4 posts tagged “contract”
Flaming Fruitcake
Combustible Christmas Log
Dick's Gadget Warehouse
Made by Grandma Keenan Specialty Products, the Flaming Fruitcake looked like a Christmas log but was intended for the fireplace as a combustible log. Made of sawdust, wax, colour wood and colouring agents, it was not a food product. "Have fun burning these calories." "Finally a fruitcake you will enjoy." Dick got it in 1991 from a PR agent, and the only reference to it on the web one can find is on Living On Earth, 24 December 1993.
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.
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.
When Mad first turned itself into a comic magazine, Time's review predicted that it would be a "short-lived satirical pulp". Not only did Mad continue to thrive, but Warner Bros/Time Warner in due course acquired it and brought it under the same division as Time Magazine. In the acquisition deal, Bill Gaines slipped a clause into the final draft of the contract reserving to himself the right to be unreasonable. He also felt confident that the affairs of Mad would be totally unaffected because for the first few years, the new owners wouldn't even realise that they had acquired the new property.
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
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
MediaShow 4
Photo and Video Management and Editing Software
Link: Cyberlink
Dick loves Cyberlink's YouCam (Episode 443) so much that he was delighted to see a demo by Andy Marken (via GoToMeeting, Leo thinks) of another piece of software from Cyberlink, MediaShow 4. It manages your photos and videos, makes slide shows of your photos with background music, qjuickly enhances your photos and videos, and enables you to share your photos and videos easily on Flickr and YouTube.
Conversion Chart for Engineers
Tracy Taylor came across a conversion chart which could have come from Mad.
What is the ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter? An Eskimo pi.
What is 2000 pounds of Chinese soup? Wonton soup.
The time between slipping on a banana peel and smacking on the pavement? One ba-nano second.
Half a large intestine? A semi-colon.
2000 mocking birds? To kill a mocking bird.
The chatroom groans.
To see the full conversion table, click here.
Mad Minute
Editoral replies to editorial queries.
Listen to Episode 583
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Conversion Chart for Engineers
Tracy Taylor came across a conversion chart which could have come from Mad.
What is the ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter? An Eskimo pi.
What is 2000 pounds of Chinese soup? Wonton soup.
The time between slipping on a banana peel and smacking on the pavement? One ba-nano second.
Half a large intestine? A semi-colon.
2000 mocking birds? To kill a mocking bird.
The chatroom groans.
To see the full conversion table, click here.
Mad Minute
Editoral replies to editorial queries.
Listen to Episode 583
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
Intuitive Shower Curtain
Educational Shower Curtain
Link: tilcoweb
Learn while you shower. SAT top 100 vocabulary, SAT Maths, Spanish vocabulary etc.
It's "Warehouse"!
The word for the 100th Episode contest is "warehouse". Also find out what the wackier answers were.
Did you know?
When Warner acquired Mad, Bill Gaines managed to get a clause into the contract to the effect that Gaines would retain the right to be unreasonable - which he slipped in when he signed the final draft.
