A list of blogs and/or posts I think are great.

Other People's Writing

Inspired by Jedda here’s an occasionally updated list of blogs and/or posts I’ve enjoyed reading.

A hat tip and thanks to people who took the time to write and publish what they did.

I think it’s also possible to learn something about a person by what they like to read so think there’s an element of ‘getting to know me’ in sharing this.

  1. photoni.st by a 40 something software engineer looking 50 right in the eye. I’ve kind of binged on his posts over the last few days. A great find. Amongst many gems is a series of posts which explain the approach he took in helping his 12 year old niece learn about photography. I have a few decades on his niece but I reckon I can learn a lot from the series.
  2. Your Indispensable Value in the AI Era by Lars Faye. You don’t have to look hard to find comments about outsourcing the cognitive load of a task to an LLM and how that diminishes learning and growth. Lars looks beyond that dull observation and builds on an idea Brit Cruise shared in the AI Paradox that, “In a world where the cost of answers is dropping to zero, the value of the question becomes everything.” I am reassured by this and could not agree more.
  3. Building a Home NAS from Mostly Spare Parts by Max Glenister. I’m close to inspired. This may be a project I shall embark on sometime later this year.
  4. A thing we should acknowledge about AI by Matthew Haughey. The section about using Claude (LLM) had me nodding along in recognition. As I read the part about seeking help I was anticipating it would lead to a reflection on why learning was better than just doing what an LLM suggests. It surprised me that it did not. I have no qualms about using an LLM to guide me. If I am interested in what I am doing I often end up learning something by doing so anyway.
  5. 10,000 press-ups in a year update: first of 2026 by Skryblans who was inpired by 10000 Pushups by Jason Gilmore. A few years back I did the 100 press up challenge. From just a few to 100 consecutive press ups in six weeks. I was amazed I did it. Not done many since then. I’m feeling inspired by Skryblans. I’m gonna’ give it a go starting today; 01/03/2025
  6. Mechanical Watch by Bartosz Ciechanowski. The depth of detail and skill that’s gone into this post to explain the inner workings of the mechanical watch is a marvel to behold. I had no prior interest in mechanical watches before coming across this post. I read it to the end playing with all the masterfully created graphics as I did. This was of learning about things on screen really works for me. Go take a look.
  7. When Love Thy Neighbor Is a Cry of Resistance by Rebecca Solnit. Oh my. So good to read. Such a refreshing take on what’s going on around the world. A powerful message of strength, hope and love that is grounded in the interconnection between all living things. So pleased to have come across Rebecca’s writing.
  8. The Darkness You Choose, The Darkness that Chooses You by Prickly Oxheart. This post prompted me to experiment with fasting. All sorts of good things came from that. The author has not posted anything since October. Their last post about acceptance kind of suggests they won’t.
  9. Your Life is the Sum Total of 2,000 Mondays by JA Westenberg. I happen to like Mondays. JA Westenberg writes very eloquently and in detail about their chosen subjects - tech, humans, and philosophy.