Is it okay for an alarm company to ask a neighbor to check on its customer? By sending a 70-year-old woman over to check on their 80-something-year-old customer, American Medical Alarms may have helped prematurely end a robbery/beating in progress. On the other hand, they asked a 70-year-old woman to go investigate an emergency next door—basically turning her into a potential Red Shirt. As the heroic neighbor’s daughter points out, “They should have already considered the possibility that something like this could happen, and have policies in place to prevent it.”
danger
T-Mobile Posts Instructions On How To Restore Sidekick Data
By 10.20.09
If you’ve been waiting impatiently to get your data back on your Sidekick, here’s your opportunity. IntoMobile reports that T-Mobile has posted data retrieval instructions on its website. They note that most but not necessarily all contacts should be there, but if you’re one of the unlucky few who lost all of your data, T-Mobile has a shiny $100 gift card for you.
Microsoft: We May Have Recovered Sidekick Users' Lost Data
By 10.15.09
Maybe those lawsuits over the Sidekick data outage were a little premature. Microsoft, parent company of Sidekick maker Danger Inc, reports that they have recovered most, if not all, of users’ lost data. Yay!
T-Mobile: We Won't Swap Out Your Sidekick For A Different Phone
By 10.15.09
Amber is a pre-paid Sidekick owner who has been a T-Mobile customer for 7 years. After the recent T-Mobile data disaster, she doesn’t intend to get burned again. She wants to switch to a different phone, and she wants T-Mobile to buy back her Sidekick since they can’t deliver the data security they promised. Initially T-Mobile agreed, but then they pulled a Sidekick Data Outage on their promise and it disappeared forever.
First Sidekick Data Outage Lawsuits Filed
By 10.15.09
After T-Mobile Sidekick users lost data access for the better part of a week, then lost the information stored on their phones, it should surprise no one that the lawsuits are already flying. Though it is surprising that none of them were filed by Perez Hilton.
T-Mobile Sidekick Data Outage Turns Into Epic Customer Data Fail
By 10.11.09
This time last week, we thought of the T-Mobile Sidekick data outage as a mere inconvenient outage, but a temporary one. We grossly misunderstimated how badly T-Mobile and Danger/Microsoft could screw things up.
Federal Employees Banned From Texting While Driving
By 10.2.09
An executive order issued this week bans federal employees from texting while driving when using government vehicles or phones, or while on government business. Given the safety risks of texting while driving, we think this was a good move, and hope that it extends to the general population. Take our poll and tell us what you think, inside.
Watch Out For The Five Worst Teen Jobs Of 2009
By 6.30.09
Because we took a lot of seasonal jobs/were easily bored, we had quite a few jobs as a teenager. But although our workplaces exposed us to hazards like deli slicers and Christmas Eve mall shoppers, we’re relieved to learn we never had one of the National Consumer League’s Five Worst Teen Jobs.
Comcast Installer Dangles From Water Tower For 1.5 Hours Before Rescue
By 1.8.09
You thought you were having a bad day? Meet Chris. He was installing some equipment for Comcast (by way of a subcontractor) on a water tower in Payne, Ohio. His rigging broke and left him dangling by his safety harness for over an hour.
Got Kids? Glass Coffee Tables Can Be Crazy Dangerous
By 12.16.08
An 11-year-old girl from Providence, R.I. recently died after falling into or jumping on a glass table. She suffered a severe puncture wound and died of uncontrollable bleeding.
Crocs + Escalator = Yet Another Mangled Foot
By 6.6.08
Another small child’s foot has been mangled by the combination of the especially-grippy Crocs clogs and a moving escalator, according to WSBTV:
Watch Out! Exploding Bleach Recalled!
By 3.3.08
Here’s a weird recall that you might care to know about: Fred Meyer and QFC supermarkets have recalled bottles of bleach that could potentially explode when opened, says the Seattle Times.
By 2.19.08
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In response to consumer backlash, Verizon has decided to make it so alarms on its new phones don’t go off on its phones when you dial 911. This is so if you hide and call 911 when a prowler breaks in, you don’t give them a handy homing signal. [KOMO]
No More Loose Non-Rechargable Lithium Batteries In Checked Luggage
By 12.29.07
The TSA has announced a ban on loose non-rechargeable lithium batteries in checked luggage, because they’ve realized that “fire-protection systems in the cargo hold of passenger planes can’t put out fires sparked in lithium batteries.”
Illinois AG (Still) Wants Ban On Magnets In Children's Products
By 12.24.07
Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan sent a second letter Friday to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urging a law banning magnets in children’s toys.
Dialing 911 Could Be Dangerous
By 11.25.07
Dialing 911 sets off a loud alarm on newer Verizon phones, potentially putting customers in danger. Imagine dashing under your bed at the sound of an intruder breaking through the front door, only to wonder if you should call 911 from your cellphone because it would reveal your location. A Texas woman was forced to make a similar decision when she discovered that the security chain guarding her vacant property was missing.
She grabbed her new Casio G’zOne phone from Verizon Wireless, which to her horror made an audible alarm when she called 911.
Recalled Simplicity Crib Owners: Your Repair Kits Are Ready
By 10.27.07
If you have one of the Simplicity cribs that was recalled due to a design flaw that made it easy to assemble incorrectly and dangerous to use, your repair kits are ready.
"Only The Second Time One Has Exploded"
By 8.16.07
FRAMINGHAM A Framingham couple hasn’t been able to use their bathroom lately – because their new blue glass sink exploded. It reportedly blew up over the weekend and no one seems to know why…The president of the company that sold the sink to Stoll, Renovator’s Supply of Millers Falls, told the paper they’ve sold thousands of glass sinks in the last three years and this is only the second time one has exploded.
Don’t know about you but one exploding glass sink is one too many, and now it’s two too many. The company is said to have offered the Stolls a refund or replacement. That’s nice. Good thing in neither case anyone was WASHING THEIR FACE AT THE TIME. If that happens, will Renovator’s Supply of Millers Falls replace or refund your forehead?
