Below under the Friday, May 18th Netcast you'll find the "word(s) we use a lot" and picked for our 300th Netcast game.
Also on this page you'll find the info on The Daily GizWiz gadgets and gizmos for the weeks of May 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. The latest week is at the top!
Daily GizWiz, Week of May 28th.Monday, May 28th Netcast 321 An Easy to Fight Small Fires in the Home.Tundra Fire Extinguishing Spray. This is new from First Alert. The Tundra is a fire extinguishing spray designed to be used exactly like an aerosol can. That way anyone will know how to use it. The folks at First Alert said focus groups show that many people are actually afraid of the typical fire extinguisher. Is the pin easy to pull? Does the extinguisher spray the contents all at once? Can you start and stop the spray? The Tundra has a 36 second spray time, which the company says is far longer than regular fire extinguishers. And you can stop and start the spray. It also has a wide spray nozzle. It’s about $20. Wal-Mart is carrying it.
Turn The Table Tuesday, May 29th, Netcast 322 Leo Broke His First Ball, Then He Got Him An UltraFit Anti-Burst Stability Ball. And we got through this entire Netcast without breaking up. Here’s some info on Leo bought from the Gopher Sport Website:Our strongest, safest stability ball won't burst, even under extreme pressure! Designed to allow air to escape slowly rather than burst, even if the outer skin becomes damaged. Great for balance, exercise, and physiotherapy. Tacky surface enhances control. Supports up to 300 lb. 71-016 55 cm (22" dia) Green, 1 lb 12 ozEa $22.95 71-015 65 cm (26" dia) Blue, 2 lb 8 ozEa $24.95 71-014 75 cm (30" dia) Red, 2 lb 12 ozEa $26.95
Wednesday, May 30th, Netcast 323 Measuring Goes High Tech!
Using either the magnetic or removable adhesive Sticky Yard, stick it on almost any object. A vehicle, a window, a sign, a wall, a boat... Then grab a digital camera and take a photo of the object with the Sticky Yard on it. For best results, stand perpendicular to the object, and take the photo at the highest resolution possible. Also you have to make sure the entire object is in the picture along with the Stickyard. Then download the photo onto your computer and bring it up in the Sticky Yard Digital Measuring System software. Click on each end of the Stickyard measurement in the photo and that calibrates the software.Now click on the feature in the photo you want measure. Click on each end. The Stickyard Digital Measuring System software draws the lines and stamps the line with the length. Kit includes the software and two measuring tapes. One a stick-on and one magnetic. Under $50
ViewSonic has added two HD LCD monitors to their line. A 24-inch (VX2435wm) and a 28-inch model (VX2835wm) Both of them share a great many features. Here are some of them (the ones I understand!): 1,920 x 1,200 native resolutions, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 5-millisecond response time, 176-degree viewing angle, and just about every kind of input including VGA, DVI, composite, S-Video, component, and even HDMI ports that are HDCP-compliant. (Leo pointed out that you must have a monitor that is HDCP-compliant in order to play HD movies. Obviously being brand new these models are "Vista Premium certified". The 24” model has a MSRP of $699, while the 28" version (will be along shortly) has a MSRP of $879.
Friday, Back to the Warehouse, June 1stNetcast 325
Here’s a gadget that has been around for more than 20 years!
This is one of the very first gadgets I showed almost 20 years ago on TV. It uses the sun's energy to drive a fan located in the front of the hat and aimed back toward you. An on/off switch allows you to control the power to fan. It can be powered by a small, lightweight solar panel on top which makes zero noise. Or you can use two AA batteries to run the fan in the shade or indoors. Turns out The Solar Cap is still available. That’s pretty amazing – a gadget that has lasted almost 20 years and is still in the marketplace!
There are a whole bunch of wind up flashlights on the market. But this one is a bit difference. Two quick pulls on the line at the bottom of the unit, and you have light for many minutes. This isn't like those shake lights or the ones you wind. Unlike the crank lights, the zipping action of the Ultra Power Zipping LED Forever Flashlight causes the coils to continue to rotate and generate power after you are finished doing the work. This system generates more power faster than the cranking system. Light is provided via 5 Ultra bright LED’s and as you may know their life is expected to be 50,000 hrs The flashlights has a180 degree Swivel Head. There are three ways to recharge: hand pulling, using the provided 12V DC car cigarette socket, or using a 12V adapter. What else is neat is that there is DC output for cell phones chargeIt comes with 6 adaptors to fit most cell phones. Environment friendly NI-MH batteries. Gadget Universe has a special offer. Buy one, get One 50% off the second UltraPower Zipping LED Pull-to-Charge Flashlight $29.95. Two would be roughly $45 or about $22.50 each.
Turn The Table Tuesday --- Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007. Netcast 317 Once again, trying to live down the humiliation of the Toothpick Bird Leo has gone the very high tech route with his pick: The Epson R2400 printer. Since I’ve not seen or used this printer, here are some specs from the Internet: Print resolution: 5,760 x 1,440 optimized dpi Print method: Color inkjet / Print speed: 1 min. 47 sec (Photo Mode on Enhanced Matte Paper) Print cartridges: 9-ink palette (Cyan, Light Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta, Yellow, Photo Black or Matte Black, Light Black, and Light-Light Black) Input capacity: Auto sheet feeder: 100 sheets (plain paper) / 20 sheets (photo paper) Borderless photo sizes: 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", letter (8.5" x 11"), 11" x 14", 12" x 12", 13" x 19", and panoramic sizes Two-sided printing: Manual Interface: Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire (IEEE 1394) Software included: Epson Raw Print (Windows only), nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 (4 sample filters downloadable from nik multimedia, Inc.) / Operating systems: Windows 2000/XP, Mac OSX 10.2.4 or higher Width: 12.6" /Height: 9.1" / Length: 24.2" / Weight: 34 pounds As you can see this is a very high end, professional printer. It uses nine ink cartridges! Price, just a tad under $800.Leo provided this link: http://urltea.com/lgv Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw317
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007Netcast 318
Light in the Night.
From Panther Vision, thefolks who make dozens of LED devices comes the Clip On LED Reading Light. It’s designed so it can clip onto almost any pair of glasses. Now Panther Vision makes a whole range of magnifiers with built in headlights, but this clip-on version is great for adding on to prescription glasses.
The Clip-on LED Reading Light contains 2 small super bright LED’s. That means you can read at night without holding anything or disturbing your bed mate. Each of the two LED's has it own on/off switch. Or use this handy device while doing chores in the dark like when the lights go out. It's under $20.
Say hello to WaterBOB. If a storm or severe weather is predicted and you’re afraid the water pump will go off with the electric it’s time to use WaterBOB. Simply lay the WaterBOB liner in your bathtub, hookup to the faucet and fill the bladder to capacity. A siphon pump is included to make it easy to dispense the water into jugs or pitchers. Don’t get caught in a disaster or emergency - such as a hurricane - without the WaterBOB. The WaterBOB is constructed of heavy duty 4 mil food grade plastic and is FDA approved. When full the WaterBOB supplies enough clean drinking water for up to two weeks. Water stored in an open bathtub, with dirt and soap film and exposure to debris, will spoil quickly and become useless. Other uses include additional water storage for an RV, camping, mobile home or cabin. The WaterBOB collects clean water for drinking, cooking, washing and flushing the toilet. According to their website the “store price” is $34.95, but it’s $22.95 at their website.
Back to the warehouse Friday, May 25th, 2007. Netcast 320 Here was a portable cassette player loaded with features! It’s 1994 and Sanyo introduces the SPT-1500 Sportable cassette player/radio. For it’s time this was a feature laden unit. It had an auto-reverse tape player, an AM/FM stereo radio, and a pedometer to track your walking/jogging distance. It also showed the time, had an alarm and it even told you how many calories you burned. There was a built in audio beat if you need help with your exercise. You could set it for jogging, walking, or exercise walking. And it also had BASSxpander to boost the base a bit. I can’t remember the exact price but I think it real was about $90. Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw320
Monday, May 14th…Netcast 311
SanDisk partners with Yahoo!
And they have created the Sansa Connect MP3 player. It’s the first Wi-Fi based MP3 player from Sandisk. This flashed-based player with a bright 2.2” color screen can keep you connected to your music, friends and fresh new entertainment streams. The Sansa Connect plays music, photos and connects to Internet radio. Owners with a Yahoo! ID can listen to LAUNCHcast Internet radio, browse Flickr albums and photos, and even see what their friends are listening to. (Hmm, of course you need friends with a Sansa Connect to do this!) As soon as it boots up, this sleek unit searches for a WiFi Network. It found mine (and several others) in about 30 seconds and I was able to start listening to Internet Radio right away. Sansa Connect users with a Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscription can download tracks and albums, and receive song recommendations from friends. A subscription is required to download from the Yahoo site, but the Sansa Connect comes with a free one month trial. It also supports Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription music. The Sansa Connect provides a microSD card slot for additional storage. Yahoo! Music does not permit copying or transferring music files to other users. Yahoo's share function available only for subscribers to access another subscriber's Yahoo! Music Unlimited music files. And it does not support video. I like the volume rocker on the left side of the unit. It has a 4 GB internal memory. Good for holding approximately 1000 songs. But there is that card slot for more storage. $249.99
Tuesday, Turn The Table Tuesday May 15th Netcast 312
Leo comes through with another interesting gadget!
Since Leo used this camcorder and I didn’t, here’s info from the Sanyo website:The Xacti HD2 crams genuine high-def movie-making power into a smaller and lighter package than anything else out there. High-definition MPEG-4 movies (recorded at 30 fps and 1280 x 720 pixels) can be sent via HDMI to the latest high-resolution flat-panel TVs. The Xacti HD2 sports a unique pistol-grip style that lets you shoot steadily with one hand. And, at around 204 cc and 210 g*2, it’s compact and light enough to slip in your pocket or handbag and take with you.Conventional movie cameras let you record either a movie or a still, but not both at the same time. That all changes with the Xacti HD2. Even if you’re in the middle of shooting a high-def movie, the HD2 lets you record a superb, high-resolution 7.1-megapixel still image, so you can keep that special moment for posterity. And, since the still- and movie-recording buttons are placed conveniently under your thumb, your other hand is left free the whole time.Slot the Xacti HD2 into its docking cradle and a raft of connection options open up — TV, VCR, PC or DVD recorder. For instant gratification, an HDMI terminal delivers a pristine, all-digital A/V signal to your compatible flat-panel display. Component terminals, meanwhile, let you record your precious content in real-time onto a VCR or DVD recorder. The HD2’s docking cradle also lets you save your movie clips and stills onto your PC, from where you can edit them and use them in an e-mail or weblog.Under $600!
The brand new Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC. (We recorded this Netcast just a couple of hours after the Samsung Q1 Ultra was introduced.
At the Samsung Press Event I got to see movie clicks, video games and the writing recognition program on the bright 7" wide touch screen. The Samsung Q1 Ultra Iis packed with features, but since there were about eight units and about 25 press people there wasn't too much hands-on time. But what I did get to see was quite impressive. This little high tech gizmo even runs a mobile version of Windows Vista. The Q1 Ultra will be on sale soon. There willl be four models from about $800 for a 'back to school' model, up to a full featured business version with an HSDPA cellular enabled version at about $1500.
Here are the full specs:Processor Intel Ultra Mobile Processor A110 600MHz ~ 800 MHz Clock/400 MHz FSB /Operating System Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium /Chipset & Graphics Intel GMA950 128 MB Shared Memory / Memory 1GB DDR2 400 MHZ / Display 7" WSVGA Touch Screen LCD 1024 x 600 native, 800 x 600, 640 x 480, LED Backlit, 300 nits /Audio HD Audio, Two Stereo Speakers (1.5W), Dual Array Microphone / Storage 40GB~60GB, 1.8", 4200 RPM Speed /Multimedia Instant On AVStation Now 5.0 / I/O Port Two USB 2.0, Audio Jack, RJ-45 Jack, 2-in-1 Memory Slot (SD/MMC) /User Interface 8-Way Direction Button & Mouse Function, 4-User Defined Keys, Volume Control, Quick Launch Menu Button, Camera Shutter Button(option) /Battery Li-Ion (Prismatic) Battery, 29.6wh Capacity (over 4 hours) Dimensions (L x H x D) 9.95" x 4.87" x 0.94" Weight 1.52 lbs Security Fingerprint Biometric Security /Cameras Front Facing Video Chat (300P) Rear Facing Video/Still (1.3MP) There is also a full range of accessories. Check out:
Spring and summer bring the sunshine and those pesky UV rays. But how much sunshine should you get? The UV HAWK is a new tool to measure the intensity of ultraviolet light anytime, anywhere! (Well hopefully out in the sun!) The decreasing quality of the ozone layer can increase exposure to damaging ultraviolet rays. According to the manufacturers these rays have been linked to sunburns, skin cancer, cataracts and immune system dysfunction. The UV HAWK quickly and easily tests the UV index and indicates the level of protection you need before enjoying time outside, on the beach, in the garden, on a bike ride; virtually anywhere one is exposed to prolonged sunlight. UV IndexRange 0-15 - SPF Range 0-100. It’s real easy to use. Pick your skin type from the instruction book (choice of four) and enter it. Then enter the SPF number of the suntan protection product you’re wearing. Once out in the sun push a button to start the UV Hawk. In a few seconds it will tell you how long you should be out if the sunlight and a countdown timer starts. Under $40, but do a web search. Leo said he saw it for about $20. http://q3i.com/uvhawk_series.php
Friday, May 18th, Netcast 315 Back to the Warehouse Friday – and the Winning Words from the 300th Netcast Game!
From the warehouse, meet Sally The Safety Pig!
But it turns out Sally The Safety Pig is still around after all these years!She is designed as a child safety device. She squeals when she senses overly hot bath water. That way she can help protect a child at bath time. Sally is easy to use. Simply set her to the desired temperature for her to squeal. There’s a digital readout inside with an up/down arrow. Temperature ranges from 99 to 120 F.... One temp is set place her tail in the tub or any water basin and fill with water.When the water temperature reaches or exceeds the temperature set, Sally squeals to alert you. Water Resistent Construction About $40. And amazingly still available at the link below. Hey, if you buy one, can you email me the instructions. I have Sally, but I lost her instructions! Thanks.
Okay, the 300th Episode "word we use a lot" is hereby revealed! Remember, we gave people two weeks to enter, but the game ended Friday, May 11th!
Here's something interesting. Not enough people guessed the word I picked, which was SPONSOR!So Leo picked a word too, and his word was LED!Yes, we know, technically it’s not a word, but yet about 50 people entered with LED. So people who guessed either word are winners!BUT WAIT ------ !!!! Some people entered dozens of times! That’s just not fair. Using the time stamp on the emails, we accepted the first 3 entries only.Come on folks, this is supposed to be fun, so if you didn’t win fairly, be a sport and don’t complain. On one of the Netcasts and on my website we asked people to enter once. Twice if they had to, but not more than 3 times! Overall there were thousands of entries. I spent a lot of time gathering emails and arranging for prizes, so again, please just play by rules. Remember we’re not getting paid for any of this.
Here’s what to do now. I don’t want to make your email addresses public by publishing them here. And also I don’t know where you live. Andy Marken has made it clear that the “hardware” prizes will only go to US address. By you know that from what we said on the Netcasts. So if you entered “SPONSOR” or “LED” fairly, email me with your address. If you live outside the US, just email me to confirm you’re one of the winners (we’ll compare to our winner’s list) and say “I live outside the US”. SO I CAN PICK OUT THOSE EMAILS EASILY PLEASE PUT 300 GAME WINNER in the subject line. Then Andy Marken will send you a free license key to one of the software programs we’re giving away. For those prizes you can live anywhere in the world you have computer access. We’ll throw all the US addresses into a hat and draw them for the hardware prizes. As a recap the prizes are listed below:
FROM THIS WEBSITE, HERE’S THE POST FOR THE 300TH NETCAST.
Friday, April 27th, 2007, Our 300th Netcast!(Entries no longer accepted!! It ended May 11th.)
BUT THIS IS WHAT THE WEBSITE SAID WHILE WE WERE ACCEPTING ENTRIES:
PLEASE if you must enter more than once, make it 2 or 3 times MAX, and put each word in a separate email! There were 135 emails in the first hour!!! So don't enter over and over and over again, please!Let's keep it fun.
Thanks to Andy Marken of Marken Communications, here’s what we’re giving away:
10 downloads of Shadow continuous backup from NTI - Mac or PC. Shadow is a "continuous" backup tool: Unlike its traditional counterparts, it backs up your data on the fly, so you needn't hassle with scheduling hourly or daily backups. www.ntius.com
10 downloads of Ripper audio conversion software from NTI – The ultimate in ripping technology.Archive your entire CD audio collection to your hard drive at the touch of a button. www.ntius.com
10 downloads of PhotoMaker photo management software from NTI – PC. Check out these prizes: www.ntius.com
10 downloads of Corel Ulead MovieFactory 6 video production software...slap/snap easy to deliver outstanding results... Version 6 is brand new!
www.ulead.com 10 downloads of Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11Never heard of 11?Of course not... It’s just being introduced!Create Multiple Overlay Tracks / Create sophisticated picture-in-picture and montage effects with up to six overlay tracks. /Dolby® Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, With Dolby® Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, your home movies will sound like you're in a movie theater.Check out these prizes:
www.ulead.com 10 Verbatim Store 'n Go Corporate Secure USB Drives -- you simply can not lose your data because we've got your back covered...always. THESE WILL ONLY GO TO WINNERS IN THE USA. (Because of customs, etc.)Check out these USB Drives:
5 DVD Express units from ADS Tech -- Convert VHS or any video content to VCD, DVD, video MP3, PSP (Again for USA winners only) Effortlessly Save & Share Memories on DVD or CD.Transfer video from VHS tapes, digital or analog camcorders directlyto DVD or CD.Real-Time hardware conversion produces the best DVD quality results.Make Movies for your Sony PSP, Apple iPod or Zen Vision! Check out these prizes:
www.adstech.com NOTE: Software Keys so you can download these great software packages for free can be emailed to winners anywhere in the world! Because of customs and mailing expenses, the hardware prizes are only for winners in the US.There are 65 prizes. If we get more than 65 winners we’ll close our eyes and select 65 winners. That way if you not among the first to email me a word we use often on the DGW you can still win.
UPDATE:WE SHOULD HAVE ENOUGH PRIZES FOR EVERYONE WHO WON FAIRLY!
Andy has come through for us for anything we needed including the call for DGW prizes!
And thank you all for the outpouring of emails congratulating us on the 300th Netcast!!It was great.
Hopefully this is the cirrect pic!
Monday, May 7th 2007Netcast 306-
The Most Unusual Alarm Clock You’ll Ever See --- Clocky!
Gauri Nanda is a designer, entrepreneur and inventor of the weirdest alarm clock you'll probably ever see, Clocky.Unusual? Well it’s an alarm clock that jumps off your nightstand and runs away if you don’t shut it off! Why such a radical departure in the waking up process? Gauri Nanda want to invent to sure fire way to make sure she – and others - woke up. As I was a student when she created Clocky, MIT helped her file for patent protection. She made multiple trips overseas to find viable partners. In order to get Clocky ready for commercial sale, she worked with a team of engineers and manufacturers on the design for about a year. And Clocky has to withstand a drop to floor everyday parts had to be designed to endure the daily shock. She spent the last 3 months of 2006 in Hong Kong finishing up the design and overseeing the production. It’s was not an easy road. But now Clocky is for real. It lets you set your snooze time, 0-9 min. You can snooze once before he runs away. Or you can set him to “0” and he runs right away. Clocky can jump from up to 3 feet and move on wood and carpet. In addition to the movement the screen flashes, and beeps and sounds like an out of control robot to make sure you wake up! Available in colors too. Almond white, aqua and mint and soon in mustard orange! About $50.
Leo comes up something pretty good! Actually really, really good. The Nokia N95/
Since I never got to play with the Nokia, here’s some info from their website: Up to 160 MB* internal dynamic memory for messages, ringing tones, images, video clips, calendar notes, to-do list and applications. Memory card slot supporting up to 2 GB microSD memory cards. (*Changes to product details are possible without prior notice.) Talk time: up to 160 min (WCDMA), up to 240 min (GSM)*Stand-by time: up to 200 hours (WCDMA), up to 225 hours (GSM)*(* Operation times may vary depending on radio access technology used, operator network configuration and usage.) 2.6" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT display with ambient light detector and up to 16 million colors. Operating system: S60 software on Symbian OS.Features include: Speaker independent name dialing (SIND) / Voice commands /Voice recorder /Talking ringtone /Integrated hands-free speaker /Messaging / Up to 5 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens, MPEG-4 VGA video capture of up to 30 fps / Digital stereo microphone /Digital music player /Stereo FM radio /Built-in GPS / E-mail / Full-screen video playback to view downloaded, streamed or recorded video clips. Price? About $800.
Listen to this Netcast:www.twit.tv/dgw307 Wednesday, May 9th, Netcast 308 You don’t need to know any foreign languages when you travel….
It’s the Point It Picture Dictionary. You can let the pictures do the talking, with this traveler’s picture dictionary. If you are not fluent in a foreign language, Point It is your answer to navigating in a foreign country. This glossy, full color booklets contains 1,200 picture images that can help you find everything from a shoeshine to mosquito spray. Soft cover, and passport-sized so you can easily carry it with you everywhere you travel. About $10..
This alarm clock has wheels, because if you don't wake up, it runs away.....and you have to chase it in order to shut it off!
From the folks at Engadget.
When you're ready to travel do you often worry that you forgot to pack something?
Well this is a pretty neat solution. Pack This! Pad is an exhaustive checklist of everything you could ever need while “on-the-road”, this organizational tool will help even the most forgetful arrive and depart fully equipped. Categorized according to: Basics, Miscellaneous, Clothes and Hygiene. About 60 pages, one for each trip. $7.50.
RFID Blocking WalletPassports, credit cards and other forms of identification are now being embedded with radio-frequency (RF) tags that can be read by security scanners at airports and retail stores. Unfortunately, hackers have figured out how to scan those tags too, gaining access to personal and financial data that can result in identity theft. This RFID Blocking Passport Wallet acts as a protective shield for ID, so your RF data can only be accessed when you open the wallet at approved locations. About $20.
Friday, May 11th --- 310 Back to the Warehouse Friday! Netcast 310
He Protects the Warehouse for Free!
The Radar Watch Dog.He was a big hit at the Sharper Image about ten years ago. You
didn’t have to walk him, or even feed him. The Radar Sensing Watch Dog used electronic radar technology It can detect and deter intruders by barking like a real guard dog. The longer someone lingers at the door the angrier this hound gets. The electronic radar pierces doors, glass & walls. You can adjust the sensitivity and the volume. And you even have a choice of two different dogs! If you want, it also has a regular sounding alarm. Works on batteries which go inside the unit so it’s highly mobility and there’s no installation required. Also works on AC with an adapter. The one from Sharper Image is not longer available, but similar units are. Here’s one I haven’t tried, but it’s close to the one I have:
