Mary Holstege
@mathling.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Retired software engineer. Now I write programs to make art.
Will natter on about tech in general with forays into linguistics, football, cooking, politics […]
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@mathling, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Will natter on about tech in general with forays into linguistics, football, cooking, politics […]
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@mathling, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Pinned
Available today, my space opera novel, Atraxian Blue: https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx
Chapter one preview available here:
https://mathling.com/books/AtraxianBlue/c003.xhtml
In which we meet our feckless hero, defacing a bulkhead in the name of art
#scifi #writing
Chapter one preview available here:
https://mathling.com/books/AtraxianBlue/c003.xhtml
In which we meet our feckless hero, defacing a bulkhead in the name of art
#scifi #writing
I cannot get over how horrid ATT support is.
Website hides links for landline support, especially if you don't log on
Chatbot will ask you to pick what you want support on, and landline ain't one of em
When you finally unbury the page, it just says "call us at..." Yes. Call you. With my phone […]
Website hides links for landline support, especially if you don't log on
Chatbot will ask you to pick what you want support on, and landline ain't one of em
When you finally unbury the page, it just says "call us at..." Yes. Call you. With my phone […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 10, 2026 at 12:13 AM
I cannot get over how horrid ATT support is.
Website hides links for landline support, especially if you don't log on
Chatbot will ask you to pick what you want support on, and landline ain't one of em
When you finally unbury the page, it just says "call us at..." Yes. Call you. With my phone […]
Website hides links for landline support, especially if you don't log on
Chatbot will ask you to pick what you want support on, and landline ain't one of em
When you finally unbury the page, it just says "call us at..." Yes. Call you. With my phone […]
#generativeart interlude
#genuary9: Crazy automaton
Not that crazy. Rule30 over luminance, with some oddball adjustments to hue and saturation based on the luminance bit. Orientation of triangles as exercise for the viewer.
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
#genuary9: Crazy automaton
Not that crazy. Rule30 over luminance, with some oddball adjustments to hue and saturation based on the luminance bit. Orientation of triangles as exercise for the viewer.
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
January 9, 2026 at 8:10 PM
#generativeart interlude
#genuary9: Crazy automaton
Not that crazy. Rule30 over luminance, with some oddball adjustments to hue and saturation based on the luminance bit. Orientation of triangles as exercise for the viewer.
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
#genuary9: Crazy automaton
Not that crazy. Rule30 over luminance, with some oddball adjustments to hue and saturation based on the luminance bit. Orientation of triangles as exercise for the viewer.
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
Reposted by Mary Holstege
Actually I messed that one up - realised that it was recycling the agents back to the centre far too often. Also decided to reset buildings at 100 storeys. Now it's an urban sprawl. #genuary #genuary2026.
January 9, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Actually I messed that one up - realised that it was recycling the agents back to the centre far too often. Also decided to reset buildings at 100 storeys. Now it's an urban sprawl. #genuary #genuary2026.
#generativeart interlude
#genuary8 City
Contour maps over a noise field with angle-constrained venation within the scope of one of the medium contours
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
#genuary8 City
Contour maps over a noise field with angle-constrained venation within the scope of one of the medium contours
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
January 8, 2026 at 9:57 PM
#generativeart interlude
#genuary8 City
Contour maps over a noise field with angle-constrained venation within the scope of one of the medium contours
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
#genuary8 City
Contour maps over a noise field with angle-constrained venation within the scope of one of the medium contours
#xquery #svg #GENUARY #genuary2026
January 8, 2026 at 2:36 AM
#generativeart interlude
#genuary2026 "Genuary"
SNES optimization to converge on the glyph shapes with a fairly high error bar
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#genuary2026 "Genuary"
SNES optimization to converge on the glyph shapes with a fairly high error bar
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
January 5, 2026 at 11:23 PM
#generativeart interlude
#genuary2026 "Genuary"
SNES optimization to converge on the glyph shapes with a fairly high error bar
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#genuary2026 "Genuary"
SNES optimization to converge on the glyph shapes with a fairly high error bar
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
Chapter 30 of Atraxian Blue (https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at http://mathling.com/books/index.html
Belle Epoch: Nanites
In which Tass is experimented on, supposedly for his own good
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Belle Epoch: Nanites
In which Tass is experimented on, supposedly for his own good
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Atraxian Blue by Mary Holstege
books2read.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Chapter 30 of Atraxian Blue (https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at http://mathling.com/books/index.html
Belle Epoch: Nanites
In which Tass is experimented on, supposedly for his own good
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Belle Epoch: Nanites
In which Tass is experimented on, supposedly for his own good
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
#generativeart interlude
#genuary2026 #genuary4 Lowres
Because a lowres Newton fractal is still a Newton fractal
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#genuary2026 #genuary4 Lowres
Because a lowres Newton fractal is still a Newton fractal
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
January 4, 2026 at 9:41 PM
#generativeart interlude
#genuary2026 #genuary4 Lowres
Because a lowres Newton fractal is still a Newton fractal
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#genuary2026 #genuary4 Lowres
Because a lowres Newton fractal is still a Newton fractal
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#writerscoffeeclub January 4: "Share a tool of your trade."
Pandoc: https://pandoc.org/
It lets me do all my writing in annotated Markdown (in Emacs, yay) and then make EPUBs, or PDFs, or DOCX as appropriate.
With a little assist from https://invisiblexml.org/ and my own code hackery I can […]
Pandoc: https://pandoc.org/
It lets me do all my writing in annotated Markdown (in Emacs, yay) and then make EPUBs, or PDFs, or DOCX as appropriate.
With a little assist from https://invisiblexml.org/ and my own code hackery I can […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 4, 2026 at 4:33 PM
#writerscoffeeclub January 4: "Share a tool of your trade."
Pandoc: https://pandoc.org/
It lets me do all my writing in annotated Markdown (in Emacs, yay) and then make EPUBs, or PDFs, or DOCX as appropriate.
With a little assist from https://invisiblexml.org/ and my own code hackery I can […]
Pandoc: https://pandoc.org/
It lets me do all my writing in annotated Markdown (in Emacs, yay) and then make EPUBs, or PDFs, or DOCX as appropriate.
With a little assist from https://invisiblexml.org/ and my own code hackery I can […]
January 4, 2026 at 3:21 PM
#wordweavers Describe an uncomfortable situation a character experiences.
Tass
Every moment of his life, honestly.
The nadir was probably when his father sent his bots to teach him how to do sex properly and he spent hours in sims having them criticize every aspect of his performance […]
Tass
Every moment of his life, honestly.
The nadir was probably when his father sent his bots to teach him how to do sex properly and he spent hours in sims having them criticize every aspect of his performance […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 4, 2026 at 3:20 PM
#wordweavers Describe an uncomfortable situation a character experiences.
Tass
Every moment of his life, honestly.
The nadir was probably when his father sent his bots to teach him how to do sex properly and he spent hours in sims having them criticize every aspect of his performance […]
Tass
Every moment of his life, honestly.
The nadir was probably when his father sent his bots to teach him how to do sex properly and he spent hours in sims having them criticize every aspect of his performance […]
#generativeart interlude
#genuary2026 #genuary3 Fibonacci forever
Here we show the tiles from a random tiling (with wild tiling edges) that contain points along a Fibonacci spiral (or two)
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#genuary2026 #genuary3 Fibonacci forever
Here we show the tiles from a random tiling (with wild tiling edges) that contain points along a Fibonacci spiral (or two)
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
January 3, 2026 at 11:16 PM
#generativeart interlude
#genuary2026 #genuary3 Fibonacci forever
Here we show the tiles from a random tiling (with wild tiling edges) that contain points along a Fibonacci spiral (or two)
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#genuary2026 #genuary3 Fibonacci forever
Here we show the tiles from a random tiling (with wild tiling edges) that contain points along a Fibonacci spiral (or two)
#xquery #svg #GENUARY
#pennedpossibilities 891 — Who are the members of your MC’s immediate family?
Tass
Maman: dead (fever, he was 3)
Older twin brothers Stellan and Del: dead (torture, he was 12)
Papa (Morgan): old bastard running the galaxy who blames him for all the above
Sia: Older sister who should be the […]
Tass
Maman: dead (fever, he was 3)
Older twin brothers Stellan and Del: dead (torture, he was 12)
Papa (Morgan): old bastard running the galaxy who blames him for all the above
Sia: Older sister who should be the […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 3, 2026 at 9:08 PM
#pennedpossibilities 891 — Who are the members of your MC’s immediate family?
Tass
Maman: dead (fever, he was 3)
Older twin brothers Stellan and Del: dead (torture, he was 12)
Papa (Morgan): old bastard running the galaxy who blames him for all the above
Sia: Older sister who should be the […]
Tass
Maman: dead (fever, he was 3)
Older twin brothers Stellan and Del: dead (torture, he was 12)
Papa (Morgan): old bastard running the galaxy who blames him for all the above
Sia: Older sister who should be the […]
January 3, 2026 at 5:26 PM
#wordweavers Jan 2
How does your MC talk? Describe their voice and speech.
Renny aka Tass aka the Art Wanker:
With a heavy French accent ("that fancy estate accent"). Francophone as a child, but the business runs in English, so a Franglish mess at times (Belle Epoch, I *mean*). French when […]
How does your MC talk? Describe their voice and speech.
Renny aka Tass aka the Art Wanker:
With a heavy French accent ("that fancy estate accent"). Francophone as a child, but the business runs in English, so a Franglish mess at times (Belle Epoch, I *mean*). French when […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 2, 2026 at 4:46 PM
#wordweavers Jan 2
How does your MC talk? Describe their voice and speech.
Renny aka Tass aka the Art Wanker:
With a heavy French accent ("that fancy estate accent"). Francophone as a child, but the business runs in English, so a Franglish mess at times (Belle Epoch, I *mean*). French when […]
How does your MC talk? Describe their voice and speech.
Renny aka Tass aka the Art Wanker:
With a heavy French accent ("that fancy estate accent"). Francophone as a child, but the business runs in English, so a Franglish mess at times (Belle Epoch, I *mean*). French when […]
January 1, 2026 at 8:48 PM
#lickobservatory needs your help:
"Early on Thursday, Dec. 25, severe winds gusting up to 114 miles per hour tore across Mount Hamilton. The multi-ton shutter section fell outward onto the roof of the Great Hall, crushing several structural beams.
The Great Refractor telescope was not damaged […]
"Early on Thursday, Dec. 25, severe winds gusting up to 114 miles per hour tore across Mount Hamilton. The multi-ton shutter section fell outward onto the roof of the Great Hall, crushing several structural beams.
The Great Refractor telescope was not damaged […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
December 31, 2025 at 10:47 PM
#lickobservatory needs your help:
"Early on Thursday, Dec. 25, severe winds gusting up to 114 miles per hour tore across Mount Hamilton. The multi-ton shutter section fell outward onto the roof of the Great Hall, crushing several structural beams.
The Great Refractor telescope was not damaged […]
"Early on Thursday, Dec. 25, severe winds gusting up to 114 miles per hour tore across Mount Hamilton. The multi-ton shutter section fell outward onto the roof of the Great Hall, crushing several structural beams.
The Great Refractor telescope was not damaged […]
Reposted by Mary Holstege
December 31, 2025 at 5:10 PM
#writerscoffeeclub Dec. 31: Take pride in what you've written and share the progress you've made!
https://books2read.com/ap/xqYAAW/Mary-Holstege
This year, man. Having my brain hijacked until I finished off my fanfic novel I realized I *could* write a whole novel of my own, so I did. Two. And […]
https://books2read.com/ap/xqYAAW/Mary-Holstege
This year, man. Having my brain hijacked until I finished off my fanfic novel I realized I *could* write a whole novel of my own, so I did. Two. And […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
December 31, 2025 at 4:54 PM
#writerscoffeeclub Dec. 31: Take pride in what you've written and share the progress you've made!
https://books2read.com/ap/xqYAAW/Mary-Holstege
This year, man. Having my brain hijacked until I finished off my fanfic novel I realized I *could* write a whole novel of my own, so I did. Two. And […]
https://books2read.com/ap/xqYAAW/Mary-Holstege
This year, man. Having my brain hijacked until I finished off my fanfic novel I realized I *could* write a whole novel of my own, so I did. Two. And […]
Chapters 28 and 29 of Atraxian Blue (https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at http://mathling.com/books/index.html
The destruction of Tas'Noor: in which Tas'Noor is attacked
No,Captain: In which Lila calls Toussaint on the carpet
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
The destruction of Tas'Noor: in which Tas'Noor is attacked
No,Captain: In which Lila calls Toussaint on the carpet
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Atraxian Blue by Mary Holstege
books2read.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Chapters 28 and 29 of Atraxian Blue (https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at http://mathling.com/books/index.html
The destruction of Tas'Noor: in which Tas'Noor is attacked
No,Captain: In which Lila calls Toussaint on the carpet
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
The destruction of Tas'Noor: in which Tas'Noor is attacked
No,Captain: In which Lila calls Toussaint on the carpet
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Reposted by Mary Holstege
no-one's quite sure what this Western Zhou art piece *is,* but so many people said "are you sure it's not a wifi router?" that the Anhui Museum installed a working wifi access point named "Western Zhou Router" in its display case.
source […]
[Original post on infosec.exchange]
source […]
[Original post on infosec.exchange]
December 30, 2025 at 1:23 PM
no-one's quite sure what this Western Zhou art piece *is,* but so many people said "are you sure it's not a wifi router?" that the Anhui Museum installed a working wifi access point named "Western Zhou Router" in its display case.
source […]
[Original post on infosec.exchange]
source […]
[Original post on infosec.exchange]
December 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
December 25, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Chapter 27 of Atraxian Blue (https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at http://mathling.com/books/index.html
Dinner and a show: In which Renny is amazed by Lila's cooking, appalled by what happens next, and in which Toussaint makes a dark suggesting
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Dinner and a show: In which Renny is amazed by Lila's cooking, appalled by what happens next, and in which Toussaint makes a dark suggesting
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Atraxian Blue by Mary Holstege
books2read.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Chapter 27 of Atraxian Blue (https://books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at http://mathling.com/books/index.html
Dinner and a show: In which Renny is amazed by Lila's cooking, appalled by what happens next, and in which Toussaint makes a dark suggesting
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
Dinner and a show: In which Renny is amazed by Lila's cooking, appalled by what happens next, and in which Toussaint makes a dark suggesting
#scifi
#writing
#atraxianblue
December 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM