brainwane

@harihareswara

Sumana Harihareswara. New York City woman who reads scifi, improves open source software, and does stand-up comedy. ; also @brainwane@social.coop on Mastodon.

76 Siguiendo789 Seguidores1338 Publicaciones

Website Website Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y harihareswara.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

brainwane@harihareswara· 28d

From p. 135 of a 949-page compilation of comments to the #NYC charter review commission www. nyc.gov/assets/charter/downloads/pdf/COGE-BATCH-1_COMBINED.pdf . The last few sentences, on peace, really speak to me.

[Screenshot of a web form.]
Public comment:

MAMDANI, PLEASE READ THIS BECAUSE THE LAST THING I NEED IS SOMEONE IGNORING THE FACT I'M DOUBLE SURE THAT EVERYONE WANTS FREE VISAS AND AN ACTUALLY GREAT PIZZA PARTY ON THE NIGHT OF THE WORLD CUP. SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHAT IS A WORLD CUP IS THE WORLD CAN'T EVEN FUCKING REACH THE US ANYWAY? I NEED SOMEONE TO MARCH OVER TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND GIVE TRUMP A MASSIVE SLAP TO HIS FACE! WHY CAN'T ANYONE VISIT THE STATES ANYMORE? I LIVE ABROAD (NOT SAYING WHERE, CUZ PRIVACY), AND I WANNA VISIT NYC SO FUCKING BAD BUT GETTING VISAS IS HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRDDDDDD. ALSO, I HATE POLITICS! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO AFFECT CIVILIANS ON A DAILY BASIS! AND IN ADDITION, THE ICE HAS TO MELT AT SOME POINT! FREE THOSE IMMIGRANT KIDS ALREADY! I DON'T NEED ANOTHER NIGHTMARE OF A CHILD REPEATEDLY CUTTING HIMSELF WITH A PLASTIC KNIFE! CAN WE PLEAAAAASSSEEEEEEEE PAY ATTENTION TO HOW KIDS AND TEENS ARE BEING TRAUMATIZED DAY AND NIGHT? I WANT PEACE. ABSOLUTE. FUCKING. PEACE. IN NEW YORK! AND THE STATES! AND THE WORLD! EVEN IF IT WERE FOR A FEW HOURS! IT'S TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE! AND I WANT A CHANCE FOR THE WORLD TO REMEMBER PEACE AT SOME POINT!

brainwane@harihareswara· Jul 8

Saw this "Saint Zohran Mamdani" candle at Lockwood last year and for me it marked a height of absurdity

On a shelf at a store: a Catholic-style pillar candle kitschily depicting "Saint Zohran Mamdani" with a "New York, NY" postmark forming a halo around his head

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 22

I've updated my recommendation for the #Queens judicial #election; a well-reasoned blog comment changed my mind. Voters can select 2 candidates. I'm still recommending Edmond Wong. And, for harm reduction, I plan to vote for Edward Irizarry, too. harihareswara.net/posts/2026/2... #nycpol #voting

List of voting recommendations - text in http://harihareswara.net/posts/2026/2026-nyc-democratic-primary-election-endorsements-all-in-one/

changed text: "Queens County, Judge of the Civil Court (select up to 2): Edmond Wong and Edward Irizarry. Sadly, Irizarry, John J. Ciafone, & Julie M. Milner are all allies of Monserrate, but Irizarry seems least so, and is approved by NYC Bar. Ciafone & Milner also have other troubling stances."

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 21

Updated all-in-one recommendation sheet

election recommendations; reflects text at https://harihareswara.net/posts/2026/2026-nyc-democratic-primary-election-endorsements-all-in-one/

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 16

Now available: One-page summary of my 2026 Democratic primary endorsements, in PDF and image hyperlinked table of contents at harihareswara.net/posts/2026/2... a quick recommendation of Aber Kawas in State Senate District 12, and of AOC in NY-14 #NYC #NYCpol #elections #primaries

Early voting June 13th-21st
Election Day Tues. June 23rd
Sumana's personal endorsements for the Democratic primary
(research & full reasoning at my site, harihareswara.net)

QR code (linking to URLs shared in Bsky post)

Long list of election recommendations replicated at URL linked in Mastodon post, then

More info on local races from news sources I like:
thecityreporter.nyc cityandstateny.com hellgatenyc.com
CC BY-SA

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 15

If you have a copy of the Spring 2011 (Issue #1) of Independent Ink Magazine (INDINKMAG), Kindle, ASIN: B004Y5OOTU web.archive.org/web/20121019... , edited by Andrew Holt, published by mobot publishing, please speak up! One of the authors seeks a copy. #ebooks #archives #shortstories

Independent Ink Magazine
INDINKMAG

[magazine cover has a photo of a volcano's caldera]
Spring 2011 | Issue 001
Nina Badzin
Courtney Thomas Vance
Guy Cranswick
Keith Lewis
Libby Cudmore

mobot

a Literary adventure of daringly off-beat Short Stories
kindle edition [image of Kindle device]

Amazon "Click to LOOK INSIDE!" with arrow

[magazine cover has a photo of a volcano's caldera]
INDINKMAG
No. O1
Spring 2011

kindle edition

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 12

My friend Deepa, an artist in India, is crowdfunding for SatRangaM, India's biggest queer theatre festival. It needs more support to break even when they go on stage later this month with twelve performances, all written and directed/choreographed by queer artists, + workshops & discussions:

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 4

People in @naomikritzer.bsky.social 's thread asked many questions about these socks and dug up listings, photos, and videos that answered some of them bsky.app/profile/naom... I have now synthesized our research and remaining questions into the document pictured here

What we know:

These are thigh-high ribbed socks, where fabric covers the leg from
the thigh to the toe, and then fringe cascades from the elastic hem at
the top of each sock down to (on the 5'10" model) mid-calf or
so. https://www.vetirapp.com/product/69c3b621b749412a59c36437/ala-a/fringed-knit-high-socks ,
https://www.neimanmarcus.com/p/alaia-high-fringed-socks-prod289020083 ,
and https://www.youtube.com/shorts/smRtgAArqXU

Only one size available. "One size, comfortably fits a UK 1-6/ US 4-9/
FR 35-40"
https://www.vetirapp.com/product/69a94ee04ee73e414325a46d/ala-a/fringed-knit-high-socks

Question: how does the elastic at the top feel? How robust is it? Does
it feel like each sock will stay on? Is the ribbing part of that,
structurally? "Seeing that they are attached to the thigh like that
with elastic or whatever, I'm surprised they wouldn't combine this
with a garter belt. Either that or the fringe doesn't add any
appreciable weight OR the band at the top is so tight it runs the risk
of cutting off the circulation to your feet."

Question: what material is the fabric, and what material is the
fringe/tassels? "These socks are spun from soft silk" says Vêtir;
"Viscose" says Neiman-Marcus.

Question: "I get these are not made for fats but why is everyone
pretending they won’t instantly tangle together/ knot up between your
thighs/ look like shit real fast?"

Question: "what happens when you're sitting rather than standing."

brainwane@harihareswara· May 16

Join me tomorrow! The Manhattan ferry to Governors Island is free that day before 11am! www.govisland.com/plan-your-vi...

[poster showing a batter in front of bright lights]

Saturday 16th May
Governors Island, NYC
19th Century Base Ball Match
Hoboken BBC vs NY Mutuals
Noon start on the Parade Grounds

hobokennine.jimdofree.com

brainwane@harihareswara· May 15

The previous screenshot did not properly convey that those three hyperlinks comprise the entirety of the navbar

brainwane@harihareswara· May 15

possibly the best website navbar I've ever seen, from a University of Texas alumni org in New York City (texas.nyc)

Three hyperlinks in a row:

Home About Us Chili Cook-off

brainwane@harihareswara· May 14

is this game actually happening? The ball teams replied to say: yes it is. Then one of them replied again, to tell me they might be short a few players, and would I like to play? 4/n

[screenshot of portion of email]

Sumana,

Let me know if you are interested in playing on Saturday. We may be short a few players.

brainwane@harihareswara· May 14

... and playing baseball with the 1864 rules. (Including: Catching the ball on a bounce is an out.) nymutuals.com/rules-and-di... It was utter fun. Players took breaks to come to the sidelines, give us little history lessons, and let kids hold the equipment. 2/n

A pitcher, standing on a patch of dirt, pitches underhand to a batter near a catcher. In the background is a fielder standing on a grassy field, then many lush trees beyond. All the people are in old-timey clothes and hats; the pitcher's shirt has a big H on it. Photo from https://hobokennine.jimdofree.com/2026-photos-videos/

brainwane@harihareswara· May 11

Satire: Job application to be Zohran Mamdani's assistant speechwriter. "For too long, I have not had this job... No longer will I need to scan the listings on not just Idealist and LinkedIn but, frankly, also, Craigslist...." harihareswara.net/posts/2026/s...

[hyperlink]: posted at cityjobs.nyc.gov April 17, 2026:

[italics] Associate Speechwriter, Office of the Mayor

Key Responsibilities: ....

Speechwriting:

- Write remarks in Mayor Mamdani’s voice. [end of italics]

Dear Director of Communications:

For too long, I have not had this job. Fiorello LaGuardia said th [cut off]

brainwane@harihareswara· Mar 18

Index page from babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hv... Roswell Alphonzo Benedict's 1901 book titled: "Tam, Tom and Tim's Discussion of Free Trade as a Remedy for Trusts, The Money Question, Imperialism, The Colonial Question (Does the Constitution Follow the Flag?), Tariff Revision & Reciprocity"

INDEX

But there's no index. It is not safe. It is a temptation to skip. And people should not skip - at any rate, when they read this book. It is not polite to skip, anyway. When an author has taken the trouble to write a long story for the entertainment of people, people should meet him half way and read it all. The author would not write it if he did not expect it to be read. It is not fair to read what you like and to leave unread what the author likes. The author is trying to do you a good turn in tempting you to read what you don't like. It is for your good, not his, that he writes it. He knows it already. You ought not to have pie all the time. You don't appreciate pie unless you eat plain biscuit between times. Now, whatever other ingratitude you are guilty of, don't be guilty of the ingratitude of skipping in this book. You may know all that is in it already; but it is bad to skip and you should not set the example. Ten to one, though, you don't know it all. It would be no compliment to you to think that you thought you did.

[alt text continues in next image]

brainwane@harihareswara· Mar 18

apnews.com/projects/ele... #USpol weather forecast: gusts of election news from Arkansas expected in a couple weeks, then from Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia in April

Elections 2026

Graphic display of upcoming election dates in several US states such as:

April 7 Georgia runoff
April 16 New Jersey
April 21 Virginia
May 5 Indiana and Ohio
May 12 Nebraska New Jersey and West Virginia

and several others

list in textual form at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/calendar/

brainwane@harihareswara· Sep 10

"Inherent Vice" by Thomas Pynchon. Learning a casino waitress's story: "Doc knew the lilt and tessitura of most every sad song in the profession but still liked to take a glance at the sheet music." Just before that, from page 236 of the paperback:

Doc got out and strolled under a Byzantine archway and into the seedy vastness of the main gaming floor, dominated by a ruinous chandelier draped above the tables and cages and pits, disintegrating, ghostly, huge, and, if it had feelings, likely resentful -- its lightbulbs long burned out and unreplaced, crystal lusters falling off unexpectedly into cowboy hatbrims, people's drinks, and spinning roulette wheels, where they bounced with a hard-edged jingling through their own dramas of luck and loss. Everything in the room was lopsided one way or another. The ancient bearings on the roulette wheels made them spin erratically faster and slower. The classic three-reel slots, set long ago to payout percentages unknown south of Bonanza Road and perhaps to the world, had since each drifted in its own way, like small-town businessfolks, toward openhanded generosity or tightfisted meanness. The carpets, deep royal purple, had been retextured over the years with a million cigarette burns, each fusing the synthetic nap to a single tiny smear of plastic. The all-over effect was of wind on the surface of a lake. The level of the main floor was ten feet below that of the desert outside, providing natural insulation, so the chill in this vast indeterminate space wasn't all from air-conditioning, which had been set on low in any case to save current.

Grill cooks, tire salesmen, house framers, eye doctors, stickmen and change girls and other black-and-whites off shift from ritzier rooms where they weren't allowed to play, old horsemen fallen on faster and more crowded times, their feelings of custody now transferred to F-100s and Chevy Apaches, were ranged sparsely in the softly shadowed light, weaving in place as if trying to stay alert. Drinks here weren't free, but by way of real-life neighborhood civility they were cheap enough.

brainwane@harihareswara· Sep 6

As the US #Powerball lottery's prize rises to $1.8 billion, I appreciate the Associated Press repeating in their coverage: "The game’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots and ever-larger prizes." They literally use the phrase "terrible odds"!

The prize ballooned after the lottery held more than 40 consecutive drawings without anyone matching all of the game’s six numbers. Whenever a drawing fails to get a winner, the lottery rolls over the winnings.

The game’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots and ever-larger prizes. There are three drawings each week.

brainwane@harihareswara· Aug 20

How chummy are they, though? From hellgatenyc.com/david-paters... : 'Paterson, when asked about Sliwa's remark, said, "I think Curtis Sliwa is the kiss of death."'

Curtis Sliwa, on the other, other, *other* hand, is also out of the question. Earlier on Wednesday, Sliwa told a reporter that an endorsement from Paterson, who is married to Sliwa's ex-wife, was "a kiss of death." (Paterson, when asked about Sliwa's remark, said, "I think Curtis Sliwa is the kiss of death.")

brainwane@harihareswara· Aug 15

Just reviewed the new Bsky privacy policy bsky.social/about/suppor... and noticed: "You should review this Privacy Notice every time you access a Bluesky App Service." I emailed Support just now to ask: a user ought to freshly review the Privacy Policy, in full, each time they open the mobile app?

7. Updates to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time, and any updates will be effective when we post the revised Policy on Bluesky. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any material updates to this Policy, by sending you a message in the App or on the Site, or at the email address you provide to us.

You should review this Privacy Notice every time you access a Bluesky App Service.

brainwane@harihareswara· Aug 1

[suicide mention] gothamist.com/news/forged-... In approximately everything he does, Mayor Adams acts as though the rules do not apply to him. And here is just another example, with a twist of the knife for an ordinary New Yorker. #NYC #NYCpol

brainwane@harihareswara· Jul 16

Here's the comment I just submitted to the #NewYorkCity Charter Revision Commission via www.nyc.gov/site/charter... . I think moving to even-year elections are a good idea, and I think we need more deliberation before putting an open primaries measure on the ballot.

Comments:

[contents of a webpage text box]

Dear Commission:

I write to share comments on two of the sections of the interim report.

Regarding Ballot Question #5: Even-Year Local Elections: I am, like Common Cause, in favor of this change, to increase turnout and improve representation of the entire electorate.

Regarding "open primaries": Like Common Cause, I am deeply concerned about the speed of your potential decision. The "jungle primary" change is being pushed by our current Mayor because of his own agenda, and in today's polarized political environment, we need to consider how extremist sabotage and wealthy interests' subterfuge would subvert the will of the voters in many "open primary" structures. More deliberation and study is required. Please do not, in your July 21st [typo in original: "June"] final vote, define the language of a ballot measure to change our primary system.

Thank you for your work and consideration,
Sumana Harihareswara

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 6

@metafilter.bsky.social Here's a screenshot of the Cloudflare error page I'm getting. cc: @kirkaracha.bsky.social (in case you can ping the relevant folks). #MetaFilter

SSL handshake failed Error code 525
Visit cloudflare.com for more information.
2025-06-06 13:36:49 UTC

You: Browser: Working

Newark: Cloudflare: Working

www.metafilter.com : Host: Error

What happened?
Cloudflare is unable to establish an SSL connection to the origin server.

What can I do?
If you're a visitor of this website:
Please try again in a few minutes.
If you're the owner of this website:
It appears that the SSL configuration used is not compatible with Cloudflare. This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. Additional troubleshooting information here.

Cloudflare Ray ID: 94b84cf8992b2369 • Your IP: Click to reveal • Performance & security by Cloudflare

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 3

Recent US news caused me to go reread a small portion of the alien video game reviews from "Constellation Games", one of which describes a game featuring a sentient asteroid that assaults people. From pp. 328-329:

Alt text

photo of part of page of a book

[chat transcript excerpt]
ABlum: you're an asshole
TetsuoMilkPhD: hahahaha

[section break]

Blog post, December 12
GAME REVIEWS FROM SPACE 3.0 PRESENTS
A few Ip Shkoy Games About Asteroids
A cautionary tale by Ariel Blum

Smelter Losers (Kunu) Collect small asteroids in a matter shifter to build a bigger matter shifter to collect bigger asteroids. Repeat indefinitely.

The Long Way Around (Perea): Survive on a hostile planet after the port

[running header: Constellation Games, p. 329]

you came through is collapsed by an asteroid impact. Indulge the PC's fantasies of crafting a spaceship and getting home "the long way around," even though the insane crafting system means this is almost certainly impossible.

To Cover The Forest Forever (Perea): Ip Shkoy chick on a date can't get to first base because endless hail of asteroid impacts keeps burning down the venues. Zap the incoming asteroids a la City Defense and be rewarded with porn. Apparently first base is the only base.

Occluded Occlusion (UI Neie - Restored Leadership) Tile-sliding game with heavy math. Combine thrust vectors to knock asteroids into the sun. Second player has their own sun; don't touch it or they get the points.

Untitled (The Great Hall of the People And Also Science) Quiz game installed in kiosks for a museum exhibit. Test your knowledge of Ip Shkoy knowledge of asteroids, from their importance in ancient mythology, to their seedy past causing mass extinctions, to the then-modern-day planetary defense project. Answer correctly and be rewarded with porn.

G'ao Station: Besieged in Space (G'go) Someone is killing your colleagues at the Asteroid Damage Mitigation Overlay! Talk to NPCs, bust some skulls, and piece clues together to unravel the mystery. The mystery unravels in more ways than one when it's revealed that an asteroid has been going around stabbing people to sabotage the project. That's right, a sentient asteroid with a fucking knife. We're done here, people.

brainwane@harihareswara· Jun 3

I'm proud of my spouse Leonard for his decades of service to the world. The #Python Software Foundation recently recognized some of that service by naming him a @python.org Fellow, & giving him the Community Service Award. 3 photos of the #PyConUS 2025 ceremony: harihareswara.net/posts/2025/c...

Leonard on stage, holding up a rectangular glass object (the award)

brainwane@harihareswara· May 25

Infrastructure is a way we take care of each other at scale. (from the start of the talk) or Infrastructure is how we care for each other at scale. (from the end)

several Fediverse posts from 1 year ago, by different users, each nearly simultaneously saying very similar things, such as

“Infrastructure is how we care for each other at scale” - @brainwane #PyConUS

or

"infrastructure is a way of taking care of each other at scale"
- @brainwane at #PyConUS

brainwane@harihareswara· May 25

At #PyConUS this year I learned that the most enduring one-line quote from my 2024 keynote harihareswara.net/posts/2024/r... -- the one multiple people quoted back to me, one offhandedly in the midst of talking about their own career -- was:

Slide:

Untold stories from many years caring through infrastructure
Sumana Harihareswara
[footer on slide: PyCon US '24
By the community, for the community]

Speaker note below slide:

...which are untold stories from many years caring through infrastructure, because I took care of you. Because infrastructure is a way we take care of each other at scale.

brainwane@harihareswara· May 18

At #PyConUS I'm masking indoors and self-testing every morning to avoid catching or transmitting flu or COVID. Appreciating that Hall B, the keynotes/plenaries room, has very good ventilation and airflow.

2 negative antigen tests. Each test is negative for COVID, RSV, and Flu A/B. Additional text overlaid on the image labels the top test "Leonard" and the lower test "Sumana".

Carbon dioxide measurement showing 537 ppm at 9:17am on May 18th

brainwane@harihareswara· May 13

slowly writing a blog post about my perspective as the person who's made the most improvements to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kat_Abu... (and stumbled into odd research findings along the way)

Top editors: Editor statistics over the history of the page.
Top 10 by edits
[pie chart showing Sumanah has made a little over half the edits]
Sumanah · 64 (53.8%)
Opostylov · 18 (15.1%)
Skoosh · 10 (8.4%)
Wizzito · 8 (6.7%)
Therequiembellishere · 5 (4.2%)
Johnny Rose 11 · 4 (3.4%)
86.11.24.155 · 3 (2.5%)
IJVin · 3 (2.5%)
JDDJS · 2 (1.7%)
Chiral-Matter · 2 (1.7%)

Top 10 by added text (approximate)
[pie chart showing Sumanah has added a little over 3/4 of the page text]
Sumanah · 54,309 (78.1%)
Wizzito · 4,348 (6.2%)
Opostylov · 4,150 (6%)
Skoosh · 2,675 (3.8%)
Mpen320 · 1,386 (2%)
86.11.24.155 · 1,104 (1.6%)
Chiral-Matter · 665 (1%)
Therequiembellishere · 511 (0.7%)
Gobonobo · 212 (0.3%)
GreenC bot · 209 (0.3%)

brainwane@harihareswara· Apr 8

Thank you! Just emailed you with a modified version of the PDF that makes a 2-sided half-sheet leaflet (to save paper). If you like it, please feel free to host the PDF on the website; if you would prefer, I'll host it on my own site.