git commit -m
Learning in Public
Coding Journey
- I've watched several videos on the current state of AI and its relation to the future of software jobs (e.g. here, here, here, here). Overall, I'm still optimistic about the future of jobs in web development and am looking forward to using AI as a tool on my journey. But I'm not going to jump into it until I have a better grasp on the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Obsidian
- I can't find a reliable method to add created/ updated timestamps to each note on the site. The issue seems to be with the Git plugin I'm using for Obsidian to back up my vault. This is a known issue and may never be resolved for the plugin. So for now, I will need to create YouTube videos for anything important that I'd like to log with a timestamp.
- I requested support for the Kanban plugin so I can share more detailed progress on projects on the site. Someone else already requested support for the Canvas core plugin. Adding support for these two plugins to the Digital Garden plugin could help take sites like these to the next level in terms of learning and planning in public.
- I added a Building Takeaways.excalidraw whiteboard to share progress on takeaways. Cutting and pasting some of my previous work into this new whiteboard highlighted some strange ghosting issues in the Excalidraw plugin that I shared here. After adding that Excalidraw whiteboard, I discovered that the Metadata Menu plugin could be used along with the Canvas core plugin to add links between pages by connecting them with arrows in a canvas (thanks to the YouTube videos linked in this comment on the Obsidian forums) - this combination of plugins, along with a few dataviewJS scripts, has provided a massive upgrade to my research workflow and I no longer need Excalidraw for visibility when working on research takeaways. I created a walkthrough video for this workflow (as mentioned above) and posted about it on the Obsidian forum in case other people could find it useful.
Research
- I recently came across a couple of papers looking at the effect of Glutamine on Intervertebral DIsc (IVD) degeneration (here and here). I keep a very detailed food log that includes estimates for amino acids, but it did not have estimates for glutamine as glutamine is not specifically assayed for entries in FoodData Central - where I get most of the nutrition information that I use to fill in the gaps from nutrition labels (e.g. amino acid profiles, certain vitamins and minerals). This is likely due to the conversion of glutamine to glutamate during acid hydrolysis when preparing samples for assays (as mentioned in the introduction here). I looked for references discussing the glutamine content of foods and found this paper where Table 1 includes gene-sequencing-based glutamine content as a percentage of protein for cow's milk, chicken eggs, and skeletal muscle (averaged from several different animals). But Table 2 from this paper is more recent and compares sequencing-based amino-acid values for beef, skim milk, and egg to their USDA values, so I chose it as my current reference. I added these values into my personal food database to serve as new references for amino acids for specific foods whose protein content is primarily/ solely derived from milk proteins, egg proteins, or muscle proteins. It is not perfect, but after updating everything, my running daily averages for glutamine intake suggest that I should supplement if I want to hit my new daily glutamine minimum target. This target is based on the intraperitoneally-injected daily dose of 1 g glutamine per kg bodyweight for rats used in this study combined with the estimated Human-Equivalent Dose multiplication factor of 0.16 as noted in Table 1 here. I ordered this NOW glutamine powder to help me hit my new target. It's worth noting that the study did not mention the glutamine content of the rats' food in the methods section - maybe it is mentioned somewhere else in the paper - so my daily minimum target for glutamine will be low compared to the study. But it's a start.
- The process of incorporating glutamine as a target into my nutrition log took much longer than expected as I found some things to clean up along the way. It made me realize how bloated and inefficient my system is. The system was built from scratch in Google Sheets ~1.5 years ago and I've been adding to it over time. I need to rebuild it outside of Google Sheets. I've added a new Nutrition Log.excalidraw whiteboard where I can add ideas about this.
- I added the takeaway 2025-01-28 20-08-19 and updated the previous takeaway 2025-01-28 20-11-31 after working on it some more. It's unfortunate that I can't add created/ modified dates to these files right now to be more transparent about these kinds of updates.
- I published almost all of the research insights I've created so far.
- I updated the way I handle transparency with insights and takeaways. Now each insight and takeaway contains all of the assumptions, insights, and/or source content that was pulled together specifically for that page along with the original sources. This creates a breadcrumb trail that can be clicked through on the site. Unfortunately, these connections between pages are not visible in the graph view since they are added in the YAML frontmatter. Adding support to the Digital Garden plugin for the Canvas plugin (as mentioned above) would help with this.
Fasting
- I completed another 5-day avocado fast (total fasting time ~132 hours). This fast was easier overall than the previous fast. This was likely due, at least in part, to me increasing my total intake of fluids and reducing my total intake of sodium and potassium. I tend to get an increase in Heart Rate and sometimes Palpitations when fasting like this - suggesting some kind of imbalance(s) in Hydration/Electrolytes - and drinking more fluids was able to resolve it a couple of times. I also added some macadamia nuts a couple of times for variety and to get through some periods that were more challenging in terms of hunger/cravings. Luckily, I did not get sick afterwards this time, likely due to me isolating during and immediately after the fast and/or due to me adding 10-15 grams of Glutamine per day for several days after the fast, as there is some research suggesting that supplementing glutamine may help to prevent infection (e.g. here), though I'll need to dig deeper into this in the future to be more certain.
Coding Notes