Posts by Thomas Orlita
Sometimes I'm too fatigued to focus on anything that matters. I end up lying in bed, reading blog posts and random Wikipedia articles . In the moment, lying in bed is something I want 1 to do. But at the same time, I also want 2 to not want 1 that . I want 2 to want 1 to be writing a blog post instead. [1] The best remedy I've found is to go outside for a walk. It's far easier than forcing myself…
I think HTTP headers are underappreciated and I like playing around with them. [1] And sometimes, I like to put tiny easter eggs in the websites I make. In 2019, I configured my server to add an X-Secret-URL header to all HTTP responses. It contained a shortened URL to a Google Form where you could type a message. Within the following six months, two people submitted the form. That is until May…
I loved so many things living in student accommodation when I was at university in the UK. Everything I needed was within walking distance on campus. The door locks used convenient fob keys [1] . The shared kitchen was a nice place to socialize. And it also had industrial-size fridges and freezers, which made frozen meals cost-effective by buying in bulk. A freezer shelf stocked with Field Doctor…
When I was at university, I got interested in public speaking. I had never really done much public speaking then, apart from school project presentations. So when there was a competition organized by the public speaking society, it felt like the right kind of challenge, especially as the society had masterclasses and tutoring, which I really enjoyed. When thinking about what to make my speech…
The Huel T-Shirt is unique thanks to its nice fit, texture, and flexibility. However, it comes with a rather prominent Huel logo on the front and another tiny one on the back. And I very much don't like wearing clothes with labels on them. While peeling the Huel logo from the T-Shirt is doable, it is quite a difficult task requiring a lot of patience. Attempting to remove it too aggressively may…
Abstract Coke Zero with oat milk is the result of amalgamation of two beverages, Coke Zero and oat milk. This relatively unknown but distinct combination offers the textural viscosity of oat milk with the effervescence of Coke Zero. Despite the existence of research into carbonated beverages and water-based plant extracts respectively, their combination remains understudied. This paper delves into…
When I started studying at university, I realized that eating food is essential for survival. Considering I never cooked before, plus the fact that there was no canteen or a similar place with subsidized meals, figuring out how to get meals for a good price was quite important. While I did learn to cook a few basic meals, cooking took a lot of time and I did not particularly enjoy it. I found out…
Chrome DevTools can be used for inspecting websites in Chromium-based browsers. As the Chrome DevTools UI is written in HTML, JS/TS, and CSS, you can use Chrome DevTools to inspect Chrome DevTools. There are two relatively straightforward, but non-obvious ways to open DevTools within DevTools: When you right-click on a website, the system context menu includes an Inspect option at the end.…
Chromium doesn't offer a direct way to change the New Tab Page to a custom URL. However, you can change this with a few lines of JavaScript using a Chrome extension. [1] background.js chrome.tabs.onCreated.addListener(function (tab) { if (tab.pendingUrl === 'chrome://newtab/' && tab.url === '') { chrome.tabs.update(tab.id, { url: "https://example.com" }); } }); manifest.json { "name": "NTP",…
The home page button was included in the oldest web browsers and has been around since, yet it doesn't seem to be used much anymore. Setting the home button URL to chrome://crash/ (in Chromium-based browsers) is a useful trick to use it to easily unload pages when needed. When the home button (configured to chrome://crash/ ) is clicked, the current tab crashes and the web page is unloaded, saving…