If you've spent any time on SoundCloud, you know the comments on songs can be pretty distracting. The eye can only handle so many exclamation points.

Enter ShibeCloud, a site that gives those comments adorable makeovers. Just enter the URL of a song and watch the comments transform into doge-approved Comic Sans messages. 

Of course, we had to put a track from Doge Records on ShibeCloud. 

Photo via ray.k/Flickr (CC By 2.0)

Mhairi Morrison, the creative force behind the webseries Feathers and Toast, learned the difference between creating a low-budget show and one of high quality produced at a small cost.

“The number one reason projects fail is they overshoot their goals,” Morrison told the Daily Dot. “I was interested in a simple idea when you are yourself and not try and manufacture anything. That way people can see the reality behind your work.”

Feathers and Toast is a screwball comedy in the style of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett in which our heroine Tallulah dances about her kitchen mixing random patter with a small smattering of actual food prep. The idea, Morrison said, came from her own experience after a film studio executive suggested she try her hand at creating a webseries to showcase her comedic and acting talents.

“The idea for Tallulah came about because when I cook for myself I dance and speak out loud in French,” Morrison explained. “I said, ‘hold on a minute, this could be quite interesting.’”

Morrison worked her producing partner Holly Payberg, a veteran webseries writer, to develop the persona for the lead character:

“Tallulah is desperate woman trying to propel herself to higher level,” the actress said. “She reinvents herself as this cook who did a mime course for a weekend so now she thinks she’s brilliant at a lot of things, but if you scratch beneath the surface, there is not much there.”

Morrison’s classical training is evident in her characterization of a narcissist would-be mime who is out to save the world, one sandwich at a time. As with many talented actors, Morrison instinctively knows the line between being offbeat and silly. Her background includes studies at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Jacques Le Coq School of Theater in Paris. She has performed on a number of British TV shows as well as on the stage before moving to Los Angeles where she teaches acting and performs stand-up comedy.

There are two seasons of Feathers and Toast available on YouTube. Each season was shot in one day; the first set was done in June 2013 with the second in August. To keep costs low (“Our only real cost was food,” Morrison noted), the webseries was filmed at the home kitchen of her producer, whose husband Diego Torroija acted as cinematographer and camera man. The cast and crew are entering a number of webseries festivals  to try to get eyes on the series.

An interesting side note is the fact that until earlier this year, Morrison never had heard of American film actress Tallulah Bankhead who embodied a sense of libertine style that set her apart in the early 20th century. After doing some research, the Feathers and Toast star came to realize she and Bankhead had a number of common traits including a love for the British newspaper, The Guardian.

That said, Morrison’s comic hero is Lucille Ball. With visions of Lucy at the assembly line of a chocolate factory, it is easy to imagine an upcoming episode of Feathers and Toast with Tallulah trying her hand at candy.

Screengrab via Feathers and Toast/YouTube

The Wu-Tang Clan would never shy away from rapping about society’s ills, but with widespread protests following a lack of indictment in Eric Garner’s death-by-cop on the collective’s home turf—Staten Island, a.k.a. “Shaolin”—their newest track and music video feel acutely personal.

Emotional lyrics like “Politicians gotta listen to opposition / From my position / We still ain’t got a pot to piss in” are interspersed with calls to wake up and challenge system that has allowed dozens of police officers to walk free after killing unarmed people of color. Those victims’ names appear at the end of an affecting montage cut together from recent scenes of unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and New York, as well as funerals, lie-ins, and maddeningly measured comments from President Barack Obama.     

H/T Noisey | Photo by AndYaDontStop/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

BY SAM GUTELLE

Well-funded startup Vessel is looking to make deals with a portion of YouTube’s creative community, but the most popular video site on the Internet is fighting back. After reports circulated of Vessel’s plan to offer multimillion-dollar guarantees to YouTube creators in exchange for 72-hour windows of exclusivity, a new report from the Wall Street Journal has revealed YouTube’s counteroffer: bonuses for creators who agree to multiyear deals with the platform.

The Wall Street Journal hasn’t revealed the size of the bonuses YouTube plans to offer its creators, though the report claims YouTube is considering a “wide range” of options. These bonuses wouldn’t prevent creators from posting their videos to other sites, but the videos in question would debut exclusively on YouTube. These bonuses would stack on top of the other services  YouTube already offers its top talent, including access to the company’s production spaces, promotion support through creator-focused advertising campaigns, and funding for original projects.

By sweetening the deal for its creators, YouTube can fight back against Vessel, which has reportedly made very lucrative offers to YouTube creators. The startup, founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, has an estimated $75 million in its pockets (at least), and it is looking to utilize an advertising model that will give creators a much larger share of revenue than what they get on YouTube. “I would like to remain on YouTube,” an anonymous creator told the Wall Street Journal. “But some of the competing offers are incredibly attractive.”

YouTube’s bonus offers would also counter recent advances made by Facebook, which is looking to become a more prominent player in the online video space. Facebook has also had discussions with top-level YouTube talent, and channels like Jack Vale Films and The Annoying Orange have experimented with posting their videos on Facebook as well as YouTube. At the same time, The Wall Street Journal’s report says YouTube is “particularly concerned” about Vessel, more so than Facebook.

Will YouTube be able to fend off Vessel? Google certainly has the spending money it needs to defend its assets, but Vessel seems determined to make a splashy entrance. Either way, this battle is a big win for the online video community. By challenging the company with an industry-leading market share, Vessel is forcing YouTube to get serious, and that competition is going to put a lot of money in creators’ pockets.

Illustration by Max Fleishman

YouTube's best and brightest have gathered for the annual "YouTube Rewind," a cheeky year-in-review video that celebrates the trends, stars, and downright weirdest moments in the year of digital video.

YouTube also released a top videos of 2014 list, if you want to relive the biggest viral video moments of the year based on likes, shares, and comments.

1. Mutant Giant Spider Dog (SA Wardega) by SA Wardega
2. Nike Football: Winner Stays. ft. Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Rooney, Ibrahimović, Iniesta & more by Nike Football
3. FIRST KISS by Tatia PIlieva
4. The Voice IT | Serie 2 | Blind 2 | Suor Cristina Scuccia - #TEAMJ-AX by TheVoiceOf Italy
5. iPhone 6 Plus Bend Test by Unbox Therapy
6. Bars & Melody - Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer act | Britain's Got Talent 2014 by Britain's Got Talent
7. Budweiser Super Bowl XLVIII Commercial -- "Puppy Love" by Budweiser
8. Devil Baby Attack by DevilsDueNYC
9. Goku vs Superman. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 3. by ERB
10. 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman by Street HarassmentVideo

Screengrab via YouTube Spotlight/YouTube

It’s that time of the year: The 2014 mashups are slowly starting to spin, and Isosine’s “Nonstop Pop 2014 Mashup” is the latest collage.

The six-and-a-half-minute clip spans some of the year’s best singles, sampling bits of pop hits like “All About That Bass,” “Drunk in Love,” and “Shake It Off,” as well as lesser-known hits like Vance Joy’s “Riptide” and the Chainsmokers’ “Kanye.”

H/T Digg | Screengrab via MeghanTrainorVEVO/YouTube 

Creators using the YouTube Audio Library can now see the copyright status of songs they search for before they include them in a video. When users search for ad-supported songs, they can now see if using such a song will affect their monetization. Thus, fans who want to add Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" can see upfront that they will not be able to monetize their video. The  Audio Library also tells you if song inclusion will affect where your video can be viewed.

H/T VideoInk | Illustration by Jason Reed

UP TV had originally pulled its syndication of the series in October just after the allegations surfaced. In an audio tape secretly recorded by his estranged wife Faye Grant during divorce proceedings, a man who is allegedly Collins admits to abusing three different children years earlier. Additionally, in 2012, New York police investigated but were unable to substantiate, allegations by a relative of Collins' first wife that he had sexually molested her years earlier when she was 14.

Apparently, however, UP only planned to remove the show temporarily, sneaking it back onto the air last month without fanfare. However, when the media confronted the network with the show's reappearance, the network said it would be pulling the show once again. In an email to E! News, the network explained its logic as, basically, "whoops":

"We have received a mixed to negative response regarding the show on Facebook and in viewer emails. Clearly, a show that has been a fan favorite series for us has been severely impacted. We brought the show back because many viewers expressed they could separate allegations against one actor from the fictional series itself, as it turns out they cannot. We will be taking the show back off the air."

It seems as though this was an easily avoidable faux pas, especially given the current climate regarding rapeallegations. 

While it might have seemed a safe bet to the network that 7th Heaven's cheery family-friendly fare would outweigh the allegations against Collins, it clearly proved harder for viewers to overlook the unfortunate implications of his "family man" persona on the show.

At least they weren't airing The Cosby Show.

H/T TMZ | Photo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA 3.0)

Earlier this year, veteran actor Sir Christopher Lee released his latest metal album, and a lot of people were confused. The 92-year-old is known for his role in Lord of the Rings and for playing Dracula in the Hammer horror series, but not so much as the operatic voice of a metal band.

Today, Lee released a very special holiday song, “Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing,” which uses the melody from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” This video offers a nice walk through all his epic holiday tunes, and teases the new track at the end. The song follows up his 2013 holiday hit, “Jingle Hell," which charted on Billboard last year, and made him the oldest musician to ever chart. 

Screengrab via Charlemagne Productions/YouTube 

To expand its user base and offer a better experience for young people, Google is planning to introduce kid-friendly versions of many of its products—including YouTube—in 2015.

Although YouTube requires you to be 13 to make an account, many pre-teens admit to using the site regardless. According to a recent study, 93 percent of 8- to 11-year-olds are YouTube users. They're also becoming some of the site's biggest stars, like EvanTubeHD and a spate of young toy reviewers. 

Google will need to be careful as it designs its services specifically for children. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has strict rules about marketing online services to kids. Mining data—which Google does on its other products—or serving inappropriate content could land the company in hot water.

Google VP of Engineering Pavni Diwanji, who is in charge of the project, told USA Today that she was “a big believer in coaching moments for kids, rather than just blocking what they can do. I want to enable trust in them."

"Thirteen isn't some magical number," Diwanji said. "I want to teach them what’s right and wrong, and bring families together using technology.”

Google has not announced a timeline for the rollout of YouTube or any other Google products for kids. Until kid-friendly versions arrive, those under the age of 13 will have to continue to access Google products the old fashioned way—by lying about their ages.

H/T Tubefilter | Photo via Raúl Hernández González/Flickr | Remix by Jason Reed

Sofia Vergara didn’t realize just how dangerous stripping could be until she dated someone who played a stripper on-screen.

After getting to the subject of dancing, Conan O’Brien asked about her boyfriend, actor Joe Manganiello, who is in the process of filming Magic Mike XXL. She was just as surprised as everyone when first saw his moves.

When it comes to playing a male stripper, not everything is as exciting as it looks on film. It’s easy to screw something up in a take and result in injury.

“It’s dangerous to be a stripper,” Vergara said. “I just thought it was fun and games, but no.”

With YouTubers becoming as famous if not more famous than mainstream celebrities, bewildered shoppers may find that someone on their list is hoping for a piece of their favorite digital celebrity for the holidays. 

If someone on your shopping list is devoted to YouTube, there’s a variety of different gifts that could fill their stocking in 2014, from fashion and beauty to literature and music. For a totally reasonable price, you can surprise the YouTube fanatic in your life with the perfect holiday gift.

Beauty vlogger must-haves

Meanwhile, U.K. beauty queen Zoella has her own lifestyle line complete with perfumes, creams, soaps, and adorable toiletry bags, available at several online outlets and maxing out at $16 a piece. Once you’ve got the tools, your YouTube fan can turn to YouTube to learn how to do the newest and most reliable makeup tricks.

YouTuber fashion finds

The style gurus of YouTube are churning out more than just products for your face. Vlogger Bethany Mota, who found mainstream acclaim with a long run on this season’s Dancing With the Stars, sells a line of attire and home goods through Aéropostale. Her holiday offerings include whimsical sweatshirts for $28, a fragrance that retails for $25, and an entire bed-in-a-bag kit for $129 to transform your entire room to a Mota-approved model.

Meanwhile, multichannel network AwesomenessTV has even launched an entire brick-and-mortar pop-up shop dedicated to merchandise fashioned by the network's creators. Fans can purchase clothes designed by the likes of Teala Dunn, Sawyer Hartman, and Vine star Cameron Dallas, among others. For those not in L.A. to shop in person, the items are available online, with many priced in the affordable $24.99 range.

Get literal with vlog-to-book deals

YouTubers have been leaping off your screens and onto shelves in 2014, with several digital personalities putting out tomes. For the literary-minded YouTube fanatic, it’s almost certain one of their faves has taken up pen and paper route for a perfect holiday gift.

For the foodie, try Hannah Hart’s My Drunk Kitchen book of life lessons and simple recipes, for $15. If you’re looking for a fictional take, Zoella, a.k.a. Zoe Sugg, just released a blockbuster first novel, Girl Online, that broke sales records for a first-time author. It’s available on Amazon for $11, where you will also find a large selection of additional YouTube authors.

YouTube songbird singalongs

Likewise, fellow a cappella singer Peter Hollens also released his debut album this fall, which is full of collaborations with other YouTubers like Lindsey Stirling, his wife Evynne Hollens, and Pentatonix’s Avi Kaplan. Both are ideal stocking stuffers for the crossover YouTube/choir geeks on your list.

There have also been a few vloggers-to-singer transformations this year. Bethany Mota released a single, called “Need You Right Now” to much fanfare. Also, Australian vlogger Troye Sivan debuted his first solo album, landing in the Top 10 on the Billboard charts the week of release. Even YouTubers who can’t sing are releasing albums. Connor Franta took the curation route with this compilation mix through Opus Records, which landed him a spot on the Billboard charts.

One-stop shops for fandom

You can’t go wrong with simply wearing your passion for YouTube on your sleeve, so to speak. For all your inside joke Nerdfighteria needs, the DFTBA store is your home. For starters we suggest the “Feminist as Fuck” shirt for $20, for which a portion of proceeds go to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and anything Pizza John related (you can’t go wrong with Pizza John socks for $12). Several YouTube creators run their personal merch operations out of DFTBA, making it pretty much your one-stop-shop for the part of YouTube you can wear on your chest.

The other major hub for YouTuber merchandise is DistrictLines, where you can get items from Troye Sivan, GloZell, Annoying Orange, and more. This is also home to the iconic “I Can’t Stop Watching YouTubers” print from Tyler Oakley, pretty much essential for any YouTube fan. In poster form it’s perfect for collecting autographs. It sells for $19.99—or for $5 more, you can start off your collection with an Oakley signature.

The gift that keeps on giving

Perhaps instead of a physical item, your YouTube fan would appreciate the gift of being able to gift back to the creators they love with direct financial support. Patreon is one option, where a diverse set of creators including YouTubers can ask fans to pledge money per month or per project to support their work, with rewards similar to a Kickstarter campaign. (The platform was developed by one half of YouTube musical sensation Pomplamoose.)

Fan can also support certain YouTubers on the Subbable platform, developed by Hank and John Green. It works only on the monthly contribution system, and fans can search either site for their favorite YouTuber to support. Or, simplest yet, they can give money directly through YouTube itself with the tip jar system, where fans can leave a donation while watching videos through Google Wallet.

Regardless of how you put money into the YouTube ecosystem—from products and merchandise to direct financial support, you’ll be giving the YouTube fanatic in your life the gift of more YouTube, which is really all they could ever want.

Photo via Andrew Butitta/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed

That's a whole lot to pack into a film adaptation, but if the just-released French trailer is any indication, the all-star production team has done its best to make the movie live up to the impossibly high expectations of children of all ages.

The Little Prince movie is something of an anomaly. Produced independently by Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Kung Fu Panda's Mark Osborne, the animated film features an all-star voice cast including Marion Cotillard, James Franco, and Jeff Bridges. The trailer has a bit of Where the Wild Things Are about it, but we think the animated renditions of Saint-Exupéry's famed illustrations show infinitely more promise than CGI versions of Maurice Sendak's monsters. 

Or maybe we're just swayed by the appropriateness of "Somewhere Only We Know" as the trailer soundtrack?

Then you can spend the rest of the month wondering if you're a "bowler hat" person or a "boa constrictor swallowing an elephant" person.

Screengrab via Film Festivals and Indie Films/YouTube

Netflix had a breakout hit in 2014 with BoJack Horseman, an original animated series that quietly snuck up on us and took the web by storm. The streaming service has been leading the way in terms of successful originals, as illustrated by the excitement about House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black.

After debuting these shows to critical and popular acclaim, Netflix is evidently hoping to multiply those successes. The company is reportedly planning around 20 original shows or new seasons per year. 

According to Ad Age, Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said on Monday that, within the next five years, the company hopes to release new shows every two-and-a-half weeks.

Sarandos, speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, added that these new shows would seek out “specialized markets” like another one of its successful originals, Lilyhammer.

Tina Fey’s comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is set to debut in 2015; Judd Apatow’s Love will follow in 2016. Netflix is also about to launch an original drama called Marco Polo, but it is getting mixed reviews. 

Photo via José Maria Silveira Neto/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed

Wow.

Well, now the second trailer is finally here, and we're fully satisfied: This movie doesn't just look mind-blowing; it looks game-changing. It really doesn't look like anything we've ever seen before. Maybe if Clockwork Orange had a baby with Con Air by way of Tarkovsky and Terry Gilliam, then abandoned it in the heat-soaked Namibian desert and left it to be raised by metal-eating militant hyenas? 

Holy shit.

We're left with nothing but hyperbole and caps lock, and that pretty much says it all, folks. In our expert opinions, Mad Max will be the best fucking movie ever made ever. We'll see you in theaters on April 30.

Screengrab via YouTube

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Adam Presapane, who prefers going by mononymous handle PES, views crowdfunding as more than a means to get a project off the ground. Thanks to his successful Kickstarter campaign, "Submarine Sandwich" hit YouTube today with a large built-in following ready to click.

“Using Kickstarter was a great experience,” PES told the Daily Dot. “Putting content out in an oversaturated world, you have to get people involved at an earlier point to build anticipation.”

"Submarine Sandwich" is the third in his food trilogy, which began with "Western Spaghetti"and was followed by "Fresh Guacamole," a 2013 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Short Film. In the six years since "Roof Sex," his first animated project, PES has become an icon (a humble one to boot) in the world of stop-motion animation. His painstaking stop-motion process of moving objects by hand for each frame results in flawless artistry which is the perfect complement to his wry humor.

Developing a trio of films related to food is perhaps a tongue-in-cheek homage to the plethora of food and cooking shows available online.  “Up to the time when I made 'Western Spaghetti' in 2008, I had substituted food to represent other objects in my work.” PES said. “In 'Game Over,' I used a pizza to represent Pac-Man.

“I figured that one day I’d flip the tables and make a film about food and not use food,” he joked. For example, in "Submarine Sandwich," one minute and 50 seconds of animated brilliance, PES displays a sense of irony when the deli man puts white tube socks into the slicer only to have White Sox baseball patches come out the other side.

PES said he goes through a casting process when devising the elements of the film. When casting for the part of onion rings, PES looked through the items he had foraged (such as a ton of clothing patches), in search of something that would not only portray onions but also connote the item in question. Hence, tube socks equals White Sox.

Some of the visual elegance can be linked to PES' brand spanking new Nikon gear, which the camera company gave him when it learned the animator uses Nikon lenses but on a Canon camera body. Nikon did not ask for any in-film credit or product placement, but camera company has used its association with PES for some good publicity.

Going the crowdfunding route may represent a new direction for PES. In previous projects, such as "Western Spaghetti," he received money from filmmaker Mike Judge, and with "Fresh Guacamole," he relied on funding from Showtime. With that premium cable deal, Showtime had the rights to the end product for one year which limited PES’ ability to offer his work to the world. Kickstarter funding—in this case to the tune of 163 percent of his ask—enables PES to launch his film on YouTube as well as testing other revenue sources.

One of the Kickstarter rewards, for those who pledged $35 or more, is a limited edition T-shirt which PES said tied to his background in screenprinting. For pledges of more than $65, PES teamed up with the online custom print store Frame Factor to offer limited-edition prints of single frames from the new animated film. In both cases, PES says he could see those perks as future ways to make money.

In his relatively brief career, PES has seen the content business dramatically change. “Our sense of time has shifted over the past few years,” he said. “Things out for one week are considered old.”

To that end, the 41-year-old New Jersey native wants to use more crowdsourced funding and ancillary revenue streams to enable him to increase his output of work outside of his commercial spots. His 2008 ad, Human Skateboard for Steve-O’s Sneaux Shoes drew millions of views on YouTube. PES likes the money but his heart is in his art.

“I want things to be more about giving myself to the world rather than work for hire,” he said. “I want to put more things in the world because the system today rewards frequent content creators more than it does someone who does one film a year.”

Photo via PES

Decked out in adorable holiday sweaters, Cozart sings all four parts of these updated carols, which he calls "Progressive Christmas Carols." The lyrics include a Progressive Santa who's making a list of gluten free foods, Rudolf as an example of evolution, and a Grinch dealing with racism.

Not only are these tunes progressive, they're incredibly catchy. Here's to you, Cozart, for adding some truth to mirth.

Once a year YouTube comes together on behalf of the Foundation to Decrease World Suck to raise money for a variety of nonprofits just in time for the holidays. It's the Project for Awesome, and it's, well, awesome.

Last year, the project, founded by brothers Hank and John Green, raised more than $700,000 for charity, and this year the group has set a $1 million goal. To achieve that, they've kicked off the Indiegogo portion of the event early, with $29,000 already raised.

Fan can already purchase perks on the Indiegogo page that include a signed copy of the mockup An Imperial Affliction book John Green made for the The Fault in Our Stars film shoot, original art from Minute Physics, and a “YouTuber Early Years” calendar, featuring childhood pictures of YouTube stars. The corresponding livestream kicks off Dec. 12 and features videos made by prominent YouTubers about their pet charities.

"The Project for Awesome is more evidence that online communities are real communities and they come together to make real change," said Hank Green in a press release, "To date, we've raised over $1 million for charities all around the world and our goal is to go above and beyond that figure this year through another successful fundraiser on Indiegogo."

Screengrab via hankschannel/YouTube

We’re not totally sure what’s happening here, but as far as we can tell, the breakout rapper of the season is Lee, a 77-year-old white man from Philadelphia who goes by the name “Bitcoin.” Here’s his sleazy first music video, “Best B#$*h,” an ode to booty and blowjobs:

Photo via Bitcoin Music/YouTube

The October teaser trailer for Pixar's Inside Out gave us a glimpse of the personified emotions inside the mind of the movie’s main character, a young girl named Riley. Now the first full trailer for the film released Wednesday shows us what happens when the emotions of the whole family clash around the dinner table.

Joy, anger, disgust, sadness, and fear in Riley’s mom and dad try to navigate their daughter’s attitude when they ask about her first day at school. It’s interesting to see how Pixar decided to make the emotions of the adults differ not just from each other but from their daughter’s as things escalate between the three. 

Watching such a common family conversation play out inside each characters’ heads and how each emotion plays a role is hilarious. Needless to say our expectations are now set pretty high for this upcoming film.

Inside Out will arrive in theaters June 19, 2015.

Screenshot via Disney UK/YouTube