iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 25/08/2026

In the AI era, a good developer's core job is _understanding_ what the AI wrote, down to the details when it matters. Understanding complex systems is a rare skill. It always has been. So demand for good developers isn't going anywhere. If anything, it's going up.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 23/08/2026

LLMs do improve the quality and correctness of *my* code, I dunno.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 25/04/2026

Presented my solution for integration testing of Telegram bots as a lightning talk at ElixirConf EU. #elixirlang

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 10/03/2026

A small TIL for Git lovers: `git merge-base HEAD main` gives you the nearest common commit between the current branch and main. That's the commit where those two parted ways.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 31/01/2026

People have always been wary of computer viruses, and for good reason. Now, we have much smarter non-deterministic (!) systems running our VPSs and laptops, online, with increasing access to other services. What can go wrong?

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 23/01/2026

So sad that Telegram has a bad reputation in the West. It's *by far* the best UI/UX messenger out there. WhatsApp doesn't even come close (although I love the fact that it runs on the BEAM).

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 22/12/2025

For as long as I can remember, I thought these were equivalent: 1) if foo, do: bar, else: baz 2) foo && bar || baz Until the day bar was nil. #ElixirLang

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 11/12/2025

Whoever designed the Apple Watch Workout app, please leave for Meta.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 10/12/2025

My lexicorn.ai just sold its 10th paid subscription. On to the first 100! :)

lexicorn.ai

Lexicorn · Telegram Vocabulary Builder

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 24/11/2025

I don't know who needs to hear this, but this works in #ElixirLang (new line after :foo is key): if true, do: (:foo :bar) Can you guess what it returns?

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 04/11/2025

Taking an acclimatization walk around Periche, Nepal. 4400m.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 02/11/2025

Want a supervised task to finish (not get killed) during rolling #ElixirLang deployments? Simply trap the exit: Task.Supervisor.start_child( MyApp.TaskSupervisor, fn -> Process.flag(:trap_exit, true) do_work() end ) The task will have 5 seconds to finish.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 29/10/2025

Just downloaded ChatGPT Atlas, and I must say this direct browser-ChatGPT integration can be very useful. It just walked me through creating a free-form Google Analytics report, which I had no knowledge of. Previously, I'd need to send ChatGPT screenshots of where I was, and it was tedious.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 26/10/2025

Are you learning a foreign language by any chance? And what are the odds you use Telegram too? 🤔 I’ve been building a Telegram bot that finally makes vocabulary learning with spaced repetition fun for me, thanks to LLMs. Maybe it will for you, too. Give it a try: t.me/lexicornbot?...

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 21/10/2025

TIL: If you append /rss to the link of any bsky profile, you'll get, well, an RSS feed. Handy if you really don't want to miss posts from a specific someone.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 05/10/2025

Neovim geeks 🫶 — this helps me debug in #ElixirLang: With the cursor inside a function, :ElixirCopyFuncFqn copies its fully qualified name (FQN) to the clipboard — ready to paste into IEx, local or remote. github.com/mxgrn/dotfil...

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 04/10/2025

My favorite application of AI? Sharpening my tools. Just vibe-coded this toggle for #ElixirLang maps in Neovim.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 03/10/2025

Want to disable all unmocked HTTP calls from Req at once during #ElixirLang tests? Simply add this to test/test_helper.exs: Req.default_options( adapter: fn req -> raise "Unmocked call to #{req.url}" end ) (replace `raise` with a log warning if that's more useful)

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 23/09/2025

It's easy to keep nudging the AI until it 'fixes' the tests, and it feels like achieving something, while the value of such tests may be plainly negative. Seeing too many false positives like that lately.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 16/09/2025

Isn’t it neat that Elixir’s AST is valid Elixir? What other languages besides Lisp can claim that?

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 30/08/2025

It's beyond me why Quokka, the awesome Elixir formatter plugin, has so few stars on GitHub, I use it on every project: github.com/emkguts/quokka

github.com

GitHub - emkguts/quokka: A configurable Elixir styler

A configurable Elixir styler. Contribute to emkguts/quokka development by creating an account on GitHub.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 15/07/2025

A very nice, concise, top-level introduction to Elixir and BEAM. Share it with anyone who's willing to understand why you're so lucky to work with the tech. youtu.be/_5B_B_IgtAg

youtu.be

Practical Arguments for Erlang / Elixir - Shawn McCool

YouTube video by Shawn McCool

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 17/05/2025

Just something to casually mention to your next non-Elixir developer friend.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 15/05/2025

Me: What's your current favorite escape hatch when LiveView doesn't quite cut it? Chris McCord: Web components with Lit. #ElixirConfEU

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 18/03/2025

Vibe Mitigation Engineer. Full-time, on-site.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 16/03/2025

When to name your #ElixirLang function with a bang? Only if the function is *expected* to throw errors during normal execution. Do not simply 'inherit' bangs from what’s inside that function (`Repo.update!`) if those exceptions would signal a bug (that is, should never happen).

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 15/03/2025

AI won’t create anything fancy on its own. But it’s great at producing building blocks, with which you, human, can build the fancy.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 15/03/2025

Just published my first Hex package—one that no one else should even consider using. It was simply the easiest way to get its documentation into Dash. Am I doing it wrong? #ElixirLang

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 06/02/2025

Hey @sasajuric.bsky.social, I would be very curious to hear about your experience teaching programming to non-developers. Would you consider bringing this up in your next interview or doing a conference talk about it?

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 06/02/2025

Hey @peterullrich.com, in the context of programming, would you say that the effort-to-result ratio of writing blog posts is better than that of creating videos?

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 02/02/2025

it'll take your job they say

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 27/01/2025

TIL: You can define fetch/2 in your struct-defining module and have it return anything you want for the [] operator: #ElixirLang

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 27/12/2024

Today is the day I, too, moved to Ghostty. Big thanks Alacritty, you’ve been a blast! Feel free to discover a cool trick or two from those I've collected in the last few hours: github.com/mxgrn/dotfil...

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 26/12/2024

#elixirlang and #neovim users, You're probably already using the vim-surround plugin. The following config line will allow you to press % in visual mode to wrap the selection in %{}: let g:surround_37 = "%{\r}" It's useful for converting keyword lists to maps, for example.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 25/12/2024

Quick Neovim pro tip: Say, you’re adding a keymap and are torn between using a leader/space as a prefix or <C-somekey>. Choose Ctrl when pressing this combination repeatedly would make sense, such as for actions like moving around. Choose a prefix for stand-alone actions, like firing a command.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 09/12/2024

Poor man's audit log for Postgres tables. Pure SQL, no Elixir required. Time-to-shelf: 1 minute. Run the final part for each table you want to audit. Use Postico as the UI. gist.github.com/mxgrn/9900c2...

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 08/12/2024

New type of spam: AI-generated songs on Spotify.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 07/12/2024

Could you recommend an #ElixirLang library for tracking changes in the database, such as for audit purposes? I need it to work with Postgres and Ecto.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 04/12/2024

Woke up to this. LiveView 🎉

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 29/11/2024

macOS lovers, just wanted to share a quick list of apps that, after trying a bunch of alternatives, I personally use daily — and absolutely adore: github.com/mxgrn/best-o...

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 27/11/2024

I no longer understand why merge commits are so demonized. If every commit is meaningful, why squash? If a PR contains multiple meaningful commits and rebasing guarantees multiple merge conflicts, why rebase? Just merge. Bonus: it preserves the exact history of changes.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 26/11/2024

TIL: You can put a LiveComponent *outside* of a LiveView render (e.g., in app.html.heex), and it will behave as a child of the currently mounted LiveView. Confusing. Fascinating. #ElixirLang.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 25/11/2024

A new talk by Saša Jurić, Against the Grain, has just been released on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6c4... Are you as excited as I am? #ElixirLang

youtube.com

Against the Grain - Saša Jurić | Code BEAM America 2024

YouTube video by Code Sync

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Reposted by Elixir ▷ Max

Carter Bryden 🇨🇦 @carterbryden.com · 24/11/2024

If Elon was actually funny, he'd make a bluesky account and post "I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here"

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 21/11/2024

Do I even need to "provide value" to gain followers on Bluesky this quickly? 🤔

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 19/11/2024

TIL: When writing #ElixirLang tests, don’t rely on alphanumeric sorting in Postgres to be consistent.

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 13/11/2024

Today, I joined @tylerayoung.com and other amazing engineers at jumpapp.com! Excited to tackle new challenges with Elixir 🚀

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Elixir ▷ Max @mxgrn.com · 11/11/2024

You may know that `Phoenix.LiveView.mount/3` is called 2 times during the life-cycle of a LiveView: at its initial HTML render, and after client connects to server. I just realized it's also called from 2 different processes. The second process is actually spawned on client connecting to server.

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