YouTube, the web’s perennial video sharing powerhouse, recently announced the winner’s of the second annual YouTube Video Awards.  (We know,  it’s March of 2008 and the name for the tardy 2007 awards is just dreadful.)  The YouTube Video Award nominees were chosen from the site’s "most buzz-worthy content" and categories included music, sports, comedy, instructional, short film, inspirational, commentary, creative, politics, series, eyewitness and adorable.  With names like "Harry Potter Hand Puppets," "Human Tetris," and "How to Solve a Rubiks Cube (Part One)," this year’s winners are a good indication of just how much diversity there is on YouTube.  And while both the nominated and victorious videos featured the strange, funny and downright unbelievable (see "The Battle at Kruger"), they also offered some premium publicity for those involved (see "Obama Girl" or winner Tay Zonday’s "Chocolate Rain").

In other YouTube news, CNET reports that the company has recently taken steps to make it easier for developers or anyone building a website or creating applications "to upload videos straight to YouTube; let users comment, rate and favorite the videos; and customize and control the Flash player in which the videos are played."