Common Paradox Tech Blog

Thanks in part to native support in Windows 7 and falling LCD panel pricing (price fixing allegations notwithstanding), the time is right for touch technology to really take off on the desktop. Enter Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), the Taiwan-based panel maker who just launched a 21.5-inch projected capacitive touch panel.

Details remain pretty sparse, but according to Wolf Chen, VP of CPT, the 21-5-inched panel is currently being validated by clients. But that’s not all the company has been up to. CPT said it has also started shipping 10.1-inch projective capacitive touch panels and 3D panels.

The company isn’t putting all its eggs into one capacitive basket, however, and is also developing touch panels using two other technologies, including optical touch and in-cell photo sensing. Panels built around these two technologies will start shipping in early 2010, the company says.

Image Credit: Susie Pan, Digitimes

NASA just launched the new Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, this morning. It’ll be used to detect light- and heat-emitting objects that the Hubble might miss. Such as spaceships, I’ll bet!!!

The WISE will be in orbit for the next nine months, snapping a photo every 11 seconds to map the entire universe in infrared. Eventually it’ll cover the entire sky 1.5 times over.

It’ll be looking for any objects that have a potential of hitting Earth as well as distant objects such as brown dwarfs and far-away galaxies shrouded in dust. Also, alien spacecraft. I mean, duh. [CNN, image via]

Be honest, parents. What’s your least favorite part about parenting? It’s all that darn parenting, am I right? Lucky for you there’s Texthook, a smartphone mount that lets you totally ignore your child on pleasant afternoon strolls.

The worst part about this, if I had to pick just one, is that it actually positions your phone perfectly so that you can’t see your baby and he or she can’t see you, even when you’re not texting. So enjoy swapping gossip with your buddies with your Texthook, Terrible Parent! And later explaining to your spouse why the kid calls your iPhone “dada.” [Texthook via OhGizmo, Photo via NY Daily News]

Earlier I stared helplessly at my computer, eyes filling with frustrated tears as I desperately wiggled the mouse, hoping for something to move on the screen. Yes, my computer froze. But I won’t complain about it after seeing this photo.

Now I’ll just be happy that my frozen screen only required a restart and not a defrosting. [Thanks, Josh!]

You could print a favorite picture and then cut it into puzzle pieces, sure. But what if, instead, you could use one puzzle to make any image?

The Jigazo puzzle is both a simple and brilliant idea. A series of 300 completely compatible puzzle pieces, each represents a slightly different tone and is marked with a tiny icon. You take a photo and upload it to Jigazo, and Jigazo gives you a paint-by-numbers style icon map. Position each piece in accordance to the map, and presto, you’ve got yourself a customized puzzle.

The purchase would be an import, but we spotted the Jigazo on one retailer for about $50. gawkerGallery(5424292,8,”); [Ameba via Slashdot]

Ah Caltrain: how we love you. You gave us an early look an early, in-the-wild look at the Palm Pre and even the iPhone back in the day. Now we have heard from a very reliable source that an AT&T-branded Palm Pixi has been spotted out there on San Francisco mass transit. Unfortunately a photo wasn’t possible, so you’ll have to trust us on this one (and yes, that’s a photoshop above).

We’ve previously seen the Pre in the wild on AT&T and has GSM versions of the Pixi out east (way east). But this particular combination is new. Note too: it’s not like devices get carrier branding early in the process, so there’s a better-than-even chance we are looking at a matter of a few months.

In the comments, show us a picture of the nerdiest holiday decoration you have ever seen. Bonus points if it’s a photo you took of something you actually own.

gawkerGallery(5421810,3,’Nerdy Decorations’);

For those of you who are dragging your feet about decorating this year, this list might provide you with some “good” last minute ideas. And look, I’ve started the conversation off with a few gems of my own.

First problem with this photo: That Zune-tan is way too severe, implying weeks of sedentary tanning. Second problem: Nobody keeps gadgets in their bikini bottoms (well, almost nobody). Third problem: A Zune 30? [Fubiz via Fake Steve]

When looking at this photo, just imagine that song from the Lion King in your head, when Simba is being held up in front of all the other lions. You know what I’m talking about. [FailBlog]

Reddit community member elmstreeter’s mother passed away this week, and yesterday he turned to the social news site to create a photographic memento: his last photo with his mom had her breathing tubes obscuring her face, and he wanted them removed. He wrote in a posting to the site:

My mother died of cancer yesterday. This is the last picture of us together and I wondered if anyone with mad Photoshop skills could touch up the picture and remove the oxygen cannula. I would greatly appreciate anyone who could be of assistance.

PS Hug your mom today

Touchingly, Reddit users did come to his aid, Photoshopping out the tubes and even fixing up a broken chair.

This might be the sweetest story we’ve heard all week. Nice work, Reddit users.

[via Reddit via The Daily What]

Reviews: reddit.com

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