Asklemmy

Majority of the "AI inside" software and solutions. It's in a bubble and everyone is throwing crap to a wall hoping it sticks.

Chiropractic.

Everything in Holland and Barrett.

Essential oils. Homeopathy. Chiropractic. Reiki. Juice cleanses. Perineum sunning. Internet accelerator software. Iridology. Faith healing. Organic food. Oil pulling. Gold plated digital audio cables.

Hi-resolution audio, especially for streaming. The general idea is that listening to digital audio files that have a greater bit depth and sample rate than CD (24-bit/192Khz vs 16-bit/44.1 KHz) translates to better-sounding audio, but in practice that isn't the case.

For a detailed breakdown as to why, there's a great explanation here. But in summary, the format for CDs was so chosen because it covers enough depth and range to cover the full spectrum of human hearing.

So while "hi-res" audio does contain a lot more information (which, incidentally, means it uses up significantly more data/storage space and costs more money), our ears aren't capable of hearing it in the first place. Certain people may try to argue otherwise based on their own subjective experience, but to that I say "the placebo effect is a helluva drug."

Blue light filter on glasses. When I got my glasses, the lady said they come with blue light filter for free, and I said, “I don’t want that, my job requires that I see colors accurately, so I can’t have any sort of color filter.” She said don’t worry, it doesn’t filter any colors. Ok, then what the fuck is it exactly?

I have a couple from the hip actually, because America has grifting baked into it's soul. In no particular order:

• MMS (Drinkin' bleach)
• Crystal healing (most sellers)
• WitchTok kits (TikTok influencers selling expensive spices)
• Brain pills
• Any product peddled by a megachurch (see the Baker bucket for a great example)
• Chiropractors

As more of these come to me, I'll try to expand the list.

Update: I can't believe I forgot chiros! They turned themselves into a religion at one point to try to dodge medical licensure laws.

Anti virus software. To protect your computer let's constantly run this software with root privileges!

Chiropractic anything. John Oliver covered it quite well.

Shampoo and conditioner with vitamins in it.

Your hair is dead. It can't metabolize anything.

VPNs for internet access, at least the way they are advertised

The Mayers Briggs Type Indicator test. It was developed with the same rigor as horoscopes, yet I still hear people I know are smart proudly tell me their four letter personality code.

Anything sold by Gwyneth Paltrow in her online shop, which I will not name here so as not to promote it. In the best case, goods sold there will be harmless and entirely useless. In the worst case, they will cause serious harm.

Any "quick fix/all-in-one" fitness or nutrition solutions. While there are minute optimizations for elite athletes, 99.99% of the population can adhere to the general consensus of nutrition and health science.

1. Do something that gets your heart rate up for at least 30 minutes a day. Speed walk, bike, row, shoot hoops, jump rope, doesn't matter, just get your heart pumping hard for at least half an hour a day.
2. Roughly a third of your food should be fresh leafy greens & veggies. A third should be whole grains and unprocessed starches and sugars like sweet potato and fresh fruit. The final third should be a protein. Lean meat like fish or chicken, or if you're veg/vegan, beans, tofu, seeds, peas, etc.
3. To build strength, general bodyweight exercises combined with stretching is fine for most people. If you wanna get really strong, get a few kettle bells or adjustable dumbells on the used market for $50-$100. You don't need an expensive fitness club membership or one of those all-in-one $2,000+ fancy machines that mounts on your wall.
4. Don't drink often, don't smoke, don't pound stimulants like caffeine or nicotine.
5. Brush your teeth well.
6. Get 6-8 hours a night of good quality sleep.
7. Keep your brain engaged, read, play music, play games, learn a language, etc.

I'm speaking from experience, because I have fallen for stuff over the years that promised fast results and optimal methods with minimal effort. Fact is, unless you're training for the Olympics or you have very specific heath conditions, those basic bullet points will cover the vast majority if general health and fitness.

Homeopathics, though sometimes even a placebo can have beneficial effects.

AI, particularly in how the likes of microsoft are marketing it to businesses.

Cleanses. You don't need a cleanse if you have a liver and kidneys, and if you don't you need dialysis.

Homeopathic remedies

Apple products

Not "snakeoil" per say; employers will care about your history of education: but as an aspiring computer engineer currently in CC looking to move to a university, I've learned exactly 0 useful things at community college. Outside of the piece of paper you get at the end, it's all useless busywork, testing how much bullshit you can put up with. Everything useful I've learned in life has been for free, provided kindly by passionate communities. Hopefully this changes in university.

I think the value employers place in modern education in the United States is snakeoil, however.

Software/game DRM/anticheat (as a service/product) that involves code obfuscation and/or kernel driver.

Organic food versus GMOs. I think big farma is in on the organic food prices and put false narratives about the dangers of gmo foods.

Full Self-Driving: For sure next year... maybe.

"Artificial Intelligence": CEO's create a copy of themselves in a computer, creating an expert bullshitter program.

Customer Service: Most pre-recorded phone loops are actually built to try to frustrate people into giving up and not getting their issue resolved. Further, they record calls not because they care about your experience, but so they can collate tons of data to further exploit you and their workers. CEOs have purposefully insulated themselves from ever directly having to deal with a customer and hide behind "well we didn't tell employees to break the law!" while demanding employees hit numbers that... aren't... possibe... without... breaking... the... law.

If it's from a corporation and the PR says its to "benefit consumers" it's fucking Snake Oil, by default.

Extra expensive digital hifi cables.

Vitamin and mineral supplements. You only need supplementation if you have a specific deficiency, and deficiencies are not extremely common. Most people who take supplements do not need them and are just peeing out all the extra things they're putting in their bodies while shelling out ridiculous prices to "natural remedy" companies.

If you think you have a deficiency, explain why to a doctor. A blood test to know for sure is simple. A doctor will know what kind of supplementation would best serve you, and there may be an underlying reason that can be treated to fix it. Also eat some god damn vegetables you fat little piggy

Crypto. Most LLM based AI. 80-90 percent of the startup world after 2009.

Anything related to toxins or detox. Keto and Carnivore diets.

Most online college programs.

Those vibram finger shoes and barefoot running. Most gym memberships; honestly half of the gym bros need to diet more than they need to slam weights and HIIT

Probably ozempic, since people going off it immediately balloon back up

I've wondered for a long time what the long term impacts of aggressive teeth bleaching are on enamel, too, but not sure if I'd call that snake oil; it works entirely as intended

CBD oil. It doesn't matter which exotic ailment you're talking about, someone will ask you if you've tried it and that they think it might help.

Anything sold as a "detox"

AI

Middle managers

"Enterprise solutions"

Student loans

The current discourse around AI and how we are close from agi. Meanwhile we are just using machine learning... With a shit ton of gpus... All of that to approximate a math function.

Subscriptions.

The core slikt of anti aging creams and other hydration products.

I can get like, one. But god damned, my wife has so many different products They can't all possibly be needed

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

There was no 'Rich Dad', it's all made up snake-oil.