In response to the articles circulated recently about people who are switching to Linux as their desktop operating system, I note that my first desktop Linux experience was in 1998. I investigated hardware compatibility, bought a new laptop, and a friend installed Linux on it for me. (The installation process wasn't accessible with a screen reader in those days.) I used Emacspeak to provide a spoken interface to the operating system. Unfortunately, my braille display wasn't supported - eventually fixed in the mid 2000s. Graphical X11 applications were not accessible either, but that, too, was rectified in the mid 2000s. In the late 90s, I didn't need GUI tools anyway. The modern JavaScript-intensive Web has changed that situation fundamentally.

Non-visual access to Linux continues to improve, albeit slowly and with highly constrained development resources. Although I've had (and continue to have) other operating systems, I still consider Linux my primary desktop computing environment.
#Linux #ScreenReaders #accessibility

Happy birthday, Blender! 🎂

Today, your own 3D software turns 2⁵! Here's to many more years of Freedom to Create.

#b3d

Want to develop your own chat app that works via Bluetooth, Tor, and pigeons? Or do you want to extend Briar to work via LoRa, Wi-Fi Aware, I2P, WhatsApp, whatever? Or Android is constantly suspending your app in the background?

I've written down some pointers to Briar's source code and research with pieces to start with. Inspired by an amazing #39c3, because sharing is caring.

nico.dorfbrunnen.eu/posts/2026…

#briar #tor #mesh #lora #i2p #p4p #p2p #offgrid

« Hey if you herald on stage at the #39c3 with angy paws and a skirt I'll buy you a drink. »
🐱 « Eugh, fine. »

(and that's how I came back home with a skirt, tight highs and arm warmers and I love it)

( 📸 Kübi ) ( 📺 media.ccc.de/v/39c3-building-a… )
#furry #fursuit #fursuitfriday #femboyfriday

🚨new paper published! 🚨

„Many weak and few strong links“ seems to be a common pattern in many ecological networks. 1st author Franziska Koch shows that this pattern can enable stabilising effects of network structure, using competitive hierarchies as a case study. We argue that skewed link strength distributions should hence receive more attention, especially in studies based on #RandomMatrixTheory.

link.springer.com/article/10.1…

#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#EcologicalNetworks

Many weak and few strong links: the importance of link strength distributions for stabilising patterns in competition networks - Theoretical Ecology

Ecological networks tend to contain many weak and only a few strong links. Furthermore, link strengths are often patterned within a network in ways that enhance system stability considerably, increasing the ability of the system to return to equilibr…

^SpringerLink

I'd like you to know some numbers.

340.
That's the number of brand new billionaires we made in 2025. Roughly one a day and more than any other year.

9 million.
That's the number of people who died of hunger in 2025. Over 24,000 every single day for an entire year.

40 billion.
That's the number of dollars it would cost to end world hunger. Not to alleviate it. Not to lessen it. To eradicate it.

11.
That's the percentage tax we would have needed to impose on ONLY new wealth on ONLY billionaires in ONLY 2025 in order to eradicate world hunger. Eleven percent. That's all. Compared to the vast coffers of wealth they've already accumulated that's a rounding error.

Eat the rich. Tax them now.

2025 had ups and downs, but I loved my 2025 at #IzzyOnDroid.

Our team has grown with several new members and we launched izzyondroid.org/, our new web home!

We even got our first grant ever (thanks, @nlnet!), allowing us to bring download statistics to IzzyOnDroid and integrate it directly into #NeoStore (and soon #Droidify), improve the #ReproducibleBuild system and more.

I'm grateful to the team for giving me a space where I feel able to make a difference ❤️

Here is to 2026! 🎉

IzzyOnDroid

Your trusted source for Android apps

^{izzyondroid.org}

the AI slop in security reports have developed slightly over time. Less mind-numbingly stupid reports now, but instead almost *everyone* writes their reports with AI so they still get overly long and complicated to plow through. And every follow-up question is another minor essay discussing pros and cons with bullet points and references to multiple specifications.

Exhausting nonetheless.

We should talk about the availability of basic medicine without doctor’s prescription. Basic painkillers, nose sprays, typical medicine for seasonal viral infections.

This is not available in Austria without prescription and I’ve had enough of this paternalistic bullshit attitude.

I don’t believe doctors want to clog up their waiting rooms with very simple cases of flu/covid infections.

I think one reason we still have this is without it doctors visits would be just about the paperwork.

I’ve just created a new Django starter pack on FediDevs 👀

It collects non-human accounts only: Django projects, conferences, podcasts, news, and community initiatives.
No personal accounts, just things you may want to follow once and forget.

👉 fedidevs.com/s/Nzk4/

If you know other Django-related project accounts on the Fediverse, please reply and suggest them.
Happy to keep improving this together 💚

Please reboot 🙏

#Django #Fediverse #Mastodon #OpenSource #FediDevs

CC @fedidevs