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I set up a VLAN for my smart home and you should too
Are you looking for a way to secure your smart home against potential bad actors or intruders? A VLAN is the perfect tool for the job. Here’s how I have my VLAN set up, and how I plan to use it to secure my smart home’s network.
I tried rebuilding my hand-coded website with Astro—here's what worked and what didn't
I run a silly little website on Neocities called Whistling Nose Games, Music, and Multimedia. During some downtime last year, I spent a few months relearning web design, CSS, JavaScript, and creating absurd games/music. It has an intentional nostalgic vibe. I'm going to revamp it. A friend, whose design skills are phenomenal, pointed me in the direction of Astro to help me with my redesign. So I gave it a shot and it turned out pretty well.
Stop blaming your phone for Android Auto lag—your head unit matters more than Google admits
One of the great things about Android Auto is that you're carrying your infotainment system with you wherever you go. If you own more than one car, you don't have to set up two different profiles. Just connect your phone, and the experience follows you. Likewise, if multiple people share a car, it feels like the specific head unit doesn't really matter. It's the phone that sets the stage and handles everything, right?
Lexus’ new electric sedan has a hidden perk: It’s cheaper than the hybrid
Buying an electric car has traditionally meant paying more upfront in exchange for lower running costs down the road. That's been one of the biggest hurdles for shoppers considering the switch, especially when similarly equipped hybrid models often carry a lower sticker price.
3 gripping Paramount+ thrillers to watch this weekend (July 10-12)
Paramount+ added more than 60 movies to its lineup for July, and while tried-and-true Paramount regulars like Top Gun: Maverick, Scream 7, and Roofman still linger around in the streamer's top 10, sometimes you might just want to cut to the chase with a good thriller. Worry not, thrill-seekers; we're here for you.
USB-C cables look identical, but one simple spec separates the slow ones from the fast ones
USB-C is super handy in the sense that every port and connector looks exactly the same, so you never have to wonder whether it'll fit or not. It can be confusing, though, and sometimes, the confusing parts aren't even visible at a glance.
Please stop using Cat5 cables (do this instead)
Ethernet has been around for a long time. Invented in the '70s, commercialized in the early '80s, and it's still the fastest and most reliable network technology you can have in your home.
I used a $40 OBD-II scanner and saved hundreds in unnecessary mechanic visits
We have all experienced this situation. Your check engine light comes on, and your mind immediately jumps to worst-case scenarios. And if you manage to get to the repair shop, you shudder at the thought of how much they will charge to fix this mysterious issue.
The 5 weirdest side projects Google built and eventually abandoned
Google is famous for launching new services only to kill them. There are community trackers like Killed By Google that are explicitly dedicated to cataloging the hundreds of projects Google has started up and eventually retired to the digital graveyard. Some of these high-profile experiments include Google Reader and Google+, but some of them were much more outlandish.
8 things to know about Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI
Apple and OpenAI are heading to court.
On Friday, July 10, Apple sued OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company led by CEO Sam Altman, and two former Apple employees, accusing the ChatGPT maker of obtaining confidential Apple information to help build its own consumer hardware.
The lawsuit names OpenAI’s commercial and nonprofit entities, its hardware company io Products, OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, and former Apple engineer Chang Liu. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” Apple said in the complaint.
The filing contains claims involving secret project names, confidential presentations, Apple-issued laptops, physical hardware components, supplier relationships, and even instructions for getting through an Apple exit interview. It also arrives as OpenAI prepares to release its first consumer device with former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.There is a lot going on. Here are the 8 most important things to understand about the lawsuit, what Apple is actually alleging, and what could happen next.
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1. Apple is accusing OpenAI of more than simply hiring its employeesThe first important distinction is that it is generally legal for one company to recruit employees from a competitor.
A former Apple engineer is allowed to accept a job at OpenAI. That engineer is also allowed to use general knowledge, professional experience, and skills developed over the course of a career. Apple does not own everything a person learned while working there.
A trade secret is different— it is valuable information that is not publicly known and that a company has taken reasonable steps to protect. That could include an unreleased product design, a private manufacturing process, a confidential list of suppliers, or technical specifications for a component that has not yet reached the market.
Apple alleges that OpenAI did not merely hire people with experience. It says OpenAI used those employees and its recruiting process to obtain protected documents, designs, physical parts, manufacturing knowledge, and information about unreleased products.
In plain language, Apple’s argument is essentially this: OpenAI was free to hire Apple engineers, but it was not free to ask them to bring Apple’s files and hardware along with them.
That remains Apple’s version of events. A complaint lays out what the plaintiff says happened; it is not a court ruling that those allegations are true. OpenAI's Director of Strategic Communications Drew Pusateri has denied wanting or using Apple’s confidential information with a statement on X:
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 2. The lawsuit is really about OpenAI becoming a hardware competitorApple and OpenAI were publicly working together only two years ago.
In 2024, Apple announced that ChatGPT would be integrated into Siri, Apple’s systemwide Writing Tools, and other Apple Intelligence features. The arrangement allowed users to send certain questions to ChatGPT directly from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
The relationship became more complicated when OpenAI moved beyond software and began developing its own consumer device.
In 2025, OpenAI acquired io Products, the hardware startup created by Ive, Tan, and several other former Apple employees, in a deal valued at roughly $6.5 billion. Ive, who helped design products including the iPhone, iMac, and Apple Watch during his time at Apple, is working with OpenAI on the device but is not personally named as a defendant in Apple’s lawsuit.
OpenAI has offered few concrete details about what it is making. The company has described the project as a new kind of AI device that would move beyond the familiar structure of screens, apps, keyboards, and smartphones. Its first hardware product is expected as soon as the end of 2026.
That context matters because Apple is not suing over information used to improve ChatGPT; rather, it alleges that its secrets were taken to help build physical products that could compete with Apple’s hardware business.
Apple says the information at issue covers product architecture, battery systems, circuit boards, component selection, manufacturing equipment, metal-finishing methods, supply-chain relationships, and unreleased product plans.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 3. Apple says OpenAI turned job interviews into information-gathering sessionsSome of the lawsuit’s most striking allegations involve how OpenAI interviewed Apple employees.
Tan spent more than 24 years at Apple and most recently served as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. He later helped found io and is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer. Because he had worked on confidential Apple programs, Apple says he knew the company’s internal terminology, project names, suppliers, and development process.
According to the lawsuit, Tan used that knowledge while interviewing current Apple employees for jobs at OpenAI.
Apple alleges that he referred to at least one unreleased Apple project by its internal codename before asking a candidate about the company’s plans for it. To someone outside Apple, the name would have meant very little. To an employee working on the project, it would have signaled exactly what Tan wanted to discuss.
Candidates were also allegedly required to prepare “Technical Deep Dive” presentations about their work. Apple says the instructions asked for details including how components were selected, which vendors were used, what software supported system integration, and how engineers communicated with suppliers.
Those questions may sound like ordinary technical interview questions. Apple’s argument is that, when directed at current employees working on secret projects, they were asking candidates to disclose information that belonged to Apple.
The filing also alleges that Tan told candidates to bring “actual parts” from Apple to their interviews for “show and tell” sessions. Those parts allegedly included batteries, logic boards, systems-in-package, shields, and other physical components.
One candidate appeared surprised by the request, according to messages quoted in the filing, and said they “didn’t even know we could take those from the office.”
Apple says the interview process also generated evidence that now appears in the lawsuit. In one example, an employee allegedly began screenshotting and downloading files related to a highly confidential Apple project in the hours before an OpenAI interview. During the interview, Tan allegedly asked about that same project.
Apple says it found the activity by reviewing access records and server logs connected to its own systems. In other words, the candidate allegedly used an Apple computer to retrieve the files, leaving a record inside the systems from which the information was being taken.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 4. Apple says one former engineer kept a laptop and continued accessing its filesThe lawsuit’s other central figure is Liu, who spent more than eight years at Apple as a senior system electrical engineer working on the iPhone before joining OpenAI in January 2026.
Apple alleges that Liu failed to return an Apple-issued laptop when he left the company. It also says he later discovered an authentication vulnerability that continued to give him access to Apple’s cloud-based file storage after his employment had ended.
According to the complaint, Liu did not report the apparent security problem. Apple says he instead used it to continue accessing confidential engineering materials while already employed by OpenAI.
The lawsuit alleges that Liu downloaded dozens of files containing technical specifications, engineering presentations, circuit-board information, and details about unannounced products. One compilation allegedly contained more than 1,000 pages of technical materials.
Apple also points to messages Liu allegedly sent after discovering that his access still worked. In one, he reportedly wrote to an Apple employee: “LOL, I found out I can access the [server], so funny.”
That detail is important because it could help Apple argue that the access was not accidental. Accidentally discovering that an old login still functions is one thing. Continuing to use it to download files after acknowledging the unexpected access is another.
Apple also alleges that Liu helped another Apple employee prepare for an OpenAI interview. He allegedly directed her toward specific confidential folders, advised her about what information to review, and discussed how files could be copied without attracting the attention of Apple’s security team.
The complaint says Liu eventually encouraged the employee to stop communicating through Apple devices and move their conversation to LINE, a separate messaging app. The employee later joined OpenAI. Liu has not publicly responded to the allegations.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 5. Apple says recruits were coached on how to avoid its exit-security proceduresWhen an employee leaves a company like Apple, the departure involves more than returning a badge and laptop.
The company may disable system access, examine recent downloads, recover devices, remind the employee of confidentiality agreements, and ask questions about where the person is going next. These procedures are designed to make sure confidential materials do not leave with the employee.
Apple alleges that OpenAI knew how those procedures worked and coached recruits on how to navigate or avoid them.
According to the filing, Tan circulated an internal Apple document marked “Need to Know” that explained Apple’s security process for departing employees. Apple says the document was intended only for certain Apple managers but was shared with recruits before they had even told Apple they were leaving.
That would mean the recruits allegedly knew in advance what Apple’s security team might inspect, what questions might be asked, and when their access could be cut off.
Apple also claims OpenAI advised departing employees not to disclose that they had accepted jobs with the company. Recruits were allegedly told not to sign documents during Apple exit interviews and to contact OpenAI immediately if Apple asked them to sign anything.
The lawsuit says Apple found a pattern among employees leaving for OpenAI: some skipped exit interviews, ignored messages from Apple’s security team, provided little or no notice, or otherwise avoided the usual departure process.
Apple is using those examples to argue that the alleged conduct was coordinated rather than the work of one person independently deciding to take files.
OpenAI now employs more than 400 former Apple employees, according to the complaint. That number is not evidence of wrongdoing by itself. The significant question is whether any of those workers brought protected Apple information with them and whether OpenAI knowingly requested, received, or used it.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 6. Apple says OpenAI also went through its suppliersApple’s allegations extend beyond employees and interviews.
Modern hardware companies rely on complicated networks of suppliers that make batteries, chips, displays, enclosures, circuit boards, and manufacturing equipment. Apple also develops specialized processes with some of those partners that are not available to competitors.
The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI used information from former Apple employees to approach companies within that supply chain.
In one example, Apple says OpenAI asked a trusted manufacturing partner to demonstrate a proprietary metal-finishing technique. The technique allegedly involved a multi-step process developed by Apple to produce a particular appearance and physical finish on its devices.
Apple says the supplier was contractually prohibited from performing that work for other companies. OpenAI allegedly led the partner to believe that Apple had authorized the demonstration. According to Apple, it had not.
The complaint also says OpenAI approached a longtime Apple supplier involved in battery and power manufacturing. Former Apple employees allegedly used internal terminology to ask targeted questions about specific components and processes.
This part of the lawsuit could be particularly important because it moves the allegations beyond files sitting on an employee’s computer. Apple is claiming that confidential information was put to practical use while OpenAI was developing hardware.
OpenAI has not announced the design or component list for its device, so it is not publicly possible to determine whether any Apple technology appears in it. That is one reason Apple says it needs the lawsuit’s discovery process.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 7. Apple wants access to the evidence behind OpenAI’s deviceApple says it contacted OpenAI in February and asked the company to investigate its concerns. According to the lawsuit, OpenAI did not respond. Apple filed its complaint roughly five months later.
Apple is asking for damages, but money is only part of what it wants.
The company is also seeking an injunction, which is a court order requiring someone to do or stop doing something. Apple wants OpenAI barred from possessing, using, or disclosing its alleged trade secrets. It also wants confidential materials returned and evidence connected to the case preserved.
“Preserved” means the defendants could be required to retain relevant emails, messages, files, designs, access logs, and internal documents rather than deleting or changing them while the lawsuit moves forward.
Apple also expects to use discovery. Discovery is the part of a lawsuit in which each side can demand relevant evidence from the other. Depending on what a judge allows, Apple could seek internal OpenAI communications, recruiting records, design documents, supplier correspondence, and information showing how the company developed its device.
That does not automatically mean OpenAI will have to prove every component was developed independently before its product can launch. Apple would have to persuade the court that its evidence supports such restrictions, and OpenAI will have opportunities to challenge the allegations and the scope of Apple’s requests.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Still, the timing is significant. OpenAI is moving toward its first hardware release, and Apple is asking a court to determine whether any part of that hardware operation depends on confidential Apple information.
Apple describes the conduct in sweeping terms, alleging that OpenAI’s hardware business is “rotten to its core” because of its supposed reliance on misappropriated trade secrets. OpenAI has denied that it wants another company’s secrets, and none of Apple’s claims has yet been proven in court.
Online, the immediate reaction treated the lawsuit like a particularly messy Silicon Valley breakup. Others focused on the employees at the center of Apple’s allegations, questioning how someone could spend decades helping build the company’s most important products and then (allegedly) carry confidential information into a rival operation.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. 8. OpenAI is already fighting lawsuits on several frontsApple’s complaint arrives while OpenAI is dealing with legal challenges involving trade secrets, copyright, its corporate structure, and the safety of ChatGPT.
The closest comparison is a lawsuit Elon Musk’s xAI filed against OpenAI in September 2025, accusing the company of stealing confidential information after recruiting employees from the rival AI company. The case also focused partly on information disclosed during the hiring process.
A federal judge dismissed the original complaint on in February, but allowed xAI to revise its claims. The judge eventually dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice on June 15, finding that xAI had not shown OpenAI encouraged a former engineer to reveal trade secrets or that OpenAI employees knew he might have done so.
Musk separately sued OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and President Greg Brockman over claims that they had abandoned the organization’s original nonprofit mission. A federal jury ruled against Musk in May after finding that he waited too long to file the case. The verdict turned on the statute of limitations and did not decide whether OpenAI had actually violated its founding commitments. Musk says he plans to appeal.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.OpenAI is also facing a growing group of cases focused on the safety of ChatGPT.
Florida sued OpenAI and Altman on June 1, accusing the company of aggressively marketing ChatGPT to children while concealing serious risks and disregarding safety warnings. The state alleges that the chatbot facilitated harmful behavior, including self-harm and violence, and collected information from minors without meaningful parental consent. OpenAI has disputed the copyright allegations and has said it continues to strengthen safeguards involving minors, self-harm, and threats of violence.
The government of British Columbia also announced July 7 that it had retained lawyers in Canada and California to explore legal action against OpenAI following the February mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School (the province has not yet filed its own lawsuit). It says internal OpenAI reports showed that the company’s safety teams flagged violent prompts connected to the shooter months before the attack but did not notify law enforcement. Families affected by the shooting have already filed separate cases against OpenAI in California.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Meanwhile, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, authors, and other publishers are pursuing copyright cases that accuse OpenAI of improperly using protected material to train its AI models.
It's clear OpenAI is actively trying to build the future. But, increasingly, it is also being asked to defend how it built it.
Half of failed hard drives die in year one—here is the one thing you must do before trusting yours
HDDs are often seen as highly reliable, and it's true: they mostly are. But just as external HDDs can die on you at any time, so can regular, internal hard drives, and this is still true even if the HDD is new.
The luxury SUV that quietly got a better every year
Luxury SUVs usually follow the same pattern. They arrive with fresh styling, impressive technology, and big promises, then slowly lose ground as newer rivals bring better features and more polished driving experiences.
How to watch Norway vs. England online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for free on ITVX. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN, an Official Supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is reaching its dramatic conclusion. One half of the semi-final stage has already been decided, and now Norway face off against England for a place in the final four.
England came through an epic clash with Mexico in the last round, relying on goals from Bellingham and Kane. Norway shocked the world by beating Brazil thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland. Can the Manchester City striker do the same against England? It's going to be a fascinating battle between two confident sides.
If you want to watch Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Norway vs. England?Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on July 11. This fixture takes place at the Miami Stadium.
How to watch Norway vs. England for freeNorway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is available to live stream for free on ITVX.
ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock ITVX to live stream the 2026 World Cup for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Norway vs. England for free by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
Visit ITVX
Watch Norway vs. England for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the 2026 World Cup without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Norway vs. England (plus more World Cup fixtures) before recovering your investment.
ExpressVPN's regular 30-day money-back guarantee is not available for any subscriptions purchased during the FIFA World Cup between June 10 and July 11. ExpressVPN remains our top pick for sport, but you will need to pay the monthly rate. Alternatively, Proton VPN still offers that all-important money-back guarantee.
What is the best VPN for ITVX?ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to 10 simultaneous connections
A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99. That covers you for the duration of the World Cup.
Live stream Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for free.
Don't pay for Netflix unless you're using these 4 features
Streaming can be an expensive proposition for the consumer. If you're subscribing to four or five services, that monthly bill can add up. That's why you need to make sure you're taking advantage of every feature a streaming service has to offer. That way, you can justify the expense.
Phoebe Gatess Phia helped shoppers find deals — and may have helped itself to commissions
Phia’s browser extension was supposed to help shoppers find better deals, but it may also have redirected affiliate commissions to itself. Let us explain.
A celebrity-backed shopping startup co-founded by Bill Gates's daughter Phoebe Gates and her former Stanford University roommate Sophia Kianni has been suspended from affiliate platform Impact.com. The suspension came after a July 9 Bloomberg investigation found that its browser extension claimed credit for purchases it did not actually generate.
Testing conducted separately by Bloomberg, Capital One Shopping, and independent researcher Ben Edelman found that Phia could silently open a new browser tab during checkout and load its own affiliate link to the retailer. In some cases, that replaced the tracking code belonging to the website, advertisement, or publisher that originally sent the shopper there.
The practice is known as “cookie stuffing” or attribution fraud. In plain terms, Phia could receive credit, and potentially a commission, for a purchase even when the shopper had not discovered the product through Phia or interacted with one of its recommendations.
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Affiliate marketing normally works by assigning a unique link to a publisher, creator, or shopping platform. When a shopper follows that link and completes a purchase, the retailer can identify which affiliate generated the sale and pay it a commission.
According to Bloomberg, Phia’s extension sometimes inserted itself at the end of that process. A shopper could arrive at a retailer independently or through another publisher, only for Phia to replace the original referral code as the shopper approached checkout.
In one test described in the investigation, Bloomberg followed a Nordstrom link from a Wirecutter article about Fourth of July deals. Phia allegedly opened another tab in the background during checkout and replaced Wirecutter’s referral information with its own. The extension reportedly behaved similarly when Bloomberg reached a shopping site through a paid advertisement from another publisher.
Impact.com suspended the company after being alerted to the behavior, and the platform told Bloomberg that activity within the extension appeared to be inconsistent with its policies and that it was reviewing potentially affected transactions. Social media immediately was abuzz with conversation, with some people upset while some defend the 23-year-old co-founder.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Phia acknowledged that there had been a problem, although the company characterized it as a software issue rather than an intentional business practice.
“Within the last 24 hours, we were made aware that in a recent release our codebase was causing misattributions from a subset of users,” a Phia spokesperson told Bloomberg. The company said its team worked through the night to identify and correct the issue.
Bloomberg retested the extension after contacting Phia and found that it had stopped automatically claiming the referral click. Independent researchers also reportedly confirmed that the behavior was no longer occurring. It remains unclear whether the fix will be enough to satisfy Impact.com, retailers, and other affiliate partners reviewing the affected transactions.
Phia launched in April 2025 as an AI-powered shopping assistant available through a mobile app and browser extension. The product is often described as a version of Google Flights for shopping. While someone browses clothing or accessories online, Phia searches more than 40,000 retail and resale websites for the same item, similar products, lower prices, and discount codes. It can also compare a full-price product with secondhand listings, helping shoppers decide whether to buy it new or look for a cheaper resale option.
The company makes money in part through affiliate commissions. When Phia directs a user to a retailer and that person completes a purchase through its link, the retailer may pay the startup a percentage of the sale. That makes accurate referral tracking central to Phia’s business model: The code attached to the purchase determines which platform gets credit and potentially gets paid.
Phia grew quickly after its launch. Within its first week, the app reportedly reached No. 21 on Apple’s App Store and by September 2025, the company said it had crossed 500,000 downloads.
Its funding grew almost as quickly. Phia raised an $8 million seed round in September 2025, followed by roughly $35 million in additional funding in January 2026. The later round pushed its reported valuation to approximately $185 million less than a year after launch and brought its total funding to more than $43 million.
Phia has also attracted an investor roster that looks less like a cap table and more like a Coachella lineup. Backers include Khloé Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, Sydney Sweeney, Paris Hilton, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jessica Alba, Mindy Kaling, Ice Spice, Alix Earle, Karlie Kloss, and The Chainsmokers, alongside a collection of tech executives and venture capital firms.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Some have compared the situation to Honey, the PayPal-owned coupon extension that has also been accused of replacing creators’ affiliate links with its own during checkout. Honey remains the subject of an ongoing class action lawsuit, and PayPal has disputed claims that the extension improperly took commissions from creators.
The Phia allegations also arrive after an earlier controversy involving the amount of information collected by its browser extension. In November 2025, cybersecurity researchers found that the extension was transmitting copies of webpages users visited back to the company’s servers, including pages unrelated to shopping.
Those pages could include sensitive websites such as email inboxes and bank accounts, according to the report. Phia said the data was anonymous, was used to determine which websites involved shopping, and was not stored. The company removed the feature after concerns were raised and said it would limit its collection to website URLs.
Phia says the affiliate issue has been fixed, but Impact.com is still reviewing what happened and whether any transactions require further action. The extension may have stopped opening tabs in the background, but Phia’s affiliate business is now getting a very public checkout.
This overlooked tool instantly adds wood and leather texture to my 3D prints (and it's 100% free)
Texture comes up often in 3D printing, but it’s almost always about removing it. Things get complicated when you start trying to add texture to models—at least that’s what I thought. A free tool completely changed how I think about 3D printing textures.
Smartphone makers are quietly building the next price trap—and it's not what you think
It’s no secret that smartphones are already ridiculously expensive, and the ongoing RAM shortage is one reason prices have climbed so much. While experts expect the shortage to ease over the next two to three years, don't expect smartphone prices to fall accordingly. The cost of owning a smartphone is only going to increase, and that's the plan.
You're making a huge mistake leaving your backup drive plugged in
Most of my important files already exist in several places, but almost all of those places are connected to something. My PC, cloud storage, and ordinary external drives are all convenient precisely because I can reach them whenever I need something. Unfortunately, that also means I can accidentally delete something, overwrite it, synchronize a bad change, or expose it to malware.
5 more Excel VBA toolbar shortcuts that work in every spreadsheet I open
The first VBA macros I added to my Excel toolbar quickly became some of my most-used shortcuts. Since then, I've added five more that save me even more time by automating repetitive formatting, cleanup, and navigation tasks in every workbook I open.
This mesh battery system does what the Powerwall can't—and costs less to expand
Portable power stations come in all sizes, from those you can carry on a camping trip to suitcase-size ones that can power a home. But the next wave of home backup power is thinner, while being stylish enough to serve as decor—and there’s one brand that has me feeling particularly hyped.


