This has been a frustrating and annoying week for me as a blogger. Why? Because The Non-Consumer Advocate got hacked by someone in Istanbul on Monday, and it was a ginormous pain in the tuchus to get it back. Not to mention that I had to pay $89.99 to a service to take care of things for me!
It was difficult to not spend the week in a foul mood, so I made a conscious effort to engage in activities that make me happy, such as:
- I put vases of fresh flowers around the house. (From the garden of course!)
- I prepped dinner while the kids were in school, which made the evening hours less stressful. (I’m always in a good mood when I know I don’t have to make dinner.)
- I made extra trips to Goodwill.
- I sold stuff on Craigslist. (Crap out of the house, money in!)
- I tried to be extra accomplished, as it would counterbalance the this is completely out of my control aspect to the hacking.
And now? The blog is back, more secure than ever and I am floating on air.
So happy that I even put together a short video to share my feelings:
Is that clear enough? 😀
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, Katy. $90 sounds like a deal to me. That guy was scary lookin’!!!!
So glad you are back … I was so worried for you and your blog. Weeeeee 😉
Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
Katy
So glad…I quite depend on your site for motivation! 🙂
Glad to see your smiling face, and not that green-clad monster. Good on you to focus on the things you can do something about!
That whole hacking thing – it made me mad and feeling out of control – and it was your blog, not mine. It just pisses me off that someone would do that. You sound like you handled it better than I would have although the flowers would have helped me too. You are awesome and thanks for coming back.
Like everyone else so glad this is behind you. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I really missed being able to click on your site daily! I find your attitude and your posts to be so inspiring! And your video is adorable. 🙂 Glad you are back!
So glad you’re back!
Glad you’re back! I hesitated to check this morning – I didn’t want to see the stupid green ninja again. (Some people really need to get a life – or maybe be sentenced to cleaning grafitti off bridges with a toothbrush.)
As a blogger myself, I was mortified (!!!) by your hacking experience. We are all so vulnerable to internet nasties. You don’t even have credit card numbers or personal info on your site, so I don’t understand the point of hacking it. But then again, I’ll never understand why there are people out there who choose to be professional asses. Is your expense tax-deductible? I would think so. Anyway, very glad you got through it–rather quickly, too! Stay strong, Katy!
Believe me there arelenty of professional asses…I love that term. I have been dealing with narsasitic social paths the last year….ugh!
Miss your ‘thoughts’ yesterday! You are my morning coffee. Happy to see you again. Yayyy!
Sooo glad to have you back….and sooo frustrated that someone is so lazy and awful to hack your blog! Glad you bounced back….really missed your blog. Hugs from here and thanks for persevering through this! Raspberries to the poop that did this to ya!
What a creepy thing – I’m glad you fixed it and are back. I don’t really understand vandalism, and that’s what i think hacking is.
Katy,
Glad you’re back and that the blog is safe. If I could, I’d send you some chocolates thru the Web.
Hope the hacker gets a whole boat load of bad karma. Can you imagine spending your days just trying to annoy and piss people off? What a little, little life.
I’m so glad everything worked out ok. That creepy guy scared the bejeebers out of me!
So glad to see you back Katy! We surely missed you, but are HAPPY things got worked out! Loved the video!
Guess it’s time to research how to prevent things like this to my own blog. Have any resources you’d like to share?
I sure hope that there wasn’t any virus attached to that hack! It, too made me mad . That is terrorism and the government should do something about it. I have got viruses on my regular computer. It took days and I still had no deposits in my checkbook or addresses in my address book. We got better virus protection and carbonate. I know it’s not exactly non consumer, but for five bucks a month, my computer is backed up off site every night. When we gotna new computer, a few mouse clicks and all our data was back. What cheap insurance!LOL
So glad you are back! Don’t know if anyone else is experiencing trouble with the video clip…I can’t view it. It says error has occurred…try back later. Residual nastiness from the hacking? I wonder. Anyways, so glad you are back in action.
I have never posted before but like it was mentioned in the comments above, I really missed checking your site daily. Your quirkness and positive outlook is something I look forward to. I’m so glad I found your blog and I’m happy you got it back! Your site is literally the first blog I check once I’m done work for the day, it’s nice to be able to do that again 🙂
Welcome back! I made two trips to Goodwill this week and thought of you each time sending good vibes your way. You would be proud… I bought an oval framed picture for $9.99. I plan to spray paint the glass with chalkboard paint and spray paint the frame white. I will save it for my daughter’s birthday since she has been asking for a chalkboard!
Sounds like a great project!
Katy
I tried to look at your site a day or so back and was completely befuddled as to what was going on. Hackers are complete twerpos. Glad you emerged unscathed and are going strong again. Rock on.
I thought it was an April Fools with you in a thrift store costume, you are always so creative. Bummer.
Glad you and your site have persevered over the evil one! : )
It’s good to see you back! You were much missed, and I hope your hacker makes trouble for someone bigger and nastier than he/she/they.
My sympathies on the hacking. What a helpless and frustrating and embarrassing (when your email hacker sends pleas for money to your co-workers and boss … ) feeling.
Did that happen to you? How awful!
Katy
Welcome back!
Glad your back… I was begining to wonder what was going on….
I started reading thenonconsumeradvocate a few months ago and recently I decided (and figured out) how to start at the beginning and read all the way until I catch up to the present. Its like an immersion program in Non-consumerism! You’re so prolific I’m only up to Febraury 2010! So sorry about the stupid hacker. So glad you’re back! Love, love this blog.
Yes, there’s almost five years of archives, which makes for A LOT of reading.
Katy
Just want to say that I follow you blog and I think that’s horrible. I would be very interested in learning how they did that and also what you did to prevent if from happening again. As a website owner I have a personal interest in it. Glad you got your site back!
I hired the company secure.net to take care of removing the malware. It cost $89.99 for a year of their services, but the job was beyond my skill set.
Katy
So happy you’re back! I was so worried about you and your blog and all of the readers who love you. Hope this stays in the rearview mirror forever.
De-lurking to echo what many here have stated:
1) I, too, thought the hacking was an April Fools prank. Stunned to learn it was hardly the case, and mystified as to why your blog would be a target. So glad you were able to reclaim your space, though it came at steep cost to you. :/
2) Kudos on your insightful, educational, informative, and entertaining blog. Frugal living has been a stark necessity in my case, rather than the alternative lifestyle choice it might be for others. Your tips and tricks are endlessly helpful and inspiring. Thank you.
3) I have long been a thrift store aficionado, even before my financial situation dramatically changed. When browsing, I get so ensconced in the trance-like ‘flow’, all sense of time disappears entirely. My record is seven solid hours in one store – and I only ‘snapped to’ then, because they wanted to close up! Going through the racks, and looking over the shelves has a deeply tranquillizing effect on me, for some reason it’s the most Zen feeling ever. They say following your passions puts one ‘in the zone’ like that… must be true.
4) The thing that compelled me to comment most, however, was your little video at the end. Replaying it numerous times, I belly laughed so hard my muscles ached afterward! I don’t know if you’ve ever viewed any Jenna Marbles clips on YouTube – but your gaily spinning around and saying “WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” is a spot on Jenna-esque move. As a staunch fan of her hilarious videos, I found that to be EPIC. Well done! 😀
Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!
Katy
thank goodness you were able to remedy the problem. it was quite a suprise to be greeted by a creepy looking character when logging onto your site.
I saw the green hacker page, then the next day I clicked on your site, there was the post about Yummy Food from Goodwill. My first impression was that the hackers had posted that article; I mean, if you would not buy used lingerie, you would never buy faded old unlabeled ‘food’. And I totally forgot it was April Fools Day.