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WiFi-enabled Crestron touchpanel aids in stargazing


We've seen home automation touchpanels used for some -- shall we say, unorthodox -- activities, but this is taking things to another level galaxy. Franklin, NC-based Dan Quigley has whipped up a way for his WiFi-enabled Crestron TMPC8X to actually control a giant telescope. Rather than manually getting the 'scope into the right position, he simply touches a button and watches it automatically check to see "if and when that object is viewable." While he's at it, he can dim the lights around him and check the local weather, and once a celestial body is in view, he can snap a photograph or have the system channel the image to any computer / TV. Suddenly, astronomy has become entirely more attractive.

[Thanks, Chuck]

Some celebrities shying away from HD cameras

It's all but unanimous that sports programming looks entirely more appealing in high definition than in SD, but for folks on the other side of the cameras, adding all that detail can be intimidating, if not embarrassing. While the "grain structure of film allows for a softness" that lends a hand in covering up the not-so-attractive signs of aging, HD cameras tend to capture that raw, unassailable truth that some celebrities are less than fond of. Diane Sawyer, the 61-year old host of ABC's Good Morning America, reportedly acknowledged that the puffiness under her eyes could no long be covered up, as viewers looking on in HD "could see every flaw." To combat the newfangled "problem" posed to many on-camera stars, makeup firms are devising new "airbrushing" techniques to add glamor and remove blemishes without looking like a shot of Botox gone horribly awry. Interestingly, reports indicated that viewers tended to enjoy the rough, disclosing look on men, but would rather see dames looking their best through those pixel-packed lenses. Nevertheless, HD cameras are making flaws more and more noticeable, and apparently causing quite the ruckus from overly concerned celebrities all the same, but hey, that's the price you pay for being in the (1080i) limelight.




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