12 posts tagged “parade”

Play Inc went on to create the Trinity Video System.  One of its CEOs, Paul Montgomery, had previously worked with Tim Jenison at NewTek, which produced the Video Toaster, and now makes the TriCaster, a video switching system which Leo has just bought for the TWiTLive.

Here's a clip, from 1990, from the TV programme Computer Chronicles (from www.archive.org), with Paul Montgomery and Tim Jenison showing a demonstration of the Video Toaster on an Amiga.


Two years later came the Video Toaster 2.0.  Here's the promotional video to show what it was capable of in 1992.

Gotcha
Jonas from Norway enjoyed Episode 556's Gotcha, as he loves pranks and jokes with his gifts.  However, he hasn't needed to use Gotcha yet, since all he needs to do is give his friend one of Leo's TTTT gadgets like the toothpick bird.  Cheaper too.

Law and Order
Woody Allen finally decided not to use Dick's boat for his next film after all, but Dick's boat will now appear in Law And Order.  Dick will tell us about it next week.  Meanwhile, you can read about it on Dick's website.

Listen to Episode 565
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The Giz Wiz Home Page

The Socket Pocket by Perfect Curve is just a container to hold your mobile device while it is being charged, without having a great length of cable dangling down the wall and your device cluttering up the floor or your work surface.  Unscrew one of the screws on the socket plate and screw in the socket pocket through one of the openings at the back, while the cable can come through the opening at the bottom.  Available in white and beigey (or butter cream).

An idea similar to the Drinn, the WTHII gadget for November 2007.  See Episode 462.

Omentum
Learn about waist management and the omentum.

Saving Endangered Namesakes
Adam Merkley of the RSL Show (Real Salt Lake, a professional soccer club in Utah) and AYL Soccer was reminded by Leo's story of the Save The Tasmanian Devil Fund of his grandfather's experience at the old Jaguar factory in England.  Apparently Jaguar used to make donations to South America to save its namesake, and now still donates money to help preserve the rainforests in South America.  Adam suggests that Warner Brothers should help save the Tasmanian Devil because of Taz the cartoon character.  Dick says the Mad Crew first.  They're still trying to get Time Warner to give them folks at Mad a Christmas Party.

Listen to Episode 564
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The Giz Wiz Home Page

The Marsona Sound Machine, available from Magellan's, makes "white noise" to mask off other noises, such as traffic and noisy neighbours, which might otherwise disturb your sleep, especially when you're travelling and sleeping in an unfamiliar environment.  Choice of "rainfall", "waterfall" and "surf".

A Request for Retraction and Apology
Tom of goinglinux.com demands a retraction and apology from Dick.  In Episode 533, Dick referred to an article in Mad with monkeys in parodies of popular film titles, such as Primates of the Caribbean and Saving Primate Ryan.  But primates include lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans too.  As a primate, Tom finds it highly objectionable.

Listen to Episode 559
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The Giz Wiz Home Page

The Cliphanger is brought to you courtesy of Shane Shellenberger (who also brought our attention to "And Fun For All" in Episode 542).  You stick any mobile device on to the Cliphanger using the adhesive tab provided, and hang the clip from a trousers loop or your handbag.  It comes with a hook which you can put on the wall near the door and hang the device on it.


You can also get the Cliphanger Shield, custom-made for major models of mobile devices, which in addition to the Cliphanger includes a shield or case for protecting the device.

Petaluma Attractions
Now that the TWiT Studio is almost ready, Dick is keen to visit Petaluma and its many tourist attractions, including its bus stop, post office, parking lot, stop light and the lack of retail space.  Leo is going to put Dick up in the Z, the M or the Hellton, or if Dick doesn't mind the distance, the Bates Motel.

The Land of the Rolling Hills
This year is the sesquicentennial of the birth of the town of Petaluma, even though its history is obscure, explains Leo, and no one knows what the name means - except Leo of course, who left us in no doubt in Episode 313 that it is a native Indian word meaning "the Land of the Rolling Hills".

But here's a conundrum.  The Petaluma Firefighters celebrated their sesquicentennial last year, also according to Leo (see Episode 311).  So people organised themselves into firefighters for a town a year before the town even existed?  It must have been a fiery place 150 years ago.  People after Dick's own heart, those early Petalumans.  Safety first.  Never mind building the town.

Butter and Eggs
Petaluma's Butter and Eggs Day will be on Saturday 26 April this year.  Watch out for the Cow Chip Tossing Contest, the Cutest Little Chick In Town Contest, and the Rotating Parade.  For Leo's descriptions of past parades, listen to Episodes 56 and 311.

DGW Audience
At the last count, the DGW audience consists of 4 listeners: Shane Shellenberger, Mark Sukoenig, Myra Joyce (Girl Geek, aka Gadget Girl and Geek Chick to Dick) and Dan Lueders.  Ludwik Trammer doesn't count as he doesn't understand English, and Brian Davis doesn't listen any more for obvious reasons (Episode 548).

Dean, Dan, Dufus, Dave et al
After calling Dane Golden correctly on Monday, Dick starts calling him Dean again today, and Leo finally tries to put Dick right.  Dick complains that Dane should make up his mind about what his name is, and wonders why he doesn't address Dick as Chief, or Kimosabe.

Start the Law Suit
Peter Mangione writes in to tell on CBS Radio in New York, FM101.1.  They have a programme called Turn-The-Table-Tuesday.  Start the law suit !!  After some discussion on whose idea it was to call the Tuesday podcast Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday, Leo clarifies the confusion.  The CBS radio programme is called Turntable Tuesday.  Stop the law suit !!!

For a reminder of how TTTT came about, see Episode 115.

Listen to Episode 549
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The Giz Wiz Home Page

Courtesy of Jim Troiano, more correctly known as Mike Troiano, the Timex Sinclair 1000 has made its way into Dick's Gadget Warehouse, delivered by an official of the United States Government.  It was made by Sinclair from the UK, which was a slightly improved model of the Sinclair ZX81 on which it was based, with more memory.  The Timex Sinclair 1000 was the North American version, and came out in 1982.  It had 2KB memory, as opposed to 1KB of the ZX81.  The keyboard was tiny, about 5" x 3".

Mike and Jean Troiano
Fans of Leo from California, they have visited the set of the Screen Savers, the TWiT Office, and will soon visit the new TWiT Studio.  They may well take with them Carvel's Lumpy the Whale, more correctly known as Fudgie the Whale (see Episode 357).

TWiT Studio
Leo has referred to the new TWiT Studio a few times in his recent podcasts, including DGW.  He's going to set up his live TV station in the old Victorian house in Petaluma.  To see what the house looks like from the outside, see Episode 73.

To read more about Leo's new ideas for TWiT, read his blog.

Obsoleting ...
A listener writes in to talk about the quickest time in which a gadget is obsoleted by a subsequent gadget, such as the printer obsoleting the typewriter, and the cellphone obsoleting the typewriter.  Somehow the rest of the letter got obsoleted after Dick and Leo distracted themselves with warm-up acts.

Our Own Ed McMahon
Dane Golden is aspiring to be the warm-up act for TWiT Live, as Ed McMahon was for Johnny Carson, Michael Gellman for Regis and Kathie Lee, and Johnny Olson for the Match Game.

Cutest Little Chick in Town
Butter and Eggs Day is coming up in Petaluma and they have a Cutest Little Chick Contest, says Leo.  For more on the Butter and Eggs Day, listen to Episodes 56 and 311.  Petaluma seems to have more than its fair share of wacky contests, including the Ugliest Dog Contest: see Episode 348.

Listen to Episode 535
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

From Westclox, which used to make Dick's favourite Nap Timers (Episode 40), this Touchscreen Alarm Clock was controlled through a touchscreen interface.  Touch the "icons" for Time Set or Alarm Set, then the Up or Down Arrow to adjust the setting.  Press on the Alarm On/Off icon to activate or de-activate the alarm.  It's an LCD, not LED, screen, and there's a button to press to light up the screen in the dark.  Rubberised grips on both sides and at the top make it easy and secure to handle.  Still available.  Dick likes it so much that he's going to revive its fortunes by releasing it from the Gadget Warehouse.

Westclox Classics
Dick and Leo reminisce about Westclox's classic Big Ben and Baby Ben models, and the Drowse Electric.  Check out some of these sites: Clock History, Vintage Westclox, Alarm Clocks Online.  Many of the old or classic models are available in modern, retro versions, at e.g. Alarm Clocks Online, Part Shelf.


Watch Winders
While talking about timepieces, Dick mentions automatic watch winders that wind up automatic or self-winding watches when you're not wearing them.  Widely available, e.g. Brookstone, Amazon, WatchWinders, Watch Winder Store.  Leo, on the other hand, keeps straying from chronography into pornography.

Match Game Cards Update
A listener whose Vox handle is Blarg has left a comment on this blog to say that the Match Game Cards are now $29.99 per set of 3, plus postage.  Dick says on his site that people have been telling him by email that he's selling the cards too cheaply.  The site doesn't say what the new price is, but once you click the Buy Now button, the invoice shows $29.99.  Read Dick's update.


Listen to Episode 430
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

Another MP3 player from SanDisk.  2.2 " colour screen.  4GB capacity, with a microSD card slot for expansion.  The Sansa Connect now has wifi which can join any open network.  SanDisk has teamed up with Yahoo Music so you can download music directly to it with one of the subscription packages from Yahoo.  You can also browse to Flickr to view photos.

Butter and Eggs Day
Leo again (see Episode 56) talks about the parade on Butter and Eggs Day in Petaluma about 2 weeks ago, on 28th April 2007, and the sesquicentennial of the Petaluma Firefighters.  You can see Leo's photos on his Flickr pages, including one of Dane Golden in a Superman suit.  Dick and Leo imagine what a TWit Float on the parade would look like.

Mad Stone of Immortality
Medros, a World of Warcraft player, writes about the Mad Stone of Immortality.  Leo tells us the sad news that the Second Life virtual Gadget Warehouse, along with other TWiT stuff, has been sold off.

Listen to Episode 311
Read Dick's Write-Up
Go to TWiT