No, Universal Hub wasn't hacked
It was, however, spammed.
Just like the Weekly Dig, which, go figure, finds Universal Hub fascinating (and surely not just because I kept making cracks about their non-Web site for a month), Universal Hub is powered by Drupal. By default, this software lets anybody register for an account and, having done so, post something to the front page. In the two+ years Universal Hub has been up in its current incarnation, this has generally been a good thing.
What happened was some jerk registered for an account, then posted crap. It wasn't a hack at all, unless you define "hack" as "doing something any idiot can do, like registering for an account." As soon as I saw the post, I deleted it and blocked the user account in question.
Lessons learned: I can never go on vacation again while I let anybody get a UH account. And I need to tell the spam filter to start checking front-page posts in addition to comments.
Note to folks who found the post funny and wanted me to keep it up: The reason I deleted the post is that spammers sometimes use Google to see which sites allow their crap - so they can then spam them even more. Sorry, but you can understand why I don't want to encourage that.
Comments
Maybe it is time for the buddy system...
For when you go on vacation - someone can keep an eye on things for you.
Last year when I went on vacation my Web site disappeared the day after I left. I'd worked with the same hosting company for like 8 years and they went belly up, unexpectedly. Luckily, I had stuff backed up and found a new host quickly.
And UH is fascinating!
www.thebigredblog.com
And there be a lesson learned:
For every good intention, there's some jerk out there willing to exploit it.
Train Wreck or Quilting Accident?
Arrgh! The overlaps and margins! Zee glasses they do nothink!
The Dig's website looks like one of those slider puzzles that you have to unscramble to get a picture or a text clue. Only you can't slide things around to make it fit!
That dig, so forward thinking
So you're not going to take a dig at the Dig and wonder why the date stamp on that post is August 31? Or ask them where the "blogs" RSS feed is?