40 Bits Of Knowledge People Learnt That Feel Almost Illegal To Know, Shared In This Online Group
People realized that knowledge is power very early on and the phrase is often attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General (1613-1617) and as Lord Chancellor of England (1617-1621).
Not everyone possesses the same knowledge, but not everyone is allowed to. At the same time, there are things that you think you shouldn’t know because it’s not your place, but actually it’s not classified information, it just sounds like it.
If you would like to hear some examples of such information, this list contains all sorts of cases when people think that it’s almost illegal to know what they know. The thread started when craftygalcreates asked “What's a piece of information you learned that now feels almost illegal to know?” In two days, the question got almost 40k upvotes as people were interested to read the secrets that are not really secrets.
More info: Reddit
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When I was a kid, my dad taught me how to pick a lock. I became very interested in different kinds of locks and purchased a lock pick set. I practiced for years and became pretty good at certain types of locks. So over the years every now and then, if a neighbor locks themselves out of the house or a friend loses the key to a padlock or a lock box I’ve been able to help. But the reactions I tend to get from people, even while I’m helping them with their lock is mainly one of mistrust. I’m not a cat burglar. I just like locks.
Well I'm in med school and funny enough learning how to not kill a person involves learning about a s**t ton of ways to kill a person
(This is England knowledge, other countries may vary) If you are struggling to pay bills, make water the first one you skip. Access to water is protected by law so the utility supplier cannot cut you off.
I used to live in Alabama, they'll most definitely cut you off there.
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That's nice of England. Here in the US they will cut you off and fine your neighbor if they help you out
Yup, dgaf about you or your water. And there will be people that ruthlessly say that its all your fault for not paying your bill regardless of the circumstance
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We (in the USA) sent the payment wrong on accident and were short $1 and got a 3 day shut off notice if we didn't immediately pay $26. $1 we owed and $25 late fee. Had never missed a payment in 20 years before that.
I moved to wales for a few years (ex husband is Welsh) and I had no clue water was a separate bill - finally found out after a year when I had a huge bill - the woman on the phone was so very rude when I tried to explain I thought council tax covered it in all of the uk
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If you are struggling to pay bills don't ignore the calls. At least in the US most utilities have assistance programs you can qualify for and they can help you get enrolled in them. Or you can set up payment arrangements. I've worked in a billing dept for utilities before, most of the time people got cut off because they wouldn't talk to us, those that did call almost always got some kind of help and prevented disconnection
Not here in America.. and it's really saying! in my township (we get a bill every 3 months for water..water is ran by local government in my area) you have a month to pay if not they put the red sticker on your door, that only gives you 2 weeks more to pay up.. after that they tack on 100.00 extra to the bill to pay for the water person to come out to turn off the water. So if say your water bill is 200.00 for 3 months of water use now your bill is 300.00 to get it turned on again..After that you have 60 days to pay your bill if you don't township could put a lean on your house or take you to court because it's illegal to live in a home without water (sanitation reasons) ..I know this because my neighbor went through it when he was running into hard patch.. I helped out with the bill. Your better off paying the water bill let electric , cell , cable go..companies like cable cell electric are will to work with you with easy payment arrangements without turning you of...
An ex of mine was a debt advisor for the Citizens Advice Bureau - I remember her saying the same thing
If you are struggling to pay bills, pay a small amount off each one. Utility companies are less likely to cut you off if it appears that you are trying your best to pay.
If you are struggling to pay bills CONTACT THE COMPANIES, tell them you can't pay and ask for a reduction and/or extention. Most companies are more than willing to give you 3 months right off the bat. Many companies will accept partial payments for up to 6 months. But most important, always, is to contact them right away. Not when you're behind 2 months. Not after paying half a bill. No, up front, the very second you find out you can't pay
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I know in my state in the US that if you have some kind of medical problem and you get a note from your doctor they can't shut your power off. Like say you need to use some kind of machine or sleep apnea something like that most doctors are cool enough to write a note
Not true in the US. They will come to the house, turn the water meter off and put a lock on it. Sometimes they hang a door sign alerting you to the fact. If you pay on the phone they will come turn it back on same day - or if it's after 4pm - the following day.
Always find a way to pay your rent, your insurance and any bills related to your phone and transportation. Never let those lapse. Keeping housed is the biggest priority and making sure you have a way to get to work is paramount.. Swallow your pride, go get food from the food bank or church and go eat at the local soup kitchen. Turn down your heater in the winter and layer up. Get a room mate if you can, to help pay for rent. Do all you can to stay housed. Living in your car or out on the streets is something one needs to fight against as hard as possible. Trying to get employment without a phone or address is brutal. BTDT, not good for anyone
I’ve struggled to pay the water bill on time. I just call the water company and tell them that it will be paid late. They put a note on the file and I pay it off when I can. I live in England.
Did you know they give discounts if you're on a low income? Since I got sick and lost my job, I pay mine at a 50% discount.
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Correct order to pay bills. Food & medicine (need to live) -> rent/mortgage (hard to replace) -> transportation & hygiene (need for working) -> utilities (creature comforts) -> Hospital fees & credit cards (things that don't result losing anything)
Perhaps but I do like to have my bills paid. Seeing as though I live in an area that is drought prone (Australia) I consider paying the water bills as paramount :),
In the U.S. always pay your credit cards first. Utility companies will let you slide for a long time, especially if you thrown them a few dollars. Unpaid credit cards will destroy you.
I don't think this would work in the US. They'll cut off any utility, don't care what you're going through.
Where I live (US) water can definitely be shut off but gas is protected.
This is not true in the US. They will turn off the water, and then the house gets red tagged, and no one can live there until the water bill is paid in full, even if the previous bill was not your own. Had to pay $365 when I moved to our new house, because the water municipality does not forgive the bill when you are the new property owner.
I live in Texas, along the Gulf Coast, and access to water will get cut off, if you don't pay your bill.
I live in Ohio, if you don't pay your water bill here, the city can cut you off for 24 hours after you pay up
Not to diss your saving tip but really water? My city is not the cheapest I think, and for cubic metre (so 1000 litres) the water costs 1,28 euros and you also have 1,96€ waste water fee, so in total 1000 litres costs bit over 3 euros. So water should not cost that much unless you stay in the shower for hours. And the water from tap here is actually cleaner than bottled water.
They don't gaf around here. They'll cut your power off if it's a 120degrees too.
In the US, they can and do cut you off if you miss water payments. At the moment they cut off the water, your house becomes condemned by the health department because you must have running water available for sanitation reasons...flushing toilets, cleaning yourself, etc. If it is not available, then the house is not permitted to be inhabited by law.
In some parts of the US I believe it's illegal to cut off heating fuel in the winter though
They can't turn off electricity in Ontario because of the serious effects it could have on seniors in summer and winter.
In NZ if you register as needing power for medical reasons they cant turn that off
Whilst this statement is true I’ll give you a word to the wise, the pressure they are required by law to provide is quite low, they can and will throttle your supply if you become a serial non-payer. The low pressure may affect your boiler or your shower, you’ll be able to drink water obviously but don’t expect a shower that’ll be a joy to stand under. Alternatively buy a key and turn it back up after the local water company have paid your valve a visit 😜 or talk to their hardship department, they will help you if you are in dire need. If you are on a meter go to their website and order water savers for free, there should be tap, cistern and bath kits.
Also for England, if you have a vulnerable person in the house they can’t cut off any of the utilities but they will still add it to the bill for repayment at a later time. Vulnerable people include children and dependent/disabled adults
Not true in Ohio either. 14 days late and then they turn it off. You have longer with electric.
Not in the US.. along with electric. At least from my past experiences 😕
Yes but they can put you on a £900 a month attachment of Earnings. It was over 60% of my dad's total income, they're allowed to be more aggressive pursuing debt related to water,electric, council tax etc because no one can argue that it was mis sold
yeah,, not good advice in the US. The water company will shut you off and then even if you pay it immediately, it may be hours and hours before someone shuffles out from the water dept to turn it back on. At least with other utilities they can just switch it back on.
Same in Bulgaria. We can compile water bills and pay them when we can.
In Northern Ireland you don't pay for your water, I remember being shocked when I learned most places do.
Not separately no, but you are charged via your domestic rates.
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I never thought about it, but assume it's the same here, since we have to send kids home from school/preschool if we lose water, whereas power is fine usually.
In the United States, they will cut it off. Unless you have kids. Then they will cut it off and take your kids. There was a case where the neighbor ran outa hose to help a family out, and the neighbor was charged and fined. The only thing they can't turn off in the US is debt
Unfortunately, not the case in Kansas - at least our town. BUT, in the winter,, the gas can't turn off your heat if it's below freezing.
Most places (US) I've lived have assistance for utilities. Often people don't know about it. If you're ever in danger of utilities being shut off please call them and see if they have this option.
I know in Manitoba Hydro won't just cut you off in the middle of winter, but they will put you on a meter until you get the bill caught up. It's pretty cheap, though, and it takes a few months of skipping the bill to get a notice.
In Pennsylvania (U.S.) they will shut your water off and the western side at least they'll shut it off over overdue sewage bills unless of course you have a qualifying medical condition but both companies usually let it go for a few months because they are both relatively low compared to other utilities
You can ask scientists for their research paper that you usually have to pay money to view in a journal. They are allowed to just email it to you no questions asked and they like to do it!
Totally another route of what everyone else is posting but.... the lion at The Animal Kingdom safari ride isn't chained (Disney World park). He is fed a huge piece of meat every morning and sits on a rock that is changed to the perfect temperature for him everyday so he has no reason to attack anyone on the safari ride.
Unionization saves you more money than it costs you, you cannot be punished for attempting to do so, and it is NOT in any way illegal, rude, or improper to discuss your salary with your coworkers.
It feels illegal because every company on the f*****g planet has tried to make people think unions are evil monsters trying to get you to pay union dues for no return. This is false because union dues are much less expensive than a company underpaying you and trying to work you to death, which a union fights against. Unions are there to prevent worker exploitation, stop it if people were being exploited when they got there, and get you a fair wage that will actually let you live off of one job instead of needing 4-5 or to work criminal amounts of overtime.
Not "on the f****ing planet...Only USA..in Italy we have "sindacati" and it's a normal thing..
Creating Nitrogen triiodide. When in liquid form it is stable but once it dries so much as a fly landing on it creates a purple smoke explosion. It's so unstable that alpha radiation can be used to detonate the stuff.
It's actually easy to get the materials and create the stuff. Filled my high school hallway stairs with purple smoke on the last day of school.
Police are allowed to lie to you. So are military recruiters.
One thing I learned is in the state of California if you are squatting a property for five years and have been upkeeping it with proof, you can file a claim of ownership with the courts and take over any property as long as it was deemed that the original owner never tried to remove you within the same timeframe.
It is legal to grow opium poppies in the United States, but only if you don't know they can be used to make drugs
Read a personal finance book that recommended calling your providers once a year (credit card companies, TV/internet providers, cell phone company, etc) and demand a lower rate or price. I’ve been following that advice for two years and have not been denied once.
Last week I saw a commercial for my internet provider offering a super low introductory rate so I called to demand that I get that rate. They said no problem and now I save an extra $700 a year because of a 5 minute call. I am a very passive introvert so it’s not the most easy or comfortable thing but the money I save is worth it. They may so no initially but if you ask a few times or ask to speak to their supervisor they very usually give in.
*Edit the book is called “I Will Teach You to be Rich” (cringey title, awesome book imo)
I call bs. When has a call to an internet company ever lasted less than a half hour.
Hospitals have but don’t tell you about a program to reduce your bills depending on how much you make. You can go to their website and find a usually hidden link for financial assistance policies and really cut your bill down
Well, I gave my 9th grade chemistry class a detailed report on diacetylmorphine (heroin) for a project about organic molecules, including how to make it. It was pretty interesting to do and fun to present, but I feel like I broke the law somehow.
When you have a debt with a collection agency you can pay the debt and then call back a few weeks later and say, “I was told when I called and paid that you’d remove this from my credit score.” And then you ask for documentation saying they’re gonna do it. Apparently collection agencies don’t keep super good records on stuff like that; they just want your money. It worked for me, and I hope it can work for you if you need it in the future.
There is a book called "100 deadly skills" that teaches you how to do all sorts of potentially illegal stuff
I don't know if it's still a thing, but if you listen to Pandora radio the songs download into your temp folder under your browser. Just add the. Mp4 after it and you can play it.
I spent lots of college listening to Pandora, and if I liked a song I'd save it. If you paused the song in time then the most recent song was the top one in the temp folder.
In Canada you can record any conversation with someone without their knowledge, unless it is in furtherance of an offence.
I had to do this with an auto restoration shop in order to do a Visa chargeback when they did nothing to my car but steal parts for almost a year (Curtis Customs in Nova Scotia - I don’t mind mentioning them because there are already news stories about their scams)
EDIT: A lot of replies from people possibly misreading. If "you" are recording a "conversation with someone," you are part of the conversation and would be the consenting individual (one party consent). It's definitely wrong and illegal to record just any conversation between two or more other people
Yeah, my wife had a disciplinary at work, I bought her a USB pen (not admissible in court) but she used it to transcribe. The audio distorted slightly when her boss started shouting at her though (she sued and won for constructive dismissal).
When companies ask for your name/age/sex/race/occupation/salary/etc. you can just lie.
You’ll never be able to remove the information about yourself off the internet, but you can muddy the water quite a bit.
Aluminum foil can block the thefts detection signals in super markets.
Confidence can open a lot of doors. A lot of times, you can get away with more with some swagger than you otherwise would being meek about it.
90% of home locks are easily pickable with a little know how and a couple pieces of metal.
Despite this, most burglars either find an open window or break the glass. So locks are generally effective at their intended job.
That in Ireland there is no legal age to get tattoo. Legally you can tattoo a newborn as long as the parents consent. We can get done for bodily harm to a minor if their is no consent. We have an industry standard of 16 with parent or 18 with ID. I'm a tattooist in Ireland.
I worked for a giant tech company and apparently share the same name as a very high up hardware engineer, got put on email threads I definitely didn’t belong on.
Had a co-worker who made me stalk my boss. Found out he had a girlfriend and was paying for her apartment. Felt awful every time his wife called. Kept my mouth shut though. Looking at you Cliff D.
I had a stats prof who used to work for the US government. I'm not sure exactly what his job was, but it definitely involved evaluating the status and readiness of nukes, both ours and the USSR's (he was probably at least 70 and had been retired from that job for a while). One day in class he just started talking about the percentage of nukes that fail (ours and theirs) and why they fail and all kinds of other, seemingly sensitive, information. I don't think he would have told us anything classified, but his personality was boisterous and irreverent enough that I am not sure. I literally expected a team of spooks to bust down the door at any minute and drag us all off for interviews in windowless rooms.
someNSFWprofile said:
How to make a few different drugs. Organic chem at uni
xk543x responded:
How to make many illegal drugs
Freelance Pharmacy institute of research and testing
LittleOrangeBoi said:
When you're on a jury you can vote for someone as innocent even if you think they did it. Most common reasoning for this would be if you just think that they shouldn't be punished for whatever they did. I can't remember the term for it something like Third Option.
rjlupin5499 added:
Jury Nullification. It's definitely a thing in the U.S.
In regards to military grade bombs and missiles, it takes actual effort to make one go off on the ground. Like, you literally have to go out of your way to arm the fuse, then sit around for a timer to detonate said bomb.
Its not like in the movies, where a soft breeze or some nutjob with a hammer, will make a bomb just explode for no reason.
You can say no when cashiers ask for your email or phone number.
Yeah I say no all the time; I do not want companies blowing up my inbox
1284x is a Ford fleet key. Not chipped, can be found on Amazon for $7 and perfectly legal to replicate.
Searching "1284x" filetype:.pdf site:.gov
Will pull government bids that involve that key, and also show you what agencies you could open up or drive away a police car.
The last airplane you rode was likely assembled with parts not fully conforming to qc standards but passed through inspection anyways.
Can confirm. I have friends who work at Boeing and they say that the QA people and the Manufacturing Line people are always butting heads.
When you do a kfc survey you get free food, you can do them over and over again Steps- go in the survey site, it’s usually (franchise)listens on google Next enter a random code and keep refreshing for a good 15 seconds, then do anything on the survey because they don’t care, then just show them your code at the register, they also have to do it because it’s part of their job, this also works for crispy cream and other places to, don’t do it heaps because it’s sorta scummy (but enjoy)
If you rent out your home for 14 or fewer days a year, you do not have to pay taxes on this income….Section 280A(g) of the Internal Revenue Code
Regardless of the amount of rent? "No I didn't win the lottery. Someone rented my house for a million dollars per night."
Most large retail employers don’t have a policy against recording your interactions with your bosses.
The tricks doctors use to distract you when they’re trying to check your reflexes
How to make Thermite. I don't know why, Thermite itself itsn't actually all that useful or destructive. It burns hot sure, but it's not going to melt anything very well without a proper vessel to contain and direct the heat into the thing you want to melt.
The Ukrainians have found that it's good for permanently parking Russian tanks
51 is divisible by 17
What the inside of a British post box looks like
My (now long time latent) anxiety disorder made me realize some truths about life, nature and our place in the universe that I don't discuss with others to not bring them existential despair. I'm doing OK by the way.
I have to keep a lot to myself too. Hugs to you, if you don't mind accepting them. It's a bit lonely sometimes, isn't it?
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The small dirt lot down the street from me has a water spigot coming out of the ground. That's where your "bottled at the source" Northern California spring water comes from. Big tanker trucks pull into this dirt lot off the street and connect to this little pipe with only a padlocked little fence around it and fill up with my town's water and then sell it in fancy bottles for $$$$$
That's gotta be a big spigot. Most tankers fill from 4-6 inch lines because a regular spigot would take something like 50 hours to fill a taker truck.
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In Ontario Canada a resident of a long term care home cannot be evicted for non-payment. The LTC can remove perks like cable and move you to a cheaper room but cannot make you leave. If you really want to play it smart one could give their kids most of their money as an early inheritance (also saves taxes since it is a gift) and keep enough to pay only a few months. Hopefully the kids will spend money on a good ipad and internet plan for you and buy you some nice meals
Former long term employee of a large sporting goods company. When you go to any store to get a regular soccer, football, volleyball, ect. it doesn't matter what brand you get. Nike, Wilson, Spalding, & many more meant for stores in foreign countries ALL come from the same manufacturering plant in China. It was relatively common open a box of "our" deflates only to find a competitors product in the box. So unless it's 'An Official Game Ball' (ie made of real leather) then it doesn't matter what brand you buy it's literally all the same. Just pick the design you like best the Brand Name means nothing.
We don't pay for water in Northern Ireland it's part of your house rates ,, only farmers pay what they use for livestock plus the area I live in the mournes there's a old folk tale that because of the men from mourne built the biggest dam silent valley that supplies most of Northern Ireland if it did come to us paying we would be exempt
In the USA you can buy and drive a 18 wheeler on a class c driver's license if you are not using it for commercial use. (Like taking it to the store to get one gallon of milk.)
A lot of tgings on the internet that are somehow legal, but have damaged me
I used to have the Anarchists cookbook on disk (Amiga text files). I never tried anything on it and lost the disk years ago but you would most likely get into a lot of trouble just having a copy these days.
In the US if you want to avoid taxes on a small amount and you trust your spouse, you're allowed to make a one time gift to them of up to 30K tax free as long as it goes into a separate account just in their name. You can really give it to anyone, but the recipient then doesn't need to claim it on their taxes. So if you trust your spouse, give it to them and file taxes separately. You'll lose other benefits of filing jointly, but if you don't have kids or really benefit greatly from that filing, then you can keep gifting 30k to each other every year and take it out of the bank and hide it under your mattress or whatever.
My (now long time latent) anxiety disorder made me realize some truths about life, nature and our place in the universe that I don't discuss with others to not bring them existential despair. I'm doing OK by the way.
I have to keep a lot to myself too. Hugs to you, if you don't mind accepting them. It's a bit lonely sometimes, isn't it?
Load More Replies... The small dirt lot down the street from me has a water spigot coming out of the ground. That's where your "bottled at the source" Northern California spring water comes from. Big tanker trucks pull into this dirt lot off the street and connect to this little pipe with only a padlocked little fence around it and fill up with my town's water and then sell it in fancy bottles for $$$$$
That's gotta be a big spigot. Most tankers fill from 4-6 inch lines because a regular spigot would take something like 50 hours to fill a taker truck.
Load More Replies... In Ontario Canada a resident of a long term care home cannot be evicted for non-payment. The LTC can remove perks like cable and move you to a cheaper room but cannot make you leave. If you really want to play it smart one could give their kids most of their money as an early inheritance (also saves taxes since it is a gift) and keep enough to pay only a few months. Hopefully the kids will spend money on a good ipad and internet plan for you and buy you some nice meals
Former long term employee of a large sporting goods company. When you go to any store to get a regular soccer, football, volleyball, ect. it doesn't matter what brand you get. Nike, Wilson, Spalding, & many more meant for stores in foreign countries ALL come from the same manufacturering plant in China. It was relatively common open a box of "our" deflates only to find a competitors product in the box. So unless it's 'An Official Game Ball' (ie made of real leather) then it doesn't matter what brand you buy it's literally all the same. Just pick the design you like best the Brand Name means nothing.
We don't pay for water in Northern Ireland it's part of your house rates ,, only farmers pay what they use for livestock plus the area I live in the mournes there's a old folk tale that because of the men from mourne built the biggest dam silent valley that supplies most of Northern Ireland if it did come to us paying we would be exempt
In the USA you can buy and drive a 18 wheeler on a class c driver's license if you are not using it for commercial use. (Like taking it to the store to get one gallon of milk.)
A lot of tgings on the internet that are somehow legal, but have damaged me
I used to have the Anarchists cookbook on disk (Amiga text files). I never tried anything on it and lost the disk years ago but you would most likely get into a lot of trouble just having a copy these days.
In the US if you want to avoid taxes on a small amount and you trust your spouse, you're allowed to make a one time gift to them of up to 30K tax free as long as it goes into a separate account just in their name. You can really give it to anyone, but the recipient then doesn't need to claim it on their taxes. So if you trust your spouse, give it to them and file taxes separately. You'll lose other benefits of filing jointly, but if you don't have kids or really benefit greatly from that filing, then you can keep gifting 30k to each other every year and take it out of the bank and hide it under your mattress or whatever.
