Their faces went viral without them

August 23, 2025

Their faces went viral without them: TikTok paid actors as little as $500 to license their faces for AI avatars (paywall link), which are now appearing in ads for horoscope apps, supplements and insurance quotes, even in other languages, sometimes on other platforms like YouTube. The actors don’t get royalties, can’t control the content and didn’t realize how far it would go. It was all in the fine print.

Tags: fine print, insurance, Link, TikTok, YouTube

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The secret science squad in your pocket

ChatGPT

Think your phone is just for calls, texts and scrolling? Think again. You’re carrying around a secret lab in your pocket.

The accelerometer that flips your screen when you turn it? That’s what your fitness app uses to count steps. The barometer that helps your weather app? It can tell if you’ve climbed a flight of stairs. And the gyroscope that powers AR games? Aim it at the sky, and it points out planets.

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No translator, no problem

Midjourney

I’ll never forget the time I was in Paris, sitting at a café, staring down at a menu I couldn’t read. Out came Google Translate on my phone, and suddenly I thought, Wow the future is here. Fast-forward to this fall, and that “future” looks downright primitive compared to what Apple and Google are about to roll out.

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$12.99 per month

That’s the new price of Apple TV+, up from $9.99. If you’re already subscribed, you’ll see the price change 30 days after your next renewal date. Some good news? Yearly TV+ subscriptions and the Apple One services bundle aren’t changing. At least not yet. Enjoy it while it lasts.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Set a sleep timer on your TV, so it powers off if you nod off. Look under Settings > Timers or General. I keep mine at 120 minutes.

67

The number that turned a rap lyric into Gen Alpha’s secret handshake. It started in a drill song, got memed onto NBA star LaMelo Ball and now lives on TikTok as flashy edits and a bouncing hand gesture. He’s 6’7” but plays small, the beat drops, they say “67,” and that’s it. No meaning. Welcome to Gen Alpha.

1,500 years

That’s how long ago engineers in Tajikistan built a hidden aqueduct system. Ancient designers used ceramic pipes and waterproof mortar to serve a fortress city long before flush toilets were a thing. And yes, it still impresses modern-day scientists. Click through the photos, and you’ll see why.

📺 Block the binge: Netflix loves to autoplay the next episode, but you can turn this off. On desktop, click your account picture and select Manage Profiles. Choose Your Profile, go to Playback settings and toggle off Autoplay next episode in a series on all devices. Now hit Save at the bottom.

148%

The spike in impersonation scams over just one year. Scammers are getting better and multiplying. Just last year, fake voices, cloned execs and AI chatbots helped criminals drain nearly $3 billion from victims. The crazy part? It only takes three seconds to clone your voice.

$182

The cost of having Taylor Swift-approved posture. The Power Bra pulls your shoulders back and your bank account forward. Yes, it’s FDA-registered and HSA-eligible, but the real endorsement came from a grainy Eras Tour photo.

$760

What it costs to unlock horsepower you already own. Volkswagen’s ID3 gives you 228 brake horsepower… but only if you pay to unleash it. Unless you subscribe ($20/month, $200/year) or cough up the one-time $760, you’re stuck with the 201 bhp version, which is like buying a cake and getting billed extra to eat the frosting.