Misc

State of the Drama Address

106 Comments

Here’s an open letter to all of you TWiT fans.

I am a big fan of TWiT. I have respect for Leo’s talent, and his intellect. I appreciate having a network trying to deliver tech content.

But as a reasonable human being, it was not too hard to see before my eyes the character flaws, and the mistreatment of others by Leo and Lisa.

Erik Lanigan. RIP.
Erik Lanigan. RIP.
It started with Erik Lanigan. A young kid who had all of his hopes and dreams crushed. When I saw that the fans wanted more of Erik, and more support for his show, and it was denied for no good reason other than Leo’s ego that was the beginning. Erik was one of the most interesting passionate guys I have seen at TWiT. Leo always said he didn’t want it to be the Leo network, but as soon as someone is good enough he snubs them.

Erik was terribly mistreated and it is documented well. His career and self-esteem was crushed.

Leo’s personal business is his own. But as his personal issues started affecting the quality of his product then it became our business too. It became our disappointment. It became our loss.

Typical.
Typical.
We have seen the pattern of Leo using people, discarding them. We have seen Leo’s eating problems. We have seen him bring his relationship into the business. The sexual blue humor. The talking behind peoples backs. His extreme narcissism. We have seen many people leave. We have seen many poor “off the cuff” decisions.

TWiT is a lazy operation. The content stealing, the lack of imagination. The constant ads, and the lack of any feedback or support on their site. These things are all appalling and a spit in our face.

We are the people who were kicked out of the chat room for speaking up. Left with no place to go, we found TotalDrama.

I don’t speak for all of us, but most of us in the #drama chatroom are here to still watch, but have a community where we can air our grievances amongst ourselves, and have a some fun. For many of us, it is the most community we have around TWiT, since there is no other way to give the network feedback.

But we are here having fun, keeping it to ourselves. We don’t intend to hurt or troll anyone.

Lisa Kentzell Laporte, TWiT CeHO
Lisa Kentzell Laporte, TWiT CeHO
Lisa as CEO has not improved anything for the fans of TWiT. I call on any of you to tell me what is better today? For all that money spent, what is better for us?

TWiT is supposed to be netcasts you love from people you trust. I used to trust TWiT, and I used to love their product. Today I do not trust them, and I do not love their product.

TWiT used to have a certain character. The shows were centered around people. Smart, interesting people. If you look at all of the artwork for the shows back in 2010, they all had images of people on them.

Either Leo doesn’t care, or he is intentionally milking this cash cow. I don’t blame him for trying to be successful and make money. But if you have to spoil the product to do it, then that makes you a ripoff artist.

I call on Leo to FIRE Lisa as CEO. Let her run sales, and financial. But keep her out of the content.

I call on Leo to make TWiT about the people again. Not using people.

I call on Leo to re-invigorate the energy of making a great network again. With imagination, and vigor, create something worthy and great and you will make lots of money.

I call on Leo to let us submit our feedback in a respectful manner, and consider it.

Leo if you can not make money in a respectful way, then do not expect respect from us.

106 thoughts on “State of the Drama Address”

  7. It is too late.

    Remember when Tom, Sarah, Iyaz and Snubs were around, they were all in the IRC all day. Even Liz who was not a host was in the IRC, lizard_22 or something.
    Remember pre shows and post shows.
    Remember th show to discuss twit with fans called “inside twit”
    Remember when Leo knew what was going on in tech without “the doc” people made for him for all his shows.

    These are indicators of what it was.

    I look around twit today and I see Mike Elgan leave and no replacement. Gina leaves and no replacement. I see THis Week in Tech with nobodies on as guests. I see Ifive, review show, social hour, TN2 cancelled and no new shows. I hear Leo talk about cutting out video.

    It all comes to us wrapped in lies as he and Friar Robert tell us everything is great. I don’t care about CES coverage but… When twit was peaking and doing CES they did a great job, they had people who cared who made me care. Now, they just want to get paid and get downloads and sell some t-shirts.
    No one cares and it shows.

    They used to have fans send in artwork of twit people and gifts, you NEVER see that anymore.

    I agree that it started with Erik. That kid was harpooned because Premier liked him.

    The ironic part is: if Leo would have followed his dream and not cared about the money he would probably be 20 times richer. Technology and podcasts are growing everyday. No one would be watching imore, recode, 5by5 if Leo didn’t change so much.

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  8. I take back what I said about your previous post and you and HelloWorld acting like the same person. You are clearly a better person because this is the best post that has ever been on this site.
    Please, MORE OF THIS and LESS of the petty name calling and fake stories (aka 99% of HelloWorld). Read the comments here on this article and it’s clear that I’m not alone with this request.

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  9. Fine post, well said. Sums it up.

    Will fall on deaf ears, unfortunately.

    As the self proclaimed ‘network’ sinks many fans and staff have blamed TotalDrama. A little introspection will deliver the true cause.

    I can’t see this ‘ad delivery system’ lasting beyond 2016. The move to the new studio won’t happen. If they move it will only be to house the editing and ad sales staff. Content will get worse. Leo will be Leo. Lisa will scramble. Shit will happen.

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  10. Sorry but this post is just wishful thinking.

    Leo is far too burrowed up Lisa’s vag to fire her, or really make any changes from the status quo.

    You’re right that he’s just milking the cash cow and that’s it. Things aren’t going to improve, we’re not going to go back to the good old days. Things are just going to get worse, so all we can do is grab the popcorn and sit back and enjoy watching Leo destroy what he built for some taste of nookie.

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  12. HERE IS THE REAL IRONY.
    Leo started this network in earnest because he wanted to show the boneheads at TechTV that they did it all wrong. He knew better and was going to prove it with the Twit Network.

    This is why his big goal was to restart the Screen Savers, which he has done. But all he haas proven is that he cannot do it right. He’s as bad or worse than TechTV ever was. It shows that perhaps TechTV was ahead of its time but look at the line up of people that were on TechTV. Most were broadcast professionals.

    Instead he has an array of amateurs and losers who work cheap or for free. Most are bloggers who have no presentation skills, cannot work Skype, use cheap gear and check in from their kitchen on a blurry connection.

    He actually wants guests like Christina Warren? A know-nothing fast talking chatterbox. She is useless.

    There is a roller derby girl, and ice-racing a-hole, someone in Taiwan. The only comic relief is Alex Wilhelm who is usually hammered when he in on. At least that’s funny. These shows are nothing to be proud of.

    There was one show on the network where one of the guests was actually on a treadmill the whole time!! This was the most disdainful thing I have ever seen. The guy could not be bothered to take the show seriously and was jogging the whole time. The fact that the network tolerated this humiliation says it all. Rank amateurs who have no clue.

    He has managed to duplicate TechTV for sure, a failure. But there is no Comcast to bail him out. Maybe VOX media can buy out the operation.

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    1. Lard: Great, insightful post. I was a regular TechTv viewer and you are correct. Their guests were poised professionals who actually had something to say and said it well. Warren is the exemplar of the bad guest: absolutely worthless opinions, no broadcast-ready skills and Skypes from her living room.

      I used to be a Serenity Caldwell fan, but she comes from the “Apple Can Do No Wrong” school. And lately, she’s been crowing about getting engaged. Who the fuck cares? Plus she Skypes from her bedroom.

      To your loser list I add Myriam, Rene Ritchie, the huge-egoed Ihnatko and especially Georgia . These people ,especially Ritchie ,delusionally think they are TV stars, which of course they are not. They appear on crappy podcasts that probably viewed by less than 1% of the US population, if that.

      I join the chorus that TWIT cannot be saved. Leo is a fucking liar (see: dickpic) and awash with cash, so he couldn’t care less about rhe viewers. This will never change .

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          1. Cdn2015

            I am “out of high school” and am “something”.

            Right now baby I wanna be your long distance lover.
            Give me a call as I lie naked and waiting, (402) 867-5309

            Ask for Ken.

            See ya in the sheets.

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  14. Even if he did fire Lisa as you suggest (won’t happen as he’s totally whipped and she runs his life now), there’s no way he will ever be able to bring TWIT back to it’s glory days 3+ years ago. The reason why the network thrived at that time was because of the diversity of the shows, the originality of the content, and the talented people that were on staff.

    Leo’s burnt way too many bridges in these past couple of years where even if he tries to correct the sinking ship, no one of any talent will ever want to work under that roof again. I’m fairly certain he did little in terms of content creation with the shows, those were all created by the staff. He just approved them when the idea came up.

    In the end this all comes down to having talented people under you who will make the network thrive and grow. L&L have removed all of that with various business/ego related blunders, so when the staff isn’t there, new show ideas don’t form, old shows die off, and in the end all that will be left is L&L sitting in an empty studio wondering what went wrong.

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  15. Kudos on a well written comment piece. Many a business has turned from a profitable and fun place to work, to a Hell-hole failure, due to a business owner’s decision to turn an employer/employee relationship, into a sexual relationship. Leo has taken it further downward, by actually marrying his former ‘side-piece’.

    TWiT is an empty shell of its former self, due to Leo’s poor choices in life.

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  18. Let is go. Stop hanging on to an enterprise run by a fucking psychopath who pisses daily on the very people who make it possible for him to make huge sums of money. Screw this bullshit and screw anybody who would even think for a second TWiT is salvageable. TWiT died long ago. FUCK TWiT and FUCK anybody stupid enough to support it buy visiting or downloading TWiT content.

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    1. Indeed, it’s about Leo’s apparent personality disorder (only a licensed professional is qualified to make a diagnosis, BTW) and how it harmed or destroyed several people, including Erik. Leo’s behavior became much worse under his CEO/wife’s influence, but honestly, antisocial and narcisstic disorders can’t actually be ‘fixed’, only worked around. TWiT and Laporte seem past salvaging in any event.

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  20. Can anyone be bothered to watch anymore, other than watching for subliminal screen-scrolling dickpics from LeHo?

    All of the good guests are gone. All of the good hosts are gone. All of the shows are gone. What’s left to watch? LeHo unboxing toys and gadgets? Watching for FMCP’s reverse trolls?

    The YouTube views are very telling. The ship has no captain. He scurried away in a lifeboat with his company-purchased iPad Pro.

    I cannot be bothered anymore. The fun is over. We have succeeded. Call me when one of the fat guys looses a toe to beetus.

    Sincerely,
    y0y0

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  21. I agree with everything said especially that things went wrong starting with Erik. That’s when I realised he had a nasty side and did everything he could to stifle Erik’s ambitions. He had a real passion and talent but during Inside TWiT episodes you’d see Leo and Lisa laugh and giggle at his expense. Amazing talent like that and he was treated like shit and not paid as arranged. It’s even more disgusting to hear what went on to happen not long afterwards.

    It was just one thing after another from then on. For me it’s their lack of respect for people and the way they are treated that shows the true colours of the Laportes. Even the other day on WW Leo said Steve Gibson was just completely coo coo to the MS marketing guy knowing full well Steve listens to WW. Steve’s old fashioned but you don’t go saying things like that to publicly ridicule him. Steve’s show is one of the last money earners. Nobody with any self respect would remain working there so we’re left with the dregs. There’s nothing left worth watching. except WW and SN.

    Leo doesn’t really care any more though. He’s only got a few fears left till he’s done and it’s more important to him that he gets as much money as he can before then. He’s just an extremely greedy and selfish person so it’s his instinct. They both don’t give a shit about quality or the fans.

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  24. Android App Arena
    Ham Nation
    Know How
    TNSS
    TWiET

    These are the only remaining shows started under the reign of Lisa. Only AAA2 was her idea as its a money grab rip off of IFive. The other she she obviously had nothing to do with.

    Here is my padre is a liar video that they didn’t use on this site.
    https://vid.me/cNEd

    Now do you see what a liar he is.

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  25. Well done article but the problems with TWIT started before Erik god rest his soul I miss him. The problems at TWIT started with the hiring of Lisa and her influence on Leo’s business and personal life have left both in ruins where both his family and staff severally harmed by the relationship. Having lisa do anything other then be an accountant is not what she is qualifed for. She has often influenced decison making about the network thats has degraded the quality over the years. The biggest flaw is the move into the new studio and now they are forced to move out because the new tenant wants to double their rent after they spent a large amount of money and money donated by people to build the studio to move out only a few years later. This new move will terrible I don’t see them surviving it without deep cuts in production.

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  26. I made the same choices Leo did. I lost it all. The friends that helped me build the small company, everything. When you get older you make life changing mistakes. Nothing said here will save Twit.

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  27. Great article! I started watching ZDTV back in 98 and loved TSS. I loved TechTV and then then TWiT in its early years. It has gone downhill fast and now I can’t stomach it. It’s a shame. It had so much potential going for it. Now in my mind TWiT is SHiT and not worthy of my time or support.

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  28. I feel so dumb for having donated money to this outfit. Granted, that was back in the early TWiT days when things weren’t quite so disgusting. Tip jar for millionaires? Suck it.

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  29. Awesome insight and input from everyone who posted on here!!!
    the comments were spot on!!

    This is how most of us only have ourselves to blame for being on this roller coaster ride we were lured into almost 20years ago first by Tech TV and then Leo .
    We are all new geeks back then,different from our piers,we were smart ,inquisitive, different almost all of us were bullied in school,we were sponges,we loved technology,we took things apart(radios/tv’s/talking dolls/train sets/watches(I owned the first digital watch in the mid 1970’s,the kind you had to hold the button to see the time light up in red LED) it cost over $100 and I took it apart to see what made it work!!
    I’m sure everyone of you on here can relate to this so far in one way or another.
    Then came the holy grail!!!
    Nerds/geeks on the radio and TV
    WOW!!
    Someone was speaking my language telling me it was ok to be different and it was OK to be inquisitive and it was OK to take my moms dryer apart even though my old man beat my ass for it.
    Here were “real geeks” on tv speaking my language!!!
    or so I thought !!!!
    Yes some of TechTV guests and staff were real geeks but a lot were frauds, wannabe’s .
    In hindsight I’ll be the first to say I looked up to Leo, he was the tech nerdy dad I wish I had.
    I was fascinated by his vast knowledge of the tech world in the 1990’s , his memory,his layman terms and his encouragement to learn more and that it was ok to be a tech geek( something my own parents never understood or encouraged me to be.
    So like 99% of all you reading this I looked up to Leo and most of his tech gang.
    I absorbed everything I could read/watch/listen to by Leo and his TechTV gang.
    It was awesome for a few years.
    Until I started to realize a lot of what Leo was not consistent/not accurate/made up etc.
    I just brushed it off thinking that TechTV maybe pressuring the talent /new set appeared different talents came and went etc etc etc.
    Along came the axe , the original ScreenSaver show I loved was no more.
    Leo was gone!!
    Followed the new TechTV format for awhile but started to get to painful when I was yelling at the TV because the new kids didn’t really know tech.
    So that ended my TechTV days.
    Followed Leo’s early one room/one man show cottage podcast.
    Things settled down and I at least had that.
    Then Leo started traveling up to Canada to do Call for help with Andy Walker and gang, he discovered Amber MacAuther up there and she became a regular.
    Things were getting back to normal kinda like the old TechTV days I thought.
    Still seen and heard things Leo said that I didn’t agree with regarding tech accuracy. I guess Leo’s cracks were showing about actually being a real”tech guy”/geek and I was really seeing it clearly now.
    I felt some of the basic questions that 99% of us could answer off the top of ours heads Leo couldn’t answer without Andy or Amber’s help!!!
    WTF I thought your my tech guy idol how could you not know that question?
    Leo the “wizard of tech Oz” was being exposed even back then.
    My wife always mentioned it was the “student outgrew the teacher” syndrome,
    yet I didn’t see it that way i saw it as I was the student and Leo was posing as the tech teacher but he was a teaching a different class, I thought I was in the technical classroom to learn more tech yet the teacher( Leo)whom I assumed was a tech teacher was in fact not.
    leo was a just substitute/poser teacher filling in for the real tech teacher by rehashing the real tech teachers pre written lessons all in the name of a paycheck.
    Face it folks we were all dupped by a smooth talking RadioDJ collage dropout who could sell us ice while its -40 outside and convince us we needed it.
    Leo was that parent who understood us in the early days, so we took him at his word he was one of us!!
    We created Leo, we put his giant head with endless memory & his easy going personality up on a pedestal and called him a “tech guru”not because he created or discovered new technology, because he had the gift of retaining and explaining “tech jargon ” Leo heard or read about from a real tech guy.

    So our “wizard of tech Oz” the man behind the curtain turned out to be a fraud, some of us seen this and stopped following Leo but a majority of followers did nothing, we sat back and supported his advertisers fueling this fat fraud even more!
    It was us who supported him to continue , it was us who helped him build the Shit House hoping it would rekindle the good old days of TechTV
    All on a promise from Leo it would be like the old days but even better.
    Folks face it Leo is a salesman, he tells you what you want to hear at that moment, he’ll walk away and pretend that conversation never happened leaving us to scratch our heads and say “what’s wrong with Leo today??
    Leo is a wannabe head shrink like is mom was, he knows how to get into people’s mind and uses it as his playground, he considers himself smarter than anyone around him and only surrounds himself with staff/hosts who are really dumb or just desperate for a paycheck they’ll play around with him being the smartest boss ever, the staff that calls this “emperor without cloths out” gets the wrath of a spoiled 4 year old pre-school Leo, the insults fly,the backstabbing starts,the bullying etc etc etc.
    I still post the link to Eric Lannigan’s video up on Twitter explaining why he left Twit, if you haven’t seen it yet you should,Leo’s continuing M.O. really came to light in that video.

    Moving on , when Leo met Lisa it was Leo’s perverse self that attracted yet another Fraudster her name was Lisa or Oko,
    Like Oko, Lisa seen a rich dirty old man running a pretty good business and wanted that, she understood Leo could do no wrong in his millions of followers eyes, they would buy any crap Leo peddled via his sponsors.she seen the dollar signs and decided she can manipulate Leo using her “lady parts ” and Leo fell for it.
    Lisa the fraud bull shitted her way as an accountant and preyed on Leo’s weakness “Sex” that got her promoted to CEO.
    So here you go two bullshiters bullshiting each other for totally different reasons, Leo for the sex/and I’m to lazy to run Twit anymore & Lisa’s reasons money/money/money/fame/money and maybe alittle sex only if she has to.
    So the way Leo frauds us as the tech guy, Lisa frauds Leo by dangling some pussy in front of him once in awhile.
    But as all good flings go after your fill of sex reality sets in and the dam has some leaks.
    Just listen to Leo’s off and on air remarks lately he doesn’t paint Lisa in a positive light instead he mocks her in some of his ads as mean,pushy and intolerant.

    I could go on about the Eric/Tom/Amber/Shara get screwed days but that’s already been mentioned in the above comments.

    The bottom line is we did this to ourselves,Leo being an opertunest capitalized on our trust and loyalty ,we called him out on his BS via Leo’s chatroom or on Twitter only to get blocked and discarded like trash while he mocked us live on air calling us trolls using his “nerd cartoon / perv voice”
    Leo created the lie and we further helped the lie by supporting Leo through millions of dollars via sponsors.
    Now that Twits talents have all but disappeared and only a few rats left hanging on to the SS sinking Twit I too have grabbed a bowel of popcorn and sit back enjoying the slow death of Twit, yes I still continue to yell at my screen as fatfuck Leo gives out the wrong tech advise to a poor newbies who hang onto his every word like he’s god
    yes I still troll his Twitter even though I was blocked years ago, I do it all in the name of Karma!!!!
    I was there from the beginning of ” the wizard of tech Oz” and I’m damm well sure to watch end of Leo’s lie ,hopefully with a dramatic ending as the IRS or cops raid Twit or Laporks house and handcuff him for tax fraud or his perverse side came out and he got busted for fucking a goat while CEO held the poor animal down,
    but I’m pretty sure his fate will come
    because of his failings health, it will do him in without fan fare sleeping.

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  30. We all knew that TWiT was not creating original content, but using commentary as a way to rehash the events of the past week and then provide the opinion of the those that had the ability to ‘influence the influencers’ in Silicon Valley. The problem is the talented guest have either moved on or have been ‘fired’ by Leo and all that is left are a bunch of douches (like Christine Warren) who have no clue about the computer/technology industry except to shill for what ever company has bought ads on their blogs. Gone are the days where the opinions of Jerry Pournell, JCD, Jason Calacannis, Kevin Rose and the like are brought in to explain the events of the week and the impact to the people working in the tech slave shops around the nation.

    The other shows on TWiT were always about promoting somebody else’s brand but that was fine as long as the opinions expressed were accurate. As time passed, Jeff Jarvis (just an example) started talking more and more like he is a shareholder of Google and not being as objective as one would think that he should be.

    In all, TWiT has fallen apart because the majority of the people are more into money and promotion than they are into talking about the events of the week. Add onto the mix Leo’s ignorance of social issues and his Bill Maher like liberal propaganda spew that fills his shows and the whole thing just grows really old. TWiT has had its life and now that it is 10 years old, it has gone beyond maturity and slipped into the realm of a feeble old person.

    So long TWiT. You were good, but it is now time for a new dog to take the crown. Just where are we going to find this new dog? Someone will provide. Maybe it is time for the knights of the No Agenda round table to encourage Adam and John to create a TWiT competitor. JCD’s Rolodex is big enough to have the names of the people that count. He could smoke that 2 bit a$$hack show that is now This Week in Tech.

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    2. Calacanis? Are you crazy? He’s the head shill of all the shills and makes me cringe instantly.

      But I agree that the biggest problem with TWiT are the ads. It’s all ads now, and it’s not just the number of ads but the shit they are trying to sell. Meditation apps? Bed sheets?

      Lisa has delusions of running a lifestyle network it seems.

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  31. The comments to this latest post show that there are loads of normal intelligent people out there who want normal intelligent criticism of TWiT rather than “She’s an ugly cunt.” or “She has greasy hair.” I knew you guys were out there. Somewhere.

    Will the New Year bring bring more posts like this latest one or will the unhinged adult whose emotional development ended in junior high stage a triumphant return? I hope it’s the former but my money’s on “Eat a dick.”

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    1. In short, because it’s not “biting humor.” By any objective measure, the posts of HelloWorld are a misogynistic sewer.

      If you think he’s funny, well, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion but it’s pretty clear that HelloWorld and Holden’s act has worn very thin for many of this site’s readers.

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  35. Leo’s a liberal. Lisa is a conservative. Leo was people first, Lisa is money first. And the money first people never seem to get that when you put people first, the money part naturally follows, albeit maybe a little slower.

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    1. False choice. Just because LaPorke is a flaming 1%er lib doesn’t make Yoko a conservative.

      She’s simply a gold-digging slunt.

      And I’m glad they found each other so no more innocents are caught in their webs of deceit.

      They richly deserve each other.

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      1. Lisa suffers from a delusion that she is a business person and is only maligned as a business person because she is a woman. I don’t know why everyone hates her. She is Leo’s girlfriend/wife and Leo’s problems have nothing to do with her. It’s like blaming the pasta for his diabetes.

        I digress. Part of her delusion of being a business person is that she thinks business people are “conservative” so she says she is a conservative. I doubt she understand what a conservative is. She seems like a devoted mom though, I will give her that.

        I guess his pleasant lifestyle doesn’t need intellectual stimulation from his wife.

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        1. I concede, I’m all but in the dark here (knowing exceedingly little from the past few years of twit.)

          But I’ll post this here link for the second time: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQ0fLN63UE

          This Erik fellow, who apparently everyone loved like crazy… well, it’s quite painfully clear four or so minutes into that video. By her very own words throughout, alongside Leo’s , she was the sole (soulless) monster behind it. She whispered in Leo’s ear (while her mouth was seemingly full of Leo), psychotically obsessing over Erik out shining Leo and costing her a dime’s worth of money.

          She seems to be the head narcissist in charge there, far more than maniacally laughing Leo, devoutly committing to making sure that it is the Leo only Show. It’s obvious she was responsible for poisoning Leo against this Erik, someone even Leo outright stated -an f’ing direct quote, no less- that “Lisa hates him.”

          Evil, evil witch/whore/gold digging+Leo filled little skank.

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        3. Why hate her? Hate might be too strong a word, but we blame her because she is complicit in TWiTs destruction. Look at the Erik video that is mentioned in these comments.

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    2. Don’t be fooled by Leo’s fake persona. His tries to talk like he’s some kind of ex-hippie lefty, that’s the image he wants to hide behind but if you spend even a little effort it’s not hard to see he’s very libertarian. Not Rand Paul Tea Party libertarian but more Ron Paul traditional libertarian. Leo’s background history, his current lifestyle, his need to accumulate a massive collection of material goods, and his sporadic slip-ups revealing his true feelings on corporatism/states’ rights/public policy are all indications he’s hardly a socialist progressive.

      Of course ‘liberal’ in some circles means something different in today’s America than the dictionary definition or how the rest of the world defines liberalism. If you’re referring to Leo as liberal because he’s left of Tea Party ideology, than yeah, that kinda applies.

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  36. It’s sad that the quality of Triangulation has dropped off the cliff.. Now it is almost completely people you never heard of pushing books like “The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”, or events, or websites. Thankfully, there is the occasional surprise quality guest (like Larry Wall).

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  37. Can I make a suggestion…? (Well, I am regardless, I suppose)

    I came across this site somehow yesterday. I read more and more, and started becoming rather disgusted with the degree and scope of attacks on here.

    Curious today, I came back and saw the mention of Erik. I thought I’d remembered hearing about his death, so Googled further.

    Now brief backstory: I watched TSS back in 98 until Leo left. I came to TwiT with episode 2, donating the first date. Then, TWiT grew from a single, weekly “New Screensavers” podcast into the Shrine of Leo network; a billion shows, and TWiT itself using nobody I knew, cared about or had ever heard of.

    So let’s say… oh, about 2007 was my last real bother with it. I watched the first *actual* New Screensavers, but again, what should’ve been a nostalgiac return to form became another Shrine to Leo – nobodies associated with ZDTV, continuing the Cult of Leo.

    I of course knew of the Lisa Scandal – the screen grabs of a disgustingly cheating sex addict on the rampage. I knew Leo was full of it, from back in the Tech TV days… but otherwise? This seemed like a literally insane amount of effort, time and energies wasted for someone so clearly despised by the folks doing it.

    The JCD blowout I read about last night was… telling. But even so, not telling enough to explain or justify all of this.

    So… yeah. My recommendation? A sticky or top of the page “Why” link. Just put this goddamned video in it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQ0fLN63UE

    For instance, I knew zilch about that awful, pathetic witch Lisa except she really wanted Leo to shove it inside of her. Never had heard or read a single other word from that Leo filled mouth of hers. Holy shit, does his kids asking how his marriage to that whore impact them all make sense now. Like… perfect. Sense.

    The video says it all about why no one should ever do anything that gives those two demons a dime… never watching a single minute of any piece of garbage they exploit others to make for them.

    Oh, plus, the Fat Clown Priest and his laughing fit at rape should be included for good measure. The JCD social media back and forth screen grabs. The whole Lisa affair… and, I’m sure just like this poor Erik, there’s a million other scandals and feuds I’m blissfully unaware of that shed more light for oblivious folks such as I had been to include, as well.

    Bottom dollar though: You can read this happening or that one, and it might not put the two demons of TWiT in a good light, sure – but if you don’t know this stuff from having watched the spiral into Hell that’s gone on these past few years as Leo’s narcissistic and psychopathic evils revealed themselves, and then he somehow found, screwed and then married the one other, worse escapee from the pits of Hell on this planet…? It says or means little.

    That video reveals those two for the godawful pieces of demon excrement they both surely are – by their very own words, no less. It tells a nightmarish little narrative, a story revealed over the span of minutes; that honestly, makes this here site seem like it’s being far, far, *FAR* too nice and respectful towards them.

    My only regret? That their little “transition” as their $$$ is running dry is merely a moderate downgrade, rather than having TWiT shows coming at you live and in 4k from their homeland: The 9th Circle of Hell. Failing that, from the lovely local garbage dump in historic downtown Petaluma.

    God, what a pair of sickening, reprehensible, evil monsters those two are. They deserve nothing less than what now looks to be coming to them, what with the studio “upgrade” downgrade.

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    1. Welcome RT2

      Yup I’ve posted that link about Erik on many of my previous TD comments going back months & months ago.
      A few of us have also posted Eriks video link on Leo’s Twitter account many times over the past few years. Asking “Leo’s worshipping newbies” to watch Eriks video , his reason why he is no longer at Twit thanks to Leo & Lisa.
      I’ve received comments & private messages thanking me for posting the Erik video link exposing the real LeoLapork to them.

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      1. I suppose my seemingly intensive “jumping on the bandwagon, despite not really having been such a TWiT’er” stems from new understanding why what I’ve hoped for/expected over a decade now never came to pass: A return to/of ZD+TechTV.

        I always figured that never happened because of legal, financial, or timing… now, it’s very painfully obvious the reason why we’ve never (and will never) get an online/streaming, ongoing ZDTV reunion is… Leo. Because Leo can’t have it, because Leo needs for it to be the Leo Show. And damn him for that.

        ZDTV (Leo included – especially Leo) was something insanely amazing+awesome. It was amazing content, delivered by awesome talent, in a crazily unique format – late 90’s media/TV where the audience was part of the deal, not just watchers.

        I still have my Net cam from Netcam Week 2 (free, having won it). Not only was the content unique, it was perfect for a crazy niche audience of hardcore technophiles who were do it yourselfers. Hell, UGM? In the age of Dell and crap, building your own OEM rig was super niche. And they devoted entire weeks to going over the best hardware video cards, processors, mobos, even chassis.

        Today, in the age of folks making their own personal video “channels”/feeds, that shit’s still rare – the late 90s…? Insane!

        ZDTV’s motto said it best: Amaze yourself. ZDTV really was amazing.

        Me…? After learning much of this, I’m now beyond mind blown Kate at all partook in the New Screensavers ep. 1. (Especially hearing about the sexual harassment charge/Leo’s “Slide down his firepole” nonsense. I always wondered why she left TSS, only to do XPlay. Now, losing her on TSS is something else Leo is solely to blame for. No wonder – How she worked with that narcissistic schmuck for a single day is unimaginable.

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  38. OK, somebody has to say it and it might as well be me:

    _ Erik was not that good. _

    He had some raw talent, I give you that, but it was apparent to most people watching him trying to insert himself on early episodes of TNT that he didn’t know his place and didn’t get the social cues being send by the star of his show.

    On their merits (haha) alone, it was a great improvement to drop him for Jason.

    I also watched Erik’s late night shows. There were fun moments, but talk shows depend on the host because you can’t rely on the quality of the callers. Erik had some game, but he didn’t develop fast enough over the months.

    Think of his show’s spot as a bit of a development league. He had a chance, he did some good, some meh and also some bad. Then he turned on the owner because he didn’t get money for his bus fare and his own personal bat boy.

    What would you do in that case? Keep him on regardless?

    It all comes down to one thing, and despite all the sensibilities around talking honestly about the dead, I think it needs to be said:

    _ Erik was not that good. _

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    1. You are entitled to your opinion for sure. Erik was good for his age, and he had the willingness to get better and better.

      He was a true broadcasting talent. He was the closest thing to a young Leo TWiT has ever had.

      Some of the social issues may be true, but you have to work through those.

      The thing is, when you look at Erik’s age at the time, he put his trust and hopes into TWiT. Leo kind of let the kid down. There was AFAIKT no good reason to railroad the kid. Maybe we don’t know the whole story, but I doubt it, because Leo would have slipped out something if there was something there.

      I would say Erik was real good, and didn’t deserve to get treated the way he did.

      That was the key tipping point for TWiT to decide if they wanted to be great. And they failed.

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      1. Erik was good but Erik was also mentally unwell. If Leo hadn’t fired him he would have found some other excuse to kill hmself and, who knows, maybe he would have taken half the studio with him.

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    2. Do the underscores make it okay to critique a dead man’s merits?

      It’s beside the point how good Erik was or was not. Sure he had some learning to do, but the fuckers Leo and Lisa pulled the rug out from under him. Leo literally told Erik and others that Erik was being groomed to take over TTG radio show in a few years.

      They not only renege on that public statement, but they fire this guy and put him out of any gainful employment. And we all know Leo doesn’t just hire people, he gets them to move to that shithole Peatluma and sucks them dry physically if not emotionally as well.

      They fucked over Erik, and they are partially (though not entirely) responsible for what happened to him. Erik wasn’t just an average employee, Leo put him on a pedestal as his successor for a brief moment before doing a complete 180.

      On top of that, Erik actually cared about technology. He wasn’t just some self-righteous blogging head on Skype. He was committed to the success of TWiT. They let the likes of Jason Howell stay and develop their hosting abilities, but Erik? He wasn’t given any chances. Not a damn one.

      Enjoy your cruise Leo!

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      1. “Do the underscores make it okay to critique a dead man’s merits?”

        No, they make it stand out.

        “It’s beside the point how good Erik was or was not.”

        The whole premise of the critique is that Erik was _so good_ Léo got scared and pounced on him. Which is a load of BS, because Erik wasn’t air ready, needed to learn a lot and much quicker than he did, and finally went crazy about his bus money and wanting a call screener on his training wheels show, and on the air no less.

        Not being ‘there’ was OK because he was young. Not getting ‘there’ quickly enough was a bit of an issue. Going off on the air and venting his grievances with the people who let him use their equipment for free just disqualified him from any on-air job in broadcasting.

        In my opinion, and given what we now believe to have happened, the worst thing Léo did to Erik was getting his hopes up. Letting him move from the editing room to in front of the camera. Allowing Erik to do his show from the studio after he was fired just continued leading him on to believe that he had a future with Twit and/or broadcasting on the air.

        What we believe to have transpired later shouldn’t cloud our assessment of Erik’s abilities and faults. Sacking Erik from TNT was the right thing to do. Cancelling his call in show was the right decision, too.

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  39. Erik was really young , so for his age he was pretty good, his show flowed well compared to some seasoned hosts.
    But the point of the video link from Erik ” why I’m no longer at Twit” was really about exposing the two evil LaCunts.
    Compared to Leo I would have listened to Eriks show over his, Leo is clueless and downright stupid, go back in and watch LaCunt before a show starts and he’s unboxing a new laptop or phone or camera he just bought . He’s suppose to be “Theee Tech Guy” yet that dumb fuck can’t figure out some basic shit even a 10 year old could figure out.
    That’s why he unboxes his crap before a show so he can get the ” co host” talent waste 15-30 min explaining to fat fuck how to use it wasting our time and theirs on a product not related to the next show hosts knowledge.
    Talk about using people and wasting our time, then fat fuck goes right into a lengthy “Bed” ad and wastes more of our podcast time and download

    Fuck Leo

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    1. “Why I’m no longer at Twit” just underscores how dangerously sick Eric was. A healthy person would not make such a video; instead, they would have simply left having taken away a few well earned lessons about life, about Leo, and about himself too.

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  40. Erik had a fresh look at the medium, and he was willing to work hard. Taking callers was a great idea, and discussing the technology industry with TWiT listeners is something Leo never does.

    The tragedy was the politics and toxicity of TWiT. It didn’t allow a kid like Erik to blossom. He was shot down by these two caddy SOB’s who were too busy having smelly tasty sex.

    Leo was threatened by the fact that so many of the TWiT “army” liked Erik. (just like he was offended about Padre being featured too highly in the weekly rundown video).

    I remember the Inside TWiT’s where the chatroom was flooding with support for Erik.

    Also I remember how Erik never got Artwork or an RSS feed for his show. Yet I have seen countless other shit shows come along and get instant support.

    It’s a real shame.

    What else is a real shame is Leo never giving Erik any kind of respect after his passing. WTF is wrong with Leo? God only knows.

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  41. Wow. It appears from reading many pages of this blog and verifying with other sources that TWiT is for all intents and purposes, no longer viable as a business. It’s closing up shop by late spring 2016 before it starts to hemorrhage too much cash. Hopefully Leo the Liar will retire from his radio show as well at the same time thus leaving room for something fresh, new and untainted by psychopathic personalities.

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  42. Your post sounds fine, but this website does not offer legitimate critique of the TWiT network. It is a non stop barrage of puerile ad hominem attacks and has nothing to offer anyone with even moderate intelligence.

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    2. @Sputnik, that is only true for a select few who are on this site. Don’t categorize ALL users who post here as being in the same troll camp. The ones who give a “non stop barrage of puerile ad hominem attacks” is fewer than those who actually want to have intelligent discussions over TWIT matters.

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  45. Re: Erik. Leo had no choice but to fire Erik after Erik went public with scathing criticism against his boss. No other boss would have done differently.

    Now what led up to Erik’s very public outburst is another question. Erik may well have had totally legitimate gripes, but he needed to deal with them privately. He must have had a self-destructive side that caused him to sabotage his rare golden opportunity at TWiT.

    He had amazing presence for a guy just out of college. It was all very sad.

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    1. That’s all well and good, except for one thing.

      Look at what Erik actually said in public. It was just a comment that he made, and wasn’t trying to be mean or critical to TWiT, Leo or Lisa. That’s the whole point. He never really did anything wrong in the first place.

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    2. Scathing criticism?

      From what I recall he made a single comment, saying he wished his show would get more support.

      So what the fuck kind of criticism are you thinking of? Even the video which is nothing but Leo’s own words was posted after they rid themselves of Erik

      Again Erik wasn’t the second coming of Jesus, but he tried to be different than the average schmuck who appears on TWiT and gives their two cents on a blog post and then goes away. He tried to engage with US, the audience, and nobody else really has given a crap since. I bet taking live callers wasn’t easy considering half the people called in to make fun of Erik (which is why he wanted that damn call screener!!) but he tried to give us something other than a lame ass talking head show that regurgitates stories others people’s stories as an excuse to shove us ads for mattresses, bed sheets, underwear, coffee, leather shoes…

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  46. Kind but irrelevant. You’re about 3 years to late with your pleadings. I don’t even bother to cover them anymore and I wrote about TWIT for almost 4 years.

    The horse is dead, so dead that it’s not a horse anymore. It’s like one of those festering corpses shambling around swinging 2×4’s in Fallout 4.

    Time to move on. It’s not even worth the dance on the grave anymore.

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  47. You guys sound like you are super butthurt from being booted from the chat room. I listen to the podcasts, however I don’t typically go in the chat room – I enjoy the content. That is pretty much it.

    I agree that Lisa has not helped him make good decisions. However, I see that he is a dude in his 50s, and was probably happy to find someone who loves him. I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix business with personal either. But he is an adult, and is probably not going to change his mind just because you dudes make a website. If anything, it probably makes him more determined to prove you wrong.

    This site is more about someone’s feelings being hurt than anything else. How about you put on your big boy pants and move on? Find another podcast network to listen to?

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    1. This site is not about anyones feelings. It’s entertainment. But Leo messes with peoples lives, so we are entitled to call him out on it.

      If he doesn’t “change his mind” nobody really gives a shit. We are just reveling in the downfall of a man who is getting what he deserves.

      If he does turn it around, great.

      There really are not that many live streaming video tech networks, which is why we had high hopes for the CNN of tech.

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      1. TD’s apologists are the most hypocritical bunch I’ve ever seen. “But Leo messes with peoples lives,” << and hello doesn't with his lies and absurd exaggerations targeting real people with real lives and real families whose only crimes are being ugly or boring or dull or fat. And that's what is "entertainment" for you people? Give me a break.

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        2. @Earnest you are taking a statement of one person and combining it with the actions of another, and calling the “collective in your head” a hypocrite. That makes no sense.

          I am one person talking about one person (leo). What HelloWorld does is his business not mine.

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          1. The basic theme here is that anything goes. It’s an anti-social outlaw site run by anti-social outlaws who are proud of being outlaws because they think being outlaws is funny. If they didn’t believe this, hello wouldn’t be allowed to post his shit here. My earlier comment was general in nature although it sounded like you were an outlaw too. Sorry, if you aren’t.

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  49. > I have respect for Leo’s talent, and his intellect.

    Please. He’s got the talent of a medium market radio weather reporter and the intellect of an AMC theater manager.

    I don’t want shows to be about the people. I want credible, knowledgeable, and (yes) likable people talking in-depth about products and services. A show/network can have character without needing a cast of characters. This isn’t morning zoo radio.

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