Customizing Samsung Message Tones (mmf files)

Samsung handphones can be a bit harder to customize in terms of ringtones, as they use the SMAF format. The files use the extension .mmf. For the Samsung Ultra Edition 8.4 I'm using (and I suspect others as well), the voice call ringtones can be customized using your favourite mp3 files, but the message ringtones only accept mmf files. I'm not sure why this is so, but it started me on my search for an mp3 to mmf converter.

I found a free converter, called SUPER, which you can download from their site here. Their website leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but that won't stop me from having my phone play the most annoying tone whenever I get a text message. Anyway, grab the file, and run it. It will ask you all the standard installation questions including making you agree with some lengthy pieces of text that only 3 people have ever read. Ever!

Once you're done, you run the application and you get this:

Pretty. Pretty confusing, that is. If you know about audio and video conversion, you'll immediately realize that there's a lot of things you can do. SUPER is utilizes a lot of good, free codecs to allow all sorts of conversions. So you're not just limited to converting mp3 to mmf. But that's exactly what I'm going to talk about here, and nothing else. :)

So, the first thing to do is to select the 'mmf (SMAF audio only)' option from the dropdown list in the top left hand corner. You'll see the application change slightly to suit the options available for the option you selected. You're now free to drag any audio files you want to convert and drop them into the application. If you do not wish to drag and drop, you can right click in the application screen and choose the 'Add multimedia file(s)' option. This will allow you to browse for the file to convert.

For instance, open another Windows Explorer window and look for the mp3 you wish to convert. Drag the mp3 over to the SUPER application and drop it there. Your file will be listed in the application. Now, before you proceed, right-click and choose the 'Output File Saving Management' option. This allows you to browse for an output folder. The folder you select here will be the location where the converted mmf file will be deposited. I tried this on default, thinking that it would save the file to Desktop by default, but I didn't see anything at all. Or maybe I'm just stupid. Just set this output location if you have the same problem as me.

Once you're ready, you need to tick the checkbox next to the audio file you dropped into the application, and hit the 'Encode (Active Files)' button. A small, green bar appears to indicate the conversion process. Once it is done, go to the output folder you selected and you should see a mmf file. If your original file is called happy_tune.mp3, the converted file will just have mmf append to the end, making it happy_tune.mp3.MMF. You can rename it if you want but keep the mmf extension. One thing to note, although I mentioned converting from mp3 files, you can actually use any other audio file. Wav files recorded from from your PC are also acceptable.

Now move the mmf file to the Ringtones folder on your phone. I'm not sure how you would do this, but for me it involved using the supplied USB cable and the Samsung PC Studio software.

Finally, to set your shiny new ringtone as a message tone alert, go to your profile settings, and choose 'Special Tone' for message alert. Your mmf should show up in a list as a selectable mmf audio file. Now you can record the symphonic sounds of your neighbours quarelling and use that as your annoying message tone! Ahh... let the cacophony begin.

Free Antivirus

When you're using Windows, a good piece of antivirus software can be crucial for keeping your computer safe from computer virii, trojans, worms, and what-have-yous. If you're currently looking for one and are not really sure which one you should try, then you should surf on over to AV comparatives. They test and compare only antivirus software which meet a minimum requirement that they set, and their report is updated every few months.

At the moment, Avira Antivir seems to be best suited for my personal needs. My own criteria for antivirus are that it must be competent at what it does (obviously), lightweight in terms of resource usage, unobstrusive in on-access scanning, and must be free for personal use.

Previously, I had installed Avast! 4 Home Edition and have been using that for quite a few months. This was because Avast was also highly rated among free antivirus in some reviews last year. The reason I wanted to switch now was because someone unwittingly let a trojan loose in my system, and Avast did not detect it at all.

For a few days, I noticed some slow performance on my PC. This could be due to the trojan's activities. I suspect also that files were being generated regularly by the trojan and Avast's on access scanning constant scanning wasn't helping. I had noticed beforehand that Avast was getting a bit bloated and it's scanning was getting slower. When the trojan started opening dialog boxes and web advertisements, that was just the final straw.

I installed Avira, and it reduced the slow-downs I was experiencing on my PC. But even Avira could not detect the already entrenched trojan. It would constantly warn me about trojan files being created on my PC, but it could not clean the trojan itself. But this was better than Avast, which couldn't detect anything at all. And I'll admit it's not fair of me to expect Avira to solve all my woes, when the trojan already had time to settle into my system and make a cozy nest.

This meant I had to get my hands dirty. Looking at the files Avira detected, and doing searches on my file system, I came upon a group of suspicious files in my Windows\System32 folder. I couldn't delete them all in Windows itself, and the ones I could delete would just be re-created. No worries, all I need to do is reboot into my Ubuntu installation, go to the same folder, and expunge those evil files. My system has since returned to normal. Maybe I should just stick to using linux. :)

For those of you making a choice and are considering either of these antivirus software, read on for my impressions of both.

alwil software's avast! Home Edition - Easy install and updates. 60 days after installation, your demo license to use Avast will expire and you need to get a new key from them. The new licence you get will expire yearly, so you need to renew it yearly. Getting demo keys and renewal keys involves going to their website and filling in your information. The key will be mailed to you to. Fairly painless. Avast also periodically checks for virus pattern updates and will automatically download and update itself. This is all very convenient and suitable for the average user. Avast has a concept of on-access 'shields' which you can turn on or off. Each 'shield' will scan for different items or protocols, for instance the Network Shield, filters network traffic. This makes it easy to configure it to your liking, especially if you have other overlapping software installed like ZoneAlarm or COMODO.

My gripes about Avast are that it is starting to bloat and the scanning is not as fast As I would like. This goes against my basic criteria for antivirus software not to be unobstrusive. Also, according to AV comparatives, Avast just is not able to detect as many threats as Avira. Although as antivirus software goes, this is still pretty good. It's user interface is also easy to use, it looks like a media player, and its skinnable.

Avira Antivir - This is also easy to install and there is no need to download a demo key. The licence key will expire, and you will be required to download the new key (which is just a file) from their website every few months. Everyone downloads the same key which has the same expiry date. For instance the current key available on their site expires in November 2007. To update your key, simply download and save the file to your installation directory, overwriting the old one. Fairly simple as well as long as you know where to save the downloaded file. Avira is also small and fast. I've been happy with it's performance so far. It's detection rate is also higher, which I can attest to from my personal experience.

My main complaint with Avira is that the automatic update does not work for me. It always fails to update after downloading files, and every once in a while, I need to download the update file from their website and do a 'Manual Update' from the program's menu. During update, it will also pop up a big ol' window to encourage you to upgrade to their paid version. Avira's interface is not as beautiful or user friendly as avast's but it is functional. Disk scanning, etc can be done easily enough once you get used to their interface. Some of the error messages can be quite cryptic, though, as they are probably translated into English. I initially had some trouble understanding the error message telling me I couldn't do a manual update because my licence was expired, and I had to read it a couple of times before I thought to check my licence information.

In conclusion, both are more than capable of fulfilling their function, maybe even better than some paid antivirus software. For now, my personal choice is Avira Antivir although keeping it updated constantly is a pain.

duCklinG's Top 7 Most Useful Free Software

This is a countdown list of free alternative software that I currently have installed. Not everyone realizes that these alternative programs are available to make their computing life easier. But if you are aware, maybe you'd like to compare your list of "must-have" software against mine. I'd also like to hear what other people are using.

7. The GIMP (Linux, Windows) - This is number 7 because I don't really use it a lot. The GIMP is a full-fledged image editor. I don't regularly have reason to manipulate images, but when I need to, the GIMP offers features similar to high end and expensive software like Adobe's Photoshop (R). The only thing is that the menus are not that easy to use.

6. VLC Media Player (Linux, Windows) - If you watch your movies on your PC, or need to play many different formats of media, it can be quite frustrating to have to switch between programs to play different things. VLC Media Player can play many different formats including Ogg, and it can play them well. It also supports streaming and skins.

5. TuxPaint (Linux, Windows) - Another paint program! This is much better than Windows Paint. It's easy to use and it's fun. I found this while trying to find kids programs for my son. The kid-friendly interface has got him painting and doing silly things without me ever having to coach him. If you install this, remember to install the stamp package as well. Some stamps also have sounds associated with them, which amused my son to no end. There is also a handy and well thought out configuration program as well. When I first set my son loose on this, he would click the exit button and then ask me to turn it on again. Using the configuration program, I removed the exit button until he got used to using a mouse. Now he can turn it on and off on his own. This one is really a gem in my book.


4. IrfanView (Windows) - IrfanView is an image viewer and converter that's fast and easy to use. I also prefer using IrfanView when I am resizing or reducing the colors on a picture, as I just get better quality with it. You don't even need Photoshop(R) or Gimp if all you need is to convert image formats, or do some cropping and resizing. There is also a batch conversion feature which I find very useful, and a slideshow feature. Very handy program.

3. CutePDF (Windows) - This will enable you to convert documents to PDF format. You don't need this if you are using OpenOffice. For the rest, CutePDF will install itself as a printer on your machine. Any document that you can print, e.g. MS Word, can then be "printed" into a PDF file. To do that, print your document and just select the CutePDF Printer in the print dialog box. Once you confirm the print job, CutePDF will ask you to provide a location and filename to save the PDF file to. CutePDF is also free for commercial use so I actually use this at work as well. :)



2. Foxit Reader (Linux, Windows) - Adobe's Acrobat Reader is what most people will be using to read PDF files, but I find that software to be bloated and slow. I use Foxit Reader instead. It is small, fast, and has good compatibility. It takes a lot less time to open any given PDF document, and I've yet to come across a PDF document it cannot open. If there are features it does not support, it will offer to download the plugin to enable it. I find this to be less invasive than the Acrobat Reader which comes with features I may never need.

1. Launchy (Windows) - Do you have a lot of programs installed in your Windows? So much so that it is getting harder to launch programs? If so, then Launchy is for you. Launchy is keyboard-based. Once you hit Alt+Space (configurable), launchy will appear and you can type in the first few characters of the program you want to run. Then just press enter when you see the right program. Launchy does this by indexing the links in your start menu. You can also configure it to index other directories and other file types. For instance, I like to keep programs which do not require installation in a separate folder. I get Launchy to index this and I can launch them in the same manner as well. To top it all off, Launchy is very configurable and skinnable too. This is number 1 for me.


Well, that's my list. Leave me a comment if you also have little programs which you find very useful, I'd like to try them too.

Noisy CPU Fans!

My wife has been complaining about my noisy PC for some weeks now. And I've also noticed it was getting pretty noisy. So, yesterday, I opened up my PC's case to investigate. As it turned out, it wasn't the power supply fan, but the CPU fan making almost all the noise.

So I took it out and cleaned off all the dust that accumulated on it. I also wiped off the dirt from the heatsink. I almost couldn't believe the amount of dust that had gathered. A few months ago, I took out my PC's floppy drive and a few PCI slot covers from the back, meaning my PC had holes in it. This must have allowed more ways for dust to get in?

Anyway, after cleaning, the PC was a lot quieter. So if you have similar woes, maybe your PC just needs a good clean. You'd be surprised at how regular maintenance like this can really help.

I've since left my PC case open because I want to consider some changes in the case. The power supply housing is right on top of the cpu fan. And the whole case itself can get pretty warm. I'm thinking of moving the power supply to the bottom of the case and maybe putting in a case fan or HDD fan.

I'll update this blog with pictures if it turns into a mini-project for me.