vocabulary Archives

Winsage

December 3, 2025

2025 – A year in recap

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Windows Accessibility team emphasizes their commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, guided by the principle of “nothing about us without us.” They collaborate with advisory boards from the disability community to enhance product features. Fluid Dictation on Windows allows users to dictate text seamlessly, correcting grammar and punctuation in real time, and operates offline on Copilot+ PCs. Voice Access has been improved to accommodate diverse communication styles, with features like adjustable wait time, a custom word dictionary, flexible command recognition, enhanced speech pattern recognition, and support for Chinese and Japanese. Narrator and Magnifier now feature human-like voices developed with Azure AI, enhancing the user experience with natural conversation nuances. Recent updates to Narrator in Microsoft Word improve navigation and text drafting, with clearer announcements and concise feedback on spelling and grammar. Additional enhancements include a Screen Curtain for privacy, richer image descriptions, and tools for speech recap and live transcription. Users are encouraged to provide feedback to guide further development, and technical assistance is available through the Disability Answer Desk.

BetaBeacon

October 6, 2025

Best new mobile games on iOS & Android

Fire Emblem Shadows is the latest addition to Nintendo's mobile gaming lineup, featuring tactical turn-based combat on a grid with spells for healing or attacking. The game introduces a traitor system but lacks control over troops. Despite this, it offers a unique take on the series with a paid battle pass system.

AppWizard

October 3, 2025

Inside CraftGPT: The ambitious Minecraft chatbot built with 439 million blocks (that actually works)

Sammyuri has created CraftGPT, a Minecraft project made of 439 million blocks, featuring a chatbot with 5 million parameters. CraftGPT has a limited vocabulary, six network layers, quantization methods, and a 64-token context window. The structure measures 1,020 by 260 by 1,656 blocks and required a mod for proper rendering. Sammyuri has previously created notable projects, including a working version of Minecraft within the game and a 1Hz CPU named CHUNGUS 2. CraftGPT takes up to two hours to generate a response. Additionally, CreativeMode is an AI-powered platform that generates functional mods for Java Edition, currently capable of creating items, blocks, or mob-related content, with future plans to expand its capabilities.

AppWizard

October 2, 2025

YouTuber builds working AI chatbot in Minecraft

Minecraft YouTuber Sammyuri has created a project called CraftGPT, which is a compact language model with 5,087,280 parameters and a vocabulary of 1,920 tokens, developed using Python and trained on the TinyChat dataset. The project occupies a space of 1,020 x 260 x 1,656 blocks and requires the Distant Horizons mod for proper rendering. CraftGPT often produces off-topic, grammatically incorrect, or nonsensical responses, with a limited context window of 64 tokens. The response time can take up to two hours, even when using the Minecraft High-Performance Redstone Server (MCHPRS) to speed up processing.

AppWizard

October 2, 2025

The gamers have done it again, this time building a functional ChatGPT in Minecraft—but before you get too excited, it takes literally hours to provide a response

A YouTuber named sammyuri has created a version of ChatGPT called CraftGPT within Minecraft, which features approximately 5 million parameters and uses the TinyChat dataset for basic English conversations. CraftGPT has a vocabulary limited to 1,920 tokens and operates with a small context window of 64 tokens, leading to responses that can be off-topic, ungrammatical, or nonsensical. The model is slow, taking hours to generate a response even with an accelerated tick rate, and could take up to a decade without a specialized multithreaded server.

AppWizard

July 20, 2025

These are the 6 Android widgets I simply can’t live without

Megan Ellis shares her essential Android widgets that enhance productivity and streamline daily tasks. 1. TickTick: A to-do list application with widgets for creating new tasks and displaying overdue/upcoming tasks, helping Megan stay organized and manage stress. 2. Google Calendar: A functional calendar widget that allows Megan to monitor upcoming events and meetings, particularly useful for significant events. She appreciates its dark mode feature. 3. Vocabulary: An app that provides a new word daily through its widget, allowing users to expand their vocabulary without opening the app. 4. Clock/Weather: The default Weather app widget combines time, date, and weather forecasts, streamlining her morning routine. She uses Google automation for evening updates and IFTTT notifications for temperature changes. 5. Brave Search: A search widget that offers quick access to search queries and voice search, enhancing her browsing experience with a cleaner, ad-free environment. 6. Xiaomi Home: An alternative to Google Home, this app provides widgets for quick access to smart home devices, allowing Megan to monitor and adjust settings remotely.

Winsage

July 12, 2025

Windows 11 Build 27898 introduces taskbar icon scaling and system recovery improvements

Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898 to the Canary Channel, introducing several new features aimed at enhancing usability and recovery. Key features include: - Taskbar Icon Scaling: The taskbar will automatically reduce icon sizes when it reaches capacity, with three customizable options for users regarding icon size. - Quick Machine Recovery: This feature allows automatic recovery from boot issues using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), connecting to the internet for targeted fixes from Windows Update. - Accessibility Enhancements: Users can add custom words to the voice access dictionary, and a new Screen Curtain feature for the Narrator screen reader enhances privacy by blacking out the display. - Energy Saver Feature: An adaptive energy saver mode is being rolled out for battery-powered devices, managing energy saver settings based on power state and system load. - Sharing Features: The Windows share window now shows visual previews of shared content and allows users to select compression settings for images. - Performance Improvements: Enhancements have been made to file extraction for large archives, and the Snipping Tool now has a shortcut for launching the text extractor. - Default Browser Management: Users can set their default browser to handle PDFs and pin it to the Start menu and taskbar. The build also addresses various issues within File Explorer and Settings, although some known problems remain, such as display distortion in Remote Desktop on Arm64 PCs.

Winsage

July 11, 2025

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898 (Canary Channel)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898 has been released to the Canary Channel. Key features include: - Taskbar Icon Scaling: Icons on the taskbar can automatically resize when the taskbar is full, with options to keep them at original size or always small. - Quick Machine Recovery: This feature identifies and resolves common issues automatically via the Windows Recovery Environment, reducing downtime. - Custom Words in Voice Access: Users can add custom words to the voice access dictionary to improve dictation accuracy. - Screen Curtain in Narrator: This feature blacks out the display for privacy while using Narrator. - Privacy Dialogs Update: Privacy dialogs for app permissions have been redesigned for better focus. - Accessibility Enhancements: Text descriptions for assistive technologies have been added to the Accessibility flyout. - File Explorer Improvements: Dividers have been added to the context menu for better organization. - Adaptive Energy Saver: An opt-in feature that manages energy saver settings based on power state and system load. - Windows Share Updates: Visual previews are now shown when sharing links or web content. - Expanded Voice Access Support: Voice access now supports Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. - Narrator Guidance: Narrator will guide users through its features with modal windows. - Settings Adjustments: The selected country or region during setup is now displayed in Settings. Fixes include performance improvements in File Explorer, resolution of input issues with the touch keyboard, and fixes for crashes in Settings. Known issues involve potential loss of Windows Hello PIN on new Copilot+ PCs and graphical issues with Remote Desktop on Arm64 PCs.

AppWizard

July 11, 2025

6 free Android apps I use to learn something new every day

Megan Ellis reflects on her educational journey, transitioning from a childhood interest in encyclopedias to using modern learning apps. She navigates various platforms to learn in bite-sized lessons due to time constraints. In a poll, 75% of respondents use only one learning app at a time, with none using multiple simultaneously, and 25% do not use any learning apps. 1. Mimo is a coding app that offers concise lessons tailored to individual learning paths. Ellis is taking an introductory Python course to enhance her coding skills. 2. Drops is a vocabulary app for language learning that allows users to select specific topics. It has a daily time limit unless users subscribe to a premium version. Ellis uses it to supplement her Mandarin vocabulary. 3. The Vocabulary app helps users expand their English vocabulary by allowing them to choose types of words to learn, including slang. It sends daily notifications and has a home screen widget for reminders. 4. Primer requires a subscription or scholarship for access. Ellis received a scholarship and explores short lessons in computer science and other topics of interest. 5. Reddit provides value through its communities, where Ellis joins subreddits related to her professional interests and other topics like zoology and history. 6. The Facts app offers daily trivia tailored to user interests, with customizable topics and a widget for easy access. Some content is subscription-based, but it aligns with her desire for quick learning experiences.

AppWizard

June 27, 2025

The best PC games of 2025 (that don’t need a graphics card)

In 2025, several innovative games have emerged that cater to players without high-end graphics requirements. - 9 Kings: An early access game focused on base-building and strategy, where players construct armies on limited tiles and face randomized enemies. - Pipstrello and the Cursed Yoyo: A vibrant adventure game reminiscent of Game Boy Advance titles, featuring real-time combat and puzzles, with a soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura. - So to Speak: A gamified language learning puzzle game that helps players learn Japanese vocabulary and culture. - The Roottrees are Dead: An investigative game exploring a plane crash mystery, combining genealogy and drama, now available in a remastered version on Steam. - Cast N Chill: A relaxing fishing game with pixel art aesthetics, allowing players to catch and document various fish. - Wizordum: A fast-paced action game that mixes first-person shooter mechanics with spell-slinging, featuring a level editor. - Glass Cannon: A physics-based puzzle game with roguelike elements, where players shoot at enemies with limited bullets. - Urban Myth Dissolution Center: A psychic investigator game with retro aesthetics and a narrative inspired by Japanese horror. - Chronicles of the Wolf: A side-scrolling action game set during the Beast of Gévaudan attacks, reminiscent of classic titles like Castlevania. - Desktop Survivors 98: A survival game featuring Clippy in a whimsical digital landscape, paying homage to early computing days.