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.
Leica DISTO The first Leica DISTO was made in 1993. The latest and greatest model is the D8. Here's the history chart of the DISTO.
Leica DISTO History Creative Advertising Joshua O'Connell, who has a marketing background, enjoys listening to Dick and Leo discuss some of the creative wording in advertisements. He works for a newspaper (creating buzz for the Connecticut Post), and has noticed in the paper an ad headlining a new easy-to-use laptop computer for $188. In smaller type, it advises the reader that the computer is for the buyer to keep for another payment of $188. To create a sense of urgency, the ad predicts that at 7.30 in the morning, hordes of people will jam the telephone hotline. It goes on: The computer can be used right out of the box because it's pre-loaded with Windows XP! It's a Comptec.
XPAL Power Energizer has partnered with XPAL Power to introduce 3 new lines of Energi To Go portable power supply products using Lithium Polymer batteries which are lighter, more stable and non-flammable, and can be shaped into any forms (like an iPhone case):
AP series (AP1000 & AP1500) - each charger is just like an ordinary iPhone case with a dock connector into which the phone is slotted.
SP series (SP 1000 & SP2000) - they contain solar cells for using light energy to charge the batteries (which can also take AC).
XP series (from XP600 to XP18000) - the standard line of chargers, with power capacity ratings from 600mAh to a whopping 18,000mAh, weighing from 1.2 oz to 7.9 oz.
Energi To Go AP, SP & XP Series That New Great Invention A warm welcome back, to Phillip White from Chattanooga, Tennessee, who last wrote in Episode 406. Phillip heard in Episode 798 about the Digivina, the ultimate in retro style, and snapped it up in no time. The CD-to-vinyl press certainly impressed Phillip, who has been converting his huge CD collection to vinyls. Check it out at digi-vina.com, and look out for Digivina Portable.
DGW in the Shower The SPI Shower Radio comes with an FM transmitter to plug in your MP3 player (or any audio source with a headphone jack), for transmitting audio from within 50 feet to the bathroom. If, like Tim from southern Australia (Episode 47), you want to listen to the Daily Giz Wiz in the shower, this Shower Radio is the one for you.
Born To Kvetch Peggy Grant is a telecommuter and like Tim, she listens to the show every morning, which gets her off to a great start. She has an Audible book to recommend, Born To Kvetch by Michael Wex, which is all about Yiddish culture.
DrMom on Yiddish After Leo botches the pronunciation of "kvetch", chatroom stalwart DrMom (or Dr Lillian Banchik) decides it's time for a lesson in Yiddish for Leo. She calls in on Skype and explains, among other things, the difference between a shlemiel and a shlimazel. Leo gets it immediately. The shlemiel is the hapless one who spills the soup; the shlimazel is the luckless one who gets the soup all over his lap. We get it too: on TTTT, Leo is the shlemiel and Dick is the shlimazel. Watch the clip here in which Dr Mom expounds the intricacies of the Yiddish language (video from odtv.me):
inMotion iM4 Leo also took with him to China another set of speakers from Altec Lansing, the inMotion iM4 which fold up neatly for travelling, which he might cover in more detail on another TTTT.
Altec Lansing iM4 This Is Why You're Fat Depite Eva's help with his emails, and her very presence in the studio, Leo is still desperately searching for a letter to read. Toyota Boy (Jayzee) comes to the rescue again, and points to the site This Is Why You're Fat, with user-submitted pictures of high-calorie, high-fat dishes, including in particular, the 30,000 calories sandwich. Leo's answer to the question posed by the website is, he used to work at McDonald's.
Leo's Exposé on McDonald's Just before the show starts, Leo has an animated chat with Dick about his first job at McDonald's. Courtesy of odtv.me, watch and listen to Leo's exposé on the shelf life of a hamburger.
UniFunnel The Unifunnel has a pair of pliers with spring torque action. Squeeze the pliers to insert the 4 stabilising prongs into any container or tank opening from 1 ¼” to 2 ¼” in size. Once the prongs are inside, release the pliers. If necessary adjust the height of the rings.
Another DGW Guest Leo's sister Eva, who now helps Leo handle his emails for the TWiT network, is a big MAD fan and used to read the magazine with Leo. She's over at the TWiT Cottage and goes on camera on TWiTlive, to meet Dick on the air for the first time. Dick is surprised to meet a pretty lady, nothing like Leo's description - facial scars, big ears, missing teeth. She's got the face and Leo's got the voice - and the perfect radio face, Dick observes. Video clip from odtv.me.
Steve's Gadget Warehouse Steve Miller, who has often written about his gadget-buying compulsion, has just come back from a vacation in Peru and is catching up with the back catalogue. Dick and Leo are now responsible for Steve's Altec Lansing Orbit, the Striker Magnetic Light Mine, the Stealth Flashlight, the SlushMug, and the Pogo Plug. Fortunately he already had the Dynaflex Powerball Gyroscope and the Logitech Nano VX Mouse, but then again he's just bought 2 pairs of tactical pants. He wants Leo to do more bicycle gadgets, as he has no interest in buying them, to save him some money. Leo suffers from the same affliction. Dick will always remember that when he was covering the Ready Kit Plus (Episode 29), Leo had ordered 5 of them before the end of the show (which was all of 7 minutes).
Back on the Ball Leo is back from his China Tour and it's business as usual at TWiT. Dick and Leo will be back at their Tuesday slot tomorrow recording another 5 episodes of the Daily Giz Wiz on TWiTlive.
July 24, 2009 
