Simon Willison's blog offers a mix of technical tutorials, data analysis projects, and reflections on technology and society. With a focus on Python, SQL, and web development, Simon shares insights into building web applications, working with data, and exploring emerging technologies. Developers can learn about data visualization, API design, and software engineering best practices, gaining inspiration and practical knowledge to advance their careers.

Simon Willison

Simon Willison describes a technique for profiling Hacker News users by fetching their last 1,000 comments via the Algolia HN API and feeding them into an LLM with a simple 'profile this user' prompt. He shares the detailed profile generated for himself as an example, which accurately captures his professional identity, working style, technical interests, and personality. He notes the approach is surprisingly effective and somewhat unsettling, even when the data is publicly available, and mentions he uses it primarily to check whether someone he's debating has a history of bad-faith arguing.

Profiling Hacker News users based on their comments