2026 sep 07

[rcjordan]

OpenAI chief scientist warns no one is prepared for consequences of AI
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyzrrd0kp7o

a legal grey area that allows supplements to advertise that they can help with fitness, hair growth, sleep, and your ability to focus.
Costco drops beverage, supplement brand pushing it to Chapter 11 bankruptcy - TheStreet
https://www.thestreet.com/retail/loss-of-costco-deal-helps-push-focus-factor-maker-into-chapter-11

Global warming: Tropical diseases expand range
Helicopters spray Tampa neighborhoods as dengue cases climb
https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2026/09/06/what-tampa-residents-should-know-about-helicopter-mosquito-spraying-during-dengue-outbreak

[rcjordan]

"The call is coming from inside the house" is a famous horror movie line...

...and yet people keep inviting these stalkers in.

LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
https://www.notebookcheck.net/LG-smart-TVs-caught-logging-audio-with-screen-off-and-snooping-on-local-devices.1391214.0.html

[rcjordan]

Novel nairovirus found in Asian longhorned ticks
https://newatlas.com/disease/virus-ticks-identified/

Asian Longhorned Tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis (They now have been identified in 18 US states)
https://extension.psu.edu/asian-longhorned-tick-haemaphysalis-longicornis

[ergophobe]

> Costco drops beverage

I've mentioned before that I met a guy who turned Costco down. They offered a potentially life-changing amount of money, but Costco doesn't carry that many products and you have to compete for shelf space and win or they drop you, but you also have to meet huge supply targets. So he would have had to open a new facility and hire a ton of staff and take on a ton of debt that would amortize over years, but Costco would only sign a six-month contract.

> ticks

Ugh! My favorite animal. I might need trigger warnings in the subject line for tick topics.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/cattle/ticks/asian-longhorned
Expand the "Current Status" box to see the current range. Mostly east of the Mississippi, but


Climate change influences on the potential geographic distribution of the invasive Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-86205-6

The results demonstrated that Europe is at potential of high environmental suitability for H. longicornis invasion although this species has not been recorded in any regions of Europe yet. Our model also anticipated the environmental suitability for H. longicornis in eastern parts of the USA

[ergophobe]

Your router has a hidden setting that stops smart TVs from spying on your network
https://www.howtogeek.com/stop-your-smart-tv-from-accessing-everything-else-on-your-network-it-takes-30-seconds/

It doesn't solve the microphone problem, but it does stop it from probing other devices. Essentially, set up client isolation or network isolation. For older Starlink routers like mine, that means putting it on the guest network (network isolation).

BTW, our TV habits protect us from the TV doing things while we are not watching (but does nothing to stop it from doing things while we are watching). Basically, our TV is on a smart switch. When we sit down to watch TV, we turn on the power and set the smart switch to shut off at a pre-determined time. When that time comes, the power gets cut. The TV is effectively unplugged and becomes a dead box, just like back in the Dark Ages.

[rcjordan]

I have the media cabinet power strips split into "stays on" & "controlled off" and the dumb tv, game systems, etc all go off by hubitat or -more often- manual override.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that these predatory smart tvs have a bios/cmos type battery to continue powering their skullduggery.

[rcjordan]

Federal court rejects claim of constitutional right to clean water
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/09/07/court-constitution-right-clean-water/91649488007/