Protecting your backend from jargon-laced error messages
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Protecting your backend from jargon-laced error messages

Code that goes wrong generates errors. It’s typical for developers to spend their time on the code, not on the error messages. This is a plea to put a little more effort into those messages, even if you think no one will see them. Unknown attackers ambushed the Boston Globe site with a DDOS (distributed denial…

The 4 steps to create content marketing that spreads without being clickbait

The 4 steps to create content marketing that spreads without being clickbait

I hate clickbait. I love posts that spread. So here’s a process for creating content — like blog posts — that spreads usefully, not exploitatively. I’m writing this post because I had an argument with a client. The creative people at this company were creating valuable and interesting posts, then giving them titles that were…

10 document reviewing tips that will drive writers completely insane

10 document reviewing tips that will drive writers completely insane

Writers need help from all sorts of reviewers. If a writer at your workplace asks you to review a document, that’s your chance to make their life a living hell. Here’s how to do it. First, some context: editors exist to help writers, but they need help from all sorts of other reviewers, like legal…

How to write a short bio that’s not awful (Ask Dr. Wobs)
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How to write a short bio that’s not awful (Ask Dr. Wobs)

Everybody needs a short bio, whether its at the top of your LinkedIn page or on the bookflap of your first book. But it’s hard to write about yourself succinctly and objectively. That’s why people writing their own bios so often end up sounding like an idiot. Dear Dr. Wobs Why are bios so bad?…

Velcro, singing lawyers, genericide, and what you need to know about trademarks in writing
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Velcro, singing lawyers, genericide, and what you need to know about trademarks in writing

Let’s talk about trademarks in writing, genericide, and and why this video about Velcro exists: When a company’s product and marketing take off, it dominates its category. As a natural result, its name becomes synonymous with the category — a process called genericide. When the public can’t tell the difference, the trademark becomes generic, and…