The Daily Giz Wiz is off the week of March 14th. Then starting the week of March 21st: It's a brand new week - and a brand new Daily Giz Wiz format!

 Photo here just to get your attention! We've passed DGW 1300!As we start year six of the Daily Giz Wiz, there are going to be some changes. Not only is TWiT moving to new, larger studios, The Daily Giz Wiz is moving to a new format. The new show - The Weekly Daily Giz Wiz -  will be a once a week show with all the 'old' features you've come to love (or hate.) Every week I'll do one, two or three new gadgets (it's still an anything goes format), Leo will do a Turn The Table Turkey (just dropping the Tuesday part) and they'll be a visit to Dick's Gadget Warehouse every week. We'll still read letters, add some MAD Minutes, and pretty much do what we've been doing on a daily basis. The length of the new show will depend on when we get tired of talking. The Weekly Daily Giz Wiz will make it easier to sell ads (important!), and make it far easier on the poor editors at TWiT who have an ever increasing number of Netcasts to edit. It will be easier for Leo too, the Prolific Podcaster, or the Nutty Netcaster. He'll be doing only 986.5 hours of broacasting a week instead of 987! We'll still record Saturdays starting at 5:15 PM EDT / 2:15 PDT and I'll still join Leo 'live' on his radio show right before the WDGW. I hope (really, really hope) you'll stay with us!

Dick De, The Giz Wiz.

I was here, I'll be there!

What the Heck Was It? This week's Gadget Warehouse is the gizmo from our last WTHII? game.

Friday, March 11^th, 2011, Netcast 1305

Robert Eakins suggested using this doohickey in a WTHII (What The Heck Is It? game!) It’s designed to pick up CD’s or DVD’s. You put this device in the hole of the CD or DVD and push the button on the top. Four little plastic pins extend & grab onto the DVD or CD, which allows you to lift & place it where you want to without getting fingerprints on it.  When it's in place, you release the button and the CD or DVD is released. I tried this device and it’s really awkward to operate. It takes a lot of tries before you get the proper location of the pins in the DVD or CD hole. Even Robert said the thing is hard to use. He added that after he got one he used it a few times and then put it on a shelf. None of us know the name of the product. The only thing molded into the plastic case is the name: Hulsegge.  I did web search and found a Dutch company called Husegge that’s involved in making packaging for many products including DVDs. Maybe at one time they made this product too. Robert recalls that his mom got it on QVC maybe 7 or 8 years ago and passed it on to him. He passed it on to me. I’m passing it on to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse. It's no longer available. I don't wonder why!

See or Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1305

Read the answers people sent in to identify this gizmo in the What The Heck Is Game? http://gizwizbiz.squarespace.com/new-what-the-heck/

This is the final DAILY GIZ WIZ 5-times-a-week episode. We're off next week and then the week of March 21st, the new WEEKLY Daily Giz Wiz starts. It will have Giz Wiz gadgets, Leo's gadgets, Gadget Warehouse gadgets, your emails, themes, etc. So it won't be that different from the daily version. More details above.

You asked for it, you got it! The Giz Wiz tries the Spy Camera T-Shirt.

Thursday, March 10^th, 2011, Netcast 1304

Over the past few months I received a few emails asking if we could do a review of the Think Geek Electronic Spy Camera T-Shirt. The folks at Think Geek are fans of the DGW and were happy to send a shirt for me to try. On the shirt, a James Bond type figure is shown holding & using a camera. Who’d guess it’s a real digital camera! Of course if you’re a fan of Think Geek as soon as you see someone wearing this shirt, you’ll know exactly what it does! There’s a cable that runs from the camera to your pocket. You use a remote control button to shoot color digital photos. A vibration feedback shutter lets you know when you've taken a new shot. There’s no actual amount of memory listed at Think Geek, but they say it will hold about 150 color digital photos, with 640 x 480 resolution. There are no settings at all. Shooting pictures takes some practice in order to frame them correctly. With the shirt I had, the camera seemed to aim up. I was able to correct it a bit by tucking the tee-shirt into my pants so it was flatter against my chest. Outdoor shots seemed a little on the blue side, but surprisingly, the indoor shots were mostly very clear. It’s best to shot a still target and you should not be moving either. There’s a link at the bottom of this review where you can see the pictures I shot with my shirt. All the electronics are completely removable for washing. Washing the shirt, not the electronics! To download your photos use the included USB cable which connects to the camera. Works with any OS including Mac, Linux and Windows. It requires 3x AAA batteries (not included). When the remote starts to vibrate when you’re not taking photos, it means the batteries are low. WARNING! Download your photos BEFORE you take out of batteries. Removing the battery erases all your images!

$39.99, but it’s on sale now (March, 2011 - but I don't know for how long) for $29.99.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/interactive/e60c/

Dick De’s photos using the Spy Camera Shirt: 

http://tinyurl.com/4cfgjvb

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1304

Two handy pocket-sized sync cables that can travel anywhere.

Wednesday, March 9^th, 2011 Netcast 1303.

Some time back on the Daily Giz we talked about the Scoshe keychain solar charger. (Link below.) This innovative company has come up two more practical and inexpensive gadgets. They are the Scoshe flipSYNC keychain USB charge and sync cables. They’re really pocket-sized, ideal for travel. Each one is about the size of a car alarm remote control, but offers users a convenient syncing cable when on the go. They’re also designed to fit comfortably on any key chain.  There are two versions. The flipSYNC IPUSBM features an iPhone/IPod 30 pin connector at one end and a regular 2.0 USB connector at the other. When you unfold them for use, it’s best to check the instructions first. I couldn’t unfold one as much as I tried, so rather then apply undue pressure, I took a quick peep at the instruction sheet. I found the secret is popping out the hook up end first, then the USB end. It was after I did that, that I noticed the unfolding procedure was printed right on the back of one of the units! (But not the other.) The second unit is the Scosche USBMM features both Mini and Micro USB connections on one end, and a standard 2.0 USB connector on the other. Both flipSYNC models are available now in Bestbuy stores and online at www.bestbuy.com for 19.99. But do a web search. I saw them for under $10 at several websites.

More info: www.scosche.com   Solar Charger: http://tinyurl.com/4p468ar 

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1303

A really strange gadget on this Turn The Table Tuesday.

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 Netcast 1302
 
Leo had a guest in TWiT Cottage the day we recorded this Turn The Table Tuesday. He name is Jeff Scott and he has the title of ---- ready? --- Inspecteur des Chapeaux! Translated he’s Inspector, Collector, Connoisseur of Fine Men’s Hats & Men’s Vintage Clothing. Like Tom Merritt’s pick last Tuesday, Leo Turn The Table Tuesday was more like a visit to the Gadget Warehouse. Leo showed us a very old gadget Jeff bought with him called The Conformateur. It looks like a weapon of torture, and when Leo wore it to demonstrate it, he said he was quite uncomfortable. The Conformateur is placed on the head of a gentlemen seeking to order a new hat. As he wears it the hat-maker tightens a vast series of wooden stops against his head. When they’re all tight against the skull the top of The Conformateur is popped open, and a paper is placed inside. The top is closed again and the wooden pegs inside make marks on the paper. Using that marked paper, a craftsman can make a truly custom fitted man's hat. Jeff talked about the 1920’s and ‘30’s when almost all men wore hats, many of them almost identical ones. You’ll see in old photos that  almost every man on their way to work, for example, wore a hat. It seems Jeff doesn’t have a website for his business, but I did a web search and found another site that will help demonstrate this amazing hat-fitting process. Thanks to the London Lounge for their fine photos.

http://www.thelondonlounge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=8917

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1302