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.


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

    1. Gibson wants no part of it and has no real dog in the fight. He is certainly not going to produce and post his own podcast. Generally speaking it is not something that anyone can do or wants to do. So let Team Leo do it. Personally I doubt Leo could do it by himself. Adam and John could do it but they are not a network and are not about to produce SG’s shows. There is also DHUnplugged which was produced by John then Horowitz because Horowitz has a studio. They are not going to produce SG either. And besides these are ALL voice-only real podcasts.

      If he left Leo the show would be over. And Gibson should note that saying anything is risky with a psycho like Leo. There are many things that could be taken the wrong way resulting in Leo having another tantrum and firing Gibson. If SG was smart he’d shut up and say nothing more. Leo has a screw loose.

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    2. has he EVER listened to the No Agenda Show. From his description, I don’t think so!!!!

      I generally do not say I do not like something only after I have checked it out. Otherwise I’d say, I haven’t had the chance to check it out.

      This is Gibson being pro-Leo

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  1. Well Steve, if you read this I can just say that I enjoy your podcast but that I always feel dirty downloading it due Leos involvement.

    If he only would host the podcast it would have been easier to suppress his involvement, but the clueless shit he spews out, the disses of you and others and the outright trolling (e.g. the Windows privacy issue) is to much for me.

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  2. It’s good to see he is aware of what’s up. Oftentimes it seems many of these cohorts and guests are clueless fans.

    Although this is essentially Steve supporting Leo,it also shows that Gibson is cognitively aware of the truth. He also said he won’t leave for the “foreseeable” future. A large departure from his past statements of the pair being together forever.

    People like Snell and Jarvis are as blind as the chat room.

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  3. Wow this statement by Steve Gibson was quite telling.

    FIRSTLY… notice how Steve pretty much says the reason he is not yet moving his podcast away from the TWIT network, is because he is busy working on some side projects.

    That’s not exactly a huge vote of confidence… or ringing endorsement for Leo Laporte. It’s kinda like a spouse telling another spouse something to the effect of:

    “I’m only sticking around with you here at the house, because I’m too busy to pack up, and coordinate a move right now.”

    I can’t say I’m surprised by this clear subtext on the part of Steve Gibson, especially considering how I’ve been sensing a rather strong undercurrent of negative vibes expressed towards Steve, by Leo, on some recent shows.

    It’s been a kind of unfriendly, argumentative, abrasive, hostile negative tone of voice, directed at Steve, emerging now and then during the Security Now podcasts, and unfortunately it seems to be increasingly more frequent.

    Considering how popular and well liked Steve Gibson is… I can’t see how this treatment of Steve is going to help Leo Laporte recover from downward spiral dive he appears to be falling into recently.

    SECONDLY,

    notice how Steve describes how how he has been in touch and in dialog, and there for his friend, John Dvorak, even reminiscing about the past-good-times with John as writers… but Steve makes no such references to Leo.

    Since I usually only listen to TWIT if John is on the show, I honestly gave a listen to Sunday’s edition of TWIT (Sept 27th, 2015), to see what I would think…

    but… that episode at least really wasn’t a very good show, and a few times I get a “creepy” vibe for overly obvious flirtations that Leo was directing at Natali Morris.

    I could immediately see why so many females seem put-off, and find it awkward working with Leo. I’ve also noticed that Leo tends to just bulldoze and talk over females in mid-sentence rather frequently. This was is especially apparent with Heather Hamann, on the Tech Guy Show, in which he will start off sometimes by chatting with Heather, but if she starts to say more than one sentence, he immediately races to talk over, completely ignoring anything she says.

    I get a pretty uncomfortable feeling when he does that to Heather Hamann… and I’ve noticed that Heather has gotten quitter and quitter and no longer even bothers to say much to Leo anymore… and the fact that she is now only there 1 day for the weekend (instead of 2) could be a sign that she too is wanting to put some distance from him.

    Anyways… I expressed some off putting concerns I’ve been feeling from Leo, that have been building in recent months, and this latest debacle with John Dvorak just made me finally snap towards Leo.

    I do really like his shows sometimes, and feel connections to him now and then… but… I don’t something is changing, and not for the better, and it’s kind of sad really, because things could have been so different.

    In the end I wouldn’t be surprised to see the last remaining good hosts (Steve Gibson, Paul Thurrott, and Mary Jo Foley) end up being alienated as well.

    I think it might be Steve Gibson next because the tension at times has been pretty thick regarding Leo’s treatment and tone of voice directed at Steve.

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    1. Your post echos my sentiment exactly.

      I have just deleted the last two podcast feeds that pointed to shows on the TN.

      Given how the TN is currently being operated and managed, I can no longer, with good conscious, download any podcast that supports the TN or its sponsors. If SN and WW ever find another home, I’ll be glad to support them and their sponsors again.

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    2. Leo has turned toxic. Those ex-hosts such as Tom Merritt, Kevin Rose, Shannon Morse, Amber McArthur, Veronica Belmont, and now Dvorak and Sarah Lane who just left to do better things with their lives (after getting fed up)… are all doing better things. None need or want Leo.

      The Brian Brushwoods and Eric Lanigans who loved Leo and more or less begged to come back did less well. Poor Eric became suicidal and apparently killed himself because of Leo and Brian decided to have an operation to cut off his nuts.

      Leo is toxic. Bad news.

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      1. Really, the only thing that improves a relationship with a malignant narcissist is ‘no contact’. (Except some T patches might make for a happier @schwood…disturbing!)

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  4. Steve’s time on TWIT is limited…Leo is vindictive and probably sees this as Steve siding with John. Leo will find a way to jettison Steve asap. Leo can find a generic security guy to fill in so he can sell ads.

    but man, holy shit, looks like Leo inadvertently set a nuke off in the brickhouse.

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    1. Also, Leo has publicly stated that LISA wants NOTHING to do with SN.

      Originally I wanted to tell Skieve to grow a pair of balls. Then I thought, maybe the ferret ate his balls…..

      In any case I wish Skieve well. I think his products are shit and that he has done a helluva job shilling them and keeping them updated, but updated shit that sells OK is still shit.

      Good Luck Steve. Have a fruitful life, with or without Leo.

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  5. SG is doing the right thing. He’s keeping close his opinions about Leo and TWIT because he and Leo have been friends for a long time. Oh dear, JCD and Leo have been friends for a very long time. As long as SG is on TWIT, I will support SG. The minute he leaves (as Tom Merritt left), the TWIT RSS feeds will be deleted. I have for many years admired and enjoyed listening to Leo, but after the marriage to the “CEO” of TWIT, Leo and his onscreen persona have become unpleasant and often downright evil. Neither of these should be seen in tech channel.

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  6. Steve IS next, take that to the bank. LL will find a lame excuse to eject SG. I’ve noticed LL keeps mentioning that he wears hearing aids now, then I then remembered that he stated that twit turns down A LOT of advertisers. Well something stinks cause now he is selling pill boxes, orthopedic mattresses, eyeglasses and hearing aids, LMAO. Nothing against the older generation but damn what is this the geriatric twit network? I thought it was about tech and “anything with a chip in it”. Why people still gravitate toward LL is beyond me the dude is clearly delusional and damn right toxic.

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    1. Well Mark, I wouldn’t actually want anyone to “ditch” Leo Laporte’s podcasts, just because a couple of his adds might cater to “geriatric” needs and products.

      We are all going to be “geriatric” some day, faster than we expect! And besides, I know of many truly AWESOME older folks, who are far more hip, open minded, and amazing people, than young 20-somethings.

      But then again, I also know of plenty of AWESOME 20 somethings.

      So I’m actually in favor of advertising that caters to any segment of society, including older folks. I have NO problem with any of Leo’s advertisers, even if a couple of them end up oriented towards a “geriatric” segment of the audience.

      Instead… I have far more profound concerns about Leo Laporte that I’ve been noticing in the last few months, including this latest infantile melodramatic way of handling conflict/disagreements on the part of Leo… as well as some other behavior.

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  7. Didn’t soup tell Steve he was wanting to take steve’s show to audio? If so, then why would Steve want to remain on TWIT? Maybe Soup is giving him more than 500 a show?

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    1. Steve gets a percentage of the ad sales on SN i believe. CeHo has her panties in a bunch that she’s not in control of that percentage. Therefore she wants Steve out the fucking door. #stupidfuckingcunts #LisahasaDick #controlfreak #fugly #ugly #oedipustub #poormichael

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  8. SN is one long native advertisement for SpinRite. It violates every rule lay-oh set out for TWiT advertisement.

    Soup must now be shaking in his boots the fat fuck has really fucked up this time!

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    1. Well, I’d have to disagree that SN is simply a longstanding advertisement for Spinrite.

      Steve Gibson does take a couple of minutes to try and sell it, but you can keep listening to his shows, and you don’t have to buy Spinrite if you don’t want to. (I haven’t bought it yet… but that’s because I back up my drives regularly and religiously!)

      Just ignore those 2 minutes of sales if it is not of interest to you.

      The rest of the time he is “on air” in his podcast, is often very high quality in my opinion (though many will probably disagree with me).

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  9. “But that’s not going to happen for the foreseeable future while SQRL and SpinRite v6.1 are pending.”

    I don’t read this as “I’m too busy to move my podcast elsewhere”, I read it as “TWiT is a good platform for me to promote this stuff and if I leave they will get much less exposure”.

    Can someone explain why this John C. Dvorak vs. Leo thing is causing so much of a ruckus? I feel like this has happened in the past (John being ‘banned’ for some reason and then Leo quickly revoking it). Is it just a vocal group from Dvorak’s other No Agenda show being loud on Twitter?

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    1. Leo is using his left wing politics to make unfortunate comments. It even happened during the latest Twit when he made a political dig at Natalie Morris’ husband. He quickly retreated when he noticed it wasn’t seen as funny.

      I think that’s the problem. He has forgotten that talking politics (i.e. publicly labeling people based on his political viewpoint) and making network decisions based on politics is a bad idea. That recent argument about the clock boy was the same thing… banning someone because they have a different view. A view I might add, that was based on a lot of research.

      As for JCDs previous bans… he was just acting like a kid because he was one of the few guests that didn’t give a damn about the consequences. I think they punished him by inviting him less often – nothing like the recent mess.

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      1. Amen Trumpbump. The second paragraph really got a good guffaw out of me.

        Also, you make a poignant point. Leo has gotten worse the harder he clings to his politics and offers little evidence/ research to “muscle up” his political points.

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      2. I think Jarvis is responsible for a lot of the political crap that comes up on TWIT. When I use to watch TWIG and Jarvis went off on a rant, Leo looked like a love struck student sitting in one of Jarvis’s classes.

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      3. Now TWIT has some other guy that acts like a total kid, but in a less appealing way, namely that guy Owen.

        So I wonder if Owen is next on Leo’s list as well?

        Owen does have a few good moments and makes me laugh sometimes, but his whole “Uncle Leo” personality shtick thing gets to be too much at times, and sometimes goes on for too long.

        I’d be ok with them keeping Owen as a guest on TWIT… but again he’s got turn down that Uncle-Leo-slapstick-shtick a few levels, and get a little bit more serious and insightful at times.

        As for John Dvorak I’m really hoping they bring him back. But it doesn’t seem like they will this time. The intensity this time, looks like a serious rift that will be long lasting.

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  10. Silly Rabbit, SpinRite is SHITE!

    I think WW will leave before SN, Leo views SN as a great time for a 2 hour lunch and SG can’t afford to expend any mental effort on mundane tasks like finding a better host for his poddie. Remember he is the author of the GREAT SQRL…

    Both these guys are full of shit and deserve to spend their afterlives in the purgatory of a never-ending episode of SN.

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    1. I really hope Thurrott and Foley do their own WW show independent of TWiT. Leo seems to often resort to cheap clownish one liners on that show because he seems unprepared. The sad part is that it often obstructs Thurrott and Foley’s serious discussion and ruins the flow of the show.

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      1. This week’s what the tech podcast talks about setting up a show with MJF for the Microsoft event next week. Maybe doing a show without Leo will be the first step in getting away from twit…

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          1. Zarian looks like a greasy douchebag, and will often say some astoundingly dumb things. But he’s never insulting and at least seems to be paying attention. I’ve never seen him eat even a tic tac, let alone a goddamned Nature Box ™ trough.

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  11. Is it just me or did I read a lot of subtext in Steve’s messages? Like he is walking on egg shells big time and being diplomatic in order to not get thrown under the bus as well.

    James E brings up a lot of good points in his post above. I think Steve is really trying to keep the peace and preserve his friendship with Leo just long enough for him to have an escape plan if and when he finally gets the boot.

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  12. It’s sad for all us here on TD to see Leo’s M O being applied to Steve.

    Here we go again, same M O , another lap with LeoLaCunt as he starts out slow with his intended Victim (SG) snide public insults behind the Victims back leading up to small out bursts toward them during a show renerdering the Victim blindsided,
    continue the assault for a few months until the victim finally has enough and politely tweets it says something on air to Leo.
    That’s it, it’s like the Hindenburg crashed all over again, Leo go’s on the attack and bans/fires/shuts down SG’s show without noticed.

    Yup every few months I feel like I’m watching the “GroundHog Day” movie all over again and again and again

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    1. Classic narcissist. There always has to be a bad guy – John was the last one, he’s gone, he didn’t come crawling back on his knees begging to be forgiven, so he’s been tossed aside, and now Gibson is the bad child that needs to be punished and demonized. And when he’s gone, someone else will take the role. Someone ha stop be the punching bag, after all. Donuts will get you only so far, for soothing the beast.

      Gibson’s response was classic walking on eggshells, not wanting to get attention from the beast. No real opinion, because that can be used against you. Keep quiet, don’t stand up for a long time friend, maintain the status quo and drink the Kool Aid that you can only survive by Leo’s grace.

      And when he fires Gibson, he’ll sit back with a smug smirk on his face, and dare anyone to say anything. He’s the king of the world, after all. Bow before Leo, because you have a mortgage to pay – and he will hold that over your head, every time.

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  13. Steve Gibson is a true gentleman. He knows these two better than most, as is making the best decision for him. He seems to be handling the whole thing deftly.

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  14. LeoLaPork obviously can’t stand Steve Gibson and would do anything to be rid of him. It’s not a matter of if but when Steve is canned. Since Leo has very little impulse control (borderline narcissistic personality disorder) Steve is probably shitting his pants knowing there is no certainty or firm footing at TWiT no matter what agreements in place.

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  15. It looks like the TWIT army once again has nothing interesting to do at TWIT.tv, so they come to where the action is, TD, to defend their fat overlord.

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  16. What does it tell you when Steve fucking Gibson needs to bother with damage control because fat fuck LaCheese couldn’t keep his goddamned fat fingers off of twitter for two minutes until he got his watermelon-sized head straight??

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  17. I’m not a big fan of Steve’s and it’s not because of the subject, it’s because of the presentation.

    His computer programs are DOS, his website is DOS, his speaking voice is DOS, his note on his BB sounds and seems like DOS, his personal interactions with others are DOS command line prompts, even his office background seems like a den from the 1970s where he first programmed SpinRight to give us a graphical user interface that has no graphics and is complicated on “interface.”

    Steve will never leave the podcast because he has no other place. He’s a DOS man in an app world.

    Don’t get me wrong. Steve knows something about security, but I don’t know if he’s a really good programmer or if he has a solid grasp of today’s programming needs.

    SG seems reluctant to rock the boat and Leo will be nice because he’s running out of “friends” to moan and complain to.

    Steve won’t quit SN until the 5.25″ floppy drive he uses to boot himself up in the morning fails.

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  18. Today, I removed *all* TWiT subscriptions from all devices. Sadly, this also included Security Now (my favorite TWiT show by far). I cannot in good conscience continue to download Security Now with the knowledge that it enriches the vile sociopath Leo Laporte.

    If Steve could provide an alternate means to download the high-quality audio/video I would gladly subscribe, but I will never subscribe to another TWiT show using TWiT’s Podtrac links. Thanks to TotalDrama for letting me finally see Leo for what he truly is. 🙁

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    1. That’s too bad that you had to unsub. Steve’s a bystander but the only way Leo will feel the hit through all of that blubber is in the vacation fund.

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    2. GRC still hosts the low quality audio versions. Sure, it’s not high quality but it’s still listenable and they probably don’t count towards LaPork’s numbers so there’s always that option…

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      1. Unfortunately, even the low-quality MP3 files hosted on GRC are counted by Podtrac as a TWiT download. Steve is doing some redirect voodoo on GRC to make it appear to Podtrac as a TWiT download.

        Actually, what I see in my browser’s network log is highly suspicious and may be a form of click fraud. Perhaps someone more well-versed in HTTP can investigate this. The files are hosted at https://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm but are funneled through Podtrac!

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          1. Most video sites like this cannot exist with a lot of click fraud. It will be a scandal when fully revealed. So there is no surprise when the forwarding appears on the GRC site. It’s probably elsewhere too.

            Advertisers are stupid.

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  19. Why do you people think the Lisa hates Steve?
    I assume it’s because he gets a percentage of gross. She thinks they lose money on SN because he takes his fair share?

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  20. I too have DM him and he was good enough to reply. In my case I said I would continue to follow SG. He style of presentation suits me. But I like many many others have unsubscribed from all of TWIT’s other shows.

    I am appalled by his treatment of his very regular host, JD. I have lost trust in him and finally he has lost my loyalty.

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  21. Rome is aflame while the fat man denies blame….

    Then there’s Steve Gibson….

    Steve knows what’s going on but being the borderline savant that he is can’t quite process all of it.

    It’s like the nutty professor who can’t have a normal conversation with another person. Steve is a lot like that. Nice enough guy but unless you’re talking about machine language or PDP-8’s he’s not going to take much of an interest in the moral outrage that’s going on at TWIT.

    So don’t expect any rash action or statements of condemnation from him. It’s not in his world to concern himself with the moral and ethical outrage that permeates TWIT.

    He’s little more than a useful idiot to Leo and that’s just how Steve likes it.

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  22. So it would seem that Mr. Gibson and Mr. Dvorak did the outrageous and COMMUNICATED in PRIVATE. Is there a goddamned Lynda.com (R) that Leo can take to learn how to act like a professional and/or adult?

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  23. This is the final pin in leo’s “retard’s only” network.

    What a fucktard Leo is. I never used to, but I have been listening to No Agenda consistently for the last 6 months. It is an awesome show. Sure Adam is a little goofy on some things (not very often), but john is generally the voice of reason.

    John is a gem. He keeps it real and doesn’t have some fucked up ugly looking gold digger direct his decisions.

    Holy cow, just when you thought Leo couldn’t destroy himself even more.

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  24. The “tell” appears at the end of the LL/SG comments where it was observed that LL asked Gibson how JCD felt about the Snowden news.

    The bully tipped his hand that he knew that Steve had been in touch with JCD, as disclosed in SG’s commentary.

    Talk about winning through intimidation, LaRetard. Wow!

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  25. When the entire ship goes down in flames, none of us here on TD will be at all surprised. Soupguzzler is perhaps the most disgusting, childish, arrogant talking head to ever be involved in tech punditry.

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    1. Remember Leo said “I had to kiss a lot of ass for 30 years”. Well it seems as he expects his employees, associates and friends. to do the same thing.

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  26. I have been a die hard twit fan for the last 10 years and subscribe to a number of shows. TNT, Security Now, Windows Weekly, Mac Break, All about Android…….. All these shows help pass time on my long commute to work. I have even been known to fill Leo’s tip jar in the early years with generous monthly cash donations.

    With regard to Total-drama, I have always looked upon the site and the individuals involved as troublemakers. Which they are. Despite that, I now continually look at the website to see the comments made by fans, and their views are very reflective of my thoughts, and I suspect many others who have also been fans of twit.

    Leo has been a bit silly over the last few years especially the incident regarding Tom Merritt. But this has not stopped my loyalty of twit and it’s sponsors until now.

    I like many others have decided with a heavy heart to delete all my podcasts and links with twit. Security Now being the hardest.

    Can anyone recommend any other podcasts worth looking into. I have now subscribed to DTNS, No Agenda Show (which I listened to the 1st time this sunday, and was very happy and entertained with,) GFQ with Paul Thurrott and The Ihnatko Almanac

    I wish Steve all the best and hope to follow him again should he go independent perhaps with Tom Merritt on his network.

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    1. Just root around Patreon and you’re sure to find the majority of the former hosts you knew and loved doing much greater things than they ever would have been able to under the current TWIT regime.

      You’re right, there was a time when just about anything at TWIT was at least good background white noise. Now the network reeks of egomania, hedonism and debauchery no matter which show you listen to. All of it flowing like a black river of slime from all the “changes” as Lisa so fondly puts it.

      If those that frequent and write for TD seem to go overboard know it’s only because of a sense of betrayal of what we all that was an ideal.

      I think we’re all a little mad at ourselves for being taken in by nothing more than a skillful pitch man. We wanted what we’d lost when TechTV folded. We thought we had it until we discovered TWIT was just milking a franchise and its fans.

      But that train has long since left the station and the lies could only go on for so long before even the faithful began to question their hero.

      As has been said before, even by me…

      The Emperor has no clothes…

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  27. I Don’t know about spin rite, etc. However I respect Steve. I listen to his show when I can. I think he can make up his own mind. We all know Steve Likes to talk Tech. I Regularly get lost in the rhetoric, but I love the show and would hate to see it come to a end.

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  28. Wow. I thought it was just me.

    I unsubscribed from everything Twit a few months ago. I couldn’t put up with Leo any longer. Turns out it was the week before the whole dickgate saga.

    The quality of the shows, once reasonable if you could stand Leo, on average had plummeted. Leo has become more obnoxious. So much so, as much as I enjoyed Security Now if nothing else but for the lol factor, I’ve unsubscribed.

    Every now and again I check this website. Seems like the shitshow continues

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    1. Hate to say it, but this is really the only way. Managers like Leo are simple: so long as they’re a going concern, then this means they are doing everything right.

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  29. It is said that when two people marry, they begin to take on some of the characteristics of their spouse. Although history has shown Leo to already be a 1st class prick, Lisa has brought forth Leo’s dismissive attitude toward JCD, the chatroom, Steve Gibson, and many more.

    I expect we are at mid-point, regarding the collapse of TWiT. As soon as the sycophants AND MODERATORS in the chat room (except for Scooter-X, who will always have his head up Leo’s ass) , wake up and smell the soup, TWiT’s days will be coming to an end.

    Or, with those non-tech related ads he’s hawking, TWiT could become a podcast version Home Shopping Network.

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    1. YES the Twit Shopping Network — TSN.

      I can see it coming to that. every show is pretty much an infomercial already, mostly for phones. He should be selling the phones and whatever else he can. The current snoozefest content will never improve anyway.

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  30. Little off topic from the post. But I think this is the problem with all tech shows that are now being made. 5-10 years ago, there was so much new stuff going on. Apple was growing, Phones were just getting good around 2007-8, It was just overall more interesting. Now it seems anybody talks about is apps and phones. No real software, or anything new in general. newest thing they talk about is the apple watch which is absolute garbage. Then they do things like insist apple pay is a must! Everybody uses it! but in reality, nobody does.

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    1. Things have just got boring with this kind of stuff. Instead of expanding subjects, into other fields, like maybe have a programming show? Game development show? 3D modeling show? anything! Come on people, your shows suck, please move on from “oh lets read news from other sites and talk about it”. That is not news, the news is when it was first released.

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    2. Yes, young Jorge, tech is getting a little boring. No one seems to be able to invent the “next big thing”….

      At this point a new phone would have to have a set of tits to get my attention!

      And in this news vacuum, the soup has ample opportunity to publicly self destruct.

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    3. I’d suggest what is boring is modern tech journalism. I cannot listen to Mike Elgan’s show because it is so phenomenally tedious. The same topics, Apple, Google, Facebook, mobile phones etc, it’s the same stuff modern “tech”(I use that term lightly) journalists pump out like sewage into the Internet.

      Tech journalism has become like McDonald’s serving lowest common denominator information to the great unwashed general public. Much as I love my 4GHz 8 core, 16GB, 40” 4K setup I sort of appreciate the days when microcomputers came in kit form and you had to solder them together – it was a barrier to entry for the sort of airheads who are attracted to technology and tech reporting today.

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      1. I wish that barrier still existed as well, honestly. I feel the last sanctuary of half-reasonable tech reporting is Ars Technica. And even then, I feel they’re going downhill fast.

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  31. I wonder if Steve really knows how much of a stuttering idiot he comes off as. Is it really possible that he hems and haws, and ums and ahs and weirdly gulps so much? It really dilutes (for me) the power of his arguments when he can hardly get three words out before he stammers and ruins his own train of thought. I hope he gets better at public speaking. I mean–it is a podcast after all.

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    1. Yea, Steve has always been ahead of his mouth but at least he has a filter between his mouth/brain abit a tad out of sync unlike Leo who has a zero filter between his brain and tongue. Andy A is the same, his brain gets out in front of his mouth and it makes for a painful listen sometimes. Scott W and Mary Jo started off fairly rough and have developed into decent hosts, Mary Jo especially, she’s kept her standards up amist the TWiT dross. I expect she will hang on as long as she can keep to her standards and when she can’t, she’ll leave.

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      1. Andy is a writer, so depending on how long he’s been thinking about something, his comments will often be the rough draft of something clever. I enjoy his show and he seems like a level-headed guy.

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    2. HelloWorld:
      I wonder if Steve really knows how much of a stuttering idiot he comes off as. Is it really possible that he hems and haws, and ums and ahs and weirdly gulps so much? It really dilutes (for me) the power of his arguments when he can hardly get three words out before he stammers and ruins his own train of thought. I hope he gets better at public speaking. I mean–it is a podcast after all.

      steve had a stuttering issue when they first started and he improved %100. i give him all the credit he deserves.

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  32. I believe Lisa is behind Leo and his never ending push to rid TWiT of specialized tech content. She can’t sell ads in those programs, her ad revenue model is to pack as many ads into a show, then when they have run their course, pack different sponsers into the slots. Most ads now across the network aren’t tech related, that’s Lisa out there whoring TWiT. Also, what’s with the TWiT Live Specials all of a sudden ?? Mostly they aren’t live nor special!!! Lisa has found another revenue source. If I were guessing, I’d bet at least 1/2 of TWiT’s podtracker downloads go to machines where they just sit, people forget they signed up for a D/L. I know I have old machines that are/were doing this. I now only listen live or not at all.

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  33. I barely watch TWiT anymore, because Leo has become so unwatchable. This is coming from someone who has been a longtime supporter of Leo’s and TWiT.
    I also don’t pay that much attention to drama online. The whole thing between JCD and Leo has been perkalating for a long time. I think it’s mainly because of their political views.
    I think Steve was being very diplomatic with his opinion. I would hate to be in his position, since he’s friends with both Leo and JCD. Actually, I was in his postion a long time ago and two friends of mine were fighting and they wanted me to choose sides. I decided to end my friendship with both of them, because I couldn’t stand their drama. I hope Steve doesn’t do that, but if he does, good for him.

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    1. I completely feel the same way. I’ve been watching TWiT since 07. This year has really exemplified what I’ve wondered about for a while now.

      Tbh I’ve never been a big Leo fan, I always found him a bit annoying. But I found SN interesting enough, would sometimes listen to Triangulation depending on who the guest was, would listen to the odd episode of other shows here and there. I got to a point right before #dickgate that I felt that Leo was more obnoxious than usual. At that point, I discovered TD and made my decision to unsubscribe because it pointed out a lot of things I didn’t know about.

      Look, I’m not into the whole drama aspect of this discussion. I can appreciate Steve’s position on this, I know it must be hard. The thing is though is that there are many people out there who genuinely enjoy his contribution to SN, but despise Leo. I really hope he moves on somewhere else. I think he’s probably capable of presenting solo anyway, or at least not with Leo.

      The clip from the Windows 10 episode exactly proves why I unsubscribed. Leo has become completely petulant and has lost all regard for his audience. Whatever the heck is happening, I predict it will get worse.

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  34. Mary Jo and Paul need to bail and do their own podcast minus LL ASAP, don’t give LL the chance to can you! All Leo adds to WW is stupid wisecracks, and disrespects Paul and MJ by eating his food out of that ever present cardboard box on top of his desk ugh! LL doesn’t even bother to prepare for the show what a shlub. Twit will soon be a dried up carcass of a network, unlike LL who just keeps getting bigger and more obese by the day. You would think his wife would make him a decent home made lunch to take to work, but no she rather watch him eat junk food to an early grave, I guess she loves him but not that much? Smh!

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    1. Some of the things that come out of his mouth around Mary Jo are atrocious. Never mind the bottomless cardboard box of salad going in nonstop.

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    2. Yup. I doubt Paul really needs TWiT. He has enough of a following they could easily strike it out on their own.

      What I can’t understand is why Leo presents any of these shows anyway. He adds basically nothing other than reading advertisements and making a fool of himself.

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      1. Jeez, Fed Up,

        Don’t you remember the train wreck twit becomes when soup is blowing his wad on vacay? HE is twit. Back in 2011-2012 he was on a path to develop a network that did not rely souly on him, but the CeHO couldn’t stomach the investment in talent and made the strategic decision to work the fat fuck soup till he drops dead .

        When soup is on his A-game he is the best… When he lapses into the depths of self-destuctive behavior enabled by the CeHo, well this is what we get.

        Paul is like all the rest of the above average podcasters…. Trying to figure out how to make more than $50,000.00 a year in the podcasting industry. So far not many have. So strange when you stop and realize soup has.

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        1. You make a fair point and perhaps I was a little loose with my language.

          My point was, and perhaps I should have been clearer, in his current form Leo is adding very little substance to these shows. A couple of years back, sure. But not now.

          In fact, it almost seems as though his recent actions are actively hostile towards his own cause.

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  35. Wow prefect
    “Digital Dynamic”
    You echo my thoughts exactly

    “I think we’re all a little mad at ourselves for being taken in by nothing more than a skillful pitch man. We wanted what we’d lost when TechTV folded. We thought we had it until we discovered TWIT was just milking a franchise and its fans.”

    So when all you ex- Twit Army members discover TotalDrama and your shocked by our strong language in comments , it’s because we let LeoLaCunt the ex radio DJ get the better of us for all these years.

    We are like the kids who grew up idolizing their dad only to find out “fat fuck daddy ” didn’t even know how to count up to 10.

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  36. At the end of the day Leo may be right. How he treats his friends and business associates is up to him. But, If you want to play the shrewed business man, you better make sure your I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed if you shit on everyone. Otherwise that monkey on your back may grow to be a 500 pound gorilla one day.

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  37. Does anyone really think that Leo doesn’t lie to Lisa as much as he lies to everyone else? He’s probably behind all the blame being aimed at her. He gets off scott-free and after the divorce can blame it all on her.

    “i was sooo innocent. Boo-hoo.”

    Perfect plan!!!

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  38. Its 2019 and still anything but bullshit about the promised v6.1 update now he’s been steadily saying it for at least 2 years now, and that it will be much improved and even free for v6.o customers…. but it never ever seems to be happening as he keeps on using the bullshit excuse that he needs to finish that stupid SQRL project of his that it seems nobody will even consider adopting. I am sick and tired of so much bullshit.

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    1. InSpectre had 8 releases; Never 10 (prevent prompts on updating to Win10) had 4. You gotta take the good with the bad. Alternately hop on to the SQRL forum and get all the groupies to shut up.

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  39. I have been listening and downloading steve’s podcasts since the first one. several times i have wondered about leo’s attitude toward steve during the podcasts but felt like i was being ‘overprotective’ of steve,i do like him a lot. one day i saw something on youtube where he was mocking steve ‘off camera’ and it ‘hurt’. i put it down to some ‘anti’ taking something out of context,but i never forgot about it.
    now i see this.
    i will follow steve wherever he decides to go as i am sure millions will.til then i regret tossing a coin to leo every time i get one of steves podcasts.

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