mastodon - Link to source
Ontario opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles said it best. “It’s the same Doug Ford playbook; do nothing, then complain to grab headlines," Stiles said. "Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe flew to China with the Prime Minister to advocate for his province’s canola farmers.
"Meanwhile, Ford was sitting at home, leaving Ontario workers with no one to fight for them. If you’re not at the table, you’re not fit for Premier." cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/dou…

mastodon - Link to source
London PR firm rewrites Wikipedia for governments and billionaires
Founded by Keir Starmer’s comms chief, Portland helps rich clients ‘protect their reputation’ – with a shady, off-the-books service
thebureauinvestigates.com/stor…

London PR firm rewrites Wikipedia for governments and billionaires

Claire Wilmot (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

friendica - Link to source

Hello #Fediverse,

as #FOSDEM 2026 is approaching I was thinking about bridging the livestreams to #PeerTube as well.

Streams are under #CreativeCommons license that allows sharing videos, so there is no big deal in it.

As there are plenty of rooms (and we dibs Social Web for #VHSky :) ), it would be fun to coordinate streaming accross multiple instances to stream as much rooms as possible without overloading single instance.

What do you think, anybody interested?

Also, anybody has idea how to actually bridge m3u to PeerTube? @j4n3z maybe?

#fediverse #peertube #fosdem #creativecommons #vhsky @j4n3z

reshared this

mastodon - Link to source

Let’s be honest, Ring was already some technocratic, dystopian BS, but if you needed a reason to finally, finally kill it with fire, here’s your reason: Ring is partnering with Flock to help ICE spy on you and your neighbors for the government 👀

#Technology #InfoSec
techcrunch.com/2025/10/16/amaz…


Amazon's Ring to partner with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police | TechCrunch

Agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with "evidence collection and investigative work."
Amanda Silberling (TechCrunch)
#infosec #technology

mastodon - Link to source
The amount of times Google Gemini gave me a solid code correction and answer while Chat GPT sits there thinking and thinking is staggering, honestly it's making me disavow it because it's not like this is better in "pro" mode. I noticed Gemini "thinks" in smaller chunks but it could be just that they update the process more often. Regardless, GPT, you're beginning to really really suck. Gemini can give me the same quality of C++ and Python code recommendations, it's still shit when pasting back full code for you so better when patching, which is about the only thing holding me back from it as opposed to GPT. Gemini can read attachments but it doesn't quite get the same containerization treatment - GPT mounts your files from /mnt/data, Gemini clearly stores it somewhere and can read but when writing it is restricted from spitting back a file for you and envoking commands in a container. Huge downside to Google, ugh.
Something that using a local Gemini Cli instance could solve though, honestly.
This entry was edited (12 hours ago)

Jonathan reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

I bloggered a post.

It's about shortcomings of FLOSS and a possible next thing.

My Next Project Won't be FLOSS:
pointless.one/my-next-project-…

#FLOSS #FOSS #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #GNU #GPL #OSI #MIT #BSD #BTPL #PolyForm


My Next Project Won't be FLOSS @ PointlessOne

Where FLOSS fails and what to do about it. With a little bit of history.
PointlessOne
#FreeSoftware #foss #opensource #floss #bsd #gnu #gpl #OSI #mit #btpl #polyform

mastodon - Link to source

Some of the variables you can define in the yaml now:
# Base defaults for NV Speech Player frontend.
#
# If a setting is not listed here, the C++ defaults are used.
# Packs are merged in this order:
# default.yaml -> <lang>.yaml -> <lang-region>.yaml -> <lang-region-variant>.yaml
#
# Keep this file small. Put language-specific tweaks into their own files.

settings:
# Timing / stress shaping
primaryStressDiv: 1.4
secondaryStressDiv: 1.1

# Stop closure insertion ("click" before stops/affricates)
stopClosureMode: vowel-and-cluster
stopClosureClusterGapsEnabled: true

# Length mark (ː) handling
lengthenedScale: 1.05
lengthenedScaleHu: 1.3
applyLengthenedScaleToVowelsOnly: true

# Output gain defaults (same as ipa.py)
defaultPreFormantGain: 1.0
defaultOutputGain: 1.5

# Normalization cleanup
stripAllophoneDigits: true
stripHyphen: true

# Tonal languages
tonal: false
toneDigitsEnabled: true
toneContoursMode: absolute

This entry was edited (12 hours ago)

mastodon - Link to source
Sigh. We could pass the cast pointer from the callback since it points to valid C++ memory, but it could be riskier in some cases, especially with temporary DLL memory. The safer approach would be to create a new speechPlayer.Frame, set its fields, apply modifications, and then send it to queueFrame. We also need to handle cases where the frame is NULL, meaning silence. So much work.
in reply to Tamas G

mastodon - Link to source

Goemon Ishikawa

Do you know if there's a way where you could make a small UI within the adon for making phonemes and language rules so we could make our own languages for you to include? Banger ideas your having there, I'll for sure help with making things for this adon, sadly though sliders and entering via UI is about the only thing I can do as although I wanted to do the same thing for espeakNG, I'm not good with working with just a notepad and a list of formants. But hopefully if you want to go the UI direction as well I can for sure make languages and accents with it along with you! I've been meaning to make Barbados English with synths, as I come from a part of the world that includes Barbados people.
in reply to Goemon Ishikawa

mastodon - Link to source

Tamas G

@GoemonIshikawa oh yeah, that is not out of the question whatsoever. But I first want to lock down linguistic rules, even if that means future-proofing now for things like tonal languages and other dialectical characteristics. That's what I'm trying to smoothen out next before improving or working on other languages as it will really serve as a foundation.
@Goemon Ishikawa
in reply to Goemon Ishikawa

mastodon - Link to source

Tamas G

@GoemonIshikawa Haha not a chance with Hungarian being my first :) I think I had two simultaneous goals: Do really good English, but also make a good Hungarian speech synthesizer, because there is not a good one right now. So by nature of supporting Hungarian and US English (which is like its own language), it expanded things so much that by that point I was like, "wellp, let's add all the languages we can!" xD
@Goemon Ishikawa
in reply to Tamas G

mastodon - Link to source

Goemon Ishikawa

That does sound very good, but from the looks of it just as an outsider looking in it kinda looks like some languages when updated are having the rules mixed, as words like Ahmed are becoming ashMed. But yes take a brake my brother, and resume when you can! I myself have always wanted to see if I can someday make a version of English US that between sentences or in certain punctuations we can put a filter on some of the consonant sounds to make like sudo breath in and out, to really push formant synthesis!
in reply to Goemon Ishikawa

mastodon - Link to source

Tamas G

@GoemonIshikawa @flyingpenguinMwauthzyx yeah noticing this too! I'm in the process of making US and UK better but these are the types of feedback that I'd really like. It's very close and I tried to make sure we calculate aspiration, pitch, all that the same way so the rules are kept, hopefully I can be in a place where that can be a change in one of the rules or phonemes and not the frontend code itself by now.
@Goemon Ishikawa @TheFriedChip
in reply to Tamas G

mastodon - Link to source

Tamas G

@GoemonIshikawa @flyingpenguinMwauthzyx Got some really good feedback from @TomGrant91 about the word soundings so I'm refining based on what he said too since I think he's right. At least it's not missing vowels and phonemes like it was in that first build, couldn't even say the word manager or priveleges :D ahaha. Coming together, but slowly.
@Tom Grant @Goemon Ishikawa @TheFriedChip

mastodon - Link to source

So I wasn't going to post about this but I just got off the phone with Tesco customer service and I'm shocked.

Last night I was having some soup, Tesco brand Tuscan inspired Bean soup, to be exact, bit down on a chunk of glass that was in there. Taste of blood in my mouth, dent in my tongue, possibly swallowed a small bit... I was worried about it. Also, fucking hell like.

Today I call em up, had already sent an email, they are uninterested, tell me I have to complain in store.

What the fuck.

mastodon - Link to source

Bluesky Corporation have just started hosting and verified the US agency ICE:

bsky.app/profile/icegov.bsky.s…

In other words, Bluesky are collaborating with racist violent thugs and murderers.

(Bluesky Corporation were already hosting the White House (bsky.app/profile/whitehouse-47…), the Department of War (bsky.app/profile/deptofwar.bsk…), JD Vance (bsky.app/profile/jd-vance-1.bs…), Homeland Security (bsky.app/profile/homelandgov.b…) etc. This is a long-term collaboration with Trump admin.)

(via mstdn.social/@Grutjes/11590768… )

Grutjes

2026-01-17 00:49:19

mastodon - Link to source

Wow. Bluesky has just welcomed and verified ICE.

For anyone still thinking Bsky is a real alternative to Twitter: No, it's not.

Mastodon is. Bsky is just X at its infancy.

#ICE #Bsky #Bluesky #fascism

Verified account tracker @icegov.bsky.social has been verified by @bsky.app Jan 17, 2026

This entry was edited (1 day ago)

reshared this

mastodon - Link to source
Seit gestern steht eine Cherry Stream auf meinem Schreibtisch, die die gute alte G83 abgelöst hat. Wenn man jahrzehntelang auf so einer Tastatur geschrieben hat, muss man sich erst einmal bemühen, die neue nicht gleich wieder durch zu festes Tippen kaputtzumachen. 😁 Aber es ist ein absoluter Traum auf der Stream zu tippen, und sie kostet keine 30 Euro. Mal sehen wie lange sie durchhält.
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Steffen

@jonathan859 Sie hat halbhohe Tasten, also nicht ganz so flach wie ein Laptop, aber tippt sich trotzdem fast genauso leicht. Man kommt auf ganz andere Geschwindigkeiten als mit der vergleichsweise schwergängigen G83. Habe dadurch bisher auch weniger Buchstabendreher und sonstige Tippfehler, vor allem in Verbindung mit Großbuchstaben am Wortanfang. Bei der G83 musste ich oft nachkorrigieren. Ach und sie ist weitestgehend standardkonform, findet man heute auch eher selten.
@Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Wikipedia turns 25 today! 🎂📚

To celebrate, we’re looking back at its baby pictures—some of the earliest captures of the site, preserved in the #WaybackMachine.

Take a nostalgic peek at early Wikipedia ⤵️

web.archive.org/web/2003030100…

#WikipediaDay #Wikipedia25 @wikipedia

Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and "WIKIPEDIA.ORG" at the bottom. Below is a Wayback Machine capture of the Cartoon Network website from JUN 8, 2003.

Wayback Machine

web.archive.org
#waybackmachine #wikipediaday #wikipedia25 @Wikipedia

mastodon - Link to source
It's kinda funny how people label 800€ income as rich these days. Like, just FYI it's absolutely not. Just because I'm buying useful tools for myself or stuff for my hobbys doesn't mean I'm rich or sth. I mean sorry for you if you're in a worse situation or something, IKR that's not cool. But I'm working 40 hours a week for this. I have the full right to spend the money I earn from that, no justification needed. that's not rich that's life. Just because someone might have more money doesn't make them rich.

glitchsoc - Link to source

Die zwei Gesichter des Friedrich Merz

zeit.de/politik/ausland/2026-0…

Da war ich im ersten Teil des Artikels doch baff erstaunt. Es sieht so aus, als halte im Bundeskanzleramt die Vorstellung Einkehr, das aktuelle Regime in Washington sei nicht mehr durch Besänftigung in Schach zu halten.

Wenn man ihm wohlgewogen sein will könnte man also interpretieren dass Friedrich Merz hier die Gangart umschaltet und sich nun auf die eigene Bevölkerung in Deutschland (und auch in Europa) fokussiert.

Soweit, so gut.

Und dann reißt der Kanzler, wie man das von ihm gewohnt ist, alles wieder ein.


Bundeskanzler: Friedrich Merz zeigt sich desillusioniert von Trump und der US-Politik

Donald Trump gehe auf Kritik nicht ein, sagt Kanzler Merz – sondern halte, was er tut, für richtig. Statt das Völkerrecht zu achten, machten die USA reine Machtpolitik.
Sarah Vojta (DIE ZEIT)
in reply to Stephan

glitchsoc - Link to source

Stephan

Im Schnitt kämen die Beschäftigten in Deutschland auf 14,5 Krankentage, sagte der CDU-Politiker. "Das sind fast drei Wochen, in denen die Menschen in Deutschland aus Krankheitsgründen nicht arbeiten. Ist das wirklich richtig? Ist das wirklich notwendig?," fragte Merz.


Die Frage ist so unfassbar dämlich, dass ich gar nicht richtig weiß, was man da erwidern will.

Glaubt er, die Menschen sind freiwillig krank? Dass ich mich, wenn ich krank bin, halt nur ein bisschen zusammen reißen muss, um wieder mehr für die Wirtschaftsleistung des Landes beitragen zu können? Glaubt er, dass Kranksein eine Willensentscheidung ist?

Was er damit infolgedessen automatisch insinuiert: Die Deutschen feiern krank und betrügen. Anders kann ich seine Argumentation nicht nachvollziehen.

Wie man mit solchen Aussagen ein Gemeinschaftsgefühl erzeugen will, das geeignet ist, äußeren Widerständen zu trotzen, das weiß vermutlich nur Herr Merz. Und Herr Linnemann vermutlich.

mastodon - Link to source
YouTube has started randomly switching German video audio to English even though I can totally well understand German. How the shit do I turn this off? I'm not having YT Premium for this kind of nonsense, especially while the Android app is already as inaccessible as it could get. I know how to switch back the audio track for a specific video, but I have to do that all the time then good bye lol.
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

I get it, constant praise becomes boring, but seriously, @Bri has a gift. The gift isn't to develop software, lots of people can write code, that's nothing special, with the greatest respect. The gift is to write code which doesn't sort of work slowly and while drawing attention to itself. It's to write code which works quickly and blends into the background until called for when it does what it's supposed to and then goes back to the background until next time. That is both unusual and very useful.
@Bri🥰

mastodon - Link to source
Okay, so here's a silly test poll. Aliens have just landed on Earth. They explain that the Galactic Council of Sentients will allow them to provide humanity with one game-changing technology. The aliens will observe us to see how we use or abuse this gift, then decide when and how to proceed. What would you want their gift to humanity to be?

  • Medical advancements allowing low or no cost healthcare for all, and various new treatments (33%, 1 vote)
  • Clean energy generation allowing low or no cost energy/electricity for all (33%, 1 vote)
  • Molecular recycling and assembly allowing abundant low or no cost food/clothing/etc. for all (33%, 1 vote)
  • Something else, send a mention! (0%, 0 votes)
3 voters. Poll end: in 6 days

mastodon - Link to source
Years ago I got one of the first Alexa devices and I was really looking forward to install it. When it arrived and I powered it on for the first time, its LEDs blinking, I felt a panic creeping up in me. It was the moment I understood that centralised collection of such amounts of private data is unacceptable and will ultimately break democracy and free societies. That was the moment I decided to go decentralised. That Alexa device is still here, visible but unconnected. To remind me every day.
This entry was edited (22 hours ago)
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