@fastfinge

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@foone @FreakyFwoof My Framework laptop. Upgraded it twice with aftermarket parts and it’s going strong.

0

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@dhamlinmusic @FreakyFwoof I think the eloquence thing was probably the thing inside the arc that melted that guys face off when he looked at it.

0

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@dhamlinmusic @FreakyFwoof Some of Dr. Susan’s research work was actually funded by The National Science Foundation and DARPA. So yes, the US government does have tentacles in eloquence.

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof And for extra bonus fun, ETI Eloquence was created to commercialize the PHD work of Dr. Susan Herts. So she actually wrote the code at the two different universities she worked as a researcher for. The first thing that’s recognizably eloquence-like was written in 1984. Then she continued to evolve it, using her custom tools and compilers.

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof Because Eloquence was originally written by Eloquent Technologies Incorporated, hence why it’s sometimes called ETI eloquence. But Eloquent Technologies licensed the code to IBM. Then the company was purchased by Speech WOrks International. Then Speech Works International was purchased by Nuance. Then Nuance was purchased by Microsoft, but the company that owns the right to Eloquence was split off into yet another company. During all that, the original creator of eloquence retired. So now it’s not even clear where the source code is, who (if anyone) still has it, or if they have it, who owns it. Because the compiled code was licensed and sublicensed and bought and sold. But did any of those transactions include the source code? Does anyone who still works at any of those companies that still exist even know? To make things even more confusing, you sometimes hear eloquence called ECI Eloquence, not ETI Eloquence. ECI is what IBM called the Eloquence Command Interface. So the dll files for ETI eloquence are often ECI.DLL.

3

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof For my sins I maintain eloquence64, so I have to know more about this crap than I would really like to. The code for both addons is a terrible mess. But eloquence64 is…slightly better, mostly. Just because it’s trying to do far less. But when you have to work around libraries that haven’t been updated since 2003 or so, and can never be fixed, things are always going to be a mess.

2

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof If you’re talking about the NVDA addons, the IBMTTS addon usually uses the eloquence DLL files, so the sound is identical. The differences between the two addons are features and what comes included. If you mean the difference between Eloquence and IBMTTS/ViaVoice, Eloquence licensed there code to IBM. IBM went on to add some new features, and many new and exciting bugs. And also change the API for no particular reason. And created a new dictionary format that’s neither better or worse, just different for no explicable reason. Also, the IBMTTS dll files can be had from IBM’s FTP site. The Eloquence dlls have to be ripped out of commercial software. Also, Apple and Nokia had completely different eloquence versions that are 99 percent the same, but each have subtle differences. And as far as I can tell, all of the voice and dictionary rules were created in a custom programming language, and the source code for the rules, and the compiler that compiles them, is almost certainly lost. That’s why Apple, for example, includes the community dictionary rather than just updating eloquence to fix the bugs. Because eloquence itself can never be changed or updated anymore. When it comes to NVDA: Eloquence64 has much better indexing, but we only support the bundled DLL files. IBMTTS supports every eloquence version ever released, has parts written in rust, and less accurate indexing. But in exchange Chinese support works better, and it gets around a few Unicode and localization bugs.

2

1

3

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof @x0 Hah it was in my list but disabled. “This extension was turned off because it requires additional permissions.” Re-enabling it worked.

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof @x0 Oh, good to know. I hadn't realized it was updated.

2

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof @x0 That won't run on modern versions of chrome anymore, sadly. Or any versions at all starting in I believe September/October.

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@x0 @FreakyFwoof Also the way some of these sounds are mono and some are not is making me cringe. Pick one or the other! Either is fine! But not both. Especially when the stereo use doesn't seem to mean anything. Like the way the page loaded sound kind of seems to point from left to right but that doesn't mean anything because it's not a percent or something it's just a loaded finished sound! And the start sound is just the mono windows default thing so they don't match at all. And closing a tab is a weird stereo sound but switching tabs is mono. Although I really do like that tab switch sound. I'm not really an audio guy; it's actually quite rare for me to be so annoyed by sound design. Am I getting cranky in my middle-age, or is this especially bad?

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@x0 @FreakyFwoof Yeah, it's only 64 new sounds! Should take him hardly any time at all. LOL JK

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@FreakyFwoof Have you scene this? It's a much better extension for playing sounds on browser nav. Way more sounds, way more configurable, etc. I would love an Andre theme for this. Some of the authors picks seem a tad long, to me: chromewebstore.google.com/detail/finch/oibdifnhdjolmckhjlcifnelbonfccfa

1

3

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@martin No. It’s a plugin intended for people who already have and use Hermes agent, rather than something trying to convince you you should. Because personally I’m neutral on everyone having an AI agent unless you have a purpose already in mind. Too many people are using AI just because. I’m not interested in selling AI agents to people. Just solving a particular problem for people who already use this particular agent system.

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

If you want to communicate with your Hermes Agent via #XMPP, here's a plugin for that. Code is extracted from three different PR's to the hermes agent github repo to add XMPP that weren't being merged, and moved into a plugin. I just cherry picked and packaged everything with the help of local models running on my laptop, with a final pass by a cloud model (if you read the readme carefully you can tell what cloud model) to update documentation and fix a few loose ends the smaller (but free and more environmentally friendly) local models left. Everything I could test is working. Unfortunately I don't have an XMPP client that supports reactions, typing indicators, threads, or voice messages. But it connects to the server via a secure connection, and both versions of omemo work. However you feel about #AI, communication should at least be E2E encrypted and not controlled by discord/telegram. github.com/fastfinge/hermes-xmpp-plugin

3

8

3

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@VE3RWJ @bermudianbrit @FreakyFwoof If you want an accessible usenet reader, microplanet gravity works: github.com/taviso/mpgravity

0

4

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

A weirdly timed #fedidreams: I fell asleep way too early listening to an audiobook, and dreamed that I'd written a game called "terror tray". The way the game worked was that it was an application that you run and keep in your system tray, and the longer it runs, the more terrified you become. So you have to run Terror Tray for as long as you can manage, before you become so scared that you can't move anymore to exit the application out of the system tray. Most of the dream, though, was me in court, being charged for murder. Because something was wrong with the Linux port, so as soon as Linux users ran the program, it was just set to full terror and their hearts exploded, killing them instantly. I was arguing loudly with my lawyer who wanted to go with the defense of "They're only Linux users, so it hardly counts as murder." I wasn't so much upset about the defense itself, I just didn't think it would work. Then I woke up feeling angry and annoyed about my stupid lawyer. And now I'm going to get up and listen to music or something as a cleanse before intentionally going to bed for real.

0

4

6

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@bermudianbrit @FreakyFwoof The other big thing IRC is missing is a decent interface for moderators. Like you still have to use slash commands and k-lines and stuff. There's no missing functionality, just missing interfaces. The server I use (called ergo) even supports requiring email verification if I want that. So no more getting around a ban with a VPN or whatever. It's just a pain in the ass for ops who have to learn the commands. But I'm sure that'll eventually get fixed.

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@bermudianbrit @FreakyFwoof The only thing missing is fully E2E private messages. The server owner could still, in theory, read your private messages. But the IRCV3 people are working on an encryption standard based on Signal to fix that. But IRCV3 even has full unicode and utf-8 support these days. And message reactions. And multiline messages. And typing indicators. IMHO IRC has a bright future if discord keeps shooting itself in the face.

1

0

🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

3w

@bermudianbrit @FreakyFwoof Also, modern IRC servers are super cheap to run. Like a raspberry pi can support around 10,000 clients. So there's no more point in multi-server networks and netsplits and all that nonsense. Anyone who wants to can just run a server for there community. And IRC fully supports SSL/TLS these days. Goguma is the best IOS client if you want that. I've tested, and at least on irc.rblind.com, push notifications are fully working.

1

0