🚨 Scrape me up before you go-go: The Atlantic just dropped a seriously creepy tool. Type in your name, and it’ll show whether your YouTube videos were quietly scraped to train AI. No permission, no payment, just … surprise! You helped build someone else’s billion-dollar model. I popped up 75 times. Unreal. Search for your name here.
🔔 Turn on Instagram post notifications: Following too many accounts? Don’t miss updates from your favorites. Take me as an example. Go to my profile, tap the bell icon and toggle All for Posts, Stories, Reels and Live videos.
📖 Bible goes cinematic: Pray.com is cranking out AI-generated Bible videos (think seven-headed dragons, collapsing cities and angels that look like superheroes). Millions are watching, mostly guys under 30. Theologians say it cheapens Scripture into a “Don’t forget to like and pray!” social media plea, but Pray’s team calls it “the Marvel Universe of faith.”
✈️ Board to be wild: “Airport theory” videos on TikTok dare you to show up 15 minutes before boarding. Maybe you’ll get lucky with TSA PreCheck or a delay, but odds are you’re dropping $400 on a rebook and crying at a Holiday Inn. Most clips are staged. Real advice? Two hours domestic, three for international.
🤳🏻 Instagram finally has an iPad app: It’s different from the phone version. The app opens straight into a feed of Reels, with a new Following tab to see posts in chronological order. Comments show beside videos, and the DM page displays your inbox next to chats. Download it here, and drop me a follow for more tips.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Chrome, quickly mute a noisy tab by right-clicking it and selecting Mute site. Saves your ears from those annoying autoplay videos that pop up out of nowhere. You’re welcome.
YouTube turns up the hype: Its new “Hype” feature lets you boost up to three small-creator videos a week. Those picks land on a special leaderboard, giving underdog channels a real shot at the spotlight. Look for the shiny “hyped” badge in your feed, and hit it for me now and then.
Add subtitles to YouTube videos: They’ll help you reach a bigger audience. On desktop, go to YouTube Studio and select Subtitles on the left. Choose your video, Set the language and Confirm. Then click Add under Subtitles. Upload a file or type them out manually. When you’re ready, hit Publish.
Social stalker tech: TikTok Shop has GPS trackers with viral videos literally teaching people how to spy on their partners. One got 5 million views. The cheapo trackers with a SIM card (over 100,000 sold) are still on sale all over for as little as $12. If your relationship needs a GPS tracker, maybe it needs therapy instead. Just saying.
Got videos eating up space on your PC? HandBrake is a free tool that shrinks them down. Drag and drop your video into the app, choose a Save location, pick a Preset like Very Fast 1080p30, and click Start Encode. FYI: Quality may drop depending on the Preset, so keep testing until you find your sweet spot. This tip alone is worth the price of this newsletter.
Woz-not-Woz: Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak went on CBS to warn about fake videos of him promoting Bitcoin. The scam clips promise to double whatever BTC you send. The funny part? While telling the story, CBS showed a fake 1970s “Woz in his garage” photo, which turned out to be of a Disney animatronic. Awkward.
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▶️ Find your liked videos on YouTube: Tap the three-line menu in the top left and select Playlists. Your liked videos will be right there. To keep something for later, tap the Save button below the video player and select Watch Later. Head back to Playlists to find it in the list.
Fake pics, real charges: A student was hit with a $9K damage bill after her NYC Airbnb host claimed she cracked furniture and peed the bed. But the “proof”? AI-edited photos. Airbnb initially sided with the host, then backpedaled fast after a newspaper got involved. Full refund issued, host slapped with a warning. PSA: Take inside and outside videos of any rental property.
😱 Instagram’s embarrassing new feature: You can now see which Reels (videos) your friends are liking. Just tap the Reels icon, then the Friends tab, and bam, their profile pics show up on whatever they hearted. Scared? Me, too. To turn it off, go to Settings > Who can see your content > Activity in Friends tab > No one.
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📺 Skip the fluff: YouTube’s Jump Ahead AI feature is finally rolling out on TV apps. Previously mobile-only, it now uses watch data to hop over boring chunks of videos. You’ll see a dot on the progress bar and can jump with your remote. Premium paid accounts only, of course.
Delete YouTube history: Sign into YouTube on your PC and click the three-dot menu (top left). Tap History, then select Clear all watch history on the right side of the screen. You can also choose Pause watch history to stop it from tracking future videos. PSA: This will also change your recommendations.
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🖼️ Smarter photo searches on iPhone: The Photos app can now understand natural language. Open the app, tap the blue magnifying glass at the top and type something like “beach walks with dog” or “1 year ago.” You can even search for sounds like “laughing” or “clapping” to find matching videos.