Baffling.

Prequel: I noticed that some pages were taking too long to load … I heard good things about WP Super Cache and I had tried it before, but it was messing up when toggling between web view and mobile view … randomly providing web users the mobile view, and mobile users the web view … I decided to give it another chance, tested, and it works … speeded up the site drastically.

Chapter 1: A week goes by and I notice a drop in site traffic … I analyze why and it’s mainly organic traffic from Google

More specifically, % Change -42.81% … ok, now I’m pissed… why all the sudden my search ranking dropped so much?!

Chapter 2: I perform a search for some of my main articles, such as Free Social Media Monitoring Tools. Result?

Buy Meridia Pill? Reliable Online Drugstore? WTF?! Where did this come from? I obviously never put that there … So I click through and it’s my regular content … but if I open the cached Google version, this is what I see:

My title, metatags, categories, links, headlines, all replaced with Meridia copy … And the only change I’ve made in months is to activate the WP Super Cache plugin.

Hell, if I search buy meridia pill my site is #5 … I hate this hack!

if you search Google for wp meridia, you’ll find other blogs suffering the same problem.

Chapter 3: I just disabled the WP Super Cache and I really hope this cloaking goes away soon and my site goes back to normal … If  you’re using the WP Super Cache plugin I suggest you check your ranking. If you know anything else about this hack, please let me know.

I’ll keep you guys posted on what comes out of this.

Thanks for listening.

[Update 1]: Just did some digging around and it appears it wasn’t WP Super Cache, it’s actually WordPress being hacked right at the same time I activated it … Some reading here, and here. Anyone running WP suffered this hack? How did you solve it?

[Update 2]: WP recommends you install the WP Secure plugin

[Update 3]: You can use Google Webmaster tools (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/labs-googlebot-fetch-2) to fetch the site as Google. Still messed up!

[Update 4]: After some heavy database digging and following carefully instructions from this blog, I was able to get rid of the cloaking. I had to search within my WP_Options for a bunch of keys and delete them all … really scary cuz I had no backup case I messed up … but it turned out good … Ran a few tests with the Google Webmaster tools googlebot fetch and it’s finally returning the correct results.

Sorry WP Super Cache for not trusting you, but you really came at the wrong moment. I will enable the plugin again tomorrow once Google re-fetches all the new cleaned up content and keep checking for problems within the next few days. I corrected the hack, but did not close the door for it to happen again … let’s hope it stays like that.

[Update 5]: I cleaned it, but did not patch it. The problem keeps coming back. How do you block this thing?!

[Update 6]: Changed all passwords; hack persists. Installed WP Secure and WordPress exploit scanner … run them, found nothing.

[Update 7]: I was hesitant to upgrade WP to 3.0 and all plugins in fear of something breaking and I was not going to have time to take care of it … but @Brandon gave me that confidence as he had upgraded all his blogs … status: running 3.0, upgraded all plugins, uninstalled all unused plugins … so far so good. Everything is working great, no traces on hacks. Re-enabled WP Super Cache and it’s working great. Thanks @Brandon for your time to help solve this issue.

[Update 8]: good morning, it’s still happening! Can’t get rid of this thing. So I installed WP Secure and locked down the entire installation … no more access to wp-content or wp-includes … wp-content broke my header rotator and my favico, but I added rewrite rules to work around it. The wp-includes broke the TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor in the backend, so I had to edit the htaccess file to allow access to wp-tinymce.php.

I was out with some friends having a drink tonight when the conversation sparked a memory of a big prediction I had a couple years back. Everyone thought it was a bit nuts, but in the interest of making it public record I’m going to share this prediction with you. Why do I need to make it public record? Well, according to my friends one or all of the following thing will happen if I’m right:

• They will immediately pay me $1,000,000
• Pigs will fly out of their asses and do some form of aerial acrobatic show.
• Hell will not only freeze over, but Satan will open some form of ice skating rink that also serves free heart shaped lollipops.es

Now that I’ve got that out of the way I’m going to share one of my most far out predictions for the future. Call me crazy, but I truly believe this will become reality in our lifetime.

Does anyone remember  BattleBots? It was a series of tournaments where remote controlled robots loaded with weapons and a healthy dose of armor kicked the snot out of each other in an arena. It reached it’s cultural peak in 2000 to 2002 when 5 tournaments were aired on Comedy Central.

The advancement of robotics over the coming ten years (and ongoing generations) will allow us to  build some fairly sophisticated robots. They’ll be bigger, faster, be able to handle bigger weapons and sustain more damage.

I predict that in ten years time robotic combat will become a more frequently viewed televised sport and in the coming decades will become a major spectator sport.

The reality is we love violence and competition. It’s evident in the sports we like from American football to Ultimate Fighting Championships. What boy wouldn’t love to watch four eight-foot robots rip each other to shreds with machine guns, flame throwers, and modified chain saws?

Apparently ESPN has just licensed them for another seasons that’s coming out in the spring of 2009. I’m interested to see how an updated version feels after 7 years off the air. Additionally it will be interesting to see how a sports network approaches it as opposed to a comedy channel.

Hopefully, you don’t mind my deviation from trend watching in marketing and simultaneously don’t think I’ve gone mad.

(I’ll have the last laugh though…. Oh you’ll see…. You’ll see…)

Today I was reminded of why I love the internet so much.  Google Street View, arguably one of the most amazing mapping innovations to ever hit my computer (or now my iPhone), has inspired over the last couple years a mildly obsessive compulsive behavior that drives people to look for odd things captures as the Google car drives by with it’s omni-prescent lens.

Recently it caught two live action roll players (LARP’ers) engaged in a harrowing battle for domination of the remote control for that evenings Lord of the Rings marathon.

If you don’t believe this is real then I insist you click the link and check it out for yourself. Make sure to switch on streetview and look around if it doesn’t take you there directly.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

This gut-wrenching PSA used a children’s song to depict the ravages of ALS. [Read more]

This PSA conveyed the experience of an asthma attack on a shockingly visceral level. [Read more]

Another disturbing PSA: this one from Amnesty, depicting the waterboarding torture technique. [Read more]

These anatomically jarring PSAs from Singapore made the case that verbal abuse can be just as horrific as physical abuse. [Read more]

What can you say to your chicken dinner when he asks you to hook him up with a girl just as you’re marinating him? [Read more]

After dreaming of hash browns filled with cheese, the hero of this BK spot woke up with a nasty case of “morning tongue.” [Read more]

This gross print campaign made you wonder if you’re actually feeding your dog—or the worms inside him. [Read more]

The rotting undead, doomed by high cholesterol, livened up this Colombian health campaign. [Read more]

Ross taught many a lonely Web surfer how to kiss, with gusto, on his very own Converse-branded Web site. [Read more]

A trip to the tanning booth did not end well for this young woman. [Read more]

When you die, said this non-profit, donate your organs to your fellow humans, not to insect larvae. [Read more]

A wayward spicy tongue ruined a young couple’s date in this Doritos commercial. [Read more]

This ultra-creepy German ad depicted the lingering trauma of sexual abuse. [Read more]

What’s that? You want to see a nude 86-year-old woman criticizing Holland’s homecare policy? OK, you got it. [Read more]

The troubled singer stripped down for this British magazine’s breast-cancer awareness campaign. [Read more]

This promo encouraged viewers to attend the musical, but maybe not linger beneath the marquee. [Read more]

A woman figured that licking everything in sight was the best way to check a room’s cleanliness in this spot for the motel chain. [Read more]

The very insane Gary Busey offered manic, nonsensical business tips in this collection of 40 spots. [Read more]

This Web site urged you to upload photos of yourself and a special friend, so all three of you could sleaze out in the hot tub. [Read more]

Hunting for berries to make Sweden’s Jokk juices is extremely dangerous, but worth it. [Read more]

The Japanese company turned to a creepy, fake-smiling fembot to promote its sunscreen. [Read more]

New Zealand tackled the issue of drivers falling asleep at the wheel with all the subtlety of a splattered skull. [Read more]

The automaker Lotus decried the loss of individuality with ads (and street marketing) starring faceless people. [Read more]

This nightmarish Swedish commercial for McDonald’s coffee might keep you up at night. [Read more]

Misplaced mouths cried for help in this campaign for a Novartis throat lozenge. [Read more]

The too-often-marginalized man-horse hybrid got a chance to shine in this Old Spice spot. [Read more]

A human piñata recovered from a beating at the hands of a Skittles-seeking colleague in this off-kilter spot. [Read more]

This ad for an Israeli bookstore ridiculed non-readers for their shrunken, intellectually impoverished heads. [Read more]

This spot characterized the employees at rival airlines as two-faced freak-show monsters. [Read more]

The Texas shop’s intra-agency YouTube challenge featured a shocking admission from Masters of the Universe character Jitsu. [Read more]

Women with migraines literally lose their heads in this OTC pharmaceutical spot. [Read more]

This unnerving viral for a Dutch travel agency showed an airplane crash-landing into the Mediterranean. [Read more]

One quick way to do this is impress your co-workers with a skilled series of dares. We have devised the following point system to help you succeed at office dares. Try these out in whatever order you think works best.

One-Point Dares

1. Ignore the first five people who say ‘good morning’ to you.
2. To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
3. Leave your fly open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, “Sorry, I really prefer it this way”.
4. Walk sideways to the photocopier.
5. While going in an elevator, gasp dramatically each time the doors open.
6. When in elevator with one other person, tap them on the shoulder and pretend it wasn’t you.
7. Finish all your sentences with “In accordance with the prophecy…”
8. Don’t use any punctuation.
9. Interrupt your conversation with someone by giving a huge dejected sigh.
10. Use your highlighter pen on the computer screen.

Three-Point Dares

1. Say to your boss, “I like your style”, wink, and shoot him with double-barrelled fingers.
2. Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle.
3. Shout random numbers while someone is counting.
4. Every time you get an email, shout ”email”.
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has got over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6. Keep hole punching your finger. Each time you do, shout, “dagnamit, it’s happened again!”. Then do it again.
7. Introduce yourself to a new colleague as “the office bicycle”. Then wink and pout.
8. Call I.T. help desk and tell them that you can’t seem to access any pornography web sites.

Five-Point Dares

1. At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2. Walk into a very busy person’s office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3. For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as “Dave”.
4. Announce to everyone in a meeting that you “really have to go do a number two”.
5. When you’ve picked up a call, before speaking finish off some fake conversation with the words, ”she can abort it for all I care”.
6. After every sentence, say ‘Mon’ in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in: “The report’s on your desk, Mon.” Keep this up for one hour.
7. In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, “Shut up, damn it, all of you just shut up!”
8. At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, “As God is my witness,I’ll never go hungry again!”
9. Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: “Do you hear that?” “What?” “Never mind, it’s gone now.”
10. Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuit; smash each biscuit with your fist.
11. During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
12. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
13. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
14. Sign or p.p. all letters with your initials and a swastika.
15. Dry hump the photocopier. When someone spots you, stop and cough embarrassingly, then lean in to the machine and whisper loudly, “I’ll see you tonight”.

The freestyle championship below is shown in it’s translated form. The original can be found after the jump.

Classic….

The Original:

Beyond the fact that this is damn amusing I actually think it’s pretty great that the prison endorses this unusual method of rehabilitation. The prisoners must know that well over 30 million people have watched their performances and this must give them some sense of pride.

Apparently they’ve been the subject of two documentaries now and they even open the prison on Saturday for two hours to allow guests to come watch their performances.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!