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Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#351

Post by mmooss »

wildzzz wrote: post #327
mmooss wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> half-price stamps Who is selling half-price stamps? #1 How big is your potential market? It's people still mailing things from home, who haven't figured out how to do postage on their computer. #2 Of the population in #1, it's those who find real stamps so expensive that it's worth bothering with discounts. #3 Of the population in #2, it's those who would want to buy something fraudulant (or not know better) and wh…

Its the grandmas still sending you a $5 check in the mail for your birthday

How can those few people - and again narrowed down to the population mailing letters AND needing stamps AND seeking discounts AND willing or ignorant enough to do/risk fraud - with that little revenue per item, make a half-price stamp operation worthwhile?

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#352

Post by perpetuallunch »

> rent the user’s Internet connection out to strangers.

Harm to the user: none^

> spoof themselves as mobile phones clicking ads on AI-generated websites as part of a sprawling operation that seeks to defraud online merchants and advertising networks

Harm to the user: none^

Cost to the dodgy service provides: none

Government action to prevent continued dodgy services: none^

This is why internet securityg doomers have a hard time selling their story. Changing behaviour has an upfront, immediate, cost. Not changing it doesn't.

^close enough

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#353

Post by perpetuallunch »

femto wrote: post #290
omilu wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco vets their products very well, if I see something at costco and its something I need I just buy it. No need to research and I've never been burned. They only sell good quality stuff.

Check their tomato paste. It turns out that nearly every tomato paste in Australia comes from Xinjiang in China, including those marked as Australian or Italian. Simplot (Leggos), the big US company, was the worst offender, so it's possible that tomato paste in Costco's US stores has been produced in Xinjiang using slave labour, irrespective of what the label says. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-27/australian-to…

Difficult to distinguish between actual slave labour and China-is-bad propaganda.

Harm to the end user: none^

Benefits to the end user: more affordable tomato paste

Government action to prevent slave labour products entering Australia: none^

^close enough.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#354

Post by ghostly_s »

Cider9986 wrote: post #231
ghostly_s wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what these things are. They come preloaded with apps that stream pirate broadcast streams and on-demand servers operated out of China.

Absolutely correct. My comment intention was if you want to make one yourself and get the experience of all shows +movies.

Did OP say "I want something vaguely similar that requires a greater investment of my time and money"? Did you in any way indicate that's what you were proposing?

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#355

Post by tiltowait »

altruios wrote: post #262
omilu wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco vets their products very well, if I see something at costco and its something I need I just buy it. No need to research and I've never been burned. They only sell good quality stuff.

Costco isn't perfect, and things slip through still. For example: this is a minor annoyance, but comes readily to mind. https://www.costco.com/p/-/orgain-organic-protein-and-superf... The problem is labeling conventions leading to inaccurate assumptions of what's even IN that "protein powder"... you would think the protein, being the largest in print, is the primary ingredient but no. A serving is 51grams, and the pr…

The first ingredient is a plurality, not a majority.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#356

Post by stubish »

femto wrote: post #337
onionisafruit wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to this none of the samples tested from US retailers contained Chinese tomatoes. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crezlw4y152o It seems like the US ban on Xinjiang is working

Thanks for that informative link. I looked to see if there was any data beyond the ABC article and didn't find it. Some of the truthful brands listed in the BBC article are available where I live. Kudos to the US that their labels match their contents.

The ABC just broke their story a few days ago. There will continue to be fallout over the next few months or years (much like their last one, where they found that many sunscreens did not meet their SPF ratings, a hot topic in the skin cancer capital of the world)

(edit: whoops, Choice did the SPF rating investigation. ABC just did a lot of reporting on it)

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#357

Post by martimarkov »

perpetuallunch wrote: post #353
femto wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check their tomato paste. It turns out that nearly every tomato paste in Australia comes from Xinjiang in China, including those marked as Australian or Italian. Simplot (Leggos), the big US company, was the worst offender, so it's possible that tomato paste in Costco's US stores has been produced in Xinjiang using slave labour, irrespective of what the label says. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-27/australian-to…

Difficult to distinguish between actual slave labour and China-is-bad propaganda. Harm to the end user: none^ Benefits to the end user: more affordable tomato paste Government action to prevent slave labour products entering Australia: none^ ^close enough.

Negatives to end user: unknown pesticides or banned pesticides.

No propaganda - lack of validation, evidence and trust

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#358

Post by charonn0 »

perpetuallunch wrote: post #352

> rent the user’s Internet connection out to strangers. Harm to the user: none^ > spoof themselves as mobile phones clicking ads on AI-generated websites as part of a sprawling operation that seeks to defraud online merchants and advertising networks Harm to the user: none^ Cost to the dodgy service provides: none Government action to prevent continued dodgy services: none^ This is why internet securityg doomers have…

>> rent the user’s Internet connection out to strangers.

> Harm to the user: none^

Well, they are losing some of their bandwidth. They might not notice, but something which is rightfully theirs is being taken without consent.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#359

Post by stubish »

perpetuallunch wrote: post #353
femto wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check their tomato paste. It turns out that nearly every tomato paste in Australia comes from Xinjiang in China, including those marked as Australian or Italian. Simplot (Leggos), the big US company, was the worst offender, so it's possible that tomato paste in Costco's US stores has been produced in Xinjiang using slave labour, irrespective of what the label says. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-27/australian-to…

Difficult to distinguish between actual slave labour and China-is-bad propaganda. Harm to the end user: none^ Benefits to the end user: more affordable tomato paste Government action to prevent slave labour products entering Australia: none^ ^close enough.

It is perfectly legal to sell Chinese tomatoes in Australia (which is not necessarily a good thing, re: forced labour in Italy and China). The fraud is mislabeling them as Australian or similar, denying consumers from making their own ethical choice. Which is your harm to the end user and generally enforced by the ACCC.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#360

Post by biztos »

femto wrote: post #290
omilu wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco vets their products very well, if I see something at costco and its something I need I just buy it. No need to research and I've never been burned. They only sell good quality stuff.

Check their tomato paste. It turns out that nearly every tomato paste in Australia comes from Xinjiang in China, including those marked as Australian or Italian. Simplot (Leggos), the big US company, was the worst offender, so it's possible that tomato paste in Costco's US stores has been produced in Xinjiang using slave labour, irrespective of what the label says. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-27/australian-to…

While it could of course be produced in Xinjiang without using "slave labor," the US government banned those tomatoes in 2021 because of that risk:

https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-issu...

If Costco were circumventing the ban it'd be a pretty big deal. I couldn't google up any indications that they are, so on balance I'd say it's "possible" in the same way my winning the lottery is possible. Can't rule it out, but reasonable people should probably bet against it.

TIL: Xinjiang tomatoes are something like 15% of the global market!

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