I finally got around to asking for permission to release the one-night hack project I did on New Year's Eve. The project was personally motivated, but company-related. Specifically, it's a rewrite of the API client library for the System Access screen reader for Windows.
This is the client library for the API that allows applications to send text directly to the System Access screen reader, to be spoken and/or shown on a Braille display. Most Windows screen readers have such APIs. Most applications should implement platform accessibility APIs, but it's fairly common for games and other applications that are developed specifically for, and often by, blind people to use these screen reader APIs.
This reimplementation of the client library was mostly an experiment to find out how small we could make the DLL while still depending solely on core Win32 DLLs, and specifically not depending on the Visual C++ runtime (CRT) or the Windows 10+ UCRT. Making the DLL as small as possible also meant eliminating the standard Rust backtrace code.
This new open-source implementation finally lays bare at least one... interesting decision that I made as a much younger developer about 20 years ago. Specifically, for my IPC implementation, I decided back then to use an obscure serialization format that, as far as I know, has long since been abandoned by its original developer, called banana: docs.twisted.org/en/twisted-16… So I wrote a banana encoder (but not decoder) in C++ way back then, and now I've rewritten that encoder in Rust.
The other side of that IPC interface was originally written in Python, so it was easy to use the official banana implementation (from Twisted) on that side. I later rewrote that Python program in Lua, so I also have a banana encoder and decoder in Lua, and that's what's still shipping in the product.
HTe #Movuary continues. A challenge to produce something with the #AbletonMove every day in february. Todays submission is my attempt to create a typical rap beat. Deep bass, some claps and bells are a thing in this little loop. Enjoy.
From the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled: Learn About Bookshare; TUG Meeting Annoucement; Saturday, February 8, 10:00 AM Eastern Time groups.io/g/tech-vi/message/85…
Going thru the stands at fosdem ran into immich.app as a photographier I was interested so asked a few questions : - what's your biz model? - none yet, but probably hosted services - how do you compare to #flickr or #pixelfed? - pixelwhat? We are providing a replacement photo - no direct answer for flickr - do you support activitypub? - actiwhat? - do you run on any OS? - of course we do, we provide docker images
What do they mean by >> We are providing a replacement photo
Not sure I understand this one.
Docker is not a package management/distribution system… People should stop acting as if it is… Also, docker sucks in terms of security and should die. But it's not going to die anytime soon, because tech people are addicted to it and love to pretend it solves issues it doesn't (and it just creates new ones…)
@hub Actually, #gphoto2 does more than just downloading photos. It is completely different than gcrap "cloud" batshit
It can control cameras (change settings, shoot and get photos directly on the computer, on the fly…), either in a scripted way (e.g. if you want to do timelapse without buying in intervallometer when you cmera doesn't have built-in OR with more flexibility) or with tethering software such as #Entangle (which is built on the top of gphoto library)
>> "gphoto" is a tool to download pictures from digital cameras
Yes, apparently you have no idea… Your statement is incomplete at best, as "dowloading photos" is only is a small subset of what it can do and is hardly the most important part (USB Mass Storage or Memory card reader for the few cameras that do not support UMS mode, are enough to just "download photos from cameras")
But go on, keep trolling and pretending I'm "missing the point" if that makes you feel smart… 🤷♂️
eBay users are getting back at graphics card scalping bots by listing pictures of the RTX 5090 for $2000, occasionally framed "...In the description sits a disclaimer that these sellers are actually emailing pictures of RTX cards to unsophisticated bots or even more unsophisticated scalpers, people looking to take advantage of the low supply, high demand situation to resell graphics cards for a pretty penny." pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-…
Che l'#AIAct europeo, orientato peraltro alla prevenzione del danno e non alla tutela dei diritti, proclami principi solenni per ridurli a dosi omeopatiche in un'alluvione di eccezioni non è una sorpresa. Bastava leggerlo.
Dal 2 febbraio entrano in vigore i divieti per l’utilizzo di sistemi di identificazione in tempo reale negli spazi pubblici, ma secondo numerose ong le eccezioni previste per le forze dell’ordine rischiano di portare ad abusi
Meloni e Crosetto spenderanno oltre 25 miliardi per costruire l’esercito più forte d’Europa pressenza.com/it/2025/02/melon… L’Italia ha ordinato 380 carri armati Phanter KF 51 di quinta generazione e oltre 1000 carri armati leggeri multiruolo Lynx. Nessun paese Occidentale ha un simile numero di mezzi corazzati. Tra il 21 e il 23 gennaio 2025 i produttori… Redazione Italia
L'Italia ha ordinato 380 carri armati Phanter KF 51 di quinta generazione e oltre 1000 carri armati leggeri multiruolo Lynx. Nessun paese Occidentale ha
I dieci comandamenti di Friendica. Cosa fare con l’account che abbiamo aperto su Poliverso?
Ecco una sorta di decalogo su Friendica. Ci sono molti link che possono appesantire la lettura, ma speriamo che vi piaccia e soprattutto ci auguriamo che lo troviate utile!
It’s been a rough few weeks for Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who will be stepping down next month. But tonight he gave a powerful speech that should make all Canadians proud. It wasn’t carried by American television. But my American friends, I hope you will watch it and share it. And understand that for us, this betrayal is about more than economics. youtu.be/xiaACQpFUfE #Canada #tariffs #cdnpoli #t
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada will respond to Donald Trump's tariffs with 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion of U.S. goods.»»» ...
In 1933 Hitler's forces invaded the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (the leading centre of research on trans and gay people at that time) and burned all of the books and records (after taking care to note down the details of all the patients to round up later). Philosophically this is what the US CDC is now doing by purging everything to do with trans people.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada will respond to Donald Trump's tariffs with 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion of U.S. goods.»»» ...
I wonder if the EU is pondering what to do with software too. I mean, one thing is the cost (tariffs) another is the likely/potential instability and not least data breaches from all of the big ones. How to respond if/when Microsoft complies with some weird EO.
well exactly. I and colleagues have been shouting about this since we were strong armed into Teams and everything associated with it by Statens IT. We at least have managed to keep our linux machines for technical work. But the rest of the state of Denmark will be in trouble, including ALL OUR SCHOOLS... 😒
Exactly this kept me awake last night. Most IT services in the EU is now in a american controlled cloud provider: Azure, Google Cloud and AWS.
I am completely terrified by how the new administration is operating. Will the CEOs of google tech companies deny anything the administration asks of them?
The NTSB says it will only notify the media about press conferences and investigative updates on two recent plane crashes via the social media platform X.
The Debian Publicity Team will no longer post on X/Twitter. We took this decision since we feel X doesn't reflect Debian shared values as stated in our social contract, code of conduct and diversity statement.
V posledni praci pred Unreleased jsem bojoval proti pouzivani null vs 0 k ulozeni vyznamu u typu number. Marne. Je to soucast TS a musime s tim zit, ac si tak plnime codebase naslapnymi minami.
V UR zacinam pouzivat na podobne problemy type guardy. Je to opomijena featura, ktera naprosto opravnene vyvolava emoce typoveho silenstvi a pomalosti psani kodu.
Samotneho by me to samozrejme nenapadlo. V tymu pritvrzujeme lint pravidla. Tak mi nic jineho nezbyva.
Přijde mně, že tohle funguje líp v jazycích, které se s typovým systémem už narodily. Třeba ve Swiftu jsou ta nula a null dvě opravdu rozdílné věci a typový systém tě před těmi chybami vesměs ochrání, s lepší ergonomií.
Over the last five years, there has been growing international recognition of Digital Commons and digital public goods (DPGs) terms as essential to a more equitable digital cooperation model that operates in service of the public interest.
Flakturm Humboldthain: Errichtet 1941/42 als Luftabwehr- und Bunkeranlage, überstand der Flakturm Sprengversuche nach dem Krieg. Heute sind Teile der Ruine sichtbar – ein Lost Place mit Aussichtsplattform. weddingweiser.de/gipfel-des-we…
Great talk by @mrchrisadams at @fosdem this year. Loved how he explored #WCAG's #POUR in the context of older devices. Not everyone can update their devices every 2 years, but absolutely nobody should!
🚀 Exciting news! AppleChat Live is coming on Feb 17 at 8 PM ET! Join Marty & Chris for all things Apple. 🍏 Don’t miss out! #AppleChat #TechEvent #ClubUnmute join the club at unmute.show/
Have you considered launching a similar series where you call out tips on using specialized blindness computers, such as the BrailleNote, BrailleSense, etc. It may be too broad of a product portfolio for one show but if that's ever a consideration, please feel free to alert me. I'd be happy to cohost a BT Speak tips and tricks session. #BTSpeak
@DavidGoldfield Definitely consideration for sure ! plan to get through first quarter of twenty five before we add something else , we have our jaws class launching this month as well . more details to come shortly about that ! taught by the amazing Marcy ! and wanna make some connections at CSUN this year to help Acquire more equipment for educating purposes.
I'm a little jealous of Mac users because they have this program and we Windows users don't. 😊 Is SharpKeys similar? I thought I had that on my system but I see that I don't so I'll have to download it.
#3dprinting folks, if you want to learn how a 100% blind person does 3d design and print, check this video out. It's a long one but if you're interested in his methods and want your questions answered, this guy explains it all. youtube.com/watch?v=KCrYGqgOjN…
My name is Edis, and this is a place where I try to make 3D more accessible. Not just for blind and visually impaired people, but also sighted people. join m...
It was my dad who first alerted me to this weird term, 'Synaesthesia' in the 90's. I forgot about it for a time, but recently rediscovered it. Turns out I have it and so do many other blind people. In this episode of my podcast, we discuss it, I explain my version of it and also read out comments from a thread I started on social media from others that also have it. Only after recording did we realise that our children both have it too, despite not being blind, so we'll talk about that in the next episode.
Welcome to episode 20 of StroongeCast with Andre and Kirsten Louis.In this episode we give you the answer to last episode's question, leave you with another,...
You're invited to talk on Matrix. If you don't already have a client this link will help you pick one, and join the conversation. If you already have one, this link will help you join the conversation
I don't think that's part of the Mozilla.AI organisation, but rather part of either Firefox or pdf.js. So I'd expect it either in mozilla-central [1] or the pdf.js repo [2]. (But I'm not involved in either project, so I can't give you a definitive answer unfortunately.)
If you too love daydreaming about socialism, you'll probably love this book as much as I did! It's informative and well-researched, and also colorful and fun to read, and it made me nostalgic for public housing and a comprehensive welfare state. Some quick highlights (1/) #socialism #Germany #history
Canadian Labour Congress calls for massive retaliation against US tarrifs, including full cutoff of electricity, critical minerals, and O&G. Also demanded are matching tariffs, worker support programs, and diversification away from US economy.
If this is what's being demanded in the open, I'm curious the extent union labour in strategic sectors might put on their wooden shoes. Dumping of American goods in Canadian ports seems very plausible.
WINNIPEG – Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, issued the following statement today: Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs are an attack on Canadian workers and our economy. With 2.
Matt Campbell
in reply to Matt Campbell • • •What is this?
This is the client library for the API that allows applications to send text directly to the System Access screen reader, to be spoken and/or shown on a Braille display. Most Windows screen readers have such APIs. Most applications should implement platform accessibility APIs, but it's fairly common for games and other applications that are developed specifically for, and often by, blind people to use these screen reader APIs.
Matt Campbell
in reply to Matt Campbell • • •Why so bleeding-edge?
This reimplementation of the client library was mostly an experiment to find out how small we could make the DLL while still depending solely on core Win32 DLLs, and specifically not depending on the Visual C++ runtime (CRT) or the Windows 10+ UCRT. Making the DLL as small as possible also meant eliminating the standard Rust backtrace code.
Matt Campbell
in reply to Matt Campbell • • •Banana Protocol Specifications — Twisted 16.2.0 documentation
docs.twisted.orgMatt Campbell
in reply to Matt Campbell • • •Matt Campbell
in reply to Matt Campbell • • •modulux
in reply to Matt Campbell • • •