“Dave, what happened to your offthegridhomes.org site?”
“Weird science, man. Russians. Theft. Intrigue. Confusion. Panic. All kinda hell broke loose.” Here’s the story:
My site was hacked and hijacked back in the spring. A porn referral site lay across my page. Peeps couldn’t get in to read the latest nonsense but they saw butts and boobs and all things lascivious. Some readers wondered what the hell was going on off the grid. Others started looking seriously for land. I was left confused. Mildly aroused, but confused.
As it turned out, the temporary hijacking was just part of what the hackers did. On the face of it, we saw a referral to body parts and unusual positions but there was more. And I did not know that.
My techie friends advised moving from Bluehost to Bluehost. Yeah, I know, but that kind of logic is typical with techies. What they MEANT was ‘change accounts’. Changing accounts would purge the hijackers, they said. So, I did. After a week or so, everything seemed OK.
It wasn’t.
The hackers know you are going to do something like that and so they lay in wait for your site to fly over the ether (or something) and then they pounce and snatch it out of the air. But, quick like Russian bunny on roids, they put the targeted site on THEIR server and provide good service. Voila. They have your site and you don’t know they do. You think you are with Bluehost and so you carry on innocently. Thoughts of porn lost to the past.
“Why would they do this?”
I do not think that a Russian read my blog and said, “Dah! Is good writing, no? We take writing and maybe get vodka for it, eh Ivan?” What they do is employ a robot program to steal sites when it can. Mine was caught like a fish in a net. Indiscriminately. But, instead of letting me go, the robot began to mine the site for personal information. Most sites have been monetized or subscribed to and so many sites have some data worth stealing. I didn’t monetize or use subscription tools and so mine was worthless but the robot didn’t know. The robot didn’t care. The robot kept my site. I was kidnapped.
Coincidentally, my domain name came due for renewal. I was not informed. It expired. So some other dickhead snatched that. And it was that theft that, when sold to an OTG referral site, lay over the site like the previous porn had done, I was alerted. I thought it was the same thing. It was not. This time the double ruse was revealed.
“How?”
Well, I naturally called Bluehost and they looked. “I am sorry, sir, we used to host you but you went somewhere else in February.”
“No, I didn’t. I went out your front door, walked around the block and came in the back door. Account A went to become Account B.”
“Not by our records. Lets go see who has it now even if it has been picked up by a vulture.”
“A vulture?”
“Oh yeah. Vultures lurk in wait for expired domain names. Any such names will drive traffic. So, they get ’em. Quick. Oh yeah, I see that you are hosted by SpeedyOne. They are in Amsterdam. Suspicious. Oh yeah, they have offices all over the world. IP addresses everywhere. This is a hacker server. You are now in the hands of hackers. Russians use Amsterdam a lot. Could be anyone but I suspect Russians.”
“Can I get it back?”
“If you pay the ransom.”
“Nah. Let ‘er die.”
“Ooohhhh….that’s brutal, man. Don’t you love your site?”
“Not enough to pay a ransom. I only have six or seven readers.”
“It says you have upwards of 900 hits a day.”
“They are all Russians and Chinese. Some Ukrainians now and then. Probably all robots. I suspect that are not really interested in me and my ravens?”
“Ravens?”
“Never mind. Let’s start another blog. Can I rescue my content?”
“Probably not. But here’s what you can do.” And so I did it. We are now half done. And we have rescued just about all of it. Pictures are history, tho. The site will be similar in the text to the old one. Not so much visually. New name, of course. The Russians will still have the original. I doubt they have much use for it. But they are in possession of a clone, now. The new site is the real one. The old site is the Russian’s.
Our Off the Grid Home 
Ahhhhh,
You’re back.
My Friday is now complete!
Well, after trying to log in to your site every few days for several weeks I figured that
a) the hackers had you
b) you didnt know or didnt care
c) Had company visiting and sold your website to AirBNB for a few weeks
d) Hit your head again and forgot who, where and when , you were.
e) Decided to supplement your income with advertisements of OTG crap
f) Had writers block
g) Decided to fight forest fires in Kelowna
h) Realized that you would eventually get your site up and running…..for your 6 fans.
Welcome back buddy!
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Thanks. Good to be back.
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Well, look, there you are, back again!! Nice. Sorry about the hackers. Crazy! Welcome back, looking forward to following your newly-named blog.
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What an ordeal. No fun for sure. Is the WordPress format new or was that what you used all along. I did a scifi book website for Wayne on WordPress but found it harder to use than Blogger. Probably because that was what I started with. I haven’t backed up my blogs yet, should do it tonight after reading about all your woes. Good to hear you got most of your text content back. You were mostly text only as I recall. Occasional pictures were always a plus in my book. We chickened out about going south for the eclipse, but are down in the States for the week anyway. Took a nice drive out to Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula instead. I’ll get you in my blog reader list so I can keep up with what’s happening. Welcome back. – Margy
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No. It was the same. Still is, kinda. As we rebuild it, we’ll add and subtract. Things will look a bit different but basically it’s the same.
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Welcome Back Dave.
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I met with a co worker today who is temporarily guiding for a fishing resort up by Bella Bella/Coola? He was mentioning that there are a ton of Killer whales this year eating/scaring all the salmon.
Are you noticing anything similar down your way?
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Actually, no. On the other hand, we have seen fewer orcas this year but more humpbacks. Maybe that’s the reason….
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Glad to see you are back. I thought you might have the virus – writer’s block.
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Nah. Writing has never been a problem. Writing WELL has been a huge challenge but drivel generation comes easy. And, if politics is to be indulged, there is simply a cornucopia of riches offered up every day! Trump went to Houston to assess the damage and, before a crowd, said, “What a turnout!”. So, it was not about the suffering of thousands, it was about him! I could write about dickheads like Trump all day long and never run out of material.
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Good you are back.
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Thanks. Good to be back.
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Great to see you back! I guess this is a warning to all of us blogger types to keep an eye on our site!
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Well, be glad you’re not in the Lowerbrainland this weekend.
The “Perfect Storm” for the oil companies.
Last Long Weekend of the Summer AND they get the added “bonus” of blaming Hurricaine Harvey for the overnight “double bubble” 15 cent per litre hike in gas prices.
From $1.39 to $1.54
Methinks this price gouging might be a HUGE mistake in the long run.
Money grubbing swine.
EVERYONE is complaining about it.
PEI has gas/price controls that they review on the last Sunday of each month. They then make an announcement whether the price is going up or down the next day…..so it gives people a chance to fill up or wait……..
Seems everyone BUT the oil companies likes that arrangement.
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We are enslaved by things like this. I get that. We have no choice. But the price hike so soon? The amount? It’s totally gouging, totally exploitive, complete greed. Corporations…the pigs amongst us. Governments…..their accomplices.
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Waiting for the next shoe to fall!
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Funny you should say that…..and I am barefoot….but wanting to hurl some shoes!
Had whales yesterday. Sal and I finished up scratch outdoor bathroom……mostly…..plumbing still to come….guests coming and going….so much to rant about….nothing sane to say, tho….Korea looming….time flying by…..Trump fatigue setting in….
……..maybe soon……
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