Category Archives: Comment

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Google Chrome extension to ensure the ‘Following’ tab in x.com (Twitter) remains selected

Twitter likes to play dirty tricks and deselect the ‘Following’ tab if you click on it. It seems to always rever to ‘For you’.

I’ve written a Google Chrome extension that ensures that the ‘Following tab’ is re-selected if it is not currently selected.

If you are using other tabs, this extension will be annoying to you since it will force ‘Following’ to be re-selected. Don’t use it.

You can download the extension here:

x-following-tabDownload

Instructions for use:

1. Download file
2. Unzip file to folder
3. Go to Exensions > Manage Extensions (or enter chrome://extensions/ in your address bar)
4. Make sure 'Developer Mode' is activated in the top-right corner
5. Click 'Load Unpacked' in the to-left corner and select the unpacked folder

The extension will now be automatically used whenever you visit x.com.

If you’re worried about the contents of the extension, open up content.js file. It’s the text file which contains the Javascript code. Very simple code with comments.

Using ChatGPT more effectively and getting better answers

I’ve been watching a few videos on how best to use ChatGPT. Various videos on YouTube can provide some great hints, tips, and tricks to get the most out of it.

I can recommend Leila Gharani’s YouTube channel.

I learned the following excellent piece of advice from one of her videos. You can add a specific set of instructions from the ‘Customize ChatGPT’ menu item by adding text to the ‘How would you like ChatGPT to respond?’ area.

I’m referring to the area below (in dark mode):

Add the following text:

Always add the confidence level of your answer. When your answer includes facts, always provide a valid URL with the source for your answer. Don't create a link for the URL, just write out the whole URL, including the http or https tag. If you speculate or predict something, inform me. If you think I may have misspelled code or a linux console command, please confirm my intention rather than assuming the correct syntax.

The last sentence I added from my own experience. This will tell ChatGPT to do several things:

  • Cite a confidence level for its answer – so you can decide whether to do more research or take the answer at its face value
  • Provide a URL so that you can look at the source of the link. ChatGPT always removed the links for me (probably for safety), so I asked it to spell out the URLs verbatim.
  • Indicate whether something given is speculation or a prediction or ‘fact’ – further allowing you to scrutinize answers.
  • Ensure that ChatGPT doesn’t make assumptions about what your intentions are when asking questions. I have had ChatGPT send me down a rabbit-hole because it assumed my spelling mistake was correct.

Doris Lessing on education

Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this:
“You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself — educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.”

The Golden Notebook (1962)

A Memento Mori from a Chinese poet

The years of a lifetime do not reach a hundred,
Yet they contain a thousand years’ sorrow.
When days are short and the dull nights long,
Why not take a lamp and wander forth?
If you want to be happy you must do it now,
There is no waiting till an after-time.
The fool who’s loath to spend the wealth he’s got
Becomes the laughing-stock of after ages.
It is true that Master Wang became Immortal,
But how can we hope to share his lot?

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Hundred_and_Seventy_Chinese_Poems/Seventeen_Old_Poems

THE WEIGHT OF PAPER

“Just as Archimedes had found the volume of an irregular shape by measuring the volume of water it displaced, so Galileo discovered a practical solution to the problem of finding the area under a curve. In the absence of geometric and algebraic tools to calculate the area, he would plot his curve, then cut it out and weigh the paper. By comparing the weight with the weight of a piece of paper of known area, he could work out the area of his curve.”

Rooney, Anne. The Story of Mathematics. Arcturus, 2009. p146.

An interesting exchange with Chat GPT regarding predicting Bitcoin price

Q: Historically, what is the most reliable and accurate leading indicator of future Bitcoin price?

A: Historically, the most reliable and accurate leading indicator of future Bitcoin price has been the Google Trends search volume for the term “Bitcoin”. This is because the search volume is a good indicator of the level of public interest in Bitcoin, which is often a good predictor of future price movements.

Q: Is that a leading indicator?

A: Yes, Google Trends search volume for the term “Bitcoin” is a leading indicator of future Bitcoin price.

Q: Approximately what time period does it lead?

A: The Google Trends search volume for the term “Bitcoin” typically leads the Bitcoin price by a few weeks to a few months.

Q: Can you provide an r-value for the correlation between Google Trends search volume for term “Bitcoin” and Bitcoin price? The correlation between Google Trends search volume for the term “Bitcoin” and Bitcoin price is typically around 0.7, indicating a strong positive correlation.

A non-prescription cure for Athlete’s Foot that works

I’ve had Athlete’s Foot (tinea pedis) on and off between my pinky toe and the next toe for the past several years. I’ve tried lots of prescription anti-fungal treatments, but none of them really worked. They would reduce the severity of the infection, but never completely get rid of it.

Athlete’s Foot can be pretty resistant to treatment. My GP said that it is difficult to know which combination of anti-fungal drugs will work best with an individual infection. For me, none of them seem to get rid of it completely.

In this post I am going to discuss treating Athlete’s Foot with a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide and Iodine. Both Hydrogen Peroxide and Iodine are well-known substances for treating skin infections, and are strongly anti-septic: anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.

Iodine

Iodine is a potent anti-fungal agent that…

rapidly penetrates through the walls of the cells of the microorganisms and disrupts the nucleic acid along with the structure and synthesis of protein, thereby leading to the death of germs.

https://clinicinus.com/does-iodine-kill-fungus/

You can apply Iodine topically using cotton pads on an infected toe-nail or in-between toes and it will get to work deep within the tissue right away. It is also cheap and fairly widely available at any chemist or pharmacist.

Side-effects are rare, but include: Blistering, crusting, irritation, itching, or reddening of skin. [1]

Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen Peroxide is a mild anti-septic and is typically used topically to treat the surface of the skin to prevent infection of minor cuts and wounds. It should not be used to treat deep wounds, serious burns or injuries.

There is a low risk of side-effects, although mild irritation can occur. Peroxide is widely available and can be found at supermarkets, chemists, and pharmacists.

Combining the two treatments

Each of these substances are anti-fungal and each have been used on their own in order to treat Athlete’s Foot, however, one substance on its own may not be enough to get rid of your infection. I am across an interesting paper called:

Co-operative inhibitory effects of hydrogen peroxide and iodine against bacterial and yeast species

by Elena I Zubko1 and Mikhajlo K Zubko1

The paper can be found here. It discusses the effectiveness of each of these substances in fighting fungal growth (in vitro) compared with the synergistic, additive effect of using both on the same fungal specimen.

The results state:

Synergistic or additive inhibitory effects were shown for hydrogen peroxide and iodine mixtures against all 19 species used in the study. 

And the conclusion:

Iodine and hydrogen peroxide used concurrently interact synergistically or additively against a range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms.

Personal Experience

In my personal experience, a combination of these two substances completely got rid of my Athlete’s Foot where other prescription anti-fungal treatments failed. I used Hydrogen Peroxide at 3% by volume, and an Iodine ointment at 10% applied topically. I would try alternating days using one and then the other. I stopped after three weeks of treatment

If anyone has a treatment-resistant infection, they could try combining these two treatments. I would suggest people read more about these substances and their potential side-effects. (also: Iodine will stain your clothes!)

Ask your doctor or pharmacists for guidance

I am not a doctor, and suffice to say that you should always ask a medical professional for the suitability of any treatment for you. Every individual’s circumstances are different.