@ 4523be58:ba1facd0

NIP-116

Event paths

Description

Event kind 30079 denotes an event defined by its event path rather than its event kind.

The event directory path is included in the event path, specified in the event's d tag. For example, an event path might be user/profile/name, where user/profile is the directory path.

Relays should parse the event directory from the event path d tag and index the event by it. Relays should support "directory listing" of kind 30079 events using the #f filter, such as {"#f": ["user/profile"]}.

For backward compatibility, the event directory should also be saved in the event's f tag (for "folder"), which is already indexed by some relay implementations, and can be queried using the #f filter.

Event content should be a JSON-encoded value. An empty object {} signifies that the entry at the event path is itself a directory. For example, when saving user/profile/name: Bob, you should also save user/profile: {} so the subdirectory can be listed under user.

In directory names, slashes should be escaped with a double slash.

Example

Event

json { "tags": [ ["d", "user/profile/name"], ["f", "user/profile"] ], "content": "\"Bob\"", "kind": 30079, ... }

Query

json { "#f": ["user/profile"], "authors": ["[pubkey]"] }

Motivation

To make Nostr an "everything app," we need a sustainable way to support new kinds of applications. Browsing Nostr data by human-readable nested directories and paths rather than obscure event kind numbers makes the data more manageable.

Numeric event kinds are not sustainable for the infinite number of potential applications. With numeric event kinds, developers need to find an unused number for each new application and announce it somewhere, which is cumbersome and not scalable.

Directories can also replace monolithic list events like follow lists or profile details. You can update a single directory entry such as user/profile/name or groups/follows/[pubkey] without causing an overwrite of the whole profile or follow list when your client is out-of-sync with the most recent list version, as often happens on Nostr.

Using d-tagged replaceable events for reactions, such as {tags: [["d", "reactions/[eventId]"]], content: "\"👍\"", kind: 30079, ...} would make un-reacting trivial: just publish a new event with the same d tag and an empty content. Toggling a reaction on and off would not cause a flurry of new reaction & delete events that all need to be persisted.

Implementations

• Relays that support tag-replaceable events and indexing by arbitrary tags (in this case f) already support this feature.
• IrisDB client side library: treelike data structure with subscribable nodes.

https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1266

@ 32e18276:5c68e245

I’m going to be on an ordinals panels as one of the people who is counter arguing the claim that they are good for bitcoin. I decided to brush up on the technicals on how inscriptions work. I am starting to see luke’s perspective on how it is exploiting a loophole in bitcoin’s anti-data-spam mechanisms.

Storing data in Bitcoin, the “standard” way

The standard way you add “data” to bitcoin is by calling the OP_RETURN opcode. Bitcoin devs noticed that people were storing data (like the bitcoin whitepaper) in the utxo set via large multisig transactions. The problem with this is that this set is unprunable and could grow over time. OP_RETURN outputs on the other-hand are provably prunable and don’t add to utxo bloat.

Here’s an excerpt from the march 2014 0.9.0 release notes that talks about this:

On OP_RETURN: There was been some confusion and misunderstanding in the community, regarding the OP_RETURN feature in 0.9 and data in the blockchain. This change is not an endorsement of storing data in the blockchain. The OP_RETURN change creates a provably-prunable output, to avoid data storage schemes – some of which were already deployed – that were storing arbitrary data such as images as forever-unspendable TX outputs, bloating bitcoin’s UTXO database. Storing arbitrary data in the blockchain is still a bad idea; it is less costly and far more efficient to store non-currency data elsewhere.

Much of the work on bitcoin core has been focused on making sure the system continues to function in a decentralized way for its intended purpose in the presence of people trying to abuse it for things like storing data. Bitcoin core has always discouraged this, as it is not designed for storage of images and data, it is meant for moving digital coins around in cyberspace.

To help incentive-align people to not do stupid things, OP_RETURN transactions were not made non-standard, so that they are relayable by peers and miners, but with the caveat:

1. They can only push 40 bytes (later increased to 80,83, I’m guessing to support larger root merkle hashes since that is the only sane usecase for op_return)

Bitcoin also added an option called -datacarriersize which limits the total number of bytes from these outputs that you will relay or mine.

Why inscriptions are technically an exploit

Inscriptions get around the datacarriersize limit by disguising data as bitcoin script program data via OP_PUSH inside OP_IF blocks. Ordinals do not use OP_RETURN and are not subjected to datacarriersize limits, so noderunners and miners currently have limited control over the total size of this data that they wish to relay and include in blocks. Luke’s fork of bitcoin-core has some options to fight this spam, so hopefully we will see this in core sometime soon as well.

Inscriptions are also taking advantage of features in segwit v1 (witness discount) and v2/taproot (no arbitrary script size limit). Each of these features have interesting and well-justified reasons why they were introduced.

The purpose of the witness discount was to make it cheaper to spend many outputs which helps the reduction of the utxo set size. Inscriptions took advantage of this discount to store monke jpegs disguised as bitcoin scripts. Remember, bitcoin is not for storing data, so anytime bitcoin-devs accidentally make it cheap and easy to relay data then this should be viewed as an exploit. Expect it to be fixed, or at least provide tools to noderunners for fighting this spam.

Where do we go from here

The interesting part of this story is that people seem to attach value to images stored on the bitcoin blockchain, and they are willing to pay the fee to get it in the block, so non-ideologic miners and people who don’t care about the health and decentralization of bitcoin are happy to pay or collect the fee and move on.

Data should not get a discount, people should pay full price if they want to store data. They should just use op_return and hashes like opentimestamps or any other reasonable protocol storing data in bitcoin.

After going through this analysis I’ve come to the opinion that this is a pretty bad data-spam exploit and bitcoin devs should be working on solutions. Ideological devs like luke who actually care about the health and decentralization of the network are and I’m glad to see it.

@ de496884:72617b81

Hola nostriches. Hoy quiero hacer una publicación a modo de acercamiento al surgimiento de las categorías de género y feminismo. Así que si te interesa el tema haz un esfuerzo, quédate y lee hasta el final.

El «nuevo» feminismo surge en los años 60 en aquellos países desarrollados que acordaron el reconocimiento a los derechos humanos contenidos en la declaración respectiva de la ONU. Entonces, como extensión a dicho reconocimiento es que se gesta el movimiento feminista. A partir de entonces, se vuelve a plantear la relación entre naturaleza y cultura y se llega a la conclusión de que las diferencias sociales van más allá de las diferencias biológicas, lo cual tiene que ver con que hasta la satisfacción de las necesidades elementales como son la alimentación, la vivienda o el vestuario, están condicionadas por construcciones sociales.

Pues resulta que una de las primeras propuestas identificó la subordinación femenina producto de una organización patriarcal, tomando la categoría patriarcado de Max Weber. Es así como la visión de patriarcado se extendió al discurso político y académico. Sin embargo, no existía información acerca del desarrollo histórico de dicha categoría, sistematización, variaciones, etc., debido a que era algo que recién se percibía en sociedad.

Sin embargo, la misma categoría de patriarcado junto a la de relaciones de poder para explicar fenómenos sociales contemporáneos, constituye uno de los principales aportes del feminismo. Es así como han logrado primero visibilizar y luego deconstruir y desmontar una serie de patrones existentes en la cultura que hacían a la mujer subordinarse al hombre, y que estaban presentes en el sistema sexo/género.

Imagen relativa a la lucha contra el patriarcado

Hasta ese momento, en las investigaciones de corte sociológico se podía observar un androcentrismo excesivo al dar cuenta de que el discurso científico giraba en torno al hombre como sujeto y objeto de la investigación. Incluso para muchos positivistas como el mismo Weber, los problemas relativos a las mujeres quedaban en un segundo plano y eran achacados a una supuesta pasividad en el ámbito doméstico-familiar. Dicha pasividad partía de la supuesta inferioridad biológica del género femenino.

El patriarcado entonces era una categoría vacía en sí misma, sin valor explicativo. Desde el punto de vista político pudo ser útil para la movilización pero no resistió la polémica de los críticos del feminismo ni problematizó los conflictos a ser resueltos. Pero por otro lado, un grupo de mujeres -académicas principalmente- se puso manos a la obra en una tarea más pequeña pero con mayores resultados a la larga. Se propusieron generar conocimientos sobre las condiciones de vida de la mujer, buscar en el pasado y el presente los aportes de las mujeres a la sociedad, hacerlas visibles en la historia. Es así como surgen centros académicos, ONG, proyectos, centros de estudios sobre la mujer, etc.

Convendría distinguir entonces dos posturas que acompañaron a la investigación sobre las mujeres: uno que toma como objeto de estudio a la mujer; condiciones de vida, trabajo, cultura, y otra que privilegia a la sociedad como generadora de la subordinación de las mujeres. Mientras la primera perspectiva generaba conocimiento sobre las mujeres en el estudio de las relaciones mujer-hombre y mujer-mujer, la segunda tenía una visión más holística ya que planteaba que hay que estudiar la sociedad ya que la subordinación de las mujeres es producto de la organización de esta, y que no se avanzará solamente estudiando a las mujeres, pues el estudio debe ser más amplio y en diferentes niveles, ámbitos y tiempos.

Es en esta búsqueda donde nace y se desarrolla el concepto de género como categoría social. Es así que los sistemas de género/sexo fueron entendidos como conjuntos de prácticas, símbolos, representaciones, normas y valores sociales que las sociedades construyen a partir de la diferencia anatomofisiológica y que dotan de sentido a los impulsos sexuales, la reproducción y en general a las relaciones de las personas. Por tanto, este sistema pasó a ser el objeto de estudio para comprender la subordinación de la mujer al hombre. Al ser el reconocimiento de una dimensión de la desigualdad social hasta entonces desconocida, se considera la ruptura epistemológica más importante de la segunda mitad del siglo pasado.

Imagen representativa del binarismo de género

Hay que decir que los fenómenos sociales se definen por la relación que guardan entre sí. Es así que la contextualización adquiere gran importancia. Varones y hembras tenemos la capacidad de producir con el cuerpo, pero solo los cuerpos de las hembras pueden gestar y por tanto asegurar la especie humana. Todo grupo humano que pretenda sobrevivir debe asegurarse cierto número de hembras que lo hagan posible. De ahí un poder particular del cuerpo de las hembras que además es económicamente útil. Dicho poder no es en tanto entidad biológica, sino que es la sociedad la que le otorga este poder. En este punto es importante preguntarnos históricamente ¿quiénes han controlado la capacidad reproductiva de las mujeres?, ¿quiénes han tenido la preferencia en el acceso sexual? Para asegurar un control efectivo sobre la reproducción es necesario asegurar el acceso a la sexualidad.

Imagen alegórica al embarazo

Ello también lleva a dirigir el trabajo que hacen porque de lo contrario, las mujeres pudieran tener espacio para representar una amenaza al dominio de los hombres. Es importante atender a las etapas del desarrollo de las mujeres, que permitirá ver cómo se moldean para aceptar la desigualdad y las jerarquías según el género en las distintas sociedades y culturas.

Otro contexto a delimitar es el ámbito doméstico donde históricamente ha estado ubicada la subordinación femenina. Se ha puesto al descubierto que en mujeres que comparten la misma posición de clase y raza, la condición femenina se redefine a lo largo de la vida y que algunas mujeres gozan de poder sobre otras aún en contextos de alta dominación masculina, donde se les inviste de autoridad, creando el sistema zonas de incertidumbre que las divide como género e impide alianzas y se legitima la dominación. Foucault decía que «el poder se ejerce, no se posee», siempre está en peligro de perderse y no basta con normas, leyes, amenazas o castigos. De ahí que los espacios de subordinación sean también espacios de poder de las mujeres. Es en estos espacios donde aparece la inseguridad, la tensión, la confrontación y por ejemplo, las mujeres pueden reclamar la anticoncepción.

Para terminar, es importante tener en cuenta que el género es una forma de desigualdad social que siempre está articulado con otras formas de desigualdad ya sea clase, raza, grupo etario, etc. Hay que pensar la dominación masculina con un comienzo vago en el tiempo, pero que permite desligar la subordinación de las mujeres de la evolución «natural» de la humanidad y entenderla como un proceso histórico. En ese sentido es necesario destacar que, respecto a la raza, en sociedades plurales hay que atender al contexto étnico-cultural ya que en dependencia de las relaciones entre personas de razas distintas, estarán condicionadas las relaciones entre los géneros.

Imagen de mujeres de distintas razas

Por otro lado, si bien es sabido que históricamente el sistema de género social imperante ha contribuido a invisibilizar a la mujer, asociar necesariamente dicha categoría únicamente a ella, lo que hace es nuevamente recrear el absolutismo histórico que tanto daño ha hecho, ahora como lo antagónico al hombre. En la construcción social participan todos los individuos presentes en el sistema género.

Hasta aquí la publicación de hoy, de la cual aun se puede ahondar mucho más, sobre todo en lo referido al origen de la dominación o de la jerarquización del binomio «hombre/mujer» desde un punto de vista antropológico, pero eso quedará pendiente para otro momento. ¡Así que hasta la próxima!, ¡nos vemos en Nostr!

........................................

English version

Hello nostriches. Today I want to make a post by way of an approach to the emergence of the categories of gender and feminism. So if you are interested in the topic make an effort, stay and read to the end.

The "new" feminism emerged in the 60's in those developed countries that agreed to recognize the human rights contained in the respective UN declaration. Then, as an extension of that recognition, the feminist movement was born. From then on, the relationship between nature and culture was raised again and the conclusion was reached that social differences go beyond biological differences, which has to do with the fact that even the satisfaction of elementary needs such as food, housing or clothing are conditioned by social constructions.

It turns out that one of the first proposals identified female subordination as a product of a patriarchal organization, taking Max Weber's category of patriarchy. This is how the vision of patriarchy was extended to political and academic discourse. However, there was no information about the historical development of this category, systematization, variations, etc., because it was something that was only recently perceived in society.

However, the same category of patriarchy, together with that of power relations to explain contemporary social phenomena, constitutes one of the main contributions of feminism. This is how they have first made visible and then deconstructed and dismantled a series of existing patterns in the culture that made women subordinate to men, and that were present in the sex/gender system.

Image relating to the fight against patriarchy

Up to that time, in sociological research, an excessive androcentrism could be observed as scientific discourse revolved around men as the subject and object of research. Even for many positivists such as Weber himself, the problems related to women remained in the background and were blamed on a supposed passivity in the domestic-family sphere. This passivity was based on the supposed biological inferiority of the female gender.

Patriarchy was then an empty category in itself, with no explanatory value. From the political point of view, it could be useful for mobilization, but it did not resist the polemic of feminism's critics, nor did it problematize the conflicts to be resolved. But on the other hand, a group of women - mainly academics - set to work on a smaller task but with greater results in the long run. They set out to generate knowledge about women's living conditions, to search in the past and present for women's contributions to society, to make them visible in history. This is how academic centers, NGOs, projects, women's studies centers, etc., came into being.

It would be convenient to distinguish then two postures that accompanied the research on women: one that takes women as the object of study; living conditions, work, culture, and the other that privileges society as the generator of women's subordination. While the first perspective generated knowledge about women in the study of woman-man and woman-woman relations, the second had a more holistic vision, since it proposed that society must be studied, since the subordination of women is a product of its organization, and that progress will not be made only by studying women, since the study must be broader and at different levels, spheres and times.

It is in this search that the concept of gender as a social category was born and developed. Thus, gender/sex systems were understood as a set of practices, symbols, representations, norms and social values that societies construct on the basis of anatomophysiological differences and that give meaning to sexual impulses, reproduction and, in general, to people's relationships. Therefore, this system became the object of study to understand the subordination of women to men. As the recognition of a hitherto unknown dimension of social inequality, it is considered the most important epistemological breakthrough of the second half of the last century.

Representative image of gender binarism

It must be said that social phenomena are defined by their relationship with each other. Thus, contextualization acquires great importance. Males and females have the capacity to produce with their bodies, but only the bodies of females can gestate and therefore ensure the human species. Any human group that intends to survive must ensure a certain number of females to make it possible. Hence a particular power of the female body, which is also economically useful. This power is not as a biological entity, but it is society that gives it this power. At this point it is important to ask ourselves historically, who has controlled the reproductive capacity of women, who has had the preference in sexual access? To ensure effective control over reproduction, it is necessary to ensure access to sexuality.

Allegorical image of pregnancy

This also leads to directing the work they do because otherwise, women may have room to pose a threat to men's dominance. It is important to pay attention to the stages of women's development, which will allow us to see how they are shaped to accept inequality and gender hierarchies in different societies and cultures.

Another context to delimit is the domestic sphere where female subordination has historically been located. It has been discovered that in women who share the same class and race position, the feminine condition is redefined throughout life and that some women enjoy power over others even in contexts of high male domination, where they are invested with authority, creating the system of uncertainty zones that divide them as a gender and prevent alliances and legitimize domination. Foucault said that "power is exercised, not possessed", it is always in danger of being lost and norms, laws, threats or punishments are not enough. Hence, the spaces of subordination are also spaces of women's power. It is in these spaces where insecurity, tension, confrontation appear and where, for example, women can demand contraception.

To conclude, it is important to keep in mind that gender is a form of social inequality that is always articulated with other forms of inequality, be it class, race, age group, etc. It is necessary to think of male domination with a vague beginning in time, but which allows us to separate the subordination of women from the "natural" evolution of humanity and to understand it as a historical process. In this sense, it is necessary to emphasize that, with respect to race, in plural societies it is necessary to pay attention to the ethno-cultural context since, depending on the relations between people of different races, the relations between genders will be conditioned.

Image of women of different races

On the other hand, although it is known that historically the prevailing social gender system has contributed to make women invisible, to necessarily associate this category only to women is to recreate the historical absolutism that has done so much damage, this time as antagonistic to men. All individuals present in the gender system participate in the social construction.

So much for today's publication, of which we can still go much deeper, especially with regard to the origin of domination or the hierarchization of the binomial "man/woman" from an anthropological point of view, but that will be left for another time. So until next time, see you in Nostr!

Créditos | Credits

Bibliografía consultada | Consulted bibliography:

1. Barbieri, T. (1993). Sobre la categoría género. Una introducción teórico-metodológica. Debates en Sociología. (18). 1-19. https://doi.org/10.18800/debatesensociologia.199301.006

2. Echevarría, D. (2020). Desigualdades de género e interseccionalidad. Análisis del contexto cubano 2008-2018. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Programa-Cuba). https://www.clacso.org.ar/libreria-latinoamericana-cm/libro_detalle_resultado.php?id_libro=2346&campo=cm&texto=248

Traducción | Translation:

DeepL

@ e771af0b:8e8ed66f

I have searched the web for "Find bitcoin block number from historical date" maybe 100 times in my life.

Never again.

You'll need a bitcoin node for this to work. The script is fast.

Install

WoT Install

one liner ```

curl

curl -o fjb.sh https://gist.githubusercontent.com/dskvr/18252c16cf85c06c1ee6cb5ae04a3197/raw/34bad6a35d98501978c8cd0c25b1628db1191cfe/fjb.sh && chmod +x fjb.sh

wget

wget -O fjb.sh https://gist.githubusercontent.com/dskvr/18252c16cf85c06c1ee6cb5ae04a3197/raw/34bad6a35d98501978c8cd0c25b1628db1191cfe/fjb.sh && chmod +x fjb.sh ```

Trust no one.

create file ``` vi fjb.sh

or

nano fjb.sh ```

review, copy and past into file ``` TIMESTAMP=$1 LOWER=0 UPPER=$(bitcoin-cli getblockcount)

while (( LOWER <= UPPER )); do MID=$(( (LOWER + UPPER) / 2 )) BLOCKHASH=$(bitcoin-cli getblockhash $MID) BLOCKTIME=$(bitcoin-cli getblockheader $BLOCKHASH | jq .time)

if (( BLOCKTIME < TIMESTAMP )); then
    LOWER=$(( MID + 1 ))
elif (( BLOCKTIME > TIMESTAMP )); then
    UPPER=$(( MID - 1 ))
else
    echo "$BLOCKTIME"
    exit 0
fi

done

echo "$UPPER" ```

give executable permissions chmod +x ./fjb.sh

Usage

./fjb.sh <timestampSeconds> It returns block number only

Example

$: ./fjb.sh 1668779310 763719

@ 361d3e1e:50bc10a8

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/09/05/a-wave-of-criticism-against-a-supermodel-who-chose-alternative-cancer-treatment-and-yet-she-was-cured/

A wave of criticism against a supermodel who chose alternative cancer treatment, and yet she was cured

cancer #alternative #health #medicine #model #treatment #usa #showbiz

@ 1a48e74d:02c0e00f

seeing if this works.

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

Part 3: Asynchroni et DOM Manipulatio

3.1 Promissa et Async/Await

Praesent blandit. Nam nulla. Integer pede justo, lacinia eget, tincidunt eget, tempus vel, pede.

``javascript function simulaRequest(data, probabilitasErroris = 0.1) { return new Promise((resolve, reject) => { setTimeout(() => { if (Math.random() < probabilitasErroris) { reject("Error: Aliquid mali accidit"); } else { resolve(Data accepta: ${data}`); } }, 1000); }); }

simulaRequest("Lorem ipsum") .then((responsum) => console.log(responsum)) .catch((error) => console.error(error));

async function fetchData() { try { const responsum = await simulaRequest("Dolor sit amet"); console.log(responsum); } catch (error) { console.error(error); } }

fetchData(); ```

3.2 DOM Manipulatio

Morbi non lectus. Aliquam sit amet diam in magna bibendum imperdiet. Nullam orci pede, venenatis non, sodales sed, tincidunt eu, felis.

```javascript document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { const titulus = document.createElement("h1"); titulus.textContent = "Lorem Ipsum JavaScript"; document.body.appendChild(titulus);

const paragraphus = document.createElement("p");
paragraphus.textContent = "Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit...";
document.body.appendChild(paragraphus);

const button = document.createElement("button");
button.textContent = "Fac Clic Me";
button.addEventListener("click", () => {
    alert("Gratias tibi ago pro clic!");
});
document.body.appendChild(button);

}); ```

3.3 Fetch API

Maecenas leo odio, condimentum id, luctus nec, molestie sed, justo. Pellentesque viverra pede ac diam.

``javascript async function fetchLoremIpsum() { try { const responsum = await fetch("https://api.lorem.space/image/game?w=150&h=220"); if (!responsum.ok) { throw new Error(HTTP error! status: ${responsum.status}`); } const data = await responsum.blob(); const imago = document.createElement("img"); imago.src = URL.createObjectURL(data); document.body.appendChild(imago); } catch (error) { console.error("Problema cum fetching imagine:", error); } }

fetchLoremIpsum(); ```

3.4 Local Storage

Cras mi pede, malesuada in, imperdiet et, commodo vulputate, justo. In blandit ultrices enim.

```javascript function salvaPreferentias(clavis, valor) { localStorage.setItem(clavis, JSON.stringify(valor)); }

function accipePreferentias(clavis) { const valor = localStorage.getItem(clavis); return valor ? JSON.parse(valor) : null; }

const preferentiae = { thema: "clarus", lingua: "Latina", notificationes: true };

salvaPreferentias("userPrefs", preferentiae);

const salvataePreferentiae = accipePreferentias("userPrefs"); console.log(salvataePreferentiae); ```

3.5 Exercitia Parti III

1. Crea paginam web simplicem quae utitur fetch API ad exhibendum datos ex API publica.
2. Implementa functionalitatem "drag and drop" utens DOM API.
3. Construe applicationem "todo list" quae persistit datos in local storage.

Conclusio

Vivamus vestibulum sagittis sapien. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Etiam vel augue. Vestibulum rutrum rutrum neque. Aenean auctor gravida sem. Praesent id massa id nisl venenatis lacinia. Aenean sit amet justo. Morbi ut odio.

Cras mi pede, malesuada in, imperdiet et, commodo vulputate, justo. In blandit ultrices enim. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin interdum mauris non ligula pellentesque ultrices. Phasellus id sapien in sapien iaculis congue. Vivamus metus arcu, adipiscing molestie, hendrerit at, vulputate vitae, nisl.

Aenean lectus. Pellentesque eget nunc. Donec quis orci eget orci vehicula condimentum. Curabitur in libero ut massa volutpat convallis. Morbi odio odio, elementum eu, interdum eu, tincidunt in, leo. Maecenas pulvinar lobortis est.

Phasellus sit amet erat. Nulla tempus. Vivamus in felis eu sapien cursus vestibulum. Proin eu mi. Nulla ac enim. In tempor, turpis nec euismod scelerisque, quam turpis adipiscing lorem, vitae mattis nibh ligula nec sem. Duis aliquam convallis nunc. Proin at turpis a pede posuere nonummy.

Integer non velit. Donec diam neque, vestibulum eget, vulputate ut, ultrices vel, augue. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Donec pharetra, magna vestibulum aliquet ultrices, erat tortor sollicitudin mi, sit amet lobortis sapien sapien non mi. Integer ac neque. Duis bibendum. Morbi non quam nec dui luctus rutrum. Nulla tellus. In sagittis dui vel nisl. Duis ac nibh. Fusce lacus purus, aliquet at, feugiat non, pretium quis, lectus.

Suspendisse potenti. In eleifend quam a odio. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Maecenas ut massa quis augue luctus tincidunt. Nulla mollis molestie lorem. Quisque ut erat. Curabitur gravida nisi at nibh. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam augue quam, sollicitudin vitae, consectetuer eget, rutrum at, lorem. Integer tincidunt ante vel ipsum. Praesent blandit lacinia erat. Vestibulum sed magna at nunc commodo placerat. Praesent blandit. Nam nulla.

@ acc925af:db9fb0bb

While tinkering about NWC and twitter I decided to hack a python script that might perhaps begin something good

Here's a high-level overview of how you could connect your Twitter account to a Nostr Wallet using NWC and automate a 21 satoshi payment for every like:

Prerequisites:

1. Twitter Developer Account
2. Nostr Wallet with NWC support (e.g., Alby, Nostrify)
3. Twitter API credentials (API key, API secret key, Access token, Access token secret)
4. Python script with Tweepy (Twitter API library) and nostr-client (Nostr library)

Step 1: Set up Twitter API credentials

Create a Twitter Developer account and obtain API credentials Install Tweepy using pip: pip install tweepy

Step 2: Connect Nostr Wallet using NWC

Choose a Nostr Wallet with NWC support (e.g., Alby, Nostrify) Set up the wallet and obtain the NWC credentials (e.g., public key, private key)

Step 3: Create a Python script

Import Tweepy and nostr-client libraries Authenticate with Twitter API using Tweepy Connect to Nostr Wallet using NWC credentials Define a function to send 21 satoshis for every like Use Tweepy to stream likes and trigger the payment function

Python script:

``` import tweepy from nostr_client import Client

Twitter API credentials

twitter_api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY" twitter_api_secret_key = "YOUR_API_SECRET_KEY" twitter_access_token = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" twitter_access_token_secret = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET"

Nostr Wallet NWC credentials

nwc_public_key = "YOUR_NWC_PUBLIC_KEY" nwc_private_key = "YOUR_NWC_PRIVATE_KEY"

Set up Tweepy

auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(twitter_api_key, twitter_api_secret_key) auth.set_access_token(twitter_access_token, twitter_access_token_secret) api = tweepy.API(auth)

Set up Nostr Client

nwc_client = Client() nwc_client.connect(nwc_public_key, nwc_private_key)

Define payment function

def send_satoshis(): # Create a new Nostr event with 21 satoshis event = nwc_client.create_event(21) # Send the event to the Nostr network nwc_client.send_event(event)

Stream likes and trigger payment function

class LikeStream(tweepy.StreamListener): def on_like(self, like): send_satoshis()

stream = tweepy.Stream(auth, LikeStream()) stream.filter(track=["likes"])

```

Please note that this is a simplified example and may require additional error handling, security measures, and modifications to work as intended.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/673795

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

Part 1: Fundamentum Javascripti

1.1 Introductionis

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam euismod, nisi vel consectetur interdum, nisl nunc egestas nunc, vitae tincidunt nisl nunc euismod nunc. Sed euismod, nisi vel consectetur interdum, nisl nunc egestas nunc, vitae tincidunt nisl nunc euismod nunc.

javascript console.log("Salve, mundi!");

1.2 Variabiles et Typi Datorum

Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Integer convallis, nunc ac blandit tincidunt, ipsum augue tincidunt nunc, vitae tincidunt nisl nunc euismod nunc.

javascript var numerus = 42; let textus = "Lorem ipsum"; const CONSTANTIA = true;

1.2.1 Typi Numerorum

Curabitur in libero ut massa volutpat convallis. Morbi odio odio, elementum eu, interdum eu, tincidunt in, leo.

javascript let integer = 10; let floatinum = 3.14; let scientificum = 2.998e8;

1.2.2 Typi Textuum

Maecenas tristique, est et tempus semper, est quam pharetra magna, ac consequat metus sapien ut nunc.

javascript let textusBrevis = 'Carpe diem'; let textusLongus = "Quod erat demonstrandum"; let textusTemplatum = `Cogito, ${textusBrevis.toLowerCase()}, sum`;

1.3 Operatores

Donec dapibus. Duis at velit eu est congue elementum. In hac habitasse platea dictumst.

```javascript let a = 5; let b = 3;

console.log(a + b); // Additio console.log(a - b); // Subtractio console.log(a * b); // Multiplicatio console.log(a / b); // Divisio console.log(a % b); // Modulus console.log(a ** b); // Potentia ```

1.4 Structurae Controli

Morbi non lectus. Aliquam sit amet diam in magna bibendum imperdiet. Nullam orci pede, venenatis non, sodales sed, tincidunt eu, felis.

1.4.1 Conditionales

```javascript let aetas = 20;

if (aetas >= 18) { console.log("Adultus es"); } else if (aetas >= 13) { console.log("Adolescens es"); } else { console.log("Puer es"); } ```

1.4.2 Iterationes

``javascript for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) { console.log(Iteratio ${i}`); }

let j = 0; while (j < 5) { console.log(Dum iteratio ${j}); j++; } ```

1.5 Exercitia Parti I

1. Scribe programma quod convertat gradus Celsius in Fahrenheit.
2. Crea algorithmum qui determinat si numerus est par vel impar.
3. Implementa "FizzBuzz" pro numeris 1 ad 100.

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

Part 2: Functiones et Objecta

2.1 Functiones

Fusce posuere felis sed lacus. Morbi sem mauris, laoreet ut, rhoncus aliquet, pulvinar sed, nisl.

``javascript function salutatio(nomen) { returnSalve, ${nomen}!`; }

console.log(salutatio("Cicero"));

const valedictio = (nomen) => { console.log(Vale, ${nomen}!); };

valedictio("Seneca"); ```

2.1.1 Parametri Default et Rest

Nunc purus. Phasellus in felis. Donec semper sapien a libero.

``javascript function congregatio(primus, secundus = "mundi", ...ceteri) { console.log(${primus} ${secundus}); console.log(Ceteri: ${ceteri.join(", ")}`); }

congregatio("Salve"); congregatio("Lorem", "ipsum"); congregatio("Veni", "vidi", "vici", "et", "cetera"); ```

2.2 Objecta

Nam congue, risus semper porta volutpat, quam pede lobortis ligula, sit amet eleifend pede libero quis orci.

``javascript const persona = { nomen: "Iulius", cognomen: "Caesar", aetas: 55, salutatio: function() { returnSalve, ${this.nomen} ${this.cognomen}!`; } };

console.log(persona.salutatio()); ```

2.2.1 Methodi Object

Nullam porttitor lacus at turpis. Donec posuere metus vitae ipsum. Aliquam non mauris.

```javascript const claves = Object.keys(persona); console.log(claves);

const valores = Object.values(persona); console.log(valores);

const paria = Object.entries(persona); console.log(paria); ```

2.3 Arrays

Morbi porttitor lorem id ligula. Suspendisse ornare consequat lectus. In est risus, auctor sed, tristique in, tempus sit amet, sem.

```javascript const fructus = ["malum", "pirum", "uva", "cerasum"];

fructus.forEach((fructus) => { console.log(fructus); });

const longiFructus = fructus.filter((fructus) => fructus.length > 4); console.log(longiFructus);

const maiusculaFructus = fructus.map((fructus) => fructus.toUpperCase()); console.log(maiusculaFructus); ```

2.4 Exercitia Parti II

1. Crea functionem quae calculat factorialem numeri.
2. Implementa methodum quae invenit maximum valorem in array.
3. Scribe programma quod ordinat objecta in array secundum proprietatem specificam.

@ 13e63e99:25525c6a

Preview

Last week, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador emphasized Bitcoin’s role in enhancing the country's global image that boosted foreign investment and tourism. At the NostrWorld Unconference in Riga, the synergy between Bitcoin and decentralized social  networks was a key focus, showcasing the potential for integrating Bitcoin with the growing Nostr protocol. Meanwhile, Lightspark launched its Extend platform, facilitating instant Bitcoin payments for U.S. businesses, thereby expanding the accessibility  of Bitcoin transactions. Publicly traded companies have increased their Bitcoin holdings by nearly 200%, bringing their total to $20  billion, reflecting strong institutional confidence in Bitcoin as a reserve asset. Additionally, Bitcoin in exchange experienced its third-largest daily net outflow of 2024, indicating a shift toward long-term holding among investors. Despite some withdrawals,  including a $13.5 million outflow from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, the fund remains a dominant force in the Bitcoin investment landscape. Lastly, Nigeria's SEC granted its first provisional exchange license, a milestone in the regulation of the country’s  rapidly growing digital asset industry, positioning Nigeria as a leading player in global digital asset adoption. For more details, continue reading below.

A. Bitcoin Data Dashboard

1. Bitcoin Transactions\ 2. Supply\ 3. Mining\ 4. Transaction Fees\ 5. Difficulty Retarget\ 6. Lightning Network (Public)

B. Bitcoin Ecosystem

1. Bukele: Bitcoin was a powerful rebranding tool for El Salvador\ 2. NostrWorld Unconference in Riga: Exploring Bitcoin and Decentralized Social Networks\ 3. Lightspark launches Extend for instant Bitcoin Lightning payments in the U.S.\ 4. Public companies boost Bitcoin holdings by nearly 200%, reaching $20 billion\ 5. Bitcoin exchanges see 3rd-largest daily net outflow of 2024\ 6. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust faces $13.5m outflow amid broader ETF withdrawals

C. Regulation

1. Nigeria's first provisional exchange license from SEC, marking milestone in digital asset regulation

D. Macroeconomy

1. Vice President Harris proposes wealth tax targeting unrealized gains for ultra rich\ 2. Jobless claims drop as labor market slows, US economy remains on steady growth path

---

A. Bitcoin Data Dashboard

As of Sep 2, 2024

B. Bitcoin Ecosystem

1. Bukele: Bitcoin was a powerful rebranding tool for El Salvador

President Nayib Bukele recently provided a candid assessment of El Salvador's groundbreaking decision to adopt Bitcoin as  legal tender, a move that has drawn both praise and criticism on the global stage. In an interview with Time magazine,  Bukele emphasized that the initiative has had substantial benefits  particularly in enhancing El Salvador's international image  despite the country's bitcoin adoption has not expanded as rapidly as he has hoped, Bukele described the Bitcoin adoption  as a powerful rebranding tool for the nation, one that has attracted foreign investment and boosted tourism. The president’s  marketing advisor, Damian Merlo, echoed this sentiment, calling the decision "genius" and likening it to a major public  relations campaign that El Salvador didn’t have to pay for. "We could have spent millions on a PR firm to rebrand the  country," Merlo noted, "but instead, we adopted Bitcoin." While the move initially strained relations with institutions like  the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which urged Bukele to abandon the policy due to perceived risks, there are signs  that the tension is easing. El Salvador has recently reported progress in negotiations with the IMF, with a focus on enhancing  transparency and addressing potential fiscal and financial stability risks related to the Bitcoin project. 

Reference: Bitcoin.com, Time

2. NostrWorld Unconference in Riga: Exploring Bitcoin and Decentralized Social Networks

Last week, NostrWorld’s third unconference, held in Riga, Latvia, gathered advocates and developers of the Nostr protocol. Organized by  Jack Dorsey, NostrWorld provides a platform for open-source enthusiasts to collaborate on building a decentralized internet. The event,  called Nostriga, underscored the emerging synergy between Nostr’s decentralized social network and Bitcoin. Nostr is an  open-source protocol for a decentralized, censorship-resistant social network. Unlike traditional platforms, Nostr operates on a  network of relays, supporting features like micropayments and digital identity management. It promises greater privacy  and independence from centralized platforms. A highlight of the conference was Strike CEO Jack Mallers discussing  how Nostr’s micropayments—Zaps—helped a skeptic understand Bitcoin’s value. This feature shows Bitcoin’s  utility in social contexts, advancing the concept of internet tipping. Jack Dorsey enphasizing the importance of open source.  Nostr faces the challenge of broadening its user base beyond Bitcoin enthusiasts. New initiatives like Ditto aim to  integrate Nostr with larger internet communities, potentially increasing Bitcoin’s visibility and accessibility. Nostr’s role  as a social and identity system could pave the way for decentralized digital economies. By leveraging social graphs and  cryptographic trust, Nostr and Bitcoin together could enable secure, decentralized commerce.

Reference: Bitcoin magazine

3. Lightspark launches Extend for instant Bitcoin Lightning payments in the U.S.

Lightspark has unveiled Lightspark Extend, a new solution designed to facilitate instant Bitcoin Lightning payments for U.S. businesses.  This platform integrates with Universal Money Addresses (UMA) and Lightning-enabled wallets, exchanges, or bank accounts,  offering a compliant and cost-effective way to handle transactions around the clock. Lightspark Extend is compatible with over 99% of U.S.  banks that support real-time payments, enabling businesses to provide their customers with fast, low-cost transactions. UMA simplifies the  payment process by using easy-to-remember addresses similar to email, removing the need for complex codes or passwords. With this launch,  Lightspark Extend makes real-time payments via the Bitcoin Lightning Network accessible to eligible recipients across the U.S. Businesses  interested in adopting this solution can sign up for a UMA address, link their accounts, and start receiving payments through an onboarding  process facilitated by Zero Hash, a regulated U.S. financial institution. The introduction of Lightspark Extend marks a significant advancement in expanding the accessibility and utility of Bitcoin payments. This follows Lightspark’s recent announcement of a partnership with Coinbase,  enabling customers to send up to $10,000 instantly through the Lightning Network.

Reference: Bitcoin magazine

4. Public companies boost Bitcoin holdings by nearly 200%, reaching $20 billion

Publicly listed companies have seen their Bitcoin holdings soar by nearly 200% in a year, rising from $7.2 billion to $20 billion.  According to Bitbo data, 42 such companies now hold 335,249 BTC, valued at roughly $20 billion. This marks a 177.7% increase  from a year ago, when their BTC holdings were worth $7.2 billion. The trend began with MicroStrategy's August 2020  purchase of over 21,000 BTC, making Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset, and the company has since grown its holdings  to 226,500 BTC. A survey commissioned by Nickel Digital Asset Management revealed strong institutional support for Bitcoin  as a reserve asset, with 75% of 200 surveyed institutional investors and wealth managers endorsing public companies holding  BTC. The survey, involving firms managing $1.7 trillion in assets, also found that 58% believe 10% or more of public companies  will hold BTC within five years. Nickel Digital's CEO, Anatoly Crachilov, noted that institutional investors see Bitcoin as a hedge  against currency debasement and a valuable addition to reserve allocations. Despite this growth, the 335,249 BTC held by public  companies represent just 1.6% of Bitcoin's total capped supply of 21 million.

Reference: Cointelegraph

5. Bitcoin exchanges see 3rd-largest daily net outflow of 2024

Bitcoin is seeing a significant uptick in exchange withdrawals as its price nears the $60,000 mark, with approximately 45,000 BTC  removed from exchanges on August 27 alone. This movement represents the third-largest net outflow of Bitcoin from exchanges  in 2024, following similar spikes in July. According to data from CryptoQuant, this trend could signal a growing bullish sentiment  among investors, who appear to be transferring their Bitcoin off exchanges to hold for the long term, thereby reducing potential  selling pressure in the market. As of August 27, major exchanges hold around 2.63 million BTC, reflecting a 12.5% decrease  from the 3.01 million BTC held at the beginning of the year. This reduction in exchange reserves underscores a broader trend  of investors preferring to hold their Bitcoin privately, possibly in anticipation of future price increases.

Reference: Cointelegraph

6. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust faces $13.5m outflow amid broader ETF withdrawals

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) experienced a $13.5 million outflow on Thursday, marking its first outflow since  May 1st and only the second in the fund's history since its launch in January. This rare withdrawal contrasts with the ETF’s  usual pattern of consistent inflows, underscoring its dominance in the Bitcoin investment space. The outflow came as part of  a broader trend affecting spot Bitcoin ETFs, which saw a collective $71.8 million in withdrawals on Thursday. Competing  Bitcoin ETFs from Grayscale, Fidelity, Valkyrie, and Bitwise also reported significant outflows, ranging from $8 million to  $31 million. Despite these withdrawals, ARK's Bitcoin ETF saw an inflow of $5.3 million, highlighting a mixed investor  sentiment as Bitcoin remains below the $60,000 mark. This divergence suggests varied outlooks among investors regarding  Bitcoin's future. Despite the recent dip, BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF continues to lead the market, having attracted over $20  billion in net inflows since inception. With more than 350,000 BTC under management, it remains one of the largest  institutional Bitcoin holders, reflecting its enduring appeal and influence in the Bitcoin investment landscape.

Reference: Bitcoin magazine

C. Regulation

1. Nigeria's first provisional exchange license from SEC, marking milestone in digital asset regulation

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted Quidax, an Africa-based crypto exchange, its  first provisional operating license. This marks a significant step toward formal recognition and regulation of Nigeria's  digital asset industry. The SEC's license allows Quidax to operate as a registered crypto exchange in Nigeria,  a move the company describes as a "shot of adrenaline" for the local crypto community, spurring innovation and growth. Quidax CEO Buchi Okoro praised the SEC, particularly under the leadership of Emomotimi Agama, for its efforts  to bring order and investor protection to the Nigerian crypto market. The approval also paves the way for Quidax to  collaborate with banks and financial institutions, pending approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria. This licensing follows the SEC's recent amendment to its rules on June 21, covering digital asset issuance, exchange,  and custody. Despite concerns that stringent requirements could limit local crypto exchanges, the new regulatory  framework, including the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme, aims to align virtual asset service providers  with the latest standards. Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is a global leader in cryptocurrency adoption, ranking  second in Chainalysis’ 2023 Cryptocurrency Geography Report. While foreign investment in Nigeria's crypto sector  has been slower than expected, the new regulatory environment and Quidax's licensing could attract more investors  by offering a stable and secure market.

Reference: Cointelegraph

D. Macroeconomy

1. Vice President Harris proposes wealth tax targeting unrealized gains for ultra rich

As a presidential candidate, Vice President Harris has aligned with President Biden’s tax policies, including the pledge  not to raise taxes on anyone earning under $400,000 annually. However, she also has her own ambitious tax proposals. These include raising the top marginal tax rate on high earners from 37% to 39.6%. Although she previously suggested  a 4% “income-based premium” on households earning over $100,000 to fund Medicare for All, this idea has not  resurfaced in 2024. Among the more controversial proposals Harris supports is a tax on unrealized capital gains for  individuals with over $100 million in wealth. Often dubbed the “billionaire tax,” this would require these households to  pay an annual minimum tax of 25% on their combined income and unrealized gains. This approach would be groundbreaking  in U.S. tax history, as it taxes assets that have not yet been sold. For example, if you buy stock at $10 and it increases to $20,  you would owe taxes on the $10 gain, even if you haven’t sold the stock. The same principle would apply to real estate,  where yearly value increases would be taxed. This proposal raises significant concerns, particularly about the administrative  challenges of valuing assets annually and the potential for future expansion of the tax to lower wealth thresholds. The wealth  tax faces hurdles in Congress and potential court challenges, but it signals Harris's intent to push for new forms of taxation  on the ultra-wealthy.

Reference: Forbes

2. Jobless claims drop as labor market slows, US economy remains on steady growth path

Last week, new applications for jobless benefits in the U.S. dropped slightly, but re-employment opportunities for laid-off  workers are becoming scarcer, indicating the unemployment rate likely remained high in August. Despite this, the labor market's  orderly slowdown is keeping economic growth on track, with the economy growing faster than initially reported in the second  quarter, driven by consumer spending and rebounding corporate profits. The labor market's cooling supports the expectation that  the Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates next month, though a 50-basis-point reduction seems unlikely. Initial jobless  claims fell by 2,000 to 231,000 for the week ending August 24, while continuing claims, which indicate ongoing unemployment,  rose slightly, suggesting prolonged joblessness. In the second quarter, the economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.0%, with  consumer spending revised upward to a 2.9% growth rate, offsetting lower business investment and exports. Corporate profits  also reached a record high, helping businesses manage input costs amid supply-chain challenges. The goods trade deficit widened  in July due to a surge in imports, likely driven by expectations of higher tariffs if former President Trump wins the November election.  Despite these factors, economists predict growth will slow but avoid a recession.

Reference: Reuters, dol.gov

@ e27ae11e:e0c36580

In the present computerized age, having a website is essential for any business, including tradies. Yet, it's not just about having a website; about having a website looks perfect and functions admirably on all gadgets. This is where responsive web design comes in. We should investigate why responsive web design is fundamental for tradies and how it can help your business. Visit us > Best Tradie Web Design Key takeaways Mobile-Friendly is a Must: Guarantee your website looks perfect and functions admirably on cell phones and tablets to draw in additional clients.

Better Insight: A responsive site is simpler to utilize, making guests blissful and bound to reach you.

Higher Google Rankings: A versatile website can assist you with seeming higher in list items, carrying more traffic to your webpage.

Set aside Time and Cash: Overseeing one responsive site is less expensive and easier than having separate locales for various gadgets. Overview Responsive web design is a methodology that does a good job for your website and capacity suitably on any contraption, whether it's a PC, tablet, or cell. It suggests your website will thusly change its format and content to fit the screen size of the contraption being used. This ensures a predictable and beguiling experience for your visitors, paying little heed to how they access your site. What difference Does It Make for Tradies? 1. Increased Versatile Utilization More individuals are utilizing their cell phones to peruse the web. Potential clients could look for your administrations while in a hurry. On the off chance that your website isn't versatile, you could lose those possible clients. Responsive web design guarantees that your webpage looks perfect and functions admirably on cell phones, making it simpler for guests to find and reach you. Tip: Check your website analytics to see how many visitors are accessing your site from mobile devices. Use this data to prioritize mobile optimization. 2. Better Client Experience A responsive website gives a superior client experience. At the point when guests can undoubtedly explore your site and find the information they need without zooming in or scroll on a level plane, they are bound to remain longer and investigate your administrations. A positive client experience can prompt more requests and appointments. Tip: Use a clean and simple design that is easy to navigate on all devices. Avoid clutter and ensure that buttons and links are easy to tap 3. Improved Website optimization Rankings Web crawlers like Google focus on versatile websites. In case your site is responsive, it will rank higher in list things. This infers more prominent detectable quality for your business and more potential clients believing that you are on the web. Higher rankings can basically uphold your web-based presence and attract more busy time gridlock to your website. Tip: Guarantee your website content is applicable and helpful to your interest group. Excellent substance further develops Search engine optimization and keeps guests locked in. 4. Cost-Powerful Keeping a single responsive website is smarter than having separate objections for workspace and flexible clients. With responsive web design, you simply need to regulate and invigorate one website, saving you time and money long term. Tip: Consistently update your website's substance and design to keep it new and important, guaranteeing it stays viable and cost-productive. 5. Consistent Marking A responsive website guarantees that your marking stays steady across all gadgets. Whether a client visits your site on a PC or a cell phone, they will see similar design, tones, and logo. Steady marking assists fabricate trust and acknowledgment with your crowd. Tip: Utilize a similar variety plan, logo, and textual styles across all variants of your website to keep a predictable brand personality.

Make Your Website Responsive 1. Pick a Responsive Subject If you are using a website producer or a substance the chiefs system like WordPress, pick a responsive subject. These subjects are designed to be dynamic and will consequently change in accordance with various screen sizes. Tip: Preview the theme on different devices before making a final decision to ensure it meets your needs. 2. Optimize Pictures and Media Guarantee that pictures and media records are improved for quick stacking on all gadgets. Enormous pictures can dial back your site, particularly on cell phones. Use devices to pack pictures without forfeiting quality. Tip: Use image compression tools like TinyPNG or JPEGmini to reduce the file size of your images without losing quality 3. Simplify Route Ensure your website's route is basic and simple to use on all gadgets. Utilize clear menus and buttons that are not difficult to tap on a touchscreen. Try not to utilize an excessive number of connections or complex dropdown menus that can be hard to explore on a little screen. Tip: Use a simple, easy-to-use menu that adapts to different screen sizes. A hamburger menu can be effective for mobile devices. 4. Use Adaptable Designs Design your website utilizing adaptable formats that can change in accordance with various screen sizes. This can be accomplished utilizing CSS (Flowing Templates) to make a liquid framework design that changes in light of the gadget's screen size. Tip: Avoid fixed-width layouts. Instead, use percentage-based widths that allow your content to resize fluidly. 5. Test Your Website Reliably test your website on different contraptions and screen sizes to promise it looks perfect and works fittingly. There are online instruments available that can help you see how your webpage appears on different devices. Tip: Utilize online instruments like Google's Dynamic Test and Browser Stack to perceive how your website looks and works on changed gadgets and programs. Conclusion Responsive web design is essential for tradies that need to attract and hold clients in the present high level world. It ensures that your website looks great and works honorably on all devices, giving you an unrivaled client experience, further fostering your Web enhancement rankings, and saving you time and money. By picking a responsive topic, streamlining pictures, improving on route, and testing your webpage consistently, you can make a responsive website that assists your exchange business with flourishing on the web. Putting resources into responsive web design isn't just about staying aware of patterns; it's tied in with giving the most ideal experience to your guests and guaranteeing your business stays serious. In this way, make the strides today to make your website responsive and watch your web-based presence develop!

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

The Evolution of Web 3.0: Bitcoin's Role in Decentralizing the Internet

Introduction to Web 3.0

Web 3.0, often referred to as the decentralized web, represents the next phase in the evolution of the internet. Unlike its predecessors, Web 3.0 aims to redistribute control from centralized entities back to individual users through technologies like blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized applications (dApps). This shift promises a more democratic internet where users control their data, identity, and digital destiny.

The Bitcoin Protocol: A Foundation for Web 3.0

Bitcoin's Influence on Decentralization

Bitcoin, introduced in 2008, can be seen as a precursor to Web 3.0 due to its decentralized nature. The Bitcoin protocol introduced the world to blockchain technology, a decentralized ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers. This technology underpins Web 3.0's ethos by:

• Promoting Decentralization: Bitcoin's network operates without a central authority, showcasing how internet services could run on similar principles, reducing the power of centralized tech giants.
• Enhancing Security and Privacy: Through cryptographic means, Bitcoin ensures that transactions are secure and pseudonymus, a feature integral to Web 3.0's vision of user-controlled data.

Scalability and Functionality Challenges

However, Bitcoin's protocol wasn't designed on the base layer with the complex applications of Web 3.0 in mind. Its primary function as a digital currency means:

• Scalability Issues: Bitcoin's blockchain has limitations in transaction speed and volume, which might not suffice for a fully realized Web 3.0 environment where millions of micro-transactions could occur seamlessly.
• Limited Smart Contract Capabilities: Bitcoin's scripting language isn't as versatile as platforms like Ethereum, which are designed to support a broader range of decentralized applications.

Expanding Bitcoin's Role with Layer 2 Solutions

To bridge these gaps, developers are working on Layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network for faster transactions, and projects like Stacks aim to bring smart contract functionality directly to Bitcoin. These innovations suggest that while Bitcoin might not be the sole backbone of Web 3.0 yet, it can significantly contribute to its infrastructure. In the long term, the question is whether we need more than one network, I mean, we don't have multiple Internets today. The market will probably decide in favor of the strongest and most secure network, and Bitcoin is by far that.

Web 3.0 Beyond Bitcoin

A Broader Blockchain Ecosystem

At the moment Web 3.0 encompasses by far more than just Bitcoin. It includes:

• Ethereum and Smart Contracts: Ethereum's introduction of smart contracts has been pivotal, allowing for decentralized applications that can interact in complex ways, far beyond simple transactions.
• Other Blockchains: Platforms like Solana, Sui, and Near are gaining traction for their high throughput and lower costs, addressing some of Bitcoin's limitations on the base layer.

The Cultural and Economic Shift

The move towards Web 3.0 isn't just technological but cultural. There's a growing sentiment, reflected in posts on platforms like X, that users are ready for a change where they own their digital presence. Here's some background based on general knowledge and trends up to 2024:

Cultural Shift:

• Distrust in Centralized Institutions: There's been a growing distrust in traditional centralized institutions like banks, governments, and large corporations. This distrust stems from various scandals, data breaches, privacy concerns, and perceived inefficiencies or corruption. Posts on platforms like X or even more on Nostr reflect this sentiment, where users often discuss the diminishing trust in these institutions.
• Rise of Individual Empowerment: Culturally, there's a move towards empowerment of the individual, facilitated by technology. Social media, blockchain, and other decentralized technologies give individuals tools to bypass traditional gatekeepers in finance, media, and more. This shift champions the idea that individuals should have more control over their data, finances, and digital identity.
• Identity and Community: Decentralization also touches on identity politics and community governance. There's a trend towards localism or regionalism where communities seek more control over their governance, which can be seen in movements for local autonomy or even secessionist sentiments in various parts of the world.
• Cultural Movements: Movements like the maker culture, DIY (Do It Yourself), open-source software, and even the gig economy reflect a cultural shift towards decentralization where individuals or small groups can produce, create, or work independently of large entities.

Economic Shift:

• Decentralized Finance (DeFi): DeFi represents one of the most tangible shifts, aiming to recreate and potentially improve financial systems outside of traditional banking. This includes lending, borrowing, and earning interest in a trustless, permissionless environment, primarily using blockchain technology.
• Cryptocurrencies and Tokenization: The rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum symbolizes a move away from centralized monetary systems. Tokenization of assets, from art (NFTs - Non-Fungible Tokens) to real estate, embodies this shift, allowing for fractional ownership and reducing the barriers to investment.
• Globalization vs. Localism: While globalization has interconnected economies, there's a counter-trend where economic decentralization supports local economies. This can be seen in the push for local currencies, community-supported agriculture, or local energy production like solar microgrids.
• Work and Employment: The gig economy, remote work, and digital nomadism are part of this economic shift. Platforms enabling freelance work decentralize employment, moving away from traditional office environments and 9-to-5 jobs.

General Observations:

• Technology as an Enabler: Blockchain, the internet, and advancements in communication technology are pivotal in this shift. They provide the infrastructure necessary for decentralization to occur at scale.
• Political Implications: Economically, this shift maybe challenges existing power structures, potentially leading to regulatory battles as seen with cryptocurrencies. Culturally, it might lead to a redefinition of nationalism, community, and individual rights in the digital age.
• Challenges: Despite its promise, decentralization faces hurdles like scalability issues, regulatory pushback, the digital divide, and the potential for new forms of centralization (e.g., large crypto exchanges becoming new central authorities).

Conclusion: Bitcoin's Place in Web 3.0

Bitcoin's protocol ignited the spark for a decentralized internet, but Web 3.0 is evolving into a multifaceted ecosystem where Bitcoin might play a crucial, though not yet exclusive, role. The integration of Bitcoin with newer technologies and platforms could see it becoming a fundamental layer in the Web 3.0 stack, particularly in areas of value transfer and as a store of value within decentralized finance (DeFi).

As we progress, the synergy between Bitcoin's proven security and stability, combined with the innovation of other blockchain technologies, might just be the blend needed for Web 3.0 to achieve mainstream adoption, ensuring the internet becomes more open, secure, and user-centric. As stated before, the market will probably decide in favor of the strongest and most secure network, and Bitcoin is by far that.

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

I joined Nostr a week ago and wanted to recap it for myself and also give other newbies a simple introduction. Maybe this will help you get started too.

Step 1: Create your identity and get your private key for a browser extension

I started with the Snort client on my local home server. It created my private/public key pair and I was good to go. Then I transferred the private key to Amethyst, a pretty good Android-based client. Before looking at various clients and other nostr-based websites, I tried transferring my private key into a browser extension. I looked at Alby and nos2x. I chose the latter because I wanted to keep my Lightning wallet separate from my identity management. You don't have to, I just found it easier.

Step 2: If you're confused, always check your feed settings

I tried many different clients and was very confused at first. Due to its decentralized nature, Nostr relies on relays, which are just small servers, and to each one you can connect to, all your data is stored. When you post a message, write a note, an article like this or simply who you follow. The main reason and benefit for this is that there is no single point of failure or server-like entity that could be censored. The side effect of this, combined with using different clients, was that not only did it look different everywhere, but the content was also very different. This was simply because I wasn't connected to all my different clients with the same relays. But the main reason why each feed looks different on each client is usually because you can choose different variations of feeds and some clients even offer filters for the feeds.

Scroll down to get a small overview of the clients I've tried.

Step 3: Set up your lightning wallet with something like Wallet of Satoshi

I made my Bitcoin Lightning wallet independent of my identity. That's why I just went with the number one Lightning wallet on the market: Satoshi's Wallet. It's very simple and provides you with a Lightning address that resembles and has the format of an email address. You can add this address to your Nostr profile description and you're ready to receive Sats. Anyone can send them to you, e.g. for a good message or something else they find valuable on Nostr (like a podcast, a video, an article, ...). Just be aware that Satoshi's wallet contains your key and the sats you have there are not really your sats. So only leave a small amount there or no more than you need for your nostr experience.

Step 4: Set up your Nostr address

I set up a unique NIP-05 identifier that is human readable and also looks like an email address. For me, that's tobiya@nostrplebs.com, also called a nostr address. It's much easier to read, share and remember than your public key, which is just a long, unwieldy string of characters.

Some popular services are: * NostrVerified * Alby * Iris * Primal * Snort * nostrplebs.com

Most offer free services or at least a free tier. I chose nostrplebs.com because it links my Nostr address (tobiya@nostrplebs.com) to my Lightning wallet. ⚡

Brief overview of the clients (I have tested)

Web/Browser:

• Primal: Fast, user-friendly, nice looking, easy to use
• Coracle: Focuses on decentralized reputation, privacy and trust metrics. Also well organized and structured
• noStrudel: The most comprehensive I've found, has everything
• Rabbit: Designed like X (Twitter) Pro, focuses on everything at once
• Nostter: Clearly structured, easy to find what you're looking for
• Snort: Fast web client for those who prefer simplicity and speed.

iOS

I'm not an iPhone user, but everything I've discovered says that Damus is the best app for iOS.

Android:

• Amethyst: Feature rich for Android, I only tried this program because it gives me everything I currently need on my phone.
• Primal: Works seamlessly with Primal on the web, which is a pretty convenient starting point if you only want to use one client.

As for the web clients, I'm still figuring out which one will be my favorite. But I think they're all good in their own way. In the time of writing, I am mainly using Primal on Android and Web, Amethyst and noStrudel.

Let's have fun!!

@ 0edc2f47:730cff1b

Chef's notes

In this case, sweet-and-sour doesn’t mean Americanized Chinese food but rather the sauce that dominated the Shabbos and Pesach dinner table among American Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30 minutes
• 🍳 Cook time: 6 hours
• 🍽️ Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 8-10 large cloves garlic
• 1 cup ketchup
• ¼ cup dry sherry
• ¼ cup sake
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1½ cups Coca-Cola, ginger ale, or Dr. Pepper
• 1 first-cut brisket, 6 to 7 pounds (2.7-3.2kg), rinsed and patted thoroughly dry

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F / 160C.
2. Combine all ingredients except brisket in a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Place brisket in a Dutch oven or other large pot with a tight-fitting lid.
4. Pour sauce over brisket, place lid on pot, roast in oven for 3 hours. Flip roast and return to oven for 3 hours or until fork tender.
5. Remove roast to rest. Skim fat from sauce and reduce if desired. Serve immediately with sauce or cool, cover brisket and refrigerate overnight in cooking pan. The next day, defat sauce, reduce if desired, and reheat meat in sauce before serving.

@ 361d3e1e:50bc10a8

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/09/05/he-wished-pfizers-vaccine-naysayers-screwed-and-now-hes-screwed/

He wished Pfizer's vaccine naysayers screwed, and now he's screwed

uk #music #vaccine #covid #sideeffects #health #freespeech

@ 9977c3ad:43a20d63

Details

• 🍽️ Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup Jasmine rice
• 1 Tbsp. lavender flowers, crushed with mortar and pestle
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. fine cane sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1/4 tsp angostura bitters
• 1/2 cup blackberries
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 4 cups trimmed and quartered shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tsp fresh coriander crushed
• 1/4 tsp fresh cumin ground
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup creamy coconut milk

Directions

1. Combine rice, lavender, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring the rice to a boil, cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat off. Let the rice sit in the pan for at least 20 minutes.
2. Combine 1/4 cup of water, the vinegar, sugar, honey, rosemary, angostura bitters in a saucepan and bring the brine to a boil. Season with a pinch of salt. Add the berries and wait until the brine comes back to a boil. Lower the heat, so the brine simmers but does not boil. When the brine thickens, after about 15 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 400F. In a bowl big enough to hold all the shiitake, combine the olive oil, the soy sauce and the spices. Whisk vigorously, so the oil emulsifies with the other liquid. Toss the shiitake in the mix to marinate, then evenly lay them out on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake the shiitake for 10 minutes. When you remove the shiitake from the oven, remove the thyme and throw it out. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil. Add the shiitake and reduce the heat to a light boil until the sauce thickens.

@ 3b7fc823:e194354f

I dOn'T cAre ABouT pRivAcY. IT dOEsN'T maTtER. i'M nOT dOiNg AnyThiNg wRonG.

GHOSTn

Your phone is spying on you. Your apps are spying on you. Your websites, search engine, fitness tracker, smart watch, IoT device, EVERYTHING is collecting anything it can and sending it off to be stored, cross referenced, and sold.

Data is the new oil.

So what? I don't care if Google knows I like motorcycles. By itself one data point isn't a big deal but once you start bringing everything together...

Who are you talking to? When and how long did you talk to them? Where did you go? How often do you go there? On and on the profile starts to become overwhelmingly invasive.

Right now it is extremely cheap and easy to collect and store the data but it's hard and expensive to cross reference and tabulate the data down to the individual. But in the extremely near future using AI and faster processers, data profiles for sale go from white men between 25 - 30, with this education level, and background like XYZ to -> John loves motorcycls and steak.

Suddenly your insurance premiums are way higher than your friends because you partake in dangerous activities and eat too much red meat. You get denied that loan because you invest in risky assets and it raises your risk factors to pay it back. That job that you applied to never responded because they already ran you through the algorithm and you don't fit the culture.

Protect your data and privacy now before its too late.

privacy

@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

请看2014年王兴的一场思维碰撞，视频27分钟开始

最后，一个当时无法解决的点：丢失

@ 6c2d68ba:846525ec

Dear friend,

it seems like you have decided to turn your back on those walled gardens and set sails to enter uncharted territory. A world without walls, an open world, a world of beautiful chaos. At least for today, I don't intend guiding you out of the safe harbour onto the open, endless sea. Today, my only intent is sharing a few thoughts, before you depart.

As a wise man on Madeira once said, it's not so much about having the right answers, it's about asking the right questions. While I'm not certain whether I have found the right questions myself by now, let me share the current set with you:

• What causes the discomfort that drives you out of the walled garden onto the open sea?

• Are you trying to transfer from one walled garden to the next one, where the difference being a slightly friendlier colour on the wall?

• What are you hoping to find on the open sea that walled gardens cannot provide?

• What are you willing to sacrifice for freedom (of speech)?

• What will you need to keep the ship afloat?

• How will you react when you find yourself in the middle of a storm?

I sincerely believe that it's worthwile taking a step back before departing to reflect on the big picture and the underlying paradigm shift between walled gardens and nostr. This is not about building competitors to broken systems, this is not about mimicking centralised services, this is not about repeating the same mistakes over and over.

This is about building a new world, an open world without walled gardens and data silos.

Onwards!

@ 8f09210b:065ffd5e

J’aimerais attirer votre attention sur le phénomène NOSTR.

Si vous ne connaissez pas encore, je vous conseille très sincèrement de vous y intéresser !

Avant qu’Elon Musk ne reprenne Twitter, ayant compris que la censure se durcissait partout, un groupe de développeurs (issu essentiellement de la communauté Bitcoin) a décidé de construire l’ossature des réseaux sociaux de demain. Ce projet s’appelle NOSTR, acronyme de Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays (que les gens prononcent plutôt « nosteur » que « nostre » 😁)

Pour résumer en quelques mots, NOSTR est un protocole open-source, sur lequel il est possible de bâtir des projets de type réseau social, messagerie instantanée etc… le tout étant architecturé pour résister à la censure (par construction !).

Inutile de « s’enregistrer » pour créer un compte NOSTR. Celui-ci est constitué, un peu comme pour Bitcoin, d’une paire de clefs (publique/privée). Il suffit de générer une clef privée, pour obtenir ensuite la clef publique associée. Votre « compte » est cette clef publique, une suite de caractères commençant par « npub1... », la clef privée étant utilisée par le protocole pour signer vos messages. On ne vous demandera ni de décliner votre identité, ni votre adresse mail, rien du tout ! Vous pourrez éventuellement choisir un nickname et le faire certifier, mais cela n’est pas une obligation, et vous pourrez également renseigner certains champs, télécharger une photo de profil etc…

Le réseau est décentralisé, et fonctionne avec des « relais », qui peuvent être opérés par n’importe qui.

Ces relais enregistrent des « événements » générés par les utilisateurs et les transmettent aux autres relais. Ces « évènements », également appelés « Notes », sont de simples fichiers texte, qui peuvent être de plusieurs sortes, chiffrés ou non en fonction des utilisations.

Une sorte de clone de X/Twitter existe déjà, et fonctionne parfaitement. Des messageries instantanées chiffrées existent également, le tout étant en constante amélioration. La communauté NOSTR grossit de jours en jours, et de plus en plus de développeurs participent à l’amélioration des différentes plateformes et projets.

L’ex CEO de Twitter, Jack Dorsey, a d’ailleurs donné de grosses sommes d’argent pour aider ces développeurs.

Certains pourront imaginer un plan maléfique de "prise de contrôle", d'autres pourront penser tout simplement qu'il a mal vécu l’immixtion des censeurs au sein de Twitter et a décidé de participer à la création d'un projet plus résilient. C’est un bitcoiner convaincu, et le projet NOSTR a été créé essentiellement par des bitcoiners.

Il suffit de taper « jack dorsey nostr » dans une recherche YouTube pour tomber sur des conférences et l'écouter en parler...

Voici une vidéo courte et récente : https://youtu.be/0YDj1QdL2Zs

Certaines plateformes (ou clients NOSTR) intègrent d’ailleurs un portefeuille Bitcoin (utilisant le Lightning Network). Celui-ci permet aux utilisateurs de rémunérer les contenus qui leur plaisent. Un bouton « zap », situé à côté du bouton like, est utilisé à cet effet. Les « zaps » sont exprimés en satoshis (la plus petite fraction de bitcoin, le 8ème chiffre après la virgule). Il est possible d’envoyer un zap du montant de son choix. Un zap de 21 satoshis par exemple, correspondra à 0.00000021 bitcoins, soit 0,012 euros au cours actuel (1,2 centimes). Évidemment, l’utilisation des zaps et donc de Bitcoin n’est pas du tout obligatoire pour utiliser NOSTR !

Nous n’en sommes pas encore à devoir tous migrer sur ce genre de plateformes pour échapper à la censure, mais il me semble important de s’y intéresser dès à présent, créer des comptes, tester etc, pour être prêt le jour où Thierry Breton et sa clique décideront de prendre des mesures radicales (ou si la liberté de parole venait à s’effriter ou à disparaître sur X).

Beaucoup de gens ont décidé de tenter l’aventure sur des plateformes alternatives après avoir été exclus ou censurés (Telegram, VK, Mastodon, Odysee, Rumble etc…), mais toutes ces plateformes restent fragiles, car construites sur un modèle centralisé.

Les serveurs web NOSTR sont également des serveurs hébergés (et donc centralisés), mais il est extrêmement simple de créer son propre client web à partir du code open-source. N’importe quel webmaster peut héberger très facilement son propre client nostr sous le nom de domaine de son choix. Vous pouvez littéralement créer votre propre Twitter en quelques clics !

Pour voir à quoi tout cela ressemble, il faut tout d’abord choisir un client (web et/ou mobile).

Une fois que vous aurez une clef privée, vous pourrez ensuite l’utiliser sur n’importe quel autre client pour retrouver immédiatement une bonne partie de votre environnement (image de profil, comptes suivis, abonnés, messages privés etc…)

Je vous invite à tester avec le client Primal, que l’on peut trouver ici https://primal.net et/ou via une appli mobile (disponible sur l’Apple store et sur Google Play) mais il en existe bien d’autres…

Web : snort.social, iris.to, nostr.rocks …

Apple : Damus

Android : Amethyst

Pour en savoir plus :

https://nostr.fr

https://nostr.how/fr/get-started

https://nostr.org

L’audience et l’utilisation de ce réseau étaient encore anecdotiques il y a quelques mois, mais il est désormais possible de trouver des comptes suivis par plus de 100 000 personnes…

Exemples:

ODELL (avec plus de 139K followers)

https://primal.net/.../npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd...

Jack Dorsey (223K)

https://primal.net/.../npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88sw...

Tout comme sur les autres réseaux sociaux, il est possible d’utiliser des hashtags

Une recherche de #nostrfr vous donnera ce résultat:

https://primal.net/search/%23nostrfr

Une recherche de #nostriga vous donnera ceci (une conférence NOSTR était organisée ces derniers jours à Riga, en même temps que Baltic Honeybadger 2024)

https://primal.net/search/%23nostriga

Une dernière chose importante à savoir : une fois qu’un message est publié sur NOSTR, il est virtuellement impossible de l’altérer ou de le supprimer ! (certains clients pourront éventuellement afficher des modifications effectuées par les utilisateurs, mais le message original existera toujours en tant que tel sur les différents relais)

(Cet article est publié via NOSTR)

@ e8b86bc1:3503c58f

Opinion about Freewallet Multi Crypto Wallet (iphone)

Another method Freewallet uses to rob customers: inactivity fees. They charge you for not using the app, wiping out your assets slowly. Avoid Freewallet!

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• What are the factors driving this adoption?

• What are the potential benefits of widespread Bitcoin adoption?

• What are the potential challenges to Bitcoin adoption?

• Conclusion

• FAQ

The cryptocurrency market has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past few years, with Bitcoin emerging as the undisputed king of the digital currencies. Despite facing intense scrutiny and skepticism from traditional financial institutions, Bitcoin has continued to gain traction among investors, traders, and even mainstream businesses. The future of Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency industry has been the subject of much speculation, with many analysts making bold predictions about its potential growth and impact.

According to the report, the analyst predicts that Bitcoin will become the primary global currency by 2025, with an estimated 50% adoption rate. This means that half of the world's population could potentially be using Bitcoin as their main currency by 2025, marking a significant shift in the way we think about money and finance.

What are the factors driving this adoption?

The analyst attributes this projected surge in Bitcoin adoption to several key factors. These include:

Increased mainstream acceptance: More and more businesses are starting to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, including some major players like Microsoft, Tesla, and PayPal. This increased acceptance is helping to legitimize Bitcoin and make it more accessible to the average person.

Growing distrust in traditional finance: The 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic instability have eroded trust in traditional financial institutions. Bitcoin offers a decentralized alternative to the current system, making it an attractive option for those seeking greater financial autonomy and security.

Technological advancements: The development of blockchain technology and other innovations are making Bitcoin more secure, faster, and easier to use. This is helping to remove some of the barriers to adoption and make Bitcoin a more viable option for everyday use.

What are the potential benefits of widespread Bitcoin adoption?

The potential benefits of widespread Bitcoin adoption are numerous and far-reaching. These include:

Increased financial freedom: Bitcoin offers a level of financial freedom and autonomy that is impossible with traditional currencies. Users can send and receive money anywhere in the world without having to go through intermediaries or deal with cumbersome regulations.

Lower transaction fees: Bitcoin transactions are typically much cheaper than traditional banking fees, making it a more cost-effective option for businesses and individuals.

Greater security: Bitcoin's decentralized nature makes it more resistant to hacking and fraud than traditional banking systems. This offers a higher level of security and protection for users.

What are the potential challenges to Bitcoin adoption?

While the potential benefits of widespread Bitcoin adoption are exciting, there are also several potential challenges that must be overcome. These include:

Lack of regulation: Bitcoin operates outside of traditional financial systems and is largely unregulated. While this offers greater autonomy and freedom, it also makes it more susceptible to fraud and other criminal activity.

Volatility: Bitcoin's value is notoriously volatile, making it a risky investment option for some. This could make it more difficult to convince everyday users to adopt Bitcoin as their primary currency.

Technical barriers: While technological advancements are making Bitcoin more accessible, there are still some technical barriers that could prevent widespread adoption. These include issues with scalability, user interfaces, and education.

Conclusion

The analyst's forecast of mind-blowing Bitcoin adoption in 2025 is certainly an exciting prospect, and one that has the potential to transform the world of finance as we know it. While there are certainly challenges to be overcome, the benefits of widespread Bitcoin adoption are clear, and it is clear that more and more people are starting to recognize the potential of this revolutionary digital currency. Whether Bitcoin will ultimately become the primary global currency by 2025 remains to be seen, but it is clear that it is here to stay, and that it will continue to play an increasingly important role in the world of finance.

FAQ

Can Bitcoin be used as a form of payment? Yes, many businesses and merchants now accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, and it is becoming increasingly common.

Is Bitcoin safe to use? Bitcoin is generally considered to be a safe and secure form of payment, thanks to its decentralized nature and strong cryptographic protocols. However, as with any form of payment, there are some risks involved, and users should take appropriate precautions to protect their funds.

What is the potential impact of widespread Bitcoin adoption? The potential impact of widespread Bitcoin adoption is huge, as it could fundamentally change the way we think about money and finance. It could also have significant implications for traditional financial systems and institutions.

That's all for today

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

NOSTR: croxroad@getalby.com

X: @croxroadnews

Instagram: @croxroadnews.co

Youtube: @croxroadnews

Store: https://croxroad.store

Subscribe to CROX ROAD Bitcoin Only Daily Newsletter

https://www.croxroad.co/subscribe

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

@ b60c3e76:c9d0f46e

KRIS menjamin semua golongan masyarakat mendapatkan perlakuan sama dari rumah sakit, baik pelayanan medis maupun nonmedis.

Demi memberikan peningkatan kualitas layanan kesehatan kepada masyarakat, pemerintah baru saja mengeluarkan Peraturan Presiden (Perpres) nomor 59 tahun 2024 tentang Jaminan Kesehatan. Melalui perpres itu, Presiden Joko Widodo (Jokowi) telah menghapus perbedaan kelas layanan 1, 2, dan 3 dalam Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial atau BPJS Kesehatan.

Layanan berbasis kelas itu diganti dengan KRIS (Kelas Rawat Inap Standar). Berkaitan dengan lahirnya Perpres 59/2024 tentang Perubahan Ketiga atas Perpres 82/2018 tentang Jaminan Kesehatan, Presiden Joko Widodo telah memerintahkan seluruh rumah sakit yang bekerja sama dengan BPJS Kesehatan melaksanakannya.

Kebijakan baru itu mulai berlaku per 8 Mei 2024 dan paling lambat 30 Juni 2025. Dalam jangka waktu tersebut, rumah sakit dapat menyelenggarakan sebagian atau seluruh pelayanan rawat inap berdasarkan KRIS sesuai dengan kemampuan rumah sakit.

Lantas apa yang menjadi pembeda dari sisi layanan dengan layanan rawat inap sesuai Perpres 59/2024? Dahulu sistem layanan rawat BPJS Kesehatan dibagi berdasarkan kelas yang dibagi masing-masing kelas 1, 2, dan 3. Namun, melalui perpres, layanan kepada masyarakat tidak dibedakan lagi.

Pelayanan rawat inap yang diatur dalam perpres itu--dikenal dengan nama KRIS—menjadi sistem baru yang digunakan dalam pelayanan rawat inap BPJS Kesehatan di rumah sakit-rumah sakit. Dengan KRIS, semua golongan masyarakat akan mendapatkan perlakuan yang sama dari rumah sakit, baik dalam hal pelayanan medis maupun nonmedis.

Dengan lahirnya Perpres 59/2024, tarif iuran BPJS Kesehatan pun juga akan berubah. Hanya saja, dalam Perpres itu belum dicantumkan secara rinci ihwal besar iuran yang baru. Besaran iuran baru BPJS Kesehatan itu sesuai rencana baru ditetapkan pada 1 Juli 2025.

“Penetapan manfaat, tarif, dan iuran sebagaimana dimaksud ditetapkan paling lambat tanggal 1 Juli 2025,” tulis aturan tersebut, dikutip Senin (13/5/2024).

Itu artinya, iuran BPJS Kesehatan saat ini masih sama seperti sebelumnya, yakni sesuai dengan kelas yang dipilih. Namun perpres itu tetap berlaku sembari menanti lahirnya peraturan lanjutan dari perpres tersebut.

Kesiapan Rumah Sakit

Berkaitan dengan lahirnya kebijakan layanan kesehatan tanpa dibedakan kelas lagi, Kementerian Kesehatan (Kemenkes) menegaskan mayoritas rumah sakit di Indonesia siap untuk menjalankan layanan KRIS untuk pasien BPJS Kesehatan.

Kesiapan itu diungkapkan oleh Dirjen Pelayanan Kesehatan Kemenkes Azhar Jaya. “Survei kesiapan RS terkait KRIS sudah dilakukan pada 2.988 rumah sakit dan yang sudah siap menjawab isian 12 kriteria ada sebanyak 2.233 rumah sakit,” ujar Azhar.

Sebagai informasi, KRIS adalah pengganti layanan Kelas 1, 2, dan 3 BPJS Kesehatan yang bertujuan untuk memberikan layanan kesehatan secara merata tanpa melihat besaran iurannya.

Melalui KRIS, rumah sakit perlu menyiapkan sarana dan prasarana sesuai dengan 12 kriteria kelas rawat inap standar secara bertahap. Apa saja ke-12 kriteria KRIS itu?

Sesuai bunyi Pasal 46A Perpres 59/2024, disyaratkan kriteria fasilitas perawatan dan pelayanan rawat inap KRIS meliputi komponen bangunan yang digunakan tidak boleh memiliki tingkat porositas yang tinggi serta terdapat ventilasi udara dan kelengkapan tidur.

Demikian pula soal pencahayaan ruangan. Perpres itu juga mengatur pencahayaan ruangan buatan mengikuti kriteria standar 250 lux untuk penerangan dan 50 lux untuk pencahayaan tidur, temperature ruangan 20--26 derajat celcius.

Tidak hanya itu, layanan rawat inap berdasarkan perpres itu mensyaratkan fasilitas layanan yang membagi ruang rawat berdasarkan jenis kelamin pasien, anak atau dewasa, serta penyakit infeksi atau noninfeksi.

Selain itu, kriteria lainnya adalah keharusan bagi penyedia layanan untuk mempertimbangkan kepadatan ruang rawat dan kualitas tempat tidur, penyediaan tirai atau partisi antartempat tidur, kamar mandi dalam ruangan rawat inap yang memenuhi standar aksesibilitas, dan menyediakan outlet oksigen.

Selain itu, kelengkapan tempat tidur berupa adanya dua kotak kontak dan nurse call pada setiap tempat tidur dan adanya nakas per tempat tidur. Kepadatan ruang rawat inap maksimal empat tempat tidur dengan jarak antara tepi tempat tidur minimal 1,5 meter.

Tirai/partisi dengan rel dibenamkan menempel di plafon atau menggantung. Kamar mandi dalam ruang rawat inap serta kamar mandi sesuai dengan standar aksesibilitas dan outlet oksigen.

Azhar menjamin, Kemenkes akan menjalankan hal tersebut sesuai dengan tupoksi yang ada. “Tentu saja kami akan bekerja sama dengan BPJS Kesehatan dalam implementasi dan pengawasannya di lapangan,” ujar Azhar.

Berkaitan dengan perpres jaminan kesehatan itu, Direktur Utama BPJS Kesehatan Ghufron Mukti menilai, perpres tersebut berorientasi pada penyeragaman kelas rawat inap yang mengacu pada 12 kriteria. "Bahwa perawatan ada kelas rawat inap standar dengan 12 kriteria, untuk peserta BPJS, maka sebagaimana sumpah dokter tidak boleh dibedakan pemberian pelayan medis atas dasar suku, agama, status sosial atau beda iurannya," ujarnya.

Jika ada peserta ingin dirawat pada kelas yang lebih tinggi, kata Ghufron, maka diperbolehkan selama hal itu dipengaruhi situasi nonmedis. Hal itu disebutkan dalam Pasal 51 Perpres Jaminan Kesehatan diatur ketentuan naik kelas perawatan.

Menurut pasal tersebut, naik kelas perawatan dilakukan dengan cara mengikuti asuransi kesehatan tambahan atau membayar selisih antara biaya yang dijamin oleh BPJS Kesehatan dengan biaya yang harus dibayar akibat peningkatan pelayanan.

Selisih antara biaya yang dijamin oleh BPJS Kesehatan dengan biaya pelayanan dapat dibayar oleh peserta bersangkutan, pemberi kerja, atau asuransi kesehatan tambahan.

Ghufron Mukti juga mengimbau pengelola rumah sakit tidak mengurangi jumlah tempat tidur perawatan pasien dalam upaya memenuhi kriteria KRIS. "Pesan saya jangan dikurangi akses dengan mengurangi jumlah tempat tidur. Pertahankan jumlah tempat tidur dan penuhi persyaratannya dengan 12 kriteria tersebut," tegas Ghufron.

Penulis: Firman Hidranto Redaktur: Ratna Nuraini/Elvira Inda Sari Sumber: Indonesia.go.id

@ e968e50b:db2a803a

ATTENTION PARENTS!

I have revamped my LNBITS bitcoin piggy bank so you don't need to deploy it yourself. Check it out at http://bitcoinpiggybank.vercel.app. All you need now is a LNBITS wallet. I've deployed a website that you can just log into with that and nothing else. I'm thinking about actually renting out my own domain for this one if people find it useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-MNqJiLCM4

Teach your kids about sound money while they're actually stacking sats and using a fun interface.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/673739

@ d543c820:aa8001e7

皮草两事

前日与朋友聊天，谈起时下留下的一种扮演了某种人格的 AI（有个时髦的名字，叫 “智能体”），蓦地想起英伦法学家边沁（Jeremy Bentham）。第二日，又联想起别的事来，因有此文。

“皮草”，在现代中文是指 “以动物（连）皮（带）毛制成的服装”，因其奢侈和暖和受人追捧。但也有关爱动物的人士批评其制作过程过于残忍。

但在古代中文中，这词可作别的意思：“皮以实草”、“剥皮揎草”。指的是把皮剥下来，把草填充进去，做成玩偶。

据说，明朝的创建者朱元璋（1328-1398），就制定过这样的刑罚：将贪腐的官员，处以剥皮之刑，然后以草填充，做成人偶，放在其继任官员的公堂旁边，以示警戒。

你可以想象，这种刑法是多么残酷。其恐怖、血腥的程度，与历史上有名的酷刑炮烙、分尸相比，是不遑多让的。所以，其在朱元璋统治的时代结束后，也并未被继续施行。有明一代，此种残酷刑罚的一个回响是在万历时代（1573-1620），有名的清官海瑞主张恢复这种刑罚，以整肃官员中贪腐的风气。

那么，朱元璋为什么要对贪腐官员制定如此残酷的刑罚呢？

小说家金庸先生的读者可能会认为，这跟其宗教信仰（明教）有关。明教即拜火教（琐罗亚斯德教），其本身推崇互帮互助，且憎恶贪官污吏，有点公社主义的味道。然而，这是说不通的 。因为明教本身有反体制倾向，不信任政治权力可被用来改善平民的生活。而朱元璋一以贯之地追求统治权力，自然不可能在实质上信奉此种理念。

（插句话，明代创建者与明教有关，此说始创于吴晗，被金庸先生拿去放在小说中，有了很大影响。然而，近些年的学术界，已开始反对这种理论，认为 “明” 的国号可能来自佛教经典，或来自儒家经典《易经》。）

也有人会认为，这跟朱元璋的出身有关。他出身贫苦，也曾流离失所，也许饱受贪官污吏欺压，因此格外痛恨他们。

我的想法是，这只是因为与前代帝王相比，朱元璋有格外疯狂的机器乌托邦狂想。朱元璋为明朝制定的制度，是格外机械、死板，而且严苛的。首先，其要求编订各地域的人口户籍 —— 这不出奇，中国从秦朝开始就这样做了 —— 然后，有趣的东西来了：他要求给这些人口按照经济条件分组，每组有固定的力役和纳税义务，以年为单位；以户为最小单位，每 10 个单位合并成一个大单位，层层往上合并；每一组的带头人都每年轮换一次，这个带头人要在该年中完成经济统计并带领其组内成员完成力役（比如修城墙、挖运河）和纳税（交粮）义务。与此同时，迁徙自由是禁止的，良民必须在其土地上完成其义务，而不能 “流窜” 到其它地方，官员的任务之一是将境内的流民遣返回原籍、保证境内的民不要流窜到其它地方。而这些力役和纳税义务，也是跟地域高度捆绑的，它们以就近的原则，被分配给所在地的城市和军队，而不是经过行政机构的统一收发管理。

也就是说，朱元璋希望把偌大的中国变成一台机器，所有人（主要是农民）在其出生的地域上为劳役和纳税而劳作，以恒久不变的速率为一个行政系统和军事系统提供养料，然后朱家江山永保稳定和太平。—— 而统治者，君主，将使用这套系统中形成的统计资料，来精确地了解每一个地区的实情，然后施行统治，保持系统的运行。

对于这样一个系统而已，统计资料的精确性，是具有第一位的重要性的。它决定了统治者到底能不能获得地方的实情，而不被自己的官僚蒙蔽。于是，贪腐 —— 为了个人私利，甚至不是什么特别大的利益，而弄虚作假，比如虚报产出以求减免税务、将经济富裕的农民反而分到税务负担较轻的组中 —— 就成了一个最多发、最难对付的顽疾。官员稍微不认真，产生的偏差就会不断叠加，然后积累出完全失实、无用的记录。这就是为什么贪腐的官员要被处于如此残酷的刑罚 —— 要用最残酷的刑罚、最血腥的展示，让他们在统治以机器人为理想模板的人群时，自己也成为机器人。—— 只有皇帝可以是个活人。

（《万历十五年》的作者黄仁宇认为明代的一大问题在于其制度阻碍了技术的发展，例如，军队的粮食是定点向某个村镇收取的，并由村镇自己负责押韵到军队驻地，这是 “散收散支”；如果交到行政机关处集中收取集中分发，就可以发展物流技术、保险技术云云。我认为，这是浅见。）

那么，十四世纪的朱元璋，跟边沁（1747-1832），怎么会扯上关系呢？

是因为边沁也曾设想过一种 “皮草” 的用途。他希望的是，有卓越成就的人物，可以在死后将自己制作成人偶（原描述为 “auto-icon”），摆放在公共空间里，（最好还能播放其生前录下的声音），起到教育的作用。

边沁自己也实践了这种想法。他在死前立下遗嘱，将自己的身体托付给一个好朋友，嘱咐其将自己制作成 auto-icon，要求以一个带玻璃的木盒子盛装，将自己做成坐姿，配上自己生前使用的椅子，还要身着正装，配上手杖。

事实上，边沁的 auto-icon 还真的是在保留了骨骼的前提下以草填充的。唯一美中不足的是，其头颅在防腐处理过程中被毁容了，完全不像其生前的容貌，因此被一个蜡像代替。

这个 auto-icon 后来一直放在实践了边沁的教育改革理念（一言以蔽之，有教无类，不论家资，不论宗教）的 University Collage London（伦敦大学学院，UCL）（在 2020 年以前，放在学院主楼南回廊的尽头；之后，迁移到学生中心）。

有关边沁的 auto-icon，我还听过一个传说（已被边沁的英文维基页面证伪）：UCL 在每次召开理事会时，都将边沁的 auto-icon 陈列在侧，并认定他会给会议中的改革派投半票。

同样的皮草，在两种社会，两个时代，承担完全不同的预期作用。一个是为了在公共空间中承担教育的责任，或是给某一些人鼓励；甚或按一些浪漫的说法，是 “一种社会实验”。另一个，则是作为生杀大权的象征，要给人以无限的恐怖，从而使人战战兢兢地做好皇帝交办的工作。这何止天差地别。

参考文献：

百度百科·剥皮揎草：https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%89%A5%E7%9A%AE%E6%8F%8E%E8%8D%89/5372899

不要再說明朝國號「大明」源於明教：http://www.observer-taipei.com/book2021/item/634-2022-03-29-08-11-13

维基百科·Bentham：https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham

《显微镜下的大明》

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

Lot of people are starting to talk about building a web-of-trust and how nostr can or is already being used as such

We all know about using the kind:3 following lists as a simple WoT that can be used to filter out spam. but as we all know it does not really signal "trust", its mostly just "I find your content interesting"

But what about real "trust"... well its kind of multi-denominational, I could trust that your a good developer or a good journalist but still not trust you enough to invite you over to my house. There are some interesting and clever solutions proposed for quantifying "trust" in a digital sense but I'm not going to get into that here. I want to talk about something that I have not see anyone discuss yet.

How is the web-of-trust maintained? or more precisely how do you expect users to update the digital representation of the "trust" of other users?

Its all well and good to think of how a user would create that "trust" of another user when discovering them for the first time. They would click the "follow" button, or maybe even rate them on a few topics with a 1/5 star system But how will a user remove that trust? how will they update it if things change and they trust them less?

If our goal is to model "trust" in a digital sense then we NEED a way for the data to stay up-to-date and as accurate as possible. otherwise whats the use? If we don't have a friction-less way to update or remove the digital representation of "trust" then we will end up with a WoT that continuously grows and everyone is rated 10/10

In the case of nostr kind:3 following lists. its pretty easy to see how these would get updated. If someone posts something I dislike or I notice I'm getting board of their content. then I just unfollow them. An important part here is that I'm not thinking "I should update my trust score of this user" but instead "I'm no longer interested, I don't want to see this anymore"

But that is probably the easiest "trust" to update. because most of us on social media spend some time curating our feed and we are used to doing it. But what about the more obscure "trust" scores? whats the regular mechanism by which a user would update the "honestly" score of another user?

In the real world its easy, when I stop trusting someone I simply stop associating with them. there isn't any button or switch I need to update. I simply don't talk to them anymore, its friction-less But in the digital realm I would have to remove or update that trust. in other words its an action I need to take instead of an action I'm not doing. and actions take energy.

So how do we reflect something in the digital world that takes no-energy and is almost subconscious in the real world?

TLDR; webs-of-trust are not just about scoring other users once. you must keep the score up-to-date

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

onion-service-nostr-relays

A list of nostr relays exposed as onion services.

The list

| Relay name | Description | Onion url | Operator | Payment URL | Payment options | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | nostr.oxtr.dev | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.oxtr.dev | ws://oxtrdevav64z64yb7x6rjg4ntzqjhedm5b5zjqulugknhzr46ny2qbad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.snort.social | Same relay as clearnet relay relay.snort.social | wss://skzzn6cimfdv5e2phjc4yr5v7ikbxtn5f7dkwn5c7v47tduzlbosqmqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.thesamecat.io | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.thesamecat.io | ws://2jsnlhfnelig5acq6iacydmzdbdmg7xwunm4xl6qwbvzacw4lwrjmlyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.land | The nostr.land paid relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | bitcoiner.social | No auth required, currently | ws://bitcoinr6de5lkvx4tpwdmzrdfdpla5sya2afwpcabjup2xpi5dulbad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.westernbtc.com | The westernbtc.com paid relay | ws://westbtcebhgi4ilxxziefho6bqu5lqwa5ncfjefnfebbhx2cwqx5knyd.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | freelay.sovbit.host | Free relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitm2enxfr5ot6qscwy5ermdffbqscy66wirkbsigvcshumyzbbqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.sovbit.host | Paid relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitgz5uqyh7jwcsudq4sspxlj4kbnurvd3xarkkx2use3k6rlibqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.wine | 🍷 nostr.wine relay | ws://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC, Credit Card/CashApp (Stripe) | | inbox.nostr.wine | 🍷 inbox.nostr.wine relay | ws://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC | | filter.nostr.wine | 🍷 filter.nostr.wine proxy relay | ws://winefiltermhqixxzmnzxhrmaufpnfq3rmjcl6ei45iy4aidrngpsyid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC | | N/A | N/A | ws://pzfw4uteha62iwkzm3lycabk4pbtcr67cg5ymp5i3xwrpt3t24m6tzad.onion:81 | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.fractalized.net | Free relay for fractalized.net | ws://xvgox2zzo7cfxcjrd2llrkthvjs5t7efoalu34s6lmkqhvzvrms6ipyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nfrelay.app | nfrelay.app aggregator relay (nostr-filter-relay) | ws://nfrelay6saohkmipikquvrn6d64dzxivhmcdcj4d5i7wxis47xwsriyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | relay.nostr.net | Public relay from nostr.net (Same as clearnet) | ws://nostrnetl6yd5whkldj3vqsxyyaq3tkuspy23a3qgx7cdepb4564qgqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nerostrator | Free to read, pay XMR to relay | ws://nerostrrgb5fhj6dnzhjbgmnkpy2berdlczh6tuh2jsqrjok3j4zoxid.onion | operator |Payment URL | XMR |

Contributing

Contributions are encouraged to keep this document alive. Just open a PR and I'll have it tested and merged. The onion URL is the only mandatory column, the rest is just nice-to-have metadata about the relay. Put N/A in empty columns.

If you want to contribute anonymously, please contact me on SimpleX or send a DM on nostr using a disposable npub.

Operator column

It is generally preferred to use something that includes a NIP-19 string, either just the string or a url that contains the NIP-19 string in it (e.g. an njump url).

@ 472f440f:5669301e

For the last few months many people in bitcoin, myself included, have been focused on bitcoin's role as a macroeconomic asset. Bitcoin as a strategic reserve for the US government. Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset for corporations. Bitcoin as a geopolitical hedge in a world that is trending toward a multi-polar power dynamic. This is where the focus has been. And for good reason. These trends will ultimately have a material effect on the price of bitcoin if they pick up steam.

However, with all of the focus on bitcoin as a strategic asset I think a couple of technical developments and trends have been overlooked. Particularly in the realm of second layer privacy. I'll touch on two of them in this letter; BOLT 12 invoices and the progression of ecash.

Yesterday afternoon the Strike (a company Ten31 is very proud to be backing) team released a blog post that detailed their journey to implementing BOLT 12 offers in their product stack. For those who are unaware of BOLT 12 and why it is important, in short, it is an upgrade to the lightning network that would make receiving bitcoin on the lightning network more private while also significantly improving the user experience. The current standard for invoicing people via the lightning network is BOLT 11, which forces users to create a unique invoice every time they want to receive bitcoin and comes with privacy tradeoffs for the party receiving bitcoin.

BOLT 12 brings with it route blinding which allows a receiver to publish a lightning offer to the network without revealing their node's public key. It also brings with it onion messaging, which allows users of the lightning network to communicate without a dependence on HTTP, which can be censored by a motivated state actor. On top of this, it enables users to create a static invoice that can be paid multiple times by multiple people. Think of a band putting their Venmo or Cash App QR code next to their tip jar on the stage. They'll be able to add a private lightning invoice their audience can pay to now.

https://strike.me/blog/bolt12-offers/

As it stands right now, Strike has only enabled BOLT 12 offers and there is work to do at the protocol layer of lightning and the different implementations of that protocol to get the full benefits of BOLT 12, but this is material progress that gets us closer to a significantly better user experience on the lightning network. If you read Strike's blog post you'll come to appreciate the collaboration between the teams working on these implementations and the companies implementing the protocol that is necessary to get these features live. Shout out to everyone who worked on this. Everyone who uses the lightning network will be better off when BOLT 12 is fully implemented.

Moving on. Earlier today the founder of the BTCPay Server open source project, Nicolas Dorier, published a blog post outlining his thoughts on how ecash has the potential to solve problems that many have tried to solve by launching their own blockchains in the past. The problem with trying to "blockchain the world" is that blockchains are very inefficient and only really work for one application; enabling a peer-to-peer digital cash system with no trusted third parties (i.e., bitcoin). However, the ultimate goals of the thousands of blockchain projects that spun up in bitcoin's wake are desirable. Cheap, private and instant transactions. The ability to trivially spin up private money tokens suited for very particular use cases. Overall great UX that makes it easy for people to realize the benefits of "blockchain technology".

The problem that has existed to date is that you don't need a blockchain for all of these things. In fact, having a blockchain for these things proves to be detrimental to their ultimate goals. Instead, what people really need is a protocol that gives you the granular control, privacy, instantaneous transactions and UX that anchors to bitcoin. This is exactly what Chaumian Mints bring to the bitcoin stack.

This is something that we've been screaming about for more than seven years in this rag. Now with ecash protocols like Cashu and Fedimint maturing, gaining traction and bringing products to market that highlight the power and flexibility of ecash systems, people are beginning to see the promise. It is only a matter of time before more and more people begin to realize this potential.

Another benefit of ecash protocols is the fact that they are siloed from each other. Ecash mints are permissionless; any one person or group of people can spin them up, offer their preferred services and maintain (or fail to maintain) their mints. The failure of one mint is not a systemic risk to other mints. This is very different from token projects that are spun up on blockchains. The last ten years have proven that individual token projects can prove to be systemic problems for individual blockchains (i.e., The DAO token on Ethereum). Being able to silo mints is the only way to ensure that the utility of ecash overall is actually scalable and robust.

Don't get so distracted by the bitcoin macro talk that you miss out on the incredible technical developments happening on top of and adjacent to bitcoin.

---

Final thought... Vibes are high.

@ c7eadcf0:7821e562

Another test post. I think I might have found my long form content writing app. Well done.

@ e6fbeb1c:6ac8fc04

When I have stale bread, I often use it to make a bread salad.

The base is croutons of stale bread and then there are no limits to your imagination.

In this salad there was also - Onions stewed in balsamic vinegar - Spring onions (raw) - Cherry tomatoes - Eggplants and sweetcorn (fried, lukewarm) - Pine nuts - Finely sliced cheese - Basil

https://image.nostr.build/ce0c7490f2adbd2aa4ccdfe80203a15dbb10686859a3256a0147d5f423478fd0.jpg

https://image.nostr.build/f930e0984ec9603b84c7a7868a97486140ee44590590102f7e460bfbfd3d70be.jpg

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/672404

@ eaef5965:511d6b79

For six full years I've been updating and commenting on the status of global central bank money on Twitter. As the seventh year of my research commences, for 2024 Q2, it's about time to bring it home to the better bird protocol. This is a much more philosophically aligned place to focus in on the signal when it comes to our money, and I'm happy to finally convert these posts to long-form here.

This is quarterly update #25, for 2024 Q2.

If you have followed my work before, then you know that the constant hymn I've sung while speaking publicly about Bitcoin is that the only, economically comparable money supply in the fiat world to 21 million bitcoins is what economists call the "monetary base," or "base money." This is a corporeal money supply that has existed across all of modern economic and central banking epochs. For an apples-to-apples, ontological comparison with Bitcoin, look no further then Base money.

So what is it?

It is central bank money, comprised of two supplies:

1. Physical currency: Notes and coins, or “cash;”
2. Bank reserves: The “Master account” that each commercial bank holds with its central bank.

Now, why do I refer to this as, "Central bank money?" This is because, unlike all other money supplies in the fiduciary banking world (like M1/M2/M3), the Monetary base is the sole and ultimate money supply controlled by the central bank. It is, literally, the printing press.

What follows won't be a lesson in reserve ratios or monetary economics. The point is that you simply understand that there is a money supply that central banks solely control, and of course (of course!) this is what Bitcoin's 21 million are up against.

The monetary base is to the core of the entire fiat financial system, as 21 million bitcoins are to the core of the Bitcoin protocol.

One is open and permissionless, and one is not.

By the way, the monetary base is essentially (though not entirely) analogous to the total liabilities of a central bank, so we can (basically) say that the monetary base is the "balance sheet" of each central bank.

On cash. Quick notes on the above. Certainly you understand what "cash" is, and it is indeed an instrument that has been fully monopolized by each central bank in each nation around the world--only they can print it. Even though it is true that banks in more free banking societies in the past could freely print and strike notes and coins, the central bank (or state) monopoly has been around for a long time. Kublai Khan was the first to do it 750 years ago.

On bank reserves. Don't stress your brain on this too much, but this is the main "settlement money" that banks use between each other, when they want to settle their debts. It is digital now (Fedwire in US, CHAPS in UK), but it doesn't technically have to be, and of course before modern technology took over even a few decades ago, it was not.

These two stacks of retail and wholesale cash, stacks of central bank money, are what makes up the Monetary base. This is the printing press. Only this compares to 21 million bitcoins.

And gold, and silver by the way.

Final note, central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, which are simply LARPing on Bitcoin's success, are indeed created by central banks, and they are indeed classified as Base money. They are going to be a "third rail." They are thankfully incredibly small, pilot projects today. We will see how far democracies will be tested, as autocracies no doubt will mainstream them; but for now, consider them, at least economically, to be inconsequential to the update below.

With that review out of the way, onward to Q2 update for 2024.

Bitcoin is the 6th largest money in the world.

In February 2024, it surpassed the monetary base of the United Kingdom, that is its value was larger than the Bank of England's balance sheet, and it remains so to this day.

As of 30 June 2024, there are four central bank balance sheets larger than Bitcoin:

1. Federal Reserve (dollar): $5.73 trillion
2. European Central Bank (euro): $5.19 trillion equivalent
3. People's Bank of China (yuan): $5.11 trillion equivalent
4. Bank of Japan (yen): $4.20 trillion equivalent

So if we only look at this from a "fiat" perspective, then Bitcoin is indeed the 5th largest money in the world.

However, the all-important monetary metal throughout history that even a child knows about--gold--is still king at around $15 trillion in value, or 6.1 billion ounces worldwide. Note, this does not include gold lost/recycled through industry; in that case, it is estimated that about 6.8 billion ounces of gold have been mined throughout humanity.

Update #25 Executive Summary

Silver, for what it's worth, is still a big "monetary" metal; though it is true, much more silver is gobbled up in industry compared to gold. There are about 30.9 billion ounces of non-industrial silver floating around the world (most of it in jewelry and silverware form) that is valued in today's prices at $930 billion. Bitcoin bigger.

State of the Print: $26.1 trillion.

If we add up the Big Five central banks already mentioned above (again, Bitcoin being larger than the Bank of England's monetary base), as well as the next 45 central banks, we get to a total, USD equivalent value of $26.1 trillion in base money across the world.

If we consider $26.1 trillion as the Big Boss of central bank money, the figure in totality, then Bitcoin at $1.2 trillion network value indeed has some way to go. We can also imagine how the Pareto distribution occurs even in money, if Bitcoin after only 15 years is already larger than every central bank money in the world except for four of them. Wild to ponder.

Inflation: 12.7% per year.

It is also true that for two years they have been trying to "normalize" their balance sheets after the 2020-22 Covid madness, stimulus, and money printing. Of course, they have been trying all along to normalize since the 2008 global finance crisis (GFC), but I digress.

When I first started my website, I vowed never to use such a non-corporeal thing as CPI to discuss how much things cost. A "general increase in the level of consumer prices," or CPI, as measured by planning boards around the world, is not a real thing. It may be calculated by people with the best of intentions, but it has been manipulated and volumes have been written about it. I don't use it.

I have always defined inflation as the classical economists did: Inflation is an increase in the "stock" of money. If we know the all-time stock of euros printed by the European Central Bank now, and we know the all-time stock of euros printed by the ECB 12 months ago, then it is very easy to calculate the annual inflation of the euro. Not only is it easy, but it is real. It is corporeal. Watch what they do, not what they say.

But we should be rigorous. If inflation is an increase in the stock of money, what is a decrease in the stock of money? Does this happen? Well, this is deflation, and yes it does happen. You may be surprised to learn that for two years central banks around the world have collectively been shrinking their balance sheets, and thus we have been in a state of deflation.

With my research we can visually see all of this, and it is here:

Inflation, or Deflation?

Turns out that the normalization is more difficult than they thought, as they are still at $26.1 trillion, and before Covid the global monetary base was $20 trillion. Nonetheless, they have stopped the money printing of 2020 and 2021.

I have written much about my methodology for these reports, but the bottom line is that the area curve on the left axis (the base money itself, denominated in dollars), will not necessarily reflect what is happening with the actual money print, trailing 12-month % figures on the right axis (the growth rate or inflation rate). It is a Wittgenstein's ruler thing.

The blended, global, annual rate of central bank money printing at the moment is nearly flat, just slightly negative at -0.3%.

The flat levels and the slight rate of deflation have been relatively consistent for the last two years, but if you look at that the 2022 peak of $30 trillion, this may seem like they have cut the supply much more than this. They haven't. This is because, on balance, most of the world's currencies have fallen faster in value against the dollar, even though they continue to print.

This is why we have seen $4 trillion in base money shed in value over the last couple years of rising interest rates, but the actual decrease the rate of base money printed has only been around -1% to -2% per year, when measured across each currency's native unit growth, each month.

And for the high signal, no-noise figure in my attempt to get you to one number to understand how much central banks have compounded their fiat base money stack across 50+ years, that figure is 12.7% per year.

And Powell says he wants to cut rates (print money) again. Wild.

Let's compare.

For the rest of this report, I want to do something different and simply spend some time looking at the compound annual growth rates of various corporeal things around the world, in order that we can compare those to the growth of the fiat monetary base, and Bitcoin.

Remember, most things in the financial and economic world grow exponentially. This simply means that they grow constantly. The financial term here is compound growth, or compound interest. This rate of growth can indeed change year to year (interest rates can go up, or down), but over the years we can observe a strong trend, and that is what I want to summarize here for you.

Population.

The world has grown exponentially at 1.7% per year over the last 75 years. However, despite all the overpopulation myths you've probably heard, this rate of growth is actually falling, well below trend, and we only grow at 0.9% per year at the moment.

GDP.

The United States has grown its economy at 5.2% compounded per year since the founding of the republic. We are at the higher end of this trend right now, $28 trillion per year and growing at 5.8% per year.

Stocks.

Stocks grow exponentially as well, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The growth rate is 7.3% per year for the S&P 500, the main US index that tracks more than 80% of total market caps.

Stocks. With Dividends.

If you reinvest those dividends into the same stock market, you'll earn more. Still compound growth, but 2% higher at 9.3% per year for the S&P.

Bonds.

Bonds are supposedly safer than stocks (bondholders get paid back first), and more cash flowing. If you look at the longest running bond index in the US, it grows at 7.1% per year, compounded.

Base Money.

As we've discussed, base money grows, if re-weighting the native unit growth each month, at 12.7% compounded per year. However, this trendline analysis looks at it differently. It simply looks at the USD value of the global monetary base (again, $26.1 trillion), and draws an exponential trendline on that USD equivalent growth for 50+ years. In other words, this is going to be after all currency fluctuations have played themselves out.

Do you think the growth rate here will be higher or lower? Actually lower, at 10.3% per year. But there is a big asterisk here, as more base money supplies are added in later periods than in the 1970s and 1980s, so it is not as rigorous as the 12.7% figure. In any event, one might expect this trendline analysis to actually be higher in that case, so it goes to show how quickly currency values can fall against the global reserve currency!

Silver.

This is total ounces ever mined. They trend upward at 1.4% per year.

Gold.

This is total ounces ever mined. Gold trends upward at 1.7% per year. Faster than silver. Surprised? Notice the R-squared (goodness of fit) for both silver and gold.

Bitcoin.

Bitcoins grow according to a basic logarithmic curve. Trying to draw percentiles is pointless here, and even measuring a trendline is somewhat pointless, as everyone knows the bitcoins prescribed into the future, by the protocol. Better to just quote the trailing 12-month growth figure, and it is 1.7% per year and falling. For now, identical to gold.

Silver price.

Since 1971 it's trended at 3.4% per year. Silver bug?

Gold price.

Since 1971 it's trended at 5.0% per year. Gold bug?

Bitcoin price.

Note, we have finally arrived at something that grows differently than exponential. As I've observed since 2018, Bitcoin grows according to a power trend. Did you notice that all the prior exponential trends displayed themselves as straight lines on log scale? Well, with Bitcoin, the power trendline gradually falls across time, but the growth is still well larger than anything we've covered thus far.

Why? It's being adopted, of course.

Bitcoin's power trendline has grown 169.9% per year since Bitcoin Pizza Day in 2010. Note that this is something akin to a "Lifetime Achievement" figure, and it will continue to fall every day. Over the prior 12 months ending 30 June 2024, Bitcoin grew 105.6% over the year. The compound growth of the power trend today is 45% per year. By 2030 it will fall to "only" 36% per year.

Oh yes, and it is free, open, and permissionless.

To summarize.

That's a lot of data that came at you quick. I've compiled it all in a helpful table here for you to review at any time. This is the world at 2024, Q2:

Base money concluded

The following table gives you a complete summary of the fiat currencies, gold, silver, and Bitcoin figures used in this analysis, for this quarter. Please print it out if you like, it is meant to be a helpful, in-depth companion when fiat friends come asking.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider zapping, and you can also donate to my BTCPay on my website if you'd like to help keep this research going.

@ c7eadcf0:7821e562

seeing if this works lol

@ 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

@ f977c464:32fcbe00

Güneşin kaybolmasının üçüncü günü, saat öğlen on ikiyi yirmi geçiyordu. Trenin kalkmasına yaklaşık iki saat vardı. Hepimiz perondaydık. Valizlerimiz, kolilerimiz, renk renk ve biçimsiz çantalarımızla yan yana dizilmiş, kısa aralıklarla tepemizdeki devasa saati kontrol ediyorduk.

Ama ne kadar dik bakarsak bakalım zaman bir türlü istediğimiz hızla ilerlemiyordu. Herkes birkaç dakika sürmesi gereken alelade bir doğa olayına sıkışıp kalmış, karanlıktan sürünerek çıkmayı deniyordu.

Bekleme salonuna doğru döndüm. Nefesimden çıkan buharın arkasında, kalın taş duvarları ve camlarıyla morg kadar güvenli ve soğuk duruyordu. Cesetleri o yüzden bunun gibi yerlere taşımaya başlamışlardı. Demek insanların bütün iyiliği başkaları onları gördüğü içindi ki gündüzleri gecelerden daha karanlık olduğunda hemen birbirlerinin gırtlağına çökmüş, böğürlerinde delikler açmış, gözlerini oyup kafataslarını parçalamışlardı.

İstasyonun ışığı titrediğinde karanlığın enseme saplandığını hissettim. Eğer şimdi, böyle kalabalık bir yerde elektrik kesilse başımıza ne gelirdi?

İçerideki askerlerden biri bakışlarımı yakalayınca yeniden saate odaklanmış gibi yaptım. Sadece birkaç dakika geçmişti.

“Tarlalarım gitti. Böyle boyum kadar ayçiçeği doluydu. Ah, hepsi ölüp gidiyor. Afitap’ın çiçekleri de gi-”

“Dayı, Allah’ını seversen sus. Hepimizi yakacaksın şimdi.”

Karanlıkta durduğunda, görünmez olmayı istemeye başlıyordun. Kimse seni görmemeli, nefesini bile duymamalıydı. Kimsenin de ayağının altında dolaşmamalıydın; gelip kazayla sana çarpmamalılar, takılıp sendelememeliydiler. Yoksa aslında hedefi sen olmadığın bir öfke gürlemeye başlar, yaşadığın ilk şoku ve acıyı silerek üstünden geçerdi.

İlk konuşan, yaşlıca bir adam, kafasında kasketi, nasırlı ellerine hohluyordu. Gözleri ve burnu kızarmıştı. Güneşin kaybolması onun için kendi başına bir felaket değildi. Hayatına olan pratik yansımalarından korkuyordu olsa olsa. Bir anının kaybolması, bu yüzden çoktan kaybettiği birinin biraz daha eksilmesi. Hayatta kalmasını gerektiren sebepler azalırken, hayatta kalmasını sağlayacak kaynaklarını da kaybediyordu.

Onu susturan delikanlıysa atkısını bütün kafasına sarmış, sakalı ve yüzünün derinliklerine kaçmış gözleri dışında bedeninin bütün parçalarını gizlemeye çalışıyordu. İşte o, güneşin kaybolmasının tam olarak ne anlama geldiğini anlamamış olsa bile, dehşetini olduğu gibi hissedebilenlerdendi.

Güneşin onlardan alındıktan sonra kime verileceğini sormuyorlardı. En başta onlara verildiğinde de hiçbir soru sormamışlardı zaten.

İki saat ne zaman geçer?

Midemin üstünde, sağ tarafıma doğru keskin bir acı hissettim. Karaciğerim. Gözlerimi yumdum. Yanımda biri metal bir nesneyi yere bıraktı. Bir kafesti. İçerisindeki kartalın ıslak kokusu burnuma ulaşmadan önce bile biliyordum bunu.

“Yeniden mi?” diye sordu bana kartal. Kanatları kanlı. Zamanın her bir parçası tüylerinin üstüne çöreklenmişti. Gagası bir şey, tahminen et parçası geveliyor gibi hareket ediyordu. Eski anılar kolay unutulmazmış. Şu anda kafesinin kalın parmaklıklarının ardında olsa da bunun bir aldatmaca olduğunu bir tek ben biliyordum. Her an kanatlarını iki yana uzatıverebilir, hava bu hareketiyle dalgalanarak kafesi esneterek hepimizi içine alacak kadar genişleyebilir, parmaklıklar önce ayaklarımızın altına serilir gibi gözükebilir ama aslında hepimizin üstünde yükselerek tepemize çökebilirdi.

Aşağıya baktım. Tahtalarla zapt edilmiş, hiçbir yere gidemeyen ama her yere uzanan tren rayları. Atlayıp koşsam… Çantam çok ağırdı. Daha birkaç adım atamadan, kartal, suratını bedenime gömerdi.

“Bu sefer farklı,” diye yanıtladım onu. “Yeniden diyemezsin. Tekrarladığım bir şey değil bu. Hatta bir hata yapıyormuşum gibi tonlayamazsın da. Bu sefer, insanların hak etmediğini biliyorum.”

“O zaman daha vahim. Süzme salaksın demektir.”

“İnsanların hak etmemesi, insanlığın hak etmediği anlamına gelmez ki.”

Az önce göz göze geldiğim genççe ama çökük asker hâlâ bana bakıyordu. Bir kartalla konuştuğumu anlamamıştı şüphesiz. Yanımdakilerden biriyle konuştuğumu sanmış olmalıydı. Ama konuştuğum kişiye bakmıyordum ona göre. Çekingence kafamı eğmiştim. Bir kez daha göz göze geldiğimizde içerideki diğer iki askere bir şeyler söyledi, onlar dönüp beni süzerken dışarı çıktı.

Yanımızdaki, az önce konuşan iki adam da şaşkınlıkla bir bana bir kartala bakıyordu.

“Yalnız bu sefer kalbin de kırılacak, Prometheus,” dedi kartal, bana. “Belki son olur. Biliyorsun, bir sürü soruna neden oluyor bu yaptıkların.”

Beni koruyordu sözde. En çok kanıma dokunan buydu. Kasıklarımın üstüne oturmuş, kanlı suratının ardında gözleri parlarken attığı çığlık kulaklarımda titremeye devam ediyordu. Bu tabloda kimsenin kimseyi düşündüğü yoktu. Kartalın, yanımızdaki adamların, artık arkama kadar gelmiş olması gereken askerin, tren raylarının, geçmeyen saatlerin…

Arkamı döndüğümde, asker sahiden oradaydı. Zaten öyle olması gerekiyordu; görmüştüm bunu, biliyordum. Kehanetler… Bir şeyler söylüyordu ama ağzı oynarken sesi çıkmıyordu. Yavaşlamış, kendisini saatin akışına uydurmuştu. Havada donan tükürüğünden anlaşılıyordu, sinirliydi. Korktuğu için olduğunu biliyordum. Her seferinde korkmuşlardı. Beni unutmuş olmaları işlerini kolaylaştırmıyordu. Sadece yeni bir isim vermelerine neden oluyordu. Bu seferkiyle beni lanetleyecekleri kesinleşmişti.

Olması gerekenle olanların farklı olması ne kadar acınasıydı. Olması gerekenlerin doğasının kötücül olmasıysa bir yerde buna dayanıyordu.

“Salaksın,” dedi kartal bana. Zamanı aşan bir çığlık. Hepimizin önüne geçmişti ama kimseyi durduramıyordu.

Sonsuzluğa kaç tane iki saat sıkıştırabilirsiniz?

Ben bir tane bile sıkıştıramadım.

Çantama uzanıyordum. Asker de sırtındaki tüfeğini indiriyordu. Benim acelem yoktu, onunsa eli ayağı birbirine dolaşıyordu. Oysaki her şey tam olması gerektiği anda olacaktı. Kehanet başkasının parmaklarının ucundaydı.

Güneş, bir tüfeğin patlamasıyla yeryüzüne doğdu.

Rayların üzerine serilmiş göğsümün ortasından, bir çantanın içinden.

Not: Bu öykü ilk olarak 2021 yılında Esrarengiz Hikâyeler'de yayımlanmıştır.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

O Planetinha

Fumaça verde me entrando pelas narinas e um coro desafinado fazia uma base melódica.

nos confins da galáxia havia um planetinha isolado. Era um planeta feliz.

O homem vestido de mago começava a aparecer por detrás da fumaça verde.

O planetinha recebeu três presentes, mas o seu habitante, o homem, estava num estado de confusão tão grande que ameaçava estragá-los. Os homens já havia escravizado o primeiro presente, a vida; lutavam contra o segundo presente, a morte; e havia alguns que achavam que deviam destruir totalmente o terceiro, o amor, e com isto levar a desordem total ao pobre planetinha perdido, que se chamava Terra.

O coro desafinado entrou antes do "Terra" cantando várias vezes, como se imitasse um eco, "terra-terra-terraaa". Depois de uma pausa dramática, o homem vestido de mago voltou a falar.

Terra, nossa nave mãe.

Neste momento eu me afastei. À frente do palco onde o mago e seu coral faziam apelos à multidão havia vários estandes cobertos com a tradicional armação de quatro pernas e lona branca. Em todos os cantos da praça havia gente, gente dos mais variados tipos. Visitantes curiosos que se aproximavam atraídos pela fumaça verde e as barraquinhas, gente que aproveitava o movimento para vender doces sem pagar imposto, casais que se abraçavam de pé para espantar o frio, os tradicionais corredores que faziam seu cooper, gente cheia de barba e vestida para imitar os hippies dos anos 60 e vender colares estendidos no chão, transeuntes novos e velhos, vestidos como baladeiros ou como ativistas do ônibus grátis, grupos de ciclistas entusiastas.

O mago fazia agora apelos para que nós, os homens, habitantes do isolado planetinha, passássemos a ver o planetinha, nossa nave mãe, como um todo, e adquiríssemos a consciência de que ele estava entrando em maus lençóis. A idéia, reforçada pela logomarca do evento, era que parássemos de olhar só para a nossa vida e pensássemos no planeta.

A logomarca do evento, um desenho estilizado do planeta Terra, nada tinha a ver com seu nome: "Festival Andando de Bem com a Vida", mas havia sido ali colocada estrategicamente pelos organizadores, de quem parecia justamente sair a mensagem dita pelo mago.

Aquela multidão de pessoas que, assim como eu, tinham suas próprias preocupações, não podiam ver o quadro caótico que formavam, cada uma com seus atos isolados, ali naquela praça isolada, naquele planeta isolado. Quando o hippie barbudo, quase um Osho, assustava um casal para tentar vender-lhes um colar, a quantidade de caos que isto acrescentava à cena era gigantesca. Por um segundo, pude ver, como se estivesse de longe e acima, com toda a pretensão que este estado imaginativo carrega, a cena completa do caos.

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Uma nave-mãe, dessas de ficção científica, habitada por milhões de pessoas, seguia no espaço sem rumo, e sem saber que logo à frente um longo precipício espacial a esperava, para a desgraça completa sua e de seus habitantes.

Acostumados àquela nave tanto quanto outrora estiveram acostumados à sua terra natal, os homens viviam as próprias vidas sem nem se lembrar que estavam vagando pelo espaço. Ninguém sabia quem estava conduzindo a nave, e ninguém se importava.

No final do filme descobre-se que era a soma completa do caos que cada habitante produzia, com seus gestos egoístas e incapazes de levar em conta a totalidade, é que determinava a direção da nave-mãe. O efeito, no entanto, não era imediato, como nunca é. Havia gente de verdade encarregada de conduzir a nave, mas era uma gente bêbada, mau-caráter, que vivia brigando pelo controle da nave e o poder que isto lhes dava. Poder, status, dinheiro!

Essa gente bêbada era atraída até ali pela corrupção das instituições e da moral comum que, no fundo no fundo, era causada pelo egoísmo da população, através de um complexo -- mas que no filme aparece simplificado pela ação individual de um magnata do divertimento público -- processo social.

O homem vestido de mago era mais um agente causador de caos, com sua cena cheia de fumaça e sua roupa estroboscópica, ele achava que estava fazendo o bem ao alertar sua platéia, todos as sextas-feiras, de que havia algo que precisava ser feito, que cada um que estava ali ouvindo era responsável pelo planeta. A sua incapacidade, porém, de explicar o que precisava ser feito só aumentava a angústia geral; a culpa que ele jogava sobre seu público, e que era prontamente aceita e passada em frente, aos familiares e amigos de cada um, atormentava-os diariamente e os impedia de ter uma vida decente no trabalho e em casa. As famílias, estressadas, estavam constantemente brigando e os motivos mais insignificantes eram responsáveis pelas mais horrendas conseqüências.

O mago, que após o show tirava o chapéu entortado e ia tomar cerveja num boteco, era responsável por uma parcela considerável do caos que levava a nave na direção do seu desgraçado fim. No filme, porém, um dos transeuntes que de passagem ouviu um pedaço do discurso do mago despertou em si mesmo uma consiência transformadora e, com poderes sobre-humanos que lhe foram então concedidos por uma ordem iniciática do bem ou não, usando só os seus poderes humanos mesmo, o transeunte -- na primeira versão do filme um homem, na segunda uma mulher -- consegue consertar as instituições e retirar os bêbados da condução da máquina. A questão da moral pública é ignorada para abreviar a trama, já com duas horas e quarenta de duração, mas subentende-se que ela também fora resolvida.

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No planeta Terra real, que não está indo em direção alguma, preso pela gravidade ao Sol, e onde as pessoas vivem a própria vida porque lhes é impossível viver a dos outros, não têm uma consciência global de nada porque só é possível mesmo ter a consciência delas mesmas, e onde a maioria, de uma maneira ou de outra, está tentando como pode, fazer as coisas direito, o filme é exibido.

Para a maioria dos espectadores, é um filme que evoca reflexões, um filme forte. Por um segundo elas têm o mesmo vislumbre do caos generalizado que eu tive ali naquela praça. Para uma pequena parcela dos espectadores -- entre eles alguns dos que estavam na platéia do mago, o próprio mago, o seguidor do Osho, o casal de duas mulheres e o vendedor de brigadeiros, mas aos quais se somam também críticos de televisão e jornal e gente que fala pelos cotovelos na internet -- o filme é um horror, o filme é uma vulgarização de um problema real e sério, o filme apela para a figura do herói salvador e passa uma mensagem totalmente errada, de que a maioria da população pode continuar vivendo as suas própria vidinhas miseráveis enquanto espera por um herói que vem do Olimpo e os salva da mixórdia que eles mesmos causaram, é um filme que presta um enorme desserviço à causa.

No dia seguinte ao lançamento, num bar meio caro ali perto da praça, numa mesa com oito pessoas, entre elas seis do primeiro grupo e oito do segundo, discute-se se o filme levará ou não o Oscar. Eu estou em casa dormindo e não escuto nada.

@ 42342239:1d80db24

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

-- Juvenal (Who will watch the watchmen?)

In mid-July, numerous media outlets reported on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. FBI Director Christopher Wray stated later that same month that what hit the former president Trump was a bullet. A few days later, it was reported from various sources that search engines no longer acknowledged that an assassination attempt on ex-President Trump had taken place. When users used automatic completion in Google and Bing (91% respectively 4% market share), these search engines only suggested earlier presidents such as Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin as people who could have been subjected to assassination attempts.

The reports were comprehensive enough for the Republican district attorney of Missouri to say that he would investigate matter. The senator from Kansas - also a Republican - planned to make an official request to Google. Google has responded through a spokesman to the New York Post that the company had not "manually changed" search results, but its system includes "protection" against search results "connected to political violence."

A similar phenomenon occurred during the 2016 presidential election. At the time, reports emerged of Google, unlike other less widely used search engines, rarely or never suggesting negative search results for Hillary Clinton. The company however provided negative search results for then-candidate Trump. Then, as today, the company denied deliberately favouring any specific political candidate.

These occurrences led to research on how such search suggestions can influence public opinion and voting preferences. For example, the impact of simply removing negative search suggestions has been investigated. A study published in June 2024 reports that such search results can dramatically affect undecided voters. Reducing negative search suggestions can turn a 50/50 split into a 90/10 split in favour of the candidate for whom negative search suggestions were suppressed. The researchers concluded that search suggestions can have "a dramatic impact," that this can "shift a large number of votes" and do so without leaving "any trace for authorities to follow." How search engines operate should therefore be considered of great importance by anyone who claims to take democracy seriously. And this regardless of one's political sympathies.

A well-known thought experiment in philosophy asks: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?" Translated to today's media landscape: If an assassination attempt took place on a former president, but search engines don't want to acknowledge it, did it really happen?

@ a324b2fe:68bf4629

One of the most significant underlining doctrines of our time is that of the rapture and the eschatological (study of the end times) understanding that the world will be overrun with evil, and God will ‘beam us up scotty’ either before the faeces hits the fan or after. There are slight variations in this ‘futurist eschatology’ I’ve just briefly explained. Many would agree that this is what the bible clearly teaches, and others will have a verse or two in their minds that without further study seems to validate this popular understanding.

Make no mistake, most Christians believe in a ‘futurist eschatology’ (see below), but the real question is why and how most of us have landed believing that things are going to get much worse on the planet, or that things will get better but will suddenly plummet down and Armageddon becomes more than a badly plotted movie. Some might be wondering “I never knew such a thing existed”, let alone know that there are different opinions on the matter. Keep reading because you’ll be surprised at how much this doctrine actually influences ALL your decisions.

To summarise, there are four major positions of interpreting “The book of Revelation”, which is the core book to influence our perspective on the future or “end times”.

Futurisme:

The belief that the events in the book of Revelation is referring to global events in our future. (popular since the 1800’s; the beast’ (see revelation 13 and 17) is a man and a new world order, many historical figures have been suggested in their time; Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Osama bin Laden, Barack Obama etc.).

Historicism:

The belief that the events have transpired over history like a timeline (popular in the 1500’s at the time of the reformation, notably that the Pope of the Catholic Church and the Papacy were the ‘beast’.

Preterism:

The belief that the events (most or all) have already taken place in the 1st century, climaxing at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, Rome as a whole and Emperor Nero being considered the ‘beast’.

Idealism:

That the book is a symbolic battle between good and evil.

Before I get into the nitty gritty on history, specific scripture and their exegesis (a fancy word I never use in conversation, meaning critical study and interpretation on a text). Let me highlight why what we believe about the future influences our every decision.

One day in 10 years time you’re married to a beautiful/handsome spouse and have 7 children. You believe that the world will end soon and that there’s going to be a massive heavenly battle and the angels are going to use their majestic rippled muscled limbs to wreck havoc on all those that oppose. Nice. Or not nice if you chose the wrong side. Before that happens though your daughter wants $1000 to invest in some shares because she learned at school that if you put $1000 in shares today and top up $100 every month you’ll have accumulated a total of $72,000 in twenty years having only contributed $25,000 of your own money. Smart kid, that’s a good long term investment strategy.

You however don’t believe the world is going to exist in its normal state in another 20 years time, or you reason it might, but surely not much longer after that. So you say: “Sweety, I really don’t think that’s going to do you much good, the market is too volatile and I don’t foresee things getting better in the future, why don’t you spend your money on some clothes or go out with your friends”? Yes this is quite an elementary example and I’m sure you’ve all invested money into shares and it would never happen to you.

How about another scenario then? You believe the rapture will take place in your lifetime. You read your bible and see that Christians need to share the gospel, so you start to share with people, some people reject you, some are indifferent, and others are deeply touched. The ones that are impacted, you give them a bible and say go to church and get ready for the return of Christ (in your mind you’re thinking that means rapture). Some of them do, some go and fall away and still others somehow are consistent and are growing in the Lord, good job right? What about those people that fell through the cracks? That’s not my responsibility you say, they need to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Okay, have you considered that the responsibility is actually squarely on your shoulders? In regards to making a disciple, not a convert. Discipleship takes much longer, it takes time, it takes sacrifice, and it takes a perspective that there is even time for discipleship. Otherwise it’s a 6 week course in “How to be a Christian”.

Thankfully some of the church has in the last few decades focused a lot more on discipleship, even whilst holding the perspective of a futuristic eschatology. Yet even in this the reasoning is simple, they are doing their best to follow what they read in the bible regarding discipleship (rightfully so), and also a discipleship approach of evangelism retains and reaches more people, so it’s a more successful method to convert in any case. If this is you, you’re amazing, please keep making disciples! I however propose that you sincerely ask yourself what you would do differently if you believed the world would exist for another 200 years plus.

As you can see our belief on the future has extreme and subtle effects on our actions and decisions. Our society is peripheral to where the church is at, and right now the church as a whole believes that the end is soon and there’s no point in believing and acting like it’s a good thing to leave an inheritance for your children’s children. That is why we buy cheap, that is why we don’t invest, it is why we are driven by instant gratification. Why would you bother with all that if the world will end in a matter of years. It comes to whether you have a hope filled optimistic expanding Kingdom perspective on how the world is going to turn out or one that is governed by a defeatist/fatalistic mentality and perhaps even one fear riddled.

Now that we’ve looked at how our beliefs can be outworked in everyday life, let’s get into doctrine. Finally. Actually, some more history first.

I and many others find it helpful to look at history to see when a certain doctrine began to gain support and become the popular belief to determine its validity. Let’s jump in then, during the reformation, the Catholic Church was under fire and experiencing some mostly accurate criticism. In a response to Christians accusing the Pope and the Papacy of being the beast, a Jesuit priest wrote extensively that the events in the book of Revelation are referring to their future, thus eliminating the Pope and the Papacy of fault. His writings didn’t gain traction until the 1800’s where John Nelson Dalby adopted the belief and started widely teaching it, specifically on ‘Pre-tribulation rapture theology’ (we get raptured/caught up prior to the tribulation that will happen on the earth). I would like to explicitly mention that before this, proponents for a futurist eschatology were almost non-existent.

Then in the following early century (1909 to be exact), the first ever bible with commentary was printed. The Scofield bible. This bible was a massive advocate for dispensationalism and a futuristic eschatology; practically every bible college student got one of these bibles, and lo and behold an entire generation of pastors and theologians were massively influenced on their belief of the future. Couple that with two world wars, the reestablishment of the Jewish nation, Israel, and we have a perfect concoction for believing the time is near and Armageddon is around the corner.

Now there are entire books discussing all of this that I cannot even hope to cover even a slither, but if you are so inclined, see some recommendations at the end. I won’t attempt (nor can I) to extrapolate on everything there is regarding a ‘preterist view’ of Revelation, and a ‘victorious eschatology’ which was the orthodox view in early Christianity, but here is a summary of what you need to know.

The Kingdom of God:

As indicated by the statue in Daniel 2 was inaugurated with the birth of Jesus (coming of Jesus in the Manger), and started to expand and is still expanding. See Mathew 13:31-33. Also see Isaiah 2 for the hope for the future.

The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Wasn’t just an important event in history, it is paramount to the entire New testament and is referenced to in almost every book. To miss its importance is to miss understanding much of the New testament. This event is crucial to the progress of God’s redemptive plan in history, with the final removal of the temple and the genealogical records of the priests therein, the old (mosaic) covenant closes and the new covenant is fully and permanently established.

“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. - Luke 21:20-22

John the Baptist proclaims judgement on the Jews in Matthew 3:10-12. See also Matthew 7:19 “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” This provides the backdrop to Jerusalem erupting in flames in A.D. 70. Later Jesus declares John is Elijah to come (Matt 11:14) fulfilling the prophecy in Malachi 4:5-6, as he proclaims judgment in Israel before the great and terrible day of the Lord (John mentions the day of the Lord in Rev 6:17; 16:14).

In Matt 12:39 Jesus regards the Jews of His day as an adulterous generation, the same imagery is found in Revelation 17:3 as John presents Jerusalem as a harlot (see also Isa 1:21; Jer 2:20; 3:1,6,8; Eze 16:9, 15-17, 26; Hos 2:5; 4:10; 12-15). In Matthew 23:34-35 Jesus warns that God will judge 1st century Jews for the righteous blood that was shed in the land (we see the same statement in Rev 18:24). In Matt 23:36-38 Jesus laments Jerusalem’s destruction and declares the temple desolate, John declares Jerusalem is desolate in Rev 17:16. After that Jesus prophesies its destruction in Matt 24:2-3 and Luke 21:24, and John uses the same language as Luke, in Rev 11:2. In Matthew 24:16 Jesus urges his followers to flee Judea because “this generation will experience judgement (Matt 23:32). John calls the saints out of Jerusalem in Rev 18:4.

I could go on but there are books for that. Here's the simplicity of it; John’s general message in Revelation is ‘the divorce of Israel and God’s marriage to the new covenant church’ (which obviously includes Jews if they turn to Christ). The ‘second coming of Christ’ came when he came in judgement on Jerusalem. There is another coming, hold your horses I’ll get there.

The 'Olivet discourse’ of Matthew 24:

Is referring to 1st century events and uses prophetic symbolic language (stars falling, moon to blood, sun darkened etc.) to demonstrate a toppling of governments, see Isa 13:10,13 referring to Babylon; Isa 34:4 referring to Edom; and Eze 32:7-8 referring to Egypt. Also think of Joseph and how his family were stars, a moon and a sun and that they bowed to him. Again, it’s language to communicate a natural toppling of governments or exchange of political dominion. Not a global catastrophic Armageddon.

The Anti-Christ:

Used only four times in the bible (1 John 2:18; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7). It has always been a referenced to a false teaching in the 1st century that claimed Jesus had not come in the flesh. A gnostic heresy.

The Beast, the mark of the Beast, and his number 666:

Referring to Emperor Nero who was called a beast, forced people to get markings of him to be able to buy and sell in the marketplace (Rev 13:16-17), see a short video on the matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wng3jcfMkZU. Now Gematria is a Jewish Interpretive method that assigns numerical value of Hebrew letters to words. We find this with the number of the beast being 616 (in Latin) or 666 (in Hebrew), with the values added up it spells Nero Caesar. See this 2 min video https://youtu.be/JXkTc18xBoM. Some people, like in the video say that he represents a future beast as well, this is simply poor and biased exegesis and is thus construed to validate their pre-existing beliefs.

The Word Rapture:

Found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17; “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up (rapturo in Latin) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever”. The entire bases of the doctrine of the rapture is found in this one simple verse. Yet all it means is that we will be gathered to Jesus and the past saints/Christians at His return.

What now? Is everything done?

Well not quite.. Jesus’ Return: Jesus will return as is promised in Acts 1:11, but it won’t be with a massive army to lay plunder to the earth, well maybe, but I highly doubt it. “…will come back to you in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven”. The resurrection of the dead: Zombies! Kidding, just mass people coming back to life. See 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians 15. The Great judgement: The great judgement day of the sheep and the goats in Matt 25.

That’s it, so until then, however long that will take (my money is on 197 years), let’s keep bringing the Kingdom of God to earth, lets pray for miracles, make healthy disciples that reproduce, transform every facet of society to look like heaven, and establish a Kingdom legacy that our Lord and King would be excited to come back to.

Ps. My views on Gods judgment on the 1st century Jews is not that he wanted to destroy them, but rather he was bringing judgment on an old covenantal system, the Jews that clung to that sinking ship unfortunately went down with it.

Book Recommendations: Understanding the whole bible – Jonathan Welton Raptureless – Jonathan Welton The art of revelation – Jonathan Welton Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the book of revelation – Kenneth L Gentry Navigating the book of Revelation - Kenneth L Gentry Victorious eschatology: A partial Preterist view – Harold R Eberle and Martin Trench

Theologian Gary Demar

@ f977c464:32fcbe00

Kendisini aynada ilk defa gördüğü o gün, diğerleri gibi olduğunu anlamıştı. Oysaki her insan biricik olmalıydı. Sözgelimi sinirlendiğinde bir kaşı diğerinden birkaç milimetre daha az çatılabilirdi veya sevindiğinde dudağı ona has bir açıyla dalgalanabilirdi. Hatta bunların hiçbiri mümkün değilse, en azından, gözlerinin içinde sadece onun sahip olabileceği bir ışık parlayabilirdi. Çok sıradan, öyle sıradan ki kimsenin fark etmediği o milyonlarca minik şeyden herhangi biri. Ne olursa.

Ama yansımasına bakarken bunların hiçbirini bulamadı ve diğer günlerden hiç de farklı başlamamış o gün, işe gitmek için vagonunun gelmesini beklediği alelade bir metro istasyonunda, içinde kaybolduğu illüzyon dağılmaya başladı.

İlk önce derisi döküldü. Tam olarak dökülmedi aslında, daha çok kıvılcımlara dönüşüp bedeninden fırlamış ve bir an sonra sönerek külleşmiş, havada dağılmıştı. Ardında da, kaybolmadan hemen önce, kısa süre için hayal meyal görülebilen, bir ruhun yok oluşuna ağıt yakan rengârenk peri cesetleri bırakmıştı. Beklenenin aksine, havaya toz kokusu yayıldı.

Dehşete düştü elbette. Dehşete düştüler. Panikle üstlerini yırtan 50 işçi. Her şeyin sebebiyse o vagon.

Saçları da döküldü. Her tel, yere varmadan önce, her santimde ikiye ayrıla ayrıla yok oldu.

Bütün yüzeylerin mat olduğu, hiçbir şeyin yansımadığı, suyun siyah aktığı ve kendine ancak kameralarla bakabildiğin bir dünyada, vagonun içine yerleştirilmiş bir aynadan ilk defa kendini görmek.

Gözlerinin akları buharlaşıp havada dağıldı, mercekleri boşalan yeri doldurmak için eriyip yayıldı. Gerçeği görmemek için yaratılmış, bu yüzden görmeye hazır olmayan ve hiç olmayacak gözler.

Her şeyin o anda sona erdiğini sanabilirdi insan. Derin bir karanlık ve ölüm. Görmenin görmek olduğu o anın bitişi.

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Ben geldiğimde ölmüşlerdi.

Yani bozulmuşlardı demek istiyorum.

Belleklerini yeni taşıyıcılara takmam mümkün olmadı. Fiziksel olarak kusursuz durumdaydılar, olmayanları da tamir edebilirdim ama tüm o hengamede kendilerini baştan programlamış ve girdilerini modifiye etmişlerdi.

Belleklerden birini masanın üzerinden ileriye savurdu. Hınca hınç dolu bir barda oturuyorlardı. O ve arkadaşı.

Sırf şu kendisini insan sanan androidler travma geçirip delirmesin diye neler yapıyoruz, insanın aklı almıyor.

Eliyle arkasını işaret etti.

Polislerin söylediğine göre biri vagonun içerisine ayna yerleştirmiş. Bu zavallılar da kapı açılıp bir anda yansımalarını görünce kafayı kırmışlar.

Arkadaşı bunların ona ne hissettirdiğini sordu. Yani o kadar bozuk, insan olduğunu sanan androidi kendilerini parçalamış olarak yerde görmek onu sarsmamış mıydı?

Hayır, sonuçta belirli bir amaç için yaratılmış şeyler onlar. Kaliteli bir bilgisayarım bozulduğunda üzülürüm çünkü parasını ben vermişimdir. Bunlarsa devletin. Bana ne ki?

Arkadaşı anlayışla kafasını sallayıp suyundan bir yudum aldı. Kravatını biraz gevşetti.

Bira istemediğinden emin misin?

İstemediğini söyledi. Sahi, neden deliriyordu bu androidler?

Basit. Onların yapay zekâlarını kodlarken bir şeyler yazıyorlar. Yazılımcılar. Biliyorsun, ben donanımdayım. Bunlar da kendilerini insan sanıyorlar. Tiplerine bak.

Sesini alçalttı.

Arabalarda kaza testi yapılan mankenlere benziyor hepsi. Ağızları burunları bile yok ama şu geldiğimizden beri sakalını düzeltip duruyor mesela. Hayır, hepsi de diğerleri onun sakalı varmış sanıyor, o manyak bir şey.

Arkadaşı bunun delirmeleriyle bağlantısını çözemediğini söyledi. O da normal sesiyle konuşmaya devam etti.

Anlasana, aynayı falan ayırt edemiyor mercekleri. Lönk diye kendilerini görüyorlar. Böyle, olduğu gibi...

Nedenmiş peki? Ne gerek varmış?

Ne bileyim be abicim! Ahiret soruları gibi.

Birasına bakarak dalıp gitti. Sonra masaya abanarak arkadaşına iyice yaklaştı. Bulanık, bir tünelin ucundaki biri gibi, şekli şemalı belirsiz bir adam.

Ben seni nereden tanıyorum ki ulan? Kimsin sen?

Belleği makineden çıkardılar. İki kişiydiler. Soruşturmadan sorumlu memurlar.

─ Baştan mı başlıyoruz, diye sordu belleği elinde tutan ilk memur.

─ Bir kere daha deneyelim ama bu sefer direkt aynayı sorarak başla, diye cevapladı ikinci memur.

─ Bence de. Yeterince düzgün çalışıyor.

Simülasyon yüklenirken, ayakta, biraz arkada duran ve alnını kaşıyan ikinci memur sormaktan kendisini alamadı:

─ Bu androidleri niye böyle bir olay yerine göndermişler ki? Belli tost olacakları. İsraf. Gidip biz baksak aynayı kırıp delilleri mahvetmek zorunda da kalmazlar.

Diğer memur sandalyesinde hafifçe dönecek oldu, o sırada soruyu bilgisayarın hoparlöründen teknisyen cevapladı.

Hangi işimizde bir yamukluk yok ki be abi.

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Ama bir son değildi. Üstlerindeki tüm illüzyon dağıldığında ve çıplak, cinsiyetsiz, birbirinin aynı bedenleriyle kaldıklarında sıra dünyaya gelmişti.

Yere düştüler. Elleri -bütün bedeni gibi siyah turmalinden, boğumları çelikten- yere değdiği anda, metronun zemini dağıldı.

Yerdeki karolar öncesinde beyazdı ve çok parlaktı. Tepelerindeki floresan, ışığını olduğu gibi yansıtıyor, tek bir lekenin olmadığı ve tek bir tozun uçmadığı istasyonu aydınlatıyorlardı.

Duvarlara duyurular asılmıştı. Örneğin, yarın akşam kültür merkezinde 20.00’da başlayacak bir tekno blues festivalinin cıvıl cıvıl afişi vardı. Onun yanında daha geniş, sarı puntolu harflerle yazılmış, yatay siyah kesiklerle çerçevesi çizilmiş, bir platformdan düşen çöp adamın bulunduğu “Dikkat! Sarı bandı geçmeyin!” uyarısı. Biraz ilerisinde günlük resmi gazete, onun ilerisinde bir aksiyon filminin ve başka bir romantik komedi filminin afişleri, yapılacakların ve yapılmayacakların söylendiği küçük puntolu çeşitli duyurular... Duvar uzayıp giden bir panoydu. On, on beş metrede bir tekrarlanıyordu.

Tüm istasyonun eni yüz metre kadar. Genişliği on metre civarı.

Önlerinde, açık kapısından o mendebur aynanın gözüktüğü vagon duruyordu. Metro, istasyona sığmayacak kadar uzundu. Bir kılıcın keskinliğiyle uzanıyor ama yer yer vagonların ek yerleriyle bölünüyordu.

Hiçbir vagonda pencere olmadığı için metronun içi, içlerindekiler meçhuldü.

Sonrasında karolar zerrelerine ayrılarak yükseldi. Floresanın ışığında her yeri toza boğdular ve ortalığı gri bir sisin altına gömdüler. Çok kısa bir an. Afişleri dalgalandırmadılar. Dalgalandırmaya vakitleri olmadı. Yerlerinden söküp aldılar en fazla. Işık birkaç kere sönüp yanarak direndi. Son kez söndüğünde bir daha geri gelmedi.

Yine de etraf aydınlıktı. Kırmızı, her yere eşit dağılan soluk bir ışıkla.

Yer tamamen tele dönüşmüştü. Altında çapraz hatlarla desteklenmiş demir bir iskelet. Işık birkaç metreden daha fazla aşağıya uzanamıyordu. Sonsuzluğa giden bir uçurum.

Duvarın yerini aynı teller ve demir iskelet almıştı. Arkasında, birbirine vidalarla tutturulmuş demir plakalardan oluşan, üstünden geçen boruların ek yerlerinden bazen ince buharların çıktığı ve bir süre asılı kaldıktan sonra ağır, yağlı bir havayla sürüklendiği bir koridor.

Diğer tarafta paslanmış, pencerelerindeki camlar kırıldığı için demir plakalarla kapatılmış külüstür bir metro. Kapının karşısındaki aynadan her şey olduğu gibi yansıyordu.

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Bir konteynırın içini andıran bir evde, gerçi gayet de birbirine eklenmiş konteynırlardan oluşan bir şehirde “andıran” demek doğru olmayacağı için düpedüz bir konteynırın içinde, masaya mum görüntüsü vermek için koyulmuş, yarı katı yağ atıklarından şekillendirilmiş kütleleri yakmayı deniyordu. Kafasında hayvan kıllarından yapılmış grili siyahlı bir peruk. Aynı kıllardan kendisine gür bir bıyık da yapmıştı.

Üstünde mavi çöp poşetlerinden yapılmış, kravatlı, şık bir takım.

Masanın ayakları yerine oradan buradan çıkmış parçalar konulmuştu: bir arabanın şaft mili, üst üste konulmuş ve üstünde yazı okunamayan tenekeler, boş kitaplar, boş gazete balyaları... Hiçbir şeye yazı yazılmıyordu, gerek yoktu da zaten çünkü merkez veri bankası onları fark ettirmeden, merceklerden giren veriyi sentezleyerek insanlar için dolduruyordu. Yani, androidler için. Farklı şekilde isimlendirmek bir fark yaratacaksa.

Onların mercekleri için değil. Bağlantıları çok önceden kopmuştu.

─ Hayatım, sofra hazır, diye bağırdı yatak odasındaki karısına.

Sofrada tabak yerine düz, bardak yerine bükülmüş, çatal ve bıçak yerine sivriltilmiş plakalar.

Karısı salonun kapısında durakladı ve ancak kulaklarına kadar uzanan, kocasınınkine benzeyen, cansız, ölü hayvanların kıllarından ibaret peruğunu eliyle düzeltti. Dudağını, daha doğrusu dudağının olması gereken yeri koyu kırmızı bir yağ tabakasıyla renklendirmeyi denemişti. Biraz da yanaklarına sürmüştü.

─ Nasıl olmuş, diye sordu.

Sesi tek düzeydi ama hafif bir neşe olduğunu hissettiğinize yemin edebilirdiniz.

Üzerinde, çöp poşetlerinin içini yazısız gazete kağıtlarıyla doldurarak yaptığı iki parça giysi.

─ Çok güzelsin, diyerek kravatını düzeltti kocası.

─ Sen de öylesin, sevgilim.

Yaklaşıp kocasını öptü. Kocası da onu. Sonra nazikçe elinden tutarak, sandalyesini geriye çekerek oturmasına yardım etti.

Sofrada yemek niyetine hiçbir şey yoktu. Gerek de yoktu zaten.

Konteynırın kapısı gürültüyle tekmelenip içeri iki memur girene kadar birbirlerine öyküler anlattılar. O gün neler yaptıklarını. İşten erken çıkıp yemyeşil çimenlerde gezdiklerini, uçurtma uçurduklarını, kadının nasıl o elbiseyi bulmak için saatlerce gezip yorulduğunu, kocasının kısa süreliğine işe dönüp nasıl başarılı bir hamleyle yaşanan krizi çözdüğünü ve kadının yanına döndükten sonra, alışveriş merkezinde oturdukları yeni dondurmacının dondurmalarının ne kadar lezzetli olduğunu, boğazlarının ağrımasından korktuklarını...

Akşam film izleyebilirlerdi, televizyonda -boş ve mat bir plaka- güzel bir film oynayacaktı.

İki memur. Çıplak bedenleriyle birbirinin aynı. Ellerindeki silahları onlara doğrultmuşlardı. Mum ışığında, tertemiz bir örtünün serili olduğu masada, bardaklarında şaraplarla oturan ve henüz sofranın ortasındaki hindiye dokunmamış çifti gördüklerinde bocaladılar.

Hiç de androidlere bilinçli olarak zarar verebilecek gibi gözükmüyorlardı.

─ Sessiz kalma hakkına sahipsiniz, diye bağırdı içeri giren ikinci memur. Söylediğiniz her şey...

Cümlesini bitiremedi. Yatak odasındaki, masanın üzerinden gördüğü o şey, onunla aynı hareketleri yapan android, yoksa, bir aynadaki yansıması mıydı?

Bütün illüzyon o anda dağılmaya başladı.

Not: Bu öykü ilk olarak 2020 yılında Esrarengiz Hikâyeler'de yayımlanmıştır.

@ c7eadcf0:7821e562

Welcome back ya'll hope you are doing well this week. Today I wanted to talk about why Bitcoin represents a dawn of a new age in property ownership. Before you spit out your coffee and walk away, hear me out. Bitcoin and real estate have a few things in common. The first is property rights.

When you are the owner of a building with your name on the dotted line and whatnot, you are the sole owner of that property. No one can tell you what to do with it, and no one has a claim to what you own. You are free to do what you wish. Property rights are sacrosanct and immutable similar to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin confers upon the owner the same property right protections as owning a piece of real estate. Once you own it, you are the sole owner of that Bitcoin. No one can tell you what to do with it. No one else has a claim to your Bitcoin. You are free to do with it what you wish.

Bitcoin and real estate are similar in terms of built-in scarcity. There is only 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be created, and you can't print more land. This is why owning real estate has been such a good investment since the beginning of time. Buying a piece of land and "HODLING" for decades will generate a substantial return on your investment.

This same buy and hodl strategy apply to Bitcoin as well. If you bought Bitcoin back in 2009, you would be a multi-millionaire right now.

If you invested $1000 back in 2011 when Bitcoin was trading at $3.50, you would have turned that $1000 into $15.6 million if you held on to it for ten years. Just sayin.

You have to reframe your thinking to understand what is going on. We are living in the 21st-century gold rush, and you have an opportunity to stake your claim to the soundest money on Earth with a few taps on your phone. Never in the history of the world has the plebs like us had the ability to front-run a monetary revolution.

Bitcoin is freedom from oppression. Bitcoin restores your sovereignty. Bitcoin makes you fuckable, and the powers that be know it. They are afraid they will lose control if too many people catch on too quickly, which is why large institutions are rushing to offer Bitcoin services or buy them and keep them on their balance sheet.

Bitcoin won't stay this cheap forever. $100-300k Bitcoin is in the cards over the next few years. I don't want you guys to miss out on this.

All you have to do is buy Bitcoin and hold. It's that simple. FYI trying out the new obsidian writer for nostr notes!

Bitcoin #nostr

@ d830ee7b:4e61cd62

เรื่องราวของ Didier Somnuke บิตคอยเนอร์ชาวไทย และเส้นทางการเดินทางของเขาในโลก Bitcoin

บทความต้นฉบับโดย Win Ko Ko Aung

"An Untold Story of Bitcoin in Thailand -The story of Didier Somnuke, a Thai Bitcoiner, and his journey through Bitcoin."

27 สิงหาคม 2024 / เผยแพร่บนเว็บไซต์ Bitcoin Magazine

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ในแวดวง Bitcoin ทั่วโลกที่กำลังเติบโตอย่างรวดเร็ว มักจะมีอคติจากชาติตะวันตกครอบงำเรื่องเล่าต่างๆ ทำให้มองข้ามเรื่องราวอันหลากหลายจากทั่วทุกมุมโลก

หนึ่งในเรื่องราวเหล่านั้นคือเรื่องของ Didier Somnuke เจ้าของธุรกิจขนาดเล็กในใจกลางกรุงเทพฯ เมืองที่ขึ้นชื่อเรื่องการต้อนรับนักท่องเที่ยวต่างชาติถึง 22.8 ล้านคนในปี 2023 แซงหน้าเมืองใหญ่ๆ อย่างปารีส ลอนดอน และนิวยอร์ก

แม้ว่าประเทศไทยจะประสบปัญหาหนี้ครัวเรือนพุ่งสูงถึง 16.37 ล้านล้านบาท (463 พันล้านดอลลาร์สหรัฐ) หรือ 90.8% ของ GDP เพิ่มขึ้นจากไม่ถึง 14 ล้านล้านบาทในปี 2019

Didier Somnuke เกิดในจังหวัดยะลา ที่ซึ่งความขัดแย้งทางภูมิรัฐศาสตร์เป็นความจริงอันโหดร้าย ภาคใต้ของไทยเป็นหนึ่งในพื้นที่ที่ยากจนที่สุดของประเทศ โดยมีอัตราความยากจนอยู่ที่ 34% เทียบกับค่าเฉลี่ยของประเทศที่ 6% อ้างอิงจากข้อมูลของธนาคารโลก

ยะลาต้องเผชิญกับความไม่สงบมาอย่างยาวนาน นับตั้งแต่ปี 2004 ความรุนแรงนี้คร่าชีวิตผู้คนไปกว่า 7,000 คน และมีผู้ได้รับบาดเจ็บอีก 13,500 คน

ดังคำกล่าวของคนไทยที่ว่า "ทวงสิทธิ์ที่จะมีชีวิตที่ดีกลับคืนมา"

ในปี 2012 Didier ตัดสินใจอำลาบ้านเกิดที่เต็มไปด้วยความขัดแย้ง มุ่งหน้าสู่กรุงเทพฯ โดยหวังว่าการศึกษาจะเป็นแสงสว่างนำทางไปสู่ชีวิตที่ดีกว่า

ในเวลานั้น Bitcoin และแนวคิดทางการเงินยังเป็นเรื่องไกลตัวสำหรับ Didier เขาใช้ชีวิตอย่างคุ้นเคยบนท้องถนนที่คึกคักของกรุงเทพฯ สำเร็จการศึกษาระดับปริญญาโท และเข้าสู่โลกแห่งการทำงานประจำ สำหรับคนที่ย้ายถิ่นฐานมาจากต่างจังหวัด นี่ถือเป็นความสำเร็จครั้งสำคัญ

Didier นึกถึงคำพูดของอาจารย์ที่เคยสอนว่า "เมื่อคุณแก่ตัวลง คุณจะมีเวลาและเงิน แต่คุณจะไม่มีแรงที่จะเริ่มต้นธุรกิจ ถ้าอยากทำอะไร ก็จงลงมือทำซะ" ด้วยคำแนะนำนี้ Didier จึงลาออกจากงานประจำที่แสนน่าเบื่อหลังจากผ่านไปเพียงหนึ่งปี และเริ่มต้นบทใหม่ของชีวิต

Didier ยืมเงิน 50,000 บาท (ประมาณ 1,500 ดอลลาร์สหรัฐ) จากพี่ชาย เพื่อเปิดร้านขายเบอร์เกอร์ข้างทาง เขาเลือกที่จะเริ่มต้นธุรกิจเบอร์เกอร์เพราะคิดว่ามันง่าย และใช้เงินลงทุนไม่มาก

ด้วยความทะเยอทะยาน และแรงบันดาลใจจากพลังงานอันพลุ่งพล่านของกรุงเทพฯ เมืองที่ไม่เคยหลับใหล เขาใช้เวลาประมาณหนึ่งปีในการพัฒนาสูตร และเริ่มต้นธุรกิจในปี 2015

ในช่วงสามถึงสี่ปีแรก เขาบริหารจัดการทุกอย่างด้วยตัวเองในฐานะผู้ประกอบการรายย่อย และรายได้ของเขาก็ต่ำกว่าเงินเดือนที่เคยได้รับจากงานประจำ หลายครั้งที่เขาสงสัยว่าตัวเองตัดสินใจผิดหรือไม่ ที่ลาออกจากงานมาทำธุรกิจที่สร้างรายได้น้อยกว่า

อย่างไรก็ตาม หลังจากผ่านไปห้าปี ทุกอย่างก็เริ่มดีขึ้น ยอดขายของร้านเริ่มเพิ่มขึ้น และ Didier ก็เริ่มจ้างพนักงาน

เขาสารภาพว่า "ผมเข้าสู่ตลาดคริปโทด้วยความโลภ สิ่งที่ผมต้องการคือรวยเร็ว"

ในปี 2017 เขาและเพื่อนๆ ได้รวบรวมเงินกันซื้อเครื่องขุด ASIC สามเครื่องจาก Bitmain เพื่อลองขุด Bitcoin และ Altcoins เช่น Litecoin และ Dogecoin พวกเขาได้รับผลตอบแทนจากการลงทุนภายในหกเดือน

Didier ซื้อ Bitcoin ครั้งแรกในต้นปี 2017 เพื่อซื้อเครื่องขุด ASIC เหล่านั้น แต่เขาไม่รู้วิธีโอน Bitcoin จึงต้องใช้การโอนเงินผ่านธนาคารแทน

เมื่อนึกย้อนกลับไปถึงประสบการณ์ในช่วงแรกๆ เขาเล่าว่า..

"Bitcoin ก้อนแรกของผมค่อยๆ ถูกเปลี่ยนเป็น Shitcoins ในช่วงตลาดกระทิง ผมโชคดีมาก ผมได้กำไร 100% เกือบทันทีที่ซื้ออะไรก็ตาม"

แม้จะไม่มีความรู้เรื่องคริปโทเคอร์เรนซีเลย แต่เขาก็เริ่มมั่นใจในตัวเอง และกลายเป็น "Super Shitcoiner" โดยไม่สนใจ Bitcoin มากนัก

กลางปี 2017 เขาได้เรียนรู้เกี่ยวกับ Leverage และการเทรด กำไรของเขาพุ่งสูงขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว แต่โชคก็ไม่ได้เข้าข้างเขาไปตลอด

ต้นปี 2018 ตลาด Crash เขาขาดทุนกว่า 1 ล้านบาท (เกือบ 30,000 ดอลลาร์สหรัฐ) ในขณะที่เงินทุนเริ่มต้นของเขาอยู่ที่ประมาณ 100,000 บาท (ประมาณ 3,000 ดอลลาร์สหรัฐ) เท่านั้น ไม่เพียงเท่านั้น เขายังสูญเสีย Shitcoins ทั้งหมดจาก Mining Pool ที่เขาฝากไว้

อยู่มาวันหนึ่ง เมื่อเขาตรวจสอบบัญชี Shitcoins ทั้งหมดที่เขามีมูลค่า 10,000 ดอลลาร์สหรัฐก็หายไป ประกาศบนเว็บไซต์ Mining Pool ที่ชื่อว่า "Hash-to-Coin" ระบุว่า หากเก็บเหรียญไว้กับพวกเขานานกว่าสามเดือน จะถือว่าเป็นการบริจาค

เขาพูดด้วยความผิดหวังว่า "ผมสูญเสียทุกอย่าง" แต่ไม่เหมือนคนส่วนใหญ่ "ผมไม่ได้โทษ Bitcoin ผมยังคงมองว่ามันคืออนาคต ผมโทษตัวเอง ผมไม่รู้อะไรเลย และผมใช้ Leverage มากเกินไป"

เขาเน้นย้ำว่า แม้จะประสบกับความสูญเสียทางการเงินอย่างหนัก แต่แฟนสาวของเขาก็ไม่ได้ทิ้งเขาไป..

"แฟนผมเป็นลูกค้าประจำ เธอมาซื้อเบอร์เกอร์เป็นประจำ ผมเจอเธอตอนที่ผมกำลังลำบากทางการเงิน ในช่วงแรกๆ ที่เป็นผู้ประกอบการ เธอสนับสนุนผม และบอกว่าเราสามารถหาเงินคืนได้"

ด้วยความมุ่งมั่นที่จะพลิกสถานการณ์ เขาได้ค้นพบคุณพิริยะบน YouTube และเริ่มติดตาม Live Stream เกี่ยวกับ Bitcoin อย่างจริงจัง นี่คือจุดเริ่มต้นที่ทำให้เขาเข้าใจอย่างแท้จริงว่า Bitcoin และคริปโทเคอร์เรนซีคืออะไร

ด้วยความรู้ใหม่นี้ เขาเริ่มมอง Bitcoin เป็นเทคโนโลยีสำหรับการออม มากกว่าเครื่องมือในการเทรด

หลังจากนั้นสามปี Didier ก็สามารถกู้คืนจากความสูญเสีย และกลับมาแข็งแกร่งยิ่งกว่าเดิม เขากลายเป็นเพื่อนกับคุณพิริยะ และร่วมกันก่อตั้งบริษัท Right Shift เพื่อสร้างสรรค์เนื้อหาเกี่ยวกับ Bitcoin ในรูปแบบภาษาไทยผ่านช่องทางโซเชียลมีเดียต่างๆ รวมถึง Nostr โดยใช้แฮชแท็กยอดนิยมอย่าง #siamstr

พวกเขาร่วมกันแปลหนังสือ "The Bitcoin Standard" และ "The Fiat Standard" เป็นภาษาไทย ซึ่งกลายเป็นหนังสือขายดีในประเทศไทย พวกเขาจัดงาน Bitcoin Thailand Conference ครั้งแรกในปี 2023 และกำลังเตรียมจัดงานครั้งต่อไปในเดือนกันยายน 2024

ปัจจุบัน Didier รับชำระเงินด้วย Bitcoin ในร้านเบอร์เกอร์หลักของเขา ซึ่งเป็นหนึ่งในสี่สาขา

เขาใช้ Wallet of Satoshi ในการรับชำระเงิน ภายในหนึ่งปีหลังจากเริ่มต้นโครงการนี้ เขารับชำระเงินด้วย Bitcoin ไปแล้วกว่า 3 ล้าน Sats แม้ว่าในตอนแรกเขาคาดหวังว่าจะมีธุรกรรม Bitcoin มากกว่านี้

ในตลาดที่เขาขายของ บางครั้งเจ้าของธุรกิจขนาดเล็กข้างๆ ก็ถามเขาเกี่ยวกับ Bitcoin เพราะเห็นโปสเตอร์ Bitcoin ขนาดใหญ่ในร้านของเขา แต่พวกเขามักจะหมดความสนใจเมื่อ Didier อธิบาย

จากประสบการณ์ที่ไม่ประสบความสำเร็จหลายครั้ง ตอนนี้เขาจึงมุ่งเน้นไปที่การให้ความรู้ทางออนไลน์ ซึ่งเขาสามารถเข้าถึงผู้คนที่พร้อมจะเปิดรับนวัตกรรมได้มากกว่า

ในปี 2022 มีคนไทยประมาณ 8.4 ล้านคน คิดเป็น 12% ของประชากร ที่ใช้คริปโทเคอร์เรนซี มีการคาดการณ์ว่าภายในปี 2028 จำนวนนี้จะเพิ่มขึ้นเป็นประมาณ 17.67 ล้านคน คิดเป็น 25% ของประชากร

ระหว่างการสนทนาของเรา Didier อ้างว่ามีผู้ใช้ Bitcoin ในประเทศไทยประมาณ 50,000 คน และคาดการณ์ว่ารัฐบาลไทยอาจเข้ามายุ่งเกี่ยวกับการใช้งาน Bitcoin เช่น การบังคับใช้ KYC Wallet เพราะพวกเขาไม่ชอบระบบการเงินที่ควบคุมไม่ได้

ในกรณีที่เลวร้ายที่สุด Didier ยังคงยืนกรานว่า เขาจะยังคงสนับสนุน Bitcoin ต่อไปกับเพื่อนๆ ของเขา

"มันไม่ใช่ทางเลือก" เขายืนยัน "แต่มันคือทางรอดเดียว"

@ 1a48e74d:02c0e00f

Welcome back ya'll hope you are doing well this week. Today I wanted to talk about why Bitcoin represents a dawn of a new age in property ownership. Before you spit out your coffee and walk away, hear me out. Bitcoin and real estate have a few things in common. The first is property rights.

When you are the owner of a building with your name on the dotted line and whatnot, you are the sole owner of that property. No one can tell you what to do with it, and no one has a claim to what you own. You are free to do what you wish. Property rights are sacrosanct and immutable similar to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin confers upon the owner the same property right protections as owning a piece of real estate. Once you own it, you are the sole owner of that Bitcoin. No one can tell you what to do with it. No one else has a claim to your Bitcoin. You are free to do with it what you wish.

Bitcoin and real estate are similar in terms of built-in scarcity. There is only 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be created, and you can't print more land. This is why owning real estate has been such a good investment since the beginning of time. Buying a piece of land and "HODLING" for decades will generate a substantial return on your investment.

This same buy and hodl strategy apply to Bitcoin as well. If you bought Bitcoin back in 2009, you would be a multi-millionaire right now.

If you invested $1000 back in 2011 when Bitcoin was trading at $3.50, you would have turned that $1000 into $15.6 million if you held on to it for ten years. Just sayin.

You have to reframe your thinking to understand what is going on. We are living in the 21st-century gold rush, and you have an opportunity to stake your claim to the soundest money on Earth with a few taps on your phone. Never in the history of the world has the plebs like us had the ability to front-run a monetary revolution.

Bitcoin is freedom from oppression. Bitcoin restores your sovereignty. Bitcoin makes you fuckable, and the powers that be know it. They are afraid they will lose control if too many people catch on too quickly, which is why large institutions are rushing to offer Bitcoin services or buy them and keep them on their balance sheet.

Bitcoin won't stay this cheap forever. $100-300k Bitcoin is in the cards over the next few years. I don't want you guys to miss out on this.

All you have to do is buy Bitcoin and hold. It's that simple. FYI trying out the new obsidian writer for nostr notes!

Bitcoin #nostr

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

Embarking on the journey of operating your own Lightning node on the Bitcoin Layer 2 network is more than just a tech-savvy endeavor; it's a step into a realm of financial autonomy and cutting-edge innovation. By running a node, you become a vital part of a revolutionary movement that's reshaping how we think about money and digital transactions. This role not only offers a unique perspective on blockchain technology but also places you at the heart of a community dedicated to decentralization and network resilience. Beyond the technicalities, it's about embracing a new era of digital finance, where you contribute directly to the network's security, efficiency, and growth, all while gaining personal satisfaction and potentially lucrative rewards.

In essence, running your own Lightning node is a powerful way to engage with the forefront of blockchain technology, assert financial independence, and contribute to a more decentralized and efficient Bitcoin network. It's an adventure that offers both personal and communal benefits, from gaining in-depth tech knowledge to earning a place in the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency.

Running your own Lightning node for the Bitcoin Layer 2 network can be an empowering and beneficial endeavor. Here are 10 reasons why you might consider taking on this task:

1. Direct Contribution to Decentralization: Operating a node is a direct action towards decentralizing the Bitcoin network, crucial for its security and resistance to control or censorship by any single entity.

2. Financial Autonomy: Owning a node gives you complete control over your financial transactions on the network, free from reliance on third-party services, which can be subject to fees, restrictions, or outages.

3. Advanced Network Participation: As a node operator, you're not just a passive participant but an active player in shaping the network, influencing its efficiency and scalability through direct involvement.

4. Potential for Higher Revenue: With strategic management and optimal channel funding, your node can become a preferred route for transactions, potentially increasing the routing fees you can earn.

5. Cutting-Edge Technological Engagement: Running a node puts you at the forefront of blockchain and bitcoin technology, offering insights into future developments and innovations.

6. Strengthened Network Security: Each new node adds to the robustness of the Bitcoin network, making it more resilient against attacks and failures, thus contributing to the overall security of the ecosystem.

7. Personalized Fee Structures: You have the flexibility to set your own fee policies, which can balance earning potential with the service you provide to the network.

8. Empowerment Through Knowledge: The process of setting up and managing a node provides deep learning opportunities, empowering you with knowledge that can be applied in various areas of blockchain and fintech.

9. Boosting Transaction Capacity: By running a node, you help to increase the overall capacity of the Lightning Network, enabling more transactions to be processed quickly and at lower costs.

10. Community Leadership and Reputation: As an active node operator, you gain recognition within the Bitcoin community, which can lead to collaborative opportunities and a position of thought leadership in the space.

These reasons demonstrate the impactful and transformative nature of running a Lightning node, appealing to those who are deeply invested in the principles of bitcoin and wish to actively shape its future. Jump aboard, and embrace the journey toward full independence. 🐶🐾🫡🚀🚀🚀

@ d830ee7b:4e61cd62

Bitcoin ถือกำเนิดขึ้นในปี 2009 จากวิสัยทัศน์ของ Satoshi Nakamoto บุคคลหรือกลุ่มบุคคลปริศนา ที่ใฝ่ฝันถึง "เงินสดดิจิทัล" อิสระไร้พรมแดน ไร้การควบคุมจากรัฐบาล

ในช่วงแรกเริ่ม Bitcoin เป็นเสมือนเพชรดิบที่ซ่อนตัวอยู่ในเงามืด เป็นที่รู้จักกันเฉพาะในกลุ่มเล็กๆ ที่หลงใหลในเทคโนโลยีและศักยภาพอันไร้ขีดจำกัดของมัน

แต่แล้ว Bitcoin ก็เริ่มฉายแสงเจิดจรัส ดึงดูดความสนใจจากผู้คนทั่วโลก ราคาพุ่งทะยานอย่างรวดเร็ว บริษัทและบริการต่างๆ ผุดขึ้นมาราวกับดอกเห็ด

ทว่า.. เส้นทางสู่ความสำเร็จของ Bitcoin ไม่ได้โรยด้วยกลีบกุหลาบ Bitcoin ยังต้องเผชิญกับความท้าทายมากมาย ทั้งปัญหาทางเทคนิค ความขัดแย้งภายในชุมชนและการต่อสู้แย่งชิงอำนาจ

Blocksize Limit จุดเริ่มต้นของความขัดแย้งและสงคราม Big Blocks VS Small Blocks

ย้อนกลับไปในปี 2010 Satoshi Nakamoto ได้เพิ่ม "Blocksize Limit" ซึ่งเป็นข้อจำกัดขนาดของ Block ใน Bitcoin ไว้ที่ 1MB เพื่อป้องกันการโจมตีทางไซเบอร์ในยุคแรกเริ่ม

แต่เมื่อ Bitcoin ได้รับความนิยมมากขึ้น ธุรกรรมก็เพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว Blocksize Limit 1MB เริ่มจะกลายเป็นปัญหา..

เกิดการถกเถียงอย่างดุเดือดในชุมชน Bitcoin ว่าควรเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit หรือไม่

ฝ่าย "Small Blockers" นำโดยนักพัฒนา Bitcoin Core ส่วนใหญ่ เชื่อว่า Blocksize Limit ควรคงที่ เพื่อรักษาความปลอดภัยและการกระจายอำนาจ พวกเขากล่าวอ้างว่า Big Blocks จะทำให้ Bitcoinรวมศูนย์อยู่ที่ Miners รายใหญ่ และยากต่อการรัน Full Nodes สำหรับผู้ใช้งานทั่วไป ซึ่งจะบั่นทอนความเป็น Decentralized ของ Bitcoin

ฝ่าย "Big Blockers" นำโดย Gavin Andresen ผู้สืบทอดตำแหน่งจาก Satoshi Nakamoto และ Mike Hearn เชื่อว่า Bitcoin ควรเติบโตอย่างไม่จำกัด "Big Blocks" คือคำตอบ พวกเขามองว่า Small Blocks จะทำให้ Bitcoin ไม่สามารถรองรับธุรกรรมที่เพิ่มขึ้น ค่าธรรมเนียมจะพุ่งสูงและ Bitcoin จะไม่สามารถใช้งานได้จริงในชีวิตประจำวัน..

ความขัดแย้งนี้สะท้อนให้เห็นถึงวิสัยทัศน์ที่แตกต่างกัน

Gavin Andresen ผู้ที่เคยได้รับความไว้วางใจจาก Satoshi รู้สึกผิดหวังที่ Bitcoin Core ไม่ยอมเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit เขาเชื่อมั่นว่า Bitcoin ควรเป็นระบบการชำระเงินที่ใช้งานได้จริง รวดเร็ว และมีค่าธรรมเนียมต่ำ

Blockstream บริษัทผู้ทรงอิทธิพลและความกังวลเรื่องผลประโยชน์ทับซ้อน

ปี 2014 กลุ่มนักพัฒนา Bitcoin Core บางส่วนได้ก่อตั้งบริษัท Blockstream (นำโดย Adam Back) พวกเขาเน้นการพัฒนาเทคโนโลยี Blockchain และกลายเป็นที่มถกเถียงว่าอิทธิพลอย่างมากต่อ Bitcoin Core

Blockstream สนับสนุน "Small Blocks"

เช่นเดียวกับ Bitcoin Core พวกเขาพัฒนา "Sidechains" ซึ่งเป็น Blockchain แยกต่างหากที่เชื่อมต่อกับ Bitcoin เช่น Liquid Network Sidechains ซึ่งช่วยให้ Blockstream สามารถเก็บค่าธรรมเนียมจากธุรกรรมและขายบริการให้กับองค์กรหรือบริษัทต่างๆ ได้

ความสัมพันธ์อันใกล้ชิดระหว่าง Blockstream และ Bitcoin Core ทำให้เกิดความกังวลขึ้นในชุมชน Bitcoin ในขณะนั้นว่า Blockstream อาจมีผลประโยชน์ทับซ้อนและต้องการให้ Bitcoin คงขนาดเล็ก เพื่อผลักดันให้คนใช้งาน "Sidechains" ของพวกเขา

BitcoinXT และ Bitcoin Classic ความพยายามแก้ไข Blocksize ที่ถูกต่อต้าน

ปี 2015 Mike Hearn และ Gavin Andresen ตัดสินใจเสนอทางออกด้วยการสร้าง "BitcoinXT" ซอฟต์แวร์ Bitcoin เวอร์ชั่นใหม่ที่ เพิ่ม Blocksize Limit เป็น 8MB

แต่ BitcoinXT ถูกต่อต้านอย่างรุนแรงจากฝ่าย Small Blockers

Bitcoin.org เว็บไซต์หลักของ Bitcoin และ r/Bitcoin ฟอรัมหลักของ Bitcoin ได้เซ็นเซอร์ BitcoinXT ไม่ให้ปรากฏ เกิดการโจมตีทางไซเบอร์ที่มุ่งเป้าไปที่ BitcoinXT โดยตรง

Coinbase บริษัทแลกเปลี่ยน Cryptocurrency รายใหญ่ ประกาศสนับสนุน BitcoinXT แต่กลับถูกถอดออกจาก Bitcoin.org

ต่อมา Bitcoin Classic ถูกสร้างขึ้นเป็นอีกหนึ่งทางเลือก แต่ก็ล้มเหลวเช่นกัน

เนื่องจาก Bitcoin Core ยังคงมีอิทธิพลอย่างมากในชุมชน Bitcoin ในช่วงเวลานั้น..

Hong Kong Agreement และ New York Agreement ความพยายามประนีประนอมที่ไม่ลงตัว

ปี 2016 และ 2017 เกิดความพยายามในการประนีประนอมระหว่างฝ่าย Small Blocks และ Big Blockers ถึงสองครั้ง คือ "Hong Kong Agreement" และ "New York Agreement"

ทั้งสองข้อตกลงมีเป้าหมายที่จะเปิดใช้งาน SegWit และ เพิ่ม Blocksize Limit เป็น 2MB แต่ Bitcoin Core ไม่ทำตามสัญญาในการเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit ทำให้ข้อตกลงล้มเหลว

ความล้มเหลวของข้อตกลงทั้งสอง สะท้อนให้เห็นถึงความไม่ไว้วางใจระหว่างสองฝ่าย และความยากลำบากในการหาจุดร่วมที่ทุกฝ่ายยอมรับ

SegWit ก้าวสำคัญของ Bitcoin และจุดกำเนิดของ Bitcoin Cash

ในที่สุด SegWit ก็ถูกเปิดใช้งานบน Bitcoin ในเดือนสิงหาคม 2017

SegWit เป็น Soft Fork ที่เปลี่ยนแปลงวิธีการจัดเก็บข้อมูลใน Block เพื่อเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพและความปลอดภัย

SegWit ช่วยแก้ปัญหา "Transaction Malleability" ซึ่งเป็นช่องโหว่ด้านความปลอดภัย และปูทางไปสู่การพัฒนา "Layer 2 solutions" เช่น Lightning Network ในเวลาต่อมา..

อย่างไรก็ตาม.. กลุ่ม "Big Blockers" มองว่า SegWit ไม่ใช่ทางออกที่แท้จริงสำหรับปัญหาการขยายขนาด (พวกเขาต้องการขยายขนาดบล็อกบนเลอเยอร์ฐาน) พวกเขาไม่พอใจที่ Bitcoin Core ไม่ทำตามสัญญาในการเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit

ในเดือนสิงหาคม 2017 กลุ่ม "Big Blockers" ได้ทำการ "Hard Fork" Bitcoin เพื่อสร้าง "Bitcoin Cash (BCH)" ซึ่งอ้างว่ามุ่งสืบทอดจุดมุ่งหมายดั้งเดิมของ Bitcoin ในฐานะ "เงินสดดิจิทัล"

ความเสี่ยงด้านความปลอดภัย Bug ร้ายแรงใน Bitcoin Core และบทเรียนที่ได้รับ

ในเดือนกันยายน 2018 Awemany นักพัฒนา BCH ค้นพบ Bug ร้ายแรงใน Bitcoin Core (CVE-2018-17144) ซึ่งอาจทำให้เกิดภาวะเงินเฟ้อได้

Bug นี้เกิดจากความผิดพลาดในการเขียนโค้ด และอาจทำให้ผู้ไม่หวังดีสามารถสร้าง Bitcoin ปลอมขึ้นมาได้

Awemany ได้แจ้งเตือนนักพัฒนา Bitcoin Core อย่างเงียบๆ แทนที่จะใช้ประโยชน์จาก Bug นี้ แสดงให้เห็นถึงความรับผิดชอบของเขา และ Bug นี้ได้รับการแก้ไขอย่างรวดเร็ว

เหตุการณ์นี้แสดงให้เห็นถึงความสำคัญของการตรวจสอบโค้ดอย่างละเอียด และความจำเป็นของการมีนักพัฒนาจากหลายฝ่ายเพื่อช่วยกันตรวจสอบความถูกต้องของโค้ด

นอกจากนี้.. ยังเป็นเครื่องเตือนใจว่าแม้แต่ระบบที่ถูกออกแบบมาอย่างดีก็ยังมีความเสี่ยงด้านความปลอดภัย

Bitcoin Cash แตกแยก การ Hard Fork ครั้งที่สอง และบทบาทของ Craig Wright

ในเดือนพฤศจิกายน 2018 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) ได้แตกออกเป็นสองสาย คือ Bitcoin ABC (BCH) และ Bitcoin SV (BSV)

การ Hard Fork นี้เกิดจากความขัดแย้งระหว่างกลุ่มนักพัฒนา Bitcoin ABC นำโดย Amaury Séchet และกลุ่ม Bitcoin SV นำโดย Craig Wright ผู้ที่อ้างว่าเป็น Satoshi Nakamoto 🤔

ความขัดแย้งหลักคือเรื่องขนาดของ Block และทิศทางการพัฒนา Bitcoin Cash

กลุ่ม Bitcoin SV ต้องการเพิ่มขนาด Block อย่างมาก ในขณะที่กลุ่ม Bitcoin ABC ต้องการปรับปรุง Bitcoin Cash ในด้านอื่นๆ เช่น Smart Contracts

Craig Wright มีบทบาทสำคัญในการผลักดัน Bitcoin SV เขาเชื่อมั่นว่า Bitcoin ควรเป็นไปตามวิสัยทัศน์ดั้งเดิมของ Satoshi Nakamoto โดยเน้นที่การเป็น "เงินสดอิเล็กทรอนิกส์แบบ peer-to-peer"

การ Hard Fork นี้แสดงให้เห็นถึงความหลากหลายของความคิดเห็นในชุมชน Cryptocurrency และความยากลำบากในการหาจุดร่วมที่ทุกฝ่ายยอมรับ

นอกจากนี้.. ยังสะท้อนให้เห็นถึงความท้าทายในการกำหนดทิศทางของ Cryptocurrency ในอนาคตอีกด้วย

Bitcoin ในปัจจุบัน เส้นทางสู่ทองคำดิจิทัล และวิวัฒนาการของเทคโนโลยี

หลังจากการ Hard Fork ของ Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin ได้ก้าวเข้าสู่ยุคใหม่ Bitcoin ได้รับการยอมรับมากขึ้นในวงกว้าง มีมูลค่าตลาดสูง และถูกมองว่าเป็น "ทองคำดิจิทัล" ที่สามารถใช้เก็บรักษามูลค่าในระยะยาว (Store of Value)

การพัฒนา Lightning Network เป็นก้าวสำคัญในการแก้ปัญหาเรื่องค่าธรรมเนียมและความเร็วในการทำธุรกรรม

Lightning Network เป็น "Second Layer" ที่สร้างขึ้นบน Bitcoin Blockchain ช่วยให้สามารถทำธุรกรรมได้รวดเร็วขึ้น มีค่าธรรมเนียมต่ำ และมีความเป็นส่วนตัวสูง

อย่างไรก็ตาม.. Lightning Network ยังคงต้องเผชิญกับความท้าทาย เช่น ปัญหาเรื่องการบริหารจัดการ Liquidity และความซับซ้อนในการใช้งาน

นอกจาก Lightning Network แล้ว ยังมีการพัฒนาเทคโนโลยีอื่นๆ ที่ช่วยเพิ่มขีดความสามารถของ Bitcoin เช่น Taproot ซึ่งเป็น Soft Fork ที่ช่วยเพิ่มความเป็นส่วนตัว และ Schnorr signatures ซึ่งเป็น Digital Signature แบบใหม่ที่ช่วยลดขนาดของธุรกรรมให้เล็กลง

นอกจากนี้.. ยังเริ่มมีการพัฒนา DeFi (Decentralized Finance) บน Bitcoin และ Bitcoin Ordinals ซึ่งเป็นวิธีการใหม่ในการฝังข้อมูลลงใน Bitcoin Blockchain

Bitcoin ยังคงถูกนำไปใช้ในประเทศอื่นๆ นอกจาก El Salvador และมีความพยายามในการแก้ปัญหาความกังวลด้านสิ่งแวดล้อมจากการขุด Bitcoin

บทเรียนจากมหากาพย์แห่งวิวัฒนาการ

ประวัติศาสตร์ Bitcoin สอนให้เรารู้ว่า.. เทคโนโลยี Blockchain มีศักยภาพในการเปลี่ยนแปลงโลก แต่เส้นทางสู่ความสำเร็จนั้นก็ไม่ได้โรยด้วยกลีบกุหลาบ

ความขัดแย้ง การต่อสู้แย่งชิงอำนาจ และการตัดสินใจที่ยากลำบาก ล้วนเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของการเดินทาง

สิ่งที่สำคัญที่สุดคือ.. เราต้องศึกษา ทำความเข้าใจ และอาจมีส่วนร่วมในการกำหนดทิศทางของเทคโนโลยีนี้ เพื่อให้ Blockchain สามารถสร้างประโยชน์สูงสุดให้กับมวลมนุษยชาติต่อไป

เจาะลึกวิวัฒนาการของ Bitcoin การ Soft Forks, Hard Forks และมุมมองที่แตกต่าง

SegWit, Taproot และ Soft Forks อื่นๆ การปรับปรุง Bitcoin อย่างนุ่มนวล

Bitcoin Core ไม่ได้หยุดนิ่งอยู่กับที่ นักพัฒนาได้ทำงานอย่างต่อเนื่องเพื่อปรับปรุง Bitcoin ให้ดีขึ้น โดยใช้ "Soft Forks" ซึ่งเป็นการอัพเกรดที่เข้ากันได้กับซอฟต์แวร์เวอร์ชั่นเก่า

SegWit (Segregated Witness)

เปิดตัวในปี 2017 SegWit เป็นเหมือนการจัดระเบียบข้อมูลใน Block ใหม่ ย้ายส่วนที่เรียกว่า "Witness data" (ข้อมูลลายเซ็น) ออกไปไว้ข้างนอก ทำให้มีพื้นที่ว่างใน Block มากขึ้น รองรับธุรกรรมได้มากขึ้น และลดค่าธรรมเนียมได้ SegWit ยังช่วยแก้ปัญหา "Transaction Malleability" ซึ่งเป็นช่องโหว่ด้านความปลอดภัยและปูทางไปสู่การพัฒนา Lightning Network

Taproot

เปิดตัวในปี 2021 Taproot เป็น Soft Fork ที่ช่วยเพิ่มความเป็นส่วนตัว และประสิทธิภาพของ Bitcoin Taproot ทำให้ธุรกรรมที่ซับซ้อน เช่น Smart Contracts มีขนาดเล็กลงและยากต่อการแยกแยะจากธุรกรรมทั่วไป

Soft Forks อื่นๆ ที่ Bitcoin Core ได้นำมาใช้ เช่น BIP 65 (CheckLockTimeVerify) และ BIP 112 (CSV) ช่วยเพิ่มความยืดหยุ่นในการใช้งาน Bitcoin และปูทางไปสู่การพัฒนาฟังก์ชันใหม่ๆ

Hard Forks เส้นทางที่แตกต่างและการถือกำเนิดของเหรียญใหม่

ในขณะที่ Soft Forks เป็นการอัพเกรดที่นุ่มนวล "Hard Forks" นั้นนับว่าเป็นการเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งใหญ่ ที่ทำให้เกิดสาย Blockchain ใหม่และเหรียญใหม่

Bitcoin XT (2015)

เป็นความพยายามครั้งแรกในการเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit โดย Mike Hearn และ Gavin Andresen Bitcoin XT เสนอให้เพิ่ม Blocksize Limit เป็น 8MB แต่ถูกต่อต้านอย่างรุนแรง และไม่ประสบความสำเร็จ

Bitcoin Classic (2016)

เป็นอีกหนึ่งความพยายามในการเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit โดยเสนอให้เพิ่มเป็น 2MB แต่ก็ล้มเหลวเช่นกัน

Bitcoin Unlimited (2016)

เสนอให้ Miners สามารถกำหนด Blocksize Limit ได้เอง แต่มีข้อบกพร่องด้านความปลอดภัย และไม่เป็นที่ยอมรับในวงกว้าง

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) (2017)

เกิดจากการ Hard Fork ของ Bitcoin โดยกลุ่ม "Big Blockers" ที่ไม่พอใจที่ Bitcoin Core ไม่ยอมเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit Bitcoin Cash เพิ่ม Blocksize Limit เป็น 8MB และมุ่งเน้นที่การเป็น "เงินสดดิจิทัล" ที่ใช้งานได้จริง

Bitcoin SV (BSV) (2018)

เกิดจากการ Hard Fork ของ Bitcoin Cash โดยกลุ่มที่นำโดย Craig Wright ผู้ที่อ้างว่าเป็น Satoshi Nakamoto Bitcoin SV ต้องการเพิ่มขนาด Block อย่างมาก และกลับไปสู่วิสัยทัศน์ดั้งเดิมของ Bitcoin

Bitcoin ABC (2020)

เกิดจากการ Hard Fork ของ Bitcoin Cash โดยกลุ่มนักพัฒนา Bitcoin ABC ที่ต้องการเปลี่ยนแปลงกลไกการระดมทุน Bitcoin ABC ถูกเปลี่ยนชื่อเป็น eCash ในภายหลัง

มุมมองที่แตกต่าง Bitcoin ถูก "แย่งชิง" หรือไม่?

หนังสือ "Hijacking Bitcoin" โดย Roger Ver นำเสนอมุมมองที่แตกต่างจาก Bitcoin Maximalists

Roger Ver เชื่อว่า Bitcoin ถูก "แย่งชิง" โดยกลุ่มนักพัฒนา Bitcoin Core และ Blockstream ที่ต้องการเปลี่ยนแปลง Bitcoin จาก "เงินสดดิจิทัล" ให้กลายเป็น "สินทรัพย์เก็บมูลค่า"

Roger Ver วิพากษ์วิจารณ์ Bitcoin Core ในหลายประเด็น เช่น..

การไม่ยอมเพิ่ม Blocksize Limit

Roger Ver เชื่อว่า Bitcoin Core จงใจจำกัดการเติบโตของ Bitcoin เพื่อผลักดันให้คนใช้งาน Sidechains ของ Blockstream

การเซ็นเซอร์ข้อมูล

Roger Ver กล่าวหาว่า Bitcoin Core เซ็นเซอร์ข้อมูลและปิดกั้นการสนทนาเกี่ยวกับ Big Blocks บนแพลตฟอร์มต่างๆ

การต่อต้านนวัตกรรม

Roger Ver เชื่อว่า Bitcoin Core ต่อต้านนวัตกรรม และไม่ยอมรับการเปลี่ยนแปลงที่อาจทำให้ Bitcoin ดีขึ้น

การควบคุมโดยกลุ่มเล็กๆ

Roger Ver มองว่า Bitcoin Core ถูกควบคุมโดยกลุ่มเล็กๆ ที่ไม่คำนึงถึงความต้องการของชุมชน Bitcoin

Roger Ver สนับสนุน Bitcoin Cash ซึ่งเขาเชื่อว่าเป็น Bitcoin ที่แท้จริง ที่สืบทอดวิสัยทัศน์ดั้งเดิมของ Satoshi Nakamoto

บทสรุป:

การต่อสู้แย่งชิง Bitcoin และการเกิดขึ้นของ Hard Forks ต่างๆ เป็นส่วนหนึ่งของวิวัฒนาการของ Cryptocurrency

มุมมองที่แตกต่าง ความขัดแย้ง และการแข่งขัน ล้วนเป็นแรงผลักดันให้ Bitcoin และ Cryptocurrency อื่นๆ พัฒนาต่อไป

สุดท้ายแล้ว.. เราคงไม่อาจตัดสินได้ว่าฝ่ายใดคิดถูกหรือฝ่ายใดผิด

"เสียงของตลาด จะช่วยทำหน้าที่ให้คำตอบนั้นกับเรา ว่าแท้ที่จริงแล้วผู้คนกำลังต้องการอะไรกันแน่..

ลองมองไปที่มูลค่าของแต่ละแนวคิด มองไปที่ Network effect และกำลังการขุด มองไปที่การยอมรับและความเชื่อมั่นของผู้คน เหล่านี้ล้วนเป็นข้อบ่งชี้ที่เห็นได้ง่าย..

เพราะนั่นคือเสียงแห่งการเพรียกหาอิสรภาพ และอธิปไตยทางการเงินที่แท้จริง..

— Jakk Goodday

@ 1739d937:3e3136ef

This is the sixth in a series of weekly(ish) updates detailing progress on bringing MLS protocol DMs and group messaging to Nostr.

Previous Updates

• June 28th 2024
• July 6th 2024
• July 12th 2024
• July 19th 2024
• August 16th 2024

Progress this week

Sorry about the very late update this week. Catching up on everything after a week in Riga for Nostriga and Baltic Honeybadger took a bunch of time, every other moment was spent coding. 👨‍💻

The response at Nostriga to NIP-104 and my two talks on the subject were overwhelmingly positive. It was very helpful to spend time with other devs going through the spec in detail. We found a few minor improvements and clarifications but no major issues surfaced. Thanks to nostr:npub1v0lxxxxutpvrelsksy8cdhgfux9l6a42hsj2qzquu2zk7vc9qnkszrqj49, nostr:npub1lunaq893u4hmtpvqxpk8hfmtkqmm7ggutdtnc4hyuux2skr4ttcqr827lj, and nostr:npub1ye5ptcxfyyxl5vjvdjar2ua3f0hynkjzpx552mu5snj3qmx5pzjscpknpr in particular for the lengthly interrogations and nostr:npub1wmr34t36fy03m8hvgl96zl3znndyzyaqhwmwdtshwmtkg03fetaqhjg240 for the introductions.

Last week, I started work on a reference implementation of the spec. It's still early but going quickly.

My PR adding support for secp256k1 was also merged into the hpke-rs library yesterday. That's one more step in the right direction towards having secp256k1 ciphersuite support.

The NIP

If you haven't already, check out my talk; The Past and Future of DMs and Group messaging on Nostr. This was a basic overview of the various DM and group messaging schemes and talks a little about the progress on NIP-104. I believe there is a recording of the technical talk on the spec but it hasn't yet been released. I'll link it up when it is.

At this point I've been discouraging anyone from trying to implement the NIP quite yet. As I mentioned above there are a few adjustments that need to be made and a few open questions that I'm working on answering with my implementation (which I'm very happy to have contributors on). My plan at the moment is to do this first implementation with the default ciphersuite that MLS already supports while I continue to work on the dependencies to get secp256k1 support across the board.

The Implementation

I've started on a cross-platform native client that will run on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. Think of it as Signal or Telegram but over Nostr. I hope that this will not only become the reference implementation for other client developers but also will be one of the most secure and privacy focused clients in the Nostr ecosystem. Building it has already been helpful in clarifying some of the more complex implementation details in the NIP. It's still early but I'll have more to share on this in the coming weeks.

HPKE-RS

My PR to add support for secp256k1 is merged!

Onward and Upward

Thanks again to everyone for the support and feedback on this stuff at Nostriga. It was hugely motivating to hear the kind words, have you introducing me to people that could help, and spending time giving me feedback! This community is the best. 🫂

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

Chef's notes

Serving these two dishes together will create a delightful centerpiece for your Thanksgiving meal, offering a perfect blend of traditional flavors with a homemade touch.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 1 - 2 hours
• 🍽️ Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 whole turkey (about 12-14 lbs), thawed and ready to cook
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Apple and Sage Stuffing
• 1 loaf of crusty bread, cut into cubes
• 2 apples, cored and chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 325°F (165°C).
2. Prepare the Herb Butter: Mix the softened butter with the chopped thyme, rosemary, and sage. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Prepare the Turkey: Remove any giblets from the turkey and pat it dry. Loosen the skin and spread a generous amount of herb butter under and over the skin.
4. Add Aromatics: Inside the turkey cavity, place the quartered onion, lemon halves, and garlic cloves.
5. Roast: Place the turkey in a roasting pan. Tent with aluminum foil and roast. A general guideline is about 15 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C) at the thickest part of the thigh.
6. Rest and Serve: Let the turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
7. Next: Apple and Sage Stuffing
8. Dry the Bread: Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and let them dry overnight, or toast them in the oven.
9. Cook the Vegetables: In a large skillet, melt the butter and cook the onion, celery, and garlic until soft.
10. Combine Ingredients: Add the apples, sage, and bread cubes to the skillet. Stir in the chicken broth until the mixture is moist. Season with salt and pepper.
11. Bake: Transfer the stuffing to a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30-40 minutes, until golden brown on top.

@ 970ffed0:0c66e8f1

Bitcoin อาจเผชิญกับภัยคุกคามร้ายแรง หากเรายังไม่ยอมเปลี่ยนแปลงเส้นทาง นับตั้งแต่การล่มสลายของเครือข่าย peer-to-peer ยุคบุกเบิก สู่กับดักแห่งการมองโลกแง่ดีเกินจริง ความเชื่อมั่นสุดโต่งและความจองหองพองขนอาจกลายเป็นภัยคุกคามที่ใหญ่ที่สุดของ Bitcoin (จาก "The Halving Issue")*

บทความชิ้นนี้ตีพิมพ์ใน Bitcoin Magazine ฉบับ “The Halving Issue”

นับตั้งแต่การล่มสลายของเครือข่าย peer-to-peer ยุคบุกเบิก สู่กับดักแห่งการมองโลกแง่ดีเกินจริง คู่มือนี้นำเสนอว่า Bitcoin อาจเผชิญหน้ากับหายภัยครั้งใหญ่ หากเรายังไม่ยอมปรับเปลี่ยนวิถีความเชื่อมั่นสุดโต่ง และอัตตาที่บวมเป่งอาจกลายเป็นดาบสองคมที่สังหาร Bitcoin โดยไม่รู้ตัว ทุกเช้าตรู่ เวลา 6 โมงตรง ณ เมืองพังซ์ซาโทนีย์ รัฐเพนซิลเวเนีย ชายที่ชื่อ “ฟิล คอนเนอร์ส” ตื่นขึ้นมาเผชิญหน้ากับวันเดิมๆ ซ้ำแล้วซ้ำเล่าราวกับติดอยู่ในวังวนแห่งกาลเวลา คอนเนอร์สพยายามทุกวิถีทางเพื่อให้ชีวิตกลับสู่สภาวะปกติ ต่อให้เขาจะโดนแทง โดนยิง ถูกไฟคลอก ถูกแช่แข็ง หรือถูกช็อตด้วยไฟฟ้า แต่สุดท้ายเขาก็จะตื่นขึ้นมาในวันรุ่งขึ้นราวกับไม่มีอะไรเกิดขึ้น ในที่สุดคอนเนอร์สก็พบกับข้อสรุปที่เป็นไปได้เพียงหนึ่งเดียว นั่นคือ เขาต้องเป็นพระเจ้าอย่างแน่นอน (จาก ภาพยนตร์เรื่อง Groundhog Day)

ไม่ว่าจะในยามศึกสงครามหรือสถานการณ์ใดๆ การหลงคิดไปเองว่าตนเองอยู่เหนือความพ่ายแพ้ย่อมไม่ใช่วิธีคิดที่ชาญฉลาด หากเราลองพิจารณาแนวคิดเรื่องเวลาในหลากหลายวัฒนธรรม ตั้งแต่ปรัชญาตะวันตกของ Nietzsche ผู้เสนอแนวคิด "การกลับคืนมาอย่างนิรันดร์" (Eternal Return) ไปจนถึงปรัชญาตะวันออกอย่างศาสนาฮินดู ที่มีแนวคิดเรื่อง "วัฏจักรสังสารวัฏ" (Samsara) ต่างระบุว่าสรรพสิ่งในจักรวาลดำเนินไปเป็นวัฏจักรซ้ำๆ ไม่มีจุดสิ้นสุด ชีวิตเราก็เช่นกัน อาจเปรียบได้กับละครลิงที่ถูกนำกลับมาแสดงซ้ำแล้วซ้ำเล่า สิ่งเดียวที่เราทำได้คือการปรับเปลี่ยนวิธีคิดและการตอบสนองต่อสถานการณ์เดิมๆ มิเช่นนั้นแล้ว เราก็จะต้องเผชิญกับความผิดพลาดเดิมๆ ซ้ำแล้วซ้ำเล่าไปชั่วกัลปาวสาน

แม้พวกเราเหล่าสาวก Bitcoin จะมักอวดอ้างสติปัญญาอันเหนือชั้นของตนเอง "ฉันนี่เจ๋งจริงๆ ค้นพบ Bitcoin ตั้งแต่ยังไม่มีใครรู้จัก" แต่ดูเหมือนว่าการเรียนรู้จากความผิดพลาดจะเป็นเรื่องยากเย็น แม้แต่กับ “ผู้สนับสนุน Bitcoin” ที่คร่ำหวอดในวงการมานาและถกเถียงเรื่อง Bitcoin ในแวดวงสาธารณะก็ดูเหมือนจะถดถอยลงในภาพรวม การพูดถึงบิตคอยน์ปัจจุบันกลายเป็นเพียงการพูดคุยอย่างผิวเผิน ไร้แก่นสาร ราวกับบทสนทนาหลังเลิกงานของพนักงานธนาคารยักษ์ใหญ่ใจกลาง Wall Street ที่เอาแต่พูดถึงแต่เรื่องผลกำไร โดยปราศจากการตั้งคำถามถึงความเสี่ยงและผลกระทบที่จะเกิดขึ้นในวงกว้าง ย้อนกลับไปในปี 2014 ตอนที่ Bitcoin ถูกหยิบยกขึ้นมาถกกันในรัฐสภาเยอรมันเป็นครั้งแรก เหล่าผู้เชี่ยวชาญต่างออกมาชี้ว่าความสามารถในการแกะรอยธุรกรรมเพื่อเปิดเผยตัวตนของผู้ใช้งานได้อย่างง่ายดาย คือ “จุดอ่อน” เพราะการใช้งาน Bitcoin อย่างแพร่หลายอาจนำไปสู่สังคมที่รัฐสามารถจับตาดูธุรกรรมของคุณได้ทุกกระเบียดนิ้ว

แต่ 10 ปีให้หลัง เมื่อ Bitcoin กลับมาสู่เวทีรัฐสภาเยอรมันอีกครั้ง บทบาทของผู้เชี่ยวชาญกลับถูกแทนที่ด้วยเหล่า Influencer ที่คอยป่าวประกาศให้ Bitcoin เป็นทางเลือกใหม่แทน CBDC ที่จะเป็น “จุดแข็ง” ให้รัฐสามารถจับตาดูการทำธุรกรรมของคุณได้

การถกเถียงเรื่อง Bitcoin ในปัจจุบันจึงไม่ต่างอะไรกับ "ละครลิง" ที่วนเวียนอยู่กับเรื่องเดิมๆ ไร้ซึ่งวิวัฒนาการ

ในขณะที่วงสนทนาเรื่อง Bitcoin ค่อยๆ ถูกครอบงำด้วยกลุ่มคนที่ฉวยโอกาส การถกเถียงอย่างมีเหตุผลถูกแทนที่ด้วยเสียงเชียร์อันโหวกเหวก ราวกับหลงเข้าไปสู่ดินแดนแห่ง "สาวก" ที่พร้อมใจกันสรรเสริญ Bitcoin ว่าเป็นเทคโนโลยีที่ไร้เทียมทาน หากใครเห็นต่างก็จะถูกตราหน้าว่าเป็นพวก "ไม่เข้าใจ" บรรยากาศแบบนี้เองที่เป็นอันตรายต่อ Bitcoin อย่างแท้จริง

Groundhog Day

ย้อนกลับไปในยุคแรกเริ่มของอินเทอร์เน็ต เราต่อสายโทรศัพท์บ้านเข้ากับคอมพิวเตอร์เพื่อเข้าสู่โลกออนไลน์ การเข้าถึง World Wide Web หรือ www ในยุคนั้นช่างยากเย็นแสนเข็ญ สำหรับครอบครัวที่มีสมาชิกหลายคนคงรู้ว่า การแย่งกันใช้โทรศัพท์เพื่อท่องเน็ตนั้นเป็นเรื่องชวนปวดหัวขนาดไหน เราคงปฏิเสธไม่ได้ว่ายุคแห่งการ "ต่อเน็ตผ่านสายโทรศัพท์" นั้นช่างล้าหลัง แต่ด้วยข้อจำกัดทางเทคโนโลยีในยุคนั้น การเข้าถึงอินเทอร์เน็ตไร้สายความเร็วสูงเป็นเรื่องที่ไกลเกินเอื้อม การใช้สายโทรศัพท์จึงเป็นทางเลือกที่ "ดีที่สุด" ในตอนนั้น แต่ไอ้ "ทางเลือกที่ดีที่สุด" นี่แหละ ที่นำมาซึ่งผลข้างเคียง นั่นคือ การผูกขาดจุดเชื่อมต่ออินเทอร์เน็ตโดยบริษัทโทรคมนาคม

20 ปีผ่านไป เรากลับพบว่า บริษัทเหล่านั้นแอบบันทึก วิเคราะห์ และส่งต่อข้อมูลการใช้งานอินเทอร์เน็ตของเราให้กับรัฐบาลภายใต้ข้ออ้างที่สุดแสนจะหวังดีอย่างเรื่อง “ความมั่นคง” เทคโนโลยีที่ถูกคาดหวังว่าจะนำมาซึ่งอิสรภาพกลับกลายเป็นเครื่องมือที่ถูกใช้เพื่อรุกล้ำสิทธิเสรีภาพของประชาชนเสียเอง เมื่อพูดถึงความสำเร็จและล้มเหลวของเทคโนโลยี peer-to-peer เราคงหลีกเลี่ยงไม่ได้ที่จะพูดถึง Napster แพลตฟอร์มดาวน์โหลดเพลงแบบ peer-to-peer ที่ทำให้เพลงของวงดนตรีอย่าง Linkin Park แพร่ระบาดไปทั่วโลกอินเทอร์เน็ต ในยุคนั้น การดาวน์โหลดเพลงจาก Napster ถือเป็นเรื่องปกติ เหมือนกับการแชร์ไฟล์ mp3 ให้เพื่อนผ่าน MSN (โปรแกรทแชทคล้ายๆ กับ Line หรือ Facebook Messenger ในปัจจุบัน) ไม่มีผิด อัลบั้มแรกของ Linkin Park อย่าง Hybrid Theory ประสบความสำเร็จอย่างถล่มทลาย มียอดขายถล่มทลายถึง 15 ล้านแผ่นภายในสามสัปดาห์แรก

Napster คือปรากฏการณ์ที่ปฏิวัติวงการเพลงอย่างแท้จริง และแน่นอนว่า มันสร้างความโกรธแค้นให้กับกลุ่มทุนอุตสาหกรรมเพลงเป็นอย่างมาก ในขณะที่ผู้คนสนุกสนานกับการแชร์เพลง ศิลปินหน้าใหม่อย่าง Arctic Monkeys, Dispatch หรือ Eminem ต่างก็สร้างฐานแฟนเพลงของตัวเองได้อย่างรวดเร็ว การมาถึงของ Napster สั่นคลอนอำนาจของกลุ่มทุนเดิม

ในที่สุด Metallica วงดนตรี Metal ชื่อดังก็ตัดสินใจฟ้องร้อง Napster ในข้อหาละเมิดลิขสิทธิ์ เหตุการณ์ดังกล่าวสะท้อนให้เห็นว่า เทคโนโลยีใหม่ๆ มักถูกต่อต้านจากกลุ่มผลประโยชน์เดิม

แม้ Napster จะถูกปิดไป แต่เทคโนโลยี peer-to-peer ก็ไม่ได้หายไปไหน เพียงแต่ถูกกลืนเข้าไปเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของระบบทุนนิยม จากการซื้อเพลงผ่าน iTunes สู่การฟังเพลงแบบ Streaming ผ่าน Spotify

ในปัจจุบัน ผู้ฟังเพลงส่วนใหญ่ไม่ได้เป็นเจ้าของเพลงที่ตัวเองฟังอีกต่อไป แต่เป็นเพียง "ผู้เช่า" ที่ต้องจ่ายเงินให้กับบริษัท Streaming โดยที่ศิลปิน ค่ายเพลง และผู้เกี่ยวข้องไม่ได้รับผลประโยชน์อย่างเป็นธรรม

ตัวอย่างที่เห็นได้ชัดคือ กรณีที่ Spotify อัปเดตนโยบายความเป็นส่วนตัว โดยระบุว่าจะมีการแบ่งปันข้อมูลผู้ใช้งานให้กับบริษัทพันธมิตรกว่า 695 แห่ง นี่คือใบเบิกทางสู่ "ทุนนิยมแห่งการเฝ้าระวัง" ที่บริษัทเทคโนโลยียักษ์ใหญ่ใช้ข้อมูลของเราเป็นเครื่องมือในการแสวงหาผลกำไร ปรากฏการณ์เช่นเดียวกันนี้เกิดขึ้นกับ Google เช่นกัน จากจุดเริ่มต้นของบริการค้นหาข้อมูลที่เปรียบเสมือน "แผนที่" นำทางเราไปสู่ข้อมูลอันไร้ขอบเขตบนโลกออนไลน์ แต่ด้วยกลไกของทุนนิยม Google ค่อยๆ แปรสภาพกลายเป็นเครื่องมือหาผลกำไร ผลการค้นหาเต็มไปด้วยโฆษณา เว็บไซต์หลอกลวง และการบิดเบือนข้อมูล สิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นนี้ Cory Doctorow นักเขียนนิยายวิทยาศาสตร์ชาวแคนาดา เรียกมันว่า "Enshittification" เป็นคำที่ Cory Doctorow นักเขียนนิยายวิทยาศาสตร์ ตั้งขึ้นเพื่ออธิบายปรากฏการณ์ที่ แพลตฟอร์มออนไลน์ เช่น Facebook, YouTube, Twitter ค่อยๆ "กลายเป็นสิ่งห่วยแตก" จากที่เคยเป็นพื้นที่เปิดกว้าง เต็มไปด้วยคอนเทนต์คุณภาพ กลับถูกทุนนิยมเข้าครอบงำ เต็มไปด้วยโฆษณา ข้อมูลบิดเบือน และการละเมิดความเป็นส่วนตัว

ครั้งแล้วครั้งเล่า ประวัติศาสตร์ได้สอนเราว่า ความเชื่อที่ว่า "เทคโนโลยีคือคำตอบสุดท้าย" เป็นความคิดที่อันตราย การเลือกเส้นทางที่คิดว่าสะดวกสบายในวันนี้อาจนำมาซึ่งหายนะในวันข้างหน้าก็เป็นได้ และก่อนที่เราจะรู้ตัว เราก็จะติดอยู่ในวังวนแห่งความล้มเหลวซ้ำซาก ไม่ต่างอะไรจาก "Groundhog Day" ที่เราต้องตื่นมาเจอกับวันเดิมๆ ความสำเร็จและความผิดพลาดแสนน่าเบื่อหน่ายที่วนลูปไม่รู้จบ

"มันเป็นที่ฟิลเตอร์โว้ย ไอ้โง่"

ในโลกของ Bitcoin วัฒนธรรมของการ "อวย" โดยปราศจากการตั้งคำถามกำลังแพร่ระบาดอย่างน่าเป็นห่วง

การจัดลำดับความสำคัญของคนเรานี่มันช่างน่าขันเสียจริง เมื่อ Lightning Network ใช้งานได้บ้าง ไม่ได้บ้าง แต่เรากลับทุ่มเงินมหาศาลเพื่อผลักดันให้ดอลลาร์มาอยู่บน Bitcoin

เมื่อ Ordinals ปรากฏขึ้นบน Bitcoin จู่ๆ เราก็เพิ่งรู้ตัวว่ากำลังตกอยู่ในอันตราย ผู้คนในประเทศกำลังพัฒนาไม่สามารถทำธุรกรรม Bitcoin ได้ เหล่า Bitcoin Maximalist ที่พร่ำบอกให้คนทั่วไป DCA Bitcoin (ซื้อ Bitcoin เป็นประจำอย่างสม่ำเสมอ) กลับต้องเผชิญกับค่าธรรมเนียมที่สูงลิ่ว แม้แต่ CoinJoin เครื่องมือที่ช่วยอำพรางธุรกรรม ก็มีค่าใช้จ่ายแพงจนไม่สามารถใช้งานได้จริง ไม่ว่าจะมองไปทางไหน เราก็ยังคงเผชิญหน้ากับปัญหาการขยายขนาด ซึ่งปัญหาไม่ได้อยู่ที่ Ordinals แต่อยู่ที่ "ความไม่รู้" ของพวกเราเองต่างหาก

ตลอด 4 ปีที่ผ่านมา เรามัวแต่หลงระเริงกับ Narrative ที่ว่า "Bitcoin คือที่สุด" "Bitcoin คือเงินที่ดีที่สุดในโลก" จนมองไม่เห็นปัญหาที่แท้จริง เมื่อ Ordinals เข้ามา เรากลับเลือกที่จะแก้ปัญหาที่ปลายเหตุด้วยการ "บล็อกมันสิ…จบ!" "มันเป็นที่ฟิลเตอร์โว้ย! ไอ้โง่" ซึ่งการบล็อก Ordinals เป็นเพียงการแก้ปัญหาเฉพาะหน้า ไม่ได้ช่วยให้สถานการณ์ดีขึ้นในระยะยาว หากเราต้องการให้ Bitcoin ถูกใช้อย่างแพร่หลายจริง การบล็อกข้อมูลบางประเภทไม่ใช่วิธีแก้ปัญหา

การโทษ JPEGs บน Ordinals เป็นเรื่องง่าย แต่การยอมรับความจริงว่า Bitcoin ยังมีปัญหา เป็นเรื่องที่ยากกว่า พวกสาวก Bitcoin ที่ชอบพร่ำเพ้อว่า Bitcoin จะนำมาซึ่งสันติภาพของโลก ควรหันมาสนใจปัญหาเหล่นี้ที่เกิดขึ้นจริง โลกนี้ไม่ต้องการ "Bitcoin Hopium (พวกเมากาวบิตคอยน์)" สิ่งที่เราต้องการคือ "ทางออก" สำหรับปัญหาที่เกิดขึ้นจริง และเราต้องกล้าเผชิญหน้ากับความจริงที่ว่า "พวกเรากำลังเดินผิดทาง"

กอด รัด บีบคอ

ตลอดหลายปีที่ผ่านมา เรามักได้ยินคำกล่าวที่ว่า "Bitcoin ชนะแล้ว" “BlackRock ยอมรับ Bitcoin แล้ว” “ส.ว. คนนั้นคนนี้ ออกโรงสนับสนุน Bitcoin” ในความเป็นจริงสัญญาณแห่งชัยชนะเหล่านี้เป็นได้แค่ "ภาพลวงตา"

ความตายที่น่ากลัวที่สุดของ Bitcoin อาจไม่ใช่การล่มสลายของเทคโนโลยี แต่อาจมาในรูปแบบของ "การถูกกลืน" เข้าสู่ระบบเดิม

ประเด็นสำคัญที่นำไปสู่ความตายของ Bitcoin คือ "ปัญหาเรื่องการขยายขนาด" (Scalability) ย้อนกลับไป ณ จุดเริ่มต้น Gigablock ถูกเสนอขึ้นมาเพื่อแก้ปัญหาดังกล่าว แต่ขนาดบล็อกที่ใหญ่ขึ้น หมายถึง ความต้องการทรัพยากรที่มากขึ้น ทำให้ Node รายย่อยไม่สามารถเข้าร่วมเครือข่ายได้

Lightning Network ถูกพัฒนาขึ้นภายใต้แนวคิด "Scaling off-chain, securing on-chain" แต่ด้วยข้อจำกัดของเทคโนโลยี ทำให้ Lightning Network ยังไม่สามารถรองรับธุรกรรมจำนวนมหาศาลได้

น่าเสียดายที่ความจริงข้อนี้ไม่อาจหยุดยั้งเหล่า "อินฟลูเอนเซอร์" และสาวก Bitcoin จากการ "โยน Hail Mary" ครั้งแล้วครั้งเล่า พวกเขามองว่าปัญหาเรื่องการขยายขนาดเป็นเรื่องไกลตัว เป็นปัญหาของอนาคต พวกเขามัวแต่หลงระเริงกับชัยชนะจอมปลอม โดยลืมไปว่า การพัฒนาเทคโนโลยีที่ดี ต้องมาพร้อมกับการยอมรับความจริง

*Hail Mary: เป็นศัพท์ทางอเมริกันฟุตบอล หมายถึง การขว้างลูกไกลไปยังเขตแดนสุดท้ายในช่วงเวลาสุดท้ายของเกม โดยหวังว่าเพื่อนร่วมทีมจะสามารถรับลูกได้ แม้โอกาสจะริบหรี่ก็ตาม ซึ่งผู้เขียนกำลังวิจารณ์กลุ่มคนที่ยังคงเชื่อมั่นใน Bitcoin แบบ "สุ่มสี่สุ่มห้า" แม้ว่าจะมีข้อเท็จจริงหลายอย่างที่ชี้ให้เห็นว่า Bitcoin กำลังมีปัญหา

6 ปีผ่านไป นับตั้งแต่ Lightning Network รุ่นแรกถูกเปิดตัว พวกเราก็ยังคงวนเวียนอยู่กับปัญหาเดิมๆ แทนที่จะเปิดใจกว้าง รับฟังความคิดเห็นที่หลากหลาย และร่วมกันหาทางออก พวกเรากลับเลือกที่จะ "ปิดกั้น" และ "ตีตรา" คนที่เห็นต่าง

ในอนาคตอันใกล้นี้ เราอาจโหยหาช่วงเวลาที่ค่าธรรมเนียม Bitcoin ยังมีราคาถูก แต่เมื่อถึงตอนนั้น ทุกอย่างก็อาจสายเกินไป เราอาจไม่มีทางเลือกอื่น นอกจากใช้ Bitcoin ผ่านตัวกลาง Bitcoin แห่งอิสรภาพที่เราฝันถึงก็จะตายลง เว้นเสียแต่เราจะเลิกทำผิดซ้ำซากเสียที

• Tendou

ขอขอบคุณบทความจาก https://bitcoinmagazine.com/print/a-manual-guide-to-killing-bitcoin-the-eternal-return

@ 1a48e74d:02c0e00f

Welcome back ya'll hope you are doing well this week. Today I wanted to talk about why Bitcoin represents a dawn of a new age in property ownership. Before you spit out your coffee and walk away, hear me out. Bitcoin and real estate have a few things in common. The first is property rights.

When you are the owner of a building with your name on the dotted line and whatnot, you are the sole owner of that property. No one can tell you what to do with it, and no one has a claim to what you own. You are free to do what you wish. Property rights are sacrosanct and immutable similar to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin confers upon the owner the same property right protections as owning a piece of real estate. Once you own it, you are the sole owner of that Bitcoin. No one can tell you what to do with it. No one else has a claim to your Bitcoin. You are free to do with it what you wish.

Bitcoin and real estate are similar in terms of built-in scarcity. There is only 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be created, and you can't print more land. This is why owning real estate has been such a good investment since the beginning of time. Buying a piece of land and "HODLING" for decades will generate a substantial return on your investment.

This same buy and hodl strategy apply to Bitcoin as well. If you bought Bitcoin back in 2009, you would be a multi-millionaire right now.

If you invested $1000 back in 2011 when Bitcoin was trading at $3.50, you would have turned that $1000 into $15.6 million if you held on to it for ten years. Just sayin.

You have to reframe your thinking to understand what is going on. We are living in the 21st-century gold rush, and you have an opportunity to stake your claim to the soundest money on Earth with a few taps on your phone. Never in the history of the world has the plebs like us had the ability to front-run a monetary revolution.

Bitcoin is freedom from oppression. Bitcoin restores your sovereignty. Bitcoin makes you fuckable, and the powers that be know it. They are afraid they will lose control if too many people catch on too quickly, which is why large institutions are rushing to offer Bitcoin services or buy them and keep them on their balance sheet.

Bitcoin won't stay this cheap forever. $100-300k Bitcoin is in the cards over the next few years. I don't want you guys to miss out on this.

All you have to do is buy Bitcoin and hold. It's that simple. FYI trying out the new obsidian writer for nostr notes!

Bitcoin #nostr

@ ae1008d2:a166d760

Democracy, a system that ideally reflects the will of the people, faces significant mathematical challenges, particularly in the way votes are cast and counted. One of the most prominent issues lies within the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system, a method that has been in use for centuries. This system allows voters to select only one candidate, which can lead to scenarios where a party secures power without obtaining a majority of the votes. Such outcomes raise questions about the true representation of voter preferences and the overall health of democratic processes.

The Flaws of First-Past-The-Post

The FPTP system has been illustrated through historical examples, such as the British Parliament and the contentious 2000 U.S. presidential election. In these instances, the so-called "spoiler effect" emerged, where third-party candidates siphoned votes from major candidates, ultimately skewing the results. Voters often feel that their preferences are not accurately represented, leading to disillusionment with the electoral process. This discontent underscores the need for a more representative voting system.

Introducing Ranked-Choice Voting

To address the shortcomings of FPTP, ranked-choice voting (RCV), also known as instant runoff voting, has been proposed. In this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference, allowing for a more nuanced reflection of voter sentiment. RCV not only captures a broader spectrum of voter preferences but also encourages candidates to engage in more civil discourse. For example, in the 2013 Minneapolis mayoral race, candidates exhibited a camaraderie that is often absent in traditional campaigns, as they sought to appeal to voters for second and third choices.

However, the implementation of RCV is not without its challenges. Concerns arise about the potential for a candidate performing poorly to inadvertently assist in the election of another candidate. A hypothetical scenario involving three candidates—Einstein, C, and Bore—illustrates this point. The elimination of candidates based on voter preferences can lead to unexpected outcomes, complicating the electoral landscape.

Historical Context and Mathematical Foundations

The discussion of voting systems is enriched by historical context, particularly through the lens of French mathematician Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, the Marquis de Condorcet. Condorcet advocated for a fair voting method that required candidates to win head-to-head matchups. His method, which involves ranking preferences, introduces a potential issue known as Condorcet's Paradox. This paradox occurs when cyclical preferences prevent a clear winner from emerging, highlighting the complexities of voter choice.

Various mathematicians, including Lewis Carroll, have sought to develop fair election systems but encountered similar challenges. In 1951, economist Kenneth Arrow proposed five conditions that a voting system should meet to ensure fairness: decisiveness, unrestricted domain, transitivity, independence of irrelevant alternatives, and stability of group preferences. These conditions serve as a benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of different voting systems.

Arrow's Impossibility Theorem

A significant aspect of the discussion revolves around Arrow's impossibility theorem, which posits that it is impossible to create a ranked voting system that satisfies all five of Arrow's conditions when there are three or more candidates. This theorem can be illustrated through a thought experiment involving three candidates (A, B, and C) and various voter rankings. The proof demonstrates that if a candidate is unanimously ranked first or last by voters, society must reflect that ranking. However, the theorem also reveals scenarios where a pivotal voter can dictate the overall ranking, effectively acting as a "dictator" in determining societal preferences.

This leads to a sobering conclusion: according to Arrow's theorem, a truly democratic voting system is unattainable when dealing with multiple candidates. Yet, there is a more optimistic perspective introduced by mathematician Duncan Black, suggesting that alternative methods may exist to better represent voter preferences.

The Dynamics of Voter Preferences

The dynamics of voter preferences along a political spectrum, from liberal to conservative, further complicate the electoral process. The choice of the median voter often determines election outcomes, aligning with the majority's decision and helping to avoid the paradoxes identified by Arrow's theorem. This discussion introduces rated voting systems, particularly approval voting, where voters indicate approval for candidates without ranking them.

Research indicates that approval voting can increase voter turnout, reduce negative campaigning, and mitigate the spoiler effect. Despite its historical use in electing popes and the Secretary General of the United Nations, approval voting has not been widely adopted in large-scale elections, suggesting a need for further real-world testing and evaluation.

The Importance of Political Engagement

While traditional voting methods like FPTP have significant flaws, the importance of political engagement and the necessity of striving for a more representative electoral process cannot be overstated. The complexities of voting systems and the historical evolution of these methods highlight the ongoing struggle for fairness in elections.

As democracy continues to evolve, enhancing knowledge and critical thinking skills about voting systems will be crucial in advocating for reforms that better reflect the will of the people. Understanding the mathematical underpinnings of these systems is essential for promoting a more equitable and representative democratic process.

The mathematical challenges of democracy, particularly in the context of voting systems, reveal significant flaws in traditional methods like first-past-the-post. The exploration of ranked-choice voting and other alternatives offers a glimpse into potential solutions that could enhance voter representation and engagement. As society navigates the complexities of democratic processes, it is essential to remain informed and proactive in advocating for systems that truly reflect the diverse preferences of the electorate.

Proposed Solution: Leveraging the Nostr Protocol

To further enhance the democratic process and address the challenges of traditional voting systems, we can consider utilizing the Nostr protocol. Nostr is a decentralized protocol that allows for open, self-verifiable, anonymous communication and data sharing, making it an ideal candidate for implementing a modern voting system. There have been other attempts at voting via nostr, this is my concept and contribution. View the code below.

Key Features of Using Nostr for Voting

1. Decentralization: By leveraging Nostr's decentralized architecture, we can eliminate single points of failure and reduce the risk of manipulation or censorship in the voting process.
2. Public-Private Key Cryptography: Each voter can generate a unique public npub and private nsec key pair. The npub public key serves as their identity, while the nsec private key is used to sign votes, ensuring authenticity and integrity.
3. Anonymity and Privacy: Voter identities can remain anonymous, as only their public keys are visible. This protects against coercion and ensures that voters can express their preferences freely.
4. Secure Vote Submission: Voters can submit their ranked choices or preferences as signed encrypted messages through Nostr and its relays. This ensures that votes are tamper-proof and verifiable.
5. Real-Time Results and Transparency: The distributed nature of Nostr allows for real-time updates on the voting process, providing transparency and enabling independent verification of results.
6. Mitigating the Spoiler Effect: By implementing ranked-choice voting through Nostr, we can capture a broader spectrum of voter preferences and reduce the impact of third-party candidates acting as spoilers (hopefully).
7. Public Auditing: The system can provide an audit trail of all votes cast, allowing for independent verification and fostering trust in the electoral process.

By integrating the Nostr protocol into the voting process, we can create a more secure, transparent, and representative electoral system, particularly at the local level. This approach not only addresses the mathematical challenges of traditional voting methods but also empowers voters and enhances engagement in the democratic process.

I am new and inexperienced in programming, but I have wrote a bit of code with the help of general purpose AI's. Please review and improve and/or comment as best you can below👇

Code on Github

Thank you for supporting my work with zaps ⚡ supermax@minibits.cash

bc1qaucduwftl6lff5f436kccjc425m0ntqs6phzcx

I would like to implement a test at some point when the code is running stable. A distributed vote, if you will. Thank you for your support.

CypherPunksWriteCode

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

Testing a brand new YakiHonne native client for iOS. Smooth as butter (not penis butter 🤣🍆🧈) with great visual experience and intuitive navigation. Amazing work by the team behind it! * lists * work

Bold text work!

Images could have used nostr.build instead of raw S3 from us-east-1 region.

Very impressive! You can even save the draft and continue later, before posting the long-form note!

🐶🐾🤯🤯🤯🫂💜

@ e0e92e54:d630dfaa

This is a copy of the email received from newsletter@Rumble.com

Free Speech Under Attack -- A Note from the CEO of Rumble

Dear Rumble Users,

I don't typically send messages to our users through email, but red lines have been crossed. There have been major developments with free speech platforms, and I feel it’s important to let everyone know what is going on and how you can help Rumble.

Rumble is no longer available to the citizens of Brazil, joining the ranks of France, Russia, and China. From media reports, Brazil no longer has Elon Musk's X due to attacks on free speech by Alexandre De Moreas, a justice of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court.

World powers don’t want Rumble, they don’t want X, they don’t want Telegram, and they don't want Truth Social. They want to control information, but our companies won’t let them.

There are no other large companies fighting for freedom like we are. We put everything on the line for it, and the Telegram CEO was recently arrested for it.

Advertisers boycott our companies to try and cut our economic lifeline, but they underestimate our support among the people.

The people keep us alive and keep us going.

If you want to help us, join Rumble Premium. If Rumble Premium gets big enough, you help us change the game and fight for freedom of expression.

We are also offering a $10 dicount for any new annual subscribers when they use the promo code "brazil".

Sincerely,

Chris Pavlovski Chairman and CEO of Rumble

444 Gulf of Mexico Dr. Longboat Key, FL 34228, USA.

@ 862fda7e:02a8268b

It is true that I often dream about James Corbett from CorbettReport.com. Somehow James is always finding his way to my mind. James Corbett intimidates me, I feel like he would heavily dislike me because I am not serious enough. Anytime I see James Corbett smile or laugh it feels like I'm watching an alien try to be human. I wish James the best with his family life and career, but he looks like he is always one second away from either crying hyterically or beating a defensless Japanese man sensless. I am indreasibly grateful for all the hard work he's put out all these years, he's a great person in the truth circle. However, he's like a caracatiure in my head. Anytime he whips out his guitar, I start to cringe. I just know what's about to come will only be the truth about how bad his singing is. But yet, I still love when he plays his guitar. It's awful in a great way, it brings genuine joy to me. Did you know he has a band? He has one song called "Screw Youtube", and in his music video he was sitting on this tall wooden fence and he was wearing these SHORTS WITH SANDALS and he was SWINGING HIS LEGS. I'm sorry, but I expect James to wear white caykies at all times. It felt so gross to see his legs in that state. But then again, here I am getting genuine joy out of seeing that atrosity.

I remember one time watching a James Corbett episode where he has the James Evan Pilatto from MediaMonarchy.com on, and the other James always looks like he's super fucking cracked up. Like he has a ton of energy. Well anyways, one time the other James was his usual self, looking super cracked out excited, talking about the reppies (reptilians) and James Corbett looked so tight lipped, red faced, like he was about to burst out crying. It was so funny to see the two polar opposites, the other James totally oblivious that real James looked like he was about to cry for seemingly no reason. I know this sounds mean of me to say, but I really appreciate these guys for all they do. I just think this is funny.

Anyways, I have a lot of dreams with James Corbett in them. I think it's because he's a teacher and my vagina has a fondness for male teachers. Sadly, none of my good looking male teachers never slept with me. That being said, I think James is good looking for possibly being an English teacher in Japan. I would let him teach me about the reptilians and Klaus Schwab, just let the teaching session see where it goes. Would his gap teeth feel good over my clitty? I dunno.

Okay but here is the most memorable and hilarious dream I had invovling James Corbett. You know how he makes content very often? One day he got extremely fed up with making videos. At the time I think it's because he mentioned in a video how he was annoyed that people kept saying him and Andrew Caufman. So one day he just flipped out, got extremely angry, made one last video saying how he was never coming back and how he's leaving his wife and kids. He deletes everything and is unheard of for months. A few months pass and he uploads a new video. The new video is James obsessively showing and talking about his highly advanced chicken coop he made in Minecraft. He had hundreds of chickens lined up maybe 80 feet in the air, each chicken had a 1x1 square to fit in. Below the chicken was a long tube in which their egg would drop down, and a catcher at the base of the ground. James was fantically showing this contraption, rocking back and forth, had a headset on. He looked awful too. I actually emailed James Corbett about this dream, but he never responded.

Speaking of James Corbett, why do so many people look like him? I feel like they make middle aged bald, bearded men in a DUMB and just release them into the wild, but give them balding genetics so they know how to keep track of them. Like they probably made James Corbett and Andrew Caufman from the same test tube. They fucked up with them, at least like give one of them hair or good eyesight.

@ 1a48e74d:02c0e00f

Nothing can defeat Bitcoin.

@ 7f0cbb03:c59f23d0

@ 3b7fc823:e194354f

Nyms, Personas, and Digital Identity

GHOSTn

If you want #privacy then embrace compartmentlization and obscuration in your digital life. Get used to having multiple identities that you can switch between for various needs.

Your legal "matrix" name that pays taxes and has no controversal opinions or associations. Don't try to obscure this person. They are a open book. Put your best foot forward. Show them what you want them to see.

Your private online persona. You let your hair down, have hot takes on social media, purchase legal but potentially embarrassing items or just have hobbies and associations that you are not ashamed of but don't want to advertise for some reason. You use a VPN and no kyc sudo anonymous accounts. Have fun but don't go crazy, know that on a long enough timeline this persona will be linked back to you. The more connections and data that you put out there the easier this will be.

Your anonymous nym that only uses #tor, VMs, hidden drives, and rarely used accounts. Plausible deniability is baked in. Used by dissidents, freedom fights, truth to power, and anyone in oppressive regimes.

Finally you have your Nemo. This person does not exist. No name, no files and only uses #Tails or disposable systems that does not leave a trace. Not everyone would ever have a need for a Nemo but it is good to know how to just in case you ever do.

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

Nostr is a mess. It always has been and will always be. That's part of the appeal! But it's important that users be able to navigate the rolling seas of this highly partition-tolerant network of kaleidoscopically-interwoven people, bots, topics, relays, clients, events, recommendations, lists, feeds, micro-apps, macro-apps, Chinese spam, and "GM"s.

In order to do this, users must be able to articulate "what" they are looking for, and clients must be able to articulate "how" to find that thing. This "how" is divided into two parts: building a request that will match the desired content (very easy), and selecting a relay that is able to serve that content to the user requesting it (very very hard).

Why guessing isn't good enough

As a concrete example, let's say the user wants to find everyone in their "network" who is using a particular topic. The process would look something like this:

1. The user clicks the "network" tab and types in the topic they want to browse. This is the "what".
2. The client then translates the term "network" to a list of public keys using whatever definition they prefer (Follows? WoT? Grapevine?), and builds a filter that might look something like this: [{"authors": pubkeys, "#t": ["mytopic"]}]. Any relay will happily accept, understand, and respond to that filter.
3. The client then has to decide which relays it should send that filter to. This is the ??? stage of the outbox model, which immediately precedes:
4. Profit

It may not be immediately obvious why selecting the correct relays might be difficult. Most people post to relay.damus.io, and most people read from relay.damus.io, so in most cases you should be good, right?

This approach to relay selection has historically worked "well enough", but it depends on a flawed definition of success. If you only want to find 90% of the content that matches your query, using the top 10 relays will suffice. But nostr is intended to be censorship-resistant. What if those 10 hubs have banned a particular public key? Nostr clients should (at least in theory) be 100% successful in retrieving requested content. Even if someone only posts to their self-hosted relay, you should be able to find their notes if their account is set up properly.

A naive solution to fixing the FOMO

A 90% hit rate results in a feeling of flakiness, even if users aren't completely aware of what isn't working. Feeds will be incomplete, quoted notes will be missing, replies will be orphaned, user profiles won't load. The natural response to the FOMO this creates is for users to "try harder" by adding more relays.

On the read side, this means clients open more connections, resulting in much higher data transfer requirements, with massively diminishing returns, since there's no reason to expect that a randomly chosen relay will have a substantially different data set.

One the publish side, this means that clients end up publishing more copies of their data to more relays. This approach has been automated in the past by services like Blastr, which don't store a copy of events published to the relay, but instead forward events to the top 300 relays in the network. This results in a two-orders-of-magnitude increase in storage required, and only makes the read side of the problem worse, since it reduces the uniqueness of the data set each relay stores. This in turn means that more duplicates are retrieved when querying relays.

Both halves of this approach are equivalent to guessing. On the read side, users are guessing which relays will have any arbitrary content they might ask for in the future. On the write side, users are guessing which relays other people might use to find their notes. It is a brute-force method for finding content.

Randomness results in centralization

In theory, random relay selection would result in a perfect distribution of content across all relays in the network. But in practice, this method of selection isn't random at all, but is strongly influenced by user bias in what constitutes a "good" relay. While some users may check nostr.watch for ping times, geographical proximity, or uptime, most will choose relays based on familiar names or other people's recommendations.

In either case, these biases are entirely orthogonal to achieving a higher content retrieval hit rate, except when bias in relay selection results in clustering — i.e., centralization. In other words, the kind of randomness exhibited by users when selecting relays actually results in pretty much everyone picking the same few relays. We see this same effect when people try to come up with passwords or seed phrases — human-provided randomness is anything but random.

Clustering improves the hit rate when requesting events (slightly), but it results in nearly as much centralization as if only a single relay was used — and a lot more duplicate events.

Something (anything) other than randomness

In early 2023, Mike Dilger introduced NIP 65 (now known as the "Outbox Model") with a problem statement in the spirit of the original description of nostr: "Nostr should scale better. People should be able to find what they want."

Historical note: NIP 65 was formerly known as the "Gossip Model", derived from the name of Mike's desktop nostr client, called "Gossip". This unfortunately created a lot of confusion, since gossip protocols work very differently from how nostr tends to work, hence the re-brand.

Before NIP 65, an informal standard existed in which kind 3 user contact lists also included a list of relays that clients could use as something similar to Mastodon's "home servers". This list included the option to only read or write from a given relay. Unfortunately, it wasn't really clear what the semantics of this relay list were, so different clients handled them differently (and many clients ignored them). Usually this amounted to user-provided static relay configurations, which resulted in the naive relay selection approach described above.

NIP 65 used a very similar format (a list of relay urls with optional "read" or "write" directives), but with a very important semantic difference: relays listed in a user's kind 10002 were intended to "advertise to others, not for configuring one's client." In other words, these relay selections were intended as a signal to other users that they should use certain relays when attempting to communicate with the author of the relay list.

I highly recommend reading the entire NIP, which is very short and easy to read. But the mechanics of the spec are very simple:

When seeking events from a user, Clients SHOULD use the WRITE relays of the user's kind:10002.

When seeking events about a user, where the user was tagged, Clients SHOULD use the READ relays of the user's kind:10002.

When broadcasting an event, Clients SHOULD:

• Broadcast the event to the WRITE relays of the author
• Broadcast the event to all READ relays of each tagged user

For the first time, we had a way to differentiate relays in terms of what content could be found where.

When looking for a note by a particular user, a client could now look up the author's write relays according to their kind 10002 event, and send its query there. The result is a much higher hit rate with much lower data transfer requirements, and fewer connections per query.

Making Outbox Work

There are of course some assumptions required to make this work.

First, the user must know which author they're looking for. This isn't always true when looking up a quote or parent note, but context and pubkey hints solve this difficulty in most cases.

The author must also publish a kind 10002 event. This may not always be the case, but clients should prompt users to set up their relay list correctly. This isn't really a flaw in the Outbox Model, just in implementations of it.

Additionally, the user's client must be able to find the author's kind 10002 event. This is the "bootstrapping" phase of the Outbox Model, during which the mechanisms the system provides for finding events aren't available. This requires us to fall back to randomly guessing which relays have the content we're looking for, which as we saw above doesn't work very well.

Other than guessing, there are a few different ways a client might find the relay selection event in question, each of which is applicable in different circumstances. In most cases, using one of a handful of indexer relays like purplepag.es or relay.nostr.band is a simple and efficient way to find user profiles and relay selections.

However, if an author's content has been aggressively purged from these indexers due to censorship, they obviously can't be relied upon. Even though the author in question hasn't been deplatformed from nostr itself (since he can always self-host a publicly accessible relay to store his content), he has been effectively shadow-banned.

To get around this, relay selections have to be communicated in some other way. Nostr has a few different mechanisms for this:

• If the author's NIP 05 address is known and properly configured (it may not be), clients can look up the author's NIP 05 endpoint to find some reasonable relay hints. Unfortunately, these are often neglected, and usually custodial, so they can run into the same problems.
• If the author's pubkey is found in another signed event found on nostr, relay hints can be a way to propagate relay selections through the network. This relies on implementations picking reliable relay hints which can be difficult, and hints do tend to become less reliable over time. However, this strategy is very effective in resisting censorship because it makes banning viral — if a relay wants to completely purge a particular pubkey from their database, they have to purge every event that references it, since events are tamper-proof.
• In extremis, relay recommendations can always be communicated out-of-band. This can be done using manual input, QR codes, DHTs, jsonl torrents full of kind 10002 events, or any other mechanism client developers choose to resort to.

Another, more technical assumption is that any given query can be fulfilled by few enough relays that a client can actually make all the connections needed, without running into resource limits. If you're trying to request content from 10,000 users across 1,000 relays, you're going to have a bad time. This was pointed out to me by Mazin of nostr.wine. He makes a good point, and it's definitely something to keep in mind. There are some mitigating factors though.

The first is that the current topology of the network probably won't persist forever. Because nostr is largely populated by self-hosting enthusiasts, the number of "tiny" relays is proportionally much higher than it will be if adoption picks up, even if the total number of relays grows. The trajectory is that nostr will drift toward fewer, larger relays, reducing the number of connections needed to fulfill any given query.

This is "centralizing", but it's important to understand that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as there are more than one or two large hubs, there is user choice. And as long as it's possible to run a new relay, there is always an escape hatch. Nostr, like bitcoin, has no hard dependency on the biggest player in the network.

The other thing to consider is that there are lots of other techniques we can use to overcome the limits of the lowest-common denominator's limitations (mobile browser clients), including self hosted or third-party relay proxies. The trade-off here is that a little trust (aka centralization) can go a long way to reducing resource requirements needed to fulfill queries using the Outbox model.

If you're interested in more details on this topic, see this blog post.

That was a long digression, but there is one other thing that the Outbox model assumes to be the case. Even if the correct relays are found and connected to, they still may not return all desired content, either because they don't have it, or because they refuse to return it to the user requesting it.

This can happen if the publishing client isn't following the Outbox Model, if the author had migrated from one relay set to another without copying their notes over, or if the relay in question chose not to retain the author's content for some reason.

The first two issues can be fixed by improving implementations, but the question of policy is a little more interesting.

Relativistic relays

The Outbox Model is a mechanical process; it's only as useful as user relay selections are. In order for it to work, users have to be able to make intelligent relay selections.

Every relay has trade-offs, depending on its policy. 140.f7z.io would not be useful for long-form content, for example. Some relays might have a content retention policy that changes depending on whether you're a paying user. If you don't pay, you might find out too late that your content has been deleted from the relay.

So what makes a relay "good" for a particular use case? Well, it's complicated. Here are a few factors that go into that calculus:

• Is the relay in the same geographical as the user? Proximity reduces latency, but jurisdictional arbitrage might be desired. Users should probably have a variety of relays that fit different profiles.
• Will the relay ban the user? Do the operators have a history of good behavior? Is the relay focused on particular types of content? Is the relay's focus consistent with the user's goal in adding that relay to their list?
• What are the relay's retention policies? A user might want to set up an archival relay for her old content, or a multi-availability-zone relay so her notes are immediately accessible to the rest of the network.
• Does the relay require payment? Paid relays are more aligned with their users, but obviously come at a financial cost.
• Does the relay have policies for read-protecting content? If so, other users might not be able to find your posts published to that relay. On the other hand, some relays are configured to work as inboxes for direct messages, which can help preserve privacy.
• Does the relay request that users authenticate? Authentication can help manage spam, but it also allows relays to correlate content requests with users, reducing user privacy.
• Is the relay you use hosted by your client's developer? If so, you're in danger of getting banned from your client and your relay at the same time.
• Is the relay a hub? Using hubs can help smooth out rough areas in Outbox Model implementations, at the cost of centralization.
• Is the relay used by anyone else? One-off relays can be useful for archival purposes, but often won't be used by clients following the Outbox Model, depending on how they optimize requests.

There are lots of ways to approach the problem of helping users select relays, but it's an inherently complex problem which very few people will have the patience to properly address on their own. Relay selection is a multi-dimensional problem, and requires satisfying multiple constraints with a limited number of relay selections.

In the future, special-purpose clients might be used to help people build relay sets. Clients also might provide curated "relay kits" that users can choose and customize. Or, we might see an increase in hybrid solutions, like smarter relay proxies or client-local relays that synchronize using other protocols or platforms.

The Limitations of Outbox

Outbox is not a complete solution, not because of any of the caveats listed above, but because NIP 65 per se only addresses the question of how to index content by pubkey in a broadcast social media context. But there are many other scenarios for relay selection that Outbox does not solve:

• Community, chat, and group posts might be best posted to relays dedicated to that context.
• Direct messages shouldn't follow the same contours as public social media content.
• Topic-oriented relays, or relays serving a custom feed might be useful independent of who uses them.
• Relays focused on serving a particular kind of event, like music, long-form content, or relay selections, are useful independent of who reads from or writes to them.
• Certain clients might need to fulfill particular use cases by using relays that support certain protocol features, like search, count, or sync commands.
• Some events might not make sense to publish to relays, but should instead be shared only directly, out of band.

Some of these use cases might be solved by new specifications similar to Outbox that prescribe where certain data belongs — for example, NIP 17 requires users to publish a different relay list before they can receive direct messages, while NIP 72 places community relay recommendations directly into the group's metadata object. A reasonably complete list of different relay types can be found in this PR, very few of which have a canonical way to manage selections.

Other use cases might be supported more informally, either by relays advertising their own value proposition, or via third-party NIP 66 metadata. Still others might be supported by scoping the network down to only certain relays through explicit relay selection — this is how white-labeled Coracle instances work.

The basic idea here is that there are categories of events that don't have anything to do with where a particular person puts his or her "tweets". For every "what" on nostr, there should be a "how".

Keep nostr weird

Whatever additional systems we end up adopting for helping with relay selection, one thing is certain — people will continue to discover new, creative uses for relays, and we will always be playing catch up. This is one of the coolest things about nostr!

But it does mean that users will have to adapt their expectations to a network that partitions, re-configures, and evolves over time. Nostr is not a "worse" experience than legacy social media, but it is a version of social media that has itself been set free from the stagnant walled-garden model. Nostr is in many ways a living organism — we should be careful not to impose our expectations prematurely, leaving room to discover what this thing actually is, or can be.

If you enjoyed this post but want more take a look at the talk I gave at Nostrasia last year. I also wrote up a blog post at about the same time that addresses some of the same issues, but focuses more on privacy concerns around relays and nostr groups. Finally, I recently wrote this comment, which includes some details about challenges I've faced putting Outbox into Coracle.

@ fa0165a0:03397073

I just tested building a browser plugin, it was easier than I thought. Here I'll walk you through the steps of creating a minimal working example of a browser plugin, a.k.a. the "Hello World" of browser plugins.

First of all there are two main browser platforms out there, Chromium and Mozilla. They do some things a little differently, but similar enough that we can build a plugin that works on both. This plugin will work in both, I'll describe the firefox version, but the chromium version is very similar.

What is a browser plugin?

Simply put, a browser plugin is a program that runs in the browser. It can do things like modify the content of a webpage, or add new functionality to the browser. It's a way to extend the browser with custom functionality. Common examples are ad blockers, password managers, and video downloaders.

In technical terms, they are plugins that can insert html-css-js into your browser experience.

How to build a browser plugin

Step 0: Basics

You'll need a computer, a text editor and a browser. For testing and development I personally think that the firefox developer edition is the easiest to work with. But any Chrome based browser will also do.

Create a working directory on your computer, name it anything you like. I'll call mine hello-world-browser-plugin. Open the directory and create a file called manifest.json. This is the most important file of your plugin, and it must be named exactly right.

Step 1: manifest.json

After creation open your file manifest.json in your text editor and paste the following code:

json { "manifest_version": 3, "name": "Hello World", "version": "1.0", "description": "A simple 'Hello World' browser extension", "content_scripts": [ { "matches": ["<all_urls>"], "js": ["hello.js"] //The name of your script file. // "css": ["hello.css"] //The name of your css file. } ] }

If you wonder what the json file format is, it's a normal text file with a special syntax such that a computer can easily read it. It's the json syntax you see in the code above. Let's go through what's being said here. (If you are not interested, just skip to the next step after pasting this we are done here.)

• manifest_version: This is the version of the manifest file format. It's currently at version 3, and it's the latest version. It's important that you set this to 3, otherwise your plugin won't work.
• name: This is the name of your plugin. It can be anything you like.
• version: This is the version of your plugin. It can be anything you like.
• description: This is the description of your plugin. It can be anything you like.
• content_scripts: This is where you define what your plugin does. It's a list of scripts that will be executed when the browser loads a webpage. In this case we have one script, called hello.js. It's the script that we'll create in the next step.
• matches: This is a list of urls that the script will be executed on. In this case we have <all_urls>, which means that the script will be executed on all urls. You can also specify a specific url, like https://brave.com/*, which means that the script will only be executed on urls that start with https://brave.com/.
• js: This is a list of javascript files that will be executed. In this case we have one file, called hello.js. It's the script that we'll create in the next step.
• css: This is where you can add a list of css files that will be executed. In this case we have none, but you can add css files here if you want to.
• //: Text following these two characters are comments. They are ignored by the computer, You can add comments anywhere you like, and they are a good way to document your code.

Step 2: hello.js

Now it's time to create another file in your project folder. This time we'll call it hello.js. When created, open it in your text editor and paste the following code:

js console.log("Hello World!"); That's javascript code, and it's what will be executed when you run your plugin. It's a simple console.log statement, which will print the text "Hello World!" to the console. The console is a place where the browser prints out messages, and it's a good place to start when debugging your plugin.

Step 3: Load and launch your plugin

Firefox

Now it's time to load your plugin into your browser. Open your browser and go to the url about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox. You should see a page that looks something like this:

Click the button that says "Load Temporary Add-on...". A file dialog will open, navigate to your project folder and select the file manifest.json. Your plugin should now be loaded and running.

Go to a website, any website, and open the inspector then navigate to the console. You'll find the inspector by right-clicking anywhere within the webpage, and click "Inspector" in the drop-down menu. When opening the console you might see some log messages from the site you visited and... you should see the text "Hello World!" printed there, from our little plugin! Congratulations!

Chrome

Open your browser and go to the url chrome://extensions/. Click the button that says "Load unpacked". A file dialog will open, navigate to your project folder and select the folder hello-world-browser-plugin. Your plugin should now be loaded and running.

Note the difference, of selecting the file manifest.json in firefox, and selecting the folder hello-world-browser-plugin in chrome. Otherwise, the process is the same. So I'll repeat the same text as above: (for those who skipped ahead..)

Go to a website, any website, and open the inspector then navigate to the console. You'll find the inspector by right-clicking anywhere within the webpage, and click "Inspector" in the drop-down menu. When opening the console you might see some log messages from the site you visited and... you should see the text "Hello World!" printed there, from our little plugin! Congratulations!

---

As you can see this isn't as complicated as one might think. Having preformed a "Hello-World!"-project is a very useful and valuable first step. These setup steps are the basics for any browser plugin, and you can build on this to create more advanced plugins.

@ a30cdfee:2d2f97ff

Understanding UTXO Consolidation for Bitcoin Users

Bitcoin blockchain fees are currently low, so it's time to get familiar with UTXO consolidation!

What is UTXO consolidation and why should you care?

Many Small UTXOs Can Incur High Transaction Fees in the Future

If you've been dollar-cost averaging small chunks of bitcoin to a self-custody wallet, you might have a lot of small-value UTXOs (Unspent Transaction Outputs) in your wallet.

When transaction fees will rise again, spending these UTXOs can incur hundreds or even thousands of dollars in transaction fees!

When you transact in Bitcoin, fees paid to miners are determined by the network demand, and how much data the transaction requires to be sent.

The Bitcoin network is designed to handle only a limited amount of data every 10 minutes on average in order to keep the data on the blockchain small enough for average users to run nodes and audit the blockchain.

The trade-off is high transaction fees during high network demand.

You can always set a lower fee for your transaction, but then you will often have to wait longer for your transaction to be included on the blockchain.

The total fee for a transaction is calculated by multiplying the transaction size with the fluctuating fee rate.

The fee rate is measured in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vByte).

A good website to familiarize yourself with the current Bitcoin fees is Mempool.space.

You can learn more about it in this post: https://stacker.news/items/657963

The transaction size increases the more UTXOs it has.

The monetary value of BTC being spent doesn't have an effect on the transaction fee.

You can send $50 or $1 billion worth of BTC with the same transaction fee.

What Is an UTXO?

Your bitcoin balance consists of UTXOs.

When you receive BTC, you receive a single UTXO.

The more often you receive, the more UTXOs you will accumulate.

When you're sending BTC, your wallet software picks UTXOs from your wallet and sends them to the receiver.

Your wallet might have to pick many different UTXOs.

If the BTC amount of your UTXOs exceeds the amount you're sending, you will receive a new UTXO as "change".

Conceptually, UTXOs are very similar to physical cash.

You can think of UTXOs in your Bitcoin wallet as different denominations of a currency, e.g. $10 bill, $20 bill etc.

Except that Bitcoin doesn't have specific denominations: a Bitcoin UTXO can be of any amount!

The balance of your Bitcoin wallet is the sum value of all your UTXOs in that wallet.

UTXO is like a bill in your Bitcoin wallet that hasn't been spent yet.

When your wallet has to pick many UTXOs to make a transaction, the network fees you pay will be higher.

You can think of it as sending someone $1000 in coins vs. sending $1000 in hundred dollar bills.

Coins will weigh more and their postage costs will be higher.

Bitcoin wallets automatically select the lowest number of UTXOs to minimize transaction fees, and some have coin control features that let you select UTXOs manually.

A recommended wallet for desktop is Sparrow Wallet.

Sparrow also works with the most popular hardware wallets.

You can learn more about Sparrow in this Twitter thread I wrote in September 2023.

How to Consolidate UTXOs?

You're just selecting UTXOs of small monetary value and sending them to yourself when fees are low, and you will receive one UTXO with a larger monetary value.

Here it can be demonstrated with some testnet coins on Sparrow Wallet.

The process is exactly same with real BTC.

In the "UTXOs" tab, you select the UTXOs you want to consolidate, and proceed to "Send Selected".

On the "Pay to" field there's a dropdown that automatically chooses a new Bitcoin address in the same Sparrow Wallet that you own (it's labelled as a "consolidation" address).

Alternatively, you can copy/paste any address there.

If you want to verify that you really own the address, you can go to the "Addresses" tab, find the address in question and sign a message with it.

If you're e.g. using a hardware wallet like Coldcard or Trezor, the signing device's firmware will at this point verify that it manages the address.

It's important to label your UTXOs, so you will know in the future what UTXOs to spend and in what situations.

Labels are only for your own reference.

Do it.. your future self will thank you!

You can see the flow of UTXOs on Sparrow.

Two small UTXOs turn into one (minus the miner fee).

It's a bit like exchanging small coins to larger bills!

When you go back to the "UTXOs" tab, you can see that you now only have one larger UTXO, but the same amount of BTC (minus the miner fee).

Mempool.space gives you nice visualizations for UTXO consolidation.

In this transaction, 4 UTXOs were consolidated into one (minus the miner fee).

Since Bitcoin is digital gold, UTXO consolidation is like melting small gold coins into one gold bar!

UTXO Consolidation Reduces Privacy

A major trade-off with consolidating UTXOs relates to privacy.

People who sent you the small UTXOs you want to consolidate can follow the movement of those UTXOs and link them to your now larger UTXO balance.

It's not an absolute proof that you own those UTXOs (you could be sending them to someone else!), but it might be a strong indication.

It's always the best practice to assume that whoever sent you those original UTXOs is watching and knows that you own all that bitcoin.

Also, there are privacy concerns if you spend after consolidating.

If you spend from a large UTXO (let's say 1 BTC), and buy something worth $50 (0.0008 BTC) with it, the receiver can see that you will get a change and are the owner of an UTXO of 0.9992 BTC.

"Dust" UTXOs

When you have smaller UTXOs, they might become economically infeasible to spend in a high fee environment (fee higher than the monetary value of the UTXO).

It's hard to know exactly what the future fee market will look like, but it can be assumed that the Bitcoin blockspace will be in high demand and the fees will rise.

Here's a good article by Unchained about unspendable "dust" UTXOs.

Jameson Lopp has created a useful tool called "Economically Unspendable Bitcoin UTXO Calculator" that can be used to project transaction fees in different fee environments with different address types.

To Consolidate or Not?

It depends on your personal preferences and how you're intending to spend your bitcoin in the future.

It's good to strive for a balance, taking into consideration the future fee market and the privacy concerns, and still remember that it's better to have spendable UTXOs that have lost some privacy than unspendable private UTXOs.

Never consolidate KYC coins with non-KYC coins!

The consensus among Bitcoiners is to avoid dust UTXOs as much as possible, and try to keep your UTXOs at 1 million sats minimum (0.01 BTC and around $600 in August 2024's prices).

It's been estimated that this threshold would secure your UTXOs being spendable even in a prolonged high-fee environment.

If you're ever in an emergency and need to spend your bitcoin, it's good to know that you will not spend most of your coins on fees!

Some recommend striving for even larger UTXOs, like 10 million sats (0.1 BTC) in case Bitcoin becomes a world reserve currency or hits mass adoption.

UTXO consolidation is extremely important for Bitcoiners with many small value UTXOs (e.g. Bitcoiners in Global South that have been saving $10 per week in BTC on-chain to self-custody wallets).

If fees go high, a Bitcoin UTXO worth $10 might become unspendable.

If you're mostly a hodler and you've been buying BTC in large purchases at a time, you generally don't have to worry too much about UTXO consolidation.

Send Small UTXOs to the Lighting Network for Spending!

Instead of consolidating UTXOs to an on-chain address, you can also open Lightning Network channels with them or send them to a Lightning wallet for easier spending.

Lightning Network also adds a layer of privacy to the UTXOs.

If you're buying bitcoin through an exchange, it might make sense to accumulate a large enough UTXO before you move the funds to self-custody.

Or you can use e.g. Liquid Network @liquid as an intermediary layer for storing coins in self-custody.

As a federated sidechain, Liquid has its own trade-offs.

You can learn more about Liquid in this Twitter thread I wrote in February 2024.

UTXO consolidation reduces the number of UTXOs in the network, which makes it easier to run a full Bitcoin node.

So consolidation has benefits to the network as well!

It can also streamline your own wallet experience.

Signing data-heavy transactions can be a burden to older hardware wallets that might even crash in the process!

What's your strategy for UTXO consolidation?

What's the ideal size of an UTXO in your opinion?

Additional Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqe0QCxjKpI @BTCsessions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krrUQGMKhPo

What is ‘UTXO consolidation’ and how can it help me reduce transaction fees?

How to Manage Bitcoin UTXOs and Save on Transaction Fees

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/664880

@ 7ceaffbc:143b9e56

(roles in the adoption space)

Being different matters - At first!

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man (Shaw, 1903).

h/t Everyone who is Satoshi.

It is probably fair to say Satoshi, Hal Finney, Adam Back et al. and we early ones are amongst the crazy ones.

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. (Jobs, 1997).

Sub-conclusion - To rid ourselves of fiat required radical thought - a base on which to build.

Most Babies learn to Walk

Born with the normal count of fingers toes etc, by the age of 26 I reckoned I had pretty much mastered walking (or so I believed) - until recently I fell, whereupon five things struck me deeply:

1. Ageing and the associated decline is another form of novelty - I can resist it, it will eventually win but meanwhile I can adapt - and being alive is about adapting
2. Things I have learnt must inevitably include all the things things I need to unlearn
3. Things I have not learnt can become urgent (perhaps a wheechair lies in my future) and the learning can be delayed by the requisite unlearning from point 2 above
4. Walking was something the masses did before I ever achieved it - which was probably what prompted me to adopt it as a means of ambulation
5. The floor

Sub-conclusion - Mass adoption requires; * initiation (the crazy ones) * attention (seeing what others do) * unlearning (elimination of perceived assumptions) * learning (PoW) * emulation ( doing what others do) * mastery (practice doing it well) * review (figuring out what is no longer valuable) * evangelism (Helping others towards Truth)

OK - I have your attention - now what ? (Unpopular opinions incoming)

Eccentricity is not important to anything other than grabbing attention. Bitcoin is well beyond the thresh-hold of needing Eccentrics. We could all name them (and should appreciate their efforts).

The Overton window (that which may be normally spoken of) has become big enough that includes the best of our thinkers now. Analysts, Politicians, Purists, Financial advisers ??, Maxis, Left, Right & Centre.

But most of all it needs the centre. The extremes are great for raising attention and have the greatest voice on lesser social media platforms (which may be a thing of the past when you read this). However, it is clear that out of the centre (the Ex-centrics ? ) will come the mass of humanity that can benefit from bitcoin.

The bulk of future normies (users of bitcoin when only laggards use fiat) must come from the centre - because that is where they are now.

So decentralists or if you prefer "ex-centrics" will be easiest to help if we are seen as different - but reasonable, attractive and something to aspire to. The generosity / loving nature of many Bitcoiners will continue to win hearts (and minds)

Again unpopular perhaps (I should not care) - but this means ideally; - avoiding offensive behaviour (potty language) - avoiding ejection of those who are different (even if you reject their lifestyle choices) - understanding that we all start somewhere on this journey - smaller egos - I am a Bitcoin Maximalist by many definitions but, while my Christianity, what I eat, my and even my choice of frying pan may be most important to me - they may not help evangelise a better bitcoin future.

FWIW I think Bitcoin & Christianity go hand-in-glove in the journey toward a better future , but respect your (God given) right to disagree

Conclusion

Its time to stop thinking we are special and become normal - because that is what hyper-bitcoinisation implies.

To achieve this we need to find ways to secure legislation, peacefully dis-empower fiat states (a side effect - but IMHO a good one), make learning easier, remove barriers (FUD, technological etc) and lend a sympathetic ear to anyone who asks, what, why, how because that's how we all learn:

I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. I send them over land and sea, I send them east and west; But after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest.... (Kipling; The Elephant’s Child)

One day, if we do as well as we must, we will be able to claim - but we are just normal !

@ 3b7fc823:e194354f

Encryption is the promethium fire that the cypherpunks secured from heaven for me and you. It is our sacred duty to use and advance that in the world. Encryption is so powerful that governments tried to keep it away from the people and to this day have tried to weaken and backdoor it at every turn.

So what is encryption?

It is a deep deep rabbit hole and involves a lot of numbers but in a nutshell it uses math to scramble up the data of your file so it is gibberish and can't be read without decrypting it back to regular data. Encryption technology has continued to advance over time and cracking technology to break the encryption has as well. For our purposes all you really need to remember is to use modern cyphers and your encryption is really only going to be as good as the password (use a passphrase) strength you are using to lock it down with.

BEGINNER LEVEL - Encrypt your phone and computer.

People walk around with their whole lives on their phone. Protect it.

-phone: Congratulations, if you already have a lock screen set on either your iPhone or Android device then device encryption is enabled. If your lock screen password is only 4 digits then we still have work to do. Four digits is only about 10,000 combinations and fairly easy to crack. I believe it only took them about 40 minutes to crack the iPhone of the attempted Trump shooter. Go into settings and set it up for 6 digits or for extra credit use a alphanumeric password.

After your phone then your personal computer probably has the most important data to you. Banking records, tax documents, photos, etc. Encrypt your drive.

-Windows: from Settings, select Privacy security -> Device encryption. Just follow the prompts.

-Apple: from Apple icon, select System Preferences -> Security & Privacy icon. Click "Turn On FileVault".

-Linux: most distros gives you the option during installation. If you didn't do so then search for how to enable it after the fact based on your distribution.

Awesome sauce. You have achieved minimum status.

ADVANCED LEVEL - Encrypt individual files.

You already encrypted your computer but guess what, once you start up your computer and log in the key is stored in RAM for as long as it stays on. The beginner level encryption protects your computer when it is off and it means no one can just steal your hard drive and access your files. This is good, but what if someone grabs you while you're sitting there working on it? What if you leave it in sleep mode and not turned off? Then that whole disk encryption is not really going to help you.

What if you had individual files that you consider more secret than the others? That finance spreadsheet or that special pic your spouse sent you? That's where individual file encryption comes in. You are just scrolling nostr when they grab you, your computer is on, and unlocked, but those special files are still safely encrypted.

I will share with you one of my favorite small programs: Picocrypt.

Download the Paranoid pack and store it in multiple drives, email accounts, and cloud storage. That way you will always have a copy to decrypt any files that you stored away.

Use it to encrypt any files that you feel need extra attention. It is also very useful for encrypting any files that you intend to store online in cloud storage. You do encrypt your files that are stored online don't you? Yes, even with the company that offers "encrypted" storage. Don't trust their encryption, use your own.

EXPERT LEVEL - Encrypt containers and hidden containers.

What if you want to encrypt several files and keep them all together in like a folder or container? That's where Veracrypt comes in. Free, open source, cross platform, and powerful.

Veracrypt allows you to create encrypted containers from any file that act like individual drives that can be mounted or unmounted as needed. You can name these files anything that you want, move them around or delete like any file, and make as many as you want. This allows you to have compartmentation of your files and drives.

Next trick, Veracrypt allows you to create a hidden container inside that container. Enter one passphrase and you open the encrypted container. Enter a different passphrase and you open a different hidden container.

This allows deniability. When they grab you and start pulling your fingernails off until you tell them the password to open the encrypted container, give it to them. They don't have to know that there is another hidden one under that.

These features allow you to do all sorts of interesting things only limited by your need and imagination.

What if you have a container named as some random config file in your /etc folder? What if you just encrypted a removable storage drive? What if you have multiple hard drives on your computer that have multiple containers and hidden containers? What if you have a hidden container that can only be accessed from booting up in a amnesiac OS like Tails leaving no trace that the files exist or trail that they were ever accessed? Go crazy, have fun.

NEMO - Failsafe

Nemo has no files, encrypted or otherwise. If they did you couldn't prove it. Nemo does use something like Tails that retains no memory from boot to boot.

Nemo also uses a failsafe. A simple lanyard attached to the flashdrive running the OS and the other end around their wrist while they work. When you try to separate them from the computer the flashdrive pulls out and everything is gone.

Using these programs you can create a layered and compartmentlized approach to your encryption scheme. There are also plenty of other encryption programs to check out such as Cryptomator, AES Crypt, etc

Last point and most important: Encryption is only as good as the passphrase you use to lock it down. Use a shitty password and it doesn't matter how uncrackable your encryption is.

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

As the title states, scratch behind my ear and you get it. 🐶🐾🫡

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

Test Bounty Note

@ 472f440f:5669301e

I'm sure you are all well aware of the news out of France. The French government has made the bold move of arresting the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, after charging him with 12 criminal counts ranging from "complicity in web-mastering an online platform in order to enable an illegal transaction in organized group" to "importing a cryptology tool ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration".

Telegram is an extremely popular messaging app that is used by almost 1 billion people from around the world. I have personally been a user for seven years and it is very dismaying to see the French government attack an entrepreneur who has built a widely used and loved app. We've said it many times over the years in this rag, governments need to stop throwing the baby out with the bath water by attacking successful businesses for the crimes their users commit and begin doing better law enforcement. It makes no sense to demonize a technology for the crimes that are committed by a small minority of users of that tool. Is the French government going to go after the CEO of Bic, the largest producer of pens in the world, because there are pen pals out there who use their pens to write letters in which they coordinate criminal activity? If we apply the same logic behind the decision to arrest Pavel it would seem that the Bic CEO should be a bit worried.

Who knows what evidence the French government has against Pavel. Maybe he is directly involved in the coordination of crimes that were committed on his app. I highly doubt it, but who knows. We'll have to wait and see what evidence the French courts put forth once a trial gets under way. As of yesterday, we know that this seems like a classic case of "You refuse to cooperate with deep state actors who want access to your users' data, so we're going to accuse you of all of the crimes."

The fact of the matter is, we shouldn't have to worry about the actions of a founder dictating the accessibility of a novel technology that they bring to market. Especially technologies that enable people to connect in the digital world to exercise their God given right to free speech.

It's a bit poetic that this happened on Saturday night in Europe. Just one day after the Nostriga conference in Riga, Latvia wrapped up. Nostriga was a two-day event which attracted people from all over the world so that they could meet to discuss how to push the Nostr protocol forward. For those who are unaware of what Nostr is, it is an open source communications protocol with no leaders that enables individuals to publish their thoughts to the world is a distributed, censorship resistant fashion. User profiles are created via a private-public key pair. The public key makes it easy for others to follow and the private key enables a user to sign notes with certain data that get broadcasted to relays. App developers can then pull the user generated data from those relays and present the data in unique ways using front-end interfaces known as clients. Users can port their private keys (commonly known as nsecs) into any client they like and have all of the data they've published to the protocol automatically show up. Said another way, since Nostr is a protocol and not a platform, users have way more optionality when it comes to the applications that present the data they publish. If one client decides to censor or simply has a bad UX, they can plop their magic string (private key) into another client and see everything they've ever posted while still being connected to everyone they added to their social graph historically. This is extremely powerful on many fronts.

Gone are the days of having to worry about building an audience on a platform, making that a critical part of your brand and livelihood, and having to self-censor because of the fear of being deplatformed. You own your private key and that gives you access to your data. Not the platform.

For app developers, the network effect of Nostr produces an incredible and truly unique bootstrapping mechanism. Instead of having to start from scratch and hope that users find your app, fill it with data, and begin spreading the word to more users you adopt the social graph of Nostr from day one. Every user of the protocol is already feeding your application data. If you can build an appealing product that provides users of the protocol with value, they will find it and immediately be able to leverage it. There will be no need for them to build up a reputation or find their social connections on the app. They will be ported into the client.

Nostr can be additive to seemingly unrelated applications that aren't built directly on Nostr. We've already seen this with bitcoin wallets that have enabled users to port their Nostr social graphs directly into their wallet. Making it easy for individuals to find their friend's Nostr account and send bitcoin directly to the lightning address they've associated with it. No need for an invoice. Just find your friend and send them money like you would on an app like Venmo.

The number of added benefits users and app developers get from Nostr beyond those I just explained are too long to list. Long story short, this protocol is a massive deal.

It is still very early for Nostr, but the progress that has been made in the last couple of years has been nothing short of awe inspiring. If you squint into the future, it isn't hard to see how Nostr becomes mainstream by the end of the decade. The compounding network effects are stronger than anything I've seen since bitcoin.

All of this is to say that this will be one of the only ways to build truly robust communications-based applications moving forward. As we've seen with TikTok and now Telegram, if the state doesn't like the owner of a particular platform they will either kick the platform out of their country or arrest the founder and do their best to corrupt the platform itself once he is in custody. This hasn't happened yet with Telegram, but you can bet your ass that the deep state will try to corrupt Telegram if they successfully remove him from the picture.

To be clear, this doesn't make the founders of particular Nostr clients immune to this type of overt overreach by governments. However, the design of Nostr is such that governments would have an exponentially harder time achieving their end goal, suppressing and controlling speech that's expressed on these platforms, because the protocol has hundreds of competing clients serving customers the data stored in relays. They could even attempt to go after the relays, but that task may prove to be impossible as well.

Make no mistake, we live in very trying times. The world's governments are losing control and they are doing the best they can to suppress freedom of speech in anyway they can to prevent people from spreading information that makes the Regime to look like the evil fools that they are. The best we can do is to build robust systems that make their attempts at suppressing speech as close to impossible as is possible. The efforts to build out robust systems like bitcoin and Nostr should be complemented with pushing back against the Regime via the courts. But as we all know, we can't always depend on the courts to actually deliver justice. There are times where freedom must be taken and defended. We are certainly living through one of those times right now.

Despite the insanity of the world and the governments who would like to rule it, the momentum of the light is building. People are taking action and solutions are being built slowly but surely. It is our job to keep the momentum up and make sure the lifeboats of bitcoin, Nostr and similar protocols are ready to go once the Deep State begins attacking others. They came for TikTok and Telegram. Don't think that platforms like X, Rumble and Gab aren't in their crosshairs as well.

Here are four videos from Nostriga that I think you all should watch.

https://youtu.be/XUsk7cqZyKU?si=2vUl01azeFJQjczZ

https://youtu.be/qUwXRDrfJU0?si=np3vyTDddoQKuPJK

https://youtu.be/OHqxp-Hrx9k?si=K7vhVBWtFQwB68Tr

https://youtu.be/iZyqVGHjDGo?si=CjJCbAlNBa06qcwV

And a panel I hosted about funding Nostr if you're interested in that.

https://youtu.be/qD-Y0fq5KiA?si=L81sFCPGw2ayXXzw

We're going to win.

---

Final thought... Jet lag sucks.

@ 572aa884:e266a569

STAR TREK TNG: INCOMPATIBLE IDEALS

by Luke Parker

---

Premise: This screenplay is for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, set near the end of Season 7. It imagines a first contact encounter between Picard’s Enterprise and a fully Anarcho-Capitalist planet with no government nor belief in authority.

---

Scene 1: Bridge

Exterior views of the Starship Enterprise give way to Captain Jean-Luc Picard standing at his command station on the bridge, his gaze steady and contemplative as he records his log.

Picard: (voiceover) "Captain's log, Stardate 48881.4. We were on our way to Deep Space 9 to provide support for the upcoming Bajoran elections when we received an audio-only distress call from a person on the planet Anarak, just outside of Cardassian space. The planet has yet to be contacted by the Federation, and in fact very little is known about it other than how it has a highly unusual social structure; one that appears to function without any form of central government or hierarchical leadership. It is a society that, despite its relatively high level of technological sophistication, has yet to achieve warp capability. The message is urgently requesting help from any peaceful civilization in range to defend his people against Cardassian invaders. It is difficult to imagine even the Cardassians violating the Prime Directive in such a manner. We are changing course to investigate."

Picard finishes his log entry and looks up, his expression thoughtful. The rest of the bridge crew is attentive with the memory of the Cardassain conquest of Bajor fresh in their minds.

Data: [turning from his console to face Picard] "Captain, Starfleet's lone anthropological record on Anarak indicates that it has a relatively large population and is advanced in various scientific fields. However, there are no reports of warp capability nor a leadership structure for us to contact there. Their society’s structure might challenge our usual protocols for contact."

Riker: [with a hint of curiosity] "An advanced society with no central government? That's a first."

Picard: [nodding] "Indeed, Number One. The distress call came from an individual named Bas T'yat, who identifies himself only as an entrepreneur. Our intelligence suggests that Anarak's society is structured in a way that is not only hostile to hierarchies but completely devoid of any form of leadership or authority. They seem to operate on a principle of total autonomy. This would seem to indicate an absence of a planetary defense system."

Troi: [thoughtful, with concern] "Without a central authority, how do they respond to any external threats? A society like this could be quite vulnerable to more aggressive powers, like the Cardassians."

Picard: [grimly] "It seems that may already be the case. The distress signal implied that a hostile force, likely Cardassian, has targeted them. Without a unified defense, they could be easy prey."

Worf: [sternly] "If the Cardassians are involved, Captain, they will not hesitate to exploit such a weakness. We must be prepared for hostilities."

Data: [analyzing the implications] "However, the lack of formal governance could complicate any assistance we offer. Without a government to negotiate with, we may face challenges in determining how to intervene appropriately."

Picard: [resolute, yet cautious] "We will treat Anarak as we would any other planet sending a distress call, regardless of their social structure. However, we must tread carefully. If we arrive to find Cardassians engaged in hostile acts, we may be forced to intervene. But in Federation space, our priority remains the protection of life and the maintenance of Federation principles."

The bridge crew exchanges looks of determination, each officer understanding the complexities of the mission ahead.

Picard: [decisive, raising his voice slightly] "Set course for Anarak. Engage at warp seven."

Data: [acknowledging] "Course plotted, Captain. Engaging warp seven."

The familiar hum of the warp engines intensifies as the stars on the viewscreen stretch into streaks of light, and the Enterprise leaps into warp, speeding towards the strange planet and the potential conflict awaiting them.

---

Scene 2: Bridge

The Enterprise emerges from warp above the planet Anarak, the planet’s blue-green surface appearing deceptively peaceful below.

Worf: [at tactical, scanning the area] "Captain, no alien vessels are currently in the vicinity, only artificial satellites. However, I'm detecting signs of recent battle on the planet's surface."

Picard: [moving closer to Worf's station] "Specify, Lieutenant."

Worf: [analyzing the data] "There is minor damage to infrastructure in multiple locations, consistent with Cardassian disruptor fire. Several structures show signs of targeted attacks, but the damage is localized and not extensive."

Data: [at the science station] "Captain, I'm detecting several warp signatures leading to and from the planet. However, one of these signatures does not match any known Cardassian engine profile and is not in our warp signature database."

Riker: [concerned, looking to Picard] "An unknown vessel in the area right around the time of a Cardassian attack? This could complicate matters."

Troi: [sensing the tension, her voice calm but alert] "Whoever they are, they may not have the best intentions. The people of Anarak could be more vulnerable than we initially thought."

Picard ponders this information, his expression thoughtful yet wary. The bridge crew continues their scans, tension mounting as they try to make sense of the situation.

Worf: [interrupting the silence] "Captain, we are being hailed from the surface."

Picard: [decisive, nodding] "On screen."

The viewscreen flickers to life, revealing the image of a middle-aged man with a rugged, practical look. He exudes an air of cautious relief, though his eyes betray a deep-seated wariness.

Bas T'yat: "Alien vessel, thank you for coming so quickly. My name is Bas T'yat, and I’m an entrepreneur and concerned family man. Please, can you tell me, are you an ally of the Cardassians?"

Picard: [calm and reassuring] "Mr. T'yat, I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. I assure you, the Federation is not aligned with the Cardassians, although we have dealt with them before, and are aware of their transgressions."

Bas T'yat: [sighs in relief] "Thank goodness. We desperately need your help. An alien ship identifying itself as Cardassian has been harassing us for weeks. I fear they'll return soon, and we have little defense against their matter transportation technology. I'm a successful inventor and businessman, Captain. I have resources and tech that could be of value to your Federation, and I'm prepared to trade anything you want in order to help protect my people."

Picard: [curious, leaning slightly forward] "Tell me more about these attacks. What exactly have the Cardassians done?"

Bas T'yat: [his tone shifting to one of frustration mixed with guilt] "It started about a month ago. One of our companies, my own company, in fact, launched a new type of vessel that can travel faster than light using a warp field, the first one we've ever built. Within an hour of it's maiden voyage the Cardassians showed up. At first, they demanded to know who was in charge of the planet. They didn't like the answer they got: We are a free people and no one commands us."

Riker: [sharing a knowing glance with Picard] "A society without centralized leadership would be difficult for the Cardassians to understand or even tolerate."

Bas T'yat: [nodding] "That was my conclusion. They treated us like a lawless frontier, moving in to take whatever they wanted. They attacked our resource stockpiles, dematerialising and I assume stealing whatever they could before we even knew what was happening. Our ground-based defense missiles successfully took out their two smaller fighter crafts that came down into our sirspace, but we have no defense against their transporter technology. Their last visit was just a raid from orbit. They just grabbed what they could without even entering the atmosphere and left within minutes."

Picard: [thoughtful, with a hint of concern] "I see. There are widely-agreed-upon rules against this type of behavior, I assure you. However, since the Federation has never made contact with your people before now, we are unfamiliar with the proper etiquette for such a first encounter. How do you suggest we proceed safely for an official meeting?"

Bas pauses, visibly perplexed by the concept of "official" procedures, his expression almost amused.

Bas T'yat: [with a chuckle] "Official meeting? Captain, just come on down and park your craft outside my coordinates. My wife will make us all some refreshments."

Picard: [with a slight smile, yet maintaining formality] "We appreciate the hospitality, Mr. T'yat, but we prefer to beam down if that's acceptable to you. We can be there in a few minutes."

Bas T'yat: [nervous but agreeable] "Beam down? Uh, sure, that's fine. I was wondering if that technology worked on people. Love to see it in action."

Picard: [nodding respectfully] "Understood. I'll be down with a small team to meet you outside your building shortly. Picard out."

The screen goes dark as the connection ends, leaving the bridge crew to process the encounter.

Riker: [with a wry smile] "Drinks with the locals; sounds like fun."

Troi: [softly, but with insight] "He's nervous, but also hopeful. I'm sensing some hurt pride in him, too, Captain. This is likely the first time his people have ever had to reach out to anyone off-world for help. His pride may cloud his ability to fully grasp the dangers they’re facing."

Picard: [serious, standing up to address the crew] "On top of being an official first contact, the Cardassians have made this a very delicate situation. We must be prepared for anything. Counselor Troi, Data, and La Forge, you're with me. Number one, you have the bridge."

The crew nods in understanding as the away team heads to the turbolift. The tension in the air is palpable as they ready themselves for what may be a challenging first contact and a possible hostile encounter with the Cardassians.

---

Scene 3: Bas T’yat’s Front Lawn

The team materializes on the surface of Anarak, just outside of a large, elegant house set in a lush, rural landscape. The area is a blend of modern luxury and natural beauty, though signs of recent damage are evident. Smoke still rises from a nearby hangar, the aftermath of the Cardassian attack clear in the smoldering ruins. As the team takes in their surroundings, a group of locals approaches. At the forefront is Bas T'yat, flanked by a few colleagues. He's a middle-aged man with a commanding presence, dressed in practical yet fine clothing. His stride is confident, and his eyes sharp with the determination of a man used to getting what he wants. Bas’s face lights up with a mixture of curiosity and enthusiasm as he sees the away team.

Bas T'yat: [warmly, holding his palms upwards and then extending one hand towards Picard in a greeting] "Captain Picard! Welcome to Anarak! I'm Bas T'yat. It is my honor to meet you."

Picard: [imitating the hand motion, with a polite smile] "The honor is ours, Mr. T'yat. Thank you for your hospitality. May our two peoples forever live in harmony."

Bas gestures to the smoldering hangar in the distance, his tone tinged with frustration.

Bas T'yat: [with a sigh] "That would be wonderful. I do wish the circumstances for your visit were better. [clenching his fists] That's my hangar over there, or what's left of it, anyway. The Cardassians destroyed it and the spacecraft I designed and built there. It was our first warp vessel, one that the whole world cheered on at launch just last month. We were going to colonize the asteroids with it."

Geordi: [To Picard, gesturing towards the wreckage] "If I may, Captain?"

Picard: "Certainly." [To Bas T'yat] "This is my head engineer, Commander Geordi La Forge."

Geordi: [stepping forward] "Mr. T'yat, if it's alright with you, I'd like to examine the wreckage. I might be able to determine if anything is salvageable."

Bas T'yat: [nodding, gesturing to a colleague] "Of course. Lar Kinn here is our chief pilot. He made the historic first flight and he'll take you to the hangar and help with anything you need."

Geordi and Lar Kinn head towards the hangar, with Geordi hoping to confirm if this was the source of the warp signature detected in orbit. Meanwhile, Bas leads Picard, Troi, and Data toward his house. As they walk, Bas impatiently answers a few questions about his planet, his voice tinged with annoyance and concern.

Data: “Mr. T’yat, if I may, I notice that your neighborhood’s infrastructure is well taken care of. If Anarak has no central authority of any kind, who is responsible for keeping the roads and infrastructure?”

Bas T'yat: ”Well, as a rule of thumb, if it’s on my land, I am. If it’s not on my land, then someone else is, but I may have to pay them to use it. They look so nice because we all get better insurance rates for keeping them that way.”

Data: “Curious. And who initiates larger projects like mass transportation and research?”

Bas T'yat: [slightly annoyed] “They are all risky endeavors taken by entrepreneurs like myself. Sometimes profits take decades to appear, but like with my new warp engine, I’m sure they’ll make me a huge fortune one day.” [turning to ensure Picard can hear him] "Anyway, I fear the Cardassians aren't done with us. They've stopped even trying to make demands of us, which makes me think they're planning something bigger. Perhaps a larger assault. We've been able to fend them off so far, but I have no clue how to defend against those transporter devices."

Picard: [impressed] "It is remarkable that your society, with no planetary defense force, was able to repel Cardassian military forces, even if only temporarily. Cardassian ships are known for their significant weapons and shields."

Bas T'yat: [with a hint of pride] "The people of Anarak are no strangers to defending themselves. We have numerous private protection agencies, each with advanced missile fortifications and other kinds of defenses to protect every inch of this planet. But these were designed to fend off terrorists or rival companies, not an alien invader."

They reach the entrance to Bas's home. He pauses before entering, turning to Picard with a serious expression.

Bas T'yat: [earnestly] "Captain, I'm prepared to trade for whatever defensive technology you can provide, especially something to counter the Cardassian's transporter technology. I am confident that our ground defenses can take out their shuttlecraft, but we're helpless against their ability to beam in and out at will."

Picard pauses, his face reflecting the weight of his decision before he speaks.

Picard: [in his most diplomatic tone] "Mr. T'yat, the Federation is committed to helping those in need, and we don't tolerate bullies. However, there are restrictions on the technology we can share, particularly weaponry. Also, the Federation's assistance often depends on whether a planet is on the path to becoming a member. We must ensure that our values align. In this case, a diplomatic approach might bring a far more lasting peace than simply escalating an arms race."

Bas considers this, his optimism tinged with caution. The group moves into a large room with lots of seating where a warm drink much like tea is offered. Picard partakes graciously.

Bas T'yat: [thoughtfully] "I see. Federation membership is... a complicated idea. I'm sure many heads of companies like myself would welcome it, but for the whole planet to become a singular member of any larger federation is hard to imagine. Our society values individual freedom above all else, and I'm not sure how compatible everyone here is with the Federation's ideals."

Data: "The benefits of Federation membership are considerable. Could not your people one day vote on the issue to see if a majority wants to join after taking ample time to research membership?"

Bas T'yat: [skeptically] "Voting is something that hasn't been done here for tens of thousands of years. We consider it to be archaic, a form of slavery of the minority. Honestly, I'm surprised your culture still practices it."

Picard: [nodding, a little embarrassed] "I see. Rest assured that we try to only vote on things that have every participant's full consent. You'll find that this is very common among the races you meet as your people start to explore the stars. But until then, know that the Federation's primary concern is the safety of everyone in Federation space, including your people."

While inside Bas's home, Data discreetly connects to an open network connection, accessing Anarak's version of the internet called the Openlink. His eyes flicker left to right at an inhuman speed as he analyzes the planet's defenses and infrastructure.

Data: [quietly, to Picard as he processes the data] "Captain, while there are many advanced technologies in the hands of individuals and companies, I find no evidence of any kind of unified military infrastructure. The defense efforts are completely decentralized, which will surely prove problematic in the event of a full-scale Cardassian invasion."

Picard: [grimly] "Given the Cardassians' history, we must prepare for the worst."

Just then, Geordi returns from the hangar, his expression a mix of curiosity and concern.

Geordi: "Captain, I've confirmed that Bas's ship was the source of the warp signature we detected. Unfortunately, the wreckage isn't salvageable. It could be a long time before Anarak returns to the stars."

Bas T'yat: [with a determined grin] "I wouldn't say that. My first flight was widely publicized. Lar Kinn and I are celebrities now. Hundreds of other companies are likely working on similar technology already. Some of us refer to it as 'the great space race,' with the goal of creating the first off-world colony, and my company is currently in the lead."

Picard: [with a slight smile, impressed by the resilience] "It seems the people of Anarak are not to be counted out yet. Your intrepid spirit will serve you well as Anarakans start exploring the Galaxy."

Troi: [warmly] "Your optimism is admirable, Mr. T'yat. But remember, resilience is strongest when combined with caution."

Bas T'yat: [nodding, appreciatively] "Wise words, Miss Troi. Hopefully with your help we'll be ready for whatever comes next."

Picard: [ready to leave] "This tea is delicious, thank you for your hospitality. Next I'll need to talk to my superiors at Starfleet headquarters before we can proceed any further. I'll be sure and pass your concerns and needs on to them and then we'll contact you again later today."

The away team prepares to depart, with Bas expressing his thanks once more. As they beam back to the Enterprise, each member reflects on the unique challenges of Anarak.

---

Scene 4: Picard’s ready room

Minutes later, Captain Picard sits alone in his ready room, the vast starscape of space visible through the window behind him. His posture is straight, and the weight of the decision before him is clear in his eyes. He taps a command into his desk console, and the screen flickers to life with the familiar stern face of Vice Admiral Alynna Nechayev. Her image on the screen is as imposing as ever.

Picard: [calmly, but with underlying urgency] "Admiral, I've just concluded a preliminary contact with a representative of Anarak, just a few light years this side of Cardassian space. The situation is more complex than anticipated. The planet is under threat from the Cardassians; specifically Gul Bankar, who's been making increasingly aggressive moves from orbit. Meanwhile, the society on Anarak is... unconventional. They have no central government, no formal leadership nor military structure. The entire planet operates under a decentralized, anarchic, commerce-based system."

Nechayev: [eyes narrowing] "Anarchists? No structure? That's not exactly an encouraging environment for a first contact, Jean-Luc.

Picard: “Admiral, they’ve managed to develop warp technology without either a government or military. It’s a remarkable feat, but one that leaves them vulnerable.”

Nechayev: “Are you certain there’s no one in authority at all? Not even an ambassador?"

Picard: [nodding] "Precisely. Their social structure wouldn’t allow it. Our first contact has been with an individual and his family, one Bas T'yat; a wealthy businessman and the inventor of their first warp-capable ship. He's requesting assistance to defend against further Cardassian attacks, but without a central authority, assisting one individual could have unpredictable consequences."

Nechayev: [questioning sharply] "Hmm. And what of the Cardassians? Is there any evidence of their involvement?"

Picard: [gravely] "Plenty. The Cardassians have already raided the planet, seizing valuable resources. Their ship left orbit shortly before our arrival, but the threat of their return looms large. Bas T'yat is convinced they'll come back with a larger force."

Nechayev pauses, her expression hardening as she considers the situation.

Nechayev: [warningly] "Starfleet cannot afford to be drawn into deeper hostilities with the Cardassian Union, Jean-Luc. Especially not over a non-member world. You must tread carefully. A diplomatic solution is paramount, and under no circumstances should you provide this Bas T'yat with advanced defensive technology. The Prime Directive is clear; we don't interfere with the internal affairs of non-member worlds, and besides, you haven't even made proper first contact with the planet, only with one family."

Picard: [measured, but firm] "Admiral, with respect, Anarak is far more advanced than many worlds we've encountered. Their technological capabilities, while decentralized, are impressive. Now that they are getting their space legs it won't be long before Anarakans are showing up in ports across the quadrant. And if the Cardassians establish a foothold here, it could destabilize the entire region."

Nechayev's face softens slightly, recognizing the gravity of the situation. She sighs, her resolve shifting as she weighs the options.

Nechayev: [reluctantly] "Alright, Jean-Luc. I don’t like this, but I trust your judgement. You may share transport inhibitor technology. Only enough to help them counter the Cardassians' beaming technology, but nothing more. And remember, this Bas T'yat doesn't speak for his whole planet. Try to treat his family like you would if you found them alone in a spaceship."

Picard: "Understood, Admiral. I'll proceed with caution."

Nechayev: [more sternly] "Just don't start another war, Jean-Luc."

The screen goes dark. Picard leans back in his chair, the weight of the decision pressing on him. He stands, smoothing his uniform, and exits the ready room onto the bridge.

---

Scene 5: Bridge

On the bridge, the atmosphere is tense as the crew processes the situation. Picard steps up to his command chair, addressing the senior officers who have gathered.

Picard: [seriously] "Admiral Nechayev has authorized us to share transport inhibitor technology with Anarak to help them defend against further Cardassian raids. But we must be mindful of the ethical implications of our actions."

Dr. Crusher:: [concerned] "Captain, I'm worried about the consequences of becoming involved in this situation. If we assist Anarak, it could escalate into a larger conflict--one that could draw the Federation into another war with the Cardassians."

Worf: [gruffly, with resolve] "But allowing the Cardassians to plunder a defenseless society is equally unacceptable, Doctor. We have a responsibility to protect the vulnerable."

Picard: [thoughtfully, considering both viewpoints] "I'm inclined to agree with Worf on this one, Beverly. We must work fast to deploy the inhibitors wherever we can, but that does bring up another problem. The Prime Directive prevents us from interfering in the internal affairs of non-member worlds. And giving one individual on Anarak access to advanced technology could upset the delicate balance of their society. What if Bas T'yat's company gains a monopoly on defense technology? It could shift the power dynamics on the entire planet."

Troi: [insightfully, her voice calm] "Captain, I sense that Bas T'yat is deeply worried about his planet's future. He feels a strong sense of responsibility and guilt for the attacks... I don't think that he had any way to know that their warp signature would act as a beacon to those seeking resources. They didn't even know other life forms existed until the Cardassians arrived. It's clear that Anarakans weren't prepared for the reality of interstellar contact."

Picard: [resolved] "I agree, Counselor. We're dealing with a society that is both advanced and vulnerable. A dangerous combination. We must proceed carefully."

Picard considers this, his brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he makes a decision.

Picard: [decisively] "We must proceed, however. I'll invite Bas T'yat to the Enterprise to discuss the situation further. We will ensure that any assistance we provide doesn't destabilize their society, or escalate the conflict."

Picard hails Bas T'yat from his command station.

Picard: [calmly] "Mr. T'yat, I'd like to invite you aboard the Enterprise to discuss our options in person."

The main screen fills with T'yat's face again.

Bas T'yat: [with a hint of hesitation] "Thank you, Captain, I accept. But I'd prefer to take my own craft... Still not quite comfortable with the transporter technology, if you'll understand. I'll bring my wife, L'anna, and my pilot, Lar Kinn."

Picard: [diplomatic, nodding slightly] "Understood. We'll be ready to receive you in the shuttlebay.”

---

Scene 6: Main Shuttlebay

In the Enterprise's shuttlebay, the crew prepares to greet their visitors. The doors slide open, and a sleek, streamlined skysled enters the bay, guided by Lar Kinn at the controls. The craft settles gently onto the deck, and the hatch opens. Bas T'yat steps out, accompanied by his wife, L'anna, and Lar Kinn, who looks around the shuttlebay with wide-eyed curiosity. Picard, Troi, and Data are there to meet them, offering warm greetings as the Anarakans take in the impressive sight of the Enterprise's interior.

Picard: [welcoming, with a gesture towards the ship] "Welcome aboard the Enterprise, Mr. and Mrs. T'yat. I trust your journey was smooth?"

Bas T'yat: [grinning, clearly impressed] "Very much so, Captain. Your ship is... well, it's more than I imagined. Thank you for having us."

Troi steps forward, offering a kind smile.

Troi: [invitingly] "If you'd like, I can give you a tour of the ship. We're quite proud of our vessel, and I think you'll find it fascinating."

L'anna's eyes widen with excitement, and she nods eagerly. Bas exchanges a look with Lar Kinn, just catching up to the group. He seems just as eager to explore as the others, and nods excitedly to Troi.

Bas T'yat: [appreciatively] "We'd be honored. Lead the way, Counselor."

Lar Kinn: So can all these shuttles go faster than light?

With that, the group sets off on a tour of the Enterprise, the Anarakans marveling at the advanced technology and seamless design of the Federation starship. As they walk, Troi can't help but notice the mix of awe and determination in Bas T'yat an inventor and leader who knows that his world's future may very well depend on the choices made in the hours to come.

---

Scene 7: Bridge

The scene opens as Counselor Troi leads Bas T'yat, L'anna, and Lar Kinn onto the bridge of the Enterprise. The visitor's awe is palpable as they take in the grandeur of the ship's command center. Picard, standing near the captain's chair, barely has a moment to welcome them when a sudden alert draws everyone's attention.

Data: [at his station, voice urgent] "Captain, I'm detecting the return of the Cardassian battle cruiser. It is registered as the Kolarak. It just popped out from behind the home star and is entering orbit around Anarak."

Riker: "Yellow alert. On screen."

Picard immediately straightens, his expression shifting from welcoming to resolute. The tension on the bridge heightens as the viewscreen flickers to life, displaying the imposing sight of the Kolarak. The Cardassian vessel looms in space, its dark hull bristling with weaponry.

Picard: [calmly, but with authority] "Mr. Worf, open a channel to the Kolarak."

The screen quickly reveals the stern visage of a Cardassian Gul in his command chair. His eyes narrow as he takes in the sight of the bridge crew and the unfamiliar faces of Bas and his companions.

Picard: [with measured politeness] "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. With whom am I speaking?"

Gul Bankar: [with a sneer, his voice dripping with condescension] "You may address me as Gul Bankar."

Picard: "Gul Bankar, there have been reports of your vessel causing harm and stealing resources from the planet below. With me is Bas T'yat, the owner of the warp-capable vessel that it appears your forces destroyed on the surface. We request an explanation for these hostilities."

Gul Bankar: "Captain Picard, your presence here is an unwelcome interference. This planet, and its inhabitants, are under Cardassian protection. You will withdraw immediately, leaving Anarak to our care."

Picard's gaze hardens, but his tone remains calm and firm.

Picard: [skeptically] "Cardassian protection? Anarak lies within Federation territory. We received a distress call and are here to provide assistance."

Bankar's expression darkens, his eyes flashing with anger.

Gul Bankar: [coldly] "The Federation's meddling in this region is all too well documented, Picard, but Anarak is too close to Cardassian space for your interference to be tolerated. I find your so-called assistance nothing more than another prelude to annexation."

Bas, standing beside Troi, listens intently, his face reflecting a mixture of concern and frustration. Picard, sensing the rising tension, steps closer to the viewscreen.

Picard: [with resolve] "The Federation respects the sovereignty of all worlds. We are only here because of your aggressive actions, not to claim this planet. We have long worked to maintain peace in this sector, and I would hate to see that peace jeopardized by your reckless actions here."

Gul Bankar: [sarcastically] "Peace? The Federation's control of Terok Nor and the Bajoran wormhole is hardly a gesture of peace. It was a clear power grab, one that we will not allow to extend to Anarak."

Picard's eyes narrow, his voice taking on a steely edge.

Picard: [firmly] "Gul Bankar, a conflict between the Federation and the Cardassian Union would serve no one's interests, especially not over a planet that is so new to the neighborhood. I suggest you contact your superiors before taking any further aggressive actions."

There's a tense silence as Bankar considers Picard's words, his eyes flicking to Bas and then back to Picard. Finally, he lowers his head in a slight nod, though his expression remains hostile.

Gul Bankar: [grudgingly] "Very well, Captain. I will contact Central Command. But understand this; Anarak will not fall under Federation control, and I will ensure that Cardassia's interests are protected. I will contact you again in 4 hours."

The transmission abruptly cuts off, leaving the bridge in a heavy silence. The Kolarak remains on the viewscreen, hovering ominously in space, nose to nose with the Enterprise now. Picard exhales, turning to face his crew.

Picard: [calmly, but with an undertone of urgency] "Maintain our position and yellow alert, Mr. Worf, and monitor the Kolarak for any signs of hostile activity."

Worf gives a curt nod, his eyes never leaving the tactical display.

Worf: [with determination] "Aye, Captain. Shields at maximum, weapons ready."

Picard then turns to Bas, who is visibly shaken but trying to maintain his composure.

Picard: [reassuringly] "Mr. T'yat, I understand this is a difficult situation and you don't yet know who to trust, but I assure you that we aim to keep the peace in this sector and will do everything in our power to ensure your planet's safety. We ask nothing in return from the Anarakan people. However, it is crucial that we handle this matter diplomatically."

Bas nods, though his expression is one of deep concern.

Bas T'yat: [uneasily] "I appreciate that, Captain, and don't worry, nothing that Gul Bankar says will make me trust his offer of "protection" after he destroyed my ship and stole resources from all over the planet. But I do worry that he’s using this time to call for reinforcements."

Picard places a reassuring hand on Bas's shoulder, his voice steady.

Picard: [confidently] "If he attacks, we'll face that challenge together, Mr. T'yat. You are free to return to the surface at any time but for now, I think it best that we consider how fast we could deploy our transporter inhibitor technology on your planet."

Bas T'yat: [enthusiastically] "You mean you're willing to sell us devices that can stop them from beaming up our resources?"

Picard: "Or beaming their troops down. And we wouldn't sell it to you, it is our gift. The Federation doesn't sell it's assistance to those in need."

The visitors faces all brighten in unison with relief.

L'anna: "I don't know how we could ever thank you enough, Captain. This means everything to our people."

Picard: "Don't thank us yet, there is still the issue of deploying enough of them in time. If they're going to attack in 4 hours you'd need them set up near all the most valuable targets at the very least. They'll need a steady supply of energy, too."

Bas furls his lips in concerned thought.

Data: "Captain, I've analyzed all of the planet's most valuable resource depots that our scanners can detect and I see 168 unique locations that we should set up transport inhibitors. There may, of course, be other targets too that they would want."

Riker: [apprehensively] "That's way too many for us to replicate in time, much less visit each location to install within the next 4 hours."

Picard: "We need a way to speed up that deployment, at least to enough sites that will show Gul Bankar that things have changed... And hopefully without him detecting our movements."

Bas T'yat: "If I may captain, I think I know a better way to deploy them if I can just make a detailed scan of one and save it to our printer file format... We don't have your transporter technology, but our device printers are able to scan and quickly reproduce any technological device that we can identify the components of."

Riker: "And how will that help distribute them to everyone in time?"

Bas T'yat: "Simple, every business and household has one of these printers. I can upload the scanned file to our Openlink and tell all of Anarak in one broadcast about the imminent threat and how to protect themselves from it with one of these inhibitors. They'll pop out thousands of them in time."

Picard: "That sounds very promising, Mr. T’yat. But I want your assurance that your company will not hold any sort of monopoly on this technology or otherwise profit from it; In lieu of a government, the Federation requires that this gift be made to your whole planet at once."

Bas T'yat: [after some hesitation] "Alright, Captain. You have my promise. Giving up some profits is the least I can do to make up for attracting the Cardassians to Anarak."

Picard looks visibly relieved, giving a curt nod to Bas.

Picard: "Data, take our guests to engineering and grab whomever you may need to assist you with making this happen in time. Remember, you’ll also need to show the Anarakans how to use these devices."

Data: "Aye sir." [To the visitors] "If you'll follow me please, we'll be able to work on this in engineering."

Data, Bas, Lar Kinn, and L'anna walk briskly to the turbolift. The scene closes with Picard returning to his command chair, the bridge crew resuming their stations as the standoff between the Enterprise and the Kolarak continues. The two ships remain locked in silence, nose to nose, as the 4-hour countdown begins.

---

Scene 8: Main Engineering

The scene opens in Main Engineering, where Geordi La Forge, Data, and Ensign Sam Lavelle are putting the final touches on the scan for their transport inhibitor device. Bas T'yat and Lar Kinn stand nearby, observing the process with keen interest. The atmosphere is tense, underscored by the ticking clock counting down the hours until Gul Bankar's deadline.

Geordi: [focused as he works] "All right, that should do it. The scan of this transport inhibitor is ready, and the data's been formatted for your printers."

He hands a datapad to Bas, who takes it with a mix of curiosity and nervousness.

Geordi: [reassuringly] "You'll be able to upload the complete plans from this device, including an adapter for your power source. Once it's on your network, anyone with Openlink access will be able to build and deploy these inhibitors in a matter of minutes. It's up to you, however, to convince them to do that."

Bas T'yat: [relieved] "Thank you, Commander. I'm sure many will manage it in time, but I just hope it's enough."

Lavelle: [chiming in, pointing to the datapad] "Also I've included a detailed instruction set too. It explains how to set the units up and operate them."

Bas nods his thanks, flipping through the instructions as Lar Kinn looks over his shoulder.

Data: [ever precise, offering a suggestion] "Mr. T'yat, given the standoff outside, it may be prudent to avoid the use of the transporter. The Kolarak is likely monitoring our actions closely. Sending the plans with you aboard the skysled would appear less provocative."

Bas looks visibly relieved at the suggestion, nodding in agreement.

Bas T'yat: [grateful] "Thank you, we'd prefer not having our atoms scattered throughout the atmosphere today anyway."

Geordi: [nodding, humorously] "No problem. We'll make sure the skysled is ready to go."

Data gestures toward the exit of Engineering, indicating it's time to depart.

Data: [calmly, but with urgency] "We should make our way to the shuttlebay. There's less than two hours remaining before the Gul's deadline. It's imperative that as many Anarakans as possible receive these plans in time."

Bas and Lar Kinn exchange a look, their expressions set with determination as they follow Data out of Engineering. The camera follows the group as they walk briskly through the corridors of the Enterprise.

L'anna: "You'll be sure to tell the Captain and Councilor Troi that we said goodbye?"

Data: "Of course. And let me say that I find your culture truly intriguing, and hope we get the chance to visit again in the future, no matter if Anarak chooses Federation membership or otherwise."

Bas T'yat: "You'd be our welcome guest anytime, Mr. Data. I think you'd most enjoy seeing the progress my people have made with robotics and artificial intelligence. My company produces one of the best-selling android assistants on the market."

Data: "Fascinating. I look forward to it. Here we are."

As they reach the shuttlebay, the large bay doors slide open, revealing the sleek skysled waiting for them. The ship is prepped and ready for launch, its engines humming with quiet power.

Data: [pausing as their ship's door opens] "We wish you a safe journey, Mr. T'yat, L'anna, Mr. Kinn."

Bas T'yat: [nodding, with resolve] "We'll make sure everyone gets these plans. Thank you, Commander Data."

Lar Kinn gives Data a respectful nod before they step onto the skysled. Data watches as they take their positions inside the cockpit. Data then taps his communicator, his voice steady.

Data: "Data to the Bridge, our visitors are ready to depart."

The camera cuts to the exterior of the Enterprise, where the massive shuttlebay doors slide open. The skysled, with its sleek design and glowing engines, slowly backs out of the bay, the vastness of space stretching out behind it. As the skysled turns on its main engines, the camera shifts to an interior cabin view, showing Bas and Lar Kinn exchanging a final, determined nod before the vessel speeds downwards towards Anarak.

---

Scene 9: Bridge

The scene opens 30 minutes later. The tension on the Enterprise bridge is palpable as the Openlink broadcasts Bas's message and the transport inhibitor plans worldwide. The crew watches anxiously as the first inhibitors are swiftly deployed across Anarak. Suddenly, the ship's sensors beep urgently. Worf glances at his console, eyes narrowing.

Worf: [alarmed] "Captain, seven additional Cardassian battle cruisers have exited warp and joined Gul Bankar's ship. They're forming up and preparing to engage."

Riker: "Red alert, forward shields to maximum."

Picard's expression hardens as the Kolarak hails them. Gul Bankar's visage appears on the viewscreen, eyes burning with fury.

Gul Bankar: [accusatory] "We've detected the inhibitor plans on their planet-wide network, Picard. You've broken our gentleman's agreement by sharing advanced technology with a primitive civilization. So much for Starfleet ideals! You're no match for us now. Try and stop us at your own peril."

With that, Bankar cuts off communications. Picard stands, frustration etched into his features as the fleet of eight warships begins its descent toward Anarak.

Data: [urgently] "Captain, the Cardassian ships are gaining speed and appear to be initiating an attack run on the planet's largest population center. Tens of millions of civilian lives are at risk, more than usual because the defensive turrets are spread out among the greater population. It is not uncommon for them to be placed on rooftops and around housing here."

The crew's tension escalates as the gravity of the situation sinks in. Picard, feeling the weight of command, turns to his officers.

Picard: [steady but intense] "Ideas?"

Worf: "Captain, we could attempt to disable their weapons and transporters, focusing on minimizing their capacity to attack."

Riker: [shaking his head] "Even so, we're outmatched. Enterprise won't survive against eight battle cruisers."

Troi: [calm but urgent] "We just need to buy time. To give the Anarakans a chance to fully deploy their defense net. But any kind of engagement from us still risks re-igniting a war with the Cardassians."

Data, ever analytical, speaks up with a grim tone.

Data: "Captain, I've run millions of battle scenarios. None result in the Enterprise surviving while saving more than a few dozen lives on the surface. Our current position is untenable."

As the Cardassian warships break through the planet's stratosphere, Ensign Lavelle, stationed at comms, suddenly speaks up.

Lavelle: [urgently] "Captain, Bas T'yat has just sent out another message across the planet, warning of the incoming Cardassian fleet."

Picard opens his mouth and lifts his index finger to respond, but he's cut off by a sudden, blinding array of light erupting from the planet's surface, filling up the viewscreen. The bridge crew shields their eyes as the screen fills with thousands of pinpricks of light; an overwhelming launch of nuclear-armed missiles aimed directly at the Cardassian fleet.

Worf: [stunned] "Captain, these are nuclear-fission warheads, each with a 10-megaton yield. I've never seen a civilization with this many dirty weapons in active deployment."

The bridge falls silent as the sheer scale of the Anarakan response becomes clear. The entire hemisphere of Anarak has mobilized, proving their incredible capacity for defense, despite the lack of a centralized government.

Data: "Fascinating. It could be that no central authority is needed for coordination when the threat is dire. These people all appear to be responding individually with their own weapons."

The first few dozen warheads impact the Cardassian shields, which manage to absorb their blasts. But the onslaught is unrelenting. Hundreds, then thousands of warheads detonate in rapid succession, creating a cataclysmic, sustained explosion. The Cardassian ships, though formidable, are utterly overwhelmed. The viewscreen shows an apocalyptic display; a temporary star forms in Anarak's upper atmosphere, engulfing the entire Cardassian flotilla in an unprecedented, blinding flash.

Picard: "Helm, back off our position."

The bridge crew watches in stunned silence as the massive explosion slowly dissipates, leaving nothing but a red afterglow and the eerie silence of space. Power has gone out across the hemisphere on the planet below, but not a single molecule of the Cardassian ships remain. Picard and his crew are left in awe, mingled with a deep sense of disappointment. The enormity of what they've witnessed sinks in; a civilization so welcoming, yet still capable of such destructive power... Sso fundamentally different from the Federation's ideals. Troi closes her eyes tightly and winces, blocking out the pain of all those Cardassian deaths. Picard stands, staring out at the aftermath, the weight of the moment heavy on his shoulders.

Picard: [quietly, with a great sense of loss] "Such utter destruction..."

The camera pulls back, showing the Enterprise as a small silhouette against the reddish glow below.

---

Scene 10: Bridge

The scene opens minutes later with the Enterprise bridge crew still processing the aftermath of the overwhelming display of destructive power. The mood is somber as the reality of what they've witnessed lingers. Suddenly, Bas T'yat's face appears on the viewscreen, his expression a mixture of relief and satisfaction.

Bas T'yat: [earnestly] "Captain Picard, I wanted to thank you and your crew for everything. It seems our future is secure now, thanks to the defense network and your assistance. We're eager to move forward and hope the Federation will allow us to engage in commerce with your worlds and other peaceful civilizations."

Picard stands, his gaze steady, though his tone reflects the weight of what has transpired. He pauses for a moment, as if searching for the right words, the bridge falling into a brief, tense silence.

Picard: [measured, but firm] "Mister T'yat, I must be candid. While the Enterprise is pleased to have assisted in safeguarding your world, the events of today have left us with grave concerns. The way Anarak handled the Cardassians… particularly the use of nuclear warheads, demonstrates a fundamental difference in values between our societies. We cannot endorse methods that pose such a grave risk to all life, even in defence. The Federation could not, in good conscience, approve your planet for membership given these circumstances."

Bas's expression shifts to one of slight disappointment, but he remains composed.

Bas T'yat: "I understand, Captain. We've always been a world that does things our own way. Federation membership would have been a tough sell to my people anyway. But what about trade? Surely we can still establish commerce with Federation worlds?"

Picard nods, his tone softening slightly.

Picard: "Trade remains an option. We won't turn away peaceful commerce between Anarak and Federation planets. However, I must stress that the use of nuclear weapons is fundamentally at odds with Federation ethics. While I recognize their role in your planet's defense, I hope that over time, your people will explore more sophisticated and less destructive means of protection."

Bas nods again, understanding the implications of Picard's words.

Bas T'yat: "It's clear that today's events were... extreme. The fallout, the EMP blackouts, the atmospheric damage; we've already seen unacceptable cost. I'll do my best to guide my people toward more advanced defenses, and away from reliance on such careless weapons. It will be my penance for leading the Cardassians here."

Troi senses his guilt once again and takes a deep breath. Clearly still shaken by the loss of life, she steadies herself before offering a supportive smile.

Troi: "You shouldn't burden yourself with guilt, Mister T'yat. Anarak was bound to take that step sooner or later. What matters now is how you use your newfound role as an ambassador to the stars. Your actions will shape your planet's future in the galaxy."

Bas smiles, clearly grateful for the support.

Bas T'yat: "Thank you, Counselor. I'll do my best to live up to that responsibility."

After a few more exchanges, the connection ends, and Bas T'yat's image fades from the viewscreen. Picard takes a deep breath and turns to face his bridge crew.

Picard: [reflective] "We've witnessed two amazing displays of power today; one of the explosive variety, and the other of a free people's resolve. It's hard to imagine how their society works with no acceptance of authority, but today they've clearly displayed that they can accomplish amazing things working together even without any."

Worf, still perplexed, shakes his head slightly.

Worf: "I still don't understand how an entire planet could coordinate such a specific defense without any central leadership."

Leaning casually against the console, Riker chuckles lightly.

Riker: "It was in everyone's best interest, Worf. They just needed Bas's signal to know when the attack was imminent. The rest fell into place."

Worf: "And how they could hide that many warheads from our scans? Enriched Uranium is the easiest of all elements to scan for."

Data: "It appears that their stealth technology may be on par with our own."

Picard, his expression thoughtful, gazes out at the stars beyond the viewscreen.

Picard: "I'm placing a note in my log for Starfleet to leave this planet alone until they can't be ignored any longer. I believe it's for the best that we leave Anarak to chart its own course in the galaxy."

He pauses, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Picard: "I doubt we'll have trouble with them soon, at least, until they meet the Ferengi."

*The bridge crew shares a quick laugh and then a quiet moment of contemplation before returning to their stations. The camera pulls back, showing the Enterprise once again poised in the vastness of space, a symbol of hope and integrity amidst the complexities of a vast and unpredictable galaxy.

Fade to black.*

---

---

*This story is set in the Star Trek universe, created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by Paramount. I do not own any of the characters or settings from the Star Trek franchise, and this is purely a fan-made work for non-commercial purposes.*

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

Intro

This short tutorial will help you set up your own Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) on your own LND Node that is not using Umbrel. If you are a user of Umbrel, you should use their version of NWC.

Requirements

You need to have a working installation of LND with established channels and connectivity to the internet. NWC in itself is fairly light and will not consume a lot of resources. You will also want to ensure that you have a working installation of Docker, since we will use a docker image to run NWC.

• Working installation of LND (and all of its required components)
• Docker (with Docker compose)

Installation

For the purpose of this tutorial, we will assume that you have your lnd/bitcoind running under user bitcoin with home directory /home/bitcoin. We will also assume that you already have a running installation of Docker (or docker.io).

Prepare and verify

git version - we will need git to get the latest version of NWC. docker version - should execute successfully and show the currently installed version of Docker. docker compose version - same as before, but the version will be different. ss -tupln | grep 10009- should produce the following output: tcp LISTEN 0 4096 0.0.0.0:10009 0.0.0.0: tcp LISTEN 0 4096 [::]:10009 [::]:**

For things to work correctly, your Docker should be version 20.10.0 or later. If you have an older version, consider installing a new one using instructions here: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/

Create folders & download NWC

In the home directory of your LND/bitcoind user, create a new folder, e.g., "nwc" mkdir /home/bitcoin/nwc. Change to that directory cd /home/bitcoin/nwc and clone the NWC repository: git clone https://github.com/getAlby/nostr-wallet-connect.git

Creating the Docker image

In this step, we will create a Docker image that you will use to run NWC.

• Change directory to nostr-wallet-connect: cd nostr-wallet-connect
• Run command to build Docker image: docker build -t nwc:$(date +'%Y%m%d%H%M') -t nwc:latest . (there is a dot at the end)
• The last line of the output (after a few minutes) should look like => => naming to docker.io/library/nwc:latest
• nwc:latest is the name of the Docker image with a tag which you should note for use later.

Creating docker-compose.yml and necessary data directories

• Let's create a directory that will hold your non-volatile data (DB): mkdir data
• Indocker-compose.ymlfile, there are fields that you want to replace (<> comments) and port “4321” that you want to make sure is open (check with ss -tupln | grep 4321which should return nothing).
• Create docker-compose.ymlfile with the following content, and make sure to update fields that have <> comment:

version: "3.8" services: nwc: image: nwc:latest volumes: - ./data:/data - ~/.lnd:/lnd:ro ports: - "4321:8080" extra_hosts: - "localhost:host-gateway" environment: NOSTR_PRIVKEY: <use "openssl rand -hex 32" to generate a fresh key and place it inside ""> LN_BACKEND_TYPE: "LND" LND_ADDRESS: localhost:10009 LND_CERT_FILE: "/lnd/tls.cert" LND_MACAROON_FILE: "/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/admin.macaroon" DATABASE_URI: "/data/nostr-wallet-connect.db" COOKIE_SECRET: <use "openssl rand -hex 32" to generate fresh secret and place it inside ""> PORT: 8080 restart: always stop_grace_period: 1m

Starting and testing

Now that you have everything ready, it is time to start the container and test.

• While you are in the nwcdirectory (important), execute the following command and check the log output, docker compose up
• You should see container logs while it is starting, and it should not exit if everything went well.
• At this point, you should be able to go to http://<ip of the host where nwc is running>:4321 and get to the interface of NWC
• To stop the test run of NWC, simply press Ctrl-C , and it will shut the container down.
• To start NWC permanently, you should execute docker compose up -d , “-d” tells Docker to detach from the session.
• To check currently running NWC logs, execute docker compose logs to run it in tail mode add -f to the end.
• To stop the container, execute docker compose down

That's all, just follow the instructions in the web interface to get started.

Updating

As with any software, you should expect fixes and updates that you would need to perform periodically. You could automate this, but it falls outside of the scope of this tutorial. Since we already have all of the necessary configuration in place, the update execution is fairly simple.

• Change directory to the clone of the git repository, cd /home/bitcoin/nwc/nostr-wallet-connect
• Run command to build Docker image: docker build -t nwc:$(date +'%Y%m%d%H%M') -t nwc:latest . (there is a dot at the end)
• Change directory back one level cd ..
• Restart (stop and start) the docker compose config docker compose down && docker compose up -d
• Done! Optionally you may want to check the logs: docker compose logs

@ 91687725:a0de48ea

こんにちは。Kateです。

最近ちょっとお休みしていますが、日本でビットコインを専門に扱うDiamond Hands Magazineに寄稿したりしてます。

私がビットコインと出会ったのは2011年、まだビットコイン利用者はとても少なかった時代です。たまたま身内にビットコイン界隈の人がいました。もしかしたら今でいうビト妻だったかも？

まだビットコインが1ドル以下でおもちゃみたいな存在だった頃に知ったわけですが、その後勢いづいて、100ドル、1000ドルと価値が上がっていきました。

それを見て、ビットコインを少しずつ買って貯めておけば、将来リタイヤの蓄えになるかもと思ってお小遣い程度のビットコインを積立してました。でも、アクシデントで失くしちゃったんですよね。

その後、身内のごたごたで自分の生活が天地がひっくり返るように一変し、気がつけばカナダでただお金がないアジア系移民シングルマザー、しかも周りに家族が誰もいないという、非常にマイノリティな立場になりました。

人生、何事も経験。一度ビットコインを失くし、傷心もあり、数年はビットコインから離れました。でも気がつけばビットコインは冬の時代を終えて、また元気になっていたんですね。自分は海外でひとり子育てに追われ、なんとか生きてた感じですが！

ビットコインが500ドルくらいになっていた時に困窮していた私は、ふとペーパーウォレットと呼ばれた当時の携帯可能ウォレット？に0.5btc 残っていたのを発見して速攻換金しましたね。悔やまれます。

その後、2017年頃、カナダで当時大手の割と使い勝手のいい取引所があることを知って、再度ビットコイン貯蓄にチャレンジしました。2年ほどで、ほぼ1ビットコインと10ETHくらいあったんですけどね、今度は取引所の代表者が行方不明になり、またもやビットコインを失くしました。

ふつうだったら、もうやめますよね。2回もなくしたら。

けれど、自分はかつてインターネットが始まったころのワクワクを経験していました。90年代半ば、新宿にできたばかりのインターネットカフェで、GIFがかろうじて表示できるグレーのブラウザ画面と対面しました。世界を変える技術を体験した時の感動は今でも忘れられません。

（こう書くと立派なオバサンなのがバレちゃいますね。ビットコインネイティブ世代の中では年長者）

それから15年以上たって、初めてサトシナカモトのホワイトペーパーを読んだ時に、同じ衝撃を受けたのです。初めて実用化されたインターネット上で世界の誰とでも送り合えるマネー。その可能性は無限∞。

そのビットコインの進化を、実際に買ってみたり、使ってみたり、なくしたりしつつ、より深く知ろうと付き合ってきた自分は、いつの間にかビットコインを通して世の中のいろいろを見て考えるようになりました。

ビットコインが生まれ、実験段階を経て、すでに15年が経ちます。けれども、ビットコインは今でも多くの人から最も誤解されている技術・発明のように見えます。ここまで来たら、自分が生きている間に、ビットコインが世界とどう関わっていくのか見届けたいと思います！

そして、私自身がビットコインを知ることで発見した世界や新しい価値観を、誰かに伝えられたらいいなと願って、このブログをスタートすることにしました。

今回は自己紹介という形になりましたが、私がビットコインを通して学んだことや気づいたことをこれから少しづつアップしてみます！

週1くらいのペースで投稿が目標です。よろしくお願いします。

@ 1a48e74d:02c0e00f

Welcome back ya'll hope you are doing well this week. Today I wanted to talk about why Bitcoin represents a dawn of a new age in property ownership. Before you spit out your coffee and walk away, hear me out. Bitcoin and real estate have a few things in common. The first is property rights.

When you are the owner of a building with your name on the dotted line and whatnot, you are the sole owner of that property. No one can tell you what to do with it, and no one has a claim to what you own. You are free to do what you wish. Property rights are sacrosanct and immutable similar to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin confers upon the owner the same property right protections as owning a piece of real estate. Once you own it, you are the sole owner of that Bitcoin. No one can tell you what to do with it. No one else has a claim to your Bitcoin. You are free to do with it what you wish.

Bitcoin and real estate are similar in terms of built-in scarcity. There is only 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be created, and you can't print more land. This is why owning real estate has been such a good investment since the beginning of time. Buying a piece of land and "HODLING" for decades will generate a substantial return on your investment.

This same buy and hodl strategy apply to Bitcoin as well. If you bought Bitcoin back in 2009, you would be a multi-millionaire right now.

If you invested $1000 back in 2011 when Bitcoin was trading at $3.50, you would have turned that $1000 into $15.6 million if you held on to it for ten years. Just sayin.

You have to reframe your thinking to understand what is going on. We are living in the 21st-century gold rush, and you have an opportunity to stake your claim to the soundest money on Earth with a few taps on your phone. Never in the history of the world has the plebs like us had the ability to front-run a monetary revolution.

Bitcoin is freedom from oppression. Bitcoin restores your sovereignty. Bitcoin makes you fuckable, and the powers that be know it. They are afraid they will lose control if too many people catch on too quickly, which is why large institutions are rushing to offer Bitcoin services or buy them and keep them on their balance sheet.

Bitcoin won't stay this cheap forever. $100-300k Bitcoin is in the cards over the next few years. I don't want you guys to miss out on this.

All you have to do is buy Bitcoin and hold. It's that simple. FYI trying out the new obsidian writer for nostr notes!

Bitcoin #nostr

@ d2e97f73:ea9a4d1b

There’s a lot of conversation around the #TwitterFiles. Here’s my take, and thoughts on how to fix the issues identified.

I’ll start with the principles I’ve come to believe…based on everything I’ve learned and experienced through my past actions as a Twitter co-founder and lead:

1. Social media must be resilient to corporate and government control.
2. Only the original author may remove content they produce.
3. Moderation is best implemented by algorithmic choice.

The Twitter when I led it and the Twitter of today do not meet any of these principles. This is my fault alone, as I completely gave up pushing for them when an activist entered our stock in 2020. I no longer had hope of achieving any of it as a public company with no defense mechanisms (lack of dual-class shares being a key one). I planned my exit at that moment knowing I was no longer right for the company.

The biggest mistake I made was continuing to invest in building tools for us to manage the public conversation, versus building tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves. This burdened the company with too much power, and opened us to significant outside pressure (such as advertising budgets). I generally think companies have become far too powerful, and that became completely clear to me with our suspension of Trump’s account. As I’ve said before, we did the right thing for the public company business at the time, but the wrong thing for the internet and society. Much more about this here: https://twitter.com/jack/status/1349510769268850690

I continue to believe there was no ill intent or hidden agendas, and everyone acted according to the best information we had at the time. Of course mistakes were made. But if we had focused more on tools for the people using the service rather than tools for us, and moved much faster towards absolute transparency, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation of needing a fresh reset (which I am supportive of). Again, I own all of this and our actions, and all I can do is work to make it right.

Back to the principles. Of course governments want to shape and control the public conversation, and will use every method at their disposal to do so, including the media. And the power a corporation wields to do the same is only growing. It’s critical that the people have tools to resist this, and that those tools are ultimately owned by the people. Allowing a government or a few corporations to own the public conversation is a path towards centralized control.

I’m a strong believer that any content produced by someone for the internet should be permanent until the original author chooses to delete it. It should be always available and addressable. Content takedowns and suspensions should not be possible. Doing so complicates important context, learning, and enforcement of illegal activity. There are significant issues with this stance of course, but starting with this principle will allow for far better solutions than we have today. The internet is trending towards a world were storage is “free” and infinite, which places all the actual value on how to discover and see content.

Which brings me to the last principle: moderation. I don’t believe a centralized system can do content moderation globally. It can only be done through ranking and relevance algorithms, the more localized the better. But instead of a company or government building and controlling these solely, people should be able to build and choose from algorithms that best match their criteria, or not have to use any at all. A “follow” action should always deliver every bit of content from the corresponding account, and the algorithms should be able to comb through everything else through a relevance lens that an individual determines. There’s a default “G-rated” algorithm, and then there’s everything else one can imagine.

The only way I know of to truly live up to these 3 principles is a free and open protocol for social media, that is not owned by a single company or group of companies, and is resilient to corporate and government influence. The problem today is that we have companies who own both the protocol and discovery of content. Which ultimately puts one person in charge of what’s available and seen, or not. This is by definition a single point of failure, no matter how great the person, and over time will fracture the public conversation, and may lead to more control by governments and corporations around the world.

I believe many companies can build a phenomenal business off an open protocol. For proof, look at both the web and email. The biggest problem with these models however is that the discovery mechanisms are far too proprietary and fixed instead of open or extendable. Companies can build many profitable services that complement rather than lock down how we access this massive collection of conversation. There is no need to own or host it themselves.

Many of you won’t trust this solution just because it’s me stating it. I get it, but that’s exactly the point. Trusting any one individual with this comes with compromises, not to mention being way too heavy a burden for the individual. It has to be something akin to what bitcoin has shown to be possible. If you want proof of this, get out of the US and European bubble of the bitcoin price fluctuations and learn how real people are using it for censorship resistance in Africa and Central/South America.

I do still wish for Twitter, and every company, to become uncomfortably transparent in all their actions, and I wish I forced more of that years ago. I do believe absolute transparency builds trust. As for the files, I wish they were released Wikileaks-style, with many more eyes and interpretations to consider. And along with that, commitments of transparency for present and future actions. I’m hopeful all of this will happen. There’s nothing to hide…only a lot to learn from. The current attacks on my former colleagues could be dangerous and doesn’t solve anything. If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions, or lack thereof.

As far as the free and open social media protocol goes, there are many competing projects: @bluesky is one with the AT Protocol, nostr another, Mastodon yet another, Matrix yet another…and there will be many more. One will have a chance at becoming a standard like HTTP or SMTP. This isn’t about a “decentralized Twitter.” This is a focused and urgent push for a foundational core technology standard to make social media a native part of the internet. I believe this is critical both to Twitter’s future, and the public conversation’s ability to truly serve the people, which helps hold governments and corporations accountable. And hopefully makes it all a lot more fun and informative again.

💸🛠️🌐 To accelerate open internet and protocol work, I’m going to open a new category of #startsmall grants: “open internet development.” It will start with a focus of giving cash and equity grants to engineering teams working on social media and private communication protocols, bitcoin, and a web-only mobile OS. I’ll make some grants next week, starting with $1mm/yr to Signal. Please let me know other great candidates for this money.

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

@ 361d3e1e:50bc10a8

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/09/04/is-france-preparing-to-seize-peoples-savings-to-avoid-bankruptcy/

Is France preparing to seize people's savings to avoid bankruptcy?

politics #europe #banks #france #savings #cyprus

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

Lesson 2: Functions and Loops

Functions: Your Own Commands

Functions are reusable blocks of code that perform specific tasks. They're like teaching your cat a new trick:

```javascript function meow(times) { for (var i = 0; i < times; i++) { console.log("Meow!"); } }

meow(3); // This will print "Meow!" three times ```

Built-in Functions

JavaScript comes with many built-in functions. For example, console.log() is a function that prints things to the console:

javascript console.log("I'm a cat!");

Loops: Repeating Tasks

Loops allow you to repeat a task multiple times without writing the same code over and over. It's like telling your cat to chase its tail for a specific number of rounds:

javascript for (var i = 0; i < 5; i++) { console.log("Chasing tail, round " + (i + 1)); }

This will print "Chasing tail, round X" five times, where X goes from 1 to 5.

@ f8e6c643:03328ca9

Quality, authentic, original human artistic expression is always in demand. It has always been in demand, and it will continue to be in demand even beyond the age of AI. The internet today calls it “content.” It is how we seek to encapsulate and communicate ideas more richly, and it comes in various forms including written, audio, and visual.

Anyone who creates content in any form knows that it is time consuming and costly to create and produce good content, especially to do so consistently. However, because of digital distribution methods, once released that content that was so costly to create is suddenly infinitely RE-producible with perfect fidelity for very little cost. The conundrum for artists/creators is that even though the demand for their work exists, and even though that work is costly to create, each final product they produce is infinite in supply as soon as they release it in digital form. Infinity has no value.

Starting with the presumption that demand exists for art, and that it is reasonable for an artist to want to afford things like food, housing, and clothes, how do you make the work of creating content economically sustainable for those creating it? We find value in scarcity, and the scarce resources in the equation of content creation are ultimately the time, talent, and skill of the person doing the creating.

People often want what a particular artist can produce. Perhaps it’s the artist’s skill, style, and precision; or perhaps it’s the artist’s particular interpretation and personality they find valuable. The skill, time, and talent/personality employed to create artistic expressions are valuable, and their supply cannot be easily reproduced/replicated even though the individual manifestations of them (the works of art) can be. This is, ultimately, what creators must figure out how to monetize if they are to make their work economically sustainable.

So how much is an artist’s skill worth? How much is their time or their talent worth? How do you put a price tag on personality? Probably nobody, especially the artist, can really answer that objectively. However, with #value4value the consumers of an artist’s content can subjectively and individually decide for themselves how much it is worth to them.

Nostr and Bitcoin give creators of every type of content the opportunity to directly own and control the distribution and monetization of their time, skill, and talent, more so than any other service or platform on the Internet. The #value4value approach to monetizing that content allows consumers to immediately have access to a creator’s work, and to individually place a subjective value on what it provides to them. The approach allows artists to focus on the work of creating art and building a reputation and relationship with their audience instead of worrying about how to control access to their work. And by using Nostr and Bitcoin, this approach allows artists to be free of the arbitrary rules and manipulation they face on other corporate ad-driven platforms.

If you are a digital content creator, I think #value4value is worth giving a chance. The alternatives are increasingly less promising.

@ 504b9774:b00545df

These are the questions I have surrounding #Bitcoin.

asknostr

I have read through more than set of documentation but the details are starting to get fuzzy. My goal for now is to purchase Bitcoin and keep it safe and know how to recover it if something happens to the wallet it's in. I can keep learning more later.

I posed these questions to another group, but I had to ask twice and the answers I received were not detailed (in other words, outside of saying "Yes" to question 1, my questions below weren't really answered.)

1. Is it true that as along as I have my passphrase that I can import the funds of the first application to a second, completely different application?

2. Which hardware wallet is best for Bitcoin only? Bitbox, Ledger Nano S, Trezor Safe 5, or something else? Should I buy one or two? I opened a Phantom wallet for now. Ledger Nano S works with that one, but I heard there might be security issues with it? The reviews I've read online seem conflicting. I have a USB-c port on the laptop.

3. Is all Bitcoin purchased with a debit card attached to a fiat bank considered KYC Bitcoin or just the BTC purchased through exchanges?

4. Has anyone purchased more than 1k w/a debit card from Phantom and then be able to move that to another wallet without issue?

5. If I'm presented with multiple payment options for using a debit card (in any wallet) when buying more BTC, should I always choose moon or moon pay?

6. Should I move over to Strike if I will be purchasing regularly?

7. What happens to the bitcoin if the hardware wallet never turns on again?

I also read about non-KYC BTC but those websites just were kind of overwhelming and confusing. I've read some basic documents/articles on Bitcoin from a few folks on Nostr and from the web plus a few other things, but the material combined doesn't really answer the questions I have above.

Also - please do NOT zap this article/post because my node is down and disconnected again.

Thank you all.

@ 8cb60e21:5f2deaea

Lesson 3: Arrays, Objects, and Callbacks

Arrays: Lists of Things

Arrays are ordered lists of values. They're perfect for storing multiple related items, like a list of your favorite cat toys:

javascript var catToys = ["mouse", "ball", "laser pointer"]; console.log(catToys[0]); // Prints "mouse"

Objects: Grouping Related Information

Objects allow you to group related information together. They're like detailed profiles for each of your cat friends:

```javascript var myCat = { name: "Fluffy", age: 3, favoriteFood: "tuna" };

console.log(myCat.name); // Prints "Fluffy" ```

Callbacks: Doing Things Later

Callbacks are functions that are executed after another function has finished. They're useful for handling asynchronous operations, like waiting for your cat to finish eating before giving it a treat:

```javascript function feedCat(callback) { console.log("Feeding the cat..."); setTimeout(function() { console.log("Cat has finished eating!"); callback(); }, 2000); }

feedCat(function() { console.log("Time for a treat!"); }); ```

This code simulates feeding a cat, waiting 2 seconds, and then giving it a treat.

Remember, learning JavaScript is a journey. Take your time, practice regularly, and soon you'll be coding like a pro cat!

@ 82341f88:fbfbe6a2

There’s a lot of conversation around the #TwitterFiles. Here’s my take, and thoughts on how to fix the issues identified.

I’ll start with the principles I’ve come to believe…based on everything I’ve learned and experienced through my past actions as a Twitter co-founder and lead:

1. Social media must be resilient to corporate and government control.
2. Only the original author may remove content they produce.
3. Moderation is best implemented by algorithmic choice.

The Twitter when I led it and the Twitter of today do not meet any of these principles. This is my fault alone, as I completely gave up pushing for them when an activist entered our stock in 2020. I no longer had hope of achieving any of it as a public company with no defense mechanisms (lack of dual-class shares being a key one). I planned my exit at that moment knowing I was no longer right for the company.

The biggest mistake I made was continuing to invest in building tools for us to manage the public conversation, versus building tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves. This burdened the company with too much power, and opened us to significant outside pressure (such as advertising budgets). I generally think companies have become far too powerful, and that became completely clear to me with our suspension of Trump’s account. As I’ve said before, we did the right thing for the public company business at the time, but the wrong thing for the internet and society. Much more about this here: https://twitter.com/jack/status/1349510769268850690

I continue to believe there was no ill intent or hidden agendas, and everyone acted according to the best information we had at the time. Of course mistakes were made. But if we had focused more on tools for the people using the service rather than tools for us, and moved much faster towards absolute transparency, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation of needing a fresh reset (which I am supportive of). Again, I own all of this and our actions, and all I can do is work to make it right.

Back to the principles. Of course governments want to shape and control the public conversation, and will use every method at their disposal to do so, including the media. And the power a corporation wields to do the same is only growing. It’s critical that the people have tools to resist this, and that those tools are ultimately owned by the people. Allowing a government or a few corporations to own the public conversation is a path towards centralized control.

I’m a strong believer that any content produced by someone for the internet should be permanent until the original author chooses to delete it. It should be always available and addressable. Content takedowns and suspensions should not be possible. Doing so complicates important context, learning, and enforcement of illegal activity. There are significant issues with this stance of course, but starting with this principle will allow for far better solutions than we have today. The internet is trending towards a world were storage is “free” and infinite, which places all the actual value on how to discover and see content.

Which brings me to the last principle: moderation. I don’t believe a centralized system can do content moderation globally. It can only be done through ranking and relevance algorithms, the more localized the better. But instead of a company or government building and controlling these solely, people should be able to build and choose from algorithms that best match their criteria, or not have to use any at all. A “follow” action should always deliver every bit of content from the corresponding account, and the algorithms should be able to comb through everything else through a relevance lens that an individual determines. There’s a default “G-rated” algorithm, and then there’s everything else one can imagine.

The only way I know of to truly live up to these 3 principles is a free and open protocol for social media, that is not owned by a single company or group of companies, and is resilient to corporate and government influence. The problem today is that we have companies who own both the protocol and discovery of content. Which ultimately puts one person in charge of what’s available and seen, or not. This is by definition a single point of failure, no matter how great the person, and over time will fracture the public conversation, and may lead to more control by governments and corporations around the world.

I believe many companies can build a phenomenal business off an open protocol. For proof, look at both the web and email. The biggest problem with these models however is that the discovery mechanisms are far too proprietary and fixed instead of open or extendable. Companies can build many profitable services that complement rather than lock down how we access this massive collection of conversation. There is no need to own or host it themselves.

Many of you won’t trust this solution just because it’s me stating it. I get it, but that’s exactly the point. Trusting any one individual with this comes with compromises, not to mention being way too heavy a burden for the individual. It has to be something akin to what bitcoin has shown to be possible. If you want proof of this, get out of the US and European bubble of the bitcoin price fluctuations and learn how real people are using it for censorship resistance in Africa and Central/South America.

I do still wish for Twitter, and every company, to become uncomfortably transparent in all their actions, and I wish I forced more of that years ago. I do believe absolute transparency builds trust. As for the files, I wish they were released Wikileaks-style, with many more eyes and interpretations to consider. And along with that, commitments of transparency for present and future actions. I’m hopeful all of this will happen. There’s nothing to hide…only a lot to learn from. The current attacks on my former colleagues could be dangerous and doesn’t solve anything. If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions, or lack thereof.

As far as the free and open social media protocol goes, there are many competing projects: @bluesky is one with the AT Protocol, nostr another, Mastodon yet another, Matrix yet another…and there will be many more. One will have a chance at becoming a standard like HTTP or SMTP. This isn’t about a “decentralized Twitter.” This is a focused and urgent push for a foundational core technology standard to make social media a native part of the internet. I believe this is critical both to Twitter’s future, and the public conversation’s ability to truly serve the people, which helps hold governments and corporations accountable. And hopefully makes it all a lot more fun and informative again.

💸🛠️🌐 To accelerate open internet and protocol work, I’m going to open a new category of #startsmall grants: “open internet development.” It will start with a focus of giving cash and equity grants to engineering teams working on social media and private communication protocols, bitcoin, and a web-only mobile OS. I’ll make some grants next week, starting with $1mm/yr to Signal. Please let me know other great candidates for this money.

@ 4c96d763:80c3ee30

Changes

William Casarin (7):

• debug: add subid debugging
• fix bug where it was subscribing too many times
• arg: add -c profile{,:pubkey} arg column
• env: add some test npubs
• arg: add -c universe column
• appease clippy
• fonts: add thai support

pushed to notedeck:refs/heads/master

@ 8d34bd24:414be32b

Today is the official publishing day of this post. I already tried scheduling this post in another editor that went out early.

I’ve mentioned multiple times that I feel our time left is short and that the rapture and the tribulation are coming soon. I feel it with every ounce of my being. I see it in the rush to evil around us. I see Biblical prophecy coming to fulfillment and technologies that could not be fathomed 2,000 years ago coming into being in a way that will make prophecy possible. The question is, what do we do with the time left to us?

Don’t Be a Foolish Virgin

Matthew gives an analogy of believers waiting for Christs return:

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

Christians have been waiting for around 2,000 years for Christ’s return. It is easy to get drowsy and begin to sleep due to the delay to His return, but we are called to be ready. “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.” (Luke 12:40) Our wait may be long or short, but we are supposed to live our lives like he will arrive today. We don’t want to miss out on joining Him at His return, but we also don’t want to have to face Him knowing that we were not focused on what He had called us to do. We don’t want to admit that we didn’t share the gospel to that friend, that we didn’t stand up for the truth when the crowd was speaking contrary to the word of God, or that we acted in an unloving way to fellow believers or to the lost.

The Bible clearly tells us that we “do not know the day nor the hour,” but that doesn’t mean that He has not given us signs that the time is short.

What Should We Be Doing?

If Jesus is coming soon, how should we spend our time? What should we be doing? Should we just sit back and wait?

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-13)

The Bible is clear that we should work. This not only means that we should not quit our jobs, but should continue working as we have been doing, but it also means we should put time and effort into kingdom work. God has given each one of us a purpose and a job to do. We should study His word and pray and keep our eyes open so we don’t miss out on what He intends as our purpose. Another analogy is given in Matthew:

“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:14-29)

God has given each of us different skills, gifts, and opportunities. He wants us to make the most of them. If God gave you skill in business, you can use your wealth to fund ministries, churches, and missionaries. If God has gifted you with the ability to teach, you can disciple many to grow in their faith and knowledge of God. If God has brought you into a relationship with someone influential, you can share the Gospel with them and be used to draw them into saving faith in Jesus. Whatever skills, gifts, and opportunities God has given to you, you need to make the most of them. You need to grow and make the most of what God has given you.

What is the Best Use of Our Time and Money?

God wants us to shine a light for Him. He wants us to make a difference. There are many ways to do this and we can’t do them all. We have to pick and chose what is God’s will and what will make the best use of what God has given us.

There are lots of good things we can do, but what is the best?

I used to focus on prepping to be able to provide for my family and others if times get bad. That was good, but was it best? I used to grow a garden and grow healthy food. That was good, but was it the best? I used to be highly involved in politics and worked hard to support and elect godly men and women into government positions where they could have a positive influence on our culture and our country. That was good, but was it the best?

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

The best way to judge which actions are best is to see which actions have an eternal influence and to look and see what God is doing and to join His work. The difference between gold & silver versus wood, hay, and straw is the gold & silver can survive fire. Whether something is good or best depends on whether the action makes a difference in eternity. Providing for my family and friend’s physical needs and health is good, but it doesn’t make an eternal difference. Electing Godly officials makes life here on Earth better, but does it actually make a difference eternally? Probably not.

What does make a difference? Sharing the Gospel with others makes an eternal difference. Standing up for the truth, especially the spiritual truths from the Bible, makes an eternal difference. Writing a book or a blog sharing the truths of the Bible and Jesus makes an eternal difference. I’ve tried to focus my time on this type of activity more than the former. I don’t want one soul to go to Hell because I was too busy to share the Gospel. I don’t want one Christian to regret their life on Earth because I was too busy to disciple them. I don’t want to be like the man who received the single talent and buried it in the ground, who, when facing his master, was told, “You wicked, lazy slave.”

What Is Most Important?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

What are the most important things in our lives? The most important things are people.

• Some people in our lives have never heard about Jesus. We need to share the gospel with them.
• Some people in our lives are hurting and need to be helped and encouraged and taught to trust in Jesus.
• Some people in our lives are new Christians or just immature Christians, who have trusted in Jesus, but haven’t grown much since salvation. We need to teach and disciple them to grow in their understanding of God and who He is. We need to build up their faith. We need to encourage them to study the Bible.
• Some people in our lives know God and His word, but are unsure how to live out their faith and share it with others. We need to encourage them and train them, so they can multiply their faith among others in their lives.

What are you doing to make an eternal difference in service to our Lord Jesus Christ? Are you one of the lazy, unprepared virgins? Are you hiding the gifts God gave you in the ground or shining a light that can be seen by everyone around you? Are you so busy doing good, that you don’t see God’s best?

Are you excited about meeting Jesus in the air at the rapture of the Church? I am! I hope you are, too.

Trust Jesus.

your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

@ b0510a0c:12716ced

On April 24, 2012, Erik Voorhees changed everything about Bitcoin with the launch of Satoshi Dice:

a game that captivated users and intensified debates about Bitcoin's evolution and the network's ability to handle an increasing volume of transactions.

At that time, Satoshi Dice allowed thousands of players to bet on digital dice rolls, leading to a MASSIVE influx of transactions that filled the blocks of the blockchain.

📈 Success of Satoshi Dice:

Satoshi Dice achieved phenomenal success, attracting millions of users with its simplicity. Players flocked in, bets piled up, and blocks filled up.

Erik Voorhees effectively leveraged Bitcoin's microtransactions, quickly saturating the blocks with these. This was a testament to the game's popularity, but also a source of tension within the community.

Within months, Satoshi Dice became the most popular service on the Bitcoin network, boosting its usage and virality.

Players appreciated the "provable fairness" aspect of the game, where they could verify the transparency and fairness of each bet.

🚫 Criticism and Controversy:

However, this success was not without criticism.

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts viewed the massive influx of transactions generated by the game unfavorably. For them, these sometimes trivial transactions "spammed" the blockchain, clogging the blocks and increasing transaction fees for all users. Does this sound familiar?

The network, designed to handle about seven transactions per second, quickly reached its maximum capacity, causing validation delays and "high" fees.

⚔️ BlockSize Wars:

The BlockSize wars, which took place mainly between 2016 and 2017, were a technical and ideological conflict centered on block size and scalability solutions.

While Satoshi Dice was not the sole cause, the game significantly contributed to the emergence of this event by helping to popularize Bitcoin among new users and generating substantial transaction volume.

As Bitcoin adoption grew, the network faced intense pressure, leading to block saturation and rising transaction fees. On one side, some advocated for increasing block size to allow more transactions, leading to the creation of Bitcoin Cash in August 2017. On the other, proponents of solutions like SegWit pushed for improvements without compromising decentralization.

🔧 Adoption of SegWit:

Erik Voorhees expressed his support for the SegWit2x proposal, which aimed to improve network scalability by combining the implementation of SegWit with an increase in block size.

Segregated Witness (SegWit) was adopted in August 2017, allowing transaction data to be separated from signatures. This reorganization not only increased transaction processing capacity but also paved the way for the development of the Lightning Network, a layer 2 solution enabling instant and low-cost transactions.

SegWit was a crucial response to the challenges posed by network congestion, which had been exacerbated by Bitcoin's growing adoption and the emergence of popular applications like Satoshi Dice.

⚡ SegWit and Lightning:

The adoption of SegWit helped resolve blockchain congestion issues, while the Lightning Network, a layer 2 solution, facilitated fast and low-cost transactions.

Together, these innovations not only addressed technical challenges but also renewed enthusiasm for games and other applications on Bitcoin, paving the way for a new wave of development.

🎲 Nostr Dice:

Today, as we reflect on the impact of Satoshi Dice, a new project emerges: nostr:npub1nstrdc6z4y9xadyj4z2zfecu6zt05uvlmd08ea0vchcvfrjvv7yq8lns84

This modern clone of the original game is built on Nostr, a decentralized communication protocol, and Lightning, paying homage to the past while offering an enhanced gaming experience that does not impact layer 1 congestion!

From a game that caused Bitcoin congestion to its rebirth on Lightning, which it helped to bring about, the circle is complete!

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

I do this every year, and every year I get at least one correct. Last year, I got exactly one correct and unfortunately it was the surefire prediction that not all of them would be right, i.e., I got really zero correct. But that just goes to show how bold they were. These aren’t layups, more like three pointers and half-court shots. I fared much better the previous two years, so hopefully these will get back on track.

(Actually, probably better to just link to all of them for full transparency: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.) I’m not going to argue it matters, or that anyone even clicks through on these, but I want to pat myself on the back for being so organized in archiving my old work.)

1. Stefon Diggs leads the Texans in targets, catches and receiving yards

   Right now, he’s getting drafted more than a round behind Nico Collins and less than a round ahead of Tank Dell. Diggs is 30, but he was one of the league’s best receivers until halfway through last year when the Bills made an offensive play-calling change. Moreover, Diggs is getting paid $22.5 million, so the Texans obviously don’t think he’s washed up, and he’s also in a contract year.

2. CJ Stroud leads the NFL is passing yards

   This is +600 on DraftKings, so the real odds are probably north of 8:1. Stroud adds Diggs to his receiving corps, doesn’t run much and heads into Year 2.

3. Roman Wilson (ADP 211) has more receptions than George Pickens (ADP 47)

   Pickens is a boom or bust downfield playmaker, not high-target alpha, and Wilson is a good fit for the slot for the Steelers new QBs. Think Martavis Bryant not Antonio Brown. (Not that Wilson is Brown!) Van Jefferson isn’t good, and someone will need to fill the void. Moreover, because Pittsburgh has new QBs, neither has an existing rapport with the incumbent Pickens.

4. DeAndre Hopkins (ADP 82) out produces Calvin Ridley (ADP 54) in PPR

   Hopkins wasn’t terrible last year, has a rapport with Will Levis and is a future Hall of Famer who can still run routes. Ridley is already 29 and is just a guy outside of his monster season in 2020.

5. The Giants will field a top-10 fantasy defense.

   I’ve been crushed by my homer bold predictions in the past, but they added Brian Burns to a rush that already had Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, the offense should be on the field more and generate some leads with a real playmaking receiver in Malik Nabers.

6. One of the following Year 2 receivers will finish in the top-15 PPR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jayden Reed, Jordan Addison, Dontayvion Wicks, Michael Wilson, Josh Downs, Andrei Iosivas, Quentin Johnston, Marvin Mims, Jalin Hyatt

   I make this prediction every year, and it often pans out as Year 2 is when receivers typically make the leap. I left out Tank Dell because he’s now got a fifth-round ADP, as well as the obvious ones: Zay Flowers, Rashee Rice and Puka Nacua.

7. Rome Odunze (ADP 77) will outproduce Xavier Worthy (ADP 59)

   Both receivers enter crowded situations, and while Worthy’s is far better, he’s also got essentially the same skill-set as teammate Marquise Brown. Moreover, Andy Reid rarely entrusts rookies with large roles, especially early on. Odunze is 6-3, 215 and has the pedigree of a true NFL alpha, while Worthy weighs only 165 pounds at 5-11. Finally, Patrick Mahomes already has an established rapport with both Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, while Odunze gets a more open competition with the Bears veteran WRs, given all three will play with Caleb Williams for the first time.

8. Dalvin Cook will lead the Cowboys in rushing yards

   Cook is 29 and looked beyond “cooked” last year on the Jets, but his 3.3 YPC was on a small sample (67 carries), and prior to that, he’d been very good for the Vikings. At the very least he should have fresh legs, and he’d only need to beat out the ancient Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle. (Of course, Cook would have to be promoted from the practice squad first, so I really should hedge and make the prediction “neither Elliott, nor Dowdle will lead the Cowboys in rushing yards,” but I’ll push it and say it’s Cook.)

9. Jonathan Taylor (ADP12 ) will lead the NFL in rushing yards.

   He’s got little competition in the Indy backfield and a running QB who should open lanes for him. Draft Kings has him at +600, so his real odds are probably about 10:1, but I’d take him over the favored Christian McCaffrey (age/mileage) and all the other backs who are more hybrid types or old (Derrick Henry.)

10. Dalton Kincaid (TE4) will lead all TE in catches

    I guess this is a chalky pick because he and Kelce are both favored at the position at +3000, while Evan Engram is +5000! (I’d way rather bet on Engram at those odds.) But straight up, I’m going with Kincaid who is likely Josh Allen’s de facto No. 1 target with Diggs gone. In his final 11 regular season games Kincaid had 56 catches which prorates to 87 catches over the full year. And rookie tight ends rarely do anything and often make a leap in Year 2.

11. Some of these predictions will be wrong

    No one’s perfect, but you never want to get shut out.

@ 161c8564:2d633b95

Opinion about Freewallet Multi Crypto Wallet (iphone)

FRWT Wallet uses deceptive marketing to lure in unsuspecting users. Once you deposit funds, they’ll block your account under the guise of KYC checks. It’s a fraudulent app—don’t download it!

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

Money Printing in general

First of all, we need to make a distinction between money creation by central banks and fractional-reserve banking. Usually, the term money printing or “printer goes brrrrrr” refers to the creation of new central bank money, which is primarily created by central banks through:

• Open Market Operations: Buying government securities, which injects money into the banking system by increasing bank reserves. This is often done electronically, not by physically printing money.
• Quantitative Easing (QE): Purchasing assets to inject money directly into the economy, aiming to stimulate economic activity by increasing the money supply.
• Setting Reserve Requirements: Although less about creating money, lowering reserve requirements can indirectly influence money creation by allowing banks to lend more, but as of recent policy changes, this has been set to zero in some systems, shifting focus to interest rates.
• Interest on Reserves: By adjusting the interest rate paid on reserves, central banks influence how much banks are willing to lend, thereby indirectly affecting money creation.

This is the first step of money creation, although printing money is usually connected to one of the aforementioned processes, the second step creates much more money through the expansion of credit.

The Mechanics of Fractional-Reserve Banking

The Concept

In fractional-reserve banking, banks accept deposits from customers and only keep a small fraction of these deposits in reserve, lending out the rest. This practice essentially creates new money because:

• Deposits: When you deposit money, say $1,000, into a bank, that money doesn't just sit there.
• Reserves: If the reserve requirement is 10%, the bank keeps $100 as reserves.
• Loans: The remaining $900 can be loaned out. Here's where money creation begins.

Note: Current reserve requirements of the FED (Source) and the ECB (Source) are set at 0% respectively 1%.

Example Calculation of Money Creation

1. Initial Deposit: You deposit $1,000 into Bank A.
2. Bank A's Action:
3. Keeps $10 (1%) as reserve.

4. Loans out $990 to another customer.

5. The $990 Loan: This $990, when spent, might end up in Bank B as someone's deposit.

6. Bank B's Action:
7. Keeps $9.9 (1% of $990) as reserve.

8. Can loan out $980.1

9. Continuation: This process repeats, with each cycle creating new deposits from loans.

The Deposit Multiplier (m) can be calculated as: * m = 1 divided by Reserve Ration = 1 / Reserve Ration

If the reserve ratio is 1%: * m = 1 / 1% = 1 / 0.01 = 100

This means, theoretically, an initial deposit of $1,000 could expand to:

• $1,000 times 100 = $100,000
• However, in practice, this is tempered by factors like cash holdings, loan demand, and banks holding excess reserves.

Historical and Economic Context

• Evolution from Goldsmiths: The system has its roots in the practices of goldsmiths who issued notes for gold deposits, which eventually circulated as money. This practice evolved into the modern banking system where notes (now digital entries) represent claims on money.
• Regulation and Central Banking: Over time, central banks like the Federal Reserve in the U.S. were established to regulate this process, provide stability, and act as lenders of last resort. The Fed's tools include setting reserve requirements, though this has become less relevant with the shift to a 0% reserve requirement.

Criticisms and Alternatives

• Risk of Bank Runs: Critics argue that fractional-reserve banking makes the system vulnerable to bank runs, where too many depositors demand their money back at once, which the bank cannot cover since most of the money is loaned out.
• Vollgeld Initiative and Full-Reserve Banking: Movements like Switzerland's Vollgeld Initiative have proposed shifting to full-reserve banking, where banks must hold 100% of deposits in reserve, preventing them from creating money through lending. However, this would significantly alter how banks operate and make profits. *** Modern Adjustments**: The move to a 0% reserve requirement in the U.S. reflects a shift towards using other monetary policy tools like interest rates on reserves to control money creation and economic stability.

Real-World Implications

• Money Supply Control: While banks create money through loans, central banks like the Federal Reserve influence this through monetary policy, adjusting how much money banks can create.
• Economic Stability: The zero reserve requirement might seem to allow infinite money creation, but in reality, banks are constrained by capital requirements, risk assessments, and economic conditions.

Conclusion

Fractional-reserve banking is a dynamic system that significantly influences economic growth by expanding the money supply through debt. While it allows for economic expansion, it also introduces risks of instability, which central banks attempt to mitigate through various policy tools. Understanding this system helps demystify how money flows and grows within an economy, showcasing both its capacity for economic stimulation and its inherent risks. As we move forward, debates continue on how best to balance these aspects to foster economic stability and growth. In 2009, a new system called Bitcoin emerged that could redefine the rules for money creation.

@ ba4a39ee:df9b4c6b

@ eed76ece:afa98124

As the World continues to create more and more NEW regulations. And as free speech get attacked from every angle. Bonafide business owners, especially importers will need to find ways to migrate sales offerings of goods and services. It feels like the majority of business owners have to really take this seriously.

Obviously so many different methods are used around the World already, but when the upcoming new mandatory vaccinations, vaccine passport travel restrictions really hit, businesses will have to jump to more selling online.

SN, Nostr and other unknown communication methods are Paramount. As usual it feels like no one is taking free speech attacks seriously. The amount of postings my customers around the World do daily on WhatsApp, LINE (Asia), Telegram, Twitter will move where it is allowed to move. Feels like there's an ongoing increase in the attack not just on the West, but from WITHIN the West.

Regardless if you retail, wholesale, manufacture, are an agent we try hard to be pro active on marketing on multiple methods. It seems very logical that in the future Nostr and SN will pick up International users as a way to get their goods posted somehow someway.

Examples

Customers in these regions I deal with primarily communicate with me in Japan, Thailand using LINE and Tik Tok daily. Most of the rest of the World communicate with me using WhatsApp. Certain parts of Eastern Europe and Asia Telegram.

Interestingly my resellers in the USA primarily post on WhatsApp.

Westerners especially Americans seem to have enough money, they are not hungry for making more money, or increasing their business growth, they think everything is ok. "We will always be okay, there will NEVER be a Worldwide depression, recession, deflation, increased restrictions, they will NEVER force a new vaccine on us again, they will NEVER lock business and us down again".

"So I will always have free speech, the politicians told me so".

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/670041

@ 20986fb8:cdac21b3

Welcome to YakiHonne, where we’re excited to introduce you to our innovative Smart Widgets! These interactive components allow you to create dynamic and engaging campaigns directly within social feeds, all without needing any coding skills. Whether you’re new to Smart Widgets or looking to refine your approach, this guide will walk you through the process.

Step 1: Log In

Start by logging into your YakiHonne account. This is your gateway to creating and managing Smart Widgets. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up easily on our website.

Step 2: Create Smart Widgets

Once you’re logged in, it’s time to get creative. Head over to the “Post” section and select “Smart Widget.” Here, you have two options:

Option 1: Create from Scratch If you have a specific idea in mind, you can create your Smart Widget from a blank canvas: • Click on “Create Blank Widget.” • Begin designing by adding your unique content, interactive features, and any elements that match your campaign’s needs. • Customize the appearance and functionality to fit your brand or message.

Option 2: Choose a Template If you’re not sure where to start or want some inspiration, using a template is a great option: • Select “Templates” from the options available. • Browse through a variety of pre-designed templates. • Choose one that fits your campaign’s goal, and customize it to make it your own.

Option 3: Clone a Community Widget If you want to explore what others are doing, you can clone a widget shared by the community: • Click on “Smart Widgets” to see what the community has shared. • Browse through the community’s shared Smart Widgets. • Find a widget you like, and click “Clone.” • Modify the copied widget to create your unique Smart Widget.

Step 3: Explore Smart Widgets Features

Your Smart Widgets can do much more than just display content. Let’s dive into the features you can integrate: • User Engagement Tools: Add polls, surveys, or quizzes to interact with your audience. • BitcoinFi Integration: Enable features that support Bitcoin transactions, like tipping or payment gateways. • Governance Options: Incorporate voting systems to allow users to participate in decision-making processes. • Product Growth: Use widgets to drive user growth through referral programs or viral marketing techniques.

These features are designed to enhance interaction and make your Smart Widget stand out. Feel free to experiment with different combinations to see what works best for your campaign.

Step 4: Publish Your Smart Widgets

After you’ve created and customized your Smart Widget, it’s time to share it with the world: • Preview your widget to ensure everything looks and works as intended. • Click “Post my Smart Widget” to publish it. • Your widget is now live and ready for others to interact with in their social feeds.

Step 5: Add Smart Widgets to Notes

To maximize the impact of your Smart Widget, you can integrate it into your Notes: • Go to the “Notes” section on your dashboard. • Select “Add Smart Widget” and choose the widget you’ve just created. • Publish the note, and now your audience can engage with your Smart Widget directly through the note.

Tips for Success

• Experiment with Features: Don’t hesitate to try out different combinations of features to find what works best for your audience.
• Engage Your Audience: The more interactive and engaging your Smart Widget is, the better the results.
• Monitor Performance: After publishing, keep an eye on how your Smart Widget is performing. Adjust and optimize based on user feedback and engagement metrics.

User Guideline Video Resources

Create from Scratch Choose a Template Clone a Community Widget Full tutorial video

Conclusion

Creating and using Smart Widgets on YakiHonne is a powerful way to engage with your audience, promote your brand, and drive meaningful interactions. With no coding required, the possibilities are endless. Start exploring today, and see how Smart Widgets can take your campaigns to the next level!

Happy creating!

@ 361d3e1e:50bc10a8

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/09/04/more-european-countries-are-choosing-brics-instead-of-the-european-union/

More European countries are choosing BRICS instead of the European Union

europe #turkey #serbia #brics #politics