Weekly Daily Giz Wiz, Week of 10/24/2011 Netcast 1337

Scary Halloween stuff via Think Geek

I like the description that’s on the Think Geek website for this scary device, so here it is in part: Do you have a noisy baby or one you feel may grow up to drink the blood of mortals? This Little Vampire Pacifier is the way to go. It features luscious red lips and a full set of teeth including sharp canines for sucking the blood of the living. Our lawyers say we must tell you that ThinkGeek is not responsible if your geekling grows up to be one of the undead (but we are grateful because that means they can be one of our customers for centuries!) It’s good for all ages, but prefer baby age though. The Little Vampire Pacifier gives your baby vampire fangs. Makes baby simultaneously quiet and awesome. If baby sparkles, feed to werewolves immediately and make a new baby. – And now back to me, The Giz Wiz. I don’t know what that “prefer baby age” is all about. I wore it quite a few times to meet people at the front door! And it wasn’t even Halloween yet! $4.99

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/newborn-infant/d704/?srp=1

Too lazy to carve your own Jack O'Lantern? Yes, it’s a chore picking the perfect pumpkin, and figuring out how to make it look scary. How about having an old-fashioned looking 8-Bit Jack O'Lantern this year? If you’re too young to remember, 8-bit images are low-res "boxy" or "pixilated images." Think early Atari, Nintendo, etc. games. The built-in LEDs light up giving it the flickering glow of a real Jack O'Lantern. The 8-Bit Jack O'Lantern won't make a delicious pie, but it will make your home a little more festive, and hopefully your tech friends a wee bit jealous! Crafted from durable EVA foam. Dimensions: 11" x 9.25" x 1.125". It run on 3 AAA batteries, which are not included. Normally $17.99, but just in time for Halloween, it’s on sale right now for $9.99 (As of 10/22/11)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/e9fd/?srp=1

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Video the week: This Fireplace Insert Lets You Roast Your Nuts By An Open Fire!

There are so many fireplaces in New York City apartments that no longer work, and I imagine the same is true throughout the country. Without spending a ton of money you can bring any existing fireplace to life in just about ten minutes! The Dimplex DFI2309 Electric Fireplace Insert Heater is easy to install and a snap to use. Simply slide it into an existing fireplace, adjust the trim to fit, and then plug it into a standard household outlet. There’s no venting, no gas hookup and no fumes or smell. Not only do the flames look good, your fireplace will once again actually produce heat! You should make sure the Dimplex fireplace insert has it’s own electric outlet as it uses up to 1500 watts with the heater on “high”. The patented flame technology offers the most realistic flame effect I’ve seen. The built-in fan-forced heater has a high/low setting and distributes heat quietly. Or you can leave the heater off completely and just enjoy the flame effect. The company says it can heat up to 400 square feet. The remote control turns the unit "on" or "off" from anywhere in the room. You turn the heater on and adjust for high or low heat using two small switches at the top of the unit. The Dimplex DF 12309 Electric Fireplace Insert heater measures 10-4/5 by 23-1/5 by 19-4/5 inches. It sells for $199.99 on Amazon.com. Becareful, because I’ve seen the same model Dimplex on sale for $299.99. Dennis Wunderlin (designer of the GizWiz logo) owns the one in the video. He bought it online for $199.99 and really loves it. It fit perfectly into the built-in fireplace in his apartment with no adjustments needed.

http://www.amazon.com/Dimplex-DFI2309-Electric-Fireplace-Insert/dp/B0001WJ5U8

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Two new tripods from Gorilla Pod.

Ever find a shot that would look 100% better if you had your camera on a tripod? But you can’t carry a tripod with you everywhere you go – or can you? You can with the GorillaPod Micro 250. This gizmo is so small it can be an “always-on” camera tripod for point-and-shoot cameras. With an adjustable ball-head the GorillaPod Micro 250 offers the stability, range of movement, and versatility of full-size tripods for your point and shoot camera up to almost 9 ounces (250 grams). The GorillaPod Micro 250 can be used to position your camera on uneven terrain. A machined aluminum-positioning ball allows for 36° of movement in any direction to frame a level shot on uneven surfaces while still firmly holding your camera in place. The coated zinc alloy legs weigh less than 1 ounce). The legs quickly lock in place when opened. Colorful rubber foot grips (in your choice of red, blue, or gray) fit discreetly underneath your camera. It's so inconspicuous; you can leave it permanently attached. It’s just 2.6 inches long and 0.7 inches wide. $19.99

www.joby.com/gorillapod/micro250

Have a bigger camera too?

A helpful companion for your compact system camera is the GorillaPod Hybrid. The company says its rock-solid stabilization and precise ball head-enabled positioning allow you to capture professional-quality images without the size and weight of a traditional full-size tripod system. I don’t know about professional quality shots, but I have the earlier model to stabilize my camera in weird places. You can use the two dozen-plugs leg joints to bend and rotate 360° to wrap around objects. They are rubberized ring and foot grips to enhance stability on difficult terrain, so you can place your camera at virtually any angle. Built with Japanese medical grade ABS plastic and German TPE rubber for secure joints that stay firm and grippy after years of shooting. It supports cameras up to 2.2lb (1kg). The slim-line quick-release clip has a bubble level which stays connected to your camera and snaps into the ball head for instant setup and perfectly level images every time. About $40.

http://joby.com/store/gorillapod/hybrid

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Leo's Turn The Table Turkey!

Leo’s gadget this week is an updated version of a gadget he covered over a year ago, the Fitbit. This new version, the Fitbit Ultra adds a lot of new features. Designed to be worn or your waist, or even hung from the included lanyard, Fitbit Ultra counts every step you take. A built-in super sensitive 3-D motion sensor tracks your day down to details a pedometer can't match. It shows exact steps taken, calories burned, and distance traveled. The new altimeter tracks floors climbed so you can monitor heart-healthy activity, encouraging you to take the stairs at home or work, or climb a little further on your next hike. Those are the improved features of the Fitbit Ultra. An entirely new feature tracks your sleep cycle! Most everyone agrees that a solid night’s sleep is important to well-being and weight loss. But how do you track your sleep? Yep, the Fitbit Tracker Ultra can do it. Slip your Tracker into the Fitbit sleep wristband before bed, and it will keep track of your slumber. When your info uploads to Fitbit.com, you'll see not only how long you sleep, but how well you sleep. Leo showed us the sleep graph that the Fibit Tracker Ultra updated to his computer. It showed how fast he fell asleep, how many times he woke up, and how much solid sleep he got. Over time, you can apply what you learn to better understanding what helps you sleep better. Leo said a really neat feature is that you don’t even have to dock your Fitbit Ultra for info to upload. When it’s in range of the USB charging station, uploading new info is automatic. The Fitbit Ultra retails for $99.99.

http://www.fitbit.com/

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Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse for the HipZip Music Player.

At this year’s Annual Giz Wiz -TWiT- MAD meet-up, fans played games to win all sorts of prizes. But I ended up with a gift for Dick’s Gadget Warehouse, presented to me by Ernest Wong, aka ibookery. He said he bought the Iomega HipZip music player he gave me, in mid 2001. For its time, it had groundbreaking tech: a mini-floppy disk with 40 MB capacity! Yes, that’s MB, not GB. And it wasn’t cheap. Ernest recalls he paid $299.00 for this music player! I found more info about the Iomega HipZip digital player on the web. It was released, September 2000. Iomega charged $10 for a 40MB disk. The HipZip used Microsoft's Windows Media Player on its device. This device heralded the rebranding of the Clik disc, to now be known as Pocket Zip. (Iomega made many famous Zip Drives and discs.) The HipZip Digital Audio Player could double as a PocketZip storage device, so you could download and transport spreadsheets, images and more. Iomega said their “HipZip Digital Audio Player offers you solid protection from accidents or spills. And the full metal housing on each PocketZip disk offers an equally durable media. One 40MB PocketZip disk carries over 80 minutes of your favorite music.” Imagine that!! 80 minutes of music in your pocket on one $10 disc. More amazement! – “Move your music from one PocketZip disk to another without any reformatting, and then carry it in your HipZip digital audio player wherever you go. PocketZip disks are uniquely serialized, so your player can tell one disk from another. You use your serial number to lock content onto your disk.” And this was just 11 years ago. The player was supplied with two 40MB PocketZip disks. All for just about $300!

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