Hi Dick and Chad,
I’ve been meaning to make a Gadget Warehouse video of this item for years. As explained in the video, I finally had an incentive to get it done.
Some additional specs: Released in 1986 at a price of $210 (not including monitor, disk drive, etc.); equivalent to $540 today. 1.79 MHz CPU – 128 KB of RAM, upgradable to 512 KB (which I added later so I could play Rogue with graphical tiles instead of ASCII symbols) – Graphics resolution up to 640×192 (4 colors); at lower resolutions, it could handle 64 colors (not 256 as I said in the video)
I hope you and the audience enjoy this little bit of computing history.
Regards, Max W., Medford, Mass.
See or hear this show: www.gizwiz.tv/episode/1896
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Dick’s Gadget Warehouse & How To Submit Your Video To Win An Autographed Copy of MAD Magazine.
We’d love to include your video in an upcoming Giz Wiz Show! Here’s what we’re looking for! Your home shot video – 2 to 3 minutes long, in any of the following categories:
I bought a piece of crap: Did you buy something you ended up hating? We won’t get you a refund, but we might be able to give a platform to vent your disappointment. Remember, “family friendly” language applies.
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I invented this! Did you invent something? (Or did a friend or relative invent something.) We can’t market it for you, but we can help get the word out. Show us what it is, and how it works. Even if it’s a prototype, you can get our (and the audience) reactions. No professional ads please.
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My Gadget Warehouse: Okay, so you don’t have a warehouse. It doesn’t matter. Just tell us about your favorite old gadget(s). When and where you bought it, and why you’re still hanging on to it.
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My Favorite Gadget (favorite old, or favorite new): Show us what it is, tell us what it does and why you love, or loved it! It can be a new gadget you just bought too.
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Post them on YouTube and send us the link! We’ll do the rest. (Or possibly nothing, but that’s unlikely.) Remember, videos should be just 2 to 3 minutes long! Low production value is fine, but we should be able to hear you and see you! If we select and show your video on The Giz Wiz you’ll earn a tiny amount of fame (hopefully). And if you live in the US, you’ll also get an autographed 38+ year old Alfred E. Neuman picture and a MAD surprise (most likely the current issue of MAD.) But no matter where you live outside of US, I can autograph an Alfred E. Neuman photo to you, scan it & email you a high res copy if we show your video. Just print it out, frame it, or just hang it up and no one will know it’s a copy. We’ve tested it out and fans say they look terrific! If you submitting warehouse videos for a second, third time, etc., you’ll get the current issue of MAD as a thank you.
All show submissions go to mail@gizwiz.tv
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Our email this week is from Raffaello Mazza
Hi, I heard you talking about the Verizon landline option to data. Diffferent situation but related… I got sick of my horrible landline service when it was still an actual copper landline.
So: I got magicjack which works via Internet, and ported my number landline number to magic jack. That’s easy to do.
How was the service? Not great, but overall better and much much cheaper. I rarely recommended magic jack to anyone because it’s a pain in the butt to set up and deal with issues, but OK for someone more nerdy like me. After a number of years magicJack service horribly deteriorated. They said it was because of the delay factor on my Internet. (Latency)
So here’s what I did – I’ve had Google Voice for years with its own dedicated telephone number. I always thought it was kind of weird but occasionally used it for international calls because it’s free. But you can port a mobile number to Google Voice. So I got a cheap mobile service for a month and ported my landline number to it, which is easy. I just needed to have my old landline number on a mobile service so then I could port it to Google Voice. Remember I’m nerdy, but this is actually pretty easy to do. Now my old landline number is on Google Voice. 99% of the time the service is clear and awesome. No latency.
Easy to use. Provides for texting and many other bells and whistles.
Free. 100% free except for the initial one time set up of I think it was $20.
Cheers Raffaello
