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Unauthorized Microsoft Training Videos Feature Brit “Office”
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, BBC, The Office, Internet,
As many videos that are never meant for public consumption find their way on the Internet, so too have a couple of Microsoft in-house training videos from The Office creator Ricky Gervais leaked online. Both Google Video and YouTube included the videos in their lineup, but the films were meant only for Microsoft employee’s eyes. Microsoft commissioned the videos in 2004, to provide “a light-hearted way of getting our staff to think about the values they attach to working at Microsoft,” according to a company spokeswoman. Both videos run about 20 minutes and feature Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant, with Gervais playing his annoying Office character David Brent and Merchant acting as a Microsoft employee.
YouTube has since pulled the videos, however Google Video still has them up. I checked them out and they are really great—especially if you miss the original Office humor and the way Gervais plays his character to the most annoying level, with gobs of arrogance and self-confidence. I’ve always found his character to be almost painful to watch because of the level of embarrassment you feel for him—all the while he’s clueless that he’s being inappropriate. It’s complete genius.
According to the company’s spokeswoman, “These videos were produced for internal use and were never intended to be viewed by the public. We are actively working to investigate how and why they have appeared now.”
If you don’t have time to watch the full videos, just check out the last few minutes of each. Following the end credits, some of the outtakes have been included—there is nothing more infectious than Ricky Gervais laughing. Enjoy.
Read More 
| Yahoo! News
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Sony Purchases Video Sharing Website Grouper.com
Posted by Yuan Zhao Categories: Corporate News, Movies,
The video sharing website Grouper has been purchased by Sony Pictures Entertainment for $65m (£34m). The California-based website is the “second largest independent video community” currently on the world wide web, allowing users to upload, watch, and share video clips. Much of the appeal from sites like Grouper.com and others like YouTube stem from the fact that the offerings are available free of charge; however, many sites are now commercializing on their fame and Sony has said that grouper.com had potential for developing “ad-supported and premium-based services”.
While it is unlikely that any immediate changes will be made to the video website, paid services are almost guaranteed to be developed. Fortunately, the free sections of the site will keep on thriving as long as its community stays active.
Read More | BBC News
The French Maids Show How To Video Podcast
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Blogging, Software,
Video is starting to take off in a big way on the Internet, what with services like Google Video, YouTube, Blip.tv, and others. If you have access to a camera and a Mac, the video lesson from the French Maid Podcast (above) should serve you well to beginning your way to creating video for the Internet. Wanna make money? Upload your videos to Revver for a revenue share.
Anyone out there doing video for the Internet? Feel free to share the tools you use, or other general tips.
