Owner: ATYOURSERVICE URL:http://atyourservie.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:22:54 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Providing links to websites, news, free programs, and product recalls. Site statistics:Click here
RECALLS 2007-08-25 17:50:00 Shindaiwa Backpack Blowers RecalledShindaiwa Inc. is recalling about 22,000 backpack blowers because of a fire hazard.The muffler’s outer shell can melt allowing exhaust gas to exit from the bottom or back side of the muffler. The exhaust gas may cause damage to the fuel tank creating a possible fire hazard for the user.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/shindaiwa.html~Sandy G.
2007-08-25 09:13:00 You Are a Red CrayonYour world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors.You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself.Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming.Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships.Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy.What Color Crayon Are You?
BAGGED SPINACH RECALLED OVER SALMONELLA FEARS 2007-08-31 04:51:00 No immediate reports of illness linked to tainted product from CaliforniaA California produce company recalled bagged fresh spinach Wednesday after it tested positive for salmonella.There were no immediate reports of illness linked to the tainted spinach, distributed by Metz Fresh LLC of King City, Calif. The recall comes nearly a year after an outbreak of another pathogen, E. coli, in fresh spinach killed three people and sickened another 200.The recalled spinach was distributed throughout the 48 states and Canada and sold in both retail and food service packages. It covers 8,118 cases of spinach, although the company said more than 90 percent of that was on hold and would not be released.Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20498998/~Sandy G.
MENTAL PROBLEMS LINKED TO REMOVAL OF OVARIES 2007-08-31 04:34:00 Women who had surgery before menopause at risk for dementia, study saysWomen who have their ovaries removed before menopause run a heightened risk of developing dementia or other mental problems later in life — unless they take estrogen until age 50, a new study suggests.Experts said the research needs to be confirmed by further study, but the findings suggest another issue for premenopausal women and their doctors to discuss as they consider ovary removal.And if they decide to go ahead with surgery, they need to consider the risks and benefits of taking estrogen to age 50, said Dr. Walter Rocca, a Mayo Clinic neurologist and lead study author.Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20497319/~Sandy G.
PUZZLING CONDITION HUMILIATING TO MANY WOMEN 2007-08-31 03:51:00 Polycystic ovary syndrome can result in masculine traits, acne, infertilityDuring her sophomore year of high school, Jennifer Robidoux noticed a series of strange things happening to her body. She gained 35 pounds in one year. Thick, dark hair started to sprout from her chin, cheeks and stomach, and her period stopped for six months.“It was very hard to face my friends. I hated going to school,” says Robidoux, who’s now 28 and lives in Blackstone, Mass. “I remember waking up and telling my mom, ‘Homeschool me!’”Two years later, Robidoux learned she had polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition that stops regular ovulation, triggers an increase in masculinizing hormones and is a leading cause of infertility. PCOS gets its name from the small ovarian cysts commonly seen in patients. The syndrome now affects one in 15 women worldwide, according to a recent report by Australian researchers. The report predicts that as obesity rates increase, so will cases of PCOS.Link to complet
KOMANDO'S COOL SITE OF THE DAY 2007-08-30 18:37:00 SCOPING OUT PREDATORSWe hear a lot about the dangers MySpace and other sites pose. The dangers certainly are real.Children often post too much information. And people can pretend to be anybody online. But, worst of all, they open the door for predators worldwide.However, don’t forget the dangers lurking closer to home. A convicted sex offender could be living on your block.That’s where the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website can help. It was named for a student kidnapped and murdered by a sex offender. You can use it to find out where predators live.Just enter your ZIP code and run a search. You’ll see a list of convicted offenders. Click on a name to see a picture, and home and work addresses. In some cases, you’ll also see a risk level.If you have children, visit this site. It will help you spot the dangers and avoid the unthinkable.www.nsopr.govFOR MORE GREAT SITES, NEWS, AND COMPUTER TIPS, CHECK OUT KOMANDO.COM. SHE HAS 4 FREE NEWSLETTERS YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE TO AN
FDA BLOCKS NUTRO PET FOOD SHIPMENT FROM ENTERING U.S. 2007-08-28 23:22:00 Products "appeared to contain poisonous substances and unsafe additives"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July blocked more than 100 Nutro Products -- various styles and flavors of its dog and cat food -- from entering the United States.ConsumerAffairs.com learned the FDA took that action at the Port of Los Angeles -- and listed Nutro’s pet food on its Import Refusal Report -- because the products appeared to contain poisonous substances and unsafe additives.The FDA has authority to block and detain any regulated products from entering the United States if they “appear to be out of compliance with The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”Some of Nutro’s pet food on the Import Refusal List include its Adult Turkey with Chicken Liver, Choice Adult Cat w Turkey & Duck, Choice Complete Care Kitten Rich in Chicken with Liver, and Adult Large Breed Chicken & Rice.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/pet_food_recalls69.html~Sandy G. Read more:ENTERING
RECALLS 2007-08-28 22:44:00 Calligaris USA Recalls Bar StoolsCalligaris USA is recalling about 400 ICE bar stools. The seat on the bar stools can detach, causing the consumer to fall and suffer injuries.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/bar_stools.html'Robbie Ducky' Kids Watering Cans RecalledAnother Chinese-made product marketed for children is being recalled because it contains lead paint.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/ducky.htmlWolverine Recalls Caterpillar Logger BootsWolverine World Wide Inc. is recalling about 9,500 of its Caterpillar brand steel toe logger boots. The recalled logger boots could be incorrectly labeled as resistant to electrical current. This poses a shock hazard to consumers who come in contact with an electrical current.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/logger_boots.html~Sandy G.
IRS WARNS ABOUT NEW EMAIL SCAM 2007-08-28 22:28:00 Email says you're under investigationIf you receive an email from the Internal Revenue Service saying you are under investigation, don’t panic.The IRS says it’s the latest scam designed to fool people into downloading a program making their computers vulnerable to hackers.The e-mail purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Tax Board.The e-mail instructs recipients to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them. The IRS warned people that the e-mail link and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take over the person’s computer hard drive and allow someone to have remote access to the computer.The IRS urged people not to click the link in the e-mail or open the attachment. Similar e-mail variations suggest a customer has filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator.The latest
THANK YOU TAMMY FROM MOM KNOWS EVERYTHING! 2007-09-23 08:39:00 This post is to say thank you to Tammy from Mom Knows Everything for giving me the Nice Matters award.This award was created by Genevieve at Bella Enchanted. It is given to bloggers who inspire good feelings in others, who are kind and caring, good blog friends, who care and support others and are a positive influence in the blogging world.I'm now suppose to pass it on to three bloggers. That is really tough choosing only three, but here goes:1) Blog Antagonist at Blogs are Stupid (Don't let the name fool you. She's really a very nice lady)2) Mrs. Flipphead at Den of Wolves3) Siren at Siren Says~Sandy G. Read more:TAMMY
ACETAMINOPHEN: WIDELY USED BUT DANGEROUS IN LARGE DOSES 2007-09-23 06:49:00 Acetaminophen is the most widely used pain-reliever and fever-reducer in the world. It is contained in more than 100 products. Tylenol is the best known over-the-counter (OTC) acetaminophen product.It is also a component of well known prescription drugs such as Darvocet and Percocet. Acetaminophen also is known as paracetamol and N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP).Acetaminophen is available without a prescription. Follow the directions on the package label carefully. If your doctor prescribes it for you, the prescription label will tell you how often to take it.Taking too much acetaminophen can lead to liver damage. The risk for liver damage may be increased if you drink three or more alcoholic drinks while using medicines that contain acetaminophen.The maximum daily dose of acetaminophen is 4 grams in adults. The toxic dose of acetaminophen after a single acute ingestion is about 7 grams in adults. The at-risk dose may be lower in some susceptible populations, such as alcohol abusers.When
PHISHING SCAM TARGETS XBOX LIVE USERS 2007-09-19 08:09:00 Email claims to be about changes in the target's accountA new email scam is targeting a specific group -- video game enthusiasts who use Xbox Live.The email is designed to look like it comes from Xbox Support, and bears the subject line “Changes to your Xbox Live Account.”Those who open the email receive a message informing them that changes have been made to all accounts and that users should log in and check them out. The message contains a link that supposedly takes the recipient to their account log in page.On closer inspection, however, the link is revealed to go to a duplicate site where the scammer can capture log-in information.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/xbox_scam.html ~Sandy G.
FTC WARNS MANY MORTGAGE ADS ARE DECEPTIVE 2007-09-19 08:00:00 Claims about "incredibly low rates and payments" are often falseThe Federal Trade Commission is warning mortgage brokers and lenders, and media outlets that carry their advertisements for home mortgages, that some of the claims currently appearing in Web sites, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and unsolicited e-mail and faxes may violate federal law.“Many mortgage advertisers are making potentially deceptive claims about incredibly low rates and payments, without telling consumers the whole story -- for example, that these low rates and payments apply for a short period only and can go up substantially after the loan’s introductory period,” said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.“Home ownership is the American dream, but it can become a nightmare for consumers who don’t have the information they need to understand the terms of their mortgage,” she said.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/ftc_mortgages.h
HACKERS STEAL INFORMATION ON 6.3 MILLION AMERITRADE CUSTOMERS 2007-09-19 07:47:00 'Unauthorized code' enabled thieves to breach databaseHackers broke into a database containing personal information on 6.3 million customers of online discount broker Ameritrade. The database breach was discovered during an investigaiton of an outbreak of spam e-mails sent to Ameritrade customers.The information stolen included names, phone numbers, e-mail accounts, and addresses.Although more sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and account numbers were included in the same database, Ameritrade claimed this information had not been breached, though it did not offer specifics."[Ameritrade] has discovered and eliminated unauthorized code from its systems that allowed access to an internal database," the company said in its statement. "The discovery was made as the result of an internal investigation of stock-related SPAM."The 6.3 million customers comprises the vast majority of Ameritrade's client base, second only to Charles Schwab Corp., the biggest online discou
RECALLS 2007-09-19 07:30:00 Honda Civics Recalled, Wheel Bearing May FailAmerican Honda Motor Co. is recalling more than 180,000 Honda Civic coupes and sedans from the 2006-07 model years because their rear wheel bearings may fail.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/honda_civic2.htmlJeep Commander and Dodge Nitro RecallChrysler is recalling nearly 300,000 trucks because drivers may experience a momentary delay in braking when they step on the brake pedal.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/jeep_commander.htmlREI Recalls Children’s Trailer BicyclesREI is recalling about 5,000 of its Novara Afterburner trailer cicycles. The children’s trailer bicycle can detach from the adult bicycle, posing a fall hazard to children.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/rei_children.html~Sandy G.
PLEASE HELP-PLEASE COPY & PASTE THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE 2007-09-18 23:15:00 Please spare some time to read this post that we have written on behalf of a good friend of ours in the blogosphere. By reading this post and spreading the word to the others around you, you could reunite two people who shared an extraordinary relationship. You could be the one to reunite two sisters.Her name is Jackie Hooper, also known as Shinade. Her biological mother was Maxine Soape, but a couple had adopted her. According to her, besides her mother, she also had a younger sister as a family member. Just like her, her sister, who was born in 1959 or 1960 and is three years younger than her, had also been adopted out to another couple, by her own paternal uncle.Both were born in the same hometown of East Texas, but were adopted by two different couples and have been separated since then. The sister is currently staying with her adopted parents in Pueblo, Colorado.Jackie has never had the chance to watch her younger sister grow, and has never even known what her sister’s name is.A
DISNEY, TOYS 'R' US TO DO THEIR OWN TOY TESTS 2007-09-18 20:14:00 Babes in Toyland no longer, big brands to test for safety hazardsAlarmed by the massive recalls of toys containing lead paint, the Walt Disney Company says it will start conducting its own testing of toys featuring Disney characters. Toys 'R' Us says it has hired a corps of engineers who will test toys on its shelves.Disney said it would inform Mattel today that it will be "looking over their shoulders," Andy Mooney, Disney's consumer products chairman told the New York Times.Toys 'R' Us, the nation's largest toy retailer, said it has engineers in the field this week, randomly selecting toys from store shelves around the country.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/mattel_recall3.html~Sandy G.
LAB TESTS FIND LEAD, OTHER TOXINS IN PET TOYS SOLD AT WAL-MART 2007-09-17 10:23:00 Vets say there's no risk to pets but others aren't so sureTwo Chinese-made toys for pets sold at Wal-Mart stores contain elevated levels of lead, chromium, and cadmium, according to a forensic toxicologist whose lab tested the products for ConsumerAffairs.com.Two veterinarians, however, said the levels of toxic metals found in the toys do not pose a health risk to dogs or cats. Whether the toys are a hazard to children and adults who handle them isn't clear.ConsumerAffairs.com hired ExperTox Analytical Laboratory in Texas to test four imported toys for pets -- two for dogs and two for cats -- for heavy metals and other toxins.One of the dog toys -- a latex one that looks like a green monster -- tested positive for what the lab’s toxicologist said are high levels of lead and the cancer-producing agent chromium.A cloth catnip toy also tested positive for “a tremendous amount” of the toxic metal cadmium, the lab said.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2
THE DIRTY TRUTH? YOU CAN BE TOO CLEAN 2007-09-15 09:34:00 Mounting evidence suggests child allergies linked to sterile environmentsA dose of dirt could be the best medicine for preventing allergies in kids who've never had them.While avoiding excessive contact with germs can help prevent the spread of infections, going overboard with cleanliness could be at least partly responsible for an increase in allergies among children, mounting research suggests."We’ve developed a cleaner lifestyle, and our bodies no longer need to fight germs as much as they did in the past," said Marc McMorris, a pediatric allergist at the University of Michigan Health System. "As a result, the immune system has shifted away from fighting infection to developing more allergic tendencies."Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20774622/~Sandy G.
WOMEN SHOULD BE WARY OF GENETIC RISK ADS 2007-09-15 08:12:00 TV commercials exploit fear of breast cancer in the guise of educationMyriad Genetics, a Salt Lake City biotechnology company, has seen its stock price rise in the past few days. My hunch is investors are responding to the company’s unprecedented direct-to-consumer television advertising campaign aimed at women concerned about breast and ovarian cancer.It would be fair to say that this encompasses just about every woman in the world old enough to have heard of breast cancer or ovarian cancer.Those investing in Myriad stock know that is a pretty big market for a company offering a test that can detect genes which dispose women to getting these cancers. In fact, it's too big a market. Myriad is getting awfully close to overselling its testing technology in the guise of trying to educate women about breast cancer. While Wall Street may be happy, the Myriad campaign is exploiting fear of cancer to sell its test.Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20761643/~Sandy G.
ONLINE CAMERA STORES: TAKE A CLOSE LOOK 2007-09-15 07:56:00 Rigged reviews, bait-and-switch tactics common Shopping for a camera today is not like the old days when your choice was the camera store downtown or the discount store at the mall. The Internet has created an untamed herd of camera dealers, some legitimate, many not. Shutterbug beware!Bait-and-switch swindles can occur in any industry, but many online camera dealers seem to have made bait-and-switch their routine business model.While it's true that prices of film cameras are dropping and digital cameras and camcorders just keep getting cheaper, you must still be aware of the very real dangers of shopping online.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/camera_hazards.html~Sandy G.
RECALLS 2007-09-15 07:34:00 Back to Basics Iced Tea Makers RecalledBack to Basics Products is recalling about 10,000 IT400 iced tea makers. The iced tea maker's components can fail, posing a fire hazard to consumers.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/iced_tea.htmlQVC/Keystone Convection Ovens RecalledKeystone Manufacturing Co. and QVC are recalling about 32,000 Cook's Essentials convection ovens with pull-out rotisserie and Deni convection ovens with rotisserie.Wires behind the control panel can overheat, posing fire and electric shock hazards.http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/2007/keystone.html~Sandy G.
QUECHUP SPILLS SPAM INTO EMAIL BOXES 2007-09-15 07:24:00 Social network hijacks user accounts to send unauthorized invitesOnline dating site Quechup bills itself as the "social networking site that's sweeping the globe," but what it doesn't tell you is that it does so by spamming every Web email address in a member's contact list with invites to join the network, often without their knowledge or permission.U.K.-based Quechup has quickly garnered a less-than-tasty reputation for sending mass invite mailings that appear to be from the email of a trusted friend.When a new user signs up with Quechup, they are offered the option to check if any of their friends are already in the network. If a user agrees to import their email contacts into the network, Quechup then automatically mails every Web email address with an invite to join from the user's email, claiming that the user has sent the invite.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/quechup.html ~Sandy G.
NO INCREASED PRECAUTIONS AFTER ’06 E. COLI SCARE 2007-09-15 07:00:00 Officials never stepped up inspections of leafy greens, review findsGovernment regulators never acted on calls for stepped-up inspections of leafy greens after last year's deadly E. coli spinach outbreak, leaving the safety of America's salads to a patchwork of largely unenforceable rules and the industry itself, an Associated Press investigation has found.The regulations governing farms in this central California region known as the nation's "Salad Bowl" remain much as they were when bacteria from a cattle ranch infected spinach that killed three people and sickened more than 200.Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20747169/ ~Sandy G.
THANK YOU JESSE 2007-09-13 07:30:00 This post is to say thank you to Jesse for giving me the I Love Your Blog award. I really love your blog too, Jesse!~Sandy G.
CHECK IT OUT! 2007-09-12 08:17:00 I've discovered a very sweet lady with a very nice blog - Busy Bee. Please be sure to stop by her site and say hi.~Sandy G.
TRY OLDER DIABETES DRUGS FIRST, EXPERT SAYS 2007-09-12 07:10:00 Two newer, more popular pills offer heart benefits, but carry deadly risksThe widely used diabetes pill Actos appears to lower a patient's chances of death, heart attack or stroke, unlike its beleaguered chief rival Avandia, a new analysis shows.However, it also carries an increased risk of nonfatal heart failure, the analysis showed, confirming earlier studies. Heart failure is also a side effect with Avandia. Such problems led one diabetes expert to recommend that both drugs be considered second choices behind older, cheaper pills.Heart failure "is a significant side effect," said Dr. Alvin Powers, director of Vanderbilt University's diabetes center. "No one would say that you should be on these drugs to prolong your life." He was not involved in the research.Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20727517/~Sandy G.
NEW MOTHERS RATTLED BY BABY NIGHTMARES 2007-09-12 06:47:00 Parenting anxieties trigger bizarre dreams in 3 out of 4 moms, study showsThe nightmares started right after Dominique Petit’s daughter was born.The first-time mom would dream that something horrible had happened to her baby and without ever waking she'd bolt upright and start searching for the infant.“I was dreaming she was lost in the sheets,” Petit, now 45, remembers. “Or that I had rolled on top of her and was squishing her. I would go through the movements of looking through the bedding to see where she was.”The dreams were so intense, disturbing and realistic that upon waking, Petit always needed to rush to her daughter’s room to make sure the infant was safe. “The fastest way to relieve the anxiety was to see her in her own crib,” she remembers.Petit’s husband, sleep researcher Tore Nielsen, was intrigued. He wondered whether other new mothers commonly experienced these kinds of nightmares and movements during sleep. A quick poll of family members who’d rece
MEDITERRANEAN DIET MAY EXTEND ALZHEIMER’S PATIENTS’ LIVES 2007-09-12 06:34:00 Earlier study finds Mediterranean diet lowers risk of developing Alzheimer'sAlzheimer’s disease is a degenerative affliction that is always fatal, but new research suggests a Mediterranean diet may help people with Alzheimer’s disease live longer than patients who eat a more traditional Western diet.The study is published in the September 11, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.The study followed 192 people with Alzheimer’s disease in New York for an average of four and a half years. During that time, 85 of the people died. Researchers found that those who most closely followed a Mediterranean diet were 76 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who followed the diet the least.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/alzheimer_diet.html~Sandy G.
EXOTIC DISEASES RIDE HOME WITH IGNORANT VACATIONERS 2007-09-12 04:47:00 Travelers who don't get vaccinations endanger themselves, othersTyphoid Mary is making a comeback.The public passion for exotic getaways, coupled with low-cost flights, has created a bonanza for malicious bugs capable of killing unsuspecting human carriers.Many of those bugs are booking free rides back to European and American cities from their preferred homes in Africa and Southeast Asia.Public health officials in the United Kingdom report a 69 per cent spike in reports of typhoid fever and a sharp jump in cases of malaria (10,889 from 2001-2006). Of the 248 typhoid cases reported in 2006, 122 were contracted on trips.Proper pre-travel vaccination would help, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but many vacationers don’t consider themselves at risk.Link to complete story: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/travel_diseases.html~Sandy G. Read more:DISEASES
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