Creating captions for your videos on YouTube becomes much easier today, thanks to automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology.

Auto-Timing: Upload a transcript (a simple file with the text of what's said in the video), and through speech recognition technology we'll turn it into synchronized captions. Timing is the toughest part of creating captions, but now this should be much easier. The technology works best for videos with good sound quality and clear spoken English.

Auto-Captions: We use the same speech recognition technology to create machine-generated captions (which can then be translated into 51 languages). You can see auto-caps in action right now on a range of educational channels, such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Yale, UCLA, Duke, UCTV, Columbia, PBS, National Geographic, Demand Media, UNSW and most Google channels, including YouTube's. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the video player, then click CC and the arrow to its left, then click the new "Transcribe Audio" button. In time, we hope to expand this feature for many more YouTube videos.

YouTube and Kodak have teamed up to launch For Mom, a robust resource for anyone raising children today. The videos housed on this channel cover everything from cooking and parenting tips, to the best toys and games for kids, to easy ways to maintain your own health and beauty routine. There are even responses to some of life’s most difficult questions, like how much to pay the tooth fairy:



Browse through For Mom (and come back often!) for more videos from YouTube partners who know a thing or two about parenting, including Better, Parents TV, Lifetime and popular mommy bloggers who expertly find humor in what's often called the hardest job on earth.

Sadia Harper, Howto & Style Manager, recently watched "Things My Kids Will Never Know."

It's getting to be that time of year again, when hosting dinners, attending parties, and finding the perfect gifts are top of mind. To help you navigate through it all, we're partnering with Target to bring you a channel full of videos from YouTube partners who know how to master every element of the holiday season. The channel is called Holiday Solutions and on it you'll find videos about seasonal cooking, party planning and creative gift ideas. For example, here are a few melt-in-your-mouth recipes:In fact, Food Network chef Alton Brown is taking your questions now about Thanksgiving recipes and will answer a handful in a special video series next week. Submit your query in the comments portion of the Holiday Solutions channel and stay tuned for Brown's responses.

Sadia Harper, Howto & Style Manager, recently watched "Cooking the Perfect Turkey"

Anthropology professor Michael Wesch has the awesome job of studying YouTube and thinking about what it all means. We asked him to curate a playlist of his favorite videos, and he came back with an impressive list of clips that exemplify how the "wonderfully playful participatory culture" you've created manifests itself on YouTube. Four of those videos are on our homepage today, but he also wrote this thoughtful blog post to accompany his picks. Reading it, you'll get a sense of how a single video or person can create a ripple that swells into something so much bigger than ourselves.

What I love about online video is the way that it has allowed more people to join a global conversation. Television was a medium whose content was controlled by the few and made for the masses. It created a one-way conversation, and you had to be on TV to get your turn. We have all been excluded from that conversation for so long, it is no wonder that so many people are now jumping in (over 1 million videos uploaded online every day by my count).

One of my first favorites was Gary Brolsma's "Numa Numa dance," which he posted on Newgrounds.com in late 2004. When YouTube came along a few months later and made it so much easier for people to upload videos, thousands of people joined the dance. A search for "Numa Numa" now brings up over 125,000 videos, most of which are people doing their own rendition of the now-famous dance. And it is still going. [Recently], Brolsma led the Michigan State Band (and the whole stadium) doing the "Numa Numa."

There is a wonderfully playful participatory culture popping up all over the online video landscape.

A few days ago, I was having lunch with a guy who told me that he and his kids (ages 2 and 6) were working on their own rendition of blinktwice4y's YouTube hit "Mario Kart Love Song". When they are done, they will join hundreds of others who have also created their own rendition. And if you love participatory culture as much as I do, you might just find the more obscure ones to be the most entertaining (like matrock records jamming it out Brady Bunch style) and sometimes heartwarming (don't you just love these kids playing it live? Or how 'bout these young kids acting out the video? You just know they will be watching this with the tears rolling and hearts warming in 30 years. Or even this wedding serenade).

And speaking of weddings, almost everybody saw the JK Wedding Entrance Dance, but the remixes and remakes are a real treat. There is of course the "Divorce Dance," the live remakes at weddings everywhere (here's one from Spain) and even babies are getting in on it.

Or remember how OK Go made their career with that amazing treadmill dance? But what could be cooler than doing it live at your high school in front of all your friends? Of course, Granbury High was not the only remake. There are hundreds, yes, hundreds of groups of high school kids who somehow wrangled together several working treadmills, rolled them into high school auditoriums all over the world, and did their thing.

Undoubtedly, some people performing on YouTube are hoping to be the next Esmee Denters. It wasn't so long ago that Esmee was just a young girl singing (beautifully) in front of a crappy webcam -- until one day she was singing a Justin Timberlake song in front of a slightly better camera, which slowly panned right to reveal that none other than Justin Timberlake himself was in the room, and that he had just signed her to a record deal.

There's still a lot of unsigned talent out there, like Megan Tonjes or mandyvbats, who was brought to my attention by the absolutely amazing work of Kutiman, a musician who brought together snippets of YouTube artists from all over the world, working in so many genres, to create such beautiful music (which to me is the real YouTube orchestra).

But my favorite online video moments are those where the participatory culture spills out into the real world. There is probably no better example than the Free Hugs movement. Now three years old, it is still going, and it's global. But of course it wouldn't be participatory culture without the clever parody, which Greg Benson of mediocrefilms performed brilliantly by offering his "Deluxe Hugs" for $2.

The tools for such clever commentary and remixing are always growing, and several of my new favorites are coming from the creative uses of Auto-Tune. The Gregory Brothers have really mastered this with their Autotune the News series. Melodysheep is now bringing his amazing talents to set the beautiful insights of the best scientists of recent years (like Carl Sagan) to some moving music.

So much of this creativity relies on the freedom to remix and build on the material created by others, a freedom that's constantly being challenged. Which brings me to one of my more serious recommendations: Brett Gaylor's RIP: A Remix Manifesto. Or for a wonderfully artistic statement within the same theme, one of the most amazing videos on all of YouTube is Us by Blimvisible.

My favorite video of all time still remains MadV's "The Message." It comes from the early days of YouTube, when so many of us were still just amazed that we could reach out to millions of people through our webcams. MadV invited us to write a message for the world on our hands. The resulting compilation may just become one of those iconic videos that our descendants hundreds of years might look back on and say, "So this is what they had to say when they first wired up all those computers and cameras throughout the world..." He's now doing an HD version if you want to join in.

If you are interested in how we try to make sense of all of this in anthropological terms, check out "An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube," where my students and I discuss many of these videos and a whole bunch more:



Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University

We're excited to say that support for watching 1080p HD videos in full resolution is on its way. Starting next week, YouTube's HD mode will add support for viewing videos in 720p or 1080p, depending on the resolution of the original source, up from our maximum output of 720p today.

As resolution of consumer cameras increases, we want to make sure YouTube is the best home on the web to showcase your content. For viewers with big monitors and a fast computer, try switching to 1080p to get the most out of the fullscreen experience.

Just how much larger is 1080p? Take a look at the following screenshots from this video:


Have an HD camera? We would love to see your awesome 1080p videos! Be creative and choose subjects that really show off the beauty of your camera. We will run the best examples on our homepage in a future spotlight.

And those of you who have already uploaded in 1080p, don't worry. We're in the process of re-encoding your videos so we can show them the way you intended.

Billy Biggs, Software Engineer, recently watched "Toy Story 3 - Official Teaser Trailer [HD]."

Social features like commenting, rating, video responses and even just emailing or IMing a video's link have always been a part of the YouTube experience. So that's why we spend a lot of time here thinking about how to make the site an even more social place. We're especially focused on wanting to make it as easy as possible for you to find the people you know on YouTube and to follow their activity (what videos are they rating? favoriting? commenting on?) by subscribing to their channel; it's a great way to stay up on what they're into as well as discover new content yourself. As you consume these videos and start sharing your own, you in turn "feed" your friends a tasty helping of video goodness. It breaks into this virtuous distribution cycle:




As we've built these tools directly into YouTube itself, with things like friend suggestions based on your Gmail address book and connecting your YouTube account to social networks via our AutoShare feature, we've started to see people becoming even more social. Some of this activity is hard to quantify -- every day millions of YouTube links are sent via email, IM, Twitter and other communication methods -- but we can tell you that:

• Over one million people are AutoSharing videos to Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader
  
• Each AutoShared Tweet you send out from YouTube turns into an average of seven new sessions on YouTube.com
  
• Over a million people have found and subscribed to at least one friend on YouTube based on our Friend Suggest feature
  
• Most Tweeted video yesterday? Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"
• More than one million new subscriptions are created every day
  

We hope these numbers will only rise as we focus on giving you the tools you need to connect with the people who matter most to you. In the process, expect to be entertained and informed by the videos circulating amongst your most trusted friends, subscribers and networks. You can get started today by ensuring that you're discoverable on YouTube (click here and check off "Let others find my channel on YouTube if they have my email address") and by connecting your account to your external networks via AutoShare (click here to set that up).

What do you think "social" on YouTube means, and where would you like to see it go? Leave a comment below.

Brian Glick, Product Manager, recently watched "Michael Jackson - Beat It," and James Phillips, Software Engineer, recently watched "New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less."

Today, we're shining the spotlight on the men and women who have bravely served -- and are presently serving -- in all branches of the U.S. military. Video has become a vital tool for current soldiers who are trying to communicate their wartime experience to the public and for older veterans who want to share their stories from past battles, like Lewis Bennett, the youngest member of the 84th District in World War II:



In addition, on the homepage, we're featuring content from those institutions and organizations that provide much-needed support to veterans. For example, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has created a social network specifically for veterans and their families, while UCLA provides an adaptive sports therapy program for injured soldiers from the U.S. Army, including a regiment of rock climbing, wheelchair basketball, and table tennis. Here's a preview:



To see more video content from soldiers and veterans, please visit www.youtube.com/veterans.


Ramya Raghavan, YouTube Nonprofits & Activism, recently watched "Interview: Army Sgt. Valdez"

Update (9pm PT): Unfortunately, this viewing party had to be canceled. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Update (6pm PT): We're experiencing a technical glitch in the Screening Room, so we'll be pushing the viewing party back 1 hour to 7pm PT. See you there!

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Tonight is your last chance to watch "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on YouTube, and your only chance to watch it with other vampire lovers from around the United States.

Join us in the YouTube Screening Room at 6pm PST for a live viewing party. To the right of the player, you'll see a Twitter feed collecting real-time tweets from other fans watching the film. If you want to contribute to the conversation, just login to your Twitter account through the gadget and send your tweets, being sure to use the default hashtag, #screeningroom.

We'll be there, along with our friends at Crackle, reacting to your thoughts and dropping a few of our own.

Remember to subscribe to Crackle's YouTube channel to stay on top of new feature-length movies coming to YouTube.

See you at the party - we'll be "stoked" to have you...

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, recently watched "SpatSolver."

A billion video views per day. Twenty hours of video uploaded every minute. Social and political impact. The latest in pop culture. Second only to Google in search traffic. YouTube is constantly evolving and finding the right talent to go on this journey with us is of paramount importance. Think you have what it takes to join the ranks?

We're especially interested in recruiting top engineers. In return for your mean coding skills, we offer a dynamic environment that fosters openness, creative freedom, and a ton of interesting problems to be solved. "I'd compare it to working on an open source project with friends; people want to know what you're working on, have advice and help out however they can," says Phil, an engineer who's been with YouTube for 1 1/2 years. A typical day might entail intra-cube technical collaborations, tech talks, team lunches and "Don't bother me, I'm coding" sessions. There's also the leeway to work on projects you're passionate about, great perks and, ahem, a bunch of awesome people who work hard but also love to have fun.

Check out our listings and apply today!

Fred Soriano, Recruiter, recently watched "Archon Defender."

Earlier this year, we revealed the rapid growth in mobile video uploads to YouTube, largely spurred by the launch of powerful devices (like the iPhone 3GS and increasing Android adoption).

Uploading and sharing mobile videos on YouTube are getting kicked up another notch with today's launch of the Verizon Droid by Motorola. The Droid is the first device to run the latest version of Android (version 2.0) and introduces some remarkable improvements:

• DVD quality recording and easier sharing: It is now possible to shoot DVD-quality videos and upload them to YouTube with a single flick of a finger. Droid is the first Android powered phone with DVD-quality recording, and it offers the ability to add effects like sepia, solarization and red tint to your videos. In addition, the new YouTube widget gives single-tap access to recording and sharing capabilities right from the home screen, making it even easier to broadcast those special moments or sights, or even silly ones like this video exploring six ways to have a fruitful finish to a lunch meeting:

• It's more like the YouTube you're used to: The controls on the new YouTube application on Android 2.0 now have a look and feel that's much more like the YouTube desktop experience. We've also added the ability to manage personal subscriptions in 'My Account,' and so now, with the ability to search, share, rate, comment and of course view videos, the on-the-go YouTube experience is closer to the one you're used to on your computer.

• High quality playback and brilliant screen: The Droid by Motorola has a brilliant 3.7 inch screen with noticeably high resolution and crisp colors: 854x480 pixels with 16M colors. The YouTube App on Android 2.0 plays videos in HQ automatically when you are on wifi, bringing the best possible YouTube watching experience to a mobile device. And if you are out of wifi range, you can still watch videos in HQ by selecting "Menu -> More -> Watch in high quality."
  

Happy watching, recording and sharing -- if you like, include links to your best Android-filmed videos below. We'd love to see the creativity that springs forth from this technology.

Jonathan Matus, Android Lead Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "Stealth Bomber."

We're happy to welcome a comedy legend to YouTube today, as Will Ferrell's comedy think-tank Funny or Die joins YouTube as a partner. YouTube viewers around the world will now have access to a collection of Funny or Die classics, plus a steady stream of new videos being uploaded each week.

As comedy fans know, Funny or Die works with some of Hollywood's top comedic talent to create a trademark blend of humor, celebrity and web originals. Jack Black, Natalie Portman and Lindsay Lohan are just a few of the famous names you can catch in hilarious Funny or Die sketches, and you never know who will show up next.

To celebrate this new partnership, Will Ferrell has selected his favorite Funny or Die clips for the spotlight on today's YouTube homepage. Here's a message from the man himself, and his Funny or Die co-creator Adam McKay :


Thanks, Will and Adam! So if you want to keep up with all things funny, "subscribe or die" to Funny or Die's new YouTube channel.

George Strompolos, Strategic Partnerships, recently watched "BAT FIGHT with Will Ferrell."

On World Food Day, we asked you to donate to feed the billion hungry people in the world and your response was incredible: over 140,000 children got meals because of you. Thank you.

Now, we're looking at the facts close to home: one in eight Americans don't have enough food to eat, a fact that becomes even harder to digest at this time of year, as we prepare for Thanksgiving, a celebration of food and family.

Through Video Volunteers, we're hoping you can make a video for any nonprofit tackling the issue of hunger in America. You could create a video profiling the work your local food bank is doing or even volunteer to serve a meal at a shelter and record your experience. Hear more from David Arquette, our guest curator for this month's edition of Video Volunteers:



The top three videos submitted on the YouTube Video Volunteers channel will be featured on the YouTube homepage around Thanksgiving, alongside a video from our partner in this effort, Feeding America. Videos must be submitted by November 21 for consideration.

Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism, recently favorited "Raising Malawi with Madonna."

Update (11/1) Thanks to everyone who voted. Here are the final results of the "Who's the greatest Dracula" poll:


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Everywhere you look, vampires seem to be all the rage. But before the broody youngsters of "Twilight" and the Southern nightwalkers of "True Blood" took center stage, there was one Count who ruled the bloodsucking roost: Dracula.

In honor of the world's most famous monster (and everyone's go-to Halloween costume), we're pleased to bring you Bram Stoker's Dracula, courtesy of our friends at Crackle. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman in one of his most memorable roles, it's the story of darkness's cursed prince searching for his suicidal bride in 18th-century England. With Academy Award-winning costumes, killer performances from Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, and a healthy dose of horror, this flick has something for film buffs of varying tastes.

Before you watch, there are a few things we need to note. First, this film is rated R for violence and brief nudity. This means that you'll need to verify that you're 18 years of age or older by either signing into your existing YouTube account or creating a new one. Second, this video is limited to audiences in the U.S. (apologies to our international users). And, third, the film will only be available on YouTube through November 9.

How do you think Gary Oldman ranks in the pantheon of Count Dracula actors? Cast your vote in the poll in the upper right hand corner.

Happy Halloween!

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, just watched "Vampires: Is it Real?"

Face facts: in a swimming race against 14-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps, you'd have no chance whatsoever...but you may be able to beat him in speed putting! If you can make more than 12 five-foot putts in a minute, you'll have bragging rights forever:



This is "The Best of Us Challenge," presented by the International Olympic Committee, where Olympic athletes challenge the YouTube community to compete in some truly unique events. For example, you can challenge American Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson by tapping-your-ears-while-doing-a-handstand. (FYI: she did it 54 times in 30 seconds.) Or take on one of the world's fastest men, Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, who balanced a stick on his foot for two minutes and 30 seconds. Six-time Grand Slam winner and Olympic gold medalist Rafael Nadal picked up 24 tennis balls in 30 seconds (making great use of his groin area) — how many can you get?

If you've got the moxie to best these world class athletes, check out the The Best of Us Challenge channel on YouTube to learn how to submit your video. Prizes include a trip for two to the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in February 2010 and a trip for two to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010, as well as T-shirts, video games and posters. Submissions end on Sunday, November 15, so whatever your skill is — putting, hand-standing, hula-hooping, etc. — get out there and show the world your best.

Andrew Bangs, YouTube Sports, recently watched "Tiger Woods Golf Swing in Slow Motion"

Today marks the first day of the inaugural Doha Tribeca Film Festival, a partnership between the Qatar Museums Authority and the Tribeca Film Festival, to celebrate the best of Arabic and international cinema through an annual film festival and year-round workshops in Doha, Qatar's capital. The festival hopes to inspire, engage and educate a new generation of cinema appreciation in the Middle East, much in the same way that the Tribeca Film Festival has stimulated the local film community in New York.

To celebrate the festival's launch, we've turned the YouTube Screening Room over to the expert curators at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, who have put together a lineup of five films (four shorts and one feature), selected to highlight diverse filmmaking voices with a strong Middle Eastern connection. Each of these films possesses the ability to entertain and to educate, and we hope that after watching you'll feel compelled to continue the conversation by commenting on, sharing and rating those that move you. Here's a sneak peek....

"Clear Cut, Simple," directed by Vineet Dewan, is based on a true story about an American soldier in Iraq, torn between his duty to the military and his friendship with his Iraqi interpreter. "Eclipse," directed by Mark Lapwood, is a meditative visual journey featuring stunning images of Mumbai. "Itmanna: Make A Wish," directed by Cherien Dabis, explores the tensions of a politically charged environment through the prism of a young girl's quest to buy a birthday cake. "The North Road," directed by Carlos Chahine, tracks a middle-aged man's return to his home country of Lebanon to deal with his father's remains. And "Ramchand Pakistani," a feature film directed by Mehreen Jabbar, is based on a true story about a Pakistani Hindu family's accidental crossing of the Pakistani-Indian border in 2002.

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched "Easy to Assemble #1: What's In Store."

Did you miss the live event that everyone's still buzzing about? Check out the concert in full on U2's YouTube channel.

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We are counting down the hours to this evening's U2 concert at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, CA. The live stream begins at 8:30 p.m. PT, and YouTube users all around the world can tune in. (To figure out what time the concert starts where you are, simply click the time converter here and select the name of your country in the pull-down menu.)

Once the show starts, scroll down on U2's channel for a Twitter gadget displaying real-time comments about the webcast. If you Tweet from this tool, you'll see that each message is pre-populated with the hashtag #U2webcast, instantly plugging your comments into wider discussions about the show.

For those of you who miss the live event, the full performance will be re-broadcast two consecutive times after it ends. It will also be archived as a video on the U2 channel -- so there's really no excuse to miss Bono's distinctive wail, the Edge's guitar mastery, the roll of Larry Mullen's drums, or Adam Clayton's thumping bass lines. Let this preview whet your appetite for the experience up ahead...

Earlier this month, through the YouTube Video Volunteers program, we asked you to create an amazing video on behalf of your favorite animal welfare organization and submit it for the chance to be featured on our homepage.

Over 100 users submitted videos about their animal org of choice. User mordeth13 talked about the plight of stray dogs in Taiwan, while partner ZackScott discussed how FoundAnimals is helping animals in the United States:



On Saturday, you voted on which videos you liked the best, and today the top three are featured on the homepage alongside a video for the Humane Society from actor Ben Stein. If you'd like to view all of the videos that were submitted, you can visit the Video Volunteers channel and click "Gallery."

Didn't have a chance to make a video for this month's round? Don't worry. We'll be kicking off our next installment of Video Volunteers on November 1, focusing on hunger in America.

Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism, recently watched "In Regards to Defenders of Wildlife."