March 2011
3 posts
A bit slow to respond
It’s been a crazy week for me (family is sick, our apartment is still mostly unpacked) and I still have about 100 people to fix streaks for and write back to. I’m headed to Austin for SXSW Interactive right now and am giving a panel tomorrow on Cooperative Games (look me up if you’re going). If I haven’t written back to you yet with fixed streak news, I think it’s...
Move complete, waiting for DNS to propagate
The migration to the new server is complete now, and we’re just waiting for news of the new server’s location to spread out across the Internet. Some of you should be able to get the new site already (if you can go to the site and write, then you’re on the new server), and the rest of you should be getting there soon. Just refresh 750words.com every hour or so to see if your...
1 tag
Scheduled Maintenance March 4th (exact time TBD)
Update 9:23pm Thu Mar 3: Due to some server configuration issues that will take 24 hours to resolve, we’re going to postpone this move until tomorrow EVENING or Saturday morning. We’ll know more by tomorrow morning. Still try to get your words in as early as possible.
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We’re moving servers again! You may have noticed that our servers are having trouble...
December 2010
1 post
The Office of Letters and Light: November's over,... →
lettersandlight:
NaNoWriMo has been over for a week, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to give up writing daily. I find writing to be excellent stress-relief, and I would kinda like to sell a novel or two someday.
Now, I’m not talking NaNo-levels of production (though if you can keep up that pace, by…
Yes, you NaNoWriMoers, keep using 750 Words all year and you might be able...
November 2010
5 posts
The new NaNo badge
As of today, it looks like 28 people have written 50,000 words or more during November. If you’re one of these amazing people, you will start seeing the badge on your stats page starting today. Congratulations!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Just got the new NaNoWriMo badge designed and will start awarding them soon.
In the meantime, enjoy your turkey! Here’s a nice review of 750 that I did an interview for last week:
http://gettingstarted.outright.com/resources/750words-com-want-to-clean-out-your-head-theres-an-app-for-that/
750words
My pal, Gwen Bell, and a couple other amazing people are putting on a little challenge for next month called Reverb 10. The gist is that you sign up and they will give you a writing prompt every day during December that has something to do with reflecting on your year and thinking about next year. In their words:
Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year...
Top 10 tips for better writing →
I personally think it’s a bit overkill, but that’s just me. My top 1 tip for better writing. Write. Every day.
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October 2010
7 posts
1 tag
750 Words + NaNoWriMo!
So, I’d like to do something special for people who are using 750words.com during NaNoWriMo for their novels during November. I’m a 2-time NaNoWriMo survivor myself (one of my books is still for sale on Amazon: Man Versus Himself). The question is… what should I do?
Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? What would you like to see on 750words.com to help you write it out? So...
1 tag
New badge for a particularly amazing...
I am way late awarding this brand new badge, designed courtesy of Patron Margie Deeb. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, though… go look for it on your stats page or on the Today’s Writers page. What do you think? Amazing, right?
1 tag
Known issues
I woke up to a bunch of problems on the new server. I’ll be dealing with them today. So far I haven’t heard back from my migration assistant, but I assume that he’ll be in soon and will be able to help me.
Update: Fixed. Emails aren’t going out.
Update: Fixed. Some new users aren’t able to create accounts… I think this is related to an error that happens...
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Site Migration Updates
Current estimated completion time: 6-7pm PST
5:39pm - The migration is done and it looks like it worked! Now, apparently DNS has to propagate and you should start getting to the real site when you go to 750words.com. Let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary happening.
3:59pm - From my migration assistant: “The initial backup is finished and the backup file was uploaded to your ...
1 tag
Today is the day!
I’m moving 750words.com to a much bigger server today. Here’s what you need to know.
You should try to write your words before 1pm or after 5pm Pacific Standard Time.
If you can’t write your words during those hours, for any reason, use this form to let me know that you need your streak repaired. If you want, you can do your writing on another site, or on paper, to keep up...
1 tag
Tuesday, Oct 19th, 1pm-5pm PST: New server...
Tomorrow’s the big day. The site is going to have to come down for about 4 hours, while I move over the database and get DNS moved over to the new server, so I will have instructions on this here Tumblr blog on how to let me know if you’ve missed your writing due to the downtime.
I’m super excited to get moved over to this bigger server and I hope it will allow us to continue...
1 tag
The downtime is killing me!
And I don’t think you’re too happy about it either.
Well the good news is that I’m going to be switching servers THIS WEEK. It will mean taking the site down for about 3 hours, and I’ll be sure to give you as much notice about this as possible and making sure people can get their streaks repaired if they are not able to get their words done that day due to the downtime.
...
September 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Want to learn more about my other project? →
Check out this press release that I’m sending out this week. You have 4 days to set your rules for the October game.
Moving servers again
Update: Okay, I’m not quite ready to make the move yet. Let’s shoot for next Saturday, at around the same time…
750 Words has once again sort of outgrown its host. I’m moving it to Heroku this Saturday, and I need to take the site down for a couple hours. Most likely, sometime between 2pm and 5pm, if I can get my act together by then.
I will have a form up to make sure...
August 2010
4 posts
1 tag
My other project
I’ve been working on a sister site to 750 Words, called Health Month, that tackles the challenge of healthy living in a similar way that 750 Words tackles the challenges of a healthy mind. I just recently opened it up to beta testers, so if you’re interested in signing up for the September Challenge, check it out here and sign up here.
Sharing your stats page on Twitter and Facebook
I’ve upgraded the links to share your daily stats pages on Twitter and Facebook to their official “buttons” from the respective sites. I also added a bit of information about how long your streak is when sharing on Twitter. Feel free to brag!
Log in via your email and secret word
I’ve been really slack in offering a way to merge accounts for those who wanted to move from Facebook to Google or Yahoo. There are just too many moving pieces to make sure that the merges happen smoothly and without losing any entries. So, instead, I’ve opened up the same method of login that is currently available for those on mobile devices.
If you’ve verified your email...
Daily reminders are working again
Unfortunately, due to one of the gems on my server being out-of-date, the daily reminders had stopped going out about 2 days ago. I have been out of town and a little slower to respond to issues, but I finally fixed the problem and now the notifications should be working again. Sorry about that!
July 2010
7 posts
750words.com mobile
I updated the writing page on 750words.com to now work a lot better on mobile phones. It will now give you a special version of the page that is a lot easier to type in, and which won’t cause all kinds of weird scrolly action. So, enjoy!
I think today I also realized that as long as I keep making sure the writing page works on phones really well, there’s no need to make an iPhone...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Milad Yousefi
1) How did you learn about 750words.com? I learnt about 750Words from the Lifehacker.com weblog. 2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself? I am a combination of many things in life, none of which perfected. I am biology major at UBC and a martial arts instructor. I am photography enthusiast and a detail...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Christopher Bibbs
1) How did you learn about 750words.com? A post on Lifehacker.com. 2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself? I’m a husband, father, motorcyclist, gamer, and software developer in that order. I spend a lot of time trying to sort out what my relationships are all about and how to do this parenting thing....
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: LS Lee
1) How did you learn about 750words.com?
Gina Trapani’s Lifehacker review… me and a few thousand other readers evidently.
2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?
Hmm, other outside interests… I suppose my myriad of interests could best be summed up as an eclectic study of the human...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Tuang Dheandhanoo
1) How did you learn about 750words.com?
I read about your site from lifehacker.com
2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?
I am a game designer living in Thailand, so pretty much my other interest is in games, video, board, cards game you name it. I define myself as the one who keep learning and trying...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Christine Bailey
1) How did you learn about 750words.com? I read about it on Lifehacker. 2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself? I’m a working wife/mom, a hobby photographer/photoblogger, a gardener, a writer, a sparkly nail polish collector and more - to be discovered! I’m still trying to define myself, which is...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Brian McNely
How did you learn about 750words.com?
I first saw a post on Lifehacker (3/3/10) in my feed reader, but didn’t even go have a look at the site. A few days later (3/10/10) a post about 750words from The Stranger came through my feeds, and that’s when I had a look and decided to pursue the practice in earnest.
What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private...
June 2010
9 posts
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Lee Cazahous
How did you learn about 750words.com?
I came over in the mass March 1st sign-up after reading about the site on Lifehacker.
What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?
I have a day job I’ll skip because I don’t think it defines me but it does (well almost) pays the bills. I feel like I’d spent...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Dave Boyer
How did you learn about 750words.com?
I believe I heard about 750words.com from Lifehacker. (But I do a lot of surfing, so don’t quote me on that. (OK, I know it’s an interview, I’m just saying…)
What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private > journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?
Writing-wise, my main interest is poetry. I...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Pamela Dulaney
How did you learn about 750words.com?
The ‘750 Words Clears Your Mind, Gets Ideas Flowing’ post on Lifehacker by Gina Trapani
What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?
By day I’m a Microbiologist who manages Proficiency Testing program and a smart ass SciFi/Fantasy reading nerd girl with a...
Eternity page
I’ve temporarily turned off the Eternity page due to a problem with a database index that I need to fix. Hopefully I’ll be able to fix it tonight, but until then the Eternity page is temporarily disabled since there are some queries on there that take the site down. I’ll keep you updated!
Update 6/27 10:13am: It’s back up and a lot faster now!
Badges!
As a thank you to everyone for their patience while I wrestled with the database, and hopefully made it a bit faster, I’ve added a page that has been much-requested and very notably missing from the FAQ.
Everything you ever wanted to know about badges, but were afraid to ask.
Optimizing the database
I had my web host move my database to somewhere with more space (it was almost out of space!) and now this morning I’m adding a few indexes to a few tables that have been performing poorly (the Patron page and the Eternity page, in particular).
The site might be slow for the next hour or so as I add these indexes. Let me know if you encounter any problems.
Update 12:42pm: The new indexes...
Some bug fixes and new badges!
I’m back! For reals! I’m going to be working on this site in energetic bursts of energy between another project that is related to this one that I think everyone’s going to like. For more information about my other project, see my blog over on enjoymentland.com. In the meantime, today I got a few big 750words.com requests completed. 1) I added 5 more badges! I’ll let...
1 tag
Hall of Phoenixes: Olga Vorozheykina (#1)
I’ve begun interviewing people who make it all the way to the Phoenix badge (100 days in a row). The Hall of Phoenixes. I was the first Phoenix, and Olga Vorozheykina (interviewed below) was the second. She’s still on her crazy streak now, almost to 170. She’s awesome! Congrats, Olga!
How did you learn about 750words.com?
I was looking through my friends’ Twitter...
My month is up!
My son, Niko, is now a month old and I’m slowly coming back to work over the next couple weeks. I’ve been trying to address most of the emergency issues over the last month, but if you haven’t heard back from me about an issue that you’re still worried about, please make sure it’s in the Get Satisfaction page somewhere.
In the meantime, my priorities are to:
Add a...
May 2010
3 posts
Excuse me while I meet my son
My wife is currently in labor! I’m going to be slightly less accessible for a bit while we straighten out our new lives, but feel free to keep using the site and letting me know about any funkiness. I’ll try to get to as much of it as I can. To follow the baby updates, you can check out http://zerotobaby.com where we write under the pseudonyms of Milton and Esther. See you on the...
April Stats
Thanks to the Patrons of 750 Words, I was able to send another $92 to 826 Seattle, a local non-profit writing center for kids and teens. Good work, people!
Also, we had our biggest batch of challenge winners ever, by far! 205 people wrote every day of the month!
We also passed 20,000 users last month, and are one person away from having 300 Patrons of the site. This is a site run by and for...
April 2010
10 posts
Site problems
Update 7:39pm: Looks like my web host accidentally deleted the DNS files for the domains on my account! They re-instated them and the sites will hopefully be up soon. I’m terribly sorry for people who are missing streaks because of this… I’m missing my own as well. Stay tuned for more updates as I hear about them.
The site has been going down intermittently. I am trying to...
Follow people
When the site was 30-50 people per day, it was easy for me to keep track of which of my friends had written on a particular day. Now that it often goes over 1,000… not as easy. Today I added a feature that’s been suggested a few times that lets you follow people and see when they’ve done their words.
To see it, click on “People you’re following” from under...
Our 2nd Phoenix!
Congratulations to Olga Vorozheykina, the 2nd person (other than myself) to write 100 days in a row. That’s pretty awesome.
OneThing: Buster Benson: my one thing is... →
Buster is Founder of Enjoymentland and Co-founder of The Robot Co-op (creators of 43things.com)
Q: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Buster: My one thing. Let’s see. Mutual improvement! Ways that we can help each other bring the best…
This was a fun micro-interview.
Procrastinators!
I just added this little graph to the TODAY page, out of curiosity. Then, I went back to yesterday’s data and saw this. I thought it was a bug… were entries being time stamped later than they were being written?
Turns out, nope. People just seem to be cramming their “morning pages” in right before midnight. Very interesting, I think.
I think this calls for an early...
100 day streak on 750 words →
Today is my 100th straight day of writing 750 words a day. I missed January 1st, so I’m not going to be able to get a full calendar year streak, but I do hope to get to 365 days in a row. They say…
New badges?
Tag Savage, the designer who designed all of the badges on 750 Words, is available again to help make some badges. What kinds of things do you want badges for?
RSS feeds!
If you have made the stats on your entries public, you can now get an RSS feed with a little summary of each day’s writing. Just go to your shared page, and your browser show show you an RSS icon for the page (depending on the browser).
Here’s what mine looks like.
I will probably be adding a couple simple API calls to get your own metadata and stats in an XML format in a bit, when...
Better support for iPhones, iPads, and other...
As weird as it may seem at first, I have gotten a ton of requests for improving the ability to use 750 Words from an iPhone, Blackberry, and now the iPad. I got an iPad the other day and was sad to see that the login methods weren’t working on it very smoothly. So, today I launched a way for you to log in with your email address and your “secret word or phrase” that you can...