12 posts tagged “polaroid”

The Johnny-Light is already 15 years old, but it's still going.  It seeks to avoid the battle of the sexes in the bathroom.  When the gentleman lifts the lavatory seat, the light goes on and stays on to remind him to put the seat down for the ladies.  When that's been done, the light will go off.  That's one gadget for the ladies, who should all be singing, "This little light of mine."



This reminds Leo of another toilet night light which he showed on Regis and Kelly, that was a little more advanced.  It had a motion sensor that would light up red for the gent to aim at when the seat was up, and light up green for the ladies when the seat was down.  Leo can't remember what the product was called, but he did blog about it in March 2003.  It might be the LavNav, or something similar.  See the article on Wired.com.



Wine Tasting turned Fire Tasting
Leo has got a new sponsor Gary's Wine, so he does a wine-tasting session on Sunday.  With a bit of Dutch courage and a little help from Brain Brushwood of Scam School, Leo started tasting fire, too.  You can watch the video on odtv.me.

Feats of Daring-Do
Dick has had his share of daring-do.  He appeared on "That's My Line", with a tiger resting its head on Dick's lap.  Leo might have done the fire-eating, but he would not do the bungee jump or parachute jump, and Dick would definitely stay away from the Stratosphere Tower's See-Saw Ride (it's actually called X-Cream) in Las Vegas.


A Camera-Printer for the Warehouse
Darryl Wattenberg of darrylsphotoblog.blogspot.com says that the Polaroid Pogo Instant Digital Camera (shown at CES and discussed in Episode 745) was not the first to attempt that combination.  Olympus did just that about a decade ago with the Camedia C-211 Zoom (or C-211z), a digital camera with 2.1 MP which used Polaroid instant film for the prints.  Read the review at Imaging-Resource.  Darryl also recalls a later camera/printer model from Olympus with dye-sub printing capabilities.  2 more gadgets for Dick's Gadget Warehouse.



Dick in Disguise and Mercury Rising
Dr L S Powers of the chatroom asks if the gentleman with a moustache holding a plastic whale on Boston Whaler's website is Dick in disguise.  Not so.  Leo advises against eating too much deep-sea big-body fish such as tuna, as it may contain a lot of mercury, as Steve Gibson has recently found out.



Listen to Episode 810
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Back in Episode 327, Leo talked about his multi-million-dollar water purifier, the AKAI Water Ioniser.  Dick has a more reasonably-priced option.  Pur Water makes water filtration products including pitchers and faucets, and their new product is just up Dick's street, as he doesn't like the taste of plain water.  Pur's Flavor Options line gives you an array of fruit flavour cartridges, in addition to the water filter.  To add flavour, you simply push the flavour button.  There is also a light indicator to tell you when you should change the filter.

Celebrating with Guinness
To celebrate St Patrick's Day, Leo bought a Corned Beef and Cabbage Pot Pie from Marvin's in Petaluma.  Naturally it came with its own gravy, made with Guinness.

Beatles Rock Band
There's going to be a Beatles version of Rock Band, and Leo might review it later in the year when it comes out.

Leo Singing

Andy Hardy doesn't agree with Tom Stidham in Episode 777, and loves Leo's singing.  Signed, Hard Of Hearing, from DC.

MAD Murders The Movies
The last box of "Here's Mad In Your Eye" has sold out too, but Dick has uncovered a special box of "MAD Murders The Movies", a collection of movie parodies, including Groan With The Wind and Mutiny On The Bouncy, written for Leo.  The first printing of this book was shredded fresh off the press by mistake, and the book was released 4 years later.  You can get the book from BuyMadStuff, complete with Pristine Warehouse Yellow.

Leo's Alamanac
One of Leo's Gadget Almanacs was spelt as Leo's Alamanac.  That would be a collector's item.


Listen to Episode 788
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Picture this.  A one-time use Polaroid instant camera.  The Pop Shots camera from the late 1990's gave you 10 instant shots (using Captiva film).  Although it was disposable, you were encouraged to send the camera body back to Polaroid using the mail envelope that came with the purchase of the camera.  Dick has not just one, but two of them, one in its unopened packaging, which might still fetch $200, or less.

Wait For Dick
Another gadget delivery for Dick during the recording.  Leo is ready with the jingle, twice over.  It's from SuperAlert, which Dick will talk about on Monday.

Schlage LiNK at TWiT
Dick has sent a Schlage LiNK (Episode 768) Leo's way, which Leo will install at the TWiT Cottage.  Leo has taken over the last remaining part of the TWiT Cottage and there will be a guest room available for Dick next time he visits.

The Power Behind
Leo might start selling the TWiT Set.  There's nothing in it except for the power behind it.

A Neverlate Round the World Trip
When Frederick Baronet heard about the Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock (Episode 761), he knew it was for him.  With its coverage coming from New York and California, Frederick ordering it from the UK, to be shipped to his holiday home in France, where he would pick it up and take it with him to Beijing where he works, the country where the clock was probably made in the first place, the Neverlate has done a truly international circuit.

More Match Game Memories
Dick will do his Match Game Memories (or Moments) again, and Leo will channel Dick through TWiTLive.  It's likely to be on a Sunday evening after the recording of TWiT itself, 29 March 2009.


Listen to Episode 785
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Kodak and other camera companies joined forces in 1991 to develop the Advanced Photo System (APS), which was introduced at PMA in Las Vegas in 1996.  It was intended as an alternative to or replacement of the conventional 135 film format.  APS film was 24mm wide, compared to 35mm of the 135 format, and the surface area was only 56% of 135 film.  It offered 3 aspect ratios - C type (Classic, conventional 3:2 aspect ratio), H type (HDTV, 16:9), and P type (Panoramic, 3:1).  Consumers could choose an aspect ratio for individual films on the same cartridge.  It also offered Magnetic Information Exchange which could record exposure information, date and time and other personalised information on a magnetic coating, which could be printed on to the backs of photographs.

The film cartridges manufactured by Kodak were marketed as Advantix Film.  In January 2004, Kodak announced that it would stop selling APS cameras.

Polaroid at CES 2009
Speaking of old-timers, Polaroid announced a digital camera at CES, the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera.  It's a camera and a PoGo Printer (Episode 683) in one.  Little is known about the specs of the camera itself (apart from the PoGo printer capability).  It seems Polaroid is still hanging on to the idea of instant prints.


Getting Smug
Steve Miller thanks Dick and Leo (especially Leo) for introducing him to SmugMug to which he has moved from Flickr.  Now he is putting his old pictures and slides on to SmugMug.

All Things Obama
Mad has just had its 3rd Obama cover out, while the previous two are selling on eBay.  Leo has been invited to the inauguration ceremony for his campaign contribution, along with the rest of the public, and has been invited to buy all the official Obama merchandise.


Listen to Episode 745
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Early Adapters
Polaroid also developed a Polacolor Instant Movie Film, but not even Dick, himself an early "adapter", would buy it. He did buy the Polaroid Instant Slide Autoprocessor.

Weekly Giz Wiz
Bob Forbes, from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada, thinks that the Daily Giz Wiz is the most entertaining netcast on the internet.  He usually downloads all 5 shows of the week in one go, but most of the time his Samsung MP3 player plays the episodes in the wrong order.  He wonders if Leo could create a single file for the whole week for him to download.  Leo doesn't think there's enough demand for it.  Dick chips in to say there isn't any demand at all for the show, and says the other listener doesn't want it.

Book Rights
When Dick's Good Days And Mad first came out, a Hollywood producer rang him up and asked Dick if he had sold the film rights to the book yet, and added, "What's your book about?"


Listen to Episode 730
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Polaroid has been trying to find its place in the new world of digital photography.  Their latest attempt is the PoGo (Polaroid to Go), a portable bluetooth printer that connects to your mobile phones via bluetooth and makes 2" x 3" borderless prints.  The cellphone needs to support Bluetooth OBEX (Object Exchange) profile.  A list of compatible phones can be found on the Polaroid website.



You can also print directly from any PictBridge-enabled digital camera, by connecting the devices using a USB cable.

The print is made using Zink Imaging's Zink technology - Zero Ink - on Zink paper.  Each 2" x 3" photo paper contains 100 billion yellow, magenta and cyan dye crystals which are activated by heat pulses to generate the colours.  Since no ink is used, the prints come out as dry-to-touch prints.  They have peel-off sticky backs which can be used as stickers.  A modern version of Polaroid prints.

The dimensions of the PoGo 4.7" x 2.8" x 0.9", with a replaceable and rechargeable Li-ion battery.  Each charge can print up to 15 prints.  the advertised print speed is 60 seconds from send to share, though in practice it's likely to take longer.  You can get the PoGo photo paper in packs of 10 or 30, costing about $5 and $13 respectively.

One From the Gadget Warehouse
While rummaging through his treasure trove that is the Gadget Warehouse, Dick stumbled upon a Polaroid Instant Slide device, probably one of the 35mm Autoprocessors from Polaroid.



Mr Hulot's Holiday - It's Playtime !
Jacques Tati was a French comedian who made a few classic films including Mr Hulot's Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot) and Playtime.

Here's the original French trailer for the film Playtime, where you can see a reflection of the Eiffel Tower on the door (or click this link):


For the scene in which what the lift (elevator) operator has to go through before he can get the lift to start, watch this clip (or click this link):

And for a rather interesting window cleaning scene, watch this clip (or click this link):


TWiT Nutwork on the PSP
Alex Rearick from Ohio learned about the "TWiT Nutwork" when the PSP gained RSS capability.  He listened to the back episodes, and enjoyed thoroughly the classic episode of the Key Buoy (Episode 149).  He's even got himself a GizWizBiz Cap.  New ones, with 30 hours of burn time, are available from Dick's website.

Neuros produced the MPEG4 Recorder 2 for converting videos into MPEG4 for playback on portable devices such as the iPod and PSP (Episode 49).  It has now come up with the Neuros OSD (OSD standing for Open Source Device, Linux-based) with far more functionalities.  It is a video recorder for all your videos, and a bit of a media centre.

It makes use of the analogue hole to transfer the input video into digital form, on to your choice of external storage (such as a USB hdd, flash drive, memory cards or NAS).  Hook up the Neuros OSD between your video source and the TV (using RCA jacks), connect your storage to the Neuros OSD, and start recording into MPEG4.  You have a choice of 2 resolutions: 320x240 at 30fps for playback on portable devices, and 640x480 at 30fps for playback on TV and PC.


It is also a very capable playback device for audio, video and still photo, supporting many media formats, including mpeg4, mov, wmv, flv, avi (including Dvix and Xvid), mp3, ogg vorbis, wma, flac, jpg, bmp and gif.  You can choose your playback source from an USB-connected storage, or any memory card in the built-in card reader (supporting most major memory cards), or from any networked source via the ethernet port (such as your NAS or even the internet).


Its firmware is upgradable, and the software includes built-in automatic software update capability.  Because the device is based on open source software, Neuros also encourages open development of additional features for the OSD.  Comes with a remote control, an IR Blaster, and RCA cables (European models include SCART adapters).

Automatic Podcast Generator
Dick and Leo lament the missed opportunity of getting a push-button automatic podcast generator, while Leo was away in Tasmania, from Ludwik Trammer, DGW's official statistician, database compiler, RSS feeder, general factotum and all-round nice guy.

Missing Feature
Girl Geek Myra Joyce (who wrote in in Episode 495) referred to the letter read in Episode 526 about the Canon Pixma iP4300.  To her disappointment, the CD-label printing capability is enabled only in models shipped outside of the US (which could be enabled for US models but only with some dismantling and reassembly of the printer).

The Ultimate Toaster
Leo has come up with an idea for the ultimate toaster.  It can print any image you want on your toast.  A toast before it's even made and one destined for the Gadget Warehouse.

Listen to Episode 546
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

These earbuds look exactly the same as the familiar iPod earbuds, but are 500 times as big (hence the name 500XL).  They are desktop speakers made by Fred & Friends, and available on Perpetual Kid (see also Episode 404).  USB-powered, they produce decent sound, and can double up as portable speakers using 4 AA batteries.  A fun gag.

Andy Marken chips in again
The generous Andy Marken has stepped into the fold again, offering 10 copies of Cyberlink's YouCam webcam special effects software (see Episode 443) as prizes, to add to the 3 Maxtor portable drives.  For details of the contest, see Episode 514.

You can see one of the YouCam special effects, the Polaroid look, in Dick's recent video on the 500XL Earbuds Speakers.

And Now, From Our Own Correspondents

Terry Scott who works for Edmonton Transit in Edmonton, Alberta listens to DGW while driving his bus at work.  After listening to Episode 500, he talked to his brother in Winnipeg using his HP PDA on his Jawbone bluetooth headset, and suddenly realised that he's been turned into a geek, but at least he's not a proctologist.  Leo warns, "DGW may cause geekiness," and Dick warns, "Don't look underneath the veneer."

Theme-Free Wednesday Theme
Dan Lueders of Why Me Studio, a DGW listener, and musician and songwriter based in Chicago, sent in a theme to Dick and Leo back in January (which apparently Dick again misplaced - see below).  It's for their Theme-Free Wednesday.  It was made in response to comments by Dick and Leo in the beginning of Episode 478, segments from which have been incorporated into the theme itself.

Some listeners might remember the name Dan Lueders.  He made a Gravy Jingle submission which Dick first mentioned in Episode 115, which was never played, and somehow got misplaced.  The jingle submission was later recovered and played in Episode 313 (and played again in Episode 314).  By then Paul Minshall's Gravy Jingle had long established itself as the closing theme.

For more information on Dan Lueders, check out his profile on urSESSION, or Promiseland Music.

For a long-winded story of the Gravy Slogan and Jingle, check out the Gravy page.

For more DGW jingles, you can find them on the Jingles page.

Listen to Episode 528
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday

Streaming to your TV
And lastly, the iTV which will come out in 2007 (and renamed as the Apple TV).


iPod Toilet Rolls
Steve Jobs at the Showtime Event said that some manufacturer had done a toilet roll with an iPod dock.  See Episode 186.

DGW Commercials
Folks from the UK are aghast at the idea of Leo doing the commercials himself in the middle of the shows.

Gadget Tragic
Richard Reid from Brisbane, Australia describes himself as a "gadget tragic".  The only thing that stands between him and some LED-festooned piece of garbage is his marriage.  He used to be an early adopter.  His adoptions included the Apple Newton, the Zip Drive, the Jaz Drive, the Psion PDA, the Cassiopeia PDA, the Polaroid FX70.

Farewell, Amber
Amber has taped her last Call For Help episodes and is moving on to the City TV Network in Canada.

Longest Show
At 23:57, this DGW has broken the previous record of Episode 149, and has made Dick completely bereft.

Mad Minute
A repeat of the commercial from Alfco's new tax accountants.

Listen to Episode 152
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up