Episode 910

Cool Wagon
Watch Dick demonstrate the Cool Wagon on this short video clip (excerpt from odtv.me).



Dedication, Determination, Devotion
Scott, who's probably Scott Brocks who last wrote in Episode 506 and whose service in the armed forces has taken him to the UK, Germany and Iraq, is at present posted at Wellington, New Zealand.  With a little girl in the family, Scott ordered the Good Nite Lite (Episode 801) with an international credit card, had it posted to a US address, sent over to New Zealand, only to find that it got a US plug, bought an adapter, then discovered that it was rated 110V, purchased a transformer to run the light at 230V, and finally got it to work.  That's dedication, determination and devotion for you.

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Episode 909

The Cost of Gadget Development
Lionel Robitaille, inventor of the Box-Buddy, explains to Dick that the idea came to him in his sleep in 1990, did nothing about it until 1995, applied for a utility patent which took two years.  The total cost to date, including his current stock, is $250,000.

Box-Buddy
Lint-Free Cow Catcher
Speaking of gadget invention, how about a lint-free cow catcher, suggests Dick, and they can always get Eric Shank from Wild Planet to lend them the Dimension 3D Printer to make a prototype.

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Episode 908

A Podcast Fit for a Corgi
Paul Newell from Yucaipa, California asks Dick and Leo for a favour.  For his recent 50th birthday, he received from his wife Teri a new exercise machine in the form of a new corgi puppy, the Queen's favourite animal.  The corgi needs a daily walk of 45 minutes.  Paul wants to the listen to the Daily Giz Wiz on the way out, and an Audible book on the way back.  Could Dick and Leo oblige him by making the podcasts exactly 22 and a half minutes long?

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Episode 907

Axia PowerStation and Element
The new sound board at TWiT Cottage, courtesy of Telos, with the PowerStation which is a computer system, and the Element 2.0 which is the control surface.

Axia PowerStation and Element

Acoustibuds
Leo was going to do the Acoustibuds, even checked on Ludwik's GizWizSearch (which returned a negative result), only to find that they had been covered by Dick in Episode 806.  In the video here (from odtv.me), you can watch Leo search high and low for a gadget, and see the Axia console in action at the TWiT Cottage.

Prototype 3D Printer
In Episode 901, Dick referred to his tour at Wild Planet and the prototype 3D printer there, which costs $35,000.  Jayzee, or Toyota Boy, knows it well, as there is one at the engineering firm he works at.  His firm uses the Dimension Elite 1200es and suggests listeners go to Popular Mechanics‘ site where one can find Jay Leno explaining how to make replicas of old car parts.  The folks at Wild Planet use a similar model and love it, as they attest to it (and other things they love) in Make Magazine.

Dimension BST 3D Printer
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Episode 906

Terms of Endearment
When Dick and Jennifer finally met this time in Petaluma, they got on like a house on fire.  They now email each other directly, completely bypassing Leo and Eva.  Now Dick calls her Jen.  Terms of endearment?  A Cancun checking account?  Slow down, Dick!

The New Sound Board
With the help of Colleen and the Telos team including Kirk Harnack and Milos Nemcik, and a few sleepless nights later, the new digital sound board on loan from Axia is now in place, and playing the Festive Letters Jingle in stereo.  It’s Christmas time at TWiT Cottage.

The main components of the new sound system are the PowerStation and a control interface called Elements 2.  For more details, read Leo’s blog post on the new set-up, “State of the TWiT 2009″.  If you want to know more, catch the video over at odtv.me, where Leo talks to Kirk Harnack about the new system.

TWiT Palace
Kevin Selle suggests, for the TWiT Home Office, TWiT Palace in Boucherville, Quebec, Canada.  Not exactly a town or village, it’s a famous pet centre in Canada.  A good opportunity for Leo to show off his French accent.

A Pregnant Goldfish
Somehow, a “twit” also means “a pregnant goldfish”.  For more, check back at Episode 589.

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