All Blog Posts

💸 Want to Boost a Baby’s Future? Science Says Give Cash — No Strings Attached
May 8, 2025
What happens when low-income families receive monthly, no-strings-attached cash starting at a child’s birth? The 2024 Baby’s First Years study found that a $333/month unconditional transfer led to increased spending on books, toys, childcare, and savings — without reducing employment. Parents reported less financial stress and made developmentally supportive choices. This is the first U.S. RCT to show that early, unconditional income boosts family investments in children. The takeaway: cash works. It’s simple, flexible, and effective — and it challenges the idea that poverty must be managed with complex rules. Sometimes, the best policy is just to trust parents.
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🥜 Want to Prevent Peanut Allergies? Feed Babies Peanuts Early
May 6, 2025
Peanut allergies are on the rise, but one groundbreaking study shows a simple way to prevent them: feed peanuts to babies early. The LEAP trial followed high-risk infants and found that those who ate peanut-based foods starting around 4–11 months old were up to 86% less likely to develop an allergy by age five. In contrast, babies who avoided peanuts were far more likely to become allergic. Early exposure helped the immune system build tolerance, especially in children with eczema or egg allergy. The takeaway? Don’t delay — with medical guidance, early peanut introduction can be a powerful form of prevention.
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🏃‍♀️ Want to Run Injury-Free? Science Says Strengthen Your Hips and Core
May 4, 2025
A new 2024 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that a simple hip and core strengthening routine can significantly reduce running-related injuries in beginner runners. In a 24-week trial, those who did pre-run strength work for their hips and core experienced 34% fewer injuries and 52% fewer serious overuse injuries compared to those who only stretched. Meanwhile, ankle and foot exercises didn’t help — and actually led to more acute injuries. The takeaway? For injury prevention, hip and core strength beats stretching. Add it to your warm-up to run stronger and stay pain-free.
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What Actually Prevents Injuries for Runners and Cyclists? (Backed by Real Science)
May 2, 2025
Most runners and cyclists are told to stretch, cool down, or cross-train to avoid injuries—but what actually works? Based on randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses, the answer is clear: static stretching doesn’t help, but dynamic warm-ups and strength training do. Warm-ups with movement reduce injury risk, while regular strength training—especially for your core, hips, and legs—has been shown to cut injuries by up to 66%. Cool-downs and casual cross-training offer no proven protection. This post breaks down the science and offers practical advice to help you train smarter—and stay injury-free for the long haul.
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How I Got My Puzzle to Post Itself Every Day
May 1, 2025
After building my daily word puzzle game, I kept forgetting to post it. I wanted the puzzle to appear each morning without me doing anything. So I gave my website an “alarm clock” — something called a cron job — that runs every day at 5:00 AM. It picks a word, builds a puzzle, and posts it automatically. I set up a secret page, then asked my hosting provider to visit it daily. With some help from ChatGPT to wire things together, the whole system now runs itself. It feels like I planted a tiny digital tree that grows a new leaf each day.
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How I Built a Word Game with ChatGPT
April 22, 2025
One Off is a word game I built after asking ChatGPT to invent something new. It came up with the idea: take one word, and find all the real English words that are just one letter different. I loved it — and with ChatGPT’s help, I built the whole thing. It helped me think through the design, fix problems, and even set up the puzzle system that checks every guess. I didn’t just use it for answers — it felt like building something with a creative partner. One Off wouldn’t exist without that back-and-forth. Here's how we made it.
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How I Built My Own Version of the NYT Connections Puzzle — And What I Learned
April 21, 2025
I recreated the New York Times Connections game as a custom word puzzle on my own website. I wanted to be able to make my own puzzles, choose the word categories, and let people play online just like the original game. This blog post explains how I built it — how I set up a system behind the scenes to manage each puzzle, how the game works when you play it, and how it all fits together visually. I also added features like colored categories, animations, and a way to track progress as you solve each group.
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From Idea to Reality: Building a Blog About Everyday ChatGPT Use (With ChatGPT’s Help)
April 20, 2025
I built this blog to share how I use ChatGPT to make everyday life easier — from writing and web development to learning and problem solving. Using tools like Payload and Next.js, I created a fast, flexible site where I can post real, practical examples of AI in action.
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