Bunkers Paradise Issues Apology for Plagiarism

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, January 29th, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • Golf Media

Hats off to the editor of Bunkers Paradise. After the HOG article yesterday showing several instances of plagiarism, and a backlash by other golf writers on Twitter, an apology for stealing other golf sites’ content has been issued. It is a step in the right direction for them and as hard as it must have been to admit, they did the right thing.

The offending writer has been let go and the copied content has been removed. The first excuse I predicted yesterday was the “I didn’t know the writer was stealing content” one. That’s in this quote below:

Today it was brought to my attention that another industry writer we hired for our news section was also plagiarizing work. I was under the impression and agreement that he would be producing original content, and as soon as I found out, the writer was let go. Whether they did not know the rules or not it is ultimately my responsibility that they do and I apologize for that.

Still, Ken Lee owned up to it as owner/editor and a tip of the hat goes to him for doing that.

This quote is a key in the apology:

Moving forward I can guarantee that this will never happen again.

I hope so Ken. As I told you on Google plus, duplicate content does not help your site. It hurts it, especially when the original content is from a much larger and more reputable site in Google’s eyes.

The key is quality original content.

Bunkers Paradise or Plagiarism Paradise?

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, January 28th, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • Golf Media

Last year, can’t remember exactly when, I started getting some phone calls from an unfamiliar long distance number. I was not aware of the first batch or two of calls, as my phone was in silent mode. In searching my call history, the caller was calling over and over, but never leaving a voicemail. I thought (dreamed) that Blair O’Neal or maybe Sandra Gal was finally stalking me. Unfortunately that wasn’t it. Then I started getting emails from someone I wasn’t familiar with, calling me names and saying “you are a coward” and such. These two people were the same. It was the editor or owner of Bunkers Paradise, pissed at me. It turns out he thought I was running the spoof Twitter account @golfblogGRR, which was calling him out on all his grammatical errors. As much as I would have loved to take credit for such a brilliant idea, I could not. But the BP dude didn’t, and probably still doesn’t believe said spoof account is not me.

Let’s get one thing straight. I’m no coward. I have NO problem calling out anyone and having the balls to put my own name on it. I’ve done it countless times over the DECADE I’ve been doing this. Quite frankly, I’d never even SEEN this guy’s website. I don’t visit many other golf sites. I’m too busy doing my own stuff to bother with them really.

Things have been somewhat quiet and I haven’t been stalked by the guy lately so that’s cool.

Today I was reading some Tweets and found one by a writer I greatly respect, Ryan Ballengee. Ryan pointed out a case of obvious plagiarism showing a link to the original article and the stolen one. The original was a European Tour website article, and the copy was on Bunkers Paradise. See image below.

Just change a few words here and there… nobody will notice. Click to expand.

Ryan said he’d talked to BP regarding copying other content, and they’d removed four articles at that time. It seems they didn’t change their ways.

Ryan’s post today sparked a very engaged discussion on Twitter. For the heck of it I picked a few other BP articles punched chunks of them into Google. In just 2-3 minutes I found several duplicate articles copied from the European Tour website, as well as other sites that cover golf. Sometimes BP changes a word or two in a paragraph here and there to disguise the copying. A couple of more examples:

Copy on left, original on right….

Original on left, copy on right… In this one they seemed to think they only needed to disguise text in the first paragraph…. shameless.

As a writer/blogger who has had content stolen many times, I feel the need to expose this for what it is. Plagiarism is such a fancy sounding word. I prefer the word STEALING. Sure we all make spelling and grammatical errors. Some writers are better than others. But stealing others’ content is shameless and inexcusable. It is not a mistake.

Oh I can already hear the excuses and reasons. I’ve heard them before from many other content hijackers: “I didn’t know so-and-so was writing these articles.” “My wife wrote them.” “We had a plugin that auto-blogged” them.

Golf is an honorable game. Stealing golf content is not in the spirit of the game and is grounds for disqualification. BP should issue a public apology and either close their doors or make some wholesale changes. They’ll probably do neither.

Title Credit

I wish I could claim it, but “Plagiarism Paradise” was coined by the mystery spoof Twitter user @golfbloggrr.

Cigar Review: Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Hemingway Short Story

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, January 28th, 2015
Categories: Cigars • Golf • Golf For Women • Golf Lifestyle • Reviews
Tags: Cigars

I’ve been a long time Arturo Fuente fan. Until this past week I had yet to try the Gran Reserva Hemingway Short Story. This is a fantastic cigar for golf because of its size. Easy to pack. Easy to manage. Doesn’t last too long. Oh, and the flavor is the best part. It is very tasty medium cigar, not too strong but does pack a lot of taste in a small package.

A-Fuente_GranReserva

I enjoyed my first golf round of 2015 with this cigar. I was 1-over par for holes which the cigar was in play, and 8-over par on non-cigar holes. You do the math. Proof that this cigar cuts strokes off your golf score!

I also enjoyed one with the lovely bride and a good friend who was in from out of town. All of the testers give this one high grades.

Length: 4.00
Ring: 48
Shape: Perfecto
Origin: Dominican Republic
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic

I wasn’t able to find this specific cigar on their site but these did come from my friends at Cigars City. I’m sure stock changes all the time, or perhaps I was being a bonehead and not looking in the right place.

Pricing on these cigars can be under $5.00 each.

RIP Canon S95 Camera – Did Not Survive Toilet Swan Dive

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, January 27th, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • Miscellaneous • Site News

It has been a while since I posted a “bonehead of the week” award. This award goes to…. me.

One of my key tools here at HOG, my pocket sized Canon S95 camera, has died a strange death. The cause of death was technically drowning, after it spontaneously attempted (and succeeded) a swan dive into the toilet. No, I was not trying to shoot a selfie or taking pictures of my private parts (need different camera for that with special macro lens). The camera was in the pocket of a hoodie I was wearing, and as I was getting ready to use the facilities the camera unexpectedly launched itself out of the pocket.

My broken Canon S95, with the lens which is stuck open… RIP old friend

There’s a bit of a delay when you see a $500 electronic item sitting at the bottom of the commode, where you normally see other “objects” which are not to be touched. Not sure if that slight pause was kiss of death or not, but it is definitely odd to have to reach into the pot and dig something out. First time I’ve done that, and hopefully the last.

I’ve used this great camera for many on course photos, videos, and many product photos. It has been a great tool in my arsenal since clear back in 2011. I’ve captured thousands of photos with it. It had a good run. Unfortunately I’m not really positioned to replace it at the moment. On a blog budget, one doesn’t have an extra $500+ sitting there waiting to be spent on equipment. And, more honestly, I’ve spent all my money on remote control multi-rotor helicopter parts for my aerial photo and video ventures.

$500+ you ask? I don’t go with cheapo point and shoot cameras. Though this is pocket sized, it is a much higher quality unit with a much wider lens than an average camera of this size.

I’ve inquired with Canon about repairs, but I’ve already repaired this one once after taking photos in a sandstorm. We’ll see what they say, hopefully soon.

Trash9Network Cutting 35 Full Time Employees

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, January 26th, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • Golf Media • Miscellaneous

Hartford Business is reporting that Trash9Network, sorry 69Network, oh… I mean Back9Network has let go 35 full time employees, or 41% of its workforce. The move is “a thoughtful strategy that will allow the network to remain competitive and produce engaging content while growing the golf lifestyle,” according to CEO Charles Cox.

Why not cut those employees? I think it is good business move. No need to pay all those workers when all your content is re-posted instagram feeds of slutty women’s photos. A cheap or free teenage intern can do that.