Burning a series to DVD

Actually the full title of this article should be "how to put many movies or episodes in one DVD and when you shouldn't" ! I frequently receive emails from users that want to add many movies or a whole season of some series in one DVD. In this article I will try to explain what impact this would have to the quality (with video samples to see for yourself) of the DVD you will create and finally show you how you can create such a DVD using FAVC.

The DVD-Video Standard

The standard that all DVD-Video discs have to follow in order to be compatible with any player out there uses MPEG2 compression up to 9800kbps or in some rare cases MPEG1 up to 1856kbps. As you can understand, the mandatory use of the MPEG2 codec is our main limitation. The DVD format was finalized back in 1996, so they used what was then a cutting-edge compression technology. Unfortunately, as the years passed and new codecs like DivX/XviD or H.264 came out (MPEG4 if you want) with much greater picture quality in reduced sizes, for a DVD disc we still need to use the MPEG2 codec. The audio in the other hand, can be AC3, DTS or MP2 in multichannel setups, and we can have up to 32 subtitle tracks.

What retail DVDs use

Most DVDs in the market use a variable bitrate video of approximately 5000kbps video which is increased close to 8000kbps in high action scenes, which require more attention. Most of the times, the media used is DVD9 (7.95GB) in which they fit the movie, various audio tracks, menus and all extras. They rarely use DVD5 (4.38GB).

What happens in lower bitrate

As you understand, the lower the bitrate is, the most video a DVD can hold. However, since MPEG2 is an old codec, unlike H.264 which can achieve great results in low bitrate, anything under 3000kbps gives a very poor result which a significant amount of artifacts. Below I have created a small table which various bitrates, the approximate length of a video you could fit in a DVD (with a low quality AC3 audio in 128kbps in consideration) and an one minute sample from a movie using two free MPEG2 encoders to see for yourself the difference in quality. You can play the samples using the Open Folder option in VLC or with any other player of your choice.

Bitrate	Aprox. Video Length in a DVD-5 disc	Aprox. Video Length in a DVD-9 disc	Sample videos
~1000 kbps	9 hours	15 hours	HC Encoder | QuEnc
~1500 kbps	6 hours	10 hours	HC Encoder | QuEnc
~3200 kbps	3 hours	5 hours	HC Encoder

What does this mean in practice

It depends on two things: the movie itself and the devices you will use for playback. Let me elaborate: if your movie contains many action scenes, explosions, fast chases etc or is shot mainly in dark (night) it will not look good if you lower the bitrate too much. In the other hand, a comedy or some sitcom will look better as the video is less demanding. If there is no need I wouldn't encode any DVD under 1500kbps. The action ones even higher.
Now the playback equipment is another parameter. For a handheld player (those with that small screens) or a SDTV (the old CRT ones) you will be fine. But if you are planning to use a HDTV (even in low resolution of an old DVD player) I suggest you don't squeeze too much video. For playback on a PC I don't even suggest a DVD-Video. Just convert to H.264 and burn a data DVD. Of course for a HDTV and an upscaling DVD player just encode one movie per DVD for maximum quality, you don't need me to tell you that.
Bottom line, I suggest putting up to two movies in one DVD9 and about half a season of any series. Of course, you know your needs better, that's why the table above explaining all options exists.

How to create a DVD that holds many movies or an entire season of a series using FAVC

At the guide below we will use the freeware tool FAVC to create a DVD that will hold five movies, which in this example means about 8 hours and 45 minutes of video and an approximate bitrate of 1100kbps (more on less like the first sample in the table above). I decided to bad credit loans use FAVC as it comes with both the encoders I mentioned above, lets you add subtitles per track and creates a menu. It is also pretty easy to use. Note that while other encoders like ConvertXToDVD are much faster and feature full, for such low bitrate the quality of the video is much worse than what we will create with this tool. Download it below.

FAVC

Step 1

Don't worry about the many options, they are very simple and we will explain everything you need. First of all browse (1) and load the files you want to add in the DVD. Most of the video types (avi, mkv, mp4) are supported by FAVC. Next set the locations for the destination folder (2) and the temp files folder (3). Make sure you have enough free space! If you want, FAVC can also create an ISO file (4) for easier burning, otherwise it will create just the DVD files you can burn by following our guides. Select the DVD format (5) between NTSC and PAL, obviously depending on your equipment. Now set the target size (6) between a normal DVD and a dual layer one. Note that to burn a dual layer DVD you need a DVD9 disc and a burner capable of burning it, so make sure you can in fact burn such a disc. Chapter length (7) sets every how many minutes a chapter will be created (used to navigate though the movie with the remote). You would probably want to create a Menu (8) in order to easily select which movie you want to see. Note that you cannot have a menu if you add more than 10 videos (for example 20+ episodes of a TV show), for some reason FAVC limits the menu creation to up to 10 tracks. In that case this option will be disabled and you can select the episode to play with the Next Track button in your remote control. At the Encoder (9) option, my choice is HC. In my unsecured loans opinion, it creates better looking video than QuEnc, especially in lower bitrate. If you want to decide by yourself check the samples in the table above. To continue, click the DVD Options tab and move to the next step.

---

Step 2

The first options in these screen are about the menu. First (1) you can set the Title of the menu and then the name of each of the videos that you have included in the disc. Next you can set a background picture of your liking (2). The default one is just a grey background. Finally you can use the notepad icon (3) to add subtitle tracks to any of the movies you have added. The Hard Subtitles option will burn them in the video while by default you can turn them on and off with your remote control or DVD player software. Click the HC Options tab to move on.

---

Step 3

Here we need to change some of the encoding options in order to get as better quality as possible. The options here will greatly increase the encoding time, so feel free to try different settings until you find a quality/speed ratio you like. However for such long videos the optimal options are: In Method of Encoding (1) select 2-Pass Variable Bitrate. In Quality (2) selecting Best will give the best possible quality but with great expense of time. In CPU Cores (3), if you have a multi core CPU (most new PCs do) choose MultiCoreEnc and set the number of the cores you want to use in order to speed the process significantly. Finally in DC Precision (4) set the value to 10 and click the Audio Options tab.

---

Step 4

We will use AC3 as the audio encoding (1) codec. We will also select Encode as usual (2) as we cannot afford to possibly retain the present audio as it would be too big for such a small video bitrate: we need to use as less space as possible for audio. So, choose Aften (3) as the encoder and a bitrate of 128kbps (4). Finally click Generate DVD (5) to start the encoding.

---

Step 5

A command line window will now open plus various bad credit loans encoder windows. The main FAVC window doesn't do anything, so feel free to close it. Wait for some hours, depending on your PC speed and the video length and a new DVD will be waiting for you in the destination folder, either in DVD files form or both that plus an ISO file. There are plenty of guides in our sites that you can follow in order to burn those files if you don't know how.

Nicki Minaj loves the kids

Nicki Minaj loves the kids, but she's not ready to completely clean up her image for her young fans.
“I've always been kind of racy,” Minaj says, laughing. “Don't expect that to change, but I love children and I respect children so much. ... I'm big on them remaining, you know, kids. I don't want them to go around cursing and acting crazy.”

Many kids — and others — are going out to buy Minaj's sophomore album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,” which sold 253,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, giving Minaj her second No. 1 album.
In just three years, the rapper has transformed her image by singing on her songs, and toning down her oversexed appearance. Her fan base now includes young girls, which she says surprised her.
“I didn't expect the kids to gravitate to me like that,” the 29-year-old said in a recent interview. “I'm finding my own niche with them.”
One of the reasons children have connected with Minaj is thanks to pop hits like “Super Bass,” “Turn Me On” with David Guetta and “Starships.” Minaj is also featured twice on Madonna's latest album, “MDNA.”
“Roman Reloaded” showcases Grammy-nominated Minaj as her male alter ego, Roman. The album has multiple sounds to match her multiple personalities: In addition to dance-pop anthems that mirror Rihanna and Katy Perry, there is hard-core hip-hop, contemporary R&B and reggae flavors.
“Once I did it I was like, ‘Why aren't all albums like this? Why does every artist have to give you one thing?'” Minaj asked. “I like going to restaurants because I can order a little bit of salad, a little bit of bread, a little bit of chicken, some sushi. I like variety. I get very, very bored if I have to keep things the same.”
The new album follows her 2010 debut, “Pink Friday,” which is approaching double platinum status and launched seven singles that were hits on the pop, R&B or rap charts. “Roman Reloaded,” which boasts 19 tracks, features Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Drake and Nas, and producers like RedOne, Dr. Luke, Alex da Kid and J.R. Rotem.
“The album alone, just the sequence and the order and unsecured loans the genre, that alone is a conversation piece,” she said. “People keep talking about it. I didn't know it was going to be such a big deal.”
Minaj, who was discovered by Lil Wayne and signed to his Cash Money/Young Money imprint in 2009, says she's interested in putting out her own female rap talent.
“It wouldn't be on Young Money, it would be on my own label if I do decide to do my own label. Yeah, sure, of course,” she said.
“People do come up to me a lot about their bad credit loans female rappers, and I always tell them, ‘It's for the strongest, (the) mentally strongest people in the world. You know, you've got a lot of things going against you, but if you really, really want it, you push yourself, write your own lyrics and you have an opportunity. You can do it.”'

Protect yourself from gumtree scams

I recently had someone email me regarding my article about the gumtree scam. He was wondering how it could be a scam if you never actually send any money to the advertisers, so I decided to use this post to detail how the scam works exactly.

1. The scam starts by the fraudsters taking pictures of either hotels or celebrity styled houses and then posting it on gumtree for rent.

2. The unsuspecting user is taken in by the pretty pictures, great location and most importantly of all, the cheap price for rent.

3. The user replies the fraudster asking about the flat.

4. The fraudster replies saying he/she is a doctor/engineer/lawyer (whatever) and is currently outside the country and needs to know you are serious before he/she comes down to show you the house.

5. The fraudster later says in order to know if you are serious and if you have the money, you should wire two months rent to a friend, partner or someone close to you and then scan the receipt and send it to him. Once he calls to confirm the funds are actually there, he will come down, show you the house and you can withdraw the money from western union and pay him.

Pay close attention to the fifth point as this forms the heart of the scam. If you decide to send the money to your friend and you scan and send him the receipt, forget about getting your money back. The receipt you would have sent him will have all the information necessary to withdraw all the money. Once he/she gets that, they will probably create a fake ID, go to the western unsecured loans union shop, pretend to be the recipient of the funds. Since they WILL have the reference numbers and any additional information needed from the receipt, they WILL be able to withdraw the funds, leaving you with no money and a pretty picture of the flat you just paid for.

Don't fall for this please.

Protect yourself from Identy Fraud

Sign up for two months free trial

With the majority of transactions going on online, bad credit loans identity theft has become a major problem. Protect Your Identity in less than 2 minutes. Stop Identity Theft Before It Happens .Don't let someone steal Your Identity

Side effects of crystal meth?

What are Meth Effects and Symptoms of using crystal meth?

• Dizziness
• Tachycardia
• Convulsions
• Sweating
• Decreased appetite ( anorexia )
• Euphoria (followed by depression)
• Insomnia
• Respiratory problems
• Brain damage
• Hypothermia
• Anger
• Paranoia
• Anxiety
• Aggressiveness
• Hostility
• Tremors
• Skin abscesses
• Hallucinations

Meth Effects - Side Effects of using Crystal Meth

Meth effects include convulsions, dangerously high body temperature, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, stomach cramps, and shaking. Chronic abuse can lead to psychotic behavior including intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and out of control rages. Chronic users develop sores on their bodies from scratching imaginary bugs crawling on or under the skin. Long-term use may result in anxiety, insomnia and addiction. After methamphetamine use is stopped, several withdrawal symptoms can occur, including depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression and an intense craving for the drug. Meth use can cause severe gum damage and their related dental problems, known as meth mouth.

Meth Effects - Cardiovascular problems

Methamphetamine use causes increased heart rate and blood pressure. These include rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, and irreversible, stroke-producing damage to small blood vessels in the brain. Chronic methamphetamine abuse can result in inflammation of the heart lining. Methamphetamine can cause a variety of cardiovascular problems including heart attacks, cardiovascular collapse and death.

Meth Effects - Physiological effects of Crystal meth

Short-term physiological effects include decreased appetite, increased stamina and physical energy, increased sexual drive and response, involuntary body unsecured loans movements, increased perspiration, hyperactivity, jitteriness, nausea, itchy, blotchy greasy skin, increased heart rate, irregular heart rate, increased blood pressure, and headaches. Long-term abuse or overdose effects can include tremor, restlessness, changed sleep patterns, poor skin condition, gastrointestinal narrowing and weakened immune system. Fatigue and depression can follow the excitement stage. Erectile dysfunction, heart problems, stroke, and liver, kidney and lung damage can result from prolonged use. If snorted, bad credit loans crystal methamphetamine leads to a deterioration of the lining of the nostrils.

Meth Effects - Psychological effects of Methamphetamine

Short-term psychological effects can include alertness, euphoria, increased concentration, rapid talking, increased confidence, increased social responsiveness, eye wiggles, hallucinations and loss of REM sleep the night. Long-term psychological effects can include insomnia, mental states resembling schizophrenia, aggressiveness and dependence with accompanying withdrawal symptoms, irritability, confusion and panic. Chronic use can lead to psychosis, causing delusions and paranoia. Methamphetamine is psychologically addictive and tolerance develops very quickly. Withdrawal is an unpleasant experience. This commonly leads chronic users to re-dose frequently.

Stonehenge

Wiltshire’s high rolling chalk downs and exquisite valleys create a diversity and beauty of landscape which gives rise to its reputation as the county of chalk and cheese.

It is the ‘Gateway to the West Country’ and enigmatic home of Stonehenge, Avebury, White Horses and Crop Circles.

Tales of these places, their history, myths and legends are brought alive and will move the visitor to return again and again to find out more.

Walking tours vary from a relaxed stroll around the regions major centres to a more invigorating full day exploration in the wonderful Wiltshire countryside.

Alternatively we can join your coach at a place of your choice for a full or half day tour where our local knowledge will enable your Group unsecured loans to enjoy the variety and beauty of this part of England.

Our connections with Guides throughout the West Country, London and Windsor enable us to arrange the ideal tour whilst tailoring it to cater for your special needs

Salisbury City Tours 

Guiding Companies

Whether you are staying in Salisbury and the surrounding bad credit loans area for just a day, or here for a longer visit, a guided tour will bring the city alive, as well as enhancing your visit to other places of interest.

Salisbury City Guides are professional Blue Badge tourist guides who offer a wide range of walks, talks and tours throughout the year, tailored to suit your requirements. We cover many languages and are always pleased to assist with your plans. Our various themes include the medieval city; ghosts; the Cathedral and The Close; Old Sarum and Stonehenge; exploring Wilton or other local towns and villages; art and literature; local gardens and churches.

Walking Tour of Salisbury April - October daily, November - March weekends. Tour starts 11am. Adult £4, child £2 Ghost Walks around Salisbury May - September every Friday. Tour starts 8pm. Adult £4.00, child £2.00. Both Walking Tours and Ghost Walks start at the Tourist Information Centre, Fish Row, Salisbury.

Special events include Spooky Weekend Halloween ghost Walks - please contact Salisbury Tourist Information Centre for more details. All our regular city and ghost walks are open to everyone, as are most of our special event walks. We welcome enquiries from groups with particular requirements, as several of our guides have experience of working with various disabilities. Most of our walks start and end in the city centre, which is well served by public transport, including Park and Ride. Privately booked walks or tours start and end at a time and place most convenient to the client(s).

Cat Apps

There is a community whose technology needs have been traditionally underserved: cats. But no longer. Dozens of apps designed to appeal specifically to your feline friends unsecured loans are now on the tablet market. But will your cat's claws scratch your screen — and do cats even like them?

Apps for Cats
Along with the countless apps available for humans, there are plenty cat-specific games to choose from, including a fishing game, a virtual laser pointer app, and — for your artistically inclined pet - Paint for Cats, and Cat Piano Concerto. Plus, you can always try to entice them with the same colorful movement games that appeal to people, like Fruit Ninja HD.

Do Cats Even Like Them?
To find out if cats even care, I went directly to the experts — the cats at the Tony La Russa Animal Rescue Foundation. First, I tried the laser pointer game. Basically, this just has a bright spot moving around the screen. Not surprisingly, most cats gave it a ho-hum. Paint for Cats got a better response. This app has a little brown mouse darting around the screen; when kitty's paw tries to pin it, the iPad registers a colorful finger-paint impression. Rembrandt, it's not. But maybe Van Gogh in his later years

.

Next, I tried Cat Fishing 2. This one got the best response, as several cats were enticed to pounce on the colorful fish swimming across the screen.

Finally, what Friskies is calling the first inter-species bad credit loans game: You vs. Cat. This is set up something like air hockey, where you (the human) send a virtual cat treat bouncing across the tablet. If you get it into the goal before your cat pounces on it, you score; if not, your cat scores. Clever idea, and definitely a fun way to interact with your pet — if she wants to play.

Scratch Test
The fun would end in a flash if kitty's claws scratched the screen. Good news, here. I spent the day letting half a dozen cats go at my iPad — one even liked to bite the home button — but the device escaped unharmed.

Does Your Cat Really Need an iPad?
True, your cat will not be developmentally stilted or shunned by its peers if it doesn't have the latest apps and an iPad, but if you have a particularly curious cat, this could offer some variety.  Yet even the cats that liked the apps the most still liked physical toys and a real laser pointer better.

A lobotomy?

A lobotomy was once thought to cure everything from schizophrenia and depression to anxiety and moodiness. It also may have been used on patients who had chronic pain from headaches or backaches that could be cured no other way. An alternative name for this psychosurgery is leucotomy, meaning "slice/cut white" in Greek.

There were a few ways to perform psychosurgery that generally involved drilling holes into the patient's skull so that the doctor could access their brains. unsecured loans Once this was done, he might use a leucotome, which was a pencil-sized tool, to sever nerves through holes at the top of the skull. In the classic lobotomy, the surgeon would access the brain through holes drilled in the upper forehead and use a blade to cut the brain. The procedure involved removing cores of actual brain tissue. A transorbital lobotomy involved inserting an object resembling an ice pick through the patient's eye socket above the eye and hitting the end of the object with a hammer. There was no way to know whether the surgeon was severing nerves or what part of the brain was being damaged. The underlying theory behind lobotomies was that by making small, physical alterations to specific parts of the brain, one could change the patient's behavior and personality without affecting motor functions or intelligence.

Portuguese neurologists Dr. Antonio Egas Moniz and Dr. Almeida Lima performed the first lobotomies in 1935. In the United States, Dr. Walter Freeman and Dr. James Watts were the first to perform this surgery in 1936. In fact, Freeman became a huge advocate for the procedures and performed transorbital lobotomies on an estimated 2,500 people in 23 states before he died in 1972 . Freeman touted that the procedure cut away the emotions in the brain that caused mental illness; with the transorbital method, he could complete the procedure in just 10 minutes. Patients received bad credit loans electroshock first to render them unconscious. He then inserted the ice-pick instrument above both eyes and moved it back and forth. The procedure had successes but also tragic results. His final operation caused a brain hemorrhage in a housewife and his career ended in about 1967.
The only psychosurgery performed today occurs when there are no other treatments for some disorders such as epilepsy; the techniques have been refined. Psychosurgery is not the same as neurosurgery, which is a different type of surgery performed to target specific conditions and diseases of the brain and spinal cord.

Titanic DOOM

The RMS Titanic ...

The Titanic may have struck an iceberg and sank helplessly because of a strange atmosphere-caused optical illusion, a new book argues. British historian Tim Maltin says super refraction, an extraordinary bending of light that causes mirages, prevented the Titanic’s crew from seeing the fateful iceberg.
It also may have prevented nearby ships from seeing the doomed Titanic, Maltin argues. His theory is the subject of a new book and a documentary airing next month in time for the 100th anniversary of the accident.

Apparently a British investigation in the 1990s brought up super refraction, but no one ever studied it in depth, according to Smithsonian magazine, bad credit loans which just published an excerpt from Maltin’s new book. Maltin studied old weather records, shipping logs and survivor testimonies to determine the atmospheric conditions on April 15, 1912. He argues conditions were ripe for super refraction, caused by a thermal inversion in the area south of Newfoundland were the ship was sailing. This abnormal bending of light waves would have created a false horizon, and the iceberg lay beneath it, out of view of the ship’s lookouts.
They sounded the alarm when the iceberg was a mile away, but it was too late. The same bizarre atmospheric conditions could have prevented a nearby ship, the Californian, from seeing or hailing the doomed Titanic, Maltin says. It’s a frustrating, sad explanation.

... And the Iceberg That Doomed It: Photo of the iceberg unsecured loans which was probably rammed by the RMS Titanic, taken five days after the disaster by Stephan Rehorek.