If you have followed any blogs over the past few years you have probably noticed sites that die, and perhaps even get deleted by their owners, only to return some time later as bullshit advertisements. The latest one I happened to notice is the Retronaut blog, which used to have amazing old-timey photographs and articles about historical curiosities. But if you go to http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/ now, you get a typical ‘squatter’ site — in this case with “reviews” of “books” on miracle cures. I don’t know how long ago this happened, as I have not been as active as a blog reader lately, but WTF!
I bet a good many links on my own blog now point to squatter sites but I have never gone back to fix them, because in some cases I was holding out hope that the blog or site would return, or in others because I have been meaning to see if anything is cached in archive.org. I suppose I should work on that, because any ill-gained traffic those sites are getting from me must stop. If you happen to notice and dead or broken links while you are here, do let me know.
Swords & Dorkery 