When it comes to inexpensive video capture, two programs rule the arena: SnagIt for Windows and SnapzPro X 2 for Macs. These programs cost more than the other solutions here, but they're also much more versatile and are good buys if you want to capture more than just Web site videos.
SnagIt, put out by TechSmith, costs $39 and provides a simple way to capture anything that finds its way onto your screen. To grab video, select the Record Screen Video option from the main screen and click the microphone icon in the Options box to grab the audio, as well. When you've got your chosen video in place, click SnagIt's big, red record button. The SnagIt interface then disappears and you're prompted to drag a rectangle across the area you want to save. Press the Start button in the pop-up window and then start your video. When you're done, finish recording by pressing the program's hot key (PrintScreen, by default). You'll then return to the SnagIt interface where the program prompts you to save your creation.

Ambrosia Software offers two versions of SnapzPro X 2, but you'll need the more expensive $69 version for movie capture. The controls can be a bit confusing at first, but read through the included PDF manual and you'll have it in no time. SnapzPro is set to launch at start-up and run in the background by default. You can activate it by pressing the default hot-key combination, which is Ctrl+Shift+3, unless you change it. Click the video button, place the outlined capture square over your video, and then customize the video settings. Be sure to select Mac Audio Track if you want to include the sound. Double-click within the video-capture area to start recording, then press play on the video. When you're done, press the hot keys again to stop recording.

You'll be prompted to set the audio- and video-compression information before the program creates your video. We like the degree of options, although we wish the program allowed users to name the file at this point. As is, it creates a default name based on the program it captures from.

For tips on converting video for your MP3 player, check out our Insider Secrets feature on video conversion.

One of the most common do-it-yourself projects is building speaker stands. Almost everyone needs them, you can make them cheaply, and they are a great starter project.

Many home-theater systems use bookshelf speakers for left and right main channels. Bookshelf speakers require stands to get them to the right height. With store-bought stands, you'll probably find that one stand sits your speakers down too low, another raises them up too high, and the only stand that does work sports a ghastly price tag that makes you gasp. This is a perfect place to add some DIY know-how and get a perfect fit.

Basic bookshelf speaker stands
First, measure the footprint of your speakers, which is just the width and depth of the bottom of the speaker. You usually want to match that pretty closely with your stand; too much excess and the stand looks like it was made for larger speakers (and we don't want that!). The stand tops shown in figure 1 are 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep. These stands are about as simple as you can get and still look good.



Figure 1. Basic speaker stands


Once you've measured the base of your speakers, obtain some 3/4-inch thick, medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Cut two rectangles to your speaker measurements, then cut two more squares slightly bigger (for example, cut two squares 8 by 8 inches, and two more 10 by 10 inches). The smaller squares are for the speaker base and the larger ones are for the stand base.

Next, cut four longer rectangles; these should be about 2 inches less deep than your speaker base. So, if you have a top plate that is 8 inches deep, these rectangles should be 6 inches deep. To obtain the height, you'll need to know how high you want your speaker to sit. Then, just subtract 1 inch and cut to length.

The top and base of your stand actually total 1 1/2 inches in height, but assume 1/2 inch of settling, especially if you have carpet. In fact, if you have really thick carpet, you might want to assume even more. So, these might be 6 inches deep and 30 inches wide (for example). Two of these become the connectors for one stand and two for the other.

At this point, if you're able, bevel the long edges of the connectors. You also should round all four edges of the tops and bases. This will add a polished, classy look to your stands and allow the base of the stands to sit more firmly on the floor.

With the rounded sides up on both the top and bottom plates, the two long pieces should be evenly spaced, centered, then angled slightly (see figure 1 as a reference). Now, glue and nail in place. All that's left is to paint the stands; prime first, then lay on a couple of good coats of black or whatever color you prefer.

Sturdier stands for heavier speakers
If you have heavier speakers, you might want a sturdier design. This design also works well if you need your speakers quite high; the basic stand sometimes looks a little wobbly as the connector pieces get really lengthy. The basic procedure is similar, with just a few twists for stability.

First, I'll assume you have larger speakers. For this job, mine had a footprint of 16 by 10 inches, so my tops were a bit larger than in the basic stand. Again, round the tops. The base follows the same process; in this case, my bases were 18 by 12 inches, also rounded. Instead of long connector pieces, though, I made a square box out of MDF (3/4-inch thickness is fine). This box was half the depth of the top--in this example, 5 inches--and the height was calculated as shown in the basic stand section. For a nice look, the edges of the box should be sanded slightly round, to look less...well...boxy.

Glue and nail this box to the base of your speaker; I set mine in the shape of a diamond for a bit more visual interest (see figure 2).



Figure 2. Sturdier speaker stands

Now glue and nail on the top. Before you finish up and paint, though, drill a hole in the center of the top plate, which opens into the box that acts as a support. Now prime and paint. However, before putting these stands into action, fill the box support with sand. This really solidifies these stands, allow them to hold heavier speakers and look more substantial.

Costs involved
Believe it or not, it cost me only about 30 bucks to make all four stands. Online, similar stands ran from $30 a pair (on the low end; and this is only for two) to hundreds of dollars in higher-end shops. Clearly, this is a no-brainer way to get into DIY and save some bucks. Also, don't be afraid to get creative. If you don't have a lot of tools, find materials you can work with that require only simple tools. Buy premade shelves and have the hardware store cut them to the sizes you need. Substitute threaded rode (the line you see attached to the anchors of small boats) or PVC pipe for the center supports. Add door or corner moldings to get a different look. Whatever you can come up with that gets the job done and saves you money will make your project successful.

Using Creative's bundled Media Explorer, you can convert just about any kind of video file (AVI, DivX, MPEG, WMV, and so on) for viewing on your Zen Vision or Zen Vision:M. Of course, because the Zens have native support for such a broad range of formats, it's possible that some files won't require conversion at all. That's the beauty of Media Explorer's Convert Video utility: it will tell you which of your selected movies require conversion and just direct-copy those that don't.


Video conversion novices will find Creative's Media Source software a breeze to use.
Start Media Explorer and click Convert Video.
Click the Add button and choose the files you want to convert.
Click Next, then adjust the quality settings as desired. For example, if you want your videos to look their best and you have space to spare on your Zen, choose Best Quality.
In the same dialog box, select an output folder for the converted files, then click Next.
Review the selected files to see which ones require conversion and which ones don't. You shouldn't have to make any changes here, as the utility won't bother converting videos the Zen can already play.
Check the box marked "Transfer converted files to this player after conversion," then click Next. Now go get a cup of coffee while the utility works its magic and copies the reformatted movies to your player.
Convert Media Center shows
If you have a Windows XP Media Center 2005 PC, plug in your Zen and wait for the Sync option to appear. Choose the Add More option, then choose Recorded TV. Select the shows you want to copy to the Zen, then start the process. Note that you may want to remove (by highlighting and clicking the X) all the other sync selections that are listed by default, otherwise you could be in for a long wait.

If you want more control over what you copy to your Zen (the Media Center interface limits you to recorded TV shows and forces you to take three episodes at a time), you can use Windows Media Player 10 to manually select and sync TV shows, movies, photos, and the like.

Folks love a digital video recorder such as TiVo because it lets them easily record their favorite TV shows. But what are fans of radio shows to do? Well, so long as your favorite show is broadcast on the Web, you can set up your computer to capture it. Download the right software and fiddle a bit with some settings; your computer will automatically launch a browser and record your show each time it airs. You'll then have it as an MP3 that you can listen to at your leisure, transfer to your MP3 player, or burn to a CD.

Required attention span: 30 minutes Ingredients
Before you start, you'll need to gather these elements:

PC


Replay Radio 6.1 ($30)

Follow these simple steps


1
Download and install Replay Radio
Download and install Replay Radio. You can try it in demo mode, but it allows you to record only one-hour segments for a period of seven consecutive days. Once you purchase the software, your recordings can be as long as you like.

Replay Radio is a straightforward app with an attractive interface.


2
Configure the software
Configure the software. When you first launch Replay Radio, you'll be greeted with a window that lets you choose where your recordings will be stored. Make sure that you select a hard disk with plenty of room. If you're on dial-up, you'll need to check the appropriate box and test the connection. Otherwise, you should be able to leave the rest of the settings as they are. If you have trouble, you can come back to this screen later to adjust settings (such as tuning options) to get better recordings.

When you initially start Replay Radio, you can choose where you want your recordings to be saved.

3
Configure your PC
Configure your PC. Replay Radio can record only when your PC is turned on. If you turn the PC off or if it automatically goes into standby mode, you'll miss your recording. Click Start > Control Panel > Power Options. Make sure that the System Standby setting is on Never.

Use the bottom drop-down menu to set your system standby mode.





4
Add listed radio shows
Finally, it's time to add some radio shows. Click Add Show, then Pick Show. Click the "Get updated list from the Web" button to make sure you have the latest list of radio shows. If the show you're interested in is in the list, just select it and click OK.

You can pick a show from a long list of Internet broadcasts.

5
Add unlisted radio shows
If your show isn't listed, click Pick A Station. This works the same way. Then enter the time and days that your show is on.

Once you've scheduled a recording, this screen pops up with a summary of the settings.


6
Customize recording settings
Once you've picked a show or a station, you're presented with a pop-up that lets you customize settings for the recording. You should be able to leave everything at its default. You may opt to change the output options to a particular quality. For example, the KQED stream of All Things Considered is very low quality, so you might opt to use FM quality rather than CD quality. This will save you some disk space. We also prefer to check the "Mute sound while recording" box. (Click the Recording tab for this option.) If you've left the volume on too high, it's pretty startling when your computer automatically tunes in to the radio.

The settings box lets you choose your desired output quality.





7
Find URLs for obscure radio shows
Don't despair if your show or station isn't in either list. You'll just need the URL for the station you're trying to record. If, for example, your station of choice has a Web site with a link labeled Listen Live or something similar and that launches RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, simply right-click that link and select Copy Shortcut. Return to Replay Radio and click Add Show. Name the show, right-click in the URL field, select Paste, then set up the time your show airs. Other radio Web sites launch various pop-up windows that make this process more difficult. Try using the URL-finder feature on the main page of Replay Radio in this situation.

If you copy and paste the URL for a station that's not listed, Replay Radio will tune in for recording.


8
Minimize Replay Radio
Now you're done. Just minimize rather than close Replay Radio--it needs to run in the background. And don't forget to leave your PC running.



9
Hear the results
After your show has aired, open Replay Radio from the icon in the taskbar and click View Recordings to hear what was recorded.

Once your computer and your display are getting along, you can start figuring out how to build and manage your library of digital media.

With Windows XP Media Center Edition, Microsoft has built a very functional package for keeping track of all your media files, plus DVR recording, that's easy enough for novices to use. A sizable percentage of new PCs come with the Media Center version of Windows by default; it looks just like regular Windows XP until you switch into the Media Center view. Even if your new PC doesn't have a TV tuner card, it's still useful for photos and music and video files, plus it has big menu icons that are easy to use and can be seen from 10 feet away on the living-room couch.

If you want to record TV without the Media Center operating system, similar products on the market can do the job. SnapStream's Beyond TV comes bundled with many TV tuner cards, so if you're building a home theater or upgrading a machine you already own, you might end up with a copy by default. Add the Beyond Media program for organizing photo, music, and other media files, and it does pretty much everything Microsoft Media Center does. Beyond TV doesn't support every TV tuner card on the market, so check the hardware specs first.

Meedio offers several interconnected programs that can control your music, photos, and videos--even your lights and household appliances. MeedioTV is its DVR program, and it'll grab the local program guide for your cable or satellite signal and record shows. If you want just DVR functionality, that's one way to go. Or, you can get one of Meedio's software bundles, such as Meedio Pro, for the full media library experience.

If you have no interest in recording TV programs, you can even use programs such as Windows Media Player, iTunes, and PowerDVD to manage your preexisting media library using software you already have. Whichever option you choose, make sure to include plenty of hard disk space; once you start recording TV shows or showing off vacation videos on a plasma TV, you'll find it hard to stop.

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- Germany's top security officials said Friday they consider the goals of the Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution and will seek to ban the organization.


The German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise.

The interior ministers of the nation's 16 states plan to give the nation's domestic intelligence agency the task of preparing the necessary information to ban the organization, which has been under observation for a decade on allegations that it "threatens the peaceful democratic order" of the country.

The Church of Scientology, in a response sent to CNN, denounced the German proposal, calling it out of step with various international court rulings. Read the Church of Scientology response

The ministers, as well as federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, "consider Scientology to be an organization that is not compatible with the constitution," said Berlin Interior Minister Ehrhart Koerting, who presided over the officials' two-day conference.

Sabine Weber, president of the Church of Scientology in Berlin, said she views the renewed attempt to ban the organization as a reaction to increasing acceptance of Scientologists in several European countries.

"It is very, very clear that the true picture of what Scientology is about is pushing its way through," Weber said. "The interior ministers are clearly reacting to that."

The Scientologists have long battled to end the surveillance, saying it is an abuse of their right to freedom of religion. They point to several lower court rulings in favor of their right to practice in Germany as a religious organization.

The U.S. State Department regularly criticizes Germany in its annual Human Rights Report for the monitoring practice.

The interior ministers gave no specific examples for their decision, but the most recent annual report on extremism compiled by their agencies criticized the organization for disregarding human rights.

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Church of Scientology response
Web site: Church of Scientology
Web site: German Ministry of Interior
"From a number of sources, some of them not available to the public, it has been determined that (the organization) seeks to limit or rescind basic and human rights, such as the right to develop one's personality and the right to be treated equally," the report said.

Earlier this year, the German government initially refused to allow the producers of a movie starring Scientology member Tom Cruise as the most famous anti-Hitler plotter to film at the site where the hero was executed, although it did not expressly state Scientology as its reason. It later allowed the production to go ahead.

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. It first set up in Germany in 1970 and officials estimate it counts some 6,000 members in the country

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday the United States would continue along a two-track strategy to deal with Iran, pressing for new sanctions and holding talks to convince Tehran to come clean about its nuclear program. But Russia ignored her calls to punish Iran.


U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Brussels Friday

Despite strong support from NATO allies in the wake of a new U.S. intelligence report that concludes Iran actually stopped atomic weapons development in 2003, the top U.S. diplomat was unable to persuade Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the urgency of fresh sanctions.

Rice said her talks with Lavrov were "an extension of other conversations we have had," suggesting the two didn't see eye to eye.

"We are going to continue along the two-track process," Rice said at a news conference, referring to sanctions and diplomacy.

After seeing Rice on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial meeting, Lavrov told reporters: "It fully confirms the information that we have: that there is no military element in their nuclear program. We hope very much that these negotiations with Iran will continue."

Lavrov, who has become the public face of opposition to the U.S. and European strategy on Iran, has maintained Russia has no evidence that Tehran had ever had a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international treaty obligations.

He did not discuss what Rice had told him.

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His comments were not unexpected given past Russian statements on the issue, but nevertheless dealt a setback to efforts to boost pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities with a new U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution.

China, another key participant in the so-called "P5+1" group of world powers now trying to craft such a resolution, is also resisting. The P5+1 includes the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.

Apart from China and Russia, the others have endorsed upping pressure on Iran since the release on Monday of the new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, which represented a surprising turnaround in Washington's assessment of Iranian intentions. See what U.S. intelligence experts now say about Iran's nuclear program »

President Bush and Rice have argued that the report actually shows that Iran is susceptible to outside influence on its nuclear program because it finds that Tehran stopped its weaponization attempts four years ago in response to diplomatic pressure.

"It was international pressure that got the Iranians to halt their program," Rice said ahead of her talks with Lavrov. "This suggests that you ought to keep up that international pressure."

Her meetings in Belgium were her first face-to-face exchanges on the matter since the intelligence report became public.

Rice saw Lavrov after having won NATO backing to stay the course on a two-pronged approach to Iran that offers the Islamic regime civilian nuclear cooperation in return for a shutdown of uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

"There was unanimity around the table that there is a clear choice for Iran," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters, noting offers of nuclear cooperation with Iran if it stops enriching and reprocessing uranium.

"Iran can see the outstretched hand from the international community if they are willing to join the drive against proliferation," he said. "But if Iran persists on defying the will of the United Nations Security Council, then there must be further sanctions."

But Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow had never seen evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, not even one that it had given up on four years ago.

Rice had hoped to convince Lavrov that the new intelligence proved the value of tough diplomacy rather than undermining the drive to press for more sanctions.

"In fact, I would think given the assessment that Iran is indeed susceptible to coordinated international pressure that (this) is the right approach," she said.

The U.S. has been successful in leading two rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran and is pushing for a third set of economic sanctions if the country refuses to suspend uranium enrichment.

Waterway concern

Amid the growing pressure on Tehran, Iranian threats to close the vital commercial waterway of the Strait of Hormuz are the greatest concern for naval security in the region, a senior U.S. naval commander said Friday.

Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said that while the likelihood of that happening is low, concerns about Iran consume the region -- and his day.

"I wake up thinking about Iran, I go to bed thinking about Iran," Cosgriff told reporters on the eve of a regional conference here where Iran will be a key focus.

He added, "I know of no threat that would cause them to want to close ... the Strait of Hormuz. To me it's coercive, it's intended to intimidate not only the regional nations -- 'look at us we can damage your prosperity'-- but it's intended to intimidate the global market. I just don't think that's responsible behavior."


His comments came a day before a regional security conference that Iranian officials decided at the last minute not to attend. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to make the keynote speech Saturday morning to foreign delegates and other national security officials from Persian Gulf nations and other major powers.

Gates has been meeting with his military commanders in Bahrain, and will participate in the conference, sponsored by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. The meeting will focus on security issue in the region, but Iran is likely to dominate much of the discussions

The way forward: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee welcomes his Pakistan counterpart Inam-ul-Haq and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik at the 29th SAARC Ministers meeting in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: As the first step towards setting up a SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) security network, legal experts from the eight member-countries will meet in Colombo to finalise the text of a mutual legal assistance agreement, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Friday.

Talking to journalists after a meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers, Mr. Mukherjee discounted suggestions of discord over the agreement that was aimed at “tackling criminals and checking undesirable activity.” He felt the text would be finalised in Colombo by April next year.

“No disparate views”


“In our deliberations, there were no disparate views even when it was specifically mentioned that the agreement should be expedited in order to operationalise it quickly. I do hope when we have discussions [on the finalised text] we will arrive at a conclusion and go by it,” he said.

Mr. Mukherjee, however, felt that for a viable security network, first there should be an exchange of information as many SAARC countries were victims of terror. “Therefore, hard, real-time exchange of information is an important aspect that we will have to take into account.”

Social projects


The meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers resolved to operationalise the SAARC Development Fund, initially on the basis of India’s unilateral commitment of $ 100 millions. The fund was envisaged to have a corpus of $ 300 millions and India hade made the offer even before the fund was conceptualised. The amount would be earmarked for social projects and work would begin soon, said Mr. Mukherjee.

The meeting also saw a SAARC Declaration on Climate Change, in which the Foreign Ministers called upon the international community to honour its commitments with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

The Declaration said the way forward must include provision of adequate resources to tackle climate change without detracting from the funds for development, effective access and funding assistance for transfer of environment-friendly technologies, and adoption of binding GHG (greenhouse gas emission) reduction commitments by developed countries with effective timeframes. The Ministers emphasised the need for equitable burden sharing.

The Ministers also stressed that contributions to the global effort to tackle climate change should be in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. “We also believe that developed countries must assume greater commitments in line with their responsibility.”