The BT Speak Users’ Manual is Now Available!!
Blazie Technologies is happy to announce the publication of a comprehensive manual for the BT Speak. The manual goes beyond what we provide in our Getting Started guide and offers the following sections.
• Introduction, including describing the contents of the packaging for new users who are unboxing their BT Speak for the first time
• Physical description and orientation
• How to power on, shut down, putting the device to sleep and waking up the device
• Battery considerations
• How to navigate menus and use shortcut keys for Quick navigation
• Adjusting speech, including how to switch to other voices and text to speech engines
• Getting help, including how to obtain context-sensitive help and accessing the text and audio versions of the Getting Started guides
• How to connect to Wi-Fi
• How to install new software updates
• Accessing the Settings menu
• Introducing the editor, including how to find and manipulate text
• File management, including how to create and open files and subdirectories
• Using applications, including the radio tuner, phonebook, agenda calendar and BT Learn for free Braille coaching, tests and games
• An introduction to desktop mode
• An introduction to using the Mozilla Thunderbird email program
• An introduction to Web browsing using Chromium and Firefox
• Concludes with an extensive list of commands

This is the first version of the users’ manual. We will be continually adding and modifying this document as new features are added, with newer versions of the manual being released on a regular basis. We welcome feedback from our users regarding how the manual can be improved. If you have feedback for us, please submit comments and suggestions via email to support@blazie.net.
Where to Download the Manual
You can find the manual on our Web site by pointing your Web browser to www.blazietech.com. You’ll find it from several locations, including the front page, from the Guides and Media page, from the BT Speak Pro product page and from the Documentation page.
For convenience, here are the direct download links.

Accessible PDF version:
blazietech.com/_files/ugd/4d64…
Microsoft Word version (also compatible with LibreOffice Writer)
download-files.wixmp.com/raw/2…

We hope that this first edition of the manual will assist you in learning more about how to use your BT Speak and that it will help you to become a more effective and productive user.

The Accessibility Operations Guidebook by @viscousplatypus is finally out!

Spoiler alert: I, along with many other accessibility practitioners, are quoted in and contributed to it. But don't read it for those quotes; read it because Devon is exceptionally skilled in this space and has put so much care into this book!

I've only gotten sneak peeks into this book, but I already know it will be one of the best accessibility books I'll get to read. Check it out!

payhip.com/b/OSyLt

The Accessibility Operations Guidebook by Devon Persing

The accessibility field has a burnout problem. People get into this work to make accessible products and services.

^Payhip

Expanding Access: Introducing Aira ASL 🌱

We are excited to announce a new initiative at Aira to support the Deaf Community with on-demand ASL interpreting services. Recognizing a gap in access to interpreters in public spaces like retail stores, airports, and banks, we've developed a separate app, Aira ASL, to offer immediate and reliable interpreting without the need for advance scheduling.

By contracting with ASL service providers and using our technology platform, Aira ASL will make interpreting services seamless and easy to access, just as our existing app benefits the blind and low-vision community. This initiative aims to remove barriers and improve communication access when and where it’s needed most.

Read the full announcement and FAQ: aira.io/aira-asl-on-demand-int…

No, The Chinese Have Not Broken Modern Encryption Systems with a Quantum Computer

The headline is pretty scary: “China’s Quantum Computer Scientists Crack Military-Grade Encryption.”
No, ... schneier.com/blog/archives/202…

#quantumcomputing #China

Proof-of-concept exploit code is now public for a vulnerability in Microsoft's Remote Registry client that could be used to take control of a Windows domain by downgrading the security of the authentication process.

bleepingcomputer.com/news/secu…

rustls outperforms OpenSSL and BoringSSL.

Security and performance: pick two!

memorysafety.org/blog/rustls-p…

Rustls Outperforms OpenSSL and BoringSSL

ISRG has been investing heavily in the Rustls TLS library over the past few years. Our goal is to create a library that is both memory safe and a leader in performance.

^{www.memorysafety.org}

It's Lyriel Day for me!

My cohost Christel Tansø and I get to interview Jessica and Oliver Thierjung today on Sonic Onslaught, part of a packed metal show whose larger theme is friendship.

2 pm EDT!

HKCRadio.com

Bitwarden Desktop version 2024.10.0 is no longer free software

github.com/bitwarden/clients/i…

🍿

Desktop version 2024.10.0 is no longer free software · Issue #11611 · bitwarden/clients

Pull request #10974 introduces the @bitwarden/sdk-internal dependency which is needed to build the desktop client. The dependency contains a licence statement which contains the following clause: Y...

^GitHub

Hi friends!

We're working with a large technology company looking to understand deaf individual's needs as we build assistive technology. Please forward to all of your #deaf or hard of hearing friends in the USA. We're paying referrals!
Tim
p3technology.questionpro.com/t…

12160 | MetaRL12160 - Hearing - Enterprise Survey Software

MetaRL12160 - Hearing - Enterprise Survey Software

^{QuestionPro Online Surveys Made Easy}

#AskFedi: are there any recent, smart articles about #ATProto and its half-baked decentralization (so far)?

My favorite piece on the subject has been @rysiek 's "Bluesky is cosplaying decentralization" rys.io/en/167.html from a year and a half ago, but significant changes have happened in the meantime... I wonder if there are any updated posts about it?

Oh and @rysiek is one of my favorite people to follow on here, so click on that Follow button if you haven't already.

My sister Nandini Harihareswara will be speaking at the Interledger Summit this weekend in Cape Town, South Africa interledger.org/summit/2024/sp… so say hi if you meet her! She is an expert on digital financial inclusion and has interesting stories about how systems work, including what does and doesn't work to make them more meaningfully inclusive.

#ILPSummit24

This Sumerian house plan, dating back around 5,000 years, offers a glimpse into the architectural sophistication of the Ur III period.

The clay tablet, from the city of Umma, depicts a residential structure centered around a courtyard. Dimensions are given in cubits, likely corresponding to room sizes. Parallel lines represent walls, while doorways are indicated, providing a detailed representation of the house's layout.

Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin

#archaeohistories

Remember the first time you created that index.html, opened in the browser, and it felt like magic?
@bw wrote a free online ebook and I love the promise:
“I feel strongly that anyone should be able to make a website with HTML if they want. This book will teach you how to do just that. It doesn’t require any previous experience making websites or coding. I will cover everything you need to know to get started in an approachable and friendly way.”

htmlforpeople.com/

chrum

edit: 10x Sammy

So, a few clips from an old recording and I have a credible Michael Jayston to read me bits of the new John le Carré thriller, penned by his son Nick, thanks to the Eleven Labs reader.
Uncanny.

Jayston died only a few months ago, according to a quick google. The real Audiobook is read by Simon Russell Beale , who did a credible George Smiley on the radio of course.
My george will always be Bernard Hepton, thanks to a little box of cassettes in the 1990's.

Ada Lovelace Day was celebrated on October 8 in 2024, and on this occasion, to celebrate and raise awareness of the contributions of women to the STEM fields we interviewed some of the women in Debian.

bits.debian.org/2024/10/ada-lo…

Ada Lovelace Day 2024 - Interview with some Women in Debian

Ada Lovelace Day was celebrated on October 8 in 2024, and on this occasion, to celebrate and raise awareness of the contributions of women to the STEM fields we interviewed some of the women in Debian. Here we share their thoughts, comments, and...

^{Debian Project}

The longest function in #curl production code and the length of the 99th percentile function. Over time.

Something to work on.

🎉 PSA: F-Droid users! 🎉 The Tuta Calendar app is now available on F-Droid 🥳

❤️ You can get the Tuta Calendar app here: f-droid.org/en/packages/de.tut…

#Fdroid #Tutacalendar #Tuta #Download #Encryption