New For 2010: The Untitled Wednesday Night Show with Cat

If you missed it live last night, you missed one of those landmark days in video history. Yes, there's the first broadcast demonstration of television at the 1939 World's Fair. Of course 1969 brought us the moonlanding. Last night though, was the first episode of The Untitled Wednesday Night Show. Ryan Ritchey and Catherine "The Cat" Tillson host this look at "the crossroads of pop culture and technology." And while the show still doesn't have a name, it already has a gimmick (bingo wheel!), and a random challenge. Watch as Ryan and Cat see whether the Blackberry or iPhone (along with their texting skills) is faster in sending a text message. There's also talk of blue alien lovemaking, and sanitary sandwich making. There's plenty more, but we won't spoil the fun:

Attention Black Friday Shoppers: How's It Going Out There?

If you're out there in the thick of the distinctly American tradition of Black Friday, we want to hear from you! Whether you're standing in line at an overpacked Apple Store, fighting over the best videogame at Best Buy, or strolling through a Radio Shack everyone else forgot about, let us know how it's going. Better yet, leave a voicemail: 408-627-8242. We'll play back some of our favorites during Monday's episode of TDL Live.

Confessions of a Dial-Up User

(Let's give a warm TDL welcome to Carolyn. She'll be sharing her adventures and misadventures as she becomes a Mac owner for the first time.)

 I feel I am the only individual left on Earth who can relate to The Slowsky’s especially since I share first name with the reptilian wife, Karolyn. When you check your mail in the morning, how long does it take? Five minutes? Six? Any longer and you'd be calling your local Internet provider in a fury. When I check my mail I could brew a pot of coffee, pour my cereal, make my bed and still make it back in time before the infamous "You've got mail!" greeting! (Yes, I still use AOL!)

My friends have finally accepted me as a dial-up abuser. I've officially been blacklisted from being sent funny YouTube links. I'm the prank caller at the Chinese take-out place, my name and number scribbled in Sharpie on the side of the freezer: DO NOT ANSWER! DO NOT SEND FUNNY VIDEOS TO THE DIAL-UP USER! HER COMPUTER WILL EXPLODE! I go to friend’s houses not for their friendships but for their high-speed connections! While everyone watches Jon & Kate’s relationship unravel on the TV, I sniff out the computer and catch up on all the high bandwidth videos I’ve had to skip. I’ve said about every curse word in the book when it comes to my dial-up. I’ll admit, I cried like a baby the 3rd time I had to restart my computer while uploading pictures (three at a time!) to Facebook.

But despite my tears and wasted minutes I am in some ways grateful for my delayed arrival to the fast lane. In a world where “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” proves true, (Daft Punk not Kanye!) I think it would benefit us all to take a step back, slow down and remember we survived centuries without Twitter updates in our inbox. We picked up the phone not knowing who sat on the other end. We played games outside with people, not through a headset in our parent’s basement. Our ancestors actually traveled the Oregon Trail! Technology is great, really, I’m totally psyched about joining, but please, remember us slow folks. We’re not all lame turtles. We’re actually pretty cool people.

Retro Tech Tuesday: Minolta 16-Ps 16mm Still Camera

Let's turn back the tech clock once again. Today we're going back to 1964. Japan's Minolta was heavily involved with the submini format of film still cameras, when they came up with the 16-Ps. It's fascinating to think 45 years later, most digital cameras still aren't this small. (Granted, they probably have higher resolution than these early cameras. Using readily available 16mm non-sprocketed film, the format grabbed hold for awhile. It was enough to send any would-be spy's heart aflutter. True it wasn't a James Bond watch-embedded phone, but it was a tiny camera, at a tiny price (this one says $6.75, roughly $60 in today's dollars).

This one still has film in it, although I doubt there's any chance it could be developed. Imagine, in 45 years someone will say, "I found a digital camera with a flash card in it. I doubt there's any chance I can find a reader...