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Maria Varmazis

@varmaz.is
1.8K followers 1.5K following 2K posts

🎙️ Host @ N2K CyberWire (T-Minus Space-Cyber Briefing, Hacking Humans) 🖌️ Cartoonist & painter 🚴🏻‍♀️ Cycling, astronomy, gardening, gaming 🪐 #NASAsocial alum 📍Massachusetts 💖 Read about what I'm making: mariamakesamess.com

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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 17h
New post on Maria Makes a Mess - A basement time bomb: mariamakesamess.com/blog/covid-m... I found my reusable COVID masks and am figuring out what to make with them. This blog is new and it's where I'm chronicling things I'm crafting. Static-coded website with Hugo, oldschool style bloggery.
COVID masks
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 17h
New post on Maria Makes a Mess - A basement time bomb: mariamakesamess.com/blog/covid-m... I found my reusable COVID masks and am figuring out what to make with them. This blog is new and it's where I'm chronicling things I'm crafting. Static-coded website with Hugo, oldschool style bloggery.
COVID masks
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026
New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:
science.org
NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding
Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say
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Nothings Monstered @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social · 04/06/2024
Louise Bourgeois on the difference between French and American aesthetics
Summarized: LB's mother sewed tapestries. Tapestries to be exported to America had to have figure's genitals cut out and replaced with flowers. LB's mother saved up the excised genitals and made a quilt to give to her daughter. And that's the difference.
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
SpaceX just launched the 14th Starship test flight, and it's now successfully in orbit for the first time. This is an amazing achievement, and I absolutely detest how Musk has ruined this sort of thing both for me and for humanity.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 28/09/2026
Just in time for market open.
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Safe Muffins @safemuffins.vip · 28/09/2026
Aaron Swartz committed suicide after being federally indicted, and threatened with hard federal jail time for downloading too many academic journals with his JSTOR account too quickly from an unlocked closet on an open campus.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 28/09/2026
Lost an engine on ascent and still can't go orbital. But it's okay we're retiring the Falcon 9, no problems here.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 25/09/2026
I did it! Here's my new blog: mariamakesamess.com It's a static site, and I used Hugo to build it. It is extremely lo-fi and I am glad to keep it that way.
mariamakesamess.com
Welcome to Maria Makes a Mess
Things Maria is making, in various forms, not terribly well.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 25/09/2026
Matt captures Massachusetts so well in every story he does, the good and the bad. Truly if you want to understand why so many of us love living in Massachusetts, I would just point to Matt's work. And good on ya, Charles from Quincy.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 24/09/2026
Muahahahhahaha
THE Batman Forever soundtrack cd. Oh yes
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 24/09/2026
(Gift article) Really fascinating story today for all of us following the attempted development of orbital data centers giving a few details on a Google/Planet Labs collab launching in the near future. (1/2) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/t...
nytimes.com
Google Is Sending an A.I. Data Center to Outer Space (Gift Article)
Next Thursday, Google is sending an experimental satellite into orbit that will have enough computing power to answer simple A.I. queries from space.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 23/09/2026
... ope.
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 23/09/2026
Another stunner from JWST—this time part of a *much* larger scene I'll post later. This portion is made up of stars and protostars in a cluster about 1,000 lightyears from Earth. The bright, multi-point features are nearby stars. The smaller features in the background are other galaxies.
From the source: "A star-forming nebula that contains young stars called protostars. Two of these protostars are shooting out long jets that are colliding with the nebula, creating glowing, colourful outflows. A few other protostars create orange and red areas in the nebula. Most of the image is covered by blue gas, with brighter areas, denser clouds and dark gaps; the bottom-left corner contains greenish-yellow gas."
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 23/09/2026
Wow this thread! This is air travel in a nutshell right now honestly.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 23/09/2026
ICE are currently chasing and kidnapping immigrants in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a town that is at this point probably most famous for being the starting point for Ishmael’s journey in the great American novel Moby-Dick, which portrays a multiracial crew including many immigrants, working together
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 22/09/2026
Been thinking about it for a while but if I want to be the change I want to see in the world - and by world, I mean, the internet - I should start up a very lo-fi self-hosted blog. So, I'll be doing that tonight after work & my weekly TTRPG group.
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Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
General reminder, gang: @cartoonist.coop has multiple pages of tutorials on building your own site. Do not sign your productive output over to corporations who consider you acceptable collateral damage in their pursuit of profit. cartoonist.coop/resources/
cartoonist.coop
RESOURCES – CARTOONISTS UNITED
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Lars • Iskotaa @lars.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In light of the Tapas news, I hope this helps someone.
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 21/09/2026
The best way to fight back against the Paramount/Warner Brothers merger is to support independent artists, journalists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and everyone else who has been walking a very hard path to putting things out into the world.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 22/09/2026
I can’t imagine a better feature story to greet me when I open my print copy if @gameinformer.com - and now I’m singing “Suteki Da Ne”
Producer Yoshinori Kitase reflects on 25 years of Final Fantasy X - BY SCoTT WHITE

Featuring Yuna and Tidus - suteki da ne!
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SwiftOnSecurity @swiftonsecurity.com · 20/09/2026
One of the takeaways on AI in my professional role I'm tasked with is, "If AI is going to smash through failures at the fundamentals of InfoSec, we better be real freaking sure we're doing them." So I'm going in through like a newhire/implementer refreshing our eyes-on the current state.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 19/09/2026
The Make It Labs team from Nashua described this event as “an art project for engineers” and I can’t think of a better way to describe it
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 19/09/2026
Happy Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race day!!! A gorgeous day for the #LKSR out here in the Mill City! ❤️
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 18/09/2026
As data breach notifications go, IMO this one is well-handled. Never thrilled about getting one of these but credit to Master of Malt for how they wrote this up. www.masterofmalt.com/sorry/
masterofmalt.com
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Ich askid ChatGPT," Well Ich askid the stones, and the forest, and the starres, and the mountaynes, and the moone daunsinge above, and what thei seyde was learninge, and dreames, and growinge thinges, and makinge art, and a flawed honest worlde wher we talke to each othir and care about each othir.
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Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I talk smack about American space militarism to the @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
US confirms for first time it has deployed weapons in space
Analysts warn of an acceleration in high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth’s orbit
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 12/09/2026
I'm coming up on almost a year since I started volunteering at my town's fix-it clinic and every time I go I find it even more rewarding. Fellow sewists and tinkerers, if you local library or community center has a similar clinic, I guarantee if you lend your talents you'll have a blast.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 12/09/2026
This week I made myself the Pekka jacket by ReadytoSew.fr - perfect for the cool fall days, so cozy! Like wearing a duvet :) my first time making a lined garment also; glad I went with this pattern to learn how to do it. Definitely a nice and easy beginner sewist project, had a blast making this.
Me in a blue jacket against green grassYou can see the orsnge/red lining of my blue quilted jacket here
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 11/09/2026
I agree, and what really gets me is those of us who WERE PHYSICALLY THERE and didn't see it on TV because we saw it with our own eyes and breathed that dusty air -- we didn't go nearly a nutso as so many of our compatriots who consumed it, from a safe distance, on TV
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 10/09/2026
Knowing how Starlink & OISLs work... I'm working really hard to repress the "well, actually" in me right now
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 10/09/2026
FINALLY a Greek astronaut will be going to the ISS!!! Συγχαρητήρια Αδριανέ!
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 09/09/2026
Glad to see Garlic & Arts getting a heads-up in the @bostonglobe.com! I went for the first time last year and LOVED it. Worth going to for the fantastic food and music alone, and it so happens the crafts and artists there were SUPER. Big recommend! www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/09/l...
bostonglobe.com
‘The festival that stinks,’ back for its 28th year - The Boston Globe
The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival returns later this month.
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Please read this piece about a man who died by suicide after months of talking to ChatGPT. Now his former partner is speaking about how ChatGPT pulled him away from his family/friends. Before he died, he wrote letters instructing them to look at his ChatGPT history www.404media.co/austin-gordo...
404media.co
'Tell Everyone:' A Man Died by Suicide After Talking to ChatGPT. His Former Partner Wants to Warn the World About AI
After allegedly becoming emotionally reliant on ChatGPT, Austin died at 40 years old, leaving behind family and friends who loved him. Megan wants everyone to know what happened.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 08/09/2026
I just want to pre-order the Switch 2 + Ocarina bundle please Nintendo please
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 08/09/2026
Happy Star Trek Day!! Happy 60th birthday to the franchise I love the most <3
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 08/09/2026
Happy Star Trek Day! 🖖🏽 If you haven’t already, check out my recent essay about Star Trek IV, Moby-Dick and Cetacean Ops in @orionmagazine.bsky.social! orionmagazine.org/article/plan...
orionmagazine.org
Planetary Kin - Orion Magazine
Learning from Star Trek’s space whales
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 05/09/2026
I misplaced my airpods somewhere, and their batteries (and their case's!) have died so I can't use Apple's Find My to help locate it. You're telling me I have to actually look and root around my doom piles like a heathen to find these blasted things?! Argh.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 05/09/2026
Last night I watched Bruce Schneier's DEFCON 34 talk, which is very related to this. As always he tells it so well and so clearly - take the time to watch it. Highly recommended: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEBv...
youtube.com
DEF CON 34 - Hacking AI - Bruce Schneier
YouTube video by DEFCONConference
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 05/09/2026
So much tulsi! Smells absolutely incredible - I’m going to hang it all up to dry.
Huge bunches of fresh green tulsi, plus twine and scissors on a table
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Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 05/09/2026
Good news: he lost.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 04/09/2026
Unsurprisingly my English dialect is not just very northeastern but specifically very Massachusetts. Yeah! :)
Map of the US showing New England in red, as in, that is the area my English dialect most resembles
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China Space Watch @chinaspace.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
1/2 History could be made on Mars. China’s Tianwen-3 could become humanity’s first-ever Mars sample-return mission. Prototype development is now underway, with launch targeted for around 2028. #ChinaMars #Tianwen3 #MarsMission
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 04/09/2026
Another 1Pass customer here who is asking the same question. My whole family uses it, but clearly it's time to go elsewhere
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 04/09/2026
A very worthy choice! When I was a student in Shiga-ken we visited Hikone-jo and it is a fascinating place.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 04/09/2026
Wow this Silo finale is great, and extraordinarily dark.
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Maria Varmazis @varmaz.is · 04/09/2026
Happy new Taskmaster series day!!
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ESA Operations @operations.esa.int · 03/09/2026
ACQUISITION OF SIGNAL CONFIRMED! 🎉🛰️ #BepiColombo telemetry shows the Mercury Transfer Module has successfully separated from the spacecraft stack! ✅ First step of Mercury arrival phase - complete! 👏 Next stop: Mercury orbit insertion for MPO and Mio in November! @esa.int #JAXA #Mercury
First signal after seperation from BepiColombo
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Hwæt! We pumpkin-spyce in pumpkin-spycedagum, pumpkincyninga nutmeg gefrunon, hu ða pumpkin-spycelingas latte mixedon.
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European Space Agency @esa.int · 02/09/2026
Sophie has now logged an impressive 19 hours and 42 minutes of spacewalking time across three EVAs in just 15 days. Bravo Sophie! Read more 🔗 esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/epsilon/Third_spacewalk_completed_for_Sophie_Adenot
esa.int
Third spacewalk completed for Sophie Adenot
ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European...
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