Friday, November 25, 2011

I thought this is funny

For the past few weeks channels have been popping up every day and they upload a few of my videos. When this happens the videos come to me. Normally I don't have a problem when someone re-uploads my videos but I do prefer if the don't. Taking clips of course is 100% fair use but I am referring to re-uploading entire videos of mine. Usually when someone re-uploads my video I leave it alone but when they put malware in the video description I take action. Every day for the past few weeks I have had to do this. In addition to my videos they upload videos belonging to others. So I take the time to contact the other people and usually in a few hours the channel is shut down.

However I thought this video was funny because this time they decided to re-upload my video about DMCA abuse. I think it was funny filing a DMCA take down on a video about someone abusing the DMCA form.

Here is the video stolen from me



And of course here is the original



For those interested http://www.youtube.com/user/fryyjctd is the channel however I don't know how long that channel will last as every video is pirated and has malware in the video descriptions.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Did I Do That?

Well it was a day like any other day for me. Except I went out and voted, that is something I don't do every day. In fact this time voting took some effort as I was recovering from an illness when I had to walk about 2 miles each way to go vote.

Still as I wait to venture forth into Truck Driving next month I spend most of my time on this computer. Either I am answering questions in the Help Forum, or I respond to messages and comments on youtube. I have just been granted Top Contributor Status in two Google Help Forums now. Yay me. There is no pay but it is nice to be recognized for my contributions to the community.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

YouTube needs to take away the option to disable flagging

Now for those who do not know what this is, back in 2009 YouTube created what is known as the Shows category. http://www.youtube.com/shows

The videos uploaded to this section had a unique opportunity. Their flag button was disabled. For the most part this was available to network studios that wanted to upload their television shows and movies to YouTube. These studios have long since realized that they can not stop piracy so they signed a contract with YouTube to post the videos and earn revenue. People got to watch videos on youtube and the networks made money.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

We take your privacy seriously. This policy describes what personal information we collect and how we use it. (This privacy policy is applicable to websites falling under the primary holder http://www.HappyCabbie.blogger.com

Routine Information Collection

All web servers track basic information about their visitors. This information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, browser details, timestamps and referring pages. None of this information can personally identify specific visitors to this site. The information is tracked for routine administration and maintenance purposes, and lets me know what pages and information are useful and helpful to visitors.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Where necessary, this site uses cookies to store information about a visitor's preferences and history in order to better serve the visitor and/or present the visitor with customized content.

Advertising partners and other third parties may also use cookies, scripts and/or web beacons to track visitors to our site in order to display advertisements and other useful information. Such tracking is done directly by the third parties through their own servers and is subject to their own privacy policies.

Controlling Your Privacy

Note that you can change your browser settings to disable cookies if you have privacy concerns. Disabling cookies for all sites is not recommended as it may interfere with your use of some sites. The best option is to disable or enable cookies on a per-site basis. Consult your browser documentation for instructions on how to block cookies and other tracking mechanisms.

Special Note About Google Advertising

Any advertisements served by Google, Inc., and affiliated companies may be controlled using cookies. These cookies allow Google to display ads based on your visits to this site and other sites that use Google advertising services. Learn how to opt out of Google's cookie usage. As mentioned above, any tracking done by Google through cookies and other mechanisms is subject to Google's own privacy policies.

About Google advertising: What is the DoubleClick DART cookie? The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. When users visit an AdSense publisher’s website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help AdSense publishers better serve and manage the ads on their site(s) and across the web. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

Contact Information

Concerns or questions about this privacy policy can be directed to my YouTube channel

Thursday, October 13, 2011

So is the YouTube Partner Program Racist?

I will be responding to a blog post made by YouTube user zennie62

I would encourage you to read his hilarious blog post before you read my response.

It seems that YouTube is racist because they ignored his request to take part in the YouTube Partner meetup taking place in San Bruno that was announced on their twitter here. Now the registration form no longer works so this is basically what it detailed as outlined in this help formum post

First you would get a tour of the YouTube home office, you would get a chance to preview new product demos, you would attend a livestream talk, and get one on one optimization from Partner support.

To quote from zennie62

...this blogger signed up for the YouTube Partners meetup for Ocotber 18th, and was one of the first to do so, yet received zero feedback. Zennie62 is not a show channel, and never will be; it does news commentary and always will do that. But to not be invited to a YouTube meeting because I suddenly don’t “fit the pattern” (or complain about it) is beyond the pale – no pun intended.


Well first of all he has no way of knowing if he was one of the first to register. YouTube's Partner twitter channel (now renamed YTCreators) has over 35,000 followers and they said seating was limited. I myself also signed up for this session within minutes of the twitter announcement, however I was not selected either. You don't see me citing YouTube's antifat policy. Think about it other than Shaycarl name another fat guy on top of YouTube right now. Shaycarl has even lost the weight.

Zennie62 then goes on to talk about the fact that people are using the N-word on YouTube and that it is shameful. Welcome to the internet. He goes on to say,


YouTube’s sending a message that it doesn’t want to know your opinion, just see you act like a silly goose. There’s not even a category for “news” to find YouTubers like Zennie62 in the YouTube Partners and Creators page.

That’s wrong.

For YouTube to seem to be discouraging content producers like myself does not spell a good future for the program, and opens up a huge market for video news commentary that YouTube appears reluctant to fill. But that’s for the future – my issue now is that I feel YouTube is trying to push people like myself to the back benches because we don’t do shows, are minority, and take on news commentary.

That’s a mistake in so many ways.

First, it’s a way of silencing a person because you may disagree with their message. Second, it is playing on the edges of violation of free speech. Third, it works against the very spirit of YouTube – free expression.


Zennie62 nobody is censoring you. The fact that YouTube does not have a category for Partners who do the news (Despite the fact that YouTube HAS a category for partners who do the news click here) does not mean that they are censoring you.

Censorship is the suppression of speech. Unless you can show a message that you got from YouTube saying that you can't say something you are not being censored. If you want views you have to do what the rest of us do. Go out and get them. Network with other people, make content that people want to enjoy. We all have our slumps, and subscription glitches happen all the time on this website.

However for you to claim that YouTube is against you because of your race or because you report the news is laughable. Tell that to RussiaToday who is quickly gaining subscribers.

Friday, October 7, 2011

When is it ok to take the internet into real life?

Recently there has been a spat going on regarding Thunderf00t and Dawahfilms. Now I have gone on record in 2010 defending Dawahfilms because I believed that Thunderf00t misrepresented him. I along with many others came to his aid and reached out to him to help him rebuild his online reputation. I also offered to debate him on BlogTV and that helped expose his views to a much wider audience. DawahFilms has basically been spitting on our help ever since then.

Back in late 2010 he began his quest to hunt for Thunderf00t's docs and in a skype conversation made public by dixiecomic (now removed) he announced his plans to use that information to try and get Thunderf00t fired.

The only time it is acceptable to bring the internet into real life is when innocent people are put in danger. Now some could say that the students who attend the University that Thunderf00t does his research at could be put at risk by his videos, however up until a week ago, that University was not public knowledge. It has also been asserted by Thunderf00t that he no longer works at that University and that he has a new place of employment. However, the only person putting anyone at risk from Muslim extremists was Dawahfilms himself.

I may not agree with all of Thunderf00t's views on religion, but he does have a right to express them. Furthermore, he should have the freedom that all of us enjoy by expressing our views on the internet. Many of us live in communities where having a minority opinion can not only get you exiled, but some places of the world that carries a death sentence.

So when is it acceptable to take what happens on the internet into real life. The answer is simple, when innocent people are put in danger. Allow me to give you two examples from my own experiences.

Recently a user by the name of Variablast began filming young children and encouraging them to use racial slurs without first getting their parent's consent. He moved to a much smaller town and continued this practice. Unlike his former hometown which was so large it would be impossible to track him down, his new town was very small and rural. So I contacted the police and later informed the school district to be on the lookout for this individual. I also sent the school information to share with the parents on how to remove the videos from YouTube if they so desired. The police department was more than cooperative, hover didn't even get a reply from the school.

While I have had disagreements with Variablast in the past, such as his attack on the It Gets Better campaign and also DoctorsWithoutBorders, I chose to get involved with the police and school because I now had a better opportunity of stopping him from filming children without parental consent.

However, at no time did I attempt to contact his employer, I don't even think he has one. I made no attempt to contact his landlord or do anything else to affect his real life. Furthermore I never shared his docs with anyone.

Dawahfilms has no such excuse. His only motive is clearly laid out in that recorded skype conversation. If anyone has a copy please upload it so I may embed it here. Dawahfilms, I do not regret helping you as I try to help everyone and my intentions were pure. However I do regret ever knowing you. You are the type of user on this website that makes this place not as fun as it used to be.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Frequently Asked Questions about HappyCabbie

I am a former cab driver that used to make balloon animals for my customers. That is how I got the name. I originally joined YouTube just to embed videos for my website. It was in November of 2007 that I started posting videos other than balloons and I went from 50 subscribers to over 28,000. The best advice I can give to grow a channel is to always be positive and make some video responses. Sometimes you catch a break and a large YouTuber responds back. I have gotten lots of subs that way. Another good idea is to use the cool box feature with other channels of similar size and content. And of course don't forget colabs.



I became a YouTube partner in 2008 and I use YouTube mostly for social interaction. Although I now do this full time for a living, the money is only a perk and never an incentive. One of my biggest breaks was being featured on G4 Network's Websoup. You can see a copy of my TV debut here, or the original video they featured here.



A few people have asked why I don't accept friend requests. I removed my friends list back in 2008 because it resulted in too much spam.



A lot of people ask me how to become a YouTube Partner. Just apply! Currently it is only available in 23 countries so if you get redirected to the home page that means that the Partners Program is not yet available in your country.



What is the criteria to be a partner?



In order to qualify for the Partner program you have to be free of copyright strikes and contend ID matches. If you want to know what the difference is you can click here.



The easiest way to get rid of a content ID match is to delete the video, but the help article listed above will also show you how to dispute the process. Copyright strikes are a little more difficult. For the longest time the only way to get rid of a copyright strike was to file a counter-notice or get the claimaint to file a retraction. However that was not always possible. Then YouTube announced in their blog that copyright strikes would now expire and that old strikes could be dealt with by attending their copyright school. (http://www.youtube.com/copyright_school)



The other thing Youtube checks for is with the community guidelines and Terms of Service. Sometimes YouTube will remove a video for violating the rules. The best way to avoid flagging is to better understand what YouTube is looking for. To that end YouTube has given us a few educational resources. The first is their Blog post, "Context Is King"



Another good learning tool is Victoria Grand's lecture and demonstration of how YouTube reviews and removes videos that are flagged.



In 2010 YouTube launched the ability to appeal a flag to all users, previously it was available only to Partners. (http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/07/strike-youre-out-or-maybe-not.html)



Here is the help center article on how to do it. They even embedded my video there.



Currently the ability to appeal age restricted videos is a Partner exclusive however having age restricted videos does not mean that you will be turned down for Partnership.



In addition to being a partner there are two other programs that YouTube has where uploaders can make money. Individual Video Partnerships and Account Monetization.



What is the Individual Partner Program?



The Individual Partner Program is currently by invite only. Essentially you need to be able to quickly get enough views in a short period of time. Although YouTube does not have an announced number of views required to trigger the invite, I have found that 500 views in less than 48 hours usually triggers it. (http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=72857)



Account Monetization was released a few months ago and many people confuse this with Partnership. Like the IVP the invite is automated. The invite to account monetization is triggered by a channel getting a regular number of hits and subscribers. I have seen people with as little as 100 subscribers get this invite.



Like the IVP, any video you wish to place advertising on will have to be manually reviewed by YouTube to ensure it is compliant with the community guidelines and terms of service. They will also be checking for copyrighted things such as music or clips from TV shows. The team who reviews these videos only works Monday through Friday business hours Pacific time. So to ensure maximum profits I advise you to upload Monday through Thursday early in the morning Pacific time. YouTube has several help center articles for how to claim rights to ownership of your videos to ensure they will be approved for ads.



They also have several help center articles on how YouTube enforces their rules.



Check out my Vidstatsx page and track my channel's performance.



I use Ulead to edit my videos, you can purchase the program here.



To record my screen I use CamStudio. It is freeware that you can download here.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

2011 Global Top Contributor Summit hosted by Google



First let me promote my YouTube channels. Be sure to his subscribe on each one!!!













So what was the Global Top Contributor summit? Well according to their public website it was an "opportunity for Google TCs from around the world to meet each other. It’s a chance to discover what’s happening behind the scenes, learn more about Google products, share experiences and feedback, and have a good time!" Now even though the website was public, the event was not. It was by invite only and everyone was under Non-Disclosure Agreements. Therefore I can not talk about what was discussed. However I would like to show the pictures and photos taken by the over 250 people who were at this event. Google supports help forums in 44 languages and there are help forums for every Google product.

While I can not discuss the meetings, I can discuss the schedule as that was knowledge made available on their public website schedule.

Friday, September 16, 2011

I had better things to do in California than worry

I got so many messages and comments on my video I feel that I must address it. I was not worried about Corky. I knew it was an empty threat because even a helmet head like Corky knew that driving to Santa Clara to barge into the Google summit would be a fools move.

Let's review what he said he was going to do shall we?




I did not have a problem with that video. However dropping docs is a violation of the Terms of Service, as such I did report his comments to YouTube via their online reporting tool. That is correct, even though I had direct access to YouTube staff, I did not waste my time complaining about Corky. The times I had to meet with YouTube staff I discussed matters such as the DMCA, flagging, annotations, the abuse of Network channels who were able to disable flagging on their videos, discussing improvements to Cosmic Panda, ect.

YouTube on their own removed the entire video. Fortunately, a copy of it can be seen here.



Monday, September 5, 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hungrybear9562 still doesn't get it



It seems that he is still having trouble understanding what fair use is. In fact a comment reply he left on the above video reads...

@sheri226 The rule is open to interpretation. I seek to get into court and fight this. I seek a court battle, I say bring it on Mother effer, lets fight, I love to fight!


Well he may love to fight, but hopefully he takes the time to consult with a lawyer who specializes in copyright law before he does it.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Keep the Internet Drama on the Internet



Let me respond to this video.

First, there are countless YouTube Partners out there who have been banned from former accounts. Although YouTube does have a policy that once you are either suspended or terminated you are not allowed to have another account, it is rarely enforced. I do know that some believe the rule only applies to Terminated accounts but when your account is suspended they send you an email informing you that you are prohibited from creating, accessing, or possessing any other YouTube account. Irregardless, it is a policy YouTube rarely enforces. I know of one partner who previously had lost 2 other partner accounts.

Now on to Social Security. It is true that he is collecting disability when he is not disabled. His only physical limitation is impaired hearing. For this he wears a hearing aid. However, I highly doubt that the motivation to report him to Social Security is to save the Federal Government the $500 bucks he gets each month. (He said in a prior video that he earned $500 but I don't remember which video) Rather I suspect the motivation is to simply screw with someone in real life.

Granted Corky has said on many occasions that he does not want to work, and that he looks down on those who perform low end jobs. Granted, Corky is able to refuse to work because he can live of disability. However, it is always wrong to screw with someone in real life.

Recently Corky posted a video announcing that he got a ticket in Northern California and decided that he wasn't going to pay the ticket. Rather he was going to spend it on getting his LSAT which is some kind of law certification or something. As a result his driver's license may be suspended soon or perhaps it already is. It is also possible that his insurance has expired.

When you consider the condition of the van, in Corky's own words, this could be a danger to the public.



However, since arriving in the LA area, he has not shown himself driving the van. Rather he is on foot all the time. For a time I speculated that the van was impounded, but recently he began filming from inside his van again. Of course previously he claimed that he traded it in for a MotorHome, yet another of his lies. However, I see no reason to conclude that the vehicle is on the road, and as such is no threat to others. Of course Corky will always be Corky and will continue to be a nusiance wherever he goes. (For example his destruction of a toilet by a dumpster, my money says he never cleaned that up) I also believe he is camping somewhere. Many of his videos start with him walking out of a wooded area.

Now should Corky be flagged off YouTube? Yes, if indeed he does violate the rules. For example when he made a video about someone who left a few comments on his videos, accusing her of killing children who were in her care, that certainly should be flagged as bullying. His doc dropping, his threats to others in comments and PMs can and should be reported. But keep the internet drama where it belongs. On the internet.

Now Corky, if you are reading this, congrats on finally getting into the account monetization program. Hopefully you can earn some extra money. Quit trying to threaten other people on the internet and finally make something out your channel. For crying out loud you went to Vidcon met a lot of big people and the first thing you do with your new exposure is upload two videos about what an asshole I am. You did the same thing when you got a shoutout from iJustine. In stead of running with the ball and promoting yourself, you upload videos accusing me of all sorts of BS. Move on with your life. I have.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

My only word on Corky

This fight is over. There is nothing left to be said. I have moved on with my life, he has moved on with his. I understand that he intends to sue me, and that is fine. However, my only statement about his latest actions are the same as I stated in my last video about this.



That being said, I do thank MyRealityBytes for puting up this video. I encourage everyone to watch it and to subscribe





This is also another good video that I found today

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Google Exposed Video Description



First I would like to invite YouTube and Google Staff Members who feel that this video is targeting them individually to read my personal letter to them HERE

For those who missed it, here is the first video I did on the subject of Google Plus



I would like to thank the following 3 YouTuber's for their help in making this video.

BIONICDANCE for her help in doing the lettering for the Thumbnail of the video and Title.

GRAPPLINGIGNORANCE for writing the script for "The Value of Pseudonymity"

PROPORTIONALRESPONSE for performing "The Value of Pseudonymity"

The first thing I mention in the video is THIS POST by Bradley Horowitz. I take three issues with him here. He fails to mention what steps are being taken to restore the many accounts that are being closed. Secondly, he fails to explain why Google is closing accounts for no other reason than the fact that these profiles wish to remain private (as stated in this STATEMENT from Google.) Finally, he claims that people are not being locked out of their Google accounts when their Google Plus profiles are shut down. A simple Google search can show you the difference.

For example
THIS issue is now resolved but he got locked out of his Google account and caused his YouTube channel to be suspended. This was over an error he made in entering in his birthday

THIS is a famous post that has been going around regarding Tom Monopoly. According to his TWITTER the issue has now been resolved as well but there are still others who are having this problem.

THIS is a third example I found

Doing a simple Google search for GOOGLE PLUS LOCKED OUT can yield even more search results if you so desire.

People such as myself have been trying to convince Google to allow the use of Pseudonyms so we can keep our online life separate from our real life. Many of us have jobs that we can lose if our online interactions is discovered, even more so if you are a whistle blower. Others, live in communities where their views are in the minority, or they live under a totalitarian government where their lives can be put in danger for speaking out.

Google itself states in it's YOUTUBE SAFETY CENTER that the first rule of staying safe online is to never reveal your real name.

Google in it's FAMILY SAFETY CENTER links THIS ARTICLE under their section Stopping them sharing too much personal information where the first thing it tells them is to be anonymous as possible.

In fact as recently as February, Alma Whitten, Director of Privacy, Product and Engineering of Google had this to say about the right to have pseudonyms and anonymity in this OFFICIAL GOOGLE BLOG POST

There is a reason for this, we don't want Internet trolls harassing us in real life, and we don't always want our families, co-workers, abusive ex, and our governments from knowing about our online postings.

So I figured the only way to demonstrate this is to use Google Plus the way Google has designed it. I will now detail as many YouTube channels as I can of Google and YouTube staff. One thing they don't want is for their personal youtube channels to become flooded with messages, they want us to use the help center. I say, let's use Google Plus the way they designed it.

Bradley Horowitz's YouTube channel is right HERE

Also Bradley Horowitz's Google Plus account is HERE

Now what I would like to know is why TALIN - gets to keep his google profile despite his real name being listed HERE

Brian Glick the person who brought us YouTube channels 2.0 as stated in the YOUTUBE BLOG has a GOOGLE PLUS ACCOUNT and he linked his YOUTUBE CHANNEL

It is unclear what Brian's role is, if any, in the New Cosmic Panda Layout



However according to THIS YOUTUBE BLOG POST the two people responsible are Noam Lovinsky and Alex Nicksay. Thanks to Google Plus, I was able to find NOAM LOVINSKY'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL so you can send your Cosmic Panda feeback to him.

Shenaz Zack works for YouTube HERE is her Google plus profile and this is here YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Olivia Ma's GOOGLE PLUS PAGE lists her as being the news manager. This is her YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Margaret Healy works in Partner Support and this is her GOOGLE PLUS PAGE

Now of course she is smarter than the others and does not link her youtube channel, however she has added some suspicious looking Google Profiles that in my opinion may be violating the Real Name policy that Google Plus has. Because many of the odd names link back to the YouTube community I will not be listing them here, as I do not want them to get their accounts suspended.

Ben Bayer is the next person I found and here is HIS GOOGLE PLUS and because of him I was able to discover Google employee ALICE C'S PROFILE who is an Engineering Recruiter for Google. May I ask why Alice C can keep her alias on Google Plus but others can not?

May I ask why so many Google and YouTube employees have added SARA MC to their circle. Even YouTube founders Chad and Steve have added this lady. Now of course I can not prove that this is indeed a YouTube or Google employee, I just find it odd that so many YouTube and Google employees know who this woman is, and she is allowed to keep her pseudonym while others have lost their accounts for doing the same thing.

The next name I discovered is THUNDER PARLEY and according to the LA TIMES that is now his legal name. When I first discovered his profile he embedded this video on his Google Plus



It does appear that he has since removed the post, thankfully I was able to spot it before he did and thus I was able to determine his YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Now I do have one question to Thunder, why is it that one of your videos looks very similar to a video by ESPN Sportscenter?



I wonder if Thunder has ever seen Youtube's Copyright school



DEEP NISHAR'S GOOGLE PLUS looks very suspicious. One, just like Sara MC, there is no indication that Deep works for Google but he does have several Google employees who have added him to their circle. In other words many Google Employees such as Eric Lange, and Bradley Horowitz have added him and know who he is.

FYI according to THIS ARTICLE His real name is Dipchand Nishar

The next person I found is Christian Oestlien where he talks about inviting businesses to apply for a pilot program for Google Plus as seen in THIS POST



This of course is his YOUTUBE CHANNEL

THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY was one of the few companies hand chosen by Google to have a Google Plus account. Companies were invited to submit their application HERE however, as of now that link no longer goes anywhere. Many companies are having their profiles suspended, while others such as Mashable were allowed to transition theirs into a personal account. More on that in a bit.

Skud is a former Google employee who lost her Google Plus Profile. If anyone should be able to get an account restored with a simple phone call it no doubt would be a former employee who most likely still has friends working on the inside. You can read about Skud's situation in her blog post HERE

I would also like to point out that Skud has opened up GOOGLE SPREADSHEET where she is asking people to fill out a survey if you have had your Google Plus accounts suspended. So far over 100 people have filled out the survey an you can find the preliminary results HERE

Now according to the TERMS OF SERVICE for Google Plus particularly section 13 we are allowed to use the name our family, friends and work associates know us by. However, Google has recently been demanding Photo ID to reinstate Google Plus accounts. This is of no use to those of us who use a nom de plume, a stage name, or online pseudonymn that we use for every other website that we are on. An online pseudonym is not anonamous. We have spent years buidling this online identity, it is how the online world knows us by.

In this GOOGLE BLOG we read about Eric Lange and Google Check out, if you ever had a problem with Google Checkout, you might try contacting him HERE

On a side note, it was very hard to find anyone who worked with Adsense, I do know that click bombing has been an issue. The only person I have found is SUSAN WOJCICKI but her profile lists her as working in Advertising. However, according to USA TODAY she does work with the Adsense. Perhaps frequenting her Google Profile from time to time to see who she ads to her circle might lead you to finding more people in Adsense.

Google posted this video on their YouTube channel



This is Matt Cutts and thanks to his GOOGLE PLUS we now know what his YOUTUBE CHANNEL is

This is VICTORIA GRAND'S Google Plus account

She is most famous for her lecture on how YouTube reviews flagged videos. She is smarter than to link her stuff on her Google Plus account but if you add her you might be able to talk to her if you have any questions and concerns about flagging.



Another question I want to ask is why are so many businesses having their accounts suspended, yet Pete Cashmore of Mashable claims he was contacted by Google and asked to transition his MASHABLE GOOGLE PLUS account into a personal one, you can see him claim this on his personal google plus profile HERE

It does seem like some businesses are getting treated better than others, all we are asking for is the rules to be applied fairly to everyone.

GARY ILLES Google Plus Profile has since changed during the time I was making my video. His profile name used to be ጋርይ ኢንተርኔትዝ and he is from Switzerland. My research indicates that Switzerland uses a Roman Alphabet, so if anyone knows what these characters are let me know.



FYI this is what his profile looked like before, and it still show up in the google cache as of now. Try it yourself

HERE






THE BEST FAKE PROFILES ON GOOGLE PLUS was published on the Huffington Post on July 13th (Arianna Huffinton briefly had her GOOGLE PLUS account suspended) Two weeks later some of these fake accounts are still up. They include

STEWIE GRIFFIN

BORAT

and DARTH VADER (Although not the same one linked in the article)

This Darth Vader has been posting porn on his Google Plus since July 21st and has a TWITTER and a FACEBOOK

Now let's get back to showing favoritism. Why is it that LADY GAGA can have a Google plus account using her stage name, but LADY ADA cannot? (Update she has since had her account restored but is now forced to list her real name as seen HERE Why is it that Charlie Sheen can have his stage name instead of Estivez but I can't. Please explain the rules and show that they are equally enforced for everyone.

FYI there are many accounts on Google Plus claiming to be Lady Gaga, I am citing GAWKER as my source to confirm the validity of the one I previously cited

Dear Google/YouTube Staff

I have been a long fan of YouTube and it's parent company Google. Even when they have done things I disagree with, such as forcing all YouTubers to create and link to a Google account. However, this is the first time that I have ever come out against individual staff members and I would like to explain why I did this.

As you know I was one of the first to participate in the YouTube help forums and due to my helpful and consistant service to the community I was elevated to the rank of Top Contributor. I was even officially thanked by YouTube in their Blog back in 2009.

Over the years I have not only provided free technical support for one of the richest corporations in the world to it's users, but I have also dedicated my channel to helping others via tutorials, and countless PM's I get on a daily basis. One of my video reviews for the new Youtube Editor made it to the YouTube Spotlight back in 2010.



Then a few months ago the YouTube Help channel subscribed to me.



So needless to say, I have done my part to help out this community. Google then launched Google + and I was one of the first people to get an invite. I got it from YouTube employee Margaret Healy. I replied with basically a thanks but no thanks. It was only when I found out that people could set up fake pages, that I decided to create a profile on Google Plus. I never made it public. Furthermore, anyone who attempted to add me into their circle was blocked.

My concern was I did not trust Google +, I didn't know much about it at the time and I was concerned that people who added me could track my online behavior. Single guy with internet, you figure it out.

My account was flagged by someone, and then my profile was suspended. There was no message sent to my email. No notification. I then discovered that other people were being suspended and being locked out of their Google accounts and everything tied to Google. I also found the announcement from Google that Effective July 31st, any profile that is set to private was going to be removed. You can read this announcement for yourself here

Therefore, I decided it would be in my best interest to attempt to sever my Google account from Google Plus. For those who wish to do the same you can do so by clicking here You want to make sure you do option 2, which is to downgrade your account.

It was after I made my first video on Google + that I began getting messages and even a few phone calls. You can see my first video here.



Of course the people who talked to me told me not to disclose their names so I won't but they did tell me where to start digging for some information. One of the things I was told is that Google is getting ready to ramp up their Google Checkout, and that is why they are wanting Google users to link to a real identity. Apparently PayPal is the next thing they plan on trying to take on. Of course because I can't name my sources I can't prove any of this. As a result I left it out of my video. Another thing I left out is Google sock accounts. Based on the information I was told Google employees are tracking the performance and monitoring the hangouts via sock accounts. This way they can interact without people knowing they are talking to Google employees. Seems logical but of course I can't prove it.

However, one thing I was able to prove is that some Google employees are not following the Terms of Service when it comes to disclosing real identities. Names such as Talin, Sara MC, and Alice C for example. Furthermore, if you go through the Google employees and who they have added to their circle you will find lots of them have added obvious fake names to their Circles. Instead of suspending them, they are adding them.

So I set out to demonstrate the need to separate our lives online, and our lives at work and at home and our neighborhood. I used Google Plus the way it was intended, to find the YouTube channels of several YouTube and Google employees. Previously, these people were anonamous. Now thanks to my video, their youtube channel will be filled with messages, and most likely several comments on their channel and videos.

I did what I had to do. I can not stress this enough, requiring people to use their real names will NOT keep the trolls out. Requiring our real identies to be linked to our online identies can be dangerous and life threatening if you live in a country where totalitarian government exists. It can be costly to your job and career if your online views are not popular.

To simply demand that those who do not wish to reveal their real names need not apply is to deny our voice to what can be one of the largest social networks in the world. There is no quicker way to get a message out than to use Google and it's products. Google Plus can be used in ways we can't even imagine yet, but if free speech is inhibited by fear of life, liberty, or livelyhood, then it is truly a sad day for the internet.

I am the HappyCabbie


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Refuting the ignorance from ArchieWhambulance

One thing that I know to be true is that there is a cure for ignorance. That cure is education. However ignorance can only be cured if there is a receptive mind. Ignorance should not be labeled as an insult. Ignorance is simply a lack of knowledge about something. Thankfully we live in the age of information and the Internet where knowledge flows freely. The cure for ignorance is nothing more than a mouse click away.

May I present to you ArchieWhambulance the YouTube Partner who whines about YouTube Partners and makes a lot of money from angry fan boys.



His video of course was a response to TheWillOfDC's interview with admins of YouTube Partner Support



For those who are interested you can subscribe to TheWillOfDC here


Self Promotion FTW


Now lets go through this one by one. The overall summary of this video is that TheWillofDC was a corporate lap dog pitching softball questions. Of that I have no major disagreement. ArchieWhambulance is entitled to his opinions. I myself would have come prepared with examples and certainly would have addressed the click bombing issue. However he did ask some good questions as well. I just think he should have prepared some follow up questions. However, I do concede the fact that there was probably a pre-interview meeting that discussed what could and could not be discussed. The truth about non-disclosure is you can not discuss what you can not discuss.

Now on to ArchieWhambulance's video

1. At 02:53 seconds he asks for a single instance of a top level YouTube partner being disciplined. Well surely he knows that YouTube staff can not discuss the status of other accounts with anyone else except the account holders, However, here are some examples.







For those not familiar with that story she was told by YouTube that she had to clean up her act. You will notice that her newer videos parody the style of the original but do not exactly sync up with the original beat of the song she is spoofing.

Although it does date back to 2008 Sxephil and KevJumba did have a video taken down
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/08/youtubers-borro/

Hey even myself have had videos removed from YouTube due to flagging. I don't like it, I disagree with the flagging but I must follow the rules of this site if I wish to continue to be here. Even the #1 most subscribed on YouTube has had a video flagged just 3 months ago.



Here is a link to the page itself but you will need a TubeMogul account to view it

Below is a copy of the video



2. At 03:09 into his video he casts doubt on YouTube's claim that all flagged videos are reviewed by a live person. Again his cure for ignorance is simply a click away. Sadly the embed codes on BlipTV are not the best so here is the direct LINK if the video won't play



At 03:20 ArchieWhambulance that there is proof of some kind of false flagging yet fails to provide any evidence for it. Sorry but I do not believe that false flaggings exist, and this is from someone who was just flagged last month. There is a reason why a video is taken down. Most of us simply do not agree with that reason.

At 03:38 I almost busted a gut laughing at his statement that Shane Dawson has never been false flagged. Well, as you know I do not believe false flagging exists, but Shane Dawson has been flagged many times. Here is the LIST of videos.

ArchieWhambulance then goes on to claim that ShaneDawson is untouchable. I am sorry but the only explanation I have for that level of ignorance is he was too lazy to check his facts. Another theory is that he simply does not care about facts, this might explain his reputation for blocking people who dare to correct him. Now I will say that he is correct, to the best of my knowledge, that sxephil has not gotten flagged down for thumbnail abuse, however he has had videos taken down. Sxephil is abusing thumbnails and I fully support YouTube's crackdown on thumbnail abuse.

For those who do not know in order to flag a video for misleading thumbnail this is what you have to do. First hit the flag button, then select the spam option, then select misleading thumbnail and there you go.

At 04:50 ArchieWhambulance states that it is good business to protect the people on top. No, it is good business to protect the advertisers. Case in Point. People tried for years unsuccessfully to get DavidsFarm off YouTube. YouTube only cast him out when he became a financial liability after the show 16:9 talked to some of Youtube's advertisers. YouTube cares about YouTube, as soon as any of us become a liability, they will cast us out. Just look who was on top just two years ago, the ones on top now will not be there forever. There is no special protection given to anyone.

At 06:46 ArchieWhambulance unknowingly contradicts a previous statement. He maintains that ShaneDawson has two strikes on this account. Well first of all it is not up to TheWillofDC to keep himself updated on the topics discussed on the ArchieWhambulance channel. Secondly he has no way of proving that. All he can prove is that ShaneDawson has had two videos removed. Well the truth is not all Terms of Service violations result in a strike on your account.



This video of mine was flagged down last month



Yet as you can see there are no strikes on my account, even though a video was removed just one month ago.





Furthermore I can even document 4 videos that have been flagged down on my defeated nemesis's account (TheRealNickBravo) yet his channel remains. Four videos flagged down in less than six months. So is TheRealNickBravo part of YouTube's protected class? After all he does have over 700 subscribers. Here are the URLS to the videos to prove it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=volix6kO1LU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntobj8VW024
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6XFajUcch4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4fN_cejJF4
This of course can all be independently verified by anyone with a TUBEMOGUL. For those who do not know a TubeMogul Account can let you track anyone's channel performance. It preserves the upload history of a channel from the date someone adds a channel to their search database. Therefore anyone with a TubeMogul account can go in and independently verify that these four URLS are legit and not pulled out of random. In case ArchieWhambulance is reading, this is what proof and documentation look like.

At 06:56 ArchieWhambulance continues on with ShaneDawson detailing that has documented these strikes and that one of them was six or seven months ago. ArchieWhambulance, those strikes disappear after six months!
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=92486

ArchieWhambulance the reason ShaneDawson is still able to upload videos is because he does not have two active strikes on his account. Only copyright strikes last forever and there have been some adjustment to that youtube policy recently. As showcased in their YOUTUBE BLOG as well as their newly updated COPYRIGHT CENTER. So YouTube is being more flexible and more forgiving than it has in the past. There are certainly things I don't like about YouTube, such as it's lifetime bans, however this progress on the part of YouTube should be celebrated.

The rest of his video was just venom spewing and not really worth commenting on.

I would like to point out the one thing I did like discussed more than anything by TheWillOfDC and the admins from YouTube, and that is category gaming. For too long people have been putting their videos in less competitive categories such as PETS AND ANIMALS to bump down other videos so they can show on the top pages of YouTube. iJustine is famous for doing this. Thankfully YouTube has implemented a category cheating reporting tool. In my opinion it should be integrated into the flagging system but at least it is a start.

I would like to add one more thing. ArchieWhambulance again displays his ignorance with this comment reply on his video.











Sorry to correct you yet again ArchieWhambulance but this has nothing to do with them being a Top Level YouTube star. If it was then why are iJustine's vidoes, or Sxephil's videos still flagable. No the ability to disable flagging is the result of creating and YouTube approving your Show category. Currently this is only available to Networks and YouTube channels that are in networks. Now some YouTube partners such as my good friend iShatOnU have created their own network. You can see for yourself that flagging is disabled on many of his videos.

Now I do not know if Smosh runs their own network or if they are in the network of another company. I also know that not all YouTube networks can enable shows. Now to create a show you have to first set up the shows name, description, add graphic images, and add one video to the show and wait for YouTube's approval which of course is not automatic. I have had shows rejected. YouTube is very cautious in granting a show because they know that it can't be flagged. Of course the video can still be removed for copyright and a few other reasons.

Now do I agree that some people can disable flagging because they belong to the right network. Of course not, however I would be a fool not to take advantage of the protection as long as I have it.

Now in conclusion I would like to remind everyone that I have shown evidence that there is no special treatment given to the top YouTube Partners. Even people such as Shane Dawson and RayWilliamJohnson have been disciplined by YouTube. Sadly I don't think ArchieWhambulance is willing to cure his ignorance, but I hope I was able to highlight errors in his statements to those who read this blog.

I don't frequent my blog that often so if you do wish to discuss the topics discussed please do so via YouTube Message by clicking HERE

Monday, July 4, 2011

PeaceInChristAlone Can't be Serious!!



Update: He has since retracted the above statement.



Ok so lets get some background on this. This was for a colab that Fruitikay was putting together but it never happened. In it PeaceInChristAlone says some pretty disturbing things. First at 1:40 he lumps all Catholic Priests together as pedophiles. While there has been a lot of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, not all priests are pedophiles. Most are good decent people and have no problem living a life of celibacy.

Furthermore in the video description he says this: "Kill all pedophiles and protect the kids." He then lists three Bible verses to back up that statement. Mathew 18:6 Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:1-3. Now the problem is this, none of these three verses deal with pedophilia or the sexual abuse of children.

For those unfamiliar with the Bible here is a condensed lesson. Mathew Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they basically tell the same events but from different perspectives and different details. The passage in question is regarding faith and sin. In Mathew the disciples of Jesus asked Him who would be the greatest in Heaven and Jesus brought forth a child and told his disciples that they must have the faith of a child in order to enter into Heaven. In Mark it just talks about sin, and in Luke it talks about sin, then followed up with a lesson on faith. You can look up the passages yourself and read them in context at BibleGateway.com

So the question remains, why would PeaceinChristAlone, a person who knows this stuff, misquote the Bible? I don't know but lets go on.

At 2:20 into his video he says that teens should not have sex but instead get married and have sex within marriage. I am sorry but that is just foolish. Teens should not be having sex as they are usually not emotionally mature enough to handle long term relationships. Furthermore, in no way should any teen ever get married. They have no education, no means of supporting themselves yet. Get a job, get some benefits and show some stability in your life and then take on a lifelong commitment.

At 2:30 seconds into the video I am convinced he is trolling us now. Capital punishment for adultery and divorce. I am sorry but I refuse to believe he actually thinks we should kill people for having sex outside of marriage. I met the guy, I like the guy, but I have been on YouTube long enough to spot someone when they are trolling. GodsGunsGutsGlory is serious when he talks like this, PeaceInChristAlone is just poking us for the lulz.

Now lets move on to his other video



Ok first of all Tom Leykis is not a militant atheist. Tom Leykis is a shock jock on the radio. He has been on the air for a very long time and was at one time nationally syndicated. Currently he does podcasts. I used to listen to him when I was a truck driver. When I drove trucks I mostly listened to talk radio. Hey, don't judge me, I also listened to Dr. Laura and even Art Bell back in those days.

Tom Leykis is an atheist but that is not the main focus of his radio broadcasts. His main focus was what he called Leykis 101 which was to teach men how to get laid for less money. He gave out advice such as never spend more than $40 on a date, and if you didn't get laid by the 3rd date to dump her. He also taught that men should never get married and he frequently admitted that he himself was married and divorced 4 times.

Other radio personalities such as Phil Hendrie used to poke fun at him and would refer to him as Combover Boy



Religion, although occasionally addressed when a caller would bring it up, was never a focus of his show. Had PeaceInChristAlone NOT referred to Leykis as a "militant atheist", I would look over this as simple ignorance of the content of the Tom Leykis Show. He could have simply pointed to a video he found on the internet commented that Leykis was an atheist and no harm no foul. However, upon first coming across Tom Leykis the first thought in your head is NOT militant atheist. Rather your first impression of him is something like a male pig who hates women. He is one of those radio personalities that you love to hate, and it did make the long hours of driving a truck go by faster.

At 1 minute into the video, PeaceInChristAlone asks is this the way to go, is this Atheistic belief better for society or is the Christian view of settleing down and getting married better for society.

Well sorry, but he can not be serious with this question. This is why I think he has turned to trolling. Maybe he wants views I don't know, but if his goal is sharing the gospel, trolling the internet rarely works. He knows full well and good many atheists get married and have happy wonderful lives. Furthermore he knows that atheism does not preach any morals. It is simply a lack in a belief in a god.

Atheists get their morals from the same place the Christians do. We get them from our parents, and later from our teachers and peers.

Anyway here is the video of me meeting PeaceInChristAlone, I like the guy and consider him a friend so it was rather difficult to call him out on his trolling. If you want to make videos and get views go for it, but if your goal is to win people to Christ, you are turning a lot of people off.



Be sure to subscribe to Fruitikay if you have not already done so



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Atheist Heros? A response to Thunderf00t



Thunderf00t today put out a really good video, as he often does, and for the most part I agree. America's perception of atheists is changing. No longer does the visions of Madelin Murray O'Hare or the rising tide of communism come to mind when we hear the word Atheist. Of course our image is still far from perfect. Thankfully education and the Internet are having a positive effect on the world by making us less religious.

If you want to stem the tide of fanaticism, you need to educate your citizens and give them access to information so that they can learn for themselves instead of relying on what they are told.

Thunderf00t then concludes his video by mentioning a new movie coming out called "The Ledge" It is touted by Thunderf00t as a movie with an Atheist as the lead hero of the movie. Below is a trailer for the new movie, judge for yourself.



The issue I take with this movie is that it promotes a stereotype of atheists. The stereotype is that we atheists lack morals because we don't believe in a god or judgement in the afterlife. When in reality, atheists get our morals the same way the Christians, Muslims, and everyone else does. We learn our morals first from our parents, later from our friends and teachers. We learn our morals from those around us.

The movie "The Ledge" appears to be about a man who falls in love with a married woman and the two of them have an affair. Call me old fashioned but it is very immoral to cheat on your spouse. I may be wrong about this movie, and to be honest, I don't intend to watch it, however this movie does not show the atheist in a very moral light.

If you wish to discuss this blog, please contact me via YouTube here

Saturday, June 25, 2011

I call shenanigans



Note the above video has been removed for TOS so here is a copy



Ok, let me make this perfectly clear. If someone has hacked into his account, what you are doing is wrong and you should give it back. That is not the right way to shut him down. If his videos violate the Terms of Service or Community Guidelines then that is what the flag button is for.

Now let's do some brief history here. TheRealNickBravo announced that he was going to start flagging all of my videos. The video is no longer on his channel but my friend iShatOnU has a copy.



So the question I posed to my audience was this, should I report him. After all, this is the same person who has accused me of pedophilia, rape, assault, being wanted in the state of Texas, lying about my liver for sympathy, ect. Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinions about me, and this is just the internet. However, it is utterly foolish to announce you are going to flag down someone's videos and then act surprised when people start to flag you instead.



However, the latest video from his channel claims to have hacked him. Sorry but I call bullwinkle on that. This is not the behavior of someone who hacks into an account. If the intention was to get him off youtube, then all the person would have to do is upload some porn and get him flagged and terminated. Or at least deleting the old videos. The fact that the videos still exist leads me to believe this is another cry for sympathy.

Lets review, he posted a video claiming to live in a brand new house, a house that has a iron fence behind it as well as a clear view of the mountains. Later he claims to be hanging out by the pool, no mountains in view and no iron fence. Instead we have a concrete fence.





All of his videos have been filmed outdoors and he is on foot, with exception to one that was filmed from a bus.



This leads credibility to my theory that his van was either impounded or broken down.

If his dream is to become an actor, why is he not spending his time going on auditions. Trying to get fame via YouTube is not a realistic goal. Even becoming a Partner has it's limits. As YouTube pays anywhere from $0.50 to $1.00 per every thousand views it takes a miracle to get a video with any kind of decent traffic. Most of my money comes from 10 old videos that still get a lot of traffic.

Sorry Nick, but you have a proven track record of deceit. I don't believe this for a second. Note, because I mostly interact via my YouTube channel, if you wish to discuss this blog please do so via PM here