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André Polykanine

@menelion@dragonscave.space
mastodon 4.7.2+glitch
  • Open on dragonscave.space

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.

778 Followers
1437 Following
50 Posts
Joined December 29, 2021
Interests:
#IT, #SoftwareDevelopment, #AI, #Microsoft, #Windows, #Books, #Languages, #Music, #Ethnography, #ScreenReaders, #Accessibility
Spoken Languages:
English, français, українська, русский, deutsch
GitHub:
https://github.com/Menelion
About me in emojis:
👩‍❤️‍👨, 👨‍💻, 🎙️, 🎹, 🚶‍♂️, 👨‍🦯, 🧝‍♂️, 🐉, 🚳, 🚊, 🚆, ✈️, 🐈; 🥖, 🥩, 🍫, 🍔, 🍟
Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago

A post I've recently boosted starts with: "I know #Mastodon hates LLMs and AI."
and unfortunately, it's very true. Although #Fediverse apologists keep saying it's "for everyone", it's actually not. To be welcome on most Mastodon servers, you *ought* to love or hate someone and something you were told to love and hate by leftists de facto governing Mastodon. I won't go into details, but for example, if you don't hate so-called "big tech" and "tech bros", if you don't hate capitalism, if you don't hate AI, if you are not leftist (ideally far/extreme left), — you might have problems on this network.
There are exceptions of course, most significant I know of being the #Blind community exiled from Twitter after Musk banned third-party clients, but again, most of the servers' signup forms say literally this: leftist, anti-AI, anticapitalist, anti-big-tech, pro-open-source (which is not bad per se, but often it drifts to "If you are not using Linux desktop and don't want to, you're evil"). And if you do not suit those standards, you are automatically stigmatized and treated… another way, let's put it like this.
Why this rant? Just for people to understand that this network is also biased, like any other. Many times I heard things like "look, X/Twitter is biased, it's for conservatives", "TikTok and SnapChat are biased, it's for youngsters", and "Mastodon is not biased, it's for everyone".
Nope, it is biased. It is. Like all other network. Except for YouTube probably (too many videos for every taste 😊).

dragonscave.space

The Dragon's Cave

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 3mo ago
There is a petition to #UK parliament to "Introduce an immediate ban on the sale and promotion of smart glasses". Rename it "anti-blind people petition". Or "anti-accessibility petition". You're "welcome". Instead of urging governments to make manufacturers to increase glasses security, modern leftist answer is only one: ban. Ban everything, no matter what. there are success stories, like when EU de facto made Apple to ship their phones with a standardized USB-C. Not banned iPhones all through the EU, but nudged and urged the manufacturer to change their form-factor. It's the same: smart glasses are of a huge help to some vulnerable categories, namely blind people. But no, ban selling. Forever. AI? Ban! Social networks for children? Ban! Smart glasses? Ban! right-wing politicians? Ban! to me it smells the very phenomenon they accuse everyone of. #Accessibility #blind #FarLeft
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@amir@dragonscave.space I do use FileZilla still, but there is a trick. Add a show_all=1 URL parameter, like this: https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?show_all=1 then download Windows X64 edition as usual. You'll get a normal version without the bloat. #FileZilla #Lifehack
filezilla-project.org
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@miki@dragonscave.space @pvagner Earlier I was resenting something like culpability because I had to tear myself in two between moral and practical. Now I'm absolutely 150% calm: I'm deprived of a basic sense, I need special requirements for me to work and live my full life, so #Accessibility is the only thing I care of. If a company preaches so-called "inclusion" and "diversity" and is super aware of people's pronouns, allows to select a gender from a list of fourteen items, has a carbon footprint on each page and writes long posts about why AI and "big tech" are evil, but absolutely doesn't give a flying F about me and my needs, I don't care how moral this company is, sorry for being harsh.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
RE: https://mstdn.social/@tefida/116985682799477660 Nothing unusual, just a man performing "The lion sleeps tonight" in front of… a literal living lion!
mstdn.social
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@pvagner @Codeberg@social.anoxinon.de @troed@swecyb.com Sorry but "a friendly support" as an accessible CAPTCHA alternative is absolutely not an option in 2026. there are audio captchas, math captchas, checkbox based captchas, captchas where you have to pick the correct sound (like "Select which of the three is a cat meowing"), something I definitely forgot — and "contact support to register" is the most humiliating and discriminating option you can ever imagine. It implies human intervention, so it's not #Accessibility, it's a crutch. And I'm not even talking about LLM here.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@JenMsft@mastodon.social Meow!
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@pvagner Sorry again, but I don't care about anything except for #Accessibility. I'm blind and I spend too much time fighting inaccessible solutions.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @Tutanota@mastodon.social

And no mention of #Accessibility. EAA? didn't hear, no. buy open source, European, whatever, and you blind people, you can F yourselves with great pleasure.

mastodon.social
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

Well, #Eurovision is over this year.
congratulations #Bulgaria!
Honestly… it's by far not my favorite song this year, and many of those songs will land in my playlist of the best.
Bulgaria, land of Verka siderova, Boris Mashalov, Vlkana Stoyanova and many other greatest voices of this planet, could have sent something more… songy. but anyway, congratulations!
#Israel is the second, and it's quite deserved. The song is catchy, Noam has a great voice.
It's sad #Croatia, #Albania, #France, #Ukraine and #Malta got less points I expected.
And the single point for the #UnitedKingdom is a robbery, sorry.
#ESC2026

dragonscave.space

The Dragon's Cave

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

Listening to Claudio #Merulo. Ideal both for working and for meditation. It's 16th century organ music. Yes, probably it's not for everyone, but if it's for you, it's an absolute delight. #Music #ClassicalMusic #PipeOrgan #RenaissanceMusic

dragonscave.space
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @zersiax@cupoftea.social

Definitely not just you, same feelings here.

cupoftea.social
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@matt@toot.cafe Absolutely not. I'm a software engineer, I coded before LLMs, and if they go (which I would grief), I'll still code. Five times slower, but I will. Also, without LLMs I wouldn't afford diving deep into languages I consider difficult to read and maintain (like Rust, sorry).
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@zersiax@cupoftea.social @matt@toot.cafe I woulnd't say it's that awful quality-wise, if you steer it correctly with detailed plans, project conventions, guards, hooks etc. At least, when I see what it produces in languages I know, it's not awful.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago

RE: @drwhax@infosec.exchange

Be ready to receive lots of crappy comments from AI haters.

infosec.exchange

DrWhax: "I know Mastodon hates LLM's and AI. So here goes!…" - Infosec Exchange

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@Chia@lamp.leemoon.network Отличный список! Читал не всё, но многое. Только тсс… Грибоедов, он как бы, кхе-кхе… Александр Сергеевич)
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

Aujourd'hui Nathalie et moi avons visité #Nancy et on a beaucoup aimé la ville. On se promenait plutôt au centre-ville, donc je voudrais y aller pour découvrir encore plus.
Malheureusement, on a pas vu le grand orgue de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation si bien échantillonné par Piotr Grabowski et je ne sais même pas si le grand instrument chante encore ou il est en panne / en réparation.
#Voyage #France #EnDécouvrantLaFrance

dragonscave.space
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @harmonycorrupted@kinkycats.org

Absolutely! An even worse thing is to say: "It's too late for you to start!". Yesterday heard about a Ukrainian lady who just started painting. She is 84 years old.

kinkycats.org
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 3mo ago
Replying to
@Lino0876@mstdn.social @alexchapman@vee.seedy.cc I'm afraid, they will put down their beer and wine, but for another reason.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 3mo ago
Replying to
@stux@mstdn.social but isn't it democracy, to be *free* in expresing one's personal political views? I read about this party, I wouldn't vote for them (they toy with marxism, and I was born in the USSR, so I know how dangerous is communism in its every flavor), but I don't see why someone can deprive a person from having right to expose his political views, unrelated to the company he's working in. Otherwise it's cult, not a democracy. for instance, if tomorrow Apple pays me to develop Mac OS apps, I won't throw away my personal Windows computer just because I work at Apple. It's the same.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 3mo ago
Replying to
@ToniBarth@troet.cafe @matt@toot.cafe for me as a technosolutionist that's easy: if a technology poses a problem, we need to invent another technology to solve it. that's how the tech progress works. Coal/fuel energy is bad, hence there is solar and nuclear, for example.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @JeffBishop@mastodon.online

Oh right, command palette! Thanks for the reminder!

mastodon.online
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @AmIsraLHai@mastodon.social

Absolument lunaire, évidemment. Et puis on se demande pourquoi on est derrière lest États-Unis en économie, en technologie et surtout en inventions. Parce que personne ne veut de ça.

mastodon.social

David Falkenberg 🎗️: "Je viens de tomber sur un extrait de l’interventi…" - Mastodon

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @TheQuinbox@dragonscave.space

Absolute crystal truth!

dragonscave.space
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu

And yet you preach "go Linux now!!!" which excludes most of blind people.

ec.social-network.europa.eu
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @wiljames@tweesecake.social

Absolutely!

tweesecake.social
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

On a dit qu'#Eurovision était en audio description pour la première fois cette année. Merci #FranceTV !

dragonscave.space

The Dragon's Cave

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@contribulle@mastodon.tedomum.net Bien sûr ! L'accessibilité n'est pas du design, ou pas que. si vous développez une solution accessible, elle doit l'être notamment pour les aveugles et utilisateurs de clavier sans souris, et c'est beaucoup plus compliqué que le design proprement dit. Merci !
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
On a essayé de trouver des itinéraires pour aller depuis une grande ville en France (pas Strasbourg), passer une petite journée en touristes. Et la plupart sont accessibles qu'en voiture ou à vélo. Et écoutez ce que je vais vous dire : Si un itinéraire touristique (soi-disant touristique) est accessible qu'en voiture ou à vélo, il n'existe pas pour un grand nombre de gens. Moi, je suis aveugle, ma femme ne conduit pas (partiellement aussi à cause de ses problèmes de vision), on n'a pas et n'aura jamais de vélo. Donc, ces itinéraires-là carrément n'existent pas pour nous. C'est tout, c'est le poste. Je suis vraiment déçu. #Accessibilité #Handicap #TransportEnCommun
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @AmIsraLHai@mastodon.social

Mais qu'est-ce qu'elle est dégoÛtante ! À vomir.

mastodon.social
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @Mara@hachyderm.io

We are kinda outraged, yes, because if Rust follows Zig's strict anti-AI policy, it would mean that we need to search for another language again. #AI

hachyderm.io
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@TheQuinbox@dragonscave.space Wow, that's something new! I've been using a tiny JAWS script of mine for years to type it, because I was an em dash person far before AI.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 3mo ago
Replying to
@alexadeswift@lgbtqia.space @stux@mstdn.social Nope, dehumanizing is absolutely not permitted. But it's by law, not by political views. I.e., if someone says that you're not a human being, this person must be first warned, then punished, independently of their political views. Here however the scandal is: one of company's CEOs made a *personal* donation to a political party, which caused some people to boycott this company. Sorry, but I don't see any relation. Personal is personal, work is work. I would agree if he said something like "this and this group of people is not welcome to purchase my products" — that would've been discrimination (we as blind people face this every day, btw).
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @ffnwz@mstdn.social

Да благословит его Император!

mstdn.social
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@asael@mastodon.ml Yepp. There were several countries far better musically.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@troed@swecyb.com @Codeberg@social.anoxinon.de If that's true, I'll stop keeping (almost) silence because registration requires an inaccessible CAPTCHA, I'll start actively recommending against it.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@Caoimhe@dragonscave.space I actually liked Israel's song quite much. Of course, given the situation and anti-Israel hysteria, it would been impossible, indeed.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@ppatel@mstdn.social @TheQuinbox@dragonscave.space But I use various such punctuation, like correct quotes in French, Ukrainian, and Russian, everywhere, not only in Word, so this addition is a very nice thing.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

Really thinking about joining @bitsacb@dragonscave.space.

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

today is the grand final. I wish France, Ukraine and Albania good luck. Listen to them, if not yet. For example, this masterpiece is from #Albania. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9AdRrA554o #Eurovision #ESC2026

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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@Orinks@mastodon.stickbear.me @technocounselor@caneandable.social Oh, they have AI and dev lists? I'm convinced!
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago

RE: @mattburgess@infosec.exchange

And
#
Accessibility
and
#
EAA
are lost and forgotten. Happy
#
GAAD
everyone., quoting mattburgess (mattburgess): New from me: France is done with US big tech companies—arguably its moving away from American tech faster than other countries in Europe

The French government has built its own replacement for Google Docs/Microsoft Office. Cities, including Lyon, are moving to Linux and other tech. Open source is at the center of their efforts.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-eu-is-going-through-a-trump-fueled-breakup-with-big-tech/
#tech #digitalsovereignty #opensource #techn

infosec.exchange
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Just read #Microsoft will tie #Windows activation to the mother board somehow. Don't know how it will work, but what if someone upgrades the RAM, or changes the CPU, or whatever else? Usually hardware-bound activations are a pain in the back, but let's see.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 3mo ago
Replying to
Long post
@bright_helpings@mspsocial.net My point is that I want alternatives for people like me. Okay, they ban glasses tomorrow, what is the alternative for us? You know, the main reason why I'm so angry at leftists, especially far left, is that they never ever propose an alternative. They disguise themselves as super mega kind, pro-humanity, pro-environment and blah blah blah, but in fact they just want power, more power, the most power, and a huge ban hammer to ban everything. Like okay, they want to ban cars in a city and make everyone use bicycles. I ask: what aboud blind people, people on crutches, people who feel simply bad today, etc.? The answer: crickets. They want to ban Google, Microsoft, everything big tech. I ask: what about accessibility, how I as a blind person would work to gain my daily bread? Answer: either crickets again, or "well, first you go to Linux, and then we make it accessible, some day". When I say that it doesn't work like that, that a blind person cannot work in an inaccessible software environment, I get accused of being a fascist/nazi/whatever. Now they want to ban smart glasses. I ask a simple question: what about us? If you see a guy recording women, fine that guy! Develop an AI-based solution or not AI-based, that would track such activity. He must pay or even maybe get in prison, that's true. But not *ban the whole technology*. You know, some evil people kill other people with kitchen knives. So will they ban kitchen knives then?
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
It seems, it's the first time when I see this on #YouTube: The uploader has not made this video available in your country. Weird.
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Open post
André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@tardis@tardis.pw @Caoimhe@dragonscave.space Listen to Albania, Croatia, France, Malta, Ukraine, Israel. Those are good.
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André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 2mo ago
Replying to
@zersiax@cupoftea.social but is Doordash available in the EU?
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André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@bitsacb@dragonscave.space Are you okay with the fact I'm not in the US? Thanks!
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André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@technocounselor@caneandable.social thanks Allison! What did you get from it?
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André Polykanine @menelion@dragonscave.space
· 4mo ago
Replying to
@alexia@shrimp.starlightnet.work What is your attitude to accessibility? Do you care about it, do you know/want to learn about it? My main concern about Discord is its poor accessibility/usability.
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