Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
and how do I get rid of that extremely annoying 'soothing' music??
There is an option to choose no music, though it actually does play for a few seconds until your preferences are loaded - at least it did on my original 1.7.x.x version until I gave up and just let it play. There's an option in the sound settings to mute the entire sim when it's not the focused window, which means I'm not having to listen to anything while I'm here typing while the download continues.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzok, how do i get rid of that extremely annoying 'soothing' music??