How To Convert Your VHS Video Cassettes To DVD’s

It’s the holiday season and the family is coming around to visit as usual. And as usual the technology requests are in. This year I have been tasked with converting VHS videos to DVD. I did not want to spend a fortune on conversion software and as the story goes I wanted FREE software so I could also write about my experience on MakeUseOf.

And sure enough I found it. It is a little free application called Golden VHS to DVD converter located here.

You will also need a capture device to connect your VCR to your computer. If you have video inputs on your machine you are one step ahead of me. I needed to buy a cheap video converter for about $13.00.

Mine actually cost $12.43. All I did was google Video Capture Device and then clicked shopping.  They look something like this.

Once you have that all set up you can start using your software to capture the video from the VCR. Install the application we downloaded. You will only really need one component of it, so on this screen only check the first box.

After installing Debut Video Capture Software it will launch.

Once the splash screen is gone you will see the main programs interface like so:

Click on New Recording to get started.

You will then see this screen:

Click next to select your converting device. On the system I am writing this article on, I do not have the device connected. But you would pull down this drop down menu at the top and choose your device:

You can leave the sound recording device as the default unless you have a secondary device in your machine. You can work with the sound levels and even choose to not capture sound by unchecking the capture sound check box. Next start the VCR playing. If you see the preview of the screen under your video device selection we are good to go.

Just hit the next button to continue. On the conversion screen you will see the following options:

Restart

Push this button if you want to start the new recording immediately.

Record

Push this button to start the recording.

Stop

Push this button to stop the recording.

Record Volume Level

Indicates the input volume level.

Mute preview

Select this checkbox if you don’t want to hear the sound which is being captured at the moment.

Recording time:

Indicates the total length of the recording so far.

Size of the recording:

Indicates the size on disk which is being taken by the recording.

Estimated time left on HDD:

Indicates the approximate time you are able to record to your hard disk drive.

Frames per second:

Shows you the number of frames received from the capture during the last second. It should be approximately 24-25 for PAL and 29-30 for NTSC.

Buffer overflow warnings:

Indicates the number of situations occurred when Golden Videos waited for the data to be written to hard drive disk. This usually means that you’re either using a slow hard drive, your hard drive is highly fragmented, your PC does not meet the minimum requirements for this application or you’re running some other applications which use the CPU and HDD extensively. Try closing all other applications except Golden Videos while capturing.

Shut down the computer when finished

Select this checkbox if you would like to shut down your PC when the wizard finishes.

Play sound when finished

Select this checkbox if you want Golden Videos to play a sound when the wizard finishes.

Open output file containing folder

Select this checkbox if you want Golden Videos to open directory that contains the output file when the wizard finishes.

That’s it! Check the check box to open the folder containing your file when the wizard is complete and when you are done you will have a MPEG4 file that you can then convert to DVD or what have you. You can also install the other tools from the first step if you do not have a converter or burning software installed on your machine.

When you are finished with this you will have your memories saved on a DVD that anyone can watch! Happy holidays guys!

Most Awaited, Popular Upcoming PC Games for 2010

Now that Windows 7 has officially been launched, Direct X 11 games aren’t far behind. In fact there are already a few DX 11 compliant games available in the market today and the coming months will see many more. Today we’ll check out some of the more interesting upcoming DX11 games.

Source : Tech2.in.com 

The Best PC Games to be Released in 2010

S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was all about immersion and whether you were roaming the Zone searching for loot in broad daylight or exploring some creepy old military base at night not knowing what lurked around the next corner, the feeling of dread was palpable. And now with the power of DX11 backing them developer GSC Gameworld can dial up the intensity to 11 to deliver an even more immersive experience for the sequel. The game’s already been released in Russia with the English version slated for a worldwide release this month.

Crysis 2

Not much is known about Crysis 2 at this point but if you’ve seen what the CryEngine 3 is capable of in some of the Tech demos floating around the net you know you’re in for one insanely good looking game. Since Crysis pushed the boundaries of PC gaming back in the day, I can only imagine the kind of hardware required to play this game in all its graphical glory.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

The boys from B Company are back and this time they’re really gonna tear things down as DICE has promised even more destruction courtesy of a heavily modified Frostbite engine. While details regarding the single player are still scarce I am mighty impressed with the way the game’s online component’s turning out. PS3 owners will get a chance to sample the action via a beta that’ll be available by the end of this month while PC gamers sadly have to wait till December for a piece of the pie.

Lost Planet 2

Now this is pure speculation on my part since the game’s not even been “officially” announced for the PC but since Lost Planet came out for the PC a few months later, I’m guessing Capcom will dish out similar treatment to Lost Planet 2. And since Lost Planet was launched as a DX10 title, I think it’s fair to assume that Lost Planet 2 will ship with DX11 compatibility.

Alan Wake

Yes I know the PC version of the game is nowhere on the horizon but developer Remedy has always been faithful to PC gamers and I know (and seriously hope) that sometime in the future they will release this game on the PC. And when they do, you know it’s going to be DX11 all the way.

Aliens vs. Predator

When two iconic characters cross each other’s paths you know it’s gonna hit the fan. Throw in highly armed testosterone charged marines and you’re looking at some awesome three way action. The game’s being developed by Rebellion games, creators of the very first AVP game and will allow players to play as all three races through the course of the single and multiplayer campaign.

DIRT2

Dirt 2 released for the Xbox360 and the PS3 in September but the PC version was pushed back to December so that the game could take advantage of DX11 allowing Codemasters to present us with ‘the best-looking racing game that has ever existed’.

Things To know About Cofee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adobe Reader Under Zero-Day Attack

Symantec yesterday confirmed that a new zero-day vulnerability, which means there is not yet any patch available to fix the flaw, in both Adobe Acrobat and Readerunder is under active assault.
An Adobe post says the company is currently investigating. Per Symantec, the current attacks install a Trojan named Trojan.Pidief.H. The infection rate is "extremely limited," according to Symantec, and its risk assessment level is very low, which suggests the threat is for now restricted to targeted attacks.
Combining a targeted attack with a zero-day vulnerability can deliver a one-two knock-out punch. A targeted attack against a specific company or person is usually personalized, often with the recipient's real name, and better crafted than the usual mistake-ridden scam e-mail. So the e-mail stands a much better chance of evading a person's natural suspicions.
Then, if you're successfully tricked into opening an e-mail attachment that delivers a zero-day attack, it's guaranteed to find the software hole it goes after, as long as the relevant software is installed. Potential victims can only hope their antivirus product detects the attack, but security software typically has a much lower detection rate for small-scale targeted attacks.
The only good thing about targeted attacks is that there aren't many of them, compared to the slew of non-personalized attacks and scams. But be extra wary of e-mailed .pdf files all the same, and keep an eye out for a patch from Adobe. You can also upload any .pdf (or other file) to Virustotal.com for a second-opinion malware scan, but again, many antivirus programs will miss new targeted attacks.

Convert Torrent Hash Links into Direct Download Http Links

Sometimes you get blocked by the firewall, sometimes you just can’t get the appropriate downloading speed, sometimes you need a rating to download the file and the most annoying thing is when the seeder leaves you with a 95.00% completed file.

Tip : Download Files Using Proxies Bypassing Firewall Restrictions ?

Get Direct Download Links Using Torrent Hash

It is very annoying that even if you have a broadband you still have some downloading problems with torrents. This turns the promising world of file exchange into a nightmare, but httpTorrents has a solution.

They’ll turn the torrent file that you need into an easy downloadable http-link.

You get : Guaranteed fast speed Guaranteed 100% download

You don’t have to worry about : No uploading No blocking No ratings No wait

If you are getting too hard with torrents – httpTorrents will make it easy for you ! No more problems if a seeder leaves you.

Oh, so if you haven’t "figured out how to use BitTorrent" (whatever that means), all you have to do is find the hash. It may sound simple but to a user that can’t use bittorrent, this might as well be impossible. [BTW:A tip Automatically Download from Rapidshare without Waiting]

> Go to httptorrent : Link

Note : Only a small percentage of the most popular torrents have been added for direct download, trying to download a torrent that httpTorrents doesn’t have will put it on their list to be added.

Also Read : Top 10 Torrent Sites – Best Pirate Bay Alternatives

How to Watch TV online in India – See Indian channels on the Internet

One thing that I miss while being away from home, is watching some of my TV shows, and the television packages available in my college Hostel is not the one I like. So I miss quite a lot of my favourite Programs. But not anymore coz I can watch them Online…

However like watching movies online and playing games online, there are quite a few options to watch Indian TV channels online, like always I settle for nothing but the best, and for watching Indian television channels and news online I use couple of website called iDesiTV and FOMNY TV.

iDesiTV and FOMNY TV provide users with streaming of popular mainstream Indian television channels along with providing streaming for several regional channels. The quality of the streaming is excellent, and people with a decent internet connection should be able to view the TV channels without buffering.

Both these sites have a big range of TV channels you can watch online which include:

Popular Indian News Channels like CNN IBN, CNBC TV 18, NDTV, DD News, Times Now, IBN7 and Star News.

Popular Indian Entertainment Channels like Star Plus, Star Utsav, Zee TV USA, Sony, Star One, ZOOM and ETC.

Popular Indian Movie Channels like Zee Cinema, Star Gold, Set Max and B4U Movies

Popular Indian Music Channels like B4U Music, MTV Music India, Smash Hits and Indian Music.

Popular Indian Regional Channels like Raj TV, Sun TV, Zee Marathi, Zee Gujarati, Star Vijay and Zee Telugu.

Overall these sites provide you with enough option to keep you entertained with local Indian programs. In addition to Indian channels FOMNY TV also provides users a option to view television channels from several other countries like Pakistan, Brazil, Canada, France, China etc.

Do you use any other service to watch Indian television entertainment and news channels online ? Do let me know about them through your comments.

Links : iDesiTV and FOMNY TV

via Techie Buzz

Also Read : What Can One Actually Do with their Mobile Phones – 25 Amazing Stuff