Lessons Learned: Protecting Your Blog from Domain Squatters
Then and Now
Every now and then in my SCA wanderings, I look back at old notes, posts, or lists and rediscover bits of Calontir history I’d completely forgotten I knew. Recently, while rummaging around in my 2019 memory-box, I came across a reference I’d made to a blog called Stars and Garters, which I had listed—quite confidently—as an “occasional poster from Calontir.” That was 2019.
Well, curious creature that I am, I went to look up the blog again.
Suprise, surprise! It is no longer an SCA blog. Unless Calontir has suddenly developed an underground interest in Hong Kong lottery numbers and Indonesian gambling statistics, which—while creative—is highly unlikely.
Because that is what Stars and Garters is posting now.
⭐ My First Thought: Maybe They Joined the “Persona Language Club”?
To be honest, when I first saw the unfamiliar language, my hopeful SCA brain tried so hard to justify it. For a split second I thought:
“Oh! Maybe they’re posting in their persona’s original language! Like how Trekkies sometimes slip into Klingon!”
We’ve all met that reenactor who turns up to practice speaking Middle High German or someone who proudly labels their feast gear in Latin. So sure, why couldn’t Stars and Garters suddenly be writing in medieval Flemish?
But alas… no. The language wasn’t Middle Dutch, or Latin, or anything faintly 15th-century. It was modern Indonesian, and the topic was lottery predictions.
Even the most generous medieval imagination has limits.
⭐ How Does a Calontir Blog Turn Into a Togel-HK Fortune-Telling Machine?
The short explanation is: the domain changed hands.
The long explanation is: someone forgot to renew the domain registration, and the Internet did what the Internet always does—it repurposed it for gambling ads.
Domains are like medieval fiefs: neglect them for too long, and someone else comes along, plants a flag, and starts collecting taxes. In this case, “taxes” look like strings of SEO-optimized posts promising to reveal the mysteries of Hong Kong lottery numbers.
At some point between 2019, when it was a mild-mannered SCA blog, and 2021, the domain appears to have been scooped up by content harvesters, dressed in a generic WordPress robe, and put to work predicting lottery outcomes. A strange career change, but I’ve seen stranger. (Have you ever attended a Calontir bardic circle? Anything is possible.)
A Lesson for All of Us Who Write on the Internet
This little adventure reminded me of something important: Domains are fragile creatures. They need feeding. They need renewing. They need regular doses of medieval whimsy to keep them from falling into the hands of international gambling syndicates.
So if you have:
- an old blog
- a persona page
- a scribal portfolio
- or that thing you swore you’d update “after Lilies” three years ago
Check your domain registration.
Signs Your Favorite Old Blog Has Gone Rogue
1. It suddenly speaks Indonesian.
Most Calontiri do not suddenly develop a passion for writing in Bahasa Indonesia without warning. Though it would spice up the next Bardic competition.
2. The author name looks like it fell asleep on its keyboard.
“fOT8EJXjf0m8ov5” is many things, but it is not someone’s SCA name.
3. Every post is about lotteries, predictions, or “breaking the mystery” of numbers.
If that was the mystery of Calontir in 2019, I must have missed the meeting.
4. There is no mention of garters, stars, the SCA, or anything involving glue, parchment, or the occasional chicken.
After knowing all that you now know you will feed your website. You will give it a treat.
Because if Stars and Garters can go from Calontir commentary to an oracle of Hong Kong lottery numbers, then none of us are safe.
⭐ Closing Thoughts (and Giggles)
I like to imagine the original blog spirit ia still wandering the digital halls, shouting,
“I used to write about scrolls and event reports! How did I end up predicting gambling numbers in Jakarta?!”
If blogs have afterlives, Stars and Garters is certainly having an interesting one. And if you ever find An Itinerant Scribe reincarnated as a cryptocurrency review site or a Norwegian fishing-equipment directory, please—please—come find me.
The easiest way to do that is to check in a nearby coffee shop. You’ll find me there with my apprentice, drinking something warm, muttering,
“Not my blog. Not today.”
