6 posts tagged “musical”
CCrane Z-Bar Desk Lamp
LED Desk Lamp
Link: CCrane
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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Fuzz That Wuzz
Soft Toys
Link: Mary Meyer
The Giz Wiz Musical
Dick was given a link to people having fun on a hand-car on abandoned railroad tracks in the Sonoma Valley. Dick is very jealous. Here's the link.
Wine Tasting
Dick was once taken to a wine tasting event by Bill Gaines. At the end of it, he could tell red wine from white. For more on the story, see Episode 87 and Episode 718.
China Contacts
Ron Schmidt's daughter has worked in Beijing for 15 months, speaks Chinese and teaches English there. Ron has kindly offered her as a contact for Leo on his Far East tour (from 3rd to 18th July) in case he needs any help.
Leo's China Geek Cruise
Leo studied Chinese (History) at Yale but has never been to China. He's very excited about this tour, the first week of which will be a land tour, during which he will be visiting places in China including Beijing, Xian (terracotta soldiers), Guilin (the scenic Li River). The cruise, which starts at Tianjin, will include Cheju Island in South Korea, Fukuoka and Nagasaki in Japan, where Leo would like to take Henry to see the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims. That's a lot of mileage to cover in 2 weeks, but then Leo is used to doing 10 things at a time.
Listen to Episode 789
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
AutoTether
Boating Safety
Link: AutoTether
The AutoTether solves this problem by doing it wirelessly. The main unit, which has a wireless signal receiver, is connected to the engine kill switch. A mobile remote unit worn by the operator (or any passenger) sends radio signals to the main unit. If the operator or passenger falls overboard, the radio signal transmission is cut off, since radio signals cannot travel through water. The main unit detects the signal cut-off, stops the engine and sounds an alarm at the same time. The system operates by AAA batteries, with low-battery warning indicators.
The AutoTether kit comes with one main unit and 2 mobile remote units. It can accommodate a total of 4 remote units (extras can be bought separately). Other applications include using it at a beach or around a pool, if you don't want a young child to go into the water unsupervised. You can also set a range for the remote unit so that when the remote unit goes out of range, the main unit will sound an alarm.
Dick has written a fuller article on this gadget in PowerBoat Magazine. Here's the link.
Did you know?
... that Dick was involved in the production of a Playboy Club musical Little Annie Fanny, and Leo did a TV commercial for Clarks Shoes.
Party Line
The PhoneMate Just In Case Beeper (Episode 540) brings back memories for Paul Pigozzo from London, Ontario, not only of his grandmother's rotary phone with 30 feet of cord, but also her "party line" - one telephone shared by several households, and the telephone gives off different rings for different households.
Naturally, whenever a rotary phone is mentioned, Leo inexorably talks about Steve Wozniak's Rotary Cellphone again.
Listen to Episode 614
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Toilet Tunes
Bathroom Accessory
Link: Taylor Gifts ToiletTunes
Or you can lock the bathroom door.
New Thursday Theme
The new Thursday Theme by Dan Lueders gets aired today.
GizWizBiz Ice Cube
The GizWizBiz Ice Cube is not available for sale, but comes free if you order 2 or 3 GizWizBiz Caps.
The Ancient Sounds of Tetris
19-year-old Samuel Lewis seldom gets nostalgic over Warehouse Friday gadgets, but he was born in the year the Nintendo Game Boy (Episode 595) came out, and had one of them when he was old enough to play it. He now plays a Nintendo DS, but still has the tune of Tetris in his head.
Listen to Episode 604
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
ViewSonic VX2435wm
Widescreen 24" LCD Monitor
Link: Viewsonic
"And then I sat down and recorded another podcast"
Listener Bradley McGuffey is enthusiastic about Leo's unauthorised biography, "I Never Met The Man" (Episode 320). It will be full of "... and then I sat down and recorded another podcast ..." Leo is recording 8 podcasts today, because he has to go off for a reunion at Yale, from which he dropped out.
Frank Langella
Listen to stories about Frank Langella, and stories Langella himself has to tell.
Listen to Episode 324
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Charge2Go
Portable Emerency Power Supply
Link: Charge2Go
Dick saw this in the December issue of the Popular Science magazine - the Best of What's New. With an AA battery, this gadget gives your cellphone emergency power supply. There are adapters for the various models of iPods as well.
Leo's Dream
Leo's dream is to have a yacht one day, like Johnny Carson. One day he might have the TWiT office on a boat - TWiTs At Sea.
Gripe about Adapters
Dick and Leo complain about the all-different adapters for cellphones and other portable devices. A subject they will return to in future episodes.
Listen to Episode 12
Go to TWiT