Louder Hinge Sounds on Audacity

A lot of people been complaining about their hinge sounds being too low. The reason why my hinge sounds are loud is because I use a limiter to make them as loud as possible. I didn't include how to do this in my hinge sound tutorial because it is not necessary to do this for hinge sounds to work and this procedure is for more advanced users. Hard limiting and amplifying can cause clipping and possibly permanent damage to your Sidekick's speakers if not done correctly. In this video I will show you how to maximize the loudness of your hinge sounds on Audacity while preventing clipping. If you're unsure about your understanding of this video, I suggest you ask questions before you start testing loud sounds on your phone.

**This Video Does Not Explains How To Make Hinge Sounds**
Click Here for The Hinge Sounds Tutorial for Audacity
Click Here for The Hinge Sounds Tutorial for Adobe Audition.

Are You Missing Out on Key Guards?

The key guard is the image displayed on your Sidekick when it's on idle. All my themes come with a key guard included and sometimes the key guard image is the best part of the theme but since the key guard is never loaded automatically on the new Sidekicks (08/LX/Slide), it seems a lot of people are missing out on them. I don't think anyone should miss out on key guards so I'll briefly explain how to load them on your phone.

1 - Load the theme to your phone as you normally would but do not disconnect the phone from your computer.

2 - Find the theme's folder and copy the JPG file (some themes may have more than one key guard). If you have thumbnails enabled, the key guard is always the biggest image on there.

3 - Paste the JPG file in the DCIM folder of your phone's memory card then disconnect the phone from your computer.

4 - On your Phone go to: Settings... Key Guard & Security... and Select the Image.

5 - Press and Hold the back arrow button to view the key guard!

You can also watch the video on "How To Put Themes On A Sidekick",at the end of the video there's a part that shows you how to load the key guard.

Here are some cool key guards for you to try!

How To Add Key Guard To Phone Splash

I recently posted some phone splashes for the sk08, now I'm posting some splashes for the LX and the Slide. I figured nobody really wants the default LX & Slide phone splashes but I've also included splashes for the Slide Scarlet and LX Tony Hawk which might come in handy if you like phone splashes in your themes. The real reason why I'm posting these splashes is for customizing. Obviously, If you wanted a theme with the default splash, all you have to do is not use one and the default will be loaded but what if you can make your splash match your actual theme or/and shell? I'm sure more people will be using splashes specially sk08 users.

The video below will show you how to customize the phone splashes to display the same key guard you have on your phone replacing the default T-mobile/Hiptop key guard usually on the splashes. In the beginning of the video, I also showed an easy way to change the shell color of your phone splash to match your real shell. You'll notice in this video I used a different splash for the sk08, similar to the one that comes with themes from the Danger Download Catalog. You can download the new set below! The key guard used in this video is from the Kidrobot x The Simpsons theme.

Grime Is the Winner!

The winner of the Cracked theme poll was Grime so here is the Cracked 08 Grime theme. This is similar to my previous cracked themes over at sklxthemes.com but now with some improvements. This theme is meant to make your phone look messed up but It will not damage your phone in any way. It has tweaked/clipped versions of the original 08 hinges, the bubbles don't move but I left the default icons this time for usability. If you'd like the version with no icons leave me a comment. This theme has cracked zoom effects and the second background is now completely cracked as you can see on the screen shot. A cracked T-Mobile key guard is included. The poll is still running so cast your vote for the next cracked theme!

A Word About Theme Requests

As you all know, almost all summer long I had a set of theme request rules on the sidebar with a Cbox under it for my blog visitors to leave theme requests. As of today, I've decided to take down the Cbox and I'll briefly explain why. Since I started taking requests, I've already done more than 100 requested themes, that is without counting theme resizing, recoloring, and changing hinge sounds on previous themes. I work and go to college yet I try to post at least one theme every day but they're still about 150 requests left for me to do with an average of 1-5 new requests after every theme I post. I tried doing the requests in order, randomly, and from easiest to hardest to try to advance faster but unfortunately at the rate I'm receiving requests, it is impossible for me to ever catch up and I feel it wouldn't be fair for me to keep taking requests that I'm not going to have time to do and It also wouldn't be fair for people who requested long time ago If I started doing all the new requests and not do theirs. My solution to this problem is to take down the Cbox. I still have access to my Cbox and I will be completing the requests that are already there, but I will not be taking new requests until further notice.

Now that the bad news are out of the way, I'll go on to the good news! Since I will not be taking requests, now I'll have more time for freestyle themes which means more general themes and less themes aimed for particular Sidekick users. I've replaced the Cbox with a Meebo chat room which you can use to chat with me or whoever is visiting my blog at the moment. I will not be taking requests left on the chat room but you can feel free to ask any questions and leave any theme suggestions there or under this post (only this post). If I like your idea I will do the theme. The "Donate" button under the chat room might give a positive boost to my opinion of your suggestions!

***UPDATED***
(9/21/08 - Replaced Chat room with Meebo me)
Meebo me window allows you to send me IMs when I'm online.
All conversations are private and can only be seen by you and me.
If I'm offline, I'll receive your messages on my next sign on,
leave a message with your e-mail address so I can respond.

***UPDATED***
(11/30/08 - Theme Requests Are Back!)