André Polykanine

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](https://dragonscave.space/tags/IT ), [#SoftwareDevelopment](https://dragonscave.space/tags/SoftwareDevelopment ), [#AI](https://dragonscave.space/tags/AI ), [#Microsoft](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Microsoft ), [#Windows](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Windows ), [#Books](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Books ), [#Languages](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Languages ), [#Music](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Music ), [#Ethnography](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Ethnography ), [#ScreenReaders](https://dragonscave.space/tags/ScreenReaders ), [#Accessibility](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Accessibility )
Spoken Languages: English, français, українська, русский, deutsch
GitHub: https://github.com/Menelion
About me in emojis: 👩‍❤️‍👨, 👨‍💻, 🎙️, 🎹, 🚶‍♂️, 👨‍🦯, 🧝‍♂️, 🐉, 🚳, 🚊, 🚆, ✈️, 🐈; 🥖, 🥩, 🍫, 🍔, 🍟

Public Key

npub1csj98793mr94h0cqmy0754eh7e45qa6u524kpmjmtwycq4td7uqsnny0c8

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsvgfznlzca3j6mhuqdj8l22umlv66qwaw292mqaed4hzvq24klwqgprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntygt7wd

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1csj98793mr94h0cqmy0754eh7e45qa6u524kpmjmtwycq4td7uqsnny0c8

Show more details

Published at

2026-08-02T21:27:13Z

Kind type

0 Metadata

Event JSON

{ "id": "d7fc361e204d2fb4c183f08e20f402f166ff2ec7959a1d3a8eb8a0606308efa5", "pubkey": "c42453f8b1d8cb5bbf00d91fea5737f66b40775ca2ab60ee5b5b8980556df701", "created_at": 1785706033, "kind": 0, "tags": [ [ "t", "accessibility" ], [ "t", "php" ], [ "t", "ai" ], [ "t", "csharp" ], [ "t", "backend" ], [ "proxy", "https://dragonscave.space/users/menelion", "activitypub" ], [ "L", "pink.momostr" ], [ "l", "pink.momostr.activitypub:https://dragonscave.space/users/menelion", "pink.momostr" ], [ "-" ] ], "content": "{\"name\":\"André Polykanine\",\"about\":\"A married and happy geek living in Strasbourg, France. #Backend software engineer, #accessibility specialist.\\nMy main programming languages are #PHP and #CSharp.\\nPro-European right-centrist. Technical progress must not be stoppable.\\n#AI is our assistant, not our replacement nor our enemy.\\nPagan, worshipper of Scandinavian gods.\\nThis account is multilingual. Posts may contain strong language, not always behind a content warning, and personal opinions.\\nNo alt text, no boost.\\n\\nInterests: [#IT](https://dragonscave.space/tags/IT ), [#SoftwareDevelopment](https://dragonscave.space/tags/SoftwareDevelopment ), [#AI](https://dragonscave.space/tags/AI ), [#Microsoft](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Microsoft ), [#Windows](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Windows ), [#Books](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Books ), [#Languages](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Languages ), [#Music](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Music ), [#Ethnography](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Ethnography ), [#ScreenReaders](https://dragonscave.space/tags/ScreenReaders ), [#Accessibility](https://dragonscave.space/tags/Accessibility )\\nSpoken Languages: English, français, українська, русский, deutsch\\nGitHub: https://github.com/Menelion\\nAbout me in emojis: 👩‍❤️‍👨, 👨‍💻, 🎙️, 🎹, 🚶‍♂️, 👨‍🦯, 🧝‍♂️, 🐉, 🚳, 🚊, 🚆, ✈️, 🐈; 🥖, 🥩, 🍫, 🍔, 🍟\\n\",\"website\":\"https://dragonscave.space/@menelion\",\"picture\":\"https://media.dragonscave.space/accounts/avatars/107/531/720/646/985/062/original/4eb649c5119d6a08.jpg\",\"nip05\":\"[email protected]\"}", "sig": "af42450e04ad9b19590a2875b02c196fd34b7c6fce8c54435651c9b80dc3cf875370f02b243c9118d7a5fb43fd069d853640683cb92d8c28fd4ef229cb4d51bf" }

Last Notes

2026-07-28 21:24:41 GMT

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 😊).

2026-07-22 21:19:08 GMT

- reply

If that's true, I'll stop keeping (almost) silence because registration requires an inaccessible CAPTCHA, I'll start actively recommending against it.

2026-03-27 23:17:17 GMT

- reply

It's nothing to do with accessibility. Accessibility hashtag is for content related to, well, accessibility which is ensuring the content to be accessible for people with disabilities.

2026-02-01 12:07:19 GMT

- reply

Where can I post issues, please? For me, when I tested element, focus was jumping constantly, I had no accessible notifications of new messages, I couldn't read longer messages, etc., etc. I'd be glad to help because Matrix seems very promising, but I wish it were fully accessible also. Thanks!

2026-02-01 11:37:08 GMT

- reply

I'm totally blind, people like me use special software called screen readers which convey the information for us in speech and/or Braille. Not every app or website is inherently ready for it. It is called digital accessibility, or simply #Accessibility. There are standards and (in several locations) laws enforcing it. The most prominent world standard everyone bases their local laws of is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG, most commonly read as "wick-cagg"). Unfortunately, I didn't find any Matrix client for Windows or web accessible for screen reader users.

2026-02-01 11:22:56 GMT

- reply

If only that software was accessible to everyone, that would have been great. but nope.

2026-01-10 16:54:28 GMT

Sorry, I can't resist showing you one more.
"One night in Bangkok but it's a 16th century chanson"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3jHv0GZB9U
Note, performed by one single man, Jonas Wolf, he did all the voices.
#Music #Baroque #YouTube

2025-12-20 14:19:31 GMT

- reply

Interestingly enough, in Russian computer slang "meter" is a megabyte. And software "weighs" (also in slang). So, there used to be a joke: "How to make a physics teacher crazy? Ask them to solve this problem: A piece of software weighs 2 meters. What time is needed to pass it through a 56 kbps channel?"

2025-12-06 19:42:39 GMT

- reply

they don't belong? They need to leave?!! As a man, I'm deeply disgusted and appalled by such claims. Are women not people? what a hideous, awful, absolutely impossible… I lack for words, except for curses.
Many and many inventions in technology are made by women. To quote only one example, closest to me: I'm a blind developer, and I use text-to-speech every day.
Before 1998 (or so, I might be off by one or two years, it might have been 1996 or 1997) every single blind person who needed a Windows screen reader and wanted to use JAWS had to buy a super expensive hardware speech synthesizer, prices ranked from $1000 and up.
In 1998 (or nearly, as I said), JAWS 3.2 appeared, containing Eloquence, a high quality, super fast software synthesizer used by many still today and even on various platforms nowadays, including iOS and Android.
You guessed it already, who is the inventor and developer of Eloquence.
Dr. Susan Hertz.
and it's only one absolutely revolutionary thing that made PCs available for lots and lots of blind people.

2025-05-27 14:08:15 GMT

- reply

Accessibility for screen reader users. I'm blind myself and I often host or take part in webinars where are other participants with extremely high accessibility needs. So, if a platform is not accessible or even less accessible than others, security or venderlocks become just beautiful words.

2025-05-24 17:31:21 GMT

- reply

What's the point of boycotting the vote? If you wanted to change the result, you should have voted for other countries, that's it. But if you keep silence, nobody counts your voice and nobody knows your opinion.

2025-05-17 15:54:07 GMT

- reply

I do know it, of course, and I started my reply with it. Everyone knows that he will be immediately in prison if he finishes this war. My point was just not to accuse this girl personally, that's it.

2025-05-17 13:51:52 GMT

- reply

What about October the 7th? Yes, Netanyahu is a criminal and he uses his power and this war to avoid being put in prison, but why no one remembers about October the 7th absolutely horrific attack where this girl survived hiding under a pile of dead bodies of her neighbors?

2025-05-10 11:52:56 GMT

To all #OpenSource and #Linux warriors, to all saying "Ditch windows, install Linux", to everyone and every single person: please, spend several minutes and read this. I want you all to read this so you really understand the problem (if you want to understand, of course). And a huge, huge thanks to Aaron @npub1yca…9a9t for starting this post series. https://fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/i-want-to-love-linux-it-doesnt-love-me-back-post-1-built-for-control-but-not-for-people/ #Accessibility

2025-03-21 00:01:27 GMT

- reply

Hey, André here. I used to test accessibility functionality with Otto once. First of all, thank you again for caring about accessibility, it's not very frequent in the open-source community, unfortunately. Yes, URLs are extremely important at least for some of us (like me), and here GitHub keeps doing great job. However, I didn't really understand your concern, what was before and what are you planning to introduce? Thank you. Also, you always know where to find me, please write here or to ap (at) oire.me. I'm willing to help.

2025-03-12 22:27:34 GMT

- reply

If someone actually reads replies, please know that for me Ubuntu is the best Linux distro ever! I know it can be discussed but I install Ubuntu wherever I need Linux. Thank you for your hard work!

2024-11-02 20:19:28 GMT

- reply

I don't ask such a question about *native* apps because to me native apps are simply more comfortable to use, if they are accessible enough. As for web pseudo-apps, I don't see the need of such an effort. Either develop a normal native app or don't lie to users that you have a "Windows app".

2024-11-02 01:00:34 GMT

Unpopular opinion from a desktop apps fan: why does anybody need a #ChatGPT desktop app if it's just, well, website wrapped in a Windows executable?

2024-10-26 22:22:51 GMT

- reply

Do you know anything about its accessibility for screen reader users? Unfortunately, everything I've ever tried from JetBrains, was far from being usable by a screen reader user.

2024-10-23 17:48:07 GMT

- reply

The mansion, I can renovate it, but what would I do with those comics? Sell it maybe, but other than that…

2024-09-24 15:55:44 GMT

- reply

Or, you can use @npub19jk…pymw which is also an open-source solution that federates to ActivityPub.

2024-09-24 11:04:01 GMT

- reply

do you have an RSS feed or just YouTube?

2024-09-16 19:15:45 GMT

- reply

I mean… you cannot technically witness the Big Bang because there was no time before it apparently, and the space was condensed into a tiniest dot, so you wouldn't survive. Unless you believe in the Wheel of the Time, which is a hepothesis not worse than others.