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Posted by hisamafahri 11 hours ago

Ooh.directory: a place to find good blogs that interest you(ooh.directory)
390 points | 111 commentspage 2
engelo_b 10 hours ago|
the google is dying narrative usually misses the fact that the incentive loop for niche blogs is just broken right now. we're caught between writing for the 'helpful content' algorithm or writing for actual humans. curated directories like this are basically the only way to bypass the seo arms race and find real domain expertise again.
cosmicgadget 9 hours ago|
I'm not sure where they are at this moment, but a while back Google seemed to abandon EEAT and SEOed pages in favor of pure domain authority. So it no longer mattered if you page had the all-important "Key Takeaways".

Blogs are still discoverable via aggregators and link sharing. But those are ephemeral, directories like this and search engines like marginalia are important resources.

ksec 6 hours ago||
Does the name ooh has anything to do with Yahoo. Because that was what reminded me of, but I cant find anything about naming info on the site. So just wondering.

There are lot of internet article farming, but the real internet is increasingly "small". So I am not surprised we are back to where we started again; Directory.

frenzcan 2 hours ago||
Wow, I’m making this my homepage.
Lucent 6 hours ago||
Turns out my blog is actually a newsletter? Seems like a distinction without a difference.
philgyford 5 hours ago|
I'd argue there is a difference between a blog and a newsletter, but that would take longer to discuss than I have right now. But you're right that the boundary between the two is extremely blurry.

However, I'm guessing you tried to submit a Substack URL and was told newsletters aren't accepted? Even if I allowed newsletters, I wouldn't add any Substack newsletters because of the platform's fascist-supporting tendencies.

zahlman 7 hours ago||
I'm not sure about the orange on dark green colour scheme, but I like that the site is responsive and light-weight, and manages to show a bunch of fancy effects in pure CSS.

I was surprised that Simon Willison's blog is listed in Python and Web Development categories, but not AI.

philgyford 7 hours ago|
That’s one problem with categorising blogs - they often shift focus over time, like Simon’s. I’ve added it to the AI category now - thanks for pointing that out!
cosmicgadget 6 hours ago||
Quick, Simon, pivot to cooking!
juleshenry 7 hours ago||
Wow, I just worked on a blog sophistication analyzer. I wonder what could be learned by comparing all blogs here together: https://github.com/juleshenry/-shtetltleths-
rednafi 6 hours ago||
I have a page on my site dedicated to list the blogs I frequent:

https://rednafi.com/blogroll/

ehecatl42 11 hours ago||
> No blogs or categories were found matching emacs.

OK then.

throwaway150 10 hours ago||
>> No blogs or categories were found matching emacs.

> OK then.

Exactly. This is a deeper problem with ooh.directory, that the review process is opaque. They do not explain why something is added or rejected. I do not care much about Emacs itself but I submitted several of my favourite bloggers who write about retrogames, gaming rigs, and custom keyboards. None of them were added. None at all.

I do not think we should be encouraging closed directories like this in the community. I would much rather see a transparent directory where the review process is clear.

philgyford 8 hours ago||
You do seem particularly offended or annoyed that some blogs you suggested have not yet appeared on the site.

You can read the FAQ article to see the criteria for what’s accepted, and also reasons why suggested blogs haven’t yet appeared.

Ultimately it’s my own hobby site and so I decide what is “good” or “interesting” - so long as it meets the other criteria.

throwaway150 8 hours ago||
> You do seem particularly offended or annoyed that some blogs you suggested have not yet appeared on the site.

I'm not offended. Just a little frustrated that I took the time to make some submissions of blogs I thought were missing but never heard anything back.

But you're right that it is your hobby site, so you get to decide what goes in.

kjs3 3 hours ago||
The sole person running this site doesn't find the same things interesting than you do. How dare they.

The sense of entitlement displayed is really breathtaking.

throwaway150 1 hour ago||
> The sole person running this site doesn't find the same things interesting than you do.

That misses the point. I know the site is run by a single maintainer and they are free to accept or decline whatever they choose. I have no qualms about it.

> The sense of entitlement displayed is really breathtaking.

Calling something "entitlement" is an easy way to shut down discussion without engaging with the argument. Labeling a concern instead of addressing it feels like a weak response. Good thing is that the maintainer did address my concern in a separate reply instead of just shrugging it off as "entitlement" and for that I'm thankful to him.

I respect the maintainer's authority over their own site. The only thing I am asking for is a bit of courtesy in return for the effort spent curating and submitting material. I do not expect submissions to be accepted, only that rejected ones receive a brief acknowledgement. If expecting that minimal level of courtesy counts as entitlement, then so be it. We all operate within a shared community, and I am only asking for the kind of consideration I try to extend to others myself.

If you missed it, I've also apologized to the maintainer for being a pain in these threads. My comments come off as overly negative and I'm aware of that. For that I apologize. But I also want to say that my frustration comes from putting effort into collecting good blogs (retrocomputing and gaming kind), submitting them, and then seeing no response or action. The maintainer has since explained that there's a large backlog which makes the situation understandable.

So in the end, all I can do is apologize. But suggesting that I'm somehow challenging the maintainer's right to make decisions about their own project is both inaccurate and disingenuous.

8organicbits 10 hours ago|||
There's an RSS planet that curates blogs about emacs, for anyone who is looking.

https://planet.emacslife.com/

I've been building a list of blog lists, and I know of 136 feeds that use that category tag. (Open filters, select emacs under category, adjust language as needed).

https://alexsci.com/rss-blogroll-network/discover/

philgyford 8 hours ago|||
lol

Even after the site being on HN last time, and getting hundreds and hundreds of tech blog suggestions as a result, none of them were about emacs.

What are your favourite emacs blogs?

wilkystyle 10 hours ago|||
You can be the first! (I'd be interested!)
throwaway150 9 hours ago||
I've submitted entries but they never get added. I have no idea how they decide what makes it into the directory and what doesn't so I've stopped trying.
rambambram 7 hours ago||
[flagged]
alansaber 10 hours ago||
Vim wins again
brightbed 5 hours ago||
Opened it, and two clicks in I immediately found a blog that made me say “woah”. Success!
ramon156 10 hours ago|
I'm subscribed to the Index Issue (i think that's the name) which has a nice short list of curated blogposts. Works for me!

Granted, I'd love a more technical version. Perhaps anyone here could start one?

Make an RSS list, pick the ones out you liked and BAM, you got my sub :)

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