#included the link to the website on the word too :3 in case any of u wanted to see his unpublished work too

[bubu0h]

How I Manage my personal AO3 e-library Archive

Download everything I want/hope to read in EPUB format. I try to anyways... if I notice I got too many tabs open on my browser, time to download If multi-chapter remember first to press 'Entire Work' and then 'Download'

2. I use Book Story (Android App) to manage the mess that is my downloads folder - this app is a great book database manager AND scroll reader with Big letters as well - The app has this fantastic feature that allows me put the books into 'Reading' 'Already Read' 'Planing' 'Dropped' categories; I move the books around and it helps me keep a visual tab on them - , plus if you like scroll reading this one is fantastic at that as well.

Periodically I update the BACKUP of the folder(s) were the copies of books live. KEEP A BACKUP OF YOUR BACKUP , if you mess around and don't got no backup is really painful and irreversible.

On my computer I then make a copy of my messy ass downloads folder from my phone into my computer. While looking at the visual information the app provides me I delete books that I 'Dropped' and I move 'Already Read' books into my computer E-Library Data Base (I use Calibre) that's my main book hub where I will quickly notice what books need covers and I take my time working to finding an image I like for the book , so I can recognize them books by just looking at the covers I am terrible at remembering book titles

If you are curious this is what Calibre looks like - this is just AO3

3. To read EPUB books I use Libera FD Is frankly the best reader I have tried because I prefer page turning. If you like scroll reading Book Story is much better option for scroll reading.

Libera FD can customize pretty much EVERYTHING and is very very feature rich ( it can be overwhelming) HUMONGOUS FONT SIZE , you can download any font you want to use, replace words if I want to , it has OLED dark mode for reading at 3 am, you can configure it so it reads to you (using TTS) , several reading modes including auto scroll and speed reading mode, and so much more; the dev(s) are still updating and adding functions to it is kind of amazing I am probably not using it to its full potential You can sort books by 'Genre' which is how the app recognize the tags from the website.

Here some visuals of Libera FD (I wrote in the ALT of pics, click on it)

Book Story is a neat app , less overwhelming and the UI is a lot more intuitive. It looks like this for me , you can configure the essentials to your preference. Is a fairly new app be patient with it (sometimes just give two minutes to cook) , it is still being updated. The dev is very active if you got suggestion or present bugs.

4. How to provide enrichment to glorious magnificent authors , that share their passion with us for free. When you open any ao3 .epub on either of these apps the links are underlined. I tap on the link it leads back to the original posted website page at the beginning of every book you get from A03.

Tap the link, keep it open in your browser and star reading.

Open a note taking app.

I usually take notes about my silly musings as I read, copy quotes and whatever else I want to leave in the comment section of the chapter I am on. Cut and paste and that's it. I load the next chapter in the website and then continue reading the next chapter on the reading app (I comment on all the chapters if I have something to comment, sometime I don't have anything to say so I don't . Figure it makes authors happy and i find it very fun. Sometimes they answer back it feels nice) remember to leave kudos and comments specially if you are rereading.

I use Quillpad (android app) the most important feature of any note taking app you choose, in this case in particular, is that it saves your notes automatically (I used some apps that didn't it was devastating losing all my notes like that. I though that as long as I didn't close the app it was fine turns out not - some you have to manually save - and sometimes it would timeout and gone , all my notes gone. With Quillpad I haven't lost notes)

I haven't taken the time to figure out if Librera has a feature for annotation that could be useful for commentary note taking

I think that's all I can think of sharing on this topic. I am open to questions and adding things to this post with visual aid and whatever I can do to help , do let me know.

Keeping a copy of books safe and easy to find KEEP BACKUPS OF YOUR BACKUPS

-Updated Nov. 11 , 2024.

[interlockingpatches]

hello hello! after months of promising myself I would get around to learning how to use your patterns, I've done it- thanks so much for all your patterns being excellently formatted and easy to understand, that is no mean feat!

are the pattern collections on your website in US dollars or Canadian dollars? I had so much fun with the free patterns avaliable I want to make as many as possible, but since I'm not American or Canadian I need to covert prices, especially seeing as most of the pattern collections I'm interested in are pay-what-you-can (not a problem, but I really don't want to undervalue your work by paying something I think is fair but only turns out to be a very small sum after currency changes)

thanks for all your hard work in making the patterns as high quality as they are, they are an absolute joy to use and make :]

Thank you for the kind words and very good question! To answer it succinctly: at this time (2024/10/21) prices on the Gumroad store, including prices you name yourself, should be in US dollars by default and then automatically converted to your home currency on checkout. (If that's *not* the case please tell me!)

Thank you also for giving me a chance to talk through my attempt at sliding-scale pricing, which I worry is stressful and off-putting, however well-intentioned it might be!

All pattern collections have a minimum price (in USD). I set that price, and on free patterns it's set to $0. You can't pay me an "unfair" sum (in any currency) because the interface will not let you.

(If any aspect of "pay-what-you-can" stresses out or irritates you, that's the price! Read no more.)

On most collections, that minimum price is half of a "cover price"—US$10 on average, or about $1/motif, depending on the size and complexity of the patterns. I think that's a "fair" price—if anything, I worry about undercutting finished-object pattern writers, who would normally charge much more on a per-motif basis. But "fair" is not the same as "accessible" or "fun."

If full cover is no hardship, terrific! I'll take it! A lot of people have too much money! But if the minimum (or anything in between) better suits your context, budget or level or commitment, you'll get no judgment from me!

A a heads up I *will* be raising the low end of the sliding scale soon (from 50% to 2/3 of cover price, most likely) because the current pricing scheme isn't quite fair to my small handful of subscribers.

Because—heaven help us—there *is* still a subscription option. I've taken it off the main page while I get caught up on releases, but it's still available via that link. US$12/month gets you access to all patterns plus new ones as they are released, at a pace of roughly 2 collections per month. You lose "vault access" when your subscription ends, but you keep any PDFs you've downloaded.

As a final program note, I want to apologize to anyone who made a purchase while I still had tipping enabled! I had just kind of yeah-sure approved that whenever the option became available, not thinking how positively barbaric it would be to ask someone to name a price and then tack 20% onto it that they have to manually remove! Hideous! Poor form! I'm sorry! Since resolved!

[loveundrwrld]

hi again, do you have any recommendations or media for yandere x reader stories that you enjoy?

i want to mention also that i really really like how you’ve written your stories so far, it’s drawn me in and i’ve read all of them. the plot twist ending for the ex bully yan story is really good, and leaving it on a cliff hanger gives me no closure but lets me imagine and question wth is reader going to do in that predicament. it’s very fun, ok ty ❤️.

hello again to you too! :D

aaaa i'm so glad to hear you liked the twist!! i'm very glad, i was a little concerned it may have been too confusing lol. and i appreciate what you said about the cliffhanger- it sounds like ive worked to convey the feeling that i wanted to in my writing with that oneshot, which is always nice to hear. ty for the kind words, this really made my day!

but also, for the reccs, i think i have some good ones for you lined up!

for the yandere x reader writers on this site, i really like @shooting-love-arrows and @parasytte - both blogs are on hiatus iirc but still reccomend going through their master lists and tags!! very fun reads.

i also like @yandereworlds as the mods there includes art with their headcanons, which is a really nice touch. and @darling--core has some fantastic yans, so be sure to check them out as well!

if you’d like a yandere fix, i’ve also put two media reccomendations for good media with yandere characters under the cut ^_^

if you’d like to see a male yandere- i recommend the manga welcome to the yandere cafe! it's a funny manga with one legit yandere, and a few "faux" yanderes (at least, that was the case the last time i checked the updates, lol.) the concept is it's a cafe where the waiters act like yanderes (kind of like how in maid cafes, they act like maids- it's for the sake of the customer.) it's cute, the MC is a yandere fan so there is some fun discussion of the trope. i believe there are probably a lot of chapters untranslated though, sadly :( so it’s a bit of a short read!

and, if you’re in the mood for a female yandere(s), i also recently got caught up with the manga gachikoi nenchakujuu- which is a manga about super fans who get obsessed and fall in love with streamers. basically, due to the concept there are a lot of yanderes. the manga follows a group of streamers (3 guys) and the different fans that obsess over them, which each arc covering a different streamer. it's a psychological drama basically, very fun, and sometimes very disturbing (in a good way!)

oh also the cover of it has two men on the website that i linked to read it- it’s a little misleading, you don’t see the white haired guy at all until the later chapters lol.

[werewolf-kat]

Was about to write in tags, but there’s actually quite a lot I do want to add onto this for educational purposes. Stuff that more people should be aware of if they don’t keep up with how technology is used and what companies or those in power seek out of it.

I’ll say upfront: it won’t matter if you individually don’t believe this is happening or think it’s paranoid to believe it’s happening at a mass scale. (I see this expressed a lot when news like this comes out, and people want to be “not scared” about it.)

Companies with access to user data genuinely collect as much as they can because it makes them money. They can target key words in your posts - private or not - to put into their algorithms for advertising. A lot of specific data can be pretty much saved or traded around forever because it’s valuable like gold for companies involved with tech or social media. I have to emphasize again: our personal information makes bank regardless of political leanings or moral standings. Names, addresses, interests, hobbies, job history, and so on.

This is an open secret among anyone who has worked or trained under companies with internet/tech-based connections. If you want to do your due diligence in looking at the sources, here are many proven/discovered cases of data that was collected and saved by companies for whatever “use” they have for it. This includes information taken from literal children despite laws like COPPA here in the US.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

More on Google in particular.

And a whole thing about data brokers (by some guy selling courses for this shady stuff).

Anyone making a website can use Google-created advertising code quite easily. This is why lots of sites might feel shady or without filters for their ads. It’s just there in the wild, being wild. The website may not get your data for the ads, but it sure is feeding Google more this way.

On top of this, any average person with some bucks to spare can buy data they’re looking for too. Whatever’s linked to your online alias, or emails you’ve used in accounts... Those can be found behind a paywall. I don’t want to share those sites here, but they’re terrifyingly easy to find if you search some basic terms for them.

Also beware that some aspects of user information stored on servers won’t be secure against malicious hackers. There are malicious hackers who break into this user data, take it hostage, and put bounties on their own unlawful collections. The basis of our information (emails, names, passwords, etc.) being of value, extends to these internet “rogues” as well.

Security for any server costs HUGE money to maintain and truly prioritize. The experience and knowledge needed from each employee and the mere importance of their role will demand massive pay. You can’t even trust a company as big as Google from the occasional security breach when they let their guard down. In the situation I linked, Google kept that particular breach a secret from the public for as long as they could. They weren’t transparent about it.

Now, when it comes to terrible laws and power trips that cops are happy to enforce, they can very often request social media companies to hand over any “evidence” and data that’s needed for police investigations. This can be helpful for truly important cases (sexual assault, murder, etc.); but it can be used for criminalizing people under laws of “moral righteousness” like this anti-abortion nightmare the U.S. is in right now.

It’s not a matter of how much of your data can be read by humans. You think humans are doing the reading anyways? Everyone agrees that’s impossible. That’s why it’s done by programmed systems.

I’m moderately experienced in JavaScript, but even in that language I’m aware of “Reg-Ex” (Regular Expression) and string/integer matching. All programming languages - to my knowledge - are capable of searching for key words. That’s what I meant earlier by algorithms that target “key words.” The company can give a list to their developers for words to include in the program, and then the program will do the searching. At an advanced level, these go into algorithms that are always “learning” and in-taking related words that come up as a pattern related to what was first entered in by the human programmers.

Not to mention, it’s not limited to text. At my lower level of programming, I’ve already tinkered with speech recognition API for personal projects (which Google unfortunately runs that API for JavaScript). It was fairly good - albeit not perfect either - at picking up what words I’m saying after the sentences complete. It screws up when my voice is too slurred due to my weird mouth muscles I guess? (My pronunciations can be real loose at times...)

There’s accessibility software where you speak into it, and it outputs text for you on a digital device such as computers. That’s been around a LONG time. The technology has been there for ages. It’s used in automatic Closed Captioning that you may see plugged onto live Twitch streams too, for example. And it’s good for accessibility!

But greedy/creepy companies use this for teaching their algorithms too. You still gotta look out for what you say around your own phones, laptops with built-in mics you can’t physically unplug, your Amazon Echoes, Google Homes, and so on.

There isn’t realistically some shady voice-listening center or any group of humans that can access/read through the data collected from millions of people in different languages and countries. We can all agree on that to an extent, I hope.

What is realistic, is that they have shady algorithms programmed to do it for them.

So don’t settle on “you’re paranoid if you think humans can keep up with all this information.” We’ve been in a technological era for a few decades now, and it advances faster than we can protect against these days.

Before recommending encrypted services, however, there’s more I should add:

You gotta research the company and any ties it may have to other companies or governments in the background. Just because something’s encrypted, doesn’t mean it’s actually safe and trustworthy.

Here’s a video on the early history of encryption (cryptography/ciphers) and how a government agency had a choke-hold on it during wars and disputes:

There’s also this article about powerful encryption that can be requested to be purposefully weakened for the sake of criminal investigations. It’s a mixed bag of helpful and harmful effects of encryption that really can’t be touched easily if at all.

It would be helpful to dig into a proven murderer’s messages or other data that they wanted to hide. This will provide a strong case in their court trial (based in what I know generally about the US legal system) when evidence is needed for their motive, or a possible premeditation level of heinous acts.

But it can also do harm in places where the law (or power-tripping cops) want to target marginalized, “inferior” groups of people.

Communicating online or around internet-connected devices with microphones, it’s nearly impossible to avoid grabbing the attention of those in power who see marginalized people as threats. If you’re seeking abortion and need help getting one, please don’t immediately trust any encrypted service you see. The same goes for anyone in a state that’s taking away their rights to medical care (such as the threat to trans health and freedom).

I understand the situation is beyond stressful; and it’d be mentally taxing as well as time consuming to find something with the lowest risk of being a target by police agencies. You still matter and your safety matters. Tread your path among these oppressive landscapes carefully.

Some “support groups” might even have one or be made entirely of undercover cops wanting to rat people out. Just, you really can’t know people out there.

I don’t quite feel qualified to give any specific advice, though. This is the best I can confidently give. I hope the information here gives direction in your own research and the resources you seek out. Wishing you safety and comfort out there.

Facebook and google are helping cops prosecute people seeking abortion. Be very careful in this new era people.

[luminorwatchreplicaw165i]

How to Tell a Real from a Fake Omega Speedmaster Watch

The Omega Speedmaster is one of the most iconic timepieces in the world, celebrated for its precision, durability, and rich history, including its association with NASA’s space missions. However, with its popularity comes the risk of counterfeit versions flooding the market. If you’re considering purchasing an Omega Speedmaster, it’s essential to know how to distinguish a real one from a fake. In this article, we’ll guide you through the key features to look for, ensuring you make an informed decision.

1. Examine the Case Back

The case back of an authentic Omega Speedmaster is one of the first places to check for signs of authenticity. Genuine Speedmasters usually feature a smooth and polished case back with an engraved logo and serial number. On the other hand, counterfeit versions may have a poorly engraved or even printed logo. Look for the words “Professional” and the Moonwatch inscription on the case back. Make sure the details are crisp and clear, as counterfeit watches often have smudged or inconsistent engravings.

2. Check the Serial Number

Every genuine Omega Speedmaster comes with a unique serial number located between the lugs, where the bracelet connects to the case. This number should match the one on the Omega website or in the official documentation that comes with the watch. If you're purchasing from a dealer, ensure you verify the serial number with Omega’s database or customer service. If the number is missing or does not match, it’s likely a fake.

3. Inspect the Dial and Hands

The dial of a real Omega Speedmaster is usually well-crafted with precise detailing. Pay attention to the logo, as any misalignment or mismatch in font can indicate a counterfeit. The hour markers should be applied (not printed) and should reflect light in a particular way. In addition, the hands on a genuine Speedmaster are polished and have a consistent finish. Fakes may use inferior materials that make them look dull or uneven.

4. Look at the Movement

The movement of the watch is a crucial aspect that can help differentiate a real Omega Speedmaster from a fake. Authentic models are equipped with high-quality movements, such as the Caliber 1861 or 3861. If possible, ask to see the movement through the case back. A counterfeit may have a cheap, generic movement that doesn’t correspond with the specifications of a genuine Omega. If you're not familiar with watch movements, it may be wise to consult with a professional watchmaker.

5. Weight and Feel

Authentic Omega Speedmasters are crafted from high-quality materials, which gives them a substantial weight. If the watch feels too light or flimsy, it could be a sign of a counterfeit. Hold the watch and examine its overall feel; a genuine Speedmaster will have a solid and robust presence on your wrist.

6. Examine the Bracelet and Clasp

The bracelet and clasp of a genuine Omega Speedmaster are well-made and sturdy. Look for the Omega logo on the clasp, which should be engraved, not printed. Additionally, check for the correct number of links in the bracelet and ensure they fit snugly without excessive play. Counterfeit versions often use lower-quality metal and may have a mismatch in the clasp design or finish.

7. Documentation and Packaging

When purchasing an Omega Speedmaster, always request the original documentation, including the warranty card, manuals, and the original box. Authentic watches come with a high-quality presentation box and proper paperwork. If these items are missing, it could indicate that the watch is not genuine.

8. Buy from Reputable Sources

To minimize the risk of purchasing a fake Omega Speedmaster, always buy from reputable sources. Authorized dealers, well-known second-hand retailers, and specialized watch boutiques are your best bet. You can also explore verified online retailers like Luxe Replica Watche, which offers a selection of high-quality replica watches if you're looking for alternatives that maintain the aesthetic of luxury without the hefty price tag.

Conclusion

Distinguishing a real Omega Speedmaster from a fake may seem daunting, but by examining the case back, serial number, dial, movement, weight, bracelet, and accompanying documentation, you can confidently make an informed purchase. Remember, when in doubt, consult with a watch expert or a trusted retailer. By following these tips, you’ll ensure that your investment is a genuine piece of horological art.

[webcap-ae]

Content Marketing Strategies for B2B Companies in the UAE

B2B businesses in the UAE or b2b marketing agency in Dubai uae are continuously searching for fresh and creative approaches to establish connections with their target market and spur expansion, given the fierce competition in today's business environment. Content marketing is one such tactic that has been increasingly popular in recent years. B2B businesses may become thought leaders in their sector, draw in new business, and forge enduring bonds with current clients by producing informative and interesting content. We'll look at a few successful content marketing techniques for UAE-based B2B businesses in this blog article.

1. Understand Your Audience:

To create a content marketing plan that works, you must first identify who your target audience is. UAE-based B2B businesses should invest time in thoroughly investigating their target market's requirements, obstacles, and preferences. You can produce content that truly benefits and connects with your audience by getting to know them well.

2. Create High-Quality Content:

Quality is critical in content marketing. The UAE's B2B businesses should concentrate on producing useful, entertaining, and high-quality content. Blog entries, case studies, whitepapers, infographics, films, and more may fall under this category. You can establish your business as a leader in the field and draw in new clients by regularly creating informative material.

3. Optimize for SEO:

Content marketing relies heavily on search engine optimization (SEO). B2B enterprises in the UAE should optimize their content for relevant keywords to guarantee that it appears high in search engine results.By incorporating targeted keywords, meta descriptions, and internal links, you can improve your website's visibility and attract organic traffic.

4. Leverage Social Media:

Social networking platforms are great for connecting with your target audience and selling your content. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are excellent platforms for B2B firms in the UAE to share content, communicate with followers, and establish a strong online presence. Increase brand visibility and website traffic by consistently providing useful content and connecting with people.

5. Implement Email Marketing:

Another efficient method for b2c marketing agency in UAE to disseminate their information and nurture prospects is email marketing. You may provide relevant material straight to the inboxes of prospects and customers by compiling an email list of them. Newsletters, product updates, business announcements, and more can fall under this category. You can increase conversions and establish credibility with your audience by customizing your emails and offering insightful content.

6. Collaborate with Influencers:

Influencer marketing has grown in popularity recently, and B2B businesses in the UAE may use this tactic to connect with more people. You may expand the audience for your material and give it more exposure by working with thought leaders and industry influencers. Influencers may help spread the word about your content to their following, building brand recognition and website traffic.

7. Measure and Analyze Results:

Measuring and analyzing campaign results is crucial to the success of any content marketing initiatives. Key performance indicators (KPIs) that B2B organizations in the United Arab Emirates should monitor include website traffic, engagement metrics, lead generation, and conversions. You may determine what is effective and make necessary improvements to optimize your plan for greater outcomes by studying this data.

6. Ease of Use: Consider how easy it will be to operate the lift on a daily basis. Some PWC lifts come with features like hydraulic or electric systems that make raising and lowering your watercraft effortless. If you prefer a more manual approach, ensure that the lift design allows for smooth operation without too much physical effort.

7. Aesthetic and Design: The appearance of the PWC lift can also play a role, especially if it will be a prominent feature of your dock or waterfront property. Choose a lift that complements the overall look of your area while providing the functionality you need. Modern lifts come in various designs and finishes, so you can find one that enhances your waterfront's aesthetic appeal.

8. Customer Reviews and Support: Look up user reviews and ratings for the PWC lifts you are thinking about before making your final choice. Positive comments left by other users might offer insightful information about the lift's dependability and functionality. Additionally, check the b2b agency services to ensure that you have access to assistance if needed during installation or use.

To summarize, content marketing is a successful strategy that B2B organizations in the UAE can use to communicate with their target market, drive growth, and position themselves as industry leaders. By understanding your audience, creating high-quality content, optimizing for search engines, leveraging social media, implementing email marketing, collaborating with influencers, and measuring results, you can develop a content marketing strategy that works and delivers true value to your business. By investing in content marketing, B2B firms in the UAE may differentiate themselves and remain competitive in the market for a long time.

If you are looking for a reliable B2B marketing agency in UAE, that can help you implement these content marketing strategies effectively, consider partnering with a reputable agency like Webcap IT Solutions. With their expertise and experience in B2B marketing, they can assist you in creating and executing a results-driven content marketing strategy tailored to your business goals.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), LATE APRIL 2024

Welcome to my Etsy and ecommerce news & resource update for late April 2024. There are lots of Etsy bugs to keep track of...

I now provide these updates at least twice a week to paying members of my Patreon, along with many other useful benefits. Please check it out!

Want to get these Tumblr updates plus my website blog posts via email? You can sign up here.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Some Etsy Messages continue to be sent to the spam folder for no apparent reason, and the site has finally taken action on the resulting damage to Star Seller status. The problem itself is not necessarily over, but Etsy is “working to improve the accuracy of these measures.”

If you have an Etsy shop that has been “inactive” for 4 or more years, be aware that Etsy is planning on closing those shops permanently if the owners do not log in to the shop in the next few months (post by me on LinkedIn).  

A really good reminder that correlation is not causation: just because your views or sales dropped at the same time something else happened does not mean that the event in question harmed your traffic and sales. That applies to Google Core Updates as well as Etsy’s Gift Mode. 

ETSY NEWS 

Etsy is testing new SEO tools that will change the listing titles shown in Etsy search and Offsite Ads. I have the full text of the opt-in explanation from Etsy, plus my thoughts. TL;DR: I wouldn't opt in. Sellers cannot control which listings get changed, nor can they see the changes. Etsy's AI track record is too abysmal to try this.

Gift recipients can now contact the seller, and sellers can issue replacements without any contact with the buyer/gift giver. “However, only the original buyer of a gift can request a refund, return, or exchange—depending on your shop policies. Gift recipients won’t be able to request a return or file a case. Messages you receive from gift recipients will be identified with a badge so you know who you’re messaging with.”

Canadian sellers should check their tax IDs on Etsy, as one seller had hers removed from her account without notice, meaning Etsy is now charging her Canadian customers GST/HST, despite it already being included in the item price. Chat told her it was linked to an inability to verify the ID number, but of course no one told the seller, and the issue can’t currently be fixed. 

Some sellers in France report they are being told they must remove “Other” from shipping profiles (as a shipping upgrade only) and choose a carrier option that Etsy provides. While there has been no official announcement, this may be the first step in an expansion of the removal of “Other” in the US and the UK, which I wrote about last year. 

If your items seem to be due to ship later than you might expect, that could be a bug. [short post by me with forum links]

The official Etsy legal policies for sellers changed a bit on April 9, with some words switched regarding “off-platform transactions”. There is a side-by-side comparison here. Both the seller policy and the new “off-platform transactions” page also forbid the use of QR codes to take users off of Etsy. 

Etsy had a major outage on April 19, and from some reports this took an hour to fix. That usually means some major software changes coming…

Etsy released a Spring/Summer Trend Guide, now done as a pdf file of slides as well as a blog post. Searches for “handmade gifts” are up 238% in the first 3 months of the year compared to 2023 [so yes, you should use the word handmade in your tags or titles.] You can also now see Etsy's curated trends on the Trends Page, filled with Editors’ Picks for the different topics. 

Some US sellers did not receive their deposits on April 15, but staff now claim the problem is resolved. A few sellers disagree. 

Modern Retail interviewed Etsy sellers unhappy with the platform and comparing it to Amazon. [ModernRetail; soft paywall] “Etsy only permits the resale of vintage goods and crafts supplies, per its policy. But Modern Retail found listings on the platform for fast-fashion blazers, shirts and jackets from retailers like H&M and Shein. Those listings were taken down after Modern Retail flagged them to Etsy’s team.” The article misses the fact that 95% of takedowns for handmade violations are actually errors, as I covered last year. 

Etsy’s first quarter 2024 results come out May 1. If the company is planning big changes any time soon, they would likely be announced on or before that date, but they have surprised us before, so no guarantees. (Large changes such as the subscription tiers they surveyed sellers on earlier this year take a lot of programming work, so that could delay announcements.)

The Etsy “strike” happened 2 years ago this month, but the organizations that grew out of the movement continue to strive for better conditions for small makers and curators who sell online. 

If Etsy has removed one of your items under the handmade policy but it appears to be an issue with other sites stealing your photos, this Reddit user has a great approach for tackling Etsy Support’s usual slow reaction time. If you can’t access call backs due to your country not being on the list, try the same approach with live chat. If that doesn’t work, go public. Etsy tends to fix things more quickly when the company is being called out. 

Those involved in “closed” Teams in the Etsy Community should be aware that these teams were open to anyone logged in for a few weeks; outsiders could read, subscribe, and even post. [Yes, I did all of these things just to test.] Etsy now claims the issue is fixed. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

Amazon

Changes to return processing fees for Fulfilled by Amazon items kick in June 1. “Amazon will introduce a returns processing fee for high return rate products in all categories, excluding apparel and shoes, to address the operational costs of returns and reduce waste. The fee will only apply to products that have return rates above a threshold specific to each category.”

According to the Wall Street Journal [paywall], Amazon has sold its items on other marketplaces such as Walmart and eBay. The goal? Spying on those other marketplaces and collecting info about how they operated.  

By the end of 2024, Amazon will be responsible for 40% of ecommerce sales in the US. Note that Walmart is growing faster than Amazon but is way behind. 

Amazon is using more automation in its facilities, and just opened a huge facility with Amazon-designed robots in Massachusetts. 

eBay

Starting April 20th, some eBay orders are being cancelled due to a “systems issue”, even if the orders had already shipped. Some sellers were not aware until their buyers asked why the order was cancelled, even though eBay was supposed to send emails. 

eBay sellers with open orders between April 7 and now should verify the addresses, as eBay admits it has been providing incorrect addresses for some orders.  

Sellers that use calculated shipping on eBay will now see the default shipping price be the discounted eBay label one as of May 15, unless they opt out by May 13. 

eBay seller feedback now includes the requirement to leave a product review as well.  

For everyone following the new hot trend of not charging seller fees, eBay UK is eliminating transaction fees (listing, final value and regulatory) on pre-owned clothing sales by private sellers. [For those who missed it, Depop did this for UK sellers in March, but like Mercari, will be charging buyer fees in at least some cases. eBay has not announced charges for buyers.] 

eBay owns TCGPlayer, which sells collectible cards, and is now selling cards on eBay through TCGPlayer. Is this an undeclared conflict of interest? “Suspiciously, nothing on the main profile page or the listings discloses to buyers that they are purchasing directly from an eBay-owned subsidiary - though it does assure potential buyers that TCGPlayer (eBay) is "one of eBay's most reputable sellers…eBay has graciously granted themselves the "Direct From Brand" badging even though TCGPlayer is not the manufacturer of these cards and arguably has no "brand" rights to Magic The Gathering, Metazoo or any other products they are selling."

Other Marketplaces

Depop recently removed all transaction/selling fees for UK sellers, and is now advertising this on the street and on YouTube. The preloved clothing market is expected to continue to grow over the next few years. “Our research with UK consumers shows that 18-35 year olds are already making an average of £350 a year by selling unused clothing, and saving an average of £185 annually by buying secondhand.”

Apparently Mercari has listing limits for some sellers. 

US businesses who want to sell on Shein can join a webinar on April 25 to learn more about their options. 

Website Builders

WooCommerce’s decision to change the website to Woo.com did not go well, so they changed back to WooCommerce.com on April 9. This was largely an SEO issue, which should make anyone reconsider SEO advice from Woo in the future. 

Shipping 

USPS delays continue countrywide, and there are lots of complaints. "Nationwide, 87% of first class, two-day mail arrived on time during the last three months of 2023, a 2.5 percentage-point decrease from the same period a year earlier, according to data published by the Postal Service inspector general. For mail intended to take three to five days, just 70% arrived on time, a decrease of 11 percentage points…Delays have been the most significant in some of the first regions to roll out the new regional distribution system, including Richmond, Virginia, Houston and the metro Atlanta area.” The problems are so widespread that eBay issued a statement that estimated delivery dates are being changed to reflect the issues. 

Canadians who use Canada Post's oversized lettermail for domestic orders will be paying more as of May 6. Envelopes up to 100g will now cost $2.09 per stamp (plus GST/HST), up from $1.94. Other lettermail and international non-package letterpost are also going up, including single letter forever stamps, but remember you can’t use those to ship product anyway.

Canada Post will be making other changes for business accounts in early September.

[jennyscott1]

How can I print notes online?

Notepad: A tool that is included in your PC and laptop. You can't uninstall it because it's inbuilt tools that come with your window. Notepad is a very commonly used tool that you can't download as it comes with a Windows function. In Notepad, you can write your text and name is defining that tool called note. Note means you can note down your things in that tool. If you are a Shayari lover, write a bio or any other notes that you want to save. You can type on it and save it permanently on your computer or PC. But as we know, many computers can have issues or crashes which may cause you will lose your notes. So, in that case, you can save everything online over an online notepad. Now, the question is how it will work and where you will get the file. Also, after noting down in the online Notepad, can we change the notes after publishing?

In this topic, we will let you know more about the Online Notepad which is helpful to make a print for any documents. If we talk, you are in a system in which a printer is not installed or wants to print out from a cyber café. How to do that? You need to mail your offline notepad file to yourself or a cyber man, then download it and print out the file. In that case, you can use an online notepad to print out your notes. There are several benefits of online Notepad, which resolves many issues compared to offline Notepad. But on that page, we will talk more about how to print notes from the online Notepad.

WHAT IS ONLINE NOTEPAD?

Everyone moved to digital platforms and didn't store everything on a computer. So, if you are creating notes for your School Work, office work, interest notes like Sharyaris, bios or any other information that you want to save online and take prints, in that case use an online Notepad. Do you know how to use Online Notepad? Online Notepad, which is also known as "online word pad," offers convenience, accessibility, and organization of the notes, which makes it easy to manage your notes online for printout. In online Notepad, many other facilities, like printing notes, inserting links, styling text, adding emojis, etc., make it unique. And you can take them print out too whenever you want. You don't need to do everything on your computer or your PC, which may cause you will lose your data. Also, you have lots of hassle when you print out them after a month or later. In that case, you can store all your notes in an online notepad and you can print them out when you want as well as wherever you want. We will discuss more about how to create an online Notepad and how to print them out.

STEP 1: Open any Online Notepad Tools

To start making notes, you need to open any Online Notepad like pastenow.net, justpaste.it or many other online tools. All the online notepads are web-based tools, so you need to have an internet connection to access them. No matter if you are using a Wi-Fi connection or else connect with your mobile internet. These applications can open into low connection, too. They are cloud-based tools like Google Docs. You can open any website that can provide the features of Online Notepad.

STEP 2: Write a note that you want to print

After opening any site for online Notepad, you will see a blank option like offline Notepad. You can copy and paste your content through a Notepad file or WordPad file. No matter if you are using it for professional or personal because online notepad tool will work for both. Also, if you want to design your text, you can use fancy font tools to make it impressive. When your notes are ready to print out, you can move to further steps.

STEP 3: Adjust the format (optional)

After adding your content or notes, you can print out your notes. But before printing, you can adjust your Notepad according to your page size. Like if you are using an A4 page, and then you can use it according to it. This option is optional, so if you don't want to adjust it, then there is no requirement to adjust the format. So, if you still don't adjust your notes according to your page, then you can still set it into the printout page

STEP 4: Use Print Function

After setting everything, you can find the print function in your desktop or laptop keywords. Or else you can take a printout by pressing right-click on the mouse and selecting print. But if it has no option, you can command Ctrl+P in Windows or Command+P in Mac. Click on this option to open the print dialogue box.

STEP 5: Change Print Settings as per you

To customize your notes, you can configure print settings in the printer dialogue box. Here are some points where you can change it:

Printer: - Select the printer you have on your computers and which can used by you.

Page Range: - You can select the pages you want to print. You can print specific pages or even print all pages in one print.

Paper Size and Orientation: - Ensure you can use the same paper size you would have (e.g., A4 size, letter size). You can easily print it in landscape or portrait mode.

Color or Black and White: - If you have a color printer, you can print your notes in any color. But if you haven't, then by default, it prints in black & white color.

STEP 6: Preview and Print

After configuring your printing settings, you can preview your page and see what it looks like. If it is good, you can click on the print option, but if the page preview does not look like what you want, you can change it again. After clicking on the printing option, you can collect all the pages that can be printed.

Other Benefits of Online Notepad:

There are several other benefits except for the printout. You can take benefits with the help of online notepad tools. We all know that in offline Notepad, you need to have the same desktop to use it. But in digital words, you may need your content or notes wherever you want. You can store your codes in an online Notepad when you are a developer. Or you can store your other professional or personal information over the online Notepad. There are several reasons to use online Notepad.

Website

[alstyle]

Stylish and Comfortable: Men's Track Pants for the Modern Athleisure Look

One of the few sartorial words that are appealing and attention-getting is “athleisure.” What do you think of it, then? Consider carrying out your daily activities while dressed in your most comfortable clothing. Because of this, athleisure is appropriate for both working out and lounging around the house.

Would you want to enjoy this casual attire as a lifelong luxury? This fusion of athletic and streetwear is undoubtedly on-trend right now. Legwear is crucial for athleisure attire. It’s because there are so many different styles of men’s bottom clothing, including track pants, joggers, shorts, and 3/4-lengths. The audience is currently enraged over sweatpants or joggers.

The streetwear sweatpants that are a vital component of the athleisure trend today were probably inspired by the comfortable boy movement. That is not what you wore in the good old days of school. The baggy trousers, which were before only worn at the gym or at home, have advanced to the point where, with the right styling, they can now be worn in offices as well.

It is the moment to put on your slim-fit joggers. Ideal clothing should be neither too tight nor too loose. But, whatever size you should select relies entirely on the material. A lycra jogger, on the other hand, is perfect for the gym because the fit does allow for movement in any case, whilst cotton tracks are much better in the crotch area and great while reclining at home. Just try on various pairs of joggers until you find the best fit!

What do you believe would look best on your tracks? Step outside of the box. Ummmm…. Unfit hoodie! It is the most secure option, but there are still other options. Sports apparel frequently has flattering shapes that highlight the physique. This includes a mix of fleece pullovers, slim-fit sweatshirts, and technical men’s t-shirts made of lightweight, breathable materials. After a strenuous workout, you need something to keep you dry and cool, and you also need something to keep you calm during the sweltering summer days. What about men’s polo t-shirts? It will look fantastic!

Yet, layers add complexity to your appearance. Tailored sweaters look great with trendy track jackets or bombers. For a more fashionable appearance, layer a long coat or a leather jacket over a tweed pullover. Athletic gear is more tolerant when you blend styles, as long as the various pieces don’t fight for attention.

Only shoes make an athleisure outfit complete. It’s up to you whether you want to utilise a pause or an ellipsis while choosing your shoes. It’s entirely up to you whether to wear trainers or standard canvas sports shoes.

Your feet are essentially unrestricted, despite the fact that current sneakerheads have several options. Play around with various textures and colours as you see fit. Also, never overlook the versatility of trainers.

Sportswear is more athletic than scientific, therefore there is no secret to the ideal appearance. As long as you feel at ease—without looking like you just got out of bed—you are on the right route. But there may be occasions when you’re unsure of how to match the top and bottom, that’s when men’s tracksuits come in handy! They go together flawlessly and make up a whole outfit. In essence, it is simple!

To create a distinctive style, add a few standout pieces to your present wardrobe. But where would you discover that? Alstyle is your one-stop store for all types of athleisure clothing. The online store is the destination that can be your next step to update your with the hottest athleisure. It offers everything from t-shirts to track trousers and from zippers to shorts for guys. Check it out, and don’t forget to add their discounts.

Source Link : https://nexon.pk/an-overview-of-mens-athleisure-wear/ Visit Website : https://alstyle.in/collections/track-pant-for-men

[eyecatchersadagency]

5 LESSER KNOWN FACTS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT EFFECTIVE BACK LINKS TO INCREASE YOUR BUSINESS .

What Are Backlinks?

A backlink is just a link from one website to another. Google uses backlink as a ranking signal because when one website links to another, it means they believe the content is trustworthy. High-quality backlinks help to increase the site’s ranking position and visibility in search engine results 

1. Building Awareness (No Follow Links)

Links are very important in building and growing information about your product and your business to more people. Link building is like an internet connection that is important in increasing your website traffic. Links are proof of support you say and want to explain in more detail. They can be useful in directing a person to any specific product or service you want to show to the audience. No, follow links come into use as Brand Awareness. Product awareness requires a visual link but can be followed by an audience. For example, people post multiple links to current headlines and articles on Facebook and Twitter. This allows the audience to follow the pages without having to read all the content. It leaves an impression on the mind of the visitor that, in time, makes them go back and explore the page.

2.  Guest posting for backlinks

This idea is not a change at all, but it can help build links in your store – even your product pages. In other words, do not write guest posts aimed at your audience. A better guest post should include your website speciality and your expertise. When writing guest posts, it is best to only link your domain once or twice and do it in context. No one, and I mean no one, will put guest posts on their website if there are only 300 words of selling your own product.

3. Testimonials

You probably used to ask for testimonials from your customers, but have you ever thought that they too could be a great way to build links. It can help you to diversify your link profile by shouting about how great someone else’s product or service is. If you can write testimonials or case studies that they can publish on their website, they will usually be happy to link and return to your website as a credit card next to it. From there, write positive testimonials and share them next to permission to use them on their website. There are so many ways you can get backlinks to your website. Which strategy best for you often depends on how close you have come to building links in the past, what industry you work in, and what your competitors are doing.

4.Resource Link Building

When you think of ways to get backlinks, many often start by thinking of bigger and harder strategies. But one of the most effective ways to build links is to build a resource link. To be successful with this strategy, you need to identify where your business can add value to your audience. After that, you need to create excellent resource pages to get quality backlinks from the relevant authorities. And you often get these opportunities by analyzing your competitor’s link profile and looking at who they are contacting but not you. By using the SEMrush Backlink Analytics Tool, you can easily identify resources that link to a competitor’s site. This way, you can work on content strategies that can attract their attention, and they will want to link to your site instead. 5.Building Relationships with Influencers.

Once you get to know the work of influencers in your niche – your goal should not just be to hit them up for links. It just doesn’t work this way and it can be annoying if you try this from the beginning. Your goal should be to start truly engaging with them. Leave a meaningful comment on their blog, you often share their work on social media (believe me, they’ll see). Also, try linking them as authorized sources from posts on your blog. Over time, this action will bring you to the promoter’s radar as someone genuinely interested in what they are doing. And as someone who gave them something first before you go and ask for something in return.

Treading the ever-evolving dynamic world of Digital Marketing and its plethora of solutions can be confusing and intimidating for a new business – trusting a team of proven market experts is therefore the wise thing to do! Call us on 9136024246 / 7 or mail us at info@eyecatchers.co and we will prepare a tailor-made digital marketing solution for you that will be effective, efficient and ‘value-for-money!

[martyrbat]

[ID: an uncoloured drawing for a panel next to the publicized version. They're both from the comic Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #194. In them, Batman is shown from the waist up. He's looking at Jim Gordon, who's off panel, with a penitent expression after being accused of something he secretly did do. He has his palm pressed against his chest and is blocking the bat emblem as his other hand is clasped ontop of it. In the initial drawing, there's a halo floating above his head as well as several tiny hearts mixed in with the lights that surround him. In the publicized panel, the hearts and halo has been removed and two speech bubbles have been added. He's in front of a terra rose background and is starting to say, “Jim, I don't even know what you're...” But Jim cuts him off, saying, “Stop it. I'm tired of this.”

The third photo is a description of the drawing from the artist's (Seth Fisher) website. It reads: This is another page that the DC editors changed: no halos or hearts around Batman, no matter how (disingenuously) contrite he is. In the final edition, the halo and heart in the center bottom frame have been excised.]

[meichenxi]

SpeakGaelic: a guide!

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the national centre for Gaelic language and culture, recently worked with BBC Alba to produce videos, audio and a website called SpeakGaelic. 

There’s videos, an online course, support for tutors, multiple new podcasts, Youtube, various things airing on TV. The actual self-taught online course is only one part of how much this resource has to offer! So here’s some of the things I’ve been looking at. 

1. The website itself

 https://speakgaelic.scot/all-online-courses/

This is just the whole website: explore at your leisure! At the moment they have finished up to around A2 level, and are working on producing higher level content. 

Each topic has a series of 8-10 mini-lessons that are sometimes more duolingo style, and sometimes with videos.

I...actually prefer to use the teaching resources for tutors (linked below) than this course for a few reasons. My main problem is that the vocabulary they present to you is far too fast (in one lesson they might give you 20 words for different Scottish towns), which is fine if you just need to choose the relevant words for where you are from, but in order to pass the quiz to get to the next level you have to get ALL of them right. And Gaelic spelling takes a while to get used to...

There’s also no writing / spelling practice, but to pass the level requires you to write things. Which. Feels counterintuitive! You can learn any level without passing the tests, but it’s annoying because it means your progress isn’t saved to an accurate place. I emailed them about it and got a friendly response back, but this isn’t something they are planning to change. 

2. The classroom materials

 https://speakgaelic.scot/classroom-materials/

Now THIS is where it gets exciting. These are materials designed in theory for tutors - full lesson plans, worksheets, everything - but they are accessible to learners too. In fact, I think they’re much better than the online course. 

Why? Because everything is STRUCTURED. You are given practice, and told what to do, and there are grammatical explanations. (NB: all of these exist in the online course, but not in one handy document for you to look over in one place.) 

You have all of the learner content....

...and you ALSO have teacher content:

‘If learners need more time and practice with the vocative case’ > that’s me! And it shows you then exactly what you should do next. Whereas the online course doesn’t have that option for customisation at all. Most of the worksheets are included in the lesson plan, and some are on the main page. Absolute bliss. 

3. The SpeakGaelic learner podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6x5b901Zj8ky0UsMM4SzZM?si=00c361fe5ffc4f0d

(If you don’t have Spotify, you can just search ‘SpeakGaelic’)

This is an audio version of the lessons above, and goes into more detail - with information from three different native speakers - into some of the grammar things that the course doesn’t really cover in that much depth. There’s conversations you can listen to, and it’s all targeted at complete beginners. If you listen to any other Gaelic podcasts you’ll recognise the presenter, John Urquhart!

After each episode, there’s also a special episode - scroll down to the bottom - with conversation about different topics relevant to the day’s lesson with two of the presenters. Great for providing extra information!

4. The Youtube channel

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppoHU_ece7o&list=PL_U7jPRkbJZtFegaqKKT8MrZnV7ugwHAG&index=1

Ok, so there’s a LOT of content here. First you have the A1-A2 lessons, around 30 minutes each. Despite what the name suggests, these are not the same as the audio podcasts. They have Joy (who presents the online course) but they also give some extra video clips and information about cultural things too!

They’re a little slow, but a good supplement to the material given above. As far as I can tell, there are only 13 of this particular series (and 13 for A2) but the YouTube channel SpeakGaelic itself has hundreds of episodes of everything that goes into the online course. All the videos can be found there. 

This includes all audio and conversations, as well as snapshots on individual learners and some cultural information. 

They also seemingly have started marking some grammar videos! Check out this playlist for more grammar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq9_0ht4L3Y&list=PL_U7jPRkbJZu0uq_6wpzCgZcpddGDU76D

5. The intermediate podcast: Beag air Bheag

https://open.spotify.com/show/34wGOU9sDTE7Vzg0qMexfv?si=314cbbb294b648ec

Once you’re a little further on in your journey (I...can’t understand these yet), there are a few other podcasts on Spotify also by the BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. This is one! This is totally in Gaelic, but spoken fairly slowly and designed for intermediate learners. 

6. The old site: learngaelic.scot

https://learngaelic.scot

Check it out! I...actually prefer this site and the way it teaches. It has some bonuses over the old one - good vocabulary sections, plus a really great directory of Gaelic courses online and in person, as well as a dictionary, and so on. 

It goes all the way up to B2, so is a better choice if you have more than a little Gaelic. 

It’s also a brilliant directory of media in Gaelic - you can watch lots of videos with transcripts in Gaelic with a dictionary, as well as finding native-level material. You can sign up to their newsletter and get weekly Gaelic information too. 

It also has links to Speaking Our Language!! Which is an absolutely wonderful resource from the 90s teaching Gaelic one conversation at a time, and also goes up to a fairly high level. These are all updated for The Modern Age: i.e., they all have PDFs and transcripts, as well as links to the grammar points for whatever lesson you’re listening to. Far more advanced than anything the new site currently has. 

I might do another post once I’ve explored this website a little more! 

7. Bonus: Gaelic with Jason

Finally, one extra! The other main resource I’m using is Gaelic with Jason (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rAE_iLRh4g for example). 

He has a whole bunch of free Youtube videos, but I’m actually doing his paid online course - it’s by the best value for money I know from any course, Gaelic or otherwise. If you have the money for it and like immersive learning with a board and just being chatted to, I’d highly recommend you give it a go. He also has loads of Gaelic books for learners, which are wonderful too, and a folktales and traditions course for intermediate learners. Can’t talk about this man enough. (https://gaelicwithjason.thinkific.com)

---

Once again, I’d really encourage you to check out the teaching materials: I personally find them way more useful than the online course for learners specifically. I’m looking at the teaching materials in conjunction with the audio on YouTube and then the podcasts on Spotify.

All the best!

- Melissa

[useless-catalanfacts]

hola

i'm a Barca fan – of both the First Team and FCB Femeni and i have gotten to know about Catalunya and Barcelona and i have read about Catalunya's history (1714 and Franco and everything and more) and Catalan culture

i really want to learn Catalan, i live in Asia and it's almost not possible for me to learn Catalan in actual classes

can you please tell how may i learn Catalan??? and if possible, please cite some online resources, because that's all that i have access to

thank you so much

Hi! Thank you so much for your interest 😊

I will link you to some posts with resources that might be useful.

Before getting into the online resources, I wanted to add a link to Institut Ramon Llull website, where you can see a map of all the universities around the world where this institution teaches Catalan. There's very few in Asia, but in case you're from Japan there are 4 unis there.

Now, to online resources.

Books: "learn Catalan from..."

This is a series of little books that you can download online for free.

I will link them here (I'll link them all in case it can help someone else too). Just scroll down and download the PDFs.

Learn Catalan from English: here.

from Amazigh: here.

from Arabic: here.

from Spanish: here.

from French: here.

from Punjabi: here.

from Romanian: here.

from Russian: here.

from Urdu: here.

from Chinese: here.

Website courses

1. Parla.cat (for all levels)

The government of Catalonia made an online course on the website Parla.cat. You have to create an account and it will give you access all the material for free. If you want, you can also choose a paying version which will assign you a Catalan language teacher from Catalonia.

(Note: you'll have to download a browser to use Parla.cat because it was made years ago and the Flash system doesn't work with all browsers anymore. The website will tell you about this.)

2. SpeakCat (beginner, exercises)

SpeakCat is an online course that was made for university students who come to Catalonia without any knowledge of Catalan. The website is in English and Catalan.

It includes easy explanations and self-correcting exercises for each topic. The explanations are in Catalan, but the exercises will give you corrections and explanations in English.

3. Ep! Escolta i parla (beginner, oral)

This is the material that is used in face-to-face classes for recently arrived immigrants who can't read and write well. It's a series of videos that doesn't rely on written words, showing everyday conversations.

Here are the short videos.

Here are the interactive activities. (The website gives you the correction)

Maybe after learning a topic, you could watch a video to see if you understand what they say.

4. Català bàsic I and II (beginners)

Class exercises for reading and listening. You can download the PDF for the visual part (in the "contingut" section) and the audio recording (in the "activitats orals" section).

The PDF is like your activity book, and the audio part is what you have to listen to so you can complete the activity.

Here is the 1st course: Català bàsic I.

And the 2nd: Català bàsic II.

5. Guia de conversa universitària (beginner)

Choose the language you know and it will give you a list of beginner words and sentences in Catalan and translated to that language. Both written down and you can click 🔊 to hear the pronunciation. Here.

6. Fils de conversa (intermediate and intermediate-advanced)

The Fils de conversa page includes conversation topics, readings, discussions and information, both written down and in audio format.

This was made for a volunteering programme in Catalonia that pairs a learner with a native speaker, so it's thought for two people who can have conversations about it. But it will also be useful for one person alone when you can read and speak some.

7. Others

In this post you can find links to grammar books. They're immersion books, meaning that they teach Catalan but they're written in Catalan. At the beginning, it will be difficult if you don't speak another Latin language, but maybe with translator they can be helpful. But maybe in the future they will be helpful.

Dictionaries

Diccionaris.cat is a dictionary where you can select to translate a word to/from English, Spanish and French, to find the description in Catalan, or synonyms in Catalan.

Didac.cat is a monolingual dictionary for schools. Type a word in Catalan to find the definition in Catalan using more simple vocabulary.

Verbs.cat is a website where you type a verb in infinitive and it gives you all the conjugations.

Enciclopèdia.cat is the encyclopedia.

I hope this helps and best wishes with your learning!

(Check the comments to see other people's additions)

[obviouslygenuinely]

Free Resources For Writers & Creators

This is a quick post of free resources that may help fandom creators (or creators in general). I’m sure many of these have been shared before. However, it doesn’t hurt to spread the word. A few quick points:

As a professional writer, I think this post will cater mostly towards writers.

I’m also a freelance photographer, so digital photography/editing/art sources are included, too.

I chose not to use any affiliate links in my post. I don’t want to profit from this, and I’m not sure that’s allowed on Tumblr anyways. 

If I’ve listed a resource I haven’t used myself, I’ve made sure to state it. 

Masterlists and/or huge resource compilations are marked with asterisks.

Alright, here we go! I hope you all find this post helpful. Happy writing/creating! 

Research

All of these are free resources for research. I use most of them for my writing jobs because they are extremely credible. These are great for making accurate references in your fics/creations. 

1. ***Research Resources For Writers***

Writer’s Write has an enormous database of research resources for writers. They are divided into 20+ categories such as:

careers

historical research

crimes and forensics

religion

Each category contains 10+ resources like websites, articles, tips, databases, and so much more. It’s the most comprehensive and organized free research tool I use.

2. PubMed

My go-to source for citing medical studies. You’ll find 30 million citations related to numerous physical and mental health issues. 

3. BioMed Central

I don’t use this website as often, but I keep it in my bookmarks. It’s similar to PubMed - great for discovering current and former medical research. 

4. Drugs.com

If you need to name a medication and/or refer to medication side effects, Drugs.com is a straightforward resource. It’s easy to navigate and understand. 

It also has a tool that lists potential medication interactions. This is really useful for accurate descriptions of med combinations. 

5. Merck Manuals Consumer Version

Merck Manuals started out in 1899 as a medical reference guide for professionals. This consumer version is really comprehensive and updated regularly. It includes definitions, studies, and more. 

6. FindLaw

If you’re writing about legal topics, FindLaw is useful for learning about laws/procedures in reader-friendly language. Categories include:

accidents/injuries

criminal law

family law (divorce, custody, etc.)

Keep in mind that laws vary based on location! You’ll often find additional links to state-related laws within articles. I do recommend double-checking state/location-based legal resources for accuracy. 

7. APA Dictionary of Psychology

This psychology dictionary is provided by the American Psychological Association. It covers 90+ areas of psychology and 25,000+ terms/definitions. 

You’ll also find links to additional psychology databases, resources, and so on. The website is updated frequently to provide updated information.

8. U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics

If you’re writing about a character’s job/career in the United States, this is a great source for accuracy. For any job sector, you’ll find details about

education requirements

positions in the sector

average salary for positions

what the positions entail 

I imagine there are alternatives for other countries, too! 

9. Investopedia Financial Term Dictionary

My area of expertise is personal finance; all of my writing published under my name is in this niche. I still refer to Investopedia’s dictionary for help. It’s excellent for understanding/explaining financial terms in a way that your reader can understand. 

10. MedTerms Medical Dictionary

This is the medical version of Investopedia’s dictionary. I use this source less frequently, but I find that it’s accurate and helpful. There are many similar references online if you search for “medical glossaries” or “medical dictionaries”. 

11. Domain Authority Checker

I’m not sure if this one is too helpful for fic writers, but it’s one of my most used tools. Domain authority “a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank on search engine result pages (SERPs)”.

The Wikipedia page for domain authority (DA) explains it clearly and simply. To sum it up, websites with good DA scores are considered reliable and accurate. If I cite sources in my work. I always link to sources with good DA scores. 

Writing/Editing

This section is the most thorough one. All of these are completely free tools for writing and editing any type of content. I currently use or have used all of these at some point in my career. 

1. ***List Of Free And Open-Source Software Packages***

This Wikipedia page applies to multiple categories in my post. It’s a masterpost of free and open-source software for anything and everything. Software is divided up into categories and sub-categories. Some relevant examples include:

media

networking/Internet

image editing

file management

There are hundreds of free software links on the page, so you’ll need to do a bit of browsing. Start with the categories above to find software geared towards writers/creators. 

2. OpenOffice

This is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. I’ve used it for nine years and love it. OpenOffice software includes free applications for:

text documents

spreadsheets

presentations

drawing

templates

There are many more tools with OpenOffice that I haven’t used. If you write offline, I cannot recommend it enough. Tutorials are readily available online, and the software is pretty user-friendly. 

3. Evernote

I briefly used Evernote and found that it’s very user-friendly and helpful. Most of my colleagues use Evernote and recommend it for taking notes/staying organized.

(I’m personally not a fan of note-taking software or apps. My method is messy text documents with bullet point lists.)

4. Google Drive

This might seem like an obvious one, but Google Drive/Docs is my writing haven. It has the tools included with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice and then some. It’s great for collaborative writing/sharing documents, too. 

5. Grammarly

I use the Premium (paid) version of Grammarly, but I also used the free version for years. It’s helpful for detecting simple spelling, style, and grammatical errors. 

There are numerous ways to use it - desktop, copy/paste documents, and so on. I’m not a huge fan of how well it works with Google Docs, but they’re improving it/it’s moved out of beta mode. 

If you’re interested in the paid version - which I highly recommend -  wait to buy until a holiday pops up. They offer a major discount on the software for almost every holiday/special occasion. 

6. Plagiarism Detector

This website is handy for scanning for plagiarism. You can scan your own work to ensure uniqueness, too. My clients are big fans of this tool. 

(I no longer use this resource; I use a paid tool called Copyscape Premium. The low cost has a big return on investment for me.) 

7. TitleCase

The name says it all. It’s free and simple! I’ll be honest - I’m terrible with proper title case. You’d think after a decade of writing I’d nail it. However, I use this tool pretty often. 

8. Hemingway Editor

Hemingway Editor is an online and desktop editor. It’s excellent for scanning your writing to check for:

readability (a grade-level score is listed)

adverb usage

passive voice usage

complex phrase usage

estimated reading time

This tool is color-coded to make editing easy. For example, adverbs are highlighted in blue. I don’t use this as often as I used to, but it was essential for my early writing career. 

9. Polish My Writing

This tool is very straightforward. You paste your writing into the text box. Spelling errors, grammar suggestions, and style suggestions are highlighted in red, blue, and green. 

It’s great for double-checking your work alongside Grammarly or Hemingway. When using free editors, I recommend using at least two for higher accuracy. 

10. OneLook Reverse Dictionary And Thesaurus 

I’m going to use the definition directly from the website:

“This tool lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be anything at all: a single word, a few words, or even a whole sentence. Type in your description and hit Enter (or select a word that shows up in the autocomplete preview) to see the related words.” 

To put it simply, you can use the reverse dictionary/thesaurus to find those words/thoughts that are on the tip of your tongue. Use the tool to:

find a word based on the word’s definition (i.e. search for “inability to feel pain”)

find synonyms and related concepts 

generate a list of category-specific words (i.e. search for “cat breeds”)

answer basic questions (i.e. search for “what is the capital of France?”)

The results can be hit or miss, but I usually find the information I’m looking for. It’s a solid resource any writer regardless of genre. 

11. Word Frequency Counter +  Phrase Frequency Counter

I cannot emphasize how much I love these tools. Repetition is the bane of a writer’s existence; it’s simply inevitable at times. 

These two tools count the number of times you use a single word or phrase in a text document. Just copy/paste your document, hit submit, and you’re all set! 

For the phrase frequency counter, you can scan for two-word to ten-word phrases. 

12. Thesaurus.com

This is another tool that might seem painfully obvious. Combined with the word frequency counter, it’s such an essential resource for me. 

It’s especially useful if you’re writing about the same topic multiple times (i.e. love, getting drunk, sex, etc.). I always use this combo of tools to ensure uniqueness. 

13. Lists Of Colors

Are you stumped when trying to come up with unique shades of blue? Is describing your character’s hair or skin color difficult? This Wikipedia page has you covered. It contains:

lists of colors (alphabetically)

lists of colors by shade

lists of Crayola crayon colors

lists of color palettes

I typically use this resource for product descriptions, but I also used it for creative writing many times. It’s a lifesaver for all things color-related.

Free Photos/Images

Tons of creators need free photos/images for numerous reasons. All of these sources provide 100% free photos, illustrations, etc. that have a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means there’s no copyright whatsoever on them. 

You can edit the images however you’d like, too. All of the images in my post are from the first source listed below. I made them black and white and added text.

(A lot of these sites have donate buttons for contributors. Donating a dollar here and there goes a long way!)

1. Unsplash

Unsplash is my personal favorite for high-resolution photos. It’s easy to navigate and has over 2,000,000 free images. Downloading an image is a one-click process, and you don’t need to create an account. 

2. Pixabay

Pixabay is my go-to site for illustrations and vector graphics (they have photos, too). There are 1.9 million free images to choose from. You don’t need an account to download images, but I recommend creating one. It’s free and with an account:

you don’t have to complete a CAPTCHA every time you download an image

you can access higher-quality/larger/etc. versions of images

I often use graphics from Pixabay to create overlays and masks for mixed media art pieces.

3. PxHere

I’ve never used PxHere, but one of my writing clients recommends it. It seems very similar to Pixabay, and the interface is user-friendly.

4. Pexels

In my limited experience, Pexels seems to focus on “artsy” stock images/content. I found great high-quality images the few times I’ve used it. 

5. Burst by Shopify

I haven’t used Burst, but it’s another free image site that a writing client recommended to me. It seems a little limited compared to the other sites, but it never hurts to add it to your toolbox!

Digital Art/Photo Editing/Etc.

This section seems brief, but the tools listed are pretty comprehensive and diverse. They are geared towards many creative needs/projects like:

Creating manips of people/etc.

Adding text to images.

Creating collages.

Digital illustration.

Advanced photo editing. 

There’s something for everyone. In my experience, finding your favorites among these will take some trial and error. 

1. Pixlr X and Pixlr E (app available)

Pixlr X and Pixlr E are both versatile free editing tools. Pixlr X is ideal for less experienced creators. Pixlr E is comparable to Adobe PhotoShop. 

I’ve used both software formats for personal and professional art projects.

The Pixlr app is handy for making collages, adding filters/overlays, adding text, and so on. I’ve used it for creating fanfiction collages and similar projects. It’s super easy to use. 

2. Remove Background by Pixlr

This is one of the easiest/fastest tools I’ve found for removing backgrounds from images. It’s perfect for creators who make manips using photos of people. 

It takes literal seconds to use. The tool automatically removes the background. If you spot any mistakes, you can refine the results with brush/erase tools. Then you download the cutout and you’re all set! 

Unfortunately, this feature isn’t available on the Pixlr app. There are a lot of smartphone apps for removing photo backgrounds.

3. GIMP

If you need a full-fledged Photoshop alternative, GIMP is excellent software.  It’s not an online tool like most I’ve suggested; you’ll need to download it to your computer. 

There’s quite a learning curve for it, unless you’re familiar with Photoshop already. Fortunately, the free video/text GIMP tutorials online are endless. I no longer use/need GIMP, but it’s a personal favorite of mine.

4. Paint.NET

Admittedly, I haven’t used Paint.NET, but my art/photography colleagues commonly mention it. It’s comparable to Photoshop and GIMP. It’s a web-based tool, and a quick Google search returns several tutorials for it. 

5. Photopea

This is more or less a Photoshop clone, but it’s free and web-based. If you watch Photoshop tutorials, you can usually follow the same steps in PhotoPea. 

I’ve only used it a few times; I have Photoshop so I don’t need it. Still, it’s very impressive - especially for a free tool.

6. PicsArt (app available)

PicsArt is a photo editing website and app; the app is much easier to use in my opinion. It’s a “fun” editing tool for photo manips, collages, and fan art in general. A lot of users post their art in the app, and I’ve noticed tons of cool fandom edits. 

Some of the features are Premium (AKA cost money), but I don’t think they’re worth the extra cost. PicsArt also has a digital drawing app. I haven’t personally used it but it may be worth checking out! 

7. Adobe Photoshop Express (app available)

(I’ll preface this by saying I have an Adobe subscription, so I have access to the “locked” features. I’ve used the free versions, but my memory of it is a bit hazy.)

Photoshop Express is a free web-based tool and smartphone app. The app is very user-friendly and can be used for detailed editing, adding filters, adding text, and so on. 

I’m less familiar with the browser version; I only use it for the cutout tool when I’m feeling lazy. It seems to be a good fit for quick edits - filters, cropping, and so on. 

8. Make PNG Transparent by Online PNG Tools

This tool is awesome for removing solid colored backgrounds. I use it to create graphics for mixed media art pieces. Here’s how it works:

upload an image

type the color your want to remove (name or hex code)

type the percentage of similar color tones you want to match (for example, 25% will remove your chosen color plus similar warm/cool tones)

the removed color is replaced with transparent pixels

If you want to make a JPG transparent, start with the website’s JPG to PNG Converter. There are a ton of useful free tools offered, but I haven’t tried out most of the others. 

Wrap Up

That’s all I’ve got for now! If I think of additional free tools, I’ll add them to this post. Feel free to reblog with your own recommendations or message me if you’d like me to add anything.

I hope my fellow creatives find these too

[queenlilith43]

Reasons Why Post Plus is a Terrible Idea

Tumblr has recently unveiled their new "Post Plus" feature. It allows people to put a paywall around their blogs, allowing them to charge up to $9.99 a month, with Tumblr taking a 5% cut of the creator's earnings. In this post, I will explain why this is a horrible idea.

@staff: You better listen up. I took a few hours away from my day for this. I had to have my friend Ashley help me with this, and that took time from her day too. (Thank you @patalliumapples) I'm explaining everything under the cut because this is long.

1. We Don't Have the Money

First of all, Tumblr is a social media site. This means in countries like the US, people as young as 13 can sign up and have an account. Most teenagers do not have the money to keep up with their favorite blogs for the low, low price of $9.99!

Second of all, a lot of adults on the site already are having trouble paying their bills, and don't have any content they would be willing to charge people on. As explained in this post, people are already struggling. (They also explain how to support creators better, which I will go onto later.) They don't have the money to spend on this. I, as a teenager myself, don't have enough money to spend to unlock Tumblr blogs. I don't know if I even can, I don't have a credit card or anything, and I don't want debt before I'm out of high school. Oh, and that leads me right next into the next point.

2. You could fix other things

Tumblr is called a Hellsite for many reasons, and how it breaks a lot is one of them. One problem are the Ray-Bans sunglasses bots that hack the site every so often. I have gotten one, Ashley has gotten three.

You can also barely even search on this website. Searching for tags brings up the randomest things. You can barely even search your own blog, this is how bad it is. Fixing those issues before we give you our credit card number would be a great thing.

3. People don't want it

The consensus so far is NO. In some cases, "FUCK NO" This is valid, people don't want it. We can't pay for it, and we really don't need it. Everyone hates it.

And you bet that the Tumblr-famous will try this out.

I, as of writing this, have 416 followers. I bet all of them would leave me if I tried to do a paid post. (Not like I can, I'm a broke teenager, but still.) That would limit the market.

And other people have expressed they would leave anyone who put their posts behind a paywall, such as in this newly-viral post.

4. Monetization of fanfic

Alright. *Cracks fingers* I get to show off my knowledge of copyright law.

Fair use that covers fanfiction does not cover having to pay for it. Monetization of fanfiction is not legal, and if someone tries, the original content creator can issue a DMCA takedown order. The person who posted and monetized the fanfiction will be forced to take down their post, hurting their earnings. This will affect Tumblr.

Also, as we saw recently with a Loki T-shirt on Etsy, big corporations are known for taking down anything they consider infringement, even if it falls under fair use. There was a scare a while back on Ao3 (Archive of Our Own) that Disney would take down their fanfiction, but Ao3 had a legal time that can fight for them. Tumblr probably does not, and would probably lose a legal battle against Disney.

In fact, Ao3 does not allow any sort of links to other monetizable websites, like Pateron and Ko-fi, on their platform to avoid potential legal trouble. It's included in their terms of service, which you can read here. I would recommend it, and to check out some other links. They explain legal issues quite well.

And as satirized in this post, trying to find posts on Tumblr for a DMCA takedown is pretty damn hard.

5. You can get around paying for a post through the reblogs.

Despite the fact that is something you're technically not supposed to do, people can just copy and paste the content. The fact is if anyone has a Post Plus post, you bet the entirety of Tumblr is going to get around that. After all "you can share a teaser of +Post Content through the reblog function on the Services" (From the Tumblr TOS)

6. We've had mirror sites that could probably get around the paywall

In the past, we have had many mirror sites. They are the exact mirror of our Tumblr, tracking everything right down to our reblogs. Last I heard they were all shut down, though Tumbex sounded like it was going to come back. If these mirror sites are smart enough, they would be another way around the paywall.

7. You can't block people who are paying for your content

This is a problem. People can harass you, and sometimes, this Hellsite won't take them off. The block button is an important tool. I, for one, currently have 11 people blocked for various reasons. Some of them were messing with me in the reblogs of a post (it wasn't even their place to do so) and I didn't think Tumblr would count this as harassment.

If you can't block people, and even with the risk of it hurting your earnings, it's not good. Even remotely.

8. There are other ways to support creators that are much better. 

As said in the very first reason, creators hate this Post Plus. They prefer being supported in other ways. People also don’t always want to be paid for the content (not even counting legal issues) And if they want to there are already platforms set up for them to use. For example, Pateron has tiers you can set up for membership, ranging up to $100. There, you know what you walked into. You’re not expecting free content, like on Tumblr, you’re building a relationship with the people in your community. Ko-fi lets people donate directly to their content creators, and won’t take any of their donations, unlike the 5% cut Tumblr is planning on taking. Both platforms also offer features that would not be available on Tumblr. Creators are also more likely to already have one of these set up, and keep Tumblr for their free content. 

9. Tumblr could make money through better ads

Tumblr ads are famously . . . what’s the word? Ah, yes, “batshit” is the word I’m looking for. I’ve gotten ads for tattoo aftercare, signs of heart disease (the picture provided was someone with their nails painted blue), maps of the USA, celebrities that has passed away, lists of bad cities in my state, graphics of chickens with Hindi (note: I am American), and apparently now I should be worried if my dog licks their paws. (?) As I went to check my dash while writing this post, I saw a small air cooler that was apparently more powerful than A/C being advertised. 

No one clicks on them except for a laugh, or if they accidentally thought it was something that was actually interesting. Most of the time, it is not. Tumblr could do something like Instagram and actually have good ads and make more money off of it. It may not be as much as they thought they were going to make, but it’s better than what they have now. (It’s a low bar.) 

10. This is the same website that spearheaded DashCon

You remember DashCon, don’t you? 

This seems to illustrate the website's stupidity in one picture and this is why you shouldn't trust us with money.

If you have any other reasons why this is bad reason, reblog the post with your reasons. I'd like to hear them, and don't forget to tag the staff.

There is a survey Tumblr wants you to fill out here, it's a step you can take. You can also listen to the protest @postplus-protest which should help. It starts August 6th, it's going to be a great time.

[unnoticedsstuff]

The 3 Easiest Ways For Newbies To Start In Affiliate Marketing

With the aid of the Internet, you can almost have everything right at your fingertips. With just a few clicks you get access to thousands and even millions of pieces of information and data on virtually any field of interest. As years pass by, the Internet continuous to effect radical changes in many facets of human endeavors, including commerce.

Experts say that the information space, commonly known as the “world wide web,” grows by over a million pages everyday as more and more people utilize the Internet for information, education, entertainment, business and other personal reasons. It doesn’t take a business-oriented individual to realize that this phenomenon can bring about sky-high financial gains. The Internet’s fast-growing popularity in the recent years is surely an opportunity for business that any entrepreneur would not want to miss.You might be thinking only businessmen can make much money out of the Internet, don’t you? Think again.

You too can earn big bucks through the Internet even if you don’t have products to sell and high-profile and established company. How? That is through affiliate marketing. You might have come across these words over the net while surfing. Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing between a merchant and an affiliate who gets paid for referring or promoting the merchants’ products and services. It is one of the burgeoning industries nowadays because it is proven to be cost-efficient and quantifiable means of attaining great profit both for the merchant and the affiliate and other players in the affiliate program, such as the affiliate network or affiliate solution provider.Affiliate marketing works effectively for the merchant and the affiliate.

To the first, he gains opportunities to advertise his products to a larger market, which increases his chances to earn. The more affiliate websites or hard-working affiliates he gets, the more sales he can expect. By getting affiliates to market his products and services, he is saving himself time, effort and money in looking for possible markets and customers. When a client clicks on the link in the affiliate website, purchases the product, recommends it to others who look for the same item or buys it again, the merchant multiplies his chances of earning. On the other hand, the affiliate marketer benefits from each customer who clicks on the link in his website and who actually purchases the product or avails of the service provided by the merchant. In most cases, the affiliate gets commision per sale, which can be fixed percentage or fixed amount.If you want to be an affiliate marketer and make fortunes out of the Internet, you may follow the following three most basic and easiest ways to start an effective affiliate marketing program. First is to identify a particular thing you are interested in or passionate about so you won’t be bored and forced to develop your affiliate web site later on.

For example websites like Get Reponse, Blue host etc., Focusing on a specific area you know very well will help you bring out your best without much risks and effort.

You can add a personal touch to your site and give your visitors who are possible buyers an impression that you are an expert in your field. In this way, you gain their trust and eventually encourage them to buy the products you endorse. Next is to look for good paying merchants and products or services related to your interest and create now a website. In choosing the products, you must also consider its conversion rate.

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