Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

Post by neves » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:44 AM UTC

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.

Post by 40four » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:57 AM UTC

omilu wrote: post #251

al_borland wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the main value propositions for retailers in a world of endless cheap garbage being sold online, is to vet products so customers can trust that what their buying is from a legitimate company and not junk or stuff like these streaming sticks. This is the problem with being an “everything store”. “Everything” includes a lot of things most consumers would like to be protected from, and assume they are due to the…

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.

Post by throwa356262 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 6:03 AM UTC

simojo wrote: post #108

We purchased a Chinese-made projector from Amazon, which was surprisingly inexpensive (~40 USD). Upon connecting it to the internet, it placed a constantly running feed of ads on the corner of the screen, even while movies were playing. There was no way to disable it either. Even though it's not a stick, it's a similar principle.

Post by seanmcdirmid » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 6:10 AM UTC

LordAtlas wrote: post #390

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TIL: Xinjiang tomatoes are something like 15% of the global market! China consumes 37% of the world’s tomatoes. 80% of China’s processed tomatoes are from xinjiang. Fresh tomatoes are generally grown locally, but that is true around the world.

China _produces_ 37% of the world's tomatoes, not consumes.

Post by skybrian » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 6:17 AM UTC

iamnothere wrote: post #347

skybrian wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FCC tests electronics for radio interference. Perhaps they could test electronics for Internet behavior like this too? Some manufacturers will try to cheat on the tests, but we have AI security checking now, so maybe that would make it harder to cheat?

That sounds like a fast track to government control of what operating systems are allowed. These aren’t just electronics, they are low power computers that happen to have an OS and software preinstalled. (I’d be open to a rule that devices must allow users to wipe the devices and install their own OS.)