Name Change Blues

Should malicious hacking be a capital offense? When I started this blog, I called it something else and sent the URL out to many of my friends. Along the way, I stumbled upon a new, catchier name and that’s where we are now. The old name “Narble Falls Apart,” was just abandoned. I, in my naiveté, thought that people coming in to read would just be automatically redirected to my new title, “Life O’Wryly.” So imagine my surprise when I got a phone call from my wife informing me that when she tried to access my blog she got directed to a page with a list of porn sites. Now, I don’t really have anything against porn sites, but it was a little disconcerting. I tried it and, sure enough, it was there, something called “PornTube” and other listings, complete with graphic graphics and the whole nine yards.

Hokey Smoke! I really enjoyed it when my mom sent me an email informing me of the same thing. I was (and am) embarrassed by the situation. So I sent some emails and warned people not to go to that URL and updating them about the new path.

At least one of my friends clicked on one of the sites and was immediately infected with a myriad of Trojans, malware, and all manner of viruses. I apologized and shared his pain. A couple days later I got another email that castigated me for not informing him of the URL change and that he was now out a couple hundred bucks and it was all my fault.

Okay, okay. I accept some blame here. I was naïve. But nobody told this guy to click on a porn site link. That’s what let the cooties in. He was naïve too, I guess. I’m hopeful that he eventually forgives me, but if he doesn’t it’s a loss for us both, I reckon. Just another American lose-lose situation. This kind of snit is just part of the ups and downs of friendship. I hope so anyway.

My question is: how do these jerks pick up on discarded blog paths? I suppose a tougher question is: why do these people want to spread virtual violence and pain? Because they can? I’m not web-savvy enough to really know the answers. I believe in the basic goodness of my fellow meat-puppets and am always surprised when I encounter mean people. I guess I don’t get it. The bumpersticker is right on: “Mean People Suck.” These people are cowards.

I’m not sure how we, as an online community, police this kind of thing. It’s a virtual mugging. It’s crime. Anybody have any ideas? Do we just have to get used to this horseshit or is there something we can actually do?