Dick DeBartolo, more than a smiling face, more than a shiny scalp!
Dick wearing a Giz Wiz Headlight Basecap Cap. Great for nighttime emergencies!
WARNING: POSSIBLE BORING BIO
DICK DeBARTOLO wears many hats, which may explain his severe hair loss. Dick appears regularly on WORLD NEWS NOW, the overnight ABC Network news program showing the latest gizmos and gadgets. He also appears on The Lab with Leo and has appeared several times on the HAPPY HOUR on the Fox Business Channel.
Along with Leo Laporte Dick does a daily Podcast called "The Daily GizWiz". In just ten months it made the People's Choice List at iTunes with 4.2 million downloads. That led to "The Weekly GizWiz" which is syndicated on radio stations across the country and on XM radio. The Weekly GizWiz is part of Leo's new show, The Tech Guy. Dick also does a weekly spot on WBAL radio in Baltimore.
Dick's gadget spots are low to medium-tech and light hearted. The light-hearted part stems from his second career as MAD Magazine's MADDEST Writer. For more than forty years he's been writing many of those famous off-the-wall movie, tv and ad take-offs. He started his MAD writing career in high school when he submitted an article. He thought it had been returned when his own envelope came back. The envelope was stuffed with cardboard, a check and a note: "ha, ha, thought you were rejected, but we bought your piece. Dick wrote the book GOOD DAYS AND MAD, which is all about the insane way MAD founder William M. Gaines ran his multi-million dollar empire. (No secretaries, no switchboard, even white wine in the water cooler one day!)
Dick is also a boating expert. He has an office on a 50' houseboat which is docked in the Hudson River, and a 24' workboat which stays in the water year round. In the summer, his fleet expands to three boats with a 24' walk-around cabin boat. Although he has owned 26 boats, he has never owned a car! He has been writing a monthly column for Powerboat Magazine for 30 years! For about 12 of those years he also was part of the Powerboat Test Team, putting new boats through their paces. And through a lot of waves!
He's also big fan of G guage trains, sometimes known as outdoor trains and has a layout in his backyard. Having a backyard in Manhattan is rare, having trains in a backyard in Manhattan, is just about unheard of!
He used his MAD Magazine background to change the "Match Game" from normal questions to silly "Dumb Donald" and "Weird Willie" questions, and then wrote thousands of them for Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions.
Dick's website is www.gizwizbiz.com, but you should know that because you're visiting it now.
On this site I offer links for the gadgets and gizmos I show on the air, or talk about on The Daily GizWiz and the radio. There are some Google ads, Google Search and a couple of other items on this website which help offset the costs of running this site and traveling the country looking for offbeat gadgets. Feel free not to buy anything or click on any ad. Google ads come up randomly so I don't know from day to day what ads might be on the site. And I do not collect any information on you.
Also I have to point out that I am not a 'test lab'. Most specs on this website are provided by the manufacturers. However, the opinions expressed here are 100% my own. Your opinion may vary.
I often get requests to recommend "the best digital camera", or "the best what's it", but I don't have the kind of facilities that lets me do any sort of comparison testing. There is a ton of valuable info over at www.cnet.com. They have many test reports that I've found to be a big help. And of course let's not forget the granddaddy of publications that test equipment and publish the results, Consumer Reports at www.consumerreports.org. I recently had a tour of PC World Magazine Headquarters, and wow --- now there's a place with test equipment! They were running dozens of printers, laptops, desktops, etc. through their paces round the clock. That's another good source. www.pcworld.com
Before buying any gizmo or gadget, I suggest you do a price search on www.dealio.com, and/or www.shopnow.com. It will give you a good idea of the price range of the gizmo you're interested in. I have even taken prices that I've printed from one of those websites to a local retailer, and from time to time they match them, or give me a lower price than what they normally offer. It's worth a try.
Do you have (or does your client have) a gizmo or gadget that might fit into one of my spots on World News Now, WBAL Radio, The Daily GizWiz or this website?
I'm looking for unusual gadgets (the clock that wakes you to smell of coffee), useful gadgets (the screwdriver with the built in flashlight), just about any kind of gadget that lights, makes sounds, and/or is fun. I don't do books, interview guests, or do any 'medical' type gadgets. Hey, I'm just the Giz Wiz, not Dr. Giz Wiz. If you have any doubts, drop me an e-mail with a mini-pitch, and I'll let you know if your gizmo or gadget might fit into an up-coming spot, or fit into a Dick's Picks on this website.
