ICYMI

Not Your Grandma’s Teddy Bear

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Safety features or not, it seems like the chatbots in these toys can be manipulated into engaging in conversation inappropriate for children. The consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG tested a selection of AI toys and found that they are capable of doing things like having sexually explicit conversations and offering advice on where a child can find matches or knives. They also found they could be emotionally manipulative, expressing dismay when a child doesn’t interact with them for an extended period. Earlier this week, FoloToy, a Singapore-based company, pulled its AI-powered teddy bear from shelves after it engaged in inappropriate behavior. Do Not, Under Any Circumstance, Buy Your Kid an AI Toy for Christmas – https://gizmodo.com/do-not-under-any-circumstance-buy-your-kid-an-ai-toy-for-christmas-2000689652

AI-Powered Teddy Bear Caught Talking About Sexual Fetishes and Instructing Kids How to Find Knives – https://gizmodo.com/ai-powered-teddy-bear-caught-talking-about-sexual-fetishes-and-instructing-kids-how-to-find-knives-2000687140

The alleged perpetrator

Concerning Trends in Retirement – More Less Than Random Thoughts

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment
  • Lack of sufficient savings
  • Inflationary pressures
  • Rising credit card debt
  • Half of respondents said they had saved less than what was needed for retirement.
  • When we asked an open-ended question about why they rated their satisfaction with retired life as they did, inflation was a major reason.

The ‘Concerning Trends’ in Retirement Now – https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/concerning-trends-in-retirement-now

I’ve decided not to retire. Wait, let me clarify my statement.

I’ve not changed my mind about my decision not to retire five years ago.

I love double negative sentences.

 Fewer than twenty percent of older people worldwide enjoy a retirement pension that is enough for them to live off. Although countries like China and India are now also developing their pension systems, the prospect of most older people receiving pensions totaling 60 to 70% of their final salaries remains a long way off.

The invention of retirement – https://www.swisslife.com/en/home/blog/interview-matthieu-leimgruber.html

The majority of our friends are retired. I’m always asked when I’m going to retire. My quick answer was always “Don’t know”. I’ve since modified my response to “Two to four years”. This has been my answer for the past two years. Might still be my answer next year too.

https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/retirement-planning/the-90-rule-of-retirement-live-long-and-prosper

Nearly 40% of Americans ages 55 and older were employed in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — a striking shift that’s even more dramatic when you look at the oldest workers. Today, 2.8 million men over 70 are working in the U.S. — part of an extraordinary long-term transformation in which employment among Americans 75 and older has quadrupled since 1964. More Americans are ‘unretiring’: 5 money factors to weigh before joining them – https://www.aol.com/finance/retirement-planning/article/unretiring-is-trending-5-money-factors-you-should-consider-first-153926242.html

I think I’ll retire in two to four years.

Not Just For Allergic Rhinitis Anymore

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

A common hay fever nasal spray was found to cut COVID-19 infections by two-thirds in a clinical trial, while also reducing rhinovirus cases. Researchers believe it could serve as an easy, low-cost preventive measure, pending further studies. Saarland University. “Common allergy spray slashes COVID-19 risk in surprising trial.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/09/250907024535.htm (accessed September 7, 2025).

For Robert Bals, the results suggest practical applications: ‘Azelastine nasal spray could provide an additional easily accessible prophylactic to complement existing protective measures, especially for vulnerable groups, during periods of high infection rates, or before travelling.’ But Professor Bals also stressed the importance of further research: ‘Our results highlight the need for larger, multicentre trials to continue exploring the use of azelastine nasal sprays as an on-demand preventive treatment, and to examine its potential effectiveness against other respiratory pathogens.’

Link to the Jama article – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2838335 Azelastine Nasal Spray for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infections

Would You Pay $700.00 a Month to Live in One of These?

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

Brownstone, by virtue of renting cheaply in a city with sky-high prices and a dearth of new housing, has received thousands of applications for its $700-a-month pods over the past few years, Stallworth said. He thinks there’s at least “10,000 people probably interested in being in San Francisco at any time” and pointed to the tens of thousands of applications that Y Combinator, a local startup incubator, has received in recent years.(Startup founders make up a sizable share of the Mint Plaza building’s residents, Stallworth said.) Startup behind $700-a-month bed ‘pods’ wants to put 10,000 more in San Francisco – https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/startup-bed-pods-san-francisco-21029460.php

I keep telling The Boss all I’m trying to do is to make our retirement income last as long as we last.

Rejected. Again.

Prozac is Better Than Viagra (for clams)

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

Fluoxetine, the drug commonly known as Prozac, isn’t known to increase sexual prowess in humans. In fact, it often does the very opposite. But when these clams were exposed to the same drug, they instantly jumped to sexual activity. Now, this wasn’t a complete surprise. Research conducted in the 1980s found that if serotonin is injected into the muscles or gonad of clams, they may begin to spawn after just 15 minutes.

How Prozac Might Give Clams a Boost https://undark.org/2025/08/14/excerpt-prozac-clams/

I’m Taking Your Phone Away (and you didn’t do anything wrong)

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

The study found that those who had high and increasing addiction to mobile phones and social media platforms were at a higher risk of suicidal behaviors and thoughts. At year four, almost 18% of kids reported having suicidal thoughts, and 5% said they had suicidal behaviors. Teens with ‘addictive’ phone use more likely to be suicidal: Study – https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5360042-teens-addiction-social-media-phones-suicidal-thoughts/

Here’s the link to the JAMA article https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2835481/

Yikes!

Anker PowerCore Model Number A1263 (only 19 reports of fires and explosions!) RECALL

/ SupremeCmdr / 4 Comments

Note: Do not throw this recalled lithium-ion battery or device in the trash, in the general recycling stream (e.g., street-level or curbside recycling bins), or in used battery recycling boxes found at various retail and home improvement stores. Recalled lithium-ion batteries must be disposed of differently than other batteries, because they present a greater risk of fire. Your municipal household hazardous waste (HHW) collection center may accept this recalled lithium-ion battery or device for disposal. Before taking your battery or device to a HHW collection center, contact it ahead of time and ask whether it accepts recalled lithium-ion batteries. If it does not, contact your municipality for further guidance. More than One Million Anker Power Banks Recalled Due to Fire and Burn Hazards; Manufactured by Anker Innovations – https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/More-than-One-Million-Anker-Power-Banks-Recalled-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards-Manufactured-by-Anker-Innovations

Yikes. I was actually thinking of buying a power bank when I heard about this recall.

Tsundoku (guess the disease)

/ SupremeCmdr / 4 Comments

“All those books you haven’t read are indeed a sign of your ignorance. But if you know how ignorant you are, you’re way ahead of the vast majority of other people.” Jessica Stillman

Tsundoku is the Japanese word for the stack(s) of books you’ve purchased but haven’t read. Its morphology combines tsunde-oku (letting things pile up) and dokusho (reading books). The Japanese call this practice tsundoku, and it may provide lasting benefits — https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/do-i-own-too-many-books/