I’ve been working on Notably News – a short-form news service that delivers micro updates by email. Instead of constant notifications or daily digests, you get just a few key updates per year on a subject, covering only the most important events.
I follow a lot of different topics but don’t want to rely on social media, Google Alerts, or traditional news sites that flood me with updates, clickbait, or opinions. I just want concise, neutral updates on the most significant events.
I first tried to build something similar ten years ago, leveraging my (very minimal!) academic experience in text summarization. But at the time, I couldn’t get it to work well. Now, modern LLMs make doing this feasible.
HOW IT WORKS:
1. Pick a public figure (or several) to follow
2. We use (mostly!) Wikipedia to watch for updates, then summarize them.
3. Receive short, neutral updates via email – just a couple of sentences when something big happens
WHAT NEXT?
Right now, I’m focusing on tracking famous people. When I first attempted this in 2014, I tried to cover everything at once (which was… a mistake). This time, I’m taking more of a step-by-step approach.
I’d love your feedback, inc what topics or categories should I add next?
Try it out: https://www.notably.news/
Minimal sign up: Just choose who you care about and enter an email address; no spam
