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All bags are packed, ready for take-off: Meet us this weekend at #FOSDEM – our stand is UD2-02 (where you can grab stickers, flyers, & more)! And make sure you don't miss the lightning talk (10 min) on our download statistics, by the fantastic Cat Ima @SylvieLorxu (14:00 at UB4.132). And if you're bored, be also welcome to my half-hour-long about Reproducible Builds for Android Apps (12:30 at UB4.132; that's the FOSS on Mobile devroom).

Looking forward to meet you! 🤗

#IzzyOnDroid #FOSDEM2026

#fosdem #izzyondroid #fosdem2026 @Sylvia

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Statement from the Acting Commissioner of Competition on appeal court's ruling in Cineplex deceptive marketing case

canada.ca/en/competition-burea…

Sometime the Government catches on the oligarchs and their scams. Here, the "online booking fee" from Cineplex.


Statement from the Acting Commissioner of Competition on appeal court's ruling in Cineplex deceptive market...

Jeanne Pratt, Acting Commissioner of Competition, issued a statement following the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold a September 2024 ruling by the Competition Tribunal in a deceptive marketing case involving Cineplex.
Competition Bureau Canada (Government of Canada)

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Today was definitely a #Thursday.

I went to a dentist, and, as a result, I'll be getting a root canal on Monday... maybe... because we're supposed to be getting snow over the weekend, so what are the odds the office will be open?

I slipped and fell on the ice getting out of the car, got two items that were damaged in shipping, and you can't make this stuff up.

Also completely scrapped a project I was working on, because everything was just going completely wrong.

#thursday
This entry was edited (1 day ago)

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singleWordFinalHoldMs: 45
Adds a bit of sustain to the last voiced segment (helps “R/are/you” feel complete).
singleWordFinalFadeMs: 18
Adds a proper fade-to-silence frame (prevents the hard cut).
singleWordClauseTypeOverride: "." and singleWordClauseTypeOverrideCommaOnly: true
If NVDA passes comma clauseType for isolated words, it won’t rise anymore.

mastodon - Link to source

Are you really digitally independent? ⛓️‍💥

In his guide “Getting off US tech”, tech writer and podcaster @parismarx breaks down why #DigitalSovereignty matters, and how to get there step by step.

Discover practical, user-friendly alternatives! Full list of apps 👇 disconnect.blog/getting-off-us…


Getting off US tech: a guide - by Paris Marx - Disconnect

I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.
Paris Marx (Disconnect)
#digitalsovereignty @Paris Marx

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My fellow Canadians, if you want to be part of the USA, you can move there freely on your own. I encourage you to do so.

"To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there's an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason," said Eby ahead of the meeting.

#Canada #CanPoli #CdnPoli #USA #USPoli #Alberta #Separatism #Fascism #FarRight #ABPoli #BCPoli
cbc.ca/news/politics/eby-alber…

#USA #canada #canpoli #cdnpoli #fascism #abpoli #Alberta #bcpoli #uspoli #farright #separatism

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I'm crowd sourcing once again. So as most of you know I lost my job back in February and have had no luck in obtaining another one. Previously, I taught assistive technology in a school setting. I'm interested in teaching assistive technology at a rehab center for blind adults, or anything I can do remotely, such as tech support or cold calling. Yes, I really will do cold calling at this point. If you have any leads to anything I can use, please make me aware of them. I've re-applied for SSI, but it could take up to 300 days for them to reach a decision on my claim. My resume will be available upon request. Thanks in advance for your help.

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NEW, by me: A security and privacy feature rolled out to select models of the latest iPhones and iPads this week will make it more difficult for law enforcement, spies, and malicious hackers to obtain a person's precise location data from their phone provider.

techcrunch.com/2026/01/29/appl…


Apple's new iPhone and iPad security feature limits cell networks from collecting precise location data | TechCrunch

The new security feature makes it more difficult for police and malicious hackers to obtain a person's precise location data from a cell phone company.
Zack Whittaker (TechCrunch)
in reply to Tamas G

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Scott

I contend that when the apocalypse comes and the world is reduced to a swamp of putrefaction, when a deathly silence has befallen and all hope is lost, a nerdy gang of zombies will get boozed up and go looking for some entertainment. They'll find Audio Games Net, they'll consider taking it down, but even then they'll be like, "Nah, fuck it, not worth worrying about."

Tamas G reshared this.

in reply to Scott

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Tamas G

@Scott ahahahaha well at least that was very funny to picture, definitely thanks for that. LOL! I really think Cloudflare is the only thing protecting them from all the spam topics, and even then you'll see them come through every once in awhile, but yeah, with all the trolling / lots of ambivalence against developers, I just arely if ever visit there or post. Usually it's why I find more entertainment in the off-topic room then the game threads themselves which is ironic, but even then very specific topics too. LOL.
@Scott

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Thursday.

Bertie's first train trip today. He behaved admirably; a touch grouchy and tired on the way home, but nothing I'd consider untoward for fellow passengers. He only slept about an hour total of the 12 hour day out so is unsurprisingly out-for-the-count while I enjoy my Buffalo Fried Chicken Burger, Halloumi Fries, Jalapeno and Cream Cheese Bites, and a portion of Teriyaki Boneless Chicken Strips.

Mrs R had a work thing. I always get a kick out of going to the Pocklington Hub in London, I enjoy playing spot the blind person. 1 guide dog, 2 canes and a VoiceOver today.
Also got to go for a ride on the electric travel assistance buggies again, which is always fun. A cheap upgrade to first class for the return leg of the journey meant I had leg room to spare, too.

For all that there is much strife and discord at home at the moment with a lot going on, the day out with the baby at 16 weeks was a right success.

I’m sitting on a train with Mrs Randall and Bertie. I am on the right, smiling and wearing a dark striped jumper, while Mrs Randall is rocking her reddish-brown hair and white wired Apple earbuds. Bertie is looking directly at the camera with his big dark eyes. He is dressed in a cozy light grey sweatshirt with a matching sage green bib over the top, and you can see a dummy clip made of light wooden beads attached to his outfit. I am supporting Bertie securely around his middle with both hands, and my wedding ring is clearly visible on my finger as I hold him. Behind us, the bright interior of the train carriage, with its green accents and window, provides a blurred backdrop to our family moment.

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@doubletap I'm listening to today's episode ("The Best NVDA Add-ons and Keyboard Tricks You Need") and really enjoyed the discussion around #NVDA workflows and keyboard customisation. I smiled when one of you mentioned struggling to remap an Applications key on a Keychron, because I ran into exactly the same issue after buying my Keychron shortly after Christmas.
What finally worked for me was not using the Menu / Applications keycode directly at all. Even though it's exposed in the Keychron Launcher, it didn't actually do anything reliably on Windows with NVDA.
Instead, I created a macro for Shift+F10, which is the standard Windows keyboard equivalent for the context menu and is very screen-reader friendly. In the Keychron Launcher, I went to Macro, selected a macro slot, chose Start Recording, pressed Shift+F10, stopped recording, and then assigned that macro to the key I wanted.
One important gotcha I ran into: the launcher shows what look like “duplicate” key entries in the macro (for example multiple F10s or Shift appearing twice). Those aren't mistakes. They're the key-down and key-up events. If you delete them, you can end up with Shift getting stuck. Leaving the macro exactly as recorded solved that for me.
Once I did this, the key worked reliably everywhere I’ve tried it, like File Explorer, browsers, and with NVDA, and it's honestly been more dependable than trying to use the Applications key directly. Thought I'd share in case it helps others listening to this episode or experimenting with Keychron keyboards.
#ScreenReader #Accessibility #Blind #keyboard @mastoblind @main
#Accessibility #blind #screenreader #nvda #keyboard @Double Tap @Blind Main @Group 4 Blind & VI people

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I'll believe it when I see it.

Microsoft is focusing on fixing the core issues of Windows 11 over the coming months after persistent bugs, ads, and bloatware eroded user trust.

theverge.com/tech/870045/micro…


Microsoft is working to rebuild trust in Windows

Microsoft is going to spend 2026 improving Windows 11. It comes after Windows update quality issues and complaints about the operating system.
Tom Warren (The Verge)

reshared this

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The US administration have held meetings with members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a separatist group that is pushing for the western province to become independent.

The group is openly seeking a $500B US line of credit from the US Treasury to help bankroll the new country, if they come out victorious in a referendum.

DO WE NOT HAVE LAWS PREVENTING THIS AND/OR PUNISH THIS?!?!? cbc.ca/news/politics/eby-alber… #cdnpoli #polcan #treason

#cdnpoli #polcan #treason

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If you're a Python developer, definitely make your voice heard here: pyfound.blogspot.com/2026/01/y…

I filled it out. I feel like it was briefer than previous years? And obviously there are a bunch of questions about genAI junk, which I suspect will end up showing up as very widely used, so I hope some of you skeptics will also fill it out and at least we might be legible as a meaningful minority


Your Python. Your Voice. Join the Python Developers Survey 2026!

This year marks the ninth iteration of the official Python Developers Survey. We intentionally launched the survey in January (later than ye...
Python Software Foundation Blog

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Sideparty Score

Sensitive content

in reply to Uriel Fanelli

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ArcaneChat

> Is literally a server of your property.

buddy, what is wrong with your choice of words??? "proprietary" is used to mean that the source code of the server component is not available, of course every server out there has an owner and is "proprietary" according to your definition 🤦🤦🤦

> And the default onboarding points to your servers.

as said, this will change in the future, for now we do what is easier for users

> You had ONE job. One.

you just want to complain 👎

This entry was edited (1 day ago)

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Habt ihr es auch gesehen? Die Doku des ZDF über so genannte #Christfluencer und ihre Verbindungen nach extrem rechts? Falls nicht. Hier in der Mediathek:
zdf.de/video/reportagen/die-sp…

#Evangelikalismus und #Freikirchen sind teilweise anfällig für rechte Ambitionen in Richtung #AfD und US-Rechte.
Und die christlichen Kirchen, was unternehmen die dagegen? Ich nehme nichts wahr.

Influencer im Namen Gottes: Gibt es Verbindungen zur AfD? // ZDF-Doku über Christfluencer

Spurensuche im digitalen Glaubensraum: Was steckt hinter dem Content von Christfluencern wie Jasmin Friesen und Leonard Jäger?
ZDF
#afd #christfluencer #freikirchen #Evangelikalismus

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#BookReview They Came to Slay, the Queer Culture of DnD - by Thom James Carter

You may have guessed it, but I bought the book because it's purple, and who could resist a title like that? 💜

For anyone who's played #DnD for a while, like myself, there wasn't much new in the book. A little bit predictable. But a fun one to have in my collection regardless, and inspired me to experiment with characters of other genders in future TTRPG sessions.

#Bookstodon

a purple book with a sword the cover title: They came to slay - the queer culture of DnD author: Thom James Carter
#dnd #bookstodon #bookreview
This entry was edited (4 days ago)
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