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Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for October 31's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for October 30 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Cute pet names for an SO

• Green: Eyelid actions

• Blue: Luxury car brands

• Purple: Types of hunts

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Terms of Endearment

• Green: Things You Can Do With Your Eyelids

• Blue: Sports Cars

• Purple: ___Hunt

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #508 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Terms of Endearment: DARLING, LOVE, PUMPKIN, TREASURE

• Things You Can Do With Your Eyelids: BAT, BLINK, FLUTTER, WINK

• Sports Cars: DIABLO, MUSTANG, SPIDER, VIPER

• ___Hunt: EGG, JOB, SCAVENGER, WITCH

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for October 30

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

The New York-Los Angeles rivalry may have existed before the Brooklyn Dodgers packed up and moved west in 1958, but that seismic shift certainly didn’t help. America’s two biggest cities are at it again, with baseball at the fore. The Big Apple and The City of Angels are currently going head-to-head in the World Series (with the Dodgers v. the Yankees, with game 5 tonight in New York; Dodgers lead 3-1), but they’ve also been duking it out for weeks online over stadiums, accessibility, and transit.

Los Angeles’s Metro, which operates the city’s bus and train lines, inadvertently stepped into it earlier this month when the agency tweeted an informational video on how to walk to Dodger Stadium. The stadium is disconnected from the city’s train lines and perched on a notoriously hard-to-navigate hill in the Echo Park neighborhood.

SEE ALSO: Social media feeds toxic fandoms. Is there a solution?

New Yorkers guffawed at the circuitous, 25-minute walk that includes traversing past impatient drivers and stepping over cracked, narrow sidewalks before finally reaching the Chinatown A Line station. Metro fended off some criticism by pointing out its Dodger Express service, a free bus shuttle from two different city spots. The buses are popular, yet far from efficient, often getting caught in traffic out of the stadium (the buses have dedicated lanes prior to the games).   

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While there is a proposal to build a gondola (yes, a gondola) from L.A.’s Union Station to Dodger Stadium, the lack of direct rail transit is a bugaboo for Los Angeles, which has managed to build 109 miles of rail in 34 years, connecting places like Hollywood, Inglewood, Santa Monica, and Downtown L.A. (Beverly Hills will even get a subway stop next year). While many Angelenos are making the arduous walk work, according to the New York Times, Yankees fans benefit from New York’s more robust system, only having to walk a few hundred feet from the 161 St./Yankee Stadium station in the Bronx that serves the D and 4 lines.

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On Monday, shots were fired at New York by Eric Spillman, a reporter at Los Angeles’s KTLA. 

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Of course, New York had to respond. It wasn’t from the MTA, but the NYC DOT, which oversees all public transit in the metropolis. And they brought AI into it!

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We can all agree that both cities have their pluses and minuses — and it sure feels nice to have Americans arguing about something that doesn’t involve politics. In the meantime, folks can cruise over to the Bronx for Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium. If the Yanks win, the Series moves back to L.A., where fans can lace up their walking shoes and dream of that gondola. 

The influential cryptocurrency exchange has undergone several reorganizations in recent years.

The Silicon Valley company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it does not plan to slow down its investments anytime soon.

The company’s profit increased 11 percent to $24.7 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations and its own predictions.

Tegan and Sara have been queer icons in the music industry for over 2 decades. So when Jojo Siwa claimed to be inventing 'Gay Pop' they responded.

Mr. Singh, who was a top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried’s business empire, had pleaded guilty to fraud and campaign finance violations that contributed to the collapse of FTX.

In recent years, whenever Apple launched base configurations of Mac devices with 8GB of RAM, the Cupertino-based tech giant faced backlash from consumers arguing that 8GB of memory is simply insufficient for today’s demands.

For example, when Apple outfitted last year's MacBook Pro models with the M3 chip, critics expressed disappointment that the entry-level configuration only offered 8GB of RAM.

"Apple has lost its mind," one Reddit user said.

When Apple dropped the M3 MacBook Air earlier this year with the same base configuration, it also sparked a spirited discussion on social media about whether 8GB of RAM is enough.

It's the end of the 8GB of RAM Macs. Credit: Razulation / Shutterstock.com / Canva

Whether Apple is concerned about support for Apple Intelligence (the new AI suite requires more memory bandwidth) or has actually been listening to critical feedback, it looks like the new batch of M4 MacBook Pro models now start with 16GB of RAM. The same can be said for the new M4 iMac and M4 Mac mini models that dropped this week, too.

The death of Macs with 8GB of RAM

Apple released the new M4 MacBook Pro models on Wednesday, and they all start with a minimum of 16GB of RAM. As mentioned, the recently dropped iMac and Mac mini also start with 16GB of RAM.

M4 MacBook Pro promo image on Apple's website Credit: Apple

Even the MacBook Air family now starts at 16GB of RAM, at no additional cost to consumers.

You know what that means? It's the end of an era.

Last year, Apple’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Bob Borchers claimed that “8GB [of RAM] on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably analogous to 16GB on other systems” because its machines make more efficient use of memory through advanced memory compression and a unified memory architecture. 

This comment didn't sit well with consumers.

"There is no way that having 8GB RAM will enable you to have the same performance as a machine with 16," Jordan Jackson said in a Reddit thread on the subject.

"8 gigs is an absolute joke if you ever consider doing something harder that a few Chrome tabs," another Redditor added.

As hinted earlier, we're not sure whether Apple Intelligence or customer listening has something to do with Apple's new 16GB of RAM standard, but we're not complaining.

Russia wants Google to pay an unfathomable amount of money in fines: $20 decillion, reportedly.
For the non-mathematicians out there, that is 2 followed by 34 zeroes.

The fine has been accruing and doubling weekly since 2020 after Kremlin-backed news services Tsargrad and RIA FAN won court cases over the blocking of their YouTube channels, wrote The Moscow Times, citing a report from the Russian news service RBC. The fine has also grown as 15 other channels have won cases against Google, bringing the total to — wait for it — 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, Gizmodo reported.

Google has reportedly not paid the fines, which has led to the astronomical figure. Even if it wanted to, the tech giant could not pay what it owes. Estimates vary on how much money exists in the world, but it doesn't even come close to $20 trillion.

SEE ALSO: How a Monday Night Football mishap may have exposed deep problems with Google Search

To be clear, the exact amount Google owes has varied a bit from news source to news source. That's honestly to be expected, considering we're dealing with a practically hypothetical number of rubles that are then converted to dollars. The point is clear, however: It's an impossible amount of money.

Perhaps Google will have to cut back on nights out and avocado toast for a bit.

Less than a week out from election day, as many around the country send in their mail-in ballots or stand in early voter lines, Americans are anxiously hoping to know who will be the next president ASAP. 

Many pundits anticipate a quicker turnaround than the last presidential election, perhaps as early as Wednesday morning, but election experts — noting ongoing outcome-driven attacks on the veracity of ballot counting — want to hedge such expectations. 

SEE ALSO: The truth about voting machine security in the 2024 election Closer the race, longer the count

"The public perceives election results coming out fairly quickly, on election night or in the days after, but it has always been true that it has taken days or weeks to get official election results," said Chris Mann, director of research for the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonprofit that works with election officials to build stronger confidence in elections. "In order to get the official results, we have to count every single ballot. Making sure that is done properly, correctly, thoroughly, completely, it takes a while, and states have different processes."

Mann and others urge the public to understand that no two elections are alike, and a lot has been invested into the 2024 election that wasn't integrated into the 2020 process — this will speed up the count in some states, but that doesn't mean results will come out immediately. There are three important factors to understanding election results, he explained: First, just how close the result margins turn out to be; second, the technological factors used to tabulate results; and third, the electoral policies in each state. 

Of the bunch, said Mann, close margins are the most important factor in establishing a result timeline. An election with close margins requires more ballots be counted before an outcome can confidently be called by media outlets, which is what led to the near 5-day wait in 2020. 

Polls, of course, are already making educated guesses about the closeness of results in both the presidential race and other offices across the 50 states. But polls aren't actually projections about the winners and shouldn't be taken as such, according to experts. Instead, they try to capture and estimate voter attitudes. Intention, however, is slippery to capture, and voter opinion can change in a matter of minutes. Closer margins obscure these results even further, and may result in even more dedicated ballot counting. 

Tech investments speed up counts, but have limits

State-specific technology will also play a key factor in calling a winner. Since 2020, election officials have invested heavily in expanding updated and faster ballot counting machines and processes to speed up the tech's use. Machine upgrades in states like Wisconsin, for instance, will speed up day-of counting compared to the last go-round. 

"A variety of states, swing states and non-swing states, have invested in technology," Mann said. "If you ask election officials, or folks who closely observe elections, this election will be the most secure and transparent and well-run because there has been this investment in technology… We will be able to count ballots much faster than we have in almost any previous election across the country."

Technological innovations are bolstered by human-monitored processes, which can simultaneously speed up and slow down the counting process. And counting can't begin until ballots are verified, the most time consuming part of the entire tabulation process. Mann points to two important state policies that will determine when counting can take place. The first is whether or not a state allows what is known as "pre-processing," in which officials validate absentee and mail-in ballots ahead of time to speed up counting. 

Earlier this month, the CEIR published a report on the state of early, mail-in voting policies per state, outlining a shift to allow more pre-processing efforts among 43 of the 50 states. Michigan and Nevada, for example, will now participate in pre-processing, with Michigan allowing early voting for the first time in order to speed its reporting up. Notably, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania do not allow pre-processing, and Pennsylvania is expected to lag behind other swing states in reporting an official count. 

"Counting ballots takes time, and confusion around perceived delays can open the door to misinformation and unfounded doubts about the integrity of the count," the organization wrote. "Pre-processing reinforces election integrity and improves administrative efficiency. Beginning to process mail or absentee ballots before election day gives election officials more time to detect, investigate, and address potential errors or irregularities before election day."

The second state policy at play is the window of acceptance a state has for receiving ballots. States like California, Oregon, and Washington accept ballots postmarked on election day, which means contentious seats down the ballot may not be called for weeks. Federal law gives overseas residents and military members the same allowance, established in the 1980s. Even swift pre-processing may be swamped by day-of or post-election day ballots. "Election officials get a lot of ballots, and you can't pre-process something you don't have," said Mann. "So when the mail truck pulls up to the election office and unloads bags and bags of mail ballots that have just arrived, they again have to go through that whole process, even if they were allowed to process the ones that they had gotten days before, in advance."

Early voting has become an essential part of the pre-election day build up. Independent organizations like VoteHub attempt to monitor and track the amount of absentee and mail-in voting requests and returns for the public using web data, offering a scope to early voting. 

Tweet may have been deleted The election is safe, despite claims otherwise

But even with policies that support human or machine help, and a host of data insights, official ballot counting takes time. That time opens up room for voter anxiety and misinformation. From attacks on mail-in ballots to false claims about election technology, voters can anticipate a swell of false partisan claims circulating election day about the veracity of the count. "One thing that's really important to watch out for is how much of this information is driven by outcome," said Mann. "These are not principled attacks, but opportunistic attacks driven by outcomes, not about the process." 

Conflicting information may also sow doubt among voters. Mann encourages individuals to visit Vote.gov to get the most accurate information about their state's electoral process and officials, including how it declares a winner — the website has been revamped since 2020 to include even more resources for voters. Mann also points to CEIR's interactive guides that explain just how your ballot becomes a vote, what happens after a vote is cast, and how the media covers an election. 

Election day will be a blur of unofficial calls based on early polls and conjecture by major political parties, with election officials reassuring the public as much as possible. Media outlets will try to beat each other to the most accurate call, based on a calculation of the gap between candidates and the number of uncounted ballots left. Simultaneously, political leaders on both sides may be eager to urge on more counting, ask to halt the count to call a winner, or participate in a confusing combination of both, as was seen with the 2020 Trump campaign's scattered ideological stance to mail-in ballot counting. 

But one thing is certain: Your vote is secure. "Our elections will not be perfect. There will be power outages, there will be poll workers [who] oversleep and don't open the polls on time, but they will be as close to perfect as they have ever been," said Mann. "I'm 100 percent confident that it will be the best election that we have ever had, but it's also the election that's been under the most attack." 

GET 15% OFF: As of Oct. 30, you can get select Lego sets for 15% off at Target. Shop Star Wars, Disney, and more.

Our top picks: Best Lego Disney deal Lego Disney: Disney Duos (43226) set $38.24 at Target (save $6.75 ) Get Deal Best Lego Star Wars deal Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Yoda's Jedi Starfighter (75360) set $24.21 at Target (save $4.28 ) Get Deal Best Lego City deal Lego City Explorer Diving Boat (60377) set $19.96 at Target (save $3.53) Get Deal

Legos are an iconic toy that’s been around for ages — they’re loved by adults and children alike, but there’s just one problem: They’re kind of expensive. Some more elaborate designs will cost you $200 or more, depending on the theme and piece count.

SEE ALSO: Target's Black Friday plans involve a new 3-day sale on top of daily and weekly doorbusters

Luckily, Target’s offering up to 15% off Legos right now, so you can get your tots, friends, family members, or even yourself a sweet deal on these beloved blocks.

Here are some of the best Lego deals at Target right now:

Best Lego Disney deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Our pick: Lego Disney: Disney Duos (43226) set $38.24 at Target
$44.99 Save $6.75 Get Deal Why we like it

The Lego Disney: Disney Duos (43226) set has all the pieces (533, to be exact) to make eight collectible figures: Lumiere and Cogsworth from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Pua and Hei Hei from Moana, Nemo and Squirt from Finding Nemo and Meeko and Percy from Pocahontas. It also comes with little stands decorated to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, which is a cute addition.

Best Lego Star Wars deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Our pick: Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Yoda's Jedi Starfighter (75360) set $24.21 at Target
$28.49 Save $4.28 Get Deal Why we like it

The Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Yoda's Jedi Starfighter (75360) set is a 253-piece Lego build with mini-figures of Yoda and R2-D2. Once built, Yoda’s Jedi Starfighter features an opening cockpit, two spring-loaded shooters, and adjustable wings — so kids can recreate all their favorite Star Wars space battle scenes.

Best Lego City deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Our pick: Lego City Explorer Diving Boat (60377) set $19.96 at Target
$23.49 Save $3.53 Get Deal Why we like it

If you’re looking for a budget Lego set that’s still intricate enough for hours of imaginative play, the Lego City Explorer Diving Boat (60377) set is only $19.96. It has 182 pieces to build a small boat complete with three explorer mini-figures, a manta ray, hammerhead shark, crab, two fish, and two baby turtles. It’s the perfect starter set for kids getting into Lego City.

The video of the moment Yankees fans ripped a ball from Mookie Betts' glove is pretty unbelievable. The internet loved joking about it.

Apple Intelligence is the talk of the town and of high interest for anyone with an Apple device. While we've been gushing about our experience with Apple Intelligence on iPhone, we don't want you to forget that some Apple Intelligence features are available on Mac, too.

For example, if you record a conversation with the Voice Memos app, Apple Intelligence can step in with a transcription of it. It's very helpful — and that only scratches the surface of what Apple Intelligence offers to users.

But the question is, how do you enable Apple Intelligence on your Mac? Here are the steps.

SEE ALSO: 6 Apple Intelligence features you can try right now — and how to turn them on How to enable Apple Intelligence on Mac

To enable Apple Intelligence on Mac, you must have a Mac with an M1 chip. Plus, it must be updated to macOS Sequoia 15.1.

You can do this by going to System Settings (via Apple icon on the top-right corner) > Software Update. In the "Available Updates" section, check for macOS Sequoia 15.1 and click on "Restart now."

Apple Intelligence update via System Settings app Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

This update will take about 20 minutes to install.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Next, you can enable Apple Intelligence by, once again, navigating to System Settings and clicking on "Apple Intelligence & Siri." Next, click on "Turn on Apple Intelligence" and follow the prompts.

Apple Intelligence features you can use on Mac

Now that you have Apple Intelligence turned on, you may be wondering which Apple Intelligence features you can use on your Mac. AI-powered perks include the following:

• Writing assistance for adjusting your tone

• Summarized notifications of your emails, texts, and more

• A more conversational Siri

• Webpage summaries

• Natural language support for searching within the Photos app

• Transcripts of audio recordings

To get started with Apple Intelligence, head over to Notes or Messages, type some text, and right click it, allowing you to receive some options on how to adjust the tone to your liking (i.e., friendly or professional). Plus, there's also a new Type-to-Siri feature that you can access by double-pressing the COMMAND key.

After exploring Apple Intelligence on your Mac, let us know in the comments how you feel about Apple's new suite of AI features.

"Sweethearts" premieres November 28 on Max.

The world’s richest men have their own rocket fleets, their own media and their own schemes to succeed with Donald J. Trump.

SAVE $15: As of October 30, get Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch for $44.99 at Woot. That's a 25% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Woot 'Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door' $44.99 at Woot
$59.99 Save $15.00 Get Deal

The Nintendo Switch may soon be welcoming a successor, but that doesn't mean it isn't still worth adding to your collection. Especially if that means picking up an excellent remake that's a faithful love letter to the original. That's the case with the Switch remake of the 2004 GameCube classic Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, which you can get right now at a great price.

As of Oct. 30, get Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch at Woot for $44.99. That's $15 down from its normal price of $59.99 and a 25% discount. This is a physical edition, not a digital code, so you'll have to wait for the game to be shipped to you to play.

This remake gives the original game a graphical makeover with new animations, music, and other changes to bring it in line with other, more modern games. It adds new boss encounters, fast travel, and a variety of other surprises for new and old fans alike. It follows Mario and Princess Peach on the search for some lost treasure when Peach is suddenly kidnapped. It might be hard to believe, but Mario has to head off on a journey to save her.

Okay, yes, so Mario has to rescue Peach, but this time it's from a group of aliens. Except it's not your average Mario game, but a rich and full-bodied RPG that you'll absolutely love if you were a fan of the Nintendo 64 original Paper Mario or any of the follow-ups afterward. This is a great price to jump in with, or return to, if you experienced the GameCube original.

SAVE UP TO 38%: Video doorbells from brands like TP-Link, Arlo, and ecobee are up to 38% off at Amazon.

Video doorbell deals at Amazon Best overall deal Arlo 2K Video Doorbell $79.99 at Amazon (save $50) Get Deal Best deal under $50 TP-Link Tapo Smart Video Doorbell $49.99 at Amazon (save $20) Get Deal Best wired doorbell deal ecobee Smart Video Doorbell $127.95 at Amazon (save $32.04) Get Deal

It's a shock when someone actually calls your phone, but when someone shows up at your doorstep unexpected is even more of a surprise. Instead of hiding in another room, a video doorbell allows you to check on your front porch from your phone. From the doorbell's live stream, you'll be able to tell if it's your Amazon delivery, the neighborhood kids, or someone you'd rather not encounter.

A video doorbell is also a great way to get immediate notifications when a package is delivered, instead of checking your Amazon account every few minutes. If you're ready for a doorbell upgrade that adds to your home security, check out these sales at Amazon during the week of Oct. 30.

Best overall deal Opens in a new window Credit: Arlo Our pick: Arlo 2K Video Doorbell $79.99 at Amazon
$129.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal Why we like it

With 2K video resolution, the Arlo Video Doorbell gets the job done perfectly, and it's currently 38% off at Amazon. Instead of the list price of $129.99, the Arlo is down to just $79.99. The Arlo focuses on showing you exactly what you'd want to see when checking on your front porch: a head-to-toe view with a 180 degree-wide angle.

With the Arlo app, you'll be able to get real-time notifications from motion alerts and live streaming. There's also a night vision mode which is especially great during darker winter months. The doorbell's weather resistance means it'll hold up in any weather.

Best deal under $50 Opens in a new window Credit: TP-Link Our pick: TP-Link Tapo Smart Video Doorbell $49.99 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal Why we like it

Increasing your home's security system doesn't have to come with a huge cost. With Amazon's sale price, the TP-Link Smart Video Doorbell can be all yours for just $49.99, marked down from the list price of $69.99. While some video doorbells use 1080p resolution, the TP-Link uses 2K which means you'll have a sharper image to see fine details like faces or license plate information.

Instead of getting up to open the door, you can arrange for the doorbell to call your phone, allow you to answer the door with your smartphone.

A common downfall of video doorbells is giving you alerts that you don't need — like when the cat walks by. Instead, the TP-Link allows you to set specific activity zones to monitor for motion or people.

Best wired doorbell deal Opens in a new window Credit: ecobee Our pick: ecobee Smart Video Doorbell $127.95 at Amazon
$159.99 Save $32.04 Get Deal Why we like it

If you'd rather not worry about re-charging your video doorbell, check out the wired ecobee Smart Video Doorbell. Equipped with a 1080p HDR camera, the ecobee allows you to see a live view of your porch from your smartphone or tablet. You'll get a 175 degree vertical view and a 187 degree horizonal view of what's happening outside of your front door.

With the wired configuration, the doorbell can withstand outdoor temps that range from -13 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit while also being waterproof and dust proof.

The doorbell comes with everyone you'd need to install it yourself including mounting plates, two wire extenders, a chime adapter, and screws.

A staggering new update has confirmed that February’s UnitedHealth data breach has impacted over 100 million Americans, now marking it as the largest healthcare data breach in U.S. history. But the fallout extends beyond individual patients — it touches entire families, elevating the scope and scale of this unprecedented attack.

SEE ALSO: 23andMe data breach settlement could give up to $10K to victims

The revised figure was disclosed on Oct. 24 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, which updated its data breach portal to reflect the full breadth of the breach. While the attack occurred in February, this latest report is the first official accounting of the impact widespread.

For context, a ransomware group called ALPHV targeted UnitedHealth Change Health's payment processing system in February 2024. As reported by Forbes, the breach didn’t just expose data; it crippled critical services to hospitals, clinics, and medical practices nationwide, causing widespread operational chaos across the healthcare network.

UnitedHealth reportedly paid the ransomware hacker group $22 million in a desperate bid to recover the stolen data and halt further exposure. But in a bold move, the hackers reneged on the deal, pocketing the payout while keeping the data — leaving tens of millions of Americans' information dangling on the dark web.

Here's the statement that Forbes received from UnitedHealth regarding the breach:

“We continue to notify potentially impacted individuals as quickly as possible, on a rolling basis, given the volume and complexity of the data involved and the investigation is still in its final stages. Change continues to update the status of the event and we also issued the substitute notification via the wire. Most importantly, Change Healthcare is also in regular communication with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights and other regulators regarding our notification process. We are committed to notifying potentially impacted individuals as quickly as possible. We continually encourage consumers to reach out with questions and take the below steps"

If you suspect that you've been affected by this data breach, Forbes suggests that you monitor your bank and credit card statements, request a credit freeze, and keep an eye out for medical fraud (review insurance statements for any unfamiliar claims and services).

Check out the best Amazon deals of the day as of Oct. 30: OUR TOP PICK Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Core Wireless Controller, and 1-month Game Pass Ultimate Bundle $79.99 at Amazon (save $56.98) Get Deal BEST TABLET DEAL Amazon Fire HD 10 $74.99 at Amazon (save $65) Get Deal BEST HOME SECURITY DEAL Arlo Video Doorbell 2K (2nd gen) $79.99 at Amazon (save $50) Get Deal BEST HOME DEAL Dyson Pure Cool TP4B $299.99 at Amazon (save $250) Get Deal BEST KITCHEN DEAL Ninja Mega Kitchen System BL770 $99.99 at Amazon (save $100) Get Deal

With Black Friday still a month away and Prime Day in our rearview, there's no major shopping event dropping prices on products on Oct. 30. Instead, there are just deals for the sake of deals. And TBH, these are our favorite kind. If you're looking to save some money and tick off your holiday shopping list, now is as good of a time as any.

Here are our top picks for the best Amazon deals of the day on Oct. 30. Make sure to check out our picks from Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 if you missed them as well. Plenty of those deals are still live — including a record-low M2 iPad Air and the Beats Solo 4 back at their Prime Day price.

Our top pick Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon / Microsoft Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Core Wireless Controller, and 1-month Game Pass Ultimate Bundle $79.99 at Amazon
$136.97 Save $56.98 Get Deal

As of June 2024, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play Xbox games (via cloud streaming) on compatible Amazon Fire TV Stick devices. In other words, you don't need to buy a $500 gaming console to play high-end console games. If you've been wanting to try it out for yourself, this bundle allows you to get started at a discount. It includes the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, a compatible Xbox wireless controller, and one month of Game Pass Ultimate for only $79.99. That's 41% in savings. When you're not gaming, you can stream all of your favorite shows and movies in 4K or display some artwork on your TV with over 2,000 pieces of museum-quality images. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the most advanced streaming stick in the Fire TV lineup, with WiFi 6E support, Dolby Vision (plus HDR, HDR 10, HDR10+, HLG), Dolby Atmos audio, and 16GB of storage.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet $74.99 at Amazon
$139.99 Save $65.00 Get Deal

Released last Oct., the Fire HD 10 tablet is "lighter and faster than its predecessors, with a long battery life and vivid picture that makes it great for on-the-go entertainment," as Mashable reviewer SaVanna Shoemaker wrote in her review. It's a solid no-frills tablet that's great for browsing social media, watching your favorite shows, answering emails, and doing other daily tasks. As of Oct. 30, it's back down to just $74.99 at Amazon — that's 46% in savings and the same record-low it hit on Prime Day.

Read our full review of the Amazon Fire HD 10.

Opens in a new window Credit: Arlo Arlo Video Doorbell 2K (2nd Gen) $79.99
$129.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal

Our top pick for a doorbell camera, the Arlo video doorbell is an all-seeing camera that serves as a virtual doorman with a huge 180-degree field of view, motion alerts, night vision, and two-way audio. You can unlock even more features with the Arlo Secure plan, which you can test for yourself with a free 30-day trial. Install it with or without wires, depending on your preference. As of Oct. 30, it's on sale for just $79.99 instead of $129.99. That's 38% in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Pure Cool TP4B Purifying Fan $299.99 at Amazon
$549.99 Save $250.00 Get Deal

The Dyson Pure Cool TP4B works double duty keeping the air in your home fresh and cool. With its fully sealed HEPA filtration and Air Multiplier technology, it can keep dust, debris, pet hair, odors, gases, and other pollutants at bay. Plus, its integrated sensors keep you in the know about your air quality. It's a great home addition for season changes — especially when it's on sale for just $299.99 instead of $549.99. That's 45% in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ninja Ninja Mega Kitchen System BL770 $99.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal

If you can't decide between a full-size blender and a personal one, the Ninja Mega Kitchen System offers the best of both worlds. Plus, it's 50% off as of Oct. 30, knocking it down to just $99.99 — the lowest price we've seen since last holiday season. It includes a 1,500-watt motor base, a 72-ounce blender pitcher, an 8-cup food processor bowl, and two 16-ounce single-serve to-go cups for your at-home and on-the-go needs.

None of these deals catching your eye? Check out Amazon's daily deals for even more savings.

The M4 MacBook Pro is finally here. The M4 chip made its debut on the iPad Pro earlier this year, but now it's being housed in several refreshed devices, including the iMac, Mac mini, and now the MacBook Pro.

Curious to see how Apple spiced up the MacBook Pro this year? Read on to find out.

M4 MacBook Pro: 3 new features that may make you upgrade M4 MacBook Pro Credit: Apple

The 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro has a starting price of $1,599 and comes with the following specs:

• Entry-level M4 chip

• 16GB of RAM

• 512GB storage

• 24 hours of battery life

• Available in Space Black

This marks three features that may make the new M4 MacBook Pro attractive for an upgrade. Firstly, it starts at 16GB, which means Apple is no longer stingy with memory for its base configurations. Secondly, the MacBook Pro's claimed 24-hour battery life rating is quite impressive. (The M3 MacBook Pro was rated for 22 hours of battery life.)

Thirdly, Space Black, a popular colorway that was only featured in the M3 Pro and M3 Max models last year, is now available for the entry-level configurations.

M4 MacBook Pro specs

On the M4 model, RAM can go up to 32GB and storage can go up to 2TB. There are also more expensive variants that include the more powerful M4 Pro or M4 Max chips, which substantially increase the price.

The 14-inch M4 Pro model, for instance, starts at $1,999, and as far as I can tell, the absolute minimum you can expect to pay for a 14-inch M4 Max model is $3,199.

The higher-end M4 chips can go all the way up to 128GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. There's also a 16-inch model with the same internal options, but of course, it's more expensive. The cheapest 16-inch model available starts at $2,499.

As far as ports go, the new MacBook Pros have plenty of options for users to choose from. There are no USB type-A ports on any of these devices, but the M4 model has three Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for external displays, an SD slot, a headphone jack, and an HDMI port.

The M4 Pro and M4 Max models upgrade those Thunderbolt 4 ports to Thunderbolt 5, but keep everything else the same.

In addition to Space Black, the new MacBooks are also available in Silver.

For more information about Apple's big week of refreshed devices, check out our Mac announcements hub.