7 posts tagged “pineapple upside down cake”

Made by Grandma Keenan Specialty Products, the Flaming Fruitcake looked like a Christmas log but was intended for the fireplace as a combustible log.  Made of sawdust, wax, colour wood and colouring agents, it was not a food product.  "Have fun burning these calories."  "Finally a fruitcake you will enjoy."  Dick got it in 1991 from a PR agent, and the only reference to it on the web one can find is on Living On Earth, 24 December 1993.

Gadget Ideas
Steve Greenberg writes in his book Gadget Nation that it's not enough to have a good idea for a gadget.  It's all about marketing and distribution.

Mad Over Time
The Mad cover with Obama morphing into Alfred E Neuman (Yes We Can't) has been named by Time Magazine as one of the Top 10 Magazine Covers of 2008.  Obama has also been named 2008 Person of the Year.

When Mad first turned itself into a comic magazine, Time's review predicted that it would be a "short-lived satirical pulp".  Not only did Mad continue to thrive, but Warner Bros/Time Warner in due course acquired it and brought it under the same division as Time Magazine.  In the acquisition deal, Bill Gaines slipped a clause into the final draft of the contract reserving to himself the right to be unreasonable.  He also felt confident that the affairs of Mad would be totally unaffected because for the first few years, the new owners wouldn't even realise that they had acquired the new property.

For a fuller account of Mad's management after the acquisition, check back at Episode 68.  For the "unreasonable" contract clause, see Episode 106.

Book Royalty
Dick has written 11 or 12 Mad original paperback books.  For one of them, Dick got $12,000 as an advance payment from the publishers.  Dick was puzzled by the sheer size of the advance, and Bill Gaines explained that the big corporations never read the contract and he inserted a clause that the publishers had to print a million copies.

Powerline Technology
Mike Knox who has been listening to DGW since Episode 1 writes to clarify something about powerline carrier technology (PLC).  In Episode 713, Leo thought that the Belkin Powerline AV Plus Starter Kit would not work in Dick's situation as powerline technology would not work over 2 fuse boxes or power meters.  Mike points out that while there are different implementations of PLC, they will pass through fuse boxes and utilities meters and are completely transparent to the conduction of electricity and any signals multiplexed on to the power.  The signals will stop at utility transformers and will degrade over distance, but can go over to other homes.  Dick's own test has proved Mike right.

TWiG
Dick has a T-Shirt with a TWiG logo - This Week in Gadgets.


Listen to Episode 725
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

After the Toiletry Sheets (Episode 689), Dick introduces another of Travelon's products, the Luggage Scale with Tape Measure.  The airlines have yet again reduced not only the baggage allowance but also the total linear measurement.  So the tape measure would come in handy, too.  The scale comes with a hook from which to hang the suitcase for weighing.  The scale has a memory lock which locks the indicator at the measured weight for easy reading.  That's why the scale is also called "Stop and Lock".

And don't try Leo's trick of weighing himself with and without the suitcase and subtracting one from the other.  The scale's capacity is only 75 lbs.

Thanksgiving Eve
Dick is going to make his pineapple upside down cake again.  For his recipe, take a look at the classic cookbook Joy Of Cooking and just double up the amount of butter and brown sugar for the topping.

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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Dick and Leo have referred to the Kill A Watt in passing before, in Episodes 553 and 642.  This new product, called Kill A Watt PS, retains the main functions of the previous gadget - electricity usage monitor with surge protection - but adds a power strip (8 extensions) to the bargain.

The monitor itself can give you information on how much electricity you are using.  It can now also check the quality of your power supply by monitoring voltage, line frequency, amperage and leakage.  The on/off switch also gives you a soft power up to prevent power spikes.  The circuit breaker is adjustable to a choice of 2, 5 10 or 15 Amps.  It even includes an EMI filter reducing AC power noise.

Seasonal Letters Jingle
Jared Heffner from Indiana wants more seasonal versions of the Letters Jingle, in addition to the Festive Version.  A Spring version with violins and birds, a 4th July version, and a Halloween version.  Leo asks George Wood, one of our theme-meisters, to get to work.


Listen to Episode 706
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A heads-up from a listener, Charles from Berkeley, California.  No need to worry about your shopping cart with your child sitting in it rolling down the slope.  At one end of the CartStopper is a giant suction cup, connected to a bungee cord with a hook at the other end which you attach to the shopping cart.  The device is strong enough to hold in place a full shopping cart with a child in it.

Leo thinks the CartStopper might be another Purseguard (Episode 406).  That's not going to please Shopping Mom Dyanne who designed the device!

CES 2009 Preview
Dick was at the CES 2009 Preview last week.  CES has to hold a preview in order to announce the CES awards in January.

Busy Bee
Busy Bee Ludwik Trammer is at work again.  He has some ideas for Dick's site, and is going to show Dick on Go To Meeting.  By the way, Giz Wiz Search now has a new .com URL: www.gizwizsearch.com.

The Joy of Gadgets
The Kodak Disc Camera (Episode 690) brings back fond memories of a strong and vibrant company for Brent [Cascamenti] from Rochester, New York, who has been working for Kodak as an electrical engineer for 27 years.  Brent has been a faithful listener since Episode 1, and thanks Dick and Leo for bringing him the joy of gadgets.

Skunk Works
Brent uses the word "Skunk Works" in his letter, which Leo explains to Dick, with a little help from Wikipedia, first used by Lockheed Martin in 1938.  The name has its origin in Al Capp's comic strip L'il Abner.

Dick's Thanksgiving
No small talk for Dick's party at Thanksgiving, where his pineapple upside down cake is de rigueur (in addition to the gravy of course).  For more on Dick's Thanksgiving celebrations, go back to Episode 199.  Whenever Dick misses his Thanksgiving fare, he can go to "Good Enough To Eat", all year round.  This is also the restaurant Dick took Leo for a huge breakfast when Leo was in New York (listen to the beginning of Episode 334).

Ready for TTTT
Leo had numerous ideas for last week's TTTT (see Episode 697), but only after the recording had ended.  This time, he's ready.


Listen to Episode 701
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The Giz Wiz Home Page

The Motorola Cellphone MP3 Player received an innovation award at CES 2002, before cellphones had built-in MP3 players.  It was an add-on or accessory for selected models of Motorola phones, with an SD card slot and it came with a 32MB SD card.  The music would stop if a call came in for the cellphone, and the headset had a built-in microphone for voice calls.  Complete with belt clip.

This gadget was actually covered on a previous Warehouse Friday (Episode 380).  The only other gadget featured twice on the show so far was the HydraBrush (Episodes 226 and 480).

A Death and A Resurrection
The New York Times reported on the "funeral" party at Hachette, a publisher which finally decided to stop making audio books on cassette tapes.  At the same time, however, vinyl record sales have jumped (see this report on the Washington Times).



A Mixer for Podcasting
Jacob writes to Dick for Leo's recommendation for a 3-mic mixer for amateur podcasting.  Leo uses the Mackie Onyx-1620, but suggests the Behringer Podcastudio Firewire, a reasonably priced podcast kit, even though it has only 2-mic input.  Available from ZZounds.

Podcasting Pioneers and Distant Cousins
Podcasting started in September 2004, by applying RSS feeds to downloadable content.  Leo started to offer his radio show as podcasts in October 2004 and was among the first podcasters, such as Podfather Adam Curry, Dave Slusher of Evil Genius Chronicles and Doug Kaye of IT Conversations.  Dick, as we all know, started in February 2006 with the Daily Giz Wiz, a podcasting cousin twice removed.


Listen to Episode 630
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It uses a range of infrared wavelengths to cook your food, cutting cooking time, with results closer to conventional baking.

Crappiest Podcast
Leo declares this to be officially the crappiest podcast.

Upside Down
Find out about the secrets of Dick's signature dish the Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Automated Men's Room
Gary from Minnesota disagrees with Dick and Leo's enthusiasm for the automated toilet (Episode 326) after some bad experiences.

Listen to Episode 344