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Julie

@kvarko.northsky.social

Roller derby, Computer engineer, Esperanto, Aotearoa NZ, 🏳️‍⚧️

341 Posts235 Follower594 Folgt
MC Lars@mclars.bsky.social · last wk.

I just heard the news. Midge & her family came to every show of mine since the late 2000s. She was a fan, once my "DJ" onstage to sneak into a 21+ club. She died in a car crash last week at 26. This is her band ShiSho, the fierce younger one, mean left hook. RIP "Midge" Grapel-Barnette (2000-2026)

Julie@kvarko.northsky.social · 3w ago

I worried I wasn’t as big a fan of Hildegard of Bingen as I thought I was, since I didn’t know her feast day, but then—wait—since when has she been a saint?! 2012, by Benedict, apparently.

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD@greenleejw.bsky.social · 3w ago

Friends! It's the feast day of St. Hildegard of Bingen, an abbess, polymath, mystic, & eel truth-teller. Medieval thinkers agreed that eels reproduce asexually. But Hildegard suggested that eels mate at sea, where we can't watch. No one listened to her. But she was right! 1/2 🗃️🧪

Meme. Painting of St. Hildegard, from the shoulders up. She is dressed up in her nunnish finery. Her wimple is white and very creased, so that she looks a bit like a mummy and her veil is the dusky black of that suggests it's been through the wash many times. She has something like a crown on her head, with little spikes that look for all the world like duck feet. The saint's eyebrows are hard lines like windshield wipers, & her nose is ski-jump smooth. Her head is surrounded by a nimbus of blue with a white outline, set against an orange background. She is looking up and towards your right, as if she's watching a possum that's about to drop onto the person sitting next to you. Her mouth is set in a tight smile. She's likely thinking about sex again. And maybe not just eel sex. Hildegard provided us with the first written description of the female orgasm, so it's quite possible that she's got that on her mind. Meme text reads: "Medieval Eel Truth: It's all about the Bingen's, baby!"
Only In Boston@onlyinbos.bsky.social · last mo.

A little Pokémon mystery has popped up inside a Watertown café. This $1 vending machine dispenses “Poorly Drawn Pokémon” mystery mini-prints, with each turn of the knob revealing a random hand-drawn Pokémon. There’s even a trade center for duplicates.

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Julie@kvarko.northsky.social · last mo.

My proposed lightning talk was accepted, so I guess I'm speaking at this too! (on hardware acceleration for software developers)

David Hood@thoughtfulnz.bsky.social · last mo.

If you like Research Software, and are in Aotearoa, and like attending two day long free conferences via Zoom, the next thing I am talking at is the Aotearoa New Zealand Research Software Conference www.rseconference.nz/registration/ with a demo called "Vibe Coding: Harm Minimisation"

Julie@kvarko.northsky.social · last mo.

I'm talking tonight at our local software developers meetup -- hoping to challenge the idea that software and hardware are two entirely different worlds, that people are only a software person or a hardware person

Pong on FPGA: Programming hardware with high-level languages, Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 5:30 PM | Meetup

Julie Schwartz is doing a deeper dive after her lightning talk in April: "Everything can be done in software running on a general-purpose CPU, but when would you want to us

meetup.com

Borneo Jimmy@borneojimmy.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Six days until the Massachusetts primary election & we need to get Jonathan Paz across the finish line! I don't trust 99.9% of politicians. Jonathan is that one in a million. All power to the people! All of the people. www.pazforthepeople.com/issues

Issues — Paz for the People

Jonathan Paz is running for U.S. House of Representatives in Massachusetts's 5th Congressional District in 2026, fighting for working families, immigration justice, and medicare for all.

pazforthepeople.com

BJ ColanGIALLO@bjcolangelo.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If you want something to motivate you to be more like Dolly, I highly recommend the documentary STILL WORKING 9 to 5. It's all about how the film inspired real labor movements to improve workplace conditions for women, and how far we still have to go. It's available to stream for free on Tubi.

Still Working 9 to 5 (2022)

The stars of the cult classic comedy, 9 to 5, discuss the film’s impact on society, as well as the obstacles women face in the workplace to this day.

tubitv.com

Julie@kvarko.northsky.social · 2mo ago

Reti Rapa (Roller Derby) Triple Header in Te Papaioea! Teams from Swamp City Roller Derby, Volcanic City Rollers from Auckland and Bay of Plenty Roller Derby will be taking to the track for a full day of derby action. Saturday, 29 August / Doors open 12.00pm / Arena 3, Pascal St / Koha entry

Poster for Reti Rapa (Roller Derby) Triple Header, with a photo of opposing skaters battling it out on the track. 12:30pm, Swamp City vs Bay of Plenty. 2:30pm, Bay of Plenty vs Volcanic. 4:30pm, Volcanic vs Swamp City. 29 August (O Here-Turi-Kōkā) 2026. Doors open 12pm, Arena 3, Pascal St, koha entry.
@jayhengepub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Did you know JayHenge has a freebies page? You can download Pioneers & Pathfinders now, and sometimes other complete speculative-fiction anthologies in EPUB or PDF formats—absolutely free. No catch. We’d just like the stories to be read. zurl.co/IdAMJ

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Julie@kvarko.northsky.social · 2mo ago

REANNZ's Aotearoa NZ Research Software Conference is coming up and I'm tempted to propose a lightning talk on "hardware acceleration for software developers" about how FPGAs, high-level hardware design languages, and free/open tools make it easier than ever for software people to use custom circuits

NZRS Conference |

rseconference.nz