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Elf Yourself. Just upload a photo of someone’s face (your own, a pal, or a loved one), adjust it online, and out pops a singing, dancing, elf. It gets better: The site prompts you to call a special number where you can record a voice message. Seconds later, your elf will be singing your message as he boogies down. His mouth even opens and closes to match your words! Send your elf to a friend or save him for yourself. Either way, he’s sure to chase away those post XMAS-morning doldrums. Elf Yourself p.s. For more XMAS fun, check out the Scared of Santa gallery. Ho ho ho. |
It’s XMAS again, and whether you’re cowering from a |
At least, that seems to be the general thinking behind PikiPimp.com. And we think they’re onto something. Upload or type in the URL for a photo, and PikiPimp will let you accessorize it with facial hair, eye-wear, new lips, ears, tattoos, and tongues… In short, embarrassing knickknacks of all sorts. It’s like Mr. Potato Head but with photos. PikiPimp’s not the first to do this, but they do it exceptionally well. Resize and rotate your additions, even adjust their opacity until they’re just right. Then hit save and print, share, or pop your creation into cards. Grandma with aviators, Robby with a rabbi beard and a parrot on his shoulders. It’s all here. If you’ve resorted to e-cards for friends this year, take our advice and put your photo through PikiPimp before clicking send. They may even thank you. PikiPimp p.s. We had trouble getting PikiPimp to work in Safari, but it’s hunky-dory in Firefox. Photo credit: Mr. J. Lodwick himself by Mareen Fischinger |
Your friends would look better if they had goatees, chest hair, and maybe some bruises.|
And it figures it out using photography. LikeBetter is a quirky, photo-based experiment made by the kids at Pairwise. Visit, and you’ll be presented two images. Pick the one you like better. Rinse, repeat. After a few rounds, an eerie-looking pink brain starts pulsing on your screen. Click it to learn something about yourself that no website could possibly know. It’s like a modern-day, artificially-intelligent fortune teller. An excellent way to while away a few minutes at work today. LikeBetter.com
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This website knows more about you than any website should know.
And knowing you, you’ve done the research, asked around, and probably discovered what we have: everyone’s got a different opinion. Your camera manufacturer is happy to tell you that 5 megapixels will get you pristine poster-sized prints (hogwash!), while purists proclaim that your digital is good for no more than 4x6s, no matter what the resolution. (Baloney!) The truth, as is so often the case, lies somewhere in the middle. The good folks over at Design215 have put together a super easy-to-digest resolution chart that gives you the straight dope. At a glance, it tells you how many megapixels you’ll need to print at true, photographic quality. (ie. It looks sharp, even when your nose is mashed up against the print.) Simple! Chart: How Many Megapixels You Really Need p.s. Need to cheat and print bigger anyway? Read the fine print below the chart for more details.
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If you’re a digital camera convert (or thinking of becoming one) you’ve likely wondered how big you can print those digital files you’ve been capturing by the hundreds.|
Zingfu, my friend, Zingfu. A simple site, with a simple goal: to let you make campy compositions with your photos. There’s nearly 100 different templates (anti-motivational posters, celebrities, magazines, embarrassing situations of all kinds) and they don’t charge a nickel. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but it’s tons of fun. And if you edit your photos a bit before you upload them, the results are surprisingly good. Zingfu |
Ever wanted to see yourself up on a giant screen in Times Square? On the cover of Rolling Stone? Ever wondered what you’d look like in a plane full of snakes, or as George Costanza in his infamous semi-nude portrait?|
Your little buddy gives you unconditional love, so why not make some time to photograph the furry/fishy/scaly little guy? To get you going, we’ve compiled a list of great sites: tips on taking perfect pet photos, as well as amazing examples of the form. The best advice we can give you? Love your subject and you cannot go wrong. |
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Steak in a tube it’s not, but there is a bright spot in our not-so-futuristic future: the cell phone. Seriously, 30 years ago who would have imagined we’d all be able to make phone calls, take pictures, listen to music, play videogames, and watch TV all from a tiny device that slips in our pockets? It’s super rad totally awesome magic. But wait, there’s more! Now there’s a way to take pictures with your cameraphone (of documents and whiteboards) and have them turned into PDFs and emailed to you, or even faxed, straight from your phone. To top it off, the PDFs are even searchable! It gets better: soon you’ll be able to snap a pic of a business card and import the info right into your computer’s address book with a single click. Slick! You’ll need a phone with a 1 megapixel or better camera (most recent phones qualify, check yours here), though the service works with digital cameras, too. We’re not gonna lie to you, we’d still rather have a hoverboard. Until then, check out scanR. scanR p.s. Ok, so cell phones aren’t the only bright spot. They did finally invent that Dick Tracy watch. p.p.s. We hear that scanR’s upgrading their service this morning, so you may not be able to get through until 9 am EST. |
It’s 2006. Where are the personal helicopters, robotic maids, and hoverboards?|
So you may as well join them. Over at MacMerc, they’ve got a step-by-step tutorial that’ll have you creating iKids, iPets, and iFriends in no time. (And if no time is just too long, send your pic to iPop My Photo along with $20, and they’ll do it for you!) Make Your Own iPod Ad Silhouettes p.s. You’ll find a simpler tutorial at Photoshop Lab. It lacks some of the subtleties of the MacMerc method, but it gets the job done. |
Unless you’ve been living under a stack of LPs and 8-tracks for the past few years, you’ve seen the too-hip-for-you iPod ads everywhere by now. On buses, billboards, and buildings, you can’t escape those hipsters jumping and gyrating with their white earbuds.|
But wanna know the real reason your camera records video? It’s so you can enjoy a good laugh while making friends and loved ones look silly. You see, when you hold up a camera, people expect you to take a photograph, not a video. So flip your camera into video mode and pretend like you’re taking a photo. Feign technical difficulties while your bud tries patiently to hold his smile and you’re virtually guaranteed an amusing minute or so of strained footage. Don’t believe us? Check out comedian Katie Dippold’s collection at Long Awkward Pose. (Some favorites: Anthony, Deniz, Jack Jack — what a sport!) Life is too short and too serious not to play the occasional practical joke. And trust us, you’ll both laugh about it afterward. Long Awkward Pose
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Last week we told you that the video mode on your digital camera was a fine way to make yourself a flipbook. It is.|
Bubblesnaps to the rescue! Just upload a picture, add thought or speech bubbles, and email your creation to friends. They can even respond in kind, triggering a visual meets verbal tete-a-tete. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But which thousand? With Bubblesnaps, you get to decide! Bubblesnaps |
Your candid snapshots of friends mid-sentence just scream to be vandalized with suggestive speech bubbles, while pics of Fido beg for anthropomorphic embellishment (via thought bubble.)