Video

The questions in presidential debates have traditionally been determined by whatever media outlet happened to be running the show. CNN and YouTube are looking to change that tonight. As you may know, YouTube is working with CNN to hold a presidential debate where all of the questions will asked through YouTube videos that have been submitted since early June.

Even though users can submit their own questions, CNN is ultimately in charge of picking the questions that are going to be asked. Still, this is a promising development. According to an article on CNN.com, there is a small committee … Read more

He whined, he groused, and finally he flat-out begged, but at last Stephen Colbert is an iPhone owner.

"Guess what folks," Colbert told the audience this week during the The Colbert Report. "I gots me one!"

"I've been using this nonstop," continued Colbert. "I've been making calls. I've been petting it. All the things you dream of doing with a phone."

In June, Colbert was steamed at Apple and CEO Steve Jobs. He noted that the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USAToday had reviewed the handset. … Read more

We've had an influx of inexpensive RCA MP3 players lately. Jasmine posted her reviews of the RCA Jet and the RCA Pearl last week. Now we've got the RCA Opal, which is probably the most unique player RCA has released. It has a great list of features, including support for DRM WMA and Audible formats. I thought the user interface was a little confusing--not helped by the fact that the control pad is a little slanted.

The claim to fame here is that the Opal supports photo and video playback for under $70. If you're interested, click … Read more

Yahoo, take notes.

MySpace has quietly licensed a new series of original programming called QuarterLife from Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, the Hollywood duo behind such films as "Blood Diamond," according to a source familiar with the deal. The social network, which recently launched MySpace TV for original Web video from The New York Times and others, is expected to broadcast the series online by early next year, according to the source who asked to remain anonymous.

The deal could still fall through and has yet to be confirmed by either party. But if it happens, it would … Read more

It's a funny thing: Jewelry that pays homage to technology can work just fine, but it seems to make less sense when it actually functions. Why, for example, would one need to carry a computer peripheral around one's neck?

Case in point: The oval-shaped video MP3 player from X-Micro, which is designed to be worn as a pendant. As Chip Chick rightly points out, watching videos chained to the neck doesn't seem like an optimum viewing experience, especially on a screen that's so small. Nor does it look quite like anything under glass at Tiffany's.… Read more

YouTube is getting strict in enforcing its age requirements on the popular viral video site.

YouTubers have been complaining that the Google-owned company has been suspending accounts associated with several well-known YouTube child stars and providing no reason.

In response to queries by CNET News.com on the matter, a YouTube spokeswoman provided this statement on Thursday:

"All YouTube users must agree to and abide by our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines when they register for a YouTube account. This includes providing accurate registration information and being over the age of 13."

"We understand that young … Read more

As everyone knows, you only get one shot at making a first impression, and my first impression upon visiting Searchles was one of bewilderment. I received a couple e-mails from an employee at Searchles and decided to check out what the site was about. I was greeted with a search box along the top of the screen, and a feed of recent posts running down the left. A listing of groups and tags filled up the rest of the real estate.

Not sure where to begin, I typed Iraq into the search box and returned a query of 3,188 results. The top result was culled from October of last year and the top 10 posts seemed to be all over the map including videos from the Iran-Iraq war. So perhaps the site isn't geared toward current events, but each subsequent search I performed yielded an equally diverse set of posts. The group functionality seemed a bit more utilitarian, but it took some time before I stumbled onto the part of the site where Searchles really does excel.… Read more

YouTube users are complaining that the viral video site is suspending accounts that feature videos with children in them without stating why. So far, at least three channels--Jesari, YoungTubers and Galipoka--have been suspended, all featuring popular young YouTubers.

Is it age discrimination? Or is it overzealous enforcement of a child protection policy? A spokesman for YouTube's outside public relations firm said he would look into the matter and get back to CNET News.com. A Google spokesman directed all questions on the matter to YouTube.

According to the terms of service, people have to be over the age of … Read more

It's not Friday, but we'd like to pretend it is. So here you go: left over from last week's E3 Business and Media Summit, two representatives from Gamecock Media learning how to ride a Segway Human Transporter while wearing makeshift chicken outfits.

It's just really kind of awesome.