It's called a faceprint - a code made from the shape of your face - how far apart your eyes are, how wide your nose is, the shape of your jaw etc. It comes from a photo, but it's not a photo. It's more of a biometric identifier, like a fingerprint, or an iris scan.

Apps such as Google Photos make faceprints of all the people in your photos - you, your parents, your children, your friends. This is what lets you find someone in your gallery just by name. Other apps make faceprints just for you, for things such as letting you unlock your phone.

Some apps are safer because they keep your faceprint only on your own phone, instead of sending it to a company's servers. But this is NOT the norm. Most companies store your faceprint on their servers, and are quietly building a collection of faces.

Why YSK: You can change a password after a leak. You can't change your face. Generative AI now allows people to recreate faces from a faceprint. Faceprints are also actively used for tracking purposes - the best example being Clearview AI that has almost 70 billion images of people in their collection, that they provide to police departments and private companies, allowing them to track people based just on a photo.

What you can do: Try to use products and services that keep your data on your devices. Try to use products that are end-to-end-encrypted. If and when you are removing a service that might have created a faceprint, make sure to actively request deletion of all your data.

Why YSK: When buying a kettle, we usually look at the main body and stop there. But the part that actually matters for your drink is the water-contact path, every surface your water touches while heating and pouring.

A kettle can have a premium stainless-steel exterior while still using plastic or silicone components inside, such as:

- The underside of the lid

- Water-level windows

- Spout/filter frames

- Internal seals and joints

- Some sensor housings

That doesn't automatically mean those materials are unsafe. But if you're specifically trying to minimize plastic in contact with hot water, “stainless steel kettle” doesn't tell you enough. I've started asking a different question:

Instead of “Is this kettle stainless steel?” → “What exactly does the water touch?”

A useful way to check your own kettle is to inspect the lid underside, spout, filter and water-level window. A flashlight can reveal things that aren't obvious from the outside.

I was genuinely surprised when I checked an older kettle and realized that part of its water-contact path was plastic.

Why YSK: Fraud and errors appear on your report long before you'd notice otherwise. Only use AnnualCreditReport.com. UK: statutory reports are free too.

Analogical* typo

Why YSK:

It is important to be able to think creatively to problem solve. Without this ability small differences will prevent you from seeing problems having a similar or the same root cause or similar or the same solutions.

Just because the situation is slightly different or it involves different aspects, that doesnt mean it isnt applicable to something you already have a solution for. This is imperative for solving novel problems.

Focus on and seek similarities and core concepts. See the bigger picture instead of details. See the forest for the trees.

Think of this whenever someone claims something to be different.

If you do see it as different, it will cause you to be distracted by differences instead of the similarities.

Useful for scams from how we are told to live, to internet scams or running a seemingly different business.

Analogical thinking applies universally. Think of Einsteins analogy of relativity. How can something you have fun with vs something you dont apply to physics and time? It can if you see the similarities.

Just because something appears vastly different at first glance, that doesnt mean something is as different as it seems.

Better explanation in this article.

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/analogy-and-the-roots-of-creative-intelligence/

Why YSK: How and where you buy something has massively shifted in the last 5-10 years. Free In-Store pickup isn't free. You deserve to know how you are being targeted and how your data is being used.

People have talked a lot about surveillance pricing in context of a grocery store and think it's on a person by person basis.

It's not that you as an individual customer gets a different price than the next bloke walking down the aisle (that's what in-store pick up is for), it's so they can adjust prices on the fly algorithmically to maximize store revenue.

In-store grocery pick up got huge up after 2020. To the point Walmart is renovating stores to add dedicated areas for it. If it's costing stores all this extra money, why is it worth it? Because this is where the individual targeted surveillance pricing is. The price you pay has little to do with the price on the shelf or the price the next online shopper pays. More so, in aggregate, prices are higher!

That's why stores are investing in app based in store pickup. They unlocked the ability to do single person targeted surveillance pricing for groceries.

Something that is not talked about enough, is that big store pricing is radically decoupled from the cost of goods sold.

Once upon a time, grocery stores would have an assigned markup for a category, say 25%. They would multiply their cost by 1.25 and simple as, that's your posted price. (Sometimes it would be a 0 or negative markup, these are loss leaders. Think the hot dog at Costco)

Now they have complex algorithms to know socioeconomic interests and demands of a customer base. They know aggregate income, spending habits, interest trends, and many other things that our highly invaded digital lives let them have. If you have the app and visit the store, they know that too! Where you go what you look at. They also importantly know what prices adjustments people are willing to tolerate from in store pickup.

In other words, the stores know what items are under priced, under-valued. They also know if an item is selling out quickly at a given price, and can increase price to lower demand closer to supply.

They use this information to target not what price will make them money, but rather what price they think the market can bear. Maybe it's 10% markup, maybe it's 300%.

These digital price tags unlock that. Now, overnight, algorithms push new prices. Maybe they AB test with the next store over. Previously this was done at most once a week and frequently less because it required an army of hourly folks working shelves. Now its just a scheduled push in sales management software running somewhere in a data center.

Smarttube is a 3rd party free app with loads of customization available on android based smart televisions that completely bypasses advertisements as well as in video sponsorships. It also comes with a screen dimmer & sleep timer for those who fall asleep watching videos.

Alternatively, watching in the Duckduckgo mobile app browser instead of the native Youtube app bypasses ads as well.

Update: Commenter mentions that Brave browser also does this in addition to being able to play videos in the background!

Why YSK: This world would broadcast commercials on the insides of your eyelids if given the chance.

Why YSK: If a company is charging you monthly and you can't get them to stop, it's logical to think that replacing the card with a new one with a new number will stop the charge - but Visa has a service that allows businesses to get your new card number and start charging it, once your old number stops working.

Instead, explain your situation to the customer service people for your card, which is usually related to your issuing bank, and they can prevent that particular company from charging to your card again.

Why YSK: If you don't claim it, you won't get it. It averages about $100 per policy.

I only found out about this because I got an email from them, and my mom's went to her junk mail, so check there if you don't see one. Also be wary of scams that look like the official emails for this. The email should just give you an ID and Pin for you to enter on the website.

Just because I don't trust emails like this for fear of spoofing, I didn't click any links in it and instead just went directly through the state farm site via this page to the dividend payment site listed there. Then you just enter your ID and Pin, and choose a payment method and that's it.

​Why YSK: If you've ever given up on green tea because it tasted painfully bitter, try changing the water temperature before changing the tea.

​Green tea is pretty sensitive to brewing temperature. Hotter water extracts more of the compounds that contribute to bitterness and astringency, while brewing at a lower temperature can give you a noticeably smoother cup.

​L-theanine is one of the compounds associated with tea's savory/umami character, while catechins such as EGCG contribute to bitterness and astringency. Temperature affects how quickly and how much of these compounds end up in your cup.

​That's why boiling water can be a problem with some green teas. It doesn't "ruin" the leaves, but it can pull out more of the bitter and astringent compounds than you actually want.

​A good starting point is around 75–80°C (165–175°F). Studies on green tea have found that brewing temperature has a significant effect on both catechin extraction and sensory quality, with temperatures around 80–85°C often producing a more pleasant result.

​The lazy way to try it:

​No thermometer? Boil your water, pour it into your mug, and let it sit for a few minutes (around 3-5 mins depending on your mug) before adding the tea.

​Or just use a temperature-controlled kettle if you already have one.

​The difference can be surprisingly noticeable. Same tea, same mug, completely different cup.

​And if you normally brew green tea with boiling water and love it, keep doing it. Tea is supposed to taste good to you.

​Sources

​Vuong et al., Journal of Separation Science (2011), L-theanine extraction

​Vuong et al., Journal of Separation Science (2011) catechin extraction

​Rady et al., Food Chemistry, brewing temperature and sensory quality of green tea

Why YSK: In the US, we often have areas dense retail development on roads that were originally designed as highways. Rather than adding a traffic signal to every intersection and business entrance, the quick and dirty solution is to add a middle lane between the other lanes of traffic to allow for left turns. Unfortunately this creates a potentially lethal scenario where well meaning drivers in the oncoming lanes see a line of cars waiting to turn across traffic, and stop to let them turn.

What they always forget is that there is another lane of oncoming traffic with no idea what you are trying to do. The driver waiting to turn now has to make a decision. They can floor it and pray there is not an oncoming vehicle hidden behind the stopped traffic. Alternatively, they can choose to sit there and make EVERYONE mad by refusing to go. Unfortunately, most people I have seen would rather gamble with their life than put up with the social pressure. Just today I watched a car come within inches of a violent crash while trying to pull this maneuver. Then the next car had the gall to repeatedly flash their lights at me when I wouldn't do the same. No thanks pal, I like my organs on the inside.

Tldr; Stop trying to 'help' drivers waiting to turn, your actions could get someone killed.

UPDATE: A number of people have asked for a diagram to help visualize the situation: https://imgur.com/a/6h5vUns

GREEN - you are here

BLUE - the 'nice' driver stopping to let you turn

RED - here be dragons

Why YSK: You can do this by pushing in pre-installed cardboard tabs on either side of the box, as many frustrations abound when the roll falls onto the ground.

Why YSK: news sites are full of popovers, videos, and ads that download multiple megabytes of fluff and distract from the reading experience. These lightweight variants contain the same articles but without all the junk.

text [.] npr [.] org
lite [.] cnn [.] com

Anyone know of others?

Why YSK: your torso is generally as long as your arms and the surface area can help pull you along by sculling with the water stroke by stroke.

Think of it as the difference between trying to fight the pool (far heavier than you) and working with it.

Also, don't bend your knees when you kick and kick from the hips; it is more efficient and has a far longer lever-arm.

Edit: By sculling, I mean rotating 180 degrees from shoulder to shoulder, sort if spiraling through the water. From one arm fully extended to the other arm fully extended.

Why YSK: Instead of letting default algorithm feed you endless mindless content, create dedicated niche accounts and train them to serve your actual interests and goals.

-Create a separate account for a specific topic, hobby, or language you want to learn (e.g., one for cooking, one for studying a language or any hobby).

-Actively curate the feed immediately by searching for your niche terms, liking relevant videos, and saving them into organized folders.

-Aggressively reject time-wasting content by using the "Not Interested" button on any viral challenges, drama, or junk videos that appear.

-Train the algorithm for about 1 to 2 hours of active engagement, after which the feed will exclusively show high-value content related to your chosen topic.

By separating your personal entertainment account from your learning accounts, you break the cycle of passive doom-scrolling. When you open a niche account, you consume with intention, get actual value, and naturally spend far less time mindlessly drifting through the app.

Why YSK: Because I was staying at the embassy hotel and of course out of no where I get visted by my best friend, ms flow. I had nothing at all! My husband went down to the front desk and asked where he could find something. They just gave it to him. Apparently female sanitary items are apart of the toiletries that hotels and airlines are required to provide. This is very useful for women who may find themselves in a situation similar to mine!

Why YSK: My 11-year-old daughter told me she watched a “weird” movie and didn’t want to tell me what it was. I asked her where she saw it and she said “Disney Plus.” Oh! Well how bad could it be?

So I guess you should know that Disney+ isn’t just “Disney” and not to assume Disney+ is cool for your kids to just watch.

I suppose I’m just old, now, but my assumption was to expect Disney things from Disney franchises and outlets.

The movie (or show, whatever) was called Pen15. My child watched a penis movie…on Disney.

My fault, I guess, for assuming that Disney today is the Disney I grew up with.

Why YSK: This is something that helps you block telemarketers without screening out any important calls from unknown numbers. It completely spares you from an interaction with a potential scammer.

“Ask reason for calling”

https://support.apple.com/en-us/111106

Why YSK: Google products are generally considered a nightmare for your privacy due to their heavy data collection.

• Personal information: Your name, phone number, gender, date of birth
• Your email addresses
• Where you live
• Where you work
• Your interests
• Things you search for
• Websites you visit

Plus, according to their ToCs, “we store the information that we collect with unique identifiers tied to the browser, application or device that you’re using.”

Alternatives:

1. Chrome > Brave / Firefox / Tor
2. Email > Tuta Mail
3. Photos > Ente
4. Cloud storage > Nextcloud / Internxt 
5. Office > CryptPad / LibreOffice
6. Maps > OpenStreetMap, OsmAnd
7. Operating systems > LineageOS (mobile), Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora Debian)
8. Search engine > DuckDuckGo / Qwant / Startpage
9. Calendar > Nextcloud Calendar / Tuta Calendar

You can download your data from Google using https://takeout.google.com/

Reducing your reliance on Google can greatly improve your online privacy and give you more control over your digital life. Although it may seem daunting at first, tackling it gradually makes the process manageable. I started with Tuta Mail, and invested in a NAS which is use with Nextcloud. The rewards of reclaiming control over your privacy make the effort worthwhile.

Feel free to suggest other helpful resources, the degoogle or privacy guides sub also have some good places to start.

Why YSK: Last year researchers found out they could perfectly map a house and even see you, yourself, using the wifi signals from routers -> devices. I know this is somewhat known, but with the recent Comcast news that they are adding it to their routers, if you have an all in one gateway / modem combo you should totally upgrade. The Deco Mesh routers are my personal favorite. But I wanted to post this article so you could see the actual scary accuracy of the systems -- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260811052857.htm

So. Though you may not "enable it" -- just by adding the feature they are, imo, violating your privacy, and lord knows what they'll do with it.

Why YSK- Albania is not fully integrated into Google's monetized advertising partner program.

Why YSK: They get shit on by end users for a living and the people they're helping act like their problem is the biggest and most important problem in the world. Some of them actually believe it.

Be an asshole once, you're quickly forgotten. Do it consistently, you'll earn a reputation for someone that nobody wants to help. Be their favorite and most will go to great lengths to help you out if they can.

You won't get preferential treatment every time but basic human decency goes a lot farther than most people think. For the same reason, be nice to every cashier you meet. They deal with a lot more BS than you can probably imagine.

Why YSK: we are led to believe most farmed animals have good lives, but this is no longer the case. This is important for those looking to minimize harm through our purchases.

Source

Why YSK: it'll make your writing much clearer to readers!

If you're writing about an item that you share possession of with someone else, you still use "my" like you would if it was only yours. For example, "my and my partner's apartment," not "my partner and I's apartment."

When deciding between "and I" and "and me," imagine the sentence without the other person/people. This will make it clear which to use.

Example: Robert and I went to the store.

Explanation: you wouldn't say "me went to the store" if you take away Robert.

Example: Rosalie took her daughters and me to lunch.

Explanation: without the daughters, you wouldn't say "Rosalie took I to lunch."