CindyLouWho2

Attention Etsy and Shopify sellers who thought the ChatGPT checkout thing was going to increase sales

#AI

A screenshot of the Bluesky app demonstrating how you can now tap the "Translate" button to translate a post without leaving the app.

v1.118 rolls out today!

New in this update: You can now translate posts without leaving the app.

Simply tap "translate" on mobile and your phone's built-in translation takes it from there.

Mostly text on a pink background, with two cartoon frogs in the corners. Text reads "Figment Pudding's Fantastic Fundraiser! Do you have some cool as hell are that you've just left lying around? Submit it to the itch.io bundle! Or make a new thing!" Then a list of things you can submit: fonts/brush packs, vtuber accessory, coloring pages, game assets, illustrations, comics, emotes, zines etc.

You can submit your idea for a contribution in this google form! Details are in the form, but we're looking for digital goods, doesn't have to be new and it can be up for sale elsewhere as well. All profits will go to @figmentpudding.com !
forms.gle/VoyHFZSxKpS2...

Keeping you both in my thoughts ((HUGS))

eBay is inviting young New Yorkers to sell up to 25 items for free this month in an apparent bid to boost the sell-to-buy flywheel.
www.ecommercebytes.com/paxe

ICYMI

US to hike global tariff to 15% ‘sometime this week,’ Bessent says The Treasury Secretary also said he expects tariff rates struck down by the Supreme Court to return within the next five months, following ongoing trade investigations.

The US expects to raise global tariffs to 15% this week, and is investigating ways to resume the higher tariffs within the next 5 months: www.supplychaindive.com/news/trump-t...

(Global tariffs are currently set at 10%, for the next 5 months)

#ecommerce #commerce

Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season. www.wired.com/story/trumps...

New paper! How weird could Permian animals get? Turns out, pretty weird. Meet the stem tetrapod Tanyka amnicola from the Pedra de Fogo Formation of northeast Brazil

royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

TikTok won't add end-to-end encryption to direct messages, report says | TechCrunch The social media giant says that end-to-end encryption would make users less safe.

The social media giant says that end-to-end encryption would make users less safe.

This is not satire. Click the url.

Albertans are encouraged to nominate immigrant youth, entrepreneurs, academics, artists, athletes, professionals and community builders for an Alberta Immigrant Impact Award in recognition of their accomplishments.

www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?...

#Alberta #abpoli #ableg

eBay Offers Zero Selling Fee Promo In Fashion, Baby & Home Decor As Vinted Competition Heats Up eBay offers select sellers zero selling fee promo in Baby, Fashion, and Home Decor categories as competition from Vinted heats up.

eBay offers select sellers limited zero selling fee promo in Baby, Fashion & Home Decor categories as competition from Vinted heats up. 💰
www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-zero-se...

eBay promised to protect sellers as it pauses shipping from US to Middle East as carriers face disruption in the region.
www.ecommercebytes.com/f86c

The Alberta government is taking $461 million more from Calgary property and business owners this year than it did in 2023-24.

That's a 59% increase in just three years.

The moon going from full moon to a red moon and starting to go back to a normal full moon, then my camera battery door fell off.

Here's my first edit on the March 3rd Lunar Eclipse. 15 moon shots, 1 foreground. Taken over a 3 hourish period.

"The Globe sent Mr. Hoekstra’s office a series of questions on Tuesday, including what consequences he envisioned if The Globe does not publish an apology, and when the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa had last requested an apology from a Canadian media outlet."

"Standard time most closely approximates natural light, with the sun directly overhead at or near noon. In contrast, during daylight saving time from March until November, the natural light is shifted unnaturally by one hour later."

@davidebybc.bsky.social Switching to DST is a really bad idea.

Some beauty for your Tuesday

White-Collar Workers Are Not Okay - Macleans.ca Engineering grads are stocking shelves at Walmart. Tech workers are being laid off en masse. AI is everywhere. How the new economy upturned the job market.

Can 100% relate to this. I was out of work 17 months after my last VC-downsize-driven layoff. I no longer work in my field.

One common thing missing from this story: being pressed enough to ask for online donations.

Article for @macleans.bsky.social by Alex Cyr, photos by Jennifer Roberts.

Thousands of Alberta seniors to lose income supplement as province faces rising provincial deficit | CBC News Alberta is making cuts to seniors' benefits and tax credits for caregivers as it faces a $9.4-billion budget deficit.

Additional cuts mean many Albertans caring for seniors will lose their $1,000 provincial tax credit

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

#Alberta #abpoli #ableg

Why do marketplaces do this?

Etsy's AI-generated titles occasionally suggest intellectual property violations, and shops have received takedown notices for using the titles.

eBay Expands Seller-Led Events as Future of Quarterly Check-Ins Remains Unclear eBay expands seller-led events as the future of quarterly check-ins grows uncertain following internal restructuring.

eBay expands seller-led events as the future of official quarterly check-ins grows uncertain following internal restructuring.
www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-expands...

Are you ready? Calgary water restrictions return March 9 Water restrictions return to Calgary next week.

Water restrictions return to Calgary next week.

Have items shipped to a drop spot instead. Canada Post and Amazon offer this, among others

Or, get cameras. We've caught numerous shenanigans on the building's front door and lobby cam.

In countries where students spent a lot of time using devices for leisure during the school day, test scores plummeted between 2012 and 2022. In countries where they spent less time, test scores merely slid. Thus there was a significantly larger decline in scores in the countries where students spent more time using devices for fun during school hours (see Figure 1). 505 500 495 performance mean 490 485 480 475 470 465 460 455 d • Science, less device use • Math, less device use Reading, less device use Science, more device use Reading, more device use Math, more device use 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Figure 1: Scores on standardized tests of math, reading, and science for 15- and 16-year-olds in 36 countries, by low or high use of electronic devices for leisure during the school day. Note: Controlled for GDP per capita. Source: Twenge (2025) using data from PISA.

The global decline in test scores since ~2012 is highly correlated with smartphone penetration

www.generationtechblog.com/p/phones-at-...

Congrats, and good luck with the move!

Thanks for citing me in this!

While Etsy does need to show the price with shipping added per UK law, it could display it differently than the current iterations of this rollout. Concerned sellers should go public with that issue.

#EtsySellerNews

California Challenges Amazon’s Marketplace Pricing Power, Seeks Injunction California moves to curb Amazon’s marketplace pricing power, seeking immediate court intervention in antitrust case.

California moves to curb Amazon’s marketplace pricing power, seeking immediate court intervention in antitrust case. ⚖️
www.valueaddedresource.net/ca-ag-challe...

Danielle Smith can't do her job without blaming immigrants. YouTube video by Naheed Nenshi

Danielle Smith is now blaming immigrants for her own decision.

How can she point the finger at overcrowding and unsustainable population growth while she's still paying people to move here?

youtube.com/shorts/RzLjf...

A photo of thin, leafless ice-encased twigs in a small forest stream, with some of the ice melting to form little droplets.

Another photo of twigs in ice, but these are evergreens so have bright green needles. In the background there are blurry icicles.

Spent yesterday hopping in icy woodland streams to capture the last day of February! Baluain Wood near Blair Atholl. :)