mastodon 4.5.18Indian-American gal who likes to make people laugh. #OpenSource entrepreneur, programmer, tech writer and encourager, stand-up comedian, advocate for transparency in government software and data.
New York City #NYC, Changeset Consulting, #RecurseCenter, #WisCon, #MetaFilter, #Python packaging, Geek Feminism, #Dreamwidth, harihareswara.net.
Hope you're having the best possible day.
#nyc https://youtu.be/jAGd9FOOc6Y
This 1:34 video from the New York City mayor's office is ....
the blending of historical and contemporary, grounding modern arguments in past successes
the assertions about what makes a city successful and exemplary
the valorization of blue-collar *and white-collar* public service
the celebration of the subway not just as a transit method but as a public space
the sentimentality and aspiration
I'm proud of my spouse @leonardr@wandering.shop for his decades of service to the world. The #Python Software Foundation recently recognized some of that service by naming him a @ThePSF@fosstodon.org Fellow, and giving him the Community Service Award.
A few photos of the ceremony at #PyConUS 2025: https://harihareswara.net/posts/2025/congratulating-leonard-psf-award/
I'm currently rereading "The Blue Place" by Nicola Griffith @Nicolaz@mastodon.sdf.org , the first in the Aud series https://nicolagriffith.com/aud-torvingen/ of lesbian noir novels. Lots of systems explanations - about woodworking, organized crime, Atlanta traffic, sculpture garden design, police work, forgery, and more - through the viewpoint of our narrator, who is phenomenally observant about all things except her own interior state and about a friend's tenderness toward her. It's such a compelling ride, and this second time through I can slow down and really linger on each page and appreciate a bunch of subtleties, now that I'm not quite as WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!?-y.
One thing I appreciate about serving on the board of @OtherwiseAward@wandering.shop : we can use our platform to help bring more attention to new works by people whose works we've honored in the past
https://otherwiseaward.org/2026/03/eligible-2025-works-by-past-winners-fellows
Some of these are short stories you can read for free online!
On my way to the @HellGate@flipboard.com #HellGateNYC launch party for "Courts of Contempt" https://courtsofcontempt.hellgatenyc.com/ - a magnificent multifaceted exposé of judicial corruption in #NYC.
I made a quick handout to distribute to attendees who live in Queens, about sketchy judge & District Leader candidates on the primary ballot. Find me to get one!
At #PyConUS this year I learned that the most enduring one-line quote from my 2024 keynote
https://harihareswara.net/posts/2024/references-pycon-us-keynote/
-- the one multiple people quoted back to me, one offhandedly in the midst of talking about their own career -- was:
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)
https://lwn.net/Articles/1065908/ "Turbulence at The Document Foundation" (TDF @tdforg@fosstodon.org being the home of LibreOffice @libreoffice@fosstodon.org )
Lots of ongoing discussion in fora at https://community.documentfoundation.org/c/board-discuss/26 .
am fiddling with a few elements from the International Year of Natural Fibres anthem @leonardr@wandering.shop and I developed in 2009 https://www.crummy.com/2009/12/31/0 to possibly turn them into a jingle for free child care for 2-year-olds in New York City https://nyc.gov/jingle
Ha! You have reminded me of https://akaptur.com/blog/2012/12/18/git-add-p-the-wave-of-the-future/ :
besides being useful, all the docs sound like an episode of The Bachelorette. “Once you have decided the fate of all the hunks, if there is any hunk that is chosen, the index is updated with the selected hunks.” And if not, our bachelorette takes the million dollars!
https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/calendar/
#USpol weather forecast: gusts of election news from Arkansas expected in a couple weeks, then from Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia in April
As you read, play, watch, and otherwise enjoy #scifi, #fantasy, #horror, and other genre fiction this year, maybe you'll come across a work that explores or expands our understanding of gender. If so, please let the Otherwise Award jury know, so they can consider it! Anyone can nominate through our public recommendation form:
https://otherwiseaward.org/award/2026-otherwise-awards/2026-otherwise-awards-recommendations
@cjhuitt@wandering.shop I just recommended "The Hard Quarry" again and reread it. Looking forward to reading more of your fiction in the future!
boosting @beth4ma.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy for #NYC people to know:
"Folks in New York! I’m going to be in town next weekend and we’re meeting up at The Crown Inn in Brooklyn. Join us in building a progressive movement where AI works for all of us!
RSVP here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/meetbeth3-21 "
My friend Beth Andres-Beck, a software engineer, is running for Congress in Massachusetts. Want to talk with them about the software policies in their platform https://bethfordemocracy.com/platform/government-software ? This Saturday, 21 March, meet them at a free-to-attend event in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights.
