The United Nations has hooked up with fake jailbait vlogger lonelygirl15 (actress Jessica Lee Rose) and the producers of the discredited YouTube flog for an ad campaign promoting a UN antipoverty event planned for Sunday.

Rose, the actress who plays “Bree” in the Lonelygirl15 videos posted on video-sharing Web site YouTube, will reprise the role that made her famous.

More evidence that YouTube as you know it is dead:

YouTube and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced an agreement that promises to remove videos from the site that use Universal music without authorization, and replace them with ad-supported content.

Under the agreement, UMG will let YouTube users incorporate music from UMG’s recorded music catalog into the videos they create and upload onto YouTube. These videos will incorporate advertising and UMG and its artists will make money off of videos that incorporate UMG music.

YouTube and UMG have also agreed to use technology to filter out UMG content that is not authorized to appear on the YouTube service.

For vloggers that use the site, it means that videos that use mainstream music without approval will be yanked from YouTube. You’ll be able to use traditionally-licensed music in videos you create, but the mainstream music industry will be making money off of your work.

Warner Music and Google have announced plans give Google users the ability to stream Warner’s extensive music video collection for free, through an ad-supported revenue sharing agreement, or to purchase videos online for download.

The companies also plan to let bloggers and other site developers embed music videos into their sites and share in the advertising revenue.

Warener’s music video catalog will be sponsored by Google advertisers, making it free to all users. The resulting generated advertising revenue will be shared by WMG and Google. Warner’s music videos will immediately be available for purchase as downloads on Google Video for $1.99.

Web publishers will be able to easily display videos that match the tone of their sites adding value to their online content and creating a new way to earn revenue from their sites. For example, a fan site devoted to a particular WMG artist can run ad-supported music videos from that artist. Each time a user is interested in the accompanying ad and clicks on the link, the Web publisher, WMG and Google will share in the resulting revenue.

Domain registrar and Web hosting provider Private Domain Depot has introduced a Quick Podcast service for home, hobby or business podcasters.

The company is offering three plans to choose from, starting at $5.99/month for 1GB of disk space and 100 GB bandwidth, which they say is equivalent to about 3,600 downloads of a 1-hour talk show per month.

Quick Podcast Media Management Tools are designed to provide simple uploads. Site Statistics help locate subscriber numbers, average bandwidth, disk space utilization and Multiple Podcast Management.

It looks like Alexaholic, a site that lets you track and compare traffic rankings of various Websites, may be down for the count:

Blue Microphones, a leading microphone technology vendor, has introduced two new Applets for their Snowball USB Microphone which adds further flexibility to its dual-capsule design by giving users more control over the input gain.

The Snowball has been popular with podcasters because it is a relativley inexpensive USB microphone.

Two new free firmware applets for the Snowball let you adjust gain levels on a Mac or PC for greater control in recording loud or soft sources. Download the low gain applet for loud sounds (like drums, electric guitars, louder singing). Download the high gain applet for quieter sounds like speech, podcasting, internet telephony, or recording sounds from a distance.

Webwag.com, a personalizable start page service that launched in September, lets users design their own start page as a” universal mash-up”, with news and blogs feeds of their choice, the ability to check several emails accounts, listen to podcasts with an iPod-styled player, show local weather forecast and other services.

‚ÄúWebwag helps users to personalize their start page on the internet, especially with the content they can install there,” said Franck Poisson, CEO of Webwag.

Pamela Gay, a physics professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is the co-host of Astronomy Cast, a new podcast that takes a “weekly facts-based journey through the cosmos.”

“I’ve always been interested in popularizing astronomy and how to get more people interested in what I do,” said Gay, of Edwardsville.

She is joined by Fraser Cain, an astronomy enthusiast who lives near Vancouver, Canada. They record the show via the Internet making the more than 2,000 miles between them seem nonexistent.

“He brings the questions that everyone is dying to ask a professor of astronomy,” Gay said. “We bring the listeners a conversation between two friends.”

“Anyone with an interest in astronomy should be able to follow what we’re talking about,” Gay said.

A recent podcast episode looks at The Search for Dark Matter (MP3).

via Belleville News-Democrat

Google announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently “to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.”

The acquisition is likely to lead to rapid changes at YouTube. Google’s announcement places emphasis on the legal distribution of professionally produced content. “The combined companies will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience,” notes Google in its announcement.

Dick Schiferli of Pamela Systems has announced that the company’s flagship software for Skype, Pamela Pro, will be available for free to every seminar attendee during the International Podcasting Expo, October 20-22, 2006. Paige Eissinger of 2 Smart Chix will also offer training on the Pamela Pro software.

The Podcasting Expo is a virtual event, featuring over 40 online seminars, workshops and networking events that can be “attended” via the Web.

Pamela Pro works with Skype, adding a variety of features, including video and chat recording and Skype podcasting and blogging support.

In addition to Pamela Pro, Penny Haynes of 1st Podcast Publishing will be distributing free versions of the PC compatible software, WavePad and MixPad. Doug Snodgrass, of the Wil Flipson Show, will conduct a workshop about how to use these programs. Jerry Franklin, of Audacity Guy Productions, will teach attendees how to use the Mac and PC compatible Audacity program. Dave Nelson of TalkShoe will discuss his free service that allows callers to combine the accessibility of phones and the technology of the internet to record podcasts.

Seminars will also be conducted on Podcast Delivery products and services. Michael Sharp will introduce PhoneCasting, Eric Olson will discuss Feedburner, Carter Harkins will explain how innerTOOB provides interactive podcasting, and Dan Kuykendall teaches how to use PodPress in conjunction with WordPress blogs.

All seminars are held online in audio/visual conference rooms, and recorded for download by seminar attendees after the Expo. Schedule details are available at the Expo site.