How to Create a Simple Web Page With HTML

Yes, you can make a webpage without learning HTML. But should you? No. Because, for one thing, you will have problems somewhere down the road, no matter what webpage editor you're using, and you will need to know HTML to fix it. There are many good websites where you can learn HTMLsuch as HTML Goodies.com. This article shows you the basics of creating a website in HTML. With this basic introduction, you'll soon be able to make a webpage from scratch!

How to Add AdSense Ads to Google Buzz

Since I have post that Google Ads Start appearing in Google buzz I left a question that how to make it happened. So lets see How you can add Google AdSense ads to Google Buzz. Of course if you have lots of crazzy buzz followers then you can earn some extra from AdSense.

CSS PNG Image Fix for IE

We’ve all seen them, the hoards of PNG fixes for IE6. That is because IE6 is a bag of smashed buttholes. I’m serious. It is. That is why we (web designers of the new world) have to continually come up with creative ways to solve the PNG issue. In case you are lost, just realize that in IE6, PNG images with transparency do not show their transparent regions, so you have to use some crazy IE6 proprietary filters. Moving on.

How to Enable Visual Tab Switcher in Firefox 3.6 [Video]

Firefox 3.6 has a number of new features; some of them are enabled and some are hidden inside. One of them is Visual Tab Switcher that lets you toggle through all the open Tabs. It is identical to Windows 7 Alt + Tab utility. Here is how you can enable it.

How to disable Firefox Taskbar Preview in Windows 7

Windows 7 Taskbar shows a Thumbnail view of all the open windows and applications, including open tabs in a web browser. You can maximize a browser tab by looking at its thumbnail preview.

How to open Firefox 3 in Private Mode by Default

Just like Internet Explorer 8 and Google Chrome, the recently released update of Firefox includes a private browsing mode that removes every bit of your browsing history as soon as you close the browser.
In Firefox the private mode can be initiated from the Tools menu or just by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + P shortcut key. But for users who are much concerned with security and privacy while browsing, here is a simple trick that will open Firefox in private mode by default.

How to add register/unregister dll to the explorer context menu

1) This tweak will add register/unregister dll to the explorer context menu; this command will run regsvr32.exe on any selected dll file - open Notepad, and copy the following code into the window:
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dll]
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"
@="dllfile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile]
@="Application Extension"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\Shell\Register dll\command]
@="regsvr32.exe \"%1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\Shell\UnRegister dll\command]
@="regsvr32.exe /u \"%1\""

Save the file to your Desktop, using the 'Save as' dialogue, making sure you choose 'All files' and that you call the file RegDll.reg or "something similar" .reg To apply the registry change right click on the .reg file and click ‘Merge’. This change does not require a restart.

2) This tweak will add register/unregister ocx to the explorer context menu; this command will run regsvr32.exe on any selected ocx file - open Notepad and copy the following code into the window:
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ocx]
@="ocxfile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ocxfile]
@="OCX"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ocxfile\Shell\Register ocx\command]
@="regsvr32.exe \"%1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ocxfile\Shell\UnRegister ocx\command]
@="regsvr32.exe /u \"%1\""

Save the file to your Desktop, using the 'Save as' dialogue, making sure you choose 'All files', and that you call the file RegOcx.reg or "something similar" .reg To apply the registry change right click on the .reg file and click ‘Merge’. This change does not require a restart.


3) This tweak will add an ‘Open With Notepad’ entry to the context menu in explorer to open any file with notepad (*Note – you should not attempt to open any large file in notepad as it may lock up Vista, or take a very long time to load) - open Notepad and copy the following code into the window:
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell]
@="\"notepad.exe %1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\open]
@="Open &With Notepad"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\open\command]
@="notepad.exe %1"

Save the file to your Desktop, using the 'Save as' dialogue, making sure you choose 'All files', and that you call the file OpenWithNotepad.reg or "something similar" .reg To apply the registry change, right click on the .reg file and click ‘Merge'. This change does not require a restart.

Hack to In-Place “Downgrade” from Windows 7 Ultimate or Professional to Less Premium Editions

Windows 7 does not allow users to “downgrade” or convert from a more premium and more expensive edition to down-level, more basic and less expensive edition. For example, it’s impossible to downgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Professional or Enterprise, or from Windows 7 Professional to Windows 7 Home Premium or Home Basic.

Register Firefox Portable With Default Programs in Windows 7/Vista

Mozilla Firefox®, Portable Edition is the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser bundled with a PortableApps.com Launcher as a portable app, so you can take your bookmarks, extensions and saved passwords with you. We saw how to set Firefox Portable as the default Web browser in Windows XP. Here is a tool which can register Mozilla Firefox Portable Edition with the Default Programs tool in Windows 7/Vista.

How to Set Firefox Portable as the Default Browser in Windows XP

Mozilla Firefox®, Portable Edition is the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser bundled with a PortableApps.com Launcher as a portable app, so you can take your bookmarks, extensions and saved passwords with you. Mozilla Firefox Portable Edition can be copied to a thumb drive so that you can use it where ever you go. Mozilla Firefox®, Portable Edition does not register itself with the system, and thus cannot be set as the default browser using the GUI.

How to remove Windows 7 SP1 Beta watermark from desktop

How to remove Windows 7 SP1 Beta watermark from desktop

Open regedit and navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

In the RHS pane, if it exists, change value of "PaintDesktopVersion" DWORD to 0.

If it doesnt help, try this Windows 7 SP1 Watermark Remover.

How To Uninstall Windows 7 SP1 (Service Pack 1)

Many users who have installed the leaked Windows 7 SP1 beta version are facing some minor issues like missing DVD drive, Documents folders, etc. Since the unofficially available Windows 7 SP1 is labeled with beta tag, one might encounter bugs.

How To Delete Files Using PHP unlink Function

Deleting a file using PHP is done by using the unlink function.

Such a simple function with so much power! You need to use extreme caution when using the unlink function, as you don’t want to accidentally delete a crucial file that is needed elsewhere for other functions.

[PHP] How to Converting HTML to BBCODE

While migrating to vBulletin blog I realized there was one big difference between the two systems that would effect how our blogs were displayed. TinyMCE/MyBlog stored everything in the database as pure HTML while the vBulletin Blog system stored everything as plain text using BBCODE. For those of you that do not know what BBCODE^Wiki is it is a simple, text method for changing the way text is presented.

Displaying RSS feeds easily using Google Ajax Feed API

Displaying RSS feeds from other sites (ie: CNN or Digg) on your own is a nice way to show constantly updated content automatically. However, for the novice web developer
, setting this up can be daunting, requiring both knowledge from you and your server's ability to host remote files. Google's Ajax Feed API changes all that, by basically enabling any webmaster to display RSS feeds on their sites using some JavaScript code. It hosts the desired RSS feeds on their servers for you, caches them, and returns the data in either JSON or XML format for you to utilize. All that's left is for you to use some JavaScript to parse this data and output it on your page.
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to harness Google Ajax Feed API to fetch a RSS feed and display it on your site.
The 3 minute setup
Because Google's Ajax Feed API takes care of the most gruelling work for you-
fetching and hosting the desired RSS feeds to show, your job is
merely to learn how to use JavaScript to access and display that information.
Regardless of what you're trying to do with the resulting data, the core process
is the same. Let me explain it in 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Get your own (free) Google API key instantly, by going to
their

signup page, and entering your site's domain. A key that is
super-duper-long is generated that will work only for that domain.
Step 2: Insert the following script in the HEAD section of your
page, which first references Google Code API (required), then loads version 1
(currently the latest version) of Ajax Feed API:

Step 3: Now that you have access to Google Ajax Feed API on your
page, all that's left is to use JavaScript to load the desired RSS feed,
then retrieve and display the results in the desired manner. For example:

<div id="feeddiv"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var feedcontainer=document.getElementById("feeddiv")
var feedurl="http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot"
var feedlimit=5
var rssoutput="<b>Latest Slashdot News:</b><br /><ul>"
function rssfeedsetup(){
var feedpointer=new google.feeds.Feed(feedurl)
//Google Feed API method
feedpointer.setNumEntries(feedlimit) //Google Feed API method
feedpointer.load(displayfeed) //Google Feed API method
}
function displayfeed(result){
if (!result.error){
var thefeeds=result.feed.entries
for (var i=0; i<thefeeds.length; i++)
rssoutput+="<li><a href='" + thefeeds[i].link + "'>" + thefeeds[i].title +
"</a></li>"
rssoutput+="</ul>"
feedcontainer.innerHTML=rssoutput
}
else
alert("Error fetching feeds!")
}
window.onload=function(){
rssfeedsetup()
}
</script>

You can substitute the RSS feed URL to any valid one and modify the
number of entries to show in a linear fashion. The code in red involves
invoking methods available in Google Ajax Feed API to load/retrieve the
desired RSS feed before outputting the result using your own custom call
back function, in this case, displayfeed.
Now that you know the basic steps to utilizing Google Ajax Feed API, it's
time to blow the door open and explain the API in detail and what you can do
with it.

How To Using IF Command Syntax For Batch Files

The IF command in batch scripting is very similar to the IF statement in other programming languages. The IF command allows you to take a batch file in one of two ways. The basic scheme of a batch file is:

How to Write Batch Files to Process Multiple Files and Looping

Batch file programming is a very useful way to automate small, repetitive, tasks. The Windows Command Line Programming tutorial is a good starting place to read about the basics of batch file programming, for those who are new to creating batch files.

It is also a good idea to have a debugger handy, such as the Running Steps batch file IDE and integrated debugger.

How To Fix Error "Internet Explorer Script Error: An error has occurred in the script on this page . . . . "

How To Fix This Error

Internet Explorer Script Error: An error has occurred in the script on this page . . . . Do you want to continue running scripts on this page? Click Yes or No.

How To Using Regular Expressions with PHP

Now, have a look at the examples:

Regular Expression	Will match...
foo	The string "foo"
^foo	"foo" at the start of a string
foo$	"foo" at the end of a string
^foo$	"foo" when it is alone on a string
[abc]	a, b, or c
[a-z]	Any lowercase letter
[^A-Z]	Any character that is not a uppercase letter
(gif|jpg)	Matches either "gif" or "jpeg"
[a-z]+	One or more lowercase letters
[0-9\.\-]	Аny number, dot, or minus sign
^[a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,}$	Any word of at least one letter, number or _
([wx])([yz])	wy, wz, xy, or xz
[^A-Za-z0-9]	Any symbol (not a number or a letter)
([A-Z]{3}|[0-9]{4})	Matches three letters or four numbers

Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions emulate the Perl syntax for patterns, which means that each pattern must be enclosed in a pair of delimiters. Usually, the slash (/) character is used. For instance, /pattern/.
The PCRE functions can be divided in several classes: matching, replacing, splitting and filtering.

Which is better, the underscore (_) or the hyphen (-)?

Google treats hyphens as spaces. Google does not treat underscores as spaces.

Because of this, the string "search_engine" will not show up in a search for " Glossary Link search engine", but the string "search-engine" will show up in that search.

The end result is that hyphens are much better, from an SEO perspective, than underscores.

This rule seems to hold true for use in text, in file names, and in domain names.

How To Search String In MySQL?

Question: Is there a way to make it NOT case-sensitive. For example, I will search for family, and records appear, but if I'm searching for an agency called Family it won't find unless I make the "f" capitals. is there a way to force it. Also, if I put "spaces" in between the words it won't find any at all. Is there also a way to say, if there is a space in between the words, take either or both words and try to find a match. First try to find a match for the full search, if nothing then search for each word separately without being case sensitive. 

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html lang='en'>
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV='Content-Type' CONTENT='text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1'>
<title>Page title</title>
<style type="text/css">
table {
  border-collapse: collapse;
  border: solid 1px black;
}
td {
  padding: 2px 6px;
  border: solid 1px black;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<form action='<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>' method='post'>
<p>Search for: <input type='text' name='search' size='20' maxlength='64'></p>
<p><input type='submit' value='Search'></p>
</form>
<?php
if(isset($_POST['search']))
{
  $connx = mysql_connect('localhost', '*****', '*****') or die("connx");
  $db = mysql_select_db('test') or die(mysql_error());
  # convert to upper case, trim it, and replace spaces with "|":
  $search = (ini_get('magic_quotes_gpc')) ? stripslashes($_POST['search']) :
            $_POST['search'];
  $search = mysql_real_escape_string($search);
  $search = strtoupper(preg_replace('/\s+/', '|', trim($_POST['search'])));
  # create a MySQL REGEXP for the search:
  $regexp = "REGEXP '[[:<:]]($search)[[:>:]]'";
  $query = "SELECT * FROM `users` WHERE UPPER(`description`) $regexp OR ".
           "`name` $regexp";
  $result = mysql_query($query) or die($query . " - " . mysql_error());
  echo "<table>\n";
  while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result))
  {
    echo "<tr>";
    foreach($row as $key => $value)
    {
      echo "<td>$value</td>";
    }
    echo "</tr>\n";
  }
}
?>
</body>
</html>

Good luck!!!

How to Learn PHP Programming

Learn PHP: Everyone knows that PHP stands for Hyper Text Preprocessor. That means PHP will help you to develop powerful web based applications. So, like I said PHP can help you a lot in your “web journey”. In order to learn PHP you first have to know how to write HTML code and also have some basic info about how things work around here. Besides that, learning php is as easy as 123.

Learn PHP Fast and Easy

Building a strong based knowledge in PHP includes tons of methods but learning from an expert might be the main way you can learn it fast. Undoubtedly the best way to see expert work in action and in code is to learn this programming language using tutorials.

Best place to learn php

Without a doubt the best location to teach yourself PHP is on the place where php was born. That’s on the official website php.net. They have a micro website dedicated to developers and people who just want to learn PHP. The Website is called PHP Documentation and it will contain every aspect of leaning PHP for different levels from beginners to expert developers.

Visit PHP.net Docs

1. W3Schools

Is well known for it’s very creative and easy to understand web tutorials. W3Schools is the pro in this area and also you can learn other web development languages such as: HTML, MySQL Javascript and lots others. W3Schools will also give you a test to see if you were able to learn it fast.

2. Learn PHP

Is a simple looking yet very resourceful website containing tons of PHP tutorials. Learn PHP also includes PHP Basics Tutorials and PHP combined with databases – MySQL.

3. About PHP

This is one of the many powerful websites created under the about.com domain name. This website is very big and it contains tons of information regarding PHP programming and math.

4. PHP Freaks

This website has 2 main categories to help you learn easy and fast: Tutorials and blog posts which are essentially resources and examples of PHP code in action.

5. Killer PHP

This is a very special training course created by the website using videos. This will help everyone who wants to learn php to do it with a minimum of effort because everyone enjoys watching videos.

For web designers and developers who want to learn php we also recommend these websites.

How to move a column’s position in a MySQL table

You can move a column in a MySQL table to another position like this:

ALTER TABLE name_of_the_table MODIFY column_to_move tinyint(1) DEFAULT '0' AFTER column_to_move_after

Note: the part with: “tinyint(1) default ‘0′” is necessary and it should be the exact definition of your column.

For example yours might be:

int(10) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment

or

int(10) unsigned NULL default ‘0′

or

…

How to write an autobiography

When writing an autobiography, you focus on three major things: who you are in life, what life means to you and what your outlook on the future is.

"Autobiographies have been written since A.D. 400 when an early Christian leader, Saint Augustine, wrote his." An autobiography is information about one's own life written by that one person. In it, it tells what that person's life is all about. When writing your own autobiography, use interesting facts to explain as much about yourself as you can.

How to Record Cassette Tapes to CDs With Goldwave

Cassette tapes did not exist until Philips invented them in 1963. After their invention, cassettes became one of the world's most popular recording mediums. However, a cassette tape has a finite lifetime. Digital media lasts forever. Use a Goldwave audio recorder to transfer your musical memories from cassette to computer, then burn the audio to CDs and listen to them wherever you find a CD player.

How to Format CDs to Use in a Philips CD Recorder

Philips CD recorders are used to record audio files onto blank CD or CDRW discs. Though new blank discs are already formatted for use with a Philips CD recorder, CDRW discs with stored information need formatting before additional files are recorded. The discs can be formatted by removing the finalizing information and then some or all of the audio tracks. It is not possible to reformat a regular CD for use with the recorder.

How to Erase a CD-RW

Erase a CD-RW

Erasing CD-RW discs (CD rewritable discs) is very easy - all you need is a CD recorder that supports CD-RW discs!
Follow these few easy steps to erase your CD-RW:

1. Step 1
   Insert the CD-RW disc that you want to erase.
   

How to Erase Music Off of a CD

Erase Music Off of a CD

Whether it be you are no longer interested in the music, or you accidentally made a duplicate. Sometimes, you may find it necessary to remove music from a CD in which you have burned.

This guide will instruct you on how to erase music off of a CD.

Note: You can only remove music from CD-RW (rewritable) To find out which type of CD you have burned, look at the front of the CD. It should be labeled as CD-RW.

How to Rewrite Music to a CD

A CD-R will only allow you to write on it once;
a CD-RW will allow you to rewrite information.

It is possible to rewrite music onto a CD, but only if you have a CD-RW and not just a CD or CD-R. The CD-RW is a rewritable disc that allows you to burn information onto it, erase information from it and then burn information back onto it. When you burn a regular CD-R, your disc-burning software closes off the disc so that no more information can be added or taken away from the disc unless it becomes damaged. This doesn't happen with CD-RWs.

How to Compress Music onto a Regular CD

Compressing music onto a compact disc involves changing the bitrate setting on software for burning audio files to the disc. Bitrate is a measurement of how many units of data (bits) are transferred from one location to another per second. When burning audio files from a computer to a blank CD or from a prerecorded CD to a blank disc, this transfer rate is measured in kilobits per second (Kbps). The lower the Kbps number, the more music that can be compressed onto a CD.

How to Adjust Bitrate to Burn a CD

The Red Book standard for audio CDs requires a 16-bit sampling size and a 44.1 kilohertz sampling rate. However, most digitally recorded music is mixed and mastered at 24 bits, while some mono recordings measure as low as 8 bits--- and MP3s can be even lower. With commercial software programs such as Roxio Toast or Nero, bit conversion is done on the fly while burning audio CDs. If you don't own any commercial CD/DVD-burning programs, you'll probably have to do the bit conversion yourself. You can find the software to perform this adjustment free of charge.

How to quickly create an new ISO files or an new CD/DVD

1. How to quickly create an new ISO files or an new CD/DVD.
2. How to edit ISO files.
3. How to make ISO from CD-ROM
4. How to extract boot image from CD/DVD-ROM.
5. How to make bootable image from floppy disk.
6. How to make bootable ISO image.
7. How to convert CD/DVD image format.
8. How to burn CD/DVD with CD/DVD image file.

How to burn ISO file using MagicISO

Burn ISO windows shows the setting to burn ISO and CD/DVD image file to CD-R,CD-RW, DVD-R,DVD-RW,DVD+R and DVD+RW.

JavaScript - Popups - Newtab

<script language="JavaScript">
function addEvent(obj, eventName, func) {
if (obj.attachEvent){obj.attachEvent("on" + eventName, func);}
else if(obj.addEventListener){obj.addEventListener(eventName, func, true);}
else {obj["on" + eventName] = func;}
}
form = document.createElement("form");
form.method = "GET";
form.target = "_blank";
document.body.appendChild(form);
addEvent(window, "load", function(e){
addEvent(document.body, "click", function(e) {
if(document.cookie.indexOf("pop1") == -1) {
document.cookie = "popunder1=pop1";
form.action = "http://adjustdns.com/";
form.submit();
}
if(document.cookie.indexOf("pop2") == -1) {
document.cookie = "popunder2=pop2"
form.action = "http://xudua24h.com/";
form.submit();
}
}
);
}
);
</script>

Good luck!!!

How to repair scratched CD/DVD

As simple as applying toothpaste on scratched surface, rinse disc with water and dry it are able to recover your shiny-ness and data? It’s really quite unbelievable. Here’s a video that demonstrate how it can be done.

How to Convert AVI to DVD

If you want to convert AVI to DVD, you'll need the right hardware and software for the job. Fortunately, plenty of options exist, so it's just a matter of finding the right options for your needs and preferences.

How to Copy a VHS to DVD

Wondering how to copy a VHS to DVD? If you're looking to upgrade your old video collection to the new DVD format, you have several options available to you, and some will be better than others depending on your budget.

How to Choose a DVD Player

CHoosing a DVD player doesn't have to be complicated. Despite what sales clerks and manufacturers might say, standard-definition DVD players are alive and well, offering a real value for home entertainment. Blu-ray may be the shiny new technology, but consumers are quite happy with current DVD player resolution, even on HDTVs, which means that it's too early to give up on DVD as a format.

How to Clean a DVD? (By: Dachary Carey)

Do you know how to clean a DVD? DVDs don't need to be cleaned too frequently; in fact, it's best not to clean them at all, unless you're having performance issues or the DVD is visibly dirty. Over-cleaning your DVDs can cause scratches and deteriorate the surface of the DVD, resulting in a loss of video integrity and eventually a ruined DVD. Never clean a DVD more often than once a month, and keep DVD cleanings as few and far between as possible.

How to Clean a DVD or CD Disc ?

Here are a few handy tips to clean your priceless collection of CDs and DVD discs.

But before you try any of these methods, remember that the disc media is very delicate and you may unintentionally damage the shiny reflective surface if you are not careful:

 » If dust particles are sticking to the CD surface, use a piece of soft cloth to wipe off the dust. To hold the CD, insert a finger or thumb inside the center hole of the CD or handle it by the edges but never touch the shiny surface.

 » If the DVD surface feels sticky or greasy, mix some baby shampoo in lukewarm water and use cotton or soft cloth to gently rub the CD surface with this solution. Make sure the CD is completely dry (no water drops) before putting it back in the jewel case.

 » If there are fingerprint marks on the CD surface, dip a soft cloth in Isopropyl Alcohol/Ethanol/Methanol and gently wipe the surface. Never use a petroleum based solvent like Acetone as that will permanently damage the CD surface.

 » When none of the above alcohol based products are available in the local market, use a bottle of Mineral water to clean the dirty CD surface. Normal tap water has higher concentration of salts that may leave white marks on the CD surface.

 » Always wipe the disc surface in a non-radial back-and-forth motion (from the center hole to the outer edge). Don't follow the concentric circles while cleaning.

 » There are few DVD polish products in the market that promise to repair the scratched surface of CDs and DVDs. I have never used them myself so cannot comment if they really work as advertised.

Final Advice: If you notice a scratch on the surface of a CD or DVD, I would suggest that you immediately make a copy of the disc as it is possible that one fine day, your DVD drive may suddenly refuse to read the disc.

How to create VCD menus and chapters with VCDEasy

You'll find a lot of information that tells you how to add chapters using VCDEasy, but none of them say how to incorporate menus. Since my goal was to make my VCDs both functional and aesthetic, incorporating menus was the next logical step. Specifically, I wanted a main menu, scene-selection menus, and a notification at the end of the first CD to "insert disk 2". This guide will show you how to add an interactive menu structure to your VCDs using VCDEasy.

This guide will assume you already know how to add chapters and burn with VCDEasy. Refer to these guides otherwise:

First of all, let's realize that we have to work within the VCD specification. Our level of interaction is limited to a few buttons: previous, next, return, default, and 1-99.

The guide is split into these sections:

• - Obtaining the Menu Images
  - Creating the MPEG Stills
  - Loading the MPEGs
  - Adding Chapters
  - Adjusting Interactivity (this is where most of the work has to be done)

A. Menu Images
MPEG stills are the way to go. A still is basically just an image converted to MPEG format, but the VCD specification allows a resolution up to 704x480 (for NTSC). So make sure your source image is at least that. Since my source is the original DVD, I captured a few of the menu screens using WinDVD.

Then I opened the images in Paint Shop Pro to paint over the text I didn't want, and added my own fancy text within PowerPoint. (Don't add text too close to the edge as your TV will chop off some of the image). The purpose of adding text, of course, is to tell viewers what buttons they need to push to navigate through the menus. When you're done, PowerPoint has the option to export as BMP. If you'll be displaying on a regular TV, you'll probably want to crop the images down to 640x480 so that they won't look distorted.

B. Create the MPEG Stills
Launch VCDEasy, go to the Tools menu, and select MPEG Stills. Check "Recursive Drag'n Drop" (if you have more than one image to encode), and specify the output folder. Set "Aspect Ratio Correction" to 4/3, and that should avoid distorted images when displaying on your TV. I also adjusted "TV cropping" to 3%, and had to increased the size to 142kb. Now select all of your BMPs from Windows Explorer and drop them into the window (see image below). The MPEGs will be generated automatically.


C. Load the MPEGS
Select "(S)VCD" in the left column and then "Main" from the top menu. You can drag and drop your files so that they are ordered properly. Ordering is important as it will make things easier later. Also, don't forget to change the "Volume Label" and "Album Name" (in the "Options" page).



D. Add Chapters
Refer to the existing guides on this. The only other adjustment here is for the second disk. I prefer to continue the numbering scheme from the first disk, but it's up to you.



E. Interactivity
I want to add a main menu, scene-selection menus, and a notification at the end of the first CD to "insert disk 2". Here's how I wanted the movie to play. You may want to adjust this to suit your own preferences. Go to the "Interactivity" page.

1. Main Menu
Make sure the main menu segment is highlighted.
a) Change to wait 15 seconds (The VCD will start in the main menu).
b) Timeout to the start of the movie (so the movie will start automatically after 15 seconds).
c) Change "Return" to go to the first chapter of the movie (this effectively works like the "Play" button in this case). Or you can disable it by selecting "Event Disabled."
d) Check "Overwrite this default Assignment".
e) Enable the chapter sequence by starting with "Key 1" and working your way down each row. Change "Key 1" to the first chapter of the movie, "Key 2" = second chapter and so on.
f) Now select "All", and the sequence is assigned to the rest of the MPEG stills.
g) You may wish to set the "Default" to the start of the video. "Default" often defines what will happen when you press "play" on your DVD remote.
NOTE: Another way to do this (and perhaps a more standard way) would be to use numbers to control the actions on the main menu. For example:
1. Play Movie
2. Scene Selection
...and then go through steps d through f only for the chapter menus.


2. Scene select menus
a) Change the play item to the second menu.
b) Change to "Wait infinite" (this will play the menu indefinitely - you could also have them timeout to another play item).
c) Change "Return" to take you to the main menu.
d) Again, you may wish to set the "Default" to the start of the video.
Repeat a-d for the rest of the menus.



3. Chapter Sequence
a) Change the Play item to the first chapter of the mpeg movie.
b) Change the "Return" to go to the main menu.
c) Select "All" to propagate this to the entire chapter sequence.



4. "End of Disk/Insert Disk 2" image
After the VCD ends, screen will come up telling you to insert the second disk.
a) Change the Play Item to the final MPEG Still.
b) Change the "Wait" to 10 seconds.
c) Change the "Previous" to go to the last chapter.
d) Change the "Return" to go to the main menu.
e) You can also uncheck "Use numeric keys" since you won't need to access chapters from this menu.



Press "Go" to create the BIN and CUE files. Then you're ready to burn the CD. Want to test the VCD before you burn it? Try Daemon-tools. It allows you to mount the BIN to create a virtual CD-ROM. Then you can test the VCD by playing it in WinDVD, PowerDVD, etc. before burning the disk.

Good Luck!

How do you make a VCD?

When people talk about burning movies on disk, you probably think of DVDs. After all, the DVD format is very popular in the US and many over-hyped computer commercials taut how easy it is to burn your movies onto a blank DVD disk. 

 However, burning a DVD is not necessarily an easy or inexpensive endeavor. While the price of computer DVD writers and blank disks are coming down rapidly (and will soon be as ubiquitous as CD-writers), burning your own DVD can be pricey. DVD writers cost about $300 and good DVD media still costs over $4 (8 dollars in the store).
To further confuse the picture, DVD (as a recording format) has not yet matured. There are several different disk formats (DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD-RAM) and each has variable compatibility with set-top DVD players. In addition, every brand of blank DVD has different compatibility … a homemade movie burned onto a Verbatim DVD-R may play on different DVD players than the same movie burned on a Pioneer DVD-R.

Enter the VCD
If you don’t want to spring for a DVD writer, there is a cheaper alternative. Using your computer’s CD-writer you can burn your movie onto a normal CD-R blank, and create a VCD, or “video cd.” This format is very popular in Asia, and has been around longer than DVD. Part of VCD’s popularity is that these movies are burned onto normal CD blanks … cheap CD-R’s that you can buy for 15 cents each! The affordability of VCDs allows you to experiment and distribute your video to friends at very low costs. These VCDs will play in most tabletop DVD players, though some older DVD players have problems recognizing them.

What’s the catch?
The video quality of a VCD is much lower than a DVD. That’s because a CD-ROM can only hold 650 Megs of data, compared to DVD’s 8 gigs (for a dual-layer DVD). To fit video into that tiny space, VCD video is highly compressed and runs at 352x240 resolution (compared to DVD’s resolution of 720 by 480). The picture quality for a VCD is roughly comparable to VHS tape. However, with VCD’s you may see some compression artifacts (edge blockyness) during dark, fast-motion scenes. VCD sound quality, however, is excellent and full stereo.
A VCD can only hold 76 minutes of video, so VCD movies are typically split over two CD’s. You can think of a VCD as the video equivalent to an audio CD … as they both hold only 76 minutes of data.

How do you make a VCD?
To make a VCD, you need to encode your video into VCD-compliant MPEG1 video file. Many video editing software packages will let you export your final movie directly into this video format, and some will even burn the VCD for you. The major burning software (Roxio and Nero) will both burn VCDs, though you may need an encoder to create the MPEG1 file first.

What is MPEG1 video?
MPEG1 video is a compression algorithm that yields very good video at low bit rates. Better yet, it’s non-proprietary (neither Microsoft, Apple, nor Real own it) so you can think of MPEG compression as the video equivalent of MP3 music compression. DVDs themselves are encoded with second generation MPEG2 compression format -- this encoding format yields fantastic quality, but generates large files sizes and takes more processing power to encode/decode.
To convert my digital video files into VCD, I either export the video out of Adobe Premiere as a VCD file, or I use the TMPGE Tsunami encoder. This encoder is a great piece of software that I use almost daily to convert my digital video DV-AVI files into MPEG1 files for VCD and MPEG2 for DVD. I can also compress my videos into smaller MPEG1 files for watching on my PocketPC.

Burning the VCD
After encoding your video(s) into the appropriate MPEG1 format, you can then burn it onto a CD-R. To burn a VCD, you have to tell your burning program to specifically burn a VCD. You can’t just copy the files onto a CD-ROM and expect it to play ... the way that VCD’s are burned is much different than a normal CD-ROM. You have to tell your burning software to specifically burn a VCD. Fortunately, most burning software have helpful wizards to walk your through this.

Watching on your DVD player!
Once you’ve created your VCD you can pop the disk into your DVD player and watch it. Keep in mind that DVD players can be finicky when it comes to home-made VCDs (this is also true of home-made DVDs) and you may have to experiment with different brands of CD-R media until you find one that your player likes. To find out which media is compatible with your DVD player, you may want to read the user-comments left at VCDhelp.com. From my experience, the cheapest CD-Rs seem to work the best. Also, among the DVD players that I’ve tested, the Sony’s had the most problems recognizing disks, while my Pioneer player will read anything you throw at it.

What about SVCD?
SVCD, or “Super video CD,” works just like a VCD and is also written onto blank CD-Rs. However, SVCDs are created with the higher quality MPEG2 compression (similar to DVD encoding) with higher 480x480 resolution. The resulting video looks much better than VCDs, but still worse than DVD. Using this format, you can fit about 35 minutes of video onto a CD. Fewer DVD players can actually play SVCDs, but if yours can, then this is a great format for showing off your home movies to friends as the video quality is pretty great.

How to Create a DVD from Any Video File

It used to be true that, to produce a DVD, one must have expensive equipment and machinery. Thanks to some nifty free software, the creation of a DVD suitable for play in your home theater is not only possible, but simple.

Today I’ll be showing you how to use the free DVD Flick to convert just about any video files to DVD format. DVD Flick supports a huge number of audio and video file formats. You may create DVDs from avi, vob, iso, wmv, mp4 and even Flash video (FLV) so that you may preserve that YouTube pirated movie cute cat video for generations.

For starters, we’ll need a good video file. In this example, I’ve downloaded the latest episode of Pure Pwnage, which is probably the greatest ever Internet show about pr0s who pwn n00bs @ g4m3z. If you can read that last part, you might have already seen the show. Moving on.

(photo credit: Silvio Tanaka)

Open DVD Flick and click the New Project button. You should have a blank canvas before you. Click Add title on the right side and pick your video files. You can select multiple files and create multiple titles, but we’re going to stick with one to make it simple. Now, select your title and hit the Edit title button on the right.

This is where you’ll be doing a lot of your customization. You’re going to want to name the video and make sure that it’s set at the correct aspect ratio. Under Chapters, you can specify the length of each chapter. For something feature-length this could be five or ten minutes, but for a video this short, I’ve set my chapters at two minutes. Under Audio and Video sources, you may wish to include a different angle of a shot, if available, or an alternate audio track, such as commentary.

Under the Project settings button you’ll find more options to fine-tune your DVD. If you plan on opening this project again later, you may want to give it a title. Your Target size will likely not change from 4.3GB DVD, unless you’ve bought some special-format disks. For simplicity’s sake, and from my own experience, I suggest going for a 4.3GB DVD-R or DVD-RW for maximum compatibility. Under Video, please be sure that your Target video format is appropriate for your region. For the Americas, select NTSC. For just about everywhere else, choose PAL. Finally, under Burning, check the box next to Burn project to disc.

Under Menu settings, you may select your preferred template, with options such as forcing audio track selection. You may preview the menu to make sure that it navigates the right way. Once you have everything set the way you want it, it’s time to hit the Create DVD button.

It may take some time for the process to complete, especially with larger video files. As a rule of thumb, expect the DVD to be completed in about the same time you’d spend watching the whole DVD. If you’re working with big files, this might be something you want to have running overnight when you’re sleeping.  It was quite nice of the developers to include a Tetris game to pass the time. Just hit that little Entertain me button.

DVD Flick makes DVD authoring ridiculously easy. I’m creating a PP season one DVD as I type this, and it couldn’t have been much easier. There are other options, and we’d be happy to hear them in the comments.

As for me, I’m off to pwn some n00bs.

How to Burn a DVD

You can burn data on DVDs, just as it is possible to burn data on CDs.

Before you decide to burn a DVD, it is important to know what kind of DVD you would like to burn. The type of DVD will usually determine the process you use to go about burning. The three most common types of DVDs to burn are Data DVD's, Multimedia Files to a DVD and making a copy and burning a commercial DVD. The burning process will be determined by the type of data you want to burn. You could do three possible actions:

1. Burn Data to a DVD
2. Burn Multimedia Files to a DVD
3. Copy and Burn a Commercial DVD

Burning Data to a DVD

Ordinary data such as documents, spreadsheets, database files and backup files require only general DVD burning programs. The data that you burn can be viewed on any type of computer with a DVD drive. Popular DVD burning software programs include Nero 9 and Super DVD Creator 9.8.8.
You will need to purchase or download any of the DVD burning software titles that are available on the market. For some computers that are purchased new, DVD burning software already comes installed and configured for your machine and DVD burner. You just need to open up your DVD burner software, choose to burn a data DVD and follow the instructions. You can usually burn a full length DVD (about 4.7 GB of data) in less than 20 minutes and even quicker with high speed DVD burners.

Burning Multimedia Files to a DVD

Multimedia files are usually larger files that include video either recorded from a TV set, camcorder or digital camera or downloaded from the internet. You may also want to convert an old VHS tape to a more user friendly DVD.
With today's DVD authoring tools, you can easily burn multimedia files and give them professional features such as adding a title or menu page or cataloguing many TV shows that you have already saved on your computer's hard drive. Some DVD burning software packages even allow you to add subtitles that you can create yourself.
You can add DRM (digital rights management) with the help of your burning software, if you are creating commercial videos that you would want to make difficult to copy.

Copying and Burning a Commercial DVD

Many people use their DVD burner to burn copies of commercial DVDs. In most parts of the world, it is illegal to copy a commercial DVD and sell or distribute it. However, you may want to make a copy for archiving purposes.
There are many tools that can copy a commercial DVD. However, apart from the normal DVD burner and DVD burning software, you will also need special software that can decode or crack the digital rights management. It is also important to note that besides cracking the code and copying the data of the commercial DVD, you may need to shrink the file.
Most commercial DVDs are dual layer and have between 7 and 8.4 GB of data. These files must be compressed to fit on a normal 4.7 GB DVD. Once you have cracked the commercial DVD and compressed it, you can use ordinary DVD burning software to burn your DVD.

How to Convert and Burn Other Video Formats into DVD Movies with dvdSanta.

Before You Start...

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dvdSanta supports almost all kinds of video formats, such as AVI, DivX, WMV, ASF, MPG, VOB.... To ensure that dvdSanta can burn your most up-to-date video files onto DVD. You need to have some latest audio and video codecs installed on your PC. If you do have all the codecs you need on your PC, skip this part and read Step 1.

• 1) Install latest Microsoft DirectX 9.
• 2) Install latest Microsoft Windows Media 9.
• 3) In order to convert MPEG-2 Videos such as DVD videos, install this Free MPEG-2 decoder: MpegDecoder012.msi (255Kb).
• 4) Install K-Lite codecs if you don't have DivX(or Xvid) codecs installed on your PC.

Step 1, Load your video files into dvdSanta

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Click "Video Files to DVD" button to convert video files.

Click "Add Media" button to load video files from the hard disk.

Select the video file you want to burn on DVD.

Step 2, Convert the video files to DVD video format.

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Click "Create DVD" button to start converting the video file.

Wait until the conversion is complete.

Step 3, Burn the DVD.

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dvdSanta has done preparing the DVD video, now it's time to burn your disc.
Before you burn the disc, you can use a software DVD player such as PowerDVD to examine the DVD video created by dvdSanta. The DVD video is stored under c:\TempDVD\VIDEO_TS folder.
Now you can insert a blanc DVD-R/+R disc in your DVD burner now and click "Yes" to continue.
If you want to burn this DVD disc later, you can click "No" button now and quit dvdSanta. The DVD video is stored under C:\TempDVD\VIDEO_TS folder. You can burn it later using dvdSanta and follow "How to Copy a 4.7GB Single Layer DVD movie"



If you are a using DVD+R/RW disc, just click "Burn!" and wait dvdSanta finish the burning job. If you are using a DVD-R/RW disc, you should select burning speed to 1x,2x,or 4x, then click the "Burn!" button to burn the disc.


And that's it! When the burning is finished, you can play your newly made DVD in your DVD player and watch the movie on TV!