#Website Design Long Island

[atdny]

Website Maintenance Tips Every Business Owner Should Know

While website owners do not need to keep their own sites up and running, it’s still very important for them to know how to manage their sites. Your site needs to be kept up-to-date, secure, and accessible with regular updates. Otherwise Google will not show it much traffic love. If you don’t have the resources to hire a full-time webmaster, then it’s a good idea to at least know the basics of website maintenance.

What is website maintenance?

Website maintenance is a vital part of the modern web, and having a solid website maintenance plan can mean the difference between a site that is running at peak performance and one that is, well, not. These days, site performance is more than just a convenience: it can mean the difference between a site that gets noticed and one that is never found. With search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo getting smarter, and the eternal arms race between hackers and defenders constantly in play, site maintenance has never been more important.

Why is maintenance important for the health of your website?

Just like your body needs regular checkups and stays at the gym to stay healthy, the same is true for your website. Whether you employ a professional or do it yourself, regular maintenance is important for keeping your site healthy. Having an active website is important for both commercial and non-commercial reasons. If your site is not maintained, it will lose Google ranking, attract lots of spam traffic and have poor SEO ratings which will lead to decreased profits and popularity.

When should you consider website maintenance?

Keeping your website up-to-date is important, but sometimes you need to focus your attention on it and not just when something breaks or it’s time to add a new feature. Depending on your business, you might want to schedule a maintenance plan only when your site has been down for an hour or when you have a lot of bugs because you can’t be up-to-date. For other businesses, it may be a good idea to schedule maintenance when things get quiet, so that you don’t disrupt any of your site’s visitors.

Who can provide your business website maintenance?

A maintenance contract is a great way to ensure that your site is running properly, and that your Internet hosting provider can quickly handle any issues that arise. Web hosting companies can offer all kinds of maintenance contracts, but you should take a close look before you commit. Some maintenance packages only provide basic services, and might not be worth the money, but others provide a lot more. For example, the company may cover security monitoring, so they can quickly fix any security holes that crop up, while others offer database backup services that are especially valuable if you have customer data stored on your site. 

Website Maintenance: Steps to take

Regular website maintenance is not just about updating your site or working on your site here and there, it is also about maintaining a healthy site on a regular basis. Being proactive with website maintenance can save you headache down the road and keep Google happy too. Following a simple set of steps can keep your website healthy and looking its best so your marketing efforts are optimized for success.

1.       Checking Your Website for Broken Links

Clicking on a broken link is a surefire way to ruin your online experience. The links on your website may appear to work perfectly fine for you, but there’s no telling how they’ll eventually behave for your visitors. Before going live, you should thoroughly check all of your website’s links for errors to ensure that all of the links you place on your website will take visitors to the pages they expect to land on.

2.       Updating Your Website CMS

If you are thinking about updating your website CMS version (Content Management System), you may be wondering how much work updating your CMS will be. Updating a CMS can be quite simple, or it can be a very complicated process depending on two things: how outdated your current CMS is, and what kind of CMS you are updating to.

When your website design company says “You need to update your CMS”, you might dread that moment. But it doesn’t have to be scary! For technically savvy people, updating a CMS may be a fairly easy task. But for those uncomfortable with php code and databases, it can be overwhelming. Sometimes it’s best to consider hiring an expert to update your website CMS for you.

3.     Update Your Website Plugins

Updating your plugins is a necessary evil that every website owner must face. It’s not the most fun thing to do, but without it, security holes and other problems can creep into your site and cause all sorts of trouble. We recommend you stay on top of your WordPress plugin updates; otherwise you can wake up to a broken website which may, or may not be recoverable!

4.     Browser Compatibility Testing

Browser compatibility testing is one of the most frustrating and time-consuming steps of our web development process. User experience is very important and while there are several automated solutions for testing website compatibility, many of them do not give you the advanced features you need to make sure your visitors can access your site and convert into a lead or customer! Be sure to test for all the issues your visitors can experience.

5.      Cleaning & Optimizing CSS

When you first launch a website, it’s difficult to imagine how to optimize your CSS. You might start with one file, your HTML, and everything seems fine, but then, as you add more features and functionality to your site, you start to have problems. At some point, your HTML may become too bloated to effectively describe all of the content you want to display. Further, CSS can be difficult to maintain, especially if you are not a designer. Optimizing every component of your website will make it easier to maintain while making it a more effective asset for your business.

6.      Testing Mobile Access

We all know that designing and building a site with clean, easy-to-use, mobile-friendly navigation is key to a site’s success. However, if your site isn’t designed to be mobile-friendly, you’ll be missing out on a large portion of your potential audience: Mobile internet usage is up 83% from 2013, and about 50% of all web traffic will be mobile by the end of this year. This is an aspect of site design that should be taken seriously, and while there are several free online tools to help you test your website’s mobile capability, there are several factors that should be taken into consideration when deciding on a mobile testing tool.

7.      Optimizing for Speed

We all know that having a fast website is important to us, but what is considered fast load speeds and what exactly are we trying to accomplish? Having a fast website is great, however, if it is not loading the correct images, or if it is not loading the correct content it may not matter how fast it is. Not sure if you are meeting Google’s expectations for fast speed times? Take a look at the many tools that are available to help you check your website load times. You can also check your Google Analytics for speed optimization information.

There are numerous factors that determine the speed at which a website loads. The top three factors in website loading times are the quality of the host, the website owner’s website maintenance schedule, and the website hosting company. If you’re unsure about the speed of your website, we can help you better understand! Nothing makes people leave a site faster than slow load times.

8.      SEO Optimization

Many website owners think that Search engine optimization is part of the process of website maintenance. This is a very common question we get from our clients. Maintaining websites SEO utilities is a part of maintaining a website. This includes plugins, optimizing new content and media, etc. But managing older content and media as well as “big picture” search engine optimization is more of an SEO service.

9.      Perform Test Purchases

When you update parts of your website, it’s important to make sure all functions are working properly afterward. Especially on e-commerce websites. Using test purchases is often the only way to verify that your customer-facing website is working exactly as it should. When you’re visually inspecting your website, you’re not necessarily looking for all functionality. For instance, you might be looking for a missing link on the navigation bar, or an error message that pops up when you try to add an item to your shopping cart. But if all that is functioning properly on the updated version of your site, and no one can actually place an order, you’re losing money!

10.  Back Up Your Website

Just like you back-up your documents, pictures, and other important files, it’s important to back-up your website as well. If you’re running a website, chances are you’re using a hosting service to help you keep your site up and running. This is great because it ensures you’ll always have a place to host your site, but there’s one thing you should know: your hosting provider may not back-up your site for you. And losing your website can be a real pain. 

If you’re using a web host that does not offer backup services, we can help!

11.  Update Copyright Notices Annually

Making sure that your site’s copyright information is up-to-date is a good idea on a number of levels. First, with the rise of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, you need to make sure that the information on your site’s copyright page is updated to reflect that you have registered your site with the U.S. Copyright Office. Most won’t have to worry about this, but it’s a safeguard against anyone who might try to claim that your site’s content is theirs.

12.  Review Legal Disclaimers

Websites are not static. They are a living, breathing document that requires regular maintenance. The same goes for your website’s legal disclaimers. In fact, an increasing number of court cases have ruled in favor of litigants citing the language in a website’s legal disclaimers as the reason why they have been defrauded or injured. If your legal disclaimers are out of date and not in sync with your website’s content, you may be putting yourself at risk for costly litigation.

13.  Make your site https / SSL secure

When you’re setting up a new website or maintaining an older website, one of the first things you should consider is whether or not you need an SSL certificate. What is an SSL certificate? It’s a security protocol that encrypts your website’s connection to users, and lets them know that the site is legitimate and has been verified by a trusted certification authority. “Free” SSL certificates used to be commonplace, but now that Let’s Encrypt has brought the cost down to $0, there are very few reasons not to have one.

For better search engine rankings and the peace of mind of your site visitors, go secure. Your Google Analytics and Search Console may need to be updated after you move from an HTTP site to an HTTPS secure site. Keeping track of your site and its security updates will help ensure the success of your business online. 

14.  Test All the Opt-in Forms on Your Website.

Sometimes website owners will contact us as they feel their website is becoming ineffective.  Maybe their conversion rates are decreasing over time. They stop getting calls, leads and sales. Interestingly enough, the cause of this problem is sometimes a broken contact form or form code errors on the website. Site visitors are literally unable to submit their email, enter their information for you to contact them, or even make a purchase. This is inexcusable! It’s imperative to test your websites forms and source code after each and every update to be sure they are still working properly. You could be losing out on potential customers email addresses, contact info or even purchases.

15.  Change Your Passwords regularly

You’ve probably heard about how important it is to change your passwords regularly, but why is that? It’s important because a lot of people don’t tend to write down the passwords to their online accounts, so if someone gets hold of your password, then they can easily access your accounts without you knowing. Not only that, but when you change your passwords regularly, it means that if someone DID find out your password, then it would only be good for a short period of time. For something that is as important as control of your website, it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to change your passwords regularly.

16.  Keep websites contact information updated

Keeping your contact information current is a necessary part of owning a website. If you can’t be reached quickly and easily that could mean lost sales, lost customers, and frustrated friends. If you want to make sure you stay in touch and don’t miss any of the action, keep your records up to date. This will allow your clients to reach you quickly and easily. Your website is your online salesperson. It’s your online representative. Keeping it current will keep you competitive in your field.

17.  Fix Broken Links and Images

If you own a website, you probably know that images are important but also break from time to time. A minor code update can wreak havoc on a website. Now, if you are like most people, you may ignore any broken image you find. This is a bad idea. All that broken image can do is confuse your audience, turning them off to your site. Luckily, there are a few really easy ways to fix broken images on your site, and the solution that works best for you will depend on what kind of website you have.

What benefits does a well maintained website provide?

A well maintained website provides many benefits. A well maintained website attracts more clients, and a well maintained website is easier for potential clients to navigate. There is a direct correlation between the popularity of a website and the amount of maintenance that is done to keep it current. A website is a form of advertising that has a much greater potential than any printed advertisement. A well maintained website is also much easier to navigate. Visitors to the website are less likely to become frustrated and leave.

If you’re searching for quick website maintenance tips or an affordable maintenance service or help with separate website maintenance tasks, get in touch! We always use clean code, design search engine friendly sites and can even keep your site maintenance current with content updates, good search ranking and any type of functionality you’re looking to achieve!

[alexrodes]

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Website Design

Web design creates websites and design pages with all the company's information while providing a user-friendly experience. Layout is the most important factor when it comes to website design. Website Design Long Island NY is one of the best website designers.

[syboubou]

Country kitchen set

Introducing the highly-anticipated "Country Kitchen" custom content set, where rustic charm meets timeless elegance! 

It's been a year since my last kitchen release, and I've poured my heart and soul into creating this one. because of the complexity and intricacy of kitchen sets, I took my time to perfect every detail. Inspired by my own home search, this kitchen is a reflection of the warmth and comfort I longed for.

Say goodbye to traditional counters and welcome a stunning table island, perfect for meal preparation and socializing. Sims can now engage with bar stools while whipping up their favorite dishes. The fireplace comes with wall slots, allowing you to showcase decor items that add character and charm.

The counters and cabinets have been thoughtfully designed with accent elements, offering a versatile look in 11 swatches of wood tones and pastel painted colors. I wanted this kitchen to fit seamlessly into any home, exuding rustic sophistication. To truly bring the heart of the home to life, I've added a plethora of clutters that breathe authenticity and fill the room with vibrancy. 

Description

This set includes 28 new items, low poly and basegame compatible.

Furnitures: Counters, accent counter with vegetables crate, table island, cabinet, accent cabinet with glass front or plates shelf, hood fireplace (available in 3 heights), bar stool.

Appliances: Double oven&stove, sink, trashbin.

Light: Ceiling lanter light (available in 3 heights)

Decor: Condiment clutter, copper pans, wall towel, bowls pile (with typical french breton design), glass dome, glass jars, wall potholder mittens, wicker lid, wall garlic, olive oil&pepper, cutboards and a vinyl rug.

Download

Available for free download on my website !

[techacs]

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Whether you need us to rewrite the material on your current website, develop new text, craft an effective press release, write a series of social media marketing blurbs,

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[llilyrose]

Do you have fic recommendations 👉👈

Of course!

I would recommend my own fic, but... it's still in the works, unfortunately. No mal du pays content for the weak and elderly.

did you really think i wouldn't recommend ghostlight, of all things? especially with my current drawing series, obviously it's good!

It's a postgame fic centered on loop's and siffrin's (mostly loop's) healing processes post-game, where loop has to learn how to be human again. It's 24 chapters long, about 84k words, has an ongoing sequel (though it's on hiatus), and has a tumblr account you can interact with! @ghostlightfic

here are some other postgame fic recommendations:

Bloom And if I were not myself, would this be easier?

@livesworthlivingau Is a postgame au where Siffrin lives on for 30 years after the loops only to loop back when Odile dies in the future. This fic has a dual chapter system, one set of chapters that focuses on Loop and one set of chapters that focuses on Siffrin. This distinction becomes crucial later on. It also, like ghostlight, has a discord to join :3

I haven't read chokehold of a broken family bond myself, but I've heard wonderful things about it from everyone around me!!!! It's a LONG, ongoing AU fic that I'm sure someone else can provide a synopsis for ;)

Follow the Stars Back Home is another fic I have yet to read, but got recommended and decided to check out. It's postgame and focuses more on Siffrin's Island trauma than their Looping trauma, a nicher aspect people don't explore often.

speaking of aus:

Try It Again, Cheater by @moonstandardtime sends Loop back to their original timeline after breaking free from Siffrin's loops. They and their family have to adjust to this drastic Change and suffer the consequences of a timeline they could never remember.

To Extend our Reach to the Stars Above is a Villain Siffrin au where they meet the King before the party! It's one of only a few fics that explore this concept, all of which are so so interesting to me. Check it out!

Timeloop Support Group by @pixxyofice is a fic about therapy done from the pov of Siffrin and focuses on timeloop trauma. The twist? The people they're stuck with are au versions of their friends who got trapped in time loops themselves!

featured aus:

In Tales and Time (Odile) by @/tealgoat In Cycles and Cessation (Mira) by @/the-bitter-ocean Of Stitches in Sequence by @/basilpaste (which also has two fics on ao3, but i recommend viewing the au on everyone's profiles instead)

-- Oh, hey, Basilpaste!!! They have more bangers up their sleeve!!!! Slay the Savior is a Slay The Princess fusion au with ISAT that features Isabeau as the protagonist and Siffrin as the princess. Not only is the writing excellent but he thought up new designs for each siffrin on each path!!! Not to mention thinking up new paths, too! It's on hiatus, though.

The Dormont Archives are another Basil product, infusing ISAT into The Magnus Archives universe!! Like STS it's done in the style of the media and all of the statements are absurdly creative. It's ongoing with (currently only) 14 chapters, god knows how many planned for the future. (ALSO IT APPARENTLY HAS A DISCORD. I DIDN'T KNOW AABOUT THAT WHILE WRITING IT. go check out basil they put so much effort into this stuff dude 😭)

I've read SO MANY isat fanfics but the majority of them never got bookmarked. Practically all of the ones on ao3 are a good read!!! It's hard to keep track!!! If i missed any of your favorites fanfics on any website, please tell me please. if I've read it it'll get added to the list.

[seahorsepencils]

Hi! Would it be ok to ask whats going on with ppl being biphobic about kate stewart?/gen

I legitimately dont know whats going on? I feel like the pizza guy walking into the burning appt from community meme. Idk if i ever put much hc or thought behind kates relationships tbh, other than maybe she was aroacespec or choosing not to be in a relationship bec of how dangerous UNIT is...

I don't remember anything in the show implying she was sapphic or into Ibrahim (or like another person said in the tags that she had a kid with someone too)

I genuinely dont know wtf is going on or why who fans are fighting about this

Hi anon,

Of course! Thanks for asking. Here’s my attempt at an explanation:

In 2016, during a panel Q&A at Long Island Doctor Who, Jemma Redgrave said that when she first started doing the show, she headcanoned Kate as being married to a woman. At some point in her answer, she alludes to the fact that this may or may not be the case anymore, as she often learns new details about Kate’s life from the showrunners whenever she films another episode. (Jemma's answer starts at 44:54 here.)

Regardless, her initial headcanon has caught on, either as a bit of wishful thinking or as a detail that some perceive to be almost canon in the absence of contradictory evidence on the show or in other materials (i.e. the UNIT audios). In the series 18 episode “Death in Heaven,” Kate described herself as a “mother of two” and “divorcee,” and a popular interpretation of this is that Kate may have been married to a man, and divorced him after (or before) realizing she was a lesbian.

The “almost canon” perspective also holds a lot of weight among some fans of the show because of Jemma Redgrave’s long history of playing queer and queer-coded characters. Even her most ostensibly straight characters tend to offer some sort of challenge to compulsory heterosexuality or patriarchal norms (i.e. they turn to violence after spending years in loveless heterosexual marriages). This has made it very easy to headcanon pretty much any character she’s played as queer. I think some fans tend to also think that Jemma has more influence over her characters than she does - for example, after seeing episodes of DW in which Kate has worn plaid or flannel, fans have suggested that Jemma probably provided her own wardrobe for the show and purposely selected those items to give off gay vibes. (A very niche issue that has contributed to this is Jemma’s habit of repeatedly purchasing her characters’ wardrobe items at half price and then wearing them in real life - in the past, some fans incorrectly assumed that this meant Jemma was bringing her own clothing to set and asking the costume designers if Kate could wear it.) Effectively, many fans have hoped that Jemma’s earlier headcanon for Kate effectively manifested into canon over time, or potentially inspired the showrunners to agree that Kate is queer.

In terms of the Ibrahim stuff, the first piece was a lot of fans noticing that the hand-holding between Kate and Ibrahim in this week’s finale lasted a few seconds longer than one might expect a platonic hand-hold to last. Similarly, some have thought that the moment when she comes back to life and he pulls her up has a certain closeness or intimacy to it. From what I’ve seen, people are split on the topic - some people consider it to be a platonic “happy to be alive” moment, or a show of feelings from Ibrahim that Kate might not reciprocate; others have theorized that Ibrahim and Kate have a very close platonic relationship for some reason, etc.

Shortly after the finale aired, a version of the episode with a cast and crew audio commentary was released on the BBC’s website. In this commentary, while the two aforementioned scenes are playing, the producer, Vicki Delow, makes some comments suggesting she thinks that Kate and Ibrahim are, or should be, a couple. RTD responds to her comments in what sounds like a teasing tone. Here’s my transcript of those moments:

Helping Kate up scene (36:50) Vicki: “I love this. This is my favorite thing in the whole world." RTD: "What, these two?" Vicki: "These two. I just love them.” RTD: “What do you mean, Vicki?” Vicki: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” RTD: “What do you mean? You think they’re friends?” Vicki: “I think they’re more than friends.”

Hand-holding scene outside (37:43) Vicki: “Look, look, look. This is it. Look, look, look.” RTD: “What are you looking at, Vicki Delow?” Vicki: “I love them. I love them.” RTD: “I don’t know what you mean, Vicki. I don't know.” Vicki: “It’s the greatest romance.”

Some folks have interpreted this as Vicki Delow hinting that there’s going to be a future romance between the characters in series 2 - and that RTD is egging her on - i.e. the “I don’t know what you mean” is a wink nudge way of him refusing to directly confirm a future storyline. That’s definitely a possibility. I think it’s also possible that Vicki just really wants them to be a couple, and has gotten a reputation on the production team as a hopeful shipper who wants Kate and Ibrahim to wind up together. In that context, RTD’s teasing her might have a vibe more like “oh Vicki, here you go again, shipping Kate and Ibrahim.”

So basically, a number of fans who have taken Jemma’s past headcanon as canon-adjacent have interpreted Vicki Delow’s “it’s the greatest romance” comment as confirmation that Kate and Ibrahim will have a romantic storyline in the next series, and have posted on social media (mostly Twitter, but a bit on Tumblr) criticizing what they perceive to be the show taking an unexpected position on Kate’s sexual orientation.

The rest might be stuff you’ve already seen, but I’ll summarize just in case: Several of the posts on Twitter and Tumblr have used language that inflexibly imply a gay/straight binary - i.e. “how dare they make Kate straight, she’s a lesbian” - not allowing for the possibility that she’s a bisexual woman to enter into the equation at all. In my other post on this subject I referred to a pattern of bi erasure and biphobia in the Jemma Redgrave fandom. As someone who’s an active member of that fandom, it felt like a concrete instance of some things I’ve seen pretty regularly in the community - and although I’m not as familiar with the DW fandom more generally, it sounds like there may have been some similar past instances of bi erasure or microaggressions in that fandom.

While I’ve categorized the “how dare they make her straight” posts specifically as bi erasure (and I imagine one could make a case that they’re biphobic too), the clear instance of biphobia for me has been in the comments I’ve seen by viewers who said that they would rather pretend Kate died at the start of the episode than accept the presence of a scene where she held hands with a man. In my mind, even as a joke, that seems to imply “better dead than bi or straight.”

I don't know if I'm decided on what Vicki Delow meant, and the lingering in that hand-holding moment definitely did make me wonder. And as someone who loves Jemma's performances as queer characters and has read my share of Osgate fic, I think it would be awesome to see her character in a relationship with a woman. But at this point I feel like the conversation has been so saturated by others' moments of bi erasure that it's hard to even know how to get back into it.

So, yeah. You're not wrong - even for someone who knows a lot of the pieces, it's been a very confusing couple of days. 😅

[shinobi-bacon]

How I Make Gifs!

I've gotten multiple asks in my inbox about the method I use to make these animal crossing gifs:

So I figured it was about I time I answer these asks in the form of a separate post using gifs and screenshots to help explain things! I will warn that this will be an EXTREMELY LONG explanation, but I want to give as much details as I can under the cut. I'm going to use Queenie as my example!

The first thing I do is go to Photopia on Harv's island, a place where you can take photos using any of the villagers in the game and all the items you've collected. I use the Custom Designs app on the nook phone to download different colored wallpapers and floors. The colors that I use depends heavily on the villagers. I've used different backgrounds to make these gifs: green, blue, magenta, and (very rarely) black. For Queenie's colors, it was best to use green! I usually place the villagers towards the back of the wall while I stand in the center of the room. From there, I take out the phone's camera and start recording different reactions.

To record these I use my capture card, the Elgato HD60 S, and the capture software that you can download from Elgato's website. Any capture card and recording application will work.

I use three adobe apps to make these gifs: Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Photoshop. I know not everyone has access to these, but I was able to obtain these with the help of some friends. I won't go into details, but I will leave you with this image as a friendly reminder:

Premiere Pro - Here is where I drag all of my videos down onto the timeline and begin the editing process!

I try to find the best looping points for each reaction. I mark those points using the "Mark In" and "Mark Out" buttons located at the bottom of the preview window. The "Mark In" sets the starting position for the villager reaction and the "Mark Out" sets the ending point, creating a bracket for that specific reaction.

After marking these points, I use the "Play Video In and Out" button and then I make sure to click on the "Loop Playback."

This will not only play the parts of the timeline that I've marked, but it'll loop that exact bracket.

From there, I go to File > Export > Media (or ctrl+m on keyboard). This will bring up the export settings window. I turn the "Source Range" tab to "Sequence In/Out," so it only exports the spots I've marked with the "Mark In" and "Mark Out" buttons.

I then go to the source tab at the top and select the cropping tool.

I make sure to click the box under the "Match Source" button to remove the check mark, and then click the chain icon next to height and width settings to put a slash through the symbol. This allows me to freely crop the video and adjust the height and width of the output, so I can make a perfect green screen box around the villager

I then export this video and move on to the next reaction. I have folders for each gif set that I make. They usually look like this for all the villagers I've completed sets for:

After Effects - Here's where I open all of the reaction files. I go to the effects panel and open the keying tab.

This is where the magic happens! There are three keying effects that I use: Color Range, Key Cleaner, and Inner/Outer Key.

First Effect : Color Range - Starting the keying process, I use dropper tool on any part of the green that's behind the villager. This will only remove some of the background elements because how unevenly colored the green is, due to the lighting of the game.

I then use the dropper with a "+" icon on the rest of the background. What helps me is clicking the "Show Channel and Color Management Settings" button at the bottom of the preview window and switching to the "Alpha" view. The alpha channel deals with the transparency of an object and switching to this view allows me to see every bit of the wallpaper and floor that remains. This is where I can apply that dropper+ tool to get rid of them. It doesn't have to be perfect, because the other keying effects that'll be used will help get rid of the loose pixels of green that may still be present.

From here, the only adjustment that I sometimes use under this effect is the "Fuzziness" tool. Some villagers will have various color patterns that'll get keyed along with the background. Bringing down the fuzziness helps bring some of those colors back. This does run the risk of bringing some the background pixels back into the video, but that can easily be erased. I usually don't need to adjust the fuzziness. Again, it all largely depends on the colors of the villagers. After all of this is done, I now have a transparent background, but now there's a green outline around the villager:

Luckily, the next effect will help with that!

Second Effect: Key Cleaner - This plugin helps clean up the alpha channel around the edges of the villager. The only thing I do here is select the box labeled "Reduce Chatter" and turn the "Alpha Contrast" all the way to 100%.

This helps erase most of the outline and makes the edges a little sharper, but there's still a tiny bit of green that surrounds the villager.

Third Plugin: Inner/Outer Key - I will admit that I don't utilize the entirety of this effect's capabilities. I only adjust the "Edge Thin" and "Edge Threshold" sliders, which should shave off the rest of the green outline.

Using these tools, I've now completed the keying process and I have a nice, crisp villager reaction with a completely transparent background!

Next I go to File > Export > Add to Render Queue (or ctrl+m on keyboard). I bring up the output settings by clicking on the "Output Module." I then change the format to QuickTime, which will render the reaction as a ".mov" file. I then change the channel to "RGB + Alpha" to render the object (which is the villager) and the transparent background.

Once this is done, I hit the render button and the reaction has been exported! After doing all of this with the first video file, I highlight all of the effects that I've applied from the effects panel by clicking on the names:

I then hit ctrl+c on my keyboard, open the next reaction into the timeline, and then hit ctrl+v. This copies all the effects applied to the first reaction and pastes them to the next video. I repeat this process for each file so I don't have to redo the entire keying process for all of the reactions. After they're all rendered, I can move onto the final adobe step.

Photoshop - This is where I open all of the QuickTime files that I've exported from After Effects.

From here, I can apply any adjustments to the villager, whether it be adjusting the brightness, messing around with the hues and saturation, increasing the speed, etc. The main thing I do here is decrease the size. These files are usually huge so I have to adjust the size so I don't risk putting groups of extremely large gifs on peoples' dash. I go to Image > Image Size (or Alt+Ctrl+I on keyboard) and change the width and height to five inches. Of course, any size you choose will work. Five is just perfect for me because it's not too small to ruin the quality of the gif.

After this is done, I got to File > Export > Save for Web (or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S on keyboard). This is where I can preview the gif.

I go to looping options on the bottom right and change it to "Forever," otherwise the gif won't loop. I then turn the matte to "None" so the gif doesn't export with an outline around it. I also make sure that the transparency box is checked. This is what my window looks like before I hit the save button:

Once I hit save, that's it! Queenie has been exported as a gif. You can see that gif at the top of this post.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading all of that! I know some parts of this could've been just a simple summary, but I really wanted to show all the details of how I use every application in this gif making process. I will say that I'm no expert at adobe. This is just a method that I pieced together after experimenting with different combinations of keying effects and I managed to make it all work. I apologize if this process seems messy to advanced users out there and I welcome any tips if they help make things easier!

[shapeshiftersvt]

Big Update Post

Hiya, shapeshifters!

We have some announcements to make this evening.

Here’s the short of it:

The Shapeshifters website will be temporarily down this Sunday evening, March 3, 2024 at Midnight EST.

When it comes back up, you’ll find a shiny new website that is organized the same way with a couple of exceptions.

The Off-the-Rack Sale and Holographic listings will be temporarily delisted.

The Goth listings will be renamed. You will find Rainbow Constellations, Monster Mouths, and a couple of new options listed under Cosmic Horror.

The Skin Tone listings will have brand new additional color skin tone options!

The Island Time listings will also have a new option available.

The Binding 101 FAQ will be rolled into its own section in the FAQ.

There will be a brand new Events Page!

The blog will be temporarily disabled.

If you’re curious about the long of it, keep reading.

For everyone else, we appreciate your patience during this transition! Like so many other transitions, we’re delighted about where it’s going. 

Website Downtime

Shapeshifters is finally moving to Shopify! We’ve done a lot of work over the past few months building a more organized, streamlined website that will be easier to access for you and update for us. On Sunday night, we’ll shut down the current website to pause orders so that we can migrate everything cleanly.

Off-the-Rack and Holographic Listings

The Off-the-Rack listings will be delisted to give us a chance to reorganize the remaining stock so we don’t accidentally double-sell anything. 

The Holographic listings will be delisted while we assess our fabric options. Long-time customers might notice that we’ve removed Liquid Metal and Oil Slick from the Holo listings; we’re sourcing replacements and new options throughout spring. Once we know our options, we’ll either re-launch the Holo listings, or move the currently available fabric Prism to another home so it won’t be all alone anymore.

If you’ve been eyeing either Prism or an Off-the-Rack, buy it before Sunday if you can!

Expanded Skin Tone Range

We’re very excited to announce three new skin tone options will be available after the website migration: Pine, Chestnut, and Laurel! Pine is a pale shade, while Chestnut and Laurel are both on the darker end of the spectrum.

And, the new and improved Skin Tone listings will be the perfect place to see the results of our latest photoshoot! We’re excited for y’all to get to see these photos around the site and on the listings. We sought out models of color with darker skintones both to fill a gap in the modeled photos in our listings, and to show off our darker skin tones. All of our models were amazing, our photographer was great, and the photos are fantastic! We really leaned into the cozy Vermont vibes for this one.

Events Page

We’re going to events again! Hooray!

And we’re not just going to conventions and conferences and Pride festivals. We’re also talking queer markets, fashion shows, and binder sewing workshops!

That’s right, some lucky folks in the New England area will have the opportunity to take an in-person class with Eli, our head tailor and the developer of our DIY Binder Sewing Kits. They will walk you, step-by-step, through sewing your own custom-sized binder and help you troubleshoot along the way. These workshops are designed for sewists of any level and do not require you to own a sewing machine.

If you’d like to host a sewing workshop or would like to have us at any other event, educational, celebratory, fashionable or otherwise, please contact us!

Thanks once again  for bearing with us during this transition and we can’t wait for you all to see the new site!

[softsoundingsea]

by Sabrina Iglesias

How many people can say they’re in a 13-person worldwide collective of people doing their specific job? Or that folks travel from all over to work with them? Most of us certainly can’t, but Mona Maruyama, a tattoo artist at Floating World Tattoos in Center City, can.

Maruyama does Hajichi, a traditional style of permanent body markings reserved for Okinawan women. It is said that Hajichi offers protection and spiritual connection to their ancestors. “[It] is a constant reminder of the land we wish to defend,” Maruyama said.

The community of Hajichi artists, or Hajichaa, keeps in touch via group chat, holds meetups, and has a website dedicated to providing information and resources surrounding Hajichi. They are members of the Ryukyuan diaspora and aim to encourage the revival of the Hajichi ritual and tradition.

How did you get started in Hajichi style tattooing?

I got into giving Hajichi to members of the diaspora after hearing members of the community encouraging Ryukyuan artists to begin practicing and looking into supporting the cultural revival effort.

What is Hajichi? Tell me all about it.

Hajichi is a closed tattoo practice reserved for Okinawan people that was banned by the Japanese government in 1899. Hajichi is one of many words we have to describe tattoos traditionally worn on the hands of women and the term differs from island to island. It’s a tattoo practice that provides protection and connects us to our ancestors and is a constant reminder of the land we wish to defend.

The reasons have changed over time and some of the meaning behind the symbolism has been erased and the information we do have is unfortunately a mere snapshot of the tail end of the thousands of years long tradition, typically recorded by outsiders.

Based on what we know, many of our symbols are based on our land and culture, mostly nature like flowers, stars, inside of turtle shells. But as a collective, we’ve also discussed the similarities in some of the designs and shapes with sound waves of certain frequencies.

Read more...

[synthaphone]

The Island Centibyte is complete! This one I put off for a long time despite it not being technically difficult to make, because I didn't know how I wanted to approach it. Island painted pets, as they exist, tend to range from "kinda racist" to "Why Is This Still On The Website", and while I love Virtu.pet's redesign, the Centibyte project has been about trying to match the official site look for each paint brush color, so I didn't want mine to obviously stand out from the others with a different color palette.

so I ended up pulling heavily from the Island Uni visually, since that design is both iconic and one of the less bad Island pets. I deviated from the official color by trying to make the markings feel like natural patterns of spots and freckles. I've had other paint brush colors change the shape of the oval marking on the neck to match the theme (a butterfly shape for Faerie, a heart for Valentine, a skull for Pirate, etc), so I felt like a shell marking on the chest could work here. I also gave the UC one some coconuts on its tail to evoke a palm tree- left them off of the converted one though because the tail shape is different enough that I couldn't find a way to place them that felt natural, and also they kept reminding me of truck nuts so i was like Okayyy this will just be one of those pets that lost a unique little detail in conversion, lol

[atdny]

Are You Wasting Money On Adwords?

Are You Wasting Money On Adwords?

Adwords, or Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) online advertising platform that businesses use to promote their products or services to internet users. You have the option to have your ads placed in the Google Search Network and / or Google Display Network. In a pay-per-click advertising model, you pay when your ad is clicked.

The Google Search Network includes the Google search results pages as well as those of its Search Partners, the non-Google search and directory sites that show Google ads. The search partners expand the space for search ads placement beyond the Google search results pages.

The Google Display Network includes over two million websites, apps and videos that agreed to show Google Ads to at least 90% of Internet users worldwide. The Display network also includes Google websites such as Google Finance, Blogger, Gmail and YouTube.

In addition to its massive network of ad placement sites, Google Ads is continually offering new features that help advertisers to customize their ads, target the right audiences and control their budgets. However these positive features of Google Ads are not easy to understand for some advertisers, they end up losing money on the platform.

Are You Wasting Money On Google Ads?

Millions of businesses are using Google Ads to advertise their products and services online. They would not continue using Google Ads if they don’t get their money’s worth. Some companies spend up to $50 million a year on Google Ads.

If you’re losing money on your Google ads, it’s most likely that you’re not using it correctly. You could be making some or all of the following mistakes.

1. Not Customizing Ads Settings for Your Business

Google Ads has a lot of default settings designed to maximize reach. If that’s not the objective of your campaign and you didn’t review and customize the settings, you could be paying for many clicks by people who don’t need your product or services.

For example, ad campaigns are set to both search and display by default. Your ads will show in both the Google search and display networks. However, the search and display networks have different types of users.

Your ad on the search network will be seen by people who are actively searching for the product or services you offer. They are already past the awareness stage.

On the other hand, your ad on the display network can be seen by people who can be your prospects but are on the site for other reasons. They are not searching for your product or services.

The most common mistake of new Google Ads users is targeting both search and display networks with the same ad campaign. You need to have different sets of ads and landing pages for each network because the search network is completely different from the display network. 

You’re wasting money on the network where your ad is not relevant to the site users.     

2. You Send People Who Click On Your Ads to Your Homepage

You’re losing money if people who click on your ads are redirected to your homepage. Your homepage provides general information about your business. It is not a continuation of the message on your ad that made them click your link.  The website visitor might just leave and look at another ad.

So, you need a landing page that is focused on converting the visitor into a customer. The landing page must address what the potential customer needs to know before buying the product or services you offer.

Your landing page should look like an extension of your Google Ad.  People who visit your landing page after clicking your ad should immediately know that they came to the right website because of the similarity in layout, content design and keywords. 

3. Not Using the Right Types of Keyword Matches

Keyword match types tell Google how restrictive it should be in deciding to what search queries your keywords can match.

There are three keyword match types: Broad Match, Phrase Match and Exact Match.  Google had stopped using Modified Broad Match in February 2021.  

Broad match,the default keyword match type is the least restrictive while an exact match is the most restrictive. If you don’t choose a match type or you choose a broad match, your ad can match to related searches that don’t include any of your keywords.

According to Google’s example, an ad with “low-carb diet plan” broad match keywords can show to people searching for “carb-free foods”, “low-carb diets”, “low calorie recipes”  or  “Mediter ranean diet books”.

So, if your goal doesn’t include people searching for terms related only to your keywords, you’re wasting money if they click your ads. 

Usually, you won’t get the match types that will work for you the first time you run your ad. Find the right keyword match types and avoid losing money by checking the results of your campaigns as early as you can.  

4. Low Quality Score

Quality Score is Google’s rating from 1 to 10 (best) of the quality and relevance of your ad campaign.  The score depends on many factors, including expected click-through rate (CTR), ad relevance, landing page experience and Google Ads account historical performance.

For example, your investigation shows that your quality score is pulled down by the below average rating of your ad campaign’s landing page experience. Landing page experience measures what happens when the people who clicked your ad get to your landing page.  If they were not convinced to click on your call-to-action (CTA), you have lost the money you paid for your ad clicks and for the ad preparation. AdRank and Ad Position

Quality Score is one of the factors that determine Ad rank.  In the Google Search and Display Networks, Ad Rank = Bid × Quality Score. If you have a low quality score, you have to bid higher to improve your Ad Rank.

Ad Rank is important because it determines your ad position or the order of your ad in the auction results. If your ad position is “1”, the highest position, it will be the first ad to be placed on the search result pages and other ad placement sites.  

If your competitors’ ads are included in the auction results and rank higher than your ad, you lose the chance to be seen first by your common target audience.

On the other hand, if you don’t aim for the top ad position, you can reduce your bid and save money.

5. Inadequate Research to Understand Your Target Audience

You advertise to persuade your target audience to take a specific action, whether it’s to buy your product or to try the new services you offer. Through your ad, you attempt to engage and influence your target audience.

You’re losing money if you can’t effectively connect with your target audience. They have clicked your ad but you were not able to convert them into paying customers or subscribers to your site. You’ll have low to zero ROI.

That’s why research is important to fully understand the behavior and interests of their target audience before planning your ad campaign. What are the types of online sites that your target audience frequently visits? What are the words or phrases that they will most likely use to search for your products or services?

You also have to look at your successful competitors’ ads. What keywords or phrases do they use?

You may use Keyword Planner and other research tools to find the relevant keywords or phrases for your business.

6. You’re not testing and tracking conversions

There is no standard way of doing a Google ads campaign. You have to test different ads and track the conversions to figure out the most effective way for your business.

So, you could lose money in some ads that you did not test because you thought that based on your experience and knowledge it’s the best ad for your campaign.

Test as early as you can to catch any problems sooner and reduce your losses to a minimum. Even after you have created your winning campaign, continue creating new ads or changing settings and test again.

You also have to keep in mind that Google is constantly introducing new features that become part of your default settings. Would it be appropriate for your ad campaign? You’ll know by the results of your test. 

7. Not retargeting                                                         

According to a study, 92% of customers don’t purchase on their first visit to a website. Some customers still need more information about your product or services before they make a decision. The more expensive and complex your product or services, the longer it might take your potential customers to decide whether to purchase or not

To ignore them and search for new audiences to target would be wasting what you’ve already spent for their clicks on your ad.  You’re also losing potential customers that studies show are easier to convert than new audiences.

You’ll need to retarget them with new ads.

What is retargeting? 

Retargeting is one of Google Ads’ features. It uses tracking codes that you set up to track people who visited your website, usually the landing page, but did not make a purchase, download a file, or perform the activity you ask them to do.  

Retargeting allows you to follow your past visitors online when they visit the sites in Google’s search and display networks. Based on your setup, Google ads can show them your ads that hopefully will convince them to take another look at what you offer and perform the activity you ask them to do. 

8.  Not Using Ad Extensions Properly

Google ad extensions are additional pieces of information and clickable CTAs that you can include in your ads.  You can choose the ad extension types that would be most suitable for your advertising goal in the set up menu.

Some examples of ad extensions are: location information, call buttons, links to your landing page or other websites and mobile app. Extensions expand your ad, make it more visible. They also improve CTR and make valuable interactions with potential customers faster.  

For example, a phone number on your ad would call the attention of potential customers who need immediate information about your products or services through a phone call.                                                        

So, extensions give more value to your ad if you know how to use them. However, using the wrong or irrelevant ad extensions could reduce your CTRs and attract the wrong people to click your ads. You pay for clicks that are not likely to convert into sales because the potential customer was looking for something else.

It is also important that your business can provide the needed support for the traffic and inquiries resulting from your ad extensions. If your ad has your phone number, make sure that there is always somebody to immediately answer the phone when it rings. 

Most callers don’t have the time to stay on the line to wait for your reply. They would hang up and look for another service provider. You end up wasting the money spent on your ad click.

How to avoid wasting money on Google ads

The number one reason why advertisers are wasting money on Google ads is their failure to use the platform properly.  Unfortunately, it’s not easy to understand how Google ads work. You need not only to understand how to setup Google ads but also the time to manage your campaign.

Learn how to use Google ads

It’s not enough to read instructions on the Google ads website and attend webinars. You also need to experience using the platform to understand the ins and outs. Time and skills to manage your advertising campaign

Managing your Google Ads account is challenging. It requires attention, time and skills to find the right keywords, test your ad, track results and your competitors, and tweak your ads before you find the right one for your business and target audience. 

Learn how to use the various Google ads tools to make your work easier and faster. It’s important to discover any mistakes early to keep wasting your ads budget to the minimum. 

Final Thoughts 

Yes, Google Ads is a complex advertising platform to use. However, you can’t ignore Google Ads because it is a powerful advertising platform for your business. Google ads’ main advantage over other online advertising platforms is its massive reach.

According to Net MarketShare, over 72% of  online searches worldwide use Google. 

Avoid committing the costly mistakes mentioned by taking the time to learn and experience how Google Ads works.

Click: Digital Agency Long Island

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (8/5/2024) Episode: Life Back on Track

Luigi and Noemi’s shopping trip boosted their confidence, but they still had to go out into the world and face the challenges of their new age stage.

For Luigi that began at home with learning to manage his diabetes. First, Noemi helped him purge the fridge. Everything that didn’t fit his new dietary restrictions had to go! It hurt to throw some of his favorite treats into to the trash, but not as much as it could hurt if they tempted him to ill health.

Next, after some research online he purchased a discreet glucose monitor that delivered real time data straight to his phone. When the app alerted him that his sugar levels were too high, he had insulin on hand to help get things back on track. Both he and Noemi learned how to administer the injections but mostly Luigi preferred to do it on his own, in private.

Luigi wasn’t the only one experimenting with new ways to get his daily nourishment. Now that he could sit up, Skye seemed to like nothing better than tasting a wide variety of interesting new textures and flavors form his highchair, just as grandpa Peachy had predicted.

Luigi had been sad his father had passed on before he could show his grandbaby the world of tasty delights, but unlike Jack Peachy had no qualms about coming around for regular visitations. With a hearty laugh the ghostly specter proclaimed, “these translucent fingers can hold a spoon just as well, thank you very much!” before happily plopping his grandbaby in his new favorite spot for a little culinary bonding time.

Luigi got in a little grandfatherly bonding time of his own when Great Grandpa Don popped online to chat while they played Party Frenzy.

His ancestor could sympathize with Luigi’s health struggles, remembering how devastating it had felt when he was first diagnosed with asthma. His personal success with adjusting his lifestyle to suit the demands of his new condition gave Luigi hope he could do the same.

With his reminder to stay active Luigi and Noemi began to fulfill that promise they’d made to each other to get back into a regular fitness routine. Their island home was perfect for outdoor activity most of the time and a run on the beach was a great way to have fun and stay fit!

Luigi’s big adjustments at home made it easier to continue racking up success at work. With his diabetes under control, he was able to quickly knock off his regular daily tasks with time left over to continue his “special project” of revamping the teams website.

His long-standing appreciation of art combined with some research online about current graphic design trends helped him to modernize the site’s backgrounds and fonts. His bosses loved the fresh new look and showered him with praise for a job well done.

Luigi was excited to receive his first endorsement deal since the great video he’d made with his father. When his brother Kian called for some advice “getting out there”, he decided to stick to the winning family-oriented formula and invite his siblings to join him for the filming.

While his drone Yoshi circled the dance floor, the boys (and Kian’s friend) recorded some great dance scenes and a bunch of slice-of-life banter.

Capturing more scenes of the neighborhood before and after, Luigi had a lot of footage to edit into a compelling lifestyle piece promoting clubs like The Narwhal Arms. He worked hard late into the night to craft something with just the right vibe, smiling when Kian thanked him for the great time.

From the way the final product was coming together he was sure the sponsors would be just as happy!

Noemi didn’t find herself having nearly as much fun and success as her fiancée with the start of her own career.

When it became apparent that therapy alone wasn’t going to make her feel comfortable dealing with all the social stresses of working in an office, she scheduled a follow-up appointment with the psychiatrist and agreed to give medication a try.

She was not fond of the side effects, but she hoped the meds would make a positive difference to her work performance.

Noemi also took advantage of the natural stress relief of spending time with her favorite people, and her favorite four-legged friends.

Little Roach’s long face always brought her a smile. Some might find his wandering through the house at all hours odd, but it comforted her to have him always so nearby.

Luigi also did his part to brighten his fiancée’s day. One particularly steamy dream even inspired him to show her all the fun tricks that he learned from his crazy ex teammate so long ago. He had been hurt by Jade’s dismissal then, but he was comforted by the knowledge that it had ultimately led him to a partner who really appreciated him.

Of course, the couple also spent plenty of time with their son, even if Grandma Valentina perhaps did more than her fair share of the baby care.

Luigi never had warmed to fatherhood like his papa. He continued to find the daily tasks of caring for an infant nauseating, tedious, and often confusing – what did he WANT!? When Skye learned to babble it helped, but Luigi would never say parenting was his favorite activity.

However, when Skye learned to “dance”… that was a joyous day indeed! As the 4 sims celebrated with an impromptu dance party in the living room Luigi reflected on how glad he was that things seemed to be getting back on track. He hoped to enjoy more of the same in the days to come.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[firedragon1321]

Dumb Kingdom Hearts AU Designs

I was thinking of some ways to differentiate the Heart Hotel members a bit more from each other.

Sora- Everyone who gives him freckles on this website is blessed by the art gods. So I'm stealing those. Maybe also tanner skin from living on an island. But I love Sora's design so I wouldn't change too much else.

Roxas- You know that thing with the lighting in KH3 where Roxas looks like his hair is darker brown than Ventus's but not really? That's canon now. Also a few scars from his battle with Riku.

Ventus- Someone here gave him green eyes and y'know what? That's cool. I'm going to steal it. Also a little skinnier than Roxas but only if you squint.

Xion- I honestly wouldn't change her too much during Days and 3, due to the events of those games. But end of 3, when she gets her own outfit? I can see her with longer hair. Maybe a seashell hairpin.

Vanitas- Definitely Xehanort-colored skin and tons of scars. Also, I don't know why we're doing the "dark skin evil thing". So Sora figured out about the novelization where Xehanort treated Vanitas like shit, went "uh, no", and made friends with him! Through the power of friendship, his Unversed also change shape, similar to the Dream Eaters.

(Bonus for Riku. Just let him keep his long pretty hair. I know the implications of why but still.)

[l-1-z-a]

All the stuff in The Sims 3, The Sims Medieval, and The Sims 4 was originally concepts and ideas for The Sims 2. And that's what's important - the developers of The Sims 2 had elaborations on these ideas that were removed or implemented in later games of The Sims or in spin-offs

In April 2006, a survey was held on the official website asking players what they would want to see in later expansion packs.

A large chunk of those ideas would not make it into the final, but in later Sims-related content.

The page mentions of Sims as castaways on another island, where they need to build a new home in the rainforest to farm, fish and build stuff to survive. The idea would be released as a spin-off called The Sims Castaway for consoles and handhelds, and The Sims Castaway Stories for Windows. Oddly, farming isn't a feature in the latter, despite having dozens of leftovers for it.

There was going to be an expansion pack focused solely on functionable hospitals, separated into four different careers referred to as "medicine, physical therapy, surgeon, or psychiatry" in order to cure illnesses from Sims. The would be revisited in The Sims 4: Get To Work expansion.

This paragraph details the gameplay. And they complement what Mike Seller, one of The Sims 2's game designers, described in response to a question about the goals set during its development:

Add more meaningful jobs and locations -- this eventually came out, sort of, in later releases, but a ton of work we did for this was dropped. For example we had gameplay for creating your own doctor's office with waiting room and treatment room. The more chairs, magazines, fish tanks, etc., the longer patients would wait. The worse your diagnoses or procedures, the faster they would leave (if you made the patient scream because you chose the wrong procedure, the Sims in the waiting room would get upset and run out the door :) ). Unfortunately, we were also beset with frustrating technical issues involving the underlying scripting language (Edith), so making all this was incredibly difficult.

An expansion pack that would be released as Pets is mentioned in the survey, but it also refers to training pets, suggesting that it was going to play a slightly bigger role rather than teaching them tricks. Coincidentally, The Sims Pet Stories does feature a pet training system in the form of an obstacle course.

What would be the Seasons expansion is mentioned in the survey, mentions the feature of a "sand volleyball" activity. An unused volleyball graphic can be found in the base game, suggesting the feature was going to come to fruition.

A time travel-themed expansion pack is explained where Sims are travelled back in time to a fantasy neighborhood "where they can live like royalty or enjoy the simple things in life", and have access to building castles, having enourmous feasts and working on small farms. The whole idea would most likely be the basis of The Sims Medieval, but the castle-building aspect would be released in the form of a The Sims 2 Store set, coming with medieval-themed furniture.

A mystery-solving expansion pack, involving socializing with specific Sims all over the neighborhood to figure out the mystery would be most likely revisited in The Sims 3 Ambitions in the Detective Career.

But when reading the description, this trailer comes to mind, which supposedly refers to The Sims Castaway Stories, but there's nothing Castaway about it. It really makes you wonder what happened in the town and why people disappeared:

A similar Seasons-themed expansion pack is mentioned where Sims could put on parties specific to certain seasons (Despite the idea being released as the New Year's Party in Happy Holiday Stuff), with the mention of a party planner. Seasonal-themed parties would likely be revisited in The Sims 3 Seasons.

The last option mentions enjoying the best years' of the Sims' youth, with features involving birthdays, playground antics, slumber parties, building tree-houses and forts, sports practice, and prom nights. The idea sounds a lot like what would eventually be in The Sims 3: Generations, but the mention of a sports practice could also loosely tie into the FreeTime expansion with the soccer goalposts. There's also an unused model of a Slumber Party Memory in the base game, suggesting that the feature was going to return in an expansion pack before getting scrapped again.

After the expansion-related ideas came the addition of specific objects that players would like to see in future expansions;

Furniture workbench (create your own furnishings)

Pool toys

Camping - would be introduced in the Bon Voyage expansion pack.

Water parks, zoos, amusement parks

Apartments - - would be introduced in the Apartment Life expansion pack.

Slot Machines, Roulette, Craps tables - Would be introduced in The Sims 3 Lucky Palms.

Casinos

Pets - would be introduced in the Pets expansion pack.

Weather and Seasons - would be introduced in the Seasons expansion pack.

Concert lighting and stages - would be introduced in The Sims 3 Showtime.

Snowball fight - would be introduced in the Seasons expansion pack.

Gardening, growing food - would be introduced in the Seasons expansion pack.

Sports and other active events - would be loosely introduced in the FreeTime expansion pack.

Skating, snowboarding, skiing - would be introduced in the Seasons expansion pack.

Cooking materials, food items - would be loosely introduced in the Seasons expansion pack, but would come to full use in The Sims 3 base game.

Prom parties - would appear in The Sims 3 Generations.

Health and sickness - doctors and nurses making house calls

Fishing - would be introduced in the Seasons expansion pack.

Frisbee

Going shopping - Not to be confused with Open For Business, which came out a month prior.

Yearly calendar - mark, plan special events

Natural Disasters - would be loosely introduced as the meteor death in The Sims 3 Ambitions.

Celebrities

Create your own holiday

Movie Theater

Croquet

Hotels - would be introduced in the Bon Voyage expansion pack.

Sources:

[techacs]

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[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

The United Kingdom is continuing its attempt to make gender-affirming healthcare less accessible for transgender people by forcing Google’s search engine to remove any regional search results for two pharmaceutical websites that sell hormones without requiring a prescription. An operator of one of the sites said that Google was “not obligated” to remove it from its search listings, but Google said the removal was “guided by local law.” Now, trans people in the U.K. will have to endure long waiting lists and high prices to get hormones through the government’s official National Health Service (NHS). The NHS has been reducing its services for trans people after the recent release of the heavily biased Cass Review, which excluded hundreds of studies to advise against providing gender-affirming care.

The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reportedly contacted Google and told them to remove search results from the two sites, whose domain names and URLs have not been publicly identified in news reports. The MHRA said the sites violated the 2012 Human Medicines Regulations, a law that prohibits the sale of any “medicinal product from illegally trading online suppliers,” PinkNews reported. “The domain is offering the sale and supply of unauthorized medicines to persons in the U.K.,” the MHRA’s letter stated. “The domain is not a registered pharmacy in the U.K. or, it appears, anywhere else in the world. The targeting of U.K. individuals in this way is illegal and presents a real risk of harm to public health in the U.K.” In a statement to the aforementioned publication, the MHRA wrote, “Purchasing from illegal suppliers means there are no safeguards to ensure products meet the MHRA’s standards for quality and safety, and taking such medicines may put one’s health at risk.” [...]

Trans rights advocates predicted the Cass Review would give conservative political leaders a pretext for ending gender-affirming care for minors and younger adults. Indeed, the review urged “extreme caution” before giving minors puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy and championed the use of psychological therapy instead. The review also said that “life-changing” decisions on gender-affirming care should be put off until adulthood since the brain continues maturing into the mid-20s. Trans journalist Erin Reed eviscerated Cass’s findings, saying the report included concepts rejected by more than 60 mental health organizations, including the American Psychological Association. Since the release of the report, the NHS has also ordered the clinics to deny services to any clients younger than 18. Transgender healthcare advocates worry that the denial of service will worsen trans minors’ mental health and overall well-being.

The United Kingdom’s reputation for being TERF Island continues, as they order Google to remove websites selling gender-affirming medications under the guise of “safety” but in reality is an action designed to end legal gender-affirming care in the UK as a result of the Cass Review.