24 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC|NOV 08 |www.maximumpc.com
B
efore you pay big bucks to have an image perma-
nently emblazoned on your bod, doesn’t it make
sense to try it out fi rst? (Does a lovingly rendered
likeness of PIPBoy really suit you?) The solution is simple:
Get a sheet of waterslide paper (www.misterart.com) and
make a wearable print of the design you have in mind. Us-
ing a freeware program like Gimp (www.gimp.org), you can
edit your favorite image or create an all-new pattern; then
print it on the waterslide paper using a standard inkjet or
laser printer. Apply the paper to your skin, dampen it, wait
a minute, then peel back the paper. Voila—it just might save
you from a lifetime of regret and embarrassment.Test Drive a Tattoo
Solve Very Large
Problems
B
y now, most folks are familiar with Seti@Home and
Folding@Home, the distributed computing projects
devoted to uncovering extraterrestrial life and the
mysteries of protein folding, respectively. But many other
large-scale tasks can be tackled using the idle CPU cycles of
numerous volunteer computers, such as yours. Predictor@Home Examines the connection
between protein structure and protein sequence
in an eff ort to unravel the human genome (http://
tinyurl.com/6cxbqv).
ClimatePrediction.net Attempts to forecast
climate changes in the 21st century.
Evolution@Home Seeks to answer ques-
tions about species extinction (http://tinyurl.
com/6637ze).
MalariaControl.net Designed to predict the
spread of malaria in Africa.I
t’s no secret that YouTube is the
place to go to keep current with
the latest Internet meme, revel in
a celebrity’s public disgrace, or kill
countless hours of productivity. But
the video-sharing site is also a handy
source of practical instruction and
personal growth. Indeed, amid those
millions of minutes-long video clips
are complete demonstrations of truly
useful tasks. Think peeling and seeding
a tomato, playing basic guitar chords,
or ironing a dress shirt. We could allstand to broaden our skills and we’re
far more likely to master a process if
we actually see it performed.I
f you knew you looked like a celebrity,
would it make you more confi dent? Put
a little swagger in your step? If that’s all it
takes, you need to hit up Myheritage.com. The
site uses advanced facial recognition technol-
ogy to tell you which celebrities you most
resemble—and to what
degree. Just upload
a picture of yourself
through the site’s easy-
to-use interface and
watch the results pile
onto your screen.Find Your Celebrity
Look-Alike
T
he prime directive of ringtone creation? First, do no harm. That means
no boy bands, no YouTube no-hit wonders, no German language covers
of ’80s soft -rock hits for the sake of “irony.” If you’re going to roll with a
custom ringtone, realize that the chance of irritating your coworkers is high if
the Jonas Brothers’ “Hold On” starts emanating from your handset. How about a
little “Mama Said Knock You Out” to signify that dear old ma is on the line? Also
possible: “Papa Don’t Preach”—Online Editor Norm Chan’s signal that Will Smith
is calling.
For the iPhone: If you don’t want to give Apple your $2—$1 to buy a song
and $1 to convert it into a ringtone in iTunes—the simplest, and cheapest, way to
make a ringtone is via the audio-editing program GarageBand. Import the song
you want to use, select the section of the song you want for your ringtone (it must
be less than 40 seconds long), and then select Send Ringtone to iTunes from the
Share menu. Unfortunately, the app is Mac only. On the PC, use an audio-editing
program such as Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) to select the part of
a song you want. Next, export the edited fi le to iTunes and convert it to AAC. In
Windows Explorer, change the fi le extension from m4a to m4r and the add the
fi le to iTunes again and sync.
For Windows Mobile: Use Audacity to edit your song. Next, use ActiveSync to
upload your new ringtone to \Application Data\Sounds.Create Your Own Ringtones
Use YouTube as a Resource
35 AMAZING
THINGS