TWIT: slow motion suicide

My aunt had a favorite phrase when someone kept vacillating over a fairly obvious decision.

"Shit or get off the pot"

Now I admit, I may be "slightly" under the influence of something as I compose this but it only served to release the diamond that I had been forming in my posterior...

TWIT either needs to admit its positioning itself for takeover (aka: oblivion) or admit they've screwed up the last 4 years and do a 180.

Look, TWIT is in a slow decline and frankly nothing ever changes for the better there.  Yay! Marketing Mavericks is finally gone but it took a damned year to figure out that it was a flawed concept to begin with.  GameOn! was dead in 3 months...

I mean, did anyone in their right mind really want to hear about the triumphs of the very scum whose endeavors brought about a million dollar industry of ad blocking apps?

There are very few shows I have even a passing interest in on TWIT anymore and the latest episode of Windows Weekly was one of them.

That was until episode #411 when instead of scintillating Microsoft Build news I got left field commentary from Laporte and Thurrott fueled by craft beer and Bourbon.  All the while Mary Jo Foley desperately tried to reign in some measure of content to no avail.  Even special guests like Dr. Pizza couldn't do any more than repeat the same diatribe over and over again.

Truth be told, around 3PM I was far more interested in today's episode of Star Trek ( the original series ) and after an hour and a half of non-content from the "special" Windows Weekly I'd had enough.  Yes, it was so bad that a 40+ year old rerun of a TV show I've seen a dozen times was of far more importance than news of the latest Windows release.

C'mon, have we lost all respect for the time the few fans of TWIT invest in its mediocre content?

Now we have a new controversy hot on the heels of dissing yet another popular TWIT host, Chad Johnson.  I'm not even going to touch the whole Giz Wiz, Dick DeBartolo thing. 

It seems there may be some question as to the legality of The New Screen Savers in the person of one NBC/Universal who have apparently sent a "cease and desist" letter to TWIT over infringement of their copyright.  

On this point I agree that NBC's assertion of copyright is an example of the worst aspects of copyright.  I mean, who the hell cares about a bunch of outdated content from a decade ago that the current "owner" has shoved so far down the rat hole that they can't even find all of it.

But I digress.  This isn't about any shared views I may have with TWIT over flawed copyright laws.  Even in this small moment of reason, TWIT's position falls to just another manifestation of an over inflated ego.

Yeah, it's obvious, I read totaldrama.net today and discovered a few more gems and while it's really nothing I should be concerned about, nonetheless, I am.

You see, TWIT as it is now is the very representation of failing upward.

Instead of succeeding on your merits, it seems TWIT's "business" plan is predicated on doing everything but capitalizing on what it used to do best.  That being to provide informative content.

I'm so damned tired of "bubble boys" who exist only to feed their own egos. 

They are the leeches of a civilized society.  They exist to feed but contribute nothing to its advancement.  When ego, greed and hubris are the only end there can be no humility. 

To those who say I should just drop it, I say you're naiveté may be cute but it's getting a bit old.  TWIT, Leo Laporte and all the rest mean nothing in the greater societal consciousness but your acceptance of its relevance without critical review is dangerous.

If all a popular figure needs to do is play with some gadgets and have a silky smooth radio voice to sway you what else will you fall for.

Engage critical thinking and put the troll to bed.  Do this in all things and maybe the evil world you constantly seek to save will actually start to improve.

TWIT: 2015 A new year or beginning of the end?

Another year has passed heralded once again by Leo Laporte at the helm of his creation, TWIT.tv.  A new tradition begun last year finds the teletubby of tech firmly in his captain's chair for another 24 hour marathon that only Jerry Lewis could appreciate.

This year found the same antics, adoring hosts, special guests and events  as last year  not to mention an army of bleary eyed interns and engineers scurrying behind the scenes.

With lessons learned from the last go around under their collective belt, this year's extravaganza had plenty of polish but a noticeable deficit of popular talent in comparison. 

Gone were  the Bryan Brushwoods, Iyaz Ahktars and Tom Merritt's of years past replaced with studio interns and "contract" hosts who just happened to be in the neighborhood.

This year's festivities rang a bit hollow because of it.  A glaring reminder of just how much had been lost in the turmoil of 2014. 

The 2014 New Year's  Eve party also found a new addition, that being a charitable tie-in. 

UNICEF (unicefusa.org) was the chosen beneficiary of TWIT's  generosity this year with Leo reminding viewers of it every hour.

I'll cut to the chase....

UNICEF is certainly a worthy charity but considering the somewhat nebulous charter one has to wonder if it was an afterthought.  

It seemed that the entirety of the broadcast became about challenges for Leo and friends to perform ridiculous stunts ultimately reaching climax with Leo shaving his head and branding his posterior with a TWIT tattoo.

As the stunts rolled on it seemed  more and more like sad attempts to  resuscitate TWIT's image than garner donations.  The vacuum left by the exodus of TWIT talent and bad blood that has tainted the network in the past 2 years has born bitter fruit. 

Interviews with tertiary TWIT hosts like Rene' Ritchie and studio interns couldn't hide the fact that TWIT's stable didn't run very deep.  That and Leo seemed just a bit "too" friendly towards Chad Johnson whom he'd booted out of a full time gig just a few weeks before.

So when Laporte shaved his head as donations reached $40,000 and finally branded his own ass with a TWIT tattoo at the $50,000 threshold  I realized I was watching  little more than acts of desperation.

The videos that follow come from the event and are unedited for content or context.  I submit them for your own review. 

TWIT: Kicking puppies or The firing of OMGChad

I'll be honest here...

I really haven't been spending that much time with TWIT lately.  The house that Leo built continues what appears to be a slow slide into oblivion which isn't news.  That more and more people agree with that assessment isn't either.

It's not good to fixate on negative things for any length of time unless you're trying to learn to avoid them.  At this point the writing's on the wall for TWIT and fans and detractors alike are growing weary of the whitewash every time the network takes another misstep.  

It's like trying to find something positive to say about a train wreck by mentioning the scrap value of the mangled cars.

The latest round of "changes" as former bookkeeper now CEO Lisa Kentzell likes to call them is the...ummm....

Firing? removal? change in status?  Well, whatever they're calling it these days, "former" protege' Chad Johnson is no longer a full time employee.

Apparently Johnson, whose OMGCraft show had already left the network, has been removed from TWIT production duties on all TWIT shows including MacBreak Weekly and TWIT among others.

Which means he was fired...

In the October 29th "Inside TWIT" Laporte cited the need for a producer whose time isn't split between their own endeavours and those of TWIT's cash cow programming.  He followed up with expressions of affection for the newly unleashed Johnson not unlike those bestowed on Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young earlier this year.

Those "changes" became most evident, however, after Johnson had his own "Erik Lanigan-esque" moment (meaning he said he got fired but wouldn't elaborate.)  It came about during an impromptu call-in on longtime friend and mentor Brian Brushwood's "Night Attack" show during a discussion about his termination.

Much like the now "banished to the ether" NFSW 218 where Brushwood and Young praised TWIT for their help in nurturing the fledgling show,  Johnosn remained professional in his discussion of the events surrounding his dismissal and appreciative of Laporte's tutelege.  Hopefully we'll see that professional courtesy reciprocated instead of the Night of 1000 bans leveled at the former hosts of NSFW.

NOTE: Skip to 1:07:27 to hear from Johnson himself...

Johnson will continue as co-host with Dick DeBartolo on "The Giz Wiz" although that may have more to do with DeBartolo's pull than any act of magnanimity by Laporte. 

With the continuing drain of talent at TWIT, Laporte needs to retain the few popular hosts he has left.  With successful endeavors of thier own and fame earned long before TWIT even existed, DeBartolo and  others like Security Now's Steve Gibson have little need of the exposure TWIT affords them.

Meaning that after DeBartolo was effectively abandoned by Laporte to be replaced by Johnson it's likely he wouldn't tolerate another host change.  Of course it could also be that Laporte just didn't want to take back hosting duties on The Giz Wiz like he had to for Before you Buy when Morse left.

That or Laporte is just running out of hosts.

Speaking of Shannon Morse...

She's even closer to "out the door" now.   Her departure from co-hosting duties with Fr. Robert Balacer on Coding 101 was announced on the October 15th Inside TWIT page.

The change is reportedly the result of format changes to the show which for all intents and purposes is going to be less about learning to code (the show's premise BTW) and more like a "Triangulation" for coders.  (That's my phrase not TWIT's)

You have to wonder just how much more of this the ol' Padre is going to put up with...

Morse already had one foot out the door when she ceased producer duties at TWIT this year and now has been reduced to the cameo role of "reviewer" on TWIT's Before You Buy product review show.

One can only surmise that OMGChad's future at TWIT will follow a similar path as TWIT "contractors" tend to have short tenures.

The official explanation is below on the inside TWIT Oct 15th announcement page...

A big thank you to everyone for their support of Coding 101, because without our fans it would not exist. A show about programming has always been a part of our vision for TWiT, and starting this week we are making changes to the format of the show.

Instead of focusing on teaching code and jumping from one language to the next, we will be interviewing developers/programmers/coders and taking a deeper dive into their work. We plan to cover everything from coding to programming philosophy and plan to integrate more projects on the show.

With this shift in focus, Shannon Morse is leaving Coding 101, but she is not leaving our network. I am happy to announce that Shannon will be returning as a contributor to Before You Buy with weekly product reviews. While I know that Shannon is very busy with her work outside our network, we are looking forward to keeping her presence on TWiT.

Stay tuned as we continue to improve our existing shows and announce new ones!

And why not?  After all, we tuned into Coding 101 for the stimulating conversation right?  Yes, of course, Coding 101 will now be the Tavis Smiley of coding podcasts!

Ok, by now we know the "changes" that happen at TWIT these days are largely driven by Lisa Kentzell with Laporte blithely following her lead.  There's no doubt who's in charge of the network and the visiion is clearly not Laporte's regardless of his claims to the contrary.

Much like Brian Brushwwood on Night Attack 35, I'm having issues not mentioning what part of the anatomy I believe  Laporte's decisions are likely being made by.

All I can say at this point is that shafting Chad Johnson is like kicking puppies while drowning kittens.