33 posts tagged “audible”
Acer Aspire One 751h
Netbook
Link: Acer
Leo has had a slew of netbooks, and Dick finally gets his first. It's the Acer Aspire One 751h. The selling point is the big screen, 11.6" LED backlit LCD wide display, 1366 x 768 dots, and a full size keyboard. It also means a larger size, 11.2" x 7.8" x 1", but remains light enough (3 lbs with a 6-cell battery), which really blurs the division between netbooks and notebooks. It also comes with its own multi-touch touchpad.
Versions of Slough
Learn all about slough from Leo: Petaluma's tidal one, and the dead skin version from his fingers. He even throws Gough Street in San Francisco into the mix. Now you ought to have a rough idea of how thoroughly thoughtful Leo is.
Dick Starts Reading
Dick is not generally into reading books, but has started reading Audible books. He was listening to Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone on his way to Petaluma.
Irrational and Nonsensical
Alfred Chan of insideDGW has found it well nigh impossible, short of having a full transcript, to keep track of what Dick and Leo talk about on the shows (and why would anyone in his right mind want to do that?). It's not just the sheer number of shows. The real reason is, you never know what listeners would pick up from the conversation, and they would pick up the most insignficant, tangential and off-the-cuff remarks in that rambling dialogue between Dick and Leo which they call the Daily Giz Wiz podcast. A prime example is counting the number of days in each month (Episode 876), which listener Anish commented on in Episode 888 - the Knuckles Calendar. Then another listener Verena Fuchs sent an email to Dick, attaching a pictorial illustration of the Knuckles Calendar (via lifehacker.com). It's all irrational and nonsensical, and that's why we're keep listening.
Versions of Slough
Learn all about slough from Leo: Petaluma's tidal one, and the dead skin version from his fingers. He even throws Gough Street in San Francisco into the mix. Now you ought to have a rough idea of how thoroughly thoughtful Leo is.
Dick Starts Reading
Dick is not generally into reading books, but has started reading Audible books. He was listening to Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone on his way to Petaluma.
Irrational and Nonsensical
Alfred Chan of insideDGW has found it well nigh impossible, short of having a full transcript, to keep track of what Dick and Leo talk about on the shows (and why would anyone in his right mind want to do that?). It's not just the sheer number of shows. The real reason is, you never know what listeners would pick up from the conversation, and they would pick up the most insignficant, tangential and off-the-cuff remarks in that rambling dialogue between Dick and Leo which they call the Daily Giz Wiz podcast. A prime example is counting the number of days in each month (Episode 876), which listener Anish commented on in Episode 888 - the Knuckles Calendar. Then another listener Verena Fuchs sent an email to Dick, attaching a pictorial illustration of the Knuckles Calendar (via lifehacker.com). It's all irrational and nonsensical, and that's why we're keep listening.
StarCase Lock De-Icer
Thermal De-Icer for Locks
Link: hwrountrees.com
During the winter, the lock on Dick's houseboat could get frozen. Dick used to use this StarCase Lock De-Icer to defreeze the lock. It had a heated pick which would extend from its protective shield into the keyhole to melt the ice.
Lock De-Icers
Little can be found on the web of the StarCase Lock De-Icer now. hwrountrees.com still has a listing of an out-of-stock StarCase model. On Amazon, you can still find both the "heated pick"-style de-icers (including some which look remarkably similar to the StarCase model) and "aerosol"-style de-icers.
Savage Winter
Dick makes light of Roz Savage's voyage across the Pacific. So she rows through the Pacific in the warmth of the tropics, but has she tried the savage winter on the Hudson?
Trademarks and Patents
While Leo is having issues with the TWiT trademark, listener John R Henry CPP has been busy patenting his own invention, which serves the purpose similar to that of the Shake-It-Up Milk Bottle (Episode 835). His idea is a container with 2 chambers keeping 2 types of ingredients separate, but with a mechanism for mixing them only when you want to do so. Cereals and milk is one application. You can check out his patent filings here and there.
CPP Again
The first time John R Henry had his letter read out on the show was Episode 439. Dick and Leo had fun guessing what CPP stood for. This time around, they had more fun guessing what CPP stands for. The answer can be found in Episode 490 - Certified Packaging Professional.
Listen to Episode 895
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch
Lock De-Icers
Little can be found on the web of the StarCase Lock De-Icer now. hwrountrees.com still has a listing of an out-of-stock StarCase model. On Amazon, you can still find both the "heated pick"-style de-icers (including some which look remarkably similar to the StarCase model) and "aerosol"-style de-icers.
Savage Winter
Dick makes light of Roz Savage's voyage across the Pacific. So she rows through the Pacific in the warmth of the tropics, but has she tried the savage winter on the Hudson?
Trademarks and Patents
While Leo is having issues with the TWiT trademark, listener John R Henry CPP has been busy patenting his own invention, which serves the purpose similar to that of the Shake-It-Up Milk Bottle (Episode 835). His idea is a container with 2 chambers keeping 2 types of ingredients separate, but with a mechanism for mixing them only when you want to do so. Cereals and milk is one application. You can check out his patent filings here and there.
CPP Again
The first time John R Henry had his letter read out on the show was Episode 439. Dick and Leo had fun guessing what CPP stood for. This time around, they had more fun guessing what CPP stands for. The answer can be found in Episode 490 - Certified Packaging Professional.
Listen to Episode 895
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch
Bounceback Ultimate
Backup Software
Link: CMS Products
A piece of software from CMS Products, the Bounceback Ultimate. It backs up everything (data, operating system, settings) on your hard drive to any external USB hard drive, which is a bootable backup. You can also back up to multiple drives, create versioned backups, enable encrypted backups, recover any lost data from the backup, restore your computer to a previous state, and if your hard drive has failed, even boot up from the USB hard drive (as long as your computer BIOS supports booting from a USB device). You can buy from CMS a hard drive with the software installed, or you can buy the software as a stand-alone product.
Leo's China Tour
Leo is nearing his China Tour. He'll be staying at the Raffles Hotel in Beijing first, visit the Great Wall of China from there, the terracotta warriors in Xian, the Li River in Guilin, turn back to Beijing before going on the Geek Cruise, which will visit places in Korea and Japan. He will be leaving the TWiT Cottage on 2 July and come back on 18 July.
Missing 499
Curt Estridge, whose letter was referred to in Episode 841, listens to the Daily Giz Wiz at work with one earbud, leaving half an ear for his boss. Curt does listen to a stereo podcast which it is OK to listen to with one ear, and that's "Says You", also available on Audible. Curt loves the Daily Giz Wiz, and all the MAD Magazines he's won from the WTHII game. He hasn't missed a MAD issue, except Issue 499 which he couldn't find anywhere. Dick invites Curt to send him an email to sort that out.
Leo doesn't beg
Leo is looking for cycling accessories, including the cyclocomputer-GPS Garmin Edge 705. Leo will not beg for it from Garmin, but Dick might. Dick's got Plantronics to send Leo a Voyager Pro (Episode 829) for him to review.
Pre-View Unit Controversy
Just don't talk to Leo right now about review units, as yesterday, Leo, ever the nice guy, threw an uncharacteristic fit on TWiTLive during the Gillmor Gang show, over his being one of a select group of tech journalists who had been given a review unit of the Palm Pre. Read a summary of it on John C Dvorak's blog, which also has a clip of the video that contains strong language from Leo in reaction to comments from Mike Arrington.
Anyone who has listened to Leo for any length of time knows how meticulous Leo tries to be in returning review units, and how many gadgets he's had to buy for himself, to avoid even the appearance of a possibility of conflict of interest, even though it is fairly common for journalists to keep some review units - in which case the reviewer needs to prove his credibility in the long term, and many journalists have succeeded in doing so. But it is against this background that Leo's reaction and use of language must be understood. It must have been extremely galling for Leo, who has spent so many years building up a reputation of integrity and a relationship of trust with his audience, to find himself at the wrong end of a suggestion of a possible lack of independence by another tech journalist as experienced and knowledgeable as Arrington, just because Leo got a review unit.
Arrington has put his side of the story on TechCrunch. In the midst of the explanations and justifications in that blog post, Arrington has made an apology. Leo in response has also made an apology in the comments section. Read it all for yourself.
Listen to Episode 846
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Leo's China Tour
Leo is nearing his China Tour. He'll be staying at the Raffles Hotel in Beijing first, visit the Great Wall of China from there, the terracotta warriors in Xian, the Li River in Guilin, turn back to Beijing before going on the Geek Cruise, which will visit places in Korea and Japan. He will be leaving the TWiT Cottage on 2 July and come back on 18 July.
Missing 499
Curt Estridge, whose letter was referred to in Episode 841, listens to the Daily Giz Wiz at work with one earbud, leaving half an ear for his boss. Curt does listen to a stereo podcast which it is OK to listen to with one ear, and that's "Says You", also available on Audible. Curt loves the Daily Giz Wiz, and all the MAD Magazines he's won from the WTHII game. He hasn't missed a MAD issue, except Issue 499 which he couldn't find anywhere. Dick invites Curt to send him an email to sort that out.
Leo doesn't beg
Leo is looking for cycling accessories, including the cyclocomputer-GPS Garmin Edge 705. Leo will not beg for it from Garmin, but Dick might. Dick's got Plantronics to send Leo a Voyager Pro (Episode 829) for him to review.
Pre-View Unit Controversy
Just don't talk to Leo right now about review units, as yesterday, Leo, ever the nice guy, threw an uncharacteristic fit on TWiTLive during the Gillmor Gang show, over his being one of a select group of tech journalists who had been given a review unit of the Palm Pre. Read a summary of it on John C Dvorak's blog, which also has a clip of the video that contains strong language from Leo in reaction to comments from Mike Arrington.
Anyone who has listened to Leo for any length of time knows how meticulous Leo tries to be in returning review units, and how many gadgets he's had to buy for himself, to avoid even the appearance of a possibility of conflict of interest, even though it is fairly common for journalists to keep some review units - in which case the reviewer needs to prove his credibility in the long term, and many journalists have succeeded in doing so. But it is against this background that Leo's reaction and use of language must be understood. It must have been extremely galling for Leo, who has spent so many years building up a reputation of integrity and a relationship of trust with his audience, to find himself at the wrong end of a suggestion of a possible lack of independence by another tech journalist as experienced and knowledgeable as Arrington, just because Leo got a review unit.
Arrington has put his side of the story on TechCrunch. In the midst of the explanations and justifications in that blog post, Arrington has made an apology. Leo in response has also made an apology in the comments section. Read it all for yourself.
Listen to Episode 846
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Wowwee Flytech Bladestar
Toys
Link: Wowwee
From Wowwee, the Flytech Bladestar is billed as an "indoor flying machine". Not quite a helicopter, just the blades. The infra red remote control uses 6 AA batteries, which can be connected to the blades for charging. 10 minutes of charging gives you 5 minutes of flight time. It has an avoidance mode, so it can steer away from obstacles such as a wall. Comes with 2 spare wings. If you buy two, you can get a "dog fight adapter" so the two can duel with each other.
Propeller on a Stick
If you want a full helicopter, Dick has talked about the PicooZ Helicopter before (Episode 204), or you can get the Dragonfly that Leo mentions. For something simpler, try looking for the retro toy propeller on a stick, or make one yourself - with full instructions on sci-toys.com.
Pitchmen
If you want a full helicopter, Dick has talked about the PicooZ Helicopter before (Episode 204), or you can get the Dragonfly that Leo mentions. For something simpler, try looking for the retro toy propeller on a stick, or make one yourself - with full instructions on sci-toys.com.
Pitchmen
Dick and Leo have recently talked about infomercial-man Billy Mays (in Episode 820). Discovery Channel has a documentary on Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan, called Pitchmen.
Learning English on Audible
Paul Griswold, who's visited Dick at his office at MAD, has found another use for Audible. Paul has a Japanese wife, who finds listening to Audible books, along with the book itself borrowed from the library, a great way of learning English.
Bat Boy The Musical
Bat Boy was a fictional creature (half-bat, half-boy) featured in the old tabloid Weekly World News, and made his way into an off-Broadway musical, in which he started learning English by watching Masterpiece Theatre (originally hosted by the late Alistair Cooke, now by Laura Linney). There's even a recording on CD of the musical by the original cast.
Listen to Episode 833
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Learning English on Audible
Paul Griswold, who's visited Dick at his office at MAD, has found another use for Audible. Paul has a Japanese wife, who finds listening to Audible books, along with the book itself borrowed from the library, a great way of learning English.
Bat Boy The Musical
Bat Boy was a fictional creature (half-bat, half-boy) featured in the old tabloid Weekly World News, and made his way into an off-Broadway musical, in which he started learning English by watching Masterpiece Theatre (originally hosted by the late Alistair Cooke, now by Laura Linney). There's even a recording on CD of the musical by the original cast.
Listen to Episode 833
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Travelon Toiletry Sheets
Travel Accessories
Link: Travelon
Travelon makes travel accessories, like suitcases, bags, computer cases and even carts. These Toiletry Sheets come in 6 types: hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, body wash and laundry soap, each in packs of 50 sheets. Because they're dry, they're TSA-compliant and can be taken on board a flight.
It also has a lot in common with the Daily Giz Wiz and its gravy. Just Add Water.
Halloween Capital
Halloween is big in Petaluma, especially in D Street. They even dress up the chickens! And when you're tired of costumes, you can see some great bands at the Phoenix Theater and McNear's Mystic Theatre (which must be the only theatre in the States with a British spelling), which Kim and Robin from Wild Planet visited recently.
New Business Opportunities
TSA has created so many new business opportunities: Ziplock bags, TSA travel locks (Episode 38), laptop cases (like the Brenthaven in Episode 674), and now these toiletry sheets.
Security Theatre
Security was tested at various airports recently, with the help of security expert Bruce Schneier. TSA's protective measures are no more than a "security theater", according to the article "The Things He Carried" in the Atlantic Magazine.
Little Golden Hood on Audible
Join Audible - and get Little Golden Hood narrated by Leo (which is a free download anyway), or Paula Poundstone's "There's Nothing In This Book That I Meant To Say". Dick's favourite quote from her is "I was such a lonely child that I created 2 imaginary friends, and they would play only with each other."
The Humanety
Geek celebrities including Veronica Belmont, Geoff Smith, Felicia Day, Gary Vaynerchuk and Patrick Norton are taking part in a project by humanety.com, offering a half-hour Skype video chat on auction to the successful bidder. The money will go to the charity named by the celebrity. Dick is taking part and his charity is going to be his own favourite, the Animal Haven, a no-kill shelter. Dick's auction starts today, 30 October 2008. "Humanety, we're all in this together."
Ballooning Inventory
Earl of Southfield, Michigan and proud member of the TWiT Army has among others 2 copies of Good Days and Mad (hardcover and paperback), a GizWizBiz Inka Pen, a Plantronics 650 headset, 3 Open-X's, a Flip Ultra. No Titanium Spork yet but may soon be added to his ballooning inventory. Purveyors of these gadgets should be begging for sponsorship of DGW. He's even bought items mentioned on TTTT. That should be proof enough.
Earl has been listening since Episode 1, and a long-time fan of the Screen Savers from the Kate and Leo days (not the Titanic pair, but Kate Botello and Leo Laporte).
Listen to Episode 689
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Security was tested at various airports recently, with the help of security expert Bruce Schneier. TSA's protective measures are no more than a "security theater", according to the article "The Things He Carried" in the Atlantic Magazine.
Little Golden Hood on Audible
Join Audible - and get Little Golden Hood narrated by Leo (which is a free download anyway), or Paula Poundstone's "There's Nothing In This Book That I Meant To Say". Dick's favourite quote from her is "I was such a lonely child that I created 2 imaginary friends, and they would play only with each other."
The Humanety
Geek celebrities including Veronica Belmont, Geoff Smith, Felicia Day, Gary Vaynerchuk and Patrick Norton are taking part in a project by humanety.com, offering a half-hour Skype video chat on auction to the successful bidder. The money will go to the charity named by the celebrity. Dick is taking part and his charity is going to be his own favourite, the Animal Haven, a no-kill shelter. Dick's auction starts today, 30 October 2008. "Humanety, we're all in this together."
Ballooning Inventory
Earl of Southfield, Michigan and proud member of the TWiT Army has among others 2 copies of Good Days and Mad (hardcover and paperback), a GizWizBiz Inka Pen, a Plantronics 650 headset, 3 Open-X's, a Flip Ultra. No Titanium Spork yet but may soon be added to his ballooning inventory. Purveyors of these gadgets should be begging for sponsorship of DGW. He's even bought items mentioned on TTTT. That should be proof enough.
Earl has been listening since Episode 1, and a long-time fan of the Screen Savers from the Kate and Leo days (not the Titanic pair, but Kate Botello and Leo Laporte).
Listen to Episode 689
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Sandisk Sansa slotMusic Player and slotMusic Cards
microSD card MP3 Player
Link: Sansa slotMusic.org
The music industry has come up with a new idea for distributing digital music - slotMusic - selling albums as DRM-free MP3s (up to 320 kbps) on a 1GB microSD card. The 4 major international music companies - Universal, Sony/BMG, Warner and EMI all support it. Any micro-SD enabled phone or MP3 player can play the music. The slotMusic card is one of those that has a tiny USB sleeve that can plug into any computer for transfer. Album art, liner notes and any other creative content may be included on the card, in digital form.
Sandisk, being a major flash memory manufacturer, is supporting the new format, and has made a Sansa slotMusic Player - a barebone device with a microSDHC slot that plays MP3 and WMA files, with no other functions, running on a single AAA battery. The sleeve (or skin) is replaceable. Bundles including the player and a slotMusic card (currently only ABBA, Robin Thicke, Connie Talbot and Don't Quit) are available.
The slotMusic "albums" and the slotMusic Player can be purchased online through the Sansa Store or at Wal-Mart and Best Buy. The albums are selling for $15.
Sandisk, being a major flash memory manufacturer, is supporting the new format, and has made a Sansa slotMusic Player - a barebone device with a microSDHC slot that plays MP3 and WMA files, with no other functions, running on a single AAA battery. The sleeve (or skin) is replaceable. Bundles including the player and a slotMusic card (currently only ABBA, Robin Thicke, Connie Talbot and Don't Quit) are available.
You can check out the available albums on the Sansa Store or on slotMusic.org.
Geek Cruises
Captain Neil Bauman has changed the name of Geek Cruises to Insight Cruises. Leo will be going on the China, Korea and Japan Tour next year with Henry.
Grilling Barbeque
Captain Neil is also a grilling specialist, and Leo was going to a barbeque last Wednesday, with Captain Neil demonstrating his grilling skills, which would be beamed live on TWiTLive, to be joined by Randal Schwartz, FLOSS Weekly co-host and avid DGW listener. Unfortunately, at an earlier barbeque at Captain Neil's house, poor Randal had an accident and broke his arm. Listen to FLOSS Weekly Episode 46 where he explained the accident.
Burns & Allen
Prolific letter writer Steve Miller (whose letter was read out only yesterday in Episode 687) writes again. Dick's mention of George Burns and Gracie Allen in Episode 679 made him search for the Burns & Allen radio show on Audible, Steve having become a subscriber thanks to DGW (see Episode 376). What he found was an Audible book by Burns called "One Hundred Years, One Hundred Stories". Steve, who is easily tempted, could not resist buying the book.
This is Steve's 9th letter read out in DGW, the most for any listeners.
In Return for Candy
12-year-old seventh-grader A Z Bopper from Mesa, Arizona has been listening to DGW for the last 6 months and has been inspired by Dick and Leo to become a total computer nerd, helping his mother with her computer, and his English teacher with her computer and printer. He doesn't mind because he gets candy for it. Dick advises that he should hold out for soda as well, and Leo adds, "But not candy corn."
Match Game Memories on Stickam
Dick is going to do a show on Match Game Memories on Saturday 29 November, the day Gene Rayburn passed away, which also happens to be Leo's birthday. It will be on Stickam. Leo wants to crash the party. Stayed tuned.
Listen to Episode 688
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Totes Pocket Shave
Travel Shaving Kit
Link: New York Times Article
Dick's Gadget Warehouse
Today's gadget is also the What The Heck Is It gadget for September '08, which no one cracked, not even WTHII aficionado "Marked". Made by Totes, maker of umbrellas, the Pocket Shave, when the cap was removed, revealed a razor that flipped up and out, and inside the cylinder was compressed shaving cream released by pressing a white button. It was the size of a fat pen, and the cap even had a clip for your pocket. A perfect travelling companion. No sign of it now, but you can find an article on the New York Times still archived on their website.
A Poem for Dick's Gadget Warehouse
Ed Hansen from Rexton, Canada, long-time listener since Episode 1 (see his letter in Episode 204), has been inspired by the suggested name for Dick's mansion, "Wizneyland", to compose an opening poem for the Gadget Warehouse:
Wait For Dick
The phone rings for Dick, and Leo can't wait to play the Wait-for-Dick Jingle.
Parting With Junk
As may be expected, Dick is a real hoarder and has difficulty throwing out junk. He tried disposing of the Atari Video Music (Episode 85), still in its sealed box, but in the end retrieved it from the trash bin. Hence the Gadget Warehouse, where in some dark corner, there ought to be, in a little Kodak film canister, a bit of Bill Gaines, which Dick has yet to rediscover. But Dick has unearthed an old Mad box with more original Match Game Cards from 1974 and 1975. For more details, go to matchgamequestions.com.
Dick once even went to an Anti-Clutter Class. You can hear the story in Episode 94.
Breaking Down Barriers
Tony Colonello, aka Kwai Nor or Kwai Naawy (little water buffalo) to his Thai wife, has been prompted by Episode 671 (the Mio Knight Rider GPS) to write about his own GPS. The TomTom GO 720T not only has voice directions in Thai, but also can record any voice so that his wife can now nag him about his driving even when she's not in the car.
In support of the Daily Giz Wiz, he is now an Audible subscriber. Being an Amazon Kindle (Episode 472) owner, he's got his wife to listen to Audible books on the Kindle, so she can learn English at the same time, breaking down cultural and language barriers.
Listen to Episode 680
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
A Poem for Dick's Gadget Warehouse
Ed Hansen from Rexton, Canada, long-time listener since Episode 1 (see his letter in Episode 204), has been inspired by the suggested name for Dick's mansion, "Wizneyland", to compose an opening poem for the Gadget Warehouse:
Come with me now to a place
That moves at a much slower pace
To see gadgets that time has forgot
Gadgets that weren't all that hot
And you may or may not see a mouse
At the Wizneyland Gadget Warehouse
Wait For Dick
The phone rings for Dick, and Leo can't wait to play the Wait-for-Dick Jingle.
Parting With Junk
As may be expected, Dick is a real hoarder and has difficulty throwing out junk. He tried disposing of the Atari Video Music (Episode 85), still in its sealed box, but in the end retrieved it from the trash bin. Hence the Gadget Warehouse, where in some dark corner, there ought to be, in a little Kodak film canister, a bit of Bill Gaines, which Dick has yet to rediscover. But Dick has unearthed an old Mad box with more original Match Game Cards from 1974 and 1975. For more details, go to matchgamequestions.com.
Dick once even went to an Anti-Clutter Class. You can hear the story in Episode 94.
Breaking Down Barriers
Tony Colonello, aka Kwai Nor or Kwai Naawy (little water buffalo) to his Thai wife, has been prompted by Episode 671 (the Mio Knight Rider GPS) to write about his own GPS. The TomTom GO 720T not only has voice directions in Thai, but also can record any voice so that his wife can now nag him about his driving even when she's not in the car.
Listen to Episode 680
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Parking Meter Alarm
Parking Timer
Link: Spoon Sisters
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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Digital Day Counter
Food Hygiene
Link: HowManyDaysAgo
Dick and Leo go all yada-yada today and almost forget to talk about the gadget. DaysAgo's Digital Day Counter is just that. It keeps track of the number of days that have elapsed since you started the counter going by pressing the button. You can put it on jars and bottles in the fridge, or other things you can think of. 3 different models offer different ways of attachment: magnetic, suction and elastic band.
iPhone 3G Launch
At the time of recording, Leo had yet to do his 24-hour iPhone 3G launch coverage. Leo predicts that he will be dragged out of the TWiT Cottage kicking and screaming in a nervous breakdown. He wasn't, but some may well think that he should have been. As Dick says, when he joined the TWiT network, he took Leo out of his shell, but now he's gone out of his mind.
This Way To The Egress
Because of the need for perfect audio and video conditions, all egresses of the TWiT Cottage have to be covered in dark fabrics. That reminds Leo of a quotation of P T Barnham's, "This way to the egress."
Fireworks No More?
After Dick and Leo talked about Dick's eccentric way of watching the 4th of July Fireworks (Episode 605), Mike Gunn (from Episode 315) wrote to make the observation that Dick won't be able to carry on his old way much longer, as portable TVs don't support digital TV, yet. Dick suggests that the Grucci family should start doing water-level fireworks.
Leo's First Job ...
... was at McDonald's. He worked his way up from the cash counter, to milk shakes upstairs, to French Fries, and then to the grill.
Curly Fries and a Medium Coffee
Dick went into Burger King and asked for Curly Fries. No such thing. Leo went into Starbucks and asked for a Medium-size coffee. No such thing. It's Spiral Fries and Americano Grande.
Dueling Narrators
Audible's new sponsorship of the Daily Giz Wiz starts again today. Support Dick, go to www.audible.com/gizwiz and subscribe. You can also select versions of the same book by dueling narrators.
Someone Made A Video
In Episode 606, Dick said someone had made a video with all the jingles back-to-back and a selection of pictures of past gadgets. That someone wrote to Dick, "That someone would be me." Signed InsideDGW.
You can watch the video at the blog post for Episode 600, or follow this link: snipurl.com/600video.
The video is 3 minutes 54 seconds long, although that's not the length of all the jingles and themes combined. Only an extract of the Spork Commercial was used, and the video was made before Dan Lueders's Thursday Theme and Disclaimer were aired.
Listen to Episode 611
Go to TWiT
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iPhone 3G Launch
At the time of recording, Leo had yet to do his 24-hour iPhone 3G launch coverage. Leo predicts that he will be dragged out of the TWiT Cottage kicking and screaming in a nervous breakdown. He wasn't, but some may well think that he should have been. As Dick says, when he joined the TWiT network, he took Leo out of his shell, but now he's gone out of his mind.
This Way To The Egress
Because of the need for perfect audio and video conditions, all egresses of the TWiT Cottage have to be covered in dark fabrics. That reminds Leo of a quotation of P T Barnham's, "This way to the egress."
Fireworks No More?
After Dick and Leo talked about Dick's eccentric way of watching the 4th of July Fireworks (Episode 605), Mike Gunn (from Episode 315) wrote to make the observation that Dick won't be able to carry on his old way much longer, as portable TVs don't support digital TV, yet. Dick suggests that the Grucci family should start doing water-level fireworks.
Leo's First Job ...
... was at McDonald's. He worked his way up from the cash counter, to milk shakes upstairs, to French Fries, and then to the grill.
Curly Fries and a Medium Coffee
Dick went into Burger King and asked for Curly Fries. No such thing. Leo went into Starbucks and asked for a Medium-size coffee. No such thing. It's Spiral Fries and Americano Grande.
Dueling Narrators
Audible's new sponsorship of the Daily Giz Wiz starts again today. Support Dick, go to www.audible.com/gizwiz and subscribe. You can also select versions of the same book by dueling narrators.
Someone Made A Video
In Episode 606, Dick said someone had made a video with all the jingles back-to-back and a selection of pictures of past gadgets. That someone wrote to Dick, "That someone would be me." Signed InsideDGW.
You can watch the video at the blog post for Episode 600, or follow this link: snipurl.com/600video.
The video is 3 minutes 54 seconds long, although that's not the length of all the jingles and themes combined. Only an extract of the Spork Commercial was used, and the video was made before Dan Lueders's Thursday Theme and Disclaimer were aired.
Listen to Episode 611
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Philips Avent Digital Baby Monitor
Baby Care
Link: Philips Avent (USA)
The Philips Avent DECT Baby Monitor uses DECT technology to ensure zero interference between the baby monitor in the baby's room and the parent unit, by automatically switching among its 60 available channels, and to give you a private encrypted channel for listening to your baby. It warns you when the parent unit gets out of range (technical spec is up to 300m) or the link is for any reason lost (with visual and audible link indicators). It comes with a battery indicator, a low battery warning indicator and volume control. In addition to the main parent unit, there is also a smaller mobile remote parent unit which still allows you to monitor the baby when you're moving around the house.
Apart from listening in on the baby, its Talk-Back intercom function allows you to talk back to the baby. A "Starry Night Light" feature gives your baby a night light "with soothing stars to comfort your baby".
There are different models in different countries. In the US, you can get the SCD 589 (one parent unit) or SCD 590 (2 parent units). The SD 590 also monitors the room temperature of the baby's room, and comes with 5 lullabies for the baby.
Apart from listening in on the baby, its Talk-Back intercom function allows you to talk back to the baby. A "Starry Night Light" feature gives your baby a night light "with soothing stars to comfort your baby".
There are different models in different countries. In the US, you can get the SCD 589 (one parent unit) or SCD 590 (2 parent units). The SD 590 also monitors the room temperature of the baby's room, and comes with 5 lullabies for the baby.
GPS Lady on Audible?
Leo has said that some recent models of GPS devices can play Audible books. Ira asks, Does it mean that now the GPS Lady becomes the narrator?
DGW in Order
Opher Banarie (from Episodes 236 and 554) finally succumbs to the iPod after putting up with other MP3 players. However, the iPod insists on playing DGW starting with the most recent episode, in reverse chronological order. Leo suggests making a playlist on iTunes arranging them by Song Name, or using the On-The-Go Playlist feature on the iPod itself.
Dash Update
Leo wants to talk about updates on the Dash Express (Episode 572) but will reserve that for TTTT next week, as this show is already chock full of extemporaneous stuff and too much for InsideDGW, Pilot of Air Force One, to transcribe.
Listen to Episode 609
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