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| Greetings N2K reader! | Lisa Horn won this week’s world famous News Haiku™ competition about the last ever penny being produced. | Penny for your thoughts? Alas, those days are now gone. Well, that’s my two cents. | | | | —Lisa Horn |
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| Here’s your congratulatory gif, Lisa: | | This week’s world famous News Haiku™ competition is about things to be genuinely thankful for this Thanksgiving. Send me your entry — to our spiffy new email address, haiku at cheddar dot com — by noon ET tomorrow (it’s a short week!) for consideration by your Cheddar peers on Wednesday. And now for something completely different! | —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor | | News You Need2Know | | | What’s the stock market up to, eh? | $SPX ( ▲ 0.98% ) $DJI ( ▲ 1.08% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.88% ) | | Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter | Perplexity, $PYPL ( ▲ 4.24% ) , $AMZN ( ▲ 1.64% ) , $PSKY ( ▲ 1.34% ) , $VZ ( ▲ 1.15% ) | | Bots can do your holiday shopping now | | As bots help shoppers tackle holiday lists, your next gift might just be one click away, powered entirely by AI. Perplexity, an AI startup, is launching a free shopping tool aimed at streamlining consumers’ purchasing experience. Scheduled to launch this week for U.S. users, the product is designed to simplify shopping by enabling seamless purchases directly from search results. | Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s Chief Business Officer, explained that while shoppers still want to conduct their own research, the new product focuses on personalization and ease, drawing on users’ previous searches to deliver tailored recommendations. Through a strategic partnership with PayPal $PYPL ( ▲ 4.24% ) , users will soon access items from over 5,000 merchants directly through Perplexity's platform. | This isn't Perplexity’s first step into e-commerce. Its earlier paid offering, “Buy With Pro,” introduced similar functionalities, but this free version is more advanced in detecting shopping intent and delivering personalized results. Competitors like OpenAI have introduced comparable features, including "Instant Checkout," allowing ChatGPT users to purchase directly from chat interfaces. | | | Best early Black Friday deals (no Bots needed) |  | You must buy things on sale, because America. |
| Just because I’m a nice human guy and not a robot (at least, I don’t think so), I went and found you a bunch of nice early Black Friday Deals that you can snag this week while still pretending you're “working” from home before the holiday, just like my editor today, Sydney. Say, how’s it going, Sydney? Working hard? I BET YOU ARE. (Harder than I cried eulogizing the penny —Ed.) | Because Alexa listens better than half your family, get the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) – $31.99 (down from $49.99 at Amazon) Live out your tradwife dreams on the cheap! KitchenAid Artisan Mixer – $349 (Down from $499.99, Walmart) Make Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourgignon at least once before you let this thing rust, with the Le Creuset Dutch Oven (8 Qt) – $299.99 (Down from $475 at Williams Sonoma) Noise-cancel everyone, especially your mom: Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Headphones – $248 (Down from $399, Amazon). Who knew they needed a robot vacuum? Your partner, who's been doing all the vacuuming. That’s who. Roomba j7+ Robot Vacuum – $549 (Down from $999, Target) Because the “Bluey” episode about going to Hammerbarn means you want to make a “meat lovers’ pizza” and swap it with your neighbor, with incredible results. Ooni Koda 12 Outdoor Pizza Oven – $319 (Down from $449, Amazon) Is it expensive? Yes. Is it better than pretending your gym membership is “lost?” Also: yes. Hydrow Rower (Smart Rowing Machine) – $1,695 (Down from $2195, Best Buy) For people who take their doomscrolling way too seriously: Logitech MX Master 3S Mouse – $79.99 (Save $20, Amazon) Because nothing says “gratitude” like streaming “Die Hard” in 4K on an Ultra HD LG C3 OLED TV (55-Inch) – $899 (Down from $1,499, Best Buy)
| You’re welcome! | | Song of the day: Sailorr, ‘Locked In’ |  | LOCKED IN |
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| Sailorr’s new single “Locked In" has drawn positive reviews, described as an addictive track that blends her signature alternative R&B with pop. It’s got a warm, soulful, and catchy sound. The lyrics focus on intense commitment and desire in a relationship. “How do I know we’re really locked in? Never change my face on your lock screen.” #Relatable | | Free yourself from advertising forever! | Now you can sign up for an optional ad-free version of Need2Know! Subscribe for just $5 a month, or $50 a year, and you can continue to enjoy this reasonably high-quality newsletter uninterrupted. Bonus: The immense satisfaction that comes from supporting journalism*! | *This counts as journalism, right? | |
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