@alexelcu@social.alexn.org
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

alexelcu

@alexelcu@social.alexn.org

Software developer, #FP, #Scala, #Kotlin, #Java / #JVM, #Haskell, #Rust; contributor to https://alexn.org, https://monix.io, https://typelevel.org.

🌍 #Bucharest, #Romania

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alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

Macros are bad, but…

If you want macros, the meta-programming abilities in Scala are quite nice. What I like is that much is possible using just simple inline definitions w/ compile-time reflection, no AST manipulation or quoted code required.

alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

How is IntelliJ IDEA for Scala 3 these days? Does it work?

alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

"Rust Atomics and Locks"

A book on low-level concurrency in Rust. Explains atomics, mutexes, memory ordering, integration with OS APIs.

#Link #Book #Concurrency #Programming #Rust

https://marabos.nl/atomics/

alexelcu, to mastodon
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

Pro-tip for people self-hosting their own #Mastodon instances…

On small servers, it can get lonely. For instance, following a tag (like #scala) will yield no results from people you don't already follow.

The solution is to subscribe to a “relay” (Settings > Administration > Relays), but an unfiltered stream brings a lot of junk, also increasing hosting costs.

For me, the better solution is this follow-only relay that can be filtered by tag or instance:

https://relay.fedi.buzz/

#Mastoadmin

alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

I still can't wrap my head around the chess server being built in Scala 3 and using Typelevel libraries, in an style. This chess server is insanely popular.

https://github.com/lichess-org

alexelcu, to random
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

Apache is replacing in Play Framework ❤️😍

I really wish Lightbend well, I hope they thrive, but blowing up the FOSS ecosystem around Akka was a foreseeable consequence of its licensing turning proprietary. All FOSS projects will predictably move to Pekko, and Pekko isn't a drop-in replacement (due to the inevitable change in packages), which puts Akka in a very tough spot.

N.b., version 2.9 is probably the last release with support for Akka.

https://github.com/playframework/playframework/releases/tag/2.9.0-RC2

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

Document on "How Play Deals with Akka's License Change"...

https://www.playframework.com/documentation/2.9.x/General#How-Play-Deals-with-Akkas-License-Change

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

Dust hasn't settled yet on Apache , but I really believe it will thrive.

This is the true power of . When you don't agree with the direction, you can fork from the last adequate version! Resources are required, but where there's a need, there's a way 💪

Furthermore, in the case of Pekko, was the best organization to take this on because they have adequate processes that give credibility to such forks.

alexelcu, to Java
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

#Java 21 is a pretty outstanding LTS release. Generational ZGC + virtual threads + pattern matching 😍

https://openjdk.org/jeps/12

killyourfm, to wordpress
@killyourfm@layer8.space avatar

Alright, so the goal this weekend is to start setting up a completely open source marketing engine for Hurricane Blonde, my music project.

Right now I'm thinking:

  1. Digital Ocean or Linode w/ Ubuntu for the web server

  2. #Wordpress for the site (I know you're going to recommend Hugo or Ghost but I have 20 years of experience with Wordpress and it's comfortable)

  3. @keila for the newsletter.

  4. @Matomo for analytics

  5. ??? for email

What am I missing?

#OpenSource #Marketing

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@killyourfm Hetzner is cheaper, and you may need the extra RAM.

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@killyourfm On Hetzner I have an instance with 4 GB of RAM. It's enough to self-host Matomo, Mastodon, the Isso commenting widget, a couple of static websites, and a personal project.

Costs 5.35 EUR / month (without VAT), and it would be 22.5 EUR on DigitalOcean.

I think personal projects / servers need to be cheap for sustainability.

alexelcu, to mastodon
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

This is a cool browser extension that collects #Mastodon profiles from the websites that you visit. It helps to find the people whose blogs you follow:

https://streetpass.social/

ross, to android
@ross@rossabaker.com avatar

  • Longtime Android user. I avoid smart speakers, but sometimes use a Google one. Kids have FamilyLink.

  • In last two years, both Samsung and Google denied in-warranty claim on a flagship.

  • Only Apple device in home is work MacBook. I run Linux. Watch is a Garmin and earbuds are Jabra. I am unlikely to ever be all-in Apple.

  • I don't tweak as much as I used to, but I enjoy mobile Firefox.

  • Security matters.

  • I am frugal, but could splurge.

#Android #iOS #AskFedi

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@chris__martin @ross iPhone SE is really good if you want a decent smartphone with basic apps. Has the best ROI.

I dislike iPhones due to limitations. E.g., în Android, I use FolderSync, an app that syncs my cloud drive with local folders. I back up my photos (incl WhatsApp), and I synchronize my DRM-free books, my notes, and my scans with it. I also like to download torrents, which I then cast (via VLC) to my Samsung TV. Automation (Bixby or Tasker) is pretty good, too.

alexelcu, to Bulgaria
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

's has teeth. As predicted, companies like Meta (Facebook) can't claim that user profiling for targeted ads is a legitimate purpose. They tried claiming that, but a DPA ruled against it.

Now they are back to "consent", which has to be unambiguous, opt-in, and the service's functionality (content served) can't be locked away without it. In other words, they are screwed.

https://thisisunpacked.substack.com/p/the-eu-war-on-behavioral-advertising

vascorsd, to random
@vascorsd@mastodon.social avatar

These shitty people that rent houses are so on drugs that I just saw an offer where they want the rent to be paid in 3 months intervals :KEKW: :KEKW:

I think we should start hanging some people... :angery:

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@vascorsd Finding adequate housing is nerve-racking, as the good offers don't stay long on the market. Hang in there.

vascorsd, to random
@vascorsd@mastodon.social avatar

Looking for houses is probably the most stressful activity I've ever done in my life. And I've done it too many times already. Tired.

Fuck all the rent market and landlords.

Shitty holes for too damn much money where even they wouldn't want to live. 🤮

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@vascorsd Rents have increased mostly due to interest rates, as many landlords have mortgages on the places they rent. Interest rates are up due to national banks attempting to stop inflation.

Not financing 100% of the cost is good, as it's a filter for bad borrowers. This is set by national banks, i.e. by law, to prevent housing bubbles.

The problem with many European cities is that they are static. Overcrowding & strict regulations don't yield cheap housing.

@tyil

nurkiewicz, to Podcast
@nurkiewicz@fosstodon.org avatar

For days I couldn't figure out why American podcasts I listen to suddenly feature Spanish ads. It just occurred to me that I became a victim of dynamic ad insertion (#DAI). A clever mechanism that injects audio ads to existing #podcast episodes based on various tracking information. A month ago I was in Spain for vacation and now I'm listening to episodes downloaded back then (I have a long backlog). What a sad time to be alive

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@nurkiewicz @kubukoz

I also recommend Pocket Casts. Multi-platform, now owned by Automattic (WordPress) and the mobile apps are open source.

https://pocketcasts.com/

alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

Apache Pekko HTTP 1.0 released 🎉

(, , , , , )

https://pekko.apache.org/docs/pekko-http/current/

nurkiewicz, to DuckDuckGo
@nurkiewicz@fosstodon.org avatar

My favorite feature of #DuckDuckGo? You can browse results using ⬆️ and ⬇️ keys. Also, the fact that they are not spying and the results are often more useful than #Google...

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@nurkiewicz DuckDuckGo's Achilles heel is that they use Bing's API and index.

They can't compete on better filtering, given limited control of Bing. They may claim that the results aren't a “filter bubble”, or that they preserve user privacy, but that's basically subject to Bing's ToS. And their existence is entirely dependent on Bing's pricing, which went up since the introduction of Bing AI.

It depends on what you search for, but results have poorer quality, esp for localized searches.

matthew_d_green, to random

I’m just catching up on Web Integrity but it looks really concerning. Basically adds DRM to your browser so only approved browsers can access certain sites. https://twitter.com/nearcyan/status/1684242509847822336?s=46&t=sPOl9bVNdjREujwiUeFx1g

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@failedLyndonLaRouchite it's not a competition, and Google's proposal can kill the open web independently of other bad things existing.

Ad-blocking is a whac-a-mole game, and ad-blockers are generally winning on the open web. Which is what Google has been trying to fix (first w/ Manifest v3).

Ad-blocking is also different. Your bank or government service will never block you for blocking ads, but they may block you for not using a DRM-enabled Chrome.

@matthew_d_green

nurkiewicz, (edited ) to internet
@nurkiewicz@fosstodon.org avatar

How #Meta / #Threads developer Ben Savage was 'welcomed' on #ActivityPub mailing list ☹️:

“The company you work for does disgusting things among others. It harms relationships and isolates people. It builds walls and lures people into them. When that doesn't suffice, brutal peer pressure does … That said, welcome to the list, Ben.”

I'd say this message is disguisting... Luckily, others were more open | https://www.wired.com/story/metas-threads-could-make-or-break-the-fediverse/

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@proactiveservices @nurkiewicz Meta was always problematic, and I'd like to see them fined more often by EU's DPAs.

But blaming them for damaging democracy or children is like blaming fossil fuel companies for global warming — feels good for having identified an enemy, but with no connection to reality. The Internet itself is to blame, for now, until we'll find ways to cope.

Example: this Fediverse discussion, which is no more productive than your average Twitter/FB interaction.

alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

The breaking API changes in Cats-Effect 3.5.x still hurt.

The underlying issue is that wrapping non-cancelable APIs (e.g., #Scala Future) is really common, and at the same time you can't block cancellation — some leaks go with the territory of using Future in the first place. Most futures are not linked to cancelable stuff, many are simply OK to forget.

IO.fromFuture now has the wrong default, at least when integrating with some common APIs like Akka Streams.

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

The other pet peeve is that you simply can't change the behavior of existing functions.

IMO, a better API evolution is to simply introduce new functions that do the right thing and then deprecate the old ones. Another choice would be to simply not do anything and live with prior API choices.

Or at least signal significant breakage via semver, by incrementing the major version. Breakage is breakage, and runtime breakage is the worst.

alexelcu, to programming
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

1.0.0 has been released!

This is the fork that has been in the works since Lightbend's license change that made Akka 2.7+ proprietary.

Relevant links:

https://pekko.apache.org/docs/pekko/current/

https://pekko.apache.org/download.html

HeavenlyPossum, to random

There was a stretch when Elon Musk took over twitter and started charging for blue checks (lmao) and some of his sycophants started talking about “Veblen goods.”

A Veblen good is something for which demand increases as price increases, in contact to the neoclassical orthodoxy that demand decreases axiomatically with price.

Veblen goods are things that rich people buy to signal their wealth and status. Jewelry, fancy watches, yachts, Ivy League degrees. Things that cost many thousands or millions of dollars.

The idea that an $8 verification on twitter would ever be a status symbol for the rich was fucking ludicrous.

1/8

alexelcu,
@alexelcu@social.alexn.org avatar

@HeavenlyPossum I suffer from severe allergic asthma. I sometimes think research prefers management treatments to cures, too.

OTOH, the drug in this picture, developed by AstraZeneca, literally saved my life. Their COVID-19 vaccine too, alongside that of Pfizer, which was a miracle in how fast it was deployed, given constraints. They are products of capitalism, and I can tell you, under communism nobody gave a shit about asthma. And hospitals were where you went to die.

@wststreet @deech

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