Cellphone cases don't have to be the standard black or brown leather affair. In fact, I want my case to reflect a personality, as well as provide protection. Also, I prefer using a "pouch" that I can carry in my handbag. I checked out my favorite website for all things handmade, Etsy.com and found some seriously cute cases.

Padded Gadget Cases> by DoriDesigns, $25.00.

This padded case is a terrific bag for your ipod, cell phone, Blackberry, digital camera, GPS or any other small gadget you may have. Measures about 4.75 x 6.5 inches. There are MANY designs.

Vinyl Handmade Cases at tenthstreet , $10.00.

Great pouch you can just hook on and go! Holds phones, ipods, money, wallets, makeup, coins, cards, and more! It's the perfect "going out" pouch. Measures 3.5x5 inches.

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Audacity is a free, open source software used for recording and editing music. It is available for download from Sourceforge and is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. One of the many things you can do with it is alter music that you already have on your computer so that they can be used as Ringtones.

Making the ringtones involve simply shortening the songs to about 30 seconds (30 kilobytes), saving it, and uploading it to your phone.

Download Audacity and LAME mp3 Encoder (necessary to save the file in the mp3 format).

Unzip and install Audacity.

Unzip the LAME encoder and make note of where you saved the folder (I put it in the Audacity folder under a "Lame" subfolder).

Open Audacity and choose File >> Open and select the song you want to use as a ringtone.

Edit the song by deleting sections of the mp3 you DON'T want. Do this by holding down the left mouse button and dragging to highlight the area you DON'T want. Hit delete on the keyboard.

Keep doing this until your clip is about 30 seconds long.

Go to File >> Export as mp3 to save your ringtone. ** Note you can also use the "Export as WAV" if your phone uses that file format.

The first time you do this you will be prompted for the location of lame_enc.dll which is in the LAME folder you saved earlier. Once you point to it, choose the folder where you want your ringtone saved (I have a "Phone" folder under "My Documents" where I save all ringtones, themes and phone program files). ... continue reading »

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Yesterday, for some odd reason, when I tried to connect my phone (ATT Tilt) to the wifi network at my boyfriend's house, it asked for the internet password. Bummer, because this is a 16 digit alpha-numeric code and I had no idea where (or if) I had written it down. I made a few lame attempts at trying to find it in a notebook somewhere, before I decided to check the
eWallet.

eWallet is one of the few mobile applications that I have purchased (it also comes with a desktop component that you can sync with your phone). It stores passwords or any other kind of information like website logins, credit card numbers and banking information. Buying eWallet was money well spent ($29.95) (it's available for Smartphones, PocketPCs, Windows Mobile, Blackberry & the iPhone).

Lucky for me, I had in fact saved my wireless access code to eWallet. A little cut and paste and all was right with the World once again.

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My mom's current phone is a hand me down Motorola Razr which actually finally bit the dust. She (my mom) is 50+ years old (no actual ages can be given here) and she started her own mortgage broking business about a year ago. She runs this by herself and she has run through a few cellphones but none of them Smartphones - which she could definitely use.

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If you're new to Windows Mobile Smartphones (and PocketPC's) then here are a few tweaks to get you started taking advantage of the many features that your phone has to offer.

1. Calendar. By default, only the next appointment from your calendar is displayed on the Windows Mobile Today Screen. To change the setting so that upcoming appointments are displayed:

• Click Start >> Settings >> Personal >> Today.
• Click on Items (at the bottom of the screen).
• Select Calendar.
• Click Options (on the right of the screen).
• Check Display upcoming entries instead of Next Appointment.
• Click OK and you're good to go.

Better yet, download TodayAgenda which has more options.

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Here are a few applications that will help Blackberry users who work on the web to step away from the computer more and still be able to keep up with their workload.

1. Google Mobile Apps. You'll have faster search and easy access to Maps, Gmail, News, and more from Google. Free.
2. e-Office provides support & editing capabilities for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and more, plus it comes with an unlimited, subscription free online storage where you can store Office files and access them on your BlackBerry. $29.95.
3. RDM+ allows remote access to your computer so you manage files and folders, edit documents and more. $19.99.
4. PaderSyncFTP for when you need to upload and download files. Free.
5. PocketMac allows you to easily sync your Blackberry to your Mac. Free. ... continue reading »
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