Someone on Reddit asked, “What industry ‘secret’ do you know that most people don’t?” and I wish I had time to read through all the thousands of comments. Many of the revealed secrets are what you might expect, like disinformation, uncleanliness, and high markups, but some are truly frightening! Below is a sample of the top-voted secrets: 

• “Are we still connected?” most times will get an immediate response from online chat agents.

• I'm an academic researcher and I can speak for a huge number in my field when I say: If you want access to our studies and they're behind a paywall, you can email us and we will send you the study.

• Trained artist here. Most oil paints are made with very toxic substances, as are most paint thinners and mediums. Every single one of my teachers was either very sick (Cancer, Ménière's disease) or a bit crazy (eating chalk, licking pallettes). All incredible artists I was privileged to learn from. One lesson I learned very well: I wear gloves and sometimes a mask when I paint.

• Worked in online community management and social media for years - Admins CAN read all of your PMs. Private only means private from the masses, not from administration, we had to be able to read them to check reports of abuse, grooming, illegal activity etc. 

• I make wildlife films for big streamers and broadcasters. The sound is all either library or foley.

  The last one has ruined nature documentaries for me. — CD

If someone is calling you to alert you to fraud, nine out of ten times they are themselves the fraudster. These days fraud-alert fraudsters are sophisticated, and they may know information about you like your SSN, address, etc., and are playing a long game not asking for money at first. Warning signs: they prohibit you from talking to anyone else, and you can’t hang up, or call back. This very long account, How I Got Scammed Out of $50,000, by a very savvy financial advice columnist who got scammed by so-called fraud investigators has all the elements of the common tricks. It matches exactly with close friends who have been scammed. Yes, it can happen to you. Learn from others’ mistakes. — KK

I’ve recently enjoyed some good streaming movies that were not blockbusters, and maybe not even Great. I thought they were entertaining, maybe just good, yet still recommendable, if below the radar.

Society of the Snow. Everyone’s heard of the sports team whose plane crashed in the Andes and the boys had to survive for 2 months. It was a great book (Alive!), and later an okay movie, but this 2023 movie, filmed in Spanish by a Spanish crew, is stunning, moving, accurate (parts filmed in original crash site) and as close to being there as anyone else will get. This one is memorable.

The Holdovers. A sweet drama about a jaded prep-school teacher and bratty, troubled students who have to spend the Christmas holidays together at school and they all get life lessons. Despite the well-worn premise, there are almost no cliches, and the turns are unexpected, in part because the story is semi-autobiographical. Perfect for a Christmas movie list.

Jules. A comedy about an elderly man living by himself (played by Ben Kingsley) who makes friends with an alien who crashes his space ship in his back yard. The alien is non-verbal and needs dead cats to fuel his rocket. It’s a rom-com with an alien. — KK

It’s hard to take breaks even though I work from home. I appreciated reading these "5 Simple Guidelines For Better Breaks" and the reminder that 1. Something beats nothing. 2. Moving beats stationary. 3. Social beats solo. 4. Outside beats inside. and 5. Fully detached beats semi-detached. I need to remember to stop multitasking during breaks. — CD 

I use the Libby smart phone app to read Kindle versions of books and listen to audio books. You just need a library card from your local library to activate your free account. If you have trouble finding a particular book, use the deep search function listed under “Filters” in the app. Here’s a video that explains it. (Note the not all libraries offer deep search.) — MF

My wife pre-loads these disposable tea bags with her favorite loose leaf tea before we travel. They have a drawstring closure, like a laundry bag, to seal the tea inside. They are robust enough for multiple uses, too. — MF

I find business boring. But I am totally engrossed by the long-form stories on the podcast Acquired. They present a book-deep report on a current world-class company, spending several hours on the story. The histories are never boring, and they are invariably unconventional and improbable. The Acquired guys, two VCs, accompany this rich history with insightful and accessible financial analysis along the way. Each episode is a master class in business. Some of the outfits they have covered include Nintendo, Nike, Nvidia, and the NFL. Their most recent episode (2 hours) on Nova Nordisk, the pharma originators of insulin therapy and now weight-loss drugs like Ozempic was phenomenal and eye-opening. (And that is just the companies beginning with N!) — KK

Untranslatable is an online dictionary of idioms and expressions contributed by native speakers all over the world. All entries are verified and insights are offered into the usage, context or significance. It’s fascinating to explore the entries and different cultural nuances. — CD 

Here’s a link to a free printable calendar that will display all the days of 2024 on a single page. I used it to mark my travel and important dates and it helped me visualize my year in a new way. — CD 

This wireless charging station is a space-saver on my bedside table. It allows me to charge my iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch all at once, eliminating the need for multiple cords. I can charge my phone in landscape modes, which turns it into a StandBy mode clock. — MF

YouTube is in its infancy as an art medium. Bobby Fingers is a surrealist, who has posted only 4 videos on his channel, but they get 750,000 views. His long videos are masterpieces of meticulous art craftsmanship, elaborate prank puzzles, indie music, deadpan comedy, all disguised as one of the best maker tutorials I’ve ever seen. It is very hard to describe their obsessive weirdness and elegant absurdity. Start with his first, “Drunk Mel Gibson Arrest Diorama.” Be sure to watch to the end. His art is the videos. — KK

The universal lubricant WD-40 usually comes in a hefty spray can. Even with a fine straw attached to its head, it still tends to overspray messily. For a more precise application of WD-40, use this compact On-the-Go Pen, which applies the lubricant with a focused felt tip, and is the right tiny size for a tool bag, car, boat, kitchen drawer, or bike. — KK

Earth.fm is a free repository of more than 700 natural soundscapes from all over the globe. Here is a Summer Storm in Kamnik Alps, Slovenia. Recently launched is their Quiet Places Finder — an interactive map to discover the best rated quiet spaces in the loudest cities. Near me, I found a rose garden that I want to go spend time in. — CD 

Drawzer is a website that does just one thing. It generates random ideas for art. I used it to make some AI images: “Three-toed lizard marching in a videogame,” an “artist smoking a huge pipe in a pool of goo,” and “a yeti playing the drums in an old west town.” — MF

In the US, mobile digital IDs can replace your state’s driver license, so there would be no need to carry a card if you had your phone. A handful of states have their own state ID app (California, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah), and a handful of states allow an ID in an Apple Wallet (Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Georgia), even fewer states accept Android wallet, and only 6 airports in the US accept digital IDs for TSA. However there are 30 states in the process of adopting digital IDs so availability is in flux. I just downloaded and enrolled in the California DMV Wallet app, which the TSA at San Francisco’s SFO will accept in their pilot program. – KK

The Maxtop cross-body belt bag’s compact design allows me to discreetly tuck it under my shirt or jacket, significantly reducing the risk of pickpocketing. The bag’s multiple pockets comfortably hold my passport and essentials, making it great for travel. — MF

NearbyWiki.org is a map you can use to find places nearby that have their own wikipedia page. I discovered that one of the last independently owned radio stations in the Bay Area is broadcasting from a house two blocks away. — CD 

A few years ago, we ran a website edited by my wife, Carla Sinclair, that showcased visual reference books – art books, comics, photography books, pop-ups, atlases, and so on. We realized these were books that belong on paper and were worth keeping as books (they don’t disappear). You can still visit the site (called Wink), but it hasn't been updated recently. We are repacking all this visual greatness into a new free newsletter: Books That Belong on Paper. Each issue will feature two books from Wink, complete with updated links to purchase them. We hope you subscribe! — MF

This article on “What Good Friends Look Like" prompted me to reflect on the qualities of my closest friendships. The author introduces Tim Urban’s “Does This Friendship Make Sense” Matrix, a framework for evaluating friendships by dividing them into four quadrants. Q1 friendships are both healthy and enjoyable, Q2 friendships are healthy but not enjoyable, Q3 friendships are enjoyable but not healthy, and Q4 friendships are neither healthy nor enjoyable. But the quicker method is Tim Urban’s Traffic Test — a metaphorical test where you and a friend are in a car together driving home. If you're hoping for traffic because you enjoy their company and conversation, they pass the test. If you encounter traffic and feel a sense of dread, they don't pass. I realized I might have a couple of those traffic-dread friendships, but that just inspires me to dig deeper into our conversations.  — CD

The easiest way to capture a screenshot on an iPhone is to say “Hey Siri, screenshot this.” It’s hands-free and idiot proof. — KK