I’ve been reading Hacker News daily since 2007. I don’t use RSS feeds or Twitter, but instead rely on the HN front page to stay in the know on technical news. And since quitting Reddit and mainstream news cold-turkey on November 6, 2024, I also rely on HN to inform me about major world-impacting events (pandemics, global catastrophes, AWS outages) without distractions. But mostly I read HN for fun.
Over the years I’ve tried various HN reader websites and apps. None had the sticking power of the main site.
But a week ago I learned about Hckr.News, in particular, its Small Web filter option:
http://hcker.news/?smallweb=true
It’s easier to read HN through this curated site. You get a visual indicator of what the titles you’ve already scanned.
Most importantly, the Small Web Filter surfaces so many more interesting posts that would typically fall “below the fold” of the HN front page.
The Small Web filter “Filters for content from the non-commercial, independent web (personal blogs, hobby sites, etc.) as defined by Kagi’s Small Web initiative. The Small Web is the lifeblood of the internet. I hope some day for my little blog to be included in the collection.