Ten Years After : LOL: The Life of Leo

Leo LaPorte is finally completely off the TV airwaves. Sad day. But, it is also a happy day because I couldn’t get the show here in these United States, and it has freed him up to think outside of the box and start putting together an online network of video-taped podcasts. I am calling it that because as it stands right now it doesn’t sound like what he will be producing will look anything like what we see on tv.

Right now, he runs the TWiT Netcast Network which produces around 12 different shows per week that are available for download from his site. Now he is looking at how to bring an element of live tv to it. At this point it appears that he will still keep producing the same shows with maybe the addition of a few more, who knows, but he will have multiple cameras aimed at him and his guests so that there will now be a live, interactive element to it.

LaPorte has always said that he likes the idea of interactive which was one of the driving forces behind many of the decisions made at the now defunct network TechTV. His desire was to always find ways for the audience to participate. TechTV lead the charge in using webcams so that the audience could actually be on the shows and asks questions and leave comments. It was an openness that we haven’t seen since.

I believe this openness is what engendered such a tight following in his audience. We have always felt that we are a part of the action, and to be honest, it doesn’t matter where Leo goes, if he is producing content, his audience will find a way to consume it.

I am looking forward to the changes in the upcoming months to TWiT and I am excited that I don’t have to bittorrent his content in order to see it.

If you are looking for interesting, well-produced podcasts that have a bit of a tech angle, check out TWiT.tv.

They are called Magic Slates or in this case “Super Slate Play” (Sounds like this one was made in Japan…)

For those of you who are looking at this and saying “What the…”, it is a simple little toy that you used to find in grocery stores and quickie marts.  It usually cost somewhere around a dollar and was good for HOURS of fun.

The toy consisted of the Magic Slate itself which had a cardboard backing.  In the center (Under the gray sheet…see the picuture) was a hard, black waxy substance that was somewhat sticky.  On top of that was a gray sheet of plastic, and on top of that was a clear piece of plastic.

There was a a little red plastic stylus that came with the Magic Slate that you used to write on the gray plastic surface.  The tip of the stylus would adhere the gray plastic to the black waxy surface underneath making it appear as though the stylus was writing.

You could write a note, draw a picture, or whatever.  Once you were done with your artwork, you could erase it by lifting the two sheets of plastic, and voila…you have a fresh writing surface ready for you next work of art.

I loved these things, and I am now on a personal mission to find one again.

I was reminded of this toy by one of the guys I work with.  He recently came back from the Big12 Championships where he saw the television guys broadcasting the game.

The reason broadcasters sound so smart is that they have spotters who are constantly finding interesting facts for the announcers to knowingly add inbetween the action.  The spotter was using a Magic Slate to write notes to the broadcaster.

I asked Brian, the guy I work with, if they had some professional version of the Magic Slate, and he said no.  It was one of the ones from the quickie mart.