Chaos & Amazement #2503 TikTok Refugees, Fake Woodstock Girls, and Cats Being Weird

Jan 18, 2025

TikTok might go completely dark for U.S. users this Sunday unless the Supreme Court steps in. Earlier, it seemed the app would just vanish from stores but stay usable for current users—now it looks like a full shutdown. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/tiktok-prepares-for-immediate-shut-off-in-the-u-s-on-sunday
- The #TikTokRefugee migration ironically has created a huge amount of interest in a Chinese app called Xiaohongshu. https://warc.com/content/feed/the-chinese-apps-gaining-users-from-tiktok-leavers--what-you-need-to-know/en-GB/10203
Meanwhile language learning app Duolingo has seen a ~216% growth in new Chinese (Mandarin) learners in the US compared to this time last year. Are TikTok Refugees learning Mandarin out of spite? https://x.com/duolingo/status/1879582775055176008
New York Times’ Ezra Klein highlights four signs of a changing world: Trump's return, advancing AI, a warming planet, and falling birth rates. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/opinion/ai-climate-change-low-birth-rates.html

This image of two girls at Woodstock festival just shared by an instagram account with 760.000 followers is not a real 1960s photo but an AI creation. Where's the harm in it? Fake History Hunter investigates how wide this pollution has spread in a fascinating X thread. https://x.com/fakehistoryhunt/status/1878541019160920555

Similar Songs Finder: drop in a track you love and this tool creates a personalized playlist just for you - and that's just one of many music features to explore here. https://www.chosic.com/playlist-generator/
Not sure what to watch? This site gives you random YouTube recommendations—risky, but a fun way to break free from the algorithm.
https://www.watchsomethingwonderful.com/ I got this Geowizard video from 3 years ago:
A very impressive boomerang demonstration, escalating to testing out a boomerang with no less than 6 wings! And it still comes back! https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/UVndMqpFol
Animator Kevin Parry's latest stop-motion project features a thrilling 36-second car chase, created with 444 shots over 10 days. In this creative video, Parry portrays a man evading the police without ever leaving his chair.
Cats are weird.
@underrated.simpsons My sister's cat has started to sleep in her new light shade 😭 💕 #catsoftiktok
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