29 posts tagged “lights”

A suggestion from Robert Forbes of Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada, the Striker Magnetic Light is an LED light that has 12 magnets for easy attachment to any metallic surface to free your hands for working at your task, giving you a wide choices of angles of light.

Chowing Down
Dick and Leo reminisce about the joys and horrors of faux Chinese food in stacked cans (like chow mein), Hungry Man's TV Dinners, and talk about the Chungking and Swanson brands.

Hazardous Wastes
Rod Miller from California writes in about hazardous wastes, and he's not talking the Daily Giz Wiz podcasts.  Back in Episode 819, Dick talked in the Letters Section about scrapping a GE microwave oven with a misbehaving door.  In California, used electronics are considered hazardous wastes which cannot be disposed of in the regular trash streams.  He recommends, for Californians, erecycle.org that he works for, with which you can make an appointment (3 days a week) for disposing of your e-waste.

Cellphones for Troops
Dick and Leo talk more about recycling, including batteries, underwear and cellphones.  There is a programme called Cellphones for Soldiers, which helps overseas soldiers call home.


Listen to Episode 848
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Quik Brite is an LED light for a closet or drawer that will go on automatically as you open the door of the drawer, as seen on TV.  They come in a package of 8, plus 2 "SwivelSpots", which are also LED lights, with manual switches, on a rotating base which you can turn to control of the direction of the light.  Dick found a great bargain for these at Bed, Bath And Beyond.

Bright Feet
Talk of Quik Brites reminds Dick and Leo of Bright Feet, the night slippers with headlights that light up as soon as you put them on, from Episode 73.

Tea Time Movie
Dick and Leo reminisce about Johnny Carson, the Tea Time Movie, the character Art Fern and the Matinee Lady played by Carol Wayne.  Here is a clip.



Funk and Wagnall's Porch
Dick and Leo have referred to something having been "hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar in Funk and Wagnalls' porch" a number of times now.  It's one of the lines that Ed McMahon used to say about the envelopes of questions which Carnac the Magnificent, another character played by Johnny Carson, would know the answers to before the envelopes were opened.  Funk and Wagnalls is a book publisher.  Here is a video clip of Carnac.


A Gadget to Remember
Toby Robinson thought the Zircon Repeater Tape Meaure (Episode 795) was a good idea, and told his wife Elaine about it, who was not impressed, as you would still have to remember the Zircon itself.  Trust the wife to ruin the fun.  What a killjoy!

A Name to Remember, Or Not
Toby also says that his last name is pronounced robe-in-son.  Tough, say Dick and Leo.  If Dr Mark Sukoenig has become Dr Forrester to Dick and Leo, Toby is lucky they're even calling him Toby.  He will remain a rob-in-son.


Listen to Episode 828
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The Z Bar Desk Lamp from CCrane has 66 LED lights, using only 9.6W, giving 112 lumens focused within a 50 degrees viewing angle.  The Z shape gives it flexibility while the weighted base gives it stability.  If your desk is too cramped, it comes with a desk clamp so that it doesn't take up more desk space.

TWiT: The Early Days
Leo explains the origin of the name TWiT.  When the old gang from G4/TechTV, including Leo, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, David Prager and Robert Heron, got together for the podcast, they originally called the show Revenge of the Screen Savers.  They soon got a cease and desist letter from G4.  Eventually they asked the listeners to make suggestions for the name, and the winning entrant would get a surprise box of stuff from Patrick's garage - the "box of crap".  Entries included Revenge Of The Green Saviours, SledgeCast, Saved By The Geeks, and This Week In Geek, the last of which was closest to what Leo wanted.  In the end Leo decided on This Week In Tech, shortened to the acronym TWiT which became the name of the site and his podcasting network.

For a summary of the early episodes of TWiT (0 to 9), you can get Episode 81 of TWiT: The Early Years.  It is a collection of tidbits from the podcasts (but not a best-of) outlining how the podcast evolved in the early days, badly put together by none other than myself, which I would have called TWiTbits.

TWiT Trademark
Leo has trademarked the brand TWiT for virtually all media, including audio, video, variety show and musical.  Leo's lawyer questioned Leo about his involvement in variety shows.  Of course we do variety shows.  The Daily Giz Wiz.  What about musicals?  The Daily Giz Wiz.  The only 4 media left are vinyl, cylinder, 8-track and wire recorder.

Just don't talk to Leo or Dane Golden about TWiT and Twitter.

Leo's Life Stories
Dick and Leo have often talked about Leo's autobiography and its title, the last time in Episode 812.  Tom Pruett has 3 ideas for Leo's book, all of which lend themselves easily to TV production as well.

The PodCouple - Leo Laporte has recently lost his job at TechTV.  Despondent, he wanders aimlessly until his friend Dick DeBartolo comes to the rescue and the two do a podcast together.  The trouble is Dick is neat and tidy and Leo is a slob ...

The PodFather - An aging patriarch of an organised podcasting dynasty, Leo Laporte, wants to transfer control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant friend Dick DeBartolo.  A story of power and greed, culminating in the Toothpick Bird and Spork Episodes.

Podman Begins - Explore the Podman legend and his emergence into a force for good.  A disillusioned tech journalist Leo Laporte travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and to turn fear against those who prey on the fearful.  He comes back as his alter ego Podman, a mass crusader who uses his strength, intelligence and vast podcasting network to fight sinister forces.  Don't forget his butler, Leo adds, Dick TheBartolo.

MAD 500
MAD 500 is out, with retrospective looks into different parts of MAD Magazine's past issues (or episodes as Leo persists in calling them).  By MAD 502, Dick will have completed 40 years of unbroken contribution to every issue of MAD.  You can get MAD 500 along with the 2 Obama-cover issues as a collection autographed by Dick from MAD Stuff.


Listen to Episode 824
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The Johnny-Light is already 15 years old, but it's still going.  It seeks to avoid the battle of the sexes in the bathroom.  When the gentleman lifts the lavatory seat, the light goes on and stays on to remind him to put the seat down for the ladies.  When that's been done, the light will go off.  That's one gadget for the ladies, who should all be singing, "This little light of mine."



This reminds Leo of another toilet night light which he showed on Regis and Kelly, that was a little more advanced.  It had a motion sensor that would light up red for the gent to aim at when the seat was up, and light up green for the ladies when the seat was down.  Leo can't remember what the product was called, but he did blog about it in March 2003.  It might be the LavNav, or something similar.  See the article on Wired.com.



Wine Tasting turned Fire Tasting
Leo has got a new sponsor Gary's Wine, so he does a wine-tasting session on Sunday.  With a bit of Dutch courage and a little help from Brain Brushwood of Scam School, Leo started tasting fire, too.  You can watch the video on odtv.me.

Feats of Daring-Do
Dick has had his share of daring-do.  He appeared on "That's My Line", with a tiger resting its head on Dick's lap.  Leo might have done the fire-eating, but he would not do the bungee jump or parachute jump, and Dick would definitely stay away from the Stratosphere Tower's See-Saw Ride (it's actually called X-Cream) in Las Vegas.


A Camera-Printer for the Warehouse
Darryl Wattenberg of darrylsphotoblog.blogspot.com says that the Polaroid Pogo Instant Digital Camera (shown at CES and discussed in Episode 745) was not the first to attempt that combination.  Olympus did just that about a decade ago with the Camedia C-211 Zoom (or C-211z), a digital camera with 2.1 MP which used Polaroid instant film for the prints.  Read the review at Imaging-Resource.  Darryl also recalls a later camera/printer model from Olympus with dye-sub printing capabilities.  2 more gadgets for Dick's Gadget Warehouse.



Dick in Disguise and Mercury Rising
Dr L S Powers of the chatroom asks if the gentleman with a moustache holding a plastic whale on Boston Whaler's website is Dick in disguise.  Not so.  Leo advises against eating too much deep-sea big-body fish such as tuna, as it may contain a lot of mercury, as Steve Gibson has recently found out.



Listen to Episode 810
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Set up the sleeping time and wake-up time for your child on the Good Nite Lite (billed as a behavioural modification light), and it will shine a bright sun and a dim moon respectively, to teach the child when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up.  Designed for young toddlers, though Leo thinks he might get one for Henry.

Morning Fix
Dick gets his brewer all set before he goes to bed, and the first thing he does when he gets up is to get his coffee maker going.  But while he's waiting for the fresh coffee to brew, he has to drink the coffee left from the previous day, a quick caffeine fix to help him make through those slow minutes.  Dick and Leo exchange ideas about coffee, coffee pods, and coffee makers.  Leo thinks he might one day do a Senseo or Keurig for a future TTTT.  The Senseo has been done by Dick in Episode 163, and Leo himself has done another coffee maker, the FrancisFrancis, in Episode 187.

A New SleepTracker
Dick did the SleepTracker, which monitors your sleeping pattern to wake you up at the optimum time during a sleep cycle, back in Episode 22.  Leo has recently been sent a new model, the SleepTracker Pro, which has additional functions, such as downloading your sleep data to a PC.

Happy Birthday to a Winner
Devon Blugh heard on his birthday, 16 March, that he was among the winners in the last WTHII.  Since he resides outside North America, he'd like Dick and Leo to give him a shout-out on his favourite podcast ever, the Daily Giz Wiz, and a belated Happy Birthday.  Dick and Leo oblige, with a bonus Happy Birthday song.

A Tease
Leo naturally has forgotten that he said last Friday (Episode 800) that he would be doing the Wild Divine Biofeedback System, a request by the Amazing Criswell.  But for once he's got a gadget ready.  It's called In Your Face.


Listen to Episode 801
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The SensorPlug works just like an AC adapter which you plug into an outlet, and to which you connect a lamp.  It has an infrared motion sensor that is triggered by motion, which turns your light on.  You can also connect another appliance instead of a lamp.  There is a switch at the top of the SensorPlug for selecting the "L" position (for a light), and the "O" position, for other appliances.  At the L position, the light will turn on only when the ambient light is low.  The light or appliance will stay on if motion is continuously detected.  Otherwise, it will turn off after 2 to 6 minutes (depending on your setting).

A Clapper at TWiT Cottage
Colleen installed a clapper at the TWiT Cottage, to make Leo feel wanted perhaps.  It didn't quite work as planned.

There's No Free Lunch
Erik Lanigan was about to drop his business card into a Win A Free Lunch bowl, until he noticed the fine print.



Space Lighting
Pat Grosswendt of LitePanels emails Leo during the recording that the Space Station (which Leo has been watching live) has 5 of his Litepanels Mini, just like the TWiT Cottage and Wizneyland.


Listen to Episode 794
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Link: Defense Devices

Loyal listener Mike Gunn brought this gadget to Dick's attention.  The GE 911 Emergency Light Switch has been discontinued by GE, but is still available from many sellers.  Designed to be used with your front porch light, it has 3 power positions: On, Off and Emergency (which sets the light flashing).  When you have to call 911 for an emergency, you put the light switch to the Emergency mode, and the flashing light in your front porch acts as a beacon to guide the emergency services to your house.  You could of course, as Dick and Leo suggest, use it as a signalling light to alert the pizza delivery guy, or the taxi driver who is picking you up.  Dick thinks there should be a Front Porch LED Programmable Messaging System (like the Programmable Licence Plate in Episode 72, and the Programmable Rear Deck Digital Message System in Episode 271).

A similar idea is Emergency Beacon's 911 Light covered by Dick back in Episode 33, which automatically lights up after you dial 911.

Leo's Crown
Dick and Leo refers to a crown given by Jennifer to Leo.  Leo showed it in between shows.  See the blog post for Episode 757 for a video of Leo's crown.

John Ficarra on CNN


While recording the show, Leo manages to watch CNN too, and notices that John Ficarra, Editor-in-Chief of MAD, is on.  It's a piece about Barack Obama, and MAD's latest cover "The First 100 Minutes".  You can watch it on CNN, or youTube.

A Gadget Hero
Ian from Schenectady, New York, who has been listening since Episode 1, writes to Dick and "the other guy".  His wife doesn't get why he prefers listening to people talk, and he just keeps his head down.  A few months ago, Dick covered the itzbeen (Episode 588).  With a new-born daughter, Ian decided to give the itzbeen to his wife who went everywhere with it religiously.  They gave the itzbeen to a friend, who thought it was the greatest gift she ever received.  It's now become a standard gift to expecting mums.  Ian's wife now wonders if the Giz Wiz has anything else neat for her, and while she still doesn't get why he loves TWiT, she's now a little more understanding when he brings home another LED gadget.

Today's gadget is the result of a letter from DGW marathon listener JR Rodriguez IV (see Episode 600), who remembers it from his childhood, and is surprised to find it's still available, on the internet.  As it happens, Dick has it in his all-encompassing Gadget Warehouse.  The Plant-A-Lamp is a touch switch for a lamp, but with a difference.  It has a lamp pole with a microchip which you insert into a planter pot in which you can grow the plant of your choice.  You screw on a light bulb on to the pole, put a lamp shade on, and connect the Plant-A-Lamp to the AC power supply.  Instead of touching the lamp, you touch a leaf, and the light bulb will come on.  Touch and hold a leaf and it becomes a dimmer, which cycles through the light intensity.



A 60W bulb is recommended, and the wattage should not in any case be less than 40W.  Those energy-saving bulbs which are not compatible with dimmers should not be used.  If the soil is too dry, when you touch a leaf, the light will flicker, indicating that more water is needed for your plant.  The light will also help give you a healthy plant.

Although the device has found its way into the Gadget Warehouse, it is still being sold.  Those who want to order it in the UK should go to PlantALamp.com, while those in the US should go to PlantALamp.net.

For some possible ideas as to how the device and its dimmer function might work, including capacitance, see the article on How Stuff Works, pointed out by Houdini 7 in the Chatroom.


Listen to Episode 720
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These are new flashlights from Energizer, with Aluminium Alloy bodies and LED bulbs, using Energizer's new e² Lithium Batteries which are supposed to have a shelf life of 15 years.  Three models to choose from.  Dick's model is the ELMCL42L, which is capable of up to 90 lumens and uses 4 AAA batteries.

The end caps are dimmers which reduce the brightness of the bulbs - the brightest of the models gives 110 lumens.  All models come with a belt/pocket clip.

Phobia
Dick has done his fair share of flashlights.  He has a fear of running out of flashlights.

Jack Benny
Josh from Denver has just started reading Good Days And Mad by Dick, in which a brief mention was made of Jack Benny whom Dick met (and in Episodes 397 and 556).  The Jack Benny Show was one of Josh's favourite old time radio shows, a lot of which Dick and Leo have talked about.

Another Phobia
Dick met Jack Benny on one of flights back from Los Angeles to New York while working on Match Game.  During their conversation, Jack told a story about George Burns's fear of flying.  Jack Benny had told Burns to look at the birds outside the plane which were also flying, just as they were.  Burns's riposte was, "It's their job!"

Chatroom Mayhem
Someone in the chatroom was misbehaving during the recording of the show, and Leo was distracted by having to deal with it and banning him from the chatroom.  At least that's his excuse for playing the Letters Jingle twice: not keeping his eyes on the ball, his 65cm diameter fitness ball.


Listen to Episode 709
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Another heads-up from a listener, Dan McCormick from Sewell, New Jersey.  The Multi-Colour LED Light Bulb with Remote Control can display different colours with its 5W LED, which can be set using the remote control that also adjusts the brightness level and lets you select from a choice of 4 transition effects (flash, strobe, fade and smooth).  Think Geek has the following example of one of the uses for this light bulb.

Entertaining The Troops
Back in Episode 43, Dick told us that he received emails from listeners all over the world, including people serving in Iraq.  Here's one, if not from a soldier, then at least from a civilian in Iraq.  In Episode 694, Dick and Leo wondered if celebrities still go and entertain the troops for the USO.  Cory was in Baghdad, Iraq as a civilian from July 2006 to July 2007.  The answer is yes, and performers include WWE stars, cheer leading groups, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, and Carlos Mencia.

Dick and Leo wonder if the troops would like to see them demonstrating the use of the CartStopper (Episode 701).

Past Old
Henry Laporte thinks Leo is 20 years past old, and Dick thinks in that case it is appropriate that Leo should give Henry a piece of crap for Christmas.


Listen to Episode 704
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