Do you ever wonder why nobody responds to you in #twitlive? Do you wonder why the only people talking are the same 5-7 people every day? Do you, like possibly Leo Laporte, wonder why there are no <WebXXXX> chatters anymore?
The inmates have taken over the asylum and Leo Laporte is no longer in any sort of control over the situation.
In #twitlive, no one can hear you scream — or talk.
We’ve been thinking about writing an exposé for a while, but <@OzNed> finally gave us the written proof we needed to wrap everything up in a nice little bow below.
Let’s explore the myriad ways #twitlive is currently broken.
Join Delay
We’ll start with the join delay. When you join #twitlive, there is a two minute delay before you’re allowed to talk. This trick is visible, unlike the nasty invisible tricks we’ll detail later. They ostensibly do this to prevent drive-by trolls joining, spamming, and then quitting. This gives the ops time to determine if a chatter is worthy of hanging out with Uncle Leo.
<User8471> hey everybody! == You must wait 120 seconds after joining to send to channel (+d): #twitlive
Even users with voice — like mister <+raygun01> in this video — are subject to this limitation, for no apparent reason.
CTCP Queries
<@legat> queries your IRC client for TIME — and recently for VERSION — when you join #twitlive. You may be wondering: “Who the fuck is legat and why is he querying my client?”
legat [legat@moderator.twit.tv] requested CTCP VERSION from User8471 legat [legat@moderator.twit.tv] requested CTCP TIME from User8471
@legat, in this case, is acting as a bot, though it sometimes talks as well, so it may be a person running a script. It queries your time and then matches up your geolocated — and often very inaccurate — timezone to your CTCP TIME reply. What does this mean? If your timezone doesn’t match, you are SHUNNED.
What is SHUNning, you may ask? It means no one can see you talking, with the possible exception of the mods/ircops. YOU ARE TALKING INTO A VOID.
This was added a few months back and Leo congratulated <@can0k> on this “genius” (his words) technological achievement. Trolls quickly saw through this obvious scheme and started changing their timezone to match what is in IP geolocation databases so it had no effect on the trolls, but it did affect the normal #twitlive sheep. If their IP’s purported location doesn’t match their real location, they get shunned.
<@can0k> hung his head in shame and left with <&Dan>, never to be seen again after the virtual mod mass-suicide of 2015 in the aftermath of #DickGate. Leo had to beg morons like <Keith512> to become mods after the great exodus.
Auto-Kicks Just for Talking
Shortly after certain trolls started repeating things in #twitlive over and over, the flood controls were lowered, limiting people to saying 2 things in a rolling period of six seconds. The 3rd line gets you kicked and no one sees it (except perhaps the mods). The trolls quickly learned this and simply adapted to send one line every two seconds, never getting kicked automatically.
The morons in control left this measure intact, which kicks only sheep every single day. Looking at the logs is hilarious and gives lots of material for @LeoLaporteSucks on Twitter.
<GrumpyCat> me looks at KensNote2 with a grumpy look
<GrumpyCat> ?me
*** irc.twit.tv sets mode +b *!*@twitirc-5cf2df66.stanford.edu
*** irc.twit.tv kicked GrumpyCat (Channel flood triggered (limit is 3 lines in 6 secs))
<KensNote2> GrumpyCat are you always Grumpy
*** OzNed sets mode -b *!*@twitirc-5cf2df66.stanford.edu
Two Hours Later
<GrumpyCat> is everyone else at another chat room?
* GrumpyCat retired from the radio show
<GrumpyCat> lol
*** irc.twit.tv sets mode +b *!*@twitirc-5cf2df66.stanford.edu
*** irc.twit.tv kicked GrumpyCat (Channel flood triggered (limit is 3 lines in 6 secs))
*** OzNed sets mode -b *!*@twitirc-5cf2df66.stanford.edu
Auto-Kicks for Repeating, Even Hours Apart
The best part of this is that the poorly-written flood controls also control duplicated lines. This was put into place because trolls would flood the same message over and over, so the bot would kick on the repeated message.
However, the bot can’t detect a duplicate if one simply adds punctuation at the end or changes one letter, so it doesn’t affect trolls at all, who immediately adapted to this intended limitation.
Again, who it does affect is normal #twitlive sheep just trying to talk. Especially hard-hit is Giz Fiz. Part of the show is a game show where the chat room answers “true” or “false” to a series of trivia questions.
If they say “true” or “false” two times in a row, instant kick/ban. Or, take the following situation where <WIGuy> thought two things were funny seven minutes apart. Big mistake, WIGuy!
<WIguy> lol
<WIguy> lol (7 minutes later)
*** twitbot sets mode: +b *!*@twitirc-eee33019.wi.charter.com
*** WIguy was kicked by twitbot (Stop repeating yourself!)
Even recently “promoted” Tech News Today host Jason Howell has been a repeated victim while at work.
<runwithscissors> android security team already debunked this <+raygun01> link runwithscissors <+raygun01> plz *** irc.twit.tv sets mode +b *!*@twitirc-2425985b.hfc.comcastbusiness.net *** irc.twit.tv kicked raygun01 (Channel flood triggered (limit is 3 lines in 6 secs))
<+raygun01> And then there is this: http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/16/9743996/apple-designer-interview-bruce-tog-tognazzini-don-norman <+raygun01> ""Former Apple designers say the company has lost 'the fundamental principles of good design' *** irc.twit.tv sets mode +b *!*@twitirc-2425985b.hfc.comcastbusiness.net *** irc.twit.tv kicked raygun01 (Channel flood triggered (limit is 3 lines in 6 secs))
<+raygun01> curtisb believe it or not, still like... 90 percent? <+raygun01> ugh *** irc.twit.tv sets mode +b *!*@twitirc-2425985b.hfc.comcastbusiness.net *** irc.twit.tv kicked raygun01 (Channel flood triggered (limit is 3 lines in 6 secs))
This also gives @LeoLaporteFraud plenty of material.
Automatic Shunning
<@OzNed> provided. We have long known that everyone is automatically muted now unless you are one of the chosen few sheep allowed to chat. Everyone else is automatically shunned, which is why you see no one — especially WebXXXX — chatting.
[02:01:40] <@OzNed> poor [21:01:07:04:Feb:16] <zed> UNSHUN by OzNed in #reports on AussieKJ_, [twitirc-3ffb6615.bigpond.net.au] (58.166.243.216) [02:01:40] <@OzNed> [21:01:07:04:Feb:16] <zed> *** XLINE: zed removed SHUN on *****@58.166.243.216 [02:02:13] <@Keith512> opps wrong room :)
The mods have a secret channel called #reports where the shuns and unshuns happen, and possibly where the shunned users’ text goes (since it does not appear to others in #twitlive). We are fairly certain they can read your shunned text, because if you act like a sheep and talk into the void long enough, they will unshun you — but this usually takes hours. Hours of talking into a void — where no one can hear you except for the mods in a secret gestapo channel — before you are allowed to talk.
== #reports You need to be identified to a registered account to join this channel == #reports Cannot join channel (Incorrect channel key) == Channel modes on #reports are: +Rknrst <key>
They appear to be running a bot named <zed> — who does not talk in #twitlive — from a residential Time Warner connection. However, IRCops can fake a user’s host, and they most likely have in this case to make <zed> appear to be a regular user. This bot handles the shunning/unshunning.
== zed [zed@twitirc-47h0ki4823.res.rr.com]
== realname : zed
== channels : #twitlive
== server : irc.twit.tv [TWiT IRC]
== account : zed
== zed is a registered nick
== idle : 0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 21 seconds [connected: Mon Jan 18 21:05:04 2016]
== End of WHOIS
CTCP VERSION reply from zed: mIRC v2.1a Windows IRC Client Copyright (c) 1995 Khaled Mardam-Bey.
^^ LOL mIRC from 1995 fake VERSION reply on the bot.
Father Robert Ballecer lying again and trying to explain away the shunning to this random sheep
Conclusion
This post has been a long time in the making. We hope you appreciate the in-depth explanations for why you cannot talk in #twitlive.
What’s pretty funny is that <@ScooterX> literally controls who Leo is allowed to talk to on Leo Laporte’s national radio show — The Tech Guy — and who he gets answers from.
Leo is truly powerless in his own chat room.
