This is not an update I ever would want to write but, given just how common the practice is, I suppose this sort of thing could almost be considered an eventuality when you write in the digital sphere.

Earlier today I discovered that a website, http://gamedonation.com, has been stealing content from the Care and Feeding of Nerds. This isn't just a matter of 'hey, that kind of sounds like me'; the posts are lifted from here wholesale and are re-published word-for-word. Literally. Down to the tags I use to categorize entries.

I never gave permission for this action, nor is the owner of the offending site authorized to use my content. I've updated the site to move the text that used to exist in the 'copyright' tab in the menu that appears along the right-hand margin of the page into a new clickable page, Terms of Use, that you can see just below the main banner at the top of your screen. This was theft, pure and simple, and it is a violation of my copyright.

More than that, it feels like a violation not of my physical person, but of something trickier to put a single word to. The best approximation I can come up with is this. A few years back, I came home from Thanksgiving dinner to find that my house had been broken into. Mercifully, not very much was stolen or destroyed, but the knowledge that people had invaded that personal space without permission and acted as they saw fit was arguably worse than losing material goods.

This blog has been a labor of love. It was supposed to be a fun hobby that maybe, if I was lucky, entertained a few people. Maybe it's my fault for putting so much of myself out there or…in here…you know what I mean. It's a wild internet and these things happen all the time, but knowing that only makes this almost imperceptibly easier.