A few days ago I happened upon a link to a site called Macoholics. The site had linked to Airbag somewhere so naturally I clicked through to see what there was to see and to find what fame had brought.
Click and awe.
Macoholics (perhaps without even knowing it) had joined the ranks of several site before it. Sites that 'borrowed' their design. Macoholics was a site pirate and she bore the skull and crossbones tall and proud.
In the beginning it appeared that Airbag was not the primary victim. That honor fell upon Hivelogic, whose ornate mast design had been completely ripped off in a way befit a man wearing a ski mask standing at the checkout counter of the local connivence store in a backwoods county.
Even to the untrained eye it doesn't take much to see that the site pirate saw Airbag and Hivelogic as peanut butter and chocolate AKA a winning combination.
I emailed the link around to people who in turn emailed the link to Dan of Hivelogic. I would have contacted Dan myself but he won't speak to me anymore. That's another story for when we're all together laughing at those past times when thing are funny now.
A posse was quickly formed and Macholics was taken down — all the way to Chinatown.
Much rejoicing and singing could be heard in the town on that night.
This morning, after feeding the ferocious lion and panther a spot of tuna tar tar, came an email from Switzerland. It was from master photographer, Mark Howells who said "if you get tired of looking at your design, you might like this one."
Macoholics is born again, only this time without the chocolate.
UPDATE: I am happy to report that Dan and I have chatted a few times in the last few days and resolved any misunderstanding that took place oh so long ago.
As it turns out this is a time for laughing at those past times when thing are funny now.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Mark emailed David, the creative genius behind Macoholics, about "borrowing" design. Here is David 'Mac Attack' Neary's reply:
From: David Neary
Date: December 2, 2003 4:20:56 PM CET
To: Mark Howells
Subject: Re: Familiar?
Go and cause somemore trouble elsewhere.
###
Is David trying to pick a fight?
I think ripping off a web design is lame (and to be a Dad about it, you're only fooling yourself if you do it), but I have to wonder... where is the credit for the "repurposed" Orson Welles picture (or any of the others, for that matter) used for the masthead on Hivelogic? I know it's nitpicking, and I enjoy Mr. Benjamin's work, but still...
I had my site design ripped off a few times, but in each case a firm but cordial letter to the offending site promptly resolved the matter. It's a strange attachment we have to our designs, but nonetheless, it's an attachment that needs to be respected. I hope this matter resolves itself for you quickly, Greg.
But you're redesigning Airbag anyway right? : )
Let's hear that story about you and Dan Benjamin! Are we all together laughing at those past times when thing are funny now yet?
Maybe I am not getting it. Are you saying that Macholics is ripping your design, because he chose to do a center column layout?
Maybe someone can start a site where designers upload their unwanted/old site designs (css files and all).
I agree with Tom, I want to hear about you and Dan.
[Entry deleted] Scott, next time you want to make a comment leave your proper address. Don't be a coward.
Check here
http://hivelogic.com/theft/macoholics/
Aw, you should have left his comment. It's great to see fools in action, and his comment was as foolish as they come.
Looks like David is picking a fight.
Here is the true and sad story.
There was a time when Dan and I chatted frequently in the afternoon. One day I installed a new OS and had to monkey with reinstalling apps but forgot to save my preferences for MSN Messanger. In setting up the chat application I had to invite Dan to become my friend by sending him an email invite. Harmless, or so I thought.
His response was enraged and full of flying dagger anger because by inviting him apparently I had also sold his email address to Microsoft who was sure to immediately spam him and encourage other companies to send spam too. You would think I had just sold his soul to Satin, he was jus that mad.
And then quite suddenly I never heard from him again. No replies to chat, no replies to email. I even bought spam filtering software for him to try an make up for the future spam problem but alas no response, no nothing.
I learned all to quickly that not everyone on the web is as forgiving as maybe they should be.
Yikes. That's a shame.
Its a good thing that you live on the west coast and he's on the east coast, otherwise, he might have tried to kill you. How did you ever invited him to chate via MSN Messenger in the first place?
Mirror Mirror on the Wall.....
Firstly, David sounds like a twit.
Secondly, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, even from twits.
Thirdy, sorry to hear about your Hivelogic tale. Misunderstandings are the nastiest forms of disgruntled disgust and hate. Because it's totally unfounded in reality. Frustrating, too, since you can't really argue against a point based in fantasy. All you can do is sit and sulk.
Fourthly...oh wait. There is no fourthly. Okay I'm done.