Last minute thoughts for the night

Go through your phone book, call people and ask them to drive you to the airport. The ones who will drive you are your true friends. The rest aren't bad people; they're just acquaintances.
-Jay Leno

Isn't that the truth? I have a deep appreciation for Teddy & Yolie because of that quote. They welcomed me into their home and showed me around town, laughed with me, cried with them, and in turn had a deeper understanding of what true friendship is really all about. Its not the baubles you bring back that make you remember a good time, its the people at that moment and experiences you share during your time that make true friendships withstand the tests and tribulations of time.

Im back, and it doesn't feel good to be back.

Last time I was in Chicago was for 7 days. This time around I stayed for 10 days. Within those 10 days I had time to seriously think about what the city was all about. Within those 10 days I realized that it is everything I could want in a city, straight down to unbearable weather conditions.

Watch for videos soon.

Vacation, all I ever wanted!

Its that time again! I will be taking some vacation time to Chicago from May 20th thro the 30th. I will be taking my laptop with me on my vacation and might be posting pictures of Chicago the same day I take them.

If you want to follow my flights:

DEPART:
El Paso Intl. on American Airlines flight 2018
Departure Time 8:07am

ARRIVE:
Chicago O'Hare Intl.
Arrival Time 12:00 Noon

RETURN FLIGHT HOME

DEPART:
Chicago O'Hare Intl. on American Airlines flight 871
Departure Time 11:13am

ARRIVE:
El Paso Intl.
Arrival Time 1:21pm

.mp3 ringtones for FREE!!!

*that is if you have the right tools...

I have a T-Mobile RAZR as my primary cell phone and after downloading three ringtones for $1.99 each, I thought to myself I could have purchased the same three songs on iTunes and several others for the same price. Another problem I faced was the fact that the songs I wanted weren't offered as ringtones.

That pissed me off.

So I started to put 2 + 2 together and figured out how to (with a BLUETOOTH enabled phone) create .mp3 ringtones for your cell phone for free.

Here's what you'll need:

• Computer with BLUETOOTH built in/ BLUETOOTH adapter (if not installed)
• BLUETOOTH enabled phone
• music editing software (I use Cool Edit Pro)

Here's what you do.

Step 1. Find a :30 second portion of the song you want (plus or minus :30 seconds, as long as it sounds like a natural entrance & exit to the song) and edit out the entire other portions of the song. All you are concerned about is just that :30 second blurp of music. Once you are satisfied with the sound of the soon-to-be ringtone, save your file.
Step 2. Locate your file using Windows Explorer (or whatever it would be under Mac, IM not a Mac person yet...) and right click the file and choose Send to BLUETOOTH Device.
Step 3. Turn on the BLUETOOTH feature on your cell phone.
Step 4. You should see a new screen pop up on your computer. This is the setup screen to bond your computer to your cell phone. It will ask you to search for the file you want to send, then it will start a search for your phone to bond with it. Use a simple 4 digit (don't use letters, too timely to input on a phone) code and hit enter. Your cell phone should ask for the passcode you just entered. Once verified, it will now ask if you would like to send the file you were originally sending.
Step 5. If everything verified and the file has been sent, your phone should automatically start playing the song. If it's to your satisfaction, save the song to the phone, renaming it whatever you want and you are done. If your phone says the file is unreadable, make sure when you saved the file on your computer you saved it as an .mp3.

FAQ's when sending items to your BLUETOOTH enabled phones:

Is there a charge to send from the computer to my cell phone?
-No. Bluetooth to Bluetooth connections are free, file transfers are free as well.

Will this void my warranty with my cell phone provider?
-Depends. Certain T-Mobile phones support .mp3 file formats, and most other cell phone companies who have cell phones with .mp3 support will recognize the files. Sprint will not void your warranty if you use an .mp3 as a ringtone (thank you to my friend working @ Sprint for verification). Saving them as .mp3 files will not void your warranty, but if the bitrate is too high for the phone to handle, your cell phone might crash/ stop responding when you try to play the song. I am able to get away with 128 kbps. on a :30 second file on my RAZR V3.

How do I convert a file I have to .mp3?
-The easiest way to do this is to download (if you don't already have it) iTunes. Once its set up, under the options menu you have the ability to save new files as either .mp3 or .aac file formats. While using iTunes, if the program has found the file, right click and convert the file.

What else can I send to my cell phone using BLUETOOTH?
-Photos can be sent to your phone using your BLUETOOTH connection. Repeat the same steps as above to send photos you have on your computer into your phone. If you have photos of friends, you can send them to the phone as picture caller ID's for free. If you need to resize the photos, use MSPaint to open the file, then go to IMAGE, then STRETCH/ SKEW and resize the image using the HORIZONTAL settings.

I don't have Cool Edit Pro. What else can I use?
-If you go to any computer software retailer, you could buy one of two editors (and these are my two top choices): Ringtone Maker and WavePad Audio Editing Software.

Break yourself free from the cell phone companies and their strangle hold on forcing you to buy $1.99 for :10 to :20 second ringtones.

BBC Radio

Earlier today I was interviewed by the BBC about a growing problem happening along the United States & Mexican border. Click here to read more.

Another pointless insight of the letter "i"

"I"

I AM: sitting at a desk wondering what to type.
I WANT: to buy Joe's Mustang.
I WISH: I had more of the root of all evil and the devils playthings.
I HATE: people who don't get out of your way on the freeway.
I MISS: hearing the sound of tires on pavement and wind blowing over the windshield of a convertible at 2300 rpm.
I HEAR: the RADDs here at work.
I WONDER: what I will do on my vacation to Chicago next week.
I REGRET: taking my peers advice about not pursuing my dream of being a paramedic.
I AM NOT: the type to leave when someone needs me the most.
I DANCE: very rarely since I have a low self image of myself and my actions.
I CRY: whenever I get emotional over animals.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: as strong as some people believe I am.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: farting noises to make people laugh, even if it's in mixed company.
I WRITE: my true feelings on my blog for the world to see.
I CONFUSE: my thoughts of happiness for thoughts of togetherness.
I NEED: to buy myself a jacuzzi for the back yard to relax in.
I SHOULD: start researching and writing the book I want to write.
I START: things I sometimes forget to finish.
I FINISH: things without knowing there was an ending to it.

Picture this...

It's 1am, you cannot sleep and there's not much you can do about it. You had napped earlier in the afternoon so sleep isn't all that much on your mind and all you can think about are the sounds of the outdoors right outside your window. Your TiVo isn't recording anything and you've now started to browse thro the folder of deleted items just to pass the time when you hear the dog door violently open and the sound of 3 sets of feet racing in the back yard, garage and back in the house. This wouldn't be something to think twice about until you hear the shrieks and hissing sound of an extremely frightened cat and a lot of scratching and clawing.

That's when you get out of bed and start hunting for what the dogs are hunting.

At 2am.

In your underwear.

I didn't think you wanted to see that image of me, but that was me. Flashlight in hand and broom in the other and wouldn't you know it, the dogs trapped a cat in the fence and... Well, lets just say that cat will not be coming around here anymore. It got away, but is probably minus a few lives.

That was my morning, how was yours?

UPDATE

I have managed to gain access to my SENNHEISTER Yahoo! ID. You can now safely email me on that account again.

HUGE TIME KILLER

I found this online. Its located somewhere in Canada, but its a live interactive digital sign.



I LOL'ed til I stained my poop deck!

Do it yourself @ http://crcw.mb.ca/ledsign/

Hints & Tips

The T-Mobile Sidekick II is an extremely useful & versatile tool to yield in your hands. Internet, instant messaging, email, it even is a really really great sounding phone. I've never had a problem with audio signal or sound degradation, but I have had problems with the "camera" and the battery life. The additional cost to your phone plan for unlimited internet & text/ email usage can bring a good rate plan to an unbearable cost.



I have the old advertised 1500 minute talk plan for $49 with unlimited weekends. Trust me, this last cell phone bill shows I used all but 300 minutes of it. Here's the deal with my cell phone plan: I have the Sidekick 2, and the additional $20 for unlimited usage on the text and internet usage kicks the bill to $69, with taxes its about $78 a month. Yes, I love the feeling of opening up that cell phone bill and seeing the SHOCKING expense of being a gadget geek.

So, here's something interesting I found out about T-Mobile and their other cell phone service, T-Mobile To Go. The To Go service uses several phones you can readily buy from T-Mobile including the RAZR and the Sidekick 2. The premise of the To Go plans is super simple. $50 gets you 400 minutes, or $1 a day for internet usage. If I buy a $50 refill card, I will get 400 minutes to add onto my account, or that $50 will be 50 days of online use.

So, with this little bit of knowledge, the savings are apparent. For the price of $50, you get the equivalent of a month and a half of internet usage, or talk time. The beauty is if you don't talk on the phone, its pure data time. I have found this is a cheap alternative to the T-Mobile post pay account. For $50, you can go a month and a half comfortably, and on my post pay account, I have unlimited talk time and outstanding phone battery life on the Motorola RAZR.

Interesting thing is the new Sidekick 3 is going to debut soon. I don't know if it will be offered as a To Go phone yet, but it's got some promising features that will make me get one.