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i want recommendations for free text to speech interfaces like those used for speech impaired people (screens of icons for quick vocabulary, customizable, with option for full text input)

bonus points for something with a highly customizable voice, or also seeking recommendations for any tts voice that's local, customizable, not genAI, runs on old hardware. i don't want solutions that only work with the system's black box TTS i have to find arcane packs for

please boost! :boost_ok:

Once upon a time, Napster was a "sharing is caring" pirate website.

Then the RIAA killed it, took control of it, and resurrected it as a "rent to never own" pirate website.

Now it's dead again and about to be resurrected as a dot-ay-eye "plagiarism machine" pirate website.

TIL one form of CDDA copy protection is intentionally corrupted error correction codes causing audible glitches in ripped copies which explains a lot of MP3s i downloaded as a teenager sounding the way they did

I am once again setting up for a customer a new PC that didn't come with a manual, required assembly with no assembly instructions, & started talking during the out-of-box experience (OOBE). There was a speaker icon, but clicking on it did nothing but make the icon's "click me" border disappear.

I get that computers need to talk for blind & low-vision users, but come on, not at the expense of making your new users deaf as well!

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Whose idea was it to make AIO PCs without sound controls **AND** default the speaker volume to "make rock star Hotblack Desiato file a noise complaint"!?

As someone who is totally blind, the Fediverse is the only place where I have ever been able to follow people such as photographers, artists, or even those who post pictures of their cats or the food they ate. The reason is that most of them use alt text. They take the time to describe the images that my screen reader can't recognise. Some write the descriptions themselves, and others use tools such as altbot. Some worry that their descriptions aren't good enough, especially when they are new at this. Let me assure you, not only are they good enough, they are extremely appreciated! If the rest of the world thought as you did, it would be a much better place. Don't hesitate to ask if you're unsure of something, but never think that we don't notice your effort.

#appreciation #accessibility #altbot #alttext #blind #blindness #fediverse #gratitude #images #inclusivity #peoplewhocare #pictures #technology

there's something about "computers built by companies who wanted to use up their inventory of VCR chassis" that really appeals to me

The No Mouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls?

nomouse.org/

sometime after steve jobs killed flash computing as a whole lost all its whimsy

when is the last time you've seen a funny screensaver

Reminder: In the multiple contests where a team representing the USA faced a team representing another country, the other country's team won each of them 4 games to 2.

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Today in "Don't get your medical advice from slick radio ads, let alone sex advice" 

NuMale ran radio ads in seemingly every commercial break on every station for years. Think Viagra but clinics instead of pills.

2024-11-27, AP, "New Mexico man awarded $412 million medical malpractice payout for botched injections": apnews.com/article/medical-mal

2025-10-23, Albuquerque Journal via Yahoo (Warning: use adblock), "New Mexico man awarded $96 million under bankruptcy settlement": yahoo.com/news/articles/mexico

I continue to be flabbergasted by just how boring billionaires are with their money.

Like... where's the paying your favorite band to record a new album entirely without commercial pressure? Commissioning some artist to make a massive mural of a bee/cheeseburger creature?

Where's the contract to fill an entire swimming pool with cream and let everyone in the city jump in?

Where's the "giving 100 homeless people houses just to see them smile friday"?

You have enough money to explode god, but you'll buy things that make more money, yachts you barely use and houses that are much too big for anyone to sensibly live in.

How fucking empty a person do you have to be for that?

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Computer Fairies

Computer Fairies is a Mastodon instance that aims to be as queer, friendly and furry as possible. We welcome all kinds of computer fairies!