Recently, I was informed via e-mail that one of the sites I'd linked to at the side was causing trojans to be downloaded. I'm very sorry that this may have affected some readers. When I am made aware of a new site, I check it and read it myself, but I don't link to every site every day (as that'd leave no time for writing posts!) so I don't always know immediately that something bad may be happening. Also, I use a Macintosh for web surfing (and Windows PC for gaming, I'm dual platform), and such problems often don't manifest on the Mac. (That's not a "pro Mac" statement. I like both of my platforms just fine. It's just an explanation of why I may not catch a problem immediately.)
If you discover a problem with a link, please e-mail me (contact information at the side) the link or leave a message telling me which link it is and politely let me know about the issue. I will investigate it on both platforms and remove any bad links. I do occasionally run the entire list of links to make sure they're not dead, though, again, I usually do this on a Macintosh. However, after this incident, I will run them on my Windows machine as well.
As for the links in question, they belonged to "Snackity Snack" and "Heat and Eat Reviews". Both sites used to be ran by the same person and I suspect that something has happened since she stopped updating them. Either someone has hacked her accounts (as she had some angry fans after ceasing to update without announcing that fact) or she has sold the domains off to someone else and they have placed something malicious into the code. At any rate, I have removed those links though it is a bit of a shame because the archived reviews were still of interest.
For the record, I would never knowingly link to a site which would damage my readers' computers. If this sort of thing happens, it has developed after I have linked to something. I get no benefits (no payment) from linking to other people's review blogs other than trying to be a "good citizen" in the reviewing community and spreading the word about related sites and have no incentive to link to a "bad" site.
As always, thanks to everyone who follows my blog. I really appreciate the support and it encourages me to continue!
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