InsideDGW - Everything you don't need to know about the Daily Giz Wiz podcast

Dick's Gadget Warehouse

From about 10 years ago, the Hot Talk was hot for about 2 seasons.  It was a talking barbeque spatula, with a few recorded comments that got played while you flipped that steak.




Preparations for China
Right now, Leo is in China, probably wearing Scott-E-Vest Lightweight Travel Pants or Travel Shorts, and carrying the Tom Bihn Tri-Star stuffed with Packing Cubes.


When Leo gets back from China, he might talk about the Tri-Star and Scottevest pants on TTTT.



WTHII
The gadget featured in the last What The Heck Is It? game is the Lite Bite, made by Nite-Ize, whose other gadget, a fibre optic flashlight, was also a WTHII mystery back in December 2006.


It's Time for 4th July Fireworks Again
Jan Reesman is a loyal listener.  She last wrote in Episode 382 about the Great Gildersleeve.  She has a blog called dogsandcats101.  Leo remembers her well because Jan used to call his radio show about her blog, whose old name had the word "bitches" in it and she had to be edited out.  Her favourite story from Dick is the way Dick watches the 4th July fireworks on the Hudson River, which he explains again.  The only difference this year is Dick's old analogue portable TV won't work.


Listen to Episode 865
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Link: Weather Direct

Weather Direct by La Crosse Technology makes a huge catalogue of weather stations with a whole range of different functions, which Dick first talked about in Episode 501, after CES 2008.  The WD-3103 is described as a 4-Day Internet-Powered Wireless Forecaster.  Hook up the Secure Weather Gateway to your router, and 24-hour weather information on your chosen location (from a choice of 60,000 locations) will be sent wirelessly (up to 330 feet) to the display unit.  Also included is the TX-50U wireless temperature sensor which sits in your backyard or garden and keeps track of your own outdoor temperature.

No subscription is required for weather information on one selected location.  There are subscription packages if you want to receive forecasts alerts or severe wether alerts, or just add 4 more monitored locations.  You can also check whether there is a location near you from Weather Direct's list of locations.

The WD-3103 is available on Amazon, which means one-click trigger-happy Leo has ordered it through his membership of Amazon Prime.  Leo has to ask TWiT intern Abby Laporte, who is around in the studio, to stop him by slapping him hard.  This obsessive buying reminds Dick of Bill Gaines.  When Bill learned from Dick that the Casio TE2500 Dictionary Watch (Episode 45) was available at a reduced price, he thought it was a great bargain and bought one for everyone at MAD.

Today, Leo and Henry will be heading to Tokyo on Northwest Airlines Flight 27, en route to his China Tour.  Leo is most looking forward to seeing the Forbidden City in Beijing, which commoners were prohibited from entering, in China's imperial days.

Kung Fu star David Carradine, who played Kwai Chang Caine aka Grasshopper in the show, passed away on 3 June 2009.  This reminds Dick of a MAD magazine parody of Kung Fu, featuring "Mosquito" who chose a blade of grass over a sack of gold, and got slammed by his master.  Hence the title of the satire - Kung Fool.  Check out collectmad.com and look for Issue 164 in January 1974.

Leo had the privilege of visiting the Skywalker Ranch, courtesy of Greg Edmonson and Alan Steinberger, composer and arranger respectively for the sci-fi TV series Firefly, to watch them work with a 70-piece orchestra who were recording music for the PS3 game Uncharted 2.  Leo interviewed them on TWiTLive on 10 June 2009, video at odtv.me.  Those of us who are less fortunate than Leo would have to content ourselves with watching the virtual tours of the Skywalker Ranch, at Skysound.com.

This is the 3rd letter about Episode 844.  John Paradox, a parody writer for the Daily Giz Wiz (see Episode 520), reminds Dick and Leo, who were wondering what Titanic musicals there were, about the Unsinkable Molly Brown, which was first a musical, and then a film.

Jeff Lundberg, from Northville, Michigan and long-time listener since Episode 1, has another suggestion for the TWiT Home Office.  Dick and Leo have already got Kalamazoo, but how about Hell, Michigan?  For souvenirs from Hell, try hell2u.com.

Link: Neutrano iTalk

Another voice-operated clock, after the Moshi (Episode 784).  The iTalk from Neutrano has the usual voice commands you would expect to operate an alarm clock: setting the time, setting the alarm, choice of alarm sounds etc.  It has a larger digital LCD display (with a choice of high/low intensity), and seems to work more reliably than the Moshi.  The biggest attraction for Dick is the voice command "Snooze" after the alarm goes off.

On the day this show was recorded, 9 June 2009, the featured TTTT gadget in the podcast (Episode 847) was the Logitech VX Nano, which had been covered previously by Dick, and even Leo himself, in Episodes 523 and 522.

Leo's sister Eva, who now reads Leo's emails, gives Leo and Dane Golden a weekly report on listeners' feedback.  There's the usual bit of moaning, but not about the Daily Giz Wiz - which earns Leo a great deal of good will.

Dick has become quite a ladies' man, as he is getting more and more fan mail from lady listeners, including Jennifer, who shares Dick's love of model trains.  However, she wants to correct a slip made by Dick in Episode 841, who reversed the N- and Z-gauges.  The Z-scale is the size of model trains which can fit on to the brim of a hat.  For a photo of an example of that, taken at an Easter Parade in NYC, click here.

Link: Palm

Leo comes up at the last minute with this gadget, a 7-day review unit of the Palm Pre.  The latest smartphone from Palm, revealed at CES 2009, is a touchscreen phone using what Palm calls the WebOS.  It has rounded edges and feels good in the hand.  The Pre is smaller than the iPhone (shorter in height but thicker), and the screen is slightly smaller than the iPhone's, with the same resolution.  The keyboard is a qwerty keyboard, rather like the one on the Centro, but the auto-correction is, for Leo, not as good as the predictive typing on the iPhone.  The Pre has a decent media player, and syncs with your iTunes library.  It can also sync with your Windows or Mac contacts, Google contacts (including contact pictures) and calendar, and even your Facebook contacts.

Applications take a little while to load, but what distinguishes the Palm Pre from the iPhone is multi-tasking.  Open applications are treated as "cards", which you can slide along and swoop out; and you get instant notifications from open applications for new emails and IM messages.  The new iPhone 3GS and iPhone software 3.0 have caught up with some of features of the Pre (and many other phones), such as MMS, 3.2MP camera, and cut and paste.  The iPhone will also have video capabilities including simple editing, which the Pre does not yet have.  Leo was originally going to get a Palm Pre himself, but has decided to get the iPhone 3GS instead, which by the time the show is aired, should have arrived, on Friday 19 June.  But if you're on Sprint, Leo can recommend the Pre as it has a future, and Leo is glad that the Palm Pre is around to keep Apple and Blackberry honest.

There are optional accessories for the Pre, including the Touchstone Charging Kit (pictured in the centre in the photo above), which attaches the Pre to itself magnetically, without cables.

After the Palm Pre review unit arrived, Leo did an unboxing session on TWiTlive, during which Leo tried out the Palm Pre and gave his first impressions.  The video is available at odtv, which is quite a long session.  I've taken extracts from the video, edited into 2 parts, which you can watch here.

Leo got the size of Palm's staff wrong, double-checks it on Wolfram-Alpha, and is amazed to learn that the revenue generated per employee of Palm and Apple is so much higher than TWiT.  Someone at TWiT is not pulling his weight, and that's Leo.

Leo is leaving for his China tour in a couple of days, and has some travel tips for foreign tourists.  The Chinese apparently don't speak Chinese at all.  Just say everything in English and put an "a" at the end.  If they appear not to understand it, just turn up the volume.  "I WANT-A SOME FOOD-A.  NO NOODLE-A.  GIVE ME A BIG-A MAC-A," Leo demonstrates.

Dave Kodama, a Caltech alumnus, is a DGW fan.  He and his wife have been subscribing to MAD since 1980 and he even had a shot of himself reading MAD with a friend, in a 1969 issue.  Dave notes that Leo is coming back home from China a few days too early, and will miss the longest solar eclipse in this century.  Dave himself will be near Shanghai for the event.  He and his wife have been early testers of electric cars, since 1996, including the GM EV1; and they will be trying out the Mini-E in (Episode 811) soon.  You can see Dave's astrophotography and his EV1 experience on his personal website.

Between the China land tour and the solar eclipse, Leo has chosen the tour.  Leo has seen an eclipse before and this time, he'll just draw the blinds and close his eyes.

 

Link: Graveyard Mall

The Digital Coin Counting Money Jar from Perfect Solutions takes coins of any size, tells you what the denomination is, and tells you the total in the jar.  For another digital coin bank that Dick talked about, see the Pig E-Bank, in Episode 329.

The Graveyard Mall, "where high prices come to die", is bad news for Dick.  It has a deal of the day, and Dick just can't resist buying it.  The other day Dick bought a car gadget and he doesn't even have a car.

Bill Gaines might have been a free spirit, but he was not short of curmudgeonly behaviour.  He used to fine people in the MAD Office for enthusing over a recurring topic of conversation, such as a new baby, put the quarters in a Boasting Jar, and use the money to buy pizzas for the staff.  Now, if only Dick and Leo could be fined by listeners for repeating a topic of conversation in the show, we'd be rich .... and there'll be no shows.

Leo reminisced about rolling up coin stacks in paper.  Dick is outraged by the practice adopted by some banks in New York City of charging 9% for counting coins, and suggests going to supermarkets which will count up coins for free and give you a store credit.  There are also the Coinstar Machines, which count up your coins for free, and you have a choice of donating the money to charity or buying cash cards or e-certificates (including companies like Amazon, iTunes, Starbucks and Lowes).  Check out other uses of Coinstar.

In Episode 845, while Dick talked about the cutlery sharpening truck, Leo chipped in to say how stainless steel knives could not be sharpened and chefs generally avoided them.  Bruce Moore, a hobbyist knife-maker, appreciates Dick's desire to help Leo along in his career but suggests that Dick hold the reins more tightly on Leo.  Bruce says that both of Leo's statements could not be further from the truth, and adds that the higher the carbon content, the harder the steel.  He recommends Lansky Sharpeners to Leo, for whom Bruce, reprimand apart, has the utmost respect.  Leo is truly humbled.

Bruce was not the only one to point out Leo's mistake.  Another listener left a comment on Dick's post for Episode 845.

Leo's misconception about stainless steel knives got Dick on to the subject of housewives' myths, like how Mum always cuts off the end of a roast and throws it away.  "Mum, why do you do that?"  "I don't know, that's what Grandma always does."  "Grandma, why do you do that?"  "Oh, I don't have a big enough pan for the roast."

Leo is scratching his head again for tomorrow's gadget.  He keeps forgetting what he was going to do.  He did mention that he might talk about an old gadget given to him by Jeri Ellsworth in Episode 854.  He might be pressed into talking about the Dutch foam slippers given to him by a listener recently, or his flaming Screen Savers shoes.  Come to think of it, he might do a foot fetish podcast.  There's no podcast that Leo wouldn't do.

The Stickam feed went down during the recording, and Leo had to fix it - in a German accent.

When Dick first learnt about the Missing Button, he thought the vendor was going to make millions of dollars from it.  It was a tie tack in the form of a button, which could be handy if one should lose a shirt button - no sewing necesary.  Dick was told that the product design was originally from France, but now he can't find "The Missing Button" on the web.  The picture above is Dick's own photo of what he still has in the Gadget Warehouse.

On eBay there is a company called Softlife Products Company which sells the "Panic Button", which is a similar idea.

Ronco's Buttoneer
Another button kit, says Mark Sukoenig in the chatroom, was Ronco's Buttoneer, another old solution.  See stuffwelove.co.uk.



All About Socks and Laundry
Dick always buys his socks in bulk, so that they always match.  Jerry Lewis used to wear a pair of socks only once.  Mark Goodson had his favourite laundry shop in New York.  When they moved the operations to California, he would have his laundry couriered to New York for cleaning.

Independent Living
Henry Laporte attended an Independent Living class at 8th Grade.  He got detention for not doing the stuff he was supposed to be learning: how to boil water, fry an egg, sew a button.

Winning Lottery Numbers
In Episode 844 (again), in the Letters section, Dick told listeners never to delete a Daily Giz Wiz show, as they give away money, and even lottery numbers: 21, 6, 3, 4, 1.  Chad Forsmaier can confirm this to be true.  These were the winning numbers for an Indiana lottery on June 23, 2007.  It was the Midday Lucky 5.  Try LottoStrategies.com's Match Finder.

Californian Casual Time
Dick found out, while working in California, that Californians are pretty laid back when it comes to time.  That's why Leo is always late for his recording session.  Instead of calling it Pacific Daylight Time, he should call it Californian Casual Time.


Listen to Episode 860
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Abby Road
Abby Laporte is back from France and doing an internship at the TWiT Cottage.  Apart from occasionally doing the Abby Road show and managing the board, she receives additional bookkeeping and catering training, in the form of getting paid by Leo and getting lunch from him.  Watch Leo give Abby some fatherly advice, in Abby Road 1.

And On The 8th Day, Verizon Said ...
... "Let there be a dial tone."  Dick's telephone hell (see Episode 853) finally ended.  With the help of Lil from the TWiT Army (DrMom), Dick managed to get the contact number of the CEO of Verizon.  While talking with a Verizon executive, Dick received an email from Ooma (see Episode 779) informing him that XO would be releasing Dick's telephone number in 24 hours.  It turned out that when trying out Ooma, Dick transferred his telephone number to Ooma which used XO Communications as a provider.  When Dick terminated his service with Ooma, his number became an unused number, and got lost along the way.  Dick was not slammed after all, and it was just a bad mix-up.  The sacrifice Dick has to make in the name of gadget review!

The Question to the Answer, "Sis Boom Bah"
John Struse from Wayne, New Jersey solves the answer "Sis Boom Bah" from the Carnac the Magnificent segment in Episode 844.  The question was, "Describe the sound made when a sheep explodes."  You can watch the clip at johnnycarson.com.


Listen to Episode 859
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Back in Episode 450, Dick talked about the Compaq Smart Credit Card Internet Keyboard, which came with a smart card reader for online shopping with smart cards.  The new SmartSwipe, made by a Canadian company called NetSecure Technologies, is a USB credit card reader.  When you do any online shopping, swipe your credit card across Smart Swipe, and it protects and then enters the credit card information into the relevant fields on the website.

According to NetSecure, although traditional SSL encrypts the data in transit from the web browser on your computer to the secure server of the e-commerce site, hackers may still be able to access the information while it's on your computer or its memory before the data is encrypted.  SmartSwipe uses a technology called Dynamic SSL, which interacts with traditional SSL.  It encrypts the data at the SmartSwipe hardware itself and initiates the SSL key negotiation from SmartSwipe (and not from the personal computer), so that the encryption is extended further back to the earlier point in time where the information is read from the credit card.  SmartSwipe works with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and JBC, but only on Windows XP and Vista and on Internet Explorer.  Those who are interested in the security side of the technology may want to read up on NetSecure's documentation on Dynamic SSL to see if their claims are made out.  Dell is now selling SmartSwipe as an accessory.

Squirrel iPhone Credit Card Swiper
Rumour has it that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is going to make an iPhone hardware and software solution, codename Squirrel, for accepting credit card payment on a card swiper connected to the iPhone.  Here's the TechCrunch article.

The March of Technology
Dick is much amused by a frankfurter stand in New York with a red Neon sign flashing "Open".  Wouldn't people know, muses Dick.

Waterproof Housing for the Nokia
Alessandro Abate is taking his Canon EOS 50D and a 300mm lens on an Alaska cruise to celebrate with his wife their 25th wedding anniversary.  He wonders if Leo can recommend a waterproof housing for his cherished camera while kayaking.  If he doesn't need to take photo while kayaking, Leo suggests a waterproof cinch bag, but if he wants to shoot through the protective cover, it's going to cost him.

Warnings from Sandrino
If Leo is going to name his autobiography "Just One More Podcast" (see Episode 812), Sandrino's wife, who is an attorney, is ready to collect their share of the royalties.  Also, his daughter has just been accepted into the San Francisco Institute of Art and they may pay a visit to the TWiT Cottage while in the neighbourhood.  Leo will be ready with his TWiT Mat.


Listen to Episode 858
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Leo has become an exercise fanatic, and stresses the importance of monitoring his heart rate while doing his spinning classes, riding his Terratrike, lifting weights and walking on the treadmill, to make sure that he remains in his target training zone, and to avoid going into anaerobic mode.  Polar's F6 Heart Rate Monitor consists of a band (the transmitter belt) around Leo's manly bosom as the monitor and a wrist watch for displaying relevant information.  It monitors your daily condition and guides you to a suitable exercise intensity or to your manual target zone.  It records your exercise data, sends it wirelessly to your Windows PC and displays the information.  It's also water-resistant up to 50 meters and so suitable for swimming.  There is even an optional bike mount for cycling.

Polar from Finland
Polar Electro Oy is from Finland and has worked for many years with the Finnish Cross-Country Skiing Team.  Here's the press release.

Second Rate Snacks
Dick and Leo have often referred to Totino Pizza Rolls, and even fantasised about getting a sponsorship from Totino.  Ted Kekatos has written in about pizza rolls vs pizza bites, and lots more.  On the website Second Rate Snacks, you can find a lot of snacks "taste-off", where famous snack labels are pitched against less well-known brands, such as Totino Pizza Rolls v Mr P's Pizza Bites, Cola Challenge, Cheez-It v Cheese Nips etc.

SysAdmin Appreciation Day
Leo remembers the name of today's letter-writer, but forgets that Ted Kekatos is the founder of the annual SysAdmin Appreciation Day, the last Friday of every July.  This year it's on 31 July.

A Totino Wrap-Up
If you've missed out on earlier episodes and wonder what all the fuss is about Totino pizza rolls on the Daily Giz Wiz, it all started in Episode 253, when Leo received a letter from Eric, a reliability engineer from General Mills, who said he would love to get the company to sponsor the show.  That's when the jocular begging for sponsorship began, which continued for a number of shows.  Back in those days, it was difficult enough to persuade ad agencies to consider podcasts for advertising, but the cause was certainly not helped by Dick and Leo's constant references to the product as "Tostino" pizza rolls and Leo's complaint that one couldn't even find "Tostino" on Google (Episode 263).  By the time their mistake was pointed out to them by listeners (in Episodes 269, 271), it was too late, as confirmed by Eric in Episode 284, and all the begging had been in vain.

But Dick and Leo could pat each other's virtual backs for not getting the sponsorship deal, as General Mills had to recall some of its Totino products due to E. coli contamination in 2007 (Episode 443).


Listen to Episode 857
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

A listener Jeff Vento remembers that Dick loved his Pur Flavor Options Pitcher (Episode 788), and ordered a 3-pack of these Contigo Water Bottles for Dick to try out.  Contigo makes beverage containers, such as water bottles, travel mugs and vacuum cups, with adult and kid sizes.  All Contigo containers use its Autoseal technology.  Pressing a trigger on the lid not only unlocks the spout, but also releases a valve or air vent at the back of the lid, which makes the beverage flow out smoothly instead of pouring out in stuttered torrents.  Releasing the trigger automatically seals the spout and air vent, making the container spill-proof.


As is Leo's wont, he was dismissive at first of the simple technology but as soon as he learns that the beverage pours smoothly, Leo orders a Contigo stainless steel coffee mug from Amazon.  Here's a demo of the Hydration Bottles, all BPA free.


TWiT Policy on Free Gifts
Dick wants to know If TWiT has a policy on show hosts accepting free gifts.  It's 10% of whatever Leo pays him.  "That's a thin mint, a tic tac," Dick queries.  That doesn't work, so Leo decides that as long as it's free, Dick has Leo's permission.

Donation Button for Dick
There is none.  But you can go to MakeMeMad, and order stuff from Dick to help him pay for the Gadget Warehouse at Sofia Brothers.

From Generous Fans
Leo has talked about his TWiT mats a number of times now.  After the recording of this episode, Leo shows off the non-slip rubber TWiT Mat given to him by a TWiT fan, and an embroidered mat from another fan.




Listen to Episode 856
Go to TWiT
The GizWiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch