34 posts tagged “portable”

From 3M, the Micro Professional Projector (model MPro110) is a pocket projector for people on the road who need a handy projector to display pictures, slideshows and presentations.  With dimensions of 4.5" x 2" x 0.9" and weighing 5.6 ounces, the palm-size MPro110 can easily fit into your pocket, handbag or briefcase.  It supports resolutions from VGA up to WXGA (1280 x 768), image size from 6" to 50" (diagonal), VGA and RCA Video inputs.  VGA and RCA video cables and an RCA adapter are included.


The projector supports video only.  Presumably if your presentation includes sound, that can be played and heard directly from your source device, such as your laptop, PDA, or cellphone.


On the body of the projector is an on/off switch and a focus wheel.  It uses a rechargeable Lithium ion battery with a battery life of 40 to 60 minutes.  An AC adapter is included which, when connected, automatically recharges the battery.
 

12 Days of GizWiz
Dick reminds Leo about Paul Minshall's "12 Days of GizWiz" video, which will be played in the next recording session.  You can watch the video now in the Episode 722 blog post, or go directly to Paul's blog.

CartStoppers for the Troops
Dennis Wright from Manchester, England (who last wrote in Episode 606) warns against the perils of listening to DGW by commuting drivers.  Dennis was listening to Episode 704 while driving and the ridiculous picture painted by Leo of Dick and Leo entertaining the troops by showing them the CartStopper (Episode 701) intended for mums cracked him up, giving him an uncomfortably close brush with the hereafter.  He thinks that Dane, while editing the shows (although it should be Tony Wang doing it now), should include appropriate warnings against uproarious funny moments.

Skipping Christmas?
Dick and Leo should have enough pre-recorded shows to cover most of the holiday season before Leo comes back from France, and are considering skipping the Christmas and Christmas Eve shows.  Dane reminds them that this would break the neat round episode numbering.  Dick and Leo think they might just put in short episodes for those days with Christmas messages.


Listen to Episode 724
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

Hobo Names
Alessandro Abate corrects Leo again (after Episode 562), about the number of hobo names in John Hodgman's "The Areas of My Expertise".  There are 700 in the Audible edition (not 300 as Leo said in Episode 567), and 800 in the paperback edition.  It has inspired the site "The 700 Hoboes Project", at e-hobo.com.  Accompanying John Hodgman on the guitar in the Audible edition is Jonathan Coulton.

Rock-Banding with Jonathan Coulton
Most listeners of Leo's podcasts, especially TWiT Episode 133, have heard about the live concert of Jonathan Coulton in which Leo, Merlin Mann and Veronica Belmont joined to play the song "Still Alive", written for the video game Portal.  It's on YouTube.



Listen to Episode 602
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

This time, it's Leo's turn to do a "What's In the Box?" routine, and Dick's turn to guess what it is.  It's Ziszor, a portable, hand-held shredder.  It runs on 4 AA batteries, comes with 4 Ziszor catcher bags, and you shred your paper trail right into the bag.  Ziszor's slogan is, Don't let your mail be your trail.  But as Leo demonstrates, it can't shred Colleen's credit card, though it will shred your English spelling into oblivion.



A Wireless Toaster
Karen Toast Conger, of ToastFloats, used to work for WatchGuard, a network security devices company.  As a parting gift, she was given a very special toaster.  Her colleagues bought her a Cuisinart toaster, took it apart, and put a WatchGuard Firebox X Edge wireless router into it.  A wireless router, security device, and a toaster.

Listen to Episode 557
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

The Cliphanger is brought to you courtesy of Shane Shellenbarger (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 Shellenbarger, 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
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

A mini power strip with surge protection from Belkin.  The Mini Surge Protector gives you 3 AC outlets and USB charging ports.  360-degrees rotating plug with 4 lock-in positions.  Ideal for travelling.  Includes a mini-USB cable for charging mobile devices.

Leap Year Contest
There are 18 winners for the contest (3 Maxtor drives, 10 copies of YouCam, 5 copes of CrazyTalk5).  Check out if you're one of them.

Leap Day Warehouse Friday
Jim Driscoll has found out that the next leap day that falls on a Friday will be in the year 2036, and we will be having DGW Episode 7795.


Listen to Episode 534
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

From Energizer, the Duo is a dual charger for 2 rechargeable AA and AAA Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, which can use either a power outlet, or via a powered USB port on a computer (AC adaptor and USB charger included).  Ideal when you run out of power outlets when you're travelling.  Available in different colours.  You can even download a program for your PC or Mac on to your computer, and check the charging process when the Duo is being charged via a USB port.

Jittery Jingle Singers
Recently the Letters Jingle has been a little jittery, and stutters quite a bit.  Get your act together please, Leo.

From a Tired Lonely Soldier
Scott Brocks, who calls himself a tired lonely soldier, with an Army Post Office address, says the podcast means a lot to him, and thanks Dick and Leo for it.  Dick prays that Scott is not being tortured in captivity by being forced into listening to 40 episodes of DGW in a row by al Qaeda.  Dick and Leo thank Scott and other soldiers for their service.

Dog Cartoon
Listen to Dick's description of a cartoon in the New Yorker about how a private investigator dog gets the info he wants.

Listen to Episode 506
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

From 2003, the Zodiac was a portable game console and PDA hybrid.  Tapwave made 2 models for it, the Zodiac1 with 32MB built-in memory and the Zodiac2 with 128MB, but both with an SD card expansion slot.  It also got a licence from Palm to use the Palm OS for its PDA functions.  It looked pretty good, but sadly got nowhere.

Something's Coming, Something Good
As promised in Episode 350, Dick and Leo celebrate the 400th Episode with sound effects - a sneeze, a rattle and crappy sound quality from Leo.

Keeping Track of a Bluetooth Phone
Nils Anderson wants to have a USB dongle bluetooth-based alarm to keep track of another bluetooth device like his cellphone.  Dick remembers Leo once did a bluetooth headset which alerts you if the cellphone goes out of range.  They wonder whether it's a Plantronics Voyager or a Cardo, and think it's a Cardo.  It is actually the Plantronics Voyager 510 which Leo reviewed in Episode 252, and a listener Peter Lee pointed out in Episode 281 that Leo forgot to mention these extra functions of the Voyager 510 in his original review.  The Cardo Scala 700 (Episode 191) comes with a headset locator.  It locates the headset, not the cellphone.

What makes a guaranteed hit
After 40 years of gadgeteering, Dick still doesn't know what makes a gadget sell.  Dick and Leo talk about the iPod mini and Erich Segal's Love Story, the iPhone packaging, and then on to the Zune Phone as predicted on YouTube.


Listen to Episode 400
Read Dick's Write-Up
Go to TWiT

Soccer Ball Ice-Cream Maker

Andrew Darlow, Editor of Imaging Buffet, heard about Leo's Cuisinart Ice-Cream Maker (Episode 347) and suggested the soccer ball ice-cream maker from Play & Freeze.  Put the ingredients into the ball and just roll it.  No need to crank or shake.  Read the instructions here.  Available at Amazon.

Stirring Mug
The maker of the Stirring Mug (Episode 354) is very pleased with Dick's plug on DGW.

Listen to Episode 368
Read Dick's Write-Up
Go to TWiT