Daily Archives: November 11, 2009

iPhone vs Android : a close race except in one important area

Posted on by

In case I haven’t mentioned it in the last two posts, I think AT&T’s cell phone service sucks. And now an article on Consumer Reports confirms it. When they compared the Andriod phone against the iPhone, the iPhone won in most everything… except in the all important phone network category. No surprise there. AT&T’s busted-ass broke-down no good network is so bad, even Consumer Reports laughs at it!

And what damn good is any phone without a reliable network? It’s like saying a car has a great interior, a smokin’ engine, carbon fiber detailing, top of the line sound and premium suspension system, buuuuut you can’t drive it on 90% of the roads out there.

On a related note, I’m loving the new Verizon ads. This one especially…

iMobsters, WorldWar, Racing Live, Kingdoms, Ninjas Live, Zombies, Rockstars, or Vampires games steal your iPhone information

Posted on by

Do you play iMobsters, WorldWar, Racing Live, Kingdoms, Ninjas Live, Zombies, Rockstars, or Vampires on your iPhone? Chances are your phone number and personal contact information has been stolen by the game company that made all those games, Storm8.

In a lawsuit filed recently, Storm8 has been accused of writing the games… “in such a way that it automatically accesses, collects, and transmits the wireless telephone number of each iPhone user who downloads any Storm8 game.”

Storm8 makes these games and hands out a “free” crippled version of the games as well as a paid “full featured” version. You pretty much level up in any of their games by slaving away at it throughout the day doing menial tasks or pay real cash to buy things to get ahead in the game.

The article on BoingBoing also says “The number farming was not disclosed to players until an acknowledgment in August that described it as a “bug.” The lawsuit claims that only “very specific and specialized software code” could do so, however, and seeks injunctive relief and damages.”

A bug? A bug crashes your game. Causes little discolored artifacts to appear on screen. A bug might even suddenly close the app and send you back to the iPhone home screen. But to grab your specific information? To go that protected area of the iPhone consistently by mistake? No. I’m not buying it.

So why does a game company want your wireless phone number and your contact information? And especially without your permission?

Here’s the main article from BoingBoing here.

a followup on the CONSUMERIST website here.

and a link to a PDF file of the lawsuit here.

BoingBoing says Storm8 “hasn’t returned inquiries” since this story broke a few days ago.

So if you have any of these games on your iPhone, delete them now. You never know what other information their “bug” has been looking at.

Recall : Some Liposyn and Propofol products may contain itty bitty pieces of stainless steel

Posted on by

Little shards of stainless steel aren’t too good for your bloodstream the last time I checked.

This voluntary recall from Hospira is for “85 lots of Liposyn II 10%, Liposyn II 20%, Liposyn III 10%, Liposyn III 20%, Liposyn III 30% and 73 lots of Propofol Injectable Emulsion 1% products that begin with the lot numbers 79 and 80… The affected lots were distributed between July 2009 and October 2009, and no other lots are affected by this recall.”

The reason for this recall is that… “some of the containers may contain particulate matter. The source of the particulate matter has been identified as stainless steel equipment used in the manufacturing process.”

In the list of things this particulate matter might do to you is “…potentially act as emboli and impede blood flow.  Particulates may also cause mechanical damage to the body and may escalate damage through the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS).  Restriction in blood supply to tissues could lead to stroke, respiratory failure, kidney failure, liver failure, heart attack and/or death.”

You know. The usual side effects.

Fortunately nobody has been hurt by this, and Hospira is asking that “anyone with an existing inventory should quarantine the product immediately and call Stericycle at 1-866-654-0725 to arrange for the return of these products. For medical inquiries, please contact Hospira Medical Communications at 1-800-615-0187 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday.”

Here’s the link to the official FDA recall.

Recall : CLASS 1 : Edwards Lifesciences’ CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheter

Posted on by

When you make a product that’s designed to clamp down on the aorta and drip solution to stop the heart during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures, you really should have that product go through some ruthlessly insane levels of quality control. Then test the product again, retest it, and then test it some more.

Well, today’s FDA recall is for a product that does just that. The official CLASS 1 recall is for “Edwards Lifesciences CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheter ” and is specifically targeting “CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheter, Model Numbers EC1001 and EC65”.

The problem? According to the recall notice, “The balloon catheters may spontaneously rupture during surgery.”

Oh yeah. That’s FUBAR. Big time.

The recall was started by the company on September 24th, but the FDA just issued the public notice today.

The CLASS 1 bit on FDA releases is “the most serious type of recall and involve situations in which there is a reasonable probability that use of these products will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”

If you have CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheter Model Numbers EC1001 and/or EC65, you can “contact the company’s Customer Service Organization at 1-800-424-3278, Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Pacific Time.”

Here’s the link to the official FDA recall.