Consumer Thoughts » Bad products

Software awards scam

Kathryn — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:54:43 +0000

Apparently, many freeware sites give out 5-star ratings indiscriminately to junkware. Check out this article at Successful Software about the awards scam.

How tacky can you get?

Kathryn — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:52:54 +0000

There are several items, including lamps and banks, based on the Titanic.

Fifteen hundred people died the night the ship sank. That is half the number of people who died in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York. In 80 years, will there be banks and lamps that appear to be collapsing in a cloud of dust, modeled after the twin towers? With only a few people left alive who lived through the attacks, will it be seen as something to model art after?

I’m guessing if the Titanic had sunk in 2001, and had the same massive loss of life, it wouldn’t be so cool… in fact, these designers would be shamed. Imagine losing a loved one to the sinking ship, or being on it yourself. Memorial my ass… these are tacky souvenirs of a horrible disaster.

How much plastic do you use?

Kathryn — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:21:05 +0000

My dad’s been in the hospital with a blocked artery – nothing contagious. Today around 10am, he was moved out of ICU to a regular room, at which point he asked for some water. The nurse’s aide brought him a small pitcher full of ice water, large enough to hold 3-4 glasses’ worth of water, plus a large-ish styrofoam cup full of ice water.

After lunch, around 12:30, the aide brought him a refill without asking if he needed one. In fact, since he’d had iced tea with lunch, he didn’t. What I found appalling was how she brought it. Rather than dumping the water in the pitcher and refilling it, she brought in a plastic pitcher liner full of ice water, took the one inside the pitcher out, dumped the old water and threw the liner away. What a waste of plastic! Wouldn’t just washing the pitcher in the hospital’s dishwashers solve the problem of germs? And how germy is a pitcher sitting there for 2 1/2 hours going to get? It’s not like anyone was drinking from it, and my dad wasn’t contagious.

I’ve been reading a blog called Plastic Free by EnviroWoman. She’s taken a pledge to not purchase any new plastic in 2007. The plastic she’s bought, by desperate need (deodorant) or by accident (inside cans of pop!) are in a very small pile that she’s posted pictures of. Her blog has definitely made me more aware of all the plastic in my life, most of which won’t degrade for hundreds or thousands of years (this site says a plastic jug will take a million years!) And not all plastic can be recycled.

Check out Plastic Free and then think about how much plastic comes into your life every day.

Knork: A bad idea

Kathryn — Sun, 27 May 2007 07:22:59 +0000

This is the Knork, which I’ve seen floating around in a few catalogs, like Harriet Carter. We’re all familiar with the Spork… well, the Knork is a fork where the outside edges of the 2 end tines are sharpened to make a knife. This is so you can cut your food with only one hand. Now, call me crazy, but I think putting a knife in your mouth is a bad idea! And somehow, I just don’t think this is going to cut it (punny) with tougher meats. I would suggest anyone who buys this be extremely careful with it, and also make sure others know what it is before they use it. I don’t think I’d feel safe with it in my drawer, having to warn everyone who goes near the forks.

Watch for recalls

Kathryn — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 05:17:13 +0000

Two sites that everyone should have in their feed readers or live bookmarks are the CPSC recall site and the FDA recall site. (At the FDA site, in the center column click Recalls, Product Safety and on the page you go to, click RSS Recalls News Feed in the right column.)

Just today, my family was saved from possible injury by knowing that these wooden stepstools have been recalled – we own three of them. Check the sites daily, or at least weekly, and prevent injuries to your family. Don’t count on recalls making the big blogs, like Sony’s battery recalls have – often only the biggest recalls make headlines.