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I suspect far too many of us are trapped in cycles of escape that consume all our time, attention, and energy rather than the things we would like to create.

I'm hooked on watching hours of YouTube videos, and I justify it by clinging to the positive that is that it feeds my 'random number generator' and allows my brain to do a lot of thinking in the background.

But I have all sorts of projects that I'd like to develop and work on that I never seem to have the time or energy for.

I talk myself out of blocking time for things because my attention might be called away or I will spend the next 82 hours working on it because of hyper-focus.

I'm personally averse to routine, and that's something I'm working to change, or at least do in moderation.

Then, I feel overwhelmed and reload the YouTube tab, and queue up another video.

Problem for future Bob. ;)

mastodon - Link to source
Usually when Christmas is over, I instantly cut the Christmas music with a click. This has been the case for years. This year, what I will do instead is disable it, re-enable the normal music, then let the Christmas music empty itself from the queue. This way, rather than closing out with a bang, we slowly return to normality. Hopefully this keeps the
spirit going for a bit longer, without an abrupt ending.

mastodon - Link to source

During the year’s busiest season of charitable giving, donors may wonder whether the nonprofits they are considering donating to are going to be good stewards of their money.

Our Nonprofit Explorer can help you look into that: propublica.org/article/propubl…

#Nonprofit #Charity #Research #Donate #Holidays #Finance


Nonprofit Explorer Adds Powerful Tools to Help You Research Organizations’ Financials

You can now search for organizations that have reported a significant theft, as well as those that have had auditors flag serious financial issues.
Andrea Suozzo (ProPublica)
#charity #research #nonprofit #donate #finance #holidays

iceshrimp.net - Link to source
Today I learned why Sonata #TTS created a framework to run AI voices outside of #NVDA. First, NVDA doesn't come with all of the #Python standard libraries. Second, there's no good way of updating dependencies in a bundled addon. Third, NVDA really, really hates it if you include several hundred dependencies in your addon. Anyway, here's kitten TTS, the other synthesizer I wanted to try with NVDA. Unfortunately, the model doesn't support streaming output, so even though it's actually faster than Supertonic, it feels slower when used with NVDA. Also, it takes several minutes to install, makes NVDA startup 30 seconds slower, and freezes the change synthesizer dialogue for about 45 seconds when you open it. It does miss words less frequently, though, and pronounces text better. The ultimate result of my two-day investigation is that even the highly optimized open-source AI imbedded models are not yet ready for screen reader use. Some tree-shaking could fix some of these issues, but it still won't allow for streaming, so it's not worth it. I'd really like to know what Microsoft and Narrator are doing to get the natural voices so snappy. github.com/fastfinge/kittentts-nvda/#screenreader

GitHub - fastfinge/kittentts-nvda: proof of concept kittentts synthDriver for NVDA

proof of concept kittentts synthDriver for NVDA. Contribute to fastfinge/kittentts-nvda development by creating an account on GitHub.
GitHub
#screenreader #python #nvda #tts

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A Sound Canvas takes on beatboxing. And it... actually kind of works.
This is a karaoke cover of Dopamine, a song composed by WING of BEATPELLA HOUSE, a South Korean beatboxing group.
Two versions of this cover exist. A simplified version designed for sound cards from DREAM SA, which are essentially compatible with the Roland SC-88, and a second one designed for the SC-8820. Both covers lean into the strengths of each source.
Both played on my SC-8820.
From KY Entertainment karaoke machines.
DREAM SA version sequenced by Yunseong Choi (최윤성) currently unsure who the 8820 version's sequencer is due to encoding issues with the file.
Original song: youtube.com/watch?v=qlrpeYdm9E….
MIDIs: drive.google.com/uc?id=1kILmA1….


WING - Dopamine (Official Video) (BEATBOX)

WING - Dopamine (Official Video) (BEATBOX)Stream : https://wing.lnk.to/dopamine[Credits]Executive Producers | SINZO, Eli BackerAlbum Producers | SINZO, HissA...
YouTube
This entry was edited (1 day ago)

Pitermach reshared this.

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Before heading to the Hill Country to spend Christmas with my grandparents, I stayed up a little too late packing and writing. This post is a quiet reflection on the past year, family, and trying to slow down even when I am not very good at it.

taylorarndt.substack.com/p/pac…

Merry Christmas to those celebrating. Wishing you a gentle day.

#Christmas #Family #Reflection


Packing Bags and Packing Thoughts

Taylor Arndt (Taylor’s Substack)
#christmas #family #reflection

mastodon - Link to source

I GOT A STORY TO TELL ALL OF YOU.
AND @ChrisDuffley you might like this, so i'm pinging you in.
so it's Christmas day, right? around I dont' know, 9 ni the morning, we open presents. there's a few things I got like (yes) a brand new mini PC, small yetp owerful, and gummy bears, chocolate bars. that was it.....except it wasn't!
after my sister and I (at least I thought) was done, I get told there's an extra present waiting for me. I get drove to a hill as part of our property, and what to I find?
and i'm not kidding, what you're about to hear what I found is totally real.
a 100 feet #ham radio tower. yes, I now have a ham radio tower ready to be installed and, once I get my license, used! I can't believe it! this has to be one of the best Christmases ever!!

I don't know how it was done, but now I have a 100feet ham towert!

#ham @Christopher Duffley - KC1WXP
in reply to -/mondstern

mastodon - Link to source

Sylvia

Linux Mint is a good choice :)

There may be some Linux cafés or repair cafés near you willing to help with this. endof10.org/places/ lists a few but I am sure more exist :)

Maybe people at the Linux Mint forum on forums.linuxmint.com/viewforum… know places you can go to too but I have no experience with that.


Find Linux Support

Here is a list of repair cafes, independent shops, organizations, groups, and collectives where you can get help with Linux on a regular basis.
Find Linux Support | End of 10

mastodon - Link to source

Cykeltutten har fået en kanal på Delta Chat.

Der er det muligt at følge med i hvad der sker og blive inviteret til arrangementer, byggedage og andet.

Scan QR koden for at følge, eller brug linket her:

i.delta.chat/#62DA02C93563C10A…

PS. har du ikke Delta Chat, så tager det 30 sekunder at downloade og kræver hverken dit tlf. nummer eller email.

#DeltaChat

QR kode til cykeltuttens 'Følg-med kanal' på Delta Chat

Message privately on Delta Chat

Tap the invite link to start
i.delta.chat
#deltachat

mastodon - Link to source

A quick side-by-side look at how popular messaging apps stack up in open-source transparency, end-to-end encryption, and anonymity 😎👇

For #anonymity I consider the following: weak (phone # required), medium (email required), strong (no phone # or no email needed) #privacy #technology

Find a high-res pdf book with all my Linux and #cybersecurity related infographics from study-notes.org

Dan Nanni's Infographics and Study Notes

Explore high-quality infographics on Linux, cybersecurity, and networking. Perfect for certifications, technical knowledge, and tech career upskilling.
study-notes.org
#privacy #technology #cybersecurity #anonymity
in reply to dan_nanni

mastodon - Link to source

ArcaneChat

(for future readers: this table is wrong, #DeltaChat doesn't require phone numbers or #email for registration can be used anonymously without providing any data at all, for #telegram encryption is not supported in groups at all, only in 1-to-1 chats using the "secrets chat" which don't even sync across devices so is highly impractical and not much used by people in the end)
#email #telegram #deltachat

mastodon - Link to source

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, in all our EU languages 🎄

Joyeux Noël!
Frohe Weihnachten!
¡Feliz Navidad!
Buon Natale!
Feliz Natal!
Весела Коледа!
Veselé Vánoce!
Glædelig jul!
Häid jõule!
Καλά Χριστούγεννα!
Nollaig shona!
Sretan Božić!
Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!
Džiaugsmingų šv. Kalėdų!
Kellemes karácsonyi ünnepeket!
Il-Milied it-Tajjeb!
Vrolijk kerstfeest!
Wesołych Świąt!
Crăciun fericit!
Veselé Vianoce!
Vesel božič!
God Jul!
Hyvää joulua!

Gold background with white hanging Christmas ornaments, including one featuring the circle of EU stars. Several star-shaped decorations are scattered around, and the European Commission logo appears in the bottom right corner.

mastodon - Link to source

From all of us at HKC Radio, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

As a result of some oddities surrounding schedules, we have chosen today to let you hear music on shuffel most of the day, and at a time TBD, run the Lessons and Carols service @coasterfreak88 submitted to us, in its entirety, as it was cut due to a technical error last night.

Replays will begin late tomorrow night after Christmas unwrapped and Home Alone II.

@John Moore
This entry was edited (1 day ago)

mastodon - Link to source

For Christmas, I got an Omega Engineering talking multimeter... I have one, but it's in storage, possibly forever, and they're damn near impossible to find at a reasonable price, if you find them at all.

Also got an Ebow for an electric guitar that I don't have, which is interesting, and an Orba2, which seems to be an odd little round thing that makes musical noises.

I had an Ebow, but lost it when I moved to New York.

This entry was edited (1 day ago)
in reply to Borris

mastodon - Link to source

Borris

Well, that's a bummer.

It looks like, in order to get full functionality from this Artiphon Orba 2, I need to download an iOS app that is no longer in the app store, and the company is apparently in administration.
Without the app, it can still do some interesting stuff, but not as much, I.E. you can't change keys or load new presets.

This is why having your product tied to an app creates so much ewaste.

There is a desktop app for both Mac and Windows, and an Android APK you can download from the website. Chaining this tiny little palm-sized thing to a desktop app for some basic functionality is silly, though.

This entry was edited (1 day ago)
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