17 posts tagged “internet”
Digital Coin Counting Money Jar
Mr Microphone
Wireless Microphone
The report on Engadget was of a hack by kipkay who took the device apart and put in a high end mic into the gut. The main photo of above of Mr Microphone is taken from the video kipkay made of the hack.
DGW Commercials
Paul Newell from Yucaipa, California, in response to the letters of complaint in Episode 641, writes in to support commercials on DGW.
Cheesy Recipes
Talk of commercials reminds Dick of the awful recipes in the Kraft commercials, voiced-over by Ed Herlihy, and Leo drifts into the lyrics of MacArthur Park.
Listen to Episode 650
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Lexmark X9575 Professional
All-In-One Printer
Link: Lexmark
The Drunk Professor
The last time Leo appeared on Regis and Kelly (which was February 2007: see Episode 246 when Leo was in New York visiting Dick's Gadget Warehouse), he was asked to wear a lab coat which made him look like a drunk professor. He's been invited to go back, but this time, Leo thinks he might insist on a tutu.
Golden Boy
Before Dick's visit to TWiT Cottage for GizWizLive, he could hardly remember Dane's name. This week Dick cannot stop talking about him, and there is now talk that Dane, "who needs to be needed", might defect to GizWiz Productions, especially with the threat of the upcoming spy-cams all over the TWiT Cottage.
Leo mentions the name of Tony among the TWiT crew. He's Tony Wang, the new TWiT netcast editor, taking the place of Dane Golden after the latter's promotion to President and BizDev Guy.
Privacy is Dead
James aka Uncle Big Bad wants to know what Dick and Leo thinks about how the internet has changed everything about your personal life. According to Leo, Google doesn't think there's such a thing as privacy any more.
The Wild Wild West
Learn about Robert Conrad playing James West in The Wild Wild West.
Longest Episode
This show quickly overtakes the recent Episode 628 as the longest episode.
Listen to Episode 634
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The Merlin for Ricochet PC Card
PC Card Wireless Modem
Link: ricochet.wikispaces.com
Metricom began providing 28.8 kbps wireless internet access in the mid-1990's (monthly flat rate of just under $30). Its service was limited to big cities, and by 2001 it covered 17 city areas in the US. The early modems, one of which Leo still has, such as the Phase II Modem and the Modem SE, were about the size of a cellular phone (in those days) and used a serial port connection for the computer, with a peice of velcro to attach itself to the back of a laptop screen. Using AT commands, they acted like a Hayes-compatible modem. For a review of the early service, click here.
For the technology used by Ricochet for the network, see its Wikipedia entry, hamradio-online and techweb.
Later modems became smaller (with the Modem GS about the size of a pack of cards), supporting serial port and USB connections, with the speed of the connection increased to 128 kbps in 1999 (monthly flat rate of $75). For a review of the 128 kbps service, click here. Unlike the connection speeds these days, Ricochet's actual user speeds sometimes exceeded the advertised speeds. Considering that all this took place mostly at a time before WiFi or even wired broadband service became prevalent, Ricochet was pretty cool, as Leo says.
All the modems, over the years, seemed to sell for just under $300. Unfortunately, the Merlin was one of the last modems released by Metricom. In July 2001, Metricom filed for Ch 11 Bankruptcy, with debts over $1 billion, and the service was shut down in August 2001. After a series of acquisitions and asset-selling, its service continued in limited areas, shrunk and is now no more.
In the 9/11 aftermath, 2 months after the initial shutdown of the Ricochet service, Ricochet was revived in October 2001 and called to the rescue, to provide internet access around Ground Zero. Read the CNET report.
4th of July Fireworks
Apart from the crappy fireworks sound effect that Leo generates, Dick does enjoy the real thing. He sometimes goes to watch the 4th of July Fireworks on his work boat in New York City, half live and half on TV. Dick's previous more detailed descriptions of his wacky mode of seeing the fireworks appear in Episode 97 and Episode 348.
TWiTLive Marathon for the iPhone 3G
With the iPhone 3G launch on 11 July, Leo is going to do a marathon coverage of the worldwide launch, starting with Wellington in New Zealand - which will be 10 July US time. Audible is sponsoring the coverage and will give away 5 iPhones 3G.
Match Game Back, on TBS
Regular correspondent Toyota Boy reports the news that Match Game is going to be back, on TBS, with Sarah Silverman, Niecy Nash, Norm MacDonald, Super Dave Osborne and Rashida Jones. Leo predicts, "It's gonna be blue."
Dash Express
GPS Car Navigation System
Link: Dash Express
This week's TTTT gadget from Leo is a recommendation by Jason Calacanis of Mahalo. The Dash Express is a GPS car navigation system with a difference. It is WiFi- and GPRS-enabled, so that its AutoUpdate function will always get you the most up-to-date maps and software (maps include 2D and 3D maps). Its TruTraffic functionality downloads the latest traffic information to give you the most accurate road conditions. It receives traffic information from road sensors, commercial fleets and other sources through Inrix, a traffic data provider. It also collates traffic info from Dash users anonymously to get live traffic flow data. Its combination of historical traffic database and live info gives you alternative routes to your destination.
You can also connect to Yahoo Local Search to search for any information you want, like a dim sum restaurant or Starbucks nearest you, or nearest to your destination, or elsewhere, using an on-screen keyboard. You can get gas prices and movie listings.
A further feature is the DashApps. The Dash Express uses OpenMoKo's Neo open hardware platform, and it is open to third party applications which you can download on to the device, to add functionalities, such as accessing your calendar using funambol, finding out about speed traps via Trapster.
You get 3 months' free trial of MyDash, and thereafter, depending on the length of your commitment, the monthly charge ranges from $10 to $13 per month. The monthly fee includes any Wifi and GPRS charges. If you don't subscribe to the Dash Express service, the device continues to work as an ordinary GPS (and naturally without any updates). Watch the video introduction of the Dash Express:
For another discussion of the Dash Express, by Leo and Jason Calacanis, listen to TWiT Episode 143 (starting at about 1 hour 5 minutes into the show).
Ludwik Trammer, who created the Giz Wiz Search, was challenged by listener Jeff Royal to calculate the total cost for acquiring all the gadgets covered by DGW, in Episode 563. Ludwik does not disappoint. He's already posted a comment to the blog post for Episode 563. He's also written to Leo about it, and did an mp3 voice mail. The cost comes up to about $62,700.
Here's his letter to Leo:
Hi Leo,
Yesterday I've listened to Daily GizWiz 563 (I was a little behind, because I moved out of my parents' house, and moved in with my friends, so I have more of this thing called "social interactions"). Anyway, your listener Jeff asked about combined cost of all the gadgets you talked about on the podcast. Obviously I'm not going to go through all the podcasts - I'm too lazy. But I asked my computer, and the answer, based on a sample of 200 gadgets is:
$110 per episode on average. And that gives you $62.700 for all 570 episodes.
I had names of the gadgets in my database already (from id3 tags), so I just run them throw Amazon products API and Yahoo Product Search API to get the prices.
Then, to verify that APIs responded with the right products I displayed product shots I got from APIs side-by-side photos Leo put in the mp3 files. After quickly scanning through all the pairs and ensuring the picture is the same product I calculated an average of the prices - $110 per one episode.
Ludwik
PS: I'm also sending you an mp3 with DGW letter in audio, but I don't really expect you to use it. For one I have a new MacBook, and it turned out I can't plug my mini-jack mic into it, and I had to use built-in MacBook mic. And my English really sucks, anyway. After two or three years of listening to podcasts I understand English almost perfectly (at the beginning I didn't understand almost anything), but I struggle to find a way to learn to talk in English. I recorded it mainly to practice. The answer to Jeff's question starts at 01:00.
Synthesised Voice
Leo also plays part of Ludwik's voice mail on the show. Leo thinks it's a computer-synthesised voice. For the complete recording, listen to it here:
Listen to Episode 572
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MyTags
Luggage Tags
Link: Tags For Bags
'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
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Cradlepoint PHS300 Personal Hotspot
Networking/Travel Router for Mobile Broadband
Link: Cradlepoint
For a list of compatible devices, check here. The firmware can be upgraded.
Other models with different feature sets are also available. The CTR350 is a similar to the PHS300, except that it has no built-in Li-ion battery, but has an extra ethernet port for standard internet connection. Like the CTR350, the MBR1000 has an ethernet port for internet connection via a DSL or cable modem, an Express Card Slot for express card 3G-modems, and supports wirelss-N in addition to wirelss b/g, with 3 external antennae to broaden the range of reception. The only thing it doesn't have is a built-in battery.
And Fun For All ...
... and things that make life easier, or not. Shane Shellenbarger (of Wandering Attention) writes in about a fun site: andfunforall.blogspot.com. From the Smart Cup (with built-in cookies holder), the Penguin Tea Timer, to the Banana Guard and the Lock-Cup, you get the wackiest of gadgets on this page of andfunforall.
Listen to Episode 542
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Tom Bihn's Western Flyer
Travel Bag For Laptop
Link: Tom Bihn
Leo has the Western Flyer, but recommends the SuperEgo for Dick, who can take an Ego Strip with it. The SuperEgo can carry Dick's laptop with room to double up as an overnight bag. For the ultimate briefcase, try the Empire Builder.
Toasting Don Quixote
Karen Toast Conger, who lives aboard a catamaran and travels around the world with her family (Episode 512), has taken up Leo's invitation and sent him a photo of her boat, the Don Quixote. It's a Lagoon 380 catamaran. You can see Toast's boat on her website, and on Flickr too. She and her two young girls sing along to the Letters Jingle.
Listen to Episode 522
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Read Dick's Write-Up
Shrink My Link
URL Shrinker
Link: ShrinkMyLink
Other similar sites include TinyURL and snipit.info.
Throw-It-Out Thursday
Deak, who suggested a Head-To-Head Wednesday in Episode 481, acknowledges that it would be too much work for Dick and Leo, and suggests instead "Throw-It-Out Thursday". He also congratulates Dick and Leo for reaching Episode 500.
Listen to Episode 516
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Read Dick's Write-Up
La Crosse Weather Direct
Weather Station
Link: La Crosse Technology
Succotash
Hear what succotash is from Dick and Leo.
Penguin Tea Timer
Listen to Episode 501
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Read Dick's Write-Up
