It's not that amazing. As CenterNetwork's Allen Stern first pointed out, each time a new user signs up for FriendFeed, the site suggests the new user becomes friends with "Popular FriendFeeders." On the list: Bret Taylor, Fred Wilson, Scott Beale, Michael Arrington, Loic Le Meur, Jason Calacanis, Dave Winer and Leo Laporte — despite, as Stern notes, the fact that many of these "popular" users don't actually use FriendFeed very often. Why? We haven't asked anybody at FriendFeed because the answer is obvious: So that the whole bunch of easily ego-fluffed blog blowhards will blog about how amazing FriendFeed is, without bothering to figure out why, exactly, it seems to be growing so much faster for them than everybody else.

Our source tells us Laporte gets about 700 to 1,000 simultaneous viewers when TWiT streams over Ustream.tv. TWiT's Ustream profile page says the show has been viewed 647,249 times so far this year, suggesting Stickam plans to pay Laporte a $51 CPM. For a moment, a I felt a jealous twinge typing those numbers. But that passed as soon as I discovered a list of TWiT's regular guests on Wikipedia. They include: "John C. Dvorak, Roger Chang, Patrick Norton, Alex Lindsay, Wil Harris, Jason Calacanis, Veronica Belmont, Molly Wood, and Tom Merritt."

Alex Albrecht, Diggnation: Jason Bateman, Arrested Development

John C. Dvorak, Cranky Geeks: Rush Limbaugh

Chad Hurley, YouTube: Tobey Maguire

Leo Laporte, This Week in Tech: Anthony Hopkins

Merlin Mann, 43 Folders: Brandon Routh, Superman

Robert Scoble, Podtech: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Marissa Mayer, Google: Sarah Paulson, Studio 60

Bill Gates: Rick Moranis

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp: Philip Baker Hall, Magnolia

Kevin Rose: Demetri Martin, Daily Show

Photos: With a few exceptions, geeks by Scott Beale; stars by Associated Press

In this week's Netcast (Ready, Clench), Leo talks to the gang about Windows Vista, MySpace, Chinese Bloggers, and why Google won't buy YouTube. (Oops!)

• Paul Thurrott, a Microsoft suit, plugs the final test version (called RC2) of Windows Vista. How's it different from the first version? One new icon and some minimal cosmetic stuff, but hey, Microsoft is offering a free RC2 download right now for a limited time. To be expired very soon with the release of Vista, which should be in stores some time before the holiday season.
• John C. Dvorak, a frequent TWiT panel member, says the Google buy-out of YouTube rumors are "bogus." It's like the Friendster story about the site being in talks to get bought out. Score: Dvorak 0, reality 1.
• The World Trade Organization demands that Russians adhere to the legal distribution of mp3s. Russian Reaction: Hell no! And according to Dvorak, the Russians can get away with it that because they have all the oil in the world stored there. So, wait, why are we in Iraq again?
• 17.5 Million Bloggers in China and 90% of Koreans have blogs. Yeah, ok. Remind me why we care who has a MySpace page?
• Leo Laporte has a MySpace page. Tee Hee.
• Forget the hype. Leo is NOT in fact trademarking "netcast."

Below, Gottfried the Intern gives a thorough rundown for those too lazy to listen to the movie-length podcast.

• Speaking of 1.0, a bit of history for our audio aficionados. NetRadio's Scott Bourne released the first "podcast" in 1994 thru Real Audio 1.0 on 1200 block modems. The streaming radio IPO had a ton of subscribers and made a lot of money. Kinda like TWiT with its big-name advertisers. We're not knocking the Showtime spot, Leo. How else could we have known that David from Six Feet Under is starring in a brand new Showtime show on Sunday nights?
• A geek conference/Star Trek convention prequisite: At least one man named Elvis running around in a chicken suit.
• Leo edits the "Podcasts You Love from People You Love" to "NetCasts You Love" segment in the TWiT intro, a testament to his distaste for the term PodCast. Unfortunately, due to the lack of enthusiasm of the crowd over at Expo over his beloved soon-to-be-trademarked NetCast, he might not have much of a following. Then again, Dell and Podcast Ready (which company Apple sent the infamous "cease-and-desist" letter to a few weeks back) is backing this week's TWiTcast. Hey, how 'bout that. I just came up with a possible anti-big business solution to Leo's iTunes xenophobia: TWiTcasts you love, from people who hate the name "podcast."
• It's not news, but Podcast Ready product "Ipodder Lemon" was forced to alter its name and decided upon Juice Receiver.
• GigaVox is marketing a new FREE audio product called the Levelator. The Scoop: It makes podcasts sound better and levels out long-term variation. Does that mean we can alter Leo's voice so he can start sounding like that British dude WIl Harris from last week's TWit episode? Wouldn't appear so since TWiT already integrated the "smart normalization" technology in this week's episode as part of a GigaVox Media plug.
• PopCurrent may or may not be the future of podcasting. At the very least it gets netcasters to the next level of Cro-Magnon socialization: That is communicating with actual parties via Web "cross-pollination" with MySpace. Web 2.0 Translation: Social Networking.
• IPodder X Sales Pitch: "We're like Microsoft and Vista. Eventually we'll come out with a software package you MIGHT wanna use." Yeah...Does that really work?
• The Andrew Dice Clay of Podcasting/Vlogging, Martin Sargent, is Kevin Rose's bitch now.
• Leo tells a tiny white lie to Podcast Ready's Russ Holliman: "I have nothing against iTunes." He then proceeds to ask everyone in the audience to do what they can to help fight against the Evil Empire and shout out to the masses that iTunes is "the worst thing to happen to Podcasting." Scott Bourne believes TWiT's [Commie] social stance is a statement against interest (re: those greedy capitalists). Some anti-Microsoft slurs ensue for good measure.
• Ben Freedman and Tiffany Young of Neo-Fight plug their Tech show for beginners. Everyday, five days a week, they present a product and they talk about it. They're like a techie consumer reports of podcast, only they "talk about vacuums too." Sure, whatever gets you excited, Tiff.
• Robbie, one of the younger podcasters at the Expo pitches his site, Teen PodCaster. Robbie is 14 going on 15 and no longer podcasts as regularly since he's working on "other projects" and "working his way into TV." What Robbie really means is he's discovered chicks and likes to sexperiment with his brand spanking new handycam. He then likes to post the finished product on YouTube. Advice: Take a good look at your future over at PodCast Expo and enjoy your youth while you have it, Robbie.

This week's hosts: Leo Laporte is joined by a group of mediafolk including podcast pioneer Scott Bourne; former Podcaster of The Year Doug Kaye; and lawyer and new host of This Week in Law Denise Howell; radio/TV personality Martin Sargent of Sargeworld; and 14-year-old teen podcaster Robbie.

Netcast Expo [TWiT]

Tomorrow, Gottfried the Intern will fill you in on all the snark included in the podcast. Our favorite bit so far is when Harris references Microsoft exec J Allard's big Zune blooper: "We made sure it played mpg 4 cause it's a popular format people like to rip their dvds to." You go, piracy boy!

This Week in Tech [Official site]

5:30: Cranky pundit John C. Dvorak brings up that old cat vs. ceiling fan video. Cute, Dvorak, but as old as "America's Funniest Home Videos."
11:50: Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron says that vlogging frees us from watching just a few movies and TV shows. Because of vlogging — "now we get to see a lot of sucky stuff," says Dvorak.
14:00-20:00: Skip it, unless you're really into defining the word "vlog." Feel the bored pain in Dvorak's voice.
23:00: Calacanis makes a funny — "Oh, it was on Techmeme and Digg, so it must be true!" Is this what everyone calls obnoxious? Or are they mad because Jason's right?

28:00: Talk soup.
30:00: Andrew Baron doesn't understand polls. God, Andrew, not to be mean, but if you don't have anything to add...
33:00: Old-school blogger Dave Winer gets on stage and goes zero-to-self-obsessed in 30 seconds.
40:00: Thank God, they brought in the ninja. Unfortunately, they make him share the stage with the eight talking heads. Come to think of it, instead of listening to this, watch Ask a Ninja.
48:30: Jason's idea of the best job ever is working in underwear. Little known fact: Jason's heros are all underwear models.
54:00: Aw, shout-out to the boss. Thanks, Andy Baron.
55:00: Andy talks about ads in Rocketboom. Hey, remember when part of the indie-ness of the Internet was that no one had to sell out and stuff the content full of ads? Good times.
57:00: Jason to Andy about Rocketboom: "Just because you're first doesn't mean you'll be the best." Does Andy have a second show? Yep, he just launched a kids' show.
59:00: Skip the rest. Skip everything before now too.

Conclusion 1: On this show, Calacanis is more smart than annoying.
Conclusion 2: Can we just get Calacanis and John C. Dvorak in a room? Call it TWiT: Witty troll edition.

TWiT: Vloggercon [Official page]
Photo: twitSF10W [Jachbla on Flickr]

Diggnation 3/18 (on iTunes, not on web): Hosts Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht started sober again. What the hell, guys? Gets funny around 16 minutes in, when Kevin says about a digicam, "And it's uh...fuel-cell powered." Alex: "What?" Kevin: "Nope, made that up."

Om and Niall Podsessions 3/14: Ten seconds in, Niall Kennedy and Om Malik actually talk about the weather. Then, Web 2.0 leaves Om "wanting more" — careful what you wish for, Om! The rest of the show is VoIP and IM and mobile. It'd make decent lunch conversation, but does it make a good show? (Hint: Not this week.)

TalkCrunch 3/19: In this social-networking-centered episode, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington goes all Yellow Submarine and runs his voice through the left channel only. Some of the phone-in guests have a great alien echo-voice going on, and it's the usual slow-paced talk show vibe, but points to Michael for doing the best thing a podcast host can: get out of the way and let the experts engage each other. Caveat: by the end of this show, the voices are distorted to distracting levels. Can't Michael get some sponsored VoIP equipment?

This Week in Tech 3/20: Can Patrick Norton and crew hold it together without regular host Leo Laporte? Well, they can be meaty — if you actually want to learn about the last week of tech news, this is worth your hour — but they're just. not. funny.

Well, until the Gillmor Gang takes a public speaking class, here are three better tech podcasts:

Diggnation: Digg's Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht discovered the magic ingredient to podcast excitement: alcohol. On each weekly podcast (or vidcast), Kevin and Alex drink beer and cover the week's top stories from their bookmark community.

Buzz Out Loud: It's just ten minutes. What can you screw up in ten minutes? CNet Hosts Tom Merritt and Molly Wood take phone calls and e-mail from listeners to mix things up.

Om and Niall PodSessions: Not roll-on-the-floor funny, but a decent 22 minutes and rich with insider info, not just opinions.

This Week in Tech: There's no way to oversell this show. TWiT deserves its title of "the world's most listened to podcast" thanks to John C. Dvorak's "friendly curmudgeon" attitude, great guests like Kevin Rose (yes, podcasts are as incestuous as blogs), and Leo Laporte's silliness as a ringleader.

Gillmor Gang [Gillmor.podshow.com]
Scoops of vanilla perception [Tinfinger]

This Week in Tech: Episode 40, Yellow Lasers stars Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, hacker Kevin Mitnick, Wozniak co-worker Alan Fielding, and Call for Help co-host Amber MacArthur, as well as the usual TWIT crew led by Leo Laporte. Mitnick is fairly tolearable throughout — which is a bonus with that guy. But he and the other Twits waste time on small-talk, prompting John C. Dvorak to keep them on the list. Not as fun as the recent show recorded at Macworld, but still worth a listen.

Gillmor Gang: Captain Crunchberry Gang feels like a grandpa's version of TWIT — same subjects, but hella slow. And please, Steve Gillmor, stop doing intros. I feel like I'm playing R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet," and it's just so awful that I can't...stop...listening.

Dave Winer's blog, Scripting News, includes sporadic podcasts. Today's is a typical example — Dave putters around and doesn't apologize for leaving all his pauses, verbal commas, and recording mishaps in the finished product. So there's a personal, if aggravating, touch to it. If you really feel like you need Dave Winer talking to you for a half hour, then go ahead. It's kind of impressive to hear him think out loud, especially when he discusses the older blog process of starting each day with a blank web page.
Episode 40, Yellow Lasers [This Week in Tech]
Captain Crunchberry Gang [Gillmor Gang]
Morning Coffee Notes [Scripting News]