mastodon - Link to source

This bizarre, hurried cut-and-paste Bluesky clone called "W" (wsocial.eu) says it will fill this huge gap in Europe where no social media platforms exist.

Meanwhile... umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/f…

The wsocial map shows the world with social media platforms from USA, Russia, and China, and a circle highlighting the lack of platforms in Europe
The StartHereSocial map shows Europe festooned with Fediverse services

Fediverse Near Me

A curated selection of well-moderated Open Social providers that are are open for registration and serving specific countries, regions or cities. [[https://jaz.co.uk/projects/mastodon-near-me/|Project Home/Message me]] [[https://jaz.co.
uMap
This entry was edited (3 days ago)

mastodon - Link to source

I am speaking with Maurice Hendriks at #FOSDEM:

“Procurement Is the Biggest Form of Fundraising for FLOSS”
Track: Funding the FOSS Ecosystem 

Thesis: donations are optional and fragile. Procurement is structural. If public buyers require open deliverables and upstream work, they create durable funding for maintenance and security.

Event: fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event… 
“Public Money, Public Code” context: publiccode.eu/en/ 

#FOSDEM #FOSS #OpenSource #Procurement #PublicMoneyPublicCode


Public Money, Public Code

Public Money, Public Code - A campaign for releasing publicly financed software as Free Software
publiccode.eu
#foss #opensource #fosdem #publicmoneypubliccode #procurement

mastodon - Link to source
I spent several minutes trying to figure out why the second port of my Roland SC-88ST Pro wasn't responding.
I checked Device Manager, turned it off and on several times, checked every setting in my MIDI player....... only to realize the problem was that I'd connected the MIDI cables backwards, plugging the output cable into the input port.
This entry was edited (2 days ago)

mastodon - Link to source

Next week in Brussels, I'm speaking at Drupal4Gov EU as part of #EUOpenSourceWeek

The #WAD, the #EAA & #Drupal. Now what?

The June 2025 deadline has passed. The risk now is false confidence & operational debt.

10:35am, Jan 29, 2026

drupal4gov.eu/

#Drupal4Gov #OpenSource #FOSS #Accessibility #EAA


Digital Europe - Powered by Drupal

Join us for a day of knowledge sharing and networking in Brussels
drupal4gov.eu
#Accessibility #foss #opensource #drupal #eaa #euopensourceweek #wad #drupal4gov

mastodon - Link to source

What do multiplayer text games actually look like in 2026? 🤔

This updated guide highlights 10 long-running Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) you can still play today, along with 3 additional games that opened more recently.

It also covers #accessibility features, web clients, and a beginner-friendly walkthrough for anyone curious about getting started.

medium.com/@the_andruid/multi-…

#TextGames #RetroGames #VirtualWorlds #MUDs

text-based MMOs??
#Accessibility #virtualworlds #retrogames #muds #textgames
This entry was edited (4 days ago)

reshared this

in reply to Miroslav Buček 🌳

mastodon - Link to source

Jiří Eischmann

@miroslavbucek because everyone around me is switching from MT to MC. I have no experience with MT, but from what I read and heard from others MT doesn't scale. I'm not really interested in keeping contact with friends in the same area, I could get a simple walkie talkie for that. What interests me is building a larger, country-wide mesh network. Hardly possible with MT, quite doable with MC. I can already chat with someone in Pilsen over MC. Good luck achieving that with MT. In practice MT can do 7 hops max, I've already received messages with 14 hops on MC, theoretically it can do 64.
@Miroslav Buček 🌳

mastodon - Link to source

Oh hey, didn't expect our new #IzzyOnDroid download stats to be covered by people this quickly. Guess people really love it!

youtube.com/watch?v=VR-MEwPDw4…

4:48 - 5:40

Seems this video was made just before #Droidify launched 0.6.8 with download counts, so it calls download stats as #NeoStore-exclusive, but oh well, still cool :)


Top 12 App Stores that are Better than Google Play Store

12 of the Best Alternative App Stores to the Play Store! Enjoy!______________________________________­ PATREON▣ HowToPersonalize - https://www.patreon.com/ho...
YouTube
#neostore #Droidify #izzyondroid

mastodon - Link to source

Hi all, this is my first post on #fosstodon !

Let me present:
- i am an IT expert
- i was an European Digital Expert
- i co funded PC Soft in 1984
- i am retired now

What make my day:
- taking portraits
- hearing music
- install a new app on my mini server
- learning innovative technologies
- giving advices to startups

2026 on #fosstodon !

Screenshot of my dashboard for my mini server

dashboard
#fosstodon

mastodon - Link to source
Even I ran in to some trouble installing #FastSM. Following Windows conventions, I first tried copying the files to Program Files and running from there, but got a script exception error. Moving the FastSM folder to the root of my c: drive solved everything. For now it may be a good idea to document the manual installation process somewhere, ideally before downloading.
#fastsm
in reply to Darrell Hilliker 👨‍🦯♾️📡

mastodon - Link to source

André Polykanine

I'm pretty sure it's Windows fault, not FastSM. Nowadays Windows highly discourages from installing programs from Zip archives into Program Files, as far as I know. You need elevation, admin rights and so on. Probably if you tried "Run as Administrator", it would have worked. but many programs nowadays install themselves to other locations such as %LocalAppData%/Programs.

mastodon - Link to source

AI Term of the Day: HALLUCINATION

When AI confidently makes up facts that aren't true.

Ask ChatGPT about a fake book title. It might describe the plot, author, and reviews for a book that doesn't exist.

Always fact-check important info. AI can be wrong with a straight face.

#ArtificialIntelligence #AIForBeginners #AILiteracy

#artificialintelligence #aiforbeginners #ailiteracy

reshared this

glitchsoc - Link to source

Hab heute meinen persönlichen DIDAY gestartet und mich von allen Apple Diensten verabschiedet (hatte das fette One Abo). Nur die 2 TB iCloud behalte ich. Bin jetzt tatsächlich nach ganz langer Zeit wieder bei Spotify gelandet. Mein Sohn hat das Familienabo spendiert, weil ohne Premium geht das gar nicht.
Als Nächstes geht’s noch Google an den Kragen, allerdings werden YouTube und Gemini erstmal bleiben. Meine Mailkonten sind mittlerweile zu @mailbox_org umgezogen, bin da erstmal glücklich.
Der zukünftig größte Brocken wird aber der Umzug der 1.3 TB Daten die in der iCloud liegen und zusätzlich noch 600 Gb die im Google Drive geparkt sind. Dafür muss ich bestimmt Urlaub nehmen und ordentliches Gras besorgen um ruhig zu bleiben. 😂🤣🙃

#diday #google #apple

#apple #google #diday @mailbox
in reply to René

mastodon - Link to source

Toni Barth

Generell bin ich ein Freund davon, den Big Tech Diensten den Kampf anzusagen - nur ist Spotify einer davon. Ja, nicht amerikanisch, aber für Künstler teilweise noch schädlicher als Apple. Die Preispolitik der letzten Jahre führt nur zu noch dickeren Geldbeuteln bei Spotify selbst, und einem größeren Loch in deinem Konto. Ob das im Sinne des DIDAY ist wage ich etwas zu bezweifeln. Der Rest, Daumen hoch.

gotosocial - Link to source

Today's crazy idea:

I've always wanted to play Elite, the old procedurally-generated spaceflight sim for the BBC Micro. It, of course, is not and will never be accessible.

However the source code is available, very small, and highly annotated. There's a whole nerdy website with bunches and bunches of details, right down to guesses on and commentaries about the relative sizes of celestial objects, ships, etc.

Tempted to hand all of that to an LLM and have it try modernizing the game in Godot, adding audio cues, speech feedback, and whatever else would be needed to make it accessible.

May not be fully faithful to the original, least of all because of 3-D audio, but I almost don't care if it captures the feel.

We'll see if I actually do this, but now the bug is lodged in my brain.

Peter Vágner reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

I just received the following email from Vispero

From: marketing@vispero.com <marketingus@vispero.com>

We’re excited to share an upcoming update designed to make choosing Vispero assistive technology even easier 😊

Based on your feedback, we heard that some of our existing product names created confusion during the buying process. To help simplify decisions and better reflect how our products are used today, we’re updating the names of several offerings—while keeping everything you know and trust exactly the same.

What’s changing
Over the coming weeks, you’ll begin to see these product name updates:
• Professional Edition → Work Edition
• Home Edition → Access Edition
• Home Annual Edition → Personal Edition
What’s not changing
Nothing about the products themselves is changing. The software, features, pricing, licensing, and support you rely on will remain exactly the same—only the names are being updated.

When you’ll see it
Customers and dealers will start to notice the new names appearing gradually across materials, systems, and communications between now and the end of February.

What’s coming in the February 11th release
We’re excited to share a preview of upcoming enhancements across JAWS, Fusion, and ZoomText—all designed to help customers stay productive, work more efficiently, and collaborate with confidence as technology continues to evolve.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming and why it matters:
• Stay productive as apps evolve – As WhatsApp rolls out major updates, JAWS and Fusion are keeping customers confidently connected, reducing disruption and ensuring continued access to critical conversations.
• Work faster with less effort – Enhanced Split Braille support in Outlook lets users scan email lists and previews more efficiently, helping you manage inboxes with greater speed and independence.
• Share and collaborate with confidence – New ZoomText screen-sharing controls give customers the flexibility to present clearly or collaborate effectively, improving communication in meetings, trainings, and remote work.
These updates reflect our ongoing commitment to delivering accessible solutions that keep pace with modern workflows and real-world customer needs. More details will be shared as these enhancements become available.

If you have any questions or need support during this transition, your Vispero representative is always happy to help. Thank you for your continued partnership and for helping us improve the Vispero experience.

Warm regards,
The Vispero Team

Vispero. All rights reserved., 17757 US 19 North, Suite 200, Clearwater, FL 33764, USA, (877) 775-9474

mastodon - Link to source

This is a great piece on how SpaceX's rockets and their Starlink satelites put passenger planes at risk. It's yet another example on why #SpaceX is cancer and needs to die already.

propublica.org/article/spacex-…

#satelites #planes #rockets


“We’re Too Close to the Debris”

The FAA predicted Elon Musk’s Starship would cause “minor or minimal” disruption. Then the rockets exploded twice in three months over busy airspace. Flight data reveals how many planes scrambled to protect passengers and avoid burning debris.
lucas.waldron@propublica.org (ProPublica)
#spacex #planes #satelites #rockets
This entry was edited (3 days ago)

mastodon - Link to source

Americký prezident ve švýcarském Davosu vystoupil před světovými byznysovými i politickými lídry. V hodinovém projevu ale při několika příležitostech poměrně laxně pracoval s fakty.

Přinášíme ověření jeho klíčových výroků 👇 irozhlas.cz/zpravy-svet/gronsk…


Grónsko, války a větrné turbíny. Šest Trumpových nepravd z hodinového projevu v Davosu

Přinášíme výběr ověřených výroků z projevu amerického prezidenta v Davosu. Trump například chválil své úspěchy na domácí půdě a mylně naznačil, že USA v minulosti vlastnily Grónsko.
Vojtěch Dvořáček (iROZHLAS.cz)

mastodon - Link to source

RE: mamot.fr/@ploum/11593879477897…

I agree with this wholeheartedly. We shouldn't create European versions of Google, Amazon or Microsoft, oligopols that benefit from vendor lock-in. Instead, we should have a commons based on open-source technology and standards, which can then be used to develop solutions for customers. And let the competition flourish. In my opinion, that is in our European DNA.

ploum (@ploum@mamot.fr)

Why there’s no European Google? And why it is a good thing! My answer to the European Commission "call for evidence on Open Source." https://ploum.net/2026-01-22-why-no-european-google.html #geminiprotocol link: gemini://ploum.
ploum (Mamot - Le Mastodon de La Quadrature du Net)

Štěpán Škorpil reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
I don't send many emails anymore. I receive emails but I don't send many. Even at work, most of our communication is done via other means. But I do generate at least one email a day to send to a group of external testers. I don't send this from a traditional mail client. Instead it is a shell script that gathers some information and opens a text editor to add further comments. After that the file is sent with #cURL, via smtp. That means that curl is my main mail client (at least for sending). 🤔
#curl
This entry was edited (3 days ago)

mastodon - Link to source
I do appreciate all the work the EU has done with regulatory work around data sovereignty and the DMA. But they would still be gigafucked if the US ordered Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to cut them off. They may not even have the encryption keys accessible entirely in the EU. The fact that their data physically resides in Europe don't mean shit if a US corp can kill their whole infrastructure with a single command to lock their accounts.

mastodon - Link to source

Some answers to FAQ from a life long Oklahoman

-why is everyone freaking out over the forecasted snow storm?

Our state has very little of the infrastructure needed to deal with a large amount of snow or extended cold weather.

-why are the grocery stores empty?

Everyone is scared they will be stuck at home with no power, no water, and no hope that the government will be willing to help.

-why all the milk and bread?

I honestly do not know. Me and mine have 2 weeks of shelf stable things to munch on but we have the privilege to be prepared, most of the state are unable to afford their basic needs day to day and cannot adequately prepare for things like this.

- why does your government suck?

"Rugged individualim for some, gut wrenching poverty for most." Is the motto of the GOP whom have a super majority in our legislature. They are currently actively campaigning to defund libraries, public schools, and county services because "it's not nice to make rich people pay taxes" or something.

- you seem angry.

That's not a question.

#Oklahoma #Snow

#snow #oklahoma

mastodon - Link to source

As stupid shit posts of a repo goes this might be the best I've made in a long time.

Presenting the Self Deleting Repo.

When opened in vs code or zed it immediately deletes its self. (at least if you have the rust plug in installed)

I've also added agent instructions that might make the agent delete it but I don't have any of the ai tools installed to see if that part actually works.

github.com/emilyselwood/self_d…


GitHub - emilyselwood/self_deleting_repo: A repo that deletes it self when it opens in an editor.

A repo that deletes it self when it opens in an editor. - emilyselwood/self_deleting_repo
GitHub

mastodon - Link to source

Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant media.mit.edu/publications/you…

New brain rot successfully unlocked by using ChatGPT and other similar AI tools. Over many millennia evolution helped you develop critical thinking skills and you are giving that all away chasing some fools' dreams who think you can do better things in life without money or work. At the end of the day, you will have neither.

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – MIT Media Lab

This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and …
MIT Media Lab
This entry was edited (3 days ago)

mastodon - Link to source
iMessage on Windows, Android, or Linux? BlueBubbles on a Mac makes it possible. And it might not be as tricky as you think, if you use Tailscale to hook everything up securely. tailscale.com/blog/bluebubbles…

Tailscale + BlueBubbles puts iMessage on Windows, Android, or anywhere

BlueBubbles is a clever way to bring iMessage to almost any device. Tailscale makes it far more simple to hook it all up.
Kevin Purdy (tailscale.com)
in reply to Tech Singer

mastodon - Link to source

Jonathan

@techsinger Yeah it's mainly about remote control from a pretty restricted Laptop. I let NVDA provide/run the server to connect to atm, and then just connect through tailscale, and additionally, I have my Mullvad VPN exit nodes. Honestly the router is a very good idea. I already have a gl router which was like 100€, that one would be too big though. i have to look into whether there exists something small. I would just do Hotspot over USB C but I'm not sure if the computer would complain about connected devices and what not, I mean you literally have to approve new keyboards. Stupid work Laptop can't do anything. Anyway worst case I just run the NVDA Remote server on my proxi vps or something. Also the only problem I can think of with the router is powering it portably. For instance I used a separate Laptop for school before and am now switching to my work Laptop for that as well, and therefore am looking into suitable options to keep current functionality.
@Tech Singer
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

I get it. Is the Mt3000 too big? What about the SFT1200? Both are from gl.inet, I'm not sure how returns work in Amazon.de but they may be worth looking at. Two suggestions, though, if I may make them. First, is tailscale funnel too big a risk, or will it not work for you? It gets rid of all the hardware, and you don't have to run a remote server for it, right? I used to want to run a remote server, but decided not to bother anymore, and that decision has been strengthened by the companion which lets me do three and four connections at a time without a server. Secondly, I'm a bit confused about powering it portably. You already have a laptop. If you already have one, you can power the router through a free USB port on the laptop, can't you? You can even do it through a hub. I'm seeing consumption of less than 10W on many of these. I powered one from a phone's USB port once when I needed to, and was surprised it didn't make life too hard. My usual setup, until about three months ago, was powering an MT3000 from a cheap Lenovo which I was using. The reason I stopped was that the lenovo broke in hardware and I got a much smaller unit and started using a USB wifi adapter. Basically, there was no power issue, and I did that for a few years without trouble.
in reply to Tech Singer

mastodon - Link to source

Jonathan

@techsinger I mean I don't need a tunnel really. I could also have that with my reverse proxy setup already, for example any service like miniflux.jonathan859.com runs on my Raspberry Pi from home through Tailscale to a VPS that exposes it with a reverse proxy, so over all it's already a bigger tunnel, I was just wondering whether theoretically I could get tailscale to work so I wouldn't have to alter the setup that much, but over all it'll probably just be the simplest solution, yeah.
@Tech Singer
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

Yes, that makes sense. My view is the fewer parts the better, just because it avoids complications. There's another argument to be made that it's such a small amount of data that it doesn't matter. How much noticeable latency does a tailscale intermediate server, or your VPS, or a nvdaremote server running on the public internet really produce? I mean I'm not going to communicate with another part of my city through a center in Christchurch, but if you're even in the same province/state on everything, does the movement really matter that much?
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Jonathan

@techsinger The thing is that I sometimes will need sometthing ilike kill NVDA Remotely should NVDA just decide to hang or have a stroke, and that will be basically impossible without Tailscale or any VPN solution, so I'm probably going to look into some cheap router option anyway. Think there was recently released a quite cheap one, though I'm not quite sure yet how to get Tailscale on there. I know it's possible with the GL things but haven't played around with my other one much tbh.
@Tech Singer
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Jonathan

@techsinger Hmm, a quick research and the ones that actually support Tailscale are a bit to expensive for my taste, and not very portable in the way that you could just throw it into your pocket or something. I know that my expectations are probably a bit much. Maybe I'll just risk it, throw Tailscale on this Laptop and just not use it at work and start it up manually, I'm still undecided how careful I need to be on this work Laptop. Like I have a bunch of portable software on here and nothing or noone complained, but over all, if one complains I'm screwed.
@Tech Singer
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Jonathan

@techsinger Danm, I explained my problem to Claude and it actually came up with a very interesting solution I'm going to look into:
gist.github.com/kdmukai/ab7b2b…
TLDR: A small Raspberry Pi doing basically the same as a travel router would do, just with more setup effort, though way cheaper.

Configuring a Raspberry Pi to relay an ethernet-connected device over wifi to a Tailscale exit node

Configuring a Raspberry Pi to relay an ethernet-connected device over wifi to a Tailscale exit node - README.md
Gist
@Tech Singer
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

The Rpi solution is a good one, I used it for a while on a 3, though not for tailscale but as a normal relay, and it worked. The difficulty I found, and this may well have been an issue with my hardware, was because I wanted something which I could power off and on repeatedly. The MicroSD just didn't handle that well. Yes, I could and did reimage, but it got annoying to wonder, whenever I plugged in the USB, whether the unit was going to come up or not. I got sick of it and used a router, which at least doesn't have issues when it loses power suddenly. As I said, this was probably an SD card problem, though it was a Sandisk unit which was quite good at the time. I didn't bother buying another one just because it was too much work and I had a small router which was actually a bit smaller than the pi. That router didn't and doesn't support TS, but I didn't need TS at the time.
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

Keep in mind that refirbished laptops are fairly cheap these days. If it were me, which I know it's not, I wouldn't use my work laptop for any sort of personal stuff outside of work, I like full control over my own software environment and everything from the UEFI up might have been modified by the company. At least with my own machine, I manage the install of Windows and can go after even the AMT hardware and drivers if they're there. Again, just one guy's opinion, take it for what it's worth.
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

This makes excellent sense. I perfectly understand, and I'm sure you know that everything on the laptop could be monitored. I love German privacy law, but no law enforces itself. Anyhow, my thinking is that you're right, NVDARemote is probably your best option. If It were me, which it isn't, I'd just do it through open ports/reverse proxy/tunnel, everything else is too much work, though perhaps only for lazy people like me. That, of course, is if I want nothing else. If you want to use taildrop, for example, the port thing is not going to work.
in reply to Jonathan

mastodon - Link to source

Tech Singer

That makes sense, but with respect, I must disagree about it being impossible. Keep in mind that the KillNVDA system, just for example,
github.com/trypsynth/kill-nvda…
only requires one port, of your choice, to be open. You can use a tunnel or the tailscale funnel to manage that if you like and will not need a tailscale client.Having said that, two ports is yet more security risk, though, and if you do have a tailscale client, you can use the file transfer functions and anything else you want.

GitHub - trypsynth/kill-nvda-remotely: Simple set of programs to restart NVDA running on a remote machine.

Simple set of programs to restart NVDA running on a remote machine. - trypsynth/kill-nvda-remotely
GitHub

mastodon - Link to source

Sometimes the job interview just wants to gain code exec on your machine:

runjak.codes/posts/2026-01-21-…

Local girl failed the coding interview:
I don't think they've got a job for me anymore now that I got their repos deleted⁉️

GitHub 404 page for github.com/solvolab - an organisation removed from GitHub after being reported for distributing malware to developers.

runjak.codes: An adversarial coding test

Sometimes the job interview just wants to gain code exec on your machine.
runjak.codes

reshared this

⇧