Bus annoyances

There are four reasons why I should probably stop trying to catch the 248 in the mornings.

( Behind cut for rantiness )

Note also that I don't normally ride the bus anyway, since I usually just walk to work, given that it's just a mile and a quarter or so. This means that the "past three or four times" is spaced out over a few weeks. Typically, I only try to take the bus when I'm running somewhat late or if it's raining harder than normal or some combination of the two. The fact that the bus is itself rather late most of the time doesn't really help matters at all.

An open letter to Cooks Source Magazine

Stop for a moment, look back on it all, and ponder that maybe it was the fact that you have acted like inane jackholes in all of this, up to and including this most recent statement (new link, because not only was the original message replaced by a newer one, it now looks like cookssource.com is gone altogether), that is the reason why you're still getting so much flak over this. This whole thing has gone way beyond the issue of the original posting-without-authorization of Gaudio's article and the asinine reply you sent to her.

"We have cancelled our Facebook page on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 6:00PM. It has since been since been (sic) hacked by unknown parties and now someone else unknown to us has control of it. Their inclusion of Cooks Source issues and photos is used without our knowledge or consent."

You're claiming that someone "hacked" your Facebook and posted fake messages from Ms. Griggs? I do not buy that, at all. You say you "cancelled" your Facebook on November 4, 2010 at 6:00pm. You obviously didn't, as it's still there as of the time of this post. If someone had really "hacked" your FB page, there would be all sorts of ridiculous stuff being posted by "Cooks Source Magazine" on that page, yet there isn't. The final message made by Cooks Source itself was in fact made on that same day at 2:33pm, before you supposedly "cancelled" it. There is absolutely no reason to believe that this message was not actually posted by Ms. Griggs herself (rather than some alleged "hacker").

Also, it's pretty obvious that you just don't get the Internet and thus I know this is difficult for you to fathom and all, but people "liking" your Facebook page in order to get access to it and then posting angry comments about how wretched you are is not "hacking." People taking your images (a lot of which you apparently stole yourself) and using them in their own profiles is not "hacking." People posting links to other articles that you plagiarized on the discussion page of your own Facebook is not "hacking."

By the way, how does any of that explain the original asinine email "apology" that was sent to Ms. Gaudio by Ms. Griggs? Was her email "hacked" as well, hmm?

"We also cancelled our website on the above date, as our advertisers were listed therein, and with the harassment that has taken place on Facebook, we felt was unsafe for them."

You mean unsafe for you, because people are contacting your advertisers and telling them what crappy plagiarists/copyright infringers you are, don't you?

"If you or anyone knows of this abuse, you should go to the bogus Cooks Source (or other bogus pages) Facebook page, look to the left side of the page and press 'Report Abuse,'"

Or, you know, we could not do that and leave them alone, since they're apparently doing a pretty good job of getting out the info that you are desperately (and rather incompetently) trying to hide, i.e. the names of your advertisers, the lists of other articles you've stolen, etc. Sure, most them are probably just in it for the "lulz," true enough, but that's the Internet for you.

"Last month an article, 'American as Apple Pie -- Isn't,' was placed in error in Cooks Source, without the approval of the writer, Monica Gaudio. We sincerely wish to apologize to her for this error, it was an oversight of a small, overworked staff."

No, there was no "error" or "oversight" made here. The only "oversight" you made was that you finally got caught intentionally posting articles to which you didn't have permission to post, and then acted like an arrogant jackass about it when confronted.

"Starting with this month, we will now list all sources. Also we now request that all the articles and informational pieces will have been made with written consent of the writers, the book publishers and/or their agents or distributors, chefs and business owners."

Needless to say, this is stuff that you should have been doing all along, you gibbering idiots. What, do you want a cookie now that you're (purportedly) obeying the law?

"However: Cooks Source can not vouch for all the writers we have used in the past, and in the future can only check to a certain extent." (Emphasis mine.) Hmm, that's pretty ominous right there, I have to say.

"To say this has hurt our business is an understatement."

Your "business" should be shut down completely, in my not at all humble opinion. At the very least. You being taken to court over all of the plagiarism/copyright infringement that you have done would be the ideal.

"The misuse of Facebook discussed above also applies to Ms. Gaudio: she did what she felt was the right thing, and doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment, either."

What does this even mean? Are you actually implying that Monica Gaudio is getting the same sort of justified harassment that you are getting? I find that really hard to believe. All I've seen has been overwhelming support for Ms. Gaudio, against you. And if she is actually getting similar harassment of which I am unaware, then yes, that is one of the only things we can agree on here. She, unlike you, doesn't deserve such.

All in all, that whole thing just reads like a big, whiny "we're sorry we got caught, so now we're going to try to mitigate this by playing the victim, shifting the blame, and being disingenuous" complaint letter, rather than any sort of apology.

(EDIT)

Looks like they finally wised up and took down the Facebook page (or else Facebook finally responded to their ridiculous cries of "hackers" and shut it down for them). With this, in addition to the apparent shutting down of cookssource.com itself, it appears that this latest Internet dramedy has finally wrapped up, with the destruction of Cooks Source Magazine (or at least the online presence thereof, as it's unknown if they'll try to keep the actual physical rag itself going). Good riddance either way, I say.

(/EDIT)