Time Magazine Throws Up Its Hands As It Gets Pwned By 4Chan
by Erick Schonfeld on April 27, 2009

The hackers of 4Chan have succeeded in completely gaming Time Magazine’s online poll for its Time 100 list of the most influential people on the planet. At the top of the list is Christopher Poole, aka Moot, the founder of the 4Chan online forum, whose members used some coding to get his name to the top of the list. Not only did they help moot win the poll, but they also arranged the next 20 names to spell out “Marblecake, also the game.” Marblecake is a lewd sexual reference, but is also supposedly the name of the chat room where one of 4Chan’s online collective actions, Project Chanology, originated.

This is just the “people’s choice” list, not the official list picked by Time’s editors, but still it makes you wonder whether the editors at Time bother to read anything on the Internet. It is pretty well-documented that the 4Chan community was trying to manipulate the poll results. Nevertheless, Time just threw up its hands and named Moot the winner. Time is obviously aware of the controversy, but tries to justify the choice nonetheless by writing that:

Moot denies knowing about any concerted plan by his followers to influence the poll, though TIME.com’s technical team did detect and extinguish several attempts to hack the vote.

Except Time.com’s technical team didn’t do a very good job, because the top 21 names still spell out the Marblecake sentence. Time knows it was pwned by 4Chan, but simply throws up its hands. Time.com’s managing editor Josh Tyrangiel tries to defuse criticism by admitting that the poll is meaningless. He says, “I would remind anyone who doubts the results that this is an Internet poll. Doubting the results is kind of the point.” Or maybe the point is to name an Internet celebrity and create a controversy so that people click through to read the results. Well played.

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  • Great reading, thanks for the info.

    • Another salient fact: thousands of Anonymous members live in places where masked protests are not permitted. Combine this with the dozens of anti-Scientology authors, prominent critics, and various un-anonymous Internet activists, such as Donald “The Angry Gay Pope” Mires and, to any thinking person anyway, there is no reason to believe that there is any danger whatsoever in being a religious bigot with a gripe against Scientology. That is, if one is committed to legal and ethical behavior.

    • Wow! This is hilarious, I’m a big 4chan fan and seeing this made my day. I’m going to have to turn my co-workers on at the website design studio I’m at. Great post!

    • MONTREAL GAZETTE CALLS ANONYMOUS “MISGUIDED” AND “DANGEROUS”

      The Montreal Gazette has taken notice of Anonymous’ protesting of a Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights exhibit at the Concordia University, which is currently on display at the McConnell library building:

      “…Never mind the merits of an idea; when it is denounced anonymously, it’s the critics who seem sinister…Their vehemence suggests that they are capable of disproving some of Scientology’s claims… Trying to suppress ideas you don’t like perverts a university’s role.”

      Trying to understand things from Anonymous’ point of view reveals only the well understood notion that human beings seem genetically hardwired for hatred:

      “…Humans seem to have a powerful impulse to silence those we consider malicious, misguided, or dangerous. But it turns out that suppression of ideas is what’s really the most misguided – and in the long run the most dangerous.”

  • Marshall Kirkpatrick - April 27th, 2009 at 7:51 am PDT

    That’s pretty awesome. Or funny, at least.

    • Now if you are at all puzzled as to how a group of Internet activists who openly trade in simulated child porn while engaging in the tactics of leaderless terrorism have any place at all condemning anyone, here is your answer:

      These miscreants get away with it precisely because they wear masks. As long as they can evade individual responsibility, they will continue this charade. Several members have been arrested for hate crimes, others for terrorist acts, but the majority, who happen to be bound by common criminality, are still roaming free. At least at the moment.

      • If you’re not in it for the lulz, then you’re not doing it for the right reason. We are the internets.

      • anonymous isn’t a group. anonymous is anonymous. get it right.

      • sorry guyz…. we did it 4 the lulz

      • They get away with it because they wear masks? You mean…. like….. super heroes?

      • anonymous isn’t an organized group, there is no registration or entry process. there are no members. it’s a random pool of individuals whose only affiliation is that they happened to be on 4chan at the same time. one of them being arrested for a hate crime or “terrorism” is no reflection of others’ viewpoints.

        people who label anonymous as a terrorist sect are just completely misunderstanding an uncoordinated collective that is capable of being juvenile, completely mature, and utterly depraved at the same time, just as the entire body of humanity is capable, that’s the beauty of it. 4chan readers (anonymous) have every right- as individual citizens- to protest a “religious” organization that makes money through scamming thousands of individuals. anonymous is only a means for any person to tap into an unfiltered and non-hierarchical collective of people, which is capable of spawning anything from the complete spectrum of human behavior.

        attempts to label 4chan as a “terrorist group” (which is absolutely ridiculous) are completely missing the point that 4chan is much bigger than a group, it’s a collective consciousness of thousands of people, encapsulating countless groups with different viewpoints and agendas, just like the population of a nation. scientology is only of the many shared concerns interests among its “members” (since there is no registration process there technically are no members). is it potentially dangerous? yes, just as humanity is dangerous, but you certainly are blowing things out of proportion.

        orwellian? don’t make me laugh, you don’t even know what anonymous is. stop trying posting articles you didn’t write and try forming a cohesive understanding of what you’re talking about.

      • OP’s knowledge of anon comes from watching Oprah. Also, OP is faggot.

  • I’m just glad you used “Pwned” in the title.

    • ANONYMOUS HAS NO POSITIVE SOCIAL VALUE

      Aside from flattering the egos of Professional Anti-Scientologist Tory Magoo (see below) and other “Old Guard” Anti-Scientologists, Anonymous has not really accomplished anything with their hate–based band wagon.

      Their original issues have been so clouded up by sensationalistic conspiracy theory and unreliable apostate testimony that it’s nearly impossible for the public to even relate to Anonymous.

      Their attempts to take their Internet gossip to the streets is often met with hostility and resentment. People are increasingly put off by the masked protesters with their invasive use of video cameras and offensive “bull-baiting” comments:

      • anonymous isn’t an organized group. anonymous is simply anonymous. know this.

      • Which people are increasingly put off by the masked protesters? Can you give us names? How many are there? Do you have statistics?

        And please be more specific about “the public”. Who do you consider to be part of the public, and what steps have you taken to accurately gauge their opinions?

        I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but I really am starting to wonder if you’re a member of the Church of Scientology.

        At the very least, it’s annoying when you reply to everything with paragraphs of text that have nothing to do with the original comment.

      • Wow. A lone user by the alias of “Tom Newton” is trying to conduct a one-person smear campaign against anonymous. Good luck with that, as you’re giving us free lulz with said attempt.

        Also, how do you manage to sit down, being so butthurt and all?

      • I dunno, man. Anonymous came to an event I moderated once, they were pretty f’n funny. Definite social value there.

      • tom, stop fagging up the comments, no one gives a shit about your anonymous-bashing

      • Wow… Sorry Tom I’m afraid you will NEVER understand anon or lulz. Its all about the lulz.

  • I love it.

  • Crap stuff.. Who the hell is he?

    • The most influential person of our Time? Hello?

      • un 28, 2008
        ANONYMOUS MAKES RACIST CYBER-ATTACKS AGAINST HIPHOP WEBSITES!

        Sohh.com and AllHipHop.com were the target of unprovoked attacks involving racist propaganda as reported by MTV News:

        “Other websites, including AllHipHop and DatPiff[.com's] forums have also been compromised or threatened this week. … Also, as this is an international issue, it is being addressed by the FBI and the Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group.”

        It is important to keep in mind that to Anonymous, their “memes” are not racist at all. For example, the following image is, in their view, a healthy expression of free speech; they actually believe that they are “taking the venom” out of racist hate propaganda by proliferating it:

        This is just one example of hundreds to be found on Anonymous’ planning website where it is explained that the “N-Word” is fine to use because:

        “”Nigger” is historically a pejorative term, especially in North America, where it is used as a jocular colloquialism for any person with dark skin. This meaning is still invoked by American blacks who haven’t gotten over their victim complex and by American whites (often college professors) who bear it as part of the vast weight of postmodern liberal guilt.”

        It appears that these attitudes are finally catching up with Anonymous. We can only hope that something positive emerges out of this sad, ignorant display of bigotry. In our opinion, a little public scrutiny will cause Anonymnous members to question what they are doing and maybe even accept some personal accountability by removing some of that offensive content from their websites (It would also be nice if Anonymous could ditch the pedo-cultural iconography while they were at it ).

        “It appears that hackers are specifically targeting Black, Hispanic, Asian and Jewish youth who ascribe to hip-hop culture,” the statement read. “Other websites, including AllHipHop and DatPiff[.com's] forums have also been compromised or threatened this week. … Also, as this is an international issue, it is being addressed by the FBI and the Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group.” —-SOHH CEO Felicia Palmer

        Anonymous obviously wanted more attention….and they certainly got it this time.

        Whether this helps them in their coordinated attacks against organized religions remains to be seen, but somehow we doubt it.

        “A group or individual going by the name “Anonymous” has claimed responsibility” and “AllHipHop and SOHH are committed to relentlessly pursuing these attackers, using every resource available, to ensure the capture of these criminals and prevention of repeat offenses.”

    • ANONYMOUS MEMBER ARRESTED FOR “PUBIC HAIR RAID” ON CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY

      The half naked, vasoline slicked Anonymous member–the one covered in other people’s pubic hair— is being charged with a HATE CRIME, just as I said he would be:

      On 1/14/09 at approximately 1645 hours, police arrested Mahoud Samed Almahadin, AKA Matt Connor, M/W/19, and charged him with Burglary, along with Criminal Mischief, Aggravated Harassment and Criminal Trespass as hate crimes after he entered the Church of Scientology (227 West 46 Street), within the confines of the MTN Precinct and intentionally damaged property.

    • ANTI-SCIENTOLOGY GHOULS FEEDING ON THE CORPSES OF JETT TRAVOLTA, KYLE BRENNAN, LISA MCPHERSON, AND ISSAC HAYES

      Anonymous members routinely engage in some of the most heartless and cruel tactics imaginable when persecuting members of the Church of Scientology. Here are just a few examples:

      1) Anonymous members openly mocked one Scientologist whose daughter committed suicide. They thrust video cameras into his face and asked such leading questions as “…How does it feel knowing your religion drove your daughter to kill herself!”

      Anonymous members even dressed as the dead woman and flaunted the costume in front of the deceased woman’s father.

  • Wow, guess Time has a hiring freeze for web programmers

    • Anonymous members have a very interesting relationship with child porn. As “free speech advocates” they believe it is their duty to ensure that images depicting the sexual abuse of children are made freely available to perverts everywhere. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their sickening idolization of the “Pedophile Bear”:

      They are frequently seen dressed up in bear costumes, or proudly displaying badges proclaiming that they are “Pedobear Approved”:

      • Correction. Anon has done good before although the underlying reason was for the lulz. Go look for Chris Forcand and you will see that anon is not just a bunch of pedos, but Legion. Tom you speak of anon dressing up as Pedobear, but you clearly do not understand a thing about what Pedobear stands for.

        So Tom, tits or gtfo. the choice is yours.

  • mARBLECAKE ALSO THE GAME.

  • pwned… as if they were enemies or sth. good job to the kids at 4chan they sure do know how to have fun. Time also needs to realize that crowdsourcing is not democracy .

    • oh noes, this big big man is cwying~

      Poor you,

      • However, Anonymous members are far from normal.

        As FOX News describes them, they are “a bunch of antisocial, foul-mouthed, clever nerds who congregate at a largely unknown Web site called 4chan.org.” I couldn’t agree more. And what is even more twisted is that these very same PEDO-ENABLING “free-speech advocates” aggressively censor anyone who mentions their dirty little obsession.

        While the mainstream media has picked up on Anonymous’ cyber-terrorism, it’s cyber-bullying, it’s racism, it’s anti-Semitism, and it’s various hate crimes, it has failed to address Anonymous’ proliferation of Child Porn and it’s offensive black stereotyping. My intention as a blogger is to do my civic duty and enlighten the public about the degenerate losers who masquerade as “Internet Vigilantes,” and to expose them as the child hating, vile, racist hate group that they are.

        • for the lulz

        • I'm Anon.. you don't know who I am - May 17th, 2009 at 8:07 am PDT

          Er.. this is a joke, right?

          Anonymous is not a defined group: it’s an adjective used to describe the state of having no known name or state.

          So everyone you don’t know is part of this non-existent ‘Anonymous’ you speak of amirite?

  • MARBLECAKE FOREVER!

  • Copypasta from last week

  • You have to give it to the guys over at 4chan, this just has a nice BBS smell too it. I love the kind of creative hacks!

    Daniel
    https://Spideroak.com – Free Cross-Platform Online Backup and Sync for Windows, Mac and Linux

  • My poll of the world’s least influential magazines and the world’s LEAST influential polls:

    1. TIME.

  • So if Internet polls are meaningless, why have them in the first place? Just to have grandma click on something to make her day brighter?

    Living in the dark and thinking that online polls are actually representative is one thing. Knowing that they are meaningless and keeping the polls up on your website while posing them as something of value is plain ol’ stupid.

  • the reason that the marblecake thing is still up is because that wasnt a hack. 4chan accomplished this through voting in large numbers. same with getting moot at the top

  • The vote was created through the sheer numbers of 4chan. No hacks involved!

  • interesting…Also that 4chan site isnt making any money, or better said, is running breakeven with costs/income.
    No payed employees, moot doesnt even pay himself a cent, in fact he couldnt because hes not making more as the whole things costs.
    Thats really uncommon for such a huge website :)

    Also i think nobody would acquire such a project for a reasonable price…so its quite weird really.

    • listen punk, making money from websites is a new (and shit) idea.

      back when you were still an asshole people used the internet for communicating and lulz dissemination- not jew gold hoarding.

  • Hasn’t it always been this way? Isn’t this where Colbert’s rivalry with the Korean pop star Rain started, because the Korean netizens “hacked” the poll every year so Rain was no. 1? I think one year there was a big war between the Koreans voting for Rain and the Thailanders voting for their king, with both countries voting their opponent down. I think Time just does this for fun, to see what will happen. To “pwn” the poll is the entire point, and they know it.

    • Yeah, I fail to see how this is a big deal — go to weak online poll, use a forum full of hackers who have access to tons of proxies…

      “be amazed” at manipulating an online poll that doesn’t filter for bots.

  • Ridiculous and hilarious at the same time. Does anyone else remember when Time was a vocal mainstay of opinion in the USA? I know this isn’t the official editors list but it says a lot about where old influencers like Time are now.

  • I hope Anon knows that this will be the final cancer that kills /b/.

    But will you be able to count all the incoming Nf**s.

    hmmmm?

  • I say good job to the 4chan community. I love it when they do harmless fun stuff. First off, no one was hurt. Second, it encourages major companies to innovate.

  • marblecake has nothing to do with sex, except maybe in some twisted alt groups.

    “Marbelcake is an irc collective of ‘anons’ who produce media and websites for Project Chanology (the internet based activism/trolling against the Church of Scientology). They received a lot criticism last year for elitism and trying to steer the direction of Chanology. This is a 4chan attempt to troll them.”

  • We are Anonymous.
    We are Legion.
    We do not forgive.
    We do not forget.
    Expect us.

  • Typical sheep mentality they are so well known for.

  • So it looks like using the crowd to get results doesn’t always work so well…

  • We are Anonymous.
    We are Legion.
    We do not forgive.
    We do not forget.
    Expect us.
    Nigger Lovers Die

  • We are Anonymous.
    Marblecake is a lewd sexual reference

  • Who Runs Anonymous?

    Marblecake is the name of a secretive cabal working behind the scenes to guide the actions of Anonymous. Marblecake is planning to reveal itself to the general membership of the internet hacker cult.

  • An Anonymous member going by the moniker Zodiac-Platonic has been sending cryptic death threats to Scientologists in Fairfield, Connecticut. In one of his letters, he makes references to “The Most Dangerous Game,” which is also said to have been an inspiration to the Zodiac Killer:

    “…i like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game…”

    “…it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl…when I die I will be reborn in paradise and all the I have killed will become my slaves…”

    “…I will not give you my name because you will try to sloi down or atop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife ebeo riet emeth hpiti…”

    This is not the first time an Anonymous member has made death threats, nor will it be the last. Death threats are a standard part of their modus operandi:

    • Do you have any proof? Police report? Recordings of the threats?

      Sounds like ‘nigra’ is just making shit up…

      • three rules of “the game”
        1 you are playing the game
        2 you must forget the game
        3 if you remember the game you lose, and must announce it to all others.

        marblecake:
        …you…eat…marblecake! mmmm chocolatey and oddly cakey

  • 4chan could be a $1 billion dollars if it went public. it has growth growth and is immune to recession. Stock market keeps surging day after day http://iamned.com/blog/ Stock market is ignoring recession nonsense.

    • 4Chan Spawned Anonymous members have a very interesting relationship with child porn. As “free speech advocates” they believe it is their duty to ensure that images depicting the sexual abuse of children are made freely available to perverts everywhere. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their sickening idolization of the “Pedophile Bear”:

      • Maybe you’re just a boring hag with no sense of humor. Pedobear is a joke, LOL.

        And you forgot who helped capture notorious Pedophile Chris Forcand…

      • You’re just retarded and aren’t even aware of the world around you. Anyone can go to a local big city and if they talk to the right person, you can get whatever you want. Want heroine? Weapons? Perhaps a woman? Or maybe even a child? Please… CP should be expected to be all over the internet. And you’re gonna attack something like Pedobear? Get a life and find something more legit to attack and stop stuffin your face with cheetos, go out, lose some weight, and get away from your damn computer, cause you obviously don’t know how to use it.

        • CP was flooding the net pre 2000….most of you newfags didn’t even have hair on your goods yet.
          /B/ didn’t invent cp or trolling for that matter.

  • Anonymous members can be real tough when they’re banded together and disguised as superheros….

    …but take away that security, and they fall apart like typical bullies.

    It’s a cyber-bully network known for driving the mentally unstable to suicide, sending seizure inducing animated graphics to epilepsy patients, ordering gay porn for teenagers, sexually harassing clergy via telephone, sending bomb threats, coordinating racist hate attacks against hip hop websites, fetishizing pedophile cultural icons, and generally bullying their perceived enemies into submission.

  • 4chan is a Child Porn Sharing Network.

    They also enable Leaderless Terrorist Groups a place to congregate and organize.

  • More About 4chan and it’s denizens:

    While the mainstream media has picked up on Anonymous’ cyber-terrorism, it’s cyber-bullying, it’s racism, it’s anti-Semitism, and it’s various hate crimes, it has failed to address Anonymous’ proliferation of Child Porn and it’s offensive black stereotyping. My intention as a blogger is to do my civic duty and enlighten the public about the degenerate losers who masquerade as “Internet Vigilantes,” and to expose them as the child hating, vile, racist hate group that they are.

  • 4Chan Spawned ANONYMOUS INCLUDED IN 2009 VIRGINIA TERRORISM THREAT ASSESSMENT

    The hate group known as Anonymous has been listed in 2009’s VIRGINIA TERRORISM THREAT ASSESSMENT. While the report makes no mention of Anonymous’ penchant for simulated child porn, it’s covert racism, nor it’s use of bomb threats, it does list the the Internet sites from which the group derives it’s perverted culture of hate:

    “A ‘loose coalition of Internet denizens’, Anonymous consists largely of users from multiple internet sites such as 4chan, 711chan, 420chan, Something Awful, Fark, Encyclopedia Dramatica, Slashdot, IRC channels, and YouTube. Other social networking sites are also utilized to mobilize
    physical protests. “

  • Why do you sound like a Scientologist?

    “Data (1) (1)
    The head of the Galactic
    Confederation (76 planets around
    larger stars visible from here)
    (founded 95,000,000 yrs ago, very space opera)
    solved overpopulation (250 billion
    or so per planet — 178 billion on
    average) by mass implanting.
    He caused people to be brought to
    Teegeeack (Earth) and put an H Bomb
    on the principal volcanoes (Incident 2)
    and then the Pacific area ones
    were taken in boxes to Hawaii
    and the Atlantic Area ones to
    Las Palmas and there “packaged.”
    His name was Xenu. He used
    renegades. Various misleading
    data by means of circuits etc.
    was placed in the implants.
    When through with his crime Loyal Officers
    (to the people) captured him
    after 6 years of battle
    and put him in an electronic
    mountain trap where he still
    is. “They” are gone. The place (Confed.)
    has since been a desert. ”

    That was ‘OTIII.’ Its like bug repellant for Scientology cult members, because they are told not to read it :)

  • Awww, it looks like Tom Newton is trolling the comments! Hai Tom aka Nigra!

  • Cool story bro

  • TIME accidentally moot

  • I hate that 4chan won the top of this very eclectic list – the free publicity made me check it out and I found the content disgusting and disturbing. However, it does show how a community of loyal, fanatical fanboys can raise your profile.

  • Hi, my name is Tom Newton, and my favourite color is clear.

  • A pathetic and epic FAIL for TIME. Fire the web programming staff, this is inexcusable to allow such widespread fraud.

    • It’s important to pay attention to what Anonymous says, but it’s equally important to watch what they do. If you only see what they want you to see, in the context which they provide, then you would get the idea that Anonymous is a spontaneous uprising of clever anti-heros using the internet to fight for justice against an oppressive totalitarian regime, and not the bored, Tom Cruise-obsessed cyber-bullies you’ll find in the comments below…

  • LOL MORAL FAGS

    • “FAIR GAME” IS A LIE

      Anonymous members frequently cite “Fair Game” as the reason for wearing those ridiculous masks. This term refers to the Church of Scientology’s alleged tactics for handling their critics. However, despite what the critics of the Church profess to believe about “Fair Game,” it never actually happens. Without exception, all instances of the Church’s supposedly litigious nature can in fact be demonstrated to have been provoked by the very radical extremists themselves.

      Being sued by the Church is a badge of honor among these hateful and deceitful activists. In fact, there is NOTHING the Church is reputed to do to their critics which Anonymous hasn’t already done to many random and not so random individuals (Do a Google search of Hatch Mckay and Anonymous and see what turns up).

      Anonymous is a hypocritical hate group. Members do exactly the types of things they claim the Church does. This is a demonstrable fact, as all non-Anonymous readers of this blog can attest. The true reason they hide behind their masks is because they don’t want to be connected to hate crimes, cyber-bullying, and child porn.

  • Marblecake isn’t better defined in this case as:
    1) A secret cabal organized on the internet to pull the strings of a global online group, without tipping their hands to members of said group.

    ??

  • It’s an AnonEmpire
    Seriously though everybody – urbandictionary.com – search “marble cake” – I’ll leave it to you…

    Those /b/tards…

  • what is this I don’t even

    • even this I don’t what is

      • It’s important to pay attention to what Anonymous says, but it’s equally important to watch what they do. If you only see what they want you to see, in the context which they provide, then you would get the idea that Anonymous is a spontaneous uprising of clever anti-heros using the internet to fight for justice against an oppressive totalitarian regime, and not the bored, Tom Cruise-obsessed cyber-bullies you’ll find in the comments below…

        • wow, get a life man. No one here we believe your ridiculous BS

        • Oh, shut up. Replying to everyone’s comments doesn’t make people believe your retarded comments. Anonymous-the-group-from-4chan is the one against Scientology; they aren’t the hackers or child porn traders or whatever you think they are. They just think Scientology is a dangerous cult. Which it is.

          GET A LIFE.

        • If you are still going on about Anonymous being a group, leaderless or not, you are seriously missing the point.

          sage

        • Dude, just stop fighting it.

          They’re in it for the lulz. You’d have a better time bringing back the Flat Earth society.

          Also, I just lost the game.

          Anon is an hero for what they’re doing.

    • what this is even I don’t

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