Last week, a sequence of events happened pretty quickly: The Tea app—like Yelp, but for rating and reviewing men under the guise of promoting safety—rocketed to the top of Apple’s App Store as women sought to determine, anonymously, whether the guys in their lives were “green flag men” or “red flag men.” Then, there was a backlash that included a data breach which revealed thousands of user verification images to the public. Then, there was a second breach that compromised millions of direct messages sent and received on the app.

This week, a new development: Some of the women involved have filed a class action against the app. (Reps for Tea tell me they have no comment on that at this time.)

The class action against Tea

Earlier this week, a Tea app user named Griselda Reyes sued Tea Dating Advice, Inc. for negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unfair competition in a suit filed in California. She sued not only on behalf of herself, but “all others similarly situated,” accusing Tea of “failure to properly secure and safeguard” their personally identifiable information.

The complaint points out that Tea assured users that the verification images they submitted to prove they were women would be deleted. Obviously, since thousands of those images were leaked and the company issued a statement saying that the leaked images were two years old, there’s a disconnect between the assurance of deletion and the reality of what happened.

Per the complaint, Reyes has “spent time dealing with the consequences” of the data breach, verifying the legitimacy and impact of it while also looking into credit monitoring and theft insurance options. Lost time, annoyance, inconvenience, and anxiety are among the things Reyes says she suffered, along with “imminent and impending injury arising from the substantially increased risk of fraud, identify theft, and misuse” that arose from her personal information being “placed in the hands of unauthorized third parties/criminals.”

Again, reps for Tea told me they have no comment at this time. Interestingly, I already received a targeted ad on Instagram last night asking me to sign up for a class action if I had downloaded the app and been impacted, so the legal process is moving pretty swiftly.

What happened with Tea?

Tea is marketed as a safety tool that can help women conduct background checks, identify sexual predators, sleuth out cheaters, and keep themselves away from abusers—and to an extent, it is that. To a different extent, as its name implies, it’s a platform for gossiping about specific, real-life men, none of whom can gain access to the app to defend themselves or even determine if their photo is on it. It’s possible to use Tea to source information relevant to safety—but it’s also entirely possible to use it to defame a man whose worst crime is ghosting, being broke, or not texting back fast enough—or worse, whose crime is nothing at all.

It might be understandable why some people were mad about the rise of Tea’s popularity and even why some virtual vigilantes would want to leak photos and personal information—wrong though it is. An abusive man doesn’t want his MO out there and an innocent man doesn’t want to be slandered with no due process. A curious or cautious woman assured of anonymity doesn’t want her driver’s license photo showing up in a data dump. No one is really winning, here.

The first round of the data breaches made public thousands of verification images that included government identification cards and photos, but Tea was quick to say that those were all two years old, no recently created accounts were impacted, and they had enlisted cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to get to the bottom of what happened.

The second round involved much more recent—and, at times, sensitive—data: Direct messages that had been sent and received on the app as recently as last week. These were technically anonymous, as they’re not tied to users’ real names, but some include details personal enough to make their authors identifiable. Tea quickly shut down the DM feature last Friday in response to the breach and it remains inoperable today, though the rest of the app is still usable.

There’s no proof these messages were disseminated—rather, the breach was discovered by an investigator who took the findings to the press. The driver’s license photos from the first breach are another story—those were spread across forums and social media.

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Pour one out for a friend gone too soon: Peloton has stopped selling its Guide device. There’s a chance you didn’t know anything about this equipment—a webcam-type device that was meant to help you with strength training—because it never really had the name recognition the brand’s famous at-home Bikes, Treads, and Rows did. Nevertheless, it had a small, core audience of dedicated users. If you were among them, fret not, as you’ll still be able to use yours.

The Guide is gone

On Peloton’s website, the listing for the Guide is no more. You can try clicking this link, where the listing used to be, but it’ll just redirect you to the home page. Previously, the AI-powered tool started at $145. It connected to your TV with an HDMI cable and, basically, watched you while you lifted, tracking your reps and monitoring your form. It was a pretty cool idea and something that could be really beneficial for novice lifters—doesn’t matter, though! It’s gone!

Well, sort of. A rep tells me this: “The Guide is not being sold anymore, but it will still be fully usable for those that already have one, and it will still be compatible with the hardware. We are just discontinuing new sales.”

So, if you have a Guide, you can still totally use it. There won’t be anything new coming out for it, but it will still function. There’s also no news about any kind of replacement coming down the pipeline.

What if you suddenly want a Guide?

Peloton’s own resale platform, Repowered, does not sell Guides, either. That doesn’t mean you can’t find a used one out there somewhere if, for some reason, you’d like to get your hands on discontinued equipment that will never get an update again. Buying used Peloton equipment is pretty common.

eBay has a load of listings ranging from around $10 to $60. Check Facebook Marketplace, too. But be wary of price-jacking in the wake of the discontinuation; try to use platforms where you can negotiate and communicate with sellers. And, as always, keep an eye out for the usual scams you might expect to see on any online resale platform.

Ask for the serial number and photos of the ports and various surfaces. It’s useless if it can’t connect to your TV, so the ports are crucial. Ideally, ask for a video of it working, to ensure the camera and movement-tracking features are still in working order. Finally, double-check it’s been unlinked from any previous Peloton accounts, since you can’t activate it otherwise.

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In a move that pretty much exemplifies everything wrong with modern smart device ownership, Echelon has effectively rendered thousands of its home gym machines useless without an internet connection and monthly subscription. This firmware update has stripped away offline functionality, forcing users into a $39.99/month subscription model just to use equipment they already own.

What Echelon’s update means for you

Like with , Echelon has a always had “smart connect” platform that includes video classes for a subscription fee.

This news came to light earlier this week via blog post by Roberto Viola, developer of the popular QZ Fitness app that connects Echelon machines to third-party fitness platforms like Peloton, Strava, and Apple HealthKit. According to Viola, the firmware update fundamentally changed how Echelon devices operate, creating what amounts to a digital hostage situation. Users are rightfully annoyed.

The new system works like this: when users start up their Echelon equipment, the device must now log in to Echelon’s servers before any functionality becomes available. The servers send back a temporary, rotating unlock key that grants access to the machine’s features. Without this server back-and-forth, the device becomes completely bricked—no manual workouts, no Bluetooth pairing, no basic exercise metrics display.

The subscription trap

This new server-dependency conveniently funnels users toward Echelon’s subscription service, which starts at $39.99 per month (with the first month free). This way, what was once a one-time equipment purchase with full functionality is now yet another source of subscription rot. And you know how I feel about that. It sure does feel like a scam when features that were once included with purchase are being carved out and sold as ongoing services.

If you ask me, this update is a collision of two of the most infuriating trends in modern technology: the unnecessary internet-dependency of basic appliances and the creeping subscription-ization of features that should be included outright. I shouldn’t need to connect my dishwasher to the Cloud, you know? I find these “smart” features frequently make devices less reliable and more vulnerable to failure, as a simple network outage can render perfectly functional hardware unusable.

Now, Echelon users can no longer exercise during internet outages, a basic expectation for home gym equipment. More troubling, if Echelon were to go out of business or decide to discontinue server support, all updated machines would be useless, regardless of their physical condition.

The bottom line

Current Echelon users face limited options. You can pay the monthly subscription fee, attempt to avoid the firmware update (though this may become increasingly difficult), or consider their equipment partially bricked. New buyers should carefully consider whether they’re willing to commit to ongoing subscription payments for basic functionality.

The situation also serves as a cautionary tale for all smart device purchases. Before buying any connected device, consumers should ask: What happens if the company goes out of business? What happens if my internet goes down? What happens if the company decides to change its business model? Sometimes you’re better off with “dumb” devices that can’t be remotely disabled.

Call me a Luddite, but I think your stationary bike should work even if your wifi is out. You know, like the pilgrims used to say.

For years, Apple had a pretty straightforward policy toward product repairs: Take it to us, or a repair shop we approve of, or buy a new one. The company didn’t want independent repair shops or, god forbid, actual customers to be able to buy genuine Apple parts and fix their devices themselves.

It wasn’t just Apple—many companies that wanted to hold a monopoly on product repair parts and schematics from the general public. But following years of pushback from the “Right to Repair” movement, which advocates for consumers to be able to fix the products they own, things have changed. Apple now has an official Self Service Repair Store, where you can buy genuine parts and repair tools for your devices. While not all Apple products are supported here, many are, including a number of iPads. If something happens to your eligible iPad, rather than take it in for repair, you can simply look up the part on Apple’s self service store and purchase it yourself.

Good luck finding affordable iPad parts through Apple

The problem is, Apple is pricing some of these parts way too high. As reported by 404 Media, customers looking to repair their iPads are finding repair parts that not only cost more than aftermarket parts, they cost more than half the retail price of the iPad itself. One highlight includes a new USB-C port for M4 iPads, which costs $250 through Apple’s store. Amazon has the part for $35, while other stores have USB-C ports for as little as $20. Brace yourself before looking at a display replacement, too, since the prices skyrocket depending on your iPad. A display for the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, for example, costs $749. Depending on the tablet, you could buy another iPad for that price, and while this particular iPad has an MSRP of $1,300, that display repair cost goes a long way towards buying a brand new unit entirely.

That likely plays into Apple’s decisions to price the parts this way, at least according to Jonathan Strange, founder of XiRepair. Strange tells 404 Media that independent repair shops cannot afford to buy over a third of these iPad parts, based on calculations that adds the part costs, labor charges, and a 10% profit margin. The parts in question come out to more than half the cost of replacing the iPad itself, which Strange believes is intentionally designed to persuade stores and customers not to buy these parts. If a customer doesn’t buy the part, or they take the tablet to a repair store that doesn’t buy the part, they’re likely to buy a new iPad altogether.

Even if you can swallow the inflated price tag, you might have more headaches to deal with down the line. Quinn Nelson of SnazzyLabs posted on X that Apple ended up sending parts for the wrong sized iPad. Nelson was trying to upgrade the display from the standard glossy panel to Apple’s nano-texture screen, but the company didn’t send him the appropriate size:

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Apple doesn’t usually fix iPads

If you don’t try to fix the iPad yourself, or an independent repair shop doesn’t have the part, you might take it to Apple. They replace the broken display on your iPhone, so wouldn’t they fix the display on your iPad, too?

As it turns out, the answer might actually be, “no.” Apple doesn’t typically repair iPads taken in for service. The working iPad you pick up from the Apple Store is usually a replacement device, not the iPad you handed over. Why this is their policy isn’t overly clear, but Strange believes its due to how complex iPad repairs can be. He thinks Genius Bar employees and Apple authorized repair shops don’t have the coordination and training to reliably service these products, and, because of this, Apple largely forgoes repairing iPads in-house:

Apple hasn’t repaired their iPad products not because they aren’t repairable, but because Apple’s network of retail shops can’t handle the complexity. A geek squad or genius bar employee at an Apple store doing an iPad repair is like a Ford sales rep doing a Ford transmission replacement—it would be a disaster due to complexity, differences in training and just lack of experience.

Going around Apple to fix your iPad

Like other devices, you can buy parts for your iPad from many different sources to try to fix it yourself. But because of how specialized the iPad is as a device, you won’t have as many options as you would for an iPhone.

That being said, you can definitely find discounted parts out there. As per 404 Media, you can buy a replacement charging port for a fraction of the cost of Apple’s repair store. If you do, however, there are a few risks. Depending on where you’re buying the part, you might not have the same protections as buying directly from Apple: If the part fails, the store might not offer a guaranteed replacement like Apple would—though it didn’t cost you $250, so that’s a plus. Even if it does work, if it’s a third-party part that affects a security element of your iPad, like Face ID or Touch ID, Apple may disable it. For this reason, it’s better to find genuine or used Apple parts, if you can.

But where going around Apple might work in your favor is with an older iPad. Apple’s official repair program only supports the most recent iPads anyway—my M1 iPad Pro from 2021 isn’t supported, for example. If you have an iPad you can’t buy parts for from Apple, your only option is to go outside the program.

If you are going to buy parts for your iPad, I’d recommend a company like iFixit. They have parts for iPads of all kinds, and step-by-step instructions for repairing the tablet yourself. Some of the parts even have a lifetime guarantee, so if it does fail, you can get support from iFixit—a random reseller likely won’t offer the same.

At the end of the day, the iPad is one of Apple’s least repairable devices—not because it isn’t actually repairable, but because Apple has, through a number of business decisions, made it tricky to repair. The parts aren’t readily available; the parts that are can be expensive; and the tablet itself is a bit complicated. An ultra-thin slab of glass and metal isn’t going to be easy to repair in the best conditions.

Still, we should all make it a goal to extend the life of our devices as long as possible. The challenge here is finding a way to do that without breaking the bank.

(Washington, D.C., July 31, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins invites families, food lovers, and patriots alike to the Great American Farmers Market on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., August 3 – 8, 2025. This weeklong celebration will be a vibrant showcase of American agriculture, with over 50 daily booths from farmers, ranchers, producers, and vendors across the country, offering a diverse array of goods and experiences that embody the heart of rural prosperity and innovation as a celebration of American agriculture and entrepreneurial spirit.

(Washington, D.C., July 31, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the U.S. Forest Service is investing $106 million to support state and landowner efforts to conserve private working forestlands across the country. Funded through the Forest Legacy Program, these projects will protect forests vital to the economic and social fabric of local communities – ensuring they remain productive, working forests for Americans and tourists to use and enjoy.

Summer weather can be fun for a little bit—I love a 90-degree day to make a cold swimming pool feel refreshing—but a lot of us are seeing serious heat advisories lately. When the temperature and humidity are high enough, the weather can be genuinely dangerous. Here’s what you should know about staying cool and staying safe.

What is an excessive heat warning?

First, let’s talk about the difference between a “warning” and a watch or outlook. A warning is the most serious of the three. As the Normal Fire Department famously explained with a taco analogy, a taco watch means that we have the ingredients to make tacos. A taco warning means you better get ready because we are having tacos right now.

Here’s how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes these three levels:

• An excessive heat outlook means that an excessive heat event could occur in the next three to seven days.

• An excessive heat watch means that weather conditions are such that an excessive heat event is likely in the next 24 to 72 hours.

• An excessive heat warning means that a dangerous level of heat is coming in the next 12 to 24 hours. The Red Cross says this means it is time to “take precautions immediately to avoid heat-related illness.”

• A heat advisory means that dangerous heat conditions are already happening.

You can see weather statements like the above for your area by going to weather.gov, which has a big color-coded map on the front page telling you which areas are under a watch or warning, and for what dangers. (Fire, wind, and flood alerts are also included.)

How to stay hydrated in a heat wave

Heat can be dangerous. If you get so hot that you cannot cool down, you’re susceptible to heat illness including heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

So, when it comes to taking care of yourself and checking on others, make sure to:

• Stay hydrated. Drinking enough water allows your body to cool itself through sweating. Drink before you’re thirsty, and drink plenty of water; keep sugary and alcoholic drinks to a minimum.

• Get electrolytes. You lose sodium from your body when you sweat, but normal food intake is usually enough to replace it. Sports drinks and electrolyte tablets are convenient, too.

• Check with your doctor if you have a condition that requires you to keep a close eye on your hydration or electrolytes. They can give you more specific guidance on how much you should be drinking. Also ask if any of your medications can make you more susceptible to extreme heat; some can.

A note for those who sweat a lot, especially athletes and outdoor workers: normally it’s OK to just drink when you’re thirsty, and your body will make sure you stay hydrated. But in extreme conditions, this may not be enough, since your body can only absorb so much water per hour. If you’re sweating water out faster than than your digestive system can bring it in, it’s hard to stay properly hydrated. That’s why it can be a good idea to start your day, or your workout, extra hydrated.

How to keep cool in a heat wave

First, stay in the air conditioning as much as you can. If you don’t have air conditioning at home, find air conditioned places you can spend time. These might be a friend’s or family member’s house, or public places like a shopping mall or a library. Communities often set up cooling stations for heat relief. If you can’t find one, check with your local health department, with this directory that links directly to local cooling station listings where possible, or call 2-1-1.

When you have to go out, wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, and stay in the shade as much as you can. Bring your water. Don’t forget sunscreen if you’ll be in the sun, and remember that not all sunscreen is sweat-proof.

The early morning and late evening will be the least hot times to be outside. Use those times for exercise, outdoor work, or other physical tasks. Plan in time to rest in the shade as needed, for example if you’re going to be walking to the store.

Electric fans are great for cooling you down if it’s mildly hot, but once temperatures are in the high 90s or above, a fan alone can’t keep you cool enough to prevent heat illness. Seek out air conditioning, or take a cold shower or bath.

How to take care of loved ones in a heat wave

The same tips that you use for yourself apply to others as well, including children, pets, and elderly neighbors. Make sure never to leave children or pets in a car in the heat, even for a short time. Double check when you leave the car that everybody has gotten out.

If you know people who don’t have air conditioning, make sure to check on them. An estimated 80% of deaths from extreme heat occur in people who are 60 or older, so definitely check in on the older folks in your life. Find out if they’re able to keep themselves cool or if they need a ride to a cooling station. Check on their pets, too.

The Red Cross advises checking on older adults and people with chronic health conditions at least twice a day, and asking these questions:

• Are they drinking enough water?

• Do they have access to air conditioning?

• Do they know how to keep cool?

• Do they show any signs of heat stress?

Know the signs of heat illness

Heat exhaustion occurs when we can’t cool ourselves down enough. It’s not an emergency yet, but could quickly get worse. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and feeling faint can all occur with heat exhaustion. The skin is usually cold, pale, clammy, and sweaty. If you’re throwing up from the heat or if your symptoms last more than an hour, it’s time to seek medical help.

Heatstroke is the next stage, and it’s an emergency. Call 911 if somebody has a high body temperature (over 103), if they act confused or drunk, if they pass out, or if they have stopped sweating and have hot, reddened skin. The CDC has more information here.

In either case, it’s important to cool the person down. (If you have called 911, do this while you wait for help.) Loosen clothes and consider a cold bath or shower, or place cool wet cloths on the person. You can offer them a sip of water if they have heat exhaustion, but skip this step if they have signs of heatstroke.

If all of this is too much to remember, the Red Cross has a printable fact sheet that includes tips for staying cool and a chart with the symptoms and recommended first aid for heat illness.