Google sent us an email over the weekend letting us know that video content hosted on Google Video will no longer be available for playback later this month. For most users, this won't be an issue, but if you happen to have videos uploaded only to Google Video, your window of opportunity to both view them and download them is rapidly closing. Assuming you don't procrastinate, Google has made it easy to grab your videos.

Some analysts believe Google paid too much for YouTube when the search giant acquired the video sharing portal in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Whether or not Google overvalued the site ultimately remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the sultan of search is dipping into its treasure chest and will pour another $100 million into YouTube to fund low-cost original content designed exclusively for the Web.

Fans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) may be able to tune in and watch live streaming games of their favorite teams on YouTube next year (assuming owners and players can hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement in time to avoid a lockout). According to a report in Bloomberg, the Google-owned video site is in negotiations with the NBA and "most pro sports leagues" to show more live sports.

Making a million dollars is apparently far easier than any of us ever thought. Rather than go out in the real world and toil away for 'the man,' you can just hop on YouTube and ask for the money. Don't roll your eyes, it actually works.

So maybe it won't work for everyone, but it did for Craig Rowin, a 27-year-old comedian who posted a video on YouTube imploring millionaires to give him a million bucks for no particular reason. He even suggested some potential donors, such as Stephen Spielberg and Lady Gaga.

According to ABC News, Rowin's plea for cash worked.

"Hi Craig, Benjamin, I was hoping to catch you in person," a caller told Rowin. "I want to talk about how to make you a millionaire."

Some have accused Rowin of shenanigans and say this all amounts to nothing more than a publicity stunt, but Rowin insists that's not the case.

"I have my doubts," said Brian Sercus, who previously performed in a college improv group with Rowin. "But I have never known him to be a practical joker, just a funny guy, not a guy who would go to such lengths to pull off a prank."