US Politics / Gig Economy / SNAP

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ICYMI, Joe Menn had a good scoop this week about how the US govt is getting set to ban TP-Link devices from being sold in the United States. If that happens, a whole lot of small businesses will probably need to find new networking gear. I have never trusted TP-Link devices and have repeatedly warned readers away from them. They have a history of flooding the market with massively underpriced hardware, and this is a market where generally speaking the cheapest means the most hackable. Here's one reply I sent to a reader in 2023 who inquired about finding what appeared to be an undocumented cloud login page.

msn.com/en-us/news/politics/u-…

"Thanks for your readership and the nice note. I was posting on Mastodon yesterday about your very brand of router!

infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/1…

"I realize that NYT and others constantly recommend TPLink b/c of the features vs price point, but I would stay away from this brand, and any that force you to register "in the cloud" before you can use them as local networking devices. You do not want your router to do anything except when you tell it do so, and to my mind all this cloud business being attached to network storage and local network things is troubling."

"If you are at all confident around computers, I'd recommend getting something like a high-end ASUS router and then installing an open source firmware on it, like Tomato or something. Because the default software that is on most routers is complete garbage, and often turns on a lot of stuff you really don't want turned on, or has other stupid default settings. If updating your new $160 router w/ third party firmware that could brick it if you screw it up is too much, then just stick with a Netgear router and make sure you check for firmware updates periodically."

Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives 3 days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag

Updated on: October 31, 2025 / 6:45 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

A French cyclist survived for three days after a horrendous 130-foot fall into a ravine, kept alive by the bottles of red wine he had in his shopping bag, police said.

cbsnews.com/news/cyclist-falls…

#BikeTooter #SearchAndRescue #wine #cycling

Včera jsem vzal extra směnu abych zaskočil za kolegu, který “se necítil dobře”. Dali mi autobus, který měl závady a já s ním odmítl jet, takže jsem si vzal náhradní, nahlásil změnu a včas a podle řádu jsem dokončil trasu.
Dnes mě zjebal šéf, že protože jsem změnil autobus, přišli jsme o body v nějaké zbytečné soutěži.
Myslím, že moje nasraní velice brzy vystřídá výpověď… Nebo ho zabiju.

The thing about JAWS vs NVDA is that it doesn't matter if @freedomscientific packs it with objectively better features. NVDA is free, easy to use (within the context of desktop screen readers), and it's good enough for the vast majority of screen reader users. Want to browse the web? Want to check your email? Need to type up an assignment? Need to track data with spreadsheets? Want to write some code? Want to run virtual machines? Just wanna keep up with your communities on Discord? Want to test your app for accessibility? NVDA can do all of those things. There is no faffing, no caveats, no running obscure commands, and no license to install. You download it. You install it. You run it. That's it. Want it to do more stuff? Open the addon store which is built into NVDA. If you know Python, you can write your own addons and share them with other users.
FS is relying on organizations like schools and governments where paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars is normal and expected and you can't just install an addon to an existing app. This does not work outside of those organizations. The blind kid who wants to listen to memes and keep up with their friends doesn't have several hundred dollars per year, but they probably know that they can go download a free screen reader that will let them listen to memes and keep up with their friends.
NVDA is winning because it's good enough for most people and costs nothing. If you do have the money to spare for a license and you want to use JAWS because you prefer it, that's fantastic! I'm glad you found a screen reader that you like. Most people will choose the free option because they just wanna listen to their favorite streamer while they type up their research paper.
#blind #AccessForAll #ScreenReader #nvda #jaws #jaws26

Andre Louis reshared this.

in reply to PepperTheVixen ΘΔ

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in reply to Matt Campbell

I suspect that, in comparing screen readers, there may be a tendency to overlook the fact that the functionality of NVDA is distributed between the core application and a large collection of community-supplied add-ons. For a feature-level comparison with other screen readers (in the Windows environment or elsewhere), you really have to compare NVDA + relevant add-ons with the capabilities of the alternatives. Comparing only the NVDA core without the add-ons is misleading.
in reply to Jason J.G. White

@jason @matt Except for in constrained environments. Of course, JAWS has the same thing with JAWS scripts, many of which are community supplied, but some ship with the screen reader, equivalent to NVDA's default app modules. I wonder which community is larger and has more active development and new add-ons? The store helped NVDA's process along I think, although the Spanish store was and still is going pretty strongly. I don't think JAWS has a central index of scripts. But JAWS scripts might cover some more niche cases than add-ons currently do, given longer history.
in reply to x0

I'm fortunately in the position of having the freedom to choose my own hardware, operating systems and software - I'll never have to think about constrained environments. One advantage of NVDA is that there's now a centralized repository for add-ons, whereas there isn't for JAWS scripts. Voiceover for Mac supports AppleScript, but there are no published scripts as far as I am aware. Orca under Linux (which I use a lot) is moving toward supporting an add-on capability, but at the moment, all of the new features go directly into the core application.
in reply to Andrew Hodgson

NVDA should be well suited to many higher education and employment scenarios as well. At least in the work I do, Web applications are becoming increasingly common (e.g., Google Drive/Docs for sharing documents that are not on GitHub), so it typically doesn't matter what operating system, let alone screen reader, one is using as long as they work reliably with modern Web-based interfaces, and the Web applications are accessible. Microsoft 365 is also widely used, and NVDA supports it. I'm sure there are various legacy enterprise applications around, but they'll probably continue to migrate to the Web over time, or be replaced by Web-based alternatives.
in reply to Matt Campbell

@matt The main thing that shocked me about JAWS when I tried it again last year, is that there is still an option in Settings Centre that is specifically for using DECtalk Access32 with single channel sound cards like the Soundblaster 16. I last needed to use that setting when I used a sound card like that in 1999 on Windows 95. I was using JFW 3.2 then which came out in 1998..
As far as I know, you can't run version 24 or whichever one I tried on a system where that would he needed but yet it's still there. What else I wonder is still there from 1998 that is no longer needed?

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in reply to Dane Stange

What a mess yeah, I regret having engaged in that and retract any dumb statements I made about that topic back then. I say gently, please lets not bring up old stupid drama like that my man, though in this case it worked out as it provides an opportunity for me to indicate that I now regret engaging in it so no hard feelings. Lets leave the sludge from the past in the past though from now on.
in reply to Tom Grant

@TomGrant91 @Aryan I'm not even remotely worried about 32 bit synths on newer NVDA. First I'll wait to see if NVAccess fixes it. If they don't, I at least know a way how, and assuming time/energy/interest/life permits, look forward to implementing it. I use IBMTTS and while I'm not exactly addicted to it - I could switch if needed, I get what it would be like for an architecture change to force a synth change and it's completely unneeded even if it would take some extra work.
in reply to garo

@garo @TomGrant91 @Aryan Yep something like this is exactly my plan if NVAccess doesn't provide a general solution themselves. I want to emulate NVDA's synth driver layer in a 32 bit process, so then someone would install the 32 bit .nvda-addon package as they normally would but in this deticated 32 bit process. A 64 bit addon would then exist which makes all the 32 bit synth drivers show up in 64 bit NVDA using IPC to communicate. Surely this is not entirely thought out and I'd be dealing with some complications I haven't yet imagined, but it's very very possible that's for sure.
in reply to Tom Grant

@TomGrant91 @Aryan Since you said you didn't know about it, it's basically all here, stable NVDA addon with no crackles pops or squeals, C API to it, and command line speech utility. github.com/samtupy/b32tts_wrap…

In the early to mid 2000s, IBM created several text-to-speech voices. Some of the newer voices created after 2006 include a file called pcm.fli.
If this file is imported as raw data in an audio editor, several hours of text that was used to train the TTS can be heard. Some of it is lifted from sources such as 1990s news articles, while other bits of it seem to be made up.
One of the sentences the voice actors had to say was "did Michelangelo zap you?"
The voice actors behind two of the voices, Michael and Lisa, said this sentence in two different ways which convey some... slightly different meanings.
Lisa is lower quality because the 22 kHz version of that voice isn't very listenable if it's imported as raw data, with lots of popping noises that make it sound very distorted. The 8Khz version doesn't have this problem, so I used it.

V posledních dvou týdnech jsme se soustředili na to, aby náš první workshop proběhl co nejvíc bez problémů. A tak jsme provedli pár změn pod kapotou, které usnadňují používání Stacků. Compose file je nyní možné uložit bez aplikování změn a pull+up URL pro CI/CD dává debug výstup, se kterým se dají rovnou vyřešit případné problémy. Chystáme se také na OpenAlt, kde jsme dali k dispozici část naší infrastruktury pro transkódování live streamů.

vhsky.cz/w/16S98qDoWYcv8NcuVf6…

@thunderbird Hi there, just a bit of a newsflash, It's not WindowsEyes. It's WindowEyes; although WindowEyes has not been in existence for a very long time now. You may want to update/remove that from this article: support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/t…

This is a reminder that SpaceX is not currently profitable and exists only due to government contracts & regular infusions of investor cash.

( It would be profitable if it were not wasting money on rockets that explode and on making a mess of low orbit. )

techcrunch.com/2025/07/08/spac…

FFmpeg is set to receive $100,000 from FLOSS/fund, a program launched by Indian stockbroking firm Zerodha to give back to the ecosystem that made its success possible. The team noted that, while welcome, this funding "does not solve the funding problems behind FFmpeg and Open Source in general." news.itsfoss.com/ffmpeg-receiv…

As if you didn't lose me already on the scammy text you doubled down and EVEN DARED for an immediate response?

Say goodbye to your inbox whatever your name. I'm going to ensure whoever replies you back gets their email buried under the hundreds of spammy lists I'm going to introduce your disposable email address in.

Good made fillmyinbox.com for a reason.

@Tutanota please do better with your spam filters.

For anyone bored, the real reply email address is puldubee@gmail.com

#justice

This entry was edited (5 days ago)

Si te acusan de ser fachada de inteligencia y no demandas, ¿es prudencia… o miedo a lo que podría destaparse?
La transparencia no se profesa, se prueba.
En la guerra por la privacidad, el silencio también es un mensaje.

Esto referente al caso de Cameron Ortis vs Tuta (bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-6…) al día de hoy siguen habiendo más preguntas que respuestas @Tutanota

@Tuta

The world is turning into @pluralistic Unauthorized Bread short story.

Samsung's smart fridges are beginning to show adds to annoy the crap out of its users.

I suggest renaming "smart" devices to "FART"-devices:
Fucking
Annoying
Redundant
Trash

heise.de/en/news/Samsung-turns…

#smart #fridge #FART

This entry was edited (5 days ago)

Na HNku vyšel článek o nových emisních povolenkách, ETS2, pro domácnosti. Shrnul bych to slovy "Jak chudák do ještě větší nouze přišel". Nás se to prakticky nedotkne. Máme vše na elektřinu, která je již zatížena povolenkami. Pokud ale jezdíte spalovacím autem a topíte uhlím či plynem, tak vás to zasáhne maximální silou.

Co mě zaráží nejvíc je, že s povolenkami půjde omezeně obchodovat. To je ideální recept jak našroubovat cenu uhlí a paliva ještě o level výš.

archiv.hn.cz/c7-67805900-oo1h4…

in reply to Jiří Eischmann

@sesivany Z toho bude mrzení ještě na mnoha úrovních. Pokud ty povolenky nezavedou, tak je zaplatíš ještě jednou na pokutách, resp. zablokovaných dotacích z EU. Pokud je zavedou, tak tomu tvýmu sousedovi stoupnou náklady na život třeba o 30k ročně a koho asi bude volit, když současné dno, které tomu mělo zabránit, je kombo ANO, SPD a spolek přátel TDI.
in reply to 🔩 Adam Štrauch

Pak je ještě třetí varianta, že lidi začnou zase pálit vše, co jim přijde pod ruku. Zrovna náš soused má nově postavený dům, ale dal si do něj kotel na tuhá paliva a pravidelně si dováží europalety, které řeže a topí jimi. Nekvalitní, vlhké dřevo... dokážeš si představit, jaký vzdoušek tu v zimě máme. Ale asi bychom měli být rádi, že netopí petkama naplněnýma pilinama a vyjetým olejem...

🎉 Nueva ponencia en la #a11yConf2025.
Presentamos a @jmdaweb, ingeniero de software y consultor de accesibilidad en Plexus.
Es presidente de la Comunidad Hispanohablante de NVDA,, y está certificado como Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) por la IAAP.
🛠️ En esta primera edición de la a11yConf ofrecerá el taller:
“NVDA para desarrolladores: escucha lo que tu interfaz esconde”.
📍 Girona, 29 de noviembre
🌐 a11yconf.com/es/agenda#JoseMan…
#A11Y, #AccesibilidadDigital, #ScreenReader, #Lectordepantalla, #Workshop, #Taller, #Inclusión, #DesarrolloWeb, #Girona

Servo Report for Week 43 2025

Highlights from last week:

- Fully implemented pinch zoom, including center-aware zooming
- Added UI setting for experimental features on Android
- Implemented document preloaded resources
- Added the 'name' and 'areas' IDL attributes for <map> element
- Merged input method activation into the EmbedderControl API
- Released version 0.0.1

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