Inside DGW

Who shoots those Giz Wiz Biz Videos?

2012-05-03T15:29:00Z

Videos for the Daily and Weekly Giz Wiz have passed the 100 mark. Almost all of them have been shot by Dennis Wunderlin. Dennis not only designed the Giz Wiz logo, but he also roams the aisles at trade shows looking for gadgets for The Giz Wiz to use on his ABC News spots, the Weekly Giz Wiz, The Tech Guy Radio spots, and Computer America. He's done a couple of reviews of his own for TWiT, Rosetta Stone and soon, the Sony 6" E-Reader.

Dennis Wunderlin checks out the TWiT logo at the original "TWiT Cottage"!

The Giz Wiz video channel:

www.gizwizvideos.com

Dennis Wunderlin's Website:

www.wunderlinart.com

Bye, Bye, Vox

2010-08-23T09:13:26Z

Inside the TWiT GizWiz Podcast with Leo Laporte and friends
Released every weekday

Alfred Chan was doing this great feature on The Giz Wiz via Vox. But alass Vox has ceased to exist. However there's so much good stuff here, we're leaving it up for reference for Daily Giz Wiz shows prior to August 23, 2010.

Red Hook Village Diner
On Leo’s way to drop Abby off at her new college, they stopped by a diner at Red Hook called the Village Diner, which was the first diner in New York State, and the 4th in the States. Here’s Leo’s picture on Google Buzz:

Village Diner at Red Hook
Leo’s Buzz
Speaking of Buzz, Leo has become disillusioned with all this business of social media that is Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook, FriendFeed and his latest love Buzz. Apparently, whether it’s because he accidentally changed a setting or for other reasons, his last 15 posts over the last few weeks have failed to go public, and no one noticed, including himself. It’s made him realise that for the last four years he has ignored his own trusty beloved blog. See Leo’s post on his own blog, Buzz Kill. From now on, no more shiny sexy microblogs; no more wittering on Twitter – until the next social media craze comes along, that is.

Keep the Train-Wreck Going
Earl from Southfield, Michigan, writes with concern about the poise, dignity and professionalism with which Tom Merritt conducted himself on the Daily Giz Wiz, qualities not normally associated with the train-wreck that is the Daily Giz Wiz, qualities he can easily find elsewhere in other podcasts. He hopes this is not a trend; otherwise the show’s listenership will surely drop from the dozens now (perhaps a generous overestimate) to the handful. On a more serious note, Leo agrees with Earl that Tom has been a great addition to the TWiT network, so much so that they’ve decided to hire his wife Eileen Merritt as well, as a producer.

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Episode 1160

2010-08-20T08:00:00Z

One for the Warehouse
James Moore from Brunswick, Georgia, has been listening to the Daily Giz Wiz ever since he acquired his Android phone the Droid Eris, while he delivers pizzas in Georgia. He enjoys the show, especially Warehouse Friday. He’s even bought the BlueAnt T1 covered by Leo in Episode 1132. James has a suggestion for his favourite Warehouse Friday, the Microsoft Kin, the company’s touch screen operating system for feature-phones which lasted all of 48 days in the market – one of the most short-lived products in history, that probably belongs with New Coke and Orbitz Soda (Episode 1120). Even the TwitterPeek (Episode 958) has outlasted the Kin phones.

Direct To Warehouse
Dick and Tom have seen their fair shares of failed products, including flooz.com and the CueCat. Sometimes, at CES, Dick just wants to say to a manufacturer, “Don’t!”

CueCat Barcode Scanner

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Episode 1159

2010-08-19T08:32:00Z

All About Cue Cards
Dick and Tom exchange notes on cue cards. As Gene Rayburn got older, the typeface on the cue cards for him on the Match Game grew bigger and bigger. When Tom was an intern at NPR, he had a chance to tour the CNN studios, and he picked up a hand-written blue card on the Larry King set. On one occasion, Dick had to go down to the Tonight Show set to let Johnny Carson know what time he had to come up to the Match Game set for his guest appearance, and lying on the props table were cue cards with all the supposedly “ad-lib” lines written on them.

That Lovely Old Feeling Again
Nathan was listening to Episode 1149 in which Dick talked about the Bedfan (Episode 391). Nathan used to have a bed/fan/sheet combo which would create a pillow of air around him and it would cause the sheets to barely caress him – perfect comfort. Nathan wonders if the Bedfan will finally re-create that lovely old feeling again.

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Episode 1158

2010-08-18T08:29:00Z

Another Tom Letter
Gerald Stangret from Canada enjoys having Tom on for a change; it adds zeal to the show, and he can tell Tom enjoys doing it.

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Episode 1157

2010-08-17T08:33:00Z

Brannock Device
Dick struggles with the name of the age-old foot-measurement device invented 80 years ago which is still being made, in essentially the same form as the original – the Brannock Device (Episode 255).

Who’s this Tom Merritt?
Appropriately, today's letter comes from Dr Mark Sukoenig from Syracuse, where the Brannock Device was born (see his letter in Episode 280). Dr Mark asks who’s this guy who presumes to take over the show from Leo. He doesn’t have a letter to read; he doesn’t do Leo’s great voices; he doesn’t have Leo’s great sense of humour; he doesn’t even shave as Leo does or sit on the ball when he does the show. His claim to fame is he gets to do shows with pretty women. Joking aside, does Tom merit his chance for filling in for Leo? Absolutely, and Dr Mark listens to all of Tom’s shows.

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Episode 1156

2010-08-16T08:14:56Z

Whisker Rating
Dick gives today's gadget, the Super Laptop Cooler, his whisker rating of 8 out of 10.

Cable Unlimited's Super Laptop Cooler
Feast of Slogans
For Tom’s benifit, Dick explains a couple of the show’s slogans – the Gravy Slogan (about the use of which Feast of Fools complained, see Episode 114); and “The worse your life is, the better we sound” (see Episode 391).

Dick’s Next Visit
Dick will be at TWiT Cottage on Saturday 2 October recording for Episode 1200. He’s already packed his schedule: recording on Saturday, meeting his new best friend Jennifer Laporte and camping with jammerb, and maybe even sparing a moment for Tom’s Sunday show East Meets West.

A Suggestion for Tim: Gadget Reprise
Dick tweeted out to listeners asking them to write to Tom about the show which he has stepped in to host for Leo, to much popular acclaim. Zig obliges, and suggests that Tom should cover gadgets which Dick and Leo have covered in the past – after all, that’s what Dick and Leo do! Zig wouldn’t mind having the Roku Box (Episode 922) again, as he’d like to know more about how it works.

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Episode 1155

2010-08-13T08:00:00Z

Wine Companion
Tool Logic's Wine Companion, complete with a corkscrew, a foil cutter, a serrated knife, a bottle opener, a fork and a cocktail stirrer, was all but a thin card-shape case.

Tool Logic's Wine Companion
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Today’s intro by Tom is an adaptation of part of the text of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving; and the village of Sleepy Hollow happens to be in New York, too.

Christmas in July
Doug from Stanhope, New Jersey has been listening to Audible and fallen behind with the show. He’s just listened to the Christmas episodes from last year – his own Christmas in July event. In Episode 989, Dick and Leo were talking about some of the technology at Disney (Mr Lincoln), and thinks that they might like to know about the Pal Mickey, a plush toy which was an interactive tour guide for Disney World, introduced in 2003, available for daily rent or for sale for $47 at the time.

Pal Mickey

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Episode 1154

2010-08-12T08:13:00Z

Touch To Give
Ever since Doug Pompilio from Dayton, Ohio learned about the Click To Give (see e.g. Episodes 464, 658) Animal Rescue site, he’s been clicking every day to support the site. Thanks to a Genius suggestion in the App Store, he’s now got an iPhone app for supporting a number of Click To Give charities, including Animal Rescue, Breast Cancer and Hunger: Touch To Give.

Touch To Give iPhone App

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Episode 1153

2010-08-11T08:30:00Z

Encore
Mike Meyering, the Spare Geek, recently purchased the Encore Dual USB Port Charger (Episode 1056). He was very impressed by it, and made inquiries with the manufacturer to find out the specs of the battery. It was a 1,700 mAh rechargeable battery; not bad for the price.

A Tip from Colleen, and Pontifications from Tom and Dick
Colleen once gave Dick a tip: get a power adapter and plug it into the power brick for the laptop, in place of the cable and plug that usually comes with the laptop. That way at least you save carrying one cable. Cables are the bane of modern technology, and Dick is still waiting for the truly wireless TV, while Tom would like all cables to be retractable, if they have to exist at all. The thought of a wireless world gets Dick remarking that open unencrypted wifi has become rather rare.

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