Macro Mayhem

Macro Mayhem

By Peter Ullrich and Gus WorkmanNewsTechnologyTech News
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Macro Mayhem episodes

  • 007 - Goatmire, Old Android Phones, and How To Keep a Secret

    A tribute to Margaret Hamilton’s fault-tolerant software opens a broad roundup of BEAM news: changes to Gleam compilation, Elixir type-system research, Sobelow and other library updates, faster Hologram compilation, Android devices running Nerves, and easier access to Hex-built images. The rest covers Goatmire recaps, Bluesky’s ATProto, doc tests and regression testing, community events, secure handling of local and production credentials, and AI-assisted vulnerability scanning.

    NEWS

    1. Margaret Hamilton dies
      1. https://news.mit.edu/2026/margaret-hamilton-computing-pioneer-dies-1007
    2. Gleam doesn't compile to erlang source anymore
      1. https://gleam.run/news/gleam-doesnt-compile-to-erlang-source-anymore/
    3. Post-doctoroal position in Type System for Elixir IRIF Paris
      1. https://elixirforum.com/t/postdoctoral-position-in-type-systems-for-elixir-irif-paris/76957
    4. Sobelow 0.16.0 released
      1. https://sobelow.hexdocs.pm/0.16.0/changelog.html#v0-16-0
    5. SPONSOR SNIPPET
    6. Hologram 0.12 released
      1. https://hologram.page/blog/hologram-v0-12
    7. Nervesinator - AI Assisted kit to port Nerves on android devices
      1. https://github.com/mlainez/nervesinator
      2. https://bsky.app/profile/genserver.be/post/3mxrl4le6z222
    8. ReqLLM 1.27.0 released
      1. https://hex.pm/packages/req_llm/1.27.0/changelog
    9. Jump CredoChecks 0.6.0 released
      1. https://github.com/Jump-App/credo_checks/releases/tag/v0.6.0
    10. Hex shows Elixir builds with Bob the Builder
      1. https://bob.hex.pm/


    BLOGS

    1. Goatmire Recap Blogs
      1. https://underjord.io/goatmire-2-odins-folly.html
      2. https://ellyxir.com/posts/goatmire-2026/
      3. https://beamops.co.uk/blog/goatmire-2026-review
    2. Johanna Larsson: Building an ATproto link aggregator
      1. https://jola.dev/posts/building-atproto-link-aggregator
    3. Ryan Zidago: Using Doctests to understand a feature
      1. https://ryanzidago.com/posts/using-doctests-to-understand-a-feature/
    4. Aleksei Matiushkin (mudasobwa): Aggressive Regression
      1. https://blog.yokerhood.com/aggressive-regression


    MEETUPS AND CONFERENCES

    • Nerves Meetup EU, Oct 14 (tonight!)
    • Unconference + Code BEAM Europe, Oct 21-22
      • https://luma.com/1dq3t9tf
    • BOB 2027 CFP - Berlin, Feb 26, 2027
      • https://bobkonf.de/2027/cfc.html
      • Due Nov 2nd
    1 hr 5 min
  • 006 - Goatmire, OTP Security Patches, and José Valim on Languages in the AI Era

    Recorded live from Goatmire in Varberg, we recap the conference, its Nerves-powered orchestra, LED tree, and badges, and discuss José Valim's post on evolving programming languages in the AI era. Plus OTP security patches you should install now.

    NEWS

    OTP 29.1.1, plus 28 and 27 patch releases, fix three CVEs
    https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/patch-package-otp-29-1-1-released/76775
    https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2026-65634
    https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2026-68956
    https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2026-89422

    Explorer 0.13 is out
    https://hex.pm/packages/explorer/0.13.0/changelog

    LetMe 3.0.4 released                   
    https://elixirforum.com/t/letme-3-0-4-released/76850

    Flop 0.29.0 and Flop Phoenix 0.27.0 released
    https://github.com/woylie/flop/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
    https://elixirforum.com/t/flop-phoenix-0-27-0-released/76849

    Atomic Bucket 0.5 released             
    https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/atomic-bucket-fast-single-node-rate-limiter-impl
    ementing-token-bucket-algorithm/74225/16

    SmolNet, a user-mode TCP/IP stack       
    https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/smolnet-a-user-mode-tcp-ip-stack/76739

    ExRatatui 0.16 released
    https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/exratatui-elixir-bindings-for-the-rust-ratatui-t
    erminal-ui-library/74403/17

    Gale, a Phoenix adapter for HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3
    https://elixirforum.com/t/gale-phoenix-adapter-for-http-1-1-http-2-and-http-3-qu
    ic-without-needing-to-replace-bandit/76880

    BLOGS

    José Valim - Evolving programming languages in the AI era
    https://dashbit.co/blog/evolving-ai-era
    Discussion on ElixirForum: https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/thoughts-on-evolving-
    programming-languages-in-the-ai-era/76825/3

    Ryan Zidago - Keep product knowledge close to the code
    https://ryanzidago.com/posts/keep-product-knowledge-close-to-the-code/

    Herman Verschooten - Blue/Green deployments
    https://til.verschooten.name/til/2026-09-19/blue_green
    Mentioned in the Xamal thread: https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/xamal-deploy-elix
    ir-releases-to-bare-metal-servers-via-ssh/74398/35

    MEETUPS AND CONFERENCES

    Nerves Meetup EU, Oct 14, 7 PM CET, remote via Zoom
    EEF Unconference and Code BEAM Europe, Haarlem, Oct 21 - 22

    DISCUSSION

    Goatmire recap

    1 hr
  • 005 - OTP Security Releases, ElixirConf US, and Goatmire Badges

    We recap ElixirConf US in Chicago, unveil this year's AtomVM-powered Goatmire name badges, and dig into what happened after Pushin hit the front page of Hacker News. Plus OTP security releases and a Rebar4 call for input.

    NEWS

      • Jonatan is #69 and Peter is #102 globally for number of reported CVEs
         – CVE reporter credits ranking (CIRCL):
      https://cve.circl.lu/credits/?q=&page=7
      • OTP security releases, and OTP 29.1 released
         – OTP security updates (EEF CNA):
      https://com.erlef.org/wg/cna/2026/09/01/otp-updates.html
         – Erlang/OTP 29.1 released:
      https://erlangforums.com/t/erlang-otp-29-1-released/5949
      • Rebar4 asks for input: which plugins to prioritize for compatibility testing
         – Rebar v4: which Rebar plugins should we prioritize for compatibility
      testing? https://erlangforums.com/t/rebar-v4-which-rebar-plugins-should-we-prior
      itize-for-compatibility-testing/5908
         – Rebar3: integrating with Erlang/OTP (Kickstarter): https://www.kickstarter.
      com/projects/peerstritzinger/rebar3-integrating-with-erlang-otp
      • ElixirConf EU 2026 videos are also being released (43 videos as of this
      morning)
         – ElixirConf EU 2026 playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvL2NEhYV4Z
      sIgecSexrk26--PBWiEyUy&si=6DYo_JX4Cl_uSHXp

      BLOGS

      • Announcing Pushin: https://peterullrich.com/announcing-pushin
      • Nathan Long — Label your processes:
      https://nathanmlong.com/2026/09/label-your-processes/
      • EEF — Defending our ecosystem against AI threats:
      https://com.erlef.org/wg/sec/2026/09/02/our-self-defense.html

      MEETUPS & CONFERENCES

      • Goatmire — Sept 27 – Oct 3, Varberg, SE: https://goatmire.com
      • CodeBEAM — Oct 21 – 22, Haarlem, NL: https://codebeameurope.com

      DISCUSSION

      • ElixirConf US was last week — keynotes are already available
         – ElixirConf US 2026 playlist:
      https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVqsKC3zWaDc
      • Deep dish pizza is a casserole
      • Goatmire badges
      • Pushin follow up

    1 hr 4 min
  • 004 - Peter announces Pushin.eu, Oban 2.24, and Ash CVEs

    Peter announces Pushin.eu, a GitHub competitor hosted in the EU, written in Elixir. Other topics include Phoenix ships security patches spanning four versions, Oban 2.24 and Oban Pro 1.8rc land, and Ash publishes a batch of CVEs alongside a wave of new Elixir tool releases.

    ## FOLLOW UPS
      
    - Steffen Deusch — Phoenix gets security patches going back 4 versions (1.5 to 1.8)
    https://bsky.app/profile/steffend.me/post/3mthapcxlwk2v
    - "Apps using old Phoenix should still update, for sure, but not necessarily for security reasons"
    - "As a general note: a common misconception is also that people think they have to copy whatever changes we did to the generators. That's not the case. You can
    of course do that, but it's in no way a requirement to update to later Phoenix versions. It's 1.x, so updates are generally non-breaking."

    ## NEWS

    - Nerves has an AI policy now
    https://github.com/nerves-project/nerves/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#ai-assisted-contributions                                                          
    - Oban 2.24 and Oban Pro 1.8rc are out
    - Oban v2.24.0 released
        https://elixirforum.com/t/oban-v2-24-0-released/76462
    - Oban Pro announcement
        https://bsky.app/profile/oban.pro/post/3mtwjkkwzy22v
    - oban-bg/oban v2.24.0 release notes
        https://github.com/oban-bg/oban/releases/tag/v2.24.0
    - Oban Pro changelog
        https://oban.pro/docs/pro/changelog.html
    - samly (Elixir SAML client) has security issues and needs maintainers
    https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/samly-add-saml-sso-to-your-phoenix-application-now-with-multiple-identity-provider-support/8511/50
    - Ash releases a bunch of CVEs
    https://cna.erlef.org/cves
    - Quite a lot of small tools were released. An overview:
    - Abuuba — a drop-in replacement for Mastodon
        https://elixirforum.com/t/abuuba-a-drop-in-replacement-for-mastodon/76501
    - BeamConsole — an embeddable process map and flight recorder for BEAM applications
        https://elixirforum.com/t/beamconsole-an-embeddable-process-map-and-flight-recorder-for-beam-applications/76486
    - Voyager — a modern alternative to Observer
        https://elixirforum.com/t/voyager-a-modern-alternative-to-observer/76247
    - MapLibreX — MapLibre GL JS as Phoenix LiveView components
        https://elixirforum.com/t/maplibrex-maplibre-gl-js-as-phoenix-liveview-components/76457
    - Temper — flaky test detection for ExUnit
        https://elixirforum.com/t/temper-flaky-test-detection-for-exunit/76476
    - DSH — a DeepSeek coding harness written in Elixir
        https://elixirforum.com/t/dsh-the-deepseek-harness/76497
    - Probex — exact answers to structural questions about Elixir source, built by agents for agents
        https://elixirforum.com/t/probex-exact-answers-to-structural-questions-about-elixir-source-built-by-agents-for-agents/76366
    - PaperForge — a pure Elixir platform for building, securing, and transforming PDFs
        https://elixirforum.com/t/paperforge-a-pure-elixir-platform-for-building-securing-and-transforming-pdfs/76241
    - Press — a HTML-to-PDF library, 100% in Elixir
        https://elixirforum.com/t/press-a-html-to-pdf-library-100-in-elixir/76418
    - Announcing Pushin

    ## BLOGS

    - Gleam — Takeaways from the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund                                                                                             
    https://gleam.run/news/help-from-the-github-security-lab/
    - LiveView Local: first release
    https://swmansion.com/blog/local-live-view-first-release/
    - River — We replaced our ledger with two functions
    https://river.com/content/we-replaced-our-ledger-with-two-functions
    - Johanna Larson — Speeding up a Phoenix LiveView web app with a CDN
    https://jola.dev/posts/speeding-up-phoenix-liveview-cdn
    - Aleksei Matiushkin (mudasobwa)
    - Anti-Antipatterns in Elixir Libraries
        https://rocket-science.ru/hacking/2026/08/09/anti-antipatterns-in-elixir-libraries
    - Why LLMs Rock (or: BooLLMean Logic for the Uninitiated)
        https://rocket-science.ru/hacking/2026/08/29/why-llm-rock
    - Lars Wikman — Nerves, apparently popular with agents
    https://underjord.io/nerves-iot-framework-apparently-popular-with-agents.html
    - Terence Tao — Mathematics in the age of AI
    https://arxiv.org/html/2608.16753v1
    - "The goal of training a mathematician is not achieved by producing correct homework"
    - "Above all, our community needs to come together to have open and honest discussions"

    ## MEETUPS & CONFERENCES

    - Nerves Meetup — taking a break in September
    - ElixirConf US — next week, Sept 10 & 11th. Ping Gus on socials if you're going and want to meet up
    - CodeBEAM Europe — Oct 21–22, Haarlem 
    - Goatmire — Sept 28 – Oct 2, two days of workshops, three days of conference
    - AshConf/Goatmire Hackathon — Oct 3

    ## DISCUSSION

    - Pushin
    - Options for Git Hosting
    - Using LLMs for building big ideas

    1 hr 22 min
  • 003 - Phoenix Adoption, Sobelow, and Whether AI Is Making Us Worse Developers

    FOLLOW UPS — 00:00

      - Audio. We'll do better.
      - No interviews on this podcast (for now). But thanks for reaching out.


      NEWS — 02:22

      - Praia Labs — Phoenix version and Bandit adoption
        https://www.praialabs.com/phoenix-version-adoption
        https://www.praialabs.com/bandit-adoption

      - Sobelow 0.15
        https://github.com/sobelow/sobelow/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

      - New Elixir book: Elixir for Finance — Dr. Dimitrios Koutmos, Alex Koutmos, Hugo Baraúna
        https://www.financialelixir.dev/#table-of-contents

      - LLamex — a Credo plugin to clean up Ash-related LLM-isms
        https://github.com/dmitriid/llamex
        https://github.com/Jump-App/credo_checks
        https://github.com/elixir-vibe/ex_slop

      - Black Hat USA 2026: The OpenAI–Hugging Face incident
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87DyyMV0kCY

      - Tip: Impeccable for design work with LLMs
        https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable

      - Dokploy v0.30.0 released, with nice-to-haves
        https://github.com/Dokploy/dokploy/releases/tag/v0.30.0


      BLOG — 12:03

      - Andrea Leopardi — GenStage Demand Visualized
        https://andrealeopardi.com/posts/genstage-demand-visualized

      - Arjun Gillard — The Elixir Hiring Paradox: notes from ElixirConf EU 2026
        https://agtalent.co.uk/the-elixir-hiring-paradox-notes-from-elixirconf-eu-2026

      - Tidewave — A new way to use Tidewave: from your terminal or editor
        https://tidewave.ai/blog/tidewave-connect

      - Mike Zornek — An Agent Skill for Updating Elixir Dependencies
        https://mikezornek.com/posts/2026/8/elixir-dependency-update-skill

      - João Paulo Abreu — Learning Elixir: Alias, Import, Require, and Use
        https://dev.to/abreujp/learning-elixir-alias-import-require-and-use-2hk2

      - DeClaude — How AI text watermarking works
        https://declaude.org/watermarking/

      - 28:36 — PSA: Don't generate blogs with AI


      MEETUPS & CONFERENCES — 30:47

      - UnConference US (Sep 9) + ElixirConf US (Workshops Sep 9 – Conf Sep 10–11)
        https://luma.com/erlef
        https://elixirconf.com

      - Goatmire / AshConf / Hackathon (Workshops Sep 28–29 – Conf Sep 30 – Oct 2 – AshConf & Hackathon Oct 3)
        https://www.goatmire.com/
        https://luma.com/wz4z0iz6
        https://luma.com/qm8gs6j4

      - UnConference EU (Oct 20) + CodeBEAM EU (Workshops Oct 20 – Conf Oct 21–22)
        https://luma.com/erlef
        https://codebeameurope.com/


      JOKE — 32:37


      DISCUSSION — 33:11

      - 33:11 — How will the work of a senior engineer look two years from now?
        I'm done using AI
        https://brettcodes.com/im-done-using-ai/
        Don't be a meat proxy
        https://gruhn.me/blog/2026-08-03/

      - 45:59 — Staying in the loop: Grill Me, being the driver, and a better code-review skill

      - 51:31 — The mental health crisis no one is talking about
        https://ai-health.syntax.fm/
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUn1Fnfn0k

        How much genuine enjoyment or flow do you get from coding now compared to before you started using AI heavily?
        54% less or somewhat less — 26% more or somewhat more

        Do you feel your actual coding skills are sharpening, holding steady, or diminishing?
        60% diminishing or somewhat diminishing — 13% sharpening or somewhat sharpening
        (careful: coding skills, not experience as a developer)

        How often do you feel you should be producing more because AI makes it possible, even when you don't want to?
        65% often or daily — 18% never or rarely

        Strongest correlation between questions: coding enjoyment vs. perceived coding skill change

    1 hr 5 min
  • 002 - OTP Security Patches, Fly.io Pivots, and AI Code Copyright

    FOLLOW UPS

    1. Deep dish is indeed pizza not a pie. (Is it though?)
    2. Hologram is written in Elixir

    NEWS

    1. OTP Emergency Patch releases for OTP 27, 28, 29 fix a bunch of vulnerabilities 
      1. https://elixirforum.com/t/patch-package-otp-29-0-4-released/76127
      2. https://elixirforum.com/t/patch-package-otp-28-5-0-4-released/76128
      3. https://elixirforum.com/t/patch-package-otp-27-3-4-15-released/76129
    2. Gleam 1.18 released
      1. https://gleam.run/news/a-field-day-for-gleams-language-server/
    3. ElixirConf US 2025 Talks are being published on YouTube
      1. https://forum.elixirforum.com/tag/elixirconf/147
    4. Version 0.3.0 of the Programming Nerves book by Alex Koutmos and Hugo Barauna is out
      1. https://www.programmingnerves.dev/
      2. https://bsky.app/profile/akoutmos.bsky.social/post/3mrpthmrm6k2v

    BLOGS

    1. Mike Zornek - Shimming your way off a dead Elixir dependency
      1. https://mikezornek.com/posts/2026/7/shim-off-a-dead-elixir-dependency
    2. Johanna Larson - Distributed rate limiter with HRW in Elixir
      1. https://jola.dev/posts/distributed-ratelimiter-with-hrw
    3. Paul Ricks - Profiling Rust NIFs in Elixir (with hotpath)
      1. https://blog.smaller-infinity.com/posts/profiling-rust-nifs-in-elixir
    4. Jacob Swanner - Batching Phoenix LiveView Updates
      1. https://jacobswanner.com/development/2026/batching-phoenix-liveview-updates/
    5. Paraxial - Security Vendor's AI Best Practices Labels Critical Elixir RCE Safe
      1. https://paraxial.io/blog/ai-spam
    6. German Velasco - Diverge then converge with LLMs
      1. https://www.germanvelasco.com/blog/diverge-then-converge-with-llms
    7. PSA - Don’t write on medium

    MEETUPS & CONFERENCES

    1. Nerves Meetup - online via Zoom, this week (August 12)
    2. UnConference before ElixirConf US (Sept 9) and CodeBEAM EU (Oct 20)
      1. https://luma.com/erlef
    3. Goatmire - Varberg, Sweden Sept 28 - Oct 3
      1. https://goatmire.com

    DISCUSSION

    1. Deployment strategies in 2026 - Fly.io shifting focus:
      1. https://fly.io/blog/kurt-scott-money-sprites/
      2. https://community.fly.io/t/will-the-apps-and-machine-platform-start-winding-down/28380
      3. https://github.com/dmkenney/xamal
      4. https://coolify.io/
    2. What will more intelligence actually do for us?
      1. https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/what-will-more-intelligence-actually
    3. GCC To Decline Any Significant Contributions Made Via AI/LLMs - Except For Test Cases
      1. https://www.phoronix.com/news/GCC-Declining-AI-Contributions
    1 hr 8 min
  • 001 - Redesigns, Conferences, and Rogue Agents

    NEWS

    1. Hex 2.5.0 - mix deps.get vuln warnings
      1. https://github.com/hexpm/hex/releases/tag/v2.5.0
    2. Elixir-lang redesign
      1. https://elixir-lang.org/
    3. Elixirforum redesign
    4. Stackoverflow 2026 Developer Survey is now open
      1. https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/06/23/the-2026-developer-survey-is-now-open-for-human-developers-only/
    5. Filipe Cabaco announces Ex-Tauri 
      1. https://github.com/filipecabaco/ex_tauri
    6. Augmental Mouthpad launches - alternative input device for hands-free control
        1. https://www.augmental.tech/news/mouthpad-and-vox-launch
    7. Blog posts
      1. Bart from Hologram
        1. https://hologram.page/blog/backing-hologram
      2. Ryan Zidago - Each test should own its setup
        1. https://ryanzidago.com/posts/self-contained-tests-in-elixir/
      3. Mike Zornek - Guarding against AI drift
        1. https://mikezornek.com/posts/2026/7/guarding-against-ai-drift/?utm_source=elixir-forum&utm_campaign=guarding-against-ai-drift
      4. Johanna Larsson - Elixir Cluster 101
        1. https://jola.dev/posts/elixir-cluster-101
        2. https://incident.io/blog/dont-add-a-read-replica-until-youve-read-this
    8. Meetups and Conferences
        1. Nerves Meetup EU Aug 12, 19 CEST.  https://nervesmeetup.eu/meetup/peter-ullrich-dont-get-pwned-by-mythos
        2. Goatmire - Sept 28th to Oct 3rd (Mon-Sat)
          1. AshConf + Hackathon - Oct 3nd (Sat)
        3. ElixirConf US - Sept 10-11th
        4. CodeBeam EU - Oct 21-22

    DISCUSSION

    1. Codeberg blocks LLM repos
      1. https://blog.codeberg.org/protecting-our-floss-commons-from-llms.html
      2. https://xn--gckvb8fzb.com/i-regret-migrating-to-codeberg/
    2. OpenAI says it hacked HuggingFace
      1. https://www.reuters.com/business/its-ai-agent-spent-days-hacking-company-sources-say-openai-did-not-notice-week-2026-07-24/
      2. https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-model-evaluation-security-incident/
    3. What it means to be a mathematician when AI does the math
      1. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-in-mathematics


    1 hr 13 min

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