Weekly Roundup – Evil Scraper Edition.

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. My blog was scraped by an unscrupulous thief. These jackasses steal the entire article bloggers publish and republish it on their site, presenting it as their own. This is stealing and it is illegal. Unfortunately, they also do not make it easy for you to contact them. I will have to contact their webhost and file a formal complaint, as well as contact Google AdSense and report their account. This is against Google’s Terms of Service. Hopefully any funds they earn will be forfeit and will never be paid to the thieves who stole my articles.

Mrs Micah recently wrote about dealing with a similar issue, and laid forth the steps for dealing with scrapers. Scrapers are thieves and make the internet a less enjoyable place for everyone. To end on a positive note though… they did leave some of my referral links intact, so if anyone clicks on the links to make a purchase, I will receive a commission… small chance of that happening though!

Free Money Finance Money March Madness Tournament. FMF from Free Money Finance is holding a March Madness Tournament, pitting different blog articles against one another. The winners advance to whittle down the field. The tournament champion will receive a $500 donation to the charity of their choice. Thanks for holding this tournament, FMF!

Here are my favorite articles this week from the M-Network and around the personal finance blogosphere:

• Being Frugal – What Are You Paying For?. Lynnae writes about spending on status symbols. It’s amazing how much people will spend on basics – just because they can.
  
• Gather Little by Little - Becoming a saver when you like to spend. Great tips on how to reign in your spending. This was a guest post by Lynnae, who filled in for glblguy while his family was sick.
• I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… Perfection is the Enemy of Progress. In business, we use the Pareto rule – or the 80/20 rule. Focus on those things that will give you the highest return for your efforts, then decide whether or not to take care of the other things.
• Moolanomy - Living Stress Free Without Budgeting. Pinyo admits that he rarely budgets. I admit that my system is actually fairly similar to his.
• My Two Dollars - My Sources Of Alternative Income And How I Make Them Work For Me. I think diversifying your income streams is extremely important, and something everyone should try to do.
• Plonkee Money - how much do i need to earn? reverse engineering my ideal salary. Interesting way to look at how much you would need to earn to live your ideal life. And yesterday was Plonkee Money’s one year anniversary! Happy birthday!
• Single Guy Money - Avoiding Identity Theft – Part 1. Great tips on protecting your identity.
• The Dough Roller – My Virtual Library. This is a great list of investing resources.
• All Financial Matters – What Do You Actually DO For A Living? I ask myself this question all the time…
• Chance Favors the Prepared Mind – Regular 401K vs Roth 401K – The Basics. Great comparison between the two plans.
• Erik Folgate – How To Know What You Are Worth. This is a great article about determining your value to an employer.
• Frugal Dad- Teach Your Kids About Money With Only 4 Quarters. Very nice story about how he taught his daughter about how money really works.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter – Seven pairs of easily confused money terms. Some of these used to confuse me quite often.
• The Penny Saved – All aboard the Roth 401k train! Everything you need to know. My company just announced they will offer a Roth 401(k) plan. I look forward to stuffing it full of money!
• The Wisdom Journal – 8 Retail Ripoff Tactics. Great tips for shopping – especially applicable to big ticket items.
• Wise Bread – Six Horrible Financial Products You Should Avoid. The 401(k) debit card has to be the worst thing to happen to the financial world since payday loans.

This week’s Carnivals and Festivals:

• The P2P Lending Carnival #4 was hosted at Prosper Lending Review. My article, Is Person to Person Lending Safe?, was included. This is a great selection of articles to read for more information about peer to peer lending.