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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 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.

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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 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.

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.

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 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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

• Shark SpeedStyle — $159.99 $199.99 (save $40)

• Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex — $179 $229.99 (save $50.99)

• Shark FlexStyle — $229 $299 (save $70)

• Dyson Supersonic — $329 $429 (save $100)

• Dyson Supersonic Nural — $389.99 $499.99 (save $110)

• Dyson Corrale — $399 $499 (save $100)

• Dyson Airstrait — $399 $499.99 (save $100.99)

• Dyson Airwrap — $499 $599 (save $100)

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.

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)

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

• BroadwayHD — $149.99 for one year $199.99 (save $50)

• MasterClass — 40% off all subscriptions

• Screambox — $3.50/month for three months $6.99/month (save $3.49/month with code blackfriday)

• Wondery+ — three months free

Post-Cyber Monday streaming device deals still live

• Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite — $14.99 $29.99 (save $15)

• Roku Express — $17.99 $29.99 (save $12)

• Roku Express 4K+ — $24 $39.99 (save $15.99)

• Roku Streaming Stick 4K — $29 $49.99 (save $20.99)

• Roku Streambar SE — $69 $99.99 (save $30.99)

• Roku Ultra — $79 $99.99 (save $20.99)

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, 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.

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.

Data brokers will be on a tighter leash when handling Americans' personal data, according to a new proposition by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Under the proposed rules, brokers would be blocked from selling personal and financial data that contains identifying information, including Social Security numbers and phone numbers — a move that would also limit the ability of scammers to procure such data and target individuals specifically. Data brokerage is a vastly under-regulated area of concern for privacy experts, politicians, and consumers alike.

Tweet may have been deleted SEE ALSO: Ronan Farrow's simple tips for keeping spyware off your phone

The regulations — should they remain under a Trump presidency — will recategorize brokers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, passed in 1970, which protects consumers' personal data collected by credit agencies. According to CFPB director Rohit Chopra, the act has been widely evaded by data traders, and with the new policy, brokers would be treated the same as credit bureaus and background check companies, or any other company that sells data about income or credit scores, histories, and debt payments, TechCrunch reported.

"By selling our most sensitive personal data without our knowledge or consent, data brokers can profit by enabling scamming, stalking, and spying," wrote Chopra. "The CFPB’s proposed rule will curtail these practices that threaten our personal safety and undermine America’s national security."

In February, President Joe Biden passed an executive order cracking down on foreign actors selling and procuring Americans' personal data, authorizing federal powers to prohibit data transactions with "countries of concern." At the time, this included known American adversaries like China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela.

Just last week, the bureau announced broader regulatory oversight of companies managing digital wallets and payment processing, including Apple Pay and Venmo, which will now be categorized in the same way as banking institutions and creditors. The agency also expanded its ability to monitor Big Tech's data collection and sharing policies under consumer protection laws.

Disney's live-action remakes of their animated classics continue with Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler (Spellbound, West Side Story) as the titular princess. But as we see in the film's latest trailer, this iteration of Snow White has a lot more fight in her.

SEE ALSO: 'The Bear' Season 4, 'Daredevil: Born Again,' and more revealed in Disney+ 2025 preview

From the very first moments of the trailer, Snow White challenges her stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman), about how she treats her subjects. Later, she leads these subjects to the Evil Queen's castle, telling her, "this is our kingdom, and now we're here to take it back." Could Snow White be leading a full uprising?

The trailer may promise a more rebellious take on Snow White, but it also features several moments drawn from the original film, like the Evil Queen asking her Magic Mirror who's the fairest of them all, or Snow White fleeing into the nearby forest. There, she meets the seven dwarfs, rendered here in mildly disturbing CGI, and teaches them to whistle while they work. While we don't get to hear Snow White's take on that classic tune in this trailer (you can listen to it in the teaser, though), we do get to hear Zegler unleash her Disney princess pipes in one of the film's original songs from The Greatest Showman's Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, titled "Waiting on a Wish."

Snow White hits theaters March 21.

Amazon's best Cyber Monday deals at a glance: Best Kindle deal Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) $154.99 (save $45) Get Deal Best Echo deal Amazon Echo Pop $17.99 (save $22) Get Deal Best Fire tablet deal Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB) $74.99 (save $65) Get Deal Best robot vacuum deal iRobot Roomba Combo i5+ $299.99 (save $250.99) Get Deal Best TV deal TCL 65-Inch Class S5 UHD 4K LED Smart Fire TV $349.99 (save $100) Get Deal Best Apple deal Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,399 (save $200) Get Deal Best Windows laptop deal Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, 13-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $1,499 (save $500.99) Get Deal Best headphones deal Sony WH-1000XM5 $298 (save $101.99) Get Deal Best fitness tracker deal Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm, WiFi) $279.99 (save $70) Get Deal Best beauty tech deal Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex $179 (Save $50) Get Deal

Amazon's Black Friday sale went live Nov. 21 (a full week before Thanksgiving), ushering in year-round low prices on robot vacuums, Apple products, and Fire TVs.

Now that Cyber Monday has arrived (and is quickly approaching its final hours), the Mashable Shopping team is tracking all of the remaining discounts so you don't have to. We're refreshing our picks on a regular basis, so keep checking back as we add deals throughout the final hours of Cyber Monday 2024.

SEE ALSO: The best Cyber Monday deals in 2024 — new low prices are live

Even if you're brand loyal to Amazon (and we don't blame you), definitely keep an eye on our coverage of the other big retailers — Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are going hard, and Amazon doesn't always have the lowest prices. Another smart shopping strategy: Use the Amazon-friendly price tracker CamelCamelCamel to see if the latest deal is a good one, or add the item to your wishlist to get notified as soon as it goes on sale.

Don't forget: the Amazon Cyber Monday sale officially ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on Dec. 2, so don't take these deals for granted. Amazon's extended holiday return window applies to most items bought between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, but Apple products are a notable exception.

Note: All newly added or updated deals have been marked with a ✨, while struck-through deals were either sold out or expired at the time of writing. Any deal marked with a 🔥 has dropped to a record-low price. 

Best Cyber Monday Kindle deal Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) 🔥 $154.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $45.00 Get Deal Why we like it

"The new batch of 2024 Kindles is the fastest yet, turning pages quickly and with less delay when switching between books in your library. The Kindle Paperwhite and Signature Edition both have bright, high-contrast screens, so you can read in any environment. While I prefer the Kindle Paperwhite over the Signature Edition most of the time, right now you can't beat the SE's Black Friday price." — Samantha Mangino, Shopping Reporter

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is 23% off, bringing it down to $154.99. That's some big savings ($45 to be exact) on a device that's usually $200. You get everything you love in the Paperwhite — a lightweight and waterproof design — with the added benefits of double the storage, wireless charging, and auto-adjusting brightness.

More Kindle deals at Amazon

• New 2024 Kindle — $84.99 $109.99 (save $25) 🔥

• Kindle Kids — $94.99 $129.99 (save $35) 🔥

• Amazon Kindle without lockscreen ads — $104.99 $129.99 (save $25) 🔥

• Kindle Paperwhite — $129.99 $159.99 (save $30) 🔥

• Kindle Essentials Bundle — $116.97 $161.97 (save $45)

• Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids — $139.99 $179.99 (save $40)

• Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition — $154.99 $199.99 (save $45) 🔥

• Kindle Paperwhite Essentials Bundle — $184.97 $204.97 (save $20)

• Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition Essentials Bundle — $237.97 $257.97 (save $20)

• Kindle Colorsoft Essentials Bundle — $349.97 $384.97 (save $35)

• Kindle Scribe with Basic Pen — $269.99 $339.99 (save $70)

• Kindle Scribe Essentials Bundle — $329.97 $439.97 (save $110)

Best Cyber Monday Echo deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Echo Pop 🔥 $17.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $22.00 Get Deal Why we like it

For less than $20, why not add the convenience of being able to ask Alexa anything in any room of your home? Even if you can't see yourself being a full-screened Echo person, the Pop can subtly squeeze into any living situation. You won't even know it's there — until you're making dinner and can simply ask Alexa for measurement conversions out loud rather than actually figuring out the math. Then you'll definitely know it's there.

Update: You can buy the Echo Pop and get a free Amazon Basics smart color light bulb with your purchase.

More Echo deals at Amazon

• Amazon Echo Dot — $22.99 $49.99 (save $27) 🔥

• Amazon Echo Pop and Globe Electric Smart Color Bulb bundle — $27.98 $51.98 (save $24)

• Amazon Echo Dot Kids — $27.99 $59.99 (save $32) 🔥

• Amazon Echo Buds with ANC — $34.99 $119.99 (save $85) 🔥

• Amazon Echo Spot — $44.99 $79.99 (save $35) 🔥

• Amazon Echo Show 5 — $44.99 $89.99 (save $45) 🔥

• Amazon Echo — $54.99 $99.99 (save $45) 🔥

• Amazon Echo Show 8 — $79.99 $149.99 (save $70) 🔥

• Amazon Echo Glow — $16.99 $29.99 (save $13)

• Amazon Echo Hub — $124.99 $179.99 (save $55)

Best Cyber Monday Fire Tablet deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB) 🔥 $74.99 at Amazon
$139.99 Save $65.00 Get Deal Why we like it

Read Mashable's full rev iew of the Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023).

"Amazon's Fire HD 10 tablet is a lot friendlier on the wallet than an iPad. With a 10.1-inch screen, it's similar in size, but it's also a fraction of the price. In our review of the Amazon Fire HD 10, we delighted in its lightweight design and long battery life. The biggest downside to Amazon's Fire tablets are the limited selection of apps offered, especially compared the the Google Play and Apple store.

"That being said, it's still not a bad choice for those who want a tablet for streaming or reading through the Kindle app — especially when the Fire HD 10 is down to its lowest price ever of $74.99. That's a generous 46% off for $65 in savings." — Samantha Mangino, Shopping Reporter

More Fire Tablet deals at Amazon

• Amazon Fire 7 Kids — $54.99 $109.99 (save $55) 🔥

• Amazon Fire HD 8 (32GB) — $54.99 $99.99 (save $45) 🔥

• Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro — $109.99 $189.99 (save $80) 🔥

• Amazon Fire Max 11 (64GB) — $139.99 $229.99 (save $90) 🔥

• Amazon Fire 7 — $44.99 $79.99 (save $35)

• Amazon Fire 7 Kids Squishmallow Bundle — $54.99 ($119.98) (save $64.99)

Best Cyber Monday robot vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: iRobot iRobot Roomba Combo i5+ $299.99 at Amazon
$549.99 Save $250.00 Get Deal Why we like it

"This nearly 50% off discount on the Roomba Combo j5+ is stellar at first glance, but it looks like an even sweeter deal when compared to the current deal on the cheapest self-emptying Roomba, the Roomba Vac 2. For $249.99, that bare-bones Roomba doesn't mop and can't smart map your house. For $299 — just $50 more — the Roomba Combo i5+ can mop and can smart map to clean specific rooms in your home on command. If $300 is your budget cap for a new robot vacuum, spending that extra $50 is a no-brainer.

The only downside to choosing the Combo i5+ over the more advanced Combo j5+ is that the i series Roombas don't have small obstacle avoidance technology, so they can't dodge things on the floor like charging cords or pet waste. However, if your home is already pretty tidy as it is, or you're down to deal with tidying up ahead of vacuuming, the Combo i5+ is a total steal at this price." — Leah Stodart, Senior Shopping Reporter

More robot vacuum deals at Amazon

• iRobot Roomba Q0120 robot vacuum — $149 $249.99 (save $100.99) 🔥

• Eufy L60 — $179.99 $279.99 (save $100) 🔥

• Eufy L60 with self-empty station — $279.99 $398.99 (save $119) 🔥

• Eufy X8 Pro with self-empty station — $349.99 $649.99 (save $300) 🔥

Robot vacuum and mop combos

• Roborock Q7 Max — $199.99 $599.99 (save $400) 🔥

• iRobot Roomba Combo i5+ with self-empty station — $299 $549.99 (save $250.99)

• Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 with self-empty station — $349.99 $699.99 (save $350) 🔥

• iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ with self-empty station — $399 $729.99 (save $330.99)

• Eufy Omni C20 self-empty and mop washing station — $399.99 $599.99 (save $200) 🔥

• Narwal Freo with self-empty and mop washing station — $499.99 $899.99 (save $400)

• Eufy X10 Pro Omni with self-empty and mop washing station — $549.99 $799.99 (save $250) 🔥

• Yeedi M12 Pro+ with self-empty and mop washing station — $549.99 $999 (save $449.01) 🔥

• Dreame L10s Pro Ultra with self-empty and mop washing station — $549.99 $999.99 (save $450) 🔥

• Shark RV2820YE PowerDetect 2-in-1 with self-empty and mop washing station — $549.99 $899.99 (save $350) 🔥

• Ecovacs Deebot T30S with self-empty and mop washing station — $599.99 $999.99 (save $400) 🔥

• Shark AV2800ZE PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro robot vacuum and mop combo — $699.99 $1,199.99 (save $500) 🔥

• Narwal Freo X Ultra with self-empty and mop washing station — $799.99 $1,399.99 (save $600) 🔥

• Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni with self-empty and mop washing station — $899.99 $1,499.99 (save $600)

• Roborock Qrevo Master robot vacuum and mop combo — $899.99 $1,399.99 (save $500)

• Roborock Qrevo MaxV robot vacuum and mop — $899.99 $1,399.99 (save $500)

Best Cyber Monday TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 65-Inch Class S5 UHD 4K LED Smart Fire TV 🔥 $349.99 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Why we like it

For our top TV pick at Amazon, we previously went with this massive 75-incher from TCL — and there was a lot to love about it. But we know not everyone has the space for a TV that big, no matter how affordable. So as we round out Black Friday, we have to call your attention to another budget-friendly TCL TV, the 65-inch Class S5 Fire TV.

Don't get us wrong, this is definitely a basic TV. Its LED display isn't as sharp as its QLED or OLED competitors. However, $349.99 for a 65-inch TV seems, frankly, absurd. Despite all the inflation we've seen in recent years, 65-inch TVs remain stubbornly immune, and we're not complaining. This TV uses the Amazon Fire TV OS to connect you to your favorite streaming apps. You'll also get the benefit of an HDR PRO+ display, Dolby Atmos sound, and an Alexa voice remote.

More TV deals at Amazon

24- to 40-inch TVs

• Insignia 24-Inch Class F20 Series Smart Fire TV — $74.99 $109.99 (save $35)

• Insignia 32-Inch Class F20 Series Smart Fire TV — $99.97 $169.99 (save $70.02)

• Amazon Fire TV 40-inch 2-Series — $149.99 $249.99 (save $100)

43-inch TVs

• Toshiba 43-inch C350 4K Fire TV — $169.99 $279.99 (save $110)

• Amazon 43-inch 4-Series 4K Fire TV — $229.99 $369.99 (save $140) 🔥

• Amazon 43-inch 4-Series 4K Fire TV (latest version) — $269.99 $329.99 (save $60 with Prime) 🔥✨

• Samsung The Frame 43-Inch Class 4K QLED TV — $797.99 $997.99 (save $200) 🔥

50- to 55-inch TVs

• Amazon 50-inch Omni 4K Fire TV — $329.99 $479.99 (save $150)

• Amazon 55-inch 4-Series 4K Fire TV — $339.99 $519.99 (save $180)

• Amazon 55-inch Omni 4K Fire TV — $369.99 $549.99 (save $180)

• Amazon 55-inch Fire TV Omni QLED 4K TV — $419.99 $599.99 (save $180)

• Samsung 55-inch The Frame QLED 4K TV — $897.99 $1,497.99 (save $600) 🔥

65-inch TVs

• Roku 65-inch 4K TV — $299.99 $449.99 (save $150)

• TCL 65-inch Q5 QLED 4K Fire TV — $429.99 $549.99 (save $120)

• Amazon 65-inch Fire TV Omni QLED 4K TV — $599.99 $799.99 (save $200)

• TCL 65-inch QM7 QLED 4K TV — $697.99 $1,099.99 (save $402) 🔥

• Hisense 65-inch U7 Series 4K Mini-LED QLED TV — $697.99 $999.99 (save $302) 🔥

• Hisense 65-inch Canvas QLED 4K TV — $799.99 $1,299.99 (save $500)

• Amazon 65-inch Omni Mini-LED QLED Fire TV — $919.99 $1,089.99 (save $170 with Prime) 🔥

• LG 65-inch evo C3 OLED 4K TV — $1,196.99 $1,499.99 (save $303)

• Samsung 65-inch The Frame QLED 4K TV — $1,297.97 $1,997.99 (save $700) 🔥

• Samsung 65-inch S90D OLED 4K TV — $1,397.97 $2,197.99 (save $800)

• LG 65-inch evo C4 OLED 4K TV — $1,496.99 $2,699.99 (save $1,203)

• Samsung 65-Inch Class QLED 4K QN90D Series — $1,497.99 $2,297.99 (save $800)

• LG 65-inch G3 OLED 4K TV — $1,996.99 $2,796.99 (save $800)

75-inch TVs and up

• TCL 75-inch Q5 QLED 4K Fire TV — $549.99 $749.99 (save $200)

• Amazon 75-inch Omni 4K Fire TV — $699.99 $1,049.99 (save $280)

• TCL 85-inch Q65 Mini LED ULED 4K TV — $879.98 $1,729.98 (save $850)

• TCL 75-inch QM7 QLED 4K TV — $897.99 $1,499.99 (save $602)

• Sony 85-inch X77L 4K TV — $998 $1,498 (save $500)

Best Cyber Monday Apple deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) 🔥 $1,399.00 at Apple
$1,599.00 Save $200.00 Get Deal Why we like it

Read Mashable's full review of the Apple MacBook Pro (M4).

"In our all-new testing, Apple's latest MacBook Pro lasted almost 17 hours on a single charge and outperformed the M3 version by 27 percent. Mashable Tech Editor Kim Gedeon was impressed by its power efficiency, its stellar speakers, and its upgraded 12MP webcam, rating it a 4.2/5, but said that 'at a starting price of $1,599, it’s an investment that’s not for the faint of heart.' (On the plus side, it starts with 16GB of RAM.)

Amazon's doing its best to remedy that issue this Cyber Monday, bringing the space black base configuration down to an unprecedented price of $1,399.99, or $200 off. (For comparison's sake, it was $1,499 at Best Buy at the time of writing.) A lot of MacBooks hit new record lows at Amazon this Cyber Weekend, and this is one of the very few models that hasn't sold out or floated up to a higher price yet. Shipping times were pushed to late December and early January, though." — Haley Henschel, Senior Shopping Reporter

More Apple deals at Amazon

MacBooks

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,749 $1,999 (save $250) 🔥

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M2, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $749 $999 (save $250) 🔥

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M3, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $844 $1,099 (save $255) 🔥

• Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M3, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $1,044 $1,299 (save $255) 🔥

• Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $2,199 $2,499 (save $300) 🔥

• Amazon MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4 Max, 36GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,799 $3,199 (save $400) 🔥

Macs

• Apple Mac mini (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $469 $599 (save $130)

• Apple Mac mini (M3, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $559 $599 (save $40)

iPads

• Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M2, WiFi, 256GB) — $799 $899 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M2, WiFi, 128GB) — $499 $599 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M2, WiFi, 128GB) — $699 $799 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M2, WiFi, 512GB) — $799 $899 (save $100)

Apple Watches

• Apple Watch Series 10 (46mm, GPS) — $359 $429 (save $70) 🔥

• Apple Watch SE (40mm, GPS) — $169.99 $249 (save $79.01)

• Apple Watch SE (44mm, GPS) — $199 $279 (save $80)

• Apple Watch SE (40mm, GPS + cellular) — $219 $299 (save $60) 🔥

• Apple Watch SE (44mm, GPS + cellular) — $241.68 $329 (save $87.32)

• Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm, GPS) — $349 $399 (save $50)

• Apple Watch Ultra 2 (49mm, GPS + cellular) — $699.99 $799 (save $99.01)

AirPods and speakers

• Beats Pill — $99.95 $149.95 (save $50) 🔥

• Apple AirPods 4 (with Active Noise Cancellation) — $164.99 $179 (save $14.01)

• Apple AirPods Pro 2 — $153.99 $249 (save $95.01) 🔥

AirTags

• Apple AirTag — $24 $29 (save $5)

• Apple AirTag (4-pack) — $69 $99 (save $30)

Best Cyber Monday laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, 13-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) 🔥 $1,499.00 at Amazon
$1,999.99 Save $500.99 Get Deal Why we like it

Read Mashable's full review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7.

"Microsoft's slick Qualcomm-powered laptop lasted nearly 23 hours in our battery life test and one-upped the M3 MacBooks in our performance benchmark (both the Air and the Pro models). If Windows on Arm doesn't pose any compatibility issues for your go-to apps, we think it's the best Windows laptop for most people. It's a Mashable Choice Award-winner that got a 4.8/5 rating from our reviewer, which makes it one of our highest-rated laptops of 2024. (The Asus Zenbook Duo got the same score.)

The 13-inch model we tested came with a Snapdragon X Elite CPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. It usually retails for a hefty $1,999.99, but Amazon's Black Friday Week sale has brought it down to just $1,499 there. That's 25% off and a new all-time low. It was price-matched in the Microsoft Store at the time of writing, FYI, while Best Buy had it listed for $1,699.99.

If you don't want to spend that much, pared-down configurations start at $844.99." — Haley Henschel, Senior Shopping Reporter

More Windows laptop deals at Amazon

• Asus Vivobook Go 15 (AMD Ryzen 5 7520U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $309.99 $389.99 (save $80) 🔥

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $699.99 $899.99 (save $200) 🔥

• Acer Aspire 3 (AMD Ryzen 5 7520U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $399.99 $509.99 (save $110)

• Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 (Intel Core i7-13620H, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $699.99 $999.99 (save $300)

• Asus Zenbook Duo (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,179.99 $1,499.99 (save $320)

2-in-1 laptop deals

• LG gram 14 2in1 (Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $799.99 $1,299.99 (save $500) 🔥

• Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (Snapdragon X Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,579.50 $2,099.99 (save $520.49) 🔥

Gaming laptop deals

• Asus TUF Gaming A15 (AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $649.99 $799.99 (save $150) 🔥

• Asus ROG Strix G16 (Intel Core i9-14900HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,614.99 $1,899.99 (save $285)

• Acer Nitro V 15 (Intel Core i7-13620H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $749.99 $999.99 (save $250)

• MSI Katana 15 (Intel Core i7-13620H, Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,399.99 (save $300)

• Dell G16 7630 (Intel Core i9-13900HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,299.99 $1,699.99 (save $400)

Chromebook deals

• Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC) — $299.99 $399.99 (save $100)

• Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 (Intel Core i3-1215U, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS) — $319.99 $439.99 (save $120)

Monitor deals

• ASUS ZenBook portable monitor — $89 $129 (save $50)

Best Cyber Monday headphones deal Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM5 $298.00 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $101.99 Get Deal Why we like it

Read Mashable's full review of the Sony WH-1000XM5.

"If you want headphones that have great noise cancellation and incredible (adjustable) sound, then the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones won't let you down. Out of the noise-cancelling headphones we've tested, these are our top pick for audiophiles. It can be a little annoying that the ear cups don't fold in, but with 30 hours of battery life, you'll probably find yourself wearing them more often than not. Dropped down to $298, these headphones are at a dollar cheaper than their Prime Day price." — Bethany Allard, Lead Shopping Reporter

More headphones deals at Amazon

Noise-cancelling over-ear and on-ear headphones

• JBL Tune 760NC — $69.95 $129.95 (save $60)

• Skullcandy Hesh — $79.88 $134.99 (save $55.11)

• Sony WH-CH720N — $88 $149.99 (save $61.99) 🔥

• Beats Solo 4 — $99.99 $199.95 (save $99.96) 🔥

• Sony ULT WEAR — $148.99 $199.99 (save $50)

• Beats Studio Pro — $159.99 $349.99 (save $190)

• Bose QuietComfort headphones — $199.99 $349 (save $150)🔥

• Sony WH-1000XM4 — $198 $348 (save $150) 🔥

• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e — $279 $399 (save $120)

• Sonos Ace — $349 $449 (save $100)🔥

• Dyson OnTrac — $449.99 $499.99 (save $50)🔥

Noise-cancelling earbuds

• Amazon Echo Buds with ANC — $34.99 $119.99 (save $85) 🔥

• Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds — $44.99 $79.99 (save $35)

• Samsung Galaxy Buds FE — $57.98 $99.99 (save $42.01)🔥

• Jabra Elite 4 — $59.99 $99.99 (save $40)

• Anker Soundcore Liberty 4NC — $59.99 $99.99 (save $40)

• JBL Live Pro 2 — $74.95 $149.95 (save $75)🔥

• Beats Studio Buds — $79.99 $149.95 (save $69.96)

• Sennheiser ACCENTUM — $119.95 $199.95 (save $80)

• Beats Studio Buds + — $119.99 $169.95 (save $49.96)

• Sony LinkBuds S — $128 $199.99 (save $71.99)

• Bose QuietComfort earbuds — $129 $179 (save $50)🔥

• Jabra Elite 10 — $149.99 $249.99 (save $100)

• Jabra Elite 8 Active — $169.99 $229.99 (save $60)

• Apple AirPods Pro 2 — $153.99 $249 (save $95.01) 🔥

• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 — $179 $229 (save $)

• Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds — $229 $279.99 (save $50.00)

• Sony WF-1000XM5 — $228 $299.99 (save $71.99)

Best Cyber Monday fitness tracker deal Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm, WiFi) 🔥 $279.99 at Amazon
$349.99 Save $70.00 Get Deal Why we like it

Just released in August, this is the first time the new Google Pixel Watch 3 has ever gone on sale for less than $300. Unfortunately, the larger 45mm screen is still at full price, but even this 41mm model has a 10% larger display than the same size Pixel Watch 2, thanks to smaller bezels. The Pixel Watch 3's display is also just brighter and zippier in general, without sacrificing that 24-hour battery life.

On that screen, you'll be able to swipe through a more detailed running dashboard than the previous generation, check your heart rate changes from sleep, to regular daytime chilling, to a legit cardio workout, make payments via Google Wallet, and more.

More fitness tracker and smartwatch deals at Amazon

• Amazfit Bip 5 (46mm) — $69.99 $89.99 (save $20)

• Amazfit Active (42mm) — $84.99 $109.99 (save $25)a

• Garmin Forerunner 55 (42mm) — $149.99 $199.99 (save $50)

• Apple Watch SE, 2nd Gen (40mm, GPS) — $149 $249 (save $100)

• Garmin Vivoactive 5 — $189.99 $299.99 (save $110)

• Garmin Venu 3S (41mm) — $349.99 $449.99 (save $100)

• Apple Watch Series 10 (46mm, GPS) — $359 $429 (save $70)

• Amazfit Band 7 — $39.99 $49.99 (save $10)

• Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (44mm) — $159.99 $329.99 (save $170)

• Apple Watch Series 9 (41mm, GPS) — $279.99 $399 (save $119.01)

Smart rings

• Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon — $235.10 $299 (save $63.90)

• Oura Ring Gen3 Heritage — $320.09 $449 (save $128.91)

Best Cyber Monday kitchen deal Opens in a new window Credit: Instant Pot Instant Pot 10-in-1 Pro (6 quart) $98.99 at Amazon
$169.99 Save $71.00 Get Deal Why we like it

If Thanksgiving prep had you wishing for another burner, there's a way to get one without overhauling your entire stove. Instant Pots are truly do-it-all appliances, letting you sauté, steam, and pressure cook all in one little pot. As Black Friday is winding down, so are the deals, and we've seen some Instant Pots sales dwindle.

Luckily, you can still find the drastically discounted Instant Pot 10-in-1 Pro (6 quart) for 42% off. Shop it ahead of Cyber Monday for just $98.99, and you'll be a master of it by the time your next holiday meal comes around.

More kitchen deals at Amazon

Instant Pot

• Instant Pot Superior Cooker (7.5 quart) — $50.99 $79.99 (save $29)

• Instant Pot 9-in-1 Duo Plus (8 quart) — $99.95 $149.95 (save $50)

• Instant Pot 10-in-1 Pro (6 quart) — $98.99 $169.99 (save $71)

• Instant Pot 13-in-1 Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid (6.5 quart) — $149.95 $229.99 (save $80.04)

Air fryers and pizza ovens

• Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer (10 quart) — $84.99 $149.99 (save $65)

• Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven — $199.65 $399.95 (save $200)

• Chefman Indoor Pizza Oven — $199.99 $399.99 (save $200)

• Ninja Foodi Smart XL 6-in-1 Indoor Grill and Air Fryer (DG551) — $169.99 $279.99 (save $110)

Coffee makers

• Keurig K-Supreme — $99 $169.99 (save $70.99)

• Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ Coffee and Espresso Maker — $125.97 $179.95 (save $53.98)

• Technivorm Moccamaster 79112 KBT Coffee Brewer — $236.99 $339 (save $102.01) 🔥

• De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo Espresso Maker — $499 $749.95 (save $250.95)

Eco-friendly kitchen gear

• Stasher silicone reusable storage bag (104 oz) — $20.44 $34.99 (save $14.55)

• Airthereal Electric Kitchen Composter — $199.99 $349.99 (save $150) 🔥

• Lomi Electric Kitchen Composter — $249.99 $379 (save $129.01 with on-page coupon) 🔥

Beauty tech deals Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex 🔥 $179.00 at Amazon
$229.99 Save $50.99 Get Deal Why we like it

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I recently spent 10 hours playing a pre-release build of Two Point Museum, exploring three different museum locations across the game's preview campaign. From what I've seen so far, the latest instalment in the Two Point video game universe may end up being just as much fun as its popular predecessor, Two Point Hospital.

Developed by Two Point Studios, Two Point Museum retains the same zany tone as both Two Point Campus and Hospital. This time the series has you build and manage a museum, including collecting artefacts, curating displays, and raking in sweet cash from impressed visitors.

SEE ALSO: 'Two Point Campus' gross sex bed has raised questions I never want answered

I am ruthlessly practical when playing such business simulators. Unless I've already reached Elon Musk levels of wealth, I tend to focus on optimising efficiency rather than interior design. However, Two Point Museum deftly merges these concerns, incorporating aesthetic considerations into its gameplay and providing practical incentives for players to thoughtfully plan and decorate their museum. I was hooked almost immediately.

Two Point Museum reveals two new exhibit themes Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

One of the most exciting revelations from Mashable's Two Point Museum preview was the confirmation of two new exhibit themes. The developer has previously announced the game will include Prehistory, Marine, Supernatural, and Botany exhibit themes, all of which I got to explore. However, upgrade paths in the preview also revealed two more themes: Science and Space. 

Though neither theme was available to play just yet, Prehistory artefacts such as the Time Portal and a fossilised time-traveller suggest that Two Point Museum could venture into some futuristic tech. Judging by the loading screens, aliens may make an appearance as well. Fans have been eagerly hoping Two Point Museum would add Science and Space themes, as their concepts seem perfectly suited to its wacky world. 

"There are so many types of museums in the real world, we wanted to reflect that, but also include some of the more eccentric aspects of life in Two Point County too." - Ben Huskins

Speaking to Mashable, Two Point Museum's design director Ben Huskins said that variety was key when choosing exhibit themes.

"There are so many types of museums in the real world, we wanted to reflect that, but also include some of the more eccentric aspects of life in Two Point County too," he said. "We've picked exhibits that are visually very different, but also those that provide new gameplay opportunities. With every theme we've tried to add new gameplay twists, things that make you play in a different way, exhibits with special requirements or interesting side effects."

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

Such requirements and side effects quickly became apparent during my time with Two Point Museum. Cold artefacts such as the Frozen Cave-Person and Snowy Howl Skeleton must be placed near a freezer. Aquarium tanks may require heaters if you're exhibiting tropical Star Fish or Flambuoyant Fish. Even ghosts have demands — their Polterguest Rooms need adequate decoration so the ghouls don't grow restless and break out.

Meanwhile, plants like the man-eating Blooming Buffoon gobble up and transform guests into clowns who entertain others, while the Haunted Doll artefact always stares unblinkingly at the player regardless of how you orient the camera.

"We've managed to cram in lots of Easter eggs, subtle crossovers between exhibits from different themes, and secrets to discover," said Huskins. "We're hoping people will want to collect all of the exhibits (you can track your progress in the in-game sticker book), and experiment with different combinations in their museums."

Two Point Museum buries ancient artefacts in loot boxes Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

Obtaining artefacts to display in Two Point Museum isn't as simple as just purchasing them. Rather, they're acquired through Two Point Museum's new exploration feature, which is an element unique to this latest release in the Two Point franchise.

Players can choose a locale such as the Prehistory-focused Bone Belt, the fishy Two Point Sea, or the spooky Netherworld, then select staff members to form a party and head off in the museum's helicopter to explore. The expedition will encounter various events depending on their combined level and particular set of skills (though most resolve without the player's interference), before eventually returning with a brand new artefact for your museum.

Once found, artefacts are presented in a manner akin to a loot box, a glowing crate popping open to give you that familiar serotonin rush that comes from unboxings.

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

Expedition map exploration is also shared across different museums, though artefact inventories remain separate. This means that if the experts in your marine-focused museum unlock a new location with a new specimen, you can jump over to your supernatural museum and send its staff there to find one for themselves. As such, Two Point Museum intends for players to bounce between their museums, continually returning to add exhibits rather than abandoning them in favour of the next location.

"There's a lot more depth to each museum in this game, there's always a reason to return to each one, so we're hoping that players want to invest the time designing and refining, and in doing so get attached to their creations," Huskins said.

We murdered ghosts for science in Two Point Museum Credit: Mashable screenshot

Each expedition location has different specimens available, with some requiring multiple trips to find their various fragments. Combined with the search for Pristine quality specimens, you'll likely end up with multiple copies of the same artefact. These duplicates may be sold, or kept in your inventory in case a wealthy collector wants to buy an exhibit.

However, the specimens can also be examined in the Analysis Room's aptly named Deconstructor. This device destroys the artefact to increase your Knowledge about it, which in turn boosts the Knowledge visitors gain from exhibit info stands — which all contributes to their review of your museum. Knowledge is quite literally power here.

Interestingly, specimens can be placed in the Deconstructor regardless of whether they're living, dead, or undead. I initially hesitated to place poltergeists in the machine, feeling like a villain in a dystopian YA novel. However when I eventually capitulated in the name of this preview, I was surprised to see my doomed ghosts smiling placidly as their atoms were disassembled.

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

"Yeah, we had a few conversations about this," Huskins told Mashable when asked about Two Point Museum deconstructing seemingly sentient beings. "We like to think of the analysis process as the 'digitisation' of the exhibit. Sure, its physical presence is deconstructed, but it lives on as a stream of pure data. Hopefully people have watched enough episodes of Black Mirror to question what the metaphysical implications of this are for sentient entities, and how sinister or otherwise it might be."

Fortunately, the ghosts are apparently as unperturbed as they appear, so you can dissolve them in the name of science with only mild guilt.

"Spirits are generally fairly happy with this process as they don't have much of a physical presence anyway, and it's considered slightly more comfortable than being sucked up by a janitor's Ghost Duster device, as tends to happen elsewhere in Two Point County," said Huskins.

Two Point Museum focuses on interior design Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

As I've mentioned, creating aesthetically pleasing rooms in Two Point games has never been a top priority for me. My interior design aspirations in Two Point Hospital were largely restricted to dotting pot plants everywhere solely to prevent my staff from getting grumpy.

Two Point Museum puts significant emphasis on customisation and design as crucial to the museum visitor experience, so you can't really approach these elements halfheartedly. The game encourages players not only to consider layout and how they position exhibits in proximity to each other, but also how they decorate the surrounding areas. Some decorations can even be altered via a colour picker, a first for the Two Point series.

Essentially, decorations are essential for what the game calls Buzz. The right decor can boost the Buzz generated by an exhibit, particularly if you fulfil the requirements for an artefact's Buzz Bonus. The more Buzz a guest has, the higher their donations and reviews of your museum will be. Like their real life counterparts, Two Point's museums tend to run primarily on donations.

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

Such considerations make themselves even clearer when planning tours through your museum, selecting which exhibits your experts will stop at. Tours are more highly rated if they're brief and coherent, consisting of artefacts which all follow the same theme. As such, keeping exhibits appropriately grouped throughout your museum is rewarded, and the overall flow of the museum becomes more important as you build your collections. And that means considering how exhibits work with walls, corridors, and open spaces.

"Building is a lot more freeform now," explained Huskins. "We've moved away from room-centric gameplay (the treatment rooms and classrooms of Hospital and Campus), and the focus is much more on the corridor space and how you want to arrange all of the exhibits in your collection.

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

During the preview, I was slightly frustrated that while Two Point Museum now allows players to build walls on an angle, you can't build rooms along them. You can't extend rooms to fill the awkward triangular space either. Unfortunately there are currently no plans to support angular rooms, though Huskins noted that they will monitor community feedback and continue to update the game post-release, just as they did with Hospital and Campus.

Two Point Museum drew inspiration from real museums Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

While Two Point Museum takes an undeniably playful and unserious approach to museum curation, Huskins stated that the development team did draw inspiration from real museums. 

"Ultimately we're aiming for fun over realism, but we like to have elements that are grounded in reality alongside the more extraordinary parts of the game," Huskins told Mashable.

"We were even invited to a couple of the big museums in London, which was an amazing experience, and gave us an opportunity to ask probing questions about museum finances, how to design an exhibition space, and even get a sneak peek at some of the backstage areas," he added. "In some cases this has inspired us to add features to the game (staff-only doors, guided tours, sponsorship opportunities, etc.), and it's also been a useful reference when coming up with lists of exhibits, obviously with a Two Point spin on a lot of them."

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

Real museums have a controversial history, and British museums in particular. However, Two Point Museum deliberately steers away from such matters, opting to keep its tone light. Huskins told Mashable that Two Point Museum's development team had discussed this issue, and were mindful about how they depicted the acquisition of exhibits in the game. As such, Two Point Museum sticks satire rather than replicating real-world cultural artefacts. 

"It helps that Two Point County is our own made-up world, where everything is lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek, and we can have those larger than life elements," said Huskins. "Every time we design a new type of exhibit or expedition map, we think about what feels appropriate to us, what makes sense to exist within Two Point County, and what allows us to apply our own brand of humour."

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

That isn't to say that Two Point Museum is all fish and flowers. The game does still roam into human history, however it's a much more fantastical version than the one we're familiar with. It also might be more accurate to say that it delves into sentient humanoid history, as not all of Two Point County's characters appear strictly human.

"We do still have cultural artefacts in the game, but they're based within the fiction and lore of Two Point County, so we can frame them in a way that feels right to us," Huskins continued. "You'll have seen glimpses of this in what we've shown so far — remnants of an underwater civilisation in [marine-themed museum] Passwater Cove, for example, you'll learn more about that as you progress into the game."

More to come with Two Point Museum

Two Point Studios is continuing to keep some of the game's surprises close to its chest for now. Huskins did note he'd love to add a first-person to allow players to walk through their own museums, though that's a feature which is likely to come later if at all.

"We have a debug command that puts you into first-person view for a selected character," said Huskins. "It's quite entertaining, but the lack of a ceiling is somewhat disconcerting, and when they go to the bathroom it's the stuff of nightmares… Having said all that, if we ever get time we'd love to polish it up a bit and sneak it into the game somehow. Watch this space!"

Credit: Mashable screenshot: Two Point Studios

There are still several months until Two Point Museum's planned launch in March, with more exhibits, museums, and maps to be revealed as it draws closer. Even so, the game's current build is already enough to get excited about. Obtaining artefacts, arranging them in your museum, and decorating the space around them forms an enjoyable gameplay loop, encouraging players to collect them all to build the greatest museum they can.

"We are just very excited to watch people play Two Point Museum and hear what they think about the game," said Huskins. "We had (and still have) the most amazing time creating Two Point Museum and we just hope players will enjoy it as much as we are."

Two Point Museum will be released March 4 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.