Then I got hooked, and started listening to the Omnibus edition on Radio New Zealand’s National Programme when I was five or six.
I did that without fail, every Thursday night, until 1982, when Radio New Zealand announced that due to the increased cost of the programme imposed on it by the BBC Transcription Service, Radio New Zealand wasn’t going to carry it anymore. This resulted in my first governmental advocacy effort. As a 13-year-old, I wrote for the first time to a Government Minister, pleading with him to do something about this travesty. It was pretty exciting in my working class family to come home one day and find a letter from the Minister of Broadcasting, Ian Shearer, waiting for me in the mailbox. But it was only to thank me for writing and to tell me that he didn’t have the power to interfere with Radio New Zealand’s operational matters. It was the first time, but far from the last time, that I witnessed governmental buck passing up close. My teenage self thought that he could surely just pass a law to stop this or something. I got to know him in my later work, and you can be sure I reminded him of this moment.
Finally the big day came, I still remember the date, 30 September, 1982. Rather than a typical cliffhanger, the episode ended with a special ending for New Zealand listeners, who were never to be invited to Ambridge again.
Eventually, I was let into a fanatical little club of blind people that were receiving The Archers on cassette from a very kind woman in the UK who recorded it every week. It was like being reunited with family I hadn’t seen for a while.
Finally, the Internet made it easy for me to visit Ambridge every day except Saturdays, and that’s still the case.
The Archers is a brilliant show. The fact that it has run so long allows stories to develop in real time, sometimes they can take decades to run their course.
Some people ask me how on earth you start listening to a show that has run so long, and I tell them that the best approach is to treat it like you are moving to Ambridge yourself, the village in which the characters live. When you move somewhere new, it takes a while to get to know everyone, but you eventually start to work out who’s who.
You can subscribe to The Archers via two podcasts. One gives you the 12 minute episode every day other than Saturdays, the other one gives it to you in one big weekly episode each Sunday, that’s called the Omnibus version.
If you would like to catch up, here’s a quick summary, somewhat tongue in cheek, of the story so far.
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2…
#TheArchers
Brawls, blackmail and Judi Dench: 75 staggering moments from 75 years of The Archers
From Jill’s flung flapjack to Nigel’s tragic fall, the Great Flood, Helen’s acquittal and a priceless cameo from Dame Judi, here’s an anniversary feast of epic Ambridge momentsFelicity Cloake (The Guardian)
magazin.aktualne.cz/obloha-v-r…
Obloha v roce 2026: výjimečné zatmění Slunce, polární záře i velký vánoční úplněk
Rok 2026 nabídne příležitostným pozorovatelům i zapáleným lovcům nebeských jevů zajímavou podívanou. Na obloze se vystřídají meteorické roje, dechberoucí planetární seskupení, noční svítící oblaka i vzácné zákryty.Šárka Nádeníčková (Aktuálně.cz)
Já to nebyl ☝️
denik.cz/regiony/cheb-chebsko-…
Lidé na Chebsku pocítili otřesy. Nejsilnější měl sílu třetího stupně
Na západě Čech se opět zachvěla země. Podle aplikace SeisLok Geofyzikálního ústavu AV ČR měl zatím nejsilnější otřes sílu 3,03 magnituda, dosáhl tedy na třetí stupeň Richterovy stupnice. Otřesů se projevilo několik, doprovázelo je typické hučení.Petr Przeczek (Deník.cz)
Novoroční vyjížďka, jen na tu #birellovka jsem úplně zapomnel. Ta bude příště 👍
#garmin #beatyesterday
New Accessible Book and Document Reading app to try. This was posted by the developer on an email list I am on. Please pass it on... Hello everybody,
I’d like to share my new iPhone and iPad app I’ve just released: Vox Libri.
App Store link:
apps.apple.com/us/app/vox-libr…
Vox Libri is built to help people read books and documents in a flexible, personalized, and fully accessible way. It is designed to work well with VoiceOver and braille displays, and to support different reading preferences: on-screen reading, braille reading, or high-quality text-to-speech.
The interface is available in English and Spanish, and you can use any device-supported language for voices.
Key features include:
• High-quality text-to-speech for natural read-aloud.
• A braille reading mode compatible with braille displays.
• A highly customizable reading screen (font, size, colors, spacing, themes).
• Support for common formats: TXT, PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML, Markdown, and EPUB.
• Accessible navigation through chapters, headings, pages, bookmarks, and sections.
• Hands-free reading using headphone controls.
• On-device AI translation, summarization, and simplification when supported by the device.
I am working in versions for MacOS and WatchOS…
If you try Vox Libri, I would sincerely appreciate any feedback from BlindApple users—especially around accessibility, braille workflows, navigation, and overall reading comfort.
Thank you and regards
Jonathan Chacón
#New #Accessible #Book #Document #Reader #Blind
Vox libri App - App Store
Download Vox libri by Jonatan Chacon Barbero on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more games like Vox libri.App Store
Atari Scene News (@Philsan@mastodon.world)
A compilation of #AtariST computers tunes by Lotek Style, that Torsten ‘mOdmate’ Keltsch would have liked https://youtu.be/THrDkvzLi5A #atari #demoscene #chiptunesAtari Scene News (Mastodon)
Sometimes called the "domino effect," the cascade initiated by a single act of kindness can inspire others to act similarly. For instance, holding the door for someone may compel them to pay it forward later in the day, and this melding of kindness can exponentially accelerate positive interactions within a community.
I am trying to follow someone who I think deleted and recreated there account on the same #Mastodon instance, when I try to follow said person again it says, error 404, target not found.
I think it’s because it just registers in my brain differently, or something, like tts vs the actual human naration.
But yeah it’s crazy the end of year chapter is almost the same length as the first Harry Potter book lol.
It's the death day for MacUpdater. It was a great service, going to really miss it.
Going to have to switch to a terminal-based updater. Some combiantion of homebrew and topgrade, probably.
github.com/topgrade-rs/topgrad…
GitHub - topgrade-rs/topgrade: Upgrade all the things
Upgrade all the things. Contribute to topgrade-rs/topgrade development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Happy New Year from HKC Radio!
A word about content today. The Digital Domain Online Radio Show will air its annual New Year's Day special tonight at 7 PM EST. It does feature some Christmas leftovers, which is why our Christmas replays are running still. For those who simply do not wish to Christmas anymore, @nick really sympathizes.
The replays will quietly end during the show and regular automation will resume.
Clarifying a couple things about Chinese New Year
- It's not the year of the horse yet, that's flips on Chinese New Year on February 17
- Taiwanese folks celebrate both Chinese New Year and Gregorian calendar New Year. Why only celebrate one?
- Both new years are essentially called "new year" in Chinese but subtly different so they are still distinguishable
Them: Can you confirm you have no more than 15 personal electronic devices in your carry on?
Me: (excitedly infodumping) Well, it really depends what you consider to be a device. Many of these computers themselves contain multiple smaller computers. Consider these microSD cards (waves a small anti-static bag around), each of which has a tiny ARM processor - designed by a trans person from the BBC Micro team, if I might go off at a tangent for a moment. Or the battery controller chip on the LiPo pouch protection circuit, which significantly reduces the probability of a thermal excursion. And let's face it, nobody wants a spicy pillow in their lap at 30,000 feet-
Them: Just say yes. (Pleadingly) Just yes. That's all I'm asking. I'm begging you.
Please boost
- love it love it love it (1%, 9 votes)
- makes everything in my life easier (2%, 14 votes)
- the speed its being developed is worrying (28%, 199 votes)
- needs regulating in public hands (50%, 355 votes)
- I wasnt asked if I wanted it (60%, 424 votes)
- its dumbing down the world (72%, 509 votes)
- huge energy cost is adding to climate breakdown (84%, 593 votes)
This year at #39C3, it felt that the congres was bursting at the seams. Nearly all of the assemblies I know complained about having less room and less tables then requested. The infrastructure review posted numbers e.g. about ~20% more DECT-phone calls, more internet usage then ever, ....
And, by chance, I consulted the wikipedia page about CCC:de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Co… , which also lists the (approximate) number of visitors: 16K this year and only 14.5K last year. Time to go to #leipzig again?
Problem is, orga doesn't scale appropriately. Leipzig was too big and throwing more people at the problem (provided there are enough volunteers in the first place) leads to huge amounts of more communication and planning, before it even starts yielding anything else.
Unfortunately, growth isn't everything.
Thinking back to last year I remembered the us-east-1 outage, how it affected Signal and how some of the users freaked out that they have to rely on US hyperscalers.
Wouldn't it be useful if @signalapp (and maybe similar providers) published their infra requirements with little crosses and ticks, so alternative providers could aim for "good enough for Signal" service levels?
Related articles by @bert_hubert :
berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-…
The (European) cloud ladder: from virtual server to MS 365 - Bert Hubert's writings
We have extensive discussions about our enormous dependence on American clouds, but what exactly are we talking about? And is Europe equally dependent on all types of cloud? This article is aimed at policy makers, but it may also provide some clarity…Bert Hubert's writings
I've got one word for average internet users in 2026:
yunohost ( @yunohost )
Let me also say: domain names are cheap, and for less than $5 USD/mo, @Tutanota helped me create privacy-focused email addresses on my custom domain with a step-by-step guide
let Google & Apple & Microsoft read ads while you get real mail elsewhere
Today, Bulgaria adopts the euro as its official currency. 💶
A new currency, a stronger bond with Europe.
Travel, work, and business will become easier and more connected.
With Schengen now fully in place, this means more freedom, more opportunities, and a shared future.
Progress is not a dream. It is a choice. And Bulgaria has chosen it.
Let's keep moving forward together. 🇪🇺🇧🇬
Welcome to Bulgaria.
But why the official communicate is only in english ?
ec.europa.eu/commission/pressc…
Bulgaria joins euro area from 1 January
On 1 January 2026, Bulgaria will adopt the euro as its currency, marking an important milestone for the country, for the history of the euro, and for the EU as a whole.European Commission - European Commission
Just a reminder that you really should #BoycottFigma.
The fact they slurp all your designs into their slop machines by default, and you have to go opt-out if you don't like them stealing your creative work…**all in a product which literally exists to aid creators**…makes me nauseous.
There are other design apps you can use! Really, there are!
DI-Day im #c3d2
Der @c3d2 lädt zu mehr digitaler Unabhängigkeit ein und wir kommen mit vorbei.
Ihr habt Fragen zu freien Messengern wie #Matrix oder #XMPP, #Linux, dem #Fediverse oder anderen #OpenSource-Themen? Dann kommt gern am Sonntag den 4. Januar ab 14:00 Uhr in die Räume des c3d2, Riesaer Str. 32, #Dresden.
AntennaPod @ FOSDEM
Hi everyone, some AntennaPod contributors plan to join the FOSDEM conference in Brussels from the 31th of January to the 1st of February. It would be nice to meet up and maybe even grab some drinks together.AntennaPod Forum
Tak snad ten ohňostroj stál za to 🤷♂️
#darwinawards
novinky.cz/clanek/krimi-muz-v-…
Muž v Budějovicích odpaloval zakázanou pyrotechniku. Utrhla mu obě ruce
Vážné zranění utrpěl zhruba třicetiletý muž v Českých Budějovicích, když během silvestrovské noci odpaloval zakázanou pyrotechniku. Ta mu explodovala v rukou a amputovala obě končetiny v zápěstí. Policisté případ řeší jako nedovolené ozbrojování.Klára Mrázová (Novinky)
MapComplete
MapComplete is a webapp which allows to use and update OpenStreetMap within thematic maps. This repository contains all of the source code.Forgejo
Home · Enafore
A fediverse client with better support for Akkoma, glitch-soc, and Iceshrimp instances.enafore.social
GuloGulo
in reply to Archos • • •Musím prohledat jaké snímače umí využít ta aktivita eliptický trenažér....
Archos
in reply to GuloGulo • • •Tohle se nasadí jen na kliku, nic se nezapíná – začneš šlapat a najede.
Jirkův Žbrbláček
in reply to Archos • • •