Curated Non-AI Technical and Personal Blogs from Hacker News

The Persistence of Niche Blogging

Despite the dominance of AI-centric content, a vibrant ecosystem of technical and personal blogs continues to provide deep-dives into software engineering, mathematics, and niche hobbies. The Hacker News community identifies a strong desire for the "2009 era" of blogging, characterized by personal projects and specialized factoids, suggesting that high-signal, human-authored technical writing remains highly valued.

High-Signal Technical and Engineering Blogs

Technical blogs focusing on low-level engineering, graphics, and systems design provide enduring value through deep technical exploration.

• The Old New Thing (Raymond Chen): A long-running resource for Windows internals and software engineering patterns.
• Inigo Quilez: A highly regarded blog by a graphics engineer and demoscene expert, described as a "time capsule" of high-level graphics engineering.
• Ciechanowski: Known for exceptionally high-quality interactive explanations of how complex things work.
• Dan Luu: A source for rigorous analysis of systems and technology.
• Iago Leal: Focuses on the intersection of mathematics and computing.
• Making Software: Dedicated to the craft and process of software development.

Specialized and Niche Interests

Beyond general software engineering, several blogs focus on hyper-specific domains, ranging from corporate history to digital photography.

• Before Mario: Explores Nintendo's corporate history and its products prior to the company's entry into the video game market.
• Avid Andrew: Provides detailed technical insights into the development and usage of Darktable (open-source photography software).
• Wingolog: A specialized resource for aviation enthusiasts.
• Twenty Sided Tale (Shamus Young): Though the author has passed away, the site remains a valuable archive for procedural generation techniques.
• But Does It Float: An art blog noted for its aesthetic value and accompanying quotes.

Economics, Philosophy, and General Intellectualism

Several recommendations bridge the gap between technical skill and broader intellectual inquiry.

• Marginal Revolution: Primarily focused on economics, though it touches on a wide array of topics with AI occupying only a small portion of its coverage.
• Arts & Letters Daily: A curated aggregator of essays and articles from a non-technical perspective.
• Walking the World: A Substack newsletter focusing on non-AI topics.

The State of Blogging in the 2020s

There is an ongoing debate within the developer community regarding the viability of the traditional blog format. Some users express a feeling that blogging has become a niche activity in 2026, citing a preference for "spoon-fed" information and shorter content cycles.

However, the volume of recommendations for personal sites—such as those by Maggie Appleton, Nadia Asparouhova (nadia.xyz), and Geoffrey Litt—indicates that the "digital garden" and personal knowledge management style of blogging is still thriving among power users and engineers who seek depth over brevity.