mastodon - Link to source
Can't believe the official AMI BIOS Flash update utility worked to get my MSI BIOS flashed, wow! I really wasn't sure if I had bricked my desktop by applying the .BE0 file of my Motherboard's BIOS, but I wasn't going to futs around with the M-flash tool and get a sighted person to read me the screen and get me in the right menus to update it. The MSI Center app is garbage and crashes when I hit "feature sets for all components", so nope. Command-line to the rescue! If you're blind and have an MSI Mobo, maybe it can help you too. AFUWINGUIx64.EXE is the graphical user-interface version which can be helpful - and of course, it requires an AMI-based BIOS.
f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hub…

mastodon - Link to source
As I end-of-life my Mastodon sunrise/sunset bot, it seems an appropriate time to vent my complaints about Mastodon as a platform. v.cx/2025/04/mastodon-exit-int…

Mastodon Exit Interview

I am currently winding down the Mastodon bots I used to post sunrise and sunset times. The precipitating event is that the admin of the instance hosting the associated accounts demanded they be made nigh-undiscoverable, but the underlying cause is th…
Rob’s Posts
in reply to Jiří Eischmann

mastodon - Link to source

Rob Shearer

@sesivany "Bluesky is exploding in popularity" is a fact, and that the growth is being led by the already-mature US market makes it more impressive, not less. That said, roughly half of Bluesky users are outside the US, with particular popularity in Brazil and Japan. "But it's not popular in *my* neighborhood, and that's what matters!" is the parochial view.
@Jiří Eischmann
in reply to Rob Shearer

mastodon - Link to source

Jiří Eischmann

since we're talking facts, look at the activity graphs. In fact it exploded in popularity after the US presidential election. Since then it's been going down in pretty much every activity metric (with an exception of a spike after inauguration): bsky.jazco.dev/stats
The fact that the main changes in Bluesky activity follow events in US politics says quite a lot about how US-centric it is.

Atlas - Engagement-Based Social Graph for Bluesky by Jaz (jaz.bsky.social)

bsky.jazco.dev
in reply to Jiří Eischmann

mastodon - Link to source

Christiaan Moleman

@sesivany People wanting nothing to do with twitter anymore (and therefore flocking to alternatives) due to its owner being a key architect of the USA's dismantling of democracy and descent into fascism is not specific to the US. Musk is hated around the globe. Timing coinciding with the US election is only because this is the point where it became unavoidably clear.
@Jiří Eischmann
in reply to Christiaan Moleman

mastodon - Link to source

Jiří Eischmann

@ninjadodo Not US specific, but very much US centric. If it wasn't, you'd see a spike in activity now when the US administration is imposing tariffs on other countries, Musk threatening entire countries that Starlink would be switched off for them. But the trend is rather the opposite.
Look, I just wanted to provide a perspective of someone from Europe. That what may feel like booming activity to someone in the US feels fairly dead to someone elsewhere unless they're interested in US events.
I'm on Bluesky, it's not just my social graph. I follow a feed that aggregates ALL posts in Czech. And that one can easily follow all posts in a language of 12 million people is quite telling. But apparently I'm in denial and lying to myself, nevermind, I'll show myself out.
@Christiaan Moleman

mastodon - Link to source

Thank you, Harvard University. You have the money to do the right thing. Let’s hope it’ll also help those with less cash.

„No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” said Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, in a statement to the university on Monday.“

(Gift link) nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/harv…

New York Times headline: “Harvard says it won’t comply with Trump’s demands”

Harvard Will Not Comply With a List of Trump Administration Demands

Federal officials said Harvard must enact “merit-based reform” in hiring and admissions and report international students who broke rules, among other steps. Harvard called the demands unlawful.
Vimal Patel (The New York Times)
This entry was edited (8 months ago)

mastodon - Link to source

Hundreds of people from the Android, Pixel and Chrome teams, after coming off a long line of insanely profitable quarters. Imagine having all the talent you could ever want to hand and no idea what to do with it. No vision, no ideas, nothing.

To borrow a phrase - "investor-legible signal" - from a friend:

This is an investor-legible signal that Google has no idea what they should be building, but will definitely prioritize making a line go up than figuring that out.

reuters.com/technology/google-…

lemmy - Link to source

The German university KIT provides almost 30 free and open-source privacy-friendly Android apps. Example: A QR Scanner

The best way to install them is through the F-Droid store, which is a catalogue of FOSS software for Android. It's installable by downloading the .apk file linked on the front page of the F-Droid projec'ts website. The mentioned apps from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology can then be found by searching for "SECUSO", which is the name of the research project behind them all.

Alternatively, you can also get them through the Google Play Store under this link or again by searching for "SECUSO".

In particular, I recommend getting the QR code reader, because many of the free-to-use scanners route everything you scan through their servers, so they're obviously collecting your data on their servers, wherever these may be located.


F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.
f-droid.org
#buyeuropean
This entry was edited (8 months ago)

mastodon - Link to source

🧠 Microsoft is reintroducing Recall in Windows 11 — a feature that captures screenshots every 3 seconds of your activity to create an AI-powered memory. What could go wrong?

It now includes:
🔐 Opt-in only
📍 Local device processing
🧑‍💻 Windows Hello authentication

But many still ask: is it a productivity boost or a privacy liability? 😳
Even with safeguards, the idea of your system quietly watching everything you do raises serious concerns about digital trust.

#Privacy #Windows11 #AI #Cybersecurity #TechNews
arstechnica.com/security/2025/…


That groan you hear is users’ reaction to Recall going back into Windows

Snapshotting and AI processing a screen every 3 seconds. What could possibly go wrong?
Dan Goodin (Ars Technica)
#privacy #Windows11 #AI #cybersecurity #technews

mastodon - Link to source

Manufacturers who sell TVs in the UK & want the TV to run BBC iPlayer (BBC Public Service live/on-demand TV app) have to get their TVs certified by us. There's a large suite of tests & technical requirements - a colleague just pointed out to me that those docs are public:

certification.bbctvapps.co.uk/…

TVs on UK sale now & marked with the iPlayer logo must support:
* TLS 1.2+
* Mutual TLS (client certs)
* HTTP/2+
* Service Workers
& lots more...those just caught my eye

#BBC #iPlayer #WebDev

BBC TV Application Specification Options

certification.bbctvapps.co.uk
#webdev #bbc #iplayer

flipboard - Link to source

Hungary passes a constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ public events
https://apnews.com/article/hungary-pride-ban-amendment-orban-gay-rights-lgbtq-155ec12cbbde7cc6be0f96adb323de77?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into International News @international-news-AssociatedPress


Hungary passes a constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ public events

Hungary’s parliament has passed an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities.
AP News
@International News

mastodon - Link to source

There's an interesting story in the Guardian this morning that rather disturbed me. I was particularly concerned that there's no consistent way to monitor these requests.

So I've done what I can to help, although helpfulness isn't my strong point.

theguardian.com/books/2025/apr…

United Kingdom Legible Threat Report - HM Office of Public Morality Please fill in this form in CAPITAL LETTERS, and only within the white boxes. You are advised to check the guidance to ensure your report is compliant with the Dangerous Books Act 2028. Failure to do so may result in delays. For your own protection, please do not include your name, address or any potentially identifying features or fluids. Your report will be shared with the Bureau of Censors and 458 carefully selected partners and checked against the Register of Literary Offences held by the the Librarian Support Section of the Ministry of Defence. Your report is important to us. If you wish to contact us further in reference to this matter, you are welcome to try. What type of book are you complaining about? Put a cross (X) in the relevant box. Picture Words Both Don't Know What is the title of the book? You will usually find this printed on the front cover. Who wrote the book? Write this exactly as it appears, even if you can't pronounce it. Have you read the book you are reporting? Yes No A Bit If so, how did it hurt you? Please include as much detail as probable. If not, where did you hear about it? Please delete any that don't apply. GB News Daily Mail Daily Telegraph Daily Express Ministerial Statement Daily Sport Please return this form to Room 320, OPM, Whitehall, London, marking the envelope "STRICTLY ANONYMOUS and CONFIDENTIAL" in as green an ink as you can manage.

Librarians in UK increasingly asked to remove books, as influence of US pressure groups spreads

Anecdotal evidence suggests a rise in requests to take books off shelves, particularly LGBTQ+ titles
Ella Creamer (The Guardian)

mastodon - Link to source

Researching the best instruction set architectures for learning to program in Assembly for retro and modern CPUs. More than the final pick or the shortlist, what's interesting is the assessment the author does of each architecture.

thechipletter.substack.com/p/l…

#assembly #retrocomputing


Learning Assembly for Fun and Profit

Why take an interest in assembly language and which to learn?
Babbage (The Chip Letter)
#retrocomputing #assembly

mastodon - Link to source
Meet the LibreOffice community at events around the world! 🌍 We were recently at InstallFest 2025 in Prague, for instance: blog.documentfoundation.org/bl… #foss #opensource #freesoftware
Books and stickers from the booth

Insights from the Prague InstallFest 2025 Conference - The Document Foundation Blog

Petr Valach from the Czech LibreOffice community tells us about feedback from the LibreOffice booth at this event… InstallFest is a well­‑established yet relatively small open­‑source conference held annually in the Czech Republic, traditionally at t…
Mike Saunders (The Document Foundation)
#FreeSoftware #foss #opensource

LibreOffice reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Good morning Fedi friends!

A mini 🧵 following yesterday's heated reactions to my toot (mastodon.social/@_elena/114329…).

I have the utmost admiration for Carole Cadwalladr's work and advocacy. She's absolutely phenomenal.

The point I failed to make is that IF EVEN CC - who speaks so eloquently against the Broligarchy - ends up on bro-funded social and publishing networks, then we are all in trouble.

IMHO the tech stack we choose is a form of implicit endorsement. But we can resist.

(cont' - 1/3)

Elena Rossini ⁂ (@_elena@mastodon.social)

I just watched the most brilliant TED Talk by Carole Cadwalladr "This is what a digital coup looks like" 🔗: https://www.ted.
Mastodon
in reply to Elena Rossini ⁂

mastodon - Link to source

Elena Rossini ⁂

I'm devoting this week's issue of #TheFutureIsFederated to Substack alternatives – showcasing how several independent journalists and media organizations who speak truth to power (like Cadwalladr) have created thriving newsletter businesses outside the Substack bubble.

Routine reminder that Substack is funded by A16Z and actively profits from far-right content, hate speech and misinformation.

Related reading material:
1) citationneeded.news/citation-n…

2) badnewsletter.substack.com/p/a…

(cont' - 2/3)


Citation Needed has a new home

Citation Needed is no longer hosted on Substack. Welcome to my antifascist bar.
Molly White (Citation Needed)
#thefutureisfederated

mastodon - Link to source

Arrêt de Skype : quelles alternatives ?
Skype va couper, Chérie...

Microsoft annonce1 l'arrêt de Skype en mai 2025. Un outil encore utilisé par grand nombre de personnes, y compris sous "Linux". Mais cela ne doit pas instiller, dans la Cité, de la peur. C'est au
aldil.org/arret-de-skype-quell…
#Actualits #LogicielsLibres #ALDIL #bidouille #bigbluebutton #entraide #installpaty #jitsi #logicielslibres #mattermost #signal #smartphone #vie_prive #vieprive

Arrêt de Skype : quelles alternatives ? - ALDIL

Skype sera coupé en mai 2025. Cherchons ensemble des alternatives libres pour garder le contact avec nos proches, au fond de nos poches.
Anthony (ALDIL)
#signal #smartphone #jitsi #logicielslibres #bigbluebutton #mattermost #actualits #aldil #bidouille #entraide #installpaty #vie_prive #vieprive

mastodon - Link to source

Hello hello Jamers 😎

🌸 Spring is back and so are our Dev Updates!

You missed them? We did too!

Our team has been busy squashing bugs, enhancing the user experience, and preparing some exciting new features for all Jami users. From desktop to mobile, and deep into the core, things are moving fast.

👀Curious to see what’s been cooking lately across platforms?
Read our Dev update 12 : jami.net/de/dev-update-12/

#Jami #DevUpdate #PrivacyMatters #opensource #P2P #App

A woman wearing a traditional Japanese kimono holds a white parasol with golden accents. She stands in front of a blurred natural background. The image features the Jami logo and the text “Dev update #12”, highlighting the latest software development news from the Jami team.

Dev update #12

Spring is back, bringing with it the return of our traditional Dev Updates, which you’ve clearly missed, and a fresh wave of improvements across the Jami ecosystem!
jami (Jami)
#app #opensource #DevUpdate #p2p #privacymatters #jami

mastodon - Link to source
📣 Do-It-Blind (DIB) online Besprechung am Montag, 14. April, um 19:00 Uhr. Du bist eingeladen! bbb.metalab.at/rooms/joh-szv-o… Wöchentlich am Montag um 19:00 besprechen wir neue Formen der digitalen und inklusiven Zusammenarbeit. Mach mit! 🛠️ #make #blind #inklusion
Mobile Braille-Tastatur Metabraille mit 8 Tasten. Das Gehäuse ist türkis und die Tasten sind weiß. Das Gehäuse ist ungefähr fünfeckig. Ein Rechteck wird an der Breitseite durch ein Trapez erweitert. Die Form ähnelt einem Haus mit Fenstern in der Mitte.

Do-It-Blind (DIB) Besprechung

Learn using BigBlueButton, the trusted open-source web conferencing solution that enables seamless virtual collaboration and online learning experiences.
bbb.metalab.at
#blind #inklusion #make
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