#✦✧ amazon eve // threads ✧✦

[bestofsimoneashley]

Simone Ashley’s upcoming movies, a thread (will be updated regularly)

“Picture this”

Genre: Comedy/Rom-Com

Release Date: 2025

Plot: Pia (Simone Ashley) is single and runs a failing photography studio with her best friend Jay (Luke Featherston). As her sister (Anoushka Chada) prepares to wed, Pia's mother (Sindhu Vee) is desperate for her to also find love. Then a spiritual guru at her sister's engagement party tells her she is destined to find love on the next five dates she goes on.

Director: Prarthana Mohan

Cast: Simone Ashley, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Elliot Bird, Nikes Patel, Luke Featherston, Anoushka Chada, Phil Dunster, Eben Figueiredo, Sindhu Vee, Adil Ray

Character: “Pia”

Watch it on: Amazon Prime

-—————-

"This Tempting Madness"

Genre: psychological thriller

Release Date: 2024

Plot: A young woman awakens from a coma grievously injured, memory fractured, her husband arrested. But as she puts together the pieces of her past, she starts to question her own actions — and her perception of reality.

Director: Jennifer E. Montgomery

Cast: Simone Ashley, Mojean Aria, Austin Stowell, Suraj Sharma, Zenobia Shroff

Character: "Mia"

Watch it on: TBA

—————-

“The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland”

Genre: animated movie

Release Date: 2024

Plot: The Queen of Hearts hates Christmas – she's banned tinsel, mince pies and even good cheer – because when she was a little princess, the White Rabbit was late delivering her letter to Father Christmas and she didn't receive a present. But one snowy Christmas Eve, Santa finally receives her letter and races to deliver her gift! Will Santa and his reindeer be able to put the Merry back into Christmas in Wonderland?

Director: Peter Baynton

Cast: Simone Ashley, Emilia Clarke, Gerald Butler

Character: "Alice"

Watch it on: TBA

—————

“F1”

Genre: Action, Drama

Release Date: June 25, 2025

Plot: Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a Formula One driver who raced in the 1990s, has a horrible crash, forcing him to retire from Formula One and start racing in other disciplines. A Formula One team owner and friend (Javier Bardem) contacts Hayes and asks him to come out of retirement to mentor rookie prodigy Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) for the Expensify Apex Grand Prix team (APXGP).

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Cast: Simone Ashley, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Javier Bardem, Sarah Niles, Brad Pitt

Character: TBA

Watch it on: Apple and in cinemas

[shewhoexploresthewoods]

“Some of the old goddess tales were twisted to suit the takeover of male powers, in order to win converts to their new gods. For example, Pandora (All-Gifts) was originally a Great Mother Goddess, whose box (womb, cauldron, cave, cup) was a reservoir of beauty and life-sustaining gifts. Patriarchal myth tells us that Her box contained all manner of destructive demons, which once unleashed upon the world, brought evil and suffering to all. Eve was also a Mother Goddess, whose tree was the Tree of Life. The serpent was her own sensual wisdom, and the apple was her sacred fruit. Athene, whom we are told was born fully grown out of the head of Zeus, dressed in armor and ready for war, was originally the daughter of the matriarchal goddess Metis. (Meter, method, measure, matter, mother…) Both mother and daughter were worshipped by the Amazons at Lake Triton, and were born parthenogenetically—without sperm.”

This quote was taken from the book, Ariadne’s Thread A Workbook of Goddess Magic by Shekhinah Mountainwater. The quote comes from the Myth-Making section of Cycle 1 on page 26.

Reading about the true origins of Pandora, Eve, and Athene (female mythical figures we’ve all heard about and seen in popular media) is cathartic. My heart is filled with joy!

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES AND STUDIES, MID-AUGUST 2023

Welcome to my latest roundup of ecommerce and other online news for small and micro businesses, including Etsy sellers. Usually August is a slow news month, but there is still a fair amount going on.

Want to receive this report and my website blog posts by email? Sign up here: http://bit.ly/CindyLouWho2Blog

With the continuing demise of Twitter being a concern, here is a list of places you can find me, and here is where I am posting news:

LINKEDIN

BLUESKY

REDDIT

TWITTER

I hope to get the next report out before Labour Day, but of course I cannot predict what will happen between now and then. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see more reporting on!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Repeating this from the last update since it so important: Etsy’s latest policy changes brought in the ability to opt out of the binding arbitration clause, but existing members only have until August 23rd to do so. The Indie Sellers Guild has some thoughts on this. If you are opting out, remember this must be done for each account (buyer or seller), and make sure to include the following information in your email to arbitrationoptout@etsy.com:

your name

the email address for your account

your username

your shop name (if applicable)

Expect a vague email response that does not verify that you are opted out, because this is Etsy and why would they be clear? 

If you have anything with images of children in your Etsy shop (including art and figurines), please carefully read Etsy’s new policy on such imagery, as it appears many current photos and other visual depictions will not be allowed as of September 8. I started a thread in the Etsy forum for discussion. 

Amazon changed the deposit rules for UK and EU sellers who started on the site before 2016, implementing the “7 days after delivery date” deposit release that newer sellers also face. The UK’s small business commissioner and the minister for small business were not amused, and that led to some money being released early, but with a warning that the new delayed deposits would resume in January 2024.  

ETSY NEWS 

Etsy has changed the criteria for payment reserves for the time being, but we don’t know much about how, other than the fact most have been reduced to 30% from the original 75%. We still don’t know how they have made “... adjustments for issues that are beyond sellers’ control” such as a lack of cheap tracking, or if they are truly providing better communications to sellers just put on reserve, other than this Seller Handbook article from August 4. That article does admit that most current reserves are about shipping. I do know that we aren’t seeing many new reserves mentioned publicly, so it appears they have changed something. 

A few sellers from the UK have been able to opt out of Etsy’s Offsite Ads, but Etsy is now pushing back and rejecting requests. Reminder that most of the EU and also Switzerland can now opt out. 

The Make an Offer tool now lets you choose which listings you will accept offers on, as well as other improvements. (It's still only available to shops that sell in USD, and not all buyers can see it yet.)

To accompany the release of Etsy’s new baby registry, Etsy reported on recent baby and nursery trends. Farm animals are apparently in, as are flowers. 

The holiday season trends report is also out; it covers Canadian Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve. “277% YoY increase in searches on Etsy containing “wooden christmas tree decor” - With sustainability in mind, many buyers are opting for ornaments made of solid hardwood over plastic.” And apparently maxi skirts are back? 

The second quarter 2023 report showed stagnation in sales but more new sellers, plus Etsy focussing on telling sellers to discount items. You can read my coverage here. Some analysts are starting to sour on Etsy: “They feel a little bit like Pinterest to me where they have something great but they're not finding the opportunity on it.” 

Smiley faces are one of the latest takedown targets - not by Etsy bots, but by the actual rights owner. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

If you are using internal links on your website for SEO reasons, beware that the anchor text is also important. 

An analysis of the biggest winners in Google search results for the United States in the first half of 2023 shows Mercari had a huge leap in search visibility so far this year. 

Bing is not gaining much on Google’s market share, despite having a jump on AI search. 

Brave Search now includes both video and image searching. 

If you missed a lot of Google developments in July, Search Engine Roundtable has you covered. 

[Advanced content] An Ahrefs study found that ⅔ of websites using hreflang have at least one problem. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

Since most social media platforms don’t want people leaving their site, they tend to give lower ranking to posts with links in them. You can get around this issue by focussing on zero-click marketing. [text and video] There’s a followup video with transcript on the 4 ways you can promote content through social media as well. 

Another what and when to post on social media, this one covering Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, based on what brand accounts did in 2022. [I’m thinking the Twitter data may not be as relevant today.]

Several US states have passed laws requiring parental permission for anyone under 18 to join social media, or are in the process of doing so.

One of the downsides of Bluesky is that it counts any link URLs as part of your character limit, but you can get around that if you aren’t also adding a photo. 

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Daily active users on Threads have dropped over 80% from their peak. The site is still developing, however, and desktop access plus searching is coming soon. 

Instagram

Instagram is adding more tools that use artificial intelligence. 

Photos carousels now support music. 

TikTok

TikTok will be offering fulfilment services in the UK, to be followed by the US. “The example merchants are influencers and beauty brands to start with.”

Users in the EU will be able to remove online tracking from their TikTok “For You” algorithm in the near future, possibly by August 28.There will also be advertising changes. 

Twitter

The Twitter algorithm is changing, and now prioritizes replies, plus it is pushing video. “X is also penalizing mentions of the term ‘Threads’ as well as links to the Meta competitor.” [Yes, I am still calling it Twitter, but you can call it X if you want.]

Tweetdeck is now a paid service only. The ability to organize different lists and even work with multiple different accounts made it an essential for doing a lot of work on Twitter. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS (minus social media)

Amazon

Amazon will be charging additional fees for sellers who use Prime but don’t ship through Amazon, starting October 1. 

Amazon added hundreds of new product attributes that need to be added to relevant new listings starting on August 16. 

Looks like there will be another Amazon Prime Day in several countries this year.

Amazon’s second quarter was strong, with a lot of growth in ads. 

Investors are suing Amazon over several issues, including lying to them. 

eBay

eBay is finally agreeing to negotiate with the union of its recent acquisition, TCGPlayer, after the larger company failed to reverse the vote to unionize.  

Poshmark

Poshmark’s app will soon include an image search, called “Posh Lens”, although only some have the beta test at the moment. 

All Other Marketplaces

Depop’s new seller protection policy for US and UK sellers kicks in on September 3, and requires sellers to purchase shipping labels on the site. 

Wish is laying off over ¼ of its staff, including up to 40% of its employees in the United States.  

Shipping 

The port labour disruption in British Columbia is officially over.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (NOT SOCIAL MEDIA OR ECOMMERCE SITES 

If you aren’t using the free Google Shopping ads for your website yet, here are some tips on optimizing your products. Note that “Google may also assess your landing page speed and experience to rank your products”; many think that is only for organic results. 

Google ended “similar audiences” from all ads on August 1. “Campaigns using similar audiences will automatically get opted into optimised targeting and audience expansion moving forward. Marketers who would rather avoid this can go to the audiences tab in the Google Ads settings page and manually turn off the campaigns instead.”

STATS, DATA, TRACKING 

Still not paying much attention to Google Analytics 4? Here’s more info on why and how it is different from Universal Analytics. 

And that's it for this edition! Please let me know if there are other topics I should be covering.

[enfys-squees]

A thread of tweets from Enfys Book (AKA Lucky Annie) (@enfysbook) on Twitter, from 20 December 2020. [Note that I disabled my account in December 2022, so this tweet thread is no longer accessible on Twitter.] Text follows. You can watch the movie free on YouTube here (under its alternate title, “Beyond Tomorrow”).

I had some unexpected downtime yesterday, so I watched “Happiest Season.” When I finished the movie, I was in the mood for another chill holiday movie, and looked through Amazon Prime’s offerings. I found one called “Beyond Christmas” from 1940, and it’s totally bananas.

The first 30 min of “Beyond Christmas” (which has an 80-minute runtime) are basically “old rich white guys being nice to poor people, just for funsies,” and honestly, I’m here for it. But then it gets weird. Let’s break this movie down. It is a RIDE.

The movie opens with street scenes of Christmas and gently falling snow in New York. We are then brought to a nice living room, where two older businessmen are dictating Very Businessy Things to their secretaries.

A third older businessman enters, arms full of gifts. He basically tells everyone they need to stop working, because it’s Christmas Eve. Secretaries are given gifts, and they go home. Businessmen start getting ready for a Fancy Meal with two expected Fancy Guests.

But oh - Fancy Guests cancel, last-minute. And here these men are, on Christmas Eve, in their own home, in tuxedos (yes, really), with nobody but their deposed-Russian-countess maid (yes, really) and butler (who fled Russia with her) to keep them company. WHAT DO

I’m going to pause the plot description for just a moment to describe these dudes. We have Optimist Guy, Pessimist Guy, and Moderate Guy. That’s basically all you need to know about them, except they are all older, unmarried men and are BUST BUDS and love each other very much.

Optimist Guy gets an idea. Why don’t they take the extra wallets they had intended as client gifts, put $10 in each of them, as well as a business card, and fling them into the street below? Any honest person who attempts to return a wallet would then be invited to Fancy Dinner.

Other Business Bros agree. They make a bet on whether anyone will turn up.

Dinner is at 7. Clock strikes 7, nobody has turned up, and it appears Optimist has lost the bet.

But then - the doorbell rings! It’s a shabby man from Texas, returning a wallet. He has holes in his shoes.

Soon after, a pretty young woman turns up with a second wallet.

Both are invited to dinner. The whole household has a marvelous time. Texas sings a song & woman is 😍.

When the party ends, Business Bros slyly give Texas a nice overcoat, because he didn’t have one. 

Then we get a montage showing the next few weeks - this newly-formed polycule of 3 Business Bros, Texas, and Pretty Young Woman are inseparable. They go to parties & bowling.

Then Business Bros get called to a Business Trip. They need to fly somewhere to do a thing. Deposed Countess Maid begs them to take the train, because planes are scary. They laugh at her.

While Business Bros are gone, Texas and Pretty go for a walk and get engaged. They rush to Business Bros’ house to share the news, in hopes they’ve returned.

They haven’t returned. They’re dead. And now they’re ghosts, haunting the house.

Countess invites the young couple to live in the house, and the ghosts nudge her to find an envelope of bonds left for the couple’s wedding. Business Bros knew what was up.

Journalists take an interest in Business Bros’ death and want to keep writing about it, even when there isn’t much else to say. They learn about the couples’ little inheritance and decide to write about it, for reasons. Which leads to the couple being invited onto the radio.

Pretty is excited for Texas to go on the radio, because he’s such a good singer and this could be his big break. I guess it’s normal to get interviewed about a death and then be invited to sing? Did New York really lack content to fill airtime back then? Who knows.

At the radio station, Texas meets Famous Singer Lady, who is excited to hear him sing.

Texas sings, blows it out of the park. Famous Singer Lady invites him to be part of her Famous Singer Lady Tour. His big break!

Cut to Business Bro Ghosts. Optimist Ghost is Jazzed AF for Texas and wants him to chase his dreams.

Pessimist Ghost says becoming a singer will lead Texas to a life of depravity.

Pessimist Ghost says this, then immediately gets sucked into Hell.

Yes, really.

Other two Ghost Bros: “WELP.”

Sure enough, though, Pessimist was right. Texas gets caught up in The Life and immediately begins neglecting his wife Pretty and flirting with Famous Singer Lady.

Pretty is sad. Optimist tells her to fight for Texas. She goes over to the house and they have an awkward conversation that’s basically Texas saying, “Uh, being a famous singer is, like, A Lot, so maybe I’ll just call you when the tour is over?” And she’s like, “K, bye” & leaves.

Optimist tells Texas to chase after her, and he almost does, but then the phone rings and it’s Famous Singer Lady saying she’ll pick him up in 20 minutes for their vacation together in the country.

Ghost Bros (minus one) are upset, but then the sky opens up and a young man in military uniform comes down from Heaven to get his dad, Moderate Ghost. We didn’t know Moderate had a kid. He’s never been mentioned. But here he is. Moderate asks son what heaven is like.

Ghost Army Boy says “what do you want heaven to be like?” And Moderate gets all misty-eyed and says he wants it to be like the barracks, minus the front. He was happy in the war, surrounded by “ready young men.” !!!

Cool, so it shall be. Moderate goes to Gay Heaven. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤎

Optimist Ghost is alone, but he’s determined to do...something...to protect Texas from committing infidelity. He rides along in the car going to the country, petulantly knocking Famous Singer’s hood off her head.

They get to the country resort, they’re having dinner, and they get called up on-stage to perform a song because they are famous. As they stand up, both Texas and Famous are shot by Famous’ ex-husband, who had secretly followed them there.

Oh shoot, I forgot something. Right before the dinner scene, Optimist is outside the resort and God calls him to heaven. He says no, he has to stay and help Texas.

God says “you only get asked once, if you don’t come now, you wander the earth as a ghost forever, and also your mom really misses you.”

Optimist says no, he has to stay. God’s all, “K, fuck you, walk the Earth as a shattered soul” and the gates to heaven close.

OK, restaurant scene happens. Texas and Famous are shot, cut to hospital. Surgery is happening. Optimist is pacing the waiting room. Pretty is sobbing in Countess’ arms.

Ghost of Texas walks out of surgery and runs into Optimist. “What up, friend”

Texas sees Pretty and is full of regret. He asks where Famous is. Optimist says, “Gone. She didn’t have a soul to begin with.” (HOLY SHIT)

Heavens open up AGAIN. God calls for Optimist. Says “your mother wouldn’t leave me alone until I gave you another chance.” (Thanks, Mom!) Optimist says he’s ready, but asks God to do him a solid and bring Texas back to life, because he’s learned his lesson. God is all “FINE.”

As Optimist starts walking into the night, Pessimist shows up! Optimist is like “wtf where did you come from” and Pessimist says he was in darkness for a long time, but thoughts of Optimist and Moderate melted his heart full of angst and brought him to the light. (!) ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤎

Ghost Bros go to Gay Heaven and Texas gets another shot at life.

FIN.

Merry Christmas?

[skelegun]

I watched Terrifier 2 on a whim. I had honestly never even heard of the first movie, and only knew about the second because of the hype about how gorey it was, but it showed up on Amazon Prime so I was like ehh might as well try something new for a change… And I actually rather enjoyed it! I went into it honestly expecting garbage, but was pleasantly surprised. I rather enjoyed the brother and sister characters, and the music was fantastic. I’m kinda at a point in my life where gore is just whatever, and it’s about a spooky “clown” (he’s actually a mime but everyone refers to him as a clown) which is a worn out trope at this point, but i think they handled the tone really well and I found the supernatural/surreal elements to be rather interesting.

Anyways I liked the second movie so much I was like oh I should go watch the first, specially since the second had some rather weird plot threads I was hoping might be clarified a little. I was wrong! Everything interesting in the second film was only introduced in the second film. The first movie starts out pretty good but once they leave the pizza place it becomes a rather shitty paint by numbers low budget slasher film. Also there was like zero supernatural elements until the very end which makes the villan come across more like a Juggalo with a bizarre amount HP instead of some kind of inhuman demon or ghoul which the second one sets him up as rather early on.

I guess I gotta watch All Hallow’s Eve next since that’s actually the first real Art the Clown movie even though it’s apparently an anthology film. Might do that tomorrow maybe. I think this is only film series I will have watched entirely in reverse order first.

[energiewende-tipps]

Eve Shutter Switch im Test

Ich habe für Euch in dem in diesem Beitrag verlinkten Video den Even Shutter Switch, also einen Schalter für die Rollladensteuerung im Smarthome, getestet. Wenn man Fenster mit elektrischen Rollläden hat und auch eine Smarthome-Steuerung, dann macht es absolut Sinn, die Rollläden ebenfalls in das Smarthome einzubinden. Damit kann man sie zum einen zentral und über bestimmte beispielsweise von der Tageszeit abhängige Automationen steuern und zum anderen auch aus der Ferne bei Bedarf öffnen oder schließen. In meinem Haus hatte ich im Erdgeschoss zwei Rollläden mit den mittlerweile veralteten Schaltern von Homematic von e-Q3 ausgestattet. Es gibt keine Möglichkeit, diese Schalter einfach und stabil in das Smarthome-System von Apple einzubinden. e-Q3 hat mittlerweile den neueren Standard Homematic IP etabliert, aber auch der bietet weder den Funkstandard Thread noch unterstützt er Matter. Damit sperrt sich Homematic IP ebenfalls gegen die moderne Smarthome-Architektur, die von Apple und sehr vielen weiteren Anbietern unterstützt wird. Melde dich zum Newsletter an! Bei Amazon habe ich jüngst im "Oster-Deal" zwei Eve Shutter Switches gekauft. Die kosten regulär stolze 99 Euro das Stück und waren in dem Deal für erträgliche 79 Euro zu haben. Im nachfolgenden Video zeige ich Dir, wie der Eve Shutter Switch aufgebaut ist, wie er eingebaut und in Apple Home eingebunden und in Betrieb genommen wird. Fazit zum Eve Shutter Switch Der Even Shutter Switch ist vom Design her recht schick. Allerdings gibt es von Eve nur die eine Garnitur aus Schalterrahmen und Schaltwippen. Es gibt auch keine Adapter, mit dem man das Äußere tauschen und dann Rahmen und Wippen der gängigen Hersteller tauschen kann. Man kann den Rollladenschalter von Eve also nicht an ein vorhandenes Schalterprogramm anpassen. Das kann der alte Homematic-Kram, der ich bisher für die beiden Rollläden im Wohnzimmer hatte, über entsprechende Adapter tatsächlich besser. Der Einbau ist eigentlich sehr simpel. Vier Kabel in der korrekten Art und Weise in die Klemmsteckverbinder stecken und fertig. Weil es sich um eine 230-Volt-Installation handelt, sollte das eigentlich nur ein ausgebildeter Elektriker machen. Und bei Arbeiten an 230-Volt gilt immer, dass die Sicherung abgeschaltet und die entsprechenden Bauteile während der Arbeiten daran stromlos geschalter werden. Wichtig: Der Eve Shutter Switch braucht einen Neutralleiter. Ist dieser nicht vorhanden, dann kann der Rollladenschalter nicht eingebaut und betrieben werden. Die Einrichtung des Eve Shutter Switches in Apple Home ist typischerweise sehr einfach. In der Home-App auf "Gerät hinzufügen" tippen, den QR-Code scannen und den neuen Schalter dann dem entsprechenden Raum hinzufügen. Das wars, kein Gefrickel mit WLAN-Einstellungen oder ähnliches. Schon kannst Du den Schalter in Automatisierungen einbinden und beispielsweise bei Sonnenaufgang öffnen und bei Sonnenuntergang schließen. Was ich nicht so prickelnd finde ist, dass der gesamte Schalter aus recht einfachem, primitiven Plastik ist. Auch der Einbaurahmen, also das Bauteil, das mit der Unterputzdose verschraubt wird und den Schalter stabil in seiner Position fixiert. Schraubt man die Halteschrauben auch nur etwas zu beherzt fest "Knack" bricht das Plastik des Rahmens. Das ist für 99,95 Euro Listenpreis schon fast peinlich. Kommen wir zum Schluss noch zum Preis. Laut Liste und Eve-Webseite kostet der Shutter Switch 99 Euro. Ich musste bei mir im Haus nur zwei Fenster nachrüsten und hab den Schalter zum Angebotspreis von 79 Euro bekommen, was auch noch "üppig" ist. Müsste ich alle Fenster in meinem Haus mit diesem Schalter ausstatten und den zum Listenpreis kaufen, wären 600 Euro fällig. Wenn man billige China-Ware nimmt und bereit ist, auf Matter und Thread zu verzichten und mit der Anbindung über WLAN und ein em oft eher hässlichen Design leben kann, dann bekommt man solche Rollladenschalter schon für unter 30 Euro. Aber alle Eve-Produkte sind ja eher hochpreisig. Lesen Sie den ganzen Artikel

[qocsuing]

Motorized Blinds: A Modern Solution for Window Treatments

Motorized Blinds: A Modern Solution for Window Treatments In today’s high-tech world of automation, our homes have become more comfortable, intuitive, and accessible. One such advancement is the introduction of motorized blinds and shades. These automated window treatments are available in a wide range of styles, colors, and price points, making them a versatile addition to any home.Get more news about motorized blinds,you can vist our website!

Benefits of Motorized Window Treatments Motorized shades and blinds offer a range of benefits. The cordless design enhances safety, preventing hazards to children and pets. They offer convenience as you can open and close them with a push of a button. No more struggling with oversized or hard-to-reach windows.

In addition to offering insulation, automated window blinds allow you to better control natural lighting, contributing to energy efficiency. When connected to smart home devices, your motorized blinds can be set on timers to open and close even while you’re away, enhancing security. With the growing popularity of smart home automation, smart blinds can increase your home’s value.

Motorization Control Types Motorized blinds and shades are compatible with smart home systems and speakers like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings. You can set your blinds or shades to raise and lower on a schedule, as the sun moves throughout the day, or with a voice command.

Brands and Options There are several brands offering motorized blinds and shades. Levolor InMotion™ Motorized Blinds and Shades can be operated with full smart home automation, a remote, or the InMotion™ App. They are available for Cellular Shades, Roller Shades, Natural Woven Shades, and more.

Eve MotionBlinds are a stylish collection of battery-powered shades, compatible with Apple HomeKit. They offer Solar, Zebra, or Roller shades in various opacities. With the first motors on the market supporting Thread wireless technology, installation and operation are simplified.

Outdoor shades by Coolaroo couldn’t be more convenient with a weather-proof motorized lift. These shades feature top-of-the-line motors, and each comes with solar-powered batteries that recharge even on cloudy days. No need for electrical work to install, or replacing batteries. Open and close shades with a remote, or integrate with your home automation system.

[orizoncontrols]

ABB INCORPORA IL PROTOCOLLO MATTER PER LA SMART HOME

ABB Smart Buildings ha annunciato un progresso significativo nella sua tecnologia per la casa intelligente incorporando lo standard di connettività per la casa intelligente Matter nel suo sistema ABB-free@home®. Questo aggiornamento consente agli utenti di integrare perfettamente dispositivi ed elettrodomestici intelligenti pronti per Matter nella loro configurazione ABB-free@home® senza richiedere un'installazione specializzata.Matter è lo standard emergente di connettività di retrofit consumer per le case intelligenti, accompagnato dal protocollo wireless Thread. Il punto di accesso al sistema ABB-free@home® pronto per Matter è stato presentato presso lo stand di Eve Systems durante la fiera dell'elettronica di consumo IFA di Berlino. Questo sviluppo arriva sulla scia dell’acquisizione di Eve Systems da parte di ABB e del loro sforzo congiunto per accelerare questa integrazione in risposta alla crescente domanda del mercato, con proiezioni che indicano un raddoppio degli utenti di case intelligenti in Europa nei prossimi quattro anni. Lucy Han, Responsabile del Global Product Group Building and Home Automation Solutions presso ABB e Amministratore delegato di Eve, ha sottolineato l’importanza di Matter nell’espansione delle opzioni di connettività di ABB-free@home® e nella promozione dell’interoperabilità tra varie piattaforme. Questo standard universale mira a facilitare l’interconnessione sicura, a prova di futuro e senza soluzione di continuità di dispositivi e tecnologie intelligenti precedentemente disparati. L’integrazione di Matter consente l’accesso ad ABB-free@home® tramite le più diffuse app di gestione domestica insieme ad altri dispositivi domestici intelligenti, offrendo un controllo migliorato sul comfort domestico, sull’efficienza energetica e sulla sicurezza. Sebbene ABB-free@home® supporti già funzionalità di retrofit con ABB-free@home® wireless o flexTronics wireless, l’aggiunta di Matter amplia ulteriormente le scelte degli utenti e consente l’incorporazione di specifici dispositivi consumer pronti per Matter senza la necessità di installazione professionale. All'IFA, una dimostrazione ha mostrato come il sistema di controllo degli edifici ABB-free@home®, uno dei pionieri nell'adozione del protocollo Matter, si collega perfettamente con i nuovi dispositivi di retrofit, compresi quelli della gamma di prodotti Eve della tecnologia per la casa intelligente retrofit Matter e Thread. Jerome Gackel, CEO di Eve, ha sottolineato che Matter consente la combinazione di soluzioni di automazione degli edifici e di retrofitting, offrendo a installatori e clienti una maggiore flessibilità nelle opzioni di progettazione per creare case ed edifici sicuri, intelligenti e sostenibili. Questo miglioramento di Matter è applicabile a tutti i modelli ABB-free@home® prodotti dopo il 2018 e i clienti possono aggiornare i propri dispositivi con un aggiornamento firmware gratuito per il punto di accesso al sistema. Inoltre, ABB-free@home® può ora integrarsi con altre tecnologie compatibili con Matter di importanti marchi come Apple, Google, Amazon e Samsung, migliorando l’interoperabilità e aumentando potenzialmente l’adozione della tecnologia della casa intelligente tra gli utenti. Per ulteriori informazioni www.abb.com Read the full article

[macnews-org]

Eve begins Matter rollout for Eve Energy, Eve Door & Window, and Eve Motion

Eve begins Matter rollout for Eve Energy, Eve Door & Window, and Eve Motion

Eve, the popular HomeKit product manufacturer, has announced that it will be releasing an optional firmware update for its , Eve Door & Window, and products, making them the first Thread products available on the market for the new Matter standard. This update will allow customers to connect their Eve products to the Samsung SmartThings ecosystem and, coming soon, Google Home and Amazon…

[feelfear]

@huntedvideo​ // sc // not ready to make nice by dixie chicks

          “It's a sad, sad story when a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.”

[horrificks-a]

tag dump

[bulletinwave]

Smart Home: The radio protocol thread in the first practical test

Smart Home: The radio protocol thread in the first practical test

With Amazon, Apple and Google, three industry giants offer devices for the Thread mesh network protocol. A practical test. .

[gettingrarer-blog]

@nighthowled // starter call

Lighting the cigarette hanging from her red lips, Eve looked up from her breakfast plate, empty save for the slight sheen of bacon grease and a few small bits of scrambled egg. She glanced at the new kid and extended her hand, offering the open pack of smokes. “Cigarette?”

[dcvotion]

❀ || Hello, it’s been a while, life updates below the cut so as to not clutter the dash, but to the point of this post: I’m working on updating some graphics and getting this blog back up and running again ♡ !! I’ll see what’ll happen with threads, because I know it’s been a while, and sometimes a fresh start is best, but we’ll see! I hope no one minds any dropped threads, or continuing any as well. We’ll work things out~

I hope everyone’s having a lovely day! Take care of yourselves!

I recently got a full-time job with Amazon working as a delivery driver (currently waiting for them to push me along with the training course). I had worked as a helper over the holiday season back in November til the end of December, and I had so much fun with it, that I leapt at the chance to be the driver after the season was over. It’s why I’ve kinda been MIA for the most part. Holiday peak hours are brutal. But I made it through and I nailed a full-time position from my hard work, so I’m happy about that ♡

My birthday was Christmas eve and I got my first bits of KH merch thanks to friends, so I got excited about that too. Been trying to get back into arting since I haven’t done much since working (work makes you tired ; ; ) and getting myself prepped to get back into commission work. It’s been tough working through mental health stuff paired with juggling everything else, but I’ve been doing it.

All in all, I’m just hoping to get Riku back up and running, as well as my other blog-- Hero of Time Link-- because I do miss just having fun and writing my boys ♡ So I’ll take things Bit by Little Bit; Baby Byte steps. 

Again-- hope you’re all having a lovely day, and taking care of yourselves! Thank you for reading if you did ♡ 

[peel-a-potato-with-a-potato]

So I binge read Invincible

What a trip of a story. Gotta say, I’m really hoping Amazon doesn’t screw it up, but what I’ve seen of the show so far seems to be a good update. The comic came out in 2003 after all, so there’s some parts that don’t hold up well 18 years later.

The ending wasn’t to my taste, but it was mostly satisfying. Spoilers if you keep reading beyond here.

The comic makes gratuitous use of time skipping, usually because of Mark being very vincible (yes, bad joke, don’t care), at several points. The worst ones for me were the 3 or 4 months he spent with his father and brother healing from a stomach wound and the 5 year skip after the “reboot”.

And oh boy do I have thoughts on that reboot. Some mysterious entity we are never given any further information on traps him in a cave and sends him back to being 17 with no powers on Earth. He proceeds to do everything in the most efficient way he can before giving up to be with his family. And then he’s back, but 5 years after he left. Was he really in the past or was that entity just messing with his mind? And did it really take him 5 years to process those few weeks? Or did he get brought back to the wrong time? Was that thing vengeful and wanted to rob him of what he wanted for disobeying it? And after that little section is over, we never hear about that thing again.

And then there’s the deaths of Oliver and Nolan. Both were mostly well done, Oliver died in battle (sure he would have wanted it that way), and Nolan died with his favorite son present. Or least favorite, it’s hard to tell at some points. And both were well used catalysts into propelling the story. Oliver’s death convinced Mark he had to act against Thragg. Nolan’s death put Mark in control of the new Viltrum Empire, and in direct opposition to Robot. I refuse to call him Rex. Rex Splode deserved better than that.

Through the whole series, I didn’t trust Robot. From the beginning, I had a bad feeling about him, and when he was revealed to be a human, Rudy, that pretty much cemented it for me. A genius who relies entirely on logic, even when they have an emotional attachment to someone? Yeah, if that doesn’t scream trouble, I don’t know what does. Putting his brain in a jar and leaving Immortal in charge seemed like the best option.

But that also brings up the question of why he left Immortal in charge at all. Having been brought to the future by two people working for Immortal just so he could get his death, don’t you think Mark would have remembered that? Would have known the pain he would cause his friend? Or was there really no better option? It does provide continuity, answers why Immortal was in charge, and I guess prevents a paradox, which is all probably why it was done. Mark doing that knowing what would happen though, it’s probably the most Viltrumite thing he does in the series, cold and devoid of human emotion. Mark does have a habit of disagreeing with his allies at times, and sometimes that leads to what feels like betrayal.

Even Allen got the short end of that stick, with the Viltrum Empire spreading peace at the end, Allen’s coalition fell apart. And Mark makes some good commentary there that definitely applies to Earth today. But wouldn’t you think he’d want to help Allen change the COP to make it better for those planets being exploited? That seemed to be his thing, but instead he just left them to figure it out.

Going back to immortality for a bit, let’s talk about Eve. She gets severely wounded and suddenly she becomes a god just long enough to patch herself back up. This is used a couple times, first on Eve alone, and then on herself and Mark. The first time she gives herself bigger breasts (yup, it’s a guy writing the series) and the second time Mark asks “Did you make me stronger?” while he flexes. Given that Eve was carrying their child at the time, it makes sense why he wouldn’t leave her power to kick in to replace her lost leg, but it ends up making death feel a bit cheap, the way Marvel and DC do by killing off their heroes and bringing them back. It’s really made worse when Eve dies of old age and is suddenly in her 20′s again. “Guess I’m immortal” my ass. If she’s just going to keep doing that, eventually she will outlive Mark’s thousands of years and she’ll be just as lonely as Immortal. Feels like they didn’t think the ramifications of that one through. I do enjoy the fact that Eve is always, and I do mean always, the one initiating their intimate moments though. A woman taking charge of her sexuality is nice to see.

And then there’s Marky. Poor Marky. Left alone on Earth with an adoptive human father while Mark ignored him because of his rage at Marky’s mother. Debbie steps in to help, and it’s clear Mark still has some contact with his son, but he’s definitely not going to have the support his father did growing up, even if he is the new Invincible. Why on earth would this poor half abandoned child take the name of the father that clearly doesn’t want to take much interest in him? I get it’s a carrying on the family legacy kind of thing, but it gives me weird vibes.

For all my griping though, I have to mention Cecil. Almost a perfect foil to Mark’s black and white thinking. Cecil only sees in shades of grey. No matter where someone’s actions put them in Mark’s eyes, Cecil always sees them as a force to be used to his own ends. Cecil’s need to protect people and his search for peace align so perfectly with Mark’s but because of his way of looking at the world and lack of superpowers, he contrasts so perfectly with the hero of the story. I disagree with Rudy that Cecil would have been okay dying to get the world brought about by Rudy, but I’m not really sure how to put those thoughts into words just yet.

But the ending in general, while neatly wrapping up most of the plot threads (looking at you tentacle entity from the reboot storyline), feels a bit too much like a happily ever after. Now that’s personal taste, but honestly, if they’d just ended it with Mark taking over and saying he was going to leave Earth with the Viltrumites on his mission to help the universe, I’d have been a lot happier leaving the rest up to the imagination. Instead, we get flashes of this race of near gods forcefully bringing peace to the universe and we end with another vaguely satisfying callback.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the series and I’m honestly tempted to read it again to get a better idea of the callbacks and setups we see. The perspective on some things might be different now too, and that’s always interesting. I’m very much of the opinion that if you love something, you should be critical of it. And there’s a lot in Invincible that seems like doing something just to make the story work. I can’t tell if that’s just because of the medium or if it actually makes sense given that Mark is an alien, so maybe I would need to read it again to figure that out.

[stellaseas]

There’s a twitter thread about perfectly cast characters which is a interesting discussion. Plus I’m kind of salty about the thumbnail which is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and (this is my opinion, I don’t have anything against Margot Robbie as an actress but) with the prompt being described as “the role was just made for that actor and nobody else could embody it they way they did” ...yeah I’m not sure Margot’s Quinn can fall into that category. There are plenty of actresses that can do what she does in the movies she’s been in. To me, this also means that people cast to play these parts in remakes...have no business doing so, it seems weird to do a remake at all because the original is so iconic and as close to perfect as can be, no one could measure up. Another “rule” (idk what to call it) would be that...the idea of any other actor taking on the role would have resulted in the failure of the movie in general or the character would not have become so iconic without that particular actor being cast. I’m less inclined (despite the wording of the prompt, I don’t take it literally) to include characters that were specifically created with a certain actor or actress in mind (take Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story) because that almost seems like cheating. Anyways, here’s my additions to the list, because I can’t bring myself to join twitter. 

Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard

Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, excuse me, Jude in I’m Not There

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

Jack Lemmon & Marilyn Monroe in Too Hot to Handle

The Big Three Avengers Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth as Tony, Steve and Thor respectively. Paul Rudd as Ant Man deserves a spot too. So does Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. Tom Hiddleston as Loki (well, the main variant of course) Really, the ladies at Marvel Casting deserve all the awards for the work they do. 

Myrna Loy & William Powell as the Charleses in the Thin Man Series

Robert Preston in The Music Man (sorry Hugh Jackman)

The Main Fellowship in LOTR (seriously Amazon, idk what you’re doing with LOTR even if it’s a prequel...please stop)

Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless

Glenn Close as Cruella DeVil

Mark Hamill & Kevin Conroy as The Joker & Bruce Wayne/Batman

Orson Welles as Harry Lime in The Third Man (imagine a modern day limited series about Harry Lime played by Orson, I would DIE)

Alan Rickman & Maggie Smith in Harry Potter

Sigh...I’ve grown completely tired of his shenanigans (I’m not even referring to everything with Amber Heard regardless of what the truth may or may not be) but Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus 

The Star Wars new cast: Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Joh Boyega & Oscar Isaac. Heck Domnhall Gleeson too. 

Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs (I’d include Anthony Hopkins if I didn’t enjoy both his and Mads performances as Hannibal equally)

George Saunders in All About Eve

Betty Davis & Paul Henreid in Now Voyager

Dana Andrews & Gene Tierney in Laura

Oof this got long, I could do a whole other list for TV!