iPhone: How to Create Ringtones

Creating your own ringtones for your iPhone is fast and easy - and it can actually be completely free too!  The process may be well-known already, but I am writing a quick how-to-guide for my own reference, since I eventually forget if I haven't done it in a while.

How-To Guide: Creating a Ringtone from an MP3 for your iPhone

Note: I have done this on the iPhone 2G and 4G and I'm pretty sure it would work for any model.

DISCLAIMER: If you follow my guide to create your own ringtones for your iPhone, you do so at your own risk. I am not liable for any resulting damage or expense.  I do not work for Apple nor am I affiliated with the corporation in anyway.

STEP 1:

Select an MP3 you wish to convert into a ringtone.  This may be a clip from a song or a sound downloaded from the internet.  http://soundfxcenter.com/ has several sound effects to chose from if you're browsing for something in particular.  Keep in mind that you want to keep your ringtone reasonably short and you may have to use a software tool such as MP3 DirectCut to clip a section from the original MP3.

STEP 2:

Add the MP3 to your iTunes library. Select the MP3 in the playlist and go to Advanced and select Create AAC Version.

STEP 3:

If you are using Windows XP, locate the newly created AAC file.  It is usually located in the My Music folder, which is located in My Documents.  From there, go to iTunes > iTunes Music.  You'll then find subfolders for the Artist and Album, which could very well be titled Unknown.  Here's the full path for example:

C:\Documents and Settings\[User]\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Unknown Artist\Unknown Album

If you are using Windows 7, you can go to Libraries > Music > My Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Music.  Here's the full path for example:
C:\Users\Andy\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music

STEP 4:

Now that you've located the AAC files on your computer, you need to rename then.  You'll probably want to show hidden extensions for filetypes to make renaming them easier, or if you're a novice, I think it should still show up when you right-click on the file and go to Properties.  The file should currently have the extension .m4a.  We need to rename it to .m4r.

STEP 5:

Next, locate the iTunes ringtone folder.  This is also in \iTtunes\iTunes Music\ and it should be a folder name "Ringtones" or "Tones".  Move the .m4r file to this folder.  Here is the full path:

C:\Documents and Settings\[User]\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Tones

Once you've moved it there, simply open it and it'll be added to your Ringtones within your iTunes program.

STEP 6:

Sync your iPhone and you should be good to go!

This process is very simple and the best part is, it doesn't cost you anything.  Hope it works for you and enjoy!

RE: PAndyX

It's been over 90 days since I've added P90X into my weekly workout routine.  You may recall from my blog that I altered the program to fit my lifestyle and needs, which basically came down to me continuing my own lifting and basketball schedule at the gym and doing just the cardio-type workouts on days where I don't lift or play ball.  Really it comes down to 7 DVDs that I just rotate through: Plyo, Yoga, Kenpo, Stretch, Core, Cardio, and Ab Ripper (this one is so short, I don't know if it should really count hehe).  In addition to the P90X, I was also trying to change my eating habits by splitting my meals into several small portions throughout the day in an effort to increase my metabolism.  90 days later, how did I do?

In terms of the P90X, I've really enjoyed it so far.  The workouts are pretty intense, but it's the convenience of being able to do them at home whenever that really makes it great.  I still think 3-4 games of 5-on-5 basketball at the rec is a better cardio workout, but I feel better about myself when I do P90X on days that I wouldn't have been doing anything in the past.  In the course of a week, I will end up doing 2 days of lifting at the rec, 1-2 days of basketball, and that leaves 2-3 days of P90X.  Thursdays are always an off-day now since I have bowling league and I'm trying really hard to not drink during NFL Sundays so that I can work out after the games.

In terms of my diet changing, I did a very good job in the beginning of breaking up my meals and eating half portions every few hours.  However, I felt it very constraining on my schedule in the sense where I couldn't always have my meal when I should.  For example, It'd be 4pm and I'd have a meal, but then I wouldn't be able to leave the office until 6pm, but I'd be planning on going to the gym after work.  That means I would have to eat after the gym, which could be as late as 8 or 9pm, a couple hours later than I wanted to eat.  I constantly found it difficult to cater my lifestyle around this diet and eventually I gave up on it.  However, I will say that getting into the habit of just eating less during each sitting carried over.  I will eat my 2-3 bigger meals throughout the day, but they certainly aren't as big as they were before.  Instead of ordering two burgers for example, I'll just go for one burger and maybe fries if I feel extra hungry.

With that said, it's time for the results.  I tried copying my friend Matt from his P90X Results Blog.  Below are 4 sets of poses of me with my shirt off (oo-la-la!) and me on the left in blue shorts is before and the green shorts is after.  In summation, I didn't really notice a huge difference from PAndyX.  I didn't lose any weight and my waistline maybe went down half an inch at most.  Oh well, mentally I feel like I've accomplished something at least!

IBM StarCraft 2 League

A couple weeks ago, an IBMer at IBM Tucson googled the words "IBM" and "Starcraft".  One of the results led to my blog and e-mailed me telling me about a league for StarCraft 2 that he was organizing for him and his friends at IBM.  Before he found me, the league had only been on for about 3 weeks.  I joined their channel one night and decided it'd be fun to participate in a work league for StarCraft 2.  With my help, I was able to recommend other IBMers who play SC2 and they grew from 11 people to 16.

After the assimilation of new recruits, the league has put together the "October Classic" season.  It is comprised of 4 pools that contain 4-5 players each and will meet every Wednesday from ~7pm-10pm PST.  Tonight is the season opener and the first time I'll be playing a match in the league.  You can find the complete bracket online at challonge.com.  The first 3 weeks will be round robin pool play and at the end of the each month there'll be a single-elimination tournament with seeds based on the outcomes of the round robin play.

In case you're wondering, the IBMers we have so far mostly comprise of mid-level skill (Silver through Platinum) and there are just a small handful of Bronze and Diamond+ players.  I was selected to the highest pool, which is comprised of only one other Diamond+ at the moment - Steve (a.k.a. GreatArchon).  Steve and I have been playing against each other for quite some time with about a 50% split.  I guess you can say him and I would initially be the favorites to win the season, but hey, never doubt any player!

But really this is just an opporunity to have a fun yet organized league among friends and coworkers and I'm looking forward to playing some fun matches!

Some People Just Flat Out Suck

I was driving home from the gym tonight and made my way north up Stone coming from 6th street.  While driving up Stone, a white sedan from behind me is going at least 15 MPH faster than me in a 30 MPH zone, swerves around me, and nearly hits my car as he changes to the lane next to me.  I'm pretty livid since he came so close and he pulls up in the left turn lane to turn west onto Speedway.  I'm sitting in the left turn lane behind him also waiting to turn and I look at the guy's license plate.  I actually memorize it real quick, but really there's not a whole lot I can do about this asshole...if only there were some way to report him.

When the light turns green, he turns onto Speedway and quickly speeds ahead, literally driving like a maniac and swerving around cars.  Then, at the next intersection, I see in the distance a car getting hit from behind and smoke coming out of it.  The white sedan swerves around some more traffic, runs a red light, and speeds off toward the freeway.  I turn on my emergency signal and pull over to check out the damage and make sure the victims in the totaled car are alright and fortunately no one was injured, just a bunch of car damage.  I get on the phone with 911 reporting the accident and they send out an ambulance and a police car.  At first, the lady on the phone tells me that they can't take a report for a hit and run if there are no injuries, but I go ahead and give her my contact information as well as the number on the Michigan license plate I memorized earlier.  She also tells me that there's not really much they can do if there's no ID on the suspect, something that I couldn't provide.  Fortunately, there was another witness who saw the man driving the white sedan and could ID him.  The ambulance soon arrives and I try to help them move the car out of the street, but this honky, old grey car just won't budge.  After that, they let me go since I've provided just about all the help I could at that point.  Them stopping traffic so I could get back onto the road was a pretty cool, VIP-ish feeling by the way. :)

Later this night, I'm sitting at home watching my boy Weaver pitch against the A's and I get a call from an officer.  He asks for a description of what I saw and I basically tell him everything that I just told you.  He tells me how much it helps them that they got a license plate number from me and I wish them good luck.  It's funny, I sometimes think about what I would do if I were a cop.  I'd be the hardass who would pull you over and try and put you behind bars, but usually I only think about that as I'm raging right after someone on the road just pissed me off.  Tonight, I feel like I was actually able to help thanks to the rage I had after he almost hit me, which led me to memorize his license plate.  I'm also really lucky that it wasn't me with the totaled car instead.  Ugh, some people just flat out suck. :(