20 posts tagged “power”

A common problem Leo finds with camcorders is the quality of the built-in microphones, and that includes his Canon EOS 5D Mark II (Episode 742) which he uses to take HD video.  He uses a good quality microphone made by Rϕde Microphones, called the Stereo VideoMic.  It has a standard camera shoe-mount for fitting on to camcorders and cameras.  It is a stereo X/Y condenser microphone, with a low noise circuitry, 2-step high pass filter, powered by a 9V battery (with a battery indicator), and is connected to the camcorder via a mini-jack.  Comes with a windshield for the mic.  It may not be as effective as a unidirectional mic as a shotgun mic, but as a super-cardioid mic, it accepts sounds from the front and sides but very little from the back of the microphone.  Leo uses it on his 5D Mark II and his Canon VIXIA HV30 (Episode 552) camcorder.

If you already have a good quality XLR connection microphone, Leo recommends the Beachtek DXA-2S Audio Adapter.


Car Battery Maintainer
John Slanina from California, better known as jammerb on the TWiT Army and the chatroom, recommends the Solar-Powered Battery Saver Plus, from 4lots.com.  Ideal for people who use their cars only rarely, this 1 Watt 12V car battery maintainer which you can put above the dashboard uses solar engery to trickle-charge your car battery to keep it from going flat.



Listen to Episode 792
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Leo forgot he was going to talk about the Kindle 2 but still manages to come up with something cool.  It's the Coleman Flashcell Rechargeable Screwdriver.  Just a cordless screwdriver, but it's the charging of the battery which is exciting.  The charging base uses ultracapacitors (currently an EEStor project) which give the battery a full recharge in 90 seconds, which will last the screwdriver 30 minutes.  It's the first and only commercial product available using this technology.

Leo even manages to demonstrate the charging of the screwdriver, and keep it running for half an hour.  Just ignore the clock behind Leo.

For those interested in how ultracapacitors or supercapacitors work, go to ultracapacitors.org.  Steve Gibson also covered this topic in Security Now! Episode 177 (with feedback from listeners in SN! Episode 178).  For its possible application in electric cars, see Popular Mechanics.

A Message from the Kindle 2
Al Spalding from Acworth, Georgia refers to the voicemail from the Kindle 2, played on Buzz Out Loud, in anticipation of Leo's review of the new Kindle.  A protest against the objection by Authors' Guild to the Kindle's new text-to-speech feature.

Update on BuyMadStuff
Dick's latest box of "Here's Mad In Your Eye" books have sold out again.  However, he has retrieved (yet again) some more long-forgotten treasures: uncirculated copies of "MAD Murders the Movies".  Collectors' items.  Check out BuyMadStuff.


Listen to Episode 782
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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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The Powerpack 450 from Duracell is a portable emergency power supply unit that can power AC, DC and USB-powered electronic devices including laptops, cellphones and other small appliances.  Its voice technology will tell you the running time for your device.  It also has jumper cables and an air compressor for use with your car.  Also great for camping.  It recharges via AC.  Also comes with the inevitable flashlight.

Xantrex makes a similar product, the Xantrex XPower Powerpack 400 Plus (Episode 44).

A Brush with the Pearly Gates
Dick was once on his boat near the Bermuda Triangle when his gauge went berserk and lightning struck which destroyed quite a bit of his electronic equipment.  It was a scary experience for Dick, especially when he was told by a voice at the Pearly Gates to go back and earn his penance by doing the Daily Giz Wiz for free with someone called Leo.

Dick on Humanety
The auction for a half-hour video chat with Dick is now on, at humanety.com.  Dick's nominated charity is Animal Haven.  At the recent Animal Haven fund-raising event, Dick and Dennis Wunderlin met Bebe Neuwirth (Frasier's estranged ex-wife), whose boyfriend Chris who owns a winery at Napa Valley is moving his boat to a marina at Petaluma.  Dick auctioned off some of the gadgets that manufacturers didn't want back, and raised $1,000.

A Day In the Life Of Leo
Jim from New York wonders how Leo, with so much that he does, manages to integrate his busy schedule with his multiple cellphones and gadgets.  Dane Golden is Leo's answer, whereas Dick's is now Ludwik.

Coming Soon
Leo is playing with WowWee's new product Rovio that goes around your house like the Roomba, except that it's a roving networked video camera or webcam.



Listen to Episode 693
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Dick covered the original Solio back in Episode 108.  The Magnesium Edition (with magnesium casing) is their top model which outputs a maximum wattage of 9W.  Its 1800mA Li-ion rechargeable battery can be charged using solar energy, or via  AC, with a universal AC adapter.  It comes with a USB connector for charging your USB-enabled devices, and 5 iGo power tips for the Motorola Razor, the LG Chocolate, Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry phones.  Other power tips are available.  Check the list here.


Finally, you get a Solio wooden pencil, to prop up the solar cells to get the optimum angle for receiving sunlight.  There's a review of the gadget at reuk.co.uk, from which the 2 photos above are taken.

TWiS
TWiT should be This Week in Thrift instead, or TWiS, This Week in Scrooge.  The lengths Leo would go to in order not to pay his dues.

Match Game Cards
Walt Hoffman, of Glendora, California, thanks Dick for his set of Match Game Cards.  As a child, Walt used to watch the filming of Match Game.



Spirit and Opportunity
No doubt inspired by Match Game, Walt grew up to work as an engineer at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), NASA, at Pasadena, on the operations team for the Mars Exploration Rover Programme.  Dick and Leo have talked about gadgets' own time scale, the gadget years (Episodes 120, 420).  Walt points out that NASA's 2 Rovers (called Spirit and Opportunity - which could be Dick's and Leo's middle names) have outlived their life expectancies.  Originally thought to last for 90 sols (a sol is the local cycle of light and darkness on a planet, which for Mars is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds), both rovers have lasted more than 1,650 sols.

Walt offers to give Dick and Leo, if they're ever in Southern California, a nickel tour.  Bring a nickel please.  No Visa.

Follow the Phoenix
Leo points out that you can follow the Phoenix Rover on Mars, on Twitter.  Dick points out that you can follow him at twitter.com/thegizwiz, and at TWiT Army (also the gizwiz) - but the TWiT Laconica service is down at the moment after Leo's server problems over the weekend.  Alfred E Neuman (alfredeneuman) is on both services as well.


Listen to Episode 663
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Like the Socket Sense (Episode 519), the T10 Flexible Power Strip (Episode 449) and the Power Squid (Episode 24), the Rotator Swivel Socket solves the problem of the big plug or transformer that gets in the way of other plugs.  The socket adapter is designed primarily for use on a dual outlet.  Its elevated position gives you more room to manoeuvre.  The socket itself swivels to give you more flexibility and in certain cases, enables better balance for the device you're plugging in.

You can watch a demonstration here.

The Rotato
The name of Dick's gadget reminds Leo of the Rotato, a hand-crank potato peeler.  The Rotato Express is electrically powered.



Live Audience
A number of people have asked about watching Dick live on TWiTLive, in the TWiT Studio itself (aka The Giz Wiz Green Room).  Dick would love to have a live audience when he appears on TWiTLive on 20 June.

Piano Roll
Daniel Gentleman of ThoughtFix LLC writes in about what he thinks is the oldest method of recorded music distribution - the piano roll, and the player piano.

Even back in the day, the music industry was worried about copyright violation, and one of hte piano roll makers, Apollo, was taken to court, resulting in the 1908 Supreme Court decision in White-Smith Music Publishing Company v Apollo Company, which Apollo won.  But later Congress intervened.  Read about it on Wikipedia.

Here is an excellent video on YouTube of a TV programme aired on TVOntario in the late 1980's, called "The Acme School of Stuff", on how a piano roll was made.





Dick and Leo wonder if the younger generation would understand what a "bread box" or an "ice box" is.

Listen to Episode 578
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The HYmini is not a fan, but a windmill which converts wind power into electrical engery and stores it in the internal rechargeable battery.  The wind has to be at least 9 mph.  When the wind is fast enough, a green LED lights up to indicate that electrical energy is being generated.  You can also charge the battery using conventional AC power (adaptor included), or using the computer via USB.

You can also charge the battery via USB by buying a solar panel using solar energy, called the miniSOLAR.  There is also a bicycle attachment to harness the wind power, and an arm-band for people who jog.

You can use the HYmini to charge your 5V portable devices.  It also doubles up as a flashlight.

Sit Up!
Leo is back on his GopherSport Anti-Burst Fitness Ball (Episode 322), while Dick is slumped on his chair in a comfortably bad posture.

VCR Plus
Sharon from PoCo (Port Coquitlam) in BC, Canada loves the VCR Plus episode (Episode 560).  She tells Dick that TV guides in Vancouver still print the VCR Plus codes.  Her parents have been using the codes for 7 years.  Jim Nelson also writes in to say that he still uses the codes.

Regis
Leo thinks Regis is great and does his work without anyone knowing it.  For a photo of Regis in his office, go to Leo's Flickr.

It's A Gas
Dick and Leo mentioned the Mad recording "It's A Gas" yesterday, and again today.  A listener James Baldwin has found the recording on YouTube and emailed Dick the link.  Dick has embedded it on his home page, or listen to it here.



Listen to Episode 568
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Even when your AA batteries no longer have enough juice to power up your other devices, there may still be quite a bit of power left in them.  Stick one of them into the mouth of this battery-eating monster, and its LED eyes will start blinking until the last bit of juice from the battery has been sucked out.  The Battery Eater can stand on its own, but is also a fridge magnet.  Available from Spoon Sisters (see Episode 283).

Dick puts the Battery Eater over the face of a little stuffed wolf using it as a scarecrow against a roaming mouse.

The Miracle Grill?  Or the Miracle Thaw: Space-Age Metal from Mother Nature
Adam Lawton writes in about a dream he had about the Miracle Grill, an aluminium tray which cooks food without an energy source (or at least defrosts it).  He's not sure about the name and wonders if Dick has one in his Gadget Warehouse™.  Dick remembers seeing it on TV but can't figure out what it's called.

The "grill" which appeared in Adam's vision may well be the Miracle Thaw.  It doesn't actually cook, but defrosts frozen foods.  In its TV commercials and advertising materials, it boasts about its "space-age metal from Mother Nature", a "superconductive metal tray" which "absorbs the natural heat energy in the air and then releases it directly into the frozen food."

The space-age metal is simply aluminium (or aluminum).  Being a metal, it is a good heat conductor and the bulk of the aluminium tray helps speed up the natural heat transfer from the air to the frozen foods.  It works reasonably well on foods with flat shapes (such as steaks), but doesn't on foods such as a whole chicken or turkey, due to limited contact surface area.  In short, nothing that a good old heavy frying pan couldn't do, and a heavy copper pan would do even better.

Robert L Wolke, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and food columnist for the Washington Post, has written an article on this type of defrosting tray.  See this link, or his book "What Einstein Told His Cook".

The US Federal Trade Commission apparently took proceedings against the company producing the Miracle Thaw for misleading statements in its advertising materials.  Not sure what happened to those proceedings, but you can read the complaint, which contains transcripts of the promotional materials.

The Miracle Thaw has been discontinued, though many specimens are still available on eBay.  But wait!  The product has been succeeded by the "new and improved" (!!!) D-Frost Wonder Deluxe, made by the same company.


News on Dick and Leo
Apparently Dick has been hooked on the recent backlog of emails and can't get enough of it.  He is trialling a message board, where you can post a message to Dick directly: http://shmyl.com/nlrpson.  Unfortunately it's already been hit by spammers, and may not continue for long.

While Dick is slaving away in Manhattan, Leo is off to Tasmania on a photography trip led by Mikkel Aaland, as the "special media guest" and chief blogging officer.  He flew off on Sunday night, but with a 7-hour stopover in Sydney and the enormous time difference, he won't arrive in Hobart in Tasmania until Tuesday morning Tasmanian time.  Read his blog.

Dick and Leo have pre-recorded enough shows to keep us entertained while Leo is away.

Links to Dick's Write-Ups
I have been giving links to Dick's monthly page for his gadget write-ups (which sometimes contain information not mentioned in the netcasts themselves), at the end of each blog entry, to make it easier for readers and listeners to find the appropriate page.  From time to time, Dick would change the urls; sometimes certain pages have disappeared (and recently reappeared); and I have tried to make corresponding changes to my blog entries.

The recent facelift of the Giz Wiz website means more changes, but I've just discovered that Dick has changed some of the urls yet again (and this is after the website facelift).  With the sheer number of DGW episodes, it has become impossible to update those urls, especially when I know Dick will be bound to change them again sometime in the future (given the system he has adopted for those urls - categorising them as "current" and "old" netcasts).

From now on, I will only give the link to Dick's home page, which everyone is familiar with.  This shouldn't pose any problem for anyone, as the new-look Giz Wiz site has made it more convenient than before to find Dick's commentaries on older netcasts.

Listen to Episode 536
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Ideative, who made the Leak Frog (Episode 166), has come up with the Socket Sense, a power strip that can be extended for you to fit in those large, bulky, intractable AC adapters/transformers.  The sockets are angled at 45° to give more efficient use of space.  It also offers 2160 Joules surge protection.

An Intelligent DGW Fan
Leo ran into Paul Lawrence, director of the Yale Center for Media and Instructional Innovation, who is a fan of the TWiT network.  His favourite podcast is The Daily Giz Wiz.  There is someone intelligent at Yale after all.  Dick also met someone from Yale the other day, and he works in the Combination Lock Department.

Stripped of Power Strips
Dick and Leo wonder how many power strips (such as the Power Squid, Episode 24, and the Tributaries T10 Flexible Power Strip, Episode 449), batteries and LEDs have appeared on DGW, and how many podcasts are left.  They hope Ludwik Trammer of GizWizSearch can help.

A Trickle of Hate Mail
Leo has been doing well on TTTT recently, and the hate mail is trickling down.  Now Leo getting another kind of hate mail, for doing decent gadgets.

Tour of the Queen Mary 2
Dick's tour of the QM2 previously shown on ABC has been posted on his website, or check out the blog entry for Episode 517.

CSI Alaska - A Suspected Spork Robbery
There has been a robbery in Anchorage, Alaska, and the police are still trying to determine if the weapon used was a spork.  They should invite Dick and Leo act as the experts in the forensic investigation.  Here's one of the reports, on Yahoo News.

Dick and Leo have received a flurry of letters from listeners about the news story, including James Levine, Wayne Dickson, Kevin Madden, Jim Haygood, and even Chris Marquardt of the Tips From The Top Floor podcast.

Listen to Episode 519
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up