Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 796

Year 796 (DCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 796 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events[link]

By place[link]

Europe[link]

• December – Coenwulf becomes king of Mercia.
• Charlemagne defeats the Avars.

Asia[link]

• Tō-ji is established in Kyoto, Japan.

Births[link]

• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, famous Egyptian Sufi

Deaths[link]

• Imam Malik, one of the most respected scholars of Islam
• July – Offa, king of Mercia
• December – Ecgfrith, king of Mercia

References[link]

Leo Laporte
Birth name	Léo Gordon Laporte
Born	(1956-11-29) November 29, 1956 (age 55) Manhattan, New York City
Show	Approx. 20 shows on the TWiT netcast network, also The Tech Guy through Premiere Radio Networks
Station(s)	TWiT TV LLC; Premiere Radio Networks
Time slot	Saturdays and Sundays live at 11:00AM PT (19:00 GMT/18:00 GMT during US DST), 3 hours
Website	http://www.leoville.com/ http://leoville.squarespace.com http://www.techguylabs.com http://www.twit.tv

Léo Gordon Laporte (/ləˈpɔrt/; born November 29, 1956 in Manhattan, New York City)^[1] is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur.

Background[link]

Laporte studied Chinese history at Yale University before dropping out in his junior year to pursue his career in radio broadcasting,^[2] where his early radio names were Dave Allen and Dan Hayes.^[3] He began his association with computers with his first home PC, an Atari 400.^[4] Laporte said he purchased his first Macintosh in 1984.^[5] He operated one of the first Macintosh-only bulletin board systems, MacQueue, from 1985 to 1988.

Television and radio[link]

Laporte has worked on technology-related broadcasting projects, including Dvorak On Computers in January 1991 (co-hosted with computer pundit John C. Dvorak), and Laporte On Computers on KGO Radio and KSFO in San Francisco. Laporte also hosted Internet! on PBS, and The Personal Computing Show on CNBC. In 1997, he earned an Emmy Award for his work on MSNBC's The Site, where he created the motion capture character Dev Null.

In 1998, he created and co-hosted The Screen Savers and the original version of Call for Help on the cable and satellite network ZDTV (later TechTV). Laporte left The Screen Savers in 2004, and later left the network after a dispute with Vulcan Ventures, over stock ownership and the cancellation of Call for Help. His contract ended on March 31, and his absence from The Screen Savers on April 1 was originally believed to be an April Fool's Day joke.

Laporte has also acted, playing Uncle Charlie in the movie Phoenix Rising.^[6]

Laporte was the host of the daily television show The Lab with Leo Laporte, recorded in Vancouver, Canada. The program had formerly been known as Call for Help when it was recorded in the U.S. and Toronto. The series aired on G4techTV Canada, on the HOW TO Channel in Australia, on several of Canada's Citytv affiliates, and on Google Video. On March 5, 2008, Laporte confirmed on net@nite^[7] that The Lab with Leo Laporte had been canceled by Rogers Communications. The HOW TO Channel refused to air the remaining episodes after it was announced the show had been canceled.^[8][9]

He hosts a weekend technology-oriented talk radio program show titled Leo Laporte: The Tech Guy. The show, started on KFI AM 640 (Los Angeles), is now syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks, and on XM Satellite Radio. Laporte appears semi-regularly on Showbiz Tonight,^[10] Live with Regis and Kelly,^[11] World News Now, and briefly with Bill Handel on Friday mornings on KFI. He has also been a guest technology expert on numerous talk radio programs in local markets across the U.S. and Canada.

Books[link]

Laporte has written technology-oriented books including 101 Computer Answers You Need to Know, Leo Laporte's 2005 Gadget Guide, Leo Laporte's Guide to TiVo, Leo Laporte's Guide to Mac OS X Tiger and Leo Laporte's PC Help Desk. He has published a yearly series of technology almanacs: Leo Laporte's Technology Almanac and Poor Leo's Computer Almanac. Laporte's latest and last book is Leo Laporte's 2006 Technology Almanac.

He has contributed to periodicals including BYTE, InfoWorld, and MacUser. Laporte announced in October 2006 that he will not renew his contract with Que Publishing and has retired from publishing his long series of books.

In 2008, Laporte did the voice narration for the fable The True History of Little Golden-hood by Andrew Lang which was made available through Audible.

Netcasting[link]

Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur

Laporte owns and operates a netcast network, TWiT.tv. It is available on iTunes and other podcast subscription services.^{[12][13][14][15]} Before the expansion to new facilities in 2011, Laporte said TWiT earns $1.5 million annually on a production cost of only $350,000.^[16]

Laporte calls his audio and video shows "netcasts," saying "I've never liked the word podcast. It causes confusion … people have told me that they can't listen to my shows because they 'don't own an iPod' … I propose the word 'netcast.' It's a little clearer that these are broadcasts over the Internet. It's catchy and even kind of a pun."^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leo Laporte

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Leo Laporte

• Official website

Not to be confused with Drama (rapper).

DJ Drama
DJ Drama In April 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Tyree Cinque Simmons
Also known as	Drama Boy, Gangsta Grillz, Mr. Thanksgiving, Barack O'Drama
Born	(1978-04-22) April 22, 1978 (age 34) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genres	Hip hop, Southern rap, East Coast rap
Occupations	DJ, record producer
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Grand Hustle Records, E1 Music, Aphilliates Music Group, TM3
Associated acts	Akon, Willie the Kid, Lil Wayne, T.I., Young Jeezy, J. Cole, Big Sean, Meek Mill, Gucci Mane, Wiz Khalifa, Fabolous, Wale, Trey Songz, Ludacris, 50 Cent
Website	www.dramalikethedj.com

Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978)^[1] better known as DJ Drama is an American hip hop artist and the official DJ for Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I. He is best known for producing mixtapes, including the successful "Gangsta Grillz" series and Dedication 2, which the New York Times called one of the "10 best recordings of 2006".^[2]

DJ Drama, Don Cannon, and DJ Sense founded Aphilliates Music Group in 2003. The Aphilliates Music Group inked a label deal with Asylum Records in 2006, signing rapper Willie the Kid. As of January 2011, The Aphilliates now operates as its own entity, due to DJ Drama recently cutting ties with La the Darkman and Embassy Entertainment.^[3]

Music career[link]

DJ Drama's debut album, Gangsta Grillz: The Album, was released in December 2007 on the Grand Hustle label. The album's first street single, "Takin Pictures", was released in 2007 and featured Young Jeezy, Tre'Von McCall,(Producer)Willie the Kid, Jim Jones, Rick Ross, Young Buck and T.I.,^[4] while the first single, "5000 Ones", featuring Nelly, T.I., Yung Joc, Willie the Kid, Young Jeezy and Twista, debuted on BET.^[5] The second single, "The Art of Storytellin' Part 4", was released in 2008 with the help of long time friend Tre'Von McCall (Who did most of his beats) and featured OutKast and Marsha Ambrosius. In 2009, DJ Drama released his second album entitled Gangsta Grillz: The Album (Vol. 2), the first single was "Day Dreaming", which featured Akon, Snoop Dogg and T.I. The second single was "Ridiculous", which featured Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, Lonnie Mac and OJ da Juiceman. Both singles were released in 2009. DJ Drama releasd his third studio album, Third Power, on October 11th, 2011. The first single, "Oh My", featuring rappers Fabolous, Wiz Khalifa and Roscoe Dash was released on May 13th, the 2nd single, "Never See You Again", features female singer Talia Coles and rapper Wale.^[6] The Gangsta Grillz album reunites DJ Drama and Don Cannon who had gone their separate ways for a few years after a lot of fighting and arguing as business partners.^[7] Drama is married to video vixen Summer Walker.

Film career[link]

DJ Drama has appeared in T.I.'s ATL in 2006, and T-Pain's Freaknik: The Musical in 2010.

Discography[link]

• 2007: Gangsta Grillz: The Album
• 2009: Gangsta Grillz: The Album (Vol. 2)
• 2011: Third Power
• 2012: Quality Street Music^[8]

Awards[link]

• BET Hip Hop Awards
  • DJ of the Year (Nominated)

• Ozone Awards
  • 2008, Best Mixtape (Hood Generals) with BG (Won)
    • Note: The award was a tie with Chamillionaire's Mixtape Messiah 3^[9]

References[link]

Notes[link]

• Interview with DJ Drama's sister after the January 16th raid, Mixtapeshow.net, January 27, 2007
• April 2007 Interview, Allhiphop.com, April 2007
• Jeff Leeds, "Cracking down on mixtape CDs", New York Times, January 22, 2007
• Samantha M. Shapiro, "Hip-hop outlaw (industry version)", New York Times Magazine, February 18, 2007
• "Exclusive: DJ Drama Q&A", Rhapsody.com, January 11, 2008

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: DJ Drama

• Gangsta Grillz website
• The Aphilliates
• DJ Drama on Myspace
• DJ Drama at MTV
• DJ Drama at Allmusic