July 29, 2004

Curious George: Custom Cell Ringers I have a PowerBook G4 and a Siemens S56 phone through Cingular. Any recommendations?
  • I have Googled and found a few sites, but few for Mac and none that aren't confusing as hell. Free is a necessary condition. Thanks!
  • Sorry, but as an old timie, old regular phone user, I don't understand the need for custom rings. Will you be anyplace where "brrr, brrr" will make you think that someone else's phone is ringing? You might miss a call? And, to tell the truth, one of the most annoying things about cell phones is the extended, not-really-melodic ring tone that goes on for what seems like 15 minutes. Simpler is better. Itll give you street cred.
  • Use Bluetooth! This is how I do it with my iBook and Sony-Ericsson T610; I assume that the Siemens also supports this feature. 1. Pair your phone and computer. (The Devices tab of the Bluetooth preference pane. You are using OS X, I hope.) 2. In the Finder, navigate to Applications/Utilities and drag Bluetooth File Exchange to the Dock. 3. Find some MIDI files; I got one from here. Google is your friend for finding some free MIDI files to use as ringtones. 4. Download the MIDI file you want, then drag it onto the Bluetooth File Exchange icon in the Dock. Select your phone, and transfer the file. 5. Select the new MIDI file as a ringtone; you're on your own there.
  • Yeah: vibrate mode. Otherwise known as the only not annoying option. Sorry I'm on a "crusade" as our president would say.