RScan: for blind fellows, who find identification of things through OCR too slow and inefficient (1/2)

Have you ever been impatiently waiting, until your phone reads through all the information in all sorts of languages about the manufacturer, compounds, source, distributor and finally gets to the name and flavor of the chocolate you're holding in your hand?
I had. And some kinds of goodies are just like fabricated for this, say bottles. I don't even know where the title is in the first place, the fact that the OCR software can have problems with the curvy surface doesn't help much either, when the bottle is full the recognition may be hard to do in air as I struggle to keep it still in one hand, and even if I finally get to the desired info, hoping I would hear also say the bottle's volume is hyperoptimistic at best.

Thus, I developed RScan. Simply point your device to the product, and in few seconds, you will hear the brand, name, type and sometimes also the related metric information like volume, weight etc.
How does it work? RScan is a barcode reader for Android, that is looking for barcodes - an identification mark that every commercial product needs to have. When it finds one, it automatically looks it up on DuckDuckGo, and using a special algorithm, tries to figure out which search result would be most useful for the user.
Designed for speed and convenience, from my experience, it correctly identifies 90% of products and thanks to swift operation, can be used to quickly sort through whole groups of goodies you need to classify.

1/2

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in reply to Paweł Masarczyk

RScan: for blind fellows, who find identification of things through OCR too slow and inefficient (1/2)
@Piciok the main screen contains a list of the currently made scans. Double tapping on any of them should bring a screen for attaching your own description to the barcode.
This screen contains a list of suggestions, which are basically DuckDuckGo search results for that barcode.
Double tapping on any of them will fill out the field on the bottom of the screen with that result, it saves typing or copying.
For purposes of debugging the automatic suggestion algorithm, the list of the suggestions present on this screen is a good aid because these are basically the options the automated recognition is choosing from, so we can see if the algorithm has made a good choice or not.

Even if he hadn’t written three of the most-loved #DoctorWho stories, Chris Boucher would be a legend for just this line:

"You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views, which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering."

RIP Chris 💙💙

Fact of the day: You don't need to be a full-time programmer, to contribute to #LibreOffice! 锁琨珑 (Kevin Suo) is an accountant, and helps to fix bugs in his spare time: blog.documentfoundation.org/bl…

I wrote a technical guide showing how you can create your own orthorectified (aka satellite view/bird mode) imagery, point clouds and 3D models of streets with nothing but a 360 degree camera mounted on bicycle helmet, and the open source photogrammetry software OpenDroneMap.

Why might you want to do this? With your own up-to-date, highly detailed point clouds and imagery you could:
- quantify and communicate inefficient road space allocation
- record necessary infrastructure repairs
- take measurements such as lane and cycleway widths
- measure footpath obstructions in 3D and rate pedestrian amenity
- map kerb features on OpenStreetMap
- survey street parking using the new OSM spec: wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/St…
- 3D print a model of your home street!

jakecoppinger.com/2022/12/crea…

#openstreetmap #opendronemap #maps #photogrammetry #curb #kerb #parking #cycling #urbanism #mapping

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Two things here: First, good luck to all the publishers and agents who will face a torrent of this glossy, incomprehensible shit over the next few years.

Second: For real creators, this will add to the growing swamp of unfiltered shit that new books find themselves in online. The sheer quantities that these can be produced in will make real books even harder to find.

#AI #ChildrensBooks #Publishing #SelfPublishing #Writer #Art #Illustration #AIArt

#Staatsanwalt fährt mit

Vernetztes Fahren #connectedCar sorgt für #Datenspuren - immer.

#Mercedes muss #Navi Daten an #Ermittlungsbehörden herausgeben

„Unbeschwerte“ Nutzung eines vernetzten #Pkw gibt es nicht mehr

Immerhin: #Hersteller u #Netzbetreiber haben sich bis zuletzt gerichtlich gegen Herausgabe der #Daten gewehrt

Und: Nur dämliche #Kriminelle nehmen das #Handy zum Tatort mit 😉

datenschutz-notizen.de/mercede…

Capblocker (my little hack to disable the caps lock key for anything other than NVDA), has been turned into an NVDA add-on. This is much less hacky, and won't require you to restart your screen reader if the script should happen to start after it. github.com/theQuinbox/capblock…

Hack on a Free Software project of your choice, meet like-minded people and get a chance to win cash awards from the @fsfe – Join Youth Hacking 4 Freedom! fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/

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Zbytek Evropy si stěžuje na rostoucí ceny a dokonce jsou tu tací, co napadení suverénního státu, znásilňování, mučení a zabíjení civilistů na Ukrajině obhajují.
Je třeba si uvědomit, že agresora je třeba zastavit všemi prostředky, a to i za cenu rostoucích cen.
Nám stačí se trochu uzkromnit, zatímco na Ukrajině denně umírá velké množství civilistů i vojáků, kteří bojují za svobodu své vlasti i zbytku svobodné Evropy.

From my blog: For me, it's a matter of conscience, I can't use #Twitter anymore. mosen.org/twittermigration/

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in reply to Jonathan Mosen

I just read your entire blog post. That was an extremely powerful article! I won’t go into all the details here, but I will be deleting my Twitter account as well. I just think they have gone too far. in my opinion, I believe you are a huge asset to the blind, and visually impaired community, and for somebody to make that statement to you on Twitter is just beyond wrong, in my opinion.
in reply to Jonathan Mosen

this is such a great blog post that has me thinking. I’ve always been incredibly cautious on Twitter but over the pandemic lockdowns found a community there and got sucked into posting. I was gutted when Musk actually went through with it and took over and the results are terrible as expected! Thank you so much for your podcast which showed me how to use Mastodon and I’ve found it fascinating how my use of social media has shifted in the month I’ve been over here, for the better. I feel so much more comfortable replying to posts on here than I ever did on Twitter

Pinafore v2.5.0

Bunch of contributors to this release! @jcsteh @nickcolley @tbroyer @norrumar @heartade @graue

Highlights:

- accessibility fixes
- keyboard shortcut "a" to bookmark a toot
- close inline reply with the Esc key
- fixes for push notifications
- redesigned boost icon

To get the release, refresh your browser tab or close and reopen your browser.

Enjoy! github.com/nolanlawson/pinafor…

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Playing the Blues with The Bagpipes: Watch Sweden’s Queen of Swing, Multi-Instrumentalist Gunhild Carling

openculture.com/2022/12/playin…

Mitternacht, die Glocken läuten // Zeit um den Artikel zu… äh, heuten?

Die 🇩🇪 Fassung meines Artikels zu @shiftphones SHIFT6mq ist jetzt freigeschaltet! Wer noch Schreibfehler findet, darf sie behalten (oder mir melden 🤪)

android.izzysoft.de/articles/n…

#Android #NoGoogle #foss

I'm really worried that if Twitter becomes unusable that I won't be able to stay afloat financially.

My main source of income comes from newsletter subscriptions (readtpa.com), and Twitter has been the biggest driver of new free and paid sign ups.

I don't know what to do, to be honest.

The accessibility for the blind advent calendar: day 11 - Germany - expand the content warning to open the window for today!
As the app that is the star of today's window has updated on my phone today, let me introduce you to Greta, the German app for audiodescription, closed captions and other forms of accessibility in movies.
It works by first downloading an encrypted, I believe, copy of the movie's audio and then when we want to watch it described or subtitled, we just start the app, let it listen to the sound around us and it will tune in at the right spot in time with the accessibility accommodations we need. Should you forget your headphones to hear the audiodescription in, you can still listen to it over the earpiece. The system is not context-aware so it can tune into the movie at a cinema or at home when watching on the Internet or on TV which gives universal access to all the accommodations. The only wish I would have is more independent cinema productions and the ability to combine multiple adjustments so that I could watch that movie with a lot of Austrian dialect in it with both audiodescription and subtitles.
Today's update brings sound amplification. If I understand correctly, you can also have the actual audio track of the movie played through your phone in sync with the original.
I believe the concept was replicated in other countries already so you might know it under another name.
gretaundstarks.de
#Accessibility #Blind #AdventCalendar #Germany #Culture #Movies #Audiodescription #Cinema #TV #Subtitling

This week's #inclusiveSpeaking interview features Samuel Proulx, Fable's very own Accessibility Evangelist.

As someone who is blind and values the importance of accessibility in all aspects of life, Samuel is a strong advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the digital world. In today's interview, Samuel shares his perspectives about what speakers can do (or should avoid) to be more inclusive for their audience members.

inklusiv.ca/interview-with-sam…

in reply to Cory Doctorow

The old idea that commoners aren’t fit to lead, or make decisions, reaches across the political spectrum (I’ve seen it vividly in my left-leaning friends) — but I see how it has deeper penetration among so-called conservatives. They appear to be much more susceptible to the Big Strong Man. Another sign: they’re okay with corporate structure/culture that is explicitly undemocratic, and think that we should have more of that.

One of my favorite True Crime podcast is starting a new case today. No one goes into as much detail as Stephanie Harlowe and former cop turned PI Derrick Lassiter gives great insights.

#CrimeWeekly #TrueCrime #Podcasts

youtu.be/uF3wHDDNOEk

# music #appreciation. As we say here, shoemaker walks without shoes sometimes. I have already posted various bands deserving recognition, but nothing from #poland yet. These guys make awesome job of bringing the old Lemko, Russian, Belarussian and Polish folk songs to life. I can't recommend them enough. Have a listen: youtu.be/PF1acWcjJz0

Milí přátele naší instance mastodon.arch-linux.cz Zvažte prosím finanční podporu. Svým laskavým darem zajistíte, že měsíční účty za stávající infrastrukturu bude možné zaplatit. Pomůžete také zajistit, v budoucnu nezbytné upgrady hardwaru.
CZ účet 2504414003/0800

Když jsem před měsícem a půl opouštěl rozbouřené vody Twitteru, na kterém po změně majitele nastaly velmi nejisté časy a přišel sem na Mastodona, obával jsem se, že to bude slepá ulička, další profil, co nakonec nebudu používat.

Po měsíci a půl jsem napsal přes 400 postů, našlo si mě přes 70 "followerů" a celkově jsem zde velmi spokojen :)

Děkuji všem, co mě čtou a odebírají, stejně tak děkuji @archos za nový virtuální domov a všem co zde píší :) Přeji pěkný advent a pěknou stříbrnou neděli

This entry was edited (3 years ago)

There can be only one: Options for building “choose one” fields — 🔥 HTMHell Advent 2022 Day 11 htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/202… Deep dive into select, datalist, radio, etc. #html #forms #webdev