mastodon - Link to source

Aira’s AI Visual Interpreter | Trusted Testers Waitlist Now Open

Over the last year, thousands of members of the blind and low-vision community participated in the Build AI program — shaping the future of accessible technology. Now, in collaboration with Google, we’re announcing Aira’s AI Visual Interpreter powered by Project Astra.

This conversational AI tool provides real-time visual assistance. Whether you’re checking what’s on your thermostat, finding your keys, or identifying what’s in your fridge — Aira AI sees and responds naturally.

Ask:
“Is this milk expired?”
“What temperature is my thermostat showing?”
“Is this the blue shirt or the black one?”
It’s instant, interactive, and backed by professional human Visual Interpreters.

We're launching a trusted testers program to give early access to those who want to explore what’s possible with conversational visual AI.
Join the waitlist → aira.io/projectastra/

#AiraAI #ProjectAstra #AIForAccessibility #BuiltWithCommunity #GoogleAI

A dark blue background with glowing lines frames two logos—Aira’s “a” and Google's Project Astra icon—followed by the headline: “Sign up for early access to the Aira AI Powered by Project Astra.” Below, smaller text explains that Project Astra, developed by Google, partners with Aira for AI-augmented real-time visual interpreting. A rounded button reads “Sign Up for Early Access.”

Project Astra - Aira

Powerful Al Visual Interpreting. Join the Waitlist Now! Join the Waitlist Meet Project Astra: A research prototype exploring breakthrough capabilities for Google products—on the way to building a Universal AI Assistant.
Aira
#googleai #airaai #projectastra #aiforaccessibility #builtwithcommunity
in reply to Andre Louis

mastodon - Link to source

Andre Louis

If you cannot yet roll it out to customers outside the US, make that *extremely* clear in the initial post, and not tucked away at the bottom. Even in the Mastodon post itself, say 'US Only.' A couple of words make all the difference, so we don't bother getting our hopes up or signing up for something we cannot use right now. Communicate better please.

mastodon - Link to source
While at #SightCity yesterday, I was introduced to a line of Braille displays called b.note by Eurobraille. Intriguingly, they are powered by a Raspberry Pi, using Debian Linux as their OS. Apparently there's a developer mode, which allows users to connect to it via ssh, and even extend functionality using Python scripts. I'm already in the market for a new display and now very strongly considering getting one of these, especially since I quite liked the keyboard and Braille modules as well.
#SightCity

reshared this

in reply to Alex Hall

mastodon - Link to source

Robin Kipp has moved

@alexhall But yes, this display does use the more traditional piezoelectric Braille cells. I was personally happy about that, as they do feel very similar to the Handy Tech Active Star which I'm currently using, and which is also sadly in the process of slowly falling apart. To be fair though, I have been using this display for around 10 years, which means it has actually outlived all the other tech on my desk right now.
@Alex Hall

mastodon - Link to source
🦊 Mozilla oznámila konec personalizovaných funkcí služby Pocket. Zůstává jen základní ukládání článků, ale končí doporučení, tagy a další funkce.
📚 Naštěstí máme na Oscloud alternativu: Wallabag!
Open source, s tagy, archivací, offline čtením a plnou kontrolou nad daty.
✅ Ideální čas přejít.
docs.oscloud.cz/apps/wallabag/
#opensource #pocket #wallabag #oscloud

Wallabag - Oscloud Docs

Oscloud je váš osobní cloud a hosting webových aplikací.
docs.oscloud.cz
#opensource #wallabag #pocket #oscloud

mastodon - Link to source

Join us next week for “Color in CSS” with Aubrey Sambor, Lead Front End Developer.

Mark your calendars: May 29, 12pm ET.
a11ytalks.com/posts/2025-may
#A11y #Accessibility

Color in CSS | A11yTalks

What are the new color options in CSS, and what do they add to the variety of color choices we already have? How do these new color options help to make your site more accessible?
a11ytalks.com
#a11y #Accessibility

mastodon - Link to source

All those years of forcing unwanted Pocket integration into Firefox end with an unceremonious shut down.

Pocket didn't even get to star in its own obituary, as Mozilla unwinds itself from anything that isn't its ai/advertisement business - meaning that Fakespot (which Mozilla bought just over 2 years ago) is also on the chopping block.

"This shift allows us to shape the next era of the internet...vertical tabs, smart search and more AI-powered features on the way"

blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/bu…


Investing in what moves the internet forward

Our independence means we have to be intentional about where we invest our time and resources so we can make the biggest impact.
Mozilla (The Mozilla Blog)
in reply to Sarah Jamie Lewis

mastodon - Link to source

Sarah Jamie Lewis

I also feel the need to point out a few months back, when I and others were criticising Firefox's new terms of service / privacy / AUP policy as being overbroad, inappropriate, and down right unethical (it still is)...one of the main category responses was "oh they are only saying they need to collect these categories of data, and require this ridiculously over the top license, things because of integrations...like Pocket"

mmm hmm.

mastodon - Link to source

Mozilla is shutting down Pocket, its read-it-later service.

May I recommend @wallabag as an alternative? I've used it happily for years.

blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/bu…

#Firefox #Pocket


Investing in what moves the internet forward

Our independence means we have to be intentional about where we invest our time and resources so we can make the biggest impact.
Mozilla (The Mozilla Blog)
#firefox #pocket @wallabag
This entry was edited (6 months ago)

mastodon - Link to source

1/2 "Slovenka porazila aj mužov, v Himalájach vyhrala jeden z najťažších triatlonov na svete. Dokázala to ako prvá žena v histórii

Trénuje v Bratislave popri práci a hovorí, že nie je vrcholová športovkyňa. V Nepále však dosiahla prelomový úspech."

🔒dennikn.sk/4652608/slovenka-po…

#triatlon


Slovenka porazila aj mužov, v Himalájach vyhrala jeden z najťažších triatlonov na svete. Dokázala to ako prvá žena v histórii

Peter Kováč (Denník N)
#triatlon

mastodon - Link to source
On June 14, the current U.S. president will spend millions on a birthday parade for himself. Sorry, I mean a birthday parade for the U.S. army. If you want to join Womens' March on that day and help there be more participants in a march than watched the dumb parade, check out the event page here: womensmarch.com/kickouttheclow…

Kick Out the Clowns - Women's March

The mission of Women’s March is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.
Women's March

mastodon - Link to source

As we are making good progress on #accessibility for GNOME Calendar lately (big thanks to @TheEvilSkeleton there) I have now rewritten and updated the description of this meta ticket to reflect the current status: gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-c…

15 of 28 checklist items completed as of May 22nd, 2025, based on what issues I've been able to find so far.

#a11y #GNOMECalendar #GNOME #keyboardnavigation #screenreaders #Linux


Improve keyboard navigation and annotations throughout the app for better accessibility (a11y) (#1036) · Issues · GNOME / gnome-calendar · GitLab

GNOME Calendar is not known to be very accessible nor keyboard-friendly. This is a list of currently known
GitLab
#a11y #Accessibility #linux #gnome #screenreaders #gnomecalendar #keyboardnavigation @TheEvilSkeleton 🇮🇳 🏳️‍⚧️
This entry was edited (6 months ago)

reshared this

mastodon - Link to source
Amazon introduces AI-powered audio product summaries for easier shopping aboutamazon.com/news/retail/am…

Amazon introduces AI-powered audio product summaries for easier shopping

The new AI shopping experts help save time by compiling research and providing product highlights for customers from product pages, reviews, and insights.
Rajiv Mehta, Vice President, Search and Conversational Shopping, Amazon (US About Amazon)

Tamas G reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Attention JAWS Users!

Discover a better way to shop online with Innosearch AI— an accessible platform that makes browsing and purchasing from popular retailers easier than ever.

🗓️ Join us Thursday, May 29 at 12 PM Eastern Time for the "Shop Online with Innosearch and JAWS" webinar, hosted by Vispero.

🔹 Learn to easily navigate Innosearch.ai
🔹 Search for products efficiently
🔹 Make purchases using JAWS

Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regist…
More info: freedomscientific.com/training…

A promotional graphic for a webinar titled “Shop Online with Innosearch and JAWS.” The image shows shopping bags on a laptop keyboard, with the word "SHOPPING" displayed on the screen. The right side of the image includes text that says: "Learn how to navigate Innosearch.ai, search for products, and make purchases all using JAWS!" A red button at the bottom says “Register now!” and a red label at the top reads “webinar” with a play icon.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Shop Online with Innosearch and JAWS. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Innosearch offers an online shopping experience that makes it easy to shop for and purchase products from many popular retailers all on one website. Join us on Thursday, May 29 at Noon ET as we discuss this accessible platform.
Zoom

mastodon - Link to source

#XMPP Community

The next XMPP #Sprint in #Berlin starts tomorrow! 23rd - 25th May 2025 - it is open to all interested.

More details: wiki.xmpp.org/web/Sprints/2025…

:xmpp: :xmpp: :xmpp:

#jabber #chat #interoperability #rtc
#opensource #decentralization #standard

#xmpp #opensource #Jabber #chat #interoperability #decentralization #Berlin #standard #rtc #sprint

Nicoco reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Just saw an FB post about using ultrasound to stimulate regions of the brain, to enhance memory, cognition, etc. Turns out this is an actual field of study, transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/…

Just reminded me of Star Trek S03E14 Whom Gods Destroy

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound (tFUS) and Transcranial Unfocused Ultrasound (tUS) Neuromodulation: From Theoretical Principles to Stimulation Practices - PMC

Transcranial focused ultrasound is an emerging technique for non-invasive neurostimulation. Compared to magnetic or electric non-invasive brain stimulation, this technique has a higher spatial resolution and can reach deep structures. In addition, ..
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

mastodon - Link to source

If someone were to invest development resources into the Open Source ecosystem right now, improvements to which area would benefit the user experience across all device form factors (desktop, laptop, mobile etc.) the most? You can name both individual applications, libraries and subsystems as well as broader topics like e.g. "messaging".

#linuxmobile #linuxdesktop #opensource #mobilelinux #linux

A picture showing a Linux phone connected to an external monitor, mouse and keyboard Image licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by Purism
#linux #opensource #MobileLinux #linuxmobile #linuxdesktop

mastodon - Link to source
#deltachat Desktop can now run on #Firefox and Safari, entirely avoiding #Electron and Chromium! It's an intended side-effect of the "porting Desktop to #Tauri" effort led by @treefit which aims to provide a non-Electron packaged version of the Desktop. Here is a video and deep dive into what's working on regular browsers now, and what's missing for a full Web version: delta.chat/en/2025-05-22-brows…

Delta Chat: Delta Chat Desktop, but running inside of Firefox 🦊

As part of the project to port Delta Chat Desktop from Electron to Tauri1, we’ll showcase a setup where our Desktop app runs in Firefox and does not depend on Electron or Chromium anymore. This vid...
delta.chat
#firefox #deltachat #electron #tauri @treefit
This entry was edited (6 months ago)
in reply to feld

snac - Link to source

Anthony

Yes, datacenters are affecting consumer rates, and yes, utilities are gaming regulations to do it: lpeproject.org/blog/youre-payi… . The section HOW DATA CENTER COSTS CREEP INTO RATEPAYERS’ BILLS reviews regulations and details how costs are passed to consumers, which includes standard rate cases based on anticipated operating costs due to data centers--which become socialized costs--but also circumventing the rate case entirely via "special contracts".

@tk@bbs.kawa-kun.com @markhurst@mastodon.social


You’re Paying Big Tech’s Power Bill

By exploiting their monopolies and control over rate-setting processes, utility companies are shifting the costs of Big Tech’s voracious energy consumption onto an unwitting public.
LPE Project
@Doughnut Lollipop 【記録係】 @Mark Hurst
in reply to Anthony

pleroma - Link to source

feld

there is zero new information in this article that has not been public knowledge for decades. They unashamedly presented this in our internal training classes on utility economics when I worked at a utility doing IT security.

To be clear: it has nothing to do with datacenters or AI. This is normal business.

Anyone who wants manufacturing to come back to the USA -- this is what it will look like. The utilities will sign sweetheart deals with the companies and regardless of efficiency/renewables lowering their energy production costs, the people will bear the burden.

Have a big factory in your town? The people are subsidizing that business.

in reply to feld

snac - Link to source

Anthony

Well, you seem to have a bone to pick that I'm not interested in picking.

For everyone else: the authors of the article are describing their own research on the subject whether it's "new information" according to the other guy or not; yes, utilities are controlled monopolies, despite the objection; and whether or not this is "normal" business, not everybody knows how this works, they should, and they absolutely should not be bullied into accepting it just because the guy above has chosen to. That's authoritarian thinking.

@tk@bbs.kawa-kun.com @feld@friedcheese.us @markhurst@mastodon.social

@Doughnut Lollipop 【記録係】 @Mark Hurst @feld
in reply to Anthony

pleroma - Link to source

feld

if you want to solve this problem you need to actually understand it and its history or you'll be undermined by the proponents of these policies.

Demand fair rate schedules / equity in pricing instead of whinging about datacenters and AI or the factory down the road will continue to get away with being subsidized because everyone is focusing on AI panic.

And then the AI and datacenter companies will continue buying power plants, privatized solar/wind farms, and building reactors to power themselves, everyone will forget about the issue because it has been "solved" on its own as they won't need these sweetheart contracts and the rest of industrial America will soldier on continuing to extract wealth out of their communities like a giant tick.

Attack the ROOT of the problem, not the symptoms.

This entry was edited (6 months ago)
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