Yuka found this first on CNN.co.jp, but I found it on the english site as well.... CNN.com - Soldier 'bloggers' report from war - Mar. 26, 2003
This article says:
One of the most popular is a site run by "L.T. Smash," the blog nickname for a reservist in the U.S. Navy who arrived in the Gulf last December. His site, www.lt-smash.us, carries the moniker "Live from the sandbox." L.T. Smash's accounts range from the ordinary and the oddball to the touching.
I was suspicious, as there's no real info as to who is blogging and whatnot that we expect from a blog. So, I did a whois lookup. (http://www.whois.net/) Whois lookups show who creates and owns a site.
The Domain was created last week: "Domain Registration Date: Fri Mar 21 23:03:28 GMT 2003"
So how come it is a) as popular as CNN says, and b) by someone who has been in the Gulf since december? Sounds like some strange pseudo-blog... where an institutional organization fakes a blog so that it appears like it is from an individual.
Here's the Registration info for lt-smash.us:
Registrant Name: Bart Simpson
Registrant Organization: LT Smash
Registrant Address1: 123 Main Street
Registrant City: La Mesa
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 91941
Registrant Country: United States
Registrant Country Code: US
Registrant Phone Number: +1.6195555555
Registrant Email: ltadmin@cox.net
Well, actually you'll need to WHOIS lt-smash.COM not .us. He switched domains on March 22. Last week. Read about it here: http://lt-smash.com/archives/000414.html
I've no idea why he switched domains and not just servers, but OK. Assuming he's real (I think he probably is but have no proof or anything), he's pretty innocent trying to stay anonymous on his site but registering his domain under what looks like potentially a real name. So perhaps he thought you had to change domains as well as servers? Or perhaps there was some other reason I don't know about.
Anyway, I think you'll need to dig deeper if you really want to prove he's fake.
Posted by: Jill on April 2, 2003 03:24 PMTouche... that's why I said "Sounds like some strange pseudo-blog... " cause I wasn't 100% sure, but it was not clear that it had been around longer, and the lack of archives and identifying information was a problem. Thanks for the info.
Posted by: jason on April 3, 2003 06:58 PM