Ask HN: How do you find deep technical content?

I'm pretty tired of seeing AI-related content everywhere. When I open Hacker News, close to half of the top submissions are AI-related. It's the same on social networks as well.

I miss the times when there was a lot of technical content that took time and mental energy to understand.

Nowadays, it's pretty hard to discover it. On HN, I see that a lot of technical articles don't make it to the front page, so sometimes I just search for them in the submissions. Not only is there less content, but demand for it is also declining. I guess people would rather read another article about LLMs that teaches almost nothing and doesn't exercise their curiosity. It feels sad for me, as a reader and as a writer.

So, are there any other places left where people still care about and share deep technical content? I want to keep exercising my thinking. I've had enough of brain-rotting.

36 points | by f311a 1 day ago

17 comments

  • dieselgate 4 hours ago
    Textbooks, white papers and research publications if I understand what you mean by "deep technical". I like lectures and stuff too but find it difficult to refer back to later and search around.
  • brudgers 23 hours ago
    [random comment on the internet]

    Some content on the subject of AI is deeply technical, just as is some content on the subject of blockchain, lisp, retro-computing, etc.

    But most of what is written about most things (including C, reverse engineering, systems programming, etc.) is not deeply technical.

    One problem unique to AI is that “AI” doesn’t mean anything specific…I mean even your question doesn’t distinguish between articles about specific AI technologies, articles generated using LLM’s, “AI” as a marketing feature, AI as an industry, AI as an ideology etc.

  • bohdanstefaniuk 3 hours ago
    In most cases documentation is enough for me when I need some help with my current day to day tasks.

    If I want do dig deeper - textbooks, white papers are still a good source.

  • iefbr14 1 day ago
    There is probably still a lot out there but with the current state of the ('free') search engines you won't find much. I am painfully reminded of that every time I have to look for a datasheet that is not in my own archive yet.
  • vismit2000 9 hours ago
  • crowcountry 6 hours ago
    Watch lectures from Stanford, MIT, and other universities.
  • dnnddidiej 22 hours ago
    For Go in particular: the docs. Gophercon videos.

    In general good conference then Youtube. Even if old e.g. strangeloop. There is Fosdem etc.

  • wanderingpixel 1 day ago
    Read more engineering content, e.g. https://circuitcellar.com/
  • markus_zhang 1 day ago
    There are a huge number of system programming books. You can also search for system programming topics on HN.
  • bediger4000 1 day ago
    At least part of the problem is that deep technical content doesn't get upvotes. The next time you see a link to such, note the vote count. It will be small. Note the vote count on some "AI" boosting link. It will be large. Is this Anthropic, Google and OpenAI bots for is it genuine interest?
  • tacostakohashi 5 hours ago
    books
  • slipknotfan 1 day ago
    lobste.rs has some stuff
    • spidersouris 6 hours ago
      Would also be interested in an invite, if anyone has any. Email on my user page.
    • alexjplant 18 hours ago
      I'd love an invite if you have one to spare (no expectation either way). Email is in my profile if you feel so inclined.
      • unmole 18 hours ago
        Invite sent.
        • kovoor 12 hours ago
          Do you happen to have any more? Would really appreciate to have an invite as well, thanks again (email is in bio)
        • shavi71 9 hours ago
          I would appreciate an invite too (email in my about column)
        • Charon77 14 hours ago
          Would appreciate invite too (email in my about column)
    • pseudo-usama 1 day ago
      lobsters genuinely seems more technical and less hype driven than HN these days
    • ken-jo 14 hours ago
      Thank you for share it.
    • user68858788 20 hours ago
      That's a neat site but I'm stuck looking in from the outside. Can someone spare me an invite please? My email is in my about.
    • yash1th 16 hours ago
      sorry for piling on but I'd love an invite as well if you can spare :) email is in my profile.
  • merrua 1 day ago
    rss
  • xvort 1 day ago
    [dead]
  • coalstartprob 13 hours ago
    [dead]
  • mugivarra69 10 hours ago
    [dead]