If you need a chiropractor in Philadelphia click here.

[Source]

At this point, most people out there have phone with the capability to let you create, download, and use custom ringtones. The problem is that unless your phone lets you make and upload ringtones via a computer or another phone, your only option is to buy ringtones from a company such as your carrier. What sucks about that is ringtones are often pricey considering the fact you’re only getting a 30-second clip of a song. On average, ringtones will run you about $2-$3 which doesn’t sound like a whole lot until it starts adding up. Well, here’s a quick and easy how-to guide on how to make your own custom ringtones. All you need is a computer, a music editing program (the one used here is free), the ability to receive texts messages, and a data package on your mobile account.

The music editing software we will be using is called Audacity. It is completely free and works on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. You can download the software here. Once downloaded, install the software and run the program. It should look like this:

You also need a file named “lame_enc.dll” which is the encoder that lets you make mp3s in Audacity. You can find it here. Follow the steps the website gives to place the encoder in the proper folder; it goes on your hard drive in a folder called “Plug-Ins” in the “Audacity” folder.

In Audacity, go to File, Open, and find an mp3 on your computer you would like to use. Click Open. Audacity will take a couple of seconds to import it. You screen should now look like this:

If you know what part of the song you want to use then this process is a lot easier. If not, use a program such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc to play the song and write down when the section of the song you want to use begins and ends. Keep it below 30 seconds. More than that would be pointless since people only let phones ring for a few seconds before giving up or being sent to voicemail.

In Audacity, left click on the point where your ringtone will start and drag the cursor to the point where the ringtone will end. It will look like this (it is the slightly greyed out area):

In my example, I selected the part of the song around 1:32 up until about 2:01.  Just click on the green play button to double check if you selected the right part of the song, and it will play what you selected. If you want to cut or add more to the selection, go to the beginning, or end, of what you picked and a little hand with an index finger pointed will pop up. It is telling you that you are at the beginning, or end, of your selection. If you left click you will be able to extend or contract your selection. Keep messing around with this until you have the correct part picked.

When you are done, go to Edit and click on Trim. Your screen should not look like this:

You have several options at this point. You can add a fade-in and fade-out to the clip or stop here, in which case just skip this paragraph. To do that, highlight about a second of the beginning of the song (the same process as above, go to Effect and Fade In. Select a portion at the end of the clip, go to Effect, and Fade Out. You can press play to here how the ringtone will sound. You’re basically home free at this point.

Go to File, Export as MP3, name the file, and save it somewhere you can easily find it. I saved mine on my Desktop. If it asks you about the MP3 encoder we mentioned above just go to the File where you saved it and double click on it. At this point, you have a nice little clip of a song just begging to be sent to your phone.

Most songs clips are relatively small but if size is an issue for you go to Edit, Preferences, click on the File Formats tab, look down to where it says MP3 Export Setup, press the down arrow next to Bit Rate and select a lower bit rate. We don’t recommend using anything less than 96 because the audio quality is degraded the lower the bit rate is. If you’re unsure what to pick, we think leaving it at 128 is best. Click OK once you have selected your bit rate. Now follow the steps we gave in the previous paragraph.

**Disclaimer: This is the final step in the process and probably the most important. Also, this is where we give the disclaimer. In order for this to work, you NEED to have a Data Package on your phone and be able to receive texts messages. If your plan does not include texts, you will be charged for the one (1) message you are sent. If you do not have a Data Package on your mobile account, you WILL be charged by your mobile company for downloading on your phone. If you are unsure of whether you have a data or text package on your phone, please call your carrier and confirm it. ITR is in no way responsible for any fees you incur through your carrier because of this. I have personally been able to convince customer service to give me a month’s trial of data on my phone “just to see” if I like it, make ringtones, download them to my phone, and cancel before the trial ends so if you do not have a data package you could look into trying that. Other than that, there are no fees incurred by this process so if you’re a person with texts and data on your plan then this will be cost free to you.**

Go this website. It should take you to a website that looks like this:

Select your Carrier, enter your mobile phone number, click on Choose where it says Audio File and select the song clip you made in Audacity, and name the song. Keep the name as simple as you can. Finally, click on upload. You will shortly receive a text message with a link to the song you uploaded. It will tell you to click on the link to download your new ringtone. Click on it and a download status should pop up. Once it is done, you should be able to find the ringtone in the Ringtones folder on your phone. You can do whatever you want with it at this point.

Now, we know most people will probably feel unsure about entering your phone number and downloading files to your phone but we at ITR have been using this process for about two (2) years without any problems whatsoever. The purpose of the website is to basically trick your phone into letting you use a song clip that you picked as a ringtone. Also, in terms of sharing your phone number, we have never had problems with random people or companies calling our phones so there is no need to worry about that happening to you. Other websites out there offer this exact same service but oftentimes either charge you for doing so or they degrade the quality of the ringtone you uploaded. This website does not do either which is why it’s great. One thing to note, you don’t necessarily need to upload an MP3. In fact, some phones support MP4 but since MP3 support is oftentimes standard on phones it is your safest bet. Also worth noting on the site,

*MP3 format is supported primarily by the latest versions of Motorola Phones, Nokia Phones, Smart Phones, and Verizon MMS Phones. Some Verizon MMS phones have a size limitation of 30k.
*AAC (MP4 Audio) format is supported primarily by Multimedia Phones.

Well that’s it. Hopefully this works for everyone and it saves you some money. Let us know how it works out for you. FYI, something we forgot to mention before. If you happen to have an iPhone, do not bother doing this because it will NOT work. Sadly, Apple has control of all ringtones for the iPhone so unless your willing to pay or have a jailbroken iPhone, there is no need to listen to any of this.

[Audacity audio editing software]
[MP3 LAME encoder]
[Website to send ringtones to your phone]

We at ITR are firm supporters of free stuff, especially programs. So what better way to help protect your computer than to have it cost you absolutley nothing. In this segment of “How-To Keep Your Windows Computer Running Smoothly” we will tackle adware and malware. As an added benefit, all the software we recommend are available online and are relatively small in size.

ITR normally focuses on weird and interesting news from around the world but that doesn’t mean we can’t take the opportunity to do something different and inform our readers of something they can use. This is one such example. Anyway, a friend recently recommended an adware detection program to someone else that they could purchase at their local Best Buy for only $60. At that point, several alternatives to the friend’s “recommendation” came to mind, alternatives that are at par and cost absolutley nothing, which is great given the state of our economy and people’s desire not to overspend. Today we will discuss 2 software options that not only work great but will ensure your computer continues to run smoothly as long as you remember consistently run the software.

Ad-Aware is a product made by a company known as Lavasoft. This program scans your computer for Trojans, spyware, worms, and other harmful programs. The company’s website boasts the software is the first anti-spyware products offered. We cannot confirm nor deny that claim, nor do we care whether it’s true because this product simply works. The software automatically checks for updates when you run it and asks you whether you would like to install it.

The beauty of the software is its simplicity. All you have to do is run it, click “Scan Now”, and choose the scan mode you would like. If you’re having issues with your computer and think you need a comprehensive scan then you should run the “Perform full system scan” option, otherwise just stick with “Perform smart system scan”. A scan takes a few minutes so it’s a good idea to run it during a period when you don’t really need to use your machine.

At the end of a scan you get a report of what the software found and it gives you the option to remove what it found.

You can download Ad-Aware here.

The second piece of software we recommend is Spybot Search and Destroy. Spybot does the same job as Ad-Aware but looks and feels more basic. The updating process isn’t as simple as Ad-Aware’s but the benefit is that it gives you several options in terms of what you prefer to install on your machine and it has many, many options regarding which language you would like to use with the program. We would go through the whole process of describing how you use this software but the makers of the product were kind enough to detail the entire process on their website here. You can download the software here.

Well that wraps up another part of our ”How-To Keep Your Windows Computer Running Smoothly” series. Stay tuned for part 3 which will tackle virus protection and firewalls.

If you have a car, you’ve probably experienced a few dents or bumps on your car. It seems as if getting a dent is inevitable unless you’re really anal about your car. Not only do dents ruin the appearance of your vehicle, they also cost a lot to fix, unless you can do it yourself. Here’s a quick and extremely easy way to remove dents from your car. The first video uses dry ice to do it while the second uses a can of compressed air, which you should have around if you have a computer, and a hair blower. Click below to watch.

Remove w/ Dry Ice

Remove Car Dents With A Dry Ice Block Www.mastrik.com – Watch more amazing videos here

Remove w/ Compressed Air and Hair Blower

Remove Car Dent With Airduster – The funniest videos are a click away

The most bootleg Ipod charging device.

Using a handcrank flashlight available at many stores, Mark hoekstra decided he wanted to try to make a hand crank powered ipod. He was successful… to some extent, creating a crank that would charge your ipod. If you were trapped on a desert island in the middle of the ocean, this thing might let you play your tunes while you try desperately to start fires and catch fish with sticks. Don’t ignore the 30 minute crank time required just to get it going… if you make one yourself, might want to buy a bigger/better crank.

[Link]

What you need to melt a beer bottle and create some sweet, sweet, plasma:

• Microwave
• Glass bottle
• Blowtorch

Try this at your own risk. Risks include shattered glass, and death. Pretty cool though!

If you want to impress somebody with a little ”beer snobbery,” just check out the link below!

[Expert Tips to Pour the Perfect Beer]

My expert tip is to pour it straight into one’s mouth. The beer definitely won’t lose any flavor or smells then!

Apparently my method of beer consumption is not ”classy”. From the article:

 Proper service means paying attention to glassware, the serving temperature and how the beer is poured.

So drinking it out of a used Pepsi bottle is probably not “proper service”…

*Disclaimer – No, the “ice” is not edible so don’t even try it.

Are you sick of all the junk-mail and pre-screened credit and insurance offers you get in the mail? Well, here’s how to opt-out of getting all unwanted mail. The DMA (Direct Marketing Association) is the oh-so-popular company in charge of sending out all the unwanted junk-mail we receive. They used to charge a small fee in order to remove you from receiving these offers but they recently changed their rules. They no longer charge a fee if you register online but do ask you to submit some credit card information in order to verify your identity. Oh yeah, you also have to register an account.

In addition, the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry also runs a website to have you opt-in or out of receiving all the credit card and insurance pre-approval letters. I’m not sure why someone would want to opt-in but at least you have the option if you really wanted to. They ask you for your social security number during the registration but don’t worry, the website is “Verisign Secured” which means your personal information will be sent securly. By the way, removing your name from the list only lasts five years so be sure to re-register when you start receiving all those offers again.

[DMA website]

[Consumer Credit Reporting Industry] 

GOODNESS, GRACIOUS, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!

Have you ever wanted to make your own fireballs? Well, now you can!

Home Recipes Note has a cool video that shows you how to make your own fireballs. All you need is cotton, scissors, string, a needle, a lighter, and lighter fluid, all things that are commonly found around the house. Supposedly you won’t burn yourself as long as your keep your hands away from the orange flame at the top. Since you’ll be messing with fire make sure you try this in an area with things that can’t easily catch fire and if you’re young, be sure to have a parent do this.