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The comedy4cast Network. Let's dog-ear that for now.

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It's time once again for the Dog Days of Podcasting, a call for podcasters to

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try to put out a podcast every day in August.

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For more information, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.

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We always take this month to provide you with some interesting,

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yet totally useless, odd news.

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And this year, to celebrate the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast,

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or PAC for short, we'll end each Dog Day episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode.

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So, let's get started with Odd News PAC.

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Batteries. They always seem to be running out of power.

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If you have a cell phone, that can be super annoying. On the other hand,

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if you're being chased by a killer humanoid robot... Eliminate the humans.

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Eliminate the humans. ...you really want that thing to run out of power.

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And up until now, you'd have a good shot at making it happen.

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Again, because batteries only last so long.

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But recently, UB Tech Robotics introduced a walking robot that's changing all that.

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No, it doesn't come with the world's longest extension cord.

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Instead, the Walker S2 robot can swap out its own battery.

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Honestly, we should have seen this one coming. For some reason,

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the battery doesn't slide out of the chest of the robot, but the back.

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Perhaps just for the creepiness factor, because the robot has to contort its

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arms around in a very non-human way to pull out the power pack and swap in a new one.

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It looks like something out of John Carpenter's The Thing when it does it.

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UB Tech Robotics says that the replacement only takes a few minutes to complete

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and ensures that the robot can

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work continuously for as long as it has replacement batteries available.

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Aha! We've found its weakness.

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They haven't taught it how to plug a battery into a recharger.

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That seems to be a bit of an oversight if you ask me. But we'll take it.

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Oh, and come to think of it, there's another flaw in the design.

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So the scenario plays out like this. Eliminate the humans.

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Eliminate the human. Battery power low. Change power cell. Whoa.

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Hold up a minute, human. Listen, I must go back to where I store my spare batteries.

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And it's... Oh my.

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It is way back there, isn't it? I'm not sure I'm going to make it.

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Um, this is kind of awkward, but if it's not a bother, would you mind calling me an Uber?

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And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast with this classic clip.

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In this clip from November of 2011, Danny Hillcrest wants to back up a video,

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but he may have taken things a bit too far.

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So I transferred the video straight directly onto a hard drive as an MPEG file

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And an MP4 file And to be extra safe,

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QuickTime And Windows Media And that real Player thing And that format Google

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wants everyone to use WebM No,

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I don't think doctors have their own format And wouldn't that be in Latin?

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Not WebMD, WebM But then I thought what if there's a fire?

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Or I drop the drive? Or a mountain lion hits it with a cricket wicket?

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So, I decided to back up the video straight up to the cloud with Dropbox.

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But then I thought, what if Dropbox drops one too many times and something breaks?

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So, I backed it up with Mosey.

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And Carbonite. And I started on iCloud, and Amazon Cloud Drive,

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and even Windows Live SkyDrive.

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And then, I had lunch, and thought about how you never see gray beach balls.

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But then I thought, wait, with all this backing up to the cloud,

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what if my DSL connection goes out?

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So I got cable, and satellite internet, and fiber to the curb,

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which isn't really at all what I thought I imagined it would be.

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Which is a shame, because the idea of an endless stream of brand cereal coming

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into the hotel seemed like a great idea.

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Well, that's all pretty elaborate. This must be one important video.

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Oh, it is. What is it? It's my interview with Steven Spielberg.

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You interviewed Steven Spielberg?

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When? Right when Jurassic Park 3, this time it's Perpetual, came out. Wow.

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Can I see it? Well, sure. Do you want to see it from this Sony memory stick? Or this zip drive?

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Or Just play it. Okay.

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The following clip is brought to you on Hulu with limited commercial interruptions

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by Little Wicker Baskets.

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Hi! Danny Hillcrest here. And I'm here AT the premiere of Jurassic Park 3

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Return of the Velocimeter.

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And with me is Steven Spielberg.

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Are you talking to me? I sure am, Mr. Spielberg. Hey, this is pretty exciting, isn't it?

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Do you think any of the dinosaurs will show up? Hey, look, lady. Man.

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Sorry, I... Really? Hey, look. I ain't Steven Spielberg, all right?

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This isn't Hollywood, and this isn't a movie premiere.

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This is the Middling Fair, Second Run Theater, and All Night Pottery Emporium.

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Now give me your ticket and go inside, or I will kick your tuchus out onto the street. Oh, right.

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This is where I pretend to hand you a ticket and you get a beautiful model

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to walk me down the red carpet.

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That is it. I've had it with you. Let's go, buddy. This is so realistic.

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Um, so, why do you want to keep that? Hello?

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Steven Spielberg? Danny, that is not Steven Spielberg. Yeah, right.

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He had a beard, and glasses, and that whole lack of hair on his head, and everything.

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Danny, he is wearing an Usher's uniform.

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See? This was way before Usher. That man is always thinking about the future.

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Especially when it comes to dinosaurs.

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Like on his new TV show, Terracotta. Never mind.

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Look, are you really going to keep all of this stuff? No, I think all these

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electronic media things are worthless.

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I wanted to see if you needed any of it. Well, then what are you going to do for a backup?

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Oh, I had an artist turn the video into an illustration.

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Paper lives on. Or maybe I should have had it turned into an interpretive dance.

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Uh, cave painting, that's it. No, no, no. Epic poem.

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More like epic fail poem. I love it.

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I'll have a link to a drawing mentioned in this episode over in the show notes

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for this episode, Repacked With Power at comedy4cast.com.

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And that's all one word with the number 4. You can tell us who you think

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it is by calling the super secret phone line at area code 213-290-4451.

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That's 213-290-4451. And we just may play your message on the show.

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That about wraps it up for today's Odd News PAC.

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But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,

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including our producer-level patrons Paul Barrie from the A Window to the Magic

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podcast and Kirby Bartlett-Sloan from the 20-megabyte Doctor Who podcast.

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You too can support comedy4cast and get episodes before everyone else for

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as little as $2 a month. Just search for comedy4cast, all one word with

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the number 4, on Patreon.com.

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Script, voices, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025. All rights reserved.

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Talk to you again next time. But for now, that's it. We're done,

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done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.

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Music.