5 posts tagged “comedy”

Polaroid has been trying to find its place in the new world of digital photography.  Their latest attempt is the PoGo (Polaroid to Go), a portable bluetooth printer that connects to your mobile phones via bluetooth and makes 2" x 3" borderless prints.  The cellphone needs to support Bluetooth OBEX (Object Exchange) profile.  A list of compatible phones can be found on the Polaroid website.



You can also print directly from any PictBridge-enabled digital camera, by connecting the devices using a USB cable.

The print is made using Zink Imaging's Zink technology - Zero Ink - on Zink paper.  Each 2" x 3" photo paper contains 100 billion yellow, magenta and cyan dye crystals which are activated by heat pulses to generate the colours.  Since no ink is used, the prints come out as dry-to-touch prints.  They have peel-off sticky backs which can be used as stickers.  A modern version of Polaroid prints.

The dimensions of the PoGo 4.7" x 2.8" x 0.9", with a replaceable and rechargeable Li-ion battery.  Each charge can print up to 15 prints.  the advertised print speed is 60 seconds from send to share, though in practice it's likely to take longer.  You can get the PoGo photo paper in packs of 10 or 30, costing about $5 and $13 respectively.

One From the Gadget Warehouse
While rummaging through his treasure trove that is the Gadget Warehouse, Dick stumbled upon a Polaroid Instant Slide device, probably one of the 35mm Autoprocessors from Polaroid.



Mr Hulot's Holiday - It's Playtime !
Jacques Tati was a French comedian who made a few classic films including Mr Hulot's Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot) and Playtime.

Here's the original French trailer for the film Playtime, where you can see a reflection of the Eiffel Tower on the door (or click this link):


For the scene in which what the lift (elevator) operator has to go through before he can get the lift to start, watch this clip (or click this link):

And for a rather interesting window cleaning scene, watch this clip (or click this link):


TWiT Nutwork on the PSP
Alex Rearick from Ohio learned about the "TWiT Nutwork" when the PSP gained RSS capability.  He listened to the back episodes, and enjoyed thoroughly the classic episode of the Key Buoy (Episode 149).  He's even got himself a GizWizBiz Cap.  New ones, with 30 hours of burn time, are available from Dick's website.

The iSoniCast enables wireless streaming from your iPod to your home stereo or other powered speakers.  Monster Cable calls it a "wireless audio bridge".


Connect the base station to AC power and to your home stereo and to one of the audio inputs of your home stereo (via the mini-jack to RCA cable provided).  Plug the transmitter into the iPod (which draws minimal power from the iPod), start playing and the music will be streamed by 2.4GHz wireless technology (with a bandwidth of 4 Mega-bits per second) to the base station receiver.  The iPod doubles up as a remote control.

Mad Currency
Randal Schwartz, Perl expert, co-host of FLOSS and long-time fan of DGW, came across an entry on Wikipedia about fake denominations of US currency and found that the Mad currency (3-dollar bill) which Dick talked about in the past (see, e.g. Episode 121) has made its way into that entry.  Dick goes on to describe the Alfred E Neuman postage stamps that Mad used to make.

Spork Cartoon
Dick and Leo mention in passing a spork cartoon which listeners have written in about.  Leo says he is going to save it for the Letters Section, but naturally he forgets.  While we wait for Dick and Leo's memory to come round, here's one which is pretty good, by Jakin J Waldock.


Listen to Episode 567
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

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

These earbuds look exactly the same as the familiar iPod earbuds, but are 500 times as big (hence the name 500XL).  They are desktop speakers made by Fred & Friends, and available on Perpetual Kid (see also Episode 404).  USB-powered, they produce decent sound, and can double up as portable speakers using 4 AA batteries.  A fun gag.

Andy Marken chips in again
The generous Andy Marken has stepped into the fold again, offering 10 copies of Cyberlink's YouCam webcam special effects software (see Episode 443) as prizes, to add to the 3 Maxtor portable drives.  For details of the contest, see Episode 514.

You can see one of the YouCam special effects, the Polaroid look, in Dick's recent video on the 500XL Earbuds Speakers.

And Now, From Our Own Correspondents

Terry Scott who works for Edmonton Transit in Edmonton, Alberta listens to DGW while driving his bus at work.  After listening to Episode 500, he talked to his brother in Winnipeg using his HP PDA on his Jawbone bluetooth headset, and suddenly realised that he's been turned into a geek, but at least he's not a proctologist.  Leo warns, "DGW may cause geekiness," and Dick warns, "Don't look underneath the veneer."

Theme-Free Wednesday Theme
Dan Lueders of Why Me Studio, a DGW listener, and musician and songwriter based in Chicago, sent in a theme to Dick and Leo back in January (which apparently Dick again misplaced - see below).  It's for their Theme-Free Wednesday.  It was made in response to comments by Dick and Leo in the beginning of Episode 478, segments from which have been incorporated into the theme itself.

Some listeners might remember the name Dan Lueders.  He made a Gravy Jingle submission which Dick first mentioned in Episode 115, which was never played, and somehow got misplaced.  The jingle submission was later recovered and played in Episode 313 (and played again in Episode 314).  By then Paul Minshall's Gravy Jingle had long established itself as the closing theme.

For more information on Dan Lueders, check out his profile on urSESSION, or Promiseland Music.

For a long-winded story of the Gravy Slogan and Jingle, check out the Gravy page.

For more DGW jingles, you can find them on the Jingles page.

Listen to Episode 528
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up