Just when you thought you were safe from the crushing jaws of contest defeat at the hands of J. Irving-Giles (his hands have jaws), iZotope announces the RX Spectrogram Screenshot contest. You see the associated image? You're going to have to make your audio look a lot better than that to dethrone my iron man contest winning streak. I'm on fire!

Before we get into the rules of this contest, it's important to know what iZotope RX does. In short, it takes your audio and turns it into a spectrogram image which allows you to see events that are occurring at different frequencies. While it can be useful for diagnosing unwanted noises, it also aids society by keeping hippies mesmerized in their computer chairs watching media player visualizations while listening to Umphrey's McGee and other such music named after imaginary muppets.

So muster up the cajones and try to capture the sublimest screenshot of RX's spectrogram in action, using any type of audio source. Send the screenshot to iZotope, and they'll pick J. Irving-Giles plus four other winners to receive free t-shirts and a name drop in the next iZotope Newsletter.

The only rule I live by is that there are no rules. Unfortunately, iZotope feels otherwise, trying to stifle my renegade antics. Here's the official contest rules.

• One entry per person please
• Screenshot must not be edited or altered (except for cropping) - all images should be made inside of RX!
• Image must be submitted as a .jpg or .png file, no larger than 2MB in size
• Please put "RX Screenshot Contest" in the subject line
• Include a short description of the audio you used, your name, and where you're from
• All submissions must be received by June 1, 2008!

Send your entry to spectrogram@izotope.com.

Because I'm already a strong favorite, I'm going to pass on some tips as a head start, and I'm typing them with my eyes closed so I don't see what they are myself. Now that's what I call confidence.

If you don't already have iZotope RX or extra cash, you can download a free trial version with all the features you need for spectrogram display. If you don't know how to take a screenshot, it's pretty simple:

Mac OS:

• Hold down the APPLE and SHIFT keys
• Press 3 for a screen shot of the entire screen or press 4 to select just a section of the screen you want a screenshot of
• Press the space bar after you press 4 if you want it to automatically size the screenshot so that it perfectly matches the window it's over. After you press the space bar, a camera icon should come up
• The screenshot will be placed on your desktop
• Use any image editor to crop the image if you wish, and to convert it to an appropriately sized .jpg or .png file to send

Windows XP/Vista

• Hold SHIFT then hit the Print Screen button -- this will place a screenshot in the Windows Clipboard
• Open an image editor such as Photoshop or MS Paint, then choose Edit | Paste or hit Ctrl + v to paste the image into a document
• Crop the image if necessary, and save the image as an appropriately sized .jpg or .png file

Looks like it's easier on a PC. Up yours, Justin Long.