420
Founder
Recently, 420Magazine.com suffered from the clutches of a website called Stopbadware.org. A link was posted that led to a website that Stopbadware.org alleged to have Malware. I want to be crystal clear on this, 420Magazine.com did not have Malware. Our Systems Administrators and Moderators and the rest of the staff here work very hard to keep the website clean.
Luckily, access to the site was only disabled for approximately 24 hours and 20 minutes before being cleared by Google. This did however confuse over 20,000 of our daily visitors. The paranoia of our industry runs wild when things like this happen, causing us a lot of drama and loss of very valuable time, support and energy.
As for myself, I was shocked when I opened up 420Magazine.com in my Firefox browser, and was greeted with a red page telling me the Website was unsafe. Knowing that it was safe, I tried to click through to the Website, and when I did, I was directed to the website for Stopbadware.org. I couldn't even get to 420Magazine.com. So after a few attempts and some major frustration, I tried a different browser, Internet Explorer. Then I tried Google Chrome. I know of others that used Opera, and they were able to get through to the site. Eventually, I went back to Firefox, and I had to go into the Security settings and un-check a box that warns the user of attack sites. I feel this is not something I should have had to do. If Google wants to warn people about a website, that is fine, but they should not have the power to keep me from it, as it is my choice, not theirs.
On behalf of 420Magazine.com and the staff here, I want to apologize to everyone who was inconvenienced by this unfortunate incident, as I know I was! I am sure it worried quite a lot of people, staff, members, visitors and sponors alike. Do not let this incident deter you from the best website on the web for Cannabis news, information, and help with legally growing your medical Cannabis.
Stopbadware.org is a third party website, on Google's Payroll. Could we blame them for this happening? Google, however, is the bad apple in this basket, employing them back in 2006, and that was the beginning of the end, of Freedom on the Internet.
From an article in 2006:
Now I am not saying that stopping Malware and such is a bad thing, it's not, and every geek knows that. However, what Google has effectively done is take control of the Internet as we know it. Many people use Google for their search engine, that is what Google started out as, and that is all they should be. However, since every company wants to make as much money as they can, Google took it's popularity to its head, and decided to invest in more control of the Internet. So now we have an Internet that is controlled to some extent by a Search Engine.
Last month, Google also gave it's search algorithms a major overhaul. This is from the article on CNN Money:
If Google's intent is truly to simply weed out content farms, and give the user the best search results possible, that is fine. However, if their idea is to promote websites that benefit Google in some way, shape, or form, then they are doing a dis-service to their loyal customer base, of which I was one, until recent events. They can use your cookies on your computer to give you results that they believe are "in your best interest" or "only what you want to see". Well, that pretty much squashes a search, doesn't it? If I want to see the same thing, I will bookmark sites I like, and not even need to use Google. The whole premise of a Search is to find out new information, not stuff we already know. When I do a Google search, I want widespread results. I don't want it narrowed down for me, by someone/something else. That is censorship, in one form.
This change has also had a major impact to owners of websites, not only is Google more or less suppressing search results, they are also causing hard working people to lose profit.
From the same article:
I am sure you have all heard of the Comcast/NBC merger. Now we face even bigger challenges to our Freedom of Internet. Comcast is going to want to limit bandwidth to Netflix, as they are a competitor, and promote their own content as much as possible. The fight is on in the court system as I write this article. I can only hope that logic and common sense prevail, and not big business and greed.
Members of 420Magazine.com, staff, soon to be members and visitors, please do not let this hiccup keep you from gaining the insight, information, or enlightenment that is available here. We were struck by a lightening bolt for a few hours, but thanks to a wonderful staff, we prevailed, just as we will in our Mission to end the War on Cannabis.
Jacob Husky
420 Magazine Staff Writer
Referenced Articles:
[1] Betanews - Google Aims to Block Malicious Sites
[2] CNN Money - Google's algorithm change hits 12% of search results
Luckily, access to the site was only disabled for approximately 24 hours and 20 minutes before being cleared by Google. This did however confuse over 20,000 of our daily visitors. The paranoia of our industry runs wild when things like this happen, causing us a lot of drama and loss of very valuable time, support and energy.
As for myself, I was shocked when I opened up 420Magazine.com in my Firefox browser, and was greeted with a red page telling me the Website was unsafe. Knowing that it was safe, I tried to click through to the Website, and when I did, I was directed to the website for Stopbadware.org. I couldn't even get to 420Magazine.com. So after a few attempts and some major frustration, I tried a different browser, Internet Explorer. Then I tried Google Chrome. I know of others that used Opera, and they were able to get through to the site. Eventually, I went back to Firefox, and I had to go into the Security settings and un-check a box that warns the user of attack sites. I feel this is not something I should have had to do. If Google wants to warn people about a website, that is fine, but they should not have the power to keep me from it, as it is my choice, not theirs.
On behalf of 420Magazine.com and the staff here, I want to apologize to everyone who was inconvenienced by this unfortunate incident, as I know I was! I am sure it worried quite a lot of people, staff, members, visitors and sponors alike. Do not let this incident deter you from the best website on the web for Cannabis news, information, and help with legally growing your medical Cannabis.
Stopbadware.org is a third party website, on Google's Payroll. Could we blame them for this happening? Google, however, is the bad apple in this basket, employing them back in 2006, and that was the beginning of the end, of Freedom on the Internet.
From an article in 2006:
Now I am not saying that stopping Malware and such is a bad thing, it's not, and every geek knows that. However, what Google has effectively done is take control of the Internet as we know it. Many people use Google for their search engine, that is what Google started out as, and that is all they should be. However, since every company wants to make as much money as they can, Google took it's popularity to its head, and decided to invest in more control of the Internet. So now we have an Internet that is controlled to some extent by a Search Engine.
Last month, Google also gave it's search algorithms a major overhaul. This is from the article on CNN Money:
If Google's intent is truly to simply weed out content farms, and give the user the best search results possible, that is fine. However, if their idea is to promote websites that benefit Google in some way, shape, or form, then they are doing a dis-service to their loyal customer base, of which I was one, until recent events. They can use your cookies on your computer to give you results that they believe are "in your best interest" or "only what you want to see". Well, that pretty much squashes a search, doesn't it? If I want to see the same thing, I will bookmark sites I like, and not even need to use Google. The whole premise of a Search is to find out new information, not stuff we already know. When I do a Google search, I want widespread results. I don't want it narrowed down for me, by someone/something else. That is censorship, in one form.
This change has also had a major impact to owners of websites, not only is Google more or less suppressing search results, they are also causing hard working people to lose profit.
From the same article:
I am sure you have all heard of the Comcast/NBC merger. Now we face even bigger challenges to our Freedom of Internet. Comcast is going to want to limit bandwidth to Netflix, as they are a competitor, and promote their own content as much as possible. The fight is on in the court system as I write this article. I can only hope that logic and common sense prevail, and not big business and greed.
Members of 420Magazine.com, staff, soon to be members and visitors, please do not let this hiccup keep you from gaining the insight, information, or enlightenment that is available here. We were struck by a lightening bolt for a few hours, but thanks to a wonderful staff, we prevailed, just as we will in our Mission to end the War on Cannabis.
Jacob Husky
420 Magazine Staff Writer
Referenced Articles:
[1] Betanews - Google Aims to Block Malicious Sites
[2] CNN Money - Google's algorithm change hits 12% of search results
buddy, I've linked this page to a few journals so everyone knows you're on the case 
