Alan Bellows Launches Fundraiser to Save Damn Interesting from AI Slop
A Possible Future for Damn Interesting
After twenty years of sustaining Damn Interesting through part-time engineering work, I now face a full-time job that limits my time. With the internet flooded by AI-generated content, I am launching a one-off fundraiser to cover my salary for a year. Your support will allow me to return to writing and editing, ensuring the site's survival against the rising tide of low-quality content.
Meanwhile, a dull-as-dishwater tsunami of AI slop sloshes over most of the Internet.
- DamnInteresting
Heavens to Betsy. My server alerted me that traffic was far exceeding a median Thursday. For the record, I am a fairly active user on HN, but I was not responsible for sharing this link here, directly or otherwise. I have little stomach for self-promotion (probably to my detriment).
- dclowd9901
Admittedly, I haven't read DI in quite a while, but seeing this post brought back a flood of memories from my college days of waiting for the next article to drop. This blog was the precursor of an entire genre of "generally interesting shit" that has kind of underpinned most of the spirit of podcasting today. Shows like 99PI, Stuff You Should Know, RadioLab and so on owe I think a little something to this blog.
The amount asked for is meager, and I was more than happy to throw some bucks at it.
- Aachen
I found Damn Interesting because of an orbital mechanics simulation the author coded in javascript as a one-off for an article about iirc cyclers. Crazy amount of effort for what's probably about 10 seconds of eye-candy for the average reader. I found it a really neat implementation and while the articles are a bit long for me, it got me hooked on their podcast. There seem to be few projects as thorough and long-lived as this one.
- scientifik
https://www.damninteresting.com/this-place-is-not-a-place-of... - has long been one of my favorite articles on the internet. Happy to chip in to support the site.
- joeguilmette
I miss the old internet. I wish this fellow traveler well.