7 posts tagged “dance”

The ooma system started in July 2007, and the price of the package (the ooma Hub plus the ooma Scout) has come down.  The ooma Hub is connected to your router and hooked up to your own telephone, which enables you to make telephone calls via the internet using VoIP (to another telephone number).  You can keep your own land line telephone number, and if you don't have a number, you can get one from ooma (for a one-time fee of $40).  All calls within the US are free (subject to a limit of 3,000 minutes per month for outbound calls), while you can make international calls at cheaper rates through ooma.  If your friend overseas has an ooma system and a registered US number too, those international calls are also free.  Although naturally aimed at the US market, the ooma system can be used outside the US too in the same way.  If you keep your landline number, you can of course use the traditional 911 service.  If you use a number from Ooma, it includes the E911 service so that emergency staff can be given your registered address.  The ooma Scout can be connected to another phone jack in the house, and lets you make calls from another phone in the house.


Ooma's peer-to-peer technology differs from other similar services in that instead of using normal telephone exchanges to terminate calls, ooma routes calls through other ooma users' phone lines if possible, cutting out the termination fees on the calls.  If there are no ooma users with a phone line within 12 miles of where a call is terminated, only then will ooma use the normal telephone exchange.  For more details, see TechCrunch's article in 2007.  Because of the initial outlay, whether ooma is worth investing in depends on how long it stays in business.

Ooma does also have a Premier plan, for a yearly fee of $100 or $13 per month, which gives you extra functionality.

Uma?
Ooma has nothing to do with Uma Thurman, but does have something to do with Ashton Kutcher, who was involved Creative Director.

All For Nothing
Dick is always prepared for a disaster, with all his emergency kits.  Leo wonders, if at the end of Dick's life, Dick lying on his death-bed would be disappointed that nothing bad had happened, and all that engery spent on getting ready for disasters was expended for nothing.  That is indeed a frightening scenario, but Dick always looks on the bright side.  While his emergency kits may prove to be of little use to him, his beneficiaries will inherit all his kits, and God willing, they will have a disaster.

Emergency Kits at the TWiT Cottage
Leo has had his share of buying emergency kits, such as the Ready Kit Plus (Episode 29), even though he eschewed the Talking First Aid Kit (Episode 454) for not having a Swedish accent.  The TWiT Cottage is well equipped with emergency kits, only that no one is allowed to use it.

Bring Back the Jingle Singers !!
Brian Zager has noticed that Leo has been inviting celebrities lately such as Elvis and the Beatles to sing the Letters Jingle.  He hopes that Leo is not considering laying off the Jingle Singers who at this time of economic downturn cannot afford to lose their jobs.

A Public Announcement for WTHII
The next issue of MAD is going to be the April Issue (Watchmen cover).  So Dick is extending the current What The Heck Is It game to 15 March.  The next WTHII will be for another 6 weeks, and the prize will be the 500th Issue of MAD.


Listen to Episode 779
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Display Link is a technology built into different products which enables easy multi-monitor display from a single computer or source.  The extra display may be an extended display, or a mirrored/cloned display.  At the simplest level, Display Link can be used in an External Display Adapter, such as the Gefen USB to DVI Adapter (picture above).  Just install the Display Link driver on your computer (Windows and Mac supported), plug the Adapter to a USB port, connect a 2nd monitor to the Adapter via DVI, and you have a 2nd display monitor.

Display Link relies on hardware manufacturers to apply the technology in their products.  For example, you can have a monitor with a built-in Display Link hardware rendering engine chip, and you can connect the monitor directly to a USB port on your computer to be used as a secondary display, such as LG's Flatron L206WU (which has a USB hub as well, for daisy chaining additional Display Link-enabled monitors).

Samsung's SyncMaster 2263DX comes with its own 7-inch secondary display monitor which you can put alongside or on top of the main display.  You connect the main unit using both the main connection (whether it be HDMI, DVI or VGA), and also to a USB port on the computer, and then connect the 7-in display to the main monitor via USB.  X-bit Labs has a review of this monitor.

For a list of Display Link-supported devices, click here.

DGW 4th Sesquicentennial Video
Dick refers to a video, made by someone who has put all the DGW themes and jingles back to back, with pictures of past gadgets.  That someone would be me, and while we wait for Dick or Leo to dig up the email, you can see the video on YouTube, or go back to the blog post for Episode 600.

Stay Unconnected
Both Dick and Leo are frustrated with the "Scale Whale" or "Fail Whale" that is Twitter.  Dennis Wright suggests Summize to Dick for searching for Twitter replies.  Dick suggests going to Stay Unconnected, which is apparently run by those who make the SpearHats (Episode 537), to have some fun.


Listen to Episode 606
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

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 Marsona Sound Machine, available from Magellan's, makes "white noise" to mask off other noises, such as traffic and noisy neighbours, which might otherwise disturb your sleep, especially when you're travelling and sleeping in an unfamiliar environment.  Choice of "rainfall", "waterfall" and "surf".

A Request for Retraction and Apology
Tom of goinglinux.com demands a retraction and apology from Dick.  In Episode 533, Dick referred to an article in Mad with monkeys in parodies of popular film titles, such as Primates of the Caribbean and Saving Primate Ryan.  But primates include lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans too.  As a primate, Tom finds it highly objectionable.

Listen to Episode 559
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Another PMP, this time from Haier.  It's the Ibiza Rhapsody Wifi Media Player, available in 4GB, 8GB, and 30GB models.  It supports MP3 and WMA files and many video formats.  It is Wifi b/g enabled (and the 30GB model supports bluetooth).  Designed to support Rhapsody, it comes with a 30-day free subscription to Rhapsody To Go.  You can also access Rhapsody's free streaming channels, FM Radio, AOL Video, and your favourite audio and video podcasts.  The wifi means you can download content without a PC.  2.5" LCD screen (320 x 240 pixels), about 4" x 2.5" x 0.5" in size, 5 ounces in weight (for the 30GB model), and slightly smaller and lighter for the 4/8GB models.

Law against Wifi Sharing
Steve Miller notes that sharing your wifi using the Meraki Mini (Episode 432) may be a great idea, but check you local and state law, as there may be a law against it (as it is in Michigan).  Leo rants about these misconceived regulations.

The Continental
Dick and Leo talk about an old TV programme called the "Continental", and its spoofs.

Listen to Episode 499
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

Leo has been using the Epson PictureMate, which is perfect for making 5" x 7" prints, but Leo wants to get a more professional printer for large format prints for his wife Jennifer who is a very good photographer.  The Stylus Photo R2400 uses 9 ink cartridges, and prints produced with the use of archival ink and paper can last up to 200 years.  It prints up to 13" x 19" borderless printing.  It has a number of black ink cartridges for making excellent black and white photos.

Sunset at Line and Twine
The local string factory in Petaluma, Sunset Line and Twine, was closing down.  Another piece of history gone.  There was an exhibition of photographs of the factory in the local Library, including some taken by Jennifer, printed with Leo's Stylus Photo R2400.

You can see some of the Sunset Line and Twine photos on Leo's Smugmug pages.  There's also a beautiful collection of photographs of the factory taken in August 2007 by a local photographer Tim May.

Dane Golden, editor at TWiT, wrote an article on the sale of the old Victorian factory building (to be converted into condominiums) in a previous life.  He's supposed to have made a video too, but it doesn't seem to be online any more.

CED Players
A listener Matt writes in about the CED Players, which he's not heard about on the Daily Giz Wiz.  Leo explains this was the RCA Selectavision discs from the early 1980's that they talked about in Episode 277.  CED stands for Capacitance Electronic Disc.

Brannock Device
Leo was at a shoes store the other day and he bored the store lady to tears with the history of the Brannock Device (Episode 255).


Listen to Episode 317
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page