Three years after the feature was first introduced, Apple has removed the ability to create and purchase custom ringtones from iTunes. Whether the shame of the ridiculous pricing finally got to Apple or they simply removed the feature due to a lack of popularity, the most heavily-promoted way to make ringtones for the iPhone is now gone.

All is not lost though, as it’s still easy to create ringtones in several different ways. We, of course, recommend our very own Fission audio editor. With Fission you can open an audio file and edit it down to your desired ringtone in seconds. Once you’ve got the audio set, just select Save as iPhone Ringtone from the File menu, and Fission will take care of the rest. The file will be saved and imported into iTunes as a ringtone ready for syncing to your phone. It’s a snap!

You can check out Fission by downloading a free trial, right here. Enjoy!

Update: Not to over-toot our own horn (a little tooting is ok), but as pointed out in the comments, you may also wish to check out Audio Hijack Pro. With it, you can record audio from any source. Once you’ve got that audio, you can bring it into Fission to edit for use as a ringtone.

If you’re interested in playing and recording internet radio, you’ll want to check out Radioshift, which has received an important update today. Starting with version 1.6, Radioshift now has support for AAC audio. This means that hundreds of additional streams from around the world can now be accessed and played from right inside Radioshift. As more and more radio stations switch to streaming in the higher-quality AAC and AAC+ formats, Radioshift will be right there to support them.

Today’s update also brings with it several minor bug fixes, including curing a problem where some Flash-based streams wouldn’t properly play, so all users should be sure to update. If you’re already using Radioshift, just choose “Check For Update” from the Radioshift menu to get this free update. If you’re not using Radioshift yet, you can learn more here, then download the free trial to check it out.

Wei, an Apple modder from Malaysia, has put together a nice little mod involving an AirPort Express, speakers, and a clock. He used the clock’s casing (and tossed the clock), then coupled everything else together to make a great-looking speaker and AirPort Express combo!

A lot of parts in a little case.

The end result is a nice frame which can sit anywhere. It’ll play audio from iTunes or Airfoil – very cool!

Over at Netted.net, the folks who run the annual Webby Awards are also providing a daily recommendation for a website, application, or service they find worthwhile. Once a day, you can receive an email with a helpful tip. In their words, “Netted is about helping readers use the Internet to master modern life in ways both big and small.”

So we were of course honored to see that our own Airfoil was chosen to be featured, on August 10th. If you’ve never checked out Airfoil, as their post describes, it’s a great way to get audio all over your house. If you already know about Airfoil, check out Netted.net for more tips on all sorts of helpful services and products.

It’s almost back-to-school time, and that means all kinds of sales. Now, thanks to a new promotion at http://www.iappsforstudents.com/, you can save on great software for both Mac OS X and iOS, from dozens of different vendors.

Our own application Radioshift is included in the promotion, so if you haven’t used Radioshift before, now’s the perfect time to check out the best Internet radio recorder. You can save over 20% with the details from this link.

Head over to http://www.iappsforstudents.com/ to check out all kinds of great software and get great discounts too.