André Polykanine

@menelion@dragonscave.space · Joined ⁨Dec⁩ ⁨2021⁩

A married and happy geek living in Strasbourg, France. #Backend software engineer, #accessibility specialist.
My main programming languages are #PHP and #CSharp.
Pro-European right-centrist. Technical progress must not be stoppable.
#AI is our assistant, not our replacement nor our enemy.
Pagan, worshipper of Scandinavian gods.
This account is multilingual. Posts may contain strong language, not always behind a content warning, and personal opinions.
No alt text, no boost.

Interests
#IT, #SoftwareDevelopment, #AI, #Microsoft, #Windows, #Books, #Languages, #Music, #Ethnography, #ScreenReaders, #Accessibility
Spoken Languages
English, français, українська, русский, deutsch
GitHub
github.com/Menelion verified
About me in emojis
👩‍❤️‍👨, 👨‍💻, 🎙️, 🎹, 🚶‍♂️, 👨‍🦯, 🧝‍♂️, 🐉, 🚳, 🚊, 🚆, ✈️, 🐈; 🥖, 🥩, 🍫, 🍔, 🍟
9271Posts
1Following1Followers

André Polykanine boosted

Digitual :cofe_heart:@Digitual@mastodon.ml

Гудбай, elevanlabs. Как то так должно звучать... Теперь локально можно генерировать голоса ничуть не уступающие фронтир моделям по подписке. Мелкомягкие запилили отличное решение "VibeVoice" выложили его на гитхаб, потом убрали из-за опасения дипфейков (ибо голоса качественные и фиг отличишь), но сообщество уже все склонировало поэтому единственным правильным решением было открыть репо. К тому же появился и community репозиторий. Я буду пробовать поработать с оф.репозиторием от ms:
github.com/microsoft/VibeVoice
Реалтайм голосов для ru пока нет, возможно появятся позже.

Open-Source Frontier Voice AI. Contribute to microsoft/VibeVoice development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHubGitHub - microsoft/VibeVoice: Open-Source Frontier Voice AIOpen-Source Frontier Voice AI. Contribute to microsoft/VibeVoice development by creating an account on GitHub.

André Polykanine boosted

Kaliah@Kaliah@dragonscave.space

Replying to @⁨FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com⁩

@FreakyFwoof Mentioning or sending me DMs about money is the absolute fastest way to get yourself a one way trip to the forgotten depths of my blocked list. I'm sorry but no. If you're bothering me for the singular purpose of getting money, I will block you, then promptly forget about you in a couple hours and likely never unblock you again. I have no tolerance for people doing this.

André Polykanine boosted

Greg Brockman@gdb@bird.makeup

OpenAI is working hard to empower everyone with intelligence that works for them, in the form of great products which get simpler to use over time.

We're bringing unlimited text chats with Luna, a quite capable model, to free users.

We've also released an updated version of Sol which works for both quick chats and for deep reasoning — historically these have been different models. This unification is a very significant step towards making ChatGPT simpler and more intuitive.
https://bird.makeup/users/openai/statuses/2085434712429052386

OpenAI@openai@bird.makeup

We’re making better intelligence easier to access in ChatGPT for everyone:

- GPT-5.6 Sol now powers both Instant and deep reasoning for Plus & Pro users, delivering more factual, focused responses.

- Free & Go users get unlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna starting tomorrow.

André Polykanine@menelion@dragonscave.space

RE: caneandable.social/@DesireeRen

Absolute truth!

Desiree Renae@DesireeRenae@caneandable.social

I got my CPACC 5 years ago. At the time the test was through survey monkey and I did not have the same opportunities as everyone else to flag and review questions. The training course from IAAP had all kinds of issues, I had to use the Deque training materials. Once I got my certification, I found the process of putting info in to renew it each year confusing, overwhelming and inaccessible. I finally let it run out. I feel like an accessibility certification, obtaining it and keeping it should be accessible. My employer also wanted me to take the trusted tester certification, which cannot be done without sighted assistance. Overall, my feeling is that most anyone can get the paper, but when the process is not accessible, those of us who face access barriers are pushed out of holding certifications that really don’t matter since we have lived experience.

André Polykanine boosted

kellylford@kellylford@mastodon.social

Replying to @⁨menelion@dragonscave.space⁩

@menelion @TheQuinbox I've tried that and at least here it doesn't stop some of the extra screen eacho. But yes here is their support article on screen reader mode for others. support.claude.com/en/articles

support.claude.comUse Claude Code CLI with a screen reader | Claude Help Center

André Polykanine boosted

Francesco Marini@fmarini@mastodon.social

Ok, need your help.

I need a simple Python tutorial for an absolute beginner (i.e. my father). He used to program a bit in BASIC, but he needs something newer to mainly do some data analysis and visualization. He is not the most skilled admin, and he’s using Windows (no, forget about changing os).

Thinking about suggesting either IDLE to begin with, or Spyder (since tailored to data analysis, and simple-ish).

Any suggestions, and/or pointers?

Thanks!

#Python #PythonProgramming

André Polykanine boosted

James Scholes@jscholes@dragonscave.space

Another appliance search blighted by the existence of touch screens and the fundamentally exclusionary practice of cramming them into everything regardless of suitability.

Want the best feature set? It's on the unusable model. Need accessibility? You'll need to sacrifice useful features, some of which would make the device more friendly to disabled people.

I'm struggling to come up with fresh ways of articulating how mentally draining this is.

To occasionally want to spend a bit of your hard earned money on something nice, only to repeatedly be shown that nice is synonymous with "we didn't think about disabled people." to see exclusion worming its way into cheaper and cheaper appliances, relegating disabled customers to an increasingly basic category of products that might eventually disappear.

But what's the use in articulating it at all? The only people reading this here already know it because they live it every day.

But at least I get to go to work and help make something I find morally deplorable more accessible in a bit! Happy Thursday.

André Polykanine boosted

Quin@TheQuinbox@dragonscave.space

I've just released version 0.3.0 of Taskmon, my lightweight, no frills replacement for the modern, bloated mess that is Windows Task Manager. Changelog:

  • Added Ctrl+Q as a shortcut to exit Taskmon completely.
  • Added 11 new columns: Service, GPU, GPU Memory, CPU Time, Elevated, Path, Window Title, File Version, Product Version, Session Name, and Package Name.
  • Added File > Restart as administrator to relaunch Taskmon elevated.
  • Added a hierarchical Process Tree view (Ctrl+T) that groups processes under the parent that launched them, with an End process tree action that terminates a process and all of its descendants.
  • Added an option to start Taskmon already minimized to the tray.
  • Added a Windows installer alongside the existing portable version, with an option to replace the system Task Manager with Taskmon.
  • Fixed a stack overflow that could occur when sorting by CPU usage.
  • Fixed Ctrl+A not selecting all text in the Run dialog's edit box.

Download links:
ARM64 portable: github.com/trypsynth/taskmon/r
ARM64 setup: github.com/trypsynth/taskmon/r
X64 portable: github.com/trypsynth/taskmon/r
X64 setup: github.com/trypsynth/taskmon/r
Cheers, enjoy, and may you be free of a 5+MB application to manage your computer being unresponsive!

André Polykanine boosted

The PHP Foundation@thephpf@phpc.social

If you want to help newcomers to the PHP language, our latest Special Interest Group might be just the thing for you. Announcing the PHP Onboarding Initiative! thephp.foundation/blog/2026/08
#php #newcomerexperience #mentorship

thephp.foundationKicking off the PHP Onboarding Initiative Special Interest GroupAnnouncement about the launch of the PHP Onboarding Initiative.
André Polykanine@menelion@dragonscave.space

RE: allovertheplace.ca/@DavidGoldf

If you have any feedback, please mention me here, I'm part of the team. #AccessMind #RunaTTS

David Goldfield@DavidGoldfield@allovertheplace.ca

I received the following announcement via email from Adi Kushnir of AccessMind. Although Adi's signature states that the announcement is only meant for the intended recipient and cannot be distributed, Adi has assured me that this announcement can be shared.

Announcing the first public beta of Runa TTS: bringing the high quality, natural sounding voices from ReadSpeaker to VoiceOver and other apps that rely on Apple's speech synthesis API's.
Dear Apple users community,
AccessMind is proud to announce the first public beta of Runa TTS, a new text-to-speech engine for iOS that brings high quality, natural sounding, neural voices from ReadSpeaker, a global pioneer in the field of human-like TTS technology, to be used with VoiceOver, as well as other applications that use Apple's speech synthesis APIs.
Enjoy classics such as Paul, Kate and Julie from the Neo speech days, or new voices in 50 languages, including English, Arabic, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish, and many others.
The application also includes some advanced features, such as:
• Voice Profiles, allowing you to configure various settings such as speech rate, pitch, and maximum volume per-voice, and forcing them even if VoiceOver is set to different values.
• Automatic language switching based on Unicode characters for Arabic, Latin, Hebrew, Russian, and Greek even if VoiceOver does not support it in your language or region, configured on a per-voice profile level.
• iCloud sync between devices to make sure all voice profiles and voice settings stay up to date between devices.
• In a future update, Siri shortcuts will be introduced for switching voice profiles on the fly.

Once you download and install the application, focus will land on the “manage voices” tab, allowing you to download voices and filter them by language, quality, etc. 2 qualities are available for each voice: standard and enhanced. We strongly recommend using the enhanced quality.
Every voice will be a switch button, when checked, it will be added to the queue, and a button to install all selected voices will appear at the bottom of the screen, before the tab bar. Activating this button will install all selected voices. If voices are installed, checking them will cause a button to remove all selected voices to appear instead.
Once installed, you can add the voices to Voiceover using the VoiceOver speech settings, including configuring them as primary, and adding them to the rotor.
The settings tab, contains all the advanced features, such as Voice profiles, and iCloud syncing. Both are disabled by default, to avoid confusion.

Important notes
• Due to bugs with iOS 27, language switching by Unicode characters will not work properly if configured through our engine, it will only work through VoiceOver with the way Apple has chosen to implement it. We will communicate with Apple to hopefully get this fixed.
• There are no bundled voices with the app. You have to download the voices you wish to use from the manage voices tab.

Feedback during the public beta
Please send all your questions, comments, and queries, to: adi@accessmind.net

Pricing
Pricing for the final product, including subscription or perpetual licensing models, has not been decided yet. The public beta will be available to try for free at least until September.

Installing the public beta
Please use the following TestFlight link to install the public beta of Runa TTS on your devices:
testflight.apple.com/join/bJQ5

We look forward to hearing from you!
Adi Kushnir
This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual(s) addressed in the message. If you aren't the named addressee, you should not disseminate, distribute, or copy this e-mail. If you aren't the intended recipient, you aren'tified that disclosing, distributing, or copying this e-mail is strictly prohibited.

AccessMind LLC. All rights reserved.

testflight.apple.com/join/bJQ5UpWQ

André Polykanine boosted

Em :official_verified:@Em0nM4stodon@infosec.exchange

First, they'll ask for your official IDs to confirm your age and identity.

This will create a large treasure trove
of sensitive data, which will attract criminals, and will inevitably leak from either negligence or malice, sooner than later.

Then, they'll claim your official ID is
unreliable, because it was stolen so many times, and demand you share your biometric data.

They will collect your face scan,
your palm scan, and even your iris scan (no exaggeration, these are all already being collected by some companies for identification). They will claim it's super safe.

This will create a large treasure trove
of sensitive biometric data, which will attract criminals, and will inevitably leak from either negligence or malice, sooner than later.

Then what? Rinse and escalate.

You will have lost control of not just your corporate social media accounts by participating to this, but to any data capable of validating your identity, to your privacy rights, to the protections you could use online to stay safe.

We don't have to wait that it escalates.

We can, and must, push back and say No now. Start to say No now.

#Privacy #Biometrics #DataMinimization #AgeVerification

André Polykanine boosted

Robert Kingett@WeirdWriter@caneandable.social
edited

Not only was this made with an LLM, it breaks so many other things but If you use this font to protect your text from AI, it also blocks *me, a human* because I use a screen reader. I did try the demo. If you want me to remove your RSS feed, this is the best font to prevent blind people from reading your blog/words. That timer is an inaccessible solution. shieldfont.org/#hero #AI #LLM #Accessibility #A11y

Two pages side by side: the text a reader sees, and the scrambled words a crawler reads.ShieldFontShieldFontPublish for humans, not for crawlers. A web font that swaps the words in your HTML, so readers see your writing and AI training gets a stale copy.

André Polykanine boosted

Pratik Patel@ppatel@mstdn.social

Replying to @⁨darrell73@mastodon.online⁩

@darrell73 The fear is real. people are actively and Vociferously working to shun people who use these glasses. I agree with Jonathan. At times, I hesitate to wear them outside right now. The problem gets multiplied if we consider that these generalized sweeps are likely to affect *specialized* solutions that some blind people will have. @JonathanMosen