Derek Powazek » Community

“Nobody Uses Their Real Name” and Other Outdated Notions

Derek Powazek — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:59:58 +0000

I got my first email address in 1991. I was a freshman at UC Santa Cruz and a friend took me to a basement geek office where you had to fill out a paper form to get your free ucsc.edu email account. In the box labeled "User-name" I started to write "Derek." My friend stopped me. "Nobody uses their real name." He said it like he was talking to a child.

Read this post online:
“Nobody Uses Their Real Name” and Other Outdated Notions
By Derek Powazek

Twitter for Adults

Derek Powazek — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:19:06 +0000

Congratulations on getting a Twitter account (or having one for a while)! You're now taking part in the biggest social experiment in human history (more on that later). But just because you're floating in a global sea of idle thoughts doesn't mean you have to drown. You can be a grownup and participate on Twitter, but it takes some doing. Here are the two ways I've found to use Twitter as an adult.

Read this post online:
Twitter for Adults
By Derek Powazek

Twitter’s “Who to follow” Feature, aka WTF

Derek Powazek — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:12:33 +0000

Twitter is currently testing a new feature called "Who to follow" (henceforth referred by its unfortunate acronym, WTF). One of those 25% is, apparently, me. When I log in there's a box on the main page that suggests two users for me to follow. If this sounds familiar, that's because it's exactly what Facebook does. The purpose of a test like this is to gather feedback, so here's some feedback.

Read this post online:
Twitter’s “Who to follow” Feature, aka WTF
By Derek Powazek

Jean-Louis Gassée’s Customer Service Kung-Fu

Derek Powazek — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:03:56 +0000

Jean-Louis Gassée on customer service: A customer complaint dialogue is structured around a two-position toggle: a) it’s terrible, b) it’s…

Read this post online:
Jean-Louis Gassée’s Customer Service Kung-Fu
By Derek Powazek

Press the Magic Button

Derek Powazek — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:27:47 +0000

My “one strike” rule for Twitter/Flickr and why you shouldn’t be offended when someone blocks you. I was walking down…

Read this post online:
Press the Magic Button
By Derek Powazek

Your right to comment ends at my front door.

Derek Powazek — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:42:28 +0000

John Gruber of Daring Fireball posted a response to critic who took him to task for not having comments on…

Read this post online:
Your right to comment ends at my front door.
By Derek Powazek

How Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me Is Crowdsourcing Done Right

Derek Powazek — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:31:31 +0000

One of my favorite NPR shows is Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. It’s a weekly news/comedy show, where a host…

Read this post online:
How Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me Is Crowdsourcing Done Right
By Derek Powazek

How To Save A Newsweekly in 5 Easy* Steps

Derek Powazek — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:18:04 +0000

Newsweek is for sale. While sad, it’s also an amazing opportunity to reinvent what a newsweekly could be. And it…

Read this post online:
How To Save A Newsweekly in 5 Easy* Steps
By Derek Powazek

Fertile Medium

Derek Powazek — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:47:06 +0000

Heather and I have been avid Flickr members since the very beginning. So when Yahoo bought them and they started…

Read this post online:
Fertile Medium
By Derek Powazek

The Green Hair Theory

Derek Powazek — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:44:01 +0000

Here, in the last few seconds of my fifteen minutes of SEO infamy, I wanted to leave you with the words of another fucked up dude. If someone tells you that your hair is green, the only reason to get defensive is if it's true.

Read this post online:
The Green Hair Theory
By Derek Powazek