I tell ya, you could give Windows the newest and even better hardware in tons, and it would still be sluggish, laggy, unresponsive, straight up ignore input or take a minute to process, especially when booting up. This is a fucking top tier Lenovo laptop, I don't care how much bloatware there is on there, you have the resources, go and use them man, no reason to have my screenreader lag, only process one out of 3 keys and force me to reboot before even having done anything.
After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.
A lawyer says she was left bloody and swollen after multiple Durham Regional police officers allegedly slammed her head on a desk without provocation, ripped off her head scarf and dragged her to the basement cells of the Oshawa courthouse last week.
I tried using Claude Code on the desktop app today. Not to get technical, but Claude's where it's at if you're working on a large project like I am. It helps me follow a plan through beginning to end in an ordered way. Chatgpt is useful for other things, but this thing's generally accessible, is a great code pair, and it's willing to teach me as we go so I can do some of the coding. Heaven't started coding a lot yet, but I have a plan file outlined, and I'll start a refactor tomorrow.
@BorrisInABox Sweet man. The more code the better I say. Probably gonna have to upgrade to the $100 plan though the jerks. It'd be nice to have a modern IAXRPT for real. What language are you having it use, or are you allow it to pick?
@BorrisInABox Does anyone know if any attempts have been made to make FLDigi accessible? Thinking I might throw some AI at it and see what I can make happen.
OK, what are these big, awful, horrible problems which are supposed to befall me if I upgrade to the newest version of iOS as a voiceover user? Got a notification from Dice World and so of course immediately updated on my primary device because I’m that kind of stupid. So far, seems to be yet another massive wave of nothing. Thoughts welcome.
Honestly? Aside from a pretty nasty bug in the first version of iOS where voiceover would sometimes not come back after a reboot, and get the phone into a really bizarre state, its fine. The only really annoying bug is the way that percentages are reported as apps download or update. As if variable template code is being past straight through to vo.
@arfy Much ado about nothing, at least from where I'm standing. I upgraded to 26 the day it came out, had 0 problems. People made it out to be like iOS 13, the most buggy crap imaginable. It really wasn't.
@FreakyFwoof @arfy I noticed a massive impact to battery life, surely from Liquid Glass, but you can tone that down in 26.2, so right now’s not a bad time to update.
Hi, I have a problem with FastSM: I have two accounts on different Mastodon-Instances, and after the last Update I can't connect to more than one instance. I deinstalled and installed FastSM, even deleted all data, but after reinstalling it, I can only add one instance. Trying with the second one it doesn't open the browser for authentification. Is there something I can do?
In the data folder there is a folder account 0 and then account 1, but the .json file is just a very short one. I deleted account 1 folder and tried again, without deleting it FastSM won't even let me click on add account.
Thank you very much. The problem is solved, I can work with two Accounts again. Thanks for your fantastic work. Please keep it up, I still know some people who use Mastodon on a Windows PC or Notebook, are blind and want a program that makes it as easy as yours. Thanks a lot!
Tady to celou dobu vypadalo na houby, ale včera to po měsíci vyšlo aspoň na jediný den. Doufej. 🙂 Zwift je super, ale venku je to jiná liga. @KaterinaGloserova
Internal Slack logs shared with The Intercept show outrage over Cook’s coziness with Trump and Apple's silence on Pretti's death. https://theintercept.com/2026/01/27/apple-tim-cook-trump-alex-pretti
Amazon exec accidentally sends layoff email a day early. Now people know there are layoffs but now need to wait until the official date to know if they were affected.
Randos from FaceBook: Hi. Me: Hi, I’m receiving a High volume of messages right now. But if you have something specific to share, let me know. Them: Oh, I’m sorry. How’s it going? Me: I’m busy. Did you need something? Them: Oh, I just wanted to be your friend.
This has been the pattern with Messages there as of late, and it’s making me angry. It’s like, why should I have to come up with things to talk about with 20+ strangers in a given day? And, how’s it going is an open ended question. Not a specific share. Why is low effort engagement the new normal? Why is putting the emotional labor on someone else to make them drive an online conversation the new normal? Yes, I know I can block or restrict. And I do. That doesn’t change the pattern or the frustration. Mute one and three more like it come along.
Sigh, right? Having to play wack a moll with facebook means you can't interact with your actual friends! grr. Also, typing at you from a new mastodon client.
I never really reply to those messages. 9 times out of 10 they end up being spam. If it's a name I know I might answer. But messenger is my least favorite way of communicating with anyone. It's funny though. People have told me I seem unapproachable until they get to know me. But then others say I seem super nice. I'm just glad people don't ever hit on me. I don't have time for that crap. Ha. If I did reply to one of those I want to b friends message if I'm in the wrong mood I would straight up say. "That person is not at all me. Find someone else who reads of desperate."
@NightDrake Agreed! I'll use messenger for some family chats, where I still need to convince them to move to whatsapp, hee hee, but yeah. Messenger is clunky! And facebook, while fun to scroll, just annoys me as its so algorithmic. I know, I know. almost 42-year old grumpy fella here. :D
@arfy I can't say I at all disagree with what you say though. WhatsApp is laggy on the computer these days. But I'll deal with lag instead of the annoyance known as Messenger. There are times I'd love to uninstall messenger. But a couple of my groups are there. If only they'd switch to WhatsApp, Telegram or even Discord. Can't win them all I guess.
@NightDrake Yes. I'll happily put up with the slightly annoying whatsapp on windows now over messenger. Telegram, for its part, is now super annoying on iOS. Sigh.
NVSpeech Player with phoneme editor and NVDA Addon version 1.7.2 Very large release: • Core: Initial support for Russian and Ukrainian with new phonemes and rules. Speakers of these languages are encouraged to contribute, especially once we get a version of the phoneme editor with internationalization. • phoneme tuning: Softened sharp edges of some consonants using tools in repo. • phoneme tuning: Improved UK English slightly to sound less Scottish in some areas. • NVDA Driver: Adds "reset to default" option for restoring language pack defaults. • NVDA driver: Check for updates button in settings now included. • Phoneme Editor: Adds "refresh" option and keyboard shortcut to re-sync from the file if edited outside the editor. • Phoneme editor: Adds shortcut for "save Language YAML" as well as Save Phonemes in the menu. github.com/tgeczy/NVSpeechPlay… github.com/tgeczy/NVSpeechPlay…
@tspivey I updated the add-on: one single change, for pause modes it's now Short mode: 25ms (was 5ms), 5× longer. Long mode: 50ms (was 10ms), 5× longer. Hopefully this won't feel as long as a sentence stop, but those are at 35 for short and 60 for long, which does feel closer to Eloquence's pause mode.
Hey man I think you broke the P phoneme, pitch now sounds like bitch. Come to think of it how exactly do eloquence and so on keep track of the phonemes and do you think we have a way to coppy that and build off of it?
@GoemonIshikawa oooh yeah, it's sort of inbetween the two? But then it's weird because words like Paper didn't turn into Baper, so it might be specifically the soft-P variant of this. Eloquence had internal segment definitions. These were not clean IPA phonemes. They were closer to articulatory events: things like "alveolar stop release," "rhotic transition," "reduced vowel nucleus," "fricative tail," and so on. Many "phonemes" were actually sequences of micro-segments with baked-in motion. Then above that, Eloquence had a very aggressive rule engine. Context mattered more than identity. That's sort of why I built up 120 rules now, because they help form the start of that "context" type system, especially with having various passes to apply to the output. Voicing, noise, and motion were explicitly authored into the segment recipes. So to have that type of rule engine, would be really hard to do in conjunction with another phonemizer like ESpeak, unless we built that from scratch ourselves and the frontend was more closely then integrated with it.
@GoemonIshikawa ah good, I think it's more about aspiration. This was unchecked, perhaps I somehow I accidentally disabled it for English: Add aspiration after unvoiced stop consonants check box checked Once I checked it words like "pool" started to sound more like the start wasn't swallowed and "pitch" became clearer with it.
can you make the opptions in the settings easier to use? when i press space to check or uncheck something in globle opptions the new state isn't read so i don't know if the settings changed till i press ok
So, random tip that some of you will probably find useful and others will be like, meh, I've known that for ages. Still I'm putting it out there because I'm literally ecstatic after learning this information, which I really should've looked up years ago.
So if I'm on a web site that has a lot of interesting links I want to check out, I will often open them in new tabs or windows, so that I can easily close them and return to the main page when done. To open a link in a new tab/window, I used to go to the context menu and hit the appropriate option. But in later versions of Brave (which is my primary browser), keyboard focus seems to have trouble staying in the context menu. Usually I have to open it, escape out of it, and open it again. Not sure why.
It turns out you don't even need to deal with that menu though, at least not for that. Shift enter opens a link in a new window, and control shift enter opens in new tab. I'll be honest, I don't enjoy learning random keystrokes because they're easy to forget, but these are two that are definitely going to save me time, and I will use them so much that I will remember them. As a third bonus keystroke, alt enter on a link will let you download the file it points to (it's the save link as option in the context menu). So yeah, hope at least one person finds this information useful.
@Bri Rofl. In all fairness I was only really annoyed about it since yesterday. Before that, I was on an older Brave which didn't seem to struggle getting keyboard focus in the menu.
@jaybird110127 Control enter for new tab in firefox, except on GitHub issues. It opens it in a new tab but also navigates to the new issue in the old tab.
[Forum Topic] Launching app-suite.eu: AScan (Simplified OCR with Local AI) and AGram (Native Telegram Client) for macOS applevis.com/forum/macos-mac-a…
Hi everyone, I am excited to introduce App-Suite.eu, a new home for macOS applications built from the ground up with a "Native Accessibility First" philosophy.
Singapore’s hawker culture is world-famous — but behind the sizzling woks and iconic flavors lie the hidden struggles of families fighting to keep a nation’s...
Meta says it will soon begin testing subscriptions for select productivity and AI features across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. pcmag.com/news/instagram-faceb…
Yes, I use AI. Yes, I review it's output. Yes, I understand what it's output is doing. Hell, I helped write half of TweeseCake's code back before AI even existed. Yes, I miss things, because I am only human. Don't judge me if you don't know me.
You also likely know how to use git enough to undo any screw-up it makes. If it can only make new commits, version control gives you the tools to moderate it retroactively.
Huh? I might not want to personally use it myself, but as many have said, it's a tool. Just like a boilerplate generator. THe thing it gives you, I think, is the ability to work on the same level of productivity as what used to take at least a small team.
As far as I'm concerned, I don't care if you're using AI. I have a problem with low quality uncreative AI slop. I don't have an issue with people using AI to help them as a companion to their human effort. So long as you're, you know, using this thing you have called your brain, and this thing called critical thinking, I don't really care. I'll always stand by the fact that AI at its core is a tool. Yes it can be misused just like any other, and I have an issue with those misuses and creations of so called slop. But if people are putting in genuine effort alongside their AI, I couldn't care less.
@vol4life8657 @Mendi_Tech this in response to a mastodon admin coming after me with a harshly worded github issue. Look for it if you really want to know.
Monthly Active Users (MAU) latest figures (depending on who you believe for the other platforms)
Facebook 3.07 billion Telegram 1 billion Threads 400 million twitter 353.9 million Bluesky 12.23 million Fedi 1,039,049
For every engagement (boost/fave) on Fedi, it is the equivalent to
3,000 on Facebook 1,000 on Telegram 400 on Threads 340 on twitter 12 on Bluesky
However! This also understates Fedi’s real engagement because Fedi users are far more active per capita, there is no algorithm and timelines are presented chronologically (and far less bot-driven than somewhere like twitter).
So when you think your interesting / clever / funny post *only* got 20 boosts or likes..... that would be nearly seven thousand on twitter or 60k on Facebook!
It seems pretty clear to me that if immigrants were making Minneapolis residents feel unsafe they'd have no problem assembling a giant protest and asking the government to do something about it
For those of you who are switching to #Thunderbird from #Outlook, do the following to ensure as seamless an experience as possible while using a #screenreader. Note, these do not have to be done in this order. 1. If preferred, add your account by filling in the form that is presented on the screen which appears for the first time you open Thunderbird. This will get your first Email account connected properly to TB. 2. Once you are presented with the main TB window and the various folders (inbox, sent, etc.), you know your account has successfully been added. Press F8 to disable the preview pane. This will reduce clutter and allow you to simply press Enter on a message to open it rather than having to navigate it in the main TB window. 3. Open the Tools menu with Alt+T, then press Uparrow until you get to Settings and press Enter. Note, this is not the same as Account Settings. 4. Once in Settings, find the following items and make sure they are set as shown below. A. Under General heading. When Thunderbird launches, show the Start Page in the message area Alt+Shift+W check box not checked. This will prevent Thunderbird from showing its normal startup page and reduce the resulting clutter in the main TB window. B. Under General heading, optional. When Thunderbird is minimized, move it to the tray Alt+Shift+m check box not checked. When this checkbox is checked, every time you minimize the application, Thunderbird moves to the system tray and consequently requires activation every time you want to quickly get back to it. I personally find this bothersome, so I have disabled this particular behavior. C. Under General heading, optional. Hide system window titlebar Alt+Shift+H check box not checked. I personally like all the information I can get when reading my titlebar, so I prefer to have this disabled. D. Under Incoming Mails heading, Optional. Show an alert Alt+Shift+S check box not checked. Note, do not disable this setting if you desire to change the setting below it. If desired, change the setting below first, then move back and change this one afterward if preferred. When this item is checked, the screenreader will automatically announce when each message arrives. This is a bit too chatty for my personal preference, so I have it disabled. E. Under Incoming Mails heading, optional. Use the system notification check box not checked. Note, change this setting first if desired before changing the one above it, as this checkbox becomes unavailable when the setting above is disabled. This item allows Thunderbird to send a system notification to the Windows 10/11 Action Center. You get the system notification sound, as well as any accompanying speech and can view the notifications that way. I personally find this overkill, so I have disabled it. F. Under Incoming Mails heading. Play a sound Alt+Shift+d check box checked. This will allow Thunderbird to play a sound whenever a new message arrives. You can either use the sound that has been set up for the default Windows notification sound for mail or choose your own by specifying the file you would prefer using the Browse option. G. Under Reading and Display Heading. Set Open New Messages In to A New Message Window. This will exhibit the more familiar behavior of Outlook and open the message in its own window when you press Enter on it. H. Under Reading and Display heading, optional. Close message window/tab on move or delete Alt+Shift+C check box checked. This tells Thunderbird to close the message window if you happen to move or delete it from the main TB window. I personally have this enabled for convenience. I. Under Reading and Display heading, optional. Preferred Address Display Format set to Name Only. I prefer this because it cuts down on chatter. This way, as you arrow through messages, you will see only the name of the sender along with other header information, rather than both the name and Email address. 5. Once all the settings are to your liking, press Control+W to close Settings and return to the main TB window. 6. Open the View menu with Alt+V and press Rightarrow on the Toolbars menu. Uncheck all the items there except for Status Bar. This results in less clutter in the main TB window. 7. Return to the View menu with Alt+T and press Rightarrow on Layout. Press Enter on Classic View. This optimizes the view a little bit more for screenreader use. 8. From the main TB Window, Shift+Tab until you find the Message List Display Options button. Activating this will bring up a context menu. Once in this menu, make sure that Table View is checked. This will allow you access to message headers and the ability to order them how you would like. 9. Finally, from the message list in the main TB window, Shift+Tab once. You'll find a toolbar that consists of several buttons. These are your message headers. If you wish your screenreader to announce Read Status first, find the Sort By Read Status button, then press alt+leftarrow. This will move the header over. Note, this does not mean you will be sorting message by Read Status. Sort By is announced because if you click on these headers, you can sort the messages by the header that is selected. Use Alt+Leftarrow or Alt+Rightarrow to find the preferred position of the selected header. To check or confirm the order of your headers, press Tab and arrow through your message list. I have Read Status first, followed by attachments and so on. This makes the reader announce the read status of the message, then whether or not there are attachments, followed by whatever header (e.g. correspondents) comes next. Change the order of the message headers to match how you would like your reader to announce the associated items as you arrow through your message list. Press F6 and Shift+F6 to jump quickly between Email folders and message lists.
Hope this helps, and enjoy your shiny new Email client! #A11y #Blind #JAWS #NVDA
TIL that there is a very nice, free PDF book called “Conway’s Game of Life: Mathematics and Construction” that systematically introduces common structures and patterns and discusses how to reason about their behaviour.
It’s beautifully typeset with tons of diagrams. Well worth a look.
Blocking AI crawlers on your servers is just like adding an ad/tracker blocker to your browser. An unfortunate necessity, because we can't have nice things anymore on the internet.
I feel like Netflix can't even decide what it wants to be nowadays. It shows mobile games, shows, movies, and now podcasts? What on earth are they doing?
Mister Krabs
in reply to Jonathan • • •