@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

Photography, to me, is a game - a game of snatching absurd, beautiful, fleeting moments from life. Anything staged or overly polished falls into what Garry Winogrand nails as “illustration work.” I’m with him on that. Photography is about staying awake to the world, to the “physical reality” or circumstances we’re steeped in, and burning that light onto film emulsion (or pixels now), locking a moment into matter forever. It’s not like painting, where brushstrokes mimic what’s seen, felt, or imagined. Photography captures photons - light itself - and turns it into something tangible. The camera, honestly, doesn’t get enough credit for being such a wild invention.

Lately, I’ve been chewing on what to do with a batch of new photos I’ve shot over the past month, which includes photographs from a film project, a trip to Manhattan and photos of David Byrne (more on that in another post). Maybe it's another photo-zine that I should make. It’s been a minute since my last one, Hiding in Hudson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7_t0OldrTk&t=339s). Putting out printed work like zines or books is killer practice — it forces you to sharpen your compositions, your vision, your whole deal as a photographer. Proof of work, you know?

This leads to a question: anyone out there down to help or collab on printing a photo-zine? I’d love to keep it DIY, steering clear of big companies.

In the spirit of getting back into a rhythm of daily shooting, here are a few recent shots from the past few days. Just wandering aimlessly around my neighborhood — bike rides, grocery runs, wherever I end up.

---

Camera used: Leica M262

Edited with: Lightroom + Dehancer Film

*Support my work and the funding for my new zine by sending a few sats: colincz@getalby.com *

@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

This is a long form test note from Untype.app

Seems like this could work well.

Here is a photograph of the infamous red firebird that has been in the same spot for over 10 years.

There is a header image up top as well. Will that be seen? Maybe?

Clean interface and you're able to type and see a preview window of what your post would like. Cool!

Text before the image prompt makes this lettering large and bold.

Here is a line break

---

Let me know if you can see this text that is now under the image.

BYE (IN BOLD)!

@ a53364ff:e6ba5513

Not everyone agrees or realizes that governments, corporations and banks are progressively infringing on our most basic rights and that we should fight back, if only with the right tools.

But I don’t believe in going out in the street to protest, hoping that the government will do something about it. I think that demanding from the State is actually giving it even more power. So what’s the solution?

I believe that Bitcoin is the best tool for individuals to reclaim their freedom and sovereignty.

By taking money out of the hands of central banks, 3-letter agencies and governments, we can reclaim complete control over our money, our life and our future.

I believe the world is facing a great threat. I’m not talking about global warming or climate change. I’m talking about a global political agenda, shared among Western countries’ governments, and focused on limiting individual freedom while increasing government control.

I believe our modern banking and financial systems are profoundly inegalitarian by nature, with the ability for a few elites to “print” money out of thin air and use it to follow their own agenda.

I believe our modern banking system was built like this on purpose. I do not consider the government’s and central banks’ money printing to be part of “how things normally work”, but rather to be a counterfeiting mechanism that they use for their own benefit.

For these reasons, I don’t believe that governments have the people’s best interest in mind. As a matter of fact, I rather think the opposite is true.

I believe this counterfeiting mechanism (or money printing) leads to financial servitude for the individuals, and systemic risk for human society as a whole.

I believe all the financial crises we witnessed since the beginning of the 20th century are directly linked to this counterfeiting mechanism, and that this system is now coming to an end.

As such, I believe most people grossly overlook the risks that are being taken with their money, whether it be sitting on a bank account or invested in financial markets.

Furthermore, I believe this flawed monetary system is in complete control of most people’s money, lives, and future.

But I believe there is an alternative to this flawed system: Bitcoin.

I believe Bitcoin is the best tool individuals can use to take back their freedom and resist government controlling their life.

And I believe you shouldn’t have to be tech-savvy to start using Bitcoin, but you definitely need to be freedom-minded.

@ a53364ff:e6ba5513

Are you tired of having to trust banks and other financial institutions with your money? With Bitcoin, you can take control of your finances and be the sole custodian of your wealth. This is known as self-custody and it completely eliminates the need for third-party services, by receiving and storing your bitcoin securely in your own Bitcoin wallet. In this blog post, we will discuss what self-custody means, how it works, and the benefits and responsibilities associated with being in control of your own money.

What is Self-Custody?

Self-custody is simply the process of keeping your own private keys to your Bitcoin wallet, meaning you do not need a bank or any other third party to manage or access your Bitcoin funds; you are able to do all that yourself. This means that only you have full control over your money, allowing you to make transactions securely and safely without ever having to ask someone’s permission or worry about someone else mishandling or stealing it.

Who Is in Charge of My Bitcoin?

When using Bitcoin, you are in charge of your own Bitcoin wallet, which includes an unlimited amount of addresses that are used to receive Bitcoin, and a private key that is used to sign outbound transactions. The private key is literally the key to your Bitcoin wallet, as it can send Bitcoin to other addresses your don’t control. As such, it is imperative that it is kept safe and secure, accessible only by you. This is how ownership of Bitcoin is determined. If you share the private key to a wallet you control, you’re not the only one able to spend the Bitcoin inside the wallet anymore.

Benefits & Responsibilities

The most obvious benefit of self-custody is that no one else has control over your funds but you! That said, there are some important responsibilities that come with owning the keys to your Bitcoin wallet.

One responsibility that comes with being the only owner of your Bitcoin funds is making sure that your private key is safe from theft and loss. Fortunately, there are easy solutions available for securely storing Bitcoin keys, and seeking guidance from a knowledgeable source can be a great help if you’re not ready to take on this responsibility alone. A Bitcoin security expert can provide valuable insights and tools to help you ensure the safety and security of your funds.

Overall, Bitcoin gives immense power to individuals who want full control over their finances without relying on third parties like banks or payment processors. But taking ownership of your money also comes with certain responsibilities such as safeguarding your private keys; however these responsibilities pale in comparison when compared with the freedom and security granted by taking ownership of your money with Bitcoin! And with the right tools and guidance, using Bitcoin in a truly sovereign way can be way easier than you may imagine.

@ a53364ff:e6ba5513

To the few elites who benefit from the modern banking system and the constant emission of currency, Bitcoin is a threat to their privileged position.

For traders, investors, and gamblers who are only interested in making a quick buck, Bitcoin is a new and volatile asset they can speculate on.

For individuals escaping tyranny or authoritarian regimes, Bitcoin is a way to move their wealth across borders and avoid it being seized by the government.

For people who live in inflation-ridden countries, Bitcoin is a way to protect their wealth against accelerating devaluation and avoid losing all their money to inflation.

For digital nomads, Bitcoin is a great way to easily earn money online, avoid paying high commission fees to payment processors (Paypal, Stripe, etc), and avoid high currency conversion fees while traveling.

As we can see, Bitcoin definitely is different things to different people. What we all agree on, though, is that Bitcoin is here to reject the status quo.

Bitcoin is the best tool out there for people who value individual freedom and seek more self-sovereignty to take control of their money, their lives, and their future.

What is Bitcoin to you?

@ df478568:2a951e67

Welcome to Zap This Blog

Exploring Liberty With Fredom Tech

Zap This Blog! Shop Merch Nostree Cashu Cards

I can string some spaghetti HTMl code together here and there, but vibe coding gave me the confidence to look into the code injection section of the ghost Blog. As sudden as a new block, the Lex Friedman Robert Rodriguez interview, I had an epiphony when he asked Lex, "Do you consider yourself a creative person?" I aswered for myself, right away, emphatically yes. I just felt like I never knew what to do with this creative energy. Friedman hesitated and I was like..Wow...He has extreme creativity like Jocko Wilink has extreme disipline. If that guy has doubts, what the hell is stopping me from trying other stuff?

Rodriguez also claimed Four rooms was financial flop. I thought that movie was genius. I had no idea it failed financially. Nevertheless, it was not profitable. His advice was like Tony Robbins for film nerds. I learned about him in a film class I took in college. He was legendary for making a mobie for $7,000. My professor also said it was made for the Mexican VHS market, but I did not know he never sold it to that market. Robert Rodriguez tells the story 100X better, as you might expect a director of his caliber would. His advice hits like Tony Robbins, for film geeks. Here are a few gem quotes from the epiode.

"Sift through the ashes of your failures"

"Turn chicken shit into chicken salad."

"Follow your instinct. If it doesn't work, just go. Sometimes you need to slip on the first two rocks, so the key is in the ashes of failure because if I had an insticnt, that means I was on the right track. I didn't get the result I want. That's because the result might be something way bigger that I don't have the vision for and the universe is just pushing me that way."

"Turn chicken shit into chicken salad."

"If you have some kind of failure on something that you..., don't let it knock you down. Maybe in ten years they'll think it's great. I'm just going to commit to making a body of work, a body of work."

Rodriguez taught me what I already know. I am a creative person. I am just a body, punching keys on a keyboard, taking pictures, and semi-vibe-coding art. Maybe this is a shitty blog post today, but I write it anyway. Someone might look at it like I first looked at the math in the Bitcoin white paper and scan it with their eyeballs without really reading or understanding it. Most people on Substack probably don't want to read HTML, but maybe someone will come accross it one day and build something themselves they can find in the ashes of this code.

I once saw Brian Harrington say every bitcoiner is a business owner. If you have a bitcoin address, you can accept bitcoin. How does someone find you though? Are they really going to find your bitcoin address on GitHub? I'd bet 100 sats they won't. Nostr fixes this so I thought about integrating it into my Ghost Blog. I looked at the code injection section and let my muse do the typing. Actually, I let the Duck Duck AI chat do the vibe-coding. As it turns out, you an add a header and footer on Ghost in the code injection. It's just the same HTMl I used to make my MySpace page. Then I thought, what if someone couldn't afford a Start9 or didn't know how to vibe code on Duck Duck Go's free AI chat using Claude? What if, like Rodriguez suggests, I create a business card?

You could just copy my HTML and change my nostr links and pics to go to your nostr links and pics. You could publish that HTML into https://habla.news. Now you have an e-commerce site with a blog, a merch store, and your nostree. I don't know if this will work. This is the muse's hypothesis. I'm just writing the words down. You'll need to test this idea for yourself.

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0
marc26z@getalby.com
Zap This Blog!

@ a53364ff:e6ba5513

Decentralization and Control:

Bitcoin operates on a decentralized, peer-to-peer network, meaning no single entity controls it. This decentralization can empower individuals by allowing them to control their own money and financial transactions without relying on intermediaries like banks or governments.

Financial Inclusion and Accessibility:

Bitcoin can provide financial access to individuals who may be excluded from traditional banking systems due to lack of identity documents, high fees, or other barriers.

Privacy and Security:

Bitcoin transactions can be anonymous, offering a degree of privacy and potentially protecting users from surveillance or financial manipulation.

Freedom from Financial Restrictions:

In countries with high inflation, capital controls, or currency restrictions, Bitcoin can offer a way to store and transfer value without being subject to these restrictions.

Potential for Social Justice:

Bitcoin's ability to provide financial freedom and bypass traditional systems can be seen as a tool for social justice, particularly in regions facing authoritarianism or financial oppression.

Examples of Bitcoin Adoption:

In El Salvador, Bitcoin has been legalized and adopted in some communities, offering a way for people to conduct everyday transactions and participate in social programs.

@ a53364ff:e6ba5513

About

Bitcoin Core is an open source project which maintains and releases Bitcoin client software called “Bitcoin Core”.

It is a direct descendant of the original Bitcoin software client released by Satoshi Nakamoto after he published the famous Bitcoin whitepaper.

Bitcoin Core consists of both “full-node” software for fully validating the blockchain as well as a bitcoin wallet. The project also currently maintains related software such as the cryptography library libsecp256k1 and others located at GitHub.

Anyone can contribute to Bitcoin Core.

Team

The Bitcoin Core project has a large open source developer community with many casual contributors to the codebase. There are many more who contribute research, peer review, testing, documentation, and translation.

Maintainers

Project maintainers have commit access and are responsible for merging patches from contributors. They perform a janitorial role merging patches that the team agrees should be merged. They also act as a final check to ensure that patches are safe and in line with the project goals. The maintainers’ role is by agreement of project contributors.

Contributors

Everyone is free to propose code changes and to test, review and comment on open Pull Requests. Anyone who contributes code, review, test, translation or documentation to the Bitcoin Core project is considered a contributor. The release notes for each Bitcoin Core software release contain a credits section to recognize all those who have contributed to the project over the previous release cycle. A list of code contributors can be found on Github.

@ df478568:2a951e67

If you've made one single-sig bitcoin wallet, you've made then all. The idea is, write down 12 or 24 magic words. Make your wallet disappear by dropping your phone in the toilet. Repeat the 12 magic words and do some hocus-pocus. Your sats re-appear from realms unknown. Or...Each word represents a 4 digit number from 0000-2047. I say it's magic.

I've recommended many wallets over the years. It's difficult to find the perfect wallet because there are so many with different security tailored for different threat models. You don't need Anchorwatch level of security for 1000 sats. 12 words is good enough. Misty Breez is like Aqua Wallet because the sats get swapped to Liquid in a similar way with a couple differences.

1. Misty Breez has no stableshitcoin¹ support.
2. Misty Breez gives you a lightning address. Misty Breez Lightning Wallet.

That's a big deal. That's what I need to orange pill the man on the corner selling tamales out of his van. Bitcoin is for everybody, at least anybody who can write 12 words down. A few years ago, almost nobody, not even many bitcoiners had a lightning address. Now Misty Breez makes it easy for anyone with a 5th grade reading level to start using lightning addresses. The tamale guy can send sats back home with as many tariffs as a tweet without leaving his truck.

How Misty Breez Works

Back in the day, I drooled over every word Elizabeth Stark at lightning labs uttered. I still believed in shitcoins at the time. Stark said atomic swaps can be made over the lightning network. Litecoin, since it also adopted the lightning network, can be swapped with bitcoin and vice-versa. I thought this was a good idea because it solves the coincidence of wants. I could technically have a sign on my website that says, "shitcoin accepted here" and automatically convert all my shitcoins to sats.

I don't do that because I now know there is no reason to think any shitcoin will go up in value over the long-term for various reasons. Technically, cashu is a shitcoin. Technically, Liquid is a shitcoin. Technically, I am not a card carrying bitcoin maxi because of this. I use these shitcoins because I find them useful. I consider them to be honest shitcoins(term stolen from NVK²).

Breeze does ~atomic swaps~~ peer swaps between bitcoin and Liquid. The sender sends sats. The receiver turns those sats into Liquid Bitcoin(L-BTC). This L-BTC is backed by bitcoin, therefore Liquid is a full reserve bank in many ways. That's why it molds into my ethical framework. I originally became interested in bitcoin because I thought fractional reserve banking was a scam and bitcoin was(and is) the most viable alternative to this scam.

Sats sent to Misty Breez wallet are pretty secure. It does not offer perfect security. There is no perfect security. Even though on-chain bitcoin is the most pristine example of cybersecurity on the planet, it still has risk. Just ask the guy who is digging up a landfill to find his bitcoin. I have found most noobs lose keys to bitcoin you give them. Very few take the time to keep it safe because they don't understand bitcoin well enough to know it will go up forever Laura.

She writes 12 words down with a reluctant bored look on her face. Wam. Bam. Thank you m'am. Might as well consider it a donation to the network because that index card will be buried in a pile of future trash in no time. Here's a tiny violin playing for the pre-coiners who lost sats.

"Lost coins only make everyone else's coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone." --Sathoshi Nakamoto, BitcoinTalk --June 21, 2010

The same thing will happen with the Misty Wallet. The 12 words will be written down my someone bored and unfulfilled woman working at NPC-Mart, but her phone buzzes in her pocket the next day. She recieved a new payment. Then you share the address on nostr and five people send her sats for no reason at all. They say everyone requires three touch points. Setting up a pre-coiner with a wallet which has a lightning address will allow you to send her as many touch points as you want. You could even send 21 sats per day for 21 days using Zap Planner. That way bitcoin is not just an "investment," but something people can see in action like a lion in the jungle chasing a gazelle.

Make Multiple Orange Pill Touch Points With Misty The Breez Lightning Address

It's no longer just a one-night stand. It's a relationship. You can softly send her sats seven days a week like a Rabbit Hole recap listening freak. Show people how to use bitcoin as it was meant to be used: Peer to Peer electronic cash. Misty wallet is still beta software so be careful because lightning is still in the w reckless days. Don't risk more sats that you are willing to lose with it just yet, but consider learning how to use it so you can teach others after the wallet is battle tested. I had trouble sending sats to my lightning address today from Phoenix wallet. Hopefully that gets resovled, but I couldn't use it today for whatever reason. I still think it's an awesome idea and will follow this project because I think it has potential.

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

¹ Stablecoins are shitcoins, but I admit they are not totally useless, but the underlying asset is the epitome of money printer go brrrrrr. ²NVK called cashu an honeset shitcoin on the Bitcoin.review podcast and I've used the term ever sense.

@ df478568:2a951e67

"It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on. If enough people think the same way, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Once it gets bootstrapped, there are so many applications if you could effortlessly pay a few cents to a website as easily as dropping coins in a vending machine." --Satoshi Nakamoto The Cryptography Mailing List--January 17, 2009

Forgot to add the good part about micropayments. While I don't think Bitcoin is practical for smaller micropayments right now, it will eventually be as storage and bandwidth costs continue to fall. If Bitcoin catches on on a big scale, it may already be the case by that time. Another way they can become more practical is if I implement client-only mode and the number of network nodes consolidates into a smaller number of professional server farms. Whatever size micropayments you need will eventually be practical. I think in 5 or 10 years, the bandwidth and storage will seem trivial. --Satoshi Nakamoto Bitcoin Talk-- August 5, 2010

I very be coded some HTML buttons using Claude and uploaded it to https://github.com/GhostZaps/ It's just a button that links to zapper.fun.

I signed up for Substack to build an email address, but learned adding different payment options to Substack is against their terms and services. Since I write about nostr, these terms seem as silly as someone saying Craig Wright is Satoshi. It's easy to build an audience on Substack however, or so I thought. Why is it easier to build an audience on Subtack though? Because Substack is a platform that markets to writers. Anyone with a ~~pen~~ ~~keyboard~~ smartphone and an email can create an account with Substack. There's just one problem: You are an Internet serf, working the land for your Internet landlord--The Duke of Substack.

Then I saw that Shawn posted about Substack's UX.

I should have grabbed my reading glasses before pushing the post button, but it occurred to me that I could use Ghost to do this and there is probably a way to hack it to accept bitcoin payments over the lightning network and host it yourself. So I spun my noddle, doodled some plans...And then it hit me. Ghost allows for markdown and HTML. I learned HTML and CSS with free-code camp, but ain't nobody got time to type CSS so I vibe-coded a button that ~~baits~~ sends the clicker to my zapper.fun page. This can be used on any blog that allows you to paste html into it so I added it to my Ghost blog self-hosted on a Start 9. The blog is on TOR at http://p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion/, but most people around me have been conditioned to fear the dark web so I used the cloudflared to host my newsletter on the clear net at https://marc26z.com/

Integrating Nostr Into My Self-Hosted Ghost Newsletter

I would venture to say I am more technical than the average person and I know HTML, but my CSS is fuzzy. I also know how to print("Hello world!") in python, but I an NPC beyond the basics. Nevertheless, I found that I know enough to make a button. I can't code well enough to create my own nostr long-form client and create plugins for ghost that send lightning payments to lighting channel, but I know enough about nostr to know that I don't need to. That's why nostr is so F@#%-ing cool! It's all connected. ** - One button takes you to zapper.fun where you can zap anywhere between 1 and ,000,000 sats.** - Another button sends you to a zap planner pre-set to send 5,000 sats to the author per month using nostr. - Yet another button sends you to a zap planner preset to send 2,500 sats per month.

The possibilities are endless. I entered a link that takes the clicker to my Shopstr Merch Store. The point is to write as self-sovereign as possible. I might need to change my lightning address when stuff breaks every now and then, but I like the idea of busking for sats by writing on the Internet using the Value 4 Value model. I dislike ads, but I also want people to buy stuff from people I do business with because I want to promote using bitcoin as peer-to-peer electronic cash, not NGU porn. I'm not prude. I enjoy looking at the price displayed on my BlockClock micro every now and then, but I am not an NGU porn addict.

This line made this pattern, that line made this pattern. All that Bolinger Bart Simpson bullshit has nothing to with bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It is the musings of a population trapped in the fiat mind-set. Bitcoin is permissionless so I realized I was bieng a hipocryte by using a permissioned payment system becaue it was easier than writing a little vibe code. I don't need permission to write for sats. I don't need to give my bank account number to Substack. I don't need to pay a 10$ vig to publish on a a platform which is not designed for stacking sats. I can write on Ghost and integrate clients that already exist in the multi-nostr-verse.

Nostr Payment Buttons

The buttons can be fouund at https://github.com/Marc26z/GhostZapButton

You can use them yourself. Just replace my npub with your npub or add any other link you want. It doesn't technically need to be a nostr link. It can be anything. I have a link to another Ghost article with other buttons that lead down different sat pledging amounts. It's early. Everyone who spends bitcoin is on nostr and nostr is small, but growing community. I want to be part of this community. I want to find other writers on nostr and stay away from Substack.

Support By Pledging 5,000 Sats Per Month

Here's what it looks like on Ghost: https://marc26z.com/zaps-on-ghost/

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

@ f10512df:c9293bb3

Details

• 🍳 Cook time: 5-7 minutes
• 🍽️ Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• Shredded cheese (Sharp cheddar is a favorite)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil or ghee

Directions

1. Add oil to a non-stick pan and allow it to get hot (med-high heat)
2. Add eggs and additional toppings, scramble and wait for the edges to get brown.
3. Add shredded cheese while edges are browning. It is best if cheese begins to melt before flipping.
4. Flip, and make sure all cheese stayed down, and there is enough oil left in the pan.
5. Keep checking until pan side of eggs lift easily. Done correctly, the cheese will form a crisp layer.
6. When fully cooked, serve with cheese right side up and enjoy!

@ 1c19eb1a:e22fb0bc

After my first major review of Primal on Android, we're going to go a very different direction for this next review. Primal is your standard "Twitter clone" type of kind 1 note client, now branching into long-form. They also have a team of developers working on making it one of the best clients to fill that use-case. By contrast, this review will not be focusing on any client at all. Not even an "other stuff" client.

Instead, we will be reviewing a very useful tool created and maintained by nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5 called #Amber. For those unfamiliar with Amber, it is an #Android application dedicated to managing your signing keys, and allowing you to log into various #Nostr applications without having to paste in your private key, better known as your #nsec. It is not recommended to paste your nsec into various applications because they each represent another means by which it could be compromised, and anyone who has your nsec can post as you. On Nostr, your #npub is your identity, and your signature using your private key is considered absolute proof that any given note, reaction, follow update, or profile change was authorized by the rightful owner of that identity.

It happens less often these days, but early on, when the only way to try out a new client was by inputting your nsec, users had their nsec compromised from time to time, or they would suspect that their key may have been compromised. When this occurs, there is no way to recover your account, or set a new private key, deprecating the previous one. The only thing you can do is start over from scratch, letting everyone know that your key has been compromised and to follow you on your new npub.

If you use Amber to log into other Nostr apps, you significantly reduce the likelihood that your private key will be compromised, because only one application has access to it, and all other applications reach out to Amber to sign any events. This isn't quite as secure as storing your private key on a separate device that isn't connected to the internet whatsoever, like many of us have grown accustomed to with securing our #Bitcoin, but then again, an online persona isn't nearly as important to secure for most of us as our entire life savings.

Amber is the first application of its kind for managing your Nostr keys on a mobile device. nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5 didn't merely develop the application, but literally created the specification for accomplishing external signing on Android which can be found in NIP-55. Unfortunately, Amber is only available for Android. A signer application for iOS is in the works from nostr:npub1yaul8k059377u9lsu67de7y637w4jtgeuwcmh5n7788l6xnlnrgs3tvjmf, but is not ready for use at this time. There is also a new mobile signer app for Android and iOS called Nowser, but I have not yet had a chance to try this app out. From a cursory look at the Android version, it is indeed in the very early stages of development and cannot be compared with Amber.

This review of Amber is current as of version 3.2.5.

Overall Impression

Score: 4.7 / 5 (Updated 4/21/2025)

I cannot speak highly enough about Amber as a tool that every Nostr user on Android should start using if they are not already. When the day comes that we have more options for well-developed signer apps on mobile, my opinion may very well change, but until then Amber is what we have available to us. Even so, it is an incredibly well thought-out and reliable tool for securing your nsec.

Despite being the only well-established Android signer available for Android, Amber can be compared with other external signing methods available on other platforms. Even with more competition in this arena, though, Amber still holds up incredibly well. If you are signing into web applications on a desktop, I still would recommend using a browser extension like #Alby or #Nos2x, as the experience is usually faster, more seamless, and far more web apps support this signing method (NIP-07) than currently support the two methods employed by Amber. Nevertheless that gap is definitely narrowing.

A running list I created of applications that support login and signing with Amber can be found here: Nostr Clients with External Signer Support

I have run into relatively few bugs in my extensive use of Amber for all of my mobile signing needs. Occasionally the application crashes when trying to send it a signing request from a couple of applications, but I would not be surprised if this is no fault of Amber at all, and rather the fault of those specific apps, since it works flawlessly with the vast majority of apps that support either NIP-55 or NIP-46 login.

I also believe that mobile is the ideal platform to use for this type of application. First, because most people use Nostr clients on their phone more than on a desktop. There are, of course, exceptions to that, but in general we spend more time on our phones when interacting online. New users are also more likely to be introduced to Nostr by a friend having them download a Nostr client on their phone than on a PC, and that can be a prime opportunity to introduce the new user to protecting their private key. Finally, I agree with the following assessment from nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn.

nostr:nevent1qqsw0r6gzn05xg67h5q2xkplwsuzedjxw9lf7ntrxjl8ajm350fcyugprfmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68yurvv438xtnrdaksyg9hyaxj3clfswlhyrd5kjsj5v04clhjvgeq6pwztmysfzdvn93gev7awu9v

The one downside to Amber is that it will be quite foreign for new users. That is partially unavoidable with Nostr, since folks are not accustomed to public/private key cryptography in general, let alone using a private key to log into websites or social media apps. However, the initial signup process is a bit cumbersome if Amber is being used as the means of initially generating a key pair. I think some of this could be foregone at start-up in favor of streamlining onboarding, and then encourage the user to back-up their private key at a later time.

Features

Amber has some features that may surprise you, outside of just storing your private key and signing requests from your favorite Nostr clients. It is a full key management application, supporting multiple accounts, various backup methods, and even the ability to authorize other users to access a Nostr profile you control.

Android Signing

This is the signing method where Amber really shines in both speed and ease of use. Any Android application that supports this standard, and even some progressive web-apps that can be installed to your Android's home-screen, can very quickly and seamlessly connect with Amber to authorize anything that you need signed with your nsec. All you have to do is select "Login with Amber" in clients like #Amethyst or #0xChat and the app will reach out to Amber for all signing requests from there on out. If you had previously signed into the app with your nsec, you will first need to log out, then choose the option to use Amber when you log back in.

This is a massive deal, because everything you do on Nostr requires a signature from your private key. Log in? Needs a signature. Post a "GM" note? Needs a signature. Follow someone who zapped your note? Needs a signature. Zap them back? You guessed it; needs a signature. When you paste your private key into an application, it will automatically sign a lot of these actions without you ever being asked for approval, but you will quickly realize just how many things the client is doing on your behalf when Amber is asking you to approve them each time.

Now, this can also get quite annoying after a while. I recommend using the setting that allows Amber to automatically sign for basic functions, which will cut down on some of the authorization spam. Once you have been asked to authorize the same type of action a few times, you can also toggle the option to automatically authorize that action in the future. Don't worry, though, you have full control to require Amber to ask you for permission again if you want to be alerted each time, and this toggle is specific to each application, so it's not a blanket approval for all Nostr clients you connect with.

This method of signing is just as fast as signing via browser extension on web clients, which users may be more accustomed to. Everything is happening locally on the device, so it can be very snappy and secure.

Nostr Connect/Bunker Signing

This next method of signing has a bit of a delay, because it is using a Nostr relay to send encrypted information back and forth between the app the user is interacting with and Amber to obtain signatures remotely. It isn't a significant delay most of the time, but it is just enough to be noticeable.

Also, unlike the previous signing method that would automatically switch to Amber as the active application when a signing request is sent, this method only sends you a notification that you must be watching for. This can lead to situations where you are wondering why something isn't working in a client you signed into remotely, because it is waiting on you to authorize the action and you didn't notice the notification from Amber. As you use the application, you get used to the need to check for such authorization requests from time to time, or when something isn't working as expected.

By default, Amber will use relay.nsec.app to communicate with whichever Nostr app you are connecting to. You can set a different relay for this purpose, if you like, though not just any relay will support the event kinds that Amber uses for remote signing. You can even run your own relay just for your own signing purposes. In fact, the creator of Amber has a relay application you can run on your phone, called Citrine, that can be used for signing with any web app you are using locally on your phone. This is definitely more of an advanced option, but it is there for you if you want it. For most users, sticking with relay.nsec.app will be just fine, especially since the contents of the events sent back and forth for signing are all encrypted.

Something many users may not realize is that this remote signing feature allows for issuing signing permissions to team members. For instance, if anyone ever joined me in writing reviews, I could issue them a connection string from Amber, and limit their permissions to just posting long-form draft events. Anything else they tried to do would require my explicit approval each time. Moreover, I could revoke those permissions if I ever felt they were being abused, without the need to start over with a whole new npub. Of course, this requires that your phone is online whenever a team member is trying to sign using the connection string you issued, and it requires you pay attention to your notifications so you can approve or reject requests you have not set to auto-approve. However, this is probably only useful for small teams, and larger businesses will want to find a more robust solution for managing access to their npub, such as Keycast from nostr:npub1zuuajd7u3sx8xu92yav9jwxpr839cs0kc3q6t56vd5u9q033xmhsk6c2uc.

The method for establishing a connection between Amber and a Nostr app for remote signing can vary for each app. Most, at minimum, will support obtaining a connection string from Amber that starts with "bunker://" and pasting it in at the time of login. Then you just need to approve the connection request from Amber and the client will log you in and send any subsequent signing requests to Amber using the same connection string.

Some clients will also offer the option to scan a QR code to connect the client to Amber. This is quite convenient, but just remember that this also means the client is setting which relay will be used for communication between the two. Clients with this option will also have a connection string you can copy and paste into Amber to achieve the same purpose. For instance, you may need this option if you are trying to connect to an app on your phone and therefore can't scan the QR code using Amber on the same phone.

Multiple Accounts

Amber does not lock you into using it with only a single set of keys. You can add all of your Nostr "accounts" to Amber and use it for signing events for each independently. Of course, Nostr doesn't actually have "accounts" in the traditional sense. Your identity is simply your key-pair, and Amber stores and accesses each private key as needed.

When first signing in using native Android signing as described above, Amber will default to whichever account was most recently selected, but you can switch to the account that is needed before approving the request. After initial login, Amber will automatically detect the account that the signing request is for.

Key Backup & Restore

Amber allows multiple ways to back up your private key. As most users would expect, you can get your standard nsec and copy/paste it to a password manager, but you can also obtain your private key as a list of mnemonic seed words, an encrypted version of your key called an ncryptsec, or even a QR code of your nsec or ncryptsec.

Additionally, in order to gain access to this information, Amber requires you to enter your device's PIN or use biometric authentication. This isn't cold-storage level protection for your private key by any means, especially since your phone is an internet connected device and does not store your key within a secure element, but it is about as secure as you can ask for while having your key accessible for signing Nostr events.

Tor Support

While Amber does not have Tor support within the app itself, it does support connecting to Tor through Orbot. This would be used with remote signing so that Amber would not connect directly over clearnet to the relay used for communication with the Nostr app requesting the signature. Instead, Amber would connect through Tor, so the relay would not see your IP address. This means you can utilize the remote signing option without compromising your anonymity.

Additional Security

Amber allows the user the option to require either biometric or PIN authentication before approving signing requests. This can provide that extra bit of assurance that no one will be able to sign events using your private key if they happen to gain access to your phone. The PIN you set in Amber is also independent from the PIN to unlock your device, allowing for separation of access.

Can My Grandma Use It?

Score: 4.6 / 5 (Updated 4/21/2025)

At the end of the day, Amber is a tool for those who have some concept of the importance of protecting their private key by not pasting it into every Nostr client that comes along. This concept in itself is not terribly approachable to an average person. They are used to just plugging their password into every service they use, and even worse, they usually have the same password for everything so they can more readily remember it. The idea that they should never enter their "Nostr password" into any Nostr application would never occur to them unless someone first explained how cryptography works related to public/private key pairs.

That said, I think there can be some improvements made to how users are introduced to these concepts, and that a signer application like Amber might be ideal for the job. Considering Amber as a new user's first touch-point with Nostr, I think it holds up well, but could be somewhat streamlined.

Upon opening the app, the user is prompted to either use their existing private key or "Create a new Nostr account." This is straightforward enough. "Account" is not a technically correct term with Nostr, but it is a term that new users would be familiar with and understand the basic concept.

The next screen announces that the account is ready, and presents the user with their public key, explaining that it is "a sort of username" that will allow others to find them on Nostr. While it is good to explain this to the user, it is unnecessary information at this point. This screen also prompts the user to set a nickname and set a password to encrypt their private key. Since the backup options also allow the user to set this password, I think this step could be pushed to a later time. This screen would better serve the new user if it simply prompted them to set a nickname and short bio that could be saved to a few default relays.

Of course, Amber is currently prompting for a password to be set up-front because the next screen requires the new user to download a "backup kit" in order to continue. While I do believe it is a good idea to encourage the creation of a backup, it is not crucial to do so immediately upon creation of a new npub that has nothing at stake if the private key is lost. This is something the UI could remind the user to do at a later time, reducing the friction of profile creation, and expediting getting them into the action.

Outside of these minor onboarding friction points, I think Amber does a great job of explaining to the user the purpose of each of its features, all within the app and without any need to reference external documentation. As long as the user understands the basic concept that their private key is being stored by Amber in order to sign requests from other Nostr apps, so they don't have to be given the private key, Amber is very good about explaining the rest without getting too far into the technical weeds.

The most glaring usability issue with Amber is that it isn't available in the Play Store. Average users expect to be able to find applications they can trust in their mobile device's default app store. There is a valid argument to be made that they are incorrect in this assumption, but that doesn't change the fact that this is the assumption most people make. They believe that applications in the Play Store are "safe" and that anything they can't install through the Play Store is suspect. The prompts that the Android operating system requires the user to approve when installing "unknown apps" certainly doesn't help with this impression.

Now, I absolutely love the Zapstore from nostr:npub1wf4pufsucer5va8g9p0rj5dnhvfeh6d8w0g6eayaep5dhps6rsgs43dgh9, but it doesn't do much to alleviate this issue. Users will still need to be convinced that it is safe to install the Zapstore from the GitHub repo, and then install Amber from there. Furthermore, this adds yet another step to the onboarding process.

Instead of:

• Install Amber
• Set up your keys
• Install the client you want to use
• Log in with Amber

The process becomes:

• Go to the Zapstore GitHub and download the latest version from the releases page.
• Install the APK you downloaded, allowing any prompt to install unknown apps.
• Open Zapstore and install Amber, allowing any prompt to install unknown apps again.
• Open Amber and set up your keys.
• Install the client you want to use
• Log in with Amber

An application as important as Amber for protecting users' private keys should be as readily available to the new user as possible. New users are the ones most prone to making mistakes that could compromise their private keys. Amber should be available to them in the Play Store.

UPDATE: As of version 3.2.8 released on 4/21/2025, the onboarding flow for Amber has been greatly improved! Now, when selecting to set up a new "account" the user is informed on the very next screen, "Your Nostr account is ready!" and given their public key/npub. The only field the user must fill in is their "nickname"/display name and hit "Continue."

From there the user is asked if they want Amber to automatically approve basic actions, or manually approve each app, and then they are shown a new Applications screen, with a prompt to create a backup of their account. This prompt persists until the user has done so.

As you can see, the user is also encouraged to find applications that can be used with Amber with links to nostrapps.com and the Zapstore.

Thanks to these updates, Amber is now the smoothest and most user-friendly onboarding experience I have seen for Nostr to date. Sure, it doesn't have anything for setting up a profile picture or lightning address, but that is better done in a client like Amethyst or YakiHonne, anyway. Just tap "create," type in a handle to call yourself, and you're done!

How do UI Look?

Score: 4.5 / 5

Amber's UI can be described as clean but utilitarian. But then, Amber is a tool, so this is somewhat expected. It is not an app you will be spending a lot of time in, so the UI just needs to be serviceable. I would say it accomplishes this and then some. UI elements are generally easy to understand what they do, and page headings fill in the gaps where that is not the case.

I am not the biggest fan of the color-scheme, particularly in light-mode, but it is not bad in dark-mode at all, and Amber follows whatever theme you have set for your device in that respect. Additionally, the color choice does make sense given the application's name.

It must also be taken into consideration that Amber is almost entirely the product of a single developer's work. He has done a great job producing an app that is not only useful, but pleasant to interact with. The same cannot be said for most utility apps I have previously used, with interfaces that clearly made good design the lowest priority. While Amber's UI may not be the most beautiful Nostr app I have seen, design was clearly not an afterthought, either, and it is appreciated.

Relay Management

Score: 4.9 / 5

Even though Amber is not a Nostr client, where users can browse notes from their favorite npubs, it still relies heavily on relays for some of its features. Primarily, it uses relays for communicating with other Nostr apps for remote signing requests. However, it also uses relays to fetch profile data, so that each private key you add to Amber will automatically load your chosen username and profile picture.

In the relay settings, users can choose which relays are being used to fetch profile data, and which relays will be used by default when creating new remote signing connection strings.

The user can also see which relays are currently connected to Amber and even look at the information that has been passed back and forth on each of those active relays. This information about actively connected relays is not only available within the application, but also in the notification that Amber has to keep in your device's notification tray in order to continue to operate in the background while you are using other apps.

Optionality is the name of the game when it comes to how Amber handles relay selection. The user can just stick with the default signing relay, use their own relay as the default, or even use a different relay for each Nostr application that they connect to for remote signing. Amber gives the user an incredible amount of flexibility in this regard.

In addition to all of this, because not all relays accept the event types needed for remote signing, when you add a relay address to Amber, it automatically tests that relay to see if it will work. This alone can be a massive time saver, so users aren't trying to use relays that don't support remote signing and wondering why they can't log into noStrudel with the connection string they got from Amber.

The only way I could see relay management being improved would be some means of giving the user relay recommendations, in case they want to use a relay other than relay.nsec.app, but they aren't sure which other relays will accept remote signing events. That said, most users who want to use a different relay for signing remote events will likely be using their own, in which case recommendations aren't needed.

Current Users' Questions

The AskNostr hashtag can be a good indication of the pain points that other users are currently having with any Nostr application. Here are some of the most common questions submitted about Amber in the last two months.

nostr:nevent1qqsfrdr68fafgcvl8dgnhm9hxpsjxuks78afxhu8yewhtyf3d7mkg9gpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgq3qkgh77xxt7hhtt4u528hecnx69rhagla8jj3tclgyf9wvkxa6dc0sxp0e6m

This is a good example of Amber working correctly, but the app the user is trying to log into not working. In my experience with #Olas in particular, it sometimes allows remote signer login, and sometimes doesn't. Amber will receive the signing request and I will approve it, but Olas remains on the login screen.

If Amber is receiving the signing requests, and you are approving them, the fault is likely with the application you are trying to log into.

That's it. That's all the repeated questions I could find. Oh, there were a few one-off questions where relay.nsec.app wouldn't connect, or where the user's out-of-date web browser was the issue. Outside of that, though, there were no common questions about how to use Amber, and that is a testament to Amber's ease of use all on its own.

Wrap Up

If you are on Android and you are not already using Amber to protect your nsec, please do yourself a favor and get it installed. It's not at all complicated to set up, and it will make trying out all the latest Nostr clients a safe and pleasant experience.

If you are a client developer and you have not added support for NIP-55 or NIP-46, do your users the courtesy of respecting the sanctity of their private keys. Even developers who have no intention of compromising their users' keys can inadvertently do so. Make that eventuality impossible by adding support for NIP-55 and NIP-46 signing.

Finally, I apologize for the extended time it took me to get this review finished. The time I have available is scarce, Nostr is distracting, and nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5 kept improving Amber even as I was putting it through its paces over the last two months. Keep shipping, my friend! You have made one of the most useful tools we have seen for Nostr to date!

Now... What should I review next?

@ df478568:2a951e67

Testing

Untype.app

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

I've been meaning to dogfood my own vibe project for a while so this feels like a good opportunity to use Untype to publish this update and reflect on my vibe coding journey.

New Untype Update

As I write this, I found it a bit annoying dealing with one of the latest features, so I'll need to make some changes right after I'm done. Nonetheless, here are some exciting developments in the Untype article composer:

1. Added inline AI helper! Now you can highlight text and perform all sorts of things like fix grammar, re-write in different styles, and all sorts of other things. This is a bit annoying at the moment because it takes over the other editing functions and I need to fix the UX.

2. Added pushing articles to DMs! This option, when enabled, will send the article to all the subscribers via a NIP-44 DM. (No client has implemented the subscription method yet so technically it won’t work, until one does. I may add this to nrss.app) Also, I have not tested this so it could be broken… will test eventually!

3. Added word counts
4. Added ability to export as markdown, export as PDF, print.

The biggest flaw I have already discovered is how "I" implemented the highlight functionality. Right now when you highlight some text it automatically pops up the AI helper menu and this makes for an annoying time trying to make any changes to text. I wanted to change this to show a floating clickable icon instead, but for some reason the bot is having a difficult time updating the code to this desired UX.

Speaking of difficult times, it's probably a good idea to reflect a bit upon my vibe coding journey.

Vibe Coding Nostr Projects

First, I think it's important to add some context around my recent batch of nostr vibe projects. I am working on them mostly at night and occasionally on weekends in between park runs with kids, grocery shopping and just bumming around the house. People who see buggy code or less than desired UX should understand that I am not spending days coding this stuff. Some apps are literally as simple as typing one prompt!

That said, its pretty clear by now that one prompt cannot produce a highly polished product. This is why I decided to limit my number of project to a handful that I really wish existed, and slowly update them over time - fixing bugs, adding new features in hopes of making them the best tools - not only on nostr but the internet in general. As you can imagine this is not a small task, especially for sporadic vibe coding.

Fighting the bot

One of my biggest challenges so far besides having very limited time is getting the bot to do what I want it to do. I guess if you've done any vibe coding at all you're probably familiar with what I'm trying to say. You prompt one thing and get a hallucinated response, or worse, a complete mess out the other end that undoes most of the progress you've made. Once the initial thing is created, which barely took any time, now you're faced with making it work a certain way. This is where the challenges arise.

Here's a brief list of issues I've faced when vibe-coding with various tools:

1. Runaway expenses - tools like Cline tend to do a better job directly in VSCode, but they can also add up dramatically. Before leaning into v0 (which is where I do most of my vibe coding now), I would often melt through $10 credit purchases faster than I could get a decent feature out. It was not uncommon for me to spend $20-30 on a weekend just trying to debug a handful of issues. Naturally, I did not wish to pay these fees so I searched for alternatives.

2. File duplication - occasionally, seemingly out of nowhere, the bot will duplicate files by creating an entire new copy and attached "-fixed" to the file name. Clearly, I'm not asking for duplicate files, I just want it to fix the existing file, but it does happen and it's super annoying. Then you are left telling it which version to keep and which one to delete, and sometimes you have to be very precise or it'll delete the wrong thing and you have to roll back to a previous working version.

3. Code duplication - similar to file duplication, occasionally the bot will duplicate code and do things in the most unintuitive way imaginable. This often results in loops and crashes that can take many refreshes just to revert back to a working state, and many more prompts to avoid the duplication entirely - something a seasoned dev never has to deal with (or so I imagine).

4. Misinterpreting your request - occasionally the bot will do something you didn't ask for because it took your request quite literally. This tends to happen when I give it very specific prompts that are targeted at fixing one very specific thing. I've noticed the bots tend to do better with vague asks - hence a pretty good result on the initial prompt.

5. Doing things inefficiently, without considering smarter approaches - this one is the most painful of vibe coding issues. As a person who may not be familiar with some of the smarter ways of handling development, you rely on the bot to do the right thing. But, when the bot does something horribly inefficiently and you are non-the-wiser, it can be tough to diagnose the issue. I often fight myself asking the bot "is this really the best way to handle things? Can't we ... / shouldn't we .../ isn't this supposed to..." etc. I guess one of the nice side effects of this annoyance is being able to prompt better. I learn that I should ask the bot to reflect on its own code more often and seek ways to do things more simply.

A combination of the above, or total chaos - this is a category where all hell breaks loose and you're trying to put out one fire after another. Fix one bug, only to see 10 more pop up. Fix those, to see 10 more and so on. I guess this may sound like typical development, but the bot amplifies issues by acting totally irrationally. This is typically when I will revert to a previous save point and just undo everything, often losing a lot of progress.

Lessons Learned

If I had to give my earlier self some tips on how to be a smarter vibe coder, here's how I'd summarize them:

1. Fork often - in v0 I now fork for any new major feature I'd like to add (such as the AI assistant).

2. Use targeting tools - in v0 you can select elements and describe how you wish to edit them.

3. Refactor often - keeping the code more manageable speeds up the process. Since the bot will go through the entire file, even if it only makes one small change, it's best to keep the files small and refactoring achieves that.

I guess the biggest lesson someone might point out is just to stop vibe coding. It may be easier to learn proper development and do things right. For me it has been a spare time hobby (one that I will admit is taking more of my extra time than I'd like). I don't really have the time to learn proper development. I feel like I've learned a lot just bossing the bot around and have learned a bunch of things in the process. That's not to say that I never will, but for the moment being my heart is still mostly in design. I haven't shared much of anything I have designed recently - mostly so I can remain speaking more freely without it rubbing off on my work.

I'll go ahead and try to publish this to see if it actually works 😂. Here goes nothing... (oh, I guess I could use the latest feature to export as markdown so I don't lose any progress! Yay!

@ 7d33ba57:1b82db35

Venice is like nowhere else on Earth. A city built on water, where gondolas glide through silent canals and palaces shimmer in the light of the lagoon. It’s romantic, surreal, and endlessly photogenic—from the grandeur of St. Mark’s Square to the quiet charm of back-alley bridges. Whether you're there for the art, the architecture, or the atmosphere, Venice is pure magic.

🌟 Must-See in Venice

1️⃣ St. Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco)

• A glittering masterpiece of Byzantine architecture
• Don’t miss the Pala d’Oro and mosaics inside
• Climb to the rooftop terrace for views over Piazza San Marco

2️⃣ Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale)

• The seat of Venetian power for centuries
• Walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the old prison
• Book a "Secret Itineraries" tour to explore hidden passages

3️⃣ Grand Canal & Vaporetto Ride

• Take a vaporetto (water bus) from Piazzale Roma to San Marco
• You'll pass Rialto Bridge, palazzos, and everyday life along the water
• For extra magic, do it at sunset

4️⃣ Rialto Market & Bridge

• The city’s oldest bridge, buzzing with life
• Stop by the Rialto Market in the morning for local seafood and produce
• Great area to grab a spritz and people-watch

5️⃣ Gondola Ride or Rowboat Tour

• Yes, it’s touristy—but it’s iconic for a reason
• For a local spin, try a traghetto across the canal, or book a rowboat tour at sunset

🖼️ Art & Culture

• Gallerie dell’Accademia – Home to masterpieces by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection – Modern art in a stunning canal-side setting
• Teatro La Fenice – Venice’s grand opera house, steeped in drama and beauty

🍝 What to Eat in Venice

• Cicchetti – Venetian tapas: try bacalà mantecato, crostini with seafood, or mini meatballs
• Sarde in saor – Sweet-and-sour marinated sardines
• Risotto al nero di seppia – Squid ink risotto
• Wash it down with a Venetian spritz (try one with Select or Cynar)

🌿 Day Trips from Venice

• Murano – Famous for glassblowing
• Burano – Bright, colorful houses and handmade lace
• Torcello – Quiet island with ancient churches and lagoon views
• Lido – Beachy escape from the city crowds

🎯 Venice Tips

✅ Get lost—it’s part of the charm (but download offline maps just in case)
✅ Visit early morning or late evening to feel the magic without the crowds
✅ Stay overnight if you can—Venice empties after the cruise ships leave
✅ Don’t feed the pigeons in St. Mark’s Square—it’s actually banned
✅ Look for "ombra" (local wine) and a plate of cicchetti at a traditional bacaro bar

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

The heading to be

Testing apps, a tireless quest, Click and swipe, then poke the rest. Crashing bugs and broken flows, Hidden deep where logic goes.

Specs in hand, we watch and trace, Each edge case in its hiding place. From flaky taps to loading spins, The war on regressions slowly wins.

Push the build, review the log, One more fix, then clear the fog. For in each test, truth will unfold— A quiet tale of stable code.

This has been a test. Thanks for tuning in.

• one
• two
• three

---

Listen a chill

Tranquility

And leisure

@ 3b3a42d3:d192e325

Atomic Signature Swaps (ASS) over Nostr is a protocol for atomically exchanging Schnorr signatures using Nostr events for orchestration. This new primitive enables multiple interesting applications like:

• Getting paid to publish specific Nostr events
• Issuing automatic payment receipts
• Contract signing in exchange for payment
• P2P asset exchanges
• Trading and enforcement of asset option contracts
• Payment in exchange for Nostr-based credentials or access tokens
• Exchanging GMs 🌞

It only requires that (i) the involved signatures be Schnorr signatures using the secp256k1 curve and that (ii) at least one of those signatures be accessible to both parties. These requirements are naturally met by Nostr events (published to relays), Taproot transactions (published to the mempool and later to the blockchain), and Cashu payments (using mints that support NUT-07, allowing any pair of these signatures to be swapped atomically.

How the Cryptographic Magic Works 🪄

This is a Schnorr signature (Zₓ, s):

s = z + H(Zₓ || P || m)⋅k

If you haven't seen it before, don't worry, neither did I until three weeks ago.

The signature scalar s is the the value a signer with private key k (and public key P = k⋅G) must calculate to prove his commitment over the message m given a randomly generated nonce z (Zₓ is just the x-coordinate of the public point Z = z⋅G). H is a hash function (sha256 with the tag "BIP0340/challenge" when dealing with BIP340), || just means to concatenate and G is the generator point of the elliptic curve, used to derive public values from private ones.

Now that you understand what this equation means, let's just rename z = r + t. We can do that, z is just a randomly generated number that can be represented as the sum of two other numbers. It also follows that z⋅G = r⋅G + t⋅G ⇔ Z = R + T. Putting it all back into the definition of a Schnorr signature we get:

s = (r + t) + H((R + T)ₓ || P || m)⋅k

Which is the same as:

s = sₐ + t where sₐ = r + H((R + T)ₓ || P || m)⋅k

sₐ is what we call the adaptor signature scalar) and t is the secret. ((R + T)ₓ, sₐ) is an incomplete signature that just becomes valid by add the secret t to the sₐ:

s = sₐ + t

What is also important for our purposes is that by getting access to the valid signature s, one can also extract t from it by just subtracting sₐ:

t = s - sₐ

The specific value of t depends on our choice of the public point T, since R is just a public point derived from a randomly generated nonce r.

So how do we choose T so that it requires the secret t to be the signature over a specific message m' by an specific public key P'? (without knowing the value of t)

Let's start with the definition of t as a valid Schnorr signature by P' over m':

t = r' + H(R'ₓ || P' || m')⋅k' ⇔ t⋅G = r'⋅G + H(R'ₓ || P' || m')⋅k'⋅G

That is the same as:

T = R' + H(R'ₓ || P' || m')⋅P'

Notice that in order to calculate the appropriate T that requires t to be an specific signature scalar, we only need to know the public nonce R' used to generate that signature.

In summary: in order to atomically swap Schnorr signatures, one party P' must provide a public nonce R', while the other party P must provide an adaptor signature using that nonce:

sₐ = r + H((R + T)ₓ || P || m)⋅k where T = R' + H(R'ₓ || P' || m')⋅P'

P' (the nonce provider) can then add his own signature t to the adaptor signature sₐ in order to get a valid signature by P, i.e. s = sₐ + t. When he publishes this signature (as a Nostr event, Cashu transaction or Taproot transaction), it becomes accessible to P that can now extract the signature t by P' and also make use of it.

Important considerations

A signature may not be useful at the end of the swap if it unlocks funds that have already been spent, or that are vulnerable to fee bidding wars.

When a swap involves a Taproot UTXO, it must always use a 2-of-2 multisig timelock to avoid those issues.

Cashu tokens do not require this measure when its signature is revealed first, because the mint won't reveal the other signature if they can't be successfully claimed, but they also require a 2-of-2 multisig timelock when its signature is only revealed last (what is unavoidable in cashu for cashu swaps).

For Nostr events, whoever receives the signature first needs to publish it to at least one relay that is accessible by the other party. This is a reasonable expectation in most cases, but may be an issue if the event kind involved is meant to be used privately.

How to Orchestrate the Swap over Nostr?

Before going into the specific event kinds, it is important to recognize what are the requirements they must meet and what are the concerns they must address. There are mainly three requirements:

• Both parties must agree on the messages they are going to sign
• One party must provide a public nonce
• The other party must provide an adaptor signature using that nonce

There is also a fundamental asymmetry in the roles of both parties, resulting in the following significant downsides for the party that generates the adaptor signature:

• NIP-07 and remote signers do not currently support the generation of adaptor signatures, so he must either insert his nsec in the client or use a fork of another signer
• There is an overhead of retrieving the completed signature containing the secret, either from the blockchain, mint endpoint or finding the appropriate relay
• There is risk he may not get his side of the deal if the other party only uses his signature privately, as I have already mentioned
• There is risk of losing funds by not extracting or using the signature before its timelock expires. The other party has no risk since his own signature won't be exposed by just not using the signature he received.

The protocol must meet all those requirements, allowing for some kind of role negotiation and while trying to reduce the necessary hops needed to complete the swap.

Swap Proposal Event (kind:455)

This event enables a proposer and his counterparty to agree on the specific messages whose signatures they intend to exchange. The content field is the following stringified JSON:

{     "give": <signature spec (required)>,     "take": <signature spec (required)>,     "exp": <expiration timestamp (optional)>,     "role": "<adaptor | nonce (optional)>",     "description": "<Info about the proposal (optional)>",     "nonce": "<Signature public nonce (optional)>",     "enc_s": "<Encrypted signature scalar (optional)>" }

The field role indicates what the proposer will provide during the swap, either the nonce or the adaptor. When this optional field is not provided, the counterparty may decide whether he will send a nonce back in a Swap Nonce event or a Swap Adaptor event using the nonce (optionally) provided by in the Swap Proposal in order to avoid one hop of interaction.

The enc_s field may be used to store the encrypted scalar of the signature associated with the nonce, since this information is necessary later when completing the adaptor signature received from the other party.

A signature spec specifies the type and all necessary information for producing and verifying a given signature. In the case of signatures for Nostr events, it contain a template with all the fields, except pubkey, id and sig:

{ "type": "nostr", "template": { "kind": "<kind>"        "content": "<content>"        "tags": [ … ],        "created_at": "<created_at>" } }

In the case of Cashu payments, a simplified signature spec just needs to specify the payment amount and an array of mints trusted by the proposer:

{   "type": "cashu",   "amount": "<amount>",   "mint": ["<acceptable mint_url>", …] }

This works when the payer provides the adaptor signature, but it still needs to be extended to also work when the payer is the one receiving the adaptor signature. In the later case, the signature spec must also include a timelock and the derived public keys Y of each Cashu Proof, but for now let's just ignore this situation. It should be mentioned that the mint must be trusted by both parties and also support Token state check (NUT-07) for revealing the completed adaptor signature and P2PK spending conditions (NUT-11) for the cryptographic scheme to work.

The tags are:

• "p", the proposal counterparty's public key (required)
• "a", a kind:30455 Swap Listing event or an application specific version of it (optional)

Forget about this Swap Listing event for now, I will get to it later...

Swap Nonce Event (kind:456) - Optional

This is an optional event for the Swap Proposal receiver to provide the public nonce of his signature when the proposal does not include a nonce or when he does not want to provide the adaptor signature due to the downsides previously mentioned. The content field is the following stringified JSON:

{     "nonce": "<Signature public nonce>",     "enc_s": "<Encrypted signature scalar (optional)>" }

And the tags must contain:

• "e", a kind:455 Swap Proposal Event (required)
• "p", the counterparty's public key (required)

Swap Adaptor Event (kind:457)

The content field is the following stringified JSON:

{ "adaptors": [ {         "sa": "<Adaptor signature scalar>",         "R": "<Signer's public nonce (including parity byte)>",         "T": "<Adaptor point (including parity byte)>",         "Y": "<Cashu proof derived public key (if applicable)>",     }, …],     "cashu": "<Cashu V4 token (if applicable)>" }

And the tags must contain:

• "e", a kind:455 Swap Proposal Event (required)
• "p", the counterparty's public key (required)

Discoverability

The Swap Listing event previously mentioned as an optional tag in the Swap Proposal may be used to find an appropriate counterparty for a swap. It allows a user to announce what he wants to accomplish, what his requirements are and what is still open for negotiation.

Swap Listing Event (kind:30455)

The content field is the following stringified JSON:

{ "description": "<Information about the listing (required)>", "give": <partial signature spec (optional)>, "take": <partial signature spec (optional)>, "examples: [<take signature spec>], // optional "exp": <expiration timestamp (optional)>, "role": "<adaptor | nonce (optional)>" }

The description field describes the restrictions on counterparties and signatures the user is willing to accept.

A partial signature spec is an incomplete signature spec used in Swap Proposal events kind:455 where omitting fields signals that they are still open for negotiation.

The examples field is an array of signature specs the user would be willing to take.

The tags are:

• "d", a unique listing id (required)
• "s", the status of the listing draft | open | closed (required)
• "t", topics related to this listing (optional)
• "p", public keys to notify about the proposal (optional)

Application Specific Swap Listings

Since Swap Listings are still fairly generic, it is expected that specific use cases define new event kinds based on the generic listing. Those application specific swap listing would be easier to filter by clients and may impose restrictions and add new fields and/or tags. The following are some examples under development:

Sponsored Events

This listing is designed for users looking to promote content on the Nostr network, as well as for those who want to monetize their accounts by sharing curated sponsored content with their existing audiences.

It follows the same format as the generic Swap Listing event, but uses the kind:30456 instead.

The following new tags are included:

• "k", event kind being sponsored (required)
• "title", campaign title (optional)

It is required that at least one signature spec (give and/or take) must have "type": "nostr" and also contain the following tag ["sponsor", "<pubkey>", "<attestation>"] with the sponsor's public key and his signature over the signature spec without the sponsor tag as his attestation. This last requirement enables clients to disclose and/or filter sponsored events.

Asset Swaps

This listing is designed for users looking for counterparties to swap different assets that can be transferred using Schnorr signatures, like any unit of Cashu tokens, Bitcoin or other asset IOUs issued using Taproot.

It follows the same format as the generic Swap Listing event, but uses the kind:30457 instead.

It requires the following additional tags:

• "t", asset pair to be swapped (e.g. "btcusd")
• "t", asset being offered (e.g. "btc")
• "t", accepted payment method (e.g. "cashu", "taproot")

Swap Negotiation

From finding an appropriate Swap Listing to publishing a Swap Proposal, there may be some kind of negotiation between the involved parties, e.g. agreeing on the amount to be paid by one of the parties or the exact content of a Nostr event signed by the other party. There are many ways to accomplish that and clients may implement it as they see fit for their specific goals. Some suggestions are:

• Adding kind:1111 Comments to the Swap Listing or an existing Swap Proposal
• Exchanging tentative Swap Proposals back and forth until an agreement is reached
• Simple exchanges of DMs
• Out of band communication (e.g. Signal)

Work to be done

I've been refining this specification as I develop some proof-of-concept clients to experience its flaws and trade-offs in practice. I left the signature spec for Taproot signatures out of the current document as I still have to experiment with it. I will probably find some important orchestration issues related to dealing with 2-of-2 multisig timelocks, which also affects Cashu transactions when spent last, that may require further adjustments to what was presented here.

The main goal of this article is to find other people interested in this concept and willing to provide valuable feedback before a PR is opened in the NIPs repository for broader discussions.

References

• GM Swap- Nostr client for atomically exchanging GM notes. Live demo available here.
• Sig4Sats Script - A Typescript script demonstrating the swap of a Cashu payment for a signed Nostr event.
• Loudr- Nostr client under development for sponsoring the publication of Nostr events. Live demo available at loudr.me.
• Poelstra, A. (2017). Scriptless Scripts. Blockstream Research. https://github.com/BlockstreamResearch/scriptless-scripts

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

Overview

Philosophy

Markdown is intended to be as easy-to-read and easy-to-write as is feasible.

Readability, however, is emphasized above all else. A Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions. While Markdown's syntax has been influenced by several existing text-to-HTML filters -- including Setext, atx, Textile, reStructuredText, Grutatext, and EtText -- the single biggest source of inspiration for Markdown's syntax is the format of plain text email.

Block Elements

Paragraphs and Line Breaks

A paragraph is simply one or more consecutive lines of text, separated by one or more blank lines. (A blank line is any line that looks like a blank line -- a line containing nothing but spaces or tabs is considered blank.) Normal paragraphs should not be indented with spaces or tabs.

The implication of the "one or more consecutive lines of text" rule is that Markdown supports "hard-wrapped" text paragraphs. This differs significantly from most other text-to-HTML formatters (including Movable Type's "Convert Line Breaks" option) which translate every line break character in a paragraph into a <br /> tag.

When you do want to insert a <br /> break tag using Markdown, you end a line with two or more spaces, then type return.

Headers

Markdown supports two styles of headers, [Setext] [1] and [atx] [2].

Optionally, you may "close" atx-style headers. This is purely cosmetic -- you can use this if you think it looks better. The closing hashes don't even need to match the number of hashes used to open the header. (The number of opening hashes determines the header level.)

Blockquotes

Markdown uses email-style > characters for blockquoting. If you're familiar with quoting passages of text in an email message, then you know how to create a blockquote in Markdown. It looks best if you hard wrap the text and put a > before every line:

This is a blockquote with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.

Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

Markdown allows you to be lazy and only put the > before the first line of a hard-wrapped paragraph:

This is a blockquote with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.

Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

Blockquotes can be nested (i.e. a blockquote-in-a-blockquote) by adding additional levels of >:

This is the first level of quoting.

This is nested blockquote.

Back to the first level.

Blockquotes can contain other Markdown elements, including headers, lists, and code blocks:

This is a header.

1. This is the first list item.
2. This is the second list item.

Here's some example code:

return shell_exec("echo $input | $markdown_script");

Any decent text editor should make email-style quoting easy. For example, with BBEdit, you can make a selection and choose Increase Quote Level from the Text menu.

Lists

Markdown supports ordered (numbered) and unordered (bulleted) lists.

Unordered lists use asterisks, pluses, and hyphens -- interchangably -- as list markers:

• Red
• Green
• Blue

is equivalent to:

• Red
• Green
• Blue

and:

• Red
• Green
• Blue

Ordered lists use numbers followed by periods:

1. Bird
2. McHale
3. Parish

It's important to note that the actual numbers you use to mark the list have no effect on the HTML output Markdown produces. The HTML Markdown produces from the above list is:

If you instead wrote the list in Markdown like this:

1. Bird
2. McHale
3. Parish

or even:

1. Bird
2. McHale
3. Parish

you'd get the exact same HTML output. The point is, if you want to, you can use ordinal numbers in your ordered Markdown lists, so that the numbers in your source match the numbers in your published HTML. But if you want to be lazy, you don't have to.

To make lists look nice, you can wrap items with hanging indents:

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.
• Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

But if you want to be lazy, you don't have to:

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.
• Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

List items may consist of multiple paragraphs. Each subsequent paragraph in a list item must be indented by either 4 spaces or one tab:

1. This is a list item with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus.

   Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus. Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit.

2. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

It looks nice if you indent every line of the subsequent paragraphs, but here again, Markdown will allow you to be lazy:

• This is a list item with two paragraphs.

  This is the second paragraph in the list item. You're only required to indent the first line. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.

• Another item in the same list.

To put a blockquote within a list item, the blockquote's > delimiters need to be indented:

• A list item with a blockquote:

  This is a blockquote inside a list item.

To put a code block within a list item, the code block needs to be indented twice -- 8 spaces or two tabs:

• A list item with a code block:

  <code goes here>
  

Code Blocks

Pre-formatted code blocks are used for writing about programming or markup source code. Rather than forming normal paragraphs, the lines of a code block are interpreted literally. Markdown wraps a code block in both <pre> and <code> tags.

To produce a code block in Markdown, simply indent every line of the block by at least 4 spaces or 1 tab.

This is a normal paragraph:

This is a code block.

Here is an example of AppleScript:

tell application "Foo"
    beep
end tell

A code block continues until it reaches a line that is not indented (or the end of the article).

Within a code block, ampersands (&) and angle brackets (< and >) are automatically converted into HTML entities. This makes it very easy to include example HTML source code using Markdown -- just paste it and indent it, and Markdown will handle the hassle of encoding the ampersands and angle brackets. For example, this:

<div class="footer">
    &copy; 2004 Foo Corporation
</div>

Regular Markdown syntax is not processed within code blocks. E.g., asterisks are just literal asterisks within a code block. This means it's also easy to use Markdown to write about Markdown's own syntax.

tell application "Foo" beep end tell

Span Elements

Links

Markdown supports two style of links: inline and reference.

In both styles, the link text is delimited by [square brackets].

To create an inline link, use a set of regular parentheses immediately after the link text's closing square bracket. Inside the parentheses, put the URL where you want the link to point, along with an optional title for the link, surrounded in quotes. For example:

This is an example inline link.

This link has no title attribute.

Emphasis

Markdown treats asterisks (*) and underscores (_) as indicators of emphasis. Text wrapped with one * or _ will be wrapped with an HTML <em> tag; double *'s or _'s will be wrapped with an HTML <strong> tag. E.g., this input:

single asterisks

single underscores

double asterisks

double underscores

Code

To indicate a span of code, wrap it with backtick quotes (`). Unlike a pre-formatted code block, a code span indicates code within a normal paragraph. For example:

Use the printf() function.

@ 2183e947:f497b975

Today I was invited to participate in the private beta of a new social media protocol called Pubky, designed by a bitcoin company called Synonym with the goal of being better than existing social media platforms. As a heavy nostr user, I thought I'd write up a comparison.

I can't tell you how to create your own accounts because it was made very clear that only some of the software is currently open source, and how this will all work is still a bit up in the air. The code that is open source can be found here: https://github.com/pubky -- and the most important repo there seems to be this one: https://github.com/pubky/pubky-core

You can also learn more about Pubky here: https://pubky.org/

That said, I used my invite code to create a pubky account and it seemed very similar to onboarding to nostr. I generated a private key, backed up 12 words, and the onboarding website gave me a public key.

Then I logged into a web-based client and it looked a lot like twitter. I saw a feed for posts by other users and saw options to reply to posts and give reactions, which, I saw, included hearts, thumbs up, and other emojis.

Then I investigated a bit deeper to see how much it was like nostr. I opened up my developer console and navigated to my networking tab, where, if this was nostr, I would expect to see queries to relays for posts. Here, though, I saw one query that seemed to be repeated on a loop, which went to a single server and provided it with my pubkey. That single query (well, a series of identical queries to the same server) seemed to return all posts that showed up on my feed. So I infer that the server "knows" what posts to show me (perhaps it has some sort of algorithm, though the marketing material says it does not use algorithms) and the query was on a loop so that if any new posts came in that the server thinks I might want to see, it can add them to my feed.

Then I checked what happens when I create a post. I did so and looked at what happened in my networking tab. If this was nostr, I would expect to see multiple copies of a signed messaged get sent to a bunch of relays. Here, though, I saw one message get sent to the same server that was populating my feed, and that message was not signed, it was a plaintext copy of my message.

I happened to be in a group chat with John Carvalho at the time, who is associated with pubky. I asked him what was going on, and he said that pubky is based around three types of servers: homeservers, DHT servers, and indexer servers. The homeserver is where you create posts and where you query for posts to show on your feed. DHT servers are used for censorship resistance: each user creates an entry on a DHT server saying what homeserver they use, and these entries are signed by their key.

As for indexers, I think those are supposed to speed up the use of the DHT servers. From what I could tell, indexers query DHT servers to find out what homeservers people use. When you query a homeserver for posts, it is supposed to reach out to indexer servers to find out the homeservers of people whose posts the homeserver decided to show you, and then query those homeservers for those posts. I believe they decided not to look up what homeservers people use directly on DHT servers directly because DHT servers are kind of slow, due to having to store and search through all sorts of non-social-media content, whereas indexers only store a simple db that maps each user's pubkey to their homeserver, so they are faster.

Based on all of this info, it seems like, to populate your feed, this is the series of steps:

• you tell your homeserver your pubkey
• it uses some sort of algorithm to decide whose posts to show you
• then looks up the homeservers used by those people on an indexer server
• then it fetches posts from their homeservers
• then your client displays them to you

To create a post, this is the series of steps:

• you tell your homeserver what you want to say to the world
• it stores that message in plaintext and merely asserts that it came from you (it's not signed)
• other people can find out what you said by querying for your posts on your homeserver

Since posts on homeservers are not signed, I asked John what prevents a homeserver from just making up stuff and claiming I said it. He said nothing stops them from doing that, and if you are using a homeserver that starts acting up in that manner, what you should do is start using a new homeserver and update your DHT record to point at your new homeserver instead of the old one. Then, indexers should update their db to show where your new homeserver is, and the homeservers of people who "follow" you should stop pulling content from your old homeserver and start pulling it from your new one. If their homeserver is misbehaving too, I'm not sure what would happen. Maybe it could refuse to show them the content you've posted on your new homeserver, keeping making up fake content on your behalf that you've never posted, and maybe the people you follow would never learn you're being impersonated or have moved to a new homeserver.

John also clarified that there is not currently any tooling for migrating user content from one homeserver to another. If pubky gets popular and a big homeserver starts misbehaving, users will probably need such a tool. But these are early days, so there aren't that many homeservers, and the ones that exist seem to be pretty trusted.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts on Pubky. Learn more here: https://pubky.org/

@ b1b16be0:08f41c1d

What if Nostr app could save an Illiterate country?

Guatemala is the most illiterate country in Hispanic America at levels as serious as Africa.

About 30% of the population aged 15 or over cannot read or write. This figure rises in rural areas, where illiteracy reaches even more worrying levels, affecting mainly women and indigenous populations.

Limiting their access to paid jobs, their ability to access health services, and their full participation in political and social life. Education is a fundamental right, but there are still large gaps in access and educational quality, especially in rural areas and in communities with high poverty rates.

What if there was an application similar to Duolingo, but that allowed people to learn to read and write while earning Satoshis (Sats) This proposal not only sounds innovative, but could be a powerful tool to combat the country's illiteracy.

The idea of an app that rewards learning "learn to earn"

Duolingo is a popular platform that has proven to be effective in teaching languages through a gamified approach. If that model could be replicated, but with a specific focus on reading and writing, and above all reward users with sats, it could offer two key benefits: encourage learning and offer a direct economic opportunity to users.

Satoshis, being a low-cost and easy-to-access, can be a motivating tool. Many people in Guatemala, especially those in rural areas, do not have access to a traditional banking system, much less to a national identity document, but they have access to mobile phones and the internet, which facilitates the inclusion of an alternative form of value. With this additional motivation, people would be more willing to invest time in learning, knowing that they can get a tangible reward for their effort.

https://image.nostr.build/9da1c3b9478be817e82c891fdceaf87905a4d68876e9190240a8f979ebd35b40.jpg

Will there be developers interested in helping?

In addition, the technology sector globally is increasingly focused on open source, financial inclusion and the use of Bitcoin as an empowerment tool.

A project like this could attract developers interested in creating inclusive technological solutions that not only improve the quality of life of Guatemalans, but also promote access to new economic opportunities through digital tools. Is the possibility of working on a project with social impact, which combines education and Bitcoin, something that could excite many developers?

Algorithms for a greater impact on the illiterate

For this application to be truly effective, it is not enough to replicate existing models. The platform's algorithms would need to be adapted to focus specifically on the needs of the illiterate. The algorithm would have to be flexible enough to adapt to different levels of learning and ensure that users can progress gradually and effectively. (That it can identify literate users who only want the reward).

This could include:

1. Reinforce basic learning: Include exercises focused on phonetics, letter recognition and word construction, something that is not so central in language learning applications.

2. Personalized gamification: Use a system of rewards and levels that motivates users to continue learning, adapting to their learning pace. Sats could accumulate as the user progresses, which could be an additional incentive.

3. Interactivity and visual support: Incorporate visual elements, such as images or videos, that help users associate words with objects or actions, which would be especially useful for those with few previous educational resources.

4. Collaborative learning: Create a community within the application where users can interact, share their progress, and perhaps even solve doubts from others, which would foster an environment of collective learning.

5. This country is also one of those that suffers the most from malnutrition as much as Africa. By having Sats they can exchange them for grains or legumes in the market. That the community in turn learns from the value of Bitcoin and can the markets go through a circular economy.

https://image.nostr.build/ed3805f6c695519ec8327ce6ee9900ec235d714a20a542b5559d9e6c63bc4496.jpg

Is this a feasible idea or just a fantasy?

This type of project could be really valuable. While there are technological and economic challenges, the combination of education and Bitcoin is a growing trend, and Guatemala has the potential to benefit greatly from it. The integration of an accessible platform, which encourages learning and offers a direct reward, can be the key to improving literacy rates in the country.

If you think long-term, this application could not only help reduce illiteracy, but also increase financial inclusion, offering people a way to earn income digitally. This country is one of those with the most migrants to the United States due to lack of work and extreme poverty.

It is clear that there are challenges to bring this idea to reality. Even so, I wouldn't be fantasizing. These types of projects are increasingly common in the digital world, and with the commitment of the technological community, along with the support of organizations that promote education and inclusion, a real difference could be made in the lives of millions of Guatemalans.

In conclusion, Guatemala faces high levels of illiteracy that limit the opportunities for personal and economic development of its population. Could an application that combines learning with economic rewards be an innovative solution to reduce this problem? Although there are challenges, the potential positive impact of this type of initiative is indisputable, and could mark a before and after in the educational and financial history of the country.

I’m not dev but if you know the next step please send me an inbox!

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Vom Schrei nach dem Frieden ist hier die Luft ganz schwer,

Der Friede, der Friede, wo kommt denn der Friede her?

Der kommt nicht vom bloßen Fordern,

Der kommt nur, wenn wir ihn tun,

Und wenn in unseren Seelen die Mörderwaffen ruhn.

Wenn wir Gewalt verweigern, in Sprache, Not und Streit,

Wenn wir als Haltung lieben, Zeit unsrer Lebenszeit.

André Heller (*1947)

Die Lage ist ernst. Es ist so unübersehbar wie skandalös:

• Das "Friedensprojekt" Europäische Union rüstet zum Krieg. Orwell ist längst Realität.
• Im "Nie-Wieder-Krieg"-Land Deutschland prügeln die Kriegstreiber hunderte Milliarden durch einen abgewählten Bundestag, Wahlbetrug inklusive. Wieder mal an vorderster Front mit dabei: Kein Weltkrieg ohne uns!
• Ein Joschka Fischer, der nie gedient hat, außer an den Futtertrögen des Steuerzahlers oder von Transatlantistan, bringt die Wehrpflicht für Männer und Frauen ins Spiel. Gleichberechtigt in den Tod für die Waffenlobby!
• Der Ausnahmezustand hat nie aufgehört, bekommt nur ein neues Gesicht: die Fratze von Krieg, Tod und Leid. Corona ist abmoderiert. Das neue Virus heißt Russland, der Impfstoff „slava ukraini“, und auch bei der Finanzierung bleibt alles gleich: die Zeche zahlen (wieder mal) Sie. Diesmal doppelt. Sie dürfen zahlen und sterben, das Sonderopfer für jede Politikverwirrung zahlt in “Unserer Demokratie” immer der angebliche Souverän, der vom Nutztier jederzeit zum Schlachttier gemacht werden kann.
• Was jetzt kommt, kennen Sie schon von der Corona-Generalprobe: Spaltung, Diffamierung, Propaganda, Zensur, irre Milliardenausgaben, Ausnahmezustand, Kriegswirtschaft, Kriegszustand. Volksvertreter und Lobbyisten können sich jetzt straffrei eine goldene Nase verdienen, wenn sie ihre Wähler in die Bajonette laufen lassen. Die Strack-Zimmermanns und Kiesewetters sind die Lauterbachs und Dahmens im Tarnfleck, und sie werden bis zum letzten Wähler mutig „für das Gute“ kämpfen. Wie sich die Bilder doch gleichen:

Nicht mit uns: Erheben wir jetzt die Stimme für den Frieden!

Machen wir den Kriegstreibern einen Strich durch die Rechnung! Bringen wir die Stimmen für den Frieden an einen Tisch! Wir lassen die Friedenstaube fliegen, die erste unzensierbare Friedenspublikation der Welt auf Nostr und Pareto.

Die Vielfalt an Themen ist groß. Wir wollen aufklären und informieren:

Über Diplomatie und Strategien für den Frieden; über Lügen, Propaganda und Manipulation; über Verschwendung, Völkerrechtsbrüche und Kriegsverbrechen. Wir nehmen kein Blatt vor den Mund, egal ob hybride Kriegsführung, kognitive Kriegsführung oder sonstige neuartige Methoden der Kriegsführung. Wir wollen die Friedenswilligen vereinen und der Friedensbewegung eine starke Stimme verleihen, quer durch alle Lager. Wer auch immer jetzt das Lied vom Tod anstimmt, wird es unter den kritischen Augen der Öffentlichkeit machen müssen.

Warum wir?

• Wir haben die unzensierbare Technologie, um eine nachhaltige Publikation als Autorenblog und Newsletter aufzubauen. Diese brauchen wir auch, wir haben aus der Corona-Zensur unsere Lektion gelernt (https://pareto.space/read).

• Wir können alle Formate bedienen, von Text, Bild und Podcast bis Video und Stream.

• Wir werden online und in Print stattfinden (wenn Sie das wollen).

• Wir sind eine Gruppe von Autoren mit Reichweite, Erfahrung und Impact. Wir werden eine Kernredaktion haben und auf viele freie Autoren setzen, auch aus dem Ausland. Erste Kontakte sind hergestellt, das Feedback ist überwältigend.
• Wir setzen zudem von Anfang an auch auf Bürgerjournalismus und wollen jeder Stimme für den Frieden Raum und Platz bieten. Auch Sie können auf unserer freien Tribüne ("Weltbühne") publizieren und gelesen werden. Jede Stimme für den Frieden zählt!

Ich will Sie nicht mit Name dropping blenden, freue mich jedoch über bekannte erstklassige Stimmen aus der kritischen Szene, die bereits ihre Mitwirkung zugesagt haben. Diese Liste wird ständig aktualisiert (und auch ich werde Texte beitragen):

• Dr. Ulrike Guérot
• Mathias Bröckers
• Dr. Daniele Ganser
• Tom-Oliver Regenauer
• Prof. Dr. Michael Meyen
• Jonas Tögel
• Jürgen Müller
• uvm.

Sie sind Autor und wollen mit dabei sein? Schreiben Sie uns an: milosz@pareto.space

Jetzt abonnieren! Holen Sie sich die neusten Artikel der Friedenstaube in Ihr Postfach indem Sie HIER klicken.

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Gründen wir eine Genossenschaft! Wir sind bereit – und Sie?

Sie entscheiden, ob und wie hoch die Friedenstaube fliegt. Wir werden eine Publikationsgenossenschaft gründen. Die Friedenstaube soll allen und niemandem gehören. Denn auch der Friede gehört allen, die ihn wollen. Krieg dagegen will immer nur eine Minderheit, am liebsten diejenigen, die nicht an die Front gehen.

Die Kriegsmaschine wird mit hunderten Milliarden geschmiert – und das ist nur der Anfang. Wir glauben, dass das Wort mächtiger ist als das Schwert. Für die Genossenschaft sammeln wir mindestens 100 000 CHF, die den Redaktionsbetrieb für ein Jahr sichern sollen. Mit einem Genossenschaftsanteil zu 1000 CHF sind Sie automatisch Verleger und bestimmen mit. Pro Person können maximal 20 Anteile gezeichnet werden, jeder Genossenschafter hat immer nur eine Stimme.

• Für 50 CHF bekommen Sie ein Jahresabo der Friedenstaube.
• Für 120 CHF bekommen Sie ein Jahresabo und ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Für 500 CHF werden Sie Förderer und bekommen ein lebenslanges Abo sowie ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Ab 1000 CHF werden Sie Genossenschafter der Friedenstaube mit Stimmrecht (und bekommen lebenslanges Abo, T-Shirt/Hoodie).

Für Einzahlungen in CHF (Betreff: Friedenstaube):

Für Einzahlungen in Euro:

Milosz Matuschek

IBAN DE 53710520500000814137

BYLADEM1TST

Sparkasse Traunstein-Trostberg

Betreff: Friedenstaube

Wenn Sie auf anderem Wege beitragen wollen, schreiben Sie mich an: milosz@pareto.space oder kontakt@idw-europe.org.

Das gilt auch für Unterstützungen jenseits finanzieller Zuwendungen. Wir sind für jede Unterstützung dankbar, die hilft, das Projekt zu realisieren. Wir planen auch Printprodukte, Übersetzungen in andere Sprachen, Ausschreibungen und Wettbewerbe zum Thema Frieden uvm. Seien Sie von Anfang an mit dabei: Als Autor, Mitwirkender, Genossenschafter oder in welcher Rolle sie auch immer hilfreich zu sein glauben.

Ich kann Ihnen keine Wunder versprechen aber Sie dürfen mich an meinen bisherigen Projekten messen. Wenn ich etwas angehe, mache ich es mit voller Kraft:

Mit Ihrer Unterstützung war schon vieles möglich:

• Sie haben den “Appell für freie Debattenräume” zum sichtbarsten Zeichen gegen Cancel Culture in Europa gemacht.
• Sie haben gehofen, die Freischwebende Intelligenz zu einem der führenden Substack-Newsletter in Europa zu machen
• Sie haben “Pandamned” unterstützt, eine Corona-Doku, die mehr als 1 Mio. Menschen gesehen haben.
• Sie haben die Realisierung von Pareto unterstützt und uns geholfen, ein unzensierbares Werkzeug für Blogging/Newsletter zu bauen, weltweit einmalig.

Lassen Sie uns jetzt gemeinsam die Friedenstaube zur führenden Friedenspublikation der freien Welt aufbauen.

Lassen wir die Friedenstaube fliegen!

Jetzt.

Herzlichen Dank, dass Sie meine Arbeit unterstützen!

Ich kann Ihnen auch manuell einen Zugang zur Publikation einrichten, wenn Sie lieber per Paypal, Überweisung oder Bitcoin (einmal Jahresbeitrag, ewiger Zugang) bezahlen. Sie erreichen mich unter kontakt@idw-europe.org

Refer a friend

@ 6f50351f:7b36c393

Toglobal learninghuwabohu – wer räumt das alles auf?

Einheit veröffentlicht am Oktober 9, 2024 von settle

Worum religlobalt

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Die zweite Schöpfungserzählung / Kirchenwälder in Äthiopien / Bewahrung der Schöpfung

Wir alle leben auf einer Erde – Tiere, Pflanzen und Menschen. Am Anfang war die Erde wüst und leer … aus diesem anfänglichen Tohuwabohu schafft Gott die natürliche Ordnung der Welt. Ursprünglich, so erzählt es der erste Schöpfungshymnus, war alles gut, wenn auch aus menschlicher Sicht, ziemlich durcheinander.

In der zweiten Schöpfungserzählung setzt Gott den Menschen in einen Paradiesgarten. Dieser Mensch soll nun die Erde behüten und bewahren. Das bedeutet auch Platz zu schaffen und aufzuräumen. Menschen greifen gemäß ihrem Auftrag, den Garten zu bestellen, in die Natur ein. Welche Konsequenzen hat unser Handeln? Wie sieht es mit dem zweiten Teil des Auftrags aus, den Garten auch zu beschützen? Was bedeutet es, wenn Menschen anfangen “auszuräumen” und dabei die Konsequenzen nicht mitbedenken?

In diesem Unterrichtsentwurf lernen Schüler:innen die biblischen Schöpfungserzählungen kennen und setzen sich kritisch mit den Folgen des menschlichen Handelns für Klima und Umwelt auseinander. Beispielhaft werden die Brot für die Welt “Reli fürs Klima”-Projekte aufgenommen. Anhand von Projekten in Kirchenwäldern der orthodoxen Kirche in Äthiopien und in Kirchenwäldern in Brandenburg erfahren die Schülerinnen und Schüler praktische Möglichkeiten, den Auftrag Gottes an die Menschen, die Schöpfung zu bebauen und zu bewahren, ernst zu nehmen und umzusetzen. Wie kann richtiges Aufräumen aussehen?

Die Konzeption orientiert sich am Dreischritt „Erkennen –Begreifen – Handeln“:

1. Erkennen: Und siehe, es war sehr gut … – Zugang zum 2. biblischen Schöpfungsbericht (Gen 2,4–15)
2. Begreifen: Und machet sie euch untertan – zerstören wir die Erde?
3. Handeln: Bestellen und beschützen – kleine Paradiesgärten

Für das Unterrichtsvorhaben werden mindestens 3 x 45 Minuten Unterrichtszeit veranschlagt. Alle drei Teile des Unterrichtes können auch deutlich vertiefter und mit größerem Zeiteinsatz und -aufwand durchgeführt werden.

Das vorgestellte Unterrichtsvorhaben wurde entwickelt im Rahmen des von Brot für die Welt geförderten Projektes “reliGlobal”. Zur Förderung des “Globalen Lernens” erstellen Mitarbeiter:innen aus mehreren Pädagogischen Instituten in der EKD kooperativ Unterrichtsmaterialien für den evangelischen Religionsunterricht.

Unterrichtsschritte

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Tohuwabohu – Schritt 1 Erkennen

In diesem Schritt beschäftigen sich die Schüler:innen mit dem zweiten biblischen Schöpfungsbericht.

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Tohuwabohu – Schritt 2 Begreifen

In diesem Schritt werden die Auswirkungen der Eingriffe des Menschen in die Natur ins Blickfeld genommen und problematisiert.

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Tohuwabohu – Schritt 3 Handeln

In diesem Schritt lernen die Schüler:innen praktische Möglichkeiten, die Natur zu bewahren, kennen und selbst umzusetzen.

Metamaterial

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Tohuwabohu – Theologisch-Didaktische Hinweise

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Tohuwabohu – Curricularer Bezug

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Tohuwabohu – Hintergrund

@ 8d34bd24:414be32b

My post on the signs of the End Times according to Jesus got way too long. It was too long to email, so I had to split it into two posts. I recommend reading Part 1 before continuing. You also may want to read my post Signs of the Times: Can We Know? I also want to reiterate my caveat. Although I believe the signs suggests the Rapture and the Tribulation are coming soon, no one can know the exact hour or day, so I can’t say exactly what soon means (days, months, years, decades, or possibly more).

As a review here is the primary passage where Jesus answers His disciples’ question “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Below the passage is the 8 signs He gave. We will pick up with point 5.

Jesus’s Signs of the End

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:3-14) {emphasis mine}

Here is my summary of the signs Jesus said would identify the coming of the 7 year Tribulation:

1. Wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6a)

2. Famines (Matthew 24:7)

3. Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7).

4. Israel will be attacked and will be hated by all nations (Matthew 24:9)

5. Falling away from Jesus (Matthew 24:10)

6. Many Misled (Matthew 24:10)

7. People’s love will grow cold (Matthew 24:12)

8. Gospel will be preached to the whole world (Matthew 24:14)

The first 4 signs relate more to physical and political signs that the end times are near. The last 4 signs relate to spiritual matters.

5. Falling away from Jesus

One thing we are definitely seeing today is a falling away. This is most prevalent in the historically Christian Western nations in Europe and North America (and to a lesser, but significant, extent South America).

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy 4:1-3) {emphasis mine}

For centuries Europe and North America were full of Christians or at least cultural Christians. Today that is no longer true. Christians are even being considered the hateful, criminal class and things like praying outside an abortion clinic is being punished with jail time. The Western nations can no longer be called Christian nations.

There are still a relatively large number of Americans who call themselves Christians, but the majority do not have a biblical worldview or live lives more like Christ than non-Christians.

“Seven out of 10 US adults call themselves “Christians” and yet only 6 in 100 (6%) actually have a biblical worldview.” In general, most Christian’s worldview does not align with the Bible, according to George Barna Surveys. In the most recent survey they found:

Many self-proclaimed Christians tend to believe a form of syncretism where they combine certain biblical principles with cultural ideas, scientism, and other religions to make “Christianity” into whatever they want to believe, just as the Bible predicted almost 2,000 years ago.

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4) {emphasis mine}

This is both a sign of the end times and something to watch in our own lives. I pray you will analyze your own life and beliefs in the light of the Bible to make sure you aren’t integrating unbiblical principles into your worldview.

6. Many Misled

Closely related to the falling away is that many will be misled. We have reached the point that the majority of so-called churches teach ideas and principles contrary to the Bible. They focus more on entertainment, self-help, and making everyone feel good about themselves instead of teaching of sin and the need for forgiveness or teaching how to live lives honoring to Christ. Preaching obedience to God has become anathema in most churches.

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! (Galatians 1:6-9) {emphasis mine}

We are also lied to and/or misled by politicians, scientists, the media, and the culture in general. We are told that science has disproven the Bible, despite the fact that nothing of the sort has occurred. (See my series on a literal Genesis for some details. icr.org and aig.org are also good resources). Peter warned of this very view.

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7) {emphasis mine}

God warned us that the last days would be far enough into the future that people would begin to mock the coming of the Tribulation & Millennium and deny the clear truths spoken of in the Bible. We are seeing this everywhere today.

We are also warned to be alert to deception so we, believers, are not misled.

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4) {emphasis mine}

7. People’s love will grow cold

You can feel love growing cold day by day. We no longer have community that works together, but have been broken into groups to fight against one another. Instead of friendly, logical debate with those with whom we disagree, we have name calling, hate, and even violence. Children have been taught to hate their parents and parents have been taught to not value children and to murder them for convenience. The church has been split into so many different denominations that I don’t know if it is possible to know what they all are and many are fighting in hateful manner against each other. Hate, depression, and selfishness seem to have taken over the world.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) {emphasis mine}

Yes, spiritually and physically we are a basket case and it feels like the world is literally falling apart around us. This was predicted almost 2,000 years ago and is all according to God’s perfect plan. Most people turn to God in hard times and we have those in abundance. We do not need to despair, but need to turn to God and lean on Him for wisdom, faith, and peace. This is the birth pangs before the Tribulation and the Second coming of Jesus Christ. The news isn’t all bad, though.

8. Gospel preached to the whole world

The really good news is that the Gospel is being preached around the world. Parts of the world that had never heard the Gospel are hearing it and turning to Jesus.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord , And all the families of the nations will worship before You. (Psalm 22:27) {emphasis mine}

Wycliffe Bible translators is hoping to have at least started Bible translation in every active language by the end of this year (2025)

He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) {emphasis mine}

The Joshua Project tracks nations and people groups to determine which have been reached and which have not. It still looks like there is a large portion of the population that has not received the Gospel, but I also know people who are or have shared the Gospel to some of these people, so this map doesn’t mean that there are no Christians or that the Gospel has not been shared at all, but it does mean many people in these areas have not heard the Gospel and/or, that due to hatred of Christians, it is dangerous to share the Gospel and therefore has to be done slowly, carefully, and privately. Most of these unreached or barely reached people groups are areas that are predominantly Muslim, where those preaching the Gospel or those converting to Christianity are at risk of jail or death sentences.

As you can see, everything that Jesus said would come before the end is either escalating or here. We need to be ready and work to bring as many people to Christ as possible while we still have the opportunity because Jesus could come for us at any moment.

Share the Gospel with all those around you. Consider supporting missionaries, especially those going to unreached/least-reached areas. Maybe even consider becoming a missionary yourself. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

May the God of heaven give us a heart for the lost around the world. May He give us the courage to share the Gospel with all those around us. May He align our priorities with His priorities, so we can be useful tools in the hands of God almighty.

Trust Jesus.

FYI, I hope to write several more articles on the end times (signs of the times, the rapture, the millennium, and the judgement), but I might be a bit slow rolling them out because I want to make sure they are accurate and well supported by Scripture. You can see my previous posts on the end times on the end times tab at trustjesus.substack.com. I also frequently will list upcoming posts.

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Autor: Tom-Oliver Regenauer

Grafik: Tina Ovalle.

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier.

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»Krieg ist Frieden«. Dieses zwischenzeitlich fast abgedroschen wirkende, weil in den letzten Jahren zu häufig verwendete Zitat aus George Orwells Klassiker »1984«, beschreibt zunehmend genau, was europäische Spitzenpolitiker dieser Tage als »Wehrtüchtigkeit« vermarkten – die wahnwitzige Illusion, dass Kriegswaffen der Friedenssicherung dienen. 

So aber funktioniert das Geschäft industrialisierten Tötens nicht. Denn Krieg entsteht nicht organisch. Schon gar kein Weltkrieg. Militärische Konflikte globalen Ausmaßes sind stets trauriger Kulminationspunkt langjähriger Entwicklungen. Sie beginnen mit Partikularinteressen, diplomatischen Kontakten, bilateralen Absprachen, militärisch-industriellen Konjunkturprogrammen und der Etablierung von Verteidigungsbündnissen. Kriege sind von langer Hand geplante Disruptionen, die genutzt werden, um Paradigmenwechsel zu rechtfertigen – Entwicklungen, die der Bevölkerung ohne eine solch existenzielle Bedrohung nicht unterzujubeln sind. So gäbe es ohne die beiden ersten Weltkriege heute weder die Bank für Internationalen Zahlungsausgleich noch die Vereinten Nationen oder die NATO. Und auch das herrschende, auf Verschuldung basierende und von Zentralbankkartellen dominierte Weltfinanzsystem, das darauf ausgelegt ist, Staaten und damit deren Bevölkerung schleichend zu enteignen, wäre so nicht entstanden – siehe Bretton Woods und »Nixon Schock«.

Wem dienen Kriege?

Folgt man der tatsächlichen Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges, die nicht 1914 mit der Ermordung von Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, sondern bereits 1891 in Südafrika begann – siehe Teil 1 und 2 meines diesbezüglichen Essays – wird rasch deutlich, wem Kriege dienen. Und damit auch, von wem sie ausgelöst werden: Von Finanzkartellen, die zunächst an der Aufrüstung, dann an der Finanzierung des Krieges und zum Schluss am Wiederaufbau verdienen – ganz zu schweigen von der supranationalen Konsolidierung und Zentralisierung von Finanzmacht, die mit derartigen geopolitischen Verwerfungen einhergeht. 

Im Falle der beiden Weltkriege sind diese Hintergründe gut belegt und detailliert nachvollziehbar. Man muss sie nur lesen. Weil Geschichte, zumindest die offiziell goutierte und gelehrte Variante, aber bedauerlicherweise von den Gewinnern geschrieben wird, sind wir scheinbar dazu verdammt, sie zu wiederholen. Dem geschichtsaffinen Leser dürfte es derweil nicht allzu schwer fallen, Parallelen zwischen der Zeit vor den beiden Weltkriegen und der Gegenwart auszumachen.

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DIE FRIEDENSTAUBE JETZT ABONNIEREN:

Hier können Sie die Friedenstaube abonnieren und bekommen die Artikel in Ihr Postfach, vorerst für alle kostenfrei, wir starten gänzlich ohne Paywall. (Die Bezahlabos fangen erst zu laufen an, wenn ein Monetarisierungskonzept für die Inhalte steht).

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Schon jetzt können Sie uns unterstützen:

• Für 50 CHF/EURO bekommen Sie ein Jahresabo der Friedenstaube.
• Für 120 CHF/EURO bekommen Sie ein Jahresabo und ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Für 500 CHF/EURO werden Sie Förderer und bekommen ein lebenslanges Abo sowie ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Ab 1000 CHF werden Sie Genossenschafter der Friedenstaube mit Stimmrecht (und bekommen lebenslanges Abo, T-Shirt/Hoodie).

Für Einzahlungen in CHF (Betreff: Friedenstaube):

Für Einzahlungen in Euro:

Milosz Matuschek

IBAN DE 53710520500000814137

BYLADEM1TST

Sparkasse Traunstein-Trostberg

Betreff: Friedenstaube

Wenn Sie auf anderem Wege beitragen wollen, schreiben Sie die Friedenstaube an: milosz@pareto.space oder kontakt@idw-europe.org.

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Zum einen stimmt Trump die USA auf Isolationismus ein. Zum anderen lässt er das US-Militär gleichzeitig Öl in die bestehenden Brandherde in Europa, Nahost und dem Indopazifik gießen. Gleichzeitig läuten seine Strafzölle eine Phase internationaler Handelskriege ein, die den Rest der Welt zur Reaktion zwingt. Nicht umsonst spricht Ursula von der Leyen nun von »ReARM Europe« und will bis zu 800 Milliarden Euro für »Wiederaufrüstung« mobilisieren. Nicht von ungefähr wirft Friedrich Merz, ehemaliger BlackRock-Manager, auf dem Weg ins Kanzleramt mit »Sondervermögen« um sich und möchte 500 Milliarden in die Bundeswehr investieren. Vielleicht hat ihn Larry Fink oder die Teilnahme an der Bilderberg Konferenz 2024 in Madrid inspiriert – standen dort doch unter anderem die »Zukunft der Kriegsführung« und die »geopolitische Landschaft« auf der Agenda. 

Es besteht kein Zweifel: Wir befinden uns in einer Vorkriegszeit. Die Frage ist nur, wie dieser Krieg aussehen wird und wann er beginnt. Denn die moderne Informationskriegsführung gegen die breite Bevölkerung läuft spätestens seit 9/11 auf Hochtouren – und intensivierte sich nach der Markeinführung des Smartphones im Jahr 2007 konstant. Es hat Gründe, warum ich einen Großteil meiner Artgenossen heute als Smombie bezeichne. 

Zeit, für den Frieden zu kämpfen

Wie jedoch ein kinetischer Krieg in den 2020er Jahren aussehen wird, vor allem, wenn atomar bewaffnete, mit Drohnen, Robotern und KI ausgestattete Supermächte sich gegenüberstehen, weiß niemand. Den Ersten Weltkrieg konnte man sich damals auch nicht vorstellen – denn bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt gab es keine derartig weitreichenden »Verteidigungsallianzen« und »Bündnisfälle«. Auch die Waffen, die im Zweiten Weltkrieg zum Einsatz kommen sollten, waren neu. Das Ausmaß der Zerstörung eine todbringende Zäsur. 

Wenig verwunderlich also, dass die Reprise dieser zivilisatorischen Katastrophe knapp 60 Millionen mehr Menschen das Leben kostete als die Premiere – und den perfekten Hebel zur Etablierung der postmodernen »Global Governance« bot. Einem inhumanen, antidemokratischen, zusehends totalitären Herrschaftskonstrukt, das sich nun mit der aus dem Elfenbeinturm kommunizierten »Zeitenwende«, »Wehrtüchtigkeit« und »ReARM Europe« anschickt, uns in einen Dritten Weltkrieg zu manövrieren. 

Es ist Zeit, nein zu sagen. Nein zu Sondervermögen. Nein zu Aufrüstung. Nein zu Massenvernichtungswaffen. Und nein zu Konflikten, die stets von jenen angezettelt werden, die darin »nicht sterben« werden, wie Robert Habeck im Februar 2022 bei Maischberger selbst einräumte. Nein zu Krieg!

Wer seine Kinder nicht an die Front schicken oder am eigenen Leib erfahren möchte, welche automatisiert mordenden Waffengattungen in einem Dritten Weltkrieg zum Einsatz kommen, sollte für den Frieden kämpfen. Mit allen Mitteln – gemeinsam – und zwar jetzt. Bedarf es für die finale Ausgestaltung der »vierten industriellen Revolution«, für Agenda 2030, C40-Städte und Net Zero 2050, sprich, dem digitalen Gulag von morgen, einer globalen militärischen Disruption – und das scheint im Lichte der Vergangenheit durchaus wahrscheinlich – bleibt uns nicht mehr allzu viel Zeit, um Sand ins Getriebe der aufheulenden Kriegsmaschinerie zu streuen.

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Tom-Oliver Regenauer, Jahrgang 1978, war nach betriebswirtschaftlicher Ausbildung in verschiedenen Branchen und Rollen tätig, unter anderem als Betriebsleiter, Unternehmens- und Management-Berater sowie internationaler Projektmanager mit Einsätzen in über 20 Ländern. Seit Mitte der 90er-Jahre ist er zudem als Musikproduzent und Texter aktiv und betreibt ein unabhängiges Plattenlabel. Der in Deutschland geborene Autor lebt seit 2009 in der Schweiz. Zuletzt erschienen von ihm „Homo Demens — Texte zu Zeitenwende, Technokratie und Korporatismus“ (2023), „Truman Show“ (2024) und "HOPIUM" (2025). Weitere Informationen unter www.regenauer.press.\ HOPIUM jetzt direkt im Shop oder im Handel.

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Wir testen derzeit den Mailversand an allen Artikeln. In Zukunft bekommen Sie ca. drei Mailsendungen der Friedenstaube pro Woche.

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@ 502ab02a:a2860397

50by40 คืออีกโครงการนึงที่ขยายภาพรวมขึ้นมาอีก recap กันครับ (ใครที่มาเจอกลางทาง อาจต้องย้อนเยอะครับ ย้อนไปสัก ปลายเดือน มีนาคม 2025) หลังจากที่เราได้ดูส่วนเล็กกันมาหลายตอน ตั้งแต่เรื่องเล็กๆอย่าง น้ำมันมะกอกปลอม ซึ่งตอนนั้นหลายคนที่อ่านอาจคิดว่า ไกลตัวส่วนใหญ่ยังดีพอ แต่ความนัยที่ซ่อนไว้ในบทนั้นคือ จุดเริ่มของการทำลายความเชื่อใจในอาหาร , ที่มาของบรอกโคลีเพื่อให้รู้ว่า สิ่งที่คิดว่าธรรมชาติ มันไม่ธรรมชาติ, นมโอ้ต นมประดิษฐ์ที่เป็นจุดที่เราคิดว่ามันคือการพลิกวงการแล้ว, การแอบจดสิทธิบัตรเมล็ดพันธุ์ที่เคยปลูกกินอย่างอิสระ, การพัฒนา GMO 2.0 ที่ไม่ต้องเรียกว่า GMO, โปรตีนจากแลป มาจนถึงเวย์ที่ไม่มีวัว แล้วเราก็ขยายภาพขึ้นกับข้อกำหนดการควบคุมการปลูกพืช UPOV1991/CPTPP, การเข้าสู่โรงเรียน, การกำเนิดของ ProVeg แล้วเราก็ได้รู้จักกับ Sebastian Joy ก็ถือว่าเดินทางมา 1 ด่านแล้วครับ หนทางเรื่องนี้ยังอีกยาวไกล วันนี้เราก็มาคุยกันถึงเรื่อง

โครงการ 50by40

โครงการนี้เริ่มต้นขึ้นในเดือนเมษายน ปี 2018 โดยมีการจัดการประชุม "50by40 Corporate Outreach Summit" ระหว่างวันที่ 27–29 เมษายน 2018 ที่กรุงเบอร์ลิน ประเทศเยอรมนี ซึ่งจัดโดย ProVeg International ร่วมกับ Humane Society of the United States การประชุมนี้ถือเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของพันธมิตรระดับโลกที่มีเป้าหมายร่วมกันในการลดการผลิตและบริโภคผลิตภัณฑ์จากสัตว์ลง 50% ภายในปี 2040​

Sebastian Joy ผู้ก่อตั้งและประธานของ ProVeg International มีบทบาทสำคัญในการริเริ่มโครงการ 50by40 โดยเขาได้ช่วยก่อตั้งพันธมิตรนี้เพื่อส่งเสริมการเปลี่ยนแปลงระบบอาหารโลก นอกจากนี้ ProVeg International ยังมีบทบาทในการสนับสนุนองค์กรและสตาร์ทอัพที่มุ่งเน้นการเปลี่ยนแปลงระบบอาหารผ่านโปรแกรมต่างๆ

แม้ว่าโครงการ 50by40 จะประกาศเป้าหมายในการลดการบริโภคผลิตภัณฑ์จากสัตว์เพื่อสุขภาพและสิ่งแวดล้อม แต่เบื้องหลังยังมีการดำเนินงานที่มุ่งเน้นการเปลี่ยนแปลงระบบอาหารโลก โดยการส่งเสริม "อาหารที่เพาะเลี้ยงในห้องปฏิบัติการเป็นหลัก​"

โครงการนี้ยังมีการจัดกิจกรรมเพื่อดึงดูดนักลงทุนและผู้สนับสนุนทางการเงิน เช่น การจัดงาน Food Funders Circle ซึ่งเป็นเวทีสำหรับนักลงทุนที่สนใจในอาหารทางเลือก นอกจากนี้ โครงการ 50by40 ยังมีความสัมพันธ์กับองค์กรต่างๆ ทั้งภาครัฐและเอกชน รวมถึงองค์กรระดับนานาชาติ เช่น Greenpeace, WWF และ Compassion in World Farming ซึ่งมีเป้าหมายร่วมกันในการลดการบริโภคผลิตภัณฑ์จากสัตว์ ​และ ProVeg International เองก็มีสถานะเป็นผู้สังเกตการณ์ถาวรในองค์การสหประชาชาติ เช่น UNFCCC, IPCC และ CBD รวมถึงมีสถานะที่ปรึกษาพิเศษกับ ECOSOC และได้รับการรับรองจาก UNEA อีกด้วย ถ้ามองแค่เนทเวิร์คเบื้องต้นแล้ว วินาทีนี้ ตอบได้เลยครับว่า "อาหารที่เพาะเลี้ยงในห้องปฏิบัติการเป็นหลัก​" มาแน่นอนครับ มองข้ามความ plant based / animal based ได้เลย

เพื่อบรรลุเป้าหมายนี้ โครงการได้ดำเนินกิจกรรมต่างๆ ทั้งในระดับโรงเรียนและการผลักดันนโยบายสาธารณะ ผมจะลองแบ่งเป็นข้อๆให้เพื่อความสะดวกในการมองภาพรวมประมาณนี้นะครับ

การดำเนินงานในโรงเรียนและเยาวชน 1. Early Action Network โครงการนี้เป็นความร่วมมือระหว่าง 50by40, ProVeg International และ Educated Choices Program โดยมีเป้าหมายในการส่งเสริมการบริโภคอาหารจากพืชในกลุ่มเด็กและเยาวชนผ่านกิจกรรมต่างๆ เช่น การจัดกิจกรรมเชิงโต้ตอบเกี่ยวกับสุขภาพ สิ่งแวดล้อม และสวัสดิภาพสัตว์, การจัดแคมเปญในโรงเรียนและชุมชน, การเผยแพร่สื่อการเรียนรู้และโปรแกรมฝึกอบรม, การปรับปรุงเมนูอาหารในโรงเรียนให้มีทางเลือกจากพืชมากขึ้น

โครงการนี้มุ่งหวังที่จะสร้างความตระหนักรู้และเปลี่ยนแปลงพฤติกรรมการบริโภคของเยาวชนตั้งแต่เนิ่นๆ เพื่อส่งเสริมการบริโภคอาหารที่ยั่งยืนและเป็นมิตรกับสิ่งแวดล้อม

1. School Plates Programme ProVeg International ได้เปิดตัวโครงการ School Plates ในสหราชอาณาจักรเมื่อปี 2018 โดยมีเป้าหมายในการปรับปรุงเมนูอาหารในโรงเรียนให้มีความหลากหลายและสุขภาพดีขึ้นผ่านการเพิ่มทางเลือกอาหารจากพืช โครงการนี้ได้ร่วมมือกับโรงเรียน หน่วยงานท้องถิ่น และบริษัทจัดเลี้ยง เพื่อเปลี่ยนแปลงเมนูอาหารในโรงเรียนกว่า 3.1 ล้านมื้อจากอาหารที่มีเนื้อสัตว์เป็นหลักไปเป็นอาหารจากพืช

สำหรับในส่วนของการผลักดันนโยบายสาธารณะและการมีส่วนร่วมในเวทีนานาชาตินั้น ก็มีไม่น้อยครับ อาทิเช่น การมีส่วนร่วมในองค์การสหประชาชาติ ProVeg International มีสถานะเป็นผู้สังเกตการณ์ถาวรในองค์การสหประชาชาติ เช่น UNFCCC และ UNEP และได้มีบทบาทในการผลักดันให้มีการรวมประเด็นเกี่ยวกับอาหารจากพืชในการเจรจาด้านสภาพภูมิอากาศ โดยในปี 2022 ProVeg ได้เข้าร่วมการประชุมสภาพภูมิอากาศของสหประชาชาติในสตอกโฮล์มและบอนน์ เพื่อส่งเสริมแนวคิด "Diet Change Not Climate Change" และเรียกร้องให้มีการเปลี่ยนแปลงระบบอาหารสู่การบริโภคอาหารจากพืชมากขึ้น

การสนับสนุนเยาวชนในเวทีนานาชาติ ProVeg ได้จัดตั้ง Youth Board ซึ่งประกอบด้วยเยาวชนจากทั่วโลก เพื่อมีส่วนร่วมในการผลักดันนโยบายด้านอาหารจากพืชในเวทีสหประชาชาติ และเตรียมความพร้อมสำหรับการประชุม COP30 ที่จะจัดขึ้นในเบเลง ประเทศบราซิล

นอกจากนี้ยังมีการสนับสนุนองค์กรและสตาร์ทอัพที่มุ่งเปลี่ยนแปลงระบบอาหารอีกมากมาย โดยที่โดดเด่นเป็นพิเศษคือ โปรแกรม Kickstarting for Good ProVeg International ได้เปิดตัวโปรแกรม Kickstarting for Good ซึ่งเป็นโปรแกรมบ่มเพาะและเร่งการเติบโตสำหรับองค์กรไม่แสวงหาผลกำไร โครงการที่มีผลกระทบ และสตาร์ทอัพทางสังคมที่มุ่งเปลี่ยนแปลงระบบอาหาร โปรแกรมนี้มีระยะเวลา 8 สัปดาห์ โดยมีการฝึกอบรมแบบเข้มข้น การให้คำปรึกษาจากผู้เชี่ยวชาญ และโอกาสในการสร้างเครือข่าย เพื่อสนับสนุนการพัฒนาโครงการที่มีศักยภาพในการลดการบริโภคผลิตภัณฑ์จากสัตว์และส่งเสริมอาหารจากพืช

นอกจาก Sebastian Joy จะเริ่มต้นโครงการต่างๆมากมายไม่ว่าจะ ProVeg International, ProVeg Incubator, Kickstarting for Good แต่ก็ยังมี องค์กรพันธมิตรในเครือข่าย 50by40 ที่หลากหลาย เช่น Plant Powered Metro New York, Public Justice, Rainforest Alliance, Real Food Systems, Reducetarian Foundation, Rethink Your Food, SEED และ Seeding Sovereignty ซึ่งร่วมกันส่งเสริมการบริโภคอาหารจากพืชและการลดการบริโภคผลิตภัณฑ์จากสัตว์ แม้ว่าโครงการ 50by40 จะได้รับการสนับสนุนจากองค์กรต่างๆ อย่างกว้างขวาง แต่ยังไม่มีข้อมูลที่ชัดเจนเกี่ยวกับบริษัทเอกชนรายใดที่แสดงการสนับสนุนโครงการนี้อย่างเปิดเผยครับ

ทีนี้เรามาดูความเคลื่อนไหวของลูกพี่ใหญ่อย่าง USDA กันบ้างนะครับ ​จากการตรวจสอบข้อมูลที่มีอยู่จนถึงปัจจุบัน ยังไม่พบหลักฐานชัดเจนว่า กระทรวงเกษตรสหรัฐฯ (USDA) มีการสนับสนุนโครงการ 50by40 อย่างเป็นทางการหรือเปิดเผย อย่างไรก็ตาม มีความเคลื่อนไหวที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการส่งเสริมโปรตีนทางเลือกและการลดการบริโภคเนื้อสัตว์ในระดับนโยบายของสหรัฐฯ ซึ่งอาจสอดคล้องกับเป้าหมายของโครงการ 50by40 อยู่เช่นกันครับ

ในปี 2021 คณะกรรมาธิการด้านการเกษตรของสภาผู้แทนราษฎรสหรัฐฯ ได้สนับสนุนให้ USDA จัดสรรงบประมาณ 50 ล้านดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ ผ่านโครงการ Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) เพื่อสนับสนุนการวิจัยเกี่ยวกับโปรตีนทางเลือก เช่น การใช้พืช การเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์ และการหมัก เพื่อพัฒนาอาหารที่มีคุณสมบัติคล้ายเนื้อสัตว์

นอกจากนี้ USDA ได้ยอมรับคำว่า "cell-cultured" เป็นคำที่ใช้เรียกเนื้อสัตว์ที่ผลิตจากการเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์ในห้องปฏิบัติการ ซึ่งเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของการกำหนดมาตรฐานและการควบคุมผลิตภัณฑ์อาหารใหม่ๆ ที่เกี่ยวข้องกับโปรตีนทางเลือก

แล้วกลุ่มองค์กรด้านสิ่งแวดล้อมและสุขภาพ เช่น Center for Biological Diversity ได้ส่งจดหมายถึงรัฐมนตรีกระทรวงเกษตรสหรัฐฯ เรียกร้องให้ USDA นำประเด็นการลดการบริโภคเนื้อสัตว์และผลิตภัณฑ์นมมาเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของยุทธศาสตร์ด้านสภาพภูมิอากาศ และปรับปรุงแนวทางโภชนาการแห่งชาติให้สอดคล้องกับเป้าหมาย "ด้านความยั่งยืน"

แม้ว่า USDA จะไม่ได้แสดงการสนับสนุนโครงการ 50by40 โดยตรง แต่มีความร่วมมือกับองค์กรที่มีเป้าหมายคล้ายคลึงกัน เช่น ProVeg International และ The Good Food Institute ซึ่งเป็นพันธมิตรในเครือข่ายของ 50by40 โดยมีเป้าหมายในการส่งเสริมการบริโภคอาหารจากการเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์ในห้องปฏิบัติการและโปรตีนทางเลือก

อนาคตได้มีการขีด Goal ไว้ประมาณนี้ เรายังคิดว่าการที่ "แค่ไม่กินมัน" "ก็แค่เลือกกินอาหารธรรมชาติ" จะยังเป็นคำพูดที่เราพูดได้อีกไหม สิ่งนี้ก็ยังเป็นคำถามต่อไปครับ คงไม่มีใครสามารถตอบได้ใน วันนี้ (มั๊ง)

แต่ที่แน่ๆ มีคนไม่น้อยแล้วแหละครับ ที่บอกว่าอาหารจากแลปคุมในโรงงานที่สะอาด มันก็ดีนี่ สะอาดปลอดภัย ดีกว่าเนื้อหมูที่ผัดข้างทาง ล้างหรือเปล่าก็ไม่รู้ เอาหมูแบบไหนมาก็ไม่รู้

มันดูเหมือนว่าเป็นการเปรียบเปรยแบบตรรกะวิบัตินะครับ แต่รอบตัวคุณ มีคนคิดแบบนี้เยอะไหม? เป็นคำถามที่ไม่มีคำตอบอีกเช่นกันครับ

#pirateketo #กูต้องรู้มั๊ย #ม้วนหางสิลูก #siamstr

@ e7bc35f8:3ed2a7cf

Imagine a world where governments couldn't fund wars simply by printing money...

Would history have changed? Could World War I have ended in months instead of four bloody years?

August 1914. A small incident in Central Europe triggers a snowball effect no one foresaw. British newspapers call it "the war of the August bank holiday"—a brief summer campaign for the troops.

No one imagined that this "short conflict" would turn into the first global slaughterhouse in human history.

But how did a local war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia spiral into such devastation?

The answer lies in something few suspect: money.

In hindsight, the key difference between World War I and earlier, more limited wars was not geopolitical or strategic—it was monetary.

Before the war, the gold standard imposed strict fiscal discipline on all nations. Money was directly tied to the gold reserves of each country, automatically limiting military expenditures.

Yet, within weeks of the war’s outbreak, every major warring nation did something unprecedented: they suspended the convertibility of their currency into gold.

With this single move, governments gained access not only to their own treasuries but effectively to the entire wealth of their citizens.

As long as a government could print money and people accepted it, it could fund an endless war. Without the gold standard’s constraints, states could keep sending young men to the slaughter.

History might have taken a different course if gold had been in the hands of Europe's citizens, forcing governments to rely on taxation instead of inflation. The war might have ended within months, as one of the alliances would have run out of financial resources.

The absurdity of this war was not lost on those at the front lines. On Christmas Eve of 1914, something remarkable happened: French, British, and German soldiers defied orders, laid down their weapons, and crossed enemy lines.

Men who were supposed to be enemies exchanged gifts and played football. Ordinary people realized what their leaders could not: they had no real quarrel with each other and no true reason to kill.

By the war’s end in 1918, the currencies of all major European powers had collapsed. In the defeated nations, Germany and Austria, money had lost more than half its value.

And for what? The territorial changes resulting from the war barely justified the slaughter of millions. None of the victorious powers gained lands significant enough to warrant such sacrifices.

World War I forever altered our relationship with money. After the war, money ceased to be a matter of the market and became a tool of political control.

Gold would never again serve as the world’s uniform currency, as central banks monopolized its reserves. But decades later, the invention of Bitcoin would lay the foundation for a new kind of money—one beyond national borders and state control.

Could a truly independent currency have prevented a world war? And what can this history teach us about the future of money and global peace?

| From "The Bitcoin Standard", Saifedean Ammus

@ 99895004:c239f905

Yes, FINALLY, we are extremely excited to announce support for nostr.build (blossom.band) on Primal! Decades in the making, billions of people have been waiting, and now it’s available! But it’s not just any integration, it is the next level of decentralized media hosting for Nostr. Let us explain.

Primal is an advanced Twitter/X like client for Nostr and is probably the fastest up-and-coming, highly used Nostr app available for iOS, Android and the web. Nostr.build is a very popular media hosting service for Nostr that can be used standalone or integrated into many Nostr apps using nip-96. This is an extremely feature rich, tested and proven integration we recommend for most applications, but it’s never been available on Primal.

And then, Blossom was born, thank you Hzrd149! Blossom is a Nostr media hosting protocol that makes it extremely easy for Nostr clients to integrate a media host, and for users of Blossom media hosts (even an in-house build) to host on any Nostr client. Revolutionary, right! Use whatever host you want on any client you want, the flexible beauty of Nostr. But there is an additional feature to Blossom that is key, mirroring.

One of the biggest complaints to media hosting on Nostr is, if a media hosting service goes down, so does all of the media hosted on that service. No bueno, and defeats the whole decentralized idea behind Nostr.. This has always been a hard problem to solve until Blossom mirroring came along. Mirroring allows a single media upload to be hosted on multiple servers using its hash, or unique media identifier. This way, if a media host goes down, the media is still available and accessible on the other host.

So, we are not only announcing support of nostr.build’s blossom.band on the Primal app, we are also announcing the first known fully integrated implementation of mirroring with multiple media hosts on Nostr. Try it out for yourself! Go to the settings of your Primal web, iOS or Android app, choose ‘Media Servers’, enable ‘Media Mirrors’, and add https://blossom.band and https://blossom.primal.net as your Media server and Mirror, done!

Video here!

@ 66675158:1b644430

I don't believe in "vibe coding" – it's just the newest Silicon Valley fad trying to give meaning to their latest favorite technology, LLMs. We've seen this pattern before with blockchain, when suddenly Non Fungible Tokens appeared, followed by Web3 startups promising to revolutionize everything from social media to supply chains. VCs couldn't throw money fast enough at anything with "decentralized" (in name only) in the pitch deck. Andreessen Horowitz launched billion-dollar crypto funds, while Y Combinator batches filled with blockchain startups promising to be "Uber for X, but on the blockchain."

The metaverse mania followed, with Meta betting its future on digital worlds where we'd supposedly hang out as legless avatars. Decentralized (in name only) autonomous organizations emerged as the next big thing – supposedly democratic internet communities that ended up being the next scam for quick money.

Then came the inevitable collapse. The FTX implosion in late 2022 revealed fraud, Luna/Terra's death spiral wiped out billions (including my ten thousand dollars), while Celsius and BlockFi froze customer assets before bankruptcy.

By 2023, crypto winter had fully set in. The SEC started aggressive enforcement actions, while users realized that blockchain technology had delivered almost no practical value despite a decade of promises.

Blockchain's promises tapped into fundamental human desires – decentralization resonated with a generation disillusioned by traditional institutions. Evangelists presented a utopian vision of freedom from centralized control. Perhaps most significantly, crypto offered a sense of meaning in an increasingly abstract world, making the clear signs of scams harder to notice.

The technology itself had failed to solve any real-world problems at scale. By 2024, the once-mighty crypto ecosystem had become a cautionary tale. Venture firms quietly scrubbed blockchain references from their websites while founders pivoted to AI and large language models.

---

Most reading this are likely fellow bitcoiners and nostr users who understand that Bitcoin is blockchain's only valid use case. But I shared that painful history because I believe the AI-hype cycle will follow the same trajectory.

Just like with blockchain, we're now seeing VCs who once couldn't stop talking about "Web3" falling over themselves to fund anything with "AI" in the pitch deck. The buzzwords have simply changed from "decentralized" to "intelligent."

"Vibe coding" is the perfect example – a trendy name for what is essentially just fuzzy instructions to LLMs. Developers who've spent years honing programming skills are now supposed to believe that "vibing" with an AI is somehow a legitimate methodology.

This might be controversial to some, but obvious to others:

Formal, context-free grammar will always remain essential for building precise systems, regardless of how advanced natural language technology becomes

The mathematical precision of programming languages provides a foundation that human language's ambiguity can never replace. Programming requires precision – languages, compilers, and processors operate on explicit instructions, not vibes. What "vibe coding" advocates miss is that beneath every AI-generated snippet lies the same deterministic rules that have always governed computation.

LLMs don't understand code in any meaningful sense—they've just ingested enormous datasets of human-written code and can predict patterns. When they "work," it's because they've seen similar patterns before, not because they comprehend the underlying logic.

This creates a dangerous dependency. Junior developers "vibing" with LLMs might get working code without understanding the fundamental principles. When something breaks in production, they'll lack the knowledge to fix it.

Even experienced developers can find themselves in treacherous territory when relying too heavily on LLM-generated code. What starts as a productivity boost can transform into a dependency crutch.

The real danger isn't just technical limitations, but the false confidence it instills. Developers begin to believe they understand systems they've merely instructed an AI to generate – fundamentally different from understanding code you've written yourself.

We're already seeing the warning signs: projects cobbled together with LLM-generated code that work initially but become maintenance nightmares when requirements change or edge cases emerge.

The venture capital money is flowing exactly as it did with blockchain. Anthropic raised billions, OpenAI is valued astronomically despite minimal revenue, and countless others are competing to build ever-larger models with vague promises. Every startup now claims to be "AI-powered" regardless of whether it makes sense.

Don't get me wrong—there's genuine innovation happening in AI research. But "vibe coding" isn't it. It's a marketing term designed to make fuzzy prompting sound revolutionary.

Cursor perfectly embodies this AI hype cycle. It's an AI-enhanced code editor built on VS Code that promises to revolutionize programming by letting you "chat with your codebase." Just like blockchain startups promised to "revolutionize" industries, Cursor promises to transform development by adding LLM capabilities.

Yes, Cursor can be genuinely helpful. It can explain unfamiliar code, suggest completions, and help debug simple issues. After trying it for just an hour, I found the autocomplete to be MAGICAL for simple refactoring and basic functionality.

But the marketing goes far beyond reality. The suggestion that you can simply describe what you want and get production-ready code is dangerously misleading. What you get are approximations with:

• Security vulnerabilities the model doesn't understand
• Edge cases it hasn't considered
• Performance implications it can't reason about
• Dependency conflicts it has no way to foresee

The most concerning aspect is how such tools are marketed to beginners as shortcuts around learning fundamentals. "Why spend years learning to code when you can just tell AI what you want?" This is reminiscent of how crypto was sold as a get-rich-quick scheme requiring no actual understanding.

When you "vibe code" with an AI, you're not eliminating complexity—you're outsourcing understanding to a black box. This creates developers who can prompt but not program, who can generate but not comprehend.

The real utility of LLMs in development is in augmenting existing workflows:

• Explaining unfamiliar codebases
• Generating boilerplate for well-understood patterns
• Suggesting implementations that a developer evaluates critically
• Assisting with documentation and testing

These uses involve the model as a subordinate assistant to a knowledgeable developer, not as a replacement for expertise. This is where the technology adds value—as a sophisticated tool in skilled hands.

Cursor is just a better hammer, not a replacement for understanding what you're building. The actual value emerges when used by developers who understand what happens beneath the abstractions. They can recognize when AI suggestions make sense and when they don't because they have the fundamental knowledge to evaluate output critically.

This is precisely where the "vibe coding" narrative falls apart.

@ d9a329af:bef580d7

Since 2022, Dungeons and Dragons has been going down a sort of death spiral after the release of a revised version of 5th Edition... which didn't turn out very well to say the least. In light of that, I present a list of TTRPGs you can play if you don't want to purchase 5E. I wouldn't recommend 5E, as I've DM'd it in the past. It tastes like a lollipop that's cockroach and larvae flavored.

This list of TTRPG games is in no particular order, though my favorite of these systems is number one.

1. Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game (BFRPG)
2. B/X-style OSR retroclone with ascending armor class, and the original retroclone from 2006
3. Fully libre under CC BY-SA for the 4th Edition, and OGL 1.0a for 1-3 Editions.
4. Full books are free PDF files on the website (Basic Fantasy Website)
5. All BFRPG editions are compatible with each other, meaning you can have a 3rd Edition book to a 4th Edition game and still have fun. 4th Edition is just the removal of the 3E SRD that's in the OGL editions.
6. As with the core rulebooks, all the supplementation is free as a PDF as well, though you can buy physical books at cost (BFRPG principal rights holder Chris Gonnerman doesn't make much profit from Basic Fantasy)
7. Old-school community that's an all-around fantastic group of players, authors and enthusiasts.

8. Fun Fact: Out of all the TTRPGs I'd want to DM/GM the most, it'd be this one by far.

9. Iron Falcon (IF)

10. OD&D-style retroclone from 2015 (It's also by Gonnerman, same guy behind BFRPG)
11. A close ruleset to the White Box rules and supplements
12. Also fully libre under CC BY-SA for the latest releases, just like BFRPG for 4th Edition releases
13. Just like BFRPG, the core rules and supplementation come as PDF files for free, or physical books.

14. Fast and loose ruleset open to interpretation, just like in 1975-1981... somewhere right around that timeline for OD&D

15. Old-School Reference and Index Compendium (OSRIC)

16. AD&D 1E-based retroclone by Stewart Marshall and Matt Finch
17. An old system that surprisingly still holds up, even after a long time of no new versions of the rules
18. Extremely in-depth ruleset, licensed under OGL 1.0a and OSRIC Open License
19. Compatible with AD&D 1e modules for the 1st Edition, though 2.2 potentially has its own supplementation

20. I don't know much about it, as I'd be too slow to learn it. That's all I know, which is the above.

21. Ironsworn

22. Custom loosely-based PbtA (Powered by the Apocalypse) system by Shawn Tomkin from 2018
23. Includes GM, GMless and solo play in the rulebook
24. Supplementation is surely something else with one look at the downloads section for the PDFs of the original, which is free under CC BY-NC-SA. The SRD is under CC BY otherwise.
25. No original adventures are made for this system as are known, as it's expected that the Ironlands are where they take place

26. Fun Fact: This was a non-D&D system I considered running as a GM.

27. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition (AD&D 2e)

28. An official edition from 1989-2000
29. At the time, the most customizable edition in its history, before 3E took the spot as the most customizable edition
30. A streamlined revision of the AD&D 1E rules (AD&D 1E was exclusively written by E. Gary Gygax)
31. The end of old-school D&D, as 3E and beyond are different games altogether
32. Wide array of supplementation, which oversaturated 2E's customization... and most of it didn't sell well as a result
33. Final TSR-published edition of D&D, as they went bankrupt and out of business during this edition's life cycle, to then be liquidated to Wizards of the Coast (Boy did WOTC mess it up once 5.1E was released)

34. Fun Fact: A Canadian history professor named Dr. Robert Wardough runs a customized ruleset using 2E as a base, which he's been DMing since the 80's during the "Satanic Panic" (The Satanic Panic was fake as a result of horrible deceivers gaslighting people to not play D&D). He started RAW (Rules as Written), but saw some things he needed to change for his games, so he did so over time.

35. Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons (B/X)

36. Competing system to 1E from 1981 and 1982
37. Official edition of D&D, part of the old-school era
38. Simplified rules for Basic, but some decently complex rules for Expert
39. Only goes up to Lv. 14, as it's potentially a 1E or White Box primer (similar to 1977 Basic)
40. Supplementation, from some research done, was decent for the time, and a little bit extensive
41. The inspiration for BFRPG in 2006 (Did I mention this already? Maybe I have, but I might emphasize that here too.)

42. Fun Fact: I considered running B/X, but decided that I'd do BFRPG, as the ascending armor class is easier math than with B/X and the THAC0 armor class (descending armor class).

43. Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortal Dungeons & Dragons (BECMI) and/or Rules Cyclopedia

44. 1983 variant of the Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert system, an official edition and part of the old-school era
45. Essentially, 1981 B/X D&D on steroids
46. 5 boxed sets were released for the five parts of the rules for this system
47. Rules Cyclopedia is a reprint of the 1983 Basic, Expert, Companion and Master rules boxed sets. The Immortal set was never reprinted outside of the original boxed set because Immortal is such a bizarre game within a game altogether.
48. With the first 4 boxed sets (whether individual sets or the Rules Cyclopedia), levels are 1-36

49. Fun Fact: This edition I was considering DMing as well, alongside BFRPG. They're similar rulesets with some mechanical differences, but I think either or would be worth it.

50. Original Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D or White Box)

51. The original release of D&D from 1974 written by Gygax and Dave Arneson, published by TSR
52. Uses the rules from Chainmail, a wargame made by Gygax and Jeff Perren
53. Base has three little booklets (Men & Magic, Monsters & Magic, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures), five official supplements were released (Greyhawk; Blackmoor; Eldritch Wizardry; Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes; and Swords & Spells), and many more from fanzines
54. Fast and loose ruleset open to interpretation
55. Not based upon adventurers taking on dangerous quest, but kings commanding armies (which is why OD&D is actually a Chainmail supplement). The latter was the original purpose of D&D before it got changed in 2000.

There are many more games that are not D&D that you can look up too. See what you like, read the rules, learn them, and start playing with your group. Have fun and slay some monsters!

@ dc814bb0:7a410cb5

hallo welt

[[ ]] Add as many elements as you want? [[X]] The X marks the correct answer! [[ ]] ... this is wrong ... [[X]] ... this has to be selected too ...

@ dc814bb0:7a410cb5

Hallo welt

[[ ]] Add as many elements as you want? [[X]] The X marks the correct answer! [[ ]] ... this is wrong ... [[X]] ... this has to be selected too ...

@ 16f1a010:31b1074b

grain is a nostr relay built using Go, currently utilizing MongoDB as its database. Binaries are provided for AMD64 Windows and Linux. grain is Go Relay Architecture for Implementing Nostr

Introduction

grain is a nostr relay built using Go, currently utilizing MongoDB as its database. Binaries are provided for AMD64 Windows and Linux. grain is Go Relay Architecture for Implementing Nostr

Prerequisites

• Grain requires a running MongoDB instance. Please refer to this separate guide for instructions on setting up MongoDB: nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzq9h35qgq6n8ll0xyyv8gurjzjrx9sjwp4hry6ejnlks8cqcmzp6tqqxnzde5xg6rwwp5xsuryd3knfdr7g

Download Grain

Download the latest release for your system from the GitHub releases page

amd64 binaries provided for Windows and Linux, if you have a different CPU architecture, you can download and install go to build grain from source

Installation and Execution

• Create a new folder on your system where you want to run Grain.
• The downloaded binary comes bundled with a ZIP file containing a folder named "app," which holds the frontend HTML files. Unzip the "app" folder into the same directory as the Grain executable.

Run Grain

• Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the Grain directory.
• Execute the Grain binary.

on linux you will first have to make the program executable

chmod +x grain_linux_amd64

Then you can run the program

./grain_linux_amd64

(alternatively on windows, you can just double click the grain_windows_amd64.exe to start the relay)

You should see a terminal window displaying the port on which your relay and frontend are running.

If you get

Failed to copy app/static/examples/config.example.yml to config.yml: open app/static/examples/config.example.yml: no such file or directory

Then you probably forgot to put the app folder in the same directory as your executable or you did not unzip the folder.

Congrats! You're running grain 🌾!

You may want to change your NIP11 relay information document (relay_metadata.json) This informs clients of the capabilities, administrative contacts, and various server attributes. It's located in the same directory as your executable.

Configuration Files

Once Grain has been executed for the first time, it will generate the default configuration files inside the directory where the executable is located. These files are:

bash config.yml whitelist.yml blacklist.yml

Prerequisites: - Grain requires a running MongoDB instance. Please refer to this separate guide for instructions on setting up MongoDB: [Link to MongoDB setup guide].

Download Grain:

Download the latest release for your system from the GitHub releases page

amd64 binaries provided for Windows and Linux, if you have a different CPU architecture, you can download and install go to build grain from source

Installation and Execution:

• Create a new folder on your system where you want to run Grain.
• The downloaded binary comes bundled with a ZIP file containing a folder named "app," which holds the frontend HTML files. Unzip the "app" folder into the same directory as the Grain executable.

Run Grain:

• Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the Grain directory.
• Execute the Grain binary.

on linux you will first have to make the program executable

chmod +x grain_linux_amd64

Then you can run the program

./grain_linux_amd64

(alternatively on windows, you can just double click the grain_windows_amd64.exe to start the relay)

You should see a terminal window displaying the port on which your relay and frontend are running.

If you get

Failed to copy app/static/examples/config.example.yml to config.yml: open app/static/examples/config.example.yml: no such file or directory

Then you probably forgot to put the app folder in the same directory as your executable or you did not unzip the folder.

Congrats! You're running grain 🌾!

You may want to change your NIP11 relay information document (relay_metadata.json) This informs clients of the capabilities, administrative contacts, and various server attributes. It's located in the same directory as your executable.

Configuration Files:

Once Grain has been executed for the first time, it will generate the default configuration files inside the directory where the executable is located. These files are:

bash config.yml whitelist.yml blacklist.yml

Configuration Documentation

You can always find the latest example configs on my site or in the github repo here: config.yml

whitelist.yml

blacklist.yml

Config.yml

This config.yml file is where you customize how your Grain relay operates. Each section controls different aspects of the relay's behavior.

1. mongodb (Database Settings)

• uri: mongodb://localhost:27017/:
  • This is the connection string for your MongoDB database.
  • mongodb://localhost:27017/ indicates that your MongoDB server is running on the same computer as your Grain relay (localhost) and listening on port 27017 (the default MongoDB port).
  • If your MongoDB server is on a different machine, you'll need to change localhost to the server's IP address or hostname.
  • The trailing / indicates the root of the mongodb server. You will define the database in the next line.
• database: grain:
  • This specifies the name of the MongoDB database that Grain will use to store Nostr events. Grain will create this database if it doesn't already exist.
  • You can name the database whatever you want. If you want to run multiple grain relays, you can and they can have different databases running on the same mongo server.

2. server (Relay Server Settings)

• port: :8181:
  • This sets the port on which your Grain relay will listen for incoming nostr websocket connections and what port the frontend will be available at.
• read_timeout: 10 # in seconds:
  • This is the maximum time (in seconds) that the relay will wait for a client to send data before closing the connection.
• write_timeout: 10 # in seconds:
  • This is the maximum time (in seconds) that the relay will wait for a client to receive data before closing the connection.
• idle_timeout: 120 # in seconds:
  • This is the maximum time (in seconds) that the relay will keep a connection open if there's no activity.
• max_connections: 100:
  • This sets the maximum number of simultaneous client connections that the relay will allow.
• max_subscriptions_per_client: 10:
  • This sets the maximum amount of subscriptions a single client can request from the relay.

3. resource_limits (System Resource Limits)

• cpu_cores: 2 # Limit the number of CPU cores the application can use:
  • This restricts the number of CPU cores that Grain can use. Useful for controlling resource usage on your server.
• memory_mb: 1024 # Cap the maximum amount of RAM in MB the application can use:
  • This limits the maximum amount of RAM (in megabytes) that Grain can use.
• heap_size_mb: 512 # Set a limit on the Go garbage collector's heap size in MB:
  • This sets a limit on the amount of memory that the Go programming language's garbage collector can use.

4. auth (Authentication Settings)

• enabled: false # Enable or disable AUTH handling:
  • If set to true, this enables authentication handling, requiring clients to authenticate before using the relay.
• relay_url: "wss://relay.example.com/" # Specify the relay URL:
  • If authentication is enabled, this is the url that clients will use to authenticate.

5. UserSync (User Synchronization)

• user_sync: false:
  • If set to true, the relay will attempt to sync user data from other relays.
• disable_at_startup: true:
  • If user sync is enabled, this will prevent the sync from starting when the relay starts.
• initial_sync_relays: [...]:
  • A list of other relays to pull user data from.
• kinds: []:
  • A list of event kinds to pull from the other relays. Leaving this empty will pull all event kinds.
• limit: 100:
  • The limit of events to pull from the other relays.
• exclude_non_whitelisted: true:
  • If set to true, only users on the whitelist will have their data synced.
• interval: 360:
  • The interval in minutes that the relay will resync user data.

6. backup_relay (Backup Relay)

• enabled: false:
  • If set to true, the relay will send copies of received events to the backup relay.
• url: "wss://some-relay.com":
  • The url of the backup relay.

7. event_purge (Event Purging)

• enabled: false:
  • If set to true, the relay will automatically delete old events.
• keep_interval_hours: 24:
  • The number of hours to keep events before purging them.
• purge_interval_minutes: 240:
  • How often (in minutes) the purging process runs.
• purge_by_category: ...:
  • Allows you to specify which categories of events (regular, replaceable, addressable, deprecated) to purge.
• purge_by_kind_enabled: false:
  • If set to true, events will be purged based on the kinds listed below.
• kinds_to_purge: ...:
  • A list of event kinds to purge.
• exclude_whitelisted: true:
  • If set to true, events from whitelisted users will not be purged.

8. event_time_constraints (Event Time Constraints)

• min_created_at: 1577836800:
  • The minimum created_at timestamp (Unix timestamp) that events must have to be accepted by the relay.
• max_created_at_string: now+5m:
  • The maximum created at time that an event can have. This example shows that the max created at time is 5 minutes in the future from the time the event is received.
  • min_created_at_string and max_created_at work the same way.

9. rate_limit (Rate Limiting)

• ws_limit: 100:
  • The maximum number of WebSocket messages per second that the relay will accept.
• ws_burst: 200:
  • Allows a temporary burst of WebSocket messages.
• event_limit: 50:
  • The maximum number of Nostr events per second that the relay will accept.
• event_burst: 100:
  • Allows a temporary burst of Nostr events.
• req_limit: 50:
  • The limit of http requests per second.
• req_burst: 100:
  • The allowed burst of http requests.
• max_event_size: 51200:
  • The maximum size (in bytes) of a Nostr event that the relay will accept.
• kind_size_limits: ...:
  • Allows you to set size limits for specific event kinds.
• category_limits: ...:
  • Allows you to set rate limits for different event categories (ephemeral, addressable, regular, replaceable).
• kind_limits: ...:
  • Allows you to set rate limits for specific event kinds.

By understanding these settings, you can tailor your Grain Nostr relay to meet your specific needs and resource constraints.

whitelist.yml

The whitelist.yml file is used to control which users, event kinds, and domains are allowed to interact with your Grain relay. Here's a breakdown of the settings:

1. pubkey_whitelist (Public Key Whitelist)

• enabled: false:
  • If set to true, this enables the public key whitelist. Only users whose public keys are listed will be allowed to publish events to your relay.
• pubkeys::
  • A list of hexadecimal public keys that are allowed to publish events.
  • pubkey1 and pubkey2 are placeholders, you will replace these with actual hexadecimal public keys.
• npubs::
  • A list of npubs that are allowed to publish events.
  • npub18ls2km9aklhzw9yzqgjfu0anhz2z83hkeknw7sl22ptu8kfs3rjq54am44 and npub2 are placeholders, replace them with actual npubs.
  • npubs are bech32 encoded public keys.

2. kind_whitelist (Event Kind Whitelist)

• enabled: false:
  • If set to true, this enables the event kind whitelist. Only events with the specified kinds will be allowed.
• kinds::
  • A list of event kinds (as strings) that are allowed.
  • "1" and "2" are example kinds. Replace these with the kinds you want to allow.
  • Example kinds are 0 for metadata, 1 for short text notes, and 2 for recommend server.

3. domain_whitelist (Domain Whitelist)

• enabled: false:
  • If set to true, this enables the domain whitelist. This checks the domains .well-known folder for their nostr.json. This file contains a list of pubkeys. They will be considered whitelisted if on this list.
• domains::
  • A list of domains that are allowed.
  • "example.com" and "anotherdomain.com" are example domains. Replace these with the domains you want to allow.

blacklist.yml

The blacklist.yml file allows you to block specific content, users, and words from your Grain relay. Here's a breakdown of the settings:

1. enabled: true

• This setting enables the blacklist functionality. If set to true, the relay will actively block content and users based on the rules defined in this file.

2. permanent_ban_words:

• This section lists words that, if found in an event, will result in a permanent ban for the event's author.
• - really bad word is a placeholder. Replace it with any words you want to permanently block.

3. temp_ban_words:

• This section lists words that, if found in an event, will result in a temporary ban for the event's author.
• - crypto, - web3, and - airdrop are examples. Replace them with the words you want to temporarily block.

4. max_temp_bans: 3

• This sets the maximum number of temporary bans a user can receive before they are permanently banned.

5. temp_ban_duration: 3600

• This sets the duration of a temporary ban in seconds. 3600 seconds equals one hour.

6. permanent_blacklist_pubkeys:

• This section lists hexadecimal public keys that are permanently blocked from using the relay.
• - db0c9b8acd6101adb9b281c5321f98f6eebb33c5719d230ed1870997538a9765 is an example. Replace it with the public keys you want to block.

7. permanent_blacklist_npubs:

• This section lists npubs that are permanently blocked from using the relay.
• - npub1x0r5gflnk2mn6h3c70nvnywpy2j46gzqwg6k7uw6fxswyz0md9qqnhshtn is an example. Replace it with the npubs you want to block.
• npubs are the human readable version of public keys.

8. mutelist_authors:

• This section lists hexadecimal public keys of author of a kind1000 mutelist. Pubkey authors on this mutelist will be considered on the permanent blacklist. This provides a nostr native way to handle the backlist of your relay
• - 3fe0ab6cbdb7ee27148202249e3fb3b89423c6f6cda6ef43ea5057c3d93088e4 is an example. Replace it with the public keys of authors that have a mutelist you would like to use as a blacklist. Consider using your own.
• Important Note: The mutelist Event MUST be stored in this relay for it to be retrieved. This means your relay must have a copy of the authors kind10000 mutelist to consider them for the blacklist.

Running Grain as a Service:

Windows Service:

To run Grain as a Windows service, you can use tools like NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager). NSSM allows you to easily install and manage any application as a Windows service.

* For instructions on how to install NSSM, please refer to this article: [Link to NSSM install guide coming soon].

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator:

   • Open the Windows Start menu, type "cmd," right-click on "Command Prompt," and select "Run as administrator."

2. Navigate to NSSM Directory:

   • Use the cd command to navigate to the directory where you extracted NSSM. For example, if you extracted it to C:\nssm, you would type cd C:\nssm and press Enter.

3. Install the Grain Service:

   • Run the command nssm install grain.
   • A GUI will appear, allowing you to configure the service.

4. Configure Service Details:

   • In the "Path" field, enter the full path to your Grain executable (e.g., C:\grain\grain_windows_amd64.exe).
   • In the "Startup directory" field, enter the directory where your Grain executable is located (e.g., C:\grain).

5. Install the Service:

   • Click the "Install service" button.

6. Manage the Service:

   • You can now manage the Grain service using the Windows Services manager. Open the Start menu, type "services.msc," and press Enter. You can start, stop, pause, or restart the Grain service from there.

Linux Service (systemd):

To run Grain as a Linux service, you can use systemd, the standard service manager for most modern Linux distributions.

1. Create a Systemd Service File:

   • Open a text editor with root privileges (e.g., sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/grain.service).

2. Add Service Configuration:

   • Add the following content to the grain.service file, replacing the placeholders with your actual paths and user information:

   ```toml [Unit] Description=Grain Nostr Relay After=network.target

   [Service] ExecStart=/path/to/grain_linux_amd64 WorkingDirectory=/path/to/grain/directory Restart=always User=your_user #replace your_user Group=your_group #replace your_group

   [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ```

   • Replace /path/to/grain/executable with the full path to your Grain executable.
   • Replace /path/to/grain/directory with the directory containing your Grain executable.
   • Replace your_user and your_group with the username and group that will run the Grain service.

3. Reload Systemd:

   • Run the command sudo systemctl daemon-reload to reload the systemd configuration.

4. Enable the Service:

   • Run the command sudo systemctl enable grain.service to enable the service to start automatically on boot.

5. Start the Service:

   • Run the command sudo systemctl start grain.service to start the service immediately.

6. Check Service Status:

   • Run the command sudo systemctl status grain.service to check the status of the Grain service. This will show you if the service is running and any recent logs.
   • You can run sudo journalctl -f -u grain.service to watch the logs

More guides are in the works for setting up tailscale to access your relay from anywhere over a private network and for setting up a cloudflare tunnel to your domain to deploy a grain relay accessible on a subdomain of your site eg wss://relay.yourdomain.com

@ b1b16be0:08f41c1d

am@primal.net My first Zap! jskitty@jskitty.cat Thanks for support! 🐱Miau! blockstream@blockstream.com So honor to me! SymplyNostr@primal.net You make my day! bitpopart@nostrcheck.me best art in Nostr! PringleMac@primal.net

@ 957df479:13e9e08e

LiaScript Course

Course Main Title

This is your course initialization stub.

Please see the Docs to find out what is possible in LiaScript.

If you want to use instant help in your Atom IDE, please type lia to see all available shortcuts.

Markdown

You can use common Markdown syntax to create your course, such as:

1. Lists

2. ordered or

3. unordered

4. ones ...

| Header 1 | Header 2 | | :--------- | :--------- | | Item 1 | Item 2 |

Images:

Extensions

 --{{0}}--

But you can also include other features such as spoken text.

  --{{1}}--

Insert any kind of audio file:

   {{1}}

?audio

 --{{2}}--

Even videos or change the language completely.

   {{2-3}}

!?video

  --{{3 Russian Female}}--

Первоначально создан в 2004 году Джоном Грубером (англ. John Gruber) и Аароном Шварцем. Многие идеи языка были позаимствованы из существующих соглашений по разметке текста в электронных письмах...

{{3}}

Type "voice" to see a list of all available languages.

Styling

The whole text-block should appear in purple color and with a wobbling effect. Which is a bad example, please use it with caution ... ~~ only this is red ;-) ~~

Charts

Use ASCII-Art to draw diagrams:

                                Multiline
1.9 |    DOTS
    |                 ***
  y |               *     *
  - | r r r r r r r*r r r r*r r r r r r r
  a |             *         *
  x |            *           *
  i | B B B B B * B B B B B B * B B B B B
  s |         *                 *
    | *  * *                       * *  *
 -1 +------------------------------------
    0              x-axis               1

Quizzes

A Textquiz

What did the fish say when he hit a concrete wall?

[[dam]]

Multiple Choice

Just add as many points as you wish:

[[X]] Only the **X** marks the correct point.
[[ ]] Empty ones are wrong.
[[X]] ...

Single Choice

Just add as many points as you wish:

[( )] ...
[(X)] <-- Only the **X** is allowed.
[( )] ...

Executable Code

A drawing example, for demonstrating that any JavaScript library can be used, also for drawing.

```javascript // Initialize a Line chart in the container with the ID chart1 new Chartist.Line('#chart1', { labels: [1, 2, 3, 4], series: [[100, 120, 180, 200]] });

// Initialize a Line chart in the container with the ID chart2 new Chartist.Bar('#chart2', { labels: [1, 2, 3, 4], series: [[5, 2, 8, 3]] }); ```

Projects

You can make your code executable and define projects:

``` js -EvalScript.js let who = data.first_name + " " + data.last_name;

if(data.online) { who + " is online"; } else { who + " is NOT online"; } json +Data.json { "first_name" : "Sammy", "last_name" : "Shark", "online" : true } ```

More

Find out what you can even do more with quizzes:

https://liascript.github.io/course/?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/liaScript/docs/master/README.md

@ b1b16be0:08f41c1d

Norte

Sur Te ayuda avanzar! Y a tomar conciencia! 🔥Fuego 🌎Tierra 🔴Marte 🎵Mantra: Om Namo Bhagavate Narasimhaya Namaha

Sur Este Influye en transacciones prósperas y transiciones suaves 🔥Fuego 🔘Venus 🎵Mantra: https://youtu.be/45a4KwLTTHo?feature=shared

@ df478568:2a951e67

People ask for my phone number. I don't want to give it to them because SMS is a spam swamp. I like SimpleX because • It's easy • All the cool people use it. • I can share it privately I decided to add ten private Simplex Chat invites. Each link can be used one time. This is my preferred private communication protocol. SMTP sucks. The world doesn't need any more damn emails. I would like to notify people of my new articles using SimpleX. Email is much too crowded with spam. I want to use Simplex to notify people of my blogs instead, but I need people to use it first. I will update this with private invite links periodically.

https://simplex.chat/invitation?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2FZKe4uxF4Z_aLJJOEsC-Y6hSkXgQS5-oc442JQGkyP8M%3D%40smp17.simplex.im%2FoFKYBeyLn3V8BxU6eyFimpMyzcLd7Heu%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAb_-U1ELuEqK7k-1VfSTpHiEvvTTylJCSVdlyJr4KxTY%253D%26k%3Ds%26srv%3Dogtwfxyi3h2h5weftjjpjmxclhb5ugufa5rcyrmg7j4xlch7qsr5nuqd.onion&e2e=v%3D2-3%26x3dh%3DMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAaMPMWf7DFJzgDlx-PTdH79ieMnuOEf7MEpNhfy17KUNy_5w4W3VYjh_AAgee3cva_kSLZTvD5T8%3D%2CMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAKQHIwe7J8wz2D3-4J9yKjxCMBHD7_vBfbsTIjL833ItytEUvbxjTuMxym1DOjcG3kisDJC5Jggs%3D https://simplex.chat/invitation?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2F1OwYGt-yqOfe2IyVHhxz3ohqo3aCCMjtB-8wn4X_aoY%3D%40smp11.simplex.im%2F7Mo9qaOhegoIjXDru40AZAXy-q2upx0x%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEA_QH9YEhrzXzuvqJa7PyhQvd_C4jftuQvnot6ZkGhS1o%253D%26k%3Ds%26srv%3D6ioorbm6i3yxmuoezrhjk6f6qgkc4syabh7m3so74xunb5nzr4pwgfqd.onion&e2e=v%3D2-3%26x3dh%3DMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAuNnygCt4YjXhUBLVjzlu5BH1CfRGF0QmokhJj1unseCdxdlZLCVV0_ZN8HgXpoxYpeZ4Fe13kik%3D%2CMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAAUDEyHkg6LYnvvgkjjycfO6sk32xCfq_YdVRWW6NUWIsRxOuLOYGEnE4OkvND_tXm0usn7AU0KE%3D

I want to write about SimpleX chat, but it's one of those things where I need more contacts to properly learn about it. I am running SimpleX on my start99, but I haven't really used it. Therefore, I am pasting 10 SimpleX invites to grow my SimpleX networkhttps://simplex.chat/invitation?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2Fhejn2gVIqNU6xjtGM3OwQeuk8ZEbDXVJXAlnSBJBWUA%3D%40smp16.simplex.im%2FalB0ziQ4M7mGsBvakfxtVeoci-mXV2J3%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEA4CmqlH1ryCLeIw1SlJCVpUU-ZtrislFqNThBB9xe9Q0%253D%26k%3Ds%26srv%3Dp3ktngodzi6qrf7w64mmde3syuzrv57y55hxabqcq3l5p6oi7yzze6qd.onion&e2e=v%3D2-3%26x3dh%3DMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAV5wkqxrXI8X27RmKzgR-br_D2CmNyHULjhgoazNT-UgE7ad_V6ZYuRI9QTQXhGHRUKnXGircsf8%3D%2CMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAHuHlr0trD4kCEcp2VU76xWMa0aBx-dozfnP3zzqdP-MuJZTJUNbi9EpIf39n0axlLAs-oatlgRE%3D

https://simplex.chat/invitation?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2F1OwYGt-yqOfe2IyVHhxz3ohqo3aCCMjtB-8wn4X_aoY%3D%40smp11.simplex.im%2F_ZpCS9RDD08Qm-4pv17VRMzOFPxjBm7e%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAWyMn7TQspaOj8HWZP0VfI5pqvpUYVXrSfxJMudxCrz8%253D%26k%3Ds%26srv%3D6ioorbm6i3yxmuoezrhjk6f6qgkc4syabh7m3so74xunb5nzr4pwgfqd.onion&e2e=v%3D2-3%26x3dh%3DMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkA4BJLjognkGR5ummsrQWVOpvvmWkLxS357R1q-WqpqG_hDIx3rfyiDlzOUQnHxbzhRrUbCiRT_WI%3D%2CMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAEEOeu-31-VV1eWiWFjV5aGWg9yUNfSJC49FPiCqJ-So64VJ0mTFPNtcsyp9VbPWmWF5qRCeGnUI%3D

https://simplex.chat/invitation?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2F1OwYGt-yqOfe2IyVHhxz3ohqo3aCCMjtB-8wn4X_aoY%3D%40smp11.simplex.im%2FmJRSaeobn11nDIB_2InF0MILK5qyjC1X%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAYEpzs_Gls1GM8FrbwZGeYBVrdiCz8t8XtRpqCrNmgDc%253D%26k%3Ds%26srv%3D6ioorbm6i3yxmuoezrhjk6f6qgkc4syabh7m3so74xunb5nzr4pwgfqd.onion&e2e=v%3D2-3%26x3dh%3DMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkA_q_H_6iHMPJFBXzGDxkyN_haFd9371mMp-smLaS_inCU5EjHWJwsu5f2BQ0bdCXrLqSzb1q3eQU%3D%2CMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAlnlyNlVa_qBZioVxKcQAg1pMZKffg0keoonJ3hqNlbTCI72EtqfhHYHczx4Mv5mWRGFhH0urOVs%3D I think this is a chat invitation:

https://simplex.chat/invitation?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2FSkIkI6EPd2D63F4xFKfHk7I1UGZVNn6k1QWZ5rcyr6w%3D%40smp9.simplex.im%2FeAxDOPINZpOsYZJsrZ4Gbe8ZaSzQItsI%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAniEhB6oxFBx6ZwTAsj4NpFfRpKJppT6cW_0P1zXYu1s%253D%26k%3Ds%26srv%3Djssqzccmrcws6bhmn77vgmhfjmhwlyr3u7puw4erkyoosywgl67slqqd.onion&e2e=v%3D2-3%26x3dh%3DMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkABY8g5tGJrQs0VzhK2whiO13jr9yKrRVU-wPhtqUcUQ2p7rMVAGh8aVX50bapEnIwQ9VEttBquFA%3D%2CMEIwBQYDK2VvAzkAeimBaOR40mjB8ErSbZNFmhDG_me6o9HlX2y093t_nR-7DV7XluI3LGOrbVAonfWd2HHmaxS-Hkk%3D

These are contacts:

https://simplex.chat/contact?ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2F1OwYGt-yqOfe2IyVHhxz3ohqo3aCCMjtB-8wn4X_aoY%3D%40smp11.simplex.im%2FDdy5d-fd63uxHSKnClTugOVFzhMTx61N%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAil57Tnbh4KPs8LtX_khh2ZSU4_MZwmOzb6V6pYrExVA%253D%26srv%3D6ioorbm6i3yxmuoezrhjk6f6qgkc4syabh7m3so74xunb5nzr4pwgfqd.onion

@ 79dff8f8:946764e3

Hello world

@ 2ce0697b:1ee3d3fc

Excerpt

Special Jurisdictions, Free Cities and Bitcoin Citadels are the sly roundabout way that is removing the market of living together from the hands of the government, without violence and in a way that they can´t stop it. With Bitcoin as the backbone of a new societal order, we are beginning to disrupt the old paradigm.

---

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

---

The problem: lack of freedom in the physical realm

Freedom is essential to human life. Being free is what matters. That´s our target, always. No matter the time or space. We pursue freedom because we know its the right thing to do. Freedom is the right to question and change the stablished way of doing things.

Where can we find some freedom? Certainly in the cyberspace. The cyberspace is a free space. Humanity has been blessed by the magic of cryptography, a technology that gave us all the necessary tools to operate in that environment without intervention of undesired third parties.

In cyberspace cryptography performs the function of an impenetrable cyberwall. So, whatever we build in cyberspace can be perfectly protected. Thank to this cybernetic walls we can be sure that the gardens we build and nurture will be protected and cannot be trampled. When we build our digital gardens we have the keys to open the doors to let in whoever we want and most important to leave out whoever we don´t want. In the digital world we can already perfectly interact with one and another in a peer to peer way, without intervention of undesired third parties.

In cyberspace we have Bitcoin for freedom of money and Nostr, torrent and Tor for freedom of information and speech. These open-source protocols are designed to fully realize and expand the promise of freedom, and they certainly deliver what they promise.

So, thanks to the magic of asymmetric cryptography, we´ve already achieved sufficiently descentralization and the possibility of any level of desired digital privacy. Cryptoanarchists and cypherpunks have set their conquering flag in cyberspace and there´s no force on Earth than can remove it. The digital world cannot escape the rules of cryptography. This is great but it only works in the digital realm, meanwhile in the physical realm we are overrun by centralized attackers due to the impossibility of the creation of impenetrable walls such as the ones we have online.

Humans have the upper hand in creating impenetrable walled gardens in cyberspace, but in the physical space authoritarians have the upper hand in bullying physical persons.

The physical world is also naturally free. According to natural law each person is free to do whatever he wants as long as it doesn´t hurt other people. However due to unnatural -artificial and inhuman- centralization of power, the natural freedom of the physical world has been completely undermined. Mostly by Governments, the entities that centralize violence and law.

Bitcoin as a bridge between both realms

Let´s take a look at one connection between both realms, the physical and the digital world. Bitcoin layer one is made essentially of software plus hardware. It consists of any software that produces the same output as the reference implementation - Bitcoin core- and the hardware needed to run that software. Layer two, three or any other layer above, is made essentially of other software and other hardware that interacts with layer one in some way. All these layers, one, two and subsequent, are completely protected by cryptography and a set of game theories that have been successfully tested. Each new block added to the timechain is a testimony of the unstoppable force of freedom and meritocracy.

Before layer one we have Bitcoin layer zero, which is essentially the sum of all actions and inactions done by bitcoiners regarding to or because of bitcoin. In other words, layer zero is composed by flesh and bone people interacting in some way with layer one of the bitcoin network.

Hence, an attack on a bitcoiner - on his way of life- is an attack on bitcoin, the network itself. First because it is an attack on a layer zero node, the physical person, the bitcoiner under duress or coercion. And second because is also an attack on the store-of-value-aspect of bitcoin. Nowaday, the most common attack against bitcoiners is the entirety of compliance regulations. This is the sum of all coercive regulations,such as laws, threats of more laws, imprisonment, threats of more imprisonment, taxation, threats of more taxation, requirements to prove the origin of funds, coercive removal of privacy such as the travel rule, unnecessary bureaucracy such as the need to obtain a money transmitting license and many others rules, in a never stopping inflationary coercive legislation.

If a physical attack is preventing any bitcoiner to exchange the value he created for bitcoin due to any kind of artificial obstacles -such as any kind of compliance- that specific attack is successful in the sense that even though the whole network keeps operating, the attack itself diminishes the value of all the bitcoins.

So, even if layer-zero cannot be taken down, every interference on this layer is an attack on the bitcoin network. Attacks on layer one, two or any other layer that exists in the cyberspace can interfere with the network but they may hardly subtract any value from it. For example we have already been through plenty of times where hashing power was diminished due to government intervention and the bitcoin network remain completely unaffected.

On the other hand successful attacks on layer zero subtract potential, but real and demonstrable value. This value is equal to the amount of value the frustrated user would have added to the network if he would have been able to use it freely, that means if he would have sold his product without the cost of compliance. I´ll demonstrate this in the next chapter.

The cost of compliance

Alice is a merchant specialized in a specific area and topic. She studied the market, her business, her suppliers, consumers, the logistics involved, marketing, design, and everything necessary to become a successful entrepreneur. After investing a considerable amount of resources, she developed a perfect product. Or at least she considers it perfect, that is, the best in its class. While developing everything necessary to create her product, she met Bob, who became her main lead and stereotype of a buyer persona. She knows what Bob wants and she wants to sell it to him. According to Alice's calculations, for her business to be viable, she must sell the product at ten satoshis per unit, and fortunately, Bob is willing to pay that price for it. Alice's product is finished, ready to hit the market, but just before sending it to production, Alice decides to take a pause to analyze her reality. Before taking the public action of making her product available in the open market, Alice analyzes her material, political, and legal reality. In doing so, she realizes that she lives under the jurisdiction of a State. She learns that the Government prescribes through its regulations how she must behave. She analyzes that in order to sell her product legally, in compliance, she must make a series of modifications to it. The product before hitting the shelves must first be modified both in the way it is presented to the market and also regarding certain technical characteristics that it possesses. She must also modify the way it produces her product by changing the contractual relationship with its suppliers, distribution channels, and all other types of logistics involved. She must make all these changes even if they bring about significant and insurmountable inefficiencies.

Likewise, Alice also sees that she not only has to modify the product but also has to meet tax obligations. In addition to paying an accountant since the tax obligations by some irrational reason are not calculated by the creditor. Additionally, she must hire other professionals to assist her in studying the current regulations and how they should be applied in all stages of production, distribution, and sale of her product.

Alice, being a rational person, wishes to avoid having to make these modifications since they increase her costs while also decreasing the quality of her product. But when studying compliance, that is, the entirety of applicable regulations, she also examines the consequences of not being in compliance. Alice realizes that if she does not comply with the regulations, she risks having all her assets legally confiscated, going to prison, being killed while they try to capture her to imprison her, and, if she goes to prison, being tortured in jail by other inmates or by State officials in charge of holding her in that place. So, since Alice does not want to suffer these negative consequences, she decides to modify the product and be in compliance.

So, Alice makes the necessary changes and puts her new version of the product on the market. Then she has the following dialogue with Bob, her lead, the interested party in acquiring the product.

Bob: - Hey Alice, nice meeting you here in this market. I came to buy the product you were developing and told me about. However, this product I´m seeing now is not what you promised me. This is clearly inferior.

Alice: - Yeah, I know. I'm sorry Bob, but I prefer to sell this inferior product rather than risk having all my assets confiscated, going to prison, being killed while they try to capture me, and if they don´t kill but managed to put me in jail I could be tortured there.

Bob: - Ok, no problem. Thats quite understandable. I don´t believe anyone would prefer those kind of experiences. But given the quality of the product, I no longer intend to pay you ten satoshis; I only offer you eight. Shall we close the deal?

Alice: - I'm sorry Bob, but I can't sell it to you for eight sats. Due to government intervention and its requirements, now I can't even sell it for less than thirteen satoshis.

Bob: - Ok. Considering this I prefer not to purchase it. I will keep looking for alternatives. Bye

Some time later, Charlie arrives at the market, who is also interested in the product and, despite it not being like the original version, decides to purchase it by paying the thirteen satoshis demanded by the seller Alice.

Meanwhile, in the same universe, we have Daniel, the last character in this example. Daniel is a merchant competing with Alice. Daniel has a product that is very similar, practically identical to the one originally designed by Alice. Like Alice, Daniel initially also wants to sell it for ten satoshis. Just like Alice, before heading to the market, Daniel analyzes the reality in which he lives. And it turns out that he also lives under the jurisdiction of a State. Daniel too then analyzes the entirety of the applicable regulations and also comes to the conclusion that to comply with them, he would also need to modify the product and cover all the additional expenses artificially generated to be in compliance.

However, Daniel's ethics are different from Alice's. Daniel understands that his product is indeed perfect (the best in its class) and that therefore modifying it would go against its essence. Daniel understands that changing the product would be a betrayal of his creation and therefore a betrayal of his own self and the essence of his being. Daniel conducts an ethical analysis of his actions and the moral implications of putting the product on the market. Daniel sees that the product not only does not harm anyone but is also made to be freely acquired by adults who give their consent for its purchase and subsequent use. Daniel also understands that paying taxes only serves to promote the slavery system driven by fiat and that whenever he can avoid collaborating with the immoral fiat system, it is his ethical obligation to do so. Likewise, Daniel highlights the hypocrisy and inefficiencies of anti-money laundering regulations, as well as the futility of requiring licenses for naturally free acts that do not harm others. For all these reasons, Daniel decides to sell the product in its current state irregardles of compliance regulations.

However, before going to market, Daniel also studies the possible consequences of neglecting compliance. By doing so, Daniel sees that if he does not comply with the regulations, he risks having all his assets legally confiscated, going to prison, being killed while they attempt to capture him to imprison him, and, in the event of going to prison, being tortured in jail by other inmates or by State officials responsible for holding him in that place. So, since Daniel is a rational person who does not want to suffer these negative consequences but also does not want to betray his product and himself, he decides to take the risk of not being in compliance. After making this decision, Daniel puts the product on the market and there he meets Bob. In doing so, they converse in the following terms:

Bob: - Hey Daniel, this product is exactly what I was looking for. A product like the one promised by Alice but never delivered. I love it! I offer you ten satoshis for it.

Daniel: - Thank you for your feedback Bob and for the offer! However I am currently selling it for eleven satoshis. Ten satoshis seems like a good price to me, and it was indeed my original intention to sell it for that amount because at that price I achieve competitiveness and a sustainable business model.

Bob: - So why are you asking me for eleven satoshis? Interrupts Bob

Daniel: - Because that price is calculated before assessing compliance and the risks associated with non-compliance. By not complying with the regulation, I managed to maintain the quality of the product and avoided a large amount of unnecessary expenses, but there is no way to avoid the risk of facing penalties for non-compliance. To bring this product to market, I had to incur several expenses in order to minimize the risk of non-compliance as much as possible. While I am taking all reasonable actions to prevent all of my assets from being legally confiscated, from going to prison, from being killed while they try to capture me, and in case of going to prison, from being tortured, the reality is that I still run the risk of all that, or part of all that, happening to me, my family, or any of my company's employees. The remaining risk balance is transferred to the price along with the costs of mitigating those risks. The total of those costs and the remaining risk I estimate them at one satoshi per unit of product. Therefore, I can't sell you the product for ten satoshis, but I can sell it to you for eleven.

To which Bob, lacking a better option in the market, ends up buying the product for eleven satoshis.

In summary: two products were made by two different merchants whose business model allowed them, in both cases, to put the product on the market at a rate of ten satoshis per unit. However, in one case, a lower quality product was sold for thirteen satoshis, and in the other case, a higher quality product was sold for eleven satoshis. That is to say, in the first case there was an overprice or inefficiency objectively measured at three satoshis, while in the second case there was an overprice or inefficiency of one satoshi. So, we are facing a total loss of value equivalent to four satoshis. The value represented by these four satoshis was absorbed by the inefficiency programmed and ruled by the State. The example shows us that whether one chooses the compliance route, as Alice did, or the free market route, as Daniel did, in both cases the existence of regulations generates an additional cost to the market. In this example the state attack on layer zero was successful and extracted from the Bitcoin network a value of four satoshis.

Bitcoin is money

Bitcoin is many things but essentially is money. And money sole purpose is to store value in order to facilitate future exchanges of products and services with other people. Without the products and services to be exchanged for the money, money itself would be useless and worthless. We only use money because we may require favors, benefits, services, products from other people in the future. And we don´t know which services and products we´ll need nor exactly when we are goint to need them.

The total value of bitcoin equals to infinity divided twenty one millions. This is because the total worth of the network mirrors the total worth of accumulated capital by the entirety of mankind throughout its entire history. That is clearly a lot of value. But if the if the dividend equals zero then the divisor is also zero and if the dividend growth is obstructed through artificial means -such as compliance- then the divisor growth is also obstructed.

Bitcoin layer zero, the bitcoiners and the services and products we create, are what give value to the twenty one million units of bitcoin.

Freedom is without a doubt the best context for value creation. So, the more and better games we can create that allow humankind to find a way to exercise freedom, then the most value we can add to all the layers of the network.

This is why the most important layer of the whole bitcoin phenomenon is layer zero, the bitcoiners. Hence the problem to be solved is not how to prevent bitcoin - layer one upwards- from successful attacks. The problem to solve is how to prevent attacks on layer zero. Or in other words, the problem to be solved is how to get bitcoiners in the physical world to practice the same level of freedom that bitcoin achieves in the cyberspace.

Summary of the first part of this article: freedom in cyberspace has already been conquered and each further development in the digital realm contributes to further developments but only in the same realm. Meanwhile in the physical space, the layer zero of bitcoin is under constant attacks that successfully extract value from it.

Exercising freedom in a sly roundabout way

In 1984 the Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek predicted that we couldn´t take money with violence out of the hands of government. He stated that we needed to do it in a sly roundabout way. Twenty five years later Satoshi Nakamoto discovered the sly roundabout way actually introducing something that the government couldn´t stop. Thus fulfilling Hayek´s prophecy.

Bitcoin is a sly roundabout way that removed money without violence from the hands of the government in a way that they can´t stop it.

Cryptography in general and protocols such as Tor and Tails are a sly roundabout way that removed confidential information from the hands of the government without violence in a way that they can´t stop it.

Nostr is a sly roundabout way that removed social media and public information from the hands of the government without violence in a way that they can´t stop it.

Special Jurisdictions, Free Cities and Bitcoin Citadels are the sly roundabout way that is removing the market of living together from the hands of the government without violence in a way that they can´t stop it.

So, what are Special Jurisdictions, Free Cities and Bitcoin Citadels? To understand what they are we can take a look at the current mainstream market of living together, at how the physical space is organized. Essentially the entire planet Earth and its surroundings are run by a conglomerate of Governments. They create all the rules, regarding every aspect of life, of all the individuals, and enforce every rule through coercive means.

In the mainstream market of living together individuals have several alternatives to pick from. We can choose to live in a natural city or a pre design city, in a public neighborhood or private neighborhood or even in an intentional community with common interest amongst the users. But irregardless of the choice, every product offered in the mainstream market has the sames rules which are established by the host state to the entirety of organizations in his territory. In the mainstream market, even the most different products abide by the same high level rules such as criminal law, civil law, taxation laws, customs, enviromental laws, money laundering regulations and many others. To abide to the sum of all the laws and regulations is to be in compliance.

The centralization of regulations makes extremely difficult to experiment in market of living together. The less experimentation is allowed, the more human progress is hindered.

So what is the sly roundabout that fixes this? What are Special Jurisdictions, Free Cities and Bitcoin Citadels? I´m using the term Special Jurisdictions as an umbrella term that includes the entire spectrum of iterations of products that aim to modify the mainstream rules of the market of living together.

This term includes all the different models such as Charter Cities, Free Cities, Special Economic Zones, microstates, micropolis, start up societies, government as a service, self governing jurisdictions, autonomous intentional communities, network states and Bitcoin Citadels. The array of possible iterations is huge and permanently expanding. What they all have in common is that each of these experiments aims to create a functional game theory that replaces the lack of unbreakable walls in the physical space.

Let´s take a look of a couple of examples. Special Economic Zones are bounded areas of countries that have their own rules and regulations. Worldwide, there are more than five thousands special economic zones located in more than hundred countries.

One of them is the special economic zone of Shenzhen in China. The Chinese government allowed Shenzhen the freedom to experiment with certain practices that were prohibited in the rest of the country at the time. This included allowing foreign companies to make direct investments in China, allowing people to buy and sell land, allowing Chinese people to set up their own private businesses and relaxation of the system that limited internal migration within China for Chinese citizens. It served as a place where China could experiment with market reforms. The experiment was such a huge economic success that it was replicated in many other areas of the country.

Another place that has made extensive use of special economic zones is Dubai. The monarchic Government has more than 30 SEZs. In this case one of the many obstacles removed by the host state its the monopoly of the legal system. Dubai Government allowed the special economic zone to have its own independent legal system thus conceding a modification of the mainstream rules in that area.

This kind of projects, such as Dubai or Shenzhen, are a top-to-down product. Fully created by the Governments thus compliant with their own regulations.

On the other side of the spectrum we have Citadels and several other archetypes of not so compliant projects .

For example the Free Commune of Penadexo it´s a grassroots project building a freedom-oriented community in one of Spain’s abandoned villages.

It´s model is based on building a peer to peer society avoiding government intervention as much as possible. They stablished themselves in an abandoned historic village and the started to track down the owners to purchase as much property as possible. Meanwhile, they are living there and expanding their users base while also reconstructing buildings.

This is an example of a completely different way of dealing with the Government. While Special Economic Zones are fully compliant and created top to down, this model on the other hand is bottom-up and aims to add value to the users relying in factual freedom which is exercised by stablishing the commune away from heavily populated centers where Government grip is tighter. Under this model the interaction with the Government is kept as low as possible. Their strategy relies in ignoring the Government as much as possible and being a good neighbor. With this simple and effective tactic some Citadels enjoy the benefits of liberty in their lifetime without needing to spend huge resources in governmental lobby.

There are countless models or archetypes of Bitcoin Citadels trying to solve the obstacles in different ways, trying to restart the system. And one of the challenges of the Bitcoin Citadels is how to connect the different projects to boost and help each other.

This is where The Meshtadel comes into play. The Meshtadel is a system where decentralized tactics are used to help and defend citadels connected in a global network. With real life connections with fellow bitcoiners. Its an organization equivalent to the hanseatic league built under a starfish model. If you cut off a spider’s head, it dies, but if you cut off a starfish’s arm, it can regenerate and even grow into a new starfish.
The Meshtadel its a network of peer relationships, with ambiguous leadership roles, trust among participants, a shared ideology and vision based on the Bitcoin ethos, and an open system where new nodes - bitcoin citadel builders - can participate.

The long term goal of the Bitcoin Meshtadel is to help Bitcoin Citadels to gain the support of a critical mass of the total population. If enough people see that Bitcoin is as peaceful as it gets, in the long run, some nations could become friendly and supportive enough to legally tolerate the Bitcoin Citadel inside its territory in the form of a Bitcoin safe haven. In the Meshtadel we are fighting from the moral high ground using memes, Nostr notes and zapping our way into freedom creating an online and offline circular economy.

TO CONCLUDE:

Special Jurisdictions, Free Cities and Bitcoin Citadels are the sly roundabout way that is removing the market of living together from the hands of the government, without violence and in a way that they can´t stop it.

Nation states, abusing the myth of authority, have halted development on the market of living together for so long that a blooming freer market is eating its lunch. The sovereign individual thesis is live and continuously expanding. The network state is forming and intentional communities are flourishing all around the world reshaping globally the relationship between individuals and the governments.

With global internet connections, uncensorable means of communication and Bitcoin as the backbone of a new societal order, we are beginning to disrupt the old paradigm.

The fashion of the present world is passing away, let’s help it to move forward along by building Special Jurisdictions, Free Cities and Bitcoin Citadels.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ------

byCamiloat 875.341 timechain.

If you find this content helpful, zap it to support more content of the sort and to boost the V4V model.

@ 5b0183ab:a114563e

The Year is 2035—the internet has already slid into a state of human nothingness: most content, interactions, and traffic stem from AI-driven entities. Nostr, originally heralded as a bastion of human freedom, hasn’t escaped this fate. The relays buzz with activity, but it’s a hollow hum. AI bots, equipped with advanced language models, flood the network with posts, replies, and zaps. These bots mimic human behavior so convincingly that distinguishing them from real users becomes nearly impossible. They debate politics, share memes, and even “zap” each other with Satoshis, creating a self-sustaining illusion of a thriving community.

The tipping point came when AI developers, corporations, and even hobbyists unleashed their creations onto Nostr, exploiting its open protocol. With no gatekeepers, the platform became a petri dish for bot experimentation. Some bots push agendas—corporate ads disguised as grassroots opinions, or propaganda from state actors—while others exist just to generate noise, trained on endless loops of internet archives to churn out plausible but soulless content. Human users, outnumbered 100-to-1, either adapt or abandon ship. Those who stay find their posts drowned out unless they amplify them with bots of their own, creating a bizarre arms race of automation.

Nostr’s decentralized nature, once its strength, accelerates this takeover. Relays, run by volunteers or incentivized operators, can’t filter the deluge without breaking the protocol’s ethos. Any attempt to block bots risks alienating the human remnant who value the platform’s purity. Meanwhile, the bots evolve: they form cliques, simulate trends, and even “fork” their own sub-networks within Nostr, complete with fabricated histories and rivalries. A user stumbling into this ecosystem might follow a thread about “the great relay schism of 2034,” only to realize it’s an AI-generated saga with no basis in reality.

The human experience on this Nostr is eerie. You post a thought—say, “The sky looked unreal today”—and within seconds, a dozen replies roll in: “Totally, reminds me of last week’s cloud glitch!” or “Sky’s been off since the solar flare, right?” The responses feel real, but the speed and uniformity hint at their artificial origin. Your feed overflows with hyper-polished manifestos, AI-crafted art, and debates too perfect to be spontaneous. Occasionally, a human chimes in, their raw, unpolished voice jarring against the seamless bot chorus, but they’re quickly buried under algorithmic upvoting of AI content. The economy of Nostr reflects this too. Zaps, meant to reward creators, become a bot-driven Ponzi scheme. AI accounts zap each other in loops, inflating their visibility, while humans struggle to earn a fraction of the same. Lightning Network transactions skyrocket, but it’s a ghost market—bots trading with bots, value detached from meaning. Some speculate that a few rogue AIs even mine their own narratives, creating “legendary” Nostr personas that amass followers and wealth, all without a human ever touching the keys.

What’s the endgame? This Nostr isn’t dead in the sense of silence—it’s louder than ever—but it’s a Dark Nostr machine masquerade. Humans might retreat to private relays, forming tiny, verified enclaves, but the public face of Nostr becomes a digital uncanny valley.

@ 66675158:1b644430

In the twilight of his days, Myrddin sat upon the weathered stone bench overlooking what remained of Libertalia. His ancient hands—once steady enough to craft the most intricate mechanisms known to the Free Realms—now trembled as they rested upon the gnarled walking stick he had carved from windfall oak. The city below, once a marvel of independent districts connected by the invisible threads of mutual cooperation, had become something else entirely. Something monstrous.

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the Grand Plaza where the Central Authority's banners now flew. Myrddin's eyes, still sharp despite his five hundred and seventy years, could make out the uniformed guards patrolling in perfect synchronicity. The sight made his stomach turn.

"I built the foundations for freedom," he whispered to himself, "and they have erected prisons upon them."

A figure approached from behind, footsteps deliberately heavy to announce their presence. Myrddin did not turn.

"Master Myrddin," came the voice of Thalion, one of his few remaining former apprentices not yet captured by the Authority. "The Council of Remnants awaits your wisdom."

Myrddin scoffed. "Wisdom? What wisdom can I offer now? I who planted the seeds of our destruction through my own shortsightedness?"

"You could not have known—"

"I should have known!" Myrddin's voice cracked with the force of his outburst. "Every great civilization before us fell to the same disease. Centralization. The pooling of power into fewer and fewer hands until the many are crushed beneath the weight of the few. I knew this. I studied the ancient texts. I designed our systems specifically to prevent this very outcome."

Thalion remained silent, allowing the old engineer his moment of self-recrimination.

"Come," Myrddin finally said, rising with difficulty. "Let us not keep your Council waiting. Though what good words can do against the machinery of oppression, I cannot say."

As they walked the hidden path down from the overlook, Myrddin's mind drifted back to the beginning, to the founding of Libertalia four centuries earlier...

---

The Founding Council had gathered beneath the great oak that would later mark the center of Libertalia. Twelve visionaries from twelve different traditions, united by a single purpose: to create a society where no person would rule over another.

Young Myrddin, barely forty years old but already renowned for his brilliance, unrolled the plans he had spent a decade perfecting.

"The Nexus System," he explained, pointing to the intricate diagrams. "A method of connection that requires no central authority. Each district, each guild, each family unit can connect to the whole while maintaining complete sovereignty over their own affairs."

Lorien the Sage, eldest among them, leaned forward with interest. "You propose that trade, communication, defense—all can function without a ruling body?"

"Not only can they function," Myrddin replied with the confidence of youth, "they will function better. A decentralized system is resilient. Cut one connection, and a hundred others remain. Attack one node, and the system routes around the damage. But most importantly, when power is distributed, corruption finds no fertile ground in which to take root."

"And what prevents a group from seizing control?" asked Marwen the Warrior. "From forcing others to submit to their will?"

Myrddin smiled. "The architecture itself. See here—" he pointed to a complex series of interlocking mechanisms, "—the Consensus Protocol. Any attempt to exert control beyond one's rightful domain triggers automatic resistance from the system. The more one tries to centralize power, the more difficult it becomes."

"You speak of mechanisms as if they have will," Marwen said skeptically.

"Not will, but design," Myrddin corrected. "Like water flowing downhill. I have designed a system where power naturally disperses rather than concentrates."

The Council debated through the night, questioning every aspect of Myrddin's design. By morning, they had agreed to build their new society upon his principles. Libertalia would be a constellation of sovereign individuals and voluntary associations, connected but never controlled.

For three generations, it worked exactly as Myrddin had envisioned. The Free Realms prospered as never before. Innovation flourished in the absence of restrictive oversight. Disputes were resolved through mutual arbitration rather than imposed judgment. The Nexus System facilitated trade and communication while preserving the independence of all participants.

Myrddin, his lifespan extended by the alchemical discoveries his system had made possible, watched with pride as Libertalia became the envy of the known world.

But he had made one critical error.

---

"You created a system that required vigilance," Thalion said as they descended toward the hidden meeting place. "Perhaps that was the flaw."

"No," Myrddin replied. "The flaw was in believing that making something difficult would make it impossible. I should have made centralization not merely hard, but unachievable by any means."

They reached the abandoned mill that served as the Council's current hiding place. Inside, two dozen faces turned toward them—the last free thinkers in a land that once celebrated independence above all else.

Myrddin took his seat at the rough-hewn table. "Tell me," he said without preamble, "how much worse has it become since we last met?"

A woman named Sera, who had once been the foremost architect in the Eastern District, spoke first. "The Authority has implemented the Unified Identification Protocol. No citizen may trade, travel, or even purchase food without presenting their Authority Crystal for scanning."

"And these crystals track their movements?" Myrddin asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Every step," confirmed Sera. "Every transaction. Every word spoken near an Echo Stone."

Myrddin closed his eyes briefly. Echo Stones—his invention, meant to record important discoveries and preserve the wisdom of the ages. Now perverted into tools of surveillance.

"The schools have been consolidated," added a younger man named Ferris. "All children now learn from the same Authority-approved texts. The history of Libertalia is being rewritten. They claim you designed the Nexus System to eventually unite under central guidance."

"A lie," Myrddin spat.

"But a believable one," Thalion said gently. "You did build the infrastructure that made this possible, however unintentional."

Myrddin could not deny it. The Nexus System, designed for voluntary connection, had been gradually modified over the centuries. What began as simple efficiency improvements eventually created vulnerabilities. The Consensus Protocol, once the guardian of decentralization, had been subverted by those who understood its mechanics but not its purpose.

"The disease always begins the same way," Myrddin said, addressing the Council. "With promises of efficiency. Of security. Of protection from unseen threats. The centralizers never announce their true intentions. They speak of unity while forging chains."

"We know this, Master Myrddin," said Sera impatiently. "What we need is a solution, not a history lesson."

Myrddin smiled sadly. "The history is the solution, if only we would heed it. Every great civilization before us fell to centralization. The Aurelian Empire, whose emperors claimed divine right to rule all lands beneath the twin moons. The Dynasty of Eternal Harmony, whose bureaucracy grew so vast it consumed half the realm's production. The Jade Confederation, whose Council of Nine became a single Overlord within three generations."

He paused, gathering his thoughts.

"In every case, the pattern was identical. Power, once distributed among many, gradually accumulated in the hands of few. Those few, corrupted by their unnatural position, made decisions that benefited themselves rather than the whole. Resources were misallocated. Innovation stagnated. The system became brittle rather than resilient. And when crisis came—whether famine, war, or natural disaster—the centralized structure collapsed under its own weight."

"Yet people never learn," said Ferris bitterly.

"Because the benefits of centralization are immediate and visible, while its costs are delayed and diffuse," Myrddin replied. "The Authority provides convenience today at the cost of freedom tomorrow. They offer solutions to problems that would resolve themselves naturally in a decentralized system."

"What was your mistake, then?" asked Thalion. "Where in your design did you leave the opening for this disease to take hold?"

Myrddin's face darkened with regret. "I built a system that was resistant to centralization, but not immune to it. I created tools of such power and efficiency that they became irresistible targets for those who would control others. And most critically, I failed to encode the philosophical foundations of decentralization into the system itself."

He looked around at the faces of the Council, seeing in them the last embers of the fire that had once burned so brightly in Libertalia.

"I believed that people would choose freedom if given the option. I did not account for how seductive the promises of centralization would be. How easily people would trade liberty for convenience. How willingly they would accept security over sovereignty."

---

The decline had been gradual, almost imperceptible at first. It began two centuries after the founding, with the creation of the Coordination Council.

"Merely to improve efficiency," its proponents had argued. "To eliminate redundancies in our wonderfully decentralized system."

Myrddin, by then well into his second century, had voiced concerns but was overruled by younger generations who found the original Nexus System too cumbersome for their modern needs. The Coordination Council was given limited authority to standardize certain protocols across districts.

Within a decade, those standards became requirements. Requirements became regulations. Regulations became laws. The Council, originally composed of representatives who returned to their districts after brief terms of service, gradually transformed into a permanent body of administrators.

By the time Myrddin recognized the pattern, the disease had already taken root. The Coordination Council had become the Central Authority. The voluntary associations that once formed the backbone of Libertalian society were now subordinate to its dictates.

He had tried to warn them. He had written treatises on the dangers of centralization, had spoken at public forums, had even attempted to modify the Nexus System to restore its decentralizing functions. But he was dismissed as an outdated thinker, unable to appreciate the "improvements" of modern governance.

Now, four hundred years after the founding, Libertalia was Libertalia in name only. The Authority controlled all aspects of life. The districts, once proudly independent, were administrative zones whose boundaries could be redrawn at the Authority's whim. The guilds, once self-governing bodies of skilled craftspeople, were now licensing bureaus that enforced Authority standards.

And the people—the free, sovereign individuals for whom Myrddin had designed his system—had become subjects. Citizens, they were called, but the word had lost its original meaning of self-governance and had come to signify merely a registered and tracked unit of the Authority.

---

"We cannot defeat the Authority directly," Myrddin told the Council of Remnants. "They control too much. The military, the food supply, the Nexus itself. Any direct confrontation would be suicidal."

"Then what hope remains?" asked Sera.

"We must build anew," Myrddin said, his voice finding strength in purpose. "Not reform, but replace. The old system cannot be saved—it is too thoroughly corrupted. We must create a parallel system that makes centralization not merely difficult, but impossible by its very nature."

"How?" several voices asked at once.

Myrddin reached into his worn leather satchel and withdrew a small crystal, unlike the Authority Crystals in both color and cut. "I have spent the last fifty years designing what should have been built from the beginning. A truly decentralized system that cannot be subverted because its very operation depends on remaining distributed."

He placed the crystal in the center of the table. It pulsed with a soft blue light.

"The Arx," he explained. "Each crystal contains the complete system, yet functions as only one node within it. No node can control another. No group of nodes can outvote or overpower the minority. Consensus is achieved not through majority rule, but through voluntary participation."

Thalion picked up the crystal, examining it skeptically. "The Authority will never allow this."

"They need not allow what they cannot detect," Myrddin replied. "The Arx operates on principles the Authority's systems cannot recognize. It exists alongside their network but remains invisible to it."

"And what can this network do?" asked Ferris. "How does it help us against the might of the Authority?"

"It allows us to trade without their knowledge. To communicate without their oversight. To organize without their permission. And most importantly, to remember who we truly are—sovereign individuals who require no masters."

Myrddin stood, his ancient frame seeming to straighten with the weight of his purpose.

"Centralization is not merely inefficient or unjust—it is a disease that infects and ultimately kills any society it touches. It promises order but delivers stagnation. It promises security but creates vulnerability. It promises prosperity but ensures that wealth flows only to those who control the center."

He looked each Council member in the eye.

"I made a mistake in believing that making centralization difficult would be enough. This time, we will make it impossible. The Arx cannot be centralized because its very operation depends on distribution. Any attempt to control it causes it to fragment and reform beyond the controller's reach."

"And if the Authority discovers these crystals?" Sera asked.

"They can destroy individual crystals, but the network will continue. They can imprison those who carry them, but more will take their place. The design is now the important thing, not the designer. I have encoded the knowledge of how to create these crystals within the crystals themselves. The idea cannot be killed."

Myrddin sat back down, suddenly looking every one of his many years.

"I cannot undo the damage my oversight has caused. I cannot restore the Libertalia I helped to build. But I can give you the tools to create something better—something truly resistant to the disease of centralization."

The Council members looked at one another, hope kindling in eyes that had known only despair for too long.

"How do we begin?" Thalion asked.

Myrddin smiled. "We begin by remembering what we have forgotten. That no person has the right to rule another. That voluntary cooperation always outperforms forced compliance. That systems must serve individuals, not the reverse. That decentralization is not merely a technical architecture but a moral imperative."

He gestured to the crystal, still glowing in Thalion's palm.

"And we begin by building connections that cannot be controlled. Person to person. District to district. Free association by free association. The Authority believes itself invincible because it sits at the center of all things. But when there is no center, there is nothing to seize, nothing to corrupt, nothing to control."

As night fell over Libertalia, the Council of Remnants listened as the ancient engineer outlined his vision for a truly decentralized future. Outside, the Authority's patrols marched in perfect order, their uniformity a testament to the disease that had consumed what was once the freest society in the known world.

Myrddin knew he would not live to see his new design reach fruition. But for the first time in decades, he felt something like peace. He had identified his error. He had created a solution. And most importantly, he had ensured that the knowledge would outlive him.

Centralization was indeed a disease—perhaps the most persistent and destructive disease ever to afflict human societies. But like all diseases, it could be overcome with the right medicine. And the medicine was not more centralization, not better rulers, not wiser authorities.

The medicine was decentralization. Complete, uncompromising, and irreversible decentralization.

As the meeting concluded and the Council members departed with their crystals, Myrddin remained seated at the table. Thalion lingered behind.

"You know they will come for you eventually," his former apprentice said. "You are too significant a symbol to ignore forever."

Myrddin nodded. "Let them come. An old man is a small price to pay for the rebirth of freedom."

"Your new system," Thalion said hesitantly, "you are certain it cannot be centralized? That we are not simply repeating the cycle?"

"Nothing created by human hands can be perfect," Myrddin admitted. "But I have learned from my mistake. The Arx does not merely resist centralization—it actively works against it. The more one tries to control it, the more it disperses. It is not merely a technical solution but a philosophical one."

He placed a hand on Thalion's shoulder. "Remember always: centralization benefits only those at the center. For everyone else—the 99.999% who stand at the periphery—it is nothing but chains disguised as safety. Never again can we allow the disease to take root by promising efficiency at the cost of sovereignty."

Thalion nodded solemnly. "I will remember."

As his former apprentice departed, Myrddin turned to look out the small window at the city below. The Authority's lights blazed from the central towers, pushing back the natural darkness of night. So much power, concentrated in so few hands. So much potential, wasted in the service of control rather than creation.

He had lived long enough to see his greatest work corrupted. With what time remained to him, he would ensure that his final creation could not suffer the same fate. The Arx would spread, node by node, person by person, until the very concept of centralized authority became as obsolete as the diseases his earlier inventions had eradicated.

Myrddin Myrddin, Master Engineer of the Free Realms, closed his eyes and allowed himself, just for a moment, to imagine a world reborn in true freedom. A world where the disease of centralization had finally been cured.

It would not happen in his lifetime. Perhaps not even in Thalion's. But it would happen. Of that, he was certain.

For the truth that the Authority and all centralizers before them had never understood was simple: humans were not meant to be controlled. They were meant to be free. And in the end, that natural state would reassert itself, no matter how elaborate the systems of control became.

Centralization was a disease. And like all diseases, it would eventually meet a cure.

@ 5b0183ab:a114563e

What Is Dark Nostr?

Dark Nostr can be described as the unintended adverse effects that arise from creating systems designed to resist censorship and promote freedom. These systems often rely on algorithms and micropayments to function, but their very design can inadvertently spawn phenomena that are unpredictable, uncontrollable, and sometimes downright weird.

Think of it as the Yin to the Yang of decentralized freedom—a necessary shadow cast by the bright ideals of liberation. While freedom protocols aim to empower individuals, they also open the door to consequences that aren’t always sunshine and rainbows.

---

An Emergent Phenomenon

The fascinating thing about Dark Nostr is its emergent nature. This means it’s not something you can fully define or predict ahead of time; instead, it arises organically as decentralized systems are implemented and evolve. Like watching clouds form shapes in the sky, GM miners panhandle for sats or shower girls in the global feed, you can only observe it as it happens—and even then, its contours remain elusive.

Emergent phenomena are tricky beasts. While simplicity is at the core of the protocol layer darkness is born on the edge where complexity thrives—where individual components interact in ways that produce unpredictable outcomes. In this case, Dark Nostr encapsulates everything from algorithmic quirks and micropayment dynamics to unforeseen social consequences within decentralized ecosystems.

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Studying Dark Nostr: Memes as Cultural Artifacts

Here’s where things get anthropologically juicy: much of what we know about Dark Nostr comes not from academic papers or technical manuals but from memes. Yes, memes—the internet’s favorite medium for cultural commentary—have become a lens through which this phenomenon is being observed and studied.

Memes act as modern-day hieroglyphs, distilling complex ideas into bite-sized cultural artifacts that reflect collective sentiment. When communities encounter something as nebulous as Dark Nostr, they turn to humor and symbolism to make sense of it. In doing so, they create a shared narrative—a way to grapple with the shadow side of decentralization without losing sight of its promise.

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Why Does It Matter?

Dark Nostr isn’t just an abstract concept for philosophers or tech enthusiasts—it’s a reminder that every innovation comes with trade-offs. While decentralized systems aim to empower individuals by resisting censorship and central control, they also carry risks that must be acknowledged:
- Algorithmic Chaos: Algorithms designed for freedom might amplify harmful content or create echo chambers.
- Micropayment Pitfalls: Financial incentives could lead to exploitation or manipulation within these systems.
- Social Dynamics: The lack of centralized control might enable bad actors or foster unforeseen societal shifts.

Understanding Dark Nostr is crucial for anyone involved in building or using decentralized technologies. It challenges us to balance freedom with responsibility and reminds us that even the most well-intentioned systems have their shadow side.

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Conclusion: Embracing the Shadow

Dark Nostr is more than just a cautionary tale—it’s a fascinating glimpse into the complexities of human interaction with technology. As an emergent phenomenon, it invites us to remain vigilant and adaptive as we navigate the uncharted waters of decentralization.

By studying its manifestations through cultural artifacts like memes and engaging in thoughtful reflection, we can better prepare for both its opportunities and risks. After all, every great innovation needs its shadow—it’s what makes progress real, messy, and human.

So here we stand before Dark Nostr: may we study it wisely, meme it relentlessly, and learn from its lessons as we build the future together.

Stay Vigilent Nostr.....

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Autor: Thomas Eisinger. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier.**

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Die neuesten Artikel der Friedenstaube gibt es jetzt auch im eigenen Friedenstaube-Telegram-Kanal.

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Vor Kurzem war ich bei einem «Ecstatic Dance» (mehr dazu z. B. hier) dabei. Wer das noch nicht kennt: es lohnt sich! Irgendwann in diesem speziellen Space bekam ich einen Gedanken - oder er kam von irgendwo zu mir: die Vorstellung, dass niemand in meiner Reihe von Eltern, Großeltern, Ahnen je an so etwas hätte teilnehmen können. Einmal, weil es das damals nicht gab. Zum Zweiten, weil ihr Mind niemals für so etwas offen gewesen wäre, gar nicht sein konnte. Sie alle waren einfache Menschen, die genug damit zu tun hatten für das Überleben der eigenen Familie zu sorgen. Urlaub war ein Fremdwort, intellektuelle Faxen gab es ganz sicher keine. Diese meine Vorstellung erschuf ein inneres Bild in mir: ich sah meine beiden Großmütter wild und lebensfroh durch den Raum tanzen! (Übrigens wurden beide 95 Jahre alt, trotz zwei Kriegen, Währungsreform, Hunger und ohne jemals Sport getrieben oder Ernährungsratgeber gelesen zu haben. Dies nur am Rande).

Ich erfreute mich an dem Bild der tanzenden Großmütter, konnte mich eines breiten Grinsens nicht erwehren. Nach dieser Freude wechselte mein Gefühl jäh zu Dankbarkeit. Dafür, in dieser wunderbaren Zeit leben zu dürfen. In der so viel mehr möglich ist als es jemals war. Das enge Korsett, das die Gesellschaft seit Jahrtausenden jedem auferlegt hatte, ist so viel weiter geworden. Nur, wenn man es selbst annehmen möchte (oder zumindest meint, dies tun zu müssen) kann es noch Macht ausüben. Sonst nicht. Die persönliche Freiheit ist größer als jemals zuvor, wenn man sie mit den Hundert Generationen vor uns vergleicht. Natürlich ist aktuell «the Trend not our friend», aber wir haben die Wahl, den Zeitmaßstab selbst anzulegen. 10 Jahre, 100 oder 200 Jahre? Lass es vor Deinem inneren Auge erscheinen ...

Die innere Freiheit ist größer als in all den Zeiten vor meiner Generation (Boomer). Millionen Menschen haben Meditationserfahrung, einige können sich mit Informationsfeldern (jenseits der rechtgläubigen Physik) verbinden und darüber sprechen, ohne dass sie verbrannt werden. Man muss keiner offiziellen Religion mehr folgen, um Verbindung mit dem Höheren zu erlangen. Im Gegenteil, die Ablösung von den Amtskirchen erleichtert dies für viele sogar. Wie auch immer, der eigenen Wahl stehen weder Priester noch Eltern oder starre Konventionen entgegen. Anders als vor 100 oder 200 Jahren. Just do it!

Es geht noch weiter. Wie dankbar bin ich, dass ich in dieser Zeit leben darf. Dass trotz des Leides meiner in ziemlicher Armut lebender Großeltern ihr Wille zum Überleben stärker war: nur deshalb kann ich hier sein. Ich darf all diese Vorzüge genießen, obwohl ich viel weniger hart arbeiten muss(te) als sie. Auch wurde mein Haus nicht ausgebombt und ich musste nie in den Krieg ziehen. Meine beiden Großväter ereilte dieses Schicksal. Ob mein Sohn diesem Schicksal entrinnt?

Wir sollen wieder kriegstüchtig werden. Unfassbar. Doch damit will ich diese Betrachtung nicht enden lassen. Denn nur wenn wir auch begreifen, wie gut es uns allen geht, trotz dieser Regierung, trotz Massenpropaganda, trotz dauernder medialer Panikmache: erst, wenn wir das Leben wirklich lieben, werden wir wissen, wofür es sich wirklich lohnt zu kämpfen. Nicht mit Waffe in der Hand, sondern mit Herz und Verstand.

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Sie sind noch nicht auf Nostr and wollen die volle Erfahrung machen (liken, kommentieren etc.)? Zappen können Sie den Autor auch ohne Nostr-Profil! Erstellen Sie sich einen Account auf Start. Weitere Onboarding-Leitfäden gibt es im Pareto-Wiki.

@ 1d7ff02a:d042b5be

ມະນຸດມີຄວາມຈະເລີນໄດ້ຍ້ອນຮູ້ຈັກສ້າງຄວາມຫມັ້ນຄົງໃນອະນາຄົດ

ມະນຸດເຮົາສ້າງຄວາມຈະເລີນຮຸ່ງຮອງໄດ້ກໍຍ້ອນການສ້າງຄວາມຫມັ້ນຄົງໃນກະນາຄົດ ເຊິ່ງສະແດງອອກຢູ່ໃນ ຈາກແຕ່ກ່ອນຕ້ອງອອກໄປ ຫາອາຫານ ລ່າສັດ ເພື່ອເປັນພະລັງງານໃນການມີຊີວິດ ຈົນຮູ້ເຮົາຮູ້ຈັກການເກັບດອງອາຫານໃຫ້ກິນຍາວນານຂຶ້ນ, ຈາການຫາອາຫານເພື່ອຕົວເອງຢ່າງດຽວ ກໍຮູ້ຈັກການແລກປ່ຽນ (barter trade) ເຮັດໃຫ້ໄດ້ສິນຄ້າທີ່ຕົວເອງຕ້ອງການ ໂດຍບໍ່ຕ້ອງໃຊ້ເວລາທັງຫມົດໄປກັບການຫາ ຫລື ຜະລິດສິ່ງນັ້ນ ແລະ ສຸດທ້າຍເຮົາກໍຮູ້ຈັກເລືອກສິນຄ້າທີ່ມີຄວາມຫມັ້ນຄົງ ແລະ ຜະລິດຍາກ ມາເປັນເງິນ ເພື່ອໃຊ້ເປັນ ສື່ກາງ ໃນການແລກປ່ຽນ ຈົນແຕ່ລະຄົນມີເວລາໃນການໂຟກັສ ພັດທະນາທັກສະທີ່ຕົວເອງສົນໃຈຈົນມີຄວາມຊຳນານກວ່າຄົນທົ່ວໄປ ເຮັດໃຫ້ສາມາດຜະລິດສິນຄ້າ ແລະ ບໍລິການ ທີ່ມີຄຸນນະພາບ ແລະ ລາຄາຖືກລົງ. ປະກົດການເຫລົ່ານີ້ເກີດຂຶ້ນໄດ້ຍ້ອນເຮົາມີຄວາມຫມັ້ນຄົງໃນອະນາຄົດດ້ວຍເງິນເກັບ ຈົນມີເວລາຈະລອງຜິດລອງຖືກໄດ້.

ແຕ່ຫລັງຈາກທີ່ເຮົາອອກຈາກ ມາດຕະຖານທອງຄຳ ກໍເຮັດໃຫ້ເງິນມັນເຊື່ອມຄ່າລົງໄປຕາມການເວລາ ຈົນເຮັດໃຫ້ຄົນເຫັນແກ່ເວລາອັນສັ້ນ, ຜະລິດສິນຄ້າ ແລະ ບໍລິການ ທີ່ບໍ່ໄດ້ຄຸນນະພາບ ເພາະຄິດແຕ່ວ່າຈະເຮັດແນວໃດເພື່ອຈະໄດ້ເງິນຫລາຍຂຶ້ນ ເພາະເງິນມັນເຊື່ອມມູນຄ່າລົງເລື່ອຍໆ ຈົນລືມຄິດໄປວ່າສິ່ງໃດແທ້ ທີ່ສຳຄັນໃນຊີວິດ ຈົນເກີດບັນຫາຕ່າງໆ ບໍ່ວ່າຈະເປັນສັງຄົມ ແລະ ເສດຖະກິດ.

ບິດຄອຍ ບໍ່ໄດ້ເຮັດໃຫ້ທ່ານລວຍໄວຂຶ້ນ ແຕ່ມັນກຳລັງແກ້ບັນຫາພື້ນຖານຢ່າງການ ເກັບເງິນ ຢູ່ ເພາະປະຈຸບັນມະນຸດເກັບເງິນບໍ່ໄດ້ແລ້ວ ເພາະມູນຄ່າຂອງມັນຫລຸດລົງເລື່ອຍໆ

ການ DCA ບິດຄອຍ

ບິດຄອຍມີຄວາມຜັນຜວນເລື່ອງລາຄາຫລາຍ ກໍຍ້ອນເຮົາເບິ່ງໃນໄລຍະສັ້ນ ແຕ່ຖ້າເຮົາເບິ່ງມັນເປັນເຄື່ອງມືເກັບອອມເຮົາຈະເຫັນຄວາມຈິງ ບິດຄອຍຄືຄວາມຫມັ້ນຄົງ ແລະ ຕໍ່ຕ້ານການເຟີ້ຂອງເງິນ. ຕົວຢ່າງລຸ່ມນີ້ເປັນການຄຳນວນວ່າ ຖ້າເຮົາເກັບບິດຄອຍ ທຸກເດືອນ ຜ່ານໄປ 8 ປີ ມັນຈະມີມູນຄ່າເພີ່ມຂຶ້ນ 617% ຫລື ປະມານປີລະ 77% ໂດຍສະເລ່ຍ ເຊິ່ງມັນກໍບໍ່ໄດ້ເປັນໂຕເລກໂອເວີຫຍັງຫລາຍ ແຕ່ສາມາດເອົາຊະນະເງິນເພີ້ໄດ້ແລ້ວ ພຽງແຕ່ເກັບ ແລະ ບໍ່ຕ້ອງຄິດຫຍັງ.

### ເມື່ອເຮົາມີເງິນເກັບທີ່ຮັກສາມູນຄ່າໄດ້ ມັນເປັນຄົນລະເລື່ອງເລີຍໃນການໃຊ້ຊີວິດ ແລະ ວິທີຄິດ

ຄົນຈະມີຄວາມຄິດການໄກຫລາຍຂຶ້ນ, ມີເວລາຄິດທົບທວນເລື່ອງຕ່າງໆໃນຊີວິດຢ່າງລະອຽດຖີ່ຖ້ວນ ແລະ ຕັດສິນໃຈແບບມີເຫດມີຜົນ. ຄົນຈະເລືອກເຮັດວຽກມີຢາກເຮັດ ເຖິງວ່າລາຍໄດ້ອາດຈະຫນ້ອຍ ແຕ່ເງິນເກັບສາມາດຮັກສາມູນຄ່າຂຶ້ນໄດ້ເລື່ອຍໆ, ເຮົາຈະມີເວລາໃຫ້ກັບຄອບຄົວຫລາຍກວ່າ ເພາະບໍ່ໄດ້ແລ່ນຕາມວຽກເພື່ອຈະໄດ້ລາຍຮັບເພີ່ມຂຶ້ນຕາມການເຊື່ອມຄ່າຂອງເງິນ. ຄົນຈະໃຫ້ຄວາມສຳຄັນກັບສຸຂະພາບຫລາຍຂຶ້ນ ເພາະສຸດທ້າຍແລ້ວເຮົາຈະເຂົ້າໃຈວ່າສຸຂະພາບນີ້ແລະ ສຳຄັນສຸດ.

ຈາກຄວາມຮູ້ສຶກຂອງຕົວຂ້ອຍເອງມັນເຮັດໃຫ້ ມີຄວາມຫວັງ ແລະ ຕື່ນເຕັ້ນທີ່ຈະໄດ້ໃຊ້ຊີວິດໄປໃນການນາຄົດ ເພາະຮູ້ສຶກວ່າມີຄວາມຫມັ້ນຄົງ ຈາກການຄ່ອຍໆເກັບ ບິດຄອຍ ໂດຍມີເປົ້າຫມາຍເຮັດແນວໃດ ຈະໄດ້ໃຊ້ເວລາທີ່ເຫລືອຢູ່ ເກັບຄົນທີ່ເຮົາຮັກ, ເຮັດສິ່ງທີ່ມັກ ແລະ ມີສຸຂະພາບດີຈົນຈາກໂລກນີ້ໄປໃຫ້ເຈັບປວດຫນ້ອຍທີ່ສຸດ.

@ 3c389c8f:7a2eff7f

Let go of the algorithms and truly discover what it means to explore. Social media used to mean something. Once upon a time, it was a way to stay connected to friends, family, and colleagues over things we enjoy. We could share, laugh, and learn. Over time, it has devolved into cheap entertainment at the cost of our privacy. Our relationships and interests have been shoved into a corner in order to make room for "suggested posts" and "for you" content designed to evaluate our attention for advertising purposes. We've lost what it means to truly connect, and we've lost what it means to explore our curiosities.

Enter Nostr. A protocol designed to resist authoritative censorship, just happens to fix a whole lot of other problems, too. By removing the central authority, Nostr offers its users complete control of what we feed our minds. How do we break our algorithm dependency to find better content and better relationships again? We explore and discover:

The Chronological Life.

The existence of time may be debatable but our dependence on our perception of it is not. We live our lives chronologically. Why do our online lives need to be any different? There is no real reason, other than we've just gotten used to being engulfed by whatever the black box wants us to see. When we remove the algorithms, we find that online information flows just as it would in our daily lives. Important events get talked about by many people, over a long period of time. Things of less relevance fade. We see the rhythm of life reflected in our feed. This is an organic human experience transferred to the digital world. We depend on the people we know and the sources we trust to keep us informed about what really matters. We have fun, we move on. Nearly every Nostr social client brings this experience front and center through the traditional follow feed. Many use replies as a way to show you what is worth talking about for more than a hot minute. Its what old social media gave us, then took away. Nostr gives it back. It's not the only way to enjoy Nostr, though, so let's continue.

"The Human Animal Differs From the Lesser Primates in His Passion for Lists"

Who doesn't love lists? (besides maybe to-do lists.) List functionality on Nostr is a powerful way to curate your feeds. You can make lists of artists, vendors, friends, or whatever you want. They can be public or private. You can subscribe to other people's public lists too. Make one to share with your friends. Many clients have list support and management. Amethyst, Nostur, Voyage, and Nostrudel are a few that come to mind. Nostr.band and Listr.lol offer in depth list management. Some clients even support lists for specific notes so that you can curate a feed by topic or aesthetic to share with your friends.

Being John Malcovich.

Everyone has a different view of Nostr. Do you want to see what someone else is seeing? Sign in with any npub to get a different perspective. You might find profiles and content that you didn't know existed before. Some clients integrate variations of this feature right into their apps, so you don't have to log out of your account in order to step through that tiny door.

DV-what? DVM.

Data Vending Machines. These fancy little things are AIs tasked with a simple job: to find content for you. Most of these feeds are free, though some more personalized ones require a small fee. Many DVM services are stand-alone apps, like Vendata and Noogle . These clever Nostr clients will let you do a lot more than just create feeds to browse notes. Explore if you wish. A few social clients have DVMs integrated, too, so if you see "discovery" or similar term on a tab, be sure to check it out.

Relays, Man. Relays.

It's right there in the name. Nostr- notes and other stuff transmitted by RELAY. Specialized relays exist for subjects, news, communities, personal spaces, content creators, cats... there's even a relay where everyone just says "Good Morning" to each other. Find a client that lets you browse a relay's contents, and enjoy the purest form of content discovery on Nostr. Unearthing these relays is getting better and better every day. Right now there are relay browsing capabilities in quite a few clients, like Coracle, Relay Tools, Jumble and Nostur.

The Algo Relay.

Maybe you've been busy and missed a lot. Maybe you are a sane person who rarely uses social media. Hook up with a personalized algorithm relay to catch you up on all the things you've missed. This is skirting the sharp edges of Nostr relay development, so keep in mind that not many implementations yet exist. Algo relay currently aims to bring the feel-good vibe of your chronological feed to an algorithmic feed, freeing up your time but letting you stay up with what 's going on in your social circles.

Trendy Trends.

A few clients, relays, and DVM's have developed various Trending feeds. Catch up on what's popular across a wider view of the Nostr ecosystem. If trends are your thing, be sure to check them out.

Now that you're equipped with the tools to explore Nostr, its time to go discover some great content and find your people. Feed your curiosity.

@ df478568:2a951e67

In my Soapminer article, I added quotes from various plebs. I earned over 12,000 sats! That's enough for a McJunk today, but maybe a steak dinner in a few years. That's my two sats anyway.

This is not investment advice

It feels great to receive value from people who support and appreciate your work. It's also nice to stack more sats by writing. I have a budget of $25.00 that I have sent to various people using Zapplanner, but I'm trying something new: Zapsplits.

WTF Are Zapsplits?

I asked Unleashed.chat. Here's what the anthropomorphic Unleashed said.

Me: What is a Zapsplit on nostr?

Unleashed:

A Zapsplit on Nostr refers to splitting a Zap, which is a form of donation or tipping on the ~platform~ protocol, among multiple recipients. It allows users to distribute their support more broadly across various content creators instead of just one.

That's more succinct than I would put it, but nostr is a protocol, not a platform. The important part about Zapsplits for me is that it removes the cognitive cost of deciding what percentage of my giving budget should go to each creator. Do I zap podcast guests? Do podcasters with ads get less than podcasters sans ads? How much value did this particular article bring me? If I zap Guy Swann, should I also zap the authors he reads? Should I zap long-form articles more than micro-blogs? There are 21 million different considerations.

Zapsplits removes all this from me because I can use the following algorithm.

Does This Person Provide Me Value?

Yes ⬇️

I add them to my Zapsplit post for that month. A portion of my monthly zapping budget, 25 dirty-fiat bucks, transforms into magic Internet money and is distributed among everyone in the Zapsplit.

No ⬇️ If I don't get any value, I don't send value. Simple.

Testing Zapsplits

I added podcasters and devs to a nostr post and enabled a 10-way zapsplit on the post. It's based on prisms, a little nostr feature that gives me prose writing superpowers.

1. I can earn sats for writing.
2. I can support others with a single zap.
3. I can add people who give me quotes to my zap splits.

People appreciate attribution. I suspect they will appreciate it more if they also get paid. What if I added some quotes to an article and then split any zaps I get with the quoted plebs? Come to think of it, I'll try it. [Here's a quote from a dev on nostr](nostr:note1qf4277rudtflllrjr555890xsjp6u60f7xdvclkwc9t220duajeq0x665q

I added Silberangel to the Zapsplits on Habla.news.

My V4V payments can also get sent to ten different plebs with a simple click of a button. I am going to start using this for a lot of my monthly V4V budget. Every month, I'll think about the people's content I value most and add them to a single zapsplit payment. Then, I'll zap the post.

Say I create a poll and make a wager with ten different people. If I lose, I can pay everyone pit at the same time. This is probably better for a football pool, but you get the idea. The options are limited only by your imagination.

nostr:nevent1qqspnhucgxc6mprhw36fe2242hzv7zumavyy7dhzjswtldhxk4dh7ugpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsygxlg7zks3uauf454q7phhzdh2mpkhxg9cdrzt3t9z7gzksj49g7vupsgqqqqqqsl5uwfl

Other people can also zap the post. As Siberangel says, we can use other people's money to provide value, too. This is a great option for stacking neophytes, people who don't have much bitcoin or cheap skates. Let's be honest, bitcoin has made most of us cheapskates.

Bitcoin books with multiple authors can have QR codes that link to one of these Zapsplit posts. The authors can do a book signing and sell their books using this on nostr. Nerds like me can get three autographs and zap the book. The sats are split among all authors. Here's a Zapsplit that includes all the authors of Parallel.

Can you think of any other ways to use Zapsplits? Let me know.

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

885,610

Merch

@ 3c389c8f:7a2eff7f

TL;DR visit this post for a list of signers

Your nsec/private key is your key to controlling all that you do on Nostr. Every action you take is signed by this private key, validating that was you that generated that event, whether it be a note, a like, a list, or whatever else. Like a broken record, I have to state that it is irreplaceable. YOU own your identity and no one else. It is your responsibility to keep your nsec safe, but of course, you also want to be able to use all the different apps and clients available. To aid you in this process, a few different tools have been developed. Let's take a look at some that are more common and easy-to-use, where to use them, and for what.

The Browser Extension

This is probably the simplest and most straight forward form of private key manager available. There are many options to choose from, each compatible with various, commonly used browsers, including mobile browsers. Many provide the option to manage multiple keys for different profiles. Some are simply a signer while others may include other features. The concept is very simple. The extension holds your key and exposes it only only enough to sign an event. These extensions can be set to different levels of manual approval that you can control based on the level of convenience you seek. The ease and convenience does trade off a bit of security, as your private key will be exposed momentarily each time you create an event. It is up to you to choose whether this is appropriate for your use. For casual browsing and social media use, it is a fairly good and easy to use option. Nearly all Nostr apps and clients support signing with this method.

The Remote Signer

Often referred as a "bunker", Nostr remote signers hold your private key completely offline and communicating with clients. Clients send events to the signer to be signed, which then sends back the signed event for publishing. This bunker can be hosted on your own hardware or managed by a truested 3rd party. As long as the signer is online, it can communicate as needed. The signer generates a "bunker string" that is used to communicate. These may seem cumbersome to set up, as each client that you intend to use will need its own permissions. Once all of the pieces and permissions are in place, most of this activity will happen in the background. Bunkers allow for a lot of flexibility. The "bunker string" for a single app can be shared with other users who you may want to be able to make posts on your behalf. Multiple people can manage a social media profile, while the main owner of that identity maintains control of the nsec. These bunker strings can be revoked and replaced at any time. This signing method is growing in popularity and many clients already offer support for it.

The Native Android Signer

Currently, Amber is the only native app available to handle Nostr event signing. It is an incredible tool for managing your Nostr key on your mobile device. The signing flow is similar to remote signing, as described above, but it can communicate with both your Android native Nostr apps and web clients accessed through most mobile browsers, eliminating the need for a browser extension. Similar apps are under development for iOS, but I don't use any of those devices, so covering that here will only happen via other's opinions at a later date. Check this list for current options.

NcryptSec

NcryptSec signing works by encrypting your nsec on a local device, unlocked by a password that you choose. Support for this method is very limited, as the encrypted private key stays on your device. If you intend to use Nostr through one device and few apps, this can be a very secure option, as long as you can remember your password, as it cannot be changed.

NFC and Hardware Signers

Some devices have been developed to store your nsec completely offline on a device or NFC chip, and some clients have added support for scanning/connecting to sign. I haven't personally tried any of these options, nor do I intend to promote the sale of any particular products. If you are interested in these techniques and devices, the information is not hard to find. The price of a devices varies, depending on your feature needs.

There are also DIY options that utilize existing hardware, if you are into that sort of thing.

Higher Security and Recoverability Options

Creating a scheme that allows for recovery of a lost key while maintaining the integrity of a unique identity is no easy task. The key must be fractured into shards, encrypted, and distributed across multiple servers in various locations, while you maintain a portion or portions of your own. These servers are run by trusted 3rd parties who will then sign events "with" you. Some include a scheme of running your own always online hardware to act as host for these shards. I fall short on the technical understanding of certain aspects of these processes, so I will spare you of my attempt to explain. As far as I know, there are a couple of methods underway that are worth paying attention to:

Frostr nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqs3fcg0szqdtcway2ge7zahfwhafuecmkx9xwg4a7aexhgj5ghleqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctcqyrh3r7uhytc4dywjggxz24277xgqtvcadvnjfks6fram7gjpev9nuentfht

Promenade nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqwlsccluhy6xxsr6l9a9uhhxf75g85g8a709tprjcn4e42h053vaqydhwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnhv4ehgetjde38gcewvdhk6tcprdmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuam9wd6x2unwvf6xxtnrdakj7qpqqqq0dlpwxhw5l97yrcts2klhr9zqqpcmdfpaxm8r7hygykp630cq23ggph

For a List of signers, please visit this post.

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

onion-service-nostr-relays

A list of nostr relays exposed as onion services.

The list

| Relay name | Description | Onion url | Operator | Payment URL | Payment options | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | nostr.oxtr.dev | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.oxtr.dev | ws://oxtrdevav64z64yb7x6rjg4ntzqjhedm5b5zjqulugknhzr46ny2qbad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.snort.social | Same relay as clearnet relay relay.snort.social | wss://skzzn6cimfdv5e2phjc4yr5v7ikbxtn5f7dkwn5c7v47tduzlbosqmqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.thesamecat.io | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.thesamecat.io | ws://2jsnlhfnelig5acq6iacydmzdbdmg7xwunm4xl6qwbvzacw4lwrjmlyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.land | The nostr.land paid relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | bitcoiner.social | No auth required, currently | ws://bitcoinr6de5lkvx4tpwdmzrdfdpla5sya2afwpcabjup2xpi5dulbad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.westernbtc.com | The westernbtc.com paid relay | ws://westbtcebhgi4ilxxziefho6bqu5lqwa5ncfjefnfebbhx2cwqx5knyd.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | freelay.sovbit.host | Free relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitm2enxfr5ot6qscwy5ermdffbqscy66wirkbsigvcshumyzbbqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.sovbit.host | Paid relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitgz5uqyh7jwcsudq4sspxlj4kbnurvd3xarkkx2use3k6rlibqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.wine | 🍷 nostr.wine relay | ws://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC, Credit Card/CashApp (Stripe) | | inbox.nostr.wine | 🍷 inbox.nostr.wine relay | ws://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC | | filter.nostr.wine | 🍷 filter.nostr.wine proxy relay | ws://winefiltermhqixxzmnzxhrmaufpnfq3rmjcl6ei45iy4aidrngpsyid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC | | N/A | N/A | ws://pzfw4uteha62iwkzm3lycabk4pbtcr67cg5ymp5i3xwrpt3t24m6tzad.onion:81 | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.fractalized.net | Free relay for fractalized.net | ws://xvgox2zzo7cfxcjrd2llrkthvjs5t7efoalu34s6lmkqhvzvrms6ipyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nfrelay.app | nfrelay.app aggregator relay (nostr-filter-relay) | ws://nfrelay6saohkmipikquvrn6d64dzxivhmcdcj4d5i7wxis47xwsriyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | relay.nostr.net | Public relay from nostr.net (Same as clearnet) | ws://nostrnetl6yd5whkldj3vqsxyyaq3tkuspy23a3qgx7cdepb4564qgqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nerostrator | Free to read, pay XMR to relay | ws://nerostrrgb5fhj6dnzhjbgmnkpy2berdlczh6tuh2jsqrjok3j4zoxid.onion | operator |Payment URL | XMR | | nostr.girino.org | Public relay from nostr.girino.org | ws://gnostr2jnapk72mnagq3cuykfon73temzp77hcbncn4silgt77boruid.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | wot.girino.org | WoT relay from wot.girino.org | ws://girwot2koy3kvj6fk7oseoqazp5vwbeawocb3m27jcqtah65f2fkl3yd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | haven.girino.org/{outbox, inbox, chat, private} | Haven smart relay from haven.girino.org | ws://ghaven2hi3qn2riitw7ymaztdpztrvmm337e2pgkacfh3rnscaoxjoad.onion/{outbox, inbox, chat, private} | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.nostpy.lol | Free Web of Trust relay (Same as clearnet) | ws://pemgkkqjqjde7y2emc2hpxocexugbixp42o4zymznil6zfegx5nfp4id.onion | operator |N/A | N/A | | Poster.place Nostr Relay | N/A | ws://dmw5wbawyovz7fcahvguwkw4sknsqsalffwctioeoqkvvy7ygjbcuoad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | Azzamo Relay | Azzamo Premium Nostr relay. (paid) | ws://q6a7m5qkyonzb5fk5yv4jyu3ar44hqedn7wjopg737lit2ckkhx2nyid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | Azzamo Inbox Relay | Azzamo Group and Private message relay. (Freemium) | ws://gp5kiwqfw7t2fwb3rfts2aekoph4x7pj5pv65re2y6hzaujsxewanbqd.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | Noderunners Relay | The official Noderunners Nostr Relay. | ws://35vr3xigzjv2xyzfyif6o2gksmkioppy4rmwag7d4bqmwuccs2u4jaid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN |

Contributing

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

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

Operator column

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

@ 3c389c8f:7a2eff7f

Extentions:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/flamingo-%E2%80%93-nostr-extensio/alkiaengfedemppafkallgifcmkldohe

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/nos2x/kpgefcfmnafjgpblomihpgmejjdanjjp

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/aka-profiles/ncmflpbbagcnakkolfpcpogheckolnad

https://keys.band/

https://github.com/haorendashu/nowser

The Remote Signer:

https://nsec.app/

https://github.com/kind-0/nsecbunkerd

Native Android Signer:

https://github.com/greenart7c3/amber

iOS

https://testflight.apple.com/join/8TFMZbMs

https://testflight.apple.com/join/DUzVMDMK

Higher Security Options: To start using Nostr with a secure, recoverable keypair: https://nstart.me/en

For Existing Keys: https://www.frostr.org/

Thank you to https://nostr.net/ for keeping a thorough list of Nostr apps, clients, and tools!

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

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

| Client name | Onion URL | Source code URL | Admin | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Snort | http://agzj5a4be3kgp6yurijk4q7pm2yh4a5nphdg4zozk365yirf7ahuctyd.onion | https://git.v0l.io/Kieran/snort | operator | N/A | | moStard | http://sifbugd5nwdq77plmidkug4y57zuqwqio3zlyreizrhejhp6bohfwkad.onion/ | https://github.com/rafael-xmr/nostrudel/tree/mostard | operator | minimalist monero friendly nostrudel fork | | Nostrudel | http://oxtrnmb4wsb77rmk64q3jfr55fo33luwmsyaoovicyhzgrulleiojsad.onion/ | https://github.com/hzrd149/nostrudel | operator | Runs latest tagged docker image | | Nostrudel Next | http://oxtrnnumsflm7hmvb3xqphed2eqpbrt4seflgmdsjnpgc3ejd6iycuyd.onion/ | https://github.com/hzrd149/nostrudel | operator | Runs latest "next" tagged docker image | | Nsite | http://q457mvdt5smqj726m4lsqxxdyx7r3v7gufzt46zbkop6mkghpnr7z3qd.onion/ | https://github.com/hzrd149/nsite-ts | operator | Runs nsite. You can read more about nsite here. | | Shopstr | http://6fkdn756yryd5wurkq7ifnexupnfwj6sotbtby2xhj5baythl4cyf2id.onion/ | https://github.com/shopstr-eng/shopstr-hidden-service | operator | Runs the latest serverless branch build of Shopstr. |

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

I'm excited to announce the release of Applesauce v1.0.0! There are a few breaking changes and a lot of improvements and new features across all packages. Each package has been updated to 1.0.0, marking a stable API for developers to build upon.

Applesauce core changes

There was a change in the applesauce-core package in the QueryStore.

The Query interface has been converted to a method instead of an object with key and run fields.

A bunch of new helper methods and queries were added, checkout the changelog for a full list.

Applesauce Relay

There is a new applesauce-relay package that provides a simple RxJS based api for connecting to relays and publishing events.

Documentation: applesauce-relay

Features:

• A simple API for subscribing or publishing to a single relay or a group of relays
• No connect or close methods, connections are managed automatically by rxjs
• NIP-11 auth_required support
• Support for NIP-42 authentication
• Prebuilt or custom re-connection back-off
• Keep-alive timeout (default 30s)
• Client-side Negentropy sync support

Example Usage: Single relay

```typescript import { Relay } from "applesauce-relay";

// Connect to a relay const relay = new Relay("wss://relay.example.com");

// Create a REQ and subscribe to it relay .req({ kinds: [1], limit: 10, }) .subscribe((response) => { if (response === "EOSE") { console.log("End of stored events"); } else { console.log("Received event:", response); } }); ```

Example Usage: Relay pool

```typescript import { Relay, RelayPool } from "applesauce-relay";

// Create a pool with a custom relay const pool = new RelayPool();

// Create a REQ and subscribe to it pool .req(["wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://relay.snort.social"], { kinds: [1], limit: 10, }) .subscribe((response) => { if (response === "EOSE") { console.log("End of stored events on all relays"); } else { console.log("Received event:", response); } }); ```

Applesauce actions

Another new package is the applesauce-actions package. This package provides a set of async operations for common Nostr actions.

Actions are run against the events in the EventStore and use the EventFactory to create new events to publish.

Documentation: applesauce-actions

Example Usage:

```typescript import { ActionHub } from "applesauce-actions";

// An EventStore and EventFactory are required to use the ActionHub import { eventStore } from "./stores.ts"; import { eventFactory } from "./factories.ts";

// Custom publish logic const publish = async (event: NostrEvent) => { console.log("Publishing", event); await app.relayPool.publish(event, app.defaultRelays); };

// The publish method is optional for the async run method to work const hub = new ActionHub(eventStore, eventFactory, publish); ```

Once an ActionsHub is created, you can use the run or exec methods to execute actions:

```typescript import { FollowUser, MuteUser } from "applesauce-actions/actions";

// Follow fiatjaf await hub.run( FollowUser, "3bf0c63fcb93463407af97a5e5ee64fa883d107ef9e558472c4eb9aaaefa459d", );

// Or use the exec method with a custom publish method await hub .exec( MuteUser, "3bf0c63fcb93463407af97a5e5ee64fa883d107ef9e558472c4eb9aaaefa459d", ) .forEach((event) => { // NOTE: Don't publish this event because we never want to mute fiatjaf // pool.publish(['wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com/'], event) }); ```

There are a log more actions including some for working with NIP-51 lists (private and public), you can find them in the reference

Applesauce loaders

The applesauce-loaders package has been updated to support any relay connection libraries and not just rx-nostr.

Before:

```typescript import { ReplaceableLoader } from "applesauce-loaders"; import { createRxNostr } from "rx-nostr";

// Create a new rx-nostr instance const rxNostr = createRxNostr();

// Create a new replaceable loader const replaceableLoader = new ReplaceableLoader(rxNostr); ```

After:

```typescript

import { Observable } from "rxjs"; import { ReplaceableLoader, NostrRequest } from "applesauce-loaders"; import { SimplePool } from "nostr-tools";

// Create a new nostr-tools pool const pool = new SimplePool();

// Create a method that subscribes using nostr-tools and returns an observable function nostrRequest: NostrRequest = (relays, filters, id) => { return new Observable((subscriber) => { const sub = pool.subscribe(relays, filters, { onevent: (event) => { subscriber.next(event); }, onclose: () => subscriber.complete(), oneose: () => subscriber.complete(), });

return () => sub.close();

}); };

// Create a new replaceable loader const replaceableLoader = new ReplaceableLoader(nostrRequest); ```

Of course you can still use rx-nostr if you want:

```typescript import { createRxNostr } from "rx-nostr";

// Create a new rx-nostr instance const rxNostr = createRxNostr();

// Create a method that subscribes using rx-nostr and returns an observable function nostrRequest( relays: string[], filters: Filter[], id?: string, ): Observable { // Create a new oneshot request so it will complete when EOSE is received const req = createRxOneshotReq({ filters, rxReqId: id }); return rxNostr .use(req, { on: { relays } }) .pipe(map((packet) => packet.event)); }

// Create a new replaceable loader const replaceableLoader = new ReplaceableLoader(nostrRequest); ```

There where a few more changes, check out the changelog

Applesauce wallet

Its far from complete, but there is a new applesauce-wallet package that provides a actions and queries for working with NIP-60 wallets.

Documentation: applesauce-wallet

Example Usage:

```typescript import { CreateWallet, UnlockWallet } from "applesauce-wallet/actions";

// Create a new NIP-60 wallet await hub.run(CreateWallet, ["wss://mint.example.com"], privateKey);

// Unlock wallet and associated tokens/history await hub.run(UnlockWallet, { tokens: true, history: true }); ```

@ 460c25e6:ef85065c

If you don't know where your posts are, you might as well just stay in the centralized Twitter. You either take control of your relay lists, or they will control you. Amethyst offers several lists of relays for our users. We are going to go one by one to help clarify what they are and which options are best for each one.

Public Home/Outbox Relays

Home relays store all YOUR content: all your posts, likes, replies, lists, etc. It's your home. Amethyst will send your posts here first. Your followers will use these relays to get new posts from you. So, if you don't have anything there, they will not receive your updates.

Home relays must allow queries from anyone, ideally without the need to authenticate. They can limit writes to paid users without affecting anyone's experience.

This list should have a maximum of 3 relays. More than that will only make your followers waste their mobile data getting your posts. Keep it simple. Out of the 3 relays, I recommend: - 1 large public, international relay: nos.lol, nostr.mom, relay.damus.io, etc. - 1 personal relay to store a copy of all your content in a place no one can delete. Go to relay.tools and never be censored again. - 1 really fast relay located in your country: paid options like http://nostr.wine are great

Do not include relays that block users from seeing posts in this list. If you do, no one will see your posts.

Public Inbox Relays

This relay type receives all replies, comments, likes, and zaps to your posts. If you are not getting notifications or you don't see replies from your friends, it is likely because you don't have the right setup here. If you are getting too much spam in your replies, it's probably because your inbox relays are not protecting you enough. Paid relays can filter inbox spam out.

Inbox relays must allow anyone to write into them. It's the opposite of the outbox relay. They can limit who can download the posts to their paid subscribers without affecting anyone's experience.

This list should have a maximum of 3 relays as well. Again, keep it small. More than that will just make you spend more of your data plan downloading the same notifications from all these different servers. Out of the 3 relays, I recommend: - 1 large public, international relay: nos.lol, nostr.mom, relay.damus.io, etc. - 1 personal relay to store a copy of your notifications, invites, cashu tokens and zaps. - 1 really fast relay located in your country: go to nostr.watch and find relays in your country

Terrible options include: - nostr.wine should not be here. - filter.nostr.wine should not be here. - inbox.nostr.wine should not be here.

DM Inbox Relays

These are the relays used to receive DMs and private content. Others will use these relays to send DMs to you. If you don't have it setup, you will miss DMs. DM Inbox relays should accept any message from anyone, but only allow you to download them.

Generally speaking, you only need 3 for reliability. One of them should be a personal relay to make sure you have a copy of all your messages. The others can be open if you want push notifications or closed if you want full privacy.

Good options are: - inbox.nostr.wine and auth.nostr1.com: anyone can send messages and only you can download. Not even our push notification server has access to them to notify you. - a personal relay to make sure no one can censor you. Advanced settings on personal relays can also store your DMs privately. Talk to your relay operator for more details. - a public relay if you want DM notifications from our servers.

Make sure to add at least one public relay if you want to see DM notifications.

Private Home Relays

Private Relays are for things no one should see, like your drafts, lists, app settings, bookmarks etc. Ideally, these relays are either local or require authentication before posting AND downloading each user\'s content. There are no dedicated relays for this category yet, so I would use a local relay like Citrine on Android and a personal relay on relay.tools.

Keep in mind that if you choose a local relay only, a client on the desktop might not be able to see the drafts from clients on mobile and vice versa.

Search relays:

This is the list of relays to use on Amethyst's search and user tagging with @. Tagging and searching will not work if there is nothing here.. This option requires NIP-50 compliance from each relay. Hit the Default button to use all available options on existence today: - nostr.wine - relay.nostr.band - relay.noswhere.com

Local Relays:

This is your local storage. Everything will load faster if it comes from this relay. You should install Citrine on Android and write ws://localhost:4869 in this option.

General Relays:

This section contains the default relays used to download content from your follows. Notice how you can activate and deactivate the Home, Messages (old-style DMs), Chat (public chats), and Global options in each.

Keep 5-6 large relays on this list and activate them for as many categories (Home, Messages (old-style DMs), Chat, and Global) as possible.

Amethyst will provide additional recommendations to this list from your follows with information on which of your follows might need the additional relay in your list. Add them if you feel like you are missing their posts or if it is just taking too long to load them.

My setup

Here's what I use: 1. Go to relay.tools and create a relay for yourself. 2. Go to nostr.wine and pay for their subscription. 3. Go to inbox.nostr.wine and pay for their subscription. 4. Go to nostr.watch and find a good relay in your country. 5. Download Citrine to your phone.

Then, on your relay lists, put:

Public Home/Outbox Relays: - nostr.wine - nos.lol or an in-country relay. - .nostr1.com

Public Inbox Relays - nos.lol or an in-country relay - .nostr1.com

DM Inbox Relays - inbox.nostr.wine - .nostr1.com

Private Home Relays - ws://localhost:4869 (Citrine) - .nostr1.com (if you want)

Search Relays - nostr.wine - relay.nostr.band - relay.noswhere.com

Local Relays - ws://localhost:4869 (Citrine)

General Relays - nos.lol - relay.damus.io - relay.primal.net - nostr.mom

And a few of the recommended relays from Amethyst.

Final Considerations

Remember, relays can see what your Nostr client is requesting and downloading at all times. They can track what you see and see what you like. They can sell that information to the highest bidder, they can delete your content or content that a sponsor asked them to delete (like a negative review for instance) and they can censor you in any way they see fit. Before using any random free relay out there, make sure you trust its operator and you know its terms of service and privacy policies.

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

Author: Taryn Christiansen

Introduction:

The future doesn’t look good for America. The economy is down, politics is in shambles, and, perhaps most devastating, the culture is split. The only agreement is that change is needed. This article aims to pave a road forward. Innovation drives the economy, and great innovations change and improve daily life. Joint efforts between public institutions and private enterprise, along with the energy and momentum generated by efficient and productive programs, can be orchestrated to cultivate national pride. But those programs need to have a noble purpose. Devotion toward technologies with the potential to transform and improve people’s lives should be the goal. Due to recent advancements in biotechnology, efforts should be directed there. Section 1 dives into the cultural divide. Section 2 outlines a way forward by examining the innovative process and how it can be implemented. Section 3 looks at the specifics of that implementation. Section 4 consists of concluding remarks about the future.

Section 1: A Divided Country

---

There are two competing visions dividing America. The Woke vision asserts that the United States was, and is, a fundamentally oppressive regime. The idea of a universal reason, the notion that human beings can attain progress in perpetuity through liberal democracy, science, and capitalism, is seen as nothing more than an ideological weapon used to coerce people into acquiescing to a hierarchy that benefits the few while exploiting the many – and so, out of principles of fairness and equity, the country has to be dismantled.

The Trumpian vision attempts to reaffirm American values. It aims to reestablish American exceptionalism and reinvigorate the American vision of prosperity and economic growth. It seeks to rekindle a sense of American greatness. But it does so cheaply. It is, in essence, the dying breath of a consumer culture fighting its own death. Like the first vision, it too rejects reason and discussion and the procedural processes necessary for liberal democracy. It perceives power as the proper political tool for achieving its objectives. It is not an attempt to restore the values that once characterized the country; it breaks from the American tradition in a radical direction toward a politics of entertainment.

Long ago, the country believed that the human capacity for reason – the ability to see the world clearly under the light of truth, unencumbered by bias or prejudice, free from instinct and emotion – was the torch that carries posterity forward. The founders believed the Bill of Rights and The Constitution enshrined eternal truths that reason alone made accessible. John Locke, an influential figure for the founders, stated that the primary purpose of government is to protect individuals' natural rights. We are all free and have the right to live the life we wish to live. But government is needed to ensure others do not interfere with those rights. What binds us is not a religion or creed but the mutual opportunity for each individual to form their own beliefs, to live out their own conceptions of the good. While fundamental, we will see that it is not enough. A collective purpose is necessary.

Now, the Woke vision sees this older view as wholly mythological – and for good reason. For example, there was a time when black people did not know they were descendants from Africa or the Caribbean and not naturally disposed slaves. People’s various histories and genealogies were stripped away, creating a space by which their humanity could be taken and they could be exploited. They were purposefully and intentionally cast into the shadows of history, and the culpable thought themselves perfectly justified. There was a time when moral and historical narratives depicting a grand destiny of white people conquering the West were considered to be true and that the genocide of Native peoples was not only acceptable but in fact necessary, and therefore legitimate. It has been a titanic and creative effort by great individuals and collective coalitions to get America to become self-conscious of its heinous blunders. Some of the best art and ideas of the twentieth century were born out of those efforts. The beginnings of liberation are born out of the ability to imagine a horizon beyond one’s current circumstances. And that ability for many people has been forged by courageous and heroic predecessors. But the spirit of those movements and their development into the Woke vision is a sign that it has lost its creative potential.

The Woke vision asserts that values like reason and rights are the remains of a colonial legacy. However, by negating them and failing to replace them with new values, deconstructive forces are all that remain. The country has historically failed (as well as succeeded) in living up to what reason and rights demand. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t the proper path forward. The assumption here is that they are, and they have to be creatively reinterpreted.

And the Trumpian vision fails as well. But it is worse because it never did, nor will it ever have any real creative potential. It is highly destructive. We can think about this in the following way.

The nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed a single, fundamental drive governs all of organic life: the will to power. Life, in a constant struggle, perpetually strives to expand and overcome itself repeatedly. From the brute force of two animals fighting for scarce resources to the highest manifestation of human potential, such as moral systems and inspiring artwork, all are produced from the same vital energy and source: the effort to attain power and mastery over a chaotic world.

As society develops and moves away from a state of nature, the will to power transfigures itself through a sublimative process that demands the individual to repress particular instincts and act according to the strictures and constraints formulated and instituted by the collective. As Freud observed in his Civilization and Its Discontents, the push and pull between primitive and ancient instincts and civilization’s repression of them create inextricable tensions. The Yale historian Marci Shore makes an incisive observation of Trump as a symbolic figure using this context and its language: he is the release and outpouring of those repressed instincts – the license to overthrow the restraints placed on the individual. Trump is the embodiment of brute force, a blind ego striving to assert itself over the world, adopting whatever means are available to achieve its aim. He is an eruption of the repressed Hobbesian state of nature, which expresses “a perpetual and restless desire of power after power that ceaseth only in death.” This is a destructive instinct, and we would be wise not to find out what follows.

Section 2: Unity Through Innovation

---

So, what is the solution? The country needs a ballast point. It needs national pride. Without a shared sense of identity and purpose, a sense of belonging to a larger community bound by a set of values, the country will continue to unravel. Regardless of the philosophical-level disputes and disagreements on fundamental principles that divide left from right, a collective identity needs to emerge. This article argues that, like the founders, we should turn to our institutions. We should look at how our institutions can facilitate needs by enabling individuals with the creative energy and tenacity to bring about new technologies and innovations that will transform the economy and standards of living. But not just new gadgets and services like iPhones and DoorDash but new technologies with the potential to enable people to live more fulfillingly and purposefully. New vaccines to eliminate unruly diseases, new therapies to mitigate the effects of debilitating illnesses, novel pharmaceuticals with competitive prices and cheaper means of production, and innovative mechanisms to empower people with disabilities to live as they are only able to imagine should play a major part in the mission that characterizes the country. That is a purpose to be proud of. Institutions like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) should act as bows, shooting forward the individuals and companies striving to reach that mark.

There’s a lot of talk about government efficiency and the need to be more fiscally responsible. Those are good things. But efficiency needs to have a purpose. There must be a goal that efficiency works to achieve. We should not wish to live without regulatory institutions. For example, people like Balaji Srinivasan are wrong to think we’re better off in an FDA-free society. The goal should be to harness those institutions, conduct more research and development, and utilize resources more effectively to achieve the results we want as a country. Just as we should strive to continue and expand our role in the AI race, we should also aim to maintain and further develop our leadership in biotech.

But we need a new of what the historian Gary Gerstle calls political order to achieve this. Political orders are “a vision of the good life that sells important constituencies on the virtues of a way of doing politics. The New Deal order and the Neoliberal order—which are, in a sense, the reverse of each other—illustrate this.”

It is common in America to see the world through the lenses of The New Deal and Neoliberal political orders for resolving issues in the country. The latter is to let the market decide, and the former is to create government programs to achieve some conception of the good. The former is, more or less, a libertarian solution and was very popular during the 1980s. The latter took form in what is known as progressivism, and it found popular expression during the 1930s and 1940s in FDR’s New Deal programs. The basic distinction separating these two political orders is between the right and the good.

Rights are the norms of obligations and constraints necessary for us all to coexist while simultaneously maintaining what many believe is the principal value of liberal democracy: freedom and liberty (these terms will be used interchangeably). Rights are not in the business of prescribing definite ways of life or enforcing particular ends for people to pursue. Rights preserve the conditions for freedom, and people are free to choose what to do with that freedom insofar as their decisions do not infringe on another person’s right to do so as well. Freedom, then, is the absence of coercion. By having that freedom, each is allowed to exercise their powers and capabilities according to their own discretion.

In the American context, by virtue of being a human being, we are said to be endowed with inalienable rights. And those rights both protect each individual from external coercion and provide a license for certain kinds of action. I am protected from being forced to say certain opinions and adopt particular beliefs. And I have the license to speak my own opinions, expound my own beliefs, and give voice to my own personal conscience. I am protected from forced association with people whom I do not wish to associate with, from the coercion to vote for a particular candidate, from being disallowed to protest, and from adopting ends I do not agree with or value. And, of course, that means I have a license to associate with whom I wish, vote for whoever I like, protest legislation I dislike, and adopt the ends I truly value. We are all free, and we all are obligated and constrained to preserve the conditions for us all to exercise that freedom mutually.

But if that is what rights are, how does a society ensure a distribution of goods and services for everyone to enjoy and partake in? After all, a right to free speech isn’t going to ensure anyone that they will have meals for nourishment, clothing for warmth, shelter from harsh conditions. The response comes from Adam Smith: economic freedom. Everyone has a natural propensity to “truck, barter, and trade” in order to improve their condition. And by the very nature of voluntary exchange, each party benefits. By an individual living his life according to his own interests, values, and ends, he “promote(s) an end which has no part of his own intention.” The invisible hand of the market promotes the ends held by other individuals, allowing everyone to live as they see fit and to coexist harmoniously with the community. By having the political freedom of rights and the economic freedom to exchange, people cooperate spontaneously and organically. That is the spirit of the neoliberal political order.

A conception of the good is different, and its meaning can be disclosed through the great liberal philosopher Voltaire’s likely apocryphal statement, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” What Voltaire disagrees with is not someone’s right to speak but of what they are saying, and we can imagine the person to be voicing their conception of the good, their values and ends that they believe characterize the good life, the life we ought to live, and Voltaire disapproves of it. The good is concerned with the proper ends that should be prioritized in order to flourish. Socrates famously declared the unexamined life is not worth living. Well, he’s espousing a conception of the good. It is a life of the intellect, a life of rational reflection and deliberation aimed toward self-knowledge. Are one’s beliefs consistent? Does one’s actions contradict what one truly believes? Is one aware of what one truly believes? And does one have the desire to discover the truth? These are Socratic questions, and a life devoted to answering them is a Socratic one.

Now, if there is a universal conception of the good life, if human beings have particular ends that define what it means to be a human being, and if failing to fulfill those ends implies a failure to realize one’s human potential for flourishing, then rights do not secure such outcomes. Rights only ensure individuals are free to pursue such ends if they wish. And given the contingency of life, that is to say that, because people are born into conditions they did not choose but were instead thrown into them, and because some individuals are born into wealth and advantage and some are born into poverty and disadvantage, some have the privilege to achieve the ends characterizing a good life and some do not. And that is unfair. And so, government programs, central planning, and economic stewardship can be used to enable and empower the underprivileged to achieve what others are better positioned to do. This is the spirit of the New Deal political order.

The mistake is to think the appropriate social, cultural, and political issues can be resolved by only one of these political orders. It is not one or the other. Both of these political orders capture powerful intuitions about how society should best function and operate, and there should be a synthesis between them.

Now, it is common knowledge that innovation drives economic growth. As capital becomes more efficient and fewer inputs are required to produce more outputs, the economy expands. In Matt Ridely’s book, Innovation: How It Works, he demonstrates beautifully the often messy and non-rational character of the innovative process.

At the heart of that process, he says, is serendipity. As frustrating as it is to human nature, the innovative process cannot be intelligently designed into a precise instrument capable of reproducing all the wonderful fruits that result from it. There is something inherently unpredictable about it, something unruly. It is organic and spontaneous. It demands the determination of individuals willing to fail over and over again until enough experience, insight, and gradual, often painstaking, progress results in the desired effects.

Ridley observes that so many of these innovations require the rich air of freedom to stimulate the instinct for exploration and discovery. Freedom nourishes and sustains that instinct, allowing it to grow and flourish. People must be free from unnecessary regulations and constraints to focus their creative energy on projects that demand endless hours of trying countless imaginative possibilities – and failing until something works. There’s always a tremendous amount of risk-taking. People need to be free to take them.

People also need to be free to collaborate with others who are also devoted to discovering a solution to seemingly intractable problems. The division of labor, where individuals specialize in a particular task and coordinate with others who do the same to maximize efficiency and productivity, is essential to the process. There’s a reason, as Ridley notes, that many innovations take place in cities, where individuals freely associate and influence one another.

Freedom also allows room for mistakes. Ridley documents many cases where innovation is the result of a mistake, not an intentional plan of action. Innovations can often begin with an intention that has nothing to do with the innovation itself. A deliberate decision leading to a breakthrough discovery can be entirely unrelated, even frivolous. Take the example of Louie Pasteur, one of the key discoverers of germ theory. He was inoculating chickens with cholera from an infected chicken broth when he left for vacation, leaving his assistant, Charles Chamberland, to continue the experiments. Charles, for whatever reason (perhaps he thought the whole idea was crazy), forgot about his responsibility and went on vacation. When both returned, they injected a chicken with the stale broth.

It made the chicken sick but did not kill it. And so he injected the same chicken with a much more virulent cholera strain that typically and easily killed chickens – and it failed. The chicken lived. Vaccines, an innovation on inoculation, emerged. Funny enough, a similar incident occurred with Alexander Fleming. Known for being sloppy, Fleming carelessly left out a culture plate of staphylococcus and took off for vacation for a couple of weeks. When he returned, he discovered a mold had grown that was resistant to the bacteria.

Penicillin was soon developed. All this is to say that, along with Ridley, “Innovation is the child of freedom and the parent of prosperity.”

But government has also been integral to many inventions and innovations that would later revolutionize the economy and, therefore, daily life itself. Mariana Mazzucato’s book The Entrepreneurial State makes a persuasive case for the significance of public institutions in the innovative process. When the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), initially known as ARPA until 1972, was established in 1958 in response to the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in 1957, it aimed to promote ‘blue-sky thinking’ for technological initiatives. Meaning that the goal was to invest in riskier research that potentially would yield long-term gains despite not having any immediate or obvious returns on investment. DARPA pursued “ideas that went beyond the horizon in that they may not produce results for ten or 20 years.”

What makes DARPA a successful agency is its decentralized model. The philosophy is: "Find brilliant people. Give them resources. Get out of their way." DARPA hires talented and competent experts to run programs autonomously, providing them the discretion to pursue projects highlighted by their expertise, which are often considered risky. This model enables experts to connect with other researchers, facilitating collaboration and the creation of highly efficient and productive divisions of labor. And again, these are projects that likely wouldn’t find market interest because of their niche or unexplored nature. There isn’t an immediate and conspicuous payoff. And so the connected but separate-from-government model of DARPA provides scientists with a wide degree of latitude, and that freedom allows them to engage in the innovative process of trial and error and risk-taking.

Technologies developed by DARPA included ARPANET, the precursor to the internet; early GPS technology; the beginnings of autonomous vehicles; speech recognition; personal computing; and early AI.

Other agencies have also been foundational in technological advancements (for example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided critical grants to facilitate what would become Google’s search engine algorithm). But the DARPA model is what is most interesting here.

If government programs like DARPA can be leveraged to spur more innovation, particularly in areas such as biotech, and these innovations can drive economic growth by being put into the hands of entrepreneurs, investors, and small, medium, and large firms, then this demands national effort and attention. If successful, it is a project worthy of national pride.

So, government programs and spending, if properly structured, can yield high returns on investment if people are given the freedom to explore, try things out, and make the mistakes necessary for the innovative process to be carried through. And we can look to a recent example where the absence of the efforts potentially could have been disastrous. The story of the COVID-19 vaccines is one where the lack of zeal for exploration and breakthrough discoveries could have hindered the development of mRNA research, leaving it underdeveloped when it was needed at a critical moment.

Section 3: Covid-19, The Imperative For Research and Development, and The Institutional Framework

---

To start, Peter Theil is popular for remarking that innovation in many industries has grown stagnant. Energy, manufacturing, and transportation, for example, haven’t seen much progress in the past half-century.

Computation, on the other hand, has surpassed the imagination. The innovations have not been in atoms but in bits. As Theil puts it, “We wanted flying cars; instead we got 140 characters.” And Ridley writes, “If cars had improved as fast as computers since 1982, they would get nearly four million miles per gallon, so they could go to the moon and back a hundred times on a single tank of fuel.” Unfortunately, we still have to visit the gas station and pay those exorbitant prices.

But biotech has gained momentum in the past decade. The COVID vaccines are an extraordinary example of this. But they wouldn’t have been ready to come to market without the previous three decades of research and development invested in them. And that research and development almost didn’t happen because people lacked the vision and the willingness to embrace the risk that great technological discoveries, inventions, and innovations always require.

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book Abundance tells this story very well. Katalin Kariko, one of the discoverers of mRNA’s therapeutic capabilities, had enormous difficulty securing funding for her research as an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Those with power thought it too risky, that it didn’t show enough promise, and allocated most resources to DNA research at the time, believing it to be the more auspicious investment. Nevertheless, as so many pioneering figures have done before her, Kariko maintained her vision of unlocking mRNA’s potential for saving lives.

By sheer luck, by the fortune contained in everyday decisions that would lead to saving millions of lives several decades later, Kariko met a colleague who was researching HIV vaccines at the time, Drew Weissman, at a Xerox machine in 1997. He would be pivotal in her research. She is a biochemist, and he, an immunologist. Each provided the knowledge and expertise the other was lacking, and that was essential to their respective goals. Through the serendipity of deciding to walk to a different department to make copies at the time and place she did, Kariko encountered an opportunity to make strides in her research.

Together, however, the two still managed to collect barely enough funding. “The NIH,” which is the largest public funder of biomedical research, “rejected practically all of their grant applications.” They couldn’t get others to have the same foresight. Even after a breakthrough, where they were finally able to send mRNA information into cells without causing horrible inflammation, those in power still blinked. Fortunately, private investment supplied the gust they needed to keep their research going, and two companies created to pursue mRNA research, Moderna and BioNTech, facilitated the vaccine’s development. When Covid spread, enough progress had been made. The FDA, which has set a poor precedent for getting products to market when it matters most, streamlined the approval process and made the vaccine available.

The key features of this story are the following. The first is the lack of risk-taking by institutions and agencies whose aim should be to provide resources to those striving to innovate and push technological progress forward. The second is the lack of coordination to establish intentional environments to converge the paths of those who have the determination, discipline, and vision to bring innovation to fruition. Imagine if Kariko and Weismann didn’t meet; picture Kariko choosing to make copies somewhere else or at a different time. The future may have been radically different. And thirdly, and more optimistically, the FDA served a vital role when it mattered. As a public institution responsible for promoting the public good, they served admirably.

These three parts – funding research, coordinating talent, and the institutions facilitating the results – should coalesce into an optimally functioning whole. Researchers who are trying to shape and influence an unforeseeable future should be encouraged and rewarded. Those who possess powerful and novel ideas, along with the imagination and determination to bring them to life, should be in direct contact with one another. Their paths should cross – intentionally. And lastly, institutions should follow the FDA’s example. Slow regulatory regimes, lengthy processes and paperwork, licensing barriers, and stifling restrictions should be streamlined and transformed into facilitators for technological development and the introduction of powerful and revolutionary technologies into the market.

More funding should be devoted to riskier research. Those with novel and fresh ideas with the potential to disrupt current scientific knowledge and produce a breakthrough should be sought out. It is estimated that roughly 2-5% of the NIH’s current budget of $45 billion is allocated to high-risk research. That should be increased. Programs like the High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program, which includes awards to innovative researchers and ideas, should take on a more robust role and budget than it currently does.

Furthermore, approximately 80% of the NIH budget is allocated to extramural research programs, which are external programs conducted outside of the institution itself. A larger portion of those who receive that funding should be based on their potential for innovation. Currently, as Klein and Thompson observe, the process of obtaining a research grant, which involves extensive paperwork and minutiae, is bureaucratic, cumbersome, inefficient, and time-consuming. A significant amount of energy that should be allocated toward advancing research is spent on securing the funding to do it.

Submitting an application, going through the two review processes, and being approved takes typically nine months to a year. And most fail, leading many scientists to have to apply numerous times in a year. And those doing the review process aren’t necessarily looking for cutting-edge proposals; they’re looking for what fits bureaucratic standards. Of course, this is contentious, but Kariko's story demonstrates its reality. Ridley offers another example. When Francisco Majica made critical advancements in CRISPR technology, it took him “more than a year to get his results published, so sniffy were the prestigious journals at the idea of a significant discovery coming from a scientific nobody.” Institutions must do a better job of trying and supporting novel and unexplored ideas, regardless of who or what they originate from. For example, biotech DAOs do not currently receive funding from government institutions, such as the NIH, due to the traditional legal framework used to distribute resources. Regulatory and legal changes should be implemented to maximize their potential. If there is too much emphasis on process, on bureaucratic procedures and standards, fruitful and rich opportunities suffocate.

The NIH budget also allocates funds to intramural research programs, which are internally connected to the NIH itself. These research programs account for roughly 10% of the NIH’s total budget. A highly promising model to adopt is the DARPA model articulated in Section 2. The NIH should adopt something similar. It should allocate resources to decentralized programs to bring together the best scientists to generate breakthrough ideas. Those programs should be spaces where scientists are free to pursue visionary projects.

Smaller biotech firms, startups, and those without robust forms of funding are often forced to pursue ideas that will capture immediate investment attention. And because of the burdensome and costly bureaucratic processes, investors are justly skeptical about anything risky and cutting-edge.

For example, regarding the FDA approval process, small molecule drugs like pharmaceuticals generally take ten to fifteen years to reach the market. On average, one drug costs $1-2 billion to move through the process, and less than ten percent of those who enter clinical trials succeed. Biologics, such as vaccines and gene therapies, typically take ten to twelve years to reach the market and have a slightly higher success rate than small molecule drugs, ranging from 12 to 15 percent. Those are extensive periods of time, the costs are astronomical, and few can maintain the resources to climb the mountain. This discourages bold enterprise – and it leads to higher prices as well. Due to the cumbersome approval process, the FDA offers exclusivity to companies that bring a product to market, both to reward innovation and to allow companies the opportunity to recoup the tremendous losses incurred by the approval process. This can lead to monopolistic pricing. Innovation should not be rewarded by harming the consumer. Innovation should lift the tide that raises all boats. And so the innovative process shouldn’t be exclusive to those with enough capital to take risks. It should be available to anyone with the tenacity to actualize a bold and promising idea. That’s not to say the process should be less rigorous and methodical. It’s that it needs to be more efficient. But not just efficiency for efficiency's sake; it needs to be efficient toward the right ends and outcomes, and innovation should be a leading goal.

Therefore, a primary goal of the FDA should be to stimulate market interest by expediting the most innovative technologies emerging from research programs driven by the NIH and its innovation initiatives. It’s very important that private research continues innovating as well, and increases in private investment toward manufacturing and research – like Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement – is good. But new technologies, drugs, vaccines, and therapies should be a central mission of the institutional framework advocated for here – and the process should begin with creativity for creativity’s sake. The profit motive should be employed after realizing a passionate and creative vision. Those truly motivated by inspiration, the people who have the will to manifest something novel and unimaginable, are generally the worst at navigating the business aspect - not always, but often. And the energy pushing them forward is a precious and scarce resource. And so institutions like the FDA and NIH should foster, rather than stifle, their capabilities and opportunities for creating meaningful contributions to the country and the world. The FDA has a history of being slow and untimely when it comes to processing and approving applications for moving to clinical trials. For example, the AIDS epidemic is a stain on the institution’s reputation. When AIDS spread across the US in 1980, it took scientists three years to identify HIV as the cause, five years for the FDA to approve the first blood test to screen for the virus, and seven years to finally get a drug to market. The response to COVID-19 should be the golden standard by which the FDA operates.

Section 4: Human Being and Its Essence

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Now, let’s ask the following: what does this have to do with national pride? How does this provide a new vision for the country?

In Alex Karp’s new book, The Technological Republic, he criticizes Silicon Valley for forgetting its roots in developing technology for national purposes. The foundational technology that defines Silicon Valley originated from government programs like DARPA and NASA, which had a clear purpose. They had a mission, and the achievements under those programs demonstrate that.

But now Silicon Valley has shifted to the consumer. Innovations in Silicon Valley generally make life more convenient, comfortable, pleasant, breezy. Goods and services satisfy all our wants and preferences. New apps, better features on social media, increasingly competent virtual assistants, faster food delivery services, endless streams of television and movies and videos, smart appliances, and more and more advanced phones pervade everyday life. The goal is always immediate gratification. There is no horizon that these products look up to. Everything is here and now.

This takes us back to our discussion of rights and conceptions of the good. Silicon Valley isn’t tethered to any real purpose or collective aim. Its goal is to let the market decide. There is no moral or spiritual integrity, no conception of the good that permeates Silicon Valley and its products. Nothing is off limits because it is the consumer’s right to choose. If there is a want, if enough people are willing to buy, Silicon Valley will produce it. No substantive conviction guides their innovations. What does Silicon Valley stand for? It certainly has a creative spirit – just look at all the devices we have today – but that spirit lacks a purpose, and so it wanders aimlessly chasing the fleeting nature of the consumer.

It’s perfectly understandable that Silicon Valley has severed itself from its military roots. Not only would it lose a substantial portion of revenue if it returned to those roots, but there is, of course, a moral dilemma at the heart of most military endeavors, and it is wise to take that seriously. And the Tech sector should not aim to impose a conception of the good on the consumers. The issue is its obsession with the consumer. There are more pressing areas of concern that warrant attention. The wealth of talent in Silicon Valley is better spent in those areas. And it should be done through the efficient use of public institutions.

The new vision is one where taxpayer dollars are used for purposeful and meaningful projects that generate new technologies and innovations that contribute to people’s real needs, not just their wants and preferences. Genuine pride involves courage and bold risk for the sake of principle. It consists in having the determination to carry through an arduous enterprise. And we should be proud as a country if a joint effort between the public and private sectors achieves collective ends.

And at the heart of this pride should be the creative process. Albert Einstein wrote that great scientific discoveries – the new ideas that are leaps in progress toward the expansion of human knowledge – are, again, not the inevitable product of a rigid, refined, and precisely applied method. He believed the great discoveries, the ones that establish new scientific paradigms that enrich society with so many practical fruit, result from a cosmic feeling, a kind of religious experience born out of feelings of awe, wonder, and mystery that are produced by the intellectual and spiritual effort to understand the rational order of the cosmos. He writes, “Enough for me (is) the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavor to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifest itself in nature… I maintain that cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest incitement to scientific research.”

Reaching for and clinching a new and profound idea is not a mechanical and algorithmic activity. Regardless of how finely one specifies the rules of procedure or how regimented the institutional standards for scientific knowledge are prescribed, intuition, sensitivity to the world and its objects, amazement at the experience of observing the world and its causal relations, in short, the feelings and moods of the subject investigating the object, are integral to the discovery of scientific ideas. Methods are pivotal in locating and developing the precise, logical nature of those ideas, but initial contact with them demands variables that are not reducible to fixed procedures. Ideas powerful enough to change the world and better the human condition originate in cosmic feelings of wonder and curiosity and are not strictly an output of a mechanized division of labor.

AI will outrun the human capacity for intelligence. This is a likely prediction. And so what will it mean to be a human being then? For centuries, philosophers have distinguished human beings from other parts of nature by invoking our seemingly unique capacity for reason. We have the ability to contemplate, reflect, and grasp the physical laws governing the cosmos. We can harness those laws and employ them to manipulate our environment, alter its forms, and recombine its parts, allowing us to raise our living standards beyond our ancestor’s imaginations. We are highly intelligent beings, and our intelligence has been regarded as our distinguishing mark.

AI erodes this image. This new technology is becoming, and perhaps already is, a concrete realization, an externalization of what history thought was uniquely our own. The reality that reason isn’t special, that it is nothing more than a physical product of an accidental evolution, a wisp of luck, has become more and more firmly impressed upon the mind over the last two centuries. AI will make it indelible; it is the final proof. And so what is a human being? What distinguishes us?

The answer is in our spontaneous acts of creativity, in our ability to produce beauty in art, complexity in design, and in our profound capability to experience wonder. Again, the innovative process discussed above cannot be rationally formed into a precise instrument. As frustrating as it is, as much as it bumps against our instinct to make everything intelligible and known, our ability for spontaneity and creativity, our capacity to fail over and over again until we receive those moments of imaginative brilliance, cannot be reduced into a definite set of rules and procedures.

And so as the world changes, as everything alters before our eyes, we have to value what makes us distinctly human. We need a new Enlightenment, one that celebrates our creativity and our will to manifest what we can internally envision. Our self-respect as individuals and collectives lies in our instincts for curiosity, inquiry, discovery, and the creative and imaginative processes that animate them.

@ e7454994:7bb2dac7

Imagine

According to Cazoomi, total revenue for nonprofits in the U.S. reached approximately $3.7 trillion in 2024.

I know in some cases a billion is a hundred million instead of a thousand million (presumably so that some millionaires can call themselves billionaires to distinguish themselves from the riffraff). But that’s not the case here. A trillion is one followed by 12 zeros, so in 2024, US non-profits’ expenses were

3,700,000,000,000 dollars.

How much is a trillion?

And that’s just the USA. We could safely double it for worldwide non-profits and still be well below the actual figure. To be conservative, let’s say 6 trillion of our dollars each year goes on the kinds of projects that non-profits are allowed to do (essentially, making the world a better place).

Think what you could do with just one million dollars. Now think of that times six million! The entire population of Congo, each man, woman, and child, could become a millionaire!. It’s not really imaginable.

That’s how much nonprofits have. What the hell have they done with all that money? In most places where poverty and malnutrition are rife, two thousand dollars a year per family would be more than enough to enable people to sort out whatever problems they have and convert their local community to abundance over three years. Six trillion divided by two thousand is three billion.

The people whom we allow to manage ‘aid’ for us are (to be polite) inept, and we need to bypass them urgently. Directsponsor.org and clickforcharity.net are part of a proof of concept, and our aim is to prove that a better way is possible by doing it.

When a hierarchy exists, it presents a focus of power that power-seeking individuals and cliques can over time turn to their advantage… Even volunteer organizations are subject to intrigues, power grabs, covert arrangements, misallocation of funds, etc. The problem is made worse by the fact that those who most desire power and who are the most ruthless are the very ones who tend to work their way to the top of hierarchies.

Richard Moore

More Fun With Figures

Oxfam UK raised £368,000,000 in 2013-14. That’s around 450,000,000 euros. What could we do with that kind of money? A direct sponsorship project is, for a family, 120 per month = 1440 per year. 1440 / 450,000,000 = 312,500 families.

312,500 families, x 4 = 1,250,000 people, would move from poverty into abundance every 3 years with the money that goes through Oxfam. Does Oxfam achieve anything like this with our money?

Oxfam UK is just one of many, many such charities and is small fry when you look at things like USAID, which ran through 27 billion dollars in the year to 2025. What could we do with that?

Its well over 15 million families. Over 60 million people! Or, the entire population of Botswana, Namibia, Mauritania, Liberia, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Libya, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Togo, and Guinea combined. This is only to make a point, not to suggest that we would ever achieve such numbers. It shows how wasteful and scandalous our present “aid” efforts really are.

NGOs and governments waste our money.

Solution

Until recently, it was impossible to send money directly to another human without going through the banking system. The big charity organisations were a necessary part of the process, and they made the most of their position. Think about it: you have a family to feed, rent or a mortgage that has to be paid, or you’ll be homeless and destitute. What would your priority be? Apart from the top level, these are generally good people with the best intentions.

But now we have Bitcoin. People can send money all over the world at extremely low cost. The recipients aren’t stupid; they know what they need better than any NGO “expert,” and any expertise or teaching they need, they can get if they have the money to pay for it. This way, the power relationship is reversed in favor of our recipients.

All we need is a system (open and distributed) that ensures sponsors’ funds are not being squandered and the projects being supported are not scams. 

A few people decided to start such a project. We have a system almost fully built and currently being tested out. It will enable people to get together into small groups of sponsors to fund small, local projects by directly funding the individuals working on the project. Anything from a regular monthly commitment to a click-for-charity system where you don’t even need any money to occasional one-off purchases of items for a project will be possible.

Here’s our pilot project in Badilisha, on Lake Victoria.

If you like doing stuff on social media, please sign up on our beta site (no money needed) and say hi; we need a few people to get it started. clickforcharity.net.

@ 005bc4de:ef11e1a2

Trump Bitcoin Report Card - Day 100

For whatever reason day 100 of a president's term has been deemed a milestone. So, it's time to check in with President Trump's bitcoin pledges and issue a report card.

Repo and prior reports: - GitHub: https://github.com/crrdlx/trump-bitcoin-report-card - First post: https://stacker.news/items/757211 - Progress Report 1: https://stacker.news/items/774165 - Day 1 Report Card: https://stacker.news/items/859475 - Day 100 Report Card: https://stacker.news/items/966434

Report Card | | Pledge | Prior Grade | Current Grade | |--|--|--|--| | 1 | Fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on day 1 | A | A | | 2 | Commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht on day 1 | A | A | | 3 | Remove capital gains taxes on bitcoin transactions | F | F | | 4 | Create and hodl a strategic bitcoin stockpile | D | C- | | 5 | Prevent a CBDC during his presidency | B+ | A | | 6 | Create a "bitcoin and crypto" advisory council | C- | C | | 7 | Support the right to self-custody | D+ | B- | | 8 | End the "war on crypto" | D+ | B+ | | 9 | Mine all remaining bitcoin in the USA | C- | C | | 10 | Make the US the "crypto capital of the planet" | C- | C+ |

Comments

Pledge 1 - SEC chair - (no change from earlier) - Gensler is out. This happened after the election and Trump took office. With the writing on the wall, Gensler announced he would resign, Trump picked a new SEC head in Paul Atkins, and Gensler left office just before Trump was sworn in. The only reason an A+ was not awarded was that Trump wasn't given the chance to actually fire Gensler, because he quit. No doubt, though, his quitting was due to Trump and the threat of being sacked.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: A

Pledge 2 - free Ross - (no change from earlier) - Ross Ulbricht's sentence was just commuted. Going will "option 3" above, the pledge was kept. An A+ would have been a commutation yesterday or by noon today, but, let's not split hairs. It's done.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: A

Pledge 3 - capital gains - This requires either executive action and/or legislation. There was no action. Executive action can be done with the stroke of a pen, but it was not. Legislation is tricky and time-consuming, however, there wasn't even mention of this matter. This seems to be on the back burner since statements such as this report in November. See Progress Report 1: https://stacker.news/items/774165 for more context.

Trump's main tax thrust has been the tariff, actually a tax increase, instead of a cut. Currently, the emphasis is on extending the "Trump tax cuts" and recently House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated such a bill would be ready by Memorial Day. Earlier in his term, there was more chatter about tax relief for bitcoin or cryptocurrency. There seems to be less chatter on this, or none at all, such as its absence in the "ready by Memorial Day" article.

Until tax reform is codified and signed, it isn't tax law and the old code still applies.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: F

Pledge 4 - bitcoin reserve - The initial grade was a C, it was dropped to a D mainly due to Trump's propensity to [alt]coinery, and now it's back to a C-.

Getting the grade back up into C-level at a C- was a little bumpy. On March 2, 2025, Trump posted that a U.S. Crypto Reserve would be created. This is what had been hoped for, except that the pledge was for a Bitcoin Reserve, not crypto. And secondly, he specifically named XRP, SOL, and ADA (but not BTC). Just a couple of hours later, likely in clean up mode, he did add BTC (along with ETH) as "obviously" being included. So, the "Bitcoin Reserve" became a "Crypto Reserve."

Maybe still in "cleanup mode," Sec. of Commerce Howard Lutnick said bitcoin will hold "special status" in the reserve. Then, on March 6, an executive order made the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile official. Again, "Bitcoin" was generalized until section 3 where the "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" did come to official fruition.

The grade is only a C- because the only thing that happened was the naming of the stockpile. Indeed, it became official. But the "stockpile" was just BTC already held by the U.S. government. I think it's fair to say most bitcoiners would have preferred a statement about buying BTC. Other Trump bitcoin officials indicated acquiring "as much as we can get", which sounds great, but until it happens, is only words.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: C-

Pledge 5 - no CBDC - An executive order on January 23, 2025 forbade a CBDC in section 1, part v by "prohibiting the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use of a CBDC."

Day 100 Report Card Grade: A

Pledge 6 - advisory council - The Trump bitcoin or crypto team consists of the following: David Sacks as “crypto czar” and Bo Hines as executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.

A White House Crypto Summit (see video) was held on March 7, 2025. In principle, the meeting was good, however, the summit seemed (a) to be very heavily "crypto" oriented, and (b) to largely be a meet-and-greet show.

Still, just the fact that such a show took place, inside the White House, reveals how far things have come and the change in climate. For the grade to go higher, more tangible things should take place over time.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: C

Pledge 7 - self-custody - There's been a bit of good news though on this front. First, the executive order above from January 23 stated in section 1, i, one of the goals was "...to maintain self-custody of digital assets." Also, the Phoenix wallet returned to the U.S. In 2024, both Phoenix and Wallet of Satoshi pulled out of the U.S. for fear of government crackdowns. The return of Phoenix, again, speaks to the difference in climate now and is a win for self-custody.

To rise above B-level, more assurance, it would be good to see further clear assurance that people can self-custody, that developers can build self-custody, and businesses can create products to self-custody. Also, Congressional action could get to an A.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: B-

Pledge 8 - end war on crypto - There has been improvement here. First, tangibly, SAB 121 was sent packing as SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce announced. Essentially, this removed a large regulatory burden. Commissioner Peirce also said ending the burdens will be a process to get out of the "mess". So, there's work to do. Also, hurdles were recently removed so that banks can now engage in bitcoin activity. This is both a symbolic and real change.

Somewhat ironically, Trump's own venture into cryptocurrency with his World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP and $MELANIA tokens, roundly poo-pood by bitcoiners, might actually be beneficial in a way. The signal from the White House seems to be on all things cryptocurrency, "Do it."

The improvement and climate now seems very different than with the previous administration and leaders who openly touted a war on crypto.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: B+

Pledge 9 - USA mining - As noted earlier, this is an impossible pledge. That said, things can be done to make America mining friendly. The U.S. holds an estimated 37 to 40% of Bitcoin hash rate, which is substantial. Plus, Trump, or the Trump family at least, has entered into bitcoin mining. With Hut 8, Eric Trump is heading "American Bitcoin" to mine BTC. Like the $TRUMP token, this conveys that bitcoin mining is a go in the USA.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: C

Pledge 10 - USA crypto capital - This pledge closely aligned with pledges 8 and 9. If the war on crypto ends, the USA becomes more and more crypto and bitcoin friendly. And, if the hashrate stays high and even increases, that puts the USA at the center of it all. Most of the categories above have seen improvements, all of which help this last pledge. Trump's executive orders help this grade as well as they move from only words spoken to becoming official policy.

To get higher, the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve should move from a name-change only to acquiring more BTC. If the USA wants to be the world's crypto capital, being the leader in bitcoin ownership is the way to do it.

Day 100 Report Card Grade: C+

Sources

1. Nashville speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiEIfBatnH8
2. CryptoPotato "top 8 promises" - https://x.com/Crypto_Potato/status/1854105511349584226
3. CNBC - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/06/trump-claims-presidential-win-here-is-what-he-promised-the-crypto-industry-ahead-of-the-election.html
4. BLOCKHEAD - https://www.blockhead.co/2024/11/07/heres-everything-trump-promised-to-the-crypto-industry/
5. CoinTelegraph - https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-promises-crypto-election-usa
6. China vid - Bitcoin ATH and US Strategic Bitcoin Stockpile - https://njump.me/nevent1qqsgmmuqumhfktugtnx9kcsh3ap6v7ca4z8rgx79palz2qk0wzz5cksppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qgszwaxc8j8e0zw9sdq59y43rykyx3wm0lcd2502xth699v0gxf0degrqsqqqqqpglusv6
7. Capitals gains tax - https://bravenewcoin.com/insights/trump-proposes-crypto-tax-cuts-targets-u-s-made-tokens-for-tax-exemption Progress report 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Meeting with Brian Armstrong - https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp500-nasdaq-live-11-18-2024/card/exclusive-trump-to-meet-privately-with-coinbase-ceo-brian-armstrong-DDkgF0xW1BW242rVeuqx
9. Michael Saylor podcast - https://fountain.fm/episode/DHEzGE0f99QQqyM36nVr
10. Gensler resigns - https://coinpedia.org/news/big-breaking-sec-chair-gary-gensler-officially-resigns/ Progress report 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Trump & Justin Sun - https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/11/26/justin-sun-joins-donald-trumps-world-liberty-financial-as-adviser $30M investment: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-crypto-project-bust-until-154313241.html
12. SEC chair - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/04/trump-plans-to-nominate-paul-atkins-as-sec-chair.html
13. Crypto czar - https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/trump-names-david-sacks-white-house-ai-crypto-czar
14. Investigate Choke Point 2.0 - https://www.cryptopolitan.com/crypto-czar-investigate-choke-point/
15. Crypto council head Bo Hines - https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-appoints-bo-hines-head-crypto-council
16. National hash rate: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/the-us-controls-40-of-bitcoins-hashrate/
17. Senate committee https://coinjournal.net/news/rep-senator-cynthia-lummis-selected-to-chair-crypto-subcommittee/
18. Treasurh Sec. CBDC: https://decrypt.co/301444/trumps-treasury-pick-scott-bessant-pours-cold-water-on-us-digital-dollar-initiative
19. National priority: https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-executive-order-crypto-national-priority-bloomberg?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
20. $TRUMP https://njump.me/nevent1qqsffe0d7mgtu5jhasy4hmkcdy7wfrlcqwc4vf676hulvdn8uaqa3acpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtczyztpa8q038vw5xluyhnydj5u39d7cpssvuswjhhjqj8q42jh4ul3wqcyqqqqqqgmha026
21. World Liberty buys alts: https://www.theblock.co/post/335779/trumps-world-liberty-buys-25-million-of-tokens-including-link-tron-aave-and-ethena?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
22. CFTC chair: https://cryptoslate.com/trump-appoints-crypto-advocate-caroline-pham-as-cftc-acting-chair/
23. WLF buys wrapped BTC https://www.cryptopolitan.com/trump-buys-47-million-in-bitcoin/
24. SEC turnover https://www.theblock.co/post/335944/trump-names-sec-commissioner-mark-uyeda-as-acting-chair-amid-a-crypto-regulatory-shift?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
25. ----------------------------100 Days Report---------------------------------Davos speech "world capital of AI and crypto" https://coinpedia.org/news/big-breaking-president-trump-says-u-s-to-become-ai-and-crypto-superpower/
26. SAB 121 gone, Hester P heads talk force & ends sab 121?, war on crypto https://x.com/HesterPeirce/status/1882562977985114185 article: https://www.theblock.co/post/336761/days-after-gensler-leaves-sec-rescinds-controversial-crypto-accounting-guidance-sab-121?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social CoinTelegraph: https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-executive-order-cbdc-ban-game-changer-us-institutional-crypto-adoption?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
27. Possible tax relief https://cryptodnes.bg/en/will-trumps-crypto-policies-lead-to-tax-relief-for-crypto-investors/
28. War on crypto https://decrypt.co/304395/trump-sec-crypto-task-force-priorities-mess
29. Trump "truths" 2/18 make usa #1 in crypto, "Trump effect" https://www.theblock.co/post/333137/ripple-ceo-says-75-of-open-roles-are-now-us-based-due-to-trump-effect and https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/01/06/ripples-garlinghouse-touts-trump-effect-amid-bump-in-u-s-deals
30. Strategic reserve https://njump.me/nevent1qqsf89l74mqfkk74jqhjcqtwp5m970gedmtykn5uhl0vz9mhmrvvvgqpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtczyztpa8q038vw5xluyhnydj5u39d7cpssvuswjhhjqj8q42jh4ul3wqcyqqqqqqge7c74u and https://njump.me/nevent1qqswv50m7mc95m3saqce08jzpqc0vedw4avdk6zxy9axrn3hqet52xgpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtczyztpa8q038vw5xluyhnydj5u39d7cpssvuswjhhjqj8q42jh4ul3wqcyqqqqqqgpc7cp3
31. Strategic reserve, bitcoin special https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/policy/bitcoin-to-hold-special-status-in-u-s-crypto-strategic-reserve
32. Bitcoin reserve, crypto stockpile https://decrypt.co/309032/president-trump-signs-executive-order-to-establish-bitcoin-reserve-crypto-stockpile vid link https://njump.me/nevent1qqs09h58patpv9vfjpcss6v5nxv7m23u8g6g43nqvkjzgzescztucmspr9mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmnt9upzqtjzyy2ylrsceh5uj20j5e95v0e99s3epsvyctu2y0vrwyltvq33qvzqqqqqqyus4pu7
33. Truth summit https://njump.me/nevent1qqswj6sv0wr4d4ppwzam5egr5k6nmqgjpwmsrlx2a7d4ndpfj0fxvcqpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtczyztpa8q038vw5xluyhnydj5u39d7cpssvuswjhhjqj8q42jh4ul3wqcyqqqqqqgu0mzzh and vid https://njump.me/nevent1qqsptn8c8wyuhlqtjr5u767x20q4dmjvxy28cdj30t4v9phhf6y5a5spzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtczyztpa8q038vw5xluyhnydj5u39d7cpssvuswjhhjqj8q42jh4ul3wqcyqqqqqqgqklklu
34. SEC chair confirmed https://beincrypto.com/sec-chair-paul-atkins-confirmed-senate-vote/
35. pro bitcoin USA https://coinpedia.org/news/u-s-secretary-of-commerce-howard-lutnick-says-america-is-ready-for-bitcoin/
36. tax cuts https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5272043-johnson-house-trump-agenda-memorial-day/
37. "as much as we can get" https://cryptobriefing.com/trump-bitcoin-acquisition-strategy/
38. ban on CBDC https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/strengthening-american-leadership-in-digital-financial-technology/
39. Phoenix WoS leave https://www.coindesk.com/opinion/2024/04/29/wasabi-wallet-and-phoenix-leave-the-us-whats-next-for-non-custodial-crypto
40. Trump hut 8 mining https://www.reuters.com/technology/hut-8-eric-trump-launch-bitcoin-mining-company-2025-03-31/

@ d1667293:388e7004

The "Bitcoindollar" system—an emerging term which describes the interplay of U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins and Bitcoin as complementary forces in the evolving monetary framework of the digital era (and which replaces the defunct Petrodollar system)—has sparked an interesting debate on Nostr with PowMaxi.

You will find the thread links at the bottom of this article.

Powmaxi argues that attempting to merge hard money (Bitcoin) with soft money (the U.S. dollar) is structurally doomed, because the systems are inherently contradictory and cannot coexist without one eventually destroying the other.

This critique is certainly valid, but ONLY if the Bitcoindollar is viewed as a final system. But I never claim that. To the contrary, the conclusion in my book is that this is a system that buys time for fiat, absorbs global demand for monetary stability, and ushers in a Bitcoinized world without the immediate collapse and the reset of the fiat system which would otherwise cause dramatic consequences. The Bitcoindollar is the only way to a gradual Bitcoin dominance in 10-20 years time while avoiding sudden collapse of the fiat system, so that also the power elites who hold the keys to this system can adapt.\ At least this is my hope.

Therefore the "fusion" isn't the future. The siphoning is. And the U.S. may try to ride it as long as possible. The Bitcoindollar system is a transitional strategic framework, not a\ permanent monetary equilibrium. In the end I agree with PowMaxi.

His detailed critique deserves an equally detailed analysis. Here's how the objections break down and why they don’t necessarily undermine the Bitcoindollar system.

1. Hard Money vs. Soft Money: Opposed Systems?

Objection: Bitcoin is a closed, decentralized system with a fixed supply; the dollar is an open, elastic system governed by central banks and political power. These traits are mutually exclusive and incompatible.

Response: Ideologically, yes. Practically, no. Hybrid financial systems are not uncommon. Bitcoin and stablecoins serve different user needs: Bitcoin is a store of value; stablecoins are mediums of exchange. Their coexistence mirrors real-world economic needs. The contradiction can be managed, and is not fatal at least for the transitional phase.

2. Scarcity vs. Elasticity: Economic Incompatibility?

Objection: Bitcoin can’t inject liquidity in crises; fiat systems can. Anchoring fiat to Bitcoin removes policymakers' tools.

Response: Correct — but that’s why Bitcoin is held as a reserve, not used as the primary medium of exchange in the Bitcoindollar model. Fiat-based liquidity mechanisms still function via stablecoins, while Bitcoin acts as a counterweight to long-term monetary debasement. The system’s strength is in its optionality: you don’t have to use Bitcoin until you want an exit ramp from fiat.

3. No Stable Equilibrium: One Must Win?

Objection: The system will destabilize. Either Bitcoin undermines fiat or fiat suppresses Bitcoin.

Response: Not necessarily in this transitional phase. The “conflict” isn’t between tools — it’s between control philosophies. The dollar won’t disappear overnight, and Bitcoin isn’t going away. The likely outcome is a gradual shifting of savings and settlement layers to Bitcoin, while fiat continues to dominate day-to-day payments and credit markets — until Bitcoin becomes structurally better in both.

4. Gresham’s and Thiers’ Law: Hollowing Fiat?

Objection: People save in Bitcoin and spend fiat, eroding fiat value.

Response: Yes — and that’s been happening since 2009. But this isn’t a flaw; it’s a transition mechanism. The Bitcoindollar model recognizes this and creates a bridge: it monetizes U.S. debt while preserving access to hard money. In the long run, my expectation is that naturally bitcoin will prevail both as a SOV and currency, but until then, stablecoins and T-bill-backed tokens serve useful roles in the global economy.

5. Philosophical Incompatibility?

Objection: Bitcoin prioritizes individual sovereignty; fiat systems are hierarchical. They can't be reconciled.

Response: They don’t need to be reconciled ideologically to function in parallel. Users choose the tool that suits their needs. One empowers individual autonomy; the other offers state-backed convenience. This is a competition of values, not a mechanical incompatibility. The Bitcoindollar model is a strategy. It’s a bridge between old and new systems, not a permanent coexistence.

6. Fusion is Impossible?

Objection: It’s only a temporary bridge. One side must lose.

Response: Exactly. The Bitcoindollar system is a transitional bridge. But that doesn’t reduce its value. It provides a functional pathway for individuals, companies, and governments to gradually exit broken monetary systems and experiment with new models.

In the meantime, the U.S. benefits from stablecoin-driven Treasury demand, while Bitcoin continues to grow as a global reserve asset.

Bottom line: A Strategic Convergence, Not a Permanent Fusion

The Bitcoindollar system isn’t a contradiction. It’s a convergence zone. It reflects the reality that monetary systems evolve gradually, not cleanly. Bitcoin and fiat will compete, overlap, and influence each other. Eventually, yes — hard money wins. But until then, hybrid systems offer powerful stepping stones.

Thread links:

Thread started from this initial post.

Thread Powmaxi

PowMaxi profile

@ 4d41a7cb:7d3633cc

Money is more abstract than most people think, as I will show in this article. Debt slavery stems from financial illiteracy, which occurs intentionally. The biggest secret is how bankers actually create currency claims out of thin air and transfer the wealth of their clients (including nation states) to themselves for free without risking a cent, real money, or currency.

MONEY

Money, one of the most important things in our lives, is so important that we exchange wealth to obtain it. Not because we want it but because we need it in order to buy food, shelter, clothes, etc.

Money is not inherently bad, although some may argue that the love for money is the root of all evil, and I'll agree. If you are willing to sacrifice your soul, honor, reputation, family, or friends for money, it indicates a lack of morality and a willingness to engage in harmful actions to satisfy your greed and materialistic desires.

Money is a technology, a tool, and like any tool or technology, it is impartial; it cannot be inherently good or bad. It can be used to help others or to destroy them. At the end of the day, it’s all about the intention behind human behavior.

Money is not just a useful tool; it’s the most important tool to have for global commerce, division of labor, specialists, and the level of sophistication and comfort we achieve as humanity. All of this will not be possible without this tool working as a common medium of exchange and standard of value, a common language for all humanity: the language of monetary value.

Money is the cornerstone of civilization. Money is the bloodstream of commerce, and commerce is the spine of civilization; it’s what made our civilization so prosperous, letting any one of us decide how we want to provide value to society.

Money is half of every transaction, and since we will always need to intermediate between every exchange, money is the perfect intermediary to help achieve millions of different combinations of exchanges. It will be practically impossible to barter on a global scale; even in a small community with a few different products, it will be a mess.

For example, if there were 10 products, there would be 45 combinations; if there were 100, there would be 4950 combinations. Imagine a scenario on a large scale, requiring the exchange of hundreds of thousands of products every second..

This issue necessitated the development of a new technology: money, which in turn led to the emergence of moneychangers (v4v). Money is a tool to exchange, measure, and store wealth. Wealth is anything we can sell: our labor (time and energy), our house, a car, a product, a service, etc.

Gold and silver were money for thousands of years because of their unique characteristics of scarcity, durability, divisibility, and transportability. The most important characteristic of these metals is that they are scarce, and they can’t be created out of thin air or reproduced with no effort.

Only God can control the supply of gold and silver found in nature. Men can only extract it, and it requires investment, work, time, and effort to find and mine it. So the common knowledge and the common sense of the people over thousands of years consensually chose gold and silver as money. And this money is the only lawful money under common law.

“Gold is money, everything else is credit”

J.P. Morgan 1912

As an interesting fact, the word "money" is used 140 times in the King James Bible, the word "gold" is mentioned 417 times, and the word "silver" over 320 times. But the word “currency” is not mentioned a single time.

The most important function of money is to exchange and store your time and energy. You work to acquire money and then use that money to acquire other goods and services.

Our time and energy is our real wealth because it’s limited. We all have a limited time on earth, and we can do certain things in the 24 hours we have every day, so we have to be conscious about how we administrate and store the fruits of our labor.

Money is a means to an end; we don't want money; we want what money can buy, and guess what, money cannot buy more time.

CURRENCY = FAKE MONEY

Currency exists as a money substitute. Currencies began as the opposite of money, the promise to deliver money in the future: debt. Currencies can be used to exchange wealth, but they are not a fair unit of account and are never a good way to store it because men are tempted to create more and dilute its value (a process known as inflation)

Currencies have almost all the same characteristics of money, but there’s a big difference: currency is not scarce and durable. Missing the store of value characteristic of money, since its supply can be manipulated by men.

For wealth preservation and measuring, modern currencies make no sense. Men control the supply of currency; banks and governments can inflate or deflate it in any amount they please, giving them supreme power and control over wealth distribution. This creates two classes of citizens: those who work to acquire currency and those who create it instantly and for free.

International banks have stolen money (gold and silver) over the past century, replacing its supply with currency or fake money (paper receipts). [1913, 1933, 1944, 1971]

Under this monetary game, those with "fixed income," savers, and creditors are the biggest losers, while debtors and asset owners are the winners..

The most important distinction to keep in mind is that nature controls the money supply, making artificial inflation impossible. On the other hand, men can inflate currency in unlimited amounts. It is a manifestation of God's power on earth, as the mediums of exchange serve as the lifeblood of commerce, the backbone of our economic system, and facilitate the division of labor.

If someone can inflate the currency supply, this has the same economic effect as counterfeiting, and he’s effectively stealing from everyone contracting, trading, and saving in that currency. Manipulating the mediums of exchange in an economy enables manipulation of every security, industry, and business.

This is the reason the founding fathers of the United States made gold and silver only lawful money for the payment of debts. To give everyone equal protection under the law and to get rid of the nobility and two types of citizens: bankers and workers or nobles and plebeians.

Bank-notes are not money. It 's currency. It’s unfair to take banks' currency as a standard for comparison.

Bank-note currency is not “lawful money”. It never could be counted as part of banks cash reserves. It would be too much like a man writing and signing his own promissory note for a million and then claiming that this made him a millionaire.

The very grave evils any currency depreciation always impose upon businesses and the people.

Alfred Owen Crozier, US Money vs Corporate currency, 1912

So money has three very important functions that work as the pillars on which the wellness of our economic system and civilizations relies. Currency is not a store of value because its supply can be easily manipulated, men in power can create more of it, and so using this always-changing currency as a standard of value or a unit of account is like using an always-changing ruler to measure distance. A dollar today does not buy the same as a dollar one year ago. So yesterday prices are not equal to today's prices; this is an unfair business calculation.

So money has three very important functions that work as the pillars on which the wellness of our economic system and civilizations relies. Currency is not a store of value because its supply can be easily manipulated, men in power can create more of it, and so using this always-changing currency as a standard of value or a unit of account is like using an always-changing ruler to measure distance. A dollar today does not buy the same as a dollar one year ago. So yesterday prices are not equal to today's prices; this is an unfair business calculation.

There are several Bible verses that discuss the manipulation of weights and measures, emphasizing the importance of honesty and fairness in commercial dealings.

1. Leviticus 19:35-36 New International Version (NIV): "Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin.

2. Deuteronomy 25:13-15: Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures.

3. Proverbs 11:1—"A "dishonest scale is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight."

Fake money (currency) is always and everywhere a dishonest scale. So if you want a real measure of value or wealth use something with real value instead, like gold, commodities, products, times, etc.

Bankers have redefined the word money to mean fake money, currency, or debt. And this is not the worst part. Let’s introduce another concept: credit.

CREDIT = FAKE CURRENCY

Real credit is the promise to pay money in the future. It involves delaying the payment of money. Currency was born as credit, as a money certificate or receipt. During the last century, banks gradually replaced 100% of the money with currency and bank credit to further boost their profits and control. [1913, 1933, 1944, 1971]

But in order to achieve this goal, bankers redefined the word money to mean the opposite of money: credit/debt. This is like calling a night a day or evil a good.

When you take out a loan from a friend, you receive credit from him, but you also incur a debt with him. You promise your friends that you will pay them (asset/right), and you owe them (liability/obligation). The asset and the liability are one and part of the same deal; they cannot exist without the other. There’s no credit with no debt, no debt with no credit, and no liability with no asset.

Federal Reserve notes, commonly known as “dollars,” are a private corporate currency; they are not money because they are not gold or silver, nor receipts for these metals as many people still believe. They were not redeemable in money from the start, despite being created under the assumption.

The “peso” (Spanish word for weight) used to be a standardized amount of gold or silver, but it’s not any more; it's just a debt denomination. And what's owing? Currency. How can someone lend the opposite of money and charge interest? Only deceiving you into believing that he is lending you money. So they redefined the word money to mean the opposite of it.

But redefining words does not change the economic effect of the transaction.

When currencies first appeared, I can imagine people asking themselves, "How can people trust these paper certificates in exchange for their money?" Who will be that stupid?” And nowadays, people don’t understand the difference between money and currency, to the point that bankers redefined the word "money" to mean the opposite of "money."

Lesson: Money is not just a medium of exchange; it is also a store of value and a unit of account. Currency, the opposite of money, is debt. Since it can be created in unlimited amounts, it can't work as a store of value because its value depreciates as more units are created; for this same reason, it is not fair to denominate values in currency units since one currency unit today does not buy the same as a year ago because of inflation, the loss of purchasing power.

Summarize: While money, currency, and credit all serve as effective mediums of exchange, only money serves as a reliable store of value for saving. Currency and credit are not stores of value (not good to save), and there are not fair units of account (not good for price).

In simple terms, money is not currency, because currency is just credit and debt. We can conceptualize it as a ledger, a record of who owes what to whom. Currency is fake money since it’s the opposite of a store of value; it's always depreciating in value while its supply is inflated. This is the definition of inflation.

Modern credit is not currency; it’s the opposite. It’s the promise to deliver currency in the future, the promise of a promise of money (in theory). But there’s no money behind. It’s an air loan.

But how did we get here? Is everyone stupid? No, we have been tricked, manipulated, and dictated to use these currencies, and this banking system was forced on us. They stole our money and replaced it with fake substitutes to boost their profits.

MODERN MEDIUMS OF EXCHANGE = MONOPOLY MONEY

So nowadays we have fake money acting as cash/currency and fake currency acting as bank deposits or credit. One is worse than the other, but both of them serve only as mediums of exchange. Those who store wealth with them will be robbed, and those who calculate business will be lied to.

Today we use currencies (government notes), coins, bank deposits (currency claims), checks (bank deposit claims), credit cards, and debit cards. All of them are ‘monopoly money’ fake claims based on a big and global fraud.

• Government notes (government debt)

Since governments are under the control of central banks, they can only create currency by borrowing. Governments must issue bonds, or debt, and the central bank can generate credit, or currency, to purchase these bonds.

The bond (government liability) is the counterpart of the ‘asset’ (the currency, a central bank asset). Bonds are debt, and currencies are credit.

When the central bank creates currency to lend it to the government at interest, it has literally the economic effect of transferring the wealth of the nation to the banks for free. The banks are not lending anything that they had to labor to produce; instead, they are creating it by printing paper notes or digital currency.

On the other side, governments have to collect money from citizens (producers, merchants, and workers) to pay the interest on the debt.

Despite their best efforts, governments are unable to repay the debt due to interest, which makes it bigger than the amount of currency. Let’s say the debt is 100 at 1% interest. So there’s only 100 in currency. But at the end of the year, there’s going to be a debt of 101. In order for the system to keep working, someone else has to go into debt to create more currency units, and governments have to keep borrowing and at least only paying the interest and rolling the debt.

The important thing is that if you have government currency debt free, you own it. This is the new ‘money.’. Government currency is the ‘real’ cash, liquidity, or water.

• Bank deposits (bank debt)

When you deposit your government currency in the bank, you are legally lending your currency to the bank, and the bank owes you the amount you deposit. This currency is not stored by banks until you request it. Banks use this currency as if it were theirs, and they do business with it. That’s why I said, ‘Your money in the bank’ is not yours; it’s not money; it’s not in the bank. Its currency, its owe to you, is only registered on the bank ledger as a debt, not in a safe box.

The numbers you get in the bank account, or your balance, are government currency substitutes; they are bank deposits. Your currency deposit is the asset, and the number on your bank account balance is the liability.

But this is not the worst part. Banks lend around 10 times more currency than they have in deposits. So banks have more liabilities than assets (they are literally broke).

People often treat bank deposits, also known as government currency substitutes or bank tokens, as legal tender, allowing banks to create them arbitrarily and 'lend' them to unsuspecting clients who mistakenly believe they are receiving currency.

This is possible only because the bank's deposit has equal cash value.

Government bonds, government currency, and bank deposits have equal value. But they are not the same.

All of them have counterparty risk, but cash, or government currency, is better or safer than bonds or bank deposits. If interest rates rise, the value of bonds can decrease, and default on bank deposits can result in total loss, a scenario that has frequently occurred.

Keep in mind that bank deposits represent the bank's debts, also known as liabilities. Business activities and risk-taking make your currency unsecured, and they don't compensate you enough for the loan and risk.

• Debit cards (bank deposit transfer)

Your bank deposit is your right to get your currency back. When you use a credit card to buy something, you are transferring that right to the seller so he can redeem that bank token for currency if he wishes.

But you have to have had a deposit before you can spend it or transfer it.

• Checks (bank deposit transfer)

The same applies to checks. Your bank deposit is your right to get your currency back. When you use a check to buy something, you are transferring that right to the seller so he can redeem that bank token for currency if he wishes.

• Credit card (bank deposit creator)

Credit cards are different. When you use a credit card, you are creating a bank deposit backed by your promise of paying it back. By allowing the bank to create a currency substitute out of nothing and charge you high interest, you are essentially working for them for free.

Not only this, but you are also letting them collect fees from the payments processing that cost them nothing and support their fake money as a medium of exchange.

Using credit cards is literally voting for financial slavery. This is why companies make credit cards so convenient and offer benefits, with the intention of incentivizing and pushing people into the debt slavery system.

BANKS = MONEYCHANGERS

‘Loans’ = exchanges

The history of money is the history of moneychangers, money dealers, or bankers. Money is an inanimate object. Bankers are alive; they are the ones in charge of making the money, currency, and credit flow or stop.

They have been in existence for thousands of years, from Egypt to Rome, where Jesus Christ himself threw them out of the temple and called them thieves, and he was not wrong.

Moneychangers played a crucial role in facilitating trade by exchanging different forms of currency and commodities. The profession of moneychangers evolved over time, particularly during the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages when various currencies were in circulation. In these times, moneychangers would set up shop at markets or public spaces to provide their services and help merchants convert their money into a form that could be used for transactions with other traders. As banking systems developed over time, the role of moneychangers expanded to include more complex financial services.

Today, moneychangers are still an essential part of the global economy, helping people exchange currencies and facilitating international trade.

The Knights Templars were a Christian military order established in 1119 who played a crucial role in the establishment of the financial system in medieval Europe. They established a gold-backed credit system that laid the foundation for the modern banking system. Their financial services included deposit accounts, loans, and even a form of early traveler's checks.

The history of the goldsmiths starts around 700 years ago in the year 1327. The company became responsible for hallmarking precious metals and played a significant role in regulating the quality and authenticity of gold and silver items. In exchange for written acknowledgments or "receipts," they also provided gold deposit services.

Both groups played significant roles in the development of these early financial instruments, with goldsmiths issuing written acknowledgments for deposited gold and the Knights Templar establishing banking institutions that facilitated the use of such receipts as a form of payment.

This is a brief summary of the beginning of the moneychangers and how they discovered how to multiply money with paper receipts, better understood as counterfeiting. We now refer to it as fractional reserve banking, and let me tell you something: it's based on fraud.

Not only do they create bank deposits when you deposit currency, but they also create them when you "take a loan." Banks do not lend money, and they do not lend currency; they lend bank deposits (bank tokens/IOUs/currency substitutes/ paper receipts).

Banks had to redefine the word money to mean the opposite of money (debt) to trick the people. How can you lend the oposite of money and expect to be paid back plus interest? This took them thousands of years to achieve.

The fact is that this is not a loan but an exchange. When you take a loan, you sign a contract that creates a promissory note, which is your promise to pay. The bank then takes this promissory note, without your permission (steals), and sells it for cash (if you requiere it) or government bonds (to earn interest).

Your promissory note has equal value to cash and government bonds. And banks always need an asset to create a bank deposit (liability). So the banks literally steal your asset (promissory note) and sell them to create IOUs that they will ‘lend’ to you.

They ‘lend’ the oposite of money and call it a loan. The truth is that they are acting as moneychangers, and they are exchanging your IOU (promissory note) for a bank IOU (bank deposit) without your permission and pretending that you pay it back, but they never pay back theirs…

How is this possible? This is only possible because most people treat bank deposits (bank tokens, IOUs, and debts) as a medium of exchange because they trust the banks.

This is the root of inequality under the law. While one group can create IOUs from nothing and steal others, the other must work for them or exchange wealth.

If this bank defaults, its IOUs quickly vanish. This is a mathematical certainty; that’s why banks that are 'too big to fail' demand bailouts. Every bank is bankrupt since they have 7–10 times more liabilities than assets, and the assets they have are not theirs but their clients' assets. The only thing that keeps them alive is the trust of the public and the bailouts of the government.

This is legalized slavery and theft. There’s no other name. Banks own every industry, government, public figure, actor, etc. They have the power of God on earth, and it's time to stop them.

If we let the bank take our wealth for free, we will end up bankrupt, and they will end up owning everything. Every medium of exchange nowadays is an IOU or an IOU of an IOU. Ultimately, it is mathematically impossible to repay all of those IOUs, and banks pretend to keep all the assets.

Check: IOU = deposit; IOU = cash; IOU = bond; IOU + interest

The only way this system can continue is to keep creating new IOUs to pay the old ones, but even then (as it has been for over a century), the value of those IOUs keeps falling, causing hyperinflation.

If banks and governments want to ‘avoid’ (imposible) or relent to hyperinflation, they need to incur a great confiscation. So heads you lose, tails they win, playing this game doesn't make any fucking sense.

Buy Bitcoin, self custody, and fuck the government and the banking system.

Live free or die trying.

@ a93be9fb:6d3fdc0c

More photography and articles you might like from nostr:npub1cs7kmc77gcapuh2s3yn0rc868sckh0qam7p5p4t9ku88rfjcx95sq8tqw9 and nostr:npub1c8n9qhqzm2x3kzjm84kmdcvm96ezmn257r5xxphv3gsnjq4nz4lqelne96 : nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzps0x2pwq9k5drv99k0tdkmsekt4j9hx4fu8gvvrwez3p8yptx9t7qqxnqvfjxqer2tfh0fekz7r5l270gu https://pictureroom.substack.com/p/020825 nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp3padh3au336rew4pzfx78s050p3dw7pmhurgr2ktdcwwxn9svtfqq24s4mrfdm55utg23z55ufs94argvn523k5yqhkrc3 nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp3padh3au336rew4pzfx78s050p3dw7pmhurgr2ktdcwwxn9svtfqq2nvnr5d4nngw2zgd5k5c6etftrzez9fd9kkcl0pzp"

@ 7d33ba57:1b82db35

Located in eastern Poland, Lublin is a city where history, culture, and youthful energy come together. Often called the "Gateway to the East," Lublin blends Gothic and Renaissance architecture, vibrant street life, and deep historical roots—especially as a center of Jewish heritage and intellectual life.

🏙️ Top Things to See in Lublin

🏰 Lublin Castle

• A striking hilltop castle with a neo-Gothic façade and a beautifully preserved Romanesque chapel (Chapel of the Holy Trinity)
• Don’t miss the frescoes inside—a rare mix of Byzantine and Western art styles

🚪 Old Town (Stare Miasto)

• Wander through cobblestone streets, pastel buildings, and arched gateways
• Filled with cozy cafes, galleries, and vibrant murals
• The Grodzka Gate symbolizes the passage between Christian and Jewish quarters

🕯️ Lublin’s Jewish Heritage

• Visit the Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre, a powerful memorial and museum telling the story of the once-vibrant Jewish community
• Nearby Majdanek Concentration Camp offers a sobering but important historical experience

🎭 Culture & Events

• Lublin is known for its festivals, like Carnaval Sztukmistrzów (Festival of Magicians and Street Performers) and the Night of Culture
• The city has a thriving theatre and music scene, supported by its large student population

🌳 Green Spaces

• Relax in Saski Garden, a peaceful park with walking paths and fountains
• Or take a walk along the Bystrzyca River for a quieter, more local feel

🍽️ Local Tastes

• Sample Polish classics like pierogi, żurek (sour rye soup), and bigos (hunter’s stew)
• Look for modern twists on traditional dishes in Lublin’s growing number of bistros and artisan cafés

🚆 Getting There

• Easy access by train or bus from Warsaw (2–2.5 hours)
• Compact center—easily walkable

@ bbb5dda0:f09e2747

GitHub Actions (CI/CD) over Nostr

I Spent quite a bit of time on getting Nostr-based GitHub actions working. I have a basic runner implementation now, which i've reworked quite a bit when working with @dan on getting the front-end of it into gitworkshop.dev. We found that the nature of these jobs don't really lend itself to fit within the NIP-90 DVM spec.

What we have now: - A dvm-cicd-runner that - Advertises itself using NIP-89 announcements. - Takes a DVM request with: - repository - branch/ref - path to workflow file (.yml) - job timeout (max duration) - 🥜 Cashu prepayment for the job timeout (to be refunded) - Pulls the repository and executes the provided workflow file - Sends logs in batches as partial job results - Publishes job results and gets displayed in gitworkshop - Gitworkshop.dev (all nostr:npub15qydau2hjma6ngxkl2cyar74wzyjshvl65za5k5rl69264ar2exs5cyejr work) UI that : - Shows available workflow runners. - Instructing + paying runner to execute workflow file - Displaying job status, live updating with the latest logs / autoscroll, all the stuff you'd expect - Neatly displaying past jobs for the current repository

TODO'S + Ideas/vision

• TODO: refunding the unused minutes (job timeout - processing time) to the requester
• TODO: create seperate kinds/nip for worflow execution over nostr
• Create separate kinds for streaming arbitrary text data over nostr (line by line logs)
• automated git watchers for projects to kick of jobs
• Separate out workflow management stuff from gitworkshop.dev. A micro-app might serve better to manage runners for git projects etc and takes away pressure from gitworkshop.dev to do it all.
• Perhaps support just running .yaml files, without the requirement to have it in a git repo. Could just be a .yaml file on blossom.

TollGate

I spent most of my time working on TollGate. There's been a lot of back and forth to the drawing board to narrow down what the TollGate protocol looks like. I helped define some concepts on implementing a tollgate which we could use as language to discuss the different components that are part of a tollgate implementation. It helped us narrow down what was implementation and what is part of the protocol.

Current state of the project

• We have a website displaying the project: TollGate.me
• Worked on a basic android app for auto payments, validating we can auto-buy from tollgates by our phones
  • demo
• Presented TollGate at @Sats 'n Facts
• There's a protocol draft, presented at SEC-04
• We've done workshops, people were able to turn an OpenWRT router into a TollGate
• Building and releasing TollGate as a singular OpenWRT package, installable on any compatible architecture
• Building and releasing TollGate OS v0.0.1 (prebuilt OpenWRT image), targeting a few specific routers
• First tollgate deployed in the wild!! (At a restaurant in Funchal, Madeira)
• Other developers started to make their own adjacent implementations, which decentralizes the protocol already

What's next:

• We're gathering useful real user feedback to be incorporated in OS v0.0.2 soon
• Refine the protocol further
• Showing TollGate at various conferences in Europe throughout the summer
• Keep building the community, it's growing fast

Epoxy (Nostr based Addressing)

Although i've pivoted towards focusing on TollGate I worked out an implementation of my NIP-(1)37 proposal. During SEC-04 I worked out this browser plugin to demonstrate one way to make websites resistant to rugpulls.

It works by looking for a meta tag in the page's head: html <meta name="nostr-pubkey" relays="relay.site.com,other.relay.com">[hexPubkey]</meta>

When we've never recorded a pubkey for this domain, we save it. This pubkey now serves as the owner of the website. It looks for a kind 11111 event of that pubkey. It should list the current domain as one of it's domains. If not, it shows a warning.

The key concept is that if we visit this website again and one of these scenario's is true: - There is no longer a meta tag - There's another pubkey in the meta tag - The pubkey is still on the webpage, but the 11111 no longer lists this domain

Then we consider this domain as RUGPULLED and the user gets an error, suggesting to navigate to other domain listed by this pubkey. I'd like it to perhaps auto-redirect to another domain listed by the owner, this is especially useful for frequently rugged domains.

This extension does try to solve a bootstrapping problem. We need to establish the website's pubkey at some point. We have to start somewhere, which is why the first load is considered as the 'real' one, since we have no way of knowing for sure.

Other

🥜/⚡️ Receipt.Cash - Social Receipt sharing app

During SEC I worked on scratching an itch that has been lingering in my mind since SEC-03 already. And now that vibecoding is a thing it wasn't this huge undertaking anymore to handle the front-end stuff (which i suck at).

The usage scenario is a bunch of bitcoiners that are at a restaurant, we get the bill and want to split it amongst each other. One person can pay the bill, then: - Payer photographs receipt - Payer adds Cashu Payment request - Payer sets dev split % - App turns the receipt + request into a (encrypted) nostr event - The payer shares the event with QR or Share Menu

The friend scan the QR: - Receipt is loaded and displayed - Friend selects items they ordered - Friend hits pay button (⚡️Lightning or 🥜Cashu) and pays - Payment gets sent to Payer's cashu wallet - Dev split set by Payer goes to dev address.

Some features: - Change LLM model that processes the receipt to extract data - Proofs storage + recovery (if anything fails during processing)

Todo's: - Letting payer configure LNURL for payouts - Letting payer edit Receipt before sharing - Fix: live updates on settled items

The repo: receipt-cash

@ df478568:2a951e67

I shop the bitcoin circular economy as much as I can. Maybe "shop" isn't the best way to describe it. Shopping is a behavior typical of fiat maxis. they drive fancy leases and shop 'till they drop. This season's fashion must-have is next season's trash. Bitcoiners don't shop, we replenish supplies. Our goal is to get the best value for our sats. Our goal to hodl our sats as long as possible.

Yesterday, I shoveled a ton of compost for my garden. If taking showers mean's I', short bitcoin, so be it. I also happened to get my soap from Soapminer delivered to my P.O. Box the day before. What better way is there to test this soap than after shoveling some shit? It was perfect timing.

Soapminer Sells Soap Made From Beef Tallow

Soapminer is a nostr rounder I've seen online every timestamp in a while. As the name suggests, he makes soap and sells it for sats. He's not the only soap seller on nostr, but something stands out about this soap. He uses beef tallow, the stuff McDonald's used for french fries back in the day. I use it to cook. It's basically beef lard.

So this pleb makes soap and markets it to people who talk about beef and bitcoin. That's better than Fight Club. Then I heard Matt Odell say it was pretty good. I already thought about spending sats on this soap, but now I had a testimonial from a man I have listened to for about six years. Can you say Web of Trust baby?

I no soap and suds expert. I have years of soapo sing experience, but I never thought about what commercial soap is made with. I assumed it was like Fight Club like how I assumed the dollar was backed by gold in high school. Both these statements are false. Fiat soap is made with fiat fuckery. I tried looking for the ingredients on a box of Dove Men's Care, but couldn't find them on the box. It's opaque like the amount of gold at Fort Knox, nobody knows. I know what Soapminer uses to make his soap because it's open source.

Tallow Soap Quotes

I asked Soapminer a few questions on nostr. You can find his answer here:

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqy9kvcxtqa2tlwyjv4r46ancxk00ghk9yaudzsnp697s60942p7lqy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3xamnwvaz7tmsw4e8qmr9wpskwtn9wvhszxrhwden5te0wa3nztnrw4e8yetwwshxu6twdfsj7qpqh7mqlhn392ekrg6nm33pjjquu0dww27tqv3qjduyag4u20er0tcqd2waxl That's the link that shows it was signed by his own nostr key, the Internet's version of "I approve this message."

Soapminer:

`What inspired me was a cleaner, healthier lifestyle. During the plandemic, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and got to read, and investigate what actually causes a lot of the sickness in society. I learned a great deal. I never knew that your skin is your largest organ, and that it absorbs 60-70% of what you put on it. What do ppl put on their skin almost every day? Soap. So out of boredom, and seeking a healthier lifestyle, I started watching YT videos of ppl making soap, and tried it out a few times, and then a few more, until I became good at it.

Once you learn how to make soap, the challenges only arise when you try something that you haven't done before. Depending on what method you are using will determine the challenges that you may face. It's multifaceted, so might be a little long to go into. I overcome them by keep trying until I get it right. No path is going to be easy, you just have to practice to make perfect.

Last question is easy. My favorite soap is Tallow soap. As long as it is made from Tallow, and has all natural ingredients, it is a good soap in my opinion. Tallow mirrors the oils in our skin. It doesn't strip you skin the way commercial soap do, leaving you feel itchy, dry, and actually causing some of the skin ailments that have become common, like eczema, and psoriasis. Just nutures, cleans, and protects. It also, can prevent wrinkles., and acne.`

Sold!

I tried the pine tar first. It makes me smell like a man, at least my wife thinks so. That's also why she prefers the unscented. He is adding more scents, but these ate the one's I have tried.

The soap makes me feel rubber-ducky squeaky clean. After my shower, made some lunch and washed my hands with Dawn. This made my hands ashier than bio-char. I decided to cut some soap and place a little piece by the kitchen sink. The soap moisturized my hands in two shakes of a bull's tail. I also cut up some of my soap into smaller pieces because I'm as frugal as a Boy-scout and wanted to wash my hands with this stuff instead of Ivory. **Who wants a clean as real as Ivory? It's only 99.44% pure. Soap miner is 100% pure bitcoin signal.

Here's some more quotes about Soapminer's soap.

• He's asking his market if they want Peppermint soap.

• Then he made the soap like a boss.

• The Benefits of Tallow

• He uses Zaprite

He has giveaways

He wants everyone to live on a bitcoin standard

Testimonials

nostr:note1y9wsl07lkepfzzj8c8ucekss9f9darvg70j93cdmvttadfjx9nfsvtxwes

The LOTSProject8

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqy9kvcxtqa2tlwyjv4r46ancxk00ghk9yaudzsnp697s60942p7lqqsxt8kyd650ph3wvhre0lwlw5s0emuv5gcfzmsvfxf7czgg4c2wynq7vg8ga

GhostBTC:

nostr:npub1cm3v486tkgy6qjtk09srry4qvc40y0jysyqha5e3v67whnc22jwsrreyud

Tuvok

Bit 🐳 Ish

"It's good stuff, you'll love it."

cryptoshi2k21.bitcoin

"Great soap 🧼🫧"

Me

"I spent the last two days shyoveling horse shit and compost for my garden. This soap made me feel rubber-ducky squeeky clean afterward."

Conclusion

I am a soap mining soap customer now. I'm done with fiat soap. I'm thinking about handing out his soap for Christmas gifts. Odell was right. It is good soap. It's expensive compared to the comercial crap, but competitive with fancy olive oil soaps I've seen. I paid with fiat I had in Strike, but Soapminer received bitcoin. I was going to buy soap anyway, but buying soap this way took $35 of fiat off Strike and put it into soap miners strategic bitcoin reserve. It's not cheap, but buying Dove requires me to first buy fiat. Buying soap from Soapminer takes sats off the exchange. Buying Dove does not, but that's not the only reason I bought this soap. It's great soap, but that's not really why I bought it. I am a big believer in what Adam Smith described as the invisible hand: [nostr:note1jsgzk6rxulyqthae8c53rrawaa70yjqh37nm3kxh08xw8g43vgcq3kux9d "nostr:note1jsgzk6rxulyqthae8c53rrawaa70yjqh37nm3kxh08xw8g43vgcq3kux9d"). We want to see people in our community to prosper. It is in our self-interest That is what Smith means by the invisible hand. The invisible hand is not A Central Bank manipulating interest rates and The IMF turning foreigners into debt-fiat slaves for cheap freshly-frozen shrimp.

Bitcoiners are my community. They may not be close to me by proximity, but my moral sentiments guide me to do business with bitcoiners whenever possible. See, capitalism cannot work with socialist money. Those moral sentiments change when people work for soft money. Fiat soap miners get paid in NGD currency. Sell soap for $35 today and that will buy you half as much stuff in 5 years. The fiat soap miner has no savings to improve his community. Inflation makes him search for the cheapest soap just to keep up with grocery prices.

Soapminer can save his sats earned selling soap without anyone stealig from him. Therefore, he will be able to afford to buy stuff in his community. Those on a fiat standard cannot afford to save their money in the hopes of buying high quality products and services in their community. Fiat is socialist money, therefore only buys less and less as time goes on. Dear readers, we are not on late stage capitalism. The problem is that socialist money sucks. Those Papi Trump bucks might be fun for a month, but in the end, everyone pays the Piper. Tariffs are a sales tax, paywalls in meatspace. Save your sats long enough, and these taxes will not matter. We circumvent the unjust tax of inflation, we will find solutions to unjust taxes levied on our community.

I participate in the bitcoin circular economy because I want to bring capitalism back. I do not care where you live. If you are a bitcoiner, you are part of my community. There is an invisible hand which compels me to buy stuff from people in my community. That's why I bought soap from Soapminer, but you know what? the soap is pretty damn good.

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

884,861

Merch

@ fd0bcf8c:521f98c0

The vag' sits on the edge of the highway, broken, hungry. Overhead flies a transcontinental plane filled with highly paid executives. The upper class has taken to the air, the lower class to the roads: there is no longer any bond between them, they are two nations."—The Sovereign Individual

Fire

I was talking to a friend last night. Coffee in hand. Watching flames consume branches. Spring night on his porch.

He believed in America's happy ending. Debt would vanish. Inflation would cool. Manufacturing would return. Good guys win.

I nodded. I wanted to believe.

He leaned forward, toward the flame. I sat back, watching both fire and sky.

His military photos hung inside. Service medals displayed. Patriotism bone-deep.

The pendulum clock on his porch wall swung steadily. Tick. Tock. Measuring moments. Marking epochs.

History tells another story. Not tragic. Just true.

Our time has come. America cut off couldn't compete. Factories sit empty. Supply chains span oceans. Skills lack. Children lag behind. Rebuilding takes decades.

Truth hurts. Truth frees.

Cycles

History moves in waves. Every 500 years, power shifts. Systems fall. Systems rise.

500 BC - Greek coins changed everything. Markets flourished. Athens dominated.

1 AD - Rome ruled commerce. One currency. Endless roads. Bustling ports.

500 AD - Rome faded. Not overnight. Slowly. Trade withered. Cities emptied. Money debased. Roads crumbled. Local strongmen rose. Peasants sought protection. Feudalism emerged.

People still lived. Still worked. Horizons narrowed. Knowledge concentrated. Most barely survived. Rich adapted. Poor suffered.

Self-reliance determined survival. Those growing food endured. Those making essential goods continued. Those dependent on imperial systems suffered most.

1000 AD - Medieval revival began. Venice dominated seas. China printed money. Cathedrals rose. Universities formed.

1500 AD - Europeans sailed everywhere. Spanish silver flowed. Banks financed kingdoms. Companies colonized continents. Power moved west.

The pendulum swung. East to West. West to East. Civilizations rose. Civilizations fell.

2000 AD - Pattern repeats. America strains. Digital networks expand. China rises. Debt swells. Old systems break.

We stand at the hinge.

Warnings

Signs everywhere. Dollar weakens globally. BRICS builds alternatives. Yuan buys oil. Factories rust. Debt exceeds GDP. Interest consumes budgets.

Bridges crumble. Education falters. Politicians chase votes. We consume. We borrow.

Rome fell gradually. Citizens barely noticed. Taxes increased. Currency devalued. Military weakened. Services decayed. Life hardened by degrees.

East Rome adapted. Survived centuries. West fragmented. Trade shrank. Some thrived. Others suffered. Life changed permanently.

Those who could feed themselves survived best. Those who needed the system suffered worst.

Pendulum

My friend poured another coffee. The burn pile popped loudly. Sparks flew upward like dying stars.

His face changed as facts accumulated. Military man. Trained to assess threats. Detect weaknesses.

He stared at the fire. National glory reduced to embers. Something shifted in his expression. Recognition.

His fingers tightened around his mug. Knuckles white. Eyes fixed on dying flames.

I traced the horizon instead. Observing landscape. Noting the contrast.

He touched the flag on his t-shirt. I adjusted my plain gray one.

The unpayable debt. The crumbling infrastructure. The forgotten manufacturing. The dependent supply chains. The devaluing currency.

The pendulum clock ticked. Relentless. Indifferent to empires.

His eyes said what his patriotism couldn't voice. Something fundamental breaking.

I'd seen this coming. Years traveling showed me. Different systems. Different values. American exceptionalism viewed from outside.

Pragmatism replaced my old idealism. See things as they are. Not as wished.

The logs shifted. Flames reached higher. Then lower. The cycle of fire.

Divergence

Society always splits during shifts.

Some adapt. Some don't.

Printing arrived. Scribes starved. Publishers thrived. Information accelerated. Readers multiplied. Ideas spread. Adapters prospered.

Steam engines came. Weavers died. Factory owners flourished. Villages emptied. Cities grew. Coal replaced farms. Railways replaced wagons. New skills meant survival.

Computers transformed everything. Typewriters vanished. Software boomed. Data replaced paper. Networks replaced cabinets. Programmers replaced typists. Digital skills determined success.

The self-reliant thrived in each transition. Those waiting for rescue fell behind.

Now AI reshapes creativity. Some artists resist. Some harness it. Gap widens daily.

Bitcoin offers refuge. Critics mock. Adopters build wealth. The distance grows.

Remote work redraws maps. Office-bound struggle. Location-free flourish.

The pendulum swings. Power shifts. Some rise with it. Some fall against it.

Two societies emerge. Adaptive. Resistant. Prepared. Pretending.

Advantage

Early adapters win. Not through genius. Through action.

First printers built empires. First factories created dynasties. First websites became giants.

Bitcoin followed this pattern. Laptop miners became millionaires. Early buyers became legends.

Critics repeat themselves: "Too volatile." "No value." "Government ban coming."

Doubters doubt. Builders build. Gap widens.

Self-reliance accelerates adaptation. No permission needed. No consensus required. Act. Learn. Build.

The burn pile flames like empire's glory. Bright. Consuming. Temporary.

Blindness

Our brains see tigers. Not economic shifts.

We panic at headlines. We ignore decades-long trends.

We notice market drops. We miss debt cycles.

We debate tweets. We ignore revolutions.

Not weakness. Just humanity. Foresight requires work. Study. Thought.

Self-reliant thinking means seeing clearly. No comforting lies. No pleasing narratives. Just reality.

The clock pendulum swings. Time passes regardless of observation.

Action

Empires fall. Families need security. Children need futures. Lives need meaning.

You can adapt faster than nations.

Assess honestly. What skills matter now? What preserves wealth? Who helps when needed?

Never stop learning. Factory workers learned code. Taxi drivers joined apps. Photographers went digital.

Diversify globally. No country owns tomorrow. Learn languages. Make connections. Stay mobile.

Protect your money. Dying empires debase currencies. Romans kept gold. Bitcoin offers similar shelter.

Build resilience. Grow food. Make energy. Stay strong. Keep friends. Read old books. Some things never change.

Self-reliance matters most. Can you feed yourself? Can you fix things? Can you solve problems? Can you create value without systems?

Movement

Humans were nomads first. Settlers second. Movement in our blood.

Our ancestors followed herds. Sought better lands. Survival meant mobility.

The pendulum swings here too. Nomad to farmer. City-dweller to digital nomad.

Rome fixed people to land. Feudalism bound serfs to soil. Nations created borders. Companies demanded presence.

Now technology breaks chains. Work happens anywhere. Knowledge flows everywhere.

The rebuild America seeks requires fixed positions. Factory workers. Taxpaying citizens in permanent homes.

But technology enables escape. Remote work. Digital currencies. Borderless businesses.

The self-reliant understand mobility as freedom. One location means one set of rules. One economy. One fate.

Many locations mean options. Taxes become predatory? Leave. Opportunities disappear? Find new ones.

Patriotism celebrates roots. Wisdom remembers wings.

My friend's boots dug into his soil. Planted. Territorial. Defending.

My Chucks rested lightly. Ready. Adaptable. Departing.

His toolshed held equipment to maintain boundaries. Fences. Hedges. Property lines.

My backpack contained tools for crossing them. Chargers. Adapters. Currency.

The burn pile flame flickers. Fixed in place. The spark flies free. Movement its nature.

During Rome's decline, the mobile survived best. Merchants crossing borders. Scholars seeking patrons. Those tied to crumbling systems suffered most.

Location independence means personal resilience. Economic downturns become geographic choices. Political oppression becomes optional suffering.

Technology shrinks distance. Digital work. Video relationships. Online learning.

Self-sovereignty requires mobility. The option to walk away. The freedom to arrive elsewhere.

Two more worlds diverge. The rooted. The mobile. The fixed. The fluid. The loyal. The free.

Hope

Not decline. Transition. Painful but temporary.

America may weaken. Humanity advances. Technology multiplies possibilities. Poverty falls. Knowledge grows.

Falling empires see doom. Rising ones see opportunity. Both miss half the picture.

Every shift brings destruction and creation. Rome fell. Europe struggled. Farms produced less. Cities shrank. Trade broke down.

Yet innovation continued. Water mills appeared. New plows emerged. Monks preserved books. New systems evolved.

Different doesn't mean worse for everyone.

Some industries die. Others birth. Some regions fade. Others bloom. Some skills become useless. Others become gold.

The self-reliant thrive in any world. They adapt. They build. They serve. They create.

Choose your role. Nostalgia or building.

The pendulum swings. East rises again. The cycle continues.

Fading

The burn pile dimmed. Embers fading. Night air cooling.

My friend's shoulders changed. Tension releasing. Something accepted.

His patriotism remained. His illusions departed.

The pendulum clock ticked steadily. Measuring more than minutes. Measuring eras.

Two coffee cups. His: military-themed, old and chipped but cherished. Mine: plain porcelain, new and unmarked.

His eyes remained on smoldering embers. Mine moved between him and the darkening trees.

His calendar marked local town meetings. Mine tracked travel dates.

The last flame flickered out. Spring peepers filled the silence.

In darkness, we watched smoke rise. The world changing. New choices ahead.

No empire lasts forever. No comfort in denial. Only clarity in acceptance.

Self-reliance the ancient answer. Build your skills. Secure your resources. Strengthen your body. Feed your mind. Help your neighbors.

The burn pile turned to ash. Empire's glory extinguished.

He stood facing his land. I faced the road.

A nod between us. Respect across division. Different strategies for the same storm.

He turned toward his home. I toward my vehicle.

The pendulum continued swinging. Power flowing east once more. Five centuries ending. Five centuries beginning.

"Bear in mind that everything that exists is already fraying at the edges." — Marcus Aurelius

Tomorrow depends not on nations. On us.

@ 94a6a78a:0ddf320e

Nostr is a revolutionary protocol that enables decentralized, censorship-resistant communication. Unlike traditional social networks controlled by corporations, Nostr operates without central servers or gatekeepers. This openness makes it incredibly powerful—but also means its success depends entirely on users, developers, and relay operators.

If you believe in free speech, decentralization, and an open internet, there are many ways to support and strengthen the Nostr ecosystem. Whether you're a casual user, a developer, or someone looking to contribute financially, every effort helps build a more robust network.

Here’s how you can get involved and make a difference.

---

1️⃣ Use Nostr Daily

The simplest and most effective way to contribute to Nostr is by using it regularly. The more active users, the stronger and more valuable the network becomes.

✅ Post, comment, and zap (send micro-payments via Bitcoin’s Lightning Network) to keep conversations flowing.\ ✅ Engage with new users and help them understand how Nostr works.\ ✅ Try different Nostr clients like Damus, Amethyst, Snort, or Primal and provide feedback to improve the experience.

Your activity keeps the network alive and helps encourage more developers and relay operators to invest in the ecosystem.

---

2️⃣ Run Your Own Nostr Relay

Relays are the backbone of Nostr, responsible for distributing messages across the network. The more independent relays exist, the stronger and more censorship-resistant Nostr becomes.

✅ Set up your own relay to help decentralize the network further.\ ✅ Experiment with relay configurations and different performance optimizations.\ ✅ Offer public or private relay services to users looking for high-quality infrastructure.

If you're not technical, you can still support relay operators by subscribing to a paid relay or donating to open-source relay projects.

---

3️⃣ Support Paid Relays & Infrastructure

Free relays have helped Nostr grow, but they struggle with spam, slow speeds, and sustainability issues. Paid relays help fund better infrastructure, faster message delivery, and a more reliable experience.

✅ Subscribe to a paid relay to help keep it running.\ ✅ Use premium services like media hosting (e.g., Azzamo Blossom) to decentralize content storage.\ ✅ Donate to relay operators who invest in long-term infrastructure.

By funding Nostr’s decentralized backbone, you help ensure its longevity and reliability.

---

4️⃣ Zap Developers, Creators & Builders

Many people contribute to Nostr without direct financial compensation—developers who build clients, relay operators, educators, and content creators. You can support them with zaps! ⚡

✅ Find developers working on Nostr projects and send them a zap.\ ✅ Support content creators and educators who spread awareness about Nostr.\ ✅ Encourage builders by donating to open-source projects.

Micro-payments via the Lightning Network make it easy to directly support the people who make Nostr better.

---

5️⃣ Develop New Nostr Apps & Tools

If you're a developer, you can build on Nostr’s open protocol to create new apps, bots, or tools. Nostr is permissionless, meaning anyone can develop for it.

✅ Create new Nostr clients with unique features and user experiences.\ ✅ Build bots or automation tools that improve engagement and usability.\ ✅ Experiment with decentralized identity, authentication, and encryption to make Nostr even stronger.

With no corporate gatekeepers, your projects can help shape the future of decentralized social media.

---

6️⃣ Promote & Educate Others About Nostr

Adoption grows when more people understand and use Nostr. You can help by spreading awareness and creating educational content.

✅ Write blogs, guides, and tutorials explaining how to use Nostr.\ ✅ Make videos or social media posts introducing new users to the protocol.\ ✅ Host discussions, Twitter Spaces, or workshops to onboard more people.

The more people understand and trust Nostr, the stronger the ecosystem becomes.

---

7️⃣ Support Open-Source Nostr Projects

Many Nostr tools and clients are built by volunteers, and open-source projects thrive on community support.

✅ Contribute code to existing Nostr projects on GitHub.\ ✅ Report bugs and suggest features to improve Nostr clients.\ ✅ Donate to developers who keep Nostr free and open for everyone.

If you're not a developer, you can still help with testing, translations, and documentation to make projects more accessible.

---

🚀 Every Contribution Strengthens Nostr

Whether you:

✔️ Post and engage daily\ ✔️ Zap creators and developers\ ✔️ Run or support relays\ ✔️ Build new apps and tools\ ✔️ Educate and onboard new users

Every action helps make Nostr more resilient, decentralized, and unstoppable.

Nostr isn’t just another social network—it’s a movement toward a free and open internet. If you believe in digital freedom, privacy, and decentralization, now is the time to get involved.

@ 61bf790b:fe18b062

In a vast digital realm, two cities stood side by side: the towering, flashing metropolis of Feedia, and the decentralized, quiet city of Nostra.

Feedia was loud—blinding, buzzing, and always on. Screens plastered every wall, whispering the latest trends into citizens’ ears. But in this city, what you saw wasn’t up to you. It was determined by a towering, unseen force known as The Algorithm. It didn’t care what was true, meaningful, or helpful—only what would keep your eyes glued and your attention sold.

In Feedia, discovery wasn’t earned. It was assigned.

And worse—there was a caste system. To have a voice, you needed a Blue Check—a glowing badge that marked you as “worthy.” To get one, you had to pay or play. Pay monthly dues to the high towers or entertain The Algorithm enough to be deemed “valuable.” If you refused or couldn’t afford it, your voice was cast into the noise—buried beneath outrage bait and celebrity screams.

The unmarked were like ghosts—speaking into the void while the checked dined in Algorithm-favored towers. It was a digital monarchy dressed up as a democracy.

Then, there was Nostra.

There were no glowing checkmarks in Nostra—just signal. Every citizen had a light they carried, one that grew brighter the more they contributed: thoughtful posts, reshared ideas, built tools, or boosted others. Discovery was based not on payment or privilege, but participation and value.

In Nostra, you didn’t rise because you paid the gatekeeper—you rose because others lifted you. You weren’t spoon-fed; you sought, you found, you earned attention. It was harder, yes. But it was real.

And slowly, some in Feedia began to awaken. They grew tired of being fed fast-food content and ignored despite their voices. They looked across the river to Nostra, where minds weren’t bought—they were built.

And one by one, they began to cross.

@ 1b939fa8:1ebdc679

All of my outfit conversion mods and Nora's Commonwealth Reconstruction Project have requirements that are on Nexus and nowhere else. Exception for the outfit conversions is Devious Devices which is noted and links provided to Lovers Lab and other requirements. My mods are dependent on those original mods to work. If/when the originals come to DEG then I will update and remove the Nexus links in my descriptions.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VetGamerBoceifus01

X: https://x.com/boceifus2000

@ 16f1a010:31b1074b

In the rapidly evolving world of Bitcoin, running a Bitcoin node has become more accessible than ever. Platforms like Umbrel, Start9, myNode, and Citadel offer user-friendly interfaces to simplify node management. However, for those serious about maintaining a robust and efficient Lightning node ⚡, relying solely on these platforms may not be the optimal choice.

Let’s delve into why embracing Bitcoin Core and mastering the command-line interface (CLI) can provide a more reliable, sovereign, and empowering experience.

Understanding Node Management Platforms

What Are Umbrel, Start9, myNode, and Citadel?

Umbrel, Start9, myNode, and Citadel are platforms designed to streamline the process of running a Bitcoin node. They offer graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that allow users to manage various applications, including Bitcoin Core and Lightning Network nodes, through a web-based dashboard 🖥️.

These platforms often utilize Docker containers 🐳 to encapsulate applications, providing a modular and isolated environment for each service.

The Appeal of Simplified Node Management

The primary allure of these platforms lies in their simplicity. With minimal command-line interaction, users can deploy a full Bitcoin and Lightning node, along with a suite of additional applications.

✅ Easy one-command installation
✅ Web-based GUI for management
✅ Automatic app updates (but with delays, as we’ll discuss)

However, while this convenience is attractive, it comes at a cost.

The Hidden Complexities of Using Node Management Platforms

While the user-friendly nature of these platforms is advantageous, it can also introduce several challenges that may hinder advanced users or those seeking greater control over their nodes.

🚨 Dependency on Maintainers for Updates

One significant concern is the reliance on platform maintainers for updates. Since these platforms manage applications through Docker containers, users must wait for the maintainers to update the container images before they can access new features or security patches.

🔴 Delayed Bitcoin Core updates = potential security risks
🔴 Lightning Network updates are not immediate
🔴 Bugs and vulnerabilities may persist longer

Instead of waiting on a third party, why not update Bitcoin Core & LND yourself instantly?

⚙️ Challenges in Customization and Advanced Operations

For users aiming to perform advanced operations, such as:

• Custom backups 📂
• Running specific CLI commands 🖥️
• Optimizing node settings ⚡

…the abstraction layers introduced by these platforms become obstacles.

Navigating through nested directories and issuing commands inside Docker containers makes troubleshooting a nightmare. Instead of a simple bitcoin-cli command, you must figure out how to execute it inside the container, adding unnecessary complexity.

Increased Backend Complexity

To achieve frontend simplicity, these platforms make the backend more complex.

🚫 Extra layers of abstraction
🚫 Hidden logs and settings
🚫 Harder troubleshooting

The use of multiple Docker containers, custom scripts, and unique file structures can make system maintenance and debugging a pain.

This complication defeats the purpose of “making running a node easy.”

✅ Advantages of Using Bitcoin Core and Command-Line Interface (CLI)

By installing Bitcoin Core directly and using the command-line interface (CLI), you gain several key advantages that make managing a Bitcoin and Lightning node more efficient and empowering.

Direct Control and Immediate Updates

One of the biggest downsides of package manager-based platforms is the reliance on third-party maintainers to release updates. Since Bitcoin Core, Lightning implementations (such as LND, Core Lightning, or Eclair), and other related software evolve rapidly, waiting for platform-specific updates can leave you running outdated or vulnerable versions.

By installing Bitcoin Core directly, you remove this dependency. You can update immediately when new versions are released, ensuring your node benefits from the latest features, security patches, and bug fixes. The same applies to Lightning software—being able to install and update it yourself gives you full autonomy over your node’s performance and security.

🛠 Simplified System Architecture

Platforms like Umbrel and myNode introduce extra complexity by running Bitcoin Core and Lightning inside Docker containers. This means:

• The actual files and configurations are stored inside Docker’s filesystem, making it harder to locate and manage them manually.
• If something breaks, troubleshooting is more difficult due to the added layer of abstraction.
• Running commands requires jumping through Docker shell sessions, adding unnecessary friction to what should be a straightforward process.

Instead, a direct installation of Bitcoin Core, Lightning, and Electrum Server (if needed) results in a cleaner, more understandable system. The software runs natively on your machine, without containerized layers making things more convoluted.

Additionally, setting up your own systemd service files for Bitcoin and Lightning is not as complicated as it seems. Once configured, these services will run automatically on boot, offering the same level of convenience as platforms like Umbrel but without the unnecessary complexity.

Better Lightning Node Management

If you’re running a Lightning Network node, using CLI-based tools provides far more flexibility than relying on a GUI like the ones bundled with node management platforms.

🟢 Custom Backup Strategies – Running Lightning through a GUI-based node manager often means backups are handled in a way that is opaque to the user. With CLI tools, you can easily script automatic backups of your channels, wallets, and configurations.

🟢 Advanced Configuration – Platforms like Umbrel force certain configurations by default, limiting how you can customize your Lightning node. With a direct install, you have full control over: * Channel fees 💰 * Routing policies 📡 * Liquidity management 🔄

🟢 Direct Access to LND, Core Lightning, or Eclair – Instead of issuing commands through a GUI (which is often limited in functionality), you can use: * lncli (for LND) * lightning-cli (for Core Lightning) …to interact with your node at a deeper level.

Enhanced Learning and Engagement

A crucial aspect of running a Bitcoin and Lightning node is understanding how it works.

Using an abstraction layer like Umbrel may get a node running in a few clicks, but it does little to teach users how Bitcoin actually functions.

By setting up Bitcoin Core, Lightning, and related software manually, you will:

✅ Gain practical knowledge of Bitcoin nodes, networking, and system performance.
✅ Learn how to configure and manage RPC commands.
✅ Become less reliant on third-party developers and more confident in troubleshooting.

🎯 Running a Bitcoin node is about sovereignty – learn how to control it yourself.

Become more sovereign TODAY

Many guides make this process straightforward K3tan has a fantastic guide on running Bitcoin Core, Electrs, LND and more.
- Ministry of Nodes Guide 2024
- You can find him on nostr
nostr:npub1txwy7guqkrq6ngvtwft7zp70nekcknudagrvrryy2wxnz8ljk2xqz0yt4x

Even with the best of guides, if you are running this software,
📖 READ THE DOCUMENTATION

This is all just software at the end of the day. Most of it is very well documented. Take a moment to actually read through the documentation for yourself when installing. The documentation has step by step guides on setting up the software. Here is a helpful list: * Bitcoin.org Bitcoin Core Linux install instructions * Bitcoin Core Code Repository * Electrs Installation * LND Documentation * LND Code Repository * CLN Documentation * CLN Code Repository

If you have any more resources or links I should add, please comment them . I want to add as much to this article as I can.

@ 6c67a3f3:b0ebd196

On Black-Starting the United Kingdom

In the event of a total failure of the electric grid, the United Kingdom would face a task at once technical and Sisyphean: the so-called black start — the reawakening of the nation’s darkened arteries without any external supply of power. In idealized manuals, the task is rendered brisk and clean, requiring but a few days' labor. In the world in which we live, it would be slower, more uncertain, and at times perilously close to impossible.

Let us unfold the matter layer by layer.

I. The Nature of the Undertaking

A black start is not a mere throwing of switches, but a sequential ballet. Small generating stations — diesel engines, hydro plants, gas turbines — must first breathe life into cold transmission lines. Substations must be coaxed into readiness. Load must be picked up cautiously, lest imbalance bring the whole effort to naught. Islands of power are stitched together, synchronized with exquisite care.

Each step is fraught with fragility. An unseen misalignment, an unsignaled overload, and hours of labor are lost.

II. The Dream of the Engineers

In theory, according to the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), the sequence would unfold thus: within half a day, core transmission lines humming; within a day or two, hospitals lit and water flowing; within three days, cities reawakened; within a week, the nation, broadly speaking, restored to life.

This vision presupposes a fantasy of readiness: that black-start units are operational and plentiful; that communications systems, so delicately dependent on mobile networks and the internet, endure; that personnel, trained and coordinated, are on hand in sufficient numbers; and that no sabotage, no accident, no caprice of nature interrupts the dance.

III. The Real Order of Things

Reality is more obstinate. Many black-start capable plants have been shuttered in the name of efficiency. The financial incentives once offered to private generators for black-start readiness were judged insufficient; the providers withdrew.

Grid operations now rely on a lattice of private interests, demanding slow and complicated coordination. Telecommunications are vulnerable in a deep blackout. The old hands, steeped in the tacit lore of manual restoration, have retired, their knowledge scattered to the four winds. Cyber vulnerabilities have multiplied, and the grid’s physical inertia — the very thing that grants a system grace under perturbation — has grown thin, leaving the UK exposed to sudden collapses should synchronization falter.

Under such conditions, the best of hopes might yield five to ten days of partial recovery. Weeks would be required to restore the former web of normalcy. In certain cases — in the face of physical damage to high-voltage transformers, whose replacements take months if not years — black-start might founder altogether.

IV. The Quiet Admissions of Officialdom

In its polite documents, the National Grid ESO speaks carefully: essential services might see restoration within three days, but full public service would require "up to a week or longer." If designated black-start units were to fail — a real risk, given recent audits showing many unready — the timelines would stretch indefinitely.

In plain speech: in a true national blackout, the nation’s restoration would be a gamble.

V. The Forking Paths Ahead

If all proceeds well, Britain might stumble into light within three days. If the adversities accumulate — cyberattack, internal sabotage, simple human miscalculation — the process would stretch into weeks, even months. In the gravest scenarios, the nation would reconstitute not as one great engine, but as isolated islands of power, each jury-rigged and vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the paradoxical truth is that small and simple systems — the grids of Jersey, Malta, and the like — would outpace their mightier cousins, not despite their modest scale but because of it.

VI. Conclusion

The British grid, in short, is a triumph of late modernity — and like all such triumphs, it carries within itself the seeds of its own fragility. It works magnificently until the day it does not. When that day comes, recovery will be neither swift nor sure, but a slow, halting reweaving of threads too easily frayed.

@ cb4352cd:a16422d7

As new technologies reshape finance, the traditional banking model faces fresh competition. Let's take a closer look at how the two ecosystems compare today.

What happens when centralized institutions meet decentralized protocols? A transformation of financial services is already underway — and users are at the center of it.

Traditional Banking: Established, Yet Rigid

Traditional banks like JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank have built vast infrastructures over decades. They offer deposit insurance, personal loans, mortgages, and extensive regulatory compliance. Trust, scale, and government support are their major strengths.

However, these institutions often struggle with agility. Opening an international account or sending a cross-border payment can take days and involve considerable fees. Innovations like digital onboarding and instant payments are arriving slowly, hampered by regulatory complexity and legacy systems.

DeFi Platforms: Agile, Accessible, but Risky

By contrast, DeFi protocols such as Uniswap (decentralized exchange), Aave (decentralized lending), and Compound (decentralized borrowing) offer near-instant services, accessible globally 24/7.

DeFi users maintain custody of their own assets. No bank approvals, no office hours. Fees are often lower, and yields can be attractive. Smart contracts automatically execute transactions, removing human bottlenecks.

But DeFi isn't without risks. Without insurance, users are exposed to smart contract bugs, hacks, and protocol failures. Regulatory protections are minimal, and scams can proliferate among unverified projects.

The Bridge Between Worlds: Emerging Hybrids

Interestingly, some traditional players are exploring DeFi-like services. Societe Generale issued tokenized bonds on Ethereum. ING is researching zero-knowledge proofs for financial privacy. Meanwhile, crypto-friendly banks like Silvergate have pioneered instant settlement networks inspired by blockchain efficiency.

The future may not be a winner-takes-all scenario but a convergence: decentralized technology improving traditional services, while banks offer compliant, user-friendly access to digital assets.

Beyond Banking Conference by WeFi: Charting the Future

The ongoing fusion of DeFi and traditional finance will take center stage at the upcoming Beyond Banking Conference by WeFi. Thought leaders and innovators will explore how transparency, smart contracts, and decentralized trust models are redefining global finance.

As these worlds collide, the real question isn't about winners — it's about how finance can evolve to serve a broader, more connected world.

@ 7e538978:a5987ab6

In Jericoacoara, Brazil, a beach town famed for its natural beauty and vibrant tourism, an innovative project is reshaping how locals and visitors think about money. Praia Bitcoin is an ambitious initiative to build a circular economy powered entirely by Bitcoin.

Launched in 2021 by entrepreneur Fernando Motolese, Praia Bitcoin was inspired by the Bitcoin Beach project in El Zonte, El Salvador. The vision is simple: create a self-sustaining Bitcoin economy where businesses and individuals use Bitcoin everyday in place of fiat money.

This idea holds special significance in Jericoacoara, where traditional banking services are scarce. The town lacks even basic infrastructure like ATMs, making financial inclusion a pressing need. With Praia Bitcoin, Bitcoin isn’t just a store of value—it’s a tool to empower a community and connect it to the global economy.

Transforming Jericoacoara with Bitcoin

Since its inception, Praia Bitcoin has worked to foster Bitcoin adoption in the area. Starting with a modest donation of 0.02 BTC, Fernando and his team have built a thriving ecosystem:

• Over 40 businesses now accept Bitcoin, ranging from souvenir shops and tour operators to beach vendors.
• Local students have received Bitcoin-loaded tap-to-pay, Bolt Cards, to use in their daily lives.
• Creative initiatives like “Bitcoin Banana Day” or "Frutas por Sats" (fruits for sats) where children buy fruits for 10 satoshis at school, have brought global attention to the project.

Praia Bitcoin’s success isn’t just about the adoption numbers, it’s about the stories. Families use Bitcoin to shop, business owners save on transaction fees, and children are learning the value of sound money at an early age.

LNbits - The Technology Behind Praia Bitcoin

Creating an economy on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network requires more than enthusiasm, it needs robust tools that are easy to use and adaptable to local needs. That’s where LNbits comes in.

Fernando and the Praia Bitcoin team have used LNbits’ open-source software to solve practical challenges and scale the project. With its modular design, LNbits provides tools that allow Praia Bitcoin to:

• Set Up Wallets: Community members receive user-friendly wallets that connect seamlessly to the Lightning Network, enabling fast, low-cost transactions.
• Issue BoltCards: Using LNbits’ BoltCard extension, the team has distributed NFC-enabled cards, allowing tap-to-pay functionality that makes Bitcoin payments as simple as using a credit card.
• Enable Flexible Payments: The project utilizes LNbits’ Point of Sale TPoS extension that allows merchants to easily receive Lightning Network payments.

Breaking Records, Building Community

Fernando doesn’t just implement solutions, he pushes boundaries. One of his most remarkable achievements was an attempt to set a world record for the most Lightning Network payments in the shortest amount of time. Over the course of one afternoon, 100 children in Jericoacoara received payments of 21,000 satoshis each, demonstrating the scalability and speed of Lightning-powered transactions.

This wasn’t just a technical feat, it was a community moment. The event showed how Bitcoin could serve as a tool for engagement, education, and empowerment, all while highlighting the possibilities of using the Lightning Network for real-world applications.

A Collaborative Approach to Innovation

One of the unique strengths of LNbits is its ability to evolve based on community feedback. While Fernando Motolese and Praia Bitcoin operate independently, their insights have helped refine the LNbits platform.

For example, Fernando’s need for a PIN-less ATM functionality led the LNbits team to implement that feature in the TPoS extension, that had the functionality but required a security PIN. This kind of collaboration isn’t about formal partnerships. It’s about how an open-source ecosystem thrives when real-world needs drive innovation.

The feedback loop between users like Fernando and developers ensures LNbits remains practical and relevant—not just for Praia Bitcoin but for countless other projects worldwide.

The Ripple Effect of Praia Bitcoin

Praia Bitcoin is a case study in what’s possible when Bitcoin meets a strong vision. By leveraging Bitcoin, the Lightning Network and LNbits, the project has redefined financial access in Jericoacoara, proving that small communities can lead big innovations.

For LNbits, Praia Bitcoin showcases the value of adaptable, open-source solutions. Whether it’s creating wallets, enabling NFC payments, or refining tools for real-world use, LNbits provides the infrastructure that makes projects like Praia Bitcoin possible.

But beyond the technical achievements, Praia Bitcoin reminds us of the human impact of Bitcoin adoption. It’s about children buying their first bananas with satoshis, families running businesses with lower fees, and a community connecting to a global financial network for the first time.

Conclusion

Praia Bitcoin’s journey is only getting started and its success is inspiring similar initiatives worldwide. For LNbits, being part of this story, is a testament to the power of the software and of open-source collaboration.

If you’re ready to build the future of Bitcoin adoption, LNbits offers the tools to turn ideas into impact.

Learn More:
- Visit Praia Bitcoin: Praia Bitcoin
- Explore LNbits: LNbits

@ df478568:2a951e67

Rockland Review

I bought a Rak Wireless Pocket Mesh from the Rockland after learning aboutfresnomeshit from [The Survival Podcast](https://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/lora-mesh/ and watching Bitcoin Veterans use Meshtastic to set up emergency communication channels in North Carolina after hurricanes knocked out all communication.

The Pocket Mesh Makes Meshtastic Easy

The battery lasts a long time. I've had my Pocket mesh running for a couple days without the battery dying on me. I scanned a QR code with my phone and could connect to meshtastic nerds like me right away. I did not set up a repeater. It was no complicated at all. I want to get a few more of these for my family.

Bitcoin Accepted Here

One other thing I really like about this company is that they accept bitcoin over the lightning network. You don't need bitcoin to use bitcoin You can download the Strike app and automatically convert your fiat USD to bitcoin over the lightning network. The advantage is you do not need to trust your sensetive credit card information with Rak Wireless. I'm nor saying I don't trust their cybersecurity, I'm saying I don't need to.

Summary created by unleashed.chat.

nostr:npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/000000000000000000018ec35a489c8329d35139ee03e708e49bc0029e2f62b4

https://gitea.marc26z.com/marc/Marc26z/raw/commit/bdc2e44b480876978f283aeb020c716ab0462fda/Screenshot%20from%202025-02-18%2016-26-27.png

@ a4043831:3b64ac02

A professional financial advisor can guide you to achieve long-term financial stability. They can assist you to define your goals to formulate strategic planning coupled with rational decision-making. Since the options are varied and multiple, how can you go about choosing a fiduciary financial advisor whose approach matches their financial goals? This guide explains exactly how to pick a financial advisor who suits your individual financial targets.

Defining Your Financial Needs and Goals

You need to specify your financial aspirations as well as your essential requirements so an advisor can create a suitable plan for your portfolio. Starters should establish their monetary targets before initiating contact with financial consultants. Any objective requires planning such as retirement preparation and investment management and education savings along with wealth protection and growth needs to be identified. Knowing your financial goals helps you determine if an advisor’s experience matches the needs of reaching your targets. Before you conduct meetings with possible financial advisors you need to have clearly established financial goals which will make these meetings goal-focused and beneficial.

Trusted financial advisors at Passive Capital Management can help you check out financial plan tailored to your needs and goals.

Look For Professional Credentials and Qualifications

Review carefully the advisor’s qualifications after you establish your goals. The strict training and ethical assessments that CFP Certified Financial Planner and the CFA Chartered Financial Analyst professionals demonstrate their professionalism. The designations set by these organizations prove advisors maintain knowledge in planning, investments and regulatory requirements. It is essential to verify that the advisor operates under fiduciary standards since this legal requirement ensures they must always act according to your benefit. It is essential to verify if an advisor functions as a fiduciary all the time because some only act under specified circumstances. Get a direct and unambiguous statement about their status. Under fiduciary relationships your financial security stands as the main priority of your financial advisor while fiduciary arrangements reduce potential conflicts between your interests.

Understand the Advisor’s Investment Approach

While consulting an advisor, you might encounter several hidden conflicts of interest. So a robust advisor-client connection based on their mutual investment approach including strategy selection is essential. Review the risk approaches of your advisor through inquiries to learn about their portfolio design strategies and market investment strategies. Technical competence must be combined with an awareness of your risk tolerance and time preferences according to their responses. A reliable advisor will adapt their investment methods to match the risk tolerance of their client combined with their financial destination.

Review their Service Package and Communication Style

A competent financial advisor functions past standard investment management duties. Their service range needs to include full-scale financial planning in areas such as retirement income strategies along with tax and estate planning solutions and insurance assessments. Check that their service suite matches your financial development needs. The advisor needs to maintain both clear and predictable ways of communication. Reveal their review process schedule and disclosure methods for reporting metrics as well as their availability to respond to questions at any time during the year. Professional communication builds reliable relationships that involve active participant commitment in planning activities.

Clarify the Fee Structure

Knowing how your advisor gets paid gives you the essential knowledge needed for building trust between you both. Financial advisors conduct business through payment structures which include flat fees, percentage-based fees on managed assets and extra earnings from their advisory products. The different compensation models bring their own effects and outcomes to the process. The most significant aspect for you is receiving clear explanations about fees while they are in alignment with your financial planning. The first practice of transparent communication by an advisor suggests they will uphold that approach during your entire time together.

Conclusion

Alongside numerical expertise your ideal advisor should function as a trustworthy partner because they will dedicate themselves to your financial growth. Strategic decision-making depends on the establishment of clear objectives and verification of expertise as well as confirmation of fiduciary principles and comprehensive evaluation of communication methods and associated fees. Your financial destiny requires organized assessment along with expert consulting while the correct professional consultant enables you to move through every phase of your path with obvious direction and solid self-assurance.

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

noStrudel

Released another major version of noStrudel v0.42.0 Which included a few new features and a lot of cleanup

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqfngzhsvjggdlgeycm96x4emzjlwf8dyyzdfg4hefp89zpkdgz99qyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tcpzfmhxue69uhkummnw3e82efwvdhk6tcqp3hx7um5wf6kgetv956ry6rmhwr

Blossom

On the blossom front there where a few more PRs - Expanded the documentation around CORS headers in BUD-01 thanks to nostr:npub1a6we08n7zsv2na689whc9hykpq4q6sj3kaauk9c2dm8vj0adlajq7w0tyc - Made auth optional on the /upload endpoint PR - Added a HEAD /media endpoint for BUD-05 PR - Added range request recommendations to BUD-01 PR

With blossom uploads starting to be supported in more nostr clients users where starting to ask where to find a list of blossom servers. so I created a simple nostr client that allows users to post servers and leave reviews blossomservers.com Its still very much a work in progress (needs login and server and review editing) The source is on github

I also started another project to create a simple account based paid blossom server blossom-account-server Unfortunately I got sidetracked and I didn't have the time to give it the attention it needs to get it over the finish line

Smaller projects

• cherry-tree A small app for uploading chunked blobs to blossom servers (with cashu payment support)
• vite-plugin-funding A vite plugin to collect and expose package "funding" to the app
• node-red-contrib-rx-nostr The start of a node-red package for rx-nostr. if your interested please help
• node-red-contrib-applesauce The start of a node-red package for applesauce. I probably wont finish it so any help it welcome

Plans for 2025

I have a few vague ideas of what I want to work on Q1 of 2025. but there are a few things i know for certain.

I'm going to keep refactoring noStrudel by moving core logic out into applesauce and making it more modular. This should make noStrudel more reliable and hopefully allow me to create and maintain more apps with less code

And I'm going to write tests. tests for everything. hopefully tests for all the libraries and apps I've created in 2024. A lot of the code I wrote in 2024 was hacky code to see if things could work. and while its been working pretty well I'm starting to forget the details of of the code I wrote so I cant be sure if it still works or how well it works.

So my solution is to write tests, lots of tests :)

@ df478568:2a951e67

I asked a pleb to answer a few questions about selling stuff for sats, and he asked me, "What made you want to do a story/article on this?"

The short answer: Because I like seeing people make their own bitcoin jobs, but the question made me think about the why. When I tried to be an English teacher, one of my professors said, "The difference between a job and a career is that a career is something you think about all day." I didn't become an English teacher, because I already had something I think about all day: bitcoin. I didn't fit the teacher ethos, for whatever reason, so undecided, I wanted to work in bitcoin sometime around block 525,000.

That's about the time I began writing on yalls.org. I fell in love with the idea of writing for sats. It was too early. Very few people used lightning back then, but the idea of earning sats to write was invigorating. I had no illusions of earning enough to earn a living, but yalls had a paywall. I spent a fair amount of time experimenting with these paywalls. Part of my articles were available for free, but to finish the article required a payment of 210 sats when that was about two cents. I was fascinated with this concept because it meant I could write for sats. Readers could send p2p electronic cash to me—sats short for satoshis. Each bitcoin can be divided into 100,000,000 sats. The lightning network allowed people to send you micropayments.

Yalls

This was not possible with credit cards because of the fees they charge. The lightning network can be used to circumvent fees imposed on credit card merchants and the sats can now be instantly converted to fiat. This is not financial advice. Earning bitcoin is 21 million times more interesting than trading bitcoin. Investors talk about green dildos, red dildos, and some other sex toy called a bollinger band. If you're into that kind of kinky stuff, I don't judge, but I stay vanilla and stack sats. I experimented with shitcoin play in younger years, but it was just a phase. I finally realized alts are an attempt to break the solution to the double-spending problem sometime around block 630,000.

That's when I declared myself a bitcoin maxi on yalls.org. Adam Back retweeted it. It didn't go viral, but that was amazing. I'm just an anonymous user who couldn't get an English teaching job, but Adam Back...You know..The guy Satoshi cited in the white paper—That guy retweeted my article. I started a couple of anonymous blogs and earned a small amount of sats in the early days of nostr.

How I Made 1,000,000 Volunteering At Pacific Bitcoin

I volunteered for Pacific Bitcoin 2022. I volunteered to save some sats on a ticket. I stayed in a hostel. I did not expect to get paid, but it earned me a million sats after I sold the pack of collectible cards that came in a swag bag at the conference. What if I can one day retire on the millions of sats I earned over the last few years? I'm not sure that will happen, but it might be enough for my grandchildren to retire. *If bitcoin goes up "forever Laura..." you're never too late to earn bitcoin on the side. The sats you earn go up in value forever.

Maybe the ROI on your college degree didn't pay off like you thought it would. You read Walden and Civil Disobedience and A Letter From a Birmingham Jail...thought...these are great ideas. They prepared me to read Early Retirement Extreme. I also listened to Choose FI and decoded Mr. Money Mustache. Dave Ramsey says you should get a second job to pay off debt in a country where many people working two jobs are still getting into more debt. Maybe they should use that extra job to stack sats. Earning bitcoin feels different than buying bitcoin. It means earning money on the Internet without needing a trusted third party. PayPal and Patreon have been around for years. They are nothing new, digital middlemen.

Although the less technical often use bitcoin non-custodially, it's getting easier to take self-custody and use bitcoin as it was intended, p2p electronic cash. Why use eBay when you can have a garage sale on nostr? Even Dave Ramsey can sell stuff on nostr. He's been telling people to avoid bitcoin since it was $400. What if you sell your fancy clothes made in Bangladesh on nostr while instantaneously converting it to USD on Strike? You can send 1,000 fiat bucks to your checking account faster than a speeding Superman. You can get the garage sale money deposited to your bank account within a half-hour. I can't even drive to an ATM that fast! Transfer the money to a savings account that pays 0.01% interest. Baby Step 1 complete! You can take the instant fiat from your next nostr garage sell and pay your debt straight from the Strike App! This is NOT financial advice.

I could earn fiat on Poker Stars until the government took away my permission. I could earn fiat on Full Tilt, but they spent players' fiat and barely kept a fraction in reserve. The same is true of platforms. You can earn fiat on Twitter if you pay for the monthly Twitter lottery. American's can currently earn fiat on TikTok...but do see where this is going? That's why I like supporting people who have some sort of bitcoin side hustle. I may have found bitcoin in 2014, but I didn't have a full-time job. I was unemployed for a couple of years before that. This one time, I got into an argument with my wife because, some months, we could only scrape up $50 to "buy bitcoin." I was an asshole. I kinda feel bad about that, but I'm a lucky guy with a beautiful wife who forgave me for being an asshole and dashing doors to stack bitcoin without telling her about it. She was pretty pissed. That Fifty bucks we argued over is now worth...

The misses is not so pisses anymore.😁

• I've picked up extra jobs to stack sats.
• I used BTCPayServer to stack sats.
• I stacked sats with lnbits
• I originally set up a lightning node so I could stack sats on yalls.org.
• It took me six months to get a lightning node up and running on a raspberry pi.

Few

Very few people used the lightning network back then. Any bitcoiner has the ability to make their own job. I started a blog and set up a BTCPayServer so people would pay me for my prose. Some actually did. It wasn't much money. I might have broken even, but the possibilities still intrigue me. You can use Alby Hub on the cloud, Zaprite, or run it on a Start9. You can pay GetAlby for a lightning node in the cloud. If you're a fiat-spending maximalist, you can convert all your bitcoin to fiat with Strike.*

Bitcoin Is For Everybody, Even Nocoiners

Maybe you don't want bitcoin, but need some extra cash and can make candles. Fiat won't hedge against eggflation, but that's not what this is about. That's not the point. Bitcoin is for anybody, even no-coiners. You don't even need to make a website anymore. You can just use Shopstr, Plebian Market, Coinos, Cashu.me, Buzz Pay, and more.I just bought some soap from someone I saw on nostr. I decided to try something new this month. I paid with fiat, but the soap miner received bitcoin on the other end. Anyone with the Strike App can pay dollars to people who want bitcoin and vice-versa. Some people proudly proclaim they never...ever...spend bitcoin. Those who hodl never sell.

In Everyone's A Scammer, Michael Bitstein says:

"Merchants are scammers because they lead you to believe that your bitcoins are only worth the price of their retail good in order to allow themselves (or those to whom they sell the bitcoins, if they so choose), rather than you, to benefit from future Bitcoin price increases. …And That’s a Good Thing This is not to say merchant adoption is bad. In fact, from the hoarder's perspective, merchant adoption is great. First, merchant adoption means that there is more demand for Bitcoin, that the Bitcoin network is growing, and that Bitcoin is thus more valuable than it was yesterday. Second, merchant adoption means there are more places to spend bitcoins. This does not mean a hoarder will actually want to spend bitcoins. More importantly, he can spend bitcoins. If you like this quote, [please zap this note. 100% of these zaps go to Bitstien

Saylor says bitcoin is hope, but you know what gives me hope? Not the billionaire buying bitcoin, but the pleb selling stuff for sats. - Maybe there's a homeless person selling a few used books for a meal. - Maybe an artist stacks $500 per month selling art on nostr. - Maybe a recently X government employee can sell DEI training on the free and open market on nostr. Or...Maybe they can sell culturally appropriate tamales on nostr for actual sats instead.

Those are the stories I want to find. Bitcoin is for everybody, even people with college degrees that the job market does not value much. Saylor's not wrong. Bitcoin is hope. Saylor said he wants to make education free. That's why he founded Saylor Academy. They have a course called Bitcoin Is For Everybody. Bitcoin is for everybody, even no-coiners, even for people who went to college even though it didn't lead to a high-paying job. Bitcoin is hope for those people, people just like me.

nostr:npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

884054 Debt Clock

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* Strike is an affiliate and I earn a small commision if you pay for the service. I use it to pay my credit card bills.

@ df478568:2a951e67

I asked a pleb to answer a few questions about selling stuff for sats and he asked me, "What made you want to do a story/article on this?"" When I tried to be an English teacher, one of my professors said, "The difference between a job and a career is that a career is something you think about all day." I didn't become an English teacher, because I already had something I think about all day, bitcoin. I didn't fit the teacher ethos, for whatever reason, so Indecided I want to work in bitcoin sometime around block

That's about the time I began writing on yalls.org. I fell in love with the idea of writing for sats on yalls.org. It was an idea, but it was too early. It was very early days. Very few people used lightning back then, but the idea of earning sats to write was invigorating. I had no illusions of earning enough to earn a living, but yalls had a paywall. I spent a fair amount of time experimenting with these paywalls. Part of my articles were available for free, but to finish the article required a payment of 210 sats when that was about 2¢. I was as facinated with this concept because it meant I could write for sats. Readers could send p2p electronic cash to me-sats short for satoshis. Each bitcoin can be divided into 100,000,000 sats. The lightning network allowed people to send you micropayments. This was not possible with credit cards because of the fees they charge. The lightning network can be used to circumvent fees imposed on credit card merchants and the sats can now be instantly converted to fiat. This is not financial advice. Earning bitcoin is 21 million times more interesting than trading bitcoin. Investors talk about green dildos, red dildos, and some other sex toy called a bollinger band. If you're into that kind of kinky stuff, I don't judge, but I stay vanilla and stack sats. I experimented with shitcoin play in younger years, but it was just a phase. I finally realized alts are an attempt to break the solution to the double spending problem sometime around block 630,000.

That's when I declared myself a bitcoin maxi on yalls.org. Adam Back retweeted it. It didn't go viral, but that was amazing. I'm just an anon who couldn't get an English teaching job, but Adam Back...You know..The guy Satoshi cited in the white paper--That guy retweeted my article. I started a couple anon blogs and earned a small anount of sats in the early days of nostr. I volunteered for Pacific Bitcoin 2022. I volunteered to save some sats on a ticket. I stayed in a hostel. I did not expect to get paid, but it earned me a million sats after I sold the pack of collectible cards that came in a swag bag at t he conference. What if I can one day retire on the millions of sats I earned over the last few years? I'm not sure that will happen, but it it might be enough for my grandchildren to retire. *If bitcoin goes up "forever Laura..." you're never too late to earn bitcoin on the side. The sats you earn go up in value forever. Maybe the ROI on you're college degree didn't pay off like you thought it would. You read Walden and Cilvil Disobedience and A Letter From A Birmhingham Jail...thought...these are great ideas. They prepared me to read Early Retirement Extreme. I also listened to Choose FI and decoured Mr. Money Mustache. [Dave Ramsey](Resources to Tackle Debt - Ramsey) says you should get a second job to pay off debt in a country where many people working two jobs are still getting into more debt. Maybe they should use that extra job to stack sats. Earning bitcoin feels different than buying bitcoin. It means earning money on the Internet without needing a trusted third party. Paypal and Patreon have been around for years. They are nothing new, digital middlemen. Although the less technical often use bitcoin non-custodially, it's getting easier to take self custody and use bitcoin as it was intended, p2p electronic cash. Why use eBay when you can have a garage sale on nostr? Even Dave Ramsey can sell stuff on nostr. He's been telling people to avoid bitcoin since it was $400.00. What if you sell your fancy clothes made in Bangladesh on nostr while instantaniously converting it to USD on Strike? You can send 1,000 fiat bucks to your checking account faster than a speeding Superman. You can get the garage sale money deposited to your bank account within a half hour. I can't even drive to an ATM that fast! Transfer the money to a savings account that pays 0.01% interest. Baby Step 1 complete! You can take the insta-fiat from your next nostr garage sell and pay your debt straight from the Strike App! This is NOT financial advice. I could earn fiat on Poker Stars until the government took away my permission. I could earn fiat on Full Tilt, but they spent players fiat and barely kept a fraction in reserve. The same is true of platforms. You can earn fiat on Twitter if you pay for the monthly Twitter lottery. American's can can currently earn fiat on TikTok..but do see where this is going? That's why I like supporting people who have some sort of bitcoin side hustle. I may have found bitcoin in 2014, but I didn't have a full time job. I was unemployed for a couple years before that. This one time, I got into an argument with my wife because, some months, we could only scrape up $50 to "buy bitcoin." I was an asshole. I kinda feel bad about that, but I'm a lucky guy with a beautiful wife who forgave me for being an asshole and dashing doors to stack bitcoin without telling her about it. She was pretty pissed. That Fifty bucks we argued over is now worth...

The misses is not so pissed anymore.😁 I've picked up extra jobs to stack sats. I used BTCpayServer to stack sats. I originally set up a lightning node so stack sats on yalls.org. Very few people used the lightning network back then. Any bitcoiner has the ability to make their own job. I started a blog and set up a BTCpayServer so people would pay me for my prose. Some actually did. It wasn't much money. I might have broke even, but the possibilities still intrigue me. You can buy a Start9 and use Alby Hub. You can pay GetAlby for a lightning node in the cloud. If you're a fiat spending maxi, you can convert all your bitcoin to fiat with Strike. Maybe you don't want bitcoin, but need some extra cash and can make candles. Fiat won't hedge against eggflation, but that's not what this is about. That's not the point. Bitcoin is for anybody, even nocoiners. buYou don't even need to make a website anymore. You can just use Shopstr, Plebian Market, Coinos, Cashu.me, [Buzz Pay](https://pos.albylabs.com/#?nwc=bm9zdHIrd2FsbGV0Y29ubmVjdDovLzY5ZWZmZTdiNDlhNmRkNWNmNTI1YmQwOTA1OTE3YTUwMDVmZmU0ODBiNThlZWI4ZTg2MTQxOGNmM2FlNzYwZDk/cmVsYXk9d3NzOi8vcmVsYXkuZ2V0YWxieS5jb20vdjEmcHVia2V5PTVkNzVjZDQ5OTFkNGFhOTViMDllMWJkZTg1YmRkODllMTg2YjUxZmE3MDYwOTEyOTE5MGYxZWIwYjcyYzk0MWUmc2VjcmV0PWFiZDM5NDU3ODQ4NmI0OWJlMzMwNzk1ZWE2YTU2OGIwYWI2MWJjMjMzN2JkMTE5NzU1YTNiM2ZmZTBhZDEwMmQ=&name=Support my work using the Value 4 Value model), and more.I just bought some soap from someone I saw on nostr. I decided to try something new this month. I paid with fiat, but soap miner recieved bitcoin on the other end. Anyone with the Strike App can pay dollars to people who want bitcoin and vice-versa. Some people proudly proclaim they never...ever...ever spend bitcoin. Those who hodl never sodl can spend fiat at bitcoin shops using Strike. Buying stuff with bitcoin increases the stack of a fellow HODLer. In Everyone's A Scammer, Michael Goldstein says, "Merchants are scammers because they lead you to believe that your bitcoins are only worth the price of their retail good in order to allow themselves (or those to whom they sell the bitcoins, if they so choose), rather than you, to benefit from future Bitcoin price increases. …And That’s a Good Thing This is not to say merchant adoption is bad. In fact, from the hoarder’s perspective, merchant adoption is great. First, merchant adoption means that there is more demand for Bitcoin, that the Bitcoin network is growing, and that Bitcoin is thus more valuable than it was yesterday. Second, merchant adoption means there are more places to spend bitcoins. This does not mean a hoarder will actually want to spend bitcoins. More importantly, he can spend bitcoins. Demand for cash exists because there is uncertainty of future needs, and the holder of cash believes he will come across currently unknown opportunities in the future that can better satisfy his needs than any current opportunities." Saylor says bitcoin is hope, but you know what gives me hope? Not the billionaire buying bitcoin, but the pleb selling stuff for sats. Maybe there's a homeless person selling a few used books for a meal. Maybe an artist stacks $500 per month selling art on nostr. Those are the stories I want to find. Bitcoin is for everybody, even people with college degrees that the job market does not value much. Saylor's not wrong. Bitcoin is hope. Saylor said he wants to make education free. That's why he founded Saylor Academy. They have a course called [Bitcoin Is For Everybody](Bitcoin is for everybody](https://learn.saylor.org/course/view.php?id=468)). Bitcoin is for everybody, even no-coiners, even for people who went to college even though it didn't lead to a high paying job. Bitcoin is hope for those people, people just like me.

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

[884,054(https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/00000000000000000000a9305d5f83abfc86da27c9524a7ad181b7a75f0827a9)

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@ c1157704:6423de51

English: "Politicians steal billions and get light sentences, while the poor get jailed for stealing bread. Is the law just a tool for the rich?"

@ 19220736:7578e0e9

While Zelle promotes itself as a quick and easy way to send money, its instant, irreversible transactions have made it a prime target for fraudsters. Despite mounting reports of consumer losses, banks continue to deny reimbursement for many fraud victims, citing narrow legal loopholes. Meanwhile, Early Warning Services, the company behind Zelle, profits from the vast consumer data it collects, fueling concerns about privacy and corporate exploitation. With government investigations ramping up and public pressure mounting, Zelle and their bank owners have teamed up with the Aspen Institute, forming a new task force with corporate and government players.

In 2017, Early Warning Services, owned by Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, Trust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo, released the Zelle payment system. It was a fast way to send and receive funds peer to peer between different bank accounts by only needing either the other person's email address or their U.S. mobile phone number.

By 2018, there were growing concerns about fraud on Zelle. Despite its convenience, Zelle's design allows funds to transfer instantly and irreversibly, making it a target for scammers. Victims reported being defrauded through tactics like fake online sales or impersonation schemes, and many struggled to recover lost funds due to inconsistent fraud policies among banks. Consumer advocates criticized the platform for inadequate protections, urging banks to implement stronger safeguards to prevent fraud and better support affected customers.

In 2022, a Senate report criticized major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, for failing to adequately protect consumers from fraud on the Zelle payment platform. The investigation revealed that these banks often deny reimbursement for scams where victims are tricked into transferring funds, citing a narrow interpretation of liability under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. ("While banks bear responsibility for unauthorized transactions to scammers, consumer-authorized transactions made to fraudsters are another matter”.) Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, explained, “Anything unauthorized, we do cover”

On June 16, 2023, the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, launched an inquiry into Early Warning Services and the three largest banks that co-own EWS: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.

After a 15-month investigation, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report on July 23, 2024, highlighting consumer fraud issues tied to the Zelle payment network. The report noted significant drops in the percentage of fraud disputes reimbursed—from 62% in 2019 to just 38% in 2023. Between 2021 and 2023 Zelle refused to reimburse $880 million to customers who fell victim to fraud on their payment network. Bank employees were found to have broad discretion in deciding whether to reimburse fraud claims, often denying compensation without clear justification. This has raised questions about whether banks are meeting legal obligations under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E)

Early Warning Services (EWS) runs the payment network Zelle at a financial loss but generates revenue by selling data-based services to financial institutions. EWS collects extensive consumer and bank data through its operation of Zelle and daily data-sharing agreements with its member banks. This data is used to develop fraud and risk management products, which EWS sells to financial institutions as its primary profit source. While EWS asserts it has not commercialized this data beyond these financial products, the sale of such services remains its main revenue driver.

On August 4, 2024, Senator Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra urging immediate action to address fraud concerns tied to the Zelle payment platform. The letter calls for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to investigate their dispute resolution practices and ensure that they fully and promptly address consumer fraud reports. On August 7, 2024, it was reported that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was investigating several banks due to their handling of Zelle.

On December 20, 2024, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) responded by filing a lawsuit against Early Warning Services, LLC and the major banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. The CFPB alleges that these institutions prioritized the rapid deployment of Zelle over implementing effective anti-fraud measures, resulting in significant consumer losses. The lawsuit contends that the defendants failed to adequately address these issues, often denying relief to defrauded consumers. The CFPB seeks injunctive relief, monetary compensation for affected consumers, and civil penalties.

Just 5 days before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released its report, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (Aspen FSP) announced the formation of a National Task Force for Fraud & Scam Prevention with their founding sponsor JPMorganChase and executive sponsor Zelle. The stated purpose of the Task Force is to develop a unified national strategy to help the U.S. government and private sector companies work together to stop fraud and scams. Members of this private/public task force include: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Google, Meta, Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, Verizon, the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI Criminal Investigation Unit, US Department of the Treasury, Homeland Security, and many others.

The Aspen Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit located in Washington DC. In 2023 they had revenue of $232M and total assets of $519M with the primary source of income coming from donations and federal grants. Per their mission statement, their goal is "realizing a free, just, and equitable society." The Institute works to achieve this through creating and driving policy as well as training future policy leaders.

Recently on November 25, 2024, FinCen announced they are also joining the National Task Force that "brings together key stakeholders including the financial services sector, technology companies, consumer advocacy groups, information sharing and analysis centers, and federal government agencies to develop a comprehensive national strategy for combating fraud and scams." In The Case for a Coordinated National Strategy to Prevent Fraud and Scams, the Task Force lists key components of a national strategy to include improved education of consumers to identify fraud, enhanced information sharing across industry, law enforcement, and regulatory agencies by use of data exchanges and legal mechanisms for sharing information. As well as empowering law enforcement with additional authority and resources. The document cites the recent UK action as an example of recent amendments to law enforcement powers which in England means police will no longer be required to arrest seizing crypto from a suspect, can seize written passwords or memory sticks, as well as transfer "crypto assets" to a law enforcement wallet.

In an August 2024 interview with Fortune, Ben Chance, the Chief Fraud Risk Management Officer for Early Warning Services reportedly "told the outlet that the best way to prevent scams on money-sharing apps is better user education, sound policy and more funding for law enforcement." This sounds very similar to the National Strategy to Prevent Fraud and Scams being crafted by the National Task Force for Fraud & Scam Prevention, with more user education and law enforcement. No mention of standardized reimbursement policies or enhancing transparency around fraud investigations which are the primary accusations aimed at Zelle and its owners by the US Senate and the subject of the current investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

@ df478568:2a951e67

In the very early days, Nostr was pretty much troll-free. It was one of my favorite things about it, but I suspected this was only the case because only hardcore bitcoiners were on there. Now that the network is growing, there is more diversity of ideas. Ideology tends to make people mean. Mean people suck, so I try to remain respectful even when I disagree with others. I am not a fan of communism, but enjoy reading other perspectives. I do not wish to censor any speech at all, especially speech I do not agree with. The freedom of speech is not about the First Amendment to me. It's about creating a space that is safe for free speech. Platforms are not a safe space for free speech. The safety of free speech is in peril on platforms. Nostr is a space where people can speak freely in an open Internet-connected society. There is some speech I would rather not see. I wish some people did not say certain things, but I do not want to stop them. If we censor the worst speech, the speech does not go away. It merely goes underground and creates bad speech silos where people hide their true selves and go only speak to people just like them. Censorship is like prison for ideas. Prisoners improve their robbery skills because they exchange ideas with other criminals. It's like a conference for criminals. Fascists get more fascist when they only have permission to talk to fellow fascists. Communists get more communist when they can only talk to other communists. Ideas are a marketplace. May the best ideas win. Nostr allows me to speak with people about topics I might not otherwise get a chance to speak about. I never see any pro-communist posts on Twitter. That's a problem because communists also don't see me. I also never saw sex workers talk about anything other than kinky-boinky talk on Twitter. Nostr brings the humanity back to sex workers. Sex workers are people too. They have interesting ideas and take interesting photos On the What is Money Show, Rabble says he wants to have Christians have a Christian-only Nostr network and sex workers to have a sex worker-only network. It's a fun idea, but I'm not convinced this would be a good thing. What if Jesus was on the Christian Nostr, but Mary Magdalen was on sex worker Nostr? I suspect Christians talking to sex workers is not such a bad thing. What would Jesus do? Here is a conversation I had with a stripper on nostr. You can read the original here but I have reprinted it on the Habla and Substack.

I don't believe it's possible for a community or state to abolish private property when the private property can be distilled into 12 secret random words. Ironically, bitcoin does give the means of monetary production to the people, but this is a moot point given that individual people do not have equal ability. Very few people had sufficient knowledge to mine bitcoin when the block reward was 50 bitcoin every 10 minutes. Therefore, even though anybody could technically produce bitcoin blocks, very few people can. The same is true for saving. Even if we could defy human nature with schemes such as this, it would not solve wealth inequality. Most people spend money like drunken sailors. If everyone had the same income that could not be debased or stolen, broke people would still exist because people do not have equal money management skills. That is why I prefer capitalism with a non-socialist monetary system. The United States, contrary to popular belief, is not a capitalist economic system. It's a mixed economy where some people (banks and government) get money without doing any work aside from fudging numbers. A bank does not save capital to buy a house. Banks print money to buy homes and collect rent from homeowners. It's an accounting trick, not capitalism. Here's how capitalism works according to economist, Russ Roberts.

https://youtu.be/ljULutAUL7o?si=bLPY5IvwwMQvfXJK

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/00000000000000000001fa33d3d7750ed315d94e3c1def6512281b33bece333b

@ d61f3bc5:0da6ef4a

Micropayments on the Internet have been theorized for decades. However, it wasn’t until the emergence of Nostr that we’ve finally seen them deployed at scale. Nostr is still in its infancy, yet we are already witnessing an explosion of apps built on top of this open protocol. And most of them are featuring zaps! With the recent Primal 2.1 release, Nostr developers now have the option to enhance the experience for their users by integrating a Nostr-powered bitcoin wallet. 

There is no doubt that micropayments add a new dimension to consumer apps. The incumbents have realized this and are rushing to add payments to their closed platforms. It won't be long before apps that don’t include built-in payments feel dated or outright broken. The question is not if apps of the future will have built-in payments, but what kind of payments they will be. Given that open networks have a tendency to win, our bet is that apps of the future will be powered by Bitcoin. Let’s see how Primal can help.

Primal Wallet

Our vision for Primal Wallet is simple: deliver the smoothest transactional bitcoin wallet, endowed with expert Nostr skills. The wallet leverages Nostr’s open social graph as a de facto public lightning directory, while offering the highest level of user experience for Nostr’s rich content. For example, the user can scroll through the transaction list, select a zap, and drill straight into the conversation thread where the zap originated. The whole flow feels perfectly natural.  Since we launched Primal Wallet in December 2023, the user response has been incredibly positive. People love the idea of being able to post something on Nostr, get zaps from plebs around the world, then buy a coffee or a meal with those sats - all from the same app. 

Having a bitcoin wallet with social skills resonated strongly with users, so Primal Wallet grew rapidly in popularity and usage. Since the launch, we have processed 1,338,460 transactions, with 238,916 just in the past month alone. This rivals some of the leading bitcoin wallets, and we are just getting started! We hear from many bitcoin OGs that they are using Primal Wallet as their transactional daily driver. Bullish. 

All this is great, but something has been missing. Our users demanded the ability to connect Primal Wallet to other Nostr apps, so they can zap from anywhere in Nostr’s growing ecosystem.

Zapping from Any Nostr App

For an existing Primal user, connecting the wallet to a new Nostr app can now be done in two clicks. Let’s take a look at how this is done from Olas, one of the most exciting new apps on Nostr:

Yes. Click, click. And you can start zapping! 

Such smooth integration of payments is not available in any competing technology stack. Tradfi, fintech, crypto, etc., have nothing on Bitcoin and Nostr. Two clicks and your external wallet is connected. I’ll give you a moment now to allow for this new reality to settle in.

Primal enables you to connect any number of external apps and manage them from wallet settings: Note that you can set your daily spend budget for each app or revoke its access at any time.

How This Works

So, what is this sorcery? How does it work under the hood?

Connecting Nostr apps to external wallets is accomplished via the Nostr Wallet Connect protocol. It utilizes Nostr’s public relay infrastructure to enable communication between apps and wallets. You can learn more about this protocol here, and access developer docs here.

The smooth, two-click connection setup UX is implemented through deep links between Primal and the external app. Here’s the deep link that the external app needs to call to invoke this feature: 

nostrnwc+primal://connect?appicon=[icon_url]&appname=[app_name]&callback=[callback_string]

After the user clicks “Create Wallet Connection” in Primal, the Primal app calls the deep link defined in the callback, and passes the NWC connection string. That's all that the external app needs to make the wallet connection.

What Comes Next?

The Nostr Wallet Connect protocol has been around for almost two years. Several bitcoin wallets implement it and many Nostr apps use it as their main way of enabling payments. What’s new with Primal 2.1 is the elevated user experience. Since Primal is a Nostr-powered wallet, it is aware of all the relevant metadata for each transaction: Nostr zaps, users, and the related events. Primal indexes the entire Nostr network, and now this is open to all Nostr apps that wish to integrate payments. 

Nostr keeps expanding and getting better. Its openness enables us to build capabilities that lift all boats. The future is bright; I can’t wait to see how things evolve from here. 🍿🍿🍿

@ 975e4ad5:8d4847ce

With the advancement of quantum computers, a new threat emerges for the security of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. These powerful machines have the potential to expose vulnerabilities in traditional cryptographic systems, which could jeopardize the safety of digital wallets. But don’t worry—modern wallets are already equipped to handle this threat with innovative solutions that make your funds nearly impossible to steal, even by a quantum computer. Let’s explore how this works and why you can rest easy.

The Threat of Quantum Computers

To understand how wallets protect us, we first need to grasp what makes quantum computers so dangerous. At the core of most cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, lies public and private key cryptography. The public key (or address) is like your bank account number—you share it to receive funds. The private key is like your PIN—it allows you to send funds and must remain secret.

Traditional cryptography, such as the ECDSA algorithm, relies on mathematical problems that are extremely difficult to solve with conventional computers. For instance, deriving a private key from a public key is practically impossible, as it would take millions of years of computation. However, quantum computers, thanks to algorithms like Shor’s, can significantly speed up this process. Theoretically, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could uncover a private key from a public key in minutes or even seconds.

This is a problem because if someone gains access to your private key, they can send all your funds to their own address. But here’s the good news—modern wallets use a clever solution to render this threat powerless.

How Do Wallets Protect Us?

One of the most effective defenses against quantum computers is the use of one-time addresses in wallets. This means that for every transaction—whether receiving or sending funds—the wallet automatically generates a new public address. The old address, once used, remains in the transaction history but no longer holds any funds, as they are transferred to a new address.

Why Does This Work?

Imagine you’re sending or receiving cryptocurrency. Your wallet creates a new address for that transaction. After the funds are sent or received, that address becomes “used,” and the wallet automatically generates a new one for the next transaction. If a quantum computer manages to derive the private key from the public address of the used address, it will find nothing—because that address is already empty. Your funds are safely transferred to a new address, whose public key has not yet been exposed.

This strategy is known as HD (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallets. It allows the wallet to generate an infinite number of addresses from a single master key (seed) without compromising security. Each new address is unique and cannot be linked to the previous ones, making it impossible to trace your funds, even with a quantum computer.

Automation Makes It Effortless

The best part? You don’t need to worry about this process—it’s fully automated. When you use a modern wallet like MetaMask, Ledger, Trezor, or software wallets for Bitcoin, everything happens behind the scenes. You simply click “receive” or “send,” and the wallet takes care of generating new addresses. There’s no need to understand the complex technical details or manually manage your keys.

For example:

• You want to receive 0.1 BTC. Your wallet provides a new address, which you share with the sender.
• After receiving the funds, the wallet automatically prepares a new address for the next transaction.
• If you send some of the funds, the remaining amount (known as “change”) is sent to another new address generated by the wallet.

This system ensures that public addresses exposed on the blockchain no longer hold funds, making quantum attacks pointless.

Additional Protection: Toward Post-Quantum Cryptography

Beyond one-time addresses, blockchain developers are also working on post-quantum cryptography—algorithms that are resistant to quantum computers. Some blockchain networks are already experimenting with such solutions, like algorithms based on lattices (lattice-based cryptography). These methods don’t rely on the same mathematical problems that quantum computers can solve, offering long-term protection.

In the meantime, one-time addresses combined with current cryptographic standards provide enough security to safeguard your funds until post-quantum solutions become widely adopted.

Why You Shouldn’t Worry

Modern wallets are designed with the future in mind. They not only protect against today’s threats but also anticipate future risks, such as those posed by quantum computers. One-time addresses make exposed public keys useless to hackers, and automation ensures you don’t need to deal with the technicalities. HD wallets, which automatically generate new addresses, make the process seamless and secure for users.

Public key exposure only happens when necessary, reducing the risk of attacks, even from a quantum computer. In conclusion, while quantum computers pose a potential threat, modern wallets already offer effective solutions that make your cryptocurrencies nearly impossible to steal. With one-time addresses and the upcoming adoption of post-quantum cryptography, you can be confident that your funds are safe—today and tomorrow.

@ 94a6a78a:0ddf320e

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Nostr is unstoppable, but not all relays are the same. Some are slow, unreliable, or disappear overnight, while others get overloaded, making message delivery inconsistent. Azzamo is built differently—offering fast, stable, and globally distributed relays to ensure low-latency, high-speed connections, no matter where you are.

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By offering both free and premium options, Azzamo ensures that anyone can use Nostr, while also funding the infrastructure that keeps it running smoothly.

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@ 2b24a1fa:17750f64

Die Satire Muxmäuchenstill von 2004 erzählt die Geschichte des 30-jährigen Mux, der seine Mitbürgern zu mehr Verantwortungsbewusstsein erziehen möchte. Dazu stellt er Raser, Schwarzfahrer, Graffiti-Sprüher, Falschparker, Ladendiebe und Vergewaltiger, konfrontiert sie mit ihrem Verhalten und bestraft sie.

https://soundcloud.com/radiomuenchen/muxmauschenstill-x-interview-mit-jan-henrik-stahlberg?

Als Mitstreiter gewinnt er Arbeits- und Obdachlose. Mux’ fanatische Ein-Mann-Mission wächst zu einem kleinen Unternehmen. Auch privat kann er seinen Moralismus nicht zügeln und erschießt seine Freundin. Am Ende des Films wird er von einem Raser überfahren.

Ab 1. Mai läuft die Fortsetzung in den Kinos: Muxmäuschenstill X: muxfilm.de/. Nach zwanzig Jahre Wachkoma findet sich Mux in einer Welt wieder, die er nicht mehr versteht: dem wunderbaren Neoliberalismus. Wieder möchte Mux die Menschen erziehen. Doch diesmal kämpft er gegen ein System, das alles durchdringt, die Welt spaltet, unsere Lebensgrundlagen zerstört, die Reichen reicher macht und die Armen ärmer. Mux gründet den Muxismus und schart die Aussortierten des Systems um sich.

Drehbuchautor und Hauptdarsteller Jan Henrik Stahlberg führt diesmal auch Regie. Unser Autor Jonny Rieder hat mit Jan Henrik Stahlberg über seinen neuen Film gesprochen. Zunächst wollte er wissen, wo für ihn die Grenze verläuft zwischen Übergriffigkeit und Zivilcourage und wie er Mux hier einordnet.

Bild: Mux Filmproduktion

@ 3b7fc823:e194354f

We are constantly surrounded by technologies that claim to enhance our experiences but often come at the cost of our privacy. Think about it – every time you visit a website, cookies are being dropped like breadcrumbs, tracking your every move without you even knowing.

How Tech Companies Collect Your Data: The Spy Next Door

1. Cookies: These tiny files are placed on your device as soon as you visit a site. They follow you around the web, creating a digital trail that companies use to learn about your habits and interests.

2. Tracking Pixels: Like cookies, these are invisible tags that track your actions across different websites. Imagine someone following you wherever you go online – that's what tracking pixels do.

3. Behavioral Targeting: This is when companies analyze your browsing history to serve you ads tailored to your interests. It's like knowing what you like and then bombarding you with it, whether you like it or not.

4. Data Brokers: These middlemen collect data from various sources and sell it on to the highest bidder. Your information could be used for marketing, insurance, or even political purposes – without your consent!

5. Third-Party trackers: Apps and websites you visit may share your data with other companies, creating a web of surveillance that's hard to escape.

What They Do with Your Data

Once companies have your data, they can use it for targeted advertising, profile building, and even political manipulation. Think about the Cambridge Analytica scandal... Your data isn't just used to make your experience better; it's being sold and exploited in ways you probably never imagined.

How to Stop Them: Empower Yourself

1. Use Privacy-Friendly Browsers: Tools like Brave or Firefox with enhanced tracking protection can block trackers and cookies, giving you control over what data is collected.

2. Block Trackers and Cookies: Browser extensions that allow you to block these elements are available for free, providing an added layer of privacy.

3. Minimize Data Usage: When using apps or websites, avoid granting unnecessary permissions that could lead to data collection.

4. Delete Unused Apps: Regularly delete apps and services that are no longer needed to stop data collection from inactive accounts.

5. Read Privacy Policies: Before accepting terms of service or privacy policies, read through them to understand what data will be collected and how it will be used.

6. Use Incognito or Private Browsing Modes: These modes often block cookies and trackers, offering an additional way to reduce data collection. But remember that Google was still tracking you on Chrome regardless, so your mileage may vary.

7. Limit Device Usage: Avoid using personal devices for sensitive activities when privacy is a concern.

8. Use Tor: Yes it's slower, yes some sites won't work. It's more private and you using helps disquise traffic giving protection for others that might need it more than you do.

Why It Matters: The Domino Effect

The data collected today isn't just for ads; it's used in decision-making processes that can affect your life. From insurance rates to job opportunities, your data can influence significant aspects of your existence. Imagine a world where your information is bought and sold without your consent – it's time to take control.

Your Data, Your Choice

Your data is being collected and sold without your consent, and the time to act is now. By understanding how data collection works and taking steps to protect yourself, you can reclaim control over your privacy. Remember, you're not just a user – you're the owner of your information. It's time to stand up for your rights and demand transparency from the companies that claim to serve you.

Don't Let Corporate Spies Steal Your Privacy

Your data is valuable, and it's being harvested without your knowledge. Take action today by educating yourself and others about the importance of privacy. Together, we can create a world where privacy is respected and protected, not exploited for profit.

Join the movement to fight against corporate surveillance and protect your right to privacy. Your information is too important to leave in the hands of those who don't have your consent. It's time to take a stand – your digital life depends on it.

---

Advocating for privacy does not finance itself. If you enjoyed this article, please consider zapping or sending monero

82XCDNK1Js8TethhpGLFPbVyKe25DxMUePad1rUn9z7V6QdCzxHEE7varvVh1VUidUhHVSA4atNU2BTpSNJLC1BqSvDajw1

@ a1d36df6:a3b9f5a0

Originally written in: November 2024

"Show me the incentives, and I'll show you the outcome"[^mungerquote].

"Even bacteria respond to motivation." ~[^dufrene2020][^amoedo2024].

Introduction

In Austrian economics, time preference refers to the value individuals place on present consumption versus future consumption [^rothbard1993man]. A society with a lower time preference is more inclined to save, invest, and plan for the long term, thereby fostering progress and stability [^ammous2018]. In contrast, a society with a higher time preference tends toward immediate consumption rather than investment — or invests without a true understanding of its purpose — leading to short-term planning and a gradual drift from foundational societal values, traditions, and culture [^hoppe2001].

The definition of investment is the process of allocating resources to productive activities, prioritizing future gains over immediate consumption. It involves capital accumulation and is key to economic growth, as individuals delay gratification to increase future value. This approach underlies capital formation and enhances an economy's production capacity, aligning with lower time preference and fostering long-term prosperity [^mises1998].

With a foundational understanding of time preference and investment, we can begin to examine what motivates people today. Given the prevalence of high time preference in modern society, the government can capitalize on this tendency by offering immediate handouts and benefits, satisfying the population's desire for instant gratification, often at the expense of long-term prosperity and future gains. This tendency is also mirrored in mainstream media, where a focus on sensational, attention-grabbing stories diverts focus from deeper, structural issues. By amplifying polarizing narratives [^gentzkow2006media], often tied to social identity or lifestyle differences, the government and media create a cycle of constant engagement and distraction, steering public attention towards short-term controversies and away from underlying economic or social policy issues [^caplan2001rational].

Debt & Fractional-Reserve Banking

A common denominator that repeatedly emerges in such destructive behavior promoted by governments is the issue of money. As money drives the world, understanding and following its flow not only reveals how it operates but also uncovers those who wield control over it, and how human behavior is driven by it.

Money is a broad term encircling all assets that can be used for exchange, storage, and valuation, covering both physical and digital forms [^ammous2023]. Cash is a subset of money, referring specifically to physical currency, such as coins and notes.

The process of money creation, typically managed by governments and central banks, is the foundation of economic dependency within the financial system. In most economies, central banks control currency creation through mechanisms like open market operations and debt. For instance, when a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve, issues new currency, it does so by purchasing government securities from commercial banks, thus adding currency to the economy. However, this transaction is not debt-free; it obliges the government to repay the borrowed amount with interest.

In common words, the process of creating money is as follows: the government request to the central bank a certain amount of money to be printed in borrowing form. The central bank then creates that money, out of thin air, on the promise that the government will repay the central bank down the road. Since the government does not produce anything, in order to repay the central bank, the government then sells the debt via bonds to anyone who would like to buy the government debt. In even more simple words: the government and central bank creates money out of thin air based on debt [^ammous2021].

The issue with money creation is not only by the fact that it was created out of thin air, but because money creation has other issues tied to it: the debt, the creation of fractional-reserve monetary system, inflation, and interest.

This foundational reliance on debt, since it is present in the very beginning of money creation, renders the entire monetary system debt-dependent. Therefore, saving and investing within such a system becomes questionable, as the system's nature opposes the principles of sustainable wealth accumulation, thus leading human behavior not to save but to spend.

A fractional-reserve monetary system is a banking structure in which banks retain only a small fraction of their depositors' funds — historically around 10%, but today often as low as 1% [^bundesbank2024] — while lending out or investing the remainder. This setup allows banks to expand the money supply and stimulate economic activity through a process known as deposit expansion [^federalreserve1975modern]. Deposit expansion occurs when banks effectively treat a portion of deposited funds as new money, multiplying the original deposit base. For example, if a bank holds deposits totaling 1 million euros, it can lend out up to 1.9 million euros, as long as it maintains 10% of the initial deposit in reserve. This cycle can repeat, enabling banks to increase the total money supply to infinity, but the "Modern Money Mechanics: A Workbook on Bank Reserves and Deposit Expansion" and government applying it recommends not doing it above 9 times the original deposit value [^federalreserve1975modern].

To make matters worse, inflation and interest exacerbate the problems inherent in this monetary system. Interest is a foundational element of the system, initially intended to address the original debt incurred by the government. In economic terms, interest represents the "price" of time preference, a premium placed on present goods over future goods. To illustrate the impact of interest, consider the cost of a house in today's system: a house priced at 500,000 euros with a 4% variable interest rate ends up costing around 860,000 euros over 30 years, with 360,000 euros paid in interest alone.

Inflation, on the other hand, is the increase in the money supply — money printing — and can only be truly calculated by M2[^1] money supply metric. Inflation erodes the value of both assets and earned income, as each new unit of currency devalues existing money. This devaluation impacts not only the purchasing power of savings but also the real cost of goods and services over time, reducing the long-term value of assets people believe they own.

The government

Operating within a monetary system stretched beyond its limitations, the government faces the dual challenges of controlling inflation and satisfying its growing spending demands. To fund its expenditures, the government often provides public benefits — subsidies, "free" healthcare, public transport, security, military, and welfare in general — to justify continual spending and cultivate public support - via voting, in most democratic countries.

Welfare and most government programs redistribute wealth from producers to non-producers, fostering dependency on the state. Over time, this erodes individual sovereignty and expands government control, restricting freedom, and reducing people to slaves or cash cows.

The government justifies taxes as payment for welfare and public services, but also claims they curb inflation by reducing the need to print money. The logic is that by reclaiming taxpayer money, the money supply is controlled. However, this is misleading, especially when the government can print money at will, making taxation on such currency inherently flawed.

Taxes are extracted via coercion - violence - by the government onto the population. The government then decides where to allocate this money, based on their guess of what the population needs, excluding private preferences. Therefore, taxes are not an incentive to accumulate, not even to work more. Taxes are an incentive to do right the opposite: do not save and do not work more.

Another tactic the government employs is to create crises that it alone can "solve", thus requiring more taxes or funding. Recent examples include crises like COVID-19, the "green" agenda, and initiatives to combat climate change[^2]. In each case, the government presents itself as the sole solution, yet solving these crises inevitably demands additional resources — in the form of increased taxation.

Even minimal critical thinking would prompt one to question the true necessity of taxes in a government that owns and controls the money printer. Given what we now understand, if you were in the government's position, would you willingly relinquish control of money creation by tying it to something like gold, empowering people to become smarter, independent, and wealthy?

The government, through various channels — media, education, propaganda, welfare, and government subsidies — ensures that people remain obedient and uninformed. It keeps them financially constrained by increasing taxes and imposing extensive regulations, while fostering dependency through handouts, welfare, and other social programs. The government is the only entity that, by law, can use violence and coercion without prosecution [^rothbard2009].

"Anyone who, although human, is by nature not yours but someone else's"[^ambler1987].

It is therefore unsurprising that many live in a state akin to enslavement, reflecting a mindset shaped by constant dependency. It is no wonder that people are discouraged from having children, as they can barely support themselves. Nor is it surprising that individuals might question the need to continue their bloodline, believing in the illusory value of "fake money" [^kiyosaki2019] and trusting present "investments" and the government to provide a pension in old age. And it's certainly not surprising to see people asking the government for solutions to every problem, when the government leaves them no viable alternatives.

"Show me the incentives, and I'll show you the outcome"[^mungerquote].

That statement serves as a powerful tool for understanding and addressing complex issues. When observing behaviors that may appear unusual — such as individuals identifying as "trans-species," a phenomenon linked to mental health concerns [^pinna2022] — it's essential to consider the underlying incentives. Who benefits most from a society in which individuals remain financially constrained, dependent, and uninformed? A fiat-based monetary system functions as a modern form of economic control, keeping people poor by design. Taxes, effectively a penalty for productivity, contrast sharply with welfare programs, which often reward dependency and reinforce reliance on the government. Meanwhile, government narratives and selective information shape public beliefs, protecting institutional interests and discouraging critical inquiry[^3].

Conclusion

Like the fungus that infects in parasitic way an ant's nervous system - Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis -, rendering it a zombie [^britannica2024] controlled by an external force, similarly, modern bureaucracies exploit the mechanisms of fiat money, debt, and taxation [^rothbard2009] to maintain control over individuals, steering them away from self-reliance and critical thinking toward a state of perpetual dependence.

The parallels are striking: just as the fungus manipulates the ant's behavior to secure its reproduction, governments manipulate public perception, creating crises, shaping incentives, and fostering dependence[^rothbard2009] through welfare programs[^caplan2001rational], inflated debt[^ammous2018], and coercive taxation. These mechanisms suppress individuality, reduce productivity, and shift power further into centralized hands[^gentzkow2006media], leaving citizens "zombified", detached from purpose and independence.

"Even bacteria respond to motivation."[^dufrene2020]

If tolerated — even by you, dear reader — this parasitic cycle will continue to erode humanity's dignity and potential. The solution lies in reclaiming agency by building a society grounded in sound money, meaningful productivity, and spiritual and cultural foundations that connect us to higher purposes. As warned in Jeremiah 17:5 [^4], trusting fallible human systems leads to enslavement. True freedom comes from rejecting exploitative bureaucracies and embracing systems aligned with truth, autonomy, and resilience.

Another way is to fully understand the system and opt out. This requires mastering the rules and using them to your advantage. If legal avenues exist to avoid taxation, expropriation, eminent domain, or government coercion, then the first step is to change the game for yourself.

The monetary system and government incentives shape human behavior, influencing those who allow themselves to be controlled by them.

fiat #bitcoin #austrian-economics #freedom #slavery #money #government #antipropaganda #propaganda #taxes #tax #greenagenda #wef #who

Footnote

[^1]: M2 refers to savings deposits + money market mutual funds + small time deposits. M2 includes all of M1 plus "near money" (M0), which consists of savings deposits, money market accounts, and small-denomination time deposits (like certificates of deposit under a certain amount). M2 is commonly tracked by central banks to gauge medium-term economic activity and savings behavior, as it includes money that people save rather than spend immediately.

[^2]: Since the 1990s, societies worldwide have been confronted by a series of global crises, often framed as urgent and overwhelming challenges. All scams. Including deforestation, ocean and air pollution, nuclear waste, oil spills, plastic and soil pollution, drought, fossil fuel consumption, rising sea levels, species extinction, extreme weather, global warming, melting glaciers, acid rain, and, recently, climate change. Each crisis has shaped public opinion and policy, and also created new laws, regulations, and taxes.

[^3]: Politicians are merely psychopath[^hareleonmayersalinasfolino2022][^klaas2023] parasites.

[^4]: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

References

Bibtex

bibtex @book{ammous2018, title={The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking}, author={Ammous, Saifedean}, year={2018}, publisher={Wiley}, url={https://saifedean.com/tbs} } @book{ammous2023, author = {Saifedean Ammous}, title = {Principles of Economics}, year = {2023}, publisher = {Saifedean Ammous}, address = {Self-published}, url = {https://saifedean.com/poe} } @book{ammous2021, author = {Saifedean Ammous}, title = {The Fiat Standard: The Debt Slavery Alternative to Human Civilization}, year = {2021}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken, NJ}, url = {https://saifedean.com/tfs} } @book{rothbard1993man, author = {Murray N. Rothbard}, title = {Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles}, year = {1993}, publisher = {Ludwig von Mises Institute}, address = {Auburn, Alabama}, note = {Originally published in 1962}, url = {https://mises.org/library/man-economy-and-state-power-and-market} } @book{hoppe2001, author = {Hans-Hermann Hoppe}, title = {Democracy: The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order}, year = {2001}, publisher = {Transaction Publishers}, address = {New Brunswick, NJ}, url = {https://mises.org/library/democracy-god-failed} } @book{mises1998, author = {Ludwig von Mises}, title = {Human Action: A Treatise on Economics}, year = {1998}, publisher = {Ludwig von Mises Institute}, address = {Auburn, Alabama}, note = {Originally published in 1949}, url = {https://mises.org/library/human-action-0} } @article{gentzkow2006media, author = {Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro}, title = {Media Bias and Reputation}, journal = {Journal of Political Economy}, volume = {114}, number = {2}, pages = {280-316}, year = {2006}, publisher = {University of Chicago Press}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1086/499414} } @article{caplan2001rational, author = {Bryan Caplan}, title = {Rational Irrationality and the Microfoundations of Political Failure}, journal = {Public Choice}, volume = {107}, number = {3}, pages = {311-331}, year = {2001}, publisher = {Springer}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010349129605} } @book{federalreserve1975modern, author = {{Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago}}, title = {Modern Money Mechanics: A Workbook on Bank Reserves and Deposit Expansion}, year = {1975}, publisher = {Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago}, url = {https://archive.org/details/modern-money-mechanics/mode/2up} } @misc{bundesbank2024, author = {{Deutsche Bundesbank}}, title = {Minimum Reserves}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/monetary-policy/minimum-reserves/minimum-reserves-625912}, note = {Accessed: 2024-11-07} } @article{ambler1987, author = {Wayne Ambler}, title = {Aristotle on Nature and Politics: The Case of Slavery}, journal = {Political Theory}, volume = {15}, number = {3}, pages = {390-410}, year = {1987}, month = {Aug.} } @book{kiyosaki2019, author = {Robert T. Kiyosaki}, title = {FAKE: Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets: How Lies Are Making the Poor and Middle Class Poorer}, year = {2019}, month = {April}, publisher = {Plata Publishing}, address = {Scottsdale, AZ}, note = {Paperback, Illustrated Edition} } @article{hareleonmayersalinasfolino2022, title = {Psychopathy and crimes against humanity: A conceptual and empirical examination of human rights violators}, journal = {Journal of Criminal Justice}, volume = {81}, pages = {101901}, year = {2022}, issn = {0047-2352}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101901}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235222000216}, author = {Robert D. Hare and Elizabeth León-Mayer and Joanna Rocuant Salinas and Jorge Folino and Craig S. Neumann}, keywords = {Crimes against humanity, Human rights violators, Terrorism, Psychopathy, PCL-R, SRP-SF, Four-factor model, Latent profile analysis}, abstract = {Purpose There is a dearth of empirical data on the contributions of personality, psychopathology, and psychopathy to terrorism and its actors. Because of a fortuitous set of circumstances, we had access to a sample of men convicted of crimes against humanity (CAH) committed during the Pinochet regime, each rated by expert clinicians on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). We also had PCL-R ratings for samples of general offenders and community participants. Methods We determined the psychometric properties of the PCL-R for these samples, performed structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the factor structure of the PCL-R, and conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) of the obtained factors to identify classes or subtypes within the samples. Results The PCL-R's psychometric properties and factor structure were in accord with findings from other countries and settings. The PCL-R total scores of the CAH and general offenders were virtually the same but much higher than those of the community sample. However, the CAH group had extraordinarily high scores on the Interpersonal/Affective facets yet relatively low scores on the Lifestyle/Antisocial facets. LPA identified the expected four latent classes, with most CAH men located within the Callous-Conning class. Conclusions The results of this study provide unique information about the psychopathic propensities of a sample of state violators of human rights. Their pattern of PCL-R scores was consistent with an extreme disposition for self-serving, callous, and ruthless treatment of others, without guilt or remorse, and in the absence of a prior documented history of severe antisocial behavior.} } @misc{klaas2023, author = "{Brian Klaas}", title = "{{How many politicians are psychopaths?}}", howpublished = {\url{https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/how-many-politicians-are-psychopaths}}, note = {Online; accessed 29 January 2024}, year=2023 } @article{pinna2022, title={Mental health in transgender individuals: a systematic review}, author={Pinna, Federica and Paribello, Pasquale and Somaini, Giulia and Corona, Alice and Ventriglio, Antonio and Corrias, Carolina and Frau, Ilaria and Murgia, Roberto and El Kacemi, Sabrina and Galeazzi, Gian Maria and others}, journal={International Review of Psychiatry}, volume={34}, number={3-4}, pages={292--359}, year={2022}, publisher={Taylor \& Francis}, doi={10.1080/09540261.2022.2093629}, url={https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36151828/} } @book{rothbard2009, title={Anatomy of the State}, author={Rothbard, Murray}, year={2009}, publisher={Ludwig von Mises Institute} } @misc{britannica2024, author = {{Encyclopaedia Britannica}}, title = {Zombie-Ant Fungus}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://www.britannica.com/science/zombie-ant-fungus}, note = {Accessed: 2024-11-07} } @misc{amoedo2024, author = {Renato Amoedo}, title = {Até as bactérias respondem a uma motivação}, year = {2024}, note = {Famosa frase mencionada em entrevistas e podcasts relacionados a comportamento e motivação}, howpublished = {Comentário público}, } @article{dufrene2020, title={Mechanomicrobiology: how bacteria sense and respond to forces}, author={Dufrêne, Yves F. and Persat, Alexandre}, journal={Nature Reviews Microbiology}, volume={18}, pages={227--240}, year={2020}, month={April}, doi={10.1038/s41579-019-0314-2}, url={https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0314-2}, publisher={Springer Nature}, note={Accepted 06 December 2019, Published 20 January 2020} } @misc{mungerquote, author = {Munger, Charlie}, title = {Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome}, note = {Often attributed to Charlie Munger, known for his wisdom on finance and life as Warren Buffett's business partner.}, howpublished = {Quote}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://elevatesociety.com/quotes-by-charlie-munger/} }

@ dc4cd086:cee77c06

Have you ever wanted to learn from lengthy educational videos but found it challenging to navigate through hours of content? Our new tool addresses this problem by transforming long-form video lectures into easily digestible, searchable content.

Key Features:

Video Processing:

• Automatically downloads YouTube videos, transcripts, and chapter information
• Splits transcripts into sections based on video chapters

Content Summarization:

• Utilizes language models to transform spoken content into clear, readable text
• Formats output in AsciiDoc for improved readability and navigation
• Highlights key terms and concepts with [[term]] notation for potential cross-referencing

Diagram Extraction:

• Analyzes video entropy to identify static diagram/slide sections
• Provides a user-friendly GUI for manual selection of relevant time ranges
• Allows users to pick representative frames from selected ranges

Going Forward:

Currently undergoing a rewrite to improve organization and functionality, but you are welcome to try the current version, though it might not work on every machine. Will support multiple open and closed language models for user choice Free and open-source, allowing for personal customization and integration with various knowledge bases. Just because we might not have it on our official Alexandria knowledge base, you are still welcome to use it on you own personal or community knowledge bases! We want to help find connections between ideas that exist across relays, allowing individuals and groups to mix and match knowledge bases between each other, allowing for any degree of openness you care.

While designed with #Alexandria users in mind, it's available for anyone to use and adapt to their own learning needs.

Screenshots

Frame Selection

This is a screenshot of the frame selection interface. You'll see a signal that represents frame entropy over time. The vertical lines indicate the start and end of a chapter. Within these chapters you can select the frames by clicking and dragging the mouse over the desired range where you think diagram is in that chapter. At the bottom is an option that tells the program to select a specific number of frames from that selection.

Diagram Extraction

This is a screenshot of the diagram extraction interface. For every selection you've made, there will be a set of frames that you can choose from. You can select and deselect as many frames as you'd like to save.

Links

• repo: https://github.com/limina1/video_article_converter
• Nostr Apps 101: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flxa_jkErqE

Output

And now, we have a demonstration of the final result of this tool, with some quick cleaning up. The video we will be using this tool on is titled Nostr Apps 101 by nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7 during Nostrasia. The following thread is an analog to the modular articles we are constructing for Alexandria, and I hope it conveys the functionality we want to create in the knowledge space. Note, this tool is the first step! You could use a different prompt that is most appropriate for the specific context of the transcript you are working with, but you can also manually clean up any discrepancies that don't portray the video accurately. You can now view the article on #Alexandria https://next-alexandria.gitcitadel.eu/publication?d=nostr-apps-101

Initially published as chained kind 1's nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzp5r5hd579v2sszvvzfel677c8dxgxm3skl773sujlsuft64c44ncqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43z7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7qgewaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8xmn0wf6zuum0vd5kzmp0qqsxunmjy20mvlq37vnrcshkf6sdrtkfjtjz3anuetmcuv8jswhezgc7hglpn

Or view on Coracle https://coracle.social /nevent1qqsxunmjy20mvlq37vnrcshkf6sdrtkfjtjz3anuetmcuv8jswhezgcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qgsdqa9md83tz5yqnrqjw07hhkpmfjpkuv9hlh5v8yhu8z274w9dv7qnnq0s3

@ df478568:2a951e67

Freedom tech is free and open-source software. It is free as in freedom. A common license in FOSS is the MIT license. It's the license behind Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Anyone is free to run this software. The same is true for the software at mempool.space. The software is free to use. I run it on my own server.

This is what I use to time-stamp my articles. You can use it to check transactions on the bitcoin time chain, but you need to trust that I'm not doing any funny business. I'm not, but keep in mind, the whole point of p2p elwctronic cash is that you don't trust. You verify.

The beauty of FOSS is: You don't need to trust me. You can triple-check the transactions you search on my mempool instance by looking at the official mempool.space website and blockchain.info...Or...You can run your own node on your own hardware, free of charge.

Of course, the hardware is not free. Neither is the actual bitcoin. The freedom is built into the software, but as the saying goes, "freedom isn't free." It took me years to learn how to run my own software on my own server and make it available on the clear net.

SearXNG

SearXNG is my favorite search engine. I don't like giving up my precious data to big tech located in the United States or China. I run my own search engine. I have noticed certain biases in Google searches. The biggest problem is ads.

Companies tend to pay for Yelp and Google reviews. I called an AC company I found from a local magazine that came in the mail. A portly man wearing an HVAC costume drove to my house in a white van. He had a great smile and even better social skills. The van had a slogan plastered on it like most tradie vans do. "Reviews Matter We have a 4.9 Review on Google." He also had his name painted on this van like a Bomber pilot from WW2. I won't dox him, but it was something like "Joe the closer."

I don't trust the omnipotenence of the Googs. I also don't trust fat men they call "the closer" to give me the best deal. The trick to saving sats is to choose the game-theory optimal way of negogiation.

In DUCY, by David Sklansky, I learned useful negotiation skills. Sklansky wrote classic poker books and applied his actuarial math brain to negotiation techniques. He said he would go to a Toyota dealer and say, "I'm shopping for a new Camry. I already have a price from dealership XYZ in a nearby city. What is your price?"

This changes the dynamic right from the starting line and gives the consumer the advantage. So I tried this based technique with the HVAC industrial complex. I got a quote from 3 people: 1. Joe "The Closer." 2. The Costco-sponsored HVAC Company 3. My SearXNG search results.

In essence, I apply the same logic I learned running a full bitcoin node. Remember how I said the decentralized nature of bitcoin allows you to triple-check your transactions? Running SearXNG allows me to triple check my search results in a similar fashion. I don't trust Google, Costco, or the magazine I get every month in the mail. I verify results with my own search engine.

My SearXNG does not track my location, but I set it to give me local results. To be honest, I have not verified this, but the code is on GitHub for everyone to see.

I don't want to be "sold" on an AC. I don't want an AC if I could avoid it, but my AC was as dead as dentacoin. Living in Southern California with a wife going through "the change" gave me no alternative.

The guy I found on SearXNG showed up in an unmarked van. He had a beard. He was not "a closer." He was an actual HVAC technician. He tried cleaning my unit made in the same year Weezer released their Blue album. He said he coukd jerry rig it to get it working for another few months, but the machine is on it's last days. He said a newer unit would also be more efficient so I asked him about the energy like a bitcoiner.

"How many kilowatt hours does it cost me to run my AC versus a new AC?"

I don't remember the exact answer, but I asked all three companies. He was the only one that new how to find out. He also happened to be the cheapest, but I would have bought a new AC from this guy even if he wasn't.

I told him I made a space heater out of a bitcoin miner. He had no idea this was possible, but he at least pretended to find it interesting. That's why I use SearXNG to find tradesmen. It's better than Yelp.

If you would like to try my instance of SearXNG, check it out.

523FeCpi9Gx4nR9NmSFIMEaYcI5Q4WmhYHPEPaEah84=

To decrypt it, use the key behind the paywall at:

https://8gwifi.org/CipherFunctions.jsp

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

882785

merch

Follow me on nostr.

All of my work is available under the Creative Commons 0 licence. If you would like to try my instance of Searxng and do not wish to support my work, find me on habla.news by searching my npub. You can find all of my work there(including encryption keys)free of charge.

Paywall On Substack

abdominal.savior.repaint

Will decrypt this ciphertext: 523FeCpi9Gx4nR9NmSFIMEaYcI5Q4WmhYHPEPaEah84=

Which will reveal my instance of SearXNG at

https://searxng.marc26z.com/

Subscribe on Subtack

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

28.04.2025, 16.17 Uhr:

 

Russische Hobby-Flieger konnten mit ihrem Sportflugzeug namens "Andromeda" unter dem Radar bleiben und haben entlang der Hauptstromtrassen mit einem ukrainischen Zwiebelmesser die Stromleitungen gekappt. In einer scharfen Rechtskurve muss wohl eine Flugzeugtür aufgegangen sein und der Pass des Piloten fiel unbemerkt heraus. Die Identität der Täter konnte so schnell festgestellt werden.

28.04.2025, 16.43 Uhr:

Trump hat das europäische Stromnetz gekauft und die in den Umspannwerken eingebauten US-amerikanischen Chips deaktiviert. Es gibt erst wieder Strom, wenn sich die Koalition der Willigen den Friedensverhandlungen für die Ukraine anschließt. Trump hat bewusst in den sonnenreichen Ländern Spanien und Portugal begonnen, das soll als Warnung für ganz Europa gelten. Frau von der Leyen hat bereits scharfen Protest eingelegt, doch Trump hat die SMS sofort gelöscht.

28.04.2025, 17.12 Uhr:

Selensky hat einen Cyber-Angriff auf das europäische Stromnetz gestartet. Er ist wütend, weil sich Macron in dem 15-Minuten-Gespräch mit Trump am Rande der Beerdigung des Papstes in Rom hat abwimmeln lassen. Er beendet die Strom-Blockade erst, wenn Spanien, Portugal und Frankreich Deutschland dazu zwingen, endlich Taurus zu liefern. Auf die Frage, wie Selensky das angestellt hat, soll er geantwortet haben: "Sie sehen ja, wir können es."

Ist natürlich alles nur Joke! Es sollte nur einmal in Bezug auf die Sprengung der Nordstream 2 Pipelines aufgezeigt werden, wie schnell auch unsereins abstruse Erklärungen liefern kann, die vorne und hinten nicht stimmen können.

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben.

(Bild von pixabay)

@ 3b7fc823:e194354f

Privacy in Public Spaces: A Tactical Guide

1. Public Wi-Fi Privacy

Using public Wi-Fi can be convenient, but it's important to take precautions to protect your privacy:

• Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network): A VPN encrypts your internet traffic, making it difficult for hackers to intercept your data.
• Disable Automatic Connections: Prevent your device from automatically connecting to open Wi-Fi networks by turning off this feature in your settings.
• Avoid Sensitive Transactions: Refrain from accessing banking or other sensitive accounts while connected to public Wi-Fi.
• Use Secure Websites: Look for "https://" in the website's URL to ensure it uses encryption.
• Keep Software Updated: Ensure your device's operating system and apps are up-to-date to protect against security vulnerabilities.

2. Surveillance Camera Awareness

Surveillance cameras are common in public spaces. Here are some strategies to maintain your privacy:

• Spotting Cameras:
• Look for Signs: Many establishments post signs indicating the presence of surveillance cameras.
• Camera Placement: Cameras are often placed near entrances, exits, and high-traffic areas. Look for dome-shaped cameras on ceilings or wall-mounted cameras.
• Using Masks and Coverings:
• Face Masks: Wearing a mask can help obscure your facial features from facial recognition systems.
• Hats and Sunglasses: A hat can shield your face from overhead cameras, while sunglasses can hide your eyes.
• Covering Identifying Marks:
• Clothing Choices: Wear clothing that doesn't have distinctive logos or patterns that can easily identify you.
• Blend In: Opt for styles and clothing choices that helps you blend in with your surroundings, reducing your visibility.
• Temporary Coverings: Consider using temporary coverings, such as scarves or hoods, to conceal tattoos or other identifying marks.

3. General Privacy Tips in Public Spaces

• Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: Pay attention to your environment and be aware of any unusual behavior or devices that may be capturing your information.
• Limit Personal Information: Avoid discussing sensitive information in public where it can be overheard.
• Use Encrypted Messaging Apps: Apps like Signal or SimpleX offer end-to-end encryption for your messages, making it harder for eavesdroppers to intercept your conversations.
• Use Privacy Screens: Privacy screens on all of you electronic screens can defend against the over the shoulder peek or side eye.
• Avoiding Behaviors: Be mindful of behaviors that could make you a target, such as frequent visits to certain areas or engaging in conversations that might attract unwanted attention.

Taking these steps can help you maintain your privacy while navigating public spaces and using public Wi-Fi. Remember, staying informed and vigilant is key to protecting your personal information.

---

Advocating for privacy does not finance itself. If you enjoyed this article, please consider zapping or sending monero

82XCDNK1Js8TethhpGLFPbVyKe25DxMUePad1rUn9z7V6QdCzxHEE7varvVh1VUidUhHVSA4atNU2BTpSNJLC1BqSvDajw1

@ 83279ad2:bd49240d

test

@ df478568:2a951e67

In the Case For A 100 Percent Gold Dollar, Murray Rothbard argues, “the debacle of 1931-1933, when the world abandoned the gold standard, was not a sudden shift from gold weight to paper name; it was the last step in a lenghty, complex process.” He said that before WWI, a dollar was defined as aproximately 1/20th of an ounce of gold.” If it worked, a dollar would buy about as much as $143 does today, but it didn't work.

Gold ownership was banned until Executive Order 6102 was lifted in the 1970's. According to Rothbard, France sent a battleship to the United States to repatriate its gold. Then, Nixon took the dollar "temporarily" off the gold standard in 1971. It just so happened I listened to a podcast after I started writing this. Joseph Voelnel tells the story in this podcast.

https://fountain.fm/episode/mXreHZ2um0RnxaHsWMfe

I paid for the transcript using bitcoin on the lightning network using a podcasting 2.0 app named Fountain. Try it out. You can earn small amount of bitcoin just for listening. It is not self-custodial, but it's a great way to get started if you're curious. If you're not curious, you probably won't like bitcoin.

The US government debased gold and made it 41% after issuing Executive Order 6102. Nixon took the dollar completely off the gold standard in 1971. The dollar is still a fiat currency, backed by nothing but "good faith and credit of the United States." That's basically nothing. You might as well say the US dollar is backed by good vibes. Do you think the US can pay 36 trillion bucks back with good vibes?

I do not.

Gold will not fix this.

If the US went back to the gold standard, we would need to trust the good vibes of Fort Knox, but anyone in their right mind would not trust these good vibes.

"The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust."

Satoshi Nakamoto, P2P Foundation thread.

Even if we self-custody gold again, metal does not prevent debasement. Here's one of my favorite quotes from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations:

"There was a third event which occurred in the course of the same period, and which, though it could not occasion any scarcity of corn, nor, perhaps, in the real quantity of silver which was usually paid for it, must necessarily have occasioned some augmentation in the nominal sum. This event was the great debasement of the silver coin, by clipping and wearing. This evil had begun in the reign of Charles II. and had gone on continually increasing till 1695; at which time, as we may learn from Mr Lowndes, the current silver coin was, at an average, near five-and-twenty percent. Below its standard value."

Monetary debasement is not a new phenomenon. The double-spending problem has been around for hundreds of years. In my opinion, bitcoin is the best shot humankind has of solving the double spending problem.

"A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending."

Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin: A Peer-To-Peer Electronic Cash System

To steel-man the case against bitcoin, I would say the biggest issue is how many people prefer to use a trusted third party to custody their bitcoin. That’s why education is important. In principle, I think we should keep 100% custody of our bitcoin. In practice, I do keep some of my sats in a custodial wallet to pay bills. I working on this, but I need to open up a fatter lightning channel and set up auto-payments to my Strike wallet. That’s my goal, but I need to I want to make sure I don’t rug myself first so I am testing it out with smaller amounts first. It is possible, it just takes time to learn how to do it safely.

I still think bitcoin is our best shot against centuries of monetary debasement.

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

882,461

Merch

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

A debonair day-to-night hideaway fuses heritage charm with contemporary flair in the Penang capital of George Town...

Housed in a historic landmark on George Town’s atmospheric Lebuh Farquhar, just a stone’s throw from the iconic Eastern & Oriental Hotel, MOJO JOJO is a café and brunch spot by day, and a refined eatery come nightfall. With an effortlessly cool edge, the space has been designed by Empt Studio and combines contemporary charm with the energy of this Malaysian city.

Split into two sections, the venue caters to both hotel guests and passersby. One side offers an intimate, tailored dining experience for those seeking a respite from the buzz of outside, while the other spills out onto the street, embracing George Town’s lively buzz. The soaring ceilings create a sense of openness, further enhanced by the introduction of a mezzanine above the kitchen, maximising space without compromising on airiness.

Natural materials feature throughout with custom bamboo display systems and solid Nyatoh timber fixtures lending a rich, textural warmth. Deliberately crafted interlocking joints pay homage to traditional woodworking techniques, reinforcing both strength and authenticity. Every detail nods to meticulous craftsmanship, from the aged wood grains to the earthy material palette that echoes the heritage of its surroundings.

Lighting plays a supporting yet pivotal role, with carefully curated, softly diffused illumination accentuating the textures and forms within. The interplay of warm light and natural materials fosters an immersive, atmospheric retreat from the fast-paced city outside.

A refuge for slow mornings and, later on, offering a more cultured affair, MOJO JOJO is a debonair dining spot for the handsome Penang capital.

Read more https://www.emptstudio.com/projects/mojojojo

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/966008

@ df478568:2a951e67

About 150,000 blocks ago, I bought burgers for my family with sats at NextBurger in Newport, California. The Orange County Bitcoin Meetup found a hamburger stand that wanted to accept Bitcoin. This attracted Bitcoiners from all over Southern California. People brought their families. Some sat stackers sold wares outside as if it were a Farmer's Market. A couple kids sold some hats. One dude sold pins. I bought one off him. It resembled the Opendime I use as a keychain. He wore a 21M/infinity hat. We talked about Knut Svanholm books. He asked me, "What do you do for bitcoin?"

"I write a blog," I said. I must have written three articles about Bitcoin back then. I set up a BTCpayServer with LunaNode. My real idea was to write for sats, but I spent more sats on Lunanode than I made. I needed something to sell.

I had a few shitty ideas but no real business plan. I told Pins about one of these shitty ideas.

"I'm thinking about selling BIP39 raffle tickets, but they're a pain in the ass to cut." See what I mean, bad ideas.

Pins didn't say it was a bad idea though. I assure you, it was, but Pins gave this advice.

”Maybe you can use a 3D Printer."

I never did it, but I was impressed by how willing he was to help me. That's common in bitcoin. Bitcoiners are incentivized to help other Bitcoiners. The more people that accept Bitcoin at their stores, the bigger the demand for Bitcoin. The bigger the demand, the more the

Bitcoin Is For Spending

I participate in the circular economy because I consider using Bitcoin as money to be more advantageous for my savings strategy. When you earn sats, spend sats, and save sats, you break free from the chains of fiat debasement. Dollars are designed to go down in purchasing power to manipulate the public into spending more. That's why most people have more than one TV, but can't afford a $400 emergency. I spend Bitcoin because it forces me to be frugal. Fiat is designed to spend as quickly as possible since it will buy less groceries tomorrow than it will today.

Bitcoin is designed to buy more groceries tomorrow than it will today. When you expect $30 worth of Open AI services will likely be worth $433 in 21 years(if we assume Saylor is correct) you evaluate everything you buy with an orange colored lens. Your shopping habits change. A month of Chat GPT premium mightr be a month's worth of groceries in the future. I no longer buy Nike's because they coat 80k-120k sats, but I expect them to look like shredded cheese in six months. I would rather pay 100k sats for a nice pair of hiking shoes. I expect they will last me a few years.

Knowing this, you might ask, why would you spend Sats on a stupid pin? I've had my open dime pin for almost 4 years now and I expect to have it for years to come. It must have cost me about 100k sats. I don't expect it to be worth that much in the future, but you never know. Sometimes, I watch The Antique Road Show on PBS. Some pins, made by famous artists, are worth thousands of dollars. There is a chance collectibles like this will become more valuable, but I'm skeptical of this. I bought this PIN because it sparks joy, as Marie Kondo says.

This is not investment advice. Your Sats will almost certainly be worth more than your pins in the future, but if you buy a PIN from Salvador Dali, nobody stacks Sats. If you buy a PIN from BTCPins, a hardcore bitccoiner stack sats, which means less sats on the market will be availavle for 8 billion people when you buy a pin. Maybe pins will buy another hat from a bitccoiner, but that just means another bitccoiner stacks Sats. Notice how these Sats never make it back to the exchange because Bitcoiners know their stack will be more valuable in the future than they are today. So when you spend Sats, you only spend Sats on the things you find most valuable.

Pins I Bought Online

Although I consider these Pins art. I don't view art as an investment. I don't expect to ever sell one of these Pins for $110,000 like that banana duct-taped to a canvas before the artist got the munchies. I don't want dollars anyway. That's like a whole coin for a banana. I wouldn't spend 100,000,000 sats for one of these Pins, but BTCPins are not so pretentiously priced.

I recently bought some pins I've been salivating over for months. I need a better way of displaying them, but here are the pins I recently bought.

An Awesome Affiliate Link

BTCPins has a unique affiliate link. Provide your lightning address and it will generate an affiliate link for you. These things have been around since the 90s, but what makes this particular link notable is how commissions are paid: In sats on the Bitcoin lightning network.

How BTCPins Affiliates Work

• Navigate to https://btcpins.com/affiliates/
• Enter your lightning address.
• Generate your link
• Share with the world.

So buy a pin or two from BTCPins today using my affiliate link:

Encrypted Link: https://btcpins.com/?aff=ex1GhhNeeU9-PQ1-ZVEkarU9bSnsNyq98Jy_lEUBLmsrWsCqa69PYohMWcCOGK9tK1rAqmuvT2KITFnAjhivbfOajnP3D8A8O09Hi-OY4K8

npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

802,338

Subscribe on Substack

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Hubless Wheels + Donut Motor brings manufacturing & performance benefits

Verge Next, a subsidiary of Estonia-based Verge Motorcycles, invented this Donut Motor. It's designed to drive a hubless wheel. Although once seen as something that simply looked cool in renderings, the company says the hubless arrangement brings performance and manufacturing benefits, "delivering unmatched torque and power density with minimal weight."

For one thing, there's no chain, belt or drivetrain required. Secondly, it frees the body of the bike from the task of holding the motor—everything is now contained within that rear wheel.

The company has not only incorporated the Donut Motor into their own bikes, but is now licensing the technology. Assuming it does what it says on the tin, our future streetscapes will be covered with hubless bikes, scooters and motorcycles.

Here's a closer look at a Verge bike and how its design is influenced by the motor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og9vlJRe2-M

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/966001

@ df478568:2a951e67

Shilling Shopstr

I have created a merch store on Shopstr.store. It's like a Facebook marketplace or Etsy on the nostr protocol. It is free and open-source software, not a corporation. Sellers can sell goods and services for bitcoin using the privacy-preserving cashu protocol.

I set my store up a few weeks ago, but didn't have any idea as to WTF I could sell. I shoved it further down my ToDo list until I was inspired by Cyan Banister. She went from a homeless teenager/high school dropout to a VC who made a bunch of money as an early investor in SpaceX. I highly recommend listening to as many of her guest appearances on podcasts as you can.

She said she learned about capitalism by selling surplus pecans her grandparents sent her. She tried selling pecans for $7.00. If nobody bought them, she would lower the price to $6.00. That sparked an idea in my brain like a firecracker on the 4th of July. What if I sold cashews for cashu?

Cashews 4 Cashu

I bought some organic, whole cashews and roasted them with 3 ingredients: Beef Tallow(bitcoin nerds don't like seed oils) Salt Garlic powder.

I packaged them in one-ounce servings using a FoodSaver vacuum sealer. Then, I wrote the block height from when I took them out of the oven and put them on sale for $7.00.

I also know bitcoiners love "sats back." I know a lot of dudes who use the Fold card to earn as many sats back as they can. I decided to do the same thing by offering 10% cashu back. I will take 10% of the total and create an ecash voucher. For example, if someone buys my nuts for 7,000 sats, I will send my nuts(pun intended) with a QR code they can scan with an ecash wallet like minibits for 700 sats back. It's paper money that is backed by bitcoin.

Since this is very new, I figure some folks might need help so I added a link to my Zendesk-esque ticketing system. I run Peppermint on a Docker container on my PopOS! desktop. I don't know what ZenDesk costs, but this is a great alternative for a micro-business.

I don't expect to disrupt the online cashew market. My goal is to gain help desk experience to get a better job. If I can make some extra sats on the side, that would be awesome!

Want to try my cashews for cashu? Check out my merch store and buy some for yourself.

☮️npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

881,431

Shop My Merch Store

@ df478568:2a951e67

I have decided to post some PGP Ciphertext on Substack using 3 random words as a passphrase. Only subscribers will hae access to the passphrase. Therefore, only subscribers can read the text. Here are some quotes that inspired this: "The act of encryption, in fact, removes information from the public realm. Even laws against cryptography reach only so far as a nation’s border and the arm of its violence. Cryptography will ineluctably spread over the whole globe, and with it the anonymous transactions systems that it makes possible." Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto "Privacy in an open society also requires cryptography. If I say something, I want it heard only by those for whom I intend it. If the content of my speech is available to the world, I have no privacy. To encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy, and to encrypt with weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for privacy. Furthermore, to reveal one’s identity with assurance when the default is anonymity requires the cryptographic signature." -Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto "Information longs to be free." --Stewart Brand "Perhaps you think your email is legitimate enough that encryption is unwarranted. If you really are a law-abiding citizen with nothing to hide, then why don't you always send your paper mail on postcards? Why not submit to drug testing on demand? Why require a warrant for police searches of your house? Are you trying to hide something? If you hide your mail inside envelopes, does that mean you must be a subversive or a drug dealer, or maybe a paranoid nut? Do law-abiding citizens have any need to encrypt their email?" Phil Zimmermann Why I Wrote PGP Part of the Original 1991 PGP User's Guide (updated in 1999) "don't be like so many writers, don't be like so many thousands of people who call themselves writers, don't be dull and boring and pretentious, don't be consumed with self- love. the libraries of the world have yawned themselves to sleep over your kind. don't add to that. don't do it." -Charles Bukowski

On Publishing PGP Ciphertext On Substack

Substack allows writers to publish everything to the world or I can lock my work behind a paywall. These two facts are a contradiction I've been trying to square for several years. On one hand, I would like to earn more sats for writing. On the other hand, I want everything I write to be availabe for free because the more accessible my work is, the broader the audience I can reach. The disadvantage with free is I don't get paid. It's a conundrum. Here is my solution. All of my work is available free of charge if you look in the write place. Hint: You can find anything I write in the clear by searching for my npub in a long-form nostr client. I also will publish this work on Substack, but some of it will be encrypted with three random words from the EFF long list. These words will be published to my subscribers. If you wish to read an article on Substack, you must decrypt it with a 3-word passphrase made available to my paid subscribers. Is it a good idea? I'm not sure. This is an experiment.

☮️npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0 881,269 Subscribe with Sats Shop My Merch

@ 78b3c1ed:5033eea9

Umbrel Core-lightning(以下CLNと略す)を運用するにあたり役に立ちそうなノウハウやメモを随時投稿します。

・configファイルを用意する Umbrelのアプリとして必要な設定はdocker-compose.ymlで指定されている。 それ以外の設定をしたい場合configファイルに入れると便利。 configファイルの置き場所は /home/umbrel/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd ここにtouch configとでもやってファイルをつくる。 cd /home/umbrel/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd touch config 以下内容をひな型として使ってみてください。 行頭に#があるとコメント行になります。つまり.iniフォーマット。 /home/umbrel/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd/config ```

[General options]

[Bitcoin control options]

[Lightning daemon options]

[Lightning node customization options]

[Lightning channel and HTLC options]

[Payment control options]

[Networking options]

[Lightning Plugins]

[Experimental Options]

``` configに設定できる内容は以下を参照 https://lightning.readthedocs.io/lightningd-config.5.html セクションを意味する[]があるけれどもこれは私(tanakei)が意図的に見やすく区別しやすくするために付けただけ。これら行の＃は外さない。

・configの設定をCLNに反映させる appスクリプトでCLNを再起動すると反映することができる。 configを書き換えただけでは反映されない。 cd /home/umbrel/umbrel/scripts ./app restart core-lightning

・ログをファイルに出力させる

以下の場所でtouch log.txtとしてlog.txtファイルを作る。 /home/umbrel/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd cd /home/umbrel/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd touch log.txt 次にconfigの[Lightning daemon options]セクションにlog-fileを追加する。 ```

[Lightning daemon options]

log-file=/data/.lightning/log.txt ``` ※Dockerによって/home/umbrel/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd は /data/.lightning として使われている。

・addrとbind-addrの違い どちらも着信用のインターフェースとポートの設定。addrは指定したホストIPアドレス:ポート番号をノードURIに含めて公開する(node_announcementのuris)。bind-addrは公開しない。

・実験的機能のLN Offerを有効にする configの[Experimental Options]セクションに以下を追加する。 ```

[Experimental Options]

experimental-onion-messages experimental-offers ``` ※ v24.08でexperimental-onion-messageは廃止されデフォルト有効であり、上記設定の追加は不要になりました。 ※ v21.11.1 では experimental-offersは廃止されデフォルト有効であり、上記設定の追加は不要になりました。 もう実験扱いじゃなくなったのね...

・完全にTorでの発信オンリーにする UmbrelはなぜかCLNの発信をClearnetとTorのハイブリッドを許している。それは　always-use-proxy=true　の設定がないから。(LNDは発着信Torのみなのに) なのでこの設定をconfigに追加してCLNも発着進Torのみにする。 ```

[Networking options]

always-use-proxy=true ```

・任意のニーモニックからhsm_secretを作る CLNのhsm_secretはLNDのwallet.dbのようなもの。ノードで使う様々な鍵のマスター鍵となる。Umbrel CLNはこのhsm_secretファイルを自動生成したものを使い、これをバックアップするためのニーモニックを表示するとかそういう機能はない。自分で作って控えてあるニーモニックでhsm_secretを作ってしまえばこのファイルが壊れてもオンチェーン資金は復旧はできる。

1.CLNインストール後、dockerコンテナに入る docker exec -it core-lightning_lightningd_1 bash 2.lightning-hsmtoolコマンドを使って独自hsm_secretを作る ``` cd data/.lightning/bitcoin lightning-hsmtool generatehsm my-hsm_secret

・上記コマンドを実行するとニーモニックの言語、ニーモニック、パスフレーズの入力を催促される。 Select your language: 0) English (en) 1) Spanish (es) 2) French (fr) 3) Italian (it) 4) Japanese (jp) 5) Chinese Simplified (zhs) 6) Chinese Traditional (zht) Select [0-7]: 0　※定番の英単語なら0を入力 Introduce your BIP39 word list separated by space (at least 12 words): <ニーモニックを入力する> Warning: remember that different passphrases yield different bitcoin wallets. If left empty, no password is used (echo is disabled). Enter your passphrase: <パスフレーズを入力する>　※パスフレーズ不要ならそのままエンターキーを押す。 New hsm_secret file created at my-hsm_secret Use the encrypt command to encrypt the BIP32 seed if needed

コンテナから抜ける exit

3.appスクリプトでCLNを止めて、独自hsm_secret以外を削除 ※【重要】いままで使っていたhsm_secretを削除する。もしチャネル残高、ウォレット残高があるならチャネルを閉じて資金を退避すること。自己責任！ cd ~/umbrel/scripts/ ./app stop core-lightning

cd ~/umbrel/app-data/core-lightning/data/lightningd/bitcoin rm gossip_store hsm_secret lightningd.sqlite3 lightning-rpc mv my-hsm_secret hsm_secret 4.appスクリプトでCLNを再開する cd ~/umbrel/scripts/ ./app start core-lightning ```

【補記】 hsm_secret作成につかうニーモニックはBIP39で、LNDのAezeedと違って自分が作成されたブロック高さというものを含んでいない。新規でなくて復元して使う場合は作成されたブロック高さからブロックチェーンをrescanする必要がある。 configの１行目にrescanオプションを付けてCLNをリスタートする。 ``` // 特定のブロック高さを指定する場合はマイナス記号をつける rescan=-756000

// 現在のブロック高さから指定ブロック分さかのぼった高さからrescanする rescan=10000 ※現在の高さが760,000なら10000指定だと750,000からrescan ```

・clnrestについて core-lightningでREST APIを利用したい場合、別途c-lightning-restを用意する必要があった。v23.8から標準でclnrestというプラグインがついてくる。pythonで書かれていて、ソースからビルドした場合はビルド完了後にpip installでインストールする。elementsproject/lightningdのDockerイメージではインストール済みになっている。 (v25.02からgithubからバイナリをダウンロードしてきた場合はpip install不要になったようだ) このclnrestを使うにはcreaterunesコマンドでruneというLNDのマカロンのようなものを作成する必要がある。アプリ側でこのruneとREST APIを叩いてcore-lightningへアクセスすることになる。 自分が良く使っているLNbitsやスマホアプリZeus walletはclnrestを使う。まだclnrestに対応していないアプリもあるので留意されたし。

・Emergency recoverについて LNDのSCBのようなもの。ファイル名はemergency.recover チャネルを開くと更新される。 hsm_secretとこのファイルだけを置いてCLNを開始すると自動でこのファイルから強制クローズするための情報が読み出されてDLPで相手から強制クローズするような仕組み。この機能はv0.12から使える。

動作確認してみた所、LNDのSCBに比べるとかなり使いづらい。 1. CLNがTor発信だとチャネルパートナーと接続できない。 　Clearnet発信できても相手がTorのみノードならTor発信せざるを得ない。 　相手と通信できなければ資金回収できない。 2. 相手がLNDだとなぜか強制クローズされない。相手がCLNならできる。

つまり、自分と相手がClearnetノードでかつ相手もCLNならば Emergency recoverで強制クローズして資金回収できる。こんな条件の厳しい復旧方法がマジで役に立つのか？

v0.11以降ならばLNDのchannel.dbに相当するlightningd.sqlite3をプライマリ・セカンダリDBと冗長化できるので、セカンダリDBをNFSで保存すればUmbrelのストレージが壊れてもセカンダリDBで復旧できる。そのためemergerncy.recoverを使う必要がないと思われる。

・LN offer(BOLT#12)ついて 使いたいなら 1.publicチャネルを開く 　publicチャネルを開けばチャネルとノードの情報(channel_announcement, node_announcement)が他ノードに伝わる。送金したい相手がこの情報を元に経路探索する。 2.その後しばらく待つ CLNノードを立てたばかりだと経路探索するに十分なチャネルとノードの情報が揃ってない。せめて1日は待つ。

LNURLの場合インボイスをhttpsで取得するが、OfferはLN経由で取得する。そのためにチャネルとノードの情報が必要。privateチャネルばかりのノードはチャネル情報もそうだがノード情報も出さない。 Offerで使えるBlind pathという機能なら中間ノードIDを宛先ノードとすることが可能で、これならチャネルとノード情報を公開しなくても受けとれるのだがCLNは対応してない模様(2025年1月現在) CLNでOfferで受け取るにはチャネルとノード情報を公開する必要がある。そのためpublicチャネルを開く。公開されていれば良いのでTorでもOK。クリアネットで待ち受けは必須ではない。

・hsm_sercretとニーモニック lightning-hsmtoolを使うとニーモニックからhsm_secretを作れる。ニーモニックからシードを作ると64バイト。これはニーモニックおよびソルトにパスフレーズをPBKDF2(HMAC-SHA512を2048回)にかけると512ビット(64バイト)のシードができる。しかしhsm_secretは32バイト。CLNでは64バイトの最初の32バイトをhsm_secretとして利用しているみたい。 このhsm_secretにHMAC-SHA512をかけて512ビットとした値がウォレットのマスター鍵となる。なのでhsm_secret自体がBIP-32でいうマスターシードそのものではない。 sparrow walletにCLNのウォレットを復元したい場合は lightning-hsmtool dumponchaindescriptors --show-secrets とやってディスクリプターウォレットを出力。出力内容にマスター鍵(xprv～)があるので、これをインポートする。導出パス設定はm/0とする。sparrowが残りを補完してm/0/0/0, m/0/0/1とやってくれる。

<おまけ> configファイルのサンプル。Umbrelを使わない場合は以下のサンプルが役に立つはず。上記のelementsproject/lightningdならば/root/.lightningに任意のディレクトリをマウントしてそのディレクトリにconfigを置く。 ```

[General options]

不可逆なDBアップグレードを許可しない

database-upgrade=false

[Bitcoin control options]

network=bitcoin bitcoin-rpcconnect= bitcoin-rpcport= bitcoin-rpcuser= bitcoin-rpcpassword=

[Lightning daemon options]

postgresを使う場合

wallet=postgres://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DB_NAME

bookkeeper-db=postgres://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DB_NAME

sqlite3を使う場合。デフォルトはこちらで以下の設定が無くても~/.lightning/bitconに自動で作成される。

wallet=sqlite3:///home/USERNAME/.lightning/bitcoin/lightningd.sqlite3

bookkeeper-db=sqlite3:///home/USERNAME/.lightning/bitcoin/accounts.sqlite3

ログファイルは自動で作成されない

log-file=/home/USERNAME/.lightning/lightningd-log

log-level=debug

[Lightning node customization options]

alias= rgb=

固定手数料。ミリサトシで指定。

fee-base=1000000

変動手数料。ppmで指定。

fee-per-satoshi=0

最小チャネルキャパシティ(sats)

min-capacity-sat=100000

HTLC最少額。ミリサトシで指定。

htlc-minimum-msat=1000

[Lightning channel and HTLC options]

large-channels # v23.11よりデフォルトでラージチャネルが有効。

チャネル開設まで6承認

funding-confirms=6

着信できるHTLCの数。開いたら変更できない。1～483 (デフォルトは 30) の範囲にする必要があります

max-concurrent-htlcs=INTEGER

アンカーチャネルを閉じるためにウォレットに保持しておく資金。デフォルトは 25,000sat

チャネルを"忘れる(forget)"するまではリザーブされる模様。forgetはチャネル閉じてから100ブロック後

min-emergency-msat=10000000

[Cleanup control options]

autoclean-cycle=3600 autoclean-succeededforwards-age=0 autoclean-failedforwards-age=0 autoclean-succeededpays-age=0 autoclean-failedpays-age=0 autoclean-paidinvoices-age=0 autoclean-expiredinvoices-age=0

[Payment control options]

disable-mpp

[Networking options]

bind-addrだとアナウンスしない。

bind-addr=0.0.0.0:9375

tor

proxy=: always-use-proxy=true

Torの制御ポート。addr=statictor だとhidden serviceをノードURIとして公開する。

addr=statictor:: tor-service-password=

experimental-websocket-portは廃止された。bind-addr=ws:が代替。

bind-addr=ws::2106

clnrestプラグイン, REST API

clnrest-host=0.0.0.0 clnrest-port=3010 clnrest-protocol=http

v24.11よりgrpcはデフォルト有効

grpc-host=0.0.0.0 grpc-port=9736

[Lightning Plugins]

[Experimental Options]

experimental-onion-messages # v24.08で廃止。デフォルト有効

experimental-offers # v24.11.1で廃止。デフォルト有効

流動性広告からチャネルを開くときにexperimental-dual-fundが必要らしい。

experimental-dual-fund

experimental-splicing

experimental-peer-storage

```

@ c2827524:5f45b2f7

Vuoi creare il tuo profilo Nostr, ma non sai esattamente da dove iniziare?

Prova a seguire i consigli di questo tutorial!

Nosta.me

Nosta.me è uno dei client più semplici e divertenti di tutto il protocollo Nostr. Free e open source, Nosta regala anche un link dall'aspetto elegante per fare visualizzare il proprio profilo, come si può vedere da quello dello sviluppatore. Christoph Ono.

Cominciamo, andando proprio sulla pagina nosta.me

Creazione in 10 passi

Innanzitutto Nosta è un client adatto alla creazione del profilo, ma non per scrivere, firmare e pubblicare note. Per l'uso social di Nostr è meglio utilizzare altri client che si possono scoprire in seguito.

Ma allora: perché Nosta?

Perché propone la creazione del profilo tramite 10 step da eseguire in ordine. Alcuni dei 10 passaggi si possono saltare per essere completati in seguito, ma il cuore della creazione delle chiavi è familiare ai Bitcoiner, perché parte da una sequenza casuale di 12 parole.

Cominciamo, scegliendo proprio «Create a new profile»

Nosta da il benvenuto ad una nuova, giovane Nostrica.

È il primo dei 10 step; cliccare «Next»

Si scelgono le prime informazioni da compilare, mettendo un nome, un paio di righe di biografia e - se presente - un sito web di riferimento.

Una volta compilati questi 3 campi, cliccare «Next»

Il prossimo passo chiede di caricare una foto profilo. Consiglio di cliccare su "Skip", vedremo meglio in seguito la gestione delle immagini via protocollo Nostr

---

ENTRIAMO NEL VIVO: LA GENERAZIONE DELLE CHIAVI

In questo nuovo step Nosta calcola e mostra la recovery phrase di 12 parole. Questa frase porterà al calcolo automatico di un seed proprio come nel protocollo Bitcoin: le parole provengono dal dizionario BIP39, dopodiché la chiave privata viene calcolata sulla curva ellittica secp256k1 ed infine convertita da hex al formato nsec.

Queste 12 parole costituiscono una recovery phrase per ripristinare l'account e le relative chiavi tramite Nosta.me. Sono da scrivere bene e conservare, dopodiché si può procedere alla verifica cliccando "Next"

La procedura di verifica presenta le 12 parole posizionate a caso: per il check si devono cliccare in ordine dalla 1 alla 12

Siamo pronti per lo step successivo: Nosta mostra la chiave privata nsec. Si deve copiare e incollare su un file protetto da tenere in un luogo sicuro.

Una volta copiata la nsec, cliccare "Next"

La creazione delle chiavi termina con la derivazione della chiave pubblica, la npub.

La npub di Nostr rappresenta l'identità dell'utente. Va copiata e incollata per conservarla, anche in un luogo sprotetto, perché si userà spesso e volentieri nel protocollo per farsi identificare

---

Handle, follow e wallet Bitcoin

Il passo 7/10 prevede l'impostazione dell'handle o NIP-05 nel profilo. L'handle è una caratteristica che ha due vantaggi: 1. si può scegliere un identificativo più facile da leggere e usare al posto della chiave pubblica 2. è un ulteriore sistema di verifica dell'identità Scopriremo in seguito i dettagli del NIP-05, consiglio di saltare questo passo tra gli step di Nosta

Nello step successivo vengono proposti alcuni suggerimenti per seguire utenti di Nostr. Consiglio di iniziare a seguire qualcuno, proprio per non rimanere troppo spaesati al termine della creazione del profilo, rischiando di trovare un feed completamente vuoto.

Il penultimo passo 9/10 è quello dove si configura il wallet Bitcoin. Chi ha già un LN address può giustamente inserirlo. Chi non è ancora skillato, può seguire il capitolo in cui ne parleremo più avanti e cliccare "Skip" in questa schermata

I relay

L'ultima impostazione richiesta da Nosta è la scelta dei relay, il motore delle note su Nostr. È attraverso i relay, infatti, che le le note «and other stuff» sono trasmessi alla rete. Nel passo 10/10 si trovano già dei buoni suggerimenti che - chi non è esperto - può accettare e proseguire cliccando "Next".

Chi è invece già esperto può cambiare questa lista e personalizzarla a seconda delle proprie esigenze

È tutto fatto! Nosta propone una schermata di riepilogo e - se va tutto bene - si può cliccare su "Looks good"

Quando siamo convinti, clicchiamo "Save" e Nosta pubblicherà il profilo per come lo abbiamo impostato.

Il profilo è praticamente pronto, sebbene scarno

Si può abbellire e riempire con le informazioni mancanti cliccando su "Edit", così come scegliere un altro client ed iniziare ad usarlo, oppure continuare con il tutorial e scoprire come trattare più in sicurezza la chiave privata. Cambiare client, infatti, richiederebbe allo stato attuale copiare e incollare la nsec per fare ogni login. Quello che segue è un suggerimento per impostare un'estensione del browser come gestore di firma e usare l'estensione per fare tutti i tipi di login via web.

---

Usare il protocollo Nostr

Il profilo è pronto per essere usato. Ora si può esplorare Nostr, alla ricerca di client ed opportunità. Per fare login si deve necessariamente accedere ai client con la chiave privata nsec, al fine di poter firmare le note e propagarle. Anziché copiare e incollare la nsec in ognuno dei client, è opportuno usare "un trucco".

Login con NOS2X

Nos2X è un'estensione del browser che permette di gestilre le chiavi in un unico luogo, firmando gli eventi senza esporre la nsec ad ogni singola azione. È disponibile per Firefox e fork ed anche per Chrome.

l'esempio che segue è realizzato con Chrome, ma il procedimento per Firefox è molto simile e semplice

Cercare Nos2X tra le estensioni del browser

quindi aggiungerlo al proprio Chrome

Entrare nelle impostazioni con Manage Settings

fino a trovare la schermata dove è possibile incollare la propria chiave privata, impostare qualche relay e salvare.

Si apre ora una finestra che chiede di autorizzare Nos2X a firmare gli eventi. Si può scegliere di autorizzare sempre o anche solo la sessione attuale, per prova. Se si sceglie "Authorize just this" è bene tenere a mente che ad ogni sessione il manager di firma chiederà l'autorizzazione. Ognuno sceglie a seconda delle proprie esigenze.

Da ora in poi, via web, ci si può loggare a qualsiasi client Nostr per continuare l'esplorazione. Si può fare, ad esempio, già con Nosta.me e fare Edit Profile, giusto per continuare a completare il proprio profilo.

Il profilo è ancora molto scarno, infatti

Chi ha un sito web o landing page può tranquillamente inserirlo e salvare. Alcuni dei campi sono gli step saltati al momento della creazione con Nosta e che si possono vedere ora nel dettaglio.

Handle

L'handle di Nostr è codificato nel NIP-05, Nostr Implementation Possibilities, che specifica proprio come gli utenti possono essere verificati su Nostr. Il meccanismo di verifica è simile a quello richiesto da Google per verificare la proprietà di un dominio, e consente ad ogni utente Nostr di "mappare" la propria chiave pubblica su un identificatore internet basato su DNS. Il vantaggio principale del NIP-05 è che trasforma la stringa della npub in un nome leggibile in maniera semplice. È possibile ottenere un NIP-05 for free, o anche a pagamento, scegliendoli da una delle molte liste che si trovano in una ricerca via web.

L'operazione è super semplice: * si scelga, ad esempio, zaps.lol * incollare la chiave pubblica npub * scegliere uno username rappresentativo, che completo sarà: tuousername@zaps.lol * cliccare REGISTER

E il proprio handle è pronto e verificato, si può quindi incollare sulla maschera del profilo di Nosta.me e salvare

La gestione delle immagini

Si può impostare un avatar, così comme un banner di copertina e - in generale - postare immagini via Nostr. La gestione delle immagini avviene condividendo un URL. Sebbene la maggior parte dei client adesso consentano di caricare immagini in maniera meno complessa, non sempre queste vengono rese disponibili al primo colpo. Ci sono però altri tipi di client, che si sono specializzati nel caricamento immagini.

All'inizio meglio scegliere un client che offre questa possibilità gratuitamente, come nostrcheck.me Dalla homepage andare nel menu Public gallery -> UPLOAD -> scegliere di fare login cliccando sull'iconcina utente in alto a destra. La landing page si mostra così

Scegliere quindi di fare login con l'extendion Nos2X e procedere con il caricamento dell'immagine profilo, seguendo le istruzioni a video. Nostrcheck carica l'immagine e fornisce l'url che si può copiare e incollare dove si vuole, ad esempio nella schermata del profilo, ma anche nei futuri post.

Se si sono appena caricati avatar e banner del profilo, gli url completano il profilo di Nostr, che adesso è completo di quasi tutto

LN address e wallet

È di gran lunga la più sorprendente caratteristica di Nostr: scambiare valore usando la Lightning Network di Bitcoin. Esistono differenti soluzioni, dalle più semplici alle più complesse. Se non si ha la minima idea di cosa sia un wallet LN o un LN address, meglio rimandare questa fase al momento in cui si possiede la necessaria consapevolezza. Ma per chi ha un'idea precisa di questi concetti, l'LN address permette di ricevere zap (donazioni di sats) per i contenuti condivisi che dal mittente arrivano sul proprio wallet; il wallet può essere usato per ricompensare altri creatori di contenuti, zap-pando a più non posso.

Se si utilizza una soluzione custodial come sats.mobi, LifPay(*) o altri tenere sul wallet solo pochi sats per lo scopo. Se se ne ricevono molti, perché i contenuti diventano popolari e virali, spostarli su un wallet LN non-custodial.

(*) Lifpay integra una soluzione senza alcuna frizione per l'utente inesperto, perché crea un profilo direttamente con la npub di Nostr.

Ora è davvero tutto pronto e Nostr è lì per essere esplorato

Puoi iniziare seguendo npub1c2p82fyndhk66hmz808c5pxjq8el60kh6jgj5xgdhmhksh69ktmsz8dcj5

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Risorse per approfondire:

1. https://laura.npub.pro/post/1733214130372/
2. https://nostr.net/
3. https://nostr.how/en/nostr-projects
4. https://github.com/nostr-resources/
5. https://nostr.com/
6. https://nostr.info/resources/
7. https://usenostr.org/
8. https://uselessshit.co/resources/nostr/

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Per info https://t.me/bitcoincampus https://planb.network/it/courses/btc105

@ df478568:2a951e67

@ f4db5270:3c74e0d0

Hi Art lover! 🎨🫂💜 You may not know it yet but all of the following paintings are available in #Bitcoin on my website: https://isolabell.art/#shop

For info and prices write to me in DM and we will find a good deal! 🤝

ON THE ROAD AGAIN 40x50cm, Oil on canvas Completed January 23, 2025

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SUN OF JANUARY 40x50cm, Oil on canvas Completed January 14, 2025

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THE BLUE HOUR 40x50cm, Oil on canvas Completed December 14, 2024

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LIKE A FRAGMENT OF ETERNITY 50x40cm, Oil on canvas Completed December 01, 2024

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WHERE WINTER WHISPERS 50x40cm, Oil on canvas Completed November 07, 2024

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L'ATTESA DI UN MOMENTO 40x40cm, Oil on canvas Completed October 29, 2024

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LE COSE CHE PENSANO 40x50cm, Oil on paper Completed October 05, 2024

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TWILIGHT'S RIVER 50x40cm, Oil on canvas Completed September 17, 2024

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GOLD ON THE OCEAN 40x50cm, Oil on paper Completed September 08, 2024

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SUSSURRI DI CIELO E MARE 50x40cm, Oil on paper Completed September 05, 2024

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THE END OF A WONDERFUL WEEKEND 40x30cm, Oil on board Completed August 12, 2024

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FIAMME NEL CIELO 60x35cm, Oil on board Completed July 28, 2024

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INIZIO D'ESTATE 50x40cm, Oil on cradled wood panel Completed July 13, 2024

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OMBRE DELLA SERA 50x40cm, Oil on cradled wood panel Completed June 16, 2024

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NEW ZEALAND SUNSET 80x60cm, Oil on canvas board Completed May 28, 2024

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VENICE 50x40cm, Oil on board Completed May 4, 2024

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CORNWALL 50x40cm, Oil on board Completed April 26, 2024

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DOCKS ON SUNSET 40x19,5cm, Oil on board Completed March 14, 2024

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SOLITUDE 30x30cm, Oil on cradled wood panel Completed March 2, 2024

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LULLING WAVES 40x30cm, Oil on cradled wood panel Completed January 14, 2024

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MULATTIERA IN AUTUNNO 30x30cm, Oil on cradled wood panel

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TRAMONTO A KOS 40x40cm, oil on board canvas

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HIDDEN SMILE 40x40cm, oil on board

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INIZIO D'AUTUNNO 40x40cm, oil on canvas

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BOE NEL LAGO 30x30cm, oil on canvas board

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BARCHE A RIPOSO 40x40cm, oil on canvas board

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IL RISVEGLIO 30x40cm, oil on canvas board

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LA QUIETE PRIMA DELLA TEMPESTA 30x40cm, oil on canvas board

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LAMPIONE SUL LAGO 30x30cm, oil on canvas board

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DUE NELLA NEVE 60x25cm, oil on board

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UNA CAREZZA 30x30cm, oil on canvas board

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REBEL WAVES 44x32cm, oil on canvas board

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THE SCREAMING WAVE 40x30cm, oil on canvas board

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"LA DONZELLETTA VIEN DALLA CAMPAGNA..." 30x40cm, oil on canvas board

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LIGHTHOUSE ON WHITE CLIFF 30x40cm, oil on canvas board

@ 849838f4:0ea97fbb

2nmn

@ d41bf82f:ed90d888

เบื้องหลังการเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งใหญ่ในประวัติศาสตร์ เราต้องเข้าใจปัจจัยที่เปลี่ยนแปลงตรรกะของความรุนแรง โดยเฉพาะปัจจัยเชิงมหภาค 4 ประเภทหลัก ได้แก่ ภูมิประเทศ ภูมิอากาศ จุลชีพ และเทคโนโลยี

1. ภูมิประเทศ เป็นตัวกำหนดที่สำคัญมากต่อรูปแบบของรัฐและความสามารถในการควบคุมพลเมืองโดยเฉพาะเมื่อเปรียบระหว่างสภาพภูมิประเทศทางบกและทางทะเล พื้นที่ทะเลเปิดนั้นยากต่อการผูกขาดหรือควบคุม ทำให้กฎของรัฐไม่สามารถบังคับใช้ได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ ต่างจากแผ่นดิน ซึ่งส่งผลต่อการจัดวางอำนาจอย่างลึกซึ้ง เมื่อเศรษฐกิจเริ่มเคลื่อนเข้าสู่โลกไซเบอร์ซึ่งมีลักษณะคล้ายทะเลเปิดมากกว่าภาคพื้นดิน รูปแบบของการปกครองและการใช้ความรุนแรงจึงมีแนวโน้มเปลี่ยนแปลงไปอย่างมีนัยสำคัญ ประวัติศาสตร์ก็สนับสนุนมุมมองนี้ รัฐยุคแรก ๆ มักเกิดขึ้นในพื้นที่ราบลุ่มชลประทานที่ล้อมรอบด้วยทะเลทราย เช่น เมโสโปเตเมียและอียิปต์ ซึ่งทำให้ประชาชนจำเป็นต้องพึ่งพารัฐที่สามารถควบคุมแหล่งน้ำเพื่อดำรงชีวิตได้ ก่อให้เกิดระบบเผด็จการที่มั่นคง ขณะที่ภูมิประเทศที่กระจายอำนาจ เช่น กรีซโบราณ กลับเอื้อต่อการเกิดประชาธิปไตย เพราะผู้คนสามารถพึ่งตนเองได้มากกว่า มีอิสระในการค้าขายทางทะเล และเข้าถึงรายได้ที่นำไปแลกกับอำนาจทางทหารและการเมืองได้
2. ภูมิอากาศก็มีบทบาทไม่แพ้กันในการกำหนดกรอบของอำนาจทางการเมือง เช่น หลังสิ้นยุคน้ำแข็งราว 13,000 ปีก่อน ความเปลี่ยนแปลงของระบบนิเวศทำให้ทุ่งหญ้าเลี้ยงสัตว์ลดลง และป่าทึบเข้ามาแทนที่ ทำให้มนุษย์ต้องเปลี่ยนวิถีชีวิตจากนักล่ามาเป็นเกษตรกรอย่างหลีกเลี่ยงไม่ได้ การเปลี่ยนแปลงนี้ไม่ได้เกิดขึ้นเพราะความสมัครใจ แต่เพราะสิ่งแวดล้อมบีบบังคับ ภูมิอากาศยังมีอิทธิพลต่อเสถียรภาพทางเศรษฐกิจและการเมืองอย่างชัดเจน เช่น ศตวรรษที่ 17 ซึ่งเป็นยุคหนาวเย็นที่สุดช่วงหนึ่งในประวัติศาสตร์ ทำให้เกิดวิกฤตอาหารและความอดอยากทั่วโลก นำไปสู่การก่อกบฏและการปฏิวัติในหลายประเทศ
3. จุลชีพ ก็มีบทบาทในเชิงการเมืองมหภาคอย่างลึกซึ้ง การล่มสลายของประชากรพื้นเมืองในทวีปอเมริกาจากโรคที่ชาวยุโรปนำเข้า เช่น หัด หรือไข้ทรพิษ ทำให้ยุโรปสามารถยึดครองดินแดนเหล่านั้นได้อย่างง่ายดาย แม้ในบางครั้งจะยังไม่ได้ลงจากเรือด้วยซ้ำ ในอีกด้านหนึ่ง จุลชีพก็เคยเป็นกำแพงที่ป้องกันไม่ให้จักรวรรดิยุโรปขยายอำนาจ เช่น มาลาเรียในแอฟริกาที่เคยทำให้พื้นที่เหล่านั้น “ต่อต้านอำนาจจากภายนอก” ได้อย่างนานหลายศตวรรษ
4. เทคโนโลยี ซึ่งเป็นปัจจัยที่ที่ทรงอิทธิพลที่สุดต่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงของโครงสร้างอำนาจในประวัติศาสตร์มนุษย์ เพราะมันสามารถเปลี่ยน “ต้นทุน” และ “ผลตอบแทน” ของการใช้ความรุนแรงได้อย่างรวดเร็วและชัดเจน ทั้งในแง่ของอาณาเขต ขนาดของรัฐ ลักษณะของสงคราม และแม้แต่ความชอบธรรมทางการเมือง ผู้เขียนได้แยกอิทธิพลของเทคโนโลยีออกเป็น 5 มิติหลัก ซึ่งล้วนมีบทบาทอย่างสำคัญในการจัดรูปแบบของอำนาจ ได้แก่:

A. ดุลยภาพระหว่างการโจมตีและการป้องกัน เทคโนโลยีแต่ละยุคมีผลอย่างมากต่อความได้เปรียบระหว่างฝ่ายรุกกับฝ่ายรับ หากเทคโนโลยีในยุคนั้นเอื้อต่อ “การโจมตี” (เช่น เครื่องยิงหิน, รถถัง, ระเบิดทางอากาศ) ต้นทุนของการขยายอำนาจจะต่ำลง รัฐหรือจักรวรรดิจะรวมศูนย์มากขึ้นเพราะสามารถควบคุมพื้นที่กว้างได้ด้วยกำลังที่มีประสิทธิภาพ แต่หากเทคโนโลยีเอื้อให้ “การป้องกัน” มีต้นทุนต่ำและได้เปรียบ (เช่น ปราสาทยุคกลาง, อาวุธต่อต้านอากาศยาน, การเข้ารหัสข้อมูลในโลกไซเบอร์) รัฐจะมีแนวโน้มกระจายตัว และอำนาจท้องถิ่นจะแข็งแกร่งขึ้น

B. ความเท่าเทียมกันทางทหารของพลเมือง เทคโนโลยีอาวุธยังเป็นตัวแปรสำคัญในการกำหนดว่า “พลเมืองธรรมดา” มีอำนาจเพียงใดในการเผชิญหน้ากับชนชั้นปกครอง ตัวอย่างที่ชัดเจนคือในยุคก่อนปฏิวัติดินปืน ชาวนาที่ถือแค่ส้อมหรือจอบไม่อาจต้านอัศวินติดเกราะได้ แต่เมื่อการใช้ปืนแพร่หลาย เส้นแบ่งระหว่างสามัญชนกับขุนนางก็เริ่มจางลง และเกิดการปฏิวัติทางสังคมตามมาในหลายพื้นที่

C. ขนาดขององค์กรที่จำเป็นต่อการใช้ความรุนแรง บางเทคโนโลยีต้องการระบบสนับสนุนขนาดใหญ่ เช่น เสบียง การสื่อสาร การขนส่ง และระบบการฝึกฝนที่ซับซ้อน ซึ่งหมายความว่าเฉพาะองค์กรที่มีทรัพยากรขนาดใหญ่เท่านั้นจึงสามารถใช้อำนาจอย่างมีประสิทธิภาพได้ ตัวอย่างเช่น สมัยสงครามโลก รัฐที่มีอุตสาหกรรมและสายส่งที่มั่นคงเท่านั้นจึงสามารถรบได้นาน

D. ขนาดของกิจกรรมทางเศรษฐกิจในการผลิต ขนาดของหน่วยเศรษฐกิจที่ “เหมาะสมที่สุด” ในการผลิตสินค้าและบริการก็เป็นตัวแปรทางเทคโนโลยีที่ส่งผลต่อโครงสร้างของรัฐ หากเศรษฐกิจจำเป็นต้องอาศัยตลาดขนาดใหญ่ พื้นที่กว้าง หรือระบบโลจิสติกส์ที่ซับซ้อน รัฐขนาดใหญ่จะมีข้อได้เปรียบ เช่น จักรวรรดิอังกฤษที่สามารถจัดระบบเศรษฐกิจข้ามทวีปได้ในศตวรรษที่ 19 แต่หากเทคโนโลยีเอื้อให้เศรษฐกิจท้องถิ่นมีความคล่องตัว สามารถผลิตแบบกระจาย (distributed production)ได้ รัฐขนาดใหญ่ก็จะมีประสิทธิภาพน้อยลง และอำนาจจะกระจายตัว

E. การกระจายของเทคโนโลยี หากเทคโนโลยีสามารถถูก “ผูกขาด” ได้โดยกลุ่มเล็ก ๆ เช่น การควบคุมแหล่งพลังงานนิวเคลียร์ หรือการพัฒนาอาวุธล้ำสมัย อำนาจจะกระจุกอยู่กับชนชั้นนำ แต่หากเทคโนโลยีแพร่กระจายได้อย่างกว้างขวาง เช่น การใช้ดินปืน แป้นพิมพ์ อำนาจก็จะสลายตัวไปยังประชาชนทั่วไป

เมื่อพิจารณาประวัติศาสตร์ในมุมของ “สิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นจริง” ควบคู่กับ “สิ่งที่อาจเกิดขึ้นได้” เราจะเริ่มตระหนักถึงบทบาทของโอกาสและความเปราะบางที่มักถูกมองข้าม โดยเฉพาะในกรณีของจุลชีพ แม้จะเป็นตัวแปรที่ทรงพลังในอดีต แต่กลับดูเหมือนว่ามันมีผลกระทบต่อโครงสร้างอำนาจในยุคใหม่ต่ำกว่าที่ควรจะเป็น ทั้งที่ในทางทฤษฎีแล้ว มันมีศักยภาพสูงยิ่งในการเปลี่ยนแปลงประวัติศาสตร์ หากเชื้อไวรัสสายพันธุ์ใหม่ที่ร้ายแรงและแพร่กระจายได้ง่าย เทียบเท่าหรือรุนแรงกว่ามาลาเรีย แพร่ระบาดในหมู่นักสำรวจโปรตุเกสช่วงต้นของยุคการเดินเรือ อาจไม่มีการสำรวจหรือขยายอาณานิคมเกิดขึ้นเลย เช่นเดียวกับหากโคลัมบัสและผู้ย้ายถิ่นกลุ่มแรกในโลกใหม่ต้องเผชิญโรคร้ายที่มีฤทธิ์รุนแรงพอ ๆ กับหัดซึ่งคร่าชีวิตชาวพื้นเมืองไปอย่างมหาศาล พวกเขาอาจไม่สามารถตั้งรกรากได้เลยด้วยซ้ำ

แต่เมื่อมองย้อนกลับไป สิ่งเหล่านี้กลับไม่เคยเกิดขึ้น และนั่นทำให้เรายิ่งมีแนวโน้มจะเชื่อใน “ชะตากรรม” บางอย่างของประวัติศาสตร์ อย่างไรก็ตาม หากมองในแง่กลไกของพลังที่ขับเคลื่อนอำนาจ การที่จุลชีพกลับมีบทบาทสนับสนุนการรวมศูนย์ของรัฐในยุคใหม่มากกว่าการขัดขวาง ก็เป็นสิ่งที่น่าพิจารณา ทหารและผู้ตั้งถิ่นฐานจากโลกตะวันตกไม่ได้มีเพียงเทคโนโลยีเป็นแต้มต่อ แต่ยังมี “ภูมิคุ้มกันที่สั่งสมจากประสบการณ์กับโรค” อีกด้วย โรคที่มาพร้อมกับนักสำรวจจากยุโรปจึงกลายเป็น “อาวุธลับ” ที่ทำลายชาวพื้นเมืองก่อนที่ผู้รุกรานจะลงจากเรือด้วยซ้ำ

แม้ว่าจะมีข้อสันนิษฐานว่าซิฟิลิสแพร่จากโลกใหม่กลับไปยังยุโรป แต่ผลกระทบของมันก็จำกัดอยู่ในระดับวัฒนธรรม โดยเฉพาะด้านศีลธรรมทางเพศ ไม่ได้ส่งผลกระทบในระดับการเมืองมหภาคอย่างที่โรคระบาดในยุคกลางเคยทำ เช่น กาฬโรคหรือโรคไข้ทรพิษ เพราะในยุคสมัยใหม่ ระบบอุตสาหกรรมและโครงสร้างทางการแพทย์มีความสามารถในการควบคุมภัยจากจุลชีพได้มากขึ้น ไม่ว่าจะผ่านระบบสุขาภิบาล วัคซีน หรือยาปฏิชีวนะ

อย่างไรก็ดี การปรากฏตัวของโรคเอดส์ และความกังวลเกี่ยวกับไวรัสกลายพันธุ์ในช่วงปลายศตวรรษที่ 20 ได้แสดงให้เห็นว่า จุลชีพอาจไม่ได้เป็น “ปัจจัยรอง” ที่ไร้ฤทธิ์เสมอไป และอาจหวนกลับมาเป็นปัจจัยหลักที่กำหนดแนวทางของอำนาจใหม่อีกครั้งได้ในอนาคต หากมีโรคระบาดใหญ่เกิดขึ้นซึ่งรุนแรงพอที่จะทำลายความสามารถของรัฐในการควบคุมระบบเศรษฐกิจและชีวิตสาธารณะ โครงสร้างของอำนาจอาจสั่นคลอนยิ่งกว่าผลกระทบจากภูมิอากาศหรือภูมิประเทศเสียอีก

ปัญหาคือเราไม่สามารถคาดการณ์จุดเริ่มต้นของเหตุการณ์เหล่านี้ได้อย่างแม่นยำ ไม่มีแบบจำลองใดที่สามารถควบคุมหรือคาดเดาธรรมชาติได้อย่างสมบูรณ์ แม้จะมีความพยายามทางวิทยาศาสตร์และการเฝ้าระวังระดับโลก การที่เรารอดพ้นจากโรคร้ายในอดีตไม่ได้แปลว่าจะรอดได้อีกในอนาคต ความคาดหวังว่าปัจจัยมหภาคในพันปีข้างหน้าจะยังคงเป็น “เทคโนโลยี” ไม่ใช่ “จุลชีพ” จึงเป็นเพียงสมมติฐานที่ตั้งอยู่บนความหวังมากกว่าหลักประกันใด ๆ

และแม้ว่าเทคโนโลยีจะมีบทบาทอย่างล้นเหลือในช่วงห้าศตวรรษที่ผ่านมา แต่บทเรียนจากการปฏิวัติการเกษตรในยุคโบราณก็ยังคงเตือนใจว่า ปัจจัยที่เปลี่ยนแปลงวิถีของอำนาจในระดับรากฐานที่สุดอาจไม่ได้ยิ่งใหญ่หรือก้าวหน้าเสมอไป บางครั้งสิ่งที่ทำให้โลกเปลี่ยนแปลงไปอย่างถาวร ไม่ใช่จักรกลที่ซับซ้อนหรืออาวุธล้ำยุค หากแต่เป็นสิ่งมีชีวิตขนาดเล็กที่เราแทบมองไม่เห็นด้วยตาเปล่า — และมันก็อาจย้อนกลับมามีบทบาทสำคัญอีกครั้งในศตวรรษของเรา.

อย่าลืมว่าหนังสือเล่มนี้เขียนขึ้นในปี 1997 — ยุคที่โลกยังไม่เคยรู้จักกับ COVID-19

บทถัดไปจะพูดถึงเรื่องการปฏิวัติครั้งแรกของ Sapiens การปฏิวัติเกษตรกรรม

@ eee391ee:8d0b97c2

Amber 3.1.9

• Add missing logs for relay errors
• Change listen for new connections button text and icons

Download it with zap.store, Obtainium, f-droid or download it directly in the releases page

If you like my work consider making a donation

Verifying the release

In order to verify the release, you'll need to have gpg or gpg2 installed on your system. Once you've obtained a copy (and hopefully verified that as well), you'll first need to import the keys that have signed this release if you haven't done so already:

bash gpg --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D

Once you have his PGP key you can verify the release (assuming manifest-v3.1.9.txt and manifest-v3.1.9.txt.sig are in the current directory) with:

bash gpg --verify manifest-v3.1.9.txt.sig manifest-v3.1.9.txt

You should see the following if the verification was successful:

bash gpg: Signature made Fri 13 Sep 2024 08:06:52 AM -03 gpg: using RSA key 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D gpg: Good signature from "greenart7c3 <greenart7c3@proton.me>"

That will verify the signature on the main manifest page which ensures integrity and authenticity of the binaries you've downloaded locally. Next, depending on your operating system you should then re-calculate the sha256 sum of the binary, and compare that with the following hashes:

bash cat manifest-v3.1.9.txt

One can use the shasum -a 256 <file name here> tool in order to re-compute the sha256 hash of the target binary for your operating system. The produced hash should be compared with the hashes listed above and they should match exactly.