Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq learned the same lesson older US politicians learned in the last congressional election, the broad use of cell phone videos by the hoi polloi means that if you have your pants down you will be caught (on video).
Praise be to the internet and the people’s video!
There is, however, a dark force at work to limit the power of the cell phone and that force is the commercial service providers. For example, the only documented means of getting a ringer for my LG VX8100 cell phone is to buy the ringer and then pay Verizon a $9.99 charge per month to use it! Do they know that if we could load our own ringers they would not be able to charge such outrageous fees? Do they know that this might result in non-conformist expressions of individuality from which they would not profit?
My niece told me about a website that provides free ringers that sound like endangered species. I excitedly went to the website only to learn that my cell phone was not supported. Dejection. Frustration. And then . . . stubbornness.
I began to search for a rescuer. I googled here. I googled there. . .
And discovered we are not alone in our struggle against the corporate dragon – oh no. The fine folks at bitpim.org have developed a means by which the fortifications of the obstructionists can be circumvented. It is like a tunnel under the wall so that you can rescue your princess, er . . ., I mean your data.
With this sweet little program and bluetooth (a gift from my mommy) I was able to turn any mp3 into a ringtone. This morning when my cell phone alarm notified me it was time to go to work it did so by generating the sound of gentle waves.
When my phone rang, I heard the sound of humpback whale songs. Now, I am limited only by the single gigabyte on my miniSD card instead of by The Man. This is right and just.
Power to the people!
