sudo mount -o remount, rw /

sudo cp ~/Downloads/lost_in_space-warning.ogg /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/ringtones/

It’s strange how messy a change of ringtone can be. Three phones ago, this was a simple task; just copy a file to the phone, then select it as a ringtone. Now, what was wrong with that?

My move to Apple around five years ago was generally a good experience. Ok, so having to use iTunes was a pain, but I was prepared for that, having used iPods for years. But silly little things irritated me; for example, the bizarre method of adding a ringtone (restricted in length, of course).

My move away from the iPhone, to the first Ubuntu phone a few months ago was, overall, quite positive. I’d known in advance that the product was a little raw, but that was fine. It was, and still is, great to be part of something which will, hopefully, become a real challenger to the Apple/Google monopoly. However, there’s a familiar ringtone problem. In fact, it’s a ringtone problem of a whole new order of magnitude. The stock noises are pretty awful, as you’d expect with any phone, and it’s proving to be very difficult to add new ones. After downloading a program to convert noises to *.ogg format, then agonisingly copying them to the phone, the above command lines (in a terminal window, since the phone’s file manager doesn’t seem to recognise when it’s no longer in read only mode) didn’t work. I may attempt this another day.

My new Android phone does now have new ringtones. Although I needed to install an application to allow this to happen and couldn’t simply select an *.mp3 file to be used as a ringtone. So, this was still something of a hassle and, while it’s just a second phone, I was left feeling disappointed.

While on the subject of phones, I’ve had a text from the Willowman festival today, from Jimmy, who’d just seen his 1000th band. I can’t claim to have seen anything like that number. And then there was a call or two from Peter, from the Ramblin Man festival Fair. The latter wasn’t a pleasant experience, Scorpions I believe (the lack of an apostrophe was deliberate by the way).

And, since festivals have crept into my whinge about ringtones, I’m allowed to mention that I’m going to Kendal Calling next weekend. My second in command will be there also, as will be my niece and her new boyfriend (who seems a lot nicer than the last one). This will be my first small festival in ages and I’m really looking forward to it. The line-up’s impressive for something of this scale; my second in command may have told the entire populations of Gateshead and Peterborough that she’s going to see Augustines and Elbow.

A final note; should you ring anyone from a gig, if you put your phone on speaker, then the other party might have a less painful experience. A useful tip learned from a security man in Manchester.