blogging

Bilingual

Anonymity Is Fun
2 months ago
- The author made design and tag changes to the blog, but decided against making it more 'proper' with an about page or mission statement.
- Anonymity is valued because it avoids the corporate, performative nature of social media, which feels like endless professional meetings.
- The author cherishes the old internet culture of anonymity, where identity was separate from online writing, unlike today's demand for transparency.
- Attaching a blog to personal identity can limit writing freedom and create expectations, reducing the space for diverse interests.
- Anonymity is seen as freeing and fun, allowing writing without the theatrics of social media and online professional personas.
Knitting the Web: We Need Interlinkers
2 months ago
- Feed aggregators like Bubbles.town that sort by popularity can indicate the health of the blogosphere, analogous to a bioindicator in nature.
- The web has been described through metaphors: the garden (cross-linked ideas), the stream (one-way social media), and the campfire (small blog conversations).
- A strong web depends on interlinking—meaningfully synthesizing others' ideas through link-rich posts, not just linkdumps.
- Personal knowledge management concepts (e.g., no orphan notes, dense linking) apply to public blogging for building a connected ecosystem.
- Metablogging (posts about blogging itself) can become banal; writers should draw from diverse culture, art, and everyday observations.
- Confidence to write is important, but it should focus on sharing valuable perspectives rather than writing about having nothing to say.
- Interlinking transforms isolated threads into a stronger whole, democratizing voices and countering academic gatekeeping.
- Early personal sites like Justin Hall's Justin's Links exemplify democratic digital literature and the transformative power of the IndieWeb.
Resurfacing posts
2 months ago
- Blog posts are permanent and worth revisiting, as older content often gets buried by newer ones.
- Recent posts get more attention due to homepage placement, email subscriptions, and social media sharing.
- The author promotes resurfacing older posts to give them additional attention, adding a 'Random' tab to the discovery feed.
- The author shares personal experiences from a Japan trip, meeting bloggers, and hiking the Nakasendo trail.
- Highlighted resurfaced posts include 'Yes, I will have coffee with you', journaling posts, city design topics, and toe socks benefits.
- The author encourages readers to explore the full blog page for more overlooked posts.
How to Write Blog Posts that Developers Read
2 months ago
- Meandering introductions drive readers away; answer 'who is this for?' and 'what's the benefit?' within the first three sentences.
- Broaden your article's appeal by making small adjustments to reach a larger audience (e.g., from advanced Java devs to all Java devs).
- Plan how readers will find your post—consider Google, Hacker News, Reddit, or niche forums—and choose topics with a clear distribution path.
- Use images (screenshots, diagrams, illustrations) to break up text and increase visual interest.
- Structure your article with clear headings and visuals so skimmers can quickly assess its value.
Adam Gordon Bell on Attracting Customers through Blogging
2 months ago
- Adam Gordon Bell succeeded at Earthly by writing blog posts that reached the front page of Hacker News, which attracted customers even with non-marketing topics like a rant about YAML.
- Investing outsized effort (e.g., 40 hours per post) is key to achieving outsized returns, as top posts generate the majority of readers and leads.
- Early feedback on drafts is crucial; Adam used internal reviews and tools like Grammarly and ChatGPT for editing, but also learned to interpret feedback wisely.
- Crafting compelling titles and coining memorable phrases (e.g., 'Green vs. Brown Programming Languages') can make posts stand out and become part of the software canon.
- The 'panel-of-experts' style (interviewing multiple experts, as in the Bazel article) requires high effort but yields high-quality, story-driven content that resonates.
- Blogging respectfully about competitors can build trust; being open about use cases and pricing, even for free products, attracts customers.
- Improving writing through imitation of admired styles (e.g., Austin Kleon's advice) and comparing one's work to great examples helps develop a unique voice.
- Avoid combative posts that generate negative reactions, such as those with a finger-wagging tone, and instead focus on helpful or explanatory content.
The Most Popular Blogs of Hacker News in 2025
2 months ago
- Simon Willison ranked #1 for the third year, writing about AI as a power user without sales bias, and publishing over 1,000 posts in 2025.
- Jeff Geerling achieved #2 by pairing YouTube content with thoughtful blog posts tailored to text, unlike many YouTubers.
- Sean Goedecke rose to #3 by writing prolifically (140 posts) about big tech politics, with many posts needing multiple submissions to gain traction.
- Brian Krebs maintained #4 as a top cybersecurity journalist, but his political story was flagged and moderated off the front page.
- Neal Agarwal reached #5 with interactive art and games; every post hit the front page, with one becoming the 4th most popular of the year.
- Notable mentions: John Gruber (#6) had his best year since 2011, and Mahad Kalam (#21) and Byran Huang achieved top posts with single articles.
Hello, World!
2 months ago
- The author is launching a new blog using Jekyll.
- The blog was inspired by a friend's comment about having a blog after discussing GPG keys.
- The author hopes to write many posts and invites exploration of the source code.
how i write blog posts
2 months ago
- Uses Zola as static site engine but mildly dissatisfied, doesn't care to switch.
- Writes drafts from any device (desktop, laptop, phone) that automatically appear on a hidden subdomain of jyn.dev.
- Setup includes Caddy reverse proxy to live Zola server, with HTTPS and WebSocket support for live reloading.
- Content directory is sym-linked to Obsidian notes folder, synced via Obsidian Sync across all devices.
- Uses a 'blog post' template in Obsidian with Zola header; writes normal Markdown.
- Publishes by committing changes to git and pushing to GitHub.
- Typically writes outlines on mobile, cleans up into prose on desktop; sometimes uses nvim for complex HTML.
- Added autosave in nvim using a Lua timer.
- Caddyfile is simple; includes websocket proxy for live reloading.
- Downside: limited visibility on mobile for sync issues; uses tailnet to SSH into desktop to check server.
- Benefits: live reloading from any editor/device, easy sharing with friends for feedback, easy to take down by killing Zola server.
My Om Malik Story
2 months ago
- The author set a goal to write 72 blog posts in 2021, finding the process therapeutic.
- Om Malik (@om) sent an unexpected, kind DM praising the author's blog and encouraging his writing.
- The author discovered Om Malik was the founder of Gigaom, a major tech blog that shaped his early tech knowledge.
- Om's words of encouragement had a lasting impact, lifting the author on difficult days and reminding him of the power of small acts of kindness.
Here we go
2 months ago
- Author's old Hugo blog broke after a Hugo update, prompting a decision to build a simple blogging platform.
- Static site generators like Hugo have UX issues: writing in code editors, publishing via git, and lack of easy image uploads.
- Ghost and WordPress are problematic: Ghost is too commercial, WordPress is intimidating.
- Small platforms like Bear, Pika, and Mataroa are almost perfect, but the author wants to build a custom platform.
- New platform named Exotext focuses on simplicity, beautiful design, speed (<0.5s), old web UX, portability, community features, an online markdown editor with image uploads, and RSS.
- Finding a good markdown editor is difficult; TinyMDE is used but lacks undo functionality.
I wish your bespoke React-Tailwind-etc static site generator had RSS
2 months ago
- Many blogs lack RSS feeds, especially those built with modern frontend stacks by passionate programmers.
- Adding RSS to a custom static site generator is straightforward, as it's similar to HTML generation.
- Common RSS issues include missing meta tags for automatic discovery, invalid XML, mismatched content, and lacking permanent IDs.
- Standard blogging platforms like WordPress, Ghost, and newsletter platforms (Substack, Buttondown) generally provide working RSS.
- Static site generators like Jekyll and Hugo usually include RSS, but customization can lead to problems.
A Year of Writing for Myself (That 230,000+ People Read)
2 months ago
- Started a blog a year ago to organize thoughts on management and engineering with modest expectations.
- Received over 230,000 unique visitors in the first year, much more than anticipated.
- Viral posts included 'The Hidden Cost of AI Coding' and 'Stop Avoiding Politics', both hitting #1 on Hacker News.
- Favorite personal posts highlighted topics like seniority, strengths vs weaknesses, influential CS papers, and workplace politics.
- Realized the blog fills a gap in content about the human side of engineering, soft skills, and interpersonal dynamics.
- Writes mostly for personal organization but is grateful for the positive impact on readers.
<antirez>
2 months ago
- The author's blog writing process involves two steps: thinking about topics for weeks or months, then writing and publishing in 30 minutes without much concern for form.
- Blogging is prioritized to be quick (under 30-60 minutes) to avoid abandoning it, leading to poorly written English posts due to limited vocabulary, grammar errors, and Italian-influenced sentence construction.
- For a post on LLMs and programming, the author tried writing in Italian and translating to English with GPT-4, resulting in a better post with a personal voice, comparable time, and detection as human-written.
- The author is uncertain about future blogging methods, fearing loss of English writing confidence, but notes their true voice may emerge in translated posts using their full native lexical ability.
- The choice available in 2024 evokes both hope for human possibilities with talking machines and fear that AI may discourage hard tasks like learning new languages.
Blog about things you don't understand yet
2 months ago
- The author writes about topics they don't fully understand as a method to learn more through research and writing.
- Every blog post argues a specific, controversial point, which forces deeper thinking and research.
- Structured writing (like arguing a point) is easier than unstructured self-expression because it narrows choices.
- Writing helps clarify thinking; the author often changes their mind and improves conclusions during the process.
- Blogging about unfamiliar topics is acceptable because beginners can explain concepts more clearly than experts.
- Public consensus on topics can be wrong, and even basic research can offer valuable corrections.
- Feedback, whether from readers or LLMs, is essential, though thick skin is needed for public criticism.
- The author recommends blogging as a tool for clearer thinking, and suggests signs of effective writing: changing your mind and improving your conclusion.
- Private blogging with AI feedback is also beneficial for learning.

blogging

Anonymity Is Fun

Knitting the Web: We Need Interlinkers

Resurfacing posts

How to Write Blog Posts that Developers Read

Adam Gordon Bell on Attracting Customers through Blogging

The Most Popular Blogs of Hacker News in 2025

Hello, World!

how i write blog posts

My Om Malik Story

Here we go

I wish your bespoke React-Tailwind-etc static site generator had RSS

A Year of Writing for Myself (That 230,000+ People Read)

<antirez>

Blog about things you don't understand yet