What is it about smartphones, YouTube, and social media in general that turns normal people into a useless crowd of video “auteurs” who’re more concerned with getting a video up instead of preventing others from needlessly hurting each other? Granted, …

By now, you’ve probably seen, or at least heard about the FedEx delivery driver who was caught on tape demonstrating some incredibly effective package delivery techniques. If not, familiarize yourself: Needless to say, Mister Throw Packages became a viral hit …

Mom-and-Pops might get to watch Blockbuster close up shop for a change. In a filing with the SEC, the movie rental company acknowledges it may not be able to secure a $250 million loan to continue operations.

Blockbuster, which operates 7,400 stores in 20 countries, had hoped to close next month on financing that would float them until 2010. Because of lender reluctance and the illiquidity facing the larger economy, however, the company may not be able to meet lenders’ terms. From the SEC filing summary:

Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and NBC are working on a Web-video site dedicated to the iconic sketch show. The site would allow fans to download individual sketches, clips, and even dress rehearsal skits that never aired.

Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and NBC are working on a Web-video site dedicated to the iconic sketch show. The site would allow fans to download individual sketches, clips, and even dress rehearsal skits that never aired.

Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and NBC are working on a Web-video site dedicated to the iconic sketch show. The site would allow fans to download individual sketches, clips, and even dress rehearsal skits that never aired.

Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and NBC are working on a Web-video site dedicated to the iconic sketch show. The site would allow fans to download individual sketches, clips, and even dress rehearsal skits that never aired.

Girls Gone Wild peddler and CEO of Mantra Films, Joe Francis, has filed a $300 million lawsuit against a federal judge alleging illegal imprisonment and backroom dealings with his former law partners. In conjunction with the lawsuit, Francis is pleading his case with the public at large via Web video, urging the public to write Congress to have Judge Richard Smoak removed from the bench.

The fate of the first Internet-series turned network prime-time pickup is uncertain after its TV debut failed to gather a crowd. The Web show “quarterlife” was dropped into NBC’s 10 PM slot last night and pulled in just 3.86 million viewers, which is fewer than even “Cavemen” brought in.

Capitol Hill got a little surreal this week as YouTube CEO and founder Chad Hurley got yanked in font of the House telecommunications subcommittee to discuss the future of video.

GoFish, a video site devoted for "made-for-Internet" (MFI) programming debuted a new interactive reality show yesterday called Seduce A Celeb. It’s still unclear, though, when the celebrities will actually appear on the show.

Developers are buzzing about Microsoft’s latest release, Silverlight, a video plug-in application that spans video formats, allowing them to viewed through one video channel. Though there is a secret feature to be revealed in the coming weeks, the revealing of Silverlight is already being touted as an affront to Adobe.

YouTube’s explosion onto the Internet scene was no accident. It was timing – timing so fortuitous that you might compare it to an alignment of the planets. YouTube didn’t rise in a vacuum, but it rose in the House of MySpace, to continue the astrology analogy, with a number of other forces in play.