I have heard of cabin crew turning the heat up to get pax to sleep. Some can't be bothered, same with any job I suppose
There are plenty of myths regarding the temperature level, be it low or high. I guess some crews do crank the heat up but most passengers on a night flight want to sleep and so is facilitating that really that bad and why does it have to be seen as the lazy option? As i explained before, once service is complete crews have a lot of down time on night flights and there isn't really much they can do regardless of whether passengers are asleep or not. A few more call bells may go off if people are awake but other than that it tends not to make too much difference.
Someone mentioned the emergency lighting on the floor, that stuff is USELESS!!! I have to point it out!
I've doned (spelling?) a smoke hood, been in a cabin full of (albeit fake) smoke and in the dark and honestly it's nothing more than a faint glow.
In the panic of everything else I don't trust these to help and always make sure I know where to go beforehand.
They aren't designed to be like Blackpool illuminations. Be it illuminous strips or 'hard' lighting there is enough there to help. They are primarily there for the scenario where you are on your hands and knees under the smoke and despite the senario undoubtedly being chaotic and potentially horiffic, it would probably help to varying degrees.
As for the blinds themselves. Open for take off and landing so that the outside conditions can be assessed in the event of an evacuation and it also helps the emergency services assess conditions inside the cabin.