Mashable

In case you haven't heard, T-Mobile's mobile network appeared to go down for a lot of users on Monday afternoon.

Users in the United States reported a widespread outage, with mobile service in particular being disrupted, and some users reported they were stuck in "SOS mode," which can happen if service is interrupted. As usual, customers took to social media apps like X and Reddit to vent their frustrations, sometimes directly at T-Mobile itself.

On X, one user reported being stranded and unable to order a Lyft home (though, apparently, still able to post to X), while another said they were seeing a long line at their local T-Mobile store. Over on Reddit, a post about the outage has already collected more than 5,500 comments, with users trading rumors about the possible cause and potential fixes.

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As a reminder: The person running a brand's social media help line typically can't fix the outage.

As of this writing, "T-Mobile" was trending on X, and search terms such as "Is t mobile down" and "t mobile outage" were trending on Google Search.

Mashable reached out to T-Mobile with questions about the outage, which the brand still hasn't acknowledged. We'll update this story if we receive more information.

This is a developing story...

Elon Musk has just taken one more step towards turning X into "the everything app."

On Monday, Musk's social media platform X announced the launch of a new service on the platform called X Money. 

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What is X Money? The new service on X basically provides banking and financial services for paying X Premium and Premium+ subscribers right within the app. X Money includes peer-to-peer payments and money transfers within the X platform, as well as a deposit account. Users will also receive "the X card," a physical Visa debit card for ATM withdrawals and in-person transactions.

According to the announcement post, X Money users will be able to conduct a variety of everyday transactions directly within X, just as they would with any other bank account. Some core functions of X Money include:

• Sending wire transfers

• Mailing checks

• Paying bills

• Paycheck direct deposit

• Send and receive money to anyone on X

X also says that users can get paid up to two days early with direct deposit.

Elon Musk's gets one step closer to his "everything app" with the launch of X Money. Credit: X

Premium+ subscribers on X are immediately eligible for 6% APY, whereas X Premium subscribers can also reach that rate after meeting Qualifying Direct Deposit requirements. 

X Money's Visa Debit Card, which the service is calling the X Card, will provide 3% cash back on eligible purchases and no-fee cash withdrawals at any ATM worldwide. X Card supports digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay as well.

Deposit accounts are held with X Money partner Cross River Bank, Member FDIC and insured up to $250,000.

Musk has long planned to launch an X Money-type service within the X app. The owner of the social media platform certainly has experience in the industry. Before X was a social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk ran a payment services company called X that later merged with PayPal in the early dot-com era. Musk has long had a goal of creating a true "everything app," according to biographers and other sources.

Musk previously claimed that it would "blow his mind" if his social media company didn't launch financial services within X by the end of 2024. X Money went through an initial test phase earlier this year and is now rolling out to a subset of its user base in the U.S. with plans to further expand in the near future.

At this point, anyone who leaves the house risks ending up in the background of someone else's video. Phones have made filming strangers routine, while Meta glasses have made some cameras nearly impossible to spot. Once that footage reaches TikTok, a brief encounter can land in front of millions of viewers — and the people in the video might never know.

But every so often, the camera appears to catch something more salacious: a possible affair. It’s less common than the usual viral fodder...though it happens more often than it probably should.

SEE ALSO: When did it become OK to film strangers in public?

On July 23, TikTok creator Jay Guapõ, who boasts 3.5 million followers, posted a video showing a man and woman kissing near Central Park West and West 63rd Street. Guapõ approaches them while continuing to record.

"Get a room. There's kids around," he tells them.

The video received more than 2 million views within its first several days. As it spread, commenters began searching for the couple's identities, examining their body language, and speculating about why they seemed so uncomfortable being recorded, besides the obvious.

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By July 25, both social media users and the New York Post had identified the lovebirds as Nathaniel Cullerton, 45, and Kelsey Borenzweig, 29, attorneys at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. According to the company's website, Cullerton is a partner in Wachtell's litigation department, while Borenzweig is an associate in the same department. Neither has publicly confirmed the nature of their relationship, and the video does not establish that either person was having an affair.

The Daily Mail initially reported that Cullerton was married and that Borenzweig had recently been in a relationship; however, the outlet later cited a source who said Borenzweig and her reported partner had separated. Nevertheless, viewers are skeptical.

"Most obvious affair ever," one person wrote.

"That’s definitely her boss," another speculated.

The internet had already begun treating the kiss like the Coldplay concert scandal's unofficial sequel. For those who need a refresher, in July 2025, former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the company’s chief people officer, Kristin Cabot, were shown embracing on a stadium screen during a Coldplay concert. Once they realized they were on camera, they ducked out of view.

Footage of their reaction spread like wildfire across social media, amassing over 130 million views. Viewers identified the individuals, and both executives resigned from Astronomer after the video spread. Cabot later filed for divorce, although she has said she and her husband were already separated when the concert took place.

The Central Park video appeared to offer the internet a similar mystery to investigate, while reopening the debate over whether strangers can be turned into content simply because they are in public.

The video has revived a familiar privacy debate

While some viewers focused on whether the lawyers were having an affair, others questioned why Guapõ had filmed two strangers kissing in the first place.

"This is creepy, this not an episode of Cheaters," one TikTok user commented.

"It is morally wrong to film strangers just living their lives outside," another argued. "This? Just two people kissing. Idgaf if they are lawyers, working together, cheating, whatever."

Others saw it differently. One commenter argued that people making out in public "low-key want others to see," while another wrote, "Don’t cheat and we have the right to record in public."

The disagreement soon expanded beyond this particular couple. "We are living in a surveillance state," one user wrote. "Forget about the government, your neighbor is already doing it."

Another blamed the incentives created by social media, arguing that an "attention economy" rewarding views encourages people to point cameras at strangers in the hope of capturing something scandalous.

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That argument has followed social media, specifically TikTok, for years. Videos featuring strangers are now common across the platform, from street interviews and pickup attempts to public pranks and staged acts of kindness. The people who appear in them do not always know they are being filmed or understand how the footage will be presented, especially as smart glasses and other wearable cameras make recording increasingly difficult to notice.

Increased discretion has fueled the rise of pickup, prank, and "troll" accounts that film unsuspecting people. Creators have secretly recorded attempts to get women's phone numbers in gyms, airports, bars, and stores, while others have targeted shoppers and service workers with deliberately uncomfortable pranks. In February, one woman said a man posted smart-glasses footage of himself asking for her number even though she had refused permission for it to be shared.

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The same week the Central Park video went viral, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the platform would remove smart-glasses videos showing people being harassed or taken advantage of.

"We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform," Mosseri reportedly said in an Instagram Story.

Instagram also deactivated two pickup artist accounts that used smart glasses to film women in public with more than 1 million followers.

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The Central Park video may not involve the explicit harassment that Instagram's policy targets, but it raises the same underlying concern: a stranger can be filmed without meaningfully agreeing to become content, then identified and judged by millions of people who have only a few seconds of footage to work with.

A new report accuses TikTok of failing to appropriately moderate a growing "gray market" for GLP-1 weight loss drugs as they continue to surge in popularity.

The content analysis, conducted by gender justice nonprofit UltraViolet, pinpointed hundreds of TikTok accounts promoting unregulated GLP-1 drugs, including GLP-1 alternatives advertised as "research-grade." Accounts often directed users off the platform to purchase drugs on WhatsApp, Discord, and Telegram.

Content about the pharmaceuticals, including the non-FDA approved retatrutide, was easily accessible to users with and without TikTok accounts before and after TikTok's ownership transition in early 2026, the organization found. In addition, the platform's Discover page automatically generated related searches suggesting the sale and purchase of GLP-1s.

SEE ALSO: GLP-1s are inescapable online. Here's why that's a problem.

Many of the posts specifically targeted women or used photos of real and AI-generated women on account profiles, according to UltraViolet. A large portion of off-market GLP-1 content used harmful messaging about weight loss and appearance, included sexual imagery, or made false claims about women's health, according to the researchers.

UltraViolet reported 202 accounts to the platform for violating Community Guidelines. On average, around one-third of them were removed.

"The volume and accessibility of this content — and the way this content is surfaced and recommended by TikTok’s curation features — suggest the issue is widespread, persistent, and TikTok is not doing enough to stop it," UltraViolet writes.

The organization surveyed the platform in two phases, one prior to TikTok's transition in ownership in late 2025 and one shortly after it was turned over to an American board of investors in early 2026. The analysis notes TikTok updated its Community Guidelines in line with the new ownership before the first phase of the study. The platform also edited its Terms of Service in January.

TikTok's Community Guidelines don't prohibit the discussion or mention of GLP-1 products. The platform also allows pharmaceutical advertising in line with regional laws.

However, the platform prohibits showing or promoting disordered eating or dangerous weight loss behaviors, as well as ads and sponsored posts that are "marketed for weight loss, weight gain, fat reduction, detox, appetite suppressants, or that promote unsafe mental health behaviors." This includes "products that use 'Glucagon-like peptide (GLP), 'GLP-1,' or similar terms in the product title or branding," the company's advertising guidelines state. The policy does not apply to products marketed to support those taking GLP-1 drugs.

In addition, the platform doesn't allow "trading, marketing, or providing access to regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services," or directing users to third-party platforms to acquire such goods. Previously, TikTok explicitly cited both black and gray markets as prohibited "unofficial markets."

"We’ve seen this movie before: Tech oligarchs gain control of huge swaths of the internet and shape the content and ads we see for their own political and financial gain at the cost of user safety and the public good," said UltraViolet campaign director Jenna Sherman. “The twist this time is that we are in an unprecedented age of sophisticated algorithms, groundbreaking weight loss medications, and unhealthy weight-loss obsession. Altogether, it’s a disaster.” 

As of publication, TikTok declined to provide Mashable with an official response to UltraViolet's report.

Last week, Novo Nordisk, makers of Wegovy and Ozempic, filed a lawsuit against competitor Eli Lilly, makers of Zepbound and Mounjaro, accusing the pharmaceutical giant of deceptively marketing its drugs. In the first half of 2025, the two companies spent a total of $700 million marketing their drugs.

Many social media users have reported feeling inundated by GLP-1 advertisements, including those who are in active eating disorder recovery and those who have attempted to block posts about GLP-1s and weight management from their feeds.

The information contained in this article is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a qualified professional with questions about a medical or health issue.

Updated at 3:06 p.m. CT: Shortly after the publication of this article, Xbox Support posted an update on X, apologizing to users for the long wait for a fix. "Things are slowly improving, though players worldwide may still experience failures launching games, along with potential sign-in and purchase issues," the post reads.

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Microsoft's Xbox is currently experiencing widespread service disruption. The tech giant's games division has confirmed outages affecting multiple parts of its online ecosystem, according to VGC.

As of this writing, Xbox's own status page lists "major outage" conditions across four services: Account & Profile, Games & Gaming, Store & Subscriptions, and Apps & Mobile.

The Account & Profile status warns that users may be unable to sign in, may get disconnected mid-session, or may lose access to features that require sign-in, including most games, apps, and social features. The Store & Subscriptions page notes that some games may not appear in the Store, while the Apps & Mobile status flags problems launching apps.

All four services list the issue as identified, with a fix still pending.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft cuts 3,200 Xbox jobs, spins off four studios in major layoffs

Data from outage-tracking site Downdetector shows the bulk of user complaints center on launching games, which accounts for 65 percent of reported problems, followed by gameplay issues at 13 percent and server connection problems at 12 percent.

The official Xbox Support account acknowledged the issue on Sunday morning, stating that engineers were "actively working to mitigate" errors affecting sign-in, game libraries, and game launches, and pointed users to its status page for updates.

Team Xbox then posted a follow-up update at 2:03 PM EST, stating "our teams are focused on multiple investigation angles and remain hard at work. Thanks for your patience while teams keep working — we'll share more details as they become available."

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The outage comes just a week after PlayStation Network suffered its own multi-hour outage, which VGC reported began shortly after the open beta launch for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, leaving PS5 owners locked out of PSN and any games requiring a sign-in.

If you've used Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude, and shared any of your Claude conversations with friends, those chats may have been publicly available via Google.

That's what emerged this weekend when Reddit users noticed that shared Claude conversations were being indexed by Google Search. Seemingly private conversations between users and the AI chatbot, in other words, were publicly searchable on Google.

According to Reddit, those affected included a Claude user who was creating a crypto wallet and accidentally exposed keys to the currency, and a lawyer asking the chatbot for legal advice on whether they had to self-report a breach of conduct.

Reddit

Anthropic has since addressed the issue. Google appears to have de-indexed and removed all shared Claude conversations from its search engine as of this writing.

How did this happen?

By default, Claude conversations are private. However, there is a feature which lets users share specific Claude chats. When doing this, Anthropic creates a static page that allows users to share the chat with others — and also made it indexable by search engines.

Simple "noindex" tags can be included in a web page's code, telling search engines not to index a page. It does not appear that Anthropic used those tags. That means each shared Claude conversation had the potential to be indexed by Google.

Reddit users were able to find shared Claude conversations by searching for "site:claude.ai/share." This query would pull up all indexed pages using that URL structure, which every shared Claude conversation utilized.

Does AI have a privacy problem?

The shared Claude chats have since been removed from Google. But this isn't the first time we've seen insecure AI chatbot conversations.

Last year, ChatGPT users experienced the same issue; their shared conversations were also being indexed by Google. OpenAI pulled the feature once users began finding shared conversations in Google Search.

The same thing happened with Claude before too. Just one month after the ChatGPT incident, shared Claude conversations were discovered in Google Search. Anthropic was able to remove them from Google and addressed the issue at the time, saying it had blocked search engine crawlers. Yet it seems shared Claude chats were still being indexed.

Mashable has reached out to Anthropic for more information, and we will update this piece if we hear back.

How can I check privacy on my Claude conversations?

If you've never shared a Claude conversation, you have no need to worry. This wasn't a leak of private conversations, which is what all Claude chats are by default. The issue affected only shared Claude chats. 

If you have shared Claude chats, then there's a chance your conversation was publicly available via Google Search.

To manage that feature, simply login to your Claude account, go to Settings, followed by Privacy, then Shared Chats, and click on Manage. You should see a list of all your shared chats, and sharing can be turned off for all of them.

Influencers have been barred from cafes, prevented from filming inside workout classes, and blamed for overwhelming picturesque towns. Now, a Nantucket craft store has condensed that years-long backlash into two words: "No influencers."

The sign hangs inside the Four Winds Craft Guild, which has sold handcrafted Nantucket baskets, purses, artwork, and carvings on the island since 1948. When the store shared a photo of it on Instagram over the weekend of July 26, the post revived a familiar debate over what businesses gain — and what customers, employees, and residents may lose — when creators turn physical spaces into content.

SEE ALSO: Why are cafes, restaurants, and even towns banning influencers?

Influencers have become increasingly important in modern advertising. A single TikTok video or Instagram post can introduce an independent shop, restaurant, or destination to prospective customers without the business having to pay for a traditional ad campaign.

In a 2025 Sprout Social survey, 32 percent of consumers said they had purchased something through an influencer’s sponsored post within the previous year. That figure climbed to 53 percent among Gen Z and 48 percent among millennials. Businesses can easily track at least some of those purchases through personalized discount codes, affiliate links, and in-app storefronts.

But the attention creators generate can also lead to crowded rooms, tripods blocking walkways, customers recording strangers, and elaborate photo shoots unfolding while employees try to do their jobs. For businesses in small or already crowded destinations, an influx of visitors can create more disruption than revenue.

The sign quickly sparked reactions in Four Winds's Instagram comments, including from Paige Paul, the influencer and Dairy Boy founder formerly known as Paige Lorenze, who took her husband's surname after marrying tennis player Tommy Paul. Paul, who launched her own Nantucket storefront for Dairy Boy in May, pushed back against the sign, arguing that it dismissed an industry in which women have built businesses and gained economic independence.

"If you call yourself a feminist but proudly put up a 'No Influencers' sign, it’s worth asking who you are attempting to delegitimize, and why," Paul wrote. "Mocking women when they become powerful in a new industry isn’t new. It’s just a strange message coming from a store that celebrates a craft with such a rich history of women shaping the island and its economy."

“For those who don't know, the creator economy is overwhelmingly driven by women," she continued. "One woman with a loyal audience can successfully launch a business at a scale that would have once required corporate backing and massive advertising budgets. That’s a win. This sign isn’t."

Four Winds did not back down from the controversy. Although the store deleted its original Instagram post, it shared a notice indicating that its account had been reported and responded through its Instagram Story, according to Page Six.

"Imagine being so bored with life that you spend your pastime trying to report a photo on IG that makes you feel uncomfortable," the business clapped back.

Businesses are still setting boundaries around influencer filming

The disagreement did not begin on Nantucket. Businesses have spent years attempting to capture the benefits of social media exposure without allowing their spaces to become unrestricted sets.

In 2023, Mashable reported that Dae, a design shop and cafe in Brooklyn, had introduced a no-photo-shoot policy after creators began bringing tripods into the space and staging elaborate productions. Customers could still take quick pictures of their food and drinks, but larger shoots were no longer allowed.

SEE ALSO: The Mashable 101: The creators defining the internet in 2026

"We love food and drink photos (clearly),” Dae wrote on Instagram at the time, "but the TikToks and Instagram photoshoots have gotten a bit out of control for us."

Similar conflicts have unfolded elsewhere. After an influencer requested a free stay in exchange for coverage, a hotel in Ireland banned all bloggers. A cafe in Taiwan prohibited influencers after customers began staging disruptive photo shoots. In Pomfret, Vermont, officials temporarily closed roads near popular fall foliage locations after residents complained about traffic, trespassing, property damage, and visitors blocking roads to take pictures.

As marketing director Sarah Blocksidge told Mashable at the time, "The reality is that some businesses just aren’t suited for the influx of people an influencer can attract, which can wind up hurting the business more than helping it."

2026 brought more of the same conversation. In May, Tracy Anderson Method studios began prohibiting drop-in visitors from filming during workouts. Monthly members, who reportedly pay around $900, could still record. Steven Beltrani, president of Tracy Anderson’s studios, said the policy was intended to reduce disruptions, preserve the studio environment, and protect members’ privacy, though some found it hypocritical and "insane."

Nantucket is already confronting the effects of online attention

Nantucket residents and officials are still grappling with how to manage the island’s growing number of visitors.

That debate surfaced again in May, when Paul opened Dairy Boy’s first permanent store on Nantucket over Memorial Day weekend. Videos and photos soon showed customers lining up outside, prompting residents on the r/Nantucket subreddit to debate whether businesses like Dairy Boy were capitalizing on the island’s social media appeal — and making it feel more “commercialized and trend-driven” in the process.

The island received another burst of buzz on July 9, when Peacock released The Five-Star Weekend, an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s 2023 novel set on Nantucket.

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Even before filming began, members of the Nantucket Select Board worried that a major television production could disrupt the island and ultimately draw even more visitors during its already crowded summer season. The board approved the production but revised Nantucket’s filming policy after the shoot concluded.

Officials have also introduced restrictions at the Sconset Bluff Walk, a scenic public path that passes through the yards of privately owned homes. Residents have reported visitors leaving the path, trespassing, damaging landscaping, and gathering near homes for photo shoots. Influencers are not solely responsible for those problems, of course, but viral photos and videos shared online have introduced the location to a much larger audience.

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Enforcing boundaries around that attention is becoming more difficult. Producing content no longer requires a tripod or professional camera. A smartphone, or even camera-equipped smart glasses, can record an entire visit without attracting much notice.

Four Winds has not said whether the sign represents an actual ban, a rule against filming, or simply a joke about disruptive visitors. Without that explanation, the sign became the center of a much bigger debate over whether influencer attention helps businesses — or creates more problems for the people around them.

And in the process, Four Winds received exactly the kind of online attention its sign appeared to reject.

Save 30%: As of July 27, you can grab the Sonos Ace headphones in black for $279 at Amazon, knocking $120 off their $399 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sonos Sonos Ace $279 at Amazon
$399 Save $120   Get Deal

Many flagship headphones prices would suggest otherwise, but it is actually possible to get ultra-comfortable headphones with top notch sound quality and not pay over $400.

Part of the play? Knowing when to shop. As of July 27, the Sonos Ace headphones are just $279 at Amazon, which puts them $120 below their $399 list price. While not their most rare price drop, it's still an excellent value for headphones that look great and have the performance to match.

In the long line of headphones Mashable's team has tested, the Sonos Ace stand out as one of the most comfortable pairs, alongside options like the Bose QuietComfort Ultras. In her review of the Aces, Mashable's Miller Kern wrote that they compared to Sony in terms of sound quality, stand out for their Sonos soundbar compatibility, and an excellent battery life (at 30 hours per charge, it is on par with the aforementioned Bose's and the Sony XM6 headphones).

Other notable features include on-ear tactile controls, replaceable ear cups for future proofing, and solid ANC. At the time of writing, the deal is only available on the black colorway of the headphones.

SAVE 26%: As of July 27, you can get the Ecovacs Goat A3000 LiDAR Pro robotic lawn mower for $1,849 at Amazon, down from $2,499.99. That's a 26% discount or $650.99 in savings.

Ecovacs Goat A3000 LiDAR Pro Robotic Lawn Mower $1,849 at Amazon
$2,499.99 Save $650.99   Get Deal at Amazon

Pushing a heavy lawn mower through thick grass in the peak of summer heat is nobody's idea of a good weekend. If you've been waiting for a reason to hand off your yard chores to a robot, now's the time to pull out your wallet.

SEE ALSO: If you're heading off-grid this summer, grab DJI's portable power station while it's half price

Amazon's running a limited-time deal (you have about 14 hours left) on the Ecovacs Goat A3000 LiDAR Pro robotic lawn mower. Right now, you can get it for $1,849 at Amazon, down from $2,499.99. That's a 26% discount or $650.99 in savings.

Unlike older robotic mowers that require you to bury perimeter wires around your property, the Goat A3000 uses wire-free HoloScope 360 Dual-LiDAR navigation and an AI camera. It automatically maps yards up to 3/4 acre and maintains positioning accuracy within less than an inch, even under dense tree cover or along shaded fences.

It also features a built-in TruEdge trimmer to clean up borders along driveways and garden beds, a 32V power system designed for thick grass types like Bermuda or St. Augustine, and a 7,500 mAh battery that recharges in 70 minutes.

SAVE $400: The 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED monitor is on sale at Amazon for $499.99, down from the list price of $899.99. That's a 44% discount that matches the lowest price we've seen at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: LG 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED monitor (27GS93QE-B) $499.99 at Amazon
$899.99 Save $400   Get Deal

It's gaming season at my house. Actually, gaming season never ends, but it does get more action during hot summer months when no one wants to go outside. If you're in the same situation and you've noticed the gaming setup could use some help, check out this deal.

As of July July 27, the 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED monitor is on sale at Amazon for $499.99, down from the list price of $899.99. That's a 44% discount that matches the lowest price we've seen at Amazon.

SEE ALSO: The DJI Power 1000 portable power station is half off right now — buy for under $350

When it comes to a gaming monitor, the quality and specs can make a world of difference. That's quite literal since a lagging monitor can cause the in-game world to end. Instead of dealing with meh specs, go with the assurance of the LG Ultragear OLED. Today's deal applies to the 27 inch with a 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03 millisecond response time.

LG also added anti-glare that helps reduce light reflections that can cause distractions. If you have plans to game until the temperature calms down, consider upgrading to the 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED monitor.

SAVE UP TO 28%: Get the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 for $499.99 (down from $691.46) and the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP07 for $549.99 (down from $749.99) at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 $499.99 at Amazon
$691.46 Save $191.47   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP07 $549.99 at Amazon
$749.99 Save $200   Get Deal

Summer heat already means spending more time indoors with everyday allergens like dust and pet dander. But with the severe wildfires currently burning up north and affecting air quality across the country, keeping your indoor air safe and breathable is more of a necessity than a luxury right now.

SEE ALSO: The ultimate air purifier buying guide: Match your space, budget, and needs

As of July 27, you can get the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 for $499.99 (down from $691.46) and the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP07 for $549.99 (down from $749.99) at Amazon.

As the name suggests, the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 continuously detects and destroys formaldehyde released from common household items while using a 360-degree HEPA filter to trap 99.97 percent of pollutants down to 0.3 microns.

If you want a versatile unit to use year-round, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP07 purifies, heats, and cools your space. Like the TP09, it uses Air Multiplier technology, offers up to 350-degree oscillation, features a Backward airflow mode, and links to the MyDyson app.

Players of indie hit Meccha Chameleon have been warned to update the game and steer clear of its original Discord server after malicious Steam Workshop maps infected PCs.

In a report from Dexterto, the issue was first uncovered by independent researcher Feint, who looked into player reports of strange black windows briefly flashing on screen while loading custom maps. Feint traced the problem to a downloadable map called "Laser Tag Neon," which secretly installed a hidden file on players' computers the moment it loaded.

SEE ALSO: Meccha Chameleon: Xbox and phone release plans, where you can try it now

That file is believe to have then quietly reached out to the internet to download a second, more dangerous piece of malware behind the scenes. The map was removed, though another infected one, "Chroma Grid Arena," reportedly popped up in its place. Feint later found that the follow-up malware gave attackers ongoing remote access to infected computers. Feint noted that simply downloading a malicious map wasn't enough to get infected; players had to actually load and play the map.

Meccha Chameleon co-developer Haganeiro said the underlying flaw was fixed in update 3.1.0, and disabled the malicious code on affected maps even for players who hadn't updated yet.

Despite the update, according to Dexerto, a systems engineer investigating the malware for the developers had their backup computer infected, and the hackers used the compromised machine to access the engineer's Discord account. Per Developer LEMORION, the hackers altered server permissions and banned staff members from the game's roughly 100,000-member official server.

It was also reported that the compromised device had no access to Meccha Chameleon's source code, game files, or Steam developer accounts, and that claims that the hijacked server had infected the official game build itself were disputed.

A replacement community server has since been stood up while the studio awaits a response from Discord's support team.

Everyone is getting in on the smart glasses arms race, including Apple, apparently.

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has a new report on Apple's planned entry into the smart glasses market, a move that has been rumored for some time. According to Gurman, Apple will unveil the device at next year's Worldwide Developers Conference, a nominally software-focused event Apple holds every June. Presumably, the glasses would then be available for purchase sometime before the end of 2027.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Glasses shown at Unpacked. See the smart glasses now.

It's still unclear exactly what form Apple's glasses would take. Meta and Samsung, among others, have created a template in recent years for glasses that include cameras for photography and video, and for showing the world to an onboard AI assistant, but that obviously comes with plenty of privacy concerns. Gurman said Apple is mulling over removing cameras entirely or removing the ability to take photos and videos, with the cameras serving solely to provide context for an AI assistant.

The glasses will also reportedly not include any displays, which has been true of most existing smart glasses to date.

After the fairly resounding failure of Apple Vision Pro, it would have been reasonable to think that Apple would hold off on releasing any more face-worn devices for a while, but evidently not.

Furious has hit Hulu with three jaw-dropping episodes. The new series from creator Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl, Dying for Sex) centers on FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum, who also produces) as she hunts a female serial killer (Lola Petticrew) who's slaying a curious series of men. 

In this trio of premiere episodes, Furious unfurls that this mysterious murderess seems to be targeting a child trafficking ring. However, while this crime drama deals in child exploitation and sexual assault, Meriwether and her team of directors won't use imagery of either horror to tell their story. Instead, she entrusts Rossum, Petticrew, and the rest of the top-notch ensemble to sell the stakes without turning rape into a problematic spectacle. 

Over three in-person interviews, Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko sat down with Meriwether, Rossum, and Petticrew to dig into Furious's curious origins, its shrewd exploration of tough topics and complicated characters, as well as the "superpower" of its central killer. 

Look for more all season long, as Mashable has got plenty more from all three Furious collaborators. 

Furious began as an adaptation of Black Widow.  Chloe Troast and Lola Petticrew in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah Shatz

Nope, not the MCU one. In 1987, director Bob Rafelson debuted a bizarre neo-noir, in which Debra Winger stars as a U.S. Justice Department analyst who's on the tail of a suspected black widow — meaning a hot female serial killer who's offing her husbands, seemingly to collect their fortunes. But despite their cat-and-mouse dynamic, the two women find they have something in common. 

Out of the gate, Furious changes up the details, including the killer's M.O. Meriwether said of her point of inspiration, "A friend of mine told me to watch Black Widow. I did. It's such an interesting movie. You know, it feels like it's really in that world of 1970s and 1980s movies, where there isn't that push to kind of explain everything that the character is doing — in a great way. In fact, there's a Debra Winger scene where she almost makes fun of giving a monologue explaining who she is. And then there's this incredibly weird section of the movie where, after watching this cat-and-mouse female serial killer and female FBI agent dance around each other the whole movie, they just start hanging out at the beach together. 

"It's really strange," she mused, "but also, I found it really moving. Because I see these two women as just so desperate for connection with each other. And in some ways, they are the only ones that can really see the real person underneath [their façades]. And I wanted to take that and put it into this show."

She continued, "I think if you're adapting a movie into a TV show, there needs to be a why. Why do that? Like, you have to bring something to the project. So, I knew I needed to dive into the psychological parts and try to figure out why these two women became the women that they are. That led me, sort of inevitably, to an idea of being a victim of violence. I did a lot of research on female serial killers, which was, like, really terrifying and interesting. A common theme — not surprisingly — is that they are victims of violence, and then they become perpetrators of violence.

"I got excited about the possibility of just complicating all of that and showing how the experience of violence can get in your bones and come out in very strange, self-sabotaging ways," she explained. "And it can also come out in violent ways to other people."

Why does Furious not have flashbacks?  Emmy Rossum in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah Shatz

In dialogue, audiences learn that both Alice and the mysterious killer have been victims of violence. The former was battered by her ex-boyfriend, a Brooklyn detective (Jake Lacy); the latter was trafficked as a teenager. 

Meriwether said of the show's lack of flashbacks, "I think that it was important to me to keep the focus on these two women now, in the present moment, and not go back and show everything, you know, that happened to them."

Rossum expanded on this, saying, "Liz was emphatic from the drop that she wasn't interested in flashbacks. She was much more interested in the effects of the violence on both of our female characters and how it influences how they behave now."

Emmy Rossum speaks on Alice's trauma in Furious.  Scoot McNairy and Emmy Rossum in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah Shatz

"For Alice," Rossum continued, "she's become very disconnected from herself. She doesn't believe she can get justice for herself. And so she's really obsessed with getting justice for others — even at the expense of taking care of herself." 

The actor went on to address an outward element of Alice's trauma, saying, "[She's] unable to shower. We know that she smells, which I think is so brave for anybody to put in anything, because people smelling bad in our culture is really [representative of] a sense of shame. And it's something that we see exists for Alice."

As to how her trauma impacts Alice's work and sex life, Rossum said, "She has become such a machine in this job that she invites these strangers into her house to fight. Which is something that, when you read it the first time, knowing that we like victims of violence to fit in a certain box? I was scared of doing that scene.

"I didn't understand it," she continued. "I really had to work with a psychologist to understand the parts of myself that were resistant to it, the parts of myself that overlapped with the character... how to understand the separation between myself and the character, the ways in which we were different, to remember those, and also to understand that for this character, love and sexuality, violence and control have existed within the same relationship [for her]. And so I think we were really interested in an unflinching look and a fresh look at what a victim of violence would look like, both for my character, the agent, 'the good guy,' and 'the bad guy,' the serial killer. Who are, I think, on this collision course — we'll realize [they] are more similar, and there's, like, an invisible thread of sisterhood that kind of ties them together."

Lola Petticrew on understanding Furious' mysterious killer.  Lola Petticrew in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah Shatz

One of the most enticing elements of Furious is Meriwether's approach to her killer. Rather than the gold-digging black widow that was an inspiration point, Petticrew's character is a shapeshifter who has a girly streak even as she's drugging the men on her kill list. Even her name is a mystery as she shifts from Jinny to Vanessa and eventually Catherine.  

Asked about understanding their role on Furious, Petticrew said, "Even when I read the first two scripts, very early on, you get an idea of who she is. And then, as I signed on, Liz obviously revealed more. So, we definitely knew the heart and the crux of Catherine before we started shooting, and her motivation."

Over the course of the first three episodes, viewers see Catherine switch personas several times. One moment, she's skipping down the streets of New York City with girlish abandon. The next, she's acting scared to get access to a domestic violence shelter, or seducing an expensive lawyer with a vixen act, or rushing to a cozy house for her shift as a nurse's aid.  

"That is sort of Catherine's superpower," Petticrew said. "For anyone who is a woman — or socialized as a woman — as a kid, you learn very early on to read emotional temperatures of rooms. It's a socialized thing, because you have to, whether that's for safety or so that you're not underestimated. And I think for Catherine and Alice, particularly, it's a trauma response. And so I think everything that she does is led by that. And it's what she's really good at. Unfortunately, it comes from something quite dark and horrible. But she's able to harness it and use it to achieve her means."

The first three episodes of Furious are now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes every Monday through Aug. 31. 

The memory shortage persists, and the experts say it's not gonna get better anytime soon. That means buying now, before prices jump even more, might be the best option. Since current prices are painful, shopping deals has become even more pertinent. Fortunately, there are some decent deals out this week, including a World Cup model.

Check out our top picks if you're in the market for an SSD upgrade.

Best overall SSD deal Opens in a new window Credit: Sandisk Sandisk Portable SSD 1TB World Cup Edition $159.99 at Walmart
$251.99 Save $92   Get Deal Why we like it

Sure, the World Cup is over, but since there's still a deal on a World-Cup branded SSD, we're all for it. The Sandisk Portable 1TB SSD is on sale for $159.99 at Walmart, down from the list price at Sandisk of $215.99. That makes for a nice $92 discount.

Sandisk says this model comes with transfer rates that reach up to 800MB per second. The lightweight 0.09 pound SSD is also highly portable. Since this is a World Cup edition, we suspect stock is dwindling, so hop on this deal quickly if it suits your needs.

Best SSD deal for phones Opens in a new window Credit: Sandisk SanDisk Creator Phone Drive (256GB) $94.99 at Sandisk
$118.99 Save $24   Get Deal Why we like it

One of the hardest elements of storage management is where to put all of the photos that currently live on your phone or an always-full Google account. If you need some help with easy photo storage, the Sandisk Creator Phone Drive with 256GB is on sale for $94.99. You can easily transfer content from your phone to a laptop or tablet thanks to the USB-C. Plus, the size makes it travel-friendly.

Best large SSD deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lexar Lexar 2TB ES5 Magnetic External SSD $329.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $70   Get Deal Why we like it

If 1TB won't cut it, check out the Lexar 2TB ES5 Magnetic External SSD. It's on sale at Amazon for $329.99 for an 18% discount off the list price of $399.99. Compatable with MagSafe, the Lexar SSD has an impressive read and write speed of up to 2,000 MB per second. With speeds like that, it's great to see Lexar added a thermal control to make sure everything stays cool.

More SSD deals to shop this week

• Lexar 512GB SL260 Air Portable SSD — $129.99 $149.99 (save $20)

• Sandisk 1TB Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive — $219 $312.99 (save $93.99)

• Samsung T7 Portable SSD 2TB — $429.99 $549.99 (save $120)

FREE GIFT CARD: Through Aug. 1, Target is giving out free $15 gift cards to anyone who spends $50 on select household essentials (in stores or online). That includes things like toilet paper, laundry soap, cleaning supplies, and more.

Opens in a new window Credit: Target Get a $15 Target gift card when you spend $50 on household essentials   Get Deal

Running low on household essentials like toilet paper, laundry soap, and trash bags? Before you run to just any store to grab them, you might want to check out this deal at Target.

Through Aug. 1, you can get a free $15 Target gift card when you spend $50 on select household essentials — from paper towels and paper plates to laundry soap and dishwasher pods. Just load up your Target cart with items from the promotion until you reach the $50 threshold and the gift card deal will automatically be applied at checkout. Once your items ship, the gift card will appear in your Target account to spend however you please. The offer is also valid in stores, if you prefer to do your shopping in person.

The list of products included in the promotion is incredibly long, so there's a pretty good chance it includes items you use regularly and need to stock up on anyway. There are plenty of well-known brands like Arm & Hammer, Mrs. Meyer's, Bounty, Glad, Clorox, Angel Soft, and Dawn. But Target's own brands, like up&up, Dealworthy, and Everspring are also included. There are over 50 pages worth of household essentials, but you can filter by brand or product type to save you time.

Despite household essentials (and everything else in 2026) eating away at your wallet, you still need them. So why not get rewarded for stocking up with free money? Be sure to shop by the end of the day on Aug. 1 to get your gift card.

Save $80: Pick up a refurbished Nintendo Switch 2 and 'Mario Kart World' bundle for $419 before the deal sells out or expires in five days at Woot. A new game bundle goes for $499, netting you a 16% deal as of July 27 — a value that will only go up come the Sept. 1 price hike.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Refurbished Nintendo Switch 2 and 'Mario Kart World' bundle $419 at Woot
  Get Deal

After more than a year, we can say the Nintendo Switch 2 is great gaming console. It's also a fairly hefty investment, at $450 (or $500 for a game bundle).

With that price point going up $50 come Sept. 1, the time to get the absolute best value on a Switch is now. Especially with this Woot deal, which offers a refurbished Nintendo Switch 2 and 'Mario Kart World' bundle for $419. All told, that's $80 off the current list price of $499 and $130 off what the bundle price will be in the very near future.

As of July 27, the deal is only live for five more days or until supplies last — whichever comes first.

SEE ALSO: Review: I can't stop playing my Switch 2, a fabulous follow-up to an all-time legend

Outside of large savings events like Black Friday and Prime Day, Nintendo Switch 2 deals aren't all that common, and even then, they're not a given. All this is to say, we're probably seeing one of the last — if not the last — great deals on the console.

Just be aware that this is a Grade A Refurbished console (based on Woot's refurbished system), not a brand new one. That means that the console is close to a like-new condition, but there may be some visible cosmetic wear, like scratches, when viewed up close. A third party company, and not the manufacturer, completed the renewal process, and Woot offers a 90-day limited warranty with the bundle.

According to actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming, and Benedict Wong, the impending Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is a "TV and cinema calamity."

SEE ALSO: Paramount agrees to delay merger with Warner Bros. after legal challenge

The trio penned an op-ed in The Guardian that lays out the dangers of the planned merger, starting with the consolidation of storytelling and acquisitions for independent projects. "Every merger of this kind narrows the funnel through which stories can reach audiences," the piece reads.

Cumberbatch, Cumming, and Wong raised the alarm on the job loss the merger could cause, citing prior mergers like Warner Bros.-Discovery and Paramount-Skydance. Both cases resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs. The actors also stressed that the merger would lead to one company controlling the UK's Channel 5 and CNN International.

"One owner controlling this much of the news, and the truth, endangers the public in a way no ordinary consolidation does," they write, noting Paramount CEO David Ellison's reported promise to President Donald Trump to make "sweeping changes" to CNN should the deal go through.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger has already faced opposition in the US, with 12 states, led by California, suing to block it. On July 24, Paramount agreed to delay the merger until after the antitrust trial.

Cumberbatch, Cumming, and Wong's focus lies with the UK, and encouraging its government to oppose the merger in similar fashion. They applaud the efforts of Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media, and sport. Through a statement to parliament and letters to Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros., Nandy has made clear that she is "minded to intervene" in the merger.

"Nandy has opened the door to intervention. She must walk through it, for the sake of everyone who makes UK television and film – and everyone who watches it," write Cumberbatch, Cumming, and Wong. "If she does not, we will be left without the ability to protect our industry and our culture from this consolidation. We must not push the public’s interest aside; we must stand up for it and block this merger."

SAVE 15%: As of July 27, you can get the Soundcore Anker Space 2 headphones for $109.99 at Amazon, down from $129.99. That's a 15% discount.

Soundcore Anker Space 2 ANC headphones $109.99 at Amazon
$129.99 Save $20.00   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Amazon

Headphone prices have gotten entirely out of hand lately. (Well, it's not just headphones; it's gas, groceries, and just living in general, but I digress.) If you don't have the cash for a high-end pair of headphones but can't go without active noise cancellation (ANC), you should look into Soundcore.

Our Lead Shopping Reporter, Bethany Allard, reviewed the brand's Space 2 headphones in April 2026 and called them "proof that you don't need to spend upwards of $400 for a truly great pair of headphones." They easily took home a Mashable Selects award.

SEE ALSO: The 12 best headphones of 2026 — we tested the top contenders from Sony, Apple, Bose, and Beats

And right now, you can get the Soundcore Anker Space 2 headphones for $109.99 at Amazon, down from $129.99. That's a 15% discount.

You'll get 50 hours of playtime with ANC turned on and 70 hours with it off. If they do die on you, a quick five-minute charge buys you another four hours of listening. Bonus: The companion app includes a "Nap Mode" with built-in white noise, plus a live translation feature that we found to be about 80 to 90 percent accurate during testing.

SAVE $33: As of July 27, the Renpho Smart Scale for Body Weight is down to $186.99 at Amazon, its best price ever and a 15% discount off its $219.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Renpho Renpho smart scale $186.99 at Amazon
$219.99 Save $33   Get Deal

Renpho's smart body scale just dropped back to its best price yet. Right now it's $186.99 at Amazon, down from $219.99 — a 15% discount. More people are leaning into detailed health tracking these days, and full-body composition scales like this one have gotten popular as a way to track progress instead of just weight.

The Renpho scale handle has a 4.3-inch screen that walks you through 9 pages of data after each weigh-in, covering muscle mass, fat percentage, and how your numbers are trending over time. It uses an 8-electrode setup to measure different parts of your body separately, rather than just giving you one overall number, which is why it can track over 50 different metrics in total.

If you're not into staring at a screen, it also does voice assist, walking you through each step. Everything syncs to the Renpho app, which also connects with Apple Health, Google Fit, and MyFitnessPal, so you're not manually logging anything. It also supports unlimited user profiles, so the whole household can use the same scale without mixing up their data.

The smart scale holds up to 400 pounds, charges over USB-C, and Renpho says a single charge lasts up to 150 days. It's also FSA/HSA eligible, which is worth knowing if you're trying to make the most of pre-tax health dollars.

Your body's data deck awaits — grab the Renpho scale at Amazon.