Note: the tutorial below works using Google Chrome and English subtitles where a user’s language setting in Netflix is set to English. It does not work for other languages like Arabic and Chinese. To download subtitles in those languages, you may need to change your language setting in Netflix.
1. Start playing a Netflix video
This tutorial uses Google Chrome.
2. Open Chrome Inspector
Click CTRL+SHIFT+I to open the Google Chrome Inspector. Click the Network tab. Make sure “All” is selected. Enter “?o=” in the filter field. Make the video window smaller than full screen so you can see both the video window and the Inspector window side by side.
3. Find subtitle file
In the Inspector, sort the files by “Name”. If subtitles are turned on, you will see a filename that begins with “?o=”.
If you don’t see the file, then in the video, click to see the subtitle options and then click on a subtitle, e.g. “English”. You should then see the subtitle file appear in the list of files in the Inspector.
4. Download subtitle file
In the Inspector, right-click on the file and click “Open in a new tab” to download the file. Rename the file to something like english-subtitles.xml.
5. Convert subtitles to SRT format
The XML format of the subtitles may not be user-friendly. You can convert it to SRT format by going to https://gotranscript.com/subtitle-converter where you can convert the format for free.
If you have multiple subtitles, e.g. in different languages, you can merge them using this online tool.
If you’d like to edit subtitles, you can try this free online editor. Some of the nice features are
clean user-friendly interface
can load a video from a YouTube URL
can change video playback speed
when you click on a subtitle, the video automatically jumps to the timestamp of that subtitle
Unlike real estate, which increases in value over time (except occasionally during a recession), cars depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the dealer lot. According to NerdWallet, your car’s value decreases around 20% to 30% by the end of the first year. From years two to six, depreciation ranges from 15% to 18% per year. As a rule of thumb, in five years, cars lose 60% or more of their initial value.
However, not all vehicles depreciate at the same rate, meaning certain makes or models hold their value better than others. And depreciation rates can also change over time.
A brand-new car will depreciate the most because of the steep first-year drop. Buying a car that is just one year old avoids this first hit from depreciation and saves you a significant amount of money on a nearly new car. And, of course, waiting past the three-year mark could save the owner around half of the car’s original price.
Even if two vehicles are priced the same, that doesn’t mean they will cost the same over time. For example, fuel costs, maintenance fees and depreciation can vary quite a bit between two vehicles. Knowing the 5-Year Cost to Own ahead of time can help you save money in the long run. On kbb.com you can find the 5-year cost to own a particular car or classes of vehicles.
You can also see the vehicles with the lowest 5-year cost to own by vehicle class. According to kbb.com, Toyota and Lexus are the two brands with the lowest 5-year cost to own.
Buy a Used Car
If new vehicles lose so much value in the first few years, it would make sense then to buy a used car. In this case, you have two options:
Buy a used car from a private party
In this case, the potential to get the best deal is high but you may also end up with a vehicle that has many problems. The seller may lie to you and may not have maintained the vehicle which could result in expensive surprises. You can view a vehicle’s history on CarFax.com to see if it’s been in any accidents, how many owners it’s had, and more.
Buy a certified pre-owned (CPO) car
CPO vehicles are relatively new, low-mileage vehicles that have been inspected and certified by dealers representing the automaker who built them. They come with warranty coverage and other extras you wouldn’t get if you bought a non-certified used car. For pre-owned vehicles to become certified by an automaker, they must be less than five or six years old and have fewer than 60,000 to 80,000 miles on the odometer. These vehicles also undergo multipoint inspections at the dealership. Sometimes, these vehicles were loaner vehicles that the dealer loaned to customers while they wait for their vehicles to be serviced. CPO vehicles, of course, cost more than non-certified used vehicles but they are cheaper than brand new vehicles.
Most people don’t buy cars in cash. Instead, they finance the cost by making monthly payments for 5 years. I was just at a Lexus dealer today and with my 800+ credit score and offer to put $10,000 down on a $42,037 vehicle, I was offered an interest rate of 4.29%.
I then estimated what kind of interest rate I could get from MyAutoLoan.com and got a rate of 2.33%.
To determine the monthly payments and total interest payments, we can use a car payment calculator. At 4.29% over 60 months, my monthly payments would be $594.21 and the total interest paid over 5 years would be $3,615.72.
At 2.33% over 60 months, my monthly payments would be $566.17 and the cost total interest paid would be $1,933.44.
The difference is $1682.28 over 5 years.
Sometimes, dealers have specials where they offer 0% interest. For example, if a new car costs $42000 with 0% interest financing whereas a slightly used certified pre-owned car costs $39000 with 4% interest, you might as well buy the new car because the 4% interest would increase the cost from $39,000 to $42,044.75.
Another option is to get a loan from a credit union. Unlike banks, credit unions are not for profit so they can offer lower rates. For example, if you live in Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can become a member of 1st United Credit Union and get competitive rates for a new or used car loan. See their rates.
Insurance
Car insurance costs vary depending on many factors. Following are factors that affect car insurance. For low-cost insurance, try Costo Home and Auto insurance.
Driver’s age
One cost factor is risk. Young drivers below the age of 25 and elderly drivers above the age of 65 are considered high risk drivers. For that reason, car insurance tends to cost more in those age groups. Following is a chart of average insurance costs by driver age.
Understandably, if you have a clean driving record (no accidents, no insurance claims), then you’ll likely pay less for car insurance, and vice versa.
Car make, model and value
The cost of your car is a major factor in the cost to insure it. Other variables include the likelihood of theft, the cost of repairs, its engine size and the overall safety record of the car. Automobiles with high-quality safety equipment might qualify for premium discounts.
The Tesla Model 3 is the most expensive popular car to insure. The 2022 Tesla Model 3 starts at a moderately priced $44,990 but at $2,830 a year for full coverage, insurance is significantly more than other popular cars.
Insurance for the Model 3 and other Tesla vehicles is so expensive because as a luxury car, Teslas are more expensive to repair and are a more enticing target for thieves.
Maintenance
Oil change
The cost to change oil can vary quite a bit from one car to another and the cost is usually exorbitant if you change oil at a dealer. For example, the average cost to change oil for a Mercedes S-Class is almost twice that for a Lexus UX SUV.
My 2003 Honda Accord costs even less to change the oil.
Note that some new cars include 3 year / 36,000 mile maintenance.
Manual
Before spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new vehicle, it might be helpful to read the manual first since you can’t return vehicles to the dealer as you can most other purchases. You can find manuals on the manufacturers’ websites.
Warranty
Fixing a car can be very expensive. Having a warranty can save you a ton of money and offer peace of mind. With a warranty, the manufacturer will fix certain things for free during a certain period of time or up to a certain mileage. There are different types of warranties.
Typical warranty
The typical auto warranty coverage is 3 years/36,000 miles — meaning a warranty that covers needed repairs in the first three years you own your car, or for the first 36,000 miles you drive it, whichever comes first. You can estimate how far you drive each year by finding the distance from one place to another in Google Maps, e.g. distance from home to work and back 5 days a week.
Comprehensive / Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty
This type of warranty covers everything except wear and tear, damage caused by you, and normal maintenance.
Powertrain Warranty
This type of warranty covers the mechanical parts that move the car.
Both Hyundai and Kia offer one of the industry’s longest warranties on new cars — a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. However, if the vehicle is sold, only a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty goes to the new owner of the car.
Hybrid Warranty
This type of warranty covers repairs to the battery, electric motor, and other unique components found in an electric or hybrid car.
Lexus, for example, offers the following warranties.
The Basic Warranty coverage is for 48 months or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first.
The Powertrain Warranty is for 72 months or 70,000 miles, whichever occurs first.
The Lexus Hybrid Warranty coverage is for eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, and covers the following components: Hybrid Battery Control Module (battery voltage sensor), Hybrid Control Module (power management control module), and Inverter with Converter.
The Lexus Hybrid Battery Warranty coverage is for ten years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first on 2020 and newer models.
Rent Before Buying
Though you can test drive a car at a dealer, that may not be enough for you to really get a good idea of whether the car is right for you or not. To be safe, you can rent the same model of car you are interested in buying. If the vehicle model you are interested in is not available at car rental centers like Hertz, you may be able to find one at a private party via the Turo.com. Of course, you can also borrow a friend’s car if they have the one you are interested in.
Fuel Economy
Some vehicles are gas guzzlers. This can cause you to spend a lot more money than you thought. There are 3 main types of cars: gas only, hybrid gas and electricity, and electric only. At FuelEconomy.gov, you can compare up to 4 vehicles for fuel economy.
For example:
2021 hybrid Lexus Crossover SUC
2003 gas-only Honda Accord
MPG
25 miles per gallon
42 miles per gallon
Distance on full tank
445 miles
–
Annual Fuel Cost
$1,200
$2000
Cost to Drive 25 Miles
$1.97
$3.31
Car Rebates
Sometimes you can get rebates valued at thousands of dollars. Following are some clean vehicle incentive websites.
All-electric and plug-in hybrid cars purchased new, not used, in or after 2010 may be eligible for a federal income tax credit of up to $7,500. The credit amount will vary based on the capacity of the battery used to power the vehicle.
A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the income tax you owe. For example, if you owe $1,000 in federal taxes but are eligible for a $1,000 tax credit, your net liability drops to zero. … Therefore, if your total tax is $400 and claim a $1,000 tax credit, you will receive a $600 refund.
For example, for the Hyundai Ionic All-Electric sedan, you can get a $7500 federal tax credit.
The Toyota RAV4 Prime Plug-in Hybrid and the 2022 Lexus NX Plug-In Hybrid qualify for a $7.5K federal tax credit as well.
The 2017–22 Prius Prime Plug-in Hybrid qualifies for a $4,502 tax credit.
The process to apply for a tax credit is fairly simple. You first have to buy a vehicle that qualifies, of course. Then you fill out form 8936 along with your tax return. After filing your return, if you look at your IRS tax transcript, which you can download from the IRS website, you will see a section titled “Tax and Credits” with a line item (highlighted below) for “F8936 Electric Motor Vehicle Credit Amount” which should have the dollar amount of the credit available for the EV you buy.
Costco Auto Program
Costco claims to offer its members a discount when buying new and pre-owned vehicles from participating dealers. An Authorized Dealer Contact will present the “Costco Member-Only Price Sheet,” displaying your prearranged pricing. The savings can be displayed in one of two ways: one version lists pricing for all models available at the participating dealership; the other will show a VIN-specific price based on the vehicle you select, including any applicable manufacturer incentives or rebates.
Tires aren’t like shoes: The bigger the size, the more you pay. According to Discount Tire / America’s Tire, the average prices are as follows.
Wheel Size
All-Season
All-Terrain
Small (12” – 15” wheels). Compact cars, golf carts, etc.
$80 – $150
–
Medium (16” – 20” wheels). Crossovers, SUVs, small trucks, and vans.
$100 – $250
$150 – $250
All-Gas vs All-Electric Vehicles
Vehicles are becoming more and more electric. Here are some pros and cons of all-electric vehicles.
Pros
Cons
You can save a lot of money
Electric cars can be pricey
Electricity is renewable
Charging can be a lengthy process
You can reduce your environmental impact
You can’t go as far or as long as gas cars
You can take advantage of tax credits and clean car rebates
Finding a station can be tough
Less maintenance is required
Car insurance premiums may increase
Better performance
Drive solo in HOV lane
No oil changes
No smog checks
Note that the Hyundai Ioniq 5 supports ultra-fast charging and can go up to 300 miles on a full charge.
The ultra-fast charging capability gives you over 60 miles of range with just a five- minute charge, or you can charge it from 10 percent to 80 percent in just under 18 minutes. However, ultra-fast chargers are only available at public charging stations.
My Picks
Lexus UX 250h
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Lexus UX250h
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Type
Hybrid
All Electric
Transport large items
Yes, it’s a subcompact SUV but the trunk is small because the battery is there
Yes, it’s a subcompact SUV with a large trunk because the battery is in the front
Cost
~$38,000
~$40,000
CA Rebate
No
Yes, $2000
Fed Tax Credit
No
Yes, $7500
Charging
No
Yes, ultra fast, 5 mins gets you 60 miles
Must change oil, belt, and filter
Yes
No
Must get a smog check
Yes
No
Must go to a gas station
Yes
No, charge at home. Can also charge at a public charging station.
Basic Warranty
4 years, 50K miles
5 years, 60K miles
Powertrain Warranty
6 years, 70K miles
10 years, 100K miles
Cost to drive 25 miles
$1.97
$1.01
EV (Electric Vehicle)
EV Battery Size and Range
An EV’s range depends on the size of its battery.
Gross Capacity—or Total Capacity—is the total amount of energy a pack can theoretically hold.
Net Capacity—or Usable Capacity—is the amount of energy the car can actually draw on to move.
You can see a list of EVs sorted by battery size. The average size is 56.3 kWh. The largest is 107.8 kWh (Mercedes EQS AMG 53 4MATIC+). The smallest is 16.7 kWh (Smart EQ for four).
EV Charging Speed on Level 1, 2, 3 Chargers
Before buying an EV, make sure to research your ability to charge it. Most EV owners install a Level 2 charger in their home which is an added cost. Learn more about EV charging.
Charging Level
Power Delivery
Range Added Per Hour
Time to Charge 60 kWh EV
Level 1
1-1.4 kW
3-5 miles
30-40 hours
Level 2
3.9-19.2 kW
12-80 miles
2.5-4.5 hours
Level 3
24-300 kW
75-1,200 miles
30-40 minutes
Time to Charge EV with a 60-kWh battery is the time to raise the battery’s charge level from 10% to 80%
The Ioniq 5’s battery pack size is 77.4 kWh, and the maximum continuous draw permitted on a 15A 120V outlet is 12A (incidentally the rate at which Hyundai’s In-Cable Control Box, aka granny charger, tops out in the North American market).
120V * 12A = 1.44 kW, and the charging efficiency lies somewhere between 80 and 90 percent, let’s call it 85. So 77.4 / 1.44 / 0.85 = 63.25 hours, or a bit over 2 days and 15 hours. That said, you’d never use 100% of the battery capacity. If you’re plugging in each night after an average daily commute of 30 miles, you’d be recharged in under 8 hours.
Most EV owners will install a Level 2 charger in their home with between 30 and 40 amp capacity, with 32A being common. Charger efficiency is about 90 per cent at the higher voltage, so 77.4k / (32 * 240) / 0.9 = 11.2 hours from 0 (never drive your EV down to zero!) to 100 per cent.
So many cars now have touchscreens and the screens are just getting bigger and bigger. Many people use their phones for driving directions, playing music, and more. But, phones screens are small which makes them more difficult to use, especially when driving. Some car screens have maps and driving directions but they’re hard to use and ugly. Tesla car screens have nice maps but Teslas are expensive and you may not want a Tesla. In that case, you may want to get a car that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
For example, here’s how Google Maps looks on Android Auto.
You can find routes, get real-time alerts, view places on the way, reserve parking, find a charging station, and more.
You can also control music using some apps on your phone like Spotify, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
I personally use the PowerAmp music player. It was upgraded to support Android Auto and the screen looks like this.
Of course, you can all make phone calls and chat as well.
Note that for Android Auto, not all apps are supported.
Features
When considering a new car, there are often more than one trim levels to choose from. Each trim comes with different features. You’ll want to make sure you compare each trim and feature, e.g. does the base model include heated seats, before picking a trim.
When drawing rectangles, you can specify length & width by separating the measurements with a comma. For example: to draw a two foot by four foot rectangle, you can enter 2', 4' into the measurement box. The order of the measurements matches the order of the axes (R, G, B). For example: Red, then Green; Red, then Blue; or Green, then Blue.
When items are pre-selected, you can click anywhere in the model to begin moving them, and then click anywhere to set them down. This is an effective way to move things precisely and/or align things to other things.
Click the red crosshairs that appear on the bounding box of an object to rotate that object.
After moving a copy, you can type a number followed by the X key and then press Enter to create an array of copies.
Rotate, stretch, distort, or copy items or objects along a rounded path.
Tool Operation
(Optional) Preselect the items or objects you want to rotate.
Click on an item or object to both make a selection and set the center point of rotation.
Move cursor to indicate start point of rotation.
Click to set starting point of rotation.
Move cursor to indicate end point of rotation.
Click to complete rotation, or enter angle in degrees.
Modifier Keys
Ctrl = Toggle rotate a copy.
Before first click, hold Shift to lock protractor inference.
Before first click, use arrow keys to toggle the protractor inference lock direction (→ = Red, ← = Green, ↑ = Blue, ↓ = Parallel).
After first click, use arrow keys to toggle rotation inference lock direction (→ = Red, ← = Green, ↑ = Blue, ↓ = Parallel/Perpendicular).
Tips
Esc = Cancel operation.
During Step #2 of the tool operation steps above, you can click-drag the protractor along an edge or axis to set an axis of rotation.
After rotating a copy, you can type a number followed by the letter X and then press Enter to create a rotated array of copies.
When inputting rotation values into the Measurements box, you can enter either an angle of rotation, in degrees (for example 45 Enter),or a slope expressed as a rise:run architectural slope notation (for example 4:12 Enter).
(Optional) Preselect the items or objects you want to scale.
Click on a face or object.
Click on a Scale grip.
Move cursor to resize or stretch item or object.
Click to finish scaling item or object.
Modifier Keys
Ctrl = Toggle scale about center.
Shift = Toggle uniform scale.
Tips
Esc = Cancel operation.
Click a corner grip for 3-way scale. Default = Uniform. Pressing Shift = Non-uniform.
Click a midline grip for 2-way scale. Default = Non-uniform. Pressing Shift = Uniform.
Click a center grip for 1-way scale. Default = Non-uniform. Pressing Shift = Uniform.
When scaling an item or object you have the option to enter either a scale factor (for example 2.5 Enter will make the things you’re scaling 250%, or two and a half times bigger), or you can simply input the size that you want the thing you’re scaling to be (for example, if scaling up along the blue axis direction, 6' Enter will make the selection six feet tall).
It’s possible to activate multiple section planes at the same time, as long as the section planes are in different contexts. For example, you can activate one section plane through the model, and then activate another section plane through a group or component object and have both planes active at the same time.
Measure angles and create angled guide line entities.
Tool Operation
Place protractor’s center at vertex of angle.
Click to set vertex. (Alternatively: click and drag first point to set rotation plane.)
Move cursor in circle until touching start of angle.
Click to set start of angle.
Move cursor in circle until touching end of angle.
Click to measure angle.
Modifier Keys
Ctrl = Toggle create guide lines.
Before first click, hold Shift to lock protractor inference.
Before first click, use arrow keys to toggle the protractor inference lock direction (→ = Red, ← = Green, ↑ = Blue, ↓ = Parallel).
After first click, use arrow keys to toggle rotation inference lock direction (→ = Red, ← = Green, ↑ = Blue, ↓ = Parallel/Perpendicular).
Tips
Esc = Cancel operation.
When inputting rotation values into the Measurements box, you can enter either an angle of rotation, in degrees (for example 45 Enter ), or a slope expressed as a rise:run architectural slope notation (for example 4:12 Enter).
Click anywhere in the model to place the camera. The camera will be positioned above the point where you click, at the eye height distance specified in the measurements box.
(Optional) Click and drag from one point in the model to another point in the model to create a target camera. The point you drag from will be the exact location where the camera will be positioned, the point you drag to will establish the camera target.
Let’s say you want to make a closet in your garage and you want to create the frame using 2×4 lumber. It’s helpful to draw this in 3D to visualize the design. This post will show you how to do it using the free web version of SketchUp.
Set length units and precision
First, under Model Info, we set the length format and precision. Since a 2×4 piece of wood is actually 1.5″ x 3.5″, let’s set the length and precision to 1/2″.
Create 2×4 objects that represent stock lumber
To simplify creating the closet frame out of 2x4s in 3D, we’ll first create 2×4 objects that are any length, e.g. 12 inches long, along each axis (x, y, and z). To do this, we’ll first create a 2×4 rectangle as follows:
Choose the rectangle tool.
Click and drag anywhere until you see a rectangle.
Before clicking a second time, type “1.5,3.5” (without quotes) to manually specify the dimensions and then hit Enter. What you type will show up in the Dimensions field in the bottom right corner.
You will see the rectangle as shown below.
Now, we want to pull the rectangle to create a 12-inch long object representing a piece of wood. Click the Push / Pull tool.
Zoom in, if necessary. Then, click on the face of the rectangle and drag up. Do not click as doing so will set the length. Instead, type “12” (without quotes) to specify the length in inches to pull the rectangle to create a 12″ long 2×4. Then, hit Enter.
Now that we have one piece of 2×4 in one direction. Let’s copy and paste it twice to create two more pieces in the other two directions. Click the “Select” tool.
Drag a rectangle around the entire object you just created to select all of it. The object will turn blue as shown below.
Click Copy / Ctrl+C and then Paste / Ctrl+V to paste a clone of that object. Do this twice.
Now, select the 2nd object and then click the Rotate tool.
Click somewhere on the object and then click again to start rotating the object. Don’t click a third time since doing so would set the rotation angle. Instead, type “90” (without quotes) to rotate the object by 90 degrees.
Do the same with the 3rd copy of the object but rotate it in a different direction.
Come to think of it, we should make 3 more copies of the object and rotate them so we can have 2x4s in all 6 perpendicular directions. If you’re having a hard time selecting one entire object using the “Select” tool because it’s too close to another object, try using the “Lasso” selection tool.
Now we’ve got our 2×4 building blocks which we can move to the side and clone to create the closet frame. I’ll select all 6 objects and move them as shown below.
Now, we’ll create a closet frame by first cloning one of the building blocks, moving the clone, and pulling it to change its length. I’ll start with the back left corner of the closet frame. When I copied and pasted one of the 2×4 objects, I clicked on the origin to position the object there.
Let’s say we want our closet frame to be 80 inches tall. I’ll switch to the Push / Pull tool, click on the face of the object that I want to pull, drag up, and then type 80 to set the length to 80 inches.
Since we want all corners to be 80 inches tall, we can clone the first 80-inch tall object three more times and position them as far as we want from each other. When you paste a copy of an object, you will see tooltips that help you align the object relative to the axes and to other objects.
Above, we see a copy of the 80-inch tall 2×4 but we don’t know how far it is from the first 80-inch 2×4. Click the Dimensions tool.
Then, click on each of the two endpoints of the distance you want to measure. In this example, the distance is 2′ 8.5″.
Let’s select the 2nd object and then click the Move tool so we can move the object to be 2 feet away from the other object.
Click on one corner / endpoint and then drag such that the distance becomes 2 feet.
When dragging, you’ll see tips such as “On Red Axis” which will help you stay on the same plane and only move in one direction. Below, we now see the distance between both objects is 2 feet.
Repeat the above steps for the remaining parts.
To learn more, including how to move and align objects relatively and absolutely, read my other SketchUp article.
There are 3 main things that affect muscle growth:
food
strength / resistance training
rest
To grow muscle, you need to
do strength training to break down muscle
have a moderate calorie surplus
have sufficient protein consumption (1 gram of protein per pound of body weight)
rest to build muscle
If you have a calorie deficit, your body will expend more energy resulting in weight loss in the form of BOTH fat and muscle loss.
If you have an excessive calorie surplus, you will GAIN weight, and grow some muscle but also gain a lot of fat.
You build muscle when the amount of protein synthesized into muscle during rest is greater than the amount of muscle protein breakdown during strength training. Without sufficient protein, you will just gain fat and little muscle.
Food
Both creatine and whey protein powder have been shown to increase muscle mass when taken in combination with resistance exercise.
Creatine increases exercise capacity during high-intensity exercise. This leads to improved recovery and adaptations such as increased muscle mass.
Meanwhile, ingesting whey protein in combination with exercise provides your body with a high-quality source of protein, enhancing muscle protein synthesis and leading to increased muscle gains over time.
While both creatine and whey protein promote muscle gain, they differ in the ways they work. Creatine increases strength and muscle mass by increasing exercise capacity, whereas whey protein does so by stimulating increased muscle protein synthesis.
Muscles are made out of protein, among other things. So, you’re going to need to consume enough protein to build muscle. You should target 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. For example, I currently weigh 178 lbs, so I should consume 178 grams of protein. Here are some protein-rich foods.
Consuming a lot of protein without supplements can be difficult because you might feel full before you’ve reached your target daily intake. Also, it can be expensive. For that reason, most bodybuilders take protein supplements. When choosing a protein supplement, it’s important to stay away from ones with a lot of added sugar. The most popular protein supplement is whey protein. To be safe, opt for pure whey protein. I personally get the unflavored Nutricost Whey Protein Concentrate. It contains only one ingredient: Whey protein concentrate. 1 scoop contains 25 g of protein and 130 calories.
You can also buy whey protein isolate, which has 90 – 95% protein compared to whey protein concentrate, which has 60 – 80% protein. Source
Creatine
Creatine monohydrate is the best-studied and most effective form of this supplement. There are 2 dosing regimens:
Option 1
Loading phase: Take 20-25 grams split into 4 or 5 equal doses over 5-7 days.
Maintenance phase: Then, take 3-5 grams per day to maintain your muscle stores of the compound.
Option 2
Skip the loading phase and start the maintenance phase.
Both options are effective. The first option will allow you to experience the benefits 4x faster. Source
Now, don’t go consuming nothing but protein shakes. They are meant to be supplements and not food substitutes. You can eat whatever else you want, but generally, you should avoid processed foods and foods with lots of added sugar. I have personally found the Keto diet (very low-carb diet) to be one of the best, if not the best, diets. I was able to lose 20 lbs following the Keto diet. It’s not just good for losing weight, but it’s also good for overall healthy eating.
Calories
While you can build muscle in a calorie deficit (losing weight), it will be quicker to build muscle by having a moderate calorie surplus. In order to determine how many calories is “moderate”, you first need to know your maintenance calories – the number of calories to consume each day to neither lose nor gain weight.
Maintenance Calories
Your maintenance calories is the number of calories you consume and burn each day to neither lose nor gain weight. Use the calorie calculator from the Mayo Clinic to determine your maintenance calories. It uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, which pros consider the gold standard.
Slight Calorie Deficit to Lose Weight Without Losing Muscle
On days you don’t lift weights, you want to lose fat. You can do this by counting calories consumed and, if you are doing cardio exercises (treadmill, etc), subtracting calories burned such that your net calorie deficit is 5-10% of your maintenance calories. In my case, that would be 2200 – 10% = 1980 calories. You don’t want a huge calorie deficit because then you’ll lose fat and muscle.
Moderate Calorie Surplus Gain Muscle
On days that you lift weights to build muscle, depending on how much muscle you want to put on and how quickly you want to gain it, add 5% to 15% to your maintenance calories. In my case, that would be 2200 + 15% = 2530 calories.
Example Weekly Schedule
DAY
ACTIVITY
CALORIES
Monday
Rest
Calorie Deficit
Tuesday
Strength Training
Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
Wednesday
Cardio
Calorie Deficit
Thursday
Rest
Calorie Deficit
Friday
Strength Training
Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
Saturday
Cardio
Calorie Deficit
Sunday
Strength Training
Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
On calorie-surplus days, your body needs the extra calories above your maintenance calories to build new muscle while you sleep.
Example Meal Plan
Here’s my daily meal plan.
Breakfast
4 eggs in a bowl microwaved for 2 minutes
1 cup of espresso coffee with frothed milk, 1/4 teaspoon of Truvia sugar substitute (erithrytol + Stevia extra), and cinnamon
Without eating snacks, my total daily calorie intake is 1928.
Strength / Resistance Training
Muscle size increases when a person continually challenges the muscles to deal with higher levels of resistance or weight. This process is known as muscle hypertrophy.
Muscle hypertrophy occurs when the fibers of the muscles sustain damage or injury. The body repairs damaged fibers by fusing them, which increases the mass and size of the muscles. This increase, however, does not happen while you actually lift the weights. Instead, it occurs while you rest.
You need to be consistent and lift progressively heavier weights. To do this, you should keep track of your efforts. Personally, I log my workouts using the free version of the FitNotes app.
Sets and reps
A standard way of exercising each muscle is by grouping each exercise into 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (repetitions). For example, if you bench press, you can choose a weight such that for the first set, you lift X lbs until you reach failure (can no longer lift / perform a complete cycle) after the 12th rep. Then, for the 2nd set, you do the same until your failure is maybe at the 10th rep. And for the 3rd set, you fail maybe at 8 reps.
Set
Weight
Reps
1
100 lbs
12
2
100 lbs
10
3
100 lbs
8
Note that more important than the number of reps is the effort to lift until failure. If, after a while, you feel that you can do more than 12 reps at X lbs for the first set, then you need to increase the weight and continue to lift until failure, regardless of the exact number of reps you can do. This is called “progressive overloading.”
Let me repeat that. Train until failure such that you can barely complete your last rep with proper form. The last 2 to 3 reps before failure are the ones that count towards building muscle.
Breathing
You might be tempted to hold your breath while you’re lifting weights. Don’t hold your breath. Instead, breathe out as you lift the weight and breathe in as you lower the weight. Lowering weights requires less exertion, which makes it an ideal time to inhale. By breathing correctly, you’ll be able to lift more and limit fainting and injury.
Muscles
Here’s a diagram of some of the more obvious muscles that you’ll want to target when lifting weights.
Exercises
There are many types of strength training exercises you can do among free weights and machines. I personally prefer using machines as they are more comfortable and help you perform exercises using proper form and reduce the chance of injury. However, some exercises produce better results when using free weights, e.g. dumbbell or barbell chest press instead of a chest press machine. Here are some of the upper body exercises I prefer.
When you start a workout, your muscles will have rested and you will be able to lift the most weight for any given exercise. As you progress through your workout, you will have less strength when performing other exercises. For that reason, it’s good to be selective in the order of the exercises you perform. For example, I would do 10 or so different exercises in the following order:
Order
Exercise
Muscles Targeted
1
V-Bar Tricep Pushdown
Triceps (Tris)
2
Dumbbell chest press (flat)
Chest
3
Dumbbell chest press (30° incline)
Upper chest
4
Hammer Strength MTS Shoulder Press
Shoulders
5
Biceps Curl Machine
Biceps (Bis)
6
Plank exercise
Abs, Core
7
Lat Pulldown
Biceps and Latissimus Dorsi (Lats)
8
Triceps Press
Shoulders and Triceps
9
Lat Row
Lats, Delts and Back
10
V-Bar Tricep Pushdown
Triceps (Tris)
11
Row Machine
Lats, Delts and Back
12
Biceps Curl Machine
Biceps (Bis)
Each exercise, except the plank, is done with 3 sets. This sequence takes about 1.5 hours and I burn on average 500 calories.
Muscles by Volume
Many men generally want a bigger upper body. Oftentimes, they’ll focus exercises on 2 muscles: chest and biceps. However, to have a larger upper body, they may be better off targeting larger muscles. Following is a list of the 10 largest muscles in the body.
The longer you lift weights, the harder it becomes to grow more muscle. Following are average muscle weight gains for men and women at different stages of resistance training.
You may have heard that muscle weighs more than fat. However, according to science, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same. The difference between the two is density.
Rest
In order for your muscles to grow, you need to have sufficient rest. Make sure to sleep enough, e.g. 8 hours a day. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually build muscle while you’re lifting weights. You do need to lift weights to add mass, but training actually causes muscle breakdown.
How to Tell if You’re Gaining Muscle
You’re Gaining Weight Track your weight at the same time each day and plot it on a chart to see your long-term progress.
Your Clothes Fit Differently Getting jacked will often mean your clothes start to fit differently – usually in a good way. If you’re noticing your shirts are fitting a bit tighter around your shoulders, chest, and biceps, or your pants are getting snug in the thigh and hip area, these tend to be good signs you’re gaining healthy weight.
You’re Building Strength If you can lift heavier weights, then you are probably building muscle. Track your strength using a log and practice progressive overloading.
Your Muscles Are Looking “Swole” Feeling puffier or bigger is normal and likely a good sign you’re growing your muscle fibers. Lifting weights increases fluids to your muscle, giving you that post-weight training pump, especially when you are just getting started with strength training. Over time, some of the water retention may diminish, but you should continue to feel bulkier.
Daily or Weekly Progress Photos Stand in front of a mirror and take a full-body photo. Repeat and assess your visual transformation regularly.
Your Body Composition Has Changed Ultimately, the most efficient way to measure your muscle gain progress is to assess your body composition at the beginning and end of your bulk. You can opt for an affordable and convenient at-home scale, or schedule a DXA/DEXA scan that estimates your body fat percentage within a 1.6% margin of error.
The best way to know you are gaining muscle is if you are progressively able to lift heavier weights because the only way you can lift heavier weights if you have bigger muscles.
Tracking Progress
If you use an app to keep track of your progress, you can periodically calculate your percent gains and improvements over time. Here’s an example of my actual gains.
Exercise
Dec 26, 2021
March 12, 2022
% increase
Target area
lbs
lbs
V-bar pushdown
50
72.5
45%
Triceps
Chest press machine
70
120
71%
Chest
Lat pulldown machine
90
130
44%
Back
Shoulder press machine
40
70
75%
Shoulders
Tricep pushdown machine
115
170
47%
Triceps
Bicep curl machine
65
110
69%
Biceps
Gadgets and Accessories
To support your strength training goals, I have found the following gadgets useful.
Wi-fi body scale
I have the Withings smart wi-fi body scale. It automatically records my weight, and in the app, I can see my weight change over time.
Whenever I enter the gym, I start tracking my heart rate and calories burned. When I’m done, I stop tracking. I can see a history of my calories burned and workout duration over time.
Bluetooth Headphones / Earphones
I have the Sony Wireless Behind-Neck Headset (WI-C400). Many people like to wear Beats headphones. I prefer the behind-the-neck style headset because it’s lightweight and doesn’t move around as I exercise, including when I do sit-ups.
Repeatedly lifting weights can result in calluses (thickened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction or pressure). Workout gloves tend to have a cushion to protect your skin. I find it much more comfortable to lift with gloves on.
Summary
Stay in a positive protein balance by hitting your protein consistently.
Get your protein from high-quality sources like meat, eggs, dairy, and soy.
Your body needs energy to grow, so you need to be in a moderate calorie surplus.
Make sleep a priority — both quantity and quality.
Hit the weights consistently, and train harder by adding volume (in weight, reps, and sets) over time – progressive overloading.
Right click on the selection and click “Sort lines”
Get unique / remove duplicate lines in a list of text
Select the list of text
Click View > Command Paletter
Click one of the unique sort options
Select a column of text
Put the cursor at one corner of the column of text you want to select
On Windows, click and hold “Shift” + “Alt” keys and drag the cursor to the opposite corner of the column of text you want to select
You can then start typing to replace the text or copy the text to the clipboard
Find text in a single file and copy all matches to the clipboard
Open the text in Visual Studio Code
Click Edit > Find
Enter a search term
Click Selection > Select All Occurrences All matches will be highlighted. Notice the different highlight color in the two screenshots below.
Right click on the highlighted text and click “Copy”
You could then paste the copied text in a new file
Add text to the beginning of each line of text
Click Edit > Replace
Use the following regex search
Copy differences (diff) between two files
Let’s say you have two files and you want to get only the differences between the two. Visual Studio Code will show you a diff between two files as follows:
Open both files
Select both files in the OPEN EDITORS section
Right click and click “Compare Selected”
You will then see a nice diff between the two files.
But, you won’t be able to copy only the changed lines or export the diff. On Windows, you can use a tool called DiffMerge by SourceGear. If you open both files, you’ll see a similar view.
You can then click Export > File Diffs > Traditional > In Text > To Clipboard to copy the diff to your clipboard.
You can then paste the diff in a text editor like Visual Studio Code and extract only the text you are interested in.
Rename multiple filenames in multiple folders
Let’s say you have many files and you want to rename the filenames all at once. For this, I find it easy to use a tool like Rename Expert. For example, in the screenshot below, I did the following:
Added all files the filenames of which I want to rename
Under “Actions”, chose the actions I want done. In this case, I did 2 actions:
Replace (to replace the first character of each filename with an underscore)
Edit file extension (to change the file extension from php to jpg)
Previewed the changes and resolve any conflicts
Clicked the Apply button to run the batch renaming of files.
If you have a website or are publishing an article online, you can increase your chances of people finding it by carefully choosing keywords to use both in the domain, folder path, and page content. One tool to help with this is Google Adword’s Keyword Planner. As a trivial example, let’s say you are building a dictionary website. You could buy a domain name that has the word “dictionary” in it or you could use the word “dictionary” in your page content. Or, you could use a synonym like “lexicon”. If you enter both words in the Keyword Planner, you’ll see the average monthly search volume for those words. In addition, Google will offer keyword ideas. As you can see in the screenshot below, many more people search using the term “dictionary” than they do the term “lexicon”. You can also see the competition level in the Competition column. However, that’s for if you want to pay Google to place your link at the top of search results. In the example below, the competition is low for both keywords.
Now, since “dictionary” is a popular term, you can expect more competition with respect to organic (not paid) search results. As you can see below, there are 4.32 billion results for the term “dictionary” and 3.05 billion for “lexicon”.
Of course, you’re not going to just write “dictionary” in your website content. You’ll probably write something like “Chinese – English dictionary” or “Spanish – English dictionary” which will have different average monthly searches and search results.
Proteins consist of units called amino acids. There are 20 amino acids. The body synthesizes some of them from components within the body, but it cannot synthesize 9 of the amino acids—called essential amino acids. They must be consumed in the diet. The amount and type of each amino acid vary based on the protein source.
Animal proteins such as eggs, milk and steak are complete because they contain all of the essential amino acids that your body needs to function effectively.
Plant proteins, such as beans, lentils and nuts are considered to be incomplete, as they lack one or more of the essential amino acids that your body needs.
Protein Quality Score
Due to the important role proteins play in our nutrition, it’s vital that we have a standard measure to determine protein quality.
In 1993, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the US FDA made PDCAAS the official standard for comparing protein quality.
DIAAS (Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score)
In 2013, FAO proposed using a new evaluation method resulting in different scores called DIAAS. According to DIAAS, protein quality can be categorized as follows:
No protein quality claim – Score of <75%
Good protein quality – Score ranging from 75% to 99%
Excellent or High protein quality – Score of 100% or more
As you can see in the table below, all animal-based proteins are of high quality whereas plant-based proteins are either just good or poor in quality.
Only values that used the scoring patterns for children older than 3 years, adolescents, and adults were selected
aValues for DIAAS were calculated from the ileal digestibility of amino acids
bValues for PDCAAS were calculated from the total tract digestibility of crude protein
cAll values for DIAAS and PDCAAS were selected in humans, if available, growing pigs, or in growing rats in that order
dMeasured in humans
eMeasured in pigs
fMeasured in rats
Essential Amino Acid Comparison Between Steak and Broccoli
Since essential amino acids are essential, it’s important and interesting to compare how much of them you get when you compare the same amount of an animal protein to a plant protein. The following table compares 1 oz of steak to 1 oz of broccoli.
As you can see, you get WAY more essential amino acids from 1 oz of steak than you do from 1 oz of broccoli. However, from a calorie point of view,
1 oz of Broiled Sirloin Strip Steak has 60 calories
1 oz of Broccoli has 10 calories
1 oz of steak has 6 times as many calories as 1 oz of broccoli.
So, what if you just ate more broccoli to consume the same amount of amino acids as steak. The highest number in the ratio column is 30x. So, you’d need to eat 30 oz of broccoli to get at least the same amount of amino acids as steak. But then your calorie intake would be 10 calories x 30 = 300 calories, which is way more than 60 calories for the 1 oz of steak.
Conclusion
Don’t be a vegetarian. Include animal-based proteins such as eggs, meat and milk in your diet. If you don’t like them, then at least drink a smoothie made with whey protein powder. Here are some nutrients you can’t get from a vegetarian or vegan diet.
It’s not uncommon to hear that some of the wealthiest Americans pay less tax than the average taxpayer or, sometimes, no tax at all. However, there hasn’t been much, if any, proof or an understanding of how they get away with it until recently. ProPublica, somehow, got IRS records of many of the wealthiest Americans and in June of 2021, published an article and video showing what these people’s effective tax rates were and how they did it.
Tax Rate
In recent years, the median American household earned about $70,000 annually and paid 14% in federal taxes. The ultrawealthy, on the other hand, paid less than 3.5% from 2014 to 2018.
According to ProPublica, the ultrawealthy are able to pay so little or nothing in taxes by living off of loans. Income tax is tax on any income you receive, like a paycheck. For most people, your employer withholds your taxes due so when annual taxes are due, you pay or get a return of the difference of your final taxes owed. Therefore, the less your income is, the less you pay in taxes. Wealth in the form of stocks and real estate can go up and down and is not taxable until you sell. You probably have heard of some CEOs getting a salary of only $1 a year. This might sound like they are extremely generous and humble but in reality, it’s a strategy for them to continue to live lavishly but pay very little in taxes. Since no one can live on a salary of $1 a year, they borrow money to pay for food, housing, yachts, airplanes, etc. And because they’re so rich, they can get a loan at a very low interest rate, like 3%. As an example, if a CEO gets a salary of $1M a year, then their tax rate would be 37% and their tax bill would be, assuming no deductions, $370K. However, if they borrow $1M and pay 3% interest, then they only pay $30K in interest and $0 in taxes assuming they took a salary of $1.
Steps
BUY an asset (buy stock, real estate; build a company, etc). As long as they don’t sell, they don’t pay any taxes.
BORROW against their holdings This is like when ordinary people do a cash-out refinance on their house. Since the ultrawealthy have good credit (and can just buy the bank they are borrowing money from), they get a super low interest rate.
DIE and still not pay taxes Use complicated trusts and philanthropic foundations to avoid estate tax. Their heirs can inherit stocks and other assets tax-free.
A new generation starts ultrawealthy and the cycle starts all over again.
