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How to watch Arsenal vs. Manchester United online for free

Mashable - Wed, 12/04/2024 - 00:00

TL;DR: Live stream Arsenal vs. Manchester United in the Premier League for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Prime Video is hosting a bunch of Premier League fixtures in December, including the massive game between Arsenal and Manchester United.

It's the beginning on an exciting new era at Manchester United, with Ruben Amorim the new man in charge. There's some optimism around Manchester United for the first time in a while, but facing Arsenal away from home is a tough test. Arsenal will be favorites in this clash, but it's going to be a close game.

If you want to watch Arsenal vs. Manchester United in the Premier League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Arsenal vs. Manchester United?

Arsenal vs. Manchester United in the Premier League starts at 8:15 p.m. GMT on Dec. 4. This fixture takes place at the Emirates Stadium.

How to watch Arsenal vs. Manchester United for free

Prime Video is offering coverage of 20 Premier League fixtures in December, including Arsenal vs. Manchester United.

Arsenal vs. Manchester United is available to live stream on Prime Video in the UK, but you don't need to be subscribed to Amazon Prime to watch this fixture. Instead, you can watch Arsenal vs. Manchester United (plus more Premier League fixtures) for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime.

If you're abroad for this fixture, you might need to use a VPN to watch the Premier League for free on Prime Video. This process is straightforward:

  1. Sign up for a 30-day Amazon Prime trial (if you're not already a member)

  2. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

  3. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

  4. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

  5. Watch Arsenal vs. Manchester United for free from anywhere in the world on Prime Video

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Arsenal vs. Manchester United on Prime Video without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select Premier League fixtures before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Prime Video?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Prime Video, for a number of reasons:

  • Servers in 105 countries including the UK

  • Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

  • Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

  • Fast connection speeds free from throttling

  • Up to eight simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream Arsenal vs. Manchester United in the Premier League for free with ExpressVPN.

Get lifetime access to your own personal AI robot for only £32

Mashable - Wed, 12/04/2024 - 00:00

TL;DR: Harness the power of AI and get a lifetime subscription to AI MagicX on sale for £31.63 (reg. £256.24) for a limited time.

Opens in a new window Credit: AI Magicx AI Magicx: Lifetime Subscription £31.63 at the Mashable Shop
£256.24 Save £224.61 Get Deal

Ever thought about having your very own robot that could help you do all the stuff you don't want to? While we're not offering one that can fold your laundry and do the dishes (yet!), there is a helpful AI generator and editor on sale today at the Mashable Shop

Imagine having a powerful AI tool at your fingertips that can generate high-quality text, stunning visuals, and professional designs with just a few clicks. Now you can with lifetime access to AI MagicX, on sale for £31.63 (reg. £256.24). No more staring at a blank screen or struggling with design software — now the robots do the heavy lifting for you.

Here are some of the services included with AI Magicx:

  • AI Logo Designer

  • MagicX Art Generator

  • AI Chatbots

  • AI Article Generator

  • AI Story Generator

  • Document Editor

What sets MagicX apart is its user-friendly interface and advanced capabilities. With this tool, you can easily and quickly create engaging blog posts, chat responses, social media content, marketing materials, and so much more. The AI-powered editor ensures that your content is not only visually appealing, but also grammatically perfect. You can use the design features to create stunning graphics and layouts without needing any prior experience.

By leveraging several different AI models, AI Magicx can save you on signing up for multiple subscriptions.

Score this great price on a lifetime subscription to AI MagicX on sale for only £31.63 for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for December 4

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 23:00

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, 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 the latest 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 Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Tweet may have been deleted

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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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 December 4 Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

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

  • Yellow: Touchdown preventers

  • Green: Teams near Kitty Hawk

  • Blue: "Drop goal" not included

  • Purple: Bygone hoop groups

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

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

  • Yellow: Defensive Actions in Football

  • Green: Teams in North Carolina

  • Blue: Rugby Lingo

  • Purple: Former WNBA Franchises

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 Sports Edition #68 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today
  • Defensive Actions in Football - DEFLECTION, INTERCEPTION, SACK, TACKLE

  • Teams in North Carolina - HORNETS, HURRICANES, TAR HEELS, WOLFPACK

  • Rugby Lingo - MAUL, RUCK, SCRUM, TRY

  • Former WNBA Franchises - COMETS, MONARCHS, STARZZ, STING

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.

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.

Top tech gifts for your the techie in your life

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 22:30

The holiday season is here, and it’s time to find the perfect gift for the tech lover in your life. We know it can be tough to choose the right gift, especially with so many tech-savvy people out there. To help you out, we've put together a list of innovative and practical gifts that will make any tech enthusiast happy. From the latest gadgets to essential accessories, there’s something for everyone on your list. Whether they’re a coding whiz, a gaming guru, or a smart home enthusiast, you’re sure to find the perfect gift to brighten their holiday.

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 4, 2024

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 22:00

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 today'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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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 December 4 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: To direct

  • Green: Objects that point, sew, or spin

  • Blue: Legendary characters from ancient tales

  • Purple: Begins with terms for the restroom

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: Steer

  • Green: Things with Needle/s

  • Blue: Figures in Greek Myth

  • Purple: Starting with Synonyms For Lavatory

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 #542 is...

What is the answer to Connections today
  • Steer: DIRECT, GUIDE, LEAD, SHEPHERD

  • Things with Needle/s: COMPASS, PINE TREE, SEWING KIT, TURNTABLE

  • Figures in Greek Myth: ATALS, ECHO, HELEN, PAN

  • Starting with Synonyms For Lavatory: CANDLE, JOHNSON, LOOFAH, TOILETRIES

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 December 4

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.

Wordle today: Answer, hints for December 4

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 22:00

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. 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 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for December 4 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for December 4 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A hidden or underground chamber.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no reoccurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter C.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

CRYPT.

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for December 4

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

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 Wordle.

Tesla suspends Cybertruck production. Who could have predicted this?

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 19:05

Elon Musk is having a terrible, no good, very bad week.

First a judge struck down a stock grant that Musk persuaded Tesla shareholders to give him, in part by threatening to leave the company. That grant, originally worth around $50 billion, would now be $100 billion, thanks to a post-election rally for the company whose owner went all-in for the next president.

$100 billion: even for the world's richest man, currently worth $333 billion, that's real money. The grant would have doubled Musk's lead over the world's second-richest man, Jeff Bezos, in the all-important billionaires list.

But news that is subtly worse for Musk's long-term prospects just leaked out of Tesla's Austin factory: Cybertruck production appears to be ramping down. Workers on the vehicle's assembly line have been told that there's no need to report to work for 3 days.

According to Business Insider, which has four sources on the factory floor, this comes on the heels of several similar slowdowns in October. Not to mention an increase in cleaning and training duties to fill their hours, and a sharp decrease in overtime offers.

Tesla hasn't yet commented on the reason for the slowdown, but this is not what you would expect to see from a carmaker with a hit on its hands. Automotive companies usually see most of their sales in the spring, when potential customers get tax refunds and driving conditions improve. So if Tesla execs were anticipating banner sales in a few months, the Cybertruck factory should be cranking right this minute.

You wanna buy a Cybertruck?

Instead, Cybertruck inventory seems to be backed up — never a good sign when your job as a business is to shift it. Especially not good if you had two million pre-orders, because it suggests nearly all of those pre-orders, bar 50,000 or so, weren't serious. (Which, given that potential customers only had to put down a $100 deposit, seems a likely outcome.)

Normally, you shift inventory by lowering price. Tesla has instead raised the average price of the Cybertruck (the cheapest trim vanished from its website in August), even as its 350-mile range turns out to be lower than Musk promised.

This isn't just a detail for car nerds to care about. Because if there's any non-Trump-related fundamental driving Tesla stock growth at the moment, it's the uptick in Cybertruck sales (while other Tesla models have seen flat or diminishing market share). Some 28,000 of the oddly angular vehicles were sold in the first 3 quarters of 2024, according to estimates by Cox Automotive (Tesla doesn't break out its sales figures).

Analysts, in the aggregate, expected 48,500 Cybertrucks sold this year, so that's not a bad showing — certainly better than rival electric trucks from Rivian and Ford.

But here's the $100 billion question: Will Tesla get anywhere close to selling 250,000 Cybertrucks a year? That's the production capacity Musk has insisted on, and effectively bet the future of Tesla on. Given that the Cybertruck isn't for sale outside North America — and given its trouble with regulators in Europe and China, it isn't likely to happen any time soon — Musk's bet is almost entirely focused on the U.S. truck market.

Two million pickups are sold every year, so it seems reasonable to assume Tesla can grab an eighth of that total. But can it? Or is reality about to overwhelm Musk's "if you build it they will come" approach?

The Cybertruck has seen six recalls in 2024, a massive number in the car business. The most recent was just this month — thanks to a faulty part that may cause, wait for it, a loss of power to the wheels.

SEE ALSO: The Cybertruck's failure is now complete

You have to squint really hard to see the Cybertruck as anything other than the butt of recall-related jokes. Every week seems to bring with it a new report of Cybertruck owner woes on social media, from an expensive case of leaking oil to a massive systems failure during an outing for a protein shake. This winter may bring worse news for Musk, judging by the Canadian Cybertruck owner whose vehicle died after two hours of use, while he was trying to defrost it.

At least there is one silver lining for Musk. If Cybertruck sales are falling off a cliff, and if they start to take Tesla shares down with them, at least the stock grant Musk missed out on will be worth less than $100 billion. The question is, will he?

Parks and Recreations Jim OHeir reveals behind-the-scenes stories from the beloved show

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 17:13

Parks and Recreation is jam-packed with hilarious moments: from Jerry's "Fart Attack" to Leslie opening the door to reveal Andy stark naked. Jim O'Heir (Jerry Gergich) takes us through the stories that were happening around set that might be just as hysterical as the iconic on-screen moments.

Jim O'Heir's book, Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation, is on sale now.

Threads is upgrading its search tools as Bluesky competition heats up

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 16:17

Threads, in its ever-constant attempts for relevancy, is adding more search tools.

"We’re making it easier for you to search for specific posts here," the Threads account posted in a post on Threads. "In the search bar, tap on the menu on the right and you’ll see the option to refine your search by a profile and date range."

The post said that the update is rolling out globally over the next few weeks. Some people might have access to it now, while others might have to wait.

"If you don’t see it yet, you will soon 🫶," the post read.

This comes at a time in which people are leaving X in droves after Elon Musk seems to be doing everything in his power to ensure the destruction of the app formerly known as Twitter. Users seem to be flocking to Bluesky, but Threads is far from vacant — and it's doing its part to try to keep people interested.

SEE ALSO: Threads might adopt Bluesky’s starter packs

Search might seem like a bit of a late addition to any social media app, but apparently not. Any additional feature that might be similar to the current internet darling Bluesky or our former lover Twitter is a clear option for Meta to consider adopting. Just a few days ago, Threads appeared to lean into Bluesky's Starter Packs. If that doesn't make you post on Threads, I don't know what will.

One of my favorite robot vacuums Ive tested this year is still at Cyber Monday pricing

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 16:07

SAVE $400: As of Dec. 3, the Roborock Qrevo Master robot vacuum with self-emptying and self-washing and drying mopping pad station is still on sale at its Cyber Monday price of $899.99 for Prime members. That's around 30% off.

Opens in a new window Credit: Roborock Roborock Qrevo Master $899.99 at Amazon
$1,399.99 Save $500.00 Cyber Monday pricing for Prime members Get Deal

Several Roborock Cyber Monday deals were so good that they sold out. This includes the $459.99 Qrevo S (now back in stock, but full price) that was Mashable readers' most purchased robot vacuum over Cyber Weekend and the $1,299.99 Qrevo Curv, which went viral and went out of stock in the span of a few days.

But a third member of the Qrevo family is one robot vacuum still at Black Friday/Cyber Monday pricing for Prime members. It happens to be the perfect happy medium price point between those other two models, and it also happens to be one of my favorite robot vacuums that I've tested in 2024. While you can, I'd recommend snagging the Roborock Qrevo Master on sale for $899.99, an intense $400 dip from its usual $1,399.99.

SEE ALSO: As a Dyson stan, I wouldn't tell anyone to buy the Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum

There are several reasons why I've picked the Qrevo Master as the best robot vacuum overall — a crown that also extends to the best self-emptying robot vacuum, the most detail-oriented robot vacuum and mop combo, and the best robot vacuum for corner cleaning. At this point, I'm recommending it to most people over the more-powerful Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, which is on sale for $1,499.99.

But in my opinion, what you lose slightly in suction power, you get back in more meticulous corner cleaning. This applies to both dry sweeping and mopping, the latter of which isn't even found with the pricier S8 MaxV Ultra. It's been the most likely hybrid model I've tested to successfully mop up drips and spills in corners or along door or cabinet edges, and this coverage is due to one of its spinning mopping pads being able to scoot out from under the vacuum. This provides a larger range of reach than what a mopping pad that just sits under a circular vacuum (that obviously doesn't fit nicely around edges) provides.

Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

There's also a FlexiArm for dry sweeping. Instead of relying on the traditional singular edge sweeping brush that don't do much more than fling debris the wrong way, this robotic arm also reaches out several inches and intentionally digs in corners with two smaller brushes.

After each cleaning session, the Roborock Qrevo Master returns to its dock to empty its own dust bin and wash and dry its own mopping pads. It can also clean specific rooms of your home through LiDAR-powered smart mapping, detect small obstacles like phone chargers, and keep an eye on your pets with a livestream pet camera.

How to turn your social profiles into hubs for charity

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 14:48

There's no denying the power of a skyrocketing social media post — millions of likes, views, or shares later, and people have suddenly built a fanbase, or raised tens of thousands of dollars, or finally reconnected with a long-lost friend. Social media, with all its ills, can still be a startlingly impactful tool.

The majority of us may never have a viral post change a life, but social media apps allow users to make small differences for causes that matter. From Facebook's full fundraising platform to Instagram's donation stickers, your social profiles can see frequent use as mini-donation centers for nonprofits and charities. And, in a small way, maybe that can help soothe the complicated relationship we have with social media as a whole. Here's how it all works within each app. 

SEE ALSO: How TikTok's 'Filter for Good' is raising money for Palestine Instagram

In 2020, the app removed a personal fundraising tool that allowed users to receive funds directly for personal causes or small businesses (basically an in-house version of a GoFundMe), but users still have a ton of options to raise money for outside organizations. To support a verified nonprofit or charity, account holders can host fundraisers on posts, in their Instagram bios, using Instagram's donation sticker, or hosting an Instagram Live for charity. 

As of October 31, 2023, all fundraisers for Australian, Canadian, UK, and U.S. nonprofits across Meta platforms are processed through the PayPal Giving Fund. This means that they are also guided by PayPal's rules for refunds or other issues, so make note.

Fundraising using Instagram posts and bios 

Instagram users can use posts and profile bios to create 30-day fundraisers for organizations of their choice. Just make a post as you normally would, by selecting the "plus icon" on either the Instagram home page or your profile page. Under the New Post settings — right below the options to add a location and an AI label to your post — select "Add Fundraiser" and choose your organization.

Credit: Meta / Instagram Credit: Meta / Instagram

The post will link to a donation site, and a fundraising notice will be added to your profile's bio. The link will stay live for 30 days; 100 percent of donations go directly to the organization.

Fundraising using donation stickers 

First, create a story on your personal profile by tapping the "plus" icon. Take or upload a picture — something relevant to your cause would probably be helpful. Before uploading, add a sticker by clicking the square smiley face icon in the top right corner of the post draft page. 

From there, simply click the sticker labeled "Donation" and scroll through or search for nonprofits and charities accepting donations on Instagram. Select the one of your choice. Click on the new sticker to change the name of your fundraising campaign, adjust your goal, or even invite collaborators.

Credit: Meta / Instagram Credit: Meta / Instagram SEE ALSO: Everything to consider before donating money Fundraising using Instagram Live

To start a fundraiser on an Instagram Live, hit that same "plus" button on your Instagram profile and select the "Live" option. Before starting your Instagram Live feed, select the "Fundraiser" icon on the left side of the screen (you might only see a small heart inside of a coin icon), and then choose your fundraiser. 

Credit: Meta / Instagram Credit: Meta / Instagram

Start your Live broadcast, chat with your followers, and raise money at the same time. During your Live, you can keep track of how many donations you've received by tapping the "View" button on the bottom of the screen and acknowledge donors by sending them "Waves" after they contribute.

TikTok

Any TikTok user 18 years or older can add a fundraising campaign to their profile bio or their posts themselves, which links followers to an in-app donation portal that keeps track of the campaign's progress. 

When making a TikTok post, users can easily add a donation option under "stickers." First, record or upload your video. Once finished, select the pink checkmark in the bottom right corner. On the next screen, select the square sticker icon below the add text tool. Click "donation" and add in your fundraising details.

To add a fundraising link to your profile: Go to your profile page, tap "Edit Profile," and scroll down to the "Nonprofit" section. Click to select your nonprofit and save your changes. A pink link will show up under your bio, alerting your followers that you're supporting an organization.  

Credit: Mashable / TikTok Credit: Mashable / TikTok

Users can also add their campaigns to TikTok LIVE broadcasts. Start a LIVE video by clicking on the "Create" (or plus) button at the bottom of your screen. Users can add a nonprofit before or after starting their LIVE.

To add a fundraiser before starting your LIVE, navigate to “Select Non-Profit” on the top left corner of your screen (TikTok calls this your "anchor link"). Choose the nonprofit you'd like to support, and a donation sticker should appear on the left side of the screen. Then simply hit "Go live" to start fundraising. To add a fundraiser during a broadcast, click the three dots arrow in the bottom right corner for more options. Then select "Support Non-Profit" to add a donation sticker of your choosing to your LIVE, which will allow viewers to donate while watching.

Unfortunately for those of us who use the app mainly to surf others' content, TikTok's LIVE fundraising tools are only available to users with more than 1,000 followers (and are at least 18 years old). Additionally, users must be 18 years or older to use TikTok LIVE gifts and send or receive gifts, and the feature isn't available everywhere. For more information on how to use TikTok LIVE, visit TikTok's support center.

Want more Social Good stories in your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter today.

Facebook

Facebook's integrated charity platform, Facebook Fundraisers, allows users to raise money for nonprofits through their own profiles.

To start a fundraiser, log into your account and go to the account menu. (For app users, select the bottom right icon with your profile photo and three lines, or use the menu on the left side of your screen for desktop.) Scroll down to "Fundraisers" — you may have to select "See All" or "See More" to find it. The Facebook Fundraisers hub also can be accessed directly via facebook.com/fundraisers, or by searching "Fundraisers" in the mobile app or desktop site search bar.

Credit: Meta / Facebook Credit: Meta / Facebook

At the top of the Facebook Fundraisers page, select either the "+ Raise Money" menu option or "Select Nonprofit" button to being a fundraiser. Choose the organization you'd like to support, and you will be taken to a fundraising page where you can edit the campaign name, description, monetary goal, and even currency. Once your details are entered, create the campaign and revisit the Facebook Fundraisers page at any time to check your progress, post updates, and manage the fundraiser. The campaign will also be displayed at the top of your Facebook profile. 

Credit: Meta / Facebook

Take note: Facebook's fundraising tools vary by country.

UPDATE: Dec. 3, 2024, 2:43 p.m. EST This article was originally published in July 2023. It has been updated and recirculated.

What does it mean to decolonize your donations?

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 14:26

America was founded on much more than the idealistic notions of freedom and liberty. Its colonial beginnings included destructive individualism, capitalist exploitation, and white supremacy. Those ideals have influenced how our country operates today, shaping its political, social, and economic systems, including those that seem to do good on the surface.

Take, for example, our country's immense philanthropy industry and the accompanying ways we donate and support causes for social good. The billion dollar system wasn't an ahistorical design. It facilitates funders' political and social goals, which can include helping those they deem disadvantaged. Still, philanthropy was also originally built on generational wealth made through extractive labor that profited off of the lives of Black, brown, and indigenous communities, like oil drilling or agricultural slavery that built the fortunes of white families. Although that wealth may come from different sources today, the process of giving away that wealth — choosing who is fit to receive charity — upholds vestiges of colonization. And individual donors can replicate those systems in their own donation practices, too.

SEE ALSO: Decolonization is more than a meme or hashtag

Edgar Villanueva is the founder and principal of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and its project Liberated Capital, which operates a network of community members and donors to build equitable, unrestricted capital streams for communities of color around the country. Villanueva himself has worked in the field of philanthropy for almost two decades, and written two books about the subject, Decolonizing Wealth and Money as Medicine. As Villanueva described, it's easy for powerful, rich, and predominantly white donors to exert power over less advantaged actors within philanthropy (consider charities, fellowship programs, grant opportunities, and other nonprofits), and he connects this directly to colonization.

Centuries of economic privilege for white families has provided a bed of resource support for the rich and white to become leaders in this field. Predominately white philanthropic leadership upholds the lingering effects of colonization — things like systemic racism, racial wealth gaps, and educational divides between ivy league elites and the average American — through the ways charitable funding is controlled and shared, Villanueva explains.

He points to his own experience working for the philanthropic arm of a former plantation site."I just literally drove to work every day, to a former slave plantation, where I was responsible for giving away the wealth that this family had accumulated," he reflected. The money reaped from that system was still controlled by white benefactors, and it was now being used to help those they saw fit for it. And as a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, he also sees colonization play out in how charity has been used to control indigenous people — imposing "solutions" on communities without consulting on the members' actual needs and frequently ignoring the claim for tribal sovereignty.

"I know as an indigenous person that my healing is contingent on the oppressor also being a part of that healing process. I can heal on my own. But, so far, we can't heal as a community at large until we are all engaged in [decolonization]."

To decolonize your donations means you are taking an intersectional, historical look at how wealth's been generated and how it's now being redistributed to the same communities that built and died for it. In order to address the power of the wealthy few and our own internalized biases, every donor must be conscious of how their money impacts marginalized communities.

Part of that process is being more intentional in how you donate your own wealth. "Money is a proxy for years of colonization and oppression and intentional policy that has disenfranchised people of color and Black folks and Native folks in this country," says Villanueva. "But [money] can absolutely help to alleviate the suffering and the trauma that has been caused, as a result of how it was used before."

Here are a few big questions you should be asking yourself and the groups, foundations, or organizations you're donating to in order to decolonize your own donations.

Who are the decision makers?

Villanueva said that the racial wealth gap is in many ways a manifestation of how colonization has affected communities over generations, and the gap is deeply present in the philanthropic space. A report by philanthropy diversity initiative the D5 Coalition found that 92 percent of foundation presidents are white, and as of 2020, so are 83 percent of other executive staff in these organizations. "It's no surprise that the majority of those folks are white, because it's white folks who have had the economic opportunity boost because of policies and systems and are in the position to start foundations," Villanueva said. "When we do have the opportunity to bring people of color into some of those places, they are often from elite backgrounds. So there's a major disconnect that's happening in terms of who decides how resources are being used and where they go."

He explained that, historically, less than 10 percent of philanthropic giving goes to communities of color, representing how white privilege and wealth still operates in a system supposedly designed to benefit the underprivileged. "That's sort of a major byproduct of white supremacy and how it's been operating in this sector," he said.

He said when incorporating decolonization into your own donation practices, we should first turn our attention towards the people leading. Who is in charge of the organization and how is money distributed? Who is making these decisions on the behalf of the recipients. Is the board of this charity, grant-making board, or this nonprofit predominantly white? If so, why?

"If, at the end of the day, there's a white man somewhere who signs the checks and calls the shots, then you have to question how performative it is," Villanueva asked. "Are we really relinquishing power if we have programs that are doing things, but not taking a step back to let the community have self determination and sovereignty over these resources?"

"If, at the end of the day, there's a white man somewhere who signs the checks and calls the shots, then you have to question how performative it is."

Typically, you'll find this information on an organization's website — check out it's board of directors, read their biographies and their areas of interest, and be aware of who's being consulted to make decisions if the leadership doesn't reflect the groups receiving aid. Support causes you're personally aligned with, but look beyond just the big players. "I think that people should give where their heart is moved to give, toward the issues they care about. But within those issues — if you care about animals, if you care about children, education, or health — there are Black-and-brown-led organizations doing that work that you should seek out and try to privilege in your giving."

Where is the money flowing?

This question is two-fold and linear: Ask where the money came from, and where it's going. 

This fits into the decades-old idea of reparations, which shouldn't be thought of as a form of charity, said Villanueva. In his own personal example, the generational wealth from plantation land should be going to Black communities, preferably those in the immediate area or ancestors of former enslaved people, before they reach others. "Bringing that framework of reparations into this sector has been about examining where did this money come from in the first place? And on whose back and on whose land? What is the obligation to get it back? Not from a framework of making people feel guilty or shaming people," he said.

Philanthropy can use the case for reparations as a model for where to distribute funds: Where is the money going, geographically? Can funds, grants, or other resources be intentionally directed towards the communities who originally created the wealth, Villanueva asks?

Keep in mind how a nonprofit or charitable organization has decided to spread out its wealth in equitable, diverse ways. Consider looking at a nonprofit's community impact statements online to see how they envision their own goals and success. Find out more about how sites like Charity Navigator, Impact Matters, and GuideStar assess impact reports.

If a nonprofit led by the community its serving isn't reporting this information, don't immediately revoke your support, Villanueva says. "A lot of nonprofits really struggle around their capacity to do the storytelling and report back," he explained. "Allow organizations to tell their story of impact in their own way."

How is the money distributed?

When donating to a group or supporting a larger philanthropic initiative, consider the funding process. "How is power operating and who decides?" Villanueva explains. "Funders in their ivory towers can sort of create solutions for communities that are very detached from the realities of our people. And there's a forced assimilation that often happens, because of the power that foundations and donors wield."

This sense of assimilation can impact how organizations led by people of color apply for grants, how they propose and present solutions for their communities, and how their work is evaluated by power holders (or even individual donors). Just like in hiring processes, standards of white professionalism and culturally-relevant things like writing and speaking styles, influence how organizations are perceived by money holders. It's a kind of charitable respectability politics that can have a huge influence on a group led by Black, brown, and indigenous communities.

How are the people you're giving money to working to disrupt these barriers for people of color? For large philanthropies that support smaller organizations or individuals, note any parameters attached to funding, which can specify how a recipient can use the funds. How could those restrictions impact how resources get to people on-the-ground and limit their ability to address ever-changing needs? Villanueva thinks specifically about application processes, and how things like excessive paperwork, references, or other social requirements can limit diversity in the applicant pool. The Liberated Capital project has phased out a lot of the traditional application process for those seeking funding, relying on a committee made up of fellow Liberated Capital members to make decisions.

As an individual donor to nonprofits, make note if its programs are incorporating members of the community in decision-making processes and if they're open to alternative and culturally-relevant solutions to problems within their work — look at mission statements, organizational philosophies, and check out any partners listed on its website.

Ask how social networks impact a community's access to the funding, as well. Is the organization collaborating with other philanthropic or charity groups run by people of color with varying experiences?

Why are you choosing to donate?

The point of philanthropy, Villanueva said, is not to exact more control over marginalized groups. Donors should hold recipients accountable to a responsible extent, but exerting excessive oversight over your charity — eyeballing your money long after it's left your hand — can replicate these power imbalances by placing excess burden on people of color to prove themselves to a more privileged audience. "It perpetuates a narrative sometimes that people of color working in the nonprofit sector — our organizations — are not worthy. They can't be trusted. They don't have the capacity. I've heard those narratives for twenty years," Villanueva said.

In an analysis by nonprofit philanthropy advisors Echoing Green and The Bridgespan Group, researchers found that the amount of money earned by Black-led organizations receiving donations or applying for other philanthropic assistance was 24 percent smaller than white-led ones. And when it comes to funding given without restrictions to nonprofits, that difference jumps to 76 percent. That means that no-strings-attached money handed out by philanthropists is much more likely to be given to white groups.

As Villanueva explains, we've already spent generations controlling the way people of color and indigenous communities comport themselves, how they're allowed to interact with and exchange knowledge with each other, and how they can earn and spend their own money. To decolonize the way we donate, and the way we view philanthropy, is to relinquish that control and trust the recipients of our donations. 

That doesn't mean you shouldn't do your due diligence to make sure your philanthropy is actually going to reputable sources. But Villanueva encourages donors to interrogate why they feel the need to monitor certain donations over others. If you don't look into where the money you drop into Salvation Army buckets, why do you side eye the actions of mutual aid networks? Ask yourself: Who have you decided to trust, and why? And, he said, don't demand more labor from smaller organizations, especially organizations run by and for people of color, than you do from larger ones. 

Villanueva believes that money, which has exerted a traumatizing amount of control over communities of color, can also be healing. "If we've used money to harm, can we also use money to heal?" Villanueva asks. "If we're deploying resources and investing resources toward repair, then I do think that money can be used for a sacred purpose and be medicine."

This story was originally published in 2022.

Thinking about the best ways to give to charity? Heres where to start.

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 14:11

Extending well beyond the holiday "Season of Giving," Americans have participated in an astonishing amount of charitable contributions in the last two years. It's a trend that appears to be growing, up almost 7 percent ($51 billion) so far in 2022, and it's partially built off the back of movement organizing for social justice causes.

In 2021, individuals (opposed to corporate or foundation giving) donated more than $326 billion to philanthropic causes and made up the industry's largest portion of funding, according to the National Philanthropic Trust. Just as well, individual commitments to issues like racial and reproductive justice coincided with corporate pledges in support of the same causes, with an emphasis on smaller, localized organizing movements — portions of philanthropic funding that have historically gone to larger national nonprofits instead. Organizations, like the minds behind global generosity movement Giving Tuesday, have even reported steady increases in non-monetary giving, in the form of physical items or volunteer time.

As more and more people turn to forms of online giving as a way to address growing anxiety, support global movements working for change, and embrace the power of mutual aid, donors are on the hunt for more impactful ways to share their money and solidarity with the causes that matter the most to them.

SEE ALSO: What does it mean to decolonize your donations?

Charity Navigator is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free access to data, tools, and resources (including a 4-star scale rating) to help donors make informed decisions about philanthropic giving. 

Michael Thatcher, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, told Mashable that the organization was founded "to make the best possible information available to as many people as possible. The idea being, whether you have $5 or $5 million, you're still going to find good information on Charity Navigator that can help you make a difference in the world."

In November, the two-decade-old nonprofit announced its brand new website, complete with revamped rating systems and unique tools to help "democratize the act of giving," as Thatcher explained. 

The site now features an expanded ratings system that includes factors like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, impact ratings, and community feedback, as well as new ways to donate directly on the site, with other people in value-focused giving circles, and to multiple organizations at once. The site also provides numerous resources for the individual donor who might want to know more about philanthropy and other ways to give back. 

In many ways, Charity Navigator's new website changes and accompanying tools reflect the culmination of shifts in both activist and philanthropic spaces, trending toward localized, community-voiced giving. 

"It's not downsizing, it's small-sizing. Going from the mega charities to the small community organizations. This is a movement away from big philanthropy and from the big charities, to a certain extent," Thatcher explained. "In the last two and a half years, [Charity Navigator] started rating significantly smaller charities, and we've also grown how many we rate. We went from rating 9,000 —sort of the big popular ones — to now rating about 200,000. There are over 50,000 charities in our database that are under $200,000 in annual revenue."

Alongside a national reexamination of institutional racism and individual bias in all its forms, many advocates have driven a critical reevaluation of the practice of giving, as well. Much of our nation's understanding of charity involves large-scale donors and a philanthropic industry historically intertwined with exploitive capitalism and, fundamentally, white supremacy. Part of that unlearning process is a growing movement for the decolonization of philanthropy, which involves a conscious awareness of how your money, and the way you distribute it, impacts marginalized communities.

Thatcher's noticed these shifts, too. "You could say there's a democratization of philanthropy, where individual donors are being empowered with better tools to do better. But they're also raising a spotlight," Thatcher said. "There's a huge equity movement right now, in terms of making it easier to find that small charity and help them gain access to donors anywhere in the country or the world. What we're trying to do with the website is increase the ease of finding exactly that sort of unique organization that five years ago would have been completely invisible unless I happen to be in that neighborhood myself."

Popular doesn't mean best. It just means popular.

Whether decolonization is your goal (and it's truly a worthy one), or you just have the desire to make sure your donations reach the people who need it most, in the areas that matter to you, sites like the new Charity Navigator can aid in that process. Think of using them as an initial step in your journey of giving.

How sites like Charity Navigator work

Originally designed to help high-income private donors in the vein of investing advisor Morningstar, Charity Navigator slowly shifted to a focus on the average individual donor. It works using data provided from a variety of sources to offer in-depth analysis of nonprofits. "We're not Yelp; we are actually doing an evaluation," Thatcher said.

Publicly available information in the form of federal tax documents help guide the organization's financial review. Charity Navigator also reviews information submitted directly from the nonprofits themselves, as well as community or constituent feedback. If enough information is available, the site then posts a star rating and a detailed breakdown of why. All of this methodology is clearly outlined on the site. Transparency is key, as they (and Thatcher) say.

SEE ALSO: Everything to consider before donating money to a cause A system of evaluating charities and nonprofits

Charity Navigator's ratings are based on four differently weighted "beacons": accountability and finance, which looks at an organization's spending and financial documentations; leadership and adaptability, which assesses an organization's leadership model, structure, and strategic plan; culture and community, which reflects an organization's responsiveness to the needs of its constituents; and impact and results

Impact ratings, specifically, are determined with systems designed by the nonprofit Impact Matters, which was acquired by Charity Navigator in 2020. This system is based on a cost effectiveness or cost per outcome analysis, Thatcher explained, which looks at a nonprofit's specific programs or service areas. Pure data, of course, is not without its bias, and that's why the four-pronged approach is so important to Charity Navigator's goal. "That's where the new rating system focuses, really trying to give you this more holistic picture of who this charity is. What are they doing? How are they doing it? And when possible, what is the impact that they've achieved in the world?" Thatcher said. 

The organization has given out more than 1,500 nonprofit ratings, but the site boasts more than a million more nonprofit and charity listings that still hold helpful information. 

The evaluation system is also a lesson to prospective donors, advocates, and activists on a wide scale: Numbers are important, but there's a lot more to charity and activism than simple stats can provide.

"This is tricky," Thatcher said, "but popular doesn't mean best. It just means popular."

Making informed giving accessible to more people

Part of Charity Navigator's suite of new resources are additional guides and explanations of common philanthropic questions, concerns, and processes, which seek to empower individual donors when exploring charity both on the site and off. Under Donor Basics, individuals can find things like how to build a personal giving strategy, how to protect your data while donating, and even local volunteer opportunities

It's also filled with information on how to evaluate your donation to a nonprofit when there's not much information out there, or if you're wary of scams. If there's one piece of advice Thatcher can give donors in that regard, he says, it's to always double-check an organizations' Employer Identification Number (EIN) — a federal code that can be used to look up any tax-exempt organization.

"When you're talking about barriers to action, I think one of them is that there's often concern about scams and wrongdoing and misuse," Thatcher explained. "But when you look at the data… it's a tiny, tiny portion of the nonprofit sector. You have varying degrees of efficiency and effectiveness in the sector, but in general, all our data is showing the fact that nonprofits are doing their best. What's often the case is that the scams are being conducted by people other than nonprofits. They're just crooks, lookalikes. And that's where the EIN number comes in."

Find charities that align with your values

As the industry moves toward even greater transparency, Thatcher explained that there's a simultaneous change in how people find places and people to give to. "Giving is now becoming very values-based. As I like to think about it, causes grab you by the heart and say, 'Go do something about this.' Then you go out and find a charity that's actually addressing it."

Value-driven investing has already been on a decade-long rise in the form of environmentally and socially-responsible Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) funds, which let individuals invest their money in funds that actively uphold their own values, like anti-gun manufacturing. And, obviously, charitable giving has always been driven by the personal beliefs of donors themselves, for better or for worse. But there is a new emphasis on aligning your money with organizations that share both your values and the means for achieving those — and doing so outside of the most "mainstream" nonprofit organizations. 

Think before you give, but don't stop. You actually have to make the move, make the gift, go and volunteer — do something, because we really need people to keep giving.

The Charity Navigator site now provides topic-based lists, such as LGBTQ support, gun violence prevention, and voting rights, as well as trending topic or crisis-focused lists, similar to the directories and hubs created by the crowdfunding site GoFundMe. 

If you'd rather start with what's popular and then narrow down by values, other lists include the Most Followed, Most Viewed, and Household Name Charities

"Think of this as our first attempt at an issues fund," Thatcher said. "And the way we've set up the lists is you can give to an individual organization within that list, or you can give to the entire list." 

Give to multiple organizations at once 

Recently, nationwide social justice movements have re-popularized this mode of multifaceted giving, usually in the form of single donation portals that split funds among several organizations working for the same cause. Supporters have probably seen donation opportunities like this on progressive fundraising sites like ActBlue. Charity Navigator lets you do a similar method of donation through its Giving Basket, a digital cart that lets you add several donations in varying amounts to different organizations, all in a single transaction. It's like online shopping, but with charitable donations. 

The site also keeps a record of your donations and lets you set up recurring payments through the Charity Navigator platform. 

"When you look at a complex issue, like the environment, there's a bunch of different angles to work from," Thatcher said. "It is a collective effort to address some of these issues, and that's where personal preference comes in."

Join a community-driven giving effort

Being an individual donor doesn't have to mean giving back in isolation. In fact, group-driven donating might be a more worthwhile option for some donors, in the form of Giving Circles. Giving Circles connect individual donors together to make single, communal monthly donations to a specific cause or group of nonprofits selected by the circle members.    

In order to support this form of giving, Charity Navigator has partnered with Grapevine, a platform designed to facilitate community organized donations, and Philanthropy Together, a global philanthropy initiative attempting to advance the industry move toward giving circles. 

The Giving Circles hub of the Charity Navigator site allows people to search for collective giving opportunities, using filters like location, area of interest, and giving amount. It can also introduce donors to topics they might never have heard of, like the Decolonizing Wealth and Liberated Capital movement, or nonprofits that weren't yet on their radar, like those in the Latino Community Fund's network

Charity Navigator's updates are just one part of a growing movement to revolutionize the way people conceptualize philanthropy and how individuals participate in communal care. But at their core, these practices exist beyond any technical or digital tools. They're built into our social and emotional history.  

"Listen to your heart, use your head, and then go out and make a difference," Thatcher said. "Think before you give, but don't stop. You actually have to make the move, make the gift, go and volunteer — do something, because we really need people to keep giving. That's one of the beautiful things about being human: We care for each other."

This story was originally published in 2022.

The gorgeous Wicked-edition Shark FlexStyle is 25% off post-Cyber Monday

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 13:52

SAVE $75: The shiny new Wicked limited edition Shark FlexStyle is on sale for just $224.99 at the Shark website, down from the usual $299.99. That's $5 cheaper than the standard model at Shark or Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Shark WICKED x Shark FlexStyle $224.99 at Shark
$299.99 Save $75.00 25% off with code WICKED Get Deal

We've said it dozens of times, but it bears repeating: the Shark FlexStyle is the best Dyson Airwrap dupe. Actually, we'd go as far as saying it's the better choice. "The FlexStyle offers nearly everything the Airwrap does, and then some extras that the Airwrap doesn't, for half the price," Mashable Shopping Reporter Bethany Allard wrote after testing both gadgets.

Better yet, while the Dyson Airwrap is on sale for $499 (reg. $599), you can get the fancy new limited edition Wicked x Shark FlexStyle for just $224.99 at the Shark website post-Cyber Monday. That's $75 or 25% in savings when you use the code 'WICKED' at checkout. For comparison's sake, that's also $5 cheaper than the standard edition FlexStyle at both Shark and Amazon.

The Wicked-edition Shark FlexStyle is appropriately a holographic green and pink shade and comes with two auto-wrap curlers, an oval brush, a paddle brush, a styling concentrator, and a storage bag (a $41.99 value). It's a much more aesthetically pleasing hair tool than the standard edition FlexStyle, but it does exactly the same thing: dries, curls, smooths, and volumizes your hair without heat damage.

Whether you want to glamorize your beauty routine or have someone on your shopping list who could use a styling upgrade, head over to Shark's website to score this magical deal. And don't forget to enter the code 'WICKED' at checkout.

More Shark and Dyson beauty tech deals still live

Apple Pay can be used to buy cryptocurrency now

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 13:28

Just over 3 years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the possibility of Apple Pay accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

"It's something that we're looking at," Tim Cook said at the time during an interview at The New York Times 2021 DealBook Online Summit.

Since then cryptocurrency has had its ups and downs. The crypto winter of 2022 saw the market decimated as prominent stablecoins crashed and crypto lending companies went bankrupt. Fast forward to November 2024 and Bitcoin hits new record highs following Donald Trump's electoral win and the belief he's going to loosen restrictions and regulations on the industry.

Now, just weeks away from 2025, there's some movement on Apple's payment service integrating cryptocurrency. Coinbase has integrated Apple Pay into one of its products, making purchasing cryptocurrency faster than ever before.

"Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of Apple Pay for all fiat-to-crypto purchases via Coinbase Onramp, the easiest tool to build onramps into your existing products," Coinbase announced in a statement on their website.

Coinbase Onramp and Apple Pay

In cryptocurrency, an onramp is a service that helps users convert fiat currency like U.S. dollars from their bank accounts to cryptocurrency in their crypto wallet. 

By integrating Apple Pay into its Coinbase Onramp, Coinbase is providing third-party developers a way to integrate Apple Pay into other crypto wallets as well. Basically, Apple Pay isn't just available via Coinbase directly, but any existing product that uses Coinbase Onramp as well.

Using the Coinbase Onramp, developers are able to get around some of the lengthy legal requirements necessary for those who run a financial product as the conversions run through Coinbase.

Apple's stance on cryptocurrency

As TechCrunch points out, Apple has a history of keeping an "arm's length" from cryptocurrency as a whole. In 2019, Apple said it would not allow customers to buy crypto with its then-newly launched Apple Card credit card.

Perhaps, Apple is softening its stance on cryptocurrency a bit in light of recent events. However, it's important to note that while Apple Pay can be used to convert your fiat currency into cryptocurrency via Coinbase Onramp but you still can't sell your crypto and convert it back into cash via Apple pay. At least, not yet. Or perhaps, Apple will continue to keep that "arm's length" away from the cryptocurrency industry.

The travel version of Cyber Monday is here: Book Travel Tuesday flight deals at Southwest, JetBlue, more

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 12:50
A quick look at the best Travel Tuesday flight deals Best direct fare deal Southwest save up to 30% on base fares Get Deal Best flight bundle deal Expedia save 30%+ on hotels and even more when you bundle with a flight Get Deal

If you safely made it out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday without buying crap you don't need just because it was on sale, you're a real one.

If you're someone who wants to spend your money on experiences and memories versus stuff, there's still a major category of Cyber Week deals right up your alley: flight deals. Some are leftover Cyber Monday travel deals, some are Travel Tuesday deals — but the semantics are pretty irrelevant as long as you're headed to that place you've been meaning to nix from the bucket list for a year.

SEE ALSO: You can still score Paramount+ with Showtime for $2.99 per month

We're tracking the best Travel Tuesday and Cyber Week flight deals below, from actual airlines like Southwest and JetBlue to online travel agencies big on bundling with hotels or rental cars like Expedia. Cyber Week hotel deals or cruise deals are also a thing, and we're keeping tabs on that as well.

Best Travel Tuesday flight deal Opens in a new window Credit: Southwest Southwest Up to 30% off base fares Get Deal Why we like it

Don't sleep on Southwest. You haven't seen its name pop up on any online travel agency like Expedia or Kayak because Southwest displays fares on its own website only. But that certainly doesn't mean its prices aren't competitive, especially when it has so many random flight deals throughout the year.

So on an actual deal day like Travel Tuesday, you can expect it to go exceptionally hard. Using code CYBERSALE will save you up to 30% on flights to select continental destinations when you travel between Jan. 7 and March 5, 2025, or flights to select international destinations (as well as parts of Hawaii and Puerto Rico) when you travel between Jan. 7 and May 22, 2025. To be eligible for the sale, these flights must be booked by Dec. 5, and some blackout dates apply.

Regardless of when you book, Southwest automatically saves you a little bit by letting you check two bags for free — another reason why Southwest is our overall favorite site for cheap, direct flights.

More flight deals
  • Alaska Airlines — one way flights from $39 (book by Dec. 4 for travel between Jan. 9 and March 19, 2025, excluding some blackout dates)

  • Allegiant — all routes up to 40% off (book by Dec. 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET for travel through August 8, 2025)

  • Expedia — Expedia OneKey members save 30% or more on select hotels and save even more when bundled with a flight (book by Dec. 4 at 11:59 p.m. for travel through Dec. 15, 2025)

  • JetBlue — one-way flights from $49 (book by Dec. 4 for travel between Dec. 9, 2024 and April 8, 2025, excluding weekends and some blackout dates)

  • Play Airlines — save up to 30% on roundtrip flights from BWI, BOS, or SWF to Iceland, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London, and Berlin (book by Dec. 4 for travel through, Dec. 15, between Jan. 8 and May 31, 2025, and between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31, 2025)

You can still score Paramount+ with Showtime for $2.99 per month

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 12:19

SAVE UP TO $20: Through Dec. 4, new and returning subscribers can sign up for two months of Paramount+ Essential or Paramount+ with Showtime for just $2.99 per month with this Black Friday streaming deal still live. That's up to 76% in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Paramount+ / Showtime Paramount+ with Showtime $2.99/month for two months (save $10/month) Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Paramount+ Paramount+ Essential $2.99/month for two months (save $5/month) Get Deal

Streaming deals took over Black Friday 2024, but sadly, most of them disappeared as soon as the clock struck midnight on Cyber Monday. If you slept on the streaming deals while snagging tech and other goodies, there's a few lone stragglers. One of the best ones still live is the Paramount+ Black Friday offer.

Through Dec. 4, new and returning subscribers can still sign up for Paramount+ Essential or Paramount+ with Showtime for just $2.99 per month for two months. That's $5 per month, or 63% in savings, for the Essential plan, and $10 per month, or 76% in savings, if you choose the upgraded Paramount+ with Showtime plan.

While we wish Paramount+ was a little more generous with their Black Friday deal this year like Hulu and Max, which offered $0.99 subscriptions for a year and $2.99 subscriptions for six months, we still think it's worth grabbing. Paramount+ is the streaming home for new Paramount Pictures theatrical releases like Smile 2 (coming soon), A Quiet Place: Day One, and Transformers One, as well as local AFC games on Sundays, CBS originals like Ghosts, Survivor, and Big Brother, old Nickelodeon and MTV shows, and Paramount+ originals like RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and Evil (which Mashable Film Editor Kristy Puchko says is the wildest show you're not watching).

If you choose the upgraded tier with Showtime (why wouldn't you while it's the same price as the Essential plan?), you'll also unlock access to the entire Showtime library and get to watch without ads. Showtime features some fantastic shows like Yellowjackets, The Curse, and The Chi.

Subscription will jump back up to full price as soon as your two-month promotional period ends — that's $7.99 for Essential and $12.99 for Showtime. If you want to avoid paying full price, be sure to cancel ahead of time.

More post-Cyber Monday streaming deals still live
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Nvidia Rules A.I. Chips, but Amazon and AMD Emerge as Contenders

NYT Technology - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 12:16
Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices and several start-ups are beginning to offer credible alternatives to Nvidia’s chips, especially for a phase of A.I. development known as “inferencing.”

Gemini app will let you make calls, send messages without unlocking your phone

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 12:10

Gemini, Google's AI assistant, is getting a new feature aimed at making calls and texts easier to manage. You'll soon be able to make a call or send a text without unlocking your phone, thanks to the AI feature.

You can toggle this setting by navigating to "Gemini Settings > Gemini on Lock Screen" then flipping on the "Make calls and send message without unlocking" feature, 9to5Google noted. The outlet reported that the feature was not yet widely available but was rolling out to some users.

The update is a part of the latest update to the Google app and is seemingly aimed at making it easier to do daily tasks without the rigamarole of unlocking your phone. If privacy were, perhaps, a concern for you, then you could choose not to turn this setting on.

Google has been working to upgrade Gemini and feature it throughout its products. The company, for instance, is reportedly working on a feature that would allow users to converse with the AI about files, recordings, and images. That means you could, in theory, ask the Gemini AI to find a certain photo or document on your device you can't seem to locate.

SEE ALSO: Google's Gemini Live may let you talk to it about your uploaded files

Clearly Gemini is a priority for the tech giant. So much so that you might find Gemini already active inside your brand new laptop.

ChatGPT now responds to searches for David Mayer. This is what it says.

Mashable - Tue, 12/03/2024 - 11:57

Interest for David Mayer and ChatGPT has gone so viral that the chatbot now provides a response instead of an error message.

What's more, ChatGPT's response now references the virality of the issue in a strange Streisand Effect and ouroboros hybrid phenomenon of the generative AI era. Prompting ChatGPT with "David Mayer" now generates a web search result saying, "Recently, users have reported that ChatGPT encounters issues when processing the name 'David Mayer,' leading to error messages or the chatbot being unable to generate a response. This anomaly has sparked curiosity and speculation online."

ChatGPT has a new response for queries about "David Mayer." Credit: Screenshot: Mashable / OpenAI

The response goes on to list well-known people with "David Mayer" in their name, starting with banking heir David Mayer de Rothschild, then American politician David R. Mayer, and finally the late British historian David Mayer who was famously mistaken for a Chechen terrorist and blacklisted.

In the most meta part of the response, ChatGPT concludes, "The exact cause of ChatGPT's difficulty with the name 'David Mayer' remains unclear, leading to various theories and discussions among users," citing Mashable's story, which first reported the issue, as the reason why the mystery is yet unsolved.

Soon after the David Mayer error was discovered, users found other names that prompt the same error: Brian Hood, Jonathan Turley, Jonathan Zittrain, David Faber, and Guido Scorza. As 404 Media pointed out, Turley and Zittrain are both law professors who have written about ChatGPT, with Turley claiming he was "defamed by ChatGPT." In a 2023 blog post, Turley said ChatGPT hallucinated "a claim of sexual harassment that was never made against me on a trip that never occurred while I was on a faculty where I never taught."

SEE ALSO: OpenAI sued for defamation after ChatGPT allegedly fabricated fake embezzlement claims

Hood, who is an Australian regional mayor sued OpenAI for defamation in 2023 when he discovered ChatGPT wrongly claimed he was imprisoned for bribery. Scorza is an attorney and member of the Italian Data Protection Authority who helped to temporarily ban ChatGPT in Italy until certain privacy measures were put in place.

Notably, when all of those names are prompted, ChatGPT still produces an error response. This suggests there's a legal reason for ChatGPT stonewalling users asking about certain people. But it also seems reasonable to assume OpenAI quickly patched the issue with searches for the name David Mayer, and this is the result.

Mashable has reached out to OpenAI again for clarification and will update this story with a response.

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