iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Many moons ago, on the Monday after the Kentucky Derby, I hopped into my RAV4 and started the drive to Alaska. I took the tourist route, and a few weeks later I ended up at this cabin in Talkeetna (population ~900 people in the summer).

030 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Cold feet, warm heart. I think that’s how the saying goes. :) This is a favorite walking path in Wasilla, Alaska. I love the solitude, peace, and quiet of this path in the winter.

051 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Alaska was an amazing place to work, because during the summer you’re awake 20 hours a day, and during the winter it’s dark all the time, so you’re like, “I guess I’ll just stay in, make some coffee and fresh-baked cookies, and write a book.” :)

180 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

“It’s 420 miles south to Fairbanks, on a dirt road, I got a full tank of gas, it’s 4am, and I’m wearing sunglasses.” :)

020 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I accidentally ran through a red light in Virginia Beach, and since I’m leaving soon, I thought it was best to just get it over with. So I called the police to turn myself in, but they wouldn't take me; I was not on their camera. Okay, never mind. *These are not the droids you're looking for.* 😉

000 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

I don’t watch many movies, but my nieces made me watch Bridesmaids, and that eventually led to seeing this favorite quote about finding meaning in work.

020 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

If you haven’t seen Kyo yet, the first ~20 minutes of this video is a nice introduction. 👍👍 For instance, you’ll learn what this syntax means: val s: String < IO = IO(readFile(filename)) There’s also a nice map/flatMap surprise in there as well! 👏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIjt... #scala

youtube.com

An Algebra of Thoughts: When Kyo effects meet LLMs by Flavio Brasil

YouTube video by Func Prog Sweden

062 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

My free Scala and Functional Programming video courses are now complete. We have 8 courses, totaling 266 videos, and since August, 2024, we have over 1,450 course registrations. 🥳 👉 www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

032 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

One night in June or July — back when I lived in Palmer, Alaska — I went to Anchorage. This photo is from the drive back to Palmer ... at 3am. You don’t really need your headlights on to see at this time, but you can put your lights on to help other drivers see you a little better. #alaska

172 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Warning: There will be no more warnings. Life in #Alaska. :)

082 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Woo-hoo, my final FREE video training course is now available: “An Introduction to ZIO Kafka.” 🚀 This course features 14 short videos to help you get up and running with the ZIO Kafka library. 👉 www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

061 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

I wrote a 1,400-word blog post titled “What The Heck Does flatMap Mean?”, but then I remembered that I don’t write anymore. :) So instead of posting that, the extension method in this image might tell you what I had in mind, and it’s a lot shorter. #scala #functionalprogramming

030 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

“I’m tired, boss ... Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it. It’s like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?”

010 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

#Colorado sunsets are as pretty as you think they are. No filters required.

010 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

I slightly modified an example from the ZIO Streams website for my ZIO Streams course, and it ended up being one of the most fun and interesting examples I’ve ever worked with. Playing with the delay times and buffer sizes was a 😱🤯🤩 experience. www.learnscala.dev #scala

021 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

My “ZIO Streams” course is now up to 11 videos, including error handling, pipelines, and buffering! 🚀 And as always, it’s FREE: 👉 www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

142 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

On this day in Colorado four years ago, we enjoyed 18” of snow.

010 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

If someone who was an enemy of the United States got in political power in the U.S., such as in the Manchurian Candidate, what types of things do you think they would do? An A.I. answer:

030 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I just added two more free ZIO Streams video lessons, and I’ll be adding more this weekend: www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

061 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

The next free video course is on ZIO Streams, and the first two videos are now available: www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

053 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

What? Another free video course? Coming soon? 🍿🥤 #scala

050 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Over 200 FREE videos — no paywalls, no commercials — in six free Scala, Functional Programming, and ZIO training courses. And more coming soon ... www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

0134 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Yesterday I added a small-but-complete “ZIO HTTP, Database-Driven REST API Example” to my free videos. I broke it into separate packages for configuration, model, repository/database, service, and API code so you can easily grow the example. 👉 www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

031 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Looking for a minimal yet fully functional ZIO HTTP + MySQL REST API example? This might be the smallest one in the known universe. 🚀 Includes ZIO HTTP, MySQL, a REST API handler, packaging to separate the concerns, logging, services, and ZLayers. All in just 16 minutes. www.learnscala.dev #scala

091 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

I’ve never written or created videos about Kyo because I didn’t really grok how to use it, so this video is a helpful step in that direction! 👍 #scala

092 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Every February I think, “I’m glad I’m not in Alaska right now,” and then every March I’m ready to move back. :)

030 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Part 2 of the “Introduction to Caliban” is now live. 🚀 In it I cover Caliban’s “Core Programming Concepts” — the steps you’ll follow in writing most Caliban applications. After this, in the next video we’ll write our first Caliban application. www.learnscala.dev

030 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

A terrific advantage of GraphQL — and therefore Caliban — is the ability to make precise queries that let you get the exact information you want in just ONE query (image). If you’re used to making REST queries, you know what a huge difference this is. www.learnscala.dev #scala

030 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Caliban, anyone? My first Caliban video is now up. If you haven’t heard of it before, Caliban is a very cool GraphQL server that’s built on top of ZIO and ZIO HTTP. 👉 www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

063 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

If you’re interested, here’s a list of all the books and video courses I have that are currently free: alvinalexander.com/photos/alvin... #scala

064 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Next up in my free “ZIO HTTP” video series, we look at a Middleware solution to handling authentication. As always, these videos are completely free thanks to Ziverge, who is kindly sponsoring them! 🙏 #scala #functionalprogramming

052 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Yesterday’s authentication solution video took over 18 minutes, but today’s video is just 4 minutes, as we start the process of simplifying our authentication code and solution: www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

000 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

With a blood disease like #MCAS, the most annoying thing is when doctors say “You look healthy.” My latest response is: “There are ~48,000 mast cells for EVERY SQUARE INCH of my skin, eyes, breathing and digestive tracts, and each cell is screwed up; so no, that doesn’t feel good.” #chronicillness

051 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

In this next video I show how to implement “Basic Auth” in a ZIO HTTP application. This approach is fairly low-level, so after this I’ll have two shorter videos that will show how to make your life simpler. www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

021 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

For folks here with #ChronicIllness, such as #MCAS, I had multiple “fake heart attacks” and hospital stays before we knew that I had #MCAS. After we learned about MCAS, I now take ~40 pills a day, and I haven’t had this problem of “Kounis Syndrome” (allergic angina) anymore.

020 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

My “ZIO HTTP & Caliban” examples are now available on Github: github.com/alvinj/ZIO-H... #scala #functionalprogramming

052 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

More February Christmas lights from a previous home, this time with my Shoji screen. I don’t watch much tv, and prefer to read in spaces like this at night.

000 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Once I put up my Christmas lights 🎄 they tend to stay up for a while. This is my work area from February 6th of a previous year. 😁

040 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

More ZIO anyone? 🚀 The red enclosed area shows the videos that I’ve released in the last 24 hours in my “ZIO HTTP” video course. And thanks to Ziverge, all these Scala, FP, and ZIO videos are FREE to anyone who wants to learn! www.learnscala.dev #scala

041 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

I just started releasing a new “REST API Development” section in my free “ZIO HTTP” video course: www.learnscala.dev #scala #functionalprogramming

032 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I’ll be releasing up to 10 new ZIO HTTP videos this weekend. We’ll get started with JSON, logging in a ZIO HTTP application, cookies, and a REST API example. #scala #functionalprogramming #free

031 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

As I write this, we just passed the mark of 1,000 course registrations since July, 2024! 🎉 If you’re interested in learning #Scala, functional programming, or the power of ZIO — for FREE — you can learn more about the courses here: www.learnscala.dev Note: Most videos are less than ~12 minutes.

031 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Very shortly, we’re going to be over 1,000 FREE course registrations since July, 2024. 🥳 #scala

022 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

The first 4 videos of my new free video course, “ZIO HTTP + Caliban”, are now available. 🥳 www.learnscala.dev/my-courses I also want to thank Ziverge, John De Goes, and Sandra Wolf for sponsoring these courses, and making them freely available to everyone. 🙏 More videos are coming soon! #scala

073 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

In general, I don’t know. But there is a nice forum on Facebook for people with my blood disease. And I have been thinking that if I don’t stay in programming, I might want to work in this area.

010 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

I should also add that I don’t think the image I shared here is 100% factually correct, but I do know that everyone I have personally known with chronic illness has mentioned this at least once.

000 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

I suspect that almost everyone who has dealt with #MCAS or other #ChronicIllness has felt this way at one point or another. The thing that has worked for me is to keep thinking about the people I care about, and trying to be here for them.

260 0

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

“Alaska: It doesn’t grow on you as much as it makes you unfit to live anywhere else.”

020 0