75 posts tagged “jingle”

Soupy Sales
Dick and Leo talk about Soupy Sales and how he informed Leo's own sense of humour.  There's a Soupy Sales on Twitter, although no one is quite sure if Dick and Leo are not sure that's the real one.  Always irreverent, Sales once asked children to get those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of US Presidents" and mail them to him, which got him into quite a controversy.


Gadget Repatriation
Leo is off to China soon, and Dick reckons Leo can get a whole case of Bottle Cap Tripods for $10.  Leo finds it funny that he will be repatriating a whole lot of gadgets like the iPod back to China, where they were made.  Dick doesn't travel outside the US any more.  He's done it all with Bill Gaines, including travelling to Hong Kong.

A Guest Appearance
After Amber MacArthur (Episode 77) and Henry Laporte (Episode 252), Dane Golden is the third guest to appear on the Daily Giz Wiz, playing the voice of White Fang.

Old Clothes
Dick reminds Leo to take his old clothes with him when he travels to China.  This is a reference, often made in older episodes, to Dick's old habit of travelling with his old clothes and leaving them behind at the end of the trip.  Go back to Episode 61 for Dick's first mention of this habit, which generated a lot of empathy from the audience.

It's A Brand New Generation
David Sanders from Fort Wayne complains about the decades of therapy bills he'll have to pay for his young children who, having been subjected to the Daily Giz Wiz in the car, may have been irreparably harmed.  Now, as the children get ready for school in the morning, his 5-year-old starts singing "It's a brand new day, it's a brand new week, it's a brand new Daily Giz Wiz ...", while the 8- and 10-year-old complete the jingle.  David needs a jingle eraser gadget, or else Leo should employ a younger generation of Jingle Singers.

Cobra's MR F300 is a bluetooth handset designed for use on boats where there is a lot of ambient noise.  It pairs with your cellphone and produces loud and clear audio through its powerful speakers, with a noise-cancelling microphone which is enabled by pressing the PTT button (push to talk).  It's also waterproof for 30 minutes under 1 meter deep water.

A Sleeping-in Sunday Theme Coming Soon
Dick and Leo will be playing the new Sleeping-In Sunday Theme this Friday.

A Little Weekend Accident
Dick's boat was damaged by a giant wake caused by a big Staten Island Ferry as it zoomed by the marina.

Old Movies
Listen to Dick and Leo talk about Highway Patrol starring Broderick Crawford, and Plan 9 From Outer Space directed by Ed Wood (which they referred to back in Episode 176, when talking about The Amazing Criswell).

Make Your Own Ringtones
Dick was about to read again Shane Gibson's letter about making ringtones from DGW jingles (Episode 629), when he realised he had read the letter.  Leo suggests audiko.net for helping you make your own ringtones.

Pure White Noise
Regular correspondent Jim Levine thought he and his wife were the only people who couldn't sleep without the noise of the air-conditioner on, until he heard Dick (see especially Episode 559, the Marsona Sound Machine, although Dick has mentioned this habit of his in Episode 445 and most recently in Episode 612).  Jim found a CD which plays air-conditioning white noise, from Pure White Noise.

Eye Fi Explore
Leo has bought the Eye Fi Explore (Episode 608), just in time for his summer break at the Gray Eagle Lodge.


Listen to Episode 631
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The ClickFree is an external hard disk (120GB for model HD701, 160GB for model HD801 which is coming soon) - 2.5" SATA 5400 rpm hard disk - with built-in software to back up up to 10 of your hard drives.  No need to install any software on your computers, not even a click.  Just plug into a USB port on the computer and the software will auto-run and back up the contents of the hard drive.  Plug it into a second computer and it will do the same.  Windows only.

Dick Takes Visa
Dick's GizWizBiz merchandise takes Visa too.

Ring Me a Theme
Shane Gibson loves the show, loves the themes, cuts them from the shows and turns them into ringtones for his cellphone - the Warehouse Jingle for his mother-in-law.

Theme Composers Symposium
Ashley Witt who wrote the TWiT theme has suggested that all the TWiT network theme composers get together and make the themes available as a CD or downloads.


Listen to Episode 629
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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
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With effect from 1 July 2008, California and Washington will be among the many states which prohibit using your cellphone with your hands while driving.  One could of course still use a wired hands-free, but the Plantronics Discovery 925 will come in handy.  Super light-weight, it weighs in at 0.3 ounces only.  It comes in a carrying case, with a built-in rechargeable battery which recharges the device when you slot it into the case.

The package also comes with a USB charger and an AC charger, which you can connect to either the charging jack on the earpiece itself to recharge the device directly, or connect to the charging case to recharge the case.  3 earclips come as part of the packaged contents.

Plantronics' AudioIQ gives you noise cancellation, its multipoint technology allows you to pair up with up to 2 devices at the same time, and a single charge gives you 5 hours of talk time.  Leo thinks this is better than the Aliph Jawbone or the BlueAnt Supertooth Light (Episode 362) and feels very comfortable.  A worthy replacement of the Voyager 510 (Episode 252, which Leo lost while kayaking) or the Discovery 655 (Episode 173).

An Epitaph for Leo
Martin O' Connor from Galway, Ireland, who registered the url www.gadgetising.com (which has now lapsed) for Dick in Epsiode 148, suggests the following epitaph for Leo's tombstone, which Dick and Leo discussed in Episode 589 (while talking about the name for Leo's autobiography):  "Another TWiT, is in the can."

TWiTLive.com
Leo uses the URL twitlive.tv for TWiTLive.  A listener has registered twitlive.com and he is transferring the registration to Leo, which will take a little time to come through.

Thursday Theme?
Mike Wills of Podcastmike.com has done a Thursday theme for no-theme Thursday.  Maybe not, says Leo Cowell.


Listen to Episode 597
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Yet another model of the Sansa line from SanDisk.  The Sansa Fuze is, in Dick's own words, half way between the Sansa Clip (Episode 493) and the Sansa View (Episode 459): a fusion of the two.  It plays the usual music and video files, and Audible Books, 1.9" LCD screen, about the size of an iPod Nano.

Available in 2, 4 and 8 GB models and 5 colours (depending on capacity), all with a microSD card slot which supports microSD-HC cards.  FM radio, and built-in microphone for voice recording.

All at very competitive prices too.

Mathematically Challenged
Don Sherman, a biomedical engineer from Wayne, has been listening to DGW since its inception and enjoys the shtick.

He writes in to challenge the claim that the Desktop Earbuds Speakers 500XL (Episode 528) are 500 times the size of the iPod earbuds.  He reckons that the iPod earbuds are about 1 cm in diameter, which means that the XL500 would have to be 500 cm, or 5 m long, which they cannot be.

That's only one dimension.  One could of course try to calculate the volume.  Let's do some (really rough) calculation.

Let's assume that the earbuds and the speakers are all semi-spheres.  The volume of a sphere is 4/3 x π x (radius)³.  My iPod earbuds (admittedly the more recent version, not the original ones which the 500XL resemble) are about 1.6cm in diameter, or 0.8cm radius.  The 500XL speakers are about 4 inches in diameter (according to Perpetual Kid), i.e. 10.16 cm in diameter, or 5.08 cm radius.  The volume ratio between the 500XL speakers and the iPod earbuds is therefore (5.08)³ ÷ (0.8)³ = 256, i.e. only 256 times.  In fact, for the 500XL to be 500 times in volume, its speaker diameter will have to be 5 inches.

There is the volume of the "handles" to consider as well, but that still wouldn't push the ratio up from 256 times to 500 times.  I think Fred who makes the 500XL may be mathematically challenged, but surely no one is going to mind when he's come up with such a charming idea.  At least 256 is a nice binary number!

Listen to Episode 543
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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
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Read Dick's Write-Up

Dick showed a model of one of the suitcases from Porter Case about 15 years ago on Regis.  It is still in business.  The Porter Case is a carry-on size hard suitcase with wheels and handles that extend into a cart for you load your other luggage on top.  It also makes special Photos Cases and Computer Cases for carrying your photo equipment or laptops.

More on Leo's Tasmania Trip
Leo is going to Tasmania, an island state in Australia, with a group of professional photographers led by Mikkel Aaland, on a photography trip.

A TWiT Satire
John Paradox is writing his own satire of the TWiT network - the Daily Fiz Biz, in which Leo Lapork and Rick Retoto play a jingle, talk about a comparative combination of soft drinks, play a jingle, talk about Rick's writing for a game show, play a jingle, read a letter, play a jingle, say "I'll be here", play a jingle.

Listen to Episode 520
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Read Dick's Write-Up

Closing Theme
Also called the Gravy Jingle, with its reference to the "It makes its own gravy" slogan.  Created by Paul Minshall from Vancouver, Canada, it was chosen as the Gravy Jingle among other jingle submissions.  First incorporated into the end of the podcast in Episode 116, but was first aired and introduced by Leo during the show in Episode 118, on 2 August 2006.  For the history of how the Gravy Slogan and Gravy Jingle came about, see this rather verbose blog entry.

This picture is taken from the virtual Dick's Gadget Warehouse created by David Knighton on Second Life, aka Boss Melnitz.

Letters Jingle
Created for DGW's Mail Bag by George Wood from Scotland, aka the Jingle Singers.  As the show went on, more and more emails came in, and Dick and Leo decided to read a letter in each episode.  This original Letters Jingle was first aired in Episode 166 on 9 October 2006.  For an audio history of how the idea of a letters jingle came about, see this other blog entry.



Festive Letters Jingle
A special version of the Letters Jingle prepared by George Wood for the Jingle Bells season, but truly a jingle for all seasons.  Particularly popular with DGW fans.  First aired in Episode 208 on 6 December 2006.

TTTT Theme
The idea for a Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday first started during Episode 115, and TTTT officially began in Episode 122 on 8 August 2006.  The theme for TTTT arrived much later, when George Wood decided to write a theme for our special Tuesday, to sing the praises about Leo's travails in looking under his desk.  It first appeard in Episode 307 on 8 May 2007.

Wait-For-Dick Jingle
Every so often, while Dick and Leo are recording the show, Dick's doorbell will ring and it's usually a courier deilvery of a gadget.  Dick will go "to answer the door, for just one more - UPS delivery," while Leo sits there twiddling his thumbs.  In Episode 337, this happened again and Leo broke into song about waiting for Dick.  Paul Minshall lost little time in coming up with a superior version to Leo's, which was aired on 2 July 2007 in Episode 346.

After that, it took a long while before another opportunity came up for the jingle to be played, in Episode 417 on 9 October 2007.  It also took Leo a long time to locate the jiingle on his computer.

Warehouse Friday Theme
Warehouse Friday started right from the show's first Friday, on 24 February 2006 in Episode 5.  Despite its popularity, the request for a Warehouse Jingle did not appear until listener Roy McMahon suggested the idea in Episode 366.

"They're geeky and they're goofy.  Together they are loopy."  Our favourite theme writers George Wood and Paul Minshall could have been writing about themselves.  They collaborated to produce a spooky, squeaky theme song fit for the celebrated Warehouse and our favourite day of the week, Warehouse Friday.  It was completed just before Episode 400 (see this blog entry), but first aired only in Episode 415 on 5 October 2007, as Dick and Leo had pre-recorded quite a number of shows.


Again, the picture here is taken from David Knighton's virtual Dick's Gadget Warehouse on Second Life.

Karaoke on TTTT
And if you can't get enough of jingles, here's a karaoke version of the TTTT theme, which you can sing to.


Update:

No-Theme Wednesday Theme
In Episode 478, Dick and Leo decided that they would have no theme for Wednesday, and it's going to a Theme-Free Wednesday.  Chicago-based Dan Lueders, who much earlier made a gravy jingle submission (which got misplaced), prepared this Wednesday Theme for DGW, sent it over to Dick in January 2008, which got misplaced again.  Fortunately, it saw the light of day on 19 March 2008, when Dick and Leo found it again, and played it in Episode 528.

The album art for this theme is adapted from the original artwork by Lori Lebeau-Walsh.



To know more about the works by our theme song writers, see:

George Wood: Promedia on Vox, PodSafeAudio, and PodShow;

Paul Minshall: PaulMinshall.com, and Paul's blog on Wordpress;

Mark Blasco: Podcast Themes;

Dan Lueders: urSESSIONS and Promiseland.

The TeleSpy is a home intrusion alert system which has a motion sensor which, if turned on, when it detects motion in your home, dials a telephone number you have preset before you leave home, to alert you of the intrusion.  You pick up the phone and can listen in and decide whether the intruder is a friend or foe.  After 30 seconds, TeleSpy disconnects the line and re-arms itself for another detection.  Otherwise, it can be used as a regular phone.

Off To Tasmania
Leo will be going to Tasmania in Australia for about 2 weeks in April on a working trip.  Perhaps he could make a hop to Tuvalu as well.

Congratulations on Episode 500
A long-time listener writes in to congratulate Dick and Leo on their Episode 500.  His favourite days of the week are Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday and Warehouse Friday.

Listen to Episode 513
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Read Dick's Write-Up