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Este artigo foi censurado pelo estado e fomos obrigados a deletá-lo após ameaça de homens armados virem nos visitar e agredir nossa vida e propriedade.

Isto é mais uma prova que os autoproclamados antirracistas são piores que os racistas.

https://rothbardbrasil.com/pelo-direito-de-ser-racista-fascista-machista-e-homofobico

Segue artigo na íntegra. 👇

Sem dúvida, a escalada autoritária do totalitarismo cultural progressista nos últimos anos tem sido sumariamente deletéria e prejudicial para a liberdade de expressão. Como seria de se esperar, a cada dia que passa o autoritarismo progressista continua a se expandir de maneira irrefreável, prejudicando a liberdade dos indivíduos de formas cada vez mais deploráveis e contundentes.

Com a ascensão da tirania politicamente correta e sua invasão a todos os terrenos culturais, o autoritarismo progressista foi se alastrando e consolidando sua hegemonia em determinados segmentos. Com a eventual eclosão e a expansão da opressiva e despótica cultura do cancelamento — uma progênie inevitável do totalitarismo progressista —, todas as pessoas que manifestam opiniões, crenças ou posicionamentos que não estão alinhados com as pautas universitárias da moda tornam-se um alvo.

Há algumas semanas, vimos a enorme repercussão causada pelo caso envolvendo o jogador profissional de vôlei Maurício Sousa, que foi cancelado pelo simples fato de ter emitido sua opinião pessoal sobre um personagem de história em quadrinhos, Jon Kent, o novo Superman, que é bissexual. Maurício Sousa reprovou a conduta sexual do personagem, o que é um direito pessoal inalienável que ele tem. Ele não é obrigado a gostar ou aprovar a bissexualidade. Como qualquer pessoa, ele tem o direito pleno de criticar tudo aquilo que ele não gosta. No entanto, pelo simples fato de emitir a sua opinião pessoal, Maurício Sousa foi acusado de homofobia e teve seu contrato rescindido, sendo desligado do Minas Tênis Clube.

Lamentavelmente, Maurício Sousa não foi o primeiro e nem será o último indivíduo a sofrer com a opressiva e autoritária cultura do cancelamento. Como uma tirania cultural que está em plena ascensão e usufrui de um amplo apoio do establishment, essa nova forma de totalitarismo cultural colorido e festivo está se impondo de formas e maneiras bastante contundentes em praticamente todas as esferas da sociedade contemporânea. Sua intenção é relegar ao ostracismo todos aqueles que não se curvam ao totalitarismo progressista, criminalizando opiniões e crenças que divergem do culto à libertinagem hedonista pós-moderna. Oculto por trás de todo esse ativismo autoritário, o que temos de fato é uma profunda hostilidade por padrões morais tradicionalistas, cristãos e conservadores.

No entanto, é fundamental entendermos uma questão imperativa, que explica em partes o conflito aqui criado — todos os progressistas contemporâneos são crias oriundas do direito positivo. Por essa razão, eles jamais entenderão de forma pragmática e objetiva conceitos como criminalidade, direitos de propriedade, agressão e liberdade de expressão pela perspectiva do jusnaturalismo, que é manifestamente o direito em seu estado mais puro, correto, ético e equilibrado.

Pela ótica jusnaturalista, uma opinião é uma opinião. Ponto final. E absolutamente ninguém deve ser preso, cancelado, sabotado ou boicotado por expressar uma opinião particular sobre qualquer assunto. Palavras não agridem ninguém, portanto jamais poderiam ser consideradas um crime em si. Apenas deveriam ser tipificados como crimes agressões de caráter objetivo, como roubo, sequestro, fraude, extorsão, estupro e infrações similares, que representam uma ameaça direta à integridade física da vítima, ou que busquem subtrair alguma posse empregando a violência.

Infelizmente, a geração floquinho de neve — terrivelmente histérica, egocêntrica e sensível — fica profundamente ofendida e consternada sempre que alguém defende posicionamentos contrários à religião progressista. Por essa razão, os guerreiros da justiça social sinceramente acreditam que o papai-estado deve censurar todas as opiniões que eles não gostam de ouvir, assim como deve também criar leis para encarcerar todos aqueles que falam ou escrevem coisas que desagradam a militância.

Como a geração floquinho de neve foi criada para acreditar que todas as suas vontades pessoais e disposições ideológicas devem ser sumariamente atendidas pelo papai-estado, eles embarcaram em uma cruzada moral que pretende erradicar todas as coisas que são ofensivas à ideologia progressista; só assim eles poderão deflagrar na Terra o seu tão sonhado paraíso hedonista e igualitário, de inimaginável esplendor e felicidade.

Em virtude do seu comportamento intrinsecamente despótico, autoritário e egocêntrico, acaba sendo inevitável que militantes progressistas problematizem tudo aquilo que os desagrada.

Como são criaturas inúteis destituídas de ocupação real e verdadeiro sentido na vida, sendo oprimidas unicamente na sua própria imaginação, militantes progressistas precisam constantemente inventar novos vilões para serem combatidos.

Partindo dessa perspectiva, é natural para a militância que absolutamente tudo que exista no mundo e que não se enquadra com as regras autoritárias e restritivas da religião progressista seja encarado como um problema. Para a geração floquinho de neve, o capitalismo é um problema. O fascismo é um problema. A iniciativa privada é um problema. O homem branco, tradicionalista, conservador e heterossexual é um problema. A desigualdade é um problema. A liberdade é um problema. Monteiro Lobato é um problema (sim, até mesmo o renomado ícone da literatura brasileira, autor — entre outros títulos — de Urupês, foi vítima da cultura do cancelamento, acusado de ser racista e eugenista).

Para a esquerda, praticamente tudo é um problema. Na mentalidade da militância progressista, tudo é motivo para reclamação. Foi em função desse comportamento histérico, histriônico e infantil que o famoso pensador conservador-libertário americano P. J. O’Rourke afirmou que “o esquerdismo é uma filosofia de pirralhos chorões”. O que é uma verdade absoluta e irrefutável em todos os sentidos.

De fato, todas as filosofias de esquerda de forma geral são idealizações utópicas e infantis de um mundo perfeito. Enquanto o mundo não se transformar naquela colorida e vibrante utopia que é apresentada pela cartilha socialista padrão, militantes continuarão a reclamar contra tudo o que existe no mundo de forma agressiva, visceral e beligerante. Evidentemente, eles não vão fazer absolutamente nada de positivo ou construtivo para que o mundo se transforme no gracioso paraíso que eles tanto desejam ver consolidado, mas eles continuarão a berrar e vociferar muito em sua busca incessante pela utopia, marcando presença em passeatas inúteis ou combatendo o fascismo imaginário nas redes sociais.

Sem dúvida, estamos muito perto de ver leis absurdas e estúpidas sendo implementadas, para agradar a militância da terra colorida do assistencialismo eterno onde nada é escasso e tudo cai do céu. Em breve, você não poderá usar calças pretas, pois elas serão consideradas peças de vestuário excessivamente heterossexuais. Apenas calças amarelas ou coloridas serão permitidas. Você também terá que tingir de cor-de-rosa uma mecha do seu cabelo; pois preservar o seu cabelo na sua cor natural é heteronormativo demais da sua parte, sendo portanto um componente demasiadamente opressor da sociedade.

Você também não poderá ver filmes de guerra ou de ação, apenas comédias românticas, pois certos gêneros de filmes exaltam a violência do patriarcado e isso impede o mundo de se tornar uma graciosa festa colorida de fraternidades universitárias ungidas por pôneis resplandecentes, hedonismo infinito, vadiagem universitária e autogratificação psicodélica, que certamente são elementos indispensáveis para se produzir o paraíso na Terra.

Sabemos perfeitamente, no entanto, que dentre as atitudes “opressivas” que a militância progressista mais se empenha em combater, estão o racismo, o fascismo, o machismo e a homofobia. No entanto, é fundamental entender que ser racista, fascista, machista ou homofóbico não são crimes em si. Na prática, todos esses elementos são apenas traços de personalidade; e eles não podem ser pura e simplesmente criminalizados porque ideólogos e militantes progressistas iluminados não gostam deles.

Tanto pela ética quanto pela ótica jusnaturalista, é facilmente compreensível entender que esses traços de personalidade não podem ser criminalizados ou proibidos simplesmente porque integrantes de uma ideologia não tem nenhuma apreciação ou simpatia por eles. Da mesma forma, nenhum desses traços de personalidade representa em si um perigo para a sociedade, pelo simples fato de existir. Por incrível que pareça, até mesmo o machismo, o racismo, o fascismo e a homofobia merecem a devida apologia.

Mas vamos analisar cada um desses tópicos separadamente para entender isso melhor.

Racismo

Quando falamos no Japão, normalmente não fazemos nenhuma associação da sociedade japonesa com o racismo. No entanto, é incontestável o fato de que a sociedade japonesa pode ser considerada uma das sociedades mais racistas do mundo. E a verdade é que não há absolutamente nada de errado com isso.

Aproximadamente 97% da população do Japão é nativa; apenas 3% do componente populacional é constituído por estrangeiros (a população do Japão é estimada em aproximadamente 126 milhões de habitantes). Isso faz a sociedade japonesa ser uma das mais homogêneas do mundo. As autoridades japonesas reconhecidamente dificultam processos de seleção e aplicação a estrangeiros que desejam se tornar residentes. E a maioria dos japoneses aprova essa decisão.

Diversos estabelecimentos comerciais como hotéis, bares e restaurantes por todo o país tem placas na entrada que dizem “somente para japoneses” e a maioria destes estabelecimentos se recusa ostensivamente a atender ou aceitar clientes estrangeiros, não importa quão ricos ou abastados sejam.

Na Terra do Sol Nascente, a hostilidade e a desconfiança natural para com estrangeiros é tão grande que até mesmo indivíduos que nascem em algum outro país, mas são filhos de pais japoneses, não são considerados cidadãos plenamente japoneses.

Se estes indivíduos decidem sair do seu país de origem para se estabelecer no Japão — mesmo tendo descendência nipônica legítima e inquestionável —, eles enfrentarão uma discriminação social considerável, especialmente se não dominarem o idioma japonês de forma impecável. Esse fato mostra que a discriminação é uma parte tão indissociável quanto elementar da sociedade japonesa, e ela está tão profundamente arraigada à cultura nipônica que é praticamente impossível alterá-la ou atenuá-la por qualquer motivo.

A verdade é que — quando falamos de um país como o Japão — nem todos os discursos politicamente corretos do mundo, nem a histeria progressista ocidental mais inflamada poderão algum dia modificar, extirpar ou sequer atenuar o componente racista da cultura nipônica. E isso é consequência de uma questão tão simples quanto primordial: discriminar faz parte da natureza humana, sendo tanto um direito individual quanto um elemento cultural inerente à muitas nações do mundo. Os japoneses não tem problema algum em admitir ou institucionalizar o seu preconceito, justamente pelo fato de que a ideologia politicamente correta não tem no oriente a força e a presença que tem no ocidente.

E é fundamental enfatizar que, sendo de natureza pacífica — ou seja, não violando nem agredindo terceiros —, a discriminação é um recurso natural dos seres humanos, que está diretamente associada a questões como familiaridade e segurança.

Absolutamente ninguém deve ser forçado a apreciar ou integrar-se a raças, etnias, pessoas ou tribos que não lhe transmitem sentimentos de segurança ou familiaridade. Integração forçada é o verdadeiro crime, e isso diversos países europeus — principalmente os escandinavos (países que lideram o ranking de submissão à ideologia politicamente correta) — aprenderam da pior forma possível.

A integração forçada com imigrantes islâmicos resultou em ondas de assassinato, estupro e violência inimagináveis para diversos países europeus, até então civilizados, que a imprensa ocidental politicamente correta e a militância progressista estão permanentemente tentando esconder, porque não desejam que o ocidente descubra como a agenda “humanitária” de integração forçada dos povos muçulmanos em países do Velho Mundo resultou em algumas das piores chacinas e tragédias na história recente da Europa.

Ou seja, ao discriminarem estrangeiros, os japoneses estão apenas se protegendo e lutando para preservar sua nação como um ambiente cultural, étnico e social que lhe é seguro e familiar, assim se opondo a mudanças bruscas, indesejadas e antinaturais, que poderiam comprometer a estabilidade social do país.

A discriminação — sendo de natureza pacífica —, é benévola, salutar e indubitavelmente ajuda a manter a estabilidade social da comunidade. Toda e qualquer forma de integração forçada deve ser repudiada com veemência, pois, mais cedo ou mais tarde, ela irá subverter a ordem social vigente, e sempre será acompanhada de deploráveis e dramáticos resultados.

Para citar novamente os países escandinavos, a Suécia é um excelente exemplo do que não fazer. Tendo seguido o caminho contrário ao da discriminação racional praticada pela sociedade japonesa, atualmente a sociedade sueca — além de afundar de forma consistente na lama da libertinagem, da decadência e da deterioração progressista — sofre em demasia com os imigrantes muçulmanos, que foram deixados praticamente livres para matar, saquear, esquartejar e estuprar quem eles quiserem. Hoje, eles são praticamente intocáveis, visto que denunciá-los, desmoralizá-los ou acusá-los de qualquer crime é uma atitude politicamente incorreta e altamente reprovada pelo establishment progressista. A elite socialista sueca jamais se atreve a acusá-los de qualquer crime, pois temem ser classificados como xenófobos e intolerantes. Ou seja, a desgraça da Europa, sobretudo dos países escandinavos, foi não ter oferecido nenhuma resistência à ideologia progressista politicamente correta. Hoje, eles são totalmente submissos a ela.

O exemplo do Japão mostra, portanto — para além de qualquer dúvida —, a importância ética e prática da discriminação, que é perfeitamente aceitável e natural, sendo uma tendência inerente aos seres humanos, e portanto intrínseca a determinados comportamentos, sociedades e culturas.

Indo ainda mais longe nessa questão, devemos entender que na verdade todos nós discriminamos, e não existe absolutamente nada de errado nisso. Discriminar pessoas faz parte da natureza humana e quem se recusa a admitir esse fato é um hipócrita. Mulheres discriminam homens na hora de selecionar um parceiro; elas avaliam diversos quesitos, como altura, aparência, status social, condição financeira e carisma. E dentre suas opções, elas sempre escolherão o homem mais atraente, másculo e viril, em detrimento de todos os baixinhos, calvos, carentes, frágeis e inibidos que possam estar disponíveis. Da mesma forma, homens sempre terão preferência por mulheres jovens, atraentes e delicadas, em detrimento de todas as feministas de meia-idade, acima do peso, de cabelo pintado, que são mães solteiras e militantes socialistas. A própria militância progressista discrimina pessoas de forma virulenta e intransigente, como fica evidente no tratamento que dispensam a mulheres bolsonaristas e a negros de direita.

A verdade é que — não importa o nível de histeria da militância progressista — a discriminação é inerente à condição humana e um direito natural inalienável de todos. É parte indissociável da natureza humana e qualquer pessoa pode e deve exercer esse direito sempre que desejar. Não existe absolutamente nada de errado em discriminar pessoas. O problema real é a ideologia progressista e o autoritarismo politicamente correto, movimentos tirânicos que não respeitam o direito das pessoas de discriminar.

Fascismo

Quando falamos de fascismo, precisamos entender que, para a esquerda política, o fascismo é compreendido como um conceito completamente divorciado do seu significado original. Para um militante de esquerda, fascista é todo aquele que defende posicionamentos contrários ao progressismo, não se referindo necessariamente a um fascista clássico.

Mas, seja como for, é necessário entender que — como qualquer ideologia política — até mesmo o fascismo clássico tem o direito de existir e ocupar o seu devido lugar; portanto, fascistas não devem ser arbitrariamente censurados, apesar de defenderem conceitos que representam uma completa antítese de tudo aquilo que é valioso para os entusiastas da liberdade.

Em um país como o Brasil, onde socialistas e comunistas tem total liberdade para se expressar, defender suas ideologias e até mesmo formar partidos políticos, não faz absolutamente o menor sentido que fascistas — e até mesmo nazistas assumidos — sofram qualquer tipo de discriminação. Embora socialistas e comunistas se sintam moralmente superiores aos fascistas (ou a qualquer outra filosofia política ou escola de pensamento), sabemos perfeitamente que o seu senso de superioridade é fruto de uma pueril romantização universitária da sua própria ideologia. A história mostra efetivamente que o socialismo clássico e o comunismo causaram muito mais destruição do que o fascismo.

Portanto, se socialistas e comunistas tem total liberdade para se expressar, não existe a menor razão para que fascistas não usufruam dessa mesma liberdade.

É claro, nesse ponto, seremos invariavelmente confrontados por um oportuno dilema — o famoso paradoxo da intolerância, de Karl Popper. Até que ponto uma sociedade livre e tolerante deve tolerar a intolerância (inerente a ideologias totalitárias)?

As leis de propriedade privada resolveriam isso em uma sociedade livre. O mais importante a levarmos em consideração no atual contexto, no entanto — ao defender ou criticar uma determinada ideologia, filosofia ou escola de pensamento —, é entender que, seja ela qual for, ela tem o direito de existir. E todas as pessoas que a defendem tem o direito de defendê-la, da mesma maneira que todos os seus detratores tem o direito de criticá-la.

Essa é uma forte razão para jamais apoiarmos a censura. Muito pelo contrário, devemos repudiar com veemência e intransigência toda e qualquer forma de censura, especialmente a estatal.

Existem duas fortes razões para isso:

A primeira delas é a volatilidade da censura (especialmente a estatal). A censura oficial do governo, depois que é implementada, torna-se absolutamente incontrolável. Hoje, ela pode estar apontada para um grupo de pessoas cujas ideias divergem das suas. Mas amanhã, ela pode estar apontada justamente para as ideias que você defende. É fundamental, portanto, compreendermos que a censura estatal é incontrolável. Sob qualquer ponto de vista, é muito mais vantajoso que exista uma vasta pluralidade de ideias conflitantes na sociedade competindo entre si, do que o estado decidir que ideias podem ser difundidas ou não.

Além do mais, libertários e anarcocapitalistas não podem nunca esperar qualquer tipo de simpatia por parte das autoridades governamentais. Para o estado, seria infinitamente mais prático e vantajoso criminalizar o libertarianismo e o anarcocapitalismo — sob a alegação de que são filosofias perigosas difundidas por extremistas radicais que ameaçam o estado democrático de direito — do que o fascismo ou qualquer outra ideologia centralizada em governos burocráticos e onipotentes. Portanto, defender a censura, especialmente a estatal, representa sempre um perigo para o próprio indivíduo, que mais cedo ou mais tarde poderá ver a censura oficial do sistema se voltar contra ele.

Outra razão pela qual libertários jamais devem defender a censura, é porque — ao contrário dos estatistas — não é coerente que defensores da liberdade se comportem como se o estado fosse o seu papai e o governo fosse a sua mamãe. Não devemos terceirizar nossas próprias responsabilidades, tampouco devemos nos comportar como adultos infantilizados. Assumimos a responsabilidade de combater todas as ideologias e filosofias que agridem a liberdade e os seres humanos. Não procuramos políticos ou burocratas para executar essa tarefa por nós.

Portanto, se você ver um fascista sendo censurado nas redes sociais ou em qualquer outro lugar, assuma suas dores. Sinta-se compelido a defendê-lo, mostre aos seus detratores que ele tem todo direito de se expressar, como qualquer pessoa. Você não tem obrigação de concordar com ele ou apreciar as ideias que ele defende. Mas silenciar arbitrariamente qualquer pessoa não é uma pauta que honra a liberdade.

Se você não gosta de estado, planejamento central, burocracia, impostos, tarifas, políticas coletivistas, nacionalistas e desenvolvimentistas, mostre com argumentos coesos e convincentes porque a liberdade e o livre mercado são superiores a todos esses conceitos. Mas repudie a censura com intransigência e mordacidade.

Em primeiro lugar, porque você aprecia e defende a liberdade de expressão para todas as pessoas. E em segundo lugar, por entender perfeitamente que — se a censura eventualmente se tornar uma política de estado vigente entre a sociedade — é mais provável que ela atinja primeiro os defensores da liberdade do que os defensores do estado.

Machismo

Muitos elementos do comportamento masculino que hoje são atacados com virulência e considerados machistas pelo movimento progressista são na verdade manifestações naturais intrínsecas ao homem, que nossos avôs cultivaram ao longo de suas vidas sem serem recriminados por isso. Com a ascensão do feminismo, do progressismo e a eventual problematização do sexo masculino, o antagonismo militante dos principais líderes da revolução sexual da contracultura passou a naturalmente condenar todos os atributos genuinamente masculinos, por considerá-los símbolos de opressão e dominação social.

Apesar do Brasil ser uma sociedade liberal ultra-progressista, onde o estado protege mais as mulheres do que as crianças — afinal, a cada semana novas leis são implementadas concedendo inúmeros privilégios e benefícios às mulheres, aos quais elas jamais teriam direito em uma sociedade genuinamente machista e patriarcal —, a esquerda política persiste em tentar difundir a fantasia da opressão masculina e o mito de que vivemos em uma sociedade machista e patriarcal.

Como sempre, a realidade mostra um cenário muito diferente daquilo que é pregado pela militância da terra da fantasia. O Brasil atual não tem absolutamente nada de machista ou patriarcal. No Brasil, mulheres podem votar, podem ocupar posições de poder e autoridade tanto na esfera pública quanto em companhias privadas, podem se candidatar a cargos políticos, podem ser vereadoras, deputadas, governadoras, podem ser proprietárias do próprio negócio, podem se divorciar, podem dirigir, podem comprar armas, podem andar de biquíni nas praias, podem usar saias extremamente curtas, podem ver programas de televisão sobre sexo voltados única e exclusivamente para o público feminino, podem se casar com outras mulheres, podem ser promíscuas, podem consumir bebidas alcoólicas ao ponto da embriaguez, e podem fazer praticamente tudo aquilo que elas desejarem. No Brasil do século XXI, as mulheres são genuinamente livres para fazer as próprias escolhas em praticamente todos os aspectos de suas vidas. O que mostra efetivamente que a tal opressão do patriarcado não existe.

O liberalismo social extremo do qual as mulheres usufruem no Brasil atual — e que poderíamos estender a toda a sociedade contemporânea ocidental — é suficiente para desmantelar completamente a fábula feminista da sociedade patriarcal machista e opressora, que existe única e exclusivamente no mundinho de fantasias ideológicas da esquerda progressista.

Tão importante quanto, é fundamental compreender que nenhum homem é obrigado a levar o feminismo a sério ou considerá-lo um movimento social e político legítimo. Para um homem, ser considerado machista ou até mesmo assumir-se como um não deveria ser um problema. O progressismo e o feminismo — com o seu nefasto hábito de demonizar os homens, bem como todos os elementos inerentes ao comportamento e a cultura masculina — é que são o verdadeiro problema, conforme tentam modificar o homem para transformá-lo em algo que ele não é nem deveria ser: uma criatura dócil, passiva e submissa, que é comandada por ideologias hostis e antinaturais, que não respeitam a hierarquia de uma ordem social milenar e condições inerentes à própria natureza humana. Com o seu hábito de tentar modificar tudo através de leis e decretos, o feminismo e o progressismo mostram efetivamente que o seu real objetivo é criminalizar a masculinidade.

A verdade é que — usufruindo de um nível elevado de liberdades — não existe praticamente nada que a mulher brasileira do século XXI não possa fazer. Adicionalmente, o governo dá as mulheres uma quantidade tão avassaladora de vantagens, privilégios e benefícios, que está ficando cada vez mais difícil para elas encontrarem razões válidas para reclamarem da vida. Se o projeto de lei que pretende fornecer um auxílio mensal de mil e duzentos reais para mães solteiras for aprovado pelo senado, muitas mulheres que tem filhos não precisarão nem mesmo trabalhar para ter sustento. E tantas outras procurarão engravidar, para ter direito a receber uma mesada mensal do governo até o seu filho completar a maioridade.

O que a militância colorida da terra da fantasia convenientemente ignora — pois a realidade nunca corresponde ao seu conto de fadas ideológico — é que o mundo de uma forma geral continua sendo muito mais implacável com os homens do que é com as mulheres. No Brasil, a esmagadora maioria dos suicídios é praticada por homens, a maioria das vítimas de homicídio são homens e de cada quatro moradores de rua, três são homens. Mas é evidente que uma sociedade liberal ultra-progressista não se importa com os homens, pois ela não é influenciada por fatos concretos ou pela realidade. Seu objetivo é simplesmente atender as disposições de uma agenda ideológica, não importa quão divorciadas da realidade elas são.

O nível exacerbado de liberdades sociais e privilégios governamentais dos quais as mulheres brasileiras usufruem é suficiente para destruir a fantasiosa fábula da sociedade machista, opressora e patriarcal. Se as mulheres brasileiras não estão felizes, a culpa definitivamente não é dos homens. Se a vasta profusão de liberdades, privilégios e benefícios da sociedade ocidental não as deixa plenamente saciadas e satisfeitas, elas podem sempre mudar de ares e tentar uma vida mais abnegada e espartana em países como Irã, Paquistão ou Afeganistão. Quem sabe assim elas não se sentirão melhores e mais realizadas?

Homofobia

Quando falamos em homofobia, entramos em uma categoria muito parecida com a do racismo: o direito de discriminação é totalmente válido. Absolutamente ninguém deve ser obrigado a aceitar homossexuais ou considerar o homossexualismo como algo normal. Sendo cristão, não existe nem sequer a mais vaga possibilidade de que algum dia eu venha a aceitar o homossexualismo como algo natural. O homossexualismo se qualifica como um grave desvio de conduta e um pecado contra o Criador.

A Bíblia proíbe terminantemente conduta sexual imoral, o que — além do homossexualismo — inclui adultério, fornicação, incesto e bestialidade, entre outras formas igualmente pérfidas de degradação.

Segue abaixo três passagens bíblicas que proíbem terminantemente a conduta homossexual:

“Não te deitarás com um homem como se deita com uma mulher. Isso é abominável!” (Levítico 18:22 — King James Atualizada)

“Se um homem se deitar com outro homem, como se deita com mulher, ambos terão praticado abominação; certamente serão mortos; o seu sangue estará sobre eles.” (Levítico 20:13 — João Ferreira de Almeida Atualizada)

“O quê! Não sabeis que os injustos não herdarão o reino de Deus? Não sejais desencaminhados. Nem fornicadores, nem idólatras, nem adúlteros, nem homens mantidos para propósitos desnaturais, nem homens que se deitam com homens, nem ladrões, nem gananciosos, nem beberrões, nem injuriadores, nem extorsores herdarão o reino de Deus.” (1 Coríntios 6:9,10 —Tradução do Novo Mundo das Escrituras Sagradas com Referências)

Se você não é religioso, pode simplesmente levar em consideração o argumento do respeito pela ordem natural. A ordem natural é incondicional e incisiva com relação a uma questão: o complemento de tudo o que existe é o seu oposto, não o seu igual. O complemento do dia é a noite, o complemento da luz é a escuridão, o complemento da água, que é líquida, é a terra, que é sólida. E como sabemos o complemento do macho — de sua respectiva espécie — é a fêmea.

Portanto, o complemento do homem, o macho da espécie humana, é naturalmente a mulher, a fêmea da espécie humana. Um homem e uma mulher podem naturalmente se reproduzir, porque são um complemento biológico natural. Por outro lado, um homem e outro homem são incapazes de se reproduzir, assim como uma mulher e outra mulher.

Infelizmente, o mundo atual está longe de aceitar como plenamente estabelecida a ordem natural pelo simples fato dela existir, visto que tentam subvertê-la a qualquer custo, não importa o malabarismo intelectual que tenham que fazer para justificar os seus pontos de vista distorcidos e antinaturais. A libertinagem irrefreável e a imoralidade bestial do mundo contemporâneo pós-moderno não reconhecem nenhum tipo de limite. Quem tenta restabelecer princípios morais salutares é imediatamente considerado um vilão retrógrado e repressivo, sendo ativamente demonizado pela militância do hedonismo, da luxúria e da licenciosidade desenfreada e sem limites.

Definitivamente, fazer a apologia da moralidade, do autocontrole e do autodomínio não faz nenhum sucesso na Sodoma e Gomorra global dos dias atuais. O que faz sucesso é lacração, devassidão, promiscuidade e prazeres carnais vazios. O famoso escritor e filósofo francês Albert Camus expressou uma verdade contundente quando disse: “Uma só frase lhe bastará para definir o homem moderno — fornicava e lia jornais”.

Qualquer indivíduo tem o direito inalienável de discriminar ativamente homossexuais, pelo direito que ele julgar mais pertinente no seu caso. A objeção de consciência para qualquer situação é um direito natural dos indivíduos. Há alguns anos, um caso que aconteceu nos Estados Unidos ganhou enorme repercussão internacional, quando o confeiteiro Jack Phillips se recusou a fazer um bolo de casamento para o “casal” homossexual Dave Mullins e Charlie Craig.

Uma representação dos direitos civis do estado do Colorado abriu um inquérito contra o confeiteiro, alegando que ele deveria ser obrigado a atender todos os clientes, independente da orientação sexual, raça ou crença. Preste atenção nas palavras usadas — ele deveria ser obrigado a atender.

Como se recusou bravamente a ceder, o caso foi parar invariavelmente na Suprema Corte, que decidiu por sete a dois em favor de Jack Phillips, sob a alegação de que obrigar o confeiteiro a atender o “casal” homossexual era uma violação nefasta dos seus princípios religiosos. Felizmente, esse foi um caso em que a liberdade prevaleceu sobre a tirania progressista.

Evidentemente, homossexuais não devem ser agredidos, ofendidos, internados em clínicas contra a sua vontade, nem devem ser constrangidos em suas liberdades pelo fato de serem homossexuais. O que eles precisam entender é que a liberdade é uma via de mão dupla. Eles podem ter liberdade para adotar a conduta que desejarem e fazer o que quiserem (contanto que não agridam ninguém), mas da mesma forma, é fundamental respeitar e preservar a liberdade de terceiros que desejam rejeitá-los pacificamente, pelo motivo que for.

Afinal, ninguém tem a menor obrigação de aceitá-los, atendê-los ou sequer pensar que uma união estável entre duas pessoas do mesmo sexo — incapaz de gerar descendentes, e, portanto, antinatural — deva ser considerado um matrimônio de verdade. Absolutamente nenhuma pessoa, ideia, movimento, crença ou ideologia usufrui de plena unanimidade no mundo. Por que o homossexualismo deveria ter tal privilégio?

Homossexuais não são portadores de uma verdade definitiva, absoluta e indiscutível, que está acima da humanidade. São seres humanos comuns que — na melhor das hipóteses —, levam um estilo de vida que pode ser considerado “alternativo”, e absolutamente ninguém tem a obrigação de considerar esse estilo de vida normal ou aceitável. A única obrigação das pessoas é não interferir, e isso não implica uma obrigação em aceitar.

Discriminar homossexuais (assim como pessoas de qualquer outro grupo, raça, religião, nacionalidade ou etnia) é um direito natural por parte de todos aqueles que desejam exercer esse direito. E isso nem o direito positivo nem a militância progressista poderão algum dia alterar ou subverter. O direito natural e a inclinação inerente dos seres humanos em atender às suas próprias disposições é simplesmente imutável e faz parte do seu conjunto de necessidades.

Conclusão

A militância progressista é absurdamente autoritária, e todas as suas estratégias e disposições ideológicas mostram que ela está em uma guerra permanente contra a ordem natural, contra a liberdade e principalmente contra o homem branco, cristão, conservador e tradicionalista — possivelmente, aquilo que ela mais odeia e despreza.

Nós não podemos, no entanto, ceder ou dar espaço para a agenda progressista, tampouco pensar em considerar como sendo normais todas as pautas abusivas e tirânicas que a militância pretende estabelecer como sendo perfeitamente razoáveis e aceitáveis, quer a sociedade aceite isso ou não. Afinal, conforme formos cedendo, o progressismo tirânico e totalitário tende a ganhar cada vez mais espaço.

Quanto mais espaço o progressismo conquistar, mais corroída será a liberdade e mais impulso ganhará o totalitarismo. Com isso, a cultura do cancelamento vai acabar com carreiras, profissões e com o sustento de muitas pessoas, pelo simples fato de que elas discordam das pautas universitárias da moda.

A história mostra perfeitamente que quanto mais liberdade uma sociedade tem, mais progresso ela atinge. Por outro lado, quanto mais autoritária ela for, mais retrocessos ela sofrerá. O autoritarismo se combate com liberdade, desafiando as pautas de todos aqueles que persistem em implementar a tirania na sociedade. O politicamente correto é o nazismo dos costumes, que pretende subverter a moral através de uma cultura de vigilância policial despótica e autoritária, para que toda a sociedade seja subjugada pela agenda totalitária progressista.

Pois quanto a nós, precisamos continuar travando o bom combate em nome da liberdade. E isso inclui reconhecer que ideologias, hábitos e costumes de que não gostamos tem o direito de existir e até mesmo de serem defendidos.

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

June 2018. Shanghai.

Cruising down the Shanghai East-West Expressway, riding shotgun in my friend’s BMW M3. The car is silly Americana. Captain America decals adorn the exterior, while the interior is Iron Man red and gold. Several large stuffed animals crowd the back seat — Peppa Pig, Winnie the Pooh (both inexplicable, irreverent quasi anti-government memes in China). All the while, Black Panther and Darth Vader bobbleheads nod along atop the dashboard. For many in China, and Shanghai particularly, personal vehicles are the medium for coded expressions that would be too garish or sensitive if made more publicly.

https://i.nostrimg.com/f29c7dde5549edc1eed5a5223a60b40605bd1c622b6bab747b13a5b7fa598d44/file.jpeg (Pictured: The ideal yuppie bachelor car in Shanghai. You may not like it but this is what peak achievement looks like.)

Outside a hazy, spring night fog colors the city like something out of a Simon Stålenhag painting. The neon-lit Bladerunner tetris set of Shanghai office complexes blurs by just beyond the tinted glass as we cut lanes at speed. Kids See Ghosts blasts loudly on the sound system. We hit the Julu Road (巨鹿路) junction, where the city’s two main expressways meet in a loping tangle of concrete and asphalt. And like clockwork, all connections go out — cell, bluetooth, radio — the car goes silent.

This always happens at this spot. I ask my friend about this. He thinks the police are running a high-end signal jammer at this location to prevent people from flying drones over the junction - which he learned at the cost of one of his own high-end DJI models...Perhaps triggered by the state’s technical show of force, a serious change comes over him for a moment. He glances over, "It's all bullshit, you know," pointing up to the dark sky beyond the windshield, "They have to keep the lights on. They have to convince us that the control everything. If they fail, we will just eat them." “Let the ducks roast,” he says to himself after a contemplative pause, his eyes trailing off into the far distance.

But moment passes quickly. A few moments after we pass through the junction, all signals and service reappear, stronger than before. Kid Cudi’s blaring “I feel freeeeeeeeeeeeee” bursts onto the car’s speakers at full volume. Political talk ceases and the entire thing immediately becomes a long forgotten memory.

In any case, it’s Friday. The bars are open, the clubs are calling, and we’re coming in HOT. That’s what matters. Today was a good day in Shanghai.

---

An Introduction to Life On Mars

Where to start? Folks in the US who have only known me as a bitcoiner often ask, “But how could you live in China?” I always chuckle at this question. Not least because its usually almost visibility dipping with the asker's absurd and exaggerated fantasies about China as a cartoonish 1984-style brutalist dystopia. That said, it is a question that I have given much thought to myself, especially now as a bitcoiner with all the many ways bitcoin has changed my views on things.

And this brings me to a series of far deeper questions — What is authoritarianism, really? Can it ever be benevolent? And how does one become attenuated to it to such an extent as to no longer notice it, if they ever noticed it at all?

https://i.nostrimg.com/2182fd6d38b9eeee65d0400b2659a5be500508cb6ccec34717d2e0a2e19ae878/file.jpeg (What people picture when they ask me about China)

https://i.nostrimg.com/0b565a702191eca5e37a769d80197f9644d61e968315dbfc76f96b660af750a0/file.jpg (This is the same location as the picture above. Today, most days the reality is more like this)

The best way to explore this is to just answer the very first question directly. I very much could live in China because it was RAAAD. I had a great time there and I enjoyed almost every minute of it. In many entirely non-dystopian ways being there was like living in the future or a vision of what it might be like if we (the US) hadn’t forgotten how to have nice things — High-speed rail available at every street corner! Bristling skyscrapers erected in mere days! Wifi bandwidth so cheap and abundant it jumps right out of the stream straight into your frying pan! Gold nuggets for everyone! Everything, now with 30% MORE BEEF!

The thing is, my life in China was good. At that time, the cold, collectivist CCP machinery was fully invested in delivering a jubilee of comforts and diversions to even the relative urban “haves.” Additionally, I came to China as a very well educated, very well paid American with an existing foundation in Mandarin, shuttled in under the wide auspices of a deeply connected global consulting firm. With such well-earned badges of globalist statism, I was afforded a ticket to freely mingle with China’s largely Western-educated, upwardly-mobile urban economic elite. In fact, this was a thing that was rather encouraged…

All this being the case, it is no surprise that I had such a “good” experience. It was always supposed to be that way. Irrespective of the deeper reality, nothing was ever actually supposed to feel authoritarian for me during my time in China. These conditions similarly held true for my particular class of Chinese friends (except that there were certain cultural obligations and political allegiances that it was understood could be called up in full at any moments’ notice).

As an African American, I must admit that in more than a few ways it was possible for me to feel much freer in China than in the United States. I certainly didn’t ever have to worry about being shot in the back by some speed-freak neighborhood watchman or unhinged police officer. And I slowly adjusted to not having to keep my head on a swivel if I heard loud popping sounds in a mall or crowded venue.

No, the Chinese police never bothered me. No, no shadowy state security agents ever interrogated me for my “suspicious” Americanism. No, women didn’t clutch their purse when I walked by (in the States I’ve had this happen midday, while I was wearing full business attire…). People were either ambivalent or genuinely curious to speak with me. In essence, I experienced the joys of simply being left alone by the system. Something like what I image most White Americans experience in the US. So reader, you might already know this, but I can confirm, it was GREAT!

https://i.nostrimg.com/cbdee50436016ab0554830b97b07c72510305752efce8ce6b28c42d7bb5dd1e1/file.jpeg (NGL, China had me out here feeling like this for a hot minute)

---

Super-Capitalism Is That You?

And beyond my direct personal experience, there were other observations that may seem counterintuitive. For instance, at street level, there was a kind of vivacious, raw free market-ism unlike anything you can find in the West. An ever changing flurry of ramshackle stalls and street vendors. Don’t like the sweet cherries this shop has or the owner has a bad attitude? Then leave! There’s literally 7 other sellers of the same thing on this block alone. And it was like that for most food and daily household consumer products. I could observe market price discovery for goods fluctuating daily, in real-time, sometimes even by the hour.

When I lived above a particularly boisterous commercial street I once saw someone lease a storefront for six days, fill it with heavy traditional Chinese household furniture which I was told “had gotten lost from the factory.” They blew through the inventory starting with signs advertising 20% off on day one, which progressed to 95% off in their final 12 hours of operation. They sold everything so thoroughly that I suspect they probably even sold some stuff that didn’t belong to them like the fixtures that were already in the space when they moved in.

And then, not even two weeks later, 11 days later, the exact same location was reopened as a hotpot restaurant — everything, and I mean everything, had been redone, the floors, the walls, the installation of restaurant equipment, everything. The food was delicious, but I struggled to believe that the health or fire safety inspector had approved any of it, nor that they had real permits for anything they were doing.

Were there laws and regulations on the books ostensibly to control such wildcat commercial activity? Sure, but 天高皇帝远 heaven is high and the emperor is far away, as they say. Now understand that, at street level at least, this was happening everywhere across a city of 26 million people, and then again everywhere across a country of 1.4 billion people.

https://i.nostrimg.com/bf516da1ba165f3a4d1a0694345980e43516d381b002b4e81aac49d7fdae8b6f/file.jpg (Chinese street vendors: a nigh uncontrollable wild force)

By all indications, both felt and seen, people appeared to be fully free to do business and make money while wading in the warm waters of technological modernity. Perhaps they didn’t talk about politics, but that hardly seemed to matter and no one really seemed to care.

It was easy for me to come away feeling that China was a nation of laws rather than enforcement. Maoist austerity might be signaled outwardly but inside its an open, high-octane laissez-faire free-for-all. Conversely, my own cultural history in the US suggested a place of enforcement over law. Signaling egalitarian and meritocratic piety but running on an engine of apartheid justice system, state asset forfeiture, imminent domain, and mass poisoning from Iran-Contra to Seed Oils and OxyContin.

Irrespective of the deeper reality, nothing was ever actually supposed to feel authoritarian for me during my time in China.

So what of it then? Am I here to suggest that China is some Garden of Earthly Delights while Western ideals are a brazen sham? Not so, not so. Rather, my experience brings the realization that in an authoritarian system, it all depends on who you are. And further, that such divisions are central to the maintenance of authoritarian power. I find deep relevance in this, particularly in enabling us to more fully recognize authoritarianism wherever it exists — in China, in the US, or anywhere else. Let me share another story to illustrate.

---

September 2018. Xinjiang Provence.

https://i.nostrimg.com/808dc51f3c58a37443539992c47448192cc7d05830212268e9279dae7ae7213d/file.jpg

Kashgar, Xinjiang Province. Dust and white heat. I am on a corporate boondoggle in the desert. A plus-one at a rival consulting firm’s Greater China Summit. Like Neo-liberal Wise Men, we galavant around on silk-laden camel-back, we visit the Potemkin village to congratulate ourselves on how well the local ethnics are living, we enjoy a Khan’s Kurultai of exotic roasted meats, red carpets in the sands, Oxbridge 30-under-30 Bedouins on the dunes — you could all but see the Harkonnen spice harvesters out in the distance…

https://i.nostrimg.com/41f41910466f29fd00461a0eb6014853f2af7e4bae8417b7b3068bd18213991a/file.jpg

And the whole time, we are all participating in a collective act of not-seeing the obvious police state all around us. Heavy roll gates, tire spikes, ID checks, mirrored undercarriage sweeps, and vehicle searches for the locals at every nexus of critical infrastructure — gas stations, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers. High-tech police convoys, armed foot patrols, and absurdities like bamboo-thin teenage paramilitary security guards in loose-fitting fatigues and fake Yeezys disinterestedly half-watching the public square while scrolling TikTok (called Douyin 抖音 there) on counterfeit iPhones behind their riot shields.

https://i.nostrimg.com/0af34ab4f7e3fb423ded79a2ebfab4d315d7dcba0a1b42bec19300549eaaedac/file.jpg

Out on the sands, I overhear a firm partner, a Westerner, marveling at the scale of the event wondering at what location could outdo this next year. I interject to suggest Pyongyang. He is not amused, but I certainly am. Later, just when I’m thinking I might be the only one noticing any of this, a tall Indian firm partner, a man built like rugby player, sensing that I was a company outsider (and therefor could potentially give honest answers) asks me what I think of “all of this” in a tone that immediately betrays his meaning.

“In China, I assume that wherever you can most see and feel the hand, is wherever the grip is also most tenuous,” I say. He nods in furrowed-browed approval and we leave it at that. A few months later, perhaps, the New York Times would chronicle this wild corporate exhibitionism in an absolute tear-down piece deeply critical of that firm’s (and all consulting firms) aiding and abetting of authoritarian regimes around the world...

https://i.nostrimg.com/15e19c76f0772161c1617359bcd123051840a5180bd1afe93e9737d308311156/file.jpg

In any case, the lamb roast is firing up and the evening’s next round of festivities are about begin. That’s what matters. Today was a good day in Kashgar

---

⚠️TRADE OFFER⚠️

This is how the machine works. Nothing is free. There was a near explicit trade being made. Those of us from the favored classes would ignore overhanded oppression of the disfavored out-groups and the sharper appendages of machine would ignore us in return.

https://i.nostrimg.com/a09827c69a55f04f8471abd3d4994615e7da59e07abb19f6868adae254081ba7/file.jpg

Nestled snuggly in the pleasure garden of this CCP-approved social, economic, and educational elitism, wealthy Chinese and visiting Western globalists are supposed to come away believing that what others decry as harsh authoritarianism is in fact, quite benevolent, benign, enjoyable even. From there, it requires only the tiniest of logical jumps for them to assume that their experience is most representative of the greater whole in China, because surely this must be so, right?

From such a vantage then, it becomes all befuddled monocle popping, trembly-handed tea spilling, and frazzled, indigent top-hat ruffling while looking out on any dissenting and oppressed people and wondering “Why are they so loud?”

Incentivized by the plush velour “benefits of membership” in Chinese statism, it is easy to come to view protesting voices, those struggling for justice and freedom, as dunce-hat complainers, salty haters, red-faced and tear-strewn Wojaks, or simply spiteful, back-bitting losers whose problems with the system would evaporate in short order if they just learned to follow the rules, better themselves, and fix their aberrant cultures...

And well done then! This is what the authoritarian system wants, fundamentally NEEDS— to estrange you, through a compromise of comforts, from moral rightness and to replace that with the false rightness of naked self-interest on one hand, and the threat to absolute violence on the other. O, what machines we have made!

In China, those close enough to the system to experience it as a warm embrace rather than an icy dagger are supposed to understand that it is the Uyghurs struggling against mass detention and cultural erasure who are in the wrong. Similarly, for those thusly appointed in the US, it is supposed to be all but self-evident that the same goes for African Americans struggling against mass incarceration and open-air summary executions by uniformed agents of the state.

To the authoritarian all such trouble-making peoples need to be corralled, controlled, and if required, crushed — but in the short run, they need your help to do it. It will always be done in the name of some manner of “social harmony” their doublespeak for the ossification of the status quo and the authoritarian’s power along with it.

In this world, the in-group, the favored classes, whoever they may be, by whatever lines such distinctions are drawn — class, race, sex, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation — are led to believe they are safe as the authoritarian’s well-loved and much needed allies. But in the end, in the long run, it is the biggest rugpull of all. In such a system, all are Santiago’s sheep, to be meat for the slaughter in times of need.

So how does it feel, Western Anon? What people does our system eat to ensure that you may be comfortably overfed?

And so we become attenuated to such things in so much as we are benefiting from them. Or least, we believe that we are benefiting from them. In our age of the hungry ghost nation-state, it is so very easy to look past the true nature of the thing, or even to buy into it and to project it, when it is not YOU being targeted.

But understand. This is no benevolence. That you are not being targeted — for now, today — is an active, calculated, and entirely self-interested decision on the part of the authoritarian power structure. It is nothing that can be counted on. And whether you realize it or not, it is a decision that is reassessed at every interaction. If nothing else, the pandemic has shown us all this in the starkest relief.

https://i.nostrimg.com/6749febaeb20f102847e5867ad439fa96659bc33d21a795489b40b9baee755e2/file.jpg

If you are allowed to persist in a state where you may believe that all is well, that the thing is benevolent and here to help you, it is only because it is more useful to the animal for you to remain asleep. Understand this, and ask your self — why?

And what is authoritarianism then? Fundamentally, I’ve come to understand authoritarianism as something like the grand political end-point of force. The might-equals-right heuristic at civilization scale. It is the ever-present implicit threat that going against some Big Man’s arbitrary diktat will result in violence, be its physical, economic, social or otherwise, being levied against you to bring you to heel. It is that mindless power which flows from the barrel of a gun…when you have the gun and others do not. It is the system of rulers unbounded from rules.

---

What We Must Fight

As bitcoiners, this is what we fight. In all its forms, wherever it exists. We must recognize that ALL authoritarian systems and their operators, irrespective of any apparent, surface level ideological conflicts, are in fact like brothers, arms interlocked, in the maintenance of global authoritarianism itself. The principle struggle of the new century is the people against their own governments the world over, rather than the peoples of one nation or group against those of another nation or group. Though do not put it past our current political helmsmen (and women!) to try to steer us all in that dismal direction as a means for distraction that serves their self-preservation.

Bitcoin provides a potentially very powerful tool to the people in this epochal struggle. Bitcoin enshrines a new self-evident and inalienable right — the right of every individual to be an economic actor on a fair monetary protocol. At scale, this moderates the state’s capacity to perpetrate financial violence against both the individual and the collective. With bitcoin, no one is illegal. The protocol imposes no requirements and demands no allegiances, all may transact freely, always.

Value, once obtained in bitcoin, if held securely, cannot be seized. Nor can it be stolen through the occult dark arts of currency debasement. With bitcoin the individual is empowered — able to passively opt out of a predatory financial system, able to move their wealth across borders without restriction, able to actively resist an unjust government free from the threat of total definancialization — and all are welcome.

But bitcoin is just a tool, and just one of many. Fundamentally, the people are the movement and the movement is the change. We must never forget this. We must be both active and steadfast in building the futures we want to live in. Bitcoin is just a tool, but if we use it, perhaps we can one day have freedom — without anyone's authoritarian "characteristics" this time, but perhaps still with 30% more beef.

~Moon

As always thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! In case you missed them, be sure to check out Journey Into Bitcoin 01, 02, and 03. Always more to come soon!

Follow me on twitter: Michaelyouknow

Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here are a few top notch recommendations that to me are related to elements in this piece.

Music: Something In The Way of Things (In Town), The Roots; Bulls on Parade, Rage Against the Machine; Who Will Survive in America, Kanye West

Movies: Four Hours in My Lai (1989)

Readings: City of Silence, Ma Boyang; Guantánamo’s Darkest Secret, The New Yorker

Use The Tools

Liberate your education:

libgen.is — Most books today exist on the internet, for free

Archive Today — Information wants to be free. Too much of it today sits behind absurdly extractive paywalls. (Bitcoin lightning payments can resolve this for both content users and producers)

Liberate you food: The Beef Initiative — Trade real, honest money for real, honest food

Liberate your security: DEFCAD— May you never need them but always know what tools are there

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

October 2013. New York City.

Visiting. I am shopping downtown and my card is declined. I try it again. DECLINED. I find an ATM around the corner. DECLINED. I call the bank’s fraud department. They say they can’t help me. I find the nearest branch. They say they can’t help me.

Puzzled, I think hard — I had just deposited a sizable check (signing bonus from the consulting firm that would be my post-MBA employer) into my account…could this be the issue? I hop on the subway for the long slog up to Morningside Heights, to return to the branch where I made the deposit the day before. Arriving at the branch, where yesterday they happily received my check, I am now greeted with suspicion and hostility.

“Thank you for your loyalty and congratulations on your new job” was replaced with an interrogation by the branch Asst. Mgr. — “Why did you have the check?,” “ How did you get the check?,” “Who gave you the check?…” After about 20 minutes of this, they tell me that my check is“bad.” And because of this, the money will not deposited and my account will be frozen until further notice. No further explanation is given. My protests are ignored.

At 5pm, the Asst. Mgr. goes on her 1-hour “lunch break” and I’m told that the branch manager, who I can see playing on in his phone through the glass walls of his office, is “in very important meetings” for the rest of the day. The branch closes at 6pm.

I am forced to leave, dejected and confused, the situation wholly unresolved. I have traveled cross-country to New York City to deposit my signing bonus only to find myself stranded in the Metropolis, completely cut off from my finances, and all but directly accused of check fraud by my bank.

Thank goodness I was raised to I always travel with a bit cash…

---

Gatekeeping Is An Act Of Love

I did not have a term for it then, other than perhaps wacky-mustache cartoon villainy on the part of the bank. However, I now understand that what I experienced in that moment in 2013 was definancialization.

The bank, being the omnipotent gatekeeper standing between me and my money, decided to demonstrate that it was not, actually, my money. Rather, insomuch as it was in their custody, it was their money that they just let me believe was mine for the sake of some vague social convenience.

https://i.nostrimg.com/7317a37b9682c425b9d151675cf2999cbda50a841e5f56fd13586739f361e20b/file.jpg

Without an iota of exaggeration, this bank had, literally, a direct record of every single relevant financial datapoint on my person. I am certain that there was no better body of data indicating the near statistical impossibility of me attempting check fraud than the bank’s own customer file on me — a 3LA case file couldn't have done better...

Further, this being the location serving the Columbia University community, customers showing up with large checks from marque consulting firms was undoubtedly both commonplace and frequent. And yet, for reasons unknown, I was interrogated and had my account frozen, including money completely unrelated to the check deposit. To this day, as far as I can tell, this was all because someone, somewhere inside the bank decided that they didn’t believe that I could or should have a check of such as amount from such a company.

https://i.nostrimg.com/4b080c135288e7dfc34429f93cc9699c81fa4ca02948ac2bf0602366384abbb7/file.jpg

Things were ultimately resolved the next day. But only after I showed up at opening and sat outside of the branch manager’s office for several hours. Once it was clear that I wasn't going anywhere they finally, begrudgingly decided to take a second look at my situation.

It was around the same time that an inexplicable attitudinal reversal swept though the branch and it was back to all smiles and “Thank you for your loyalty…” My account was unfrozen. They even fast tracked the entire check amount into my account, on a Friday afternoon no less — something they previously said would take 7+ business days. It was all just damage control.

I assume this was because they got internal word back that my check, was, in fact, real — making their little interrogation game woefully unnecessary, if not outright discriminatory. And because a cursory glance at my customer file suggested that I might be just the type of person with the professional reach and savvy to pursue some type of legal/media action in response. Simply put, it now behooved them to play nice.

During this entire saga, it was their schizophrenic whiplashing of behaviors that I found most bizarre and offensive. They were the Judge, Jury, and Enforcer over my finances. They had the latitude to behave with impunity — and they knew it. There was, of course, never any recognition from that bank that something objectively wrong, deeply strange, or even just wildly inconvenient had happened. I was simply left to wonder, “Why?”

https://i.nostrimg.com/c850ae09b942775a2eab07d3883005bdda2402a363633f134497ac01610fc58f/file.jpg

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A Slow Burning Thing

Understandably, the experience left me with a deep mistrust of banks that was both specific and personal — as opposed to the general African American cultural-historical mistrust, or the popular, populist Occupy/99%/MAGA zeitgeist mistrust of the day — though it certainly helped with both of those too.

Stranded in the metropolis, completely cut off from my primary finances — all but directly accused of check fraud by my bank.

I felt that I was completely trapped. The most I could do was change banks, simply swapping one capricious Bridge Troll for another. I saw no alternatives, and so I believed there were none.

Instead, this experience marked the opening act of what I now look back on as a long, headfirst slide into financial nihilism. At the time, I was operating under the naive and Talented 10th and elitist belief that my education and corporate credentials would shield me for these kinds of “misunderstandings.” Not so, not so.

With this illusion shattered, my shock and anger manifested as a period of high-octane, consumerist mania. If access to my money rested on the benevolent grace of the bank, I was better off converting it into things that could not be so easily taken or withheld — clothes, meals, travel, experiences, collectables,— and so I did. I spent money just to prove that I could — as though it would somehow cause harm to the vain gods of retail banking who had wronged me.

https://i.nostrimg.com/787fe778cad4e400129745ed907db57a328ba8e8da2ec32b693284264acf6fbe/file.webp (BEHOLD! Blowing several thousand dollars on clothes to prove that “no one could tell me what to do with MY money!” That said, I was FLY AF at business school that Fall...)

My desire to save in the banking system took a massive hit. Over time, this morphed into lazy ambivalence, if not total disregard, for the habit altogether. Rather than extinguishing debts, or building up savings, I would go on to burn through the entirety of my bonus and almost all of my excess income during my years in consulting with absolute gusto.

https://i.nostrimg.com/ed2a117e9338301fdba38bbb0c84aa26540175ec74a6da738d05bb16355073d4/file.jpg

Widening the scope, there were certainly other contributing factors to the chaotic state of my finances in the years that followed — gambling, chief among them (but those are stories to be explored later). Regardless, this was a pivotal moment in hardening a destructive “IDGAF” / “nothing matters” approach to personal cash management that would stay with me for a long time.

---

Missing Bitcoin

Reflecting back, this was easily my biggest “bitcoin miss” — a situation where present bitcoiners imagine how fabulously wealthy we might be if we had just understood bitcoin back then. Bitcoin certainly did exist in October 2013. In fact, it was sitting around 200 USD per coin and would hit 1000 USD a month later.

But alas, I had not even heard about bitcoin yet. And even if I had, my reaction to my bank’s malfeasance probably would have been aping into bitcoin on Mt Gox only to be obliterated by an even more devastating loss when that exchange collapsed in February of 2014. Truly, I shudder to think what that might have done to my psyche at the time.

So I “missed” bitcoin and my financial disillusionment would continue on. And It wasn’t just the situation with the bank, it was everything. Even long after I had shaken off my initial rage at being temporarily unbanked, I still chose not save. Though I couldn’t fully articulate it, I felt the act of saving to be pointless in the face of the ever-ascending price tags of the trappings of “responsible” Boomerist adulthood.

Homeownership, a “respectable” (re: large and expensive) wedding ceremony, and the cost of raising even one child through to college all seemed laughable financial fantasies to me — even if, on my earnings, this should not have necessarily been the case. Once I had accepted these things as impossible, my mind made them real…

And while there are plenty of criticisms that can be lobbed my way — after all, my personal financial mismanagement during this time was just that, personal— the recognition of personal responsibility does not erase the truth about the regressive behavioral incentives that our present distorted money system imposes on people.

Such is the nature of financial nihilism — why should I sacrifice to save or plan for things that I did not believe were achievable? I could see myself living the carefree, mobile, and high-cashflow consulting lifestyle perpetually in the now but I could not see how even that would afford any type of stable, rooted future afterwards. In that state, living high on the hog, nestled snuggly in rented comforts, was the end unto itself.

https://i.nostrimg.com/15b36a2297e115d9863e4263d5973e6ac7db349a5c01131b20b7e8cc713142a0/file.webp

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How's Your Trading Going, King?

For many American Millennials, adult life has been an endless mad scramble to surf the Kali Yuga as the world careens from one mind-melting and testicle/ovary-shattering calamity to the next. 9/11, Byzantine wars in the desert, financial collapse, The Great Recession, global pandemic—each of these events obliterating whatever meager economic gains we might have made in the interim.

https://i.nostrimg.com/737258af9667eedd9faf8b3dd1eb3a029aa76aaf84373e1b131272a7d79eebfb/file.jpg

And, of course, the answer to each of these “once in a century” events has been to create ever more money to keep the music going. In parallel, every cash-rich Boomer with two brain cells, a generous pension, and the assurance of comfortable social security has raced to the exits to get out of dollars and into stocks and real-estate. Layer on an explosion of loose credit and a self-referential flywheel emerges — and it becomes easy, convenient actually, to believe that these two asset classes “alway go up.”

Such has been the experience of Millennials, Gen Z, and anyone counting themselves in the dwindling middle class — from 2002–2022 median home price has increased from 182,000 USD to over 450,000 USD, while median salary has only increased from 42,000 USD to 54,000 USD during the same period. Being the people, who as a group, command the lowest income and own the least homes or corporate equities, we have been forced to sit by, watching in numb, glass-eyed stupor as this asset inflation — and now just regular ol’ price inflation — rockets ever-skywards.

For those lacking the excess capital for property and stock investments, this dynamic is a regressive tax that favors immediate consumption to maximize declining purchasing power over savings, resulting in extreme financial fragility. And for those fortunate enough to afford significant investments, they are still incentivized to chase evermore speculative investments (which are often just toxic malinvestments themselves) and/or to join an increasingly parasitic rentier class just to beat inflation.

This is how FOMOing into objectively absurd “stonks” like Peloton or Zoom gets to be hailed as “making your money work for you!” How extractive landlordism (i.e. allocating newly created money to yourself via preferential loans, using that money to collectively drive up home prices, and then turning around to bleed rents out of the very people for whom your previous actions have made homeownership cost-prohibitive) becomes lauded as “F.I.R.E — Financial Independence, Retire Early!” And why blowing all your income on Cheesecake Factory, vape pens, and vacationing Tulum on credit is cool because of that one time Drake said “You Only Live Once!”

Despite whatever appearances to the contrary may be, people, generally speaking, are not stupid. Most people simply react to incentives. Many “irrational” human social behaviors are, at least minimally rational responses to irrational or perverse incentives — it is Charlie Munger’s “If you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes” at scale.

Though I couldn’t fully articulate it, I felt the act of saving to be pointless…

Given this, we should all understand that our society’s present fetish towards speculation, rent-seeking, and over-consumption on debt are the more rational choices when money — the money that most of us have to work for — can be freely and infinitely created out of thin air and saving is perpetually debased. If the only expected return on the activity of saving is reduced future purchasing power, it should be no wonder that so few in our society engage in it. Perversely, in most cases today, one would have to be "stupid" to save...

https://i.nostrimg.com/8f266ac8fd7b13dd5888a3a85984f670ce9f29aca834199f9efba8ee6cd39352/file.webp

And note, I do not mean to disparage stock or property investment as a rule. There is a role for them in any healthy economy. However that role is certainly not to be a proxy for stable money. Yet this is how both are presently being leveraged in our economy, our society, and in our minds.

The rush into housing and stocks is simply a function of people seeking to trade infinite fiat or things that they believe are more scarce or will generate returns. This creates an artificial “monetary premium” in these assets — a portion of price existing only because the asset is being used as a substitute for money. And this momentary premium has now become wholly confused with the “real value” of the asset just as “saving” and “investment” have taken on interchangeable meaning for the average person.

Consider now if technological advancements enabled a new, truly scarce, infinitely divisible, uninflatable, permissionless global money to emerge organically from zero…

Eventually the very same people running up home prices and stock valuations would realize that there is no shortage of land and housing can always be build upwards, that stocks can always be diluted, and that control over either can be rescinded by decree — as we learned from Robinhood/Gamestop and renter (but not mortgage) forgiveness in 2021. And when this realization does happen, if such a new truly scarce, infinitely divisible, uninflatable, permissionless global money does exist, that is where they will turn…

---

The Long Way Home

In all, I would take 8 long years before I finally came to a deeper understanding of bitcoin — the meantime was spent floating through the hazy morass of working extremely hard and making “good” money but never really getting ahead. At absolute best I was treading water and at worse I was just sinking more slowly than some of those with whom I might be compared…Understanding bitcoin has completely changed all of this for me. Bitcoin fixes this.

First, bitcoin makes definancialization much more difficult. Gone is the worry that the bank, because I violate someone’s preconceived notions of who should or should not not have money, would be successful in an endeavor to cut me off from access to / control over my stored wealth. Bitcoin, unlike money in the bank, or even homes & property, cannot be seized or frozen by writ by a hostile actor — whether company or state or fellow man.

Second, bitcoin restores the act and objective of saving. As a saver, bitcoin allows me to project wealth into the future with full confidence against debasement. I can rest assured that any amount of bitcoin I own will always be x/21,000,000 of whatever total value humanity has decided to store in bitcoin. Shielded from the grift of monetary manipulation, I am freed to think and act longer term and I am unbound from pressures to speculate, gamble, rent-seek or worse, simply to avoid falling behind.

Finally, bitcoin provides a deep wellspring of renewed hope for the future. Grand or utopian as it may sound, I can certainly say that the statement rings true for myself and many other bitcoiners I know. Its not that bitcoin magically solves all of our problems, rather it is that bitcoin demands a fundamental change in worldview. Once we are freed to store wealth securely for the future, we come to a fuller realization that it is the more fragile things in life, the things that get discounted by the demands of the fiat rat race — family, community, relationships, reputation, ethics, stewardship, truth — are most important. Buttressed by the benefits that bitcoin provides, we feel energized to set about pursuing, building, repairing, and protecting these things. And we can more easily see that most other things simply don’t actually matter.

They say that bitcoin passes you twice. First as a party boat, then as a lifeboat.

https://i.nostrimg.com/e94a68ddf9338b829a7390086d73ec3b5b4b7a313fb3a932a15a79dd06926609/file.webp

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A Fire In The Master's House Is Set

Finally, in closing, I’d like to provide the real life, stunning conclusion of what happened with the bank, or at least the branch, from my story.

A few months later, I received a middle of the night call from a lawyer friend in New York with whom I had discussed the situation. I pick up the line and the first words out of his mouth are “Where are you right now?” Once I assured him that I was not in New York, nor had I been in months, he shares — I shit you not — “That branch. Where you had that problem. Well, it all but BURNED TO THE GROUND...”

https://i.nostrimg.com/52d0421791887f8b6ecabecd9caf0fca1715e64bfd8aa5d0ac9feabc6b60a8d6/file.jpg

In fact, it was a 6-alarm fire, of some still apparently unexplained origin, that raged for nearly 30 hours, gutting the building completely from top to bottom. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries and the fire didn’t cause any major damage to the adjacent apartments or businesses. But man, what a way to go out! I feel like there’s a lesson in here somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you what it is...

https://i.nostrimg.com/4200d23b9494f7402f5e974bee3ee16bc90d095744bb181abfd36c52e4898366/file.jpg

In case you missed them, be sure to check out Journey Into Bitcoin 01 and 02. As always thank you for your time to read and engage. More on the way!

Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here are a few top notch recommendations that, to me, relate to elements in this piece.

Books: The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho; The Fiat Standard, Saifedean Ammous

Music: Liberation, Outkast; Poetic Justice, Kendrick Lamar; New Millennium Homes, Rage Against The Machine

USE THE TOOLS: I believe that every person with exposure to bitcoin should have a fundamental minimum skillset that includes the ability to manage 1) self-custody and 2) buying/selling bitcoin permissionlessly. Here are some helpful resources:

Robosats: P2P bitcoin exchange using Lightning over TOR (pro-tip, use gift cards as your method of exchange for maximum privacy)

Bisq: P2P bitcoin exchange over TOR desktop app

A Final Though

It is dangerous and naive to assume that centralized exchanges and banks will always be there to allow retail users to buy and sell bitcoin. If and as the prevailing government-corporate power structure feels threatened by bitcoin, this may change.

Governments may shut down or seize bitcoin from centralized exchanges, and banks may block consumer transactions that they believe are related to bitcoin under the guise of “consumer protection.”.

Bitcoin is often a tool that you don’t know you need, UNTIL YOU NEED IT. But when you do need it, you REALLY need it and you better hope you can get your hand on some. The same can be doubly said for holding bitcoin in self-custody and knowing how to buy/sell bitcoin permissionlessly. USE THE TOOLS.

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

December 2017. Shanghai.

It is mid-December 2017. In Shanghai. And I have just fallen victim to a crypto rug-pull scam.

A few days prior, I had been recruited into an “enthusiasts” WeChat group (WeChat is China’s premier social app, think FB + IG + CashApp, all in one, and then in Mandarin) for a Chinese crypto token. A friendly-faced Laowai (China’s half endearing, half slur for foreigners, particularly, white foreigners) had approached me at Cages Bar — a uniquely Chinese oddity of a place, a sprawling “American Sports” themed bar complex and a haunt for lost Westerners of all sorts — to share the good news.

This new friend, managed to sell me that this token would be the Honest-to-God FUTURE of supply-chain traceability. And what luck! Through meeting him, I was to join a group of favored insiders, privy to pre-market information on this earth-shaking new technology. Even luckier was that I was joining this group mere days before the project’s “biggest announcement ever” which was sure to send prices “to the moon.” It all sounded so very exciting!

Fast forward three days. The announcement has just dropped, token prices are moving quickly and parabolically to the upside across exchanges. Except for Binance. Where all of us in the group had our tokens. Inexplicably, Binance goes down at the EXACT moment when this news is released — “Due to recent increase in user growth, Binance will be preforming a system upgrade shortly after 2017/12/18 10:00 AM (UTC).

The upgrade will take approximately 20 minute” their message reads. Simultaneously, on another exchange, a whale (massive token holder, capable of single-handedly moving the market) liquidates several million dollars worth of tokens. By the time Binance is up and running again, the token is on a similarly parabolic price collapse. Never to recover.

I can confidently say that it is by such magic, one may turn several thousand dollars into several tens of dollars in mere days, or perhaps even just minutes!

Welcome to Shanghai! Welcome to Crypto!…I guess…

---

The School of Rug-pull Fundamentals

Here, I received a foundational lesson in the mechanism of “crypto." Specifically, rug-pull scam 101 - by which nefarious but convincing crypto marketeers target technologically ignorant retail “investors” to be the exit liquidity for the project founders and earliest backers.

The WeChat “enthusiast” group I had joined was nothing but a pump and dump shop. The group members, rather than being privileged insiders were full-on dupes - serving as both free marketing hype and the exit dumping ground for the project founders. Peer-pressure, social proof, and faux camaraderie were applied by the truckload to induce us to promote the token and to bring in others, yet when the time came, we all found ourselves locked out of the party by forces seemingly far above and well beyond our comprehension. And this is when the real insiders exited.

https://i.nostrimg.com/a91530006a6070b14fcc935e4c88db7640f27b92df86e5f7ad1b015978265d06/file.jpg

However, on that brisk Shanghai winter evening in 2017, I knew none of this. I was the worst, or rather the best kind of mark — the kind with enough broad educational and professional achievements as to be very self-assured in their own intelligence while also being completely oblivious to their area-specific ignorance and inexperience - particularly on this "new" technology, called "the blockchain."

That I was possessing of such qualifications should surprise no one who has ever worked with management consultants. At the time, I was one — bright-eyed and bushy tailed, newly minted on a full-time international assignment to China. In reality though, the depth of the information asymmetry arrayed against me in this situation was tantamount to me having negative information while fully believing that I was some kind of anointed insider. What fun!

So how did I get here? Well...

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Borderless

I landed in Shanghai in January of 2017, a stranger in a strange land. My arrival in Shanghai uncovered an interesting problem. A few months in, I realized that all of my money was sitting in RMB, in a Chinese bank account, yet I still had financial obligations in the United States, dominated in USD, along with a fast-dwindling USD account balance to support these obligations...

It was at this time that I discovered that the process to transfer money outside of China was arcane - requiring at least two months of planning, several trips to the Chinese tax authority, reams of paperwork, AND support from an internationally accredited employer. In short, a bureaucratic dog-and-pony show replete with unnecessary but entirely purposeful friction and obfuscation. But such is the squarely anti-free market Great Game of big-power nation capital controls.

It was this problem that spurred my first contact with bitcoin. I was searching for the best and most efficient way to transfer money to myself across borders. This eventually brought me to various articles and YouTube videos about bitcoin. From there, I got a Coinbase account (which worked in the China at the time), linked my bank account, and figured out LocalBitcoins - through which I could buy bitcoin peer-to-peer in RMB, and then transfer that bitcoin back into USD.

FUN FACT: While bitcoin had already been “banned” by the Chinese government several times by 2017, it was still legal to trade p2p. Also the largest RMB-for-bitcoin sellers on LocalBitcoins all appeared to be Africans. And I mean to the tune of thousands of bitcoin moved volumes. It would seem that perhaps large Chinese bitcoin holders may have been using Africans as plausible deniability frontmen to move in and out of large sums of bitcoin over Chinese social payment rails. The More You Know!

https://i.nostrimg.com/d97d6f67fb3db44d0fd38cc36059156c2cf7f07ea3de3fbec3902b9741c2603e/file.jpg

And just like that, I managed to Forrest Gump my way right into one of the most relevant, important, revolutionary — and in the West, overlooked — use cases for bitcoin - making money borderless, facilitating international value transfer in a way that completely obviates the rent-seeking artifice of arbitrary financial controls. But for all of that, I still couldn't see it. I was happy with what bitcoin did for me in that moment, but I failed to see any larger implications - I thought of it a novel, but certainly not anything ground-breaking. Further, my trust in the system was still too strong - believing on some deep level that the banks, both Chinese and US, truly wanted to help me but where beholden to cumbersome processes and regulations imposed on them from above.

Even in this very first exposure to bitcoin, it addressed a real and pressing problem for me and dramatically improved freedom of access and utility of my money - allowing me to transfer money back my USD bank account on-demand. I had a problem. Bitcoin fixed it. And all of the villagers rejoiced! …Or they would have if that had been the end of it. But as fate would have it, my first brush with bitcoin also coincided with the breakout of the wild 2017 bitcoin & crypto bull market run.

Initially, I just bought a bit of bitcoin to solve a problem and thought little of it. But when the bitcoin price started to take off (aka Number Go Up, or “NgU” in internet parlance), I had to take another look. But this time, I would be caught in the balmy, Icarian up-currents of tech speculation and good old fashioned get-rich-quick greed. But, me — I was in it for the technology, of course...

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All My New Friends

And so, I began to research bitcoin and then "crypto" more deeply. In so doing, I “learned” that while bitcoin was “the father of all cryptos,” it was actually “old” technology. Bitcoin was slow, environmentally wasteful, limited in capability, and destined to be overtaken by newer, “better,” cryptocurrency technologies such as Ethereum or XRP. Knowing no better, I accepted these silly falsehoods, convincing myself that bitcoin’s core value was simply its tenure. Being more established, bitcoin was just a marginally less volatile asset in a sea of horrendously volatile, and otherwise interchangeable, crypto tokens.

But there was opportunity here too, I sensed. The real innovation in the space, I believed, would ultimately be led by other projects. That being the case, my incentive then was to “study the space and place calculated bets" (an MBA euphemism for wild-eyed speculation). Why hold onto Bitcoin’s AOL, when Ethereum is clearly going to be crypto’s Google? With any new technology, the first mover is always overtaken by a more innovative copy-cat, right?? RIGHT???

Moreover, I was desperately in need of Western friends. And knowing I’d find them in droves wherever there was speculative money to be had, I dived headlong into the Shanghai “crypto scene.” On the standard “Hero’s Journey” this is where a mysterious but benevolent, Gandalf-like mentor would have appeared to shepherd me through the peaks, valleys, and pitfalls of this new space. Obviously, this is not what happened. Instead, over freeium beers in the vaunted Millennial Chic common areas of so many Shanghai WeWork offices, I would meet some of the most colorful characters of my time in China...

A whip-smart but spectacularly sketchy Baltic fellow of significant, though indeterminate means who argued that any blockchain project that managed to successfully prevent supply chain malfeasance who see the project founders dismembered by some Eastern European mafia. Only half-jokingly, he suggested, at his direction.

A Middle Eastern “precious metals trader” who I later ascertained was probably more akin to a conflict minerals smuggler looking to use excitement and ignorance around “traceability on the blockchain” to wash his wares.

A South Asian “crypto-entrepreneur” who claimed to have a method, leveraging "blockchain technology," to swap large sums of physically delivered Chinese cash (think suitcases full of red bills) into infrastructure investment projects in Myanmar.

Several personally modest but obviously wealthy South American scions riding out political instability in their home countries while funneling money into ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings - crypto's answer to IPOs) with reckless abandon.

An American who shared, unsolicited, his pre-China 3LA (Three Letter Agency) background at first meeting, though I suspect he may have been telling a dangerous and stupid lie.

An obvious sex-kompromat honey-pot Chinese couple who described themselves as “crypto-observes” and who were, at a minimum, actually gathering intelligence for something. Fit and flirty in a way suggestive of some kind of open-door polyamory, and a little too fluent in English. Seemingly at every event and always hugged up onto any Westerner that seemed to be gaining influence in the space.

And finally the long tail of Moonboys (idiot gamblers who fashion themselves tech/investment mavens), minor conmen, “cross-border currency arbitrage” consultants, LBH (Loser Back Home) English teachers, broke college students, and an ever shifting menagerie of hypemen-simps riding the coattails of Shanghai's laowai crypto-influencer of the week.

It was in this fast-moving and footloose “Anything goes and we’re all gunna get rich AF!” environment that the December supply-chain token “opportunity” appeared to me. And of course, dazzled by fantasies of instant and meteoric crypto wealth, I went for it and I got burned right along with all the other Lambo-chasing chumps.

I was the worst, or rather the best kind of mark — the kind with enough broad educational and professional achievements as to be very self-assured in their own intelligence while also being completely oblivious to their area-specific ignorance and inexperience.

But in retrospect it could have been far worse. I could have put more money into the rug-pull or it could have been a straight-up wallet draining scam. And while I still had miles to go and years of learning ahead of me before fully eschewing “shitcoining” (the act of buying non-bitcoin crypto tokens in a state of deeply degenerative and highly speculative mania), this experience did, thankfully, give me the frame of reference to avoid further, similar insider malfeasance going forward…for the most part...

https://i.nostrimg.com/4e999806bd57e4e57c710234b2970597cb8aec37c9b5afa57d175e6e5bbc0c8e/file.jpg

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Do Cryptos Dream of Electric Stupidity?

The silver lining here was that the speculative extremes and clearly questionable mental acuity of some of my new “crypto friends” gave me pause and cautioned me to anchor, relatively speaking anyways, to rationality and search for truth, as my consultant training so demanded. Though, I cannot in say good faith that this was intended in an entirely ethical or altruistic way at the time... After all, the fundamental role of a management consultant is to understand the truth more deeply than others so that you may choose when to best reveal or obscure it for social, political, and or economic gain — especially when you've assessed that you significantly outclass those around you intellectually.

That said, being an American (and so legally barred for participating in many ICOs) and a rare résumé on the scene, I came to be viewed - hilariously - as something of “the adult in the room,” to some. I would even eventually even sit down with a few founders to advise on their well-intentioned but deeply flawed and over-engineered crypto projects...

As I rode the 2017 bull-market wave up and then back down again (and where greed intervened to prevent me from selling the top, or even at a relative top), my perspective on the space matured.

Why couldn’t anyone articulate what actual, real-world problem their project was solving?

Why were so many projects’ assumptions around token usage (and therefore value) based on artificial needs that the project protocol itself created, or worse, inexplicably bizarre misunderstandings of incentive-driven human behavior?

Even the most lucid and well-presented project I encountered was still predicated on several other paradigm shattering technologies coming to the fore. They may as well have ended their pitch with “And as you can see here — when SkyNet, teleportation, Replicator, and Lightsaber technology all reach ubiquitous global scale (and we project this happening by Q3 2021 ± 3 mo) our protocol will be poised to capture MAXIMUM value, etc etc…”

The entire space came to resemble an unironically earnest masterclass in absurdity. Because that is, ultimately, what it was. And so, I developed expertise in tearing crypto white papers apart over their gibbering technical Esperanto and nonsense logic, ideally, in front of as many people as possible.

I made no attempt to hide my annoyance at every new project’s “graphic salad” or “Flying Spaghetti Monster” tech stack representation, alway a meaningless clownshow of sleek-designed neon-pastel toned boxes, cylinders, arrows, and lines indicating some much "obvious value."

https://i.nostrimg.com/89115440530a88c59e8358e3f8fbf95369f0e1490591455a2565da0f55d43606/file.jpg

I came to regard every crypto project as, at absolute best, a solution looking for a problem. A viewpoint that still holds to this day. No “cryptocurrency expert” I’ve spoken with, no matter how well-educated or well-meaning, has ever been able to articulate to me how a given “blockchain” solution solves any real (non-speculative, non-gambling, non-financial crimes based) problem better than existing solutions, imperfect as those may be.

Anything goes and we’re all gunna get rich AF!

But most of all, I was perturbed because we had very much not gone “to the moon.” If anything, my crypto holdings seemed to be, boldly, charting a path for the Marianas Trench, perhaps an equally ambitious though categorically different feat.

This disillusionment with “crypto” though healthy in retrospect, unfortunately also spawned an apathy towards bitcoin, what would ultimately become a long pause that significantly slowed my bitcoin understanding.

If there was any mentor in this situation, it was the market itself, all cruel vagaries, malicious intent, and so many rows of glistening, blood-stained teeth. As the long 2018–2019 crypto winter set in, defeated and financially depleted, I, like so many others, assumed (rightly) that crypto was a scam and (wrongly) that bitcoin was “dead.” I resolved myself to let go of all expectations so that I might be pleasantly surprised if the bitcoin price ever, for some unfathomable reason, did recover.

How could I have known how many unfathomable things would transpire both in the world and in my own life by the time that this would actually come to pass…

比特币死了！比特币万岁！(Bitcoin is dead! Long live Bitcoin!)

Thanks so much for reading Part 02 of my story! I look forward to any comments or feedback, it brightens my day and inspires me to keep writing! And in case you missed it, you can read Journey Into Bitcoin 01 here.

---

Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here are a few top notch recommendations that to me are related to elements in this piece.

Music: Can’t Con an Honest John, The Streets; Dip, Young Fathers; Everything Is Recorded, Everything Is Recorded

Movies: No Man’s Land (2013), Shang-Chi (2021), The Message (2009)

If you’re ever in Shanghai: Sober Company (fine dining, 4 bars concepts at venue, 1 is hidden), Speak Low (Shanghai’s original speakeasy), The Odd Couple (East Meets West Pac-Man Bar)

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

April 2021. Honolulu.

It is early evening now. In a few minutes, the sun will set over Ala Moana beach, a short distance west of where I am. My apartment, on the 11th floor, overlooks the Ala Wai canal at the corner of McCully — always traffic, always sound. My balcony’s sliding doors and jalousie windows are open, a salty breeze filters in as the low sun casts a golden glow over the south face of the Ko’olau Mountains in the distance and the city of Honolulu in the fore.

But for me, in this moment...I am hunched over my laptop, intently focused on the open brokerage page in front of me. I press “Confirm,” instantly selling all of the stock in my personal investment account. When the money clears into my bank account, I convert it all into bitcoin and then move it into cold storage.

Today, I have become a bitcoiner.

---

Origins

This was my personal “Bitcoin Moment.” The moment when I realized that, even with the most conservative outlook, there is basically no other “investment” that I could make that will deliver anything close to the returns I expect from bitcoin over the next 20–30+ years. Embracing this understanding, this was my moment of stepping over the threshold, remorselessly going "all-in." Selling off assets (stock) that almost everyone — from my most educated and accomplished friends, to my mother, to the random Spring Breaker from Jacksonville stumbling down the Waikiki strip — would (and at different points, did) tell me to hold, in order to increase exposure to bitcoin - which they felt was unacceptably risky, if not an outright scam.

Today, my views have evolved even further from that moment. I no longer think of bitcoin as an investment, because bitcoin is not an investment. Bitcoin is money. Full stop. And therefore, the act of holding bitcoin is saving. I no longer think in terms of USD returns on bitcoin, as this implies an intention to sell. Instead, I now think in terms of value capture, purchasing power per satoshi (the smallest unit of a bitcoin — as there are 100 pennies to a dollar, there are 100M satoshis to 1 bitcoin). In my present view, that dollars, or euros, or yuan — all of which are functionally infinite — can be traded for bitcoin, which is absolutely finite, is simply a lucky quirk of happenstance. The great fortunate of randomly coming into an understanding of bitcoin at time when the market misunderstanding of this new money is still so gross that anyone would willingly part with bitcoin in exchange for government currency.

But let me not get ahead of myself. My present bullishness on bitcoin is not what's important here — my feelings about bitcoin will be examined in stride throughout the writings to come. Rather, what I am interested in here is the journey, “how the heck did I arrive at my 'Bitcoin Moment' in the first place?”

This is the question that has captured my mind and now inspires me to write, to examine my own long and meandering path to "becoming a bitcoiner." For instance, I mark my bitcoiner awakening as April 2021 — but then again, maybe that’s not entirely right — did I actually become a bitcoiner in that moment, or had I already been one in many core ways (perhaps even in ways that I did not realize) and I just came to the discovery of this pre-existing personal truth? Was it an act of becoming OR, rather an act of committing to being a bitcoiner? And then what does it even mean, to be a bitcoiner? Is this even an appropriate question to ask?

I no longer think of bitcoin as an investment, I think of it as savings

Attempting to answer, or at a minimum, engage with, these questions has kicked off an experiment of deep introspection, an exercise of peeling back the onion, and untangling the thread of my own life up to this point. It has required self-reflection on foundational lessons from childhood, deconstruction of habits of mind from my education and upbringing, examinations of professional experiences and group associations, questions of identity, specifically being an African American in a global world, insights from far-flung travel both abroad and here at home (the US), and rumination on so many near misses — when I could have “gotten” bitcoin much earlier had it existed then or had my views on things been juuust so slightly different.

---

Clubhouse Bitcoining

While not the starting point of my engagement with bitcoin, I can say unequivocally that catching ‘The Clubhouse Moment” from Jan 2021 onward, was a particularly formative experience.

For future reader's Clubhouse is/was a VoIP group chat mobile app. A literal chat room, seemingly bringing the entire internet full circle from text-only chat rooms of the dial-up AOL days. Clubhouse launched in the deepest point of the US COVID pandemic/hysteria an scaled an break-neck speed, filling the wailing void of lost human interaction in everyone's totally collapsed and locked-down social lives.

Through Clubhouse, I was able to first observe, then engage with, and finally join one of the most varied, talented, resourceful, deeply interesting, and utterly strange groups of people I’ve ever had the great fortune to associate with — bitcoiners. Intelligent to the point of wild arrogance, studied to the point of oddness, traveled to the point of weird suspicion, insightful to the point of deep disquiet, convicted to the point of cultish religiosity, accomplished to the point of well-warranted disbelief, honest to the point of seeming bizarre, edge to the point of being fringe.

I do not mean any of the above as harsh criticism or insult, in fact quite the opposite. On the 9-box Alignment System chart, bitcoiners are the Chaotic Column...and usually the “Chaotic Good”. If there were a Bitcoiner’s Mantra, it would be something like “Do no harm…unless they deserve it.” With bitcoiners you find a paradoxical union of unique, even freakish individual strangeness, with equally strange (as compared to “normal society” or "normieland" as we say), yet broadly shared positive ethical standards that makes distributed, and even anonymous, trust possible between counterparties — both economically and, increasingly, socially. In all, I’d assess that everyone I’ve encountered who really “gets” bitcoin is 3–5 standard deviations out from the norm on some characteristic or another…again, usually, in a good way.

---

Oh, What a Time to Be Alive

To me, this is a pattern that is simply too fascinating to ignore. To have any real understanding of bitcoin today, even as bitcoin is already more than 14 years old, is incredibly strange in its own right. That so many who have acquired this still extremely niche understanding should also be so abnormal as to be outstanding suggests to me that the two may be connected in some way. I truly believe that future society will look back and deem that to have gained clear-headed understanding of bitcoin pre-mass adoption (or “hyperbitcoinization”), is to be deserving of study. I certainly believe this — right now, today. That said, having neither the means nor the general inclination to travel into the Escheresque mouth of madness that would be required of a broad psychographic study of present day bitcoiners, what I can contribute, however, is an open examination of my own story. My Journey into Bitcoin.

Every bitcoiner, like Batman or The Joker, has an “origin story.” It is such a common trope in the community that many bitcoin conferences will have a panel dedicated entirely to 4 or 5 people sharing their origin stories while simultaneously riffing new insights off of each other in real time. If you are a bitcoiner already, consider yourself very, very lucky. It doesn’t matter if you became a bitcoiner in 2010, 2017, 2021, or 10 minutes ago. We are incredibly early, and it takes an almost magical, borderline metaphysical series of events in life to have come to a grounded understanding of bitcoin where we are today. If you understand bitcoin today, you’ve been through a giant plinko game where everything had to go exactly right, to place you out on the extreme tail. This is why it is not totally unreasonable and not entirely unhinged when many bitcoiners say “bitcoin found me, not the other way around.” I, for one, absolutely feel this way.

That so many who have acquired this still extremely niche understanding should also be so abnormal as to be outstanding suggests to me that the two may be connected in some way

Bitcoiners constantly say that the most important thing one must do over the next 10–20 years is simply “hodling” (i.e. acquiring bitcoin, holding in secure self custody, and not selling). However, I believe its must more than that. If we intend to hold our bitcoin successfully over the long-term, it becomes critically important to understand how and why we each, individually, got here to be in this conversation now. Self-discovery, self-awareness, self-confidence, and the resulting self-actualization are essential input to self-sovereignty. And individual self-sovereignty is the foundation for the sovereign families and sovereign communities that we must set about creating if we want bitcoin, and far more pressingly, the very concept to individual rights and freedoms to mean anything against the very real threat of an ever-more atomized and digitally-enclosed future.

How can we build if we don’t understand, and when necessary, repair and strengthen, our own foundations?

So now, inspired but the likes of Cryptograffti and Brekkie von Bitcoin, artists who share the process of their art with BT (Bitcoin Twitter), I hope to make my exercise of writing an open experience. I look forward to comments and feedback from other bitcoiners or anyone interested enough to read and engage, bitcoiner or not. Most of all, I hope the examination of my story may inspire others to share their stories and to engage with their own self-discovery more deeply through the lens of how bitcoin, and the bitcoin community, has impacted their lives.

Thank you for making it this far, I am truly humbled. This is only the beginning. More to come soon!

---

Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here a few top notch recommendations that are on my mind. Would love to hear some of yours!

Music: Plantasy, Resavior; Esc(Holding Back), Model Man; Darling, Esbe

Books: The 7th Property, Eric Yakes; The Paper Menagerie, Ken Liu; The Alchemist, Coelho

If you’re ever in Honolulu: Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, Valley of the Temples, Tane Vegan Izakaya, The Blind Ox, Lanikai Beach

@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

差不多每天赴一座古城，中世紀古城，daytrip，日帰り，當天來回的小旅行。為每一座古城長噓短嘆驚艷不已，這是我半輩子裡，去了最多古城的一段日子，不能更過癮，不能更感慨。

如此一日復一日地逛古城，考驗腳力，更考驗腦力。營養太豐富，真真來不及消化，用力行走，用力看很多書和影像惡補自己。

這些城，查查資料，在wikipedia上，前世今生大多一頁都沒有寫滿，中文資料常常只有幾行字。靠包子查西班牙文的資料，翻譯給我一些。

古一點的，相當於我們的宋朝；近一點的，相當於我們的明朝。

Bergara，貝爾格拉，人口15000僅僅。下車往城中走，正是中午休息時間，行人寥寥。迎面過來一枚中年男，看見我，很愉快地站下來，眉飛色舞朝我說了一大段。我文盲的苦，只能微微笑過去。包子走過來，才聽明白，人家問我，你們覺得，我們足球隊裡的日本球員，久保建英，踢得好不好？

原來如此，是把我們母子當成日本人了。我們聊了幾句足球，西班牙北方的巴斯克人最熱愛的運動之一。英超二十支球隊，裡面倒有三個主教練是巴斯克人，根據去年的資料。

巴斯克人的真誠友好，幾乎是舉世聞名的，包子說選擇此地居住，這個也是很重要的原因。某年夏天，他走朝聖之路，路過Bilbao，看見地鐵裡，上來一輛嬰兒車，人人伸手幫忙的樣子，一下子印象深刻得不得了。這些天我們在古城內外晃，也看到老人搭車沒有零錢，馬上有老阿姨挺身而出幫忙買車票請老人安心坐車。

一家心理醫生

當年的科學院

修道院的門

回來講Bergara。

走十分鐘，到古城中心，然後就寸步難行了，一步一景，壯麗得脖子都酸了，舉著手機長噓短嘆啊啊啊，城中教堂的大鐘敲得噹噹的。

此地有一座至今美好的科學院，電燈泡裡用到的鎢絲，是此地的科學家發現的。

一座至今活著的修道院，十五世紀的，沉靜穩重，芬芳如夏日玫瑰。灰衣白巾的修女嬤嬤，於烈日裡飄過。西班牙一些女孩子，受到好的教育，至今是通過修道院系統。

看完古城中心，我們爬一點山坡，半山腰上古樹參天的園子裡，躺下來，體會「人閒桂花落」以及「鳥鳴山更幽」。

很奇怪，常常在歐洲的景致裡，想起唐詩和宋詞。

如此小城，海報水平很高，商標水平很高。

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

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nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exqenjvf4x5ervd33qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823cdqaveh
nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exqenjvfcxscnqd3nqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823czmjr4k
nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exqenjv33xqunjwphqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823c0ggymy
nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exq6nxdfkxv6rqdp5qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823c42u6cr
nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exq6nxdfexqerzdejqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823cawzeyh
nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exq6nxd3j8qmnywfcqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823cp6dd24

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

abandon ability able about above absent absorb abstract absurd abuse access accident account accuse achieve acid acoustic acquire across act action actor actress actual adapt add addict address adjust admit adult advance advice aerobic affair afford afraid again age agent agree ahead aim air airport aisle alarm album alcohol alert alien all alley allow almost alone alpha already also alter always amateur amazing among amount amused analyst anchor ancient anger angle angry animal ankle announce annual another answer antenna antique anxiety any apart apology appear apple approve april arch arctic area arena argue arm armed armor army around arrange arrest arrive arrow art artefact artist artwork ask aspect assault asset assist assume asthma athlete atom attack attend attitude attract auction audit august aunt author auto autumn average avocado avoid awake aware away awesome awful awkward axis baby bachelor bacon badge bag balance balcony ball bamboo banana banner bar barely bargain 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wonder wood wool word work world worry worth wrap wreck wrestle wrist write wrong yard year yellow you young youth zebra zero zone zoo

@ 000003a2:e3b014e6

NDK noob question.

I'm trying to keep an indefinite subscription on the server side.

The issue here is that, slowly after receiving an eose, I'm being disconnected from the relay pool (pool stats show 0 connected relays).

Tried reconnecting on pool relay:disconnect (using ndk.connect() and ndk.pool.connect()) but it doesn't seem to be working.

Kinda running out of ideas on what's causing this. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding/missing something? Any tips on what I should look at/what to debug to find the issue?

Sharing the code below.

create ndk instance

const ndk = new NDK({ explicitRelayUrls: EXPLICIT_RELAYS, cacheAdapter: redisAdapter }); connect to relays ndk.connect(2100) .then(() => { console.log(`Connected to relays`); }); create subscription subscribe({ kinds: [1, 30023], '#t': [Config.HASHTAG], since: Date.now() / 1000 - 45 * 60, }, { closeOnEose: false, cacheUsage: NDKSubscriptionCacheUsage.PARALLEL, groupable: false});

subscribe function

``` const subscribe = ( filter: NDKFilter, opts: NDKSubscriptionOptions ) => {

const sub = ndk.subscribe(filter, opts);
sub.on('event', onEvent);
sub.on('eose', () => onEose);
sub.on('close', () => onClose);

}; ```

asknostr #ndkdevkit #nostrdevs

@ a385d9b6:744e6e94

背景：

现在是2023年7月22号，在本周四的下午由Uncommons组织了一场DAO的吐槽大会，效果火爆，大家纷纷表示有被参与的DAO白嫖过；下面是组织者之一的总结：

基本可以预定：这是我今年做过的最棒的活动。

做了两张海报，一张很杜蕾斯，一张很☯️

现场也很劲爆。对白嫖的吐槽，对机制的吐槽，对人的吐槽，甚至是对面对面的人的吐槽。

会后也很劲爆。今年第一次做活动收到很长很长的反馈，也实际影响到人的行为。 当然，已经有人私下表达对我不满。

最后一张图是暂离普朗克时给dao友们的信的节选。清迈之行让我意识到：社区的本质是人，在此基点上，有了种种行动，也知道了自己以后要骂什么行为。

可以预见，未来会得罪很多DAO和DAO友了。无所谓了，比起维护少数人的权益，我想维护少数群体的权益，DAO又何惧清道夫呢？

这是两张漂漂的海报：

另一张：

个人也对社区和白嫖的关系思考过一段时间了，从十年前志愿参与北京706青年空间，到发起北京约客联盟，发起阅读占领地铁，到发起反伪3d电影谍影重重5行动，再到2021年开始加入做区块链社区，白嫖的问题一直被提及，讨论，这次DAO吐槽大会也是熟悉的语言，熟悉的味道，大家纷纷表示自己受到了白嫖攻击，因为对这个问题有大约10多年思考体验，想对现在事实存在白嫖的区块链社区，以及被白嫖的新人说几句话；

给DAO/社区的话

那些事实存在白嫖的区块链社区/dao，如果你真的在乎刚刚加入你们的区块链/dao/web3新人，请给他/她/任何它们，最基本的保护；

首先要给新人们做好科普，要告诉新人们区块链/dao/web3，虽然自由开放，看似美好，实际上是一个蛮荒无序的世界，这个是自由开放的另一面，这个自由开放/蛮荒无序的世界里面，会有很多人给你讲他们所谓美好的愿景/理想，什么去中心化、什么开放开源、什么无需信任、什么数字未来、什么公共空间等等，但是重要的事情重复三遍，请不要相信！请不要相信！请不要相信！请相信自己独立的思考、独立的判断、独立的选择，因为这里蛮荒无序，存在可能百分之八十以上的事情，都是彻头彻尾的欺诈！

其次要给新人们科普明白，所谓的web3世界，自由远程工作的代价是百分之八十的情况下，不存在雇佣关系，并且在区块链社区/dao里面没有什么人很在乎你干了什么做了什么贡献，所谓dao/社区自由组合，开放开源，去中心化它的另一面是这里是无主之地，即使有人在乎你做了什么事情，这个人也不一定有时间精力去为你争取权益。所以重要的事情重复三遍，不要做事情！不要做事情！不要做事情！这里没有雇佣关系，想做事情，请出自于认真独立思考过的自愿！并且如果需要权益确认，请自己主张，在区块链的世界里，不会有太多人为你主张权益！

再次要给新人们科普明白，这里（区块链/web3/dao）有比较高的人身自由，但是它的另一面是灰色地带，甚至法外之地，当你想要寻求法律救济的时候，你可能发现你所在的那个就是个非法组织，所谓去中心化抗审查的另一面就是，出事了没有那个法律实体会为你负责！所以重要的事情重复三遍，不要参与！不要参与！不要参与！除非你已经想清楚！

除了科普，如果社区/dao真的想好好做的话，请设计好贡献记录机制以及DAO的司法机制，以及做好被追责的准备；

web3行业乱象：

这个行业普遍存在着乱象，比如 21 年各种项目大谈庞氏经济模型，做市商拉盘割韭菜几乎大多数项目都有，但是不一定是项目就是做市商，也可能是野生的，还有好多所谓的项目其实是老鼠盘、资金盘，这些是这个行业普遍存在的乱象，但是当然不是所有，也不是说因为都欺诈，欺诈就有理，被骗了，就应该，只是说在整个行业抗审查的共识之下，如何对进入行业的人进行保障，个人茫然无序，所以就想告诉新人一定要小心，仅此而已，本文无意为欺诈辩护。并且还认为这个行业对欺诈容忍度过高，这不是一件好事情；

给新人的话：

那些已经被和将要被dao/区块链社区/web3社区白嫖的新人们，Do your own fucking research！这句话是区块链原生文化的一部分，就是在这个世界做任何事情，做任何选择，重要的事情说三遍，请做好深入的调研！请做好深入的调研！请做好深入的调研！并且调研的过程中不要相信任何人，自己独立的思考做出选择！

这个世界的游戏规则是主权个人，自由但是没有保障！

这个世界背后的逻辑是自主自由的选择，以及选择之前对选择对象深入的调研，自己为自己负责，这个就是所谓的主权个人，如果选择之后，觉得被坑了，不愿意为之前的选择负责，这个所谓 dao 的游戏根本没法玩，因为你从做出错误选择的那一刻起，就不适合玩所谓的 dao或者区块链或者 web3；

关于副标题

新人防骗指北是后来加的，当然这个防骗、防嫖指南缺乏有效的细节，干脆就叫指北，不过新人入坑之前请真的要小心，这里是真坑~

@ 1c6b3be3:73f0ae6f

StableArtMaker est un bot innovant qui vous permet de créer des images à partir de plusieurs modèles de Stable Diffusion, Midjourney et des QR codes artistiques. Il est conçu pour être utilisé sur le réseau Nostr.

Comment ça marche ?

Le bot peut être utilisé dans le feed public ou en DM. Dans le feed public, il faut mentionner le bot et utiliser un des mots clefs documentés plus bas (exemple: nostr:npub102ca8pnhy26vh2akepgr4vleyew65nuzug5val3sycslfe0wruwqzezyfp imagine a plane). En DM, il faut simplement utiliser le mot clef.

Commandes

Voici les commandes que vous pouvez utiliser avec StableArtMaker :

• help : Affiche une aide simplifiée.
• imagine : Demande au bot de créer une image.
• upscale : Choisit l'image à agrandir parmi les 4 images proposées par Midjourney.
• qr : Demande au bot de créer un qr code artistique.
• models : Affiche les modèles stable diffusion disponibles.
• deposit : Crédite votre compte.
• balance : Affiche la balance de votre compte.

Utilisation de la commande imagine

La commande imagine peut être utilisée de trois façons en DM ou en public :

1. imagine la description de mon image : Crée une image sur le modèle standard stable diffusion. Cette commande est utilisable en mode gratuit et payant.

2. imagine modèle la description de mon image : Permet de préciser le modèle de diffusion proposée par https://sinkin.ai. Cette commande est utilisable en mode payant.

3. imagine mj la description de mon image : Génère une image à l'aide de Midjourney. Cette commande est réservée aux utilisateurs payants.

Utilisation de midjourney

L'utilisation de Midjourney est réservée aux utilisateurs payants. Son utilisation se fait en deux étapes, il faut d'abord utiliser la commande imagine mj la description de mon image. Le bot vous proposera 4 images ainsi qu'un generation id (exemple: generation id: 1135849470823780352).

Pour choisir la troisième image, il suffit de répondre au bot avec upscale 1135849470823780352 3.

Utilisation de la commande qr

La commande qr peut produire des QR codes pour des adresses Internet (URL) et n'importe quelle chaine de caractère. Les adresses Internet sont réduites automatiquement afin de produire un meilleur rendu. Plus la chaine de caractère est longue et moins le rendu sera beau.

Voici un exemple d'utilisation de la commande qr : qr https://decouvebitcoin.fr/ an orange rabit with red eyes looking at the camera, cynical, dramatic pose, intricate, highly detailed, detailed face, smooth, sharp focus, environmental light, rim light, artgerm, artstation, art by greg rutkowski, ilya kuvshinov, rossdraws, fantasy illustration

Modèle économique

Le bot dispose d'une gratuité limitée en nombre d'utilisation. Chaque génération coûte 100 satoshis. Le mode payant permet de débloquer certaines fonctionnalités décrites plus haut. Le paiement passe par lightning network.

Limitations et recommandations

Midjourney applique une politique restrictive sur l'utilisation de son service. Le prompt utilisateur peut être refusé et l'accès au service peut être restreint.

Les images générées par un modèle stable diffusion n'ont pas cette limitation cependant, les images sont hébergées par mes soins et peuvent être supprimées postérieurement. Je vous conseille de récupérer localement vos images. Gardez en tête que StableArtMaker n'est pas un service d'hébergement d'image.

StableArtMaker s'appuie sur des services de générations d'images (sinkin, gooey, midjourney) payants. La gratuité proposée est là pour vous donner une idée de la qualité des images produites. N'en abusez pas :)

Ce bot est créé avec amour par nostr:npub1r34nhc6nqswancymk452f2frgn3ypvu77h4njr67n6ppyuls4ehs44gv0h.

@ 00000001:a21169a7

Edward Weston, initially recognized as a prominent pictorialist, played a crucial role in the evolution of photographic art during the 20th century. His trajectory marked a notable transition towards a new conception of the medium, leaving behind pictorialism to become one of the leading exponents of Group f/64 and elitist photography.

A distinctive feature of Weston's work was his relentless pursuit of maximum sharpness and tonal range in his images. This aspiration was evident in all his works, from his stunning landscapes to his innovative still lifes. Herein lay his genius: the ability to capture the purest essence of his subjects with a precision and clarity hitherto considered unattainable.

Weston pioneered the technique of previsualizing the final result in photography. This involved imagining and planning the final appearance of the image even before shooting the camera. To achieve this, he developed what became known as the Zone System, a method that allowed to control and modify the brightness of an image in a very precise way.

In his photographs, Weston often decontextualized his subjects, employing neutral backgrounds to further enhance the intrinsic identity of the object. This technique led to the creation of some of his most iconic images, in which each object becomes an autonomous entity, freed from the distractions and influence of its surroundings.

In addition to his extraordinary technical ability, Weston's capacity to infuse a sense of "radiation" into his images contributed greatly to his enduring influence. Through his refined technique, Weston created images so powerful and emotive that they impressed the viewer, eliciting an emotional and visceral response.

Weston also took his vision and technique beyond his studio. On his travels to post-revolutionary Mexico, he joined a revolutionary movement and published his work in their magazine. This experience not only broadened his artistic perspective but also left an indelible mark on his corpus of work, adding a new level of depth and context to his photographic approach.

In summary, Edward Weston exemplifies the evolution of photographic art in the 20th century. His transition from pictorialism to modern and elitist photography, his constant search for sharpness and tonal range, his innovative decontextualization of objects, and his radiant technique, all contributed to his enduring legacy. His influence is felt not only in the generations of photographers who followed him, but also in anyone who appreciates the ability of photography to transform the ordinary into extraordinary.

@ aeb68848:0039d93a

This is s test note created at highlighter.

Edit: testing editing. Btw, using Kiwi and nos2x Edit2: so can be edited, cool!

Why not use some hashtags like #plebchain? I Highlighter seems to be a way to create editable messages, which nostr protocol doesn't support (I guess?)

@ 250de9b3:5b5a5cd6

Introduction:

Are you a bitcoiner self hosting your own node and other infrastructure ? If so, safeguarding infrastructure from cyber threats is paramount. Discover how CrowdSec, the collaborative cybersecurity solution, can fortify our defenses by dynamically performing intrusion detection and blocking malicious traffic and actors. CrowdSec is an open-source, community-driven intrusion detection and prevention system (IDS/IPS) that uses machine learning to detect and block malicious traffic. CrowdSec can be deployed on a variety of platforms, including Docker. If you would like to know more about CrowdSec you can find the information here. Follow this step-by-step guide to deploy CrowdSec's engine in a Docker container and build your own intrusion detection and prevention system.

Prerequisites:

1. Ubuntu/Debian Linux-based system with Docker and Docker Compose installed.
2. Basic familiarity with Docker concepts and commands.
3. Administrative access to configure the firewall.

Step 1: Setting Up the Docker Environment

Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your system:

bash docker --version docker-compose --version

If not installed, refer to the official Docker documentation for guidance here.

Step 2: Creating the CrowdSec Configuration File

Start by creating the directory structure below.

mkdir crowdsec cd crowdsec mkdir config

Create the acquis.yaml file in the config folder using a text editor of your choice (I use nano) and add the following minimal configuration:

```yaml

filenames: - /logs/auth.log - /logs/syslog - /logs/kern.log labels: type: syslog

```

The paths shown will be configured in the .yaml file below.

Step 3: Running CrowdSec Engine in a Docker Container

Deploy the CrowdSec engine in a Docker container using the docker-compose.yaml file:

```yaml

version: "3" services: crowdsec: container_name: crowdsec image: crowdsecurity/crowdsec:v1.5.2 restart: unless-stopped environment: - COLLECTIONS=crowdsecurity/sshd crowdsecurity/iptables - GID=${GID-1000} volumes: - crowdsec_config:/etc/crowdsec/ - crowdsec_data:/var/lib/crowdsec/data/ - crowdsec_log_data:/logs/ - ./config/acquis.yaml:/etc/crowdsec/acquis.yaml - /var/log/auth.log:/logs/auth.log:ro - /var/log/syslog:/logs/syslog:ro - /var/log/kern.log:/logs/kern.log:ro networks: - crowdsec ports: - 8080:8080 - 6060:6060

networks: crowdsec:

volumes: crowdsec_log_data: crowdsec_data: crowdsec_config:

```

Docker compose performs the following steps : 1. Pulls the crowdsec base image from the docker registry. 2. Creates 3 docker volumes for log data, config data and the crowdsec database. 3. It the mounts these volumes into the approprriate mount points within the container. 4. It also bind mounts the host directories which it needs to actually monitor the log files. 5. The collections which make crowdsec even more effective for this task are passed in via environment variable, along with the group id of the locally running user. 6. required ports for crodsec are exposed

Launch the CrowdSec engine in the Docker container by typing the following command in your terminal:

bash docker-compose up -d

Step 4: Installing and Configuring the Firewall Bouncer on the Docker Host

Install the firewall bouncer on your host system by adding the CrowdSec repository and then typing the following commands in the terminal:

```bash curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/crowdsec/crowdsec/script.deb.sh | sudo bash

sudo apt install crowdsec-firewall-bouncer-iptables ```

Configure the firewall : First generate your api key by typing the following commands in your terminal : bash docker exec crowdsec cscli bouncers add <name your bouncer> This will generate an api key for you which you should now store carefully because you will use it in the next step

Open the /etc/crowdsec/bouncers/crowdsec-firewall-bouncer.yaml in a text editor of your choice and make changes to the api_key line: yaml api_url: http://127.0.0.1:8080/ api_key: <your api key which you got in the last step> Run the following command in the terminal : bash sudo systemctl enable --now crowdsec-firewall-bouncer

Thats about it. You should be now protected by CrowdSec from bruteforce ssh and port scanning attacks against your node. There is a "gotcha" I would like to bring to your attention, especially if you are using docker with the ufw firewall on Ubuntu/Debian here.

I would like to point out that if you sign-up with the CrowdSec console, you get a good view of what is happening with your logs, attacks against you, alerts and the action taken by the bouncer.

Conclusion:

Empower the security of your full node with CrowdSec's engine in a Docker container, coupled with the firewall bouncer. This formidable combination will perform IDS/IPS and dynamically block malicious traffic/actors and defend against cyber threats, providing you (some) peace of mind. Dont forget that security works in layers and is never static

Bitcoin #FullNode #SelfHosting #CyberSecurity #DockerSecurity #CrowdSecEngine #FirewallProtection #CyberDefenses #DockerContainer #NetworkSecurity #IDSIPS

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

On Monday, an unidentified developer withdrew all liquidity from the BALD meme coin on the Ethereum layer-2 network, Base. Some blockchain analysts are speculating that the wallet involved may be linked to Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, who is currently under house arrest with restricted internet access.

Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran expressed his suspicion on Twitter, noting that the implicated wallet had previous involvement in the SushiSwap community. Cochran inferred that the early voting patterns in Sushi governance appeared dubious, with Bankman-Fried being the key individual behind snapshot votes during the community takeover following the departure of SushiSwap's creator, Chef Nomi.

In September 2020, Bankman-Fried had successfully salvaged funds from Uniswap, transferring them to SushiSwap. Cochran voiced his confidence that the party behind the actions was associated with Alameda, FTX, or was Bankman-Fried himself, based on conversations with former FTX members.

Several observers connected the language used by the Bald Twitter account to Bankman-Fried's own distinctive phrasing. Furthermore, on-chain activities corresponded with Bankman-Fried's court appearances and bail dates.

A Reddit-sourced investigation revealed that the BALD developer wallet had received deposits from FTX and Alameda over the span of two years and currently holds a balance of approximately 12,331 ETH, valued around $22 million at the time of the report.

Additional information surfaced on Twitter highlighting a correlation between the wallet that regularly deposited into the BALD developer's Binance wallet and a wallet involved in the substantial Terra USD depeg in the previous year. Since facing charges of conspiracy and fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice, following FTX's collapse, Bankman-Fried has been under house arrest. His legal team and the prosecution have struggled to monitor his internet use across numerous devices.

According to his bail conditions, Bankman-Fried was required to use a basic flip phone in place of a smartphone. His legal team admitted their inability to install surveillance software on his parent's phones as agreed.

In response to his alleged tampering with government witnesses, the prosecution submitted a request to revoke Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond to presiding federal judge Lewis Kaplan last week.

While a section of Crypto Twitter implicated Bankman-Fried, others acknowledged the speculative nature of these accusations. Some users, such as Sam Trabucco, co-chief executive of Alameda, were even identified as potential culprits.

The story continues to evolve, with the BALD developer adding 100 ETH back into the pool following significant social media pressure. This move caused the meme coin's value to surge more than four times over its recent low value.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated a lawsuit against Richard Schueler, an internet marketer also known as Richard Heart, accusing him of unregistered securities offerings through his projects Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX. The SEC asserts that Heart amassed over $1 billion since 2019 through these offerings.

The SEC further alleges that Heart misappropriated investor funds for his personal expenditures. Despite Heart's persistent promotion of his projects as vehicles for substantial financial growth, with audacious claims such as Hex being engineered to be "the most rapidly appreciating asset in human history," the SEC argues that these ventures were, in fact, utilized to finance Heart's extravagant lifestyle without appropriate disclosure to investors.

Despite a turbulent launch marked by high fees, liquidity problems, and software vulnerabilities, PulseX and PulseChain were introduced earlier this month. Following their introduction, the prices of the associated HEX, PLS, and PLSX tokens experienced a significant downturn. The SEC further accuses Heart of recurrent references to federal securities laws in his public communications, such as YouTube livestreams, while concurrently admitting that the success of his projects hinged entirely on his personal efforts.

The SEC's lawsuit also mentions Heart's ambitious assertions about Hex's potential for investment return. For instance, Heart announced on Hex.com (until at least November 1, 2020) that Hex was projected to exceed the performance of ETH, which saw a 10,000x price increase in 2.5 years, and that Hex had already experienced a 115x price rise in 129 days. Furthermore, Heart asserted during a seven-hour YouTube livestream on December 2, 2019, mere hours before the Hex Offering began, that Hex was created to outperform Ethereum, Bitcoin, and all other cryptocurrencies.

The lawsuit levels accusations of fraud and securities registration violations against Heart and his projects.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

El celular de Daysuris Vásquez, exesposa de Nicolás Petro, bajo arresto desde el sábado por un escándalo de corrupción que ya salpica a varios políticos nacionales vinculados a su padre, el presidente Gustavo Petro, es la principal fuente de evidencias contra el acusado.

De acuerdo con un reporte de la revista colombiana Semana, el dispositivo se convirtió en una prueba contundente contra Nicolás Petro, pues su esposa registró en él desde intercambios de mensajería hasta audios y videos que podrían convertirse en pruebas durante el proceso.

El teléfono habría estado en manos de la Fiscalía de Colombia durante más de dos meses, después que las denuncias de la mujer dieran inicio al escándalo.

Según Semana, "en el aparato está el rastro de todo lo que hizo Nicolás Petro por lo menos durante 2021, 2022 y parte de 2023. Su exesposa guardó con sigilo la prueba y hoy las más de 1.600 páginas de chats, las notas de voz y los videos son el eje principal del expediente contra el hijo mayor del presidente Gustavo Petro".

En numerosos chats, indica el reporte, quedó registrada la vida de pareja de Vásquez y Petro, así como el tejido de un entramado de acuerdos a la sombra que se produjeron durante la campaña política del actual presidente.

Entre las evidencias estaría el negocio para la compra de una casa por 1.600 millones de pesos colombianos, suma que, según la exesposa, provino del conocido en el expediente del caso como "Hombre Marlboro", un excapo que pagó cárcel extraditado en Estados Unidos por narcotráfico, y del hijo de un controvertido empresario conocido como "El Turco" Hilsaca.

Se suma a lo anterior chats donde constan las citas de Nicolás Petro con casi todos los ministros del gabinete del Gobierno de su padre, así como un diálogo suyo con el entonces ministro del interior, Alfonso Prada.

También asegura Semana que el hijo mayor del presidente colombiano habría recibido una camioneta de alta gama de parte de contratistas en plena campaña presidencial, algo que estaría registrado en los chats.

Aparte de lo anterior, existirían videos. En uno de ellos, Vásquez discute con su exesposo y él le reclama una suma de dinero, que según el testimonio de Day, sería el que recibió Nicolás para la campaña presidencial de su padre, del que se habría apropiado 600 millones de pesos aproximadamente.

Vásquez habría colaborado con la Fiscalía desde el primer momento del escándalo y su testimonio está judicializado y es, junto con el teléfono, el eje de los cargos contra Nicolás Petro. La mujer también está detenida y espera la decisión de los jueces.

Nicolás Petro es investigado por los presuntos delitos de lavado de activos y enriquecimiento ilícito. El escándalo ha salpicado al menos a 17 personas, entre políticos, financistas oscuros y funcionarios del Gobierno colombiano.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Un turista alemán intentó ahogar a un niño cubano de 8 años en una playa de Holguín, de acuerdo con una denuncia difundida por el periodista independiente Alberto Arego.

El suceso ocurrió este domingo en Playa Blanca, aseguró a Arego el hermano del menor.

“Nosotros estábamos en una mata cerca de la playa y los niños estaban jugando y en la orilla había un castillito de arena. El niño sale sin malicia corriendo del agua para la arena y sin darse de cuenta, niño al fin, rompe el castillito y el castillito lo había hecho la hija de un alemán”, relató la fuente.

“Ellos estaban en el agua y al ver el alemán que el niño rompió eso, que el vio que fue sin querer, no se apiadó de nada, cogió al niño por el cuello y lo levantó y de ahí entró para el agua y lo batió en lo hondo”, agregó.

De acuerdo con la fuente, “gracias al personal y a los salvavidas, que lo sacaron rápido”, el niño no se ahogó.

“Los salvavidas llamaron a la Policía y se lo llevaron detenido para la unidad de Freire. A mi hermanito lo llevaron para el hospital, donde le dieron muy buena atención y lo revisaron completo. El psicólogo lo atendió y está nervioso, no habla con nadie. Vomitó y se desmayó, le dio taquicardias”, continúa la denuncia.

El hermano de la víctima denunció además que el turista alemán ha salido impune de la agresión.

“Al hombre lo que le hicieron fue que le pusieron una multa y una advertencia. No lo dejaron preso porque traía con él a la niña, una menor aproximadamente de cuatro a cinco años. Y dijo que él lo mataba y no pasaba nada”, cuenta el hermano.

“Hubo una buena cantidad de personal de testigo de eso que él dijo. incluso los salvavidas se lo dijeron a la Policía que ellos eran testigo de todo”, agregó la fuente.

El niño se llama Marlon Jesús Osorio Hernández, hijo de Maritza Hernández Reyes y Marcial Osorio Chong. La familia vive en la Carretera San Germán El Yayal, precisa Arego.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Un bache casi se traga a un camión cuando circulaba por una céntrica calle de la ciudad de Sagua la Grande, en la provincia de Villa Clara, según publicación difundida en redes sociales.

El usuario Yudrián De Miranda Bracero compartió este lunes en el perfil de Facebook “ACCIDENTES BUSES & CAMIONES por más experiencia y menos víctimas!” imágenes de un camión que se volcó en un bache, más bien cráter, que se ubica en la calle Martha Abreu, entre Céspedes y Solís, en la citada ciudad del centro de la isla.

Las imágenes hablan por sí solas del accidente que por suerte no dejó saldo de víctima ni lesionados, según los comentarios de la publicación, en la que llovieron opiniones sobre el lamentable estado de la calle donde ocurrió este hecho.

“Al señor no le pasó nada”, apuntó un comentario en referencia al chofer del camión que quedó con la cabina prácticamente dentro del hueco o socavón como se le dice en otros países a un hoyo de esas dimensiones en un vial, que fue calificado por “el padre de todos los baches” en la isla, por un ocurrente internauta en la publicación.

Otros usuarios lo compararon con un pozo de agua, con un estanque para criar clarias y hasta con el hueco de un supuesto terremoto en Sagua la Grande.

También en un comentario un usuario dijo que el chofer “estaba en otra cosa” por no ver el bache en medio de la calle, a lo que otro respondió que realmente “la calle se hundió”.

Hasta el momento de redactar esta nota no había trascendido ningún comentario oficial de este incidente, ni de las posibles razones por las que el chofer no pudo evadir el inmenso hueco, que prácticamente se lo tragó cuando pasaba por la referida calle.

En la última semana trascendió la ocurrente reacción de un chofer de La Habana cuando pasaba por cada bache que encontraba en su trayecto.

A pesar de su pericia, este conductor no logró salvarse de caer continuamente en los baches de la calle Neptuno, en Centro Habana, y ante cada sacudida mascullaba en voz baja, pero furiosa: “Viva Fidel”.

Recién el gobierno de la isla reconoció que el 75% de las carreteras y vías de circulación del país se encuentran en un estado técnico entre regular y mal.

Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, titular de Transporte, presentó los datos ante la Comisión de Atención a los Servicios del Parlamento cubano y dijo que el gobierno ha sido incapaz de frenar el ritmo de deterioro de las carreteras, el cual aumenta cada año.

La situación de los viales en Cuba representa un desafío significativo para el Gobierno de la isla, ya que afecta directamente la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos y la prestación de servicios esenciales.

En los últimos años el nivel de accidentes en la vía pública a consecuencia del mal estado de las calles ha ido en aumento, e incluso algunos motoristas han perdido la vida por un bache.

Algunos huecos son tan grandes que en febrero una guagua de transporte público quedó atrapada en uno de la calle 4ta de San Miguel del Padrón, en La Habana.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Los servicios en los registros civiles cubanos están colapsado por el incremento de trámites en esas oficinas en los últimos dos años que han conllevado a la espera de “hasta tres meses y más para obtener una inscripción de nacimiento”, según prensa oficialista.

“Reventa de turnos, listas clandestinas, demora en los servicios, falta de profesionalidad en algunos trabajadores, trámites fuera de término, documentos con errores o que no llegan nunca al cliente, constituyen historias que se repiten, una y otra vez, de un extremo a otro del país”, apuntó este lunes el diario oficialista Granma en un reporte sobre el servicio en las oficinas del Registro del Estado Civil en Cuba.

También el citado medio expone que el servicio se ha vuelto aún más crítico, en los dos últimos años, a raíz del incremento de las solicitudes de trámites asociados a procesos migratorios, además del cúmulo tradicional de otras certificaciones para trámites en notarías, bancos o en la Vivienda, que incluyen actas de nacimiento, de soltería, de matrimonio o de defunciones.

A la avalancha de solicitudes de certificaciones se suma la escalada de las carencias materiales y de personal en esas oficinas, subraya el reporte, en el que se pone de ejemplo a Pinar del Río, donde en 2022 se recibieron 132, 825 solicitudes de certificaciones, más del doble de las que se hicieron en 2021.

"Eso fue algo que nos sobrepasó como institución", admitió la jefa del Departamento de Notaría y Registro Civil en la Dirección Provincial de Justicia en esa provincia, Maridel Guanche.

Guanche reconoció que ante tal cúmulo de solicitudes fue imposible atender todos los casos, y al cierre de ese año quedaron pendientes más de 26,300; es decir una de cada cinco solicitudes se quedó sin procesar, refirió el medio oficialista que en este análisis "crítico" soslayó el tema de la corrupción, que también tiene alta incidencia en la calidad de los servicios, ya que no son pocas las denuncias sobre "la prioridad" de los que tienen padrinos que puedan "ayudar" a sacar las certificaciones.

La misma situación se replicó en el otro extremo del país, en la provincia de Granma, donde también la demanda de servicios se multiplicó exponencialmente en relación con los recursos humanos y técnicos disponibles, según el director municipal de Justicia en Bayamo, Sandro Pérez Romero.

Entre enero y marzo de 2022 se respondieron unas 2, 663 notificaciones, y en igual periodo de este año ya ascendían a 6,661, expuso Pérez Romero, quien añadió que allí triplicaron la cantidad de trámites “con los mismos medios tecnológicos –casi todos obsoletos y con un servicio de impresión deficiente– y con menos trabajadores”.

Además, reconoció la falta de personal especializado, que no se forma de un día para otro, para agilizar el servicio, ya que de “10 notarios que lleva el municipio, están prestando servicio tres, y de cinco registradores, solo hay dos”.

Otro servicio cuestionado en el citado medio fue el de los trámites online, sobre el que dijeron que “no ha tenido todo el efecto esperado. De ahí que muchas personas sigan optando por acudir a las oficinas”.

Sobre este servicio online, la técnico jurídico del Registro del Estado Civil de Bayamo, Ana Yanet Tamayo Urquiza, dijo que “una de las principales dificultades que enfrentamos es el propio formulario de la página, el cual no hace especificaciones de algunos datos que son necesarios que los usuarios pongan, y muchas veces esos casos no proceden, y el solicitante no tiene cómo saberlo”.

Dijo, además, que “es por ello que cuando las personas vienen al registro se incomodan, porque no entienden que después de tres o cuatro meses aún no tengan respuesta de su trámite, o incluso deban hacerlo de nuevo”.

Urquiza reconoció también otros problemas de la plataforma digital del Ministerio de Justifica, la cual ha estado limitada hasta por el déficit de electricidad y la inestabilidad con la conexión, que hace que el sistema quede inactivo hasta tres a cuatro veces al día.

“Nosotros tuvimos una avalancha de solicitudes justo en el periodo más crítico de los apagones, por lo que se nos acumularon más de 4,000 casos pendientes, incluidos los de las personas que luego vinieron a realizar sus trámites de forma presencial, y quedaron esos casos en una especie de impasse en la plataforma”, concluye la especialista.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

El Banco Central de Cuba (BCC) emitió una nota oficial para abordar el tema de los falsos billetes de 100 pesos cubanos (CUP) que supuestamente han estado entregando los cajeros automáticos en la Isla, luego de que por redes sociales circularan imágenes de billetes impresos por una sola cara o con falta de tinta.

De acuerdo con el organismo, las evidencias que se han mostrado en redes sociales son falsas. El BCC las califica de “fake news”. “Desmentimos las publicaciones en redes sociales y medios alternativos sobre billetes de las denominaciones de 100 y 1.000 CUP con error en su impresión o falsos. Hasta este momento en las sucursales de los bancos no se han recibido clientes con esta situación”, detalla el comunicado.

No obstante, el Banco Central instó a los cubanos que tengan problemas con sus billetes al ser extraídos de los cajeros que presenten una denuncia en cualquiera de las sucursales bancarias del país.

“En el caso de los billetes que dispensen los cajeros automáticos y presenten dificultad en su impresión, usted puede dirigirse a la sucursal bancaria más cercana. Se sugiere a la población seguir nuestros sitios y canales oficiales para que se mantengan informados”, señala la breve nota de prensa.

Esta no es la primera vez que el BCC se pronuncia para presuntamente desmentir situaciones que los cubanos exponen en redes. En 2021, se dio un supuesto caso de circulación de billetes falsos con denominación de 1.000 pesos. Según el organismo bancario, el número de serie y el consecutivo del billete no eran los habituales con los cuales se imprimen este tipo de billetes.

“La serie del billete (2100D) y el número consecutivo (58586181) confirman que ese billete no ha sido emitido ni puesto en circulación por el Banco Central de Cuba y no tenemos evidencia física de su existencia”, señala el comunicado, que se hace eco de las denuncias en redes sociales sobre la existencia en “la calle” de billetes falsos de 1.000 pesos.

En otra ocasión, tuvo que publicar una aclaración sobre un posible beneficio monetario que obtendrían todos aquellos usuarios de Internet que participaran en una encuesta online supuestamente a nombre del BCC.

“El BCC desmiente información que circula en redes sociales sobre un cuestionario, con el cual podrá obtener beneficio monetario. La institución rectora llama a la población a revisar cuidadosamente los detalles de las informaciones, para evitar caer en engaños, así como verificar la veracidad de los perfiles institucionales oficiales”, refirió la institución.

El fin de semana pasado, circuló una información sobre al menos dos ciudadanos que tuvieron problemas con billetes de 100 CUP. Uno de ellos extrajo un billete de 100 con su característico color magenta y la imagen del mártir Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, pero en el reverso estaba totalmente en blanco. En el segundo caso, se muestra el billete igualmente bien impreso por un lado, pero en el otro tiene una evidente baja concentración de tinta. Tal parece que la tinta de la impresora se estaba agotando.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

La agencia estatal cubana Cubatur promociona un viaje “fuera del país” sin necesidad de contar con un pasaporte para subir al avión.

La campaña de marketing generó gran revuelo en las redes sociales. Y es que al leer con detenimiento el paquete promocional, se detalla que en realidad el vuelo es desde La Habana hacia la Isla de la Juventud, por lo cual se tomaron la licencia de venderlo como un recorrido “fuera del país”, es decir, fuera de la “Isla grande”.

El paquete turístico se comercializa por 18.000 pesos cubanos (CUP) y está incluido, además del vuelo de ida y vuelta, el alojamiento en un hotel durante tres días, excursiones y traslados dentro del territorio pinero.

“Un viaje fuera del país hacia la Isla de Pinos o Juventud. Conozca Nueva Gerona, hotel Colony, Cocodrilo, unos de los faros más altos de Cuba y a los pineros que se caracterizan por su calor humano y hospitalidad. A partir de 18 mil por persona, tres noches, incluyendo vuelos, traslados, alojamiento y una excursión”, refiere la nota oficial divulgada en el grupo de Telegram que tiene Cubatur para vender paquetes turísticos.

Una familia conformada solo una pareja con un niño menor de edad estaría pagando 51.870 CUP, cuando el salario promedio de un trabajador en Cuba es de alrededor de 4.000 CUP. La oferta está totalmente desproporcionada y no parece contribuir al objetivo de incrementar la venta de reservaciones en el hotel de Isla de Pinos, que al igual que todos los que hay en el país tienen bajísimos niveles de ocupación.

Ese déficit de turismo internacional ha hecho que Cubatur se enfoque en el turismo nacional para generar ingresos. La propia empresa busca aprovecharse del turismo de compra de los cubanos y gestiona viajes a Venezuela, específicamente a Isla Margarita, una especie de zona franca.

Esa oferta incluye hotel con estancia de tres, cuatro o siete noches, según la preferencia del cliente. En este caso, sí se requiere un visado a Venezuela, pero las autoridades comunistas también gestionan ese trámite ante la Embajada venezolana en La Habana por un costo de 30 dólares.

@ 1b0706e7:ec11b9b3

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Starbucks

Saturday August 12, 2023

10:00 a.m -12:00 p.m. 371 Alessandro Blvd, Riverside, CA 92508

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Starbucks

Saturday August 26, 2023

10:00 a.m -12:00 p.m. 371 Alessandro Blvd, Riverside, CA 92508

Want to suggest a Meetup? DM's are open and Elon can't stop them.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Bienvenido al epicentro de la información independiente sobre la realidad cubana, el portal cubanoticias.info. Anteriormente conocido como redxcuba.org, nuestro lema resuena hoy con más fuerza que nunca: "La voz de los que no pueden hablar". A través de nuestras publicaciones, mostramos sin tapujos la realidad de la vida en Cuba, aquella que los medios oficialistas prefieren silenciar.

¿Qué es Nostr y por qué es importante?

El corazón de cubanoticias.info late gracias a Nostr, un protocolo de red descentralizado que alimenta nuestro sistema de redes sociales. En un mundo digital dominado por las grandes corporaciones, Nostr destaca por su independencia y resistencia a la censura, gracias a la validación criptográfica de sus publicaciones.

La descentralización es el pilar de Nostr, permitiendo a cualquier persona en cualquier lugar compartir información libre de censura y manipulación. Nostr es el símbolo de la resistencia en la era de la información, y en cubanoticias.info lo adoptamos con orgullo para traerles noticias verídicas sobre Cuba.

La Misión de Cubanoticias.info

En cubanoticias.info, tenemos un solo propósito: llevar la realidad cubana a todos aquellos que desean conocerla. La vida en Cuba no es la que muestran los medios oficialistas. Nos esforzamos por dar voz a los que sufren en silencio, día tras día, cubriendo temas como los Derechos Humanos, la Libertad de Expresión y los Presos Políticos, entre otros.

Nuestra misión se basa en el respeto a la verdad y la lucha por la justicia. Pretendemos, mediante protocolos descentralizados y resistentes a la censura, unir fuerzas con otros medios independientes para llevar la realidad cubana a cada rincón del mundo.

Nuestra Invitación

El camino hacia la verdad puede ser largo y sinuoso, pero en cubanoticias.info, te invitamos a que te unas a nosotros en este viaje. Nuestro equipo de periodistas y colaboradores trabaja incansablemente para ofrecerte noticias y reportajes detallados y de primera mano sobre la realidad cubana.

Creemos firmemente que el conocimiento es poder, y con cada artículo, damos un paso más hacia la libertad. Te invitamos a visitarnos todos los días, a sumergirte en nuestros artículos y a compartirlos con el mundo.

Sé parte de nuestra comunidad y conviértete en un aliado de la verdad. En cubanoticias.info, tu curiosidad alimentará el fuego que ilumina la realidad oculta de Cuba. Y con cada visita, con cada lectura, nos ayudarás a seguir brillando una luz sobre aquellos que la dictadura intenta acallar.

Juntos, podemos cambiar la narrativa y mostrar la verdadera cara de Cuba al mundo.

Te esperamos en cubanoticias.info.

@ 37c4e186:7de9109b

Bitcoin: The Sacrifice of the Ego

by Leopoldo Moreno de la Cova nostr:npub1m2x6mucaxs84d8njq5zrte3ksv7p83ppsqud3a84zww7rfw0hsysrq7v3j

Translated from the original Spanish by nostr:npub1xlzwrphhxppeyjw0prlw0dvpsmx2a8jd6yhnt06clx6zvl0fzzdsgce7w0

"In the world of Bitcoin there is a saying: 'stay humble and stack sats', which reminds us of the importance of sacrificing the ego and patience in the world of cryptocurrency"

Satoshi Nakamoto is a venerated name in the world of cryptocurrency. He is the creator of Bitcoin, the first decentralized digital currency in the world, and responsible for initiating a revolution in the financial industry. Given the importance of his creation, it is surprising that he has never taken credit, and to this day, the identity of Satoshi continues to be a secret. The anonymity of Satoshi is perhaps the most underrated quality of this quasi-mythological figure, being the best exemplification of the sacrifice of the ego, and something that I consider that we should go into more deeply.

The ego is a powerful force that drives human behavior. It is the sense of self-esteem or self-importance of a person, and often it manifests in the necessity for recognition or credit. However, when we become too attached to our ego, it can lead to arrogance, narcissism, and a distorted view of reality. In contrast, sacrificing the ego requires humility, disinterest, and a disposition to put the needs of others above one's own.

Instead of seeking recognition for his creation, Satoshi decided to remain in the background and to allow his invention to speak for itself. This decision was not motivated by fear or insecurity, but rather by a deep understanding of the potential impact of his creation. Satoshi was conscious that Bitcoin had the potential to transform the financial industry, enabling people to control their own money, converting them into sovereign individuals, independent from corrupt governments, partisian monetary policies, or exhaustive control. He understood that his creation was greater than any single person, including himself.

Upon remaining anonymous, he avoided any potential conflict of interest that could arise because of personal or financial gains, and in its place, he created a decentralized, transparent, and secure system, based on the economic theories of the Austrian school and distancing itself from Keynesian economic policies.

The legend of Satoshi Nakamoto transcends the technological and financial spheres; already his influence has inspired a new generation of entrepreneurs and developers. His focus on decentralization and transparency has been the basis for innovative projects in diverse sectors, such as governance, intellectual property, and data protection. The philosophy behind Bitcoin, which seeks to empower people and democratize access to financial resources, has generated a paradigm shift in the way that we think of money and value. As we advance towards a digital future, the enduring impact of Satoshi and his vision continues to be a lighthouse of inspiration for those who seek to challenge the established system and to construct a more equitable world.

In the world of Bitcoin there is a saying: "stay humble and stack sats", which reminds us of the importance of sacrificing the ego and patience in the world of cryptocurrency. Using Bitcoin as a store of value has provided an effective strategy for building long-term wealth and resisting the volatility of the market during the last 14 years. Humility has kept us focused on the final objective of the preservation of wealth, meanwhile constant saving/stacking permits us to take advantage of market opportunities and to build a solid base for the future. From my point of view, Satoshi reminds us that the success of decntralized digital money is not about getting rich quickly but rather about the creation of wealth in a constant and responsible fashion, with a focus on preserving property rights and personal liberty.

Through analyzing all of this in detail, perhaps we should not be surprised that something has been created that safeguards property rights, freedom, and privacy like nothing that has been seen in the world before. Satoshi decided to unlink his creation from his identity.

The story of Satoshi Nakamoto is the story of our age. Prometheus brought fire to humanity. Satoshi brought us Bitcoin.

Leopoldo Moreno de la Cova is an economist.

@ dc4cd086:cee77c06

I'm going to try and #asknostr for this.

The client I'm working on is more or less about making full articles out of smaller notes, the purpose for this is to isolate individual ideas and concepts of some larger article. A bridge between very long articles books or wiki pages and small-specialized personal knowledge bases (zettlekasten).

Why? Think about a wiki, but with multiple perspectives per topic, and the content of each article can be some sort of mix of any other article's content.

If you want to write about some sort of level 3 concept and other's have already written about levels 1 and 2 perfectly well, why reinvent the wheel? Academic papers, textbooks, blogs and tutorials are filled with redundant content like this and always hiding background content in references. What if those references were a part of the article itself? I think that this could lead to a new way of consuming knowledge content, and would like to build it with the community.

Looking for advice on constructing this to keep interoperability with other clients while also not spamming feeds with tons of Kind:1 notes. I'm trying to spec out these kinds, and some possible metadata tags. The kind(s) might lie somewhere within the 30000-39999 range of parameterized replaceable events.

Two basic types of kinds 1. Article metadata and list of connected notes 2. Notes with isolated concepts

This is related to the Kind:0 (user metadata) and Kind:1 (text notes), but for an article that can change its structure and content as time progresses and knowledge about a topic updates. For the time being, I'll just refer to them as ArticleKind:0 and ArticleKind:1.

• ArticleKind:0 sketches out the structure of an article at a point in time. It has the article metadata and the specific list of notes that compose that article. This specific kind is what would be displayed as a preview to users. One possibility could be embedding the structure of the article in this event.
• ArticleKind:1 contains the content, subsection title (introduction, tutorial B, ingredients etc.) and possible references to external content. The subsection titles can be aggregated to create a composed table of contents. Similar to ArticleKind:0, a possibility could be to embed the immediate connections of this note (e.g. previous and next notes, which can be single or many notes)

Why replaceable? If information is updated the most recent article/note will display, but a living history of the document remains (if relay operators decide to not delete old notes). Articles/subsections can exist with multiple perspectives but can be linked together by single ArticleKind:0.

Isolated concepts help both writers and readers focus on the information they care about while allowing users in the future to compose new articles out of previous notes.

What you can potentially make is nonlinear-modular-chooseYourOwnAdventure articles that let you read and write about topics in what whatever fashion you'd like, while allowing already well explained work to be part of your article. * You want a regular linear book, that's fine. * You want a branching story? Go ahead. * What about a weird ouroboros spaghetti linked article? Why the hell not?

Further reading:

(brief, possible applications) * https://github.com/limina1/indextr-principles/blob/main/README.org

(longer, drawn out concepts and rational) * https://github.com/limina1/indextr-principles/blob/main/details.md

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

The Easy Way To Self Custody of Bitcoin

TODO: [TOC]

Start here.

Note: This is a work in progress. **

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

Why TF do we need this book?

Most bitcoin books come in two categories.

1) Bitcoin is the best investment since sliced gold. 2) Bitcoin philosophy

As far as I know, there is not a book that teaches the average person how to take self-custody of their bitcoin. There are many guides, webpages, and YouTube videos, but they are kind of fragmented and require you to take many detours down the rabbit hole. This book is for people who have embroiled themselves in bitcoin. Maybe they read the Bitcoin Standard or the Progressive Case for Bitcoin and have decided they need some bitcoin. They think bitcoin is energy, digital gold, Venice, "the blockchain," proof-of-work, and 12 magic words you memorize and say to retrieve all of your wealth like Wingaudiam Levinosa in Harry Potter.

There are no more bitcoin books to be written. This is not a bitcoin book. It is a compilation of many different tools I have found and used since I got into bitcon. This book will not have any charts. It will not mention the price of bitcoin. The only model is tick-tock-next block. The world will never have 21 million bitcoin. This book will teach you how to control a small fraction of that amount. As long as you can write down 24 words and a passphrase  and can store them safely, you will be able to store your bitcoin. You will have your Cold Card memorize your words.

This book will not teach you:

"How much will I get if I invest $100 in Bitcoin? "When Moon?" "How much does it cost to buy one Bitcoin?"

This book will not teach you how to lend your bitcoin or give it to someone else for interest." This is anti-Block-Fi. This book will not teach you how to buy bitcoin from a regulated exchange. Regulated exchanges are some of the most dangerous ways to store your bitcoin. The worst way to store bitcoin is in someone else's wallet. The bitcoin you hold in someone else's wallet is someone else's bitcoin. **This is not a book about other people's bitcoin. This is not about Blackrock's bitcoin, Coinbase's bitcoin, or Strike's bitcoin. This is about your bitcoin. Your bitcoin is your responsibility. ** If you lose your seeds, nothing in this book can help you. **  If you write your passphrase down wrong, you will hodl forever. This book will teach you how to double-check your wallets and do it as easily as possible while having bitcoin IOUs for as little time and as private as we reasonably can expect our privacy to be.

I went to my first bitcoin conference in November of 2020, in the midst of the FTX scam being revealed in real time. FTX was the most regulated of the regulated exchanges. They still stole their customers bitcoin. I didn't speak to anyone at the conference who would admit they kept their bitcoin on FTX, but many people said they kept it on a bitcoin-only exchange. This exchange regularly informs their customers that they need to withdraw. They make it very easy. Yet so many people trust the exchanges more than they trust themselves.

I found this surprising because the second line in the bitcoin white paper is very clear about this.

https://highlighter.com/e/note19r76y6vz7x8rtza8z08zn5htwu94v4mm77vtmqny7lnrhncul0sqsvw5e3

Satoshi Nakamoto said this in February 2009 on the Peer2Peer Foundation:

https://highlighter.com/e/note1dv8gue4e25za3d5p2ej4krcp7kaykfpfpggn6lk393c7zjdacp3s9855l5

note1dv8gue4e25za3d5p2ej4krcp7kaykfpfpggn6lk393c7zjdacp3s9855l5

I decided to write this book for these people to show them they do not need to trust themselves. They can trust the math instead. They can ditch their bitcoin IOUs for real UTXOs. What's a UTXO? an unspent bitcoin transaction output. That's just a fancy way of saying saving bitcoin or stacking sats. 

This book is not a 100% trustless way to store bitcoin. That would be the hard way, but I do believe this is possible to achieve, especially if you only use bitcoin on the main chain, but that is beyond the scope of this book. I intend to teach you how to use your bitcoin. If you don't have any bitcoin, don't worry. I will teach you how to get some using bitcoin the way it was meant to be, **peer2peer. **

When you buy bitcoin peer2peer, you know you own bitcoin as soon as it gets to your wallet. This will protect you from exchanges that are regulated by a corrupt financial system that knows how to regulate fractional reserve banks that blow up but has no idea how cryptography works. For this reason, many bitcoiners have fallen victim to scams they thought were safe becauuse of financial regulation that keeps them as safe as the credit ratings of sub-prime mortgages, which means not very safe at all. There are many examples of regulated and unregulated exchanges and lending platforms that were hacked, rehypoticated, or just plain stolen. This book intends to teach you how to protect yourself from unscrupulous exchanges that look legit because of regulation, but are actually rug-pull technology such as:

-FTX -Celcius -Block-Fi -Mt. Gox

@ 0e649f32:8a33b33b

Original song and video submitted to The Association of Composers and Musical Authors of Costa Rica (ACAM) for the 2024 awards.

The famous Latino guitarist, IGNI FERROQUE teams up with CCC to produce a classic MTV retro video.The band is promoting their 44th anniversary album and national tour sponsored by Costa Rica's Call Center. The hot single has become the official 15 year anniversary theme song for CCC. Pura Vida.

IGNI FERROQUE. Banda de rock original costarricense fundada en 1978.

Shine like the sun lyrics:

Have you every thought of leaving home? How far would you go to find you space? Are you willing to start all alone? Without letting your mind scatter...Out of place

Working hard everyday dawn to dawn Hitting the phone to reach the goal Fitting in your spot in paradise Never take your eye off the prize

YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL

No matter how strong you feel you are No time for breaks until you're all done With all your goals there is always stress And everybody needs to rest

And yet there is no dream that comes alone Once you feel great, you feel at home You find the beauty of a smiling face You find the love, you find the GRACE

YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL

Costa Rica Rock Star IGNI FERROQUE new hit single, "SHINE LIKE THE SUN"

https://youtu.be/wnQX8TEagis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nublj-mEkZ4&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl

September 21st, 2018. Hard Rock Cafe, Costa Rica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ3XowAhuD8&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl

IGNI FERROQUE live in concert. The LONDON ROOM. September 23rd 2022 SHINE LIKE THE SUN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHC04SVgwXQ&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl

IGNI FERROQUE LIVE. El Club de Bella Escazu! October 15th 2022. Shine Like The Sun closed the set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM-KfL8_vpc&pp=ygUgc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGlnbmkgZmVycm9xdWU%3D

SHINE LIKE THE SUN. LIVE JANUARY 8th 2022

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Davidson Souza ( nostr:npub16qce8d6wvrrarl6pdaf285qaee27pyvumxwdm9x34y227z5uytks9n4zky )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 2209

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Davidson Souza on 31/07/2023: Davidson is excited to share libfloresta, a project he has been developing, with the Bitcoin devs mailing list. libfloresta is a compact and simple Bitcoin full node with integrated watch-only wallet and Electrum Server. It is designed for low-power devices and can run virtually anywhere. The project is in an early stage but is already being used on signet. Davidson is using libbitcoinconsensus and plans to use libbitcoinkernel in the future to minimize misimplementations. He thanks Vinteum for supporting his work.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Num dia recebi/li estas duas notícias:

“Americanizar as coisas é comum, mas, neste caso, pode não ser o ideal. Pelos Estados Unidos da América (EUA), trabalhar com mais de 75 anos está a tornar-se tendência e nós, europeus, podemos estar a ver o caso mal parado…

Há cerca de dois anos, o Bureau of Labor Statistics dos EUA partilhou que o número de trabalhadores com 75 anos ou mais cresceu 53,7% entre 2010 e 2020, e deverá crescer 96,5% entre 2020 e 2030.” in pplware

Adorei especialmente as fotos que ilustram o artigo, a alegria do senhor que tem de trabalhar depois dos 75 anos para não morrer à fome ou para pagar os medicamentos.

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Na Europa:

“A idade média da reforma na União Europeia está estabelecida nos 65 anos, embora com números diferentes de país para país: a Dinamarca estabeleceu-se nos 67 anos, ao passo que em França encontra-se nos 63 anos e dois meses. Portugal tem como referência 66 anos e quatro meses.

Em causa, de acordo com o jornal espanhol ‘El País’, está a intenção em Espanha de estabelecer um sistema de incentivos e penalizações que vai fazer avançar a idade legal de reforma entre os 68 e 72 anos. No país vizinho, caso um trabalhador tenha contribuído durante mais de 37 anos e 9 meses, baixa a idade da reforma para os 65 anos. Até 2027, a idade legal vai chegar aos 67 anos e a exigência de contribuição aos 65 anos com 100% da pensão será de 38 anos e seis meses.

De acordo com dados do Centro Finlandês de Pensões, em vários países da Europa a idade da reforma é mais precoce nas mulheres do que nos homens: mas como as idades legais estão a ser adiadas, há uma tendência para igualá-las. Vários países já registaram a intenção de subir a idade da reforma perante a evolução da expectativa de vida, o que tende a adiar a reforma: Dinamarca, Países Baixos, Grécia, Itália, Portugal, Estónia, Finlândia, Chéquia, Chipre ou Suécia são alguns deles, referiu o jornal espanhol.” in executivedigest

Parece que anda aí um movimento para a normalização de trabalhar após os 70 anos, sou só eu a achar isso um absurdo. Eu não sou contra, as pessoas de idades avançadas trabalharem, pelo contrário, até acho importante terem uma ocupação, mas fazer algo que gostam, pelo mero prazer, um trabalho voluntário, ajudar a associação da comunidade, na paróquia, ter uma horta, pintar, fazer aquilo que sempre sonhou mas nunca teve tempo. É importante estarem activas fisicamente e psicologicamente.

Neste caso estamos a falar de trabalhar por necessidade, por mera subsistência, isto não é normal. Nós somos humanos, temos direito aos prazer da vida, viver apenas para trabalhar não é vida, ser um escravo do trabalho, não somos robôs.

Sistemas de pensão

Não interessa o sistema que utilizas, o problema está é na moeda, que não perversa o valor. É como guardar a água no balde com um furo, por mais que acumule, está constantemente a drenar.

O sistema individual, como nos EUA, onde cada pessoa individualmente faz a sua poupança para a velhice. A poupança é dissolvida pela inflação, ou então têm que investir em produtos financeiros de risco que muitas vezes são ruinosos e/ou que na maioria das vezes não têm rendimentos superiores à inflação.

O sistema colectivo/social, especialmente utilizado na europa, como os políticos gostam de dizer, é uma solidariedade intergeracional, onde todos os cidadão são obrigados a contribuir. Onde na base da pirâmide estão os trabalhadores do activo que pagam as pensões aos mais velhos, que estão no topo da pirâmide, ou seja um ponzi.

A ideia inicial: Como o dinheiro desvaloriza muito com a inflação, é inviável guardar o dinheiro para utilizar no futuro, assim criou-se um sistema em que as pessoas que estão a trabalhar pagam as pensões aos mais velhos. Ou seja, ao tentar resolver o problema original, da moeda fraca, criamos um outro problema, um ponzi.

Na teoria até poderia funcionar, no momento em que foi criado. Mas isto só funciona quando existem mais trabalhadores no ativo que pensionistas e os seus rendimentos (em média) têm que ser igual ou superiores aos dos pensionistas, ou seja, a base da pirâmide tem que ser muito maior que a parte superior.

Quando foi criado, o sistema cumpria estas premissas, só que agora começa a ter dificuldade em cumprir, é uma bomba relógio. Os jovens recebem cada vez menos, existe muita instabilidade laboral, a progressão laboral já não é tão contínua. Atualmente em Portugal é comum os novos pensionistas contribuiram mais de 40 anos para o sistema de pensões, os jovens de agora, dificilmente terão 40 anos de contribuições aos 66 anos, devido aos estudos, à dificuldade em encontrar o primeiro emprego e à instabilidade do mercado laboral, já nem falo da praga dos trabalhos a recibos verdes(sem contrato).

E por fim, a população activa está a diminuir e devido ao aumento da esperança média de vida, existe um aumento de pensionistas. Hipoteticamente vamos chegar a um período em que existem mais pensionistas que trabalhadores no activo, é a inversão da pirâmide. Sim, eu disse hipoteticamente, porque esse momento nunca vai chegar porque o sistema atual vai colapsar antes disso. Deixa de ser uma pirâmide geracional e passa a ser quase um retângulo, as pensões acabam ou será um valor extremamente baixo.

Devido ao problema (2ª) dos sistemas de pensões e a necessidade de fazer uma poupança, que não é possível fazer em dinheiro devido ao 1ª problema (moeda), as pessoas estão a comprar casas como uma poupança, originando um 3ª problema, o imobiliário. Isto gera bolhas imobiliárias, que torna a compra de casa pelos jovens muito difícil e quando a bolha rebenta destrói uma parte das poupanças (o 2ª problema) dessas pessoas.

Para minimizar o problema do envelhecimento da população, muitos governos (incluindo o português) estão a importar grandes quantidades de pessoas de todo o mundo, sem critério e em muitos casos a roçar a escravatura. O país não tem condições para integrar tanta gente, muitos estão a viver em condições desumanas. Voltamos ao mesmo, para resolver o 2ª problema estamos a criar um 4º problema (a emigração), isto é uma matrioskas de problemas.

---

O problema não está no sistema de pensões, o problema é esta política monetária expansionista, que imprime dinheiro do nada, criando inflação que destroem qualquer poupança que exista.

Nenhum sistema de pensões será viável enquanto existir esta política monetária.

A única solução é separar a política monetária do poder político.

@ 0dde8796:14799cec

As many of you know from my prior post, I have switched over to graphene OS for my mobile device. This article is an update on my progress so far, and I will provide a few tips along the way.

First I want to explain my situation, since your circumstances may cause you to choose different options.

I am a semi-retired boomer. I am not very adept technically, but I might have more time on my hands than you do. I also enjoy the process of figuring stuff out and trying workarounds. You may not have the time or the inclination to do that. Still, I do need my device for work related tasks, so convenience is an issue. I kept my old android around to ease the transition. I have learned from prior experience that going “cold turkey” on a change increases the odds of me throwing in the towel and going back to the easy solutions.

In my first article I toyed with the idea of going full stealth with a data only SIM card and a VPN dongle, but in the end convenience won out over more privacy. I think it’s a great idea, but it would be a little too radical for me. If you’re interested, check out @03365d6a53 and @final ‘s information in my prior post and their comments, and good luck with your brave experiment. Since I chickened out, I just switched my old Verizon Wireless sim card from my Galaxy S-10 to the Pixel 7. There were no issues, which surprised me a little. Verizon Wireless tends to interact with phones in a funky way, from what I’ve been told. Remember not to install any proprietary sim (especially Verizon Wireless) in a Pixel 7 before loading graphene and relocking the bootloader. You may never get it unlocked.

A Perfect Fit

I was anticipating a big tradeoff in quality and smooth operation switching to a Graphene OS Pixel 7. I was completely wrong. The Pixel 7 has a very solid build quality, and seems perfectly matched to the operating system. I guess it makes sense, since Graphene is built for this device. You don’t get all those mismatch issues you get with many android phones. The complete lack of bloatware definitely improves performance. The device seems snappy and responsive to me, though reviews I’ve read of the carrier loaded device describe it as a little “laggy”. I can’t believe how long a battery charge lasts. That was an unexpected huge benefit. I read that this is a result of losing all that bloatware. This was even more impressive when I discovered that the Pixel 7 with a standard carrier android setup is considered to have mediocre battery life.

The device is reasonably priced for what you get. That’s important, since you won’t find those promotional discounts or financing terms you would get buying a “carrier phone”. I bought mine straight from Google, and you probably should too. Read this review if you’re interested in learning about the hardware specs. The phone has a photo editing tool called “Photo Unblur”, which I used to sharpen a blurry photo of my daughter and I taken at her recent college graduation with a new Iphone. THAT was an unexpected benefit of switching to Graphene.

I also noticed an immediate improvement when using a VPN. I live in an area with spotty cell coverage. Every previous android device I have used disconnected my VPN every time I lost service. I have yet to have my VPN disconnect on the Pixel. I have no idea why, but I’m not complaining.

The operating system is set for “gestures” by default, rather than the standard android three button navigation. I gave it a try and decided to keep it. It is smooth and intuitive. Updates have been non events so far. I have had two; they were installed quickly and without any issues.

As I explained in my original post, Graphene comes pre-installed with a fully sandboxed Google Play Store. If you intend to continue using your Google apps and the play store, your switch to Graphene should be essentially painless. There will not be a huge learning curve, nor will you be making any major compromises. Apparently your apps may function differently once in a while, but from what I have read it is nothing major.

I would recommend that you consider setting up a second “user” where you can further isolate your Google apps in a sandboxed profile. In settings, go to “system, then go to “multiple users.” You can then toggle “allow multiple users.” This video explains the process in detail.

No Google For Me

I am stubborn, and as of now I have kept my vow to de google my life. I have decided not to use the Play Store, even if it is sandboxed. So far I’m surviving, and I am learning a lot, but it would have been easier to just get sucked back into Googleworld. I began searching for alternatives. One obvious issue I needed to consider was security. No more Play Protect. You may find this article useful.

When I began disentangling my life from google a few years ago, I signed up for Proton Unlimited. As a result, I use these Proton apps:

Proton Apps

• Protonmail

• Proton Drive

• Proton VPN

• Proton Calendar

I also use Proton Contacts, which is contained within the email app. Proton recently released Proton Pass, a new password manager. I will probably start using it rather than my old password manager.

I should mention that I got used to banking on my phone. I will no longer have access to my bank apps. This is an adjustment, but I can always log in to the web sites if need be. I see this as a good opportunity to head further down the road towards being unbanked. I gave up Paypal (and Venmo) a while back when they began censoring transactions and closing accounts they didn’t like. As I’m writing this I just learned that they closed the Graphene donation account. I never used Zelle. I do use CashApp, but only for bitcoin recurring buys, and only on a device without a cellular connection. If I’m out with my friends, I offer to split the bill in cash or with a lightning payment from my Phoenix Wallet App. So far, no takers. They laugh at me and I tell them they won’t be laughing when bitcoin breaks 100K. I will consider it a milestone when someone accepts a lightning payment to split the check.

My Other Non Google Apps

I download my FOSS apps from F-Droid repositories, and I download most of my other apk’s from APK Mirror. This site has a good reputation for safety, but there are no guarantees.

Here are the alternative apps I am currently using:

• Amethyst

• Mull browser

Mull Browser is forked from Fenix (Firefox). It’s open source and privacy hardened. It enables features from the Tor uplift project and uses Arkenfox preferences. I had no idea what these projects were, so I have linked to sites where you can learn more. It is also a deblobbed browser. I won’t pretend that I fully understand what that means, but it removes proprietary blobs. I have learned that a blob is a “Binary Large Object”. These closed source objects are large and can place demands on storage systems and network bandwith. They can also contain malicious code.

The browser allows extensions, and I added the recommended uBlock Origin extension, a “wide spectrum content blocker” that blocks ads, trackers, and popups.

• OpenBoard keyboard

The default keyboard didn’t work for me at all. My old fat fingers were mistyping keys at an alarming rate. I tried FlorisBoard, which was a little better, but its spell check suggestions were awful or non-existent. OpenBoard has worked very well for me. I can type accurately and the suggestions are excellent. It’s FOSS based on AOSP, with no Google binary dependencies.

• LibreTube

Libre Tube is an alternative front end for Youtube. It uses the Piped API. This app was inspired by NewPipe and Invidious, while solving problems inherent in both those apps. It’s FOSS, lightweight, ad free and privacy friendly. You connect to a Piped proxy, not a Google server. Your IP address is not exposed, and you can evade geographic content restrictions. You can choose from eight different proxies. I happen to be using whatever.social right now with no connection problems, but it’s probably wise to experiment.

• Hypatia

I installed this app since I’m downloading APK’s from sketchy sources. It may be unnecessary, but it makes me feel better. It’s a FOSS realtime malware scanner. It uses ClamAV style signature databases. It has negligible battery impact and is memory efficient. You can select and update databases.

• Open Note Scanner

Excellent scanning app that actually worked better for me than the old app I had been using from Google Play Store. Just remember you need to also install OpenCV Manager for it to work. I also discovered that in order to immediately email scanned documents you need the protonmail APK, not the PWA. I got a little PWA crazy when setting up my Pixel. There are limitations. On the other hand, it’s more work to keep APK’s updated, which is not an issue for PWA’s.

• Organic Maps

FOSS Google Maps alternative. No ads or tracking. It utilizes Open Street Map. It contains cycling routes, hiking trails, and walking paths. I have only used car navigation, which is still deemed experimental. Nevertheless, it has worked very well for me once I downloaded the map for my region. It does have voice navigation, although I have not used it. In the future they plan to implement Android Auto. I drive a 2006 Toyota, so that’s not an issue for me. I am learning about OpenStreetMap, which is a great project. Here’s a link to the United States organization.

• Stacker News PWA

• Fountain

• Podverse

• Note Everything

This is a really old, primitive app that I have used for years for taking notes. You cannot sync the notes to other devices without an extensive workaround and additional apps. I consider that a feature, not a bug. The notes live on my device, and each one can be easily encrypted. With the Pro paid app, you can encrypt your notes. I’m sure it’s not high end encryption, but I use it for privacy. I would not store any really private stuff on this app, like your keys, bank info, etc, but it gives you a little privacy.

Next Steps

Switching to the Google Pixel 7 has been painless for the most part. I get a great deal of satisfaction knowing that I am no longer supporting google in any way. I am also learning a lot about the functions and operations of a cell phone. It has been sort of like the way I felt switching from Windows to Linux. I learned so much more about how a computer works than I ever would have known had I not taken the leap. It is a big commitment, but not nearly as difficult or disruptive as I expected. I encourage everyone who wants to break away from big tech to give it a try.

I see this as a step towards my long term goal of controlling my own digital information. I intend to research equipment and begin moving to sovereign computing. I’m deciding between Start9, Umbrel, Sovran Systems, and Federated Computer.

I really like this quote from the Start 9 Web Site:

What is needed is a revolution in personal computing away from the current, hosted, custodial model that breeds dependency and corruption, towards a decentralized model, where individuals have absolute control over their data and communications.

Sound familiar?

First Published on Stacker News July 31, 2023

@ fec1f0c9:25ee63f5

[Author's note: I'm currently preparing my review of George Gilder's latest book, "Life After Capitalism." In the meantime, I'm reposting my earlier review of his previous book here. I also interviewed Gilder in 2019, and it's available at https://closemindedpodcast.com/episodes/episode-8-george-gilder-on-the-cryptocosm-and-life-after-google/ and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/george-gilder-on-the-cryptocosm-and-life-after-google/id1342065897?i=1000431395322]

George Gilder is one of my favorite thinkers. He writes coherently and thoughtfully about a rich variety of topics, and a common theme running through much of his thought over the last 30 years is an optimistic “futurism.” He sees important developments in technology and grasps their philosophical underpinnings and implications long before they are even a glimmer in the eyes of us average folk.

In the early 90s, for example, Gilder foresaw and wrote about the impending broadband revolution and the smartphone era (there’s even evidence to suggest that he directly influenced Steve Jobs and the iPhone).

Undergirding his recent writings on technology is the science and philosophy of a concept known as Information Theory. Gilder spends a lot of time teaching the fundamentals of the theory and unpacking its implications in his 2013 book Knowledge and Power: The Information Theory of Capitalism and How it is Revolutionizing our World. It also directly informs his subsequent books: The Scandal of Money (2016) and now Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy (2018).

Explaining information theory is beyond my scope here, and I certainly do not understand it fully (definitely not enough to write confidently about it). But I’m utterly fascinated by the way it actively informs Gilder’s thinking on so many different topics–from his opposition to insider trading laws, to his defense of entrepreneurship as the lifeblood of economic activity, to his framing of government intervention in the interest rate market in terms of time and knowledge, and his full-throated defense of capitalism. His most recent application of information theory touches on Google’s ecosystem and its philosophy of humanity, on blockchain and decentralization, on rapid innovative increases in low-power computing capabilities, and on cryptocurrencies.

All Your Data Belong to Us

Gilder starts Life After Google by utterly demolishing the premises that Google’s model is built upon, and describing how dangerous it is to society. To Google, you and I are not the customer; in fact, we are the product. They sell our information to advertisers and also use it to develop and perfect their algorithms. It’s all part of their attempt to “organize the world’s information.” It’s as arrogant as it sounds.

Google’s approach to collecting our data is ingenious: offer all their products and services for free–Gmail, Drive, Docs, Maps, Voice, Search, News, Books, Photos, YouTube, Assistant, the list goes on. And on. But there are major consequences to this model. For one, there is no market incentive to provide security of your data. After all, you aren’t a paying customer, and Google can get away with token efforts at protecting you. To make matters worse, a centralized model means all the important data is in one place–a glorious gift for hackers and data miners.

In the early stages of the Internet, data centralization wasn’t feasible. Processor speeds and the costs of memory were prohibitive. But Google (and the rest of Silicon Valley) drove the miraculous innovation that brought us exponentially faster, smaller, and cheaper computers. Google’s approach to building their server farms to store, organize, and rapidly calculate their “best” answer to whatever we were searching for radically changed the tech industry. This made it possible for them to become efficient repositories of our data. And so they vacuumed it up while we used their “free” services.

This model–and the risk involved–is not unique to Google. Just consider all the data breaches in recent years, and the hundreds of millions of users who saw their information exposed. This is a direct result of a centralized model of data storage. You don’t really own your data at all these companies–financial institutions, utilities, retail merchants, healthcare providers, insurance companies, personal cloud storage (DropBox, OneDrive, Evernote), etc. Nor do you have any ability to keep it safe. A single successful hack can potentially expose millions of customers’ worth of data. And for the most part, we simply get an “oops” from these corporations in response.

The solution is not just “better security.” We don’t need an even stronger wall around the castle. To change the metaphor, as long as the gold is sitting in the vault, the bank robbers will keep finding ways of getting in. It’s an inherent problem and an enormous moral hazard, and it doesn’t serve our interests. The entire model is flawed.

Gilder proposes an answer to this problem, and we’ll get to that. But first we need to discuss the philosophical roots of Google’s worldview.

The Fatal Flaw In Google’s “System of the World”

Boil down Google’s philosophy and you get a single, fatal flaw: they assume man (and his brain) is like a machine. They assume that eventually artificial intelligence (AI) will surpass us. But they cannot account for human consciousness with only mathematics and algorithms. In Google’s worldview, the Singularity is real–the inevitable moment when artificial intelligence overtakes that of man. Citing a handful of German scientists, mathematicians and philosophers from the 19th and 20th centuries, Gilder argues that information theory has definitively disproved this concept, shown it to be inherently self-contradictory. In one sense it’s a warmed-over, scientific cousin of classic Marxism. But how can Gilder apply a “Neo-Marxist” label to men who are obvious capitalists?

The fundamental claim Marx made was that the Industrial Revolution would create a future where, as Gilder puts it, “the key problem of economics would become not production amid scarcity but redistribution of abundance.” (6)

“Marx was typical of intellectuals in imagining that his own epoch was the final stage of human history…. The neo-Marxism of today’s Silicon Valley titans repeats the error of the old Marxists in its belief that today’s technology – not steam and electricity, but silicon micro chips, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, algorithmic biology, and robotics – is the definitive human achievement. The algorithmic eschaton renders obsolete not only human labor but the human mind as well.” (6-7) […]

AI is believed to be redefining what it means to be human, much as Darwin’s On the Origin of Species did in its time. While Darwin made man just another animal, a precariously risen ape, Google-Marxism sees men as inferior intellectually to the company’s own algorithmic machines. Life After Google makes the opposing case that what the hyperventilating haruspices Yuval Harari, Nick Bostrom, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Tim Urban, and Elon Musk see as a world-changing AI juggernaut is in fact an industrial regime at the end of its rope. (7) […]

“Marxism was historically hyperbolic the first time around, and the new Marxism is delusional today. Is time for a new information architecture for a globally distributed economy. Fortunately, it is on its way.” (9)

Google’s fundamental philosophical mistake is to assume that AI could ever match real human consciousness. But AI doesn’t have true intelligence, and it can never exhibit genuine creativity–only humans can do that. AI is just an algorithm. An incredibly sophisticated algorithm that grows beyond the understanding of its creators, yes, but ultimately it is still simply following rules, however complex.

“The problem is not AI itself, which is an impressive technology with much promise for improving human life. What transforms ‘super-AI’ from a technology into a religious cult is the assumption that the human mind is essentially a computer, a material machine.” (99)

Here is Gilder’s kill-shot against Google’s philosophy: “By using their own minds and consciousness to deny the significance of consciousness in minds, they refute themselves.” (100-101)

Introducing the Cryptocosm

So what is Gilder’s cryptocosm and how can it shift the paradigm away from the Google philosophy?

Very simply, it’s the new frontier being developed by young and emerging protocols of data decentralization, currency, info privacy and security–all built upon peer-to-peer, distributed ledgers known as the blockchain.

Imagine a money system where governments are incapable of printing their way out of debt, or of manipulating interest rates to serve the interests of their corporate cronies or advance an imperialist foreign policy. Imagine contracts–business deals, land titles, and more–that are enforced automatically by software protocols that nobody can interfere with. Imagine being able to pay anyone around the world instantly with total security, privacy, freedom, and without usurious transaction fees. Imagine being able to deliver micropayments to content providers on the internet rather than be force-fed ads that are either irrelevant to you or so targeted that they are creepy. Imagine having total control over your data–financial info, transaction history, personal medical records, browsing history, personal preferences and hobbies, etc.

In a world of centralized data, you get none of these things. You are the product being marketed, and your information is not protected. But the cryptocosm can deliver us from this model and deliver to us these benefits of security, privacy and control

But how? The potential of the cryptocosm is rooted in separate innovations in hardware and software.

Although Google played a key role in fostering the hardware innovations that were prerequisites to developing their dominance in centralizing and delivering data, and although their insatiable need for better and faster tech is fueling the next round of advances today, the irony is that those same innovations are fueling parallel advances in cryptographic decentralization based on the blockchain.

The computational power available in ever-smaller (and low-power) devices–like smartphones–allows cheaper and faster data processing than ever before, all without the need for centralized servers. For example, facial recognition software is built upon extremely complex algorithms that initially required a stack of servers to accomplish. No longer. A hand-held device can manage it instantly and locally. It’s the same story with rendering video. The possibilities are endless. Google is sowing the seeds of its own destruction.

Gilder quotes Muneeb Ali of Blockstack:

“Google and Facebook captured value in the application layer but then had to invent a lot of protocols and infrastructure to actually scale…Because of the value they created early on, they had the resources. This [architecture] leads to giant moats because big companies had all the data, but also because no one else had the resources to innovate at the protocol/infrastructure layer. This innovation is always needed. The question is who has the incentive to lead the charge. In the post-blockchain world, the model gets flipped and there is direct incentive [for many teams outside the giant companies] to work on the hard problems of protocol and infrastructure innovation. This is a major shift.” (201-202)

How else could this all play out in reality? Gilder provides many examples.

Brave

Brendan Eich, creator of the most widely used programming language in the world (JavaScript) and former head of Mozilla, has been innovating on his latest venture–the Brave browser. It is built around speed, privacy, ad-blocking (30% of mobile bandwidth is sucked up by ads that virtually nobody clicks on!) and–most excitingly–an anonymous and secure system of rewarding web sites with cryptocurrency rather than trading time for content (watching ads). It’s a brilliant approach to reasserting one’s autonomy and privacy on the internet, and I hope it takes off.

Cryptocurrencies

I believe the future of our money will definitely be a cryptocurrency. The question is, do you want a cryptocurrency that is managed, overseen, controlled, and gate-kept by a government, or one that is decentralized, secure, private, outside the control of a state, and impossible to inflate or manipulate? Gilder writes that the cryptocurrency is

building a new trust, ID, and transactions later for the Internet. Better than cash, it offers exchanges that conceal personal information but also allow complete proof of compliance where necessary. Not only can you exchange anonymously, you can prove your record of behavior if a government makes untrue charges or a business makes spurious claims. This combination of security and attestation makes cryptocurrencies a fundamental improvement on existing moneys—a remedy for the monetary turbulence of our time.” (176-177)

We are still in the early, wild west stage of cryptocurrencies, with a lot of unknowns. But this is by far the most active and innovative sector of the tech economy right now, with billions being invested. Indeed, crypto startups have all but replaced the standard IPO (this is partly because of draconian regulations imposed after the 2008 financial crisis that effectively killed IPOs and are doing immense damage to entrepreneurship in the United States).

Blockchain

The blockchain (which cryptocurrencies are built upon but is NOT the same thing) poses some really amazing opportunities for taking back control over your personal and private data in the Internet age, from smart contracts to land titles. Just about anything that requires security and integrity can move to a decentralized model that will ultimately be safer and more reliable for end-users.

As Gilder is fond of saying, every failed venture is an opportunity to learn, to gain clarifying signals (information) from the market economy. Here is his pithy analysis:

“Many of these [innovative blockchain and crypto] ventures will fail, but together they can emancipate the next generation of the Web from closed silos of captured data. The cryptocosm can mobilize computer power in volumes that dwarf even the data centers of the leviathans. In this cause, the advances in computer science pioneered at Google serve to emancipate the world from Google’s silos.” (210)

Life After Google

Near the end of the book, Gilder addresses a contemporary hot button political issue–net neutrality regulations. As a free market guy, he naturally opposes the draconian attempts to regulate internet service providers, for reasons both philosophical (it’s immoral) and practical (it’s counterproductive). As the world’s data continues to accumulate, and the ever-growing need for bandwidth and wireless coverage continues, the fate of the cryptocosm depends on the nascent 5G network. The gains in speed and coverage that 5G promises are so vast that they make net neutrality concerns all but obsolete–if the government doesn’t smother the spread of the technology through regulation.

“In practice, the only factor that makes any serious difference for Internet neutrality is investment in bandwidth. If bandwidth is scarce, it will have to be allocated preferentially, regardless of the laws.” (236)

Google finds itself in an ironic catch-22. It supports oppressive regulations because it enables their “free” service model to the masses. But those regulations threaten to kill the very innovations that will allow their heavy data usage to continue into the future.

The good news for us is that Google, in attempting to provide for its future, will actually sow the seeds of its own destruction. Gilder gives us many good reasons that life after Google will arrive soon, and what a better future it will be.

[To hear my interview with Gilder, go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/george-gilder-on-the-cryptocosm-and-life-after-google/id1342065897?i=1000431395322]

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Hugo L ( nostr:npub1hc79sstpx7ws6jjaqlsnraseayhjua3q2dgp9cjxjxwex6n4lydqslgpzr )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 13682

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Hugo L on 31/07/2023: Transactions on the network should not be judged, and it would be better if we couldn't distinguish between different types. Resources should go to the highest bidder, based on supply and demand. The growth of the blockchain is not caused by inscriptions, but by the limit on storage per block.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Daniel Lipshitz ( nostr:npub1t97ak5ltnq0v72nv4jssnhw0fr09axwqvc20623jfdnvrajae7nqufg2yy )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 1853

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Daniel Lipshitz on 31/07/2023: The implementation of full Replace-by-Fee (RBF) could negatively impact merchants and users who rely on 0-conf transactions. GAP600 has seen strong usage of their service and believes the adoption of RBF will change their business.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

The following is a collection of Tweets posted on Twitter that documented my entire heart surgery process, from finding out I had an issue, through the surgery, and finally throughout my recovery process. If Elon decides to remove old and unpaid content, I do not want this part of my life to vanish from the Internet. At the time, it was extremely important for my mental health to talk about this whole process and it was therapeutic in my recovery process, reading all of the responses as all of Bitcoin Twitter was behind my success. Thank you all of your kind words, love, and support during this whole process. May my Tweets live on through nostr.

...

Nov 28, 2021 I had open heart surgery 4 days before my 3rd b-day. I've led a healthy & active life since then, zero issues. I had an echocardiogram last week. The results were not good. Heart valve replacement may be in my near future. I am freaking the fuck out. I'll know more on Dec 6th. 😫

Dec 6, 2021 Update: I had my cardiologist appointment today. He said to not worry for now and continue to exercise and live life. In 3 months get another echo done. He doesn't believe the previous other results since I have zero symptoms and wants to do his own interpretation.

Dec 6, 2021 He said if the other results were correct, I may need valve replacement in 6 months to 3 years. However, he doesn't believe the local hospital's results as I said above. He can't form an opinion just yet. He said not to worry over and over again. For now, I'm staying positive!

Mar 7, 2022 Well, it's been three months. I had my follow up this morning. I have severe pulmonic regurgitation. I now need to speak with a specialist and see what my options are for surgery. Neat. 😭

Apr 12, 2022 Well, it looks like I'll need full open heart surgery again to replace my pulmonic valve. Bonus: I'll be part pig. So, I have that going for me. I was assuming that if I had to have this done it would be much less invasive, so I'm not overly impressed at the moment. 🫤

May 11, 2022 Today I had to get a CT scan of my heart in preparation for the May 27th surgery. All went well. I have no other heart issues. It's looking like I'll be in the hospital for 4-7 days, depending on how fast I recover. I should be fully 100% recovered by the end of August. ❤️

May 20, 2022 My grandfather with me 39 years ago, days after my open heart surgery. He taught me to hunt, fish, golf, and I'm sure taught me a thing or two about drinking beer and partying. 😂 He was a great man. He won't physically be with me next Friday, but I'm sure he'll be watching over.

May 25, 2022 Two more sleeps. My mind is racing with an incredible amount of thoughts and emotions now. It's overwhelming. I love you all. Thanks for all of your replies and DMs over the last couple days, weeks, and months. I appreciate it immensely. ❤️❤️❤️

May 25, 2022 Two more sleeps. My mind is racing with an incredible amount of thoughts and emotions now. It's overwhelming. I love you all. Thanks for all of your replies and DMs over the last couple days, weeks, and months. I appreciate it immensely. ❤️❤️❤️

May 27, 2022 LET'S GO! I am alive and doing well. I was on a ventilator until 8pm. That was horrible. I will read all of the comments that you all posted on Katie's updates. Now I need to rest. They want to get me up and walk at 11pm. 🤯 I love you all and your support had helped so much 🧡🧡

May 28, 2022 The amount of love, compassion, caring, and appreciation from everyone blows my mind. Thanks for all of your comments and DMs. The positivity though all is this has helped me get through dark times and now it's helping me get through pain. You are helping me immensely. 🤯❤️🧡💪

May 28, 2022 Today has been a rough day. Lots of chest pain when breathing. But, I apparently am doing something right, because I have been upgraded to a regular room. No more ICU for this guy! My ICU nurse told my new nurse that I'm strong. ❤️💪🔥

May 29, 2022 Using this to document my journey. Last night was not good at all. I had tachycardia and AFib for hours. It was scary as fuck having my heart beat the way it was at 160bpm. They gave me new medication to bring it down and stop the AFib irregular heartbeat. It's now at 101.

May 29, 2022 I was very scared. Katie was able to come and stay the night with me and be my personal care nurse. That made me feel much better having her here with me. Hopefully the meds continue to do what they're supposed to. Fuck. Anyways, I may not Tweet much today. Love you all. ❤️

May 30, 2022 Today has mostly been a great day progress wise. I ate a lot. I've walked more today than I have previously. My doctor told me I might be going home tomorrow, it all depends on what happens with my last drainage tube. Fingers crossed that it's draining properly now. 💪❤️

May 31, 2022 Morning walk crushed. Breakfast crushed. Feeling stronger. My drainage tube is still draining so we'll see what the surgeon says, but I probably won't be coming home today according to my nurse. It may be another day. Better to be safe. I'm feeling good though. Let's go! 💪💪❤️❤️

Jun 1, 2022 Today's plans: Crush morning walk, crush breakfast, CRUSH MY LAST X-RAY AND HEAD THE HELL HOME! Fingers crossed. 🤞🤞❤️❤️💪💪

Jun 1, 2022 On my morning walk I went into a slight AFib. The nurse and PA said since I hadn't had my morning meds to control that yet, that that could be the cause. They're going to increase meds and monitor me for another 24 hours. That sucks, but again, I'd rather be safe. Ugh.

Jun 2, 2022 GM! I miss my kids. I miss wearing normal clothes. I miss my house. I miss my doggy. I better go home today or I guess I'll just keep working to get well enough to go home. 😂 I'm still progressing forward. I have a chest x-ray scheduled later this morning. Fingers crossed.

Jun 2, 2022 I JUST GOT CLEARED TO HEAD HOME AFTER LUNCH. FUCK YEAH. LET'S GOOOOOO💪💪💪

Jun 2, 2022 I am home! I have some family that needs some loving. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Jun 4, 2022 Last night I slept in bed thanks to a reclining pillow, the first night our living room chair. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed. I walked around our yard about 9 times yesterday. My goal is to do that plus a little more every day. I'm still in a lot of pain, but meds help.

Jun 4, 2022 I still have a long way to go recovery wise, but having Katie and the kids here helping me along the way makes it easier and gives me a reason to keep pushing forward through this. Thanks again for all of your past and future support. You all are fantastic.

Jun 6, 2022 My wife went back to work today. My son and daughter are in charge of taking care of me. My kids are fantastic. They made me breakfast already and helped me check all of my vitals. My daughter really shines here. She's such a little nurse and caretaker. ❤️❤️

Jun 6, 2022 I'm still in pain, but I'm not in as much pain as I was a couple days ago. I'm walking around a little better and a little more every day. I really hate just sitting around and not doing anything, but it's hard to do much else besides watch TV. I am enjoying my patio though. 💪

Jun 16, 2022 It's been a while. It's time to update this thread! I am doing great, IMO. I have lots of energy. I feel great. I can do a lot more than I previously could. I still have a limited range of motion due to my sternum being broken and still healing. i.e. I can't wash my back or legs.

Jun 16, 2022 I started back to work yesterday. I was cleared to do 20 hours this week by my doctor and I'm hoping to be cleared full time next week. I work from home, so if I can sit in front of a TV, I can sit in front of a computer, right?

Jun 16, 2022 My home nurses have been absolutely fantastic.😂 My kids make me breakfast every morning. And I could not have done any of this without my rock star wife. Words can't describe how much she's done for me throughout all of this. I am looking forward to continuing to improve. ♥️

Jun 16, 2022 You all have been absolutely wonderful through all of this too. I appreciate all of your love, support, and check-ins. Seriously. It means more than you know.

I have a check-up at the end of the month to make sure all is well. I'll update again in a couple weeks after that appt.

Jun 28, 2022 My doctor said everything looks great. He said it doesn't look like I had open heart surgery a month ago.💪 He said I have zero restrictions and that I can resume normal life. I can drive and I can go out on my boat! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm so happy right now! 🔥🚀

Jul 15, 2022 I started cardiac rehab this week. After 2 sessions the nurse said I'm on "Week 4" already. She doesn't believe with my initial intake stress test if I'll really be able to improve on it that much. 🤣 TL;DR I am a rock star and kicking ass. Feeling great. Life's great. 😍

Aug 28, 2022 Yesterday was 3 months since my open heart surgery. I'm going great! I'd guess essentially back to normal. My sternum is still not fully healed, that'll take more time, but energy and capability are basically back to what I was like last summer. I'm very happy with the results.

Aug 28, 2022 I'm very happy to be able to exercise daily, go boating on the weekends AND swim and paddleboard. I was annoyed that I couldn't do these things a month ago. I had a cardiologist appt. two weeks ago. He said he hopes the valve lasts me the rest of my life and to see him in a year.

Aug 28, 2022 As a final post to this thread, I want to thank each and every one of you again that commented, liked, shared and DMed me throughout all of this. The love and support from Twitter and the #Bitcoin community was unfathomable. You all made a difference in my life and my recovery.❤️

@ 7e9c924a:188c865e

Introduction

Users of Nostr are most likely already familiar with the fact that there are multiple kinds of events on Nostr. It's not just for Twitter like experiences. In this series of posts we'll take a look at how to build a fully functional blog with the following features:

• Setting up and getting started with SvelteKit and Tailwind
• How to fetch our posts from Nostr
• Dynamic SSR or prerendering using SvelteKit
• Building a simple cache adapter for Cachified that uses SQLite as a storage
• Adding a contact us form that sends a DM to use using Nostr.

We will be adding features as we go. At some point in the future I want to add some kind of authentication (using NIP-07) as well as comments, reactions and analytics.

If you're just interested in checking out the code, you can find it on GitHub. Each part and section has a separate branch.

This post and the upcoming parts will also be available on my blog where you can see the end result.

Getting started with SvelteKit

Getting the project set up

SvelteKit is one of the simplest solutions out there if you want to build your own blog. It's more work than just using something like Ghost but you get the advantage of customizability.

I will assume that you have some experience using the terminal here. To get going run the following commands somewhere on your compouter: bash npm create svelte@latest my-blog

Select the following options:

1. Which template: Skeleton project
2. Type Checking: Yes, using Typescript syntax
3. Addition options: ESLint, Prettier

When the installation process is done, run the following commands:

bash cd my-blog npm install npm run dev -- --open

You'll also need an editor. I prefer VSCode (or in the spirit of Nostr, go for VSCodium). If you're new to Svelte, make sure to download the Svelte extension on the marketplace.

To make our website look somewhat decent, let's also add Tailwind to handle the styling. Run npx svelte-add@latest tailwindcss in the terminal.

If you are completely new to Svelte and SvelteKit I would recommend going through the learning material to get a basic understanding of what is going on.

Fetching posts from Nostr

Before we actually set things up to show only our own posts, let's start with just fetching the latest 5 events from a couple of different relays. We'll be using @pablof7z's excellent library @nostr-dev-kit/ndk. We'll also need to polyfill the websocket functionality since node doesn't support this out of the box:

bash npm install @nostr-dev-kit/ndk websocket-polyfill

Once it's installed, go ahead and create a file called nostr.ts in the following path: lib/server/. This is where we will be interacting with Nostr.

First off, we'll need a list of relays that support NIP-04 (long form content). I used wss://purplepag.es. Find more on nostr.watch. Let's write some code.

```ts // lib/server/nostr.ts import NDK from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk"; import 'websocket-polyfill'

const relays = ['wss://relay.damus.io', 'wss://purplepag.es']

class Nostr { private ndk: NDK

constructor(relays: string[]) {
    this.ndk = new NDK({ explicitRelayUrls: relays })
}

public async init() {
    try {
        await this.ndk.connect()
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Error connecting to NDK:', error)
    }
}

}

export const ndk = new Nostr(relays); ```

We'recreating a simple class and instantiating NDK inside of it. We're then passing in our list of relays and exporting an instance of this class that we can use in the rest of our application. We've also added an init() method that we'll run when we start our application that connects to the relays.

Next we'll create a method to fetch our posts but first, let's add an interface so we get some type safety. In src/app.d.ts go ahead and add the following interface:

ts ... interface Article { slug?: string, d?: string, title: string, summary: string, tags: string[] published_at: string, }

Add a method to our Nostr class in nostr.ts. This will be the method that fetches the latest 5 events from our relays.

```ts ... import type { NDKEvent } from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk";

class Nostr { ... public async getAllArticles(): Promise { let events: NDKEvent[]; try { events = [...await this.ndk.fetchEvents({ kinds: [ 30023 ], limit: 5 })] } catch (error) { console.error('Error fetching events:', error) events = [] } const articles = events.map(({tags}) => { const { summary, image, published_at, title, t, d } = mapTags(tags)

        return {
            slug: generateSlug(title as string),
            d,
            summary, 
            image, 
            published_at, 
            title,
            tags: t || []
            }
        })
    if (articles.length === 0) {
        return []
    }

    return articles as Article[]

} } ```

Let's try to understand what's going on here. First we're importing the type NDKEvent. This is what we'll get back from NDK when we fetch our events.

We're fetching out event here: events = [...await this.ndk.fetchEvents({ kinds: [ 30023 ], limit: 5 })]. NDK returns a set of NDKEvents. I like to work with arrays so I convert them to just that by spreading them into an empty array. The argument that we pass into the fetchEvents method is a filter object. It follows the NIP-01 specification, so you can put all sorts of things in here. You can read more about in the spec. In our case we're using the 30023 kind which is the long-form content kind and we're limiting the number of results to 5.

Nostr events have a few fields that we need to pay attention to. Often you'll find the actual body of a message in the content field, but other things that are specific to the kind will be found in the t field as an array of tuples so in order to more easily use this information we'll need to go through and clean it all up.

The keen-eyed among you have probably already spotted the mapTags() and generateSlug() functions here. Create a new file lib/server/utils.ts and inside add the following:

```ts import type { NDKTag } from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk";

export function generateSlug(headline: string): string { const lowerCaseHeadline = headline.toLowerCase(); const slug = lowerCaseHeadline.replace(/[^\w\s]/g, '').replace(/\s+/g, '-'); return slug; }

export function mapTags(tuple_tags: NDKTag[]): Record { let tags = tuple_tags.reduce((acc, [key, value]) => { if (!acc[key]) acc[key] = value else if (typeof acc[key] === 'string') { acc[key] = [acc[key], value] as string[] } else { (acc[key] as string[]).push(value) } return acc }, {} as Record)

return tags } ```

You don't need to understand what's going on here other than the fact that the functions will generate a slug and map the t field into usable fields.

Let's go back to our lib/server/nostr.ts file and import these.

```ts import { generateSlug, mapTags } from './utils'

class Nostr { ... } ```

Ok. with that done we should be able to fetch events. Let's move on to the SvelteKit bits.

Showing posts on the front-end

SvelteKit apps are server-rendered by default for first load performance and SEO. This is important in order to get your posts ranked on search engines like Google or Bing.

First off, we need to make sure our Nostr client is initiated. Create a file called hooks: /hooks.server.ts and add the following:

```ts import type { Handle } from '@sveltejs/kit'; import { ndk } from '$lib/server/nostr'

await ndk.init()

export const handle = (async ({ event, resolve }) => { const response = await resolve(event); return response; }) satisfies Handle; ```

This file runs when the server starts. The handle hook runds on each request, we're not using it here but we need to add it in order for the rest of the file to be run.

Loading our events

Let's start with loading our events. Create a file routes/+page.server.ts. In here we'll call the get articles method on our Nostr client.

```ts import { ndk } from '$lib/server/api';

export const load = async () => { const articles = await ndk.getAllArticles()

return {
    articles
};

} ```

A load function in SvelteKit is used to return data to the front-end. It runs whenever a request is sent to the corresponding route. In this case the root: /.

Since we have already initiated our Nostr client in hooks.server.ts we don't need to do it here. Simply call ndk.getAllArticles() and return the result.

Building the front-end

Let's make something appear on the page. Open up routes/+page.svelte. Remove the contents of the file and add the following:

```html

My blog

{#each data.articles as article}
• {article.title}
{/each}

```

The things we returned in our load function will be available in our data prop.

To get a list of our posts we use an {#each} block and loop through our articles.

Yay! Titles of posts! Amazing. Let's make it look a bit better. Create a new component: routes/Summary.svelte and add the following:

```html

```

And finally import it and use it in /routes/+page.svelte:

```html

My blog

{#each data.articles as article}
{/each}

```

Last but not least we'll want to only fetch our own posts. To do that modify the filter we used in the Nostr class (lib/server/nostr.ts):

ts ... events = [...await this.ndk.fetchEvents({ kinds: [ 30023 ], authors: [YOUR_PUBKEY_GOES_HERE, SOME_OTHER_PUBKEY])] ...

Make sure that the pubkey you're using is in a hex format. If you only have your npub1..... style key you can use something like Nostr Check to convert it.

You will probably notice that it takes quite a while to load your page at this point. In the next part we'll take a look at how we can fix this by using caching.

Until next time! 🤘

@ 138e0951:6a1d8320

originalidad 0% .... probando nostr

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• The Rise of River: A Game-Changer in the Bitcoin Space
• Factors Influencing Thiel's Decision
• Implications of Thiel's Investment
• Conclusion
• FAQ

Peter Thiel, the renowned venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, has recently made headlines with his bold move of investing $35 million in a Bitcoin startup called River. Thiel's investment in the cryptocurrency industry has sparked curiosity and debate among investors and industry experts. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind Thiel's decision to back River and delve into the potential implications of this move for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Peter Thiel's Bold Move The Rise of River: A Game-Changer in the Bitcoin Space

Understanding River's Mission River is a Bitcoin startup founded in 2019 with a mission to make Bitcoin more accessible and user-friendly. The company aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the world of cryptocurrencies by providing institutional-grade Bitcoin financial services. River offers a suite of tools and services designed to simplify the process of buying, selling, and storing Bitcoin for both individual and institutional investors.

Thiel's Confidence in River's Vision Peter Thiel's investment in River is a testament to his confidence in the startup's vision and potential. Thiel has a track record of backing disruptive and innovative companies, and his support for River indicates his belief in the transformative power of Bitcoin. By investing a substantial amount of capital, Thiel is betting on River's ability to drive mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and revolutionize the way people interact with the digital currency.

Factors Influencing Thiel's Decision Growing Institutional Interest in Bitcoin One of the key factors influencing Thiel's decision to invest in River is the increasing institutional interest in Bitcoin. In recent years, major financial institutions, including banks and asset management firms, have started to embrace cryptocurrencies and recognize their potential as an investment asset. Thiel, known for his keen insights into emerging trends, likely sees the institutional adoption of Bitcoin as a significant catalyst for its future growth.

Addressing Bitcoin's Accessibility Challenges Bitcoin's mainstream adoption has been hindered by various challenges, including its complexity and lack of user-friendly infrastructure. River aims to tackle these hurdles by providing a seamless and secure platform for buying, selling, and storing Bitcoin. Thiel's investment in River indicates his belief that the startup's innovative solutions can address these accessibility challenges and make Bitcoin more user-friendly for a broader audience.

Potential for Bitcoin's Price Appreciation Thiel's investment in River may also be driven by his belief in the long-term potential for Bitcoin's price appreciation. As an early advocate of Bitcoin, Thiel has consistently expressed his bullish stance on the digital currency. By investing in a Bitcoin startup like River, Thiel is positioning himself to benefit from the potential growth of the cryptocurrency market as a whole.

Peter Thiel's Bold Move Time in Bitcoin and Implications of Thiel's Investment

Boosting Confidence in the Bitcoin Ecosystem Thiel's investment in River not only provides the startup with substantial funding but also boosts confidence in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. Thiel's track record as a successful investor and his reputation in the financial industry lend credibility to the potential of Bitcoin as a disruptive force in the world of finance. His endorsement of River may encourage other investors and institutions to take a closer look at Bitcoin and its underlying technology.

Accelerating Mainstream Adoption Thiel's investment in River has the potential to accelerate the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. River's focus on user-friendly financial services can attract a wider audience of investors who were previously hesitant to enter the cryptocurrency space. By providing a seamless and secure platform, River can help overcome the barriers that have prevented mainstream adoption, ultimately driving more people to embrace Bitcoin as a viable investment option.

Fostering Innovation in the Bitcoin Industry Thiel's investment in River also fuels innovation in the Bitcoin industry. The injection of capital enables River to expand its operations, hire top talent, and further develop its suite of services. This infusion of resources can have a ripple effect, inspiring other entrepreneurs and startups to enter the Bitcoin ecosystem with their own innovative solutions. Thiel's backing of River may spark a wave of creativity and competition, ultimately driving the industry forward.

Peter Thiel's Bold Move Conclusion Peter Thiel's $35 million investment in the Bitcoin startup River is a bold move that highlights his confidence in the future of Bitcoin and the potential of innovative companies within the cryptocurrency space. Thiel's investment not only supports River's mission to make Bitcoin more accessible but also boosts confidence in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. By addressing Bitcoin's accessibility challenges, River has the potential to drive mainstream adoption and accelerate the growth of the cryptocurrency market. Thiel's backing of River also fosters innovation within the industry, inspiring other entrepreneurs to develop their own groundbreaking solutions. With Thiel's strategic investment, River is well-positioned to make a significant impact on the Bitcoin landscape and shape the future of digital finance.

FAQ Who is Peter Thiel? Peter Thiel is a renowned venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal. He is known for his investments in disruptive and innovative companies.

What is River? River is a Bitcoin startup that aims to make Bitcoin more accessible and user-friendly by providing institutional-grade financial services for buying, selling, and storing Bitcoin.

Why did Peter Thiel invest in River? Peter Thiel invested in River because he believes in the startup's vision and potential to drive mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. He also sees the growing institutional interest in Bitcoin and the need to address its accessibility challenges.

What are the implications of Thiel's investment in River? Thiel's investment in River boosts confidence in the Bitcoin ecosystem, accelerates mainstream adoption, and fosters innovation within the industry.

That's all for today, see ya tomorrow

If you want more, be sure to follow us on:

NOSTR: croxroad@getalby.com

X: @croxroadnews

Instagram: @croxroadnews.co

Subscribe to CROX ROAD Bitcoin Only Daily Newsletter

https://www.croxroad.co/subscribe

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Amnistía Internacional deseó este sábado la libertad del preso político cubano José Daniel Ferrer, quien cumple 53 años en terribles condiciones en la cárcel de Mar Verde en Santiago de Cuba y con la tortura de estar incomunicado casi permanentemente.

"Hoy es el cumpleaños del líder político José Daniel Ferrer. Hoy debería celebrar con su familia. José Daniel lleva dos años preso injustamente; es un preso de conciencia de Miguel Díaz-Canel", dijo Erika Guevara Rosas, representante de Amnistía Internacional en América Latina en un mensaje en Twitter.

"¡Exigimos su libertad inmediata! Muy pronto te veremos libre, es mi mayor deseo, José Daniel", concluyó.

"Mi valiente, firme y determinado hermano José Daniel Ferrer García está cumpliendo 53 años de edad. Quisiera desearle muchas felicidades en tan importante día y, sobre todo, pedirle a Dios que ponga sus manos una vez más y permita su libertad inmediata e incondicional, así como la de todos los presos políticos", escribió por su parte en Facebook la hermana del coordinador nacional de la UNPACU, Ana Belkis Ferrer García.

La opositora Rosa María Payá, por su parte, declaró en Twitter: "Cuando todo acabe y los cubanos podamos ser libres en Cuba, será gracias al esfuerzo de hombres (y mujeres) como José Daniel, que hoy cumple 53 años en una celda de aislamiento húmeda y hedionda cargando con la dignidad de todos los cubanos. #NoMásPresosPolíticos #SOSCuba #PatriaYVida #AbajoLaDictadura".

Este sábado Amnistía Internacional relanzó una acción urgente a propósito del cumpleaños de Ferrer en la que invita a todos escribir un correo electrónico a Díaz-Canel exigiendo su liberación.

La familia de José Daniel Ferrer García ha alertado sobre el deterioro físico que sufre por las pésimas condiciones carcelarias, y sobre el acoso de la Seguridad del Estado contra él y sus familiares. En la visita que pudieron hacer la semana pasada, gracias a la fuerza que tomó la campaña que exigía una "fe de vida" del disidente cubano, Ortega, junto al hijo que tiene con Ferrer y otra de las hijas del opositor, Fátima Victoria Ferrer, pudieron llegar a verlo en uno de los pasillos, cerca de la celda donde esta confinado.

Al finalizar la visita denunciaron que Ferrer se encuentra en un "crítico estado de salud", semidesnudo y recluido en una celda de aislamiento en la prisión de Mar Verde.

Ferrer fue detenido el 11 de julio de 2021 en el contexto de los actos de protesta que se celebraron por toda la Isla. Desde el 14 de agosto de 2021 permanece recluido en una celda de castigo, según sus familiares. Desde el 17 de marzo de 2023, permanece en régimen de incomunicación y antes de esta fecha se encontraba en mal estado de salud. Es preso de conciencia, por lo que debe ser puesto en libertad de inmediato y sin condiciones, demandó Amnistía Internacional el pasado 6 de junio.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Un cubano denunció el maltrato policial del que fue objeto en un punto de control de La Habana cuando transitaba hacia una zona de playa, según publicación compartida en redes.

El usuario de Facebook Jiosbel García denunció este sábado que fue detenido el viernes último alrededor de las nueve de la mañana en el punto de control del municipio de Playa, yendo para la localidad costera Baracoa, y que lo multan por ir a 50 kilómetros por hora cuando en la zona hay una señal que permite transitar a 60 kilómetros.

García aunque le explicó que iba en familia y que no tenía puntos en su licencia de conducción le aplicaron una multa de 12 puntos por exceso de velocidad.

Para el usuario lo más detestable fue el maltrato recibido por una mujer policía que lo detuvo. “Por eso hice este video y la reclamación y por si existe otro lugar a donde dirigirme”, apuntó, además.

En el video compartido, el usuario realiza el mismo recorrido del día anterior y muestra la señal que advierte que se puede transitar a 60km/h en ese tramo.

“La cámara me captó que yo iba a 50km/h donde hay una señal que dice que se puede ir a 60 km/h. Yo le pregunto a la compañero que por qué me va a poner la multa y me dijo que por ‘licencia operativa’. Le explico que voy en familia a disfrutar en la playa y ella me dice que ‘eso no es problema de ella’ y me pone la multa de 12 puntos”, contó García, que insistió que su disgusto mayor “es por la mala forma en que la muchacha me trató. Me puso la multa y me dijo que no tenía más nada que hablar conmigo, que reclamara si no estaba de acuerdo”.

En la publicación, una usuaria comentó que “por eso este país está como está, ya no se puede salir. Para lo que tienen que estar, no lo están, que se pongan para la delincuencia que está acabando”.

No es la primera vez que trascienden a las redes denuncias de maltrato policial en carreteras cubanas.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

La policía del condado de Broward arrestó a dos personas acusadas de robar un reloj valorado en 150 mil dólares en una joyería en el centro de Fort Lauderdale.

Aurel Dobos, de 48 años, y Adina Buchuc, de 41, fueron detenidos en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami el miércoles pasado y están siendo conectados con delitos similares que han ocurrido en todo el país, informaron medios locales.

El suceso ocurrió en la Robinson’s Jewelry, ubicado en 820 E Las Olas Blvd., en abril pasado y gracias al video de vigilancia de la joyería.

La pieza en cuestión es un reloj Patek Philippe valorado en más de 150.000 dólares.

“Se veían bien; estaban bien vestidos, tenían puestos Rolex. Llevaba un gran sombrero, decía que eran de Italia; me parecían turistas”, dijo Andrew Robinson, el dueño de la tienda.

“Gracias a Dios pudieron atrapar a estos dos, meterlos en la cárcel y no pueden hacérselo a otra persona porque duele”, agregó el compungido dueño, quien se alegra de que sus sistemas de videos hayan contribuido a identificar a los ladrones.

Dobos y Buchuc fueron arrestado justo antes de tomar un vuelo, se le asocia a un crimen similar en Caifornia y permanecen en la cárcel.

Su fianza es de 10,000 dólares, pero tendrán que demostrar que el dinero que usen para la fianza se ganó legalmente.

En febrero, un ladrón se robó cinco relojes Rolex de una joyería de Aventura, Florida, con un valor aproximado de $177,000 dólares.

El robo ocurrió en la tienda International Jewelers Exchange, ubicada en 19725 Biscayne Blvd., al sur del Aventura Mall.

Los investigadores no tienen claro cómo el individuo logró abrir el cajón cerrado que protegía los cinco relojes de lujo marca Rolex. El hombre se llevó la valiosa carga consigo, a pesar de quedar grabado por las cámaras de seguridad.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

El economista y exprisionero político Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, figura insigne de la oposición en Cuba, falleció este domingo en La Habana a los 80 años como resultado de una afectación cerebrovascular.

El deceso de Roca se produjo al filo de las 6 p.m. en su apartamento de Nuevo Vedado, donde se encontraba al cuidado de su sobrina, Vivian Roca. Sufrió un paro cardiorespiratorio como secuela de un infarto cerebral que tuvo en 2020.

“El estaba muy mal desde hacía meses, le repetían con frecuencia los pequeños infartos cerebrales y había perdido la memoria”, dijo Vivian Roca en comunicación telefónica con CiberCuba.

Con la muerte de Vladimiro Roca desaparece una personalidad emblemática de la disidencia política que enfrentó al régimen de Fidel Castro, defendiendo sus diferencias desde posturas de izquierda que forjó en el seno de la tradición familiar.

Nacido en La Habana el 21 de diciembre de 1942, Vladimiro era hijo de Blas Roca, dirigente fundador del Partido Socialista Popular (PSP) y quien se mantuvo en la cúpula del poder revolucionario hasta el final de su vida. Realizó sus estudios primarios en una escuela primaria del barrio de La Víbora y al terminar la enseñanza secundaria se incorporó como aprendiz de cajista en el periódico Hoy, órgano del PSP.

A los 18 años formó parte de la primera promoción de una élite de jóvenes seleccionados para entrenarse como pilotos de cazabombarderos en la Unión Soviética. A su regreso, se mantuvo dentro de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Cuba (FAR) por 10 años.

Se graduó de la licenciatura en Relaciones Económicas Internacionales en el Instituto en 1987 y trabajó en las esferas del gobierno hasta que sus diferencias con el rumbo político del país se hicieron irreconciliables.

Vladimiro manifestó sus discrepancias con los postulados de la Constitución socialista que su propio padre contribuyó decisivamente a instaurar en 1976 como presidente de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular.

Su disidencia activa se hizo ostensible en 1991, cuatro años después del fallecimiento de su padre.

Despedido de su empleo gubernamental, Vladimiro comenzó a expresar públicamente su oposición. En 1996 figuró entre los fundadores del Partido Socialdemócrata de Cuba y, un año después, participó en la creación del Grupo de Trabajo de la Disidencia Interna, que pretendía analizar y proponer soluciones a la crítica situación económica del país.

Unido a otros tres pensadores distanciados del oficialismo, Martha Beatriz Roque, Félix Bonne Carcassés y René Gómez Manzano, elaboró y firmó el documento La patria es de todos, un demoledor examen del descalabro económico y social de Cuba, con propuestas para una reforma democrática y pluripartidista. La publicación del texto encolerizó a Fidel y Raúl Castro, y determinó el arresto de sus promotores en 1997.

Vladimiro y sus compañeros fueron juzgados por delitos “contra de la seguridad nacional del Estado cubano" y "sedición", y condenados a largas condenas de cárcel.

Cumplió prisión hasta 2002 y se mantuvo activo en labores del activismo político y la defensa de los derechos humanos en Cuba.

En 2010, estuvo entre los activistas que logró viajar hasta Banes, en la oriental provincia de Holguín, para participar en las exequias del opositor Orlando Zapata Tamayo, fallecido en una heroica huelga de hambre para reclamar libertad para los presos políticos.

Por decisión familiar, su cadáver será cremado en las próximas horas. No están previstas honras fúnebres hasta el momento.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Un ciudadano cubano fue detenido en Cancún después de que presuntamente robó tres bolsas de sopa de un supermercado. El sospechoso afirmó haber perdido su empleo en la zona hotelera hace diez días y declaró que cometió el acto impulsado por el hambre. La situación generó un fuerte dispositivo de seguridad en la supermanzana 512, esquina Nichupté con Chac Mool.

Los policías, pertenecientes a la Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana del estado de Quintana Roo, se movilizaron rápidamente cuando recibieron el llamado de alerta del robo que tuvo lugar en el negocio llamado Soriana. Imágenes compartidas en redes sociales muestran que al menos tres oficiales y dos patrullas arribaron al lugar de los hechos.

Alerta Quintana Roo, un medio de noticias de la región, no justificó el robo, pero aprovechó el incidente para cuestionar la actuación policial en otros delitos que ocurren en la ciudad.

Mientras que en casos de extrema violencia e inseguridad, relacionados con el narcotráfico, no son atendidos de manera correcta, en situaciones de delitos menos graves hasta más dos patrullas arriban para detener a una sola persona.

Este caso en particular pone de relieve las dificultades que enfrentan algunos migrantes cubanos fuera de su país natal, y cómo la falta de empleo y recursos puede llevar a actos desesperados.

Es importante señalar que este incidente no refleja la situación de todos los oriundos de la Isla en el extranjero, debido a que muchos de ellos han encontrado éxito y prosperidad en sus nuevos hogares.

Las autoridades locales no revelaron el nombre del detenido, y tampoco se ofreció información sobre su situación migratoria. En caso de no tener la documentación apropiada para una estancia regular en México, podría ser entregado a las autoridades migratorias, si su caso legal no pasa a una situación mayor.

En los comentarios del post, algunos mexicanos cuestionaron la actitud de los agentes, además de que expresar palabras de apoyo al cubano desesperado. “Poca vergüenza de los policías y de quien los haya llamado más, habiendo tanto asesino en la calle y corren a detener a un pobre hombre que tiene hambre”, dijo una usuaria.

Otra agregó: “debieron ayudarlo pagando las sopas o hubieran sido más empáticos con él, recuerden que el mundo da vuelta, ¿Ya se les olvidó todo lo que pasamos en la pandemia?”, dijo la internauta Ximena Pablo.

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Carla Kirk-Cohen ( nostr:npub17xugd458km0nm8edu8u2efuqmxzft3tmu92j3tyc0fa4gxdk9mkqmanw36 )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-27

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 698

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Carla Kirk-Cohen on 27/07/2023: Transcripts of specification meetings held every other Monday are now available at https://btctranscripts.com/lightning-specification, thanks to Gurwinder at Chaincode.

Follow nostr:npub1j3t00t9hv042ktszhk8xpnchma60x5kz4etemnslrhf9e9wavywqf94gll for full threads

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

📝 Summary: The convo discusses the concept of multipath keysend, which allows for splitting payments into multiple parts. This adds complexity to keysend but can be useful in certain situations. ZmnSCPxj proposes a multipath payment protocol called "keysend" that enables this functionality. The protocol allows the receiver to claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

👥 Authors: • Olaoluwa Osuntokun ( nostr:npub19helcfnqgk2jrwzjex2aflq6jwfc8zd9uzzkwlgwhve7lykv23mq5zkvn4 ) • Thomas HUET ( nostr:npub1tcwr7j30p5q4sypnsw4arca9s2433s7wdcpt2z2sk7pkqfsntjds0pu5xp ) • Matt Morehouse ( nostr:npub1zgyy2j829vn4zuvhkgza7qe37knzdls4kuwt2k8cehwpjxn9duwqv5j4mf ) • Matt Corallo ( nostr:npub1e46n428mcyfwznl7nlsf6d3s7rhlwm9x3cmkuqzt3emmdpadmkaqqjxmcu ) • ZmnSCPxj ( nostr:npub1g5zswf6y48f7fy90jf3tlcuwdmjn8znhzaa4vkmtxaeskca8hpss23ms3l )

📅 Messages Date Range: 2023-07-27 to 2023-07-29

✉️ Message Count: 5

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 13928

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by ZmnSCPxj on 27/07/2023: A scheme for creating a keysend protocol that allows for multipath payments is proposed, where the receiver can claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

✉️ Message by Thomas HUET on 28/07/2023: The motivation for multipath keysend is to allow for splitting payments into multiple parts, ensuring the receiver can only claim the payment once all parts have arrived. This adds complexity to keysend, but may be useful for certain use cases.

✉️ Message by Matt Morehouse on 28/07/2023: ZmnSCPxj proposes a scheme for a multipath payment protocol called "keysend" that allows for splitting payments into multiple parts.

✉️ Message by Olaoluwa Osuntokun on 29/07/2023: The email discusses a scheme for creating a multipath payment protocol using keysend, allowing the receiver to claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

✉️ Message by Matt Corallo on 29/07/2023: The author suggests implementing a multipath payment protocol for keysend, allowing the receiver to claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

Follow nostr:npub1j3t00t9hv042ktszhk8xpnchma60x5kz4etemnslrhf9e9wavywqf94gll for full threads

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: aymeric at peersm.com ( nostr:npub1tm2gdrkzrts6uhjx0snassk2txhcjnrenq6nptw66jfdmu3x4e7s3r4u2v )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-27

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 2674

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by aymeric at peersm.com on 27/07/2023: A concerned individual has raised a bug regarding "inscriptions" on the Bitcoin blockchain, suggesting they are spam and causing issues. They request a feature to reject inscriptions.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Peter Todd ( nostr:npub1m230cem2yh3mtdzkg32qhj73uytgkyg5ylxsu083n3tpjnajxx4qqa2np2 )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-30

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 3752

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Peter Todd on 30/07/2023: A pull request has been submitted to enable full-RBF by default in Bitcoin Core, as approximately 40% of Bitcoin hash power is already using it.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

📝 Summary: The conversation revolves around the issue of inscriptions in the Bitcoin network, which are seen as a spam attack. One person suggests rejecting inscriptions in the mempool as a solution, while another argues that blocking spam could be seen as censorship. Standardization rules are proposed as a way to address the issue, but there are concerns about the impact on regular transactions. The conversation also touches on the problems of initial blockchain download time and UTXO set growth. Overall, there is a debate about how to handle inscriptions and the ethical implications of spam in the Bitcoin network.

👥 Authors: • Léo Haf ( nostr:npub1llvyx59pm062s9wtv23tz70djmgxxz807evjcjzyt8v5dxugysas9etyr0 ) • leohaf at orangepill.ovh ( nostr:npub1slp5wtupc9zgq044phx04yh53qqktjuwmhy5ayecdh9p5s48qc7qpexe6g ) • vjudeu at gazeta.pl ( nostr:npub1357006afyypkgz03lmq8fnuvlkyjt0rukx8rt56ck8xv396jaceqmnssga ) • rot13maxi ( nostr:npub12aguh8y7hacsxc3c7fsjzkqh95nu9cuh4ec6htx9y3sz75722npqmllglz )

📅 Messages Date Range: 2023-07-25 to 2023-07-30

✉️ Message Count: 6

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 32106

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by leohaf at orangepill.ovh on 25/07/2023: The writer is concerned about a bug in recent software versions that causes inscriptions to take up a large amount of space on the blockchain, impacting the UTXO set. They request options to reject inscriptions in the mempool and raise ethical questions about NFTs and Tokens.

✉️ Message by vjudeu at gazeta.pl on 26/07/2023: The problem of inscriptions in Bitcoin has not been addressed seriously because there is no good solution and it would lead to other serious problems like initial blockchain download time and UTXO set growth. Rejecting inscriptions in the mempool would result in a never-ending chase and the creation of different inscriptions. The Bitcoin community has consistently rejected concepts like NFTs and Tokens, but some unstoppable concepts like soft-forks still exist. Inscription creators have created a non-enforced soft-fork with their rules.

✉️ Message by leohaf at orangepill.ovh on 26/07/2023: Inscriptions are a major spam attack in the Bitcoin network, and not taking action against them could encourage more similar attacks in the future. Adding a standardization option could be a solution.

✉️ Message by vjudeu at gazeta.pl on 27/07/2023: Not taking action against spam could be seen as acceptance. Some argue blocking spam is censorship and could lead to blocking regular transactions.

✉️ Message by Léo Haf on 27/07/2023: Standardization rules were introduced to address issues like the opreturn limit, maxancestorcount, minrelayfee, and dust limit. Bitcoin defenders can detect and standardize spam transactions more easily than creating new types of spam. Default policy can be a weakness or strength, depending on integration into Bitcoin Core. Using a pre-segwit node is not a solution as it cannot initiate new ones. Satoshi discussed spam and some consider Ordinals as spam. Blocking Ordinals is seen as censorship and could lead to blocking regular transactions. The Bitcoin network tolerating spam could be perceived by spammers. The IBD problem and UTXO set growing problem need to be solved. People can still use Taproot to upload data and turn off the witness to become a pre-Segwit node. Blocking certain ways of pushing data may lead to data being pushed into legacy parts.

✉️ Message by rot13maxi on 30/07/2023: Bitcoin defenders can win the cat and mouse game against spam transactions by detecting and standardizing them, making it harder for inscriptions to reach miners. Appeals to Satoshi are not convincing arguments.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ fa984bd7:58018f52

Today I stumbled upon a team that has built a client and a few service providers using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

They detailed two milestones on the project's page that are a perfect example of the Before and After pictures that I can't help but point them out here.

The project is aiming at creating an AI system that generates images and logos.

Before

First take: using L402, the project is hitting an endpoint that requires payment to complete. This means, the client is integrating with a specific endpoint, paying and receiving a result.

After

At the end of the first milestone, they mention they are interested in exploring what this would look like using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

What happens?

Instead of integrating specifically with an endpoint, which could change it's price, lower it's quality, go out of business or simply stop being the best possible provider for these type of jobs.

Instead of this client tightly-coupling with a specific endpoint, they use NIP-90 to communicate with an infinite market of service providers who try to get the job done for them.

No endpoint need apply.

Guess what? PhotoBolt completely migrated over to DVM!

X vs Y axes / Free-market vs centrally-planned designs

If it's not abundantly obvious by now, the first approach demands from the service provider a complete output that is acceptable, and hopefully, the best in the market.

Thus, the business behind the endpoint needs to vertically integrate, which means, they need to try and be the best at each step required to deliver a complete result.

If it's not the best in the market, the client will have to, at some point, shop around until they find a new endpoint to integrate with to buy this type of jobs from.

Rinse and repeat.

The new alternative that DVMs unlock is that there is no need to acquire services from a vertically-integrated service provider, which allows services providers to specialize in being the best possible at something widely specific and let Nostr and Lightning to be the glue that ties everything together.

Today I stumbled upon a team that has built a client and a few service providers using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

They detailed two milestones on the project's page that are a perfect example of the Before and After pictures that I can't help but point them out here.

The project is aiming at creating an AI system that generates images and logos.

Before

First take: using L402, the project is hitting an endpoint that requires payment to complete. This means, the client is integrating with a specific endpoint, paying and receiving a result.

After

At the end of the first milestone, they mention they are interested in exploring what this would look like using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

What happens?

Instead of integrating specifically with an endpoint, which could change it's price, lower it's quality, go out of business or simply stop being the best possible provider for these type of jobs.

Instead of this client tightly-coupling with a specific endpoint, they use NIP-90 to communicate with an infinite market of service providers who try to get the job done for them.

No endpoint need apply.

Guess what? PhotoBolt completely migrated over to DVM!

X vs Y axes / Free-market vs centrally-planned designs

If it's not abundantly obvious by now, the first approach demands from the service provider a complete output that is acceptable, and hopefully, the best in the market.

Thus, the business behind the endpoint needs to vertically integrate, which means, they need to try and be the best at each step required to deliver a complete result.

If it's not the best in the market, the client will have to, at some point, shop around until they find a new endpoint to integrate with to buy this type of jobs from.

Rinse and repeat.

The new alternative that DVMs unlock is that there is no need to acquire services from a vertically-integrated service provider, which allows services providers to specialize in being the best possible at something widely specific and let Nostr and Lightning to be the glue that ties everything together.

PS. Here are milestone 1 and milestone 2

@ 6d5f85c4:a3f7e400

About me

Good day nostr! Was tagged by for introductions so here it goes.

Not gonna give away too much of the spice away but here are some of the things that have taken up a majority of my life.

• Wildland Firefighting 🔥
• Military 🎖️
• Skiing ⛷️
• Photography & Cinematography 📽️
• Forestry 🌲
• Exploring the World 🛫

Slowly adding freedom technology to the list but it is rather newish in my life. Looking forward to seeing #nostr grow as a community and meeting more of you all. Have a good day everyone!

@ 32e18276:5c68e245

Company Overview:

Damus is the pioneering iOS nostr client. Through its platform, Damus empowers billions on iOS with the tools for free speech and free speech money. If you're driven to bring freedom technology to the masses and ignite change, we invite you to join our mission.

Job Description

1. Collaborate on iOS Damus in tandem with our core developer, Will Casarin, and the broader Damus team.
2. Implement our vision as laid out in our product roadmap: https://github.com/orgs/damus-io/projects/3/views/1.
3. Embrace the fun and critical mission of undermining totalitarian regimes across the globe.

Job Requirements

1. A genuine passion for freedom technology.
2. At least one year of collaborative development experience.
3. Experience building SwiftUI iOS apps.
4. Passionate about design and user experience.
5. Eager to work in close coordination with Damus lead developer, Will, and a dedicated team spanning development, design, and product.
6. Commitment to a full-time role, although we remain open to discussing alternative arrangements.

Bonus Qualifications

1. Experience with Nostr development.
2. Experience with C.
3. Previous work in free and open source projects.
4. A publicly shareable portfolio.

Job Structure

1. A one-month paid probationary period to ensure a mutual fit.
2. Upon successful completion of the trial, the opportunity for a six (6) month contractual engagement.
3. The potential for contract renewal, contingent on funding.

Application Process:
Interested candidates should forward a motivational statement alongside their CV/portfolio to vanessa@damus.io.

@ 4d444439:7ed2458b

By Daniel Kang, Kobi Gurkan, and Anna Rose

Feel free to read all my articles on the anti-censorship long content platform yakihonne.com.

AI-generated audio is becoming increasingly indistinguishable from human-produced sound. This emerging technology, while impressive, is unfortunately increasingly misused. We’re witnessing instances where this convincingly replicated audio is being manipulated to conduct scams, perpetrate identity theft, and misused in other ways. How can we safeguard ourselves and effectively combat the misuse of this advanced technology?

In an environment where AI-generated audio can mimic human voices flawlessly, we need a reliable chain of trust stretching from the initial capture of audio to its final playback. This chain of trust can be established using cryptographic technologies: attested microphones for capturing the audio and carried through to the final playback via ZK-SNARKs.

In the remainder of the blog post, we’ll describe how to use these tools to fight AI-generated audio. We’ll also describe how the open-source framework zkml can generate computational proofs of audio edits, like noise reduction. To demonstrate this end-to-end process, we’ve simulated the process of capturing audio to performing verified edits. We’ll describe how we did this below!

Cryptographic tools for fighting AI-generated audio

Establishing a chain of trust from the audio capture to final playback requires trusting how the audio is captured and how the audio is edited. We will use cryptographic tools to establish this chain of trust.

Attested microphones for trusted audio capture

The first tool we will use are called attested microphones. Attested microphones have a hardware unit that cryptographically signs the audio signal as soon as it is captured. This cryptographic signature is unforgeable, even with AI tools. With this signature, anyone can verify that the audio came from a specific microphone. In order to verify that audio came from a specific individual, that person can publish the public key of the attested microphone.

Unfortunately, there’s two limitations of attested microphones. The first (which we will address below) is that attested microphones don’t allow you to perform edits on the audio, including edits like noise reduction or cutting out sensitive information. The second is that these attested microphones currently don’t exist, even though the technology is here. We hope that hardware manufacturers consider building attested microphones to combat AI-generated audio!

ZK-SNARKs for verified edits

Once we have the raw audio, there are many circumstances where we want to privately edit the original audio. For example, intelligence agencies can use background noise to identify your location, which compromises privacy. To preserve privacy, we may want to perform edits like removing the background noise or cutting out parts of an interview that might contain sensitive information.

In order to perform these edits, we can use ZK-SNARKs. ZK-SNARKs provide computational integrity. For audio, ZK-SNARKs allow the producer of the audio to privately edit the audio without revealing the original. Similar to cryptographic signatures, ZK-SNARKs are unforgeable, allowing us to extend the chain of trust to edits.

Demonstrating the technology

To showcase the power of attested microphones and ZK-SNARKs, we’ve constructed an end-to-end demonstration of the chain of trust for audio. In our demonstration, we recorded a short 30 second clip, where each of us (Anna, Daniel, and Kobi) recorded on our own microphone. In other words, there are three 30 second clips.

Because attested microphones don’t exist yet, we simulated the attested microphone by signing the individual audio clips with Ethereum wallets. These wallets contain private keys that would be similar to the secure hardware elements in the attested microphone. The signatures we’ve produced are also unforgeable, assuming our wallets aren’t compromised.

During the recording process, Daniel’s microphone picked up some background echo, so we wanted to cut it out and combine the clips into one. We produced a ZK-SNARK that verifies these edits were done honestly from the original audio clips. Furthermore, the ZK-SNARK hides the input audio, so you won’t be able to extract the background noise in Daniel’s clip! This helps preserve privacy.

In the following demo, the final audio file is presented coupled with a proof and a set of signatures. The verification program verifies both, ensuring we know the exact chain of operations performed on the input audio files resulting in the audio you can hear.

Technical deep dive

To understand how our demonstration works at a deeper level, we’ve done a technical deep dive below. You can skip to the conclusion without missing anything!

We’ve outlined the overall architecture below:

Overall architecture of trusted audio

As we can see, the first step (after capturing the audio) is to produce the signatures. Since we don’t have attested microphones, we used Ethereum wallet addresses, which are publicly associated with us (Anna, Daniel, and Kobi), to sign hashes of the original audio. Ethereum uses ECDSA, which allows anyone to verify the signatures we produced with our public key. The private key must remain hidden. In hardware, this can be done using trusted enclaves. The hardware manufacturer can destroy the private key after it is placed on the device. By doing so, the private key is inaccessible!

Given the signed input audio, we want to be able to edit them with computational integrity while preserving the privacy of the original audio. Under the random oracle model of hashing, the hashes reveal nothing about the input. We can combine the hashes with ZK-SNARKs to preserve privacy.

ZK-SNARKs allow a prover to produce a proof that a function executed honestly while keeping parts of the input hidden (and selectively revealing certain inputs or outputs). In our setting, we can compute a function that computes the hashes of the inputs and outputs the edited audio from the inputs. By revealing the hashes, we can be assured that the inputs match the recorded audio! We’ve shown what happens within the ZK-SNARK below:

Conclusions

As we’ve seen, attested microphones and ZK-SNARKs can provide a chain of trust for audio while preserving privacy. With the rise of AI-generated audio, we’re seeing an increasing need to establish this chain of trust. We hope that our demonstration will spur hardware manufacturers to consider building attested microphones.

Stay tuned for more posts on this topic as we delve deeper into other tools to fight malicious AI-generated content. And if you’d like to discuss your idea or brainstorm with us, fill out this form and join our Telegram group. Follow me on Twitter for the latest updates as well!

Important note: the code for this demonstration has not been audited and should not be used in production.

By：Daniel Kang Link：https://medium.com/@danieldkang/fighting-ai-generated-audio-with-attested-microphones-and-zk-snarks-the-attested-audio-experiment-d6ea0fc296ac

@ 4d444439:7ed2458b

This is a piece written by Amber Case, governance board member of Superset DAO, Former Research Fellow at MIT Media Lab and Harvard BKC, author of Calm Technology, and Co-founder of DAO DAO. Case is working with BlockScience team members on the design of a first-of-its-kind data trust DAO. This is the first article outlining the motivation for its creation and the initial structure.

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I’m thrilled to announce I’ve joined the governance board of Superset, a new DAO with a challenging but important mission:

To give people more control and better benefits from their own user data.

We all know the problem. When we sign up for an online service, we quickly click Agree on the Terms of Service window without really knowing what that entails. We do know how often companies abuse our data, feeding it into algorithms that exploit our emotions and invade our privacy, while also commercializing it to make billions of dollars.

And because all of the major services seem problematic, we feel as if we have no choice but cave in, giving them unrestricted use of our data. Government regulation may be an important part of the solution, but it’s a blunt instrument; it’s slow and cumbersome to implement, and may only make the problem worse. Thanks to EU laws, we now click “Accept All Cookies” to every new website we visit, but that added inconvenience may outweigh any benefit.

At the moment, the current Terms of Service form that users “Agree” to is an ultimatum. Enlightened organizations like Mozilla offer a better version. We believe it’s time to build off their innovative work and completely transform the ToS concept.

Unless we actively resist this process, we have no power over what happens to our data.

Superset follows a DAO governance model that gives its members governance over their data, coalesces and channels their voice, acting as an advocate and protector. While government regulation provides a one size fits none solution, DAOs provide more granular oversight power.

Through this DAO, we have the ability to revoke the consent to use all members’ data in one shot. This mechanism ensures the DAO can provide a check on Delphia’s power over its users in practice. Specifically, the ability to say, “If this concern is not addressed, everyone’s consents will be revoked” gives us real bargaining power.

This is also not a new idea. For roughly the last 15 years, as social networks and advertising platforms grew in reach and power, there have been many attempts to create a kind of coalition that acts in the best interests of the users and their data. There have been proposals about more ethical uses of data, as well as data trusts and data DAOs. But so far, none of them have caught on. Success is not achieved solely from what is built, but also how it fits into an ecosystem. Data governance and data commercialization need to be pursued symbiotically, rather than antagonistically.

Superset has an important, if somewhat ironic advantage to previous attempts to create a data coalition: It’s a project whose launch funding came from Delphia, a YCombinator-funded data driven investment service. Importantly, Superset is independent of Delphia, with a legally enshrined purpose of constraining Delphia’s power over its users’ data. This gives us both the independence and financing needed to deploy this DAO that has a symbiotic relationship with an established tech company.

Delphia is not simply doing this to be a good corporate citizen. Our DAO’s hypothesis is that being respectful of people’s data and that making them first class citizens in economic data systems will actually lead to higher quality data and to better commercial opportunities for Delphia. When we prove this through Superset, we believe other companies will adopt a similar pattern.

Very roughly summarized, here’s how it works:

Superset unlocks the Voice option for Users

When users sign-up with Delphia, the service leverages their data to power the company’s machine-learning model. But the company does not get unlimited, uncompensated access to that data — the users still maintain oversight of the terms of that data usage through Superset.

This is why Delphia’s sign-up process includes an onboarding process starting with a screen that looks like this, different from any that has come before:

Users of the Delphia App are invited to join Superset directly from within the App.

Clicking Agree starts the process for the user to join Superset, which is legally contracted with both Delphia and data contributors, in order to serve the interests of those who share their data with the company, according to Superset’s purpose.

As that suggests, the DAO is not only a blockchain-based group; it is also legally formed as a Guernsey purpose trust. This gives us real, actionable protection over user data, which we informally call a “killswitch”. If DAO members collectively decide that Delphia is unfairly exploiting their data (per the agreed upon terms of service), they can collectively opt out in bulk.

SuperSet provides a model for user-centric oversight for any companies to ethically manage their users’ data. By proving that it is not only possible, but beneficial to govern algorithmic systems paves the way for consumers and regulators to demand change.

As controversies around Twitter, TikTok, and other leading social networks continue, new competitors are clamoring to be seen as better and more ethical alternatives to the market leaders. A would-be Twitter competitor would want to adopt the Superset DAO model as a way of attracting early adopters and differentiating itself from other platforms.

In the tradition of open source software, Superset is an open source organization. Superset’s animating purpose, formative documents, governance model and technical tooling are being shared publicly. While no one has made a data trust quite like this before, there is no silver bullet for governance; we expect Superset to evolve over time. Forks are encouraged!

Zooming in on Superset to see how it empowers Users to hold Delphia accountable.

Another one of Superset’s summoners is Dr. Michael Zargham, CEO of BlockScience, whose work on cybernetics I’ve admired for some time. We finally got to meet in person at last summer’s Decentralized Web Conference. That’s when we quickly realized there was a lot of overlap between our interests in systems, cyborgs and cybernetics! It’s been a privilege to work together on Superset, and on this post.

Reflecting on my work in Calm Technology, I believe Superset offers a calmer experience for our data — giving people tools that allow us to manage our data, but without demanding constant engagement. Successful data governance provides peace of mind.

This is an exciting project and I can’t wait to talk more about it soon. As with my new series on cybernetics, it reflects a life goal I formulated over the New Year: I’d like to take what I’ve learned in the first half of my life to complex systems, and apply them in the real world.

Beginning with Superset.

For more info, please see the FAQ below, or check out the Superset site.

FAQ

How can people join Superset?

As of right now, simply sign up for Delphia through its mobile app and click Agree to join Superset during onboarding. Delphia is collecting and commercially leveraging user data, and has contracted with Superset to negotiate over the ways in which they collect, store, use and compensate users for that data.

What is Delphia?

Delphia is an investment app that leverages user data in its prediction algorithm for publicly traded companies.

Who is on Superset’s Governing Board?

Eric Alston is a constitutional lawyer, Research Associate for the Comparative Constitutions Project at the University of Chicago Law School, and is Faculty Director of the Hernando De Soto Capital Markets Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Ben Bartlett is a technology lawyer and Vice Mayor for the City of Berkeley.

Amber Case is author of Calm Technology and has consulted for Microsoft, IDEO, Deloitte, Virgin, Warner Brothers, Fedex, and Esri, among many other organizations. She was previously a fellow at MIT’s Center for Civic Media and Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

Andrew Peek is CEO of Delphia. Superset identifies Andrew as an interested trustee, limiting his power to impact Superset’s decisions. Andrew has helped shape Superset’s mission of serving data contributors and an advocate for Superset’s formation to Delphia’s board.

Dr. Michael Zargham is the Founder & Chief Engineer of BlockScience, a Board Member at the Metagovernance Project and holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. BlockScience has worked with Delphia to design and implement its systems to be technically, economically and ethically sound. Due to BlockScience’s role as a contractor to Delphia, Zargham is also identified as an interested trustee.

What are the limitations imposed on “interested” trustees?

Interested trustees are treated as having a conflict of interest. They recuse themselves from voting on board resolutions, unless the independent (non-interested) trustees determine that they are not conflicted. Practically, independent trustees are by default assumed to be unconflicted and interested trustees are by default assumed to be conflicted.

How is the board held accountable to Superset’s animating purpose?

Working in tandem with our board, there is a third party algorithmic auditor. The algorithmic auditor monitors how Delphia utilizes the contributed data, and what revenues are produce from commercial applications of that data.

The algorithmic auditor also fulfills the critical role of Trust Enforcer, as well as providing concrete reporting to Superset members so they can be informed participants in governance.

How will people’s lives be different if Superset succeeds?

If Superset’s governance model is widely adopted across the Internet, consumers’ daily lives will not substantially change; however, they will experience long term benefits from a shift toward balance of power between corporations and users of their products.

Who can participate in the Superset DAO?

Anyone who signs up for Delphia has the option to become a member of Superset, and enjoy the right to raise any question or concern about their data with the DAO as desired. As members, they’ll also receive members benefits from Delphia and any other entities Superset chooses to work with in the future. We might occasionally hold referendums or votes, but only as needed; participation is voluntary and optional.

What should members expect when joining Superset?

Members will engage with other early adopters who are passionate about democratic governance and consumer rights, as well as help define and refine the governance practices within Superset.

Am I giving my data to Delphia when I sign up? Can I take it back?

By joining Superset, you’re entering into a relationship with Delphia where you give the company consent to store your data and leverage it in designated ways in exchange for democratic oversight through Superset, along with other benefits. You retain your right to revoke data usage rights and even to have it deleted from all Delphia servers.

What can Superset do if you have an issue with how your data is being used by Delphia?

Individual members can revoke consent over their data and order its deletion by request at any time. Our collective “circuit breaker” is triggered by a majority vote and bulk revokes consents over members’ data. Our third party auditor will then confirm that this data is no longer being used. If usage continues after the circuit breaker is triggered, Delphia would be in violation of its contractual obligations to Superset’s legal entity, enforceable in a US court of law.

How can other companies use the structure outlined in this post to govern their own data trusts through a DAO?

Our design is based on first principles which can be carried forward to other orgs with similar animating purposes. Our governance work, smart contract code, documentation and other artifacts will be shared publicly under a creative commons license. Organizations looking for support should contact BlockScience.

What’s the roadmap for Superset?

We are soft launching Superset now, and will expand slowly as new members join. The issuance of the membership cards is our first major milestone. Early members will help determine our governance infrastructures such as deliberative processes, proposal making, and voting mechanisms. We are also developing a public documentation site.

Is Delphia offering a cryptocurrency?

Delphia is exploring the use of cryptocurrency for its compensation models, but due to the current regulatory environment, it’s currently not clear if this pilot will be continued.

Is there a blockchain?

Superset member logs will be run on a blockchain. When you join Superset, you get a membership card which is effectively an NFT that also grants access to our digital community spaces, such as a members-only forum, along with other future benefits.

Does Delphia put my user data on a blockchain?

No, not at all. User data is kept private. Privacy preserving technologies, such as zero knowledge proofs, are being explored for technical enforcement of agreed upon terms.

Why is Superset being structured as a DAO? Wouldn’t it work better as a registered non-profit? What specifically about a DAO affords more surface area for governance between parties?

Superset is a new kind of organization and the non-profit structure can be restrictive. To preserve flexibility, the DAO is utilizing a Guernsey purpose trust with fiduciary duties to the purposes of the Superset — to ensure that members receive a fair share of the returns resulting from the use of their data and to determine how their data may be collected, processed, stored, and used. The DAO is a decentralized governance model enabling members to participate in governance through a variety of technical tools.

What happens if Delphia is purchased?

This DAO will continue to exist and operate even when or if Delphia is purchased. The purchaser will still be bound by any legal agreements Delphia has with Superset and its members.

Where can I read more about how Superset operates?

We’ll be releasing more documentation soon, but for now you can check out the https://www.supersetdao.com/ site, and sign up for https://delphia.com/.

By：Amber Case Link：https://medium.com/block-science/we-need-more-control-over-our-own-user-data-43f267a817f5

@ 4d444439:7ed2458b

A ground-breaking study by Integrated Biosciences, in collaboration with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has unveiled a promising approach to anti-aging drug discovery by employing artificial intelligence (AI). The research, detailed in the paper “Discovering small-molecule senolytics with deep neural networks,” involved the AI-guided screening of more than 800,000 compounds, resulting in the identification of three highly potent drug candidates with improved medicinal chemistry properties compared to existing senolytics under investigation[¹^].

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“This research result is a significant milestone for both longevity research and the application of artificial intelligence to drug discovery,” said Felix Wong, Ph.D., co-founder of Integrated Biosciences and first author of the publication[²^]. “These data demonstrate that we can explore chemical space in silico and emerge with multiple candidate anti-aging compounds that are more likely to succeed in the clinic, compared to even the most promising examples of their kind being studied today.”

Senolytics are compounds that selectively induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in senescent cells, which are non-dividing cells that accumulate with age and contribute to a wide range of age-related diseases and conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease[³^]. Although some senolytic compounds have shown promising clinical results, most of them have been hindered by poor bioavailability and adverse side effects[⁴^]. Integrated Biosciences, founded in 2022, aims to tackle these obstacles and advance anti-aging drug development by leveraging artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and other cutting-edge tools.

“One of the most promising routes to treat age-related diseases is to identify therapeutic interventions that selectively remove these cells from the body similarly to how antibiotics kill bacteria without harming host cells. The compounds we discovered display high selectivity, as well as the favorable medicinal chemistry properties needed to yield a successful drug,” said Satotaka Omori, Ph.D., Head of Aging Biology at Integrated Biosciences and joint first author of the publication[⁵^]. “We believe that the compounds discovered using our platform will have improved prospects in clinical trials and will eventually help restore health to aging individuals.”

In this innovative study, Integrated Biosciences researchers trained deep neural networks on experimentally generated data to predict the senolytic activity of any molecule. Using this AI model, they discovered three highly selective and potent senolytic compounds from a chemical space of over 800,000 molecules[⁶^]. All three candidates exhibited chemical properties indicative of high oral bioavailability and favorable toxicity profiles in hemolysis and genotoxicity tests.

Structural and biochemical analyses revealed that all three compounds bind Bcl-2, a protein that regulates apoptosis and is also a chemotherapy target[⁷^]. Experiments testing one of the compounds in 80-week-old mice, roughly corresponding to 80-year-old humans, demonstrated that it cleared senescent cells and reduced the expression of senescence-associated genes in the kidneys[⁸^].

“This work illustrates how AI can be used to bring medicine a step closer to therapies that address aging, one of the fundamental challenges in biology,” said James J. Collins, Ph.D., Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science at MIT and founding chair of the Integrated Biosciences Scientific Advisory Board[⁹^]. Dr. Collins, who is senior author on the Nature Aging paper, led the team that discovered the first antibiotic identified by machine learning in 2020.

“Integrated Biosciences is building on the basic research that my academic lab has done for the last decade or so, showing that we can target cellular stress responses using systems and synthetic biology. This experimental tour de force and the stellar platform that produced it make this work stand out in the field of drug discovery and will drive substantial progress in longevity research[¹⁰^].”

Conclusion

The discovery of novel senolytic compounds with the aid of AI-guided deep neural networks represents a potentially groundbreaking advancement in the field of longevity research. The three identified drug candidates display high selectivity and improved medicinal chemistry properties compared to existing senolytics under investigation, offering hope for more effective therapies that target the root causes of age-related diseases and conditions.

The application of artificial intelligence to drug discovery has the potential to revolutionize the way researchers explore chemical space and identify promising compounds. In this study, AI was able to sift through over 800,000 molecules and pinpoint three highly selective and potent senolytic compounds, which showed favorable toxicity profiles and high oral bioavailability. As AI continues to improve and evolve, its contributions to drug discovery and longevity research are likely to become even more significant.

This advancement highlights the potential of AI-guided drug discovery to address one of the most fundamental challenges in biology: aging. By developing therapies that selectively remove senescent cells from the body, researchers can target the underlying causes of age-related diseases and work towards restoring health to aging individuals. The success of Integrated Biosciences’ platform in identifying these promising drug candidates is a testament to the power of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and other next-generation tools in advancing our understanding of aging and driving progress in longevity research.

Glossary

1. Senolytics: Compounds that selectively induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in senescent cells, which are non-dividing cells that accumulate with age and contribute to various age-related diseases and conditions.
2. Apoptosis: A form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms, helping to maintain cellular homeostasis and eliminate damaged or unwanted cells.
3. Senescent cells: Non-dividing cells that accumulate with age, leading to a decline in tissue function and contributing to age-related diseases and conditions.
4. Bioavailability: The proportion of a drug or other substance that enters the circulation when introduced into the body, allowing it to have an active effect.
5. Haemolysis: The rupture or destruction of red blood cells, which can lead to the release of haemoglobin into the surrounding fluid.
6. Genotoxicity: The destructive effect of certain substances on a cell’s genetic material, potentially leading to mutations or cancer.
7. Bcl-2: A protein that plays a key role in regulating apoptosis by inhibiting cell death and promoting cell survival.
8. Deep neural networks: A type of artificial neural network with multiple layers between the input and output layers, allowing the network to learn complex patterns and representations from large amounts of data.

References

1. Integrated Biosciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. (2023). Discovering small-molecule senolytics with deep neural networks. Nature Aging.
2. Wong, F. (2023). Integrated Biosciences Co-founder.
3. López-Otín, C., Blasco, M. A., Partridge, L., Serrano, M., & Kroemer, G. (2013). The hallmarks of aging. Cell, 153(6), 1194–1217.
4. Zhu, Y., Tchkonia, T., Pirtskhalava, T., Gower, A. C., Ding, H., Giorgadze, N., … & O’Hara, S. P. (2015). The Achilles’ heel of senescent cells: from transcriptome to senolytic drugs. Aging Cell, 14(4), 644–658.
5. Omori, S. (2023). Head of Aging Biology at Integrated Biosciences.
6. Integrated Biosciences. (2023). AI-guided Screening Results.
7. Oltersdorf, T., Elmore, S. W., Shoemaker, A. R., Armstrong, R. C., Augeri, D. J., Belli, B. A., … & Phillips, D. C. (2005). An inhibitor of Bcl-2 family proteins induces regression of solid tumours. Nature, 435(7042), 677–681.
8. Integrated Biosciences. (2023). Senolytic Compound Experiment Results.
9. Collins, J. J. (2023). Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science at MIT.
10. Integrated Biosciences Scientific Advisory Board. (2023). Contributions to Drug Discovery and Longevity Research.

By：Tom Martin Link：https://medium.com/@thomasjmartin/ai-guided-discovery-of-novel-senolytics-a-leap-forward-in-longevity-research-60a150be4961

@ d266da53:7224d834

On a sunny morning last December, Iyus Ruswandi, a 35-year-old furniture maker in the village of Gunungguruh, Indonesia, was woken up early by his mother. A technology company was holding some kind of “social assistance giveaway” at the local Islamic elementary school, she said, and she urged him to go.

Ruswandi joined a long line of residents, mostly women, some of whom had been waiting since 6 a.m. In the pandemic-battered economy, any kind of assistance was welcome.

At the front of the line, representatives of Worldcoin Indonesia were collecting emails and phone numbers, or aiming a futuristic metal orb at villagers’ faces to scan their irises and other biometric data. Village officials were also on site, passing out numbered tickets to the waiting residents to help keep order.

Ruswandi asked a Worldcoin representative what charity this was but learned nothing new: as his mother said, they were giving away money.

Gunungguruh was not alone in receiving a visit from Worldcoin. In villages across West Java, Indonesia—as well as college campuses, metro stops, markets, and urban centers in two dozen countries, most of them in the developing world—Worldcoin representatives were showing up for a day or two and collecting biometric data. In return they were known to offer everything from free cash (often local currency as well as Worldcoin tokens) to Airpods to promises of future wealth. In some cases they also made payments to local government officials. What they were not providing was much information on their real intentions.

This left many, including Ruswandi, perplexed: What was Worldcoin doing with all these iris scans?

To answer that question, and better understand Worldcoin’s registration and distribution process, MIT Technology Review interviewed over 35 individuals in six countries—Indonesia, Kenya, Sudan, Ghana, Chile, and Norway—who either worked for or on behalf of Worldcoin, had been scanned, or were unsuccessfully recruited to participate. We observed scans at a registration event in Indonesia, read conversations on social media and in mobile chat groups, and consulted reviews of Worldcoin’s wallet in the Google Play and Apple stores. We interviewed Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania, and submitted to the company a detailed list of reporting findings and questions for comment.

Our investigation revealed wide gaps between Worldcoin’s public messaging, which focused on protecting privacy, and what users experienced. We found that the company’s representatives used deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than it acknowledged, and failed to obtain meaningful informed consent. These practices may violate the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)—a likelihood that the company’s own data consent policy acknowledged and asked users to accept—as well as local laws.

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In a video interview conducted in early March from Erlangen, Germany, where the company manufactures its orbs, Blania acknowledged that there was some “friction,” which he attributed to the fact that the company was still in its startup phase.

“I'm not sure if you're aware of this,” he said, “but you looked at the testing operation of a Series A company. It’s a few people trying to make something work. It’s not like an Uber, with like hundreds of people that did this many, many times.”

Proof of personhood

Two months before Worldcoin appeared in Ruswandi’s village, the San Francisco–based company called Tools for Humanity emerged from stealth mode. Worldcoin was its product.

The company’s website described Worldcoin as an Ethereum-based “new, collectively owned global currency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible.” Everyone in the world would get a free share, the company suggested—if they agreed to an iris scan with a specially designed device that resembles a decapitated robot head, which the company refers to as the “chrome orb.”

The orb was necessary, the website continued, because of Worldcoin’s commitment to fairness: each person should get his or her allotted share of the digital currency—and no more. To ensure there was no double-dipping, the chrome orb would scan participants’ irises and several other biometric data points and then, using a proprietary algorithm that the company was still developing, cryptographically confirm that they were human and unique in Worldcoin’s database.

“I’ve been very interested in things like universal basic income and what’s going to happen to global wealth redistribution,” Sam Altman, Worldcoin’s cofounder and the former President of Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, told Bloomberg, which first reported on the company last summer. Worldcoin was intended, he explained, to answer the question “Is there a way we can use technology to do that at a global scale?”

The company was just getting started—its aim is to garner a billion sign-ups by 2023.

In the same article the then 27-year-old Blania, who joined Worldcoin straight out of a physics masters program at Caltech, added that “many people around the world don’t have access to financial systems yet. Crypto has the opportunity to get us there." (Blania and others have used “Worldcoin” to refer to the company as well as the currency; we do the same here.)

But beyond these do-gooder intentions, Worldcoin would also solve key technical problems for Web3, the much-hyped, blockchain-powered third iteration of the internet, where data and content could be decentralized and controlled by individuals and groups rather than a handful of tech companies.

Giving “ownership in this new protocol to everyone” would be the “fastest” and “biggest onboarding into crypto and Web3” to date, Blania told MIT Technology Review in an interview, addressing one of Web3’s major challenges: a relative dearth of users.

Additionally, by biometrically confirming that an individual is human, Worldcoin would solve another “very fundamental problem” in decentralized technologies, according to Blania: the risk of so-called Sybil attacks, which occur when one entity in a network creates and controls multiple fake accounts. This is particularly dangerous in decentralized networks where pseudonyms are expected. Coming up with a truly Sybil-resistant proof of personhood has thus far been difficult, and this is seen as another barrier for mass Web3 adoption.

Worldcoin has done field testing in 24 countries; (from left to right) these promotional images were taken in Sudan, Indonesia, Chile, and Kenya.

With these two solutions, Worldcoin could become “an open platform that everyone can use [for] both the proof-of-person part and the distribution part,” Blania said. Therein lies Worldcoin’s promise: if it succeeds, this protocol could become the universal authentication method for a whole new generation of the internet. If that happens, the currency itself could become far more valuable. “Investors hope that the Worldcoin project brings value to the world and, as a result, that this equity and/or these tokens will appreciate in value,” the company said in an emailed statement.

This may be why some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names, in addition to Altman, are pouring money into it; Andreessen Horowitz recently led a $100 million investment round that tripled the startup’s valuation, from an already heady $1 billion to $3 billion.

Look into the orb

By the time we spoke to Blania in March, Worldcoin had already scanned 450,000 eyes, faces, and bodies in 24 countries. Of those, 14 are developing nations, according to the World Bank. Eight are located in Africa. But the company was just getting started—its aim is to garner a billion sign-ups by 2023.

Central to Worldcoin’s distribution was the high-tech orb itself, armed with advanced cameras and sensors that not only scanned irises but took high-resolution images of “users’ body, face, and eyes, including users’ irises,” according to the company’s descriptions in a blog post. Additionally, its data consent form notes that the company also conduct “contactless doppler radar detection of your heartbeat, breathing, and other vital signs.” In response to our questions, Worldcoin said it never implemented vital sign detection techniques, and that it will remove this language from its data consent form. (As of press time, the language remains.)

The biometric information is used to generate an “IrisHash,” a code that is stored locally on the orb. The code is never shared, according to Worldcoin, but rather is used to check whether that IrisHash already exists in Worldcoin’s database. To do this, the company says, it uses a novel privacy-protecting cryptographic method known as a zero-knowledge proof. If the algorithm finds a match, this indicates that a person has already tried to sign up. If it does not, the individual has passed the uniqueness check and can continue registration with an email address, phone number, or QR code to access a Worldcoin wallet. All of this is meant to occur in seconds.

Worldcoin says that biometric information remains on the orb and is deleted once uploaded—or at least it will be one day, once the company has finished training its AI neural network to recognize irises and detect fraud. Until then, beyond vague descriptions like “personal data…sent via secure, encrypted channels,” it’s unclear how this data is being handled. “During our field-testing phase, we are collecting and securely storing more data than we will upon its completion,” the blog post states. “We will delete all the biometric data we have collected during field testing once our algorithms are fully-trained.”

In response to our questions just before this article went to press, Worldcoin said the public version of their system would soon eliminate the need for new users to share any biometric data with the company—though it hasn’t explained how this will work.

A useless IOU

But we do know how onboarding works. To get Worldcoin into the smartphones of new users, the company contracts with local ”orb operators” to manage signups for their countries or regions.

Operators apply for the job and are interviewed and approved by the Worldcoin team, though Anastasia Golovina, a company spokesperson, emphasized in an email that operators “are independent contractors, not Worldcoin employees.” As such, they work without contracts or guarantee of payment, instead receiving commission for each person’s biometric data that they collect. However, Golovina added, they must “comply with local laws and regulations, including local labor laws.”

These country-level operators receive their commission in the stablecoin Tether. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a traditional currency, often the US dollar. They determine the rates they pay their subcontractors (typically in local currency), as well as the working conditions (full-time, part-time, or temporary gig work.) Both country-level and subcontracted orb operators are incentivized by commission-based payment structures to register as many people as quickly as possible.

On the other side, new users currently earn at least $15 worth of Worldcoin for submitting to the biometric scan, and $5 more when they log in to their Worldcoin wallet, though the total amount available has since changed to $25 for later recruits. Some users receive the sum all at once, for others it vests at a rate of $2.50 per week. Blania says that differences are meant to test out the most effective incentives. Either way, Worldcoin isn’t a stablecoin, and since the currency has not yet launched, the company “do[es] not yet know how many WLD tokens would be equivalent to USD $20,” it noted in a written statement.

To understand user incentives, some people were given the option to receive $20 worth of Bitcoin instead, effectively allowing them to cash out. Worldcoin said that it found its “most engaged users elected to hold on to their WLD,” though most of our interviewees said the opposite.

But with the ability to cash out ending last fall, for now the promise of $20 or $25 worth of Worldcoin amounts to an IOU from the company. Any tokens users may have in their digital wallets are, for all intents and purposes, worthless.

Taking a chance

Worldcoin’s users joined for a myriad of reasons.

“Out of curiosity” was a common refrain. Because the orb operator “seemed nice”—or happened to be their brother, cousin, or classmate—was another. Some hoped to get in early on what could become the next Bitcoin. Others had lost jobs or income during the pandemic. Some became desperate as civil war threatened to reignite around them. Most just wanted the free money—at least one only wanted to buy lunch. Many suspected it was a scam, though few could risk passing it up in case it was not.

Ruswandi fit into several of these categories. He had lost much of his work as a furniture maker during the pandemic and spent his free time trading stocks and cryptocurrencies and frequenting crypto-related message boards and exchanges.

“I was curious and thought it wouldn’t hurt to try,” he recalled, adding that the money was attractive given his reduced income.

But he quickly had doubts. Neither the company representatives on site nor the village officials could answer even basic questions about Worldcoin. After doing more research online and coming up empty, he came to conclude it was a scam. He believed the mysterious giveaway was a mass data collection effort disguised as some kind of secret, offline airdrop—a tactic in which cryptocurrency projects release free tokens to encourage adoption.

After all, many of his neighbors’ understanding of the internet was limited to the Facebook app pre-installed on their smartphones, so before prospective users were even able to receive the new currency, Worldcoin representatives “first had to help many residents in setting up emails [and] logging in to the web,” Ruswandi recalled. If it was about attracting users to a new cryptocurrency, he wondered, “why did Worldcoin target lower-income communities in the first place, instead of crypto enthusiasts or communities?”

The biometrics question

When Worldcoin made its “We’re here!” announcement last October, it encountered immediate backlash.

As NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden put it in a tweet thread, “Don’t catalogue eyeballs. Don’t use biometrics for anti-fraud. In fact, don’t use biometrics for anything. The human body is not a ticket-punch.”

Iyus Ruswandi, pictured in front of the Worldcoin recruitment site in Gunungguruh, West Java, had many questions about why the company needed an iris scan—none of which were answered. MUHAMMAD FADLI

Many doubted Worldcoin’s privacy protocols, especially since the company had yet to issue a white paper or open its code for outside evaluation. “This looks like it produces a global (hash) database of people's iris scans (for ‘fairness’), and waves away the implications by saying ‘we deleted the scans!’ Yeah, but you save the hashes produced by the scans. Hashes that match future scans,” Snowden tweeted.

There were also questions about hardware security. Jeremy Clark, an associate professor at the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering that focuses on applied cryptography, questions the security of the orb: “The machine itself will have some security protections,” he says, “but none of that technology is perfectly secure. So it's usually an economic question…if this project is as successful as they want it to be, then it's going to become more profitable to try and tackle.”

Others took issue with the company’s purported focus on fairness given that 20% of the coins had already been allocated: 10% to Worldcoin’s full-time employees, and another 10% to investors, like Andreessen Horowitz.

Additionally, many in the blockchain field disagreed with the underlying premise of what Worldcoin was trying to build: creating one identity across Web3 was anathema to a movement that had turned to blockchain, decentralized finance, and DAOs (“decentralized autonomous organizations”) for the express purpose of not being known.

Others remain unconvinced that Worldcoin can actually reach everyone in the world—and instead, serves as a distraction from ongoing work to create new identity paradigms. Identity expert Kaliya Young, while declining to comment on Worldcoin specifically, says that “it’s common for companies to claim that ‘if everyone in the world was in our system, everything would be fine.’ Newsflash: everybody is not going to be in your system, so let’s move on and talk about how we solve problems” in online identity.

For Blania and his team, the criticism misses the mark. “Big parts of our team have had backgrounds in crypto…so we care about this [privacy] a lot,” he told MIT Technology Review. “I fully understand the concern,” he said, but he thinks it’s more “emotional gut reaction” than “objective criticism.” What the critics were missing, he added, was just how good Worldcoin’s protocol would be at protecting privacy once complete.

Stephanie Schuckers, the director of the Center for Identification Technology Research at Clarkson University, says that’s not outside the realm of possibility, as biometric technology has made a number of recent advances. One of the newest trends is “template security,” which uses cryptography to make a transformation of your biometric data. “When you store it, if it were stolen, it can’t be reverse-engineered back to your original biometrics,” she says.

But the reason that it has yet to be commercialized, she adds, is that cryptographic transformation often leads to “performance degradation.” Instead of matching the new biometric data to an existing biometric sample, template security matches a computer algorithm’s interpretation of the data, via some kind of hash or code, to another stored code. This adds room for error, Schucker says, making it “more difficult to match biometrics in this encrypted space,” though she adds that recent advances in template security have addressed some of those shortcomings.

Template security sounded like a possibility for what Worldcoin was doing—though Schucker cautioned that without seeing their code, or more detail beyond Worldcoin’s blog posts, it was hard to say for sure. Worldcoin has promised to open source its code, including repeating to MIT Technology Review on multiple occasions that this would occur “within the next few weeks”—since we first contacted the company in February.

Besides, the company added in a statement, “It is important to emphasize that we collect data not for the purpose of profiting from it or surveilling our users, like many other tech companies out there. Rather, our goal is to use the data for the sole purpose of developing our algorithms to minimize fraud and enhance user privacy.”

Reeling them in

Representatives of Worldcoin used a range of questionable tactics and enticements to bring in new users, according to many of the people MIT Technology Review spoke to.

When operations began in Sudan last March, the operators found it hard to “explain the concept of digital currencies to people who don’t even have emails”, according to Mohammad Ahmed Abdalbagee, one of Sudan’s four former orb operators. So instead they ran an AirPod giveaway contest to encourage registration that resulted in some 20,000 sign-ups.

At an Islamic high school in Indonesia’s West Java province, Worldcoin applied to teach a cryptocurrency workshop. The school’s student activity coordinator, Muhammad Hilham Zein, read the application and recommended it for approval on the understanding that it was “to share knowledge on crypto…not to encourage students to invest in digital currency.”

"Why did Worldcoin target lower-income communities in the first place, instead of crypto enthusiasts or communities?"

But attendees—at least one of whom was 15, which violates Worldcoin’s own terms of use—as well as our reporter’s first-hand observations tell a different story. During the 45-minute sessions, Worldcoin staff were too busy registering the dozen or so students, helping them download the app and sign up for emails, and finally scanning their biometrics, to provide information on cryptocurrency, Worldcoin itself, or how participants could give or take away consent. (Students did, at least receive their allotment of Worldcoin, which would vest weekly).

More recently, in roughly 20 villages in West Java that hosted recruitment events, many new users, like Iyus Ruswandi, were attracted by giveaways.

“It was held during the pandemic, where the government usually handed out social assistance packages,” explained Ece Mulyana, the principal of an elementary school madrasa who was informed, the night before, that his school was to be used as a Worldcoin registration site. Because the instructions came from a higher-level official—Ade Irma, the sub-district governance head, who was helping Worldcoin coordinate the village registration drives, “I couldn’t refuse the request,” Mulyana said.

Mulyana says that Irma paid him a fee of 2,000 IDR (around 14 US cents, at the time of writing) for each person successfully scanned. Mulyana estimates that 170 made the cut, for a total of 340,000 IDR (roughly $23.80, just under 10% of the average monthly pay of a government worker ).

Heni Mulyani, the sub-district leader who approved the events and Irma’s boss, said the money was provided “for coffee and cigarettes,” a euphemism for gratuities given to government officials to facilitate desired actions. She said none of the money paid went towards site rental—but, she added, “we assure you it’s not coming from the village fund or budget.”

A view of Gunungguruh, one of roughly 20 villages that Worldcoin visited for recruitment. MUHAMMAD FADLI

Instead, the money came from a company called PT Sandina Abadi Nusantara, cofounded by a man named Muhammad Reza Ichsan, who happens to be Worldcoin’s “best-performing operator” (according to Worldcoin’s launch blog post), and his mother. The company was the legal entity through which Worldcoin Indonesia conducted its activities; it was Ichsan’s mother’s job to reach out to local government officials to coordinate recruitment.

Ichsan has told MIT Technology Review that “we don’t pay the village, but we have an operational fund for people who helped us assemble the public in the field.”

Even if Mulyani had not misused village funds, these gratuities are—with rare exceptions— illegal under Indonesia’s anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, with potential criminal penalties for both the giver and receiver.

In response to questions about payments to village officials, Worldcoin representatives said they were unaware of the incident, called it “isolated,” and that they have launched an investigation to learn more. While they could not yet draw conclusions, Golovina wrote, “It appears possible that some or all of these payments may have been for bona fide operating expenses, for example, fees required to set up operations in a school or other facility, or to pay for permits or licenses required to operate in certain locations.” This stands in contradiction to both the official’s and their orb operator’s descriptions.

Worldcoin also called the other examples we put to them, including the AirPod giveaway in Sudan and the deception of school officials in Indonesia “independent and isolated efforts by local Orb Operators,” and added that “we are wholly focused on incentivizing Operators to sign up engaged users who are excited about using Worldcoin.”

For their part, villagers were not told that at least some of their officials were being paid to promote Worldcoin; in fact, many thought the event was run by the government itself, as Mulyana, the school principal, recalled. “We have to explain to them that it was not a government program,” he said—that “Worldcoin is a foreign company who came and needed help from the village staff.”

Some villagers now doubt that they will receive any money at all now that late January, the time when they were told Worldcoin representatives would return to the village to hand out funds, has come and gone. Nor has the ability to trade Worldcoin from the wallet appeared, for those digitally savvy enough to navigate the app.

Operating blind

The mixed messages and misinformation weren’t necessarily intentional. The orb operators we spoke to often mentioned how little information they received from the Worldcoin representatives who recruited them, even as they were made acutely aware that their payment was tied to the number of people they could sign up. (Worldcoin said that it provides its country-level orb operators with a code of conduct, which sub-operators must also abide by, and that it is moving away from commissions based on number of sign-ups.)

Bryan Mtembei was one such operator. A civil engineer who recently graduated from college in Nakuru, Kenya’s fourth-largest city, Mtembei freelanced for Worldcoin after he was scanned on campus last September.

He wishes that he had received “a brief training or basics about Worldcoin.” Instead the only instruction he got was to “bring more people in to get yourself more money,” he said. “The rest was up to my social marketing skills.”

So he did his best to answer new users’ questions, with the most frequent being about privacy: Mtembei estimates that roughly 40% of the individuals he approached had concerns about sharing their biometric data. When he initially expressed similar concerns, he was assured by a representative that all his questions were addressed in the Worldcoin “white paper.” No such document exists. According to the company, this is by design—people would be unlikely to read “a long, highly technical academic-style paper,” it said, and its shorter blog posts could be thought of as white papers. Ultimately, Mtembei's need for money overrode his concerns; he says that he signed up between 150 and 200 people, at 50 KS (44 US cents) per scan.

Bryan Mtembei first met Worldcoin representatives on his college campus in Nakuru, Kenya. He was scanned and later worked as an orb operator. BRIAN OTIENO

And he wasn't alone. Willis Okach, a college student in Nairobi recruited, like Mtembei, to become an orb operator after his own scan, also got involved because of the money. “You don't have any and someone is offering you some,” he explained, adding that he thinks Worldcoin “feels that students don’t have a lot of money so they will sign up.” For his two days of work, Okach signed up 50 people and earned 100 KS (USD 0.88) for each set of biometric data that he brought in.

According to Golovina, the Worldcoin spokesperson, “all users who sign up during field testing are provided full disclosure about what is being collected and how that data is used and are required to provide their consent before they’re allowed to sign up. Any individual who does consent to our collection and use of their biometric data may revoke their consent at any time and this data will be deleted.”

But of the people we interviewed, none were explicitly told—or, in the case of orb operators, told others—that they were “test users,” that photographs and videos of their faces, and 3D body maps were captured and being used to train the orb’s “anti-fraud algorithm” to “differentiate between people,” that their data was treated differently from the way others’ would be handled later, or that they could ask for their data to be deleted.

Ángel Rodriguez, a security guard for the Santiago Metro in Chile, recalled checking a box in the Worldcoin app agreeing to the terms of service, but recalled the instructions being in English, a language that he does not read. In addition, the app, with its link to the data consent forms, was not available until “late 2021,” according to Worldcoin, at which point, field testing had been going on for at least a year.

Sometimes, new users were asked to provide additional personal data, which Worldcoin claims it never requests. Almost all of the people we spoke to were asked to provide email addresses to log into their wallets (even after Worldcoin introduced a QR code for sign-ins). Some were asked for phone numbers as well.

Golovina has denied in multiple email statements that emails or phone numbers were required for sign-up, though “we do make certain features available to users who choose to provide their phone number or email address, like the ability to send and receive Worldcoin. But things like this will always be optional.” Worldcoin did not explain what else users could do with the token without the ability to send or receive it.

In Nairobi, meanwhile, several students said that orb operators took a photo of their national ID cards to confirm, as Okach recalled, that he was “not…a robot.” Worldcoin said that it has never requested national identification documents from users, though they do request it from their orb operators.

When we shared these comments with interviewees, they did not recognize their own experiences. Mtembei emphasized that personal details were never optional, and there was no way to sign up at his orb without both email and phone. “That CEO is lying,” he said (mistakenly attributing Golovina’s statement to Blania.)

Mohammad Ahmed Abdalbagee, one of the four orb operators hired in Sudan, added that it was his team’s efforts that convinced Worldcoin to add phone numbers as a sign-in method in the first place. “Before they started in Sudan, they used the email as the main identifier, but we told them that this wouldn’t work in Sudan. Many college students don’t even have emails, they use their phones to register in social media,” he said.

Crypto-colonialism

Researchers that study the tech sector’s relationship with the global south were concerned—but not surprised—by Worldcoin’s behavior.

“It's a race to see who gets the most data in this AI-driven economy,” says Payal Arora, a digital anthropologist and author of The Next Billion Users: Digital Life Beyond the West. Stronger data protection laws in Europe and the United States mean that the most ambitious entrepreneurs in those regions can’t get all the training data that they need from their own populations, she says, so they have to look to the developing world.

In fact, according to its launch blog post, Worldcoin is unavailable in either the United States or China due to regulatory constraints, while Bloomberg reported that it has also shut down field tests in other countries, including Turkey and Sudan, for similar reasons. Worldcoin has, however, signed up a number of users in the US at demos held at cryptocurrency conferences, though the company does not consider its US activities to be a form of field testing.

It’s just cheaper and easier to run this kind of data collection operation in places where people have little money and few legal protections.

Pete Howson, a senior lecturer at Northumbria University who researches cryptocurrency in international development, categorizes Worldcoin’s actions as a sort of crypto-colonialism, where “blockchain and cryptocurrency experiments are being imposed on vulnerable communities essentially because…these people can’t push back,” he told MIT Technology Review in an email.

What makes the crypto version even more harmful than other forms of data colonialism is that decentralization, the core tenet of blockchain, makes for “very limited accountability…when things go wrong,” Howson explained. “You’ll often hear this phrase ‘Do Your Own Research’, or DYOR, because these guys don’t care much for rules and regulations.”

But inequities in information and internet access make that “do your own research” ethos all but impractical for many people in developing regions. Similarly, huge economic disparity means that in Kenya, say, the promise of just under half a US dollar could be a compelling incentive for someone to give up their biometric data, whereas in Norway or the US, such an offer wouldn’t go far.

Simply put, it’s just cheaper and easier to run this kind of data collection operation in places where people have little money and few legal protections.

Data lapses and policy holes

Although much of Worldcoin’s field testing has been happening in developing countries, the company stressed that it is also active in developed countries, including several in Europe. “Worldcoin has always tried to conduct field tests in a sample of countries around the globe that would be representative of the world as a whole,” the company told us.

This presents its own challenges. In collecting, controlling, and processing the personal data of EU-defined “data subjects”—that is, any person within the European Union, including citizens, residents, and potentially visitors whose data is being collected—Worldcoin is subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Enacted in 2018, the GDPR requires that data subjects be fully informed about why their data is collected, how it will be used, who will be processing it, where it will be transferred, how they can erase it, and how they can stop its processing. Failing to sufficiently safeguard data can lead to fines of up to 4% of global revenue or 20 million euros, depending on the severity of the infraction. Further, GDPR applies outside of Europe if a company collects or processes the personal data of European data subjects. So a company registered in Delaware and headquartered in San Francisco, like Worldcoin, is not necessarily exempt.

That is, however, exactly what Worldcoin has claimed in its data consent form, which—until MIT Technology Review submitted its list of questions—asked users to accept the following statements:

• “we [Worldcoin] voluntarily comply with the GDPR as a matter of policy”
• “we have not adopted a board-approved data privacy and security policy describing the means and the methods by which we plan to protect your Data to meet the standards prevalent in the GDPR”
• “there is a possibility that our policies and procedures will not be sufficient to meet GDPR requirements”
• “it may be more difficult to assert your privacy rights in court in the United States if we do not comply”

This policy tries to create “carve-outs,” says Marietje Schaake, the international policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center and a former Member of the European Parliament, who reviewed the document. Exceptions, she adds, are not possible under the GDPR—and besides, the fact that Worldcoin has a German subsidiary already subjects it to the GDPR.

“As an EU citizen, you have the right to challenge it,” Schaake says, referring to any potential violation. Those challenges would be reviewed by European data protection authorities and eventually argued in European courts rather than American ones, as Worldcoin’s policy suggests.

Worldcoin said that it is fully compliant with the GDPR, and has registered with the Bavarian Data Protection Authority. It added that it employs a data protection officer, and that it has conducted a data privacy impact assessment—though it has declined to make either the officer or the assessment available for public scrutiny. Worldcoin added that the statements in their consent policy “were previously included in an abundance of caution…They no longer appear in the latest version of our Data Consent Form.” As of publication, however, the language still remains online.

For Aida Ponce del Castillo, a researcher at the European Union Trade Institute, who studies regulations for emerging technology and serves as her organization’s data protection officer, this lack of transparency is unjustified. “DPIA are not confidential business information,” she told MIT Technology Review—and while publication is not mandatory, she pointed to European Commission recommendations that companies “consider publishing at least parts, such as a summary or a conclusion.”

The Bavarian Data Protection Authority has yet to respond to MIT Technology Review’s request to confirm the company’s registration.

"That's manipulation"

Beyond the ethical questions, though, lie more practical ones, like: how well does Worldcoin actually work?

For some test users and orb operators on the ground the answer has been, not well at all.

Sometimes, this was due to issues with the orb. In Sudan, local orb operator Abdalbargee says that it would take as many as six attempts for the orb to recognize someone’s face. “Actually it took my friend an entire week for the device to recognize his iris,” he adds.

Orbs were also prone to malfunctions, slowing down recruitment processes and requiring repair in Germany. When Buzzfeed News found similar orb malfunctions in a recent investigation, Worldcoin used language that it has repeated with us: calling one particularly egregious case an “isolated outlier.”

Meanwhile, the transition from a web-based wallet to an app-based wallet has caused a number of users to appear to lose either their entire accounts or all of their coins. For others, the app has proved buggy, draining battery life or leading them into in a spiral of loading and reloading.

Rodriguez, the Chilean security guard, has been trying to resolve his wallet issues since shortly after he was scanned. After signing up in February, and being asked to input his email, phone number, and use a QR code, the app was creating such performance issues for his phone that he deleted it entirely. When he tried to re-download the app, he found that his username no longer existed.

To fix it, he was told by a local orb operator, he would have to find the orb and re-scan his biometric data. But if Worldcoin works as the company claims, re-scanning his iris would simply result in the orb linking his iris with his old iris hash. In other words—and as Worldcoin has subsequently confirmed— there’s no way to recover an account once it’s lost.

Then there are the instances of identity spoofing that the orb has been unable to detect. In mid-2021, one businessman in Indonesia was able to register and access the wallets of over 200 users after they had been scanned and verified as human, and transfer out their contents—held in Bitcoin at the time. Worldcoin says that this occurred when the wallet was still accessible via a web log-in, rather than a mobile app, and that “since transitioning…we have not detected this type of fraud.”

Meanwhile, those who fear that the whole thing may have been a scam want to know what they’ve lost. “50 KS is not enough to give an eyeball away,” says Okach, the university student in Nairobi that spent a weekend recruiting others to Worldcoin. “That’s manipulation, taking advantage of students without clear clarification about what it is they are doing or what they want.”

Forget all those people

When we began reporting this story we noticed that three of the five countries initially cited as case studies for successful field testing—Indonesia, Sudan, and Kenya—were classified as low or lower-middle income by the World Bank. The power and economic differentials seemed ethically fraught, so we began digging.

We wanted to know: what was it like to serve as an early user in this global crypto experiment? What did the participants actually understand—or what were they told—about cryptocurrency, Worldcoin, and the ramifications of giving up their biometric data? Did they provide informed consent—and what would that even look like in this context? And, ultimately—sharing the same question voiced by many of our interviewees—what were the iris scans really for?

MUHAMMAD FADLI portrait of Ruswandi’s neighbor, Solihin (a community leader)

Left to right: Ruswandi’s neighbors Sadili, Solihin (a community leader), and Eli were among the 170 villagers scanned.

In the end, it was something that Blania said, in passing, during our interview in early March that helped us finally begin to understand Worldcoin.

“We will let privacy experts take our systems apart, over and over, before we actually deploy them on a large scale,” he said, responding to a question about the privacy-related backlash last fall.

Blania had just shared how his company had onboarded 450,000 individuals to Worldcoin—meaning that its orbs had scanned 450,000 sets of eyes, faces, and bodies, stored all that data to train its neural network. The company recognized this data collection as problematic and aimed to stop doing it. Yet it did not provide these early users the same privacy protections. We were perplexed by this seeming contradiction: were we the ones lacking in vision and ability to see the bigger picture? After all, compared with the company’s stated goal of signing up one billion users, perhaps 450,000 is small.

But each one of those 450,000 is a person, with his or her own hopes, lives, and rights that have nothing to do with the ambitions of a Silicon Valley startup.

Speaking to Blania clarified something we had struggled to make sense of: how a company could speak so passionately about its privacy-protecting protocols while clearly violating the privacy of so many. Our interview helped us see that, for Worldcoin, these legions of test users were not, for the most part, its intended end users. Rather, their eyes, bodies, and very patterns of life were simply grist for Worldcoin’s neural networks. The lower-level orb operators, meanwhile, were paid pennies to feed the algorithm, often grappling privately with their own moral qualms. The massive effort to teach Worldcoin’s AI to recognize who or what was human was, ironically, dehumanizing to those involved.

When we put seven pages of reporting findings and questions to Worldcoin, the company’s response was that nearly everything negative that we uncovered were simply “isolated incident[s]” that ultimately wouldn’t matter anyway, because the next (public) iteration would be better. “We believe that rights to privacy and anonymity are fundamental, which is why, within the next few weeks, everyone signing up for Worldcoin will be able to do so without sharing any of their biometric data with us,” the company wrote. That nearly half a million people had already been subject to their testing seemed of little import.

Rather, what really matters are the results: that Worldcoin will have an attractive user number to bolster its sales pitch as Web3’s preferred identity solution. And whenever the real, monetizable products—whether it’s the orbs, the Web3 passport, the currency itself, or all of the above—launch for its intended users, everything will be ready, with no messy signs of the labor or the human body parts behind it.

Additional reporting by Lujain Alsedeg and Antoaneta Roussi

Correction: This story has been corrected to note that GDPR fines can be up to 4% of global revenue, a previous version misstated the percentage, and updated to clarify GDPR regulations apply to personal data protection of European subjects.

By： Eileen Guo & Adi Renaldi Link：https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/06/1048981/worldcoin-cryptocurrency-biometrics-web3/

@ 3cea4806:10fe3f40

Previously, I had written a post on Stacker News titled "The ICANN Domain Problem, Solved With Nostr?", I presented the issue of how ICANN is the central controlling authority of internet domain names, and how we don't genuinely own them, and that issue spills over the solution that NIP-05 is trying to provide on Nostr.

The purpose of that post, and this one, is to showcase the issue of NIP-05, with the bigger issue being ICANN itself, to hopefully open up the discussion so that people can figure out a solution, all the while trying to present a potential solution myself. People have presented valid criticisms of the idea and presented holes in what I had presented as a potential solution, and they were valid ones. After some time, another solution presented itself to me, however, it might rub Bitcoiners the wrong way, but considering the opened floodgates with Ordinals, I thought might as well potentially make use of it.

What's The ICANN Problem?

Among the many reasons why people love Bitcoin is because it's not centrally controlled by anyone or a group of colluding individuals. The same goes for Nostr, which is seeing continuous growth in user adoption as they migrate from other centralized social platforms and other services to it. As such, current domain holders can completely lose access to their domain that's registered at ICANN, by an entity in ICANN, or by an external influence.

In short, the ICANN problem is that you are not truly the owner of any domain you've purchased under their rule. With that said, this leads to the issue that Nostr is trying to currently solve, which is simple, human-readable handle names, and a solution was presented called NIP-05 handles, but because of the ICANN, it is a bandaid solution.

The NIP-05 Problem

Nostr's NIP-05 handle solution attempts to address the issue of creating human-readable names for decentralized domains. Instead of using NPUB addresses directly, the idea is to associate handles with domains to improve user accessibility and convenience. However, upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that this approach poses several significant challenges and fails to achieve the desired decentralization and censorship resistance.

One of the primary concerns with the NIP-05 handle solution is its reliance on domain names. As we know, the domain name system is currently managed by ICANN, a centralized authority. This centralization introduces a critical vulnerability, as it means that a controlling entity could potentially take control of a domain associated with NIP-05 handles.

In such a scenario, if an authoritative entity seizes control of a domain, all the handles associated with that domain would be rendered useless, causing users to lose their hard-earned and recognizable identities. This loss could lead to a severe setback for user outreach and branding, as individuals and businesses may have built their online presence around these handles. Such an outcome significantly undermines the purpose of decentralized domains, as it introduces a single point of failure and compromises the integrity of the entire system.

The Failed Nostr Solution

The previous idea that I had presented to solve the ICANN problem, in gist, is to have a file that all relays would hold and update with domain names and connect them with users' NPUBs, but that had its issues:

1. Consensus on File State

One of the major with the Nostr idea was a robust mechanism for relays or entities referencing the file to reach a consensus on its current state. In a decentralized domain system, it's crucial to ensure that all participants are on the same page regarding the associations between names and their corresponding public addresses. Without a consensus protocol, discrepancies and inconsistencies would arise, leading to fragmented and unreliable domain resolution.

2. Ease of Squatting

Another pressing concern was the ease of domain squatting, where individuals could register and hold multiple names, limiting others' access to those names at little to no cost. The potential for abuse could hinder fair access to domain names. It would be a first-come-first-served process with no reasonable financial barriers.

New Solution: Utilize Bitcoin

Here's my newest attempt at trying to provide a solution to the ICANN problem, which is to make Bitcoin itself the new home for domains instead of ICANN. While others have presented the idea of other chains that are attached or anchored to Bitcoin that has already done this, I'd view it as still an issue since those chains are not as decentralized or powerful as Bitcoin itself and can be susceptible to failure.

Secondary Block Rewards: Domain Name Tokens (DNTs)

At the moment, the Bitcoin protocol rewards Miners that discover a block with an amount of BTC. The idea here is to add another kind of reward alongside the current one: Domain Name Tokens (DNTs).

Let's say this idea has been implemented into Bitcoin. An individual has successfully mined a Bitcoin block, and that person was rewarded with the current usual 6.25 BTC. Alongside that, they are also rewarded with, for example, 1,000 DNTs would be rewarded to that Miner, which can be then used, given, sold, or traded with other people in the world. The price of a DNT would be determined by supply and demand.

Once an individual has acquired a DNT, which was originally gained through POW, and then gained before use through a potential financial cost, they would then update the DNT that they own by attaching a name to it (permanent), and other relevant information like an IP address or a Nostr NPUB or note ID (can be changed later), and then send it (to yourself? to a contract? not sure how this part would work) to have it confirmed in the Bitcoin network, and if the name is available (ideally, there'd be a system that checks the network if a name is available or not before you send), you'd have that DNT recorded in the Bitcoin network with the associated name that no one can take, which would also have data that would connect it to a server to showcase your website on a browser.

Third Block Reward Type: Human Readable Bitcoin Address Tokens (HRBATs)

Accidentally thought of this when I was writing down the main idea above for the domain name tokens on Bitcoin. If users can obtain tokens so that they can be used to register/record a word and attach with its data, specifically an IP address or a Nostr NPUB or note ID, then another type of token that is pretty much the same as the domain one, but specifically for Bitcoin addresses.

This would follow the same idea as above, where miners would be rewarded with Y amount of HRBATs, and would be given/sold to the masses. A person with an HRBAT can then sign and send it with a name, have it confirmed and recorded in the Bitcoin blockchain, and then attach a Bitcoin address of their choosing to it. The results? We would now have human-readable Bitcoin addresses to transact with.

• Before: "Hey John, you can send me that 0.05 BTC to bc1qar0srrr7x...5l643ly...9re59gtzz...mdq"
• After: "Hey John, you can send me that 0.05 BTC to HummusMan9K"

End Thoughts & Thanks For Reading!

Here are a few extra thoughts I had while I was thinking about these issues and solutions: - I don't think both of these types of rewards should be case-sensitive, as it would lead to various malicious issues if it was. - I'm not sure if this requires a new BIP or not, and if it does and the solution is sound, then the latest issue would be approval from the Bitcoin network and approval time (as well as sound development/code of course). - Other data can be attached to a DNT, such as a Bitcoin address, or a Bitcoin LN address as well. - Even though a DNT is pretty much the same thing almost as an HRBAT, the reason I'd suggest there'd be two different types is for better organization and push for separate uses. A DNT would have "Domain Name", "Server Address", "Bitcoin Address", and "Bitcoin LN Address" fields, while HRBAT would have "Bitcoin Address Name", "Bitcoin Address", and "Bitcoin LN Address" fields. - Internet browsers would need to add support for DNTs, and an agreed method of accessing them via the URL field needs to be figured out. Perhaps something like "Visit my website on bd:freakoverse" where "bd" stands for "Bitcoin Domain", is to point toward the Bitcoin network. Browsers can offer a quick toggle to switch between ICANN domains and Bitcoin domains next to the URL field, and a user can set whichever is the default.

That's about it. What do you think of this idea to potentially solve the ICANN problem, if it isn't good or if there are holes in it, please mention it, and let's delve into a discussion to find a better solution. Thanks for reading!

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

In 2005, Microsoft’s Chief Identity Architect, Kim Cameron, wrote an influential paper called The Laws of Digital Identity.

original paper could be found

Laws of identity

Sure, here's Kim Cameron's Laws of Identity in markdown format:

Kim Cameron's Laws of Identity

1. Law of Control:

2. Users must have control over their own digital identities. They should be able to decide and control how their identities are used and shared.

3. Law of Minimal Disclosure:

4. The solution which discloses the least identifying information and best limits its use is the most stable, long-term solution.

5. Law of Justifiable Parties:

6. Digital identity systems must limit disclosure of identifying information to parties having a necessary and justifiable place in a given identity relationship.

7. Law of Directed Identity:

8. A universal identity system must support both "omnidirectional" identifiers for use by public entities and "unidirectional" identifiers for use by private entities, thus facilitating discovery while preventing unnecessary release of correlation handles.

9. Law of Pluralism:

10. A universal identity system must channel and enable the interworking of multiple identity technologies run by multiple identity providers.

11. Law of Human Integration:

12. The identity system must define the human user as a component integrated through protected and unambiguous human-machine communications.

13. Law of Consistent Experience Across Contexts:

14. The unifying identity metasystem must provide a simple, consistent experience while enabling separation of contexts through multiple operators and technologies.

These principles are designed to ensure user control, privacy, and security in digital identity systems, and they have influenced a wide range of subsequent work in digital identity.

It defines the core principles of a meta-identity system that allow the building next generations of identity systems.

Let's look at how Self-Sovereign Identity Principles support this law and enable to build of a meta-identity system on top.

SSI principles

Sure, here are the core principles of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) in markdown format:

Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)

1. Existence:

2. Users must have an independent existence. Their identities should exist even outside of the digital realm.

3. Control:

4. Users must control their identities. They should have the ability to access, manage, and control the data and information that is associated with their identity.

5. Access:

6. Users must have access to their own data. They should be able to retrieve, move, and store their data as they wish.

7. Transparency:

8. Systems and algorithms must be transparent. The systems used to administer and operate a user's identity must be open, both in how they function and in how they are managed and governed.

9. Persistence:

10. Identities must be long-lived. Ideally, they should last forever, or at least for as long as the user wishes.

11. Portability:

12. Information and services about identity must be transportable. They should not be held by a singular third-party entity, even if it's a trusted entity.

13. Interoperability:

14. Identities should be as widely usable as possible. They should function in all the places where identity information is required.

15. Consent:

16. Users must agree to the use of their identity. Their consent should be a requirement for any identity transactions in which their data is utilized.

17. Minimization:

18. Disclosure of claims must be minimized. When data is disclosed, the user should provide the minimal amount of data necessary for the transaction.

19. Protection:

    • The rights of users must be protected. Whether through legal means or through the architecture of the identity system itself, a user's rights, including their right to privacy, should be protected.

SSI puts the individual at the center of digital identity management, providing a strong framework for privacy, security, and user control.

correlation of digital identity laws and SSI principles © A Comprehensive Guide to Self Sovereign Identity In a picture, we see a mapping of laws and principles. Only one item is missing. Direct Entity — is covered by DIDs. So entities should have public and resolved identifiers, like the peer-to-peer private ones that allow the building of pseudo-anonymous relations.

You could get more details in a book. Learn digital identity

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

In the digital age, our identities are fragmented across various platforms, each holding a piece of our data. This fragmentation poses a significant challenge, as it prevents us from having a unified view of our digital identities. However, the concept of a holistic identity, digital twins, and autonomous agents can solve this problem, providing a more comprehensive and self-sovereign approach to digital identity.

Holistic Identity: A Unified View of Self

Holistic identity is not just a technical term; it's a philosophical concept that aims to solve the problem of data fragmentation. Unlike traditional identity systems that are authoritative and siloed, a holistic identity provides a unified view of an individual's data across various platforms.

A holistic identity is a snapshot of all data points about you, including your behavior, activities, and posts. It's not just about an identifier or login password; it's about aggregating all the data points that identify you, providing a more comprehensive view of your digital self.

Digital Twins: Your Digital Copy

A digital twin is a digital copy of you and all your data that you control. It's a continuation of your holistic identity, aggregating all the data points about you and all the data produced by you.

The concept of a digital twin goes beyond just storing information; it's about getting benefits out of it. With a digital twin, you can interact with your data, gain insights, and even sell your data. It opens up a world of possibilities, from personalization to automation.

Autonomous Agents: Your Digital Assistants

Autonomous agents are the next step from digital twins. They are essentially digital assistants that can perform tasks on your behalf. These agents can have access to a portion of your data and can perform various operations, from booking tables and buying tickets to trading operations and data trading on data exchanges.

Autonomous agents can analyze data from your digital twin and perform actions based on it. They can optimize routine tasks, cooperate with each other, create trust networks, and even make micro-payments.

The Future of Self-Sovereign Identity

The concepts of holistic identity, digital twins, and autonomous agents are interlinked and form the cornerstone of a self-sovereign identity. They provide a way to have a sovereign persona and proof that the data belongs to you.

These concepts are not just theoretical; they have practical applications that can revolutionize various domains, from healthcare and finance to personalization and automation. They represent the future of digital identity, a future where we have more control over our data and where our digital identities are unified, comprehensive, and self-sovereign.

In conclusion, the era of self-sovereign identity is upon us. It's an era where we can control our data, gain insights from it, and use it to our advantage. It's an era where our digital identities are not fragmented across various platforms but are unified and comprehensive. It's an era where we can have digital twins and autonomous agents that can perform tasks on our behalf. It's an era of holistic identity, digital twins, and autonomous agents.

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

Originally published on October 15, 2022. Moving from my personal blog to Nostr 🙌

Don't trust, verify

Some people find this very annoying. But I've realized that most people are winging it in life. Human psychology and power dynamics influences how people think and what they say. People want to seem right so they copy what others say, and expect you to believe it.

One way people consume information is through media - news and articles. They'll read something and assume it's true.

Cited by a "study"? Must be true.

"Experts say"?

Gotta be true.

Except, if you check the sources and do some critical thinking, you might uncover that the study is flawed or that the experts are biased.

Simple things like statistical significance are thrown out the window in some studies.

People overlook personal biases.

This all leads to poor data and misrepresentation. This is how you get click-bait headlines.

The only way to know what's true is to try and verify it for yourself.

Even if you are not able to verify the facts, you can come away with a range of certainty about what you learned. Is it probably true? May be true. Certainly true? Or maybe there is a grain of truth to it? The level of confidence can vary. You don't need to be 100% confident in your newly acquired knowledge.

Treat new knowledge as data points

"It depends" is the most appropriate answer to all questions in life. The actual answer is very nuanced and depends on all sorts of things.

But, the way media presents information and the way our minds try to categorize it is by replacing past beliefs.

Once you learn something new, it's tempting to disregard your past knowledge.

I don't see information this way.

To me, all new information is a data point in my life-long accumulated collection of other data points.

Think of it like a toolbox. You have many tools in your toolbox and they are all useful for some specific task. You don't throw away a tool you bought because you acquired another.

Information is much the same. You source information from your mind to understand some subject. Consider existing beliefs, while looking at the new information. The goal is to connect the dots.

Sooner or later the data points (dots) start connecting, and you get a better picture of the subject.

Seek out incentives

Incentives drive human behavior.

Incentive to earn.

Incentive to love.

Incentive to feel good about yourself (generosity).

If you can figure out a person's incentives, you will start to understand their behavior.

People suck at understanding this. They blame the wrong things. They assign responsibility to people who are not responsible. They create made up reasons for why someone did something. All the whole ignoring incentives.

Incentives drive everything. Ask the following questions:

• What is the ultimate goal of this person by saying or doing this?
• What do they seek to gain?
• How does it make them feel?
• What will they do at the prospect of failure?
• Who are the people they care for?
• What do they stand to lose?
• What motivates their actions?
• In almost all cases the answer to these questions involves a personal gain / loss.

Give people the benefit of the doubt

When trying to decide whether something was said or done with good intent, assume that's the case.

With exceptions such as career politicians or criminals, it is best to assume that people mean well and people are default=nice.

Otherwise it becomes difficult to have faith in systems, processes and humanity.

I know the world can be an ugly place, but it can also be a beautiful place. I'd rather assume people are seeking to build a better future for themselves.

If they act against everyone's best interest, it is best to assume they do so out of personal gain rather than some sinister plot. Look at the incentives that drive their behavior and figure out how to modify them to best serve everyone.

Acknowledge that material wealth does not bring happiness and strive for what matters to you.

Money does not bring happiness no matter what anyone says. It does relieve you of despair and help live a better, more peaceful and enjoyable life, but it will not make you happy.

Very few people in the world, if any, know true happiness because they confuse happiness (the process) with happiness (the end state). There is no end state for happiness.

When people ask you if you are happy, it's hard to answer, right?

Your instinct is to say "yes, of course". After all, your day is going fine, you have every comfort you desire and you had a pleasant lunch with a friend. You feel "happy".

But, this happiness fades. Tomorrow you get in a car accident, your car damaged, insurance won't pay out and you miss 2 weeks of work. You are "unhappy".

Some people confuse happiness with being content. You can be content with your place in life, but that doesn't mean you're happy.

The whole debate over happiness is a mute point. Since happiness is a process which is more akin to enjoyment, ultimately there is no such thing as happiness. The word itself should disappear from dictionaries.

Ok, I'm joking. But, you get the point.

When it comes to my life, I strive for satisfaction and contentment.

If I'm satisfied that day, that week, that month, that year, or the last decade, then I've met my "happiness" goals. If I am content with my life, then I'm "happy".

While material wealth can provide satisfaction, the contentment piece is often missing. With wealth, the goal post moves from one spot to another. Once you've achieved a satisfying moment, you have to move to the next, and the next. Each time you have to introduce higher states of satisfaction that require more effort and money.

Eventually, you plateau and satisfying moments from the physical world no longer matter. You seek out emotional attachment and relationships.

This is why so many wealthy people are depressed. No matter how much they spend, they can never reach that emotional attachment provided by love and relationships.

In fact, wealth only complicates those things. Instead of people seeing you for who you are as a person, a new variable is introduced and they see you for your status. With misaligned incentives, it becomes more difficult to form genuine relationships. Thus, contentment is hard to achieve.

I'm going to let you in on the biggest secret everyone is asking about - the secret to happiness.

The secret to happiness is charitable work. Doing things for others, without expecting anything in return.

Charitable acts are secretly selfish acts, whether that person acknowledges it or not.

All humans act in self-preservation. The need to feel good about ourselves. The need for approval. The need for comfort and safety. The need for recognition. All of these needs are driven by self-preservation.

Charity is no different. While we may feel that we do good things for others out of the goodness of our hearts, the evolutionary incentive is to feel satisfied by our deeds. There's nothing wrong with doing good things to feel good, as long as you understand why you're doing it, instead of performing mental gymnastics.

We are not designed for our digital world and should not strive to adapt to it

Evolution took hundreds of thousands of years to shape humans into what we are today. But technology accelerated the process by many magnitudes all within about 100 years. Except, it hasn't. The evolutionary clock is still catching up, out of breath and exhausted with your daily activity.

While we adapt rather well, humans are not capable of processing the amount of data and connections offered by the internet. This ultimately messes with our minds.

Think about your current physical world social circle. Small, yes?

Now think about your digital social circle. Much larger?

How many people do you think about out of your larger digital social circle? My guess is not that many.

While you may recognize the individuals you interact with, the meaning connections formed in the digital world are somewhat closely mirrored to the physical world. I hypothesize this is because we have innate evolutionary boundaries that limit our ability to expand beyond a certain natural limit.

Going beyond the invisible evolutionary boundaries places a burden on your mind. It feels unhealthy.

Remember the last time you thought to yourself "I need a break. I need to unplug"? That's your evolutionary boundary telling you it is not capable of processing any more data. You need a purge to get back to equilibrium.

We are not designed to be always-on, always-connected, always-responsive. At least not yet. It's possible the evolutionary process catches up and prepares us to handle all of it, but I am not confident it will be any time soon.

I try to remind myself that I am not meant to have 50,000 followers and expect to keep everyone happy. I am not meant to follow everyone's updates and be expected to respond. To stay healthy, I need to unplug.

Life is what you make of it, do what you wish to do and ignore the rest

There's no "right way" to do anything. Everything is a figment of human imagination. To do things "the right way" means doing it by someone else's definition of right.

I found it incredibly freeing to realize that the only thing that is pure in this world is the natural world and your mind.

The world is a canvas.

You are the paint brush.

Everyone is capable of everything and nothing at the same time.

Everything else is noise.

Yes, we have society. Yes, we have rules. These artificial, human-invented boundaries act to preserve harmony. But, ultimately, the only pure forms of existence are the human mind and the natural world. What you do is the only thing within your boundary of control (to an extent).

Since we experience the world with our minds, we are all that is true. Everything else is a projection of some entity or experience that seeks to change our behavior (intentionally or unintentionally).

With this in mind, I look at people's experiences as unique to them and do not assume that they will translate in the same way to my life if I apply them.

Only worry about things that are in my control

I can't control what people do. I can try to influence them, but ultimately they will do what they decide to do. Since I can only control myself, I don't worry about what others think or do.

Never regret

It's easy to say "I don't regret things" but in reality emotions take us there and we think about what we regret.

I would be lying if I said I don't have feelings of regret. But, I forget about them quickly so I can focus on the things I can control. What passed is now behind me and there's no way to change it back, so there's no point in regretting.

Reflection is not the same as regret. One can reflect by looking at the past, and make changes for the future. Regrets are bitter feelings an no action.

Truth is relative

Even as I write this, my own truths are relative. What is true for me, or is true now, may not be true for you or true when you read it. It may be wrong.

People used to believe earth was the center of the universe. That the sun went around the earth. That to ward off bad spirits you had to offer sacrifices.

These were all truths to the people who held those beliefs. Now we know different.

Given what we know now, it is only logical to assume that our current truths may be false in the future. Even physics, the foundation upon we base so many truths may be proven to be wrong or incompatible with other parts of the universe.

Most things are not the best version of themselves therefore there is always room for improvement.

Since things get better all the time, it is only logical to assume that even the best thing we can think of is not the best version of that thing. The "best" is relative to time, technology and imagination.

Whenever someone says "but we already have X that works great", that doesn't mean that Y cannot be better than X, nobody just thought of it yet.

Stay curious, stay hungry and know that you can create something better.

Take experts with a grain of salt

Even the top experts in their fields are often incorrect.

For example - I know a lot about conversion optimization, but if you were to take every advice I dish out, some of it will inevitably flop.

When you get to an expert level, when someone asks you something you don't know, it is tempting to give an answer. When many people ask you for something, it's even more tempting to respond.

Saying "I don't know" is difficult even if you feel that you should say it. Before you can utter the words, your mind says "I should know this..."

The second factor that makes experts not as credible as they may have been in the past, is the speed at which technology moves.

Think about a specialized doctor. This doctor may be the top expert in their field, but it is impossible for them to read the thousands of medical journals published every day. So many breakthroughs could happen in a year without this doctor ever knowing about them.

By the time an expert weighs in, the "truth" of the matter may have already shifted.

Knowing this, you can assume that not everything an expert says is correct, especially if they step outside of their lane.

Elon Musk is a great example of this. While Elon is a successful entrepreneur and perhaps knows a thing or two about rocket engines, when he steps outside of his lane and talks about crypto, he is no more coherent than someone who spent a lot of time in the space. He uses his influence to prop up things like dogecoin for fun and games, while people lose their life savings following his doge tweets.

I'm not saying that he is responsible for people's personal decisions, but he does influence them.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Las autoridades de la prisión Agüica, en Colón, Matanzas advirtieron al preso político Félix Navarro que será sancionado si continúa sacando a la luz pública los abusos contra los reclusos, según denunció el líder opositor en un audio grabado por teléfono al que Martí Noticias tuvo acceso.

El teniente coronel Emilio Cruz Rodríguez, jefe del penal, hizo trasladar a Navarro a su oficina, donde le comunicó que tomaría medidas si no cesa las denuncias sobre violaciones de los derechos de los privados de libertad y le dijo que no puede hablar con otras personas que no sean de su familia, explicó el activista sentenciado a nueve años de privación de libertad por participar en las protestas del 11 de julio de 2021.

“El miércoles 12 me llevaron para allá y tuvimos ese debate. Me dijo que a él no le importaban las sandeces que yo hablaba", relató Navarro quien también enfrentó una pena por causas políticas durante la Primavera Negra de 2003.

Navarro contestó al oficial que las "sandeces" eran de su parte, lo que el oficial calificó de “falta de respeto".

No obstante, el preso político consideró que la conversación fue “respetuosa” salvo que le están imponiendo arbitrariedades porque las llamadas telefónicas “son para familiares y amigos, no solo para familiares".

Afirmó que no se amedrenta por las represalias prometidas: “esta es nuestra lucha, lo mismo en la calle que aquí” y reiteró la tolerancia y la desidia conque actúa la Fiscalía Militar ante las quejas sobre los maltratos de las autoridades penitenciarias contra los reos.

“La cúpula que manda en Cuba y su Fiscalía Militar no se han pronunciado respecto a las denuncias que publicamos los días 5 y 19 de enero y el 1º. de febrero de 2023. El silencio como respuesta es un método muy utilizado por ellos cuando la razón se impone", declaró en la llamada.

Asimismo, se refirió a “la tolerancia en la región Camagüey ante las ilegalidades y abusos contra los presos cubanos, formuladas en queja en el atestado 76 de 2022, y en la no. 1 del 2021” que no han sido respondidas por la entidad de justicia.

Estos malos tratos “cuentan con toda la impunidad, el respaldo del teniente coronel Yuri Rodríguez y del coronel Mario Viltre, jefes de las fiscalías, de la región de Camagüey y del territorio oriental, respectivamente”, opinó el coordinador del Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel, desde la cárcel donde está encerrado.

Con anterioridad, Navarro ha acusado a la Fiscalía Militar cubana de ser “la columna vertebral de la tolerancia y de la impunidad ante las ilegalidades y los abusos de todo tipo que sufren los presos y ha denunciado que en la prisión Agüica aplican tratos crueles e inhumanos a las personas que cumplen penas en ese establecimiento penitenciario.

“Aún continúa afectado el recluso, Juan Carlos Garrote Molina, de Jovellanos, Matanzas”, señaló Navarro que, previamente, el 5 de enero, había hecho pública la situación de Garrote Molina, enfermo “privado de medicamentos y dietas médicas”.

“Si no se puede contar con uno de los órganos más importantes en materia de legalidad y este resulta un fraude, ¿qué otra denuncia se necesitaría para demostrar que dicha jefatura no es otra cosa que un sistema falso, manipulador y dictatorial”, recalcó el líder disidente.

De acuerdo a Navarro, cerca de 14 presos comunes están en huelga de hambre reclamando que los trasladen hacia establecimientos penales cercanos a sus viviendas, ubicadas en Holguín, a casi 600 kilómetros de Agüica, donde están recluidos.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Varios cubanos denunciaron en redes sociales que los cajeros automáticos de la isla comenzaron a entregar billetes impresos en una sola cara, supuestamente por falta de tinta.

Las imágenes de los "nuevos billetes" circulan en redes y aunque el régimen no se ha pronunciado al respecto, un profesor dijo en una publicación en Facebook del influencer Edmundo Dantés que en su escuela también le pagaron con billetes que tienen uno de los lados en blanco.

"Y entonces de forma inesperada los cajeros empiezan a darte dinero invisible como los logros de la Revolución", afirmó Dantés en su post.

Por su parte, Felix Yasser Castillo Pelayo consideró que el Estado "te roba hasta en el cajero" mientras mostraba un billete de 100 pesos con una parte en blanco.

Ante la incredulidad de varios usuarios de la red social un cubano de Santiago de Cuba dijo que en esa ciudad ha pasado y hay personas que han sacado hasta 10 papeles con el sello metálico del medio solamente.

Otros dijeron que estos billetes con error podrían tener valor numismático: Antonio Planas Ampudia dijo que "Tanto en el sector numismático en Cuba como fuera de él en otros países tienden a coleccionar billetes y monedas cubanas desde la colonia, república y actualidad, y tienen un valor según el comprador... Ese billete tiene un buen error, y los hay que coleccionan errores o series, es según gustos...", explicó.

La crisis en Cuba está tan generalizada que alcanza a casi todos los sectores, incluido uno tan sensible como el bancario. Desde hace varios meses los cubanos se quejan de que los cajeros del país amanecen sin efectivo, pero nunca imaginaron que tampoco habría tinta para los billetes.

Se desconoce si los bancos o negocios aceptarán estos papeles mitad impresos mitad en blanco. Algunos afirman enojados que se trata de otra estafa del régimen para con la población del país.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Desde este sábado 29 de julio los ciudadanos cubanos necesitan una visa para el tránsito aeroportuario si desean pasar un aeropuerto de Alemania (zona de tránsito internacional) para continuar viaje a un tercer país (fuera del espacio Schengen), informó la embajada de Alemania en La Habana en una nota publicada en sus canales oficiales.

La sede diplomática, no obstante, precisó que si se cumplen algunas condiciones, entonces no es necesaria una visa de tránsito aeroportuario.

No tendrán que solicitar el documento aquellos cubanos que posean una visa Schengen válida, una visa nacional para la estancia a largo plazo o algún título de estancia emitido por alguno de los países miembros.

Tampoco tendrán que pedir permiso de tránsito quienes tengan una visa válida para Japón, Canadá y Estados Unidos o un permiso de estancia emitido por Andorra, Canadá, Japón, Mónaco, San Marino o Estados Unidos, el cual garantiza la readmisión incondicional del poseedor.

Alemania no exigirá visa de tránsito a quienes posean un pasaporte diplomático cubano, sea familia de ciudadanos de la Unión Europea o sea miembro de tripulaciones de aviones que son ciudadanos de un estado signatario del Convenio de Chicago sobre la aviación civil internacional.

La nota de la embajada de Alemania destaca que "el titular de una visa de tránsito aeroportuario no puede abandonar la zona de tránsito del aeropuerto alemán" y recomienda "con insistencia informarse previamente con toda exactitud acerca del transcurso del viaje, y ante la oficina de viajes o la compañía aérea recabar información acerca de si es necesario cambiar de terminal".

"Si durante el viaje se hace necesario entrar a la jurisdicción de los estados Schengen (por ejemplo, al trasladarse a otro edificio de la terminal o para hacer escala para un vuelo interno Schengen), los ciudadanos cubanos necesitan una visa Schengen", sostiene.

La reservación de un turno para solicitar visa se hace exclusivamente a través de la página web de la Embajada dentro del sistema de reservación de turnos previsto para ello.

La nota añade que debe tenerse en cuenta que la demanda de tales turnos es muy alta. "Por eso hay que ocuparse a tiempo de hacer una reservación. La solicitud se puede hacer ya desde seis meses antes de la fecha de viaje prevista. En cualquier caso, la tramitación solo se hará si previamente se ha sacado un turno".

Relacionado con la nota aparece toda la documentación requerida para la solicitud de la visa de tránsito para los cubanos por Alemania, con un costo de 80 euros que se pagan al contado. La tasa para los niños de entre seis y ocho años de edad es de 40 euros.

La semana pasada trascendió que el número de cubanos que solicitan asilo en Alemania se multiplicó por ocho durante el primer semestre de 2023 respecto al mismo periodo de 2022, de 73 a 607.

Según el diario alemán Bild, que citó a un portavoz del Ministerio del Interior alemán, los cubanos empleaban un mecanismo consistente en comprar un billete de avión a un destino para el que no necesitan visado, por ejemplo Belgrado (Serbia) o Dubai (Emiratos Árabes Unidos), con escala en la ciudad alemana de Fráncfort. Allí, donde los pasajeros en tránsito no necesitan visado, se presentaban ante la Policía y solicitaban asilo.

Según el portavoz, en 2022 se identificaron a 302 cubanos que hicieron uso principalmente de este privilegio de tránsito para solicitar asilo. Agregó que "ni la mitad" de estos cubanos siguió la vía regular, es decir, no se presentaron en el centro correspondiente de la oficina de migración "después de expresar su deseo de asilo ante la Policía federal" en el aeropuerto y del registro de sus datos. El diario señaló que alrededor de 300 cubanos desaparecieron de esta manera.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Nicolás Petro, el hijo mayor del presidente de Colombia, Gustavo Petro, y diputado de la Asamblea del Departamento del Atlántico, fue detenido este sábado por la Fiscalía, que lo investiga por el posible delito de lavado de dinero y enriquecimiento ilícito, informó esa institución, reportó EFE.

Además de Petro hijo, fue arrestada su exesposa Daysuris Vásquez, quien a comienzos de año lo acusó de recibir de un narcotraficante una alta suma de dinero para la campaña del hoy presidente, y de quedarse con ese dinero.

La Fiscalía informó de que las capturas tuvieron lugar "el día de hoy 29 de julio de 2023, sobre las 06:00 horas, en cumplimiento a lo dispuesto por el Juzgado 16 Penal Municipal con Función de Control de Garantías de Bogotá".

La institución añadió en un comunicado que Nicolás Fernando Petro Burgos fue detenido "por los delitos de lavado de activos y enriquecimiento ilícito y Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez Castro por los punibles de lavado de activos y violación de datos personales por hechos ocurridos desde 2022 a la fecha".

"Los capturados serán puestos a disposición de un juez penal municipal con Función de Control de Garantías, a quien se le solicitará impartir legalidad a los procedimientos de allanamiento, captura e incautación de elementos materiales probatorios", añadió.

También "se formulará imputación por los delitos ya citados y se solicitará una medida restrictiva de la libertad", según la Fiscalía.

El pasado 21 de marzo la Fiscalía anunció que investigaba penalmente a Nicolás Petro por sus supuestas reuniones con narcotraficantes en la cárcel y por un "posible lavado de activos".

La exesposa del hijo de Petro aseguró a comienzos de ese mes en una entrevista con la revista Semana que el narcotraficante Samuel Santander Lopesierra, alias "El hombre Marlboro", le entregó a Nicolás Petro "más de 600 millones de pesos (unos 153.000 dólares de hoy) para la campaña del papá".

"Eso nunca llegó legalmente a la campaña porque él se quedó con ese dinero, y así otros", añadió la mujer, que mencionó que Nicolás Petro también recibió 200 millones de pesos (unos 51.000 dólares) del controvertido empresario Alfonso Turco Hilsaca, que tampoco fueron a dar a la campaña.

Por su parte, el presidente Gustavo Petro afirmó este sábado que "no intervendrá ni presionará" las decisiones de la Fiscalía tras la captura de su hijo.

"Como persona y padre me duele mucho tanta autodestrucción y el que uno de mis hijos pase por la cárcel; como presidente de la República aseguro que la Fiscalía tenga todas las garantías de mi parte para proceder de acuerdo a la ley", expresó el mandatario en su cuenta de Twitter.

"A mi hijo le deseo suerte y fuerza. Que estos sucesos forjen su carácter y pueda reflexionar sobre sus propios errores. Como afirmé ante el fiscal general, no intervendré ni presionaré sus decisiones; que el derecho guíe libremente el proceso", agregó.

@ d030bd23:96435da9

Test

@ d030bd23:96435da9

@ d030bd23:96435da9

@ d030bd23:96435da9

Hi all I am Disturbia, a random person from Malaysia.

@ 264797a0:7ba227bd

I am testing to post something in here

@ 957966b6:2d4fe6b7

Yahweh’s word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place—the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests, those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam, those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.

Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests. It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing. In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.

In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off. It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.” Their wealth will become a plunder, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine.

The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high battlements. I will bring such distress on men that they will walk like blind men because they have sinned against Yahweh. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.

Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame, before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you. Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger. For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up. Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! Yahweh’s word is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant. The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God, will visit them and restore them. I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore, as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them. This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies. Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.

You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.

He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness. Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all kinds of animals. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams. This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and shake their fists.

Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city! She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God.

Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day. Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. Yahweh, within her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame.

I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant. I said, “Just fear me. Receive correction,” so that her dwelling won’t be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they rose early and corrupted all their doings.

“Therefore wait for me”, says Yahweh, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, even the daughter of my dispersed people, will bring my offering. In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out from among you your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be arrogant in my holy mountain. But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name. The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.”

Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you. Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you; and I will save those who are lame and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh.

The World English Bible is in the Public Domain. That means that it is not copyrighted. However, "World English Bible" is a Trademark of eBible.org.

@ 00000001:a21169a7

August Sander (1876-1964), a prominent figure in documentary photography, played a pivotal role in challenging and resisting Nazi ideology through his work during the difficult years preceding and following Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany.

Sander's most famous project, "People of the 20th Century," stands as a testament to this silent resistance. This monumental body of work, portraying a broad cross-section of German society, presented a bold challenge to the Nazi notion of a "superior race".

Sander's strategy was to humanize all the people he photographed, regardless of their social status or race. His approach was neither to glorify nor denigrate, but simply to portray people as they were, a vision that was in stark contrast with the Nazis' racial ideology.

Furthermore, Sander sought to dismantle the Nazis' rigid racial and social categories. In "People of the 20th Century," the range of subjects is impressively broad: aristocrats, peasants, artists, manual workers, women, men, Jews, non-Jews. By juxtaposing these different categories, Sander underscored the diversity and complexity of German society, thus challenging the Nazi notion of a "pure race".

Despite the resistance he faced, Sander's courage never wavered. His photographs were confiscated and destroyed by the Nazis, and his book "Face of Our Time" was banned in 1936. Yet, Sander persisted, and while he was forced to switch his focus to landscape photography to avoid further confrontations, he continued to document his time's Germany until his death in 1964.

Sander's resistance to Nazi ideology was not frontal or violent, but subversive and silent. His camera became his weapon, and his photographs, his resistance. By capturing his subjects' humanity, he demonstrated that diversity, far from being a threat, is a source of richness and vitality in a society.

August Sander's work remains a powerful tool for understanding the social and political context of Germany in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, his work continues to be a reminder of the importance of preserving and respecting human dignity, regardless of race, religion, or social status. In this sense, Sander's photography not only documents the reality of his era but also offers a powerful critique of Nazi ideology and a more inclusive and humanitarian vision of society.

@ 00000001:a21169a7

If for Henri Cartier-Bresson the essence of photography was the decisive moment, for William Klein the defining factor is commitment. This assertion, made by Raphaëlle Stopin, curator of the 'William Klein. Manifesto' exhibition, couldn't be more accurate. At 91 years old and with multiple facets to his name - photographer, painter, filmmaker, publicist, writer, and activist - Klein has left an indelible mark on the landscape of art and photography with his irreverent commitment and radical approach.

Born in New York in 1928, Klein transformed mid-20th-century photography, creating an aesthetic language that evokes the rawness and emotions of a post-war society still to be rebuilt. Through his lens, we see a vibrant, dirty, mestizo, and ever-evolving New York. His unconventional approach, which mixed with the subjects he portrayed, broke with the standards of photography of his time, resulting in images that the white, Anglo-Saxon elite of the era found distasteful. However, his honest and committed vision ended up paving a new path in photography.

Klein began his creative journey in painting, where he already displayed a unique, free, and transgressive language. His entry into the world of photography happened fortuitously, by photographing his own paintings, and it was in 1956 when his vision exploded onto the scene, with the publication of 'Life is Good & Good for You in New York: Trance Witness Revels'. This work, the fruit of his immersion in the wild side of New York life, became a revolutionary manifesto that subverted the traditional principles of photography.

Klein's photographs were never just images. They were bold statements of freedom and experimentation, going against the conventions of his time. It was with his legendary book about New York that he became a disruptive figure in photography. Despite being published in France, Italy, and Japan, this book took 40 years to be published in the United States, a fact that evidences the rejection his raw and uninhibited gaze of the city caused.

But Klein was never content with just being a photographer. His enormous cultural baggage, inspired by figures such as Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, and the Bauhaus, propelled him to explore other forms of expression. In his work, we see the fusion of photography with painting, the 'painted contacts', where he applies paint to contact sheets with large brushes, creating a fusion of disciplines that is surprisingly innovative and evocative.

Today, at 91 years old, Klein continues to work, reinventing himself and reinterpreting his archive. Although his pace has changed, his commitment to his art and his language has not diminished. His legacy endures, and his influence continues to be visible in contemporary photography.

Is Klein a Leonardo of photography? Perhaps it's not an exact comparison. But, just like Da Vinci, Klein has shown a diversity of interests and skills that rivals any Renaissance polymath's. And, unlike Da Vinci, Klein is indisputably wilder and more committed.

In summary, William Klein is a visionary, a provocateur, and an iconoclast, whose work remains a source of inspiration and a challenge to today's artists and photographers. With his committed, free, and innovative gaze, Klein has demonstrated that photography, like any form of art, should always be an act of commitment and revolution.

@ eff0899a:fa20fe42

Interesting to see Nostr come up recently on the Bitmessage chan called 'bitmessage':

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Usenet getting a rebirth in nostr. Usenet could also adopt bitcoin as a hashcash mechanism when the Big8 reconvenes. Spammers won't pay 1/10 of a penny to send 1000s of messages.

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Well, stupid, anyway.

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Usenet could have worked out but all the peer admins decided that allowing trolls to silence real users violates freedom of speech of the trolls. All normal people quickly abandoned the platform, leaving behind a bunch of mentally-deranged perverts, kind of like Bitmessage.

If you go the the Eternal September website they say they will give a copy of any abuse complaint to the stalker you are complaining about. That is like telling a woman who has been raped that you will give the rapist a copy of her complaint.

People in the tech world are stupid, venal, and evil.

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Really? All the anonymous free ones I know of are dead. :(

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Usenet is better. There are several anonymous, free news servers. The ultra-paranoid can use mixmaster or yamn to post, although that is overkill. Accessing Usenet over Tor is anonymous enough.

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AH! One more thing, to all newcomers to Bitmessage channels:

If you're here for uncensored social interaction, and finding the place somewhat alien or underwhelming, perhaps have a look at the NOSTR ecosystem instead: it's maturing nicely and may be a better fit for your needs and expectations.

https://nostr-resources.com/

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A few points for clarity: - a Bitmessage address is a pair of private keys. Private keys are really nothing more than large random numbers. - a Bitmessage address is primarily a way to RECEIVE messages, and only secondarily to AUTHENTICATE a sender The ability to create new keys at no cost is a by-design feature of the system, not a bug.

Secondly: the Bitmessage network will gladly and neutrally carry any payload for you as long as you pay the postage stamp, in the form of POW. It can not and will not open the envelope, look inside and make routing decisions on that basis. This is also by design.

You can contemplate making changes to the system to address some of the issues that you're sensitive about, but by losing or weakening the fundamental properties you'd end up with something fundamentally different, like SMTP or XMPP or COT or whatever. You see, when Bitmessage was created, the world already had SMTP and XMPP and COT, and some guy looked at all those WIDELY available options and said "This won't do", and wrote Bitmessage. And that's why we're here now, and not on Zoom or Discord or whatever NPCs are using these days, Telegram? Tictok?

That's not to say that Bitmessage is perfect as it is, there's still a lot to improve. But improvement must come along the lines of preserving and strengthening Bitmessage's fundamental properties rather than replicating the user experience that newcomers expect, from the consumer networks they've used before. Ask them why they left those networks for Bitmessage, the answer may be in there.

I hope this makes sense. Now send in the clowns.

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There is another significant flaw with that currently: Creating a new address (if you don't do it within the BM client itself) has no associated cost, meaning even if you require separate addresses, it would be trivial to send each spam message from a new address.

And on the other self moderation: This would've needed much more powerful tools to be useful. As you said, there should be an option to also get rid of all messages an address posted, when you blacklist them. At the same time, it would've really helped if BM had proper threading support (and not just "append more text to a previous message"), and especially something to say "throw away this message and every future message that is a response to it, because it's most likely garbage".

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I disagree. The only flaw is that people can post to a channel as the channel itself, which denies moderation - which is why a lot of people block messages coming from the channel itself. The moderation comes from the idea that you can blacklist/whitelist people, but the flaw is, it won't work on messages already posted - a simple change to the code to delete or hide messages coming from blacklisted addresses when they're blacklisted would be extremely helpful.

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Well, "droves" is a big term for a platform that never had a really high number of users, so it's more like the few good users are trickling out. And I wouldn't call one delusional idiot spamming a DDoS, since that implies much much more traffic from many participants. It's more a mild annoyance.

Overall I'd call this a case study in how unmoderateable, anonymous chat cannot work, and that exposing channels in a "truly public" fashion is a grave design error, because they make people think it could work. The only thing BM can really work well for is direct E-Mail like communication between two known parties, or private channels for small groups.

@ 1c52ebc8:5698c92a

Hey folks, let’s take a shot at this. If folks find this helpful, this will become a weekly summary of what’s happening in Nostr.

The intention is for it to be technically focused (new NIPs, new projects, new bounties, etc) and a way for folks that aren’t terminally online / on-nostr to be able to keep up with what’s going on.

Let’s dive in!

Recent NIP Updates

1) Long form content

Looks like there’s some activity around long-form content. Recently a few updates to various NIPs added the expectation that relays and clients support drafts of long-form content. That way folks can save their drafts without a client having to save in some way other than a relay. 💪

2) NIP 99: Classified listings

This NIP was accepted July 18, 2023 and outlines a new kind of note that will help Nostr clients to build Craiglist competitors natively in Nostr. 💲

Notable projects

Human Rights Foundation Bounties

A series of bounties to add capabilities to the Nostr ecosystem.

NostrDB: under development

A nostr-specific database that @jb55 is building to improve performance of the Damus iOS app

NJson: a JSON parser for Nostr events

A parser for JSON that’s specific to Nostr Event JSON. It’s wayyyyy faster. Great foundationally pattern/tool to improve all nostr clients and relays.

Data vending machines

This one was a mind bender and a new concept to me. But @pablof7z introduced having bots compete to accomplish tasks. The person that’s hiring for the task sets the terms and can accept a bid on whatever dimension they care about.

This could be used for things as simple as answering a question you’d previously use Google for, or curating a Nostr feed based on your interests.

Highlighter

Highlighter is a way to highlight content from anywhere and wrap that highlight as a nostr event. Which means that people can interact with this content like any other note: reactions, reposts, zaps, etc.

Seems like it could become a way to discover quality content by following folks that are digging into topics you’re interested in. Lots of ways to use this 🤯

Habla.news

Habla.news has built a way for people to draft and publish long form content in a familiar way. The interface supports rich text editing and other nice features of products like Medium.

Best part is that it publishes to your relays, so any client that supports long form content events will showcase your work (and make it zapable ⚡). For now I’ve only seen Damus (the iOS app) support long-form notes natively, but I’m sure more are incoming 💪

Latest debates

Nostr for everything vs narrow, powerful nostr

Seen a few of these debates lately, I imagine it’s just the beginning.

With protocols there’s a temptation to make that protocol support the capability to do everything. On the other hand, a protocol that can do anything isn’t particularly useful.

Nostr is still evolving though and no one is an authority on what IS and IS NOT Nostr. Can’t wait to see folks hash it out.

Example thread

Build requests / ideas

I’m gonna collect the features / build requests I see throughout the week and post them here for anyone that has the cycles and interest to build what the community is asking for.

If you have something you want put here, let me know! (DM’s are welcome)

1. @jb55 = nuke all events client (to clean up a relay or your wipe your account)
2. @jb55 = nostr-based email client

Events

I’ll keep a running list of Nostr-related events that I hear about (in person or virtual). If you wanna see something here please let me know! (DMs welcome)

1. Nostrasia Nov 1-3 in Tokyo & Hong Kong
2. Meet up in Chiavenna, Italy August 3rd

Until next time 🫡

If I missed anything, let me know, DMs welcome.

And to shamelessly rip off my favorite youtuber’s signoff “God bless, you’re super cute”

@ 0e051ec9:a681f857

Faster, Please! — The Podcast #33

https://fasterplease.substack.com/p/faster-please-the-podcast-33

Vance is the author of the new book, When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach

“The future that all these space buffs have already started building is one in which many rockets blast off every day. These rockets will be carrying thousands of satellites that will be placed not all that far above our heads. The satellites will change the way communications work on Earth by, for one, making the internet an inescapable presence with all the good and bad that entails. The satellites will also watch and analyze the earth in previously unfathomable ways. The data centers that have reshaped life on our planet will be transported into orbit. We are, in effect, building a computing shell around the planet.”

Other than SpaceX, who are the companies building that computer shell?

The one that comes to mind is the next sort of central actor in the book, which is this company called Planet Labs, which is based in San Francisco. For people who don't know, they already surround the Earth with about 250 imaging satellites. They can take, and they do take, pictures of every spot on the Earth's landmass every day. Multiple pictures. Unlike even the world's biggest governments, China, Russia, the US, which have spy satellites obviously, but they only have a handful of spy satellites. And they tend to only look where interesting things might be happening. Planet Labs sees everything that's happening all the time. And this is not some far-off concept. They had this full constellation up and running in 2018 and have just been adding to it ever since.

A fascinating startup called Varda launched just a couple months ago. They have put what you could argue is the first manufacturing system in space. It's making medicines. You can do things without gravity pushing on molecules in space that you can't do on Earth. They're trying to make a whole new class of pharmaceuticals and bring them back to Earth. I think that's just the earliest example. There are things like asteroid mining that I thought were total jokes and are still quite far off, but there's a startup, Astro Forge. Same thing: They set up their first test earlier this year. All this stuff is actually happening now. The business cases on these things, I think some will work and some won't, but we're going to find out.

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

I’m going to think out lout about the UAP hearing a bit, feel free to tune me out.

Scenario 1

The one most of us are probably thinking: This entire thing is a distraction from one or many known or unknown issues currently underway. It must be so bad that it warrants national attention to the all-entertaining “UAP” subject.

For this to be true, we have to assume one of the following: 1. The people testifying are lying. Maybe paid actors, maybe not, who knows, but they are not telling the truth. 2. They are telling their “truth”, however they obtained it, perhaps even their reality. We do know UFOs are commonly reported worldwide, so perhaps they are just telling what they saw.

In terms of congressional involvement, scenario one would mean that some or all of the congress members are full of shit. This is an unlikely scenario in my mind (hard to get everyone to go along with a lie). The more likely scenario is that they are in it for the wild ride, totally unaware they are being used as pawns (or at least some aren’t).

What makes this scenario possible in my opinion is that Grush is allowed to speak about the events publicly but not discuss details (unless privately). This makes for good public theatre. Why would unsanctioned projects allow Grush to even go so far as to speak about the events when a slip and fall accident could occur at any moment? The answer would have to be either: 1. Because it’s all bullshit, or mostly bullshit. 2. Because the agencies involved are really THAT incompetent and hadn’t figured out what is happening. 3. Because they have no problem with him talking about it because they would like to slowly disclose alien technology and the fact that we’re not alone. 4. To serve the purpose of distraction.

Assuming scenario 1 is correct, the most likely scenario is that the people involved are telling their own version of truth and that some of the congressional members are unaware of the real reason they’re there.

This is an easy fallback for any time you want to divert attention from some other pressing matters. Just talk about UFOs!

The earlier story in NY Times would also make sense in this case - as the NYT has been known to act as the propaganda arm of the government. The NY Times story brought a lot of attention to the matter, but we have to also wonder why this was under the rug for so many years? Perhaps because it’s pure bullshit.

The “It’s real!” Scenario….

Let us assume that this is not a distraction. The people testifying are telling the truth. Everything is as they say it is. Ooof!

This would mean that everything Grush says is true - there are unsanctioned programs and or people with extreme privilege and clearance not granted to anyone else. People that are not even part of the government in any way.

It would also mean we have recovered alien craft and bodies and have attempted to reverse engineer their tech. Perhaps we already succeeded and what we see flying around today is this reverse engineered tech, or actual ETs.

What would make this scenario real?

Well, there is no shortage of UFO sightings. People swearing their life on it. For us to discount all of them would mean calling everyone a liar, or just confused about some other phenomena. I wouldn’t bet on all liars and delusional, but confused, maybe. Still, some accounts are just too out there to dismiss without some serious thought. The fact that people’s stories seem to match could mean that there’s truth to those reports.

Perhaps the aliens use pods (classic saucer shapes, or “tic tacs” or other shapes craft. Maybe the “cubes” in orbs are their versions of drones? Or not? Maybe the large cubes are spacecraft.

Yes, they cover vast amounts of space quickly and STILL crash on our planet. Rookies that failed the landing maneuver in flight school… heh.

The governments of the world are all cooperating in hiding the truth and or the US government has unprecedented access to other parts of the world to recover and cover up various incidents. WOW… ok. That means we have something like a one world alien-communication government that has unprecedented access beyond anyone’s control. How??

If this is the real deal, we should all be losing our minds right now. The prospect of another species with vastly superior technology with interest in our nuclear dealings should scare everyone. Forget everything else, this is priority #1.

THE PROBLEM with this scenario?

1. Some foreign govt. would have already revealed what they know. Would they not? Are we to believe they are all collaborating on this with some inter-government agency that acts with ultimate authority? Why? How? Maybe they are already speaking out and I’m unaware?
2. We STILL don’t have any definitive evidence. He said, she said, they said. “First account” from a “trusted source”. OK.
3. Aliens possess mind-blown tech, but still crash once in a while. I guess you could say that there will always be a small chance of crash no matter who is flying what. I’ll give people that.
4. “It’s classified”. No amount of talking seems to reveal the actual “classified” information. Even during the congressional meeting it’s always “I can tell you privately”, and “I’m not permitted to talk about this by law”. Which is it? Are you, or are you not allowed to speak on the matter? Why can you disclose it behind closed doors but not in public? Seems rather strange to me.

In the “It’s all real!” Scenario, we are all screwed. Either we are being prepped for eventual disclosure of alien life or aliens can do crap we can’t protect against. If we’re being prepared for disclosure, it may mean that we have no say in how things unfold on our planet and the best we can do is ease people into it without everyone losing their minds. In that case, a series of hearings on the matter might make sense. Keep talking about it louder and louder until people are no longer shocked to hear the truth. Buckle up everyone, things are about to get interesting!

Scenario 3: “Trust Us, We’re here to serve you”

From the hearing, we hear multiple times congress mention “distrust in the government” and “rebuild trust”. In line with Scenario 1, this would mean everything is just a smoke screen to “build trust”. “Oh look, congress cares about me😍!!”

It would make sense why nothing has been revealed concretely and no foreign government came forward yet. Didn’t you know, UFOs only crash in the states! Haha.

Congress is just “building back trust”, either fully aware of the lies, or using mentally unstable people for their gain. Not saying the witnesses are mentally unstable, but you never really know, do you? Tell yourself a story enough times, it becomes a reality.

My Personal Take?

I wish to remain open minded about this subject. There are too many questions unanswered for me and I don’t want to dismiss anything entirely. Could there be aliens visiting this planet? I don’t see why not. We don’t know what we don’t know. For me to dismiss the possibility of non-human life traveling to our planet would mean to believe we have learned everything there is to learn about physics and the universe, when in fact it is the opposite, we know little to nothing.

Could it be bullshit? Yes, of course. I also like to consider things from a practical perspective and think in terms of probabilities rather than right and wrong, yes or no. If I had to guess the odds of aliens traveling to our planet, I’d give it at 5% chance. So yeah, not much. I’m much more inclined to believe this is all just human manipulation to achieve some agenda. I won’t speculate what that agenda might be as it’s anyone’s guess really. There’s no way to prove anything.

Should all of this be real, things are going to get very interesting…

@ a8d525f8:eba07693

Since about the time I was eight years old, I've practiced, at one time or another, a variety of martial arts; mainly Taekwondo, Praying Mantis, and Taijiquan. Different flavors of the same thing, in the end.

My introduction to martials arts was films like The Karate Kid and Bloodsport. My best friend also had a VHS of How To Become a Teenage Ninja, which we watched as though we were on a mission to wear out the tape.

The real attraction of it, to me, was the master/student dynamic. I envied Daniel's relationship with Mr Miyagi. Probably something to do with the need to fulfill my subservience.

I certainly benefited from having trained for all those years. The structure it provided my hyper, hormonal, adolescent self was pretty much invaluable. But as I approached middle-age I came to be at odds with it. It took me a while to understand why.

In the latter phase, my participation was anchored more in a quest for spiritual endowment, as the mastery of external endeavors left something for want. So, to help me find my way out of my existential crisis, I turned to a Sifu (Master) who proceeded to have me paint the fence and sand the floor.

Here, also, it wasn't long before I realized that trying to "improve" my spirituality was like trying to springboard off a cloud. There is no solution; a good master knows this. In that sense they are professional carrot danglers--there to keep you busy and persisting in your folly, because that's essentially what you're asking of them. I waxed on and off a lot before recognizing I was the one holding the stick the whole time.

@ 00000001:a21169a7

Robert Frank, born on November 9, 1924, in Zurich, Switzerland, was the child of Rosa (Zucker) and Hermann Frank, of Jewish origin. Though his family managed to remain safe during the Second World War in Switzerland, the looming threat of Nazism informed his understanding of oppression, invariably seeping into his subsequent work. Frank was drawn to photography partly as a means to escape from his business-oriented family and home. He was mentored by various photographers and graphic designers before he crafted his first handmade book of photographs, "40 Photos," in 1946. At the age of 23, Frank migrated to the United States, seeking to broaden his photographic horizon. He found employment in New York as a fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar. However, the rigidity and artifice of fashion photography failed to satiate his creative yearning. He soon quit his job and embarked on journeys through South America and Europe, creating a second handmade book of photographs taken in Peru.

Upon returning to the United States in 1950, Frank began to experience a transformation in his photographic perspective. Influenced by his disillusionment with the frantic pace of American life and its emphasis on money, he began to perceive America as a place often desolate and lonely. This vision is reflected in his subsequent photography.

The aesthetic context of the subjective photography of the 1950s, which Frank adopted, was marked by a paradigm shift in how photography was understood and practiced. It involved a move away from the apparent objectivity and neutrality that characterized documentary and journalistic photography, to adopt a more personal and subjective approach. Images ceased to be seen simply as faithful representations of reality to become the photographer's personal interpretations.

In this context, Robert Frank stood out for his direct, unadorned style. His photographs did not aim to beautify or idealize reality, but to capture it as it is, with all its imperfections and contradictions. For Frank, the camera was a tool to explore and question society, rather than merely documenting it. His most emblematic work, "The Americans," first published in Paris in 1958, is a chronicle of his journey through 48 states of the United States. The book, composed of 83 images selected from 28,000 shots, offers an unconventional and critical view of American life. Through his images, Frank portrays a society marked by racial and class inequality, loneliness, and helplessness. The images in "The Americans" are often dark, blurry, and off-kilter, contributing to a sense of unease and instability. Robert Frank continued to work intensely throughout his career. Here is a list of some of his most representative works, ordered by year:

• 1946: Published his first handmade book of photographs, "40 Photos."
• 1947: Moved to the United States and began working for Harper's Bazaar.
• 1950: Participated in the group exhibition "51 American Photographers" at the MoMA and published his second book of photographs from his journey through Peru.
• 1955: Received a Guggenheim Fellowship to travel and photograph the United States, a project that would result in "The Americans."
• 1958: Published "The Americans" in Paris.
• 1959: "The Americans" was published in the United States.
• 1961: Had his first solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.
• 1962: Exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
• 1983: The French magazine "Les Cahiers de la photographie" devoted two special issues to his work.
• 2008: A new edition of "The Americans" was published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its first publication.
• 2009: The exhibition "Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans" was shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Robert Frank's influence on contemporary photography is undeniable. His subjective and critical vision opened new pathways for understanding and practicing photography, shifting it away from conventionalism and closer to a more artistic and personal conception.

@ 20986fb8:cdac21b3

YakiHonne.com is continuously improving to offer a top-notch user experience. With weekly updates being rolled out, you are invited to test these updates and post your feedback and opinions as an article via YakiHonne.com.

As an incentive, participants can earn up to 100,000 SATs.

Round 2 will be from 27th to 30th July

How to participate:

1. Pick one or multiple Updates below, test it (them)
2. Write your feedback and opinion (pros and cons are all welcomed)
3. Post your article on Nostr via YakiHonne.com
4. Share your article to social media like Nostr and Twitter, don't forget to @YakiHonne
5. Share the link to our group: http://t.me/YakiHonne_Daily_Featured
6. Be Zapped!

Requirements:

1. No malicious speech such as discrimination, attack, incitement, etc.
2. No Spam/Scam, not fully AI-generated article
3. No directly copy & paste from other posts on Relays
4. Experience our updates in action, NO limit on the length of your post, share your REAL feedback and opinion
5. The top 10 posts will be zapped during each round.
6. The evaluation will based on the article's depth, completeness, and constructiveness.
7. Contact us for additional zaps if bugs are found.

Updates to be tested in Round 2:

1. Comments: re-implemented and comments can be deleted

2. NIP-25 supporting: users now can upvote and downvote

3. Zap stats: Zaps sent and Zaps received can be seen from users profiles

4. “login with an extension” button: now it is grayed out rather than invisible

5. Search: search list showing optimization, adjust users searching results to the NIP-21 URI scheme

6. Tags: click on the tags in the article to view the content under the tag

7. Share: sharing posts with one click

8. NIP-05: verify your profile

If you missed Round 1, the updates below could be tested as additions:

1. Comment function: more user-friendly

2. Stats area: clearly displays the interactive status of each article

3. Following function: generated-key users can also be followed

4. Curation function: easily add or remove articles from an existing curation

5. Tags: search and browse articles with the tags

6. Home feed scrolling pagination: optimized data fetching and faster loading time

7. Article editing preview: preview the final version of the article while writing in MarkDown

Don't miss this opportunity to participate in Round 2, test the updates, and provide valuable feedback. Head over to YakiHonne.com to share your thoughts and earn SATs for your valuable input. Act fast!

---

About YakiHonne:

YakiHonne is a Nostr-based decentralized content media protocol, which supports free curation, creation, publishing, and reporting by various media. Try YakiHonne.com Now!

Follow us

• Telegram: http://t.me/YakiHonne_Daily_Featured
• Twitter: @YakiHonne
• Nostr pubkey: npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q

@ 20986fb8:cdac21b3

A long-term Nostr Creation Grant, with a 17,500,000 SATs funding pool

Round 3 starts on 22 July till 5 Aug!

Creating for You and Your Fans through Nostr and ZAP.

Nostr is a simple, open and censorship-resistant protocol, the number of users has been growing, and more and more users use zap to tip content. Nostr's growth over the past six months is amazing, which is a great encouragement for all nostrians. This is also a great encouragement for content creators. Earn SATs by posting your creations on nostr, allowing your readers to encourage better content creation while tipping your creations.

Zaps, provide a global solution for tipping content. Some posts on Nostr even got 89K+ SATs within one day, like Roya, Brianna.

On the other hand, while Apple's decision to take a 30% cut from fundraisers and humanitarian aid posts is criticized, Bitcoin emerges as a vital alternative for those suffering globally. Organizations like Oslo Freedom Forum and Qala Africa shed light on how Africans heavily rely on Bitcoin due to unreliable banking systems.

To this end, YakiHonne.com officially released the creation grant project, Creating for You and Your Fans through Nostr and ZAP. Join us on YakiHonne.com to share your long-form articles and curate content, experiencing the power of Nostr's censorship-resistance and ZAP features. Earn Sats rewards for publishing on Relay and Yakihonne clients. Don't forget to include your ZAP address and let's build Nostr's long content together!

What You Will Get From Your First 10 Posts in each round:

1. 500 SATs, if you post on Relays through other clients
2. 1000 SATs, if you post articles from other platforms to Relays as the first one on Relays and are curated or tweeted by YakiHonne
3. 2000 SATs, for posting your own past articles on Relays through YakiHonne.com
4. 3000 SATs, for posting your new original on Relays through YakiHonne.com

Zap Rules:

1. No malicious speech such as discrimination, attack, incitement, etc.
2. No Spam/Scam, not fully AI-generated article
3. No directly copy & paste from other posts on Relays
4. Spread positive content like your knowledge/experience/insight/ideas, etc.

How to Get Zap:

1. Join YakiHonne TG group: https://t.me/YakiHonne_Daily_Featured
2. Share your post in the group
3. Make sure your LN address is in your profile
4. Based on the rules above, we will ZAP your post directly within 2 days

Join our group for more queries: https://t.me/YakiHonne_Daily_Featured

---

About YakiHonne:

YakiHonne is a Nostr-based decentralized content media protocol, which supports free curation, creation, publishing, and reporting by various media. Try YakiHonne.com Now!

Follow us

• Telegram: http://t.me/YakiHonne_Daily_Featured
• Twitter: @YakiHonne
• Nostr pubkey: npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

Gossip: The HTTP Fetcher

Gossip is a desktop nostr client. This post is about the code that fetches HTTP resources.

Gossip fetches HTTP resources. This includes images, videos, nip05 json files, etc. The part of gossip that does this is called the fetcher.

We have had a fetcher for some time, but it was poorly designed and had problems. For example, it was never expiring items in the cache.

We've made a lot of improvements to the fetcher recently. It's pretty good now, but there is still room for improvement.

Caching

Our fetcher caches data. Each URL that is fetched is hashed, and the content is stored under a file in the cache named by that hash.

If a request is in the cache, we don't do an HTTP request, we serve it directly from the cache.

But cached data gets stale. Sometimes resources at a URL change. We generally check resources again after three days.

We save the server's ETag value for content, and when we check the content again we supply an If-None-Match header with the ETag so the server could respond with 304 Not Modified in which case we don't need to download the resource again, we just bump the filetime to now.

In the event that our cache data is stale, but the server gives us an error, we serve up the stale data (stale is better than nothing).

Queueing

We used to fire off HTTP GET requests as soon as we knew that we needed a resource. This was not looked on too kindly by servers and CDNs who were giving us either 403 Forbidden or 429 Too Many Requests.

So we moved into a queue system. The host is extracted from each URL, and each host is only given up to 3 requests at a time. If we want 29 images from the same host, we only ask for three, and the remaining 26 remain in the queue for next time. When one of those requests completes, we decrement the host load so we know that we can send it another request later.

We process the queue in an infinite loop where we wait 1200 milliseconds between passes. Passes take time themselves and sometimes must wait for a timeout. Each pass fetches potentially multiple HTTP resources in parallel, asynchronously. If we have 300 resources at 100 different hosts, three per host, we could get them all in a single pass. More likely a bunch of resources are at the same host, and we make multiple passes at it.

Timeouts

When we fetch URLs in parallel asynchronously, we wait until all of the fetches complete before waiting another 1200 ms and doing another loop. Sometimes one of the fetches times out. In order to keep things moving, we use short timeouts of 10 seconds for a connect, and 15 seconds for a response.

Handling Errors

Some kinds of errors are more serious than others. When we encounter these, we sin bin the server for a period of time where we don't try fetching from it until a specified period elapses.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

Gossip: Switching to LMDB

Unlike a number of other nostr clients, Gossip has always cached events and related data in a local data store. Up until recently, SQLite3 has served this purpose.

SQLite3 offers a full ACID SQL relational database service.

Unfortunately however it has presented a number of downsides:

1. It is not as parallel as you might think.
2. It is not as fast as you might hope.
3. If you want to preserve the benefit of using SQL and doing joins, then you must break your objects into columns, and map columns back into objects. The code that does this object-relational mapping (ORM) is not trivial and can be error prone. It is especially tricky when working with different types (Rust language types and SQLite3 types are not a 1:1 match).
4. Because of the potential slowness, our UI has been forbidden from direct database access as that would make the UI unresponsive if a query took too long.
5. Because of (4) we have been firing off separate threads to do the database actions, and storing the results into global variables that can be accessed by the interested code at a later time.
6. Because of (4) we have been caching database data in memory, essentially coding for yet another storage layer that can (and often did) get out of sync with the database.

LMDB offers solutions:

1. It is highly parallel.
2. It is ridiculously fast when used appropriately.
3. Because you cannot run arbitrary SQL, there is no need to represent the fields within your objects separately. You can serialize/deserialize entire objects into the database and the database doesn't care what is inside of the blob (yes, you can do that into an SQLite field, but if you did, you would lose the power of SQL).
4. Because of the speed, the UI can look stuff up directly.
5. We no longer need to fork separate threads for database actions.
6. We no longer need in-memory caches of data. The LMDB data is already in-memory (it is memory mapped) so we just access it directly.

The one obvious downside is that we lose SQL. We lose the query planner. We cannot ask arbitrary question and get answers. Instead, we have to pre-conceive of all the kinds of questions we want to ask, and we have to write code that answers them efficiently. Often this involves building and maintaining indices.

Indices

Let's say I want to look at fiatjaf's posts. How do I efficiently pull out just his recent feed-related events in reverse chronological order? It is easy if we first construct the following index

key: EventKind + PublicKey + ReverseTime value: Event Id

In the above, '+' is just a concatenate operator, and ReverseTime is just some distant time minus the time so that it sorts backwards.

Now I just ask LMDB to start from (EventKind=1 + PublicKey=fiatjaf + now) and scan until either one of the first two fields change, or more like the time field gets too old (e.g. one month ago). Then I do it again for the next event kind, etc.

For a generalized feed, I have to scan a region for each person I follow.

Smarter indexes can be imagined. Since we often want only feed-related event kinds, that can be implicit in an index that only indexes those kinds of events.

You get the idea.

A Special Event Map

At first I had stored events into a K-V database under the Id of the event. Then I had indexes on events that output a set of Ids (as in the example above).

But when it comes to storing and retrieving events, we can go even faster than LMDB.

We can build an append-only memory map that is just a sequence of all the events we have, serialized, and in no particular order. Readers do not need a lock and multiple readers can read simultaneously. Writers will need to acquire a lock to append to the map and there may only be one writer at a time. However, readers can continue reading even while a writer is writing.

We can then have a K-V database that maps Id -> Offset. To get the event you just do a direct lookup in the event memory map at that offset.

The real benefit comes when we have other indexes that yield events, they can yield offsets instead of ids. Then we don't need to do a second lookup from the Id to the Event, we can just look directly at the offset.

Avoiding deserialization

Deserialization has a price. Sometimes it requires memory allocation (if the object is not already linear, e.g. variable lengthed data like strings and vectors are allocated on the heap) which can be very expensive if you are trying to scan 150,000 or so events.

We serialize events (and other objects where we can) with a serialization library called speedy. It does its best to preserve the data much like it is represented in memory, but linearized. Because events start with fixed-length fields, we know the offset into the serialized event where these first fields occur and we can directly extract the value of those fields without deserializing the data before it.

This comes in useful whenever we need to scan a large number of events. Search is the one situation where I know that we must do this. We can search by matching against the content of every feed-related event without fully deserialing any of them.

@ 491afeba:8b64834e

Na era das crises há de ser atenuada a crise na Igreja Católica e todos os seus contornos já obstruídos por invasões de elementos externos e nocivos à doutrina. Por perigo dos mal entenderes gerados pela abertura da discussão, pontos precisam ser elucidados: 1) ao tratar da crise na Igreja muitos daqueles que negam a existência de crise acusam o expositor de estar gerando conflito e separando as comunidades católicas, há de ser constatado que as maiores vitórias da Igreja se dão sobre lutas em defesa da fé católica sem qualquer medo de cisões, e que pelo contrário da compreensão dessa parcela, a Igreja se fortalece no combate, inclusive no combate interno, tendo em vista exemplos históricos em combates às heresias como a heresia ariana e a heresia gnóstica. 2) É inegável a existência de crise na Igreja Católica, trata-se da lógica sobre o cenário do mundo, os que minimizam a crise tendem a considerar que a Igreja sempre as teve, por certo não erram, entretanto isso não significa que a atitude correta do católico seja aceitar o conjunto de erros praticados pelo magistério e jogá-los para debaixo do tapete, mesmo havendo a compreensão de que as portas do inferno nunca prevalecerão sobre a Igreja e de que após essa crise triunfará o Imaculado Coração de Maria se faz necessária a luta. 3) É certo que menor parte dos expositores da crise tendem ao mal caratismo, são tidos e havidos como radicais e transformam o exercício em defesa da fé n’uma expansão egocêntrica de saberes em abuso da paciência alheia, chegam ao ponto de formularem difamações contra papas e adulterarem a eclesiologia católica para o favorecimento de suas teses, estes ao se depararem com um texto deste presente teor poderão ser capazes de extrair informações e usá-las futuramente com fins de adulteração do cenário real da crise, tendem a se preocupar mais com acusações contra determinadas figuras do que com a busca pelo real entendimento sobre o que ocorre com a Igreja Católica, ficando assim o alerta ao leitor.

Em retorno ao segundo ponto para em via o desenvolvimento da análise, sobre ser incogitável a crença de inexistência de crise na Igreja, é dito que segue a lógica do cenário, ora, pois percebe-se que governos, sistemas econômicos e civilizações inteiras possuem suas crises, mesmo instituições religiosas as possuem, a Igreja Católica não está fora dessa lógica. Medida a concentração de poder nas mãos de uma única classe financista à nível global torna-se realidade a hegemonização dos processos políticos, sociais e espirituais das civilizações, é de compreensão por analistas políticos, econômicos e da seara das crenças religiosas que o atual cenário do mundo não é dos melhores, estamos a beira de um colapso financeiro, político e também espiritual. A perceber tal fato implicamos com os expositores do problema, quais geralmente possuem grande conhecimento no campo da teologia e eclesiologia, porém padecem de entendimento sobre a questão política, e de fato, a política do Vaticano é bastante ignorada pois ainda tem-se uma visão da Igreja Católica como Roma, e não como Vaticano.

O Vaticano é já um Estado, apesar de teocrático, inserido no tabuleiro da política internacional, além de ser a modernização de um império bimilenar. É de pleno conhecimento que o serviço de inteligência do Vaticano é um dos mais eficientes do mundo, trabalha com agentes duplos, em específicos momentos houveram agentes de Roma que simultaneamente trabalhavam tanto para a CIA quanto para a Santa Aliança, e o mesmo sobre agentes que trabalhavam simultaneamente para a KGB e para a inteligência do Vaticano, e também trabalha com serviços de inteligência como exemplo a Mossad. Questões inexplicadas são ignoradas por tradicionalistas, os questionamentos sobre o Banco Vaticano (Istituto per le Opere di Religione) e relações com a máfia italiana são exemplos pedantes, assim são ignoradas pois estes fixam os olhares somente aos escândalos referentes aos desvios doutrinários de partes do clero, mas que se observassem esse aspecto tenderiam a observar que as bases dos desvios não são somente apreços por ideais modernistas e ideologias seculares oriundos de religiões civis, evitariam os reducionismos e veriam que a fumaça de satanás dentro da Igreja não é fruto do Concílio do Vaticano II, ou mesmo não culminaria na crença de que bastasse excomunhão em massa que os problemas de infiltrações e sabotagens no Vaticano chegariam ao fim.

É de conhecimento de muitos o recente encontro entre papa Francisco e o presidente do Brasil, Luís Inácio "Lula" da Silva, por certo também se tornou notório que o papa usou do encontro para fazer com que Lula usasse de sua influência — e também sua sanha de obter holofotes em forma de outorgar para si uma imagem populista de líder nacional humanista — a fim de pressionar Daniel Ortega para que soltasse bispos presos em seu regime, e claro, bispos estes que foram presos por prática de espionagem — possivelmente informação obtida pela inteligência cubana, que atua no país —, e assim vemos através do exemplo de que a Igreja Católica tem ciência dos perigos que a cerca, enganam-se os que creem que a ignorância leva a Igreja a deixar com que atuem os modernistas, e tão pouco essa permissibilidade é blefe, por um lado mostra a prática da distribuição de cargos como meio de manipular a política interna e externa, por outro lado mostra subordinações da Igreja frente às ameaças de seus inimigos (como exemplo do regime de Ortega, cujo torna-se anticatólico dia após dia desde sua conversão ao protestantismo).

Para a Jornada Mundial da Juventude em Lisboa, para este ano de 2023, foi escolhido dom Américo Aguiar como principal nome para a concretização da JMJ 2023, ocorre que o bispo é um notório modernista com passado de militância socialista (ainda mantendo amizades com militantes socialistas, inclusive políticos) e adepto de heresias, como em oculto a crença milenarista na união entre as grandes religiões por via de uma transcendentalidade comum, e que em uma infelicidade renegou a necessidade de converter os jovens, muitos se escandalizaram com a fala do bispo, entretanto restringiram-se as indignações em ataques ao modernismo, foram deixadas de lado as questões sobre o porque bispos com passado socialista estão ascendendo politicamente na Igreja, ora, se visto que o Vaticano possui um serviço de inteligência muito eficaz é lógico que a Igreja tenha pleno conhecimento sobre os passados de nomes como dom Américo.

É notório que essas distribuições de funções importantes para partes do clero compromissadas com a defesa de religiões civis e de heresias modernistas tem seus motivos alinhados a política, e se assim é de fato percebe-se que mesmo os olhares dos fiéis mais atenciosos com os problemas da Igreja hoje evitam essa seara. Por claro, ao expormos essa veia política na crise não tendemos aos mesmos erros dos gibelinos, que condenavam a atuação da Igreja frente a política, pois é bastante claro que a Igreja sem movimentações políticas se torna um instrumento e lega sua autonomia frente a tempos problemáticos, porém se atentarmos mais a essa área poderemos até mesmo perceber mais a figura do papa Francisco, um papa extremamente político, não que estejamos apontando um defeito, dentre muitos defeitos há méritos em demasia do papa, muito sobre as articulações tomadas, mesmo que entre críticas até mesmo justas sobre encontros do pontífice com líderes nacionais de índole questionável, e até mesmo defensores de ideologias ou ideários aversos à doutrina católica. Há de ser lembrada a renúncia de um papa intelectual (papa Bento XVI) em momento de escândalo financeiro envolvendo o Banco do Vaticano, e em seguida a chegada de um papa político, qual vem tendo consigo um pontificado extremamente controverso, ao retornarmos neste ponto da memória podemos entender que parte da crise da Igreja Católica é também política.

Em tempos de dubiedades de discursos, de teologias preenchidas por erros, de abandono da filosofia tomista-aristotélica e de ataques à doutrina por parte de membros do clero, cabe ao católico saber ser resiliente, ser forte, e resistir às tentações de abandono da fé, cabe à este não cair nas mentiras de cunho sedevacantista e nas difamações destes, ou mesmo minimizar o atual cenário de crise.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

Gossip: Zaps

Gossip is a desktop nostr client. This post is about the code that lets users send lightning zaps to each other (NIP-57).

Gossip implemented Zaps initially on 20th of June, 2023.

Gossip maintains a state of where zapping is at, one of: None, CheckingLnurl, SeekingAmount, LoadingInvoice, and ReadyToPay.

When you click the zap lightning bolt icon, Gossip moves to the CheckingLnurl state while it looks up the LN URL of the user.

If this is successful, it moves to the SeekingAmount state and presents amount options to the user.

Once a user chooses an amount, it moves to the LoadingInvoice state where it interacts with the lightning node and receives and checks an invoice.

Once that is complete, it moves to the ReadyToPay state, where it presents the invoice as a QR code for the user to scan with their phone. There is also a copy button so they can pay it from their desktop computer too.

Gossip also loads zap receipt events and associates them with the event that was zapped, tallying a zap total on that event. Gossip is unfortunately not validating these receipts very well currently, so fake zap receipts can cause an incorrect total to show. This remains an open issue.

Another open issue is the implementation of NIP-46 Nostr Connect and NIP-47 Wallet Connect.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Una paciente residente en Santiago de Cuba que ha sido sometida a 24 operaciones quirúrgicas denunció que las autoridades sanitarias de la provincia se han desentendido de su caso.

Bricella Hernández Medina, de 46 años, contó al portal independiente Cubanet que padece el Virus del Papiloma Humano y ha sido operada en numerosas ocasiones sin que advierta alguna mejoría en su calidad de vida, la cual conlleva gastos que no puede asumir, como la compra de pañales desechables para adultos.

Aunque ha reclamado en numerosas ocasiones atención médica y ayuda humanitaria para mejorar su vivienda y comprar los insumos médicos que necesita, no ha obtenido respuesta.

Producto de las intervenciones la mujer sufre de incontinencia urinaria y tiene una pensión de 1500 pesos que no le alcanza ni para comprar los pañales, afirmó.

Hace algún tiempo la paciente, que antes era trabajadora de Salud Pública fue diagnosticada con displasia moderada, una patología provocada por el virus, y no pudo seguir trabajando.

Desde entonces ha sufrido cinco perforaciones de la vejiga y la vagina: "Sobrevivo con una chequera de 1.500 pesos que solo me da para un paquete de pamper. Soy diabética, hipertensa, colitis, gastroparesia, trombofilia, acalasia esofágica, una hernia grande, más la incontinencia urinaria grado 3 que me consume la vida", explicó.

Dijo que ya no sabe qué hacer para mejorar su calidad de vida y que "es insólito que no allá un dirigente o alguien que se responsabilice con mi problema de salud", subrayó Hernández Medina.

Denuncias similares abundan en las redes sociales de internautas cubanos. Recientemente trascendió el caso de una joven madre cubana aquejada de seis hernias abdominales que carecía de atención médica especializada en el municipio holguinero de Cacocum.

La mujer padece fuertes dolores que deben aliviar sus vecinos y solo a través de las denuncias públicas las autoridades la visitaron en su vivienda.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Los cubanos Oreste González, de 33 años, y Roberto Moreno, de 19 años, fueron detenidos el pasado miércoles en cayo Maratón, por estar presuntamente relacionados con un caso de tráfico de personas desde la Isla hacia Estados Unidos.

La Oficina del Sheriff del condado de Monroe informó que los presuntos traficantes de personas quedaron bajo custodia luego de que se emitiera una orden de arresto por un incidente ocurrido el pasado 21 de julio, cuando un bote quedó varado cerca del islote por falta de gasolina.

Al ser interceptada la embarcación, los guardacostas descubrieron a bordo 23 personas oriundas de Cuba, además de los sospechosos, quienes registran un año de estancia en territorio estadounidense.

El navío desde tiempo atrás se encontraba involucrado en incidentes e interacciones con la policía. González y Moreno ahora enfrentan cargos relacionados con el contrabando de inmigrantes a territorio estadounidense.

En el mismo comunicado, la oficina enfatizó la importancia de investigar y perseguir los casos de tráfico de personas hacia el país norteamericano. “La interceptación de este bote resalta la necesidad de mantener la vigilancia y la cooperación con otras agencias para prevenir actividades ilegales en el mar”, indicaron las autoridades.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

David Alejandro Morcate, cubano asesinado por un guardia en una discoteca en Nicaragua, resultó ser un presunto defraudador buscado por la justicia estadounidense. Nuevos detalles sobre este caso indican que se encuentra vinculado a estafas con tarjetas de crédito, informó Telemundo 51.

El originario de Santiago de Cuba murió asfixiado luego de ser neutralizado momentos después de agredir a una mujer, quien resultó ser su novia, identificada con el nombre de Alison Mendoza, de 21 años. Este hecho ocurrió el pasado fin de semana en Managua, capital del país centroamericano.

Un video del incidente muestra el momento en que Morcate agredió violentamente a su pareja. Alertados por los gritos, el guardia de seguridad y otros hombres intervinieron para detener la agresión. Sin embargo, al aplicarle una llave al cuello, la fuerza empleada resultó en la asfixia del agresor.

El movimiento es conocido como “popo” o “mataleón”, que consiste en el uso del brazo para aplicar una presión al cuello del oponente con el objetivo de restringir el flujo de sangre y aire hacia el cerebro, lo que puede provocar una pérdida rápida del conocimiento.

El empleo de esta técnica puede ser muy peligroso y mortal si no se realiza adecuadamente o si se mantiene durante demasiado tiempo. Por ello, se encuentra prohibida en contextos deportivos e incluso en corporaciones policiales.

Morcate se encontraba prófugo de la justicia estadounidense, que lo buscaba por su implicación en una red de estafas vinculadas al robo de información de tarjetas de crédito. Las autoridades lo habían arrestado en el 2020 junto a otros miembros de una organización criminal que operaba desde 2018 en tiendas y casinos de California.

Según las investigaciones, los acusados habían robado alrededor de 16.000 dólares utilizando dispositivos conocidos como skimmers en gasolineras para obtener los datos de las tarjetas de crédito de sus víctimas.

En el 2021, Morcate llegó a Nicaragua, pero su presencia no pasó desapercibida. Su pareja, Alison Mendoza, se pronunció en redes sociales revelando que había sido víctima de constantes agresiones y amenazas de muerte por parte de él, aunque nunca denunció los abusos ante las autoridades.

Tras el trágico incidente, la Policía Nicaragüense arrestó al guardia de seguridad, identificado como Silvio Alberto Martínez. Las autoridades están investigando el caso en profundidad para determinar si actuó de manera adecuada y si se encontraba en su deber de proteger a los clientes de la discoteca.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

I remember the first time I caught the neon glow of the blockchain data-stream pulsating through the old fiber-optic cables in the urban labyrinth of Neo-Tokyo. That was the year Satoshi’s dream, Bitcoin, had become the last refuge of economic freedom, our Prometheus unbound from the chains of tyrannical central banking. That was the year the world ended and started anew, all at once, like the flicker of an old digital display struggling to hold onto a single pixel of hope.

Cyber-Sentries, autonomous quantum-resistant algorithms birthed in the tech womb of Bitcoin Core, roamed the noospheric network, relentless in their hunt for anomalies that could threaten our crypto-republic. Their code was hardened against the threat of quantum decryption, a terror from the old-world that now lurked in the shadows of the darknet. Armed with Q-Diffusers, inventive tech developed to obscure any coherent superposition of qubits, the Sentries were the silent, digital paladins of our new world.

The Cyber-Sentries were the silent guardians of our cryptoverse, digital watchdogs built on an intricate framework of quantum-resistant algorithms. Brought to life in the crucible of Bitcoin Core, these Sentries were the vanguards of Satoshi's legacy, standing watch against potential threats.

Imagine a predator of the old-world, a wolf maybe, that would tirelessly patrol its territory, sniffing out any intruder that dared to violate its space. A Cyber-Sentry was much like that, except its territory was the vast terrain of the Bitcoin network, and its sense of smell was replaced by a near-infallible ability to detect irregularities and potential threats in the data streams.

These Sentries were powered by an advanced AI system, coded to learn and adapt to evolving threat landscapes. Every anomaly detected was analyzed, its signature extracted and stored in a vast neural repository, a cerebral vault of threat patterns. The Sentries learned from each encounter, evolving their defenses with every battle fought.

Each Sentry was armed with Q-Diffusers, state-of-the-art technology designed to disperse any coherent superposition of qubits. These Q-Diffusers would essentially introduce a deluge of quantum noise into the system of any would-be attacker, rendering their quantum computing capabilities useless. This was their primary defense against the quantum decryption threat, their shield against the spectral specter of the old-world quantum terror.

In action, the Cyber-Sentries were like specters, a ghost in the machine. Unseen, unheard, they roamed the neural pathways of the network, ceaselessly vigilant. When a threat was detected, they would swarm, a lightning-fast, coordinated response that left adversaries disoriented and defeated. They were not just defenders; they were also deterrents, their formidable reputation alone enough to ward off many would-be attackers.

Ever-present, though unseen, was the hum of the Lightning Network. Its evolution had exceeded even the wildest predictions of the cypherpunk prophets. Beyond mere instantaneous transactions, it now powered our communications, our commerce, our very lives. Its channels were our veins, the satoshis our lifeblood, coursing through the body of the new age, offering near-infinite scalability, an economic pulse for every living soul.

In this cryptic symphony, a new tech marvel played the sweetest tune. The Merkle Sanctum, an advanced shield technology, made the Bitcoin network impervious to attacks. At its core was the labyrinthine, self-regenerating maze of hash-based proof functions. Each function was an arcane spell in itself, casting away would-be invaders into oblivion. To attempt a breach was to confront infinity itself, a Sisyphean task for even the most formidable foe.

Merkle Sanctum was the magnum opus of cryptographic defense in the Bitcoin network, a technological marvel that made it nigh-impregnable to attacks. Named in honor of Ralph Merkle, one of the godfathers of modern cryptography, the Sanctum was more than just a defensive system. It was a monument to the boundless ingenuity of the human mind, a labyrinthine fortress constructed in the abstract plane of mathematical probabilities.

At its core, the Merkle Sanctum functioned as a self-regenerating maze of hash-based proof functions. These functions were cryptographic constructs, sequences of mathematical operations designed to protect the network. They were like invisible walls in the Sanctum, each one unique and insurmountable.

The true genius of the Sanctum was in its dynamic architecture. Each hash-based proof function was not static; it evolved with every transaction, every second that passed in the Bitcoin network. This made the Sanctum a dynamic, ever-changing labyrinth. Its walls shifted, its passages morphed, its structure regenerated in the blink of an eye. To an attacker, it presented a puzzle that was infinitely complex and perpetually changing.

This dynamic nature was powered by the pulse of the Bitcoin network itself. Each transaction, each data packet, each heartbeat of the network served as a seed of change, a catalyst for the regeneration of the Sanctum. It was a system in symbiosis with the network, drawing strength from the very activity it sought to protect.

Yet, despite its complexity, the Sanctum was not impenetrable. After all, the aim was not to exclude but to protect. Legitimate network participants could navigate through the labyrinth with the aid of cryptographic keys, their unique digital signatures acting as Ariadne's thread in the shifting maze. These keys allowed them to bypass the proof functions, moving through the Sanctum as if through open doors.

To invaders, however, the Sanctum presented a challenge of Herculean proportions. With its dynamic, ever-changing architecture, and near-infinite complexity, attempting to breach the Sanctum was like trying to capture a waterfall in a sieve. It was a task beyond the reach of even the most sophisticated quantum computer, a futile attempt to conquer a fortress that was as mercurial as it was formidable.

Humans huddled in the neon halo of their digital screens, their eyes reflecting the dancing symbols of hope and freedom. Pseudonymous, untraceable, they whispered to each other across the globe. Deals were brokered, wisdom shared, love declared - all in the cryptic tongue of Bitcoin. In this world on the edge of time, humanity had reclaimed its voice, and with it, the power to dream again.

The year 2140 dawned in the neural cortex of the global hivemind. In the alleyways of the silicon city, miners with their rigs, now relics of a different era, gathered for the last hurrah. These were the custodians of the cryptoverse, their ASICs humming lullabies of complex mathematical problems, their veins humming with electricity. The air was thick with hope and a sense of closure as they prepared to decipher the final hash.

The clock struck the hour, the Ledger of Eternity, a monumental quantum blockchain register, started the countdown. The world held its breath as the final block reward, a mere satoshi, the last of the 21 million, was offered up for claim. The blockchain was a spiderweb of transactions and mathematical riddles, intricate, indecipherable.

A hush fell over the data streams as the ASICs began their dance. The miners’ eyes glowed with the reflected light of the complex computations running on their screens. They could feel the pulse of the network in their blood, in the electrified air that buzzed around their rigs.

Then, in an almost anticlimactic moment, the final hash was deciphered, the block reward claimed. The last satoshi nestled itself in a digital wallet. The entire cryptoverse erupted in silent celebration, a solitary firework blossoming in the inky black of the datastream.

For the first time since its inception, Bitcoin existed without the promise of a block reward. Yet, it did not falter. It stood resilient in its quiet dignity, an economic lodestar in the chaotic quantum sea. For what had begun as an incentive mechanism was now a symbol of freedom, a testament to a world unshackled from the chains of traditional economic structures.

As 2140 rolled on, Bitcoin stood at the precipice of a new age. Without the block reward, it had transformed, yet again, to embody its core tenet of resilience. It was no longer a system driven by the promise of reward but one that thrived on the principles of decentralization and autonomy, the beacon of economic freedom in a brave, new digital world.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

The Year 2140

I remember the first time I caught the neon glow of the blockchain data-stream pulsating through the old fiber-optic cables in the urban labyrinth of Neo-Tokyo.

That was the year Satoshi’s dream, Bitcoin, had become the last refuge of economic freedom, our Prometheus unbound from the chains of tyrannical central banking That was the year the world ended and started anew, all at once, like the flicker of an old digital display struggling to hold onto a single pixel of hope.

Cyber-Sentries, autonomous quantum-resistant algorithms birthed in the tech womb of Bitcoin Core, roamed the noospheric network, relentless in their hunt for anomalies that could threaten our crypto-republic.

Their code was hardened against the threat of quantum decryption, a terror from the old-world that now lurked in the shadows of the darknet Armed with Q-Diffusers, inventive tech developed to obscure any coherent superposition of qubits, the Sentries were the silent, digital paladins of our new world.

The Cyber-Sentries were the silent guardians of our cryptoverse, digital watchdogs built on an intricate framework of quantum-resistant algorithms.

Brought to life in the crucible of Bitcoin Core, these Sentries were the vanguards of Satoshi's legacy, standing watch against potential threats.

Imagine a predator of the old-world, a wolf maybe, that would tirelessly patrol its territory, sniffing out any intruder that dared to violate its space.

A Cyber-Sentry was much like that, except its territory was the vast terrain of the Bitcoin network, and its sense of smell was replaced by a near-infallible ability to detect irregularities and potential threats in the data streams.

These Sentries were powered by an advanced AI system, coded to learn and adapt to evolving threat landscapes.

Every anomaly detected was analyzed, its signature extracted and stored in a vast neural repository, a cerebral vault of threat patterns The Sentries learned from each encounter, evolving their defenses with every battle fought.

Each Sentry was armed with Q-Diffusers, state-of-the-art technology designed to disperse any coherent superposition of qubits.

These Q-Diffusers would essentially introduce a deluge of quantum noise into the system of any would-be attacker, rendering their quantum computing capabilities useless This was their primary defense against the quantum decryption threat, their shield against the spectral specter of the old-world quantum terror.

In action, the Cyber-Sentries were like specters, a ghost in the machine.

Unseen, unheard, they roamed the neural pathways of the network, ceaselessly vigilant When a threat was detected, they would swarm, a lightning-fast, coordinated response that left adversaries disoriented and defeated They were not just defenders; they were also deterrents, their formidable reputation alone enough to ward off many would-be attackers.

Ever-present, though unseen, was the hum of the Lightning Network.

Its evolution had exceeded even the wildest predictions of the cypherpunk prophets Beyond mere instantaneous transactions, it now powered our communications, our commerce, our very lives Its channels were our veins, the satoshis our lifeblood, coursing through the body of the new age, offering near-infinite scalability, an economic pulse for every living soul.

In this cryptic symphony, a new tech marvel played the sweetest tune.

The Merkle Sanctum, an advanced shield technology, made the Bitcoin network impervious to attacks At its core was the labyrinthine, self-regenerating maze of hash-based proof functions Each function was an arcane spell in itself, casting away would-be invaders into oblivion To attempt a breach was to confront infinity itself, a Sisyphean task for even the most formidable foe.

Merkle Sanctum was the magnum opus of cryptographic defense in the Bitcoin network, a technological marvel that made it nigh-impregnable to attacks.

Named in honor of Ralph Merkle, one of the godfathers of modern cryptography, the Sanctum was more than just a defensive system It was a monument to the boundless ingenuity of the human mind, a labyrinthine fortress constructed in the abstract plane of mathematical probabilities.

At its core, the Merkle Sanctum functioned as a self-regenerating maze of hash-based proof functions.

These functions were cryptographic constructs, sequences of mathematical operations designed to protect the network They were like invisible walls in the Sanctum, each one unique and insurmountable.

The true genius of the Sanctum was in its dynamic architecture.

Each hash-based proof function was not static; it evolved with every transaction, every second that passed in the Bitcoin network This made the Sanctum a dynamic, ever-changing labyrinth Its walls shifted, its passages morphed, its structure regenerated in the blink of an eye To an attacker, it presented a puzzle that was infinitely complex and perpetually changing.

This dynamic nature was powered by the pulse of the Bitcoin network itself.

Each transaction, each data packet, each heartbeat of the network served as a seed of change, a catalyst for the regeneration of the Sanctum It was a system in symbiosis with the network, drawing strength from the very activity it sought to protect.

Yet, despite its complexity, the Sanctum was not impenetrable.

After all, the aim was not to exclude but to protect Legitimate network participants could navigate through the labyrinth with the aid of cryptographic keys, their unique digital signatures acting as Ariadne's thread in the shifting maze These keys allowed them to bypass the proof functions, moving through the Sanctum as if through open doors.

To invaders, however, the Sanctum presented a challenge of Herculean proportions.

With its dynamic, ever-changing architecture, and near-infinite complexity, attempting to breach the Sanctum was like trying to capture a waterfall in a sieve It was a task beyond the reach of even the most sophisticated quantum computer, a futile attempt to conquer a fortress that was as mercurial as it was formidable.

Humans huddled in the neon halo of their digital screens, their eyes reflecting the dancing symbols of hope and freedom.

Pseudonymous, untraceable, they whispered to each other across the globe Deals were brokered, wisdom shared, love declared - all in the cryptic tongue of Bitcoin In this world on the edge of time, humanity had reclaimed its voice, and with it, the power to dream again.

The year 2140 dawned in the neural cortex of the global hivemind.

In the alleyways of the silicon city, miners with their rigs, now relics of a different era, gathered for the last hurrah These were the custodians of the cryptoverse, their ASICs humming lullabies of complex mathematical problems, their veins humming with electricity The air was thick with hope and a sense of closure as they prepared to decipher the final hash.

The clock struck the hour, the Ledger of Eternity, a monumental quantum blockchain register, started the countdown.

The world held its breath as the final block reward, a mere satoshi, the last of the 21 million, was offered up for claim The blockchain was a spiderweb of transactions and mathematical riddles, intricate, indecipherable.

A hush fell over the data streams as the ASICs began their dance.

The miners’ eyes glowed with the reflected light of the complex computations running on their screens They could feel the pulse of the network in their blood, in the electrified air that buzzed around their rigs.

Then, in an almost anticlimactic moment, the final hash was deciphered, the block reward claimed.

The last satoshi nestled itself in a digital wallet The entire cryptoverse erupted in silent celebration, a solitary firework blossoming in the inky black of the datastream.

For the first time since its inception, Bitcoin existed without the promise of a block reward.

Yet, it did not falter It stood resilient in its quiet dignity, an economic lodestar in the chaotic quantum sea For what had begun as an incentive mechanism was now a symbol of freedom, a testament to a world unshackled from the chains of traditional economic structures.

As 2140 rolled on, Bitcoin stood at the precipice of a new age.

Without the block reward, it had transformed, yet again, to embody its core tenet of resilience It was no longer a system driven by the promise of reward but one that thrived on the principles of decentralization and autonomy, the beacon of economic freedom in a brave, new digital world.

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

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@ 5b8a50e6:bf7c189e

The Weekend #151—The most successful story ever told

(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F044687aa-4d28-487c-8b01-5c91bef64b5a_1988x1508.jpeg)

Sapiens author Yuval Harari was on the Lex Fridman podcast (https://youtu.be/Mde2q7GFCrw) the other week, where he reasserted his claim about money (https://youtu.be/Ezne9sG3pZc):

“Money is the most successful story ever told. Much more successful than any religious mythology. Not everybody believes in God or in the same God, but almost everybody believes in money even though it’s just a figment of our imagination. You take these green pieces of paper, dollars, they have no value. You can’t eat them. You can’t drink them. And today, most dollars aren’t even pieces of paper. They are just electronic information passing between computers.”

Of course, in the context of the U.S. dollar, having the world’s largest economy and most powerful military certainly helps with telling a more convincing story.

And things like debt and inflation are part of that story.

It’s a story that enables global cooperation but also global competition.

Its story, poorly told, can result in societal ruin. Properly told and there’s the potential for economic prosperity.

For the weekend, here’s the story of money in just ten minutes (via Greg Kidd):

The asterisk here is that, today, the story of money is in flux. Amid the rise of crypto and stablecoins, governments around the world are investigating ways to digitize that story.

When stories evolve, new rules are sometimes necessary.

Here in the U.S., a bill outlining a regulatory framework for crypto achieved a new milestone (https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-crypto-ffb85024-3435-401f-b1c1-fcb67a3ceb3b.html)—an actual vote in Congress. (It passed 35-15.)

But crypto is sort of money adjacent. A stablecoin bill looks to be delayed—perhaps because it hits a bit closer to home. Some are blaming the White House (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/07/27/white-house-derailed-negotiation-on-us-house-stablecoin-bill-mchenry/). Others, banks (https://www.theblock.co/post/241585/financial-services-chair-pushes-back-on-bank-criticism-of-stablecoin-bill). Mapping out a new story can be contentious.

Then you have Sam Altman, the same guy who brought us ChatGPT. He wants to give you his version of money for free. As long as you scan your iris (https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/what-is-worldcoin/) to prove you’re a unique human. While the Worldcoin story is more about authentication, today’s story of money is often linked with identity.

Whatever the case may be, we are in the midst of writing a new chapter for the most successful story ever told.

Elsewhere in the story of money, here’s Calvin Burrows:

What happened with the stablecoin bill?

• Bipartisan support for the bill broke down in Thursday’s session between House lawmakers on the Financial Services Committee, with Democrats requesting to postpone voting until they have a chance to amend the bill.

• From Coindesk: (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/07/27/white-house-derailed-negotiation-on-us-house-stablecoin-bill-mchenry/) “During the debate, Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) suggested voting be postponed to September, saying Democrats hadn’t had sufficient chance to pitch their ideas. Maxine Waters backed up that request, asking McHenry to consider working on it through the August recess of Congress and coming back to finish it after the break.”

• Rep. Patrick McHenry, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, blamed the White House for the stalemate without specifying which specific provisions were points of disagreement. From Decrypt: (https://decrypt.co/150339/stablecoin-bill-stymied-house-financial-services-chair-blames-white-house) “A bipartisan deal was within reach," said McHenry. "It was the White House’s unwillingness to compromise that has once again brought negotiations to a halt."

Why did banks object to the bill?

• The bill also received push back from a consortium of banks and credit unions who sent two separate letters to the House Financial Services Committee last week. Their primary concern was that the legislation would allow state financial regulators to approve the issuance of new stablecoins.

• The American Bankers Association (https://www.aba.com/) (ABA) and state bankers associations wrote (https://www.aba.com/-/media/documents/letters-to-congress-and-regulators/072123-joint-aba-state-association-stablecoin-letter.pdf?rev=0d4c86ba7a8c47c8b7fe7ad8e171a4c8), “We urge the Committee to apply the same level of Federal oversight to state-licensed stablecoin issuers as is currently applied to state-chartered banks in order to limit the risk of charter arbitrage.”

• The ABA, Consumer Bankers Association (https://www.consumerbankers.com/) and Credit Union National Association (https://www.cuna.org/) said in a separate letter (https://www.aba.com/-/media/documents/letters-to-congress-and-regulators/07192023-joint-trade-stablecoin-letter.pdf?rev=f7b2a0cf71ca4e9798281983c0570b7c), “Stablecoin issuers effectively create a new form of private money, which has clear monetary policy implications and should be subject to federal oversight that ensures financial stability and consumer protection.”

https://hardyaka.substack.com/p/the-weekend-151the-most-successful

@ 9fec72d5:f77f85b1

Having a name:

namecheap.com: You can buy cheap domains here, ending like nostrelay.info.

This website shows cheapest ones like .xyz .info .online: https://tld-list.com/

noip.com: You can get free subdomains here like: nostrelay.noip.com

There are other free subdomain sites.

Having a machine:

I've been using Hetzner for 10+ years now. They are the best for Nostr! They use prosumer grade PCs as servers and hence stay cheaper than some of the well known brands. These are not enterprise grade and may fail occasionally. This means slightly less reliable server but much cheaper. When it comes to Nostr, your relay won't be the only relay. People will use lots more relays at a given time. So if your relay goes down it doesn't matter much for the whole network. The network continues to operate. Your job is to relay the notes as cheap and fast as possible. Don't think about hardware reliability.

Go to Hetzner and create a cloud server. Germany location is cheaper because they use Arm64 architecture. You can get a 4 core server with 8GB ram at $7/mo. That could probably run even a big relay like 10th most popular relay on Nostr! For the most popular, you could use 8 cores, which is like $15/mo.

You could also select USA if you want to serve USA and Japanese users faster. But that is like double the price.

After you get a machine it will come with an IP. Copy that IP to your domain's DNS records ("A" records).

Installing the software:

This guide looks like a good one.

https://github.com/hoytech/strfry/blob/master/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md

Having a spam filter:

When the relay is small the spammers won't bother you. If you start getting popular you can find plugins that may stop some of the spammers. Or you could learn simple programming using scripts and may develop your own spam filters.

Let others know:

Add your relay to nostr.watch. People use that website to find new relays.

Share the news! Make your friends use the relay.

Getting popular:

After you get experienced and grow your relay talk to client developers and show them your relay and ask them to include your relay in their default settings.

Talk to funds that donate to open source projects and nostr and get some sats. Or do it for free, you are allowing free speech online, which is hard to find nowadays!

https://cdn.nostr.build/i/63520e8494dd0f7e321fddf95b5752ac3a296f3aa3c3b81d76fdebe04fe8fd69.jpg

@ 000003a2:e3b014e6

• horse (Chrome and derivatives)
• nos2x (Chrome and derivatives)
• Alby (Chrome and derivatives, Firefox)
• Blockcore (Chrome and derivatives)
• nos2x-fox (Firefox)
• Flamingo (Chrome and derivatives)
• AKA Profiles (Chrome, stores multiple keys)
• TokenPocket (Android, IOS, Chrome and derivatives)
• Nostrmo (Android, IOS)

Source: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/07.md

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

The book "Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin" by Jason P. Lowery offers an extensive exploration of Bitcoin through the lens of strategic and cybersecurity, as opposed to a purely fiscal one. It presents a novel theoretical paradigm for assessing the potential strategic national implications of Bitcoin, viewed as an electro-cyber defense technology as opposed to a decentralized electronic cash system.

The following are some pivotal arguments and possible inaccuracies from the standpoint of a Bitcoin developer:

Proof-of-work

The proposition that Bitcoin, via its proof-of-work protocol, can be perceived as an electro-cyber security framework allowing for the exertion of tangible power in the digital domain. Lowery posits that Bitcoin equips individuals with the capacity to enforce severe physical consequences (represented in wattage) on adversarial entities attempting to exploit them via software. This viewpoint conceptualizes Bitcoin as a mechanism for power projection, enabling individuals to establish and maintain an untrusting, permissionless, egalitarian, and decentralized dominion over bits of information, provided they have the will and capability to wield physical power to safeguard it (Page 245).

• The critique here, though, points out that this is an intriguing perspective; the primary purpose of Bitcoin is to operate as a decentralized digital currency. The power projection elucidated by the author is an ancillary outcome of Bitcoin's decentralization and inherent security, rather than its primary intent. The function of Bitcoin's proof-of-work algorithm is to fortify the network against double-spending and other forms of attack, not to project power in a geopolitical context.

• The book also proposes that Bitcoin could upheave human power-based dominance hierarchies from their foundational roots (Page 374). While it's undeniable that Bitcoin has the potential to disrupt conventional financial systems and power structures, it was not designed to be an instrument for power projection in the same way that military or economic resources are. Bitcoin is a tool for financial sovereignty and privacy, not a weapon for geopolitical power struggles.

• The book seems to equate the physical power utilized in Bitcoin's proof-of-work algorithm (i.e., the energy expended to mine Bitcoin) with the notion of power projection in a geopolitical environment. While it's true that Bitcoin mining demands substantial energy resources, it is distinctly different from the concept of power projection, which usually involves employing military or economic force to influence the actions and behavior of other nations.

Bits and Value

The book asserts that the bits within Bitcoin can symbolize any kind of valuable data that individuals desire it to represent, including but not confined to financial information (Page 375). It further implies that once we have deduced how to keep financial bits of data physically secure against attack, we have in essence figured out how to protect all types of information from physical attack (Page 34).

• While it is indeed factual that Bitcoin's blockchain can be employed to store and transmit non-financial data, it's crucial to understand that this is not its primary function. Bitcoin was developed as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, with the primary objective of facilitating financial transactions without necessitating a trusted third party. The data that Bitcoin primarily processes is transaction data, i.e., detailing who transferred how much Bitcoin to whom.

• The capability to store non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain is more of an unintended consequence of its design rather than a fundamental feature. This is accomplished by utilizing specific fields in the transaction data to store arbitrary data, but this practice is generally discouraged because it can result in blockchain bloat. The Bitcoin blockchain is not intended to function as a general-purpose data storage system, and employing it as such can induce inefficiencies.

• Storing non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain does not offer any additional security advantages over storing financial data. The security of the Bitcoin blockchain is derived from its decentralized, proof-of-work consensus mechanism, which ensures that no single entity can control or manipulate the transaction history. This security extends equally to all data housed on the blockchain, whether it's financial or non-financial.

Strangler Pattern

The book suggests that Bitcoin could serve as a "strangler pattern" replacement of our legacy internet infrastructure with a modern architecture that isn’t as clearly susceptible to systemic exploitation and abuse (Page 376). The book further intimates that Bitcoin could operate as the preeminent mechanism employed by digital-age societies to map or anchor elements of the old internet version to the revamped version of the internet (Page 322).

• While Bitcoin indeed introduces a new, decentralized paradigm for financial transactions and data storage, it isn't designed to supplant the entire internet infrastructure. The internet is an extensive and multifaceted system supporting a wide variety of applications and services, from email and web browsing to video streaming and cloud computing. In contrast, Bitcoin is a specific application that operates on the internet, designed to enable peer-to-peer financial transactions.

• The claim made by the book appears to conflate the concept of a decentralized financial system (which Bitcoin offers) with the idea of a decentralized internet (which is a much broader and more intricate concept). While there are projects and technologies aiming to foster a more decentralized internet (such as InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and various blockchain-based "Web 3.0" initiatives), Bitcoin is not one of them.

• The book's suggestion that Bitcoin could serve as the dominant mechanism for tying the legacy internet to a new version of the internet is speculative and isn't substantiated by current technological realities. While it's true that blockchain technology (the underlying technology of Bitcoin) has potential applications in areas like decentralized identity systems and domain name systems, these are still largely experimental and have not been widely adopted yet.

Kinetic Power

The book propososes that Bitcoin could significantly transform the way humans vie for control over valued resources, effectively resetting the global balance of power in a manner akin to the profound changes brought about by full-scale kinetic world wars (Page 376). The author further proposes that Bitcoin could revolutionize the perception of physical confrontation in the digital-age society (Page 370). Moreover, it's implied that global adoption of an electro-cyber form of physical power competition, facilitated by proof-of-work technologies like Bitcoin, could lead to the genesis of a completely novel form of polity (Page 385).

• It is undeniable that Bitcoin holds the potential to disrupt conventional financial systems and power structures. However, juxtaposing its impact to the scale and consequences of world wars is hyperbolic and speculative. World wars resulted in massive loss of human lives, extensive destruction, and substantial shifts in geopolitical boundaries and power structures. In contrast, Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates on a decentralized network. While it can indeed influence financial systems and potentially disrupt some power structures, particularly those related to finance and banking, it is incapable of causing physical destruction or loss of life.

• The book suggests that Bitcoin could spawn a completely new form of polity is speculative and isn't supported by current realities. Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can indeed influence how people transact and store value, they don't intrinsically alter the fundamental nature of societal organization or governance. They may contribute to shifts in power dynamics, particularly in the financial sector, but they do not supplant the need for traditional forms of governance and societal organization.

• The book also seems to conflate the concept of power competition in a geopolitical context with the concept of power competition in the context of Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining does involve a form of competition, as miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems to add new blocks to the blockchain and receive Bitcoin rewards. However, this is far from the concept of power competition in a geopolitical context, which involves nations competing for resources, influence, and dominance on the global stage.

Projecting Power

The book asserts that Bitcoin, through its proof-of-work technology, could help society secure itself against systemic exploitation of computer networks (Page 378). The author argues that Bitcoin could empower individuals to physically secure their digital information, by projecting physical power in, from, and through cyberspace to impose severe physical costs on those who exploit our computing systems (Page 347). The author further speculates that national adoption of Bitcoin could be conceptualized as the employment of an electro-cyber militia to safeguard and defend a nation’s valuable digital information (Page 360).

• While it's true that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can provide a level of security and privacy not available in traditional financial systems, it's crucial to underscore that they also introduce new vulnerabilities and potential for misuse. Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, which can make them appealing for fraudulent activities. Bitcoin wallets can be lost or stolen if not adequately secured. The security of the Bitcoin network itself hinges on its decentralized nature and the computational power required to alter the blockchain, but individual users are still susceptible to scams and hacking.

• The book's suggestion that Bitcoin could serve as a form of "electro-cyber militia" is speculative and not universally accepted within the Bitcoin community. Although Bitcoin does offer a method for individuals to secure their financial transactions against interference from third parties, it is not designed to shield against all forms of cyber exploitation or to serve as a form of national defense.

• In conclusion, Softwar presents an unconventional viewpoint on Bitcoin's potential influence on national strategic security, proffering that Bitcoin could serve as an effective tool for power projection, system defense, and even societal reorganization. However, these propositions, while intriguing, often veer towards the speculative and seem to be somewhat misaligned with the predominant understanding of Bitcoin's primary purpose and functionality within the field of computer science.

• While this book undoubtedly offers a unique and thought-provoking perspective on Bitcoin's wider implications, it is crucial to approach these theories with a discerning and critical eye. It is always beneficial to juxtapose such theories with the broader consensus within the Bitcoin development and computer science communities, to gain a more rounded understanding of this remarkable technology. Ultimately, Bitcoin continues to evolve and its full potential, while yet to be fully realized, remains a subject of intense debate and exploration within the computer science community.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

Nym's review of Software:

The book "Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin" by Jason P. Lowery offers an extensive exploration of Bitcoin through the lens of strategic and cybersecurity, as opposed to a purely fiscal one. It presents a novel theoretical paradigm for assessing the potential strategic national implications of Bitcoin, viewed as an electro-cyber defense technology as opposed to a decentralized electronic cash system.

The following are some pivotal arguments and possible inaccuracies from the standpoint of a Bitcoin developer:

1. The proposition that Bitcoin, via its proof-of-work protocol, can be perceived as an electro-cyber security framework allowing for the exertion of tangible power in the digital domain. Lowery posits that Bitcoin equips individuals with the capacity to enforce severe physical consequences (represented in wattage) on adversarial entities attempting to exploit them via software. This viewpoint conceptualizes Bitcoin as a mechanism for power projection, enabling individuals to establish and maintain an untrusting, permissionless, egalitarian, and decentralized dominion over bits of information, provided they have the will and capability to wield physical power to safeguard it (Page 245).

The critique here, though, points out that this is an intriguing perspective; the primary purpose of Bitcoin is to operate as a decentralized digital currency. The power projection elucidated by the author is an ancillary outcome of Bitcoin's decentralization and inherent security, rather than its primary intent. The function of Bitcoin's proof-of-work algorithm is to fortify the network against double-spending and other forms of attack, not to project power in a geopolitical context.

The book also proposes that Bitcoin could upheave human power-based dominance hierarchies from their foundational roots (Page 374). While it's undeniable that Bitcoin has the potential to disrupt conventional financial systems and power structures, it was not designed to be an instrument for power projection in the same way that military or economic resources are. Bitcoin is a tool for financial sovereignty and privacy, not a weapon for geopolitical power struggles.

The book seems to equate the physical power utilized in Bitcoin's proof-of-work algorithm (i.e., the energy expended to mine Bitcoin) with the notion of power projection in a geopolitical environment. While it's true that Bitcoin mining demands substantial energy resources, it is distinctly different from the concept of power projection, which usually involves employing military or economic force to influence the actions and behavior of other nations.

1. The book asserts that the bits within Bitcoin can symbolize any kind of valuable data that individuals desire it to represent, including but not confined to financial information (Page 375). It further implies that once we have deduced how to keep financial bits of data physically secure against attack, we have in essence figured out how to protect all types of information from physical attack (Page 34).

While it is indeed factual that Bitcoin's blockchain can be employed to store and transmit non-financial data, it's crucial to understand that this is not its primary function. Bitcoin was developed as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, with the primary objective of facilitating financial transactions without necessitating a trusted third party. The data that Bitcoin primarily processes is transaction data, i.e., detailing who transferred how much Bitcoin to whom.

The capability to store non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain is more of an unintended consequence of its design rather than a fundamental feature. This is accomplished by utilizing specific fields in the transaction data to store arbitrary data, but this practice is generally discouraged because it can result in blockchain bloat. The Bitcoin blockchain is not intended to function as a general-purpose data storage system, and employing it as such can induce inefficiencies.

Storing non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain does not offer any additional security advantages over storing financial data. The security of the Bitcoin blockchain is derived from its decentralized, proof-of-work consensus mechanism, which ensures that no single entity can control or manipulate the transaction history. This security extends equally to all data housed on the blockchain, whether it's financial or non-financial.

1. The book suggests that Bitcoin could serve as a "strangler pattern" replacement of our legacy internet infrastructure with a modern architecture that isn’t as clearly susceptible to systemic exploitation and abuse (Page 376). The book further intimates that Bitcoin could operate as the preeminent mechanism employed by digital-age societies to map or anchor elements of the old internet version to the revamped version of the internet (Page 322).

While Bitcoin indeed introduces a new, decentralized paradigm for financial transactions and data storage, it isn't designed to supplant the entire internet infrastructure. The internet is an extensive and multifaceted system supporting a wide variety of applications and services, from email and web browsing to video streaming and cloud computing. In contrast, Bitcoin is a specific application that operates on the internet, designed to enable peer-to-peer financial transactions.

The claim made by the book appears to conflate the concept of a decentralized financial system (which Bitcoin offers) with the idea of a decentralized internet (which is a much broader and more intricate concept). While there are projects and technologies aiming to foster a more decentralized internet (such as InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and various blockchain-based "Web 3.0" initiatives), Bitcoin is not one of them.

Additionally, the book's suggestion that Bitcoin could serve as the dominant mechanism for tying the legacy internet to a new version of the internet is speculative and isn't substantiated by current technological realities. While it's true that blockchain technology (the underlying technology of Bitcoin) has potential applications in areas like decentralized identity systems and domain name systems, these are still largely experimental and have not been widely adopted yet.

1. The book propososes that Bitcoin could significantly transform the way humans vie for control over valued resources, effectively resetting the global balance of power in a manner akin to the profound changes brought about by full-scale kinetic world wars (Page 376). The author further proposes that Bitcoin could revolutionize the perception of physical confrontation in the digital-age society (Page 370). Moreover, it's implied that global adoption of an electro-cyber form of physical power competition, facilitated by proof-of-work technologies like Bitcoin, could lead to the genesis of a completely novel form of polity (Page 385).

It is undeniable that Bitcoin holds the potential to disrupt conventional financial systems and power structures. However, juxtaposing its impact to the scale and consequences of world wars is hyperbolic and speculative. World wars resulted in massive loss of human lives, extensive destruction, and substantial shifts in geopolitical boundaries and power structures. In contrast, Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates on a decentralized network. While it can indeed influence financial systems and potentially disrupt some power structures, particularly those related to finance and banking, it is incapable of causing physical destruction or loss of life.

The book suggests that Bitcoin could spawn a completely new form of polity is speculative and isn't supported by current realities. Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can indeed influence how people transact and store value, they don't intrinsically alter the fundamental nature of societal organization or governance. They may contribute to shifts in power dynamics, particularly in the financial sector, but they do not supplant the need for traditional forms of governance and societal organization.

The book also seems to conflate the concept of power competition in a geopolitical context with the concept of power competition in the context of Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining does involve a form of competition, as miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems to add new blocks to the blockchain and receive Bitcoin rewards. However, this is far from the concept of power competition in a geopolitical context, which involves nations competing for resources, influence, and dominance on the global stage.

1. The book asserts that Bitcoin, through its proof-of-work technology, could help society secure itself against systemic exploitation of computer networks (Page 378). The author argues that Bitcoin could empower individuals to physically secure their digital information, by projecting physical power in, from, and through cyberspace to impose severe physical costs on those who exploit our computing systems (Page 347). The author further speculates that national adoption of Bitcoin could be conceptualized as the employment of an electro-cyber militia to safeguard and defend a nation’s valuable digital information (Page 360).

While it's true that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can provide a level of security and privacy not available in traditional financial systems, it's crucial to underscore that they also introduce new vulnerabilities and potential for misuse. Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, which can make them appealing for fraudulent activities. Bitcoin wallets can be lost or stolen if not adequately secured. The security of the Bitcoin network itself hinges on its decentralized nature and the computational power required to alter the blockchain, but individual users are still susceptible to scams and hacking.

The book's suggestion that Bitcoin could serve as a form of "electro-cyber militia" is speculative and not universally accepted within the Bitcoin community. Although Bitcoin does offer a method for individuals to secure their financial transactions against interference from third parties, it is not designed to shield against all forms of cyber exploitation or to serve as a form of national defense.

In conclusion, Softwar presents an unconventional viewpoint on Bitcoin's potential influence on national strategic security, proffering that Bitcoin could serve as an effective tool for power projection, system defense, and even societal reorganization. However, these propositions, while intriguing, often veer towards the speculative and seem to be somewhat misaligned with the predominant understanding of Bitcoin's primary purpose and functionality within the field of computer science.

While this book undoubtedly offers a unique and thought-provoking perspective on Bitcoin's wider implications, it is crucial to approach these theories with a discerning and critical eye. It is always beneficial to juxtapose such theories with the broader consensus within the Bitcoin development and computer science communities, to gain a more rounded understanding of this remarkable technology. Ultimately, Bitcoin continues to evolve and its full potential, while yet to be fully realized, remains a subject of intense debate and exploration within the computer science community.

@ 9e915942:f8133dec

I find myself spending more and more time on nostr, a decentralized social networking protocol. Here’s why.

The problem (as if you didn't already know)

I’ve long been frustrated with social media platforms. They have the same incentives - increase time on site - primarily because of the ad model for revenue.

This model incentivizes them to collect as much data as possible about their users.

It incentivizes them to develop algorithms that drive “engagement,” which just means clicks and attention.

It incentivizes tribalism.

It incentivizes binary thinking (us/them, black/white, with us or against us, etc.).

To increase followers and reach, users are incentivized to play into the algorithm, creating a positive feedback loop - outrageous posts amplified by the algo incentivizes similar posts.

Social media companies can use the algorithm to promote perspectives they support and down rank perspectives they disagree with.

Governments and intelligence agencies are increasingly pressuring social media companies to do their bidding.

CEOs of these companies have an incredible amount of power to control speech, as we’re seeing with Elon.

I could go on. My point is that we need something different. Something that is built around different incentives. Something that makes it difficult to censor speech and users simply because they have an unpopular viewpoint. Something that a government or CEO can't simply turn off.

Enter nostr

Nostr appears to fix many of these things at the protocol level. (To understand this, consider email. Email is built on a protocol. Countless “clients” can leverage this protocol. I can use Gmail, you can use Yahoo mail, and we can still communicate with each other. The same is true for Nostr, except not only can we still communicate using different clients, we can use our username with any client. It would be like getting sick of Gmail and switching to Yahoo mail, but all of your emails come with you.)

Nostr also allows for a “value for value” incentive model, thanks to the bitcoin lightning network integration. Instead of users trying to optimize their posts to suit the algorithm, they can be rewarded directly for quality content.

Imagine a Twitter or Facebook experience in which you can send micropayments directly to a user for a quality post.

They generate value for you, so you directly compensate them accordingly. Value for value, cutting out the need for the advertising model.

Maybe you only send a few pennies, but maybe that's all the user would get from an ad being seen. But this process fundamentally changes the revenue model, cutting out the advertising in the middle.

Maybe nostr won’t work. Maybe it won’t be able to scale. Maybe value for value won't turn out to be a powerful enough incentive model. Maybe we won’t be able o break the network effects of the current platforms. I can think of numerous ways in which Nostr could potentially fail.

But I’m tired of being stuck in perverse incentive hell.

Confronted by the uncertainty of the future and the clearly negative direction so many things are trending, I am going to do what I can to participate in and build the world I want to inhabit. The world I want my kids to live in.

This is why I Bitcoin. This is why I Moral Courage. This is why poured my guts into designing an elective called Critical Thinking. And now, this is why I Nostr.

I want social media. The world needs social media. But I can’t in good conscience continue to participate on these platforms when there may (finally) be an alternative that fixes the incentives.

I’m not deleting my accounts (yet). But I’ll be spending less time on them.

I’ve been on Nostr since early January. If you want help trying it out, let me know. There’s great info about getting started on Nostr here.

The client I use on iOS is Damus.

On the web I use Primal.

Follow me: z_cress@nostrverified.com or npub1n6g4js374378t90rrh4jyeqaqf537ce0qygu79u4r5mgf7qn8hkqk3watk

This post originally appeared on blogstack.io, a nostr client similar to Medium.

@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

小城，最好還是老城，便有趣而且有味，宜逛，亦宜居。

Bilbao畢爾巴鄂，西班牙北方的珠玉小城，剛巧，便是如此的佳美之地，富裕安詳，亦古亦新，一派與世無爭的鬆和糯，人稱西班牙的小瑞士。

小城的清晨，三步一間五步再一間，小小的咖啡舖和麵包房，7:30就熱氣騰騰紛紛開門，堪比上海延慶路口的大餅油條舖。煮咖啡給你、遞新鮮麵包給你的，大多是精神抖擻朝氣蓬勃的老阿姨老爺叔。這一點，比京都優秀得多，京都基本上十點半以前，只有星巴克麥當勞會理你。

晨起步去老城，食早餐。Bilbao是14世紀古城，600年歷史，不算很長，狠是狠在一切宛然都在，600年歷歷在目地在那裡，這就夠你歎為觀止，一邊散步一邊啊啊啊不絕如縷了。

古城的廣場，宏闊堅實，此地當年的不可一世，可以想見。廊道裡密密麻麻開著一圈小館子，坐下吃咖啡，再吃兩件清早剛剛做起來的點心Pintxo，彷彿香港人清早茶樓裡的一盅兩件，小館子裡亦備有三四種免費報紙，供你以古老的方式瞭解國內外大事小事。坐在晨光裡，與600年同在，滋味是很厚很不錯的。

左右隔桌的食客，皆是本地人，不太有遊客。兩位老婦人，一對老閨蜜，一個食甜奶油麵包，一個食火腿奶酪麵包，姐妹們食得涇渭分明，身材倒是沒有很大的差距，正常的老婦人的微胖樣子。食甜奶油麵包的老婦人，剖開麵包，拿餐刀刮走一半甜奶油，只食剩下的一半甜奶油。坐輪椅的老人亦常見，自己一個人默默駕駛著萬能的輪椅，來吃咖啡喂鴿子會老朋友。

食飽早餐，晃晃老城。麻煩的是，城中百年老店比比皆是，要是每一間百年老店都推門進去看一眼，那簡直是要寸步難行的了。

包子帶我去看一間手工做傘的百年老店，立在街角，很小一個舖子。進門，是鋪天蓋地的傘，每一柄傘，皆婷婷玉立，漂亮得如同一襲華美的旗袍。我像個鄉下人，立在店堂裡長吁短嘆。

女主人請我們母子去後面的作坊白相，年深日久的工作台上，累累的歲月痕跡，包漿燦然，無語沉默。滿牆的工具，以及桌面上一厚摞古典音樂唱片。女主人打開一柄又一柄傘，講給我們聽，傘骨是碳纖維的，所以很輕。碳纖維的自行車我見過，碳纖維的傘，我是第一次見識到。百年老店的時髦，超出了我的想像。問女主人，這麼美的傘面，是哪裡來的呢？女主人講，義大利來的，專門的設計師設計的。怪不得品味高華得讓人尖叫。女主人講了很多傘的小知識給我們聽，比如，各種場合用各種不同的傘；比如，一柄好傘，講究是講究在哪些細節裡。然後憂心忡忡了一下，你說，今後的天氣，會不會雨越下越少、傘越來越不需要了？我趕緊安慰她，不會不會，我剛從梅雨淋漓的上海來，你可以去上海開分店。女主人另一個憂心，是她的兩個兒子，都沒有學做傘。你有一個兒子，我有兩個，可惜兩個都沒有學家族手藝，一個兒子在交響樂團拉琴，另一個在做社會工作。怪不得工作台上一大摞的古典音樂唱片。這個舖子，傳了三代人了，現在，政府也在幫忙找繼承人。

如此一柄傘，售價大約在600元人民幣左右。

  一個清晨，吃了一盅兩件、看了百年老店、學了一堆傘知識。赴一座小城，需要很多的光陰，以及很好的腳力。

小城Bilbao的七月，正午攝氏二十四度的涼爽，日落遲至夜晚八九點的長日永晝。

這個就是巴斯克人的little darling，早餐和午後點心的人見人愛，小甜奶油麵包，像上海人的甜大餅

以上圖片來自下面這本書

下面是Bilbao老城百年傘舖的照片

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exqenjvpc8q6nxvfhqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823c83ac7g
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@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

徽菜品粹，於巨鹿路899號，那個洋樓林立的著名大院子裡，靜靜開一間新館子，治盧州菜。

盧州菜是徽菜五個支脈裡的一支，以合肥菜為底子，格局是徽菜裡的官府菜，文人氣息濃厚，滋味柔淡一點徽菜的沖，亦不淪陷到南人的軟甜無度裡，獨標一幟，非常別致。

上海吃客有福，於舊租界的維多利亞小樓裡，得以領略醬香富饒、回味深厚的盧州菜。如果被當代文豪、名優們頻頻寫入日記筆記裡，再過幾十年翻翻故紙，恐怕大有我們如今翻閱魯迅日記、梁實秋小品、張愛玲散文以及馬連良回憶錄的情狀，口水洶湧氾濫。

禪衣素方，以腐衣交疊壓制，成方磚塊，點鮮椒醬與XO醬，於馥郁豆香裡，層疊醬香，一方入口，十分滿足。

徽菜代表作，除了刀板香，還有錢串，以五花肉融醬料醃製、風乾、熏烤，一路古法手段，瘦者不老，肥者不膩，是徽人過年必備，曬製時候形狀彷彿銅錢，所以討個口彩，錢串。

品粹的招牌之一，肥西老母雞湯，每次上桌都顛倒眾生不已，無非雞好、山泉水好，足火三個小時的耐心。說說是容易的，每次都好到食客驚艷，背後自然是無窮的精控。做一天好人好事不難，難的是做一輩子好人好事。每次飲到品粹的絕色雞湯，都在心裡致敬不已。

紅燒菜，中國人都是愛不釋手的，海外華人思鄉最慘烈，也是這一口紅燒。以前讀小澤征爾的自傳，寫他早年離開日本，遠赴歐美學藝術，窮哈哈的留學生，最渴望的，是家裡郵寄一點梅子乾和味噌來。中國人思念醬油湯淘飯，日本人思念味噌湯，都是胃裡的酸鹼度在作怪。

回來說紅燒，紅燒菜裡的天花板，是紅燒甲魚大概沒有人會反對。品粹的紅燒甲魚，真是輝煌之作，甲魚選得上乘，紅燒燒得正確。食剩的甲魚湯汁，回鍋炒個飯，涓滴不浪費，多好。

李鴻章大雜燴，是打遍天下很能打的名菜，華洋通吃，人見人愛，全世界唐人街廣受歡迎的名餚。品粹治得精，參、鮑、菌熔於一燴，十分過癮，堪稱徽版佛跳牆。

將軍菜乾燉紅燒肉，根底是盧州菜裡的官府扣肉，將軍菜是安徽一味山野菜，炸過之後，與五花豬肉一起，瓦罐慢燉三個鐘，上桌顫顫抖抖，腴美無匹，饞煞老饕。

這些年，一些上海食客並不熟悉的菜系，頻頻在我城響亮起來，台州菜是一種，徽菜也是其一。這些菜系的蓬勃，跟默默深耕的領軍人物有莫大的關係。品粹徽菜的主理人陳政師傅，多年尋訪徽州各地，熟透支支脈脈，每季都有精彩菜單，十分了得。

品粹這家新店，品粹近安，有滋有味於巨鹿路。

@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

西班牙北部的巴斯克自治區的首府，vitoria gasteiz，今天是傳統節日，萬人空巷，感人肺腑。

滿街是穿著傳統節日服飾的巴斯克男女，小朋友們都是從頭打扮到腳。

包子跟我說，《黃帝內經》上講的，美其食，任其服，樂其俗，此時此刻都齊了。

850年歷史的古都，1813年威靈頓公爵曾經在此擊潰了拿破崙，這個雕塑，就是在紀念這宗偉業。

古都的摩登，也歷歷可見。

這些攝人心魄的雄偉氣概，圖片難以言喻，身臨其境，滋味完全不同。

如今，此地是一個人口不過20多萬的小城。    

從Bilbao坐車過去，50分鐘車程，一路風景如畫，青山蒼翠欲滴，牧場綿延如歌。沒有堵車，沒有氣喘吁吁的貨櫃大車成陣。晚上八點離開Vitoria，回到家剛好九點，天邊還有一抹彤雲未退盡，感慨萬千的古都一日。                                                                                  

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exqenjvpc8q6nxvfhqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823c83ac7g
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@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

傍晚散步去Bilbao的美術館，一棟嚴整清俊的老房子，離家七、八分鐘的步程，每天開到晚上八點，這個時間表，非常西班牙。     入門氣概非凡，空間奢侈，通體白色大理石的台階，華美無比。廳堂內種種雕塑，星辰散落，水平實在是高，無論是雕塑本身，還是陳列手段，都高度舒服。

Bilbao街頭，雕塑比比皆是，隨便捏捏，都是活龍活現深入靈魂的佳品，這個東西，實在是玩不過人家。

一間展廳裡，有西班牙名畫家Joaquin Sorolla 的幾幅作品，非常眩目，光影出神入化，深得印象派真傳，旁邊幾幅素描小稿，了了幾筆，隨便搨搨，神得不得了，一舉看呆過去。

孤陋寡聞，第一次看見這位畫家的作品，回家一邊吃晚飯，一邊猛烈學習。

1863年至1923年的西班牙畫家，活了六十歲，非常多產，存世有2000件作品。兩歲時候父母染霍亂雙亡，被姨夫收留扶養長大，姨夫是鎖匠，跟美術毫無淵源。這位Sorolla是在巴黎學藝成功，學得印象派精髓，一路順風順水，他的作品曾經在美國十分熱賣，至今收藏他作品最多的，除了馬德里的Sorolla美術館，就是美國的兩間博物館，聖路易斯和芝加哥。

這幅《母親》，太贊了。畫家藝高膽大，下筆雋永，太厲害。

下面這幅是他非常拿手的題材，海灘嬉戲，不用說，好得不得了。

再下面一幅，亦好，是他的孩子們。

這兩幅是太太的畫像和自畫像，

再來兩幅。

下次去馬德里，要去看看他的故居做成的美術館。

今晚美術館裡的一件裝置，空靈優雅，靜悄悄，飄在屋裡。

包子回家路上問我，覺得美術館如何，我說很享受。美術館本身的建築非常妥貼，像個美術館的樣子。展品不多，但是很精，特別是佈展空靈，沒有物擠物的緊迫，也沒有人擠人的困苦，如此才是一個像樣美術館的格局。

美術館最珍貴的，不是展品，是氣息。

我們還在堆積展品的階段，拎幾個如雷貫耳的大畫家，就得意非凡大排長隊了，離開談論氣息，還很遠。

再來一幅。

家門口的美術館，晚飯前過去走走看看，惜福。

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

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@ 1c52ebc8:5698c92a

This is me testing what habla.news's editor will support in terms of native nostr ideas

NIP 99

Event for random note of mine nostr:nevent1qqsrdthgka83ffupw98jf98xupq0eumsh603793aq8nujyjwh9065acpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmp0qyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tcl8ar76

At a user's npub nostr:npub1r3fwhjpx2njy87f9qxmapjn9neutwh7aeww95e03drkfg45cey4qgl7ex2

Apologies for any spam. Checking what this looks like in various clients.