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New technology aims to keep your drink safe

• A smart bracelet could help detect drink-spiking drugs. The device is still in development and isn't yet available to consumers.

• Don't rely on technology alone. Keep your drink in sight, watch it being made, and stay with trusted friends.

• Act quickly if something feels off. If your drink seems unusual or you suddenly feel far more intoxicated than expected, get help immediately.

Whether you're heading to a concert, bar, or college party, a new wearable device could soon add another layer of protection against drink tampering.

Developed by startup Elora Armor, the bracelet (along with pendants and keychains planned for the future) contains a sensor that can detect benzodiazepines, a class of drugs commonly associated with drink spiking.

How exactly does the bracelet work

Users place a small drop of their drink on the sensor, and a connected smartphone app analyzes the sample. If a suspected drug is detected, the app alerts the user and can automatically send their live location to preselected emergency contacts.

While the technology is still being developed and isn't yet commercially available, safety experts say it could become a very useful tool down the road.

The important caveat is that consumers don't treat the technology as a substitute for basic safety precautions.

Technology can help but awareness still matters

No device can detect every possible substance or eliminate the risk of drink tampering.

Experts continue to recommend keeping drinks within sight, accepting beverages only from trusted servers or bartenders, and staying with friends when going out.

The new bracelet is designed to complement those habits, not necessarily replace them.

How to protect yourself

• Create a safety network before you go out. Share your location with a trusted friend, agree on a meeting spot, and establish a code word in case someone needs help leaving quickly.

• Don't ignore sudden symptoms. If you become intoxicated much faster than expected, feel unusually dizzy, confused, or struggle to stay awake, tell someone you trust immediately and seek medical attention. Don't try to "sleep it off."

• Think beyond bars. Drink spiking can happen at house parties, concerts, festivals, and other crowded events. No matter where you are, never leave your drink unattended or accept one that's already been opened or poured by someone you don't know.

• Watch your drink being made. Order directly from the bartender or server whenever possible, and avoid accepting drinks that have already been poured or left unattended.

• Trust your instincts. If a drink tastes, smells, or looks unusual (or if someone is pressuring you to drink it) don't take the risk. Throw it away and order a fresh one.

• Keep a hand over your drink in crowded places. Whether you're walking through a crowd, dancing, or talking with friends, covering your cup can reduce the chance of someone slipping something into it.

New research links frequent television habits to smaller memory-related brain regions

• Frequent TV watching in midlife was associated with smaller brain structures linked to memory and thinking decades later.

• The same pattern was not seen with sitting at work, suggesting different sedentary activities may affect the brain differently.

• The study found an association not proof that television watching directly causes these brain changes.

Many of us have heard the warning that watching too much television is "bad for your brain." While that's an oversimplification, new research suggests there may be some truth behind the idea at least when it comes to frequent TV viewing during midlife.

Researchers from the University of Southern California analyzed long-term health data and found that people who reported watching television "very often" in their leisure time during middle age were more likely to show smaller brain structures decades later.

Those changes appeared in areas involved in memory, decision-making and visual processing, as well as in regions that are known to be affected early in Alzheimer's disease. The researchers also found more white matter changes, which have been linked to aging, cognitive decline and stroke risk. Importantly, the findings show an association rather than proving that television watching directly caused these differences.

For years weve focused on how much people sit. Our findings suggest we should also pay attention to what theyre doing while theyre sitting, researcher David Raichlen said in a news release.

How the study was conducted

The study included 1,712 adults who participated in the long-running Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.

Participants were about 53 years old, on average, when they first answered questions between 1987 and 1989 about how often they watched television during their free time and how much of their workday they spent sitting.

More than 20 years later, participants underwent brain MRI scans. Researchers compared the scans with the earlier survey responses while accounting for several factors that could influence brain health, including physical activity, diabetes, body mass index, smoking and alcohol use.

The study relied on self-reported television habits, and participants did not receive brain scans at the beginning of the study, both of which are important limitations the authors acknowledged.

What the findings could mean

One of the most notable findings was that not all sitting appeared to have the same relationship with brain health.

While frequent television viewing was linked to smaller brain volumes and greater white matter changes, spending long periods sitting at work was associated with larger brain volumes in some regions and lower levels of white matter changes. The researchers suggest that mentally engaging work activities may differ from the more passive nature of television viewing.

The researchers also found that many of the observed brain differences were more pronounced in men, although additional research is needed to better understand why. Overall, the findings suggest that it may be worth paying attention not only to how much time people spend sitting, but also to how they spend that time.

We frequently encourage the public not to spend too much time sitting down, but experts may want to expand that recommendation to encompass the activities done while sitting, since those seems to have distinct impacts on brain health, researcher Natan Feter said in the release.

How to protect yourself after cybercriminals used stolen passwords to access some customer accounts

• Cybercriminals used stolen passwords to access some Chick-fil-A customer accounts in a credential stuffing attack, highlighting the risks of reusing the same password across multiple accounts.

• Changing your Chick-fil-A password is just the first step. Experts recommend updating any other accounts that use the same password, especially email, banking, and shopping accounts.

• Simple security habits can help prevent future attacks, including using unique passwords, enabling multifactor authentication, watching for phishing , and considering a password manager or passkeys.

If you have a Chick-fil-A account, now is a good time to take a few minutes to check it. The restaurant chain recently disclosed that attackers gained access to some customer accounts by using stolen login credentials that had already been exposed in previous data breaches a tactic known as credential stuffing.

While the breach affected only some accounts, cybersecurity experts say it's an important reminder that reusing passwords can put more than one account at risk. If you use the same password for multiple websites or apps, changing your Chick-fil-A password may be only the first step.

ConsumerAffairs spoke with Gary Orenstein, Chief Customer Officer at Bitwarden to learn more about these types of cyberattacks and how consumers can protect themselves moving forward.

What is credential stuffing?

Scammers used a process known as credential stuffing in the recent Chick-fil-A data breach. Orenstein broke down exactly what it is and why it works.

Credential stuffing is an automated account takeover technique in which attackers test lists of stolen email addresses and passwords against unrelated websites and apps, he said. It succeeds because many consumers reuse passwords across multiple accounts. If a password exposed through another source was also used for a Chick-fil-A One account, an attacker could potentially log in without exploiting a vulnerability in Chick-fil-As systems.

Orenstein explained that this method is so successful because even a small success rate can be valuable because automated tools can test enormous volumes of compromised credentials.

Loyalty accounts can be attractive targets because stored credits, rewards, and QR codes may have immediate value, he said. Contact information and partial payment-card details can also support phishing, account resale, and other forms of fraud.

Protecting your accounts now

If you were involved in the data breach, the first course of action should be resetting your Chick-fil-A password as soon as possible. However, Orenstein also had some other tips for consumers.

• Identify every account where they reused the same or a similar password. Replace it with a strong, unique password. Primary email accounts deserve immediate attention because it controls password resets, security notifications, and account recovery for other services.

• Review active sessions and recovery settings. Sign out of unfamiliar devices and enable multifactor authentication (MFA) or a passkey whenever available.

• Secure any banking, credit card, payment, or investment accounts that used the same credentials or a variation of the compromised password. Review recent transactions, enable account alerts, and contact the financial institution immediately if there is evidence of unauthorized activity.

• Be cautious of unexpected emails or text messages about the incident. Access accounts through the official app or website rather than links in those messages.

• Stop reusing passwords altogether. A password manager can generate and store a strong, unique password for every account, preventing credentials compromised through one service from unlocking others.

Future prevention tips

In addition to helping mitigate any potential issues from this data breach, Orenstein shared tips for consumers to start implementing to help prevent a future issue.

• Replace reused passwords immediately: Change passwords reused across retail, payment, email, and financial accounts, including predictable variations of the same password. Use a strong, unique password for every account.

• Review account security: Sign out unfamiliar sessions or devices and confirm that recovery email addresses, phone numbers and MFA methods have not been changed without authorization.

• Use a password manager: A password manager can generate and store unique passwords and may warn users when credentials do not autofill because the website domain does not match the saved login.

• Enable stronger authentication factors: Turn on MFA, particularly for email, financial, and payment accounts. Authenticator apps, security keys, and push-based approvals can all provide stronger protection than SMS-based codes. Consumers should only approve authentication requests they initiated.

• Adopt passkeys where supported: Passkeys replace reusable passwords with phishing-resistant authentication that is cryptographically bound to the legitimate service.

• Limit stored payment information: Save payment methods only on accounts used regularly, remove them from dormant accounts, and enable transaction alerts through the card issuer or financial institution.

• Continue monitoring: Review account activity, login alerts and password reset messages for actions you did not initiate. If accounts remain compromised after password changes or a device shows suspicious behavior, update its software, remove unfamiliar applications or extensions, and run a scan using a reputable security tool.

One in five listings had a price reduction in July

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• The national median home listing price fell 2.4% from a year earlier to $428,950 in July.

• Sellers reduced the asking price on 20% of listings as the summer housing market lost momentum.

• Pending sales increased for the eighth straight month, suggesting buyers remain active despite high borrowing costs.

Home sellers are becoming more willing to lower their asking prices as the summer buying season cools, but buyers have not entirely retreated from the market.

According to Realtor.coms July Housing Market report, the national median listing price was $428,950 in July, down 2.4% from a year earlier and nearly unchanged from June. It was the ninth consecutive month in which asking prices declined on an annual basis.

Price reductions also became more common. Sellers cut the asking price on 20% of active listings, up from 18.8% in June and just below the 20.6% recorded in July 2025.

The figures indicate that some sellers may have initially priced their homes higher than buyers were willing or able to pay. Elevated mortgage rates continue to limit purchasing power, forcing buyers to be more selective.

Julys data show a market that is cooling seasonally, not coming apart, Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in the report. She said sellers are adjusting their prices while buyers are responding more selectively.

Buyers are still signing contracts

Despite the increase in price cuts, the number of listings in pending status rose 1.3% from July 2025. That marked the eighth consecutive month of annual pending-sales growth, the longest such stretch since 2020 and 2021.

However, the pace of growth is slowing. Pending listings increased 4.1% in May and 3.7% in June before easing to 1.3% in July.

Homes spent a median of 57 days on the market, four days longer than in June but one day less than a year earlier. It was the first annual decrease in selling time following 26 consecutive months in which homes took longer to sell than they did the previous year.

Julys 57-day selling period was also in line with the typical July pace before the pandemic.

Regional differences remain significant

Price trends varied widely depending on location.

Median listing prices fell 3.9% from a year earlier in the West and 2.5% in the South. Prices declined 1.4% in the Northeast but edged up 0.2% in the Midwest.

Price per square foot, which helps account for differences in the size of homes being listed, declined in 34 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas. Austin, Texas, recorded the largest annual decrease at 8.5%, followed by Memphis at 6% and Tampa at 4.8%.

Providence, Rhode Island, posted the largest increase in price per square foot at 8.3%. Indianapolis was up 4.8%, while Hartford, Connecticut, increased 4.5%.

Price reductions were most common in Portland, Oregon, where 31% of listings had been marked down. Denver followed at 30.9%, while Dallas and Austin were both at 28.3%.

At the other end of the scale, only 9% of Hartford listings had a price reduction. New York was next at 9.7%, followed by Buffalo at 10.5%.