Known as MAD's Maddest Writer, co-host of The Giz Wiz with OMGchad at www.GizWiz.TV, The Giz Wiz on ABC's World News Now, and on Tech Guy Labs with Leo Laporte on www.TWiT.TV.
Pipped under the Desk Alex Lindsay's TTTT gadget the GigaPan Epic (Episode 937) proved to be very popular with listeners. Leo is worried that he might be replaced by Alex in podcasting, as Wally Pipp was by Lou Gehrig in baseball.
$14,000 Worth of Exercise Metal Tom Anderson from Newport Beach, California (who Leo thinks is the same Tom Anderson who founded MySpace and is everyone's friend on MySpace), writes in about the ROM exercise machine, which costs over $14,000. Tom has a friend who has used it for 10 years. The website fastexercise.com claims that 4 minutes per day on that machine is all that you need. Just the price range for Leo. Tom is a bit of a gadget guy himself and has bought many of the gadgets talked about on the show, but the best one is the Tom Bihn bag (Episodes 522 and 717).
Penguin Tea Timer - Live Demo Thanks to listener Steve Leth, and as Dick predicted, Leo presents to us the "surprise" gadget of the week, the Penguin Tea Timer from stupid.com. This is the 4th appearance on DGW of the Penguin Tea Timer - after Episodes 501, 542 and 938. Dick and Leo share the fun of the Penguin Tea Timer, with our old familiar aviary friend the Toothpick Bird (Episode 282) thrown in for good measure. Video from odtv.me.
Ristorante Petaluma Paul Del Nunzio writes in to talk about the Petaluma Restaurant on 1st Avenue in New York City. Next time Leo goes to New York and feels home-sick, Dick can take him to the Italian restaurant. As an IT consultant nearing 50, Paul adds, he is grateful to Dick for reminding us of the history of technology.
Happy Birhday to Dick Today is Dick's birthday. Many returns for Dick and the Daily Giz Wiz. He already knows he's getting a surprise home-made birthday cake from Ruth Epstein with a bonfire on top.
Podcast Awards Nominations for this year's Podcast Awards closed yesterday. The nominations will be announced in 2 to 3 weeks. Other shows on the TWiT Network wanted to be nominated as well, and so Leo had left listeners to choose their own nominations. Let's hope the Daily Giz Wiz gets nominated, when listeners can then vote for the winner.
A New Tricaster for TWiT Back from Dubai, Leo wastes no time in upgrading the TWiT Network. Leo breaks the news to Dick, before this week's recording session, that he is going to get a new Tricaster, the VT5. This will allow a total of 8 video cameras (such as the Canon HV30 digital camcorders in Episode 552). Leo and Colleen did a trial run of the VT5 last week, and you can watch the video on odtv.me - Part 1 and Part 2.
Windows 7 Party Kit Also before the recording session starts, Leo shows Dick (who was not invited to the Windows 7 Launch Party in Manhattan) the Windows 7 House Party Kit which has recently arrived. You can watch the video here (courtesy of odtv.me)
Dubai Leo loved Dubai. Pearl fishing may have given way to construction projects, but the glitter remains. Jennifer had a great time at the gold souks. The gold vendors had an even greater time.
The Petaluma Whiskerino While Leo skived off to Dubai, he missed a big event in Petaluma, the Whiskerino.
The Prodigal Host Alfred Chan (who has moved his Vox blog to insidedgw.com) writes in. Of all the shows that Alex Lindsay had to step in for Leo, the Daily Giz Wiz was probably the most difficult, with all its highly choreographed intros, letters and jingles. Now that Leo has blown half his money at the gold souks and the other half at the camel races, Alfred surmises thatLeo the Prodigal Host will come crawling back on to his ball, begging Dick for a second chance to host the show again. A tough call for Dick.
A Worthy Successor to the Toothpick Bird Leo has a "surprise" for us for tomorrow's TTTT, a worthy successor to the Toothpick Bird.
Podcast Awards Nomination Voting for nominations for the Podcast Awards closes on 18 October, this Sunday. Go to podcastawards.com to nominate the Daily Giz Wiz (URL http://twit.tv/dgw) for the People's Choice award.
The Original Cruzer The original SanDisk Cruzer was announced at CES 2002, and was more like a USB (1.1) SD card reader, than the built-in flash thumb drive of the current Cruzer lines.
First Computers Alex Lindsay's first computer that he owned was an Apple IIe, which his father bought him. Dick's was an Atari 800.
Apple IIe Brooking Disappointment James Brooks bought the Motorola S805 Bluetooth DJ Stereo Headset after listening to Episode 927. A cable required for charging was missing from his package. Being a gadget nut he was able to use another charger. At the hugely discounted price the headset was going for, James was willing to brook the slight disappointment. In any event, James is a dedicated listener and looks forward to another thousand episodes of the Daily Giz Wiz.
A Gadget Fanatic Bill Gaines was a bit of a gadget fanatic himself and, like Dick, was prone to falling prey to bargains and discounts, including the Casio TE2500 Dictionary Watch (Episode 45).
MAD's Star Wars Parodies MAD is famous for its spoofs and parodies of TV shows and movies, and Star Wars was not exempt from it. After a particular Star Wars parody, both Dick and Mort Drucker received a letter from George Lucas himself, saying that there should be an academy award for satire, and Dick should get one for writing while Mort Drucker should get one for drawing. Two days later, MAD got the usual demand letter from Lucas's attorneys. In reply, Bill Gaines enclosed Lucas's letters, saying, "Well, George likes them." They never heard from the attorneys again.
Kodak W1020 Digital Picture Frame John Jobst recommends the Kodak W1020 Digital Picture Frame which he got from Dell last year. Not only has it got Wifi, and can receive photos from friends and relatives via email, it's also compatible with FrameChannel which gives you channels of news, weather, traffic, sports, financial data and so on.
October 21, 2009 
ROM Exercise Machine
