Exergen TemporalScanner
Temporal Thermometer
Link: Exergen
Scary Christmas Movies
Lil Banchik, aka DrMom on TWiT Army, has fond memories of Polaroid Instant Slides (Episode 730), and reminds us all of the scary Christmas movie Black Christmas.
DGW Favourite Episodes
In Episode 679, a listener asked Dick and Leo if they have their favourite 20 episodes. They have since talked about it a couple of times. Now Ludwik Trammer has set up a vote on his website, for listeners to vote their own favourite episodes of the Daily Giz Wiz. Go to http://www.gizwizsearch.com/vote/ to vote for your favourite episodes.
Ludwik has asked me to make some suggestions, to get listeners started. It wasn't an easy exercise, but I've picked 30 episodes. Some of them are important milestones of DGW, some of them are funny, but all of them I hope remind you of what's been happening since the start of the Daily Giz Wiz (which relatively new listeners may also find useful). Here is a quick summary of the "nominations" - but you absolutely are not limited to them:
Episode 61 Pack-Flat Back-Up Bag: Dick talks about how he disposes of his old clothes, which generates a lot of empathetic emails from fellow listeners.
Episode 76 A Tribute to
William M Gaines: Dick has often talked about Mad and in particular entertaining stories about Bill Gaines. Here on the anniversary of Bill Gaines's death, Dick gives us some heart-warming stories about Bill Gaines.
Episode 95 Franklin Rex: After winning the Podcast Alley vote, Leo says "We were Number 1 on Podcast
[Alley]. That's all we care about. So now, the rest is gravy. It
makes its own gravy, this podcast." A non-sequitur which is to become the slogan of DGW.
Episode 97 The Flag Waver: Dick is a true eccentric, and his way of watching the 4th of July fireworks is further evidence of this.
Episode 99 Oakley O Rokr: Before this episode, Dick has been saying "I'll be here" on and off, at the end of the shows. But it is not until this episode, after listeners write in about it, that Dick realises it, and ever since then, it's become Dick's official tag line.
Episode 101 Cruzin' Cooler: Dick has always prided himself on showing us wacky gadgets. This is one of the earlier classic ones.
Episode 115 SunSquirt: We are now all very familiar with Dan Lueders and his prolific output of themes and jingles for DGW. When Leo invited submissions of a gravy jingle for DGW, Dan was one of the participants. At the end of this episode, Dick mentioned Dan's submission which he thought had been played the day before (or was going to be played), but it never appeared on air. The submission was "lost" until it reapearaed in Episode 313. It was also to become the basis of Dan's Disclaimer Theme.
Episode 118 Energizer
Quick Switch Flashlight: Paul's Closing Theme started appearing in downloads from Episode 116 onwards, but it was in Episode 118 that it was first officially aired. A milestone in DGW history, the first of many jingles to come.
Episode 137 Altec Lansing FX6021: After Dick and Leo started reading a letter each day, Leo got the idea that they should have a Letters Jingle. This is where Leo invited submissions. It also had a letter from Seth, a sweet story of how he was "saved" on the road by simply listening to DGW.
Episode 138 Radar Golf: Another wacky gadget, with a touch of the risque.
Episode 145 Dejaview: Leo will probably hate me for this, but Leo was on good form, getting a little wild maybe, but please don't tell the sponsors.
Episode 149 Key Buoy: Another classic, with an important health advisory.
Episode 151 Gorillapod: An off-beat choice perhaps, but despite its ear-jarring tendency, this early Finnish letters jingle submission was actually missed after it was discontinued - which generated a search , during which Dan Lueders's earlier gravy jingle submission was retrieved.
Episode 169 Garmin
Forerunner 305: A listener makes a suggestion for the Halloween show, but Dick says, "We don't have time." Leo makes good fun of it. As it turned out, the Halloween show for that year was to become another classic.
Episode 173 Plantronics Discovery 655: Leo loves doing his phoney accents, and the Scottish one is one of his favourites. Here he gives a Scottish rendition of the Letters Jingle.
Episode 182 The Titanium Spork: A hot favourite, on Halloween. Dick calls it El Crappo Plus, but the audience love it, and it still gets talked about in fan emails.
Episode 188 Kingston
K-PEX 100: A listener bust a gut listening to DGW. Proof positive that DGW is not good for your health.
Episode 208 Viewsonic
ViewDock Monitor: George Wood's original Letters Jingle was a favourite for many listeners, but this Festive Letters Jingle was an instant hit, and every year it gets played earlier and earlier. Somehow it seems to embody all the cheers, joy and anticipation that is the Daily Giz Wiz itself.
Episode 246 A Visit To
The Gadget Warehouse: Right from the very first Warehouse Friday (Episode 5), Dick described what the real Gadget Warehouse was like, but many listeners still thought that it was just a piece of imaginatiion. In this episode, Leo took some time off while filming Regis and Kelly in New York, to visit Dick in his warehouse. A real treasure trove.
Episode 253 Databreaker: In the early days, Dick and Leo used to joke about the lack of sponsors, and beg for sponsorship. Here is the start of one of their most spectacular attempts, and failures, with To[s]tino. Dick and Leo should count themselves lucky - see Episode 443.
Episode 282 Toothpick
Bird: Exactly 100 episodes after the Spork comes another piece of crap from under Leo's desk. Leo was to have his revenge in Episode 413 when Dick gives us another bird, Squawkers McCaw.
Episode 291 The Smart
Cab: Listener Shane has a risky plot for his marriage proposal to his then pish-posh girlfriend. Will it work? Follow the story in Episodes 299 and 312.
Episode 364 HP
Photosmart R937 Pet Eye Camera: The beginning of a lovely relationship between the Daily Giz Wiz and a computer wiz from Poland, Ludwik Trammer, of GizWizSearch, who Dick thought for a very long time was 15 years old. As far as I know, Ludwik is now 22, going on 23? Still eligible.
Episode 391 Bedfan: Another of the nonsense pieces from Dick and Leo gives us another slogan, "The worse your life is, the better we sound."
Episode 406 Purseguard
Ultra: It's not often that Leo gets a real chance to trash Dick's gadgets, and Leo isn't about to let it slip away.
Episode 463 Talking
Photo Album: Despite Leo's ADD condition and always trying to do ten things at a time, he seldom slips up really badly. But this time Leo just doesn't get it. One of Dick's favourite episodes.
Episode 528 Fred's 500XL
Desktop Earbuds Speakers: The gadget itself is wacky enough, but perhaps this show is more noteworthy for the first appearance of an official DGW theme from Dan Lueders - Theme Free Wednesday.
Episode 552 Canon VIXIA HV30: A good example of how enthusiastic listeners' response can be. Someone challenged the claim by the makers of the 500XL Desktop Earbuds Speakers (500 times the size of the iPod earbuds). Another reminisced about the metal plate that thawed frozen foods but couldn't remember the name.- the Miracle Thaw. Floods of emails in response.
Episode 598 Uroclub: The wacky companion to Radar Golf.
Episode 670 GFX-100
Indoor Antenna: Dick has mentioned a few scams, but the cleverly crafted and almost completely truthful promotional material of this Indoor Antenna was a wonder. Other listeners may "prefer" other dodgy gadgets, and the Electron Echo Mini Piano (Episode 465) seems to have generated more searches on Ludwik's website, and more comments and enquiries on mine, than any other.
Enjoy your vote. If you have a favourite episode but can't remember the episode number, try searching on GizWizSearch, or send me an email to insidedgw@gmail.com, and'll try to help. Have fun.
Listen to Episode 733
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The Giz Wiz Homepage
Verbatim Tune Board
Speaker Keyboard
Link: Verbatim
Back from France
Leo is back with Henry from Rennes after their visit to Abby, but Jennifer is stuck in Paris as she has lost her passport. While Leo was in France, Dick went on Stickam on both Tuesdays.
Check out Leo's blog post "France Montage" and the links there to his photos from France.
An Ozzy Jingle?
East Coast Girl on the Chatroom suggests there should be a jingle for whenever Ozzy comes on TWiTLive.
Ten Questions from Dr Mark
Dr Mark Sukoenig put in 10 questions for Leo. What does an A battery look like? Why do Dick and Leo sound as energetic on the Friday show as they do on the Monday show? What is a Luma and how safe is it to pet one?
Themed to the Gills
Paul Minshall, apart from doing the 12 Days of GizWiz, has done a country-style jingle for the Daily Giz Wiz. Visit http://paulminshall.com/themes to play the Country Giz Wiz jingle.
Listen to Episode 732
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Homepage
Wicked Lasers' "The Torch"
The World's Brightest Flashlight
Link: Wicked Lasers
The flashlight is so bright that the heat given off by it is intense enough to light up a cigarette, turn paper into cinders and even cook scrambled eggs. A blazing torch, literally.
Donny Robinson, audio engineer at the Kimball Recital Hall, University of Nebraka, has a lot of flashlights, and his favourite is the GizWizBiz Cap. At Dick's invitation, Donny bought 4 Caps and got a free USB Smart Button as promised by Dick in Episode 715 (for any order of 3 Caps or more).
Back To Normal
This is the last of the holiday season pre-recorded show. Tomorrow Dick and Leo will resume their Tuesday recording, and release Episode 732 as soon as possible.
Listen to Episode 731
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Polaroid Instant Slide Autoprocessor
DIY Slide Developing Machine
Link: Jim's Web on archives.org
Polaroid made its name in instant photographs, but also ventured into instant slides. Dick unearthed this gadget from the Gadget Warehouse recently (see Episode 683). Here's how the Instant Slide Autoprocessor worked, according to Jim's Web:
"The developing process was simple. Place the film and developing pack into the AutoProcessor, crank the film through to develop, rewind it, and you're done. The developing pack was broken open by the autoprocessor, and the 'strip sheet' was wound out, coated with developer, and sandwiched together with the film. The sandwich was wound around a spool, where it would sit for the recommended developing time (from one to four minutes). After the developing time was done, the process was reversed. The film and strip sheet were wound back into their respective containers. During the rewinding process, the strip sheet would separate the negative from the positive on the film and rewind the negative and strip sheet into the developing pack for disposal. The film canister was then removed from the AutoProcessor with the developed slides in it and inserted into the special slide mounter to be mounted in the Polaroid-designed slide mounts. The slide mounter was basically automatic after the film leader was cut off and the first slide was mounted. Each time I did it, the speed and simplicity of the process amazed me."
Polaroid also developed a Polacolor Instant Movie Film, but not even Dick, himself an early "adapter", would buy it. He did buy the Polaroid Instant Slide Autoprocessor.
Weekly Giz Wiz
Bob Forbes, from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada, thinks that the Daily Giz Wiz is the most entertaining netcast on the internet. He usually downloads all 5 shows of the week in one go, but most of the time his Samsung MP3 player plays the episodes in the wrong order. He wonders if Leo could create a single file for the whole week for him to download. Leo doesn't think there's enough demand for it. Dick chips in to say there isn't any demand at all for the show, and says the other listener doesn't want it.
Book Rights
When Dick's Good Days And Mad first came out, a Hollywood producer rang him up and asked Dick if he had sold the film rights to the book yet, and added, "What's your book about?"
Listen to Episode 730
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Christmas Wishes
Christmas Day Special
Link: best holiday wishes from dick debartolo mad's maddest writer and the giz wiz
Blessed Interaction
Leo has everything he could ever wish for, and feels blessed that he is able to do the podcast with Dick, and Dick loves interacting with Leo on the Daily Giz Wiz, especially on Tuesdays.
Family Affairs
Dick and Leo aren't that keen on family meet-ups, and Dick for the first time on DGW reveals that he has a brother called Leo. Who can blame him?
Pride And Glory
Pride And Glory has finally been released. You can catch a glimpse of Dick's houseboat (now given away to a charity) in the film. Watch out for a fibre optic Christmas tree. For the full story, revisit Episodes 460 and 461.
And Finally, A Merry Christmas ...
... from me and all my imaginary staff at insidedgw.vox.com to Dick and Leo (who have given us a show for all seasons), to the TWiT staff (Dane, Colleen, Tony and Frederique who have kept the TWiT machine running), to Ludwik Trammer (who keeps doing wonders), to Paul Minshall, George Wood, Dan Lueders, all the jingle contributors and Daniel Rodrigues Parreira (who have made the show so much fun to listen to by performing all the themes and jingles and making them accessible to us all), and to all the fellow DGW listeners (who are mad enough to listen to the show).
Listen to Episode 729
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
12 Days of GizWiz
Christmas Eve Special
Link: Paul Minshall's Blog
The 12 gadgets featured on the video are: (1) Nokia N93 from Episode 172, (2) Toothpick Bird from Episode 282, (3) Road Mice from Episode 698, (4) Power Squid from Episode 24, (5) Titanium Spork from Episode 182, (6) Scott-E-Vest from Episode 34, (7) Sony Walkman from Episode 55, (8) Palm Pilot from Episode 590, (9) CubiCaller from Episode 381, (10) Toilet Tunes from Episode 604, (11) Uroclub from Episode 598, and (12) Drobo Backup from Episode 332.
Sing along!
Rennes, Brittany
If things go according to plan, Leo should be in Rennes, Bretagne, France. Dick should still be in New York, and tomorrow he will talk about the fibre optic Christmas tree on his Pride And Glory boat (now given away to charity).
Listen to Episode 728
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Black Rapid R-Strap
Camera Strap
Link: Black Rapid
Some models, like the latest RS-4, has pockets for storing flash cards. Leo has the RS-1 which has no pockets. When a photo opportunity presents itself, just glide the camera up along the strap. See the demo below from blackrapid.com:
Chris Whitpan thanks Leo for introducing him to Levenger products (Episode 677). He found a brick and mortar store selling Levenger in Boston, and it was a good day for the economy. Chris works for the California Pizza Kitchen, and offers to pick up the tab should Dick or Leo visit the CPK. Dick asks if the offer is one time only.
Leo finds out from Google, including LinkedIn, that Chris is Manager of CPK, Owner/Chef of Chris's Culinary Catering, Former owner of Kildare Irish Pub.
Listen to Episode 727
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Iomega Screenplay TV Link
Multimedia Player
Link: Iomega
Christmas Specials
There will be no gadgets on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas Eve will feature Paul Minshall's 12 Days of GizWiz. Christmas Day will feature Dick reading answers from the TWiT Army on "What are you hoping to get for Christmas?"
Autograph Collector
Dick gets hundreds of emails a day, and one of them is a letter from Michael who collects autographs, from just about anyone. Dick has sent him his autograph, Dennis Wunderlin's and the mail lady's.
Listen to Episode 726
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Flaming Fruitcake
Combustible Christmas Log
Gadget Ideas
Steve Greenberg writes in his book Gadget Nation that it's not enough to have a good idea for a gadget. It's all about marketing and distribution.
Mad Over Time
The Mad cover with Obama morphing into Alfred E Neuman (Yes We Can't) has been named by Time Magazine as one of the Top 10 Magazine Covers of 2008. Obama has also been named 2008 Person of the Year.
For a fuller account of Mad's management after the acquisition, check back at Episode 68. For the "unreasonable" contract clause, see Episode 106.
Book Royalty
Dick has written 11 or 12 Mad original paperback books. For one of them, Dick got $12,000 as an advance payment from the publishers. Dick was puzzled by the sheer size of the advance, and Bill Gaines explained that the big corporations never read the contract and he inserted a clause that the publishers had to print a million copies.
Powerline Technology
Mike Knox who has been listening to DGW since Episode 1 writes to clarify something about powerline carrier technology (PLC). In Episode 713, Leo thought that the Belkin Powerline AV Plus Starter Kit would not work in Dick's situation as powerline technology would not work over 2 fuse boxes or power meters. Mike points out that while there are different implementations of PLC, they will pass through fuse boxes and utilities meters and are completely transparent to the conduction of electricity and any signals multiplexed on to the power. The signals will stop at utility transformers and will degrade over distance, but can go over to other homes. Dick's own test has proved Mike right.
TWiG
Dick has a T-Shirt with a TWiG logo - This Week in Gadgets.
Listen to Episode 725
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
3M Micro Professional Projector
Pocket Projector
Link: 3M MPro
The projector supports video only. Presumably if your presentation includes sound, that can be played and heard directly from your source device, such as your laptop, PDA, or cellphone.
On the body of the projector is an on/off switch and a focus wheel. It uses a rechargeable Lithium ion battery with a battery life of 40 to 60 minutes. An AC adapter is included which, when connected, automatically recharges the battery.
12 Days of GizWiz
Dick reminds Leo about Paul Minshall's "12 Days of GizWiz" video, which will be played in the next recording session. You can watch the video now in the Episode 722 blog post, or go directly to Paul's blog.
Dennis Wright from Manchester, England (who last wrote in Episode 606) warns against the perils of listening to DGW by commuting drivers. Dennis was listening to Episode 704 while driving and the ridiculous picture painted by Leo of Dick and Leo entertaining the troops by showing them the CartStopper (Episode 701) intended for mums cracked him up, giving him an uncomfortably close brush with the hereafter. He thinks that Dane, while editing the shows (although it should be Tony Wang doing it now), should include appropriate warnings against uproarious funny moments.
Skipping Christmas?
Dick and Leo should have enough pre-recorded shows to cover most of the holiday season before Leo comes back from France, and are considering skipping the Christmas and Christmas Eve shows. Dane reminds them that this would break the neat round episode numbering. Dick and Leo think they might just put in short episodes for those days with Christmas messages.
Listen to Episode 724
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