I’ve had enough of iPhone this and iPhone that.  Let’s talk cool apps for your BlackBerry, shall we?  Gear Diary reported that TuneWiki is available for the BlackBerry.  What is TuneWiki?  It’s a website that plays music of your choice and displays lyrics.  It’s a community forum.  It displays maps that show what other users are listening to.  It may still be a beta, but it’s pretty darn cool!  Now they have an app available in the BlackBerry App Store (yes, we have one too).  It’s a free download, but you can upgrade to the Pro version for $4.99.  Supposedly the free version is ad-supported, but I didn’t see any.  So let’s give it a quick walk through…

Click on the icon (top row, 2nd from left) to get started.

The software scans your BB for all music.  Then you can choose Playlists, Artists, etc.

The lyrics are displayed two lines at a time and scroll with the music.  It is perfectly synchronized and perfect for mobile Karaoke.

I decided to see if could retrieve lyrics from songs covered by other artists, in this case, American Idol Allison Iraheta’s version of Papa Was a Rolling Stone.

Unfortunately it didn’t work.  But it was very successful with originals. 

You can make playlists too.  But you have to play the song, then choose the “Add to Playlist” menu option.  If the software let you choose songs without having to start them it would be much easier.

You can also go to their online community.

Here’s the mobile site:

All told, this is a really cool app, especially considering it’s free.  So far I have seen no advertisements either.  Check it out yourself by going to the website or downloading the app from the BlackBerry App Store.

A couple days ago I presented a software program called, CopyPaste Tool, a utility that allows you to copy multiple clips of information before pasting.  I liked it, but it had some issues.  As you know, the Windows Clipboard only allows you to copy one item at a time.  If you find yourself copying then pasting over and over, then a program like CopyPaste Tool or the new one I will present, will allow you to copy many items before pasting.

Clipomatic is a free, and excellent copy and paste utility.  It blows away CopyPaste Tool.  How?  check it out.

Clipomatic will only copy text.  You download the software and it works in the background.  Use Control-C to copy, or right click and choose copy, as you normally would.  You can use Control-V to paste as normal, but to use the power of Clipomatic you would paste using Control-Alt-V.  This brings up a menu:

You then click on the item you want pasted.  Simple.  Clipomatic is set to hold up to 10 items by default, but you can hold as many as 64.

It also can hold Clipsets, a group of clips that you may use often, such as name, phone, email, address etc.  And you can have many Clipsets.  In theory this is an awesome feature.  In practicality I found it to be riddled with bugs.  I did get it to work, but only after Clipomatic shut down several times.  Here’s how you use it:

First copy the clips you’ll want saved.  Right click on Clipomatic in the System Tray at the bottom right of your screen.  Open Clipset Editor.   Then choose any items you want deleted and right click to bring up a menu.

I’m deleting the first two items, and keeping my name, a closing for a letter, and my fake email address.  You can edit the order of the items and the items themselves.  You can even add new items this way.  Then right click on the icon once more, go to Clipsets, then Save As, and name it.  I named mine SteveTest and SteveTest2.  The author of this software, Mike Lin, shows examples of how to do this.  But in his example the Clipset is labeled with letters and the new clips are numbered.  When I add new clips, the clipset items show up as well as the new clips, but they’re all numbered.  Also, there’s supposed to be a separator bar between the Clipset items and the cached items, but there is not.

A big issue I had with CopyPaste Tool is that I found no way to clear the cache of stored items.  The list kept getting bigger and bigger.  Clipomatic lets you clear all items.  After clearing all items you don’t have the saved Clipsets available and you must reopen them.  Here’s a screenshot of two Clipsets and some temporary clips:

I cleared the temporary clips, then attempted to open the two saved Clipsets, but only one was available.  So I’d say the Clipsets feature doesn’t work properly.  But even so, this is a very useful utility.  It works just as well in Wordpad, Excel and Word.

Pros

Saves tons of clips

Easy to use

Works on many different programs such as Wordpad, Word, and Excel

Cons

Only saves text, not photos

buggy

Clipsets don’t work properly

A bit confusing to understand how to actually perform functions

Don’t you often find yourself going back and forth, copying things from two or more sources to paste them into one?  My work database is separate from my contacts database, so I have to copy the name, then paste it into my contacts database, then copy the address, then the zip, and phone numbers.  It’s time consuming and tedious.  But I found a cool, free software that will change all that!

CopyPaste Tool allows you to copy multiple items from different sources, then choose which ones you want to paste.  It’s easy to use.  Just use Control-C to copy as you normally would.  Copy as many items as you need.  To paste you would normally use Control-V.  To paste the second thing you copied, hold Control down, release V, then press V.  Repeat this process to get to the text you want to copy.  I’ve copied about twelve different items with no problem.  I have no idea how many items can be copied.

I did find a couple issues with this software, albeit mild ones.  When pasting to Wordpad, the first item is pasted correctly, but subsequent items will begin with the first letter of the first text you pasted, like this:

operator to quickly meet market demand
omanaging integration and deployment
oregion to provide VIVA with end-to-end support
oBased on its distribution agreement with RIM

However, it works fine with Microsoft Word:

operator to quickly meet market demand

managing integration and deployment

region to provide VIVA with end-to-end support

Based on its distribution agreement with RIM

Another issue I found concerns clearing the clipboard.  Normally you do it like this: Start > Run, then type clipbrd.exe.  But that only clears the last item you saved.  All the other items seem to remain in the clipboard, so if you copy and paste often, you may find a heck of alot of text snippets to scroll through to get to the one you want.  But hey, this software is free, so who’s to complain.

Get CopyPaste Tool here.

PI icon top right, Agendus icon middle right

I recently received a Blackberry 8350i for work, and like Windows Mobile, the built in Contact Manager is inadequate.  There are separate modules for each function.  If you want to make an appointment you must open the calendar.  To view contacts you must open contacts.  These two suites I am reviewing combine all the functions into one program.  Open a contact and you can make an appointment, send an email, assign a task and so on.  So I am putting both Pocket Informant  for Blackberry v1.6 and Agendus for Blackberry v1.21 through a rigorous testing process.  Both have features that enhance contact management, though they go about it in very different ways.  And both versions are relatively new and will likely see enhancements and improvements in the months to come.

Agendus uses the built in databases to perform its duties.  Pocket Informant (PI) feels that the built in databases are too limiting, thus they have their own databases.  There are many other differences as well.  I will attempt to illustrate them in this head to head comparison.

Finding Contacts

Agendus: find contact                          PI: find contact

Both programs allow you to simply type the first letters of the company or contact.  But if you type an incorrect letter or want to search for a new contact, PI lets you simply press the back key to erase the entire name, and begin a new search.  Whereas Agendus forces you to hit the backspace key until each letter is erased. 

Point: PI.

Category Filter

Top left: Agendus choose category, top right: PI choose category

Both products let you easily choose contacts by category.  They both allow you to choose any number of categories as well, which is very convenient.  And both do so in very similar ways.  In the contacts screen just bring up a menu, choose categories, choose the categories you want displayed and off you go.  One problem I noticed concerns Agendus.  After you have chosen a category, you may want to start over and do a new search.  With PI you simply choose Clear Filter.  Agendus has the option to Show All (contacts).  But this does not work.  When you attempt to find a contact by spelling out the first few letters of their name or company you do not get the intended results.  It searches your contacts solely by the first letter you type in, rather than by all the letters you type in.  So if you search for a company that starts with WORLD, you get all the W’s.  You must go to a different view then return to the contacts view.  This needs to be addressed as it appears to be a programming error.

The categories you develop in Outlook should automatically transfer to these two suites, right?  That works fine in PI, but Agendus gave me a whole different set of categories.  I had to manually change them myself.  I thought I would then have to reassign each of my 700 contacts to categories, but at least, once I corrected the categories, they were automatically and correctly assigned to the contacts.  But why didn’t my Outlook categories automatically transfer to the BB?

Point: PI

Category Options

above left: Agendus categories and colors.  “Customers” is not an Outlook category.  above right: PI categories, colors and icons

Both products allow you to associate colors with categories, so for example, all doctors can be red, or all suppliers can be yellow.  But Pocket Informant goes a step further, allowing you to also associate icons with contacts and tasks.  Nice.  You can also choose icons to appear in the calendar, which makes it easy to spot the appointment types you have. 

Point: PI

Menus

top left: Agendus menu, top middle: Agendus scroll-only menu, top right: PI menu

Both Agendus’ and PI’s menus pop up when you hit the Blackberry key.  You can then scroll to the desired item or type the first letter to jump to that item.  If more than one item begin with the same letter, just retype that letter until the desired item is highlighted.  But if you choose Go To view in Agendus, a new menu opens up and you must scroll to find the desired selection.  PI includes all its views in the main menu, thus you can simply type the first letter.  I find this much easier and more direct. 

Point: PI

Views

Agendus has many views: Today, Agenda, One Day, Week View Grid, Week View List, Month View, Task, Contact View Expanded, and Contact View Compact.

PI’s views include: Day, Week, Month, Contacts, and Tasks.

Point: Agendus

Calendars

top left: Agendus day view, top right: PI day view

Day View: Agendus’ Day View doesn’t allow you to scroll through the hours of the day, but it does allow you to scroll through any scheduled events for that day.  PI lets you scroll through all the hours regardless of any scheduled events.  I initially thought there was an error in Agendus, but I guess it makes sense that you can’t scroll unless you have scheduled items.  PI’s Day View shows your events at the top, and above that gives you a timeline which allows you to scroll to subsequent days.  Agendus features the date at the top and lets you change that date.

In PI, if you have an appointment in the evening, say 7pm, you must scroll all the way down to it.  If you go too fast it takes you to the next day.  Whereas Agendus will just show that appointment without any scrolling.  Hold on a sec, there is an option in PI’s Day View which solves this issue.  You can choose, when scrolling up/down, to NOT switch days.  Another option lets you switch to the previous or next day by scrolling right/left.  Now I’m happy.

The PI Day View is more colorful and interesting compared to the very plain Agendus Day View.  Plus PI shows icons.  The Agendus Day View shows any appointments that day with no scrolling necessary.  Tough call.

Point: Tie

Week View: PI has a straightforward Week View.  It’s easy to read and understand.  Sometimes simple is best.

top left: Agendus week grid view, middle: Agendus week view, top right: PI week view

Agendus has two separate Week Views.  The Grid view is much like PI’s.    Week View LIst is oriented vertically and you must scroll through the days as the whole week does not appear on the screen at once.  Again, PI  shows icons and has the timeline on top to change weeks.

Point: Agendus

Month View: Agendus’ Month View is painfully plain.  The only indication, as far as I can tell, that an event is planned for a particular day, is that a date is both bold and underlined.  At least I thought that initially.  But I have found that that is not always the case.  I have an appointment on June 17 but the date is neither bolded nor underlined.  The 18th is bold and underlined, yet there is no event.  Huh?  If you do have an event, it shows in the detail pane at the bottom of the calendar. 

top left: Agendus Month view (notice the 18th is bold and underlined but there are no events for the day), top right: PI month view

PI’s Month View is far more dynamic and colorful.  You can choose to show a mini-timeline within each date, or icons.  All appointments show at the bottom when that date is highlighted.  PI makes it very easy to see your schedule.

Point: PI

Today View: Agendus has a special view not found on PI.  It shows a summary of appointments, tasks, recent messages, Quote of the Day, Weather, and Day in History.  I really like this view.  The closest PI has is Agenda View.

top: Agendus Today view as you scroll down from left to right

Point: Agendus

Tasks

top left: Agendus tasks, top right: PI tasks

PI allows you to make a new task from any screen, but if you choose a New Task when in a contact screen, then the contact is linked to the task, as you’d expect.  As you know, when you choose a category for the task it includes icons and colors.  You can make tasks timeless, or with a beginning and end date.  You can also include notes, priorities and make it recurring.  The Task View is simple to read and again, includes icons and colors.

Agendus’ Task View is pleasant to look at, though it doesn’t include. icons.  I personally like icons, but Outlook doesn’t use them, so they have limited value.  I suppose they are nice for the Blackberry because a limited amount of information appears on the screen and icons, like pictures, represent many words. 

It is now time for a major difference between the two programs.  PI allows you to make a New Task while a contact is open.  Agendus doesn’t.  You must go to Tasks View to do so.  I believe this is an inconvenience.  I would like to do many functions while a contact is open, and have it automatically link to that contact.

Point: PI

Customization: Options and Settings

Here’s where PI excels.  Though PI has less views, each one is more customizable than those in Agendus.  I remember using PI for Windows Mobile and not understanding half the options, but with the Blackberry version it is much easier and useful.  I mentioned earlier, under Day View, that customization for PI really helped me.  While Agendus does allow you some customization, PI goes much further in every way.

Point: PI

Syncing

I don’t sync Over the Air (OTA), but from what I understand, Agendus allows this while PI does not.  This could be a major difference for many users.  I understand that PI is “working” on this issue.  I certainly would like that.

One other point.  I was just out of town on business and I wanted to see my notes about a certain customer.  Notes to me are very important.  I opened up PI and found that not all my notes synced.  I have not had this problem before and am hoping it is just an anomaly.  Agendus, however, did have my notes and the day was saved.  No matter how good a program is, if I can’t have access to my notes then it’s worthless.

Point: Agendus

Databases

I mentioned earlier that Agendus uses the built-in databases to sync contacts, appointments, tasks, etc, while PI has it’s own database.  Since PI uses it’s own database it cannot sync OTA, but it does allow more information to transfer between Outlook and the Blackberry.

According to a moderator in the PI forums, the reasons that PI uses it’s own database are described as:

“There are several reasons for this.
First of all, we need some additional fields for storing data which BB PIM is not supporting (like categories in events if I’m not mistaken and task start date on some OS versions).
The second reason is performance. Directly accessing BB PIM records is extremely slow. So we should either build index of BB PIM data (like our competitors do) or make our own copy of BB PIM data (like we do). From performance point of view there is almost no difference: when we sync BB PIM data it takes 90% time to build the index and only 10% time to do the sync.
Overall we think our approach is more flexible.”

There is a Contacts application built-in to the Blackberry.  I expected Agendus to be here, but was surprised it wasn’t.  After all, it uses the built-in databases, right?  Both Agendus and PI have their own icons and you can only access the apps and their information by opening them.

Point: Tie (I’m clueless on this one.  I can’t tell the difference.  Both provide the information I need)

Price

Agendus For Blackberry $19.95

Pocket Informant for Blackberry $19.95

Point: Tie

Support

PI has a whole forum dedicated to support.  All my questions get answered in a reasonable time.  They also have email support.  Agendus has a forum and email support as well, though I have not used it much.

Point: Tie

Miscellaneous

The Agendus activation code is not accepted.  I entered the number and it tells me I am in Trial mode.  The program works fine, but every time I open it I have to tell it I am continuing my trial.  A bit annoying.

Phone Functions (SMS, MMS, Direct Connect, Calling, PIN, email)

top left: Agendus contact options, top right: PI contact options

Sometimes I forget that the BB is actually a phone.  Mine also has Direct Connect.  PI, when a contact is open, allows you to call, SMS or email.  Unfortunately, my BB doesn’t do SMS, it only does MMS.  According to PI, some functions are not accessible by programmers, MMS and Direct Connect being two of them.  Curiously, when a contact is open in Agendus, you can only call them.  If you are in Contacts View and your contact is highlighted (but not open), you can call, SMS or email, but there are no options for MMS, direct connect or PIN.  Hmmmm.  Methinks BB should allow programmers access to all the phone functions.

Point: PI

Conclusion

I like both programs.  I lean towards PI because it is prettier, has more options, requires less button presses, is easier to use and is more customizable.  But when I needed it most, it failed me.  On my last trip the notes didn’t sync.  Maybe that’s my fault, I don’t know, nor can I see how it is.  That is the only time this happened, otherwise, PI has been quite good.  I’ll sync it again and see if it copies my notes over.  If it doesn’t, then it will be expunged from my BB.

I believe, if you add the points up, that PI won.  But don’t look at it that way.  You must weigh the various features according to YOUR needs.  You may feel OTA is extremely important; if that’s the case, then you must get Agendus.  If you like icons, go with PI.  Both have great support and free trial periods, so try before you buy.  Use this only as a guide and make your own conclusions.  Read their forums and see what people are saying. 

PI for Windows is on version 8.  It’s far more refined and feature rich than PI for BB.  Agendus was the top Palm Contact Manager, but is relatively new, as well, to BB.  So both programs have a way to go before they’re mature.  But both improve the user experience and I suggest you go with one or the other, rather than the native contact applications.  As for me, I haven’t made up my mind yet which I like best.  I think I’ll keep them both and see, over time, which grows on me.  I expect both programs to continually update and improve their offerings.

In my perfect little dream world, I’d like to be able to open a contact and perform any function the phone and contact managers are capable of and have those functions be logged to that contact and synced to Outlook.  So what I mean is, if I send a text to a contact, I’d like a record of it in the contact.  Same with emails, PINs, meetings, notes etc.  So if a customer tells me I never called back, texted, or contacted them, I need only look in my log on my phone or Outlook to find the record.  But I’m a dreamer, aren’t I?

In January of 2008 I had the pleasure to review the Xpad for Laptop, a nonslip laptop cooler and heatshield, and I have used it ever since.  As you know, laptops get mighty hot – up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit -  and uncomfortable sitting on your lap.  The Xpad for Laptop, as I said in my previous review, works like this: “The legs of the “X” shape are raised slightly above the base of the unit, allowing airflow and cooling.  Inside is a strong platform with insulative air pockets, and EVA insulation material at the bottom provides a third layer of insulation and acts as the non-skid surface.” 

There are no mechanical parts.  The design itself provides the cooling using passive technology.  No assembly required.  Just take it out of the box, put it on your lap or a desk, put your laptop over it and you are ready to roll.  It’s light and strong, and provides a great base for computing.  So does the new, slimmer version, improve upon the old design?

The first difference I noticed about the Xpad Slim is the size.  The original weighed 1 lb, and had dimensions 13″ x 10.5″ x .66″.  The new, slimmer model, weighs less than a pound and has dimensions 14.5″ x 10.5″ x .5″.  Both fit well under my 15″ laptop (see pictures below):

Top left: new, slim design – Top right: original design

Top left: Xpad Slim – Top right: original

Top left: Xpad slim – Top right: original

Top: original is less wide than the new Xpad slim

Both universal designs accommodate laptops up to 17″, but the new, wider design allows the user to spread their legs and be more comfortable.

The four legs of the “X” are now designed differently as well.  Take a close look:

The original model’s corners were solid, but these are vented, which allows air to diffuse through them, thus providing enhanced cooling.  Yet they are made with non-slip rubber and hold the laptop well.

I found the Xpad Slim to be excellent, and slightly better than the original, which I have loved.  It is thinner, lighter, and dissipates heat just as well, if not better, than the original.  As for durability, after thrashing the original for a year and a half, and letting my kids beat on it (and my poor laptop), the Xpad has held up extremely well.  I have no doubt both it and the new Slim will last a long time.  They don’t use any electricity such as USB powered laptop pads with fans, they have no moving parts and are light, strong and unobtrusive.  I highly recommend this product.  And you can buy them for less than the original.  They now cost five dollars less, $24.95 at the Xpad4Laptop site.

In my previous review I said the following:

Pros

light and thin

portable

effective heat blocking

easy to use

doesn’t take up USB ports

quiet (no fans)

Cons

I would like to see a thinner design

Even though this is a very effective solution, it could be even better

The price, though reasonable, may be higher than some competitors

Well, it looks as though they addressed the minor issues I had.  It is thinner, better and less expensive.  What else can you ask for?

I’ve had a Windows Mobile device since 2000.  But recently my work gave me a Blackberry 8350i to replace my aging Nextel phone.  I had the opportunity to reduce my load from two devices to one.  I had to make a lot of changes in order to accomplish my goals of continuing to carry my important business information and integrating the Blackberry into my business routine.  One big switch I made was moving from Act! Contact Manager to Outlook.  I suppose I could’ve kept Act! if I used the excellent CompanionLink software to sync my device, but I want a more direct solution.

Outlook excels at email, but is not a great contact manager.  Act! is a great contact manager but does not excel at email.  Hmmmm.  If I downloaded the Business Contact Manager for Outlook add-on, I’d have to use CompanionLink, so I felt stuck.  That is, until I demo’d Agendus for Outlook.

I really enjoyed my Windows Mobile device, but I got sick of seeing this:

My WinMo device would sync, then the error dialog would pop up every time.  Combine that with the fact that I want to concentrate more on using my device and less on tweaking it so that it operates like more modern devices, as I stated in my previous article, I Want a New Drug.  Plus, I grew bored with my WinMo device.  Using five year old hardware and software, such as that on my HP 4705, became dull.  Even though Microsoft is readying WinMo 6.5, I say, “so what?”  It won’t change my user experience in a meaningful way as I wrote in 18 Months is a Lifetime.

So I am now a Blackberry user, just like the President.  And really enjoying this new experience.  Especially since I found a nice solution to my contact manager problem.  If you use software on your mobile device such as Agendus, Pocket Informant, Fun Contact, or Resco Contact Manager, you know that the native contact database does not link the various other functions such as calendar, tasks and email to a contact.  These contact managers give you a means to link all contact activity directly from that contact.  So rather than open up the calendar to make an appointment, you can do it from the contact itself.  That is also how Act! for the desktop works.  But Outlook does not have the same functionality.  Let’s take a closer look where Outlook falls short.

When you open a contact and make a New Meeting, it expects you to email the attendees.  I rarely do that.  I just want to make the appointment so it appears on my calendar and there’s a record in the contact screen.

If I am in a contact screen and add a task that involves that contact, I press Assign Task.  But again, it attempts to email that contact.  What if I want to quote the contact on a product we sell?  Why do I want to email the contact?

Agendus adds many features to Outlook, such as many different views of the PIM categories, an Outlook 2007 ribbon style tool bar, greater accessibility to data, a today screen that shows your daily agenda, contact mapping, and easy mobile device syncing among other features.

Agendus v5.41 installs itself onto Outlook and is seamless.  You can still do all your traditional Outlook functions, but you have an extra toolbar to control Agendus.

Above you can see the today screen, and the Agendus toolbar that is oriented horizontally just above it.  The today screen gives you weather, a quote of the day and your daily agenda.

From the Agendus toolbar you press New, and a dialog box opens with many options:

To make a new meeting with a contact, you find the contact, but curiously, you do not open the contact. 

You simply choose the contact, as below:

From there you choose New Meeting.  Doing this in Outlook would open an email dialog box.  Agendus, opens a similar dialog box, but includes an Agendus tab.  That tab allows you to invite Attendees:

You now have the same functionality on your desktop that you had with your handheld device after adding 3rd party software such as Agendus or Pocket Informant.  Here’s how Outlook does the same thing:

As you can see, Outlook forces you to email attendees.  Using Agendus, you can still email attendees if you like. 

Have a meeting with a contact and don’t know how to get there?  Just map your contact:

Mapping a contact opens up MapQuest and finds your contact’s location for you. 

Here are some additional screenshots:

Calendar

Tasks

Contact notes in side pane

Group contacts in many ways, including custom grouping

The Bottom Line

Agendus retains all the functionality of Outlook, but adds many more features that turn Outlook from a department store where all PIM functions are in separate departments, into a one stop shop.  It makes it far more usable.  It has a nice interface that keeps the feel of Outlook.  It operates seamlessly within Outlook and makes it more intuitive.  In other words, it makes Outlook behave the way I WANT it to behave.  It syncs nicely with my Blackberry and with many other mobile devices.  If your device syncs with Outlook you will not have any issues syncing with Agendus, nor will you need 3rd party software to do so.  Additionally, Agendus offers their software for the leading handheld devices.

I do feel there is a need for improvement in a few areas.  I find it odd that you cannot open up a contact screen to schedule tasks, appointments and emails.  You must select the contact but cannot open it.  Further, Agendus gives you the ability to add icons, but I couldn’t find a way to add icons to the categories, so that any contact in a given category would have a matching icon.  Though I could add icons to tasks and appointments.  Although I don’t mind all the Outlook toolbars and buttons to display, it would be nice if Agendus took over all the functions and put Outlook completely behind the scenes.  I would also like to see allow me to pull up all contacts in ONE category, as Act! does, instead of merely grouping by category.  I would also like the ability to compose a letter to a customer through Agendus.  Act! allows me to do that.  It opens up a Word document complete with my letterhead and the customer’s address.  Neither Outlook nor Agendus offers such basic functionality. 

Agendus for Outlook is available for $39.95.  I highly recommend it.  They also have versions for many handheld devices.

Why pay money for ringtones when you can make them yourself easily?  My guide will take you through the very easy steps.  You’ll have your own ringtones in minutes!  I’ve only tried this on the Blackberry Curve, but I bet you can use it for many types of phones.

Open up the free Audacity software.

Then pick out an mp3 that you will convert to a ringtone.

Start playing the song and familiarize yourself with a 15 second section that appeals to you as a ringtone.  Then click on the bottom section with your mouse at the point you want the section to begin.

In the screenshot above, the mouse cursor will look like a hand when you choose the beginning of the section.  Click and drag on the section to extend it to 15 seconds.

Below you can see the 15 second section is in gray, starting at the 11 second mark.

When you choose a section to play, the text at the very bottom of the screen tells you the length in time.  When you press play, Audacity will only play that section.  Once you decide that your 15 second section is as you want it, you are ready to cut that section out.

Simply go to the Edit menu and choose cut.  Then press File, New.  A second instance of Audacity will open.  Choose Edit, Paste, and your 15 second section is pasted.

Next, you will edit the music so it plays well on your phone but doesn’t take up too much memory.  Choose, Edit, Preferences.

In the Quality Tab, make sure your Default Sample Rate is no higher than 32000 Hz, and the Sample Format Rate is no higher than 16 Bit.  Under File Format Tab, at the bottom, make the mp3 Export Bit Rate about 64.  Press ok to save your changes.  Then choose File, Export Selection As mp3.  Make sure you have the Lame DLL already downloaded.  If not, it’s free and allows Audacity to export mp3 files.

Your mp3 is now saved.  Next, you will email it as an attachment to yourself.  On your phone, Open your attachment, then choose Download and Play.  It may take a minute or more for this step, depending on your phone provider speed.  Next, click Open Attachment.  Then it will begin to play.  Press the Blackberry button and choose Save as Ringtone.  That’s it!

This was sent to me by my wife.  I want to give proper credit to the creators, and I think it originally came from Yahoo!  If I’m incorrect please let me know.  Anyway, enjoy this awesomely fun list!

16. “Eat my shorts!”
Who says it: Bart Simpson, “The Simpsons“
Why we love it: It’s to the point, insulting, and irreverent, just like the show at its best.

15. “Book ‘em, Danno.”
Who says it: Jack Lord, “Hawaii, Five-O“
Why we love it: The best procedurals produce great catchphrases (“Hill Street Blues‘” “Let’s be careful out there,” for example), and this weekly signature has entered the American lexicon. The case was never closed until you heard those famous words — it was the “Law & Order” banging gavel of its day.

14. “How rude!”
Who says it: Stephanie Tanner, “Full House“
Why we love it: This one is all about the delivery. Taken on its own, it’s little more than just another middle child whining. But with Stephanie’s pursed lips, raised eyebrows and “harumph” attitude, it becomes instantly memorable.

13. “Make it work!”
Who says it: Tim Gunn, “Project Runway“
Why we love it: Because Tim Gunn is the man, that’s why. Carry on.

12. “Son of a b—h!”
Who says it: Sawyer, “Lost“
Why we love it: It’s tough to own a phrase this common, but nobody says it quite like the surly one, Hoss.

11. “That’s what she said.”
Who says it: Michael Scott, “The Office“
Why we love it: Sure, the writers of “The Office” didn’t invent this versatile zinger, but we can thank them for making it OK to use it in our own office. You know, because we’re 13-year-olds at heart, just like Michael.

10. “Jane, you ignorant sl–…”
Who says it: Dan Aykroyd, “Saturday Night Live“
Why we love it: Aykroyd brilliantly lampooned right-wing rhetoric 30 years before Stephen Colbert with this sexist jab.

9. “Legen- — wait for it — -dary”
Who says it: Barney Stinson, “How I Met Your Mother“
Why we love it: We just can’t get enough of Barney’s awesomeness. His blustery bravado hits at a universal truth: You either know a Barney or are a Barney. Check yo’ self, people.

8. “…for me to poop on!”
Who says it: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien“
Why we love it: Robert Smigel’s off-color, cigar-smoking talking dog was just weird enough to work. Just when he got people to start talking to a puppet, he’d lay this gem on them — prompting hilarious shock value.

7. “Oh my God! They killed Kenny!”
Who says it: Kyle and Stan, among others, “South Park“
Why we love it: In a show that satirizes our culture’s love affair with extreme violence, this catchphrase punctuates one of the show’s funniest recurring jokes: They mercilessly off Kenny in nearly every episode for the first five seasons.

6. “Let’s hug it out, b—h.”
Who says it: Ari Gold, “Entourage“
Why we love it: In the venal shark tank that is Hollywood, it’s as close to touchy-feely as these macho men have gotten.

5. “Holy _____, Batman!”
Who says it: Robin, “Batman“
Why we love it: The Boy Wonder’s aw-shucks exclamation dovetailed nicely with the show’s campy tone. Plus: It helps us write headlines.

4.”What’choo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
Who says it: Arnold Jackson, “Diff’rent Strokes“
Why we love it: This giggle-inducing question underscored the white man-adopts-black-boys show’s inherent message about learning to accept differences.

3. “Yada, yada, yada”
Who says it: Multiple cast members, “Seinfeld“
Why we love it: Because we all use it, but “Seinfeld” deconstructed it. “How can you ‘yada-yada’ the best part of the evening?” Jerry asks, when Elaine is less than forthcoming with a date’s juicy details. “I mentioned the bisque,” she answers tartly.

2. “Dyn-o-mite!”
Who says it: J.J. Evans, “Good Times“
Why we love it: We know it’s only technically one word, but its delivery was often accompanied by J.J.’s hilarious rhyming couplets about his prowess with the lay-deez.

1. “How you doin’?”
Who says it: Joey Tribbiani, “Friends“
Why we love it: Matt Leblanc’s dirty-dirty reading of the simple line gave it life, while forging a new comic frontier for the played-out playa character. Plus, it works! Try it.

Last night I was trying to figure out what was taking up so much memory in my pocket pc and my laptop hard-drive.  I used Windows Explorer and searched through all the files and folders for the culprits.  But it was very tedious because folders don’t show their size in the Windows Explorer columns.  Check out the screen shot below:

Find my solution after the break.

My work laptop has Windows XP, and through my search I found the free utility called Folder Size.  It is simple to use.  Just download and install, then open Windows Explorer in details view.  Then right click above a column, choose More, and choose Folder Size.

Then right click above any column and uncheck Size.  Then go to Tools, Folder Options, View Tab, and click on Make this the default option for all folders.  Then all your explorer windows will open up this way.

Now confirm your choice:

Now you have the folder sizes:

If you have Windows Vista you are out of luck.  At least with this software.  Though Vista allows you to hover your mouse over each folder to find the folder size, that is an inelegant solution.    But you do have another, free, excellent option called ExplorerXP.

It basically replaces Windows Explorer and does an excellent job.  It features:

Drag & Drop with Explorer, the tab bar and special folders on the main toolbar.

Multy rename tool – allows to rename multiple files in one step.

Displays folder size information and the real size of compressed files & folders.

Folder Size Cache – greatly improves the speed of the folder size calculations between sessions.

Merge   /   Split   /  Tools. 

Advanced copy/move.  

Unicode support.

USB devices support.

Clean – recursively removes files that match given list of extentions or wildcards. 

Groups – A group is a collection of folders, which users are able to access quickly or drag & drop files to them.  

Configurable keyboard shortcuts.  

Small download size – only 410 KB.

I installed this on my home Vista computer and enjoyed it’s utility and ease of use.  I’m even considering replacing Windows Explorer on my XP machine.

So next time you want to take a close look at your files and folders, use one of these two free utilities to help you finish your task quickly and efficiently.  If you have any other ideas, please share with the class.

Who’s not getting tired of the reality show rut?  Every season it’s the same old same old.  The season starts out with a bunch of cocky contestants saying they’re going to win.  Every week one gets eliminated.  It was fun for a while, but it has become stale.  Below I propose some changes to some of the most popular reality TV shows.  Let me know what you think.

1. American Idol.  Now in it’s eighth season, AI consistently ranks as the top reality show.  But even they recognize the need to freshen up the show, and have added a new judge and a new rule, called the Save.  The judges can now save one contestant from elimination.  That’s a good start, but let’s go a step further.   I propose that we stop the vote.  After all, anytime I call the line is busy anyway, not to mention that it has become a popularity contest.  Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry were eliminated too early, just to name two.  So forget voting.  Let’s have the contestants nominate the bottom two contestants, then the judges can decide.  That’s right, just like they do in Hell’s Kitchen, contestants will judge each other.  This way we’ll see their true colors.  And I promise that all those kids that come off as so nice and wholesome, will show an edge and add some real excitement to each elimination.

2. Hell’s Kitchen.  This show has to be staged.  Who would subject themselves to such abuse?  Why would anyone (hello Gordon Ramsay) act like such an ass on national TV?  I say we give Mr. Ramsay a taste of his own medicine.  Let’s make him go on the losing team each week and see how he does.  We should also ban swearing.  Anyone caught swearing will be subject to elimination.  That should quiet the old boy some.  Then let’s see if he gets eliminated if that team loses the next week.  As for judging, let’s get the three judges from the Food Network’s Chopping Block to judge.  They are real chefs, and decent people.

3. Rock of Love.  Come on, Bret, you already picked two Rocks of Love, and ended up with neither.  Is this skank-a-thon ever gonna end with you settling down?  Didn’t think so.  Hence our new rule changes.  The first show will now start with 30 women.  Viewers will see them on TV, get to know them, then vote to keep the top 10.  The first show thus ends with twenty eliminations.  Every week a skank will be voted off by viewers, not Bret.  That’s because he failed so miserably with his first two and needs help.  At the conclusion of the show, he will have to marry the remaining skank.  Yes.  MARRY!  And he can’t sing “Every Rose Has its Thorn” anymore.  Please!

4. The Celebrity Apprentice.  Firstly, even if we pretend that there’s any reality to this show, what’s with the nepotism?  Donny, get rid of the kids.  No twenty something kid should judge anyone, no matter how much you donated for their education.  If you have to keep the children on the show, put one on each team and subject them to elimination if they’re on the losing side.  Let’s see what they’re really made of.  Now that that’s settled, we have to eliminate the contestants’ ability to call their friends for donations.  If they’re going to sell cupcakes, then sell them to regular people.  There’s no such thing as a $5000 cupcake!  If the cupcakes are good and the marketing plan is well thought out, then your team will outsell the other team.  Is this a contest of who has the richest friends or a contest to ferret out the best business people?

5. America’s Next Top Model.  If I have to hear the phrase, “Tyra Mail” again, I will barf.  Ditto “fierce”.  Your fierce!  That’s fierce!  You’re not fierce enough!  OVERUSED!  You would think a top model contender would be attractive, but anorexic giraffe-sized waifs do nothing for me.  The only saving grace to this show is the cat fighting.  So why not extend it?  Instead of Tyra eliminating the contestants, let’s have the contestants nominate the bottom two, then every week they can have a fashion magazine editor make the final decision. 

6. Flavor of Love.  Nobody likes a skankfest more than me.  But no self respecting skank would date a 50 something year old washed up rapper that wears a clock around his neck that is bigger than him.  I just don’t buy it.  But I do like skanks, so I’m ready for Flavor of Love 4, but with some changes.  Let’s get rid of Flavor Flav and put someone cool and current in.  Maybe Kanye West, or Justin Timberlake.  Then we move the show to HBO so there’s no censorship.  The bottom four will face elimination and have to go mud wrestling.  The top two mud wrestlers will be safe.  The bottom two move on to the wet T-shirt contest.  Sadly, the loser will go home and not get a clock.

7. Top Chef.  Love it.  But answer this:  How did Padma Lakshmi become the end all be all of judging food?  Isn’t she a model?  She replaced Katie Lee Joel, who actually is a chef, after season one, and it was thought that they wanted a more lively, less monotonic sounding host.  Ok, she wrote a cookbook.  But is she really a chef?  I say we keep her as host and drop her from judging.  When she has her judging hat on, she makes me think she’s Dominatrix Padma, so stern, and serious is she.  I fear her like I feared my mommy when she came home to find my bedroom untidy.  Speaking of judging, let’s make a switch and have Gordon Ramsay judge this show, and Tom Colichio judge Hell’s Kitchen.  And finally, can we have the contestants stop using fancy terms and just say what they are making so we can understand?  And while we’re at it, let’s de-snub a bit more.  Make the contestants cook the kind of real food you and I have at home.  Let them come in my pantry and make something out of peanut butter, white bread, macaroni and cheese, and oodles of noodles.  And one more thing, they must cook food that is actually good for you, not buttery, fatty, high cholesterol-laden decadent foods that none of us can afford.

I was going to do a more comprehensive list, but got intimidated when I saw the Outrageously long list of reality shows.  There are hundreds.  Check out the list and you’ll see.   You thought game shows were taking over TV in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but this is an epidemic.  It has infected every channel.  The Golf Channel has a reality show.  How about a Bowling reality show, staring Simon Cowell?  Tennis with John McEnroe?  We have cooking covered.  Nannies, check.  I even saw a reality show for makeup artists.  Wait, I have a novel idea.  How about a Scott Baio reality show?  What?  It’s been done?  Twice!  I’m having a reality show at home.  Each week I will eliminate one person from my family.  Whoever annoys me most, be it step-mom, cousin, sister-in-law or wife, will be eliminated.  Something tells me I’ll end up all alone.  That just leaves more time for REALITY TV!