Written and edited by a DGW Fan, the website below offers not only the gadget we talk about each day, but it profiles all the other subjects we talk about as we ramble on. It's a labor of love! And Leo and I love it! Thanks, Inside DGW guy! Here's how he opens the website:
InsideDGW - Everything you don't need to know about the Daily Giz Wiz podcast!
This incomplete blog has no affiliation with the hosts of DGW, Dick DeBartolo and Leo Laporte. It serves no useful purpose and does not even make its own gravy. For the genuine article, follow the links below to the podcasts. http://insidedgw.vox.com/
It's a Gas!
From time to time on the Daily Giz Wiz Leo and I have talked about "It's a Gas", a song released (or escaped) from MAD Magazine. Years ago when MAD bound those floppy plastic disc in MAD Specials, they often had songs of them. And those MAD floppy discs had NOTHING to do with the computer type.
Daily Giz Wiz listener James Baldwin found a recording of IT'S A GAS on YouTube, and emailed it to me. So if you've never heard it, or heard and and didn't believe it - and want to hear it again - Here's your chance!
Daily Giz Wiz
New! New! New! and also New!
You can now watch Leo and I record the Daily GizWiz. We do it most Tuesdays at 4PM EDT. You can see (and hear us) at www.twitlive.com.
BELOW --- Daily Giz Wiz gizmos and gadgets for the week of May 12th, 2008
----- IMPORTANT! Some Netcasts may not be online yet. They are usually available starting around midnight of the indicated date... But these are the gizmos and gadgets we'll be taking about, even if the show is not up yet uploaded to the Net.
Monday, May 12th, 2008.Netcast 566 Here’s A Travel Clock with Many Useful Features. Eagle Creek Multi-Function Travel Clock is an alarm clock, calculator and currency converter in one! This versatile alarm clock from Eagle Creek is compact and lightweight, yet offers so many travel-friendly features. It tells the time in 16 cities around the world with just the push of a button, and there's a full-function calculator and currency converter built right in! The alarm has a 5-minute snooze function, and the easy-to-read screen (but there is no back light) even displays the date and temperature. Takes button batteries (included) and comes with a handy travel pouch. (4½ x 2½ x ½"; 3 oz)$14.85 www.magellans.com Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw566 Turn The Table Tuesday-- Tuesday, May 13th, Netcast 567 Leo Like his New Wireless iPod Freedom He can listen to his iPod on his home audio system with no wires or batteries needed. It’s the Monster iSoniCast.It turns your iPod into a wireless jukebox, so you can enjoy all your iPod music on your home stereo system. With the iSoniCast, you use the iPod itself to control playback with full access to all the familiar iPod controls! You don’t need to turn on your TV to view menus or use a clunky separate remote to control your iPod. Leo said it had low-power consumption. The Monster iSoniCast features 2.4GHz wireless technology. Intelligent frequency hopping minimizes interference while high-bandwidth 4Mbps streaming eliminates compression artifacts. MSRP $99.99 http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=4622 Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw567 Wednesday, May14th,Netcast 568 This Could Be The World’s Smallest Wind Generator. “Going Green” has brought many new products. One of the more unusual ones is the HYmini. (Yes, it needs a better name!)Looking at it, you would think it was a small battery operated fan, but it’s not. It has a battery inside, and the fan is there to charge it!Once the internal battery (a 1200 mAh built in lithium ion polymer rechargeable battery) is charged you use it to charge almost all of your 5V digital gadgets (mp3 players, iPod’s, digital cameras etc.) via the included USB cable. You keep the HYmini battery up by harnessing the power of the wind, or solar energy with an optional solar charger. They also offer an optional bike holder and arm band so you can charge the device on the go. The arm band will also be quite a conversation starter. The HYmini is $49.95.You can add a solar panel to charge the Hymini for an additional $24.99. Bike mount and arm band are about $9 each. www.hymini.com Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw568
Thursday, May 15thNetcast 569 Here’s a Tape Dispenser with A Useful Multi-tasking Feature! Think Geek bills themselves as “official fans of multi-function gadgets, especially those of the USB variety”. So, this USB hub and tape dispenser combo hits right their sweet spot. Yes, we suppose it could be improved if it held a roll of duct tape instead of regular invisible tape, but it’s still real useful!Yes get a USB 2.0 hub and tape dispenser with 4 ports in one small footprint. Three ports on the side can be rotated 180 degrees I’m not sure I like the one in the front because that’s why you go to tear off the tape. Data transfer rate is up to full high speed (480Mbps) and its plug-and-play capable with no power required. Link up to a maximum of 127 USB devices. (If you have that many USB devices, I think you need help!)Very attractive price: $11.99. http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/95e8/ Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw569 Back to the Warehouse Friday, May 16h, 2008, Netcast 570 Look at far we’ve come in 9 years! The Microdrive came from IBM 1999. The original capacity was 170 MB, which back then was quite a lot. As time went on the capacity expanded all the up to 8 GB . But that didn’t happen till about 2006. These were the smallest hard drives in the world at the time and they found their way into digital cameras and camcorders. I tested a JVD hi-def camcorder that used a 4GB Microdrive. Somewhere around 2003 Hitachi bought IBM's Microdrive hard drive division and for a time both companies used the name. After the first 170 MB and 340 MB model, a 512 MB and 1 GB model became available about a year later. I found a review from 2001 with prices.Sitting down? At the time – 2001 - the retail price for the 1GB drive was about $360, the 512MB Microdrive was $260, and the 340MB a little over $200. See how lucky we are now! Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw570
You're most likely a TWiT, but are you also a Twitter?
There's TWiT --- This Week in Technology. And there's Twitter, which has nothing to do with TWiT. Twitter is another kind of Social Network. But it's a 'fast, up-to-date" kind of Social Network. It's fun to let people know what you're up to, minute by minute if you so choose. Most people 'Twitter' every few hours. And you don't have to write on and on about what you're doing. If fact, you can't! There's a 140 character limit per Twitter. You follow people you like, and your friends can follow you.
If you are not Twittering, it's easy to join up: www.twitter.com.
Do you have cables running everywhere like spaghetti gone amuck?
Monster Cable-It To The Rescue!
Cables have a tendency to tangle. And us geeky types with our home theaters, home offices, project studios, and more – have tons of cables. Is there an easy way to organize them. Well, yes. Monster Cable-It provides an really simple way to tidy up any cable mess. They’re available in three sizes for both small jobs and big projects, with can hold as many as 12 cables and cords. Cable-It can make all your spaces cleaner and more organized. Here’s how it works – although you should watch the video to really get the idea. But basically you gather up your cables. Choose the correct size Cable-it. Snap open the Monster Cable Holder and insert your cables. Close the Zipper around the cables and pull it down the length of the cable. Suddenly all your cables are uniformly organized. But like I said, watch the video. Prices start under $13 for the small 8’ Cable-It up to about $100 for a 50’ spool of Cable-It.
It’s Another Turn the Table Tuesday and Leo Tells Us What He’s Using For Lighting in His Brand Studio!
The company is Lite Panels and the product is their Micro LitePanel. It’s a professional LED light that runs off standard AA batteries. From their website: The perfect lighting tool for today's small DV camcorders, the Micro daylight harnesses the company's proprietary LED technology in an ultra-lightweight, extremely compact package. Users will enjoy luminous, soft, directional lighting, with the same warmth and great color characteristics that made Litepanels an integral part of television, broadcast news & motion picture productions worldwide.Advantages: Heat-free LED technology/Produces bright, HD friendly soft light/ Integrated dimmer 100% to 0 / All-in-one with no external cables
Absolutely flicker-free light output / Runs 1.5hrs. on 4 AA batteries (HD Alkaline)
7-8 hours on E2 Lithium batteries /Uses standard or rechargeable batteries
Extremely lightweight and compact / All-in-one camera light w/no external cables. As Leo says:“They aren’t cheap, but they are amazingly efficient! About $350 for the Micro LitePanel.
SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus 4GB flash drive is very different from any USB flash drive you own or even know about. (I think!) This 4 GB USB drive will automatically transfer all copied files to online storage. Talk about safe keeping.Even if you lose the drive your files are there online. The online service itself is powered by BelnSync, a private Israeli company specializing in data synchronization, and storage space is provided by Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com. The drive waits for an Internet connection and then transfers all data to your password-secured account. The first six months of the service are free, after you have to pay $30 a year, which is $2.50 a month. When you stop paying, your files disappear from the web in about a week. Also included is two years of free service from BoomerangIt, a service where you affix labels to your equipment that offers cash rewards for lost goods in hopes that people will mail the items back to you. The drive backs up only when it is connected to PCs running Windows. You can get access to the backed-up files from any Web browser. If you prefer not to pay for the service, the Cruzer can still be used as a regular thumb drive. However, BeInSync erases the backup data when you don’t pay the bill. The drive also comes with two years of the lost-and-found service BoomerangIt. If you register the drive and place a sticker on the case, anyone who finds it will receive a small reward for returning the drive intact. MSRP is $60, but I bet you’ll find that falling as soon as this drive is in wide retail outlets.
Daily Giz Wiz, Thursday, May 8th,Netcast 564 Here’s a clever idea – and an inexpensive one too! Socket Pocketcreates the perfect place to store your electrical items while charging, keeping them safe and secure.Just remove that little screw that holds the cover plate over a two plug outlet and replace it with a Socket Pocket. Put it anywhere – it’s great to use in the kitchen, bedroom, office, dorm or garage. Besides cell phones, PDA’s and ipods, the Socket Pocket is great for holding almost anything. Use it while charging digital cameras, MP3 Players or Bluetooth devices. It can also hold non-recharging items, like pens, scissors, keys, paper, remote controls, you name it.Two for $10.In white, tan and soon, many new colors. www.socketpocket.com. Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw Friday, May 9nd, Netcast 565 – Back to Warehouse Friday From Play, Inc.The Snappy Video Snapshot (1996) Hard to believe that about 12 years ago it is nearly impossible to capture still pictures on your computer.So when the Snappy Video Snapshot came along it was quickly “snapped” up.You attached Snappy to your PC's parallel port where it stuck out several inches. But on the side of the Snappy was a standard RCA video input, (and output) allowing you to capture still digital images from an analog video source. Even at $199 it became one of the best-selling video devices. You could capture shots from your camcorder,VCR, or TV.You would watch your PC screen, and when you saw a picture you wanted, you clicked and SNAPPY did its job .I think it even made a SNAP sound when it took the picture! And the pictures it took were quite high resolution, up to 1500 x 1125. You can still find Snappy from time to time on Ebay for about 10% of the original $199 price. Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw565
The new, improved Giz Wiz LED Logo Hat! It features the Giz Wiz's new two color designer logo!
A new on/off switch built into the brim!
A new battery holder built into the liner!
A new easy way to change batteries!
New easy-to-adjust to size Velcro strap!
Lower profile!
Just $3 more than the original hat - $22.99 includes all the new features.
Available starting January 10th! So order one now! Shipping is $5.99 and it goes Priority Mail!
IMPORTANT!!!! Here's the bad news on postage to Canada. I just sent my first Canadian LED hat order. Priority Mail to Canada is $15.20. That's what I pay, I don't make any money on postage. And I need to fill out a customs form and deliver the package in person to the post office on the same day as the label is printed and dated. The only good news is that it's the same price to mail one hat or two hats. So you if live in Canada and have a friend who wants to order one, you can divide the postage. PayPal isn't set up to apply the proper postage, so if you order one or two hats, I'll send you PayPal invoice for the difference in postage. I wish was cheaper and easier, but it's not.
A Daily Giz Wiz Listener finds another bit of MAD history on YouTube.
I just stumbled upon this on YouTube and was curious if you had any part in this animated pilot. It looks like it could have been a great, funny show.
Click on the panel on the right or follow the link below:
From time to time, while Leo is doing his other 90 hours of Netcasts, I drop by other Pod/Netcasts. One of the people I visit with is CNET's Don Reisinger. He hosts the The Digital Home section at CNET, but we talk about everything from MAD Magazine to the latest under $25 useful gadget.
Welcome to Giz Wiz Biz...........and the GIZmo WIZard.
The Giz Wiz is also MAD Magazine's Maddest Writer, so you'll find lots of MAD stuff on this website too!
Don't miss the May issue of MAD Magazine. Look for my sendup of the hit TV show, Samantha Who. I call it "Slowmantha? Who cares? MAD's Tom Richmond provided some wonderful art! On sale now. Looking for stuff I showed on TV or talked about on the radio? Run your mouse over the tabs above left, or read on. For gadgets I showed on ABC's World News Now, click here: http://www.gizwizbiz.com/tvshows/abcworldnewsnow.html
For the Weekly GizWiz stuff I talked about on Tech Guy Labs:
For the gadgets and gizmos Leo Laporte and I talked about on The Daily GizWiz, put your mouse on Daily GizWiz tab at the top left of this page. Then click on the month from the drop down menu. There's a separate tab for older Daily Giz Wiz episodes.
Also on sale now isMAD Classics #21, April, 2008. In that issue you can read my satire of Knight Rider (Knut Rider) with art by the world famous Angelo Torres, and those total jocks who are always blowing off hot air are featured is a satire called American Radiators. It was written by Andrew J. Schwartzberg and myself. With wonderful art by the wacky Al Jaffee! If you can't find something I showed on the air, or talked about on the radio, or on one our Netcasts e-mail me dick@gizwiz.biz
The oh so serious Giz Wiz recording Tech Bytes for ABC News.
In this issue I wrote the send-up of Samantha Who. Illustrated by MAD artist Tom Richmond!
HELPFUL WAYS TO FIND AND SEARCH FOR STUFF FROM THE DAILY GIZWIZ!
To hear the Daily GizWiz, click here:www.twit.tv/dgw To NOT hear The Daily GizWiz, you don't have to do anything!
Here's a new program that lets you to find episodes, subjects and search DGW episodes. It's compliments of Ludwik from Warsaw, Poland. Thanks, Ludwik! www.ludwik.trammer.pl/dgw/
Here's another way to hear ANY episode of the DGW. Collins emailed this to us: “I am 14 years old, and I do web development. I have listened to every netcast of yours and Leo’s, and cant wait until every time Leo posts any new netcasts. I made a little script out of PHP that will give you a Giz Wiz episode if you just enter the episode ID and click the Giz it button all in your web browser.” (Now that’s a bright boy!!) Collins.
Just change the three digit number after DGW-to any number up to the current DGW episode (over 500 episodes so far) and you can hear the entire series.
For gadgets I talked about on WBAL RADIO, click here:
If you like the stories of the mad way William M. Gaines ran a very successful MAD Magazine that I tell on The Daily GizWiz, then you should enjoy GOOD DAYS AND MAD. It's a biographical look at the 30 some odd years I spent working for Gaines and for MAD. All the strange stories are in there like the time Gaines took the entire staff to a subscriber's house in Haiti to beg him to renew! The book is no longer in print, but I have some copies of the Trade Paperback Version. It's the complete book, it's even the size as the original book. As a matter of fact, the only difference is that it has a softcover vs. the hard cover version. Retails is $16.95 plus S&H. But if you donate $20 (or more if you so wish) to www.animalhavenshelter.org I'll send you an autographed copy for free! So you get the book, free postage and a tax deduction. And it helps the dogs and cats at the shelter. Being a pack rat I have uncovered two more cases of brand new book so l make this offer good from now till I run out of books. (I still have full case left as of 3/21/08 so you'll be sure to get one.) After you make your donation online, email me a copy of the receipt (remember, you get the deduction) and tell me who to autograph the book to and where to send it. Sorry, but I can only send books to addresses in the US and Canada.
If you want to purchase the book without going through Animal Haven, it's also available at www.themadstore.com.
Here's the 'What The Heck Is It?" game! (WTHII)
You can win an autographed copy of the June 2008 issue of MAD. Come up with the right answer, or make up a silly, or inventive answer that we find funny or clever that describes the gizmo on the right! We give away up to three dozen autographed copies a month. Something to remember, though: The game rules are made up to fit the occasion and we change them at a whim! After all, we're talking MAD Magazine here! IMPORTANT! The judges have very small attention spans, so make sure entries are no more than 25 words, and please make just one guess per entry. You can enter more than once, and you can enter even if you've won many times in the past. And sign your entry with a nickname, screen name, fake name, or even real name, but sign it! If it's not signed, it's not eligible. Look at the photo on the right and guess "What The Heck Is It". Remember, right answers and cute or clever wrong answers can win! E-mail your entry to dick@gizwizbiz.com. by midnight (EDT) May 30th, 2008. By entering you agree this is a game for fun and laughs, and winners, chosen by the judges, get autographed copies of MAD Magazine. Winning answers are published on this website, so you have to come back to see if you won. Because MAD is real cheap, we have to limit mailing winning copies to the United States and Canada. Be sure to check back the first few days of June, 2008 to see if you've won, and follow the directions to claim your prize! Good Luck! Winners outside the US and Canada can have their names included in an upcoming Daily GizWiz Netcast as their prize.
