From AARP

FDA Expands Warning on Methanol-Tainted Hand Sanitizers
Deaths, blindness tied to toxic ingredient found in imported sanitizers
by Peter Urban, Updated July 9, 2020

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers to stop using 55 hand sanitizer products from 10 manufacturers in Mexico that may contain methanol, which can be ( Read more... )

I have an Android smartphone. Just now I saw an ad in my Gmail:

Email Home - Fullscreen Email
Connect to Your Email: All Android Users Need This App!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (15,011)
The ad leads to the Google Play Store.

I did not tap INSTALL NOW, I just tapped elsewhere on the screen, and a new view came up with a link for "Learn more", which I followed. There ( Read more... )

[Edited May 30 to distinguish from REAL WinZip Mac Optimizer]

I got an email beginning as follows. (I've reduced the huger font sizes, and put it all on light grey as a reminder.)

DO NOT TRUST THIS!

Accelerate Your Mac

Work Faster & Gain Storage Space

Try WinZip Mac Optimizer Free [LINK REMOVED]

When was the last time you gave your Mac ( Read more... )

From Medium
“Alexa, play some music” isn’t the only time Amazon is listening to you.
Jason T. Voiovich • Jan 9

Amazon’s voice recognition software only listens when you say the word “Alexa,” right?
[...]
You may have assumed your Echo or Dot listened and responded using the small computer housed inside the device itself. But that doesn’t make sense.
( Why not? )

I clicked on something in Firefox and this came up instead. The page is https://tosdr.org/. It seems to be launched by a Firefox add-in, or something, and it seems legit.


( Read more... )

(But look at the comments on yesterday's post by those who saw this news before I did.)

Followup to yesterday's post, The end of effective gun control?
From New York Magazine

August 1, 2018 10:58 am
The Downloadable Gun Is Dead - for Now

By Mack DeGeurin


( Read more... )

From Wired. Boldface emphasis added.
(But see next post, Downloadable gun files under temporary restraint.)
A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora’s Box for DIY Guns

Cody Wilson makes digital files that let anyone 3-D print untraceable guns. The government tried to stop him. He sued-and won.
Andy Greenberg 07.10.18

Five years ago, 25-year-old ( Read more... )

From The Guardian

Venmo: how the payment app exposes our private lives
A researcher has analysed millions of public transactions to prove just how much the app reveals about our life and habits
Olivia Solon in San Francisco
Tue 17 Jul 2018 03.01 EDT (07.01 UTC)

Anyone can track a Venmo user’s purchase history and glean a detailed profile - including ( Read more... )

From Consumer Reports
Liver Damage From Supplements Is on the Rise
Green-tea extract and bodybuilding pills pose a particular risk, study finds

You’ve probably heard that too much alcohol or excessive amounts of certain medications can damage your liver, an organ that helps your body extract the nutrients it needs from food and eliminate toxic ( Read more... )

This is a series of entries on a mailing list I'm on. The third is mine, the others are all from different members.

I've gotten a couple of invitations from [list] members to join Spock. I try to keep my "memberships" to these sites under control and maintain LinkedIn and Myspace profiles for my business and musical lives, respectively. I find they ( Read more... )