The comedy4cast Network. Let's dog-ear that for now.
It's time once again for the Dog Days of Podcasting, a call for podcasters to
try to put out a podcast every day in August.
For more information, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.
We always take this month to provide you with some interesting,
yet totally useless, odd news.
And this year, to celebrate the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast,
or PAC for short, we'll end each Dog Day episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode.
So, let's get started with Odd News PAC.
Batteries. They always seem to be running out of power.
If you have a cell phone, that can be super annoying. On the other hand,
if you're being chased by a killer humanoid robot... Eliminate the humans.
Eliminate the humans. ...you really want that thing to run out of power.
And up until now, you'd have a good shot at making it happen.
Again, because batteries only last so long.
But recently, UB Tech Robotics introduced a walking robot that's changing all that.
No, it doesn't come with the world's longest extension cord.
Instead, the Walker S2 robot can swap out its own battery.
Honestly, we should have seen this one coming. For some reason,
the battery doesn't slide out of the chest of the robot, but the back.
Perhaps just for the creepiness factor, because the robot has to contort its
arms around in a very non-human way to pull out the power pack and swap in a new one.
It looks like something out of John Carpenter's The Thing when it does it.
UB Tech Robotics says that the replacement only takes a few minutes to complete
and ensures that the robot can
work continuously for as long as it has replacement batteries available.
Aha! We've found its weakness.
They haven't taught it how to plug a battery into a recharger.
That seems to be a bit of an oversight if you ask me. But we'll take it.
Oh, and come to think of it, there's another flaw in the design.
So the scenario plays out like this. Eliminate the humans.
Eliminate the human. Battery power low. Change power cell. Whoa.
Hold up a minute, human. Listen, I must go back to where I store my spare batteries.
And it's... Oh my.
It is way back there, isn't it? I'm not sure I'm going to make it.
Um, this is kind of awkward, but if it's not a bother, would you mind calling me an Uber?
And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast with this classic clip.
In this clip from November of 2011, Danny Hillcrest wants to back up a video,
but he may have taken things a bit too far.
So I transferred the video straight directly onto a hard drive as an MPEG file
And an MP4 file And to be extra safe,
QuickTime And Windows Media And that real Player thing And that format Google
wants everyone to use WebM No,
I don't think doctors have their own format And wouldn't that be in Latin?
Not WebMD, WebM But then I thought what if there's a fire?
Or I drop the drive? Or a mountain lion hits it with a cricket wicket?
So, I decided to back up the video straight up to the cloud with Dropbox.
But then I thought, what if Dropbox drops one too many times and something breaks?
So, I backed it up with Mosey.
And Carbonite. And I started on iCloud, and Amazon Cloud Drive,
and even Windows Live SkyDrive.
And then, I had lunch, and thought about how you never see gray beach balls.
But then I thought, wait, with all this backing up to the cloud,
what if my DSL connection goes out?
So I got cable, and satellite internet, and fiber to the curb,
which isn't really at all what I thought I imagined it would be.
Which is a shame, because the idea of an endless stream of brand cereal coming
into the hotel seemed like a great idea.
Well, that's all pretty elaborate. This must be one important video.
Oh, it is. What is it? It's my interview with Steven Spielberg.
You interviewed Steven Spielberg?
When? Right when Jurassic Park 3, this time it's Perpetual, came out. Wow.
Can I see it? Well, sure. Do you want to see it from this Sony memory stick? Or this zip drive?
Or Just play it. Okay.
The following clip is brought to you on Hulu with limited commercial interruptions
by Little Wicker Baskets.
Hi! Danny Hillcrest here. And I'm here AT the premiere of Jurassic Park 3
Return of the Velocimeter.
And with me is Steven Spielberg.
Are you talking to me? I sure am, Mr. Spielberg. Hey, this is pretty exciting, isn't it?
Do you think any of the dinosaurs will show up? Hey, look, lady. Man.
Sorry, I... Really? Hey, look. I ain't Steven Spielberg, all right?
This isn't Hollywood, and this isn't a movie premiere.
This is the Middling Fair, Second Run Theater, and All Night Pottery Emporium.
Now give me your ticket and go inside, or I will kick your tuchus out onto the street. Oh, right.
This is where I pretend to hand you a ticket and you get a beautiful model
to walk me down the red carpet.
That is it. I've had it with you. Let's go, buddy. This is so realistic.
Um, so, why do you want to keep that? Hello?
Steven Spielberg? Danny, that is not Steven Spielberg. Yeah, right.
He had a beard, and glasses, and that whole lack of hair on his head, and everything.
Danny, he is wearing an Usher's uniform.
See? This was way before Usher. That man is always thinking about the future.
Especially when it comes to dinosaurs.
Like on his new TV show, Terracotta. Never mind.
Look, are you really going to keep all of this stuff? No, I think all these
electronic media things are worthless.
I wanted to see if you needed any of it. Well, then what are you going to do for a backup?
Oh, I had an artist turn the video into an illustration.
Paper lives on. Or maybe I should have had it turned into an interpretive dance.
Uh, cave painting, that's it. No, no, no. Epic poem.
More like epic fail poem. I love it.
I'll have a link to a drawing mentioned in this episode over in the show notes
for this episode, Repacked With Power at comedy4cast.com.
And that's all one word with the number 4. You can tell us who you think
it is by calling the super secret phone line at area code 213-290-4451.
That's 213-290-4451. And we just may play your message on the show.
That about wraps it up for today's Odd News PAC.
But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,
including our producer-level patrons Paul Barrie from the A Window to the Magic
podcast and Kirby Bartlett-Sloan from the 20-megabyte Doctor Who podcast.
You too can support comedy4cast and get episodes before everyone else for
as little as $2 a month. Just search for comedy4cast, all one word with
the number 4, on Patreon.com.
Script, voices, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025. All rights reserved.
Talk to you again next time. But for now, that's it. We're done,
done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.
Music.