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Robert Scoble

Real-time contest. Who is doing the geekiest thing right now? Answer on FriendFeed here:

August 15, 2009 from iPhone - Comment - Like - Share

Carlo Maglinao, K.D., Bora Zivkovic and 48 other people liked this

Following FF live feed :-) - Bo Stern

188 more comments

Converting some values on my HP-16C. - Tinfoil 2.0

Setting up signatures in Thunderbird. - John Fox

Trying to make a Google Latitude mashup - first attempt - Pon

Watching old Dr Who on streaming Netflix. - Michael Groner

Installing Windows 7 RTM in a virtual machine on my MacBook running Snow Leopard. - BeauGiles

watching a twit-vid of @amandapalmer singing 'creep' with a ukelele on one screen whilst reading blogs in the other - Rob Clark

running diff's on about 1.5 million rows of data and piping to another perl script for scrubbing - Erik Boles

Reading @techcrunch post on iPhone Apps and downloading them. :) - emon hassan

I am not geeky enough. - Robert Scoble from iPhone

watching old filmation cartoons on hulu. (more nerd than geek though) - Jason Phillips

I'm working on my own development project management tool in Emacs, doing some documentation and cleaning up Emacs Lisp Code. http://github.com/Nafai77... - Travis B. Hartwell

Erik wins so far! - Robert Scoble from iPhone

Sharing a mash-up of Rick Astley ("never gonna give you up") and Nine Inch Nails ("The hand that feeds") with all my friends! http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Alex Linebrink

Reading a Klingon blog - http://bologh.blogspot.com/ - Derrich

Q: How many of you are here on the East Coast? I'm in NY. - emon hassan

Remoting into a computer that's less than ten feet away, because i can! - Joshua Odneal

Watching old WWF Royal Rumble 1991 and playing club bing for prizes. - David R

Derrich wins hands down - Jodi Church

ironing work shirts - getting ready for work tomorrow *sigh* (ultra geeky ey!!) - Mr K

Streaming old SNES Batman games, playing TF2, and listening to Twit.tv - Carlton Prest

David R - Royal Rumble RAWKS!!! - Erik Boles

Watching how the Earth was formed and reading Louis Gray's blog post about FriendFeed. Why am I not getting drunk at a strip bar? - Stephen Pickering

Indexing mysql databases - Mike

I thought my answer was good, but Derrich kills it. - Michael Groner

watching buffy & angel, lmao - Brendon Wadey

Stephen: then you could be 'On FriendFeed at a strip bar'! - BeauGiles

Setting up my roommate's new Airport Express so he can use Airtunes, and potentially hack it to play Spotify over it as well. - Daniel Zarick

I'm trying to get someone to shoot me a Google Voice invite, just because the geek in me wants to try it. - Scott Voss

Dang, has Emacs and Lisp hacking lost its geek cred? :( - Travis B. Hartwell

And with the iphone still geeking out! - Stephen Pickering

Google Voice no longer uses invites, just from google directly - David R

I am watching Fox News Channel. <--- WIN. - Rob Sterling

@Travis Lisp never loses geek cred. As far as Emacs goes, I'm a vi guy. :) - Michael Groner

TRAVIS -- not at all, I just like VIM over emacs, much more flexibility, but you be a geek my man, for shizzy - Erik Boles

:) - Travis B. Hartwell

getting hands on writing the Windows Sidebar gadget... - esaarem

Learning and trying Slinkset ,listening to cafe del mar 5 :-) - Johni Fisher

Editing pics on my iPhone and posting them to social sites.…plus checking FF - Herb Hernandez from iPhone

writing an iPhone app and listing to leo laporte - Jeremy Lane

Discussing reference audio and A/V surround-sound set-ups with your brother. - Akiva

Scoble: Whats the prize for this contest? - David R

David, you get punched in the throat with a deflated football. - Akiva

watching systm on how to build a combat robot - Sean Montgomery

@David R: FriendFeed fridge magnet, - Derrich

I'm watching Youtube videos on how to emulate Mac OS 9 on an Intel Mac, full screen so I can run old apps for old time's sake, while listening to Chris Pirillo talk about being a geek. - Justin Lowery

ill take that magnet - David R

watching Big Brother feeds. Jordan won HOH. Natalie still a nutjob. - geoff hines

rebooting PC after BSD - Phani Raj Kuchibhotla

Making a map of a fictional city (in a fictional country) while listening to JoCo - imperator3733

Installin Expression Bleand while listening to TWIT - Rohit Harshvardhan

@SEAN M. - Watch the one on kegbot, pure awesomeness. - Erik Boles

Playing Wow! - Bill Skoros

installin uber twitter beta 4 on my BB 8900 from Mexico City! cheers - Carlos

changing my friendfeed theme to custom - thegeniusfiles

@Justin check out 'Classic on Intel (COI)' - have had luck with it in the past when trying to play SimTower! - BeauGiles

EB: that's in the queue to be watched next...gotta start on step one of robot building - Sean Montgomery

researching why the USS Voyager's warp nacelles fold up - Justin Ruckman

first iteration done, more scrubbing to do, so more perl to write, maybe some awk, peace kids. - Erik Boles

@BeauGiles I was looking into SheepSaver. I'll have to take a look at COI also… - Justin Lowery

You're all *nuts* - it's Saturday night, and you (me too) are in front of the computer. <sigh> I'm reminded of my horrible high school art teacher who said artists never have "week-ends." Bastard. Damn fool was right. Substitute "geek" for "artist" and Bob's your uncle - or auntie, depending on how she swings. - Yule Heibel

watching the syfy channel (alien agent), while surfing the internet and playing the enchanted ds game - half a level to go and i've beaten the game! - ann glenn

Writing a fiction futuristic piece for my final in Tech in Society class. Cyborgs and robotic secretariats. My favorite line so far is when my main character tells his house bot to go screw a toaster. - Kenny Rayl

@BeauGiles Oh duh, same thing. Looks like I just finished downloading it. - Justin Lowery

This weekend geek: robot building...next weekend non geek: Vegas baby.... - Sean Montgomery

and i'm watching the very end of the Seahawks/Chargers pre-season game. - geoff hines

David: prize? My undying respect! - Robert Scoble from iPhone

Here you go, David R - http://bit.ly/a7eGF - Derrich

Watching Anime and talking about the MMA match on Facebook with my Blackberry 8900 through my access point. Only WPA encryption but have a long key and I live in the woods so I should be safe. That my friend is a geek combo :) - Tony from fftogo

Reconfiguring MythTV on my HTPC. - Edward Coffey

Reading FF instead of going to bed. Probably should be writing copy of some sort, but this is the time of night where I'll start to babble if I get sleepy. - Mary B: #TeamMonique

Installing apps for the new 3Gs - Denverken

Keeping up with this thread - Reyna Carlos

Babbling in writing is just pathetic. - Mary B: #TeamMonique

Checking Tweets while at GenCon - can'tget much geekier than that... - Dean Browell

Go Denverken! - Mary B: #TeamMonique

I am watching Conan O'Brien on TiVo and Reading Scoble's FriendFeed. - Louis Gray

Reyna Carlos wins - Jeremy Lane

@Yule H. Having a lazy sunday afternoon over here in Australia - almost 3pm :) - BeauGiles

Trying to get inspired to design a web site for a client so I can get my geek on. Instead, sitting here reading Robert Scoble's FriendFeed! Much more entertaining... :) - Laura Zickus

digging deep into xml/css for start-up site... working on new web software that is like a next-generation friendfeed... grabbit.net - Fred Davis

Building out the infrastructure to setup 500 live web cams across the US to let people like me and you report crimes on the street in real time! (2-5 second delay). Someone starts a fight, cops are called within 10 seconds. 500 cameras are going up by December. 10,000 more in 2010. Yes. it's effing hard! - Adam Jackson

http://ourblock.tv & http://www.crunchbase.com/company... - Adam Jackson

Using new de-soldering station to repair a bad MB to use in another dedicated system for climate prediction or seti@home...or some other grid computing project. - Jimmy

On the loosers side: having a drink of JW Gold and reading this at an strippers bar while I wait for the next performance! - Marco ILLESCAS from iPhone

Trying to get my LazyFeed /just/ right. - Shea from iPhone

...actually, grabbit is really much more than just a next-generation friendfeed... but since that's one of the closest things so far, the comparisons are inevitable... even if they don't do grabbit justice ;-) - Fred Davis

Did a brand new install of a family tree / genealogy web app, then imported the GEDCOM file from the previous install (which was an older version of the same app: http://www.phpgedview.net/ ). #ShinyNewVersion - Micah

Tweeting back to @IvankaTrump about her Thunder Cats movie request [http://twitter.com/mjcarra...] - Michael J. Carrasquillo

Watching Season 4.5 of BSG - lisa padilla

...usually I'm the geek of the week every week, so I hope someone is doing something nerdier than tweaking CSS style sheets! Especially on a saturday night! Sheesh! Good thing my GF (@lisapadilla) is a geeky girl, so she understands... in fact, she's nerding out on some grabbit stuff, too, right now ;-) - Fred Davis

My God, Doc Searls was right, we're all living in Scoble's butt! - Stephen Pickering

hehe, thx Mary Baum!, really love it so far - Denverken

Was smoking a cigar, tweeting from iPod touch and thinking about buddha. Does that count? Or should I have also been coding in PHP & reading slashdot? - Jerry Garcia

yes, Robert's friends all need to get a life! Ha! - Fred Davis

Reorganizing my iPhone apps, comparing Newstand to free RSS feeds, & researching/pondering the best way to archive my Twitter stream after reading Mashable article - Alexis from iPhone

Watching Android get ported onto an MID - Netbooknews

watching a bad movie with about 15 other people on IRC.. movie is "Frankenstein Island" - monkeystick

Lodging DMCA takedown against a scraper. - Sheila Scarborough

I guess biting the head off of a chicken doesn't count for geeky any longer? Early last century it would have been a huge draw in Kansas. - Jerry Garcia

I made a red necktie for my Brain (Pinky and the Brain) action figure. Now he's not only not naked, but looks even smarter. - Fred Jones

Going thru 104 comments on this thread. - Winston Teo

Shape Collaging FF followees http://friendfeed.com/glongma... - Capn' One Eye - adrift

Playing with TwitPaint and editing a video - Outsanity

I was wondering why my Android phone couldn't find Jupiter on Skymap, when I knew exactly where it was - Kevin Marks

reading scoble FF - Ruchit Garg

hmm, watching two long running procs on vm's, running a couple rsyncs to a new terabyte server, monitoring FF/IRC/IM, farming on WoW, preparing two servers with NGINX and i'm always keeping an eye on munin/monit/screen sessions -- but that's not geeky really, just a normal weekend - bear (aka Mike Taylor)

Checking frienfeed at a wedding while everone else is dancing - Jim Goldstein from iPhone

Sean: thanks, I just wanted to see if something were happening on Twitter that wasn't here. - Robert Scoble from iPhone

I'm writing blog posts in gmail and saving them under the label "Posterous Drafts". And something something circuit board something thermal something capacitor. - Brett Kelly

zeroing the hard drive of an old G4 that's going to be recycled. - David Newman

Writing a paper about Artificial Intelligence in Expert systems :D - Yahya

playing with django framework - vinod

playing with Facebook FBML and pages (and hating it) - Keith - @tsudo

Just chilling with an ice cold Bud and listening to a live Jimmy Buffett concert online. And smiling reading all the posts. - lily taylor

Sitting at the keyboard in my jammies and reading FF. - Technogran

reading FF & shooting my duck hunt background (just 'cause); listening to music on blip.fm; picking out fall fashion (posting to delicio.us/polyvore/blogspot...) & texting my son. Not sure what I would do w/out connection =) - Charl Lee

Listening to Bob Seger, Janis Joplin and The Who on vinyl. Guess that would be contra geek? - John Nissim

checking out laptops on pc mag. # - Franc, a rememberer

trying to set-up Streamy (the "new Friendfeed') - Bill Powell

Reading friendfeed on one monitor with 50 tabs open and watching the Second Life Citizen's Convention live music stream in Second Life on the other monitor. - Sue - Friendfeed is best

LOl @Stephen P. - Franc, a rememberer

to the wedding geek: sounds like sth. I'd be doing. lol - Franc, a rememberer

@Franc. I'm still reading this thread... Uber geek LOL - Jim Goldstein from iPhone

Upgrading my desktop computer to Windows 7 - RobinDotNet

Setting up a Linux server and giving it a static IP address, manually assigned DNS server settings, restarting the networking stack, and pinging the router on my local network all via the command line in the Terminal. Also doing a traceroute from this Linux server inside a virtual machine on my MacBook Pro to my website at www.thebrentcameron.com to see how many hops it takes and the time it takes for each of those hops. So do I win or what? - Brent Cameron

My idea of optimizing Firefox is by uninstalling it. - Alex Knight

running macros on my G15 to bulk process 500 kids soccer pictures, while browsing friendfeed, listening to techno on headphones while my son watches star wars episode IV - Robert Higgins

Making my 4th LEGO city model of the day while watching 2 screens of FriendFeed (main feed + this thread). My wife is on Facebook on our hackint0shed netwbook while my 3 year old daughter plays games on the iPhone - Johnny

Just got my new iPhone 3GS. Recorded video and uploaded to youtube http://youtube.com/bryansays then used qik app to upload video as well http://qik.com/bryansays then took a pic and uploaded to my blog via posterous. :) - BRҰANSAҰS from iPhone

Watching Conan the Barbarian, quoting far too much of it, analyzing too much of it altogether (like did they get all of the out of work Star Trek (original show) musicians together to do the score? It's way too similar.) - Lucretia Pruitt

Coding an iPhone application which connects to Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, and fetches RSS feeds off the web :) - Fahim

Taking some downtime from the SLCC as an opportunity to work on writing for my blog. - Tim Maly

Figuring out if I can get android running on a dell axim. - Jim Connolly

Scampering between sites/browser-tabs like a headless chicken is hardly geeky but that's what I've been doing this Sunday morning. Google Reader, Friendfeed, Facebook, Twitter, Social Median, Lazy Feed, et. al. - Mahendra (SkepticGeek)

Setting my Ruby on Rails environment up on my new Windows Laptop. I know it's the easiest platform to do it on, with InstantRails, but might install it on Linux, just for the crack :) And checking out the Mosso plans. - Steve Farnworth

running a twitter experiment #chromeexperiment to see if I could actually replace firefox with chrome. - Rohit

Writing a custom extension module for vTiger CRM which combines data from two other modules and working on my custom Layout Management & Authentication Libraries for the CodeIgniter MVC framework which I intend to release as open source when complete. - Usman Bashir

Umm, searching for iPhone formatted porn. Does that count as geeky? - Keith Bennett from BuddyFeed

Making a few more custom buttons for firefox. - April Russo

Answering stupid real-time contests on friendfeed. - Ben Pashkoff from twhirl

fighting the headache with some reader and friendfeed...and maybe twitter...maybe not - Dobromir Hadzhiev

Configuring virtual server/machines and network - for home use... - Jemm from fftogo

Drinking my morning coffee..... - Roberto Bonini

it's unlikely to be me - checking friendfeed while things compile (contributing to a linux distro this week), reading up on vtiger (coincidence? someone is vtigering above), and wondering what's for lunch - Iphigenie

Reading Robert's friendfeed updates IS the geekiest thing one can do ^^ - Paul Papadimitriou from iPhone

And Coffee is the spring of all good ideas :) So it IS geeky :) - Roberto Bonini

I'm out on this one. Relaxing 'computer off' Sunday planned with my wife :) - Charlie Anzman

When this was posted? Sleeping. Hows that for geeky? - DGentry

Joelle: It has to be coincidence what else can it be. :) - Usman Bashir

Trying to use lynx to browse the web, most sites fail - Aaman (Clone of FF)

Editing videos from my holiday - not geeky enough - and 8 hours late for this post! - Martin Bryant

We'll, when this was posted I was cutting some zzzs. Now I'm coding the privacy component for BuddyPress--a nice relaxing activity for a Sunday morning. Hum? - Jeff Sayre

Compressing and archiving a load of files on JungleDisk, trying to convert a Drupal module intended for use with the Twitter OAuth API to work with FriendFeed, and drafting the OpenStream specification... - Tyson Key

....multi-tasking between sourcing UI icons for a new app, scanning FF live feed, coding PHP, browsing Seesmic and now commenting on a thread where i appear not to be geekiest person here on a Sunday. Oh, and now i have too many tabs open in firefox, so i'm using Safari as a fill-in. - Matthew Ogston

Browsing Google Reader, Friendfeed best of day, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Social Median, Twine while copying a video off my Flip & uploading to Viddler... and on my iPhone: getting the Kindle & audible format of a @TedDekker book (Showdown) to take along on my kayaking trip down the Juniata river this afternoon. In the background, Mythbusters is busy figuring out how the Hindenburg blew up. - Courtney Engle

ohhhh.. i forgot: downloading my entire list of domains for backup before moving servers. Add FTP to the list. and drinking freshly ground coffee in my french press travel mug. The coffee was purchased from a Guatemalan farmer my sister met while there. - Courtney Engle

A couple of people have mentioned coffee. I just had my tea (I'm not from England). I think that may be even more geeky than drinking coffee! - Jeff Sayre

Playing Super Mario Bros. on NES. - Ashish

I'm singing a song about robots with my one year old daughter ... "Robot parade... Robot parade .... Robots obey what the children say!" - Trent Hamm from iPod

Selecting photos + editing videos from the U2 360° Tour - I went to see last nite! Every geek will love the high-tech specs of the tour: http://www.flickr.com/photos... - stunning visuals! - Frank Da Silva

Reading FriendFeed to see what geeky things everyone is doing - Cathleen Rittereiser

http://rsscloud.org/ - Dave Winer

Backing my computer up to my home network, while using regedit and preparing to install Win7. Oh +Twitter and FriendFeed are running in the background :P - Aram Zucker-Scharff from twhirl

I'm backing up The Internet. And storing it in the cloud. - Micah

Micah +1!. Better than me - sister in law just dropped of HP laptop with Vista and said "it's slower now." so I get to play with the cleaning of spyware and the uninstalling of a billion little apps that HP feels are so necessary that they should be part of startup just to ensure that it takes a full 5-10 minutes before you can use the machine. But I'm not bitter. - Michael Pardee

I'm commenting on this post. Can life get more "geeky?" - Jimmy Walker

Configuring a Sonicwall router. - Norm McKenzie

Writing code in Scala. - Joey Gibson

I'm crocheting but I don't think that counts. I'm ripping out am old unfinished to use the yarn in a new project. Next up: a slouchy beret using DPNs then circular knitting needles. - Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart from iPhone

I am redesigning some code for my intelligent search engine which I have been working on for over 12 years now! http://www.cleversearchengine.com - Benjy Felsham

reading friendfeed and catching up on my rss feed on google reader. - Fuad Arshad

OK - and now - in English! WOW - I only "get" about a third of the comments! feeling very ungeeky! - Robyn Hawk

I am wasting my time by writing comments on FF .. it's slightly after midnight in Central Europe now. Shower and bed next! - Jan Horna

Ditched my wife at the airport to get free wifi. I'm flying virgin she's flying southwest. You snooze you lose LOL - Jim Goldstein

Trying to decide about paying for Tweet Spinner . . . - MikeEllsworth

Writing custom PHP code that will pull data from a MySQL database to present a technical class schedule in WordPress. - Michael Carnell

playing Ikariam and WoW while on FF and watching Nature - Heather

Converting/Creating Direct Response Television Ads to Direct Response Web Video and distribution http://www.directresponsetelev... closing deals before the site is even populated. - Jim Peake

I think Robert should announce the winners of the contest now:) - Aaman (Clone of FF)

Is there anything geekier than organizing a tech conference? Yes, organizing a science+tech conference: http://scienceblogs.com/clock... - Bora Zivkovic

following Scobleizer is pretty geeky - Shari Weiss

working on new version of picollator.com - piaff

Installing IE8. - Rob Schieber

Reading on FF instead of working... - DAL

compiling Erlang - Brian Hendrickson

Define "real-time." - Ⓒⓗⓡⓘⓢ Ⓟⓘⓡⓘⓛⓛⓞ

_as if_ you can beat me :-) - Brian Hendrickson

Hey Chris - How are your Twitter ads going? Would be interested in the feedback you are getting. - Jim Connolly

OSgrid - paniaguai

Leo Laporte

Petaluma - http://brightkite.com/objects...

July 18, 2009 from brightkite.com - Comment - Like - Share

Lars Clausen, Richard Walker, Willem (@wim66) ☠ and 9 other people liked this

Welcome home, Leo! - Eric Geller

21 more comments

Welcome Home to land of Apple pie and Baseball and open Government - Michael Holzinger

Welcome home, Leo and Henry - Terry Cleary

Welcome Home! - Bryce Campbell

Welcome home! - imperator3733

YAY Your back!!!! - Robert Burgin

Welcome back Leo! Hope the trip was awesome! - Eric B

Welcome home Leo, travel is fun but coming home is more fun! - Richard Bitting

And another big Welcome home, enjoyed your posts, Now Scott can take his Rangers off standby. - gobears75

Yay - you are back, you were missed! Looking forward to tomorrow's TWiT - Tyson Williams

Welcome back, Leo. Did the trip meet your expectations. - Richard Bradshaw

Welcome home! Hope you and Henry had a great time! - Dakota O'Neill

Welcome Home, looking forward to bag and vest reviews. - Robert Hafer from iPhone

Back to work you TWiT! :-) - Jeff

How was east Leo? - Mohammad Abdurraafay from iPhone

Welcome home - Aaron Thorn

Welcome back. Though I'd sure hate to see you Inbox right about now! - John Rubier

Welcome back idd! Here here :-) - Ace from twhirl

Welcome back leo - peter stromdahl from Android

welcome home Leo - Chris Strange

Glad to see you using brightkite, but I think its always better to post an image with the iPhone when checking in. - Robert D. Fraser

Welcome back, Leo & Henry! Hope you had a nice trip :) - mahjongmi

Glad to have you back, Leo! Missed you and your shows! - Șerban Dragoș

Robert Scoble

How to tell who the good guys are, by Andrew Sullivan. "They're the ones who sometimes rescue a beleaguered riot policeman." Great point! RT @rizzn - http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_dai...

June 14, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

ilmelonedipachino, Mitchell Tsai, Josh McConnell and 210 other people liked this

Wow - great picture - Jesse Stay

22 more comments

he could be performing a judo hip throw. video is probably needed to verify the picture. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Is still Love making the world going round? - Bita

i would love to see this image travel through the media. - MikeAmundsen

I saw the previous images of this scene and was trying to figure out if he WAS helping or not. - Kreg Steppe

Police in Iran charged at protesters using their motorbikes, in a bid to break up a street rally. One policeman crashed his bike during the charge and was helped to safety by protesters. An Italian journalist caught the incident on his mobile phone. Video courtesy of Corriere della Sera TV @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2... - Chris Zlatis

Now this is an amazing photograph, serving as a great reminder that humanity is capable at once of both terrible and great things. I hope it is one of assistance, much as that very moving video above showed. - Nick Wade

the video is great, too. shows that, even at crazy times, there are good-hearted people acting to protect anyone in need. i wonder how often this has been happening over the last few days. - MikeAmundsen

Good luck, Mamoot! - Ayşe E.

I saw these images last night, and I'm heartened to learn that the protesters were in fact helping this guy :) Thanks Mamoot! - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Mamoot, stay strong. Stay safe. You will prevail. - Uche Ogbuji

Good luck to you in your fight for your rights. I hope you are successful and may God keep you safe! - Californian

Marmoot we are with you! - Francine Hardaway

@mamoot: be safe. there are many ways to resist; some very subtle. time is always on your side. - MikeAmundsen

WOWOWO that is awesome!! that is a good guy for sure! - Susan Beebe

sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq: watch http://www.youtube.com/watch... and you'll see that they really are helping the cop. - Chris Charabaruk

@mamoot Good luck and stay safe. - imperator3733

thx Chris Zlatis & Chris Charabaruk = WIN for the video links. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

This one has my vote for the Pulitzer... - John Fenzel

I bet the guy in green got a beating once he got the policeman to the safety of the riot police - Viran

They look like family. - Garin Kilpatrick

:( - Exir

Stay safe, Mamoot - Marci Golub

@Mamoot we are all watching and care very much about your freedom! - Ryan Petty

Leo Laporte

Question for you all. I have a trademark for TWiT® - first used in May 2005, trademark applied for May 2006 and registered March 2007. The trademark is in "Entertainment in the nature of visual and audio performances, and musical, variety, news and comedy shows." http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin...

May 25, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Dobromir Hadzhiev, Richard Thomson, Dakota O'Neill and 167 other people liked this

Up until now there's been no conflict with Twitter itself because the brands were in different arenas. (We have, however, sent out cease and desist letters to companies using "twit" in their name and doing audio or video). But now Twitter is doing a TV show. The confusion between TWiT and Twitter is mounting. What do I do? Defend my mark? Or let my brand be swallowed by the big guy (even though we were first by several years)? I need your advice. What does the community think? - Leo Laporte

241 more comments

Defend your trademark, 99% of people will totally understand, you have to do it, or you'll loose it! - Chris Lloyd

Defend it. People that watch Twit Tv will also defend it. - Jason Rundell

Can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Does TWIT still stand up as an accurate brand for all the new stuff you are doing with TWIT Live? Might be time to find a new visual/brand identity. - BryanSchuetz

At the SF MusicTech conference a lawyer called "tweets" "twits" repeatedly. Let's just say I think you should defend your mark and let TV chew up and spit out twitter. - Richard Walker

Bryan: The TWiT name carries alot of weight in tech circles, it will take alot of money/time/effort to make a completely new name for something that will probably outlast twitter anyway - Chris Lloyd

Incidentally, Twitter just got their trademark approved May 11, 2009 in the following "Telecommunication services, namely, providing online and telecommunication facilities for real-time interaction between and among users of computers, mobile and handheld computers, and wired and wireless communication devices; enabling individuals to send and receive messages via email, instant... more... - Leo Laporte

There is nothing ideal about any aspect of IP law. - Richard Walker

Chris: I think Leo's name carries more weight than TWIT and (for me at least) he IS TWIT so I don't see it as quite such a big deal. - BryanSchuetz

Of course, there's a larger long-term problem because of the way that Twitter has weakened _your_ brand. It might be less expensive (and a better use of your time) to rebrand TWiT into something that strengthens your brand and moves it away from Twitter; avoiding any future problems (and there will be future problems). You can't fight Oprah. - Professor Messer

Leo - your brand, as most evidenced by your show and content is awesome - for a small group of peeps who have had a chance to discover it and enjoy. I'd use the overlap in marques to leverage Twitter in some type of promotional / service partnership, whilst still retaining your brand and the equity you've built. Don't fight em, join em, at least tactically. - Thom Kennon

Never give in to the big guy! - Brian Harper

Defend it Leo. You built the brand and they need to honor that. - Robert

I always thought calling the network the same name as a show on the network was wierd. But it's a recognized brand, and I wouldn't give in. Send some mails to all the twitvid.io's out there. - Anton

Is the BIG guy really that Big? Plus, with the way busines is changing one thing seems to remain the same...protectionism, let's sue someone it's easier. I'm suggesting your desicion is easy here Leo but in light of the landscape changing do you really have a chance? The other question to ponder is this, Twitter is the hot thing now but will it be 5 years from now and will it be true... more... - Owen Greaves

speaking from a british point of view a twit is someone who is a little silly or stupid. I think your podcast can stand up against the everising onslaught of twitter. Why not rise above all this discussion and say what you are This week in technology, a fantastic poscast full of wit and essential information for gadget freaks such as myself. Let the owners of twitter gabble on, in my book baby creatures twitter and you are certainly no TWIT. - Chris Jennings

@ Professor Messer 'You can't fight Oprah' is not totally correct. You can FIGHT her, can you win? Maybe. I think, offline, Leo VS Oprah would go several rounds. Tweetfight says otherwise. - Jason Rundell

Defend it Leo. What's the use in having a trademark if others can infringe upon it. - TechListReport

Sorry to say, my girlfriend recently yelled at my for watching 'Twitter' when I was really watching TWiT live. Confusion does exist for people who don't fully understand what each service is. - Wo

The good thing about trademark law is that it's well established and legally documented. The problem with trademark law is that it's well established and legally documented. You need a brand to create awareness, and you need the trademark to protect your established brand. This one is sticky because TWiT is well established but it's going to be an expensive brand to protect. Twitter's... more... - Professor Messer

@Jason Rundell, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a cage match between Leo and Oprah (who wouldn't?). But it'll cost a lot of time and money. Sometimes it's better to be smarter than the legal system. - Professor Messer

Oh, and I think this is just the opportunity we need to resubscribe our iTunes and take over the top 10 lists. :) - Professor Messer

Can I ask - did TWiT exist before Twitter? Or did Twitter exist first? And - is your name TWiT based on Twitter, at all? - Chris Loft

Chris Loft: TWiT predates Twitter and comes from This week in tech... - Chris Lloyd

I think it's only right to defend your trademark Leo. You were there way before Twitter and just because they have gained significantly increased attention and media coverage, doesn't mean you have to lay down and submit to Twitter. I would defend your mark vigorously if I were you. You've worked hard to build your brand. - Marty McPadden

Chris Loft proves that there is confusion between the two. - Anton

Leo - TWit is an incredible brand and network of invaluable podcasts - you simply have to defend it - Robert Davies

Fight for it. When they try to get additional financing make your move. Asserting your trademark will cause them to settle or buy you out when they go public. - Alan Morris

I think that once you see the Twitter television show, you'll probably want to distance yourself as far away as possible. - Professor Messer

Defend your trademark. I get more intellectual engagement from the TWiT network of shows than I do from most of my Twitter community. - Eric Geller

Use whatever legal tools you have available to defend your brand, especially if Twitter is talking about crossing into audio/video. You have a strong product, and Twitter is creating brand confusion in the market. A hard line needs to be drawn between your product and theirs, and it's clear that they are not going to keep a respectful distance with TWiT. - Jason Miller

You have to rise above the emotion and make a business decision. How much will it cost you to defend versus how much will you gain? Simple cost/benefit. My guess is that this fight will cause you to lose focus on your work, be a financial hardship as you go up against a company with VC backing, and all for the "possibility" that you will win and maybe get some compensation from Twitter.... more... - Tom Sheppard

I thought twitvid.com was the new video netcasts Leo has been talking about, boy was I surprised! - Daniel Rinaman

It has to be defended.Giving up and letting another company take your brand, no matter how big the company or personal feelings toward the owner, can not be an option. You built your brand and should defend it. - David Z

Defend it Leo! - Gunnyman™

Don't think you have much choice do you. You either protect it or lose it. If you don't at some point they will try the other way. - nef 919 from Nambu

You need to defend it Leo. You had the trademark first. - imperator3733

How about a name like LeoCast... No confusion there. - Rustic Thoughts

It's YOUR mark Leo and you have worked hard to make it as well-known as it is. Defend what's yours!! - Jim Connolly

Twitter will be virtually gone like Classmates and MySpace in a few years... Keep the name! - Rick Harvey

yes defend your trademark - Alfonso alatorre

Twit came before Twitter I think you should defend it. it is dumb anyways Twit and Twitter is not even the same word, it would be like CocaCola suing Coconut because of COC - URLREVIEWS

Twitter is going to be a realty show based on stalking celebrities. It wont last more than one season. - Rustic Thoughts

I say let it roll. Your a 'big guy' in your own field, but Twitter is bigger. Play off of them. You could be bigger. Look at all the petty stuff that Microsoft did..and where did it get them? Bad Press. - Gene

To keep your trademark you must defend it if it's being violated. - CT Raider

I think Twitter has the brand and you don't right now. Maybe Twitter should buy it from you or you should collaborate with twitter to monetize and add your TWiT to twitter - Amit 'zyaada' Mittal

I certainly think you should defend your trademark, isn't that why you registered? - dcale1965

I checked Twitter's own site and it looks like Twitter launched March 1, 2006. TWiT was around well before then. Being in tech, I find it hard to believe they hadn't heard of him. It was a big podcast even then. I knew of TWiT well before Twitter. This may seem like a dumb issue to some, but a lot of people I recommended the podcast to now ask me if "it's a Twitter thing." - JeffreyVC

Ev told me that when they were considering names for Twitter they knew about TWiT and decided it didn't matter. In their defense, they had no idea what or how big Twitter was to become. We talked about trademark early on and both agreed there was no conflict _as long as we were in different spaces_. And therein lies the rub. - Leo Laporte

Apple Computer and Apple records recently went through this -- what was the outcome there? - Brian Sullivan

I thought it wasn't clear infringement when Twitter came out but now that there is Twit video the infringement is very clear. I would defend. - Robert Scoble

Lawyers are expensive. Legal fights are draining. You could spend the rest of your professional life fighting this battle. I don't know what's been going on in the back channel, and you probably shouldn't say publicly, but if you haven't tried approaching the Twitter board members privately, you might want to. Lay out the facts carefully, and if you're open to a settlement, say roughly... more... - Dave Winer

"Clear Infringement". How exactly? It's a lose/lose for Twitter if they choose to encroach or even litigate. - Arawak

Yeah but Leo added video later. And now Twitter is adding video. The real issue is that there is no clear separation between a radio/video network and a social microblogging site these days. And our trademarking system is so ridiculous that these kinds of conflicts go completely unnoticed all the time. - JeffreyVC

I'd say it's time to either re-brand TWiT or defend it. Deferring the decision and just living with the confusion and ambiguity is no longer an option. - Ken Sheppardson

Defend your trademark - Lars Clausen

Defend your brand Leo.The World Wide Fund for Nature took on the WWF and made them change their name to WWE. If they can do it, so can you. - BRҰANSAҰS

The big problem with defending it... beyond the unfortunate fact that it's a drain on resources that could be better spent elsewhere... is it's not clear how you'd win. They're not going to change their name. They'll forever be Twitter. Is it sufficient to somehow "ban" them from ever doing anything in video? Enforcing that in perpetuity's would only raise your blood pressure. - Ken Sheppardson

I would take the emotion out of the equation -- find out what it would cost to defend and determine what it is worth to have exclusive/non-exclusive use (maybe some subjectivity here) and make the decision using that information. - Brian Sullivan

I say defend it but only so much as to bring more media attention to your brand... once you have the media's attention you can use that to change the brand identity if you so choose. Your followers myself included will stay fans no matter what you call your brand, but I think you have an opportunity to expand and use twitter as a means of gaining media attention! - Nathan McClain

If you don't do this you wont have a leg to stand on in the future when you need to really protect it. I can piss all over your trademark if you do not defend it. - David Lloyd

Leo: in a trademark fight what is the ROI? I am sure it will be very expensive and not sure you will get much in return but if you forced Twitter to change its name I am sure they would quickly settle with you. - Robert Scoble

I still think Twitter will be as irrelevant as MySpace in 2 years, but it's your brand to protect. - Mike Lewis

Ideal Outcome: A $$$ settlement sufficient to comfortably fund the rebranding of TWiT. - Ken Sheppardson

while bryan lee makes a good point, their battles took a long time to resolve. but, don't let this deter you. i would suggest you defend it. if anything, i see you have a strong case and whatever happens can be in your favour. it's possible twitter can concede in infringing in your trademark and may be even consider licensing through the course of the battle. but be very, very patient for any outcome to happen. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Dave: wrong. Leo is who got me on Twitter. His marks were more popular and predated Twitter's. - Robert Scoble

Leo got me into twitter too! - Jim Connolly

I think Leo has a good chance at wining his case since he did register the copyright first. Twitter is still not a money making business. They are living off of VC money. They will probably not have the funds to mount a case since their money will be tied up with keeping twitter afloat. Am I right? - BRҰANSAҰS

Leo also got me on Twitter shortly after they went public. - Mike Bracco

regarding AMF, Inc. v. Sleekcraft Boats, 599 F.2d 341 (9th Cir. 1979) the battle was very different. one of the things found was that the company had an 'infinity' of other brands to choose. it's a very different situation in detail, although it looks comparable at face value. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Or just have them become a premium sponsor. There used to be so much twitter talk before, I think they really should be owing you some gratitude for the traffic. - Arawak

As part of any settlement, you should demand Ev and Biz concede that individual Twitter entries are "Tweets", as embarrassed as they seem to be by that. They're net "twits" or "twitters"... they're "tweets". - Ken Sheppardson

i'm sure something can be negotiated with twitter. a lawsuit in this case would show you're just defending your trademark because they are encroaching in your territory. you're not taking them on what they are known to do, their core competency. rather, it's stepping into your own grounds. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

not doing anything on purpose may weaken your trademark. many court cases also end up not going through the entire ordeal. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Yep, I agree the day has come where it's either fight or flight. And I don't mean that quite the way it sounds. :-/ - Ken Sheppardson

Defend!!!! - Mark Williamson from BuddyFeed

I don't think you have much choice. Either you defend it or you lose it. - Pascal Sijen

dave johnson: true, there's always a degree of uncertainty; but that doesn't mean giving up in defending one's investment in a trademark. it can be argued pragmatically and it's to the point where leo must defend his territory upon which twitter is encroaching. aye. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

I'm not sure you can win, are we aren't even sure what they're going to call it yet. If it ends up being Twitter.TV you have no chance to beat them. - DarknessFalls

There is even a shortening service called: http://twitpwr.com/ - The brand must be defended. - David Z

Leo: You must defend it or lose it. They need to know you also have the muscle behind you. I have the attorney that did all the trademark work for Terminator 1-4, Rambo, old timer who knows every angle. I have him on retainer and would love to join your cause. I can arrange a chat with him at no cost, then you can decide to move ahead, or if the cost seems to steep, I would be interested in partnering with you on the trademark. Fight on Leo! Let me know if you want to chat Thx Chad - Chad Harris

I'm of the opinion that twitter's initial success back in 2006 and 2007 was in part due to piggybacking on the brand name recognition that Leo had built over the years prior. - Chris Heath

I think defending it is what you must do, but perhaps take a different look at it all together and suggest some kind of mutual PR blitz leading into a partnership or new brand identity for TWiT. Just don't call it SyFy! - Aaron T. Harvey

The question here is would a "Reasonable person" confuse the two? I would like to think I am a reasonable person (even though I can't spell) and I would not be confused in the least. I love the Twit network and watch several hours a week, but I don't see the issue. - Rob

I agree that since Leo has been a twitter evangelist all these years, they should be able to strike an accord somehow. Maybe even partnering up on the whole Twitter TV Show since Leo has the video presence online. - BRҰANSAҰS

You have to defend now, or 5 years from now you'll have a weaker case against the twitty podcast network. - Robert Hafer

Rob, the question isn't whether or not you or I would confuse the two, but do the people who watch Oprah and maybe catch Leo on The Tech Guy confuse them...and they do. - Aaron T. Harvey

Aaron...Do you really think they would. Am I that out of touch with the "Normal People"? If that is the case then I guess I would have to conseed that to be an issue. But I am still not quite convenced. - Rob

Funny - I would enjoy the extra publicity - You have a loyal set of listeners - and none of us are confused. If people end up on your site -cause they are looking for twitter, maybe they will take a listen. People who are looking for podcasts on technology though i doubt will find twitter in a search. - Laurence Gold

Rob, I've seen it happen, even with people "in the know". People think that TWiT is somehow connected with Twitter because of the name. It's a mistake that, while not happening with everyone--and maybe not even the majority--can end up costing Leo and co. money. - Aaron T. Harvey

Protect what you worked hard to build - Shawn Hickman

Of course you should perfect TWIT for media and tech. You have the prior art, use. It's an obvious move for Twitter to exploit their 'brand' into media. You must pursue Leo. You have been a crusader for fair-use, but there are times (like this example) where fairness requires accountability. - michael sean wright

The commenter who noted that if you do not enforce your rights they may be weakened is generally correct. I suggest seeking an agreement that is mutually beneficial and recognizes your rights in the TWiT(R) trademark. - erik pelton

The problem with defending your trademark is the public backlash it can generate. Think O'Reilly and Web 2.0 or Apple and Profit Pod. But in this case, if you are indeed convinced that there is some infringement of TWiT by Twitter, I think you'd be doing us all a favor if you could somehow head off their plans for a celebrity-stalking TV show. - Dave

The problem is not really twitter, or a twitter video show, but all the people who says they just sent a twit. Also all the small companies with twit in their name, who are in the video/audio area. Twit radio, twitvid.io etc etc. I see no problem in protecting the brand. However it ends out you'll get a lot of publicity. - Anton

Leo, this could be an opportunity for you to come out ahead. Yes it's an awkward situation and yes you could fight this on legal grounds, but there's no win for you there. Here's a way for you to win. Today your brand is a split brand--split between "Leo LaPorte" and "TWIT." You can win by focusing more on building the Leo LaPorte part of the brand. "Leo LaPorte" doesn't equal TWIT, yr... more... - Michael Metz

man you gotta defend your name and trademark,whats next a twitter podcast network? - cliff whitefoot

I think Ken Sheppardson sums it up nicely. I don't think you even need to retain a lawyer to start with the cease and desist letters, then see if they are amenable to a settlement, partnership or other remedy. It doesn't have to, and hopefully won't ever, come to a legal battle. However, it's clear enough that unless Leo hands them his mark and re-brands on his own dime, he must defend... more... - Richard Walker

Its funny... in a way you helped make twitter the juggernaut it is today.... all the free advertisement that you have given them over the years....LOL.. Maybe they should return the favor - Nathan McClain

Hasn't Leo said he wants to add a second host to the network? Wouldn't it also confuse viewers if they were watching the Leo Laporte Network and the show was hosted by someone not named Leo? - Norm Corriveau

Leo, some other people have made good points, if you're going after Twitter your also going to have to go after the other sites with Twit in the name: Twitpic, Twitpwr and Twiteverything or your case will be thrown out. - DarknessFalls

DarknessFalls: he'd only have to do that if they all launched TV shows too. - Martin Bryant

darknessfalls, you're not getting the scope. it's about leo's twit trademark on video and what twitter plans to do that's associated with it. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

If you haven't done so already, explore the Apple case, both the legal and business issues that Apple Corps encountered. And if you DON'T defend your trademark, what's Plan B? Remember that Twitter (or its future owners) may someday sue YOU. - John E. Bredehoft from fftogo

Leo, take your mark and make them all change names. Is this Ustream show even official Twitter? it looks pretty lame, like they just used the word, visual branding like twitter.com. http://www.ustream.tv/channel... - rob friedman

Don't sue unless you can find a business case and a lawyer to take the case on contingency with enough potential gain that it all wouldn't have been a big waste of time for a couple hundred dollars. But I am not a lawyer (IANAL). In fact, the grown up thing for twitter to do would be to link to you with an explanation that they aren't you and visa versa. - Eric Standlee

Defend yourself, Leo. - Devin Baines

Defend your trademark. Why else would you have filed it in the first place? - phil baumann

The best solution would be for Leo to produce the official Twitter show as part of the TWiT network. - Martin Bryant

The brand is big because of Leo yes, but having the TWiT brand is important. There are shows on the network in which Leo is not in. - Anton

Whats the question? TWiT is yours Leo, you need to protect it, the TWiT Army is not only at your back but with 60% of new Twitter accounts not coming back, all you have to do is hold out and wait on it to fold anyways. - Bush Williams

Anton, the band is TWiT - twit.tv? - TWiT netcast network... that is the brand... - Chris Heath

It is totally unfair, but I want to see all of your focus and money going towards content, not legal actions. You will be endlessly sending out C&Ds or worse as long as Twitter is popular. That said, I do think you should squeeze some money out of Ev in order to cede the brand. - invariant

Twitter offers more value to me than TWiT ever could. Sorry Leo, but this just seems like sour grapes. - Shannon

Leo: You should do a This Week in Law on this btw. - Anton

Shannon - how much value you get from either brand is not what is at question here. - Chris Heath

I'm not sure if this was already mentioned in the nearly 150 comments here, but Leo's link doesn't work. Here's a better link that I hope stays active: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin... - Eric Geller

+1 to chris' comment. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

You have a "defend or lose" obligation under trademark law. The TWiT brand has significant value, both from a revenue perspective and and the potential cost of re-branding al your sites, moving twit.tv etc., if you lose it. Protect the mark that secures your brand. Oh yeah, on that whole "big guy" theme: Because of your stable business model vs Twitter's Twitter's evolving one, an... more... - David Lounsbury

Shannon, the post asks for advice on how to be the best caretaker of a network and its trademark - your assignment of personal value should guide your own choices, but is irrelevant to the question at hand. How can it be sour grapes if failing to act now _could_ result in losing the standing of a trademark/brand which preceded those of other players who _may_ be crossing the line to the point of infringement. - Micah

TWiT offers more value to me than Twitter ever could. Sorry Shannon, but this just seems like sour grapes. - invariant

What a conundrum. I can't speak much to any legal considerations. But, on an emotional level, I would imagine that not defending and potentially losing the name must feel like smiling politely as an immigration official pins you with a random Anglicized name because your real, "ethnic" name is confusing to the masses in the new world, and making a fuss is to gamble the welfare of your... more... - Micah

@Ken Camp: Isn't twitter also a common english word which can't be trademarked? EDIT: Or Windows, for that matter? - invariant

invariant -- you mean like Apple? - Brian Sullivan

word, err, I mean Microsoft Word - Micah

So I think we've established that common English words can be trademarked. So what's the criteria? Has to be a noun? - invariant

of related note, i realise that twitter is indirectly facilitating twit offshoots upon registration. this is how: registering anything with 'twitter' in the username is *banned*. so, for a user already having their heart set on using twitter as part of their 'brand' might think of using 'twit' instead. this opens up a new can of worms figuring out who is using the twit name and doing video. like how they are doing now with 'twiter', they can stop it at registration to avoid further confusion. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

I say defend it. If they are doing a TV show, they're definitely stepping on your toes. Nevermind that I can't imagine their show would be any good, but that's a different story... :) - Jan Ole Peek

What about TwiTips? If that isn't entertainment then what is? But seriously I own several trademarks myself and I know if you don't take action then you could lose the Tmark. You have a conundrum because Twitter is so popular. So I would recommend seeking a compromise so that you won't lose your mark and appear like the bad guy with the public. Perhaps a clearer definition of the terms... more... - BLOGBloke

Other than I think he needs to see a surgeon to fix that lean to the left he has,... I love the guy and have been listening to him for about 15...16...dang probabaly close to 18 years about tech news I love the guy. And to top it off! He knows what he is talking about!! Leo makes am radio worth a listen on the weekends! - John Apostoli

TWiT is a network providing audio and video broadcast covering issues related to the tech field. Twitter is a social network used to connect people using the basic SMS tools. While people *may* confuse the issue by referring to Twitter messages as "twits, there is no evidence that Twitter has used or endorsed the term. Unless & until Twitter (as a company) starts using the term "Twit"... more... - David J. Garcia

I've said this privately, but I guess I will say it publicly.Defend your mark. It is your livelihood. There WILL be confusion if it gets to TV, where people are not tech savvy and have no idea who you are - Francine Hardaway

Yes, it may be expensive, and yes, these fights are draining, Dave, but until the laws are changed (an entirely different question), Leo could lose part of his livelihood through the confusion, especially since he has advertisers who would probably want him to defend. Everything in the universe doesn't happen in Silicon Valley:-) - Francine Hardaway

David - until now that has been the case, but Twitter is planning on doing a TV show (which would definitely be infringement), which is why this debate is happening. - imperator3733

I would certainly want you to defend it but i don't think its gonna be possible for two reasons. First Twitter is a bigger, more powerful and certainly more loved brand with more money. and you were first to infringe the unofficial agreement by hosting Twit Army. in that perspective you might not be able to defend it legally.besides the audience you've built ain't gonna be affected by what twitter does.So consult a legal advisor & take best course of action. Best of Luck - Abhishek Sharma

I think if you approach it in good faith--initially without lawyers--you have a very good chance to work something out. Ev seems to be a very reasonable guy. Perhaps it's best to draft a strategy with counsel before any discussions though. What's really in your favor(perhaps legally, perhaps not) is that Twitter can't deny how your support and promotion for it was incendiary to the... more... - Gregg Scott

http://www.googlefight.net/... - ouch - Nate

What's the point of a googlefight here Nate? - Chris Heath

Sorry but the Google fight site is loaded with pop-ups that even show through popup blocker. - Usman Bashir

Usman, I didn't get any popups (using chrome on winxp) but still it's a hideous site - Chris Heath

Twitter has a lot of investment, but I'm not sure all of that is liquid money. You may be even in the money spent defending your Trademark. I say go for it. Do it now though if you do. - Jesse Stay

Leo must Defend! - Jim Mahon

If it was me, I'd defend it. While Twitter is still worth something! Talk to a lawyer first and see if you have a valid case. - John Frazer

You must defend. - Will Bostwick

I can't believe how long this thread has gotten! - BRҰANSAҰS

Seems like you are getting a lot of FREE promotion as a result of twitter. My bigger concern would be not having the twit.com URL to go with your brand name. That's a big issue! - Craig Shipp

@Craig, twit.com was registered in 1997, and it's parked. - rob friedman

Defend it Leo. Things may get ugly, but sometimes they just gotta. - David Chartier from BuddyFeed

Fight for you trademark! Especially since they knew of your prior use and now they are doing a TV show which they should know is stepping on your trademark. - russellcoleman

Leo, FriendFeed community, let's get practical here - Twitter has more resources and probably a decent case defending against what you could file. It would be a blow to your image, to TWiT's image, and be bad press overall. You have a far greater chance of losing credibility than gaining trademark protection. You need to look into other strategies. - Ben Parr

There is no such thing as bad Press - Jesse Stay from email

I would thin kthat the thing to do is to gently but firmly convince them that they are infringing on your brand, that litigation would be damaging to both of you, losing community goodwill over the fight, and that it would be simpler, faster, and cheaper for both entities if they were to pay for your rebranding effort. Be prepared to present them with the estimated costs of litigation,... more... - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Defend your Trademark. It's the responsible thing to do as a buisness. - Donald Forth

what Kyle & guruvan said. Does anyone else think we need threaded comments for conversations like this right here? - Richard Walker

I'd defend the TWiT trademark. - Jonathan Bloom

I'm not as thunk as you drink I am - David Lloyd

Also there is this guy who has a "beef" with twitter http://twitter.co.uk/ - rob friedman

@rob friedman - That guy says Twitter doesn't require you to validate your email address. Wow, that's ripe for abuse! - invariant

Defend. - Tony Meyer

Talk to a lawyer. - Zian Choy

More than a hundred comments, the community is twitting even on friendfeed. A legal action would be very difficult. You should first define your objective in doing so. Do you really want to protect your brand or settle for a lucrative compensation? Even if you get some sort of legal protection limiting Twitter to use or endorse the word "twit" to some extent, people will still be... more... - Cem ARGUN

Prior art (and obligatory MP reference) http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Jay Cuthrell

Maybe a dead issue? At least as far as the potential fight w/ Twitter, Inc. Mashable says Twitter responds no official Twitter TV show http://mashable.com/2009... - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

And now for something completely different... watch the meetup room if interested in seeing Spamalot in SF as a group... - Richard Walker

I would say defend it. Of course, I'm just a Twit.tv fan and not a lawyer. - Joey Gibson

You lose so much credibility with all this nonsense. - PC Easy from twhirl

'all this nonsense'?? wtf is that supposed to mean? - Chris Heath

Just leave it alone until they manage to make some real money off it, then litigate. That's how it's done you know. - Will Higgins™

Yeah this is nonsense. If you think you really have a case, then don't make a big stink about it on Friendfeed. Just go take them to court. - PC Easy from twhirl

Leo, I am a long time fan and constant listener to all of you work. You are a more than fair and wholly honorable man. You have had TWIT long before I ever heard of a twitter. Go with your heart Leo. I am behind you. I understand you would impede progress of any positive kind. But a cease and desist letter. Seems harsh. I think you have a winner. Let them buy the TM. Power to the people. Go Leo, you deserve it. You do only good. You are one of a kind! RodneO - RODNEY OLIVER

PC Easy: I don't think Leo's making a big stink. The idea that twitter would get into the tv/video business would be a big thing since they have a verbal agreement with Leo not to get into that business. This may be all for nothing, since the mashable article guruvan linked above states that twitter will not be doing a show. Leo was doing the best first step (imho) in asking the community for guidance in the event that the original reporting was correct (which it does not appear to be now). So moot point - Chris Heath

I think if I was you Leo I would try to license rights to them and get some mula out of it. Remember "Leo Laporte" goes a lot farther than TWIT does and most importantly ever will. - Eric VM

there's a current backlash on twitter trending topics right now w/ hashtag #notwittertv. the examiner has an unfavorable article here: http://www.examiner.com/x-264-C... even alyssa milano is against it: http://twitter.com/Alyssa_... - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Its going to suck and bomb... guaranteed. - Rustic Thoughts

Maybe just sell it to them Leo for a gazillion dollars and retire. Keep the leaches out of it..meaning the lawyers. What the heck, Leo you are great at trend setting, you practically put twitter on the map. They owe you something.for all the pub you have given them since their inception. - John Apostoli

Defend. There's really no reasonable alternative. - Jason Clarke

You gotta defend it Leo. What's the point of trademarking in the first place. - Joel Lovato

You have to defend what is legally yours. - Michael Hansel

Twitter Responds: There is No Official Twitter TV Show- Mashable (May 25th, 2009 | by Pete Cashmore) -- http://mashable.com/2009... -- There is no official Twitter TV show—although if there were it would be fun to cast! In dealing with networks and production companies we sometimes have simple agreements. Regarding the Reveille and Brillstein project reported today,... more... - Chris Loft

Leo, suggest you go "open source co-branding" on this. Monetize your "twit" brand through creative brand licensing with emerging entertainment and multimedia microblogging companies that want to ride the "twitter" bandwagon. I can see creative corporate and individual co-brands like, TwitSounds, TwitFilms, TwitMedia, TwitCats, TwitBitch, TwitMechanic, etc... - Mike Schmidt

I don't want to over simplify this but if Twitter do branch into video and even streaming TV, surely the content would have to be substantially different to what TWiT already provides, otherwise they are at risk of spoiling their brand identity. Stay strong and true to the Tech news content and let Twitter, well do what ever they may do. Personally, I think it would be a mistake for them to go down this road. Time may be better spent further improving the existing service. - Kevin J Hatton

the mashable news is taken directly from the twitter blog: http://blog.twitter.com - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Maybe it's a good time to Re-Brand. Twit has unfortunate connotations in some areas of the English speaking world. On this side of the pond a twit is an idiot. Until I became aware of Leo I gave TWiT a very wide berth. Branded simply as This Week in Tech it would have got my positive attention a whole lot sooner. Time to move onward and upward. - Gilbert Harding

This was copied and pasted but sums it up so well : Of course, there's a larger long-term problem because of the way that Twitter has weakened _your_ brand. It might be less expensive (and a better use of your time) to rebrand TWiT into something that strengthens your brand and moves it away from Twitter; avoiding any future problems (and there will be future problems). You can't fight Oprah. - Professor Messer - Fragtastic

A very worthy point - "I think that once you see the Twitter television show, you'll probably want to distance yourself as far away as possible. - Professor Messer" - Fragtastic

I'll admit to being a little slow on the uptake to both TWiT and twitter and it took me some time to figure out that they were different things. I was listening to TWiT before I found twitter, and at first I wondered if I was mixing the names up in my head. I think there is real potential for confusion between the two names. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, Leo. - Rick Reynolds

You could ride the wave of popularity Twitter is experiencing by allowing that confusion to blossom. Perhaps more people could start listening and watching your netcasts *because* of that confusion? - David Hepworth

You need to defend your brand, however since you know the guys at Twitter maybe you can come to some sort of agreement that is the best interest of both TWiT and Twitter. - Jim Lavin

I say defend the brand. I fully believe Leo and TWiT will outlive Twitter. It would be a shame to surrender the brand only to see it disappear in 1-2 years. - Martin Johnson

I say defend it, if you don't the that opens the door to other infringements. - Hunter

since you clearly took your name from This Week in Baseball, which deputed in 1977, should MLB defend their trademark with you? - glenn simmons

Defend it! definitely, the trademark is rightfully yours and you need to hold on to it...I like twitter, but I like TWiT even more... - Raymond

Glenn, you are wrong. There are many registered trademarks that contain "this week in" - russellcoleman

See what you have started Leo? Twitter TV is not a patch on what you do. Now if it was professionally done, with great audio then maybe, - Kevin J Hatton

Dealing with a similar issue (though not as big as dealing with Twitter). I say throw out a warning shot to protect your brand. Worst case they ignore you and you have to spend gobs of money to defend it. Best case they make you a $$ offer. - Brian Niles from Nambu

russellcoleman, exactly so why is Leo crying about twitter - glenn simmons

Glenn, because "Twit" is Leo's trademark in the area of entertainment in the nature of visual and audio performances, and musical, variety, news and comedy shows. - russellcoleman

Defend it! - Kiran Patchigolla

Sorry Leo, does that mean I can't call people Twitts? Does it mean no one in a television or audio show can use the word twitt? I mean Twitter...TWIT...they have 3 more letters and their brand is based on communication not entertainment. Give up the ghost against Twitter by now dude. IF they were doing what you were doing MAYBE but what you are saying is noone can use the letters T W I or T .... don't become the next Monster. - Sidney

Defend. No retreat. No surrender. - Barry Biddlecomb from twhirl

Sidney, it means they can't use twit as part of their brand if they go into the areas Leo's trademark covers. We are talking about branding here. - russellcoleman

Again, Twitter is a communication company looking to capitalize on providing television content the ability to have immediate interactive component...Nothing that TWIT does...so no infringement. Leo has always had the axe to grind with Twitter...if he was going to do something he should have done it immediately... - Sidney

My understanding is that Twitter is going to have a TV show and that may infringe. My point above was to the suggestion that no one could say the word twit. - russellcoleman

@Christopher Carr, I meant that twitting has become a generic expression going far beyond Twitter. Here on friendfeed we are twitting, an these lines are in fact twits... :) - Cem ARGUN

As an anecdote, until now I thought TWiT was something twitter related, and I basically ignored it for that reason. I have learned over time that I'm often not a good representative of anything, but there was certainly brand confusion in my case. - Robin Barooah

At first, yep, I thought Twit spawned Twitter. But in a few nanoseconds, I knew otherwise. But in the mind of 'ordinary' (horrible term, sorry) user coming at Twit from Twitter surely they'll get the idea. But Twitter is SO pervasive, I'm glad that you've decided to take advice. I know nothing, but I feel you should protect your brand. Don't change your name. Change the game. On another tack, you checked out http://audioboo.fm ? - John C Wesley Barker

"Again, Twitter is a communication company looking to capitalize on providing television content the ability to have immediate interactive component." - Sidney That is exactly what Leo's doing - Anton

news of twitter tv just hit the local abc news. they mentioned there's already direct opposition by celebrities ashton & demi who (according to their tweets) will quit twitter if this reality show sees the light of day (paraphrasing). this could mean -as they say & putting it lightly- 'my enemy's enemy is my friend?' odd yet amusing opposition from the hollywood. however, no mentions of twit and leo. :-\ - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Twitter can look to capitalize on providing television content the ability to have immediate interactive component all they want. But I don't think they should do it in a way that can cause any confusion between them and Leo's network. - russellcoleman

Sorry the only confusion people have had is what Leo has brought to the table himself. He should have stepped up long ago if he felt Twitter was going to create confusion and admittably it has and TWIT and Twitter don't even cross streams. I know for one if Leo wastes his money on litigation I for will be disappointed and believe it will harm the TWIT brand. - Sidney

i know this thread is too long to read for many. re-quoting what leo said here for those who keep saying he should have stepped up long ago: "Ev told me that when they were considering names for Twitter they knew about TWiT and decided it didn't matter. In their defense, they had no idea what or how big Twitter was to become. We talked about trademark early on and both agreed there was no conflict _as long as we were in different spaces_. And therein lies the rub. - Leo Laporte" - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Very tough choice. I think these comments provide you with a fairly good sample of public opinion from people in tech, but it would be interesting to get input from the rest of the world on Twitter who have never heard of TWiT. It certainly won't cost much to send in a warning shot so they take notice and to demonstrate defense of your TM, but I would follow that up with a request to... more... - Phil Ashman

This twitter thing is just a flash in the pan, you can wait them out ;-) - Wolfman-K

If he fights and loses, at least he defended it, which is required to keep it. If Leo does nothing, he could lose it. - Bwana ☠

How do people feel about Monster Cable suing companies that use the word Monster in their name? I feel the same here...except that Twitter just happens to have the same four LETTERS as Twit, as the beginning. They arent using Twit as a standalone word. C'mon. - Andru Edwards

The only justification I can see in Leo going after Twitter is so that he can at least show he is defending his TM so he doesn't lose it as Bwana said...otherwise I think it is a losing game that will be a waste of resources that TWIT could utilize in other productive pursuits. - Sidney

The Monster Cable example doesn't really work. They were suing companies that were in different spaces. Now with Twitter doing a TV show, that is in the same space as TWIT and Leo has the trademark for it. - Mike Child

Everyone should read this: http://blog.twitter.com/2009... It has been linked a few times in this discussion up above, but bears linking again based on recent comments - From what I can tell, it doesn't look like twitter will have a tv show - so this whole point is moot - leo may have to defend his trademark against these 'other' shows if they use the word twit in their name, but i don't think they will - Chris Heath

Leo -This is a battle that will be HELL. Yet, it is critical you fight it. I had a couple situations very much like it in telecommunications late '80s early '90s. I should have fought. Give them a run for their money. It will cost you $$ and resources. But, with Twitter's new direction - man - you're a journalist at heart... You already know - you've got to fight for your right! - Arleen Boyd

Man this is a tough position to be in. Honestly, I can't see TWiT or Twitter changing brands/names. However, Leo, you were first and you have the trademark to back it up. I say defend it! - Doug Jones

Biz responds to the Twitter TV show on the blog: http://blog.twitter.com/2009... - Doug Jones

not reading the thread befire i comment... but seems to me that TWITTER does not equal TWIT. what else is their to know? - sull

Leo, I think the law is very clear, if you don't defend your trademark you may lose it. - David Angel from twhirl

Leo a firestorm is brewing over twitter tv http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_gu... - dday

Make them pay you a million in cold hard cash for the TWIT name and change your name to TWIG - This Week In Goodness :-) - Richard Bitting

When you see such services as "TwitThat" (http://twitthat.com/), with that spelling of "tweet", there is an incredible amount of confusion waiting to happen ! - arnaudt

arnaudt, good point. and again... TWiT does NOT = twitter - so leo has no case. twitter themselves dont use 'twit' in any way. they barely if at all use 'tweet' in any way. they began as 'twtr' in like 2006. twitter is NOT an abbreviation for anything as TWiT is. twitter is not solely behind producing an entertainment property.. they are granting rights to others to do so and in some... more... - sull

sull, TWIT does NOT have to = twitter for Leo to have a case. People just have to be confused enough to adversely impact, or even potentially impact, Leo's business. - Chris Gardner

Chris, i think it does for him to have a 'good' case. You cannot prevent Twitter from letting media entities use twitter as part or their 'shows', even if twitter as some levell of partnership. In the end, it will cost Leo money to lose a trademark case. Proving, for example, that an MTV show tentatively named 'what you're watching' that uses twitter and facebook etc as fundemental components for audience interaction has any negative effect to the TWiT podcast. - sull

sull, there just needs to be a likelihood of confusion. The Court there announced eight specific elements to measure likelihood of confusion: Strength of the mark - Proximity of the goods - Similarity of the marks - Evidence of actual confusion - Marketing channels used - Type of goods and the degree of care likely to be exercised by the purchaser - Defendant's intent in selecting the mark - Likelihood of expansion of the product lines - Chris Gardner

Oh, and TWiT is not just a podcast. It is a live streaming net video network. There are on and off talks to take to cable also. - Chris Gardner

Chris, thanks for pointing those elements of liklihood. Still, i think that even for the case to have a leg to stand on, twitter would need to have a 'show' specifically named in a way that may cause confusion. That has not happened. Trying to prevent the word 'twitter' from being used at all in marketing and branding via "visual and audio performances" because of the TWiT trademark seems a stretch and will prob result in negative publicity for Leo. Anyway, maybe we'll see. Interesting. - sull

sull, agreed interesting. Also, this will probably not go anywhere near the courts. Ev Williams and Leo know each other and get along (not many in the industry that Leo does not get along with). They will work things out. - Chris Gardner

For those who are unaware, people have to take action to protect their brands otherwise they lose their trademark. My suggestions and observations: 1. Look for win-win 2. It all seems moot anyway http://blog.twitter.com/2009... tho this is a fascinating thread 3. If twitter did ever go ahead with this it would be a fairly simple compromise for them to... more... - Isha (Marysia)

You need to defend it. I don't know that you'll stop twitter from launching their show but you have to fight it to keep your trademark valid. You for sure need to go after twitvid.com and twitvideo.com! - The Griff

Defend the trademark. It could make the difference on winning a future trademark case with another company. - David Ebaugh

Defend it. It was your long before Twitter was even around. Like someone else said what is the point of calling your network that if as soon as a bigger fish comes along you cave. Don't give in to the man Leo! - Mr. Thomas

Leo. I am not a lawyer and don't play one on the Internet. It sounds like you have no real case against Twitter, but the producers of the rumored tv show are a different story. Even then, it depends on what they are doing with the subject matter. Is it *about* Twitter, or simply about people who use Twitter? Will they ever use the term, "twit" in the show? It certainly couldn't hurt to... more... - Jake Overton

Let's not forget that use of anything in an editorial context is considered fair use. - Ryan Brodkin

I also feel that you have an opportunity for even more publicity if you can work the TWiT shows into the TV show, joining them rather than fighting them. You will get publicity either way, but there seems to be a high road and a low road (or perception thereof). Good luck and keep up the great shows. - Jake Overton

Leo fight them. - johnny

we neec to fight for TWIT - Richard Thomson

So far I don't think there is a conflict with Twitter, unless there is a Twitter TV show. Although you should fight sites like http://twitvid.io . Plus if you win, you could have an awesome domain for video downloads when you want to offer them. - Mister IQ

Robert Scoble

Prop 8 has NOT been overturned. Lots of people are saying it has on Twitter http://friendfeed.com/search... Wrong! Old article.

May 15, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Ho John Lee, sofarsoShawn, anna sauce and 16 other people liked this

This is why I read things on friendfeed so I can see what people are saying before retweeting them. - Robert Scoble

27 more comments

Embarrassing for the social web. Everyone is just passing it along without checking it out. - Robert Scoble

Jorge: yeah, and I saw Danny Sullivan RT'd again. This is the second time he's pushed something along that has turned out not to be true. Not good. I know he corrected it, but still. - Robert Scoble

Wow. Apparently people don't look at dates on articles anymore? - imperator3733

Embarrassing indeed, it's even in the URL, lol. "...riage16-2008may16,0..." - Andrew VanderVeen

It's easy to be confused by though... the date says May 15. Easy to process 2008 as 2009. - Blake

Andrew: what keyed me into it was the picture. If it was a news event happening right now there wouldn't be pictures, at least not in the LA Times. Blake: yes, but we have to think more critically about stuff we push along. - Robert Scoble

If this had been real the first ones to break the news WOULD NOT BE THE MAINSTREAM NEWS!!! - Robert Scoble

Especially not a newspaper. - Robert Scoble

And if it really were true, then tons of first hand reports would come in. - Robert Scoble

And if it really were true it would be all over Google News and Memeorandum. - Robert Scoble

Robert, you're right. That's why I was skeptical when I first saw it... I couldn't believe that no other sources were reporting it. Then I saw the date. - Blake

Blake: The LA Times article is dated May 16, 2008, not May 15. - imperator3733

imperator, in the article text, it says that Prop 8 was overturned on May 15. - Blake

Fact checking FTW! - Bruce Lewis

Jorge, I think the old media is still reigning media because of inertia. Scobleizer already has his fact checking service right here. - Bruce Lewis

Jorge: nothing. We have a fact checking system already. It's called ourselves. When a major news story hits (or one that seems like that) I want you all to search on it FIRST before retweeting. - Robert Scoble

We have to get to the point where your first instinct is NOT to retweet, but to search. If you did that you would have figured out this was false immediately. Already you can see people are still spreading the article around without doing any homework to see what else has already been written. - Robert Scoble

DOH!!!!!!!! - Thomas Hawk

This should be a no brainer, you don't even need to click it: the article date is in the URL. - dthree

robert: i immediately came over to friendfeed to check this out. so glad i did. - Jim Halligan @jim

bangs head against the wall 5x. Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam, Thomas Hawk, you idiot! - Thomas Hawk

Thomas: it almost got me too but this is such an important issue that my first instinct was to search. - Robert Scoble

reminds me of your "win my money" ff thread Robert... the timestamp clearly says when that was happening.... - Chris Heath

I am still seeing this article get passed along. This shows a downside to our microblogging world. - Robert Scoble

Robby you gotta consider the source...example "Pee8 hs ben OT w/ t ACMNR rulz so sex NSFW adm+stv #jsus please retweet this..." aka the twitter telephone game. - sofarsoShawn

sofaroshawn: yeah, but we need to get people to look for other sources before retweeting. Understand the story first. Look for opportunities to curate the story instead of just be a retweeting bonehead. - Robert Scoble

Such is the case largely with amateur reporting as with some Blogs and especially with Twitter where the "news" is yeah just a game of Twitter phone & it travels without any fact checking whatsoever... - sofarsoShawn

KANYE WEST'S SWINE FLU OVERTURNS PROP 8 - Film at 11 - Bwana ☠

Leo Laporte

Looking for input: who would you like to hear on TWiT this Sunday?

May 8, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Mike Bracco, Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど, Thunderwing and 44 other people liked this

Been a while since Dvorak, always enjoy him - Jan Ole Peek

304 more comments

Dvorak & Curry (waiting for deletion in 3, 2,1... ;-) ) - Holger Eilhard

Patrick Norton!! and PLEASE... No more Wil Harris - Jim Connolly

Only Dvorak - Charbax

With Trek out, perhaps Wil Wheaton and/or Levar Burton - Gunnyman™

Allen Stern - Allen Stern

Patrick Norton - Bradley Goetsch

John McEnroe - Charbax

Kevin Rose, Sarah Lane, Patrick Norton, Veronica Belmont, Becky Worley (Techtv old school) or Justine (new school) - Harvey Birdman

I'd prefer no "social media experts" - Gunnyman™

One of the Brits you've had on before - that nice liverpulian (can't remember his name) - Jonathan Grimes

Dvorak! - Michael Kaiser from Nambu

Veronica Belmont - Harvey Birdman

Kevin Rose, Sarah Lane, Calacanis - Phillip Stewart

Wil Wheaton. EDIT: Levar Burton too. - Roberto Bonini

Stephen Fry? (I KNOW he's not a scouser, BTW) - Ian May

John C. Dvorak + Lisa Bettany + Brian Brushwood - arjo

Dvorak and Calacanis are always good. - Scott Breakall

Dvorak and Becky Worley (she was awesome too on 188) - Charbax

Dvorak and Patrick - Anton

I agree with @Charbax. Dvorak and Becky Worley were a great combination on TWiT. - arjo

<---- myself :P - Adam Jackson

All of your regulars are likable, but Dvorak and Calcanis are the only ones that drive the show into new and interesting territory. - casey wright

J C Dvorak,J Calacanis, Lisa B .Please - Ken O'Kelly

James Whatley aka @Whatleydude - Ken O'Kelly

Bwana and Dvorack. - robby

Molly Wood and John C. Dvorak - Eduardo

Norton and Dvorack would be awesome. - Ronald Bandish

Jimmy Fallon ;-) Maybe Kevin Rose can introduce you. - Mark F. Heil

Dvorak, Norton, and Rose please! - Jonas Dionisio

Star Trek cast - Robert

Bwana, and Veronica Belmont! - David Ford

MEEE!!! - Alphonso Lizcano

You can't go wrong with Dvorak - Bryan McAffee

wHil wHeaton!!!! will harris, and of course dvorak - Mark

Patrick Norton and Bwana, just to get confused with their voices! - Jack Truong

Brain Brushwood, Sarah Lane, Patrick Norton - Billy Shelton

Cali Lewis or Patrick Norton (no Dvorak please) - Ted Ellis

Bwana is always good. John C. - Willowdale

Peter rojas - lamont

Calacanis and Amber MacArthur - Stephen Lecheler

Dvorak and Patrick Norton. Lots of good news this week, so the less Twitter talk the better. - Jerry Voelker

Dvorak, Bwana, Sarah Lane, Becky Worley NOT LISA B she's horrible. - Charlieray

I would like you to do the show alone, but do voices for Dvorak, Calacanis, Will Harris, and Lisa Bettany. - Larry Roth

Physicist talking about quantum computers and an update on where we are with them. - Gilfeather

the guy from scam school.he's good - lamont

Ultimate worst topic: Brett Farve Twittering about Manny Ramirez. - Richard Hoskins

Dvorak. Always have him on please. You and him ARE TWiT. Wil Harris is also very enjoyable. So is Calacanis. Cory Doctorow also. - Emil Alexander Swenson

star trek twit wound be timely, will levar and veronica - Todd Proffitt

Oprah, Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, and most important of anyone else in the world -- Tyra. - Walter Lounsbery

Ed Bott - Larry Basham - cornedbeefgents

How about a Patrick Norton and Leo twit? - Joe Dearman

Cranky twits Leo, Dvorak, Sebastian Ruplee, Calacanis - Charlieray

how about @jack to talk about his new "project" - patrick

hey Steve Jobs??? Could you pull that one off? - Dan Krivolavek

Bwana - Nolan Alston

cigars and wine - Richard Hoskins

With upcoming Hubble service mission, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait and Trek tie in with Levar Burton. - Doug Torneden

Dvorak, Norton, Rose, and Calacanis... - Gary Hise

We haven't heard Molly Wood on TWiT in a while. - Matt Chilcote

Dvorak, Curry, Calacanis, Patrick Norton, and yes cigars and wine - Aris/Theft

Has Curry ever been on TWiT? I'd love to see Worley on, Dvorak possibly, but if you get those two, maybe add some other old TechTV'ers if possible. Calacan would probably be good too. - Chris Lindhartsen

NINaccess - Richard Hoskins

YLNT - Larry Basham - cornedbeefgents

Mitsubishi's "Download a Car" project. http://torrentfreak.com/downloa... - Nicholas Young

Patrick Norton, John C. Dvorak, Brian Brushwood, and Molly Wood would melt my pants. - thechadster

How about Andy Walker? - Willowdale

Molly, Dvorak, WilW, Jason Howell is under exposed, Tom Green, Harry Shearer, Veronica, mix it up Alex A sans Kevin, Merlin, yes please Merlin. And a bit less wine... - Tom Hofstatter

(Buzz Out Loud + No Agenda)*GDGT Weekly/YLNT = TWiT - MacNeurotic

Dvorak please - russellcoleman

amber - Archie Maclean

DVORAK!! - Carlos Jackson

i'\ - iTad

0. for a systm geek round: patrick norton (in the house this time, no wandering around & connection issues), dave randolph, and david caulkins 1. stephen fry, conan o'brien, jimmy fallon for a talk show host round (if you can get them), 2. as gunny wallen put it 'no social media experts'. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

molly wood and brian cooley - erick

Molly Wood - Keith Hobin

How about Bwana and Patrick. They can do impersonations of each other. - Joe Dearman

Anyone related to Star Trek I guess ... wonder if you can get JJ Abrams though :p - Clarence Chiang

although very unlikely, would be funny to have george lucas & a round of star trek actors. heh :p - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

I don't like listening to people act like they know everything and yes I'm talking about Brian Cooley .. I agree with all the other choices though - John Blanton from twhirl

It's always funny how one person's favorite is another person's worst nightmare :) I always enjoy Dvorak, Patrick and Veronica. - Jeff

Molly Wood - Renee Pie

Pete Cashmore was cranky and great although probably not popular. Ryan Block and Will Harris are always good. Worley and Molly are very good. Curry would be fun since he is opinionated. Basically choose folks who are very knowledgeable or Type A. No squeeky women who start each sentence with "um" or "well". - JustAFeed2000

Wil W pls, he's a fan of both Twit and Star Trek... - Denverken

Leonard Nimoy, Wil Harris, Dvorak, Molly Wood - chipster621

Patrick Norton, Lisa Bettany, and some Star Trek with new movie out so will wheaton & Levar Burton - Matt Pollari

James Theodore Kirk - Richard Hoskins

Tiberius! - Michael

Seriously, Johnny C, JCal, @WilW, and Levar Burton. Ever ask Barry Sonnenfeld? - Michael

Gina Trapani, Calacanis is also always interesting. - Sung Choi

Scoble maybe. - Jason Shultz from Nambu

Robert Heron is my number one choice. Dvorak ONLY if there is no wine and young women on at the same time. - John Little

Dvorak, Burton and Rose - Mike

Dvorak , Curry, Rose - Ron Acierno

Dvorak, curry, Calacanis and Kevin - americanm

Rebert Heron also - americanm

What about that Pogue guy? Or Robert Heron, Bwana, or for the lulz, have Winer on! - Mike Lewis

Dvorak! and more Dvorak ! - John Hillestad

I agree with Dunny: Wil Wheaton and/or Levar Burton. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing Bwana! - Christopher Theberge

Patrick Norton! - Rishabh Mishra (p248)

Levar and Brushwood are the best of the newest twits - Eric Marden

Molly Wood and Dvorak. Veronica, too. - Robert

I think Adam Curry might still be in town; should invite him up to the TWiT Cottage. Bwana too. - Hawklu

Dvorak, Curry, Alex Lindsay - Matt

Wil Harris, Andy Walker and some of the old gang from The Lab. Someone to talk the effects of technology in the entertainment field such as theatre and concerts - Stephen Dean

Woz? - Hawklu

Mac vs Windows: Paul and Merlin - lofti

Jon Udell, Michael Nielsen, Ben Fry and Toby Segaran. You get cool accents and über brains - Deepak Singh

Thurrott & Lindsay - Kurtis Land

Molly Wood, WilW or LeVar, and Calacanis - Patrick Sullivan

Want to hear Dvorak tell all, how Twitter saved his life! - Craig Anderson

Dvorak, Adam Curry and Calacanis - Adam Marsh

molly wood, dvorak, kevin rose, not curry, calacanis - Randy Klassen

John Hodgman (pc) & Justin Long (mac) - Chris Pugh

Ryan Block, Scoble and Dvorak - Mike Getz

John Davison of WhatTheyPlay.com ~ http://www.whattheylike.com/ - monkeystick

bring back udell - get rid of dvorak - mike "glemak" dunn

Dave's Winer ? ;) - americanm

IHNATKO - Richard Hoskins

Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer and Andy Ihnatko! - americanm

Robert Llewellyn is in town, isn't he? - Amac

Dvorak, Curry, Dave Winer, Scoble - Kiko Cherman

What is it and the love for Dvorak? Let's take Dvorak out and have someone else in who is interesting. - Stephen Lecheler

Curry, Scoble and Lewis - Matt

Molly Wood. So smart. - Darrel Davis

Wil Wheaton (since Star Trek is out now and he can talk about it--Levar Burton's a good idea too) - Stevon

Dvorak & Curry & Mr Norton! - Adam Horne

Thich Nhat Hahn, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Bill O'Reilly - Richard Hoskins

Dvorak (always!), Levar Burton, Adam Curry, Amber McArthur - Steve Visscher

John C, Wil Wheaton, Sarah Lane, Veronica Belmont - Larry Vogel

Oh, and Lisa Bettany - Jan Ole Peek

Loren Brichter (Tweetie) and Craig Hockenberry (Twitterrific) - kirk

Have you ever asked Josh Topolsky - current editor of Engadget on Leo? He has a lot to say about Kindle2 and the "future" of e-ink - winston smith

Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca. - Richard Hoskins

Joel Spolsky-- no kidding. - Richard Hoskins

Steve Gillmor, Merlin Mann and Jason Calacanis. - Wo

Kevin Rose, I know you don't like having him on, but he is nice to see every once and a while. Veronica Belmont would be nice again, Patrick, Maybe John. - Dakota O'Neill

Sam Ramji, Open Source Director at MS. Talk about cognitive dissonance! Very smart guy and excellent speaker. I can introduce you if you want. - John Kordyback

Josh Topoksky, Geoff Farinha (up and coming podcaster) - Shawn Roberts

I really enjoyed Twit 188 with Becky Worley and Devorak. Calacanis is good too. Not a fan of P Norton - Allison

Wil Wheaton and Levar Burton would be awesome. - Jason Elliott

John C, Rose, Norton, and Worley. Second list is John C, Harris, Swood, and Curry. - Kacy

Patrick, Wil Wheaton, and JJ Abrams. - Matt Smith

Dvork he's always good - Annika from Nambu

Leo - I'd like to hear from Bret, et al, from FriendFeed and what they've experienced, learned from the very first major outage they have suffered (due to their colo provider losing power) - Robert J Taylor

Daniel Suarez, author of Daemon… just finished it… awesome. - Mike Meiners

I like Jerry Pournelle, if he's up to it. - doggy

Molly and Lisa--Star Trek geeks; Brian; and Patrick but, as has been stated, only if he's in the house otherwise he leaves early/gets disconnected/gets called away. No more than four - MikeNNN

I forgot. John Gruber, he's the best. - John Kordyback

Definitely could use me some Molly Wood. Also, Veronica was nice. Hell, make it an all BOL show, bring in Jason and Tom too. And I agree with John, Gruber would be sweet. - Mike Nayyar

another new suggestion considering the fate of 3d realms: 1UP.com editor Garnett Lee - friend of Patrick, frequent Cranky Geeks guest and all around smart dude on tech subjects - winston smith

I love the new product reviews like Pogoplug and sling iphone and using eye-fi for instant slide show from camera! LESS ALCOHOL! - Stephan Romeo

Jason Calocanis - Star Trek Guys are a good Idea too - Shane Burgess

How has no one said Molly Wood? She hasn't been on in a while. She definitely has a great amount of geek cred. - Chris Kourmoulakis

Chris, Molly has been all over this biz! - Mike Nayyar

Trent Reznor - Baron Sekiya

For selfish purpose, I'd love to come on and talk about how we're using social networking to help America's homeless. But aside from that (and pardon the plug), I like Baron's choice, Trent Reznor would make for an interesting guest given the present circumstances with Apple. I also would love to see Molly Wood. - Brandon Mendelson

Wayne Sutton - Wayne Sutton

Well that's just sneaky, Wayne. Mike Nayyar! :P - Mike Nayyar

Norton, Dvorak, Wheaton and Burton - Howard

John C. Dvorak of COURSE, Becky Worley (who seems very insightful and is able to hold her own with John) and lots of wine. Do not under any circumstances allow Calacanis on to do any more impressions, god that's annoying. - Barry Ferg

Why doesn't Gibson ever do TWiT? - Daniel E. Renfer

Johnny Worthington - Josh Haley

Ken Ray, aka Mac OS Ken. He's great. - Dave S.

dvorak ftw! His dour outlook is always appreciated - Dantrag0

This is why FF needs ad hoc polls. i.e. user voice, skribit, etc... - Jay Cuthrell

Dvorak, Kevin Rose, Sarah Lane, Patrick Norton, Dr. Kiki, and Amber MacArthur - Rocky McVey

John C.Dvorak, Steve Gibson and Jerry Pournelle. You can call it Grey Haired TWiT - dewtheone

CALACANIS!!!!! Sarah Lane is cool too. - Steve Wilson

ijustine!!! - Geeking Out

The Real Twits John C. Dvorak, Patrick Norton & Kevin Rose return to the roots! - Alan Abentrod

Dvorak, Wil Wheaton, and LeVar Burton. - Chris Charabaruk

You should do Dvorak and a roundup of your hosts from your other podcasts: Paul, Amber, ... - Steve Fumarolo

I'd like to see more of Paul Thurott, he's only done one TWit - Joe

kevin rose, Jason, and @ev :D twitter talk. ~!!! - Kar Soon

Being a ex-pat from UK, Wil Harris, obviously. Also Dvorak and Calacanis - Tony Veale

Shwood and Dvorak - Jim Garrison

Oh and iJustine. She should be on every week, and every show for that matter. - Tony Veale

Wheaton is a terrific idea too! - Jim Garrison

Steve Wozniak - Leo A. Novelli

the ffundercats!!! - (jeff)isageek

wayne sutton - (jeff)isageek

Dvorak - Charlie Wilson

Alan Watts - Thomas Cooper

Tom Merritt is always good. - Thomas Cooper

Kate Botello!!!! SS Reunion! - Brad

Love to hear Pogue if you can get him. If not, bring back Brushwood! - Joseph

Calacanis is always interesting and how about Levar Burton and Sarah Lane Wil Harris too - Shaun

FriendFeed crew, MG Siegler, Mark Spencer, Scoble, Joshua Schachter, Kevin Rose, Veronica Belmont, Lisa Bettany, Bwana, Jeff Pulver, Dvorak, Brian Brushwood, Gary Vaynerchuk ! - Jay Neff

Scott Johnson from Extra Life Radio. - Sandy

This Week in Trek? - Ken Sheppardson

Robert Schoble and Tim O'Reilly - Scott Wesson

Bill O'Reilly! - Mike Nayyar

Becky Worley and Trent Reznor hands down would be fantastic - Fragtastic

John McEnroe would be awesome. Howe about Mike Vosseller..he's an up and coming tech guy - pauldougherty

cory doctorow please! - Rodolfo Sanchez

I totally think I should be on - I could explain my new theory that explains how dinosaurs aren't actually extinct, but instead exist in a parallel dimension where, among other things, purple is a flavor. - iTad

Devorak, Shwood, Patrick Norton & Cali Lewis - Anthony

Shwood, Wil Harris, Robert Heron, and Patrick Norton! - Brandon Kester

Just get Dvorak and Jason Calacanis together again. Both are insightful, headstrong and controversial. - Dave Senior

Jason Calacanis and Kevin Rose - Arnaldo Montaner

How about Patrick Norton or Bwana, Brian Brushwood and Frederick Van Johnson just can't talk about Drobo - jackygreen

Brian Gramo from http://www.thestream.tv/ - Tony Miller

The FFundercats. - mjc

I 2nd Michael's motion - the FFundercats. - Micah

Johnny Chung Lee (http://johnnylee.net/, http://johnnylee.net/project...). - Kris Leach

Patrick Norton - Adam Hubbs

dvorak, calacanis, veronica belmont - Brian Waters

Calacanis, Veronica, Levar and Dvorak of course - John Gardiner

Interesting to hear what a tech-savvy VC has to say about the state of innovation in tech - what is likely to get funding - who's under presure - where money helps innovate - where VC money offers no advantage etc etc - Ian Horley

Still on the VC theme, Guy Kawazaki is a great orator, but not sure how good a pundit he is, or how tech savvy he is http://www.guykawasaki.com/ - I think he s in your neck of teh woods too! - Ian Horley

James Patrick Kelly AKA StoryPod SiFi - Dutch [aka fairuse]

why not. the mythbusters vs the ghost hunters - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

I enjoy the usual suspects but I really was impressed by the recent appearance of Becky Worley. She really brought some new freshness to the show. - Mark Krynsky

Anyone that will talk about tech and not swine flu. Dvorak, Patrick, Roger, Veronica. - keith

I would like to hear Bwana again. Also Levar Burton is always good. - Dylan Newstead

Kate Russell from click in the uk to add new edgy tech? dvorak of course, and any trekkies for the new movie, steve gibson to make seriously nerdy, how about roz on her new row - Rob Williams

Bring John C. Dvorak and Jason together please! They are both great to hear in the same episode. - Pigon (Piotr Golebiowski)

Adam Curry, not that bad of a guy Leo... Less Ryan Block, More Calacanis, More Wil Harris - Jim Edwards

How about a Blast From the Past! A show on the old Computer Chronicles and maybe get Stewart Cheifet as a guest. I know it's history, and not really a new tech idea, but if not on TWiT maybe on another show. Maybe TDoT - These Decades of Tech, history of where it all started, with guests like Steve Jobs, Woz, Gates (he's retired now also) Capt. Crunch etc.. There is a lot of history there! just an idea. - HamRadioActive

Dvorak - MλTT

Dvorak. - Paul Grav

Discuss Apple's rumored acquisition of EA. Good idea/not, why/why not? With Kevin Rose (Apple Fanboy), Dvorak (Not so much of an Apple Fanboy) and Alex Albrecht (gamer, TRS etc). - Michel

Louis Gray. He should start a podcast of his own. Perhaps, you could encourage him to start one. - Michael Fidler

Jason Calacanis and Dvorak - Istvan Hoka

Doc Searls and Marshall Kirkpatrick - Brian Hendrickson

Jason Calacanis, Veronica Belmont and Kevin Rose - Anton

Cory Doc, Gina and Wil Wheaton - Dvorak is always welcome (but not sure with Cory)... - Carlos Brefe

Kate Botello - Hector Oros

More brits! - Simon Taylor

Calacanis, Dvorak and Kevin Rose - Anthony Feint

Dvorak, Roger Chang and Becky Worley - Cliff

Becky Worley, Calacanis - Antti Holvikari

In cottage guests make the show more better. Dvorak, Molly Wood, Becky Worley, and a brief appearance of the wine.... - HT

Tom Merritt for the win - Daniel Johnston

Bwana, Dvorak, Belmont, Dwight - Scott H

Regardless of who you invite, I would like to know if this list helped you decide ?? What a mess... hehe. - Brad Kligerman

WILL HARRIS - Derek

Roger Chang - Grace Adams

Calacanis and Dvorak is always gold to me. (but I also tend to like Patrick N. and Will Harris) - Eric Danker

How about Morgan Webb. I miss her cynicism on WebbAlert. She'd be a blast with John C - Edward King

Still love John C....and Molly Wood, Tom Merritt, Gina Trapani. LOVE YOUR SHOW! Carlee S - Carlee Stewner

Kevin Rose - Steve

Kevin Rose, Sarah Lane, Calacanis, Patrick Norton, Martin Sargent and no Dvorak. - Michael Sarge

Hey Leo, looked at Square Space thinking about changing but have a question about my domain, i think you said it's not problem to go straight to your www but do they now take over the hosting for the domain and or email, i still would like to use my own domain and my own email extention, and i just signed up with 1and1 to have imap support, does square space have imap support, not sure how that would all work. - Charles Moore

John C Dvorak. - tommy

How about how the white house could have saved 300k and a job. To do the Air Force One Photo - hire someone to photoshop a pricture of AF1 over the SoL - why did we actually need to take the picture? - Laurence Gold

Anyone BUT drunk girls discussing 'social media' ;p - Imran Idris

Scott Johnson of Extralife Radio/The Instance - he is holding his annual Nerdtacular today, screening StarTrek in SLC, Utah. Uber Geek. - Devin Baines

Jason Calicanis or Kevin Rose. Patrick Norton is too snarky & know-it-all-ish - Chris Doppler

Becky Worley - Shane Eaton

I can take an hour or two out of my day and help out. Tweet me @fabio26 - Fabio

oh...ohh.... I know.... OBAMA! - David Pincheira

Dvorak/Norton are the best. Molly Wood/Meritt/Veronica are always great, as is Shwood. Wild card Morgan Webb would be neat, but people have been asking for her for almost too long. - Victor Z

I'm available - Russ Broomell

Lisa Bettany and Justine Ezarik please :) - Peter Kruit

Paul thurott - Joe from BuddyFeed

Jason Calacanis - Caleb Elston

I'd really like to see you take it to the next level and turn it into the tech equivalent of the Sunday news shows, ala This Week, Meet the Press, etc. That is, try to get more of the folks who've actually made news in tech this week on the show, combined with analysis of why what's happened this week matters. Just getting a bunch of hosts from TWiT shows and other media outlets talking about who knows whom and promoting their stuff is less appealing to me. - Ken Sheppardson

Levar Burton - May I also add perhaps an iPhone/BB/C-phone app review/recommendation section of the show - I value the panels input on such things - Tyler Johnston

Jerry Pournelle, Levar B or Peter Rojas. Spare us the bubble gum ones like iJustine or Lisa Bettany. Shopping exclusively at an Apple Store and being cute != tech expert/panelist. - Arawak

megan morrone - TenderLovePony

Bwana McCallm, Lisa Bettany , STEVE WOZNIAK! - Ian P

Thurrott, Shwood, Dvorak, Kevin - imperator3733 from twhirl

Always love to hear perspectives from Dvorak, Norton, Calacanis, Belmont, Wheaton & Burton, lets add Adam Curry, Economist Paul Krugman and actor Jeff Goldblum to the mix - Dan Beyer

Molly Wood, Robert Llewellyn, Sarah Lane and maybe Dvorak - Molly Song ;)

Becky Worley!! - RealJon

Jono Bacon - D Raydrick

Dvorak - Marcus Sasiadek

ALL WAYS TRY TO TUNE IN TO TECH TV WHEN LEO OR THE SCREAN SAVERS GANG IS ON LIVE - daveccorey

Thurrott and Dvorak :) - Vesa Kauppinen

You need some Mom's for a Mother's Day Special - Chris Pugh

Let's have that discussion about US Internet connectivity that you mentioned last week on TWiT. I'm ready if you are. - Debi Jones

Molly Wood, Cali Lewis, John Dvorak, Jason Calacanis - David Z

Cali Lewis + Adam Curry - Joseph Kelley

You should get someone connected with the online poker business, discuss the legislation on that matter. - Pedro Fonseca

More about the National Broadband Policy, please! Did you say "MobileJones" would be on this week's TWiT? - Web Pixie

Jason Calacanis - Kevin Burton

Paul Thurrott - Kevin Burton

How about all adults. Getting tired of kiddie talk. Dvorak is good for a start. - Jim Corkrum

Dvorak!! - John Sullivan

Thurrott and Calacanis - Michael

@loic, @veronica, @ginatrapani, and @scobleizer. - Jeff Harbert

JCal, Dvorak; Wil Harris; Wil Wheaton; Becky Worley - Vickie K

Vernor Vinge. - Michael R. Bernstein

Molly Wood & Steve Gibson. It would be rant-astic! - tamahome

Jerry Pournelle, Molly Wood and John C. Dvorak - Joe Gilbert - Joe Gilbert

Dvorak's New World Symphony would do rather nicely - Antonin Dvorak - David Blumenstein

wow... thanks for the love everyone! my favorite guests to be on with are Dvorak and Kevin Rose. I feel like those shows really rock. - Jason Calacanis

Scoble, Calcanis, Gillmor, Winer and Arrington mud wrestling in pink blancmange! - Make us laugh and then they'll all be friends again! - Jan Simmonds

Dvoracanis part 2! And Miley Cyrus. Or maybe Paul Thurrott & Andy Ihnatko, plus Kevin Rose. - Thunderwing from twhirl

Or Adam Curry, Alex Jones & Michael Savage. Oh, wait, that would be a special episode of No Agenda. Sorry, my bad. - Thunderwing from twhirl

Lisa Bettany, Jason Calacanis and Dvorak. Always. It'd be nice to see Paul Thurrott on TWiT, he's always great and it was a big MS week what with the RC. - Henrik

After listening to todays Gilmore Gang, anybody that sounds more professional then that group would be better. - John Wallace

It would be an honor to be on the show... www.cyberstudies.org - Shane Tilton

Here it is the ultimate Twit Group. Leo, Patrick, Dvorak,Brian Brushwood,& Jason Calacanis - Tom Rowbotham

what about major nelson from the xbox team - Brad Reiter

Merlin Mann & Andy Ihnatko - Chris Weber

Martin Sargent and Laura Swisher - Will

Wil Harris - Fred Hamilton

A more science and tech oriented TWIT instead of social media would be nice. - Taylor Hutchison

sun 10 mothers day 219 atl time VEDIO IS UP AUDIO IS DOWN ON TWIC TV IN WINDOWS - daveccorey

WORKING NOW YEAH - daveccorey

Patrick Norton & Will Harris - Dakotah Jenkins

Want to hear Dvorak tell all, how Twitter saved his life! - Craig Anderson

Leo Laporte

Unfollowing anyone who mentions Kutcher, Oprah, or uses the word Internets. Satisfying. #unfollowfriday

April 17, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Pico Seno, Robert DeBord, Dan Sheppard and 102 other people liked this

... Oh noes... *goes to delete FriendFeed entires* - Johnny

31 more comments

God yes! I'm with you Leo. The whole thing just feels so cheap. - Jeremy

Hehe :-), Leo doing that is quite nice :-) - Richard A.

But Leo, you just mentioned them arggh! :) - Scott Dexter

But leo has his reality distortion field. ;-) - Richard A.

I have cut the cord with twitter. No longer having an account is soo freeing. Going the opposite way of the world. - Scott H

Oh, did Twitter enabled the functions? - Outsanity

Hey, good idea. I think I might do the same. - Adam Martin

I like it - Gunnyman™ from twhirl

Agreed! Those people are hurting the internet... - Nenad Nikolic from twhirl

Why so many people do not like Oprah? - piaff

lol - Technical Support

re: #unfollowfriday Whoa, Leo, do we unfollow you too since U used the "O" name in yr last post? I am a tech who loves and follows your show and websites for years. My boyfriend was on your show. I hope you retract this one quickly as it is not like you. Some of these you will unfollow are your readers and viewers too. I will have a few tech questions to come later. But I had to say that, Hope you don't mind. Still love ya. - Cher A

This must be "Jump the Shark" day. - Charles George from twhirl

Amen! - Mary DeSive

How about unfollowing anyone who Britney Spears? lol - Greg

Kutcher, Oprah and Spears, oh my! It's the twitter trifecta. I'm gonna do it! - NikkiPixel

Oh noes! What about da intertubes? Or da interwebs? Verboten as well? #unfollowfriday is interesting concept. Q: Will it blend? - c.a.j.

I bet you still talk about it ad nauseum on Twit though... ;o) - halfmanhalfgeek

i wish i could get you to follow me (on friendfeed), let along have to worry about you unfollowing me #unfollowfriday #greatidea - Chris Heath

Even if you were following me, it would be worth loosing 1 follower to post "CNN declares Ashton Kutcher: The World's Biggest Twit". Finally, we have it from a respected source. - Jeff Fischbach

What haz happened to teh internets?? - Josh Haley

[HAL] : I'm sorry Leo. I'm afraid I can't let you do that. - dpurrington

How about adding Fail Whale to the list? - tojfs7931

Will the follower contest between Kutcher/CNN and Oprah getting on twitter be remembered as the point at which twitter jumped the shark? - Andy Bakun

Probably not andy, although many already are/have been - i don't think 'jumped the shark' is the right term for what's happening here... maybe it is... - Chris Heath

Leo, your 'bromance' used "internets" this morning...do I smell a breakup?! Oooh controversy ensues. Great shows, love TWiT and the network. - Michael Johnson

I'm thinking of unfollowing @aplusk at least because twitter has started to be more of a celebrity contest. Note: I followed him before this whole tweeteace thing. - Howell Selburn from BuddyFeed

Leo doesn't follow me anyway, so never mind. - Morton Fox

following isn't your style anyway from what I can tell. If you ain't the lead dog, the view never changes! So keep on leading and let the rest of us sniff you butt on the path to success! I for one will happily sniff, but no licking will be done (for free, anyway....) - Morgan

does that mean you will be unfollowing Ashton Kutcher? because apparently you can't: http://www.flickr.com/photos... - alexia tsotsis

@alexia You can type "off aplusk" as a tweet. "off USERNAME" is another way of unfollowing someone. - imperator3733 from twhirl

LOL - Hutch Carpenter

Leo Laporte

When every student has a laptop, why run computer labs? - Ars Technica - http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...

March 29, 2009 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

Juan Hernandez, Derek, Brian and 19 other people liked this

What's the point of running a university computer lab when all the students bring laptops anyway? That's a question that schools have been asking themselves as computer ownership rates among incoming freshmen routinely top 90 percent. Schools like the University of Virginia have concluded that the time has come to dismantle the community computer labs and put that money to more productive uses. - Leo Laporte

18 more comments

smart idea! - Susan Beebe

Our downtown campus doesn't have much landscaping. Computer labs ARE very expensive to maintain. Students tend to break kbs and frak up the workstations. Around the US, .edu computer labs will be replaced by printing stations and workrooms with WiFi and plenty of AC drops. - Bill Sodeman

I can't say that computer labs are obsolete in my experience. I graduated less than a year ago from a large private university, and ALL the computer labs would routinely be full. - Jandy

How much of the computer lab is utilized should probably be the best indication of whether it is needed. - Phillip Stewart

Is this all because one university closed one lab? We will need computer labs at least until everything's in the cloud. I do like the idea of work areas with outlets, network, printers, and possibly monitors or projectors. Maybe even multi-touch tabletops? - Kevin L

I work at the library at my college and I can tell you that the laptops students can check out are very popular. Our computer labs are generally full as well. Also you need computer labs for classes that use computers because not everyone wants to bring their laptop to class (and not everyone has all the software that the college computers have). - imperator3733 from twhirl

Umm, laptops don't have good cpu or ram always... - Alp

Glen, that's where I went...unless they've removed them in the last eight months or so, they still have a lab in the English building, and computers scattered throughout the student union and the library, at least - I didn't go in the other buildings much. They do check out laptops in the library as well, and that seemed to be very popular. - Jandy

It'll be very hard to teach programming without the labs. The students need to have their own laptops. All necessary software must be installed on the laptops and this will cause problems (and the software might or might not be free). The smaller screen size makes it more difficult for me as a teacher to read and debug their code. Also, in many of our courses we use expensive software like Matlab that a student definitely can't afford. Without the computer labs, we simply can't teach. - Henrik Johansson

@Henrik +1. - Alp

Heh, go Bears. :) Like I said, I don't know about the other buildings, but English has a bunch of computers in the Writing Center (that are available to everyone), and a computer lab that they use for advanced composition classes (that's only available for classes). Being a grad student means you only get to see your department + the library. ;) - Jandy

We just had an auction at IUPUI and a lot of computers were up for grabs. - Melanie Reed

When the students' machines are kicked off the network because their computers are spamming, chatting with botnet servers, have back doors, trojans or viruses, or have been cited in DMCA notices, those kids have to have something to use in the hours or days it takes get their acts together. - MiniMage

MiniMage That is a good point. I've only had that happen to me once. Most inconvenient. Perhaps what is needed is just a cut back in the number of terminals rather than total annihilation of labs. Either that, or laptop leasing with UITS - Melanie Reed

As more students carry around their own computing devices I see more and more room for schools to employ cheap and easy to maintain thin clients. - Ryan Stanley

Personally as a college student, I say get rid of the labs, most of the time they are crappy computers that the vast majority of the students never use. However you still need to maintain some places for students to be able to study and work in groups. Campus libraries aren't great for that purpose. Also some labs will always stick around like a UNIX lab for the CS dept and possibly labs that contain computers/equipment for other specialized depts. Our EE dept for instance has and will keep a computer lab. - Justin Yost

Cloud Computing: an idea universities should be getting behind totally. - .LAG liked that

Even I've been kicked off the network, when my home IP address changed due to a power outage. I thought I'd be slick and scan for my router in my ISP's range, and the security folks slapped me down. It was quite embarrassing to have to explain to my boss that my machine hadn't been compromised, that I was initiating the scans. Now, I have Hamachi and LogMeIn, but my IP address hasn't changed in years. - MiniMage

This is a good question. By far the majority of people using my college computer lab are older people. In High School, people did use computers in the lab during lunch breaks and the like mainly because many didn't bring their laptops to school for such a short period. - Brandon Titus

Robert Scoble

This is the best astronomy video I've ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch... The most important image taken by Hubble deep field telescope.

This is the best astronomy video I've ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcBV-cXVWFw&e The most important image taken by Hubble deep field telescope.

January 21, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

CeoSeo, Marek Blazek, siva s and 13 other people liked this

A few years old but still great. If you haven't seen this, watch it. It's worthwhile. - ·[▪_▪]·

4 more comments

Super like! - Sally Church

I'd say it is the "current" most important, the Hubble archive is constantly being searched and images reused, so, you never know what will be found. - James Ostheimer

Wow. All I can say is that that video is amazing. Great find! - imperator3733 from twhirl

There is an exceptionally well produced podcast about the Hubble telescope that comes from ESA: http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos... - Chris Mayer

"BBC Horizon - Do You Know What Time It Is" discusses this in greater detail - highly recommended. - Niv

Robert Scoble

Internet Explorer 8 is 6,000x better than IE6, but it still bugs me. Google Chrome is the future. Here's why:

January 11, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

ivanandersson, Palak Mathur, /sg and 70 other people liked this

1. Google Chrome is way faster. - Robert Scoble

92 more comments

2. Google Chrome is a rethink. IE8 is a bug fix. - Robert Scoble

3. Google Chrome has one box. IE 8 has two. - Robert Scoble

4. Google Chrome works better with Google Reader and other AJAX sites. - Robert Scoble

5. IE8 has too many menus and icons. Gives a real cluttered feel. - Robert Scoble

IE's been a glorified bug fix since MS relabeled it from Mosaic, Robert - no secret there. :) I'm loving Chrome. - teleken

WebKit is a really good rendering engine. I've always secretly wished IE8 would use WebKit as their rendering engine and scrap IE rendering, and somehow incorporate ActiveX and all of the IE features into it, since WebKit is open-source, not tied to a specific competitor (as opposed to Gecko and Firefox) and is fast and stable. – Have to agree about Google Chrome as well. It's a great browser. As much as I love Safari, I wish Chrome would come to Mac sooner :) - Mark Bao

6. Google Chrome's search integration is magic. Start typing something and it figures out what you want. IE8 waits for you to finish, then brings up a boring web page. - Robert Scoble

Any others? - Robert Scoble

When it finally works on a Mac, perhaps I'll believe you ;) - Jeff

If it didn't bug someone it wouldn't still be Internet Explorer. - Josh Sharp

Google Chrome and FLASH don't get along! - paul mooney

Now I just wish Chrome worked better with Flash, or Flash worked better with Chrome. - Dennis Jackson

Google Chrome is focused on internet. IE seems to mix to much other junk in - Mike Scott

By the way, I wrote this whole item in IE8 running on Windows 7. If you are still going to use IE, please do get IE8. It is much better than previous versions. - Robert Scoble

Not a big fan of IE or Chrome... I'll stick with FireFox. - Steven Sanders

Google Chrome is slick...but I still like the simplicity of FireFox. - Charlie Flowers

I love Google Chrome, I just wish the addon's started rolling out. - Michael Fidler

Because the browser is a commodity... Connecting (correction - Deep Integration) with Google's cloud based services is the secret sauce. - Brian Roy

I still need to play with Chrome in order to form an educated opinion. I'm just too hung up on Firefox still. :P - Korey

Charlie: simplicity of Firefox? You've gotta be kidding, right? I love Firefox because of its complexity! (Plugins keep me there a lot of the time). - Robert Scoble

Timely thread. I literally installed Google Chrome on my home computer within the last half hour (hey, I'm slow at these things - I'm not trendy). Just poking around a bit now, liking the speed. StumbleUpon support is an issue, but I'm reading up on it and other stuff. Just read Sarah Perez's post on privacy. - Ontario Emperor

I h ave never been a fan of ActiveX. The fact that several websites still rely on it versus better technologies irks me and I refuse to use them. - Jason Shultz from twhirl

Paul: Google Chrome gets along fine with Flash here. What are you experiencing? - Robert Scoble

Yeah, I have to admit, IE8 is a pretty good browser, relatively speaking (relative to IE7 and IE6.) Renders my pages a ton better than previous versions. - Mark Bao

Flash slows down Chrome for me pretty significantly, sometimes to where it's not even usable. Maybe it's just my computer. - Dennis Jackson

How is IE6 a basis for comparison to anything anymore? Totally agree about Chrome. - Bob Starr

loved chrome until I found out it wasn't compatible with my Roboform. I'm lazy and not too security conscious. - BEX

Amen on the 'IE mixing other junk in' thought. I hate typing a hostname into it & it tries to hit a UNC or whatever the heck it's doing... - Steven Byrnes

Chrome has a whole list of niggling problems and has had since day one -- they just never seem to get fixed. I like the speed and simplicity but Chrome will become the next IE unless Google starts paying attention to detail. - Brian Sullivan

Chrome lets you create 'desktop applications' that don't get lost in all of those tabs and don't waste space with the address bar! - Jon Issler

I use Chrome from time to time, but it just feels wrong when I do, I think I'll be sticking with Firefox. - Randy

I am with Vaibhav on "webkit is the future as well" - Peter Finn

Val: Privacy is dead. I really don't care. - Robert Scoble

Chrome's biggest shortcomings right now are password security and the lack of plugins/extensions... Have to give Firefox a nod for having those two nailed! - Jon Issler

I think Chrome is Google's paid service platform... http://www.johnworthington.me/... - Johnny

Google Chrome is like FireFox back when it was Phoenix: Sleek, sexy and satisfying. Beta 2 adds autocomplete, profiles and a Greasemonkey style scripting. - John Rubier

@Dennis check your fans. If your on a laptop the fans and/or exhaust may be blocked with dust. that happened to me on my laptop, any flash video slowed my laptop down. realized one day (after reinstalling windows and still having the problem) that my fans had a lot of dust. used compressed air to clean them out, problem solved. happy laptop! - Jason Shultz from twhirl

One thing I know I liked about Chrome: The web-comic! http://tiny.cc/9Ck9L - Korey

I'm amazed at how many flash/chrome issues there are. Ive never had any? - Mike Scott

I still see that firefox is the future! unless google chrome will be a 100% organic software http://snipr.com/9u3ld - Mark Guadalupe

I love firefox and plug-ins, but does Chrome need plug-ins? I thought their deal was to run current and next-gen online applications better, which will likely preclude the need for the plug-ins we firefox users can't live without now. - Bill Garrett

Robert, I really like Chrome too. The universal address/search/history bar is the future of browsing. There are only a small % of sites that do not work with Chrome... usually old school corporations, such as ones that I have to pay bills online at. Grr. Works 99.8% of the time for me otherwise. - Brian

I just installed the Windows 7 beta. I fired up IE 8 and it didn't correctly render a nonprofit's Web site I administer as a volunteer (www.spauldingcenter.org). IE 8 didn't correctly render some of the CSS. I installed Chrome and Chrome got it right. IE 8 is obviously not yet ready for release. - Rod Bauer from twhirl

I love Chrome and it is my default browser now. In fact all my flash problems in Firefox and IE went away in Chrome (video paused many times during playback, audio kept going). They are both memory hoars. Maybe a problem with too much Flash on websites? The lack of plugin support is very troubling. - Chris Mayer

I'm keen for getting mac version of chrome too, though its going to be interesting to see how they're gonna handle interface - Mike Scott from IM

Re: 6. The search bar autofill? Err FF has that too for recently visited sites. If you get an Add-On it'll do the potential sites too. - Adam

Google Chrome may be nice, but there was an "Epic Fail" on my system when Chrome decided that it was the default browser (out of four browsers) and would not directly allow me to un-check the Default-Browser checkbox. It was quickly removed. - Robert Miller

Love Chrome. Use it whenever I can. It does have problems with some sites, and I'm always having problems with flash crashing in it. - cjmart

Kind of ironic that Chrome and Firefox and both performing much better for me under Windows 7. The beta Chrome release is really sweet. - Charlie Anzman

@Pat: I use live mesh to sync my bookmarks between machines all the time. Add your favorites folder to mesh and you are good to go. Mesh for mac is available too. - Chris Johnson

Google Chrome doesn't know what's RSS!!! FAIL - carrotmadman6

I feel like people are debating the relative merits of tn3270 emulators... - Brian Roy

I like the speed/lightness of Chrome, however i dont think it will be big anytime soon with anyone other than techies. Doesnt run many addins/plugins etc... Unlikely any enterprise will adopt it either. Its a great reference app. - Chris Johnson

Chrome certainly is clean and renders fast, but until the experience can be customized via extensions like Firefox, there is no one way I can make it my primary. I just loaded Win. 7 on my laptop and the only thing I ported over from any of my other machines was my FEBE. - George Rogers

Important point for me is that Chrome opens more of the monitor for the content on the page, not for toolbars that i do not need while browsing a page. no loss of functionality without the toolbar. - Jeff DiStanlo

I wonder how many people even know what tn3270 is used for :) I know I do all too well. - Patrick Allmond

+++ on this. FoxMarks is awesome. Just wish FoxMarks had an iPhone browser sync also :( - Patrick Allmond

Any Flock 2.0 users here? If Chrome comes out for the Mac, I may take a look as well - but Firefox/Flock has been great for me for now. - Erich Miller

@Robert: Maybe simplicity wasn't the right word..."ease of use" might be a better term. I think that FF's layout is not as radically different from the browsers I grew up with (IE & Netscape), as Chrome seems to be...maybe that's why I find it simpler to use. Having said that, Chrome is by no means complex, just not as intuitive as FF. As you mentioned, the plug-ins add to the ease of use. It seems you can get a FireFox plug-in for anything. - Charlie Flowers

BTW, have you tried FF's AutoPager plug-in. That thing is amazing! It "automatically loads the next page of a site inline when you reach the end of the current page for infinite scrolling of content"...it's perfect for things like Twitter, Google, and yes it works for FriendFeed too. :D - Charlie Flowers

I'm using Flock 2.0 on both Mac and Windows. I've uninstalled Chrome -- didn't care for it much since Flock does everything I need it to. - Victor Solanoy

:hits the Googles to figure out what the Flock you guys are talking about: - teleken

IE8 (and Firefox) offer a lot of tools to supplement your browsing experience. Chrome just gets out of the way. I'm not sure one or the other is a fundamentally superior approach. - Toph Tucker

Installed Flock for all of 5 minutes. Sticking with Chrome, thanks. - teleken

ctrl+t takes forever on IE8, and for what? A blank tab. I like Chrome's approach - Andrew Smith

Firefox's is simple and extendable. Firefox' strength comes from its pluggability and ease of developing new plugins. Chrome needs to beat that. - Angsuman Chakraborty

Chrome needs to support Linux before it can even think of replacing Firefox. Chromium port of Chrome on Linux isn't very stable. - Angsuman Chakraborty

firefox plugins are the new activeX. there's too much functionality i use for me to shift *now*. i *do* like chrome, though. - moogs

I like moving tabs into new windows, but does crashes alot w/ Flash - Da

7. If one tab crashes, all the other tabs are unaffected. Let's see ANY other browser do that. - Nathan Chase

i think i'll stick with firefox. so much more you can do with it.. - Terry O'Fee

Chrome is fast (unlike IE), has a very minimal UI (also unlike IE), and you can move tabs to other windows. I have never been able to get Firefox to open new tabs next to the tab they're opened from, instead of at the far right, plus I don't really care about extensions. Plus, I've never had any issues with Flash. The only problem is that my school email won't work in Chrome (but that's minor). Chrome wins for me. - imperator3733 from twhirl

Robert - how is the performance of IE8 compared to Chrome and Firefox? Personally, I'd be using Chrome if I had my add-ons and greasemonkey scripts. I love Chrome's mult-tasking / memory management - very nice - Susan Beebe

@Imperator, Firefox's UI can be slimmed down, and you can fix the tab issue with Tab Mix Plus. Also, Firefox 3.1 is faster than Chrome. - Tanath

how bout: Chrome is CSS compliant? IE8 isn't, I know this by experience - Duncan Riley

@Nathan -- as far as I know, IE8 separated tabs into different processes first.... - Toph Tucker

I think FriendFeed should put a comment button at the bottom of the comments... that said, Opera is the fastest, but it has a few shortcomings. I use FireFox or Chrome depending on what PC I'm at. Some sites only work in IE. - Gus

Google Chrome uses your screen real estate more efficiently - Aad 't Hart

Chrome focuses on the web and not on the browser and that's what a browser's supposed to do. - Rohit

May be when there are basic extensions available for Chrome then it will be fair to compare with Firefox. For now, I don't see Chrome that useful, even though it's clean, a bit faster and provides more screen space. After a couple of days of using Chrome, I switched to Firefox as I felt less productive without the powerful extensions in Firefox. - Amar Shah

When Chrome has an extension like Better GReader, TabMixPlus, and NoScript, then I'll switch, but FF has everything I need with the extensions. NoScript is about the ONLY addon I absolutely need to use for security of my computer. - Ⓐ ☠ slayerboy ☠ Ⓐ

You can install extensions on the Chromium Builds! Go for it! - Will Higgins™

love chrome as much as the next guy, but it does crash sometimes over simplest things, like downloading sth from gmail or greader. & it's not just one tab that goes - it all goes & only one comes back, either gmail or greader... - siggimus

Chrome also crashes when importing Firefox Bookmarks, which makes it awkward to switch. But yeah, I would still use Firefox over IE 8. - Todd Brunner from twhirl

my mother understands the search-thingy-box in chrome. - Svensonsan

@scobleizer I think this would have made a good blog post. Would have been easier to read you view points. The discussion could then have happened on friendfeed. Too many comments to read properly - Sidharth Dassani

Chrome and WebKit are the future - just hope there's still room for Firefox. Remember how Firefox became Firefox? - Mona Nomura from fftogo

I agree. Chrome focuses on opening fast, which is critical for impatient people like me. Firefox and IE are way too slow. - Richard Crocker

WebKit can do CSS3 gradients, and I have only seen it in WordPress for creating actual images with gradients. Chrome is the future indeed! Extensions? heh, I use javascript bookmarklets to do my bidding! Chromes bookmark manager is more powerful than I expected. Passwords can be imported from FF but there is no backup option yet. - Web20Critic

If chrome crashes, report it! Make a note of what you were doing and blog it, microshare it, post it on the chromium blog etc. This way all of us can help make it work for us! Nice thread for tech support, Mr Scoble! - Web20Critic

7. Because Chrome has a new and improved version every week/month/quarter (depending upon the distribution channel) whereas IE version comes once in 3 years. - Varun Mahajan

Robert: How did you get IE8 on Windows 7??? The installer refused to run when i tried. - Roberto Bonini

Roberto: it came with Windows 7. Or so I thought. I already had it loaded on this machine before I upgraded. - Robert Scoble

Paul Thurrott

Shipping Seven, Part 5: From M3 to Beta - http://www.winsupersite.com/win7...

December 21, 2008 from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for... - Comment - Like - Share

So Microsoft showed off a Windows 7 build in 2006? (it's in the section on Edward Han) Seems a bit early. - imperator3733 from twhirl

Leo Laporte

If I hit 67,000 followers in the next 20 minutes I'm taking you all to France with me.

December 16, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

LonelyBob, Kenton, David Cook and 11 other people liked this

I want in. - Eric - seven eleven

11 more comments

you made it. let's go - Josh Haley

Twit was 17 minutes ago. Has now 67,069..:-D - Daniel Johnston

Okay Leo, where's my ticket? - imperator3733 from twhirl

allons-y - Trish Haley

I think this is what leo meant about going to france: http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/... - Todd Hoff

Please DM tweet the link to my e-ticket, thank you. See you on the Champs-Elysées. :-) - michael silverton

well im ready, you hit it so lets go! - Eric Bartos

All the people who really, really want to go are on FriendFeed. - Eric - seven eleven

Thank you, but wouldn't I have to get a passport? And I hear travel during this time of year is a real bother. So I'll have to decline, but do please take many photos and share them.... :) - Grant Bierman

polly voo fransay? mercy buckets. voo lay voo koo shay kah jah goo goo? - Morgan

omlette du fromage si vous play? - Fleagle

oui oui mon sure. duz yer dug beit? nuh. mai dug duz nuht beit. grrr, chomp...i thut ewe sed yer dug duz nuht beit. thet eez nut mai dug. - Morgan

Leo Laporte

Bon Voyage! - http://brightkite.com/objects...

December 16, 2008 from brightkite.com - Comment - Like - Share

Have a good trip, Leo! - imperator3733 from twhirl

imperator3733 › Comments