OK, I know this only applies to certain segment of the cell-phone owning public, because only the coolest people have Blackberries (KIDDING! ), but I just went through a lot learning how to make and send MP3 Ringtones to my Blackberry, and I thought other people might benefit from what I found out.

Now, I personally have a Blackberry 8700c, but I am pretty sure that most if not all of the process I am about to outline works for the vast majority of Blackberries. Also, because code and settings and techie stuff doesn’t scare me, I am giving you the process of how to do it for free. If you don’t mind dropping twenty bucks to make it all point and click, there are a myriad of software programs that reduce this to a virtually drag-and-drop deal.

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So, here we go!

1) You need an audio file editing program. Audicity is great, and it’s free. It’s what I use.

2) Femetsu at BlackberryForums.com suggests using the following settings:

ref>Quality>Def. Sample Rate: 44100 Hz
Pref>Quality>Default Sample Format: 32-bit Float
Pref>File Format>Mp3 Export Setup>Bit Rate: 64

3) Open up the mp3 file you want to edit and select the clip of it that you want a ringtone of. No longer than twenty seconds is a good guideline. Once you have the clip selected, you can either delete the extraneous sounds away or (the easier option, IMO) cut the section that you want and paste it into a new project.

4) Export the file as an mp3.

5) Now the tricky part - get it to your Blackberry! For some models of Blackberry, you can transfer it with bluetooth or the USB cord…but not moi’s. So, you need to upload it to the web via a place like yousendit or sendspace. They will give you a URL that you can put into your Blackberry’s browser to download your ringtone. Alternatively, you can send it as an attachment via good ol’ gmail, and that should work.

6) Download to your Blackberry. If the file is too big, you can go back to your Audacity project and try things like making the track mono (as opposed to stereo) or applying the high pass filter.

7) Groove to your new Blackberry MP3 Ringtone. THIS IS THE BEST STEP!!!

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I read this the other day and it cracked me up -

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world.  Those who understand binary code and those who don’t.

HAHAHA!

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Mixaloo is a slick new innovation that is currently in Beta. It allows users to create mixes of their favorite music - they can be favorite songs, theme mixes (have I ever told you about my female empowerment mix entitled “The Ladies’ Room” or my songs about stalking mix entitled “Rockin’ While Stalkin’?” Betcha didn’t know I’m the Queen of the Theme Mix!).

The truly innovative part is that you can embed the mixes on blogspots, on myspace, on facebook, on…wherever!!! Anyplace you get traffic. People can listen to them and enjoy…and if anyone clicks through and buys, mixaloo will split the revenue with you.

Here’s my first mix.

Like I said, mixaloo is currently in beta so it’s invite only, but I have 5 invites if y’all want ‘em! Shoot me an email at melanie (at) techgirly.com and i’ll send one to you.

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Garmin nüvi 660 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator with Maps for North America

Never be lost again!

The deets -

• Personal Travel assistant is loaded with highly detailed NAVTEQ City Navigator NT road maps for the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico
• Super-bright, 4.3-inch widescreen display makes map viewing easy, day or night
• Select destinations, look up POIs, and play your favorite MP3s and audio books with the touch screen interface. speed zone, speed camera and red light camera database
• Integrated Bluetooth wireless technology with a mic and speaker lets you make hands-free mobile phone calls
• Measures 4.9 x 2.9 x 0.9 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 6.2 ounces

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Yet another in the “if you aren’t listening to this, you should be” series.

MARC BROUSSARD - SOS: SAVE OUR SOUL

Colbie Caillat - Coco

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BlackBerry Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Mobile Office (Hacks) by Dave Mabe
Price: $13.70 USD

Lowest used price: $12.90 USD

I used to have a Treo but now I have a Crackberry. One of the things I’ve always missed about my Treo was the customizability - and two things I HAVEN’T always missed are the horrible reception and the pitiful battery life. :/ But I digress!

My point is that now I can “Hack my Black” to my little techgirly heart’s content.

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This, from Tech Crunch:

When Google was asked during the press conference earlier today if they had invited Facebook into OpenSocial, the answer was “yes,” and then changed to “we can’t comment, followed by “we have reached out to virtually everyone in this space” (quotes are rough, I was taking notes but not recording). Whichever one is the correct answer, the clear indication was that Google was reaching out to Facebook to join the club.

Facebook, however, says they haven’t had the pleasure. When we asked them if they were planning on joining, Brandee Barker, Director of corporate communications at Facebook, responded:

Despite reports, Facebook has still not been briefed on OpenSocial. When we have had a chance to understand the technology, then Facebook will evaluate participation relative to the benefits to its 50 million users and 100,000 platform developers.

My bet is that they join. Because suddenly Facebook is being painted as the closed outsider while everyone else is allowing the use of non proprietary coding platforms (Facebook requires the use of FBML, not HTML) and portability of applications.

How did they turn into the bad guys so quickly? As Erick says, it’s their move. But no matter what they do, Google has pulled off an absolute coup.

For their part, Google will certainly want Facebook’s participation. But they had to get everyone else on board first, before Facebook would even consider it. An open platform means no social network has any advantage over any other when it comes to third party applications. The playing field has been evened, and no one wins. Except Google. They always win.

Update: From a trusted source:

People in the know have indicated to me that Facebook and Google have been talking about OpenSocial…including today. So pleading ignorance won’t last as a strategy for dealing with the OpenSocial movement.

I, for one, hope FaceBook opts out. The cheese stands alone. I think it would be interesting to see how far they could take it on their own. Not to mention, they’ve built an entire rep from scratch based almost entirely on exclusivity. Why eff up a good thing? Not to mention, they have a well documented history of turning down offers people thought they were nuts to pass on.

If they opt out of OpenSocial and persist with their proprietary FBML language, one of two things will happen: they will either soar past the competition and become a “Who Woulda Thunk It? Little Guy Makes Good.” success story, or they will fall flat on their face, an obsolete (*cough*friendster*cough*) victim of their own hubris.

Who WOULDN’T want to see that play out?

So, just to recap - when it comes to Facebook joining OpenSocial, TechGirly’s vote is: “PASS, FACEBOOK…PASS!”

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With Myspace, Friendster, Hi5, Orkut, and now Bebo on board?  Facebook may wanna reconsider being the odd man out.

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DAMN but do they wanna take down Facebook!  lol

This from the joint press release issued this afternoon:

“MySpace, the world’s largest social network, and Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced that they are joining forces to launch OpenSocial— a set of common APIs for building social applications across the web. The partnership spearheads an initiative to standardize and simplify the development of social applications. Today’s announcement underscores MySpace’s commitment to supporting standards that foster innovation in an increasingly social Web.”

I love how they still can’t skip an opp to point out that they’re the WORLD’S! LARGEST! SOCIAL! NETWORK!  haha. That’s really damn close to not even being true anymore, Facebook is hot on their tail.

This whole deal is gonna change the face of social networking FO SHO, I can’t wait to see how!

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When I just joined the TechCrunch Community on MyBlogLog, Look at what the Community Members numbers became -

Hahahahaha!

Does this mean I’m luck or unlucky?

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