Weekly Notes 39/2025

I spent most of the week in Jaipur. It was a bit hectic and hot, but it was a good week. I also had the opportunity to observe and learn a lot. Uma was warm on Sunday, but it developed into a proper fever and cough over the course of the week. It’s tough to be away when your child is sick. She is doing better, but still a bit weak and cranky.

• I attended IndiaFOSS and met several friends, including Jishnu, Hiran, Kiran, Nemo, Zainab, Sai, Kartik (HIL), Adhvan, Vivek, Sahil, Prabudh, Padmini, Shree, and students from IITM, among others (Sorry if I missed your name; I will do better next time.). It was a great evening; I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was also hectic because Uma wasn’t feeling great, and I had a flight to catch on Sunday evening. All in all, I am just happy that I was able to participate. Also, DevRooms were half the conference; they were niche and also offered variety. I loved that they weren’t all technical. Hopefully, we get to see them next year, too.
• Got to see a demo of early FOSS UPI work by librefin. BTW, if you are interested in interoperability and Reverse Engineering research in India, then 52 1ab (Pronounced 52 Lab) might be of interest to you. Have a look.
• I wrote a post on Banu Mustaq, and how the right wing is trying to make Karnataka communal, even the festivals that are just state festivals. Strangely enough, I wrote it first in English, and then I felt that it should be in Kannada as well, so I translated it into Kannada. Her speech at Mysore is worth watching.
• It’s my general habit to search on Google, even when I am looking for something on my own blog. Today, I found out that Google’s AI search hallucinates my full name, WTF. It’s not that my full name is not on the web. For the record, my full name is Thejesh Gangaiah Nagarathna. Hallucination is still a huge problem.
• Free speech absolutists are all for free speech, so long as it’s their speech. Critique them or the things they love, and suddenly, they discover the fine print.
• I love Jessie Inchauspé’s videos. Often, she is the only person talking to the audience in the videos, but I love the set, styling, presentation, and content. You can play Minecraft without Minecraft; there is also Luanti (formerly Minetest), which I like. So there are plenty of options if you just want to build. I am waiting for a good WASM-based client. Added Mary Loosemore’s Weekly Notes to my feed reader.