Writing by Will Ricketts about Elixir, software projects, privacy, sailing, and life outside work.https://www.willricketts.com/en-ushttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/my-sustainable-cardio-routine/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/my-sustainable-cardio-routine/A sustainable cardio routine that I've been using every morning for shocking results.Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTfitnesshealthhttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/preserving-genserver-state-on-node-shutdown/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/preserving-genserver-state-on-node-shutdown/Long running GenServers are an elegant weapon. In this post, we explore how to persist their state on node shutdown and then rehydrate it on system startup.Fri, 29 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTelixirtechsoftware-designhttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/an-opinionated-recipe-for-building-genservers-in-elixir/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/an-opinionated-recipe-for-building-genservers-in-elixir/Over the years and through the battle scars, I've formed several hard opinions on how to properly build GenServers positioned for success and maintainability.Wed, 20 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTelixirtechsoftware-designhttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/lessons-learned-starting-a-bitcoin-meetup/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/lessons-learned-starting-a-bitcoin-meetup/Cascadia Bitcoin had a great run and we had a great time. Here are some of the lessons I learned along the way.Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTbitcoinhttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/my-thinkpad-journey/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/my-thinkpad-journey/Exploring the world of old and cheap business laptops as daily driver machines for the discerning hacker.Sat, 16 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMTcomputerstechelectronicshttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/obsidian-changed-everything-for-me/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/obsidian-changed-everything-for-me/How I organize notes in Obsidian and sync a private, encrypted vault with Git, GitHub, and git-crypt.Fri, 10 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMTtechprivacyhttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/getting-the-boat-ready-for-summer/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/getting-the-boat-ready-for-summer/Summer is nearly here, and we're ready to head out into the Puget Sound aboard Ingrid, our 1973 Bluewater Ingrid ketch.Fri, 16 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMTsailingtravelhttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/abandoning-the-social-media-giants/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/abandoning-the-social-media-giants/Feeling betrayed by opt-in surveillance apparatus called social media? Me too, and I'm leaving them forever.Fri, 08 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMTtechprivacydigital-rightshttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/rheas-galaxy-map/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/rheas-galaxy-map/Adventures in graphs, diffusion limited aggregation, and using code to design a dreamworld.Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMTtechdevelopmenthttps://www.willricketts.com/blog/introducing-rhea/https://www.willricketts.com/blog/introducing-rhea/Design notes from Rhea, an abandoned space strategy game: a persistent galaxy, procedural generation, and an Elixir backend.Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMTtechdevelopment