Episode 940

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).

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Episode 939

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.

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Episode 938

Coby Snapp CAMs
If you want "deluxe" versions of the Coby Snapp CAM3000, you can get the Snapp CAM4000 (same video capability with a bigger, swivel LCD display) or the Snapp CAM5000 (which takes 720p videos).

Dick used the CAM3000 to take a video of a visiting squirrel in his backyard.  You can find the video on YouTube.



The Penguin Tea-Timer Again
Steve Leth from South Jersey found the Penguin Tea-Timer on stupid.com, and has recommended it to Leo as a companion to the Toothpick Bird for his Plastic Animal Planet show, and Leo can be the Marlin Perkins of tacky plastic bird gadgets.  Dick thinks that this is the TTTT surprise that Leo has planned for Dick.

The Penguin Tea-Timer was first suggested to Leo by another listener - George from Ajax, Ontario, Canada, in Episode 501.  Dick and Leo talked about it again in Episode 542.  This is the third time the Penguin Tea Timer makes an appearance on the show.  If Leo covers it again on TTTT, it's going to be a real surprise.

Penguin Tea-Timer
Home Office Suggestions
Steve has more suggestions for the Home Office location: Bivalve, New Jersey, and Slaughter Beach, Delaware.

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Episode 937

GigaPan Epic and Epic 100
The GigaPan was first mentioned on the show by a listener in Episode 775.  Alex has the original GigaPan EpicEpic 100, which is compatible with slightly bigger cameras and even some DSLRs. but the more recent model is the

The Night Owl
In Episode 924, Dick and Leo talked about their sleeping habits.  Night owl Danny Whitmer from Sydney, Australia (who first wrote to Dick and Leo in Episode 308) goes to bed at 6 a.m. and gets up at 2 p.m.  20 years of clubbing till the wee hours 5 nights a week have probably shifted his circadian rhythm, and Dick adds, made him feel like 86 at the age of 46.  Now the former clubber has taken up yoga, which Dick has been doing for many years.

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Episode 936

A New Host for the Week
Leo is playing truant this week from the Daily Giz Wiz.  He thought he would be able to record his usual Tuesday shows but couldn't, and Alex Lindsay has stepped into Leo's big shoes.  Of all the shows that Alex has had to take over, the Daily Giz Wiz is probably the hardest, with all the jingles, gadgets, letters, and the final tagline.

Dead and Alive
John Groucho Fish corrects Dick and Leo about their announcement of the recent death of a Laugh-In cast member (Episode 928).  It was Henry Gibson who died, not Arte Johnson.

FM Transmitter
Dan Linda, who has an X10-controlled daughter (Episode 918), has written in response to the question in Episode 921 about the best FM frequencies to use for FM transmitters in the car.  Now that the FCC has turned off the analogue TV channels, Dan has found that the best channel to use is 87.7.

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