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Got a good idea for a prank, but lack the prank-happy spirit to execute your genius idea? Why not have someone else carry out your dirty work for you? The fellows at PrankVote.com are only too happy to prank their loathed roomate Ernie, and your idea could be Ernie’s next wost nightmare. Submit and vote on new pranks over at PrankVote.com, and revel in the beauty of a democratic prankocracy.

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What happens when a microwave meets an everyday household object? Nobody knows! That’s what makes Will it Nuke? so compelling - the delicious uncertainty of just how the invisible and vaguely menacing microwaves will interact with various objects. Melting, swelling, exploding - any way you cut it, you’re in for a treat.

Along with the astounding blending feats of the Will it Blend? campain, Will it Nuke? is part of the vanguard that is defining a new genre of web video: serious edge-of-the-seat home appliance action. And fans of creepy zeal will be captivated by chipper host “Gabe” - Nuked!

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The Departed killed it last night at the Oscars, winning, among other things, the awards for Best Director and Best Picture of the year. Which means that if you haven’t seen it already, you pretty much have to now. This IFC exclusive takes a closer look at the film through the eyes of it’s stars, including newly minted Academy Award winner Mr. Scorsese himself. Congrats to all involved in this year’s winning films!

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Today’s video is a rather sobering reminder of nuclear proliferation from GOOD Magazine, the magazine that’s so good it actually deserves the caps. What makes GOOD so good is that 100% of subscription money goes to the organization of the subscribers choice. Oh yeah, and beyond that the magazine itself is, well, really good, chocked full of culturally relevant issues and stories of the moment through investigative, photo, and new journalism. So subscribing is a win-win.

Verizon announced today our most recent partnership with them. Later this year, Revver videos will be available on television for free to Verizon FiOS customer. FiOS TV is Verizon’s new broadband entertainment service.

From the press release:

Verizon customers will now be able to stream premium Revver videos whether they’re in their living rooms, on their computers or on the go…

We’re joining with Revver to bring the user-generated video phenomenon to the TV set,” said Marilyn O’Connell, Verizon senior vice president of video solutions. “Backed by Verizon’s technology, we’ll make it easy for our FiOS TV and broadband customers to enjoy the best of the cutting-edge videos that Revver is known for. This is just another way that FiOS continues to distinguish itself from old-fashioned TV.”

Said Steven Starr, founder and chief executive officer of Revver: “Revver prides itself on attracting the very best digital video creators who are producing entertainment for the Internet today. This initiative will help us further support our creators by bringing their content to a whole new TV audience. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our company and the growing Revver community.”

Of course, our share of any advertising revenue will be shared 50/50 with the video makers. Be sure to opt into the broadcast distribution channel on your profile page to be eligible to participate.

As you know, we’re already working with Verizon to bring Revver videos to VCAST mobile handsets. Our partnership with Verizon Wireless is still underway and Revver videos are getting lots of views. Stay tuned to your dashboard for news and payments. Check out the VCAST collection to see if any of your videos have been selected. And again, if you want your videos to be available on mobile phones, you need to opt into mobile distribution on your profile page.

There’s a ton of speculation swirling around the web today about whether Revver is for sale. As noted in the CNet article, our CEO Steven Starr has already issued a statement on this: “Revver is not for sale.”

Being a startup in an extremely active tech space, it’s no surprise that rumors around possible acquisition are rampant. We’ve gotten lots of queries about whether Revver is on the market. Given the hubbub sparked by the Youtube purchase, this is a natural part of the conversation.

It’s true that there have been discussions regarding possibly working with Microsoft and DivX, among many other companies. Those conversations are a part of our daily business.

We are also continuing to have conversations with big media companies. It’s true that some of our initial partnerships with Big Media did not come to fruition. As you know, Revver is an open syndication platform. We encourage users to share Revver videos as widely as possible by various means, including downloading. Not surprisingly, many big media companies, notorious for demanding control, initially took issue with this open model. And they really had trouble wrapping their brains around the idea of actually rewarding people for spreading their content around. But we believed (and still do) that the real value of online video is in the sharing. And what better way to encourage that activity than by rewarding it?

When we restructured the company in December, we pulled back from discussions with media companies and refocused our efforts on better serving the independent creator community - the constituency Revver was really built for. Our goal from the start has been to build an open marketplace that rewards independent creators and sharers of video.

Media companies are now slowly evolving into sharing clips more freely. They are experimenting with various ways of working in the online video space. We currently have videos on our system from all sorts of media companies large and small including Universal, Paramount, Fox, Epitaph Records, Downtown Records, Nettwerk Music and CBS.

Interestingly, we are increasingly seeing more conversation about issues of copyright and revenue sharing. Many other video start-ups are battling legal trouble these days - something we can, thankfully, avoid. Our traction as a company has been slow and steady. We didn’t take the easy way out to build our business on copyrighted material. Our foundations are strong and they are rooted in respect for copyright, value of open sharing and a firm belief in creator rights.

So while the blogosphere buzzes with rumors of sales or conversations of sales, we’re just gonna keep on plugging away to make Revver as good as it can be.

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David Lynch and Laura Dern has been a winning combination since Blue Velvet, and “Inland Empire” should be no different. Apparently named on a whim (he likes the words) after what Angelenos affectionatly call “the IE,” “Inland Empire” is regarded by many as Lynch’s most bizarre film yet, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how twisted you are. One thing is for sure - Laura Dern gives an amazing performance, and Dern fans have been going nuts over it.

For interviews with the actors, fan reaction vids, Q & A footage of Mr. Lynch from AFI Fest, etc. etc., make sure to check out the Inland Empire Videoblog.

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Yoga weather. Judging from the high-stress weather outtakes here and here, weather forecasters need yoga. At all times. Even when forecasting the weather. So yeah. You live, you learn.

We stumbled across a blog post today that highlights a certain issue some new Vista users might be experiencing when trying to view Flash videos. It seems that some users are getting an error message instructing them to install the latest version of Flash when it’s already installed. Man, that must be annoying. Thankfully, Jason Dunn has figured out a fix and shared it on his blog:

I found the install folder for Flash:

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash

Inside that folder, there are two files: Flash9b.ocx, the ActiveX control that IE7 uses, and FlashUtil9b.exe. I shut down IE7 then ran FlashUtil9b.exe and it said that there was an update for my version of Flash - it downloaded a new version, I rebooted the PC as it suggested, and now I can view all Flash content on YouTube and Revver as I should. What’s interesting is that the version number of Flash didn’t change. I suspect the issue is more one of registering Flash with the system properly, and Adobe has a bug in the installer. This worked for me, so I hope it will work for you!

We can’t vouch for this ourselves but if you’re having trouble, this might be a good place to start. If you have other questions or tips to share, please head on over to our forums. And thanks for the tip, Jason!

Magnify’s Steve Rosenbaum contributed a great piece about online video to iMedia Connection. It’s a call to action for companies to set their video free, thereby “engaging in the first moment of an information explosion that will change the lives, work and economies of almost everyone on the planet.” It may seem like he’s blowing this whole online video thing out of proportion but Rosenbaum reminds us:

Beyond food, water, and shelter (and I would argue the environmental issues we’re facing are far more important than video on the web… though video may have a role in finding solutions), video is simply frozen knowledge. Humans have been carving stories on the walls of caves since the dawn of man. Storytelling is part of the very essence of who we are.

The ease and availability of tools to create video now offers a vibrant new way for people to engage in storytelling.

If you stand back and think about the immense power — and the related challenges — of a large percentage of the population having the tools and network access to create and contribute knowledge, it’s frankly just awesome. It creates a tremendous opportunity to add a level of nuance — and value — to the larger collection of content that we know as the web.

Rosenbaum encourages media companies to recognize the opportunity in this explosion of activity rather than viewing it as a threat. He breaks it down into 5 tips which generally amount to: Be more open with your content, allowing people to download and share; rapidly create more content; and don’t be afraid - just jump in and try something.

A final bit of advice:

So, stop thinking of video as a novelty or a piece of entertainment– clearly your visitors are hungry for more than that. They want wisdom, insight, data, value and knowledge that they can share, blog about, thaw and even — gasp — mash up into their own creations.