cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12219193

Sales on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress have fallen sharply in Germany, while customs authorities across Europe report fewer small shipments. The early results suggest the charge is changing trade, although European retailers have yet to see clear benefits.

...

In Germany, combined sales on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress dropped by 35.5 per cent year on year to €566m in the third quarter, according to e-commerce association BEVH. Their combined share of German online retail fell from 5.3 per cent in the second quarter to 3.1 per cent. The consumer survey measures spending, providing evidence of falling purchases beyond changes in customs declarations.

...

Italy recorded a 39 per cent decline in low-value parcel imports in July–August compared with May–June, according to figures from Customs Agency Director Roberto Alesse cited in an Italian parliamentary research dossier.

In Poland, Finance Ministry figures supplied to PAP showed customs declarations falling from 4.24m in June to 2.11m in July, a monthly decline of 50.1 per cent.

...

The pattern extends elsewhere. Belgian authorities reported 53 per cent fewer low-value declarations in July than a year earlier. Czech customs figures reported by ČTK showed declared items falling by 81 per cent between June and September, from 13.6m to 2.6m. The figures cover different periods and counting methods, so they illustrate the scale of the adjustment rather than a ranking of declining demand.

...

The duty is also changing how goods reach customers. Dutch Customs reported a 46 per cent fall in average e-commerce declarations in its initial July–August comparison with the first-half average, while standard declarations rose by 20 per cent. Its August figures were provisional and covered only the period to 25 August. Retailers appeared to be importing more goods in bulk and storing them in European warehouses before dispatching orders to consumers.

That shift can help customs authorities inspect imports. Dutch Customs Director-General Nannette van Schelven said fewer individual parcels were arriving directly for consumers, “making it easier for us to check whether products are safe”.

...

Product safety remains a concern: as EU Perspectives reported, the Commission has accepted Temu’s plan to strengthen safeguards after tests exposed unsafe toys and chargers on its platform.

...

Tariffs alone are not enough

BEVH attributed the pressure on low-margin Asian products to higher import charges. However, weakening confidence and rising energy costs also weighed on spending, while domestic retailers had not benefited from their competitors’ decline. “Tariffs alone are not enough,” BEVH chief executive Alien Mulyk said, calling for stronger market surveillance and enforcement.

...

Archived

Playing around with Catodon and really enjoying it. I just thought it was really interesting to note that emoji reactions do federate. Although for some reason Piefed shows 2 when there's only 1.

For those unfamiliar "'keys" are the many Misskey forks. i.e. Catodon, Iceshrimp, Sharkey, etc.

I've just published a new interview with Moth, lnkd and Anti, the three developers behind Cocoon, an Android gaming frontend designed to give retro handhelds a more cohesive, console-like experience. It's super interesting on dual-screen devices like the AYN Thor and Retroid Pocket Duo, where it makes use of both displays for browsing game libraries, managing applications and navigating a customizable interface inspired in part by the Nintendo 3DS.

Their latest 3.1 update introduces some substantial improvements, including the ability to suspend, resume and close games without leaving Cocoon, alongside smarter dual-screen behavior and a redesigned interface. I spoke with all three about how these features came together, the considerable optimization work needed to get Cocoon running smoothly on more modest hardware like the Anbernic RG DS, and the music and sound design that helps give the whole thing its personality.

There's quite a bit about the challenges they've encountered along the way too, including some unexpected performance discoveries and the difficulties of maintaining compatibility with different emulators. Really enjoyed catching up with the team, and I've included plenty of GIFs demonstrating the new features (thanks to them!)

Hope some here enjoy the article from our interviews and find something of interest in here!

David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 years in a memeshell (actually no the book is about much more than that).

Let's do another round of this. What's going on on your servers, any cool things? How'd the recent CVE flood tangent you and did it change how you see/do stuff?

I pray for the safety of all your Frames

Tragically while I was streaming VR Minecraft, my Frame randomly shut down and has rejected further charge, rendering it dead. I've heard of it happening to others and it's unsurprising it happened to me, all my tech is cursed. 🫠

I've already had many issues. Some weeks ago I had to flash the OS again after a boot loop glitch, that was scary. The software is very buggy.

Tried some suggestions... unlocking and reseating the Frame, different cables and different devices to provide power. It still won't draw from my powerbank let alone my Steam Deck charger.

RMA process has started, they responded within an hour. hopefully it won't be too long for... repairs. 😶 Anyone have other suggestions I could try before I send it off?

Pschiiitttt. Il est temps.

I dutifully root sweet potato slips from successive generations of plants I have maintained since we first got them in 2022. I started them very late this year, but they looked okay?

Anyways, it seems like the bed we normally plant them in didn't get enough sun. The critters also really got into them, but I still had some pretty large vines going when I went to dig them up. But there was nothing, lol.

I also placed a piece of potato in a hanging basket because I think the vines are pretty.

I got two potatoes out of the basket! You can see the "parent" potato in the main post image, along with the two offspring.

Along with the vines that I have been rooting I hope I can grow slips off these. I may have managed to keep these plants alive for another season...

Maybe next year there will be more success, or perhaps I will just have them in the grow tent with the weed 😶‍🌫️

We had two beds of potatoes this year, in the dirt and a Ruth Stout style bed.

Dirt

The potatoes in the post image were grown in the front lawn. We are trying to improve the soil which has a lot of clay. I understand potato cultivation is used to break up dense soils so why not?

The potatoes are put in trenches in the dirt but most of the hilling was with straw. All the potatoes were in the dirt, none grew up into the straw.

The next image shows the relationship between the plant and where the tubers form.

Ruth Stout

These potatoes were placed on wood chips and buried in straw.

They were also hilled with straw like the ones in the dirt.

It's a bit easier to see the formation of the tubers on these ones because you can pull the whole plant up really easily:

Interestingly, some of these dug into the wood chips and grew down there. Overall, the harvest was pretty comparable to the ones in the dirt based on my guestimates of how many potatoes we started with in each lol

We've eaten a few, and the rest are curing on the shelf. Most will become seed potatoes for next year.

Futurist Jamais Cascio calls it a BANI world. This resonates with me:

• Something I count on suddenly stops working. (Brittle)
• Worry makes even small decisions feel hard. (Anxious)
• One little thing changes my whole day. (Nonlinear)
• I read more and more, but still can't make sense of things (Incomprehensible)

Sometimes, the next step is enough. You don't need to map the whole road before walking.

What helps you when the world feels like this?

and low the tempter compelled the christ saying "Official printer firmware updates by the original equipment manufacturor will upgrade at 2AM est & invalidate your non-OEM print cartridges (magenta low) unless you bow down too worship me"

A brief shot in the game’s intro shows archive footage from the Itaewon crowd crush

Sales on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress have fallen sharply in Germany, while customs authorities across Europe report fewer small shipments. The early results suggest the charge is changing trade, although European retailers have yet to see clear benefits.

...

In Germany, combined sales on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress dropped by 35.5 per cent year on year to €566m in the third quarter, according to e-commerce association BEVH. Their combined share of German online retail fell from 5.3 per cent in the second quarter to 3.1 per cent. The consumer survey measures spending, providing evidence of falling purchases beyond changes in customs declarations.

...

Italy recorded a 39 per cent decline in low-value parcel imports in July–August compared with May–June, according to figures from Customs Agency Director Roberto Alesse cited in an Italian parliamentary research dossier.

In Poland, Finance Ministry figures supplied to PAP showed customs declarations falling from 4.24m in June to 2.11m in July, a monthly decline of 50.1 per cent.

...

The pattern extends elsewhere. Belgian authorities reported 53 per cent fewer low-value declarations in July than a year earlier. Czech customs figures reported by ČTK showed declared items falling by 81 per cent between June and September, from 13.6m to 2.6m. The figures cover different periods and counting methods, so they illustrate the scale of the adjustment rather than a ranking of declining demand.

...

The duty is also changing how goods reach customers. Dutch Customs reported a 46 per cent fall in average e-commerce declarations in its initial July–August comparison with the first-half average, while standard declarations rose by 20 per cent. Its August figures were provisional and covered only the period to 25 August. Retailers appeared to be importing more goods in bulk and storing them in European warehouses before dispatching orders to consumers.

That shift can help customs authorities inspect imports. Dutch Customs Director-General Nannette van Schelven said fewer individual parcels were arriving directly for consumers, “making it easier for us to check whether products are safe”.

...

Product safety remains a concern: as EU Perspectives reported, the Commission has accepted Temu’s plan to strengthen safeguards after tests exposed unsafe toys and chargers on its platform.

...

Tariffs alone are not enough

BEVH attributed the pressure on low-margin Asian products to higher import charges. However, weakening confidence and rising energy costs also weighed on spending, while domestic retailers had not benefited from their competitors’ decline. “Tariffs alone are not enough,” BEVH chief executive Alien Mulyk said, calling for stronger market surveillance and enforcement.

...

Archived

Crossposted from https://fedia.io/m/historymemes@piefed.social/t/4518293

David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 years in a memeshell (actually no the book is about much more than that).

What a meme with no implications for contemporary politics whatsoever.

2026 Pride Parade, Nashville TN (my photo, Fujifilm X-T5)