Episode Guide
Well that's silly - we ran out of data space on one page for all the episodes, so we started a second page. Only now are we realizing that you the viewer were not seeing that change and the new episodes were not showing up. Our bad.
Week of November 9, 2009 - Show 547
iStockphoto.com is a great place to find inexpensive stock photography for your website. It's also where professional photographers can make a little money too. Plus we'll show you how photographs uploaded to Flickr under Creative Commons are being used everywhere online. You won't make any money doing it, but it's fun to see your work used elsewhere.
An organization called Itri shows off a paper speaker (really!) , we love the Asus video phone, and Mothers form a clique at mothersclick.com
Week of November 2, 2009 - Show 546
We take a look at how Ford is expanding its Sync computer system to less expensive cars. The San Jose Municipal Golf Course in Silicon Valley uses lots of technology, including Segway Scooters.
nVidia shows off new technology at a recent conference, photographer Chase Jarvis says even the camera in your iPhone can be used for art - and talks about his new book.
Veronica talks about geolocation in your web browser:
Firefox will use nearby wireless access points to determine your location, so it doesn't work if your connection is hardwired, but you have wi-fi, certain websites might ask for your location to give you better results.
Now, Firefox only does this if you accept each request, and doesn't save any of your information, but if you still don't like the idea of your browser knowing where you are and want to disable this feature completely, there's a quick fix.
Just head to the about:config page, scroll to geo.enabled and double click to change it to false.
Week of October 26 - Show 545
repeat
Week of October 19 - Show 544
Netgear shows off its new Stora, NAS for the masses. 8x8 is hiring and we go green with solar powered recharging stations for the relatively non existant electric car.
Veronica suggests the website routerpasswords.com for those who forgot their router's default password. Laurence takes a look at three games, Daisy Fuentes Pilates, My Sims Agent and Dead Space Extraction.
Find out how to make your own 3D movies at Four Minute Film School.
Vicki shows us the concern about iJango.com and our website of the week is a video on YouTube of a guy just beside himself over Michael Jackson.
Week of October 12, 2009 - Show 543
a repeat of 522
Week of October 5, 2009 - Show 542
Hewlett Packard has a new digital photoframe it calls the DreamScreen. It also has a new notebook called the "Envy", which is under four pounds.
TV maker Hannspree is trying its hand at a netbook computer. Tyrese Gibson is experimenting with digital comic books, we have a closer look at the new PSPGo, NHL 10 from Electronic Arts and NHL2K10 from 2K Sports.
Website of the week is Brizzly.
Week of September 28, 2009 - Show 541
Animoto, which turns your photographs into neat music videos, has added the ability to use short video clips as well. Super cool.
We take a look at all the ways you can connect with friends via online gaming with Bigfoot Networks, check in with the money managers at mint.com, and test a credit card reader for your home.
Plus NetGear has a new box to deliver video from the internet to your TV called Digital Entertainer Live.
BAE Systems creates a new military truck called the Caiman MRAP, we speculate on the price cuts ahead for Playstation3, and Veronica suggests oldversion.com as our website of the week.
Week of September 21, 2009 - Show 540
repeat
Week of September 14, 2009 - Show 539
Jakks Pacific has a new night vision toy called the Eyeclops Infrared Steath Binoculars and no kidding: they work. Real night vision. While they don't amplify light the way military grade devices do, they do see in the infrared spectrum and they are by far the best toy we've tested so far this year. Note there are two different versions of this product: the older version which straps on your head and the newer handheld version. You want the newer one.
Week of September 7, 2009 - Show 538
repeat
Week of August 31, 2009 - Show 537
Electronic Arts decorates its campus with GI Joe stuff in honor of the game and the movie. Speaking of movies, we take a look at skinnipopcorn.com, which summarizes Twittered movie reviews.
GadgetTrack helps find your stuff if its lost or stolen, a company called Ride Charge creates an iPhone app called Taxi Magic and Asus shows off a new (but yet unreleased) keyboard only computer.
Plus we take a look at the educational music game Groovy City.
Week of July 11, 2009 - Episode 529
We really like the Plantronics Voyager Pro earpiece, though it looks ridiculous. Works great.
We travel to Industrial Light and Magic to check out Transformers 2 and over to EA for the latest Harry Potter video game. Toto makes low flow toilets (yes, we do an interview about toilets), we try out the excellent Flight Control for iPhone.
Website of the week is the very creative LinkedNow.
Episode Guide Page 2
Previous shows:
The week of July 6, 2009 - Show #529
The Verizon Mifi is a credit card sized device that turns a cellular data signal into a WiFi signal for five users. You can use it to set up a hotspot anywhere.
The 140 Conference is full of twits and a guy uses the internet to try to sell houses in a terrible housing market.
Veronica shows Vista users how to better manage installed programs.
Driver's Edge is a racing school in Texas, author Douglas Rushkoff uses the internet to complement his new book and our website of the week is hunch.com
The week of June 22, 2009 (as well as June 29) - Show #528
Note this episode will not be seen at its regular time on Saturday in the San Francisco coverage due to KNTV's coverage of the San Francisco Giants. It will be seen again the week of June 29.
Nintendo has a new walking game (yes, you read that right) that combines a pedometer with your Nintendo DS. It works on dogs too.
Super cool story: meet the guy who names just about everything, from Febreze to Swiffer to Blackberry.
Reviews of the new Palm Pre and the video game Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. We take a look at the dubious Slot Radio from SanDisk and have a preview of the game Need for Speed: Shift.
How do video bloggers always know what to say? They use a TelePrompTer. An anti-procrastination app prevents you from spending too much time on Facebook and Veronica shows us how to turn Wikipedia into a screen saver:
"Just head on over to rectanglered.com/screensaver.php, and click the download link. Once it's installed, rightclick on your desktop, choose properties - or Personalize if you're in Vista - click screensaver, and you'll see "Wikipedia" in your dropdown menu. You can change the interval at which it changes pages, and you can even set it to kill Firefox and/or IE when it activates."
Plus a look at a USB equipped record player, a quick booting computer OS and our website of the week is NetNews Daily.
The week of June 15, 2009 - Show #527
A repeat of show #463
The week of June 8, 2009 - Show #526
Note this episode will not be seen at its regular time on Saturday in the San Francisco coverage due to KNTV's coverage of the San Francisco Giants.
Seagate has a new device that allows you to move video, pictures and music from your computer's hard drive to your television.
Hulu adds software called Hulu desktop that lets you interact with the fabulously wonderful website at a distance and we go back for another look at electric motorcylce maker Zero Motorcycles.
The ever charming Veronica points out that if you log into Google, you have a history of your searches, which can be a good thing. And sometimes not so good.
The number of people who only use cell phones is now greater than the number of people who only use landlines.
A guy claims he came up with Facebook first sues the social network, we take a look at Sims3 and Microsoft's new Natal (so cool!).
Game reviewer Laurence Scott takes a look at Wolverine the video game, Battlefield 1943 comes one step closer to reality and guinea pigs fight evil in G-Force.
Fisker shows off its new plug in hybrid, and we re-visit the solar company Sungevity.
Website of the week is the super cool Posterous, which lets you send an email that updates your Twitter, Facebook and blog all at once. Sweet!
The week of June 1, 2009 - Show #525
Geomate Jr. is our favorite new invention, joining the Sonos music player, the TiVo and Netflix in our list of all time greatest things. It's a GPS unit with geocache locations built in, meaning you just take it to a park or open space, switch it on, and you're geocaching. A great gift for families that aren't very technically minded.
Stanford University has an Apple iPhone App class, which you can download.
The T-Mobile Sidekick LX 2009 comes with Twitter and Facebook built in, Leapfrog makes a Blackberry for toddlers and Google has all kinds of new search functions.
We return to Industrial Light and Magic to go behind the scenes of the really great movie Star Trek and the really lousy movie Terminator Salvation.
Our game reviewer Laurence goes to the mat with two games, Legends of Wrestlemania and UFC 2009 from THQ.
We compare the new Flip Ultra HD with the Creative Vado HD and see how women may be better gadget shoppers than men.
The website of the week is DTV.gov because there are just days til the switch to digital TV. After that, we're never ever mentioning the whole thing ever again.
The week of May 25, 2009 - Show #524
We test the latest Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner from iRobot which claims to be better on pet hair.
BAE Systems wants to be sent to Iraq - it invents a new troop carrier and hopes the Defense Department will buy them.
We play around with Samsung's Memoir - it's either a phone with a great camera, or a great camera with a mediocre phone - and the latest Peek email device.
Gaming genius David Foley's newest company, NanoTech Entertainment, makes a virtual pinball table. Yes, the ball is really video, but you stop noticing after just a few minutes. It's fabulous. If you can't afford the $6,000 price tag, there's a cheaper joystick like device as well.
Red Octane's Kai Huang talks about inventing Guitar Hero. Yahoo shows off some strange picture taking bicycles and grass munching sheep.
Website of the week is Commoncraft.
The week of May 18, 2009 - Show #523
A repeat of show #508
The week of May 11, 2009 - Show #522
A repeat of show 463.
The week of May 4, 2009 - Show #521
And we're back! At least for now, as we restructure the way we put the show together.
In this week's all fresh episode, we travel to Marvell to see a computer inside a plug. Just plug it into the wall for power, attach a cable to your router, and you have a computer accessible from anywhere.
Bump Technologies lets you trade data on our iPhone by "bumping" the phones together.
BumpTop is a new GUI for your computer that changes the look of your desktop.
Googlesightseeing.com is a great place to find interesting stuff on Google maps, including what seems to be a Google car hitting a bridge (in fact the mast that carries the camera is simply folded back for the car to go under the bridge).
We take another look at "virtual conferences" with On24.
Vernonica has this Techzilla tip:
"Firefox add on PDFit allows you to save a site as a PDF file. Great for saving a copy of bills you paid online."
Our website of the week celebrates 50 years of NASA. One note - in the tv episode we show a picture of Buzz Aldrin while talking about Neil Armstrong. A miscommunication in editing is to blame. There are no good still photographs of Neil Armstrong on the moon - he had the camera and took pictures of Aldrin.
The weeks of March 23 - April 20 - Shows #515 to #519
We will run repeats these weeks as we are often pre-empted in our first run by Giants baseball and other sports. Back with new episodes the week of April 27 and show #520!
Week of March 16, 2008 - Show #514
Veeple wants to put advertising inside online videos. You can see examples of it at work here.
Splashtop is speeding your computer's boot time. It launches a Linux OS while you're waiting for your regular Windows OS to start, allowing you access to some functionality (like web browsing) right away. Because the Splashtop application can reside in flash memory, it's nearly instant.
Speaking of faster boot time, Veronica points out if you have a multi-core system, you can reduce your startup time by reducing the number of cores that boot:
She says: "Open the run dialog, and type msconfig. Select the boot tab, and click advanced. From there, you'll be able to choose how many cores you want windows to boot up with. Remember, this only works if your PC has a multi core processor. If you have an older machine you won't be able to select any additional cores. But if you own a recent PC you should be good to go."
Geron is cheering the controversial decision to allow federal funding of stem cell research using human embryos. Mills College is making beautiful music using computers, and Laurence has a review of MLB2K9.
On Hulu, Dorm Life is a cool new show, Zoomback helps you get your stuff back, and IronPort is warning of a new IRS phishing scam.
Website of the week is Abandoned but not Forgotten.
Week of March 9, 2009 - Show #513
With more and more devices using WiFi, it makes sense to put your firewall and web monitoring software on the home's router instead of on a computer. That way parents can monitor internet use throughout the house instead of just on one particular computer. Trend Micro stops by to show us how it works on a Linksys router.
Adobe says its popular .pdf file format may be vulnerable to virus writers.
How do you impress a boss, if you're a telecommuter and have never met that person? Garvin Thomas answers that question, while Scott McGrew considers something else: how to you kiss up to the boss without doing an ounce of work?
PG&E says it will spend $1.5 billion dollars to encourage the use of solar energy, a company institutes "Facebook Fridays", and we take a trip to Infosys in India.
Machinarium looks like a supercool new video game, EndWar makes it to the PC and Patrick discovers this tip for Gmail users:
"I have just learned that it's easy to find unread mail in Gmail. Just type "is:unread in:inbox" in the search-box to find all unread mail in the inbox. It's also possible to find unread mail from a specific person, by searching for "From: email@domain.com is:unread". You can also choose to view all unread mail, simply by searching for "is:unread"."
Got it?
Daisy wonders why few "live" video events are available on the internet, and our website of the week lists out 99 internet memes you may have missed.
Week of February 23, 2009 - Show #511
Car maker Rinspeed (which recently showed off its transparent car) has a new shapeshifting car. If you're alone, its small. If your mother in law joins you, it widens up to fit. Site uses frames, so we can't link well.
Leapfish is a new way of searching the internet. And Andy Warhol goes on display.
Veronica shows us how to stop Vista from indexing files all the time:
"Open the start menu, type Indexing Options, and hit enter. Click modify, and uncheck the boxes you don't feel need constant indexing. Keep in mind, this will make searching for those files a bit slower, which is why we recommend leaving "start menu" available for indexing, and disabling the rest of it."
3trillion.org is a website with fake gift certificates in protest of the Iraq war, Hope Technology School shows how its helping kids with autism, and Vicky takes one last look at the old analog VCR in the face of the DTV transition.
Week of February 16, 2009 - Show #510
I Found Your Camera is a website that helps people reunite with their lost digital cameras. Find a camera, you upload a picture from the camera's memory card to the site. Lost a camera, you check the site for one of your pictures. You wouldn't think something so simple works, but it does.
Anything that can help you find a taxi in San Francisco is a miracle. Ride Charge will not just find the cab, it will call it and even let you pay for the ride electronically.
Smule is a super cool iPhone app developer, home of the Ocarana and the Sonic Lighter.
Laurence Scott has a mixed review for the new MLB video game Front Office Manager. But the game Flame-Sim is super cool. It's a simulator for firefighters.
Plus inside MAP Pharmaceuticals, the history of Pixar, and the new Skype 4.0.
Website of the week is the TED Conference and all its cool videos.
Week of February 9, 2009 - Show #509
We try out a propane powered string trimmer - turns out propane is safer, more fuel efficient and less polluting than gas powered garden tools.
We go inside Google headquarters to see the improvements to Google Earth and to Netflix to talk about how business is going during the recession.
Veronica shows us how to prevent a computer mouse from waking your laptop and Laurence reviews the latest basketball video games.
(from Veronica: in Windows, go to the Control Panel, then navigate to Mouse and select the Hardware Tab - Highlight the mouse and hit properties choose the Power Management Tab and uncheck "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby.)
Bigstage.com is a website that lets you put your face in the movies, Quirkyalone.com celebrates singles, and our website of the week is letsgoflying.com
Week of February 2, 2009 - Show #508
Engineer Ryan Rose has hooked his washing machine up to Twitter. Now when his laundry is done, the whole world knows about it.
Meet YouTube rappers Lil Yani and Dlabrie. They have new songs about Barack Obama.
The author of Born Digital says kids know much more about online safety than we give them credit for, Intel shows off the Classmate, and One Laptop Per Child struggles.
Games: we LOVE the game crayon physics and we have a preview of Spore Galactic Adventures.
TV's with "lasers" inside! Except they're real lasers. We just put the quotes around it because we're doing that annoying "reference a movie" thing.
Searchme helps laid off employees find new jobs.
Brightstorm is our website of the week. It helps kids pass the SAT and get good grades on To Kill a Mockingbird.
Week of January 26, 2009 - Show #507
Ultra Motor makes an electric bike that will not make you look like a dweeb. Goes 20 miles on one charge and is totally fun to ride. Zero Motorcycles takes it a step further with an electric dirt bike.
Dreamworks shows off its new movie Monsters vs. Aliens, and MobiTV has a new service called Mobi4Biz for your Blackberry Bold.
Veronica shows us how to rip free ringtones for the iPhone, Citrix encourages companies to let employees use their own laptops at work, and we take a look at home phones with cell phone-like features.
A Silicon Valley church will pray for you, just ask Post a Prayer. And find a place to crash on the road at Couchsurfing.com
Week of January 19, 2009 - Show #506
A company called Kaleidescape has a new entertainment server that rips your DVD's and distributes the movies (music too!) throughout your house.
Bushnell has a GPS device that can help you find your car, the awesome website Photojojo is selling something called the Super Secret Spy Lens, and AVermedia has a great WiFi solution for home secrurity cameras.
A website called Girlambition.com claims to keep younger internet users safe online.
In the Gamers' Edge segment we take a look at girls games from Ubisoft, a Sharks hockey player plays Risk online, and we really like the Wii game "The Price is Right".
Website of the Week is the awesome game Crayon Physics.
Week of January 12, 2009 - Show #505
A repeat of Show 487.
Week of January 5, 2009 - Show #504
Well here's an irony: our "end of the year show" last week where we point out our favorite websites, the best gadgets and inventions, the one where we told people "hey, we picked you for best of the year" and got them all excited.. was pre-empted by NFL football.
Sure, the episode actually did run once, at 12:30am Sunday in San Francisco, according to our records.
So we're going to run it again. Yes, some of you - the insomniacs, the late night studiers, the bar flies - will have seen this espisode before. But for the rest of you, brand new.
So why, if we're running episode 503 again are we calling it 504? Looks good to the guys who pay us each week.
Week of December 29, 2008 - Show #503
We reveal our best and worst of 2008! Plus Laurence shows us the technology of beer drinking, or at least that's what he claims he was doing all day at Gordon Biersch.
Machinima is a combination of machine and cinema - it's using video games to create movies.
Daisy takes a look at the difference between the social networks of men and women.
Zenn Motor makes a car-like vehicle that will let you skip the gas station.
Introversion Software tries to improve its already super cool Defcon video game, Veronica shows you how to strip metadata from your pictures, and Asylum.com lists the five geekist moments of the year.
Two - count 'em, two - websites of the week. Buy the props from Battlestar Galactica and check out the cavemen at Cavedudez.com
Week of December 22, 2008 - Show #502
Once more we're going to talk about the switch from analog television broadcasts to digital broadcasts in February. This is a major issue for people who have older TV sets and get their television from an antenna - after February they will not be able to recieve any television. If you have elderly family members visiting for the holidays, now would be a good time to make sure they're set for the digital switch.
Check our main page for "how to" videos to hook up a converter box or how your VCR may be effected. Also check out DTV.gov and Antennaweb.org.
Week of December 15, 2008 - Show 501
With Steve Jobs in the news, we take another look at the Apple CEO's genius. Plus behind the scenes at Crackle.com, Segway scooters on the golf course and a talk with William Gibson about the origins of the word "cyberspace".
Website of the week is Chickipedia.com
Week of December 8, 2009 - Show #500!
Holy Moley, 500 shows!
Scott Budman says we're humble yet proud of our accomplishment, which could not have happened without the talents of many people, some of whom have come and gone over the years. Including, but certainly not limited to, editor Jeff Stewart, former editors Brad Williams, Don Hardy, John Chiala, Bart Bishoff and Brian Foote.
We tried to come up with some good tag lines for our 500th show, here are some of our top possibilities:
- Like G4, but without the attractive hosts
- Like Petstore.com, but with more profits and fewer puppets
- 10 years! Same tech news, less hair!
- We've lasted 10 times longer than Webvan!
In this week's show, we take a look at the Flip Mino HD, which lets you shoot 720 high definition video for less than $250. We really like the Peek email device, sort of a Blackberry for the non-technical.
Plus skins to protect your gadgets from Bodyguardz and a look behind the scenes at Walking With Dinosaurs.
An Oakland Raider plays Guitar Hero, Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum gets mocapped, and Veronica shows us how to be a Windows superadministrator. Website of the week is the virtual conference Unisfair.com
Week of December 1, 2008 - Show #499
We start with some more kids on set who play with little stocking stuffer robots called Hexbugs.
Then we take a look at a really cool gadget called the Easy Bloom Plant Sensor, which will tell you which plants will (and which will not!) grow in your garden. Great gift.
Kids in England are nuts over the iTeddy, but does its DVD ripping software break American rules?
Meet the founders of the website Icanhascheezeburger.com. They're out with a new book.
Dream Arcades brings in its latest must have video game cabinet, that combines drinking and driving.
Make sure you're only driving a video game when you've been drinking, or you will be sitting in the back of this new state of the art police car.
Little Big Planet is a cool game for PS3 (though its website causes our computer to slow), Prince of Persia is out for nearly every platform, and Mirror's Edge is the first game to feature parkour.
Patrick shows you how to get the run command in Windows Vista, we take a look at the daycare/office idea at Cubes and Crayons, and the website of the week is Peoplejam.com
Week of November 24, 2008 - Show #498
We visit a really cool scientist at Stanford, Dr. Karl Deisseroth, who has figured out how to control the brains in worms and mice. He uses an algae which responds to certain wavelengths of light by creating electricity. Get that algae in brain cells, shine a light on the cell, and you can turn neurons on and off. You need to see it to believe it.
When the iPhone first came out, Apple said it would not open the operating system to third party programmers. Obviously that changed. We'll visit a venture capital firm that's backing companies that create new "apps" for the iPhone.
Forget the Blackberry Storm - no Wifi and no real-life keyboard. Big boys (and girls) use the new Blackberry Bold. We'll take a closer look.
Silicon Valley company In Sound completely rethinks the hearing aid with the Lyric. It's like contact lenses for your ears.
Plus, SanDisk creates an interesting way to carry TV shows around, TiVo helps you order pizza, Laurence reviews basketball video games and Patrick shows you how to select many files in Windows without the control key.
Tip of the website hat this week goes to ichooz.tv.
Week of November 17, 2008 - Show #497
We get ourselves inside a GameStop as the store opens at midnight for the sale of Call of Duty: World at War. We also get into the super secret GameStop back room to see the boxed up games everyone's waiting for. And all the junk they store in the breakroom. Eww.
The guys at McAfee take a look at zombie computers, Intuit helps small businesses, and we check out the super cool photo editing website Picnik. Plus, the HP camera that will make you look thinner.
Alberta Straub acts a little impaired but in fact is totally sober when she makes cocktails on her video podcast "Cocktails on the Fly".
Wii Music lets you play instruments using your Wiimote. Cool stuff. Laurence Scott takes a look at the virtual trading of athletes for real money at OneSeason.com.
As part of our countdown to the 500th episode.. we'll show you a nearly 10 year old report we did on an "instant money" service that eventually would become PayPal.
And our website of the week is TVtrip.com where you can see video of hotels before you book them.
Week of November 10, 2008 - Show #496
Author and New York Times reporter Matt Richtel writes a novel on the Twitter service. Not about Twitter, on Twitter. If you would like to catch up with what's happened so far, check out his website. And you can also buy his traditional paper and ink book, Hooked.
Yelp has so many reviews, it has to make a change. TiVo adds Netflix on Demand, and we try out and like two new devices, the Monsoon Hava and the Hauppauge DVR.
Plus a closer look at iPhone apps, Tom Clancy's Endwar, the new Tomb Raider adventure and Bejeweled Twist.
Veronica tells us how to get rid of programs when your computer starts up, Laurence eats at LinkedIn, and we review the new Pandigital "Kitchen Technology Center".
Website of the week isn't really a website, it's a web browser called Flock.
Week of November 3, 2008 - Show #495
You can't miss this week's show! We take a look at the Guitar Zeros - a band that plays rock and roll using Guitar Hero guitars. They're awesome. Find some concert clips on our site, visit their site, read all about them in Make Magazine, and find out how to turn your own Guitar Hero (or RockBand) guitar into a musical instrument.
Data Dots can protect your stuff. It's paint that contains little glitter sized bits of plastic that contain a special code unique just to you. You paint a little spot on your gadgets, on your tools, even your car, and now you can prove what's yours is yours.
Mint.com helps you keep track of your money, we compare the iPhone with the so-called gPhone, and kids in India benefit from any kind of phone.
Patrick shows us how to organize our Windows folders into groups, Laurence Scott eats out at Facebook, and our website of the week is Armor Games, home of one of the weirdest flash games ever.
Week of October 27, 2008 - Show #494
With just days until the election, we take a look at the accuracy and value of using large groups to predict the outcome of events, both political and silly.
Daisy gives us a round up of the best political viral videos, and the website Living Room Candidate has some really neat old political advertisements.
Dot com startup LaLa tries a new tack: cloud computing meets music. Electronic Arts is out with Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, Adobe sends us to the bank to afford the spectacular new Creative Suite 4, and Patrick shows us how to disable Windows Vista's user account control.
Laurence eats out at Yahoo (shortly before the company lays off 1,500) and a couple of entrepreneurs go from funding high tech to baking cupcakes.
The Website of the Week nod goes to the akwardly named econewonline.com where you can trade in your old gadgets for gift cards.
Week of October 20, 2008 - Show #493
We take a special look at Leonardo Da Vinci this week. The Tech Museum has a special exhibit that will be your only American opportunity to take a look at the exclusive collection on loan from the Istutio e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence Italy.
Sony has a new e-book device, Daisy takes a look at how authors are using video trailers to promote their books, and we talk to author Mark Stone about how he uses the internet to market his book Hacking Hollywood.
The folks from Nero show off their software that lets you put a TiVo interface on your computer, plus we give a glowing review to Real DVD, which lets you copy DVDs right to your hard drive. Sadly, you can't download it for now - the courts have put a temporary restraining order on the software.
Laurence Scott takes us to the kitchens at Google and Patrick shows us how to screw up the screen on a Mac and a PC.
For those of you who want the keystrokes: to "reverse" the screen on a Mac, hit control option command 8. To do it on a PC, use alt-left shift- print screen. Same keystroke reverses it.
We look back at 10 years of TechNow with a series of gadgets from 1998, and our websites of the week are both about Leonardo: The Tech Museum and the Istutio e Museo di Storia della Scienza.
Week of October 13, 2008 - Show #492
This week we will run our second "Get the Picture" special where we explain the upcoming switch to digital television broadcasts. If you're not prepared, your TV could go dark in February. And your pets will run away. And your houseplants will die.
So get ready.
This week's episode starts with a look at what will happen: On February 17, 2009, TV stations all over the US will stop broadcasting their analog signal - the same signal they've been broadcasting continuously since the days of I Love Lucy and the Lucky Strike Cigarettes are Good for You News Hour.
If you have an older TV and get your reception via an antenna (rabbit ears or rooftop), you're not going to be able to watch TV unless you buy a new tv, get cable or satellite, or buy a converter box.
In our previous special, Vicki showed you how to hook up a converter box so you could keep using your current TV. But we got lots of mail asking about how to hook up a VCR too, so we sent Vicki back to Radio Shack.
Then we'll look at what cable and satellite customers need to do go "Get the Picture", which is, um, nothing.
We'll also examine the government's plan to hand out vouchers to buy a converter box and how the FCC and community groups are working to make sure that minorities and the elderly (who are most likely to have antenna served analog televisions) get the word about the switch.
Plus, what *is* digital? Is that the same as digital cable? Is it the same as HDTV?
Howie Mandell asks some of the more common questions people have, and we answers.
Our website of the week for more information: DTV.gov
We'll be posting all the videos from the special right here on the site, so if anything confused you or you need to see something again, you can.
And we have a more answers here.
Week of October 6, 2008 - Show #491
We take a look at the new Net radio from Tivoli Audio. It delivers good quality internet radio right to your livingroom in a snazzy wood case.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes us inside his super successful startup, and we go along with a war driving wifi mapper from Skyhook Wireless.
A peculiar idea from a company called DVD Bookshelf, which allows you to "watch" a book on your television. It's really rather odd. The folks from Extreme Networks tell us about the need for speed on the internet, particularly now that video is all the rage.
It's been nearly 10 years since we launched the show, so for the next few episodes we'll take a look back at some of our older stories with a "TechThen" segment. This week we take a look at the stupidity that was shipping dog food through the mail system. Ironically, though PetStore and the rest are gone, you can still do it.
Patrick shows you how to find stuff on your iPod you never listen to. It's more fun to watch him than to read him, but if you couldn't catch everything he said, here's the gist.
Open iTunes. Click File. Go to "New Smart Playlist."
Set the rule to "last played" and "is before".
Set the date to some point before you first bought your iPod.
Make sure the "live update box" as checked.
Now you're good to go with tunes you pretty much never listened to. The best part? If you're running out of room on your iPod, it's a great way to free up space without really noticing any change.
Website of the Week goes to Mimeo.com, which allows you to click/send your documents to a printer in Tennessee. They ship your documents either back to you, or to anyone you specifiy. Great for avoiding the printer ink cost of printing a 500 page pdf.
Week of September 29, 2008 - Show #490
A repeat of show #489 - see below
Week of September 22, 2008 - Show #489
Note: Because of footballl, this episode will run ONLY at 12:30am Saturday, and only in the San Francisco Bay Area. Because of this, we will repeat the episode again next week at its normal time.
A really fabulous documentary about Navy aviators, Speed and Angels, comes to DVD. We have clips and an interview with the movie's director, who started the film knowing nothing about aircraft carriers.
We put our own cameras inside the cockpit of a racing airplane at the Reno Air Races, and take a quick look at the independent film Thunder Over Reno.
The movie critics at YourIndiesAreShowing.com make us laugh as they review independent films online. Plus, the creators of Loney Girl have a new series, called LG15 The Resistance.
Sonos has a new wireless stereo system, Patrick Norton show us how to add options to the "send to" menu in Windows XP, and we take a look at the real life story behind the casual video game Diner Dash.
Week of September 15, 2008 - Show #488
The world's coolest memory chip gets that much cooler. The Eye-Fi chip turns any camera into a WiFi camera and can now geotag pictures.
Crayola has a video camera for kiddies, Asus has a bike mount for its GPS devices and makes the tiny EEE PC notebook and the equally small Ebox desktop computer.
Apple introduces yet more stuff, Multiwinia gets ready to take on the world and Patrick tells us how to launch programs right from the keyboard.
Find out how to borrow money from your friends with Prosper.com. Website of the week award goes to O3bnetworks.
Week of September 8, 2008 - Show #487
We review two new Nikon cameras, the P80 and the Coolpix S600.
New contributor, Tekzilla's own Patrick Norton, returns to TV with a tip about how to find what camera is best for you.
Plus electric dirt bikes, a flashlight with a camera built in, and Daisy visits the set of ManiaTV.
The nod for website of the week goes to Microsoft's new Photosynth.
Week of September 1, 2008 - Show #486
Epocrates is an iPhone application that can help you find drugs, and we mean that in the nice legal way. Also, can someone hijack your phone's bluetooth signal?
Plus making your own wine with the WinePod, silly pet gadgets like the SnackShotz, Tasers for women and a goof proof iron.
Website 'o the Week takes a look at kite photography.
Week of August 25, 2008 - Show #485
A programming note: this episode will not be seen in the San Francisco Bay Area due to coverage of the Giants. We're back to a regular schedule in all cities next week!
Watch the Olympics on NBC
TechNow will not be seen August 9-23 so that NBC can show you the Summer Games from China. We return the week of August 25 with all new episodes. Go USA!
In the San Francisco Bay Area, we're back September 2 - we're prempted for Giants baseball on August 30.
Week of July 28, 2008 - Show #484
We get some help on this week's episode from kids who won a charity auction. Their parents donate money to education, we turn them into stars. The girls (weirdly, both named Emma) help us test out headphones, including the iMuffs Bluetooth headphones from Wi-Gear and the noise cancelling Able Planet Clear Harmony headphones.
JBL has speaker docks for your iPhone, Priceline says it will guarantee the weather for your vacation, and a CEO goes to the North Pole.
On a lighter note, Petside.com lists its strangest pet gadgets, including Snackshots, the pet treat launcher, and yarn made of pet fur.
The political cartoonist for the Economist takes his stuff online, Alien Skin has a great plugin called "Image Doctor 2" for Photoshop, and the hip-hop group PNG gets a lot of attention on MySpace.
Our website of the week is the email management program Xobni. (It's inbox spelled backwards)
Week of July 14, 2008 - Show #482
You know how tuner-dudes add all those instruments to the dashboard of their cars? A Silicon Valley gauge maker figured the rest of us could use a new instrument - one that tells us if we're driving efficiently.
Here's a strange idea: put some bumps on the road. When you drive over them, you generate electricity.
Daisy takes a look at citizen journalists and some contests on MSNBC.com.
Intel's out with its new Centrino2, which will use less power to let you watch Blu-Ray DVD's without recharging every few minutes.
LeapFrog has a pen that can read children's books, we take a look at Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and WarGames is back in theaters.
Video of text messaging kids in (simulated) car crashes. Website of the week is Wetpaint, and because we know you're looking for it, here's the website with Bond Girl navels.
Week of July 7, 2008 - Show #481
An inventor claims its not how fast your heart beats, but the regularity between beats that indicate stress. We try out the emWave Personal Stress Reliever.
Wall-E creator Andrew Stanton (who was also the genious behind Finding Nemo) talks about his summer blockbuster.
Instructions here to set your TiVo to record all of the American Film Institute's top 100 movies, and here to try out TiVo's new Swivel Search.
You say tomato, I say "full of icky germs". With produce redflagged for salmonella, we'll show you technology from Purfresh that can clean produce with ozone.
Electronic drum kit maker ION Audio says all those new video games, like Rock Band, are stirring up interest in real musical instruments.
Fresno ball girl video on YouTube? Totally fake. Daisy takes a look at other videos online that might not be as real as they seem to be.
Yelp says it deletes some users' business reviews. Merchant Circle gives businesses total control over their consumers' reviews.
Week of June 30, 2008 - Show #480
(This is a repeat in Los Angeles and San Diego, but freshies for San Francisco!)
Meet a guy who built New York City in his kitchen window.
A cop who invented flameless road flares. Classic quote: "So Grandma's had a fender bender, her gas tank is leaking, I light a flare and boom goes the Cadillac".
A camera that isn't just auto-focus, it's all-focus. Check out the startup that's using the technology.
Website of the Week: the always intoxicating (and sometimes intoxicated) Cocktails on the Fly podcast.
Week of June 23, 2008 - Show #479
We're on the road to India this week! It's totally a repeat! But a darn good episode.
Week of June 16, 2008 - Show #478
We take a look at the history of Pixar. Did you know the world famous movie studio started as a hardware company?
Plus we'll take a look Synaptics, the company that puts the "touch" in your technology. Author William Gibson talks about his new book Spook Country and how he came up with the word "cyberspace" and why no one says it anymore.
Golfers use the Segway Scooter instead of a golf cart, and Stanford researchers show you what you look like if you keep up the diet.
Our website of the week is Genwi.com
Week of June 9, 2008 - Show #477
Programming note: In the San Francisco Bay Area (KNTV) TechNow will be seen Saturday at 9pm due to NBC's coverage of golf.
A true gadget for you this week: Fake TV. It's a small LED lamp that flickers and flashes just like a real television does. You leave it running while you're away, and burglars think you're home watching TV.
Students at Santa Clara University develop robots that may someday rescue people in emergencies, and we take a look back at the world's first independent robot, Shakey, which you can see at the Computer History Museum.
If your iPod needs fixing, we recommend RapidRepair.com. Its young CEO flies in from Kalamzoo to talk to us.
We'll take a look at how high tech is helping good causes with a Facebook app called Causes, as well as a competition to find the best non-profit startup.
Guitar Hero is coming to the Nintendo DS with Guitar Hero On Tour, and Daisy realizes while people are watching less TV, they're just watching the same video online.
With the times as tough as they are, we take a look at a website that doesn't encourage you to buy a new car.
Week of June 2, 2008 - Show #476
Motorola has a new hands-free device that doesn't make you look like a dork from Star Trek. Plus we will take you to Google show show you how an elementary schoolgirl won the "Doodle 4 Google" contest.
A California lawmaker wants to free up state money to study the possiblity of legalizing online poker, and we test drive the Wienermobile.
Daisy is back with a look at how celebrities are putting their own material online, and we take a look at pulse jets, from the old Nazi V1 missles (cool display at the soon to reopen Seattle Flying Heritage Collection) to the videos you can find on YouTube. Also, the super-cool Make Magazine has its top notch Weekend Projects guy build a Jam Jar Jet, which is really a pulse jet. Discovery Channel, you need to snap this guy up.
Week of May 26, 2008 - Show #475
Programming note: in San Francisco (KNTV) this show will be seen Saturday night at approximately 8:30pm following Giants Clubhouse.
Leander Kahney is back on the show talking about Steve Jobs and the his new book Inside Steve's Brain. We pull out all kinds of old clips of Jobs - man we have a lot of them.
The toy division of Disney shows us its new Wall-E robot, just in time for the release of that movie. Errol Morris, director of such flims as Fog of War and The Thin Blue Line talks about his new effort, Standard Operating Procedure.
We'll take a look at how the Wii Fit is creating new fans of videogames (Hi, Mom!) and play with the Pleo, a robot dinosaur. We'll also show you how Jessica Alba is using the website I Beat You.
Our website of the week is Shine, which bizarrely is not at Shine.com. What's up with that?
Week of May 19, 2008 - Show #474
Charles Babbage invented the world's first computer. But he never actually built it. Leave it to modern day inventors to do that. You can see Babbage's "Difference Engine #2" at the Computer History Museum.
We examine the latest version of Apple TV, Ixia handles network testing, we have a look at a private collection of tanks, and DNA dating with Scientificmatch.com.
Our website of the week: That Phone Guy pretends to talk on the phone. (Some content slightly NSFW). But Bob Newhart did it first.
Week of May 12, 2008 - Show #473
(Because sports pre-empted a previous show in every market we run in, we cherrypicked a few good stories from that previous episode and sprinkled them in here. And then we went and got coffee.)
We revisit some of the ideas and technology that just a few years ago were in their infancy. Now, they're blockbusters.
Nelson and Natalie were podcasters just a few years ago - now they're stars on Xbox360.
Flip Video started as a rather silly disposable video camera. Now it's reusable and has a major market share.
K2 Network decides free is the new way to sell video games, so find out how that works. Electronic Arts is trying something similar with the not-yet-released Battlefield Heroes.
M3Pod is a Windows based way to control your home. Trapster tells you where the speed traps are, and VoterVoter is our website of the week.
Week of May 5, 2008 - Show #472
We go behind the scenes of the making of Iron Man to show you some of the cool CG technology.
i2i is a transmitter/receiver that fits between your iPod and your headphones and broadcasts your iPod's music to other i2i users. It works incredibly well. Cheesy YouTube commericials about it here.
Eos is a wireless stereo system for iPod, Loopt is phone software that will help you find your friends and Mobio will help you find cheap gas.
Beamz is a strange music playing.. thing. Super cheesy YouTube commerical about it here. Firebox sells the USB Missile Launcher. OnStar will stop a stolen car, 2kSports will soon release Prize Fighter, and our website 'o the week is 3trillion.org.
Week of April 28, 2008 - Show #471
The world comes together to rap on the website Dopetracks. It's a place where musicians can upload mixes and vocalists can upload their ryhmes. The community then votes on the mash-uped results.
We're behind the scenes with rocker Jon Bon Jovi at his concert to see how all those video screens and lights work, and we'll show you how San Francisco band Oranger is using Apple's GarageBand.
JetBlue goes Brazillian with a new jet, so we come on board to check it out. And the guys at Global Imagination have a cool new digital globe.
Sungevity can help you decide whether solar is right for you, and we picked our own website as Website of the Week. So no link to it - you're on it right now. Yes, it's a shameful thing to do, but our new website really makes us happy. Make sure to check out the "voice our credits" page, and you can be on our show!
Week of April 21, 2008 - Show #470
(Many of you did not see this episode due to sports coverage on NBC. Note many of the stories have already been posted online, and we podcast the stories as well, check out iTunes and search for "TechNow".)
The fellows at iHound Software stop by to show us a free software solution that will flash up your name on the computer whenever your iPod is connected - in hopes it will help you get your iPod back if its lost or stolen. It will also tattle on the guy who's hooked it up, sending you information on the bad guy's IP address.
Strange, but you can create your own political ad and then buy time on TV stations to run it all without leaving your computer. Check out VoterVoter.
You thought Google was a strange word - some ex-Googlers start their own company and call it Ooyala. One of them explains its "the world cradle in Telugu". Oh, that clears it up.
We find an excuse to show the Big Dog video again, as well as a Big Dog knockoff, and take a look at the controversial video feature at Flickr.
A return visit to podcasters Nelson and Natalie at their new gig doing video for Microsoft Xbox 360, Firebox starts selling the 1970's era Stylophone, and our website of the week is LocateTV.
Week of April 14, 2008 - Show #469
If you're a regular viewer, you will see this week's show is a little different. It's a half hour special dedicated to examining the big digital switch that will come in Feburary of next year. We're back to our usual format next week.
If you saw the program on a station outside of San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles or San Diego, welcome.
We offered this episode to all NBC stations throughout the nation so they could help you understand the changes ahead in television transmissions. We hope you enjoyed it.
In fact, you should call up your local TV station and say "my goodness, I really enjoyed that TechNow program and you should offer it every week". If your local TV station picks up the show, and you can somehow prove you had something to do with it, we will totally send you a t-shirt.
- Links from this week's show:
Week of April 7, 2008 - Show #468
Our intern gets some camera time this week trying out some weird gadgets, and one of our viewers ends up on the cover of People magazine after she loses a ton of weight using Peertrainer.com.
SRI, which among other things invented the computer mouse, shows us a new idea to help wounded soldiers.
The website of the week is a place where - for a fee - you can find any answer: Ask Me Now.
Week of March 31, 2008 - Show #467
The Logitech Webcam Fusion allows you to stick virtual stuff on your face, like a pair of glasses.
They're getting the band back together: Chaingarden is a band made up of engineers. Yet they still somehow rock.
Radio Shack as a way to solve your messy cord problem.
Science writer Simon Singh is the person we want to be when we grow up.
Website o' the week: Photojojo.
About The Show
TechNow is a half hour television show about technology, seen on NBC stations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Details...
Podcasts
Check out our podcasts. Search iTunes for "TechNow" and "NBC"