It’s been almost 3 weeks since Leo got a new cell phone, so it’s time for another new one!

Turn The Table Tuesday, Tuesday, December 15^th, 2009, Netcast 982

This photo is from our friends at CNET.COMThis time Leo bought himself the brand new Nokia N900. He bought it unlocked on Amazon for about $600. (Unlocked phones aren’t wedded to any one phone service, but then again you don’t get the big discount you get when you sign your life away for two years with a major cell phone carrier.) Leo said that Nokia needed a big winner to stay competitive, much like Motorola did when they introduced the Droid recently. (Which Leo also bought.) Leo’s first impression is that that the N900 will be an excellent addition to his phone collection because it’s sort of an internet tablet capable of multi-tasking. It’s a little on the large size, a touch bigger than a pack of playing cards. It has an impressive high-resolution screen and a slide down keyboard. Since I don’t have one of these phones, and have not every even played with one I found some other specs on the web. It’s features an ARM processor, OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics accelerator, a 1GB of applications memory and run on the Maemo 5 operating system. You can create your own design for the opening screen with pretty much everything on the display customizable. And you’re not limited to just one screen, but four which can flick back and forth. The phone offers full flash support the phone offers. Web browsing on the N900 is powered by Mozilla, which Leo said worked fine. He had just gotten the phone when we recorded this show so he had used the 5-megapixel camera. Actually this phone has two cameras. You can shoot photos with one, and use the other camera for Skype. (But not at the same time.) The slide out keyboard is a bit different because it only has three rows of keys. Leo plans on returning to this camera on a show in the future once he’s had some time to use it. By knowing Leo if he doesn’t do it the next month or so, he’ll buy another new phone first!

http://www.nokiausa.com/search?qt=N900&GO.x=17&GO.y=19

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw982 

Let there by light! And a dimmer!

Daily Giz Wiz, Week of December 14^th, 2009.

Monday, December 14^th, 2009 Netcast 981 

So the holiday tree looks great with all the lights, ornaments and tinsel. There’s only one problem. When it’s time to turn on the lights, or even turn off the lights, usually someone has to get down on the floor to plug it in, or to take out the plug. Here’s something that’s a whole lot easier. The Westek Ornament Touch Dimmer. It’s from the folks at www.CableOrganizer.com. Here’s how it works: You plug the Touch Ornament Dimmer into the wall, and the Holiday tree into the dimmer. Then you hang the included tree ornament on a branch that’s easy to reach. That’s a thin wire that you connect between the dimmer and the ornament. Now the ornament controls the tree lights! Touch it once for on – then each of the next three touches gives you 3 levels of brightness. The fourth touch turns the tree off again. It’s easy to install and no electrical experience necessary. CableOrganizer also carries similar touch units for dimming lamps. $19.95

More info: http://cableorganizer.com/amertac/westek-touch-dimmers/#prices

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw981

Also on this show we introduced Giz Wiz Gear from ColorSpot Printing. (And yes, the Giz Wiz gets a share!)   www.gizwizgear.com

Make Any Girl Do Anything You Mentally Command – With Your Mind Alone!

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse Friday, December 11^th, 2009, Netcast 980

Yes, that was the (unbelievably sexist) headline in an ad from 1980! Here's a bit of the ad :

Some of the wonderful copy if you can't read it above: Miraculously watch even someone you have just met do exactly what you silently command her to do. Willingly…cheerfully…quickly! (Notice there’s no mention of a woman commanding a man’s mind!!)  Very shortly you are going to demonstrate that fact with any girl you want. On this exciting occasion you are going to project a thought command to that girl. Not one word will be unuttered by you – yet that beauty is going to follow your silent command to the letter without ever knowing that you gave the order.  (More hype, then:): Your next test is even more unbelievable! You’ll command not just one, but four or five gorgeous creatures. This time you’ll project a thought command to this entire luscious group!  

So you send your ten bucks for the SUCCESP manual. By the way, SUCCESP stands for The Science of Extra-Sensory Persuasion -- which turns out to be a small, 34-page booklet with about 4 sentences on each page. Your booklet starts out on a positive note: If you could employ Succesp with 100% effectiveness, it would make you the master of everyone. You could sell anything to anybody. You could make anyone love you. The toughest, meanest “egg” would be soft putting in your hands. Unlike the hypnotist, you would place no one in a trance. You would act and talk as you do now. Yet you would possess a power of persuasion that is truly awesome in scope.

Then things take a turn toward the less-positive:

Far be from us to suggest that you will ever achieve this level of total efficiency. It is not that you cannot achieve such a level, it’s merely unlikely. While the achievement of the maximum might be your ultimate goal- your “reach for the stars” ambition – your failure to attain it will be far from disastrous. Even a 1% level might be all you would ever require to sway the odds of success in your favor. Let’s assume you reach a 5% efficiency rate. This means for every 20 times you attempt SUCCESP, you will be successful just one time. This “once” might be on your very first try…or on your 20^th.  Even this gives you a definite edge not in your possession at this time!

And what is the secret? You have to think of yourself a human broadcasting station, transmitting your mentally powered signals into the air. Once you master that, you add sending pictures through the air. (It’s almost like TWiT!) And don’t forgot; this ad appeared about 30 years ago. $10 back then is probably about $25 today. Of course, now instead of ads like this, we have emails telling you won millions of dollars – provided you give them all your bank info. So scams continue, but in a more tech savvy way.

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw980

The ad is here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=4e0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&ots=Xlv8qa8f_L&dq=Weekly+World+News+Now+Succesp+Ad&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Safe at home; or at least safer!

Thursday, December 10th, 2009, Netcast 979

Hospitals use UV light to kill germs. You can do the same at home. Verilux says that required laboratory tests show that their CleanWave UV-C Wand eliminates up to 99.9% of viruses (including H1N1), bacteria, molds, dust mite and flea eggs from beds, upholstered furniture and other household surfaces. Hypoallergenic sanitizing eliminates germs from surfaces that don’t tolerate chemicals such as mattresses, upholstery and electronics. Each surface requires different amounts of time to kill germs via the UV-C light. This wand has a built-in LED count up timer. The time required is printed on a hangtag and in the instruction booklet. A computer keyboard might require just 8 seconds, while a standard bed could take six minutes. As you turn on this wand by holding the on button down for a few seconds, the LED timer also starts. Since it's harmful to look into UV-C light, the unit has an sensing switch that turns the light off if you turn it to face up towards yourself. And because it’s rechargeable, the wand is cordless. Once you charge The CleanWave Wand via the included AC cord, it’s easy to use anywhere around the house. The suggested retail prices is $89.99, but when I wrote this on November 22nd, it was on sale at the company website for $69.99. You can also do a web search on a shopping site like Amazon to see if there's even a lower price. There are many versions of this wand, including a travel version, but only this model - VH01WW4 - is said to have passed the new tests to show it does eliminate H1N1 virus on surfaces.

http://www.verilux.com/uvc-allergy-relief/uvc-sanitizing-wand

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw979

La Crosse Battery Charger with LCD Display from Think Geek!

Wednesday, December 9^th, 2009, Netcast 978

Batteries! Our gadget can’t live without them. Well the ones that take batteries, that is! Batteries aren’t very sexy, but thanks to a Daily Giz Wiz fan (whose email I can’t find) told me to check out this new LaCrosse Battery Charger from Think Geek. (Yep, the same LaCrosse who make neat weather gadgets!) This battery charger has lots of geeky features! It works with all NiCd and NiMH "AA" and "AAA" rechargeable batteries and it can charge AA & AAA batteries simultaneously. The LCD display shows the capacity for each of the batteries when charging is complete. It won’t charge defective batteries and has overheat detection to protect over-charging. But wait there’s more! The battery charger can also be put in one of four different modes: Charge, Discharge, Refresh and Test mode. The Refresh mode can help to restore old re-chargeable batteries to their optimum condition. The LCD display provides an individual readout for each of the four compartments and can show charging current (in mA), time elapsed (in hh:mm), terminal voltage (in V) and accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah). But wait, there’s even more! You not only get the LCD charger, the kit also includes: 4 ”AA” NiMH 1.2v Batteries and 4 ”AAA” NiMH 1.2v Batteries! Yep, there’s more still! , You get a durable Nylon Travel Bag, AC Power Adapter, plus 4 ”C” Size Battery Adapters, and 4”D” Size Battery Adapters. That means you can use your charged AA or AAA batteries in devices that take C or D batteries! (Model BC-9009) Price is a very reasonable $39.99!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/b7fd/

While you’re there, check out the USB Pet Rock!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/c208/

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw978

Update on December 14, 2009 by The Giz Wiz

Henry C. from Livonia MI found a lower price on the La Cross Battery charger. Thanks, Henry!

It is available at Amazon for $36.75 with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-BC-9009-AlphaPower-Battery/dp/B00077AA5Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260365527&sr=8-1