With DVD sales lagging, Paramount is testing out this new service, first with business clients and later with consumers, that allows you to search for a line of dialogue, scene, genre, location or actor and get the specific clip you want. That clip comes with a variable fee, depending on the value of the movie in question (so, The Godfather would be pretty expensive) as well as the length of the clip. It's really designed more for companies who want to use a quick clip in, say, an ad campaign—good, because it doesn't really make sense for the consumer. The service should launch Tuesday, and prices are as yet undisclosed. [New York Times]

Fighting has killed almost 20,000 Somalis since 2007, and though some semblance of order has been restored, the imposed Sharia law has banned even regular moderate muslims from dancing at weddings, or even playing and watching soccer. If you're having a bad day today, take a moment and remember just how good you actually do have it. [Reuters]

Interestingly, some ringtone services actually did pay performance royalties at one point. US District Court Judge Denise Cote ruled against the ASCAP, saying that "when a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and [the cellular carrier] is not liable either secondarily or directly."

I'm sure the music industry will find some other reason to sue somebody else next week, don't worry. [EFF via Ars]

As if Obama wasn't already the coolest guy this side of John Shaft, I love the way he reacts to the incredibly rude and thoughtless reporter's ridiculous ringtone. "Whose...whose duck is back there?" It's no mean feat to slap down that kind of interruption in the middle of a speech about tolerance and gay rights. [via Crunchgear]

This idea is fascinating, and I'd love to see it mature beyond the research stages, but Microsoft needs to be aware of something: it seems nearly impossible to write about this without sounding like you're penning erotic fiction. Take PCMag's sultry writeup:

In both tapping and rubbing, a voice coil, such as one found in a standard 3.5-inch hard disk drive, was used. To "rub," a long arm was mounted on the actuator, so that the arm would "swing" through a 30 degree angle or so. A nub was then mounted orthogonally to the arm, so the rubbing could be felt on the bottom of a user's palm as he rested it on the frame. Tapping was much simpler: all the users needed to do was to mount a "hammer" onto the head, so that its movement created a tapping sensation.

...

In a series of small tests, users were asked to experience a series of taps and rubs, and to determine which of a pair was strongest, and then which of a series was the hardest or fastest. The group was also asked to determine which taps or rubs felt the most natural.

The researchers determined that the softer taps felt more natural, while faster taps blurred into vibration. Interestingly, the "rubbing" technique that the researchers used couldn't actually generate enough pressure to feel natural.

Whoa, take it easy there, PCMag guy. This is just a research paper he's talking about — I don't even want to imagine what the first review of an actual product with this tech will sound like. [PCMag]

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1. Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rockstar"
2. Mims - "This Is Why I'm Hot"
3. Soulja Boy - "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
4. Nickelback - "Rockstar"
5. Akon - "Don't Matter"
6. T-Pain - "Buy You A Drank (Shawty Snappin)"
7. Hurricane Chris - "A Bay Bay"
8. Sean Kingston - "Beautiful Girls"
9. Huey - "Pop, Lock & Drop It"
10. Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry"

I can't wait until nobody gives a crap about these people anymore. Fergie, ten years from now on VH1 eating bon bons on her couch: "In 2007 I had the 10th best selling ringtone in AT&T, a lot of people forget that." [mobilemag]

1. Start a crappy band.
2. Meet twice a week to argue whether you are going for a sound reminiscent of the Beatles pre or post Sgt. Pepper.
3. Lose your lead singer who is starting a solo career.
4. Say "fuck vocals, it's all about jamming anyway."
5. Hire a random Hooters waitress for the part in a moment of weakness when you'd had too many to drink and wondered why you were starting a band at age 37.
6. Regret signing tone-deaf Hooters waitress.
7. Fire waitress.
8. Get hummer in back seat.
9. Realize that waitress isn't such a bad singer after all.
10. Record your song in Garageband.
11. Set up a cycle region that covers the area you wish to use in the GarageBand song.
12. Once the cycle area has been set, choose Share > Send Ringtone to iTunes.
13. Find out that the drummer's been "hitting that shit, too."
14. Refuse to pay for the baby—there's no proof it's yours.
15. It's totally yours.
16. Break up with band/waitress.
17. Move to Alaska.
18. Get a call from a special someone you hadn't thought about in some time...a ringer you hadn't heard in ages.
19. Decide to get the band, and relationship, back together.
20. Find out the drummer is "still hitting that shit."

[apple] Thanks Jerrod!

The one drawback to the device seems to be that it does not replace the ringer from your phone. In order to use the device you would have to turn the phone ringer off and use the volume control on the Ringboxx to control the sound. On the plus side, the unit can be plugged-in between your phone and the outlet or independently in any spare jack, making it fairly easy to use. Generally, the Ringboxx will run you $50, and each tone will tack on another dollar — but they are currently running a promotion that offers a unit plus 10 free tones to "ring in" the holidays for only $39.95. [Product Page via DVICE]

Why is iPhone locked and exclusive to AT&T?

Apple wanted a share of the carrier's profits, which meant giving AT&T an exclusive deal. Which meant, we get screwed so Apple can make more money. It's that simple.

Apple wants every app perfect. Which is nice, in theory. In practice, it means innovation only happens at Apple's pace. The marketplace of ideas is much smaller, and the devices are much poorer because of it.

Apple's "approval" just comes from Apple getting a cut. It's a measure of greed, not quality.

Apple did a deal that benefits record companies and Apple. Not artists, certainly not consumers.

Options that require Jailbreak
• SSH/File Transfer: All you have to do is drop an iPhone's iPod-compatible ringtone into the /Library/Ringtones directory, meaning you can use MP3s, AACs (protected and unprotected), or M4As. Anything that your iPhone's iPod supports will work.
• iBrickr (Windows): iBrickr actually transcodes your sound files for you, so if you're looking up old WAV sound pages from 1999, iBrickr can convert them into something that the iPhone understands before syncing. [iBrickr]
• iFuntastic (Mac): Same as the SSH/File Transfer option. Just drag them into the correct /Library/Ringtones folder. [iFuntastic]
• Sendsong: Allows you to pick any song from your iPod and move it into the Ringtones section. Install this with AppTapp.

Options that don't require Jailbreak
• iTunes Music Store: You can manually place AAC files into the correct iTunes Ringtones folder as long as it has the right file extension. Works with purchased iTunes songs or songs you've converted to AAC format. [JoeMaller]
• Rogue Ameoba's MakeiPhoneRingtone (Mac): This takes advantage of the iTunes 7.4 and iTunes 7.4.1 ringtone file compatibility workaround to get the Ringtones show up in iTunes. All you have to do is drop in an AAC file, which can be one of your songs purchased from iTunes. [MakeiPhoneRingtone]
• iToner (Mac): Copies ringtones to your iPhone, bypassing iTunes, should be guaranteed to work with future iPhone updates. Costs $15. [iToner]
• iPhoneRingToneMaker (Windows): Transfers ringtones to your iPhone, but lets you edit them beforehand in its editor so you can chop down long songs to a manageable clip. [efksoft]

We recommend you use one of the free methods, since they're actually quite easy to do. Even if you don't want to jailbreak your phone, the iTunes Music Store manual method and Rogue Amoeba's MakeiPhoneRingtone can take care of this for free. But if you want to make sure your ringtones don't get deleted when a new version of iTunes or iPhone Firmware comes out, you may want to try jailbreaking and placing the songs into the ringtones folder manually.

Obligatory iPhone Book Whoring: These iPhone Ringtone features are covered in my book, How to Do Everything With Your iPhone, along with hacking, cracking, and much more. Don't worry, that cover is going to be changed. Soon. *Sends nagging email to publishers*

Additional research by Benny Goldman