Weekly Daily Giz Wiz – Week of May 7, 2012, Netcast 1363 (Even though the video version says Episode 1364)

Are you a slob? Some family members, slobs? Help is on the way!

Sometimes I'm attracted to a product based on its name. That's the case when I saw a booth at the National Hardware show offering the Slobproof! Paint Pen. Slobproof? I immediately wanted to know more. I met Debbie Weiner who is billed as designer/creator and head slob. Debbie explained why she created the Paint Pen. She wanted a quick, and easy touch-up tool for painted walls, ceilings, and trim. The problem? You mar or scratch a painted wall. You get out the can of left over paint and find it has dried up in the paint can, where it’s useless now that you need it. Enter the Slobproof Paint Pen Kit. The kit comes with two paint pens and a syringe to help you fill them easily. Here’s what you do. After you finish painting the walls with your new paint, use the syringe in the kit to fill the Paint Pen with leftover paint. Debbie says you can store the Paint Pen in a kitchen drawer and it will keep the paint fresh for years. Then when you need to make a touch-up, get out your Paint Pen. Turn the barrel of the pen, which moves the paint onto the tip. Now you have a sort of “Magic Marker” loaded with the exact shade of paint that you need. In minutes you can cover dings, scratches, any other minor damage to your painted surfaces.  "It's a mother's dream come true!" The kit consists of two pens and the syringe and it costs $19.99 on Amazon. It will be available just about the time you read this.

Slobproof! was founded by interior designer and mother Debbie Wiener, the Slobproof! line-up includes mess-free, stress-free upholstered seating, a top-selling design book and now the Slobproof! Paint Pen.   You can learn more about Slobproof! at www.slobproof.com.

Paint Pen info: http://www.slobproof.com/product_info.php?products_id=144

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1363 

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

Video of the week --- Is that a camera in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Two years ago at the National Hardware Show, I came across the General Tools Video Seeker Systems. These devices let you view behind & under things you can’t see with the naked eye. You aim a flexible probe with two built in LED’s to see behind walls, under cabinets, etc. It’s two years later, and General Tools is introducing their new iBorescope. The function is the same, but now instead of being bundled with a video monitor, the output from the video camera is viewed on your iPhone, iPad, or even iPod Touch. It captures VGA (640 X 480) resolution video and still pictures. Video is 30 fps. You download the iBorescope app at iTunes. A thumbwheel on the grip controls the two LED camera lighting. So now you can find out if that AC wire inside the wall is frayed or broken, or what's stuck down the drain. The 39” long probe is waterproof in case you want to look down a drain or under a boat. (But don’t get the main unit wet!) Comes with rechargeable battery and AC adapter. You also get three probe tip accessories: 45 dgree mirror, magnetic pickup, and hook pickup. The iBorescope is not only a wireless camera, but it features a built-in WiFi Hotspot. This enables the iBorescope software to connect to the camera by selecting the iBorescope WiFi Hotspot from your iOS WiFi setting panel. So you don't need any other WiFi network. $299.99. Available mid-July, 2012. 

It’s not on their website yet, but this is the page it should appear on soon:

http://www.generaltools.com/Video-Borescopes_c_37.html

Giz Wiz Video: http://youtu.be/Cw4wSDGiDRA

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1363 

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

Quake Escape. It could be a life saver.

I usually try each gadget I talk about, or at least get a demo of it in use. Obviously I couldn’t do that with the Quake Escape, earthquake detector. I told the guy at his National Hardware Show booth I had seen earthquake detectors before. But he said the Quake Escape is unique in a couple of important ways. One, when the earthquake strikes, you’ll not only be alerted by the Quake Escape's alarm, but your pathway will be illuminated immediately by bright LED’s. And he said this is the first and only automatic earthquake light with alarm on the market made with Intellisense Technology. The Quake Escape is a motion-sensing device that is activated by significant seismic movement. The IntelliSense Technology is said to help eliminate false alarms. Once Quake Escape is activated, an audible alarm goes off for several seconds while the LED lights turn on and can continue to illuminate the room or hallway for many hours continuously. There’s an easy twist-and-pull off mounting bracket, which allows you to use take the device and use it as a portable light source. The 5 LED's are powered by 3 AAA batteries which are not included. When I asked how they tested the unit, he said they did it in lab tests. Later when I checked the company’s website, I found they probably know a lot about earthquakes because they also build Earthquake Simulator Cottages for industry and government research. They even have, according to the website, the world’s first portable earthquake simulator. Under $50 on Amazon, under $40 at the company website. I have no idea how well it works, but at that price, I think it's a worthwhile investment.

http://www.safe-t-proof.com/quake-cottage-mobile-earthquake-simulator

It’s under $50 at Amazon, under $40 here: http://www.safe-t-proof.com/earthquake-survival-kits/quake-escape-light-and-alarm

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1363 

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

Update on May 16, 2012 by The Giz Wiz

Wow! This is quite a change in price!!! When I first posted this, the Quake Escape was $40 on the company website. Now it's $69.95!! My only guess is that after the Hardware Show there was a huge response and they decided it was worth a lot more. Or maybe they just under-priced it at first to start moving units. At any rate it's now just under $70 at the company website. It's also $69.95 at Amazon, although one place on the web is selling it for $99.95!

And now it's time for Leo's Turn The Table Turkey!

This week Turn The Table Turkey was more of a Turn The Table Treasure because Leo really loves the new Dell XPS ultrabook. When he held it up to the camera, I thought it might be a MacBook Air, but I knew I liked it, even if it wasn’t. It’s super slim, 0.7 by 12.4 by 8.1 inches, so it’s one of the thinnest ultrabooks out there. It weighs in at a fraction under three pounds. The price for the Dell XPS starts at $999.99, about $200+ less than the MacBook. Leo said you really should check out all the variations at the Dell website if you’re interested. There’s an i5 and an i7 chip version. The $999.99 base model includes a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 128GB solid-state drive, 4GB of RAM and has Windows 7 Home Premium. Leo showed us how quickly he was to add the Linux OS. Adding $500 more to the price gets you the more powerful 1.7GHz Core i7 chip and a 256GB SSD. Leo said the screen resolution (1,366 by 768) was good, but the MacBook Air has a higher resolution screen. Leo also liked the chiclet-style keyboard, which he found easy to type on. The chat room asked about inputs and Leo showed us both sides of the Dell XPS. There's a USB 2.0 port and headset jack on the laptop's left side, and a USB 3.0 port and Mini Display Port on the right. Missing was a mic in and Leo didn’t mention an Ethernet port, would you’d need if you wanted to use a hard-wired DSL connection. Coming to think of it, he didn’t mention a memory card slot either. Leo said he hasn’t had the Dell XPS long enough to drain the battery completely, but he expects about 6 hours of battery life. All in all, it looks like it’s going to get a “Buy” rating when Leo reviews it fully on the TWiT’s BYB – Before You Buy. Once Leo records it, that show will be here: http://twit.tv/byb

http://www.dell.com/

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1363

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse: Good-bye old Chumby.

When the Chumby first came out in early 2008, it didn’t do much. And it was expensive, at about $180. It was designed to sit on your desk or nightstand and scroll through various info screens, like time, weather, etc. The original Chumby looked like a high tech beanbag, although the flexible case was real leather. It had a 3” color touch screen. Prior to its commercial release, to folks at Chumby had offered many free units to folks in the hopes they would develop new software and applications for it. I had one of very first units for a few months, but I didn’t use it much. A friend of mine thought Chumby was great, and didn’t have one, so I give mine a new home where it would be appreciated more. A little more than a year later, about November 2009, the Chumby One hit the market. The screen was similar, but the leather case lost out to a plastic one. In addition to losing the leather case, it lost one USB port. The original had two. But it gained a slightly faster processor and an FM tuner, which was a nice addition. Also the price dropped by a third to about $120. After that several new versions appeared from time to time, all the way up to an 8” version, which Leo and I saw at CES 2011. But it seems to have been downhill from there. Although the company website is still up, clicking on the “store” icon brings this bit of bad news: "The site is closed temporarily." Luckily for me, Doctor Mom of TWiT chat room fame, stopped by Gizneyland and offered her original Chumby for Dick’s Gadget Warehouse. But she warned me that all Chumby service was due to go off line shortly. She also said she enjoyed using the Chumby and it did something her iPad cannot do: automatically scroll through her favorite apps. I have the Chumby on my desk now, and already some apps come up with “loading” and then nothing happens. So the wind-down for Chumby has started. Unfortunately for fans of the device, it’s time to say: “Good-bye old Chum, er--- old Chumby! 

In case it’s still up: www.chumby.com 

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1363

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.