I often get many questions on how to extract files from a zip file. This process is not too difficult but people seem very confused over the file itself. This tutorial will show you how to extract a file to any directory. The second part of the tutorial will apply these steps to skins hosted on this site.

This tutorial is made through Windows XP, if you are using another Operating System such as Windows Vista, certain names and functions will differ. Please follow the general idea of this tutorial to get a handle on zip files.

Page 2: Installing a skin

]]> http://bumped.org/tek/2009/07/27/how-to-extract-files-and-install-a-skin/feed/ 19 http://bumped.org/tek/2007/08/12/use-aim-and-msn-on-your-cellphone-without-paying-for-text-messages/ http://bumped.org/tek/2007/08/12/use-aim-and-msn-on-your-cellphone-without-paying-for-text-messages/#comments Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:58:58 +0000 WBMike http://bumped.org/tek/2007/08/12/use-aim-and-msn-on-your-cellphone-without-paying-for-text-messages/

Verizon users read up! We finally have a site that allows us the freedom to use AIM, MSN, Gtalk, and Skype. It works perfectly on LGVX8300, just don’t try to edit your groups or you’ll get that insufficient memory crap. 

How to Get AIM on your Cellphone for Free

Nimbuzz uses the WAP protocol so no text messages are needed and there is no need to download any applications. Now AT&T, Cingular,  and T-Mobile users don’t really need to worry about this because they have applications already but if your still curious, here’s a list of how to access AIM, MSN, etc on your cellphone depending on your carrier.

Verizon Users

Verizon users need to have  both America’s Choice Basic + VCast Vpack. If you have America’s Choice Select, or America’s Choice Premium, there is no need to read on. Select and Premium plans have unlimited Text Messages and you can use AIM from Get It NoW! for Free.

1. Open Verizon Wireless Mobile Web

2. Press Menu

3. Press Go to URL

4. Type Url: web.nimbuzz.com

5. Register and Login

6. Click Settings

7. Click Communities

8. Choose your Community and enter Login Information!

T-Mobile Users

T-mobile Users, can either use AIM from their cellphone’s desktop or use T-Mobile branded AIM through T-zones. If you have unlimited text messages you do not need to use Tzones Aim as it is much slower and painful to use. If you have unlimited T-Zones you can also MSN Method

For AIM

1. Press Tzones

2. Type AIM in Search Box

3. Press AIM and Sign In!

For MSN

1. Go to http://www.nimbuzz.com/en/getstarted/mobile/

2. Enter your Cellphone

3. Send Link to Download Java App

AT&T iPhone Users

Its odd how iPhone users get the least crippled software on their phones. iPhone users have a variety of choices to use but the most popular one right now is TinyBuddy, it works only for iPhone.

1. Click Safari

2. Type URL: http://x.aim.com/ty/

3.  Sign in!

The Alternatives

Ebuddy and E-Messenger are the only major alternatives for Wap aim.

What is up with the Huge Multimedia Keyboards?

I mostly shyed away from these type of keyboards mostly because they don’t fit well within the space of my desktop. I never could quite understand why companies pushed for multimedia keyboards that took up too much space. They added extra functionality such as buttons for your favorite websites, volume control, and sleep mode, the button thats pressed at the most inconvenient times. They might be useful to lazier people, but I don’t have need for it. I’m perfectly fine with controlling the volume manually through a knob on my speaker.

Logitech whats up with these big keyboards? The larger than life wrist rest makes this so uncomfortable for me. Not only does the wrist pad get in the way, I have to push the multimedia buttons so far away from me. 

You see if Logitech could cut out the crap by taking the front silver peice off, I’d probably  buy this. Its already sleek and refined, just cut off the wrist pad and we’ll have a deal.

Not only is this keyboard a fashion crime, its also HUGE. Slim it down some please… 

How to Shop for A Slim Keyboard?

Its pretty easy to shop for one. All you have to do is look for the dimensions of the keyboard. Height x Width x Depth, are the 3 measurements used to figure out how it should fit on your desktop. When your buying keyboards online you can’t really predict how big it is without this. Most companies will tell you the dimensions up front. Logitech however seems to want to hide this information, may be they don’t want you to know. Stick to keyboards that are less than 9 in depth. You can pretty much see that keyboards without the wrist pad in the front have dimensions around 7 to 8 inches. Multimedia keyboards can go from 9 to 11 inches. Ergonomic keyboards always stay around 10 inches. Sometimes the dimensions are shown by Length x Width x Height, these websites list the width as the actual depth. 

My recommendations for Slim Keyboards:

HP Multimedia Keyboard: PERFECT & CHEAP! Its silver with black, and its small enough to not bother you with big wrist pads. The depth is excellent 7.5 inches

Saitek Eclipse II: It has a detachable wrist pad with 9 inches average depth, volume control functions too.

Razer Tarantula: 8.6 inches of width isn’t bad for a keyboard with a large wristpad. Plus you can press 10 keys at the same time.

MaCally USB Slim Keyboard: Mac, Very Slim, can even curve when standing up. 6.5 inches depth is just WOW.

Recently there’s been a flurry of questions regarding parental controls for Aim. So lets go through some different ways you can actually block or limit access to Aim. I’m sure your kids will hate you.

1) Blocking AIM Entirely

First you must uninstall Aim from Add/Remove Programs. Aim 6.1 will show up under AOL Uninstaller. Aim 5.9 will show up under Aim. Then you will need to add each and every AIM URL that exists into your hosts file. If you have Windows XP your hosts file is located at c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\. Once your in that directory. Open Notepad.exe and drag HOSTS into your notepad window. Here you can edit it and save it when your finished. If you have another Windows Operating System, please read this article about the Hosts File. Whenever you block sites with the hosts file you block all access to it so they will just see a blank page whenever they go to it. However if the kids are smart enough to remove the sites from the hosts file, your screwed.

= Download Long List of Aim URLs You Can Block =

2) AOL’s Parental Controls

AOL’s Parental Controls come in two packages. First you must create an AOL screen name to take advantage of it. You can create an AOL screen name at webmail.aol.com and click Get Free AOL Mail. After that you can download the Open Ride or AOL 9.0 Client. Create additional sub screen names for kids at keyword: Parental Controls. You can also customize their internet access outside of AOL with Internet Access Controls. This limits their activity based on how you have it set.

3) Parental Controls for Aim provided by Third Party Companies.

Another way to Block Aim is to download the few Parental Control Programs out there. Unfortunately most Parental Control Programs cost money and their sites are pretty much bubbly designs with little to no information. However you can still purchase these if you really need it.

Parent Tools Supports Aim 5.9 and Aim 6.0

SafeBrowse blocks Programs, Logs Conversations, Blocks Websites

CyberSitter: Records Aim Triton conversations, Blocks Websites.

Parental Control blocks access to some programs.

Solid Brushes
Aim 6.0 has a Solid Brush function. solidBrush tells the program that the particular ID of what your editing will have ONE color. The solid brush markup goes like this…

    <solidBrush id="textColor.defaultButton" fill="#000000" />

Note fill="#000000", this is where you place the HTML Color Code. #000000 is the color code for black text. If you want to change it to another color you would change the letters and numbers after the # sign. Also there must be 6 Letter/Number combination in order to work.

Linear Gradient Brush 
Aim 6.0 also has a Linear Gradient Brush. linearGradientBrush tells the program that the particular ID of what your editing will have multiple colors. The linear gradient brush markup goes like this…

    <linearGradientBrush id="gradient.aimWindow.windowContent">
        <rotateTransform center="50% 50%" angle="-90"/>
        <gradientStops>
            <gradientStop offset="0%" color="#121212"/>
            <gradientStop offset="100%" color="#363636"/>
        </gradientStops>
    </linearGradientBrush>

Ok woah what happened here!? This got way more complicated than the solid brush. Well a gradient needs more than 1 color to become an actual gradient. Most of the entries in your skins will use linear gradients. In theory all solid brushes should be able to convert to linear gradient and vice versa. Now there are a few rules with linear gradients though. It needs to have a gradientStops tag and that tag must be closed after your gradientStop offsets. You also must close the linearGradientBrush tag at the end of the particular ID. Another rule is that you should begin the gradientStop offset at "0%" and end at "100%". Your free to place whatever values you want between those two colors. Aim 6.0′s boxely engine will render the blending it will take to those positions.

GradientStop Offset.
This is particularly hard to visualize if your new to creating gradients in photoshop or paint shop pro. What you need to do here is start off with one color at "0%" and end at "100%". The percentage tells you where that particular color will start and continue to. At the same time that particular color will also blend with the next gradientstop offset unless you specify otherwise.

Now your not limited to just 2 colors, in my skin, I use 4 to 5 different gradient offsets. By positioning the colors in a certain way you can create an effect where the colors smoothly create a bump like effect, or abrupt colors that creates a sheen glass like effect. Lets take a look at one of the mistakes I used in my skin.

            <gradientStop offset="0%" color="#f3f8e7"/>
            <gradientStop offset="25%" color="#8cc110"/>
            <gradientStop offset="51%" color="#abd747"/>
            <gradientStop offset="100%" color="#abd747"/>

Now you may not see anything wrong here, but if your as picky as I am, you’ll notice that the send IM button’s colors does not match the bar beside it. Take a look at the markup. According to my percentages, these colors will blend smoothly. The farther apart the percentages are, the more smoother bump-like the colors are… [however this isn't always true since you can just use 2 similar colors at the top and 2 similar colors at the bottom to make use of the abrupt glass like effect.] Lets fix this up to create a similar style.

            <gradientStop offset="0%" color="#abd747"/>
            <gradientStop offset="40%" color="#8cc110"/>
            <gradientStop offset="41%" color="#D9FF82"/>
            <gradientStop offset="44%" color="#8cc110"/>
            <gradientStop offset="100%" color="#abd747"/>

Ok now you’ll see a major difference. Take a look at the markup, I’m using 5 gradient offsets to achieve this effect. Note that at  41%-44% the brightest color is used. Then it continues back to the regular gradient. This can be cleaned up better since its kind of redundant to have 5 colors doing that style when I could just fake it with 4 colors.

            <gradientStop offset="0%" color="#abd747"/>
            <gradientStop offset="41%" color="#abd747"/>
            <gradientStop offset="44%" color="#8cc110"/>
            <gradientStop offset="100%" color="#abd747"/>

There, nobody will notice the difference unless they have really keen eyes. Thats all for this lesson.

Learn More About creating Aim 6.0 skins
- Download Aim Skins -

I’m not sure why this is the most frequently asked question. You can sign on 2 or more screen names by doing these simple steps. This method works in Aim 6.x series only. Aim 5.9 has different steps. Mac Aim 4.7 users will not be able to link screen names. Please read the last paragraph on which program you should get.

How to Link Your Screen Names in Aim 6.9

• Click Edit
• Click Settings
• Click Buddy List
• Click Manage Linked Screen Names

OR

• Head over to Aim Settings
• Click on Linked Screen Names

Link screennames in Aim 5.9

• Click My Aim
• Click Manage Linked Screen Names

Some of you may experience an error message saying your screen could not be linked. If this happens change the password for the screen name having the problem and try again. If you forgot the answer to your Security Question, you won’t be able to change the password. Also note, there doesn’t seem a way to link screen names on Mac version of Aim. Instead Mac users should try Adium to sign into multiple screen names at one time.

You may not have a Nintendo DS or a Playstation Portable, but that doesn’t mean you are forced to play those cruddy games on your cell. All you need is a WAP browser, a data plan, and your set to go. Make sure to read the extra notes at the bottom of the post.

1. First you need the Jar file of the game. You can either get these from your cellphone (but that means you’ll need a data cable) or search through google to find a Java Midlet or Jar file of a certain game. There are plenty of sites that do that or you can head over to Howard Forums. Of course remember its at your own risk and copyright and other crap. Read Extra notes on the bottom.

2. After you’ve found your Jar files, you’ll need to upload them somewhere. My favorite site for this is Rumkin Sprint Uploader. Don’t let the Sprint fool you, its just a name. Select the area for Java Midlet Uploads and you can send an email to your cellphone or just get the site code.

Other Sites include:
lumine | mobilephoneuploader | mindfullmusings

3. If you didn’t opt for the text message email, type the web address given to you at the uploaded page. Then type in your Jump code. Other Phone Uploading sites go by this format through jump codes. When it finishes downloading, run the game and see if it works.

–Extra Notes:
Your phone must be able to run JAVA applets or the games won’t work. Choose games that will run on your phone. Samsung games will not work on Motorola Phones. Watch out for screen size and resolution. First find out the screen size for your phone in pixels. Then download the games that will run on that screen size. If you choose a screen size larger than your phone’s resolution, the applet will display an error message. Sometimes you can get games for other phones to run on your phone. These are called adapted games. They have been shrunk or enlarged to run for your screen size.