27 posts tagged “australia”
Belkin Conserve 8
Power Strip with Remote Control
Link: Belkin
In Episode 682, Leo gave Dick a choice of 2. Dick outdoes Leo today by offering Leo a choice of 3 gadgets: something from Cable Organizer (see Episode 553), a new watch from Casio (neither of which Dick has actually seen), or a box from Belkin (and Dick has no idea what's inside). Leo decides to play "What's In The Box?" again.
For previous instances of "What's In the Box?", see Episodes 379, 518, 541, 557.
With his Zibra OpenIt (Episode 496), Dick opens the package and inside is the Belkin Conserve 8, an energy-saving 8-outlet power strip with surge protector and remote switch. It has 8 power outlets, 2 of which are "Always On", while the remaining 6 widely spaced outlets are "Remote Switched", which can be turned off using the remote control, e.g. as you leave your house. The remote switch comes with a wall mount. Conserve 8 even comes with cable management clips.
Favourite Episodes of DGW
Blind listener Danny Noonan from Australia, whose last letter appeared on the show in Episode 465, writes in to salute Dick and his lesser sidekick called Leo. On the subject of favourite episodes of DGW, Danny has to add Episode 598, the Uroclub, which his gadget-loathing wife Sam enjoyed, even the second time around.
Dan Lueders
Danny himself is a bass teacher, pays tribute to Dan Lueders for his themes, and wonders what musical instruments he uses in his themes. You can check out Dan Lueders on the following websites: Why Me Studio; Dan on urSESSION.
Listen to Episode 694
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The Giz Wiz Home Page
For previous instances of "What's In the Box?", see Episodes 379, 518, 541, 557.
Favourite Episodes of DGW
Blind listener Danny Noonan from Australia, whose last letter appeared on the show in Episode 465, writes in to salute Dick and his lesser sidekick called Leo. On the subject of favourite episodes of DGW, Danny has to add Episode 598, the Uroclub, which his gadget-loathing wife Sam enjoyed, even the second time around.
Dan Lueders
Danny himself is a bass teacher, pays tribute to Dan Lueders for his themes, and wonders what musical instruments he uses in his themes. You can check out Dan Lueders on the following websites: Why Me Studio; Dan on urSESSION.
Listen to Episode 694
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Flexii USB Optical Mouse with Fan
Computer Accessory
Link: Vavolo
A USB optical mouse, from Flexii, available at vavolo.com, with 800 dpi resolution. The difference is it has a built in fan. Ideal for people with sweaty palms. Vavolo sells other fun stuff. Check out their USB Gadgets.
Labour Day Weekend
Fingers crossed, Leo might be celebrating the end of the Roz Savage's first leg of her trans-pacific rowing voyage, when it is hoped she will be landing in Hawaii.
Wait-For-Dick
The doorbell rang again for Dick, and it's another gadget delivery. It's a boating gadget (a Casio watch) which Dick might review on DGW.
Muncie and Laporte
Chris Hileman, who did the original design for the TWiTLive website, has noted that Leo keeps suggesting that things he has lost are in Muncie. Chris is from Muncie, Indiana, and has looked all over town, and there's absolutely nothing there, just like Petaluma. He suggests Leo look in Laporte, Indiana. Leo's father did a tour over the country of Laporte towns, and he thinks that there is a Laporte town in most states of the USA.
Listen to Episode 646
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Labour Day Weekend
Fingers crossed, Leo might be celebrating the end of the Roz Savage's first leg of her trans-pacific rowing voyage, when it is hoped she will be landing in Hawaii.
Wait-For-Dick
The doorbell rang again for Dick, and it's another gadget delivery. It's a boating gadget (a Casio watch) which Dick might review on DGW.
Muncie and Laporte
Chris Hileman, who did the original design for the TWiTLive website, has noted that Leo keeps suggesting that things he has lost are in Muncie. Chris is from Muncie, Indiana, and has looked all over town, and there's absolutely nothing there, just like Petaluma. He suggests Leo look in Laporte, Indiana. Leo's father did a tour over the country of Laporte towns, and he thinks that there is a Laporte town in most states of the USA.
Listen to Episode 646
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
i-Ride and Stroll-A-Tune
Speakers for Bicycles/Strollers
Link: Active Tunes Stroll-A-Tune
The i-Ride and Stroll-A-Tune are really the same thing. They're add-on amplified stereo speakers for your bike or stroller. It mounts on to any handle-bar and bicycle frame, and connects to any player with a standard headphone jack.
Early Christmas
Leo plays the Festive Letters Jingle by mistake, and it just happens to suit the wife of a particular listener who can't wait till Christmas.
A Fan, Naturally Speaking
Brian Drake, who wrote in Episode 394, uses voice recognition software Dragon Naturally Speaking. While recommending DGW on a message board and mentioning Dick's and Leo's names, he found that the software spelled the names Laporte and Debartolo correctly. These are not very common names and Brian thinks Dick and Leo have a fan working at Dragon.
Working For An Airline?
Dick tells a story of how they got hold of an old telephone number of a defunct airline (Capital Airline, Dick thinks) and started answering calls. It was all rather zany.
Listen to Episode 638
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Leo plays the Festive Letters Jingle by mistake, and it just happens to suit the wife of a particular listener who can't wait till Christmas.
A Fan, Naturally Speaking
Brian Drake, who wrote in Episode 394, uses voice recognition software Dragon Naturally Speaking. While recommending DGW on a message board and mentioning Dick's and Leo's names, he found that the software spelled the names Laporte and Debartolo correctly. These are not very common names and Brian thinks Dick and Leo have a fan working at Dragon.
Working For An Airline?
Dick tells a story of how they got hold of an old telephone number of a defunct airline (Capital Airline, Dick thinks) and started answering calls. It was all rather zany.
Listen to Episode 638
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Eye Fi Explore
Wireless SD Card with Geotagging
Link: Eye-Fi
The makers of the Eye-Fi Wirelss SD Card (Episode 441) have updated their product. Apart from bumping up the capacity to 2GB (with the same wireless connectivity and uploading capability), the new Eye-Fi Explore adds geotagging to your photos by noting the locations of the wifi hotspots or networks which have been mapped by Skyhook Wireless using its Wifi Positioning System that currently covers 70% of the population in North America, the top 50 metropolitan areas in Europe (and 70% of the population in the UK, France and Germany) and is seeking to expand its coverage into Asia. Skyhook is the same company used by the iPhone Edge (which does not have built-in GPS) for its location-awareness feature.
In addition to the Skyhook geotagging service, it also comes with one year's free Wayport Hotspot access, which has over 10,000 hotspots in the US, renewable for $19 a year.
Its webshare feature now includes many popular photo sharing and printing sites, social networking sites and blogging sites, such as Flickr, SmugMug, Picassa, PhotoBucket, FaceBook, Vox, TypePad and even Wal-Mart.
The Spork Makes it to the Big Screen
Neil Chitel reports that the Spork has made it to Hollywood, in the latest Disney Pixar film Wall-E. Leo suspects the Toothpick Bird will appear in the sequel.
TWiT Cottage Slogan
The slogan around the TWiT Cottage is "Feeling down, feeling depressed? Get the hell out of my sight." No State or Federal Labour Law applies in the Duchy of TWiTdom. The future looks grim for Dane and Colleen.
Listen to Episode 608
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The Giz Wiz Home Page
SpokeLit
Bicycle Wheel Light
Link: Nite Ize
The SpokeLit is an LED lighting device which you can attach to any bicycle wheel (with a 3-cross spoke pattern) which glows as a lighted circle when you ride on your bike, to announce your presence to other traffic in dark conditions. Available in Red, Green and Blue. Available from Nite Ize, which also sells the Fibre Optic Flashlight Adapter, the Dec '06 WTHII gadget (see Episode 226).
Copyrighting Gadget
Dick explains that the reason so many gadgets are spelt in funny ways, such as SpokeLit and Nite Ize is so that they can be more easily copyrighted.
The Birth of DGW
Dick and Leo think it was the Hudson Hotel in New York where the idea for DGW was born, while Leo was in town to appear on Regis, after the Hardware Show Preview.
Another Trivia Question
"What is a pregnant goldfish called?" a listener asks Leo. "A mamafish," replies Leo. All right, it's a twit. Read The Straight Dope to learn more than you want to know about it.
Leo's Autobiography
Another listener suggests a name for Leo's autobiography, "TWiT'll Be Me", although Leo now prefers "I Never Stopped Talking".
600th Episode
Episode 600 is coming on in 2 weeks, and Dick and Leo may well be recording it on 20 June when Dick is at the TWiTLive Studio. They might get Wild Planet to give away some prizes, or get ThinkGeek to make some monogrammed Sporks, or SpearHats.
Listen to Episode 589
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Dick explains that the reason so many gadgets are spelt in funny ways, such as SpokeLit and Nite Ize is so that they can be more easily copyrighted.
The Birth of DGW
Dick and Leo think it was the Hudson Hotel in New York where the idea for DGW was born, while Leo was in town to appear on Regis, after the Hardware Show Preview.
Another Trivia Question
"What is a pregnant goldfish called?" a listener asks Leo. "A mamafish," replies Leo. All right, it's a twit. Read The Straight Dope to learn more than you want to know about it.
Leo's Autobiography
Another listener suggests a name for Leo's autobiography, "TWiT'll Be Me", although Leo now prefers "I Never Stopped Talking".
600th Episode
Episode 600 is coming on in 2 weeks, and Dick and Leo may well be recording it on 20 June when Dick is at the TWiTLive Studio. They might get Wild Planet to give away some prizes, or get ThinkGeek to make some monogrammed Sporks, or SpearHats.
Listen to Episode 589
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
TT Pack
Restroom Kit
Link: TT Packs
The gadget with the lowest tech and lowest price, according to Dick. The TT Pack is a restroom kit which contains a toilet seat wipe, toilet seat cover, hand wipe, tissue, paper towel and disposable gloves. Brought to you by Eye 2 Eye Ideas.
Are We Related?
Trevor from Sebastopol, Australia was glad to hear that both Dick and Leo are watch junkies. So is he. He's got loads of watches, most of which have flat batteries.
Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair has done a special on Mad. See the article, with early Mad covers, online.
Spork Commercial
At Dick's request, Leo plays the Spork TV commercial.
Listen to Episode 558
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Are We Related?
Trevor from Sebastopol, Australia was glad to hear that both Dick and Leo are watch junkies. So is he. He's got loads of watches, most of which have flat batteries.
Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair has done a special on Mad. See the article, with early Mad covers, online.
Spork Commercial
At Dick's request, Leo plays the Spork TV commercial.
Listen to Episode 558
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Ziszor
Portable Paper Shredder
Link: Ziszor
Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday
This time, it's Leo's turn to do a "What's In the Box?" routine, and Dick's turn to guess what it is. It's Ziszor, a portable, hand-held shredder. It runs on 4 AA batteries, comes with 4 Ziszor catcher bags, and you shred your paper trail right into the bag. Ziszor's slogan is, Don't let your mail be your trail. But as Leo demonstrates, it can't shred Colleen's credit card, though it will shred your English spelling into oblivion.
A Wireless Toaster
Karen Toast Conger, of ToastFloats, used to work for WatchGuard, a network security devices company. As a parting gift, she was given a very special toaster. Her colleagues bought her a Cuisinart toaster, took it apart, and put a WatchGuard Firebox X Edge wireless router into it. A wireless router, security device, and a toaster.
Listen to Episode 557
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
A Wireless Toaster
Karen Toast Conger, of ToastFloats, used to work for WatchGuard, a network security devices company. As a parting gift, she was given a very special toaster. Her colleagues bought her a Cuisinart toaster, took it apart, and put a WatchGuard Firebox X Edge wireless router into it. A wireless router, security device, and a toaster.
Listen to Episode 557
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
MyTags
Luggage Tags
Link: Tags For Bags
Now that Dick has got himself a Tom Bihn bag, the Western Flyer, for ABC's Travel section, he turns his attention to luggage tags. MyTags from TagForBags are 7" heavy-duty woven polyester tags, with a choice of your own words embroidered on them. Inside each tag are 2 clear pockets, one for your name and address, the other for your itinerary. Leo advises Dick not to embroider his tags with "The Giz Wiz", as it would be an open invitation to thieves. Dick agrees, and thinks "Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday" is the safest bet.
'Tude Tags, tags with an attitide, cost the same, and are the same tags, only with standard embroidered phrases, including DON'T EVEN, BACK OFF, NOT YOURS, WRONG ONE, HANZZOFF, DREAM ON and BADABING.
Dick DeBarkolo
Long-time listener Opher Banarie from Laguna Niguel suggests another name for Dick's dog Fairway: Dick DeBarkolo.
All About Australia
Claudio Quaresma from Brazil notes that Leo has been touting his photo safari trip to Tasmania. He has heard about the Australian Government's Internet Filter Experiment, and wonders if the two events are related. Your fans demand to know, says Claudio. Leo explains that it was the Australian Government's attempt to offer free content filter for all of Australia, but within 30 minutes, the filter was hacked by a 16-year-old. Probably Ludwik, who to Dick, has finally graduated to all of 16 years, since he was 15 last year. The filter was an unmitigated waste of 85 million Roos.
Save the Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil, an animal unique to Tasmania, is a scavenger which causes no harm to humans and other animals. They have been plagued by a contagious cancer and if nothing is done for them, they may die out soon. Leo and the photographers on the Lightroom Adventure 2 trip raised $7,000 for the Save the Tasmanian Devil movement by selling some of their photographic prints.
The Wombat
Leo was much taken by the wombat, an Australian marsupial. For a shot of Leo falling for a wombat (and one of the slang phrases he picked up in Tassie), go to his blog at Leoville. For photos taken by Leo on his recent trip, go to his Smugmug page, or his Flickr page.
Listen to Episode 554
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
'Tude Tags, tags with an attitide, cost the same, and are the same tags, only with standard embroidered phrases, including DON'T EVEN, BACK OFF, NOT YOURS, WRONG ONE, HANZZOFF, DREAM ON and BADABING.
Dick DeBarkolo
Long-time listener Opher Banarie from Laguna Niguel suggests another name for Dick's dog Fairway: Dick DeBarkolo.
All About Australia
Claudio Quaresma from Brazil notes that Leo has been touting his photo safari trip to Tasmania. He has heard about the Australian Government's Internet Filter Experiment, and wonders if the two events are related. Your fans demand to know, says Claudio. Leo explains that it was the Australian Government's attempt to offer free content filter for all of Australia, but within 30 minutes, the filter was hacked by a 16-year-old. Probably Ludwik, who to Dick, has finally graduated to all of 16 years, since he was 15 last year. The filter was an unmitigated waste of 85 million Roos.
Save the Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil, an animal unique to Tasmania, is a scavenger which causes no harm to humans and other animals. They have been plagued by a contagious cancer and if nothing is done for them, they may die out soon. Leo and the photographers on the Lightroom Adventure 2 trip raised $7,000 for the Save the Tasmanian Devil movement by selling some of their photographic prints.
The Wombat
Leo was much taken by the wombat, an Australian marsupial. For a shot of Leo falling for a wombat (and one of the slang phrases he picked up in Tassie), go to his blog at Leoville. For photos taken by Leo on his recent trip, go to his Smugmug page, or his Flickr page.
Listen to Episode 554
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Neuros OSD Media Centre
Video Recorder/Converter
Link: Neuros
It makes use of the analogue hole to transfer the input video into digital form, on to your choice of external storage (such as a USB hdd, flash drive, memory cards or NAS). Hook up the Neuros OSD between your video source and the TV (using RCA jacks), connect your storage to the Neuros OSD, and start recording into MPEG4. You have a choice of 2 resolutions: 320x240 at 30fps for playback on portable devices, and 640x480 at 30fps for playback on TV and PC.
It is also a very capable playback device for audio, video and still photo, supporting many media formats, including mpeg4, mov, wmv, flv, avi (including Dvix and Xvid), mp3, ogg vorbis, wma, flac, jpg, bmp and gif. You can choose your playback source from an USB-connected storage, or any memory card in the built-in card reader (supporting most major memory cards), or from any networked source via the ethernet port (such as your NAS or even the internet).
Its firmware is upgradable, and the software includes built-in automatic software update capability. Because the device is based on open source software, Neuros also encourages open development of additional features for the OSD. Comes with a remote control, an IR Blaster, and RCA cables (European models include SCART adapters).
Automatic Podcast Generator
Dick and Leo lament the missed opportunity of getting a push-button automatic podcast generator, while Leo was away in Tasmania, from Ludwik Trammer, DGW's official statistician, database compiler, RSS feeder, general factotum and all-round nice guy.
Missing Feature
Girl Geek Myra Joyce (who wrote in in Episode 495) referred to the letter read in Episode 526 about the Canon Pixma iP4300. To her disappointment, the CD-label printing capability is enabled only in models shipped outside of the US (which could be enabled for US models but only with some dismantling and reassembly of the printer).
The Ultimate Toaster
Leo has come up with an idea for the ultimate toaster. It can print any image you want on your toast. A toast before it's even made and one destined for the Gadget Warehouse.
Listen to Episode 546
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DiskOnKey
USB Flash Drive
Link: CNET Reviews
Dick's Gadget Warehouse
M-Systems was one of the first companies to introduce a USB flash drive. Dick got his 16MB DiskOnKey at a press event, but Dick cannot now remember when, though he suspects it might have been in the late 1990's.
CNET reviewed an 8MB DiskOnKey in June 2001, which was one of the first USB thumb drives which did not require a special driver, as long as the operating system had native USB support. Overclocker Cafe reviewed the product (available from 8MB to 128 MB) in March 2002.
There was also a lot of controversy over who owned the patent to the technology, for which you can read the article on Wikipedia. M-Systems was acquired by SanDisk in 2006.
There was also a lot of controversy over who owned the patent to the technology, for which you can read the article on Wikipedia. M-Systems was acquired by SanDisk in 2006.
No Stereo Please!
Assen, who listens to DGW at work with one ear to DGW and another to the outside world, pleads with Leo not to record DGW in stereo, as it may interfere with his surreptitious routine.
Listen to Episode 545
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