Here in the UK, 'Black Friday' might conjure up images of Allied bombing attacks, or dark moments from the history of women's suffrage.
But in the US it means only one thing: shopping.
The day after Thanksgiving in America is traditionally one in which basically everyone runs, as one, to the nearest shop and spends every dime they have on slightly discounted merchandise.
This occasionally violent pasttime of riot-shopping is not without its downsides.
Luckily, online things are a lot calmer. Many major retailers have abandoned waiting for 'Cyber Monday' and now put their best deals on the internet right away. And the good thing for us in the UK, is that many apply to us as well.
Here are some of the best Black Friday deals we've managed to find so far:
- Gaming download site Steam has an absolute boatload of deals. The amazing puzzle first-person action hybrid Portal 2 is just £3.74. Sleeping Dogs is 50% off at £14.99, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown is just £20.09 - a third off regular price.
- Amazon is offering its Kindle Fire tablet (not HD) for just £99.
- Apple have some pretty good deals, including £31 off an iPad 4, £21 off an iPad 2 and iPod Touch, and a hefy £81 off laptops.
- Meanwhile on the iOS App Store publishers like EA have discounted their top apps, including Monopoly and the Game of Life, to just 69p.
- At Maplin you can find a huge assortment of deals. Today they include an Optoma HDMI Projector for £299, and a 'professional wireless weather centre' for £39.99 - always useful.
- Five classic indie games for $10 (about £7) at Good Old Games.
- Currys is holding a '100 hour price crash' with some tasty deals included. Some of the best are £250 off a Sony Bravia 3D telly, £70 off a Samsung NX210 compact camera and £120 off an Acer Aspire touchscreen Windows 8 PC.
