151 posts from 2008

From 1994, Sony made this SRF-X90 Monocular Sports Radio.  It was a 8x magnification monocular made for live sports viewing, with an AM/FM stereo radio.  The idea was you could watch the sports event while listening to radio commentary through the earphones, complete with AVLS (automatic volume limiter system).  Water-resistant.  Worked on one AA battery.

One of these is available on Amazon UK at the time of writing.

Folding the Omelette
Dick once showed on Regis a set of Börnschaft copper-bottomed pots, all for $20.  Instead of folding the omelette, Dick folded the frying pan, live on TV.

WTHII Game Show
In response to Leo's question whether WTHII could make a TV game show (Episode 610), Michael Richardson writes in to say that there was already such a show, Liar's Club.  You can watch clips from the show on YouTube, such as this link.


Listen to Episode 620
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This Siyoteam device combines a Bluetooth Adapter with a Card Reader, using a USB interface, in a tiny 2.7" x 0.9" x 0.67" body.  The bluetooth adapter is Bluetooth 2.0 compliant.  The card reader supports smaller flash cards: all cards from the SD family, Memory Stick family, MMC and TransFlash - but NOT Compact Flash.  Windows only.  Dick used it on his laptop to connect to the PLANon Printstik (Episode 613) using bluetooth.




Inspiration from a Toilet Roll
Life is like a toilet paper roll: The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.

YooRyoo
Chris, signed "Yours in satire and underwerked", is an avid follower of DGW but is disappointed by how few of the DGW gadgets are Web 2.0 related.  Chris and his friends have created a website yooRyoo dedicated to Web 2.0 technologies, with a twist.  Learn all about My FaceLift, OnStarBucks and Yahoo's latest name change.

Mad Men
Mad Men is not about the Mad Magazine, but an AMC TV show about the Madison Avenue advertising industry set in the 1960's.


Listen to Episode 619
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The DVD-VR375 is a combo DVD and VHS player/recorder, with a slot for DVD and another for VHS.  It plays and records all forms of DVD discs, and VHS tapes.  The DVD player supports Digital Dolby Surround Sound, progressive scan and 1080p up-conversion.  Outputs include HDMI Out, Component Video Out, and Composite Video Out.  Input is Composite In only.  You can also transfer your old VHS tapes on to DVD directly within the machine.  Note that it does not have a built-in TV tuner.

Another Cheeky Supplier
Dick emailed Samsung for a loaner review unit.  The reply was positive with an offer of a loaner unit for 28 days, but Dick would have to sign a loaner agreement with the condition that if Dick should fail to return it by then, he would have to pay $199.99, when the highest price on the internet was only $179.99.

Fortunately Dick didn't have to sign the loaner agreement after all.  For a more outrageous story of a cheeky supplier, check out Episode 9.

Dick's Luncheon
When Dick was working on To Tell The Truth at the Ed Sullivan Theater, he used to go to what is now the Hello Deli (as seen on the David Letterman Show).




The Spirit of Trinidad
Dick confessed in Episode 594 that has been known to confuse the gadget website VAT19 with the whiskey VAT 69.  Marlin Belgrave of Brooklyn, a listener from Episode 1 onwards, who is originally from Trinidad of the West Indies, tells Dick that in fact Vat 19 is also a liquor.  It's a famous rum made by distilleries in Trinidad owned or acquired by Angostura.



WC Fields
Dick and Leo get on to the subject of WC Fields, and some of his films including The Dentist, The Bank Dick and Six Of A Kind (with the character Honest John).  Here's a clip from the film in which Honest John explains how he got the name.



Listen to Episode 618
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No one except Leo believed that he would be able to hold off buying the new iPhone 3G for long, and true to form, by Saturday he had got himself a white-back 16GB iPhone 3G.  The main new hardware features includes 3G and GPS, and improved speakers.  There is no 3G coverage in Petaluma for Leo, and there are no turn-by-turn directions for the GPS.  According to Leo, what makes the new iPhone is the version 2 software, and the new App Store.

Leo talks about some of the new apps, including the iPhone app from Omnifocus, the Enigmo game, Aqua Forest, location-based Loopt, a New York Times app, Pandora, and AOL Radio.

But still no voice dialing, and no cut and paste.

TWiTLive Viewership
Since Leo's coverage of the iPhone 3G launch, viewership of TWiTLive has gone up about 30%.

DGW in Order
Opher Banarie finally figures out how to listen to his DGW in the correct order (earliest first) on his new iPod (see Episode 609).  From the Main Menu, select Podcasts, scroll to DGW, and just press the centre button.  Other listeners have also written in with the same tip, including Sue Watkins and Jacob.


Listen to Episode 617
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The Parking Meter Alarm is a timer which alerts you to feed the meter when your parking time is up.  You can set the time by 5-minute increments.  It has a spring-loaded cylinder which holds up to 10 quarters, and a key-ring for your keys.  Available from Spoon Sisters.

iPhone 3G Coverage
Leo's 24-hour iPhone 3G marathon coverage turned out to be easier than he thought.  A lot of his friends called in, including Dick and Steve Wozniak; Alex Lindsay arrived at the TWiT Cottage at 4.30 a.m., Scott Bourne came at 7 a.m.  Poor Dane Golden stayed up all night and didn't get a rest until 6 a.m.

Visa is Back
As Leo promised in Episode 601, Visa is back as a sponsor, along with Audible.  Let's hope they don't blow it with Visa, which they nearly did back in Episode 145.

B & B with BBBs
Inspired by the Japanese Capsule Hotel for salarymen (tubes stacked up in rows and columns), Dick and Leo have come up with the idea of an invention of the bunk bed bench.

A Giant Plant
Lenny Brown took Dick's recommendation in Episode 503 to heart.  His girlfriend is notorious for killing plants, but after over 100 episodes, the Thirsty Light is still keeping his plant alive, in fact so well that the vine plant is taking over his window.


Listen to Episode 616
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A fairly recent gadget from the Gadget Warehouse, the Chatterbug hails from 2006.  It was a VoIP device which you connect between your home telephone and the land line, and when you dialed a long distance number, it would route the call via Chatterbug's computer network.  You didn't need a computer to do it, but paid $9.95 a month for US and Canada calls.

Another Birthday
Steve Weiner has been listening to DGW since Episode 1.  He watched GizWizLive on 20 June 2008, and noted that Dick and Leo should have realised that the day had a further significance.  It was the 66th birthday of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

Roz Rows
Dick thinks Roz Savage is very brave to row across the Pacific, when sailing from Miami to the Bahamas was dangerous enough for him.


Listen to Episode 615
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A fairly recent gadget from the Gadget Warehouse, the Chatterbug hails from 2006.  It was a VoIP device which you connect between your home telephone and the land line, and when you dialed a long distance number, it would route the call via Chatterbug's computer network.  You didn't need a computer to do it, but paid $9.95 a month for US and Canada calls.

Another Birthday
Steve Weiner has been listening to DGW since Episode 1.  He watched GizWizLive on 20 June 2008, and noted that Dick and Leo should have realised that the day had a further significance.  It was the 66th birthday of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

Roz Rows
Dick thinks Roz Savage is very brave to row across the Pacific, when sailing from Miami to the Bahamas was dangerous enough for him.


Listen to Episode 615
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An important device for boating is the emergency stop lanyard, which is connected to the engine kill switch and worn by the boat operator, so that if the operator falls overboard, the engine will stop.  However, it does restrict movements and can cause false emergency stops when the connection gets pulled off accidentally.

The AutoTether solves this problem by doing it wirelessly.  The main unit, which has a wireless signal receiver, is connected to the engine kill switch.  A mobile remote unit worn by the operator (or any passenger) sends radio signals to the main unit.  If the operator or passenger falls overboard, the radio signal transmission is cut off, since radio signals cannot travel through water.  The main unit detects the signal cut-off, stops the engine and sounds an alarm at the same time.  The system operates by AAA batteries, with low-battery warning indicators.

The AutoTether kit comes with one main unit and 2 mobile remote units.  It can accommodate a total of 4 remote units (extras can be bought separately).  Other applications include using it at a beach or around a pool, if you don't want a young child to go into the water unsupervised.  You can also set a range for the remote unit so that when the remote unit goes out of range, the main unit will sound an alarm.

Dick has written a fuller article on this gadget in PowerBoat Magazine.  Here's the link.

Did you know?
... that Dick was involved in the production of a Playboy Club musical Little Annie Fanny, and Leo did a TV commercial for Clarks Shoes.

Party Line
The PhoneMate Just In Case Beeper (Episode 540) brings back memories for Paul Pigozzo from London, Ontario, not only of his grandmother's rotary phone with 30 feet of cord, but also her "party line" - one telephone shared by several households, and the telephone gives off different rings for different households.

Naturally, whenever a rotary phone is mentioned, Leo inexorably talks about Steve Wozniak's Rotary Cellphone again.


Listen to Episode 614
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The PLANon Printstik PS910 is a portable handheld printer which works with Windows and Blackberry phones.  It's 1" x 10.75" x 1.5" in size, 1.5 lb in weight, and prints black and white on to custom thermal paper (20 pages in one paper cartridge).  As with most thermal paper, it only prints up to the end of the document, so that a single print job does not necessarily use up a full page.  Connection can be via USB or Bluetooth.  Print resolution is up to 200 x 400 dpi, print speed is 3 pages per minute.  It uses a rechargeable battery, a full charge of which can print 30 pages.

It comes with an AC charger, one roll of paper cartridge, and an installation CD.  For $50 more, you can get the PS950 which includes a car adapter, a USB cord and an executive hardshell case for the cables and chargers, although the car adapter can be bought separately as an accessory for $30.  The refill paper cartridges are currently sold in packs of 3 for $25 (i.e. 60 pages, about 42 cents per page), or packs of 9 for $60 (about 33 cents per page).

Back to Square One
As the Chatroom noted while this episode was being recorded, Dick has previously covered another PLANon product, the DocuPen portable scanner, the very first gadget covered in DGW, Episode 1.

A New Sponsor ...
... for DGW, GoToMeeting, which Andy Marken used to show Dick a demonstration of Cyberlink's MediaShow 4 (Episode 583).  Listeners can try it for free for 30 days, at www.gotomeeting.com/gizwiz.  According to Dick's Digital Day Counter (Episode 611), it's been 195 days since the last cheque.  However long ago it was, It's been too long.

DownThemAll !
DGW marathon listener JR Rodriguez IV (see Episode 600) wants to thank Ludwik Trammer especially, for helping him download all 577 past episodes of DGW by setting up a special webpage for JR with all the right download links.  JR then used the Mozilla Firefox extension DownThemAll ! to download all the links on that page.

Any listeners who need to catch up with past episodes and want more convenient access to the download links can use the same webpage, at www.gizwizsearch.int.pl/list2.php, which automatically adds new episodes to the list.


Listen to Episode 613
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Thomson Grass Valley makes high end broadcast, TV and film equipment.  The Canopus ADVC (standing for Advanced Digital Video Converter) line has a wide range of models, and the ADVC 110 is near the low end.  It is essentially a video converter (analogue to digital, digital to analogue).  Its most useful function would be to convert analogue video (such as VHS, accepting S-Video and Composite inputs) into DV which can then be processed on your computer via a firewire connection using your favourite software (for editing, authoring or DVD burning).  It also does audio-only conversion.

Built into the ADVC 110 is a Canopus DV Codec chip which preserves the video quality, and most importantly keeps the audio and video in sync (which is often a very tricky issue with other capture devices).  It works with Windows and Mac OSX, no drivers required.

Leo mentions that the ADVC 110 does not overcome Macrovision copy protection.  Apparently however there is a way to overcome that, reported by users.  After it powers up, press down the Input Select button for 20 seconds, and the unit will ignore Macrovision.

Letters for Leo
Leo hasn't prepared a letter to read for TTTT and complains that he doesn't get enough emails from DGW listeners because people think he doesn't read his emails.  They would be right, most of the time.

A Cure for Homesickness
Listener Paul Johnson had to move far away from home to Edmonton for his work.  He got homesick until Monday came and he was able to listen to DGW, with Dick and Leo discussing Twitter, the Petaluma parade, the temperature on some ridiculous scale, the familiar Jingle Singers, and even a bit of gadgetry when they remembered to do so.  It took him right back home again.

Paul Johnson also congratulates Leo for his recent performance of "O Canada" in French on net@night Episode 59.

PDFs on the Amazon Kindle
Paul also asks Leo how scientific figures, graphs and images in PDF form fare on the Kindle (Episode 472).  Leo explains.

Belated Happy Birthday to Paul as well on 14 July.


Listen to Episode 612
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