Why YSK: As the May 7 2025 deadline approaches, many states do not default to providing drivers license renewals a REAL ID. As this is optional for many states, and comes with an additional cost, many people do not yet have a REAL ID.

However, if someone needs a REAL ID, required for things like domestic flights, and they already have a passport, you can simply use your passport. Unfortunately, it's a small hassle to carry around a whole passport book for domestic flights. Fortunately, you can get a passport card, a federal ID that can be used in place of a REAL ID and fits in your wallet. Even better, you don't have to wait for your passport renewal to request one for $30 and can request it at any time.

Benefits of getting a passport card instead of a REAL ID(for states where it is optional) include:

• You will have a second form of photo ID
• The passport card lasts for 10 years, longer than any state's driver's license / state-issued REAL ID
• You do not need to provide additional paperwork to the state DMV (especially good as several states recently leaked millions of people's personal data)
• You have an accepted form of identification that does not have your home address or state (great for privacy and safety) for those times you have to provide ID to a stranger (such as getting carded at a bar or store)

Even if you personally have a REAL ID, you may have friends or loved ones that do not and can let them know about this alternative.

Why YSK: In case you needed a reminder and need to make plans for a mother in your life.

I'm a FTD with my wife this year so it's been on my mind for awhile.

To rank in search engines, websites provide to Google a cached version of their articles protected by paywalls, so they can be scanned and ranked. A lot of articles can be accessed this way!

I created this simple website that helps you to retrieve the cached version of articles (it doesn't work for every single piece of content on the internet, but it's useful):

Paywall Reader: Read without paywalls for free

Why YSK: Paywalls can be a hindrance, but there are legal ways to access content behind soft paywalls, and access information for free.

Zooniverse is the world's largest website where you can collaborate as a volunteer with professional researchers in a myriad of topics that interest you, from STEM and biology to history and literature. You can help them further their research by fulfilling tasks tailored to your abilities at your own pace and they may even cite you in their publishing!

For example, here's an ongoing project where volunteers help to digitally transcribe medieval London property records that would allow researchers to trace land ownership in medieval London.

Another example of a completed project involved digitisign historical rainfall records, so that climate scientists can help countries plan for different future weather conditions.

Why YSK: researchers often rely on the help of volunteers to collate information for them as they are often bound by budget and time restraints, so if you believe in furthering the cause in a particular area, this is the best way to pitch in and get recognised for it too.

Why YSK: if you are afraid of getting stung due to an allergy etc, there is no need to panic when one of these bees chases you. I was just at the park and a crowd of people ran away from the observation deck because 3 male carpenter bees were fighting and they thought they were bumblebees that had gone crazy. They left before I could say anything and they missed out on that part of the park as a result. This is something I have witnessed several times.

Carpenter bees resemble bumblebees, but unlike bumblebees they excavate tunnels in wooden fences, building frames, and trees. They cannot sting, so they attack other insects by rushing at them midair. Their primary goal is to attract a female bee and scare off potential rivals, so they are always scoping out anything that moves in the vicinity of a nest site, including people.

If one of these bees gets in your face and hovers there, just ignore it. Chances are that it will encounter another bug and lose interest in you. You can even throw a stick and watch them chase it if you're into that.

Why YSK: A couple decades ago major printing companies signed an agreement with the US government to add tiny yellow dots to prints for tracking purposes. You can decrypt the dots if you have a blue led light

Why YSK: The "bagel" function on a toaster only turns on one side of heating coils in each slot, so in order to toast the inside of the bagel while only warming the outside, the inside of the bagel halves should be facing the specific heating direction indicated on the toaster.

NOTE: In some toasters, the bagels heat facing cut side inwards, while in others it's cut side outwards. Each toaster is different

Why YSK: When you're at critical mass this can help reduce the immediate need to pee so you can comfortably get to a bathroom. I shared this with a friend with overactive bladder recently and it's been very helpful for her when the need comes on suddenly.

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/noise-and-sleep/pink-noise-sleep

Why YSK: It does so without hiding any unwanted noise

Why YSK: I woke up at 4am to our dining room chandelier crashing down onto the table. This thing weighed 50 lbs. Had it been hanging in my entryway it could have killed someone with a 20' drop. Upon investigation I found that it failed at a link connection to the chain. It was clearly related to subpar manufacturing. I looked into it and there was a recall on this exact light for the same issues years ago and I didn't know about it.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2013/Kichler-Lighting-Recalls-Chandeliers

The light came with the house, I didn't know what make or model it was. Check the heavy things hanging over your heads to make sure they don't kill you

YSK: Do not buy a car from a mom and pop used car lot, without having a professional perform an inspection first.

Why YSK: First off, my experience is in Ca and it’s entirely possible things work differently elsewhere. I worked for a Lexus dealer for over 9 years and this is what I learned about used cars. First of all, a certified pre-owned car is typically the best value for your money, they’ve been fully inspected and come with a warranty so it’s in the dealership best interest to sell a decent car. Most manufacturers have some sort of certified program, when you’re purchasing a used Lexus from Lexus, or Audi from Audi etc. What this YSK is about is buying off brand from a dealer ie an Audi from a Lexus dealer, or more specifically from Ted’s Dream Machines Used Car Lot ^TM These off brand cars come from a couple sources, trade-ins or more commonly auctions. They will not have a warranty, but of course you will be offered and expensive 3rd party warranty should you want one. A dealership buyer and Ted do not share the same auction privileges, or buying power so here’s where you wan to avoid Ted. The dealers get first crack at the cars at auction. They inspect first and will snap up all the A, B, and C rated vehicles before Ted gets his shot at them. So Ted is left with the leftover Cs and Ds to choose from. These are the cars with mechanical issues and previous body work including major repairs. So that 2019 Ford Explorer at the Chevy dealer is probably a safer bet than the 2021 at Ted’s. At the very least, have a mechanic you trust take a look at it first. We know how to spot body work from accidents and can pick up on issues in the engine, drivetrain, and suspension generally on a relatively short test drive. Also, we know how to drive a car to induce a check engine light, which Ted may have sneakily cleared earlier that day. Also, Carfax is a scam, it can’t be trusted. A clear carfax just means the body shop and or owner didn’t report the repair. It’s incredibly common. This post was inspired by the post I just saw, poor guy bought an 09 mini cooper drove it for 20 minutes and now needs an engine. Don’t be that guy. TL;DR don’t buy a used car without having a mechanic check it first.

It’s estimated that 150 billion cigarettes are littered (https://www.cawrecycles.org/cigarette-litter#:~:text=With%20more%20than%20150%20billion,is%20a%20significant%20environmental%20threat.)

Its estimated that about 117 billion people have ever lived on earth ( https://www.prb.org/articles/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-on-earth/#:~:text=Still%2C%20with%20some%20assumptions%20about,ever%20been%20born%20on%20Earth.)

Why Ysk: cigarette litter is a huge problem. Not only does it have the same negatives as regular litter but it can also be very poisonous to animals. The hard part is that you can’t throw them away without putting them out well or it’s dangerous. If you smoke cigs take the time to get an ashtray. If you move around when you smoke a lot they make air tight portable ashtrays that are safe and keep the earth clean. Sometimes having a designated spot on a rock or something that you can plan to throw them away from later can be a good idea if you have to but it’s easy to forget

Why YSK: You may end up ordering a product reading the high rating and review count, which may be entirely misleading and not even for the product being displayed.

I was recently browsing Amazon for a wireless vacuum cleaner for my car. I came across a couple of products with extremely high ratings (including a large number of reviews). Turned out, the reviews were for entirely different products, sometimes more than two or three. I came across an old post on r/OutOfTheLoop which explained this. The idea basically is to change an existing product listing with a high rating and reviews to an entirely different product instead of starting from zero and creating a new listing with no ratings and reviews.

Just drives home the point that before buying anything, please read the reviews carefully. Going by the face value of ratings and the number of reviews is not enough.

Example 1 Example 2

Link to the original post on OOTL

Why YSK: If you decide to sell something on eBay, you may get less than you expect once eBay takes its cut.

I sold a used item on eBay. I'm not a business, just someone selling my old things that I don't use anymore. I had an offer, and the agreed upon price was $65. For this category, eBay has a fee of 13.25%, or $10. However, eBay also takes another 1.65% ($1) as an "International Fee" because the buyer's registered address wasn't in the US. Effectively, eBay is charging almost 15% in fees.

Note, this isn't a currency conversion fee; that's something additional. And, I'm not even doing any international business. I'm shipping from a US address to a US address. I have no way of knowing or predicting that the buyer's registered (not delivery) address isn't in the US. Apparently, this buyer is probably outside of the US and is using a freight forwarder, but as a seller I have no involvement in this. It doesn't seem like eBay has any extra costs on their end from this transaction that necessitate charging this fee, either.

On a $65 sale, I get under $55.

Why YSK: You may have a misconception that canned/frozen veggies and fruits are nowhere as nutritious as fresh, but they are still excellent nutrition sources. They're worth making part of your meals if you aren't getting enough fresh veggies and fruits.

Caveat: avoid canned veggies with added salt, or fruit with added sugar. Buy low sodium canned ones.

More info: From Medline: Overall, vegetables fresh from the farm or just picked are healthier than frozen or canned ones. But frozen and canned vegetables can still be a good choice. They need to be canned or frozen right after being harvested, when they still have all of their healthy nutrients.

Don't overcook any vegetable, whether fresh, frozen, or canned. Instead of boiling them in water for longer periods of time, they should be lightly steamed. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002095.htm

Here's quote from EatingWell: "While some vegetables and legumes lose nutrients in the canning process, others actually see their healthy compounds increase," says Gene Lester, Ph.D., a research plant physiologist at the USDA's Food Quality Lab in Beltsville, MD. That's because commercially canned food calls for heating, which causes certain raw vegetables, such as corn and tomatoes, to release antioxidants and make them more available. P lus, a few years ago, the journal Nutrition & Food Sciences reported that canned often is better than fresh in terms of price, prep time and food waste. But a more recent study showed people who eat a lot of canned food have healthier eating habits and have higher nutrient intakes. https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7869353/is-canned-food-healthy/

Why YSK: Creating a fire escape plan for your home is crucial for safety. Start by mapping out exits and meeting points. Practice drills regularly to ensure everyone knows what to do in case of a fire.

Why YSK: If you have an issue that a bot can't solve, you'll either waste a lot of time or simply give up on the issue entirely, which is often their goal.

A lot of companies nowadays have been using AI and chatbots more and more to do the jobs of human workers. One of those places is as customer service representatives. Amazon does it, Bank of America does it, I suspect that CitiBank does it, and I'm sure many others do it as well.

They will initially have you speak to a helper bot that acknowledges itself as such. The bot will eventually claim to be connecting you to a human agent, but it often isn't. Instead, it's connecting you to a slightly more advanced version of itself, usually a ChatGPT derivative with little, if any, actual power to help you.

This bot will have a human name and will claim to be human, but will often be frustratingly obtuse and unable to comprehend issues.

This is why I recommend, now more than ever, calling companies directly. That way, you can be guaranteed to get a human agent who can understand and has the power to do their jobs.

Why YSK: If somebody important in your life needs to reach out to you for an emergency, and your phone's on silent, then you will miss their call.

The other night my fiance and I were sleeping, her brother tried to reach out to us as he was having an emergency and needed to go to the hospital. Since our phones were on silent we didn't hear any calls, he drove himself to the hospital and wound up needing surgery for a cardiac issue. We woke up to seeing his text and missed calls and felt absolutely horrible that we weren't there for him.

Apple allows you to set contacts to bypass silent mode. Android seems to only allow this to happen if the phone is on do not disturb, otherwise if it's on silent it will not let any contacts bypass silent mode. If anybody knows of a way to make Android allow bypassing contacts when it's on silent, and not just on do not disturb, please comment and let us know.

On Apple IOS:

Open Contacts

Select a contact, then tap Edit.

Tap Ringtone or Text Tone, then turn on Emergency Bypass.

For Android:

Try these steps:

Open the quick settings panel by swiping down from the top of the screen using two fingers. Tap and hold the do not disturb icon to open up its settings. Swipe to the "Allowed during Do not disturb section", then tap "Calls and messages" to add exceptions. Go through your contact lists and select exceptions.

EDIT: Spelling

Why YSK: buying waffles from the grocery store is expensive. This is not expensive for far more food.

Edit: Not all stores are corporate owned and results may vary.

Why YSK: QR codes are becoming increasingly common to use as links to restaurant menus, links on someone's business card, used to access some kind of deal or coupon, etc. What people forget is that most QR codes are just website links that are unreadable to the naked eye. While most phones preview the link text, most people I know just click right on through without even reading what website it is.

Websites can be used for all kinds of things besides just showing you a website.

A common tactic in stealing info is to create a fake website that looks identical to the real thing. For example, a website that looks like Amazon so that when someone goes to "log in" they input their username and password into my fake website that obviously I can then read.

I could create a qr code to my fake website, post it in public places advertising some deal, and then when people come to my site I steal their logins that they likely use for every other site they access

It's only a matter of time before this becomes more common so get used to checking the URL before actually clicking through the QR code.

edit:

A reminder that to the best of my memory, the most a site can do on its own is trigger a download (downloading a file to the device), and access your meta data that all sites have access to. The meta data on its own does not contain any important data in this context. The file that can be downloaded will not do anything on its own until you open it. If you immediately delete it, it should not be harmful.

Most browsers and devices have some security built in to prevent direct attacks, which is why in most cases, "hackers" have to rely on misleading the user either by fake sites or fake emails, etc. In most realistic cases, unless you run something that's been installed, or physically give them info by accident, you're ok.

Why YSK: Bags of aggregate/soils from stores are a huge ripoff with an insane markup.

Say you want crushed gravel for concrete or paver bedding. Each bag from a store is usually .5 cu ft at $3.50 +/- a bag. If you need a cu yard (27 cu ft) you're looking at $189 a cu yard.

What you do is look for concrete yards, landscaping wholesalers, etc in your area. That same gravel will be $30 - $70 a cu yard and most places will deliver for a (usually) reasonable fee, or you can pick up your aggregate for the $30 - $70. This goes for all aggregates. So mulches, stones of all sizes, lava rock, top soil, filler sand, everything.

Bonus YSK: If you're ripping up concrete, look at your local concrete yards. A lot of yards will let you dump your old concrete for free. They'll crush it up and resell it as an aggregate

Why YSK: Topical steroids are the first line of treatment for many chronic skin conditions. While many people can use topical steroids without adverse reactions, the skin can become dependent upon them causing the I atrogenic illness Red Skin Syndrome/Topical Steroid Addiction. Many doctors do not recognize the signs of the adverse reactions, although they are listed in the Drug Monographs published by the pharmaceutical companies that make them, but believe it is original condition becoming worse. Stronger steroids, immunosuppressant creams and/or systemic drugs may then be prescribed making the skin worse. Topical Steroid Addiction can occur with short term, low potency steroids. Online support groups have formed with over 22K people who are suffering from this debilitating condition.

https://eczema.org/wp-content/uploads/Topical_Steroid_Topical_Withdrawal_Joint_Statement_Feb_2024.pdf

Why YSK:

"Aspirin and ibuprofen disrupted sleep in comparison to placebo by increasing the number of awakenings and percentage of time spent in stage wake, and by decreasing sleep efficiency. Ibuprofen also delayed the onset of the deeper stages of sleep. Acetaminophen did not differ significantly from placebo on any measure of polygraphically recorded sleep."

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8047572/

I had wisdom teeth surgery a while ago and got ibuprofen prescribed for pain, quite a high dose of 600mg every 6 hours as needed. Usual is 400mg. Also got 1000mg acetaminophen every 6 hours. Told to take them together. The pain was not that much in the first place, mainly. If I knew this, I would just take the acetaminophen. Would have probably made me heal faster.

Why ysk: (Let me preface that this is true of medical care in the US)

While it would be a violation for doctor's offices to try and finagle money out of you for these visits, and it is likely rare, it's good to know what type of medical support you're entitled to after any procedure is done - especially surgical procedures.

The doctor's offices also cannot bill your insurance and insurance wouldn't pay any bill that falls under that 'global' umbrella.

YSaK that this is ONLY for visits related to said procedure... not for any unrelated random visit after your procedure is done. Also because of this you may definitely have a doc set up separate visits to cover separate issues if they fall within the same time window.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/owcp/regs/compliance/GlobalSurgicalPolicy.pdf

Why YSK: When finding a new apartment/condo, the landlord or agent will probably be super friendly and helpful. As much as you want them to be a good landlord, it's mostly a salesman persona. The second you've signed your name on that piece of paper, with many landlords, anything you try to work out with him or her will probably be ignored or refused. Sometimes, their whole demeanor changes.

BACKGROUND (including another YSK): I found a new place and the agent was really friendly. Even said "don't worry, we can talk, no worries at all" (another YSK: always keep conversations as text messages, so you have written proof, and don't pick up when in a middle of a text converstaion, they call you for some odd reason). I had noticed that there were decent amounts of large black stains and scratches from furniture on each wall of the bedroom (a half meter2 was litteraly grey-black). To the point that it made the room as a whole look dirty. Condo excellent, apart from that. I was working out some things and forgot to ask him to have it repainted, before signing. Now that I've signed, I asked him about it, but it's a nightmare to try to have that dirty-looking room repainted. Even offered to pay a portion. Agent is saying it'll cost something like $700 to paint four walls of a small almost completely white room. Wouldn't be surprised if he's trying to make me pay for repairs of his own place. That, or his painter is a scammer.

Again, always bargain before signing. "I like the place, but all the walls of that room have large black stains. All over the place. Needs to be repainted." Also, make sure to re-confirm everything with them by text message, before signing.

Extra YSK (that will save you money and possibly being scammed): the very first day you move in, find every single thing that is damaged (and there will probably be some for sure). Take a picture of each damaged thing. On each picture, using your computer, add the date, and then send all those dated pictures to the landlord. Say that these things were damaged before you moved in. And wait for him to answer and acknowledge it. Take screenshots of all the messages (including the landlord's reply). If you don't do this, landlords might blame you for things that were damaged before you moved in (some landlords do this even if they know they were damaged before you moved in).

Happy apartment/condo hunting!

Why YSK: Many people have a fear reaction to snakes. But understanding the true behavior of snakes is immensely beneficial for humans. Contrary to common belief, snakes try to avoid human interactions rather than initiate them. By recognizing that snakes are likely to retreat rather than attack, people can feel more at ease and manage encounters without panic. If a snake feels threatened or cornered they will try and defend themselves, but the moment they are given the opportunity - all they want is to get away from us. Personally when I see a snake, I can safely allow it to move off my property on its own, which it will naturally do when given space and not provoked. Literally has saved me hundreds of dollars because I let the snake remove itself instead of paying a snake catcher to relocate it.
This video below completely changed my mindset on snakes and has made me go from fearing them to hoping to see them.
https://youtu.be/EeLUpbHrXB0?si=lKWlsMVom8G9GG92

Why YSK: When you wash your hands with regular bar soap or plain liquid soap, you add water to create suds. If you put just a few drops of dish soap in a sink and turn on the tap, the soap and water get aerated and agitated by the force of the stream and create foam.

The little reservoir on foaming soap bottles is an aerating device that creates foam out of the preexisting, precise mixture of soap, air and… water.

Having experimented a lot, I can usually refill a foaming bottle with 25% soap and 75% water, and get perfectly good foam out of it. All you are doing is adding the water earlier in the process compared to using non-foaming soap normally. Do your own experiments and start small. You’ll be surprised how little soap it actually takes and how much extra water goes into the formula for most foaming soaps: method, dial, whatever your choice.

The companies that make these found a way to sell us less for more. Save money. Save plastic. Clean your hands with a cleaner conscience. Don’t buy foaming hand soap dispensers more than once, and never buy “foaming” refills.

Why YSK: people who live in cold countries or stay indoors frequently and eat non-nutritious food are at a high risk for developing depression and anxiety due to a lack of vitamin D. It's important that you get check for this deficiency before taking on any psychoactive medicines because they can be a masking a problem that could possibly be fixed. Normally doctors are supposed to screen a patient for it before prescribing expensive medication but unfortunately this isn't a standard practice for every psychiatrist and over diagnosis is becoming a problem. We shouldn't be surprised by this given what happened with the opioid crisis

Adding from the comments that magnesium is required for vitamin D absorption so even with plenty of sunlight it's still crucial to have it. Throwing in that a lack of vitamin K & B can cause mental decline and psychosis

Source for vitamin D: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9468237/#:~:text=Low%20vitamin%20D%20levels%20are,planning%20of%20these%20mood%20disorders.

Source for magnesium: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7861592/#:~:text=Magnesium%20is%20Required%20to%20Activate,and%20to%20activate%20vitamin%20D.&text=Magnesium%20deficiency%20can%20also%20reduce,and%20impair%20parathyroid%20hormone%20response.

Source for vitamin B: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8858590/

Opioid crisis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33760335/

Edit: Magnesium is crucial for activating vitamin D

Why YSK- When I travel, I'm constantly trying to find local eats and things to do, and CVBs have been a big find. CVBs typically have tourism information from a local area about the areas food, attractions, shopping, etc and have it all on their websites.

They will occasionally have coupons or discounts too- I saved $20 on Legoland last month!

You can find them generally by searching for city/county/area "CVB". Not every area has them- but I haven't found many that don't.

Edit: CVBs seem to be US based. But tourism offices, department of tourism, etc would be similar. I think CVBs are often overlooked because their names are so confusing.

Why YSK:
There is a common scam for online sellers to create fake counterfeit stamps and sell them as real, usually for half the price of the post office.

The websites pop up overnight on platforms such as Shopify and are usually sketchy and easy to spot when you look at their website template and notice how much is boilerplate, but sometimes people want it to be true so badly or are in a hurry that they overlook the basics, and these fraudsters count on that so they can profit.
Just because these sites buy ads on legitimate platforms doesn’t make them legitimate themselves.

If you get caught using counterfeit postage, you will be on the hook—not the store that popped up, scammed you, and disappeared, only to be resurrected under another name a week later.
To protect yourself from these scams, you should only buy stamps from the post office, or authorized postal retailers.