8 posts tagged “what's in the box”

Dick and Leo play Let's Make a Deal.  With a choice of a prepared gadget and "What's In the Box?", Leo always chooses the latter.  With his trusty OpenX (Episode 164), Dick opens the package, revealing the Rebit, an external USB backup hard drive (with a choice of 160, 320 or 500GB) with pre-installed software (for Windows XP and Vista) which, when connected to your computer, backs up your entire working hard drive automatically.  The backup includes everything, data, applications and Windows system files.  It also backs up different versions of the same file, and to that extent is similar to Mac's Time Machine.  Recovery is done via Windows Explorer through drag and drop.  If you need to restore Windows itself, you can boot up with the supplied CD to restore the entire Windows installation without the need to rebuild it.

Another Dane Fact
When Leo gets slapped in the face, Dane says, "Ouch!"  Another entry for the Dane Facts?

A Business Proposition
Paul Cyopick, of Daily Tech Tip, has a brilliant idea for Dick which Dick missed when he talked about the Time Square gathering, with no bathroom breaks, every New Year's Eve in Episode 733.  He should be selling the UroClub (Episode 598).  Dick suggests that Dane go to New York and start selling them, and Dane says, "Anything involving Time Square and ur in, I'm in."


Listen to Episode 774
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Another gadget from the Miami Boat Show, the Garmin GPSMAP 640 is a dual mode GPS device which can be used as a marine chartplotter and a city GPS turn-by-turn navigator.  When placed in the marine mount or automotive mount (which come included with the device), it will switch automatically to the appropriate mode.  It has a 5.2-inch touch screen, 800 x 480 pixels, an SD card slot, waterproof, preloaded with BlueChart g2 marine data (such as tides and currents, depth contours) and City Navigator NA maps.

Workaholics
When TWiTLive was off the air recently for a couple of days, Leo found himself at a loose end home and became a little unbearable to Jennifer.  Dick likewise is a workaholic who has not taken a vacation for years.

A Fireplace for TWiT Cottage
Dick's friend Dennis Wunderlin (aka Dexterity Dennis) has a fireplace insert from Dimplex, and Dick recommends it to Leo for the old fireplace at TWiT Cottage.  Leo saw one in action on Valentine's Day in a San Francisco hotel and plans to get one for the Californian summer.  At least that will give him something to talk about on another TTTT.

Respect for the Sea
Dick was once out in the sea in his boat when it was hit by a huge wave and the boat was tossed straight up.  Since then, he's had a lot of respect for the sea.  He now has a smaller 22 feet boat and he seldom ventures out into the ocean unless it's really calm.

Christmas Gift on Valentine's Day
Ludwik of GizWizSearch is such a friend to DGW that Dick decided to send him a Christmas package of GizWiz goodies.  Dick sent it by priority mail and the parcel arrived safely in Poland for Ludwik on Valentine's Day.  Leo suggests that Dick sell a Ludwik Prize Pack.  Dick thinks a Bernie Madoff Treasure Pack might be a better idea.

A Choice for Tomorrow's Gadget
Dick has prepared a gadget for tomorrow's show, but a parcel has just arrived too.  Leo will have the choice.


Listen to Episode 773
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Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday

Leo was thinking of doing an update on the Chumby (Episode 456), which he might still do.  Thanks to sunkenplanet in the chatroom, Leo is reminded of a gadget he's been using recently, CCrane Radio's CC Wifi Radio.  With this "radio", you can access over 14,000 internet radio stations and streams, either via a hard-wired Cat 5e ethernet cable or Wifi (b or g, supporting WEP, WPA and WPA2).  Supported audio file formats include MP3, AAC, WMA, AU, AIFF, WAV and RealAudio.  99 presets, IR Remote Control.

You can browse for stations, arranged alphabetically, by Genre or Location.  To add you own Station or Stream not already on the Wifi Radio, you can set up an account at Reciva and register your CC Wifi Radio, then make additions to "My Stations" and "My Streams".  The new additions will then appear and can be accessed on your Wifi Radio.

The firmware is upgradable.

Wait For Dick
Dick has to answer the door, for a UPS delivery.  It's a Belkin box, which Dick will open tomorrow for another "What's In The Box?" session.

Leo has been pretty quick coming up with the Wait For Dick jingle the last few occasions.  There is hope yet that one day he may become tech-savvy.

GizWiz Video
Ludwik has asked Leo for permission to put the video recording for each episode on GizWizSearch.com.  He might do the capture himself, or use the streams captured by kiwinerd and others, lower-res versions of which are available on odtv.me.  Follow his progress on the TWiT Army.  Meanwhile, go to odtv.me for the weekly recording (in one whole chunk).


Listen to Episode 712
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In Episode 682, Leo gave Dick a choice of 2.  Dick outdoes Leo today by offering Leo a choice of 3 gadgets:  something from Cable Organizer (see Episode 553), a new watch from Casio (neither of which Dick has actually seen), or a box from Belkin (and Dick has no idea what's inside).  Leo decides to play "What's In The Box?" again.

For previous instances of "What's In the Box?", see Episodes 379, 518, 541, 557.

With his Zibra OpenIt (Episode 496), Dick opens the package and inside is the Belkin Conserve 8, an energy-saving 8-outlet power strip with surge protector and remote switch.  It has 8 power outlets, 2 of which are "Always On", while the remaining 6 widely spaced outlets are "Remote Switched", which can be turned off using the remote control, e.g. as you leave your house.  The remote switch comes with a wall mount.  Conserve 8 even comes with cable management clips.

Favourite Episodes of DGW
Blind listener Danny Noonan from Australia, whose last letter appeared on the show in Episode 465, writes in to salute Dick and his lesser sidekick called Leo.  On the subject of favourite episodes of DGW, Danny has to add Episode 598, the Uroclub, which his gadget-loathing wife Sam enjoyed, even the second time around.

Dan Lueders
Danny himself is a bass teacher, pays tribute to Dan Lueders for his themes, and wonders what musical instruments he uses in his themes.  You can check out Dan Lueders on the following websites: Why Me Studio; Dan on urSESSION.


Listen to Episode 694
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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
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Another "What's In The Box?" session with Dick and Leo.  It's the Safety Stick from Safety Bright, a 4-in-1 emergency tool for the car.  It combines a flashlight, a blinking emergency light, a seat belt cutter and a hammer for breaking glass.  The base is magnetic for easy attachment to a metallic surface for use as a flashlight or emergency light.  Operates on 2 AA batteries.

Where Have I Heard It Before?
Rick from Zanesville, Ohio was surprised to hear his hometown mentioned on DGW by Leo.  Leo can't remember that he did, or why, only that he used to have a girlfriend called Sue from Zanesville, Ohio, about 35 years ago.  Dick advises Sue that if she's not married yet, she'd better do something about it soon, coz if she waits too long for her ship to come in, her pier might collapse.  Leo can't remember where he's heard it before either.

Leo's memory is being obsoleted pretty quickly.  For where we've heard about Zanesville before, and Leo's obscure reference to it, think Dick Cheney, or listen again to Episode 507.

For the ship and pier joke, think Johnny Olson, or listen again to Episode 535.

Listen to Episode 541
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A charger for with hot tips/adapters for various portable devices, made by North America Battery Company.  The Ultralast Innovations Energy Station also charges AA and AAA rechargeable batteries, and comes with 4 AA Nickel Metal Hydride "Hybrio" batteries (probably made by Uniross) which can retain 85% of the power even after a year (see Episode 416 for a similar type of battery made by Duracell).  You can use the charger or the batteries to recharge your devices, and the charger itself can be powered via AC or USB.

What's In The Box?
This is another DGW episode in which Dick opens a gadget parcel while recording the show, as in Episode 379 (Cardiochek)..  Dick wishes he had the Zibra OpenIt (Episode 496) with him, as the Energy Station is blister-packed.  Both occasions nearly drew blood from Dick.

Digital Picture Frame for a Venerable 103-Year-Old
Rick McCormack from Lopez Island Pharmacy heard Episode 504 on Valentine's Day about the Coby Digital Photo Frame, which prompted him to write about a Ceiva picture frame which he has given to 2 elderly relatives, one of whom is 103 years old.  It hooks up to the internet and he can administer the frame over the internet via a phone line, change the settings etc without intervention from the user.  It does require a subscription, and Leo knows of a company called Digital Spectrum Solutions which makes digital photo frames which you can administer via the internet without a subscription fee, a Chris Pirillo recommendation.

Listen to Episode 518
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