The Geeks Are Restless

Geeks are restless. It’s probable that you have have no idea what a podcast is, let alone have heard of either Steve Gibson or Leo Laporte, but hundreds of thousands of geeks and wannabe geeks are up in arms.

Leo Laporte, a radio broadcaster from Northern California who specializes in technology and computers, helms several programs each week that are heard only online.  That is what a podcast is:  a radio program broadcast online.  

Among his weekly broadcasts is one devoted to computer security:  Security Now. His co-host is a former computer programmer, public relations expert and self-described “security expert” who earns most of his income from a program he wrote to retrieve damaged computer drives.

Laporte, an avowed cheerleader for Macintosh over Windows operating systems because of  the spyware, malware, and viruses that have become inevitable among PC users, spends the better part of each of his Security Now broadcasts detailing the various horrors uncovered each week by Gibson.

Last week, Laporte and Gibson wrung their hands and hyperventilated about a brand-new Windows security flaw that only a geek could love.  Laporte had a new opportunity to exhort his listeners to switch to Macintosh while Gibson lamented about yet another dastardly intentional crime against computer users and warned of dire consequences to one and all within the next hours.

Gibson’s a latter-day version of Emily Lutella. You remember, Lutella was the sweet Gilda Radner character who got everything slightly wrong. Gibson is Chicken Little redux. The sky is always falling in his world. He rants and pants in breathless hysteria while Leo ooos and aahs over him.

In the end, it was all to naught. There was no intentional crime and hardly any danger.  As it turned out, it was just an outdated program that needed fixing.  No nefarious plot; just inattention to detail.  As soon as it was noticed, it was fixed.

The geeks are up in arms though.  Gibson, who had little credibility to begin with apart from his friendship with Laporte, is being crucified for his characterization of the problem.  His website was bombarded after his information turned out to be false.  There were so many people trying to reach his website, Gibson’s site crashed.

You have to hand it to Gibson though.  He has real entertainment value.  The world in which Gibson inhabits is so full of danger that he’s posted elsewhere that he was intentionally hacked by Microsoft to bring down his site. Laughable really when you consider that he posted his belief on the very website that first broke the news that his original rant was much ado about nothing.  

He should be so lucky that Microsoft wanted to silence him.  I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.  He might actually believe what he says.