube.
    Non-members can also share videos by clicking on the share link. After a user clicks on the link, a share video box appears under the video where the user can type in e-mail addresses and a short message. Then, the user clicks on send message and sends an e-mail to the list of contacts with a link to the video.
    YouTube also has a section called the video toolbox, which features videos that teach you tips and tricks of video production. There are videos about lighting, video editing, camera angles, sound production and special effects. You don't have to be a YouTube member to watch these videos.
    YouTube video toolbox
    The video toolbox is a place where members can share their tips about video production.
    Another YouTube section is the TestTube, where YouTube offers new applications for beta testing before rolling them out to the entire site. Some of TestTube's applications include:
    • Active sharing, which shows other YouTubers what you're watching.
    • AudioSwap, an application that lets you change the audio on your video. YouTube created this application so that members could remove audio that was under copyright and replace it with officially licensed music.
    • Remixer, a program designed by Adobe Premiere Express that lets you make edits to videos already loaded into YouTube, including transitions and effects.
    • Streams, which are chat rooms where multiple people can watch and comment on the same videos simultaneously. It's like being in a movie theater and chatting about the film with your friends, but without the risk of being kicked out by an usher.
    Perhaps the most useful feature on YouTube is the search function. When a YouTuber uploads a video, he or she can fill out fields for the title, descriptionand tags to include key search terms. It's up to the YouTuber to make sure all appropriate search terms are included. Smart YouTubers know that it pays to throw in a couple of common misspellings of search terms as tags. Unscrupulous members will throw in popular terms that have nothing to do with the actual videos. This artificially boosts the videos' visibility, though it probably doesn't help the video get good ratings.
    Just who are the masterminds behind this site? We'll take a look at YouTube the company in the last section.
    YouTube the Company
    While YouTube's policies and software are fairly transparent, the company's financial structure is more mysterious. YouTube began as a private entity created by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim (Karim would later leave the company to continue his education). In the beginning, YouTube had no means of generating revenue -- it depended on investors like Sequoia Capital, which provided enough funding for YouTube to emerge from beta testing and go live in December 2005.
    YouTube needed investments to stay afloat. Video footage, even in compressed Flash format, uses a lot of bandwidth, and companies must pay for the bandwidth they use. YouTube's popularity was both a blessing and a curse. It had become a major Web destination, but it also meant that bandwidth usage was on the rise. YouTube doesn't say how much bandwidth it uses, but articles published in 2006 claimed that YouTube streamed up to 200 terabytes a day [source: Forbes]. A terabyte is one trillion bytes.
    Despite the fact that YouTube and its hosting provider, Limelight Networks, don't share their business accounting information, plenty of blogs guess about how much money YouTube must pay monthly for all that bandwidth. Most estimates are around $1 million per month, though some bloggers place the amount closer to $5 million. Either way, YouTube's bandwidth costs are just one of its expenses. Other expenditures include employee salaries and digital storage fees.
    cofounders of YouTube accept a Webby
    Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
    YouTube cofounders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley accept the Webby Person of the Year award at the 11th Annual Webby Awards on June 5, 2007, in New York City.
    In November 2006, Google purchased YouTube for a reported $1.65 billion [source: New York Times]. YouTube still hadn't implemented a revenue strategy. The site's popularity continued to rise, but there wasn't a way to capitalize on it. Google began to look for ways to incorporate advertising on YouTube without alienating the YouTube community. In August 2007, Google began to introduce advertising in a few YouTube videos.
    YouTube's ads are overlays -- transparent banners that appear at the bottom of videos about 15 seconds after the clip begins to play. Although an overlay partially obscures the video, YouTube claims that users find the ads more helpful than annoying and that the ads are five to 10 times more effective than other forms of display advertising [source: Telegraph].
    Some YouTube members were worried that Google's advertising strategy would earn money off the videos of average members. Google must have foreseen members' anxiety and announced that it would share advertising revenue with video creators. Not all videos feature advertising -- only videos with a lot of views or creators with a large subscription base get to participate [source: YouTube].
    Whether or not YouTube is a financially successful organization, it's certainly an important entity. It may even represent the next step in how we access media. Many people in the television industry believe that in the future, televisions and computers will merge together. Viewers will be able to access entertainment on demand. YouTube's popularity seems to support those assumptions.

    Older Posts
    How Motherboards Work
    How Microprocessors Work
    How Graphics Cards Work
    How Semiconductors Work
    What is the difference between a Pentium and a Celeron processor?

    Followers