All aboard for a trip back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse.

For this week’s warehouse pick I didn’t have to go back to the warehouse. I have a 35-year-old Lionel locomotive on display right in my apartment. In order to find out something about it for this week’s Netcast, I did a bit of research via Google. It turns out my Lionel 4-6-4 NYC Hudson Steam Locomotive is on the rare side. It’s from something called the MPC-era. In early 1969 General Mills agreed to produce Lionel trains under a license deal. Weird, I know. But General Mills had a hobby division called Model Products Corporation. So trains produced in the 1970s and ‘80s were called MPC-era trains. MyLionel 8600 New York Central 4-6-4 Steam Engine was built in 1976 and it turns out to be sort of rare. It was only available as part of a set. And it’s said to be one of the more difficult MPC Era steam locomotives to find. Features include metal construction, reverse unit, metal side rods, operating smoke unit, even metal wheels. Used, this locomotive sells for about $150. I know, not a huge amount of money, but not bad for a 35-year-old toy. Mine should be worth a lot more though, because the engine requires the matching tender for the 'sounds of steam' feature to work. And as you can see, I also have the match tender. Most of the listings on line are just for the locomotive, no tender available. Back in the warehouse I might even have the original boxes. It’s not been run in about 30 years. It just sits on a shelf. My running trains these days are G-scale. The Lionel engine and tender are 0-gauge.

See or hear this Netcast: http://twit.tv/show/weekly-daily-giz-wiz/1334 

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

Weekly Daily Giz, Week of September 26, 2011, Netcast 1333

Okay, as you might guess, I have a lot of tools, including marine tools for my boat. But, one thing I don’t have is a chainsaw. Living in NYC, there’s not much call for one. I do have a backyard, but there’s not enough call for a chainsaw. But when I was offered a demo of a new high-powered cordless chainsaw, and a chance to cut some small logs right in my office – this was too good to pass up! The tool is the Oregon PowerNow 40V MAX Cordless Chainsaw. (Maybe this should have been part of the gadgets with long names week we did!) Being cordless no gas and oil mixture like so many chainsaws use. It doesn’t even need a pull cords to start it. Powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Now if you want to make up to 250 cuts on branches 2 to 3 inch thick on a single charge, you need some kind of impressive battery power. The PowerNow uses a 40 Volt battery pack! It ships with either the standard version or with the Endurance battery pack version. Equipped with a 14" bar, the PowerNow Chainsaw can power through logs as large as 10 to 12 inches. The company that produces the PowerNow is Blount, the world's largest manufacturer of chain saws. They came to my office at MAD with four rolling suitcases. Two suitcases made up a temporary horse on which to cut the lumber - cordless vacuum cleaner & Tarp to pick any the wood chips. Weighs a bit under 11 pounds and it feels fierce when you’re hit that switch! It would have been fun to saw the legs off my desk or something like that, but I was content with just sawing some logs! If you have a need for a chain saw, be sure to check this one out, and watch the video below. It’s a really effective demo that shows off the built-in PowerSharp precision chain sharpening system. The MSRP is $399 for the standard model. With the Endurance battery pack, it’s $499.

Here’s the link to the sharpening video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbtXsV4RZ2w

Retailers: http://www.oregonpowernowtools.com/retailers.jsp

See or hear this Netcast: http://twit.tv/show/weekly-daily-giz-wiz/1333 

Show link above usually goes live Sunday afternoon.

Video the week --- The USB Programmable Fan!

A little more than a year ago I showed a small handheld message fan. It was fun, but only person holding the fan saw the messages. And it ran through batteries rather quickly. Then I saw an add for USB LED Message Fan by Electric Ave. Of course I immediately ordered one. It was a “deal of the day” for $15, so I had to order fast. It’s a small desk fan on a flexible gooseneck. It does offer a bit of a breeze, but I bought for the fun part, the message display. You can program six distinct phrases, each one up to 16 characters long. Then your fan displays and cycles through your messages. It turns out the USB part has nothing to do with programming the fan. You program it by pushing a button to advance through the alphabet and then hitting a “store” key when you get to the letter you want. Sometimes you have to scroll through all the letters, numbers and symbols to get to the next letter you need. It takes a bit of time and patience, but when you’re finished, it’s fun. Watch the video for more important tips! It can be powered by USB (cable included) or 3 AAA Batteries (not included).   USB Cable has proprietary end, so it can only be used to power this fan. It has soft blades for safety. Dimensions: 3.625 × 3.75 × 7.125 inches   $25.53 at Amazon.com

DICK'S YOUTUBE VIDEO: http://youtu.be/j76mJdo5RyM

http://www.amazon.com/NEW-Programmable-Message-Electric-AveT/dp/B005HZMT02/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1316836501&sr=8-5

$8 at Sears on sale on Saturday 9/24/2011 –but I don’t know how long the sale will last. Plus shipping. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00326722000P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=00326722000P

See or hear this Netcast: http://twit.tv/show/weekly-daily-giz-wiz/1333 

SHOW LINK USUALLY GOES LIVE SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

A tablet for a toddlers.

V-Tech has introduced the InnoTab an Interactive Learning Tablet for kids 4 to 9 years old. (I know, they’re not toddlers, but I liked the way that sounded.) The InnoTab is a multi-media tablet that combines interactive reading, learning games, creative activities and applications in a fun, durable toy that kids will want to play with. It features a 5" color touch screen with a built-in tilt-sensor. Kids can tap, flick, drag, and play their way to learning fun. Included are applications such as an MP3 Player, Video Player, Art Studio, Interactive Globe, Friends List, Calculator, and Clock engaging kids for hours and helping them develop their skills (without them knowing it, most likely). I especially liked the Rainbow Pen --- each time a kid makes a stroke of the pen, the color changes. Tilt Sensor Spelling is fun and so is Color and Pop. Kids color a picture and then use tilt the photo to make it move. A camera button lets a kid “take a picture” of their work, which they can save. Some additional content is free, other content, like additional cartridges with licensed characters are sold separately. Content such as e-books and games can be uploaded to the InnoTab through VTech's Learning Lodge Navigator where parents can also see their child's progress on a variety of educational milestones and lessons. $79.99 for the InnoTab which offers plenty to do right out of the box. 

www.vtech.com/innotab

See or hear this Netcast: http://twit.tv/show/weekly-daily-giz-wiz/1333

SHOW LINK USUALLY GOES LIVE SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

Leo didn’t have to look under his desk for this week’s Turn The Table Turkey.

A fan of the show dropped it right in his lap, and boy did that hurt! Actually a fan gave to Leo for the Brick TWiT House Museum. It’s the Osborne 1, released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation. It’s considered to be the first true portable computer – although back then they were referred too as trans-portable. At 18 pounds, the Osborne 1 wasn’t exactly lightweight. The full sized keyboard acts as the cover of the computer and it was offered with an optional battery pack, so it could be used away from AC power! Wow! I forgot how small the screens were on these units until Leo popped it open. The screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size. It couldn’t display more than 52 characters per line of text, so you had to do a lot of scrolling back and forth. Of course there was no hard drive back then, but the Osborne 1 had two full 5 ¼” floppy drives. The one Leo received also was equipped with the optional modem. When asked if it would boot up, the gentlemen who gave it to Leo said: “it might short out and start smoking” – so it didn’t get plugged in.  Price when new? $1799.00.

See or hear this Netcast: http://twit.tv/show/weekly-daily-giz-wiz/1333 

Show link above usually goes live Sunday afternoon.