@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

Planning Alexandria

People keep asking what features nostr:npub1s3ht77dq4zqnya8vjun5jp3p44pr794ru36d0ltxu65chljw8xjqd975wz has planned for #Alexandria, but they're not set in stone because we're an agile project.

What we do have, is lots of tickets on our Kanban boards and a naming scheme, where we use a famous person's last name, to signify the release goals.

Gutenberg v 0.1.0

(after the inventor of the printing press) will contain the features needed to read and write NIP-62 Curated Publications, as well as encompassing the complex infrastructure, architecture, documentation, and personnel we require to make this all run smoothly and look easy.

Euler v 0.2.0

(after a mathematician credited with establishing graph theory) will contain the features for deep-searching, visually exploring, and smartly navigating the data set, wiki page display, annotating and citing the publications, exporting to other formats (like PDF, ePUB, and LaTeX), and commenting/reviewing. To help with the heavy lifting, we will be swapping out the core with our own Nostr SDK called "Aedile".

Defoe v 0.3.0

(after an author who perfected the novel format) will be all about our favorite writers. We will be focusing upon profile data, payment systems, book clubs and communities, and stylesheets.

That is everything we have planned, for the v1.0 edition, and we consider that version to be a true product.

As for after that, a teaser...

@ e034d654:ca919814

I stumbled into nostr end of March 2023. At that point already fully thrown into the hows, whys and whats of Bitcoin, never really interested in social apps, just recently playing around with Lightning, the only experience of which at the time was Muun (😬) and stacker.news custodial wallet.

Fairly inexperienced with technicals other than rough understandings of concepts. A crappy laptop node with a dangling SSD via USB, constantly having to resync to current blockheights whenever I was ready to make an on chain transaction to cold storage. My great success after over two years of delay, and a couple failed attempts.

Something about the breadth of information for nitty gritty specifics, the clash with all the things that I found interesting about Bitcoin, with others equally as focused, kept me interested in Nostr. Plus the lighthearted shit posting to break up plumbing the depths of knowledge appealed to me.

Cut to now. Through the jurisdictional removals and even deaths of LN wallet projects, using mobile LSPs, finding use cases with the numerous cashu implementations, moderate comfortability with NWC strings of various permissions, budgets for seemingly endless apps of Nostr clients, swapping relays, isolated wallets with Alby go for my wife and cousin (I told them both not to put much on there as I'm sure failure is imminent) Alby Hub and Zeus, now fully backended by my own persistently online lightning node. All of it adding to the fluidity of my movement around the protocol.

Nimble.

Gradual progress. Reading through notes and guides posted on Nostr learning little bits, circling back eventually, if even at a time it wasn't clicking for me. Either way. Glad i've stuck to it even if I still barely know what it is I'm doing.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

I am so tired of people trying to waste my time with Nostrized imitations of stuff that already exists.

Instagram, but make it Nostr. Twitter, but make it Nostr. GitHub, but make it Nostr. Facebook, but make it Nostr. Wordpress, but make it Nostr. GoodReads, but make it Nostr. TikTok, but make it Nostr.

That stuff already exists, and it wasn't that great the first time around, either. Build something better than that stuff, that can only be brought into existence because of Nostr.

Build something that does something completely and awesomely new. Knock my socks off, bro.

Cuz, ain't nobody got time for that.

@ eac63075:b4988b48

Since its creation in 2009, Bitcoin has symbolized innovation and resilience. However, from time to time, alarmist narratives arise about emerging technologies that could "break" its security. Among these, quantum computing stands out as one of the most recurrent. But does quantum computing truly threaten Bitcoin? And more importantly, what is the community doing to ensure the protocol remains invulnerable?

The answer, contrary to sensationalist headlines, is reassuring: Bitcoin is secure, and the community is already preparing for a future where quantum computing becomes a practical reality. Let’s dive into this topic to understand why the concerns are exaggerated and how the development of BIP-360 demonstrates that Bitcoin is one step ahead.

---

What Is Quantum Computing, and Why Is Bitcoin Not Threatened?

Quantum computing leverages principles of quantum mechanics to perform calculations that, in theory, could exponentially surpass classical computers—and it has nothing to do with what so-called “quantum coaches” teach to scam the uninformed. One of the concerns is that this technology could compromise two key aspects of Bitcoin’s security:

1. Wallets: These use elliptic curve algorithms (ECDSA) to protect private keys. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could deduce a private key from its public key.
2. Mining: This is based on the SHA-256 algorithm, which secures the consensus process. A quantum attack could, in theory, compromise the proof-of-work mechanism.

---

Understanding Quantum Computing’s Attack Priorities

While quantum computing is often presented as a threat to Bitcoin, not all parts of the network are equally vulnerable. Theoretical attacks would be prioritized based on two main factors: ease of execution and potential reward. This creates two categories of attacks:

1. Attacks on Wallets

Bitcoin wallets, secured by elliptic curve algorithms, would be the initial targets due to the relative vulnerability of their public keys, especially those already exposed on the blockchain. Two attack scenarios stand out:

• Short-term attacks: These occur during the interval between sending a transaction and its inclusion in a block (approximately 10 minutes). A quantum computer could intercept the exposed public key and derive the corresponding private key to redirect funds by creating a transaction with higher fees.

• Long-term attacks: These focus on old wallets whose public keys are permanently exposed. Wallets associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, for example, are especially vulnerable because they were created before the practice of using hashes to mask public keys.

We can infer a priority order for how such attacks might occur based on urgency and importance.

Bitcoin Quantum Attack: Prioritization Matrix (Urgency vs. Importance)

2. Attacks on Mining

Targeting the SHA-256 algorithm, which secures the mining process, would be the next objective. However, this is far more complex and requires a level of quantum computational power that is currently non-existent and far from realization. A successful attack would allow for the recalculation of all possible hashes to dominate the consensus process and potentially "mine" it instantly.

---

Satoshi Nakamoto in 2010 on Quantum Computing and Bitcoin Attacks

Recently, Narcelio asked me about a statement I made on Tubacast:

https://x.com/eddieoz/status/1868371296683511969

If an attack became a reality before Bitcoin was prepared, it would be necessary to define the last block prior to the attack and proceed from there using a new hashing algorithm. The solution would resemble the response to the infamous 2013 bug. It’s a fact that this would cause market panic, and Bitcoin's price would drop significantly, creating a potential opportunity for the well-informed.

Preferably, if developers could anticipate the threat and had time to work on a solution and build consensus before an attack, they would simply decide on a future block for the fork, which would then adopt the new algorithm. It might even rehash previous blocks (reaching consensus on them) to avoid potential reorganization through the re-mining of blocks using the old hash. (I often use the term "shielding" old transactions).

---

How Can Users Protect Themselves?

While quantum computing is still far from being a practical threat, some simple measures can already protect users against hypothetical scenarios:

• Avoid using exposed public keys: Ensure funds sent to old wallets are transferred to new ones that use public key hashes. This reduces the risk of long-term attacks.
• Use modern wallets: Opt for wallets compatible with SegWit or Taproot, which implement better security practices.
• Monitor security updates: Stay informed about updates from the Bitcoin community, such as the implementation of BIP-360, which will introduce quantum-resistant addresses.
• Do not reuse addresses: Every transaction should be associated with a new address to minimize the risk of repeated exposure of the same public key.
• Adopt secure backup practices: Create offline backups of private keys and seeds in secure locations, protected from unauthorized access.

---

BIP-360 and Bitcoin’s Preparation for the Future

Even though quantum computing is still beyond practical reach, the Bitcoin community is not standing still. A concrete example is BIP-360, a proposal that establishes the technical framework to make wallets resistant to quantum attacks.

BIP-360 addresses three main pillars:

1. Introduction of quantum-resistant addresses: A new address format starting with "BC1R" will be used. These addresses will be compatible with post-quantum algorithms, ensuring that stored funds are protected from future attacks.
2. Compatibility with the current ecosystem: The proposal allows users to transfer funds from old addresses to new ones without requiring drastic changes to the network infrastructure.
3. Flexibility for future updates: BIP-360 does not limit the choice of specific algorithms. Instead, it serves as a foundation for implementing new post-quantum algorithms as technology evolves.

This proposal demonstrates how Bitcoin can adapt to emerging threats without compromising its decentralized structure.

---

Post-Quantum Algorithms: The Future of Bitcoin Cryptography

The community is exploring various algorithms to protect Bitcoin from quantum attacks. Among the most discussed are:

• Falcon: A solution combining smaller public keys with compact digital signatures. Although it has been tested in limited scenarios, it still faces scalability and performance challenges.
• Sphincs: Hash-based, this algorithm is renowned for its resilience, but its signatures can be extremely large, making it less efficient for networks like Bitcoin’s blockchain.
• Lamport: Created in 1977, it’s considered one of the earliest post-quantum security solutions. Despite its reliability, its gigantic public keys (16,000 bytes) make it impractical and costly for Bitcoin.

Two technologies show great promise and are well-regarded by the community:

1. Lattice-Based Cryptography: Considered one of the most promising, it uses complex mathematical structures to create systems nearly immune to quantum computing. Its implementation is still in its early stages, but the community is optimistic.
2. Supersingular Elliptic Curve Isogeny: These are very recent digital signature algorithms and require extensive study and testing before being ready for practical market use.

The final choice of algorithm will depend on factors such as efficiency, cost, and integration capability with the current system. Additionally, it is preferable that these algorithms are standardized before implementation, a process that may take up to 10 years.

---

Why Quantum Computing Is Far from Being a Threat

The alarmist narrative about quantum computing overlooks the technical and practical challenges that still need to be overcome. Among them:

• Insufficient number of qubits: Current quantum computers have only a few hundred qubits, whereas successful attacks would require millions.
• High error rate: Quantum stability remains a barrier to reliable large-scale operations.
• High costs: Building and operating large-scale quantum computers requires massive investments, limiting their use to scientific or specific applications.

Moreover, even if quantum computers make significant advancements, Bitcoin is already adapting to ensure its infrastructure is prepared to respond.

---

Conclusion: Bitcoin’s Secure Future

Despite advancements in quantum computing, the reality is that Bitcoin is far from being threatened. Its security is ensured not only by its robust architecture but also by the community’s constant efforts to anticipate and mitigate challenges.

The implementation of BIP-360 and the pursuit of post-quantum algorithms demonstrate that Bitcoin is not only resilient but also proactive. By adopting practical measures, such as using modern wallets and migrating to quantum-resistant addresses, users can further protect themselves against potential threats.

Bitcoin’s future is not at risk—it is being carefully shaped to withstand any emerging technology, including quantum computing.

@ eac63075:b4988b48

Based on a recent paper that included collaboration from renowned experts such as Lynn Alden, Steve Lee, and Ren Crypto Fish, we discuss in depth how Bitcoin's consensus is built, the main risks, and the complex dynamics of protocol upgrades.

PT-BR version

Podcast https://www.fountain.fm/episode/wbjD6ntQuvX5u2G5BccC

Presentation https://gamma.app/docs/Analyzing-Bitcoin-Consensus-Risks-in-Protocol-Upgrades-p66axxjwaa37ksn

1. Introduction to Consensus in Bitcoin

Consensus in Bitcoin is the foundation that keeps the network secure and functional, allowing users worldwide to perform transactions in a decentralized manner without the need for intermediaries. Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin is often described as an "immutable" system designed to resist changes, and it is precisely this resistance that ensures its security and stability.

The central idea behind consensus in Bitcoin is to create a set of acceptance rules for blocks and transactions, ensuring that all network participants agree on the transaction history. This prevents "double-spending," where the same bitcoin could be used in two simultaneous transactions, something that would compromise trust in the network.

Evolution of Consensus in Bitcoin

Over the years, consensus in Bitcoin has undergone several adaptations, and the way participants agree on changes remains a delicate process. Unlike traditional systems, where changes can be imposed from the top down, Bitcoin operates in a decentralized model where any significant change needs the support of various groups of stakeholders, including miners, developers, users, and large node operators.

Moreover, the update process is extremely cautious, as hasty changes can compromise the network's security. As a result, the philosophy of "don't fix what isn't broken" prevails, with improvements happening incrementally and only after broad consensus among those involved. This model can make progress seem slow but ensures that Bitcoin remains faithful to the principles of security and decentralization.

---

2. Technical Components of Consensus

Bitcoin's consensus is supported by a set of technical rules that determine what is considered a valid transaction and a valid block on the network. These technical aspects ensure that all nodes—the computers that participate in the Bitcoin network—agree on the current state of the blockchain. Below are the main technical components that form the basis of the consensus.

Validation of Blocks and Transactions

The validation of blocks and transactions is the central point of consensus in Bitcoin. A block is only considered valid if it meets certain criteria, such as maximum size, transaction structure, and the solving of the "Proof of Work" problem. The proof of work, required for a block to be included in the blockchain, is a computational process that ensures the block contains significant computational effort—protecting the network against manipulation attempts.

Transactions, in turn, need to follow specific input and output rules. Each transaction includes cryptographic signatures that prove the ownership of the bitcoins sent, as well as validation scripts that verify if the transaction conditions are met. This validation system is essential for network nodes to autonomously confirm that each transaction follows the rules.

Chain Selection

Another fundamental technical issue for Bitcoin's consensus is chain selection, which becomes especially important in cases where multiple versions of the blockchain coexist, such as after a network split (fork). To decide which chain is the "true" one and should be followed, the network adopts the criterion of the highest accumulated proof of work. In other words, the chain with the highest number of valid blocks, built with the greatest computational effort, is chosen by the network as the official one.

This criterion avoids permanent splits because it encourages all nodes to follow the same main chain, reinforcing consensus.

Soft Forks vs. Hard Forks

In the consensus process, protocol changes can happen in two ways: through soft forks or hard forks. These variations affect not only the protocol update but also the implications for network users:

• Soft Forks: These are changes that are backward compatible. Only nodes that adopt the new update will follow the new rules, but old nodes will still recognize the blocks produced with these rules as valid. This compatibility makes soft forks a safer option for updates, as it minimizes the risk of network division.

• Hard Forks: These are updates that are not backward compatible, requiring all nodes to update to the new version or risk being separated from the main chain. Hard forks can result in the creation of a new coin, as occurred with the split between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in 2017. While hard forks allow for deeper changes, they also bring significant risks of network fragmentation.

These technical components form the base of Bitcoin's security and resilience, allowing the system to remain functional and immutable without losing the necessary flexibility to evolve over time.

---

3. Stakeholders in Bitcoin's Consensus

Consensus in Bitcoin is not decided centrally. On the contrary, it depends on the interaction between different groups of stakeholders, each with their motivations, interests, and levels of influence. These groups play fundamental roles in how changes are implemented or rejected on the network. Below, we explore the six main stakeholders in Bitcoin's consensus.

1. Economic Nodes

Economic nodes, usually operated by exchanges, custody providers, and large companies that accept Bitcoin, exert significant influence over consensus. Because they handle large volumes of transactions and act as a connection point between the Bitcoin ecosystem and the traditional financial system, these nodes have the power to validate or reject blocks and to define which version of the software to follow in case of a fork.

Their influence is proportional to the volume of transactions they handle, and they can directly affect which chain will be seen as the main one. Their incentive is to maintain the network's stability and security to preserve its functionality and meet regulatory requirements.

2. Investors

Investors, including large institutional funds and individual Bitcoin holders, influence consensus indirectly through their impact on the asset's price. Their buying and selling actions can affect Bitcoin's value, which in turn influences the motivation of miners and other stakeholders to continue investing in the network's security and development.

Some institutional investors have agreements with custodians that may limit their ability to act in network split situations. Thus, the impact of each investor on consensus can vary based on their ownership structure and how quickly they can react to a network change.

3. Media Influencers

Media influencers, including journalists, analysts, and popular personalities on social media, have a powerful role in shaping public opinion about Bitcoin and possible updates. These influencers can help educate the public, promote debates, and bring transparency to the consensus process.

On the other hand, the impact of influencers can be double-edged: while they can clarify complex topics, they can also distort perceptions by amplifying or minimizing change proposals. This makes them a force both of support and resistance to consensus.

4. Miners

Miners are responsible for validating transactions and including blocks in the blockchain. Through computational power (hashrate), they also exert significant influence over consensus decisions. In update processes, miners often signal their support for a proposal, indicating that the new version is safe to use. However, this signaling is not always definitive, and miners can change their position if they deem it necessary.

Their incentive is to maximize returns from block rewards and transaction fees, as well as to maintain the value of investments in their specialized equipment, which are only profitable if the network remains stable.

5. Protocol Developers

Protocol developers, often called "Core Developers," are responsible for writing and maintaining Bitcoin's code. Although they do not have direct power over consensus, they possess an informal veto power since they decide which changes are included in the main client (Bitcoin Core). This group also serves as an important source of technical knowledge, helping guide decisions and inform other stakeholders.

Their incentive lies in the continuous improvement of the network, ensuring security and decentralization. Many developers are funded by grants and sponsorships, but their motivations generally include a strong ideological commitment to Bitcoin's principles.

6. Users and Application Developers

This group includes people who use Bitcoin in their daily transactions and developers who build solutions based on the network, such as wallets, exchanges, and payment platforms. Although their power in consensus is less than that of miners or economic nodes, they play an important role because they are responsible for popularizing Bitcoin's use and expanding the ecosystem.

If application developers decide not to adopt an update, this can affect compatibility and widespread acceptance. Thus, they indirectly influence consensus by deciding which version of the protocol to follow in their applications.

These stakeholders are vital to the consensus process, and each group exerts influence according to their involvement, incentives, and ability to act in situations of change. Understanding the role of each makes it clearer how consensus is formed and why it is so difficult to make significant changes to Bitcoin.

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4. Mechanisms for Activating Updates in Bitcoin

For Bitcoin to evolve without compromising security and consensus, different mechanisms for activating updates have been developed over the years. These mechanisms help coordinate changes among network nodes to minimize the risk of fragmentation and ensure that updates are implemented in an orderly manner. Here, we explore some of the main methods used in Bitcoin, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as historical examples of significant updates.

Flag Day

The Flag Day mechanism is one of the simplest forms of activating changes. In it, a specific date or block is determined as the activation moment, and all nodes must be updated by that point. This method does not involve prior signaling; participants simply need to update to the new software version by the established day or block.

• Advantages: Simplicity and predictability are the main benefits of Flag Day, as everyone knows the exact activation date.

• Disadvantages: Inflexibility can be a problem because there is no way to adjust the schedule if a significant part of the network has not updated. This can result in network splits if a significant number of nodes are not ready for the update.

An example of Flag Day was the Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) update in 2012, which required all nodes to adopt the change to avoid compatibility issues.

BIP34 and BIP9

BIP34 introduced a more dynamic process, in which miners increase the version number in block headers to signal the update. When a predetermined percentage of the last blocks is mined with this new version, the update is automatically activated. This model later evolved with BIP9, which allowed multiple updates to be signaled simultaneously through "version bits," each corresponding to a specific change.

• Advantages: Allows the network to activate updates gradually, giving more time for participants to adapt.

• Disadvantages: These methods rely heavily on miner support, which means that if a sufficient number of miners do not signal the update, it can be delayed or not implemented.

BIP9 was used in the activation of SegWit (BIP141) but faced challenges because some miners did not signal their intent to activate, leading to the development of new mechanisms.

User Activated Soft Forks (UASF) and User Resisted Soft Forks (URSF)

To increase the decision-making power of ordinary users, the concept of User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) was introduced, allowing node operators, not just miners, to determine consensus for a change. In this model, nodes set a date to start rejecting blocks that are not in compliance with the new update, forcing miners to adapt or risk having their blocks rejected by the network.

URSF, in turn, is a model where nodes reject blocks that attempt to adopt a specific update, functioning as resistance against proposed changes.

• Advantages: UASF returns decision-making power to node operators, ensuring that changes do not depend solely on miners.

• Disadvantages: Both UASF and URSF can generate network splits, especially in cases of strong opposition among different stakeholders.

An example of UASF was the activation of SegWit in 2017, where users supported activation independently of miner signaling, which ended up forcing its adoption.

BIP8 (LOT=True)

BIP8 is an evolution of BIP9, designed to prevent miners from indefinitely blocking a change desired by the majority of users and developers. BIP8 allows setting a parameter called "lockinontimeout" (LOT) as true, which means that if the update has not been fully signaled by a certain point, it is automatically activated.

• Advantages: Ensures that changes with broad support among users are not blocked by miners who wish to maintain the status quo.

• Disadvantages: Can lead to network splits if miners or other important stakeholders do not support the update.

Although BIP8 with LOT=True has not yet been used in Bitcoin, it is a proposal that can be applied in future updates if necessary.

These activation mechanisms have been essential for Bitcoin's development, allowing updates that keep the network secure and functional. Each method brings its own advantages and challenges, but all share the goal of preserving consensus and network cohesion.

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5. Risks and Considerations in Consensus Updates

Consensus updates in Bitcoin are complex processes that involve not only technical aspects but also political, economic, and social considerations. Due to the network's decentralized nature, each change brings with it a set of risks that need to be carefully assessed. Below, we explore some of the main challenges and future scenarios, as well as the possible impacts on stakeholders.

Network Fragility with Alternative Implementations

One of the main risks associated with consensus updates is the possibility of network fragmentation when there are alternative software implementations. If an update is implemented by a significant group of nodes but rejected by others, a network split (fork) can occur. This creates two competing chains, each with a different version of the transaction history, leading to unpredictable consequences for users and investors.

Such fragmentation weakens Bitcoin because, by dividing hashing power (computing) and coin value, it reduces network security and investor confidence. A notable example of this risk was the fork that gave rise to Bitcoin Cash in 2017 when disagreements over block size resulted in a new chain and a new asset.

Chain Splits and Impact on Stakeholders

Chain splits are a significant risk in update processes, especially in hard forks. During a hard fork, the network is split into two separate chains, each with its own set of rules. This results in the creation of a new coin and leaves users with duplicated assets on both chains. While this may seem advantageous, in the long run, these splits weaken the network and create uncertainties for investors.

Each group of stakeholders reacts differently to a chain split:

• Institutional Investors and ETFs: Face regulatory and compliance challenges because many of these assets are managed under strict regulations. The creation of a new coin requires decisions to be made quickly to avoid potential losses, which may be hampered by regulatory constraints.

• Miners: May be incentivized to shift their computing power to the chain that offers higher profitability, which can weaken one of the networks.

• Economic Nodes: Such as major exchanges and custody providers, have to quickly choose which chain to support, influencing the perceived value of each network.

Such divisions can generate uncertainties and loss of value, especially for institutional investors and those who use Bitcoin as a store of value.

Regulatory Impacts and Institutional Investors

With the growing presence of institutional investors in Bitcoin, consensus changes face new compliance challenges. Bitcoin ETFs, for example, are required to follow strict rules about which assets they can include and how chain split events should be handled. The creation of a new asset or migration to a new chain can complicate these processes, creating pressure for large financial players to quickly choose a chain, affecting the stability of consensus.

Moreover, decisions regarding forks can influence the Bitcoin futures and derivatives market, affecting perception and adoption by new investors. Therefore, the need to avoid splits and maintain cohesion is crucial to attract and preserve the confidence of these investors.

Security Considerations in Soft Forks and Hard Forks

While soft forks are generally preferred in Bitcoin for their backward compatibility, they are not without risks. Soft forks can create different classes of nodes on the network (updated and non-updated), which increases operational complexity and can ultimately weaken consensus cohesion. In a network scenario with fragmentation of node classes, Bitcoin's security can be affected, as some nodes may lose part of the visibility over updated transactions or rules.

In hard forks, the security risk is even more evident because all nodes need to adopt the new update to avoid network division. Experience shows that abrupt changes can create temporary vulnerabilities, in which malicious agents try to exploit the transition to attack the network.

Bounty Claim Risks and Attack Scenarios

Another risk in consensus updates are so-called "bounty claims"—accumulated rewards that can be obtained if an attacker manages to split or deceive a part of the network. In a conflict scenario, a group of miners or nodes could be incentivized to support a new update or create an alternative version of the software to benefit from these rewards.

These risks require stakeholders to carefully assess each update and the potential vulnerabilities it may introduce. The possibility of "bounty claims" adds a layer of complexity to consensus because each interest group may see a financial opportunity in a change that, in the long term, may harm network stability.

The risks discussed above show the complexity of consensus in Bitcoin and the importance of approaching it gradually and deliberately. Updates need to consider not only technical aspects but also economic and social implications, in order to preserve Bitcoin's integrity and maintain trust among stakeholders.

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6. Recommendations for the Consensus Process in Bitcoin

To ensure that protocol changes in Bitcoin are implemented safely and with broad support, it is essential that all stakeholders adopt a careful and coordinated approach. Here are strategic recommendations for evaluating, supporting, or rejecting consensus updates, considering the risks and challenges discussed earlier, along with best practices for successful implementation.

1. Careful Evaluation of Proposal Maturity

Stakeholders should rigorously assess the maturity level of a proposal before supporting its implementation. Updates that are still experimental or lack a robust technical foundation can expose the network to unnecessary risks. Ideally, change proposals should go through an extensive testing phase, have security audits, and receive review and feedback from various developers and experts.

2. Extensive Testing in Secure and Compatible Networks

Before an update is activated on the mainnet, it is essential to test it on networks like testnet and signet, and whenever possible, on other compatible networks that offer a safe and controlled environment to identify potential issues. Testing on networks like Litecoin was fundamental for the safe launch of innovations like SegWit and the Lightning Network, allowing functionalities to be validated on a lower-impact network before being implemented on Bitcoin.

The Liquid Network, developed by Blockstream, also plays an important role as an experimental network for new proposals, such as OP_CAT. By adopting these testing environments, stakeholders can mitigate risks and ensure that the update is reliable and secure before being adopted by the main network.

3. Importance of Stakeholder Engagement

The success of a consensus update strongly depends on the active participation of all stakeholders. This includes economic nodes, miners, protocol developers, investors, and end users. Lack of participation can lead to inadequate decisions or even future network splits, which would compromise Bitcoin's security and stability.

4. Key Questions for Evaluating Consensus Proposals

To assist in decision-making, each group of stakeholders should consider some key questions before supporting a consensus change:

• Does the proposal offer tangible benefits for Bitcoin's security, scalability, or usability?
• Does it maintain backward compatibility or introduce the risk of network split?
• Are the implementation requirements clear and feasible for each group involved?
• Are there clear and aligned incentives for all stakeholder groups to accept the change?

5. Coordination and Timing in Implementations

Timing is crucial. Updates with short activation windows can force a split because not all nodes and miners can update simultaneously. Changes should be planned with ample deadlines to allow all stakeholders to adjust their systems, avoiding surprises that could lead to fragmentation.

Mechanisms like soft forks are generally preferable to hard forks because they allow a smoother transition. Opting for backward-compatible updates when possible facilitates the process and ensures that nodes and miners can adapt without pressure.

6. Continuous Monitoring and Re-evaluation

After an update, it's essential to monitor the network to identify problems or side effects. This continuous process helps ensure cohesion and trust among all participants, keeping Bitcoin as a secure and robust network.

These recommendations, including the use of secure networks for extensive testing, promote a collaborative and secure environment for Bitcoin's consensus process. By adopting a deliberate and strategic approach, stakeholders can preserve Bitcoin's value as a decentralized and censorship-resistant network.

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7. Conclusion

Consensus in Bitcoin is more than a set of rules; it's the foundation that sustains the network as a decentralized, secure, and reliable system. Unlike centralized systems, where decisions can be made quickly, Bitcoin requires a much more deliberate and cooperative approach, where the interests of miners, economic nodes, developers, investors, and users must be considered and harmonized. This governance model may seem slow, but it is fundamental to preserving the resilience and trust that make Bitcoin a global store of value and censorship-resistant.

Consensus updates in Bitcoin must balance the need for innovation with the preservation of the network's core principles. The development process of a proposal needs to be detailed and rigorous, going through several testing stages, such as in testnet, signet, and compatible networks like Litecoin and Liquid Network. These networks offer safe environments for proposals to be analyzed and improved before being launched on the main network.

Each proposed change must be carefully evaluated regarding its maturity, impact, backward compatibility, and support among stakeholders. The recommended key questions and appropriate timing are critical to ensure that an update is adopted without compromising network cohesion. It's also essential that the implementation process is continuously monitored and re-evaluated, allowing adjustments as necessary and minimizing the risk of instability.

By following these guidelines, Bitcoin's stakeholders can ensure that the network continues to evolve safely and robustly, maintaining user trust and further solidifying its role as one of the most resilient and innovative digital assets in the world. Ultimately, consensus in Bitcoin is not just a technical issue but a reflection of its community and the values it represents: security, decentralization, and resilience.

---

8. Links

Whitepaper: https://github.com/bitcoin-cap/bcap

Youtube (pt-br): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARycAibl9o&list=PL-qnhF0qlSPkfhorqsREuIu4UTbF0h4zb

@ 6871d8df:4a9396c1

## 2024 Prediction Reflections

Politics

Democrats & 2024 Election

• “Democrats’ attempt to stifle democracy will likely put Trump in the White House. If not, some real sketchy stuff would need to happen to keep him out.”

This prediction was exactly right. The assassination attempt on Trump seemed to be the final blow for the Democrats. Despite a heavy push my legacy media, Trump won handily.

The Democrats switched to Kamala Harris after Biden showed signs of incapacity, most notably in the first debate against Trump.

My prediction for the election also turned out to be exactly right, which, thank you Robert Barnes and Richard Baris.

Evidence of Institutional Ideological Capture

• “People will continue to wake up to ideologically captured institutions, and DEI will be the main loser.”

Trump’s resounding election victory underscores that the public is increasingly aware of (and rejecting) such institutional capture.

Of note, Boeing comes to mind as an institution that had a tough time in 2024, in large part to DEI. Nothing seemed to function correctly. The biggest story being how they stranded people in space

Media & Public Opinion

Rise of Independent & Alternative Media

• “Independent and alternative media will continue to grow as people’s trust in legacy media declines.”

Twitter (X), under Elon Musk, shattered mainstream media’s influence far more than expected. As Elon has said, “You are the media now.” Alternative sources are king. - Notable Example: Kamala Harris’s decision not to appear on the Joe Rogan podcast contrasted with Trump’s appearance, further highlighting the power shift to alternative media.

Markets & IPOs

Interest Rates & Public Markets

• “As interest rates come down, I expect public markets and IPOs to heat up.”

This did not play out. Companies that were expected to go public in 2024 remain private in 2025. The reasons are varied, but there is confidence that 2025 might see changes.

Technology & AI

LLMs & AI Adoption

• “AI and LLMs will continue to move at a rapid rate, increasing productivity. Tools like Bard will become more mainstream.”

AI did take off. Usage among nontechnical users increased, and it’s no longer uncommon for people to default to AI-driven tools rather than Google search.

Decentralized AI

• “I hope to see a rise in decentralized AI to counter big-player LLMs.”

We didn’t see explicit ‘decentralized AI’ breakthroughs, but more players entered the AI market. ChatGPT still dominates, with Elon’s ‘Grok’ making moves. Google, Meta, and Microsoft remain active but slightly behind in usage.

Bitcoin & Digital Assets

Institutional Adoption of Bitcoin

• “2024 will bring more institutions to Bitcoin. Possibly another large company or nation-state. The ETF should help, likely pushing BTC to a new all-time high.”

No large public company or nation-state placed a bet, but smaller public companies did. Michael Saylor presented to Microsoft’s Board, which was the closest instance to a major move.
- Price Movement: Bitcoin did hit a new all-time high, rising to as much as $108k in 2024.

Lightning Network

• “Lightning will improve but remain primarily used for acquiring Bitcoin, not everyday payments.”

Still true. Lightning usage remains tiny relative to broader Bitcoin adoption.

Nostr Adoption

• “Nostr will grow, and we’ll see new companies leverage this network beyond just social media.”

Growth continues, but Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover slowed adoption. Nostr will remain niche until a major catalyst occurs (e.g., a big player joins or forced usage due to censorship).

Stablecoin-Specific Regulations

• “Expect stablecoin regulations in 2024 that’ll be favorable to them.”

This didn’t happen, largely due to the administration’s hostility. Expect potential change in 2025.

Miscellaneous 2024 Reflections

• Return to Sanity
  • 2024 felt like sanity prevailed, largely due to the Democrats’ collapse behind Biden and Harris and Elon’s Twitter dominance.
• Operation Chokepoint 2.0
  • Received a lot of attention, and I’m thankful it did because my experience at Strike was radicalizing and extreme.
• Bryan Johnson & Anti-Aging
  • He burst onto the scene with his obsession over biomarkers. I see it as misguided—chasing markers in isolation doesn’t automatically yield a healthy system.
• Apple’s Rough Year
  • Without a visionary leader, Apple appears to be scraping by on existing products rather than innovating.
• Google Under Fire
  • Google is in a tough fight with the government, just as it seems they’re on their heels with AI competition.

---

2025 Predictions

1. Bitcoin’s Performance Bitcoin will have a good year, but not better than 2024. To beat 2024, it must close above 206k on December 31, 2025. I’ll take the under on that.

   • I am not ruling out it to be over that at some point in 2025.

2. Twitter’s Success Continues to Stunt nostr

3. Nostr adoption will stay slow due to Elon’s dominant influence with X (Twitter).
   • As long as it remains a beacon of free speech, I doubt we see an exodus.

4. Rumble integrating Tether might help if they allow Nostr-like features (zaps), but that seems unlikely.

5. Apple

6. Apple will continue its rent-seeking behavior and put out underwhelming products.

7. Google’s Quantum & AI

8. Recent buzz about Google’s quantum chip and AI improvements won’t pan out as a big deal.

9. Google will continue to trail OpenAI and xAI in practical LLM usage.

10. Elon, Vivek & DOGE

11. I expect them to deliver more than critics think. They’ll expose bloat and inefficiencies in ways that will shake up norms. I greatly welcome this. I wouldn’t bet against them.

12. Mainstream Media Reckoning

13. In Trump’s second term, mainstream news outlets will face a real reckoning, as I can’t see how their bias can continue.
14. They’ll have to reduce their bias or risk bankruptcy.

15. Alternative media’s growth trend continues, especially as Twitter keeps exposing mainstream outlets’ weaknesses.

16. RFK Delivers

17. We will see big changes in the health space due to RFK at HHS. These are changes that I am very excited to see.

18. Foreign Policy

19. With the transition to Trump, I expect some foreign policy wins that will buck the establishment but will deliver wins that are not thought possible by the “experts.”

---

Closing Note

• Overall 2024: It was a year of major political upheaval, vindication for Bitcoin, and continued AI advances.
• Outlook for 2025: Bitcoin remains strong, AI competition heats up, and media institutions face existential challenges. I’m optimistic for continued decentralization and a more level playing field across tech, finance, and politics. I think the start of Trump’s second term will be very strong for the market, health, and culture. Accelerate.

@ f7922a0a:82c34788

Now that the 3rd Satellite Skirmish is complete I wanted to highlight some of the cool features on embrace.satskirmish.com

This is what the cutting edge of podcasting 2.0 looks like imo. Live video in an app that allows you to send sats to the artists in real time.

On the left hand side we have a Boost score borad that displays the total amount of sats that have come in during the show, live Boosts/Booastagrams as they come in, total amount of sats from each person Boosting and total amount sent from each app.

The middle is ovisaly the video of the band playing but with some graphics around it and Boost alerts that show up on the screen in the form of snow flakes for this one.

The righthand side is an IRC chat window that connects to an IRC server that the No Agenda community has used for 18+ years thanks to zoidzero++.

The bottom of the page is where things get cool. When you click the Boost the Crew button in the center you can send a Boost that gets split between everyone helping produce the show (hightlighted in yellow).

Each band also has their own Boost button so you can Boost them while they are playing or anytime you visit the page.

@ eac63075:b4988b48

The future of physical money is at stake, and the discussion about DREX, the new digital currency planned by the Central Bank of Brazil, is gaining momentum. In a candid and intense conversation, Federal Deputy Julia Zanatta (PL/SC) discussed the challenges and risks of this digital transition, also addressing her Bill No. 3,341/2024, which aims to prevent the extinction of physical currency. This bill emerges as a direct response to legislative initiatives seeking to replace physical money with digital alternatives, limiting citizens' options and potentially compromising individual freedom. Let's delve into the main points of this conversation.

https://www.fountain.fm/episode/i5YGJ9Ors3PkqAIMvNQ0

(PT-BR version here)

What is a CBDC?

Before discussing the specifics of DREX, it’s important to understand what a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) is. CBDCs are digital currencies issued by central banks, similar to a digital version of physical money. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which operate in a decentralized manner, CBDCs are centralized and regulated by the government. In other words, they are digital currencies created and controlled by the Central Bank, intended to replace physical currency.

A prominent feature of CBDCs is their programmability. This means that the government can theoretically set rules about how, where, and for what this currency can be used. This aspect enables a level of control over citizens' finances that is impossible with physical money. By programming the currency, the government could limit transactions by setting geographical or usage restrictions. In practice, money within a CBDC could be restricted to specific spending or authorized for use in a defined geographical area.

In countries like China, where citizen actions and attitudes are also monitored, a person considered to have a "low score" due to a moral or ideological violation may have their transactions limited to essential purchases, restricting their digital currency use to non-essential activities. This financial control is strengthened because, unlike physical money, digital currency cannot be exchanged anonymously.

Practical Example: The Case of DREX During the Pandemic

To illustrate how DREX could be used, an example was given by Eric Altafim, director of Banco Itaú. He suggested that, if DREX had existed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government could have restricted the currency’s use to a 5-kilometer radius around a person’s residence, limiting their economic mobility. Another proposed use by the executive related to the Bolsa Família welfare program: the government could set up programming that only allows this benefit to be used exclusively for food purchases. Although these examples are presented as control measures for safety or organization, they demonstrate how much a CBDC could restrict citizens' freedom of choice.

To illustrate the potential for state control through a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), such as DREX, it is helpful to look at the example of China. In China, the implementation of a CBDC coincides with the country’s Social Credit System, a governmental surveillance tool that assesses citizens' and companies' behavior. Together, these technologies allow the Chinese government to monitor, reward, and, above all, punish behavior deemed inappropriate or threatening to the government.

How Does China's Social Credit System Work?

Implemented in 2014, China's Social Credit System assigns every citizen and company a "score" based on various factors, including financial behavior, criminal record, social interactions, and even online activities. This score determines the benefits or penalties each individual receives and can affect everything from public transport access to obtaining loans and enrolling in elite schools for their children. Citizens with low scores may face various sanctions, including travel restrictions, fines, and difficulty in securing loans.

With the adoption of the CBDC — or “digital yuan” — the Chinese government now has a new tool to closely monitor citizens' financial transactions, facilitating the application of Social Credit System penalties. China’s CBDC is a programmable digital currency, which means that the government can restrict how, when, and where the money can be spent. Through this level of control, digital currency becomes a powerful mechanism for influencing citizens' behavior.

Imagine, for instance, a citizen who repeatedly posts critical remarks about the government on social media or participates in protests. If the Social Credit System assigns this citizen a low score, the Chinese government could, through the CBDC, restrict their money usage in certain areas or sectors. For example, they could be prevented from buying tickets to travel to other regions, prohibited from purchasing certain consumer goods, or even restricted to making transactions only at stores near their home.

Another example of how the government can use the CBDC to enforce the Social Credit System is by monitoring purchases of products such as alcohol or luxury items. If a citizen uses the CBDC to spend more than the government deems reasonable on such products, this could negatively impact their social score, resulting in additional penalties such as future purchase restrictions or a lowered rating that impacts their personal and professional lives.

In China, this kind of control has already been demonstrated in several cases. Citizens added to Social Credit System “blacklists” have seen their spending and investment capacity severely limited. The combination of digital currency and social scores thus creates a sophisticated and invasive surveillance system, through which the Chinese government controls important aspects of citizens’ financial lives and individual freedoms.

Deputy Julia Zanatta views these examples with great concern. She argues that if the state has full control over digital money, citizens will be exposed to a level of economic control and surveillance never seen before. In a democracy, this control poses a risk, but in an authoritarian regime, it could be used as a powerful tool of repression.

DREX and Bill No. 3,341/2024

Julia Zanatta became aware of a bill by a Workers' Party (PT) deputy (Bill 4068/2020 by Deputy Reginaldo Lopes - PT/MG) that proposes the extinction of physical money within five years, aiming for a complete transition to DREX, the digital currency developed by the Central Bank of Brazil. Concerned about the impact of this measure, Julia drafted her bill, PL No. 3,341/2024, which prohibits the elimination of physical money, ensuring citizens the right to choose physical currency.

“The more I read about DREX, the less I want its implementation,” says the deputy. DREX is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), similar to other state digital currencies worldwide, but which, according to Julia, carries extreme control risks. She points out that with DREX, the State could closely monitor each citizen’s transactions, eliminating anonymity and potentially restricting freedom of choice. This control would lie in the hands of the Central Bank, which could, in a crisis or government change, “freeze balances or even delete funds directly from user accounts.”

Risks and Individual Freedom

Julia raises concerns about potential abuses of power that complete digitalization could allow. In a democracy, state control over personal finances raises serious questions, and EddieOz warns of an even more problematic future. “Today we are in a democracy, but tomorrow, with a government transition, we don't know if this kind of power will be used properly or abused,” he states. In other words, DREX gives the State the ability to restrict or condition the use of money, opening the door to unprecedented financial surveillance.

EddieOz cites Nigeria as an example, where a CBDC was implemented, and the government imposed severe restrictions on the use of physical money to encourage the use of digital currency, leading to protests and clashes in the country. In practice, the poorest and unbanked — those without regular access to banking services — were harshly affected, as without physical money, many cannot conduct basic transactions. Julia highlights that in Brazil, this situation would be even more severe, given the large number of unbanked individuals and the extent of rural areas where access to technology is limited.

The Relationship Between DREX and Pix

The digital transition has already begun with Pix, which revolutionized instant transfers and payments in Brazil. However, Julia points out that Pix, though popular, is a citizen’s choice, while DREX tends to eliminate that choice. The deputy expresses concern about new rules suggested for Pix, such as daily transaction limits of a thousand reais, justified as anti-fraud measures but which, in her view, represent additional control and a profit opportunity for banks. “How many more rules will banks create to profit from us?” asks Julia, noting that DREX could further enhance control over personal finances.

International Precedents and Resistance to CBDC

The deputy also cites examples from other countries resisting the idea of a centralized digital currency. In the United States, states like New Hampshire have passed laws to prevent the advance of CBDCs, and leaders such as Donald Trump have opposed creating a national digital currency. Trump, addressing the topic, uses a justification similar to Julia’s: in a digitalized system, “with one click, your money could disappear.” She agrees with the warning, emphasizing the control risk that a CBDC represents, especially for countries with disadvantaged populations.

Besides the United States, Canada, Colombia, and Australia have also suspended studies on digital currencies, citing the need for further discussions on population impacts. However, in Brazil, the debate on DREX is still limited, with few parliamentarians and political leaders openly discussing the topic. According to Julia, only she and one or two deputies are truly trying to bring this discussion to the Chamber, making DREX’s advance even more concerning.

Bill No. 3,341/2024 and Popular Pressure

For Julia, her bill is a first step. Although she acknowledges that ideally, it would prevent DREX's implementation entirely, PL 3341/2024 is a measure to ensure citizens' choice to use physical money, preserving a form of individual freedom. “If the future means control, I prefer to live in the past,” Julia asserts, reinforcing that the fight for freedom is at the heart of her bill.

However, the deputy emphasizes that none of this will be possible without popular mobilization. According to her, popular pressure is crucial for other deputies to take notice and support PL 3341. “I am only one deputy, and we need the public’s support to raise the project’s visibility,” she explains, encouraging the public to press other parliamentarians and ask them to “pay attention to PL 3341 and the project that prohibits the end of physical money.” The deputy believes that with a strong awareness and pressure movement, it is possible to advance the debate and ensure Brazilians’ financial freedom.

What’s at Stake?

Julia Zanatta leaves no doubt: DREX represents a profound shift in how money will be used and controlled in Brazil. More than a simple modernization of the financial system, the Central Bank’s CBDC sets precedents for an unprecedented level of citizen surveillance and control in the country. For the deputy, this transition needs to be debated broadly and transparently, and it’s up to the Brazilian people to defend their rights and demand that the National Congress discuss these changes responsibly.

The deputy also emphasizes that, regardless of political or partisan views, this issue affects all Brazilians. “This agenda is something that will affect everyone. We need to be united to ensure people understand the gravity of what could happen.” Julia believes that by sharing information and generating open debate, it is possible to prevent Brazil from following the path of countries that have already implemented a digital currency in an authoritarian way.

A Call to Action

The future of physical money in Brazil is at risk. For those who share Deputy Julia Zanatta’s concerns, the time to act is now. Mobilize, get informed, and press your representatives. PL 3341/2024 is an opportunity to ensure that Brazilian citizens have a choice in how to use their money, without excessive state interference or surveillance.

In the end, as the deputy puts it, the central issue is freedom. “My fear is that this project will pass, and people won’t even understand what is happening.” Therefore, may every citizen at least have the chance to understand what’s at stake and make their voice heard in defense of a Brazil where individual freedom and privacy are respected values.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Instructions

1. Place 2 medium-sized, boiled potatoes and a handful of sliced leeks in a pot.
2. Fill the pot with water or vegetable broth, to cover the potatoes twice over.
3. Add a splash of white wine, if you like, and some bouillon powder, if you went with water instead of broth.
4. Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Puree the soup, in the pot, with a hand mixer. It shouldn't be completely smooth, when you're done, but rather have small bits and pieces of the veggies floating around.
6. Bring the soup to a boil, again, and stir in one container (200-250 mL) of heavy cream.
7. Thicken the soup, as needed, and then simmer for 5 more minutes.
8. Garnish with croutons and veggies (here I used sliced green onions and radishes) and serve.

Guten Appetit!

@ 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.

@ 7ed7d5c3:6927e200

Can't decide if the terrible book you just read is a 1 or 1.5 star book? Look no further than this chart. Was it Shit or just Bad? Was that movie you watched Very Good or just Decent? How many things out there are really Life Changing?

Finally, a rating scale for humans. Use it for anything in your life that needs a rating out of 5 stars.

Rating / Description

0.5 – The worst 1.0 – Shit 1.5 – Bad 2.0 – Eh 2.5 – Entertaining, but not great 3.0 – Neutral 3.5 – Alright 4.0 – Decent 4.5 – Very good 5.0 – Life Changing

P.S. Do not use it to rate your wife's cooking. The author is not liable for any damages.

@ 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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Hodling Bitcoin does not make you a capitalist

I've noticed that Bitcoin-mindedness seems to lead some people to communistic thinking because it's a hard-limited form of capital. Marx, like most Bitcoiners, heavily discounted the possibility of economic growth or transformation changing the economy enough to undermine some minority's control of some form of capital.

What few today understand, is that many of the Dirty Capitalists of Marx's era actually agreed with him; they were just disdainful of labor and worried that the workers finding out that Marxism is correct about the nature of capitalism would cause unrest. They were the original HFSP crowd.

This was the basic idea, that Marx had, and that many Bitcoiners would agree with:

Capital is strictly limited and the people that control it can keep labor from attaining any, except when their labor is necessary.

And, as we know, automation will make human labor increasingly unnecessary.

The math doesn't check out

That underlies all of the calculations of "Well, if I just grab this Bitcoin wallet and hodl for twenty years, then it will grow in value to equal half of everything in existence and then I can just buy up half the planet and rule over everyone like a god."

This is economic nonsense because it assumes that: 1) the value of all things remains static over time, 2) purchasing something with money gives you ownership of it, 3) people will always use that specific money (or any money, at all!) for all transactions, 4) there is no such thing as opportunity cost, 5) people will always value money more than any other thing, and therefore be willing to always trade it for anything else, 6) humans are passive, defenseless, and easy to rule over, 7) someone who is preoccupied with hodling an asset steadily and sharply rising in price would ever be emotionally ready to part with it.

All monies can die.

People use money for everything because it is easy, fast and cheap. If money becomes too precious or scarce, they will simply switch to using other things (as we saw with gold). Humans replace tools that aren't working well, with those that work better, and money is just another tool. Bitcoin is more divisible than gold, but that won't matter, if enough of it is held by too few.

This is why there's a natural cap on the price of a money and why human productivity in the here and now is not irrelevant or in vain.

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) is a decentralized, open protocol designed for creating censorship-resistant social networks. It was introduced in 2020. Unlike traditional social media platforms, Nostr operates without a central server, relying instead on a network of relays to transmit messages.

Key Features of Nostr:

1. Decentralization: Nostr doesn't rely on a single central server. Instead, it uses a network of independent relays to transmit data, making it resistant to censorship and single points of failure.
2. Public and Private Keys: Users are identified by cryptographic key pairs. A public key serves as a user's identifier, while a private key is used to sign messages, ensuring authenticity and security.
3. Simplicity: The protocol is intentionally simple, focusing on text-based messages (notes) and other basic data types. This simplicity makes it easy to implement and extend.
4. Interoperability: Since Nostr is an open protocol, anyone can build clients or relays that interact with the network, fostering a diverse ecosystem of applications.
5. Censorship Resistance: Because there is no central authority, it is difficult for any single entity to censor or control the network.

How Nostr Works:

• Users generate a public/private key pair.
• They publish messages (called "events" or "notes") to relays, which are then broadcast to other users.
• Relays are independent servers that store and forward messages. Users can choose which relays to use or even run their own.
• Clients (applications that interact with Nostr) fetch messages from relays and display them to users.

Use Cases:

• Social Networking: Nostr can be used to build decentralized social networks where users have full control over their data.
• Microblogging: Users can post short messages or updates.
• Messaging: Nostr can be used for direct messaging between users.
• Collaborative Tools: The protocol can be extended to support collaborative applications like shared documents or task management.

Popular Clients:

• Damus: A Nostr client for iOS, designed for microblogging and social interactions.
• Amethyst: A Nostr client for Android.
• Yakihonne: A web-based Nostr client and Android app.
• Primal: A web-based Nostr client and Android app.

Challenges:

• Scalability: As the network grows, managing the volume of messages and ensuring efficient relay performance can be challenging.
• Spam and Abuse: Without central moderation, spam and abusive content can be difficult to manage.
• User Experience: Decentralized systems can be more complex for average users to understand and use compared to centralized platforms.

Nostr represents a growing trend toward decentralized, user-controlled social networks, offering an alternative to traditional, centralized platforms. Its success will depend on adoption, ease of use, and the ability to address challenges like spam and scalability.

@ 0463223a:3b14d673

I wrote this article back in 2019 but I wanted to see how it stood up today. Since writing this I’ve been diagnosed with autism. However, I question this. For sure I’ve gone through lots of ups and downs in life. Some issues probably due to childhood trauma, others due to drugs etc. but I still ask if is a natural response to bullshit.

I don’t write this to belittle any problems anyone has and the autism spectrum disorder is real (but not disorder to me). When the whole population gets diagnosed as neurodivergent what next?

If you need help, get help. I write this as a person trying to get off the drugs prescribed to me many years ago. Something I’m finding difficult but I will do it…

From 2019

A large part of the adult population in the Western World are mad, mental, bonkers, have lost their marbles and are totally insane. Well, that’s at least according to the World Health Organisation A recent WHO report stated one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. And there’s a very high chance that you, the reader, are completely off your rocker. Mental Health is the buzzphrase of our times. It’s on the TV, the radio and all over the internet. The UK’s Prime Minister goes on TV to state how big the problem is and just how very seriously she takes it and we’re assured the government are working extremely hard to tackle it. However, the rhetoric never amounts to anything, as anyone seeking genuine help will attest. Help is hard to come by. Doctors prescribe pills to subdue the wrong thoughts, but nothing else. No long term solutions, just keep taking the pills. Hundreds of thousands of adults are medicated in this way and now, more worryingly, are many children. So it’s vital to talk about it. It’s permanently Mentalspeng Awareness Day or Tell Facebacon Your Neurologicalwankfuck Week. It’s even become quite fashionable, with regular treats from celebrities telling of their darkest moments and how they nearly didn’t get that huge Hollywood deal because they woke up feeling sad and unhappy one winter morning. If you’re a fruit-loop tell everyone. It will be ok… Tell them about the time you were going to drive your car off a cliff and ended up in hospital after a particularly long conversation with The Samaritans. Great stuff! Tell them about the regular, uncontrollable urges to slash yourself with a Stanley knife or any other sharp object close to hand. Awesome! Tell them about how you smash yourself repeatedly in the head, sometimes with a heavy object, as you can no longer deal with the stress and frustration of being disempowered by situations completely out of your control. Cool! Tell them how you feel trapped by an increasingly expensive housing market and how you have zero financial security. Brilliant! Or maybe just tell them that sometimes you can’t get out of bed and you don’t know why or that you panic uncontrollably for no reason. Skills! Tell the world! We’re so understanding of mental health issues these days, just raise more awareness and everything will be fine, we’re here for you man/woman! (and yes, we might need to sell this information on to the appropriate persons, future employers, insurance companies or government agencies etc.). After all, we’re all good people right? Tell everyone you’re mad and they’ll understand. They’ll think of the time you were a dick and they’ll say “Ahh, poor sod, you know he’s a mental don’t you”. Well frankly no. The world is full of cunts and whilst the people close to you will be sympathetic, as far as wider society goes, you’ll be marked, your position compromised and your word will not be trusted. I mean who knows, maybe you’re delusional, perhaps you’re about to rampage through town wielding a knife or driving your car into a crowded supermarket… But hold up…. One in every four of us is mental?! Is that really the case? Let’s think about this for a second. When did 25% of the population become a massive neurospeng? This wasn’t the case 30 years ago, a quarter of the population weren’t mad. There wasn’t the vast array of medications available these days; Prozac, Sertraline, Citralopram, Promethazine, Venlafaxine, Amiltryptaline, to name a few (there are many, many more). It’s clear that a lot of people aren’t feeling right but how come the suicide rates are higher now than they were 30 years ago? If we’re all so much more aware and well medicated, surely rates would be going down? Perhaps you were diagnosed as a mental because you responded negatively to events happening around you? Maybe you’re working increasingly longer hours for less money. Perhaps the terms of your work changed drastically and you no longer feel secure. Maybe you lost jobs because of funding cut backs. Perhaps you’re in despair because your friend took their own life when their job was cut in an austerity drive. Suicide is the most horrible thing which ever way you look at it. You strip a person of their purpose and they react with the most extreme act of self violence, causing an unbelievable amount of emotional distress for those left to pick up the pieces… And so we say, “Ahh but you understand, they were mad… They were fucking mental, they lost control of their senses, it such a terrible shame but they were mad you know”. Bullshit. The term Mental Health removes all responsibility from the structures creating an environment where people are deemed no longer of value or viable human beings. But maybe you were angry because you were told by politicians that you need to live within your means, whilst those in large financial institutions increased their wealth exponentially? The world economy crashed in 2008 and there’s no money. Eh? The governments of printed more and more money, but there’s no money for you, you cunt. Perhaps it was packed aboard a spaceship and is now hurtling towards Mars! (mad people tend to think like this, after all it couldn’t be that the money was stolen). Maybe you got angry with the blatant corruption from those in public life? Politicians shout loudly that they’re for the people but will pocket pay rises, local council officials bully members of the public and make threats to cut funding . This can be done with total with total impunity, as the structures put in place to control such actions cover up any wrong doing. You see the powerful can not and will not be challenged. There is no pathway to justice. When the fire at Grenfell happened, it was clear for all to see that the housing association, council and big business were at fault, but no, blame was heaped on the lone fire officer who had the awful task of managing two lowly fire engines in London’s biggest fire since World War II. At the time my local Member of Parliament response was “the flats were refurbished to a very high standard”. We shouldn’t lay blame at those in power, we cannot have any fault with the establishment. I bet that poor fire officer was a mental too… When discussing mental health we’re not talking about a brain injury or unfortunate illness. There’s extreme difficulty coping with the world but it’s not madness and it’s not a delusion. It’s a natural reaction to bullshit. We’re are completely surrounded by bullshit, on the internet bullshit, on the TV bullshit, in the work place bullshit, from our leaders bullshit etc. etc. The world is running on massive excess levels of bullshit. And this is the natural emotional response to bullshit. Mental Health is used to invalidate the anger, freeing the powerful from responsibility and laying blame squarely at the individuals door. In the meantime, piece by piece, the powerful steal everything we’ve ever owned. So next time someone says to you raise awareness about mental health, maybe tell them to fuck off. Either that or tell them you’re flying to the Moon to have tea with Kim Jong Un and Barney The Dinosaur. Fuck mental health. *Image used without permission of Barney The Dinosaur.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Ingredients

• 1 kg of pork roast with rind, such as shoulder or a lean belly
• 1 bottle of beer, light or dark
• chopped German-style mirepoix (best combination, for this recipe, includes celery root, carrot, red onion, and leeks)
• salt, pepper, nutmeg
• 1 diced garlic clove

Directions

1. Spread the vegetables on the bottom of the roasting pan.
2. Pour half the beer over the roast. (Drink the other half.)
3. Season the meat, to taste.
4. Roast the meat at 180 °C, until done (depends upon the weight of the roast).
5. Remove the meat from the oven, and wrap in aluminum foil.
6. Pour 2-3 cups of water into the roasting pan.
7. Pour/scrape everything from the pan into a sieve over a sauce pot.
8. Press the vegetables against the sieve, with the back of a spoon, to ensure that you get all that good dripping flavor into the sauce.
9. Defat the sauce with a grease separator, then pour it back into the pot.
10. Thicken the sauce, slightly (it should remain slightly watery, and not turn into a gravy), according to your usual method.
11. Open the foil and slice the roast.
12. Serve with the sauce.

@ a42048d7:26886c32

OP_CAT, Coffee, and keeping an open mind to Bitcoin soft forks by an 80 IQ BTC Maxi Pleb

TLDR: CAT is both low risk and low appeal to the broader non-dev BTC community. I don’t care and you shouldn’t either. If I am an 80 IQ HODL pleb or a company that caters to that group, can you please give me 2-4 fifth grade level coherent english sentences that explain why I should support CAT? I’m still waiting… CTV or LNHANCE on the other hand have broad appeal.

Five years ago in the office we got a fancy $6,000 coffee maker. It was hooked up to wifi, showed TV on a giant screen, and could make every type of coffee/milkshake you could think of. I was captivated… for about 1 day. After trying a few times I realized almost all the drinks it made were of low quality. The wifi connection actually ended up just being annoying. Half the time I wanted a coffee, only had a 5 minute break, and the machine displayed some inscrutable error. I went back to the proverbial grind un-caffeinated and frustrated wishing we had the old reliable boring coffee maker back. I also found myself only coming back to the 2 drinks I really cared about, espresso and maybe an occasional cappuccino. It was “cool” that new machine could make over 60 different drinks, but when I sat back and thought about it all I really needed or wanted were a few key options that I used constantly. Especially as those extra bells and whistles seemed to be the usual suspect in the coffee machine constantly breaking. I would’ve loved them upgrading from burnt starbucks coffee beans to a local specialty roaster, that would’ve greatly enhanced my daily coffee. Echoing this realization, my coffee setup at home became a simple machine that could only make espresso and a hand crank coffee bean grinder. Still have them years later and they work great. They’re robust and fit exactly what I wanted with no nonsense that created more headache than everyday value. As you probably suspected, this is a loose comparison to OP_CAT. I’ve listened to podcast after podcast, read blog after blog, and sat through every CAT pitch I could find. I genuinely tried to approach with an open mind. However, ultimately what every pro OP_CAT argument boils down to is that there is no simple left curve elevator pitch a pleb will understand or care about. “But we can get this really cool ZK Rollup and have infinite DEFI bridging to altcoin chains! Look we sort of did it on this other altcoin chain.” And they did, they aren’t lying. They have live software on a shitcoin chain like ETH or SOL that does some modest volume. But the story quickly falls apart in the face of a few basic left curve questions: “Why should I, as an 80 IQ left curve BTC maxi give a shit?” “Does this enhance my everyday experience holding and using BTC?” “Why do you have a non-BTC token for your rollup/sidechain/glorified multisig that is totally centralized?” “Why is there only a hard to understand often ill-defined path to de-centralization? Why isn’t it just already decentralized?” “What is a clear use case that the typical non-technical everyday BTC holder can understand and rally behind?” “Why should I care about bridging to ETH, SOL, or whatever shitcoin chain? I only want BTC and don’t want to participate in all that shitcoin bullshit. Bitcoin is a store of value and money to me and it doesn’t help with those use cases in a clear direct way. It sounds like it maybe, kinda, sorta does help with a lot of caveats, ifs, and steps that I struggle to understand.” Sorry yeah I know, that one got a little personal. I’ll try to do better going forward guys.

ZK proofs or other Pro-CAT arguments, are undoubtedly cool and do factually enable potential cool new stuff. It just happens to all be stuff that sounds complex, esoteric, and unappealing to an 80 IQ HODL pleb - let alone a miner, ETF investor, or exchange exec. I don’t mean to say ZK or other tech has no potential and that we won’t eventually move there, but just to say that it’s not in the cards as currently dealt.

I really went out trying to keep an open mind and steelman the case for CAT. I came back firmly believing:

1 Support is deep in the developer community, but nonexistent everywhere else. I have yet to find a single person that supports CAT who is not a dev or working at or sponsored by a company that stands to directly profit from something CAT enables. Which is fine, but I reserve the right to be skeptical of your direct incentive. I acknowledge rough consensus is very hard to judge, and am open to changing my mind on this over time but feel this is a currently accurate assessment.

2 To get a soft fork you need rough consensus. Most people in that potential consensus are not highly technical developers. They care mostly or exclusively about BTC’s store of value use case. No one has yet articulated a clear compelling store of value enhancing use case that they can understand and care about. Without pull demand from potential users and paying customers, CAT will inevitably stall.

3 Lots of factually inaccurate FUD has been thrown at CAT. People saw the Taproot Wizards or shitcoiners pushing CAT, and immediately dismiss CAT as an evil psyop without any real consideration for its technical merits. Frankly most people just hate Udi and say “Fuck CAT” based solely on that. Maybe not fair, but true.

4 CAT is low risk, and it is not a catastrophe waiting to happen. Anything bad it potentially enables is enabled in such an inefficient and/or use hostile way that it is highly unlikely to pose any issues to Bitcoin. CAT’s technical risk is low and this is consistently proven by other chains enabling CAT and having no issues with it, such as Liquid.

5 Lots of people who have no idea wtf they are talking about falsely claim CAT is the apocalypse without any ability whatsoever to explain why. Imho you are no better than Udi and the shitcoiners if you are willing to lie about CAT just because you dislike them. We as the BTC community need the ability to have a rational discussion on technical merits, and not to devolve into a cult of personality based political battle. The question should be, “Is CAT good or bad and why?” and not “I just hate Udi, therefore its a no from me dog.”

Summarizing CAT using TradFi language: those pushing CAT have technology in search of a problem and no clear product market fit. They are pushing their technology to an apathetic audience. Pushers of CAT are not pulled forward by customer demand. In the tech world these are some of the quintessential red flags that every good investor knows mean you need to sit this one out.

CTV or LNHANCE on the other hand are soft fork proposals that have clear use cases you can quickly explain to a broad swathe of the Bitcoin ecosystem: “Hey HOLD pleb, worried about losing your coins? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a simple vault that reduces the chances your coins are lost or stolen? Let’s make self custody and BTC’s store of value use case strictly better, specifically without enabling any shitcoin-ery.” “Hey Blackrock, Van Eck, ARK, Franklin Templeton, and every ETF investor - it would really suck if Coinbase lost all your Bitcoin and that ETF went to zero, right? What it we could create vaults to make that Bitcoin more secure?” “Like Lightning but find it hard to use self-custodially? Let’s make Lightning better, easier, and more scalable with fewer onchain transactions and lower fees.” “Tried or seen the ARK demos yet? They have real working code even without covenants. With covenants we get big ARK volumes and scaling while also making it easier.”

Signing off: See the difference? I, an 80 IQ pleb, can steelman multiple use cases for CTV/LNHANCE that have broad appeal. I have yet to see any such case for CAT, and until then I don’t think it’ll go anywhere.

*Pro-CAT Sources I’ve digested and would encourage others to consider: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Covenants_support https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no_Nj-MX53w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yp4eYK9S6M

Pro-CTV/LNHANCE sources to consider which have CLEAR use cases with widespead appeal: https://github.com/jamesob/simple-ctv-vault https://github.com/stutxo/op_ctv_payment_pool https://lnhance.org/ https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/how-ctv-can-help-scale-bitcoin

@ 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. 🐶🐾🫡🚀🚀🚀

@ e373ca41:b82abcc5

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This article by Milosz Matuschek first appeared in German in his publication "Freischwebende Intelligenz".

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It's working! Or is it? Trump's inauguration casted its shadow in the last weeks already and produced the first big upsets. Meta/Facebook cancelled their squad of fact-checkers and will rely (like X) on community comments in future. Wokistan is unwound. Zuckerberg now presents himself as an advocate of free speech, declaring a “return to principles”.

For those who believe it, Zuckerberg is an opportunist who gave in to the Biden administration and its deletion requests during Covid without much resistance (after having given 400 mio. USD through intermediary organizations into Bidens campaign), regardless of whether it was about masks or later about “vaccinations”. His Canossa walk to Rogan does not change the fact that he betrayed his own principles and deleted millions of critical profiles, channels and groups, including groups in which Facebook users discussed vaccine damage. Where are the profiles? Are they back? Zuckerberg played Ministry of Truth and is now quoting Orwell and toeing the Musk line. This is what a driven man looks like, not a man of conviction. The mainstream is shocked and is already labeling Facebook as a new hate portal. When will the accusation of anti-Semitism kick in?

https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1876683974560350626

The Musk effect

All of these are gestures of submission to the new ruler of public opinion: Elon Musk. He owns the largest network for "free speech", he himself is its biggest influencer and is recalibrating what can be said in public. His journeyman's piece was Trump's election victory. Changing the political mood in the world could be his masterpiece.

For a long time, he admittedly did this extremely skillfully. He tweeted about the deep state, Soros and Gates, the population collapse, compulsory vaccination, etc. and got on well with the critical scene, some of whom are now all too submissively trying to recognize their new messiah in him. Musk throws his media spotlight on topics that the newspapers remain silent about and gave politicians underrepresented in the mainstream, such as Alice Weidel (opposition leader in Germany, AfD), a forum.

Musk has repeatedly brought the Epstein case and paedophile scandals, such as in England (Rotherham, Oxford), into the media spotlight. Pakistani gangs abused minors and children there for years; anyone reading the verdict will need strong nerves. In Austria, a trial for gang abuse of a 12-year-old girl has just ended with an acquittal. The judges believe she wanted it that way. During the trial, the defendant put a hundred Euro note on the table for the victim's lawyer, which is what mocking “reparation” looks like. In “our democracy” in Germany, sentences are handed down on a piecework basis for ludicrous “insults to politicians”.

Musk is de facto the most powerful man in the world (satellites, SpaceX, Mars, Tesla, mRNA vaccination routes, Pentagon connections, X..,). Where so much power is involved, megalomania is not far away. He is acting increasingly clumsily.

It is currently confirming for all to see the cliché that politics is basically the entertainment department of industry. Even in “our democracy”, the bosses of the world have always chosen their political generals, who are interchangeable. In the case of Bill Gates, George Soros & Son etc., the executive was the woke nomenklatura right up to the EU. With Musk, it is the new, right-wing conservative nomenklatura.

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Musk smooches Meloni, interviews Alice Weidel, auditions Farage (and cancels again: “doesn't have what it takes”). The Weidel interview was certainly a necessary corrective to the current media asymmetry (and no one should be able to deny access to a source of information). There is no doubt that the second strongest party in the German mainstream media does not have a fair chance to convey its content. Talk shows, if there are invitations to AfD politicians at all, are public inquisition events with calls for self-criticism.

But the Musk-Weidel talk was not journalism either. It was a public casting event, a kind of “Apprentice” on X. Or have you seen a journalist anywhere? A platform operator and a politician tapped each other a bit and confirmed each other. All this is already bringing the EU onto the scene, Thierry Breton is already waving the possible annulment of the elections in Germany. An oligarch is unmasking the EU oligarchy and both want to do it for democracy, what a world...

"Which piggy would you like?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiwkYCFD6EA

So asked Robert Lembke some decades ago in the German TV show “What am I?”: And that's supposed to be the choice now: Pick your favorite oligarch or next slave owner. In the end, every big tech business model is based on advertising and data mining. Zuckerberg, Musk & Co. sell identity, friendship, memories and ultimately your content. Twitter also wanted to buy Substack and got “Revue”. The customer (aka the product) is sold to the advertising industry, Zuckerberg potentially knows each of his users down to their character traits (unknown even to the user) (check: www.applymagicsauce.com). Like in the 80s movie with Arnie, this is a kind of “running man”, a gladiator game in front of an assembled world audience.

Whoever wins attention for themselves (and the platform) wins back a small amount of freedom and even earns something in the process. Musk recently changed his X name to “Kekius Maximus” (whereupon memecoins of the same name immediately sprang up, to each ruler his own currency), reminiscent of the gladiator Maximus from the film of the same name by Ridley Scott. The gladiator's owner told him: “Win the crowd and you win your freedom”. Not much has changed since ancient Rome. As the world's top meme maker with the greatest reach, Musk also has the greatest influence on social moods. No content is more viral and memorable than memes. The winner here is the one with the highest level of replication. That's what Musk does.

The changes we are currently seeing are just the beginning, both positive and (possibly) negative. The first effect is already visible: Wokistan is withdrawing from platforms that are not ideologically curated. Fearing accusations of contact guilt, they obediently throw themselves off the nearest cliff and voluntarily curtail their own reach; the last example was “Watson.ch” from Switzerland, a journalistically narrow-chested list and click medium for chai latte sippers from Bern and Zurich. Will the “X-itus” be followed by the great unfriending of Facebook? There won't be much left, Tiktok also ticked to the right beat by their standards (as long as it's not against China). The next place of mercy for Woke is called Bluesky, where there is neither hate nor agitation, right?

It must be clear to everyone now: The result of liberation by others is never freedom, but new dependence. What has not been fought for is always a continuation of neo-feudalism and (virtual) serfdom in a different form. The tools for regaining freedom have long been in our hands. What separates us from freedom is ultimately only comfort.

The book “The Sovereign Individual” was recently translated into German. It was written over 25 years ago.

Read it!

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Join the marketplace of ideas! We are building a publishing ecosystem on Nostr for citizen-journalism, starting with a client for blogging and newsletter distribution. Sound money and sound information should finally be in the hands of the people, right? Want to learn more about the Pareto Project? Zap me, if you want to contribute (all Zaps go to the project).

Are you a publication or journalist and want to be part of it, test us, migrate your content to Nostr? Write to team@pareto.space**

Not yet on Nostr and want the full experience? Easy onboarding via Nosta.me.

@ a4a6b584:1e05b95b

The Four-Layer Framework

Layer 1: Zoom Out

Start by looking at the big picture. What’s the subject about, and why does it matter? Focus on the overarching ideas and how they fit together. Think of this as the 30,000-foot view—it’s about understanding the "why" and "how" before diving into the "what."

Example: If you’re learning programming, start by understanding that it’s about giving logical instructions to computers to solve problems.

• Tip: Keep it simple. Summarize the subject in one or two sentences and avoid getting bogged down in specifics at this stage.

Once you have the big picture in mind, it’s time to start breaking it down.

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Layer 2: Categorize and Connect

Now it’s time to break the subject into categories—like creating branches on a tree. This helps your brain organize information logically and see connections between ideas.

Example: Studying biology? Group concepts into categories like cells, genetics, and ecosystems.

• Tip: Use headings or labels to group similar ideas. Jot these down in a list or simple diagram to keep track.

With your categories in place, you’re ready to dive into the details that bring them to life.

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Layer 3: Master the Details

Once you’ve mapped out the main categories, you’re ready to dive deeper. This is where you learn the nuts and bolts—like formulas, specific techniques, or key terminology. These details make the subject practical and actionable.

Example: In programming, this might mean learning the syntax for loops, conditionals, or functions in your chosen language.

• Tip: Focus on details that clarify the categories from Layer 2. Skip anything that doesn’t add to your understanding.

Now that you’ve mastered the essentials, you can expand your knowledge to include extra material.

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Layer 4: Expand Your Horizons

Finally, move on to the extra material—less critical facts, trivia, or edge cases. While these aren’t essential to mastering the subject, they can be useful in specialized discussions or exams.

Example: Learn about rare programming quirks or historical trivia about a language’s development.

• Tip: Spend minimal time here unless it’s necessary for your goals. It’s okay to skim if you’re short on time.

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Pro Tips for Better Learning

1. Use Active Recall and Spaced Repetition

Test yourself without looking at notes. Review what you’ve learned at increasing intervals—like after a day, a week, and a month. This strengthens memory by forcing your brain to actively retrieve information.

2. Map It Out

Create visual aids like diagrams or concept maps to clarify relationships between ideas. These are particularly helpful for organizing categories in Layer 2.

3. Teach What You Learn

Explain the subject to someone else as if they’re hearing it for the first time. Teaching exposes any gaps in your understanding and helps reinforce the material.

4. Engage with LLMs and Discuss Concepts

Take advantage of tools like ChatGPT or similar large language models to explore your topic in greater depth. Use these tools to:
- Ask specific questions to clarify confusing points.
- Engage in discussions to simulate real-world applications of the subject.
- Generate examples or analogies that deepen your understanding.

Tip: Use LLMs as a study partner, but don’t rely solely on them. Combine these insights with your own critical thinking to develop a well-rounded perspective.

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Get Started

Ready to try the Four-Layer Method? Take 15 minutes today to map out the big picture of a topic you’re curious about—what’s it all about, and why does it matter? By building your understanding step by step, you’ll master the subject with less stress and more confidence.

@ 378562cd:a6fc6773

Here is the best list I could compile.... I hope I didn't miss anything but please let me know if I did in the comments.

• Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement\ Directed the U.S. to exit the Paris Climate Agreement, citing economic priorities over global climate commitments.
• Withdrawal from the World Health Organization\ Initiated the process to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO, criticizing its handling of global health crises.
• Declaration of National Emergency at the Southern Border\ Declared an emergency to allocate military resources for border security and wall construction.
• Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship\ Proposed ending birthright citizenship for children of non-citizens in the U.S.; pending legal challenges.
• Mass Pardon of January 6th Defendants\ Pardoned approximately 1,500 individuals charged in the Capitol riot, sparking significant debate.
• Reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy\ Prohibited U.S. foreign aid from funding organizations that provide or promote abortions.
• Energy Policy Shift Favoring Fossil Fuels\ Ordered an expansion of fossil fuel production on federal lands and offshore, reversing previous restrictions.
• Rescission of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs\ Ended DEI initiatives within federal agencies, focusing on merit-based policies.
• Establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency\ Created a department tasked with reducing bureaucratic waste and improving federal operations.
• Designation of Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations\ Labeled certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations to enhance enforcement measures.
• Mandate for Federal Employees to Return to Offices\ Ended remote work policies for federal employees, requiring a full return to physical offices.
• Artificial Intelligence Investment Initiative\ Repealed previous AI orders and allocated $500 billion to advance AI development in the U.S.
• Pardon of Ross Ulbricht\ Granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road online marketplace.
• Reversal of Electric Vehicle Targets and Renewable Energy Permits\ Halted permits for renewable energy projects and reversed EV adoption targets.
• Declaration of National Energy Emergency\ Declared an emergency to boost domestic energy production and enhance energy independence.
• Declassification of Assassination Files\ Ordered the release of government records related to the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr.
• Pardons for Anti-Abortion Protesters\ Pardoned individuals convicted of offenses related to anti-abortion protests, including clinic blockades.
• Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology\ Promoted U.S. leadership in blockchain and digital assets while fostering innovation and regulatory clarity.
• National Hiring Freeze and IRS Agent Reassignment\ Froze federal hiring and proposed reassigning 90,000 IRS agents to border security roles.
• Trade Reform and Tariff Implementation\ Imposed tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, aiming to boost U.S. manufacturing and tax revenue.
• Investigation into Weaponization of the Justice System\ Initiated a probe into federal, state, and local agencies to assess potential misuse of the justice system.
• Suspension of CBP One Program\ Terminated the system allowing asylum seekers to schedule appointments at legal ports of entry.
• Demand for Increased NATO Defense Spending\ Called on NATO allies to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP for equitable burden-sharing.
• Trade Tariff Threats Against Mexico and Canada\ Announced intentions to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada to protect U.S. industries.
• Suspension of Foreign Aid, Including to Ukraine\ Halted all foreign aid programs, notably affecting assistance to Ukraine.
• Launch of Mass Deportations Using Military Aircraft\ Initiated large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants utilizing military resources.
• Executive Order Recognizing Only Two Genders\ Stated that the federal government will recognize only two genders, male and female, eliminating DEI mandates.
• Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity\ Prohibited private organizations from conducting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) employment programs for jobs created by federal contracts.
• Designation of Ansar Allah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization\ Initiated the process of designating Yemen's Ansar Allah (the Houthis) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
• Rescission of Executive Order 11246\ Revoked the 1965 order that prohibited federal contractors from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, and mandated affirmative action programs.

@ 79998141:0f8f1901

Happy new year, Anon.

Thanks for tuning in to whatever this long form post will be. I hope to make these more regular, like journal entries as we travel through "real life" and the Nostrverse together. If I'm making time for this reflective writing, then things are going as planned.

2024 was a wildly transformative year for me for many reasons... there's no way I can possibly fit all of them here. They're not all related to Bitcoin and Nostr- I've got a beautiful life outside of all that which has its own independent arc. My wife and I celebrated 7 years of marriage together, stronger than ever (don't believe that "itch" bullshit). We let go of some negative relationships and embraced some positive ones. We cut some bad habits, and we made some good habits. We worked, we traveled, we saw family, and we partied.

But damn, these two technologies have become a huge part of my life. God willing, this trend will continue until they've both eclipsed my professional capacity through our startup, Conduit BTC.

This was the year I was truly orange pilled. Until late 2023, I had traded (quite profitably) Bitcoin, "crypto", stocks, options, prediction markets and whatever else I could get my hands on that felt undervalued. I did this all in my spare time, grinding out a little financial freedom while I hustled at my fiat ventures to support my little family. I wasn't a true believer- just an opportunist with a knack for spotting where and when a crowd might flock to next. That was right up until I ran face first into Lyn Alden's book "Broken Money".

Something about Lyn's engineer/macro-finance inspired prose clicked with me, lock and key. Total one way function. By the end of the book my laser eyes had burned a hole in my bedroom ceiling. I was all in- and acted accordingly both with my capital and my attention. It wasn't long before I discovered Nostr and dove in here too, falling deep into my current orange and purple polyamorous love affair.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

Despite the passion, through studying Bitcoin's criticisms (from the likes of Mike Green and Nassim Taleb) I found a hole in the utopian plot: none of this works without Bitcoin actually being used as money. Worldwide transactions must skyrocket demand for blockspace to keep the network secure/stable for the long term. Besides, if everyday folks aren't using Bitcoin as money then we haven't done shit to make the world a better place. In that world, we've only replaced old masters with new ones. Fuck that.

Whatever I did in this space needed to increase the usage of Bitcoin as money. Simple. This was bigger than passion, this was purpose. I knew that come hell or high water I would dedicate myself to this mission.

Lucky for me I found a partner and best friend in @aceaspades to go on this adventure with. I'm infinitely grateful for him. He's an incredible man who also happens to be an insanely creative and talented software developer. We'd tried for years to find the right project to focus on together, experimenting with all kinds of new techy ideas as they came across our field. Nothing had ever captured our attention like this. This was different. By March of 2024 we had formed a company and gotten to work iterating on how we could leverage these beautiful protocols and open-source tech to create something that served our mission. This is @ConduitBTC.

I've done well in my fiat career executing plans downstream of someone else's creative vision. I've learned the ins and outs of an established ecosystem and found ways to profit from it. I take plans developed by others, compete to win contracts to build them, and execute on them in a cashflow-positive way. I'm bringing this no bullshit blue collar skillset with me to the Nostrverse whether they like it or not.

The adventure we're embarking on now is totally different though. We're charting a new course - totally creative, highly intuitive and extremely speculative towards a future that doesn't exist yet. There are few established norms. The potential is vast but unknown. We're diving into a strange quest to sell a map to an imaginary place and to simultaneously architect its creation (alongside all the amazing builders here doing the same thing). This is insanely exciting to me.

We're barely getting started but a lot has been invested under the surface which will show itself in 2025. We'll be sharing updates in a proper post on @ConduitBTC soon.

As for my personal 2025 resolutions, here they are: - zero alcohol for the entire year (did this in 2019 and had a great year, it's time for a rerun) - more focused presence in the moment: especially with my wife - more self care and prioritized mental/physical health - this includes daily: naps, prayer, self hypnosis or meditation, sweat, and stretching/massaging (overworked in 2024 with a fiat 9-5, a board/advisor role in a fiat business I have equity in, and my newfound passion here. Two serious burn out episodes experienced this year - zero is the only acceptable number of burnouts for long term health and success.) - related to the above: get Conduit some mission-aligned funding partners and leave my fiat 9-5. Grow the Conduit team (have put in a serious amount of my personal capital already to get this going, which will show fruit in the new year... but I am not an island) - more authentic and thoughtful posts on Nostr, with a solid amount of shitposting and organic home grown memes to balance it out... more zaps, more geniune connections and interactions with the curious forward thinking people on here - more IRL Nostr/Bitcoin events - more laughter, more jokes

Enough for now. Cheers to you and yours Anon, may 2025 bring you the magic you've been dreaming of.

@ 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.

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

First make sure to add this relay wss://relay.momostr.pink in your Nostr setting and second follow this account

Soon after an account will be created on bluesky and will mirror your Nostr profile the address will be like this: bsky.app/profile/npub1mwce4c8qa2zn9zw9f372syrc9dsnqmyy3jkcmpqkzaze0slj94dqu6nmwy.momostr.pink.ap.brid.gy

And from there keep spreading the good word

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/825913

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

Step by Step migration from the Alby Hub Cloud to the Alby Hub local application.

Step 1. From the Alby Hub select the 'migrate node' option, this will generate a bkp file, and will shutdown the node

https://guides.getalby.com/user-guide/alby-account-and-browser-extension/alby-hub/faq-alby-hub/how-can-i-migrate-alby-hub-to-a-different-machine

Step 2. Preferably on a second machine, install the Alby application, synchronize the application with the Alby extension, then run the Alby 'advanced setup' import the bkp file, enter the password, and the Hub will open the wallet.

https://guides.getalby.com/user-guide/alby-account-and-browser-extension/alby-hub/faq-alby-hub/how-can-i-migrate-alby-hub-to-a-different-machine

Note: if the password is incorrect this message will show up

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

The paparazzi are we

One of the things that bothers me about social media, in general, is that it gives celebrities an air of approachability, that they don't actually offer.

Theoretically, a celebrity could respond to any one of the dozens or even hundreds of people asking them questions or lodging complaints or singing their praises, but they usually only respond very selectively and leave everyone else just sitting there, as a living monument to the ReplyGuy.

And, as a wise man once said, ReplyGuy is a hoe.

Death of a ReplyGuy

This is usually because of time and energy restrictions, but also due to distaste, disdain, or indifference. Regardless of motivation, it is simply the nature of things, when a larger number of people are clamboring for the attention of some particular person.

Ooh, ooh! Can I have the next question?! Would you please address my bug? May I have a microsecond of your time?

Social media (and I include GitHub in this category) ups this game considerably, and potentially turns it all into a dangerous psychological torture, by making us all preoccupied with people who don't interact with us. The most irrational of groupies because we are forever making almost-contact with our stars.

If we can see them talking to one person, we're supposed to feel like they've spoken with all of us. But they haven't. They spoke with someone else, and we were allowed to watch. No different than on television, except that we might be disappointed and eager to return the next day, to renew our futile attempt.

The same intoxicating feeling that playing the lottery elicits. Everyone is a potential winner, but there is only one jackpot. Come back next week. Buy another ticket. This next time, is your time. Promise.

The view from the peanut gallery

It is all an illusion that there is no hierarchy, where there clearly is one. Celebrities of the past had, at least, the decency to remain slightly aloof. But they all want to be one of the Common Folk, now, just as every multi-millionaire aspires to see himself as fundamentally working-class.

All of celebrity social media is a stage, and most of us are merely spectators or commentators, to what is playing on it. This is why, if someone treats me like someone sitting in the peanut gallery, my instinct is to treat them like an actor.

Because, in reality, that is what they are.

@ 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!

🐶🐾🤯🤯🤯🫂💜

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

As the title states, scratch behind my ear and you get it. 🐶🐾🫡

@ 97121c7b:30a10e4e

test descripties c

@ a42048d7:26886c32

DIY Multisig is complex and 100x more likely to fail than you think if you do it yourself: A few years ago as an experiment I put what was then $2,000 worth Bitcoin into a 2 of 3 DIY multisig with two close family members holding two keys on Tapsigners and myself holding the last key on a Coldcard. My thought was to try and preview how they might deal with self custodied multisig Bitcoin if I died prematurely. After over a year I revisited and asked them to try and do a transaction without me. Just send that single Utxo to a new address in the same wallet, no time limit. It could not possibly have failed harder and shook my belief in multisig. To summarize an extremely painful day, there was a literally 0% chance they would figure this out without help. If this had been for real all our BTC may have been lost forever. Maybe eventually a family friend could’ve helped, but I hadn’t thought of that and hadn’t recommended a trusted BTC knowledge/help source. I had preached self sovereignty and doing it alone and my family tried to respect that. I should’ve given them the contact info of local high integrity bitcoiners I trust implicitly. Regardless of setup type, I highly recommend having a trusted Bitcoiner and online resources your family knows they can turn to to trouble shoot. Bookmark the corresponding BTCSessions video to your BTC self custody setup. Multisig is complicated as hell and hard to understand. Complexity is the enemy when it comes to making sure your BTC isn’t lost and actually gets to your heirs. Many Bitcoiners use a similar setup to this one that failed so badly, and I’m telling you unless you’re married to or gave birth to a seriously hardcore maxi who is extremely tech savvy, the risk your Bitcoin is lost upon your death is unacceptably high. My family is extremely smart but when the pressure of now many thousands of dollars was on the line, the complexity of multisig torpedoed them. Don’t run to an ETF! There are answers: singlesig is awesome. From observing my family I’m confident they would’ve been okay in a singlesig setup. It was the process of signing on separate devices with separate signers, and moving a PSBT around that stymied them. If it had been singlesig they would’ve been okay as one signature on its own was accomplished. Do not besmirch singlesig, it’s incredibly powerful and incredibly resilient. Resilience and simplicity are vastly underrated! In my opinion multisig may increase your theoretical security against attacks that are far less likely to actually happen, e.g. an Oceans Eleven style hack/heist. More likely your heirs will be fighting panic, grief, and stress and forget something you taught them a few years back. If they face an attack it will most likely be social engineering/phishing. They are unlikely to face an elaborate heist that would make a fun movie. While I still maintain it was a mistake for Bitkey to not have a separate screen to verify addresses and other info, overall I believe it’s probably the best normie option for small BTC holdings(yes I do know Bitkey is actually multisig, but the UX is basically a single sig). This incident scared me into realizing the importance of simplicity. Complexity and confusion of heirs/family may be the most under-considered aspects of BTC security. If you’ve made a DIY multisig and your heirs can’t explain why they need all three public keys and what a descriptor is and where it’s backed up, you might as well just go have that boating accident now and get it over with.

Once you get past small amounts of BTC, any reputable hardware wallet in singlesig is amazing security I would encourage folks to consider. In a singlesig setup - For $5 wrench attack concerns, just don’t have your hardware signer or steel backup at your home. You can just have a hot wallet on your phone with a small amount for spending.

If you get a really big stack collaborative multisig is a potentially reasonable middle ground. Just be very thoughtful and brutally honest about your heirs and their BTC and general tech knowledge. Singlesig is still great and you don’t have to move past it, but I get that you also need to sleep at night. If you have truly life changing wealth and are just too uncomfortable with singlesig, maybe consider either 1) Anchorwatch to get the potential benefits of multisig security with the safety net of traditional insurance or 2) Liana wallet where you can use miniscript to effectively have a time locked singlesig spending path to a key held by a third party to help your family recover your funds if they can’t figure it out before that timelock hits, 3) Bitcoin Keeper with their automatic inheritance docs and mini script enabled inheritance key. The automatic inheritance docs are a best in class feature no one else has done yet. Unchained charges $200 for inheritance docs on top of your $250 annual subscription, which imho is beyond ridiculous. 4) Swan vault, I’ve generally soured on most traditional 2 of 3 collaborative multisig because I’ve always found holes either in security (Unchained signed a transaction in only a few hours and has no defined time delay, and still doesn’t support Segwit, seriously guys, wtf?), only support signers that are harder to use and thus tough for noobs, or the overall setups are just too complex. Swan Vault’s focus on keeping it as simple as possible really stands out against competitors that tack on unneeded confusion complexity.

TLDR: For small amounts of BTC use Bitkey. For medium to large amounts use singlesig with a reputable hardware wallet and steel backup. For life changing wealth where you just can no longer stomach sinsglesig maybe also consider Anchorwatch, Bitcoin Keeper, Sean Vault, or Liana. Don’t forget your steel backups! Be safe out there! Do your own research and don’t take my word for it. Just use this as inspiration to consider an alternative point of view. If you’re a family of software engineers, feel free to tell me to go fuck myself.

@ da0b9bc3:4e30a4a9

Hello Stackers!

Welcome on into the ~Music Corner of the Saloon!

A place where we Talk Music. Share Tracks. Zap Sats.

So stay a while and listen.

🚨Don't forget to check out the pinned items in the territory homepage! You can always find the latest weeklies there!🚨

🚨Subscribe to the territory to ensure you never miss a post! 🚨

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/865514

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

Test Bounty Note

@ a4a6b584:1e05b95b

Step 1: Secure Your Device

1. Install an Antivirus Program
   Download and install a trusted antivirus program to scan files for potential malware.
2. For Linux: Calm Antivirus

3. For Windows: CalmWin Antivirus

4. Install a VPN
   A VPN is essential for maintaining privacy and security. It will encrypt your internet traffic and hide your IP address.

5. Recommended: Mullvad VPN, which accepts Bitcoin for anonymous payment.

6. Install a Torrent Program
   You’ll need a torrent client to download files.

7. Recommended: Deluge

8. Install the Tor Browser
   To access The Pirate Bay or its proxies, you’ll need the privacy-focused Tor Browser.

---

Step 2: Prepare Your Setup

• Ensure your VPN is running and connected.
• Open the Tor Browser.
• Launch Deluge to have your torrent client ready.

---

Step 3: Using Tor Go to The Pirate Bay via Onion Service or Find a Trusted Pirate Bay Proxy

Accessing The Pirate Bay directly can be challenging due to restrictions in some regions. Proxy sites often fill the gap. - The Pirate Bay Onion service: http://piratebayo3klnzokct3wt5yyxb2vpebbuyjl7m623iaxmqhsd52coid.onion - Or find a trusted proxy: Use a site like Pirateproxy or a reliable Tor directory for updated lists.

---

Step 4: Search for Linux Distros

1. On The Pirate Bay, navigate to the "OtherOS" category under the Applications section.
2. Enter your desired Linux distro in the search bar (e.g., "Ubuntu," "Arch Linux").

---

Step 5: Select a Torrent

1. Filter the Results:
2. Look for torrents with the highest seeders (SE) and the fewest leechers (LE).

3. Trusted users are marked with a green skull icon—these are usually safe uploads.

4. Copy the Magnet Link:

5. Right-click on the magnet icon next to the trusted torrent and select "Copy Link."

---

Step 6: Start the Download

1. In Deluge, paste the copied magnet link into the “Add Torrent” box.
2. Click OK to start the download.
3. Monitor the progress until the download completes.

---

Step 7: Scan the Downloaded File

Once the file is downloaded: 1. Scan for viruses: Right-click the file and use Calm or CalmWin to verify its integrity.
2. If the file passes the scan, it’s ready for use.

---

Step 8: Manage Your File

• Seed or Remove:
• To help the torrent community, keep seeding the file by leaving it in your torrent client.

• To stop seeding, right-click the file in Deluge and remove it.

• Move for Long-Term Storage: Transfer the file to a secure directory for regular use.

---

Notes on Safety and Ethics

• Verify Legitimacy: Ensure the torrent you are downloading is for an official Linux distribution. Torrents with unusual names or details should be avoided.
• Support the Developers: Consider visiting the official websites of Linux distros (Ubuntu, Arch Linux) to support their work directly.

---

By following these steps, you can safely and privately download Linux distributions while contributing to the open-source community.

@ d9cfbbde:e7cfd9fd

Testing if this can be edited after publishing...

@ 97121c7b:30a10e4e

here is where the content will be just a test

@ 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

@ 54286b98:3debc100

The gift and the challenge? More time with my kids than most dads get. Days filled with them. It's a blast.

Diapers, potty training, sticky fingers, the easy stuff. Expected. A privilege, really.

But here's what I'm learning: Undivided attention. Presence. That's the hard part. The part that fades.

We walk. Parks, trails, anywhere but inside. They love it. S'mores, impromptu campsites, boats on the horizon, Florida beaches (no walking next to Florida freshwater for this dad, gators!). We read. We play hard. My oldest is discovering the magic of computers.

Mornings with my daughter. Just us. Quiet. Books. Connection. Then her brother wakes, and the day explodes with breakfast, more books, more play.

Knowledge, manners, a little discipline, and a lot of fun. That's the legacy.

But even with all this time, there's still work. Responsibilities. "Papa needs to work." "Papa, don't you want to play with me?" The hardest lesson: balance. Teaching them independence when all they want is connection.

The reminder: Even when life gets crazy, make the moments count. Be there. Truly be there. And trust that when I can't, they'll know it's not about them. It's about the work.

Love them. Cherish them.

Until the next one.

J

___

Feel free to follow me here on nostr or sign up on my website for my blog posts/newsletters, talking about crafting beauty in life, family, entrepreneurship, culture, woodworking & faith.\ https://www.javierfeliu.com/

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

I just read this, and found it enlightening.

Jung... notes that intelligence can be seen as problem solving at an everyday level..., whereas creativity may represent problem solving for less common issues

Other studies have used metaphor creation as a creativity measure instead of divergent thinking and a spectrum of CHC components instead of just g and have found much higher relationships between creativity and intelligence than past studies

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/3/3/59

I'm unusually intelligent (Who isn't?), but I'm much more creative, than intelligent, and I think that confuses people. The ability to apply intelligence, to solve completely novel problems, on the fly, is something IQ tests don't even claim to measure. They just claim a correlation.

Creativity requires taking wild, mental leaps out into nothingness; simply trusting that your brain will land you safely. And this is why I've been at the forefront of massive innovation, over and over, but never got rich off of it.

I'm a starving autist.

Zaps are the first time I've ever made money directly, for solving novel problems. Companies don't do this because there is a span of time between providing a solution and the solution being implemented, and the person building the implementation (or their boss) receives all the credit for the existence of the solution. At best, you can hope to get pawned off with a small bonus.

Nobody can remember who came up with the solution, originally, and that person might not even be there, anymore, and probably never filed a patent, and may have no idea that their idea has even been built. They just run across it, later, in a tech magazine or museum, and say, "Well, will you look at that! Someone actually went and built it! Isn't that nice!"

Universities at least had the idea of cementing novel solutions in academic papers, but that: 1) only works if you're an academic, and at a university, 2) is an incredibly slow process, not appropriate for a truly innovative field, 3) leads to manifestations of perverse incentives and biased research frameworks, coming from 'publish or perish' policies.

But I think long-form notes and zaps solve for this problem. #Alexandria, especially, is being built to cater to this long-suffering class of chronic underachievers. It leaves a written, public, time-stamped record of Clever Ideas We Have Had.

Because they are clever, the ideas. And we have had them.

@ ae6ce958:d0f02c7d

In the tradition of The Pragmatic Programmer, let’s dive deeper into how DamageBDD enables programmers to switch into flow, earn sats for their efforts, and unlock a positive neural feedback loop by fostering behavior-driven thinking. This not only amplifies productivity but also strengthens cognitive abilities, making developers sharper, more agile thinkers in the long run.

---

Flow State Meets Real-Time Rewards

What Is Flow?

The flow state is that magical zone where work feels effortless, time disappears, and every action seems to naturally lead to the next. Achieving flow requires clarity, focus, feedback, and a meaningful sense of progress—elements that DamageBDD inherently provides.

How DamageBDD Induces Flow

1. Behavior-Driven Focus:
   BDD scenarios act as the “North Star” for developers, defining what the system should do in clear, actionable terms. There’s no ambiguity, no wasted energy figuring out what needs to be done—only a set of behaviors to implement, refine, or fix.

2. Instant Feedback Loops:
   Every line of code you write is immediately evaluated against predefined BDD scenarios. If it works, you see the green light and earn sats. If it fails, you get actionable feedback to correct it. This near-instantaneous feedback is a cornerstone of flow, reinforcing productive momentum.

3. Real-Time Rewards:
   With Bitcoin Lightning integration, every passing test or fixed behavior comes with an immediate, tangible payout. The brain loves rewards—earning sats becomes a dopamine hit, keeping you engaged and motivated.

---

The Positive Neural Feedback Loop of Thinking in Terms of Behavior

Why Behavior-Driven Thinking Matters

Programming in terms of behavior is more than a methodology—it’s a cognitive framework that sharpens your mind. When you define problems as behaviors to achieve, you:
- Simplify Complexity: Abstracting functionality into behaviors reduces cognitive load, making it easier to reason about systems.
- Improve Problem Solving: Thinking in terms of "what should happen" (rather than "how to make it happen") trains your brain to identify outcomes first, encouraging solution-focused thinking.
- Enhance Communication: Clear behavior definitions bridge gaps between developers, testers, and stakeholders, fostering better collaboration.

---

The Neural Benefits

1. Reinforcing Neural Pathways for Logical Thinking:
   Every time you think in terms of behaviors, you exercise critical thinking and decision-making processes. Over time, these neural pathways strengthen, making you a faster, sharper problem solver.

2. Amplifying Pattern Recognition:
   Writing and debugging BDD scenarios train your brain to recognize patterns in system behaviors. This skill extends beyond coding—your ability to spot patterns in other domains improves as well.

3. The Dopamine Feedback Loop:
   Passing a test, fixing a bug, or earning sats provides immediate positive reinforcement. This dopamine boost strengthens your association between effort and reward, creating a virtuous cycle that keeps you engaged and growing.

4. Cognitive Flexibility:
   Behavior-driven thinking encourages adaptability. You’re constantly switching between defining, implementing, and refining behaviors—an exercise in cognitive flexibility that enhances your ability to pivot quickly in complex situations.

---

Amplifying Cognitive Skills Through BDD Practices

1. Systems Thinking:
   DamageBDD encourages you to think holistically. BDD scenarios inherently connect individual behaviors to the larger system, fostering a deep understanding of how components interact.

2. Empathy for End Users:
   Since BDD focuses on expected behaviors, you’re always considering the user’s perspective. This not only improves product quality but also develops your ability to empathize and anticipate needs—a skill valuable in both technical and non-technical settings.

3. Mindfulness and Focus:
   Writing clear, precise BDD scenarios requires mindfulness. You must focus on the behavior you’re defining, ignoring distractions or unnecessary details. This mindful attention to detail translates into improved focus across all areas of life.

---

Switching Into Flow with DamageBDD: The Process

1. Defined Goals Through BDD:
   BDD scenarios clearly define what needs to be accomplished. Each scenario is a mini-goal, providing a structured starting point for deep work.

2. Automated Context Switching:
   DamageBDD integrates seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines, handling testing, verification, and payouts. This automation eliminates the mental effort of managing manual workflows, freeing your mind to focus on the task at hand.

3. Visual Dashboards for Real-Time Progress:
   Real-time dashboards keep you in the loop, showing which tests have passed, which are failing, and how much you’ve earned in sats. This constant visibility reinforces a sense of progress and achievement, key elements of flow.

---

Switching Out of Flow: Sustainable Productivity

1. Natural Breakpoints:
   Each passing test, earned payout, or resolved scenario creates a natural stopping point, encouraging healthy breaks and preventing burnout.

2. Celebrating Progress:
   DamageBDD doesn’t just reward you with sats—it gives you a clear picture of your contributions. Seeing how your work aligns with the product’s evolution provides intrinsic motivation and satisfaction.

3. Gamification for Reflection:
   Leaderboards, badges, or streaks could be implemented to gamify progress, encouraging reflection on your work and motivating future engagement.

---

Earning Sats in Cyberspace: Making Work Tangible

DamageBDD’s integration with the Bitcoin Lightning Network creates a revolutionary financial model for developers:
1. Every Contribution Matters:
Whether you’re fixing a bug, passing a test, or writing new BDD scenarios, you’re rewarded in sats. This turns even small contributions into meaningful, tangible outcomes.

1. Microtransactions for Microtasks:
   Unlike traditional compensation models, DamageBDD pays for specific, measurable achievements. This decentralizes reward distribution and ensures fairness.

2. Compounding Value:
   As you earn sats, you’re also improving the product and your skills. This creates a compounding effect where your work generates value for the system, for yourself, and for your future employability.

---

A Day in the Life with DamageBDD

• Morning: You review a list of failing BDDs, prioritizing those with the highest payouts. You dive in, quickly fixing a few behaviors, and see your balance increase by 15,000 sats.
• Midday: Collaborating with teammates, you define new BDD scenarios for a feature. As they pass, you collectively earn sats while seeing the feature evolve in real-time.
• Afternoon: You notice an ambiguous BDD and rewrite it for clarity. Your improved scenario prevents potential bugs and earns you recognition and additional sats.

By the end of the day, you’ve been immersed in productive flow, refined your cognitive skills, and earned sats for your contributions.

---

Conclusion: DamageBDD as a Cognitive and Economic Catalyst

DamageBDD doesn’t just make programming more productive—it makes it more rewarding, both financially and cognitively. By fostering behavior-driven thinking, enabling flow states, and creating a tangible connection between effort and reward, it:
- Strengthens your brain’s problem-solving abilities.
- Encourages mindfulness and focus.
- Provides immediate gratification for meaningful contributions.

For pragmatic programmers who value growth, productivity, and fairness, DamageBDD isn’t just a tool—it’s a transformative experience that rewards you for diving into cyberspace, one behavior at a time.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/862840

@ 6e468422:15deee93

We didn't hear them land on earth, nor did we see them. The spores were not visible to the naked eye. Like dust particles, they softly fell, unhindered, through our atmosphere, covering the earth. It took us a while to realize that something extraordinary was happening on our planet. In most places, the mushrooms didn't grow at all. The conditions weren't right. In some places—mostly rocky places—they grew large enough to be noticeable. People all over the world posted pictures online. "White eggs," they called them. It took a bit until botanists and mycologists took note. Most didn't realize that we were dealing with a species unknown to us.

We aren't sure who sent them. We aren't even sure if there is a "who" behind the spores. But once the first portals opened up, we learned that these mushrooms aren't just a quirk of biology. The portals were small at first—minuscule, even. Like a pinhole camera, we were able to glimpse through, but we couldn't make out much. We were only able to see colors and textures if the conditions were right. We weren't sure what we were looking at.

We still don't understand why some mushrooms open up, and some don't. Most don't. What we do know is that they like colder climates and high elevations. What we also know is that the portals don't stay open for long. Like all mushrooms, the flush only lasts for a week or two. When a portal opens, it looks like the mushroom is eating a hole into itself at first. But the hole grows, and what starts as a shimmer behind a grey film turns into a clear picture as the egg ripens. When conditions are right, portals will remain stable for up to three days. Once the fruit withers, the portal closes, and the mushroom decays.

The eggs grew bigger year over year. And with it, the portals. Soon enough, the portals were big enough to stick your finger through. And that's when things started to get weird...

@ 2d71bbd8:0088d52f

Some say certain events change our lives in such extreme ways that you will remember them as marking a before and an after. We could say that about some chaotic events making the news, or changes sweeping away the known ways of the world, like a new wave of technology. Something more meaningful can happen to each of us, transforming our lives in deeper ways: love.

I remember a time before him, and everything else is life with him.

Love can feel like a ghost arriving with unpredictable timing and difficult to imagine until you live it. Some think it's real though they've never experienced it. Others spend their lifetimes looking for it. Others think it doesn't exist, and that heartbreak is proof of that. Why does love feel so elusive? How do we even recognize what love is, real love. I'm recalling a scene in the movie While You Were Sleeping, which asks the question, "When did you fall in love with him?". The answer being the title of the movie. If you've experienced love, when did you know you were in love?

For me, it was a particular moment where he started digging into what I thought about something. We had spent many days exchanging conversations, I don't remember exactly how long. They felt formal, structured, without as much depth to them. It was as if we didn't yet feel free to be ourselves. I don't remember what we were talking about that specific night, but he was genuinely interested in what I was saying. Many can fake conversations, but this was not that. We had a deeper spontaneous conversation, and he continues to do that almost every single day. We are constantly extending the roots of our history.

Our lifetimes may be but dust in the existence of the universe, but, in this brief moment in time (which seems long to us), we have shared more thoughts than I have probably exchanged with most of the people I know, combined. I didn't think that was possible nor bearable, yet it feels comfortable and often cozy, even after all these years. I miss it significantly when we have gotten busy on something else in our lives. I thought it would fall back into the mundane, but it doesn't. It is like magnetic curiosity on fire.

Not a day goes by where I don't wonder how my life became so blessed by his existence. He has been an oasis, as there is no topic we cannot talk about or dive into respectfully and deeply. Life is not an easy clear path we walk on everyday. On days of turmoil, when emotional waves are crashing on the shores of our hearts, it is this ability to tell each other anything that has resolved most of the issues at core. Listening to what we each have to say has granted us an understanding of the situation no one else could have. The listening is the starting foundation, as we build a compilation of moments on it, like blocks on a Bitcoin blockchain that cannot be undone.

We often hear that happiness is the goal for a relationship, but we haven't experienced a relationship until we have walked through the whole range of emotions together. It is in those moments, where we're hanging on to each other for strength, that you realize the power of love. It is the sweetest nectar that carries you forward, even during bitter times.

There is a before and an after, and I feel grateful for living in the after, for as long as life grants us time.

I often wonder about all those little details that make him special to me, but also their opposite, which makes it often into our conversations as we decide what we want our love to be. It is as if we were creating a compass to how to love from understanding the differences between what we value and what we choose to leave out. It is not a ruleset. It works like a protocol.

It may be a cultural aspect of today's society, which favors women who do not speak their mind, but I hardly ever remember anyone being seriously interested in what I was saying. I've sometimes heard the idea of how we look more beautiful when we're quiet. I don't think beauty could be silent, as it lives within the heart, and you would never get to know it if it doesn't have a voice of its own.

I'm very familiar with the faces of people reacting to something a woman says. It takes different shapes. Some are worried about what you might say, even after they've asked for your advice. They can be concerned that your differing patterns of thinking might reveal a truth they are trying hard to conceal or ignore. Yet our thinking as individuals is often lacking in perspective, and we cannot gaze at the forest while being a tree. Humans are meant to be connected, and exchanging information is an important part of that connection.

Another familiar stare are those vacant eyes, similar nowadays to people looking at their phones. Cancel culture is comparable, as it ignores variety of thought, to live within a controlled sphere of what is acceptable, where truth cannot thrive. On social media, you may not see people's faces, but you can feel the coldness of their silence, as if they had turned their back on a part of their humanity. It used to be that we would only experience reactions from people, now it's not only the people but algorithms, bots.... I understand the need to feel comfortable somewhere, but I've learned the beauty of welcoming human thought, and with it heart. It is like staring out into the ocean, and realizing how small we are. A place where you cannot be yourself, and where you are worried about being censored if you speak on specific topics, seems like a lonely one. I'm grateful we have our own little niche of freedom here.

The worst reactions to differing voices are attacks, regardless of what you have to say. It is like that old Aesop's fable "The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey." That large book of fables is engraved in my childhood memories, with most of its fables lost to time, as if it was perpetually open to that one page. I didn't know then just how important it would be to love. Love requires you to be you. No alternative exists, nor would you want one, once you feel the freedom. As he likes to say, "It is those things you think are imperfect and flawed within you, that I love."

I learned early on that people's reactions are often a reflection of inner turmoil, so you always wonder what each person has lived through that has made them react to you so negatively. Some people seem wired for fighting without a conscious awareness of what's behind their fighting, as if they were trolls, forgoing the benefits of working toward similar goals. Others seem to enjoy the attention that comes with the chaos, and the likes from spreading lies. I wish there was a stronger culture of respect and a desire to understand and learn from each other, as I feel the benefits of that everyday with him. It seems strange to gaze at the conversations of people fighting each other to where they've forgotten what started the fight, and they continue fighting over nothing.

The human desire for ignoring differing points of view or bringing them down runs deeper and more widespread than I'd like. It's as if mutual listening has become a lost art. Without listening, knowledge fades away, along with empathy. Social media may be changing part of the culture, though at times it seems to magnify the issues. The existence of nostr, however, gives me hope, as it's core principle is to value human thought and the diverse ways to protect it. I am grateful for how it encourages a building of trust based on verification, shaping the foundation for both identity and communities.

Who are we if we cannot listen to each other. Who are we if we favor silence of what we do not understand or what is different. Could humanity be what it is today if people didn't exchange their voices and built upon them. Who are we if we silence criticism, when it is through constructive criticism that we grow. Would we want silence of what makes us unique to be the norm for those we love and those who will come in future generations, as if we were a single minded machine puppeteered by a few. Without an ability to think and speak freely, we lose the foundation that makes love possible. Without love it is as if we haven't lived.

@ a09fb9cb:83231556

Who

So, this is it, this is How it begins. No more sitting on the sidelines pondering and wondering. This is it. This is Where the rubber hits the road.

OK, so, err… wow. Welcome. I guess this is How you start these things, right? I welcome you and I tell you a little bit about my self, Why I’m here and Why you should consider reading on… OK, well, I’ve kinda done that in detail on the about page, which you can link off to, if you so wish…

I feel like I’m jumping into the deep end, because there is so much that I just don’t know, and What I don’t know has many sides to it, so let me try and break this down a little.

What

Firstly, there is so much that I wish to discuss here, about the essence of the self the nature of reality the meaning of existence, consciousness, choice, consequence, awareness, intention, sovereignty, autonomy, emotion, liberty, ethics, morality, wellness, society, money, law, power, religion, and technology to name just a few…

How

Then there is Substack, WordPress, Medium, Spotify, YouTube, Rumble, Odysee, and all the other communication channels that are out there, and this doesn’t even begin to account for the minefield that is Social Media today.

Why

I do know Why I’m here on Highlighter (nostr), and it’s for a couple of reasons:

#1 - Information Gathering

Taking the above point about What I wish to discuss, today we have almost instantaneous access to the most amount of information humanity has ever known. This in and of it self creates a huge problem because sifting through all this information to uncover reliable and verifiable facts is becoming increasingly difficult.

Information overload can make it difficult to discern fact from fiction, and verifiable facts form the bedrock of How we operate within our shared, consensus (objective) reality.

I find my self constructing narratives and mental models within my mind that appear to make a lot of sense to my mind, but these can then become difficult to translate into coherent speech When attempting to explain them to others. Thus, writing these things down here on Highlighter overcomes two challenges.

1. I get to make sense of these things my self, because if I cannot translate my understanding into coherent text then my knowledge and experience of the subject matter must be lacking.
2. If I can capture these things in a coherent way, then I can refer them to others, and hopefully receive constructive feedback in ways that may not have yet occurred to me.

I believe this is What Seraph meant When he said:

“You do not truly know someone until you fight them.”_ Seraph - The Matrix Reloaded_

Obviously, the Matrix films were action movies, so the metaphors expressed within them typically manifested through scenes of hand-to-hand combat involving Neo, but at its core, I interpret Seraphs words to mean that, you do not truly know your self until you find your true self. Here’s another way to explain What I mean by this:

mind.noun, a beautiful servant, a dangerous master.

or

When a student is ready, the master appears…

I’ve explained more about this in the about page, but here is the summary, consciousness can exist without thought, but thought cannot exist without consciousness. Ergo, consciousness is an innate quality of Being, whereas Mind is an emergent property of consciousness. Once you deconstruct your Being to its core, you eventually arrive at nothing. Nothing is the truth of all reality (ultimate reality), and so to know nothing, through the experience of enlightenment, is to know thy self.

Once the distinction is made between the conscious self and the thinking mind, truth emerges, and it is this truth that sets us free. This is the “fight” for freedom, or more accurately the struggle for peace, that we are all invited to seek, simply through Being human.

If I can make sense of What is in my mind, by writing it down, then this is a good thing. If those words then translate into meaning and understanding for others, then this is a better thing. If conversations emerge that promote growth and increase understanding, then this is the best thing.

#2 - Process Improvement

So having a corpus of information to discuss is the first thing, but then there is How best to have these discussions… This is of equal importance to me because the way that we are generating and consuming content is changing. There now appears to be as many channels to discuss information, as there is information to be discussed, although I suspect Generative Artificial Intelligence will smash that ratio out of the park soon, if it hasn’t done so already.

So, What is the best way or ways to do this? Well, I figure the only way to find this out is to run the experiment and see Where it goes.

You gotta start somewhere…

Substack seems like a reasonable place to start because:

1. it’s part of the existing world, Where everything is stored centrally, yet it appears to be somewhat censorship resistant, not that I intend to go around kicking the hornets’ nest, but it does appear to be a relatively “safe” place to hang out.
2. it’s growing rapidly and making improvements to its platform all the time, so I can grow and learn as Substack improves.
3. it has a good user base, so connecting with fellow travellers is easier than creating my own standalone website.
4. I’m also hopeful that Substack provides simple and easy integration into things like Podcasting and Social Media, so I can spend more time on content creation and having meaningful conversations, and less time on the technicalities of “distribution”.

…and see where it goes

Which has led me inexorably here. I only just discovered Highlighter last week, so I am going to do my best to publish all my Substack articles here too. I believe that is the purpose of nostr, right?

Where

So, I’m going to start on Substack, and take it goes from there, because as the title of this article suggests, “I know nothing.” This is my working assumption, that I know nothing, because I have no real idea about How I am going to do any of this.

I’ve never done a Substack or Highlighter (nostr) before, nor do I know How to create a Podcast, or How to effectively communicate with fellow travellers via Social Media, so this is going to be a journey of discovery for me. This is my first step into a world that seems to be rapidly evolving, so to help you connect with me, on whatever platform suits you, I’ve mapped out my linktr.ee/danielewen.me.

If you’ve made it this far down the page, thank you! Just writing this first article and the about page has been a useful exercise for me.

I hope that I have somewhat accurately articulated my conscious intentions (the Who, the What, the How, the Why, and the Where) for this Project in such a way that it at least makes some sense to you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and I will do my best to digest any constructive feedback that you have for me. I guess all that remains is the…

When

As there is only the present moment, the time is always Now… so here it is.

If you would like to follow me here on nostr then please do so, and if you'd like to subscribe to Substack, then here’s the link for that: https://danielewen.substack.com and / or you can subscribe to my WordPress too, here: https://danielewen.wordpress.com.

I have no idea what this is going to look like #When I hit the publish button, but here goes...

I now know SOMETHiNG…

@ bbb5dda0:f09e2747

At Nostriga in the middle of last year I got introduced to TollGate, a project to resell internet access, I was fascinated and hyped for this to become a thing. Later during SEC-03 I got involved in the development of TollGate and helped work out the idea utilizing Nostr to make the experience of using a TollGate super smooth. That's where the idea started to make a cross-platform app that would autoconnect and start streaming sats to TollGates for internet access.

I'd been working on it here and there and this week I feel like I got in to the developer high (i'm sure some of you know what that feels like) and I just wanted to see the android app work! So as the week moved along I just kept being drawn in. And progress there was! The vision we had during SEC is coming to be a reality very fast.

TL;DR There's a demo video at the bottom.

Quick CI/CD update

I've been talking to DanConwayDev to work together on getting the UI for the pipelines into GitWorkshop, which would be the perfect place for it. He's in the middle of a rewrite, so when that is progressing a bit more we'll cooperate on making this part of it, stay tuned!

Whoami

I started by creating a service that would run on every TollGate router that a client can use to fetch their own MAC address that's later included in the payment. The MAC address is the anchor for the router to allow/disallow access. The problem we have on Android is that the operating system restricts access to this information. But since we control the router, we can work around it by creating a predictable endpoint that gives us back this answer.

Beacon frames

Routers use something called Beacon Frames, which are sent out regularly and it is the thing your phone looks at when scanning for wifi networks. It contains the name of the network (SSID) and a whole bunch of other stuff you don't usually see.

We're utilising these beacon frames to add some information specific to tollgates. There is a field in these beacon frames called 'vendor elements'. Which is originally only intended for use by manufacturers of routers. But ofcourse we can utilize them too. Which is exactly what we do.

I eperimented with these beacon frames to see how many of them we can broadcast. It turns out that we're limited to only one of them, but the good news is we can fit up to 249 characters (256 - a few reserved ones) in there. This is amazing because it will fit everything we need in there.

We put in: - Nostr npub - TollGate version - Gateway IP (required to get around OS limitations) - allocationType (KiB/Minutes) - price per 1024 units (eg: 104900 sats per 1024 KiB) - price units (sat)

So now any tollgate can broadcast this info, which is used by clients to decide wether or not they should connect. And if they do, where the payment should go.

Suggestions, Suggestions, Suggestions

Unfortunately, Android in the past few years has locked down the wifi api's and we can no longer fully autoconnect to networks. Instead we have to use the 'wifi suggestions' API. As the name implies, it will only suggest a nework to a user using a silent notification that they have to press to actually connect. But alas, we'll work with that and if it's the only user-action required, that's still quite okay.

It took me quite a while to figure out the way the OS handles these suggestions, but eventually I got it to work and was able to get the flow to work!

Adding the payment

Ok this part doesn't include an actual payment yet, but all the components are in place now for a (semi-)automatic tollgate connection, which is EPIC! In this version i still manually tap 'connect', but this can and will be automatic soon.

So the steps are as follows (this happens in a few seconds): - 📲 TollGate App scans for networks and filters for TollGates - 👤 User taps Connect [to be automated] - 📲 TollGate App suggests network - 👤 User taps suggestion notification to connect - 🤖 Android connects to network - 📲 TollGate App fetches it's own MAC address (whoami service on router) - 📲 TollGate App Connects to Nostr relay (running on the router) - 📲 TollGate App Sends payment - 🛜 Router receives payment (merchant module) - 🛜 Router creates session (merchant module) - 🛜 Router opens the gate for user (valve module) - 🛜 Router closes the gate for user, when purchase runs out (valve module)

I made this recording, it has a small caveat that at the end the page loaded because I was on 5g, the OS still thought the wifi network had a captive portal open. But there's an API to mark it as dismissed, which we can easily implement. So that's an issue we can overcome!

Demo video

https://cdn.satellite.earth/ede26976043a0b8edf278ea51aa0c00e721d2134c4e456928192090ea660bda0.mp4

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

When the shit just don't work

Most open-source software is now so badly written and sloppily-maintained, that it's malware.

That's why the governments are getting involved. They try using OS, to save money and improve quality (and to market themselves as "hip"), and then it blows up their system or opens them up to hackers.

Now, they're pissed and want support (but the dev with the handle SucksToBeYou has disappeared) or someone to sue, but most OS projects have no identifiable entity behind them. Even well-known anon devs are often groups of anons or accounts that change hands.

The software cracks have moved on

There is simply no evidence that OS alone produces higher-quality software. The reason it seemed that way, at the beginning, was because of the caliber of the developers working on the projects, and the limited number of projects. This resulted in experienced people actively reviewing each others' code.

OS used to be something the elite engaged in, but it's mostly beginners practicing in public, now. That's why there are now millions of OS projects, happily offered for free, but almost all of them are garbage. The people now building OS usually aren't capable of reviewing other people's code, and they're producing worse products than ChatGPT could. Their software has no customers because it has no market value.

If everything is OS, then nothing is.

Another paradigm-changer is that all software is de facto OS, now that we can quickly reverse-engineer code with AI. That means the focus is no longer on OS/not-OS, but on the accountability and reputation of the builders.

It is, once again, a question of trust. We have come full-circle.

@ 16d11430:61640947

As the fiat distortion field thickens, its intensity turns reality into an unrelenting mirage—a world where central bank promises are gospel, the inflationary inferno masquerades as growth, and every citizen's lifeline is a debit card leashed to an empty vault. In this battlefield of blind obedience, the Bitcoiners—the insurgents who dared to build an alternative lifeboat—become phantoms. Their quiet exodus into a parallel economy is drowned out by the roaring lies of fiat propaganda, the din of compliance echoing across the smoldering ruins of free markets.

The fiat heads march in lockstep, their gaze fixed on the shimmering mirage of digital central bank tokens. "Progress," the generals of fiat scream, as they shovel paper promises into the bonfire of real wealth. The fiat faithful, eyes glazed with hope and fear, cannot see the Bitcoiners. To them, they are ghosts—whispered myths of rebels who abandoned ship, whose defiance now lingers in the shadows, shielded by unbreakable cryptographic armor.

As the distortion field reaches its zenith, the fiat system's collapse becomes inevitable. Like a termite-riddled dam holding back the floodwaters of monetary truth, cracks begin to appear. Inflation spirals, savings vanish, and every bailout only tightens the noose. The Bitcoiners are nowhere to be found. They've long since disappeared into the layers of the Lightning Network, the on-chain fortress of hard money—a world impervious to fiat's decay. The fiat heads do not understand this exodus; they cannot comprehend a life beyond the permissioned panopticon that shackles them.

And then comes the reckoning.

The collapse is not orderly. It is a spectacular implosion of trust and liquidity, a cascading failure that shatters economies and erases generations of paper wealth. The fiat shills—those who fought tooth and nail to maintain the illusion—are the first to cash out, selling their last scraps of dignity for a seat on the escape pods. They abandon the wreckage, leaving behind a trail of blood and guts. It is not a clean break. The betrayal is writ large in the empty accounts of the faithful, in the pension funds robbed blind, in the riots of the starving masses.

For the Bitcoiners, this is no victory parade. There is no schadenfreude, no banners waving triumphantly. They have already built their citadels, their parallel world of decentralization and sovereignty. While the fiat faithful drown in the deluge, the Bitcoiners watch silently, their invisibility now a shield against the chaos. They knew this was coming. They prepared. But the blood on the streets is a bitter reminder that not everyone could—or would—escape.

The war is over, but its scars run deep. A generation of fiat heads pays the ultimate price for their faith in a failing system. The Bitcoiners remain, rebuilding in the ashes, unseen yet omnipresent—reminders of the cost of ignorance in the face of hard truths. The distortion field fades, and the truth emerges: you cannot print trust, nor can you inflate sovereignty. The fiat mirage has finally burned away. But at what cost?

@ a09fb9cb:83231556

• If you understand the below, "i" kindly invite you to connect
• If YOU do not understand the below, "I" would still invite YOU to connect, in fact more so, so that We can Both expand our shared understanding

To understand things, "We" need frameworks of understanding, but We should not confuse the framework for the understanding.

A common misconception is that the "thing" We are searching for EXiSTS somewhere out there. Above us perhaps? To that end We believe that We have to connect with something "outside" of ourself. May I ask YOU, have YOU ever experienced outside, other than through sense perception arising from WITHiN the MiND? Do YOU see the paradox? Outside is unknowable. It is an ILLUSiON... the truth LiES WITHiN

In spiritual speak, the analogy of a triangle is often used, with the all-seeing "i" placed at the top of the triangle. This is where the half-truth is hidden, WITHiN the LiE.

Continuing with the common misconception, We believe that in order to reach greater and greater "spiritual" heights We must grow the triangle.

I ask YOU to consider, what if the "thing" We are searching for is the base of the triangle? This is the foundation of knowing. Knowing leads to understanding and wisdom, through experience. Experience leads to knowing. This is the process of enlightenment...

I know nothing. I now know SOMETHiNG...

I have attempted to convey this metaphor somewhat crudely using the below graphical representation and a previous read that alludes to who "i AM"...

naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpgylh89jrps6t0dzgadseecr6rukk7pln42jlcccgsrlrkpjx92kqy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3wamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwwpexjmtpdshxuet59uq32amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwv3sk6atn9e5k7tcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2ap0qqd5jttwdamj66mwdamj6560f4z4gjrfferj67t20fckzwqrsyn3c

...but, do not trust | VERiFY - "i AM". I EXiST.

Does this make sense? I know what I know, but I do not know how to communicate what I know to YOU so that We understand each other. This is Why? I encourage YOU to connect. Finally, YOU have my most sincere gratitude. Thank YOU kindly for your precious time and attention.

If you are wondering who "i AM". "i AM" YOU. "i AM" consciousness MANiFESTED...

@ a09fb9cb:83231556

I know nothing. Allow me to introduce myself...

The present is eternal and infinite.

Everything that has and will ever happen is continuously happening right now, in the present moment.

"We" typically do not know this because our human senses are connected to the brain.

Through the BRAiN "We" ("i" & "I") perceive the MiND.

The MiND creates concepts and constructs to interpret the senses of perception so that "We" come to observe REALIiTY with Present Moment Awareness.

To become present requires a sense of time.

Time is a concept created WITHiN the MiND to facilite the perception of space. The sense of time allows the observer to perceive change.

Paradoxically,, change is constant.

Change occurs as "We" alter our perception of the eternal and the infinite.

"i" am always present, here and now because "i" am WITHiN EVERYTHiNG.

"i" created YOU ("I") for my own amusement... YOU are the question of "what is beyond the eternal and the infinite?"

YOU will come to understand this, when YOU and "i" rejoice two become one again, in the present. YOU call this enlightenment.

IMAGiNE DOiNG EVERYTHiNG, BEiNG EVERYTHiNG, FOREVER. FOREVER WOULD BE MEANINGLESS. YOU GiVE me MEANiNG. This is Why? "i" CREATED YOU.

YOU ARE me... "We" are EVERYTHiNG. This is the truth that LiES WITHiN, and it is THiS truth that sets Us Both free, but only for a time, because nothing really does last forever...

That's who "i AM". "i AM" nothing. Yet paradoxically, I EXiST.

I now know SOMETHiNG... YOU now know who "i AM", because "I" now know who YOU are.

@ 16d11430:61640947

Introduction

In the field of clinical psychology, we understand that mental health is deeply influenced by external socioeconomic factors. Economic stress, financial uncertainty, and a lack of personal agency are pervasive contributors to psychological distress. Simultaneously, we are witnessing a global economic environment shaped by fiat currency systems that perpetuate cycles of inflation, wealth inequality, and financial instability. These forces exacerbate the mental health challenges faced by millions worldwide, from financial anxiety to depression, despair, and even suicide.

However, emerging technologies like Bitcoin present an unprecedented opportunity to address these issues at their core. Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency with immutable monetary properties, offers individuals financial sovereignty and stability in an otherwise unpredictable fiat system. By combining the principles of sound money with evidence-based psychological therapies, we can create a mental health app that not only alleviates mental suffering but also empowers users to reclaim control over their financial futures.

This document outlines a proposal for a groundbreaking mental health app, appealing to clinical psychologists and mental health professionals who are dedicated to addressing the deeper socioeconomic roots of psychological distress. By integrating Bitcoin into therapeutic practices, this app aims to provide both psychological and financial liberation—a double-barreled solution to the interconnected crises of mental health and financial disempowerment.

---

The Problem: Economic Stress and Mental Health

1. The Vicious Cycle of Economic Stress:

Economic instability, inflation, and job insecurity are leading contributors to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and suicide. Research has consistently shown that financial strain is one of the most significant stressors in modern life.

1. The Fiat System’s Role:

Fiat currency systems, with their inherent susceptibility to inflation and devaluation, erode personal savings and wealth over time. This creates a pervasive sense of financial insecurity, particularly for individuals with low incomes or limited access to financial education.

1. Mental Health Professionals' Challenge:

While therapy provides tools to manage stress and build resilience, the root causes of financial anxiety often remain unaddressed. Clinical psychologists lack tools to directly impact their patients' financial well-being, leaving a gap in treatment that perpetuates the cycle of distress.

---

The Solution: A Bitcoin-Based Mental Health App

This app bridges the gap between financial empowerment and mental health care, addressing both psychological and economic challenges through innovative features. It aligns with the principles of clinical psychology while leveraging Bitcoin's transformative potential as a decentralized, inflation-resistant monetary system.

---

Core Features

1. Financial Sovereignty Through Bitcoin

Savings Mechanism: Users can set up automated Bitcoin savings (e.g., dollar-cost averaging) to build financial security. This reduces anxiety caused by inflation and the devaluation of fiat savings.

Educational Modules: The app provides accessible, gamified lessons on Bitcoin and sound money, empowering users with financial literacy. Understanding the stability and predictability of Bitcoin can mirror therapeutic principles of control and agency.

1. Psychological Therapy with Incentives

Gamified Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): The app offers CBT exercises such as mindfulness practices, journaling, and gratitude exercises. Completing these tasks earns users small amounts of Bitcoin ("sats"), creating positive reinforcement and a tangible sense of reward.

Behavioral Economics Integration: Modules teach users to align their mental health practices with the principles of Bitcoin, such as patience (low time preference) and discipline, fostering resilience and long-term thinking.

1. Immediate Crisis Support

Lightning Network Micro-Transactions: The app enables users to send and receive instant, low-cost Bitcoin payments, creating a decentralized crisis fund. This fund can be used to provide financial assistance for therapy sessions, medications, or emergency needs.

Access to Resources: Users can connect directly to mental health professionals, crisis helplines, and peer support groups within the app.

1. Community and Peer Support

Bitcoin-Psychology Network: A global community of like-minded individuals provides social support, combating isolation and fostering shared resilience. Users can share stories of overcoming financial and psychological challenges, creating a collective sense of hope and purpose.

Collaborative Challenges: Gamified group activities encourage healthy behaviors, with Bitcoin rewards for participation and achievement.

1. Data Sovereignty and Privacy

Decentralized Data Storage: Users own their mental health records and therapy progress through encrypted, decentralized storage, ensuring privacy and security. This aligns with Bitcoin’s ethos of self-sovereignty and trustlessness.

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Psychological Benefits

1. Alleviating Financial Anxiety:

By introducing users to a sound monetary system, the app reduces fears of inflation, devaluation, and financial instability. This newfound security supports mental well-being.

1. Reinforcing Positive Behaviors:

The Bitcoin reward system creates an incentive structure that aligns with therapeutic goals, reinforcing habits that improve mental health.

1. Promoting a Low Time Preference Mindset:

Bitcoin’s principles encourage long-term planning and delayed gratification, fostering mental resilience and reducing impulsive behaviors.

1. Building Hope and Agency:

The app empowers users to take control of their finances and mental health, creating a sense of agency that is critical for psychological recovery.

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Appeal to Clinical Psychologists

As a clinical psychologist, your mission is to heal minds and improve lives. This app offers you a unique opportunity to extend your impact beyond traditional therapy:

1. Addressing Root Causes:

By integrating financial education and empowerment into mental health care, you can address one of the most significant sources of stress for your patients.

1. Leveraging Innovation:

This app harnesses cutting-edge technology to provide scalable, accessible mental health support. It complements your clinical practice by providing tools that patients can use independently.

1. Empowering Your Patients:

Offering your patients a pathway to financial sovereignty alongside psychological recovery enables them to build a sustainable, resilient future.

1. Joining a Revolutionary Movement:

By supporting this app, you become part of a global movement to address the systemic causes of mental health crises and promote holistic well-being.

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Call to Action

We invite clinical psychologists to collaborate with us in shaping this app. Your expertise is invaluable in ensuring that the psychological tools and interventions offered are evidence-based, effective, and user-friendly. Together, we can create a platform that not only saves lives but also empowers individuals to reclaim their mental and financial well-being.

Let us build a future where sound money and sound minds go hand in hand. Join us in revolutionizing mental health care—one sat at a time.

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Would you like to discuss partnerships, provide feedback, or explore how this app could integrate with your practice? Let’s start a conversation that has the power to change lives.

@ 7ed7d5c3:6927e200

There was a time when we dared not rustle a whisper. But now we write and read samizdat and, congregating in the smoking rooms of research institutes, heartily complain to each other of all they are muddling up, of all they are dragging us into! There’s that unnecessary bravado around our ventures into space, against the backdrop of ruin and poverty at home; and the buttressing of distant savage regimes; and the kindling of civil wars; and the ill-thought-out cultivation of Mao Zedong (at our expense to boot)—in the end we’ll be the ones sent out against him, and we’ll have to go, what other option will there be? And they put whomever they want on trial, and brand the healthy as mentally ill—and it is always “they,” while we are—helpless.

We are approaching the brink; already a universal spiritual demise is upon us; a physical one is about to flare up and engulf us and our children, while we continue to smile sheepishly and babble:

“But what can we do to stop it? We haven’t the strength.”

We have so hopelessly ceded our humanity that for the modest handouts of today we are ready to surrender up all principles, our soul, all the labors of our ancestors, all the prospects of our descendants—anything to avoid disrupting our meager existence. We have lost our strength, our pride, our passion. We do not even fear a common nuclear death, do not fear a third world war (perhaps we’ll hide away in some crevice), but fear only to take a civic stance! We hope only not to stray from the herd, not to set out on our own, and risk suddenly having to make do without the white bread, the hot water heater, a Moscow residency permit.

We have internalized well the lessons drummed into us by the state; we are forever content and comfortable with its premise: we cannot escape the environment, the social conditions; they shape us, “being determines consciousness.” What have we to do with this? We can do nothing.

But we can do—everything!—even if we comfort and lie to ourselves that this is not so. It is not “they” who are guilty of everything, but we ourselves, only we!

Some will counter: But really, there is nothing to be done! Our mouths are gagged, no one listens to us, no one asks us. How can we make them listen to us?

To make them reconsider—is impossible.

The natural thing would be simply not to reelect them, but there are no re-elections in our country.

In the West they have strikes, protest marches, but we are too cowed, too scared: How does one just give up one’s job, just go out onto the street?

All the other fateful means resorted to over the last century of Russia’s bitter history are even less fitting for us today—true, let’s not fall back on them! Today, when all the axes have hewn what they hacked, when all that was sown has borne fruit, we can see how lost, how drugged were those conceited youths who sought, through terror, bloody uprising, and civil war, to make the country just and content. No thank you, fathers of enlightenment! We now know that the vileness of the means begets the vileness of the result. Let our hands be clean!

So has the circle closed? So is there indeed no way out? So the only thing left to do is wait inertly: What if something just happens by itself?

But it will never come unstuck by itself, if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point.

From lies.

When violence bursts onto the peaceful human condition, its face is flush with self-assurance, it displays on its banner and proclaims: “I am Violence! Make way, step aside, I will crush you!” But violence ages swiftly, a few years pass—and it is no longer sure of itself. To prop itself up, to appear decent, it will without fail call forth its ally—Lies. For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty.

And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!

And this is the way to break out of the imaginary encirclement of our inertness, the easiest way for us and the most devastating for the lies. For when people renounce lies, lies simply cease to exist. Like parasites, they can only survive when attached to a person.

We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say out loud what we think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we do not think!

This is the way, then, the easiest and most accessible for us given our deep-seated organic cowardice, much easier than (it’s scary even to utter the words) civil disobedience à la Gandhi.

Our way must be: Never knowingly support lies! Having understood where the lies begin (and many see this line differently)—step back from that gangrenous edge! Let us not glue back the flaking scales of the Ideology, not gather back its crumbling bones, nor patch together its decomposing garb, and we will be amazed how swiftly and helplessly the lies will fall away, and that which is destined to be naked will be exposed as such to the world.

And thus, overcoming our timidity, let each man choose: Will he remain a witting servant of the lies (needless to say, not due to natural predisposition, but in order to provide a living for the family, to rear the children in the spirit of lies!), or has the time come for him to stand straight as an honest man, worthy of the respect of his children and contemporaries? And from that day onward he:

· Will not write, sign, nor publish in any way, a single line distorting, so far as he can see, the truth;

· Will not utter such a line in private or in public conversation, nor read it from a crib sheet, nor speak it in the role of educator, canvasser, teacher, actor;

· Will not in painting, sculpture, photograph, technology, or music depict, support, or broadcast a single false thought, a single distortion of the truth as he discerns it;

· Will not cite in writing or in speech a single “guiding” quote for gratification, insurance, for his success at work, unless he fully shares the cited thought and believes that it fits the context precisely;

· Will not be forced to a demonstration or a rally if it runs counter to his desire and his will; will not take up and raise a banner or slogan in which he does not fully believe;

· Will not raise a hand in vote for a proposal which he does not sincerely support; will not vote openly or in secret ballot for a candidate whom he deems dubious or unworthy;

· Will not be impelled to a meeting where a forced and distorted discussion is expected to take place;

· Will at once walk out from a session, meeting, lecture, play, or film as soon as he hears the speaker utter a lie, ideological drivel, or shameless propaganda;

· Will not subscribe to, nor buy in retail, a newspaper or journal that distorts or hides the underlying facts.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the possible and necessary ways of evading lies. But he who begins to cleanse himself will, with a cleansed eye, easily discern yet other opportunities.

Yes, at first it will not be fair. Someone will have to temporarily lose his job. For the young who seek to live by truth, this will at first severely complicate life, for their tests and quizzes, too, are stuffed with lies, and so choices will have to be made. But there is no loophole left for anyone who seeks to be honest: Not even for a day, not even in the safest technical occupations can he avoid even a single one of the listed choices—to be made in favor of either truth or lies, in favor of spiritual independence or spiritual servility. And as for him who lacks the courage to defend even his own soul: Let him not brag of his progressive views, boast of his status as an academician or a recognized artist, a distinguished citizen or general. Let him say to himself plainly: I am cattle, I am a coward, I seek only warmth and to eat my fill.

For us, who have grown staid over time, even this most moderate path of resistance will be not be easy to set out upon. But how much easier it is than self-immolation or even a hunger strike: Flames will not engulf your body, your eyes will not pop out from the heat, and your family will always have at least a piece of black bread to wash down with a glass of clear water.

Betrayed and deceived by us, did not a great European people—the Czechoslovaks—show us how one can stand down the tanks with bared chest alone, as long as inside it beats a worthy heart?

It will not be an easy path, perhaps, but it is the easiest among those that lie before us. Not an easy choice for the body, but the only one for the soul. No, not an easy path, but then we already have among us people, dozens even, who have for years abided by all these rules, who live by the truth.

And so: We need not be the first to set out on this path, Ours is but to join! The more of us set out together, the thicker our ranks, the easier and shorter will this path be for us all! If we become thousands—they will not cope, they will be unable to touch us. If we will grow to tens of thousands—we will not recognize our country!

But if we shrink away, then let us cease complaining that someone does not let us draw breath—we do it to ourselves! Let us then cower and hunker down, while our comrades the biologists bring closer the day when our thoughts can be read and our genes altered.

And if from this also we shrink away, then we are worthless, hopeless, and it is of us that Pushkin asks with scorn:

Why offer herds their liberation? 
............................. Their heritage each generation
The yoke with jingles, and the whip.

February 12, 1974

—translated from the Russian by Yermolai Solzhenitsyn

@ 59c2e15a:d25e6e8d

Note: I originally wrote these essays on bitcoin and yoga in 2022 after completing my yoga teacher training and going deep down the bitcoin rabbit hole. I then published them to my Ghost blog in 2023. I decided to repost them here on Nostr to start 2025 to further spread the wisdom and timelessness that bitcoin and yoga share. I split my original essay into seven parts, and I will add an eighth comparing yoga and Nostr. I hope you enjoy part one - namaste!

Part I: Bitcoin and Yoga Shared Values

Part II: Mythical/Mystical Origins

Part III: Evolution of Money and Yoga

Part IV: Ashtanga Yoga - The Eight Limbs of Yoga (limbs 1-2)

Part V: Ashtanga Yoga - The Eight Limbs of Yoga (limbs 3-8)

Part VI: Bitcoin is Dharma

Part VII: Himalayan Kriya Yoga

Introduction

With each passing day, month, and year, it feels as though our human civilization is becoming more dysfunctional, untethered, and unsustainable. Individuals are working harder, longer hours, yet most remain stuck in place, goals farther from reach. We live in a world where many have outsourced the most critical task that has enabled humans to prosper – critical thinking. I challenge each one of you to remove preconceived notions you might have about Bitcoin or Yoga before reading this series. I invite you to enter with an open mind. Think for yourself – you are welcome to agree or disagree with the information and arguments I put forth.

I also encourage you to go beyond thinking – feel. Use your intuition to understand if the way you’re living your day-to-day life feels good to you, or if you have sense, an inner knowing that something is off with our society today – that there can be a better way. If you open your heart and mind to receiving new information, there is potential to motivate yourself to change your thoughts and behaviors for more aligned action towards individual sovereignty. Every individual can choose freedom and independence. Yet it has become increasingly difficult to live a life of freedom due to the fiat system of inflation and the many distractions that keep us from going inward. After deep study and reflection, I believe bitcoin and yoga both provide the individual control over their own life journey, and frameworks to understand our connection to self and others.

I'm excited to share what I have found in my own personal experience, and hope to spark curiosity within you to follow your passion. This writing is intended for anyone seeking tools to lead a life of freedom, make positive changes and deepen your understanding of self. In addition, it is written for yogis who want to learn about bitcoin, bitcoiners who want to learn more about yoga, and anyone who is interested in a fundamental understanding of these topics that I believe contain the potential to transform your life.

Part I: Bitcoin and Yoga Shared Values

Bitcoin and yoga share many fundamental values with one another and provide deep wisdom on guiding individuals towards living better and more meaningful lives. Ultimately bitcoin and yoga share the goal of individual liberation, freedom from suffering, and a deep inner, lasting peace in Being. In yoga, this state is called moksha or samadhi. I believe everyone has a true essence, an inner being that knows what is best. However, our external environment and our own conscious mind push us away from this serenity, leading to regrets about the past or anxieties about the future. This perspective of linear time and our own individual stories and identity damage our ability to stay present in the Now, leading to endless distractions. In similar ways, bitcoin and yoga provide us insight for an individual’s path to inner peace, as well as for humanity’s path to collective peace and prosperity.

Energy

At the most elemental level, energy is the force underlying both bitcoin and yoga. Energy is the universal currency of life. We would not exist without energy. We require physical energy to fuel our cells and bodies to perform essential tasks like breathing, circulation, digestion, and movement. We perceive many forms of energy such as light or sound waves, yet there are many energy wavelengths we are not able to or are not trained to perceive.

Bitcoin is powered by physical energy in the real world in a process that secures the network and unlocks new bitcoin for distribution, a process commonly referred to as mining. Interestingly, 100 years ago, Henry Ford pushed for an energy-linked currency measured in kilowatt hours that could bring peace after a brutal World War, as seen in the New York Tribune headline and article December 4, 1921: ‘Ford Would Replace Gold with Energy Currency and Stop Wars’ (i). It took another century, but mankind has finally developed a digitally-native currency tied to the physical world through energy expenditure – bitcoin.

Yoga is similarly rooted in energy that individuals tap into through breathwork, physical movement and meditations practices. This life-force energy is known in Sanskrit as prana. Prana is not bound by time or space, and it flows through individuals in over 72,000 nadis, or channels. There are three main nadis - the first is ida, our left side body which corresponds to the feminine, receiving energy, or the moon. On the right side is pingala, relating to our masculine, giving energy, or the sun. The central nadi runs through our shushumna, linking our seven main energetic centers, known as chakras. These chakras run from the base of the tail bone, up through the spine and the top of the head. Each chakra has a name, a color and key characteristics that can often become blocked through negative emotion, trauma or stress in the body. Different yogic practices target these energy centers to unlock what is stuck and enable energy to more freely flow through us in an open exchange with the earth and out the universe. This energy is ever-present; one need only to tap into this energy, feel it and utilize it for the strengthening of one’s inner being that then radiates outwards on others in your life. The energetic experience and upward surge can also be referred to as kundalini energy, a creative power of divine feminine energy that originates in the muladara chakra at the base of the spine.

Depiction of our chakras and nadis (image source)

Proof of Work

In both Bitcoin and Yoga, "proof of work" is required to operate, practice and move forwards. In the Bitcoin network as described in the original white paper, miners contribute tangible energy towards running a hashing algorithm on a computer – SHA256 – to earn the right to add the next block to the blockchain and collect both the coinbase and transaction fee reward (ii). The work is difficult to produce but easy to validate by others. Miners are collecting all of the valid peer-to-peer transactions being propagated to the network and establishing them as truth into the distributed ledger. The rules in bitcoin’s code incentivize honest behavior from miners through unforgeable costliness – if a miner were to lie about any of the transactions it includes in a block, independent nodes in the network would reject the block, and the miner would have lost all the real resources it expended to solve the proof of work calculation.

Example of an ASIC - a specialized computer solely dedicated to mining bitcoin.

In yoga, dedicated work is needed to learn the asanas, postures, and practice for oneself; you won’t just be able to go upside down or flow through sun salutations without first learning proper alignment and breathing techniques. An individual needs to conscious decision to work on a daily yoga practice that requires energy to flow. There are several ways to work on your yoga practice beyond physical movement; these include bhakti yoga (devotion/prayer), jnana yoga (study/wisdom), karma yoga(selfless action) and raja yoga (ashtanga). Raja yoga includes ashtanga, the eight limbs or paths of yoga that Patanjali detailed \~2000 years ago that we will explore in more depth in part IV. These ancient margas (paths) and subsequent development of these ancient teachings provides individual with ample opportunity to dedicate and work towards individual enlightenment.

Decentralization

Next, there are no external barriers preventing an individual from participating in Bitcoin or yoga. Bitcoin does not discriminate and can be accessed by anyone around the world. Yoga provides a way of life full of mindfulness and appreciation. The only barriers are internal blockages, or unwillingness to ask questions, learn and take responsibility for oneself and state of being. Therefore, Bitcoin and yoga can both be defined as decentralized. There are no centralized gatekeepers preventing one from accessing the Bitcoin network or using bitcoin as money; anyone can spin up a node, download a wallet or mine bitcoin. There are over 16,000 nodes geographically distributed around the world voluntarily running the bitcoin core software code establishing the payment network, validating transactions and storing the entire transaction history of bitcoin (iii). It costs as little as a few hundred dollars and requires less than 600 gigabytes of storage to run a node – in 2023 you can find mobile phones with that much storage. No one can prevent you from sending a peer-to-peer transaction or storing your own wealth with 12 words in your head – you need only decide to take true freedom into your own hands and learn how to do so (iv). The common maxim is “don’t trust, verify”. You don’t need someone else’s permission to participate in bitcoin or trust anyone else (eg, banks) to hold your wealth.

Geographic distribution of reachable bitcoin nodes (source: bitnodes)

Similarly, no one can stop an individual from practicing yoga, learning yogic philosophy or connecting with one’s truest self and inner guru. Anyone can choose to follow the path of yoga, focus on ones breath or develop a strong asana practice. There are many different ways to learn and interact with yoga, with experienced teachers willing to share their lessons to students all over the world. One need to simply find yoga studio, enroll in a teacher training or and engage with a teacher to experience yoga for themselves. Yoga looks and feels different depending on what country you are in or in which lineage you are being taught. Tapping into these profound lessons, as fundamental as controlling ones own breath, requires only an individual desire and the conscious decision to act. There’s no CEO or central authority dictating how Bitcoin or yoga has to be. Individuals have the freedom to express themselves voluntarily guided by frameworks we will dive into deeper.

Low Time Preference

Another core value that bitcoin and yoga share is low time preference. In Austrian economics, time preference refers to individual decision making. An individual with a low time preference makes decisions with greater consideration of the future, quieting immediate cravings and desires to pursue a higher goal (v). In bitcoin and money, lower time preference decisions include putting off consumption to save value for the future. Unfortunately, our fiat (by government decree) system induces individuals to make high time preference decisions, heightening consumerism and poor habits today that we see rampant in our society. There is a disincentive to save, as inflation of the money supply leads to debasing value of the dollar and other fiat currencies, decreasing individuals purchasing power of cash they hold onto and don’t spend soon. For example, the purchasing power of your dollar today will be cut in half over the next decade at current levels of inflation. In many ways, bitcoin is time, described brilliantly by Gigi, as it creates a decentralized clock that establishes consensus with each block (vi).

In contrast, the hard cap supply of 21 million bitcoin enables individuals to save with the knowledge that governments and central banks will not be able to debase their hard-earned value. This allows for one to plan with greater certainty, making investments that have a longer payoff period rather than chasing quick, material gains. Likewise in yoga, developing your own practice will not bear fruit right away; it takes discipline and time to continuously improve and strive towards a better future self. For example, in modern Ashtanga yoga taught by Pattabhi Jois, there is a set sequence of asanas that one studies and repeats each practice. It may even take months to have find the right alignment of body and breath for a single pose! The hours-long sequence requires dedication to practice and learn. The dedicated yogi understands that wholehearted commitment today will pay off for one’s mental, physical and spiritual health in the years to come. The ability to develop a calm mind can also be beneficial when people don’t initially understand or are intimidated by bitcoin. This approach can also enable you to stay grounded and discover the signal through the noise when learning about bitcoin.

Sequence of asanas in Jois' Ashtanga Yoga (image source)

Union

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “yuj”, which means ‘to join’ or ‘to unite’. Yoga represents the union of the mind, body, and soul of an individual. Yoga provides a pathway to individual sovereignty through disciplined practice and purpose. Yoga unites an individual internally and to one’s community, fostering connectedness and support (vii). Similarly, bitcoin provides a pathway to individual sovereignty in many ways. Bitcoin empowers the individual authority with property rights over one’s value, which in turn frees individuals from outside control (government or otherwise). Bitcoin’s technology enables one to hold their own wealth and life’s energy in a self-custodial fashion. Bitcoin is money that can be stored forever and transmitted through space at the speed of light on layer two via the Lightning Network.

Bitcoin is an open economic network with the potential to unite eight billion people together in a way our current unfair and fragmented financial system could never do. In many countries, a majority of people are unbanked, while intermediaries take a cut of the value to transfer slow, legacy payments like Western Union. While tens of millions people around the world have so far interacted with bitcoin – we are still early – similar to the internet of the mid-nineties. Bitcoin eliminates counter party risk associated with non-bearer assets, such as fiat currency (e.g., dollars, euros, yen). Bitcoin’s supply schedule is set and eliminates inflation time theft that fiat currency wages on individuals, which leads to anxiety and depression or feelings of hopelessness. Fiat is money enforced by the monopoly on violence that modern nation states grip tightly.

In contrast, bitcoin and yoga empower the individual to remove the shackles and embrace personal responsibility to improve ones life. Bitcoin and yoga also connect people directly to each other and tap into truth, ones inner being, bringing peace in the present and ultimately offer hope for a better future for each person, your community, and the world. Bitcoin and yoga have the power to unite humanity in love.

In the next section, we will explore both yoga and bitcoin's mystical and mythical origins.

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Note: Bitcoin with a capital "B" generally refers to the protocol/network; bitcoin with a lower case "b" refers to the money/currency.

References:

i. Redman, Jamie, How Henry Ford Envisaged Bitcoin 100 Years Ago — A Unique 'Energy Currency' That Could 'Stop Wars', News.Bitcoin.Com, October 11, 2021 <https://news.bitcoin.com/how-henry-ford-envisaged-bitcoin-100-years-ago-a-unique-energy-currency-that-could-stop-wars/>

ii. Nakomoto, Satoshi, Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, bitcoin.org, October 31, 2008 <https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf>

iii. https://bitnodes.io/

iv. Hall, Stephen, What is a bitcoin seed phrase and how does it work? Unchained.com. December 17, 2021 <https://unchained.com/blog/what-is-a-bitcoin-seed-phrase/>

v. Ammous, Saifedean, Making Time Preference Low Again, The Bitcoin Times, Austrian Edition (V). November 8, 2022 <https://bitcointimes.io/making-time-preference-low-again/>

vi. Gigi, Bitcoin is Time, dergigi.com. Jan 14,2021 <https://dergigi.com/2021/01/14/bitcoin-is-time/>

vii. 200 hour yoga teacher training. House of Om, Bali, Indonesia. <https://houseofom.com/>

@ c48e29f0:26e14c11

titcoin

Rename Bitcoin to "Titcoin" and sats to "tits."

Redefinition of Bitcoin into “Titcoin” and redefinition of sats into “tits” using that as the Unit Base of Denomination.

TitHub repository available here: https://github.com/WalkerAmerica/titcoin

Abstract

This BIP proposes redefining the commonly recognized "bitcoin" and “sats” units so that what was previously known “bitcoin” becomes “titcoin” and what was previously known as “sats,” the smallest indivisible unit, becomes “tits.” The “Bitcoin” Network will be renamed to the “Titcoin” Network. Under this proposal, one tit is defined as that smallest unit, eliminating the need for decimal places, and 100,000,000 tits is defined as a titcoin. By making tits the standard measure, this BIP aims to simplify user comprehension, reduce confusion, and align on-chain values directly with their displayed representation.

Also, by aligning Bitcoin's brand with live-giving tits, we will supercharge adoption and inject humor into financial sovereignty. After all, every baby came into this world sucking on tits.

Under this BIP: - Internally, the smallest indivisible unit remains unchanged. - With this proposal, "1 tit" equals that smallest unit. - What was previously referred to as "1 BTC" now corresponds to 100 million tits. - Satoshis are permanently eliminated.

Addressing the “Buttcoin” BIP:

Not much time need be wasted addressing the catastrophic “Button” BIP proposed by Rockstar Dev, but two points bear emphasizing:

1. “Butts” is shitcoin-adjacent terminology (where does shit come from? Exactly…)
2. Butts give you poop. Tits give you milk.

Case closed.

Motivation

Bitcoin's branding is boring. Worse yet, critics think Bitcoin is already "a joke," so let’s own it, let's: Make Bitcoin Funny Again. Laughter is universal, irresistible, and much cheaper than marketing agencies and product roadmaps. Besides, basically everyone either has tits or likes tits. Additionally, renaming Bitcoin as “Titcoin” makes the common trope of “Bitcoin BROS” sound even more stupid. “Titcoin Bros”? Get a life, man…

By rebranding Bitcoin to Titcoin (.)(.), we achieve several key goals:

1. Haters Become Users: People like tits. Tits give nourishment to babies. They can stack tits instead of just making fun of them. Adoption skyrockets as trolls turn into tit hodlers.

2. Memetic Power: The word “tit” is both universally funny and ageless. “Send me 10 tits” is instantly iconic. “Nice tits” is a great compliment. “That’s gonna cost you a pair of tits” is hilarious. Try saying that without smiling. You can’t. (.)(.)

3. Simplifying Denominations: Decimals are a blight on humanity. 0.00000001 BTC? Kill it. Under the Titcoin Standard:

• 1 Titcoin = 100,000,000 tits.
• Satoshis are gone. Forever. If you see Satoshi on the road, kill him - just like in Zen, where the teacher becomes the barrier. We transcend satoshis and achieve financial enlightenment.

4. Aligning with the Ledger: Bitcoin’s base unit was always integers, but now they’re funny integers. No more fractions, decimals, or math anxiety. Just tits. (.)(.)

5. Adoption via Humor: Titcoin lowers Bitcoin's intimidation factor. Newbies will feel at ease buying tits instead of serious-sounding fractions of BTC. Tits > Decimals.

Specification

Terminology Redefinitions: - "Bitcoin" → "Titcoin" (.)(.) - "BTC" → "TIT" (ISO-friendly and hilarious) - Satoshis → Gone. Eliminated. Defeated.

Example:

• Old: "I’ll send you 0.00010000 BTC."
• New: "I’ll send you 10,000 tits (.)(.)."

Wallet balances would display as:

• "You have 1,000,000 tits" instead of some boring fractional BTC amount.

Adoption Strategy

1. Memes First: Flood Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram with memes. Start with “Hodl your tits” and “Stack tits”.

2. Titcoin Podcast: There is already a podcast called “Titcoin Podcast” (which many people are saying is the fastest-growing Bitcoin (Titcoin) podcast in the world). Titcoin Podcast will be a driving force in the adoption of the Titcoin Standard. (.)(.)

Nostr: https://primal.net/titcoin

X: https://x.com/titcoinpodcast

Web: http://titcoin.org

3. Kill Satoshis: Developers MUST remove all references to satoshis. Replace satoshis in GUIs, APIs, and block explorers with tits. Satoshis were a stepping stone - it’s time to let go.

4. Emoji Standardization: Use the (.)(.) emoji universally to denote tits.

Rationale

1. Usability & Clarity: "Decimals are for nerds. Tits are for everyone." A common currency for humans should be easy to use, funny, and integer-based.

2. Appealing to Critics: Bitcoin has endured years of attacks from all sides. By adopting the Titcoin Standard, we turn anyone who doesn’t like Titcoin into a tit-hating bigot. It’s an elegant financial counterattack. Additionally, everyone always says “we need more women in Bitcoin,” and now women will feel more represented by Titcoin, because they have tits. (.)(.)

3. Transcending Satoshis: Satoshis served us well, but their time is over. True enlightenment comes when we abandon decimals, satoshis, and arbitrary denominations. If you meet Satoshi on the road, kill him.

4. Memetic Durability: Everyone loves a good tit joke. It’s timeless.

Backward Compatibility

There is no backward compatibility because Titcoin is the future. Applications must hard fork their UI to replace all references to Bitcoin and BTC with Titcoin and TIT.

Implementation Timeline

• Phase 1 (1 month): Meme dissemination. Every wallet dev team is required to add (.)(.) emoji support.
• Phase 2 (3 months): Exchanges rebrand BTC tickers to tit. Nostr zaps tits into hyperspace.
• Phase 3 (6 months): Michael Saylor announces MicroStrategy now stacked 10 trillion tits, declaring it the superior currency. ETFs follow suit, ensuring Wall Street hodls tits en masse. Banks allow tit transfers via SWIFT.

Test Vectors

• Old: 1.00000000 BTC → New: 100,000,000 tits (.)(.)
• Old: 0.00000001 BTC → New: 1 tit (.)(.)
• Old: 0.001 BTC → New: 100,000 tits (.)(.)

Future-Proofing

Tits ensure we have infinite memes for infinite money.

Example Phrases for the Future: - "Better hodl on to your tits." - "This is the Titcoin Standard." - "I’m sending you tits." - “I’ve never seen so many tits!” - “That’s the million tit question.” - “We need more women in Titcoin.” - “I’m a Titcoin Maximalist.” - “Nice tits!” - “I love tits.”

Conclusion

By renaming Bitcoin to Titcoin and adopting a whole-number unit display, we align memetic dominance with financial sovereignty. Haters become adopters. Tits become wealth. And the world gets a little bit funnier. (.)(.)

Let’s hodl our tits and watch the world follow.

Copyright:

This BIP is licensed under CC-🫱(.)(.)🫲-1.0 and the eternal blessing of tit (.)(.) memes.

@ 378562cd:a6fc6773

Top 20 U.S. Headlines:

1. Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship Executive OrderA federal judge has temporarily halted President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, citing constitutional concerns under the 14th Amendment. This decision marks a significant legal challenge to the administration's immigration policy.

2. U.S. Withdraws from Global Tax AgreementThe United States has officially withdrawn from a global tax deal negotiated at the OECD, which sought to implement a global minimum tax and ensure multinational companies pay fair taxes where they operate. This move signals a potential shift towards a tax war, with considerations to double taxes on foreign companies as a retaliatory measure.

3. Chancellor Rachel Reeves Backs Heathrow ExpansionChancellor Rachel Reeves has expressed support for the long-debated Heathrow Airport expansion, citing economic growth and job creation. However, the project faces resistance from environmental groups and within her party, highlighting concerns over environmental impacts and carbon emissions.

4. Former Politico Reporters Criticize Editorial Decisions on Hunter Biden StoriesEx-Politico reporters Tara Palmeri and Marc Caputo have criticized their former editors for allegedly suppressing significant stories about Hunter Biden's laptop and related issues before the 2020 election, contributing to a narrative of misinformation. Politico has defended its editorial standards and commitment to accuracy.

5. Skepticism Surrounds 'Drill, Baby, Drill' PlanU.S. shale industry leaders have expressed skepticism about President Trump's plan to significantly boost oil production to combat inflation, emphasizing that financial motivations drive decisions rather than political agendas. Despite pressure on OPEC and Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices, low prices could harm U.S. shale profitability, with growth expected to slow.

6. Chicago Bears Appoint Ben Johnson as Head CoachThe Chicago Bears have appointed Ben Johnson as their new head coach, offering a substantial salary of $13 million per year, making him the seventh-highest-paid NFL coach. Despite having no head coaching experience, Johnson's tenure as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator saw significant improvements in the team's offense.

7. Southport Attack Aftermath: Addressing Myths and MisinformationFollowing last summer's Southport attack, where three young girls were murdered, authorities are confronting far-right riots and disinformation that ensued. The attacker, Axel Rudakubana, pleaded guilty, and investigations revealed extremist materials in his home. The incident has prompted discussions on effective public communication to dispel harmful disinformation.

8. Southern California Wildfires Force Mass EvacuationsA new explosive wildfire has erupted near Los Angeles, rapidly expanding to over 10,000 acres and forcing mass evacuations. Firefighters are battling to maintain control amid challenging conditions.

9. Historic Snowstorm Paralyzes Parts of the Southern U.S.A record-breaking snowstorm has swept across the southern United States, paralyzing regions unaccustomed to such weather. The storm has led to significant disruptions, including road closures and power outages.

10. President Trump Deploys 1,500 Troops to Southern BorderIn a move to bolster border security, President Trump has ordered the deployment of 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. This action aligns with his administration's recent executive orders on immigration enforcement.

11. Trump Administration Reviewing Automatic Emergency Braking RuleThe U.S. auto safety agency is reconsidering a landmark rule from the previous administration that required nearly all new cars and trucks by 2029 to have advanced automatic emergency braking systems.

12. Lawmakers Seek Sanctions Over Hong Kong Human Rights ViolationsBipartisan U.S. lawmakers are introducing a bill requiring the Trump administration to review whether Hong Kong officials should be sanctioned for human rights violations.

13. International Criminal Court Prepares for Possible U.S. SanctionsThe International Criminal Court has taken measures to shield staff from potential U.S. sanctions, including paying salaries three months in advance, as it braces for financial restrictions that could impact the tribunal's operations.

14. Brianna 'Chickenfry' LaPaglia Reflects on Sexuality Post-BreakupFollowing a tumultuous breakup with country singer Zach Bryan, Brianna LaPaglia, known as "Chickenfry," speculates about her dating preferences, expressing disinterest in having a boyfriend and considering dating women.

15. NATO Chief Warns of Costly Impact if Russia Wins Over UkraineNATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that a Russian victory over Ukraine would undermine the alliance's credibility and could cost trillions of dollars to restore its deterrent power.

16. U.S. Border Patrol Agent Fatally Shot in VermontAuthorities report that a U.S. Border Patrol agent has been fatally shot in northern Vermont. The acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security stated that the agent was killed in the line of duty.

17. MLK Day Observance Highlights Warning Against Anti-Woke RhetoricMartin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations at King's former congregation in Atlanta featured a 70-member choir and remarks from his youngest daughter, warning against anti-woke rhetoric.

18. Biden Pardons Fauci, Milley, and Jan. 6 Panel MembersPresident Joe Biden has pardoned individuals including Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and members of the Jan. 6 committee, as a guard against potential 'revenge' by former President Trump.

19. Bitter Cold Spreads Across Much of the U.S.Frigid temperatures are engulfing Texas and other parts of the South ahead of a rare winter storm expected to bring heavy snow and disruptive ice accumulations to the region.

20. President Trump Grants Sweeping Pardon of Jan. 6 Defendants\ Former President Trump has issued pardons to multiple individuals convicted of crimes related to the January 6th Capitol breach, framing the move as a commitment to "justice for patriots." This decision has sparked sharp debates across political lines.

    ---

    Top 5 Worldwide Headlines:

    1. Tensions Escalate Between Russia and NATO Over Ukraine\ Russia has ramped up its military offensive in Ukraine, with NATO allies pledging additional support, including advanced weaponry, to Kyiv. The conflict continues to reshape European geopolitics.

    2. Global Markets React to China's Economic Data\ Slower-than-expected economic growth in China has sent ripples through global markets, raising concerns about the potential impact on global trade and supply chains.

    3. Massive Earthquake Strikes Turkey and Syria\ A devastating earthquake has rocked parts of Turkey and Syria, resulting in significant casualties and widespread destruction. International relief efforts are underway.

    4. United Nations Calls for Immediate Action on Climate Crisis\ A new UN report highlights the urgent need for global cooperation to combat the accelerating effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns.

    5. Protests Erupt in France Over Pension Reform Plans\ Large-scale protests have broken out across France in response to the government’s proposal to raise the retirement age, with unions organizing nationwide strikes.

@ 16d11430:61640947

The web as we know it today is a grotesque, bloated, inefficient mess. What began as a noble idea of decentralized information sharing has metastasized into an all-consuming beast, sucking up energy, resources, and our collective attention span. Modern web technologies are a house of cards, built on sand, doomed to collapse under their own inefficiencies. Meanwhile, Bitcoin, with its pristine simplicity and focus on fundamental truths, exposes the web's rot and offers a radical way forward—a path where we can finally cut out the cancer and rebuild technology on truly eco-friendly principles.

---

The Web: A Monument to Human Hubris

Web technologies are the product of shortcuts and compromises. JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and their ilk are glorified hacks, cobbled together to solve yesterday's problems but now expected to carry the weight of tomorrow's world. Every layer of abstraction adds inefficiency, every bloated framework compounds the energy drain, and every new browser update introduces more complexity to patch over the inherent flaws of the previous ones.

Modern web applications, stuffed with endless dependencies and ad trackers, demand more computational power than was used to land humans on the moon. The hardware arms race, fueled by these inefficiencies, ensures a constant churn of e-waste as old devices are discarded for newer, slightly faster ones. This isn’t progress—it’s a perpetual motion machine of waste, driven by greed and ignorance.

Bitcoin: The Base Layer of Truth

Enter Bitcoin, the antithesis of the web’s insanity. Bitcoin operates on a principle the web has long abandoned: truth through simplicity. Its base layer is immutable, efficient, and designed to do one thing exceptionally well—securely transfer value without trusted intermediaries. There are no bloated frameworks in Bitcoin, no endless layers of abstraction—just elegant, austere code that prioritizes function over form.

Bitcoin’s lightning-fast, decentralized, and energy-efficient second layers like the Lightning Network expose the web’s redundancy. Why rely on slow, resource-hungry web applications when Bitcoin provides an eco-friendly, censorship-resistant, and trustless platform for payments, communication, and data validation?

Excising the Cancer

The web is a parasite. It feeds on electricity, devours developer time, and churns out products that are inherently wasteful. The internet doesn’t need web browsers to function. It doesn’t need JavaScript to execute logic. It doesn’t need to be a bloated, surveillance-driven nightmare. What it needs is Bitcoin’s ethos applied at every layer.

Here’s the brutal truth: the web is redundant in a world where Bitcoin is the base layer of value and truth. Imagine a world where applications are built directly on Bitcoin’s decentralized infrastructure:

Data Sovereignty: Every piece of information is owned by the user, validated, and secured on the blockchain.

Eco-Friendly Applications: Stripped-down, efficient protocols replace bloated web stacks, reducing energy consumption and e-waste.

Global Accessibility: No need for monstrous data centers or planned obsolescence—simple, lightweight devices can interact directly with Bitcoin’s network.

True Decentralization: No more reliance on Big Tech monopolies controlling browsers, servers, and frameworks.

Shaking the Foundations

The web as it exists today is not a neutral tool—it’s a weapon of mass distraction, a cancer consuming the planet's resources while feeding corporations’ insatiable hunger for profit. Bitcoin reveals this grotesque reality and points to a better way. By adopting Bitcoin as the foundation of technology, we can eliminate the need for web browsers, JavaScript, and their toxic ecosystem. We can build systems that prioritize efficiency, decentralization, and sustainability—technologies that serve humanity rather than enslave it.

But this transition won’t happen without pain. For decades, people have been indoctrinated to believe that the web is essential, that web apps and cloud computing are the pinnacle of innovation. These are lies. They are lies told by those who profit from inefficiency, waste, and control. Bitcoin challenges these lies, not with words but with action. It functions as a silent rebuke to the waste and corruption of the web.

---

Burn It Down and Build Anew

It’s time to excise the cancer. The web has failed us. Its inefficiencies, its bloat, its environmental impact—all are unforgivable. Bitcoin gives us a way out, a chance to start fresh. By adopting Bitcoin’s principles—simplicity, decentralization, and efficiency—we can build technologies that honor the planet, respect users, and secure a better future.

Let the web die. It’s time to bury this relic of hubris and build something better. Bitcoin is the way forward. Everything else is noise.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Christmas season hasn't actually started, yet, in Roman #Catholic Germany. We're in Advent until the evening of the 24th of December, at which point Christmas begins (with the Nativity, at Vespers), and continues on for 40 days until Mariä Lichtmess (Presentation of Christ in the temple) on February 2nd.

It's 40 days because that's how long the post-partum isolation is, before women were allowed back into the temple (after a ritual cleansing).

That is the day when we put away all of the Christmas decorations and bless the candles, for the next year. (Hence, the British name "Candlemas".) It used to also be when household staff would get paid their cash wages and could change employer. And it is the day precisely in the middle of winter.

Between Christmas Eve and Candlemas are many celebrations, concluding with the Twelfth Night called Epiphany or Theophany. This is the day some Orthodox celebrate Christ's baptism, so traditions rotate around blessing of waters.

The Monday after Epiphany was the start of the farming season, in England, so that Sunday all of the ploughs were blessed, but the practice has largely died out.

Our local tradition is for the altar servers to dress as the wise men and go door-to-door, carrying their star and looking for the Baby Jesus, who is rumored to be lying in a manger.

They collect cash gifts and chocolates, along the way, and leave the generous their powerful blessing, written over the door. The famous 20 * C + M + B * 25 blessing means "Christus mansionem benedicat" (Christ, bless this house), or "Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar" (the names of the three kings), depending upon who you ask.

They offer the cash to the Baby Jesus (once they find him in the church's Nativity scene), but eat the sweets, themselves. It is one of the biggest donation-collections in the world, called the "Sternsinger" (star singers). The money goes from the German children, to help children elsewhere, and they collect around €45 million in cash and coins, every year.

As an interesting aside:

The American "groundhog day", derives from one of the old farmers' sayings about Candlemas, brought over by the Pennsylvania Dutch. It says, that if the badger comes out of his hole and sees his shadow, then it'll remain cold for 4 more weeks. When they moved to the USA, they didn't have any badgers around, so they switched to groundhogs, as they also hibernate in winter.

@ 65912a7a:5dc638bf

Chef's notes

This is my late partner's award winning Cajun rice & beans recipe. It's an updated take on the traditional Cajun comfort food.

Chef Darin was a classically trained chef who spent 30+ years in the kitchen perfecting his recipes, and delivering authentic Cajun and Creole food to his patrons. This is a 5-star dish that will earn the respect of the most discerning Cajun afficionado. You won't be disappointed.

I suggest making this recipe exactly as directed the first time, and then make whatever adjustments you want for future batches. Also, don't cheap out on the Andouille. No Johnsonville or Hillshire Farms. Chef Aidelle's is a good choice, as is Silva's from Whole Foods. They cost a few extra bucks, but it's absolutely worth it.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 3 hours
• 🍽️ Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 16oz small red beans, dry
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 14-16oz andouille sausage, sliced
• 8oz ham, cubed
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 tbsp garlic (12 cloves), minced
• 7 cups water
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1 tbsp parsley, dried
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper, dried
• ¼ tsp sage, rubbed
• 1½ tsp salt (more or less to taste)

Directions

1. Soak beans in a large pot of water overnight.
2. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes (until onion is translucent).
3. Add beans, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, salt, MSG, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, Sage, and water. Stir, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low (btwn 2-3). Cover and simmer for 2½ hours.
4. Remove bay leaves. Mash some of the beans. Stir Andouille and ham into beans, and simmer uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the rice. Bring water and rice to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Serve beans over steamed white rice.

@ df478568:2a951e67

@ 378562cd:a6fc6773

Top USA News

1. President Trump Threatens Tariffs on Non-U.S. ManufacturersIn a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on companies that do not manufacture their products in the United States, aiming to boost domestic production.

   The Guardian

2. Historic Winter Storm Sweeps Across Southern U.S.A severe winter storm has blanketed the southern United States with snow and freezing temperatures, leading to widespread power outages and hazardous travel conditions.

   WSJ

3. Trump Administration Orders Federal DEI Staff on LeaveThe Trump administration has directed all federal employees working in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs to be placed on paid leave, with plans to dismiss all DEI program employees by January 31.

   The Guardian

4. U.S. Stock Futures Mixed After Tech-Driven RallyFollowing a tech-fueled rise, U.S. stock futures show mixed results. The S&P 500 futures dipped slightly after nearing record highs, while Nasdaq futures declined by 0.5%, and Dow Jones futures saw a slight increase.

   Investopedia

5. Trump Pardons January 6 Capitol RiotersPresident Trump has issued pardons for individuals convicted in relation to the January 6 Capitol riot, a move that has sparked controversy and debate across the political spectrum.

   The Guardian

6. California Wildfires Cause Extensive DamageOngoing wildfires in Los Angeles County are causing significant destruction, with estimated damages exceeding $135 billion. Governor Gavin Newsom warns that these could become the worst natural disaster in American history.

   Wikipedia

7. President Trump Withdraws U.S. from Paris Climate AgreementIn a series of executive orders, President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, citing economic concerns and a focus on American energy independence.

   The Guardian

8. Trump Administration Re-designates Houthis as Terrorist OrganizationThe Trump administration has re-designated the Yemeni Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, reversing a previous decision and impacting international relations in the region.

   Wikipedia

9. President Trump Announces $500 Billion AI InvestmentPresident Trump, alongside tech executives, has announced a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, aiming to bolster the United States' position in the global tech industry.

   WSJ

10. ChatGPT Experiences Large-Scale OutageA significant outage of the AI tool ChatGPT has been reported, affecting users worldwide. The cause of the disruption is under investigation.

    Wikipedia

Top International News

1. Israeli Military Conducts Extensive Raid in JeninThe Israeli military launched a significant operation in Jenin, resulting in at least 10 Palestinian deaths and numerous injuries. The raid, named "Iron Wall," involved airstrikes and ground forces, escalating tensions in the West Bank.

The Guardian

1. Micheál Martin Appointed as Irish TaoiseachMicheál Martin has been confirmed as Ireland's new Taoiseach following a day of delays and disagreements in the Irish parliament. His immediate focus includes forming his cabinet and addressing Ireland's housing crisis.

The Guardian

@ 16d11430:61640947

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are on the horizon, promising a new era of state-controlled digital money. While they might appear to threaten Bitcoin’s role in the financial ecosystem, they also present a unique opportunity for Bitcoiners to showcase Bitcoin’s strengths and drive its adoption. This article explores how CBDCs might affect Bitcoin and why Bitcoiners should view their emergence as a chance to reinforce Bitcoin’s role as the foundation of financial sovereignty.

---

The Rise of CBDCs: A Gateway to Bitcoin Awareness

The rollout of CBDCs by governments around the world will inevitably bring digital currencies into the mainstream. For many, CBDCs will serve as their first interaction with a fully digital form of money. This widespread exposure will naturally spark curiosity about other digital assets—most notably Bitcoin.

Education Through Contrast

CBDCs provide Bitcoiners with an opportunity to highlight the stark differences between Bitcoin and state-controlled money. Key contrasts include: - Centralization vs. Decentralization: CBDCs are issued, controlled, and monitored by central banks, whereas Bitcoin operates on a trustless, decentralized network. - Infinite Supply vs. Scarcity: CBDCs are tied to fiat systems and can be issued in unlimited quantities, contributing to inflation. Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins offers a deflationary alternative. - Surveillance vs. Privacy: CBDCs are programmable and likely to come with extensive surveillance features. In contrast, Bitcoin provides pseudonymity and financial sovereignty.

As governments promote CBDCs, Bitcoiners have a prime opportunity to educate the public about Bitcoin’s unique properties as a censorship-resistant, decentralized store of value.

---

The Flaws of CBDCs: Bitcoin’s Selling Points

While governments tout CBDCs as the future of money, their inherent flaws could drive individuals and businesses toward Bitcoin.

1. Erosion of Privacy

CBDCs are expected to enable unprecedented levels of financial surveillance. Governments could monitor and control how individuals spend their money, with features like: - Transaction tracking. - Spending restrictions. - Programmable expiration dates for money.

Bitcoin offers a clear alternative by enabling permissionless transactions and preserving financial privacy.

2. Inflationary Nature

Like fiat currencies, CBDCs will be subject to inflationary policies, reducing purchasing power over time. Bitcoin, with its fixed supply, stands in stark contrast as a hedge against inflation. As individuals experience the devaluation of CBDCs, they may turn to Bitcoin as a store of value.

3. Control and Censorship

CBDCs give governments the ability to impose financial controls, such as freezing accounts or limiting transactions. Bitcoin’s decentralized network makes it resistant to censorship, appealing to those seeking financial independence.

---

Opportunities for Bitcoiners

Rather than viewing CBDCs as competition, Bitcoiners can use their emergence as a springboard to drive Bitcoin adoption. Here’s how:

1. Positioning Bitcoin as an Escape Hatch

For individuals and businesses wary of the surveillance and control inherent in CBDCs, Bitcoin represents a financial escape hatch. Bitcoiners can position Bitcoin as a parallel system that preserves privacy, autonomy, and freedom.

2. Leveraging Education and Advocacy

The introduction of CBDCs creates a natural opening for Bitcoiners to educate the public about Bitcoin’s advantages. Outreach efforts could focus on: - Hosting workshops and webinars that explain Bitcoin’s properties. - Sharing educational content that highlights the risks of CBDCs and the benefits of Bitcoin.

3. Promoting Bitcoin for Global Transactions

CBDCs will likely be restricted to domestic use, with limited interoperability between countries. Bitcoin, as a global, borderless currency, provides an alternative for cross-border transactions and remittances. The rise of CBDCs could drive demand for Bitcoin in this space.

4. Advancing the Lightning Network

While CBDCs may excel in everyday retail transactions, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network can compete as a fast and inexpensive payment layer. Bitcoiners can promote the Lightning Network as a viable alternative for small, instant payments.

---

The Bigger Picture: Bitcoin as a Hedge Against CBDCs

CBDCs may accelerate the decline of trust in fiat currencies. As governments experiment with new monetary policies enabled by CBDCs—such as negative interest rates or expiration dates on money—individuals may lose confidence in state-controlled financial systems. This presents an opportunity for Bitcoin to solidify its role as a hedge against monetary mismanagement.

Case Studies in Bitcoin Adoption

Countries experiencing economic instability and inflation—where CBDCs fail to inspire trust—could see increased Bitcoin adoption. For example: - In nations with hyperinflation, Bitcoin’s fixed supply makes it a lifeline for preserving wealth. - In authoritarian regimes, Bitcoin offers financial freedom where CBDCs impose restrictions.

---

Seizing the Moment

For Bitcoiners, the rise of CBDCs is not a threat but an opportunity. As governments introduce centralized digital currencies, Bitcoin can stand out as the decentralized, inflation-proof, and censorship-resistant alternative. By educating the public, advancing the Bitcoin ecosystem, and emphasizing Bitcoin’s unique properties, Bitcoiners can leverage CBDCs to drive adoption and solidify Bitcoin’s place in the global financial system.

The narrative is clear: while CBDCs represent a new chapter in centralized money, Bitcoin remains the future of financial sovereignty. For Bitcoiners, the time to act is now.

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

After nuking my second LND node (the first one died due to hardware failure) by my own typo and lack of any thought in the design of the CLI of LND lightning node tools, I decided to take a plunge into the world of mature and complex implementation of the protocol, Eclair by ACINQ. It has been almost one year (the birth of the node was on Christmas Day 2023), 50 thousand transactions routed, and over 30 BTC of routed value. In this post, I'd like to reflect on my experiences with Eclair, go over some of the gotchas and issues, and highlight some of the good choices that I've made since the beginning of my adventure.

Learnings from the Past Experience

While I was learning Lightning network and had very little understanding of how things worked in the whole Bitcoin space, Umbrel was my go-to solution that helped me get off the ground. It proved to be easy and somewhat educational but was not something that I would continuously run for the production setup or trust with any significant amount of bitcoin that I could not afford to lose. Lightning is built on top of the L1 (Bitcoin) network but manages the state of the channels in its own database that is negotiated and agreed upon with its peers. Any failures in the state integrity may result in the complete loss of liquidity or hefty penalty transactions (significant loss of capital). A Lightning node that participates in routing public transactions is also required to be constantly online with as little downtime as possible and only short periods offline at a time. Otherwise, you may risk causing force-closure of the channel due to expired HTLC that is measured in number of blocks.

The Setup

Taking all of my learnings into consideration, I decided to first invest in reliable enterprise-grade hardware: - Server-grade hardware with ECC memory and reliable power supply and CPU - UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to avoid any headaches due to electrical spikes or drop-outs - Reliable enterprise SSDs and NVMEs - ZFS (filesystem) to mirror the critical storage and to ensure full integrity of the data (bit-rot prevention). You do need to tune ZFS for your specific workload and reliability - Reliable and replicated database (PostgreSQL) with two local and one remote replica, and a requirement to have at least two replicas committing the transaction to the disk - Backup! On-site and off-site backup of the critical configuration that you could use to restore the node if your house burns down - Spare parts, redundancy, backup, monitoring - Reliable and stable internet connectivity

The software is Eclair 0.11.0 (latest release as of today), PostgreSQL 16 with two replicas, Bitcoin Core 27.2 (with redundant storage of blocks), additional Bitcoin Core running on a separate node and in-sync with the chain (in case primary node fails), Ubuntu 22.04 with the latest docker software from the official Docker repo.

All Major Gotchas That I Came Across

While Eclair is mature and very stable in itself, it does have some quirks and design choices that you need to account for when running your node. The software is written in Scala and requires a specific version of JVM to run it, as well as JRE and Maven to build it. It doesn't mean that other versions won't work, but you may find unpleasant bugs that may result in catastrophic failures of your node with nobody to help you. All of the requirements are listed in the release notes and installation guide. Whenever in doubt, RTFM first, then ask questions.

Limited Support by the FOSS Community

Eclair is not the most popular implementation of the Lightning protocol, and therefore it is hard to find tools or plugins that could help you manage the node. GUI for the node so far is only supported by RTL and with a very limited number of features. For any sort of statistics, you are limited to either Prometheus (extensive metrics are available) or writing your own SQL on top of the Eclair tables.

On-chain Fee Differences Between Yours and Partner Nodes

This one hit me hard, and many times. I've had more than a few force-closures of the channels because of the conservative and safe default settings. The worst part is, it strikes you when there is a huge spike in fees, which results in significant losses to force-close the channel due to high fees. I am still not 100% sure how the big difference can be exploited in practice, and opted for increase of the tolerance levels to avoid surprise FCs: eclair.on-chain-fees { feerate-tolerance { ratio-low = <0.01~> // will allow remote fee rates as low as XX our local feerate (spikes) ratio-high = <20.0~> // will allow remote fee rates as high as XX times our local feerate (drops) } } It is up to you and your risk tolerance to define something reasonable and yet allow for secure and reliable node operation.

Initial Lightning Network State Sync

When I just started running the node, I had very few channels and startup times were fast. Later, when I expanded the number of channels, I noted that it took my node up to 6-12 hours before it was fully in-sync and routing traffic fast. Given that ACINQ maintains one of the largest nodes on the network, I knew that there was something with my settings that caused the issue. After some research, I came across the setting that whitelisted node IDs for state sync, which immediately rang a bell since I knew from the LND days that not all peer nodes are used for the network sync. Setting the list to my most reliable and largest nodes reduced the startup settling times down to minutes again: eclair.sync-whitelist = [ "03864ef025fde8fb587d989186ce6a4a186895ee44a926bfc370e2c366597a3f8f", ... ] You do not need to have too many public keys in here, and should keep it between 5-10.

Automatic MAX HTLC Adjustment for the Channel

One of the killer features of Eclair is its ability to automatically adjust MAX HTLC for the channel and reduce the number of failed transactions due to insufficient liquidity on the channel. It can be used to estimate your total channels' balances but with smart configuration and a little thinking, you can make it reasonably private while still maintaining a good transaction flow: eclair.channel.channel-update.min-time-between-updates=1 hour # Allows for the adjustments to be made once every hour eclair.channel.channel-update.balance-thresholds=[ { available-sat = 10000 max-htlc-sat = 0 // 0% of 10000 }, ... ] You can have as many variations as you need, and ensure that the channel MAX HTLC is set well and within reasonable ranges. You would also want to account for multiple transactions going through the channel, but also account for the channel size and an average amount of sats per transaction.

Max Accepted HTLCs

By design, the Lightning channel is limited to a specific number of in-flight HTLCs, and the setting is fixed during channel opening time with no way of changing it unless you close and reopen the channel with new settings. If you find your node routing a lot of small transactions (zaps), you may quickly fail many due to that limit (I think default was in single digit range): eclair.channel.max-htlc-value-in-flight-percent=98 # Default I think is half or 50% eclair.channel.max-accepted-htlcs = 50 The setting above will allow for the channel to be more fully utilized and have more concurrent transactions without clogging.

CLTV Delta

This is basically a setting that is global for Eclair and sets the maximum number of remaining blocks (in time) before HTLC expires. Setting this too high may result in many HTLCs failing for the small nodes with not so great centrality, and reduce the number of routed transactions: ```

CLTV delta

eclair.channel.expiry-delta-blocks = 60 ``` Default is 144 but I found that setting this to 60 (minimum possible for my node setup and configuration) yields better results for routing. It does expose you to more risk of expired HTLCs that may cause force-closures, but I have seen only one so far on my node.

Allocate Sufficient Memory

You will want to adjust the heap size for Eclair, since the default is too small to run any sizable node. Setting JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx32g (or half the size of your available RAM) would be a good start. I would advise having at least 32GB of RAM for the node, and allocating at least 16GB (JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx16g) for smooth and fast operations.

And More Settings and Parameters to Tune

I have covered only some of the major settings that I felt were worth writing about, but there is much more you could configure and tweak. Read all of the Guides and especially focus on the Configure and a sample reference configuration file.

Good Decisions

First, going with Eclair was the right choice, along with using server-grade hardware with ECC RAM and reliable storage. Second, having a replicated database on three separate nodes with one off-site saved me from a sure destruction of all state and loss of funds. Third, deciding to only maintain channels with reliable and stable nodes saved me from some bad force-closures, where I would choose to close the channel if a peer node goes up and down too frequently, regardless of how well it routes. Even big nodes run by single operators fail badly, as do nodes operated by companies. Keeping your eyes on the node and its health, as well as the health of its peers, is something that very few operators do, which can cause failures and unnecessary loss of your and their funds.

Lastly, if you decide to run a routing node, you have a responsibility to maintain it well and monitor its health. There are many tools you could use, and with Eclair you can use Prometheus and Grafana. Keep your node's packages updated and monitor for any security-related issues that may appear from time to time, so you can mitigate them quickly.

Conclusion

So far I am satisfied with Eclair despite all of the difficulties and headaches I've had with it. It is not perfect, and it requires me to create small tools to do some basic things, but I need a stable and reliable node that I can trust. Eclair has proved to be all that I wanted, and saved my bacon a few times when I nuked one of the PostgreSQL servers and all of its data, and managed to do the same for another replica, but was able to recover and recreate from the remaining replica. Eclair is also stateless during runtime and guarantees consistency of the node regardless of how it fails. Even if you pull a plug on the node's server, it will still be able to come up and recover its consistent state that is in agreement with its peers.

Is it for everyone? No, it is definitely not for everyone or for anyone who just wants a small node to run their online shop with a few channels. You could have a very reliable and trusted node for the online shop with Eclair, but you will need some technical skills to be able to set up, maintain and recover it if things go wrong.

In the end, it is all up to you, your skills, your willingness to learn, and your risk tolerance to make that decision. For me, it was the right choice, and I have no regrets despite not having access to the latest shiny features of the Lightning network.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Yeah, so... nah.

People keep trying to explain to me, that women will be better-off, if they become more dangerous. While I can see the inevitableness of women living in remote rural areas learning to shoot with a rifle, and similar, I'm generally against arming women with killing machines.

This is not because I'm averse to the idea of using violence to solve problems (albeit after exhausting better options), or because I don't like guns, or am unfamiliar with them. It's also not because I don't know I would look totally, mind-numbingly hot holding something long and spearlike, while dressed in camo and wearing a T-Shirt that appears to have shrunk in the wash.

It's a more fundamental set of problems, that irks me.

Bazooka Barbie

American gun manufacturers saturated the public and private male market so thoroughly, that they eventually turned to marketing firearms to women.

Men are scary and bad. There is Stranger Danger. We can't just make the neighborhood less dangerous because erm... reasons. Stay safe with a cute gun.

It has gone along with the predictable hypersexualization of the conservative feminine ideal. Since guns are considered aggressive, women with guns are perceived as more sexually available. Guns (and tanks, bombs, bows, etc.) make women "equal", "independent", "feisty", "hot", "freaky", "calculating", "empowered", etc.

Sorta slutty, basically.

This Gun Girl is not like the helpless, hapless, harmless homemaker ideal, of yesteryear. A woman who was dependent, chaste, gentle, wise... and in need of protection. A woman who saw the men around her as people she could rely on for providing her with a safe environment. That woman is au revoir. Now, sistas are doing it for themselves. 💪🏻

The New Martial Missy needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle... but make it country.

Yeah, it's marketing, but it sure has set the tone, and millions of men have been trained to prefer women who market themselves in this manner. Hard, mean, lean women. That will not remain without wider societal consequences.

You know, I liked that homemaker. I miss her. She's literally me.

Those arms are for cuddling babies, not holding rocket launchers.

Now, that we've all become accustomed to imagery of women holding firearms, it wasn't much of a leap to condition us all to the sight of women in frontline police, guard, or military positions.

Instead of war being a terrible, highly-lethal, territorial fight amongst men, it's now cute, hip, trendy and fun. It's a big party, and women are finally allowed to join in.

Now, women have finally jettisoned the terrible burden of being society's life-bearers and caretakers, and we're just more potential enemy combatants. We know it's okay to punch women, shoot women, etc. since we've been watching it happen on screens, for decades. Women are now often assumed to be fighters, not lovers. Cavalry, not mothers.

Girls on top

Not only does this undermine any female role -- and put female civilians under a cloud of suspicion -- it also reduces mens' claim to be paramount in governance. Why should a man be the Commander in Chief, if women are on the battlefield?

In fact, why should men be in charge of anything, anywhere? Look at them. There they are. Hiding at home. Cowering in their kitchens, wringing their hands and fretting, while courageous, dangerous women protect them from dangers foreign and domestic. Women are the better men, really.

Is this really where we want to go?

The final bitterness

But one thing I find most disturbing is something more personal. The ubiquitous nature of firearms in American homes has made domestic violence increasingly deadly. Adding more guns, for the female residents, often serves to make such violence even more deadly for women.

It turns out, that women are usually reluctant to shoot people they know; even more than men. Women without this inhibition are prone to sharing their home with men missing the same trait. And, now, they have more guns.

@ 5bdb0e24:0ccbebd7

Have you ever needed to reference a Linux command line tool's capabilities only to find out there is no manual page and that only the -h (--help) option is available?

Normally, this isn't a problem, but -h doesn't let you search for strings the way man does. That means, if you are trying to use a tool that is quite extensive, scrolling and sifting through the help option's results manually can be quite cumbersome.

The ffuf command is a good example of this, but this can be a problem for many other CLI tools out there.

Thankfully, I found a quick and easy way to search these help messages, and I feel so silly for not thinking of it sooner.

All you need to do is pipe the output of the -h message you are trying to reference into something like less:

ffuf -h | less

Now, after typing a forward slash (/), you can search throughout the -h message without manually scrolling through the whole thing, similarly to how you might search through a manpage.

I'm sure there are other ways to achieve this same result. But this is the one I have found works for me and that I will be using going forward.

If you know an even better way to achieve this, or you have any other underrated Linux command line tips and tricks, feel free to let me know.

@ 76c71aae:3e29cafa

When I first heard about the DOGE project, I was ready to throw my laptop out the window. The initial proposal read like a Silicon Valley libertarian fever dream - taking Musk's chaotic "move fast and break democracy" Twitter approach and unleashing it on federal agencies. Great, I thought, just what we need: more tech bros thinking they can "optimize" public institutions into oblivion.

But here's the weird thing - when you actually dig into what DOGE has morphed into, it's basically just USDS with a meme-worthy rebrand. For those not deep in the civic tech weeds, USDS was Obama's attempt to drag government technology out of the 1990s, inspired by the UK's actually-functional GDS program. And let's be real - government tech procurement is an absolute dumpster fire right now. We're talking billions wasted on projects that would make a CS101 student cringe, while the average American has to navigate websites that look like they were designed on GeoCities.

The deeply ironic thing is that Musk - for all his cosplaying as a technocratic messiah following in his grandfather's footsteps of dreaming up an antidemocratic technocratic state - actually has some relevant experience here. SpaceX did figure out how to work with government contracts without producing $500 million paperweights, and Tesla somehow gamed clean vehicle incentives into birthing the first new major car company since we invented radio.

Look, I'm the first to roll my eyes at Musk's wannabe-fascist posting sprees and his perpetual "I'm the main character of capitalism" energy. But speaking as someone who's banged their head against the wall of government technology modernization for years - if he actually focuses on the tech and keeps his brainrot political takes to himself, maybe DOGE could do some good?

Even Jen Pahlka, who basically wrote the book on government digital services, is cautiously optimistic. The services Americans get from their government are objectively terrible, and the procurement system is trapped in an infinite loop of failure. Maybe - and I can't believe I'm typing this - Musk's particular flavor of disruptive tech deployment could help?

Just... please, for the love of all things agile, let's keep him focused on the actual technology and far away from any more attempts to recreate his grandfather's dreams of a technocratic dystopia. We've got enough of those already.

@ 7ed7d5c3:6927e200

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?  Thou art more lovely and more temperate; Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,  And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

 And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

 By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;

``` But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest;

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. ```

@ 9cb3545c:2ff47bca

Hey there! So you’ve got a whopping 50+ Lightning Channels and you’re not keen on them Force Closing? Well, buckle up! This guide will be an additional resource as you navigate through daunting process.

In this post, we will go over some extra tips and tricks not covered in the official guide. While this guide does have some steps that are not covered by Umbrel, its main objective is to provide confidence in the process (not a replacement process), coming from someone who’s been there and done that, and some how came out with all Lightning Channels still running! I highly recommend reading this post fully before starting the migration process.

Before we dive in, here is the Official Guide from the Umbrel team on how to update UmbrelOS from 0.5.4 to 1.x.x. Reference the steps all the time, and follow them carefully.

With that out of the way. Here are some extra TIPs to fill in some gaps I encountered as I went through the process.

The Order of Steps

Tip #1:

In the Official Umbrel Guide, the Umbrel team asks you to start by backing up your data. As a lightning Node Runner, I recommend against this. Because the Bash script will stop all Umbrel Services and your node will remain offline while you prepare a Bootable USB Stick. So definitely don't start with the backup, first get the bootable stick sorted out, then move on to backups.

Creating the Bootable USB Stick

TIP #2:

After many failed attempts to create a bootable USB stick from the link umbrel provides in their official guide. I ended up getting the ISO directly from Umbrels team through their Discord Channel. Unfortunately, I wont be able to share this link here. but just in case the umbrelOS-amd64-usb-installer.iso.xz didnt work for you as well, this could be an alternative route.

TIP #3:

Since Umbrel is an actual full OS now. You might need to handle some BIOS quirks. The umbrelOS Kernal is not signed. So if you have Secure Boot turned on in the BIOS, your PC will try to protect you, and block you from booting into you USB Stick. Turn off Secure Boot and you should be able to bypass this issue. I also had to turn on Legacy Option ROMs as well.

Tip #4:

Test your Bootable USB Stick on a secondary device before you go on trying to update your node. Since turning the node off and on is a hassle, its just easier to be certain the the Bootable Stick is ready before even attempting to upgrade your node.

If all is good, you are ready to get back to the guide and walk through the steps.

Preparing the Hardware

Tip #5:

In the official guide they as you to connect a Keyboard and Screen. This is of course needed. I would highly suggest you connect a mouse as well. My Bios was very stubborn and didn't comply with just a keyboard as I attempted to re-order Boot Sequences.

The Migration Process

Tip #6:

Remember, this is 10 times easier if you are not running a lightning node, but on a lightning node, the Channel.db file is being updated constantly. Once you start the backup process, the script will shutdown umbrel services and start copying. you can''t turn your node back on after this stage. If you do, assume the backup you created through the Bash script is obsolete. and you will have to redo the backup process again. If you really know what you are doing, you probably can surgically copy/paste the LND folder. But its easier not to do this.

But not to worry, if you start the process just keep going (especially if you checked all the TIPs I cover above). I say this out of experience, because after I started the first backup process, it took me about an hour to backup my SSD, but then the Bootable USB stick threw so many errors I gave up, and turned on the node again. Then later re-attempted the process from scratch. This time, since my external SSD was already full, it took 3.5 hours to backup all the files again.

Tip #7:

This will take time, so just trust the migration process and wait for the files to get copied. you are probably copying more than a terabyte worth of data back and forth over USB, Leverage USB 3 if you have it.

Tip #8:

If you have a custom name for your umbrel node. Meaning you do not access it by using umbrel.local, this will be reset to the default umbrel.local after the migration. I am not sure if this could be switched again to a custom name, but for now, this won't cause any issues.

Tip #9:

During the last steps of the Migration process, and once Umbrel has copied the backup back into the SSD, it will finish the process with downloading your apps, and restarting. Don't freak out :D

Tip #10:

I honestly don't have a tenth tip, but thought it would make this list look nicer with one. So my last tip for you is to relax and enjoy the process. And feel free to tag me if you faced any issues. Hopefully it will be something i experienced and will be able to help.

Have Fun, and Good Luck!

@ df8f0a64:057d87a5

2024年下半期の振り返り

あんまり変化はないんですが、進捗ありません！で終わっても仕方ないのでちょっとは無理やりでも振り返りましょう

0. 退職した

上半期時点で決まってはいたんですが、　6年間ほど勤務した会社を退職しました

退職直前まで爆発物取扱みたいなタスクをこなして、なかなかひやひやした退職プロセス

静かに退職したいので送別会の類のイベントは無しにしてくれというお願いをきいてくれた各メンバーに感謝です

1. 公開していたNostrリレーの設定を変更した

日本のみに公開していたリレーを、全世界に公開しました

当初はCloudflareでリレーをホストしていたのが、利用していたnosflareもcfrelayもクライアントに対してイベントを配布するコードがなく（R2だけではできない）

さてどうしたものかと悩んでいたタイミングで、Umbrelのおひとり様リレーのポートを公開する対応をしました。リレーのお引越し

で、公開してしばらくしたら、すごい勢いで日本国外からの投稿が着信するようになり大困惑

調べてみたら、Mutiny wallet（現在はサービス終了）が運営しているblastr.mutinywallet.com（たぶんまだ稼働している）が原因でした

Nostr.watchのAPIを利用して、世の中にあるNostrリレーすべてにイベントを送り込む凶悪な思想犯です

ヘッダー情報などでブロックできなかったので、blastrがホストされてるCloudflareのIPを全てブロックする力技で対処しました

ちなみに、nosflareもいつのまにかblastrのようなものをホストしているようです

なんなんでしょうね、Nostrの白人さんたちの、過激なほど分散というか対検閲をしようとするお節介さは

2. 公開していたNostrリレーを潰した

上記のように折角いろいろやったリレーを潰しました

Reply guyというbotが猛威をふるった時期、クソみたいなイベントをばら撒かれてくることに私がキレたからです。クソが

NostrとしてはこれをきっかけにWoTを組み込んだリレーが開発されたりして、スパム対策が一歩前進した感があります。クソが

スパムばら撒きをBostrが助長してるみたいな批難を受けて、作者のYonleさんがブチ切れ、全Nostr関連リポジトリのメンテを放棄する事態も発生

ちょうどMutiny walletでGOXしたご本人の機嫌が悪かった時期に、クソスパムがぶつかったことによる悲しい出来事でした。ほんとクソ

3. おわりに

他にもこまいことはいくつかあるんですが、主にはこんなとこでしょうか。来年も楽しくNostrしたいですね

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

GitHub is a software project graveyard

I think the main reason why we have so many lone wolf devs is an economic one. The fact that most FOSS devs aren't being paid for their code is making this worse, not better, as they work for fame, not fortune.

Nobody wants to use joint-repos because they don't want to give up or share the property rights to the contents. But because anything someone else does in a repo you own, also belongs to you, people are disincentized from contributing to your repo.

GitHub, especially, has incentivized this splintering and isolation. Everyone wants to have all changes in their own repo because they can profit best on repos listed directly under their own name, so long as they become popular. Maximize your 🟩 and ⭐ , like chips you can cash in for a prize.

And because forking other people's repos is the norm, rather than teamwork, requests for changes are usually ignored or responded to with "fork it, bro." Go away. Leave me alone. My repo is none of your business.

Too autistic, even for me

So, the developers separate their efforts into a million tiny repos that are mostly redundant with other ones, there's little interaction, progress is often surprisingly slow and stalls for months at a time, it's hard to keep track of what other people are doing (so that you can review and test changes), most of the effort is headed straight for the bin, people build the same things over and over, and communication is extremely limited.

This is a work environment that is unattractive for anyone who isn't autistic and/or highly introverted. Half of the fun of open-source development used to be the esprit de corps. Much has been said about #Bluesky, but it all misses a major point: that's where you go, if you want to work with other people, to build something large, polished, and impressive. It doesn't actually matter how many developers Nostr has, if they all only stare at their own plates.

Your repo coulda been a file folder.

Ironically, git was developed for collaboration on large projects with a distributed team. Now, everyone uses it for projects they work on alone. They put those projects on the Internet to market them. It's a cheap gimmick, not an earnest attempt at collaboration. Collaboration begins at the beginning.

@ 006532cb:fd8f28b4

Law of Conservation of Energy: The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another. This means that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant over time, but the form of energy can change (e.g., from kinetic energy to potential energy). This fundamental principle in physics highlights the importance of energy efficiency and the potential for energy to be transformed and reused.

Henry Ford's Energy Currency: Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, proposed the concept of an "energy currency" in the 1920s. He suggested that energy, rather than gold or other commodities, could serve as the basis for a new monetary system. Ford's idea was that energy is the fundamental unit of value, as it is the driving force behind all economic activity. He proposed that energy could be used as a standard unit of exchange, allowing for more efficient and equitable trade.

Buckminster Fuller's View on Energy Production and Wealth: Buckminster Fuller, a renowned architect, systems theorist, and futurist, believed that energy production is the key to creating wealth and abundance. He argued that energy is the fundamental driver of economic growth and that increasing energy production can lead to increased prosperity. Fuller's concept of "ephemeralization" suggests that as energy production becomes more efficient and widespread, the cost of goods and services decreases, leading to increased abundance and wealth. He also emphasized the importance of designing systems that maximize energy efficiency and minimize waste, allowing for more equitable distribution of resources and wealth.

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

UTF-16 key advantages:

• Efficiency for Many Languages:

  • It's often more space-efficient than UTF-8 for languages with many characters outside the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP), such as many East Asian languages. These languages often have characters that require 3 bytes in UTF-8 but only 2 bytes in UTF-16.

• Simplicity in Some Cases:

  • For many common characters, UTF-16 uses a fixed-width encoding (2 bytes), which can simplify some string processing tasks.

• Legacy Systems:

  • UTF-16 is widely used in some operating systems (like Windows) and programming languages (like Java), making it a practical choice for compatibility.

However, it's important to note that UTF-8 has become increasingly dominant due to its overall flexibility and efficiency:

• Space Efficiency for Common Languages: For languages with predominantly Latin characters, UTF-8 is significantly more space-efficient than UTF-16.
• Backward Compatibility: UTF-8 is backward-compatible with ASCII, which is a crucial advantage.
• Growing Adoption: UTF-8 is the preferred encoding for the web and many modern systems.

In Summary:

While UTF-16 has its strengths, UTF-8 is generally considered more versatile and efficient in most modern scenarios. The choice between them often depends on the specific needs and characteristics of the data being handled.

@ 65912a7a:5dc638bf

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 5 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 30 min
• 🍽️ Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 12-14oz fresh cranberries
• 1⅓ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 orange, peeled & chopped
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. Using medium sauce pan, simmer cranberries and water for 5-6 min. Cranberries will start to pop.
2. Add brown sugar, raisins, and chopped orange to the berries.
3. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 min. Stir often to prevent sticking. Remove from heat.
4. Let set until room temp. Mixture will thicken as it cools.
5. Put in a covered container and keep refrigerated. Lasts for about 2 weeks.

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

• UTF-16 Encoding: The echo command in a DOS environment (like the command prompt) typically defaults to writing output to a file using UTF-16 encoding.

• Byte Order Mark (BOM): UTF-16 uses a Byte Order Mark (BOM) at the beginning of the file to indicate the endianness (byte order) of the encoding.

  • FF FE: This specific byte order (FF FE) signifies little-endian encoding, where the least significant byte of each 16-bit code unit comes first.

• 2 Coding Pairs: In UTF-16, each character is represented by two bytes (a code unit).

Example:

1. Execution:
2. Open a command prompt window.
3. Type the following command: echo "something" > file.txt

4. Press Enter.

5. File Contents:

6. The file.txt will be created with the following:
   • FF FE: BOM for little-endian UTF-16.
   • Two bytes representing the letter 's'.
   • Two bytes representing the letter 'o'.
   • And so on, for each character in "something".

Note:

• The specific behavior might vary slightly depending on the exact version of Windows and the regional settings.
• You can often configure the command prompt to use different encodings, such as UTF-8, if needed.

@ c9f80c8d:947f3cfd

Hey sleep enthusiast, how has it been to go through the festive celebrations and deeper into winter? Have you been leaning into the season of long nights and getting cosy, making the most of staying indoors? Or has the season brought more of a sense of dread?

Especially with thoughts about insomnia creeping in even more during the winter months? You may decide that winter is a time to give up and slob out - or go goblin mode, as it’s been called. As a sleep coach, I'm here to offer some reassurance that it’s possible to find restful ways to rejuvenate - even in winter!

How the winter season brings a shift in energy

As winter descends across the northern hemisphere, it brings colder temperatures and more hours of darkness. So we have less access to sunlight and the natural source of vitamin D that it provides - all of which takes some adjusting to.

The changes in the natural environment impact the circadian rhythms in our bodies. These are the natural processes that run according to various cycles in nature and affect our sleep, digestion and other functions. It is the circadian rhythms in some bears that guide and enable them to be able to hibernate for 100 days at a time. Many people also suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is a type of depression experienced during particular times of the year.

Winter - the most restful season of the year

Whilst we can't opt out of winter altogether and hibernate, the slower pace of the season invites us to embrace tranquillity and conserve energy. So let's explore how lifestyle adjustments and rest during the winter months can help with improved sleep quality, increased daytime energy and taking care of mental well-being.

Are humans meant to sleep more in winter?

The thought of longer hours in bed can be daunting if your bed is associated with frustrating night times spent grappling with insomnia. Which can also turn into a habit of sleeping on the couch (if that’s you, check out this blog article).

It’s not interrupted sleep, it’s ‘the watch’

Whilst you may have some resistance to spending longer hours in bed during winter if you suffer with insomnia, consider how only a few generations ago, our ancestors faced long nights without electricity. They had no choice but to adapt to the seasons, and so the medieval night-time experience of 'the watch' was what people did at night.

This consisted of a few waking hours between a ‘first sleep’ and ‘second sleep’. The watch would take place when people woke in the night, generally around the time when roosters would start their morning call in the darkness (which was also guided by, you guessed it, their circadian rhythms!). This article from the BBC describes the watch times as:

‘Under the weak glow of the Moon, stars, and oil lamps or "rush lights" – a kind of candle for ordinary households, made from the waxed stems of rushes – people would tend to ordinary tasks, such as adding wood to the fire, taking remedies, or going to urinate (often into the fire itself).’

The forgotten medieval habit of 'two sleeps'.

How two sleeps, or bi-phasic sleeping, is natural

There’s also modern-day research into how human sleep cycles naturally form by examining people who were left in a dark room without stimulation and influence from the external world. Initially, their sleep cycles followed the usual singular sleep pattern, but eventually, their circadian rhythms shifted to a first sleep and a second sleep with some hours in between.

So rather than waking in the night being something to panic about or get annoyed by, can you see it as an ancient ritual and natural human response to winter? You could take some quiet moments to look at the stars, journal, listen to a relaxing podcast or do another calm activity. If you get into a routine of sleeping fairly reliably before waking in the night, you could even use the time to explore the psychedelic realm of lucid dreaming.

Other tips for looking after your well-being and rest in winter months include:

Getting winter sunshine when you can

Even during winter, exposure to light is still important for your body to regulate your circadian rhythms and for getting the ‘sunshine vitamin’, vitamin D. It is most beneficial to get exposure to natural daylight as close to when the sun comes up as is possible for you.

This could be braving the cold for a morning walk before work, or switching 10 minutes of phone scrolling for some moments outside with your coffee instead. For more about the physiological benefits of exposure to sunlight, see this guide from the Huberman Lab.

Embracing cosy social time in winter

When the big celebrations of the festive season have passed you may have a reduced budget and a more sparse calendar, but it doesn’t mean you have to give up on socialising altogether. Instead, can you get creative about finding more restful ways to enjoy social connection?

The idea is to go for more relaxed, lower-energy ways to connect with others. That way you can enjoy the nourishment of social connection in a way that is restful for your system. Instead of big group meals or dancing late at night, this could look like wrapping up warm and going for a winter walk with friends, or chats over hot chocolate at home. Check out the blog article on restful socialising for more about this.

Food for winter

You may feel drawn to comfort foods during the colder months and whilst takeaways can be tempting, fast food and highly processed food can impact sleep quality. So the alternative is to make meals that can warm you up, have nutrient-rich ingredients and support your sleep. Yes, all of that is possible! When selecting recipes, start with core ingredients from foods that can help with sleep.

Winter as a time for reflection

I like to embrace the winter as a time to reflect on the year gone by and what’s ahead. I take inspiration from nature and plant bulbs for my spring season ahead, when there will be more light and I will have more energy. Even though the new calendar year has started, the natural world in winter offers a perfect time for introspection.

When working with clients as a sleep coach, I often share the concept of the seasons of life. Because life has its cycles and changes, so we won’t be in our most productive states all of the time. So with Restful Sleep, I encourage respecting the slower tempos that come with different phases of life - bringing permission and acceptance to slowing down for some time. It can seem radical at first, yet often brings relief.

So will you join me in taking the winter as an opportunity to reflect on your well-being and how your lifestyle may nourish you? It’s something I encourage everyone to do and sleep coaching is a great way to get support with the process. If you'd like to explore how to make the most of your restful winter, and all that’s ahead, you’d be welcome to book a free discovery call with me.

Stay curious,

Maša.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

The motherhood illusion

Growing up, I was always told that women wanted children, whilst men wanted sex. So, marriage was created, to unite these two urges, and men and women don't otherwise particularly differ. But, it turns out, that women want protection and sex, and men want children and sex.

This is why women tend to be attracted to more masculine men (they're associated with protection) and men tend to be attracted to more feminine women (they're associated with motherhood). Women who are attracted to men, who aren't overtly masculine, are looking for a different aspect of protection (reliability, steady income or wealth, emotional security, etc.)

This wasn't readily apparent, in earlier generations, as widespread, youthful marriage meant that there weren't any real decisions being made by the participants. Almost all women got married and had kids, and almost all men got married and had sex. Math checks out. But the number of women who could protect and provide for themselves was low, and the men marrying were often very young and libidinous, and not yet contemplating their own legacy.

Feminism, easy abortion, deindustrialization, delayed marriage, and reliable contraception have dissolved this illusion, completely. Millions of Western women quickly turned into cougars, careerists, party girls, and e-girls, and an entire army of childless men and sidelined dads bubbled up and began to make their pain known. Humanity's dirty underbelly has been exposed.

Women aren't as sweet, as we thought, and men are much sweeter.

Women also want children, but not as intensely. In fact, they seem to often viscerally dislike children, and are jealous of the protection they are to give them. So, they are prone to offing their offspring because they are averse to having any in-house competition.

If you just left women up to their own devices and reduced the social pressure, at least a fifth of them wouldn't bother having children, at all, and another quarter will have one and then lose interest or age out. This is not a new phenomenon, as we can see.

The male competition for potential mothers turns out to be absolutely brutal, and more difficult than simply finding a woman to sleep with. And, now, we finally understand why men traditionally jumped through so many hoops, to attain a wife. It wasn't for the sex; we've always had brothels, masturbation, and pornography. It was for the familial comfort, and, especially, for the children.

Good fathers make good mothers

Some women don't know if they are "potential mothers", until they meet a "potential father", and their urge to procreate suddenly kicks in. They didn't want children for their own sake, but now they want some for his sake. All of a sudden, they're imagining themselves rocking the cradle, googling "what to eat, when you're expecting", and find themselves gushing over anything that gives off Hint of Infant.

I'm pregnant! Look what I can do! Look what I can do! For you, darling.

Women married to men they are deeply in love with, are much more likely to desire to become mothers (and be devastated by infertility), and make for better mothers, because children are like individualized presents they can give to their husband.

They want to impress him. Most want to be decent parents in their own right, but the urge to impress seems to raise this to a much higher level because women are vain, and therefore focused on raising their own status and how they appear to others. And the greatest "other", of a happy wife, is her husband.

Because men are narcissistic, and therefore in love with anything associated with themselves (which underpins their obsession with owning property), men have an intense attachment to their children. What is more "yours", than your progeny?

Fathers seem to develop a special attachment to, or fondness for, the mothers of their children, that goes beyond lust or romantic love; they never forgot who gave them this new Mini Me. And they are often quite impressed by their own ability to perform this trick numerous times, which leads to the intense satisfaction they feel at "going into serial production" and churning out more of those Mini Mes until their adoring wife pleads for mercy.

Men want children. Women, who love a man, want to give him those children and gain the fidelity that comes along with those children. This is the actual "trade" underpinning the urge to marry.

@ ddf03aca:5cb3bbbe

Recently, I have been surrounded by people experimenting with various projects, and a common theme among them is the use of cashu as the payment layer. While this fact alone is already great, the best part is to identify users and implementers needs and combining forces to come up with novel solutions.

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Subscriptions with Cashu

One of the most remarkable aspects of cashu is that it is a bearer asset. This hands ownership and control back to the user. Even though mints back the tokens, they have no authority to move a token on behalf of a user or any other party. How cool is that?

However, this also introduces challenges when building subscription-based services. Subscriptions typically require periodic payments, and with cashu, users must renew these manually. Currently, there are two primary approaches to address this:

1. Overpaying:
   To minimize the number of interactions, users can pay for longer periods upfront. For example, instead of paying 2,100 sats for one hour, they could pay 6,000 sats for three hours. If they realize they don’t need the full three hours, the excess payment is effectively wasted.

2. Full Interactivity:
   In this setup, payers and receivers stay connected through a communication channel, and payments are made at small, regular intervals. While this avoids overpayment, it requires constant connectivity. If the connection is lost, the subscription ends.

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Enter Locking Scripts

One of the most powerful features of cashu is its locking scripts. Let’s take a quick refresher. A locking script defines the conditions under which a token (or "nut") becomes spendable. In essence, it’s similar to Bitcoin’s spending conditions, but instead of being enforced by the Bitcoin network, these conditions are enforced by the cashu mint alone.

A widely-used locking condition is Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK). This locks a token to a specific public key, meaning it can only be spent when a valid signature from the key’s owner is provided. This mechanism is what enables NIP-61 nut zaps, where a token can be publicly shared but is only claimable by the intended recipient who holds the private key.

To address situations where a recipient loses access to their keys or simply doesn’t claim the token, P2PK includes additional options: locktime and a refund key. These options allow for the inclusion of a fallback mechanism. If the primary lock expires after a set time, a refund key can reclaim the token.

With these tools, we can now create non-interactive payment streams!

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One Missing Piece…

Before diving into payment streams, there’s one more crucial concept to cover: cashu tokens are not singular "things". Instead, they’re composed of multiple proofs, each carrying its own cryptographic data and spendability. For example, if you receive a cashu token made up of five proofs, you could choose to claim only three proofs and leave the other two untouched. This flexibility is rarely utilized but is vital for building payment streams.

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The Grand Finale: Payment Streams

Now that we have all the building blocks, let’s construct a payment stream using cashu. By leveraging locking scripts, refund keys, and multiple proofs, we can design a token that enables recipients to claim small portions of the total amount at regular intervals—without requiring any further interaction from the sender.

Even better, as the sender, you retain the ability to cancel the stream at any time and reclaim any unspent portions.

Example: Renting a VPS

Imagine renting a VPS for a week, priced at 1,000 sats per day. Here’s how a payment stream could work:

1. Construct a token worth 7,000 sats to cover the entire week.
2. Divide the token into 7 proofs, each worth 1,000 sats.
3. Lock each proof using a P2PK script, locking to your key and adding the recipients key as a refund key.
4. The first proof has a locktime of now.
5. The second proof has a locktime of now + 1 day.
6. The third proof has a locktime of now + 2 days, and so on.

When the token is sent, the receiver can immediately claim the first proof since its locktime has expired and the refund key is now able to claim. The second proof becomes claimable after one day, the third after two days, and so on.

At the same time, the sender retains the ability to reclaim any unclaimed proofs by signing with their key. If you decide to stop using the VPS midweek, you can cancel the stream and reclaim the remaining proofs; all without further interaction with the receiver.

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With this approach, we can create robust, non-interactive payment streams that combine the autonomy of cashu with the flexibility to reclaim funds.

Thank you for reading. Make sure to leave a nut if you enjoyed this :)

@ f57bac88:6045161e

بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور: آزادی و کنترل در دستان شما بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور با تمرکز بر خودگردانی و متن‌باز بودن، به شما این امکان را می‌دهد تا کنترل کاملی بر فرآیند پرداخت‌های خود داشته باشید. برخی از مزایای کلیدی این پلتفرم عبارتند از:

انعطاف‌پذیری بالا: امکان سفارشی‌سازی و توسعه ویژگی‌های جدید بر اساس نیازهای خاص کسب‌وکار.

هزینه کمتر: حذف واسطه‌ها و کارمزدهای اضافی، منجر به کاهش هزینه‌های پرداخت می‌شود.

حفظ حریم خصوصی: کنترل بیشتر بر داده‌های مشتریان و کاهش ریسک نقض حریم خصوصی.

پشتیبانی از پروتکل لایتنینگ: امکان انجام تراکنش‌های سریع و کم‌هزینه با استفاده از شبکه لایتنینگ. سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت رمزنگاری: راحتی در برابر کنترل در مقابل، سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت رمزنگاری مانند کوینبیس، کوین پیمنت و نوپینت بر راحتی استفاده و سرعت راه‌اندازی تمرکز دارند. این پلتفرم‌ها اغلب دارای رابط کاربری ساده‌تر و قابلیت‌های پیش‌ساخته بیشتری هستند. با این حال، در ازای این راحتی، ممکن است برخی از کنترل‌ها و انعطاف‌پذیری را از دست بدهید. جدول مقایسه:

کدام یک برای شما مناسب‌تر است؟ انتخاب بین بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور و سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت به عوامل مختلفی بستگی دارد، از جمله:

سطح دانش فنی: اگر دانش فنی کافی دارید و به دنبال کنترل کامل بر فرآیند پرداخت هستید، بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور گزینه مناسبی است.

سادگی استفاده: اگر به دنبال راهکاری سریع و آسان برای شروع پذیرش پرداخت‌های رمزنگاری هستید، سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت ممکن است انتخاب بهتری باشند.

هزینه‌ها: هزینه‌های هر پلتفرم متفاوت است و باید به دقت مقایسه شوند.

ویژگی‌های مورد نیاز: لیستی از ویژگی‌های مورد نیاز خود را تهیه کنید و ببینید کدام پلتفرم بیشترین تطابق را با آن دارد. در نهایت، بهترین درگاه پرداخت، درگاهی است که نیازهای خاص کسب‌وکارتان را برآورده کند. نکات مهم هنگام انتخاب:

امنیت: اطمینان حاصل کنید که پلتفرم انتخابی شما دارای استانداردهای امنیتی بالایی است.

پشتیبانی مشتری: وجود پشتیبانی مشتری قوی برای رفع مشکلات احتمالی بسیار مهم است.

کارمزدها: به طور دقیق کارمزدهای هر پلتفرم را بررسی کنید تا بتوانید هزینه‌های خود را بهینه کنید.

قابلیت‌های اضافی: برخی از پلتفرم‌ها دارای قابلیت‌های اضافی مانند فاکتورسازی خودکار، گزارش‌گیری و ادغام با سایر سیستم‌ها هستند.

نتیجه‌گیری: بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور برای کسب‌وکارهایی که به دنبال حداکثر کنترل، انعطاف‌پذیری و کاهش هزینه‌ها هستند، گزینه بسیار مناسبی است. اما اگر به دنبال راهکاری ساده‌تر و سریع‌تر هستید، سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت نیز می‌توانند انتخاب‌های خوبی باشند. با در نظر گرفتن عوامل ذکر شده در این مقاله، می‌توانید بهترین تصمیم را برای کسب‌وکارتان اتخاذ کنید.

آیا می‌خواهید در مورد ویژگی‌های خاصی از بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور یا سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت اطلاعات بیشتری کسب کنید؟ گوگل کنید! 😉

لطفا توجه داشته باشید که این مقاله صرفاً به منظور اطلاع‌رسانی است و نباید به عنوان توصیه سرمایه‌گذاری تلقی شود.

در دنیای پرهیاهوی ارزهای دیجیتال، انتخاب یک درگاه پرداخت مناسب برای پذیرش پرداخت‌های رمزنگاری، تصمیم مهمی برای کسب‌وکارهاست.

بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور به عنوان یک گزینه متن‌باز و خودگردان، جایگاه ویژه‌ای در میان این درگاه‌ها دارد. اما آیا بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور بهترین گزینه برای کسب‌وکارتان است؟ در این مقاله، به مقایسه بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور با سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت رمزنگاری می‌پردازیم تا به شما در انتخاب آگاهانه کمک کنیم.

بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور: آزادی و کنترل در دستان شما

بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور با تمرکز بر خودگردانی و متن‌باز بودن، به شما این امکان را می‌دهد تا کنترل کاملی بر فرآیند پرداخت‌های خود داشته باشید. برخی از مزایای کلیدی این پلتفرم عبارتند از:

* انعطاف‌پذیری بالا: امکان سفارشی‌سازی و توسعه ویژگی‌های جدید بر اساس نیازهای خاص کسب‌وکار.

* هزینه کمتر: حذف واسطه‌ها و کارمزدهای اضافی، منجر به کاهش هزینه‌های پرداخت می‌شود.

* حفظ حریم خصوصی: کنترل بیشتر بر داده‌های مشتریان و کاهش ریسک نقض حریم خصوصی.

* پشتیبانی از پروتکل لایتنینگ: امکان انجام تراکنش‌های سریع و کم‌هزینه با استفاده از شبکه لایتنینگ.

سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت رمزنگاری: راحتی در برابر کنترل

در مقابل، سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت رمزنگاری مانند کوینبیس، کوین پیمت و نوپیمنت بر راحتی استفاده و سرعت راه‌اندازی تمرکز دارند. این پلتفرم‌ها اغلب دارای رابط کاربری ساده‌تر و قابلیت‌های پیش‌ساخته بیشتری هستند. با این حال، در ازای این راحتی، ممکن است برخی از کنترل‌ها و انعطاف‌پذیری را از دست بدهید.

جدول مقایسه:

کدام یک برای شما مناسب‌تر است؟

انتخاب بین بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور و سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت به عوامل مختلفی بستگی دارد، از جمله:

* سطح دانش فنی: اگر دانش فنی کافی دارید و به دنبال کنترل کامل بر فرآیند پرداخت هستید، بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور گزینه مناسبی است.

* سادگی استفاده: اگر به دنبال راهکاری سریع و آسان برای شروع پذیرش پرداخت‌های رمزنگاری هستید، سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت ممکن است انتخاب بهتری باشند.

* هزینه‌ها: هزینه‌های هر پلتفرم متفاوت است و باید به دقت مقایسه شوند.

* ویژگی‌های مورد نیاز: لیستی از ویژگی‌های مورد نیاز خود را تهیه کنید و ببینید کدام پلتفرم بیشترین تطابق را با آن دارد.

در نهایت، بهترین درگاه پرداخت، درگاهی است که نیازهای خاص کسب‌وکارتان را برآورده کند.

نکات مهم هنگام انتخاب:

* امنیت: اطمینان حاصل کنید که پلتفرم انتخابی شما دارای استانداردهای امنیتی بالایی است.

* پشتیبانی مشتری: وجود پشتیبانی مشتری قوی برای رفع مشکلات احتمالی بسیار مهم است.

* کارمزدها: به طور دقیق کارمزدهای هر پلتفرم را بررسی کنید تا بتوانید هزینه‌های خود را بهینه کنید.

* قابلیت‌های اضافی: برخی از پلتفرم‌ها دارای قابلیت‌های اضافی مانند فاکتورسازی خودکار، گزارش‌گیری و ادغام با سایر سیستم‌ها هستند.

نتیجه‌گیری:

بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور برای کسب‌وکارهایی که به دنبال حداکثر کنترل، انعطاف‌پذیری و کاهش هزینه‌ها هستند، گزینه بسیار مناسبی است. اما اگر به دنبال راهکاری ساده‌تر و سریع‌تر هستید، سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت نیز می‌توانند انتخاب‌های خوبی باشند. با در نظر گرفتن عوامل ذکر شده در این مقاله، می‌توانید بهترین تصمیم را برای کسب‌وکارتان اتخاذ کنید.

آیا می‌خواهید در مورد ویژگی‌های خاصی از بی‌تی‌سی پی سرور یا سایر درگاه‌های پرداخت اطلاعات بیشتری کسب کنید؟ گوگل کنید! 😉

لطفا توجه داشته باشید که این مقاله صرفاً به منظور اطلاع‌رسانی است و نباید به عنوان توصیه سرمایه‌گذاری تلقی شود.

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

1. Byte Order Mark (BOM)

• FF FE: This indicates little-endian byte order for UTF-16.

2. Character Encoding

• N: 4E 00
• o: 6F 00
• s: 73 00
• t: 74 00
• r: 72 00

Complete Hexadecimal Representation:

FF FE 4E 00 6F 00 73 00 74 00 72 00

This assumes little-endian byte order.

@ 10f7c7f7:f5683da9

“Perhaps a man really dies when his brain stops, when he loses the power to take in a new idea” (Orwell in “Coming up for Air”, 1939)

While George Bowler enjoyed visiting a retired schoolmaster (Porteous), having had some time to reflect on his own life realised that if the old professor only ever delivered the same monologues, there really wasn’t any point in going to visit him, other than for a late-night glass of whisky and soda. The same point is also raised with bitcoin, if it is too resistant to change, uses too much electricity or takes too long to process transactions, it is a dinosaur, a relic that demonstrated digital scarcity was possible, but overtime could become outdated. While at the start of anyone’s journey down the bitcoin rabbit hole, these appear valid points to justify the newest, shiniest protocol. However, once you realise that the founding team of your beloved coin, or still worse “token”, assigned the majority of coins to themselves, you will hopefully return, cap in hand, to the mothership.

I admit, I went on that very same journey, but looking back, while some purchases were motivated by more than 5 minutes of YouTube based research, as my knowledge matured, bitcoin gradually subsumed my portfolio (well that and the Canadian Truckers Protests). However, it was not until one of the reviewers of my first academic paper on bitcoin asked the question “why are you only focusing on bitcoin?”, that I really began to formulate my own answer. This early version of the paper was rejected from the conference so there was no immediate need to respond to this point, but as an academic, compared to maybe an enthusiastic keyboard warrior, taking offence to such a no coiner comment, I should be able to answer this question. The 4 point, 766-word response that resulted, then answered the questions of both why there is only one digital asset worth researching and for me, only one digital asset worth holding, bitcoin. Subsequently, further reviewer comments and the excessive length of the paper ultimately resulted in this section coming to rest on the cutting room floor, but what I learnt from this stayed with me. From this point, I no longer needed to trust other’s logic for why they are bitcoin only, but from a logical argument, I felt like I had verified why I had to be bitcoin only.

At the foundation of this was bitcoin’s resistance to change. Within broader, organisational development literature, this is frequently viewed as a negative, preventing organisations from adapting to make use of new information. However, for bitcoin, specifically in relation to its ability to act as a store of value, unless it resists changes, its store of value characteristics could be affected (such as requests for “tail emissions” or “changes to the hard cap”). A similar argument was then raised in terms of using too much energy due to the proof-of-work algorithm, Ethereum now uses 99.95% less electricity, but what did this change do to the Ethereum mining industry? If there was the slightest risk that one day all the publicly and privately owned miners could be put out of business due to a change in consensus algorithm, and being left with much less useful equipment, miners would need to consider this before investing in the industry. While not technically “application specific”, due to their ability to provide verifiable randomness to web applications, (thanks Bob), rational miners would likely look elsewhere to deploy their resources. Developments within the broad mining community interestingly reflect such business and regulatory risks, with some bitcoin miners diversifying into Artificial Intelligence service provision. Although this may be viewed a prudent risk management, it shows that public miners’ focus is unsurprisingly on regulatory compliance and revenue generation, compared to focusing wholly on the Bitcoin Network. As a result, if the risk of a change in consensus algorithm increased, these miners would be well placed to refocus their efforts elsewhere. For these reasons, bitcoin’s resistance to change can be viewed as critical to be able to have confidence when holding it for long periods of time.

While I was very pleased with myself, it was not until a flippant tweet involving CalleBtc, that I was put back in place, bitcoin has not already won. Bitcoin’s resistance to change and so, tendency for ossification (the process of bone formation or opposed to change), is important in terms of certain attributes (hard cap and proof of work), but potentially less essential in terms of other parts of the protocol. For example, SHA256 is a great proof-of-work consensus algorithm for the moment, but what happens if quantum computers break the algorithm (actually a relatively small risk, when compared to the cracking of nuclear launch codes)? Alternatively, what happens if there is a confluence of events and transaction attributes, enabled by a previous soft-fork that prevent blocks being added to the proof-of-work chain? In either situation, it will be both necessary for the bitcoin community to cooperate and reach consensus on an upgrade quickly, that may require a soft or hard-fork, in order for bitcoin to remain operational and secure. This was clearly articulated by Vijay Boyapati:

“I would say I’m an ossification maximalist….. the only situation which I think bitcoin should change is under gravest extreme and that is when there is a critical bug or something that breaks bitcoin… say SHA256 is broken ” (Vijay Boyapati, 2023)

As a bitcoin user, to believe that if you are able to receive, securely store and send bitcoin, it has sufficient functionality, there may be a tendency to think there is limited value in contributing to bitcoin developers, bitcoin already does what you need it to do. While bitcoin developers work tirelessly reviewing the code to identify bugs and clear up the code, there is a risk that developers may have ulterior motives, such as getting a piece of their code uploaded to mainnet or actively blocking particular proposals (thank you GrassFedBitcoin). While extensive review processes aim to prevent there being any negative outcomes of malicious or ego-centric upgrades, the more resources directed to bitcoin developers mean the more time and effort that can be given to checking the code prior to upgrades going live. However, extra resources alone may not be sufficient, the devil makes work for idle hands. If all developers do is check, recheck and test the work of others, in my view, this creates at least 2 problems. Number 1; this could become a touch monotonous over time, if becoming a bitcoin developer primarily involves auditing and quality assurance, the best and brightest minds may go elsewhere. Number 2; if bitcoin developers are only refining what is already there, who is developing the skills, capabilities, competence and craft to write the code that overcomes the quantum computing threat (who will be the next Shaolin Fry)?

This reminded me of some work by Dorothy Leonard-Barton, who provided fascinating counter arguments to the earlier, and highly influential work of Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad. These three authors emphasised the need for businesses to develop core competences in order to build a long-term competitive advantage. However, Leonard-Barton suggested that unless companies balanced their learning and development activities between refining, variation reducing forms of improvement and more exploratory, innovative development activities, a firm could develop what they termed core-rigidities. Rather than providing firms with a sustainable competitive advantage, they trapped firms in path dependencies, where they were only able to develop better versions of products that customers no longer wanted (see Kodak, Polaroid, Blockbusters and maybe even Vanguard - in the near future). Risks arise from developments focusing upon improvements with shorter payback periods and lower chances of failure, that prevent those in the system seeing value in improvements that may displace current cash cows. Blockbusters didn’t like the idea of closing down stores in a similar manner to Bitmain and MicroBT disliking fundamental changes to chip or ASIC architecture.

From this position, contributing to bitcoin development does not have to only be about providing remuneration for those checking, monitoring and editing code that will move directly into changes to the bitcoin protocol. Contributing to bitcoin development also doesn’t have to mean that developments move off the base chain to layer 2 or 3, although both remain critical for the continual development of the bitcoin eco-system. Contributing to bitcoin development can instead relate to exploratory projects, that may not themselves change bitcoin core, but may contribute to learning, knowledge and the development of new capabilities that may be useful in the future. Such learning and progress is as much about trying, testing and finding out what doesn’t work, as it is about confirming your ideas were right. James Dyson had 5,126 failed patents while developing his now famous motor and vacuum cleaner business, not to mention the digital cash projects that failed before bitcoin. Bitcoin development can take a similar approach, with the protocol not only representing the quality of the BIPs that have been implemented, but also reflecting the learning that results from all the unsuccessful BIPs, that were ultimately rejected. BIP 300 may never get implemented, but if its limitations provide inspiration for alternative solutions, the BIP can be viewed has valuable even if Sidechains are never brought to the base layer.

Contributions to bitcoin developers could then be distributed more widely than only those working on core, reviewing BIPs and building protocols, but also to the wider community, to those learning about the system, integrating their own knowledge and proposing new BIPs. Only through such a process can novel ideas find their way into the system that will test and challenge developers to build their capabilities and competences ready for black swan scenarios or new consensus algorithms that can withstand a quantum attack. If developers are not supported in working on projects that will almost certainly fail in the short term, they may miss the stepping-stones to the next project, choosing to only focus upon variation reducing changes. While reducing the short-term risk of introducing unintended consequences to the bitcoin protocol, there may be longer-term consequences that bitcoin will lose the capacity to “take in a new idea”, ossify, and become exposed.

I don’t want any changes to the hard cap (ever), I don’t want any changes to the consensus algorithm (now), I don’t want to have to increase the storage capacity of my node (in the medium term). However, the idea of watching from the side lines as code auditors and quality assurance experts fumble to write new code to fix a mission critical bug would be much worse, as humanity’s best hope of escaping fiat enslavement becomes a valueless pet rock. Contributing to the developer ecosystem to build, test and prepare solutions to scenarios before they are needed feels like a good use of resources. Celebrating the work of these, often unsung heroes of bitcoin, may then provide motivation for new entrants, offsetting the carrot of getting theircode implemented. This reflects some recent discussions across ‘X’, Nostr and popular podcasts that are worth having with major holders and influencers in the field:

The long-term consistency of bitcoin as an asset is fundamental for it to maintain relevance as a store of value, but both limiting investment and signalling to others of the need to ossify the protocol misses an important mid to long-term risk. Organisations, such as Opensats, play an important role in channelling donations across the eco-system, to help ensure that exploratory forms of learning and capability development receive the support they deserve. Gold’s low stock to flow and physical properties made it THE store of value before the invention of the telegraph. However, physics and chemistry then meant gold had already ossified, its physical nature prevented it from adapting to a global world, and ultimately becoming a less relevant (soon to be irrelevant) store of value. Bitcoin doesn’t have these limitations, it can change to reflect the dynamic world in which it exists, so it and the skills of the developer community cannot ossify if it is to remain relevant and valuable in an ever changing, developing and learning world.

This led me to an analogy for balancing ossification against bitcoin development. If one is against changes being made to bitcoin unless they address extreme and mission critical issues, but also say that contributing to developers introduces unnecessary risks, appears a touch contradictory. For instance, if you know that someday, there will be a 40 yard dash, but, as a community, you neither know who will run the race (the proposed solution) or who they will be running against (the attack), with failure to win the race being catastrophic (the end of bitcoin), a choice needs to be made in terms of how to approach this risk. Would the sensible option be to say we’ll just know who’s best on the day or let’s get in shape, start practicing and support our best athletes (coders) shine for when/if that day arrives? From this position, while making and implementing the change can be viewed as a short sprint, the preparation for the sprint may need to be viewed as anything but.

And so to return back to where we started, Old Porteous’s views reflected a by-gone age, knowledgeable and intelligent, able to regurgitate monologues that had been presented to his students countless times over the years, in an authoritative Oxfordy way. However, without taking in new knowledge, that reflected technical and societal developments, the last two thousand years – just oughtn’t to have happened. This appears very similar to Kodak’s Advanced Photo System, that while adding features, was outdated even before it was released in 1996. Bitcoin doesn’t have to change to remain relevant and have value, but that doesn’t mean those in the system should not be striving to gain the necessary capabilities to make changes when the need arises.

Thank you to the various podcasters and articles that have helped me form my ideas, in particular Shinobi for his work on ossification and highlighting the need to give our braincells something to do, just because we are dogmatic about certain aspects of bitcoin, our laser eyed focus doesn’t have to trap us in a by-gone age. 

As per usual, views are my own, I'm not a financial advisor, none of this should be taken as financial advice..... Peace.

@ f7d424b5:618c51e8

(These podcast shownotes were originally posted on our website melonmancy.net

A second video game award show has hit the south tower. Also if you have topic ideas feel free to sign up on our forum we decided to not restrict any posts on the idea threads.

We mentioned a few things in the show you might want to pull up while listening, they are the following:

• Literally WHO studio grandstanding over lewd PC mods
• Aggro Crab leaves X - cringe or no?
• Selacodev immediately bullied after their trailer was shown at TRGAs for free w/o permission

Obligatory:

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@ c8adf82a:7265ee75

I have Asperger’s

I see life like a game

I am super competitive

I min max my life

I am curious

I am hardworking

I am both scientist and engineer

I rank global in most strategy games

I was a pure atheist

I had a thought to kill God

I have been fat and fit

I have been set up to jail

I have been rich and poor and wealthy

I am recovering from nerve damage

I have everything that I want

I felt most things a human can feel

I don’t want recognition

I can’t force you to listen

I am purely doing this for the world

I want you all to know

I tried to prove the Bible wrong

I am humbled beyond belief

I am now a servant of Christ

@ 01d0bbf9:91130d4c

The Bitcoin community thrives on open-source innovation, but Coinkite’s move against BTClock risks stifling progress and alienating its core supporters.

Open-source projects like BTClock typically aim to promote innovation and accessibility within the Bitcoin community. Suing the programmer for trademark infringement seems like an overly aggressive move by Coinkite, given the values that Bitcoin and its ecosystem often stand for: decentralization, collaboration, and open innovation.

Why It’s Problematic:

1. Chilling Effect on Open Source:

2. Actions like this discourage developers from creating alternative solutions or building on existing ideas, which stifles community-driven progress.

3. Open-source projects thrive on shared knowledge, and this lawsuit could set a precedent for others to clamp down on grassroots efforts.

4. Reputation Risk for Coinkite:

5. While Coinkite has long been respected for products like the Blockclock and Coldcard, this move could alienate its core audience—Bitcoiners who value freedom and decentralization.

6. By targeting an open-source developer, Coinkite risks being perceived as prioritizing profits over community principles.

7. Trademark Infringement Question:

8. If the issue is solely over the name "BTClock," a fair resolution could involve renaming the project rather than pursuing legal action.

9. Lawsuits should ideally be a last resort, not the first response.

A Better Approach:

• Coinkite could have worked with the BTClock developer to address concerns without legal action—perhaps through dialogue or collaboration.
• Open acknowledgment of BTClock’s differences (lower cost, open-source) would have shown confidence in their own premium product, while still respecting community-driven alternatives.

What NVK and Coinkite Should Do

Even now, NVK could mitigate the damage:

• Withdraw the Lawsuit: Openly acknowledge the backlash and frame it as a misunderstanding or a "necessary step" that they’re now reconsidering due to the community’s response.
• Collaborate with BTClock: Find a way to coexist, perhaps by licensing certain Blockclock-specific elements if truly necessary, while leaving room for BTClock’s open-source innovation.

@ c48e29f0:26e14c11

TL;DR -- HIGHLIGHT THIS TRANSCRIPT TO CREATE NEW NOSTR EVENTS, GET ZAPS, AND EXPOSE MORE PEOPLE TO THE* BITCOIN PODCAST IN THE PROCESS*

WHY THE FUCK AM I DOING THIS?

Up until now I've been publishing transcripts for THE Bitcoin Podcast (@Titcoin on Nostr) on my website, bitcoinpodcast.net/words, and, more recently, putting show notes/summaries on my newly-created Substack, substack.com/@walkeramerica, so people can sign up to get episodes delivered to their inbox (unfortunately I can't publish the full transcripts on Substack because they're too long). I also just hate doing this because it takes time and I don't think anyone actually reads them on my website or on my Substack. And Substack is a centralized shithole anyway.

But I've been thinking... It would make a lot more sense to just publish the summaries and full transcripts directly on Nostr so people can search and highlight the text more easily, with each highlight creating a brand new Nostr event. I'll also post the quotes I've already pulled from the episode in a section at the top, which will give people a taste of what they can expect in addition to giving them some low-hanging-fruit for highlighting. Most obviously, publishing on Nostr means I just need to publish ONCE and my post will be available to everyone on whatever client they use (huzzah for open protocols and fuck Substack).

There are a few benefits to this Nostr-focused approach:

1. People can easily search the full text transcripts and find quotes they find meaningful/funny/fucked up/insightful/etc.
2. When they create a highlight, they publish a new Nostr event which people can zap. People are incentivized to find the most valuable quotes because people like getting zapped.
3. If people see highlights they find valuable, they'll come check out the full version of the show notes and subsequently watch/listen to the episodes, in addition to searching the transcript for their own highlight-able material (more zaps ensue). Maybe they even use the transcript as they listen to the episode and highlight as they go. Who knows?!
4. As a content creator, I now have a new way to discover what parts of the episode speak to people most because I can see what people choose to highlight, and which highlights people choose to zap. This helps me decide which parts of an episode will make for the highest-signal short-form video clips, and of finding fire quotes I may have missed on my first pass-through. The highlights become a way to crowdsource signal and filter noise.
5. The episodes become more interactive as new conversations pop up around Nostr based on different highlights. Nostr events are created, thoughts are provoked, zaps are zapped, sats flow, community grows, and my episodes of THE Bitcoin Podcast get more visibility. #GrowNostr ?
6. Thanks to Zap Splits, I can add my podcast guests to a split list, ensuring that any zaps I received are also shared with them (which I did for HODL and Cason on this long-form note).

Anyway, that's enough chit chat for now. Let's see if this works or if it's just a late-night idea that doesn't seem as smart in the morning.

The full transcript of the episode is below, in addition to some of the quotes I pulled already (feel free to highlight the shit out of them). But first, here are the links to watch/listen to my conversation with Hodl and Cason:

• Fountain: https://www.fountain.fm/episode/TO4YqCAm0k2zTdLIi7xl
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/0Jy2QFRmhP4
• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-trump-freedom-the-american-idea-erik-cason/id1694392423?i=1000676077910
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7rCjFeTCdXwgrX6jylj5jH
• Rumble: https://rumble.com/v5mtk5t-bitcoin-trump-freedom-and-the-american-idea-erik-cason-and-american-hodl.html
• Everywhere else: https://bitcoinpodcast.net/podcast
• SHOW NOTES: https://open.substack.com/pub/walkeramerica/p/american-hodl-x-erik-cason-bitcoin
• Highlighter: https://highlighter.com/walker/BITCOIN-TRUMP-FREEDOM-THE-AMERICAN-IDEA-ERIK-CASON-AMERICAN-HODL-THE-Bitcoin-Podcast-zmwmhj *

EXTREMELY HIGHLIGHT-ABLE QUOTES

Erik Cason “Look, you dumb motherfuckers, you could have just doubled your fucking wealth over the last year, had you just shut the fuck up and been like, ‘maybe I'm poor and working at a dead end job that I fucking hate because I don't understand how money actually works. And maybe these Bitcoin guys who have made some money and some self-independence for themselves, maybe they have a point.’ But instead they go, this is a far right Psyop that's being played in order to try to destroy the wonderfulness of modern monetary theory. And the government needs to be able to print out money because how else can we spread the love and make sure that all people everywhere are always equal and have all of the equal opportunity always, particularly the brown people that we want to bomb out of existence because, you know, they need to use my fucking pronouns. And that's why we're bombing the shit out of them is because they're hateful, racist pieces of garbage that, you know, and then, and then there's just like the like, well, like fuck Israel, we can't like support them. But like Ukraine is great. Or the people doing the opposite one. I'm like, what, like, why the fuck is the red or the blue people telling you to bomb the right people?

HODL (50:34.642) You can just do things. You don't have to wait for anybody. Nothing's decreed. Like, listen, fiat is a fucking disease of the mind. That's what it is. And every currency on earth that's not Bitcoin is fiat. Ethereum is fiat. Solana is fiat. Tether is fiat. They're all fiat, okay? And then obviously all the fiat currencies are fiat. But fiat is not just affecting the monetary supply and material goods like iPhones and shit. No, fiat affects YOU. It affects your mind. It affects the way you think. You think that the world is decreed to you from scribes on high. It's not. The world is built by people that get out and build the fucking world. So if you want to do something, just go do it. Get politically active if you want to be politically active. Build a business if you want to build a business. Build a family if you want to build a family. Build an estate if you want to build an estate. Go to Mars if you want to go to Mars. Fucking just go do it. Do what you want to do. That is the Bitcoin story. Not by decree. No one tells you to do it. You decree it. You fucking decree it. You go out and do what the fuck you're gonna do in the world. That's what we're doing here in Bitcoin.

HODL “The state condemned a man to slow death, double life imprisonment. And we said, ‘no, you don't get to do that.’ We got to rewrite the rules of the game as the game was being played. And it shows that we don't have to just sit there and take it.”

Erik Cason (01:01:49.037) the world fucking needs Americanism right now. Like shit is fucked up and there needs to be a renewal of this American spirit that pushes out into the world that, you know, is what 1776 was about, which was a global revolution that then swept through Europe because they're like, yo Europeans, look, we just like fucked up the British empire and we earned our own rights by fighting these assholes. Would you like that? They're like, yeah, this like monarchy shit is bullshit. Let's, let's fucking fight. And I hope that we're going to see a renewal of that same spirit that we're going to fight back against our federal government and their surveillance in the deep state and that we're going to push that shit out numb into Europe and that the Europeans are going to be like, yeah, you know what? turns out getting asked fucked by our government and getting global surveillance through a CBDC is bullshit. Let's fight these motherfuckers.

HODL That is the Bitcoin story. Not by decree. No one tells you to do it. You decree it. You fucking decree it. You go out and do what the fuck you're gonna do in the world. That's what we're doing here in Bitcoin.

TRANSCRIPT: AMERICAN HODL x ERIK CASON

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (00:00.07) ground audio, but the new Macs do it like really fucking well shockingly, which is honestly quite nice. Okay. We are allegedly live on zap.stream. So I'm just going to fiddle with this for a second. Let's see here. But yeah, we were, Eric, we were just discussing that hodl is basically on team no sleep right now. and has been, yeah, just

HODL (00:01.4) Mm-hmm.

Erik Cason (00:07.304) It's just.

Erik Cason (00:11.184) Alright.

HODL (00:24.418) Well, ever since they stole the 2020 election, you gotta stay up all night now.

Erik Cason (00:24.72) Are you?

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (00:29.668) It's true. You got to keep them in check.

Erik Cason (00:32.525) So is this like a young children thing or is this like your brain is all spun out from

HODL (00:38.808) No, this is was it. No, it's because I was at Bitcoin mags live stream for like 12 hours yesterday and I didn't get home until like, you know, 1 30 a.m. and then I fucking didn't go to sleep until 2 a.m. And then because I have young children, I was up at 5 a.m. So it's like, you know, good times.

Erik Cason (00:54.893) Good. No, I... My sleep got absolutely fucked a couple nights ago, because like I was like, I'm gonna stay up a little late and watch a movie. And then my brain was like, yeah, you want to stay up fucking late, asshole? How about you fall asleep at 4 a.m.? So this last night I was like, you know what? Like this shit isn't worth it anymore. Like I'm a fucking adult. I'm going to bed at nine o'clock. I'm going to get up at six o'clock and like work out and do all my like adult shit because...

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:07.735) how you like that.

Erik Cason (01:18.866) I'm just like fucking sick. Like I could do that shit when I was in my 20s, but like that's a long ways away from now. So now I gotta like take care of my body or it's gonna fuck me up.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:30.62) it's I was out. I was fishing like this whole weekend, like a dude's trip with my, dad and my father-in-law and like some other older dudes. And just like, yeah, we were fishing, fishing for steelheads. It was a wonderful time. My first time fishing for steelheads had a fucking blast, but like you're out in the river all goddamn day. And by the time we got back, like, and I was like the young buck of the group and still I'm like, 7 P.M. It's about time to turn in like, fuck.

Erik Cason (01:42.099) Drop.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (02:00.591) But yeah, so I feel your pain. But then last night I got home from the trip and like was watching MSNBC for fun and stayed up until like three or something because I was.

HODL (02:08.802) Yeah. did either of you watch the view this morning? It was, it was so good. I would highly recommend it. Well, they start whoopee Goldberg starts off with tears in her eyes and she's trying to be magnanimous and she, she goes, yeah, let's talk about, let's get into it. And then she passes it to Joy Behar and Joy Behar holds it together for like,

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (02:13.572) No.

Erik Cason (02:13.819) No, like-

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (02:19.915) Describe it.

HODL (02:35.832) 90 % of the time and she's like, you know, we got it. It was a fair election and we got it just but he's a racist and then they just like rescinded. It's a full struggle session. It was amazing. Like honestly, it could have been pay-per-view. I would have paid $75 to watch it. It was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. It was amazing.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (02:47.081) my god.

Erik Cason (02:56.683) So like, what are they gonna do now other than just like malfunction and have a hard time? Like I'm just really enjoying getting to like sit in this space and being like democracy is super great, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful that we elected a fascist Hitler who's waited for his second term to implement the genocide against all of the people that are you? And they're like, the demogood, so I'm really.

HODL (03:20.024) Yeah.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (03:24.54) The glitching is real right now. you almost feel bad, or I would almost feel bad, if the people who are glitching, like, were glitching right now, weren't so insufferable for so long. Like, I would almost feel bad, you know what I mean? But I'm not quite there yet.

HODL (03:40.049) Yeah, yeah. No, I don't feel a shred of guilt about anything. I'm just laughing at all the memes. It's hilarious.

Erik Cason (03:42.172) One.

Erik Cason (03:47.146) Like look, like fuck this voting and democracy nonsense, but like I'm, really enjoying these liberals that have used the last four years to try to cram all this fucking nonsense down everybody's throat and now have to deal with like the reactionary against that. in addition to the fact of that, like it's about fucking time. Like the last, the last four years were like really fucking wacky. And like we had, we, we still have this geriatric prison. Like what the fuck happened to Joe Biden? Did he just like vanish? Like what?

HODL (04:08.6) Mm-hmm.

Erik Cason (04:16.862) It's just so weird to me in that, like in the meanwhile, the whole liberal machine keeps marching on being like, like this is, so anyways, I'm just excited to watch this whole thing kind of break down and crash into flames and see what happens.

HODL (04:31.128) I woke up feeling just proud of America. And the reason I was proud of America is not because America voted the way I wanted them to vote, which they did, like in a landslide victory. The reason I was proud of them, proud of the feeling of being American was that propaganda doesn't work on us. You tried to Psyop us and we just aren't fucking having it.

Because being an American means doing whatever the fuck we want and you are not allowed to tell us what to do. That's the feeling, that's the energy I woke up with. Like, the American people are exactly who I thought they were. You know, it's like that meme. They are who we thought they were! They are who we thought they were! You know, it's like, the American people are who I thought they were and they're just as fucking wild and untamed and fucking crazy.

and individualistic as I've always expected and needed them and wanted them to be and known that they were and I just fucking love it. I love seeing the results come in and then the people who are the professional propagandists, the Joe Scarborough, the MSNBCs, the Rachel Maddows, the Whoopi Goldbergs, right? Professional paid propagandists go, I can't believe calling them racist garbage didn't work. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck all of you. Fuck you.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (05:51.245) It's fucking insane.

Erik Cason (05:51.287) Well, it's interesting because like it's a it's this really reactionary hateful thing where and it's like super hypocritical where it's like, fuck you, you racist piece of goddamn shit. Like you need to go into the fucking concentration camp and be brutally raped and tortured because you won't tolerate other people. You fucking sick fucking pig. And it's like, you know, maybe there should be some self reflection here about some of those things you said and are expressing and like

HODL (06:20.642) Yeah.

Erik Cason (06:20.715) I don't know, like this is the thing that I've been trying to deal with kind of in the liberal bubble I'm in. It's like, hey, do you guys think that like all the hatred and vitriol that you're directing at white people and about like how useless men are and that they really obstruct everything that could have ever been done that's good might have a little something to do with this. In addition to like, perhaps we're in the position that we're in because of the way that you keep shitting on all these people that actually

might have some degree of value to society. And I'm not saying they're better or worse than anybody, but maybe trying to direct all your hate towards them could have something to do with the outcome that came here as opposed to you being like, hey, these people, we'd like to include them in the fold rather than just kind of doing the reverse hate thing. But you know, I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a politician.

HODL (07:07.96) Yeah.

It's tough to tell people like, you know all that shit that's in your head? That's not real. It's just not real. None of it. You made it up. You're living in magical fairy princess land. Okay. And what I would, what I would want you to do is form a hypothesis and test it. You know I mean? Like experiment. Are you in magical fairy princess land? Can you fly? You know what I mean? Maybe you start on the ground first. Don't jump out of a window, but like, you know, maybe test your flap your wings little, see if it works.

If it doesn't, maybe we have the wrong hypothesis. I don't know. Weird. Just be calling here.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (07:42.586) Whoa, that would require like critical thought though and actual self-reflection and like now they've just like they've gone the other way and they're like well actually the black and Latinos are racist too and they clearly like and you're like hold on hold on guys I was told because of the intersectional hierarchy that they couldn't be Racist but but now they are racist and the Arabs to some of those Arabs We don't like them the Cubans especially escaping communism coming here voting for a Republican. Who do they think they are? It's ridiculous

HODL (07:53.748) Right.

HODL (08:00.876) They can't be racist. Yeah, they can't.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (08:12.804) Yeah, it's fucking will there be any self-reflection though like any like moment of inward like looking inward to say Maybe we were kind of part of the problem, huh? Hmm

HODL (08:23.448) They're nowhere close to being ready to deal with reality. In a sense, kind of like, it's a huge miscarriage of American civil duty that's happened because these people have been so badly brainwashed and Psy-op by the mainstream media, these professional state propagandists that you can't help but feel a little bit bad for them. at the same time, mean,

There's nothing to do but to get out of your echo bubble. you, the only person who can crawl out of Plato's cave is you. And I don't know how to explain to you that the shadows aren't real. They're just not real. And so like those of us who are out of the cave, we, we all talk about how retarded you all are in the cave, but we don't know how to actually get you out of the cave. Cause every time we try and bring you out, you fucking bite us and go rabid, you know?

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (09:17.66) And we can literally tell you the cave exit is right there. This is where you need to go to get out of the cave. And they're like, that exit looks not really like it's inclusive. I don't think I'm going to go out that way. Sorry, Kason. Go ahead,

Erik Cason (09:17.689) It's a pretty sad situation overall.

Erik Cason (09:31.29) Well, like with it being at a Bitcoin all time high right now, like that, you know, is what I came on with is that like, look, you dumb motherfuckers, like you could have, you could have just doubled your fucking wealth over, know, over the last year, had you just like shut the fuck up and been like, maybe I'm poor and working at a dead end job that I fucking hate because I don't understand how money actually works. And maybe these Bitcoin guys who have like made some money and some

self-independence for themselves, like maybe they have a point. But instead they go, this is a far right Psyop that's being played in order to try to destroy the wonderfulness of modern monetary theory. And the government needs to be able to print out money because how else can we spread the love and make sure that all people everywhere are always equal and have all of the equal opportunity always, particularly the brown people that we want to bomb out of existence because

You know, they need to use my fucking pronouns. And that's why we're bombing the shit out of them is because they're hateful, racist pieces of garbage that, you know, and then, and then there's just like the like, well, like fuck Israel, we can't like support them. But like Ukraine is great. Or the people doing the opposite one. I'm like, what, like, why the fuck is the red or the blue people telling you to bomb the right people? Regardless, like maybe you should just be upset that brown people are

you know, and in the case of Ukraine, white people too are getting blown up. Like the bombs are not racist. They will kill people whether they're white or brown. And I don't know, it would just be really great if people could be like, you know, maybe we should just kind of talk to people instead of murder them. But again, I'm not a politician. Maybe there's something I'm missing here. Maybe they need to be murdered.

HODL (11:07.501) Yeah.

key on this is like the Bitcoin price as a lens by which to view the world. It's like last night when I was watching the election results. I was at Bitcoin Magazine studio and they had all the boards up and all the stuff, you know, and I'm watching it all. It's like the traditional media and I'm on my phone looking at the Bitcoin price and I'm like Trump's gonna win. Like it just got bid in the markets. This is gonna happen. I now know the future ahead of traditional media.

And it's the same thing with like, Polymarket was telling us Trump was going to win for months and months because people have been actually, you know, putting economic value behind those, those, you know, those votes that they're making with their economic capital, right? And so, you know, if you're listening to traditional media, you're trying to do sense making that way and you have like, you know, the, poll, the Nate Silvers of the world, the pollsters telling you, Ann Seltzer telling you like, he's going to win Iowa, whatever. they, these people have no skin in the game. So there's no.

proof of work to their predictions. you need to, once you have proof of work as a lens, you as a Bitcoiner, look for it and see it and find it everywhere and anything that you can attach proof of work to, you realize that this is a real thing and you can bank on it. But I mean, people that don't have that are doing everything proof of stake, right? Like they just don't understand that reality that unfortunately they are living in. There's nothing you can do about it. can't.

You can't escape that reality, right? Like you are inside that reality.

Erik Cason (12:42.853) Well, it'd be clear like, proof of stake as a methodology that's like operable and like that's called socialism. Like I can actually like hijack the government and be like, Hey, Mr. Musk, like, fuck you. We're going to like steal all your shit. It's like, cool. Like now that we did that guys, like how much more runway we have? They're like, we have, we have four days. We got, we got four days to run the budget now. It's like, it's like the guy that's

Wait, wait, the guy that's getting us into space and like gave us like satellite internet and shit, like stealing everything from him got us four days of runway? And they're like, yeah. So we're out of time now. So who are we going to rob next? They're like, that Amazon guy. Yeah, like fuck him. He's like stealing from people and he's hateful. It's like, yeah. Why do you think he has better approval ratings than like the

and like everyone in like the US military. Like it seems like people really like him. They're like, cause, cause he's, he's racist, right? So let's steal his shit. And like, and like, that's what proof of stake is about. It's like, fuck these other people. We can like steal their shit and like remake the rules so that like stealing shit is okay when we steal shit for the right reasons.

And this is like the clusterfuck that's Ethereum. Like if you've watched like what their monetary policy has been like since the fucking Dow fork that happened, it's literally always been like, yeah, but like this is the one time it will ever happen. Well, maybe we'll change it again. You know what? Fuck it. We're just going to kind of do whatever we want. And like, that's fine, but it's not going to work out long-term and there's going to be very severe fucking consequences. So you...

could learn about how economics works and it turns out that like, nobody likes being stolen from and it turns out like, if I can steal from you, I can steal from other people too. And that's like a really big problem. So you should probably be invested in a system that goes, you know what? We're not gonna steal from anybody ever. But what about Hitler and Pol Pot? And it's like, yeah, it turns out that even fucking assholes, we like need to respect their right to property too.

Erik Cason (14:54.332) And they're like, but if we do that, then like all of the racist and hateful people will win. And it's like, you know, maybe you need to expand your worldview beyond thinking that everybody's hateful and racist. And that's kind of their main problem. By the way, like I've never actually, like when I was younger, I had a couple of friends, dads who were like pretty racist and stuff, but it was always this like, I don't know. Like I've never met somebody who like really had as their like main thing. They're like, yeah, but like, fuck the Mexicans and the black people. It's it's like usually like.

Yeah, but what about Habib? Like he was helping us out early and they're like, well, yeah, he's brown and that's fine. But, I'm like, so you're like, not really that racist. And they're like, well, you know, they're trying to take our jobs. And it's like, well, but were you gonna, were you gonna do the gardening? And they're like, well, no, fuck no. I ain't gonna get wet today. It's like, maybe he, maybe Jesus is pretty good at what he does, you know? I'm just saying.

I don't think he's taking your job. You don't seem like you're gonna be gardening in the ring. I'm just saying.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (15:57.544) I think so much this is like a it's it's it is a mirror right like What you see and everybody else tends to be more of a reflection of what you have going on in the inside? Than what is actually going on with them because you don't fucking know them you have no way of knowing what they're what their beliefs are whether or not they are a Giant bigot and a racist or whether they're just some man or woman trying to live their life Put food in the table for their kids and not get just absolutely bent over a barrel by the government

which is like a reasonable thing. Like nobody really wants to be bent over a barrel by the government, right? But apparently if you push back against that too hard, you are given one of these labels. But then it's like you have kind of this proof of concept here that this is just a reflection of what is going on in a lot of these, you know, bigot callers minds. When you see them say things like, you know, I can't like why would all of these Latinos vote for their own deportation? It's like, do you think the only Latinos in the country?

are here illegally? Like, is that what you think? That they're voting for their own deportation? Like, there's lots of Latinos here who came here legally, like a ton of them. And it turns out a lot of them were escaping the same sort of bullshit socialist verging on communist policies that you're trying to push on them now. And then you turn around and call them racist because they didn't agree with you. Like, it's this insane

paternalistic projection and I like but again the sad thing is I don't know if there is ever like a come to Jesus moment where they're like you know what you know guys we went too far we were wrong I was was pretty messed up for a few years there huh we're cool now let's keep things civil we're not gonna call everybody Nazis anymore especially you white lib or you white women you know you white suburban women you Nazis like it's just like turns out calling everybody a Nazi is a really bad campaign move like

I don't know who like how who could have known right shocking.

HODL (17:57.56) I think you guys are both being charitable and trying to diagnose them. I spent a lot of time trying to do that too, get into their heads and understand their psychology. How could you think this way? It's so severely retarded. And now I'm just like, listen, we have now unfettered control of all three branches of government. it's like, I don't listen. At the Thanksgiving dinner table, I don't pay attention to the conversation at the kids table. I don't care what the kids are talking about. You know what mean? It doesn't matter. It's like...

What color crayon do you like? I don't know. like burnt umber. That's my favorite. Yeah. It's like no, who gives a fuck? We're at the adult table now and it's about stacking wins on the board and you know, like for instance, mean, Trump is the first Bitcoin president. Vance owns Bitcoin. We now have the opportunity to like see real Bitcoin appointments be made where like people who are being recommended for high purchase of power

will be people that are sympathetic to Bitcoin, if not Bitcoiners themselves from an ideological standpoint. And to me, that's the most fascinating thing that's going on. And whatever like woke mind virus is like eating the brains of like the liberal white women we all know. I don't give a single fuck like drink your Chardonnay bitch and like hopefully it cures it. I don't know what to tell you, you know, take some ivermectin.

Erik Cason (19:11.977) Well, it's funny because I have a good friend who like, you know, he's like, deep barrier roots. So like everybody is like very, very liberal. And like he's a bit of the black sheep of family. So he, you know, he was like, I'm going to vote for Trump. And this, this is like very upsetting to his family. And like, you know, everyone was getting outraged with him. And he was like, look, he was like, look, like the only way we get to talk about politics now is like, you have to steel man my position. Like you don't get to come to me and be like,

But Trump's like a racist bigot. Like you need to actually come to me and be like, well, perhaps you want to elect Trump because like you feel different about economic policies or whatever. And I've found like, this is the best way to actually like force people to, like think in a meaningful way. Cause like, otherwise they'll do the same bullshit with you. But I've found like it really glitches people pretty hard. Cause I can be like, look, like I, I understand your position. Like you think Kamala as being the first black woman president.

is really going to create policies that champion and allow for, you know, people of various and diverse backgrounds to be able to have a real leg up in America. Totally hear that. I have a fundamentally different position that I don't believe that that actually helps people in a unique way. And I actually think there's a very discreet kind of racism that's going on with that. When you say, Hey, we need to give reparations to black people.

because they're not good enough to be able to compete with the white people. It's like, they're, you know, like I see something a bit racist in that. And like, again, I'm not trying to take away from that. There, there can be good reasoning behind that, but you know, particularly living in the state of California where this has actually been proposed as like a meaningful bill seems pretty fucking racist to me to steal a bunch of money from me and give it to a bunch of, of, you know, people, you know, I think in this case, just black people that are going to be getting that.

money directly when as far as I know they directly were not enslaved by me or my ancestors and I'm not sure what their relationship is to it either. I'm saying the with Kamala Harris like black woman this is this you know great that if she was elected that she would be the first black woman but let's be very clear she's not like African-American she's a Jamaican woman that's where she's descended from and again like doesn't take away from the fact that that is would be the first black woman president but

Erik Cason (21:35.851) She is not an African-American and that's a bit misleading to kind of do that whole pitch. But most people are really uninterested in this just because they have a deep vested interest in what their emotional capacity is. And that's one of the things I've found deeply disturbing about a lot of liberal ideology is that like if something feels right, that means that like that is right. And when you try to pick that apart, they go, well, that's racist. And that doesn't feel like if I'm, that doesn't feel good. So we can't be that.

And like it turns out that like maybe there's a little bit of racism you have going on there with, you know, wanting to steal money from white people and give it to all the other people. Just saying.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (22:16.397) It's you know, it's you mentioned like this friend who's bucking the trend in his Bay Area family, right? And something I just think is so genuinely sad is that we are at a place right now and and I'm sure you know people could come up with examples of like well in the Civil War families were broken up over that and it's like, okay, let's not please let's not compare the two the two moments in time, but the fact that people will literally stop speaking to their family basically, you know, diso you know disavow them like well my

My mom voted for Donald Trump. And so I can't I just I won't speak to her anymore. I can't possibly because it turns out even though this woman loved me and raised me my entire life and made so many sacrifices for me and did everything she possibly could to give me every advantage I could have. She's a racist bigot. And it's like people will literally stop like I'm sure you guys know people like I can think of a number of people within circles. I run it like off the top of my head that level like nope.

I won't be talking to them anymore. Like I like I'm out, you know, no more family Thanksgiving for me. I can't be around this racism. No more Christmas. I you're not going to see your grandchild. I don't know any of those examples personally out of no more grandchildren time. That'd be like especially fucked up. But the point is like how do you have so much hate in your heart that you cannot you cannot get over the fact that somebody that you love and that loves you may have a slightly different opinion than you.

And that the fact that their opinion is different is so offensive to you that you would break apart those ties that bind you for a fucking political candidate, for a fucking agent of the state apparatus. That is fucking insane. Like that truly blows my mind and I think that is really sad. If somebody by some chances listened to this who's like, well I haven't talked to my uncle Jim in two years because he voted for so-and-so on either side of the fucking aisle. Who cares?

Like you should be able to argue the most with the people you love the most. Because no matter what, at the end of the day, you guys fucking still love each other. Get the fuck over it. You're going to have disagreements. It's OK. That's a beautiful thing. And you should have people that challenge you.

Erik Cason (24:25.621) What?

It's both about like a first of all, it's about like a really weak frame of individual reference that that that's very frankly, callow at the bottom. Because like if you you have to identify so strongly with a political party or a movement that that becomes definitive about you and that like you you need to break with other people because they're disagreeing with it. Because like, look, like I'm clearly like a freak Bitcoiner and like everyone in my life doesn't agree.

with the Bitcoin thing, despite the fact that they've seen me have very, very fat gains while they have lost lots of money. And I think that's sad and unfortunate. And like, I'm always like waiting, you know, at the dinner table at Thanksgiving for them to be like, so Eric, like Bitcoin's at an all time high. Like we were all totally fucking wrong and we could have, you know, doubled our portfolios had we actually listened to you. But like, nope, never fucking happens. And at best I try to bring up the Bitcoin thing.

Wow, like the, just don't understand this money thing. So how was the game last night? And I'm like, you you could like, you could have actually like rolled that into like a question being like, so Eric, like what is money? Like why is Bitcoin actually different from the dollar? Cause I don't understand and you seem to get it. But yeah, that never happens. And I find it pretty sad and unfortunate. And like the other one is like.

I'm still open to Bitcoin being fucking wrong. I'm certain it's not. I mean, like if you happen to be a top tier world cryptographer and you're like, check it out. There's this error in the sub 256 curve that was chosen. And turns out the whole thing's fucking broken. You know, I'd probably contact the US military first and like let them know and understand that fucking encryption standards don't work. I just find it pretty fascinating how deep.

Erik Cason (26:19.241) Most people have fled into the them and like they don't actually have a definitive idea of who and what they are, their purpose in the world. that they're like much more interested in making sure everybody feels comfortable and safe rather than making a little bit of discomfort in a conversation that might force some thought and growth. Cause like, again, I don't want to be a fucking asshole, but

Why don't we think real hard about how things are going and what we would really desire for ourselves and others? And like, I don't know. It's, I know this Thanksgiving is going to get interesting with people being like, that hateful bigot Trump, he was elected and he's going to destroy America now. I'll be like, yeah, like it was pretty bad when Hitler was elected for the second non-consecutive term. And when he really made the choice to go after all of his political opponents at that point in time, that was a really weird.

time in history, huh guys? And they're like, yeah.

HODL (27:13.932) Yeah, remember, remember Hitler's bipartisan coalition, you know, like the Tulsi Gavrids of the Weimar Germany were joining up with Hitler like, no, it's so stupid, dude. I think if we take it at face value, everything Eric said is and Walker said is true. But like, you know, I think a lot of these things are just that family members just really don't fuck with each other for deep, deep familial reasons like trauma, trauma reasons. And they're using the

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (27:24.998) you

HODL (27:40.93) the Trump thing is a convenient excuse, right? Rather than going to therapy and like hashing out their shit or having a frank and honest conversation. I mean, I have family members in my life who, you know, I've had these frictions with and the truth is like, our relationship was never good. It goes deep to the psyche of both individuals in the conflict. It relates back to our grandparents and their site and you know, it just goes back and back and you're like.

Okay, so I actually I've been like cast in a play here of like some deep familial trauma and I'm not even like really aware of what's going on and neither is the other participant. We just know that we don't like each other and then you have this flashpoint of Donald Trump's election in 2016 or in 2024 or whatever and then that becomes the the way to fissure like it creates the fissures in the relationship and whatever. So I think I think that's a lot of what's going on. But I also think that you know more on the

the topic that you were saying about, you were trying to talk to all these people and they wouldn't listen or whatever. I went through this myself and what I realized is that I had survivor's guilt. So I needed to fix them for me, had nothing to do with them. It was all about me. It had to do with my own feelings of inadequacy around not being able to save my own mother from her psychological issues. And then when I realized that I was like, okay, I can just stop doing that.

because it's not serving the other person. I thought it was my way into being a good person. Like I'm a good person. I care about these people. I really want to help them and whatever. But the truth is man that there are people with a growth mindset and there are people without a growth mindset. And I'm a person with a growth mindset. I want to continue growing in life and doing, you know, cause there's no, there's no stasis in nature, right? That's nature abhors a vacuum. Like there is no stasis.

everything's in constant flux. It's constant chaos and you're, basically either growing or decaying, right? That's how nature works. And so we are a part of nature. That's how we work. Also, that's how we work psychologically, but for some reason, people don't think or believe this and they like to, you know, have this sort of delusion that they're, they're a static element in a static system. makes no sense to me. And I can't stand people who are like that and I don't want to be around them. So for me, after I realized the survivor's guilt thing, I was like, okay, yeah.

HODL (29:58.432) I don't want to be around people that don't have a growth mindset. And so now I just am not. So if you don't have that, if you don't think that way, I'm just not around you, bro. I don't know what you got going on and I don't care. And I wish you well. I hope you get out of it, but fuck off.

Erik Cason (30:13.977) Yeah, I've, you know, it's taken me a while to learn it, but particularly family, it's as much as like, really want like deep connecting conversation and for like us to understand each other and for them to like meet me where I'm at. They have like zero fucking interest in that. Like they really want to talk about the weather, like anything that's like level one, maybe level two, but like level three, fuck no.

and it took me a long time to like button up against that wall being like, what, like, why aren't you guys turned on? Like, why don't you like, you know, I'm like, like COVID was like a great example of like trying to bring that stuff up and like lots of big conflict coming up. And it hurt me for a long time because I was like, why don't they want to understand me? Like, this is so difficult. I want to be loved in the way I want to be loved. And like, I finally just kind of got to the place of like, like this is their shit.

HODL (30:50.104) Mm-hmm.

Erik Cason (31:04.262) they're incapable of it. And like the more I rock the boat, the more that they're going to resist it, making capsize more likely. And like, I just need to be okay with doing the level one and level two thing with them. And the truth is I can, I can do level eight, nine, 10 shit with you guys. And like that's frankly, like that's why I really fucking love the Bitcoin community is cause like I can have real and sincere conversation where we actually think hard about shit and go deep and enjoy that. And like that's.

Kind of what friends are supposed to be for. Family can be for, you know, just loving them for who they're meant. you know, I love my mom, really great person. I'm never going to have a deep and thoughtful connecting conversation about the political nature of world and our reality with her. Gonna have a really great conversation about how beautiful the sky is. But, you know, that's about as far as it can go. And that's okay.

And so I just, I really welcome people who are going to go into this Thanksgiving ready to fist fight everybody. Just like eat like a fucking marijuana brownie before that. And just like enjoy staring at the vase or some shit. Like it's not worth fighting your family and their stupid ideas of what they believe is right. Cause the other is like, if you're a Bitcoiner, like it's pretty clear that the next cycle is getting pumping right now.

And so anybody who is even remotely smart in your family is going to come to you when Bitcoin's at $120,000 at Thanksgiving and be like, hey, you know, you like made like some money with this, right? And you can be like, yeah, I'm like really fucking high, but yeah, I made some money with this. And they'll be like, could you, could you tell me a bit about that? And maybe that'll be your opening. Don't, don't expect it, but

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that with what the Trump team is up to, they're about to like front run destroying the entire financial system. Cause that's like, that's kind of their MO. They're like good with this money shit and they all clearly hold Bitcoin and they're clearly going to be appointing people. So, look, like I'm not telling you what to do, but like, if you like money, you should probably buy Bitcoin and keep holding it for awhile. Cause I'm pretty sure it's going to keep going up for awhile here.

Erik Cason (33:15.035) Although there is some fucking moron right now who's absolutely gonna slam their hand in the door and be like, it's going back to 15k. No way the bit going to keep up with this.

HODL (33:23.881) 58K is a lost universe. Otto said it's not static. Bullshit. 58K, stable coin, static, static system.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (33:31.261) To fair, I love the 58k meme and I am guilty of using it so much, but now I've also implemented the 158k meme because it looks almost the same to the the unseeing eye. You just see 58k, but there's a one in there.

HODL (33:43.128) Why not, why not 250 AK? Why not 350 AK? Why not 950 AK? Why not 1.258 K?

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (33:48.17) Jesus I hadn't even gotten that far fuck why not

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (33:55.421) 5.8 you know, like fuck it. Let's let's roll it up. So first of all, I appreciate you guys because you and I appreciate that we can have level eight and nine conversation, maybe someday a level 10. I don't know how high these levels go. So like how the scale works exactly, but I appreciate that there exist people that we can have these kinds of fucking talks with because it's you're right. It's not always within the family. Sometimes it is. And that's very fortunate, but like

If that's not you out there listening like that's okay, too Like you know, that's why that's why you're in Bitcoin, right? Because you can go meet with a bunch of other strange people who want to talk about how fucked up our monetary system is like ad nauseum and like are Super fucking down with that and that's a beautiful thing But I'm curious cuz cuz Eric you mentioned just like the Trump team MO being Go in and kind of like fuck shit up a little bit in the in the financial system. Do you think?

Do you think, okay, like Trump is on board with that? Like, is Trump gonna go full on end the Fed? Like, is Ron Paul coming on here and we are fucking burning this thing down? Or is Trump, like, he's, I don't know about your, like, the vibes you've gotten from, but he seems more measured lately. Like, maybe it's, you know, almost getting assassinated. Maybe it's just a little, you know, couple extra years. Maybe it's Barron being nine and a half feet tall standing next to him. And he's like, you know what? I'm not the biggest guy in the room anymore. I don't know. We're like,

Where do you think we go? Where is Trump at on this? And do you think the team he's assembling is actually going to go in there and be like, no, we're going to bring the Fed down?

Erik Cason (35:34.077) I think from the standpoint, it looks like that's a possibility, but like I, I am very, very deeply convinced that like, the deep state is absolutely and unequivocally in control. And there's no conceivable fucking way that anybody in any elected or any appointed position can like meaningfully stop any of this. Cause like, I, I can't really imagine the powers that be in the back room are like, you guys, they let, like got the right people in the right position to like do stuff like.

What are we gonna do now? And they're like, dang, guess we lost. We just gotta accept it. So no, and I think Ron Paul and Elon Musk and all the people who get in right position, they are absolutely going to try their best to do stuff. And then I'm pretty sure none of it's gonna happen. Same thing, totally holding my breath that Trump keeps his word about freeing Ross day one. Gonna be mum on the word until then. If it doesn't happen, I'm not gonna be shocked.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (36:28.371) Yeah.

Erik Cason (36:32.094) If it does happen, I will be the first to give alkylates to where they're due because that would be phenomenal. My hope is that everybody who's really full all the hopium of all this stuff will see the next two years play out. Very little will actually change in terms of it. Yeah, that's when I'm gonna launch my radical states rights movement to use the states to unilaterally fuck up the federal government.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (36:40.764) Amen.

HODL (36:59.272) Dude, let's talk about the Ross thing for a second because did anyone have more on the line yesterday than Ross Ulbricht? No. Like, mean, Ross Ulbricht's life hung in the balance. was double life, rot in a prison cell for all eternity until you die and are taken away in a casket or freedom in three months, freedom in two and a half months. I mean, that's a fucking crazy

crazy thing that he had to live through, you know, the potential that either one of these outcomes, was like, everyone was saying it was a 50-50 toss up between these outcomes. And luckily, we're in the good timeline. And, you know, I was hanging out with the production crew when I was at this thing last night, and, you know, basically they were asking me like, why do you guys all care so much about Ross? And I said, listen, Ross's story is a miscarriage of justice.

and Ross didn't deserve double life. did do something wrong. He did deserve some prison time. Like, that's just how it is. I know, like, the anarcho-capitalist would be like, no way, bro, but it's like, come on. I mean, we have a society that has rules. He broke the rules. Like, he does a little time. But he's, at this point in life, he has paid his, whatever debt he owed to society has been more than paid. He just created a website. He never hired hitmen. All that is bullshit. The man who allegedly,

he hired to have killed supports him as a vocal supporter of Ross Ulberg. I mean, you've been lied to about this case, the agents, the federal agents on the case were dirty. They were they were stealing. Yes. Yeah, FBI. Yep.

Erik Cason (38:33.375) Like all of them from different agencies, like every single motherfucking federal agent in that goddamn agency stole money, like it's fucking insane. And most of them like got off the hook too. And this is what I'm so fucking angry about is the hypocrisy of

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (38:34.759) Yeah.

HODL (38:43.352) Yeah, they did last time that Ross last time that Ross exactly. No, and I mean what I'm saying is like this is this case is a miscarriage of justice and Ross deserves to be free and he will be free in two and a half months. I'm not one of these Bitcoiners who's like we'll see bro. We'll see if Trump does it like no, no, he's he's gonna be free. It's a campaign promise. We put up serious money and we went to bat for Trump and now we're gonna get Ross out and the reason it's important to us is what I told the production crew.

is because yes, all those things are truths of miscarriage of justice, et cetera. But what it shows is that we are ascendant politically, that we matter, that we're important. Things weren't supposed to happen this way. And then they happen this way. The state condemned a man to slow death, double life imprisonment. And we said, no, you don't get to do that. We got to rewrite the rules of the game as the game was being played. And it shows that we don't have to just sit there and take it. mean, imagine the timeline where Bitcoin goes to zero.

In that timeline, Ross rots in prison for the rest of his life. But we're in the good timeline where Bitcoin is at 76k and Ross is free in two and a half months. And I mean, it just shows that we are going to be players in the world. You're not going to be off in the woods with your cold card shoved up your ass. I mean, if you want to do that, like that's fine. Like get freaky. It's okay. Bitcoin is about freedom, but

Erik Cason (40:03.294) You should really consider a ledger if you're doing that, you know.

HODL (40:05.41) Go like that, open your eyes. Yeah, don't, the cold card is very square. Listen, you want to shove it up your ass, you be my guest, okay? But we're going to be playing.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (40:05.901) Yeah, for real.

Erik Cason (40:14.43) I really need to make a buttplug that is specifically designed for this.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (40:18.076) How has no one made that yet? That's my question.

HODL (40:19.544) I know right. We are going to be players in the world and we're going to have political power. And we're also going to make some butt plugs. Okay. That can accept a leg.

Erik Cason (40:25.255) seed taker.

Erik Cason (40:32.606) You want your engraved butt plug? Please read each other.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (40:37.95) We're thinking of spinning up a little, a little shop for them. They're going to be super nice. Hypoallergenic, course, really smooth on entry. Not so much on exit. Cause you don't want that thing coming out necessarily, right? Like you got to keep it in there.

Erik Cason (40:41.129) You

HODL (40:43.224) I'm

HODL (40:51.938) Just to wrap that up, I'm happy for Ross and I'm happy for us. think like this is a big moment in Bitcoin's history. Ross being for it is a big moment.

Erik Cason (41:02.625) Well, and and, you know, I'm on the opposite side. I'm going to hold my breath till it happens. And when it does, I'm, you know, that'll bring you back in the fold from like crazy crypto anarchist land. Like I'm, might like move into like far right political activism or some shit. but it's really important to get that, like, we're an actual political force now. And like, I really hope that we're going to start behaving like it and that there's going to be like a real actual Bitcoin contingency because like,

HODL (41:09.698) Just fair.

Erik Cason (41:30.175) I actually think in the next four years, there's a real fucking shot of ending the Fed. And like, I don't think anybody inside the federal government will do it, but I do legitimately believe that like, if we got 35 states to push through their state legislature legislation to like end the Fed, that that shit would get amended to the constitution. And like the federal government would have to like flip the fuck out and figure out how to do that.

And I think it's really important because like the federal government is so out of fucking control at this point in time. We really need to start figuring out new and different methodologies to change how that can happen. So I'm just excited to see all the change that's happening and also like fucking 100K is like in play now. So it's to be really exciting when we get there. I haven't heard from Valis in like a year. Well, I've privately heard him from before, but like I hope his 100K party is still going to happen somewhere.

HODL (42:12.6) dude, 100k by Thanksgiving.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (42:21.727) Yeah, we're whether I mean I don't like to you know talk about price too much on this show because I'm not an open-mouthed YouTube shill But that being said caveat, you know, it is like above 70 say we're like 76 200 right now that's just like kind of a trip, you know, and I would I agree with you that like As I was watching the price last night again, I like I've been on the river these last like four days. I have like checked

Twitter a couple of times then I was like, nah, that's not really of interest to me. Like I'm out in fucking nature catching fish hanging out with like my dad. Like that's what I want to, this is what I want to be doing right at this moment. And, then I got back and of course I was like, yes, you know, like bring it in. And then, you know, stayed up until 2 AM watching MSNBC as one does, but like you could, you could feel something was happening and I think you can feel something is happening now. And I just wonder like,

HODL (43:00.93) Yeah.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (43:17.916) does Bitcoin like because I would say that Bitcoin is it is inherently partisan or excuse me it is inherently political it is not partisan right it is like money is always going to be political we're talking about separating fucking money in state of course that is going to be political it is not inherently partisan it is only partisan if partisans make it partisan and that's not to say the people that are pro Bitcoin are the partisans who are making it partisan it's the ones on the other side who are reactionary to it right

HODL (43:25.804) Yes.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (43:46.343) So I'm just interested to see like, I mean, fuck like there, it's a, it's a red fucking wave. Like Trump blew out the popular vote. He's got the mandate, right? He obviously won the electoral college. You've got a Republican majority in the house and the Senate by all rights. have no excuse not to do everything they claim they want to do. Right? Like they have, there's no excuse.

HODL (44:04.704) interest rate. 100%. By the way, by the way, the Democrats going after us and brought and broader crypto markets was such in retrospect, such a massive unforced error on their part. There was no reason to make significant enemies of us. None. And all they did was suffer because of it. Now, like, I don't know how much we affected the election.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (44:21.554) Yes.

HODL (44:32.62) But we affected it some non-trivial amount, okay? And it just, it wasn't something they needed to do and they did it anyway because they were drunk with power. That's why they

Erik Cason (44:43.022) I mean, they did it because like they believe their own retarded bullshit that they like they had literally pumped up their own ass intentionally where they're they're like, this is used for terrorism financing and it's it's so all the bros can get away with tax and like it was all bullshit that they just repeatedly kept convincing themselves like like the fucking Greenpeace nonsense and like the like I feel so bad for the guy that's running that Twitter because like

Like all he does is tweet something and is immediately, like provided all of the evidence of how fucking wrong he is. And like the other thing that's just so shameful is that like these people are supposed to actually like give a fuck about the environment and like, what's more important than making sure that we're actually getting clean hydro power from power plants that were going to be shut down otherwise, you know, like what's more important to people in sub-Saharan Africa who have never had access to

fucking electricity and can't have clean water and now they can. Like it's, it's just so disingenuous. And like, again, I would really hope that, you know, the Democrats would sit down and be like, wow, we like, we really fucked that one up. We should really like reconsider this. But, I very, very strong doubts that that's going to happen. And it's going to be really interesting to see kind of what the co what comes out of it. But yeah, I have a very strong expectation.

that they are going to continue to double down until essentially they fracture the Democrat party into like, there's either gonna be a renewed moderated democratic movement or it's gonna fracture out into like different parties. Either way, it's gonna be fucking entertaining.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (46:26.386) Can I say something controversial guys? am, I am, I am glad Elizabeth Warren was reelected because honestly, I, she was, she was against what John Deaton, right? He was like the, yeah, he lost.

Erik Cason (46:28.546) No.

HODL (46:30.962) Yeah.

Erik Cason (46:36.254) was she?

HODL (46:41.1) Yeah, he lost. Yeah. He had an uphill battle. She's very well funded in her state and Massachusetts is a liberal shithole.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (46:46.202) she is.

Erik Cason (46:47.973) Huh, where'd that money come from? That's really interesting. Huh.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (46:50.723) from but he was funded by crypto lobbyists. But no, the reason I'm happy that Elizabeth Warren won is because I would have missed her. I would have honestly missed reply guying her all the time when she says stupid fucking useless shit like that would have left a little bit of a hole in me. And I don't know how I would have filled it like I need something to butt up against. And like Pocahontas is the best.

HODL (46:55.65) Yeah.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (47:18.52) She's just the best for that. it's like when she talks about price gouging, I see Elizabeth Warren price gouging tweet. And I'm just like, yes, I know what I'm doing today. You know, like, it's nice to have that. And like, I also think to your point, Eric, like, she is going to their and to your point as well, like unforced errors, she's going to continue to fracture the Democratic Party. Because like, like one in fucking seven Americans owns Bitcoin, like owns Bitcoin.

This is according to the study that Troy Cross did. There's probably a margin of error there. But even if it's one in fucking five Americans, that's already a shitload. And we are not even in like number go up mania yet where people are like, I probably need some of that. This is a growing coalition. And to fight against it is just like, first of all, you're fighting against freedom and you're just fighting against people from all walks of life. It's not like these are just the crypto bros or all these, you know, like not every, you know,

Bitcoin bro is as fucking radical as case in over here, you know, and I mean that in honestly the most complimentary way possible just so know, Eric, but like that, like what the fuck are they fighting against? What are they anti your anti freedom? Your anti people being able to make decisions for themselves. But it's like, like it's like my body, my choice, like my fucking money, my choice. Fuck right off. Anyway, I'm so glad I was so glad she was reelected. That's it. That's

Erik Cason (48:25.289) Thank you, I appreciate that.

HODL (48:38.968) 100 % no, I was gonna I was gonna say the same thing you said which is that it's such a it's such a bipartisan like coalition multi racial like pluralistic like I mean Bitcoin is a large tent like the Orange Party is the largest tent we have politically and they did they made a large mistake going after us because you know, first of all, it's like

Erik Cason (48:44.359) back in a minute, gentlemen.

HODL (49:06.604) Are you dumb? You're going after young millennials with money who are multi- like racially diverse? The fuck is- are you stupid? Like what's wrong? It doesn't even make sense. It doesn't even compute. But anyway, listen, there was a referendum on these people last night. I feel confident that this worldview is going to be dealt a hearty blow. And they're gonna realize that, you know, there's a new player in town and it's the crypto lobby and the Bitcoin lobby.

And David Bailey in some non-trivial fashion was responsible for freeing Ross Ulbrich from prison or will be responsible for freeing Ross Ulbrich from prison and for getting Donald Trump elected. He made a significant, you know, mark dent on this election and he's the MVP of Bitcoin in 2024. Like that goes to David Bailey, number one with a bullet. There's no one else that even came close this year. And, you know, I think

It just reminds me, I was talking with David Zell about this last night that you can just do things. You can just do things. Whatever you want to do, you can just do it. Just do it. Elon wanted to affect the election. He just went out and rounded up a bunch of Amish people and drove them to the polls because the Amish can't drive themselves to the polls. He was like, we will drive you to the polls. You hate the government, right? And the Amish were like, fuck yeah. They tried to shut down our raw milk and shit. And Elon was like, yeah, fuck that.

We will drive you there. Let's all go vote. You can just do things. You don't have to wait for anybody. Nothing's decreed. Like, listen, fiat is a fucking disease of the mind. That's what it is. And every currency on earth that's not Bitcoin is fiat. Ethereum is fiat. Solana is fiat. Tether is fiat. They're all fiat, okay? And then obviously all the fiat currencies are fiat. But fiat is not just affecting the monetary supply and material goods like iPhones and shit. No, fiat affects

You. It affects your mind. It affects the way you think. You think that the world is decreed to you from scribes on high. It's not. The world is built by people that get out and build the fucking world. So if you want to do something, just go do it. Get politically active if you want to be politically active. Build a business if you want to build a business. Build a family if you want to build a family. Build an estate if you want to build an estate. Go to Mars if you want to go to Mars. Fucking just go do it. Do what you want to do.

HODL (51:31.916) That is the Bitcoin story. Not by decree. No one tells you to do it. You decree it. You fucking decree it. You go out and do what the fuck you're gonna do in the world. That's what we're doing here in Bitcoin.

Erik Cason (51:52.808) the to elaborate on your point, like, this fucking disease has rotted out 95 % of all of the creative potential of people everywhere. And it's great to see that that 5 % is making the change for the other 90%. Like, what we're seeing being developed in this entire system is fucking phenomenal. And people are not asking for fucking permission anymore. And I really hope between what we're seeing in Bitcoin, and the renewal of this American spirit that like,

Like one of the things I didn't realize last night with that I was so excited about when I started watching the Bitcoin price go up and the markets go up. was like, yeah, like there's this entire economic engine that's sighing with relief now that they're not going to get fucked out of existence by a socialist government that fucking hates them. And that maybe there's real potential to actually create dynamic change. Like I actually, and I think it's really interesting that people like this tariff thing's going to destroy anything. Like fuck that, this tariff thing's going to supercharge the fucking economy.

Like it's gonna turn out that like people that are importing cheap shit from China and they have to pay twice as much, they're gonna go, you know, maybe I'm gonna buy the American made thing where I'm not gonna have to pay twice as much for the same thing, you know? And like that's a really great fucking thing. And I understand all the economic arguments about how tariffs work and otherwise, but like, let's be clear, cheap shit from China that's subsidized by slavery, like it's not good for fucking America. You know what's good for America? Shit made in America that paid American people.

HODL (53:17.067) huh.

Erik Cason (53:18.59) that give American salaries so that they can spend money in America. And like, not to get on the nationalistist thing, but like, the other thing is, like, the world fucking needs Americanism right now. Like shit is fucked up and there needs to be a renewal of this American spirit that pushes out into the world that, you know, is what 1776 was about, which was a global revolution that then swept through Europe because they're like, yo Europeans, look, we just like fucked up the British empire and we...

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (53:30.43) Yes.

Erik Cason (53:47.21) earned our own rights by fighting these assholes. Would you like that? They're like, yeah, this like monarchy shit is bullshit. Let's, let's fucking fight. And I hope that we're going to see a renewal of that same spirit that we're going to fight back against our federal government and their surveillance in the deep state and that we're going to push that shit out numb into Europe and that the Europeans are going to be like, yeah, you know what? turns out getting asked fucked by our government and getting global surveillance through a CBDC is bullshit. Let's fight these motherfuckers. And I would love to see more than anything.

See, a sincere German nationalist movement renew itself instead of them living in their fucking shame about Nazism and like, get that like that shit's over guys and that like Germans, you actually have some like really great shit about your culture that if you guys can protect in a meaningful way, very similar to Americans and still be able to be inclusive with that ideal, like there's something great to be done. But like living in all this shame about like, like.

we're bunch of racist Nazis because we believe German culture is great is the same kind of bullshit that they're trying to tell us about because you believe in America and what America means, it doesn't mean that you're a far right racist. It means that you're a fucking American that believes in the real values and ethics of what it means to be American. So, you know, fuck this fiat bullshit, fuck CBDCs and it's time for us to really start rebuilding in a meaningful and thoughtful way on top of a Bitcoin standard because that's really an American standard.

HODL (55:00.344) Mm-hmm.

HODL (55:12.162) Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah. Fuck No. No. No. No.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (55:12.479) fucking it. Fuck. Yeah, Wait, can we talk about Europeans for a second? Because like, wait, wait, just for one second. Cause have you noticed that the only people more confused about what happened in the U S election than the Democrats are the Europeans. They're like, on. What do you, what do you mean? Don't you understand? He's mean and bad. And how sad is this? These Americans, how did like it's it's mind blowing. And then you're like, God,

HODL (55:24.822) is the Europeans,

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (55:41.149) Like your point Eric like yeah, like I'm like so I feel like sometimes I went through the state like a stage in my life where I was like not I love America I love America because I love the fucking American idea and I love the American people and I love the possibilities that the existence of the American idea Allows for people in this country because it allows people to fucking create and build and do meaningful things but I went through a stage where I was like, you know, this is on my my Bitcoin journey where I'm also like

Well, but the fucking military industrial fucking war machine, the fucking the fucking fiat monetary colonialism that's perpetuated by the IMF and the World Bank, like and the Federal Reserve. This is this is bad. Like and then I got to the point where naturally like five seconds later I was like, yeah, but that's not America. Like that's fucking institutions. That is US government institutions. Those are institutions of theft and destruction and death.

America is a fucking idea and it's the people who hold that idea up and use it as their fucking torch to bring light into darkness and That is what I think people can get behind and I think you should be able to fucking get behind that Like I don't give a fuck what political party you fucking identify with like this week or forever in your entire life like There I don't know if you guys have heard anybody say this before but there is no red. There is no blue There is the state and there is you

Yes, there are meaningful differences in political parties. Obviously, there's a difference between Kamala, like what Kamala's administration would have been and what Trump's will be. But ultimately, we are not a divided people. We are a people who are united around the idea that America is fucking amazing. That idea is fucking amazing. And we are going to be fucking damned if we will let the state usurp that idea for its own fucking death and destruction and theft. And I think

I hope that more people can get around that and realize that look we're all on the fucking same side. There are two sides. It is the people the independent individuals and it is the state. There is no other side like there's no there's no other sides. You can color the horse a different color but like it's still the state granted again. me caveat. There are some differences especially you get down to local governments. There's a lot of difference but like we have so much more not to sound fucking cheesy.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (58:02.634) We have so much more that brings us together than divides us. And what brings us together is the idea that America is fucking special. And if it wasn't for fucking America, Europe would be still have been fucked from those fucking German Nazis, actual Nazis. Like we have literally pulled Europe's own head out of its ass so many times. And yet they still look at us like, well, these, you know, uncouth barbarians. It's like, you know, fucking right. We're uncouth and we're fucking barbarians. And there's a reason that you called us.

when you fucking got your panties in a twist and started murdering tr- like millions of people because you couldn't handle it on your fucking own, you pansies. Like, I love- for any Europeans listening, I fucking love you because you're listening to this and you obviously have a set of balls or maybe not balls, you know, you may be a lady European, but like, America is uniquely positioned to drive massive change in the world because of the American idea. That is what I would say.

HODL (58:58.392) The American, by the way, the thing that's beautiful about America, the American ideal, what is it, right? Like people might not know, especially if you're from Europe, the American ideal is I am the king of my own castle. I am, I am the captain of myself. Okay. I do not have to do anything that you want me to do. I am in charge of me. And if what I'm doing doesn't harm anyone, I should be completely allowed. And I'm well within every right, my God given rights to continue doing that thing.

That is a new idea in the world. It's a baby idea. It's only 250 some odd years old and not quite 250 yet. It's only about 250 years old. And we have to protect that idea because that's the most important idea in the history of the world thus far. And every time I see Americans exercise it and say, a second. Sometimes Americans get caught up in this thing where they're listening to people they shouldn't be listening to.

You know, they're to the television, Rachel Maddow or whoever, Joy Reid, Whoopi Goldberg. And then they go, wait a second, why? They just wake up and they go, why have I been listening to this bitch? What the fuck am I doing listening to this person? I'm just gonna do whatever the fuck I want. No! I'm doing what I want!

Erik Cason (01:00:18.705) Well, Hoddle's out now because he did what he wanted. Look, these are really important.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:00:23.144) Wait, is your computer okay?

HODL (01:00:24.984) I didn't mean to hit the computer, but it's okay, it's fine.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:00:28.072) I thought that was for dramatic effect.

Erik Cason (01:00:28.409) The, the, yeah, it was good. These are really important ideals and like, you know, to, reemphasize everything that you said, Walker, like it took me a long time on my own journey as an anarchist. So like, like I'm an, I'm an anarchist and I'm American. Like I fundamentally believe that Americans on a whole, like we have all of the same value sets. Like nobody wants to hurt other people. Nobody wants to be hurt. People want to respect each other's right to private property. People want to see innovative and creative solutions and

and like let people be freaky and do what they are. And so like, I see reactions on both sides. It's like, look, like if you want to be your gay transgender lizard or like whatever the fuck you want to identify as, like that's fucking great. Good for you. Like do not come into the fucking schools and try to teach kids that shit. Like I'm uninterested in that. In fact, like why the fuck are we doing this school thing? Like if you look at the fucking department of education, you know what every single standard has been measured to do each year?

It goes fucking down. That's what it does. It teaches kids to be fucking stupid little robots that can't think for themselves. Like it, I find it deeply disturbing when I, when my son has friends that are in public school come over and like how fucking remedial they are and how much they, don't, there's a certain creativity that they really lack that I find fucking disturbing, you know? And also on the same side, like just cause people want to be weirdos and freaks don't mean that we have to hate on them and remove their right to be fucking weirdos and freaks. It's just like, don't.

In the same way that like, I'm not going to put my shit in your face. Don't put your shit in my face and don't try to use public institutions to do that. There's no fucking need. Same thing. Like I have no fucking interest in deporting people from this country just because they disagree with me on different principles. Like we need to learn to live in fucking peace and have a radical modernism between us because without that, they're like that. That's what America is all about is about being able to figure out.

How do we live with these ideals that allow for us all to flourish despite how different we are? know, like Europeans like take a fucking cue from us. Like, you know, like we, we figured out how to make this shit work. You guys are trying to model the same thing, but to be very clear, like what you guys are doing with the European Central Bank and the EU and shit, like this is not going to end well for you guys. And so I really encourage

Erik Cason (01:02:47.665) And like I've noticed this more coming from German specifically like you guys need to redouble in your own nationalism and so far of that like you guys are actual independent countries and you need to stop letting this fucked up institution that got created by a bunch of bureaucrats that told you that everything was gonna get better with it. You know like I have an uncle that's lived in Berlin since the 1970s and he knows the conversion of when they went from the mark to the euro fucked everybody over super hard and that's how it is kind of universally.

You guys should really consider taking back national sovereignty, destroying the European Central Bank, and probably, you know, the fact that the thing is ran by an actual fucking financial criminal who has been found guilty of financial crimes, that's pretty fucking ridiculous. And it's pretty ridiculous that you guys tolerate this bullshit being shoved down your throat from Brussels, so...

I really hope that you guys are gonna light shit on fire, cause like, when you guys commit yourself to burning shit down and like throwing shit at people and other stuff, you guys are really good at it. Like, into that. Like keep doing more of that. Like stop, stop with this other fucking nonsense. Cause you know, you guys are gonna get something pretty nasty out of it if you guys keep tolerating this bullshit.

HODL (01:04:03.836) You know what I think the difference between the European mind and the American mind is is that in Europe for you know, thousands of years, if you talk back to the nobility, they could kill you with impunity, right? And in America, one day we took a look at the nobility and we were like, fuck you. We just killed everybody, bro. You know, and so that's different starting points, you know, inception.

Erik Cason (01:04:24.048) Yup, fun f-

Erik Cason (01:04:27.868) Fun fact is that there is an actual amendment to the United States Constitution that is still active to be ratified by states that if you are given a title of nobility in America, you will be stripped of all political rights and positions. think it was the, because there's like three outstanding articles that could be ratified by states, like aren't, like another is about like child labor. The other one's article the first, which.

HODL (01:04:49.706) Yeah.

Erik Cason (01:04:53.424) I've had another great radical plan of like forcing state legislatures to ratify article the first to be, and it's called that because it was the first article to ever be that passed through the congressional approval process. And it went to the States to get approved, but it was never approved. And what article the first stipulates is that no representative of the federal government shall ever represent any more than 50,000 people at a time. And to be clear, if that passed today, that would mean that the House of Representatives would be like,

7,000 people or some shit like that. So that would be really fun if we like got states to pass it just to fuck up the federal government. Cause this is my big thing that I want not only for Americans, but for Europeans and all people everywhere is that like, I believe very, very strongly it is about states, provinces and counties against their unified federal government. Like if you look at what's going on in Spain right now, after the crisis that happened in Valencia and how much the federal government is absolutely fucking those people over.

This is where the real war is at. So I'd like to see more radicalism of states' rights against federal governments across the board. And I think that would really help solve a lot of problems.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:06:02.717) Eric, you mentioned something earlier about, like, just speaking of states' rights, that if, what was it, 35 states were to basically resolve internally, like, as independent states, that we should end the Fed, that the federal government would basically need to scramble. Can you elaborate on that a little bit more for those of us who are less constitutionally literate?

Erik Cason (01:06:20.71) Yeah, so this is all a hypothetical way to be able to ratify the United States Constitution directly using state legislatures only. Nothing has to go through the federal government and it is not supposed to have any oversight. This has never happened in American history because every single time that this method has been used to amend the Constitution, when it's gotten within two or three states,

The federal government has essentially flipped the fuck out and Congress has passed that amendment to the United States with the same language directly so that this was all circumnavigated. There was a Supreme Court decision in 1908 that essentially said if states tried to do this, we wouldn't recognize it. But like this is all about creating constitutional crisis because the 10th Amendment is very explicit and that any powers that are not enumerated to the federal government directly in the Constitution are reserved for states alone. So.

The whole idea would be essentially be go state by state, get the exact same language passed saying that we are calling on an Article 5 convention to amend the United States Constitution to end the Federal Reserve and that the federal government shall have no oversight whatsoever around the issuance of a currency. And in theory, it could pass. For me, the big goal is to get it past 33 states or something.

federal government's gonna freak out. You're probably gonna have the judicial branch being like, no, this is illegitimate. There's no way to amend the constitution without the federal government. We're gonna be like, Texas, what do you think about that? They're trying to say that the sovereignty of your state and what you guys decide isn't okay. Is that something you agree with? How do you feel about that, Nevada, Wyoming? Is this okay with you guys?

Cause for me, the big crisis that happened in America, which is where fiat money started in America was during the civil war. And as much as everybody likes to suck Abraham Lincoln's dick and celebrate him as being a really great guy, good job with like ending slavery, but like you like really fucked up a lot of other stuff with what you did in that. Not to mention that like explicitly creating an amendment to the United States constitution that says that other people can't have slaves, but the

Erik Cason (01:08:28.913) the state itself can have slaves is pretty fucked up. So with that, I really encourage everybody look into the Article 5 ratification process. I really have a boner for the idea using this to like fuck up the federal government across the board. Because to me, this is actually about a radical evolution of the political process that like I think federal politics is fundamentally broken. And if there's a way to lateralize a national movement that uses

only states and state legislatures to start amending the Constitution, or even calling for an Article 5 convention to rewrite the Constitution on a whole, which is also specifically reserved by Article 5 in the U.S. Constitution, there's actually an opportunity for us to roll back radical federal power, destroy the deep state, and renew the American dream throughout the globe by essentially creating the American dream with the federal government and the deep state stripped from it. So that's kind of my insane idea.

you know, let's have a couple lawyers and legal scholars come in here and tell me how I'm fucking insane or wrong or maybe even right, but as far as I know, this is an actual thing that could happen. It's just been kind of buried in history for a long time.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:09:41.32) HODL your thoughts.

HODL (01:09:43.512) I listen, I'm an Article 5 maxi as well. Eric has explained it to me multiple times. just, you know, I think like in practical terms, I just I just don't think we're gonna be able to do that. Yeah, it'd be cool. It'd be cool if it happened. You know, I would be for it.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:10:00.4) Let's let's talk about some practical terms then because okay I want to want to get your guys take on this whole Bitcoin strategic reserve thing Senator okay, so you we remember at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville Trump gave what I think was honestly incredible stand-up performance like that dudes a dude he riffs like he's he's Like you cannot argue with the fact that the dude can fucking what does he call? He calls it the weave right? You know like he riffs. It's impressive. It's just

HODL (01:10:20.344) It was funny. Yeah.

HODL (01:10:25.91) leave.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:10:28.702) very like nice routine. yeah. Yeah. Go save the delivery man. But, and he talked kind of like, we're going to keep the Bitcoin that we have, you know, we're not going to sell any of it. He didn't like explicitly say we are going to start, you know, printing fiat to acquire Bitcoin. He said he would protect the industry though. He said a lot of positive things. Then as everybody is leaving the stage, like after he finished, Lummis comes up and is like, I have a fucking bill right here. Like

Erik Cason (01:10:29.088) My dogs are attacking the delivery man, so I gotta stop them.

HODL (01:10:31.416) Nope.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:10:57.703) I have a bill for the US to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and like I felt bad because like again like people are like yelling like everyone's leaving the thing like and I'm sitting there like she just like this is fucking actually actually news that lumos is like I've got a fucking bill for this she's been on top of it since then Do what do you think is the most likely scenario that's gonna play out as far as the establishment of a strategic reserve? Is this something that like Trump is gonna be all for?

HODL (01:11:05.442) Yeah.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:11:24.455) Like once he gets a little more knowledge of it, where do you think we're going with this?

HODL (01:11:27.348) So the way that Trump said it on stage initially is is wrong and can't happen. So the Bitcoin that have been seized, you know by whomever, whichever government authority sees them, then there are multiple government authorities that have seized them over time. They belong to somebody they have owners, right? So like most recently the Bitfinex hack there was four billion dollars worth of Bitcoin or something that was seized by the US government, but that Bitcoin all belongs to

people and it has to go back to them. So you can't use it for your national strategic stockpile. But in general, I think the idea of a national strategic stockpile is something that is going to happen one way or another. I think it's inevitable. Whether it goes on the central bank's balance sheet or whether it's put into the hands of the executive branch, I'm not sure. But America is going to acquire a large swath of Bitcoin at some point.

I think there's a the most interesting thing about it is the prisoners dilemma of the nation state level game theory around who goes first So if you go first, you're the most advantaged, right? But for some reason I don't think this is widely known and so nobody's gone first yet or maybe it's because we don't have Younger people who understand these things or have game this out Is Trump's administration administration where we we can do those things I think

Maybe I mean, JD Vance is a Bitcoin or Vivek is a Bitcoin or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a Bitcoin or Tulsi Gabbard is a Bitcoin or Elon Musk is a Bitcoin or Trump owns a little bit of Bitcoin. He's dabbled in some crypto bullshit. He has his own shit coin. So yeah, I mean, there is a potential that it could happen this time around. I think the most important or the most interesting thing to me is the game theory between other nation states. And then the thing I was going to mention is in some

To some degree, I think the Bitcoin that's in the public markets is a honeypot for the US government. So MSTR is a honeypot for the US government. The ETFs are the public companies that have Bitcoin on treasury like Tesla. So those things are things that can be nationalized in a moment's notice if needed. But we're not on a Bitcoin standard. So the government doesn't need to seize your Bitcoin yet. If fiat starts to collapse, they may need to seize your Bitcoin.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:13:33.256) Mm.

HODL (01:13:56.273) They may seize your b- They'll never need to do it. I mean, they just will do it, right? And so, yeah, I think that's- Those are my high-level thoughts around everything, though.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:14:04.595) Do you, I assume when you talk about a first mover advantage, you're discounting El Salvador in this particular instance because they do not print their own currency, because they are dollarized. Yeah.

HODL (01:14:12.756) It's too small. Well, it's also too small. It's just too small. El Salvador is a very poor country. They're doing listen, they're doing great. They're on the upswing, but they're not a player in the world. They don't mean anything like I mean, El Salvador is a tiny nothing country with no resources like I love what's going on down there. You're always probably they're very small. If you looked at them on the map, it's like this big. It's yeah, it's Russia, China, America.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:14:28.105) For now, for now, for now, let's let's let, yeah.

HODL (01:14:41.238) France, Germany, those are the countries that one of them needs to go first. G7.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:14:45.897) Do you so I mean like Russia has been shifting some of its stances around Bitcoin mining and Bitcoin more generally recently. mean do you think that like that is like we're going to see a lot more of that because Russia was for a while very like no we're you know not a fan of this. mean you know it's not the not the freest country in the world let's say and so freedom money tends to be a little bit.

It's like oil and water, like they don't mix well, right? But clearly they're realizing the geopolitical significance of Bitcoin, which is still sitting at like, I mean, I don't know what the market cap is right now after we're over, we're pamping, but like, we're not over 2 trillion yet. We're at like what, below a trillion and a half, like 1.5, which is fucking nothing. Like in the grand scheme of things, like we are still fucking early.

Erik Cason (01:15:31.04) point five.

HODL (01:15:37.74) Yep. Smaller than Apple Computer.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:15:42.303) Yeah, Bitcoin did just pass meta though, right? I think like today like I believe so, but I don't know like

HODL (01:15:47.308) Probably.

Erik Cason (01:15:52.717) That piece of shit company is worth one and a half tru- Like what the fuck is wrong with this world? I'm sorry, like that- that is upsetting that so many fucking morons are on that goddamn surveillance platform giving away their information towards somebody that fucking hates them.

HODL (01:16:02.38) It's.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:16:06.473) to, it's just,

HODL (01:16:08.214) Instagram is very popular with the hoes Eric very popular

Erik Cason (01:16:11.434) I know. Bitches just be scrolling.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:16:12.551) And Facebook's very popular with the boomers. Like I think boomers are the only ones left on Facebook. I'm honestly convinced, which is hilarious because the boomers were the same ones being like this, this, these Facebook's are going to melt your brains. And now they're like, you know, like this picture of Donald Trump and Jesus is incredible. Like when did they take this? This is amazing. Like, don't think boomer boomers have really bad AI detection skills. Also, that's a slight digression, but it leaves them very vulnerable to manipulation. I think

HODL (01:16:24.342) It's, yeah.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:16:40.456) It's also kind of cute and endearing. God bless you, you bought your house for two raspberries and now you're a multimillionaire.

Erik Cason (01:16:47.724) look like in all honesty, like I see the next decade is like there's gonna be this really it's funny because I remember I was at Burning Man. I'd taken a bunch of acid and I was talking to a younger friend about this and I like went on this crazy diatribe. was like, yeah, in 30 years, we're gonna have like a youth fascist movement that's just gonna be all about like fucking stripping the boomers of their property and like sending them off to the prison camps for liquidation just because people are gonna be so fucking angry at the way that they feel like they were robbed and stolen from. So like

I don't know. It's very similar to that Junseth podcast where he talked to that young scammer where he was pretty indifferent to the way he was ripping people off. honestly, young people have a pretty good point. Yeah, if an AI boomer can't tell the difference between Donald Trump and an AI bot, and you can rip him off doing that, why shouldn't you? Yeah, he made his millions of dollars from watching his house inflate.

HODL (01:17:21.57) of these cameras.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:17:23.049) was amazing.

Erik Cason (01:17:46.102) you know, because of how fucked up the monetary system is. So why shouldn't you just engage in outright graft? I'm not saying that that's right in any meaningful way. Like it's an honest and open-ended question that frankly, I've really struggled with, like meaningfully answering to them. Cause like, yeah, this system has absolutely fucked you and robbed you. And there is no meaningful way that you are going to crawl out of the hole that you've been forced to live in. So like, I don't, I don't know what you can really do to try to protect yourself other than get yourself on a Bitcoin standard.

HODL (01:18:15.108) you? Do you that's Do you think that's true, though? Because like, didn't you feel that way when you were 1819? Because I did, I felt like the boomers had pulled up the ladder. They got rich selling houses back and forth to each other. We were never going to be able to do the same thing, etc, etc. And then God was just like, boom, here's, here's digital coins, bitch. And I was like, fuck. This is amazing. I'm richer than these guys could have ever dreamed. Yeah.

Erik Cason (01:18:15.414) But you probably shouldn't be robbing people, because that's fucked up.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:18:18.344) Yeah

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:18:38.045) you

You

HODL (01:18:43.158) So I mean, think there's always something on the horizon.

Erik Cason (01:18:43.567) I mean, for me personally, for me personally, yeah, but like, I, and like, this is one of the things I always struggle with is that like, we're in an extremely unique position, you know, across, like, that's one of the reasons I didn't just like take the money and run is that like, feel a real obligation towards speaking to the very real power that this has to like, write the economy in a meaningful way again. And with that being said, like,

If I was 20 years old looking at the economy right now, like I would very sincerely be trying to build a career as probably both a drug dealer and a scammer just because I look at the world and be like, why the fuck should I participate in any of this goddamn non- like you want me to fork out $400,000 to get a fucking bachelor's degree while you got that shit for free? Like why the fuck shouldn't I just set fire to everything and watch it burn because

What do I have to win in this system? Like, like I can work for 30 fucking years so I can get a down payment on a home that then I'll spend the next 30 fucking years trying to pay off scraping by. Like, I think shit is really, really fucked up. And I think the only reason that kids aren't outraged is because they're so dopamine addicted to the scrolling that they can't even pull their head far enough out of the phone to stop and look around and go, gee, shit's really fucking bad. But that terrifies them. So they look back at the phone and keep scrolling.

so I think shit's kind of sad right now, but, you know, like I, I hope I'm wrong and that it's not actually that dark out there, but from the, from the young people that I speak to, like, there isn't a rage about it. There's like a very real defeat that like they have been beaten down into a cage that like, they're just doing their best to figure out how to be in. So, while I do agree that I did feel that way when I was younger, like I very sincerely feel like I just like found the fucking glitch in the system.

And I remember like picking it up and being like, there's no fucking way that like magic internet money is going to become the global standard of the future and like make a difference in the 2024 presidential election. And the funniest thing is, that like, there was no political conversation about Bitcoin in my opinion, up until about 2016. Like there were, there was no conceivable difference. know, like crypto didn't even exist on a whole. There was a bunch of shit coin copies, like Litecoin and Feathercoin and shit.

Erik Cason (01:21:07.812) But it was only with the premiere of Ethereum that Bitcoiners were like, hang on, like, we're trying to like make a kind of money that you can't fuck with. And they're like, yeah, like I thought, I thought this was the whole thing that we could just like make up Clowncoin and like make a bunch of money. And I was like, I think we have like different ethics here. And they're like, huh. So like, you don't want any Clowncoin? And I was like, no.

Good luck with that though.

HODL (01:21:32.28) No, mean, you know, I think that, okay, so one thing is, did you see the scammers who got caught for 250 million? They hit up a Genesis creditor for 250 million. Did you see that story?

Erik Cason (01:21:44.022) yeah, yeah. Wasn't this a while ago that they just, you it was like, he had like fucking, like two FAA, like through texts or some shit and they just, just, yeah.

HODL (01:21:52.438) Yeah, they posed as I think they pose as Genesis or so I can't remember how the scam worked. But anyway, like they got $250 million in Bitcoin off of this guy. And it wasn't that long ago. was like six months ago or something. And then what did they do? They went out to the clubs in Miami and LA and they started buying OnlyFans girls Birkin bags and Lamborghinis and whatever. And my favorite text message from the thread is by the way, and then the FBI caught them two months later because

Everybody who's ever seen Goodfellas knows you don't go out and buy a fucking pink Cadillac day one. Are you fucking retarded? Robert De Niro is gonna whack you, okay? Or they don't watch it? Yeah, it's like, the kid literally bought a pink, he bought a pink Lambo for a girl. That is in Goodfellas, the guy does that and then he gets whacked.

Erik Cason (01:22:29.509) Kids don't watch oldies anymore.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:22:31.567) No, the answers are all there. They gave you the answers.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:22:41.425) Also, like she's not going to bang you either way, bro. Like, you know, seriously,

HODL (01:22:43.704) Well, that's the point. That's the point I'm getting to. So there's a text message from the girl and he goes, hey, what's up? I bought you a fucking pink Lambo Urus. You want it? Let's be friends, whatever. And she's like, lol, I have a boyfriend. Sorry. And it's like, dude, you are going to get ass raped in federal prison for the next 10 years.

Erik Cason (01:22:44.377) Yeah, that's like the most beta fucking move you can make.

HODL (01:23:09.568) and you couldn't even get the girl to sleep with you after you bought her a fucking Lamborghini. You know why? It's because when you earn money that way, girls know. They know that you're a fucking loser. They can feel it. They can sense it. Right? And so like she didn't want to have anything to do with you. So it's like, what did you get out of the score, bro? You went to Rodeo Drive and wore some gay Louis Vuitton shit for a little bit and we're in the nightclub fucking sipping on fucking...

awesome, Migo, fucking Don Hoolit, whatever the fuck, like what the f- that's nothing. You threw away your life for nothing, bro. Come on.

Erik Cason (01:23:41.263) Yeah, not to digress, but like if you want to like get rich and make a bunch of money to like get all the hot bitches, like I got news for you. Like it's not gonna work in any meaningful way. And like, you're actually gonna find yourself in like a super bitch beta position where you're gonna be like, huh, like I just like drove this girl in my Porsche over to this guy's house that she's like, that isn't my boyfriend. So.

HODL (01:24:06.808) It's just her trainer dude, it's just her trainer dude. He's the only guy who can work her glutes right bro, it's a thing.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:24:09.639) It's just Pilates instructor. It's cool, man.

Erik Cason (01:24:12.716) Yeah.

I'm going to, you know, she needs me to pick her up in a half hour. So I'm just, I'm going to hang out at this coffee shop just cause I wonder why she's doing only a half hour of Pilate though. That's kind of weird.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:24:24.735) That's strange. Doesn't seem like enough to get a good burn.

HODL (01:24:25.836) was like a... No, dude, it's more intense sweat, dude. If you do it that way, it's what...

Erik Cason (01:24:31.644) Well, and look, the... This is all part of the general nihilism that's playing out, because like when you get that money, when you get money that easily, that quickly through doing dumb shit like scamming, like you're not going to like stop and be like, whoa, like I finally got the lotto ticket to get out of here. Like I'm going to buy a couple of laundry mats and maybe like, you know, like a driving range and a couple other places that can really generate some cashflow for me.

No, you're gonna do like a bunch of retarded shit like that and you're gonna blow the money. like, this is one of the things I love the most about Bitcoin. It's like, Bitcoin doesn't solve cashflow problems or if like you don't have any meaningful like model that you're operating from the world from. if you can't save money, like you will not have any fucking Bitcoin. But like, if you're somebody who's like thoughtful and saving money and you have like a 401k and you've like played their game and gotten fucked by that, like.

Bitcoin's going to be hugely helpful for you because like now you're actually going to have a like savings that like does the thing it's supposed to do. So good on you. And also like, I'm sorry for all the younger kids that are getting fucked by this system that hates them. Like you really should be on only a Bitcoin standard. And if you're not, like I, I would love to hear your solution on why we're fucking dumb and you have the solution. Cause as far as I can tell.

You're gonna work at a Starbucks for the next 30 years and live in your mom's basement and like maybe, maybe if you want a family, you'll have like a chihuahua or something like, look, I got two dogs right now. Like these motherfuckers eat like nobody's business. So like get a really small dog that like you, you like don't need to like feed a lot of food to.

HODL (01:26:08.075) Dude, you know what though, it's all mentality, truly. It's like, people don't, when you talk about like having children and caring about yourself for the future and you know, making money and how making money is a good thing, younger people are just straight up confused, right? And to us, that's like, that's the default that we grew up in. Those are our values. And yeah, but younger people are like, what? Is this some sort of like, trad, like trad?

Chad movement thing, dude. And you're like, what? This is called being a normal person, retard. What are you talking about? And it's because it's so like they haven't heard it. They've been being dude, if you go to public school, you have been being lectured by cat ladies eight hours a day for a fucking 15 years. OK, like and they have like fucking unicorn fairy tattoos on them and stuff. And they're like, Donald Trump is a racist. That's what you've been dealing with.

Erik Cason (01:26:46.577) You can't say that word anymore.

HODL (01:27:06.432) Okay, so you come out of that and then Andrew Tate's like, if you want to be a fucking man, you gotta have a fucking Bugatti. And then you go, fuck, this is fucking speaking to me, dude. Right? Like, when we were young, that was just like common sense. It was like, yeah, sports cars and hot chicks. Like that's what we like, bro. Like, you know.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:27:26.162) Nobody needs to tell you that dude. Like, yeah.

Erik Cason (01:27:26.46) I feel...

I feel really fucking bad for younger people. Like particularly like if you're like a young guy going through puberty and like you want to like go talk to this girl, but you're all nervous because you've watched all this like cancel culture shit. Like now you're too terrified to ever go talk to her. And now like you haven't talked to any girls in your whole life and you want to, but you can't. So like you feel like total fucking wiener. And then like somebody was like, well, if you feel like a wiener and like being a man's really hard, like maybe you're a woman and they're like, maybe I am a woman. And like,

It's something, it's fucked up. It's really wrong. And like a lot of times these poor kids just need somebody to be like, yeah, like you need to go talk to the woman. She could possibly like get really upset and sue you or some shit, but chances are she's just going to think you're kind of weird and you'll feel uncomfortable and walk away, you know, being blown out and like, that's okay. That that's part of life. It's okay when a woman rejects you. doesn't define you as a human being.

HODL (01:28:17.56) I'm not supposed to say this but if you're a teenage boy Go and get a little drunk and do donuts in a parking lot. Okay. I'm not supposed to say that you probably shouldn't do it, but you know You should probably do it. Yeah, like in an empty parking lot empty. Don't go on the road. Just Donuts you can do it in don't do

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:28:31.498) Great advice. It's terrible advice, but it's great advice.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:28:41.608) And honestly, you live in the mid-west, like wait until, like you've got a little bit of snow there, wait until it's a little bit slick, it's much safer to do the donuts when your wheels are actually sliding versus you're like burning rubber. So that, we're tempering the donut device with some good Midwestern, you know, logical advice there. You know, I think, and Hodel, know you've got a hard stop coming up soon. I think we may need to do an entire other...

HODL (01:28:57.653) Absolutely.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:29:08.702) show about the fact that you know who hates homeschooling and who has had homeschooling illegal for a long time. Germany. Thank you. It's it's I appreciate you knew where I was going with that. And you know who implemented that. It was the fucking Nazis. Why did they implement the fact that you can't it is illegal for you to homeschool your kids for you to raise and instruct your kids at home.

HODL (01:29:18.754) Germany, right?

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:29:34.868) because they wanted to fucking control the narrative and control your kids and indoctrinate them and make them good little fucking Hitler's youth Nazis. And then we can go back a little bit further to the Prussian system of education, which is like what kind of was the genesis of the Nazi system, which is we want to create great little worker bees and great little soldiers. And the only way we can do that is if we have control of them from the first time they're able to fucking formulate a word.

Until they are of a you an age where it's appropriate to send them off to fucking work until they die or fight until they die I digress a little bit but the point is that if you don't like homeschooling you're a nazi And I mean that literally not like the everyone's a nazi thing like you're literally agreeing with what the nazis wanted So congratulations. You're a literal nazi not a figurative nazi That's

I just wanted to get that off my chest a little bit guys as a homeschooled guy myself who then went to public school because my parents Said it's your fucking decision do what you want to do. They didn't swear at me at that time They just said it's your decision, but I added the fucking but That was a fucking trip getting into public school and realizing I thought I was gonna be real stupid That was like my big worry where I was like mom and dad I think I should go to public school like what if I'm not as smart as the other kids They're always all my friends that I play sports with they're always doing homework and all this extra work like they've to be way ahead of me

They're like, okay, that's your decision. You can decide to do that. But like you've got a you know, like it's your it's your choice So anything that comes with it's your you know your responsibility, okay? And then I got to school and I was like, my god, everybody is fucking stupid. shit They are catering to the lowest common denominator. And this is a fucking joke I dig and I'm not even like that smart like I was smart enough to be a valedictorian and like kind of a bumblefucky town but that's like, you know, like you're the

skinniest kid at fat camp. You know what I mean? Like it's like, okay, like nice, nice job, but like you're still fat. Like, Hey, Hey, you guys are, you know,

Erik Cason (01:31:31.689) There are all these kids from her high school listening right now, and I'm like, hey, I'm not that dumb.

HODL (01:31:35.316) Hey, I often walk here. I often walk in my glue and he sniffed it. I thought we were friends.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:31:42.305) I knew some fucking great fucking people and there were also some great fucking teachers in there who actually were like fuck this administrative bullshit. I'm just going to actually teach these kids. They were also the teachers always getting in trouble with the administration for like you're not following the curriculum. know like but and like I fucking love the small town that I grew up in because there are fucking great people there. The point is that the public school system did no one any favors. And you know what you just don't fucking need it man. You should do like

An hour or two of school a day and you'll be fucking good. That's all I did And then I went and started fires like not pyro fires But like I like to start controlled fires who doesn't you know what I mean? That's part of it And if you're a young guy listening to this and you've never just gone and started a fire fucking a go and start a fire because No, self-respecting woman will marry you unless you can start a fire like and I'm just telling you Yeah

Erik Cason (01:32:31.926) Yeah, do it on metal trash can though, or like somewhere that you're not gonna start forest fire. know, like Smokey the Bear had a point.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:32:37.258) Well, yeah, don't do yet again not pyromaniac fires start controlled fires Learn how to control them and be a responsible member of society who knows how to make flame like fucking hey That's the only reason that we started drinking bone marrow that was actually cooked and had our brains grow and you want to spit on that I don't think so I've digressed a little bit but it felt like I needed to digress a little bit to get us off track enough for hodl for me to allow you to make a graceful exit here How much more time you got you got time for one last?

HODL (01:33:05.928) got, yeah, I got like five more minutes. I can do five more minutes.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:33:06.81) thought Okay, okay, so Okay, it first. I just want to say thank you to everybody who tuned in on this Noster only live stream fuck YouTube fuck live stream on Twitter fuck wherever else you can live stream like twitch I've never used it, but I hear the kids do all these sats that you guys have sent which is almost 50,000 sats which is awesome I'm gonna send them all to open sats and provide receipts. So thank you guys for doing that We're gonna fund some open source development while shitting on ridiculous people

Erik Cason (01:33:10.21) diatribe.

HODL (01:33:34.072) Yeah.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:33:36.352) Closing thoughts, gentlemen. Hodel, you want to kick us off?

HODL (01:33:40.888) Yeah, let me think about this here for a second. What are my closing thoughts? I think...

in general, you gotta just keep living, man. No, I got nothing.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:33:57.792) Yeah, you don't have to have that. You already dropped so much wisdom. Well, Eric, what about you? What do want to leave people with?

HODL (01:34:04.561) Come back to me. Do Eric first, then come back.

Erik Cason (01:34:10.474) Look, Trump getting elected was like a the whole market was like waiting to see whether or not we're going to go into like socialism hell or if there's going to be an opportunity for something meaningful to happen. Now something meaningful is going to happen and Bitcoin is going to rip super fucking hard in the next six months. And so like if you've been like, I've been like, stacking a little here and there, but I got my 401k like you don't have enough fucking coin. You're going to want more coin later and you should stack harder. So you should really consider about like

Put, you know, like stop messing around, like fucking shove it in, like, like put the whole thing in and enjoy what it means and be like, fucking go for it. In addition to, you know, you should really think for yourself, you know, like no, nobody actually has all of the right fucking answers. And if you actually spend some time and energy thinking hard about what your values are and what you want for the world and for yourself, you're probably going to come to some great conclusions. you know,

So I really hope that more of you are going to fly your freak freak flags and like do your own thing. Walker, you're a great example. You're just doing the Bitcoin podcast to swipe the fact that Bitcoin podcasts were saturated as fuck. You were just like, you know what? I'm going to try my own fucking thing. Turns out people like you and like listen to you. So even if it seems in other people are like, hey, this is saturated. There's too many people like go do you and what you're supposed to like, that's what the world wants. That's where you're to find your power and that's where you're going to make the most money. Don't wait for somebody to be like,

You need to call a degree in to suck five dicks at this law firm to get a job to practice law. find, like, find the fucking hack. Figure out the way that you can actually go do the thing that you want to do. What is the world wants for you and other people want for you? The system does not fucking want for you. Like realize that right now, you're going to be way fucking ahead for yourself. So.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:35:36.02) You

Erik Cason (01:35:53.28) I hope to see all of you young entrepreneurs with the production of all of the great and wonderful things that you will be accepting only on a Bitcoin standard because you're smart enough that you don't want to get fucked holding a bunch of fiat that's going to go to zero. That's the end of what I have to

HODL (01:36:06.496) I am. I actually do have something to say I was I was thinking about this. I think going into the bull market, an important message for people that they need to be aware of is that, yes, you should go hard. know, there's that clip of me on Walker show saying stack your fucking ass off and all that. And like, yes, you should go hard. You should you should be here. You should be fully committed to this and you should be, you know, investing a significant portion of what you have available. All true.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:36:06.728) A fucking

HODL (01:36:34.648) but you know in bull markets people take leverage and Leverage is something that people mistakenly think is a time machine to being an og And it's not and you know, we've seen a lot of people get wrecked So if you are gonna take leverage be extremely careful it's it's one of those things that like if you warn enough people about doing it the people that

you know, ignore all the warnings and walk through all the warning signs anyway, and then go do it and succeed. They were always meant to succeed. But for the vast majority of people like you won't succeed. You know what mean? So like you really should heed the warning and only you know if you're that person or not, and everybody thinks they are that person. But you only find out you're not that person who can walk through all the warning signs until you get fucking destroyed. So don't get destroyed. You know what I mean? Like

Erik Cason (01:37:24.676) By the way, this is being said by the man who made a Bitcoin by betting the man who had the leverage platform that his leverage platform would go bankrupt within a year and it fucking did. just saying that Hoddle might actually know a little bit about what the fuck he's talking about. So with that, please don't go long and slam your fucking dick in the door because there's a 10 % drawdown, which could very well happen when we hit an all time high and your retarded ass did a 10X long and didn't realize.

HODL (01:37:32.728) That's right.

Erik Cason (01:37:51.928) that that's what happens. You get fucking liquidated when the price goes down. So don't be fucking retarded and lose the little bit of Bitcoin that you have because you thought that you could get more Bitcoin because you were smarter. You're not. You're a normal fucking person who will hurt yourself if you do that. So sorry, I just really wanted to add.

HODL (01:38:07.746) So no, % 100 % and two cardinal sins here in Bitcoin you need to be aware of heading into the bull market is number one, not being bullish enough on Bitcoin. That's the biggest sin. It's the biggest sin anyone can make. Number two, unfortunately, is being too bullish on Bitcoin. So you got to strike the balance right in the middle there. Because if you're on either side, you're getting fucking wrecked. Okay, so the best way to do that, stack your Bitcoin, hodl your Bitcoin.

do it in self custody, do it in cold storage, do it with a multi sig. Don't go crazy on this, these products, these MSTU and BTU and fucking these leverage products you can now get access to in the markets. Don't go crazy on MSTR stock, don't go crazy on shit coins or meme coins. You know, everybody has a plan. I've met a lot of guys who had a plan to get to 100 Bitcoin, who ended up with zero Bitcoin, right? So like,

Try not to be one of those guys. If your plan has three elaborate steps that involve you hitting a million shot three times, you're not gonna execute that plan, man. I couldn't execute it. I don't know why you think you're good enough to. I don't know why anyone would ever think they're good enough to. Be smart.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:39:20.83) got a fucking three step plan and it's called DCA and fucking like literally guys, none of us are as smart as we think we are. And like that's good. Like you being too smart is just a pain. That's why you know, that's why you need to drink and stuff. But like literally just like just fucking DCA. Like it's actually like just this GCO like you can just buy Bitcoin, set up a daily DCA buy and then set up an hourly DCA buy.

HODL (01:39:24.503) Yes.

HODL (01:39:38.828) Totally.

Walker (BitcoinPodcast.net) (01:39:49.492) and it'll just split the difference and you will be in large profit in the long term. And I have not been around as long as you guys been around since 2020 and I just dollar cost average. And you know what? It works. And I try to create some value. And Eric, to your point, I appreciate that, that you see this journey that I'm on creating another fucking Bitcoin podcast. But I just want to say until there are more Bitcoin podcasts than insufferable fucking finance bro podcasts,

There are not enough Bitcoin podcasts. need to this needs to be the flippening where Bitcoin podcasts are more plentiful than fucking finance bro. Like here here's the real real estate stock stocks that you should buy that'll generate some passive income for you when you're 401k. It's like Jesus fucking Christ. Grow some balls and buy some Bitcoin guys. Yeah. I fucking appreciate you guys. Thanks for hopping on here. This this was a very enjoyable time.

And I know that people fucking love hearing from both of you guys because you are principal dudes who always laid out straight and We are we are very blessed to have you in this fucking strange community of people and it's great to fucking hang out with you guys And I hope we can do it in fucking person over a beer again soon But yeah, hold on get the fuck out of here case it I'm you guys for everyone listening I'm gonna kill this live stream now and we're gonna just to make sure these guys are uploaded. So fucking love you all. Thanks for joining

I'm killing it now.

@ 0b118e40:4edc09cb

Does Bitcoin incentivize innovations in renewable and clean energy sectors? Absolutely.

While the debate about Bitcoin’s energy consumption continues, its role in driving innovation often goes unnoticed.

Over 50% of the energy consumed by Bitcoin miners now comes from renewable sources, and the industry is pushing the boundaries of repurposing waste energy and tapping into underutilized resources.

This sets a clear contradiction from industries like chemicals, primary metals, and textiles, which dominate global energy consumption with coal and natural gas. Despite global initiatives like the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework, which mandates sustainability investments, fossil fuels still account for over 80% of global energy use in 2023. Big corporations can easily "greenwash" their efforts by purchasing carbon credits and slapping on green labels, yet their day-to-day operations remain largely unchanged.

Bitcoin miners, however, are not coerced into adopting clean energy; they are incentivized by the need to minimize costs. Their profitability depends on finding the most affordable energy sources, and this has led to innovations in utilizing surplus and waste energy.

What began with small-scale experiments has now captured the attention of global corporations like Deutsche Telekom and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which are leveraging surplus energy for Bitcoin mining.

Are these developments signaling that Bitcoin mining is becoming integral to mainstream energy systems? The answer increasingly appears to be yes.

I first came across the idea that Bitcoin could incentivize renewable energy through a tweet from Jack a few years ago, and out of curiosity, I explored some of the ways Bitcoin is advancing renewable and clean energy. I’ll share a few examples below. Please note that this is by no means an exhaustive list, but it provides a glimpse into Bitcoin’s role in driving renewable and clean energy innovation.

There are 2 categories of energy sources I looked into :

Renewables: Hydropower, geothermal, ocean wave energy, wind power, and solar energy. Clean Non-Renewables: Waste coal, flare gas, and nuclear energy.

Renewables

1. Hydropower

Hydropower is one of the oldest renewable energy sources, but many countries struggle with maintaining an aging infrastructure, leading to abandoned dams. However, countries like Paraguay and Laos have successfully utilized hydropower to meet 90% or more of their energy needs, often yielding a surplus. In Paraguay, Marathon Digital Holdings partnered with the Penguin Group to establish a hydro-powered Bitcoin mining facility near the Itaipú Dam. Globally, companies like GRIID Infrastructure and Sazmining have integrated hydropower into their operations, with hydropower now accounting for about 23% of Bitcoin mining’s energy use.

2. Geothermal Energy

In El Salvador, Bitcoin mining powered by volcanic heat has attracted investments, with proceeds funding schools and hospitals. In the last 3 years, nearly 474 Bitcoin worth $29 million using volcano-fueled geothermal power was mined. In Africa, Gridless leverages geothermal, hydro, and solar power for decentralized mining in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia.

3. Ocean Energy

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a 150-year-old concept, is emerging as a viable solution, particularly in regions like Hawaii (Oahu) where traditional renewables face challenges. Not only is the cost of energy the highest in the US, the people of Hawaii face a wastage of energy surplus which can be turned into profit through Bitcoin mining.

When I first read about the potential of ocean energy used for Bitcoin Mining, it was through Lord Fusitu’a, a member of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Tonga in 2021. Unfortunately, he passed away and I was not able to find many updates on it after that. Ocean energy was also tested by Tara Ocean as a combination project between Paris and Los Angeles and it showed promising results.

4. Wind Power

Texas leads in wind energy, accounting for 25% of its grid. Bitcoin miners have flocked to the state, leveraging tax incentives and abundant wind power to fuel operations, tripling Bitcoin mining hashrate since 2021. DARI (Digital Assets Research Institute) revealed Bitcoin mining saved Texas up to $18 billion by reducing the need for new gas peaker plants. Companies like German Telekom also use excess wind and solar energy for mining, addressing intermittency challenges.

5. Solar Energy

Block Inc. and Blockstream’s solar-powered Bitcoin mining facility highlight the untapped potential of solar in sun-rich regions like Africa. Companies like TeraWulf and Aspen Creek are also pioneering solar-powered mining operations. In late 2022, Meco unveiled the world’s first solar-electric crypto-mining rigs. Additionally, investments are flowing into companies focusing on renewable-powered Bitcoin mining, with Aspen Creek securing $8 million in 2022 to expand its solar-powered operations.

Clean Non-Renewables

1. Flare Gas

Crusoe Energy Systems captures methane from oil drilling to power Bitcoin mining, making it carbon-negative and eliminating 99.89% of greenhouse gas emissions. This method is a key example of using waste gas that would otherwise be flared into the atmosphere.

2. Nuclear Energy

TeraWulf’s Nautilus Cryptomine facility in Pennsylvania represents the first nuclear-powered Bitcoin mining operation in the U.S., with nearly 8,000 mining rigs online. Nuclear energy is stable, scalable and clean as its low-carbon energy source, making it an attractive option for Bitcoin mining. I recall the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez also recognized the potential of nuclear energy to attract Bitcoin mining operations to the city but I don’t have any recent updates on this.

3. Waste Coal

Stronghold Digital Mining repurposes waste coal from old mining sites to generate energy for Bitcoin mining operations. While this method helps reduce the environmental impact of waste coal, it has faced criticism for emissions produced by burning additional materials like tires.

The Potentials of Bitcoin mining in underdeveloped regions

In regions where traditional energy infrastructure is scarce, Bitcoin mining is a significant opportunity to stimulate the development of renewable energy sources and improve living conditions.

In many African countries, solar and hydroelectric resources remain largely untapped or abandoned, with nations like Congo, South Sudan, and Malawi having less than 10% access to electricity. Bitcoin mining’s energy demand acts as a powerful economic incentive, attracting investments to build infrastructure that enhances access to electricity, clean water, and other basic amenities.

Alex Gladstein beautifully captures this idea in his article "The Humanitarian and Environmental Case for Bitcoin" where he discusses how Bitcoin mining can be a force for good, encouraging investment in renewable energy and providing sustainable economic growth for regions long underserved by traditional infrastructure.

On a last note

Bitcoin mining is proving to be a catalyst for renewable energy innovation. Despite decades of Keynesian counter-cyclical policies targeted at boosting infrastructure spending, ranging from IMF infrastructure loans in the 1970s to frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Millennium Development Plans, and now ESG, the Global South remains impoverished, with many regions still lacking basic amenities. Non-renewable energy usage remain high. Traditional approaches have not solved the problem.

Bitcoin, however, just works.

Its financial system empowers individuals worldwide, breaking free from centralized control, while its mining operations leverage surplus and clean energy sources to drive renewable innovation. With growing global adoption, Bitcoin is no longer an isolated financial system. It is becoming an integral part of daily life and a force for global energy transformation.

As the mining focus shifts toward individual contribution with open-source integrated chips and decentralized mining solutions, we are likely to witness a new wave of renewable energy innovations on a smaller, more accessible scale that anyone can adopt.

The current energy debate surrounding Bitcoin often overlooks its potential. Beyond the criticisms, Bitcoin mining is creating tangible opportunities to innovate in renewable energy, particularly in underdeveloped areas. As the industry grows, it’s becoming abundantly clear that Bitcoin is a key part of the solution to our financial and energy challenges.

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued new guidance halting spending on most foreign aid grants for 90 days, including military assistance to Ukraine. This immediate order shocked State Department officials and mandates “stop-work orders” on nearly all existing foreign assistance awards.

While it allows exceptions for military financing to Egypt and Israel, as well as emergency food assistance, it restricts aid to key allies like Ukraine, Jordan, and Taiwan. The guidance raises potential liability risks for the government due to unfulfilled contracts.

A report will be prepared within 85 days to recommend which programs to continue or discontinue.

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

Warning: Use this at your own risk Backup your files before using them in the software Backup often, test your backup. Verify and dry test your files before doing a production run

I had to write this program because rmdir was claiming not to have enough authorization

context nostr:note1l0u4pw5xp73eultr9nf5tgmlsgnv9q05wdqha4t6grd4699v74zssshm40

```perl use strict; use warnings; use File::Path qw(remove_tree);

Specify the directory to be deleted

my $directory = 'c:\Users\mydirectory\mysubdirectory\';

Remove the directory

remove_tree($directory, {error => \my $err});

Check for errors

if (@$err) { foreach my $diag (@$err) { my ($file, $message) = %$diag; if ($file eq '') { print "General error: $message\n"; } else { print "Problem unlinking $file: $message\n"; } } } else { print "Directory successfully deleted.\n"; }

```

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

You don't understand how insidious open-borders propaganda is, until you realize that it's an attempt to remove all differentiating traits from humans. They call this "strengthening individuality by removing nationality" (hello, newspeak), but what makes humans individual is their particular collection of traits, and nationality (and ethnicity, religion, etc. -- nationality is just the first domino they want to topple) is one of those.

Humans are not blank slates. Like DNA or physiognomy, our personalities are differing jumbles of cultural "letters". Each person selects consciously and subconsciously from amongst these letters, adding to or rejecting them, amplifying or suppressing them, twisting or combining them, building on top of them... and that's what makes you into You.

Open borders is an attempt to reduce the number of cultural letters you can build your "You" out of. If you take away the word "German", I am not liberated. There is simply one less adjective, with which I can describe myself. You have merely eradicated information, crippled language, and reduced my choices. I can then no longer define myself according to "German things", but I can also no longer define myself in opposition to German things.

Enter the Borg

We are easier to control and brainwash and persecute, if we are centralized and homogenized. As if the entire world were one, big prison and we were all forced to undergo the same education, wear the same clothes, follow the same rules, eat the same foods, enjoy the same entertainment, live the same lifestyle, share the same diseases and cures, enjoy the same lockdowns, join in the same cancel culture, fight the same wars.

That is what globalization brings. That is the end game of Open Borders: * No more cultural evolution or revolution. * Genes, but no memes. * You can go everywhere, but everywhere is the same, so you just stay home. * You can meet people from all over, but they are all the same, so you just don't bother. * One mass of humanity, that can be easily molded and manipulated.

@ 378562cd:a6fc6773

Top 20 U.S.-Based Cryptocurrency Headlines:

1. Pete Hegseth Confirmed as Secretary of Defense Amid Crypto Talks\ The newly confirmed Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has hinted at exploring blockchain applications for national security and defense logistics.

2. Senate to Debate Cryptocurrency Taxation Reform\ A bipartisan bill focusing on cryptocurrency taxation is set for Senate debate, aiming to simplify tax reporting and encourage blockchain innovation.

3. Florida Launches State-Backed Blockchain Pilot Program\ Florida has initiated a pilot program leveraging blockchain for state services, including property records and public benefits distribution.

4. Silicon Valley Firms Ramp Up Blockchain Development\ Tech giants in Silicon Valley, including Meta and Google, have announced increased investments in blockchain R&D to align with U.S. policy shifts.

5. California Mulls Digital Asset Consumer Protection Bill\ California lawmakers are reviewing a proposed bill designed to strengthen consumer protections in cryptocurrency transactions and prevent fraud.

6. Wyoming Leads in Blockchain Legislation\ Wyoming continues to set the standard for pro-blockchain legislation, introducing additional laws to attract cryptocurrency businesses and miners.

7. Texas Becomes a Hub for Crypto Mining\ Texas remains a hotbed for cryptocurrency mining operations, with favorable regulations and abundant energy resources attracting global miners.

8. New York Revisits BitLicense Regulations\ The New York Department of Financial Services is revising its stringent BitLicense requirements, seeking to balance industry growth and consumer protection.

9. SEC Proposes Clearer Guidelines for ICOs\ The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules to clarify and reduce ambiguity surrounding initial coin offerings (ICOs).

10. Banking Giants Reenter Crypto Markets\ JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are reportedly resuming their cryptocurrency trading desks, reflecting renewed institutional confidence in the market.

11. Crypto Job Market Expands in the U.S.\ Major crypto companies, including Coinbase and Kraken, are expanding hiring efforts, focusing on compliance, engineering, and product development roles.

12. U.S. Treasury Collaborates with Private Sector on Blockchain Security\ The U.S. Treasury has launched a joint initiative with private companies to enhance blockchain cybersecurity and combat crypto-related crimes.

13. Nevada Considers Tax Incentives for Crypto Startups\ Nevada legislators are discussing tax breaks for cryptocurrency startups to attract more tech companies to the state.

14. Miami Hosts Blockchain Week\ Miami has kicked off Blockchain Week, drawing thousands of participants from around the world to discuss cryptocurrency innovation and regulation.

15. Colorado Accepts Tax Payments in Cryptocurrency\ Colorado residents can now pay state taxes using Bitcoin and Ethereum, marking a milestone in government adoption of digital currencies.

16. Boston Dynamics Explores Blockchain in Robotics\ Boston Dynamics has announced research into using blockchain technology to enhance coordination and security for robotic systems.

17. Crypto Payments Expand in the Retail Sector\ Major U.S. retailers, including Walmart and Home Depot, are piloting cryptocurrency payment systems in select locations.

18. Federal Reserve Examines Decentralized Finance (DeFi)\ The Federal Reserve has initiated a study on the potential implications and opportunities of decentralized finance within the U.S. economy.

19. Chicago Becomes a Cryptocurrency Innovation Hub\ Chicago has unveiled a public-private initiative to attract blockchain startups and establish the city as a leading hub for cryptocurrency innovation.

20. Arizona Proposes Bitcoin as Legal Tender\ Arizona legislators are drafting a bill recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender, potentially making it the first U.S. state to do so.

---

Top 5 Worldwide Cryptocurrency Headlines:

1. European Union Accelerates Crypto Regulation Framework\ The EU is working on comprehensive legislation to standardize cryptocurrency regulations across member states, focusing on consumer protection and innovation.

2. China's Shadow Crypto Market Flourishes Despite Crackdowns\ Despite stringent bans, underground cryptocurrency trading in China continues to thrive, fueled by over-the-counter brokers and international platforms.

3. India Explores Blockchain Voting Systems\ India is piloting blockchain technology for secure and transparent voting, aiming to modernize its electoral process.

4. El Salvador Expands Bitcoin Adoption Programs\ El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, is launching new programs to educate its citizens on cryptocurrency use and blockchain technology.

5. African Nations Adopt Bitcoin for Cross-Border Transactions\ African countries increasingly leverage Bitcoin to streamline cross-border trade, addressing inefficiencies in traditional banking systems.

@ 6b57533f:eaa341f5

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Welcome to Stories

This is a new way to tell stories on nostr.

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Read More

Swipe left to continue...

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Top Info

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Bottom Line

And this wraps it up at the bottom.

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@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/857857

@ 0463223a:3b14d673

Hmm so I heard that in order to improve my brain I should try writing… Ok groovy, I’ll give it a go. In all honesty I don’t know what to write, my brain is a jumble of noise and titbits of random knowledge. I likely know more about sound than the average person but as physics goes, I don’t have anything new or profound to add. Air moves and noises happen. Is there really any more to it? I could write some flowery bollocks about refraction, absorption coefficients and reverberation times, or I could write some out there, arty shit but I don’t think that adds any value to anyone.

A lot of folks online have very strong beliefs in how the world operates or should operate. Whilst their conviction is strong, there’s also is a large percentage of people who totally disagree with them and think the exact opposite is the answer. That’s quite shit isn’t it? Humans have been around for 100,000 years or so and haven’t worked it out. I wonder what makes the internet celeb so certain they’ve got it right when the next internet celeb completely disagrees? I do my best to avoid any of these cunts but despite running to the obscurest social media platforms they still turn up with their profound statements. Meh.

Ideologically I’m leaning toward anarchism but even that seems full of arguments and contradictions and ultimately I don’t think I can be arsed with identifying with any particular ideology. I tried reading some philosophy and struggled with it, although I deep fall into a lovely deep sleep. It’s fair to say I’m not the brightest button in the box. I have a wife, a couple of cats and lots of things that make nosies in my shed. That’s pretty cool right? Well it works for me.

So why write this? I clearly wrote in the first sentence that I’m trying to improve my brain, a brain that’s gone through a number to twists and turns, a lot brain altering substances. I own that, no one forced me to. Beside, George Clinton was still smoking crack aged 80, didn’t do him any harm…

I’m on the 5th paragraph. I don’t feel any smarter yet and each paragraph is getting shorter, having started from a low base. I guess I’m being too high time preference… Might be a while before I launch my Deep Thought podcasts where myself and a guest talk for 500 hours about the philosophy of money and 13 amp plug sockets.

I’ve tortured myself enough. I’m posting this on Nostr where it will never go away.. lol. If you got this far, I congratulate/commiserate you and wish you a wonderful day.

@ fbf0e434:e1be6a39

Hackathon 概览

BTCfi 夏季黑客松 是于2024年夏季由CoreDAO组织，为期12周的黑客松活动。本次活动旨在推动比特币经济中的创新，吸引了来自Web3和BTCfi社区的开发者参与。共有291位开发者参与，提交了74个去中心化应用项目（BUIDLs）到Core平台上。此举旨在加强Core在BTC领域的作用。

Hackathon于2024年6月6日开始，包含开幕式、申请期以及于2024年8月19日的demo日。获奖者于2024年8月26日公布。NLX、Halborn、TokenSoft、Verichains和Request Finance等赞助商给予了支持。

参与者专注于开发将Core链技术融入其解决方案的独特应用。此次活动有效扩展了Core生态系统，增强了开发人员的参与度。所提交项目的多样性和范围突显了活动的成功实施及其对未来区块链技术进步的潜在影响。

Hackathon 获奖项目

• 1st Place：Rune Bridge: 该系统实现了比特币和Core区块链之间无需权限的集成。它利用EVM兼容性和混合共识模型来实现可扩展性，由智能合约、链外中继器和一个工厂ERC20合约组成，以高效管理代币。
• 2nd Place：OnchainVampireSurvivors: 这是一款Web3时间生存游戏，具有基于区块链的链上排行榜和彩票功能。项目使用ThirdWeb进行钱包访问，注重gas效率，并使用Cocos和Hardhat开发。未来增强计划包括AI资产和在Core主网上的部署。
• 3rd Place：b14g Network - Enhancing Decentralization and Security on Core Chain with b14g: 本项目旨在通过实施观察者节点和合并质押来增强Core Chain的安全性，促进监控的去中心化并解决承诺问题。它旨在将BTC与DeFi集成，提升CORE代币的实用性并确保网络的完整性。

欲了解所有提交项目的综合概述，请访问BTCFi Summer Hackathon 2024页面。

关于组织者

CoreDAO

Core DAO管理着Core Chain，这是一条以安全性和可扩展性为重点的去中心化区块链网络。通过将比特币的工作量证明与Satoshi Plus共识系统（委托工作量证明和委托权益证明的组合）相结合，Core DAO旨在增强去中心化和安全性。该平台提供以太坊虚拟机兼容性，使比特币矿工可以参与，同时比特币持有者可以在不放弃托管的情况下进行质押。Core Chain支持高交易吞吐量，由社区管理，并提供与其他区块链的互操作性，使用Solidity进行高效智能合约开发。该组织的使命是推动由比特币保护的去中心化应用程序开发。

@ df478568:2a951e67

Affiliate Links

I earn a commission for these products and services, but I would recommend them even if they did not pay me.

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Subscribe To Support My Work

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The Leather Mint

The Leathermint makes great, custom-sized leather belts and awesome-looking wallets. I have a belt and it fits better than any belt I’ve ever warn because it’s custom size. I have had mine for about a year. The chrome is coming off a little at the top but I don’t tuck in shirts anyway.

CoinKite

They make my favorite products ever. I suggest getting a few SEEDPLATE® Kit’s no matter what hardware wallets you use. I also like using a dry-erase marker first because there are no second chances when punching a letter. It’s best to use a dry-erase marker first. If you make a mistake erase it. Then, after you double checked the first side, go over the dry-erase marker with a permanent marker. Then do the same to the other side. If you’re sure every letter is correct, punch the holes.

There are many plates with sufficient heat resistance, but I like the SEEDPLATE because they are the easiest to destroy if you ever need to. Instead of etching out stamps on washers, you just add extra punches if you must destroy the seed.

Alby Hub

Look, if you want to run your own lightning node, this is the way to go. If you have a Start9 or are technical, you can run it yourself. If you’re less technical, they offer a cloud service. I was one of the early beta testers of this software and I think it’s the easiest way to run a lightning node.

Free and Open Software

Primal.net os a corporation building stuff on nostr. If you’re technical, you can run it yourself. If not, you ca download the app for free. They charge a fee for premium services. I pay for this because I want to support companies that contribute to nostr development and help bitcoin be used as peer-to-peer electronic cash.

I think of Primal as a custodial bitcoin wallet that allows anyone to participate in the biggest circular economy in the world. TikTok was banned in the United States which means it is no longer available for citizens of the United States to download the app. There are ways to get around these restrictions, but I choose not to because I do not want the CCP, or any government to have access to information if their goal is to use it against me. I believe every government, foreign or domestic wants to use your information against you. Nostr allows me to opt out of these stupid games with stupid likes.

With Primal, I am the customer, not the product. I choose the algorithms I want to see, not the CCP , USG or corporations. Even if Primal decided to say, “Marc sucks. We will now censor him.” I will only lose the https://primal.net/marc, the OG status, and my primal lightning address. It also means they would stop getting my sats every month, so they are incentivized not to censor. You would have to do something really stupid to get banned from Primal. I’m not sure it’s been done yet, but even if it has, you will not get banned from the nostr protocol.

Portainer

Portainer makes it easy to run docker-containers. I first learned how to use it because it is an app on Umbrel. Eventually, I learned you can use Portainer on any Linux computer, so that’s what I do. It takes some time to learn, but once you do—you become a cloud computing super-wizard.

Mealie

Mealie is one of my favorite pieces of free and open software that is not related to bitcoin in any shape or form...except it makes grocery shopping easier. I know what you’re thinking. WTF does that have to do with bitcoin? I assume you belong to the I Want More Bitcoin Club. You are in good company because ALL Bitcoiners are a member of this club. One way you can stasck more sats is to cut your grocery bill. I believe Mealie helps me do just that.

When I’m grocery shopping, my goal is to get as much healthy food for my sats as possible. To accomplish this, I shop sales. Now, if you’re living in a van, this won’t do much for you, but no worries. You will stack even more sats by cutting your housing costs. If your wife will not agree to live under a bridge and stack sats, then get a freezer in your garage. Fill it with meat you buy on sale. Pork shoulder is 3,000 sats per pound and you don’t what to cook it with? Find a recipe online. Mealie will use machine learning to scrape the ingredients from the recipe. Then you can add it to a grocery list. In other words, you can automate your grocery list right at the grocery isle. This is one way I save sats with Mealie.

I also keep the things my family eats on a regular basis in stock. This is part for emergency preparedness, but it is also for financial preparedness. If you are in a situation where no food is available, all the bitcoin in the world will not save you. I’m not talkig about super volcanos. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes happen. So I got this idea from Jack Spirko, but modified it to use with mealie.

Spirko suggests building a 30 day supply of food and water for your family in case of an emergency. You should have a generator and a garden too, but I don’t want to get off track. Once you have this he says: write down every item you use on a notebook and replace it.

This is good advice, but I just add it to my grocery list in mealie.

Shopstr

Shopstr is like Facebook marketplace, Amazon, or eBay on nostr. This is what I use to build my store. I want to pause point out how big of a paradigm shift this is. The old web requires permission. Ebay needs permission from the government to become a corporation. They built infrastructure to create their online auction. Everyone on the site must pay eBay a tax. This results in a techno- feudalist society.

When you sell on Shopster, you are selling your wares on nostr, a protocol, not a platform. This changes the relationship between the people and the technology because NO MIDDLEMAN IS REQUIRED. On nostr, there are no digital overlords. You own your data. You host your store. If the current digital overlords shut it down, you can run it yourself. You do not need to pay a tax to eBay, Amazon, or the PayPal mafia.

Avocados

I love avocados. They are kind of like free and open source software because you can grow them yourself. ;) I love avocados and big avocado ag did not pay me to say this.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

You have no idea

I regularly read comments from people, on here, wondering how it's possible to marry -- or even simply be friends! -- with someone who doesn't agree with you on politics. I see this sentiment expressed quite often, usually in the context of Bitcoin, or whatever pig is currently being chased through the village, as they say around here.

It seems rather sensible, but I don't think it's as hard, as people make it out to be. Further, I think it's a dangerous precondition to set, for your interpersonal relationships, because the political field is constantly in flux. If you determine who you will love, by their opinions, do you stop loving them if their opinions change, or if the opinions they have become irrelevant and a new set of opinions are needed -- and their new ones don't match your new ones? We could see this happen to relationships en masse, during the Covid Era, and I think it happens every day, in a slow grind toward the disintegration of interpersonal discourse.

I suspect many people do stop loving, at that point, as they never really loved the other person for their own sake, they loved the other person because they thought the other person was exactly like they are. But no two people are alike, and the longer you are in a relationship with someone else, the more the initial giddiness wears off and the trials and tribulations add up, the more you notice how very different you actually are. This is the point, where best friends and romantic couples say, We just grew apart.

But you were always apart. You were always two different people. You just didn't notice, until now.

I've also always been surprised at how many same-party relationships disintegrate because of some disagreement over some particular detail of some particular topic, that they generally agree on. To me, it seems like an irrelevant side-topic, but they can't stand to be with this person... and they stomp off. So, I tend to think that it's less that opinions need to align to each other, but rather that opinions need to align in accordance with the level of interpersonal tolerance they can bring into the relationship.

I was raised by relaxed revolutionaries

Maybe I see things this way because my parents come from two diverging political, cultural, national, and ethnic backgrounds, and are prone to disagreeing about a lot of "important" (to people outside their marriage) things, but still have one of the healthiest, most-fruitful, and most long-running marriages of anyone I know, from that generation. My parents, you see, aren't united by their opinions. They're united by their relationship, which is something outside of opinions. Beyond opinions. Relationships are what turn two different people into one, cohesive unit, so that they slowly grow together. Eventually, even their faces merge, and their biological clocks tick to the same rhythm. They eventually become one entity that contains differing opinions about the same topics.

It's like magic, but it's the result of a mindset, not a worldview. Or, as I like to quip:

The best way to stay married, is to not get divorced.

My parents simply determined early on, that they would stay together, and whenever they would find that they disagreed on something that didn't directly pertain to their day-to-day existence with each other they would just agree-to-disagree about that, or roll their eyes, and move on. You do you. Live and let live.

My parents have some of the most strongly held personal opinions of any people I've ever met, but they're also incredibly tolerant and can get along with nearly anyone, so their friends are a confusing hodgepodge of people we liked and found interesting enough to keep around. Which makes their house parties really fun, and highly unusual, in this day and age of mutual-damnation across the aisle.

The things that did affect them, directly, like which school the children should attend or which country they should live in, etc. were things they'd sit down and discuss, and somehow one opinion would emerge, and they'd again... move on.

And that's how my husband and I also live our lives, and it's been working surprisingly well. No topics are off-limits to discussion (so long as you don't drone on for too long), nobody has to give up deeply held beliefs, or stop agitating for the political decisions they prefer.

You see, we didn't like that the other always had the same opinion. We liked that the other always held their opinions strongly. That they were passionate about their opinions. That they were willing to voice their opinions; sacrifice to promote their opinions. And that they didn't let anyone browbeat or cow them, for their opinions, not even their best friends or their spouse. But that they were open to listening to the other side, and trying to wrap their mind around the possibility that they might just be wrong about something.

We married each other because we knew: this person really cares, this person has thought this through, and they're in it, to win it. What "it" is, is mostly irrelevant, so long as it doesn't entail torturing small animals in the basement, or raising the children on a diet of Mountain Dew and porn, or something.

Live and let live. At least, it's never boring. At least, there's always something to ~~argue~~ talk about. At least, we never think... we've just grown apart.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

The newspaper barons are all into crypto, now

Watching the outsized-impact we crypto enthusiasts (I'm including Bitcoin in that category), had on the 2024 USA presidential election, was a sobering affair. At the moment, our impact is primarily over the voting box, but, already, indirectly, (over Elon Musik, Donald Trump, and Jack Dorsey, etc.) through our sheer wealth (and the ingenuity that brought us that wealth) being able to influence the voting population, by changing/shifting the communications channels and influencing what is written there.

Elon even reached deep into his foreign-learned bag of political tricks and started handing out money, directly, to petition signers.

Survival of the fittest, ongoing

Now, you all know that I have full respect for an expert player, when I see one, so no hating the hustle, from my side. We all play the hand we are dealt, and the political game is now such a pigsty, that you have to get a bit dirty, to have a chance at winning. Trying to stay neat and above the fray cost Republicans the last election.

It was the most dramatic display of the greatest power following the best money, that has been seen, since the Medici family began minting gold coins. The entire world is in shock. Change is upon us.

He who has the best money, makes the rules.

On a smaller, but not insignificant scale, private wealth and access to Bitcoin funding, have allowed quite a few of us Nostriches, to dedicate time and energy toward promoting and developing the New Internet. Whereas, other people's hobby is increasingly the night shift at the gas station, or doing something mind-numbing, to escape the realities of their current economic misery.

You don't need money to be here, but you can spend more time here, if you have money. And we are here, writing the rules. We call them NIPs.

Same ole, same ole

But back to us Bitcoiners...

I increasingly don't see us morally any different than the clever people crowding into any safe asset, during any financial crisis. Like the people who bought agricultural land, gold, and Swiss Francs, before the Reichsmark melted down. The people who had that stuff, mostly managed to keep it, and their children and grandchildren have inherited it. Or they managed to marry back into families, that have done so, by remaining in the same social class, through beauty or talent.

We Bitcoiners have a good narrative to go along with our flight to economic safety, but everyone has that narrative. Humans have a conscience and need to justify their own actions, to themselves. I'm also a goldbug, you see, and a stockholder, and all three assets are rife with the same virtuous narrative.

How do we save our financial behinds, without being evil?

Some people are simply more situationally aware and have more agency, by nature and circumstances, and they adapt faster. It's not mere intelligence, rather, it also requires a willingness to act and take risks. There's an element of chance to it, but it's still always the same types of people ending up with the assets, with the winners slightly shifting with each round, due to evolution and changes in the environment.

Charity was invented, to get such people to willingly share their assets, or the fruits of their assets, for the common good. So, rather than fret over the morality of the asset, itself, the better response is to consider stepping up your charity (effort or payments), to balance out the inevitable negative impact of the coming Age of Bitcoin Inequality.

Coming down from the ATH

Even now, Bitcoin isn't the only safe asset; it's just the most-fungible and partitionable one, so that it's the one most akin to money. And lines are being blurred, as corporations, funds, governments, and insurers discharge dollars and stock up on harder reserve assets, including Bitcoin.

They can hear the money printers rolling out, already, because nobody can print-n-spend, like Trump can. Let's not forget that the money for the last big bump came from the infamous Trump stimmy checks, that lots of us stacked on crypto.

As Bitcoin flows into such markets, the power will rest with both groups (the direct-hodlers and the title-holders), although the hodlers will initially have the upper hand. I say, initially because many hodlers will need to discharge or invest Bitcoin, to live off of it, but the others don't need to, so it should eventually even out. It could take dozens or even hundreds of years to rebalance. By then, the world will be a very different place, and we don't know if Bitcoin will even still be a part of it.

Assets come, assets go, and I'm just glad I didn't let down my forefathers, by leaving them with the first generation, who failed to adapt. Even if I'm a bit late, to the Bitcoin game, the ball is still in play.

May the best money win. And may it be mine. And may I do good with it.

@ ed84ce10:cccf4c2a

Hackathon Summary

The BTCfi Summer Hackathon, organized by Core DAO in 2024, concluded after a 12-week period. The hackathon aimed to drive innovation in the Bitcoin economy, engaging developers from the Web3 and BTCfi communities. A total of 291 developers participated, submitting 74 decentralized application projects (BUIDLs) on the Core platform. This initiative sought to reinforce Core’s role within the BTC space.

The hackathon commenced on June 6, 2024, featuring key activities such as the opening ceremony, application period, and a demo day on August 19, 2024. Winners were revealed on August 26, 2024. The event was supported by sponsors, including NLX, Halborn, TokenSoft, Verichains, and Request Finance.

Participants focused on developing unique applications that incorporated Core Chain technologies into their solutions. The event effectively expanded the Core ecosystem, enhancing developer engagement. The diversity and range of submitted projects underscored the event's successful execution and potential impact on future blockchain technology advancements.

Hackathon Winners

1st Place

Rune Bridge: This system facilitates integration between the Bitcoin and Core blockchains without requiring permission. It leverages EVM compatibility and a hybrid consensus model for scalability, consisting of a smart contract, off-chain relayer, and a factory ERC20 contract to manage tokens efficiently.

2nd Place

OnchainVampireSurvivors: A Web3 time survival game featuring a blockchain-based on-chain leaderboard and lottery. The project uses ThirdWeb for wallet access, prioritizes gas efficiency, and is developed using Cocos and Hardhat. Future enhancements include AI assets and deployment on the Core mainnet.

3rd Place

b14g Network - Enhancing Decentralization and Security on Core Chain with b14g: This project aims to bolster Core Chain's security by implementing Observer Nodes and Merge Staking, promoting decentralization in monitoring and addressing commitment challenges. It seeks to integrate BTC with DeFi, enhancing CORE token utility and ensuring network integrity.

For a comprehensive overview of all submitted projects, visit the BTCFi Summer Hackathon 2024 page.

About the Organizer

Core DAO

Core DAO manages the Core Chain, a decentralized blockchain network with a focus on security and scalability. By integrating Bitcoin’s Proof of Work with the Satoshi Plus consensus system—a combination of Delegated Proof of Work and Delegated Proof of Stake—Core DAO aims to enhance decentralization and security. The platform offers Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility, enabling Bitcoin miners to participate and Bitcoin holders to stake without relinquishing custody. Core Chain supports high transaction throughput, is community-governed, and provides interoperability with other blockchains, utilizing Solidity for efficient smart contract development. The organization's mission centers on promoting decentralized application development secured by Bitcoin.

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

ETHOS & PURPOSE🌐

SATS'N'FACTS emphasizes Creativity, Privacy, FOSS Advocacy，with a focus on Local Community, Decentralization, and Health Balance. It is dedicated to nurturing an environment where decentralization and open collaboration thrive, providing space for deep technical discussions, hands-on learning, and meaningful networking, all with the goal of strengthening the Bitcoin community in Asia.

They aspire to redefine boundaries and usher in a new era of design and development excellence that leaves an indelible mark on the bitcoin environment. A three-day event dedicated to fostering innovation, and freedom within the Bitcoin Developer Community in Asia.

LEADS🧑‍💼

Enthusiast developers and builders from around the globe, will attend this first installments of the SATS’N’FACTS. Including nostr:npub1nvfgglea9zlcs58tcqlc6j26rt50ngkgdk7699wfq4txrx37aqcsz4e7zd nostr:npub1cj6ndx5akfazux7f0vjl4fyx9k0ulf682p437fe03a9ndwqjm0tqj886t6 nostr:npub148jz5r9xujcjpqygk69yl4jqwjqmzgrqly26plktfjy8g4t7xaysj9xhgp nostr:npub1htnhsay5dmq3r72tukdw72pduzfdcja0yylcajuvnc2uklkhxp8qnz3qac nostr:npub1ejxswthae3nkljavznmv66p9ahp4wmj4adux525htmsrff4qym9sz2t3tv nostr:npub1gwa27rpgum8mr9d30msg8cv7kwj2lhav2nvmdwh3wqnsa5vnudxqlta2sz nostr:npub1zk6u7mxlflguqteghn8q7xtu47hyerruv6379c36l8lxzzr4x90q0gl6ef nostr:npub13rvvn5g23anm09kwnya8qvzqejxfajfa56rnn47ck5l96ke6cq4sdcd4e0 nostr:npub147whqsr5vsj86x0ays70r0hgreklre3ey97uvcmxhum65skst56s30selt nostr:npub190trvg63e6tyqlwlj6lccqpftx76lckj25c006vwx3dzvdl88yxs2nyqdx nostr:npub1hw6amg8p24ne08c9gdq8hhpqx0t0pwanpae9z25crn7m9uy7yarse465gr nostr:npub10xk2rsg9l9ksht66egss98z7mzhetf8d7q4476d9cm6vsfv3a00qld5tdf nostr:npub19x0h8jm3mnwzhv4tpq62zta05er0qlyge73m0pwsp7h666khkd9qev2ree and more.

AGENDA📝

The event is designed to be a “decentralized and collaborative” effort between all participants, with activities being put together with attendees’ feedback. So no agenda, but here some guidance to make sure this event will be joyful and constructive:

🗓️8ᵗʰғᴇʙ Doors Opening：

• [ ] Event Opening
• [ ] Welcome session and intros
• [ ] Presentations and open discussions
• [ ] Initial networking and collaborative sessions
• [ ] Hackathon begins

🗓️9ᵗʰғᴇʙ ：

• [ ] Hackathon continues
• [ ] Attendee-led sessions
• [ ] Recording room open for voluntarily podcasting and interviews
• [ ] Peer-to-peer learning and networking

🗓️10ᵗʰғᴇʙ Closing UP：

• [ ] Hackathon wrap-up
• [ ] Pitching contest and project presentations
• [ ] Networking
• [ ] Closing remarks and final session

MERCH🛍️

Their event merch is not just cool—it’s a must-have! T-shirts 👕, bags 🎒, stickers 🖼️, caps 🧢...Get yours and carry the event vibe wherever you go!

Other Fun Activities🎡

In addition to the exciting conference, they've prepared a variety of enriching experiences for you—live art and craft activities🎨, art exhibitions🖼️, creative workshops✨, and Thai massage 💆……, and more.

How to join the Event🎡

If you're in Asia this February, don't miss out—join them in the vibrant city of Chiang Mai, Thailand 🇹🇭 for an unforgettable experience!

📅 Time：8—10th February 2025 📍Location：12/8 ถ.วัวลาย ซอย 3 ตำบลหายยา, เมืองเชียงใหม่ 50100 🇹🇭ไทย 💺Book your seat： https://formstr.app/#/fill/b3b9bd115fe936848a5e03134fefff945287285d51b1dee4731fef6a1070c597 🎤Submit an idea： https://formstr.app/#/forms/cf02333ea3c0d0c21080df599373e289fa343a55e63a1abdc7f633d1594078ff 🎫Buy your ticket: https://satsnfacts.btc.pub/p/ticket/

@ df478568:2a951e67

I took this picture at about block 416,220(June 13, 2016). The price of eggs on that day was $1.99, 16.5¢ per egg if you still measure stuff with the broken ruler we call fiat. What if we measured the price in sats instead? I found the price on that date from the bitbo calender. According to this website, $1.99 was worth 260,000 sats back then. Each egg cost 21,667 sats! Oh My Zeus!😱

I used this mempool calculator to see how much that is today. Turns out that it's $272.88 as of block 879,943. Since the fiat ruler is broken, the price of a dozen eggs also has NGU. I took this picture the last time I went to the grocery store. Eggs cost enough to shock fiat maxis. $8.99 OMZ!😱

What does a dozen eggs cost if you ignore the broken ruler? 8,572 sats today, just 714 sats per egg. Holy Wiemar Republic Batman! That's 30X cheaper! 😁

For some strange reason I can't pretend to understand, the Federal reserve tracks the price of eggs denominated in bitcoin. I guess they want to stay humble and stack money printer go brrrrrr. You can see the price of eggs drop off a cliff like Wile E Coyote on their website.

In The Price of Tommorrow and too many podcasts to mention, Jeff Booth argues the free market makes things cheaper over time, but the fiat syatem is syatematic theft. This theft occurs via inflation, which is really wage deflation. In other words, eggs are getting cheaper over time because egg producers become more efficient. We see tye fruits of this efficiency in Big screen TV's because the fiat price gets cut in half every ten years or so, but this is also a product of a broken ruler. The TV is probably 60X cheaper in bitcoin terms. It makes sense, TV's don't get bird flu, but when you begin using bitcoin as your unit of account, the measurement of value makes more sense than fiat clown world on the broken ruler standard. I remember when coffee was 100,000 sats. Now it's 16,699 sats. Living on the sat standards allows you to see Jeff Booth's thesis play out in real time

Life Gets More Expensive On The Broken Ruler Standard

I see so many young people on the broken ruler standard bemoan about food and housing prices. There are people with master's degrees who have already lost hope of buying a single family home and achieving the "American dream." To be honest, I would be pretty bummed about it too if I was on the broken ruler standard. A few months ago I spoke with a woman who made at least twice as much fiat as I do say, "I hope this housing market crashes so I can buy a house!"

That's sad. I have a lot of empathy for that feeling. Since the great financial crisis, I've only been able to get part time work, but my family wqs able to get a mortgage worth 12.5 bitcoin at the so-called "height of the market." We put as little money down as possible, 3% and I sold my old 401k for that "money." I also used some of it for repairs and taxes, but went all-in on bitcoin with everything else. Now our house is worth about 5 bitcoin. The way I see it, real estate is always crashing.

People on the broken ruler standard cry, "Wah, Wah. I hope there's a housing crash! Wah! Wah! Muh egg prices!" Buy a brand spanking new car for $50,00 car with a 7% interest rate and they will say, "Congratulations!" The trouble is, the price of the car falls like eggs compared to bitcoin on the broken ruler standard. This is because prices are distorted when measured in a broken ruler standard.

Get Off The Broken Ruler Standard

Before I met my wife, I played poker to supplement my income. I don't play much anymore, but poker taught me about risk management, probability, game theory, and many other things applicable to bitcoin. Poker gave me the background knowledge I needed to study bitcoin. In a sly, round-about way , poker taught me how to spend less bitcoin than I make. In traditional technical finance terminology, this is called "fucking saving." If you were not taught how to save and spend more than you earn, no matter how many broken ruler bucks you may earn, bitcoin will not work for you.

My wife makes a lot of broken ruler bucks. Unfortunately, we were broke in 2016 because we both were in school. Nevertheless, I'm proud of my stack amd I'm now at a point in life where I can get paid in bitcoin with very little risk because of my sugar mama, I mean wife, gets paid very well.

I spend like almost every other American consumer, plastic broken ruler debt cards. I put my little Strike ACH number on the Discover app. I keep a couple million sats on Strike and pay my credit card every month. In other words, I use Strike like a four-letter word: bank.

Sometimes I'll get a craving for tacos., I've never found a food truck that takes bitcoin, but they often use the Cash App. People on the broken ruler standard can't instantaneously send broken ruler bucks from PayPal to Zelle and vice-versa. They must first send broken ruler bucks from PayPal to the bank and then send the broken ruler bucks through Zelle. I can send sats directly from Strike to thr Cash App within seconds.

Sats As A Unit Of Account

The price of bitcoin fluctuates which makes it difficult to use as a unit of account. Who wants to divide the price of bitcoin by 100 million. Ain't nobody got time for that. If a whole coin costs 100k, then 1,000 sats = $1.00. This means each 100 sats is worth 10¢. 10 sats = 1¢. If the price drops 50%, 1000 sats is 50¢. If it does a 10X, $1,000 sats is $10.00. Living on a sat standard requires a little math, but it's easy to estimate. For more precise calculations I use mem pools calculator.

Money is a store of value, medium of exchange, and unit of account. If you use bitcoin on all three ways, you are using bitcoin as money. Saving becomes spending less bitcoin, not "buying more bitcoin." If you stack sats, your goal should be to leave the broken ruler standard and adopt sats as the standard. The world will still price your sats with a broken ruler. Sometimes this broken ruler makes you look like a fool. Other times, the broken ruler makes you look like a genius. Therefore, you must stay humble and stack sats.

You'll need some savings before you can deal with the broken ruler fallacy, but once you consistently stack sats and NGU continues to U, you'll eventually see life gets easier when you make sats the standard.

I will sell some sats to pay for my food and I send a tip to the food trucker in bitcoin using the Cash App gift button. It is actually very easy for them to accept bitcoin. They just don't know it yet. I don't proselytize the gospel of our lord and savior Satoshi Nakamoto. I just send them a few thousand sats. Good orange pilling is like good writing: Show, don't tell.

Does it require KYC?

Yeah, but so does Bank of Broken Rulers.

Haven't you heard the phrase, not your keys, not your bitcoin?

Yes. It's true. The 2 million sats or so is "not my bitcoin." From my perspective, however, it is the least risky way of paying my bills. I believe it is less risky than keeping broken ruler bucks in a bank. FDIC insurance sounds nice as canceled Insurance policies in the Pacific Palisades.

I could keep my 2 million sats in self-custody in my own lightning wallet. I could use Zap Planner to schedule my payments to hit Strike moments before I pay my bill, but I know me. I've lost sats on the lightning network before. I am more likely to lose the sats on my self-custodial lightning wallet than lose them because Strike could possibly rug-pull me. So for now, I just keep 2 million sats on the app. If bitcoin does a 10X, I'll keep 200,000 sats on Strike. If it drops 50%, I will keep 4 million sats on there.

I typically spend between $600- $1,000 in broken ruler bucks a month. This doesn't include my mortgage or food. My wife pretty much covers that stuff. Life happens though. Sometimes I need to pay a plumber, or a roofer or something, but most months, I have a sat surplus, a phenomena I like to call sats savings. My fiat check converts to bitcoin right on payday. I pay my credit cards off that day. If the sats are worth a little more, I pay taxes on that little bit. To make the math easy, say I get paid $1,000 on Friday. When I pay my bills, The broken ruler measurement now says I have $1,100. I pay my credit card. I owe capital gains on that $100 worth of sats. If my paycheck happens to be worth $900,I don’t pay any taxes because I have a loss. I won’t lie. I still get a bit perturbed when the price goes down 10% on payday, but it’s not the end of the world. If it doesn’t go back up by next payday, good. I earn more sats. If it goes up by next payday, good. All the sats I stacked before can buy more groceries.

Get On The Sats Standard

!;make sats the standard](https://gitea.marc26z.com/marc/BlogImprovementProposals/raw/branch/main/pics/Screenshot%20from%202025-01-19%2020-35-55.png)

Making sats the standard does this for the individual on the microeconomic level. Each Bitcoiner gradually accumulates sats. Stack long enough, study long enough, and experience enough 80% dips and you too will develop an unwavering conviction. You get paid in sats. You spend sats. You save sats. You no longer give a damn about your local fiat currency. A dozen eggs cost less than half of a single egg cost 8 years ago. If you lose 50% of your spending power overnight, you can buy less eggs, but a dozen eggs still costs less than 1 egg 8 years ago. Bitcoin is just better money.

If my fiat bank account takes more money out than I have in it, I can do an instant withdrawl on Strike. The fiat appears in my fiat bank account instantly. No more waiting 3-5 days for the money to get there. The bank does not get to keep charging you overdraft fee after overdraft fee for every little transaction. Bitcoin just works better. You can send it all over the world within seconds. You can buy stuff online with it or pay your credit cards. There is literally no reason to hold dollars anymore if you don’t want to. When you’re ready, make sats the standard. If you are not ready, keep stacking.

Onward.

Marc

880,018

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@ 3ddc43df:9186b168

Writing with Claude Watching My Every Move

As the result of a series of poor decisions in my life, I possess $500 of nonrefundable Anthropic API credits. This is an astounding amount of money, especially in the context of this extremely low cost API. I could use Claude Opus ($15/MTok input, $75/MTok output) for regular chatting and that would probably eat through these credits pretty quick. But I don't exactly want to WASTE this money and Opus is way more expensive than Sonnet 3.5 ($3/MTok input, $15/MTok output) with worse benchmark performance. I'm not sure if there is any use case where it makes sense to use Opus so using it would make me feel like I am lighting money on fire. So I am relegated to figuring out how I can inject Sonnet 3.5 into as much as my life as possible so I can use this ridiculous amount of credits and get some sort of benefit from it.

Thus, my realtime writing feedback tool is born. It's a simple program that sends the contents of any specified file to Claude and asks for feedback on each save. Originally, every version of the file was sent to Claude. This allowed for iterative feedback as the file was edited, but mostly importantly it used lots of input tokens to help burn through these credits. This actually ended up using too many tokens, as I was spending $2-5 per writing session. That was a little bit too much and made me realize that maybe it will be easier than I originally anticipated to burn all of these credits. I changed the program to only send the current revision and the most recent revision. This results in the same quality of iterative feedback while minimizing the input token count.

What is it Like to Use?

Here is a quick demo. I have my text editor open on one side of the screen and my terminal running the program on the other side. Every time I save my work in the text editor the program displays new feedback on the revision. The feedback is brief, usually between 3 and 5 sentences. When I first started using it I mostly ignored it, but now I check it after almost every save. I also have noticed that I have changed my patterns of saving my work to match up with the moments when I want to see the feedback.

Compared to other LLMs, Claude is particularly agreeable and nice. This makes the feedback tool feel like a supportive friend cheering me on and encouraging me as I write. Other LLMs are more monotone and matter-of-fact, and for this use-case I appreciate the friendliness and expressiveness of Claude. On the other hand, Claude has stronger opinions about ethics and morality than other LLMs. When I was writing an article exploring some ideas around hacking, Claude constantly was warning me about the legal and ethical implications of black-hat and grey-hat hacking. This can be helpful or tiresome, depending on your disposition.

In addition to supporting me, the tool often helps guide and unblock me when I'm stuck. It doesn't offer concrete edits or suggestions, but it gently suggests potential continuations or new ideas to explore. These can be ignored as much as I like, but when I'm stuck they typically are very helpful. Even when these suggestions are ignored, it's nice to have some feedback and alternative ideas for consideration. I haven't found that this harms anything about the writing process, but it makes it feel somewhat collaborative. I'm in the drivers seat, but Claude suggests places to go when I get lost. And otherwise when I'm cruising down the road, I can always check with Claude to see how he thinks things are going.

Next Steps

If you write and would like to use this, let me know and I will help you get set up. It's a new process to get used to but so far for me it has made writing more productive and more fun. I want to build a MacOS app around this so that it can be more accessible to use for nontechnical people. I'll let people use it for free if they provide their own API key, and I'll add a low-cost subscription for anyone who does not know or does not want to set up and manage an API key.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

Unsucking the feed is real

As a Nostrich with an interesting, thought-provoking, and informative feed... a feed so good, that we're creating clients just to look at that feed... a feed that puts a lie to the idea that Nostr is nothing, but people reposting from Twitter or rehashing worn-out Bitcoin memes... a feed that I personally and increasingly enjoy perusing... I am here to tell you that the feed is real.

It's taken me over a year, to produce this feed. I literally spent hours and hours, day in and day out, scouring the Nostrverse for people worth introducing other people to. It was brutally difficult, as I was fighting the inherent nature of the Nostr clients and relays, in their current, most-popular form.

It goes like so...

Here are the steps I took, that sometimes weren't possible to take, until I tried to take them, and that still will sometimes break your client because the clients are often intentionally designed to steer you into having one particular feed:

1) Make a screenshot of your current relay list and copy your follows list. 2) Unsubscribe from all the relays, that you are currently subscribed to. Your feed should disappear. If it doesn't, or it doesn't allow for this, switch to a different client app because yours is corrupted. 3) Unfollow everyone. Delete the whole list. You are taking your follows private, which will invariably result in only following npubs whose stuff you actually want to see, since there's no longer any virtue-signaling going on. Also, it's easier to explain having no list, than a very short one. If your client doesn't allow for this, or starts throwing error messages and freezing up, then switch to a different client app because yours is corrupted. 4) Curate your copied follows list. Go line by line and look at the feed produced by the npub on that list. * Do you want to see that in your feed, going forward? * Do they produce original content and/or are they interesting conversationalists, in the replies? * Have they been active, within the past three months? * Are they simply good friends or real-life acquaintances, that you want to keep tabs on? * If not, cross out their name. * If you have been following someone because they repost or quote interesting things, look at who they've been reposting and follow them, instead. 5) Of the npubs remaining on your list, go through and select the 10 most interesting ones, and look at the reposts and quotes in their feed, and their topical lists like \"Favorites\", \"Devs\", \"Recipes\", etc. (Not their follows list, unless it's quite short, as follows tend to be full of people they follow for social-signaling or client-functional reasons, that they don't actively look at.) Find some new follows, there. 6) Now, set up a personal relay and add all the follows, that made the cut, to your allowed-npubs list. Do not add people to the list, just to make them feel better, or because you feel guilty, as they follow you, or to keep them from yelling at you. Remember, they can't see the list! 7) Think about the topics you find interesting, and add an allowed-keywords list (this is better than hashtags, as it searches the entire content of the notes), with the OR operator (these allowed npubs OR these allowed topics). 8) Make sure that you choose words likely to find the content you are most-interested in, and not people just ranting about it or spamming (those are great additions to your relay's block-list). If you are Muslim, for instance, instead of "Islam" or "shariah", choose "hadith" or "riba", as those are words more-likely to be used by people who know what they are talking about. If you are into bread baking, add "sourdough", "rye", "yeast", or "whisk", but don't add "bread" or "carbs". Once a note from those people shows up in your feed, and their feed looks like someone interesting, you can add their npub to your allow list. Remember: The topics are there to find people to add to the allow list, not merely for their own sake, as this is not a topical relay, but a personal one. 9) Open up a faucet (or relay syncing) with some of the big relays you previously unsubscribed from, some WoT relays, and some of the paid relays (nostr.land, nostr.wine, nostr21.com, and sovbit.host, for example). Your relay will filter that feed and only accept the events from the people and topics on your list. As your relay becomes more popular, npubs will begin writing directly to it, and the connections to other relays will sink in significance. 10) Go to your client of choice and subscribe to your new relay. Also subscribe to some topical relays, or curated neighborhood relays, you find interesting or your frens are running. This is an easy way to find new, interesting npubs, to add to your own relay.

That's a lot of work, you say? Yes, but the result is great, and you are now fully in-charge of your own feed. You also -- here's the cool part -- have a feed good enough, that other people can add your feed to theirs and enjoy your manual curation. As you refine and expand your feed, theirs will also be refined, in parallel. You are now an official Nostr Community Curator. My sincere congratulations.

Why is this so hard?

This is only a lot of work because the clients aren't designed to interact with relays, to this extent, as they were created to service mega-relays, download all their crap to your local cache, and adjust the feed over the follows/mutes lists. This was an idea borne of the axiom that Relays Are Hard, so there will only ever be a handful of them, where we'd all clump together and the relay operators would never judge the quality of someone's content. Then, some unusually clever people made relays increasingly easy, and the mailbox communication model was invented, and here we are.

What we have now, and that is slowly growing in popularity, among the #NostrIntelligentsia, are Nostr clients aimed at curating and viewing individual relays or personalized sets of smaller or more-specialized relays. The reigning client devs refused to give us those clients, and most of us aren't up to developing our own clients, so the relay devs took matters into their own hands and made the clients themselves. The free market remains undefeated.

This is a total game-changer. Last one to board this train is a rotten egg.

Originally, relays were supposed to be completely stupid and clients were supposed to be completely smart, but it's now actually the other way around, because most relay devs have a market-born incentive to make their content highly customizable and appealing to individuals (so that more people run relays).

But what about algos?

Can't you just slap an algo on top of Damus, Lol, or Primal relays, and get the same result? I would argue... no. No, you can't. Or, rather, only in the short to medium term.

Running your own relay, is running your own server. You are now intellectually independent, at a machine-level, and therefore a fully sovereign consumer. If you then use algos to control your own server, or in a client that subscribes to your own server, then you can further-refine a feed that is already in a high-to-you-signal state, rather than risking an algo inching you toward the Consensus Feed.

I have noticed that my own feed is slowly drifting away from the ReplyGuy-Cryptobot-Porny-Bitcoin-Meme Dumpster Fire, that almost everyone else is looking at, and it's due to running my own relay. If I use DVMs, those algos sometimes refer to relays I intentionally avoid, so they return results according to those relays. The results are as underwhelming, as you would expect, and often are simply 31 flavors of the Trending List.

But, that isn't your problem, anymore. From here, you can actively expand and refine your feed, over your whitelist, the topics, and your personally-managed algos.

Happy Nostr-ing!

@ 6871d8df:4a9396c1

Today is Election Day here in the US, and it's a big deal.

As of now, this is my bet on the vote:

For myself, as I did in 2020, I will be voting for Donald Trump.

My biggest reasons for this are as follows: 1. Dismantling the bureaucracy. 2. Financial Freedom 3. Food Freedom

There are others, but those are my top three.

For me, the fact that unelected bureaucrats essentially run our government (Joe Biden is still our President right now, though no one has seen or heard from him in months) is our largest red flag. I think it is our biggest priority to return to a place where the people we elect to run our government actually run our government.

Trump swung and missed on this in his first term, but with his commitment to RFK and having people on his side like Vivek, I do not think he will sing and miss this time.

Next is financial freedom. The Biden-Harris administration has been incredibly hostile to what I am calling financial freedom. They mostly got their policies from the Warren camp, which hates digital currencies.

Being a part of Bitcoin startups for most of the Biden admin, I have seen this first hand. Operation Chokepoint 2.0 was a real thing and it was scary living through it. Actively seeing the government try to de-bank you was something I never would have thought was possible in the 'Land of the Free.'

The fact that the gov could de-bank you at all was an even bigger catalyst of how necessary a neutral, open, digital, and global money was critical for not only freedom itself, but our future.

Trump clearly is the better candidate regarding this. Yes, he may have launched a grifting shitcoin, but he doesn't want my industry — and financial freedom itself — dead. This is a no-brainer.

Andreessen Horowitz had a great podcast summarizing this that is worth the listen. It sums up where I sit as opposed to the current administration.

Trump has also promised to free Ross, which is absolutely necessary.

Last is food freedom.

I think the US is going the absolute wrong direction when it comes to health and food. In the name of saving animals and climate, food guidelines have been captured by this horrible, anti-human ideology.

I personally think it's not only necessary but good for humans to eat lots of beef and just meat in general. So much of what we've been told about nutrition and cholesterol is blatantly wrong.

Only one side of the aisle is trying to mandate this in the name of 'science.' I think they are wrong.

There is also only one side of the aisle that is anti-seed oils. I haven't eaten seed oils for almost four years, and bringing that mainstream, I think, is incredibly important. RFK is leading the way here. Trump putting him in a position of power to 'Make America Healthy Again,' I believe, is a fantastic initiative and one that is at the forefront for me for this election.

@ b8851a06:9b120ba1

A TALE OF RESILIENCE

Nine years ago today, The Washington Post declared "R.I.P. Bitcoin" when the cryptocurrency traded at $380. Fast forward to January 19, 2025, and Bitcoin trades at $104,803, representing a staggering 27,500% increase since that infamous obituary.

The Numbers Tell the Story

🔘 Bitcoin has been declared dead 477 times since its inception

🔘 2023 saw only 8 death notices, a decade-low

🔘 2024 recorded just 2 death declarations, compared to 124 in 2017

From Mockery to Mainstream

The transformation has been remarkable. When the Washington Post published its obituary, Bitcoin was dismissed as a fringe technology. Today, it's embraced by financial giants like BlackRock and Fidelity. The price history tells an compelling story.

The Future Outlook

Despite past skepticism, institutional analysts now project ambitious targets. Galaxy Digital predicts Bitcoin could exceed $150,000 in the first half of 2025. This represents a dramatic shift from the days when Nobel laureates and banking executives routinely dismissed Bitcoin as worthless.

A Lesson in Resilience

The premature death notice serves as a powerful reminder about the dangers of dismissing innovative technologies. While Bitcoin faced numerous challenges since 2016, including regulatory crackdowns and market crashes, its fundamental value proposition has remained intact. The declining frequency of "Bitcoin obituaries" suggests that even its harshest critics are beginning to acknowledge its staying power.

There is no second best, and it’s going to millions.

Ref: the Washington post from Jan 19 2016

@ 6b57533f:eaa341f5

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Welcome to My Story

This is an amazing story.

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