((((((((((((((((((((((((( Leoville Blog Update )))))))))))))))))))))))))

                             January 12, 2002


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http://www.leoville.com/mt/archives/000264.shtml#000264



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Two trade shows in three days. Wow.

It started Wednesday with MacWorld Expo. As mentioned here in an
earlier post, I led a panel with Apple’s Ken Bereskin on Mac OS X
Secrets. The panel went very well with a full house of about 200
people. We got to about half our tips in 90 minutes. Since we didn’t
have a handout of all the tips, I made the mistake of promising that
I would put them up on the web. So I’ll be spending some time doing
that this weekend. And you’ll probably be seeing many of the tips on
The Screen Savers eventually. There were some really cool ones.

We also covered a few key applications we really liked. Ken
introduced me to a little utility for OS X (originally written for
NextStep, OS X’s grandpappy) called <a
href="http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/"
target=_blank>LaunchBar</a>. LaunchBar gives you access to any
program, file, URL, or e-mail address on your computer in just a
couple of keystrokes. Your hands never leave the keyboard. Command-
Space starts the program then you enter the first few letters of the
name of the item you want to open. LaunchBar narrows the options down
as you type. It’s the most efficient way of working with a computer
I’ve ever seen. I wish there were a version for Windows. Wouldn’t be
too hard to write. Hint, hint.

I didn’t get much time at MacWorld Expo, but it was obvious that the
new Macs, a revitalized Apple, and OS X have really awakened the Mac
world. This show was noticeably more exciting than any in the past
five years. More importantly for the company, Apple is winning
converts for the first time in a long time with slick looking
products like the new iMac, leading edge technology like the DVD-RW
Superdrive, and, finally, competitive prices.  OS X is UNIX with a
pretty face – and power users love it.

On Thursday I flew to Las Vegas to catch the last two days of the
Consumer Electronics Show, CES. CES is starting to eclipse Comdex as
the most important technology show of the year. It was huge this
year, filling the one million square foot Las Vegas Convention center
with 15,000 new products. I was struck this year by how digital tech
is changing consumer electronics.

This year, as last, TechTV sponsored the Best of CES awards. There
was quite a battle over the Best of Show award with the judges evenly
split over the <a href="http://www.danger.com/products.html"
target=_blank>HipTop cell phone/PDA from Danger</a> and the <a
href="http://www.moxi.com/home.htm"  target=_blank>Moxi Media
Center</a>.

The HipTop is the size of a deck of playing cards and combines a GSM
cell phone, GPRS data for web surfing and e-mail and a full elegant
PDA with a keyboard and flip up screen. You can synch the PDA with
the web over the GRPS link. It even comes with a tiny camera for
sending still pictures over the network. One of the big cell phone
providers will offer the HipTop this Spring for around $200. Only
AT&amp;T, Cingular, and Voicestream offer GSM in the US, and only
AT&amp;T offers both GSM and GPRS so my guess is that their deal is
with AT&amp;T Wireless, but Danger’s not saying.  The judges awarded
the runner-up prize to Danger, but it was a tough call.

The Best of CES winner was the Moxi Media Center. And rightly so. It
combines all the functionality of a Tivo with a DVD player and CD
ripper. You can store a ton of TV and music on the 80 GB hard drive,
and best of all, with the little wireless remote units you can watch
video or listen to your MP3s anywhere in the house. Moxi uses the new
802.11a wireless networking that can do 20-30 mbits per second.
Echostar will offer Moxis for the DISH network (and presumably
DirecTV if the sale goes through) by the end of the year.

All I can say is that I plan to buy both the HipTop and Moxi when
they’re available later this year.  Very cool.

((((((((((((((((((((((((( Leoville Blog Update )))))))))))))))))))))))))

                             January  8, 2002


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http://www.leoville.com/mt/archives/000263.shtml#000263



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Talk about hitting the ground running. Wednesday I'm doing a
presentation on Mac OS X secrets at MacWorld Expo and I've been
spending the last few days frantically trying to find some. Secrets,
that is. The pressure's on because this presentation is for the
ProTrack - meaning I can't just show them cool Command key combos.
Fortunately, there are lots of UNIX hacks I can do. Did you know the
emacs text editor has Eliza built-in? Hit Shift-Esc then enter "k
doctor" and confess your troubles. The doctor is in.

Then Thursday morning I'm flying to Las Vegas to host the Best of CES
awards for TechTV. I'll be doing feeds from Vegas for The Screen Savers
and various other media outlets, too. It's going to be hectic, because
I have to find a dozen or so really cool products to bring to New York
City the following week for <i>Live with Regis and Kelly</i>. That's
right, unbelievably, they've already asked me back, less than a month
after my last appearance. Regis is going to get really sick of me, I
just know it.

TechTV PR wanted more and better plugs on the show, so they've had some
sweaters made up for me with the TechTV logo on them to wear on the
show. That way if Regis forgets to mention TechTV it's ok. Jeez. I
might as well be wearing an orange blazer with a TechTV patch. Just
kidding guys. Really.

I'm flying to NYC after the show on Monday, rehearsing Tuesday, doing
Live on Wednesday, then flying right back for TSS that night.

I need a vacation already.

--
Powered by Movable Type
Version 1.31
http://www.movabletype.org/

Hi, there, Laporte Report subscribers!

As a new feature of the Laporte Report mailing list, I'll be
automatically sending you new postings to the Leoville Web Log. This
seems like a great way to keep fresh content rolling in.

It will increase your incoming mail from The Laporte Report to
several messages a week. If that's too much for you, you'll find a link
to unsubscribe at the bottom of this message. You might also want to change your
settings to receive a digest instead of every message.

Visit the web log itself to comment on this entry... or to read the
comments of others:

http://www.leoville.com/mt/archives/000261.shtml#000261

Thanks for your support and Happy 2002!

Leo

------------------------------------------------------------------------

New web log entry, January 6, 2001:

OK I've added a nice new feature to the blog - thanks to Ben and Mena
at Movable Type, http://www.movabletype.org. If you want you can have new
entries e-mailed to you directly. Just enter your address into the form at the
bottom of this page. As always, I promise I won't sell or use your address in
any way except to mail you the blog entires.

Unless I hear an uproar to the contrary, I'll also start sending new
entries to the members of the Laporte Report mailing list. So if you're
signed up there no need to sign up below. Goodness knows the mailing
list needs some new content from time to time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Laporte Report Subscribers!

Just a quick note to let you know this mailing list is still alive
and well. In truth, Yahoo Groups threatened to cancel the list unless
I sent you SOMETHING once in a while! So I'll probably start sending
out updates on the first of each month.

If you haven't visited Leoville in the past few months, you'll notice
some changes. I added a Blog - basically a web journal- a few months
ago. If you're hankering for more regular updates on my doings, the
Blog is probably your best bet. I haven't posted much in the past
week or so because I've been hard at work on my book (more about that
later) but there are usually posts nearly every day. Check it out at

http://www.leoville.com/gm/gm.shtml

The comments section of the Blog proved so popular, and such a great
community developed there, that I set up a message board section
called the Town Square to complement it. About 300 regulars have made
it their home online. There's some very funny stuff in there -
interesting, too. I hope you pay it a visit at

http://www.leoville.com/discus/messages/board-topics.html

As for personal news, I'm pleased to report that I've signed a new
deal with TechTV that will keep me at the channel through April,
2004. The deal also involves a book and video each year. The first
book should come out later this year and is a computer almanac that
will be both fun and entertaining. It will be published by Que and
should be in bookstores everywhere.

Patrick and I are also working on a video tape that will show you how
to build your own PC. It should also appear in stores in the Fall.

I'm going to be doing a segment on NBC's Weekend Today Show with
Soledad O'Brien on Saturday, August 25. If all goes well that may
turn into a monthly appearance.

I hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Thanks for all your
support and interest. See you on the TV!

Leo

Hi, Laporte Report subscriber!

The time has finally come. Monday, April 2, TechTV's schedule will be
completely revamped to accomodate nine hours of new live programming... a
day.

Starting tomorrow, I will no longer be hosting Call for Help (see my
previous message for all the gory details). My new schedule is as follows:

2:30-4p Eastern     Anchor, TechLive
7-8:30p Eastern     Host, The Screen Savers

I'll be on the air three hours a day, five days a week. From 2:30-3p I'll be
anchoring with Erica Hill. In the 3-4p hour I'll have a different co-anchor
each day: Liam Mayclem, Alex Wellen, Sumi Das, Jennifer London, or Adam
Sessler.

TechLive is live and will not be repeated. It includes tech news, financial
news, segments from all our shows, and I'll answer at least two questions by
phone or netcam each day. It airs from 9am-3p Eastern every weekday from the
new TechLive studio. Michaela Perreira and Steve Abrams are the other
anchors. Carmine Gallo and Pam Kreuger will be in-studio for financial news,
and we'll have regular reports from our new satellite bureaus in Seattle,
Silicon Valley, New York, and Washington D.C.

Call for Help is now airing from 5-6p Eastern as the last hour of TechLive.
Becky Worley and Scott Herriot will host and I will do a daily Macintosh tip
at about 5:30p each day.

The Screen Savers is moving to Call for Help's old time and expanding to 90
minutes. We're upgrading the show to include a wider variety of stuff
including Leo's Boot Camp: basic training for beginners, more big name
guests, and some new faces. Patrick and I will take your calls, as well. I
think you'll really like the new format and time. The Screen Savers will be
repeated at 10p and 1a nightly.

I hope you'll tune in to TechTV's opening day. And let me know what you
think!

Leo

--
Leo Laporte                             mailto:leo@...
Host of The Screen Savers, Weekdays 7p/10p/1a Eastern on TechTV
Contributing Editor, Access Magazine  "Ask Leo" column, Sundays
www.techtv.com     www.accessmagazine.com      www.leoville.com
--

Hi, Laporte Report subscriber!

I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that TechTV
and I have come to an agreement on my contract. We're still
working on the exact wording of the deal, but I have agreed to
stay at the network for another two years with an option for a
third.

That's the good news. My schedule will change a bit. That's the
bad news for some. I really needed to cut back to one show.
Doing two a day is exhausting. I also don't like working so
late. I don't get home until 8:30 or 9p. Long after my children are
asleep.

TechTV agreed to take me off one show, but which show. I wanted to do Call for
Help, but TechTV management really wanted me to continue
with The Screen Savers. They moved it earlier in the day and
accomodated me in several other ways, so I couldn't say no.

That's why tomorrow will be my last Call for Help. The channel is
searching for a replacement and expects to have some good
candidates by April 2 when Call for Help moves to
the 5-6p EDT time slot.

I'll still be doing two shows, but one of them will be a lot easier. I'm going
to be part of the anchor team on TechLive, our new 9-hour MSNBC style daytime
programming. My shift is likely to be 3-4p EDT. I'll answer a couple of calls in
that hour, but I'll also be doing some news and talking with people about
technology. I'm really looking forward to that.

I will also appear for one segment in Call for Help each day.

The Screen Savers is going to take over Call for Help's old time
slot: 7-8:30p EDT. That's right - we're going to 90 minutes. I will
be the main host of that show, working Monday through Friday.
Patrick, Martin, and others will work with me on the expanded
program.

So I'll be on the air more, answering more of your calls. And
that's what I really want to do more than anything. I wanted you to
be the first to hear. I'll make the first official announcement on
Thursday's Call for Help.

I've really loved doing CFH for the past three years. It's always
been the show that meant the most to me and I'll miss it a lot.
But I'm very excited about the new things we're doing at TechTV.
Change is always difficult, but I think these changes are for the
best all around.

Thanks for watching and, as always, thanks for your support.

Leo

Dear Laporte Report subscriber,

Just a note to thank you for all your responses to my long New Year missive.
I was very touched by the warmth of your messages. I also received many
excellent suggestions for our new programming. Thanks!

I mentioned that I would be doing a radio show this Saturday. Unfortunately,
that's been cancelled. The host I was filling in for decided not to take the
day off after all. I'll let you know the next time I'm on the radio though.

Leo

--
Leo Laporte              "The Screen Savers," M-Th 9-10p Eastern
Host/Managing Editor, TechTV  "Call for Help," M-Th 7-8p Eastern
Contributing Editor, Access Magazine   "Ask Leo" column, Sundays

www.techtv.com      www.accessmagazine.com      www.leoville.com
--

Hi there, Laporte Report subscriber. (Bet you forgot you were a
member!)

I just thought I'd send out a message to let you know I'm still here
and the Laporte Report lives. I've been getting an increasing number
of messages wondering what's happening with this mailing list. Maybe
I'd better explain...

I never intended for this to be a high traffic list - I mean who
needs more mail stuffing the inbox? I admit that I had hoped to send
more than one message every six months, but it's been hard to find
the time. And frankly, there hasn't been much to say. At least let me
update you on what's ahead for 2001.

The book idea still lives. Both TechTV and Access Magazine want to do
books and I think this is the year. A lot depends on what happens
with TechTV in 2001. My three-year contract runs out this April. I
expect to sit down to negotiate a new one soon, but any deal I make
with TechTV will give me more scope to do outside projects, including
books and radio.

One of my goals is to return to radio. TV is great because I can show
you how to do stuff, but it takes so many people to put on a TV show
that some of the intimacy is lost. I really miss the direct
connection of radio and I'm hoping to find a way to get back there at
least part of the time.

To get my feet wet I'll be hosting a three-hour show on my old
station, KGO 810AM in San Francisco, January 20 from 10a-1p. If
you're in the area please call in. You can also listen on the net at
http://www.kgoam810.com.

There will be some changes on TV, too. TechTV's new ownership (Paul
Allen's Vulcan Ventures) is starting to tweak things and we all
expect some substantial movement by this spring. I'm working on
designing a new show that will appeal to the widest possible range of
computer users. I'd appreciate any feedback you have about what we're
currently doing on TechTV and what you'd like to see in a new show.
Please respond to this message with your suggestions.

Things are going well with Access Magazine.
(http://www.accessmagazine.com). I wrote a cover story for the
Christmas Eve issue on what to do with your new computer. And they
seem very happy with the weekly column. The magazine is now in over
80 newspapers (mostly Sunday) nationwide. They estimate readership of
over 13 million people, making it the second most read weekly
magazine in the country! Writing is very tough for me – speaking is
so much easier – but you can't beat the exposure, and I like the idea
of helping people in print. I expect to expand my relationship with
Access in the coming year.

Personally, the last two weeks off have been great even though the
rest of the family had the flu.  Henry even got a mild case of
pneumonia. But everyone has been in good spirits and we've had a
lovely, restful holiday. They're all feeling fine now. The kids are
excited about going back to school and their friends, I'm ready to go
back on the air, and Jennifer is anxious to get us all out of the
house.

Naturally, I spent some quality time over the break with my
computers. I finally replaced my old BP6 dual-Celeron motherboard
with a spanking new MicroStar 694D mobo with dual Pentium III 866s
and RAID. I spent the first few days banging my head against the wall
because the dang thing wouldn't work right, but I eventually tracked
it down to a crimped hard drive cable. Bill Canton at Cantek
(http://www.cantek.com) always told me I should treat my cables
better – and he was right. You can follow the whole saga on his
message boards, http://216.242.22.13/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000180.html.

The new system runs like a champ – it's very fast and Windows 2000 is
rock solid. It was really hating the old motherboard. It's nice to
have a system that doesn't crash.  For those of you who like to know
these things my home system now contains:

* MSI 694D Pro with RAID in a no name tower case
* PC Power and Cooling Silencer 400 power supply
* Dual Pentium III 866 (not overclocked) w/ Golden Orb coolers
* 256MB Micron PC133 SDRAM
* Dual Western Digital UDMA/66 9GB drives on RAID controller, striped
(main drive for W2K and programs)
* Western Digital 20 GB Drive (UDMA 66) (secondary drive for MP3s and
other media)
* IBM Deskstar 14 GB (UDMA/33) (Backup drive for images, data backup)
* Plextor 12/10/32A CD-RW
* Kenwood 72x CD-ROM
* Creative Labs GeForce DDR video
* Creative Labs SBLive Value
* 3COM 10/100 NIC (for @home cable modem)

I canned the Castlewood Orb – it never worked right, and I don't have
the IDE capacity for an internal Zip so I replaced it with a USB Zip.
I still run the old Apple Laserwriter 16/600 PS for my main printer
we have a HP 810 inkjet downstairs if I need color, and I picked up a
Canon scanner, the N650U for $83. The image quality is just OK, but
it's USB so it works with both the PC and my Powerbook and it's very
thin and portable.  From now on, I'm not buying any peripherals
unless they're USB or Firewire.

I understand they've given me a new computer at work, too. I was
using an old 180 mHz Pentium Pro computer I'd had since the days of
The Site (our old show on MSNBC) with 64 MB RAM, one 6GB hard drive,
and S3 Trio video with a Voodoo I card.  I hear I'm getting a PIII-
800 with two 20 GB hard drives. I'll even have USB finally. I am
living large now.

I was going to buy one of those cool Apple Macintosh Cubes for
Jennifer this Christmas. She wants to join the modern world – or at
least exchange e-mail with it. But we both agreed the dang thing was
too expensive. I expect Apple to drop the price considerably this
quarter and I'll buy it then. We already have an Airport network in
the house so it'll be a snap to add the Cube. Fewer wires, too.

The Cube will have a DVD drive in it, so the kids can watch movies
downstairs. We've become DVD fanatics ever since I discovered
NetFlix, http://www.netflix.com. This web site lets you rent
unlimited DVDs for a flat fee of $20 a month. No late charges,
either, you can keep the discs as long as you want. You can have up
to three discs at a time. When you're done with one. mail it in and
they'll ship the next disc on your list. I have 53 movies on my list
so far! There are 9000 to choose from. The only limiting factor is
the time it takes to mail the discs and get a new one.  The company
is in San Jose so there's a five-day turnaround for us (two days
snail mail each way and a day for processing). It'd be longer in
other parts of the country. I'm not sure it's cheaper than renting
them from a video store, but it's sure a lot more convenient. We
watched about a dozen movies over the break. My favorites: U-571,
Magnolia, The Usual Suspects, High Fidelity, and Gladiator.

I also spent quite a few late-night hours playing a new game from
Electronic Arts/Rogue called American McGee's Alice, a first-person
shooter based on the Quake III engine. I'm about half way through the
game and I love it. It's a very dark, twisted take on the Alice
story. She's come back from Wonderland, had a nervous breakdown after
the fiery death of her parents, and has to fight her way to sanity
through an alternate Through the Looking Glass reality. Just the kind
of cheery fare one looks for at Christmastime. This game is
definitely not for kids, but if you like creepy adventures you'll
like Alice. The game play gets a B but the design is A+ all the way.

Speaking of games, I broke down and bought the kids a Dreamcast.
(Santa couldn't find a Playstation 2 for us, alas.) Henry loves Toy
Story 2 and Sonic Adventure. Dad can't stop playing Crazy Taxi and
Jet Grind Radio. Just what we need, one more thing to waste time on!
I have to say I'm very impressed with the Dreamcast's capabilities.
My game designer friend says it's a snap to develop for, too, much
nicer than the PS2. I hope the PS2 shortage helps keep Sega afloat a
little longer.

Well that's the news from Leoville. I didn't expect to write such a
tome. I guess I have more to say than I thought. I hope you've been
enjoying this holiday season, and that you and yours have a healthy,
happy, and exciting 2001. Please accept my sincerest thanks for
letting me be a part of your world!

Leo

Hi, Laporteans. It's been a while! There are probably quite a few new
members who have never even received a message from me. (We're over 5000
members now.)

That's because this isn't really a traditional discussion group. I don't
want to flood you with useless email - goodness knows we all receive more
than enough of that. This mailing list is more like the Emergency Broadcast
System: it's a way to reach you in case of an emergency. Like Kate leaving
the Screen Savers, etc.

There are other ZDTV and Laporte oriented discussion groups that are far
more active. If you want to participate in one of those try the message
boards at ZDTV Fanatics:

http://www.iondrive.com/zdtv/

So that's why there hasn't been a lot of mail from me: no emergencies!
<sound of knocking on wood>

As you've probably gathered, I've been taking Fridays off. That's partly to
rest from a grueling schedule, partly to work on new projects. One of those
is my weekly column in Access Magazine (http://www.accessmagazine.com).
That's been going so well I'm tempted to start work on a book. And that's a
bit of a challenge for me.

It's easy for me to do TV and radio. I just do the kinds of shows I'd want
to watch or listen to. But writing a computer book is tougher. The only
computer books I read are programming guides. I don't think I want to write
one of those. So that's where you come in. I'd like your input on what kind
of computer book you'd like to read. Send your replies here and for the next
couple of weeks I'll post selected messages on the group.

I'm currently leaning toward an Uncle John's Bathroom Reader kind of
computer book. A collection of tips, factoids, trivia, etc. that you can
pick up and read whenever you want. I'd like to update it yearly. Kind of an
Old Farmer's Almanac for technology. Does that interest you? Or is there
something else you'd be more likely to want to read?

Meanwhile, here's something I wrote for Access that they decided not to
publish. I think it's worth saying though on this Independence Day weekend.

--------------------------

The wise men who created our nation in 1776 didn’t have any of the benefits
of today’s technology.

The Declaration of Independence was handwritten with quill pen on sheepskin
parchment. It took a full day to print and months to distribute to all the
states. Too bad they didn’t have email.

But I wonder if Jefferson’s prose would have been any clearer had he used a
word processor? Would a PowerPoint presentation have been more persuasive
with George III?

As we celebrate 224 years of independence this weekend, it’s worth
remembering that there are some things technology can’t improve. Life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness don’t necessarily require a 19 inch
monitor. And sometimes a quill pen is more powerful than any gigahertz
processor.

-------------------------------

Happy 4th everybody. Thanks for reading, and watching! See you on Wednesday.

Leo

--
Leo Laporte                               "Call for Help," M-Th 7-8p Eastern
Host/Managing Editor, ZDTV           "The Screen Savers," M-Th 9-10p Eastern
Contributing Editor, Access Magazine               "Ask Leo" column, Sundays
http://www.zdtv.com   http://www.accessmagazine.com  http://www.leoville.com
--

Hi, Laporteans...

The previous message is one of a very great many I've received about Kate.
The sentiments are right on - and we all share them here at ZDTV.

For those of you who don't know, Kate is moving to Gamespot TV starting
April 29. Her last regular episode of The Screen Savers is tonight, April 6.
I'm sure it will re-run over the weekend as well. Set your VCRs.

We're sad to be losing her on The Screen Savers, but she's very excited
about the chance to host the Gamespot. Not only because she's an avid gamer,
but also to try her hand at other kinds of TV. All of us feel like it's a
very positive move for her. And for those of you who think Kate deserves
more than half an hour a week, I agree, and I expect we'll see a lot more of
her in time. (I'm lobbying for her to do a Kids and Computers show, myself.)

Starting April 17, Patrick Norton will be co-hosting the Screen Savers with
me. He's going to bring a huge amount of expertise to the show. With his
help we can safely say that The Screen Savers is now THE authoritative
source for honest, straightforward, and knowledgeable information about
technology. Why go anywhere else?

Meanwhile, in other news. Sumi Das and I are on the road later this month.
We'll be signing autographs Friday, April 28 from noon to 2pm at The Mall at
Marathon in Nassau, The Bahamas. The following day, Saturday, April 29,
we'll be at the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Florida from noon to 2pm. If
you're in the area, please stop by!

Also, I'm very excited to report that my weekly column in Access Magazine
starts two weeks from Sunday. Access is a Sunday supplement like Parade or
USA Weekend that appears in 70 Sunday papers in eight million homes all over
the US. Check their web site at http://www.accessmagazine.com to see if your
paper takes it.

Whew. Lots of news. I'll be taking tomorrow off to rest up after what will
undoubtedly be a major party tonight. Call for Help will be on as usual next
week, but The Screen Savers will be dark so we can rehearse with Patrick.
We'll also be reshooting the show open and redesigning the set to fit
Patrick's expertise and 48 inch chest.

Leo

Dear Kate,

I would like to say GOOD LUCK on your move to The GameSpot!

You and Leo brought computer help and geekness to the masses, with a
style, flavor and humor all your own! You raised the bar for talent
on The Screen Savers very high indeed with your intelligence, charm,
humor and wit, not to mention your impersonations and bursts of song!
The show will go on, but you are irreplaceable.

All of your fans will dearly miss seeing you every night, but I hope
you are happy at your new position! I am sure we all look forward to
seeing you there!

Once again, GOOD LUCK and BEST WISHES!!!

Sincerely,
Andrew Zajac

Anyone caught Leo's secret links on his page (www.leoville.com)?
Try clicking on a few areas. One will give you a wave file and the
other will give you a midi file. For a hint, view the source in that
frame (actually, that's the only way I knew it was there in the first
place).

Good morning Laporteans...

I've got a tip for you on rechargeable batteries today.

A few weeks ago I counted up how many battery powered devices I used every
day... Palm VII (2 AAA), headset (2AAA), Walkman (2AA), Voice recorder
(2AA) - and then there's all the battery powered devices the kids use. I
buy, on average 4 AAA and 4 AA batteries a month. That adds up, not to
mention what it's doing to the landfill. And when I finally get a digital
camera and my Diamond Rio I expect to use even more.

I've tried the NiCAD rechargeable batteries, but with very poor results.
They seem to give up the ghost almost immediately, even with reconditioning.
That's then I read this column by my buddy, John C. Dvorak, about the
rechargeable battery coverup:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2408068,00.html

Finding the NiMH rechargeables hasn't been easy, and the ones I did find
were fairly expensive. But here's a source for NiMH rechargeables at $2.20
each for the AAs! That's not much more than the disposables - and they
reportedly last for hundreds if not thousands of recharges.

http://thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm

You'll have to buy a charger, too - the old NiCAD chargers don't work. I've
been using the Nexcell AA and AAAs with great results. No memory effect.
Life as long as the alkalines. I haven't tried them in a digital camera,
yet, but it sounds like they'd do the job.

Dvorak says the battery companies are reluctant to promote these products,
and no wonder. I can't imagine why anyone would continue to use disposable
batteries.  Well, there's one reason... NiMH batteries drain all by
themselves. You can't just charge them up and expect them to work months
later. You've got to use them right away or keep them in the charger. So
your emergency flashlights and radio should probably be stocked with fresh
disposables, but for everything else, rechargeable's the way!

Leo

Hi, Laporteans! Hope you're having a great weekend.

A viewer named Gary Horvat sent me some info this week on a new Internet
firewall and security application for Windows 98/NT/2000. It's called
ZoneAlarm and it's free for non-business use from

http://www.zonelabs.com

I've been using it and am very impressed. It's transparent and apparently
effective. It's already detected more than half a dozen sniffs at my system.
I've been looking for an inexpensive, inobtrusive, and effective security
program for my home system and this seems to fill the bill. It passes the
test at ShieldsUp with flying colors.

http://www.grc.com

Now not everyone needs this kind of security. As you know, I'm not convinced
that there's a cracker lurking at every turn. But for those of us on cable
modem/DSL and other full time connections to the Internet, some precautions
are necessary. Using strong passwords, turning off file sharing, and running
an up-to-date anti-virus are all most anybody needs to do. But if you feel
the need for more, this program seems to do the job.

If you do try it, let me know what you think.

Leo

Oops. A couple of messages ago I gave you the wrong URL for the web
version of the Laporte Report. The correct URL is:

http://www.egroups.com/list/laporte-report

Apologies. While you're surfing you might want to visit:

http://www.leoville.com/autographs.shtml

I've finally taken the time to scan in the various signed photos Kate
and I have given out over the past two years. For the curious, you'll
find small and large versions. For the truly obsessed I've also made
high quality full-size TIFF versions available, suitable for
downloading and lining the birdcage.

And if you really MUST have your own photo, actually signed by a real
live ZDTV personality, send your mailing address and info on whose
picture you want to fanphotos@....

Leo

I'm not sure exactly why I majored in Chinese! I just loved the
language and culture and I had to pick something. My real major in
college was the campus radio station. I spent nearly all of my time
there, and in fact, dropped out in my junior year to become the Station
Manager. Broadcasting has been my life ever since. I still hope to
visit China someday, even though I doubt I could remember much Chinese!

leo


"eugene" <yevg-@...> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/laporte-report/?start=52
> I was looking through the resume... I must say, wow. I thought that
you
> only did Call For Help/Screen Savers on TV and thats all. Turns out,
> you have a degree from Yale, got an Emmy award... etc. Very
Interesting.
>
> I was wondering though, how did the major on Chinese history fit into
> your current career?
>

I've received a lot of mail on this Sasha, so I thought I'd post your
email and my response to the list.

It's been very difficult replacing Alice as our newcaster on Call For
Help. We all miss her a lot, but she's very happy in her new job and
has much more time with her daughter, which was a priority for her.

Jennifer London and Victoria Recano were temporary fill-ins until we
could find a permanent replacement. (Both are far too busy to do it on
a regular basis.)

I'm very happy to report we've finally found a wonderful person to
replace Alice! Erica Hill who came to ZDTV to anchor our Internet radio
broadcasts will be our reglar newscaster on CFH. Erica is a lot of fun,
and while she's been a little nervous this week (anyone remember how
Alice was when she started?), she's already getting more comfortable,
and will be a great addition to our team. I expect Erica fan clubs to
start springing up very soon now!

(Gabe the cameraman is angling to be a charter member, I think!)

Leo


sashajlmp-@... wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/laporte-report/?start=51
> I would like very much to see Lynn Esposto take a permanent role in
> this segment as Alice Chegia had previously. Lord knows that Victoria
> Recano is very pretty to look at, and she does a great job of reading
> the news at it's regular time, but she doesn't interact with Leo the
> way Alice did. She's just a bit too stuffy/rigid/uptight for the light
> banter needed in this segment with Leo. This is the opinion of myself
> and 23 friends who are religious watchers of CFH.
>
>
> sashajlmph
>
> (I sent this originally to feedback@...)

Hi, gang!

One other thing and I promise I'll shut up! I know most of you read this in
your email program, but did you know there's also a web interface to the
Laporte Report? It's
http://www.egroups.com/laporte-report. One of the reasons you might want to
check it on the web is that there are some additional features. The vault,
for example, is only available on the web. That's where I put various images
for you to see or download (users can post their own images there, too).

There's also a database. If you click on the Database tab at the top of the
web interface you'll see that I've created a FAQ. Actually it's been there
for a while but I don't think anyone knows it exists. If you have a question
that you think is something the group would like to know the answer to, post
it in the FAQ. I may edit or even delete questions that I don't think belong
in the FAQ, but I'll try to answer as many of the rest as I can. We've
needed a Help Shows and Leoville FAQ for a while. This seems like the best
way to do it.

Incidentally, there are now over 4,000 subscribers to The Laporte Report.
While that number pales when compared to the 37,000 that subscribe to the
Call for Help newsletter and the 40,000 Screen Savers subscribers, it's
still far more than I ever expected. Thanks for participating.

I know I don't send out messages very often. One of my (many) New Year's
Resolutions is to send out at least a message a week. If that seems like too
much, let me know. I don't want to fill your mailbox with unwanted spam!

Have a super Super Sunday, and I'll see you tomorrow on ZDTV!

Leo

Greetings fellow Laporteans!  We're Sharon and Derek Gilbert from the St.
Louis area.  We have a ten-year-old daughter, two dogs, and a basement full
of computers (2 Macs and 1 PC).  Hello to Leo, and thanks for all your
"sage" advice.  We are faithful viewers.

Here's a tip for anyone wishing to publish on the web:

My husband Derek and I just found a wonderful and super-easy program for
creating websites!  It's called "Website Creator" from Expert Software
Company.  Its "click-and-build" approach allows anyone to build and publish
within an hour!  Enhanced capabilites and templates allow the user to grow
as a "web master" as his/her skills improve.  Excellent stuff for only
$12.99!

Go Rams!
Sharon and Derek

I was looking through the resume... I must say, wow. I thought that you
only did Call For Help/Screen Savers on TV and thats all. Turns out,
you have a degree from Yale, got an Emmy award... etc. Very Interesting.

I was wondering though, how did the major on Chinese history fit into
your current career?

I would like very much to see Lynn Esposto take a permanent role in
this segment as Alice Chegia had previously. Lord knows that Victoria
Recano is very pretty to look at, and she does a great job of reading
the news at it's regular time, but she doesn't interact with Leo the
way Alice did. She's just a bit too stuffy/rigid/uptight for the light
banter needed in this segment with Leo. This is the opinion of myself
and 23 friends who are religious watchers of CFH.


sashajlmph

(I sent this originally to feedback@...)

I guess the Egroups mailer word wraps URLs and really long addresses are
spread onto two different lines, which means they won't work when you click
them. Either copy both lines and reassemble them for the full URL, or just
go to the vault (click the Vault tab above) and download the wallpapers
there. Thanks again to Vincent Navarino who created them, and to John Oghia
who cleaned up the Help Shows logo.

Leo

Hi gang!

A number of you had trouble downloading the wallpaper Vince made (see
previous message) so I've posted it in the list's vault on EGroups. Click
the Vault tab and select the wallpaper folder or click the following links:

640x480 version:
http://www.egroups.com/docvault/laporte-report/Wallpaper/CallforHelpLeo640x4
80.bmp

800x600 version:
http://www.egroups.com/docvault/laporte-report/Wallpaper/CallforHelpLeo%2080
0x600.bmp

I've also put up the dual Call for Help/Screen Savers wallpaper I use on my
personal computer in the office.

640 x 480 version only:
http://www.egroups.com/docvault/laporte-report/Wallpaper/helpshows640x480.bm
p

Windows users should copy any of these files to your c:\windows directory,
then open the Display control panel, click on the Backgrounds tab and scroll
down until you find the file you want. Mac users can just download the file
and drag it into the Appearance control panel.

And if anyone else has any cool ZDTV wallpaper, by all means upload it to
the vault!

Leo

Leo:

Thanks to (a) I was bored (b) I had some spare time on my hands and
(c) I wanted
to do something a tad creative I made a new Call For Help wallpaper.
I spent
days on it to clean it up, sharpen it and replace all the colors to
make a light
and trim wallpaper what would quickly load on even the slowest
machine. I hope
you like it. Since I know you're leery of attachments, its up on:

http://home.sprintmail.com/~quard/CallforHelpLeo.bmp  (800x600 which
most ppl
use)

http://home.sprintmail.com/~quard/CallforHelpLeo640x480.bmp
(640x480).

I hope you like it. I did send you an email about this but that was
at the time
you had a bunch of mail problems and ZD's server was deleting any
mail with
attachments.

Take Care - And Thank You for Elightening and Entertaining Us All
- -Vincent Navarino

- -----------------

Thank you, Vincent!!!

Leo
-

Hello, Laporte Report subscribers!

I've been enjoying my time off but I'm ready to come back on Monday with all
new shows. Until then, just a word about the Y2K bug. As you've probably
seen already, the early reports from down under and the Far East, where's
it's been the year 2000 for some hours now, indicate no significant computer
problems with Y2K. This is exactly what I've been expecting, but still it's
reassuring to know the world isn't coming to an end.

Here's some last minute advice for your personal computer...

Before you head out to tonight's New Year's Eve parties make sure to update
your anti-virus protection. We're seeing a slight spike in new virus
reports, and it wouldn't be too surprising to see some virii crafted just to
take advantage of people's anxiety about the millennium bug. If you don't
already have an anti-virus program, you can download InoculateIT for free
from Computer Associates at http://antivirus.cai.com/. Don't enter the new
millennium without one!

If you're worried about your computer's Y2K compliance, Windows users can
download the Norton 2000 BIOS Test/Fix from
http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000W0
H. Macintosh users don't need to do a thing. All Mac hardware is Y2K
compliant.

Here's a key fact that seems to get overlooked. PCs that aren't compliant
*will* continue to work. They'll just be confused about the date. In many
cases you can correct the date with the Date and Time control panel and all
will be well. With computers that just refuse to enter the next century,
you'll have to check with the manufacturer for a BIOS update. But unless
it's important to you that files be correctly dated (and it could be if you
use your computer to maintain your finances, run a business, etc.) it might
be easiest to live with the incorrect date.

If there's software you rely on, check for Y2K updates and install them now.
I use Updates.Com (http://www.updates.com) to check my system regularly. Of
particular note, if you use Netscape Navigator/Communicator version 4.06 or
older, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 for Macintosh, you should update
now. Some ecommerce sites won't work tomorrow due to expiring certificates.
You can read all about it at http://updates.zdnet.com/articles/ax_50877.htm.

If you use custom software and you still haven't verified its Y2K
compliance, it's probably too late. Just sit back, let the clock tick over,
and see what develops. It's been my experience that the worst thing about
the Y2K bug is the anxiety. The most important thing to do now is spend time
with family and friends and look forward to a happy, healthy, and prosperous
2000.

Happy New Year, everyone. Stay safe and I'll see you Monday!

Leo

From: rick@...
To: laporte-report@eGroups.com
Subject: Where's Dev-Null
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 21:23:16 -0800

Leo, I loved Dev and I always wondered what happened to him, of course I
was saddend by "the site" being dropped but when I heard they were
forming ZDTV I was ecstatic. But why didn't Dev make the trip at least
for a little while..?

Now I have been told that Tilde & her brother are his offspring....well
then bring dad back for a visit......people would love it...those of us
who know...

Thanks Leo I do think you are 1 of the best tech-spec guys out there
and I have followed your career for quite sometime.....thanks for all
the good stuff

Rick
www.ricksstory.com

----------------------------------------------------------------

Leo's answer:

You have a good memory, Rick! In case others are interested, here's the Dev
story. Grab a cup of cocoa and put your feet up, it's a long one.

My history with ZDTV goes back to 1994 when I was hired to do a show for
them with Gina Smith called "The Personal Computing Show." It aired for
about 10 minutes on CNBC in the Fall of '94 before being cancelled. Good
thing, too. It was godawful.

After that I continued to work for ZD developing show ideas that would never
see the light of day. Late in '95 I got a call from my boss saying that we
might be able to do a deal with a new channel that NBC was starting with
Microsoft. They were looking for a daily hour long news magazine on
technology. I wrote a 90 page treatment which we pitched for the NBC bigwigs
at 30 Rock in a meeting that looked straight out of a Seinfeld episode. NBC
loved it and agreed to co-produce the show with ZD. We went into development
and launched "The Site" when MSNBC launched in Spring, 1996. I had hoped to
be a regular part of the show - ZD had promised me a role as chief
correspondent and weekend anchor - but the NBC execs decided they didn't
much like me on the air. I think the exact quote was, "Leo? Bleech!"
Needless to say, this was incredibly disappointing. In fact, at the time, I
felt like it was a career ending blow.

The coordinating producer took pity on me, however, and offered a way to get
on the air without anyone at NBC knowing. The show was to feature a virtual
character and the fellow they had been using to play the part wasn't working
out. Would I like to try out?

Virtual reality characters are essentially cartoon characters that are
animated in real time using monster computers from Silicon Graphics. An
actor wears a sensor suit that records his movements and relays them to the
SGI Onyx which animates the character in real time based on the actor's
motion. In the case of Dev, puppeteers animated his head and facial features
at the same time. Because it happens live the character can interact with
real people. The notion was that our human anchor, Soledad O'Brien, would
spend a few minutes each night talking with an animated coffee bar hipster
who had his finger on the pulse of Silicon Valley.

One of our producers, Matt Hawn, came up with the clever name of Dev Null -
a play on the UNIX term for a non-existant device. I wrote (or more often
ad-libbed) the copy and danced around in the suit, and puppeteers Karsten
Bondy and Kristine Moss arched his eyebrows and spun his purple hair. The
combination was a success. I think Dev was one of the best parts of The
Site. He was mentioned in the New Yorker as Soldedad's "purple pineapple
haired" sidekick, praised in the New York Times as "the real stand-out on
The Site," and even won an Emmy award in 1997. And best of all, he is
immortalized as "Zev" MSNBC's idiotic animated pundit in Al Franken's book,
"Why Not Me?"

When MSNBC cancelled The Site in November, 1997, Dev died with it. The
rights to Dev were split between ZDTV, MSNBC, and the company that designed
his appearance and software, Protozoa
(http://www.protozoa.com/studio/dev/dev.html). His software still lives, I'm
told, on the SGI Onyx in our studios - the same machine that runs Tilde -
but the technology used to create Tilde is very different. We've talked
about a Dev reunion, but the technical hurdles are pretty steep, and the
demand is not particularly great.

I loved doing Dev, and I appreciate the opportunity it offered to do
something entirely new, but I doubt Dev will ever come back for real. His
day is over. For a year and a half, I was the only person in the world
working daily on TV as a virtual character. It was great fun: I got to say
things no real human would ever be allowed to say and I flirted like the
dickens with the gorgeous Soledad O'Brien. And we were inventing a totally
different kind of TV. But just like Pinocchio, all I ever wanted was to be a
real boy. Fortunately, the death of The Site made the birth of ZDTV
possible. Puppeteer Karsten Bondy continues to do great things with the
virtual characters on ZDTV; watch for revamped Dash and a brand new
character to appear soon. Meanwhile, I have found new and wonderful
opportunities in front of the camera, but I'll always be grateful for the
chance to have been a small footnote in the history of television.

Leo

thanks for the note to all, leo.  as a fan and media colleague, i gotta say,
you are one straightfoward, decent AND entertaining guy!  good luck with the
ownership change and congrats on the zdtv piece in usa today yesterday.

-jon belmont
abc news radio

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Brandon.

You hit the nail on the head. That's exactly why I maintain Leoville and my
mailing list. There's always a way for me to communicate with you directly.

As far as I know, no one at ZDTV subcribes to it - at least there are no
zd.com addresses in the database. I doubt management even knows it exists!

Leo


-----Original Message-----
From: Psikic
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 1999 10:26 PM
To: Leo Laporte
Subject: Re: [laporte-report] What the sale of ZDTV really means


Mr. Laporte,

Thank you so much for sending us this letter.  I do trust you, and normally
would otherwise.  The only reason I wouldn't have to trust you, woul've been
if you <didn't> send us this letter.  It is great to know that you still
have a connection to your fans and viewers that is not linked at all to
ZDTV.  I understand that you can express any opinion of yours that you want
through this channel without having to worry any least little bit about the
outcome of it in your workplace.

Thanks again,
Brandon
Pine Bluff, AR
Loyal and continous fan from <<day numero uno>>

Hi, friends!

I've been getting a lot of email about the sale of ZDTV lately. So many have
of you have expressed concern about the future of the channel, that I
thought I'd better tell you the inside story.

For the past few months we've known that our parent company, Softbank,
wanted to break up and sell off its Ziff-Davis division, including ZDTV. I
haven't said anything about it until now, because there wasn't anything I
could say for sure. I've been through numerous company sales in my time --
ZD has been sold three times since I came to work here in 1994 -- and if
there's one thing I know for sure, it's that it's impossible to predict what
will happen during and after a sale.

Last week we learned that, indeed, ZDTV had been sold to Paul Allen
(http://www.paulallen.com). Allen was already a part owner - he bought one
third of the channel last year. Now he owns all of it. I consider this great
news. Allen is very forward looking and seems to understand exactly what
we're about. I don't get the impression he's watched the channel much, but
his "wired world" strategy dovetails nicely with our content. We expect him
to give us the resources we need to keep ZDTV growing.

Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, but he left the company
in 1983 when he was diagnosed with a form of cancer. According to Forbes
(http://www.forbes.com/Forbes/99/1115/6412186a.htm) Allen quit Microsoft
partly because he disliked Gates business tactics. Allen currently serves on
the Microsoft Board of Directors, and holds about 5% of Microsoft's stock
worth $24 billion, but he is not a Microsoft employee, and doesn't seem to
have any greater allegiance to Microsoft than he does to his 125 other
companies. (In fact, he seems most excited about his football and basketball
teams, the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers.) More importantly to
us, Allen owns the fourth largest cable company in the US, Charter
Communications, and is a major investor in a new cable channel for wired
women called Oxygen. So he understands cable TV and what it takes to
succeed.

Because of Allen's Microsoft connection some of you have said that you're
worried about our continued editorial integrity. Let me say this in the
strongest possible terms, and I know I speak for all the hosts and editorial
staff at ZDTV: there's no way ANYONE will EVER compromise my editorial
integrity. I would walk out the door in an instant if anyone were to try to.
I did The Site for MSNBC, a company that was half owned by Bill Gates, and I
NEVER heard a peep of interference from Microsoft and I bashed them daily. I
expect our new owners to give us the same respect. After all, we know and
they know that you watch ZDTV because you trust us. We take that trust very
seriously. You can count on it. I promise. And I will continue to keep you
informed through this mailing list and Leoville - no matter what happens.

So don't worry. ZDTV may be sold, but our integrity is not, and never will
be, for sale! And I truly believe that our new owner will continue to make
ZDTV a better, more responsive, and more informative channel than ever.

Thanks for listening. I'll be back from vacation on Monday 11/29 for three
solid weeks of new shows, but then I'm taking two weeks off at the end of
December for the holidays. Sorry about all the time off. I got behind on my
vacation time and had to use it up before the end of the year. Thanks for
your patience. (My family thanks you, too!) I promise to spread it out more
evenly in the future!

Leo

Hi, all!

I'm just about to leave for Santa Clara, California for an appearance at the
Valley Fair Mall. Kate and I will be there from 2-4pm in the Atrium near
Nordstrom. If you live in the area I hope you'll come by and say hi.
Meanwhile, here's the official schedule of other upcoming appearances:

Oct 22-- Greenville, South Carolina (2 P.M. to 4 P.M.)
InterMedia @Home Demo Event at Best Buy, 2631 Laurens Road, Greenville.

Nov 6-- Sterling Heights, Michigan (11 A.M. to 1 P.M.)
Comcast Digital Cable and Comcast @Home Demo Event
FYE, in the Lakeside Mall on Hall Rd. in Sterling Heights.

Nov. 6-- Taylor, Michigan (2:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.)
Comcast Digital Cable and Comcast @Home Demo

We're looking at a visit to Costa Mesa, CA in January and quite a few more
in 2000. Call your local cable operator if you want us to come to your town!

Leo