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50 Kick-Ass Websites You Need to Know About

Alex Castle, Norman Chan, and Forence Ion — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0500

It's time to update the entries in your browser's links toolbar. But with recent estimates putting the size of the internet at well more than 100 million distinct websites, it's getting harder and harder to get a handle on all the great stuff that's out there. That's why we've compiled this list. And unlike some lists you may have seen, which try to name the very "best" websites, but end up just telling you a lot of stuff you already know, we've chosen instead to highlight 50 of our favorite sites that fly under most people's radar. Think of it as the Maximum PC blog roll (remember those?). These sites represent great alternatives to popular web destinations like YouTube and Hulu, and include useful references, powerful web apps, and the unknown blogs you must absolutely bookmark.

You might have heard of some of these sites, but we'll bet you haven't heard of all them. Read on and find out. You won't be disappointed.

Demoscene.tv

See What Can Be Done with 4 Kilobytes

If you’re any kind of nerd at all, you probably know about the demoscene, where talented programmers create complex videos rendered in real-time, stored in incredibly small files. If you’re not familiar, you should make yourself acquainted with the scene, and all of the trippy, procedurally-generated content it has to offer. And hey, it’s not like you’re going to hit your bandwidth cap watching demos.

But what if you just want to see what all the fuss is about without actually downloading and running an executable? That’s where demoscene.tv comes in. Think of it as YouTube for the scene, letting you watch demos in HD on the web. And if you like what you see, the full demo executable is just a click away.

lite.Facebook.com

Clutter-Free Social Networking

You can admit it. Along with Twitter, Facebook is one of the sites that you absolutely feel compelled to check every day to keep track of your friends’ activities and latest funny links. But while we’re all for friend-stalking, we could definitely do without the AJAX-heavy sidebars and interface modules that clutter up the Facebook homepage. Try using Facebook Lite, which gives you lean views of friend feeds and your user profile. You get access to essential image and update posting functionality without being bothered by the newest Facebook game apps.

Letsplayarchive.com

Let other people play games for you

The Let’s Play Archive maintains a list of hundreds of “Let’s Play” games, where somebody plays through a video game while maintaining a journal using text, screenshots and videos. Some are funny, while other’s just give you a whirlwind tour of a game you’ve never played before. Sounds dumb? Give it a try, you might just find it more engrossing than you’d imagined.

Soyouwanna.com

What They Didn’t Teach You in School

If you’ve ever needed some advice on how to do go about doing the most obscure, but didn’t really know who to turn to without receiving some sort of critical feedback, So You Wanna is a great resource for inquiring minds that think alike. So you wanna…audition for American Idol? Bottle your home-made beer? Get a travel visa to a foreign country? So You Wanna tells you all about it and assists you in your quest to become the all-knowing. Note that there is some NSFW content floating around the site.

Google Building Maker

Crowd Sourcing the 3D World

14th Century cartographers would be right about Google Earth – its world is pretty flat. Despite high-resolution satellite imagery that lets you zoom in on your neighbor’s skylight, buildings are still part of one big flat surface. That’s where you come in. Google’s Building Maker is a website that lets you help design and create buildings for Google Earth. Using a plug-in based version of their Sketch-up modeling program, you can easily create a textured 3D model of your neighborhood or local landmarks and submit them to be included in the Google Earth database. The process is surprisingly simple and really fun to use. Google has rolled out the service to 50 cities so far, but plans on expanding its reach in the future.

Ikeahacker.blogspot.com

Outsmart the Swedes at their Own Game

If you’ve been a college student or 20-something living on a budget in the last couple decades, chances are good that there are a couple of bits of Ikea furniture gracing your living quarters. The Ikeahacker blog shows you how other people have transformed their old Swedish furniture into something awesome.

Fatburgr.com

Count your Calories

Also a popular iPhone app, Fatburgr helps you count calories and make healthier decisions when eating out at various popular dine-in and fast food restaurants. Simply pick your poison (ours is Panera Bread) and Fatburgr will present you with an alphabetical list of the restaurant’s entire food inventory with the number of calories, grams of fat, carbohydrates, and fiber in each serving. If you take a look, you might be surprised at the lack of nutrition surrounding some of your favorite dishes.

Ffffound.com

Get Inspired

Ffffound (yes, four F’s) is an image bookmarking web service that allows users to post and share their favorite images they find on the web and recommends similar images according to the user’s taste. This is a great resource if you’re looking for some inspiration, or need an image that matches your tastes. Fffound displays graphic designer’s works, typography, advertisement design, animations, and sometimes, even the latest meme. There is some NSFW content floating around the site.

Newseum.org

Keep Up with the Local News

Curious about what’s on the front page of newspapers elsewhere in the world? Look no further than the Newseum, which offers downloadable PDFs fof more than 80 major international and domestic newspapers. These informative gems are brought to you by the interactive museum of news and journalism and is located by Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Strangemaps.wordpress.com

Strange Maps are Strange

If you’ve got a fascination with maps, or an affinity for world history, Strange Maps posts interesting maps several times a week, complete with interesting facts and statistics following suit in blog form.

Wunderground.com

The Most Accurate Weather Reports

We know, your gut instinct tells you to go to Weather.com to check for local weather conditions or the weekend forecast. But Weather Underground provides better local reporting by tapping into a network of 10,000 local weather stations in all major cities across the United States. A community-powered reporting system provides detailed hourly updates, which are especially useful when planning your commute during the rainy season.

Whatshouldireadnext.com

Take a Look, Read a Book

If you’re looking for a good book that’s out of your realm, try your hand at What Should I Read Next. WSIRN displays recommendations based on your favorites list. Conversely, if you just want a quick recommendation, simply enter in one item and WSIRN will offer titles that may appeal to your interests based on genre and author title.

Rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com

There’s more to Life than the Internet

A recent issue of Wired listed rules for the modern Pointdexter – proper etiquette for techies in the 21st century. But while you may know the difference between a good and bad post on Twitter, how about ten hours of the day when you’re not on the internet? That’s where Rules for My Unborn Son comes in; this blog regularly posts the important lessons that’ll really help you get by in life. Rules like “Never eat lunch at your desk” and “Compliment your mom’s cooking” may be common sense for most of the world, but it’s sage advice for the unwashed masses of geeks.

Prezi.com

Pitch a Meeting

Microsoft’s Powerpoint is truly a hassle to use when you’ve only got a few hours to put together a full blown presentation. Thankfully, free web services like Prezi offer procrastinating professionals a better way to put together some pretty creative presentations. Prezi takes about five minutes to learn and the slide show is really just one big easel. And, if you want to get super creative, there are numerous tutorials that teach you how to jazz up your presentation with animated segues and mindmapping techniques that will inspire your audience to think outside of the box. Best of all, it’s all hosted online, so you don’t have to worry about anything happening to your expense report.

Tvtropes.org

Must-Read before Engaging in Mature Internet Discourse

This wiki is a comprehensive catalog of literary devices used in popular fiction, including tropes (different for clichés) used in most television shows today. Be wary, the site is a deep dive into the craft of story writing, and will change the way you enjoy books, television, and movies forever.

Knowyourmeme.com

Stay Up to Date with the Internet

Pardon us for considering our readers to be out of touch with the latest Internet memes, but you’d be surprised to see the statistics on how many average Internet users aren’t in touch with the latest Internet fads. For this reason, Know Your Meme exists to give your friends and family all an equal chance to laugh at, or with, the Internet.

Kongregate.com

Play Flash Games in Style

What do you get when you combine time-wasting flash games, an Xbox-like achievement system, a social network and a collectable card game? You get Kongregate; the best flash game hub on the ‘net.

Howcast.com

Instructional Videos that are Actually Coherent

From mundane tasks like washing your hair to complicated ventures like how to finance a home, Howcast hosts instructional videos that can help you get by in life. User-shared videos are well produced and get straight to the point, unlike the junk you’ll find on YouTube.

Interfacelift.com

Find the Perfect Wallpaper

Interfacelift may not be the biggest desktop wallpaper site on the internet, but it is one of the best organized, with easy sorting by resolution, rating, or tag. With thousands of gorgeous photos and illustrations, available in tons of resolutions (including dual- and triple-monitor resolutions), Interfacelift is definitely worth a look next time you want to refresh your PC’s wallpaper.

Investopedia.com

Demystify Your Investments

If you’re new to investing, the stock market and other financial institutions can seem like black magic—you put some money in, some charts go up and down, and hopefully you end up richer than you started. Enter Investopedia, Forbes’ collection of definitions and articles about all things financial. Written accessibly but not condescendingly, Investopedia will leave you feeling more confident about investing in no time at all.

Good-Tutorials.com

Paint a Pretty Picture

You don’t have to be a designer to learn how to touch up photos, create your own graphics, or conjure up fancy web buttons. Good Tutorials is one of our favorite resources for making the most out of our entire Adobe Creative Suite. Additionally, if you’ve got a knack for web design, this site can also help with CSS, Flash, Java and PHP.

Drinkhacker.com

Learn How to Drink in Style

Nothing says “sophistication” and/or “problem drinker” like leaving Drinkhacker open in your browser. With well-written spirits reviews and intriguing cocktail recipes, Drinkhacker’s got something to offer even the most casual drinkers.

io9.com

Be a Sci-Fi Superfan

Ok, ok, so io9 is a Gawker blog, and therefore not exactly “under the radar.” Nonetheless, it’s one of the blog mega-network’s lesser known sites, and an absolute must-read for any science fiction fan (we know you’re out there). All mediums get covered -- television shows, movies, books, and even comics. The editors know their Cylons from their Cardassians, and the editorials give you more to stretch your mind than typical geek debates.

Customize.org

Spruce Up Your Desktop

Customize.org is the biggest and best resource for pretty much any aspect of the desktop customization scene. On it, people post screenshots of their desktops, tricked out with popular apps like Litestep, Samurize and Rainlender, and share how they're made. The site also hosts themes and skins for those apps and others, along with helpful how-to guides.

Mentalfloss.com

Learn a New Interesting Fact Every Day

Did you know that giraffes have the highest blood pressure of any mammal? Or that Pope John Paul II was made an honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters? No? Well, if you visited the Mental_Floss blog regularly, you would. With informative posts, infuriating quizzes and an “Amazing Fact Generator,” the blog is recquired reading for wannabe smart-alecs.

Musicovery.com

Find new music, the colorful way

Musicovery is a music-finding service that’s a little different than the rest. To get music recommendations, you just specify a list of genres that you like, a timeframe, and whether you want your music calm or energetic, dark or positive. Musicovery searches up matching songs, and displays them in a color-coded map. Its library isn’t as big as some others, but the colorful visuals and unusual song selection make it worth a visit.

Yankodesign.com

Glimpse into the Possible Future

Do high-concept gadgets like the Optimus Keyboard tickle your fancy? Yanko Design is a blog that focuses entirely on futuristic design concepts from studios like Art. Lebedev. The products showcased are mostly conceptual renders and may never see production, but occasionally, you’ll find a forward-thinking idea that perfectly combines form and function.

Gethuman.com

Skip the Robot, Talk to a Person

These days, calling technical support can be a real nightmare for a number of reasons: long hold times, unintelligible outsourced operators, and “Tier 1” technicians who almost inevitably know less about the product in question than you do. But the worst of all tech-support injustices is the automated frustration dispensers that companies sometime employ to put you through a labyrinth of touch-tone menus before you can talk to a real person.

But you don’t have to put up with all of that, thanks to Gethuman.com, which tells you—on a company by company basis—exactly what number to call and what buttons to press to get through to a real, human operator.

Cookingforengineers.com

Learn to Cook like a Nerd

If you’re the type that thinks of cooking as more of a science than an art, then Cooking For Engineers is the site for you. With lots of recipes written out and photographed in excruciating detail, and interesting cooking “experiments,” this site will help you make the transition from computer nerd to kitchen nerd.

Newsmap.jp

See the World’s News at a Glance

As Google News has become the single largest aggregation of local and global news, there have been several attempts to rearrange all that data into a more readable form. Newsmap.jp is one such effort, which organizes stories into a big, colorful treemap, based on category (business, technology, sport, etc) and importance, measured by the number of outlets reporting on a story.

Give it a try; it’s a surprisingly intuitive and addicting way to browse the news.

Magnatune.com

Listen to Free, Licensable Music

These days there are so many sites offering free music download (legally or illegally), that to stand out from the crowd, you need to do something unique. Magnatune is a site that does several unique things. For one: they only offer music from independent artists. Another, you can listen to any album in its entirety. Finally, Magnatune lets you license any song they offer, making an excellent resource for producers of podcasts and indie films.

Kayak.com

Plan Your Next Trip

If you’re looking for a quick weekend getaway, Kayak can help you find the best deals on any trip around the world, whether it’s by plane, ship, or automobile. Kayak is a search engine that pulls information from hundreds of travel sites based on your query; you can then refine your search and choose the result that is right for you. You can also sign up for their newsletter and receive daily deals based on your airport location setting . We should mention, however, that domestic flights within the continental United States or Europe do not show up economy airliners, such as Southwest and EasyJet.

Eeggs.com

Find Out Things You Never Knew about Your Favorite Games and Movies

Eeggs.com is a directory of user-submitted easter eggs for games, movies, and TV shows. You can browse the “Eeggs” by category, date added, or by rank. There are about 4,000 Easter eggs for video games alone, so head on over and find out what you’ve been missing.

Widgetbox.com

Put Some Flair on Your Blog

Alright, so we’re aware that this is no longer the nineties, and websites are still taboo and less traffic worthy when covered in Javascript widgets, but if you’re fairly active on a number of social networking sites, or would like to create a landing page out of your blog, Widget Box is the perfect resource. Some of our favorite widgets include: the Twitter feed box, the Flickr slideshow, and the Social Networking badge.

IFarchive.org

Play Thousands of Free, Awesome Games

“Interactive fiction” is a term used to refer to text-based adventure games which rely on clever writing and imagination, rather than fancy graphics. Although you’re probably more familiar with the classic interactive fiction games that were popular around the dawn of PC gaming, such as Zork and Adventure, there are plenty of enthusiasts still hard at work turning out new and innovative works in the genre. Ifarchive.org is the place to go to find pretty much an interactive fiction game, new or old, as well as emulators and other software needed to play them.

TheSixtyOne.com

Listen to Music, Level Up

Tired of music sites that just let you listen to music? Wish more stuff in your life had RPG elements? Then you should definitely give TheSixtyOne.com a look. A music site with a decidedly indie slant, songs on TheSixtyOne are uploaded by artists themselves, and voted on by users. The gimmick? Whenever a song that you’ve voted for goes on to be voted for by others, you gain experience and levels. There are also achievements (such as listen to 1000 songs) and quests (for example: listen to 7 recently posted songs), so you'll always have something to work toward.

Vuvox.com

Make Slick-Looking Web Photo Collages

Vuvox is a web app which lets you take a collection of images, videos, and song files, and turn them into a rich, scrolling web collage. A set of simple photo editing tools lets you show only the best parts of your photos, and you can add info boxes that expand when moused over. When you’ve created the perfect collage, you can embed it on your blog or other website, or pass a link around on Twitter.

Openwith.org

Decode the Language of File Extensions

This essential website is a comprehensive database of file extensions for whenever you come across an unknown file type. The site is frequently updated, easy to browse, and even links you to freeware applications to open your cryptic files. In fact, the advocacy of free software to open documents is paramount in the site’s mission statement.

Crackle.com

Watch TV Shows and Movies You Can’t Find on Hulu

NBC’s Hulu may be the dominant video-streaming service for legally watching TV shows and movies, but its catalogue isn’t nearly comprehensive. Rival service Crackle fills in missing shows and films owned by Sony Pictures, in case you want to watch movies like Ghostbusters or Groundhog Day. Cracke’s collection isn’t as big as Hulu’s, but there are plenty of hidden gems here (Karate Kid II, anyone?).

Offworld.com

Insightful Gaming News without the Kotaku Crowd

Boingboing’s gaming spinoff cherry picks only the most interesting gaming links and industry news for its blog, adding insightful commentary with a little nostalgic bent to each post. It has since been put on hiatus, and former editor Brandon Boyer has deposited most of his eclectic links in a Tumblr blog. Still, Offworld’s archives are a delightful read, and it is still currently updated by the editors of Boingboing.

Also worth checking out: Rockpapershotgun.com, featuring frequent Offworld and PC Gamer UK contributors.

Vimeo.com

The Best Place to Upload Your Videos

We’ve given up all hope for Youtube. Vimeo – founded by the creators of CollegeHumor – is the premium cable equivalent of internet video. The simple upload interface, relatively quick processing times, and elegant video interface make this our preferred video hosting site. The moderated channels have high-quality content (there’s even a channel for anaglyph 3D video!), and the community has more than a single-digit lexicon.

C raiglook.com

Craiglist Gets Unstuck from 1995

Craigslist is undoubtedly the best place online marketplace to barter or trade goods, but its interface and navigation system leaves much to be desired. But since all of its content can be read through RSS feeds, you’re not forced to actually use the Craigslist site. Craiglook is a mash-up of Craiglist feeds (read through Yahoo Pipes) and Google Maps. Its location radius-based search is the site’s most useful feature, and its content is always up to date with the main Craigslist directory.

Drop.io

Collaborate in Real-Time without the Wave

Yes, we know everyone is excited about the potential of Google Wave as an end-all solution for real-time project collaboration. But in its Beta state, Wave is too buggy and slow to earn our recommendation. Drop.io takes a simpler approach to real-time collaboration: users share online “drop” repositories which host documents and images. We dig that Drop.io doesn’t require complicated user accounts or unnecessary social networking elements. Yahoo apparently feels the same way, and has pre-installed Drop.io’s Attach Large Files feature into every Yahoo mail account.

Spotify.com

A Social Music Platform to Replace iTunes

Spotify is a new music service that hopes to streamline the way we both stream and purchase new music. The company was launched with the blessing of several major labels, in a refreshingly forward-thinking move on the part of the music industry. Because of this, Spotify is able to stream full, high-quality tracks from these labels without fear of retribution. Our favorite feature is the ability to create and save playlists for later. This really adds to the illusion that you now have an unlimited music library on your computer. While Spotify is not yet available for US residents, we await its stateside debut with bated breath.

Obsoletethebook.tumblr.com

Respect Your Gadget’s Ancestors

This darling Tumblr blog preaches the kind of nostalgia that techies can really appreciate. Author Anna Jane Grossman recounts the simpler days of pay phones, Polaroid photos, and pocket calculators. If you’re ever suffering from shiny gadget overload, take a breath and calm yourself in the Obsolete blog’s welcoming analog arms.

Wired.co.uk

Tech News from a Different Perspective

Wired UK’s website is a great example of an international publication that puts out fine content that’s distinct from its US counterpart. Sure, some news and blog posts cover the same topics as the stateside edition, but the perspective is just as elucidating and fresh. Plus, it’s the only place you’ll find the musings of acclaimed futurist and comic book writer Warren Ellis.

Blog.makezine.com

Advanced Crafting for Hobbyists

Like to get your hands dirty? Makezine’s blog is a treasure trove of links to geeky craft projects found all over the web. From circuit bending tutorials to D-I-Y robots, you’ll find all sorts of nifty projects that’ll get your inner inventor stirring. And even if you’re not the hacking type, the linked projects are a joy to read.

Pdfgeni.com

Find any PDF Reference Manual

This search engine is dedicated to indexing PDF files scattered all over the web. It’s extremely useful for finding technical manuals that you might have thrown away without having to dig through the original manufacturer’s website. It’s also great for finding ebooks and obscure academic documents.

What the Font

Because Not Everyone Uses Helvetica

In the days of yore, font-recognition software was expensive and didn’t work particularly well. Lucky for us, what once cost a lot of money is now available free on the web. Point your browser to WhatTheFont, upload an image featuring the font in question, and the service will give you a list of matching fonts, usually including some free options. For bonus points, font nerds can test their knowledge by trying to identify the difference between Arial and Helvetica in common logos.

Tor.com

Get Your Sci-Fi Short Story Fix

If you’re a science fiction and fantasy aficionado, this site is for you. A free membership to this publisher’s site gets you access to exclusive ebooks, and casual browsers can still dive into a wealth of short stories, comics, art, and its delightful blog.

Top Hazards in the Geek Office

Norman Chan — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:17:47 -0500

We cubicle warriors have it pretty easy – spending all day surfing the internet and filing TPS reports is easy on our puny man-child bodies. But lurking workplace hazards still threaten our nerdy well being. At least, that’s how MacLife sees it. Our sister publication calls out 10 startling office space threats and prescribes safety tips to avoid an encounter with the Aflac insurance duck. From poking your eyes out with lasers to blanketing your keyboard with delicious Cheeto dust, MacLife’s fear-mongering feature is a worthwhile read for any student of geeky office culture. With so much danger ready to strike any moment, we nerds might even need our own workplace safety video (NSFW).

Cosplay Gallery: Wondercon 2009's Sexy Costumes

Norman Chan — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:30:00 -0600

Comic-book conventions are wonderful spectacles of geekery, and major Cons are the only place to get exclusive access to behind-the-scenes previews and sneak peeks at your favorite comic book or upcoming film. But for us, the biggest attraction at these sweaty gatherings is the Cosplay: fearless nerds showing off their love for genre characters with marvelous homemade costumes. This past weekend, we roamed the halls of San Francisco's Wondercon to play Cosplay paparazzi. The cosplay harvest wasn't as bountiful as last year's San Diego Comic-Con (where we snapped up four hundred photos), but we still found some delightful gems (and familiar faces) at this local event. Keep an eye out for no fewer than four Rorschachs from the upcoming Watchmen movie, sexy slave Leia, and the most amazing Transformers costume we've ever seen!

Comic-Con 08: Four Days, Four Hundred Cosplay Photos. Welcome to the Ultimate Geek Gallery.

Norman Chan — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:02:01 -0600

It was a herculean task. Team Maximum PC at this year’s Comic-Con International consisted of only two people, and there was no way we could attend every packed panel at the event. So instead of bringing you movie and television panel reports you’ve probably already read on SlashFilm or AintitCoolNews, we wanted to be your eyes on the show floor. And that meant showing you what stood out most in the 500,000sq ft space of the main exhibit hall: the cosplayers. Our quest to document as many unabashed costumed geeks as we could find yielding 400 photographs of comic-book, anime, fantasy, science fiction, and film characters. We saw dozens of jokers and batmen, numerous video game-inspired outfits, and even steampunk-era Ghostbusters. The impressive level of creativity and enthusiasm that we saw in these cosplayers was an awesome reminder of why we love geek culture. We hope you can appreciate it as well.

Bonus challenge: Can you name all of the characters?

Originally posted: 2008-07-28 09:00:00

Exclusive: Behind the Scenes at the World's Most Technologically Advanced Planetarium!

Norman Chan — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:00:00 -0600

We’ve heard the phrase “visual computing” being used a lot lately – it refers to the use of computers and graphical environments to interact with and manipulate heady data sets and other textbookish content. Well, we’ve encountered one of the most visually stunning and impressive examples of visual computing in San Francisco’s Morrison Planetarium, the new $20 million dollar facility that’s a part of the recently reopened California Academy of Sciences. This isn’t your daddy’s planetarium (nor is it Barack Obama’s famous $3 million dollar star charter, either).

The Morrison Planetarium is a technological marvel, enabling astronomers not only to show traditional star charts, but to guide visitors through an immersive fly-through of our universe – realistically rendered in real-time. We were fortunate enough to be invited for a private screening of the new exhibit, and went behind to scenes to check out exactly what PC hardware drives this modern stellar cartography lab. And before you ask – yes, the system can play Quake.

We'll guide you through a tour of the planetarium, show you what visitors get to experience in the amazing digital presentation, and then walk you behind the scenes for an exclusive look at how the tech gods who built the whole system make it work. Trust us, you'll be impressed.

First, some details about the physical facility. Walking into the Academy of Sciences building, you can't miss the giant Morrison Planetarium dome sitting right in the middle of the building. The actual planetarium is a 75-ft diameter dome housed in a 90-ft diameter shell, making it the largest planetarium in North America, and one of the biggest in the world. The room accommodates 300 visitors, and unlike most planetariums, seating is sloped at a 30 degree angle so patrons aren't hurting their necks looking up into space, but feel like they're watching a wholly immersive IMAX movie.

While the original Morrison Planetarium, built in 1952, wowed audiences with its custom-made star projector, the modern version does away with lasers and fills its 75-diameter screen with six high-resolution professional-grade projectors. This makes the Morrison Planetarium not only the largest digital planetarium in the world, but also the largest digital theater as well.

A cut-out view of the Morrison Planetarium. This massive building puts Star Trek's astrometrics lab to shame.

Ryan Wyatt, the director of the Morrison Planetarium, introduces the Fragile Planet program before a group of journalists on the Academy of Science's press preview day. Presenters are able to take direct control of the program and manually "drive" through the galaxy using PDAs.

The change in background color isn't due to our camera's exposure settings. A ring of thousands of LED lights run along the rim of the dome. The RGB LEDs themselves are very programmable, and could be their own light show.

A view from the top: The planetarium has 300 seats, arranged in a 30-degree slope like a movie theater. This is probably the only time you'll see it look empty -- every showing has been packed and sold out since the Academy of Sciences opened its doors earlier this month.

Next, the Fragile Planet presentation

We were given a private screening of the standard show presentation, an production called Fragile Planet that was produced in-house at the Academy. Narrated by Sigourney Weaver (who also did the voice-over for the awesome Planet Earth Discovery Channel mini-series), the 25-minute show lifted us out of our seats and propelled us in a incredible journey through space. It's difficult to understand exactly how amazing the show is unless you're actually sitting in the planetarium. The domed display filled our entire peripheral vision -- the effect was so encompassing that at times we forgot where we were.

Flying through the solar system at near-light speed, soaring down over the landscape of the Moon and Mars, and then warping out to the outer reaches of the galaxy -- this is as close to being an astronaut as most of us are going to get. Even more trippy though was the optical illusion created by the dome's curvature. Even though the planetarium show isn't projected in stereoscopic 3D (though it's technically possible), the concave construction of the dome made some of the images look like they were popping out of the screen (like the illusion you see when looking at the front of a spoon).

The Academy has plans to bring a DVD and High-def version of the presentation to market, but hasn't announced a release schedule yet.

The show starts off with the planetarium's walls "disappearing" around you, so you can see the surrounding Academy exhibits. You're then lifted up through the ceiling, where you begin a superman-esque flight around the San Francisco Bay Area before zooming off into space.

Above and Below: the computer rendition of the Academy's "living roof", compared to the actual roof exhibit, where 1.7 million native plants and wildlife flourish.

As we fly faster toward space, the curve of the horizon begins to appear. You just can't get the same experience with Google Earth.

Near real-time scientific data acquired through research networks (like CineGrid) can be fed into the program and overlaid on top of the presentation's 3D models. The planetarium staff plans to incorporatethese feeds into future productions to bring awareness to environmental concerns.

"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world." - Carl Sagan

Next, the hardware behind the show

After being thoroughly stunned by the presentation, we were taken back stage by Jon Britton, the Academy's Senior Systems Engineer, to take a look at the computers that actually power the show. Deep in the basement of the facility, we were shown the server room, which houses three separate playback systems that play different roles in bringing the stars to life.

The first is DigitalSky, a software system developed by a company called Sky-Skan. This is the more traditional constellation projection system, which usually plays as visitors are getting seated before the show. Astronomical bodies can be highlighted and zoomed into view with a press of a button, and presenters can use a joystick or mouse to navigate around the stars in real-time. When projected onto the dome, DigitalSky can effectively replace the night sky -- astronomy professors have used it on foggy nights to teach students.

The second software system is called Global Immersion, which is the hardware that powers the main presentation playback. The video is stored in a proprietary Pixar format, and packs the 30fps video over a string of files that require significant hardware muscle to process. They're not just playing a large AVI file here. A combination of software and hardware blending is also required to align the six projectors so that the video is perfectly synced and aspected to look like one giant display.

Finally, the last system is the Uniview cluster, which runs the real-time 3D software developed by a Swedish company called SCISS AB. This is the most important computer system in the facility, as it's the software platform where main presentations can be scripted, pre-visualized, recorded, rendered, or played back in real time. It essentially is a computer gaming environment, and can actually be navigated with an Xbox 360 controller.

Each of these playback systems is powered by seven computers, one for each projector channel in addition to a master system. The Uniview cluster is run on HP XW8600 workstations, each running dual-core Xeons and Nvidia Quadro FX5600 video cards.

All of the video is funneled through dual-link DVI cables into a Black Diamond DVI matrix, which then feeds through the network to the six projectors surrounding the dome. A fiber-based ThinkLogical KVM is also used so engineers can access any of the systems remotely from the planetarium's main control area.

DigitalSky's control panel. Zooming into Jupiter or labeling it in sky can be done with one click.

Yep, the planetarium software all runs on Windows XP, with no plans to upgrade to Vista.

All of the high-resolution video is fed through this Black Diamond DVI Matrix

The academy staff is hooked up to a 10Gbit fiber network that retrieves scientific data from other institutions and research facilities to incorporate into the presentations.

The HP workstations that run the show in real-time. Note that there are six of each machines, one for each projector and another that syncs them up.

We're glad to know that with the real computation work, the engineers here turn to PCs. All of the other exhibits in the Academy are actually run on Mac Minis

Next, we scrutinize the actual dome, projectors, and sound system

Jon then took us back to the planetarium dome, where we were able to examine the screen up close and walk in the space behind its shell. The actual dome is constructed with an aluminum "nanoseam" , a new technology from Spitz, Inc, the leading producer of planetarium dome screens. The nanoseam panels are completely flush with no overlapping panels or exposed rivets to create a seamless, smooth, and highly reflective display. These panels are attached to a tilted steel frame made of 100% recycled steel, to be as green as possible.

In between the dome and its outer fiberglass shell is a narrow work area, which houses an impressive speaker setup worthy of any IMAX theater. The presentation is broadcast with 5.1 surround sound, which is delivered by a ring of Meyer Sound speakers at the dome's zenith. This array of speakers is backed by an imposing set of subwoofers on the floor, which provided the thundering bass we heard as we were hurled through space. Jon told us that the sound system was specially spec'd by Meyer engineers for optimal placement during the planetarium's construction.

The projectors are from Projection Design, a Norwegian projector manufacturer, and were arranged in conjunction with Visual Acuity, a technical visualization design consultant group. Specifically, the planetarium uses six F30 sx+ projectors, which are the world's first WUXGA projector (able to project at 1920x1200). Currently these six DLP projectors operate at 1400x1050 resolution, but there are plans in place to upgrade to 4K projectors (with a max resolution of 4096x2160 for each projector). There are a few pixels lost due to overlap between projectors, but the current setup projects roughly 8 million pixels on the dome!

A ring of LED lights surrounds the base of the dome, providing colorful ambient lighting before the show. These LEDs can be programmed to light up in any color, though the planetarium has opted for a comforting earthy glow during downtime.

A closer look at the nanoseam panels of the dome. From about 10 feet back, the panels blend together so you can't see the seams.

Two sets of Meyer Sound subwoofers housed behind the dome, carefully arranged for optimal sound quality. Below, you can see one set of speakers mounted on the side of the dome wall. The dome exterior has ladders that allow technicians to climb all the way to the top for maintenance.

One of the six Projection Design F30 projectors in its alcove. This projector actually projects (an inverse image) to a mirror that reflects the video to the dome wall. We were warned not to accidentally touch the mirror, which has to remain smudge free and perfectly aligned.

In addition to softwad and hardware blending, the projectors each have custom-made physical frames that create the right aspect ratio for their images to seamlessly overlap.

A series of ventilation holes flank the side of the dome to provide positive pressure for patrons, which helps alleviate motion sickness.

Next, we get our hands on the planetarium show controls!

Finally, we were allowed to enter the main control room behind the planetarium seating to check out how the real-time navigation works. Surprisingly, the controls for the Uniview program worked much like navigating through a game of Sins of the Solar Empire! We used the mouse to pan and rotate around, holding down Ctrl to alternate between orbiting and panning. The WASD keys functioned just like they would in any first-person shooter we've played, except this time, our actions were being projected on the biggest screen we've ever seen--essentially an IMAX-size screen wrapped around a 75-foot diameter dome. The Uniview program runs on OpenGL, and we were able to confirm that Quake would definitely work -- though the engineers wouldn't admit to actually running it.

In addition to desktop controls, the presenters can drive the system with a Xbox 360 controller (so rad!) or Windows Mobile-based PDAs to pilot while fielding questions from the audience. The software team is also working on an SDK that'll allow iPhone control, so you could fly around using either the multi-touch screen or accelerometer sensors!

Watching the show, examining the hardware, and actually getting hands-on with the software was an incredible experience. We want to thank Jon Britton and Ryan Wyatt for this behind-the-scenes opportunity, and want to encourage any Bay Area locals to check out the exhibit. PC computing doesn't get much more Maximum than this.

From this terminal, the planetarium's pilot can access controls for all three of the rendering systems using a combination of remote desktop and fancy fiber KVMs.When the show's running, the desk is lit with small red lights, which don't interfere with the show or destroy anyone's night vision.

This remote controls the transitions from one rendering system to another, as well as the planetarium's house lights.

In this scene, the blue highlights on the screen represent planets in our galaxy that we've discovered. To date, we've only found 322.

Originally posted: 2008-10-22 12:00:0

20 Must-Have Geek Ringtones and Text Message Alerts (And 10 to Avoid!)

Norman Chan — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:00:21 -0600

Forget the lessons of Tyler Durden. The things you own define who you are. And nothing makes a bigger statement than your cell phone ringtone. Your ringtone gives valuable insight for everyone within earshot about your preferences and personality -- information with which they'll use to judge you (and yes, you're always being judged). You don't want to be the guy sitting in a quiet lecture hall when your phone suddenly starts blasting the latest Fallout Boy single. That tells neighbors that you have poor taste and probably cry yourself to sleep at night. No, you want to be the guy who has Europe's The Final Countdown chime in at opportune moments, letting that cute hipster girl nearby know that yes, you too are a fan of Arrested Development.

For geeks and techies who want to attract like-minded compatriots, we've compiled a list of the top 10 must-have ringtones to own. Any respectable tech/gadget/sci-fi aficionado should have these tones stored on their phones at all times, alternating the chimes in a daily rotation to prevent them from getting stale. We've also included a definitive list of the 10 coolest text-message alert sounds, as well as the most clichéd and obnoxious ringtones and alerts that must be avoided at all cost.

10. Dial-Up Modem Sequence

Retro is in, and there's nothing more old school than the familiar sequence of a dial-up modem. All technies born before 1990 have it memorized by heart, and can duplicate the entire string of beeps and buzzes with their vocal chords. "What's that sound? Oh, it's just the internet calling me."

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2zebltdcelz

9. Futurama Theme

Cancelled before it had an opportunity to jump the shark, Futurama is three parts space drama and five parts pure genius. The catchy theme was inspired by a 1967 song called Psyche Rock, and contrary to popular belief, was not written by Danny Elfman. But you knew that, of course.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?z0hsjxjrvj4

8. Hiphopopotomas (Flight of the Conchords)

Flight of the Conchords are the epitome of geek cool, and nothing says "I like both offbeat humor and mad beats" like the second verse of Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?bmvjzg9wtln

7. Windows 95 Startup Tone

All PC users should recognize this classic arpeggio, which greeted you at the Windows 95 splash screen. This six-second chime ushered in the modern PC computing era, and was appropriately composed by ambient music master Brian Eno.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mymydyuydym

6. R2D2

Before Wall-E strolled into the hearts of moviegoers, R2D2 was the little robot charged with charming a generation of science fiction buffs. As your ringtone, R2D2 becomes your personal co-pilot and starship mechanic. Just don’t tell his life partner, C-3PO.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?tzejxwmtxkx

5. TIE Fighter Theme

Who needs shields or life support? TIE fighters are agile and speedy starfighters, powered by large solar panels and armed with rebel-toasting lasers. Use their theme as a ringtone to let Jedi-fanboys know that your loyalty lies with the empire.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2mcgtljvzwe

4. Kill Bill Theme

Sure, Tarantino’s two-part revenge epic would’ve worked better as one long movie (we’re partial to part one), but Kill Bill is packed with enough memorable scenes to fuel its own subset of popular culture. One of our favorites? The tense showdown between Uma Thurman’s Bride and Lucy Liu’s O-Ren Ishii, set this awesome music clip.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?b1jfi9xbxzw

3. Ralph WIggum

"I bent my wookie." "My cat's breath smells like cat food." "Mrs. Krabappel and Principal Skinner were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and the baby looked at me!" Classic.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?jjbny1elyts

2.Code Monkey (Jonathan Coulton)

This nerd anthem by impresario Jonathan Coulton quickly captured the souls of legions of hard-working, warm-hearted code monkeys everywhere. Coulton, the quintessential geek singer-songwriter, releases his music under the Creative Commons license, and has inspired fan videos, dances, remixes, and even machinima. Show ‘em you’ve got excellent taste and hidden depths!

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?sffuyphrltm

1. CTU Phone Ring

The distinctive chime that rings on all CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) telephones is serious business – calls made to CTU are a matter of life and death. Nothing gets between us and Jack Bauer power hour (except maybe ridiculous plot twists).

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?90dcjinb2mu

Read on for the top 10 text message alerts for geeks!

10. Post Beep

System builders are all-too familiar with this sound. It’s a stress-relieving chime that lets you know your computer has successfully booted. We’re simple folk, and that’s all the reassurance we need in our lives.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?t1x4a7yffye

9. Price is Right (Fail Horn)

Always funny when it happens to someone else (we've long given up on our attempts to make it on the show), the fail horn alerts contestants that they've failed a price-guessing game on The Price is Right. No jet ski’s or washing machine for you, mr. college student/generic retiree/suited-up serviceman!

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?qijjhf6nhc2

8. Murloc Gurgle

Love it or hate it, few sounds are more recognizeable to the 12 million players of World of Warcraft than the eerie gurgle of the Murloc. Short, fishy, full of teeth, and with the propensity to swarm unlucky adventurers, Murlocs inhabit the coasts of Azeroth's rivers, ponds, and oceans. Their trademark burbling yell spells doom to nooblings and easy fodder for experienced adventurers, and are sure to get a reaction. It's the ultimate geeky ringtone - obscure enough to confuse the average human, yet familiar enough to be an automatic 'in' with many gamers.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?s9gxrlm2nfh

7. Wookie Growl

Every time Chewbacca growls in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, he's actually saying "Hey guys, why didn't I get a medal for blowing up the Death Star?"

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?gyy2zwyzyhh

6. Zelda Chest Opening Chime

Like the classic Skinner machine, 8-bit videogame classics rewarded you every time your on-screen avatar succeeded. Unlike the Skinner machine, Zelda rewarded you with a money shot of the loot (held aloft by a triumphant Link) and this timeless, uber-hooky 3 second mini-masterpiece. Put this on your phone and you'll get that "I won!" rush, every single time you get a text.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?8sm54s7rsde

5. KITT

Forget the Hoff and that snooty English dude. Remember the sweet, supercomputer-powered Trans-Am, with it's signature "whoom... whoom" scanning noise. True, that 1984 Trans-Am isn't as lustworthy today, and we don't have a sentient supercomputer buddy in my trunk, but everyone around me knows that we know what the Knight Rider score is, every time we get a text message.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?bdnsnwzmafj

4. Lightsaber Swoosh

Force, Schwartz, midichlorians, mojo, or whatever you want to call it -- setting your text message alert to a light saber swoosh lets the world know that you're packing.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?1ni2wmxxvdl

3. Battlestar Galactica Cylon

The hypnotic humming of a Cylon's red eye is both soothing and ominous -- these robots are out to kill you, you know. And even if modern cylons look like supermodels, we're still fans of the old centurion model that didn’t waste time with sleeper agents or psychological warfare. They just wanted to pulverize some meat bags.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mgn3mh3xtln

2. Metal Gear Solid Codec Alert

"Snake...snakeeee!" Metal Gear Solid's codec lets you pretend that Otacon is paging you to give you some crucial recon data on the building you're infiltrating. Just make sure you're locked into the 141.12 frequency. Use this text message alert in Akihabara and otaku will nod their heads with approval.

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?8jftnbnsbvd

1. Star Trek Communicator

You may think your cellphone is more technologically advanced than a classic Star Trek communicator, but can your iPhone broadcast on subspace channels or break through atmospheric interference to contact orbiting starships? We didn't think so. Pay homage to the grandaddy of all cellphones and get this chime installed right away!

Download the ringtone here: http://www.mediafire.com/?deiviwymtcb

Continue to find out what ringtones must be avoided at all costs!

Ringtones You Absolutely Must Avoid!

Ringtones

5. The Halo Theme

Overplayed and overrated. Let the fratboys and jocks claim Master Chief's worn-out anthem.

4. “Is anyone there?” from Portal

We adored the innocently-voiced sentry drones in last year's surprise hit, but Portal in-jokes got old the 100th time we heard someone call the cake a lie.

3. That noise Will made when he fell off the Showdown bull

Will still has nightmares. He was never quite the same after the incident.

2. Star Trek Theme

Grade-A lady repellent. However, it's the perfect bait to lure unsuspecting Star Wars fans into Enterprise vs. Star Destroyer debates. Everyone loses.

1. Tay Zonday

What does Chocolate Rain even mean!?

Text Message Alerts

5. Wilhelm Scream

Think about it. It's someone screaming to their death every time you get a text message. We'd rather jump off a cliff.

4. Lumbergh's “Yeaaaaah” from Office Space

Please, don't be "that guy".

3. Timmmmay!

Honestly, we're bigger fans of Jimmy. His jokes are hilarious!

2. Leroy Jenkins

Only acceptable if you're planning a large raid on Blackrock Spire.

1. Apple startup chime

Can't you read? We're Maximum PC.

Originally posted: 2008-07-11 09:04:23

50 Skills Every Real Geek Should Have

The Maximum PC Staff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0600

Back in our September 2008 issue, we published a list of 9 Skills Every Nerd Needs – a lighthearted examination of the essential abilities Maximum PC readers should have in their geek arsenal. We still stand by that list, but we were somewhat one-upped last month when we saw that Gizmodo had since run its own list of 50 key geek skills. Their list was very respectable, but we thought that we could do better by not only expanding and refining our original story, but actually teaching you these skills. The highest echelon of geeks will be able to do everything in this list, and this is by no means a full categorization of the complete geek skillset – only what we consider to be the most indispensable abilities. Have anything to add to our list? Post it in the comments!

Name These Connectors!

Finding hidden hardware gems in bins of archaic cards at computer shows and swap meets is an ever-so-crucial nerd skill. Frequently the only way to discern the difference is to do an on-the-spot ID of the edge connector. True nerds should be able to identify even the most esoteric connector in their sleep (if they sleep with their eyes open, that is). Can you separate the crap from the kick ass? No cheating!

A. PCI-Express connector
B. DDR memory
C. Dual-channel RIMM

Run All Your Essential Apps on a USB Stick

Any real nerd is almost sure to have a USB thumbdrive in his pocket at all times. After all, USB flash storage is pretty much the best way to keep data conveniently at hand. What the average nerd might not know, however, is that it’s possible to install all sorts of apps on a thumb drive, meaning that you can use your USB stick as a mobile platform for your browser, email and instant message client, office suite and more. That means you can access these programs, settings intact, from any computer with a spare USB slot.

It’s all made possible by PortableApps.com, an open source platform for portable software. To get started with PortableApps, go to this page and download whichever version of the portable suite suits your needs. Then run the installer, and choose to install to the root of your USB drive. In the future, if you want to add additional portable applications just download the app, then select “add a new app” from PortableApps’ options menu and browse to the .paf.exe file you downloaded.

Right now, there are portable versions of heavyweights like Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice, as well as a whole ton of other, awesome programs.

Straighten the Pins on an Older CPU

There are two quick ways to realign bent pins on older CPUs.

The first, quickest way is to take a credit card and run it through the rows of pins in each direction, which will realign lightly-bent pins.

If a pin is bent too far for the credit card trick, use the barrel of a mechanical pencil to sheath the pin and gently bend it back up straight.

Know the 13 Basic HTML Tags

Dreamweaver is for sissies; real geeks prove their skills by going old school and coding web pages by hand in notepad. But even if you can't keep up with the newest iterations of hypertext markup language, you should still be able to at least edit website code to make minor adjustments. So in case you’ve forgotten, here are the 13 most basic HTML tags:

<h1> to <h6> -- Heading styles from large to small
<p> -- Start a new paragraph
<br> or <br /> -- Create a single line break
<! – Your Comment Here -- > -- Make a hidden comment
<hr> -- Mark the page with a horizontal rule line
<b> -- Bold text
<em> -- Emphasize text
<strong> -- Strong emphasis
<i> -- Italicize text
<u> -- Underline text
  -- Insert a non-breaking space
<a href=”URL”> -- Anchor a link
<img src= “URL” alt=”description”> -- Insert an image

Get Through to Executive Customer Service

One of the most frustrating experiences in a nerd’s life is when a part you’ve bought turns out to be a dud. When something breaks, you have to hit up the customer service line, which can often be an excruciating process involving an endless circle of robotic menus, long hold times, and patronizing, outsourced technicians (yes, I am sure it’s plugged in, thank you for asking). However, there’s a couple of ways to make the process a little easier.

For one, if you’re stuck dealing with a robot phone menu, there’s usually a way to get through directly to a human operator. Generally, ignoring the prompts and repeatedly mashing the 0, 9, * or # keys will eventually confuse the system enough that it’ll send you to an operator. If you have a specific company that’s giving you trouble, go to www.gethuman.com, where there’s an enormous list of customer service numbers, and how to get through to a human at each one.

Second, if you’re not having any luck with the “tier 1” tech support and they won’t elevate you when you ask, consider going over their heads yourself. Search for the phone number of the offending company’s corporate office (the Consumerist has a whole bunch available, or you can search for their corporate info on Yahoo! Finance, if they’re publically traded) and give them a call.

Beat Quake in Under an Hour

The speedrun seems to be a lost art. Sure, new games like Mirror’s Edge encourage that you replay its levels in a time trial mode to compete against other players in the world, but these sanctioned game modes don’t carry the credibility or audacity of classic Quake speed runners. We’re still amazed every time we watch a video of someone beating all of Quake in less than 15 minutes. It’s not just the brevity of the run that impresses us; it’s how elegant and gracefully these players navigate through levels, capitalizing on every perfectly aimed rocket jump and timed bunny hop to shave seconds off of their run time. Watch and learn from these masters.

Build a Hackintosh

Admit it—you’ve cast some sidelong glances at OS X, wondering to yourself if Apple’s shiny OS really lives up to the hype. Well we’re here to tell you that it’s OK to be curious.

Even if your pro-PC leanings have prohibited you from buying a Mac, they don’t have to keep you from trying out OS X. The kind folks over at LifeHacker have posted a how-to about making a Hackintosh—a system custom-built from non-Apple components running OS X. So go ahead; let yourself experiment. Who knows, you might just like it.

Watch TV Shows on the Internet (Legally!)

For quite a while, watching streaming TV on the internet meant suffering through tiny, poorly encoded video on YouTube, 10 minutes at a time, hoping whatever you were watching didn’t get removed before you were done. But those times are behind us now, with a host of corporate-sponsored sites offering legal, ad-supported shows and movies in (comparatively) luxurious resolution.

So what are the options available? Hulu’s still pretty much the best site out there, offering a huge array of full-length shows from NBC, FOX, Comedy Central, FX and others. Veoh.com hosts ABC’s programs, as well as others, and YouTube has recently reached an agreement with CBS to host their shows. One of our favorite video services is southparkstudios.com, which hosts every potty-mouthed episode of South Park for viewing on demand.

Streaming movies are just now becoming available from several sources. Hulu has a modest selection of free flicks, NetFlix offers streaming movies to subscribers, and Amazon, Blockbuster.com and others allows you to stream videos for a per-movie fee.

Get Around the Content Filter on Public Computers

Are the content restrictions on public computers cramping your style. Don’t worry about it; there’s two easy ways to bypass those filters completely.

If you’re just doing some normal web browsing, and aren’t planning to send any passwords or sensitive information, you can try using a simple web proxy. Proxy.org maintains a list of free anonymous proxies. If you’re worried about privacy, using Tor is a more secure option. If you install Tor on a copy of the (aforementioned) portable edition of Firefox, and keep it with you on a USB drive, you can surf the web anonymously from any computer that allows you to run your own software.

Recite pi to 23 Decimal Places

3.14 may have been enough accuracy for 10th grade geometry, but it’s just not going to win you any respect from the other nerds. We consider 23 places the bare minimum for pi memorization.

If you’re having trouble dealing with all that, try “chunking” your memory. That is to say, instead of simply trying to remember each number in sequence (a task that humans tend not to be very good at) try to remember the numbers in groups or chunks that have more significance for you. If that’s not doing it for you, consider piems—stories and poems structured around digits of pi.

For the record, pi is: 3.141592653589793238462643...

Replace the Controller Board on a Hard Drive

Hard drive failure is more common than you think, but the culprit isn’t always a faulty platter. If your hard disk goes dead and you didn’t hear any screeching death rattles, one thing you could always try is replacing the drive’s controller board. It’s a long shot, but an essential skill nonetheless that occasionally works.

Replacing a hard drive’s controller circuit is as simple as unscrewing the PCB board from the bottom of the drive and detaching the ribbon connector. Make sure you can do this without exposing any of the drive’s internals. You also have to make sure that the new board comes from EXACTLY the same hard drive model as your defective unit – the make, model, and even firmware have to match. Mount the new board in with the same screws and connect the ribbon cable. If you did everything right and the problem was indeed the controller board, you should be able to retrieve your data.

Benchmark Your Computer

There are a lot of ways to increase the performance of your PC. But what fun is it unless you can actually see how much faster your machine runs. You might be able to get a vague idea of how much it’s improved by observing its performance while playing games, but unless you thoroughly benchmark your computer you’ll never know for sure. Professional-grade benchmarking software like we use for our reviews here at Maximum PC runs pretty pricey, but it’s not impossible to benchmark your system using entirely free software.

In fact, we’ve posted a guide telling you how to do exactly that.

Decorate Your Room Using Only Printer Paper

Some people might think that decorating a room requires a trip to Crate and Barrel and an open line of credit, but if you’re a real nerd you know better. You know that you can get all your decorating done with nothing more than a printer and some paper.

To cover your walls, you don’t need fancy stuff like “artwork,” or even real posters, all you need is the Rasterbator. Find a reasonably high-res image, and the Rasterbator will blow it up and split it into single-page-sized chunks for you to tape together. However, if you want your poster to be one contiguous image, be prepared to spend some time with a ruler and razorblade trimming off the white borders.

If your shelves are feeling a little barren, it might be time to fill them up with a little papercraft. Assuming you’ve been on the internet over the last couple years, you’re probably aware of the general idea behind papercraft—you print out a template and fold it, origami-style, into a little paper model. What you might not have known is that it’s easy to create your own papercraft templates. So get to it!

Securely Erase Your Data So it Can't be Recovered

When you format your disk, most of the data it contains is not actually deleted. Rather, the disk space that it occupies is made inaccessible and overwriteable by the file system. Until it is actually overwritten, the data on the formatted disk is still recoverable by anyone with the right tools. If you want to more thoroughly destroy your data (without destroying your hard disk) you’ll want to perform a “zero fill,” an operation which overwrites a pattern of 0s over all the bits in the hard disk.

Most hard disk manufacturers offer some sort of drivers on their website which will allow you to zero fill your drive. These drivers are the most reliable option, but if you can’t find them, there’s also free apps such as killdisk, which should do the job on any hard disk.

There is some theoretical chance that magnetic remanence could allow someone to recover data from a zeroed drive, but it’s such longshot that you’re better off not wasting money on software that promises to overwrite your drive some ridiculous number of times.

Get into a Windows Computer if you Forgot Your Password

So, you managed to lose the password to your Windows account. How screwed are you? If you’re a true nerd, not very. There are a couple of things you can do to try and recover your password.

First, if you haven’t changed the default settings on your Windows install (which you should have) you may be able to log into an unprotected administrator account by starting the PC up in safe mode. To do this, press f8 as the computer boots up. If you can get into the system in this mode, you can reset other user’s passwords by clicking the “User Accounts” icon in the control panel.

If that doesn’t work, your best bet it to attempt to crack the password using a cracker like ophcrack loaded onto a bootable CD, floppy or USB drive.

Hide Porn from Your Significant Other

Want to keep your forays into the internet’s seedier spots unnoticed by your spouse? No problem. For most users, enabling a simple feature like FireFox or Safari’s “private browsing” feature will do the trick. These features make it so that your browser temporarily stops storing any information about your activities on the web, meaning that your wife won’t get any nasty surprises the next day when Google autocompletes her search to something obscene. If you absolutely must store files to your computer that you don’t want anyone else to know about, use a thumb drive (they’re dirt cheap these days) and hide it in your sock drawer or something.

However, if you’re dating an FBI agent, or are just absurdly paranoid, there are more secure solutions. You could just encrypt all the illicit data, but then you might have to face questions like “Honey, why is there a password-protect .rar file sitting on the desktop?”

To get around this, hide your data steganographically. That is to say hide it inside another file. You might have seen this technique used on the internet (say, as part of an ARG) to hide a picture inside of an audio clip, for instance, but it can also be used to hide larger amounts of data. Using the open source app TrueCrypt, you can create an encrypted disk of any size inside of an inconspicuous-looking file.

Explain What E=MC^2 Means to a Liberal Arts Major

Sure, you know what it means. The mass-energy equivalence is Einstein’s most famous revelation and the key to his theory of special relativity. But that’s all mumbo jumbo to a Liberal Arts major, who’d rather sing sonnets than study science. Hence the challenge of explaining this famous equation in layman’s terms. Defining the variables (E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum) may be easy enough, but getting someone to wrap their heads around the concept of how those relate will take lots of patience and even some creativity. Our tip: speak in their language (poetry or song), and do it over a glass of merlot. Or two.

Abstain from Buying Extended Warranties

Yeah, it sucks when one of your favorite doodads breaks down just one week after the manufacturer’s warranty expires, but in the long run you’re doing yourself and your wallet a disservice if you shell out for the extended warranties.

Instead, read user reviews and consumer reports about electronics before you make a purchase, and make sure you buy brands with a good reputation for reliability. Also, compare the manufacturer’s warranties offered by the devices’ makers; some companies offer much longer coverage than others.

Also, most major credit cards offer extended warranty protection. This means that if you buy something that comes with a manufacturer’s warranty, and you pay for it with your credit card, the credit card company will automatically provide some amount of warranty coverage after the manufacturer’s warranty expires. Visa cards, for instance, will match the term of the original warranty in extended coverage, up to an additional year.

Use Photoshop or GIMP to Imperceptibly Doctor a Photo

No, adding humorously misspelled text to a picture of a cat doesn’t count.

They used to say that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Now, thanks to the power and ubiquity of Photoshop (or GIMP, for the open source fans and the extra-scrupulous), everyone knows that a photo isn’t worth anything but lies and deception. They also used to say “fight fire with fire,” and that’s still good advice. Learn to use Photoshop yourself and you’ll be better equipped to see through other people’s photo trickery.

Use a DSLR in Full Manual Mode

Modern digital cameras are pretty user-friendly. You just turn them on—maybe adjust a setting or two, depending on the type of photo you’ll be shooting—then just point and click. However, if you ever want to take photos at more than an Ashton Kutcher level, you’re going to have to learn to use an SLR.

And sure, modern DSLRs can do most of the focusing and aperture adjustments for you, but if you really want to shoot like a pro you’ll need to be able to operate it in full manual. It’s not just for bragging rights, either; manually operating your DSLR will result in a better understanding of the operation and physical underpinnings of your camera, and will ultimately make you a better photographer.

Mooch Your Neighbor's Wi-Fi

Even without getting into any real hardcore hacking, there are a couple of things you can do to snag some connectivity off of nearby wireless networks. First, check the list of in-range routers for those using the factory-default router name, such as “linksys” or “belkin,” as these are the most likely to be unencrypted or poorly protected. If they have are encrypted, try common default passwords like “admin,” “password,” or the name of the router. If that doesn’t work, use this enormous list of router-specific defaults to find some others to try.

Protect your Wi-Fi

There are just a few things you need to do to keep your brand new wireless router secure. All of these changes can be made from the router’s setting page, which you get to by entering its IP address into a browser.

1.    Change the router’s name. Using the default name is an invitation to hackers.
2.    Change the admin password. As mentioned in the section above, the default admin passwords for every router are easily available to every hacker with two brain cells to rub together.
3.    Activate the router’s encryption. Use WPA encryption rather than WEP, as long as all machines on the network can use it, since it’s much more secure. Obviously, pick a strong passphrase.

Create an Animated Spray in Valve Games

Expressing your individuality online can be difficult, especially if you’re a gamer. While running and gunning your way through games like Counter-Strike: Source or Team Fortress 2 it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. But leaving your mark on the world is easier than you might think. Animated sprays are a great way for you to tell your enemy that, not only have they been pwned, but that you're the one responsible.

Custom animated sprays were limited to the most elite players in the days of Counter-Strike 1.6, but now that Source is here that’s all changed. So prepare yourself for a quick and easy way to make your own spray and let the lolcats run wild!

Set up a RAID

What kind of nerd would be satisfied with a meager one hard drive acting alone? With prices on enormous drives hitting comically low levels, now’s a perfect time to set up a big ol’ RAID. If, somehow, you’re not already familiar with the different types of arrays and their relative strengths, check out our article here. If you already have a RAID and want to build it into an inexpensive NAS, we’ve got you covered there, too.

Calculate a Pitcher’s Earned Run Average

If you thought that nerds and sports don’t mix, you’re dead wrong. As long as a sport has more statistics than you can shake a spreadsheet at, we’re all over it. A pitcher’s ERA, for instance, is nine times the number of earned runs he allows in a season, divided by the number of innings he’s pitched in that season.

Run Two Operating Systems

Dual-booting two versions of Windows or running Linux on a separate partition can be a life-saver when running into compatibility issues with Vista. Plus, power users never want to be confined to one computing environment when they can take advantage of multiple operating systems. It’s not difficult to install a second OS on a second hard drive or empty partition – you just boot from an installation disc and choose the appropriate storage device. But how about getting Linux to install without formatting or repartitioning your hard drive? Our guide explains how you can try out all the features of the Ubuntu Linux distribution without screwing up your existing data.

Install a Hard Drive in a Laptop

Some people get nervous about opening up their laptops. After all, everything in there is so small and delicate-looking. But a real nerd knows that laptop hard drives are just about as easy to replace as desktop disks, and isn’t afraid to dig into his notebook’s innards.

Remove a hard drive from a notbook generally only involves unscrewing the bottom panel of the laptop, unplugging the hard disk, then unscrewing the drive’s bracket and removing it from the computer. Then, remove a couple of screws to slide the actual drive out of the bracket. Reverse the procedure to install the new drive.

Pull Off an Elaborate Prank

It takes a lot of smarts to pull off a truly exceptional prank, so it makes sense that most of the all-time great pranks have been pulled off by the nerds at super-brainy institutions like MIT. Of course, you don’t have to be able to come up with pranks as involved as Caltech’s, but you should keep a trick or two in your repertoire. After all, you never know when the next great prank war is going to break out.

Rocket Jump Without Using a Macro

1.   Run forward.
2.   Quickly aim down.
3.   Press fire and jump at the same time.
4.   Touch the sky!

That’s it. Rocket jumping, the art of propelling yourself high in the air with the help of explosives, is actually easier than it looks. Whether you want to launch yourself to the roof above a control point or sail across a wide ditch, the only thing you need to remember is that you have to fire your rocket at the exact moment you jump. The most common problem newbies have with rocket jumping is launching the rocket too late, which doesn’t get you as high up. Also keep in mind that momentum matters, so if you want to fly forward, you have to be running in that direction as you rocket jump. Expert players will also be able master the Rocket Crouch Jump, which gets you also twice as high (and far) if you press the crouch key immediately after you jump and fire. It’s a little tricky, but the payoff is worth it.

This age-old tactic doesn’t come without a price. In Team Fortress 2, for example, a perfectly executed rocket jump takes away 51 health points. In addition to splash damage from your rocket, you also lose health from falling after a skyscraping jump (another 25 health in TF2). Avoid this extra penalty by landing on a level above your starting position.

Wire Your Home with Ethernet Cable

The future may be wireless, but in the present it’s still very handy to have your house wired with Ethernet cable. Unfortunately, if carpentry isn’t really your strong suit, the job of running thousands of feet of cable through your walls, floors and ceilings might seem a little bit daunting. But take heart in the fact that Maximum PC EIC Will Smith didn’t get scare d when faced with the same challenge, and everything worked out fine.

Know the 6 Most Important Linux Commands

Want to use Linux? While it’s not strictly necessary anymore, knowing these TK Linux commands will help you in your quest to attain ultimate nerdiness.

* cd – used to navigate to different directories on your system, cd .. takes up up one directory, while cd / takes you to the root of the drive, and cd with no arguments takes you to your home directory
* ls – like dir on DOS, ls lists the contents of the directory you’re currently in
* cp – used to copy files to a new location on your hard drive cp /home/wsmith/test.txt /home/bjones/text.txt
* mv – used to copy a file to a new destination, then demolish the old one. Uses the same syntax as cp
* mkdir – makes a new directory at your current location
* rm – deletes the files specified. With the -r option, it also deletes subdirectories.

Rip Your CDs to FLAC

Everyone knows how to rip a CD to MP3 using iTunes, but if that’s the way you convert your tunes to a portable-friendly format, you’re doing your ears a disservice. While MP3 and other lossy formats sound OK on tinny earbuds and portable players, hook them up to a true audiophile rig, you’ll be disappointed. Ripping your CDs losslessly gives you a bit-for-bit identical audio file at a fraction of the size of an uncompressed CD. Of course, if you still insist on ripping to MP3, you can use EAC and LAME to do that too.

Stream Your Movies, Music, and Photos to Any TV in Your House

You’ve taken the time to rip and transcode hundreds of DVDs for playback on your iPhone, PSP, or other digital media player. You also have a current-gen gaming console—an Xbox 360 or PS3—hooked up to a giant TV in your living room. Right now, you have everything you need to stream your high-quality DVD rips from your computer into your living room using TVersity and our handy how-to guide.

Install and Configure a Virtual Machine

Using virtual machine software you can install multiple OSes on one machine and switch between them, without rebooting! You can use VMs to do everything from run servers to setup a sandbox for testing potentially infected files and applications. Getting started is as easy as downloading virtual machine software, installing it and creating your first machine, then installing Windows, Linux, BSD, or pretty much any other OS on it. Want to move your VM to another machine? That’s easy too, just copy the file that contains your VM to your other machine, install the virtual machine software, and you’re ready to go.

Run Multiple Monitors Like a Pro

There’s no better way to assert your geek ascendancy than to load your desk to the buckling point with multiple monitors. But any old layman can plug an extra monitor into the back of his box and extend his desktop onto it in the display options menu, a poweruser knows that to unlock the full potential of his many displays, he needs a software solution like Ultramon. If you’re unsure about shelling out the 40 bucks for Ultramon, check out our guide on the app and its alternatives.

If you want to take multiple displays to the next level, consider using multiple computers, connected with a virtual KVM switch like Synergy. Now that’s sure to impress the kiddies.

Hack Firmware on a Router

Navigating through a router’s multitude of menus and configuration settings can be confusing, especially given the obtuse documentation typically bundled with the device. That’s why we prefer third-party open-source firmware, which not only streamlines a router’s graphical user interface but also adds robust functionality. For Linksys routers, our firmware of choice is Tomato (www.polarcloud.com/tomato). As with all third-party firmware upgrades, installing Tomato does come with a slight risk of damaging your router. While we’ve never had any problems with this software, it’ll definitely void your router’s original warranty. Read our guide here!

Pick a Lock

Picking locks in video games has always been pretty easy; you make a skill check, break a pick or two, maybe even play a little mini-game, and the door swings right open. In the real world picking a lock is a lot tougher, but it’s still something you can learn to do with a little practice. You can find a great article about how to pick a lock at wikihow, complete with video, diagrams, and information on how to make your own picks.

Once you’ve mastered the basic pick-and-tension-wrench method, check out the article on bumping a lock. This is an even more sophisticated and efficient method for picking a lock, and is sure to impress your friends.

Differentiate Between Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb

Ah, the immortal question: Which reigns supreme, Dr Pepper or Mr PiBB? Well, actually it’s not much of a contest. After all, there’s a reason that Pepper got his PhD and PiBB is still stuck slaving away in the world of blue-collar sodas. Hell, the kids these days don’t even call Mr. PiBB “Mr.” anymore; he’s just “PiBB” now. It’s shameful, really.

But just knowing which is superior isn’t enough. A true nerd can distinguish between the two in a double-blind taste test and can reverse-engineer each into its secret ingredients. There’s a long standing rumor that Dr. Pepper is made with prune juice, but it turns out that this is false. Us? Of course we could tell you what the secret is, but we’ll let you figure it out for yourself.

Avoid DRM on everything

DRM is certainly a hot button issue these days, and there’s no better way to register your opinions than with your pocketbook. It would be nearly impossible to avoid DRM completely without resorting to piracy or giving up on a lot of fun things, but there are steps you can take to companies who release their IP without DRM. For instance, you can try awesome, DRM-free games such as Sins of a Solar Empire and World of Goo.

Most digital music stores these days are DRM free, including Amazon and Walmart’s stores, so you’re pretty much in the clear there, although most of iTunes is still off limits. Unfortunately, if you want DRM free video, Bittorrent is still pretty much your only option.

Download Flash Video and Bend it to Your Will

Any old schmuck can watch streaming video on sites like YouTube, but a real nerd’s nerd can save the video to disk, convert it to run on his PSP and his modded DS, and save it to DVD, all before you can say “copyright infringement.” If you can’t do all that, educate yourself.

Get Around In DOS

With every passing year, the percentage of nerds who grew up in a time after DOS gets larger. So listen up, young’ns, because even if it’s not something you have to use very much anymore, if you don’t know how to at least get around in DOS you’re going to look like a real PC lightweight.

Commit these seven commands to heart, and you’ll never find yourself stranded in DOS:

CD: Change directory; essential for getting around
DIR: List the contents of the current directory.
COPY: Copy a file, obviously. The syntax is “copy [filename] [destination filepath and filename]”
MKDIR: Create a directory. The syntax is “mkdir [directory name]”
MOVE: Move a file. Used with the same syntax as COPY
DEL: Delete a specified file.
RD: Delete a specified empty directory. If you want to delete a directory with contents, use RD /S /Q which will delete the entire directory tree

Rip a DVD to h.264

As hard drives get to be bigger and cheaper than ever before, it makes more and more sense to rip your optical data to your disk. Video transcoding can be kind a tricky process, but we’ve written a guid e to make the process much easier. So check it out and start clearing off your DVD shelf today.

Overclock Your PC and Tune Your BIOS

If you’re still running your computer’s components at their factory default settings, you’re missing out on a lot of potential power. You can check out our guide for overclocking your CPU and RAM by following this link, and then continue on to our piece about overclocking your videocard.

But there’s no reason to stop there. Check out our in-depth article on tweaking your BIOS to get even more control over the nitty-gritty inner workings of your rig.

Use Remote Desktop

One of the most powerful mobile computing tools available to Windows XP and Vista users is Remote Desktop. It’s pretty easy to set up and allows you to securely access and control your home or office computer from anywhere. To use Remote Desktop, follow these steps:

1. On the host computer, enable Remote Desktop. On an XP computer this is done by clicking on the “System” icon in the control panel, and then navigating to the “Remote” tab. Once there, check the box marked “Allow users to connect remotely to this computer” and click the “Select Remote Users…” button to select which users can connect remotely, bearing in mind that any users with administrator access can connect automatically.

2. Assuming your host computer is connected to the internet through a router, you’ll need to enable port forwarding for port 3389. If you do not know how to do this, simply hit this link, select your router model from the list and follow the instructions.

3. In order for other computers to connect to the host computer, you’ll need to either get a static IP address from your ISP, or use a service such as DynDNS.com, which will allow you to have a subdomain which always points to your computer, even if you have a dynamic IP. Also, make sure Remote Desktop is configured as an exception in Windows Firewall.

4. On the client computer, click on the Start button, then Accessories, then Communications. Click on the Remote Desktop Connection in that menu. In the menu that pops up specify your host computer’s IP address, and click connect. Then enter your login information just like you normally would, and you’re all set.

Debate the Relative Merits of an Imperial Star Destroyer vs. the USS Enterprise

It’s the debate to end all debates. The quintessential battle between two breeds of geek: the hypothetical confrontation between the USS Enterprise (1701-D from The Next Generation) from Star Trek and an Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars. The dispute will probably never be resolved, but satisfaction doesn’t come from a resolution, it stems from the details of the discussion. Do lasers have any effect on the Enterprises’s shields? (No, according the TNG episode “The Outrageous Okona”) Should you take into account TIE fighters? What about the Force? We could go on and on.

To adequately prepare for the debate, you should watch all 176 episodes of The Next Generation along with the three original Star Wars films. In addition, you can familiarize yourself with the various technical manuals released detailing the specifications for each ship, though these might not be considered “canon”. Pointing out technical inconsistencies and plot loopholes is also a reliable way to getting on your opponent’s nerves.

Build Your Own Computer

We’re a little hesitant to say too much about this last item on the list, since we don’t want to insult our reader’s PC IQ too much and we figure that if you read Maximum PC, you’ve probably built at least one PC. However, the bottom line is that if you’ve never built your own computer from parts, you might as well just turn in your pocket protector right now, because you’re not a real nerd.

If you’ve somehow made it this far without putting together a PC and want to start now, or just want our advice on a powerful machine you can make without breaking the bank, check out our most recent No-Compromises Budget PC guide and get building!

10 Most Powerful Computers of All Time

Tom Edwards — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:45:10 -0500

Sure, you overclock your rig to the bleeding edge, direct deposit your paycheck to Newegg, and are on the utility company’s watch list because of the blackouts you’ve been known to cause. Yes, you’re a badass power user, but let’s face it, none of your home-built rigs can touch these 10 beasts. So what if half of these machines only exist in the minds of sci-fi writers – their computational prowess transcends the fiction/reality plane, putting our mighty Petaflop age to shame. Peruse this list for inspiration and then get building, you’ve got some catching up to do before you can compete with the real big boys. We won’t settle until our rigs achieve sentience.

10.Tardis

Dr. Who is the original geek cult TV series, beating Star Trek to the small screen by three years, and while Tardis is not the only rig on this list allows for time travel, were suckers for that Time Lord tech, and doubly impressed that the Tardis is grown, not built, making it the ultimate green PC.

9. WABAC machine

Baseball. Nope. A beautiful summer day. No way. The ice cream man. Uh-uh. Nothing, seemingly, was powerful enough to draw kids outside when Rocky and Bullwinkle was on and Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman hopped into the WABAC machine.

8. Holly

Although regularly showing signs of senility due to spending 3 million years on its own, we find Holly’s ability to transform from a middle aged, balding man into a blonde woman a particularly desirous skill for many technophiles.

7. Proteus IV

Talk about packing a load of RAM, no other machine we know of has the power to impregnate Julie Christie!

6. Deep Blue

What could possibly be more boring than watching a chess match? In our book, nothing (that is until someone decides to start broadcasting online poker tournaments). Until that day arrives, chess retains the title of worst spectator sport ever devised. Yet the epic battle between Deep Blue and Gary Kasparov had us rethink this proposition. Deep Blue’s 1997 victory gave us an early view into the mind of our soon-to-arrive computer overlords.

5. WOPR

Yes, in fact, we would like to play a game. The WOPR takes us back to a more innocent time when a 2400 baud modem and a bit of ingenuity would allow you to change your grades or play a game of Global Thermonuclear War. And in a game of chess, we’ll take WOPR over entry No. 6 any day.

4. Roadrunner

Roadrunner is a $133 million computer used for classified military projects. Perhaps a $135 million computer will be able to find weapons of mass destruction.

3. HAL

How many conversations between a man and a computer have become cultural touchstones? By our count, one. Even folks who consider sci-fi a sort of geek plague that will instantaneously make you wear your pants three inches too high and utilize a Flowbee for your next haircut know that HAL doesn’t want to open the pod bay doors.

2. Master Control Program

We can think of no other computer powerful enough to cause a grown man to do this:

1. M5 Multitronic System

Yes, Dr. Who was first, but Start Trek remains unquestionably the geek TV touchstone. And while the other machines on this list present a broad range of unique and previously unseen powers, we’re quite confident in our assessment that no other machine could possibly be more powerful than the rig that was powerful enough to power the ship that powered the show that powers a million geeks!

Something we left off the list? Enter your choices in the comments below.