#website design tools 2024

[maduraimart]

Top 10 Website Design Tools

In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital design, staying ahead of the curve is essential for creating stunning websites. As we step into 2024, the world of website design has seen a surge in innovative tools that streamline the creation process and elevate the overall user experience. Here, we present the top 10 website design tools that are revolutionizing the industry in 2024. Top 10…

[dream-site-pro-review]

Dream Site Pro Review - Good or Bad?

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is not just an option, but a necessity. Whether you’re a small business owner, a freelancer, or an entrepreneur, your website is your digital storefront, the place where first impressions are made and lasting relationships are built. But let’s face it—building a professional, eye-catching website can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not a tech wizard. Enter Dream Site Pro, the game-changing platform designed to simplify website creation with the power of AI.

What is Dream Site Pro?

Dream Site Pro is a revolutionary AI-powered tool that allows anyone to create stunning, professional WordPress websites in just minutes. Whether you’re an experienced web designer or a complete beginner, Dream Site Pro provides the tools and templates you need to bring your vision to life without the headaches of coding or design complexities.

How Does It Work?

Dream Site Pro’s magic lies in its simplicity and AI-driven features. Here’s a step-by-step look at how it works:

1. Select a Theme: Start by choosing from over 200 beautifully designed templates, organized into more than 30 niches. Whether you’re looking to create a site for a coffee house, a travel blog, or a dental clinic, there’s a template that fits your needs.

2. Customize with Ease: With the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily tweak the layout, colors, fonts, and other design elements to match your brand. The AI tools also offer suggestions to enhance your site’s appearance and functionality, ensuring it looks professional and is user-friendly.

3. Enhance with Features: Dream Site Pro comes packed with built-in features like call-to-action management, Google Maps integration, and social media tools to boost engagement. For e-commerce needs, the seamless WooCommerce integration allows you to set up an online store effortlessly.

4. Publish and Optimize: Once you’re happy with the design, you can publish your site with a single click. Dream Site Pro handles all the technical details, ensuring your website is fast, secure, and optimized for SEO.

5. Manage and Grow: The platform includes advanced lead management and analytics tools, helping you track performance and refine your strategies. Plus, with the built-in autoresponder integration, you can automate your email marketing to nurture leads and drive conversions.

Why Choose Dream Site Pro?

AI-Powered Efficiency: Dream Site Pro leverages AI to simplify and accelerate the web design process. From automatic SEO optimization to compliance with ADA and GDPR regulations, the AI handles it all, letting you focus on what matters most—your business.

Cost-Effective Solution: Forget about expensive developers or recurring monthly fees. Dream Site Pro offers a one-time payment for lifetime access, making it a budget-friendly choice for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Versatility and Customization: With a wide range of templates and customization options, Dream Site Pro is versatile enough to cater to any industry or niche. The drag-and-drop editor and AI enhancements ensure that your site is not only unique but also highly functional.

Commercial Licensing: Looking to expand your business? Dream Site Pro comes with a commercial license, allowing you to create and sell unlimited websites to clients. It’s a fantastic opportunity for freelancers and agencies to boost their revenue.

Comprehensive Support and Training: Dream Site Pro provides extensive training resources and dedicated customer support to help you every step of the way. Whether you’re setting up your first website or managing multiple client projects, you’re never alone.

Real Success Stories

Dream Site Pro isn’t just another web design tool—it’s a catalyst for success. Take Sarah, for example, who skyrocketed her website traffic by 200% after switching to Dream Site Pro’s AI-powered designs. Or John, who saw a 300% increase in revenue within three months of using the platform. These are just a few examples of how Dream Site Pro is transforming businesses and lives.

Conclusion

In a world where digital presence is key to success, Dream Site Pro offers an unparalleled solution to web design challenges. It’s more than just a tool; it’s a partner in your entrepreneurial journey, empowering you to create stunning websites with ease and efficiency. Ready to take your online presence to the next level? Discover the power of AI with Dream Site Pro today and watch your business soar.

So why wait? Unleash your creativity and build your dream website with Dream Site Pro now. Your digital future awaits!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Google reneged on the monopolistic bargain

I'm on tour with my new novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT in SALT LAKE CITY (Feb 21, Weller Book Works) and TOMORROW in SAN DIEGO (Feb 22, Mysterious Galaxy). After that, it's LA, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix and more!

A funny thing happened on the way to the enshittocene: Google – which astonished the world when it reinvented search, blowing Altavista and Yahoo out of the water with a search tool that seemed magic – suddenly turned into a pile of shit.

Google's search results are terrible. The top of the page is dominated by spam, scams, and ads. A surprising number of those ads are scams. Sometimes, these are high-stakes scams played out by well-resourced adversaries who stand to make a fortune by tricking Google:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/phone-numbers-airlines-listed-google-directed-scammers-rcna94766

But often these scams are perpetrated by petty grifters who are making a couple bucks at this. These aren't hyper-resourced, sophisticated attackers. They're the SEO equivalent of script kiddies, and they're running circles around Google:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/24/passive-income/#swiss-cheese-security

Google search is empirically worsening. The SEO industry spends every hour that god sends trying to figure out how to sleaze their way to the top of the search results, and even if Google defeats 99% of these attempts, the 1% that squeak through end up dominating the results page for any consequential query:

https://downloads.webis.de/publications/papers/bevendorff_2024a.pdf

Google insists that this isn't true, and if it is true, it's not their fault because the bad guys out there are so numerous, dedicated and inventive that Google can't help but be overwhelmed by them:

https://searchengineland.com/is-google-search-getting-worse-389658

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Google has long maintained that its scale is the only thing that keeps us safe from the scammers and spammers who would otherwise overwhelm any lesser-resourced defender. That's why it was so imperative that they pursue such aggressive growth, buying up hundreds of companies and integrating their products with search so that every mobile device, every ad, every video, every website, had one of Google's tendrils in it.

This is the argument that Google's defenders have put forward in their messaging on the long-overdue antitrust case against Google, where we learned that Google is spending $26b/year to make sure you never try another search engine:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-27/google-paid-26-3-billion-to-be-default-search-engine-in-2021

Google, we were told, had achieved such intense scale that the normal laws of commercial and technological physics no longer applied. Take security: it's an iron law that "there is no security in obscurity." A system that is only secure when its adversaries don't understand how it works is not a secure system. As Bruce Schneier says, "anyone can design a security system that they themselves can't break. That doesn't mean it works – just that it works for people stupider than them."

And yet, Google operates one of the world's most consequential security system – The Algorithm (TM) – in total secrecy. We're not allowed to know how Google's ranking system works, what its criteria are, or even when it changes: "If we told you that, the spammers would win."

Well, they kept it a secret, and the spammers won anyway.

A viral post by Housefresh – who review air purifiers – describes how Google's algorithmic failures, which send the worst sites to the top of the heap, have made it impossible for high-quality review sites to compete:

https://housefresh.com/david-vs-digital-goliaths/

You've doubtless encountered these bad review sites. Search for "Best ______ 2024" and the results are a series of near-identical lists, strewn with Amazon affiliate links. Google has endlessly tinkered with its guidelines and algorithmic weights for review sites, and none of it has made a difference. For example, when Google instituted a policy that reviewers should "discuss the benefits and drawbacks of something, based on your own original research," sites that had previously regurgitated the same lists of the same top ten Amazon bestsellers "peppered their pages with references to a ‘rigorous testing process,’ their ‘lab team,’ subject matter experts ‘they collaborated with,’ and complicated methodologies that seem impressive at a cursory look."

But these grandiose claims – like the 67 air purifiers supposedly tested in Better Homes and Gardens's Des Moines lab – result in zero in-depth reviews and no published data. Moreover, these claims to rigorous testing materialized within a few days of Google changing its search ranking and said that high rankings would be reserved for sites that did testing.

Most damning of all is how the Better Homes and Gardens top air purifiers perform in comparison to the – extensively documented – tests performed by Housefresh: "plagued by high-priced and underperforming units, Amazon bestsellers with dubious origins (that also underperform), and even subpar devices from companies that market their products with phrases like ‘the Tesla of air purifiers.’"

One of the top ranked items on BH&G comes from Molekule, a company that filed for bankruptcy after being sued for false advertising. The model BH&G chose was ranked "the worst air purifier tested" by Wirecutter and "not living up to the hype" by Consumer Reports. Either BH&G's rigorous testing process is a fiction that they infused their site with in response to a Google policy change, or BH&G absolutely sucks at rigorous testing.

BH&G's competitors commit the same sins – literally, the exact same sins. Real Simple's reviews list the same photographer and the photos seem to have been taken in the same place. They also list the same person as their "expert." Real Simple has the same corporate parent as BH&G: Dotdash Meredith. As Housefresh shows, there's a lot of Dotdash Meredith review photos that seem to have been taken in the same place, by the same person.

But the competitors of these magazines are no better. Buzzfeed lists 22 air purifiers, including that crapgadget from Molekule. Their "methodology" is to include screenshots of Amazon reviews.

A lot of the top ranked sites for air purifiers are once-great magazines that have been bought and enshittified by private equity giants, like Popular Science, which began as a magazine in 1872 and became a shambling zombie in 2023, after its PE owners North Equity LLC decided its googlejuice was worth more than its integrity and turned it into a metastatic chumbox of shitty affiliate-link SEO-bait. As Housefresh points out, the marketing team that runs PopSci makes a lot of hay out of the 150 years of trust that went into the magazine, but the actual reviews are thin anaecdotes, unbacked by even the pretense of empiricism (oh, and they loooove Molekule).

Some of the biggest, most powerful, most trusted publications in the world have a side-hustle in quietly producing SEO-friendly "10 Best ___________ of 2024" lists: Rolling Stone, Forbes, US News and Report, CNN, New York Magazine, CNN, CNET, Tom's Guide, and more.

Google literally has one job: to detect this kind of thing and crush it. The deal we made with Google was, "You monopolize search and use your monopoly rents to ensure that we never, ever try another search engine. In return, you will somehow distinguish between low-effort, useless nonsense and good information. You promised us that if you got to be the unelected, permanent overlord of all information access, you would 'organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.'"

They broke the deal.

Companies like CNET used to do real, rigorous product reviews. As Housefresh points out, CNET once bought an entire smart home and used it to test products. Then Red Ventures bought CNET and bet that they could sell the house, switch to vibes-based reviewing, and that Google wouldn't even notice. They were right.

https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/welcome-to-the-cnet-smart-home/

Google downranks sites that spend money and time on reviews like Housefresh and GearLab, and crams botshittened content mills like BH&G into our eyeballs instead.

In 1558, Thomas Gresham coined (ahem) Gresham's Law: "Bad money drives out good." When counterfeit money circulates in the economy, anyone who gets a dodgy coin spends it as quickly as they can, because the longer you hold it, the greater the likelihood that someone will detect the fraud and the coin will become worthless. Run this system long enough and all the money in circulation is funny money.

An internet run by Google has its own Gresham's Law: bad sites drive out good. It's not just that BH&G can "test" products at a fraction of the cost of Housefresh – through the simple expedient of doing inadequate tests or no tests at all – so they can put a lot more content up that Housefresh. But that alone wouldn't let them drive Housefresh off the front page of Google's search results. For that, BH&G has to mobilize some of their savings from the no test/bad test lab to do real rigorous science: science in defeating Google's security-through-obscurity system, which lets them command the front page despite publishing worse-than-useless nonsense.

Google has lost the spam wars. In response to the plague of botshit clogging Google search results, the company has invested in…making more botshit:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/16/tweedledumber/#easily-spooked

Last year, Google did a $70b stock buyback. They also laid off 12,000 staffers (whose salaries could have been funded for 27 years by that stock buyback). They just laid off thousands more employees.

That wasn't the deal. The deal was that Google would get a monopoly, and they would spend their monopoly rents to be so good that you could just click "I'm feeling lucky" and be teleported to the very best response to your query. A company that can't figure out the difference between a scam like Better Homes and Gardens and a rigorous review site like Housefresh should be pouring every spare dime it brings in into fixing this problem. Not buying default search status on every platform so that we never try another search engine: they should be fixing their shit.

When Google admits that it's losing the war to these kack-handed spam-farmers, that's frustrating. When they light $26b/year on fire making sure you don't ever get to try anything else, that's very frustrating. When they vaporize seventy billion dollars on financial engineering and shoot one in ten engineers, that's outrageous.

Google's scale has transcended the laws of business physics: they can sell an ever-degrading product and command an ever-greater share of our economy, even as their incompetence dooms any decent, honest venture to obscurity while providing fertile ground – and endless temptation – for scammers.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/#not-up-to-the-task

[moiraimyths]

Howdy, fateful friends! Are you an artist or illustrator with an interest in visual novels?

If so: Moirai Myths, creators of the visual novel The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe), are in need of guest artists! More specifically, we're looking for up to two artists to help us with the content graphics ("CGs") for Maeve and Shae's upcoming routes. All of the details will be listed on our application form (linked below), but here is the gist:

This is paid work with 20-30 business day deadlines per piece!

Complicated revisions in the post-sketch phase are compensated!

You will be prioritized for future guest artist opportunities!

You will be featured/credited on Moirai Myths' website and in the game itself!

Sound interesting? If so, apply here:

Click under the cut for some F&Q 👇

Who are you? (I'm new here!)

Hi! We're Moirai Myths: a small, newish visual novel company based out of Canada. We're making a game inspired by mostly Irish mythology, which was funded on Kickstarter in 2023! Our game's got fairy politics, a diverse cast, a Gaeilge-to-English translation tool, and routes that can be played either romantically or platonically! Also horses. An ungodly amount of horses, really.

If that odd pitch sounded intriguing, perhaps you'd like to play our demo! It's free on Steam & Itch.io.

Why are you looking for guest artists?

When we originally launched our Kickstarter, the plan was to have our three in-house artists collaborate on the CGs in the same way our header image was. However, we quickly realized that adding CGs, even if they're done collaboratively, onto the existing duties of our artists was a tall order. Add to that the departure of our original sprite artist (who has since been replaced by our graphic designer), and we determined that having our in-house team work on CGs was simply not possible if we still wanted our first release to happen in 2024. So, rather than omitting CGs or adding them in at a later time, we came up with the idea of hiring guest artists. Overall this means our CGs will be a bit more varied in terms of art style, but we like to think of this as a positive! NDM's development will take a number of years to complete in full, so we hope our CGs will allow us to feature a lot of artists either within the VN/indie dev community already, or artists who aspire to work in gaming and are looking for entry positions.

How long will applications remain open for?

This application will be open until Sunday, March 24 at midnight (EST)! If we intend to extend past that deadline, we'll make an announcement about it.

I can't apply right now. Will you look for more CG guest artists in the future?

Definitely! As mentioned, NDM will take a while to develop in full, so this is by no means your only opportunity to apply. That being said, we suspect we're going to end up shortlisting a number of artists over the course of this application period, and we intend to keep a list of all the runners-up. So, even if you won't be able to participate this time, it might be a good idea to apply anyway just to remain in our contacts! Either way, this will not be the last time we have apps.

Will you be looking for guest artists outside of CGs?

Maybe! We already have two guest artists (Nefukurou and Madi Funk) working on sprites and CGs respectively, so it's always possible that we'll have other artistic needs later down the line. Likewise, we may also reach out to past guest artists for future work with us, whether it's on this game or something else!

You say we need to sign an NDA. What does that entail?

The non-disclosure agreement essentially means you will be legally unable to publicly disclose any confidential information you become privy to as a result of working with us. This would include personal information about the developers, as well as spoilers from the game itself. In addition do this, you will be expected to sign over the IP and copyright of any artworks you produce for us.

Can I still use my artworks in portfolios, even if I don't own the copyright?

Yes! We'd only ask, if your portfolio is a website, that you wait to do so until after your art has been made public by us, either on our social media or via the publication of the game. Our first release is anticipated to happen later this year, most likely mid-autumn.

How do you guys feel about AI? Do you intend to use it, or would you ever train an AI off of the artworks whose copyright you own?

No.

Making a game is expensive and time-consuming, but AI is no replacement for human artistry. We fundamentally believe that any advancements in AI should be used for the purpose of giving people more time to make art, not take away opportunities for it. Moirai Myths will never, ever use AI or train an AI off your work.

***

If you've got any more questions for us that we didn't think to include here, feel free to send us an ask!

[w0lp3rtinger]

When you take all of this together, the lies about immigrants voting, the mass voter challenges, the introduction of new processes to slow down and question vote counts, it seems depressingly likely we are about to see a storm of bullshit just like last time. And there are few things we should probably be ready for. First, unless there is an absolute landslide, we’re unlikely to know the outcome of the election on November 5th, and when it comes to Georgia, if Harris wins narrowly there, we’ll almost certainly see legal battles stretching into December or beyond, and which could eventually end up in front of [the Supreme Court]-... and all the while, Trump will try and exploit any delay or uncertainty, unless that is he wins outright in which case he’ll suddenly insist he triumphed over a rigged system. 

So that is what we can expect. What can we do? 

Well you can, and I hate to say this probably as much as you hate to hearing it, but make a plan to vote and help others do the same since the closer the race is, the easier it will be for Trump to sew bullshit. You should check to make sure you’re voter registration is current [ usa.gov/voting-and-elections ] to find links to your state’s voter registration verification tools, vote early if you can to ensure that if there’s any issue with your registration you can clear it up before election day, and if you vote by mail you can find a tracking tool for your ballot at this website [ vote.org/ballot-tracker-tools ] 

But beyond that, it is going to be vital to be resilient against the storm of toxic nonsense that Trump and his allies will try and stir up. It can go on for months and be stupider than you can even imagine right now. So stupid that someone you know, love, or are related to (and those are three very different things) might even think that there is something to it. 

But the key thing to remember here is that as chaotic as the last election was, in the end, our guardrails did hold. We’re going to need to make sure that they hold up again. And if we can do that, then, and only then, will we all deserve the single greatest sticker ever designed.

-John Oliver, October, 2024 

[mlleclaudine]

Dreamlike Impasto Paintings Evoke Artist’s Childhood Memories of Rural Life

by Emma Taggart - My Modern Met, August 14, 2024

Artist Anastasia Trusova uses bright acrylics to create colorful, nature-inspired impasto paintings that look like something from a dream. From rolling hills and meadows to winding rivers and serene lakes, each psychedelic scene offers a modern twist on classic impressionist paintings, reminiscent of the works of Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh.

Trusova grew up in a small town in Russia, where she remembers the simplicity of rural life. “We didn’t have much, like everyone else back then,” she recalls, “but we were surrounded by abundant nature—forests, lakes, and swamps.”

Her passion for art began in childhood, leading her to study design at university. After graduating, Trusova spent eight years in China working as a shoe designer. Eventually, she moved to Belgium to join her husband. Now a mother of three, Trusova is fully dedicated to her painting practice, having developed a unique style she calls “textured graphic impressionism.”

By applying layers of thickly applied acrylic paint to her canvas, Trusova is able to capture nature’s abundant textures. She says, “I want to show the variability of nature, the beauty of the moment, as I see it.” Flowers and leaves are brought to life with thick daubs of pigment, while swirling clouds are formed by skillfully swiping paint across the canvas with a textured scraping tool.

Trusova seeks to capture and preserve her childhood memories of rural life in her art, hoping that future generations will also come to appreciate the beauty of nature through her work.

“Watching young people leave for big cities in search of opportunities, leaving behind quiet streets and abandoned homes, is a sad reality of our time,” she writes on Instagram. “When I return to these familiar places, now as a parent with my children, I feel a strange mix of joy and sadness. Joy from the memories of my childhood spent here, and sadness from the realization that my children will likely never experience this.”

The artist continues, “This painting is an attempt to preserve those memories and pass them on to the next generation. May they remember their roots, even if their lives are far from these places.”

Anastasia Trusova: Website | Facebook | Instagram

[gabrielleragusi]

2024 Velaris Advent Calendar

I had the pleasure of collaborating with Gadget4entertainment on their 2024 Velaris Advent Calendar, officially licensed by author Sarah J. Maas! I illustrated the entire packaging, inside and out.

The main illustration features Velaris, the City of Starlight.

I'd just visited Positano before the shop contacted me for the project, so the memories of some corners of the town were still fresh in my mind. The house on the left was inspired by a hotel built on a curving uphill road, for example, and the houses on the right were vaguely inspired by all those hotels and restaurants you can see from above (at level, you might not notice them, but when you're directly above and you peer down through the trees, you'll go, "Oh, there's a nice, expensive hotel down there!").

The town divided by the river was inspired by the fjords of Kotor, Montenegro, which I visited last year (Kotor is absolutely beautiful, and the food was great to my Italian palate).

It felt wonderful to pour all of my emotions and memories into this piece. I think this might be my 'ultimate' version of Velaris. I don't see myself painting it differently in the future.

Then, we have the cases (house-shaped boxes) containing the single items.

When I first started working on the project, I only thought of drawing something inspired by a combination of gothic and Persian architecture. But then, fortunately, I had this idea to base each house on the Archeron sisters, and that gave me the chance to really get creative and explore different elements, styles of architecture and colours.

Sadly I only recently realised that the back of the house and the left side don't fit together seamlessly because I drew the house from left to right without keeping the wraparound box in mind - so that's totally my fault, and I hope it's not too noticeable!

I also hope these mockups don't look too bad. I used the free transform tool in PS instead of 3D, so the perspective might be a little off.

I truly enjoyed working on this calendar. I rarely get to design packaging or even work with an Italian company, so this project was a breath of fresh air!

Instagram  - ArtStation - Website - Inprnt - Etsy - Threads

[toychest321]

(I wanted to apologize for my lack of activity on this page. I had so many plans for posts I wanted to make for Ramadan, but this past month has been so horribly stressful. Whenever I have time free from schoolwork I'm so incredibly burnt out I lack the motivation to post. Now there's barely any time left before Ramadan is over, even though there were other posts I wanted to make. I'll probably still make them in the future, though, and highlight Islamic culture through dolls however and whenever I can!)

With that said, I'd like to introduce you to the most recently-released Muslim doll, Umm Amirah!

As far as I can tell, Umm Amirah was released in February of 2023 by the company Allova, a family-owned company based in the UK.

While the name "Umm" literally translates to "Mother" or "Mother of", it can also be used as an additive prefix for whatever trait follows. "Amirah", meanwhile, means "Princess", so (as far as I can tell) her name roughly means "she who is like a princess".

And that name certainly fits! While her outfit is relatively simple (which makes sense, since her primary demographic is those aged 3-7), the sparkling tulle outer skirt shows that subtle princess-y influence!

The doll comes in pink and purple outfit variants, and comes with a prayer mat, a pink bag to carry it, and a pink hairbrush. She has fair skin, blue eyes, dark or blonde hair beneath her hijab, and 11 points of articulation! Umm Amirah's is meant to be a cultural education tool, and introduce the practice of Salah to children.

As I mentioned in a previous post regarding the Morning (Fajr) and Evening Prayers (Isha), Salah is the daily process of giving prayer to Allah. It is the second pillar of Islam, and must be done facing Mecca.

A couple of months ago in February 2024, Allova also released this Princess Fashion Set. While it's not an official Umm Amirah fashion pack, I still feel like it could somewhat be classified as such with its name and their doll used for modelling.

The pack comes with 6 dresses: pale pink with dotted skirt; pink with puffed sleeves and ruffle skirt; blue with silver detailing, top, and belt; a blue summer dress with white and yellow pattern; purple; and black and white with white flower buttons and a polka-dot skirt. It also comes with four headscarves in blue, lilac, black, and gold, 3 handbags (tan, white, and pink) , and 3 pairs of shoes (black, silver, and fuschia(?))

I obviously cant post for each outfit combination, but I would definitely say that the blue summer dress is my least favorite of those available. The material looks the cheapest out of those in the pack, its design is comparatively simple, and the pattern is sorta tacky. I feel like the central concept could've been executed better.

My favorite looks, though, would have to be:

The full black and white look sorta gives me girlboss vibes, like something she could wear at her desk writing articles or modeling for the cover of a magazine! The blue dress, meanwhile, is sooooo elegant, like she's going to a fancy party in the evening! My absolute favorite though would have to be the gold hijab with the pink frilly dress, which takes the "princess" part of Umm Amirah to a whole new level!

In spite of my thoughts on the summer dress of the pack, I'm in love with this doll and its outfits as a whole! It's been fun putting out this post I'd been meaning to make for a while. A lot of the Muslim dolls I've found, while impressive, unfortunately don't seem to be in production much in the current year, so it's nice to see there's still options available! If you're still looking for a potential Eid gift, I'd highly recommend getting her from Allova's website!

Ramadan Kareem!

[cavorta]

October 1, 2024 This book is out now and I am looking forward to reading it.

The blurb:

The long-awaited follow-up to Kelly-Ann Maddox’s bestselling Rebel Witch is here … Witch in Darkness explores loss, fear, grief and pain through the magickal lens

Guiding the reader through the concept of the craft as a life-saving, soul-nurturing practice for dark times, this book overflows with inspiration and compassion for witches in difficulty. The raw and honest tone peels back the surface layers of witchcraft’s meaning and power, inviting the reader to use magick, ritual and readings to heal and grow. When disaster strikes, a magickal practitioner has endless tools to help them build strength and hope, and face the seemingly impossible. Witch is Darkness is packed with nourishing wisdom, including advice on:

Embracing an imperfect practice

Cleansing, grounding and shielding during tough times

Witching through extremes Identifying high-risk and low-risk practices

Energy management and low-maintenance magick

Dealing with loss, grief and despair using witchcraft

Magick and ritual for conflicts, dramas and relationship breakdowns

Addressing mental and physical issues from the witchcraft perspective

The book includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to make magickal action easier to execute. Discover tarot spread designs, journal prompts, words of power and excellent suggestions for shifting your mindset, alongside a great Q&A segment to clear up confusions and help you get unstuck.

Spiritual counsellor and witchcraft mentor Kelly-Ann Maddox has a decade’s experience in the magickal space, offering workshops, one-to-one sessions and hundreds of informative videos on her popular YouTube channel. In this book, she draws on countless conversations with witches from all walks of life, as well as her own life journey through mental health breakdowns, struggles with self-harm and eating disorders, and heart-breaking bereavement.

The publisher's page of the book: https://watkinspublishing.com/books/witch-in-darkness/ The website of the author: https://www.kelly-annmaddox.com/

[hayatheauthor]

Ten Websites Every Author Should Know In 2024

When I started this blog, one of the first posts I penned was "Websites Every Author Should Know in 2023." Now, as I return to breathe new life into this platform in 2024, it feels only fitting to offer an updated edition of that beloved post. 

Whether you're struggling with brainstorming ideas, organizing your plot, finding publishing opportunities, or simply seeking some writing motivation, here are 10 websites that every author should know in 2024. 

1. Artbreeder

If you're anything like me, you know the frustration of staring at a blank page, waiting for inspiration to strike. Well, say goodbye to writer's block because Artbreeder is here to rescue you from the depths of creative stagnation.

At its core, Artbreeder is a brainstorming tool that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to help you generate ideas and explore new avenues of creativity. Whether you're crafting characters, creating scene locations, or conceptualizing entire worlds, Artbreeder's AI can help you create any image. 

But don't just take my word for it. Countless writers, from aspiring novices to seasoned pros, have sung the praises of Artbreeder for its role in fueling their creative fire.

2.  OneStopForWriters

If you've ever found yourself drowning in a sea of character arcs, struggling to untangle a convoluted plot, or simply searching for that elusive spark of inspiration, then OneStopForWriters is here to be your guiding light.

At OneStopForWriters, you'll find a treasure trove of resources designed to empower writers at every stage of their journey. One of the standout features is its unparalleled collection of writing tools and resources. From character development worksheets and plot structure guides to brainstorming prompts and writing exercises, this platform offers a wealth of resources to help you hone your craft and overcome any writing challenge that comes your way.

3.  Milanote

With Milanote, organizing your thoughts has never been easier. Whether you're plotting out your next novel, storyboarding a film, or brainstorming ideas for your next project, Milanote's intuitive interface and versatile features make it a breeze to bring your ideas to life.

But Milanote isn't just about organization – it's about inspiration, too. Dive into Milanote's vast collection of templates, images, and resources, curated to spark your creativity and fuel your passion for storytelling.

And let's not forget about collaboration. With Milanote, you can seamlessly collaborate with fellow writers, sharing ideas, giving feedback, and working together to bring your collective vision to life. Let me know if you'd like to collab! 

4. Inkarnate

Whether you're a fantasy author crafting intricate realms, a sci-fi writer mapping out distant galaxies, or a historical fiction enthusiast recreating the past, Inkarnate is your ultimate tool for world-building.

With Inkarnate's powerful mapping tools and customizable features, creating stunning and detailed maps has never been easier. From sprawling continents to intricate cityscapes, Inkarnate allows you to bring every aspect of your world to life with breathtaking detail and precision.

But Inkarnate isn't just about maps – it's about storytelling. Dive into Inkarnate's vast library of assets, from characters and creatures to landmarks and landscapes, and use them to enrich your world and enhance your storytelling.

5. World Anvil

With World Anvil's array of interactive tools and features, you can meticulously craft every detail of your world, from its geography and history to its cultures and languages. Whether you're creating a sprawling fantasy realm, a dystopian future, or an alternate historical timeline, World Anvil provides the tools you need to breathe life into your creations.

But World Anvil is more than just a repository for world-building information. It's a platform for storytelling, collaboration, and engagement. Share your world with readers, invite them to explore its intricacies, and immerse them in the rich tapestry of your imagination

6.  Scrivener

At its core, Scrivener is a comprehensive writing software designed to meet the unique needs of authors, screenwriters, academics, and more. With its flexible interface and robust features, Scrivener allows you to organize your thoughts, structure your writing, and bring your ideas to life with ease.

One of Scrivener's standout features is its ability to break down your writing into manageable chunks, or "scrivenings," making it easy to focus on individual scenes, chapters, or sections of your manuscript. With its intuitive corkboard and outlining tools, you can visualize your project's structure and rearrange it on the fly.

But Scrivener is more than just a writing tool – it's a creative hub where ideas flourish and projects take shape. With its built-in research capabilities, you can keep all your notes, references, and inspiration in one place, ensuring that nothing gets lost in the shuffle.

7. Dabble

One of Dabble's standout features is its seamless integration of plotting, outlining, and writing tools. Whether you're a die-hard plotter or a pantser at heart, Dabble has the flexibility to accommodate your preferred writing style, allowing you to create detailed outlines, jot down notes, and dive into writing whenever inspiration strikes.

But Dabble is more than just a writing tool – it's a community of writers united by their love of storytelling and their commitment to helping each other succeed. Here, you'll find support, encouragement, and invaluable feedback as you navigate the ups and downs of the writing process.

With Dabble's cloud-based platform, you can access your work from anywhere, on any device, ensuring that your novel is always at your fingertips, whether you're at home, at work, or on the go.

8. Literature Map 

Literature Map is a visual mapping tool that helps you discover new authors and books based on your literary preferences. Whether you're a fan of classic literature, contemporary fiction, or niche genres, Literature Map provides personalized recommendations to help you expand your reading horizons.

Using Literature Map is as easy as typing in the name of an author you love. Instantly, a constellation of related authors appears, each connected by their thematic, stylistic, or genre similarities. From there, you can explore new authors, discover hidden gems, and embark on new reading adventures with confidence.

But Literature Map is more than just a recommendation engine – it's a gateway to a world of literary exploration and discovery. Here, you'll find a community of fellow book lovers, eager to share their favorite authors, discuss their latest reads, and connect with like-minded readers from around the globe.

That concludes our exploration of the 10 essential websites every author should know in 2024. May these tools and resources empower you on your writing journey, from the spark of inspiration to the final flourish of your manuscript. Happy writing, and may your creativity know no bounds!

I hope this blog on Ten Websites Every Author Should Know In 2024 will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and publishing tips for authors every Monday and Thursday! And don’t forget to head over to my TikTok and Instagram profiles @hayatheauthor to learn more about my WIP and writing journey! 

[wholesome-sharks]

Hawai'ians and Sharks

(Whitetip reef shark near Mala Wharf, TripAdvisor)

This year for Indigenous People's Day (2024) I originally wanted to do a spotlight on shark relations in all of Polynesia. I only had time to do Hawai'i and I had trouble finding content for the other Polynesian islands.

(If you are a native Hawai'ian or other Pacific Islander who knows knows more about how sharks fit into your culture, you are welcome to respond with corrections or more information. This short article is just an introduction with links to help the rest of us dive in a little deeper.)

Prior to colonization, peoples of the south Pacific relied on nature and particularly the sea for their food and material needs. Sharks were hunted for body parts such as skin, oil and teeth for tools and weapons. The predatory behavior of sharks led native islanders to associate sharks with attributes such as strength and power.

Hawai'i

A few gross oversimplifications:

The Hawai'ian word for shark is mano, but there are also lots of native names for the individual species that live close to shore and out to sea. Predatory sharks such as tigers and great whites are called niuhi.

A few more:

Thresher shark: hi‘uka or laukahi‘u, or mano'lua

Blacktip reef shark: pa'ele

hammerheads (smooth and scalloped): kihikihi

whitetip reef shark: lalakea

Many shark gods inhabit the old myths, from man-eaters to guardians who protected fishermen and fishing grounds. Some of these gods shapeshift between shark and human forms. The shark god Kamohoalii is the brother of the well-known fire/volcano goddess Pele. Shark gods are known to live in caves, and even to this day people bring them offerings in return for protection.

Ancestral spirits called aumakua can appear as sharks, particularly Tiger sharks, and take an active role in the lives of native Hawai'ians to this day.

Shark Artefacts:

The object on the left is a traditional fishing hook used for catching sharks (Steinhart)

Below: a shark skin drum or pahu hula (the Met)

The Leiomano, or war club studded with shark teeth (Lei Day). Tiger shark teeth are used in these examples, but the teeth of other species including the Great White are used.

Shark teeth were used in a variety of designs for other kinds of weapons and tools. Below is a niho oki or knife.

Video: Traditional Hawai'ian weapons

Videos:

The Deep End: Shark Spirits, Hawaiian Legends

TOTP: Mano Legends

The Kahuna and the Shark God (Podcast)

Web Resources

Hawai'i Sharks DAR (a whole website)

Sharks in Hawaii

Sharks in Hawaiian Culture

Shark Poi Delivery (legend)

[theculturedmarxist]

Immediately after Joe Biden announced that he would not seek re-election and instead endorsed Kamala Harris, she was anointed as the Democratic Party presidential nominee with little analysis of her record or her program. In fact, her website, KamalaHarris.com , makes no mention of a political program at all. While foolish debates about whether she should be considered Black garner media attention, questions about policy are largely ignored. Black Agenda Report has been writing about Harris for some time, and we share what we and others have noted about her record over the years.

Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, July 19, 2017 Kamala Harris and America’s Oligarchs Briahna Joy Gray, Current Affairs, September 3, 2017 How Identity Became a Weapon Against the Left Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, January 16, 2019 Kamala Harris Destroyed Black Lives Teodros Fikre, Ghion Journal, January 16, 2019 Evoking Muckrakers: Hannah Giorgis’s Devastating Critique of Senator Kamala Harris Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report, January 24, 2019 Bernie Sanders vs Kamala the Jailer and Her Corporate Backers Danny Haiphong, Black Agenda Report, January 30, 2019 The U.S. is a Political Prison, Kamala Harris is a Prison Guard Teodros Fikre, Black Agenda Report, January 30, 2019 When Politicians Use Marginalized People As Human Shields

Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, February 20, 2019 Kamala Harris: The Fix Is In Marjorie Cohn, Black Agenda Report, July 10, 2019 Kamala Harris Has a Distinguished Career of Serving Injustice Danny Haiphong, Black Agenda Report, July 24, 2019 Kamala Harris Embodies the Most Dangerous Myth of American Exceptionalism Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, August 14, 2019 No Racism, Just Russians

Erica Caines, Hood Communist, August 13, 2020 Political Copaganda and the November Elections

Ahjamu Umi, Black Agenda Report, August 19, 2020 Kamala Harris: Class Struggle and the Illusion of Identity in Capitalism Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, August 19, 2020 “Feet to the Fire” and Other Lies Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Black Agenda Report, August 26, 2020 Obama, Harris and the Ruse of Racial Representation

Julie Kuttapan, Black Agenda Report, August 26, 2020 "Kamala Auntie": On the Vulgarity of Bourgeois Identity Politics in 2020

Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report, October 15, 2020 The Useful Tool: Kamala “Heartbeat Away” Harris Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, November 11, 2020 The Real Resistance Begins Tye Salandy,Trinidad and Tobago News Blog, November 13, 2020 Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism

Erica Caines, Hood Communist, February 21, 2021 The Caribbean Diaspora Has a SOUTHCOM Problem

Erica Caines, Hood Communist, June 10, 2021 Kamala Harris and the Americas Ready for Revolution, Hood Communist, January 27, 2022 Biden Harris and the Never Ending Commitment to War Gyasi Lake, Black Youth Project, August 8, 2022 There’s No Such Thing as a “Progressive Prosecutor” In a System Designed to Criminalize Blackness Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, April 7, 2023 Ajamu Baraka Discusses the Zone of Peace and Kamala Harris’ Trip to Africa | Black Agenda Report Salifu Mack, Hood Communist, July 6, 2023 More Than Meets the Silk Press: Kamala Harris and U.S. Imperialism Peoples Dispatch, March 25, 2024 Puerto Ricans Take to the Streets Against Kamala Harris Visit

Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report, July 24, 2024 War, Genocides, and Coups: Biden/Harris and the Irreversible Crisis of Neo-Liberal Fake Democracy Jacqueline Luqman, Luqman Nation, The Coup for the Democratic Nomination, July 26, 2024 Darker Than Blue 7/26/24: The Coup For The Democratic Nomination

[dunavision]

About me

10/09/2024: If you visit this page often enough, you'll realize that I moved from Wordpress to Tumblr. Although I'm going to miss the flexibility of the Wordpress designs, Tumblr is a perfectly suitable tool for my portfolio and my blog, as it has been since 2010 when I first landed on this site.

About QuietDuna

I'm QuietDuna, aka Nuria Espinoza. I'm a +40 old Spanish artist. I love to create about my hiperfixations and to create illustrations for my work at Médecins Sans Frontières.

I began creating comics, fanfictions and illustrations very early as a child, but in 2013 I did a big step by learning digital art and beginning to sell some of my designs as merchandising because someone at the Internet asked me to.

Since then:

I had several designs featured at Shirtpunch (and other websites I don't remember the names) over the years

I've created several online stores, being my Etsy store the most popular of them. Sadly it was banned due to copyright infringement in 2022. I still keep a Redbubble, Teepublic and a Neatoshop store.

I had a Patreon for almost 2 years with a bunch of amazing people all over the world that followed my rambles and weekly publications. I closed it at 2022 due to personal reasons.

I've published more than 1100 pages of comics dedicated to Escaflowne and created since 2011. I have received messages from people telling me how my stories touched them. That's my most important achievement in my artist career.

I've created several fanzines /doujinshis. I have 7 issues of my own "Escaflowne Tales". But my most popular one and the one that has sold a lot of digital copies is my Dr.Stone Senhaku story that you can find here.

Of course, I had many of my designs printed as tshirts, buttons and magnets, and also showed at exhibitions at my job for internal events. You can check it here.

My LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/quietduna

[mariacallous]

Roman Pohorilyi was 22 when he started tracking Russian troop movements near Ukraine’s border. It was the fall of 2021, and he and a childhood friend, Ruslan Mykula, had been sharing news about foreign affairs to an audience of about 200 subscribers on a Telegram channel. It was just a hobby for them. Neither imagined that a year later their country would be in a state of absolute war with Russia, and that their hobby, which they called Deep State, would be tracking every aspect of it.

Although Deep State started as a news channel, it has become most famous for its open access map that charts the shifting front line of Russia’s invasion, and which has become a crucial tool for Ukrainians to keep track of the conflict that once threatened to overrun their country. On some days in late 2022, Deep State’s map received as many as 3 million views. Mykula showed WIRED a screenshot from the website’s dashboard that recorded more than 482 million views between June 2023 and June 2024.

Mykula and Pohorilyi created the map on the first day of the war, after recognizing a demand from their Telegram subscribers for frequent updates about what was happening. Pohorilyi was in the penultimate year of a law degree, and Mykula was working in marketing. But both had been learning open source intelligence skills to help verify videos of military activity that actors on all sides were publishing online.

The basic map itself, which a friend helped to design, is simple but precise. Territories occupied by Russia are shaded in red; those held by Ukraine are shaded in green. Blue marks areas that Ukraine has recently liberated. Known Russian units, airfields, and HQs are marked with small red squares; troop movements with arrows; and railways with black and white lines (Ukrainian positions are not shown). Zooming in, one can see detail down to the level of individual streets, villages, and tree lines. It looks like the board of a computer strategy game.

Over time, Deep State has added more advanced features and quirks to the map. A toolbar in the bottom-left corner offers the option to enable different layers, including weather patterns, fortifications, and gamma radiation levels in case of nuclear disaster. Users can simulate the effect of different weapons, calculating the range and potential damage of everything from self-propelled howitzers and ballistic missiles to Patriot air defense systems and nuclear explosions. A hidden Easter egg summons an animation of Baby Yoda that, when poked, uses the Force to destroy Russian units.

The map soon became too much for Mykula and Pohorilyi to manage alone; they now enlist the help of more than 100 paid employees and volunteers. Their methods have also evolved. They still use open source intelligence to verify new information, but also acquire data directly from frontline military units whom they’ve developed relationships with. In some cases, the authority of a single source whom they’ve learned to trust is enough, though Mykula admits there have been occasional errors. In other cases, when multiple sources contradict one another, they wait until definitive evidence emerges. Propaganda is rife on both sides, and Mykula insists that Deep State will take no part in it. “We want to win,” he says. “Propaganda will not win.”

Mykula and Pohorilyi do, however, oblige when Ukrainian military commanders request delays to map updates that may compromise their activities. They also receive some government funding for an alternate version of the map available only to verified members of the military. The government funding also goes toward other intelligence activities that Ruslan refuses to discuss; most of their funding comes from public donations.

Late in the first year of the war, Mykula and Pohorilyi learned that their map was helping another, unexpected group of users: Russian soldiers. The map’s designer had added a function that would display instructions to surrender if a user tried to access from a Russian IP address. Then, in October 2022, in an interview with a popular Ukrainian blogger, a Russian POW testified that he had used Deep State’s map for this exact purpose.

The success of Deep State’s map has attracted more users to their original Telegram channel, which now has more than 700,000 subscribers. It publishes its own original reports of the war, all available through a free app, which other established Ukrainian media organizations sometimes refer to. But the map remains the most popular product, used by Ukrainians at home and abroad to track the front line that, at the time of writing, creeps further toward their office in Kyiv every day.

Both Mykula and Pohorilyi approach their work with a stern dedication that belies their youth and inexperience. “We don’t want to disappoint our audience because our projects have become critical for Ukrainians,” Mykula says. “If you compare us to other maps, you will see that Ukrainians don’t go to check on them. They come to us.”

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), LATE JULY 2024

Things have been hectic so this is a long one update - all the Etsy and other ecommerce news from the past month, broken down for your convenience!

Next week could be a big Etsy news week, with the 2nd quarter report being released, and the mature items ban kicking in. I'm also working on analysis of the new Creativity Standards, but we may not have more substantial information on those until Etsy makes another move. Right now the categories are a mess, but that could change.

A reminder that you can receive more timely updates plus exclusive content - including live chats with me on select topics such as Etsy's new Creativity Standards - by supporting my Patreon: patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

The European Union is considering making packages valued under 150 euros subject to customs duties when entering the EU. This is widely seen as a way to reduce Shein and Temu orders. 

The Etsy Creativity Standards announced on July 9th have a lot going on; here is my short summary so far. [post by me on Patreon] While I would not worry too much about this just yet, I expect them to be more important in the near future.  Etsy adding "Made by", "Handpicked by" to every listing is currently full of errors, but more disturbingly, even when a seller points out these errors with arguments from the written policy, Etsy Support is sometimes insisting that the designations are correct. For example, original paintings are lumped in with AI designs and digital downloads. [Post by me on LinkedIn] 

Amazon is imposing new rules regarding on-time delivery rates (OTDR); sellers that do not meet the standard of 90% on time delivery will not be able to continue selling. Businesses are exempted if they use the following tools: Shipping Settings Automation, Automated handling time, and Amazon Buy Shipping. Amazon is allowing only 5 days after shipment for products to arrive within the US. You can read the announcement and vigorous forum discussion here, and EcommerceBytes did a summary of the changes and some complaints.

ETSY NEWS 

As Etsy's widespread ban on many adult-themed products is about to take effect on Monday, I considered why Etsy felt the need to take far more drastic steps than Amazon & eBay has in the same markets. [post by me on Tumblr] The upcoming ban started by getting media attention from Mashable, and quickly escalated to the New York Times [not a gift link; soft paywall]. Etsy is still not commenting on why they are doing this. From the NYT article: "Even before the ban, it was getting harder to run his business, Mr. Goldstein said. So, he thought, “Why don’t we just make our own marketplace?” This year, he started the website Spicerack as an independent alternative to Etsy. The online boutique already has about 75 sellers, which are vetted to make sure they’re not “dropshippers” or simultaneously listing products on e-commerce behemoths like AliExpress or Amazon. Mr. Goldstein said that Spicerack is in the process of adding about 100 more sellers, half of whom signed up when the Etsy ban was announced." From the BBC: “In many countries there is pressure on platforms, sometimes backed by new legislation, to do more to prevent under-18s from encountering explicit content, and to remove illegal or "harmful" content from their platforms. Payment processors are also increasingly wary of working with platforms that enable sex based commerce....those concerns could be addressed by more clearly labelling and separating adult product listings..." The Guardian interviewed a few sellers who are affected.

While Etsy previously stated that the new shop set-up fee would be $15 USD, they quietly changed that, to whatever they feel like charging. [post by me on Patreon]

In case you missed it, the new listing form seems to be triggering Etsy Ads campaigns to start without the seller’s knowledge. [post by me on LinkedIn] Since my post, there are still more reports of this happening, and even more. 

I regret to inform you that Etsy’s Search Analytics are going to disappear after August 14 [post by me on LinkedIn], per a banner on the page.

Canadian sellers will have to pay a 1.15% “Regulatory Operating Fee” on all of their sales income (including shipping and gift wrap) starting August 15. This is likely due to a new law taxing large ecommerce platforms 3% of their Canadian income, which came into effect June 28. The tax applies retroactively back to the beginning of 2022, so Etsy is likely overcharging us to cover those earlier amounts. 

Sellers having difficulties with the domestic pricing tool not working correctly may want to try these tips from an Etsy forum thread: Set the domestic price to the global price amount, save, and then go back in and change the domestic price to your preferred amount, then save again. This apparently works for both new and existing listings, but there are 3 drawbacks: 1) it is time-consuming, 2) it needs to be done any time a listing is changed/edited (including renewals), and 3) it doesn’t seem to work for France. (I don’t ship to France so I cannot test the last point.) Remember, if you have a sale go through for the wrong price, contact Etsy and demand to be compensated the difference. 

Still don’t believe that Etsy is serious about shipping on time? See this Reddit thread by a seller who ignored a 30-day warning, so all of their items were removed from search. From this screenshot, it appears their average order value was fairly high, but that doesn’t mean Etsy will tolerate late shipping from shops with cheaper items, so beware. 

Etsy is testing filtering out digital items from search results unless the terms match a digital item search. See Etsy forum threads here and also here. 

A new academic study calls out Etsy and other online marketplaces for allowing illegally-killed bats to be sold on their sites. “We refute any assertion that the online bat trade is ethical. Again, statements that bats were captive-bred are absurd—bat farms are nonexistent—and it would be impossible for suppliers to find bats that have died naturally in the kind of condition and numbers needed to supply an ornamental trade. These bats were hunted.” The New York Times has also now covered this story [soft paywall]. 

The virtual seller education event Etsy Up is scheduled for September 10. You can register here, but there is no program yet. Usually this event has almost nothing worthwhile for experienced shops, and Etsy generally uses it to push their paid services and integrations along with basic info. 

Etsy is looking for sellers to join their Advocacy program and “share your story”. Beware that sometimes Etsy’s “advocacy” is as much for Etsy as for its sellers, so they are looking for stories that fit Etsy’s own goals. 

The Etsy Design Awards have opened; the final date for submissions is August 8. 

Etsy’s second quarter results for 2024 will be released July 31.

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

General

Shein and Temu are facing investigations under the EU’s Digital Services Act. “In a press release, the EU said it’s asking Shein and Temu for more information about measures they’ve taken to meet DSA obligations related to what’s known as “Notice and Action” mechanisms, which should allow users to notify the marketplaces of illegal products.It has also requested info related to the design of their online interfaces, which the pan-EU law mandates must not deceive or manipulate users, such as via so-called “dark patterns”.” Temu is also being sued by Arkansas for having an invasive app that is accused of harvesting data without user permissions. “According to the complaint, Temu is allegedly obscuring its unauthorized access to data through misleading terms of use and privacy policies that do not alert users to the full scope of data that the app can potentially collect. That includes not telling users about tracking granular locations for no defined purpose and collecting "even biometric information such as users’ fingerprints."

Amazon

Amazon now has an AI shopping “assistant” on its US app, called Rufus. “Customers can ask questions about products, comparisons and buying considerations. The AI can provide suggestions for specific tasks or projects.” As per usual with AI, “tests show Rufus doesn’t always provide accurate information.” A review from Marketplace Pulse notes that “Amazon’s AI assistant fails to help shoppers find the best product among the millions in the catalog. It transforms broad questions like “What are the best cycling gloves for winter?” into a few links to product searches — the same searches a shopper could have typed themselves. It refuses to make product recommendations, show specific products, or suggest from the thousands of options. It can’t directly answer the question, “What are the cheapest batteries for my TV remote?”

Any sellers who had items removed for being plants or seeds when they actually aren’t should follow the instructions linked to here to get the situation resolved. An Amazon employee warned sellers: “Please do not acknowledge the violations as these will result in the deactivation of your listings.” Affected businesses should instead appeal the flags.  

Amazon is planning a discount drop shipping from China section, widely seen to be competition to Temu and Shein. However, “[i]t is not clear if these shipments will be made using a U.S. trade provision that exempts individual packages worth less than $800 from U.S. customs duties.”

The European Commission has asked Amazon for more information on “recommender systems, ads transparency provisions and risk assessment measures.” 

Only 1% of US Amazon sellers also offer their items outside of North America. “Due to its proximity to the U.S., Canada has more successful sellers from the U.S. than Canada.” If you have a unique product, this could be an opportunity.  Amazon returns are creating huge workloads for UPS stores and other retailers that accept them. “Amazon “makes up about one-tenth of our profits, but it takes up about 90 percent of the working day,” said Jeremy Walker, a store associate who worked at a UPS Store near Dallas that received between 300 and 600 returns per day.”

Depop

After trying it out in the UK, Depop is removing selling fees for the United States, starting July 15. Payment processing fees still apply. “[B]buyers will now be charged a "marketplace fee" of up to 5% plus a fixed amount up to $1.”

An interview with Depop CEO Kruti Patel Goyal reveals they plan “to bring Depop to a bigger and broader audience over time.” 

eBay

eBay is slowly rolling out changes to the Active Listings page. 

eBay sellers can now get cash advance loans through Liberis, the balance of which gets paid as a percentage of the seller's sales. 

New sellers in the UK might see “automated feedback” on some of their orders, to "help [users] buy and sell with confidence". It will say "This seller successfully completed an order", and is removed once the actual buyer leaves feedback. 

Michaels MakerPlace

Abby Glassenberg reviews Michaels’ MakerPlace popups inside their retail stores. Results seem mixed.

Shopify

A few hundred thousand Shopify users may have had their names, addresses and other data put up for sale on July 3 after a breach. Shopify denies it had any security issues and claims the data came from a third-party app. There was a known data breach at Evolve Bank and Trust in June; that institution is a supporting partner for Shopify Balance. It does appear that Shopify is notifying the affected individuals.

Walmart Walmart is adding pre-owned collectibles to its marketplace. “Eligible categories include Toys (Figures, Dolls, Trains, Plushies, Games, LEGO, Funko, Diecast Cars & Hot Wheels); Media & Music (Movies, Vinyl, Music, SteelBooks, Musical Instruments & Entertainment Replicas); Trading Cards; Comic Books & Books; Sports Memorabilia; and Coins.”

All Other Marketplaces

Indiegogo is opening an ecommerce website for items created through crowdfunding campaigns on the platform, called IndieShop. 

Etsy-owned Reverb now has an “outlet” page, where businesses can sell off their overstock, seconds and out-of-date models for 20% off and free shipping. Most products sold through the main portion of Reverb are used, not new, so this competes with regular sellers. 

Not sure if selling on Faire is right for your business? Here’s a handmade-focussed review of the wholesale site.

Payment Processing

Klarna is now available through Adobe Commerce (previously Magento). 

Shipping

USPS rates for labels on most platforms went up July 1, ahead of the previously-announced July 14th increases. Ina Steiner re-posted the numbers from eBay and Pirate Ship. 

USPS released the addresses and other data of logged-in Informed Delivery users to Meta, LinkedIn and Snap. The company claims it didn’t know the data transfer was happening. 

The free USPS Priority medium shipping tubes are no longer being made, but you can still order existing stock. 

Royal Mail’s Tracked 28 & 48 are now available at post offices. 

UPS’s holiday surcharge rates for the US have been released; the lower surcharges start September 29th.

Shippo has new Canada Post rates from now until January, and the Tracked Packet rates to everywhere but the United States are cheaper than Etsy’s (which are based on Level 4 of Solutions for Small Business). Remember that Shippo makes you pay for a higher tier of service if you use over 30 labels per month.

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2024-05-27

Sometimes things are not your problem! The hard part is you have to prove it.

Listening: I realized I had not listened to Lemon Demon in a while. Truly unbelievable how good Spirit Phone is:

Reading: Picked up the Nona reread again, also Virtual Light by Gibson. I like Gibson a lot, I have thoughts about the way that he knows very little about technology but thinks that the most important thing about it is how humans interact through it.

Gibson's style is delightful but also so, so very dated. I love the position Japan had in the minds of sci-fi writers of this era, you can't fault them too much, you'd have to be looking at much more subtle information to predict the simultaneous rise of China and fall of Japan.

Watching: Nothing really.

Playing: Forza Horizon is doing a Synthwave event which means some interesting retro cars, most important to me being the BMW 850CSi, which is easily one of my favourite BMW's. Huge GT car with a relatively small naturally aspirated 5.6 liter V12 and long, long gearing, absolutely gorgeous slimmed down design with a front edge like a razor blade, the BMW kidneys are trimmed down to the barest hint

That V12 is hilarious too, basically two BMW I6's mated down the middle, complete with two ECU's, two throttle bodies, two fuel pumps, two of everything. Truly one of the long distance highway cruisers of all time. It's only up next week but I usually do a full month season when the theme catches my eye, they have some cool ones in this.

Making: More programing on the LuaLED project, I rewrote a bunch of the design to move more of the code into Lua and I have been rewarded with much simpler and lower footprint memory management, since I don't have to keep copying between Lua and C state, instead keeping most of the state on one side or the other. I think the technically hard part is done and now comes the part that's hard because I don't understand websites.

Tools and Equipment: I was making guacamole and I realized you can totally use a pastry cutter as a vegetable masher, and it's honestly better in a lot of ways if your goal is big chunky pieces instead of a smooth paste. Pastry cutters really are worth it, they're much nicer than cutting butter with a fork and they cost almost nothing.