Best products from r/YouShouldKnow

We found 28 comments on r/YouShouldKnow discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 204 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/YouShouldKnow:

u/ase1590 · 12 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

Hmm, automod or something removed my post with no explanation. so without further ado, here's a temporary backup copy as a comment:

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Every day in your life, you use crazy technology that relies on the gypsy magic of being "wireless".

But what if I told you this magic is made of radio waves?

> "Well duh! I have a radio in my car!"

Yes, but what if I told you nearly EVERYTHING that uses wireless technology uses radio waves?

> "Like what?"

Well lets see, we have:

  • cell phones
  • space satellites
  • International space station
  • police scanners
  • pagers
  • weather radar
  • airplane tracking
  • CB radio: the thing truckers always use
  • Walkie talkies
  • that cheap wireless thermometer you bought at Wal-Mart

    and many more!

    > "So what?"

    Here's where your mind is either going to explode, gain a few IQ points, or head back imgur because words are hard.

    What if I told you that you can listen in to nearly ALL of these things with 1 USB device?!

    What if I also told you it was cheap?!

    What if I ALSO told you that it makes a neat visual that's trippy enough for /r/trees to appreciate?!

    > "I have no idea what I'm looking at, but it looks neat!"

    Well Reddit, welcome to the world of Sofware defined radio!

    With a single RTL 28xx USB stick, such as this, you use it with your PC to tune to anything between 25 MHz to 1.7 GHz!

    > "BUT WHAT DO THESE NUMBERS MEAN?! WHATS A MHz?! IT LOOKS SCARY!"

    Fear not, dear reader. Here's a small lesson. Remember that FM car radio you had? That thing tunes from 87.5 - 108 correct?

    >
    "I guess so. I just preset mine to my favorite station."

    Alright. now look closer, what is your radio counting by when you change FM radio stations?

    That's right, MHz!

    >
    "Ohhhh. So what you're saying is that MHz is like the stations I tune to on my car radio!"

    Yes indeed! Only with this USB stick, you have a thousand more "stations" you can tune to! Not all of them are music though.

    >
    "So what all can I listen to?"*

    this is where it gets really cool. you can do ALL of this:

  • Listen to FM radio
  • listen in on old walkie talkies
  • listen to CB radio
  • listen to NOAA weather radio
  • decode NOAA weather satellite images sent FROM SPACE!
  • track planes flying above you within about 50 miles
  • decode pagers
  • Search for number stations used by SPIES!
  • Listen in to old police radios

    And more!

    A quick FAQ:

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    Q: Can I pick up Aliens?

    A: Maybe!

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    Q: Will this get me arrested?

    A: No! Not in the USA, it's fine to listen to these things as long as you dont have malicous intent or attempt to start listening and capturing cell phone data. Check you local laws to be sure though. Since this only receives signals, there is no way for them to detect it anyway unless you talk about it or show people.

    However, if you live in the UK, listening to broadcasts not intended for you is Illegal.

    tl;dr Check you local laws!

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    Q: I DONT HAVE A PC!

    A: applications to use software defined radio are avaliable for Windows, Mac, and Linux. By using an OTG usb cable and an android phone, you can use the SDR Touch app to listen to things as well!

    --------
    Q: YOU MEAN I CAN TRACK PLANES?!

    A: Yes! planes use a system called ADS-B which broadcasts their location so other planes know where they are.

    --------
    Q: Can I get HAM radio with this?

    A: No. not out of the box anyway, since Ham is often well below 25 MHz. If you have a steady hand, there is a hardware mod that requires soldering a wire to a specific pin on the internal chip, otherwise the safer method is to buy something like Ham It Up to use with your dongle.

    -------
    Q: What's HAM, is it edible?

    A: Not this kind of HAM! HAM, also known as Ameture Radio, is where licenced radio operators send and receive on a licence-specific MHz range.

    ------
    Q: is there a subreddit for these USB sticks?

    A: ABSOLUTELY! Come join us over at /r/rtlsdr, we'll be more than glad to help you get started!

    -----

    Q: Do I need internet?

    A: You'll need to download the driver and the visualizer from the internet, but once you do that, internet is no longer needed at all!

    -----

    Q: Is the antenna built in?

    A: No. the device comes with a small antenna that plugs right into the USB device. If you're hardcore and want to use that custom antenna you built, you'll probably want to get a Male MCX to Female SMA adapter too.

    -----

    Q: I DONT HAVE ANY MONEY, I'M BROKE BUT IT LOOKS SO COOL, HELP! :(

    A: You can have a taste of this fun by using a Web based SDR. This one allows you to tune to the HAM bands and some AM stations. you can play with that one until you decide to get your own.

    -----

    Edit: fixed typos, added on to faq.

    Edit2: /u/maximusawesomus points out that listening to broadcasts not intended for you is Illegal in the UK

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    ---|---

u/syntaxspam · 3 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

I just had a full out response typed up here and accidentally clicked back with my mousepad's gestures, but brief summary of why this is a terrible way to pick charities to donate to (paraphrased from Dan Pallotta's great book Uncharitable).

Charity A and B each receive $10 M in donations in a given year to go to finding treatments for/a cure for prostate cancer.

Charity A has a team of analysts review the research of dozens of universities from around the world. It picks the 10 best and donates $750,000 to each, and spends the remaining $2.5 M on salaries for the team of analysts plus rent. Remember that typical non-profit salaries are far below fair market value (see this, for example)).

Charity B consists of a team of one guy - he gives $9 M to the first university doing research on prostate cancer that comes up in Google and keeps the remaining $1 M for himself.

By percentage standards, Charity A gives only 75% of its proceeds to the cause, while Charity B gives 90%. But clearly, Charity A is the one we feel compelled to support.

u/therealmrsbrady · 2 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

It definitely does, yes. I did quite a bit of research before buying and was willing to spend around $100 or so but this specific model had the best overall reviews and added features for females as well, your gf will thank you I'm sure. (Side note, I initially ordered the blue but it looked, idk cheap somehow so I exchanged it for the white only and it looks much, much better, not cheap looking at all.)

A couple suggestions on other things that make a big difference imo for another $20 combined roughly, both recommended by other reviewers as well as a few specific YouTube installation videos (there is one that finally sold me on it, I'll see if I can find that too). A better/more solid and lasting brass, chrome finish T-adapter which also has a shut off and is compatible with this model (the 185 comes with a plastic one and only a few reported leaks and it doesn't have a shut off either and will eventually need to be replaced down the line). As well as toilet seat bumpers, taking into account the bidet only raises the seat a little but enough to not make it feel solid, the bumpers make it feel as it should, 100% solid with them.

The links for you to check out and maybe add to your wishlist (I personally highly suggest them):

KES Toilet Lavatory Brass... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00JIG4AGM?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Danco 10062 Toilet Seat Bumper... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00EA080X0?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf


Edit: This is the YouTube link where the guy uses the upgraded adapter as well as the bumpers and shows how to install easily too. (You'll see the 185 features that do make a big difference to me.)
https://youtu.be/juilRGZXLwM

u/doublecastle · 7 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

I am a truck driver so I have a lot of experience. Chewing gum helps, but to me a caffeine pill is far more effective. There is a delay before the caffeine really kicks in, though, of about 30-60 mins I find, so it's best if you can take it well before you start driving. Also, the best of both worlds is caffeine gum. I relied extensively on this product back when I was a high school teacher and can highly recommend it. (Only reason I don't use it anymore is that pills are cheaper and I am able to get more sleep now.) Not only does it combine gum and caffeine, but even better the caffeine gets absorbed into your system and starts having an effect a lot more quickly than via a pill or coffee, more like 5-15 mins instead of 30-60 mins. Final note, remember that you will develop a tolerance to caffeine over time, so if you are relying on it regularly then it will become less effective unless you increase the dose, which might be undesirable.

EDIT: Also very effective is to turn the AC on at high power. Horribly effective is to keep a little spray bottle of water within reach, give yourself a thorough dusting of water all over (especially exposed skin like your face, hands, arms, feet if you are barefoot which I recommend), then turn the AC on full blast. Re-spray as necessary. I guarantee you will not fall asleep.

u/Snaztastic · 4 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

Yeah, we have all been brought up to see those people as self-righteous assholes, but transportation engineers have determined that a zipper merge, occurring as close to the point of obstruction as possible, is most efficient (40-50% more efficient than current practice). The Minnesota DOT recently adopted this practice and began a campaign of awareness.

If traffic interests you, check out the book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt. Super interesting quick read, and you'll learn a lot about interacting with urban traffic efficiently.

Michigan DOT Citations 1 2.pdf

u/majofski · 2 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

A few more practical techniques (not mine):

Forced association. Attempt to blend the two into something worthwhile. A bad example - lamp and speaker. How about a speaker that looks like a lamp and can be moved around like a flexible lamp arm? This forces the mind to make connections between things that otherwise seem unrelated.

The +-x technique. What can I add/subtract/modify to the design that would make it more creative. Turn it upside down. Completely change the shape. Add something.

I'm explaining this really poorly. Thinker Toys is a fantastic book that gives you practical exercises to help boost creativity and encourage out of the box thinking. I've read a tonne of guides and this one is by far the best.

u/TheNeckbeardCrusader · 30 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

I like this site quite a bit for major engine components and basics. It goes into things like firing order and octane ratings, and is a fun read if you have fifteen minutes.

This channel goes into serious detail about most of the major components of a car. He has loads of content, it's just a little dry sometimes. He also clears his throat in a somewhat abrasive way, but that's nitpicking.

/r/Cartalk and /r/Mechanicadvice are where you can direct car related repair questions, they're both very open and helpful.

If you're interested in doing your own car maintenance, I reccomend investing in a Haynes manual. They're a great resource, thorough, and reasonably priced. They're also tailored to every individual vehicle model. If you're really new, Auto Repair for Dummies is actually really helpful, I got through my first major project with that, a Haynes manual, and a shitty socket set. Hope this helps!

u/gaso · 2 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

Compressed meaning audio that has been compressed, like all audio on a phone would be. Unless you were using an application that was specifically capturing and recording audio that was not compressed. Packet meaning data waiting to be sent back to where ever the next time a network connection is established. Please don't be condescending to me, it makes me want to tell you to go fuck yourself.

Energy to keep the phone on? Not what I said, but regardless: I have a droid eris I use as an MP3 player. The battery is currently around 15%. The uptime is 529 hours, it's been 17 days 19 hours 36 minutes 33 seconds since unplugged from the charger, and has 4 hours and 43 minutes of awake time.

Yes, encoding uses a little power. Luckily cell phone components are designed to be very energy efficient when it comes to processing, huh?

Store it...I'd imaging (EDIT:: NO: I'd imagine, or I'm imagining...not "I'd imaging"...what the fuck!) a couple MB of space within a dedicated section of a component that has had a backdoor built into it, but phones do come with a couple GB of storage these days. What's an hour of audio recording? This pen can record up to 800 HOURS of audio into 4GB of storage: http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-4-GB-Echo-Smartpen/dp/B003RAE19Q I'd imagine the data would get uploaded way before you would get to 800 hours of stored speech...just my guess.

The usage would need to exceed your typical self-discharge rates to be noticeable. Who knows how optimised such usage could be if you put some engineering into it? I'm just guessing, but I'd hazard that it would be noticeable if you could reliably measure the battery independent of the device.


tl;dr: You can't see me, so I'll tell you that I'm really trying hard not to roll my eyes at you.



u/MaoThatHurt · 4 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

Everyone should read that book. I have some caveats though. For crowds to be wise, they must have four things:

  1. Diversity of opinion: This is very hard in an age of mass mediated talking points. With cable news and the internet, you can get "facts" in any flavor you want.

  2. Independence: People don't let their opinions be determined by those around them. HA!

  3. Decentralization: People can draw on local (not top down/centralized) information.

  4. Aggregation: Private sentiments can be converted into an organized collective judgment.

    I'm not saying that crowds can't be wise. They can under ideal conditions. For that to be the case though, the person has to be rational in how they construct their beliefs and all four qualities must be present. Good luck with that.

    I'm not trying to debunk a strawman. Surowiecki does say that all these qualities have to be present for the crowd to be wise. As is often the case with big ideas though, this one has taken on a life of its own, to the point where a lot of people think that crowds are always right, regardless of whether the qualities are there or not.
u/foosanew · 7 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

I posted this in your LPT thread, I think it is worth reading so here.

A few years back, and even some today, I set out to find out how to make popcorn like at the movie theaters. Alton's recipe does not sound terrible and uses items most people will have on hand. However to make it better (read: more like movie theater popcorn) You will need to buy a few items for this.

  1. Gold Medal Flavacol popcorn salt
  2. Coconut oil for popcorn
  3. Whirley-Pop

    All total the items are under $40 (excluding popcorn) and all but the coconut oil will last a long time. Flavacol is a must have for this to work. I have not been able to find it locally near me. the 35oz carton will last you just about forever.

    The coconut oil is a bit on the messy side just because of the container, you can get different amounts which will come in a different container. I have noticed some differences in taste of some coconut oils and the one linked is the brand I am currently using.(note: Coconut oil solidifies at about 76F)

    If you are just toying with the idea of better popcorn, try Alton's method of popping. It cuts the total price in half and for a test run\proof of concept it should work. I have tested several poppers and settled with the whirley pop or similar design. Some outdoors shops sell these but charges about $10 more for them. Note: Yes it has a turn handle, but the gears are made of plastic, so do not hulk smash it.

    As for popcorn, not all popcorn is created equal. The artisan fancy colored stuff generally does not pop well in my experience. I have experimented with many different kinds and have mostly settled with Orville Redenbacher. This can be purchased off the shelf at most grocery stores or from Amazon. You can try others to find one you like better.




    **
    As a note
    I do not have a set amount for any 1 ingredient. I just eyeball it, maybe one of these days I will get this down to a science with numbers and such. When starting out follow Alton's recipe but substitute the above items in it.

u/silverdrake3 · 7 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

My guestimate is that a basic setup will run you about $70 average (although there are much cheaper ways to do this, you were specifically interested in phototherapy). Since phototherapy is used to treat conditions like Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression, you may want to ask your insurance if they'll treat a full-spectrum light as a piece of medical equipment.

Full spectrum lights on Amazon run from about $5 for just a daylight/white light bulb (that can fit into standard sockets, btw) to $50 for a quality phototherapy lamp (like what I have).

As for timers, I like this one which doubles as a power strip, and I can put in other appliances like my tea kettle. If you're just experimenting, you may want to check second-hand stores for an aquarium timer or raid the Christmas box for a light timer.

It's not the most elegant of setups, but for a student like myself it's very useful. As long as the light is shining on me in the morning, I wake up easy and silently.

When you set it up, set the "alarm" for about half an hour to an hour before you actually should get up. That way, if the light comes on and you're in a deep part of your sleep cycle, you can finish it off before you notice that the light is on. If you're a light sleeper, you may want to adjust it a bit.

I think there are also timers out there for house lights/dimmer switches. I haven't looked into it, though.

u/therealjerrystaute · 5 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

This guy totally left out the Batmobile (if he mentioned it, I missed it)!

As for covering up your vigilante activities, that's not so hard if you actually live amongst lots of other vigilantes, gangs, crooks, and corrupt police officers. Practicing various bits of your required skills like expert high speed driving in such a place also doesn't draw that much attention.

I grew up in a place that was a real life mix of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre film:

A county of bad ol' boys By Richard Fausset (October 27, 2006, latimes.com)

Timeline: Cocke County Confidential By J.J. Stambaugh (August 1, 2005, knoxnews.com)

The Most Corrupt States - Galleries - The Daily Beast

I also grew up a big fan of comic book Batman with his Batmobile, and Iron Man with his armor.

You don't have to be rich to have weapons and gadgets and a Batmobile. Seriously. I've always been the very opposite of rich myself, and I acquired all those when I was young, basically on the salary of a restaurant dishwasher. If you can READ and LEARN and EXPERIMENT, you can work wonders, compared to those who can't (or choose not to try).

And if bad guys are constantly coming after YOU (or going after others in front of you), you don't need grad school detective skills to find them.

You also don't need Olympic athlete training or martial arts skills in order to get into fights-- and even win some, on occasion. Firearms (and knowing how to use them) help immensely here. As does having your own Batmobile, of course.

I built my own real life Batmobile in my youth. You can read how in the ebook Dark Horse: The Official Shadowfast Supercar Technical Reference. Or navigate your way around my web site to read about it for free online (the automotive basics are here, the rest scattered elsewhere over the site).

Naturally I avoided photos which could help identify me back then, plus kept my mouth shut about things. But now 30 plus years later I need the money, and hopefully won't get into trouble with all that water having passed under the bridge (and by changing names and dates). So I'm publishing ebooks about those days. Sirens was the first one.

Seriously. It's NOT impossible to be a lot like Batman yourself. And if you're a lonely high school geek with no girlfriend (like I was), that just increases your chances of success!

u/lifethinkist · 1 pointr/YouShouldKnow

This is certainly not scientific evidence, but you or others might be interested in reading the following chapters from Napolean Hill's book Think and Grow Rich if you haven't read it yet. Then decide for yourself if you think that taking time to think can help you solve problems or help you achieve your goals.

I think it was published in 1937, so it won't contain any brand new research or anything :)

Chapter 1 - Thoughts are Things

Chapter 6 - Imagination

u/vtransient · 2 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

I go temporarily deaf because of earwax pretty regularly, but not necessarily because of cotton swabs, I'm just a waxy person I guess. A quick dose of debrox and some work with one of these typically does the trick for me. The best treatment is an e.n.t. doc with one of those pressure washers though. It's a magical sensation after being deaf for a while.

u/zyzzogeton · 1 pointr/YouShouldKnow

Is it? This one seems to work and doesn't have the voodoo after the URL

http://www.amazon.com/Okayest-Mug--Great-Mothers-Funny-Quality/dp/B00FH2ZH54/

I am not even sure how I would benefit from the referral if it is one... that certainly wasn't my intention

If you mean to amazon.com generally... that is just the first place I typed "mother's day gifts"

u/Squrf · 3 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

Getting one of these is a wonderful thing.

u/fernandizzel · 1 pointr/YouShouldKnow

I use on of these: Wabash Valley Farms Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004SU35/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ydfIub0D5EE8Q

Turn handle and it rotates two arms along the bottom of the pan to keep corn from burning.

Also, tastes way better if you use coconut oil.

u/mamoocando · 1 pointr/YouShouldKnow

/u/infinity526 is right, you shouldn't make popcorn on a glass top stove. But if you had a whirly pop you could do it!