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Update Version 2.6 released for the Brailliant BI20X, Brailliant BI40X and the Mantis Q40. More information can be found here:
humanware.com/en-usa/news/prod…

New Update – Braille learning tables and a new recording application - HumanWare

We’re thrilled to announce the release of our latest firmware update for the Brailliant BI X and Mantis braille display! This update introduces learning braille tables, a recording application and support for the upcoming eBraille format.
Natacha (HumanWare)

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Hi y’all. I’m thinking about buying a laptop, I already have it picked out and it seems to have good specs for the price. Since around 2016, my phone has been my main computing device. I briefly got acquainted with windows 11 a few years ago when I was using a small windows tablet lightly and sporadically. I used to be a fairly proficient or at least mediocre windows user 10 years ago and more. I just need to get familiar with things enough to be efficient again. I also would like to get more in to gaming. I like playing games and I have friends and a partner who game, and I feel like I’m missing out by not having pursued this earlier. I intend to use NVDA unless or until there’s something I come across that it can’t do. I plan to read the windows screenreader primer, which I believe just came out with its 3rd edition. My question is, would anybody be interested in helping me get back up to speed? Or helping me learn about games I can play with no vision? No pressure either way, I’ll figure things out a little at a time. But back when I was new with computers and games, knowing people made a world of difference. So I appreciate anything people are willing to give, whether it’s time or resources or anything else.
in reply to Amber

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Amber

I went ahead and bought the laptop. I have started reading the Windows Screenreader Primer which is on its 4th edition, not 3rd. I’ve also gotten lots of input from here, Ramblio, and friends. My boyfriend even researched whether this particular laptop would be able to handle certain games. I’m a little intimidated by the prospect of getting as efficient with things as I used to be, but I know it just takes time. I went ahead and bought a gaming headset and a usb hub since this thing seems to have very few ports.

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Alright, I'm living up to the "vortex" that I used to use as a handle or part of a handle in various places.
While looking at something else, I noticed that the at-spi2-core docs were lying and saying that every single enum value has existed since the beginning of time. Hopefully I've just fixed that and not broken something else while mucking around, but it was like a vortex hitting the docs, so no guarantees.
Also just made a pyatspi maintenance release (and sent it to Tumbleweed).
And now I'm done with anything remotely productive for today.
I want some Thai food, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.
in reply to Ray Dog

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Borris

I don't know about this one, but Twisted Wave (both the editor and free recorder version) allows you to bypass processing, select from three onboard mics in mono, or record in stereo (requires processing, because it's processing that makes stereo work in the first place). If I want a good, clean mono recording, I will often use the bottom mic in mono with no processing, then normalize/process later, since the iPhone has a very low fixed hardware gain at 30%.

I assume this can do all that, but I don't know.

This entry was edited (1 hour ago)

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Ready for something that's going to blow your mind, especially my fellow folks with disabilities? Hold onto to your hats and other accessories because this one is wild. The other day, I got a text from an Orientation and Mobility instructor that I had worked with back in the day. For those who are confused, to put it simply, an Orientation and Mobility instructor is the person who teaches someone with a visual impairment how to get from point a to point b without getting killed. Anyway, said instructor asked for permission to use old pictures she had of me for a retirement party slideshow. I said yes. Nothing too out there, at least not yet. A friend of mine who also worked with her got the same text message, but then more. This instructor asked for a memory video to be recorded on a platform that's not accessible, which my friend explained to her. Instead of understanding, she straight up asked him if his sister could help him record the video. Okay fine, general populace deciding to be ignorant is one thing, but someone who teaches independence? This is a level of what the fuck I don't know if I can deal with.

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This song is currently included as a demo project in Apple's #LogicPro. I'm too young to have used Logic 9 when that was out so I'm not sure about those, but of all the demos that came with Logic Pro X and now 11, this one's my favorite by far. Wonder what Apple will do with Logic 12 coming out about two weeks from now. youtu.be/eTkFpdLogEg

Ellie Dixon - Swing!

SWING SWING! - https://EllieDixon.lnk.to/InCaseOfEmergencyIDTHE SWING MUSIC VIDEO IS HERE!! ⚾Hope you have a ball with this one ✨I wrote this song when I was...
YouTube
#LogicPro

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We now have a working SAPI5 version of the Speechify engine that was used on NOAA Weather Radio from 2003 to 2016. Installation and setup instructions are included in the archive. datajake.braillescreen.net/TTS….
The default voice is Tom, however you can also use Jill by editing the voice name in config/SWIttsConfig.xml.

reshared this

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I’m SO excited to have finished my first round of prototypes for my new keyboard clicker fidgets!!

Remember Apples legendary iMac G3 computers from circa 1998-2005(ish)?! You’ll love my new project!

Custom designed keyboard clicker fidgets (with real switches) - available in rainbow 🌈 colours, printed with translucent filaments, topped with textured keycaps.

I strive to create creative, unique and useful fidgets. Let me know what you think!! (Listing coming in a few days!) #BrittBuilds3D

Strawberry Ice, Tangerine Ice, Lemon Ice, Apple Ice, Blueberry Ice, and Grape Ice. — Names all borrowed from Apple’s iMac G3 naming scheme. 🖥️

Rainbow coloured keyboard fidget toy with wrist strap.
Example of the ‘ice’ style for these keyboard clickers. The base transitions from light translucent blue to ice white with blue keycaps with various textures.
Photo of all of the colours: Strawberry Ice, Tangerine Ice, Lemon Ice, Apple Ice, Blueberry Ice, and Grape Ice.
Throwback photo , overhead, of the Apple iMac G3 computers
#brittbuilds3d
This entry was edited (1 day ago)

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The rise and fall of Stack Overflow is a case in point of the parasitic nature of LLMs. LLMs feed their models on places like Stack Overflow to be useful to users, so users flock to them to avoid the eternal snarky comments and just get an answer to their problem right away. But this is a dead end. No new answers will be generated if no one uses Stack Overflow or similar places.

What goes for Stack Overflow goes essentially for the whole internet. Like a mold growing on food, consuming it, and dying once the food is gone - LLMs will kill large parts of the 'old' internet before long.

Graph showing rise and fall of Stack Overflow usage between 2008 and 2026 in numbers of questions asked per month. There's a clear bell curve visible coming from 0 and going to 0.

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Well over lunch, I discovered something funny. ChatGPT has access to Espeak inside its own sandbox environment, so it can run Espeak and generate IPA forms for what Espeak would output. Huge help. So, we fixed US English, next up is patching other languages. Both UK and US English now sound like they should in NV Speech player. Add-on link: eurpod.com/nvSpeechPlayer-2025…
(or original link works too, always latest there if you have a nice Browser like Firefox that doesn't cache downloads.)
Oh, and it also adds a dummy normalizer for empty IPA phonemes (that have no mapping right now.) We send a dummy 10-frames of audio in that case so speech shouldn't stall during say-alls.
This entry was edited (5 hours ago)

Zach Bennoui reshared this.

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