Category Archives: Opinion

Thou Shall Not Lie

I didn't eat the cookie I promise. (I took the cookie.)
I didn’t eat the cookie I promise. (I took the cookie.)

This site has pointed out some of the classic lies told by a man we feel has abandoned the truth for big houses, big vacations and big cars. However, to prove our point, some times we have to grab a video of him saying one thing and then juxtapose it with a video of him saying the opposite. Other times we just point out his promises of things that never happened.

A favorite of ours is when he contradicts himself within the same sentence. i.e. “We do offer equity, right now it’s a sole proprietership so I can’t give people shares, uh ah but at some point soon we are gonna convert it so that….” Idiot, you do not offer equity. This is not complicated Boolean logic.

When watching the video below, try and get inside his head to see why/how this stuff comes out of his mouth. His instinct is to tell people what he wants them to hear and the truth is like an impediment in his way.

“Who do we have? A great Triangulation tomorrow, we have a substitute but it’s exciting.”
[So you don’t know who is on, but it is exciting?]
[Looooong pause as they look it up]
“Ah that’s what it was, the guy who created Apple.”
[No Leo, he passed on]
“Newton. The Newton.”
[No Leo, not him either]
“He was the “Newton marketing guy.”
[That’s it]
“And Lively’s good.”
[OK Leo likes Lively, but he follows it with]
“What is Lively? That’s familiar.”
[and then a lie]
“I like Lively.”
[and truth]
“What is lively?”
[Looooong pause as they look it up]
“So he is rich. He…”


Fair Use Doctrine: (Such as TWiT.TV rebroadcast of Apple Events) In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an illegal infringement…

Editors Note: We saw everything with JCD and will work that story but if you think you caught something feel free to let us know.

Where’s Iyaz?

I have a question: Why has Iyaz never been invited back on TWiT?

He was a nice guy.
He was a nice guy. This pic was obviously photo-shopped.

Leo has told the fans that sometimes they take things too much to heart. Fans need to understand this is a business he is running.
For example: Not rehiring Tom Merritt, cancelling Amber and Dickie D et al, poaching Chad from Brian then subsequently firing Chad. Again, TWiT is a business and in business, decisions need to be made and sometimes difficult decisions. They are not personal.

I wonder why it doesn’t work the other way.

Sarah Lane was too busy to comment
Sarah Lane was too busy to comment

I wonder why Iyaz quitting was such a crime that it really set Leo off. #Soup made many comments about it, usually without naming names but we knew who he meant. So why is every Tom, Dick and Lyndsey from CNeT a frequent guest of TWiT, barring one Iyaz Akhtar. I Wonder.

Bye Bye Brickhouse

A commenter on the last post asked…

"I thought he isn’t staying once the lease is up anyway, why is he so bitter towards new tenant?"
How much for the rafters?
$80 for the mic stand, do i hear $85? OK $85 from Scooter do I hear $90? $85 going once…..

My diagnosis is that he is coming to grips with reality. The last four years were an important time for TWiT.  As Lisa alluded to in her CEO blog, it was about metaphorically growing twit to fit the brickhouse. They were launching new shows and trying to build a network. They failed.

Management
(L to R) CEO/Wife Lisa Kentzel, Founder Leo Laporte, Malformed creature Ozzie

Now the millions of greenbacks put into the rented brickhouse are gone. They got 4 or 5 years out of that money. Due to bad decisions they lost all talent. Elgin has launched zero shows. Megan has no time to launch a show. Each show Padre has launched would be cancelled if not for the free labor cost. Thank god for Gazelle because they don’t even entertain new show ideas anymore after the TNSS disaster.
An expensive video show for a podcast network, sheesh.

The new people have not had one new show and are struggling to maintain the foundation from crumbling. Leo is well aware that when the next phase comes it will be about squeezing everything he can out of what is left of twit and not growth.

123 in tech can not be good
123 in tech can not be good

The next studio will be smaller. They will retain Jason for AAA and editing with one other editor and one IT guy. Everyone else will have to be let go. TNT will end and Padre will begin his sabbatical. They will cut more costs and try and preserve revenue from the people not updating RSS feeds in iTunes and Stitcher. The days when shows brought viewers to other shows is turning into days where defections cause defections on other programs.

Getting back to the original question of the commenter, Leo knows when the brickhouse closes the final chapter begins. He would probably rather pay high rent for another year or two than admit the truth. This is a sad time and calls for a classic sad video.

Why You Should Advertise With TWiT

Total Drama is not afraid of our community and if we have something positive to say about TWiT we say it. Do not adjust your monitor. Buying ads on TWiT is a good business decision and here is why…

God don't lie.
God don’t lie.

If your company is looking for an edge and you’re thinking  about advertising on TV or radio—think again. When you pay for an ad in old media you don’t get anything close to what you get if you advertise on the TWiT network. Most companies in old media are bogged down with “standards and practices” and  even cumbersome “morality,” but not everyone has this dilemma. When you buy an ad with TWiT you don’t just buy a commercial, you buy the man: the news and the content. It’s all included for one low, low price. Any broadcaster can simply endorse a product, but I challenge you to find one network that loooooooooooves the sponsors like TWiT does; on and on they go.

You should borrow money and not from a bank
You should borrow money and not from a bank

They will clarify to the imbecilic fans that it’s real opinion which they are spewing and not just an ad. They accomplish this by mandating that every advertiser receives one personal anecdote per ad, whenever possible. For example: Leo’s son and his Casper mattress, Padre recalling the days when he was hiring tons of employees. With Zip Recruiter it’s so easy. Mike and his (really super easy) Blue Apron meals. Has an actual policy been instituted ensuring that they all prostitute themselves and their lives into the ads with these honest tales? They will never just read an ad, all employees will use and love the products.

There’s another gem included in the ad package: Most every unsuspecting guest on their shows will be thrust under the spotlight and asked to chip in to the ad with a story of their own. They will literally put guests on the spot—live—for the sponsor. And fret not about the listeners, ads can take up to eight minutes—it’s all o.k. But you get even more than that, you can become the content, too!

Trust is bond between me and Leo
Trust is a bond between me and Leo, trust me on this.

Remember when Ford was a sponsor? Every other week Leo would talk about Allan Mullalay (his great friend) and quote him and talk about Ford in technology. Yes, he recites his disclaimer but then proceeds to give Ford air time on Premier and TWiT as coverage. Now that Ford is no longer a sponsor they have become just another irrelevant car company? And remember Carbonite? At least once a week a “Tech Guy” caller would serendipitously get through to tell a story about his woes of not backing-up and (disclaimer they’re a sponsor) #Soup would mention Carbonite. Does no one need to back up anymore?

If you’re a really big sponsor you may even be interviewed on “Triangulation.”

I loooooooooove this company
I loooooooooove this company

{Prosper and Harry’s shaving stuff are Silicon Valley companies} you get stuff like that said if you advertise with TWiT, they’ll say anything. They blur the line between content and paid commercial all the time. ‘Smooth transitions’ they call the blur. As the CEO of a sponsoring company, you also get to be a good friend of Leo; Lynda, Joe and Steve from ITP, Bill Harris, the great guys from Warber Parky, Carbonite founder etc etc etc etc. The fans eat that shit up. They will whore it all for you, if you buy ads..

I don't lie.
Do I look like a liar?

Do you want an endorsement from Kevin Rose for Legal Zoom or from Amber MacArthur for Freshbooks? No problemo, he will throw that in free and you don’t have to pay them. Do you want the hosts to love and use your product? Easy, it’s part of every host’s job description, they have to use them. They’ll make wills, they’ll eat NatureBox nuts, they’ll install doorbells, they’ll do anything. And it’s legit, they really, really looooooove it all. Leave your dignity at the door please.

Technology maven and sponsor
Technology maven and sponsor

One employee dared to have an opinion against a sponsor and he no longer works at TWiT. Presently, all employees shave with Harry’s, all of them, they love it. And don’t worry, even if it’s old salami and a cracker for your pet (delivered once a month by barkbox) Ozzie the putrid pooch will love it. That’s right, Ozzie’s endorsement is for sale too. Oh, and if you want the ultimate sellout, we have one pitch man in a priest outfit telling you how great ProXpn is and how everyone loves it. TWiT has never hired anyone with Zip Recruiter, ever, never ever. But who cares? They list a job there so they can say to the catatonic fan base that they use Ziprecruiter. Would it kill them to just do the ad without the misrepresentations? BUT ALAS, I LOVE IT. Barbados vacation, here I come.

Did you ever wonder why they don’t prerecord ads? Think about it and you’ll know why sponsors prefer live. It’s all for sale if you got money. So call or e-mail TWiT and place an ad today!

Note* Paul Thurott doesn’t put up with this shit and will not be a part of the shenanigans. [Per commentor except audible]
Note* Much of this sponsor story was based on other stories found here and here.

Note* I have no problems with ad reads or advertising in general. It is easily and often done with integrity.

TWiT.TV 2.0: TWiT TV Reinvents Itself

Did the lovely and Talented Sarah Lane demand a cat pic?
Did the lovely & talented Sarah Lane order a TD cat pic?

In a sobering behind-the-scenes look inside TWiT, we see that the Total Drama prognosis for the future of TWiT is not far off from the vision of its very leader, Laporte himself.

In the following video we see a quick look at how Leo prepares for his flagship show. Twenty short minutes before the scheduled start time Laporte asks his director [Jason Howell] which guests will be appearing on his panel [and who they are.] Laporte then goes on to inquire of Howell if any tech news actually transpired in the past week. That concludes his preparation, he doesn’t even browse the headlines.

Furthermore, rather than preparing, even for the remaining 10 minutes before airing the live show, he begins to nap, complete with lullaby music. He also clarifies his dream about a day when he can just do the ads and ditch the content.

Trust us folks, Leo broadcasting from his bed is not far off.

Pfft Free Speech

I have been listening to these three great minds (below) for quite some time. These are three advocates of free speech and three self-proclaimed journalists, who think that Twitter is a cesspool and *needs to close, and Redditt needs to grow up and trash the “bad” subreddits. Facebook is fine because Zuckerberg, a man obsessed with profit, already unilaterally decided that on his site, home to billions of people, a kid in flip flops, all alone will decide what you can say.

Three Great Minds who Don't Like Name Calling
Three Great Minds who Don’t Like Name Calling

In 1980 you would be shunned if you said gays should be allowed to marry. In 1960 you could be lynched if you screamed blacks should use the same toilet as whites. In 1940  Germany you could be shot for advocating hiding a Jew in your home. In 1520 you went to jail for proposing that the Earth is flat.

Sometimes the majority is wrong: true that.

Maybe free speech has some draw backs, like trolling, but it is still kinda important, heck it’s even in some documents in famous museums.

Genius or Lucky Nerd?
Genius or Lucky Nerd?

We can either let hipsters with beards running websites determine what is allowed and what isn’t, or we can just like, sorta allow all free speech, like how the founding patriarchs of America intended. Jeff Jarvis or Thomas Jefferson? Lance Ullanoff or John Adams? Sometimes, once in while, here and there, the unpopular opinions are even right. Some of those opinions even change the world. (Albeit, not the ones about the TWiT CEO)

I can cut them some slack when curtailing opinions on a small medium like an irc, but don’t these intellectuals realize that if the pillars of the internet, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, disallow free speech, it sorta creates a problem. Kinda like  if all the TV stations refused to air what they don’t like. Yea, I kinda sorta make sense sorta.

Just to be clear douche-bags; having the pillars of the internet prohibit free speech is effectively prohibiting free speech.

Who knows why the symbol for justice is a scale?
Help, I can’t see!

Perhaps Jeff Jarvis should have to deal with someone calling him a shill on Twitter and Leo should have to deal with someone calling him fat. There is a reason lady justice holds a scale, some issues are more important than others. Lastly, whenever you take “haters” and put them in a ghetto away from normal people you excasserbate the problem. If you’re a lone racist in a crowd of normal people you will be quieted. If you are a racist amongst racists you create peer pressure to be even racist-ier.

Full disclosure I could not care less about Free Speech, it’s just the hypocrisy I can’t stomach.

UPDATE: This is in response to a comment: I am well aware that these are public companies and they are not bound by law to comply with any Free Speech doctrines. Yet, I feel that companies of their size should voluntarily adhere to these Free Speech principals in order to retain credibility as a platform.

* Per Jason Cortez – they never said “it needs to close” that was an assumption by the author regarding the critique of these sites for allowing trolls
**Please alert me in comments for spelling and grammar mistakes
***Sorry for America centric notions but that’s my hometown. And all you other countries like California copied us anyway.

The New Screen Savers is Officially a Monumental Failure

Well a hey hey hey and a how de do, it didn’t take long but TWiT’s last hope is apparently on its way out. The show known as The New Screen Savers is witnessing its ratings descend at an alarming rate.

Youtube views for video shows are meaningless indicators of popularity. [WinkyFace]

Will this show ever reach TNT level lows?
Will this show ever reach TNT level lows?

Let’s dish, the show was ill-conceived at the outset. They had one advantage in that salaried employees could be made to work on the show at minimal to no cost.  But the shearing of talent meant they had no one left to put on screen. They were forced to cash in a lot of favors from outsiders, but now that well is drying up too. No one wants to be on this failing program without being paid (at least) on a similar level to Patrick.

Not in the top 40??
Not in the top 40??

Oh, and if you non-believers want to see the top 40 tech podcast list unaltered you can click this. But TNSS is undoubtedly in trouble. Who knows, maybe the CEO/ PR expert/ Wife/ Host/ SalesExec/ Producer did not realize that a video show is not an ideal fit for an MP3 dominated podcasting genre. Remember when hopes were high at the studio and fans always heard about new shows on the horizon? That ship sure as heck passed, when was the last time the gun shy execs even teased a new show? They don’t even lie about new shows anymore.

Whatever the colossal error was, the begging of guests  is not the answer. Folks who graciously appear in-studio, should not be pestered into prerecording a TNSS segment because it just takes “a few minutes” after doing This Week in Tech. Frankly my dear, it’s kind of rude. This network needs a better business model than relying on the kindness of others. Already we see TWiT being forced to call in Christina Warren, Inhatko, Ritchie and other TWiT contractors to be This Week in Tech guests. The impact of TNSS on This Week in Tech is a further reduction in guests as tech journalists try and avoid the badgering to do free segments for TNSS. He already fired Chad for not getting good guests who is the next whipping boy?

(Should  the 4th sexiest person in tech ask for a raise?)

Keep the ban going!
Keep the ban going!

Is it time to zip up the body bag on this show and maybe roll the dice on a Padre toy helicopter show instead? We doubt Leo will cancel this show and we predict a pig-headed stubbornness in the vain of, his choice of TNT host, to win out over reason. But…..

Self Love
SelfLove, Ever see him happier?

Folks, Leo needs help and he can’t ask his fans so I will be his voice. Can anyone offer some advice in the comments on how we can save this show?

*Now, why does Padre start three/fourths of his sentences with the word “now” when he does his 1920’s radio voice?

COHOSTING IS HARD WORK

Who among us can forget the joyous outcry when Gum was announced as the new and improved host of TNT. It was about 15 seconds later that iYaz resigned, causing the CEO to blog “We are disappointed to announce that Iyaz Akhtar has chosen to leave…” A month later the lovely and talented Sarah Lane shocked the world by splitting up from Gum. Anyone who truly appreciated on-screen chemistry was reeling in sorrow.

True Love
You will need a chainsaw to cut this tension!

Jason Howell was the sole survivor and he proved to be on borrowed time as well. But then….. the News Director in conjunction management orchestrated a master-class plan.

Promlem not Solved
Promlem not Solved

A rotating co-host line-up was brought in to stabilize [complicate] the rotating carousel of unemployed journalists and bloggers. Then one by one they dropped off too. Sarah Silbert left Tech, Elise Hu left the country and Don Resinger left everything and is currently believed missing. Other co-hosts were brought in to replace the departed but one by one they left followed their predecessor’s liberating path to bliss. K.T. Benner and others. The current crop of hosts, like Christina Warren, have  figured out how to manage this train-wreck show. She basically does not pay attention to Mike or the guests and wakes up when it’s her turn to read the questions Gum prepared. She spends the rest of the show typing away on her computer, texting friends or eating cereal. She loves cereal.

Recently, she had a bona-fide scoop and interviewed some of the reclusive top executives at Apple Inc.. Her commitment to TNT saw her take the day off from TNT to appear on real programs.

….anyway, this show is hilarious and I recommend it.

Gum and PadreSJ are banned from hosting “This Week in Tech”

Where are my facts?  Where is my proof? This is pure speculation!

My facts are my eyes and my proof is my reason. Here’s the facts, Jack:

  • For a decade now, #Soupguzzler has taken multiple vacations.
  • Spare TWiT hosts always fill in (Merritt, Lane, Padre, Gum etc.).
  • All of a sudden, outsiders are substitute hosting the weekly TWiT.
  • PadreSJ would do anything, even help the wretched poor, to host. We know he wasn’t busy.
Would you rather a unrelated pic of Shannon Morse or another Padre pic.
Would you rather see an unrelated pic of Shannon Morse or another Padre pic? I made my choice.

So use your brain…what happened? What changed? Why all of a sudden are they begging Becky and Kevin Rose to host? Maybe the TD premise is accurate. Maybe ratings are down. Maybe they are getting desperate. If you disagree, then buy another TWiT shirt.

Wake up kids, Rome is burning.

*Note: In the interest of saving space “the lovely and talented Sarah Lane” was referred to as “Lane” in paragraph 2 line 2. God forgive me but format matters

Does Leo Encourage Defrauding Advertisers?

Something is rotten in Petaluma. An eagle-eared IRC commenter noticed that Leo may have a motive for his crap website. There is a suspected plot that has been offered up for review: It seems a certain pot-bellied, overly-sleepy, article-reading slob may have a reason for asking for people to get the API key and develop, develop, develop.

How About This For a BUssiness
How About This For a Business?

What does he have in mind? What doesn’t his audience have?  It seems kinda weird to want all these mobile applications and websites with redundant purposes. Could he be looking for someone to program applications to auto-download all his podcasts? Maybe that is where the mass exodus of Mods went? They code? This is easier money than making good shows!

More Powerful That Padres Anti-Troll Program
More Powerful That Padre’s Anti-Troll Program

Fret not, drama people. We may have an API key and are possibly developing an app that downloads the episodes to a server of our own that you can re-download. The #guzzler won’t get to chow down on those extra-large buckets of #soup. We may even have a way to reverse the download numbers thereby effectively shoving the podcast back up Leo’s ass.
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