MacMinute got stolen [updated +4]
Even though this entry is about a Mac site, this will interest all readers. MacMinute is my favorite Mac site, and I have read it nearly daily since its launch many moons ago. (Here’s a quick history lesson: Stan Flack, MacMinute’s publisher, was the founder of MacCentral. The Mac news circle is a tangled web.) Its best quality is the design. All the news, just one page. Doesn’t sound amazing, but it’s an excellent page.
So great that it seems, another Mac news titan has decided to copy it. The site is called iPodWeek (www.ipodweek.com, I don’t want to give them any PageRank), and is run (according to an anonymous source) by no other than Jeff Valvano. Who’s he? Think AppleInsider. Think MacNN. I’ve heard Jeff is currently #1 at AppleInsider, but don’t know his status at MacNN (although I do know he was on the payroll).
So less “ties of the Mac web” stuff and onto the screenshots. Hopefully Jeff will change his design and these pictures will just show what was. He changed the site again… Looks even MORE like MacMinute. Please email them to let it be known that this can’t happen: email@ipodweek.com.
Update: iPodWeek is the first site to ever be “Mena’d”. There is an out of bandwidth error message. To combat this, I have posted a composite screen cap of the latest design before it went down (with the changes I spoke up earlier). This is a composite, some news items in the middle didn’t make it (I just put a cap of the top and a cap of the bottom together). Enjoy.
Update: I dug around their server (good old “cold calling” URLs baby!) and found more evidence of foul play: www.ipodweek.com/index2.html. You’ll note that the meta link to RSS reads as a MacMinute.com URL, the stories are word for word from MacMinute, and even the main logo’s alt tag is “macminute.com”. Heh.
Although these are telling shots, they don’t really convey the obvious similarity of the site. Down to the HTML comments. Go take a look at both, and if you think stealing a design is wrong, let Jeff know.
The biggest crime here is the size of that “iPod Week” icon. I mean, MacMinute’s icon was designed to be that small, but the iPodWeek icon looks ridiculously small (on the page) for its design.
The ultimate goal of the weblogger: to have your blog title become a verb meaning “destroy”.
Get a life. You have WAAAAAY too much time on your hands if you think this is worth writing about
I think perhaps he was inspired by MacMinute or something.. Heh heh.
Anyway, the site doesn’t work for me. And your screenshot is so blurry.
Heh. For the blurry screenshots, you gotta click on ’em to pop up the full size. The site’s down because of too much traffic. 😛
That’s darn damning, Jon. I hope he changes it. If not, when it launches, let me know and we’ll let MacSlash’s readers decide.
What ever happened to “piracy is flattery” or however that saying goes?
Hahah you are so evil.
Are you guys serious? You all need to get a life. This is not news. You people seriously need to get a girlfriend or a life.
-bow
Bow:
You must not have a commercial website. When you do, let me know so I can rip it off. After you blog it, I’ll be there to tell you that you’re a loser.
Bow:
This is a blog, a diary so to speak. It is simply a collection of Jon’s thoughts. If you think it’s news, then that’s simply pathetic and an obvious reflection of your limited mental capacity. Might I suggest that you get a life, and stop complaining about other lives.
Blog or not, I agree, all you morons writing about drivel like this should be ashamed of yourselves. I take it neither of you are married, have a wife or a life. Seriously. I just wasted 4 minutes of my life reading this crap and am now stupider for doing so.
-+bs+-
Hey “Brownstone” / “Bowing” you aren’t that bright–TypePad sends your IP address when you post comments. So even though you make two comments under two names and state I’m a loser both times, you’re the sad pathetic one.
If you can’t use your real name, don’t post. I’m sure you’re smart enough to hold your own without faking anything.
Hey, Brownstone/Bowing, if you don’t like it, don’t read it. Are you one of those guys who stabs himself continuously while saying “Damn, that hurts…”?
hmmm, MacMinute is an awesome site, and this is just wrong. Oh and the two guys who are one are probably that guy who own the site or work for one of his sites. Mind if I see the IP 😉 ???
Spratt_
http://www.UndergroundMac.com
Hacking and Security for the best of us.
Spratt:
Yep, my thoughts exactly. His IP is: 24.59.39.25. Have fun!
Well guys, it appears he switched Ip alreeady. But he lives in Syracuse, NY if that helps. Lattitude: 43.0512 Long: -76.1493. Anyways, sucks what he did, and I e-mailed the guy on the site. MacMinute really has a stable, nice looking, efficient design though, so i guess he just couldn’t take it. I’m sure he’s read this by now, and hopefully he will get some cojones and make his own layout. well nice blog you got here Jon, and keep spreading the good word.
Spratt_
Syracuse eh? I’m in Rochester, NY right now (an hour a way) and could very well track the IP down to his exact location, house number… etc 🙂
Great pull on the ipodweek story, I love MacMinute and a site stealing their layout definitely pissed me off.
Jeff’s not part of MacNN anymore… hasn’t been for a few years…