13 posts tagged “audience”
Warmmi USB Heating Mouse
Temperature-Controlled USB Mouse
Link: vavolo.com
Live Audience
During this week's taping, Leo has in the studio a live audience - of one - Barbara.
Buzzers Old and New
Leo has a buzzer ready for the studio audience's reactions to Dick's jokes, but William Castle, maker of low budget horror thrillers, had selected seats in cinemas wired up with buzzers for his film "The Tingler", to give the audience a jolt. Read about the Tingler on Wikipedia, or imdb.
Here's the trailer of the Tingler, introduced by William Castle himself. You can also watch the beginning of the film on YouTube.
Rick the Vegas Cabbie as a teenager used to go to a friend's home to read the Mad Magazine, all 15 of them. He wants to thank Dick, Al Jaffee, Bill Gaines and the Usual Gang of Idiots for giving him a good time.
The Vegas Cabbie has driven Leo, Dick and Amber MacArthur in Las Vegas, and put them on videos, which you can find on YouTube. Links to Dick's video can be found in Episode 492. Leo's video (Part 1) can be found here, and Amber's here.
Dots Gloves
The Chatroom has found some gloves for Leo, in case he hasn't got something for tomorrow's TTTT. Dots Gloves - gloves with tips compatible with the iPhone touch screen.
Listen to Episode 681
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
iPhone 3G
Smartphone
Link: Apple
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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Rotator
Swivel Socket Adapter
Link: Rotator Electric
You can watch a demonstration here.
The Rotato
The name of Dick's gadget reminds Leo of the Rotato, a hand-crank potato peeler. The Rotato Express is electrically powered.
A number of people have asked about watching Dick live on TWiTLive, in the TWiT Studio itself (aka The Giz Wiz Green Room). Dick would love to have a live audience when he appears on TWiTLive on 20 June.
Piano Roll
Daniel Gentleman of ThoughtFix LLC writes in about what he thinks is the oldest method of recorded music distribution - the piano roll, and the player piano.
Even back in the day, the music industry was worried about copyright violation, and one of hte piano roll makers, Apollo, was taken to court, resulting in the 1908 Supreme Court decision in White-Smith Music Publishing Company v Apollo Company, which Apollo won. But later Congress intervened. Read about it on Wikipedia.
Here is an excellent video on YouTube of a TV programme aired on TVOntario in the late 1980's, called "The Acme School of Stuff", on how a piano roll was made.
Dick and Leo wonder if the younger generation would understand what a "bread box" or an "ice box" is.
USB Plasma Ball
Light Show
This Plasma Ball is powered by USB, 4'" in diameter, with an on/off swtich. Put your finger on the sphere and the "glow" will congregate around your finger, like all other plasma balls. Available at VAT19 and ThinkGeek.
Here is ThinkGeek's explanation of this magic. A combination of gasses (such as Argon) are trapped inside a plastic sphere at relatively low pressures. An alternating current, at relatively high voltages, is sent into the sphere via an electrode in the centre. This energy causes atoms (or electrons maybe) to be stripped from the gasses, leaving in its wake some positively charged ions and a gorgeous gaseous and electrically conductive environment (aka Plasma). That high voltage served up through the electrode will now arc up through the plasma to the plastic sphere where the voltage is lower (starting at the top where the temperature is greater). The arcs glow because they are hotter than the surrounding plasma. You can touch the plastic and the arcs will strongly congregate to your touch because you will be creating an even lower voltage jump from the electrode.
Or just let Dick explain it to you in his own words:
The Giz Wiz Green Room
Dick is negotiating for the TWiT Studio to be named after him. Leo suggests "The Dick DeBartolo Memorial Antechamber". Dick thinks it's too early to do that, and prefers "The Giz Wiz Green Room".
The Bird Logo
Leo explains to Dick how the name Twitter came about. Evan Williams was running Odeo whose logo was a bird. As a side project, an engineer of Odeo suggested this IM-like web service, so people could send messages called "tweets" to each other. Hence the name Twitter. For Dick and Leo's previous mention of Odeo, listen again to Episode 150, towards the end of that episode at about 14:00. And it was Leo who told Dick about Odeo.
No Begging, Again
Having finally overtaken Barack Obama on the number of followers on Twitter, Leo is now locked in a close race with Kevin Rose. As with the May 2006 Podcast Alley vote, Dick and Leo do not beg (Episode 67). So sign up at Twitter and follow Leo, follow Dick, and Alfred E Neuman.
Please alleviate Leo's mid-life crisis and follow him on Twitter. Otherwise send him a Jacob's Ladder for The Giz Wiz Green Room.
The Belly of a Dead Fish
Jack from New Hampshire (who may or may not be Jack Kelly from Episode 419) was listening to Episode 564 and was amused by Dick's reference to the beigey colour of the Socket Pocket. As a technician, he is all too familiar with the colour and has always called it the "dead fish belly yellow". It's very close to Dick's Tainted Tuna Taupe.
Listen to Episode 573
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
HYmini
Hand-held Windmill Generator/Portable Charger
Link: HYmini
You can use the HYmini to charge your 5V portable devices. It also doubles up as a flashlight.
Sit Up!
Leo is back on his GopherSport Anti-Burst Fitness Ball (Episode 322), while Dick is slumped on his chair in a comfortably bad posture.
VCR Plus
Sharon from PoCo (Port Coquitlam) in BC, Canada loves the VCR Plus episode (Episode 560). She tells Dick that TV guides in Vancouver still print the VCR Plus codes. Her parents have been using the codes for 7 years. Jim Nelson also writes in to say that he still uses the codes.
Regis
Leo thinks Regis is great and does his work without anyone knowing it. For a photo of Regis in his office, go to Leo's Flickr.
It's A Gas
Dick and Leo mentioned the Mad recording "It's A Gas" yesterday, and again today. A listener James Baldwin has found the recording on YouTube and emailed Dick the link. Dick has embedded it on his home page, or listen to it here.
Listen to Episode 568
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Cliphanger
Clip for Mobile Devices
Link: Cliphanger
Now that the TWiT Studio is almost ready, Dick is keen to visit Petaluma and its many tourist attractions, including its bus stop, post office, parking lot, stop light and the lack of retail space. Leo is going to put Dick up in the Z, the M or the Hellton, or if Dick doesn't mind the distance, the Bates Motel.
The Land of the Rolling Hills
This year is the sesquicentennial of the birth of the town of Petaluma, even though its history is obscure, explains Leo, and no one knows what the name means - except Leo of course, who left us in no doubt in Episode 313 that it is a native Indian word meaning "the Land of the Rolling Hills".
But here's a conundrum. The Petaluma Firefighters celebrated their sesquicentennial last year, also according to Leo (see Episode 311). So people organised themselves into firefighters for a town a year before the town even existed? It must have been a fiery place 150 years ago. People after Dick's own heart, those early Petalumans. Safety first. Never mind building the town.
Butter and Eggs
Petaluma's Butter and Eggs Day will be on Saturday 26 April this year. Watch out for the Cow Chip Tossing Contest, the Cutest Little Chick In Town Contest, and the Rotating Parade. For Leo's descriptions of past parades, listen to Episodes 56 and 311.
DGW Audience
At the last count, the DGW audience consists of 4 listeners: Shane Shellenbarger, Mark Sukoenig, Myra Joyce (Girl Geek, aka Gadget Girl and Geek Chick to Dick) and Dan Lueders. Ludwik Trammer doesn't count as he doesn't understand English, and Brian Davis doesn't listen any more for obvious reasons (Episode 548).
Dean, Dan, Dufus, Dave et al
After calling Dane Golden correctly on Monday, Dick starts calling him Dean again today, and Leo finally tries to put Dick right. Dick complains that Dane should make up his mind about what his name is, and wonders why he doesn't address Dick as Chief, or Kimosabe.
Start the Law Suit
Peter Mangione writes in to tell on CBS Radio in New York, FM101.1. They have a programme called Turn-The-Table-Tuesday. Start the law suit !! After some discussion on whose idea it was to call the Tuesday podcast Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday, Leo clarifies the confusion. The CBS radio programme is called Turntable Tuesday. Stop the law suit !!!
For a reminder of how TTTT came about, see Episode 115.
Listen to Episode 549
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Timex Sinclair 1000
Vintage Computer
Link: OldComputers.net
Mike and Jean Troiano
Fans of Leo from California, they have visited the set of the Screen Savers, the TWiT Office, and will soon visit the new TWiT Studio. They may well take with them Carvel's Lumpy the Whale, more correctly known as Fudgie the Whale (see Episode 357).
TWiT Studio
Leo has referred to the new TWiT Studio a few times in his recent podcasts, including DGW. He's going to set up his live TV station in the old Victorian house in Petaluma. To see what the house looks like from the outside, see Episode 73.
To read more about Leo's new ideas for TWiT, read his blog.
Obsoleting ...
A listener writes in to talk about the quickest time in which a gadget is obsoleted by a subsequent gadget, such as the printer obsoleting the typewriter, and the cellphone obsoleting the typewriter. Somehow the rest of the letter got obsoleted after Dick and Leo distracted themselves with warm-up acts.
Our Own Ed McMahon
Dane Golden is aspiring to be the warm-up act for TWiT Live, as Ed McMahon was for Johnny Carson, Michael Gellman for Regis and Kathie Lee, and Johnny Olson for the Match Game.
Cutest Little Chick in Town
Butter and Eggs Day is coming up in Petaluma and they have a Cutest Little Chick Contest, says Leo. For more on the Butter and Eggs Day, listen to Episodes 56 and 311. Petaluma seems to have more than its fair share of wacky contests, including the Ugliest Dog Contest: see Episode 348.
Listen to Episode 535
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up
Salton's Cook N' Stir
Self-Stirring Saucepan
Link: The Future: A Retrospective
Salton's associated company Black and Decker apparently owns the Gizmo brand. I hope Dick gets his share of royalty on the use of the name.
Dick's Gadget Warehouse ...
... was built in about 1920, Dick reckons, with 7-foot thick stone walls, and built like a fortress. Its size is about 10' x 10' x 10' (see Episode 5, the first Warehouse Friday).
The Jerk Store
Kelly from the Jerkstoppers Store in California wants their Jerkstoppers (Episode 507) back, namely Dick and Leo. A take-off of the Seinfeld Jerk Store.
Listen to Episode 530
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up
Emergency Dog Survival Kit
Survivial Kit for Dogs
Link: Pet Gadgets
Carrying on with Dick's pet theme, this emergency kit from Pet Gadgets has enough to take care of your dogs' needs (up to 2 dogs) in case of an emergency - dog collar and leash, toys and chewable bones, first aid kit, sanitation poop bags, the lot. A doggie equivalent of the Ready Kit Plus (Episode 29) which Leo ordered.
Spoiled For Choice
Dick has no difficulty picking 4 gadgets a week to cover in the Daily Giz Wiz, although sometimes he changes his mind about his initial choices, and he finds he needs to do a little more research on the gadgets. Leo has no such problem. If he finds a gadget for TTTT, that's it, and it will last him 2 weeks. "Don't work too hard", is Leo's advice to Dick.
Totino's Output
Eric, the reliability engineer at General Mills, apologised for getting Dick and Leo's hopes up. He tried but the marketing people just don't understand podcasting. See also Episode 284.
According to him Totino produces 18,000 pizza rolls a minute and 300 million a year. It has been making pizza rolls at 99 cents each for 25 years.
Listen to Episode 286
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Pzizz
Nap Software
Link: Pzizz
According to Leo on this podcast, Randal Schwartz, the Perl expert and regular listener of DGW, told Leo about Pzizz after hearing about the Staalplaat Buddha Machine FM3 (Episode 167), which was 2 weeks ago. But actually Leo had learned about it on MacBreak Weekly Episode 8 (at 57:18): Wax On, Wax Off, from Merlin Mann, which was released on 27 September 2006.
It's nap software which helps put you into a ziz by relaxing you using a combination of ambient music and speech on mp3s which you listen to on your computer or your mp3 player. At then end of the nap, it will wake you up. Get 25% off with the coupon code TWiT. Dick uses his Nap Timer (Episode 40) but will try Pzizz.
Software on DGW
Leo says they have not done software before. They have: XPlay 2 (Episode 121).
Rent-A-DGW
Tim from St Louis records the shows on to audio CDs, listens to them in rented cars, and leaves the CDs in the car for the next renter. A form of viral podcasting. One other renter enjoyed it so much that he wanted to make sure that the CD got back to Tim.
The 300 Millionth Listener ...
... has joined the ranks of the DGW audience. In Leo's World anyway.
Mad Minute
Alfco's removal company Splinters
