Here's some self-linking coming.

September 3, 2006 4:51 PM

Here's some Pepsi Blue/self linking coming down the pipe for ya...
posted by dash_slot- to Bugs at 4:51 PM (48 comments total)

This guy draws attention to himself by making a badly misjudged comment about a useful and interesting post, made by a lonstanding member.
He lists his homepage as dilby.com, which quietly redirects to milliondollarnokia.com. That googles to a variety of sites telling us that the owner is gonna raise money for college by selling space on his site.
Quite apart from the crappy loop he got my browser into, this smells like a scam.
Is preemptive action reserved for Presidents, or can webmasters take it too?
posted by dash_slot- at 4:51 PM on September 3, 2006

I guess the poster's "on notice," now.
posted by cgc373 at 4:53 PM on September 3, 2006

Here's some Pepsi Blue/self linking

Self-linking is now being extended to include when someone makes a comment that draws your attention, then makes you click on their username, then you click on their homepage.

I just want to be clear, because that really seems like a stretch.

Also, the user has made all of three comments, two were on-topic, one seems silly and I'll remove it. What happened to giving people a chance to establish who they are before we start burning them at the stake?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:55 PM on September 3, 2006

His comment is helarious.
posted by delmoi at 4:57 PM on September 3, 2006

What happened to giving people a chance to establish who they are before we start burning them at the stake?

We burned that idea.
posted by eddydamascene at 4:59 PM on September 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

You also got the bit about a weird redirect from his published homepage to the commercial site?

He's got a shot across the bows, you got the heads up, it doesn't smell so fishy now. Win-win-win.

I hope.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:00 PM on September 3, 2006

Also, I went to his homepage and got no redirect at all.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:00 PM on September 3, 2006

FWIW, I don't know about scamminess but I can say that I loved the red, all-caps message stating "no chat for you!" because my IP address was "blocked". Irony, meet sawthesign.

As far as my post is concerned, the comment was (a)cutely ill-informed but yeah, let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:08 PM on September 3, 2006

Doesn't redirect me, either. Is this callout an incredibly subtle means of drawing our attention to the need for commercial software that detects and removes URL redirection-based spamming malware, dash_slot-? Stealthy Blue?
posted by jack_mo at 5:20 PM on September 3, 2006

Nah, goodnewsfortheinsane got redirected (and, like me, banned from his site) too.

Listen - google the name dilby.com, and/or milliondollarnokia.com. See what you think of it. It turns up PR sites, SEO sites, a host of self promotion. Maybe he wasn't gonna do it here. Maybe he won't, because of this post. Maybe my spidey sense is in need of recalibration. I dont care really. Either he doesn't self link (= I'm happy), or he does and my intuition was fine (= I'm happy, but not quite as much as I woulda been)
posted by dash_slot- at 5:31 PM on September 3, 2006

dash_slot-, by that logic, I'm calling YOU out!! Scammer. Either you don't self-link, and I'm happy (although still suspicious and wary!), or you do, and I was totally right to accuse you. Speaking of which... who's this mathowie character???
posted by jonson at 5:43 PM on September 3, 2006

www.foxknews.com also redirects there - and there is quite the comment spam for that in various blogs around the internets.

I dunno why not every reader gets a redirect, but so far, 3 domains - dilby.com, foxknews.com & milliondollarnokia.com - tied to the shy & retiring 'sawthesigns' end up crashing my browser.

I'll save the rest of my research in the hope that it isn't needed.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:56 PM on September 3, 2006

Heh, I've never been to his page before but an obnoxious pop-up keeps coming up to tell me that my IP is blocked. I practically had to shut down Firefox to get rid of it as every time I did it came back before I could close the tab, and it didn
t allow me to switch back to another tab. Sawthesign can go suck eggs for all I care.
posted by caddis at 6:09 PM on September 3, 2006

Goddess forbid that someone try to make a little money off their website.

... or did we forget where we are here?
posted by mischief at 6:10 PM on September 3, 2006

Also, the user has made all of three comments, two were on-topic, one seems silly and I'll remove it. What happened to giving people a chance to establish who they are before we start burning them at the stake!
posted by blue_beetle at 6:17 PM on September 3, 2006

I was only messing, dash_slot- - you're right, this bloke does seem fond of dropping links to his sites left right and centre.
posted by jack_mo at 6:19 PM on September 3, 2006

I'm crossing my fingers & toes now, 'cos I've seen such a lot of shit around the net with this creeps fingerprints all over it.

Howsabout: "This is the section where I have to spill the beans about things that America is not so proud of. First, I posted the Kobe's assusers information. Then, I posted the Nick Berg beheading video. Third, I published Paris Hilton's cellphone address book and information even though I wasn't the only site. Fourth, I posted the name, home address, and number of Judge George Greer in the Terri Schiavo case, thus making him and his family go into hiding. I've been on the net, most just haven't heard of me. I broke the Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes marriage proposal before any site even the AP, but no one gave me credit; it's okay."

The guy's got the bollocks to do that - well, he's winding up to shit all over this site.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:26 PM on September 3, 2006

Talk about guilty before the fact. Sheesh!
posted by mischief at 6:28 PM on September 3, 2006

I SAY WE KILL HIM FIRST & HAVE DONE WITH IT!!
posted by jonson at 6:29 PM on September 3, 2006

He's got a shot across the bows, you got the heads up, it doesn't smell so fishy now. Win-win-win.

I hope.

*turns off CWIS, sighs, slumps in chair*
posted by mlis at 6:30 PM on September 3, 2006

GITMO'S TOO GOOD FOR THE LIKES OF HIM!
posted by mischief at 6:30 PM on September 3, 2006

>an obnoxious pop-up keeps coming up to tell me that my IP is blocked

Yes. It was intensely annoying.

And if he thinks he's doing the world a favour by releasing the details of people involved in high-profile legal cases, presumably to make it easier for people to harrass them, then we should be very wary of him. What if he does it here?
posted by AmbroseChapel at 6:31 PM on September 3, 2006

He was also one of the first to publish Crystal Mangum's name on the web. (... though now, she has her own entry on Wikipedia. So much for shield laws.)
posted by mischief at 6:34 PM on September 3, 2006

Coming down the pike. The pike.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:26 PM on September 3, 2006

Coming down the pike. The pike.

no, pipe is correct ... pipes connect the internet ... pikes connect the ichthynet
posted by pyramid termite at 7:51 PM on September 3, 2006

Well, I was on the side of giving the benefit of the doubt until curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the user page link to see what the fuss was about. Now that I've restarted Firefox, I say burn the fucker! What kind of website has to say "IPs starting with 211 and 222 have been blocked until further notice"? Not to mention that fucking pop-up telling me that I've been blocked that won't go away.

Did I mention we should burn him? Well, we should, just for that - forget any accusations of self-linking, we don't need them.
posted by dg at 7:55 PM on September 3, 2006

Pop-up blocker is your friend.
posted by mischief at 8:03 PM on September 3, 2006

I don't get it, I just positioned my cursor over the tab close (x) button, hit enter to close the pop-up and then, apparently with lightning fast speed, closed the tab.

Anyhoo, throw him in the lake.
If he floats, he's guilty.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:03 PM on September 3, 2006

He lists his homepage as dilby.com, which quietly redirects to milliondollarnokia.com.

i'm running firefox 1.5.0.6 on xp sp2 ... the link goes to dilby.com and stays there for me
posted by pyramid termite at 8:08 PM on September 3, 2006

this bloke does seem fond of dropping links to his sites left right and centre.

Just to be perfectly clear here: the only link he's added to his site anywhere on the *.metafilter.com domain is on this user profile, under the field marked "Homepage URL".

I usually wait until someone actually commits a crime before I dub them guilty.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:11 PM on September 3, 2006

It's people like you who make it so hard for people like Tom Cruise to run a successful precrime program.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:23 PM on September 3, 2006

Pop-up blocker is your friend.
Normally, yes - this time, not so much.

I don't get it, I just positioned my cursor over the tab close (x) button, hit enter to close the pop-up and then, apparently with lightning fast speed, closed the tab.
Hmm, didn't think of that. Maybe we shouldn't burn him, then - can we just singe him a bit, though, now we have our torches lit and everything?
posted by dg at 8:27 PM on September 3, 2006

FF 1.5.0.6 here as well. As soon as I click the cross, another box re-opened with the same message. Ad infinitum.

I usually wait until someone actually commits a crime before I dub them guilty. - mathowie

I doubt he will be able to resist, going on past form. But I still hope I'm wrong.
posted by dash_slot- at 8:37 PM on September 3, 2006

I usually wait until someone actually commits a crime before I dub them guilty.

Marge: But main street's still all cracked & broken

Bart: Too late mom, the mob has spoken!

All: Monorail, Monorail, MONORAIL!

Homer: Mono-d'oh!
posted by jonson at 9:12 PM on September 3, 2006

His comment is helarious.

yours is pryceless.
posted by quonsar at 9:15 PM on September 3, 2006

Mathowie:

Could we do a cleanup on the blue thread while it's still salvageable? So far, all the comments are either about dilby.com or about the topic of the blue thread, with no mix in-between, so they can be excised without the "rendering the thread nonsensical and unreadable" problem that often prevents deletions.
posted by Bugbread at 10:50 PM on September 3, 2006

Please don't delete the comments to try to clean up in the thread.
posted by blasdelf at 7:10 AM on September 4, 2006

blasdelf writes "Please don't delete the comments to try to clean up in the thread."

You'd rather he replace them with pictures of dancing dogs, or rewrite them, or save move them into other threads instead?
posted by Bugbread at 7:39 AM on September 4, 2006

Feel free to edit the "save move" up above into just plain "move". Or replace it with a picture of a cat staring down a dancing dog.
posted by Bugbread at 7:41 AM on September 4, 2006

Would the staring down be done from a hole in the ceiling?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:45 AM on September 4, 2006

You'd rather he replace them with pictures of dancing dogs, or rewrite them, or save move them into other threads instead?
posted by bugbread

Apparently, dirtynumbangelboy has already found pictures to replace them with.
posted by leftcoastbob at 10:55 AM on September 4, 2006

Can we at least give him a few love taps with a pitchfork?
posted by deborah at 10:58 AM on September 4, 2006

Just some surface wounds, please? Only eight or twelve stabby holes... minimal scarring, no organ damage, honest!
posted by blasdelf at 11:48 AM on September 4, 2006

This would totally make an awesome movie starring Tom Cruise. We could call it "MeFority Report".
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 1:59 PM on September 4, 2006

There's people here who link to the Drudge Report in that field, and they aren't Matt Drudge.
posted by smackfu at 6:47 PM on September 4, 2006

an obnoxious pop-up keeps coming up to tell me that my IP is blocked

FYI, that's a relatively new tactic annoying sites are using to keep you on their page. In a nutshell, they're using the onunload handler, which is a javascript method that should never have been created to begin with. Much like other "event" handlers like click or hover, the unload handler is called whenever you exit a page--I suppose the intent was for developers to do some memory clean-up or something. I dunno.

In any case, if you rewrite the onunload handler to null, you can then exit the window. I've been thinking about writing a simple Firefox extension that you can run to remove the onunload handler from a page. In the meantime, you can use FireBug (google for it) and type the following into the console:

document.onunload = null;
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:42 PM on September 4, 2006

mathowie said 'this bloke does seem fond of dropping links to his sites left right and centre.

'Just to be perfectly clear here: the only link he's added to his site anywhere on the *.metafilter.com domain is on this user profile, under the field marked "Homepage URL".

'I usually wait until someone actually commits a crime before I dub them guilty.'

Oop, yeah - I meant elsewhere, not here.
posted by jack_mo at 6:11 AM on September 6, 2006

Full Circle.

Civil_Disobedient writes "FYI, that's a relatively new tactic annoying sites are using to keep you on their page. In a nutshell, they're using the onunload handler, which is a javascript method that should never have been created to begin with. Much like other 'event' handlers like click or hover, the unload handler is called whenever you exit a page--I suppose the intent was for developers to do some memory clean-up or something. I dunno."

It's stuff like this that makes NoScript so popular.
posted by Mitheral at 7:01 AM on September 11, 2006