Steve Gibson Responds to Calls for Him to Leave TWiT’s Network After the Banning of John C. Dvorak

Update: Steve Gibson is not a fan of No Agenda.

Subject: Re: Damage control – John Dvorak Fired By Leo
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:33:04 -0700
From: Steve Gibson

[for the unabridged version, see ferrix’s post above]

I’ve never followed, but I know that sort of fare appeals to Mark Thompson. There’s some “coast to coast” crackpot he listens to “Art Bell” I think his name is. 9/11 conspiracies, practical zero-point energy being covered up, perpetual motion machines, and lots and lots of aliens zipping around.

Not my cup of tea… (as you guys doubtless know. 🙂

Me leave TWiT? Never!
Me leave TWiT? Never!
Steve Gibson lives in 1990 with his PDP-8’s and his Apple ][e light pens, and unfortunately, he hasn’t learned about web forums since then.

Ergo, one must trawl through the depths of his newsgroups at grc.* hosted on his own NNTP servers to find out what he says in his discussions with his own brand of sycophants. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry about it. Nobody else cares either.

They only discuss stupid things like raw sockets, SpinRite not working on any computer made in the last decade, and his never-ending “work” on SQRL.

Here is Steve Gibson’s statement on John C. Dvorak’s being banned by Leo Laporte at TWiT and calls for him to resign in solidarity with his former colleague.


Subject: Damage control
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2015 16:55:50 -0700
From: Steve Gibson

Gang…

While working on SQRL, I have also been doing a lot of damage control following the weekend’s events with Leo and John Dvorak. Many DM’s and writing to GRC sales, demanding that I leave TWiT and find somewhere else to podcast. I’m staying put, but it’s but it’s been quite amazing to see how adamant and rabid many of Leo’s listeners are.


Subject: Re: Damage control – John Dvorak Fired By Leo
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 08:30:48 -0700
From: Steve Gibson

> Now I’m going to try and figure out why Steve is being harassed.

It is listeners of Security Now who want the podcast, but really do not want to support Leo by downloading it. I’m being urged to move the podcast elsewhere (Tom Merritt is often suggested). But that’s not going to happen for the foreseeable future while SQRL and SpinRite v6.1 are pending. I expect that this will blow over as other past changes at TWiT have, though it does appear that Leo’s public treatment of John has deeply angered many people. It appears that, at least in the short run, Leo has hurt TWiT and himself… though I’m sure not fatally.

John and I have also known one another for decades. We were each writing our respective columns in InfoWorld Magazine at the same time and, interestingly, our beats were the same: he was writing as a sort of a curmudgeonly tech observer and I was deep in the weeds of how things worked. John and I have been in touch during this and he is 100% fine. I doubt that either of them actually has any plans to actually work together again… but “ever” is a long time. So who knows?

It’s also been suggested that my reputation and standing are being tainted by my continuing association. But I’m quite sure it’s clear to everyone that Leo and I are separate, and that as Leo himself describes it: “Security Now is Steve’s podcast.” So I’m not at all worried about my “reputation” being damaged by my not immediately departing. These mostly seem to be people who are rooting for the downfall of TWiT for reasons of their own grudges. I don’t begrudge the [sic] that, but they are not me. I truly believe that such a downfall would be a loss for the industry. There remains a very great deal of good content there… and it IS essentially free. I think it works. It works for me.


Leo Laporte Bans John C. Dvorak from TWiT for Expressing His Opinions Elsewhere

Update 6: Leo is delusional and/or deceiving the sheep by giving something to <@ScooterX> to paste in #twitlive to when they mute or kickban dissenters.

Update 5: We can’t even.

Update 4: Adam Curry responded to Leo’s “surrender.” #soup

JCD won’t be back:

Update 3: Leo “surrendered“. We hope John never goes back to kiss the ring after all the insults Leo lobbed at him.

Update 2: Leo responded on The Tech Guy, further trash-talking John C. Dvorak. He added that “all John does is just set fires,” he “has his own little troll army,” “he isn’t interested in technology,” and the real reason for the banning: not respecting the advertisers.

Update 1: Leo blocked John C. Dvorak on twitter.

John updated No Agenda Newsletter subscribers via his mailing list. You may read that update for more details.

The honeymoon is over, it appears.
The honeymoon is over, it appears.
Esteemed bag of lard Leo Laporte has finally had enough of the man he has secretly (and not-so-secretly) reviled for a long time: John C. Dvorak. Thanks to many eagle-eyed readers for sending this in as a tip.

It would appear that expressing opinions elsewhere about Ahmed, the clock disassembler-and-reassembler (maker?), is enough to get you blacklisted from TWiT now.

Relevant No Agenda Clip – 17 Minutes

We made lots of screenshots, so let us know if any of these disappear and we’ll replace them with images of the deleted tweets.

Leo Laporte Finally Insults Mike Elgan, Non-Sentient Robot Host of Tech News Today

I dislike most of my employees greatly.
I dislike most of my employees greatly.
It’s sadly not uncommon to see Leo Laporte decimating the reputation (and allowing others to do so) of hosts over and over and over at TWiT.

In this installment, we present Leo Laporte insulting Mike Elgum for his ridiculous affinity for Google+. The Mike Elgum robot has the following properties:

Village Idiot
Village Idiot
Perhaps the most egregious example of how bad Mark Elgam is at his job is when he was fooled by an obvious hoax and Demetri Martin impersonator Megan Morrone laughed at him.

None of this stops Elgum from posting bukkake-ish photos to Google+ on what he calls his “blog” on a regular basis. That is the only thing that can raise Leo Laporte’s ire apparently, not the fact that Mark is really bad at his job.

Leo Laporte Spoils Mr. Robot Season Finale

The video below contains spoilers for Mr. Robot Season 1. The article does not contain spoilers.
I'm an asshole.
I’m an asshole.

The editorial board of Total Drama withheld this post for a few weeks to give readers a chance to finish Season 1 of Mr. Robot, because we are not monsters like the lecherous Leo Laporte.

With help from his cohort of old white men on This Week in Tech, Mr. Laporte, who hadn’t even seen more than a single episode, requested on-air confirmation of a very spoiling piece of information regarding the series. His geriatric pals were more than happy to oblige.

We were disgusted, but we wanted to give you, dear reader, a chance to finish the series yourself, especially since the finale was delayed by a week.

Randal Schwartz Jumps on the “Insult Steve Gibson” Bandwagon

You will be forgiven if you have never heard of FLOSS Weekly, a show that apparently runs early in the morning on TWiT and is all about dental health, we assume.

You know you want it.
You know you want it.

Nevertheless, the saying “One bad apple spoils the bunch” clearly holds true at TWiT. Leo Laporte’s poisonous work environment has yet again spawned clear hatred on the live stream. It is well documented that Leo has insulted Steve Gibson over and over and to such an extent that his distain for him sometimes bleeds over into other shows.

Why do they keep insulting me??
Why do they keep insulting me?

In the video above, Leo’s “good friend” Russell Schwartz piles on with the Steve-hate when Randal says that he, “Had no idea what Gibson was talking about, but I never do most of the time when I’m listening to him. Heh heh heh.”

Very funny, Rusty Schultz. Very funny. Now just go back to your show. Leo loooooooves Floss Weekly after all. But you better watch yourself, Randal. We hear that Lisa is not such a fan. “Off-site Producer” doesn’t really have the same ring as “Show Host” on your LinkedIn page, now does it?

Even Andy Ihnatko is Embarrassed by Leo Laporte

Can you believe I put up with this shit?
Can you believe I put up with this shit?

We couldn’t believe this one until we heard it with our own ears. Thankfully one of our intrepid field reporters caught this exchange on the 5by5 podcast The Ihnatko Almanac episode 156 at 22:18.

The important part of the podcast can be found below where Andy says he is “embarrassed” on a regular basis by Leo Laporte at each Apple product announcement.

Yes, it seems even the great Andy Ihnatko, the idiotic hat-wearing, mutton chop-sporting, Android phone-loving, imbecile sidekick of Leo Laporte is unable to make him shut up and stop asking the same questions over and over and over again. So what hope do the others have of escaping the gravitational pull of Leo’s breathtakingly repetitive meanderings? It’s almost as if Leo’s old stories are some sort of tractor beam from which no white co-host can escape.

As always, thanks to one of our loyal readers for submitting this in our feedback link. You can join us in our chat room at any time to talk about #Soup and TWiT’s failings. Trust us—it’s way more fun than the banal “conversation” that happens in the official TWiT chatroom.

Leo Laporte Admits He Doesn’t Really Love Advertisers

Dance, you glorious monkey.
Oopa Beetus Style!

Renowned pile of garbage Leo Laporte performs ten minute commercials at the behest of the bottom-rung of advertisers that will still support him, but does he care?

To answer this, let’s look back at The Tech Guy 1210 from August 9, 2015 and see how he responds to a chatter asking if Leo still recommends a prior sponsor. Since he isn’t beholden to their money anymore, he lets them have it.

#Soup is rarely honest. He prefers to say whatever is most convenient in any situation, like his after-TWiT guest greetings. Oh you’re from X? I just loooooooooooooooooove X. My good friend Steve Martin loves X. Have you tried the Y? No? Oh you must! It’s amazing!!!! Well, thanks for coming out!

However, sometimes the actual truth slips out. You may also read our other coverage of Leo and TWiT shitting on advertisers.

TWiT First Broadcast Company to Surpass a Ten Minute Commercial

Many thought it too much for any audience to take but on September 7th 2015 TWiT became the first broadcast network to feed their audience a ten minute commercial. We undertsand it was one of the worst TWiTs in the history of TWiT, but ten minutes?

At what point is it considered an infomercial?

Please Speed through if you don’t believe us.
We are not responsible for any deaths as a result of boredom. Watching this video can cause headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, feelings of depression, suicide, homicide, patricide, genocide, bouts of murder, sweating, sweaty palms, abortion, crucifixions, crusades, terrorism and can result in harm to a fetus (wether in you or in anyone nearby,) racism, homophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, stomach pains, runny nose, bad breath, pimples and spinal injury. Consult your doctor, lawyer, grade school teachers, accountant, janitor,psychiatrist before watching.

Even Laporte is Sick of Drones on Know-How

The formerly popular show Know How has continued showing declining ratings since the departure of the host and creator Iyaz Ahktar. The initail concept was a compelling weekly rotation of various tech-how-to topics. The program was a success, but it truly shined in one other area. It had various episodes that were monster hits on YouTube and with proper management or a CEO at the helm of TWiT, that could have been parlayed into an influx of TWiT viewers.

Wowzers, a million views
Wowzers, a million views

Total Drama has been on this show’s case for some time. TD has often ridiculed the current iteration of Know How for doing the same depleted topic for well over a year; drones.

Avid TD reader Leo Laporte has finally accepted the critique put forth by this blog. In the video below you will see his disgust with how this show was ruined. The secret to success is not droning on for one entire week about propellers, another week on motors, and yet another on drone cameras. The entire fan base has been driven away. This is why the show rests uneasily on the chopping block.

Unfortunately, the current host slash 1920s radio announcer impersonator has decided that the ratings have declined because of the set. His solution is to move the hands on how-to show to a round table discussion format.

Leo Laporte makes a rude, unfunny gay “joke”

Leo Laporte, the ever-expanding bloast (that’s a combo of “bloated” and “host”), makes a truly tasteless gay “joke” on the latest episode of “Windows Weekly” in front of co-hosts Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley.

At this point, we here at TotalDrama HQ are well aware that Leo is a sexist, homophobic, racist fuck. But when he forces his co-hosts to sit there uncomfortably as they pretend that Leo’s failed “jokes” are nothing but thinly-veiled attacks on anyone that is not an old, white male, then that goes too far. And we are duty-bound to expose it to the world.

Please tell us what you think in the comments section: Should Leo apologize to Mary Jo and Paul for this assault on their integrity?