Hot days call for no bake recipes, refreshing drinks and cold ices so on this weeks #CookBlogShare round-up I have chosen 5 summer sizzlers. Recipes which I think are just perfect to make during a heatwave.
Guild of Food Writers Awards
Gosh, four weeks have passed in a flash since I lasted hosted #CookBlogShare and a lot has happened it that time. Three weeks ago the Guild of Food Writers of which I have been a member for many years had its annual awards party. Its the biggest event of the year and I always look forward to it. This year especially so, as I was honoured to be asked to co-ordinate and be one of the judges for the British Food Category. All the GFW awards are judged by other members of the Guild. It was a tough but rewarding gig as we had to choose from reference books, cookery books, magazine articles and radio programmes, all of which were of a high standard. In the end though we all agreed on a winner; Sue Quinn for her writing in the Dorset Magazine, we thought her articles well written and they really championed small producers in her local area.
The British Food Award was one of several awards, including Cookery Book of the year, which went to The Modern Cooks Year by Anna Jones. (I haven't read it but it's on my wish list.) The Food Blog of the year was won by Grand Dishes a blog featuring recipes from grandmothers from around the world. Well worth checking out. I was pleased when my local Borough Market won the Magazine of the year with Market Life and Joanna Blythman, whose writing on food ethics I find informative and well balanced, won the Food Writing Award. The full list of winners can be found on the guild website.
Finding my site was being cloned
As usual, the party was a grand affair with lots of delicious food and drink, as well as a chance to meet up with new old friends and make new ones. But my enjoyment was slightly tempered by the discovery on the same day that my entire Recipes Made Easy blog was being cloned. At first I feared that my site had been hacked, but a friend of mine who helps me with the technical side assured me this was not the case. She was able to pinpoint that they were getting the site from my RSS feed, an automatically updating feed, from which they copied my site and were publishing it as their own. So each time I published something new there it was in a matter of seconds on the other domain. To say I was shocked was a bit of an understatement. There was every word I had ever written on the blog on another domain with my name being replaced with another (still my mug shot though) and anywhere I had written Recipes Made Easy it had changed to their blog name, yet my logo remained at the top of the page. I'm not revealing their name or the name of the site as I don't want to give them any legitimacy or traffic!
Copyright Theft
Having got over the shock and knowing the security of my own site and its data was not compromised, I was less worried. But lets face it, this was a very clear-cut case of copyright theft. I was initially a bit concerned about duplicate content affecting my site ranking on google, as it has been known for copycat sites to rank higher than the original in the past! But further research and it would seem that Google are now better at identifying the original source, so that put my mind to rest on that count.
So given that this was copyright theft and there are laws governing copyright theft even on the net, it would surely be fairly simple to get this site taken down. Right! Well maybe not! First you have to try identify exactly who is stealing your content easier said than done. Then try to get them to take it down. Some three weeks on and many wasted hours later the site is still there. I looked up the domain and sent a DMCA ( a legal document that states copyrighted material is being used without permission and the content should be taken down) to where the domain was registered. They got back to me to say they are just the registrar so it was nothing to do with them but they have passed on the DMCA to their client - Needless to say nothing happened. I then had to find the hosting company, but they are hidden behind Cloudflare. I filled an abuse complaint through Cloudflare but for some reason, it wouldn't go through. A second attempt and they have come back with a hosting company. Next I contacted them also issuing another DMCA. To cut a long story short they have all been giving me the runaround, no one is interested in taking responsibility saying they can't do anything without an IP address. I tell them to get in touch with Cloudflare who won't give me the IP address but will pass it on to them. They don't I ask again, and so it goes on.
Meanwhile, the site is still up, but my techy friend is on the case trying work out what exactly is happening and to try it more difficult to copy. She has helped me to add watermarks to all the main images. As they are just copying my feed these now appear on their site too and for the time being, she has managed stopped the automatic transfer of data to the rogue server. Reporting to Google, while it doesn't get the site taken down has helped, as this means that now they have recognised that it is copyright abuse, most of the pages I have reported are not being indexed by them so have become harder to find. All these are small victories for which I am grateful. Meanwhile, I am still trying to get the site taken down permanently.
Wasted Time
What I hate most about this is that it is eating into my time which could be much better spent, but I can't just let this go. I have less time to create new content or make improvements to my site. Social media has to take a back seat and I have less time to visit other blogs and generally reach out to my readers and fellow bloggers and I really resent that. For that I am so sorry please bear with me hopefully this will soon be sorted. I'll keep you posted.
Breaking News
Update 12th July 2018. After my techy friend managed tgo identify the IP address and reporting to the company whose servers they were using. They have now locked her out and the site is off line. Hopefully for good.
#CookBlogShare Summer Sizzlers
So back to the job in hand. As usual, there were some fabulous recipes linked last week. Given that here in the UK we are in the middle of a much longer than usual Heatwave it seemed only too right to pick recipes that are just right when you want to take the heat out of the kitchen.
Raspberry and White Chocolate Ice cream
Who doesn't like ice cream when the heat is up. To be honest I could eat ice cream any day of the year and this fabulous Raspberry and White Chocolate Ice Cream from Searching for Spice certainly ticks all the boxes for me a great flavour combination. I will be making it with some of my home grown raspberries as soon as I can find time.
Fresh and Zingy Lemon Sorbet
This Fresh and Zingy Ice Cream from Apply to Face blog will do the trick on a hot day. While you are there have a giggle at Jenny's witty writing which always brings a smile to my face and any lady of a certain age will so identify with.
Water Melon Punch Keg
If you don't have the energy to make ice cream or sorbet then a nice refreshing drink is the next best thing. Water Melon Punch Keg from Pointsettia Drive is perfect for parties and has the added kick of Vodka and is served straight from the watermelon itself.
No Bake Pineapple Tartlets with Passion Fruit
It may be winter down under but that hasn't stopped The Food Journey publishing a recipe for these No Bake Pineapple Tartlets with Passion Fruit. OK so I know the Australians may have a different idea of what a heat wave is to us but this recipe is very timely. Who wants to put the oven on just now.
No Bake Healthy Cereal Bars
These Healthy Cereal Bars from Sneaky Veg are packed full of great ingredients, such as dates, seeds, oats and berries. And are another great no bake treat perfect for lunchboxes, snacks or a healthy sweet treat.
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
What an absolute nightmare Jacqui. I'm so glad that there's been a happy ending to the cloning story with your friend successfully helping you trace the information that the (unhelpful) hosting sites needed.
Angela x
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Sadly not there yet but hopefully now they know we are on to them and are making it as difficult as we can they will eventually give up. But i think they have invested a fair bit of time removing back links etc i fear it will not give in easily.
jenny walters
So good to hear that Jacqui.I have been thinking of you.What a blinkin nightmare.
Thankyou for featuring my sorbet in such a great round up.I hope your veggies have been ok in all this scorchio weather!
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
So glad you got the cloning sorted, what a horrible issue to have to face!
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Not entirely sorted but getting there.
Choclette
How very frustrating for you Jacqui. It really shouldn't happen and if it does, it should be easy to sort out. Glad you've finally got it sorted. Crossing fingers it doesn't happen again.
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Ive got everything crossed hoping it doesn't happen again.
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
My, have you been busy! The GFW awards sounded like quite the experience. But having your site CLONED?! Wow. I didn't even know that was a thing. I DO know that sending DMCA takedown notices is quite the rabbit hole to go down, with all of the hoops you have to jump through. I'm glad that Google, at least, is aware and penalizing this unethical person for stealing your content. Thanks for hosting: these cool treats are just what I need for the hot streak we've been having!
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Tanks Michelle and yes it great that I finally seem to have had success in getting it taken down
Monika Dabrowski
This cloning business sounds awful, but I can understand how you don't want to let it go, you must be so upset. Why anyone would do this and how they think it might benefit them I cannot comprehend. I hope this gets sorted soon. I am glad you got to go to the food awards ceremony, sounds fun and you were a judge too, congratulations! Great roundup too!
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
I can only assume they were ultimately aiming to get the copycat site up independently of my feed at some point and pass it off as a legitimate site perhaps for advertising. So glad that today it has now been taken down.
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
Oh, WONDERFUL! Such great news.
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist
Oh my goodness. That is absolutely terrible. I am so sorry... It is not just the fact tha t the cloning has been going on, but the stress, time and effort in playing detective and trying to sort it all out must be immense. I so hope it all gets sorted soon x
Marilyn Lesniak
Thank you for hosting! My offerings this week include Peanut Butter Lovers Cheesecake Bars, Very Berry Pancakes and Egg Salad Sandwich. Enjoy your week!
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Thak you Marilyn.
Debbie
oh no Jacqui - so sorry to hear about the cloning of your site - Its so unfair that people can get away with stuff like this. Especially when we all know how much time and effort goes into a blog and creating content. I really hope you get it all sorted soon.
The Guild awards sound so glam - I'm really interested to learn more about all of this as I have just, this month, been accepted as a member myself!!! So excited 🙂 - so hopefully we can meet up again soon at a Guild of food writers event! And maybe have a bit longer to chat this time eh 🙂
Loving the round up - Corinas ice cream looks so refreshing and I do love a good sorbet - although Ive never attempted to make my own. I guess now is a good a time as any with this fabulous weather 🙂 Thanks for hosting!!
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Welcome to the Guild Debbie. It used used to be a bit of a stuffy organisation but not any more. would be fabulous to catch up with you at a guild event.
Mandy
Oh Jacqui I'm so sorry that you are still having a nightmare trying to get your site sorted! I really hope you get it taken down soon and you're right not to let it go. So unfair. Thanks so much for finding the time to do Cook Blog Share amidst all the drama - and thank you very much indeed for featuring my no bake cereal bars.
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
you are welcome and it is the least i can do to pay back the support of the #CookBlogShare community.
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook
Jacqui, that sounds insane. Something happened to me with other sites - they used my photos but never linked back to me. Another thing - my photos were used in a menu in the local (small) restaurant and they changed/edited the color of my plate.
Anyway, thank you so much for hosting and I am salivating now after seeing these yummies. Have a lovely week! x
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
when i had some pics stolen on instagram they started removing them within hours of me reporting and the whole account who were also stealing others content removed within 24 hours i was impressed by that. I think this is a case of no one taking responsibility and so im given the run around
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
Oh gosh Jacqui, that does sound awful! Why oh why is it so hard to get something that is a blatant copyright infringement taken down? I feel like there should just be some sort of internet police who would sort this out on your behalf. It really shouldn't be you having to run around and sort it out. Imagine if that was how we dealt with offline crime!! Eb x
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
I know its crazy.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
Great choice of round-up for this sizzling hot weather we've been having (not that I'm complaining lol).
I'm really pleased to read that even though you haven't managed to get the copycat site taken down quite yet, the things seem to be on the up with Google not indexing it and most of all no new content being transferred! I can only imagine how stressful this whole situation is for you and keep my fingers crossed for the positive outcome ASAP! x
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Thanks Jo It really shouldn't be this hard but clearly those doing it know what they are doing even down to the choice of a dodgy hosting company who is not behaving responsibly.
Corina Blum
Thank you so much for featuring my ice cream! I definitely don't feel like doing too much cooking at the moment so these recipes are all perfect and I'd love to try Jenny's sorbet too.
I can imagine how frustrating it must be trying to deal with all the issues around your blog being cloned and it's quite shocking that it's so difficult to get the other site taken down. It's good you've at least got someone techy to help as I don't think I'd know where to start if it happened to me. Fingers crossed the site does get taken down soon.
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Yes its great to have the techy help as it least I am now not making it so easy for them.
Nickki
Hi Jacqui, thank you for being host this week! Firstly, congratulations on being a judge at the food awards - amazing! That Anna Jones book is amazing - a very deserving winner. I borrowed it from the library recently but I will be adding it to my collection very soon.
I’m so sorry you’re still having trouble. It just doesn’t seem right that someone can get away with this! I wish I knew more about it so I could help you out, but I’m afraid I’m not very tech savvy (I’m trying to learn more!)
Hope you get these issues resolved soon. Have a great week Nickki
Jacqueline A Bellefontaine
Thanks Nickki. If I thought judging the British Food Awards was hard enough The cookbook category would have been much harder with quite literally hundred of entries.I cant wait to read the winning entry, as soon as I get some spare time. Lol. Thanks for your support re the site it is more frustrating than anything else my time could be much better spent.