How to create iPhone Ringtones

Back in December 2008 I posted a link to a tutorial on how to create iPhone ringtones. Which worked well, as long as you had the patience to pin point the timings of a track. Well since then I have had to get a little bit more ‘technical’ with my ringtone creation. Mainly because of the music I was trying to clip.. So I thought it was about time I put another tutorial together, but this time a little bit more in depth, covering all the aspects of clipping using the wave display.

First of all your going to need some tools to attack the music file you want to convert. I have always sworn by Audacity for all my music work. Audacity is ‘freeware’ and available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Unix
Once you have downloaded Audacity you will need to download and install the library, I use the FFMpeg Library which is also available for WindowsMac OS X, Linux and Unix
Once you have all the tools downloaded, launch the Audacity editor. You will be presented with a new project window which looks similar to the one below (depending on OS)

Now, all you need to do is locate your MP3WavSound file through the built in menu system, or drag and drop it into the dark area in between the menu bar and status bar. Once it’s done loading the music file you should be presented with a window which looks like this (obviously this will differ for each sound file)

Using the built in menu bar you can play the track, and locate the section you want to clip. Remembering that most devices using 30 seconds of the clip for the tone. Once you have found the section you want click on the wave table where it starts, and drag you mouse whilst keeping an eye on the field under the ‘Length’ radio button until you have grabbed 30 seconds worth. You should notice the highlighted section will turn a slightly darker grey colour:

With the section highlighted, if you press the ‘Play’ button Audacity will play the section you have selected. If you are not happy with it you can move the highlighted section back and forth with your mouse until you find a section you like.

Once done simply click Edit > Cut in the menu bar, or ctrl + x on your windows keyboard (cmd + x on Mac) to cut out the section of track. Now click File > New to open a fresh project window and paste in your clipping. (Edit > Paste etc)

Check you have clipped the correct part using the play button, and once you are happy click File > Export. Give it a meaningful name and select a location for the file, in the format drop down box select “M4A (AAC) Files (FFmpeg)” and click ok.

Once the export has completed, locate the file and rename the extension from .m4a to .m4r.

Now open iTunes, select the ‘Ringtones’ sections and drag in your newly created .m4r file. All that’s left to do now is sync you iPhone, select the new file in the settings menu and your done.

So hopefully, you will never pay for a ringtone again 🙂

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Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac

For a good few months now I have been happily migrating my computing habits and loosing my windows dependancy to shuffle over to being completely Mac based. When I first migrated over I was happily using Sun’s VirtualBox, but recently one of my friends told me about Parallels.

My first impressions where that I am happy with my current Virtual Machine set up and no need to change! However, I today managed to get round to downloading a trial copy of Parallels. First impressions was a bit of mixed feelings. It took quite some time to convert my VirtualBox VM to Parallels. However now it’s done – I love it! 
The Windows applications and icons integrate seamlessly with the Mac OS X. Giving you your running Windows apps in the dock, along side your other Mac apps. You even get your normal system tray apps in the toolbar!
Upon running your Windows based applications, they launch as if they are standard mac apps. Seamlessly integrating into the Mac Environment. All the file opensave menu items operate as if there running as normal, giving you access to your windows file systems. 
I really can’t believe how seamless the integration is.. This is a must have application for any heavy mac user. Even Steam powered games seem to work well. With for VM’s is quite unusual! 
Parallels even claims it’s able to support the aero application switching, I am currently unable to test the fact as I only have XP on the VM currently.
Parallels is available direct for £59.99, I have seen it selling in high street stores for at least £10 more then the online price. So this really isn’t a bad price!

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EXPIRED – Partition Manager 10.0 Personal – Free for one day only!

If your looking for a partition manager to handle your windows partition, I highly recommend you grad Partition Manager now for a 100% saving! For today only (11th Jan 2010) you can get your personal copy completely free of charge!

Features: 
  • Fast and easy Partitioning: Perform partitioning operations in only a few clicks. Create, format, delete or undelete partitions, repartition hard disks without data loss, redistribute free space between partitions, merge two partitions to one, etc. 
  • Manage Vista/XP or Vista/Windows 7 on one PC: Run several versions of Windows on your PC and switch between them easily upon startup. 
  • Resolve all common boot problems: With the Boot Corrector you can eliminate all common boot problems and keep your system stable.
Grab your copy now! You don’t have long!! Sorry folks – you missed it!

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ComboFix to the rescue

ComboFixMore and more recently I have been given computers with
mass Rootkit infections. Each unable to connect out to the net, performing painfully slowly and most advertising the infection and attempting to spread using the instant messenger network.

Although I always treat these infections on an individual basis and work my way down my predefined tool set, I am finding 1 particular tool is rapidly making its way up my list as the first tool try. ComboFix is a free spyware remover created by sUBs 

“Combofix was designed to scan a computer for known malware, spyware (SurfSideKick, QooLogic, and Look2Me as well as any other combination of the mentioned spyware applications) and remove them.

ComboFix allows the manual removal of spyware infections . It ‘s a specialized effective cleaning tool, which is useful compared to other malware and spyware removers.

After Combofix finished,a report will be created. You can use this report to search and remove infections which are not automatically removed.”
ComboFix is really easy to use even my nana could start fixing these infected PC’s..

How to use combofix:
  • Disable or Close all anti-spyware, anti-malware antivirus real-time protection, which may affect ComboFix.
  • Download the latest version of ComboFix (2.8mb)save to you desktop
  • Close all programs of you computer
  • Double click ComboFix.exe on you desktop
  • When Combofix finished, it will create logs for you. 
Some infected PC’s I have had the pleasure of working on have prevented ComboFix from running, which is also quite easy to get around. Simply rename the ComboFix exe, I tend to use 123.exe. Then try running it again!
I am yet to come across a Rootkit infected PC requiring this and then other tools before it’s back running normally!

Obviously I would still recommend using an AntiVirus application such as McAfee and perform regular updates and scans!

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Vista Snipping Tool on Windows XP

Snipping ToolIf you have had to use Windows Vista for any length of time, you should have come across the ‘Snipping Tool’. The snipping tool is basically an extension to the print screen button. Allowing you to highlight the part of the screen you want to take a shot of.

Some of the features of the tool are:

Free-form Snip.  Draw an irregular line, such as a circle or a triangle, around an object.

Rectangular Snip.  Draw a precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.

Window Snip.  Select a window, such as a browser window or dialog box, that you want to capture.

Full-screen Snip.  Capture the entire screen when you select this type of snip.

After you capture a snip, it’s automatically copied to the mark-up window, where you can annotate, save, or share the snip.

As a rule the snipping tool is only packaged with Vista, however you can have the Snipping Tool on your XP PC.

How?? I hear you cry…

Simple! Download the Snipping Tool Setup Zip file, once downloaded extract it and copy all of the DLL’s and the EXE to your system32 folder (normally c:windowssystem32). Once complete. double click on the Alky setup file ‘alky_1.1_trunk_032308-000051_xp’. Follow the prompts on screen, ensuring you enter a valid vista serial number.

Once the installation is complete, navigate to the windowssystem32 folder, right click on the snipping tool exe and select ‘Run vista executable’

This will now start the snipping tool and add it to your quick start menu on your start bar.

Handy if you are limited by spec to using XP!

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