Datatalk / Touch Portal.
Why doesn't Windows have a, per application, setting to allow that specific application to be brought to the front by other apps and itself? It would save a lot of headaches.
Writing / Datatalk / TTS.
I've added a TTS example for those that want to hear the difference between SAPI5, Windows 11 'Immersive Reader' and Amazon Polly.
It's on YouTube and you can find it here: https://youtu.be/xL8vxo3a2zo. It's also wrong 😇 I'm pretty sure it actually uses Azure Cloud neural... I've added a post with more samples of different sites and engines.
Datatalk / Magix.
Magix repacks and resells other products. Some of those are great (Xara comes to mind) but Magix often manages to screw up their installation and support procedures. And don't get me started on license issues...
And in several ways they did it again... sigh.
Writing / Datatalk / TTS.
Windows has a build-in TTS engine which is better than the older SAPI5 engine, but... it's a little hard to get at. And silly enough, any regular program (for example Balabolka) that calls the SAPI5 API routines isn't using the new code in Windows.
But it's actually very easy to use with a little workaround! And the quality is definitely better than, for example, Word's built-in TTS tool.
Datatalk.
Here's a nice and troublesome one. When you use an external keyboard with a tablet, such as the Logitech K380 together with the Samsung Tab S6 Lite, you may suffer from spontaneous 'language switches', which seem to eat up spaces when typing.
Don't throw away your external keyboard yet. There might be a solution. (I also found some other issues with the Samsung keyboard driver when trying to figure this out. Read on.)
Datatalk / TTS.
This is a step-by-step instruction of how to set up Amazon Polly.
Unfortunately, it doesn't solve my real problem: I am looking for a way to use Polly voices with a TTS reader, such as Balabolka. There are some problems...
Well, at least I managed to get Amazon running, in spite of their poor online instructions.
DIY.
LED lamps use less energy and last much longer. Though, perhaps, not as long as often suggested.
Ikea suggests their LED lamps can last up to 20 years. Well... probably... if you leave them off.
Violence. Explosions. Dave Bautista. A movie without a point.
I am completely unsure what to make of this one. It's just a movie, with lots of violence, supposedly about Texas separating itself from the rest of the US. It's not entertaining, and the only message it sends is that war kills. And even then it sends that message poorly.
In one fell swoop Scott Adams pretty much killed his primary source of income: Dilbert.
That's... sad. Not because I like Scott Adams. In fact, I never liked him much with his borderline Trump adoration, and the smug way he presents himself as the all-knowing. This time he went one step further and basically dug his own grave by publishing a near racist rant that's simply over the edge. As a result, a 100+ newspapers kicked him and his cartoon out.
I understand the worry and need for 'sensitivity readers' but I'd also worry about 'giving in' too much. You see, you can't care about each and every opinion, and you're bound to step on some toes, no matter what. So, the question is: are you looking to 'remove' sensitive matters from your work entirely (for example because you're afraid to insult someone), or are you looking for expertise on specific subjects?
In my opinion, there's a lot of difference between the two.
Wintermoon by Dean Koontz would make a good movie. As a book, it's just 'so...so...'. I can't recall the title (Splinter perhaps?) but it resembles another book I read quite some time ago. Something about 'something alien invading earth modifying (dead) animals and stuff alike'. Anyway, this book was good enough to keep my attention for three or four hours during the flight back to the Netherlands... I wouldn't read it again though.
Sandman Slim is everything Bobby Dollar tries to be... hardboiled, noir-styled, supernatural detective. It's moody, dark, first-person present tense, and the hero is just as much a jerk as you and me... if not even more so.
Wallpaper.
I have to believe Serenity is still flying...
No matter what you think of Jos Whedon, he did leave some very good television in his legacy. Buffy, Dollhouse, and Firefly are simply standouts in the (cult) television series landscape.
