Top all-time · #1901
Derek Powazek
Personal blog · powazek.comdesignculturewriting
Derek Powazek's personal blog at powazek.com covers design, culture and writing. Since 2007, 41 different Hacker News readers have linked it 55 times, most often “Derek Powazek - I’m Not The Product, But I Play One On The Internet”. The last post was in 2024, but the archive is still widely read.
Most-linked posts?
- Derek Powazek - I’m Not The Product, But I Play One On The Internet6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2012-12-19
- Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2009-10-13
- The Real Story of JPG Magazine - a cautionary tale for founders4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2007-05-15
- Things I Learned the Hard Way: Programmers are Tiny Gods2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-01-15
- SEO FAQ (or why you shouldn't hire an SEO "expert")2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-10-18
- The Argument Machine2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-10-28
- Twitter for Adults2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2010-11-11
- “Nobody Uses Their Real Name” and Other Outdated Notions2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-08-24
What Hacker News says?
From running a large OSS project, the general passive-aggressive (or just plain aggressive) complaint ratio to the amount of "thanks, this is awesome" ratio can be quite overwhelming and painful at times. Usually. I've basically resolved to not complain about anything given to me for free, ever, at least on twitter, because I've felt so much of it. "Why I personally prefer X vs Y" is ok. For twitter, it can be anyth…
Comment linking /posts/3368
on “The Hating Game”Submitted Don’t Work for Assholes as a story · 146 points
HN discussionI'm getting very tired of hearing this. It's like we make up excuses for startups being dicks. There has to be a way to find business model that involves showing respect for your users and the content they're creating, while still making money on ads, offers, etc. It also completely ignores the fact that paying customers get ripped off all the time, by the companies they pay money to. In the wider perspective, being…
Comment linking /posts/3229
on “xkcd: Instagram”Submitted SEO FAQ (or why you shouldn't hire an SEO "expert") as a story · 85 points
HN discussionReminds me of Derek Powazek's strategy: "Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again." http://powazek.com/posts/2090 Great to frame that more in the context of "personal brands" vs "not SEO".
Comment linking /posts/2090
on “Do Things, Tell People.”Submitted Things I Learned the Hard Way: Ignore the Content as a story · 51 points
HN discussionI believe this article by Derek Powazek is worth reading: http://powazek.com/posts/2101
Comment linking /posts/2101
on “Ask HN: "Basic SEO"?”Submitted Online Advertising without Douchebaggery as a story · 44 points
HN discussion> Am i the only one who thinks that SEO is more a plague then it is a real profession? luckily, no. http://powazek.com/posts/2090
Comment linking /posts/2090
on “Robots.txt”Submitted Derek Powazek: Pixish Closing 10/31 (What He Learned About Community, User Generated Content, and Launching) as a story · 36 points
HN discussion> If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold. I hear this all the time but it's message is a bit off. I'll quote this page http://powazek.com/posts/3229 1) Assumption: This is new or unique to the internet 2) Assumption: You’re either the product or the customer 3) My Favorite - Assumption: Companies you pay treat you better (Comcast Anyone?)
Comment linking /posts/3229
on “WikiLeaks: “Hillary Emails: Google Tried to Boost Assad Defections””Submitted The Real Story of JPG Magazine - a cautionary tale for founders as a story · 33 points
HN discussionThese rants cover the issues pretty well http://thispicturesucks.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/creative-co... http://thispicturesucks.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/creative-co... http://www.powazek.com/2004/02/000372.html
Comment linking /2004/02/000372.html
on “UK Government passes “Instagram Act””Submitted Unsolicited Advice is a Valuable Clue as a story · 30 points
HN discussiona couple years old, but still the best guide to seo: http://powazek.com/posts/2090 "The problem with SEO is that the good advice is obvious, the rest doesn’t work"
Comment linking /posts/2090
on “Shortest SEO Guide”Submitted Things I Learned the Hard Way: Programmers are Tiny Gods as a story · 30 points
HN discussionhttp://powazek.com/posts/3229 > We should all stop saying, “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product,” because it doesn’t really mean anything, it excuses the behavior of bad companies, and it makes you sound kind of like a stoner looking at their hand for the first time.
Comment linking /posts/3229
on “Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links”Submitted Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists as a story · 28 points
HN discussionI paste from http://del.icio.us/kragen/jpg . I'm as happy to see these guys fail as I am to see Bernie Madoff. 2007-06-03 http://www.flickr.com/groups/jpgmag/discuss/7215760022357183... Clarifications in The Unofficial JPG Magazine Group on Flickr, thread started by Paul Cloutier 2007-05-17 730 words from Paul Cloutier about what happened with the JPG blowup. Still doesn't explain why the first 6 issues are still mi…
Comment linking /posts/534
on “JPG Magazine Says Goodbye”Submitted The Argument Machine as a story · 23 points
HN discussion"The Real Story of JPG Magazine" http://powazek.com/posts/534
Comment linking /posts/534
on “JPG Magazine Says Goodbye”Submitted We Are What We Do Not Automate as a story · 21 points
HN discussionI'm just hoping you are not one of those people that believes that I should follow everyone (on Twitter) that follows me. If what I say interests you, follow me. I'll do the same. Something like this: http://powazek.com/posts/2754 I agree with araneae , this would seem to be an awfully rare thing to do.
Comment linking /posts/2754
on “Show HN: My wednesday project Unsocialize This”Submitted They Don’t Complain and They Die Quietly as a story · 19 points
HN discussionHey founder: shut up? http://powazek.com/posts/534 http://jpdefillippo.com/blog/2007/05/16/the-blog-post-i-never-wanted-to-make/
Comment linking /posts/534
on “Hey Founders: Shut Up! - Speak less, listen more, and other lessons founders can learn from journalists”Submitted What If Social Networks Just Aren’t Profitable? as a story · 17 points
HN discussionFooters are great. My favorite article about good use of footers (excerpted below) ------ When you're designing pages - specifically content pages - what is the best possible thing that could happen? I mean after the user has bought a computer, gotten internet connectivity, figured out how to use a browser, and somehow found their way to your site ... what is the single best thing that they could do? Read. That's ri…
Comment linking /2005/09/000540.html
on “Footers In Modern Web Design: Creative Examples and Ideas ”Submitted Derek Powazek - I’m Not The Product, But I Play One On The Internet as a story · 14 points
HN discussionSubmitted San Francisco Values as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Fix The Comments Section of Your Site and Set Guidelines for Community as a story · 7 points
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