15 posts tagged “mouse”

Link: Neutrano iTalk

Another voice-operated clock, after the Moshi (Episode 784).  The iTalk from Neutrano has the usual voice commands you would expect to operate an alarm clock: setting the time, setting the alarm, choice of alarm sounds etc.  It has a larger digital LCD display (with a choice of high/low intensity), and seems to work more reliably than the Moshi.  The biggest attraction for Dick is the voice command "Snooze" after the alarm goes off.

On the day this show was recorded, 9 June 2009, the featured TTTT gadget in the podcast (Episode 847) was the Logitech VX Nano, which had been covered previously by Dick, and even Leo himself, in Episodes 523 and 522.

Leo's sister Eva, who now reads Leo's emails, gives Leo and Dane Golden a weekly report on listeners' feedback.  There's the usual bit of moaning, but not about the Daily Giz Wiz - which earns Leo a great deal of good will.

Dick has become quite a ladies' man, as he is getting more and more fan mail from lady listeners, including Jennifer, who shares Dick's love of model trains.  However, she wants to correct a slip made by Dick in Episode 841, who reversed the N- and Z-gauges.  The Z-scale is the size of model trains which can fit on to the brim of a hat.  For a photo of an example of that, taken at an Easter Parade in NYC, click here.

When Leo starts this week's TTTT, he asks Dick if Dick has done this gadget before.  Dick doesn't think so, and the chatroom, who have already dozed off at the sound of another TTTT, do not demur.  On Leo goes.  Leo has had this mouse for some time now, but has been prompted by Steve Gibson' recent recommendation of this mouse in Security Now! Episode 197 to cover it on TTTT.  Then Dick finds out that he is already using this very mouse.

Not only that, but Dick did actually cover this gadget, in Episode 523.  What's funnier is, Leo himself was half way into his introduction of this mouse in Episode 522, but when he found out that it was going to be one of Dick's gadgets for the week, he swithced to the Tom Bihn Western Flyer instead.  It is a neat little mouse, and worth a reprise.  Listen to excerpts of the 2 earlier episodes:


What really takes Steve Gibson's fancy, and Leo's, is the Logitech VX Nano's very fast scrolling ability, very useful these days with long web pages and verbose posts, like this blog.  "Zero-friction", is how Steve describes it.  For the other functions, read Episode 523 again.

Gadget Encores
With the sheer number of gadgets covered in the Daily Giz Wiz, it is a wonder that gadgets have not been repeated more often.  The only other gadgets which have been featured twice were the HydraBrush in Episodes 226 and 480 (which Dick was aware of), and a Gadget Warehouse resident, the Motorola add-on MP3 player for cellphones (Episodes 380 and 630).

iTunes Misbehaving
Mike Gigabyte has found that the Daily Giz Wiz, apart from being in the Podcast category, has now gone into the iTunes Music folder, so that it gets shuffled and played at random as well as the rest of his music.  Has Leo put the wrong tag on the downloads?  Leo doesn't think so, but can't really figure out why this is suddenly happening.  It must be because of all the jingles, or iTunes thinks that the Giz Wiz Got Talent.


Listen to Episode 847
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This Fellowes Secure Touch Mouse from a few years back had a fingerprint reader for security purposes - accessing the computer, unlocking passwords etc.  An early commercial foray into biometrics.

All About Egg Cream
Jim Levine, a Brooklyn tour guide who has written a few times before, and helped  tells us all about the egg cream which Leo mentioned back in Episode 813.  Jim says that the most believed story is that the egg cream was invented at a luncheon in Brooklyn.  The original egg cream did contain eggs, but at the turn of the century when people in poor sections of the city could not afford to have egg in a drink, someone came up with the drink we now know.  Authenticity requires spraying off the back of a spoon and Fox's Syrup, as per the Seltzer Sisters instructions.  Fox's also has a recipe for the "original" Brooklyn Egg Cream.

Listen to Episode 840
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Dick has recently got himself a new high-end computer from HP, and although he still has the ClickFree Backup Drive (Episode 629) to back up stuff from his computers, he is still keeping the old computer and he finds himself having to swtich between the two.  So he has ordered the Belkin Flip, a KVM switch.  There are different versions of the Flip, but Dick's version is the Flip Wireless, which enables you to connect both computers to one set of keyboard, video monitor and mouse.

Just press the small round remote to make the switch.  You can even configure it to share speakers.

Audio Issues
Leo has been having audio issues in this recording session (Episodes 719 to 724).  He hopes that they can be removed in post-production.

Pet Project
John Cleig has adopted "The Animal Rescue Site" as his pet project.  He wants to thank Dick and Leo for generating significant traffic to the site.


WTHII 0811
The November '08 WTHII gadget is the Tube Press, for squeezing the last drop of toohtpaste out of the tube.  It turned out that Walgreens started doing a promotion of the item after Dick posted the picture for the contest, and lots of people got the correct answer.


Dick started the What The Heck Is It game before the Daily Giz Wiz, probably at the time of The Screen Savers.  Check out the Dec '08 WTHII gadget, which is a listener contribution, which stumped Dick.

Today we go from a replica of Gene Simmons's Axe to a replica of your favourite car.  Four Door Media makes the Road Mice, which are wireless (RF) optical mice (800 dpi resolution), using USB wireless receivers.  There is a scroll wheel on the hood, and left/right click buttons on either side.  The headlights are LED-lit, which naturally grabs Dick's attention.  There are a lot of models and colours to choose from, Ford Mustangs, Chevy Camaros, Dodge Chargers, and even Highway Patrol/Police Cars.


To complete the experience, a Road Mouse comes with all the usual perks of car ownership: a Certificate of Title, a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number on the bottom of the car), and you can register your car ownership online, and even buy an Insurance Plan for the car.

All Right, How About Petaluma Then?
Scott Murray thinks that the 50th anniversary of NASA and Leo's natural pride in his town Petaluma make it worth mentioning that Petaluma was featured in a famous series of Peanuts in the 60's in which Snoopy went to the moon, called out to Houston, got no response, and finally said, "All right, how about Petaluma then?"  Just because of this strip, Scott's father took him on a special trip from Muncie, Indiana to Petaluma, California.

Charles Schultz was himself a resident of in the Petaluma area.  For another series of Peanuts in which Snoopy actually went to Petaluma for a wrist wrestling competition, which another listener brought to the attention of Dick and Leo, see Episode 435.


Listen to Episode 698
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For the summer, Dick has the Flexii USB Mouse which has a fan for cooling (Episode 646).  The winter equivalent is the Warmmi USB Heating Mouse, also available from vavolo.com.  USB-powered, it uses infrared rays to warm up your mouse-operating hand in winter - up to 45°C.  There is an on/off button on the USB wire to turn the heat off when you don't need the heating.

Live Audience
During this week's taping, Leo has in the studio a live audience - of one - Barbara.

Buzzers Old and New
Leo has a buzzer ready for the studio audience's reactions to Dick's jokes, but William Castle, maker of low budget horror thrillers, had selected seats in cinemas wired up with buzzers for his film "The Tingler", to give the audience a jolt.  Read about the Tingler on Wikipedia, or imdb.


Here's the trailer of the Tingler, introduced by William Castle himself.  You can also watch the beginning of the film on YouTube.

Mad Study Group
Rick the Vegas Cabbie as a teenager used to go to a friend's home to read the Mad Magazine, all 15 of them.  He wants to thank Dick, Al Jaffee, Bill Gaines and the Usual Gang of Idiots for giving him a good time.

The Vegas Cabbie has driven Leo, Dick and Amber MacArthur in Las Vegas, and put them on videos, which you can find on YouTube.  Links to Dick's video can be found in Episode 492.  Leo's video (Part 1) can be found here, and Amber's here.

Dots Gloves
The Chatroom has found some gloves for Leo, in case he hasn't got something for tomorrow's TTTT.  Dots Gloves - gloves with tips compatible with the iPhone touch screen.



Listen to Episode 681
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A USB optical mouse, from Flexii, available at vavolo.com, with 800 dpi resolution.  The difference is it has a built in fan.  Ideal for people with sweaty palms.  Vavolo sells other fun stuff.  Check out their USB Gadgets.

Labour Day Weekend
Fingers crossed, Leo might be celebrating the end of the Roz Savage's first leg of her trans-pacific rowing voyage, when it is hoped she will be landing in Hawaii.

Wait-For-Dick
The doorbell rang again for Dick, and it's another gadget delivery.  It's a boating gadget (a Casio watch) which Dick might review on DGW.

Muncie and Laporte
Chris Hileman, who did the original design for the TWiTLive website, has noted that Leo keeps suggesting that things he has lost are in Muncie.  Chris is from Muncie, Indiana, and has looked all over town, and there's absolutely nothing there, just like Petaluma.  He suggests Leo look in Laporte, Indiana.  Leo's father did a tour over the country of Laporte towns, and he thinks that there is a Laporte town in most states of the USA.


Listen to Episode 646
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The Battery Bug monitors the battery level of your car (when it needs the biggest power draw), using what it calls "CrankCheck" technology to keep track of how well the battery is performing, and gives you an alarm when your battery needs recharging or replacing.




Mama Laporte Podcast
Odelia Baker is much attracted to the idea of a Mama Laporte Podcast, who finds all the suggested topics appealing.  "What is one more podcast to Leo?" Odelia asks rhetorically.  Leo did put Mama Laporte on audition, and she made it through.



WTHII July '08
These are Painters' Pyramids.  It makes painting different surfaces of an object easier, and without having to wait for the other sides to dry first.  A lot of people got the answers right (partly because it was shown recently on a DIY show).  Many others have come up with wild and funny guesses.  Ancient Egyptian Mobile Home Park, Protective Cover for Michael Jackson's nose, special dice used at the Luxor Hotel.  Leo is so blown away by the answers that he falls off his chair (well, his fitness ball).

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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Even when your AA batteries no longer have enough juice to power up your other devices, there may still be quite a bit of power left in them.  Stick one of them into the mouth of this battery-eating monster, and its LED eyes will start blinking until the last bit of juice from the battery has been sucked out.  The Battery Eater can stand on its own, but is also a fridge magnet.  Available from Spoon Sisters (see Episode 283).

Dick puts the Battery Eater over the face of a little stuffed wolf using it as a scarecrow against a roaming mouse.

The Miracle Grill?  Or the Miracle Thaw: Space-Age Metal from Mother Nature
Adam Lawton writes in about a dream he had about the Miracle Grill, an aluminium tray which cooks food without an energy source (or at least defrosts it).  He's not sure about the name and wonders if Dick has one in his Gadget Warehouse™.  Dick remembers seeing it on TV but can't figure out what it's called.

The "grill" which appeared in Adam's vision may well be the Miracle Thaw.  It doesn't actually cook, but defrosts frozen foods.  In its TV commercials and advertising materials, it boasts about its "space-age metal from Mother Nature", a "superconductive metal tray" which "absorbs the natural heat energy in the air and then releases it directly into the frozen food."

The space-age metal is simply aluminium (or aluminum).  Being a metal, it is a good heat conductor and the bulk of the aluminium tray helps speed up the natural heat transfer from the air to the frozen foods.  It works reasonably well on foods with flat shapes (such as steaks), but doesn't on foods such as a whole chicken or turkey, due to limited contact surface area.  In short, nothing that a good old heavy frying pan couldn't do, and a heavy copper pan would do even better.

Robert L Wolke, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and food columnist for the Washington Post, has written an article on this type of defrosting tray.  See this link, or his book "What Einstein Told His Cook".

The US Federal Trade Commission apparently took proceedings against the company producing the Miracle Thaw for misleading statements in its advertising materials.  Not sure what happened to those proceedings, but you can read the complaint, which contains transcripts of the promotional materials.

The Miracle Thaw has been discontinued, though many specimens are still available on eBay.  But wait!  The product has been succeeded by the "new and improved" (!!!) D-Frost Wonder Deluxe, made by the same company.


News on Dick and Leo
Apparently Dick has been hooked on the recent backlog of emails and can't get enough of it.  He is trialling a message board, where you can post a message to Dick directly: http://shmyl.com/nlrpson.  Unfortunately it's already been hit by spammers, and may not continue for long.

While Dick is slaving away in Manhattan, Leo is off to Tasmania on a photography trip led by Mikkel Aaland, as the "special media guest" and chief blogging officer.  He flew off on Sunday night, but with a 7-hour stopover in Sydney and the enormous time difference, he won't arrive in Hobart in Tasmania until Tuesday morning Tasmanian time.  Read his blog.

Dick and Leo have pre-recorded enough shows to keep us entertained while Leo is away.

Links to Dick's Write-Ups
I have been giving links to Dick's monthly page for his gadget write-ups (which sometimes contain information not mentioned in the netcasts themselves), at the end of each blog entry, to make it easier for readers and listeners to find the appropriate page.  From time to time, Dick would change the urls; sometimes certain pages have disappeared (and recently reappeared); and I have tried to make corresponding changes to my blog entries.

The recent facelift of the Giz Wiz website means more changes, but I've just discovered that Dick has changed some of the urls yet again (and this is after the website facelift).  With the sheer number of DGW episodes, it has become impossible to update those urls, especially when I know Dick will be bound to change them again sometime in the future (given the system he has adopted for those urls - categorising them as "current" and "old" netcasts).

From now on, I will only give the link to Dick's home page, which everyone is familiar with.  This shouldn't pose any problem for anyone, as the new-look Giz Wiz site has made it more convenient than before to find Dick's commentaries on older netcasts.

Listen to Episode 536
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