35 Amazing Things You Didn't Know Your PC Could Do!

Posted 12/25/2008 at 5:09am | by Maximum PC Staff

6

Comments

Print

28. Name that Tune

Never again will you have to walk up to your coworker and ask, “What’s the name of that song that goes, ‘Hmmmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmmmm’?” At Midomi.com you can simply press the Sing or Hum button on the site and then warble into a microphone attached to your computer; your attempt is uploaded and compared to a database of songs, providing artist and title information if it finds a match. If you want to become a star, you can also upload your songs to the site for others to hear.

29. Get Your financial House in Order

To get control of your finances, first you need to figure out how much money you bring in each month and where it all goes. While an Excel spreadsheet will get the job done, Mint (www.mint.com) makes the job even easier. By linking all your bank accounts, investments, and liabilities, you can track your spending. Mint will also look at how you spend and save, and suggest ways to make your money go farther. While linking all your financial info to a third-party site might seem scary, Mint doesn’t store your password or account information, nor can you transfer funds on the site.

30. Determine the Real Speed of Your Car

Using a data-logging device velcroed to your dashboard, you can quickly learn what your car is capable of: quarter-mile times, lateral Gs, and much, much more. Devices such as the DL1 ($965, www.race-technology.com), Traqmate ($700, www.traqmate.com), G-Tech/Pro RR ($300, www.gtechpro.com ), and various cheaper solutions use GPS signals and built-in accelerometers to gather the data, which you later view on your PC via bundled software. (The higher-priced models come with extra features and slightly more accurate technology.)

If you’re looking to create movies reminiscent of videogame replays—speedometer readouts, track maps, and all—TrackVision software ($195, www.trackvision.net) can quickly sync your logged data with in-car footage. Just drive safely, Mario, or take your ride to a real race track to record its bad-assedness. We also can’t help but mention the iPhone app Dynolicious ($13, http://dynolicious.com). The iPhone isn’t a PC, but it is a computing platform, and its built-in accelerometer can deliver a rudimentary set of performance metrics for an extremely low price.

31. Make and Promote a Viral Video on YouTube

Achieving web fame by scoring millions of video views on YouTube is no easy task. You either have to get lucky like Tay Zonday (the “Chocolate Rain” guy) or become a shameless exhibitionist like the Obama Girl. Stack the odds for exposure in your favor by following these best practices for posting.

• Keep It Short and Simple If you’re a first-time uploader, you’re going to have a hard time convincing strangers to watch the 5-minute epic you directed at film school. Casual YouTube viewers are more likely to take a chance with a new video if it’s less than 30 seconds long.
• Lighting and Audio If you’re filming a video blog or confessional, make sure you’re illuminated by decent lighting and using a high-quality microphone (i.e., not one built into your webcam). The more professional the presentation, the more people will take you seriously.
• Use Sex Appeal Become an attractive female. If that’s not an option, hire a few aspiring actresses from Craigslist to star in your clip. It worked for Rocketboom!
• Optimize Your Title and Tags Keep your clip’s title succinct and provocative and make use of hyperbole to entice curious viewers. Stack your clip with numerous descriptive tags that are loosely related to the content, which search engines rely on to index the video.
• Use an Eye-Catching Thumbnail The most compelling factor will be your clip’s thumbnail. YouTube extracts the frame at the middle of your footage to use as the thumbnail. Use editing software to splice a sexy image right in the center of your video. Be sure any person appearing in your thumbnail makes eye contact with the camera as well.
• Share Your Video Spam your video on message boards and social networking sites like Facebook. Embed your clip in blog posts. “Old-fashioned” promotion may be a lot of work, but if you’re lucky, it’ll trigger word of mouth.
• Engage with Viewers Keep an eye out for comments made on your clip’s page, and take the time to respond to both fans and critics. Creating a dialogue with viewers will encourage repeat visitors and make it look like people actually care about your effort.

32. Get Fit

OK, cream puff, you know you need to drop a few pounds, but you’re not sure exactly how to make it happen. FitDay ($30, www.fitday.com) will come to your rescue. This oh-so-comprehensive app will help you manage your diet and exercise so you can shed those unwanted pounds. All you need to do is enter everything you eat into the program and then tell it how much you exercise, how much weight you want to lose, and when you want to lose it by. FitDay will do the rest… well, except for the exercise.

33. Make It to Work on Time

We’ve all experienced it: an epic late-night Civilization game that leaves you too tired to set your alarm clock. If this happens to you—or if you don’t actually have an alarm clock—you’ll want to check out Kuku Klok (www.kukuklok.com).
This alarm clock works just like any other. You set the time you need to wake up and choose one of four interesting sounds (try Slayer Guitar). Since the clock is one giant flash script, it’ll go off even if you lose your Internet connection.

34. Maximize the Space in Your Home Office

Rarely does a room’s arrangement come together perfectly on the first try. You can risk bodily injury lugging your furnishings about, drive yourself nutty meticulously sketching out plans on graph paper, or let your PC do the work using SeeMyDesign.com. This free web app provides sample floor plans that you can resize, refurnish, and rejigger to your exact specifications. It’s so easy you could end up rearranging every room in your house. As an added bonus, the site lets you experiment with different wall paint, trim, and flooring combinations for some serious interior designage.

35. Find a Place to Sleep--Anywhere!

The premise of CouchSurfing.com is simple: It’s a social network that hooks travelers up with a place to sleep. You can use the site to offer visitors to your area a spot on your couch or find free lodging for your own travels. While it’s not for everyone, the site offers user reviews of both hosts and guests, and we’ve heard loads of positive testimonials from couch surfers who’ve met exciting new people and seen cool new cities, all without being dismembered and buried in some dude’s basement.

Originally published; 2008-11-05 10:30:00