@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant

Peter Todd has been saying this for a long time and all the time I've been thinking he is misunderstanding everything, but I guess a more charitable interpretation is that he is right.

Nostr today is indeed centralized.

Yesterday I published two harmless notes with the exact same content at the same time. In two minutes the notes had a noticeable difference in responses:

The top one was published to wss://nostr.wine, wss://nos.lol, wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com. The second was published to the relay where I generally publish all my notes to, wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com, and that is announced on my NIP-05 file and on my NIP-65 relay list.

A few minutes later I published that screenshot again in two identical notes to the same sets of relays, asking if people understood the implications. The difference in quantity of responses can still be seen today:

These results are skewed now by the fact that the two notes got rebroadcasted to multiple relays after some time, but the fundamental point remains.

What happened was that a huge lot more of people saw the first note compared to the second, and if Nostr was really censorship-resistant that shouldn't have happened at all.

Some people implied in the comments, with an air of obviousness, that publishing the note to "more relays" should have predictably resulted in more replies, which, again, shouldn't be the case if Nostr is really censorship-resistant.

What happens is that most people who engaged with the note are following me, in the sense that they have instructed their clients to fetch my notes on their behalf and present them in the UI, and clients are failing to do that despite me making it clear in multiple ways that my notes are to be found on wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com.

If we were talking not about me, but about some public figure that was being censored by the State and got banned (or shadowbanned) by the 3 biggest public relays, the sad reality would be that the person would immediately get his reach reduced to ~10% of what they had before. This is not at all unlike what happened to dozens of personalities that were banned from the corporate social media platforms and then moved to other platforms -- how many of their original followers switched to these other platforms? Probably some small percentage close to 10%. In that sense Nostr today is similar to what we had before.

Peter Todd is right that if the way Nostr works is that you just subscribe to a small set of relays and expect to get everything from them then it tends to get very centralized very fast, and this is the reality today.

Peter Todd is wrong that Nostr is inherently centralized or that it needs a protocol change to become what it has always purported to be. He is in fact wrong today, because what is written above is not valid for all clients of today, and if we drive in the right direction we can successfully make Peter Todd be more and more wrong as time passes, instead of the contrary.

---

See also:

• Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr
• A vision for content discovery and relay usage for basic social-networking in Nostr

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

Bienvenide a Nostr!

Introduccíon

Es tu primera vez aqui en Nostr? Bienvenides! Nostr es un acrónimo raro para "Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays" on un solo objetivo; resistirse a la censura. Una alternativa a las redes sociales tradicionales, comunicaciónes, blogging, streaming, podcasting, y feventualmente el correo electronico (en fase de desarrollo) con características descentralizadas que te capacita, usario. Jamas seras molestado por un anuncio, capturado por una entidad centralizada o algoritmo que te monetiza.

Permítame ser su anfitrión! Soy Onigiri! Yo estoy explorando el mundo de Nostr, un protocolo de comunicacíon decentralizada. Yo escribo sobre las herramientas y los desarolladores increíbles de Nostr que dan vida a esta reino.

Bienvenides a Nostr Wonderland

Estas a punto de entrar a un otro mundo digtal que te hará explotar tu mente de todas las aplicaciones descentralizadas, clientes, sitios que puedes utilizar. Nunca volverás a ver a las comunicaciones ni a las redes sociales de la mesma manera. Todo gracias al carácter criptográfico de nostr, inpirado por la tecnología "blockchain". Cada usario, cuando crean una cuenta en Nostr, recibe un par de llaves: una privada y una publico. Estos son las llaves de tu propio reino. Lo que escribes, cantes, grabes, lo que creas - todo te pertenece.

Unos llaves de Oro y Plata

Mi amigo y yo llamamos a esto "identidad mediante cifrado" porque tu identidad es cifrado. Tu puedes compartir tu llave de plata "npub" a otros usarios para conectar y seguir. Utiliza tu llave de oro "nsec" para accedar a tu cuenta y exponerte a muchas aplicaciones. Mantenga la llave a buen recaudo en todo momento. Ya no hay razor para estar enjaulado por los terminos de plataformas sociales nunca más.

Onigirl npub18jvyjwpmm65g8v9azmlvu8knd5m7xlxau08y8vt75n53jtkpz2ys6mqqu3

Todavia No tienes un cliente? Seleccione la mejor opción.

Encuentra la aplicación adecuada para ti! Utilice su clave de oro "nsec" para acceder a estas herramientas maravillosas. También puedes visit a esta pagina a ver a todas las aplicaciones. Antes de pegar tu llave de oro en muchas aplicaciones, considera un "signer" (firmante) para los sitios web 3. Por favor, mire la siguiente imagen para más detalles. Consulte también la leyenda.

Get a Signer extension via chrome webstore

Un firmante (o "signer" en inglés) es una extensión del navegador web. Nos2x and NostrConnect son extensiónes ampliamente aceptado para aceder a Nostr. Esto simplifica el proceso de aceder a sitios "web 3". En lugar de copiar y pegar la clave oro "nsec" cada vez, la mantienes guardado en la extensión y le des permiso para aceder a Nostr.

👉⚡⚡Obtén una billetera Bitcoin lightning para enviar/recibir Zaps⚡⚡ (Esto es opcional)

Aqui en Nostr, utilizamos la red Lightning de Bitcoin (L2). Nesitaras una cartera lightning para enviar y recibir Satoshis, la denominacion mas chiquita de un Bitcoin. (0.000000001 BTC) Los "zaps" son un tipo de micropago en Nostr. Si te gusta el contenido de un usario, es norma dejarle una propina en la forma de un ¨zap". Por ejemplo, si te gusta este contenido, tu me puedes hacer "zap" con Satoshis para recompensar mi trabajo. Pero apenas llegaste, as que todavia no tienes una cartera. No se preocupe, puedo ayudar en eso!

"Stacker.News" es una plataforma donde los usarios pueden ganar SATS por publicar articulos y interactuar con otros.

Stacker.News es el lugar mas facil para recibir una direccion de cartera Bitcoin Lightning.

1. Acedese con su extensión firmante "signer" - Nos2x or NostrConnect - hace click en tu perfil, un codigo de letras y numeros en la mano superior derecha. Veás algo como esto
2. Haga clic en "edit" y elija un nombre que te guste. Se puede cambiar si deseas en el futuro.
3. Haga clic en "save"
4. Crea una biografía y la comunidad SN son muy acogedora. Te mandarán satoshi para darte la bienvenida.
5. Tu nueva direccion de cartera Bitcoin Lightning aparecerá asi ^^No le mandas "zaps" a esta direccion; es puramente con fines educativos.
6. Con tu Nueva dirección de monedero Bitcoin Lightning puedes ponerla en cualquier cliente o app de tu elección. Para ello, ve a tu página de perfil y bajo la dirección de tu monedero en "Dirección Lightning", introduce tu nueva dirección y pulsa "guardar " y ya está. Enhorabuena.

👉✨Con el tiempo, es posible que desee pasar a las opciones de auto-custodia y tal vez incluso considerar la posibilidad de auto-alojar su propio nodo LN para una mejor privacidad. La buena noticia es que stacker.news tambien está dejando de ser una cartera custodio.

⭐NIP-05-identidad DNS⭐ Al igual que en Twitter, una marca de verificación es para mostrar que eres del mismo jardín "como un humano", y no un atípico como una mala hierba o, "bot". Pero no de la forma nefasta en que lo hacen las grandes tecnológicas. En el país de las maravillas de Nostr, esto te permite asignar tu llave de plata, "npub", a un identificador DNS. Una vez verificado, puedes gritar para anunciar tu nueva residencia Nostr para compartir.

✨Hay un montón de opciones, pero si has seguido los pasos, esto se vuelve extremadamente fácil.

👉✅¡Haz clic en tu "Perfil ", luego en "Configuración ", desplázate hasta la parte inferior y pega tu clave Silver, "npub!" y haz clic en "Guardar " y ¡listo! Utiliza tu monedero relámpago de Stacker.news como tu NIP-05. ¡¡¡Enhorabuena!!! ¡Ya estás verificado! Dale unas horas y cuando uses tu cliente "principal " deberías ver una marca de verificación.

Nostr, el infonformista de los servidores.

En lugar de utilizar una única instancia o un servidor centralizado, Nostr está construido para que varias bases de datos intercambien mensajes mediante "relés". Los relés, que son neutrales y no discriminatorios, almacenan y difunden mensajes públicos en la red Nostr. Transmiten mensajes a todos los demás clientes conectados a ellos, asegurando las comunicaciones en la red descentralizada.

¡Mis amigos en Nostr te dan la bienvenida!

Bienvenida a la fiesta. ¿Le apetece un té?🍵

¡Hay mucho mas!

Esto es la punta del iceberg. Síguenme mientras continúo explorando nuevas tierras y a los desarolladores, los caballeres que potencioan este ecosistema. Encuéntrame aquí para mas contenido como este y comparten con otros usarios de nostr. Conozca a los caballeres que luchan por freedomTech (la tecnología de libertad) en Nostr y a los proyectos a los que contribuyen para hacerla realidad.💋

Onigirl @npub18jvyjwpmm65g8v9azmlvu8knd5m7xlxau08y8vt75n53jtkpz2ys6mqqu3

---

🧡😻Esta guía ha sido cuidadosamente traducida por miggymofongo

Puede seguirla aquí. @npub1ajt9gp0prf4xrp4j07j9rghlcyukahncs0fw5ywr977jccued9nqrcc0cs

sitio web

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Estórias

• O caso da Grêmio TV
• Jofer
• Lagoa Santa: como chegar -- partindo da rodoviária de Belo Horizonte
• O Planetinha

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Drivechain

Understanding Drivechain requires a shift from the paradigm most bitcoiners are used to. It is not about "trustlessness" or "mathematical certainty", but game theory and incentives. (Well, Bitcoin in general is also that, but people prefer to ignore it and focus on some illusion of trustlessness provided by mathematics.)

Here we will describe the basic mechanism (simple) and incentives (complex) of "hashrate escrow" and how it enables a 2-way peg between the mainchain (Bitcoin) and various sidechains.

The full concept of "Drivechain" also involves blind merged mining (i.e., the sidechains mine themselves by publishing their block hashes to the mainchain without the miners having to run the sidechain software), but this is much easier to understand and can be accomplished either by the BIP-301 mechanism or by the Spacechains mechanism.

How does hashrate escrow work from the point of view of Bitcoin?

A new address type is created. Anything that goes in that is locked and can only be spent if all miners agree on the Withdrawal Transaction (WT^) that will spend it for 6 months. There is one of these special addresses for each sidechain.

To gather miners' agreement bitcoind keeps track of the "score" of all transactions that could possibly spend from that address. On every block mined, for each sidechain, the miner can use a portion of their coinbase to either increase the score of one WT^ by 1 while decreasing the score of all others by 1; or they can decrease the score of all WT^s by 1; or they can do nothing.

Once a transaction has gotten a score high enough, it is published and funds are effectively transferred from the sidechain to the withdrawing users.

If a timeout of 6 months passes and the score doesn't meet the threshold, that WT^ is discarded.

What does the above procedure mean?

It means that people can transfer coins from the mainchain to a sidechain by depositing to the special address. Then they can withdraw from the sidechain by making a special withdraw transaction in the sidechain.

The special transaction somehow freezes funds in the sidechain while a transaction that aggregates all withdrawals into a single mainchain WT^, which is then submitted to the mainchain miners so they can start voting on it and finally after some months it is published.

Now the crucial part: the validity of the WT^ is not verified by the Bitcoin mainchain rules, i.e., if Bob has requested a withdraw from the sidechain to his mainchain address, but someone publishes a wrong WT^ that instead takes Bob's funds and sends them to Alice's main address there is no way the mainchain will know that. What determines the "validity" of the WT^ is the miner vote score and only that. It is the job of miners to vote correctly -- and for that they may want to run the sidechain node in SPV mode so they can attest for the existence of a reference to the WT^ transaction in the sidechain blockchain (which then ensures it is ok) or do these checks by some other means.

What? 6 months to get my money back?

Yes. But no, in practice anyone who wants their money back will be able to use an atomic swap, submarine swap or other similar service to transfer funds from the sidechain to the mainchain and vice-versa. The long delayed withdraw costs would be incurred by few liquidity providers that would gain some small profit from it.

Why bother with this at all?

Drivechains solve many different problems:

It enables experimentation and new use cases for Bitcoin

Issued assets, fully private transactions, stateful blockchain contracts, turing-completeness, decentralized games, some "DeFi" aspects, prediction markets, futarchy, decentralized and yet meaningful human-readable names, big blocks with a ton of normal transactions on them, a chain optimized only for Lighting-style networks to be built on top of it.

These are some ideas that may have merit to them, but were never actually tried because they couldn't be tried with real Bitcoin or inferfacing with real bitcoins. They were either relegated to the shitcoin territory or to custodial solutions like Liquid or RSK that may have failed to gain network effect because of that.

It solves conflicts and infighting

Some people want fully private transactions in a UTXO model, others want "accounts" they can tie to their name and build reputation on top; some people want simple multisig solutions, others want complex code that reads a ton of variables; some people want to put all the transactions on a global chain in batches every 10 minutes, others want off-chain instant transactions backed by funds previously locked in channels; some want to spend, others want to just hold; some want to use blockchain technology to solve all the problems in the world, others just want to solve money.

With Drivechain-based sidechains all these groups can be happy simultaneously and don't fight. Meanwhile they will all be using the same money and contributing to each other's ecosystem even unwillingly, it's also easy and free for them to change their group affiliation later, which reduces cognitive dissonance.

It solves "scaling"

Multiple chains like the ones described above would certainly do a lot to accomodate many more transactions that the current Bitcoin chain can. One could have special Lightning Network chains, but even just big block chains or big-block-mimblewimble chains or whatnot could probably do a good job. Or even something less cool like 200 independent chains just like Bitcoin is today, no extra features (and you can call it "sharding"), just that would already multiply the current total capacity by 200.

Use your imagination.

It solves the blockchain security budget issue

The calculation is simple: you imagine what security budget is reasonable for each block in a world without block subsidy and divide that for the amount of bytes you can fit in a single block: that is the price to be paid in satoshis per byte. In reasonable estimative, the price necessary for every Bitcoin transaction goes to very large amounts, such that not only any day-to-day transaction has insanely prohibitive costs, but also Lightning channel opens and closes are impracticable.

So without a solution like Drivechain you'll be left with only one alternative: pushing Bitcoin usage to trusted services like Liquid and RSK or custodial Lightning wallets. With Drivechain, though, there could be thousands of transactions happening in sidechains and being all aggregated into a sidechain block that would then pay a very large fee to be published (via blind merged mining) to the mainchain. Bitcoin security guaranteed.

It keeps Bitcoin decentralized

Once we have sidechains to accomodate the normal transactions, the mainchain functionality can be reduced to be only a "hub" for the sidechains' comings and goings, and then the maximum block size for the mainchain can be reduced to, say, 100kb, which would make running a full node very very easy.

Can miners steal?

Yes. If a group of coordinated miners are able to secure the majority of the hashpower and keep their coordination for 6 months, they can publish a WT^ that takes the money from the sidechains and pays to themselves.

Will miners steal?

No, because the incentives are such that they won't.

Although it may look at first that stealing is an obvious strategy for miners as it is free money, there are many costs involved:

1. The cost of ceasing blind-merged mining returns -- as stealing will kill a sidechain, all the fees from it that miners would be expected to earn for the next years are gone;
2. The cost of Bitcoin price going down: If a steal is successful that will mean Drivechains are not safe, therefore Bitcoin is less useful, and miner credibility will also be hurt, which are likely to cause the Bitcoin price to go down, which in turn may kill the miners' businesses and savings;
3. The cost of coordination -- assuming miners are just normal businesses, they just want to do their work and get paid, but stealing from a Drivechain will require coordination with other miners to conduct an immoral act in a way that has many pitfalls and is likely to be broken over the months;
4. The cost of miners leaving your mining pool: when we talked about "miners" above we were actually talking about mining pools operators, so they must also consider the risk of miners migrating from their mining pool to others as they begin the process of stealing;
5. The cost of community goodwill -- when participating in a steal operation, a miner will suffer a ton of backlash from the community. Even if the attempt fails at the end, the fact that it was attempted will contribute to growing concerns over exaggerated miners power over the Bitcoin ecosystem, which may end up causing the community to agree on a hard-fork to change the mining algorithm in the future, or to do something to increase participation of more entities in the mining process (such as development or cheapment of new ASICs), which have a chance of decreasing the profits of current miners.

Another point to take in consideration is that one may be inclined to think a newly-created sidechain or a sidechain with relatively low usage may be more easily stolen from, since the blind merged mining returns from it (point 1 above) are going to be small -- but the fact is also that a sidechain with small usage will also have less money to be stolen from, and since the other costs besides 1 are less elastic at the end it will not be worth stealing from these too.

All of the above consideration are valid only if miners are stealing from good sidechains. If there is a sidechain that is doing things wrong, scamming people, not being used at all, or is full of bugs, for example, that will be perceived as a bad sidechain, and then miners can and will safely steal from it and kill it, which will be perceived as a good thing by everybody.

What do we do if miners steal?

Paul Sztorc has suggested in the past that a user-activated soft-fork could prevent miners from stealing, i.e., most Bitcoin users and nodes issue a rule similar to this one to invalidate the inclusion of a faulty WT^ and thus cause any miner that includes it in a block to be relegated to their own Bitcoin fork that other nodes won't accept.

This suggestion has made people think Drivechain is a sidechain solution backed by user-actived soft-forks for safety, which is very far from the truth. Drivechains must not and will not rely on this kind of soft-fork, although they are possible, as the coordination costs are too high and no one should ever expect these things to happen.

If even with all the incentives against them (see above) miners do still steal from a good sidechain that will mean the failure of the Drivechain experiment. It will very likely also mean the failure of the Bitcoin experiment too, as it will be proven that miners can coordinate to act maliciously over a prolonged period of time regardless of economic and social incentives, meaning they are probably in it just for attacking Bitcoin, backed by nation-states or something else, and therefore no Bitcoin transaction in the mainchain is to be expected to be safe ever again.

Why use this and not a full-blown trustless and open sidechain technology?

Because it is impossible.

If you ever heard someone saying "just use a sidechain", "do this in a sidechain" or anything like that, be aware that these people are either talking about "federated" sidechains (i.e., funds are kept in custody by a group of entities) or they are talking about Drivechain, or they are disillusioned and think it is possible to do sidechains in any other manner.

No, I mean a trustless 2-way peg with correctness of the withdrawals verified by the Bitcoin protocol!

That is not possible unless Bitcoin verifies all transactions that happen in all the sidechains, which would be akin to drastically increasing the blocksize and expanding the Bitcoin rules in tons of ways, i.e., a terrible idea that no one wants.

What about the Blockstream sidechains whitepaper?

Yes, that was a way to do it. The Drivechain hashrate escrow is a conceptually simpler way to achieve the same thing with improved incentives, less junk in the chain, more safety.

Isn't the hashrate escrow a very complex soft-fork?

Yes, but it is much simpler than SegWit. And, unlike SegWit, it doesn't force anything on users, i.e., it isn't a mandatory blocksize increase.

Why should we expect miners to care enough to participate in the voting mechanism?

Because it's in their own self-interest to do it, and it costs very little. Today over half of the miners mine RSK. It's not blind merged mining, it's a very convoluted process that requires them to run a RSK full node. For the Drivechain sidechains, an SPV node would be enough, or maybe just getting data from a block explorer API, so much much simpler.

What if I still don't like Drivechain even after reading this?

That is the entire point! You don't have to like it or use it as long as you're fine with other people using it. The hashrate escrow special addresses will not impact you at all, validation cost is minimal, and you get the benefit of people who want to use Drivechain migrating to their own sidechains and freeing up space for you in the mainchain. See also the point above about infighting.

See also

• Podcast episode with Ruben Somsen and Aaron van Wirdum explaining Drivechain
• Alternatives to Drivechain
• Drivechain comparison with Ethereum

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

bolt12 problems

• clients can't programatically build new offers by changing a path or query params (services like zbd.gg or lnurl-pay.me won't work)
• impossible to use in a load-balanced custodian way -- since offers would have to be pregenerated and tied to a specific lightning node.
• the existence of fiat currency fields makes it so wallets have to fetch exchange rates from somewhere on the internet (or offer a bad user experience), using HTTP which hurts user privacy.
• the vendor field is misleading, can be phished very easily, not as safe as a domain name.
• onion messages are an improvement over fake HTLC-based payments as a way of transmitting data, for sure. but we must decide if they are (i) suitable for transmitting all kinds of data over the internet, a replacement for tor; or (ii) not something that will scale well or on which we can count on for the future. if there was proper incentivization for data transmission it could end up being (i), the holy grail of p2p communication over the internet, but that is a very hard problem to solve and not guaranteed to yield the desired scalability results. since not even hints of attempting to solve that are being made, it's safer to conclude it is (ii).

bolt12 limitations

• not flexible enough. there are some interesting fields defined in the spec, but who gets to add more fields later if necessary? very unclear.
• services can't return any actionable data to the users who paid for something. it's unclear how business can be conducted without an extra communication channel.

bolt12 illusions

• recurring payments is not really solved, it is just a spec that defines intervals. the actual implementation must still be done by each wallet and service. the recurring payment cannot be enforced, the wallet must still initiate the payment. even if the wallet is evil and is willing to initiate a payment without the user knowing it still needs to have funds, channels, be online, connected etc., so it's not as if the services could rely on the payments being delivered in time.
• people seem to think it will enable pushing payments to mobile wallets, which it does not and cannot.
• there is a confusion of contexts: it looks like offers are superior to lnurl-pay, for example, because they don't require domain names. domain names, though, are common and well-established among internet services and stores, because these services have websites, so this is not really an issue. it is an issue, though, for people that want to receive payments in their homes. for these, indeed, bolt12 offers a superior solution -- but at the same time bolt12 seems to be selling itself as a tool for merchants and service providers when it includes and highlights features as recurring payments and refunds.
• the privacy gains for the receiver that are promoted as being part of bolt12 in fact come from a separate proposal, blinded paths, which should work for all normal lightning payments and indeed are a very nice solution. they are (or at least were, and should be) independent from the bolt12 proposal. a separate proposal, which can be (and already is being) used right now, also improves privacy for the receiver very much anway, it's called trampoline routing.

@ 76c71aae:3e29cafa

I wanted to take a moment to address the recent Business Insider article about Jack Dorsey’s funding of Nostr. While the article has inaccuracies and it lacks nuance, this piece it’s also an invitation to all of us to discuss Nostr openly. 

Is the article true? First things first: We do not actually know fiatjaf’s identity so we cannot weigh in on the veracity of who he is. His real identity remains a mystery to us. While we do not share Fiatjaf’s beliefs, he’s always been clear that Nostr was built to support all types of speech, even the stuff he personally disagrees with. That’s a fundamental principle of the platform.

Why is Nos built on a protocol that was built by someone who supports fascists? Let’s clear up a major point of confusion.Merriam Webster defines fascism as: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

Based on that definition, fascism is then a centralized autocratic government led by a dictatorial leader, enforcing several economic and social regimentation, and suppressing opposition. Nostr, on the other hand, is designed to prevent centralized control altogether. It’s a decentralized network where no single entity has ultimate power.

Nostr is designed so there is no central authority of control. By distributing content across multiple relays, the architecture of Nostr eliminates the possibility of centralized autocratic control.

Nos chose to build an app on the Nostr protocol because traditional corporate social media platforms often stifle views outside the mainstream, these also include views of leftist activists, LGBTQ community, and others. This stifling takes the form of shadow banning when people use terms that the platform doesn’t want to support such as abortion. More recently there has been an uptick in account suspensions and shadow bannings as people use reporting tools to flag accounts that support Gaza. Often the people flagging are looking at older posts and flagging those to get the accounts shutdown.

On the other hand, Nos is about giving users control over their accounts, identities, and feeds. Nostr makes this possible in a way no other protocol does today. At Nos, we are committed to building an app using tools that put the user in charge and Nostr enables this user-first approach.This means that everybody has something to say, and we may not like it.

How does Nos reconcile being on a network that can’t ban people for their views? Unlike corporate social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, Nostr is built on the idea of a web of trust, meaning you only see the content from the people you follow. There are no algorithms pushing sensational content to keep you glued to your screen. Corporate platforms thrive on “engagement” and are optimized for eyeballs and time on site. Over the years, the algorithms have learned that the content that is most engaging is content that induces moral outrage in the viewer.

As a result, the corporate platforms feed users more and more morally outrageous content to keep them online. As mentioned before, Nostr operates on a different principle. It’s built on a web of trust, where you only see content from people you follow: Nos and most of the other Nostr clients do not have algorithm-driven feeds, instead content from the people you follow appears in reverse chronological order in your feed. Those clients that do have algorithmic feeds today show the most popular content, but are not optimizing for morally outrageous content.

This means that it is much more difficult for toxic, hateful content to go viral as there’s no behind-the-scenes mechanism amplifying content for views similar to what you have on Youtube and X today. You won’t find the same amplification of divisive content here that you see on these traditional platforms.

Nos offers the ability to have “Freedom from” unwanted content at the user level. There is no central authority shutting down one account or another or blocking certain accounts.

This is especially important for activists. At present on Mastodon and other ActivityPub servers, we are witnessing pro-Palestinian activists accounts’ being blocked from certain servers. While happening at a smaller level, this is still a form of shutting down the dialogue and conversation.I get it –after more than a decade of algorithmic fueled hot-takes and virtue signaling on X (formerly Twitter), it might be a bit difficult to conceive of a social media experience where dialogue exists, but the network that has evolved on top of Nostr is that space. Yes, as difficult as it sounds, Nostr allows for dialogue without central censorship.

Many folks disagree on Nostr in the same way disagreements used to happen on Twitter (now X) in the early days, where there are long text based dialogues. Folks may walk away still disagreeing and a small subset get nasty, but those conversations do not spiral out of control in the same way they do on X or even on Mastodon and Bluesky today.

And if things get ugly, Nos and a few other apps have user-led moderation tools to help mitigate anything that comes into replies or mentions. Nos is leading efforts to enhance user-led moderation across the network. 

This discussion is crucial. We have the chance to reshape the future of decentralized social media and we can build a more open and inclusive digital space. The pathway is and will be messy. How do we balance free speech while protecting users from harmful content? What role should decentralization play in the next generation of social media platforms? I’d love to hear your thoughts and keep this conversation going.‍

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

The Lightning Network solves the problem of the decentralized commit

Before reading this, see Ripple and the problem of the decentralized commit.

The Bitcoin Lightning Network can be thought as a system similar to Ripple: there are conditional IOUs (HTLCs) that are sent in "prepare"-like messages across a route, and a secret p that must travel from the final receiver backwards through the route until it reaches the initial sender and possession of that secret serves to prove the payment as well as to make the IOU hold true.

The difference is that if one of the parties don't send the "acknowledge" in time, the other has a trusted third-party with its own clock (that is the clock that is valid for everybody involved) to complain immediately at the timeout: the Bitcoin blockchain. If C has p and B isn't acknowleding it, C tells the Bitcoin blockchain and it will force the transfer of the amount from B to C.

Differences (or 1 upside and 3 downside)

1. The Lightning Network differs from a "pure" Ripple network in that when we send a "prepare" message on the Lightning Network, unlike on a pure Ripple network we're not just promising we will owe something -- instead we are putting the money on the table already for the other to get if we are not responsive.

2. The feature above removes the trust element from the equation. We can now have relationships with people we don't trust, as the Bitcoin blockchain will serve as an automated escrow for our conditional payments and no one will be harmed. Therefore it is much easier to build networks and route payments if you don't always require trust relationships.

3. However it introduces the cost of the capital. A ton of capital must be made available in channels and locked in HTLCs so payments can be routed. This leads to potential issues like the ones described in https://twitter.com/joostjgr/status/1308414364911841281.

4. Another issue that comes with the necessity of using the Bitcoin blockchain as an arbiter is that it may cost a lot in fees -- much more than the value of the payment that is being disputed -- to enforce it on the blockchain.[^closing-channels-for-nothing]

Solutions

Because the downsides listed above are so real and problematic -- and much more so when attacks from malicious peers are taken into account --, some have argued that the Lightning Network must rely on at least some trust between peers, which partly negate the benefit.

The introduction of purely trust-backend channels is the next step in the reasoning: if we are trusting already, why not make channels that don't touch the blockchain and don't require peers to commit large amounts of capital?

The reason is, again, the ambiguity that comes from the problem of the decentralized commit. Therefore hosted channels can be good when trust is required only from one side, like in the final hops of payments, but they cannot work in the middle of routes without eroding trust relationships between peers (however they can be useful if employed as channels between two nodes ran by the same person).

The next solution is a revamped pure Ripple network, one that solves the problem of the decentralized commit in a different way.

[^closing-channels-for-nothing]: That is even true when, for reasons of the payment being so small that it doesn't even deserve an actual HTLC that can be enforced on the chain (as per the protocol), even then the channel between the two nodes will be closed, only to make it very clear that there was a disagreement. Leaving it online would be harmful as one of the peers could repeat the attack again and again. This is a proof that ambiguity, in case of the pure Ripple network, is a very important issue.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Eltoo

Read the paper, it's actually nice and small. You can read only everything up to section 4.2 and it will be enough. Done.

Ok, you don't want to. Or you tried but still want to read here.

Eltoo is a way of keeping payment channel state that works better than the original scheme used in Lightning. Since Lightning is a bunch of different protocols glued together, it can It replace just the part the previously dealed with keeping the payment channel.

Eltoo works like this: A and B want a payment channel, so they create a multisig transaction with deposits from both -- or from just one, doesn't matter. That transaction is only spendable if both cooperate. So if one of them is unresponsive or non-cooperative the other must have a way to get his funds back, so they also create an update transaction but don't publish it to the blockchain. That update transaction spends to a settlement transaction that then distributes the money back to A and B as their balances say.

If they are cooperative they can change the balances of the channel by just creating new update transactions and settlement transactions and number them like 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.

Solid arrows means a transaction is presigned to spend only that previous other transaction; dotted arrows mean it's a floating transaction that can spend any of the previous.

Why do they need and update and a settlement transaction?

Because if B publishes update2 (in which his balances were greater) A needs some time to publish update4 (the latest, which holds correct state of balances).

Each update transaction can be spent by any newer update transaction immediately or by its own specific settlement transaction only after some time -- or some blocks.

Hopefully you got that.

How do they close the channel?

If they're cooperative they can just agree to spend the funding transaction, that first multisig transaction I mentioned, to whatever destinations they want. If one party isn't cooperating the other can just publish the latest update transaction, wait a while, then publish its settlement transaction.

How is this better than the previous way of keeping channel states?

Eltoo is better because nodes only have to keep the last set of update and settlement transactions. Before they had to keep all intermediate state updates.

If it is so better why didn't they do it first?

Because they didn't have the idea. And also because they needed an update to the Bitcoin protocol that allowed the presigned update transactions to spend any of the previous update transactions. This protocol update is called SIGHASH_NOINPUT[^anyprevout], you've seen this name out there. By marking a transaction with SIGHASH_NOINPUT it enters a mystical state and becomes a floating transaction that can be bound to any other transaction as long as its unlocking script matches the locking script.

Why can't update2 bind itself to update4 and spend that?

Good question. It can. But then it can't anymore, because Eltoo uses OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY to ensure that doesn't actually check not a locktime, but a sequence. It's all arcane stuff.

And then Eltoo update transactions are numbered and their lock/unlock scripts will only match if a transaction is being spent by another one that's greater than it.

Do Eltoo channels expire?

No.

What is that "on-chain protocol" they talk about in the paper?

That's just an example to guide you through how the off-chain protocol works. Read carefully or don't read it at all. The off-chain mechanics is different from the on-chain mechanics. Repeating: the on-chain protocol is useless in the real world, it's just a didactic tool.

[^anyprevout]: Later SIGHASH_NOINPUT was modified to fit better with Taproot and Schnorr signatures and renamed to SIGHASH_ANYPREVOUT.

@ b2caa9b3:9eab0fb5

Moshi, Tanzania

Ah, the sweet escape of a charming café. As I sit here, sipping on a cappuccino, the gentle hum of my laptop provides a comforting backdrop to the bustling afternoon. For the past few days, I’ve been immersed in the digital world, meticulously sorting through years of photos. With a decent internet connection at my hostel, I finally managed to download my Google Photos archive and embark on this daunting task.

Progress is slow but steady. I’ve managed to categorize all my photos up until the end of 2023 into daily folders. Now comes the more challenging part: tackling 2024 and organizing all of them by location. It's a labor of love, but one that will undoubtedly pay off in the long run.

Today, Moshi decided to throw a curveball. A widespread power outage forced me to seek refuge in a café with reliable electricity. Luckily, I stumbled upon the delightful Union Café, a haven of calm amidst the chaos. While it lacked internet, at least I could charge my depleted devices.

My brief escape from the hostel also provided an opportunity to capture some street scenes. Unfortunately, the joy of photography was quickly overshadowed by the relentless pursuit of eager salesmen. It seems as though every white person is a walking ATM in this part of the world. The situation has worsened compared to my previous visits, and it's disheartening to see Tanzania following Kenya's footsteps in this regard.

On a personal note, my neck is aching, and a massage sounds like pure bliss. However, the fear of being scammed is holding me back. For now, it's time to pay the 5,000 TZS cappuccino bill and head back to the hostel.

I've decided to give Digikam another shot for photo management. Despite some initial hiccups with importing from Google Photos, I'm hopeful that it will be the right tool for the job. I'll experiment with other features over the next few days.

As the day winds down, I'm eager to share more about my Moshi adventures, including photos from my stroll. But for now, it's time to relax and recharge. Stay tuned for more updates!

Online

Profile Page | Support Page

Feel free to support me by sending some sats via the lightning network to rubenstorm@sats.mobi

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Why relay hints are important

Recently Coracle has removed support for following relay hints in Nostr event references.

Supposedly Coracle is now relying only on public key hints and kind:10002 events to determine where to fetch events from a user. That is a catastrophic idea that destroys much of Nostr's flexibility for no gain at all.

• Someone makes a post inside a community (either a NIP-29 community or a NIP-87 community) and others want to refer to that post in discussions in the external Nostr world of kind:1s -- now that cannot work because the person who created the post doesn't have the relays specific to those communities in their outbox list;
• There is a discussion happening in a niche relay, for example, a relay that can only be accessed by the participants of a conference for the duration of that conference -- since that relay is not in anyone's public outbox list, it's impossible for anyone outside of the conference to ever refer to these events;
• Some big public relays, say, relay.damus.io, decide to nuke their databases or periodically delete old events, a user keeps using that big relay as their outbox because it is fast and reliable, but chooses to archive their old events in a dedicated archival relay, say, cellar.nostr.wine, while prudently not including that in their outbox list because that would make no sense -- now it is impossible for anyone to refer to old notes from this user even though they are publicly accessible in cellar.nostr.wine;
• There are topical relays that curate content relating to niche (non-microblogging) topics, say, cooking recipes, and users choose to publish their recipes to these relays only -- but now they can't refer to these relays in the external Nostr world of kind:1s because these topical relays are not in their outbox lists.
• Suppose a user wants to maintain two different identities under the same keypair, say, one identity only talks about soccer in English, while the other only talks about art history in French, and the user very prudently keeps two different kind:10002 events in two different sets of "indexer" relays (or does it in some better way of announcing different relay sets) -- now one of this user's audiences cannot ever see notes created by him with their other persona, one half of the content of this user will be inacessible to the other half and vice-versa.
• If for any reason a relay does not want to accept events of a certain kind a user may publish to other relays, and it would all work fine if the user referenced that externally-published event from a normal event, but now that externally-published event is not reachable because the external relay is not in the user's outbox list.
• If someone, say, Alex Jones, is hard-banned everywhere and cannot event broadcast kind:10002 events to any of the commonly used index relays, that person will now appear as banned in most clients: in an ideal world in which clients followed nprofile and other relay hints Alex Jones could still live a normal Nostr life: he would print business cards with his nprofile instead of an npub and clients would immediately know from what relay to fetch his posts. When other users shared his posts or replied to it, they would include a relay hint to his personal relay and others would be able to see and then start following him on that relay directly -- now Alex Jones's events cannot be read by anyone that doesn't already know his relay.

@ 955e5a04:c03b3cc3

Alright, ladies and gents, buckle up because Jam's about to take you on a muscle-crushing journey to build that gorillalike physique. Today, we're blasting the back, traps, and biceps with some good old pyramid sets and killer supersets. Let’s do this!

Warm-Up (10 minutes)

1. Dynamic Stretches: Arm circles, torso twists, and leg swing
2. Row Machine: Light to moderate pace to get the blood pumpin

Workout

1. Deadlifts - Pyramid Sets Deadlifts are the king of back exercises. Let's start heavy and work our way up and down the pyramid.

2. Set 1: 12 reps at 60% of your 1RM

3. Set 2: 10 reps at 70% of your 1RM
4. Set 3: 8 reps at 80% of your 1RM
5. Set 4: 6 reps at 90% of your 1RM
6. Set 5: 4 reps at 95% of your 1RM
7. Set 6: 6 reps at 90% of your 1RM
8. Set 7: 8 reps at 80% of your 1RM
9. Set 8: 10 reps at 70% of your 1RM

10. Set 9: 12 reps at 60% of your 1RM

11. Pull-Ups - Pyramid Sets We’re building a wide, thick back here. Let's conquer the pull-up bar.

12. Set 1: 12 reps

13. Set 2: 10 reps
14. Set 3: 8 reps
15. Set 4: 6 reps
16. Set 5: 4 reps (add weight if you can)
17. Set 6: 6 reps
18. Set 7: 8 reps
19. Set 8: 10 reps

20. Set 9: 12 reps

21. Barbell Rows - Pyramid Sets Now we're hitting those mid-back muscles with barbell rows.

22. Set 1: 12 reps at 60% of your 1RM

23. Set 2: 10 reps at 70% of your 1RM
24. Set 3: 8 reps at 80% of your 1RM
25. Set 4: 6 reps at 90% of your 1RM
26. Set 5: 4 reps at 95% of your 1RM
27. Set 6: 6 reps at 90% of your 1RM
28. Set 7: 8 reps at 80% of your 1RM
29. Set 8: 10 reps at 70% of your 1RM

30. Set 9: 12 reps at 60% of your 1RM

31. Superset: Dumbbell Shrugs & Face Pulls (3 sets) Time to hammer those traps and rear delts.

32. Dumbbell Shrugs: 15 reps

33. Face Pulls: 15 reps

Rest for 1 minute between supersets.

1. Superset: Preacher Curls & Hammer Curls (3 sets) We’re going to blow up those biceps now.

2. Preacher Curls: 12 reps

3. Hammer Curls: 12 reps

Rest for 1 minute between supersets.

1. Superset: Concentration Curls & Reverse Curls (3 sets) Finish strong with a biceps blast.

2. Concentration Curls: 15 reps

3. Reverse Curls: 15 reps

Rest for 1 minute between supersets.

Cool-Down (10 minutes)

1. Static Stretches: Focus on your back, traps, and bicep
2. Foam Rolling: Loosen up those muscle

Closing

There you have it, ₿easts. You just smashed your back, traps, and biceps with the intensity of Jam Power himself. Remember, it’s all about consistency, intensity, and the right mindset. Stay focused, stay hungry, and keep pushing your limits. Until next time, keep grinding!

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

idea: Hosted-channels Lightning wallet that runs in the browser

Communicates over HTTP with a server that is actually connected to the Lightning Network, but generates preimages and onions locally, doing everything like the Hosted Channels protocol says. Just the communication method changes.

Could use this library: https://www.npmjs.com/package/bolt04

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

The problem with ION

ION is a DID method based on a thing called "Sidetree".

I can't say for sure what is the problem with ION, because I don't understand the design, even though I have read all I could and asked everybody I knew. All available information only touches on the high-level aspects of it (and of course its amazing wonders) and no one has ever bothered to explain the details. I've also asked the main designer of the protocol, Daniel Buchner, but he may have thought I was trolling him on Twitter and refused to answer, instead pointing me to an incomplete spec on the Decentralized Identity Foundation website that I had already read before. I even tried to join the DIF as a member so I could join their closed community calls and hear what they say, maybe eventually ask a question, so I could understand it, but my entrance was ignored, then after many months and a nudge from another member I was told I had to do a KYC process to be admitted, which I refused.

One thing I know is:

• ION is supposed to provide a way to rotate keys seamlessly and automatically without losing the main identity (and the ION proponents also claim there are no "master" keys because these can also be rotated).
• ION is also not a blockchain, i.e. it doesn't have a deterministic consensus mechanism and it is decentralized, i.e. anyone can publish data to it, doesn't have to be a single central server, there may be holes in the available data and the protocol doesn't treat that as a problem.
• From all we know about years of attempts to scale Bitcoins and develop offchain protocols it is clear that you can't solve the double-spend problem without a central authority or a kind of blockchain (i.e. a decentralized system with deterministic consensus).
• Rotating keys also suffer from the double-spend problem: whenever you rotate a key it is as if it was "spent", you aren't supposed to be able to use it again.

The logic conclusion of the 4 assumptions above is that ION is flawed: it can't provide the key rotation it says it can if it is not a blockchain.

See also

• Excerpt of discussion about DIDs and ION

@ e307396d:f43eabc5

Post

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

The monolithic approach to CouchDB views

Imagine you have an app that created one document for each day. The docs ids are easily "2015-02-05", "2015-02-06" and so on. Nothing could be more simple. Let's say each day you record "sales", "expenses" and "events", so this a document for a typical day for the retail management Couchapp for an orchid shop:

{ "_id": "2015-02-04", "sales": [{ "what": "A blue orchid", "price": 50000 }, { "what": "A red orchid", "price": 3500 }, { "what": "A yellow orchid", "price": 11500 }], "expenses": [{ "what": "A new bucket", "how much": 300 },{ "what": "The afternoon snack", "how much": "1200" }], "events": [ "Bob opened the store", "Lisa arrived", "Bob went home", "Lisa closed the store" ] }

Now when you want to know what happened in a specific day, you know where to look at.

But you don't want only that, you want profit reports, cash flows, day profitability, a complete log of the events et cetera. Then you create one view to turn this mess into something more useful:

``` function (doc) { var spldate = doc._id.split("-") var year = parseInt(spldate[0]) var month = parseInt(spldate[1]) var day = parseInt(spldate[2])

doc.sales.forEach(function (sale, i) { emit(["sale", sale.what], sale.price) emit(["cashflow", year, month, day, i], sale.price) }) doc.expenses.forEach(function (exp, i) { emit(["expense", exp.what], exp.price) emit(["cashflow", year, month, day, i], -exp.price) }) doc.events.forEach(function (ev, i) { emit(["log", year, month, day, i], ev) }) } ```

Then you add a reduce function with the value of _sum and you get a bunch of useful query endpoints. For example, you can request

/_design/orchids/_view/main?startkey=["cashflow", "2014", "12"]&endkey=["cashflow", "2014", "12", {}]

@ 6871d8df:4a9396c1

Embracing AI: A Case for AI Accelerationism

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) development is at the forefront of technological innovation, a counter-narrative championed by a group I refer to as the 'AI Decels'—those advocating for the deceleration of AI advancements— seems to be gaining significant traction. After tuning into a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast, I realized that the prevailing narrative around AI was heading in a dangerous direction. Rogan had Aza Raskin and Tristan Harris, technology safety advocates, who released a talk called 'The AI Dilemma,' on for a discussion. You may know them from the popular documentary 'The Social Dilemma' on the dangers of social media. It became increasingly clear that the cautionary stance dominating this discourse might be tipping the scales too far, veering towards an over-regulated future that stifles innovation rather than fostering it.

Are we moving too fast?

While acknowledging AI's benefits, Aza and Tristan fear it could be dangerous if not guided by ethical standards and safeguards. They believe AI development is moving too quickly and that the right incentives for its growth are not in place. They are concerned about the possibility of "civilizational overwhelm," where advanced AI technology far outpaces 21st-century governance. They fear a scenario where society and its institutions cannot manage or adapt to the rapid changes and challenges introduced by AI.

They argue for regulating and slowing down AI development due to rapid, uncontrolled advancement driven by competition among companies like Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft. They claim this race can lead to unsafe releases of new technologies, with AI systems exhibiting unpredictable, emergent behaviors, posing significant societal risks. For instance, AI can inadvertently learn tasks like sentiment analysis or human emotion understanding, creating potential for misuse in areas like biological weapons or cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Moreover, AI companies' profit-driven incentives often conflict with the public good, prioritizing market dominance over safety and ethics. This misalignment can lead to technologies that maximize engagement or profits at societal expense, similar to the negative impacts seen with social media. To address these issues, they suggest government regulation to realign AI companies' incentives with safety, ethical considerations, and public welfare. Implementing responsible development frameworks focused on long-term societal impacts is essential for mitigating potential harm.

This isn't new

Though the premise of their concerns seems reasonable, it's dangerous and an all too common occurrence with the emergence of new technologies. For example, in their example in the podcast, they refer to the technological breakthrough of oil. Oil as energy was a technological marvel and changed the course of human civilization. The embrace of oil — now the cornerstone of industry in our age — revolutionized how societies operated, fueled economies, and connected the world in unprecedented ways. Yet recently, as ideas of its environmental and geopolitical ramifications propagated, the narrative around oil has shifted.

Tristan and Aza detail this shift and claim that though the period was great for humanity, we didn't have another technology to go to once the technological consequences became apparent. The problem with that argument is that we did innovate to a better alternative: nuclear. However, at its technological breakthrough, it was met with severe suspicions, from safety concerns to ethical debates over its use. This overregulation due to these concerns caused a decades-long stagnation in nuclear innovation, where even today, we are still stuck with heavy reliance on coal and oil. The scare tactics and fear-mongering had consequences, and, interestingly, they don't see the parallels with their current deceleration stance on AI.

These examples underscore a critical insight: the initial anxiety surrounding new technologies is a natural response to the unknowns they introduce. Yet, history shows that too much anxiety can stifle the innovation needed to address the problems posed by current technologies. The cycle of discovery, fear, adaptation, and eventual acceptance reveals an essential truth—progress requires not just the courage to innovate but also the resilience to navigate the uncertainties these innovations bring.

Moreover, believing we can predict and plan for all AI-related unknowns reflects overconfidence in our understanding and foresight. History shows that technological progress, marked by unexpected outcomes and discoveries, defies such predictions. The evolution from the printing press to the internet underscores progress's unpredictability. Hence, facing AI's future requires caution, curiosity, and humility. Acknowledging our limitations and embracing continuous learning and adaptation will allow us to harness AI's potential responsibly, illustrating that embracing our uncertainties, rather than pretending to foresee them, is vital to innovation.

The journey of technological advancement is fraught with both promise and trepidation. Historically, each significant leap forward, from the dawn of the industrial age to the digital revolution, has been met with a mix of enthusiasm and apprehension. Aza Raskin and Tristan Harris's thesis in the 'AI Dilemma' embodies the latter.

Who defines "safe?"

When slowing down technologies for safety or ethical reasons, the issue arises of who gets to define what "safe" or “ethical” mean? This inquiry is not merely technical but deeply ideological, touching the very core of societal values and power dynamics. For example, the push for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives shows how specific ideological underpinnings can shape definitions of safety and decency.

Take the case of the initial release of Google's AI chatbot, Gemini, which chose the ideology of its creators over truth. Luckily, the answers were so ridiculous that the pushback was sudden and immediate. My worry, however, is if, in correcting this, they become experts in making the ideological capture much more subtle. Large bureaucratic institutions' top-down safety enforcement creates a fertile ground for ideological capture of safety standards.

I claim that the issue is not the technology itself but the lens through which we view and regulate it. Suppose the gatekeepers of 'safety' are aligned with a singular ideology. In that case, AI development would skew to serve specific ends, sidelining diverse perspectives and potentially stifling innovative thought and progress.

In the podcast, Tristan and Aza suggest such manipulation as a solution. They propose using AI for consensus-building and creating "shared realities" to address societal challenges. In practice, this means that when individuals' viewpoints seem to be far apart, we can leverage AI to "bridge the gap." How they bridge the gap and what we would bridge it toward is left to the imagination, but to me, it is clear. Regulators will inevitably influence it from the top down, which, in my opinion, would be the opposite of progress.

In navigating this terrain, we must advocate for a pluralistic approach to defining safety, encompassing various perspectives and values achieved through market forces rather than a governing entity choosing winners. The more players that can play the game, the more wide-ranging perspectives will catalyze innovation to flourish.

Ownership & Identity

Just because we should accelerate AI forward does not mean I do not have my concerns. When I think about what could be the most devastating for society, I don't believe we have to worry about a Matrix-level dystopia; I worry about freedom. As I explored in "Whose data is it anyway?," my concern gravitates toward the issues of data ownership and the implications of relinquishing control over our digital identities. This relinquishment threatens our privacy and the integrity of the content we generate, leaving it susceptible to the inclinations and profit of a few dominant tech entities.

To counteract these concerns, a paradigm shift towards decentralized models of data ownership is imperative. Such standards would empower individuals with control over their digital footprints, ensuring that we develop AI systems with diverse, honest, and truthful perspectives rather than the massaged, narrow viewpoints of their creators. This shift safeguards individual privacy and promotes an ethical framework for AI development that upholds the principles of fairness and impartiality.

As we stand at the crossroads of technological innovation and ethical consideration, it is crucial to advocate for systems that place data ownership firmly in the hands of users. By doing so, we can ensure that the future of AI remains truthful, non-ideological, and aligned with the broader interests of society.

But what about the Matrix?

I know I am in the minority on this, but I feel that the concerns of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) are generally overblown. I am not scared of reaching the point of AGI, and I think the idea that AI will become so intelligent that we will lose control of it is unfounded and silly. Reaching AGI is not reaching consciousness; being worried about it spontaneously gaining consciousness is a misplaced fear. It is a tool created by humans for humans to enhance productivity and achieve specific outcomes.

At a technical level, large language models (LLMs) are trained on extensive datasets and learning patterns from language and data through a technique called "unsupervised learning" (meaning the data is untagged). They predict the next word in sentences, refining their predictions through feedback to improve coherence and relevance. When queried, LLMs generate responses based on learned patterns, simulating an understanding of language to provide contextually appropriate answers. They will only answer based on the datasets that were inputted and scanned.

AI will never be "alive," meaning that AI lacks inherent agency, consciousness, and the characteristics of life, not capable of independent thought or action. AI cannot act independently of human control. Concerns about AI gaining autonomy and posing a threat to humanity are based on a misunderstanding of the nature of AI and the fundamental differences between living beings and machines. AI spontaneously developing a will or consciousness is more similar to thinking a hammer will start walking than us being able to create consciousness through programming. Right now, there is only one way to create consciousness, and I'm skeptical that is ever something we will be able to harness and create as humans. Irrespective of its complexity — and yes, our tools will continue to become evermore complex — machines, specifically AI, cannot transcend their nature as non-living, inanimate objects programmed and controlled by humans.
The advancement of AI should be seen as enhancing human capabilities, not as a path toward creating autonomous entities with their own wills. So, while AI will continue to evolve, improve, and become more powerful, I believe it will remain under human direction and control without the existential threats often sensationalized in discussions about AI's future.

With this framing, we should not view the race toward AGI as something to avoid. This will only make the tools we use more powerful, making us more productive. With all this being said, AGI is still much farther away than many believe.

Today's AI excels in specific, narrow tasks, known as narrow or weak AI. These systems operate within tightly defined parameters, achieving remarkable efficiency and accuracy that can sometimes surpass human performance in those specific tasks. Yet, this is far from the versatile and adaptable functionality that AGI represents.

Moreover, the exponential growth of computational power observed in the past decades does not directly translate to an equivalent acceleration in achieving AGI. AI's impressive feats are often the result of massive data inputs and computing resources tailored to specific tasks. These successes do not inherently bring us closer to understanding or replicating the general problem-solving capabilities of the human mind, which again would only make the tools more potent in our hands.

While AI will undeniably introduce challenges and change the aspects of conflict and power dynamics, these challenges will primarily stem from humans wielding this powerful tool rather than the technology itself. AI is a mirror reflecting our own biases, values, and intentions. The crux of future AI-related issues lies not in the technology's inherent capabilities but in how it is used by those wielding it. This reality is at odds with the idea that we should slow down development as our biggest threat will come from those who are not friendly to us.

AI Beget's AI

While the unknowns of AI development and its pitfalls indeed stir apprehension, it's essential to recognize the power of market forces and human ingenuity in leveraging AI to address these challenges. History is replete with examples of new technologies raising concerns, only for those very technologies to provide solutions to the problems they initially seemed to exacerbate. It looks silly and unfair to think of fighting a war with a country that never embraced oil and was still primarily getting its energy from burning wood. The evolution of AI is no exception to this pattern. As we venture into uncharted territories, the potential issues that arise with AI—be it ethical concerns, use by malicious actors, biases in decision-making, or privacy intrusions—are not merely obstacles but opportunities for innovation. It is within the realm of possibility, and indeed, probability, that AI will play a crucial role in solving the problems it creates. The idea that there would be no incentive to address and solve these problems is to underestimate the fundamental drivers of technological progress.

Market forces, fueled by the demand for better, safer, and more efficient solutions, are powerful catalysts for positive change. When a problem is worth fixing, it invariably attracts the attention of innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs eager to solve it. This dynamic has driven progress throughout history, and AI is poised to benefit from this problem-solving cycle.

Thus, rather than viewing AI's unknowns as sources of fear, we should see them as sparks of opportunity. By tackling the challenges posed by AI, we will harness its full potential to benefit humanity. By fostering an ecosystem that encourages exploration, innovation, and problem-solving, we can ensure that AI serves as a force for good, solving problems as profound as those it might create. This is the optimism we must hold onto—a belief in our collective ability to shape AI into a tool that addresses its own challenges and elevates our capacity to solve some of society's most pressing issues.

An AI Future

The reality is that it isn't whether AI will lead to unforeseen challenges—it undoubtedly will, as has every major technological leap in history. The real issue is whether we let fear dictate our path and confine us to a standstill or embrace AI's potential to address current and future challenges.

The approach to solving potential AI-related problems with stringent regulations and a slowdown in innovation is akin to cutting off the nose to spite the face. It's a strategy that risks stagnating the U.S. in a global race where other nations will undoubtedly continue their AI advancements. This perspective dangerously ignores that AI, much like the printing press of the past, has the power to democratize information, empower individuals, and dismantle outdated power structures.

The way forward is not less AI but more of it, more innovation, optimism, and curiosity for the remarkable technological breakthroughs that will come. We must recognize that the solution to AI-induced challenges lies not in retreating but in advancing our capabilities to innovate and adapt.

AI represents a frontier of limitless possibilities. If wielded with foresight and responsibility, it's a tool that can help solve some of the most pressing issues we face today. There are certainly challenges ahead, but I trust that with problems come solutions. Let's keep the AI Decels from steering us away from this path with their doomsday predictions. Instead, let's embrace AI with the cautious optimism it deserves, forging a future where technology and humanity advance to heights we can't imagine.

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

This is a list of nostr relays exposed as onion services. The list is currently actively maintained on GitHub. Contributions is always appreciated!

| Relay name | Description | Onion url | Operator | Payment URL | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | nostr.oxtr.dev | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.oxtr.dev | ws://oxtrdevav64z64yb7x6rjg4ntzqjhedm5b5zjqulugknhzr46ny2qbad.onion | operator | N/A | | relay.snort.social | Same relay as clearnet relay relay.snort.social | wss://skzzn6cimfdv5e2phjc4yr5v7ikbxtn5f7dkwn5c7v47tduzlbosqmqd.onion | operator | N/A | | nostr.thesamecat.io | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.thesamecat.io | ws://2jsnlhfnelig5acq6iacydmzdbdmg7xwunm4xl6qwbvzacw4lwrjmlyd.onion | operator | N/A | | nostr.land | The nostr.land paid relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion | operator | Payment URL | | bitcoiner.social | No auth required, currently | ws://bitcoinr6de5lkvx4tpwdmzrdfdpla5sya2afwpcabjup2xpi5dulbad.onion | operator | N/A | | relay.westernbtc.com | The westernbtc.com paid relay | ws://westbtcebhgi4ilxxziefho6bqu5lqwa5ncfjefnfebbhx2cwqx5knyd.onion | operator | Payment URL | | freelay.sovbit.host | Free relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitm2enxfr5ot6qscwy5ermdffbqscy66wirkbsigvcshumyzbbqd.onion | operator | N/A | | nostr.sovbit.host | Paid relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitgz5uqyh7jwcsudq4sspxlj4kbnurvd3xarkkx2use3k6rlibqd.onion | operator | N/A | | nostr.wine | 🍷 nostr.wine relay | ws://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion | operator | Payment URL | | inbox.nostr.wine | 🍷 inbox.nostr.wine relay | ws://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion | operator | Payment URL | | filter.nostr.wine | 🍷 filter.nostr.wine proxy relay | ws://winefiltermhqixxzmnzxhrmaufpnfq3rmjcl6ei45iy4aidrngpsyid.onion | operator | Payment URL | | N/A | N/A | ws://pzfw4uteha62iwkzm3lycabk4pbtcr67cg5ymp5i3xwrpt3t24m6tzad.onion:81 | operator | N/A | | nostr.fractalized.net | Free relay for fractalized.net | ws://xvgox2zzo7cfxcjrd2llrkthvjs5t7efoalu34s6lmkqhvzvrms6ipyd.onion | operator | N/A | | nfrelay.app | nfrelay.app aggregator relay (nostr-filter-relay) | ws://nfrelay6saohkmipikquvrn6d64dzxivhmcdcj4d5i7wxis47xwsriyd.onion | operator | N/A |

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

It's been a while since the last Degenerate Corner. Sports betting has slowed down a bit, at least for the sports with odds at FreeBitcoin.

They just opened a pool for the Dutch Grand Prix. I made a killing on the last Formula 1 event, almost tripling my bet.

For those new to the series, check out my post RBOA to see why I like this site for betting and how their odds work. They really do offer better-than-fair odds for early bettors.

Share your recent sports betting adventures and misadventures in the comments.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/628381

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

doulas.club

A full catalog of all Brazilian doulas with data carefully scrapped from many websites that contained partial catalogs and some data manually included. All this packaged as a Couchapp and served directly from Cloudant.

This was done because the idea of doulas was good, but I spotted an issue: pregnant womwn should know many doulas before choosing one that would match well, therefore a full catalog with a lot of information was necessary.

This was a huge amount of work mostly wasted.

Many doulas who knew about this didn't like it and sent angry and offensive emails telling me to remove them. This was information one should know before choosing a doula.

See also

• About CouchDB

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

I'm having some pain in my heart about the U.S. elections.

Ever since Obama campaigned for office, an increase of young voters have come out of the woodwork. Things have not improved. They've actively told you that "your vote matters." I believe this to be a lie unless any citizen can demand at the gate, at the White House to be allowed to hold and point a gun to the president's head. (Relax, this is a hyperbole)

Why so dramatic? Well, what does the president do? Sign bills, commands the military, nominates new Fed chairman, ambassadors, supreme judges and senior officials all while traveling in luxury planes and living in a white palace for four years.

They promised Every TIME to protect citizen rights when they take the oath and office.

...They've broken this several times, with so-called "emergency-crisis"

The purpose of a president, today, it seems is to basically hire armed thugs to keep the citizens in check and make sure you "voluntarily continue to be a slave," to the system, hence the IRS. The corruption extends from the cop to the judge and even to politicians. The politicians get paid from lobbyists to create bills in congress for the president to sign. There's no right answer when money is involved with politicians. It is the same if you vote Obama, Biden, Trump, or Haley. They will wield the pen to serve themselves to say it will benefit the country.

In the first 100 years of presidency, the government wasn't even a big deal. They didn't even interfere with your life as much as they do today.

^^ You hold the power in your hands, don't let them take it. Don't believe me? Try to get a loan from a bank without a signature. Your signature is as good as gold (if not better) and is an original trademark.

Just Don't Vote. End the Fed. Opt out.

^^ I choose to form my own path, even if it means leaving everything I knew prior. It doesn't have to be a spiritual thing. Some, have called me religious because of this. We're all capable of greatness and having humanity.

✨Don't have a machine heart with a machine mind. Instead, choose to have a heart like the cowardly lion from the "Wizard Of Oz."

There's no such thing as a good president or politicians.

If there was, they would have issued non-interest Federal Reserve Notes. Lincoln and Kennedy tried to do this, they got shot.

There's still a banner of America there, but it's so far gone that I cannot even recognize it. However, I only see a bunch of 🏳‍🌈 pride flags.

✨Patrick Henry got it wrong, when he delivered his speech, "Give me liberty or give me death." Liberty and freedom are two completely different things.

Straightforward from Merriam-Webster Choose Right or left? No control, to be 100% without restrictions- free.

✨I disagree with the example sentence given. Because you cannot advocate for human freedom and own slaves, it's contradicting it. Which was common in the founding days.

I can understand many may disagree with me, and you might be thinking, "This time will be different." I, respectfully, disagree, and the proxy wars are proof. Learn the importance of Bitcoin, every Satoshi is a step away from corruption.

✨What does it look like to pull the curtains from the "Wizard of Oz?"

Have you watched the video below, what 30 Trillion dollars in debt looks like visually? Even I was blown away. https://video.nostr.build/d58c5e1afba6d7a905a39407f5e695a4eb4a88ae692817a36ecfa6ca1b62ea15.mp4

I say this with love. Hear my plea?

Normally, I don't write about anything political. It just feels like a losing game. My energy feels it's in better use to learn new things, write and to create. Even a simple blog post as simple as this. Stack SATs, and stay humble.

<3 Onigirl

@ 5e5fc143:393d5a2c

We are now given a choice of digital freedom #nostr .

Creativity for every nostrich is now unleashed from the cage of bigtech censorship , rules and algo. But freedom comes with responsibility so pick right one(s). I will try share here some learning experience both technical and also from fundamental point of view. Just wanted kick start this article n fill as we go like living reference document.

Nostr itself is an application layer protocol that can used beyond just social media mirco or long blogging. Each nostr client heavily dependent on back-end servers call nostr "Relay servers" or in short "rs" or "relays" Relays can hosted anywhere in clearnet internet, onion net , vpn , i2p , nym Relays are controlled by their respective admins based NIP specs that they select to implement according to own decisions. Relays can have certain ToS (Terms of Service) Rules to adhered too.

New users can choose and pick client or app (ios / android/ windows) with preset of relays in the simplest form , but other advanced users need to do a regular manual relay management.

Relay management is an active regular task based on where when n how you are using.

Relay list are saved within you npub profile backup file which can edited and broadcast anytime.

Relay management is an active regular task based on where when and how you are using.

Relay list always need to be updated time to time as and when needed.

2 Users MUST a common RELAY between them even if one only need to follow another. Occasionally you may notice certain npub accounts you are following already but cannot see frequent notes publish by them – one of cause maybe you not sharing a common relay

Most nostr client applications has SETTINGS where user choose add/remove relays Also user choose which function to enable - READ or WRITE

Relay list for your account is always saved within you npub profile backup file which can edited and broadcast anytime. Hence any app or browser when u login with you npub the same relay list will be enforced. There could valid reasons why u need have list for if you trying to save bandwidth and traveling.

Functions in app.getcurrent.io and primal.net app for mobile apple or android are ideal for user traveling abroad and wanted to save bandwidth since relay management is done the providers in backend and saves hassle for basic usage.

Remember if someone is selecting relay on your behalf then you may not be necessarily able to pull and get some specific and special content that you may need. Such providers like coracle and nostrid also give option to override the default relays they selected.

Relay types: They can be categorized by various features or policy or technologies.

FREE PUBLIC Relays vs PAID PUBLIC Relays

PAID relays provide unrestricted access / write / filtering options than FREE relays but both are public clearnet relays. Just subscribing to PAID relays will not solve all problems unless you choose the relays properly and enable settings correctly.

Private Replay or Tor Relays – normally not easily visible until unless someone tell you. You can also host own private relay not opened to internet of archive and back of your own notes.

The technical landscape in nostr can be fast changing as more NIPs get proposed or updated. Relays admin can choose implement certain NIPs or not based on policy or technical limitations.

Example NIP33 defines “long notes” aka blogs as you now reading this in habla site which #1 UI and site for "Editable" long notes – some relays donot implement or allow this. NIP07 is used for client authentication like nos2x and is implemented by all relays in fact.

To be continued again ... reference pics will added later also Hope this help you understand "why when what" to tune and maintain active set of proper relays. Relay Proxy, Relay aggregator or Relay multiplexer – Paid, Public, Free, Private, Event, Relays That’s all for now n more later ... Thank you 🙏 ! ⚡️ https://getalby.com/p/captjack ⚡️ PV 💜 🤙

References: https://habla.news/relays https://relay.exchange/ https://relays.vercel.app/ https://nostr.info/relays/ https://nostrudel.ninja/#/relays

Related Articles: https://thebitcoinmanual.com/articles/types-nostr-relays/ nostr:naddr1qqd5c6t8dp6xu6twvukkvctnwss92jfqvehhygzwdaehguszyrtp7w79k045gq80mtnpdxjuzl9t7vjxk52rv80f888y5xsd5mh55qcyqqq823cf39s98 https://habla.news/u/current@getcurrent.io/1694434022411

@ e6ce6154:275e3444

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.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

About Nostr, email and subscriptions

I check my emails like once or twice a week, always when I am looking for something specific in there.

Then I go there and I see a bunch of other stuff I had no idea I was missing. Even many things I wish I had seen before actually. And sometimes people just expect and assume I would have checked emails instantly as they arrived.

It's so weird because I'm not making a point, I just don't remember to open the damn "gmail.com" URL.

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I remember some people were making some a Nostr service a while ago that sent a DM to people with Nostr articles inside -- or some other forms of "subscription services on Nostr". It makes no sense at all.

Pulling in DMs from relays is exactly the same process (actually slightly more convoluted) than pulling normal public events, so why would a service assume that "sending a DM" was more likely to reach the target subscriber when the target had explicitly subscribed to that topic or writer?

Maybe due to how some specific clients work that is true, but fundamentally it is a very broken assumption that comes from some fantastic past era in which emails were 100% always seen and there was no way for anyone to subscribe to someone else's posts.

Building around such broken assumptions is the wrong approach. Instead we should be building new flows for subscribing to specific content from specific Nostr-native sources (creators directly or manual or automated curation providers, communities, relays etc), which is essentially what most clients are already doing anyway, but specifically Coracle's new custom feeds come to mind now.

---

This also reminds me of the interviewer asking the Farcaster creator if Farcaster made "email addresses available to content creators" completely ignoring all the cryptography and nature of the protocol (Farcaster is shit, but at least they tried, and in this example you could imagine the interviewer asking the same thing about Nostr).

I imagine that if the interviewer had asked these people who were working (or suggesting) the Nostr DM subscription flow they would have answered: "no, you don't get their email addresses, but you can send them uncensorable DMs!" -- and that, again, is getting everything backwards.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Bitcoin transactions explained

A transaction is a piece of data that takes inputs and produces outputs. Forget about the blockchain thing, Bitcoin is actually just a big tree of transactions. The blockchain is just a way to keep transactions ordered.

Imagine you have 10 satoshis. That means you have them in an unspent transaction output (UTXO). You want to spend them, so you create a transaction. The transaction should reference unspent outputs as its inputs. Every transaction has an immutable id, so you use that id plus the index of the output (because transactions can have multiple outputs). Then you specify a script that unlocks that transaction and related signatures, then you specify outputs along with a script that locks these outputs.

As you can see, there's this lock/unlocking thing and there are inputs and outputs. Inputs must be unlocked by fulfilling the conditions specified by the person who created the transaction they're in. And outputs must be locked so anyone wanting to spend those outputs will need to unlock them.

For most of the cases locking and unlocking means specifying a public key whose controller (the person who has the corresponding private key) will be able to spend. Other fancy things are possible too, but we can ignore them for now.

Back to the 10 satoshis you want to spend. Since you've successfully referenced 10 satoshis and unlocked them, now you can specify the outputs (this is all done in a single step). You can specify one output of 10 satoshis, two of 5, one of 3 and one of 7, three of 3 and so on. The sum of outputs can't be more than 10. And if the sum of outputs is less than 10 the difference goes to fees. In the first days of Bitcoin you didn't need any fees, but now you do, otherwise your transaction won't be included in any block.

If you're still interested in transactions maybe you could take a look at this small chapter of that Andreas Antonopoulos book.

If you hate Andreas Antonopoulos because he is a communist shitcoiner or don't want to read more than half a page, go here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Coin_analogy

@ 76c71aae:3e29cafa

The Curious Case of DSNP: Years of Effort, Minimal Output

It's been a while since I looked at DSNP. There’s news that its backer, Frank McCourt, is trying to put together a team to buy TikTok. That’s insane. The DSNP and Project Liberty team are well-meaning, but they’re even less equipped to run a social network or protocol than Elon Musk at his lowest point when he was firing engineers based on how many lines of code they’d written.

To check what’s happened with DSNP since I last looked a year ago, I just read the entire spec, and there's not actually that much to it. The amount of time and money spent on developing so little is quite stunning. While the spec is fine, it is minimal.

Key Features and Odd Choices

DSNP allows users to have a key pair, write content into a datastore, follow people, and sign messages. However, the protocol seems to mix up layers, specifying the wire protocol, signing system, and at-rest specification format that clients and user data servers might use (pds in atproto, instance in fedi, relay in nostr). They use the ActivityStreams 2.0 schema, which is a good choice. Many new protocols have created their own schemas, but I appreciate DSNP's use of the standard. I wish more protocols had not tried to reinvent the wheel in this respect.

Encrypted Direct Messages and Metadata Privacy

There’s mention in the whitepaper about encrypted direct messages, suggesting it’s possible to hide metadata using techniques from Ethereum’s Whisper. Although the specs or code about DMs don't elaborate much on this, it’s good to see an attempt to hide metadata. However, there’s nothing about double ratchet encryption, forward secrecy, or any advanced encryption techniques. So, overall, it feels quite basic.

Data Storage and Interesting Choices

For storing user data and posts, they're using Apache Parquet, a file format from Hadoop. This is probably the only neat or interesting aspect. I've been searching for a supported data format like Parquet for a while because I think it can facilitate privacy-preserving contact discovery, so it’s cool to see its inclusion here.

Minimal Data Types and Following Options

DSNP supports very minimal data types: post, follow, reaction, profile, and, oddly, location. You can follow publicly or privately, the latter being a neat feature that Scuttlebutt had but most of the current generation of emerging social protocols don't.

Lack of Comprehensive Features

There does not appear to be any client app or server code, which might not be needed. There is an SDK for some core functions, but that’s it. Their documentation lacks information on user discovery, algorithms, or anything beyond the basics.

The Verdict: A First Draft After Years of Work

It feels like someone spent millions and ended up with a naive first draft, despite working on this for years. It’s similar to the early sketches of Farcaster and Lens, but those protocols have grown significantly over the past couple of years, with real users, lots of functionality, and apps.

DSNP remains as vaporware today as it was four years ago. These clowns have wasted tens of millions of dollars on nothing. Some academics have happily taken the money to fund their research labs. Consultants have written and thrown away countless prototypes nobody’s ever used.

There are lots of serious projects to build decentralized social media protocols. All these folks had to do was either work with others or even copy them. This stuff is all open source. Yet DSNP keeps sending folks to conferences without talking to anybody or attending any talks.

It’s a shame because they’ve got their hearts in the right place. The Unfinished conferences are really well put together with lots of great speakers. They hired the supremely talented and savvy Karl Fogel and James Vasile to help them make their code and process open, but you can’t fix DSNP.

Fundamentally, software and specs are a social enterprise, even more so if you’re working on social protocols. But these folks… they’ve never figured out how to play well with others. The money and good intentions couldn’t overcome their fundamental failure to have the humility to learn and play well with others.

@ 0861144c:e68a1caf

First and foremost, this is no bullshit clickbait, here's my NFA

• Use custodial wallets (WoS for example)
• Cheer Trump and Bukele for accept bitcoin
• Embrace artists to upload their art using ordinals

It's something made me thinking because long time ago, a friendly user of Stacker News named @DarthCoin made a comment pointing as follows:

The whole point of the force is to NOT take sides, but use all powers, in a balance and full knowledge. -- Darthcoin, bitcoiner

When he/she made the comment in that time, I didn't realise. The original post was my concern because Lightning Network (and zapping) was working mostly custodial and my fear was legit but not rational. These days, between elections and international events, with CT divided in the views and perspectives of political happenings, I felt more lost than ever. And that’s when this message reached my understanding and my way of thinking. We, as a community, are trying to follow the same path as the politicians in power, dividing ourselves and trying to mark territories. Even when the debate over ordinals came up, we wanted to draw a line (that doesn’t exist) in a politician-like manner, not politically.

Force is that..force

Force is an energy. Many bitcoiners (myself included) wanted to use only a part of our arsenal and forced both my body and those around me to follow that usage example. What if we were actually wrong? What if those forces we considered toxic could be used for our benefit? That’s where it all makes sense. In these recent international political events, we tried to put up a moral barrier only to unnecessarily climb to the top of the building.

We need to welcome everyone. Today, Bitcoin needs all available forces, which is where I understood the above-mentioned idea. It doesn’t mean taking sides but using to our benefit what nature itself has already given us. The events that we don’t control, we won’t because the world is too big and with each passing day, there will be more and more openness internationally. Do we want to tell those joining us, “Hey, use non-custodial, no-KYC bitcoins, set up a node”, or do we want to say, “Just use bitcoins” and that’s it?

Force is neither good nor bad. It’s about how we execute and use it. When your enemy introduces bitcoins into the nervous system of the global financial scheme, you don’t interrupt them. You thank them, support them, and cheer for their wisdom. Yes, it’s true that they don’t care about Bitcoin, so what? Many don’t care and yet, unknowingly, they need bitcoins in their lives.

It took me more than 300 days to understand this. Thanks, Darth[^1].

[^1]: But also, f**k you

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/628253

@ 82fbb08c:d8cbc29a

Life is short, as everyone knows. When I was a kid I used to wonder about this. Is life actually short, or are we really complaining about its finiteness? Would we be just as likely to feel life was short if we lived 10 times as long? Since there didn't seem any way to answer this question, I stopped wondering about it. Then I had kids. That gave me a way to answer the question, and the answer is that life actually is short. Having kids showed me how to convert a continuous quantity, time, into discrete quantities. You only get 52 weekends with your 2 year old. If Christmas-as-magic lasts from say ages 3 to 10, you only get to watch your child experience it 8 times. And while it's impossible to say what is a lot or a little of a continuous quantity like time, 8 is not a lot of something. If you had a handful of 8 peanuts, or a shelf of 8 books to choose from, the quantity would definitely seem limited, no matter what your lifespan was. _Ok, so life actually is short. _Does it make any difference to know that? It has for me. It means arguments of the form "Life is too short for x" have great force. It's not just a figure of speech to say that life is too short for something. It's not just a synonym for annoying. If you find yourself thinking that life is too short for something, you should try to eliminate it if you can. When I ask myself what I've found life is too short for, the word that pops into my head is "bullshit." I realize that answer is somewhat tautological. It's almost the definition of bullshit that it's the stuff that life is too short for. And yet bullshit does have a distinctive character. There's something fake about it. It's the junk food of experience. [1] If you ask yourself what you spend your time on that's bullshit, you probably already know the answer. Unnecessary meetings, pointless disputes, bureaucracy, posturing, dealing with other people's mistakes, traffic jams, addictive but unrewarding pastimes. There are two ways this kind of thing gets into your life: it's either forced on you, or it tricks you. To some extent you have to put up with the bullshit forced on you by circumstances.

You need to make money, and making money consists mostly of errands. Indeed, the law of supply and demand ensures that: the more rewarding some kind of work is, the cheaper people will do it. It may be that less bullshit is forced on you than you think, though. There has always been a stream of people who opt out of the default grind and go live somewhere where opportunities are fewer in the conventional sense, but life feels more authentic. This could become more common. You can do it on a smaller scale without moving. The amount of time you have to spend on bullshit varies between employers. Most large organizations (and many small ones) are steeped in it. But if you consciously prioritize bullshit avoidance over other factors like money and prestige, you can probably find employers that will waste less of your time. If you're a freelancer or a small company, you can do this at the level of individual customers. If you fire or avoid toxic customers, you can decrease the amount of bullshit in your life by more than you decrease your income. But while some amount of bullshit is inevitably forced on you, the bullshit that sneaks into your life by tricking you is no one's fault but your own. And yet the bullshit you choose may be harder to eliminate than the bullshit that's forced on you. Things that lure you into wasting your time have to be really good at tricking you. An example that will be familiar to a lot of people is arguing online. When someone contradicts you, they're in a sense attacking you. Sometimes pretty overtly. Your instinct when attacked is to defend yourself. But like a lot of instincts, this one wasn't designed for the world we now live in. Counterintuitive as it feels, it's better most of the time not to defend yourself. Otherwise these people are literally taking your life. [2] Arguing online is only incidentally addictive. There are more dangerous things than that. As I've written before, one byproduct of technical progress is that things we like tend to become more addictive. Which means we will increasingly have to make a conscious effort to avoid addictions — to stand outside ourselves and ask "is this how I want to be spending my time?" As well as avoiding bullshit, one should actively seek out things that matter. But different things matter to different people, and most have to learn what matters to them. A few are lucky and realize early on that they love math or taking care of animals or writing, and then figure out a way to spend a lot of time doing it. But most people start out with a life that's a mix of things that matter and things that don't, and only gradually learn to distinguish between them. For the young especially, much of this confusion is induced by the artificial situations they find themselves in. In middle school and high school, what the other kids think of you seems the most important thing in the world. But when you ask adults what they got wrong at that age, nearly all say they cared too much what other kids thought of them. One heuristic for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Fake stuff that matters usually has a sharp peak of seeming to matter. That's how it tricks you. The area under the curve is small, but its shape jabs into your consciousness like a pin. The things that matter aren't necessarily the ones people would call "important." Having coffee with a friend matters. You won't feel later like that was a waste of time. One great thing about having small children is that they make you spend time on things that matter: them. They grab your sleeve as you're staring at your phone and say "will you play with me?" And odds are that is in fact the bullshit-minimizing option. If life is short, we should expect its shortness to take us by surprise. And that is just what tends to happen. You take things for granted, and then they're gone. You think you can always write that book, or climb that mountain, or whatever, and then you realize the window has closed. The saddest windows close when other people die. Their lives are short too. After my mother died, I wished I'd spent more time with her. I lived as if she'd always be there. And in her typical quiet way she encouraged that illusion. But an illusion it was. I think a lot of people make the same mistake I did. The usual way to avoid being taken by surprise by something is to be consciously aware of it. Back when life was more precarious, people used to be aware of death to a degree that would now seem a bit morbid. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem the right answer to be constantly reminding oneself of the grim reaper hovering at everyone's shoulder. Perhaps a better solution is to look at the problem from the other end. Cultivate a habit of impatience about the things you most want to do. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. You don't need to be constantly reminding yourself why you shouldn't wait. Just don't wait. I can think of two more things one does when one doesn't have much of something: try to get more of it, and savor what one has. Both make sense here. How you live affects how long you live. Most people could do better. Me among them. But you can probably get even more effect by paying closer attention to the time you have. It's easy to let the days rush by. The "flow" that imaginative people love so much has a darker cousin that prevents you from pausing to savor life amid the daily slurry of errands and alarms. One of the most striking things I've read was not in a book, but the title of one: James Salter's Burning the Days. It is possible to slow time somewhat. I've gotten better at it. Kids help. When you have small children, there are a lot of moments so perfect that you can't help noticing. It does help too to feel that you've squeezed everything out of some experience. The reason I'm sad about my mother is not just that I miss her but that I think of all the things we could have done that we didn't. My oldest son will be 7 soon. And while I miss the 3 year old version of him, I at least don't have any regrets over what might have been. We had the best time a daddy and a 3 year old ever had. Relentlessly prune bullshit, don't wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. That's what you do when life is short.

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

It's been a journey from the Publishing Forest of Nostr to the open sea of web3. I've come across a beautiful chain of islands and thought. Why not take a break and explore this place? If I'm searching for devs and FOSS, I should search every nook and cranny inside the realm of Nostr. It is quite vast for little old me. I'm just a little hamster and I don't speak in code or binary numbers zeros and ones.

After being in sea for awhile, my heart raced for excitement for what I could find. It seems I wasn't alone, there were others here like me! Let's help spread the message to others about this uncharted realm. See, look at the other sailboats, aren't they pretty? Thanks to some generous donation of SATs, I was able to afford the docking fee.

Ever feel like everyone was going to a party, and you were supposed to dress up, but you missed the memo? Or a comic-con? well, I felt completely underdressed and that's an understatement. Well, turns out there is a some knights around here. Take a peek!

A black cat with a knight passed by very quickly. He was moving too fast for me to track. Where was he going? Then I spotted a group of knights heading in the same direction, so I tagged along. The vibes from these guys was impossible to resist. They were just happy-go-lucky. 🥰They were heading to a tavern on a cliff off the island.

Ehh? a Tavern? Slightly confused, whatever could these knights be doing here? I guess when they're done with their rounds they would here to blow off steam. Things are looking curiouser and curiouser. But the black cat from earlier was here with its rider, whom was dismounting. So you can only guess, where I'm going.

The atmosphere in this pub, was lively and energetic. So many knights spoke among themselves. A group here, another there, but there was one that caught my eye. I went up to a group at a table, whose height towed well above me even when seated. Taking a deep breath, I asked, "Who manages this place?" They unanimous pointed to one waiting for ale at the bar. What was he doing? Watching others talk? How peculiar.

So I went up to him! And introduced myself.

"Hello I'm Onigirl"

"Hello Onigirl, Welcome to Gossip"

"Gossip, what is Gossip?" scratching my head and whiskers.

What is Gossip? Gossip is FOSS and a great client for privacy-centric minded nostriches. It avoids browser tech which by-passes several scripting languages such as JavaScript☕, HTML parsing, rendering, and CSS(Except HTTP GET and Websockets). Using OpenGL-style rendering. For Nostriches that wish to remain anonymous can use Gossip over TOR. Mike recommends using QubesOS, Whonix and or Tails. [FYI-Gossip does not natively support tor SOCKS5 proxy] Most helpful to spill the beans if you're a journalist.

On top of using your nsec or your encryption key, Gossip adds another layer of security over your account with a password login. There's nothing wrong with using the browser extensions (such as nos2x or Flamingo) which makes it super easy to log in to Nostr enable websites, apps, but it does expose you to browser vulnerabilities.

Mike Points out

"people have already had their private key stolen from other nostr clients,"

so it a concern if you value your account. I most certainly care for mine.

Gossip UI has a simple, and clean interface revolving around NIP-65 also called the “Outbox model." As posted from GitHub,

"This NIP allows Clients to connect directly with the most up-to-date relay set from each individual user, eliminating the need of broadcasting events to popular relays."

This eliminates clients that track only a specific set of relays which can congest those relays when you publish your note. Also this can be censored, by using Gossip you can publish notes to alternative relays that have not censored you to reach the same followers.

👉The easiest way to translate that is reducing redundancy to publish to popular relays or centralized relays for content reach to your followers.

Cool! What an awesome client, I mean Tavern! What else does this knight do? He reaches for something in his pocket. what is it? A Pocket is a database for storing and retrieving nostr events but mike's written it in Rust with a few extra kinks inspired by Will's nostrdb. Still in development, but it'll be another tool for you dear user! 💖💕💚

Onigirl is proud to present this knights to the community and honor them with kisu. 💋💋💋 Show some 💖💘💓🧡💙💚

👉💋💋Will - jb55 Lord of apples 💋 @npub1xtscya34g58tk0z605fvr788k263gsu6cy9x0mhnm87echrgufzsevkk5s

👉💋💋 Mike Knight - Lord of Security 💋 @npub1acg6thl5psv62405rljzkj8spesceyfz2c32udakc2ak0dmvfeyse9p35c

Knights spend a lot of time behind the screen coding for the better of humanity. It is a tough job! Let's appreciate these knights, relay operators, that support this amazing realm of Nostr! FOSS for all!

This article was prompted for the need for privacy and security of your data. They're different, not to be confused.

Recently, Edward Snowden warns Bitcoin devs about the need for privacy, Quote:

“I've been warning Bitcoin developers for ten years that privacy needs to be provided for at the protocol level. This is the final warning. The clock is ticking.”

Snowden’s comments come after heavy actions of enforcement from Samarai Wallet, Roger Ver, Binance’s CZ, and now the closure of Wasabi Wallet. Additionally, according to CryptoBriefing, Trezor is ending it’s CoinJoin integration as well. Many are concerned over the new definition of a money transmitter, which includes even those who don’t touch the funds.

Help your favorite the hamster

^^Me drowning in notes on your feed. I can only eat so many notes to find you.

👉If there are any XMPP fans on here. I'm open to the idea of opening a public channel, so you could follow me on that as a forum-like style. My server of choice would likely be a German server.😀You would be receiving my articles as njump.me style or website-like. GrapeneOS users, you can download Cheogram app from the F-Driod store for free to access. Apple and Andriod users are subjected to pay to download this app, an alternative is ntalk or conversations. If it interests the community, just FYI. Please comment or DM.

👉If you enjoyed this content, please consider reposting/sharing as my content is easily drowned by notes on your feed. You could also join my community under Children_Zone where I post my content.

An alternative is by following #onigirl Just FYI this feature is currently a little buggy.

Follow as I search for tools and awesome devs to help you dear user live a decentralized life as I explore the realm of Nostr.

Thank you Fren

@ 82fbb08c:d8cbc29a

hello 2 this is here

topic

nostr:npub1stampryw73wy6uwgsd5dpt5qt0rzlwf0ze4tqjst0gxg8kxtc2dqtrkrsw

@ b4403b24:83542d4e

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/628023

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

This is a list of nostr relays exposed as onion services. The list is currently actively maintained on GitHub. Contributions is always appreciated!

| Relay name | Description | Onion url | Operator | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | nostr.oxtr.dev | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.oxtr.dev | ws://oxtrdevav64z64yb7x6rjg4ntzqjhedm5b5zjqulugknhzr46ny2qbad.onion | njump | | relay.snort.social | Same relay as clearnet relay relay.snort.social | wss://skzzn6cimfdv5e2phjc4yr5v7ikbxtn5f7dkwn5c7v47tduzlbosqmqd.onion | njump | | nostr.thesamecat.io | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.thesamecat.io | ws://2jsnlhfnelig5acq6iacydmzdbdmg7xwunm4xl6qwbvzacw4lwrjmlyd.onion | njump | | nostr.land | The nostr.land paid relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion
http://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion (for payments) | njump | | bitcoiner.social | No auth required, currently | ws://bitcoinr6de5lkvx4tpwdmzrdfdpla5sya2afwpcabjup2xpi5dulbad.onion | njump | | relay.westernbtc.com | The westernbtc.com paid relay (via Tor: hjar34h5zwgtvxr345q7rncso3dhdaryuxgri3lu7lbhmnzvin72z5ad.onion) | ws://westbtcebhgi4ilxxziefho6bqu5lqwa5ncfjefnfebbhx2cwqx5knyd.onion | njump | | freelay.sovbit.host | Free relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitm2enxfr5ot6qscwy5ermdffbqscy66wirkbsigvcshumyzbbqd.onion | njump | | nostr.sovbit.host | Paied relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitgz5uqyh7jwcsudq4sspxlj4kbnurvd3xarkkx2use3k6rlibqd.onion | njump | | nostr.wine | 🍷 nostr.wine relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion
http://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion | njump | | inbox.nostr.wine | 🍷 inbox.nostr.wine relay (same as clearnet) | ws://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion
http://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion | njump |

@ 76c71aae:3e29cafa

Why are there 5.5 million people with Bluesky accounts and about 800k to 1.3M on Nostr?

Some of it boils down to social dynamics and chance. It's akin to how immigrants often cluster in the same neighborhoods. Most people are simply following their communities, and their primary decision is driven by where their community is heading.

Why did the communities choose Bluesky over Nostr, Mastodon, Farcaster, or the several dozen centralized and decentralized alternatives?

That’s a more pertinent question. Firstly, very few people actually make these decisions, and most simply follow them. Secondly, the choices aren't primarily based on the technology or the features of the apps or protocols.

Bluesky had certain advantages and disadvantages. It received a fair amount of press as a Twitter spinoff. However, it was late to launch, only preceded by Threads, which had Meta’s platforms for promotion.

In terms of initial marketing, I’d say Bluesky and Nostr were about equal, both often pitched as a ‘Jack Dorsey thing’, which wasn’t true in either case. The press loves stories about people and drama over networks and systems. Social media is vast and complex, and its technology even more so, which is why it’s often presented through personalized narratives about the creators.

Under the hood, Bluesky’s atproto and Nostr are very similar technologically. Both were inspired by Secure Scuttlebutt. Bluesky has adopted a cathedral model of open source, akin to how Android is open source but controlled by Google. Meanwhile, Nostr developed under the bazaar model of open source, created by a community rather than a company.

This company model gives Bluesky some advantages; for instance, they could launch with an invite list, a classic tactic to make something feel more desirable. Even then, most Bluesky users haven’t posted a single thing, and when they had a million registered users, they had fewer than 1500 Daily Active Users (DAU) see bluesky stats.

Bluesky is a lot easier to try than Nostr. The ways keys and content signing work in Bluesky and Nostr are overwhelmingly similar, except that Nostr doesn’t tell you where to store your keys and in Bluesky, you put them on your PDS server, which Bluesky provided free by default for all new users.

This means for Nostr, you have to figure out what to do with your nsec and npub, then how to get a nip-05 for a Nostr name which makes sense. If you want to log in with a username and password, you need to find and set up a nip-46 service. Not all apps support that, so you’re copying and pasting around an nsec. If you want to use a web app, you need to go find and choose one of several browser extensions and set that up. This is easy and natural for folks with experience in crypto but really foreign for everyone else.

Maybe a million people have figured out how to get started on Nostr; it’s definitely possible. And some apps like Primal and Nos have integrated name services as part of the signup, which makes it cleaner.

Once you’re on Nostr, people often discuss zaps, a functionality that may not work as expected. You’ve got to learn how to set up a wallet, what lightning and Bitcoin are. Some get really into it, we’ve seen folks get into Bitcoin through Nostr, but for many, it’s a confusing hurdle.

Bluesky provides a neat way to get into a single default app and gives you a username. Sure, you can change it—I self-host my DID at rabble.nz—but apparently less than 1% of Bluesky users do that, just like most Nostr users have chosen to use a cloud service for their nip-05 Nostr name.

Why else has Bluesky grown bigger than Nostr? It's their approach to positioning the protocol. They’ve set up default moderation controls and a trust and safety team. Initially, they didn’t have these, and when users demanded action and the company refused, growth stalled and usage dropped last July. The Bluesky team didn’t post for about a month, and there was a real question about whether Bluesky would survive.

The user community wanted pretty heavy-handed moderation. The Bluesky team was committed to building a decentralized protocol that didn’t do that. The compromise was that Bluesky would be slow about opening up open federation over atproto until the Bluesky apps, protocol, and company-hosted services could have a trust and safety team and a moderation bot. Their moderation bot is fancier than @reportinator, but it’s the same idea, but with a bigger team of humans reviewing reports. And if you’re using the Bluesky-provided PDS, there’s no way to block or unfollow their default moderation bot. We don’t make everybody on Nostr follow nostr:npub14h23jzlyvumks4rvrz6ktk36dxfyru8qdf679k7q8uvxv0gm0vnsyqe2sh .

That compromise worked for the community and company, and the user base started growing again. The negative press about Bluesky's content ceased and those upset by the policies left, some migrating to Nostr. Bluesky was able to position itself as the socially responsible social media protocol that was easy to use. Jack deleted his Bluesky account, signaling to the world and press what we already knew: he is much more interested in Nostr’s approach to bottom-up development by community and support for lightning payments.

During this period, Nostr's growth really stalled. There are a few reasons for this. We'd saturated the community of folks who both love Bitcoin and dislike Elon enough to leave Twitter. Additionally, our new user experience pushed people to view a global feed dominated by a single topic of conversation.

Nostr has positioned itself strongly as a protocol for those who are freedom-loving, anti-censorship Bitcoin enthusiasts. The easiest Nostr client for new users, Primal, markets itself as a Bitcoin wallet first, and only secondarily as a social media app. People view Nostr as a Web3 project. We’ve had individuals visit the Nos.social website and decline involvement, saying they dislike Web3 because they perceive it as a planet-harming scam (let's not argue the carbon emissions of mining here). We never mention Web3 or any cryptocurrency elements on the Nos website, yet all decentralization has been associated with dubious schemes.

As Nostr’s growth has stalled, the ecosystem has matured and flourished. Nostr boasts technology and apps that other platforms envy. I often hear Bluesky and Fediverse developers express admiration for the cool things Nostr is doing with technology and apps, but since their communities don’t use it, they don’t either.

Just look at the articles my posts last week about Nostr vs. ActivityPub kicked off: Extending ActivityPub and Nomadic Identity is Coming to ActivityPub

I suspect what’s holding back Nostr is twofold. First, how we talk about Nostr. We discuss it in political and ideological terms—we're against censorship, for free speech, value-for-value, etc.—but not about the types of content and people on Nostr, how to find your friends, or the interesting stuff you followed elsewhere. Nor do we talk about how you can use all these cool apps with the same identity and content. It's a hard concept to grasp, and I find myself constantly having to explain it.

The biggest issue people see with Nostr is its perceived association with Bitcoin enthusiasts plus those who’ve been deplatformed elsewhere, often for contentious reasons. I’m not saying the deplatforming was justified, but the perception among those unfamiliar with arbitrary bans and sanctions on platforms is that those who've been deplatformed had it coming—that they were all conspiracy theorists, bigots, or harassers. Some were, some were not, but it's perceived that way by many.

The way we talk about Nostr and onboard new users doesn’t help. The goal of the creator and journalism projects we just launched was to both diversify the content on Nostr for new users and to demonstrate to those creators and journalists that micropayments and paid content on Nostr are viable alternatives/additions to how they publish on social media elsewhere. It is value-for-value without the label, because our theory is that people want the functionality but aren't so keen on the cultural ideology.

This is all solvable. We can: - Make it easier to set up a nip-05 for new users. - Ensure that nip-05 also functions as an nsec bunker for easy login, if users desire. - Add Webfinger files so your nip-05 name functions as a Fediverse name (it’s pretty easy to do; we're experimenting with it on nos.social). - Show users a variety of content types when they join. - Help users find communities, perhaps encouraging groups/channels the way Farcaster does. - Make it easy to find and choose moderation settings, offering more middleware services like Reportinator but with different content labeling ideas. - Change our marketing to attract these new users, focusing on what they can see and who they can connect with, less on Bitcoin, technology, or evading censorship. - Develop apps that offer new functionalities, drawing people in instead of being mere clones with or without certain features.

It always takes a long time for people to figure out what the native mediums are on a technology platform. Initially people would make a phone call to listen to a concert, the first radio stations had people just reading the newspaper, and the first tv broadcasts were either a camera pointed at radio announcers or a single camera shot of a play. People always do the same things, we're the same humans that evolved a couple hundred thousand years ago, same brains, same bodies. What's changed is the way we do things with technology, so what fundamental human thing can we do new and different now that we've got these social protocols and tech?

Addressing the app design and technology will help, but actual growth will come when people discover us, join, find connections, and genuinely want to invite others to join them. Nostr users are incredibly welcoming to new users. However, we also have a subset of users who engage in sexist, racist, and homophobic harassment. This harassment drives people away from Nostr and deters them from recommending it to others. If we don't provide better tools for users to protect themselves from this harassment, they'll leave and find social spaces where they feel safe. Some might abandon public social media altogether, or just switch to Bluesky, which promises to eventually open up their network and has just announced support for uploading images, coming soon.

We're way ahead of the other protocols in some areas and way behind in others. We've got enough momentum and users to figure this out, but we're not there yet.

@ e968e50b:db2a803a

If you're looking for the most uncensored (aside from the words nostr and bitcoin) Olympic coverage out there, make sure to set aside some time this Olympic season for nostrminusnostr's sports tab.

https://nostrminusnostr.vercel.app/sports

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/627615

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

NOTE: this is just a quick technical guide. sorry for the lack of details

Install NodeJS

Download it from the official website https://nodejs.org/en/download

Or use nvm https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm?tab=readme-ov-file#install--update-script

bash wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash nvm install 20

Clone example config.yml

bash wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hzrd149/blossom-server/master/config.example.yml -O config.yml

Modify config.yml

```bash nano config.yml

or if your that type of person

vim config.yml ```

Run blossom-server

```bash npx blossom-server-ts

or install it locally and run using npm

npm install blossom-server-ts ./node_modules/.bin/blossom-server-ts ```

Now you can open http://localhost:3000 and see your blossom server

And if you set the dashboard.enabled option in the config.yml you can open http://localhost:3000/admin to see the admin dashboard

@ 8e7462a8:c723a97b

This should be a draft but pubbed at the right moment

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

While I was in Mediera with all the other awesome people at the first SEC cohort there where a lot of discussions around data storage on nostr and if it could be made censorship-resistent

I remember lots of discussions about torrents, hypercore, nostr relays, and of course IPFS

There were a few things I learned from all these conversations:

1. All the existing solutions have one thing in common. A universal ID of some kind for files
2. HTTP is still good. we don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water
3. nostr could fix this... somehow

Some of the existing solutions work well for large files, and all of them are decentralization in some way. However none of them seem capable of serving up cat pictures for social media clients. they all have something missing...

An Identity system

An identity system would allow files to be "owned" by users. and once files have owners servers could start grouping files into a single thing instead of a 1000+ loose files

This can also greatly simplify the question of "what is spam" for a server hosting (or seeding) these files. since it could simply have a whitelist of owners (and maybe their friends)

What is blossom?

Blossom is a set of HTTP endpoints that allow nostr users to store and retrieve binary data on public servers using the sha256 hash as a universal id

What are Blobs?

blobs are chunks of binary data. they are similar to files but with one key difference, they don't have names

Instead blobs have a sha256 hash (like b1674191a88ec5cdd733e4240a81803105dc412d6c6708d53ab94fc248f4f553) as an ID

These IDs are universal since they can be computed from the file itself using the sha256 hashing algorithm ( you can get a files sha256 hash on linux using: sha256sum bitcoin.pdf )

How do the servers work?

Blossom servers expose four endpoints to let clients and users upload and manage blobs

• GET /<sha256> (optional file .ext)
• PUT /upload
• Authentication: Signed nostr event
• Returns a blob descriptor
• GET /list/<pubkey>
• Returns an array of blob descriptors
• Authentication (optional): Signed nostr event
• DELETE /<sha256>
• Authentication: Signed nostr event

What is Blossom Drive?

Blossom Drive is a nostr app built on top of blossom servers and allows users to create and manage folders of blobs

What are Drives

Drives are just nostr events (kind 30563) that store a map of blobs and what filename they should have along with some extra metadata

An example drive event would be json { "pubkey": "266815e0c9210dfa324c6cba3573b14bee49da4209a9456f9484e5106cd408a5", "created_at": 1710773987, "content": "", "kind": 30563, "tags": [ [ "name", "Emojis" ], [ "description", "nostr emojis" ], [ "d", "emojis" ], [ "r", "https://cdn.hzrd149.com/" ], [ "x", "303f018e613f29e3e43264529903b7c8c84debbd475f89368cb293ec23938981", "/noStrudel.png", "15161", "image/png" ], [ "x", "a0e2b39975c8da1702374b3eed6f4c6c7333e6ae0008dadafe93bd34bfb2ca78", "/satellite.png", "6853", "image/png" ], [ "x", "e8f3fae0f4a43a88eae235a8b79794d72e8f14b0e103a0fed1e073d8fb53d51f", "/amethyst.png", "20487", "image/png" ], [ "x", "70bd5836807b916d79e9c4e67e8b07e3e3b53f4acbb95c7521b11039a3c975c6", "/nos.png", "36521", "image/png" ], [ "x", "0fc304630279e0c5ab2da9c2769e3a3178c47b8609b447a30916244e89abbc52", "/primal.png", "29343", "image/png" ], [ "x", "9a03824a73d4af192d893329bbc04cd3798542ee87af15051aaf9376b74b25d4", "/coracle.png", "18300", "image/png" ], [ "x", "accdc0cdc048f4719bb5e1da4ff4c6ffc1a4dbb7cf3afbd19b86940c01111568", "/iris.png", "24070", "image/png" ], [ "x", "2e740f2514d6188e350d95cf4756bbf455d2f95e6a09bc64e94f5031bc4bba8f", "/damus.png", "32758", "image/png" ], [ "x", "2e019f08da0c75fb9c40d81947e511c8f0554763bffb6d23a7b9b8c9e8c84abb", "/old emojis/astral.png", "29365", "image/png" ], [ "x", "d97f842f2511ce0491fe0de208c6135b762f494a48da59926ce15acfdb6ac17e", "/other/rabbit.png", "19803", "image/png" ], [ "x", "72cb99b689b4cfe1a9fb6937f779f3f9c65094bf0e6ac72a8f8261efa96653f5", "/blossom.png", "4393", "image/png" ] ] }

There is a lot going on but the main thing is the list of "x" tags and the path that describes the folder and filename the blob should live at

If your interested, the full event definition is at github.com/hzrd149/blossom-drive

Getting started

Like every good nostr client it takes a small instruction manual in order to use it properly. so here are the steps for getting started

1. Open the app

Open https://blossom.hzrd149.com

2. Login using extension

You can also login using any of the following methods using the input - NIP-46 with your https://nsec.app or https://flare.pub account - a NIP-46 connection string - an ncryptsec password protected private key - a nsec unprotected private key (please don't) - bunker:// URI from nsecbunker

3. Add a blossom server

Right now https://cdn.satellite.earth is the only public server that is compatible with blossom drive. If you want to host your own I've written a basic implementation in TypeScript github.com/hzrd149/blossom-server

4. Start uploading your files

NOTE: All files upload to blossom drive are public by default. DO NOT upload private files

5. Manage files

Encrypted drives

There is also the option to encrypt drives using NIP-49 password encryption. although its not tested at all so don't trust it, verify

Whats next?

I don't know, but Im excited to see what everyone else on nostr builds with this. I'm only one developer at the end of the day and I can't think of everything

also all the images in this article are stored in one of my blossom drives here

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqrhvvpzqfngzhsvjggdlgeycm96x4emzjlwf8dyyzdfg4hefp89zpkdgz99qq8xzun5d93kcefdd9kkzem9wvr46jka

@ b4403b24:83542d4e

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/627440

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

Hello (N)osytrs!

Yes! I'm calling you an (N)oystr!

Why is that? Because you shine, and I'm not just saying that to get more SATs. Ordinary Oysters and mussels can produce these beauties! Nothing seriously unique about them, however, with a little time and love each oyster is capable of creating something truly beautiful. I like believing so, at least, given the fact that you're even reading this article; makes you an (N)oystr! This isn't published this on X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, Discord, Telegram, or Instagram, which makes you the rare breed! A pearl indeed! I do have access to those platforms, but why create content on a terrible platform knowing I too could be shut down! Unfortunately, many people still use these platforms. This forces individuals to give up their privacy every day. Meta is leading the charge by forcing users to provide a photo ID for verification in order to use their crappy, obsolete site. If that was not bad enough, imagine if you're having a type of disagreement or opinion. Then, Bigtech can easily deplatform you. Umm. So no open debate? Just instantly shut-off users. Whatever, happened to right to a fair trial? Nope, just burning you at the stake as if you're a witch or warlock!

How heinous are the perpetrators and financiers of this? Well, that's opening another can of worms for you.

Imagine your voice being taken away, like the little mermaid. Ariel was lucky to have a prince, but the majority of us? The likelihood that I would be carried away by the current of the sea during a sunset with a prince on a sailboat is zero. And I live on an island, so I'm just missing the prince, sailboat(though I know where I could go to steal one), and red hair. Oh my gosh, now I feel sad.

I do not have the prince, Bob is better! I do not have mermaid fins, or a shell bra. Use coconut shells, it offers more support! But, I still have my voice and a killer sunset to die for!

All of that is possible thanks to the work of developers. These knights fight for Freedom Tech by utilizing FOSS, which help provides us with a vibrant ecosystem. Unfortunately, I recently learned that they are not all funded. Knights must eat, drink, and have a work space. This space is where they spend most of their sweat equity on an app or software that may and may not pan out. That brilliance is susceptible to fading, as these individuals are not seen but rather stay behind closed doors. What's worse, if these developers lose faith in their project and decide to join forces with Meta! 😖 Does WhatsApp ring a bell?

Without them, I probably wouldn't be able to create this long form article. Let's cheer them on like cheerleaders.. 👉Unfortunately, there's no cheerleader emoji so you'll just have to settle for a dancing lady, n guy. 💃🕺

Semisol said it beautifully, npub12262qa4uhw7u8gdwlgmntqtv7aye8vdcmvszkqwgs0zchel6mz7s6cgrkj

If we want freedom tech to succeed, the tools that make it possible need to be funded: relays like https://nostr.land, media hosts like https://nostr.build, clients like https://damus.io, etc.

With that thought, Onigirl is pleased to announce the launch of a new series. With a sole focus on free market devs/projects.

Knights of Nostr!

I'll happily brief you about their exciting project and how it benefits humanity! Let's Support these Magnificent projects, devs, relays, and builders! Our first runner up!

Oppa Fishcake :Lord of Media Hosting

npub137c5pd8gmhhe0njtsgwjgunc5xjr2vmzvglkgqs5sjeh972gqqxqjak37w

Oppa Fishcake with his noble steed!

Think of this as an introduction to learn and further your experience on Nostr! New developments and applications are constantly happening on Nostr. It's enough to make one's head spin. I may also cover FOSS projects(outside of Nostr) as they need some love as well! Plus, you can think of it as another tool to add to your decentralized life. I will not be doing how-to-Nostr guides. I personally feel there are plenty of great guides already available! Which I'm happy to add to curation collection via easily searchable on Yakihonne.

For email updates you can subscribe to my [[https://paragraph.xyz/@onigirl]]

If you like it, send me some 🧡💛💚 hearts💜💗💖 otherwise zap dat⚡⚡🍑🍑peach⚡⚡🍑 ~If not me, then at least to our dearest knight!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time and support (N)oystr! Shine bright like a diamond! Share if you care! FOSS power!

Follow on your favorite Nostr Client for the best viewing experience!

[!NOTE]

I'm using Obsidian + Nostr Writer Plugin; a new way to publish Markdown directly to Nostr. I was a little nervous using this because I was used doing them in RStudio; R Markdown.
Since this is my first article, I sent it to my account as a draft to test it. It's pretty neat.

@ 4fda8b10:7bbee962

On a weekend in March 2024, I shared and streamed my electronic music as @Teder on #nostr and received an overwhelming number of heartfelt responses.

While doing so, I was building a list of followers that can't be censored or deleted by any company that can interact with me trough chat, stream, music streaming.

In each of the pieces of content I was able to setup split payments, which means all of the contributors instantly got their commissions, with negligable transaction costs and without the platform taking a big cut.

I wrote a piece about this experience including a detailed onboarding and my insights. I invite you to share it with creators as I did with my musical peers!

Onboarding

• I installed amethyst on my Android and damus on my ipad, and created a private public key pair
• I filled in my nostr profile through the Amethyst app and discovered my profile identifier: the npub account for Teder nostr:npub1asuq0pxedwfagpqkdf4lrfmcyfaffgptmayel9947j8krad3x58srs20ap
• I created a bitcoin lightning wallet in walletofsatoshi app, copied the lightning adress and filled the address in profile.
• I added NIP05 verification on my website using a WordPress plugin
• I then created a new post in Damus sharing a short clip of the Teder and TimMey - Rebound EP jam including the introductions hashtag nostr:nevent1qqsfqh0085arl45js5x7s40tm49xrgw76a0nsdhjpcdq9tpzsweg4hqpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqzyrkrspuym94e84qyze4xhud80q38499q9005n8u5kh6g7c04ky6s7qcyqqqqqqg9cttm9
• I received a whole bunch of reactions and zaps, amongst which recommendations to host a stream with my live music on tunestr / zapstr, and to publish the album on wavlake
• That night, I streamed a live set for 40 minutes on zapstr: nostr:nevent1qqsd4sru85vk7mpcq6j5c60w9ku5qwk0m2627hzjvfjgfd3vc5nek6cpzamhxue69uhkummnw3ezu6rpwd5xyctwvuhxumqzyrkrspuym94e84qyze4xhud80q38499q9005n8u5kh6g7c04ky6s7qcyqqqqqqgz275ar
• During the stream, I received some bigger zaps, between 1000 and 10000 SATs per zap
• I then uploaded the EP on wavlake: https://wavlake.com/album/e0d37f7c-aa8b-44b3-b41e-42637e958f91
• I mentioned the release in a couple of replies, and received about 7000 SATs worth of zaps on the songs of the album within a day.

Response

• In about 24 hours I received hundreds of reactions, likes and about 29400 SATs ~ €19. This is more royalties then I've ever received from any streaming platform, and these were immediately liquid in my account ready to be spent on nostr ór converted to fiat to for instance fund my next physical release.
• These rewards include zaps on the reactions and the answering questions from the audience, which is something we are already used to do on other platforms, but were never able to get rewarded for other than brand building.

Insights

• Motivation: Motivation to get back to sharing due to the constant stream of micro payments is very high. Some contributions are only 5 or 21 SATs but it is the fact that someone consciously sent it that really matters, and gives you a sense of worth other than people just trying to build their brand / persona with replies, as is often the case on instagram.
  • See my post, the gratitude I feel for these tiny payments is very high: nostr:nevent1qqsxdahe2f2s2kqnvx96juqfdnxnwt69dwveadqun3apwzluvgz097spp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqzyrkrspuym94e84qyze4xhud80q38499q9005n8u5kh6g7c04ky6s7qcyqqqqqqgwl7ljh
  • Receiving small monetary rewards also has the interesting side effect of reciprocity, and also entices you to support others with the SATs you have received in your wallet.
• Portability and ownership over fanlist: Being able to take your following/fans and content with you when you are moving back and forth in different applications (such as the Twitter like environment, the Twitch like streaming environment and the Spotify like music catalog environment). In comparison, starting a new TikTok from scratch takes a lot of time and energy, even though the format of sharing short clips and repurposing content from others is pretty cool.
• Evergreen content: Having new followers on different applications find your older content in the same environment, and being able to send micro payments to all that content transparently is very encouraging to make you want to create and share higher quality and more evergreen content.
• Collaboration commission: Collaborations are amongst my favorite activities while creating. Being able to set up payment splits on each separate piece of content ( Even on a single Tweet!) is very encouraging to both creator and fan. There is just something enticing about contributing knowing that sending that zap will land some value to both the musicians, the visual artist that made the artwork, and for instance the videographer that shot the video. And all that without needing to settle afterwards or pay high transaction fees.
• Community efforts: Imagine producing a radio show with live performances from multiple community members and sharing all zaps between involved members equally, or transparently raising money for specific goal / charity!

Opportunities for music artist groups / collectives / labels (such as Petite Victory Collective)

I see very interesting opportunities for both PVC and online radio sites such as massive radio to use this network for bringing attention to our music, events and streams. The whole decentralised / no-middleman-company-in-between really resonates with the goals and setup of the community.

• Stream shows, live events and massive radio streams and enable receiving of streaming sats rewards from listeners.
• Setting up split payments for content to divide rewards amongst both musicians, visual artists, vj, radio hosts etc.
• Stream live shows / dj sets to promote albums and releases.
• Provide live shows / streams / music / DJ at nostr / bitcoin events while the network is still growing.
• Selling merchandise with crypto payments, cutting out platform and transaction costs and splitting rewards amongst contributors.
• Integration of audience in live streams, taking inspiration for jam / improvisation from crowd.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, feel free to comment with your thoughts or reach out if you have further questions about these topics or onboarding you music onto nostr!

@ 2063cd79:57bd1320

Schon mehrmals in diesem Format habe ich die Vorzüge von Bitcoin gegenüber allen anderen Assetklassen, Geldformen und Zahlungsmitteln erwähnt. Meine Gleichung

Bitcoin ist

• dezentral +
• zensurresistent +
• erlaubnislos +
• nicht diskriminierend
• ein weltweit liquides Zahlungsmittel +
• ein extrem knappes Zahlungsmittel +
• einfach selbst zu verwahren

= Freedom Money

habe ich schon in mehreren Ausgaben zitiert. Die verkürzte Zeit zur Recherche und der Spirit der Freiheit, ausgelöst durch Urlaub und Independence Day Wochenende, haben mich dazu inspiriert diese Woche auf die jeweiligen Punkte mehr im Detail einzugehen.

---

Bitcoin ist dezentral

Bitcoin ist das einzige anerkannte Geld der Welt, das dezentral, d.h. nicht von einer Behörde, einer Organisation, einem Staat, einer Gruppe von Individuen, oder einer einzelnen Person herausgegeben, gesteuert oder überwacht wird. Es gibt keine Zentralbank, kein Komittee, oder sonstiges Organ, dass Entscheidungen für, gegen oder um Bitcoin trifft. Bitcoin basiert auf einem Protokoll. Es wurde mit Satoshi Nakamotos Whitepaper (bitte unbedingt lesen!) im Oktober 2008 zum ersten Mal beschrieben. Im Januar 2009 wurde der erste Block geminet. Diesen Block, also den ersten Block einer jeden Blockchain, nennt man auch Genesis Block.

Ohne auf die Geschichte von und rund um Satoshi zu sehr einzugehen, ist dieser Erfinder von Bitcoin verschwunden, untergetaucht, hat nie existiert, wurde zur Seite geschafft ... sucht euch eine Version eurer Wahrheit aus. Fest steht, dass es bis auf einige wenige Individuen (aus den ersten Maillist Tagen, oder namentlich im Whitepaper erwähnt, etc.) gibt, die dem Gründungsmythos zugeschrieben werden können und auch die bitcoins, die Satoshis Wallet zugeschrieben werden, haben sich seit dem nie bewegt. Es gibt also niemanden, der mit Bitcoin personifiziert werden könnte. Es gibt auch niemanden, der es jemals geschafft hat, diese Rolle einzunehmen. Das unterscheidet Bitcoin fundamental von allen anderen Digital Assets, die NIE vollständig dezentral sind. Das Bitcoin Protokoll beruht, wie von Satoshi vorgesehen, auf einem dezentralen Netzwerk von unabhängigen Nodes, die jede kleinste Änderung am Code übernehmen müssen und somit eine Art demokratisches Wahlsystem innehaben. Das löst Bitcoin von staatlichen, politischen, religiösen, demografischen, geografischen und anderen von Menschenhand gezogenen Grenzen und macht es wahrhaftig dezentral.

---

Bitcoin is zensurresistent

Es gibt keine Möglichkeit Bitcoin zu verbieten. Staaten haben die Möglichkeit z.B. Mining zu verbieten, oder gewisse Services rund um Bitcoin einzuschränken, aber es wird unmöglich sein einem Menschen zu verbieten Bitcoin zu benutzen und dieses Verbot auch durchzusetzen. Es gibt unzählige Beispiele in denen Personen (natürliche, juristische, sogar Staaten) ihrer Besitztümer enteignet wurden. Angefangen von Grundstücksenteignungen im sogenannten Sinne des Allgemeinwohls, bis hin zu den Sanktionen gegen Russland und den damit einhergehenden Beschlagnahmungen Russischer Staats- und Privatvermögen. Die einzige Art heutzutage zensurresistent, also ohne jegliche Überwachung, Überprüfung oder Einmischung zu handeln ist mit Bargeld und in persona. Klassisches Dealer-Konsumenten Verhältnis also. Obwohl Bitcoin Transaktionen entgegen fälschlicher Behauptungen nicht anonym sind, sind sie immerhin nicht reversibel. Jeder Node im Netzwerk kann eine Transaktion erstellen und versenden und jeder Miner kann jede Transaktion minen. Eine Transaktion bahnt sich also immer ihren Weg. Daher ist eine Zensur von Bitcoin Transaktionen praktisch unmöglich und damit eine Beschlagnahmung von bitcoins in der Theorie auch (es sei denn die Hardware auf denen bitcoins gespeichert ist wird konfisziert).

---

Bitcoin ist erlaubnislos

Ohne Erlaubnis, ohne Vertrauen und ohne Kenntnis einer weiteren Partei eine Transaktion durchzuführen und auch zu genehmigen, ist das eigentliche große Feature von Bitcoin. Denn zwei Parteien können eine Summe austauschen, ohne zu wissen, wer die Gegenpartei ist, ob die Gegenpartei liquide ist, und vorallem ohne dass eine Drittpartei eingreift, um irgendwelche Informationen zu validieren. Das bedeutet, dass es jedem und jeder freigestellt ist eine Bitcoin Transaktion durchzuführen, vorausgesetzt sie wird vom Netzwerk als valide eingestuft. Einige Grundvoraussetzungen müssen also erfüllt sein, doch haben diese nichts mit sozialem Status, Parteizugehörigkeit, Geschlecht, Religion, etc. zu tun. Es gibt nämlich keine Aufsichtsbehörde und keinen Regulator. Die Peripherieprodukte rund um Bitcoin lassen sich regulieren. Das gesamte Bitcoin Ökosystem bestehend aus tausenden Firmen, Gesellschaften, Produkten und Einzelpersonen, die sich irgendwie mit Bitcoin auseinandersetzen, ist idealerweise reguliert und in der jeweiligen Jurisdiktion gesetzlich geregelt. Will man mit Bitcoin Waren kaufen, Kredite aufnehmen, oder Rechnungen zahlen, wird man sich wohl oder übel einiger Prüfungen unterziehen müssen. Jedoch wird niemals jemand daran gehindert werden einen Node aufzusetzen und eine Bitcoin Transaktion auszuführen. Es ist sogar möglich eine Transaktion ohne Zugang zum direkten Internet abzusetzen.

No Internet, No Problem: How to Send Bitcoin by Amateur Radio

---

Bitcoin diskriminiert nicht

Ruft man sich jüngere Beispiele von finanzieller Zensur und Diskriminierung ins Gedächtnis, wie die erst Anfang des Jahres in die Schlagzeilen geratenen Demonstrationen rund um den Freedom Convoy in Kanada, oder ältere Beispiele, wie bei den Spendeneinnahmen von WikiLeaks nach dem Bekanntwerden der Pentagon Papers, fällt einem jedes Mal das selbe ein. Ein oder mehrere private Zahlungsdienstleister (sprich alle bekannten Zahlungsdienstleister mit Plastikkarte und Paypal) stoppen den Geldfluss, frieren Bestände ein oder blacklisten einen Empfänger auf Druck von staatlicher Seite. Im traditionellen Finanzsystem erfahren viele Menschen Racial Profiling, sind mit zusätzlicher Bürokratie konfrontiert und haben es schwerer Kredite zu bekommen, weil sie die falsche Hautfarbe, den falschen Namen oder das falsche Alter haben. Die Liste der erlittenen Probleme durch Voreingenommenheit geht weiter. Bei Bitcoin gibt es keinen Gatekeeper, der anhand irgendwelcher Merkmale Zugang gewährt oder verweigert.

Das Protokoll interessiert sich nicht für solche Faktoren. Es gibt kein Punktesystem, das einem Konto eine höhere oder niedrigere Bonität zuweist. Es ist egal, ob eine Transaktion von einem Wallet mit vielen oder wenigen bitcoins ausgeführt wird. Alle Transaktionen werden gleichermaßen, egal wie klein oder wie groß, in den Mempool aufgenommen und dann vom Netzwerk validiert und der Blockchain hinzugefügt.

---

Bitcoin ist ein weltweit liquides Zahlungsmittel

Es gibt wenige Zahlungsmittel, die auf der ganzen Welt akzeptiert werden. Man stelle sich vor, man ist in einem fremden Land unterwegs und muss ganz dringend eine Rechnung begleichen. Wenn man den zu zahlenden Betrag nicht in der Landeswährung bei sich hat, bleiben einem sehr wenige Optionen. Man kann sich natürlich darüber streiten, aber ich behaupte fast überall auf der Welt eine Rechnung mit Gold, einer Rolex Uhr, in US Dollar Bargeld, oder eben mit Bitcoin begleichen zu können. Gold ist wahrscheinlich das liquideteste aller Zahlungsmittel, birgt jedoch das Problem, dass man die genaue Menge Gramm Gold dabei haben muss, da Wechseln sonst schwierig wird. Bei der Rolex lässt sich argumentieren, dass man erstmal ein langes Gespräch über die Echtheit der Uhr und dann über den aktuellen Marktwert führen muss, um dann das gleiche Problem wie Gold zu haben - kein Wechselgeld. Als globale Leitwährung ist der US Dollar natürlich auch fast überall akzeptiert. Mein Gegenpart bei der hypothetischen Transaktion wird mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit US Dollars akzeptieren, da diese fast überall umgetauscht werden können. Das gilt nicht für alle Währungen, obwohl je nachdem wo man in der Welt unterwegs ist, man wahrscheinlich mit großen Währungen, wie Britischen Pfund, Schweizer Franken oder dem Euro noch Glück haben könnte, so wird es mit kleineren Währungen schwieriger. Denn warum sollte jemand in Nigeria Laotische Kip entgegennehmen? Mit Bitcoin existieren keine Umrechnungsprobleme, der Zeitwert eines bitcoin lässt sich in Sekundenschnelle feststellen, man kann den exakten Betrag überweisen, die Transaktionsgebühren sind vergleichbar gering und man muss auch keine wertvollen Gegenstände mit sich führen. Alles was es braucht ist ein internetfähiges Endgerät und eine Internetverbindung. Natürlich ist dies eine sehr vereinfachte Darstellung, aber wenn die Infrakstruktur geboten ist, ist eine Zahlung in Bitcoin kein Problem. Der folgende Tweet fasst dies gut zusammen, natürlich in einer viel privilegierteren Umgebung, aber die Idee wird deutlich:

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Bitcoin ist ein extrem knappes Zahlungsmittel

21 Millionen. Nicht mehr, wahrscheinlich deutlich weniger. So viele bitcoins wird es einmal geben (im Moment sind 19 Millionen im Umlauf, um die nächsten 2 Millionen zu minen wird es noch ca. 100 Jahre dauern). Das steht fest, das hat Satoshi so festgelegt, das lässt sich nicht ändern. "Aber wie kann es nur 21 Millionen geben, wenn man jeden bitcoin unendlich oft teilen kann?", hört man oft Skeptiker schreien. Die Rede ist hier natürlich von Sats. Ein Satoshi, die Untereinheit von Bitcoin, stellt ein Hundertmillionstel eines einzelnen Bitcoin (0,00000001 BTC) dar. Das macht aber keinen Unterschied. Wenn ich einen Kuchen in 4 Teile oder 40 Teile schneide, so bleibt die Menge an verfügbarem Kuchen doch die gleiche. Das bedeutet, dass, anders als bei anderen Zahlungsmitteln, nur eine realistisch endliche Menge verfügbar ist. Das macht es im Vergleich zu Fiat Währungen zu einem so wichtigen Wertspeicher, da niemand auf die Ideen kommen kann die Anzahl der sich im Umlauf befindlichen bitcoins künstlich zu erhöhen (oder zu verknappen - ohne einen riesigen ökonomischen Aufwand zu betreiben). Doch Verknappung alleine schafft noch keinen Wert. Das folgende NFT gibt es nur ein Mal auf der Welt, ist also EXTREM knapp. Es ist nicht wert. Der aktuelle Preis liegt bei $0.00.

Angebot funktioniert immer nur im Tandem mit Nachfrage. Niemand fragt nach einem rot-braunen Bild. Viele viele Menschen hingegen fragen nach Bitcoin und noch viel mehr Menschen werden zukünftig nach Bitcoin fragen. Und dennoch wird sich an Bitcoins Angebot nichts ändern. 21 Millionen. Es werden auch nicht mehr bitcoins zur Verfügung gestellt, wenn die Nachfrage steigt, oder weniger wenn sie sinkt. Das Angebot ist berechenbar, transparent und stabil.

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Bitcoin ist einfach selbst zu verwahren

"Be your own bank" ist ein oft verwendeter Slogan rund um Bitcoin. Man braucht kein Bankkonto, man braucht keinen Online Account bei XYZ Exchange, man muss keine Zinsen, Abos, oder sonstige Kosten zahlen, man braucht in der Theorie nur einen Stift und einen Zettel. Zumindest erscheint die Selbstverwahrung von Vermögenswerten zunächst einschüchternd und wie etwas, wofür man doch gerne seiner Bank ein paar Euro oder Dollar im Monat zahlt. Doch Bitcoin erlaubt die Verwaltung von Vermögenswerten bei vollem Selbstvertrauen und ohne eine Bank. Denn die Bank ist nicht nervig, weil sie monatlich Gebühren im einstelligen, maximal zweistelligen Rahmen erhebt, sondern weil Banken sehr vielen Risiken unterliegen. Jeder Grieche wird sich an die frühen 2010er erinnern, als es zu mehreren Bank Runs kam, oder Zyprioten, die 2013 nicht mehr an ihr Geld kamen. In Argentinien gibt es sogar ein Wort für dieses Phänomen, da es so oft vorkommt: corralito.

Andere Risiken beinhalten das Einfrieren von Vermögenswerten wegen mutmaßlicher Verbrechen, das Aufkündigen von Konten, Negativzinsen, etc. Und das sind alles First-World-Problems. Wir sprechen nicht von korrupten Banken und Bankern und Politikern / Machthabern in Ländern des globalen Südens, die sich über die Rechtsstaatlichkeit hinwegsetzen und eingelagertes Vermögen einfach beschlagnahmen können. Bitcoin eröffnet eine ganz neue Freiheit in dieser Hinsicht. Jeder Mensch auf der Flucht, jeder Mensch, der sich verstecken muss, oder aus anderen Gründen sein gesamtes Vermögen mit sich tragen muss, muss sich 12 Wörter merken können, um sein gesamtes Erspartes vor Übergriffen zu schützen. Wo gibt es soetwas sonst?

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Die Aufzählung könnte sogar noch einen weiteren Punkt vertragen, denn ist Bitcoin auch unbestechlich. Man könnte argumentieren, dass dies mit Dezentralität und Zensurresistenz einhergeht, doch finde ich, dass es gerade mit Hinblick auf die vielen Interessen, die in den großen heutzutage gefällten Entscheidungen mitschwingen und vor allem mit Blick auf die großen gefallenen Crypto-Operationen der letzten Wochen, zeigt, dass Bitcoin unerbittlich seinen Weg geht. Selbst bei den ganz großen Namen und bei den ganz grossen Investitionen und Spekulationen macht es keinen Unterschied. Es gibt keine Möglichkeit eine Mehrheit zu finden, um ein etwaiges Greater Good durchzusetzen, um den Kurs fiktiv aufrecht zu erhalten oder zu pumpen. Bitcoin hat keine Interessen, außer den von Satoshi erdachten Code fehlerlos auszuführen. Das hat Bitcoin getan, als ein bitcoin unter 1 Cent wert war, das wird Bitcoin tun, wenn ein bitcoin über 1 Million wert ist. Bitcoin ist sein Preis, und damit jeder Preis, egal. Bitcoin ist unbestechlich.

Wenn wir, hauptsächlich Amerika, also dieser Tage die Unabhängigkeit feiern und iherer gedenken, lohnt es sich doch vielliecht mal die unsere eigene (finanzielle) Unabhängigkeit zu überdenken, und die Werte, die sie ausmachen, auf den Prüfstand zu stellen.

🫳🎤

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In diesem Sinne, 2... 1... Risiko!‌

@ 56a6da9b:7f5a2243

Hear me out.

I'm getting another Flash Fiction Marathon going. It's a thing where I'm building up to it for the next few days before August 1 when it starts. Please subscribe free to my substack while I write 30 flash fiction stories and podcast them in 30 days. In the meantime, here is my post about Plato and Socrates.

(Also, I lure you with some singing) :D

https://commercialherschel.substack.com/p/socrates-was-canceled-plato-was-virtue-signaling

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/627324

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr

In Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant I said Nostr is centralized. Peter Todd thinks it is centralized by design, but I disagree.

Nostr wasn't designed to be centralized. The idea was always that clients would follow people in the relays they decided to publish to, even if it was a single-user relay hosted in an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

But the Nostr explanations never had any guidance about how to do this, and the protocol itself never had any enforcement mechanisms for any of this (because it would be impossible).

My original idea was that clients would use some undefined combination of relay hints in reply tags and the (now defunct) kind:2 relay-recommendation events plus some form of manual action ("it looks like Bob is publishing on relay X, do you want to follow him there?") to accomplish this. With the expectation that we would have a better idea of how to properly implement all this with more experience, Branle, my first working client didn't have any of that implemented, instead it used a stupid static list of relays with read/write toggle -- although it did publish relay hints and kept track of those internally and supported kind:2 events, these things were not really useful.

Gossip was the first client to implement a truly censorship-resistant relay discovery mechanism that used NIP-05 hints (originally proposed by Mike Dilger) relay hints and kind:3 relay lists, and then with the simple insight of NIP-65 that got much better. After seeing it in more concrete terms, it became simpler to reason about it and the approach got popularized as the "gossip model", then implemented in clients like Coracle and Snort.

Today when people mention the "gossip model" (or "outbox model") they simply think about NIP-65 though. Which I think is ok, but too restrictive. I still think there is a place for the NIP-05 hints, nprofile and nevent relay hints and specially relay hints in event tags. All these mechanisms are used together in ZBD Social, for example, but I believe also in the clients listed above.

I don't think we should stop here, though. I think there are other ways, perhaps drastically different ways, to approach content propagation and relay discovery. I think manual action by users is underrated and could go a long way if presented in a nice UX (not conceived by people that think users are dumb animals), and who knows what. Reliance on third-parties, hardcoded values, social graph, and specially a mix of multiple approaches, is what Nostr needs to be censorship-resistant and what I hope to see in the future.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

início

"Vocês vêem? Vêem a história? Vêem alguma coisa? Me parece que estou tentando lhes contar um sonho -- fazendo uma tentativa inútil, porque nenhum relato de sonho pode transmitir a sensação de sonho, aquela mistura de absurdo, surpresa e espanto numa excitação de revolta tentando se impôr, aquela noção de ser tomado pelo incompreensível que é da própria essência dos sonhos..."

Ele ficou em silêncio por alguns instantes.

"... Não, é impossível; é impossível transmitir a sensação viva de qualquer época determinada de nossa existência -- aquela que constitui a sua verdade, o seu significado, a sua essência sutil e contundente. É impossível. Vivemos, como sonhamos -- sozinhos..."

• Livros mencionados por Olavo de Carvalho
• Antiga homepage Olavo de Carvalho
• Bitcoin explicado de um jeito correto e inteligível
• Reclamações

---

• Nostr
• Bitcoin
• How IPFS is broken
• Programming quibbles
• Economics
• Open-source software

---

Nostr GitHub Telegram Donate

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

My first draft of the year went down today — a 12-team NFFC RotoWire Online championship league. I drew the first pick.

Here are the results: (live-streamed here)

1.1 Christian McCaffrey — I didn’t want the first pick, but I neglected to set my KDS, so it’s what I got. It was either McCaffrey or CeeDee Lamb for me, and while my brain said Lamb (massive target hog on a pass-first offense with a stat-padding QB), my gut said McCaffrey as I liked some of the receivers I’d likely get in Rounds 2 and 3. The problem for McCaffrey isn’t just the age, it’s playing all the way into February, three extra games after two extra games the year prior. But the 49ers are such an ideal environment, any running back can get hurt at any age, and McCaffrey is healthy now.

2.12 De’Von Achane — He was my first choice among potential second-round options, but he was going a few spots ahead per ADP, so I figured I’d get a WR like Jaylen Waddle. But Achane fell, and I snapped-called it. Now my team would probably be better served with Lamb over McCaffrey, but I couldn’t know I’d get Achane in advance.

3.12 Stefon Diggs — He’s my WR9, while NFFC ADP has him at WR24. I guess they think his second-half decline at age 30 was a big deal, and maybe it is. But it coincided with an offensive coaching change, and it’s hard to believe Diggs would just fall off a cliff midseason after such a monster start. Diggs is getting paid $22.5M on a one-year deal too, which means the Texans intend to feature him, and he’ll be motivated for a new contract. I can’t think of a better landing spot than on a team with an elite young QB, and two good, but injury-prone complements.

4.1 Sam LaPorta — Maybe this was a mistake as I really needed receivers here, and I passed on Tee Higgins and Amari Cooper. But LaPorta is my TE1, and none of the receivers were on my target list. Sometimes though, you take the solid, but unexciting player because you need to start three every week. But I didn’t.

5.12 CJ Stroud — I was hoping Marquise Brown would make it back to me, but he didn’t, and when Terry McLaurin went too, I knew I was taking Stroud (ahead of Lamar Jackson and Anthony Richardson) to stack with Diggs. In other words, I’ll have a Texans stack to go along with Achane/McCaffrey/LaPorta. But by taking both a premium QB and TE, along with two RBs, I knew my receiving corps would be thin.

6.1 Ladd McConkey — He was the only receiver left I really liked here. I don’t know if he’ll be the top target out of the gate, but Justin Herbert is good, and he’s got Joshua Palmer, DJ Chark and Quentin Johnston as his other options, no TE of which to speak and also lost Austin Ekeler.

7.12 Rome Odunze — I don’t know how he’ll get the targets with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen around, but he was the No. 9 overall pick and has an elite prospect profile. I remember taking Randy Moss as a rookie, when he was “blocked” by Cris Carter and Jake Reed too.

8.1 Jonathan Brooks — My third rookie in a row, and this might have been a mistake. I needed a third RB, but Raheem Mostert (who I don’t like at 32 and coming off a career-high in carries) would probably have been a better pick, given I have Achane. Brooks should take over for Chuba Hubbard at some point, but he tore his ACL in November, and it might be hard early on for the rookie.

9.12 Courtland Sutton — This was a hold-your-nose pick, just to acquire some likely target volume for my thin receiving corps. Someone has to catch passes in Denver.

10.1 Rashid Shaheed — Shaheed has been a playmaker since he entered the league and with Michael Thomas gone, he’s the de facto No. 2 opposite Chris Olave. The Saints don’t have great TEs, either, so he should get 90-odd targets at least.

11.12 Rashod Bateman — I actually wanted to take Bateman in Round 10, but his ADP was so far below I figured I could wait a round, and I was right. The Ravens are talking him up in camp, and Zay Flowers is more of a short-route, slot guy. Oft-injured Mark Andrews will get a lot of targets too, but there’s room for the 24-YO first-round pick to have a post-hype breakout.

12.1 Tua Tagovailoa — This was a time-expired auto pick! Rare to do that with back to back picks, but I snap-called Bateman, so it was just like a regular pick. I was trying to type in Ty Chandler when the clock expired. That said, Tua is a fine backup, and the value is certainly fair.

13.12 Roschon Johnson — I don’t trust D’Andre Swift to hold up, and there are rumors Khalil Herbert might be dealt.

14.1 Michael Wilson — Marvin Harrison and Trey McBride will get most of the looks, but Wilson should be the No. 3 after a solid rookie year, and Year 2 is when receivers typically break out.

15.12 Kenneth Gainwell — I hope Saquon Barkley sets the league on fire, but he’s been hurt a good deal. But maybe this was a bad pick because fourth rounder Will Shipley could take on a bigger role in that event. (I honestly had neglected Shipley when building my initial cheat sheet.)

16.1 Roman Wilson —In contrast to Gainwell, I really like this pick. Van Jefferson is a scrub, and Wilson could be the Steelers No. 2 before long. Moreover, George Pickens seems more like a field stretcher than true No. 1. I expect to have a lot of Wilson at this price.

17.12 Chiefs Kicker — How could I not take Harrison Butker after the offseason he’s had?

18.1 Elijah Moore — He’s been a bust so far, but Amari Cooper is getting old, and Jerry Jeudy has never really made it. Moore still has a small chance for a post-hype breakout.

19.12 Giants Defense — They have three dangerous rushers with Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux and now Brian Burns and draw Sam Darnold and the Vikings Week 1, and Washington and its rookie QB Week 2.

20.1 Jonnu Smith — He can catch passes, and the Dolphins receiving corps isn’t very deep.

Roster By Position:

QB CJ Stroud RB Christian McCaffrey/De’Von Achane WR Stefon Diggs/Ladd McConkey/Rome Odunze TE Sam LaPorta FLEX Courtland Sutton K Harrison Butker D Giants B Jonathan Brooks/Rashid Shaheed/Rashod Bateman/Tua Tagovailoa/Roschon Johnson/Michael Wilson/Kenneth Gainwell/Roman Wilson/Elijah Moore/Jonnu Smith

@ 6871d8df:4a9396c1

In an era where data seems to be as valuable as currency, the prevailing trend in AI starkly contrasts with the concept of personal data ownership. The explosion of AI and the ensuing race have made it easy to overlook where the data is coming from. The current model, dominated by big tech players, involves collecting vast amounts of user data and selling it to AI companies for training LLMs. Reddit recently penned a 60 million dollar deal, Google guards and mines Youtube, and more are going this direction. But is that their data to sell? Yes, it's on their platforms, but without the users to generate it, what would they monetize? To me, this practice raises significant ethical questions, as it assumes that user data is a commodity that companies can exploit at will.

The heart of the issue lies in the ownership of data. Why, in today's digital age, do we not retain ownership of our data? Why can't our data follow us, under our control, to wherever we want to go? These questions echo the broader sentiment that while some in the tech industry — such as the blockchain-first crypto bros — recognize the importance of data ownership, their "blockchain for everything solutions," to me, fall significantly short in execution.

Reddit further complicates this with its current move to IPO, which, on the heels of the large data deal, might reinforce the mistaken belief that user-generated data is a corporate asset. Others, no doubt, will follow suit. This underscores the urgent need for a paradigm shift towards recognizing and respecting user data as personal property.

In my perfect world, the digital landscape would undergo a revolutionary transformation centered around the empowerment and sovereignty of individual data ownership. Platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Yelp, YouTube, and Stack Overflow, integral to our digital lives, would operate on a fundamentally different premise: user-owned data.

In this envisioned future, data ownership would not just be a concept but a practice, with public and private keys ensuring the authenticity and privacy of individual identities. This model would eliminate the private data silos that currently dominate, where companies profit from selling user data without consent. Instead, data would traverse a decentralized protocol akin to the internet, prioritizing user control and transparency.

The cornerstone of this world would be a meritocratic digital ecosystem. Success for companies would hinge on their ability to leverage user-owned data to deliver unparalleled value rather than their capacity to gatekeep and monetize information. If a company breaks my trust, I can move to a competitor, and my data, connections, and followers will come with me. This shift would herald an era where consent, privacy, and utility define the digital experience, ensuring that the benefits of technology are equitably distributed and aligned with the users' interests and rights.

The conversation needs to shift fundamentally. We must challenge this trajectory and advocate for a future where data ownership and privacy are not just ideals but realities. If we continue on our current path without prioritizing individual data rights, the future of digital privacy and autonomy is bleak. Big tech's dominance allows them to treat user data as a commodity, potentially selling and exploiting it without consent. This imbalance has already led to users being cut off from their digital identities and connections when platforms terminate accounts, underscoring the need for a digital ecosystem that empowers user control over data. Without changing direction, we risk a future where our content — and our freedoms by consequence — are controlled by a few powerful entities, threatening our rights and the democratic essence of the digital realm. We must advocate for a shift towards data ownership by individuals to preserve our digital freedoms and democracy.

@ 8dc86882:9dc4ba5e

On my phone I use Amethyst, but on the desktop I jump around. It seems none of the web clients are even close to as performant as the the mobile apps, at least Damus and Amethyst. What is everyone using for Nostr when at there computer? I am anxiously awaiting the Damus desktop client which I hope will be my solution, but until that comes to fruition I really want to find the best experience I can on desktop.

Thanks!

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/627170

@ 8ce092d8:950c24ad

Overview

1. Introduction
2. Model Types
3. Training (Data Collection and Config Settings)
4. Probability Viewing: AI Inspector
5. Match
6. Cheat Sheet

I. Introduction

AI Arena is the first game that combines human and artificial intelligence collaboration.

AI learns your skills through "imitation learning."

Official Resources

1. Official Documentation (Must Read): Everything You Need to Know About AI Arena

Watch the 2-minute video in the documentation to quickly understand the basic flow of the game. 2. Official Play-2-Airdrop competition FAQ Site https://aiarena.notion.site/aiarena/Gateway-to-the-Arena-52145e990925499d95f2fadb18a24ab0 3. Official Discord (Must Join): https://discord.gg/aiarenaplaytest for the latest announcements or seeking help. The team will also have a exclusive channel there. 4. Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aiarena because the game has built-in tutorials, you can choose to watch videos.

What is this game about?

1. Although categorized as a platform fighting game, the core is a probability-based strategy game.
2. Warriors take actions based on probabilities on the AI Inspector dashboard, competing against opponents.
3. The game does not allow direct manual input of probabilities for each area but inputs information through data collection and establishes models by adjusting parameters.
4. Data collection emulates fighting games, but training can be completed using a Dummy As long as you can complete the in-game tutorial, you can master the game controls.

II. Model Types

Before training, there are three model types to choose from: Simple Model Type, Original Model Type, and Advanced Model Type.

It is recommended to try the Advanced Model Type after completing at least one complete training with the Simple Model Type and gaining some understanding of the game.

Simple Model Type

The Simple Model is akin to completing a form, and the training session is comparable to filling various sections of that form.

This model has 30 buckets. Each bucket can be seen as telling the warrior what action to take in a specific situation. There are 30 buckets, meaning 30 different scenarios. Within the same bucket, the probabilities for direction or action are the same.

For example: What should I do when I'm off-stage — refer to the "Recovery (you off-stage)" bucket.

For all buckets, refer to this official documentation:

https://docs.aiarena.io/arenadex/game-mechanics/tabular-model-v2

Video (no sound): The entire training process for all buckets

https://youtu.be/1rfRa3WjWEA

Game version 2024.1.10. The method of saving is outdated. Please refer to the game updates.

Advanced Model Type

The "Original Model Type" and "Advanced Model Type" are based on Machine Learning, which is commonly referred to as combining with AI.

The Original Model Type consists of only one bucket, representing the entire map. If you want the AI to learn different scenarios, you need to choose a "Focus Area" to let the warrior know where to focus. A single bucket means that a slight modification can have a widespread impact on the entire model. This is where the "Advanced Model Type" comes in.

The "Advanced Model Type" can be seen as a combination of the "Original Model Type" and the "Simple Model Type". The Advanced Model Type divides the map into 8 buckets. Each bucket can use many "Focus Area." For a detailed explanation of the 8 buckets and different Focus Areas, please refer to the tutorial page (accessible in the Advanced Model Type, after completing a training session, at the top left of the Advanced Config, click on "Tutorial").

III. Training (Data Collection and Config Settings)

Training Process:

1. Collect Data
2. Set Parameters, Train, and Save
3. Repeat Step 1 until the Model is Complete

Training the Simple Model Type is the easiest to start with; refer to the video above for a detailed process.

Training the Advanced Model Type offers more possibilities through the combination of "Focus Area" parameters, providing a higher upper limit. While the Original Model Type has great potential, it's harder to control. Therefore, this section focuses on the "Advanced Model Type."

1. What Kind of Data to Collect

1. High-Quality Data: Collect purposeful data. Garbage in, garbage out. Only collect the necessary data; don't collect randomly. It's recommended to use Dummy to collect data. However, don't pursue perfection; through parameter adjustments, AI has a certain level of fault tolerance.
2. Balanced Data: Balance your dataset. In simple terms, if you complete actions on the left side a certain number of times, also complete a similar number on the right side. While data imbalance can be addressed through parameter adjustments (see below), it's advised not to have this issue during data collection.
3. Moderate Amount: A single training will include many individual actions. Collect data for each action 1-10 times. Personally, it's recommended to collect data 2-3 times for a single action. If the effect of a single training is not clear, conduct a second (or even third) training with the same content, but with different parameter settings.

2. What to Collect (and Focus Area Selection)

Game actions mimic fighting games, consisting of 4 directions + 6 states (Idle, Jump, Attack, Grab, Special, Shield). Directions can be combined into ↗, ↘, etc. These directions and states can then be combined into different actions.

To make "Focus Area" effective, you need to collect data in training that matches these parameters. For example, for "Distance to Opponent", you need to collect data when close to the opponent and also when far away. * Note: While you can split into multiple training sessions, it's most effective to cover different situations within a single training.

Refer to the Simple Config, categorize the actions you want to collect, and based on the game scenario, classify them into two categories: "Movement" and "Combat."

Movement-Based Actions

Action Collection

When the warrior is offstage, regardless of where the opponent is, we require the warrior to return to the stage to prevent self-destruction.

This involves 3 aerial buckets: 5 (Near Blast Zone), 7 (Under Stage), and 8 (Side Of Stage).

* Note: The background comes from the Tutorial mentioned earlier. The arrows in the image indicate the direction of the action and are for reference only. * Note: Action collection should be clean; do not collect actions that involve leaving the stage.

Config Settings

In the Simple Config, you can directly choose "Movement" in it. However, for better customization, it's recommended to use the Advanced Config directly. - Intensity: The method for setting Intensity will be introduced separately later. - Buckets: As shown in the image, choose the bucket you are training. - Focus Area: Position-based parameters: - Your position (must) - Raycast Platform Distance, Raycast Platform Type (optional, generally choose these in Bucket 7)

Combat-Based Actions

The goal is to direct attacks quickly and effectively towards the opponent, which is the core of game strategy.

This involves 5 buckets: - 2 regular situations - In the air: 6 (Safe Zone) - On the ground: 4 (Opponent Active) - 3 special situations on the ground: - 1 Projectile Active - 2 Opponent Knockback - 3 Opponent Stunned

2 Regular Situations

In the in-game tutorial, we learned how to perform horizontal attacks. However, in the actual game, directions expand to 8 dimensions. Imagine having 8 relative positions available for launching hits against the opponent. Our task is to design what action to use for attack or defense at each relative position.

Focus Area - Basic (generally select all) - Angle to opponent
- Distance to opponent - Discrete Distance: Choosing this option helps better differentiate between closer and farther distances from the opponent. As shown in the image, red indicates a relatively close distance, and green indicates a relatively distant distance.

• Advanced: Other commonly used parameters
• Direction: different facings to opponent
• Your Elemental Gauge and Discrete Elementals: Considering the special's charge
• Opponent action: The warrior will react based on the opponent's different actions.
• Your action: Your previous action. Choose this if teaching combos.

3 Special Situations on the Ground

Projectile Active, Opponent Stunned, Opponent Knockback These three buckets can be referenced in the Simple Model Type video. The parameter settings approach is the same as Opponent Active/Safe Zone.

For Projectile Active, in addition to the parameters based on combat, to track the projectile, you also need to select "Raycast Projectile Distance" and "Raycast Projectile On Target."

3. Setting "Intensity"

Resources

• The "Tutorial" mentioned earlier explains these parameters.
• Official Config Document (2022.12.24): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1adXwvDHEnrVZ5bUClWQoBQ8ETrSSKgG5q48YrogaFJs/edit

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TL;DR:

Epochs: - Adjust to fewer epochs if learning is insufficient, increase for more learning.

Batch Size: - Set to the minimum (16) if data is precise but unbalanced, or just want it to learn fast - Increase (e.g., 64) if data is slightly imprecise but balanced. - If both imprecise and unbalanced, consider retraining.

Learning Rate: - Maximize (0.01) for more learning but a risk of forgetting past knowledge. - Minimize for more accurate learning with less impact on previous knowledge.

Lambda: - Reduce for prioritizing learning new things.

Data Cleaning: - Enable "Remove Sparsity" unless you want AI to learn idleness. - For special cases, like teaching the warrior to use special moves when idle, refer to this tutorial video: https://discord.com/channels/1140682688651612291/1140683283626201098/1195467295913431111

Personal Experience: - Initial training with settings: 125 epochs, batch size 16, learning rate 0.01, lambda 0, data cleaning enabled. - Prioritize Multistream, sometimes use Oversampling. - Fine-tune subsequent training based on the mentioned theories.

IV. Probability Viewing: AI Inspector

The dashboard consists of "Direction + Action." Above the dashboard, you can see the "Next Action" – the action the warrior will take in its current state. The higher the probability, the more likely the warrior is to perform that action, indicating a quicker reaction. It's essential to note that when checking the Direction, the one with the highest visual representation may not have the highest numerical value. To determine the actual value, hover the mouse over the graphical representation, as shown below, where the highest direction is "Idle."

In the map, you can drag the warrior to view the probabilities of the warrior in different positions. Right-click on the warrior with the mouse to change the warrior's facing. The status bar below can change the warrior's state on the map.

When training the "Opponent Stunned, Opponent Knockback" bucket, you need to select the status below the opponent's status bar. If you are focusing on "Opponent action" in the Focus Zone, choose the action in the opponent's status bar. If you are focusing on "Your action" in the Focus Zone, choose the action in your own status bar. When training the "Projectile Active" Bucket, drag the projectile on the right side of the dashboard to check the status.

Next

The higher the probability, the faster the reaction. However, be cautious when the action probability reaches 100%. This may cause the warrior to be in a special case of "State Transition," resulting in unnecessary "Idle" states.

Explanation: In each state a fighter is in, there are different "possible transitions". For example, from falling state you cannot do low sweep because low sweep requires you to be on the ground. For the shield state, we do not allow you to directly transition to headbutt. So to do headbutt you have to first exit to another state and then do it from there (assuming that state allows you to do headbutt). This is the reason the fighter runs because "run" action is a valid state transition from shield. Source

V. Learn from Matches

After completing all the training, your model is preliminarily finished—congratulations! The warrior will step onto the arena alone and embark on its debut!

Next, we will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the warrior from battles to continue refining the warrior's model.

In matches, besides appreciating the performance, pay attention to the following:

1. Movement, i.e., Off the Stage: Observe how the warrior gets eliminated. Is it due to issues in the action settings at a certain position, or is it a normal death caused by a high percentage? The former is what we need to avoid and optimize.

2. Combat: Analyze both sides' actions carefully. Observe which actions you and the opponent used in different states. Check which of your hits are less effective, and how does the opponent handle different actions, etc.

The approach to battle analysis is similar to the thought process in the "Training", helping to have a more comprehensive understanding of the warrior's performance and making targeted improvements.

VI. Cheat Sheet

Training 1. Click "Collect" to collect actions. 2. "Map - Data Limit" is more user-friendly. Most players perform initial training on the "Arena" map. 3. Switch between the warrior and the dummy: Tab key (keyboard) / Home key (controller). 4. Use "Collect" to make the opponent loop a set of actions. 5. Instantly move the warrior to a specific location: Click "Settings" - SPAWN - Choose the desired location on the map - On. Press the Enter key (keyboard) / Start key (controller) during training.

Inspector 1. Right-click on the fighter to change their direction. Drag the fighter and observe the changes in different positions and directions. 2. When satisfied with the training, click "Save." 3. In "Sparring" and "Simulation," use "Current Working Model." 4. If satisfied with a model, then click "compete." The model used in the rankings is the one marked as "competing."

Sparring / Ranked 1. Use the Throneroom map only for the top 2 or top 10 rankings. 2. There is a 30-second cooldown between matches. The replays are played for any match. Once the battle begins, you can see the winner on the leaderboard or by right-clicking the page - Inspect - Console. Also, if you encounter any errors or bugs, please send screenshots of the console to the Discord server.

Good luck! See you on the arena!

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr: a quick introduction, attempt #1

Nostr doesn't have a material existence, it is not a website or an app. Nostr is just a description what kind of messages each computer can send to the others and vice-versa. It's a very simple thing, but the fact that such description exists allows different apps to connect to different servers automatically, without people having to talk behind the scenes or sign contracts or anything like that.

When you use a Nostr client that is what happens, your client will connect to a bunch of servers, called relays, and all these relays will speak the same "language" so your client will be able to publish notes to them all and also download notes from other people.

That's basically what Nostr is: this communication layer between the client you run on your phone or desktop computer and the relay that someone else is running on some server somewhere. There is no central authority dictating who can connect to whom or even anyone who knows for sure where each note is stored.

If you think about it, Nostr is very much like the internet itself: there are millions of websites out there, and basically anyone can run a new one, and there are websites that allow you to store and publish your stuff on them.

The added benefit of Nostr is that this unified "language" that all Nostr clients speak allow them to switch very easily and cleanly between relays. So if one relay decides to ban someone that person can switch to publishing to others relays and their audience will quickly follow them there. Likewise, it becomes much easier for relays to impose any restrictions they want on their users: no relay has to uphold a moral ground of "absolute free speech": each relay can decide to delete notes or ban users for no reason, or even only store notes from a preselected set of people and no one will be entitled to complain about that.

There are some bad things about this design: on Nostr there are no guarantees that relays will have the notes you want to read or that they will store the notes you're sending to them. We can't just assume all relays will have everything — much to the contrary, as Nostr grows more relays will exist and people will tend to publishing to a small set of all the relays, so depending on the decisions each client takes when publishing and when fetching notes, users may see a different set of replies to a note, for example, and be confused.

Another problem with the idea of publishing to multiple servers is that they may be run by all sorts of malicious people that may edit your notes. Since no one wants to see garbage published under their name, Nostr fixes that by requiring notes to have a cryptographic signature. This signature is attached to the note and verified by everybody at all times, which ensures the notes weren't tampered (if any part of the note is changed even by a single character that would cause the signature to become invalid and then the note would be dropped). The fix is perfect, except for the fact that it introduces the requirement that each user must now hold this 63-character code that starts with "nsec1", which they must not reveal to anyone. Although annoying, this requirement brings another benefit: that users can automatically have the same identity in many different contexts and even use their Nostr identity to login to non-Nostr websites easily without having to rely on any third-party.

To conclude: Nostr is like the internet (or the internet of some decades ago): a little chaotic, but very open. It is better than the internet because it is structured and actions can be automated, but, like in the internet itself, nothing is guaranteed to work at all times and users many have to do some manual work from time to time to fix things. Plus, there is the cryptographic key stuff, which is painful, but cool.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

A biblioteca infinita

Agora esqueci o nome do conto de Jorge Luis Borges em que a tal biblioteca é descrita, ou seus detalhes específicos. Eu tinha lido o conto e nunca havia percebido que ele matava a questão da aleatoriedade ser capaz de produzir coisas valiosas. Precisei mesmo da Wikipédia me dizer isso.

Alguns anos atrás levantei essa questão para um grupo de amigos sem saber que era uma questão tão batida e baixa. No meu exemplo era um cachorro andando sobre letras desenhadas e não um macaco numa máquina de escrever. A minha conclusão da discussão foi que não importa o que o cachorro escrevesse, sem uma inteligência capaz de compreender aquilo nada passaria de letras aleatórias.

Borges resolve tudo imaginando uma biblioteca que contém tudo o que o cachorro havia escrito durante todo o infinito em que fez o experimento, e portanto contém todo o conhecimento sobre tudo e todas as obras literárias possíveis -- mas entre cada página ou frase muito boa ou pelo menos legívei há toneladas de livros completamente aleatórios e uma pessoa pode passar a vida dentro dessa biblioteca que contém tanto conhecimento importante e mesmo assim não aprender nada porque nunca vai achar os livros certos.

Everything would be in its blind volumes. Everything: the detailed history of the future, Aeschylus' The Egyptians, the exact number of times that the waters of the Ganges have reflected the flight of a falcon, the secret and true nature of Rome, the encyclopedia Novalis would have constructed, my dreams and half-dreams at dawn on August 14, 1934, the proof of Pierre Fermat's theorem, the unwritten chapters of Edwin Drood, those same chapters translated into the language spoken by the Garamantes, the paradoxes Berkeley invented concerning Time but didn't publish, Urizen's books of iron, the premature epiphanies of Stephen Dedalus, which would be meaningless before a cycle of a thousand years, the Gnostic Gospel of Basilides, the song the sirens sang, the complete catalog of the Library, the proof of the inaccuracy of that catalog. Everything: but for every sensible line or accurate fact there would be millions of meaningless cacophonies, verbal farragoes, and babblings. Everything: but all the generations of mankind could pass before the dizzying shelves – shelves that obliterate the day and on which chaos lies – ever reward them with a tolerable page.

Tenho a impressão de que a publicação gigantesca de artigos, posts, livros e tudo o mais está transformando o mundo nessa biblioteca. Há tanta coisa pra ler que é difícil achar o que presta. As pessoas precisam parar de escrever.

@ 000002de:c05780a7

The Schneier on Security blog is a great source of security news from an expert in the field. But I have to disagree with his take in "The CrowdStrike Outage and Market-Driven Brittleness"

Thanks to @Car for linking to it.

Frankly this is partially true but mostly wrong

This brittleness is a result of market incentives. In enterprise computing—as opposed to personal computing—a company that provides computing infrastructure to enterprise networks is incentivized to be as integral as possible, to have as deep access into their customers’ networks as possible, and to run as leanly as possible.

Redundancies are unprofitable. Being slow and careful is unprofitable.

What redundancies are is prudent. What we see with Crowdstrike isn't a problem of the free market. It is a problem with the fiat high time preference economy. Because of cheap credit companies like Crowdstrike are pushed to move faster than they would in a functioning market with free floating interest rates.

Even with the market we have today there are competitors to Crowdstrike that operate differently. This is the market working exposing a mistake in this company's processes. A glaring one. It remains to be seen if the leadership at these companies will make changes in response to this failure.

My guess is that CrowdStrike is going to get sued in a class action suit. Curious what @siggy47 thinks. The company seems to be in damage control mode now not providing much if any new info about what happened. The news industry is ill equipped to report on the episode so it is left to people like Schneier and other industry experts to speculate.

Schneier is right though, many industries are optimized for efficiency but not resilience. We saw this when the global lockdowns were put up. Industry has optimized for throughput not resilience.

Honestly the reliance on Microsoft Windows is the most glaring problem with private and government US infrastructure. This will not be the last time something like this happens and it will probably never be known if this was just a mistake or a bad actor within Crowdstrike. Regardless of which it was, this event shows just how vulnerabilities of these companies and even more importantly their industries.

People will try to say government needs to take action but I would argue it is precisely government interventions that have led to where we are today. The government micromanages both the banking and the airline industry giving them bailouts when poorly run companies should be allowed to fail. If they were allowed to fail, they would be bought by new people who would have the chance to improve the operations. Instead this natural market healing process, not that different from a grass fire would lead to more resilient industries.

American's need to realize how much like the U.S.S.R. we have become. Central planners are all over the place and are slowly destroying this country. Or as @Car likes to call them, communists. At the core of this event was caused by centralization. A single provider is being used by many companies. A single operating system (Windows) is being used when superior systems are available for Internet facing operations.

Notice which industries were NOT affected for the most part. The tech sector. Bruce mentions Netflix "Chaos Monkey tool". So apparently this isn't the fault of the free market. An industry that is more driven by market forces doesn't tend to operate like those older industries. What industries were most affected? Banking, Health care, and Air travel. These three are some of the most regulated and least free market. Banking and air travel have been bailed out multiple times. That's not a coincidence.

Many have said this event could have had much less of an impact had CrowdStrike just rolled out updates using a canary deployment approach. That approach works like this.

1. Incremental rollout: A small portion of the fleet (typically 5%-10%) is updated to the new version, while the remaining users continue to use the existing version.
2. Monitoring and analysis: The performance of the new version is closely monitored, and metrics are collected to assess its behavior, such as user feedback, error rates, and system resource utilization.
3. Gradual expansion: If the new version performs well, it is gradually rolled out to a larger percentage of users, until it reaches 100%.
4. Rollback capability: If issues arise, the deployment can be rolled back to the previous version, minimizing downtime and impact on users.

This approach is pretty common in the industry today. Had they used this process it is likely no one would be talking about this event at all. Blaming the free market for this is frankly absurd when you consider the whole event. If anything, the free market makes these events less widespread. If you want to point blame away from Crowdstrike consider fiat time preference forces and central planning's affects on industry.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/627031

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

O VAR é o grande equalizador

Não tenho acompanhado o futebol desde 2013 ou 2014, mas me parece que, como poderia ter sido previsto, o VAR tem favorecido os times pequenos ou marginais em detrimento dos demais.

É lógico: se os juízes favoreriam mais o Flamengo e o Corinthians, e depois os grandes de Rio e São Paulo, em detrimento dos demais, o VAR, por minimamente mais justo que seja, aparentará favorecer os outros.

• Viva o mata-mata

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Splitpages

The simplest possible service: it splitted PDF pages in half.

Created specially to solve the problem of those scanned books that come with two pages side-by-side as if they were a single page and are much harder to read on Kindle because of that.

It required me to learn about Heroku Buildpacks though, and fork or contribute to a Heroku Buildpack that embedded a mupdf binary.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/splitpages
• https://splitpages.herokuapp.com/

@ 0861144c:e68a1caf

On the main stage of Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Donald Trump, former and presidential candidate, did what every politician does in a spectacular way: make promises that make us dream and give us assurances that we'd like to believe will favor our personal economy.

Those who have tried to distance themselves from politics by saying things like bitcoin is not a tool for politicians, bitcoin should not be mixed with politics among many other assertions, have forgotten the political nature of the internet, as Tim Berners-Lee once stated, which we need to regain control of.

We must not be indifferent to the wave of legal attacks on bitcoin which, if you ask me today, does not pose any threat as long as a block can be confirmed on average every 10 minutes, we will be fine. Even so, those of us who wish for a healthy alternative to the financial system to be integrated into everyday life cannot simply run from this challenge and say: this does not concern us, bitcoin is a tool for everyone and politicians will not help us.

But they will not help us

Really, no. A politician with their legislation cannot stop the next block from being mined but can make your life a nightmare and discourage usage through a set of legal tools that disincentivize. Not everyone has the fortitude (yours and mine) to take political hits and keep using a tool for good. Also, consider that the needs of the South are not the same as those of the North, and economic realities dictate different measures for each.

But when a politician speaks openly about bitcoin, the greatest responsibility is to hold them accountable for their words.

What can I do?

First and foremost: run your own node, do small-scale mining (if you can), and accept bitcoin in your daily life. Optionally and additionally, keep the pressure on politicians, hold them accountable for their words, and talk to your representative even if you are not from the USA. In Paraguay, where I currently am, there is an illogical persecution of miners by the electrical administration. Don't like it? Well, if you do the first things, you're already in tune.

And if I want to do more?

Bitcoin needs to attract a lot. Today it already does but the hands are insufficient, not because there are no interested parties but because there is a lot to do. Above all, let's take these political events as a bullish scenario. Ten years ago, I got excited if Bill Gates or Branson uttered the word bitcoin, today we are already expectant and in another scenario where we are seeing the political consequences.

Bullish for bitcoin frens

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/627008

@ c73818cc:ccd5c890

👅 La TON Foundation annuncia il Teleport per integrare Bitcoin nella rete TON

🦷 Bitcoin su TON: un nuovo paradigma per la DeFi

👅 La TON Foundation ha annunciato l'introduzione del Teleport, che permetterà di portare Bitcoin sulla rete TON e di riportarlo sulla rete originale tramite smart contract. Questa tecnologia promette di migliorare la rapidità e la programmabilità delle transazioni Bitcoin, pur mantenendo la sicurezza. Sebbene manchino ancora le specifiche tecniche dettagliate, l'iniziativa rappresenta un passo avanti significativo nell'integrazione tra Bitcoin e reti blockchain più prestanti.

🦷 Smart contract e Bitcoin sintetico

👅 Il meccanismo prevede l'uso di smart contract che operano sulla rete Bitcoin per creare un token sintetico sulla rete TON, mantenendo un rapporto 1:1. Gli utenti potranno trasferire i loro Bitcoin o satoshi in uno smart contract, ottenendo un token su TON, e potranno tornare a possedere Bitcoin sulla rete originale distruggendo i token sintetici. Questa soluzione, simile al ckBTC di ICP, promette maggiore efficienza e costi di transazione ridotti.

🦷 La sfida della DeFi su TON

👅 Con questa iniziativa, TON mira a potenziare il suo ecosistema DeFi, attualmente meno sviluppato rispetto ad altre reti. L'introduzione di Bitcoin sintetico su TON potrebbe rendere la rete più attraente per gli utenti e gli sviluppatori, favorendo una maggiore adozione. Tuttavia, rimangono questioni tecniche da chiarire, e il successo dell'implementazione dipenderà dalla capacità di TON di offrire una soluzione sicura e affidabile.

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@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Webvatar

Like Gravatar, but using profile images from websites tagged with "microformats-2" tags, like people from the indiewebcamp movement liked. It falled back to favicon, gravatar and procedural avatar generators.

No one really used this, despite people saying they liked it. Since I was desperate to getting some of my programs appreciated by someone I even bought a domain. It was sad, but an enriching experience.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/webvatar.com
• http://webvatar.com

See also

• jekmentions
• questo.email

@ 0a821ca3:e0efcce3

Central banks will launch CDBC - Central Bank Digital Currency - imminently.

Banks have a unique opportunity to remain the first point of contact with their clients. Rather than showing a balance in their bank apps, banks could mint digital fiat coins themselves - GS-USD, DB-EUR or CreditSuisse-CHF.

This would enable not only clients within the bank to exchange fiat value - rather than shifting bank account balances - it would also enable for clients to make digital payments with instant final settlement between banks. All that would require is establishing an "exchange rate" between fiat coins of partner banks - e.g. an exchange rate between DB-EUR and BNPP-EUR - probably 1:1 - or between GS-USD and DB-EUR if these banks want to enable cross currency payments.

Each bank is free to use their own technology to mint digital fiat coins. Most will prefer to avoid the lightning network, available as public infrastructure, as payment rails. Some may consider all technologies.

Concretely, a bank could easily leverage the Cashu protocol or the RBG protocol to mint stablecoin tokens. This would enable quasi free quasi instant final settlement of bank balance sheet backed stablecoins. As described above - banks can make tokens of other banks compatible by defining an exchange rate and agreeing on a balance in the partner bank stablecoin token. Ultimately, banks could even establish an exchange rate between their stablecoin token and the btc value - and in doing so, enable their clients to make payments on the globally available quasi free quasi instant final settlement payments network, currently supported by more than 17,000 nodes and multiple custodial wallets.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

The problem with DIDs

Decentralized Identifiers are supposedly a standard that will allow anyone (or anything) to have an online identity. The DID is a URI like did:<method>:<data> in which <method> determines how to interpret the <data>. The data is generally a public key in some cryptographic system or shitcoin blockchain, or a naked key, or a DNS-backed web address.

Some of the DID proponents argue that this is for maximum interoperability, since any new system can be supported under the same standard, i.e. supposedly an application could "support DIDs" (as some would say) and that would allow anyone to just paste their DID string there and that would refer to something.

There are a gazillion of different DID "methods", most of them are probably barely used. What does it mean for an application to "support" DIDs, then? For the interoperability argument to make any sense that must mean that the application must understand all the "methods" -- which involves understanding all cryptographic protocols and reading and interpreting data from a gazillion different blockchains and also understanding the specifics of each method, since the data of each blockchain or website and so on must also be interpreted according to the rules of the method.

It must be clear from the paragraph above that the DID goal is is unimplementable and therefore will either fail horribly by lack of adoption; or it will have to be changed to something else (for example everybody will start accepting just did:key and ignore others and that will be the standard); or it will become a centralized thing with all supporting applications using a single set of libraries that have built-in support for all methods by calling centralized servers that return the final product of processing the DID data for each method.

See also:

• The problem with ION

@ 82fbb08c:d8cbc29a

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

neuron.vim

I started using this neuron thing to create an update this same zettelkasten, but the existing vim plugin had too many problems, so I forked it and ended up changing almost everything.

Since the upstream repository was somewhat abandoned, most users and people who were trying to contribute upstream migrate to my fork too.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/neuron.vim

@ 82fbb08c:d8cbc29a

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

As estrelas

As estrelas são buracos nas esferas celestiais, buracos através dos quais nos é permitido ver a brilhante luz dos céus.

(Rome, a série.)

@ 82fbb08c:d8cbc29a

@ 82fbb08c:d8cbc29a

What makes it harmless? I don't know

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Scala is such a great language

Scala is amazing. The type system has the perfect balance between flexibility and powerfulness. match statements are great. You can write imperative code that looks very nice and expressive (and I haven't tried writing purely functional things yet). Everything is easy to write and cheap and neovim integration works great.

But Java is not great. And the fact that Scala is a JVM language doesn't help because over the years people have written stuff that depends on Java libraries -- and these Java libraries are not as safe as the Scala libraries, they contain reflection, slowness, runtime errors, all kinds of horrors.

Scala is also very tightly associated with Akka, the actor framework, and Akka is a giant collection of anti-patterns. Untyped stuff, reflection, dependency on JVM, basically a lot of javisms. I just arrived and I don't know anything about the Scala history or ecosystem or community, but I have the impression that Akka has prevent more adoption of Scala from decent people that aren't Java programmers.

But luckily there is a solution -- or two solutions: ScalaJS is a great thing that exists. It transpiles Scala code into JavaScript and it runs on NodeJS or in a browser!

Scala Native is a much better deal, though, it compiles to LLVM and then to binary code and you can have single binaries that run directly without a JVM -- not that the single JARs are that bad though, they are great and everybody has Java so I'll take that anytime over C libraries or NPM-distributed software, but direct executables even better. Scala Native just needs a little more love and some libraries and it will be the greatest thing in a couple of years.

@ 58537364:705b4b85

ถ้าอยากแล้วไม่หลง มันก็อยากด้วยปัญญา ความอยากอย่างนี้ท่านเรียกว่า เป็นบารมีของตน แต่ไม่ใช่ทุกคนนะที่มีปัญญา

บางคนไม่อยากจะให้มันอยาก เพราะเข้าใจว่า การมาปฏิบัติก็เพื่อระงับความอยาก ความจริงน่ะ ถ้าหากว่าไม่มีความอยาก ก็ไม่มีข้อปฏิบัติ ไม่รู้ว่าจะทำอะไร ลองพิจารณาดูก็ได้

ทุกคน แม้องค์พระพุทธเจ้าของเราก็ตาม ที่ท่านออกมาปฏิบัติ ก็เพื่อจะให้บรรเทากิเลสทั้งหลายนั้น

แต่ว่ามันต้องอยากทำ อยากปฏิบัติ อยากให้มันสงบ และก็ไม่อยากให้มันวุ่นวาย ทั้งสองอย่างนี้ มันเป็นอุปสรรคทั้งนั้น ถ้าเราไม่มีปัญญา ไม่มีความฉลาดในการกระทำอย่างนั้น เพราะว่ามันปนกันอยู่ อยากทั้งสองอย่างนี้มันมีราคาเท่า ๆ กัน

อยากจะพ้นทุกข์มันเป็นกิเลส สำหรับคนไม่มีปัญญา อยากด้วยความโง่ ไม่อยากมันก็เป็นกิเลส เพราะไม่อยากอันนั้นมันประกอบด้วยความโง่เหมือนกัน คือทั้งอยาก ไม่อยาก ปัญญาก็ไม่มี ทั้งสองอย่างนี้ มันเป็นกามสุขัลลิกานุโยโค กับอัตตกิลมถานุโยโค ซึ่งพระพุทธองค์ของเรา ขณะที่พระองค์กำลังทรงปฏิบัติอยู่นั้น ท่านก็หลงใหลในอย่างนี้ ไม่รู้ว่าจะทำอย่างไร ท่านหาอุบายหลายประการ กว่าจะพบของสองสิ่งนี้

ทุกวันนี้เราทั้งหลายก็เหมือนกัน ทุกสิ่งทั้งสองอย่างนี้มันกวนอยู่ เราจึงเข้าสู่ทางไม่ได้ก็เพราะอันนี้ ความเป็นจริงนี้ทุกคนที่มาปฏิบัติ ก็เป็นปุถุชนมาทั้งนั้น ปุถุชนก็เต็มไปด้วยความอยาก ความอยากที่ไม่มีปัญญา อยากด้วยความหลง ไม่อยากมันก็มีโทษเหมือนกัน “ไม่อยาก” มันก็เป็นตัณหา “อยาก” มันก็เป็นตัณหาอีกเหมือนกัน

ทีนี้ นักปฏิบัติยังไม่รู้เรื่องว่า จะเอายังไงกัน เดินไปข้างหน้าก็ไม่ถูก เดินกลับไปข้างหลังก็ไม่ถูก จะหยุดก็หยุดไม่ได้เพราะมันยังอยากอยู่ มันยังหลงอยู่ มีแต่ความอยาก แต่ปัญญาไม่มี มันอยากด้วยความหลง มันก็เป็นตัณหา ถึงแม้ไม่อยาก มันก็เป็นความหลง มันก็เป็นตัณหาเหมือนกันเพราะอะไร? เพราะมันขาดปัญญา

ความเป็นจริงนั้น ธรรมะมันอยู่ตรงนั้นแหละ ตรงความอยากกับความไม่อยากนั่นแหละ แต่เราไม่มีปัญญา ก็พยายามไม่ให้อยากบ้าง เดี๋ยวก็อยากบ้าง อยากให้เป็นอย่างนั้น ไม่อยากให้เป็นอย่างนี้ ความจริงทั้งสองอย่างนี้ หรือทั้งคู่นี้มันตัวเดียวกันทั้งนั้น ไม่ใช่คนละตัว แต่เราไม่รู้เรื่องของมัน

พระพุทธเจ้าของเรา และสาวกทั้งหลายของพระองค์นั้นท่านก็อยากเหมือนกัน แต่ “อยาก” ของท่านนั้น เป็นเพียงอาการของจิตเฉย ๆ หรือ “ไม่อยาก” ของท่าน ก็เป็นเพียงอาการของจิตเฉย ๆ อีกเหมือนกัน มันวูบเดียวเท่านั้น ก็หายไปแล้ว

ดังนั้น ความอยากหรือไม่อยากนี้ มันมีอยู่ตลอดเวลาแต่สำหรับผู้มีปัญญานั้น “อยาก” ก็ไม่มีอุปาทาน “ไม่อยาก” ก็ไม่มีอุปาทาน เป็น “สักแต่ว่า” อยากหรือไม่อยากเท่านั้น ถ้าพูดตามความจริงแล้ว มันก็เป็นแต่ "อาการของจิต" อาการของจิตมันเป็นของมันอย่างนั้นเอง ถ้าเรามาตะครุบมันอยู่ใกล้ ๆ นี่มันก็เห็นชัด

ดังนั้นจึงว่า การพิจารณานั้น ไม่ใช่รู้ไปที่อื่น มันรู้ตรงนี้แหละ เหมือนชาวประมงที่ออกไปทอดแหนั่นแหละ ทอดแหออกไปถูกปลาตัวใหญ่ เจ้าของผู้ทอดแหจะคิดอย่างไร? ก็กลัว กลัวปลาจะออกจากแหไปเสีย เมื่อเป็นเช่นนั้น ใจมันก็ดิ้นรนขึ้นระวังมาก บังคับมาก ตะครุบไปตะครุบมาอยู่นั่นแหละ ประเดี๋ยวปลามันก็ออกจากแหไปเสีย เพราะไปตะครุบมันแรงเกินไป

อย่างนั้นโบราณท่านพูดถึงเรื่องอันนี้ ท่านว่าค่อย ๆ ทำมัน แต่อย่าไปห่างจากมัน นี่คือปฏิปทาของเรา ค่อย ๆ คลำมันไปเรื่อย ๆ อย่างนั้นแหละ

อย่าปล่อยมัน หรือไม่อยากรู้มัน ต้องรู้ ต้องรู้เรื่องของมัน พยายามทำมันไปเรื่อย ๆ ให้เป็นปฏิปทา ขี้เกียจเราก็ทำไม่ขี้เกียจเราก็ทำ เรียกว่าการทำการปฏิบัติ ต้องทำไปเรื่อยๆอย่างนี้

ถ้าหากว่าเราขยัน ขยันเพราะความเชื่อ มันมีศรัทธาแต่ปัญญาไม่มี ถ้าเป็นอย่างนี้ ขยันไป ๆ แล้วมันก็ไม่เกิดผลอะไรขึ้นมากมาย ขยันไปนาน ๆ เข้า แต่มันไม่ถูกทาง มันก็ไม่สงบระงับ ทีนี้ก็จะเกิดความคิดว่า เรานี้บุญน้อยหรือวาสนาน้อย หรือคิดไปว่ามนุษย์ในโลกนี้คงทำไม่ได้หรอก แล้วก็เลยหยุดเลิกทำเลิกปฏิบัติ

ถ้าเกิดความคิดอย่างนี้เมื่อใด ขอให้ระวังให้มาก ให้มีขันติ ความอดทน ให้ทำไปเรื่อย ๆ เหมือนกับเราจับปลาตัวใหญ่ ก็ให้ค่อย ๆ คลำมันไปเรื่อย ๆ ปลามันก็จะไม่ดิ้นแรงค่อย ๆทำไปเรื่อย ๆ ไม่หยุด ไม่ช้าปลาก็จะหมดกำลัง มันก็จับง่าย จับให้ถนัดมือเลย ถ้าเรารีบจนเกินไป ปลามันก็จะหนีดิ้นออกจากแหเท่านั้น

ดังนั้น การปฏิบัตินี้ ถ้าเราพิจารณาตามพื้นเหตุของเรา เช่นว่า เราไม่มีความรู้ในปริยัติ ไม่มีความรู้ในอะไรอื่น ที่จะให้การปฏิบัติมันเกิดผลขึ้น ก็ดูความรู้ที่เป็นพื้นเพเดิมของเรานั่นแหละอันนั้นก็คือ “ธรรมชาติของจิต” นี่เอง มันมีของมันอยู่แล้ว เราจะไปเรียนรู้มัน มันก็มีอยู่ หรือเราจะไม่ไปเรียนรู้มัน มันก็มีอยู่

อย่างที่ท่านพูดว่า พระพุทธเจ้าจะบังเกิดขึ้นก็ตาม หรือไม่บังเกิดขึ้นก็ตาม ธรรมะก็คงมีอยู่อย่างนั้น มันเป็นของมันอยู่อย่างนั้น ไม่พลิกแพลงไปไหน มันเป็นสัจจธรรม

เราไม่เข้าใจสัจจธรรม ก็ไม่รู้ว่าสัจจธรรมเป็นอย่างไร นี้เรียกว่า การพิจารณาในความรู้ของผู้ปฏิบัติที่ไม่มีพื้นปริยัติ

ขอให้ดูจิต พยายามอ่านจิตของเจ้าของ พยายามพูดกับจิตของเจ้าของ มันจึงจะรู้เรื่องของจิต ค่อย ๆ ทำไป ถ้ายังไม่ถึงที่ของมัน มันก็ไปอยู่อย่างนั้น

ครูบาอาจารย์บางท่านบอกว่า ทำไปเรื่อย ๆ อย่าหยุด บางทีเรามาคิด “เออ ทำไปเรื่อย ๆ ถ้าไม่รู้เรื่องของมัน ถ้าทำไม่ถูกที่มัน มันจะรู้อะไร” อย่างนี้เป็นต้น ก็ต้องไปเรื่อย ๆ ก่อน แล้วมันก็จะเกิดความรู้สึกนึกคิดขึ้นในสิ่งที่เราพากเพียรทำนั้น

มันเหมือนกันกับบุรุษที่ไปสีไฟ ได้ฟังท่านบอกว่า เอาไม้ไผ่สองอันมาสีกันเข้าไปเถอะ แล้วจะมีไฟเกิดขึ้น บุรุษนั้นก็จับไม้ไผ่เข้าสองอัน สีกันเข้า แต่ใจร้อน สีไปได้หน่อย ก็อยากให้มันเป็นไฟ ใจก็เร่งอยู่เรื่อย ให้เป็นไฟเร็วๆ แต่ไฟก็ไม่เกิดสักที บุรุษนั้นก็เกิดความขี้เกียจ แล้วก็หยุดพัก แล้วจึงลองสีอีกนิด แล้วก็หยุดพัก ความร้อนที่พอมีอยู่บ้าง ก็หายไปล่ะซิ เพราะความร้อนมันไม่ติดต่อกัน

ถ้าทำไปเรื่อยๆอย่างนี้ เหนื่อยก็หยุด มีแต่เหนื่อยอย่างเดียวก็พอได้ แต่มีขี้เกียจปนเข้าด้วย เลยไปกันใหญ่ แล้วบุรุษนั้นก็หาว่าไฟไม่มี ไม่เอาไฟ ก็ทิ้ง เลิก ไม่สีอีก แล้วก็ไปเที่ยวประกาศว่า ไฟไม่มี ทำอย่างนี้ไม่ได้ ไม่มีไฟหรอก เขาได้ลองทำแล้ว

ก็จริงเหมือนกันที่ได้ทำแล้ว แต่ทำยังไม่ถึงจุดของมันคือความร้อนยังไม่สมดุลกัน ไฟมันก็เกิดขึ้นไม่ได้ ทั้งที่ความจริงไฟมันก็มีอยู่ อย่างนี้ก็เกิดความท้อแท้ขึ้นในใจของผู้ปฏิบัตินั้น ก็ละอันนี้ไปทำอันโน้นเรื่อยไป อันนี้ฉันใดก็ฉันนั้น

การปฏิบัตินั้น ปฏิบัติทางกายทางใจทั้งสองอย่าง มันต้องพร้อมกัน เพราะอะไร? เพราะพื้นเพมันเป็นคนมีกิเลสทั้งนั้น พระพุทธเจ้าก่อนที่จะเป็นพระพุทธเจ้า ท่านก็มีกิเลสแต่ท่านมีปัญญามากหลาย พระอรหันต์ก็เหมือนกัน เมื่อยังเป็นปุถุชนอยู่ ก็เหมือนกับเรา

เมื่อความอยากเกิดขึ้นมา เราก็ไม่รู้จัก เมื่อความไม่อยากเกิดขึ้นมา เราก็ไม่รู้จัก บางทีก็ร้อนใจ บางทีก็ดีใจ ถ้าใจเราไม่อยาก ก็ดีใจแบบหนึ่ง และวุ่นวายอีกแบบหนึ่ง ถ้าใจเราอยาก มันก็วุ่นวายอย่างหนึ่ง และดีใจอย่างหนึ่ง มันประสมประเสกันอยู่อย่างนี้

อันนี้คือปฏิปทาของผู้ปฏิบัติเรา

[อ่านใจธรรมชาติ] หลวงปู่ชา สุภัทโท หนังสือ หมวด: โพธิญาณ

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Custom spreadsheets

The idea was to use it to make an app that would serve as custom database for everything and interact with the spreadsheet so people could play and calculate with their values after they were created by the custom app, something like an MS Access integrated with Excel?

My first attempt that worked (I believe there was an attempt before but I have probably deleted it from everywhere) was this react-microspreadsheet thing (at the time called react-spreadsheet before I donated the npm name to someone who asked):

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/react-microspreadsheet

This was a very good spreadsheet component that did many things current "react spreadsheet" components out there don't do. It had formulas; support for that handle thing that you pulled with the mouse and it autofilled cells with a pattern; it had keyboard navigation with Ctrl, Shift, Ctrl+Shift; it had that thing through which you copy-pasted formulas and they would change their parameters depending on where you pasted them (implemented in a very poor manner because I was using and thinking about Excel in baby mode at the time).

Then I tried to make it into "a small sheet you can share" kind of app through assemblymade.com, and eventually as I tried to add more things bugs began to appear.

Then there was cycle6-spreadsheet:

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/spreadsheet-cycle6

If I remember well this was very similar to the other one, although made almost 2 years after. Despite having the same initial goal of the other (the multi-app custom database thing) it only yielded:

• Sidesheet, a Chrome extension that opened a spreadsheet on the side of the screen that you could use to make calculations and so on. It worked, but had too many bugs that probably caused me to give up entirely.

I'm not sure which of the two spreadsheets above powers http://sheets.alhur.es.

@ d34e832d:383f78d0

Introduction to Coin Control: Enhancing User Autonomy

Coin control is a feature available in certain Bitcoin wallets that allows users to select specific unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) when making a transaction. This granular level of control enables users to determine which "coins" (UTXOs) they want to spend, rather than relying on the wallet software to automatically select them. This capability is crucial for users who want to manage their transactions with precision, especially in terms of privacy and cost efficiency.

How Coin Control Works: The Mechanics

At the heart of Bitcoin transactions is the UTXO model, where each transaction consists of inputs (coins coming into your wallet) and outputs (coins leaving your wallet). Unlike traditional currencies, where funds are merged, Bitcoin treats each UTXO as a discrete unit. Coin control allows users to view and select these individual units for transactions.

Key Features of Coin Control: 1. Selection of Specific UTXOs: - Users can choose which UTXOs to use in a transaction, allowing for more deliberate financial decisions. This can be particularly useful in managing the size of transaction fees or optimizing the transaction's cost-efficiency.

1. Management of Wallet Fragmentation:

2. By selecting specific UTXOs, users can consolidate smaller outputs into larger ones, reducing wallet fragmentation. This not only simplifies future transactions but also can reduce transaction fees, as fewer inputs mean less data to process.

3. Enhancement of Privacy:

4. Coin control can enhance privacy by preventing unnecessary exposure of UTXOs, which could potentially link transactions and reveal user information. By carefully selecting UTXOs, users can avoid creating patterns that might be analyzed by blockchain observers.

Practical Applications and Benefits: Real-World Scenarios

The practical benefits of coin control are numerous, affecting both personal and professional use of Bitcoin. For instance, an individual concerned with transaction fees might use coin control to select UTXOs that minimize costs, especially during periods of network congestion when fees are higher.

Anecdotal Example: - Fee Optimization: Consider a Bitcoin user who has received multiple small payments over time. When sending a payment, they notice that using all these small UTXOs would result in a higher transaction fee due to increased data size. Using coin control, they can select fewer, larger UTXOs, thus reducing the fee and making the transaction more efficient.

Consider Now: Empowering Users Through Coin Control

Coin control is more than just a technical feature; it is a tool that empowers users to manage their Bitcoin holdings with greater autonomy and precision. By allowing users to choose specific UTXOs for transactions, it offers benefits in terms of cost efficiency, privacy, and financial organization. As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to evolve, features like coin control will become increasingly important in providing users with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of digital finance. By understanding and utilizing coin control, users can make more informed decisions, optimize their transaction strategies, and maintain greater control over their digital assets.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

hyperscript-go

A template rendering library similar to hyperscript for Go.

Better than writing HTML and Golang templates.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/hyperscript-go

See also

• tempreites

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

ZBD Social

If you have a closed system, a platform with users inside that login with name and password, it's not hard to introduce "social network" features into it. It was always the plan at ZEBEDEE to introduce such a thing, but much better than a closed social network just for ZBD users is if one such a thing can plug into the outer world of Nostr. Therefore ZBD Social is both an internal social network and a network that is open to the external world through Nostr.

The ZBD app already includes a custodial Bitcoin Lightning wallet and the target userbase doesn't want to care about keys and prefers email and password as the login mechanism to a trusted platform, therefore the ZBD Social is a custodial Nostr client. ZBD users also may be running their app on low-spec phones and low bandwidth, and since the key is already custodial it makes more sense to have all the Nostr logic for each ZBD user to be done on a ZEBEDEE server, instead of in the device itself, therefore the Social section on the ZBD app is just a thin client to an internal API.

Doing the correct thing given the constraints

In order for Nostr to scale, people must be able to host their notes in whatever relay they want and their followers must still be able to find these.

With that goal in mind, the ZBD Social server keeps track of all associations it can find -- in event hints, kind 3 and kind 10002 events, nprofile and nevent codes and the bare fact that a given event from someone was found in a given relay -- and uses that information to estimate the best possible set of relays to be used to fetch notes for each Nostr user, along with some variance to account for the fact that these sets are dynamic.

Whenever a ZBD user wants to read notes from any external Nostr user -- either because they've opened on that user's profile or because they follow that user and are browsing their classic "home feed" with notes from everybody they follow -- the ZBD Social backend will gather the best relays for that given user and open new subscriptions -- if there isn't already a subscription open -- for that user. If there are already other subscriptions open for other users in that same relay, the subscriptions will be merged in order to not spam external relays.

As they come in, notes from external users are cached in a way that they are automatically evicted as soon as memory is low and they haven't been accessed for a while. Browsing through old notes is done through paging these cached notes, indexed by author.

The wss://nostr.zbd.gg relay

The ZBD relay stores all events emitted by ZBD users. It runs strfry with a plugin that makes it interact with the rest of the backend. It is replicated accross multiple instances using strfry's native syncing capabilities and serves both as a normal relay interface to which external Nostr clients can talk normally and as a database that can be queried by the internal backend (turns out strfry is not only a Nostr relay, it is also a mechanism to turn LMDB into a cloud-native datastore).

This makes it easy to have a dedicated tab on the app with the feed of all the other ZBD users, which is effectively the same as browsing just wss://nostr.zbd.gg from any other Nostr client -- see, for example, Coracle, nostrrr, nostr.com or using the CLI: nak req -l 10 --stream wss://nostr.zbd.gg | jq.

It also contributes to the future world of Nostr in which niche relays can be browsed individually to enhance the experience of normal social interactions. For any given note, for example, you should be able to see "what are the ZBD users commenting about this" or "what are the gold enthusiasts saying" and so on.

Ideas for the future

Being a Nostr custodian in a platform that offers Lightning payment services and other third-party integrations for its existing userbase, it's easy to see how ZEBEDEE can start bridging Nostr into more things inside its domain.

For example, in the future ZEBEDEE could offer a way for game vendors to plug in a social networking layer into their games and that wouldn't be just an API to a proprietary platform, but a bridge to the real Nostr world that integrates seamlessly with the ZBD app for ZBD users, but works in Nostr-native mode for any Nostr user. Another use case could be powering social features for music and entertainment apps. Another very obvious use case is a NIP-58 badges system that games and other "gamified" services and apps can use.

In a not distant future, I imagine we'll see also integrations with the ZBD browser extension and NIP-07, Nostr features with the Telegram and Discord bots, and NIP-53 integration with ZBD Streamer (but I am not officially announcing anything).

@ d34e832d:383f78d0

The Genesis of BIP39: A New Era in Bitcoin Security

Introduced in 2013, BIP39 Proposal, or Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 39, provides a standardized method for generating mnemonic phrases Bip39, commonly known as seed phrases. These phrases are human-readable words that represent a cryptographic key used to access a user's cryptocurrency wallet. Before BIP39, managing cryptographic keys was a cumbersome process, often prone to user error. BIP39 simplified this process, making it easier for users to secure their assets without compromising security.

How BIP39 Works: The Science Behind Seed Phrases

BIP39 generates a seed phrase by converting a large, randomly chosen number into a sequence of words selected from a predefined list. This list typically consists of 2048 carefully chosen words, ensuring that the seed phrases are easy to remember and pronounce across different languages and cultures.

Key Aspects of BIP39 Seed Phrases: 1. Entropy and Security: The process starts with generating a high-entropy number, which ensures randomness and security. This number is then divided into segments and matched with corresponding words in the BIP39 word list. 2. Mnemonic Sentence: The resulting sequence of words, or mnemonic sentence, is easier to write down and remember than a long string of numbers and characters. This mnemonic can be used to recreate the cryptographic keys needed to access the wallet. 3. Checksum for Accuracy: BIP39 includes a checksum in the process, which helps to detect errors if a seed phrase is mistyped or written incorrectly. This feature adds an additional layer of security by ensuring that the mnemonic phrase is valid and complete.

Enhancing Wallet Security: The Impact of BIP39

BIP39 significantly enhances the security of Bitcoin wallets in several ways. Firstly, the use of mnemonic phrases makes it easier for users to back up and recover their wallets. In the event of device loss or failure, the user can simply enter the seed phrase on a new device to regain access to their funds.

Real-world Applications and Anecdotes: - User-Friendly Recovery: Many users have shared stories of how BIP39 has saved them from potentially losing their cryptocurrencies. For instance, after losing a phone, a user was able to recover their entire wallet by entering the seed phrase into a new device. - Enhanced Security: The mnemonic phrase acts as a single point of failure that, if lost or stolen, could compromise the wallet. However, BIP39's approach mitigates this risk through easy-to-implement security practices, such as storing the phrase in a secure location, using hardware wallets, or splitting the phrase for additional security.

Consider: The Enduring Legacy of BIP39

BIP39 has become a cornerstone of cryptocurrency security, providing a practical and reliable method for managing and securing digital assets. Its introduction marked a significant advancement in user experience and security, making cryptocurrencies more accessible and safer for the average user. As the world of digital currencies continues to evolve, the principles behind BIP39 remain crucial, reminding us of the importance of secure and user-friendly solutions in the technology we trust with our wealth.

Understanding SLIP39: Enhancing Bitcoin Wallet Security

In the realm of Bitcion security, an innovative proposal, represents a significant advancement in the generation and management of seed phrases for Bitcoin wallets. Lets further look into what SLIP39 is, how it improves upon previous methods, and its role in enhancing wallet security. Let's uncover how SLIP39 is shaping the future of secure digital asset management.

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SLIP39: A New Standard for Seed Phrase Security

SLIP39, short for "Shamir's Secret Sharing for Mnemonic Codes," is a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) that introduces a more secure and flexible way of managing seed phrases. Developed by SatoshiLabs, the creators of the Trezor hardware wallet, SLIP39 leverages Shamir's Secret Sharing scheme to split a seed phrase into multiple parts, providing both security and redundancy. This method not only enhances the security of wallet recovery but also simplifies the process for users.

Diagram illustrating the concept of Shamir's Secret Sharing.

How SLIP39 Works: The Mechanics of Seed Phrase Splitting

SLIP39 builds on the foundation of BIP39 by introducing a more advanced method of protecting and recovering seed phrases. It uses a cryptographic technique called Shamir's Secret Sharing, which allows a secret (in this case, the seed phrase) to be divided into multiple shares. A certain number of these shares, known as the threshold, is required to reconstruct the original secret.

Key Features of SLIP39: 1. Enhanced Security Through Share Distribution: - The seed phrase is split into several shares, and a predefined threshold of these shares is needed for wallet recovery. This means that even if some shares are lost or compromised, the seed phrase can still be reconstructed, ensuring the security of the digital assets.

1. Flexibility and Customization:

2. SLIP39 allows for customization of the number of shares and the recovery threshold, providing users with flexibility based on their security needs and risk tolerance. For example, a user can choose to have 10 shares with a threshold of 5, meaning any 5 shares can be used to recover the wallet.

3. User-Friendly Implementation:

4. Unlike traditional methods that require users to securely store a single seed phrase, SLIP39's approach reduces the risk associated with losing or misplacing the phrase. Users can distribute shares among trusted individuals or secure locations, enhancing overall safety.

Practical Applications and Benefits: Real-World Examples

SLIP39's practical applications are manifold, providing both individual users and organizations with robust solutions for securing digital assets.

Real-World Example: - Family and Organizational Security: A common use case for SLIP39 is in estate planning or organizational management, where multiple people may need access to a wallet. For instance, an individual can distribute shares among family members, ensuring that loved ones can access the assets if something happens to the owner. Similarly, businesses can use SLIP39 to distribute shares among key personnel, safeguarding corporate funds against the loss of any single individual's access.

Considering: The Future of Secure Wallet Management with SLIP39

SLIP39 represents a significant leap forward in the realm of cryptocurrency security. By providing a more secure, flexible, and user-friendly method of managing seed phrases, it addresses the limitations of previous standards and sets a new benchmark for the industry. As digital assets continue to grow in value and adoption, solutions like SLIP39 are crucial in ensuring that users can manage their wealth securely and efficiently. This proposal not only enhances the security of individual wallets but also offers a scalable solution for organizations and businesses. As we move towards a more digital financial landscape, innovations like SLIP39 will play a pivotal role in safeguarding our digital futures.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

How to fight a war without a State

(The title is misleading.)

I don't see how you can successfully resist an invasion without a centralized entity to coordinate things on a high level.

This is the argument used every time the topic of war is raised in a conversation that involved talks of anarchism and ending the State, and it did not fail to show up again in a conversation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine now.

Turns out there is a simple answer: if there was no State there would be no invasion because if you assume Ukrainian people wouldn't be able to organize a defense then you much more have to assume that the Russian people won't organize an attack.

The answer is unsatisfactory because there may be a Russian state organizing the attack while there is no Ukrainian State to organize the defense (because somehow the Ukrainian libertarians succeeded in ending the State just inside the borders of Ukraine). In this case it may be that the Russian State will occupy Ukraine and now the Ukrainian people will have to pay taxes and submit to psychopath politicians again, and Ukrainian libertarians will have another State to fight against.

The nature of the State

This situation, if it ever happened, would showcase again the nature of the State, which is, as described by Franz Oppenheimer, the apparatus formed by a group that conquered the another group. In this case the Russian high politicians and military conquered the people of Ukraine -- just like they had conquered the Russian peoples (or taken the control of the Russian government from others that conquered these peoples before).

What has changed?

If you compare the situation of Ukrainian people before the Ukrainian State ended and after the Russia dominated, has it worsen significantly? No. Maybe it is a little worse because the Russian State is worse than the Ukrainian State, but it could have been better if Ukraine had been conquered by some other country (could also have been worse).

What is to be done?

There is no real conclusion, i.e. I don't know what to do about Russia vs Ukraine. In this specific case maybe it makes sense to join the Ukraine government to defend against Russia -- if you think the Ukrainian government is so much better than the Russian. But to what point? I have no idea. The fight against the State will have to continue in any case.

Not necessarily

For the purposes of the reasoning above we granted that the Russian State would successfully invade and conquer Stateless Ukraine, but that is not certain. Many people have imagined ways in which a stateless society could fight back an organized army, and these ideas are not more absurd than some of the things we see in the real State vs State war.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Sócrates homofóbico

Trechos de episódios da Memorabilia, ou os Ditos e Feitos Memoráveis de Sócrates, contados por Xenofonte (na edição que tem um prefácio do glorioso Pessanha) que mostram Sócrates sempre aconselhando os jovens a não praticar o homossexualismo -- nem mesmo quando encontrassem alguém que fosse belo:

— Dize-me, Xenofonte, não tinhas Critobulo na conta de jovem sábio antes que de amoroso indiscreto, homem prudente antes que insensato e temerário?

— Certamente — conveio Xenofonte.

— Pois bem, considera-o, doravante como o mais impulsivo e arrojado dos homens, capaz de desafiar o ferro e afrontar o fogo.

— Que o viste fazer — indagou Xenofonte — para acusá-lo dessa maneira?

— Pois não teve a temeridade de furtar um beijo ao filho de Alcibíades, jovem de tamanha beleza e frescor?

— Ora, isso é ato de temerário! — retrucou Xenofonte. — Estou que eu próprio bem poderia cometer semelhante temeridade.

— Desgraçado! — exclamou Sócrates. — Imaginas o que te sucederia se beijasses uma pessoa jovem e bela? Ignoras que de livre, num momento te tomarias escravo? Que pagarias caro prazeres perigosos? Que já não terias animo de perquirir o que é o belo e o bem? Que haverias de dar cabeçadas como um louco?

— Por Hércules! — retrucou Xenofonte — que terrível poder emprestas a um beijo!

— Admira-te? — perguntou Sócrates. — Não sabes que as tarântulas, que não são maiores que a moeda de meio óbolo, com o só tocar os lábios causam ao homem dores tremendas e privam-no da razão?

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— Pois bem! — disse Critobulo — não usarei de coação com ninguém; se, pois, tens algo a dizer-me sobre como conquistar amigos, fala.

— Jamais — disse Sócrates — porás boca contra boca.

— Tranqüiliza-te. Não mais comprimirei os lábios a os lábios de ninguém, a menos que seja belo.

— Eis-te logo de saída, Critobulo, fazendo o contrário do que se deve. Os que são belos não suportam de bom grado essas liberdades, conquanto os tolerem os feios, convencidos de que os acham belos de alma.

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Eis como se devia julgar Sócrates. Cometeu ele próprio algum mal? Merece ser tratado como perverso. Porém, se jamais deixou de ser homem de bem, será justo acusá-lo de uma depravação que não lhe cabe? Se, embora abstêmio do mal, houvesse assistido sem desaprová-los aos atos vergonhosos dos outros, estaria no direito de censurá-lo. Mas, tendo percebido que Crítias, enamorado de Eutidemo, queria gozá-lo à maneira dos que abusam do próprio corpo para satisfazer seus desejos amorosos, forcejou por demovê-lo de semelhante intento, dizendo-lhe indigno de homem livre e indecente a amigo da virtude ir como mendicante solicitar algo do objeto amado, junto ao qual cumpre sobretudo fazer-se valer, e ainda mais solicitar coisa oprobriosa. Crítias fazia ouvidos de mercador e não dava de si. Então se pretende haver Sócrates dito ante numerosa assistência e em presença de Eutidemo que Crítias lhe parecia ter tai ou qual semelhança com um porco, pois queria esfregar-se em Eutidemo como se esfregam os porcos nas pedras. Desde então Crítias se tornou inimigo jurado de Sócrates. Nomeado um dos Trinta e monoteta com Cáricles, guardou-lhe rancor e proibiu por lei o ensino da oratória. Assim atacava Sócrates. Não tendo de que acusá-lo, carregava-o com a censura que de comum se ínsimula aos filósofos e caluniava-o junto à opinião pública.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Idéia de um sistema jurídico centralizado, mas com um pouco de lógica

um processo, é, essencialmente, imagino eu na minha ingenuidade leiga, um apelo que se faz ao juiz para que este reconheça certos fatos como probantes de um certo fenômeno tipificado por uma certa lei.

imagino então o seguinte:

uma petição não é mais um enorme documento escrito numa linguagem nojenta com referências a leis e a evidências factuais espalhadas segundo a (in) capacidade ensaística do advogado, mas apenas um esquema lógico - talvez até um diagrama desenhado (ou talvez quem sabe uma série de instruções compreensíveis por um computador?) - mostrando a ligação entre a lei e os fatos e os pedidos, por exemplo:

1. a lei tal diz que ninguém pode vender
2. fulano vendeu cigarros
3. é prova de que fulano vendeu cigarros ia foto tirada na rua tal no dia tal que mostra fulano vendendo cigarros
4. a mesma lei pede que fulano pague uma multa

este exemplo está ainda muito verborrágico, mas é só um exemplo simples. coisas mais complicadas precisariam de outras formas de expressão caso queiramos evitar as longas dissertações jurídicas em voga.

a idéia é que o esquema acima vale por si. um proto-juiz pode julgá-lo como válido ou inválido apenas pela sua lógica interna.

a outra parte do julgamento seria a ligação desse esquema com a realidade externa: anexados à petição viriam as evidências. no caso, anexada ao ponto 3 viria uma foto do fulano. ao ponto 1 também precisa ser anexado o texto da lei referida, mas isto pode ser feito automaticamente pelo número da lei.

uma vez que tenhamos um esquema lógico válido um outro proto-juiz, ou vários outros, pode julgar individualmente cada evidência: ver se o texto da lei confere com a interpretação feita no ponto 1, e se a foto anexada ao ponto 3 é mesmo a foto do réu vendendo cigarro e não a de um urso comendo laranjas.

cada um desses julgamentos pode ser feito sem que o proto-juiz tenha conhecimento do resto das coisas do processo: o primeiro proto-juiz não precisa ver a foto ou a lei, o segundo não precisa ver o esquema lógico ou a foto, o terceiro não precisa ver a lei nem o esquema lógico, e mesmo assim teríamos um julgamento de procedência ou não da petição ao final, o mais impessoal e provavelmente o mais justo possível.

a defesa consistiria em apontar erros no esquema lógico ou falhas no nexo entre a realidade é o esquema. por exemplo:

1. uma foto assim não é uma prova de que fulano vendeu, ele podia estar só passando lá perto.
2. ele estava de fato só passando lá perto. do que é prova este documento mostrando seu comparecimento a uma aula do curso de direito da UFMG no mesmo horário.

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perdoem-me se estiver falando besteira, mas são 5h e estou ainda dormindo. obviamente há vários pontos problemáticos aí, e quero entendê-los, mas a forma geral me parece bem razoável.

o que descrevi acima é uma proposta, digamos, de sistema jurídico que não se diferencia em nada do nosso sistema jurídico atual, exceto na forma (não no sentido escolástico). é também uma tentativa de compreender sua essência.

as vantagens desse formato ao atual são muitas:

• menos papel, coisas pra ler, repetição infinita de citações legais e longuíssimas dissertações escritas por advogados analfabetos que destroem a língua e a inteligência de todos
• diminuição drástica do tempo gasto por cada juiz em cada processo
• diminuição do poder de cada juiz (se cada ato de julgamento humano necessário em cada processo pode ser feito por qualquer juiz, sem conhecimento dos outros aspectos do mesmo processo, tudo é muito mais rápido, e cada julgamento desses pode ser feito por vários juízes diferentes, escolhidos aleatoriamente)
• diminuição da pomposidade de casa juiz: com menos poder e obrigações maus simples, um juiz não precisa ser mais uma pessoa especial que ganha milhões, pode ser uma pessoa comum, um proto-juiz, ganhando menos (o que possibilitaria até ter mais desses e aumentar a confiabilidade de cada julgamento)
• os juízes podem trabalhar da casa deles e a qualquer momento
• passa a ter sentido a existência de um sistema digital de processos (porque é ridículo que o sistema digital atual seja só uma forma de passar documentos do Word de um lado para o outro)
• o fim das audiências de conciliação, que são uma monstruosidade criada apenas pela necessidade de diminuir a quantidade de processos em tramitação e acabam retirandobo sentido da justiça (as partes são levemente pressionadas a ignorar a validade ou não das suas posições e fazer um acordo, sob pena de o juiz ficar com raiva delas depois)

milhares de precauções devem ser tomadas caso um sistema desses vá ser implantado (ahahah), talvez manter uma forma de julgamento tradicional, de corpo presente e com um juiz ou júri que tem conhecimento de toda situação, mas apenas para processos que chegarem até certo ponto, e assim por diante.

Ver também

• P2P reputation thing para um fundamento de um sistema jurídico anárquico.

@ d34e832d:383f78d0

In the annals of scientific history, few names stand as tall as John von Neumann. A polymath whose work spanned mathematics, physics, and computer science, von Neumann's contributions have left an indelible mark on modern technology and theory. His intellectual prowess and innovative ideas paved the way for advancements that continue to shape our world today. This essay explores von Neumann's life, his groundbreaking contributions, and the enduring legacy of his work.

Human action and the individual ,can be greater factors is the history of mathematics an computing.

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Early Life and Mathematical Brilliance

John von Neumann was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1903. A child prodigy, he displayed extraordinary intellectual abilities from a young age, mastering complex calculus by the age of eight. His early education set the stage for a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and innovation.

Contributions to Mathematics and Physics

Von Neumann's contributions to mathematics are vast and varied. He made significant advancements in functional analysis, set theory, and quantum mechanics. Notably, he was instrumental in the development of operator theory, which underpins quantum mechanics. His work laid the foundations for understanding the mathematical structures of quantum theory, contributing to the formulation of the von Neumann algebra.

Key Contributions: 1. Functional Analysis: Development of the mathematical framework that supports quantum mechanics. 2. Quantum Mechanics: Contributions to the mathematical formulation of quantum theory, particularly in the context of quantum measurement.

The Birth of Game Theory

One of von Neumann's most influential contributions was the creation of game theory, a mathematical framework for analyzing strategic interactions. His seminal book, "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior," co-authored with economist Oskar Morgenstern, laid the foundation for this field. Game theory has since become a crucial tool in economics, political science, and beyond, helping to understand competitive situations in various domains.

Impact of Game Theory: - Economics: Insights into market behavior and competitive strategies. - Political Science: Analysis of conflict and cooperation between nations. - Computer Science: Algorithms for decision-making and artificial intelligence.

Pioneering Work in Computer Science

Perhaps von Neumann's most well-known legacy lies in computer science. He proposed the architecture for a stored-program computer, known as the von Neumann architecture. This model forms the basis of most computer systems today, delineating a structure where the data and program are stored in the same memory space. His ideas revolutionized the development of digital computers, enabling the advancement of computing technology.

Von Neumann Architecture: - Central Processing Unit (CPU): Executes instructions. - Memory: Stores both data and instructions. - Input/Output Mechanisms: Interfaces for user interaction and data processing.

Legacy and Influence

John von Neumann's work transcends multiple disciplines, demonstrating a rare ability to intersect theoretical understanding with practical application. His ideas continue to influence contemporary research and technological advancements. From quantum computing to economic modeling, von Neumann's contributions remain foundational.

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Consider: The Lasting Impact of John von Neumann

John von Neumann's genius lies not only in his profound contributions across various fields but also in his ability to foresee the future applications of his work. His pioneering efforts in mathematics, game theory, and computer science have fundamentally shaped our understanding of these disciplines. As we continue to explore new frontiers in technology and science, the legacy of von Neumann's work serves as a guiding light, illuminating the path for future generations of thinkers and innovators.

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@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Maybe this isn't as dramatic as the title suggests, but I felt like I had a dad victory today (temporarily). I was taking my daughter to our neighborhood pool for the first time this year. It's outside and they send us the code to get in every summer. Supposedly, the code was the same this year as last year.

When we got there, the pool was empty, which is pretty normal for our pool, especially in the morning. I tried the code on one of the gates. No luck. A neighbor passing by with her dog tells me that some of the gates aren't working, but she's not sure which ones. She also isn't sure if the code is the same as last year.

So we go check the other two gates. Still no luck and the kid's getting impatient. I tell her we have to go home. Tears, crying, etc.

So, fuck it, I scale the fence and open the gate from the inside. Problem solved.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/626288

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Gŕecia Antiga e homosexualismo cultural

Se na Grécia Antiga o homosexualismo era tão comum, não seria isso um argumento definitivo contra o pessoal que hoje afirma que o homosexualismo é natural e que 0.1%/1%/10%/25% das pessoas são homosexuais por natureza?

Se na Gŕecia Antiga havia muito mais de 25% de homosexuais e aqui até ontem eram menos de 1% (e agora subiu?) isso tudo não é evidência fortíssima de que o homosexualismo é mesmo cultural?

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

This just popped into my head and I wanted to see what people thought about it. If you're not familiar with Locals, and I barely am, it's a platform where content creators can build their own communities without risk of being shutdown by a central administrator.

It seems like territories can offer that. Why not buy a territory and use it to house or share your content and facilitate discussions about it? Those territories could then also function as ongoing AMA's.

Am I missing something or is this fairly low-hanging fruit?

Obviously, I'm talking about people with reasonably large followings who are publishing books and articles and podcasts and tv appearances and so forth.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/626275

@ 2063cd79:57bd1320

GBTCs derzeitge Fondsstruktur

Warum sollte sich jemand für einen Spot ETF oder Spot Fund interessieren, wenn er stattdessen einfach direkt Bitcoin kaufen kann? Private Anleger und auch kleinere Investoren haben tatsächlich nicht viel davon. Kleine Vorteile gibt es, z.B. dass man sein komplettes Portfolio in einem Brokerage Account zusammenfassen kann, dass man keine Wallets oder Exchange Accounts öffnen und verwalten muss (und sich um seine Keys kümmern muss), seine Steuern einfacher zusammenfassen kann, und je nach Land sogar seinen Rentenfonds mit Bitcoin bestücken kann, etc. Die wirklichen Interessenten für Bitcoin ETFs sind allerdings institutionelle Investoren, die Regularien und Regeln unterworfen sind, und oft auch in Mengen handeln, die ein einfacher Account bei einem Exchange nicht zulassen, und welche ohne Weiteres zwischen verschiedenen Wertpapieren handeln wollen.

Im Falle von Grayscales GBTC handelt es sich um ein Finanzvehikel, das es Anlegern ermöglicht, Anteile an einem Trust zu handeln, der große Pools von bitcoins hält. Also ein indirektes Investment in Bitcoin, das nicht unbedingt mit dem Preis von Bitcoin korrelieren muss, man also Bitcoin mit einem Premium (Aufschlag) oder einem Discount (Abschlag) handeln kann - der große Unterschied zu einem Spot ETF.

Und genau hier wird es interessant, denn Grayscales GBTC ist ein sogenannter Closed-End Fund (CEF) oder Geschlossener Fonds, der zunächst kleineren geschlossenen Gruppen von Investoren Anteile an GBTC unter der Bedingung, diese 6 Monate lang nicht handeln zu können, verkauft hat. Darüber hinaus sind diese Anteile in GBTC momentan nicht aufkündbar (Redemption) und das einzige Unternehmen, das Aktien erstellen und vom Markt entfernen kann, ist Grayscale selbst. Dies führt dann dazu, dass zeitweilig dem Markt zu viele oder zu wenige Aktien zur Verfügung stehen und dadurch der Aktienkurs mit einem Abschlag oder Aufschlag auf den Wert der aktuellen Bitcoin Bestände, also der Basiswert (auch als Native Asset Value (NAV) bezeichnet) gehandelt wird.

Das war lange Zeit kein Problem, sondern eher eine Besonderheit, da GBTC lange mit einem durchschnittlich 20%igen Premium gehandelt wurde, aufgrund des Fehlens anderer verfügbarer Optionen für den US-Markt innerhalb der Grenzen und Regeln des traditionellen Finanzsystems. Also, wenn man damals Grayscale 1 US Dollar gegeben hat und dann 6 Monate und 1 Tag gewartet hat, konnte man diesen Anteil mit einem saftigen Aufschlag zu etwa 1,20 US Dollar verkaufen. Das bedeutet, dass die GBTC Anteile mit einem Aufschlag von ca. 20 % gegenüber dem Wert von Bitcoin im Fonds, den jede Aktie zu diesem Zeitpunkt repräsentierte, gehandelt wurden.

Der Prozentsatz stieg und fiel und war bis Ende 2021 immer positiv. Bei Anlagen dieser Art fragt man sich natürlich, wo der Haken ist? 20% durchschnittlicher Rendite klingen zu schön, um wahr zu sein. Naja, die Rendite, also das Premium, war nur so lange positiv, bis es das halt nicht mehr war und aus dem Premium ein Discount wurde. Die Gründe können unterschiedlicher Art sein, z.B. das Investoren Anteile verkauft haben, um anderweitig zu investieren, die Management Gebühren von Grayscale zu hoch und damit unattraktiv wurden, oder schlicht Grayscale zu viele Aktien emittiert haben. Jedenfalls scheint es mehr Verkäufer als Interessenten zu geben.

GBTC wird jetzt mit einem 30%igen Abschlag auf den Wert des Fonds gehandelt (teilweise wurden ATLs von negativ 35% erreicht). Niemand will Grayscale 1 US Dollar geben und 6 Monate später 0,70 US Dollar dafür zurück bekommen. Also werden diese Aktien momentan nicht mehr großartig gehandelt und auch ein Rückkauf durch Grayscale ist ausgeschlossen, denn wir erinnern uns, dass Anteile in GBTC momentan nicht aufkündbar sind.

Das ist einer der Gründe, warum Grayscale mehr als je zuvor daran gelegen ist von einer CEF Struktur zu einer ETF Struktur, die frei am Markt gehandelt werden kann, zu wechseln. Das würde viele Investoren anlocken, die sich Anteile und damit Bitcoin zu 70% des Preises kaufen wollen. Die steigende Nachfrage würde den Preis sehr wahrscheinlich hochtreiben, bis der Fonds bzw. die Aktien am freien Markt schlussendlich wieder den Wert (NAV) der zugrunde liegenden bitcoins widerspiegeln. Das Problem ist, wie oben erwähnt, die SEC, die das Ganze nicht unterstützen will.

GBTC als ETF und Auswirkungen auf Anleger / Bitcoin

Grayscale hat schon vor der hohen Abschlagssituation Anträge auf eine Umwandlung in einen ETF bei der SEC eingereicht. Allerdings bedeutet die jetzige Situation eine fast 4,5 Milliarden US Dollar schwere Incentive (13,1 Milliarden x 30%), da dieses Anlegergeld eingeschlossen ist und nur durch eine Umwandlung, wie oben beschrieben, oder durch eine Aufkündigung der Anteile seitens Grayscale freigesetzt werden kann. Letzterer Fall ist für Grayscale natürlich undenkbar, da diese dann den Anlegern die zugrunde liegenden bitcoins zum Discount verkaufen und die Differenz schlucken müssten. Außerdem befinden sie sich momentan in der komfortablen Position immer noch Management Gebühren in Höhe von 2% p.A. einzusammeln, obwohl nicht viel getan wird.

Als Reaktion hat Grayscale also angekündigt, dass sie planen den CEF Trust in einen Bitcoin ETF umzuwandeln. Anfang des Jahres gab das Unternehmen bekannt, zu 100% entschlossen zu sein, GBTC in einen ETF umzuwandeln. Grayscale hat seitdem ETF-Spezialisten und hochkarätige Anwälte eingeschaltet und sogar damit gedroht die SEC zu verklagen, sollten diese einer Umwandlung nicht stattgeben.

Crypto Fund Grayscale is Hiring Specialists For An ETF

U.S. SEC rejects Grayscale’s spot bitcoin ETF

Die SEC hatte eine Entscheidung über den Antrag bereits im Dezember 2021 und daraufhin wieder im Februar 2022 mit der Begründung verschoben, man wolle die Vorschläge gründlich prüfen. Die Entscheidung der SEC stand dann eigentlich zum 7. Juli an, allerdings kündigte die SEC überraschend gestern Abend ein weiteres Mal an, den Vorschlag abzulehnen. Grayscale haben bereits angekündigt die SEC auf Willkür und Verstoß gegen das Wertpapierbörsengesetz von 1934zu verklagen.

Grayscale sues SEC after rejection of bid to turn the largest bitcoin fund into an ETF

Doch was sind die Vorbehalte, die die SEC und ihr Vorsitzender Gary Gensler gegenüber einem Bitcoin Spot ETF haben?

Die Beweggründe der SEC und ETFs in anderen Ländern

Die offizielle Begründung der SEC sind Bedenken in Bezug auf Marktmanipulation, Betrug, Liquidität und Transparenz. Die hauptauschlaggebenden Argumente sind mangelnde Preiserkennung durch hohe Volatilität, wiederum erzeugt durch einige unbekannte große Accounts und die steigende Zahl der Derivate-Produkte rund um Bitcoin, sowie die vielen unregulierten Börsen. Besonders letztere würde die SEC gerne unter ihre Kontrolle bringen. Das bedeutet bis Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken (oder andere große US Börsen) sich nicht bei der SEC registrieren und sich der SEC Regulierung unterwerfen, ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass die SEC einen Spot ETF genehmigen wird. Dieses Argument ist schwer haltbar, da große Börsen wie Binance, FTX, oder BitMart nicht in den USA registriert sind, und kombiniert ein Vielfaches der in den USA beheimateten Börsen an Handelsvolumen umsetzen.

[T]here’s a lot of work to be done to really protect the investing public. - Gary Gensler, SEC Chair

Vorgeschoben wird also bei alledem immer der Schutz der Anleger. Ob dies eine schlüssige Argumentation ist, darf man ruhig in Frage stellen. Denn ein Bitcoin Spot ETF würde vielen Anlegern erlauben Bitcoin in ihr Portfolio aufzunehmen, ohne größeren Spekulationen ausgesetzt zu sein, wie das jetzt mit schon zugelassenen Produkten der Fall ist.

Die SEC hat nämlich schon z.B. Bitcoin Futures ETFs, wie BITO oder BTF, genehmigt, die nicht direkt den Bitcoin Wert abbilden, sondern in Futures-Kontrakte des Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) investieren und so die Wertentwicklung abbilden. Anders als bei einem Spot ETF wird hier also in ein US Dollar Produkt investiert und nicht in einen Fonds der tatsächliche "physische" bitcoins hält. Aus der Sicht der SEC erleichtert dies zwar die Regulierung dieser Produkte, doch ist ein solches Investment für Anleger nicht so interessant, weil nicht wirklich in Bitcoin investiert wird und somit keine direkte Diversifizierung entsteht.

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance

Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance

Andere Beispiele sind BITQ, ein ETF der in "Unternehmen, die die neue Kryptoökonomie anführen" investiert, oder RIGZ, ein ETF der sich auf Aktien von Unternehmen, die im Bitcoin Mining tätig sind, konzentriert. Auch diese ETFs sind also Investitionen in US Dollar und haben mit dem effektiven Wert von Bitcoin selbst nichts zu tun.

Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance

Viridi Bitcoin Miners ETF (RIGZ) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance

Der "Anleger" kann also kaum im Mittelpunkt stehen. Auch wenn man das öffentliche Feedback betrachtet, dass die SEC auf seine Ankündigung Meinungen in der Öffentlichkeit einzusammeln, wird man feststellen, dass das Gros der Interessenten klar für eine Umwandlung von GBTC in einen Spot EFT, bzw. die generelle Einführung eines Spot ETFs, ist.

In Ländern wie Australien und Kanada sind Spot ETFs vom Regulator schon zugelassen worden.

Australia Approves Long-Awaited Spot Bitcoin ETF

Canada Approves the First Bitcoin ETF

Und auch in Deutschland, der Schweiz und Liechtenstein gibt es Produkte, die den Spot Preis von Bitcoin (und anderen Shitcoins) abbilden, allerdings werden diese Papiere oft an kleineren und/oder Technologie-Börsen angeboten

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Warum interessiert uns die SEC, warum sprechen wir über ETFs in den USA, wo wir doch jetzt wissen, dass es in anderen Ländern Bitcoin Spot ETFs gibt, warum halten wir uns mit GBTC auf?

Die jüngsten Turbulenzen rund um Unternehmen wie 3AC, Celsius oder BlockFi könnten dazu führen, dass die SEC eine Genehmigungen kritischer betrachtet. Allerdings würde ein Spot ETF dazu führen, dass große Investoren ein vernünftiges Mittel hätten, um ihrem Durst nach Investionen in Bitcoin nachzukommen und somit Investitionen in undurchsichtige Produkte verlangsamen. Dies hätte durchaus mehrere positive Effekte für Bitcoin als Finanzprodukt zur Folge, denn die Vertrauenseinbußen, die es in den letzten Wochen hinnehmen musste, könnten so gelindert werden und massive Finanzinjektionen von Großanlegern in Bitcoin wären dem Preis natürlich auch zuträglich.

Ein Spot ETF würde Kosten senken und damit den Zugang amerikanischer Investoren erleichtern und sicherer machen. Das Schlüsselwort hier ist "amerikanisch", denn obwohl es in Europa, Kanada, Australien, usw. schon Spot ETFs gibt, würde sich der Zulauf der amerikanischen Rieseninvestoren natürlich deutlich bemerkbarer machen. Kurz gesagt: Eine Zulassung würde konservativeren, traditionellen und gebundenen, vor allem aber amerikanischen, Anlegern die Tür öffnen, was sich insgesamt positiv auf Bitcoin, seinen Ruf und seine Legitimität und den Preis auswirken würde.

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In diesem Sinne, 2... 1... Risiko!‌

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

A Canção do Cavaleiro Bolsonaro

em meio ao caos, às trevas e à imundície da esquerda atroz, que a pó a nação reduz surge um guerreiro cavalgando as planícies pra libertar a Terra de Santa Cruz

tendo sua liberdade ameaçada o povo prostra-se em pia oração deus lhes envia com armadura prateada o herói Jair, dos justos o bastião

Bolsonaro mito Bolsonaro mito defende a liberdade neste conflito

à serpente vermelha quem resiste? são China e ONU seus braços de terror mas Bolsomito com sua espada em riste rasga o inimigo com a audácia de um condor

por sua honra não se acovarda ou falha imbuído está de intrepidez viril vá Bolsonaro, vença essa batalha! destrua o mal, salve o povo do Brasil

Bolsonaro mito Bolsonaro mito defende a liberdade neste conflito

Letra de Paulo Kogos, cantada por ele em https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1BBY9e-__s

@ 2063cd79:57bd1320

Fundamentals

Was wir gerade beobachten können, ist dass der Preis und die Fundamentaldaten auseinander driften. Die Fundamentaldaten unterfüttern sozusagen das Wertversprechen und damit den empfundenen Langzeitwert von Bitcoin. Bitcoins Wertversprechen, also die Features, die Bitcoin einzigartig und unersetzbar machen, habe ich schon öfter erwähnt. Eine kurze Erinnerung:

Bitcoin ist: * dezentral, * zensurresistent, * erlaubnislos, * diskriminiert nicht, * ein weltweit liquides Zahlungsmittel, * ein extrem knappes Zahlungsmittel, * einfach selbst zu verwahren.

Die Fundamentaldaten, die diese Features auch analysierbar und begreifbar machen schauen wir uns her mal an:

Hashrate: Die Hashrate des Bitcoin Netzwerks hat sich in den letzten drei Jahren mehr als vervierfacht. Erst letzte Woche hat sie noch ein ATH erzielt und beweist damit, dass das Netzwerk und damit Bitcoin noch nie so sicher war wie derzeit.

Transaktionskosten: Die durchschnittliche Transaktionsgebühr liegt derzeit unter 1,50 USD, was eine große Verbesserung zu den 10 USD im Juli 2021 darstellt. Und wenn man es mit dem zweiten Preis ATH in 2021 vergleicht, stellt man keinen Anstieg der Gebühren fest. Das zeigt, dass das Netzwerk viel besser arbeitet und Bitcoin Transaktionen trotz hoher Kurse vergleichbar geringe Gebühren verlangen und Bitcoin so zu einem liquiden Zahlungsmittel werden lassen.

Kostenbasis: Schaut man sich die Kostenbasis von kurzfristigen und langfristigen HODLern an (mehr oder weniger als 155 Tage), erkennt man, dass sich diese beiden Werte fast kreuzen. Dies weißt darauf hin, dass langfristige Bitcoin Besitzer in der dominierenden Position sind. Das ist ein Zeichen für steigendes Vertrauen ins Netzwerk und sinkende Spekulation im Vergleich zu Investionen als Wertanlage.

If this persists and STH crosses below LTH, historically has marked generational Bitcoin buying opportunities. We are getting close. — Will Clemente (@WClementeIll) June 9, 2022

Einziger Wehrmutstropfen ist, dass die aktuelle Kurssituation negative Effekte auf die Erträge aus dem Mining hat. Wir erinnern uns:

Das Ziel der meisten Miner ist es so viele bitcoins wie möglich in der Bilanz zu halten, wegen der großen möglichen positiven Preisentwicklung. So wird versucht nur die Anzahl an bitcoins zu verkaufen, die nötig ist, um die Kosten zu decken, denn jeder bitcoin, der heute nicht verkauft wird, könnte morgen schon ein vielfaches wert sein.

Allerdings führen negative Preisentwicklungen dazu, dass sich viele Miner gezwungen sehen ihre produzierten bitcoins sofort zu verkaufen, um laufende Kosten zu decken und in Teilen führt es sogar dazu, dass das Mining für manche Operationen komplett unwirtschaftlich wird. Die Hashrate nimmt nicht nennenswert ab, und damit bleibt auch die Difficulty relativ stabil hoch. Das bedeutet allerdings nicht, dass das Netzwerk leidet, sondern dass es eine Kräfteverschiebung unter den Minern gibt und dass das Entladen von bitcoins zu vergleichsweise niedrigem Kurs nicht dazu beiträgt eine Kehrtwende in der Preisentwicklung einzuleiten.

Final Capitulation Fears Mount as Miners Send Record Amounts of Bitcoin to Exchanges Bitcoin miners appear to be preparing to offload large amounts of the asset as flows to exchanges peaked this week.

Schaut man sich nur die Fundamentals an, sieht Bitcoin gesünder aus, als jemals zuvor. Das System schnurrt wie ein Kätzchen und es wird Block nach Block nach Block produziert, ganz wie im Protokoll vorgeschrieben. Das zeigt, dass der aktuelle Preisverfall von Bitcoin weitgehend auf die Verstrickungen in der Altcoin-DeFi-Welt und Veränderungen in der Makroökonomie zurückzuführen ist.

Altcoins / DeFi

Seit einem der ersten Posts propagiere ich den Gedanken, dass Bitcoin nicht Crypto ist und es essentiell wichtig ist, diesen Unterschied in die breite Masse zu tragen. Altcoins werden von der Öffentlichkeit als Ersatz für Bitcoin angesehen, obwohl sie es nicht sind. Die meisten Leute denken fälschlicherweise, dass Bitcoin alt und langsam ist, obwohl die genau ausbalancierte Verteilung der Kräfte (Skalierbarkeit, Sicherheit, Dezentralität) von Bitcoin der einzige Weg ist, um diese Art von Technologie langfristig und wie beworben funktionieren zu lassen. Solange Altcoins als Substitute für Bitcoin gesehen werden, wird die schlechte Presse, die diese erzeugen unweigerlich auch auf Bitcoin zurückfallen. Also egal, ob es der (bisher) verunglückte Versuch Ethereums ist, den angekündigten "Merge" durchzuführen, oder andere sogenannte dezentrale Protokolle ihre Blockchain anhalten und zurückdrehen; die erzeugte Skepsis und das Misstrauen wird in den Köpfen vieler auf Bitcoin zurückfallen, da diese nicht differenzieren können. Damit Bitcoin den nächsten Schritt in seiner Entwicklung machen kann, müssen die Menschen verstehen, dass Altcoins kein Ersatz für Bitcoin sind.

Viel wurde schon geschrieben zu Terra/LUNA, Celsius, 3AC, Babel und jetzt auch BlockFi.

Bei den erst kürzlich in die Schlagzeilen geratenen Altcoin/Crypto Finanzdienstleistern, ist es nicht nur die wahrgenommene schlechte Reputation, die sich negativ auf das Image von Bitcoin und damit stellvertretend auf den Preis auswirkt, sondern die tatsächlichen Verstrickungen am Rande von Bitcoin mit den angebotenen Produkten eben dieser Dienstleister.

Alle diese Altcoin Projekte halten große Mengen an bitcoins (zusammen Bitcoin im Wert von mehreren Milliarden US Dollar). Ohne auf die jeweilgen Produkte in großem Detail einzugehen, benutzen diese Finanzprodukte verschiedenartige Hebel, um ihrer Kundschaft die versprochen hohe Yields zu ermöglichen (so in der Theorie). Bitcoin wird dort genutzt, um die Liquidität ihrer Reserven zu erhöhen, oder um mit den eingelagerten bitcoins anderweitig zu noch höherem Risiko zu spekulieren. Doch mit dem Verfall vieler der zugrunde liegenden gehebelten Produkte und Renditemöglichkeiten, drohen diese Anbieter entweder zahlungsunfähig und nicht mehr existent zu werden oder sind es schon. Dies bedeutet im Umkehrschluss, dass diese bankrotten Anbieter gezwungen werden ihre Sicherheitsreserven zu liquidieren und somit bitcoins in Milliardenhöhe unter Wert auf den Markt werfen. Es wird sich zeigen wie viele dieser Art gehebelter Projekte noch existieren, bevor die große Säuberung vorbei ist.

Konjunktur

Bitcoin ist eigentlich wie gemacht, um in der aktuellen Makroumgebung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Lage zu gedeihen. Wir haben Rekordinflation, unter anderem ausgelöst durch anhaltende Lieferengpässe bei Energie und Rohstoffen (Chinas Zero COVID Politik, Krieg in der Ukraine, etc.), Medienhysterie und politikgemachte Geldentwertung durch Flutung. Eine Rezession steht uns viel näher bevor, als die meisten Menschen vermuten und das generelle Gefühl einer Sicherheitskultur ist stark gedämpft, sowie das Verbrauchervertauen auf dem tiefsten Stand seit 19 Jahren. Viele Menschen sorgen sich darum, ob ihr Erspartes am Ende des Jahres noch so viel wert ist wie heute, ob sie ihren Job behalten, und wenn, ob das bezogene Gehalt seine Kaufkraft weiter verliert. Dieser Abschwung der Wirtschaft mit der einhergehenden Sorge um den Arbeitsplatz sorgt für einen Vertrauensabbau gegenüber der Arbeits- und Wirtschaftspolitik. Die steigenden Preise mit der einhergehende Sorge um den finanziellen Wohlstand führen zu einem Vertrauensverlust in die Finanzpolitik und das Geldsystem. Vertrauen ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil stabiler und friedlicher Wirtschaftstätigkeit und wenn Vertrauen verloren geht, führt dies zu erhöhten Reibungen im Wirtschaftsgeschehen. Im schlimmsten Fall sogar zu Aufständen und Chaos (wie anfang des Jahres in Kasachstan zu beobachten).

Es ist demnach nur selbstverständlich, dass jeder Mensch nach einer Alternativlösung sucht, um sein Erspartes/Vermögen sicher, einfach und ohne finanzielle Verluste einzulagern. Womit wir bei Bitcoins Features wären, die genau diese Alternative bieten. Denn die einzige Lösung, die Sicherheit und Autonomität bei minimalem bzw. komplett ohne Vertrauen schafft, ist Bitcoin. Das dezentrale Netzwerk kann niemals von einer einzelnen Person, einer oder mehreren Regierungen, einem Unternehmen oder einer Koalition kontrolliert werden. Oder was sagt der CEO von Bitcoin dazu?

Doch warum verhält sich Bitcoin derzeit nicht, wie der sichere Hafen, für den es gehalten wird? Aktuell beobachten wir ein Phänomen, in dem der Bitcoin Kurs vollständig an die der Aktienverläufe gekoppelt ist. Diese hohe Korrelation könnte daran liegen, dass dieselben Personen und Gruppen, die in traditionelle Anlageklassen investieren in den letzten Jahren maßgeblich in Bitcoin investiert haben. Durch die von COVID ausgelöste Geldflutung haben Institutionen und Spekulaten angefangen in alternative Anlagen zu investieren, schlicht weil die traditionellen schon komplett überkauft waren. Diese gleichen Gruppen benutzen für ihre Finanzanalyse und Risikokalkulation natürlich weitgehend auch die gleichen Diagramme und Modelle, was zu einem identischen Kauf-/Verkaufsverhalten an den Märkten gesorgt hat. Diese Korrelation wird in langer Sicht aber brechen müssen, da Bitcoin fundamental andere Eigenschaften aufweist, als die traditionellen Anlageklassen. Bitcoin ist eine Anlageklasse für sich und lässt sich nicht mit traditionellen Modellen bewerten.

Desweiteren muss Bitcoin viel größere Akzeptanz in der breiten Bevölkerung finden, um in diesen makroökonomischen Umgebungen sein volles Potenzial zu entfalten. Nehmen wir als Beispiel die Türkei. Der Lira hat in den letzten 3 Jahren über 80% seines Wertes gegenüber dem US Dollar und dem EURO verloren. Also eine perfekte Situation, um sich mit seinen ersparten Lira Bitcoin zu kaufen, um a) weiteren Wertverlusten vorzubeugen und b) sein Vermögen weiteren Übergriffen der staatlichen Finanzpolitik zu entziehen. Allerdings ist die Akzeptanz scheinbar noch nicht soweit vorangeschritten, wie wir das in unserer Bitcoin-affinen Blase gerne denken. Denn für viele ist Bitcoin immer noch magisches Internetgeld aus dem Weltall, dessen zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen nicht verstanden sind. Dies ruft eine gewisse Skepsis hervor und erzeugt Zugangshemniss. Viele sehen lieber zu, wie die Ersparnisse reduziert werden, als sie im Internet gegen eine neumodische Währung umzutauschen. Darüber hinaus ist Bitcoin ideologisch sehr stark mit dem Internet verknüpft, was in unserer westlichen Welt synonym für Informations- und Meinungsfreiheit steht, in vielen Ländern dieser Welt allerdings vom Staat zensiert und kontrolliert wird. Dies und der schlichte Fakt, dass sich mit Bitcoin (noch) keine Lebensmittel und andere Grundversorgungsmittel kaufen lassen, führen dazu, dass Bitcoins Preis zurzeit hauptsächlich durch institutionelle und große Spekulanten und nicht durch die vielen kleinen Privatnutzer beeinflusst wird.

Neben Inflationsschutz und Verteidigung vor Über­grif­fig­keit gibt es aber immer noch die Investionsthese von Bitcoin und vielleicht kann der niedrige Kurs einige Privatanleger schließlich doch überzeugen in Bitcoin zu investieren, vorausgesetzt die Rezession wirkt sich nicht zu stark auf die Privatvermögen aus. Besonders in den USA, aber auch vermehrt in Europa befindet sich das verfügbare Einkommen auf dem Rückzug, da steigende Kreditkartenschulden und steigende Zinsen bei der Rückzahlung von Krediten dazu führen werden, dass sich Otto Normal und Lieschen Müller in den nächten Monaten wahrscheinlich nicht in der Lage sein werden Bitcoin zu kaufen. Dieses Kaufkraftdefizit kann jedoch wiederum durch die große Menge vermögender Privatpersonen ausgeglichen werden, die nach einem sicheren Hafen suchen, sollte sich die Rezession weiter verschärfen und sich Staaten weiter so wenig zukunftsorientiert und übergriffig verhalten.

Es ist nicht 100%ig klar, welcher der drei oben genannten Gründe hauptauschlaggebend für die Preisentwicklung ist - wahrscheinlich ist es eine historisch einmalige Kombination von allen. Was festzuhalten bleibt, ist dass Bitcoin durch einen Entkopplungs- und Sanierungsprozess geht.

Es ist als wäre Bitcoin ein Organismus, der in der Lage ist sich selbst zu heilen. Bitcoin strampelt sich gerade von den äußeren Einwirkungen frei, wie ein Nashorn, das seine Parasiten abschüttelt. Bitcoin wurde in den Sumpf der Finanzspiele hineingezogenen, die aus der traditonellen Finanzwelt rund um Fiat bekannt sind. Während das Fiatsystem jedoch von den Spielemachern (Zentralbanken) mit Rettungspaketen und Bailouts künstlich am Leben gehalten wird, sobald die Regeln überschritten werden und die Spieler für ihre Regelverstöße disqualifiziert werden müssten, gibt es bei Bitcoin keine höhere Instanz, die über dem Spiel steht und die Regeln zugunsten der unfair Spielenden ändern kann.

Die Regeln sind klar, sie sind fest im Protokoll verankert. Das zeigt auch, dass die heute so gängigen unsoliden und nicht nachhaltigen Finanzpraktiken nur funktionieren, wenn das Spielfeld manipuliert und nicht eben ist. Bitcoin mit seinem unkorrumpierbaren Protokoll hingegen schwemmt diese Praktiken raus. Das ist zwar schmerzlich für viele Teilnehmer und diejenigen, deren legitimen Geschäfte auch finanziell leiden (wie z.B. Mining Operations), jedoch ist ein "sauberer", "seriöser" und "stabiler" Bitcoin in Zukunft diese Phase der schmerzhaften Konsolidierung wert. Außerdem müssen wir uns immer wieder ins Gedächtnis rufen, dass Bitcoin erst seit 12 Jahren existiert. In dieser kurzen Zeit reift das System Prozesse, Praktiken und Konzepte aus, die im traditionellen Finanzsystem über hunderte von Jahren erfunden, getestet und weiterentwickelt wurden.

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In diesem Sinne, 2... 1... Risiko!‌

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Personagens de jogos e símbolos

A sensação de "ser" um personagem em um jogo ou uma brincadeira talvez seja o mais próximo que eu tenha conseguido chegar do entendimento de um símbolo religioso.

A hóstia consagrada é, segundo a religião, o corpo de Cristo, mas nossa mente moderna só consegue concebê-la como sendo uma representação do corpo de Cristo. Da mesma forma outras culturas e outras religiões têm símbolos parecidos, inclusive nos quais o próprio participante do ritual faz o papel de um deus ou de qualquer coisa parecida.

"Faz o papel" é de novo a interpretação da mente moderna. O sujeito ali é a coisa, mas ele ao mesmo tempo que é também sabe que não é, que continua sendo ele mesmo.

Nos jogos de videogame e brincadeiras infantis em que se encarna um personagem o jogador é o personagem. não se diz, entre os jogadores, que alguém está "encenando", mas que ele é e pronto. nem há outra denominação ou outro verbo. No máximo "encarnando", mas já aí já é vocabulário jornalístico feito para facilitar a compreensão de quem está de fora do jogo.

@ b4403b24:83542d4e

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/626120

@ b804f68e:2fb0fa1f

One key video series on YouTube that helped me wake up and break out of my own matrix was the Hidden Secrets of Money series by Mike Maloney. It helped me understand what money is, and helped me better distinguish between currency and money, as well as taught me about the scam that is fiat 'money'.

Another more recent addition would be any of Dr. Ekberg's health videos. He made me realize the importance of fixing insulin resistance and carb dependency by working on becoming metabolically flexible and insulin sensitive.

What video(s) helped you break out of your matrix?

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/625952

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

idea: Patreon, but simple, and without subscription

Basically instead of a subscription and becoming member of something, you just get a forum for your inner circle and people get lnurl-pay codes they can use to donate. Some amount of donations is required to remain in the group (like x per month), but if you donate more than that on the beginning you can stay until your credits expire.

Every time someone donates a notice is posted in the group page.

Perhaps that could be an @lntxbot feature.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Objavte, ako avatari a pseudonymné identity ovplyvňujú riadenie kryptokomunít a decentralizovaných organizácií (DAOs). V tejto prednáške sa zameriame na praktické fungovanie decentralizovaného rozhodovania, vytváranie a správu avatarových profilov, a ich rolu v online reputačných systémoch. Naučíte sa, ako si vytvoriť efektívny pseudonymný profil, zapojiť sa do rôznych krypto projektov a využiť svoje aktivity na zarábanie kryptomien. Preskúmame aj príklady úspešných projektov a stratégie, ktoré vám pomôžu zorientovať sa a uspieť v dynamickom svete decentralizovaných komunít.

@ b2caa9b3:9eab0fb5

Yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster. I started by diving into my digital past. Using Google Takeout, I extracted my photos and organized them into date-specific folders. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane. After spending more time than expected organizing my digital life, I decided to take a break and grab a simple lunch at a local eatery. It's always interesting to experience the local vibe and enjoy affordable meals.

On my way back, I decided to finally get a SIM card. Much to my surprise, the price had doubled compared to just a few weeks ago. Is this the infamous "Mzungu" price? The price difference is making me reconsider my network provider. I might switch to avoid potential overcharges, but I haven't made a decision yet.

The eye problem, which has been bothering me for two days, put a damper on my plans for a relaxing video session at the evening. It was painful and blurry, so I opted for some soothing music instead.

Today, I started with a cold shower, hoping to alleviate the eye discomfort. It helped a bit, but the irritation persists. I suspect an infection and might need to visit a pharmacy. Given it's Sunday, I'm unsure about pharmacy hours and potential extra charges.

While I wait for my eye to improve, I've resumed downloading photos from Google and giving my public travel photo gallery another shot. Monetization through platforms is something I'm exploring seriously. The world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies has opened up new possibilities for generating income while traveling. Starting my journey in March 2017, I had no idea how to sustain myself financially while traveling. Generating income was a big question mark. Thanks to the people who've shared their knowledge, I've come a long way.

Speaking of travel, the weather here at the foot of Kilimanjaro is surprisingly chilly and cloudy. Who would have thought I'd need a fleece jacket in Africa? Google insists it's 27 degrees Celsius, but my body disagrees.

To add to my tech adventures, I installed the Ungoogled Chromium browser today. It's an interesting concept, but I'm still undecided about making the switch from Firefox. The world of open-source software has evolved significantly since my last deep dive, and I'm slowly rediscovering my way around. After years of using a Chromebook, I decided to switch back to Linux. I picked up a used ThinkPad and installed Fedora on it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the best Linux desktop environment – Gnome or KDE Plasma? And if you have any insights on platforms for generating income, please share them in the comments.

That's all for now. I'll keep you updated on my eye situation and my tech explorations. Until next time!

Unsure what photo to include, I decided to snap a quick shot of my workspace for today

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Online

Profile Page | Support Page

Feel free to support me by sending some sats via the lightning network to rubenstorm@sats.mobi

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

TiddlyWiki remoteStorage

TiddlyWiki is very good and useful, but since at this time I used multiple computers during the week, it wouldn't work for me to use it as a single file on my computer, so I had to hack its internal tiddler saving mechanism to instead save the raw data of each tiddler to remoteStorage and load them from that place also (ok, there was in theory a plugin system, but I had to read and understand the entire unformatted core source-code anyway).

There was also a server that fetched tiddlywikis from anyone's remoteStorage buckets (after authorization) and served these to the world, a quick and nice way to publish a TiddlyWiki -- which is a problem all people in TiddlyWiki struggle against.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/tiddlywiki-remotestorage
• https://tiddly.alhur.es/

See also

• hledger-web
• LessPass remoteStorage

@ 41fa852b:af7b7706

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” — Mary Shelley

Things are getting very interesting.

If you've managed to watch any of the Nashville Bitcoin conferences it would be very difficult not to be feeling incredibly bullish right now. Are we hitting the 'suddenly' stage of the 'gradually, then suddenly' saying? The political interest of Bitcoin in the US is miles ahead of where the UK is, but we do seem to follow them here for better or worse (mostly worse). Will we see a future Keir Starmer at a UK Bitcoin conference begging for your vote with promises of greater state adoption?

The truth is we don't need government approval, we're doing just fine without them. In fact we are doing fine despite their continued opposition. And why wouldn't they oppose Bitcoin, after all, 'turkeys don't vote for Christmas'. I have a feeling Christmas is just around the corner.

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Upcoming Bitcoin Meetups

Happening this week...

1. Gloucestershire Bitcoin: This months meetup focuses on those new to Bitcoin and will introduce local businesses to the future of digital payments. Click the link for more details and to book a free ticket. Tuesday 30th 18:30.
2. Canterbury Bitcoin: Meeting this month at the Millers Arms in Canterbury at 7 PM on Tuesday the 30th of July. An informal meetup to discuss Bitcoin and chat.
3. Leamington Spa: Meetups on the last Tuesday of each month at 7 PM. You'll find them this month at the White Horse, CV32 5PZ on the 30th.
4. BitDevs - London: London BitDevs is a community of Bitcoin enthusiasts and professionals interested in discussing and participating in the research and development of Bitcoin and related protocols. Socratic seminars in Westminster, London. Doors open at 6:45 PM. This month on the 31st. More info here.
5. Brighton Bitcoin: Building a bitcoin community in the Brighton & Hove area. A regular informal meetup happens every last Wednesday of the month. This month on the 31st.
6. Berkshire Bitcoiners: Berkshire Bitcoiner's next meetup is on Thursday 1st August at 7.00 pm, at The Volunteer, Church St, Theale, Reading RG7 5BX. Feedback on the recent film night showing of Dirty Coin, and discussion of a plan to screen God Bless Bitcoin—also some feedback from Nashville.
7. Lincolnshire Bitcoin: Lincolnshire Bitcoin meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM in the Treaty of Commerce, Lincoln, LN5 7AF. Open to all, from OG's to newcomers.
8. Bitcoin Walk - Edinburgh**: Every Saturday they walk around Arthur's Seat in this historic city. Join them at 12 pm to chat about all things Bitcoin and keep fit.
9. Leeds Bitcoin Network: The first Sunday of every month the Leeds Bitcoin Network meet at the Global Tribe Cafe, LS1 6LG at 1 PM.

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New Businesses Accepting Bitcoin

Two new businesses are now set up and ready to go in Tooting Market and loads more to come there.

• Greek Mama's Bakery: Hand-made artisan greek pies. Baked fresh to order, perfect finger food for parties, or ideal for a nutritious and wholesome weeknight meal. Now available for bitcoin at Tooting Market
• Get Juiced!: A super-popular juice bar and vegan cafe, serving cold pressed juices, vegan food and vegan cakes.Find them on Instagram here and right in the center of Tooting Market.

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Upcoming Special Events

• Tooting Market Bitcoin Event: Get your tickets now for this free event. The lineup is looking good with some great talks throughout the evening and plenty of merchants now accepting bitcoin. Guest speakers included Ray Youssef, Jordan Walker, Nicholas Gregory, Hashley Giles, Bridge2Bitcoin and many more. It all starts at 6 PM on the 7th August.
• Bitcoin - The change you've been waiting for: Mark your calendars for August 31 at 10:30 am for "The Change You’ve Been Waiting For" at Glasgow University Union. This seminar, costing £10, focuses on Bitcoin's transformative potential. With Bitcoin impacting individuals and businesses globally, understanding it is crucial. Guest speaker Allen Farrington will share his expertise, making this event perfect for both seasoned investors and the Bitcoin-curious. Don't miss this opportunity to explore how Bitcoin can shape your financial future.

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Get Involved

• Volunteer Opportunities: Bridge2Bitcoin is actively seeking volunteers who share our passion for merchant adoption. We'd be delighted to connect if you're eager to contribute. Reach out to us on Twitter or through our website.
• Start Your Own Meetup: Interested in launching a Bitcoin meetup? We’re here to support you every step of the way. We’ve assisted numerous UK Bitcoin meetups in getting started. Get in touch via Twitter.
• Telegram users: You might find our Telegram Channel another useful way to keep up-to-date with UK meetups.
• Feedback and Suggestions: We value your input! Please share your ideas on how we can enhance this newsletter.

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Consider subscribing on Substack HERE

Get out and support the meetups where you can and stay tuned for more updates next week!

Simon.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Google, Uber e ostracismo

Pensando sobre como o Google poderia implementar uma solução "pure software" para o problema dos programinhas de carona paga -- já que agora parece que o Waze vai virar tipo um Uber -- me vi pensando em que poderia haver punições bastante severas e para-legais para infratores dos regulamentos internos do serviço.

Digamos, por exemplo, que é proibido pelas regras do serviço que o motorista ou o passageiro agridam um ao outro de qualquer maneira. Para ser qualificado como um potencial usuário, tanto o motorista quanto o passageiro devem ser usuários de longa data dos serviços do Google, possuir um email no Gmail com trocentas mensagens sendo recebidas e enviadas todos os dias, um enorme arquivo, coisas guardadas no Google Drive e/ou outros serviços do Google sendo usados. Caso o sujeito agrida o motorista, roube-o ou faça qualquer outra coisa não-permitida, o Google pode, imediatamente, cancelar seu acesso a todos os serviços. Depois, com mais calma, pode-se tentar alguma coisa por meio da justiça estatal, mas essa punição seria tão imediata e tão incondicional (bom, poderia haver um julgamento interno dentro do Google para avaliar o que aconteceu mesmo, mas pronto, nada de milanos na justiça penal e depois uma punição fajuta qualquer.)

Esse tipo de punição imediata já desencorajaria a maioria dos infratores, imagino eu. É a própria idéia anarquista da punição por ostracismo. O cara fica excluído da sociedade até que a sociedade (neste caso, o Google) decida perdoá-lo por qualquer motivo. A partir daí é possível imaginar que os outros vários "silos" deste mundo -- Facebook, Vivo, Diamond Mall, SuperNosso -- possam também aderir, caso concordem com o julgamento do Google, e vice-versa, e também impedirem o infrator de usar os seus serviços.

Mas o grande tchans disto aqui é que esse processo pode começar com um único agente, desde que ele seja grande o suficiente para que a sua ostracização, sozinha, já seja uma punição quase suficiente para o infrator.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

sitios.xyz

Based on sitio, this was supposed to be the successor of Websites For Trello.

From the old landing page:

sítios.xyz is a hosted static site generator based on sitio. It is capable of building websites by fetching content from other services and arranging them in pages. It can be used to build any sort of blog or site.

It supports fetching content from Trello, Dropbox, Evernote and arbitrary URLs. You can use just one of these providers, or mix them all in your site.

How it works

Basically, you just have to point to an URL of the site, like /posts, for example, and assign a provider to it. The trello:list provider, for example, will fetch all cards on a Trello list and create a page for each of them under /posts/:card-name and finish with an index, optionally paginated, on /posts itself.

You can repeat this process for other content from other sources, or even just point the root URL, / to some provider and be done with it.

Fast

The generated websites are super fast, as they're served as HTML files directly, no server-rendering involved. Also, due to sitio capabilities, they have instant navigation enabled by default, which uses JavaScript to fetch just the content of the pages, instead of performing a full reload.

Customization

Since the way pages are rendered -- their HTML structure -- is standardized by classless, custom theming and styling is simple to do using just CSS and JavaScript, and there are some themes available already for you to choose.

If you want custom HTML or a provider for which we don't have support yet, that's easy to add. Please let's us know using the chat below! No lock-in

The code that renders the sites is just a very minimal sitio script with the plugins you choose. These are all open-source and you can export your site and render it by yourself if you don't want to use sítios.xyz anymore.

• http://web.archive.org/web/20180416143134/https://sitios.xyz/
• https://github.com/fiatjaf/sitios.xyz

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

idea: Rumple

a payments network based on trust channels

This is the description of a Lightning-like network that will work only with credit or trust-based channels and exist alongside the normal Lightning Network. I imagine some people will think this is undesirable and at the same time very easy to do (such that if it doesn't exist yet it must be because no one cares), but in fact it is a very desirable thing -- which I hope I can establish below -- and at the same time a very non-trivial problem to solve, as the history of Ryan Fugger's Ripple project and posterior copies of it show.

Read these first to get the full context:

1. Ryan Fugger's Ripple
2. Ripple and the problem of the decentralized commit
3. The Lightning Network solves the problem of the decentralized commit
4. Parallel Chains

Explanation about the name

Since we're copying the fundamental Ripple idea from Ryan Fugger and since the name "Ripple" is now associated with a scam coin called XRP, and since Ryan Fugger has changed the name of his old website "Ripplepay" to "Rumplepay", we will follow his lead here. If "Ripplepay" was the name of a centralized prototype to the open peer-to-peer network "Ripple", now that the centralized version is called "Rumplepay" the peer-to-peer version must be called "Rumple".

Now the idea

Basically we copy the Lightning Network, but without HTLCs or channels being opened and closed with funds committed to them on multisig Bitcoin transactions published to the blockchain. Instead we use pure trust relationships like the original Ripple concept.

And we use the blockchain commit method, but instead of spending an absurd amount of money to use the actual Bitcoin blockchain instead we use a parallel chain.

How exactly -- a protocol proposal attempt

It could work like this:

The parallel chain, or "Rumple Chain"

1. We define a parallel chain with a genesis block;
2. Following blocks must contain a. the ID of the previous block; b. a list of up to 32768 entries of arbitrary 32-byte values; c. an ID constituted by sha256(the previous block ID + the merkle root of all the entries)
3. To be mined, each parallel block must be included in the Bitcoin chain according as explained above.

Now that we have a structure for a simple "blockchain" that is completely useless, just blocks over blocks of meaningless values, we proceed to the next step of assigning meaning to these values.

The off-chain payments network, or "Rumple Network"

1. We create a network of nodes that can talk to each other via TCP messages (all details are the same as the Lightning Network, except where mentioned otherwise);
2. These nodes can create trust channels to each other. These channels are backed by nothing except the willingness of one peer to pay the other what is owed.
3. When Alice creates a trust channel with Bob (Alice trusts Bob), contrary to what happens in the Lightning Network, it's A that can immediately receive payments through that channel, and everything A receives will be an IOU from Bob to Alice. So Alice should never open a channel to Bob unless Alice trusts Bob. But also Alice can choose the amount of trust it has in Bob, she can, for example, open a very small channel with Bob, which means she will only lose a few satoshis if Bob decides to exit scam her. (in the original Ripple examples these channels were always depicted as friend relationships, and they can continue being that, but it's expected -- given the experience of the Lightning Network -- that the bulk of the channels will exist between users and wallet provider nodes that will act as hubs).
4. As Alice receive a payment through her channel with Bob, she becomes a creditor and Bob a debtor, i.e., the balance of the channel moves a little to her side. Now she can use these funds to make payments over that channel (or make a payment that combines funds from multiple channels using MPP).
5. If at any time Alice decides to close her channel with Bob, she can send all the funds she has standing there to somewhere else (for example, another channel she has with someone else, another wallet somewhere else, a shop that is selling some good or service, or a service that will aggregate all funds from all her channels and send a transaction to the Bitcoin chain on her behalf).
6. If at any time Bob leaves the network Alice is entitled by Bob's cryptographic signatures to knock on his door and demand payment, or go to a judge and ask him to force Bob to pay, or share the signatures and commitments online and hurt Bob's reputation with the rest of the network (but yes, none of these things is good enough and if Bob is a very dishonest person none of these things is likely to save Alice's funds).

The payment flow

1. Suppose there exists a route Alice->Bob->Carol and Alice wants to send a payment to Carol.
2. First Alice reads an invoice she received from Carol. The invoice (which can be pretty similar or maybe even the same as BOLT11) contains a payment hash h and information about how to reach Carol's node, optionally an amount. Let's say it's 100 satoshis.
3. Using the routing information she gathered, Alice builds an onion and sends it to Bob, at the same time she offers to Bob a "conditional IOU". That stands for a signed commitment that Alice will owe Bob an 100 satoshis if in the next 50 blocks of the Rumple Chain there appears a block containing the preimage p such that sha256(p) == h.
4. Bob peels the onion and discovers that he must forward that payment to Carol, so he forwards the peeled onion and offers a conditional IOU to Carol with the same h. Bob doesn't know Carol is the final recipient of the payment, it could potentially go on and on.
5. When Carol gets the conditional IOU from Bob, she makes a list of all the nodes who have announced themselves as miners (which is not something I have mentioned before, but nodes that are acting as miners will must announce themselves somehow) and are online and bidding for the next Rumple block. Each of these miners will have previously published a random 32-byte value v they they intend to include in their next block.
6. Carol sends payments through routes to all (or a big number) of these miners, but this time the conditional IOU contains two conditions (values that must appear in a block for the IOU to be valid): p such that sha256(p) == h (the same that featured in the invoice) and v (which must be unique and constant for each miner, something that is easily verifiable by Carol beforehand). Also, instead of these conditions being valid for the next 50 blocks they are valid only for the single next block.
7. Now Carol broadcasts p to the mempool and hopes one of the miners to which she sent conditional payments sees it and, allured by the possibility of cashing in Carol's payment, includes p in the next block. If that does not happen, Carol can try again in the next block.

Why bother with this at all?

1. The biggest advantage of Lightning is its openness

   It has been said multiple times that if trust is involved then we don't need Lightning, we can use Coinbase, or worse, Paypal. This is very wrong. Lightning is good specially because it serves as a bridge between Coinbase, Paypal, other custodial provider and someone running their own node. All these can transact freely across the network and pay each other without worrying about who is in which provider or setup.

   Rumple inherits that openness. In a Rumple Network anyone is free to open new trust channels and immediately route payments to anyone else.

   Also, since Rumple payments are also based on the reveal of a preimage it can do swaps with Lightning inside a payment route from day one (by which I mean one can pay from Rumple to Lightning and vice-versa).

2. Rumple fixes Lightning's fragility

   Lightning is too fragile.

   It's known that Lightning is vulnerable to multiple attacks -- like the flood-and-loot attack, for example, although not an attack that's easy to execute, it's still dangerous even if failed. Given the existence of these attacks, it's important to not ever open channels with random anonymous people. Some degree of trust must exist between peers.

   But one does not even have to consider attacks. The creation of HTLCs is a liability that every node has to do multiple times during its life. Every initiated, received or forwarded payment require adding one HTLC then removing it from the commitment transaction.

   Another issue that makes trust needed between peers is the fact that channels can be closed unilaterally. Although this is a feature, it is also a bug when considering high-fee environments. Imagine you pay $2 in fees to open a channel, your peer may close that unilaterally in the next second and then you have to pay another $15 to close the channel. The opener pays (this is also a feature that can double as a bug by itself). Even if it's not you opening the channel, a peer can open a channel with you, make a payment, then clone the channel, and now you're left with, say, an output of 800 satoshis, which is equal to zero if network fees are high.

   So you should only open channels with people you know and know aren't going to actively try to hack you and people who are not going to close channels and impose unnecessary costs on you. But even considering a fully trusted Lightning Network, even if -- to be extreme -- you only opened channels with yourself, these channels would still be fragile. If some HTLC gets stuck for any reason (peer offline or some weird small incompatibility between node softwares) and you're forced to close the channel because of that, there are the extra costs of sweeping these UTXO outputs plus the total costs of closing and reopening a channel that shouldn't have been closed in the first place. Even if HTLCs don't get stuck, a fee renegotiation event during a mempool spike may cause channels to force-close, become valueless or settle for very high closing fee.

   Some of these issues are mitigated by Eltoo, others by only having channels with people you trust. Others referenced above, plus the the griefing attack and in general the ability of anyone to spam the network for free with payments that can be pending forever or a lot of payments fail repeatedly makes it very fragile.

   Rumple solves most of these problems by not having to touch the blockchain at all. Fee negotiation makes no sense. Opening and closing channels is free. Flood-and-loot is a non-issue. The griefing attack can be still attempted as funds in trust channels must be reserved like on Lightning, but since there should be no theoretical limit to the number of prepared payments a channel can have, the griefing must rely on actual amounts being committed, which prevents large attacks from being performed easily.

3. Rumple fixes Lightning's unsolvable reputation issues

   In the Lightning Conference 2019, Rusty Russell promised there would be pre-payments on Lightning someday, since everybody was aware of potential spam issues and pre-payments would be the way to solve that. Fast-forward to November 2020 and these pre-payments have become an apparently unsolvable problem[^thread-402]: no one knows how to implement them reliably without destroying privacy completely or introducing worse problems.

   Replacing these payments with tables of reputation between peers is also an unsolved problem[^reputation-lightning], for the same reasons explained in the thread above.

4. Rumple solves the hot wallet problem

   Since you don't have to use Bitcoin keys or sign transactions with a Rumple node, only your channel trust is at risk at any time.

5. Rumple ends custodianship

   Since no one is storing other people's funds, a big hub or wallet provider can be used in multiple payment routes, but it cannot be immediately classified as a "custodian". At best, it will be a big debtor.

6. Rumple is fun

   Opening channels with strangers is boring. Opening channels with friends and people you trust even a little makes that relationship grow stronger and the trust be reinforced. (But of course, like it happens in the Lightning Network today, if Rumple is successful the bulk of trust will be from isolated users to big reliable hubs.)

Questions or potential issues

1. So many advantages, yes, but trusted? Custodial? That's easy and stupid!

   Well, an enormous part of the current Lightning Network (and also onchain Bitcoin wallets) already rests on trust, mainly trust between users and custodial wallet providers like ZEBEDEE, Alby, Wallet-of-Satoshi and others. Worse: on the current Lightning Network users not only trust, they also expose their entire transaction history to these providers[^hosted-channels].

   Besides that, as detailed in point 3 of the previous section, there are many unsolvable issues on the Lightning protocol that make each sovereign node dependent on some level of trust in its peers (and the network in general dependent on trusting that no one else will spam it to death).

   So, given the current state of the Lightning Network, to trust peers like Rumple requires is not a giant change -- but it is still a significant change: in Rumple you shouldn't open a large trust channel with someone just because it looks trustworthy, you must personally know that person and only put in what you're willing to lose. In known brands that have reputation to lose you can probably deposit more trust, same for long-term friends, and that's all. Still it is probably good enough, given the existence of MPP payments and the fact that the purpose of Rumple is to be a payments network for day-to-day purchases and not a way to buy real estate.

2. Why would anyone run a node in this parallel chain?

   I don't know. Ideally every server running a Rumple Network node will be running a Bitcoin node and a Rumple chain node. Besides using it to confirm and publish your own Rumple Network transactions it can be set to do BMM mining automatically and maybe earn some small fees comparable to running a Lightning routing node or a JoinMarket yield generator.

   Also it will probably be very lightweight, as pruning is completely free and no verification-since-the-genesis-block will take place.

3. What is the maturity of the debt that exists in the Rumple Network or its legal status?

   By default it is to be understood as being payable on demand for payments occurring inside the network (as credit can be used to forward or initiate payments by the creditor using that channel). But details of settlement outside the network or what happens if one of the peers disappears cannot be enforced or specified by the network.

   Perhaps some standard optional settlement methods (like a Bitcoin address) can be announced and negotiated upon channel creation inside the protocol, but nothing more than that.

[^thread-402]: Read at least the first 10 messages of the thread to see how naïve proposals like you and me could have thought about are brought up and then dismantled very carefully by the group of people most committed to getting Lightning to work properly. [^reputation-lightning]: See also the footnote at Ripple and the problem of the decentralized commit. [^hosted-channels]: Although that second part can be solved by hosted channels.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Jan Kolčák pochádza zo stredného Slovenska a vystupuje pod umeleckým menom Deepologic. Hudbe sa venuje už viac než 10 rokov. Začínal ako DJ, ktorý s obľubou mixoval klubovú hudbu v štýloch deep-tech a afrohouse. Stále ho ťahalo tvoriť vlastnú hudbu, a preto sa začal vzdelávať v oblasti tvorby elektronickej hudby. Nakoniec vydal svoje prvé EP s názvom "Rezonancie". Učenie je pre neho celoživotný proces, a preto sa neustále zdokonaľuje v oblasti zvuku a kompozície, aby jeho skladby boli kvalitné na posluch aj v klube.

V roku 2023 si založil vlastnú značku EarsDeep Records, kde dáva príležitosť začínajúcim producentom. Jeho značku podporujú aj etablované mená slovenskej alternatívnej elektronickej scény. Jeho prioritou je sloboda a neškatulkovanie. Ako sa hovorí v jednej klasickej deephouseovej skladbe: "We are all equal in the house of deep." So slobodou ide ruka v ruke aj láska k novým technológiám, Bitcoinu a schopnosť udržať si v digitálnom svete prehľad, odstup a anonymitu.

V súčasnosti ďalej produkuje vlastnú hudbu, venuje sa DJingu a vedie podcast, kde zverejňuje svoje mixované sety. Na Lunarpunk festivale bude hrať DJ set tvorený vlastnou produkciou, ale aj skladby, ktoré sú blízke jeho srdcu.

Podcast Bandcamp Punk Nostr website alebo nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskuep0qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3xamnwvaz7tmsw4e8qmr9wpskwtn9wvhsz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjme0qyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnddakj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8qunfd4skctnwv46z7qpqguvns4ld8k2f3sugel055w7eq8zeewq7mp6w2stpnt6j75z60z3swy7h05

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

How to attack Bitcoin, Anthony Towns' take

In his Bitcoin in 2021 blog post, Anthony Towns lists some strategies that can be used to attack Bitcoin without it looking like an attack:

1. Big companies centralizing funding on them. If a big company like Square, for example, pays most of the development work it can pretty much control the focus of the project and what PRs will be prioritized and what will be ostracized (and they could even make it look like multiple companies are doing it when in fact all the money and power is coming from a single one).
2. Attackers "willing to put in the time to establish themselves as Bitcoin contributors", which is an effort some individuals may be doing, and a big company like Square can fund.
3. Creating changes that seem to improve things but are ultimately unnecessary and introducing deliberate vulnerabilities there. All these vulnerabilities are super hard to spot even by the most experienced reviewers.
4. Creating more and more changes, and making them all pristine and correct, exhausting all the patience of reviewers, just to introduce a subtle bug somewhere in the middle. The more changes happening, more people will need to review. This gets much worse if for every 10 people 6 or 7 are being funded by the same attacker entity to just generate more noise while purposefully leaving the review work to the other, unpaid honest contributors.
5. Moving code around for the sake of modularization gives an attacker the opportunity to change small things without anyone noticing, because reviewers will be looking at the changes expecting them to be just the same old code moved to other places, not changed. Even harder to spot.
6. Another way of gaining control of the repository and the development process is to bribe out honest developers into making other things, so they'll open up space for malicious developers. For example, if a company like Square started giving grants for Bitcoin Core developers to relax a little and start working on cooler projects of their own choices while getting paid much more, they would very likely accept it.
7. Still another way is to make the experience of some honest contributors very painful and annoying or ostracizing them. He cites what might be happening today with LukeDashjr, one of the most important and competent Bitcoin Core developers, who doesn't get any funding from anyone, despite wanting it and signing up for grant programs.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Sistemas legais anárquicos

São poucos os exemplos de sistemas legais claramente anárquicos que nós temos, e são sempre de tempos muito remoto, da idade média ou por aí. Me vêm à cabeça agora o sistema islandês, o somaliano, o irlandês e as cortes dos mercadores da Europa continental.

Esses exemplos, embora sempre pareçam aos olhos de um libertário convicto a prova cabal de que a sociedade sem o Estado é capaz de fazer funcionar sistemas legais eficientes, complexos e muito melhores e mais baratos do que os estatais, a qualquer observador não entusiasmado vão parecer meio anacrônicos: são sempre coisas que envolvem família, clãs, chefes de família, comunidades pequenas -- fatores quase sempre ausentes na sociedade hoje --, o que dá espaço para que a pessoa pense (e eu confesso que isso também sempre me incomodou) que nada disso funcionaria hoje, são bonitos, mas sistemas que só funcionariam nos tempos de antigamente, o Estado com seu sistema judiciário é a evolução natural e necessária de tudo isso e assim por diante.

Vale lembrar, porém, que os exemplos que nós temos provavelmente não surgiram espontamente, eles mesmos foram o resultado de uma evolução lenta mas constante do sistema legal das suas respectivas comunidades. Se não tivessem sido interrompidos pela intervenção de algum Estado, esses sistemas teriam continuado evoluindo e hoje, quem sabe, seriam redes complexas altamente eficientes, que, por que não, juntariam tecnologias similares à internet com segurança de dados, algoritmos maravilhosos de reputação e voto, tudo decentralizado, feito por meio de protocolos concorrentes mas padronizados -- talvez, se tivessem tido um pouquinho mais de tempo, cada um desses sistemas legais anárquicos teria desenvolvido meios de evitar a conquista ou a concorrência desleal de um Estado, ou pelo menos do Estado como nós o conhecemos hoje.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

My personal experience (as a complete ignorant) of the blocksize debate in 2017

In the beginning of 2017 I didn't know Bitcoin was having a "blocksize debate". I had stopped paying attention to Bitcoin in 2014 after reading Tim Swanson's book on shitcoineiry and was surprise people even care about Bitcoin still while Ethereum and other fancy things were around.

My introduction to the subject was this interview with Andrew Stone and Andrew Clifford from Bitcoin Unlimited (still don't know who these guys are). I've listened to it and kinda liked the conspiracy theory about "a group of developers trying, against miners and users, to control the whole ecosystem by not allowing blocks to grow" (actually, if you listen to this interview that announced the creation of Blockstream and the sidechains whitepaper it does sound like a government agent bribing all the Core developers into forming a consortium that will turn Bitcoin into an Ethereum-like shitcoin under their control -- but this is just a useless digression).

Some time later I listened to this interview with Jimmy Song and was introduced to two hard forks and conspiracies and New York Agreement and got excited because I didn't care about Bitcoin (I'm ashamed to remember this feeling) and wanted to see things changing, people fighting, Bitcoin burning, for no reason. Oddly, what I grasped from the interview was that Jimmy Song was defending the agreement and expecting everybody to fulfill it.

When the day actually come and "Bitcoin Cash" forked I looked at it with pity because it looked clearly a failure from the beginning, but I still cheered for it a bit, still not knowing anything about the debate, besides the fact that blocks were bigger on BCH, which looked like a very reductionist explanation to me.

"Of course it's not just making blocks bigger, that would be too simple, they probably have a very complex plan I'm not apt to understand", I thought.

To my surprise the entire argument was actually just that: bigger blocks bigger blocks. I came to that conclusion by listening to tomwoods.com/1064, a debate in which reasonable arguments faced childish claims. That debate gave me perspective and was a clear, undisputed win from Jameson Lopp against Roger Ver.

Actually some time before that I had listened to another Tom Woods Show episode thinking it was going to be an episode about Bitcoin, but in fact it was just propaganda about a debate I had almost forgotten. And nothing about Bitcoin, everything about "Bitcoin Cash" and how there were two Bitcoins, one legitimate and the other unlegitimate.

So, from the perspective of someone that came to the debate totally fresh and only listens to the big-blocker arguments for a long time, they still don't convince anyone with some common sense (as I would like to think of myself), they just sound like mad dogs and everything goes against themselves.

---

Fast forward to the present and with much more understanding of the issues in place I started digging some material from 2016-2017 about the debate to try to get more context, and found this ridiculous interview with Mike Hearn. It isn't a waste of time to listen to it if you're not familiar with the debate from that time.

As I should have probably expected from my experience with Epicenter.tv, both the interviewers agree with Mike Hearn about his ridiculous claims about how (not his words) we have to subsidize the few thousand current Bitcoin users by preventing fees from increase and there are no trade-offs to doing that -- and even with everybody agreeing they all manage to sound stupid. There's not a single phrase that is defendable in the entire interview, no criticisms make any sense, it makes me feel bad for the the guy as he feels so self-assured and obviouslyright.

After knowing about these and other adventures of stupid people with high influences in the Bitcoin world trying to impose their idiocy on others it feels even more odd and unexpected to find Bitcoin in the right track. Generally in politics the most dumb wins, but apparently not in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a miracle.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

A entrevista da Flávia Tavares com o Olavo de Carvalho

Não li todas as reclamações que o Olavo fez, mas li algumas. Também não li toda a matéria que saiu na Época, porque não tive paciência, mas assisti aos dois vídeos da entrevista que o Olavo publicou.

Tendo lido primeiro as muitas reclamações do Olavo, esperei encontrar no vídeo uma pessoa falsa, que fingiu-se de amigável para obter informações que usaria depois para destruir a imagem do Olavo, mas não vi nada disso.

Claro que ela poderia ter me enganado também, se enganou ao Olavo. Mas na matéria em si, também não vi nada além de sinceridade -- talvez não excelência jornalística, mas nada que eu não esperasse de qualquer matéria de qualquer revista. Flavia Tavares não entendeu muitas coisas, mas não fingiu que não entendeu nada, foi simples e honestamente Flavia Tavares, como ela mesma declarou no final do vídeo da entrevista: "olha, eu não fingi nada aqui, viu?".

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O mais importante de tudo isso, porém, são as partes da matéria que apresentam idéias difíceis de conceber, como as que Olavo tem sobre o governo mundial ou a disseminação da pedofilia. Em toda discussão pública ou privada, essas idéias são proibidas. Muita gente pode concordar que a esquerda não presta, mas ninguém em sã consciência admitirá a possibilidade de que haja qualquer intenção significativa de implantação de um governo mundial ou da disseminação da pedofilia. A mesma carinha de deboche que seu amigo esquerdista faria à simples menção desses assuntos é a que Flavia Tavares usa no seu texto quando quer mostrar que Olavo é meio tantã. A carinha de deboche vem desacompanhada de qualquer reflexão séria ou tentativa de refutação, sempre.

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Link da tal matéria: http://epoca.globo.com/sociedade/noticia/2017/10/olavo-de-carvalho-o-guru-da-direita-que-rejeita-o-que-dizem-seus-fas.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=post Vídeos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0TUsKluhok, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR0F1haQ07Y&t=5s

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Lightning and its fake HTLCs

Lightning is terrible but can be very good with two tweaks.

How Lightning would work without HTLCs

In a world in which HTLCs didn't exist, Lightning channels would consist only of balances. Each commitment transaction would have two outputs: one for peer A, the other for peer B, according to the current state of the channel.

When a payment was being attempted to go through the channel, peers would just trust each other to update the state when necessary. For example:

1. Channel AB's balances are A[10:10]B (in sats);
2. A sends a 3sat payment through B to C;
3. A asks B to route the payment. Channel AB doesn't change at all;
4. B sends the payment to C, C accepts it;
5. Channel BC changes from B[20:5]C to B[17:8]C;
6. B notifies A the payment was successful, A acknowledges that;
7. Channel AB changes from A[10:10]B to A[7:13]B.

This in the case of a success, everything is fine, no glitches, no dishonesty.

But notice that A could have refused to acknowledge that the payment went through, either because of a bug, or because it went offline forever, or because it is malicious. Then the channel AB would stay as A[10:10]B and B would have lost 3 satoshis.

How Lightning would work with HTLCs

HTLCs are introduced to remedy that situation. Now instead of commitment transactions having always only two outputs, one to each peer, now they can have HTLC outputs too. These HTLC outputs could go to either side dependending on the circumstance.

Specifically, the peer that is sending the payment can redeem the HTLC after a number of blocks have passed. The peer that is receiving the payment can redeem the HTLC if they are able to provide the preimage to the hash specified in the HTLC.

Now the flow is something like this:

1. Channel AB's balances are A[10:10]B;
2. A sends a 3sat payment through B to C:
3. A asks B to route the payment. Their channel changes to A[7:3:10]B (the middle number is the HTLC).
4. B offers a payment to C. Their channel changes from B[20:5]C to B[17:3:5]C.
5. C tells B the preimage for that HTLC. Their channel changes from B[17:3:5]C to B[17:8]C.
6. B tells A the preimage for that HTLC. Their channel changes from A[7:3:10]B to A[7:13]B.

Now if A wants to trick B and stop responding B doesn't lose money, because B knows the preimage, B just needs to publish the commitment transaction A[7:3:10]B, which gives him 10sat and then redeem the HTLC using the preimage he got from C, which gives him 3 sats more. B is fine now.

In the same way, if B stops responding for any reason, A won't lose the money it put in that HTLC, it can publish the commitment transaction, get 7 back, then redeem the HTLC after the certain number of blocks have passed and get the other 3 sats back.

How Lightning doesn't really work

The example above about how the HTLCs work is very elegant but has a fatal flaw on it: transaction fees. Each new HTLC added increases the size of the commitment transaction and it requires yet another transaction to be redeemed. If we consider fees of 10000 satoshis that means any HTLC below that is as if it didn't existed because we can't ever redeem it anyway. In fact the Lightning protocol explicitly dictates that if HTLC output amounts are below the fee necessary to redeem them they shouldn't be created.

What happens in these cases then? Nothing, the amounts that should be in HTLCs are moved to the commitment transaction miner fee instead.

So considering a transaction fee of 10000sat for these HTLCs if one is sending Lightning payments below 10000sat that means they operate according to the unsafe protocol described in the first section above.

It is actually worse, because consider what happens in the case a channel in the middle of a route has a glitch or one of the peers is unresponsive. The other node, thinking they are operating in the trustless protocol, will proceed to publish the commitment transaction, i.e. close the channel, so they can redeem the HTLC -- only then they find out they are actually in the unsafe protocol realm and there is no HTLC to be redeemed at all and they lose not only the money, but also the channel (which costed a lot of money to open and close, in overall transaction fees).

One of the biggest features of the trustless protocol are the payment proofs. Every payment is identified by a hash and whenever the payee releases the preimage relative to that hash that means the payment was complete. The incentives are in place so all nodes in the path pass the preimage back until it reaches the payer, which can then use it as the proof he has sent the payment and the payee has received it. This feature is also lost in the unsafe protocol: if a glitch happens or someone goes offline on the preimage's way back then there is no way the preimage will reach the payer because no HTLCs are published and redeemed on the chain. The payee may have received the money but the payer will not know -- but the payee will lose the money sent anyway.

The end of HTLCs

So considering the points above you may be sad because in some cases Lightning doesn't use these magic HTLCs that give meaning to it all. But the fact is that no matter what anyone thinks, HTLCs are destined to be used less and less as time passes.

The fact that over time Bitcoin transaction fees tend to rise, and also the fact that multipart payment (MPP) are increasedly being used on Lightning for good, we can expect that soon no HTLC will ever be big enough to be actually worth redeeming and we will be at a point in which not a single HTLC is real and they're all fake.

Another thing to note is that the current unsafe protocol kicks out whenever the HTLC amount is below the Bitcoin transaction fee would be to redeem it, but this is not a reasonable algorithm. It is not reasonable to lose a channel and then pay 10000sat in fees to redeem a 10001sat HTLC. At which point does it become reasonable to do it? Probably in an amount many times above that, so it would be reasonable to even increase the threshold above which real HTLCs are made -- thus making their existence more and more rare.

These are good things, because we don't actually need HTLCs to make a functional Lightning Network.

We must embrace the unsafe protocol and make it better

So the unsafe protocol is not necessarily very bad, but the way it is being done now is, because it suffers from two big problems:

1. Channels are lost all the time for no reason;
2. No guarantees of the proof-of-payment ever reaching the payer exist.

The first problem we fix by just stopping the current practice of closing channels when there are no real HTLCs in them.

That, however, creates a new problem -- or actually it exarcebates the second: now that we're not closing channels, what do we do with the expired payments in them? These payments should have either been canceled or fulfilled before some block x, now we're in block x+1, our peer has returned from its offline period and one of us will have to lose the money from that payment.

That's fine because it's only 3sat and it's better to just lose 3sat than to lose both the 3sat and the channel anyway, so either one would be happy to eat the loss. Maybe we'll even split it 50/50! No, that doesn't work, because it creates an attack vector with peers becoming unresponsive on purpose on one side of the route and actually failing/fulfilling the payment on the other side and making a profit with that.

So we actually need to know who is to blame on these payments, even if we are not going to act on that imediatelly: we need some kind of arbiter that both peers can trust, such that if one peer is trying to send the preimage or the cancellation to the other and the other is unresponsive, when the unresponsive peer comes back, the arbiter can tell them they are to blame, so they can willfully eat the loss and the channel can continue. Both peers are happy this way.

If the unresponsive peer doesn't accept what the arbiter says then the peer that was operating correctly can assume the unresponsive peer is malicious and close the channel, and then blacklist it and never again open a channel with a peer they know is malicious.

Again, the differences between this scheme and the current Lightning Network are that:

a. In the current Lightning we always close channels, in this scheme we only close channels in case someone is malicious or in other worst case scenarios (the arbiter is unresponsive, for example). b. In the current Lightning we close the channels without having any clue on who is to blame for that, then we just proceed to reopen a channel with that same peer even in the case they were actively trying to harm us before.

What is missing? An arbiter.

The Bitcoin blockchain is the ideal arbiter, it works in the best possible way if we follow the trustless protocol, but as we've seen we can't use the Bitcoin blockchain because it is expensive.

Therefore we need a new arbiter. That is the hard part, but not unsolvable. Notice that we don't need an absolutely perfect arbiter, anything is better than nothing, really, even an unreliable arbiter that is offline half of the day is better than what we have today, or an arbiter that lies, an arbiter that charges some satoshis for each resolution, anything.

Here are some suggestions:

• random nodes from the network selected by an algorithm that both peers agree to, so they can't cheat by selecting themselves. The only thing these nodes have to do is to store data from one peer, try to retransmit it to the other peer and record the results for some time.
• a set of nodes preselected by the two peers when the channel is being opened -- same as above, but with more handpicked-trust involved.
• some third-party cloud storage or notification provider with guarantees of having open data in it and some public log-keeping, like Twitter, GitHub or a Nostr relay;
• peers that get paid to do the job, selected by the fact that they own some token (I know this is stepping too close to the shitcoin territory, but could be an idea) issued in a Spacechain;
• a Spacechain itself, serving only as the storage for a bunch of OP_RETURNs that are published and tracked by these Lightning peers whenever there is an issue (this looks wrong, but could work).

Key points

1. Lightning with HTLC-based routing was a cool idea, but it wasn't ever really feasible.
2. HTLCs are going to be abandoned and that's the natural course of things.
3. It is actually good that HTLCs are being abandoned, but
4. We must change the protocol to account for the existence of fake HTLCs and thus make the bulk of the Lightning Network usage viable again.

See also

• Ripple and the problem of the decentralized commit
• The Lightning Network solves the problem of the decentralized commit

@ 42342239:1d80db24

Jerome Powell, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, stated during a hearing in March that the central bank has no plans to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDCs) or consider it necessary at present. He said this even though the material Fed staff presents to Congress suggests otherwise - that CBDCs are described as one of the Fed’s key duties .

A CBDC is a state-controlled and programmable currency that could allow the government or its intermediaries the possibility to monitor all transactions in detail and also to block payments based on certain conditions.

Critics argue that the introduction of CBDCs could undermine citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights . Republican House Majority Leader Tom Emmer, the sponsor of a bill aimed at preventing the central bank from unilaterally introducing a CBDC, believes that if they do not mimic cash, they would only serve as a “CCP-style [Chinese Communist Party] surveillance tool” and could “undermine the American way of life”. Emmer’s proposed bill has garnered support from several US senators , including Republican Ted Cruz from Texas, who introduced the bill to the Senate. Similarly to how Swedish cash advocates risk missing the mark , Tom Emmer and the US senators risk the same outcome with their bill. If the central bank is prevented from introducing a central bank digital currency, nothing would stop major banks from implementing similar systems themselves, with similar consequences for citizens.

Indeed, the entity controlling your money becomes less significant once it is no longer you. Even if central bank digital currencies are halted in the US, a future administration could easily outsource financial censorship to the private banking system, similar to how the Biden administration is perceived by many to have circumvented the First Amendment by getting private companies to enforce censorship. A federal court in New Orleans ruled last fall against the Biden administration for compelling social media platforms to censor content. The Supreme Court has now begun hearing the case.

Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount leader who played a vital role in China’s modernization, once said, “It does not matter if the cat is black or white. What matters is that it catches mice.” This statement reflected a pragmatic approach to economic policy, focusing on results foremost. China’s economic growth during his tenure was historic.

The discussion surrounding CBDCs and their negative impact on citizens’ freedoms and rights would benefit from a more practical and comprehensive perspective. Ultimately, it is the outcomes that matter above all. So too for our freedoms.

@ 8947a945:9bfcf626

27 มกราคม 2017 เป็นวันเกิดลูกชายของผม และเป็นวันที่ครอบครัวของผมย้ายเข้ามาอาศัยบ้านหลังแรกที่ซื้อ เพื่อลงหลักปักฐานที่จังหวัดนนทบุรี บ้านหลังนี้เป็น “หนี้ธนาคาร” ก้อนแรกในชีวิตของผม ถ้าผมไม่คิดมาก ลำพังรายได้จากงานประจำของผมก็เพียงพอกับการผ่อนธนาคารและได้บ้านเป็นของตัวเอง เพียงแต่ต้องใช้ระยะเวลาประมาณ 20 ปี ผมมีความคิดไม่อยากเป็นหนี้นานขนาดนั้น เลยมองหาโอกาสในการสร้างรายได้ทางอื่นๆนอกจากงานประจำ เหตุการณ์นี้เป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของผมในการศึกษาหาความรู้ใหม่ๆเรื่องการเงินครับ

“เป็นหนี้(บ้าน) ทำให้มีไฟในการหารายได้เพิ่มนั่นเอง”

ผมมีโอกาสได้ศึกษาวิชาการลงทุนในตลาดหุ้น , การเทรดเก็งกำไรสินค้าต่างๆของต่างประเทศ , กองทุนรวม + ตราสารหนี้ รวมถึงบิตคอยน์และเหรียญคริปโตอื่นๆ ใช้เวลาหลายปีกว่าจะเข้าใจและอยู่รอดได้ แต่ก็ยังไม่ประสบความสำเร็จตามเป้าหมาย

ในช่วงปีนั้นเป็นช่วงเวลาที่มีการสร้างคอนโดตามแนวรถไฟฟ้า BTS บริเวณพญาไท สุขุมวิทย์จำนวนมาก มีการซื้อขายกันอย่างคึกคักทำให้หลายๆคนประสบความสำเร็จในการลงทุนอสังหา ขณะเดียวกันรถไฟฟ้าสายสีม่วงในจังหวัดนนทบุรีได้เปิดใช้เป็นทางการ เป็นเส้นทางรถไฟฟ้าสายแรกที่เชื่อมจังหวัดนนทบุรีเข้ากับกรุงเทพ มีคอนโดสร้างใหม่ตลอดแนวรถไฟฟ้าสายสีม่วงเป็นจำนวนมาก ดึงดูดนักลงทุนในแวดวงอสังหาอยู่ไม่น้อย

“รีบซื้อคอนโดตามแนวรถไฟฟ้าสายสีม่วงจังหวัดนนทบุรี จะได้สำเร็จเหมือนการครอบครองคอนโดตามแนว BTS ในกรุงเทพ ” หรือ “ซื้อคอนโดจังหวัดนนทบุรี ใกล้แหล่งงาน เดินทางเข้าออกตัวเมืองสะดวก รวดเร็ว”

แต่ความจริงจังหวัดนนทบุรี มีระบบขนส่งสาธารณะที่ครอบคลุมมากเพียงพออยู่แล้ว ได้แก่

รถเมล์รถประจำทาง รถสองแถว พี่วินมอเตอร์ไซค์ เรือด่วนแม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา

การขนส่งสาธารณะในจังหวัดนนทบุรี ครอบคลุม สะดวกสบาย ดีอยู่แล้ว

การเดินทางภายในตัวนนทบุรีก็ดี การเดินทางไป-กลับกรุงเทพก็ดี มันไม่ได้ยากขนาดนั้น ค่าเดินทางก็ถูกกว่าการขึ้นรถไฟฟ้ามากอยู่ ผมได้แต่คิดว่าคอนโดที่สร้างใหม่เหล่านี้มันจำเป็นจริงๆหรือเปล่า จะมีความต้องการในการซื้อ (demand) มากตามการคาดการณ์จริงหรือเปล่า เป็นการลงทุนที่คุ้มค่าจริงหรือเปล่า ในวันนี้ที่ผมกำลังเขียนบทความคือเดือนสิงหาคมปี 2024 ผมคิดว่าใครที่ติดตามข่าวสารการลงทุนและแวดวงอสังหาริมทรัพย์ก็คงจะทราบดีว่าความจริงเป็นยังไง

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มุมมองของผมต่อการลงทุนอสังหาริมทรัพย์

จากที่ผมศึกษาด้วยตัวเอง การลงทุนอสังหาฯ สามารถแบ่งได้หลักๆ 2 แบบคือ

ซื้อขายเก็งกำไร (Flip) ตรงตัวเลยครับ เป็นการเก็งกำไรมูลค่าในอนาคต ซื้อวันนี้ขายวันหน้า เพื่อหวังกำไรส่วนต่าง (capital gain)

ซื้อและถือระยะยาว (Hold) เป็นการซื้อแล้วถือเก็บไว้ แล้วทำให้มันสร้างค่าเช่ารายเดือนเป็นกระแสเงินสด

สาย hold เป็นการลงทุนที่ปลอดภัยกว่า ผลตอบแทนไม่ได้โลดโผน ไม่ได้ตื่นเต้นมาก แต่มันมีข้อดีคือสามารถสร้างผลตอบแทนนิ่งๆได้ในทุกสภาวะเศรษฐกิจ ที่อยู่อาศัยเป็นหนึ่งในปัจจัยสี่ที่มนุษย์ต้องมี ยกเว้นเสียแต่ว่ามนุษย์จะย้ายไปอาศัยอยู่ในถ้ำหรือบนต้นไม้ อันนั้นอีกเรื่องนึง

แต่อุปสรรคที่สำคัญของการเข้ามาสู่วงการอสังหาที่หลายๆคนทราบกันดีก็คือต้องมีทุนที่มากพอ เริ่มต้นหลักล้านในครอบครองคอนโดซักห้องนึง ถ้าหากว่าไม่ได้มีเงินสดมากพอก็ต้องยอมเป็นหนี้ธนาคารในการกู้ ตอนนั้นเองสถานการณ์ครอบครัวของผมยังไม่ได้วางแผนเผื่อการเอาตัวเข้าไปในวงการนี้ ผมเข้าใจดีว่ามันเป็นลงทุนที่น่าสนใจ เพียงแต่ “มันยังไม่ใช่สำหรับเรา ในตอนนั้น”

แต่ทำความเข้าใจก่อนนะครับ คำว่าอสังหาริมทรัพย์ มันไม่ได้หมายถึงคอนโดอย่างเดียว มันยังมีอย่างอื่นอีกได้แก่

อาคารชุด (คอนโด) - ตึกแถว - ทาวโฮม - บ้านเดี่ยว - อาคารพานิชย์ - ที่ดิน - โกดังสินค้า - อพาร์ตเม้นท์ ห้องเช่า - โรงแรม - รีสอร์ท

อสังหาริมทรัพย์ = ทรัพย์สินที่เดินไปไหนไม่ได้ เอาติดตัวไปด้วยไม่ได้

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วิกฤตครอบครัว และ การได้เป็นเจ้าของคอนโดห้องแรก

จากที่ผมเกริ่นไว้ตอนแรก “เป็นหนี้(บ้าน) ทำให้มีไฟในการหารายได้เพิ่ม” มันเกิดดาบสองคมที่หันมาฆ่าผมเอง ผมเก็งกำไรในตลาด futures แล้วพอร์ตระเบิด มูลค่าความเสียหายประมาณ 1,500,000 บาทครับ

มันเกิดจาก “กับดักของเทรดเดอร์หน้าใหม่” ที่คิดว่าตัวเองเข้าใจการเทรดแล้ว อ่านตลาดออกแล้ว นั่นเองครับ มาลองดูนะครับว่ามันเหมือนกระสบการณ์ของเพื่อนๆมั้ย

เรียนการเทรดเอง คิดว่าเข้าใจแล้ว แล้วก็ไปไม่รอด

ผมศึกษาจาก Youtube ครับ ดูคลิปไป 3–4 คลิป ก็เข้าใจว่า “ตัวเองเข้าใจแล้ว” ง่ายแค่นี้เอง แต่พอไปเทรดเอง เจอของจริงหน้างาน กลับขาดทุน

ตามหาระบบเทพในการเทรด

ไปหาตามเวบบอร์ดทั้งไทย ทั้งของต่างชาติ ทั้งระบบฟรีและเสียตังค์ ไปลองมาหมดครับ แล้วก็ขาดทุน

ไปซื้อคอร์สเรียน

ทั้งเรียนออนไลน์และเรียนตัวต่อตัวกับครูผู้เชี่ยวชาญในวิธีการของเขา ผมไปเรียนคอร์สตัวต่อตัวกับครูสองท่าน ปัจจุบันนี้ครูทั้งสองท่านทำกำไรได้สม่ำเสมอจนลาออกจากงานประจำมาเลี้ยงชีพเลี้ยงครอบครัว ส่งลูกเรียนโรงเรียนนานาชาติได้จากรายได้จากการเทรด มันฟังดูยิ่งใหญ่และน่าชื่นชมมาก แต่ด้วยวิธีการเทรดและเงื่อนไขทางด้านเวลาของผม ทำให้ไม่สามารถทำเหมือนครู่ทั้งสองท่านได้ ก็ขาดทุนครับ แต่ขาดทุนไม่มาก เพราะเป็นการเทรดที่ทำตามระบบ

จ้างโปรแกรมเมอร์เขียนบอทเทรด แต่ไม่รอบคอบ

ความรู้ที่ผมได้จากครูท่านแรก มันคือการสร้างระบบเทรดและทดสอบย้อนหลังด้วยตัวเอง (systematic and back test) เป็นการเทรดที่มีเงื่อนไขการเข้าและออกออเดอร์ชัดเจน แต่ว่ามันต้องเฝ้าจอใน timeframe 15 นาที มันทำให้ชีวิตผมไม่อันเป็นทำอะไรครับ เวลาไปเดินห้างซื้อของกับครอบครัว พอมีเสียง alert เตือนว่าถึงจุดเฝ้าระวังในการเปิดออเดอร์ ผมต้องขอเวลาครอบครัว หาที่นั่งแปปนึงแล้วบริหารจัดการการเทรด บางครั้ง alert ดังตอนกำลังขับรถ ผมก็ต้องเอามือข้างนึงมาจัดการการเทรด โชคดีที่เป็นช่วงรถติดแถวๆปิ่นเกล้า เลยรอดจากอุบัติเหตุ ผมมองว่ามันไม่เวิคละ เลยว่าจ้างฟรีแลนซ์จาก “fastwork” ของคุณ “ซีเค เจิง”ในการ code บอทเทรดให้ครับ มันทำงานได้ดีมาก แต่พี่ฟรีแลนซ์ท่านนั้นก็เตือนผมด้วยความหวังดีว่า

“อย่าพึ่ง” เอาไปลองกับบัญชีจริงนะ ไปลองในเดโม่ก่อน เอาให้แน่ใจก่อน เพราะเงื่อนไขการเทรดระบบของผมมันสุดยอดแห่งความซับซ้อนเลย

พี่เขากลัวว่าจะเขียนโค้ดผิดซักที่นึง ผมก็ลองบอทในบัญชีเดโม่อยู่ 1–2 สัปดาห์แล้วเห็นว่ามันใช้ได้ ก็เลยเอามาเปิดในบัญชีจริงครับ นี่คือข้อผิดพลาดอย่างนึงของผมก็คือ ในช่วงเวลาที่ทดสอบกับบัญชีเดโม่ มันชนะตลอด ไม่มีช่วงแพ้

อธิบายแบบนี้ครับ ระบบเทรดของผมเป็นการเทรดแบบ grid ระยะในการวิ่งของราคาที่จะปิดออเดอร์ไม่ว่าจะเป็น take profit หรือ stop loss มันแคบมาก มันเทรดไปประมาณ 10 ครั้ง มันจะแพ้ 1–2 ครั้ง แต่เวลาแพ้ครั้งนึงมูลค่าความเสียหายคือ ขาดทุน 15%

ไม่มีอะไรได้มาฟรีๆครับ ระบบเทรดที่อัตราชนะสูงถึง 90–95% เวลาเจอ 5–10% ที่เป็นการแพ้ แพ้ทีนึงจุก ครูผมเรียกว่า “inverted martingale” แต่มันแก้ด้วยการ money management ดีๆ

วันที่เกิดเรื่องผ่านไป 3 เดือนหลังจากเริ่มให้บิททำงานเทรดบนบัญชีจริง แล้วเจอวันที่มันแพ้พอดี วันนั้นบอทมันไม่ได้ stop loss แต่ปล่อยให้การขาดทุนไหลยาวไปเรื่อยๆ พอผมมาดูพบว่าพอร์ตมูลค่าเกือบๆหนึ่งล้านบาท ขาดทุนอยู่ 50–60% ผมเลยโทรปรึกษาพี่ที่เขียนบอทให้ ปรากฏว่ามันมีโค้ดที่ผิดพลาดในคำสั่ง stop loss ครับ สุดท้ายพอร์ตก็เสียหายหนัก

เอาเงินไปลงในเวบพนัน

ในเมื่อการเทรดเองมันยาก ไปลองหาช่องทางลัดก็แล้วกัน ชนิดที่ว่ารีบเข้ารีบออก ลุกช้าจ่ายรอบวง ผลลัพธ์คือขาดทุนครับ

เหตุการณ์ทั้งหมดนี้เกิดขึ้นในปี 2017–2018

ผลที่ตามมาก็คือบ้านแตก ภรรยาผมโมโหที่ผมทำอะไรไม่บอกและโมโหที่ผมแบกรับทุกอย่างไว้คนเดียวไม่ให้เขาเข้ามาช่วย ไม่ได้โกรธที่เทรดขาดทุน ภรรยาผมบอกว่าหากอยู่บ้านเดียวกันต่อไปมีความเป็นไปได้มากที่เขาจะขอหย่ากับผม (ก็เขาเคืองผมมาก) มีช่วงนึงที่เขาพาลูกไปเที่ยวไปค้างที่ต่างจังหวัด ตัดขาดการติดต่อกับผม เพื่อพักสมองพักความคิด จนสุดท้ายก็กลับมาคุยกัน แต่แก้วที่มันร้าวไปแล้วการคุยมันไม่ได้ราบรื่นหรอกครับ ภรรยาผมให้แยกกันอยู่คนละบ้าน ผมยอมรับข้อเสนอนี้ด้วยเหตุผลว่าให้สองแม่ลูกอยู่เป็นหลักแหล่งที่บ้าน ให้ทั้งคู่มีความปลอดภัย ส่วนผมออกไปตะลอนๆคนเดียวได้ไม่เป็นไร เพราะผมก่อเรื่องไว้ ก้มหน้าก้มตายอมรับผิดในสิ่งที่ตัวเองทำไป มันดีแล้ว

แต่ก็แปลกนะครับ กลายเป็นว่าสองคนสามีภรรยานั่งดูกันว่าจะหาห้องเช่าให้ผมอยู่ใกล้ๆที่ทำงาน มันจะได้ไม่ต้องเหนื่อยกับการเดินทางมาก พอจะรู้ราคาค่าเช่าบ้างแล้ว แต่ก็พบว่าบริเวณใกล้เคียงก็มีคอนโดที่พึ่งสร้างเสร็จ ราคาเช่าก็ไม่ได้ต่างจากห้องเช่ามาก เลยพากันเข้าไปดูครับ

“ตั้งใจว่าจะไปหาห้องคอนโดเช่า แต่ดันได้เป็นเจ้าของกรรมสิทธิ์คอนโดซะเอง”

คอนโดหลังนี้คือโครงการ Zeen condo อยู่ซอยงามวงศ์วาน 31 ห้องที่ผมได้ครอบครองเป็นห้องชั้น 6 ห้องริมที่หันหลังเข้าซอยชุมชนดั้งเดิม ไม่มีตึกสูงบังวิว ลมพัดเข้าทั้งวัน เงียบ ขนาด 28.xx ตารางเมตร เป็นห้องที่หลุดมาจากผู้ยื่นกู้ซื้อ 2 ท่านก่อนหน้านี้

ส่วนกระบวนการการคิดการตัดสินใจ กู้เพิ่มภาระหนี้ ตอนนั้นผมและภรรยาคิดอะไรอยู่ เดี๋ยวมาเล่าให้ฟังต่อตอนต่อไปนะครับ

@ a619eb76:11d75935

II. Quantity, Quality, Morality

In the Brave New World of my fantasy eugenics and dysgenics were practiced systematically. In one set of bottles biologically superior ova, fertilized by biologically superior sperm, were given the best possible prenatal treatment and were finally decanted as Betas, Alphas and even Alpha Pluses. In another, much more numerous set of bottles, biologically inferior ova, fertilized by biologically inferior sperm, were subjected to the Bokanovsky Process (ninety-six identical twins out of a single egg) and treated prenatally with alcohol and other protein poisons. The creatures finally decanted were almost subhuman; but they were capable of performing unskilled work and, when properly conditioned, detensioned by free and frequent access to the opposite sex, constantly distracted by gratuitous entertainment and reinforced in their good behavior patterns by daily doses of soma, could be counted on to give no trouble to their superiors.

In this second half of the twentieth century we do nothing systematic about our breeding; but in our random and unregulated way we are not only over-populating our planet, we are also, it would seem, making sure that these greater numbers shall be of biologically poorer quality. In the bad old days children with considerable, or even with slight, hereditary defects rarely survived. Today, thanks to sanitation, modern pharmacology and the social conscience, most of the children born with hereditary defects reach maturity and multiply their kind. Under the conditions now prevailing, every advance in medicine will tend to be offset by a corresponding advance in the survival rate of individuals cursed by some genetic insufficiency. In spite of new wonder drugs and better treatment (indeed, in a certain sense, precisely because of these things), the physical health of the general population will show no improvement, and may even deteriorate. And along with a decline of average healthiness there may well go a decline in average intelligence. Indeed, some competent authorities are convinced that such a decline has already taken place and is continuing. "Under conditions that are both soft and unregulated," writes Dr. W. H. Sheldon, "our best stock tends to be outbred by stock that is inferior to it in every respect. . . . It is the fashion in some academic circles to assure students that the alarm over differential birthrates is unfounded; that these problems are merely economic, or merely educational, or merely religious, or merely cultural or something of the sort. This is Pollyanna optimism. Reproductive delinquency is biological and basic." And he adds that "nobody knows just how far the average IQ in this country [the U.S.A.] has declined since 1916, when Terman attempted to standardize the meaning of IQ 100."

In an underdeveloped and over-populated country, where four-fifths of the people get less than two thousand calories a day and one-fifth enjoys an adequate diet, can democratic institutions arise spontaneously? Or if they should be imposed from outside or from above, can they possibly survive?

And now let us consider the case of the rich, industrialized and democratic society, in which, owing to the random but effective practice of dysgenics, IQ's and physical vigor are on the decline. For how long can such a society maintain its traditions of individual liberty and democratic government? Fifty or a hundred years from now our children will learn the answer to this question.

Meanwhile we find ourselves confronted by a most disturbing moral problem. We know that the pursuit of good ends does not justify the employment of bad means. But what about those situations, now of such frequent occurrence, in which good means have end results which turn out to be bad?

For example, we go to a tropical island and with the aid of DDT we stamp out malaria and, in two or three years, save hundreds of thousands of lives. This is obviously good. But the hundreds of thousands of human beings thus saved, and the millions whom they beget and bring to birth, cannot be adequately clothed, housed, educated or even fed out of the island's available resources. Quick death by malaria has been abolished; but life made miserable by undernourishment and over-crowding is now the rule, and slow death by outright starvation threatens ever greater numbers.

And what about the congenitally insufficient organisms, whom our medicine and our social services now preserve so that they may propagate their kind? To help the unfortunate is obviously good. But the wholesale transmission to our descendants of the results of unfavorable mutations, and the progressive contamination of the genetic pool from which the members of our species will have to draw, are no less obviously bad. We are on the horns of an ethical dilemma, and to find the middle way will require all our intelligence and all our good will.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/624998