Convert Vhs To Dvd

Writen by Bob Rankin

You have several options to convert VHS to DVD. Let's look at them one by one and then you'll be ready to choose the one that's best for you.

Combo Units

If you own a combination DVD and VCR player/recorder, available almost any place where electronics are sold, it's almost painless to pop in the VHS tape and a blank DVD, press a few buttons and directly record the old tape to a shiny new DVD disc. (A slight variant on this method is to connect your VCR to a separate DVD recorder unit.) If you don't need to modify the video at all (editing, adding chapters and custom menus), this method is the easiest and most direct.

Using a Video Camera

Just about any video camera (camcorder) can serve as the tool to help you copy directly from your old VCR into a digital format. Usually it just requires hooking up a cable (may need to be purchased separately) from the VCR's Video Out port (the red, white, yellow connectors) to the Video In port on the camera and pressing a few buttons. Each camera works a bit differently, so follow the instructions in your video camera's manual for recording from an auxiliary input. This is a slow process because it is a re-recording of what is on the tape to the new DVD format, but it is fairly simple and requires no additional hardware if you already own a video camera.

Using a Black Box

Special devices like DVD Xpress or Instant DVD from ADSTech make it easy to transfer directly from VHS tape to a DVD disc. Basically, this is an external device that takes the place of the video camera in the previous scenario. You connect the VCR to the device with a standard red/white/yellow cable and then connect the device to your computer with a USB cable. These devices may be more cost effective than a video camera (about US$100) and a little easier to use.

More Geeky Solutions

Other options exist, for those interested in all the technical bells and whistles of video transfer, conversion and compression. Check out BitYard for a point-by-point, nearly human explanation of using an MPEG-2 capturing device that transfers and compresses the video to a smaller file size.

What Hardware and Software Do I Need?

Most computers sold in the last few years (Windows or Mac) will have the basic system requirements needed for dealing with the digital version of your VHS recording. You should have a Pentium 4 or higher, 1GB or more of RAM and at least 10GB of hard drive space available.

Oh, and a DVD burner of course, and a stack of blank DVD discs. Some computers have combination CD/DVD drives, which may or may not be able to burn a DVD. Don't assume that because you can burn a CD, you can also burn a DVD. Consult the documentation if you're not sure. If you need a DVD burner, the external USB-connected models are very easy to connect.

Once you capture the images on your computer, you can use movie editing programs such as Windows MovieMaker, QuickTime or iMovie to manipulate the video as desired, add subtitles, chapters, etc. Also check out VideoHelp.com for excellent video editing software and tutorials with wonderful step-by-step instructions.

The Low-Tech Solution

A final option for those who don't care to dirty their hands with wires, bits and bytes is a service bureau. Many services offer to receive your VHS tapes by mail and return it with a DVD equivalent. One example is Home Movie Depot. For anywhere from under $20 to a lot more (for damaged tapes) they can walk you through the preparation process and help you get the tapes to them for conversion.

How Long Do DVDs Last?

All that I've read indicates the expected longevity of dye-based DVD discs is anywhere from 20 to 250 years. Some formulations (notably phthalocyanine) are more stable and last longer, so look for those when purchasing DVD discs. However, many manufacturers don't list this on the packaging; so just be aware that some of the el-cheapo DVD discs may last just a few years, and buy quality name-brand discs.

There have been some confusing reports published recently, notably the claim by a guy from IBM Germany that CD and DVD discs will last only 2-5 years. This report has been WIDELY criticized and so far I haven't seen ANYONE come out in support of it. Nonetheless, popular news media (online and offline) trumpet it as fact and then mass confusion ensues...

As far as I'm concerned, the National Institute of Standards and Technology's report on CD/DVD Care & Handling is the most authoritative and accurate source of information on the subject of CD/DVD life expectancy. In that report, they say:

...there is consensus that, under recommended storage conditions, CD-R, DVD-R, and DVD+R discs should have a life expectancy of 100 to 200 years or more; CD-RW, DVD-RW discs should have a life expectancy of 25 years or more.

The useful life span of CD and DVD discs is affected by temperature, humidity, exposure to light and day-to-day use. So keep your DVDs in a cool, dry place, avoid direct exposure to sunlight, and they should last for several decades.

Reprinted from: http://www.askbobrankin.com/convert_vhs_to_dvd.html

BOB RANKIN... is a tech writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and sharing the fruit of his experience with others. His work has appeared in ComputerWorld, NetGuide, and NY Newsday. Bob is publisher of the Internet TOURBUS newsletter, author of several computer books, and creator of the http://LowfatLinux.com website. Visit Bob Rankin's website for more helpful articles and free tech support.

Selecting Flash Memory Mp3 Player

Writen by Alexander Brin

The choice of mp3 players is growing before our eyes. Their generations replace one another, the devices become smaller and smaller in size while their memory expands. The recipe for dream player is actually simple, but it requires the professional approach: a minor mistake may spoil the entire product. Blend voice recorder, radio set and audio file player (the more formats it supports the better) and then add as much built-in memory as possible on "never too much of a good thing" principle. Pour the mixture into small spiffy moulds and sprinkle it with buttons and connectors.

Now that we know the ingredients for the stuffing we can examine some crucial points. The increase of memory capacity presents some challenges as to compatibility of players with USB 2.0. Active lifestyle requires some kind of time management, and one just cannot spend hours waiting for half gigabyte file to upload to player.

Do not forget also about convenience delivered by handy controls and standard USB ports. It is really inconvenient to carry all those connection cables with you, so you may want to choose the model with either standard USB slot or Mini-USB.

When choosing a player one should take into account some factors that are crucial to its performance.

Certainly, the first important factor is playback quality. It does not differ much in various pocket mp3 players offered today. However, some models perform better than others. Remember also that audio quality depends to great extent on the headphones, and not only on the player itself.

The second characteristic to be taken into account when selecting an mp3 player is the menu friendliness and available settings. It is important that user can change settings on the move.

Multi-purposeness and command processing speed are also of great importance. It would be ideally for user to upload and copy the files using one player.

Lastly, additional functions and value for money criterion should be assessed. Not everyone needs FM-radio or voice recorder, so why pay for the functions you are not going to use?

Find all of the best free music downloads at http://www.free-music-and-movie-download.com

How To Retrofit A Picture Or An Image Into Desktop Wallpaper For Your Computer

Writen by Steve Dimeck

The term desktop wallpaper (as the name implies) refers to an image used as a background on your computer screen. The term wallpaper is the term used by Microsoft, while Macintosh avoids using this term not to mix the metaphors, and instead uses the term "desktop picture." In the public eye, "desktop wallpaper" terminology, or just "wallpaper" is mostly used to indicate a computer screen background image.

The desktop wallpapers are used to fill in the otherwise blank and monotonous computer screens with an image of your desire. Some people choose a picture of their favorite celebrity, car, or a vacation-desired destination. Others choose animated wallpapers, 3D wallpapers, nature scenes, computer generated images of some fantasy world, favorite movie, or a white sand beach with breathtaking ocean views. The desktop wallpaper is purely one's desire.

In the old days and even nowadays it seems like everyone keeps framed photos of family and friends on their desks. But the times are changing. What people begin doing recently in this computer age is taking those same photos and setting them as desktop wallpaper on their computer displays.

When having a physical picture or a digital picture, and you want to set it as wallpaper on your computer, here are the steps to help you do that:

A physical picture first needs to be scanned in. When you scan it, choose a high resolution for better quality. You can size down the picture after and still maintain the good quality. Save it as .jpg file.

Next, you need to minimize all windows and click with the third mouse button anywhere on your desktop. Then, click on properties, and then settings. See what resolution is your screen at (i.e. 1024 by 768 pixels).

Now open your favorite image editor, such as Adobe, and size down your picture to your screen resolution. Whether that was the picture you scanned in or a computer image, the procedure is the same. You may need to crop the picture to get it the perfect size. Also, think about sizing it lower than your screen resolution so you can have some empty space for your icons.

After you finish the modifications, save the new image as new file so you can always have the original. Save it as either .jpg or .png.

Next, minimize all windows again and click with the third mouse button anywhere on your desktop. Then, click on properties, and desktop. Click on the "Browse..." button to find the picture where you preciously saved it, then choose the center position, and click OK. You're done.

If you have a picture that's smaller than your desktop, you can skip all of the cropping and resizing steps above, and go right to the Properties Dialog box on the desktop, and just select your image file as your desktop wallpaper. Then use the Position menu to choose whether you want the image centered in the monitor or stamped in repeating tiles across the display. When you're done, click OK. You've just made a desktop wallpaper.

About the author: This article was produced by http://lawyer.bestinfo4you.com - an Attorney Resources and Lawyer Information website. A great source to find a lawyer or to get more information for help with your attorney.

Clean It Up

Writen by Theresa Cahill

Sometimes it pays to get back to basics. No, in this case I'm not talking about marketing, but the "let's take care of the equipment that takes care of us" basics.

The longer I'm online, and living in this little town, the more convinced I am that many do not know of, or neglect to take care of, the simple things.

My son's friend has called for the past three nights with big computer problems. Big for him in the sense that he can't keep enough ram open to run things nor stay online long enough to even begin to surf.

Why? Because his computer is really ticked *smile!*

Let's face it, we all demand a lot from our computers. And it also stands to reason that the longer you've been online visiting websites or downloading this and installing that that things tend to get jumbled up in the "guts" of your machinery.

Your computer needs your tender loving care :)

So let's baby that baby!

BASIC BROWSER STUFF:

I'm an Internet Explorer person so that's what I'm going to cover in this article. If you use another type of browser, take the time to find out where they've put the settings I'll tell you about below. You'll be so glad you did.

Under the TOOLS area of your IE browser there is an INTERNET OPTIONS choice. Go there now. Under the GENERAL tab there is a "Temporary Internet Files" section with a SETTINGS button.

Click on the SETTINGS button. Set your computer so that it checks for a newer version of any stored page "Every visit to the page." Yes, it might take a bit longer to load, but this way you are always viewing the most current version of any page you visit. Saves on confusion, especially if you are ordering something or signing up for some new program.

Click OK.

Then click on the ADVANCED tab. Go down under the SECURITY heading and make sure there is a check mark in the box that reads "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed." This way whenever you are done surfing, all those visited pages will be dumped - or I should say "most" of these pages will be dumped. You don't need to store every little thing you've ever viewed online, right? Stands to reason it just clogs up the works.

Click OK.

WEEKLY MAINTENANCE:

Up above you took care of some of the pages being cached on your computer, but weekly maintenance of the other temporary files - and there are plenty of those being saved for you whether you know it or not - needs to take place.

Click on START, SEARCH. Choose Search for Files and Folders. Type in *.tmp and start the search.

If you've been surfing a lot you'll have quite a few entries returned. These are deletable files, files that just take up additional space on your hard drive.

When the SEARCH is done, highlight and delete all the files except for the INDEX.dat file (it won't let you delete this one anyway).

Okay that's done - now remember to do it periodically.

You can also do a SEARCH for your COOKIES folder. When found, click it open and highlight and delete all those, it won't hurt a thing, it's just extra "stuff" you're computer is hanging onto for you. Cookies are not that big in and of themselves, but again it's just more stuff accumulating on your hard drive. You'll replace it all soon enough, trust me :)

MONTHLY OR MORE OFTEN IF NEEDED:

When was the last time you defragged your hard drive? You need to defrag your hard drive monthly, maybe more often, maybe less depending on the wear and tear you put your computer through.

Click on START, PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, SYSTEM TOOLS, DISK DEFRAGMENTER.

For XP, you click the ANALYSE button. If it comes back and says "oh boy, you need to defrag!" or message equivalent - let it!

What happens is every time you open and use and close and open and use and close... it mixes pieces up and puts them back willy nilly. Defraging just allows the computer to clean itself up and put the pieces back together again. Your equipment will run faster, and if you're always borderline crashing this could very well do wonders for you.

LAST BUT NOT IN THE LEAST LEAST:

Four basics here:

1. Your Anti-Virus program

Now don't laugh, but many think just because "it came with the computer" that it's just doing the job automatically... not! You need to explore your antivirus program, ensure it's operational, and set a few features like weekly or even daily computer drive scans, check for updates (automatically) and install, etc.

If you've never seen it update (download the latest virus definitions for your protection), chances are it's not.

Open your anti-virus program now and get to know it inside out - it is your very best friend, and first and foremost protection online! You'll thank me and so will your friends!

2. A firewall

A firewall, in essence, blocks outsiders from accessing your computer ports. This is not the same as an anti- virus program, but is another essential self-defense online tool.

http://www.zonealarm.com

I recommend ZoneAlarm. It's easy to set up, you can train it or allow it to "train itself" and it provides an additional barrier between you and the wackos running around out there. It's very inexpensive compared to numerous trips to the "computer doctor."

3. A good spy-ware stopper

My personal choice is Ad-Aware - not to be confused with "adware" which IS spyware - Ad-Aware is a program that searches out all those nasty little spying tidbits "they" sneak onto your computer as you travel around the net.

Go to http://www.download.com and type in Ad-Aware. Their LITE program is free though I'd highly recommend spending a few bucks and getting the pro/plus version.

Download it, install it, run it!

When it's done, tell the program to quarantine (and delete if you have the pro version) all the spyware sitting on your computer - just read and follow the instruction screens. You are going to be so totally amazed and outraged when you let it do it's job.

Everywhere you go on the net someone is slipping something onto your computer. The pro version even has an AD WATCH feature you can turn on while you surf for even more protection.

4. And it goes without saying, back it up!

You do not want to ever have a computer crash, it's so horrible I shudder just thinking about it.

Get yourself a good CD Read/Write drive or external drive and periodically back your stuff up. You don't have to get all complicated about it, you can treat your read/ write or external just like a giant Floppy drive it you want to - copying and pasting your files and folders onto your backup system. Do back up! You'll be happy you splurged for this "extra" should "it" ever hit the fan.

Well that about covers what I've spent three nights trying to get the kid next door to do. Is he? I haven't a clue - but I sure hope so! Will you? Again, it's back in YOUR hands to treat your computer right.

Be kind to your computer and it will be kind to you :)

© Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of http://www.mywizardads.com and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at http://www.mywizardads.com/sitemap.html