74 posts tagged “new york”
Goodway 2-In-1 Combo
Iron and Hair Dryer Travel Combo
Link: Goodway
Knife Sharpening Truck
In the old days, knife-sharpening trucks used to go around ringing their bells to attract the attention of households. Recently Dick heard that familiar sound again, but within the city itself. In 2006, the New York Times ran a story on a cutlery grinder, Mr Mike Pallotta, and in 2008, Mr Pallotta was still going strong: see Sense and the City.
Dick's boat has a microwave oven of 400W power. Leo thinks that Dick is better off with a Kenner Easy Bake Oven. Don't scoff, because the Easy Bake Oven has a long history and pedigree. Read about it on about.com. The photo on the left is the 1963 model, from Bill's RetroWorld; on the right is the 1971 model, from Cooking Inn.
Dock and Talk
Leo mentioned that 20% of households in the States do not have land lines any more, and Clifton Fowler from Florence, Arizona is one of them. He's a truck driver, is often away, and when at home, simply uses Dock N Talk by Phone Labs, which enables him to speak on conventional home phones (corded or cordless) using the cellphone connection.
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
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GE 911 Emergency Light Switch
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.
Panasonic CPA
Cheque Printing Accountant
Link: biocomp.net
The Five Boroughs of New York
Dick and Leo discuss what is a "borough" in New York. Find out a bit more from Wikipedia.
Landing on the Hudson River
Dick was alerted to the landing by Chesley Sullenberger of the US Airways jet on the Hudson River, but was advised that boat owners should not go down the river to where the jet landed. So Dick doesn't have photos of the landing for us, but he has photos of the Hudson 24 hours after the landing! Almost as good. See Dick's photos on smugmug.
Butter and Margarine
Leo tries to lure Dick to this year's Butter and Eggs Day at Petaluma, on Saturday, 25 April 2009, with Petaluma's Cutest Little Chick. Leo explains again how the perpetual parade works. Everyone in town will be in the parade, except Leo, as he has to do the radio show. Jennifer will be in it, doing her zumba class. The theme of this year's 28th Annual Parade is "Recycle, Reuse, Remember".
The Fragrance of Petaluma
Two times of the year, in the spring and the fall, Petaluma has a fragrance pervading the town. It's when the farmers lay down the fertilisers. If you can't get enough of Petaluma talk by Dick and Leo, try the Petaluma Ristorante in Manhattan.
Mad In Your Eye
Dick has uncovered a case of trade paperbacks "Here's Mad In Your Eye". Available at BuyMadStuff.
One used to have to keep scrolling down on Dick's website to see all his stuff. With a little help from Ludwik and GoToMeeting, Dick has finally given his stuff its own pages.
Nerdy Pleasure
Listener Andrew started watching Leo on ZDTV back in his high school days, when it was a nerdy pleasure for him. A few years ago he was glad to find Leo's new podcasting empire. He has recently discovered a gadget which is exactly what he has for a long time been hoping for and would very much like Leo to do a review of it. It's the Car Camera Voyager Pro with GPS Logger from Brick House Security. It has an internal "event" sensor for detecting speed, braking, acceleration and impact. It constantly records a video, with GPS logging, on to an SD card, and will retain 10 seconds prior to and 30 seconds after an "event". Plug the SD card into a computer and you can watch the video with your car's GPS location.
Another Record
Dick and Leo are enjoying themselves in this recording session. Yesterday was a half-hour show, and today, at 33:55, this is the longest episode of DGW.
Listen to Episode 755
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iHearSafe Earbuds
Earphones with Volume Limit
Link: iHearSafe
Parents who are worried about their children's earphones getting too loud can get these iHearSafe Earbuds with an upper limit of 85dB. No more tinnitus. Also available are iHearSafe Headphones and Earclips.
The Secret to Comedy
Foot, thigh and chicken stock lead Leo to ask Dick what the secret to comedy is. A common ingredient is the surprise element, the unexpected.
Leo and Henry in Mad
Both Leo and Henry Laporte have been featured in Mad's game show parodies. Check back at Episode 61 for Leo's appearance in Mad, and Episode 427 for Henry's.
Filming Game Shows
Jonathan Wander from Monroeville, PA, loves Dick's inside stories, like the one about Jack Benny, (e.g. in Episode 709). Dick has mentioned before that the Match Game was recorded several shows a day. Jonathan was 11 when he was in New York in the 70's and got permission from his parents to go and watch the filming of the Sale of the Century hosted by Joe Garagiola, with strict instructions to be back at the hotel in an hour. What they thought was an hour's filming turned out to be an all-day affair, which left his parents panicking about where he had gone.
Lost in France
Henry was allowed to go off on his own in France and he got himself lost both in Rennes and in Paris. Listen to how he got back to the hotels.
Listen to Episode 741
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Exergen TemporalScanner
Temporal Thermometer
Link: Exergen
Scary Christmas Movies
Lil Banchik, aka DrMom on TWiT Army, has fond memories of Polaroid Instant Slides (Episode 730), and reminds us all of the scary Christmas movie Black Christmas.
DGW Favourite Episodes
In Episode 679, a listener asked Dick and Leo if they have their favourite 20 episodes. They have since talked about it a couple of times. Now Ludwik Trammer has set up a vote on his website, for listeners to vote their own favourite episodes of the Daily Giz Wiz. Go to http://www.gizwizsearch.com/vote/ to vote for your favourite episodes.
Ludwik has asked me to make some suggestions, to get listeners started. It wasn't an easy exercise, but I've picked 30 episodes. Some of them are important milestones of DGW, some of them are funny, but all of them I hope remind you of what's been happening since the start of the Daily Giz Wiz (which relatively new listeners may also find useful). Here is a quick summary of the "nominations" - but you absolutely are not limited to them:
Episode 61 Pack-Flat Back-Up Bag: Dick talks about how he disposes of his old clothes, which generates a lot of empathetic emails from fellow listeners.
Episode 76 A Tribute to
William M Gaines: Dick has often talked about Mad and in particular entertaining stories about Bill Gaines. Here on the anniversary of Bill Gaines's death, Dick gives us some heart-warming stories about Bill Gaines.
Episode 95 Franklin Rex: After winning the Podcast Alley vote, Leo says "We were Number 1 on Podcast
[Alley]. That's all we care about. So now, the rest is gravy. It
makes its own gravy, this podcast." A non-sequitur which is to become the slogan of DGW.
Episode 97 The Flag Waver: Dick is a true eccentric, and his way of watching the 4th of July fireworks is further evidence of this.
Episode 99 Oakley O Rokr: Before this episode, Dick has been saying "I'll be here" on and off, at the end of the shows. But it is not until this episode, after listeners write in about it, that Dick realises it, and ever since then, it's become Dick's official tag line.
Episode 101 Cruzin' Cooler: Dick has always prided himself on showing us wacky gadgets. This is one of the earlier classic ones.
Episode 115 SunSquirt: We are now all very familiar with Dan Lueders and his prolific output of themes and jingles for DGW. When Leo invited submissions of a gravy jingle for DGW, Dan was one of the participants. At the end of this episode, Dick mentioned Dan's submission which he thought had been played the day before (or was going to be played), but it never appeared on air. The submission was "lost" until it reapearaed in Episode 313. It was also to become the basis of Dan's Disclaimer Theme.
Episode 118 Energizer
Quick Switch Flashlight: Paul's Closing Theme started appearing in downloads from Episode 116 onwards, but it was in Episode 118 that it was first officially aired. A milestone in DGW history, the first of many jingles to come.
Episode 137 Altec Lansing FX6021: After Dick and Leo started reading a letter each day, Leo got the idea that they should have a Letters Jingle. This is where Leo invited submissions. It also had a letter from Seth, a sweet story of how he was "saved" on the road by simply listening to DGW.
Episode 138 Radar Golf: Another wacky gadget, with a touch of the risque.
Episode 145 Dejaview: Leo will probably hate me for this, but Leo was on good form, getting a little wild maybe, but please don't tell the sponsors.
Episode 149 Key Buoy: Another classic, with an important health advisory.
Episode 151 Gorillapod: An off-beat choice perhaps, but despite its ear-jarring tendency, this early Finnish letters jingle submission was actually missed after it was discontinued - which generated a search , during which Dan Lueders's earlier gravy jingle submission was retrieved.
Episode 169 Garmin
Forerunner 305: A listener makes a suggestion for the Halloween show, but Dick says, "We don't have time." Leo makes good fun of it. As it turned out, the Halloween show for that year was to become another classic.
Episode 173 Plantronics Discovery 655: Leo loves doing his phoney accents, and the Scottish one is one of his favourites. Here he gives a Scottish rendition of the Letters Jingle.
Episode 182 The Titanium Spork: A hot favourite, on Halloween. Dick calls it El Crappo Plus, but the audience love it, and it still gets talked about in fan emails.
Episode 188 Kingston
K-PEX 100: A listener bust a gut listening to DGW. Proof positive that DGW is not good for your health.
Episode 208 Viewsonic
ViewDock Monitor: George Wood's original Letters Jingle was a favourite for many listeners, but this Festive Letters Jingle was an instant hit, and every year it gets played earlier and earlier. Somehow it seems to embody all the cheers, joy and anticipation that is the Daily Giz Wiz itself.
Episode 246 A Visit To
The Gadget Warehouse: Right from the very first Warehouse Friday (Episode 5), Dick described what the real Gadget Warehouse was like, but many listeners still thought that it was just a piece of imaginatiion. In this episode, Leo took some time off while filming Regis and Kelly in New York, to visit Dick in his warehouse. A real treasure trove.
Episode 253 Databreaker: In the early days, Dick and Leo used to joke about the lack of sponsors, and beg for sponsorship. Here is the start of one of their most spectacular attempts, and failures, with To[s]tino. Dick and Leo should count themselves lucky - see Episode 443.
Episode 282 Toothpick
Bird: Exactly 100 episodes after the Spork comes another piece of crap from under Leo's desk. Leo was to have his revenge in Episode 413 when Dick gives us another bird, Squawkers McCaw.
Episode 291 The Smart
Cab: Listener Shane has a risky plot for his marriage proposal to his then pish-posh girlfriend. Will it work? Follow the story in Episodes 299 and 312.
Episode 364 HP
Photosmart R937 Pet Eye Camera: The beginning of a lovely relationship between the Daily Giz Wiz and a computer wiz from Poland, Ludwik Trammer, of GizWizSearch, who Dick thought for a very long time was 15 years old. As far as I know, Ludwik is now 22, going on 23? Still eligible.
Episode 391 Bedfan: Another of the nonsense pieces from Dick and Leo gives us another slogan, "The worse your life is, the better we sound."
Episode 406 Purseguard
Ultra: It's not often that Leo gets a real chance to trash Dick's gadgets, and Leo isn't about to let it slip away.
Episode 463 Talking
Photo Album: Despite Leo's ADD condition and always trying to do ten things at a time, he seldom slips up really badly. But this time Leo just doesn't get it. One of Dick's favourite episodes.
Episode 528 Fred's 500XL
Desktop Earbuds Speakers: The gadget itself is wacky enough, but perhaps this show is more noteworthy for the first appearance of an official DGW theme from Dan Lueders - Theme Free Wednesday.
Episode 552 Canon VIXIA HV30: A good example of how enthusiastic listeners' response can be. Someone challenged the claim by the makers of the 500XL Desktop Earbuds Speakers (500 times the size of the iPod earbuds). Another reminisced about the metal plate that thawed frozen foods but couldn't remember the name.- the Miracle Thaw. Floods of emails in response.
Episode 598 Uroclub: The wacky companion to Radar Golf.
Episode 670 GFX-100
Indoor Antenna: Dick has mentioned a few scams, but the cleverly crafted and almost completely truthful promotional material of this Indoor Antenna was a wonder. Other listeners may "prefer" other dodgy gadgets, and the Electron Echo Mini Piano (Episode 465) seems to have generated more searches on Ludwik's website, and more comments and enquiries on mine, than any other.
Enjoy your vote. If you have a favourite episode but can't remember the episode number, try searching on GizWizSearch, or send me an email to insidedgw@gmail.com, and'll try to help. Have fun.
Listen to Episode 733
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Wicked Lasers' "The Torch"
The World's Brightest Flashlight
Link: Wicked Lasers
The flashlight is so bright that the heat given off by it is intense enough to light up a cigarette, turn paper into cinders and even cook scrambled eggs. A blazing torch, literally.
Donny Robinson, audio engineer at the Kimball Recital Hall, University of Nebraka, has a lot of flashlights, and his favourite is the GizWizBiz Cap. At Dick's invitation, Donny bought 4 Caps and got a free USB Smart Button as promised by Dick in Episode 715 (for any order of 3 Caps or more).
Back To Normal
This is the last of the holiday season pre-recorded show. Tomorrow Dick and Leo will resume their Tuesday recording, and release Episode 732 as soon as possible.
Listen to Episode 731
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Christmas Wishes
Christmas Day Special
Link: best holiday wishes from dick debartolo mad's maddest writer and the giz wiz
Blessed Interaction
Leo has everything he could ever wish for, and feels blessed that he is able to do the podcast with Dick, and Dick loves interacting with Leo on the Daily Giz Wiz, especially on Tuesdays.
Family Affairs
Dick and Leo aren't that keen on family meet-ups, and Dick for the first time on DGW reveals that he has a brother called Leo. Who can blame him?
Pride And Glory
Pride And Glory has finally been released. You can catch a glimpse of Dick's houseboat (now given away to a charity) in the film. Watch out for a fibre optic Christmas tree. For the full story, revisit Episodes 460 and 461.
And Finally, A Merry Christmas ...
... from me and all my imaginary staff at insidedgw.vox.com to Dick and Leo (who have given us a show for all seasons), to the TWiT staff (Dane, Colleen, Tony and Frederique who have kept the TWiT machine running), to Ludwik Trammer (who keeps doing wonders), to Paul Minshall, George Wood, Dan Lueders, all the jingle contributors and Daniel Rodrigues Parreira (who have made the show so much fun to listen to by performing all the themes and jingles and making them accessible to us all), and to all the fellow DGW listeners (who are mad enough to listen to the show).
Listen to Episode 729
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Alligetter
Wacky Retriever Tool
Link: Alligetter
Christmas Decorations
None at the Mad Office. They are there all year round, except over Christmas. That was Bill Gaines's idea.
Christmas Spectacular
It's the 75th anniversary of the Radio City Music Hall. There's a giant 60' x 100' LCD display on to which scenery is projected. A full size bus on stage. Live fireworks. A real knock-out Christmas Spectacular.
Christmas Party
Now that the TWiT Cottage has a staff of 5 (including Leo), Leo thinks that a Christmas Party is in order. That took place at Tres Hombres in Petaluma last Monday. Free-flowing Margueritas and perhaps even lots of TTTT gadgets as Christmas surprises.
Christmas Present
An early Christmas present from Ludwik. Many listeners who cannot watch the live video recording of DGW have wondered how they can view the video. It's finally available. He gets the original hi-res captured video from kiwinerd and divides it up for each episode. You can now watch the video on his website, GizWizSearch.com. But please remember to download the audio podcasts first. Dick and Leo need the numbers.
Ludwik is considering going to the US to work for 6 months, and Leo might figure out something for him - as long as Ludwik learns a few more English phrases other than: "I'll be here."
Listen to Episode 716
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Travelon Luggage Scale with Tape Measure
Travel Accessory
Link: Travelon Bags
Thanksgiving Eve
A Tale From the Tunnel
Dick has an old tale to tell about a trailer truck which was too high for the Holland Tunnel and got stuck. A little boy had a brilliant solution. Don't saw off the top. Just let the tyres out!
Air Tickets form 1983
Recently unearthed from Dick's Gadget Warehouse are air tickets from 1983, from New York to Miami, and to Oakland.
That Blinking Idiot
While recording the show, Leo notices a blinking light behind Dick (near the top right corner of the screen), and Dick can't work out what it was. But the chatroom works it out. It's the flashing cursor of Leo's mouse on his Skype video screen.
Stromberg Carlson TV Sets
Dick and Leo find out that Stromberg Carlson, apart from the Candlestick telephone that jammerb gave Leo (Episode 696), used to make radio and television sets as well. Leo also uncovers an advertisement from 1950 on TV History.
Apocalyptic Waste
Software developer Michael O'Connor (Lepton in the Chatroom and the TWiT Army), who has followed Leo since the days of "The Site" (see Episode 187), plays Fallout 3 on the PS3 and finds, among the apocalyptic waste and wreckage in Washington DC, a spork (Episode 182), which he uses on his rocket launcher - which can do serious damage. Michael has recently developed an iPhone app called AirMote which has found its way to the iTunes App Store.
Listen to Episode 708
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