Woke up late for that early morning video conference call? No time to shower or get ready to look your best? Don't worry, Microsoft has got you covered with some digital makeup.

Yes, literally. The company this week was awarded a patent on a method for applying digital makeup to participants in a video-conference call. It's one of the more unusual Microsoft patents we've seen in a while -- although at least it's not implicitly resigned to failure like one of the other patents the company was granted this week, for a method of using a proxy window to alert users when an application crashes.

Then again, both of those could be trumped by Microsoft's recently surfaced patent application for a "brain pedometer" used "to ensure that the individual is maximizing his or her brain activity."

Who says Microsoft isn't doing anything innovative these days?

The company originally applied for the digital makeup patent in May 2005. In the meantime, such video effects have become relatively commonplace. The company was awarded the patent last week. The basic idea is to alter the video stream to make a person look better, but the patent also references a scenario in which "the video conferencing participant tries to make his or her own image look comical or altered."

The "visual indication for hung applications" patent seems relatively straightforward, but many users would no doubt prefer that the company and Windows application developers focus on making sure the software doesn't "hang" in the first place. An excerpt from the text of the patent explains the concept.

Existing computer operating systems do not provide an indication to users when an application hangs. Users can become frustrated when trying to interact with an application window that they can see, but is non-responsive to inputs from the users. Moreover, hung applications do not provide display data to the operating system. As a result, when another application window is placed over a hung application window, the display data for the hung application window is lost and cannot be restored.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for computer operating system functionality that alerts users when an application hangs.

Microsoft applied for the patent on the "brain pedometer" concept last year, and the patent application was made public last week.

"The system includes mechanisms that obtain indication of brain activity associated with an individual which can be utilized to ensure that the individual is maximizing his or her brain activity," the abstract reads. "Where it is determined that the individual is not optimally utilizing his or her brain, feedback can be directed to the individual in order to stimulate brain activity in a specified response center of the brain."

Previously: The Microsoft Diet? Get Healthy By Glimpsing Your Flabby Future